THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT
of
Prof. Myron I. Barker
HISTORY OF ENGLAND
1603-1642
VOL. VI.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE TO MR. GARDINER'S
« HISTOR y OF ENGLAND:
HISTORY of ENGLAND, from the ACCESSION of
JAMES I. to the DISGRACE of CHIEF-JUSTICE COKE,
1603-1616. 2 vols. 8vo. 1863.
PRINCE CHARLES and the SPANISH MARRIAGE,
1617-1623. 2 vols. 8vo. 1869.
HISTORY of ENGLAND under the DUKE of
BUCKINGHAM and CHARLES I. 1624-1628. 2 vols. 8vo.
1875.
The PERSONAL GOVERNMENT of CHARLES I.
from the DEATH of BUCKINGHAM to the DECLARA-
TION of the JUDGES in FAVOUR of SHIP-MONEY.
1628-1637. 2 vols. 8vo. 1877.
The FALL of the MONARCHY of CHARLES I.
1637-1642. 2 vols. 8vo. 1881.
The above Volumes were revised and re-issued in a cheaper form,
under the title of ' A History of England, from the Accession of
James I. to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 1603-1642.' 10 vols.
Crown 8vo. 1883-4.
HISTORY of the GREAT CIVIL WAR. 1642-1649.
(3 vols.)
VOL. I. 1642-1644. 8vo. 1886.
VCL. II. 1644-1647. 8vo. 1889.
VOL. III. 1647-1649. 8vo. 1891.
These Volumes have been revised and re-issued in a cheaper
form, in 4 vols. crown 8vo. uniform with the ' History of England,
1603-1642.' __ 1893.
HISTORY of the COMMONWEALTH and PRO-
TECTORATE, 1649-1660. Vol. I. 1649-1651. 8vo. 1894.
&'w'
CADIZ HARBOUR
1625.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FROM THE
ACCESSION OF JAMES I.
TO
THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR
1603-1642
BY
SAMUEL R. GARDINER, D.C.L., LL.D.
FELLOW OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD, ETC.
IN TEN VOLUMES
VOL. VI.
1 62B 1 629
NEW EDITION
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
1896
All rights reserved
College
Library
390
Slblu
CONTENTS
OF *'
THE SIXTH VOLUME.
CHAPTER LV.
THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ.
1625 Buckingham's intentions .
Breach of the engagements
between Louis XIII. and
the Huguenots .
Determinatio of Charles
to send out the fleet .
The Queen at Titchfield .
Rusdorf s diplomacy .
The Treaty of Southampton
Buckingham to go to the
Hague . . .
The Essex trained bands at
Harwich . . .
De'thof Sir A. Morton —
Sir J. Coke Secretary .
Sir E. Cecil appointed to
command the expedition
against Spain . .
PAGE
i
He reports on the defi-
ciencies of the troops . ii
The Kingand Buckingham
at Plymouth . . la
The fleet driven back by a
storm . . 13
It puts to sea . . 14
Arrives at Cadiz . 15
Attack on Fort Puntal 16
Surrender of the fort . 17
Cecil's march to the bridge 18
Failure of the expedition . 19
The look-out for the Mexico
fleet . . .20
Return of the fleet to Eng-
land . . 21
No serious investigation
into the causes of failure 23
CHAPTER LVI.
GROWING ESTRANGEMENTS BETWEEN THE COURTS OF
ENGLAND AND FRANCE.
1625 Buckingham's intention to
visit France . . 24
Objections of Louis . . 25
Buckingham's instructions 26
Blainville's interview with
Charles . . . 27
His visit to Buckingham . 28
The Peers of the Opposi-
tion . . . . 29
Dismissal of Williams . 31
Coventry Lord Keeper . 33
The Opposition leaders of
945705
CONTENTS OF
the Commons made
sheriffs . . -33
The Dunkirk privateers . 34
Buckingham visits the
Hague and proposes to
attack Dunkirk . . 35
The Congress of the Hague 35
Treaty ol the Hague . 36
Prospect of war \\ ith Fra: ice 37
Difficulties about the
Queen's household . 38
Embassy of Holland and
Carleton . . 39
Difficulties about the law
of prize . 40
Sequestration of the money
on board the French
prizes . . 41
Orders given for the sale
of prize goods . . 41
Blainville protests . . 42
Reprisals in France fol-
lowed by an order for
the restitution of the
•St. Peter' . . 43
1626 Irritation of Louis
Charles determines to re-
lieve Rochello .
The prize goods sold
The 'St. Peter' re-ar-
rested .
Interference of Charles in
French politics
The Queen refuses to be
crowned
Charles's coronation .
Negotiation between Louis
and the Huguenots
An agreement come to
The Huguenots look to
Charles lor support
Richelieu proposes 10 join
England against Spain .
Charles rejects his over-
tures
Fresh dispute between
Charles and the Queen .
Blainville ordered to ab-
sent himself from Court
PAGB
44
44
45
46
7
46
49
5°
51
S3
56
57
CHAPTER LVII.
THE LEADERSHIP OF SIR JOHN ELIOT IN THE SECOND
PARLIAMENT OF CHARLES I.
1626 Opening of Parliament . 59
Eliot's position in the
House . . .60
He demands inquiry into
past mismanagement . 62
Laud's Sermon , . 63
Th^ conferfnce on Monta-
gue's books . 64
Case of the 'St. Peter' of
Havre de Grace . 6r.
Release of the ship and
reprisals in France . . 66
Inquiry in the House of
Commons . . 66
State of feeling in the
House of Lords . . 68
Fresh overtures from
Richelieu . . 69
The riot at Durham House 70
The marriage of Lord Mal-
travers . 71
Arundel sent to the Tower 72
The Commons wish to in-
quire into the proceed-
ings of the council of war 73
The councillors refuse to
reply . . -74
Charles supports them in
their refusal . . 75
Dr. Turner's queries . 76
Charles de'ends his minister 77
Question of ministerial re-
sponsibility . . 78
Eliot counsels the Com-
mons to persist . . 79
Eliot's speech against
Buckingham . . 80
Charles leluses to accept
the doctrine of minis-
terial responsibility . 81
Coventry's declaration of
the King's pleasure . 82
Buckingham's vindication
of his proceedings . 84
Remonstrance of the Com-
mons . . .84
The Commons are allowed
to proceed with their in-
THE SIXTH VOLUME.
quiry into Buckingham's
conduct . . . 85
They vote that common
fame is a good ground
for their action . . 86
The French Government
favours the English al-
liance . 87
Charles throws obstacles
in the way of an agree-
ment
•Blainville leaves England .
Treaty between France
and Spain — End of the
French alliance
90
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
1626 The House of Lords de-
mands Arundel's libera-
tion . . -9*
Bristol's confinement at
Sherborne . 92
He is forbidden to come
to Parliament . . 93
Petitions the Lords for
his writ, comes to Lon-
don and accuses Buck-
ingham . 94
Is accused by the King . 95
Interference of the King
in Buckingham's favour 97
Buckingham impeached by
the Commons . . 98
Prologue by Digges . . 99
Charges brought against
Buckingham . . too
Eliot's summing up . . 103
Buckingham compared to
Sejanus . . . 105
Charles's indignation . . 107
He replies to the Lords'
demand for Arundel's
liberation . . . 108
Imprisonment of Eliot and
Digges . . . 109
Carleton threatens the
House with the danger
of Parliaments falling
into disuse . .110
Digges cleared by the
House of Lords . . in
Digges released, but Eliot
kept in prison . .112
The Commons suspend
their sittings . .113
Eliot released . .113
Bristol's case before the
Lords . . . 114
Liberation of Arundel . 115
Buckingham elected Chan-
cellor of Cambridge
University . . 116
The King demands supply 117
The Commons decide that
remonstrance must pre-
cede supply . . 118
They demand Bucking-
ham's dismissal . . 119
Parliament dissolved . . 121
CHAPTER LIX.
THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.
1626 Proclamation for the peace
of the Church . . 122
Buckingham's case to be
tried in the Star Cham-
ber . . . 123
The Parliamentary mana-
gers refuse to counte-
nance the trial . -123
The City refuses to lend
money . . . 124
Demand of a free gift from
the counties . . 125
Dismissal of justices of the
peace . . 12?
Wentworth's character and
political position . 126
Nature of his opposition . 127
His overtures to Bucking-
ham . . . 128
His dismissal from office. 129
CONTENTS OF
The fire gift refused in the
counties . . . 131
Ships demanded from the
maritime counties . . 132
Willoughby's fleet at Ports-
mouth . . . 133
Disagreement between
Charles and the Queen . 134
The Queen at Tyburn . 135
Dismissal of the Queen's
French attendants . 136
Proposal to debase the coin 138
Defeat of Mansfeld and
Christian IV. . . 139
Bassompierre's mission . 141
Capture of French prizes . 142
The forced loan . . 143
Sequestration of Eliot's
Vice-Admiralty . . 144
Buckingham proposes to
go to France . . 146
Seizure of the wine fleet at
Bordeaux . . 147
Buckingham prepares to
go as ambassador to
France . . . 147
Prospects of the loan . 148
Resistance of the judges —
Dismissal of Chief Jus-
tice Crew . . 149
Resistance spreading in
the country . . . 150
Pennington ordered to
attack French ships at
Havre . . . 151
1627 But finds no ships there . 152
Mutiny in Pennington's
fleet. . . . 153
Partial success of the loan 154
Growing resistance to it . 155
The chief opponents sum-
moned before the Council 156
Resistance of Hampden,
Eliot, and Wentworth . 157
Charles looks forward to a
war with France . .159
Pennington's attack upon
the French shipping . 160
Negotiations opened with
Spain . . . 160
Interviews between Rubens
and Gerbier . .161
Alarm of the Dutch am-
bassador . . . 162
Agreement between France
and Spain . . 163
Progress of the war in
Germany . . 164
Morgan takes four regi-
ments to the Elbe . 165
CHAPTER LX.
THE EXPEDITION TO RHE.
1627 Walter Montague's mis-
sion . . . . 167
Preparations for the relief
ofRochelle . . 168
Buckingham's instructions 170
Sailing of the fleet . . 171
Buckingham's landing in
the Isle of Rh£ . . 172
Marches to St. Martin's . 173
Lukewarmness of the Ro-
chellese . . . 174
Commencement of the
siege of St. Martin's . 175
The siege converted into a
blockade . . 175
Need of reinforcements . 176
Eagerness of the King to
support Buckingham . 177
Difficulties of the Exche-
chequer . . 178
Becher carries a few re-
cruits to Rlie" . .180
Death of Sirjohn Borough 181
Supplies introduced into
St. Martin's . .182
Buckingham resolves to
carry on the siege . .183
Holland expected with re-
inforcements . .184
Rohan's insurrection meets
with no general support 184
Failure of the negotiation
with Spain . . 185
Christian IV. overpowered 186
Misery in Morgan's regi-
ments . . .186
Seizure of a French ship in
the Texel . . . 187
English feeling against
Buckingham . . 188
THE SIXTH VOLUME.
Delays in Holland's sailing 191
The King's anxiety . . 192
Holland is unable to
leave . . . 192
Disorganisation of the
Government . . 193
The King constant to
Buckingham . . 194
Gloomy prospects of the
force at Rh6 . . 195
PACK
Landing of the French on
the island . . . 195
Buckingham attempts to
storm the fort . .196
The retreat from St. Martin's 197
Slaughter of the English . 198
Re-embarkation of the
troops . . . 198
Buckingham's part in the
disaster . . . 199
CHAPTER LXI.
PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT IN CHURCH AND STATE.
1627 Buckingham's reception in
England . . . 201
Increased resistance to the
loan . . . 202
Ecclesiastical parties . 203
Laud's royalism . . 204
Sibthorpe's sermon on
Apostolic Obedience . 206
Abbot sent into confine-
ment for refusing to li-
cense it . 207
Manwaring's sermons on
Religion and Allegiance 208
Manwaring's theory of
government . . 209
Eliot's petition from the
Gatehouse . . . 212
Five knights demand a
habeas corpus . . 213
Arguments in the King's
Bench on behalf of the
five knights . . 214
Heath's argument for the
Crown . . . 215
The prisoners remanded . 216
The sailors ready to
mutiny . . . 218
Bad conduct of the billeted
soldiers . .219
Schemes for raising money 219
Chailes and Buckingham
resolve to carry on the
war . . . 2io
Excise proposed in the
Council . . . 222
A standing force proposed 223
1628 German horse sent for . 224
Abandonment of the pro-
posed excise . . 225
The prisoners released and
Parliament summoned . 225
Ship-money demanded and
then abandoned . 226
Commission to inquire how
excise can be levied . 227
Bad state of Denbigh's
fleet . . . . 228
The elections . . 229
CHAPTER LXII.
THE PARLIAMENTARY LEADERSHIP OF SIR THOMAS
WENTWORTH.
1628 Laud's sermon . . 230
Opening of the session . 231
Coke's Imprisonment Bill 232
Seymour and Eliot on
grievances . . 233
Wentworth's demand . 235
Comparison between Went-
worth and Eliot . . 236
Secretary Coke acknow-
ledges that the law has
been broken. . . 237
The Jesuits at Clerkenwell 238
Secretary Coke tries to
frighten the Commons .
Debate on the liberty of
the subject
239
240
CONTENTS OF
PAGE FAG«
Sir E. Coke's statement of
A Good Friday's debate
the law
240
on martial law . . 254
The Commons' resolution
The Lords incline towards
against unparliamentary
the King . . 256
taxation .
241
The Commons refuse to
Nethersole's argument
proceed further with
from political expediency
241
supply . . . 257
The legal argument .
242
Debate in the Upper House
Controversy between Coke
on the resolutions . 258
and Shitton
243
The Lords' propositions . 259
Anderson's judgment pro-
Criticism of the Commons 261
duced
244
Noy and Wentworth for
The Commons' resolu-
a Habeas Corpus Act . 262
tions on imprisonment .
245
Coventry declares that the
Debate on supply .
246
King's word must be
Debate on billeting .
247
taken . . , 263
Question of pressing men
The Commons order the
for the army
249
preparation of a Bill on
Five subsidies voted in
the libertv of the subject 264
committee, but not re-
The Bill brought in by
ported
250
Coke . . , 264
Wentworth proposes a
Wentworth proposes a Bill
Bill on the 'iberties of
of his own . . 266
the subject
251
The King rejects Went-
The King pleased at the
worth's terms . . 267
vote of supply
252
Wentworth's appeal to the
Arguments before the
King . . . 268
Lords on the resolutions
253
Coke's proposal . . 269
Further discussion on bil-
End of Wentworth's leader-
leting .
253
ship . . . 270
CHAPTER LXIII.
THE PETITION OF RIGHT.
1628 Dissatisfaction of the
The Commons persist in
House .
272
rejecting it . 282
Coke proposes a Petition
Wentworth proposes a
of Right
274
further accommodation . 283
The Petition of Right
Eliot's rejoinder . 284
brought in
275
Wentworth's reply . 285
The Petition before tne
The Commons decide
Lords
276
against Wentworth . 286
The King's defence of his
Fresh proposal by the
claim to imprison with-
Lords . . . 287
out showing cause
276
Buckingham opposes it . 288
The Lords attempt to
The Lords give way . . 289
mediate
277
The petition passes both
Clause proposed by
Houses . . . 289
Williams
278
The surrender of Stade . 290
Clause prepared by Arun-
Denbigh's failure to re-
del and Weston adopted
279
lieve Rochelle . .291
The clause rejected by
Resolution of Charles to
the Commons .
280
make another effort . 293
The Lords try to expla'n
Charles hesitates about
away the clause
281
the petition .. , 293
THE SIXTH VOLUME.
Questions the judges . 294
Consults the Council . 296
Answer agreed on . . 297
Worthlessness of the
answer . . . 297
Eliot's resolution . . 298
His speech on the state
of the nation . . 299
A Remonstrance proposed 301
The King tries to stop it . 301
Distress of the House . 302
PheKps proposes to ask
leave to go home . . 303
PAGE
Eliot stopped by the
Speaker . . . 304
Coke attacks Buckingham
by name . . 305
Selden moves that the im
peachment be renewed 306
Intervention of the Lords 306
Charles draws back 307
The Lords ask for a clear
answer to the petition . 308
Charles gives the Royal
assent to the Petition of
Right , . . 309
CHAPTER LXIV
REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION
1628 The petition compared
with Magna Carta . 311
Impeachment of Man-
waring . . . 312
Pym's declaration of prin-
ciple . . . 313
Subsidies voted and the
Remonstrance proceeded
with . . . . 315
The Remonstrance voted. 316
Charles will not give up
Buckingham . . 318
Murder of Dr. Lambe . 319
The King's answer to the
Remonstrance . 320
Buckingham seeks to meet
the charges against
him . . . 321
Debate on tonnage and
poundage . . . 322
Remonstrance on tonnage
and poundage . . 323
The King's speech . . 324
Parliament prorogued . 325
Was tonnage and pound-
age included in the
Petition of Right ? . 326
Ecclesiastical promotions. 329
Buckingham's foreign
policy . . 331
Carlisle's mission . . 332
Pmspects of peace with
France and Spain . . 333
Changes in the Govern-
ment . . -334
Wentworth's peerage . . 335
Expectations held out to
him of the Presidentship
of the North . . 337
Wentworth's political posi-
tion . . . . 337
CHAPTER LXV.
THE ASSASSINATION OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
1628 Lady Buckingham's over-
tures to Williams . 339
Reconciliation between
Buckingham and
Williams . . . 340
Influence of Carleton over
Buckingham . . 341
Buckingham surrenders
the Cinque Ports , . 342
Resistance of Rochelle . 343
Buckingham prepares to
relieve it . 344
He welcomes Contarini's
offer of Venetian media-
tion . . .345
The King hesitates . 347
Forebodings of evil . . 347
Mutiny at Portsmouth . 348
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME.
Murder of the Duke by
Felton .
Seizure of the assassin
Story of Felton
His popularity
Townley's verses
Alexander Gill at Oxford .
Buckingham's funeral
His career
Felton threatened
the rack .
His execution
Charles personally under-
takes the government
Character and position of
Weston .
Lindsey takes the fleet to
the relief of Rochelle
Failure of the attempt
Montague's negotiation
PAGE PAGE
ke by
Mission of Rosencrantz .
366
• 349
Influence of the Queen .
367
in . 350
Charles rejects the terms
• • 352
offered
367
• 353
Orders Lindsey to perse-
• • 354
vere
363
tford . 355
Surrender of Rochelle
369
al . 356
Charles's failure
370
• 358
A Spanish alliance sug-
with
gested by Carlisle
371
• • 359
Arundel and Cottington in
• 359
the Council
371
under-
Dorchester becomes Secre-
ent . 360
tary . . .
372
ion of
1629 The Council agrees to ne-
. 361
gotiate with France
373
leet to
Feeling of the nation about
elle . 363
the war . .
373
3t . 364
Dutch successes
374
ion . 365
End of the" war period
375
MAP OF CADIZ HARBOUR
„ THE ISLE OF Ru£ .
MAPS.
To face title-page
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER LV.
THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ.
THE gloomy anticipations of some of the members of the dis-
solved House of Commons with respect to their personal safety
AU 12 were not rea'iseo<- Phelips and Seymour, Coke and
The leaders Glanville returned in peace to their homes. Mansell,
Commons indeed, was summoned before the Council ; but he
untouched. answere(j boldly that he could not be touched without
a violation of the liberties of Parliament, and was dismissed
with nothing worse than a reprimand.1
In fact it was no part of Buckingham's policy to drive the
nation to extremity. Full of confidence in himself, he fancied
that he had but to use the few months' breathing
h^m'slnteri- space allowed him to convince the electors that their
late representatives had been in the wrong. The
time had come which he had apparently foreseen when he
conversed with Eliot at Westminster. He had asked for neces-
sary support, and had been denied. A few days would show
the King of France at peace at home, turning his sword against
Spain and the allies of Spain abroad. A few months would
f Johnston, Hist. Rerum Britannicarum, 666. Tillteres to Louis
XT II., Aug. ", King's MSS. 137, p. 121.
VOI~ VI. B
* THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
show the great English fleet returning with the spoils of Spanish
cities and the captured treasures of the New World. Then a
fresh Parliament would assemble round the throne to acknow-
ledge the fortitude of the King and the prescience of his
minister.
A few days after the dissolution news came from France
which dashed to the ground the hopes which had been formed
The peace of the cessation of the civil war. Many persons
Huguenots at)OUt the C°Urt °f L°UJS had n° liking for Riche-
nothTng0 Deli's policy of toleration. The Prince of Conde, if
report spoke truly, sent a hint to Toiras, who" com-
manded the French troops outside Rochelle, that peace must
in one way or another be made impossible. To carry such
counsels into execution presented no difficulties to Toiras. The
Rochellese, pleased with the news that peace had been made
at Fontainebleau, pressed out without suspicion into the fields
to gather in their harvest. Toiras directed his cannon upon
the innocent reapers. Many of them were slain, and Toiras
then proceeded to set fire to the standing corn. Loud was the
outcry of the indignant citizens within the walls.
Aug. 10. j^ was impOSSjbie> tney saic}j to trust the King's
word. The ratification of the treaty was refused, and the war
seemed likely to blaze up once more with all its horrors.1
The English ships were now in the hands of the French ad-
miral, and in a naval engagement which took place off Rochelle,
( on September 5, Soubise was entirely defeated, and
Defeat of driven to take an ignominious refuge in an English
poit
Although such a calamity could hardly have been foretold
by anyone, it was none the less disastrous to Buckingham's
How it design of conciliating the English nation. All the
Ruckin1 ^on§ intrigue carried on with the assistance of
ham. Nicholas was rendered useless. The English ships
were in French hands, and they would doubtless be used against
Rochelle. It was easy to foresee what a handle would thus be
given to Buckingham's accusers.
1 Resolution of the Town of Rochelle, Aug. *° ; Lor kin to Con way,
Aug. " 5. P. Frame.
"
1625 FINANCIAL SCHEMES. 3
It is probable that the renewal of hostilities was already
known to Charles when the Privy Council met at Woodstock on
August 14, the Sunday after the dissolution. It was
evidently the King's intention to show that he would
take no serious step without the advice of the Privy Council. Its
members unanimously approved of a proclamation
oamsnrnent J * *
of the priests for the banishment of the Roman Catholic priests,
resolved on. *• .
of the continuance of the preparations for sending
The fleet to out the fleet, and of the issue of Privy seals, to raise
go, and Privy . . J
seals to be what was practically a forced loan, in order to meet
issued. • •
its expenses.
If money had been needed for the fleet alone, there would
have been no such pressing need. In addition to the io,ooo/.
borrowed in August, no less than 98,ooo/. were brought into
the Exchequer in the months of August and September on
account of the Queen's portion,2 and Charles, before August
was over, was quietly talking to the French ambassador of
diverting part of the new loan to some other purpose.3 In
Sept. 17. point of fact the order for preparing the Privy seals
^aLat'iast was not issued till September 17,* and the fleet was
issued. at sea before a single penny of the loan came into
the King's hands. Charles, however, had many needs, and he
may perhaps have thought that there would be less opposition
to the loan if he demanded it for the purpose of fitting out the
fleet
Charles had thus, after dismissing his Parliament, been able
to convince or cajole his Privy Council. But he could neither
August, convince nor cajole his wife. The promises lightly
Charles's made when hope was young he had repudiated
domestic r j o
troubles. an(j flung aside. He was unable to understand why
the Queen, who had, upon the faith of those promises, con-
sented to leave her mother's care for a home in a strange land,
1 Meautys's Note, Aug. 14, S. P. Dom. v. 41 ; Tillieres to Louis XIII.,
Aug. ", King's MSS. 137, p. izi.
2 Receipt Books of the Exchequer.
1 Tillieres to Louis XIII., Aug. ||, King's MSS. 137, p. 131.
4 The King to the Council, Sept. 17, S. P. Dom. vi. 70.
B 2
4 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ, CH. LV
should feel aggrieved when the Catholics, whom she had come
to protect, were again placed under the pressure of the penal
laws. A few days after the dissolution he was at Beaulieu,
hunting in the New Forest, whilst Henrietta Maria was estab-
The Queen Hshed at Titchfield, on the other side of Southamp-
at Titchfield. ton \vater. There he visited her from time to time ;
but, in the temper in which they both were, there was little
chance of a reconciliation. Charles never thought of taking
the slightest blame to himself for the estrangement which had
arisen between them. It was his wife's business, he held, to
love and obey him, just as it was the business of the House
of Commons to vote him money. Sometimes he sent Buck-
ingham to threaten or to flatter the 'Queen by turns. Some-
times he came in person to teach her what her duties were. If
he was blind to his own errors he was sharpsighted enough to
perceive that his wife's French attendants were doing their best
to keep her displeasure alive, and were teaching her to regard
herself as a martyr, and to give as much time as possible to
spiritual exercises and to the reading of books of devotion.1
To counteract these tendencies in the Queen, Charles
Dis-ute
about the wished to place about her the Duchess of Bucking-
Ladies of the !/-> /• 1-1 1_ • 1 1 I •» «• 1 •
i edcham- ham, the Countess of Denbigh, and the Marchioness
of Hamilton, the wife, the sister, and the niece of his
own favourite minister, and he desired her at once to admit
them as Ladies of the Bedchamber.
Although this demand was not in contradiction with the let-
ter of the marriage treaty,2 it was in complete opposition to its
spirit, and the young Queen fired up in anger at the proposal.
She told Charles that what he asked was contrary to the con-
tract of marriage. Nothing, she told her own followers, would
induce her to admit spies into her privacy.
1 See a curious letter, said to be from a gentleman in the Queen's
household (Oct. 15, S. P. Dom. vii. 85), which looks genuine. But even
'if it is not, the statements in it are in general accordance with what is
known from other sources.
8 By Article 1 1 all the attendants taken from France were to be Catho-
lics and French, and all vacancies were to be filled up with Catholics.
Louis had forgotten to provide for the case of Charles wishing to add
Protestants when there were no vacancies.
1625 THE QUEEN AT TITCHFIELD. 5
The strife grew fierce. The guard-room at Titchfield was
used on Sundays for the service of the English Church, accord-
, ing to the custom which prevailed in houses occupied
The English r
sermon at by the King. Against this the Queen protested as
an insult to herself, and argued that whilst Charles
was at Beaulieu, she was herself the mistress of the house.
Lady Denbigh, however, took part against her, and the service
was not discontinued. At last the Queen lost all patience,
made an incursion into the room at sermon time, and walked
up and down laughing and chattering with her French ladies as
loudly as possible. The preacher soon found him-
jokes upon self a butt for the practical jokes of the Frenchmen
the preacher. , , 111/^1 i • . •
of the household. One day, as he was sitting on a
bench in the garden, a gun was fired off behind a hedge close
by. The frightened man fancied an attempt had been made
upon his life, and pointed to some marks upon the bench as
having been made by the shot aimed at himself. Tillieres,
who had come back to England as chamberlain to the Queen,
was called in to adjudicate, and, having sat down on several
parts of the bench, gravely argued that as he could not sit any-
where without covering some of the marks, and as, moreover,
the clergyman was very corpulent, whilst he was himself very
thin, the shot which had made the marks must certainly have
passed through the person of the complainant, if his story had
been true.1
If Charles was hardly a match for his wife, he had no doubt
at all that he was a match for half the Continent. Those vast
enterprises which he had been unable to bring himself to dis-
Rusdorf avow in the face of the House of Commons had still
olariesto a charm for his mind. In vain Rusdorf, speaking on
assist the behalf of his master, the exiled Frederick, urged upon
King of Den- ' . . .
mark. him the necessity of concentrating his forces in one
quarter, and argued that the ten thousand landsmen on board
the fleet would be useless at Lisbon or Cadiz, but would
be invaluable on the banks of the Elbe or the Weser, where
1 Tillieres, Me'moires, 99-104; Rusdorf to Oxenstjerna, ^~^-,3°
Ale moires de Rusdorf, ii. 73«
6 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. i.v.
Christian of Denmark was with difficulty making head against
Tilly.1
As the attack upon Spain was the first object with Charley
he listened more readily to the Dutch Commissioners, who
The Dutch nad come to England in order to draw up a treaty of
sionersln alliance. Naturally the Dutchmen cared more about
Kngiand. tne war wjtn Spain than about the war in Germany,
and when the treaty which they came to negotiate was com-
pleted it fixed accurately the part to be taken by the two
countries in common maritime enterprise, whilst everything re-
lating to hostilities on land was expressed in vague generalities
The States- General had already agreed to lend Charles 2,000
English soldiers in exchange for the same number of recruits,
and to send twenty vessels to join the fleet at Plymouth.2 By
Sept. s. the new treaty, which was signed at Southampton on
The Treaty September 8, an alliance offensive and defensive was
of South- r
ampton. established between England and the States-General.
The Flemish harbours were to be kept constantly blockaded by
a Dutch fleet, whilst the English were to perform the same task
off the coast of Spain. Whenever a joint expedition was con-
certed between the two nations the States General were to
contribute one ship for every four sent out by England. The
details of a somewhat similar arrangement for joint operations
by land were left, perhaps intentionally, in some obscurity.3
To Rusdorf the preference shown for maritime over mili-
tary enterprise was the death-knell of his master's hope of
recovering the Palatinate. Charles was far too sanguine to
take so gloomy a view of the situation. He had now openly
Open breach broken with Spain. He had recalled Trumbull, his
with Spain. agent at Brussels, and he had no longer any minister
residing in the Spanish dominions. He had followed up this
step by the issue of letters of marque to those who wished to
prey on Spanish commerce. Yet he had no idea of limiting
hostilities to a combat between England and Spain. " By the
1 Rusdorf s advice. "8" 3* Memoires de Rusdorf. i. 6ll.
' Sept. 10,
2 Agreement, . y 23 Aitzema. i. 468.
Aug. 2,
* Treaty of Southampton ibid. i. 469.
1625 BUCKINGHAM'S MISSION. 7
grace of God," he said to a Swedish ambassador who visited
him at Titchfield, " I will carry on the war if I risk my crown.
I will have reason of the Spaniards, and will set matters straight
again. My brother-in-law shall be restored, and I only wish
that all other potentates would do as I am doing." l
In fact, it was because Charles had not been content to
pursue a mere war of vengeance against Spain, that he had
entered upon those extended engagements which more than
anything else had brought him into collision with the House of
Commons. Those engagements he had no intention of aban-
doning, and he hoped that if some temporary way of fulfilling
them could be found, the success of the fleet would give him
a claim to the gratitude of his subjects, and would enable him
to place himself at the head of an alliance more distinctly
Protestant than when he had been hampered by the necessity
of looking to France for co-operation. In the Treaty of South-
ampton the foundation for such an alliance had been laid, and
it now only remained to extend it, with the needful modifica-
tions, to the King of Denmark and the North German Princes.
It was therefore arranged that Buckingham should
Buckingham . , T, t_ i i , r ,
to go to the go in person to the Hague, where the long-deferred
conference was expected at last to take place. It
was useless for him to go with empty hands. If Charles could
not procure the money which he had already bound himself to
supply to the King of Denmark, it was hardly likely that Christian
would care to enter into fresh negotiations with so bad a pay-
master. Yet, how was the money to be found ? One desperate
resource there was, of which Charles had spoken already in a
rhetorical flourish, and of which he was now resolved to make use
in sober earnest. The plate and jewels of the Crown,
The Crown , , ,. . , . .. f . ,
jewels to be the hereditary possession of a long line of kings,
might well be pledged in so just and so holy a cause.
In England, it was true, no one would touch property to which
his right might possibly be challenged, on the ground that the
inalienable possessions of the Crown could not pass, even for a
time, into the hands of a subject ; but on the Continent there
1 Rusdorf to Frederick, Sept. '°, Mtmoires de KusJorf, \. 623.
8 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
would be no fear of the peculiar doctrines of English law. The
danger was that, if once the precious gems were sent to the
Continent, there might be some difficulty in recovering them.
At last it was decided that the plate and jewels should be carried
by Buckingham to Holland. It was probably argued that in
that rich and friendly country men might be found who would
both accept the security and be faithful to their trust.1
Want of money is a sad trial to any Government, and in one
part of England it had already brought Charles into difficulties
with his subjects. Towards the end of August serious appre-
hensions were entertained for the safety of Harwich. It was
known that Dunkirk was alive with preparations for war, and
August. n° Part of England was so liable to attack as the flat
The Essex an(j indented coast of Essex. Orders were therefore
trained bands
at Harwich issued by the Privy Council to put Landguard Fort
in repair, and to occupy Harwich with a garrison of 3,000 men,
chosen from the Essex trained bands. So far everything had
been done according to rule. Each county was bound to pro-
vide men for its own defence. But the Crown was also bound
to repay the expenses which it might incur, and this time there
was an ominous silence about repayment. Under these cir-
cumstances the Earl of Warwick, Holland's elder brother —
who was now in high favour with Buckingham — made a
proposition which looks like the germ of the extension of ship-
money to the inland counties. The adjacent shires, he said,
were interested in the safety of Harwich. Let them, therefore,
be called on to contribute to its defence in men and money.
The adjacent shires, however, refused to do anything of the
kind; and the vague promises of payment at some future time,
which was all that the Government had in its power to offer,
were met by the firm resolution of the Essex men that they,
at any rate, would not serve at their own charges. Making a
1 The earliest mention of Buckingham's intended journey is, I believe,
in RusdorPs letter to Oxenstjerna. Sept. — (Mem. ii. 63). The first hint
about the jewels is in an order from Conway to Mildmay, the Master of
the Jewel House, to give an account of the plate in his hands. Conway to
Mildmay, Sept. 4, Con-way's Letter Book, 227, S. P. Dotn.
1625 A NEW SECRETARY. 9
virtue of necessity, the Council ordered the men to be sent back
to their homes, and directed Pennington, who, since his return
from Dieppe, had been watching, with a small squadron, the
movements of the Dunkirk privateer?, to betake himself to the
protection of Harwich. Thus ended Charles's first attempt so
to construe the obligations of the local authorities as to compel
them to take upon themselves the duties of the central Govern-
ment. l
With all Charles's efforts to conciliate public opinion by a
bold and, as he hoped, a successful foreign policy, there was no
thought of throwing open the offices of State to those who were
likely to be regarded with confidence by the nation. Yet it was
Se t 6 not long before an opportunity occurred of which a
Death of wise ruler would have taken advantage. On Septem-
ber 6, Morton died of a fever which seized him a few
days after his return from the Netherlands. The vacant secre-
taryship was at once conferred upon Sir John Coke, the only
man amongst the Government officials who had in-
Coke, secre- curred the positive dislike of the Opposition leaders
of the Commons, in whose eyes the subserviency
which he always showed to Buckingham more than counter-
balanced the excellent habits of business which he undoubtedly
possessed. The honesty of purpose upon which that sub-
serviency was based was unlikely to make any impression on
their minds.
Buckingham was not left without a warning of the dangec
he was incurring by his refusal to make any effort to conciliate
^ t g public opinion. Lord Cromwell, who had left his ser-
Cromweirs vice under Mansfeld for a more hopeful appointment
in the new expedition, had brought back with him
from the Netherlands his old habit of speaking plainly. " They
say," he wrote to the Duke, "the best lords of the Council
knew nothing of Count Mansfeld's journey or this fleet, which
discontents even the best sort, if not all. They say it is a very
1 Coke to Buckingham, Aug. 25 ; Coke to Conway, Aug. 26 ; Order
of Council, Aug. 30 ; Sussex to the Council, Sept. 9 ; Warwick to Con-
way, Sept. 10 ; Warwick to the Council, Sept. 18, 23 ; The Council to
Warwick, Oct. ?., S. P. Dom. v. 85, 99 ; vi. 38, 44, 76, 98 ; vii. 4.
lo THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
great burden your Grace takes upon you, since none knows
anything but you. It is conceived that not letting others bear
part of this burden now you bear, it may ruin you, which Heaven
forbid." >
The expedition upon which so many hopes were embarked
was by rio means in a prosperous condition. For a long time
^u gt the soldiers had been left unpaid. Before the end of
Bad con- August there was a new press of 2,000 men, to fill up
tw>o|Mat the vacancies caused by sickness and desertion.2 The
Plymouth. farmers of South Devon, upon whom the soldiers
were billeted, refused to supply food to their unwelcome guests
as soon as they discovered that their pockets were empty.
Like Mansfeld's men eight months before, the destitute
recruits made up their minds that they would not die of star-
vation. Roaming about the country in bands, they killed sheep
before the eyes of their owners, and told the farmers to their
faces that rather than famish they would kill their oxen too.3
At one time there had been a talk of Buckingham's taking
the command in person, and a commission had been made out
in his name ; but he could not be at the Hague and on the
coast of Spain at the same time, and he perhaps fancied that
he could do better service as a diplomatist than as an admiral.
At all events, whilst, much to the amusement of the sailors, he
retained the pompous title of generalissimo of the fleet, he
appointed Sir Edward Cecil, the grandson of Burghley
Cecil to com- ,. , /•,-.!•» t
mandthe and the nephew of Salisbury, to assume the active
expedition. comman(j) wjth the more modest appellation of
general.4 Cecil had served for many years in the Dutch army,
with the reputation of being a good officer. He was now for
the first time to be trusted with an independent command, and
the selection was the more hazardous as he was entirely un-
acquainted with naval warfare. From the first he had attached
himself closely to Buckingham, who had in vain supported his
1 Cromwell to Buckingham, Sept. 8, S. P. Dom. vi. 30.
? The King to Nottingham and Holderness, Aug. 23, ibid, v. 62
1 Commissioners at Plymouth to the Council, Aug. 12, Sept. I, S, P.
Dom. vi. 3.
4 Eliot, Neffotium Posterortim.
1625 THE FLEET AND ARMY. n
claims to the command in the Palatinate in 1620, but who had
now sufficient influence to reverse the decision then come to in
Essex and favour of Sir Horace Vere. The Earl of Essex, who
Denbigh. was to gO as vice- Admiral, knew as little of the sea
as Cecil himself; and the same might be said of the Rear-
Admiral, the Earl of Denbigh, whose only known qualification
for the post lay in the accident that he was married to Buck-
ingham's sister.
Whatever Cecil's powers as a general may have been, he
had at least a soldier's eye to discern the deficiencies of the
troops under his orders, and he professed himself as
Cecil's report puzzled as the Commons had been to discover why,
on the troops. -,. . , , L i , .•
if no attempt had been made to convert the recruits
into trained soldiers, they had been levied in May for service
in September. Buckingham, too, he complained, had been
recommending officers to him who were not soldiers at all, and
whom ' he neither could nor durst return.' The arms which
the men should have been taught to handle were still on board
ship in the harbour. On September 8, only three out of the
twenty Dutch ships promised had arrived at Plymouth.1
There was, however, one direction in which Cecil's energy
could hardly be thrown away. In answer to the complaints
made in Parliament it had been announced that Sir
Measures . 11. • i
taken against rrancis Steward would be sent out with a squad-
ron to clear the English seas of the Sallee rovers.
Steward's attempt had ended in total failure. According to the
Mayor of Plymouth, his ships had been outsailed by the pirates.
According to his own account the weather had been against
him. Parliament, he said, instead of grumbling against the
King's officers, ought to have passed an Act ensuring them a
fair wind.3
The outcry from the western ports waxed louder than ever.
It was reported that danger had arisen from another quarter.
No less than ten privateers had slipped through the Dutch block-
1 Cecil to Conwav, Sept. 8. S. P. Dom. vi. 36.
2 The Mayor &c. to the Council, Aug. 12 ; Steward to Buckingham.
Aug. 1 6, S. P Dom. v. 36, 49.
12 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
ading squadron in front of Dunkirk, ' and were roaming the seas
ge t to prey upon English commerce. Cecil, when he heard
Argaii's the news, sent out Sir Samuel Argall in search of the
enemy. Argall, after a seven days' cruise, returned
without having captured a single pirate or privateer • but he
was followed by a long string of French and Dutch prizes,
which he suspected of carrying on traffic with the Spanisn
Netherlands. Amongst these was one, the name of which
was, a few months later, to flash into sudden notoriety — the
' St. Peter,' of Havre de Grace.2
On September 15 3 the King himself arrived at Plymouth
to see the fleet and to encourage the crews by his presence,
rhe King Charles went on board many of the ships, and re
fnghanTat viewed the troops on Roborough Downs.4 When
Plymouth. he jeft) on the 24th, Buckingham, who had accom-
panied him, remained behind to settle questions of precedence
amongst the officers, and to infuse, if it were possible, some of
his own energetic spirit into the commanders. As usual, he
anticipated certain success, and he was unwise enough to obtain
from the King a public declaration of his intention to confer a
peerage upon Cecil, on the ground that the additional rank
would give him greater authority over his subordinates. It was
given out that the title selected was that of Viscount Wimble-
1 Hippisley to Buckingham, .Sept. 9, S. P. Dom. vi. 67, 120.
* Narrative of the Expedition, Sept. 16 ; Examination of the masters
of the prizes; ibid. vi. 67, 120.
3 Cecil's Journal, printed in 1626, has been usually accepted as the
authority for the voyage. But it should be compared with his own de-
spatches, and with the letters of other officers, such as Sir W. St. I.eger,
Sir G. Blundell, and Sir T. Love, which will be found amongst the State
Papers. We have also now Glanville's official narrative, edited by Dr.
Grosart for the Camden Society. The Journal of the ' Swiftsure ' (S. P.
Dom. xi. 22) contains a full narrative of the proceedings of the squadron
under Essex, whilst the proceedings of Denbigh and Argall are specially
treated of in an anonymous journal (S. P. Dom. x. 67). Geronimo de la
Concepcion's Cadiz f/».t/ra/a gives the Spanish stcry. In the Tanner
MSS. (Ixxii. 16) there is a MS. copy of Wimbledon's Journal, annotated
by some one hostile to the author, thus bearing witness to the correctness
of his assertions where they are not questioned.
4 Glativille, 3.
1 62 5 THE FLEET AT PLYMOUTH. 13
don, though there was not time formally to make out the patent
before the sailing of the fleet Buckingham seems to have
forgotten that honours granted before success has crowned an
undertaking are apt to become, ridiculous in case of failure.
This was not the only foolish thing done by Buckingham at
Plymouth. The sight of Glanville, the author of the last address
Gianviiie °^ ^ Commons at Oxford, quietly fulfilling his duties
senton board as Recorder of the Devonshire port, inspired him
with the idea of maliciously sending a Parliamentary
lawyer to sea as secretary to the fleet. Glanville pleaded in
vain that the interruption to his professional duties would cause
him a heavy loss, and that, as no one but his clerk could, even
under ordinary circumstances, decipher his handwriting, it was
certain that when he came to set down the jargon of sailors,
even that confidential servant would be unequal to the task.1
At last, on October 3, forty sail of the great fleet were sent
on to Falmouth. The remainder lay in the Sound waiting for
pct. 3. their Dutch comrades. They had not long to expect
parl'of the their coming ; on the 4th the Dutch ships were
"eet- descried, showing their topsails above the waves, as
if, as men said, they had come to escort the English fleet upon
its voyage. On the 5th the anchors were weighed, and the
united fleet passed out of the harbour and rounded the point
where the soft woods of Mount Edgcumbe slope down to the
waters of the Sound. Its fair prospects were soon interrupted.
The wind chopped round to the south-west, and began to blow
hard. Essex, with the foremost vessels, took refuge in Fal-
The storm niouth, but the bulk of the fleet put back to its old
at Plymouth, anchorage. Plymouth harbour was no safe refuge
in such a gale, in the days when as yet the long low line of the
breakwater had not arisen to curb the force of the rolling waves.
By the next morning all bonds of discipline had given way be-
fore the anxious desire for safety, and the waters of the Sound
were covered with a jostling throng of vessels hurrying, re-
gardless of the safety of each other, to the secure retreat of the
1 Glanville's reasons, Sept. (?) Woodford to Nethersole, Oct. 8, £ P.
Dom. vi. 132 ; vii. 44. Was Glanville's objection the origin of the old
joke, or did he use it for want of an argument ?
14 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH; LV.
Catwater. Orders, if given at all, met with but little attention,
and Cecil himself was forced to get into a boat, and to pass
from vessel to vessel, in order to exact the least semblance of
obedience.
Cecil had long ceased to look upon the expedition with his
patron's confidence of success. Little good, he thought, would
come of a voyage commenced so late in the season,
despon- The spectacle of disorder which he now witnessed
left a deep impression on his mind. The discipline
which comes from an energetic and well-arranged organisation
was entirely wanting, and it was not replaced by the discipline
which springs from old habits of comradeship, or from the
devotion which makes each man ready to sacrifice himself to
the common cause. Buckingham, who in 1624 had fancied
that military power was to be measured by the number of
enterprises simultaneously undertaken, fancied in 1625 that the
warlike momentum of a fleet or army was to be measured by
its numerical size. He had yet to learn — if indeed he ever
learnt it — that thousands of raw recruits do not make an army,
and that thousands of sailors, dragged unwillingly into a service
which they dislike, do not make a navy. Cecil knew it, and
the expedition carried with it the worst of omens in a hesitating
and despondent commander.1
On the 8th the fleet, laden with the fortunes of Buckingham
and Charles, put to sea once more. It sailed, as it had been
Oct. s. gathered together, without any definite plan. There
T^in^Jts were general instructions that a blow should be
to sea. struck somewhere on the Spanish coast before the
treasure ships arrived, but no special enterprise had been finally
selected. At a council held in the King's presence at Ply-
mouth, Lisbon, Cadiz, and San Lucar had been mentioned as
points of attack. The general opinion had been in favour of
an attempt on San Lucar, which, if captured, might be used as
a basis of operations against Cadiz and the expected treasure
fleet. Objections had, however, been raised, and the whole
question had been reserved for further discussion on the spot.
' Glanvillc, 7. Cecil to V-oke, Oct. 8, undated in Caba'a, 370; Cecil
to Buckingham, April 28, Sept. 26, 1626, S. P. Dom. Addenda.
1625 THE FLEET BEFORE CADIZ. 15
As soon, therefore, as the fleet rounded Cape St. Vincent, Cecil
called a council. The masters of the ships declared tha,t it
would be dangerous to enter the harbour of San
TheCcouncii Lucar so late in the year. Some who were present
ofwaratsea. strongly in favour of seizing Gibraltar as a
place of great strength, and easy to be manned, victualled, and
held if once taken. The majority concurred in rejecting the
proposal, but hesitated between Cadiz and San Lucar. Upon
this Argall observed that an easy landing could be effected at
St. Mary Port in Cadiz Bay. From thence a march of twelve
miles would bring the troops to San Lucar, a place which was
certain to capitulate to so large a force without difficulty.
Argall's advice was adopted, and orders were given to
anchor off St. Mary Port ; but as the fleet swept up to the
station a sight presented itself too tempting to be re-
The fleet in sisted. Far away on the opposite side of the bay
Cadiz Bay. jay twelve taii ships with fifteen galleys by their
side,1 covering a crowd of smaller vessels huddled under the
walls of Cadiz. Essex, who led the way in Argall's ship, the
' Swiftsure,' disobeyed his orders, and dashed at once upon the
prey,
No provision had been made for this conjuncture of
affairs. To do him justice, Cecil did his best to repair his
mistake. Sailing through Essex's division, he shouted orders
to right and left to crowd all sail after the Vice-Admiral. But
he shouted now as vainly in Cadiz Bay as he shouted a few
weeks before in Plymouth harbour. The merchant captains
and the merchant crews, pressed unwillingly into the service,
had no stomach for the fight. Essex was left alone to his glory
and his danger, and Cecil, who did not even know the names
of the vessels under his command, was unable to call the
laggards to account.
Of all this the Spanish commanders were necessarily
ignorant. Instead of turning upon the unsupported ' Swift-
sure,' they cut their cables and fled up the harbour. It was a
1 There is a discrepancy about the numbers. I take them from Cecil's
Journal. Glanville says there were fifteen or sixteen ships, and eight or
nine galleys.
1 6 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV
moment for prompt decision. Had a Drake or a Raleigh
Flight of the been m command, an attempt would doubtless have
Spaniards. keen ma(Je to follow Up the blow. Cecil Was HO
sailor, and he allowed his original orders for anchoring to be
quietly carried out.
At nightfall a council of war was summoned on board the
flagship. The project of marching upon San Lucar was aban-
doned, as it was discovered that the water at St. Mary Port was
too shallow to allow the boats to land the men with ease.
Though it was not known that a mere handful of three hundred
men formed the whole garrison of Cadiz,1 the flight of the
Spanish ships had given rise to a suspicion that the town was
but weakly defended. Some voices, therefore, were raised for
an immediate attack upon the town. The majority, however,
too prudent to sanction a course of such daring, preferred to
think first of obtaining a safe harbour for the fleet. The coun-
Puntaitobe cil therefore came to a resolution to attack the fort
attacked. of puntal, which guarded the entrance, barely half a
mile in width, leading to the inner harbour, where the vessels
had taken refuge. The obstacle did not seem a serious one.
" Now," said one of the old sailors, " you are sure of these
ships. They are your own. They are in a net. If you can
but clear the forts to secure the fleet to pass in safely, you may
do what you will." Nothing could be easier, it was thought,
than to take the fort Sir William St. Leger alone protested
against the delay. Part of the fleet, he argued, would be
sufficient to batter the fort. The remainder might sail in
at once against the ships whilst the enemy's attention was dis-
tmcted. St. Leger, however, was not a sailor, and, good as
his advice was, it was rejected by a council of war composed
mainly of sailors.
five Dutch ships and twenty small Newcastle
Failure of * *
the first colliers were accordingly ordered to attack the fort at
a'oct 23 once. As Cecil watched the flashes of the guns
lighting up the night, he flattered himself that his
orders had been obeyed. But when morning dawned he learned
1 Geronimo de la Conception, 458.
1625 FORT PUNTAL CAPTURED. 17
that the English colliers had taken advantage of the darkness to
remain quietly at anchor, whilst the Dutchmen, overmatched
in the unequal combat, had been compelled to draw off before
midnight with the loss of two of their ships.
A rope at the yard-arm would doubtless have been Drake's
recipe for the disease. Cecil was of a milder nature. Rowing
from ship to ship, he adjured the cowards to advance for very
shame. Finding that he might as well have spoken to the
winds, he went on board the 'Swiftsure,' and directed Essex
Second to attack. The ' Swiftsure ' was at once placed op-
posite the enemy's batteries, and was well seconded
by her comrades of the Royal Navy. Nothing, however, would
induce the merchant crews to venture ''nto danger. Clustering
timidly behind the King's ships, they contented themselves
with firing shots over them at the fort. At last one of them
clumsily sent a shot right through the stern of the ' Swiftsure,'
and Essex, losing patience, angrily ordered them to cease firing.
Such an attack was not likely to compel the garrison to
surrender, and it was only upon the landing of a portion of
Surrenderor ^e troops that the fort at last capitulated. The
Spanish commander, Don Francisco Bustamente,
struck by the gallant bearing of the ' Swiftsure,' asked who was
in command. " Do you know," was the reply, " who took
Cadiz before?" "Yes," he said, "it was the Earl of Essex."
" The son of that earl," he was told, " is in the ship " " Then,"
replied the Spaniard, " I think the devil is there as well." A
request that he might be allowed to pay his respects to Essex
was promptly accorded, and his reception was doubtless such
as one brave man is in the habit of giving to another.
It was late in the evening before Puntal was in the hands of
the English. By that time all hope of taking Cadiz by surprise
was at an end. Whilst Essex was battering Puntal
Reinforce- °
mentsfor Spanish troops were flocking into Cadiz, and that
night the town was garrisoned by four thousand
soldiers. It was true that the place was only provisioned for
three days, but the Spanish galleys quickly learned that they
could bring in succours in spite of the English, and Cadiz was
soon provisioned as well as guarded.
VOL. vi. c
1 8 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
On the morning of the 24th Cecil was busily employed in
getting ashore the army of which, as a soldier, he wished to
2 take the command in person. By his orders Denbigh
The troops to called a council of war, which was to decide what was
ed' next to be done. The council recommended that
provisions should be landed for the soldiers, that an attempt
should be made to blockade Cadiz, and that the Spanish ships
at the head of the harbour should at last be pursued.
Whilst the council was still sitting, a scout hurried in with
intelligence that a large force of the enemy was approaching
The march from the north, where the island, at the southern end
northwards. Qf wnich Cadiz was situated, swelled out in breadth
till it was cut off from the mainland by a narrow channel
which was crossed by only one bridge. Fearing lest he should
be taken between this force and the town, Cecil gave hasty
orders to advance to meet the enemy. The Spaniards, how-
ever, were in no hurry to bring on an action against superior
numbers, and prudently drew back before him.
After a six miles' march the English discovered that no enemy
was in sight. Cecil, however, did not appear to be in the least
disconcerted. " It seemeth," he said to those who were near
him, " that this alarm is false ; but since we are thus forwards
on our way, if you will, ne will march on. It may be we may
light on some enemy. If we do not, we may see what kind of
bridge it is that hath been so much spoken of." *
Cecil, in fact, lighted on an enemy upon whose presence he
had failed to calculate. In the hurry of the sudden march no
one had thought of seeing that the men carried pro-
J he soldiers . ° .
among the visions with them. It is true that stores had been
wine-casks. .... . . , . .
sent from the ships, in pursuance of the decision of
the council of war. Yet even if these had been actually landed,
they would hardly have reached the army, which was already
engaged in its forward march, till too late to provide a meal for
1 This would be almost incredible, if it did not stand on Cecil's own
authority. The marginal note in the copy amongst the Tanner MSS.
remarks : "The first time an army marched so far to answer a false alarm,
and it were fit his Lordship would nati° those some of the council he spake
to, that were not against his going to the bridge."
162? THE SOLDIERS AMONGST THE WINE-CASKS. 19
that day. As a matter of fact, they were never landed at all.
The officer in command of Fort Puntal alleged that he had
no orders to receive them, and sent them back to the ships.
Cecil's force was thus in evil plight. Many of the soldiers had
not tasted food since they had been landed to attack Puntal
the day before. Ever since noon they had been marching with
the hot Spanish sun beating fiercely on their heads. Cecil,
in mercy, ordered a cask of wine to be brought out of a neigh-
bouring house to solace the fasting men. Even a little drop
would have been too much for their empty stomachs, but the
houses around were stored with wine for the use of the West
India fleets. In a few minutes casks were broached in every
direction, and well-nigh the whole army was reduced to a state
of raving drunkenness. Interference was useless, and the
officers were well content that the enemy was ignorant of the
chance offered him.
Disgraceful as the scene was, it had no appreciable effect
Oct a upon the success or failure of the expedition. When
Retreat to morning dawned it was evident that the men could
not be kept another day without food, even if there
had been any object to be gained by their remaining where they
Failure of were.1 Leaving therefore a hundred poor wretches
upon'the1* tymg drunk in the ditches to be butchered by the
ships. Spaniards, Cecil returned to Puntal, to learn that the
attack which he had ordered upon the Spanish ships had not
1 Let Cecil be judged by his own Journal. " Now this disorder hap-
pening," he writes, " made us of the council of war to consider that since
the going to the bridge was no great design, but to meet with the enemy
and to spoil the country, neither could we victual any men that should be
left there, and that the galleys might land as many men as they would
there to cut them off : and that when my Lord of Essex took Cadiz,
Conyers Clifford was taxed by Sir Francis Vere . . . with mistaking the
directions that were given him to go no further from the town than the
throat of the land, which is not above two miles, where he might be se-
conded and relieved, and be ready to relieve others ; but he went to the
bridge, which was twelve miles off ; so in regard there was no necessity,
this disorder happening and want of victuals, we resolved to turn back again,
which we did." The marginal note to this is, " Why did his Lordship
then go to the bridge without victuals and to lose time, having such a.
precedent against it ? "
C 2
20 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ. CH. LV.
been carried out. Their commanders had made use of their
time whilst the English were battering Puntal. Warping their
largest vessels up a narrow creek at the head of the harbour,
they had guarded them by sinking a merchantman at the
entrance. Argall, to whom the attack had been entrusted by
Denbigh, had only to report that the thing was impracticable.
However great may be the risk in forming an opinion on im-
perfect data, it is difficult to resist the impression that a com-
bined attack by sea and land would not have been made in vain,
and that if Wimbledon, instead of wasting his time in pursuing a
flying enemy, had contented himself with acting in conjunction
with Argall, a very different result would have been obtained.
However this may have been, it was now too late to re-
pair the fault committed. A reconnaissance of the fortifica-
tions of Cadiz convinced the English commanders that the
town was as unassailable as the ships. The Mexico fleet, the
main object of the voyage, was now daily expected, and there
Oct. 27. was no time to linger any longer. On the 27th the
embwkedre men were re-embarked. The next day Puntal was
Oct. 28. abandoned, and the great armament stood out to sea
as majestic and as harmless as when it had arrived six days
before.
On November 4 the English fleet arrived at its appointed
station, stretching out far to seaward from the southern coast of
NOV. 4. Portugal. Though no man on board knew it, the
The look-out quest was hopeless from the beginning. The Spanish
for the 1,1 r v • i
Mexico fleet, treasure ships, alarmed by the rumours of war which
had been wafted across the Atlantic, had this year taken a long
sweep to the south. Creeping up the coast of Africa, they had
sailed into Cadiz Bay two days after Cecil's departure.1
It may be that fortune was not wholly on the side of Spain.
Judging by the exploits of the merchant captains before Puntal,
it is at least possible that, if a collision had taken place, instead
of the English fleet taking the galleons, the galleons might have
taken the English fleet. At all events, if the Spaniards had
trusted to flight rather than to valour, the English vessels would
1 Atye to Acton, De^ a8, S. P. Spain. See, however, Mr. Dalton's
Life of Sir E. Cecil, where is the best account of this voyage.
RETURN OF THE FLEET. 21
hardly have succeeded in overtaking them. With their bottoms
foul with weeds, and leaking at every pore from long exposure
Nov. 16. to the weather, they found it hard to keep the sea at
Return to an. Cecil had at first resolved to keep watch till the
England.
2oth, but on the i6th he gave orders to make sail for
home with all possible speed.
There was indeed no time to lose. The officials who had
been cnarged with supplying the fleet had been fraudulent or
careless. Hulls and tackle were alike rotten. One ship had
Bad con- been sent out with a set of old sails which had done
fhipsnandthe service in the fight with the Armada. The food was
men- bad, smelling ' so as no dog in Paris Garden would
eat it.' 1 The drink 2 was foul and unwholesome. Disease
raged among the crews, and in some cases it was hard to bring
together a sufficient number of men to work the ships. One
by one, all through the winter months, the shattered remains
of the once powerful fleet came staggering home, to seek refuge
in whatever port the winds and waves would allow.
It was certain that so portentous a failure would add heavily
to the counts of the indictment which had long been gathering
December, against Buckingham. Some indeed of the causes of
Bucking- failure were of long standing. In the King's ships
hams part -n
the matter, both officers and men were scandalously underpaid,
and many of them thought more of eking out their resources
by peculation than of throwing themselves heart and soul into
the service of their country. Nor was it fair to expect, after
the long peace, that efficiency which is only attainable under
the stress of actual warfare. Yet, if the actual conduct of the ex-
pedition were called in question, it would be in vain for Bucking-
ham, after his defiant challenge to public opinion at Oxford, to
argue before a new House of Commons that he was not answer-
able for Cecil's neglect of his opportunities at Cadiz, and still
less for the accident by which the Mexico fleet had escaped
1 Sir M. Geere to W. Geere, Dec. 1 1, S. f. Dom. xi. 49.
* Beverage, the term used in these letters, is the usual word in
Devonshire now for common cyder, but it seems, from a passage in one of
Cecil's letters (Glanville, xxxiv.), to have been made with sack. It was
probably wine and water.
22 THE EXPEDITION TO CADIZ, CH. LV.
After all allowances have been made for exaggeration, is it easy
to deny that the popular condemnation was in the main just ?
The commanders of the expedition, and the officials at home by
whom the preparations were made, were Buckingham's nomi-
nees, and the system of personal favouritism, the worst canker
of organisation, had never been more flourishing than under his
auspices. Nor was it only indirectly that the misfortunes of
the expedition were traceable to Buckingham. If, upon his
arrival at Cadiz, Cecil had been too much distracted by the
multiplicity of objects within his reach to strike a collected
blow at any one of them, so had it been with the Lord High
Admiral at home. Undecided for months whether the fleet was
to be the mere auxiliary of an army which was to lay siege to
Dunkirk, or whether the army was to be the mere auxiliary of a
fleet of which the main object was the capture of the Plate fleet,
he had no room in his mind for that careful preparation for a
special object which is the main condition of success in war as
in everything else.
If Cecil's errors as a commander were thus the reflec-
tion, if not the actual result, of Buckingham's own errors, the
other great cause of failure, the misconduct of the merchant
captains, brings clearly before us that incapacity for recognising
the real conditions of action which was the fertile source of
almost all the errors alike of Buckingham and of Charles. The
great Cadiz expedition, of which Raleigh had been the guiding
spirit, had been animated, like all other successful efforts, by
the joint force of discipline and enthusiasm. A high-spirited
people, stung to anger by a lifelong interference with its reli-
gion, its commerce, and its national independence, had sent
forth its sons burning to requite their injuries upon the Spanish
nation and the Spanish king, and ready to follow the tried and
trusted leaders who had learned their work through a long and
varied experience by sea and land. How different was every-
thing now ! It is hardly possible to doubt that the war of 1625
never was and never could have been as popular as the war
of 1588 and 1597. Charles was not engaged in a national war,
but in one which was political and religious, awakening strong
popular sympathies, indeed, so long as the home danger of a
102", CAUSES OF THE FAILURE. 23
Spanish marriage lasted, but liable to be deserted by those sym-
pathies when that danger was at an end. Nor, if enthusiasm
were lacking, was its place likely to be supplied by discipline.
The commanders were personally brave men, and most of them
were skilled in some special branch of the art of war, but they
had been utterly without opportunities for acquiring the skill
which would have enabled them to direct the motions of that
most delicate of all instruments of warfare, a joint military and
naval expedition. It is possible that after eight or ten years of
war so great an effort might have been successful. It would
have been next to a miracle if it had been successful in 1625.
The worst side of the matter was that Charles did not see in
the misfortunes which had befallen him any reason for attempt-
No serious mg to probe the causes of his failure to the bottom.
tSoa,SU8a~ Some slight investigation there was into the mistakes
which had been committed in Spain ; but nothing
was done to trace out the root of the mischief at home. Sir
James Bagg and Sir Allen Apsley, who had victualled the fleet
before it sailed, were not asked to account for the state in
which the provisions had been found, and they continued to
enjoy Buckingham's favour as before. No officer of the dock-
yard was put upon his defence on account of the condition of
the spars and sails. There was nothing to make it likely that if
another fleet were sent forth in the next spring it would not be
equally unprovided and ill-equipped. In the meanwhile the
King and his minister had fresh objects in view, and it was
always easy for them to speak of past failures as the result of
accident or misfortune.
CHAPTER LVI.
CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE.
EVEN if the Cadiz expedition had not ended in complete
failure, the difficulties resulting from the French alliance would
_ , have been likely to cause Charles serious embarrass-
September.
The French ment. Every step which he had taken since the
alliance. meeting of his first Parliament had been in the
direction of a closer understanding with the Protestant powers.
He had begun again to execute the penal laws. He had signed
a treaty with the Dutch, and he was about to send Buckingham
to the Hague to sign another treaty with the King of Denmark
and the princes of North Germany. When Parliament met
again, he hoped to be able to stand forth in the character of a
leadei of the Protestantism of Europe.
Such schemes as these were fatal to the French alliance.
Louis's idea of that alliance was evidently that of a man who
Bucking- wishes to play the first part. Buckingham wished to
ham's plans. pjay the first part too jje resolved to cross over a«
once to Holland, and then, when the foundations of a great
... , Protestant alliance had been surely laid, to pass on
His proposed J
risitto to Pans. Once more he would summon the King
of France to join England in open and avowed war
against Spain and her allies, no longer, as he had done in May,
as the representative of England alone, but as the leader of a
mighty Protestant confederacy, offering to France the choice
between the acceptance of English leadership or the isolation
of neutrality.
AN OVERTURE FROM FRANCE. 25
Buckingham, indeed, had no difficulty in persuading himself
that the offer which he was about to make was worthy of the
acceptance of Louis. The Spanish treasure of which Cecil had
gone in search was already his by anticipation. When the fleet
returned there would be enough money to keep up the war in
Germany for many a year, and the Flemish ports, so long the
objects of his desire, would at last be snatched from Spinola's
tenacious hold.1
There were reasons enough why the husband of Anne of
Austria should be unwilling to receive a visit from the audacious
Objects of upstart who had ventured to pay public court to the
LOUIS. Queen of France ; and Louis, as soon as he heard
of the proposal, peremptorily instructed Blainville, the new
ambassador whom he was despatching to England, to refuse
permission to Buckingham to enter his kingdom.2 Politics had
1 The views of the English Government may be gathered from a pas-
sage in the instructions drawn up as a guide to some one whom it was in-
tended to send to Gustavus. "And because we are seated most properly
and best furnished for maritime actions, we have undertaken that part,
though it be of greatest cost, and which will, in a short time, by the grace
of God, render all the land service easy and profitable to those that shall
attempt it. And therefore we shall expect that both our dear uncle the
King of Denmark and the King of Sweden will, upon your reasons heard,
go on cheerfully for the stopping of the progress of the enemy's conquests
by land, without calling to us for contribution in that, wherein principally
must be regarded the present conservation of all the sea towns which might
any way give Spain a port of receipt for their ships that may come from
thence that may be bought or built in these parts, or may correspond with
the ports of Flanders. And it will not be amiss when you shall fall into
deliberation with that king, to consult and consider with him the great
importance of taking away the harbours of Flanders from the King of
Spain, and to prove how far he might be moved to join with us. , our uncle
of Denmark, and the States, to make one year's trial to thrust the King of
Spain from the seacoasts of Flanders." — Instructions for Sweden, Oct. 17>
Rymer, xviii. 212.
2 " Je me passionne de sorte pour votre contentement que je ne crains
point de vous mander si franchement mon avis, et vous etes assez du monde
pour penetrer ce qui ne me seroit pas bienseant d'ecrire," is Ville-aux«
Clercs' explanation on giving the orders to Blainville, ^Y~^4» Kin^s A/SS,
137, P- SIS-
26 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LV1.
undoubtedly as much part as passion in the matter. Not
only was the question between Louis and Buckingham the
question of the leadership of half Europe, but Louis
be made had reason to suspect that he would have to guard
against the interference of England nearer home.
Buckingham, in fact, was instructed, as soon as he reached
Paris, to require the immediate restoration of the English
ships which had been used at Rochelle,1 and to ask that an
end should at once be put to the unnatural war between the
King and the Huguenots.
The demand, that Charles should be empowered to interfere
between Louis and his subjects, was to be made in the most
offensive way. Buckingham's instructions ran in the following
terms : — "To the end they," that is to say, the French Pro-
testants, " may not refuse the conditions offered them for the
only doubt of not having them kept, you shall give them our
Royal promise that we will interpose our mediation so far as
that those conditions shall be kept with them ; and if this will
not satisfy them, you shall give them our kingly promise that
if by mediation you cannot prevail for them, we will assist them
and defend them." In other words, when Louis had once
given his promise to the Huguenots, it was to be considered as
given to the King of England, so that if any disputes again
arose between him and his subjects, Charles might be justified
in intervening in their favour if he thought fit so to do.
Buckingham, in fact, not content with taking the lead in
Germany, was to dictate to Louis the relations which were
to exist between himself and his subjects ; and that too at a
moment when the English Government was fiercely repudiating
a solemn contract on the ground that it did not become a king
of England to allow a foreign sovereign to intervene between
1 Coke, who knew nothing of the circumstances which had induced
Buckingham to surrender the ships, answers Lord Brooke's inquiries as
follows : " For the French, I will excuse no error ; nor can give you any
good account how the instruction for the ships not to be employed against
them of the religion was changed. Only this I can assure your Honour,
that I had neither hand nor foreknowledge of it. Now, our eyes are
opened, and we shall endeavour by all means to recover the ships as soon
as is possible. "—Coke to Brooke, Nov. 5, Melbownc MSS.
1625 FRENCH OVERTURES. 27
himself and his people.1 Before Buckingham left England, he
had to learn that Louis had ideas of his own on the manner
in which France was to co-operate with England. He was
summoned back to Salisbury, where Charles halted on his
return from reviewing the fleet at Plymouth, to hear what
Blainville had to say.
On October n the new ambassador was admitted to an
audience. He, indeed, had brought with him instructions to make
i proposals, if satisfaction could be given to Louis on
Biainviiie's other matters, which, as far as the war was concerned,
Thl^Freiich ought not to have been unacceptable. Louis was
overtures. ready to furnish too,ooo/., payable in two years, to the
King of Denmark. He also promised to join Charles in giving
support to Mansfeld's army, and consented to an arrangement,
already in progress, for transferring that force to Germany, and
placing Mansfeld under the command of the King of Den-
mark.2 If Louis, however, was prepared to do as much as this,
he was prepared to ask for something in return. He could
hardly avoid asking for the fulfilment of Charles's promise to
free the English Catholics from the penal laws ; and now that
Soubise had been defeated he would be likely to press for the
entire submission of Rochelle, though he was ready to promise
that the Huguenots should enjoy religious liberty, a privilege,
as he afterwards wrote to Blainville, which was not allowed to
the Catholics in England. In speaking to Charles, the French-
man began in the tone of complaint. To his remonstrances
about the English Catholics, Charles at first replied that he
had only promised to protect the Catholics as long as they
behaved with moderation. It was for himself to interpret this
promise, and he took upon himself to say that they had not
so behaved. He then added the now familiar argument that
the secret article had never been taken seriously, even by the
French Government
1 Conway to Carleton, Oct. 7, S, P. Holland. Instructions to Buck-
ingham, Rymer, xviii.
2 Louis XIII. to Blainville, Sept. ^ ; Blainville to Louis XIII.
5
Oct. ^-^ KingsMSS. 137, pp. 274, 350, 385 ; Villermont, E. de Mattf
tt ii'. ?2i.
28 CHARLES S RELA TIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. ul
The tone of the conversation grew warmer, and a fresh
demand of the ambassador did not serve to moderate the
excited feelings on either side. Soubise had brought with
him to Falmouth the ' St. John,' a fine ship of the
John 'at French navy, which he had seized at Blavet.1 This
ship Louis naturally claimed as his own property,
which Charles was bound to restore Charles, on the other
hand, being afraid lest it should be used, as his own ships had
been used, against Rochelle, hesitated and made excuses.
The state of the Queen's household, too, ministered occasion
of difference. Charles wished to add English officials to those
The Queen's wno had been brought over from France, and he
household, peremptorily refused to discuss the question with
Blainville. He intended, he said, to be master in his own house.
Tf he gave way, it would be from the love he bore to his wife,
and for no other reason.
The next day the ambassador waited on Buckingham. The
conversation was carried on in a more friendly tone than that of
Oct. 12. his conversation with Charles. In other respects it
Blainville was not more satisfactory. Buckingham treated all
visits Buck- ' °
ingham. the subjects in dispute very lightly. If anything had
gone wrong the fault was in the necessities of the time. Instead
of troubling himself with such trifles, the King of France ought
to treat at once for an offensive league against Spain. As for
himself, he was said to have ruined himself for the sake of
France. He was now going to the Hague to save himself by
great and glorious actions. If France pleased, she might take
her place in the league which would be there concluded. If she
refused, England would have all the glory.
Buckingham, as Blainville pointed out, had two irrecon-
cilable objects in view. On the one hand he wished to ingratiate
himself with English public opinion by placing himself at the
head of a Protestant League ; on the other hand he wished to
show, by driving France to follow his lead on the Continent, that
his original overtures to that power had not been thrown away.3
1 See Vol. V. p. 304.
* Tillieres, Me moires, 105 ; Blainville to Louis XIII., Oct. -*-£
33, 2O,
King's MSS. 137, p. 409, 438.
1025 A CONTROVERSY WITH BLAINVILLE. 29
Neither Louis nor Richelieu was likely to stoop as low as
was expected of them. Blainville was instructed to announce
that the ' Vanguard,' as being Charles's own pro-
thTiFrfnch perty, should be given up, but that the merchant
ent' vessels, which had been expressly hired for eighteen
months, would not be surrendered. He was to say that the
Huguenots could not be allowed to carry on a rebellion against
their lawful sovereign, and if Charles was so solicitous for
religious liberty, he had better begin the experiment with his
own Catholic subjects.1 After this it was useless to lay before
Charles the proposal for rendering assistance to Mansfeld which
Blainville had been instructed to make under more favourable
circumstances. Even the protest against Buckingham's visit
to France was left unuttered for the present.
Buckingham was too anxious to reach the Hague as soon
tember as Poss^D^e> to await the issue of these negotiations
The oppo- at Salisbury. But before he left the King, arrange-
:ers" ments had been made for dealing in various ways with
those Peers who had taken part in the opposition in the last
Parliament. Of these Abbot might safely be disregarded. He
Abbot and had nothing popular about him except his firm attach-
Pembroke. ment to the Calvinistic doctrine, and he had long
been left in the shadow by James, who had displayed a strong
preference for the cleverness and common sense of Williams,
as Charles displayed a strong preference for the sharp decision
of Laud.2 It was a different matter to deal with Pembroke,
the richest nobleman in England,3 who commanded numerous
1 Memoir sent by De Vic, Oct. ^ ; Louis XIII. to Blainville, §^«
King's MSS. 137, p. 470, 482.
1 The idea, almost universal amongst historians, that Abbot was thrown
into the shade by his accidental homicide in 1621, is not borne out by con-
temporary writers, and his want of influence may be easily accounted for
from the causes mentioned above. Fuller is doubtless the original autho-
rity for the usual opinion, but Fuller's story has long ago been shown by
Hacket to have been based upon a misapprehension of the facts.
1 To the first subsidy of the reign Pembroke paid 7OO/., standing
alone ; then came Northumberland. Rutland, and Devonshire, with 6oo/. ;
Buckingham, Derby, Cumberland, Hertford, Northampton, Petre, and
30 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE, en. LVI,
seats in the House of Commons,1 and whose influence was not
to be measured by the votes thus acquired. At first, indeed,
Charles's temper had got the better of him, and on his journey
to Plymouth he had treated Pembroke with marked disfavour.
The Earl was not accustomed to be slighted, and replied
with a counter-demonstration. As he passed through Sherborne
he paid a formal visit to Bristol, who was still in disgrace.
The significance of the step could not be misinterpreted, and
Charles lost no time in renewing the old familiarity to which
Pembroke was never insensible. Buckingham was with the
King at Salisbury on his return journey, when he made an early
call at Wilton ; and, though Pembroke was still in bed and
could not see him, it was afterwards understood that the tern
porary estrangement was at an end.2
Abbot and Pembroke belonged to that section of the Opposi-
tion which it was Buckingham's object to conciliate Arundel
Arundeiand and Williams were in different case. As a great
Williams. nobleman, not mixing much in the business of govern-
ment, Arundel could hardly be touched ; but Williams had
incurred Buckingham's bitterest displeasure, and was easily
assailable in his official position. His strong sense had led him
to condemn alike the extravagances of the new reign and the
shifts to which Charles had been driven in order to cover those
extravagances from the popular view. He had shown a sad
want of confidence in the success of those vast armaments in
which Buckingham trusted, and he had been sufficiently un-
courtierlike to dissuade the King from summoning the Commons
to Oxford, and to suggest that if Charles had really given his
word to the King of France that he would relax the penal laws,
it was dangerous as well as impolitic to break it.
Robartes, with4OO/. Book of tJie Subsidy of the Nobility, Oct. 2, S. P. Dom,
vii. 6.
1 Rudyerd to Nethersole, Feb. 3, 1626, S. P. Dom. xx. 23. ' All my
Lord's letters were sent out,' means Pembroke's letters, not ' the Duke's,'
as given in the Calendar. See also a letter from Sir James Bagg, in S. P.
Addenda.
* North to Leicester, Sept. 28, Oct. 17 ; Pembroke to Leicester,
Sept. 29, Sydney Pagers, B. 360, 363.
1625 WILLIAMS DISMISSED. 31
It was easier to resolve to get rid of the Lord Keeper than
to find an excuse for dismissing him. At first he had been
charged with entering upon conferences at Oxford with the
0^ a leading members of the Opposition in the Commons.
Dismissal of This charge, however, he was able to meet with a
ims" denial, though there is reason to believe that he
was so convinced of Buckingham's folly in pitting himself
against the House of Commons that he had boasted that if
he were turned out of office, all England would take up his
cause.1 Charles was highly displeased with this language, but
it was hardly possible to disgrace a Lord Keeper on the mere
ground that he had vaunted his own popularity. At last some
courtier reminded the King that his father had entrusted the
Great Seal to Williams for three years on probation, and that the
time fixed had now expired. Charles caught at the suggestion,
and Williams, unable to defend himself against a form of attack in
which no direct imputation on his conduct was necessarily im-
plied, surrendered his office. Charles, glad to be rid of him, spoke
to him fairly at the last, but the tone amongst Buckingham's
followers was different. " May the like misfortune," wrote one
of them to his patron, " befall such as shall tread in his hateful
path, and presume to lift their head against their maker ! " 2
With Lord Keeper Williams worldly wisdom departed from
the councils of Charles. If he could never have ripened into
a great or a high-souled statesman, he had always
Greatness of
the loss to at command a fund of strong common sense which
saved him from the enormous blunders into which
men more earnest and energetic than himself were ready to fall.
1 " Your Lordship, I know, hath full information of all proceedings
concerning the change of the Keeper, out happily hath not heard, and will
hardly believe, that he was so confident in his party and the opinion of his
•worth, that he vaunted, if he were deposed, that he could have intercession
made for him, not only by the strongest mediators now remaining, but by
the generality of the land. Yet it pleased the good Bishop rather to sub-
mit himself to his Majesty's pleasure than to use his strength. "—Coke to
Brooke, Nov. 5, Melbourne MSS. This extract must be compared with
Rushworth's story that Williams said that he meant to stand on his own legs,
3 Not ' their heel,' as calendared. Suckling to Buckingham, Oct. 24 ;
i'. P. Dotn, viiL 37.
32 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. un.
Government was to him a balance to be kept between extreme
parties. War was distasteful to him, and he cared little or
nothing for Continental politics. Dogmatism of all kinds he
regarded with the utmost suspicion. He had no sympathy with
the persecution of Laud's friends by the House of Commons,
and no sympathy with the coming persecution of the Puritanj
by Laud himself. Had Charles accepted him as an adviser,
the reign would hardly have been eventful or heroic, but it
would not have ended in disaster. England would have gained
a great step on its way to liberty, by the permission which
would, within certain broad limits, have been granted to the
free development of thought and action. The last clerical
Lord Keeper in English history was in reality less clerical than
some of his successors.
The Great Seal was given to Coventry, whose legal know-
ledge and general ability were beyond dispute, and whose
leanings were against all concessions to the Catholics.
Coventry TT. . .......
Lord His accession to office therefore was one more
announcement of the Protestant tendencies of Buck-
ingham. " The Duke's power with the King," said a contem-
porary letter- writer, " for certain is exceeding great, and whom
he will advance shall be advanced, and whom he doth but
frown upon must be thrown down." l Heath succeeded Coven-
try as Attorney-General ; and, with far less excuse, Shilton, whose
only distinction was that he had been employed by Buckingham
in his private affairs, followed as Solicitor-General.
The meaning of the change was soon manifest, at least to
Treatment of the Catholics. The order for banishing the priests,
j|^Catho" given immediately after the dissolution, had not
Oct. 5. been followed at once by any attempt to interfere
ment'ofthe w'tn 'k6 laity. On October 5, directions were given
recusants. for a general disarmament of the recusants ; but it
was not till Coventry succeeded Williams that any further step
NOV. 3. was taken. On November 3 the blow fell. A com-
The penal mission was issued to provide for the execution of
forced! the penal laws, with instructions to pay over the fines
levied to a special fund to be employed in the defence of the
1 Ingram to Wentworth, Nov. 7, Strafford Letters, i. 28.
1625 THE NEW SHERIFFS. 33
realm. On the yth orders were given to prohibit all minors
NOV. 7. from leaving England without licence from the King,
and to silence all schoolmasters whose teaching was open to
suspicion.1
Charles had probably an instinctive apprehension that the
persecution of the Catholics would not alone be sufficient to
secure for him the approbation of the next House of Commons;
but he was never keen-sighted in discerning the real causes of
popular dissatisfaction, and he ascribed the attack upon Buck-
ingham at Oxford to a mere ebullition of factious spite. The
inference was obvious. If by any means the assailants of his
minister could be excluded from seats in the coming Parlia-
ment, the really loyal nature of Englishmen would find unim-
peded expression. It was like Charles, too, to fancy that if
only legal right were on his side no one could be justly dissatis-
fied. With this idea in his head, nothing could seem simpler
than the course he adopted. A sheriff was bound to attend to
his duties in his own county, and if the Opposition leaders were
named sheriffs it was plain that they could not take their seats
The Opposi- at Westminster. Coke, Seymour, and Phelips were
ma"eeaders °^ course marked out for the unwelcome honour,
sheriffs. With them were Alford, who had explained that the
subsidies voted in 1624 had not been voted for the recovery
of the Palatinate, and Sir Guy Palmes, who had referred
unpleasantly to the fate of Empson and Dudley. To these
five was added a sixth, Sir Thomas Wentworth.
Wentworth's _ .-,. , . ,-,
peculiar It was not unknown to Charles that Wentworth had
little in common with Seymour and Phelips. He was
anxious, if possible, to obtain service under the Crown, and to
exercise his undoubted powers of government ; but the war,
whether it was to be in Spain or Germany, was in his eyes sheer
madness, and it was plain that he would be as cool about the
King's Protestant crusade in 1626 as he had been cool about
his attack upon Spain in 1625. "Wentworth," said Charles, as
the names were read over to him, " is an honest gentleman."
1 Commission, Nov. 3, S. P. Dom. Sign Manuals, \. 87 ; the King
to Buckingham, Nov. 7, S. P. Dom. Addenda.
VOL. VI. O
34 CHARLESES RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI.
The reasons for his exclusion were equally valid whether he
were honest or not.1
Such .a. manoeuvre stands self-condemned by the very fact
that it was a manoeuvre. It had, however, at least one sup-
porter amongst those who favoured the vigorous prosecution of
Rndyerd's tne war- "The rank weeds of Parliament," wrote
opinion. Rudyerd, "are rooted up, so that, we may expect
a plentiful harvest the next. I pray God so temper the
humours of our next assembly that out of it may result that
inestimable harmony of agreement between the King and hit
people."2
By this time Charles had hoped to receive news of great
results from Buckingham's diplomacy in the Netherlands :
but though the Lord Admiral, taking the courtly Holland
with him, had left Charles at Salisbury in the second week of
October, his voyage had been sadly delayed. On the i3th a
Oct ^ terrific storm swept over the Channel and the North
The escape Sea. The Dutch fleet before Dunkirk was driven
kirkpriva- from its port, and great was the alarm in England
when it was told that twenty-two vessels, it was said
with 4,000 soldiers on board, had escaped to sea. The blow,
however, fell upon the Dutch fishing vessels, and the English
coast was spared.3
-With the Dunkirk privateers loose upon the world, the Lord
» Admiral could not cross without a convoy, and this
ham'svoyage was not easily to be found. The great fleet was still
away at Cadiz, and three English ships had been
cast away with all hands upon the cliffs between Calais and
1 Ingram to Wentworth, Nov. , Strafford Letters, i. 29. The name of
Sir W. Fleetwood is here given as a seventh. He had not sat in the last
Parliament, but in the Parliament of 1624. He was found ineligible for
the shrievalty, and was neither a sheriff nor a member of the Commons in
1626. The first suggestion of making sheriffs in this way which I have
met with, is in a letter from Sir G. Paul to Buckingham, Oct. 24 ; S. P.
Dom. viii. 34.
2 Rudyerd to Nethersole, Nov. 23, S. P. Dom. x. 16.
* Downing to the Navy Commissioners, Oct. 19 ; Pennington to
Buckingham, Oct. 23, ibid. viii. 5, 28.
1635 BUCKINGHAM; IN HOLLAND. 35
Boulogne. What vessels were to be had must be hurried to-
gether for the defence of the country before the Duke's convoy
could be thought of.
At last, however, ships were found for. the purpose. On
November 9 Buckingham was at the Hague, and was astonish-
NOV. 9. i°g the sober citizens of the Dutch capital by the
Ptutchkeingham lavish splendour of his dress and the gorgeous dis-
Hague. p]ay Of pearis an(j diamonds with which it was
adorned. He soon allowed it to be known that he had brought
with him no friendly feeling towards France. " I acknowledge,"
he said, "the power of the King of France. But I doubt his
good-will." '
Buckingham had brought with him, too, his old plan for a
joint attack with the Dutch upon Dunkirk. The effort, he told
NOV. ii. the Prince of Orange, should be made at once, as
"auracPk°ses tne Spaniards were in no condition to defend the
Dunkirk. place. The wary Prince knew too much about war
to relish the idea of a siege to be begun in November, and
refused to entertain the proposition till the spring. Then
Buckingham asked that Sluys should be put in his master's
hands, as a basis of operations for the English army which was
to hem in the Flemish ports on the land side. The Prince met
him with the same dilatory response. He was probably of
opinion that the English army of which Buckingham spoke
would never have any real existence ;2 and, even if it had been
otherwise, he would certainly have been unwilling to confide to
it the guardianship of so important a fortress.
The Congress of the Hague, when it met at last, was but a
poor representation of that great anti-Spanish confederacy for
which Gustavus had hoped when he first sketched
The Con-
gress of the out the plan. Though he was himself engaged in
the Polish war, he had ordered his ambassador to
take part in the assembly. Unhappily the ambassador fell ill,
and died a few days before Buckingham's arrival. Sweden
1 Vreede, Inleiiiing tot eene Geschiedenis der Ntderlandsche
ii. 2, 83.
2 Ibid. ii. 2, 85, Note 2 ; Carleton to Coiiway, Nov. 14, 5. P. Holland.
u 2
36 CHARLEYS RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI.
was therefore entirely unrepresented. The French minister
stood aloof, and the North German princes took no share in
the discussions. The representatives of the King of Denmark
were there alone, to beg for money and men.
Christian IV. was indeed in sore need. Trusting to the
promises made to him by Charles, he had gone to war. After
the first month's contribution Charles had no money to send,
and he was in no better plight in November than he had been
in June. Buckingham's instructions, undoubtedly drawn up
with his own concurrence, authorised him to acquaint the Danish
ambassadors that the original offer of 3c,ooo/. a month, or its
equivalent in men, paid by the English exchequer, had only
been made to give encouragement to the German princes.
When those princes had once taken the field it was only to be
expected that they would submit to provide a fair share of the
expense. Buckingham was therefore to insist upon a large
reduction of the monthly charge, though he was first to make
sure that Christian was thoroughly embarked in the cause,
lest by threatening to stop the supplies he might drive him to
make his peace with the Emperor.1
It is probable that a little conversation with the Danish
ambassadors convinced Buckingham that if the King of Eng-
land thus withdrew from his engagements Christian would,
without doubt, withdraw from the war. At all events nothing,
so far as we know, was heard of the proposed reduc-
Nov. 29.
Treaty of tion. On November 29 the Treaty of the Hague
the Hague. wag sjgne(j between England, Denmark, and the
States-General
The Dutch agreed to supply the Danes with 5,ooo/. a month,
whilst Buckingham engaged more solemnly than ever that the
3o,ooo/. a month originally promised from England should be
really sent.
Large as the sum was, there is reason to suppose that
the promise was now made in good faith. Parliament would,
soon meet, and, as Buckingham hoped, all difficulties would
then be smoothed away. For the immediate future he could
1 Instructions to Buckingham and Holland, Oct. 17, Rynur, xviii. 211,
I5?5 BUCKINGHAM'S RETURN. 37
trust to the Crown jewels, which would soon be pawned to
Dec. 5. the merchants of Amsterdam. The disaster at Cadiz
ham^slx c- was as ve*- unknown, and every day might bring the
tations. happy news of victory. A new fleet was to be speedily
prepared to relieve Cecil's force, and to take up the task of
blockading the Spanish ports. The flood of mischief would
thus be arrested at the fountain-head, as when gold no longer
flowed from Spain, the armies by which Christain was assailed
would break out into open mutiny.1
Proud of victories yet to be won, Buckingham had meditated
a continuance of his journey to Paris, in order that he might
add the name of the King of France to the signatures appended
, to the Treaty of the Hague. His hopes were cut
He is refused '
permi-sion to short by the French ambassador, who plainly told
him that, till better satisfaction had been given to his
master's just demands in England, he would not be allowed to
enter France.'2
Buckingham therefore returned to England by the way that
he had come. He was at once met by news of the failure at
Cadiz and the return of the fleet. Alone, probably,
News of the . ' " . J '
.failure at of all Englishmen alive, Charles and Buckingham
failed to realise the magnitude of the disaster, or the
influence which it would exercise upon the delibora-
Dec. 16. r
Parliament tions of the coming session.3 On December 16 the
summoned. -rjtr J! L j j. • r
Lord Keeper was directed to issue writs for a new
Parliament.4
It was possible that Parliament might have work on hand
even more serious than voting supplies for the King of Den-
„ . mark. It was by no means unlikely that by the time
Prospect of »
war with the members were collected at Westminster, England
France. . .
would be at open war with France. Charles had
been seriously vexed at the failure of his effort to frustrate the
1 Buckingham to Christian IV , Dec. ~ , S. P Holland,
2 Louis XIII. to Blainville, Dec. -i, King's MSS 137, p. 819.
1 "Quod vero Regem ef Buckinghamium attinet, illi non multum mo-
vcntur aut indigaantur. " Rnsdorf to Oxenstjerna. Dec. Mi moires, a. 138.
4 Kymer, xviii 24.5.
38 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVl.
employment of English vessels at Rochelle, and the first reso-
lution taken in Council after Buckingham's return was that a
new fleet should ,be sent out to succour Rochelle, and to bring
home the ships by force.1 Orders were accordingly
Dec. 16. • •,,,,,.
issued that the soldiers who had come back from
Cadiz should be kept under their colours for future service.2
Nor were the differences relating to the fulfilment of the
marriage treaty in a fairer way to an accommodation. Louis,
Difficulties indeed, had sent messages to Buckingham after his
™rriaghee return, that if the English Catholics were relieved
treaty. from ill-treatment, and if his sister's household were
permitted to remain as it had been arranged by the contract,
he would make no further objection to receiving him in France.3
On the first point Buckingham could not yield without alienat-
ing Parliament On the second he could not yield without
alienating the King.
Whilst Buckingham was still at the Hague, Charles's exas-
peration at his wife's French attendants had risen to fever heat.
The Queen's To their interference, and not at all to his own failure
household. to keep hjs promises, he attributed his domestic
troubles, and he threatened to send them all back to France.
More prudent counsels prevailed for a time, and he
Dec 21
now contented himself with announcing to the Bishop
of Mende, the Queen's almoner, his intention of introducing
English ladies into her household. A man, he repeated once
more, ought to be master in his own house. The utmost to
which he would agree was to wait a few days till his resolve had
been communicated to the Court of France.4
To Richelieu the threatened breach between France and
England, bringing with it a death-struggle with the Huguenots
1 Blainville to Louis XIII., Dec. ^, Kings MSS. 138, r>- 948.
2 Proclamations, Car. I., Dec. 16, No. 31, S. P. Dom.
1 Louis XIII. to Blainville, Dec. ± ; The Bishop of Mende to Ville-
aux-Clercs, received 'P^' '67, King's MSS. 138, p. 819, 1043.
4 The King to Buckingham, Nov. 20, Hard-wicke S. P. ii. 23. The
Bishop of Mende to Louis XIII., ^ 25, King's MSS. 138, r. 1056.
1625 MISSION OF HOLLAND AND CARLETON. 39
of Rochelle, must have been infinitely displeasing. In spite of
French offers ^s master's strong feeling that he had been ill-treated,
to Bucking- he contrived to obtain permission to address fresh
overtures to Buckingham, assuring him of a good
reception in France if certain conditions, of which we have no
particular information, were fulfilled. If he could not come
on these terms, let him at least send confidential ambassadors
to smooth away the differences between the two Crowns.1
The latter alternative was accepted. Holland was once
more to go to Paris to make himself agreeable to the Queen
Mother and the ladies of her court. The real business
Holland and of the embassy was entrusted to Carleton, who had at
ton< last been recalled from the Hague, and was now Vice-
Chamberlain and a Privy Councillor. A diligent, well-informed
man, too dependent upon office to be likely to take a course of
his own, and sympathising entirely with the movement against
Spain without rising into any large view of contemporary politics,
he was exactly suited for the service for which Buckingham
required him, and was likely, as time went on, to establish
himself firmly in his favour.
Carleton's present work was to mediate a peace between the
Objects of French Government and the Huguenots, and to
the mission. persuade Louis to surrender the English ships and
to join in the alliance of the Hague.2
The differences between the two Courts were serious enough
in themselves. Unhappily there was a political difference
which was more serious still. In September, whilst the Cadiz
1 " M. Bautru is on his way for England with letters from the Duke de
Chevreuse and Marquis d'Effiat, but concerted with the Queen Mother and
the Cardinal to invite my Lord Duke of Buckingham to come over, which
many wi*h, but few hold it counselable." — De Vic to Con way, Dec. ^'
" We may not conceal what we understand, that what the Cardinal told us
of Blainville's revocation was conditional, in case the Lord Duke of Buck-
ingham came over upon such invitements as were sent him." — Holland and
Carleton to Conway, Feb. 26, 1626, S. P. France. It can hardly be said,
therefore, that Buckingham could not go to France without first declaring
war.
* Instructions to Holland and Carleton, Dec. 30, S. P. /-ranct*
40 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI
fleet was still at Plymouth, a string of French prizes had been
September, brought in, charged with carrying goods for the use
ttafit"eof °^ tne Spanish Netherlands. Under ordinary cir-
France. cumstances it is hard to persuade neutrals and
belligerents to take the same view of the law of prize, and there
was in this case a special difficulty arising from the fact that at
Whitehall French neutrality was regarded as an underhand
contrivance for reaping the benefits of war without sharing its
burdens.
There was clearly need of inquiry into the nature of the
cargoes on board the vessels. Besides the French prizes, there
The French were many of Dutch nationality, and a few from other
prizes. parts of Europe. If they had on board goods which
were the property of Spaniards, those, goods, according to the
ideas of the day, would be subject to immediate confiscation.
Contraband Contraband of war again, being carried to Spain or
the Spanish Netherlands, would be liable to seizure,
whether it were Spanish property or not ; but it was by no
means a matter of universal agreement what contraband of war
was. In the Treaty of Southampton indeed, England and the
States-General had recently agreed upon a sweeping definition,
including in that category provisions and the precious metals
as well as munitions of war and materials used in shipbuilding,1
and had declared not only such articles, but even the ships
and men engaged in the traffic, to be lawful prize. Such an in-
terpretation of the customary maritime law was not likely to
commend itself to a neutral seafaring nation.
Even if this knotty point had been settled, there was another
behind it. What evidence was to be accepted that the contra-
Proof of band goods were or were not destined for Spanish
destination. use p £very one of the eleven French vessels seized
had sailed from a Spanish port, and all of them, with one
exception, were owned by Calais merchants.2 It was, however,
notorious that there were men at Calais whose business it was
to pass goods as soon as landed over the frontier into Flanders,
1 Art. 20 of the Treaty ; Dumont, v. 2, 480.
2 Examinations of the masters of the prize ships, Sept. 29, S. P. Dam.
VI, 120.
1625 THE FRENCH PRIZES. 41
in much the same way as goods were passed over into Russia
from Memel in the time of the Crimean war.1
It happened that Buckingham was at Plymouth when the
prizes were brought in. Gold and silver being contraband
Sept. 27. of war, according to the view taken in England, he
The money ordered o.ooo/. o: io,ooo/. which were on board to be
on board 7
sequestered, sequestered,2 and the remainder of the goods to be
placed in safe keeping. A few weeks later the cargoes were
October, stowed again on board, and the prizes brought up
The prizes to London, to pass through a legal investigation be-
London. fore the Court of Admiralty. By the beginning of
November the number of captured French vessels had increased
to twenty-two.3
So far the French had no reasonable ground of complaint ;
but in the needy circumstances of the treasury the sequestered
property was too tempting a bait to be long resisted. In Octo-
ber Buckingham had attempted to borrow 70,000^., in order
that he might carry with him something to the Hague for the
immediate supply of the armies of Christian IV. and Mans-
feld. The security which Charles could offer fell short of the
required sum by 2o,oooZ.j and Ley and Weston proposed to
fill the gap by giving a lien upon the first sale of condemned
prize goods. The suggestion in itself was innocent enough ;
Oct. 27. but either it was not thought sufficient, or Charles
Prize money fancied that he could do better. On October 27
taken and
goods or- the money already sequestered was taken to be spent
dered to be ... . . .., '
sold. on warlike preparations, and on November 5 orders
were given to sell goods at once to the required value of
2o,oooZ., without waiting for a sentence from the Court.4
1 Marten to Con way, Nov. 8 ; Joachimi to , S. P. Holland*
to Quester, S. P. France,
2 Minutes by Nicholas Feb. (?) 1626, S. P. Dom. xxi. 99.
3 A minute of the rep'acing of the goods on board, is calendared in Sep-
tember, but should almost certainly be placed in October. Receipt by Marsh,
Oct. 11, ibid. vi. 126; xxii. 12, I. Blainville to Louis XIII., Nov. —*
A'itig's MSS. 138, p. 659.
4 Coke to Conway, Oct. 27, S. P. Dom. viii. 26. Warrant, Nov. 5,
Sign Manual1:, i. 90.
42 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI.
To Charles the difference may have seemed slight, as, it
the decision of the Court were against him, he could refund
the money. There was, however, another side of the question
NOV. 5. which he had forgotten to consider. Blainville re-
Biainviiie minded him that, as the cargoes had not been made
up for the English market, they would not fetch any-
thing like their full value on, a compulsory sale in London.1
The impression produced by Charles's hasty act was likely
to be worse than the act itself would justify. It gave to the
Admiralty Court the appearance of being merely an official
instrument for enforcing confiscation for the benefit of the
NOV. s. Crown. Sir Henry Marten, the Judge of the Court,
Marten felt the indignity keenly. " For my part," he wrote,
declines to J *~>
support the m answer to an appeal from Conway for arguments
in support of the course which had been taken, " I
can profess to know no other disposition yet intended, but that
all the goods should be landed, inventoried, and appraised ;
and, on Saturday next, all who pretend to any of those ships or
goods to appear and propound their claims."2
Before this remonstrance Charles gave way for a time.
Buckingham was absent at the Hague, and there was a period of
Charles's indecision till the guiding spirit of the Government
indecision. was once more in England. The Council took up
the question, and on December 4 fresh orders were
given to proceed with the sale, orders which were
retracted shortly afterwards.3 Sir John Coke, who was eager
for money to enable him to meet the expenses of the fleet, and
whose official mind could not catch sight of the larger aspects
of the case, was anxious for instant and sweeping action, "If
you shall limit the sales," he wrote to Conway, on hearing
that some half-measure was in contemplation, "as I hear you
intend, to goods which are out of question, I know not what
goods can be sold ; since there is neither ship nor particular
goods therein to which.no man doth pretend."4
1 Blainville to Louis XIII., Nov. ^, King's MSS. 138, p. 659.
* Conway to Marten, Nov. 7, Con-ways Letter Book ; Marten to Con«
way, Nov. 8, S. P. Dom. ix. 32.
3 Joachimi to , S. P. Holland.
4 Coke to Conway, Dec. 17, S. P. Dom. xii. i.
1625 FRENCH REPRISALS. 43
Before Charles had made up his mind, the mere announce-
ment of his intention had called forth reprisals in France.
Villars, the governor of Havre, was himself interested in the
-' St. Peter ' of that port, and on December 7 he arrested two
Dec. 7. English vessels lying at Rouen. A fortnight later it
Reprisals in was known in London that the French authorities were
Fiance.
contemplating a general embargo upon all English
property in France, which was only delayed till there was some
certain intelligence of the course finally adopted in England.
By this time Buckingham was "again at Court, and the
arrival of Richelieu's overtures had opened a prospect of
averting the impending quarrel. " It is necessary for me,"
said Charles, " to preserve my friends and allies." Just as
Holland and Carleton were starting, an Order in Council was
drawn up to form a basis for the settlement of the dispute. *
According to this order the ' St Peter ' of Havre de Grace,
against which the presumptions were less than against vessels
Dec. 28. belonging to '•'. the merchants of Calais, was to be
Order in delivered to its owners. Of the remaining ships
Council for
the re-de- and their cargoes, whatever was clearly French pro-
li very of the '. . J .
'St. Peter.' perty should be given up at once. Against whatever
was questionable proceedings should be taken, ' without any
further restraint of sale or other proceeding warrantable by law
or the course 6f the Admiralty.' 2
On January 1 1 the ambassadors had their first interview
with Richelieu. He received them in the most friendly way ;
' Jan. ii. but he gave it to be understood that till the Hugue-
Conference not rebellion was at an end there could be no open
between
Richelieu war with Spam, and that his master could not tolerate
and the am- ,.. ...,. i • i*
bass-adors. the interference of a foreign king between himself
and his subjects. They might, however, rest assured that
there was no intention of persecuting the Protestant religion
in France. The ' Vanguard ' would be restored as soon as the
1 Common*' "Journals, i. 823; Palloyseau to Hippisley, -= —'-Zh
Hart. MSS. 1583, fol. 171 ; Joachimi to the States-General, -I?ec'-^
Jan. o,
Jan. ', Add. MSS. 17,677 L. fol. 130, 119.
2 Order in Council, Dec. 8, 51. P. Dom. xii. 72.
44 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI
prize taken by Soubise was given up. The other vessels had
been hired from the merchants, and as long as Rochelle was in
arms it was impossible to dispense with their services.
The irritation aroused at the French Court by the tone
which Charles assumed was such as no minister, however
Feeling of anxious to avert war, could afford to disregard, and
Louis xiii. jeast of aji was Richelieu likely to think lightly of
the honour of his sovereign. Louis himself was particularly
displeased at the proposal to include him in the treaty signed
at the Hague without his concurrence. "The league," he
wrote to his ambassador in the Netherlands, " is not aimed at
the liberty of the Empire or the abasement of Spain, but at
the abasement of the Catholic religion and of all the princes
who profess it, and particularly of myself." One of his minis-
ters expressed himself in much the same tone. " There
is a great difference," he wrote, " between proposing to the
King things done or things to be done. To communicate a
design and to wish to do nothing without his advice would
oblige his Majesty, but to propose to him to take part in a
matter already arranged would have the contrary effect." l
In Louis's place Charles would have felt precisely, in the
same manner ; but he had not the tact to perceive that con-
cession must be made to the feelings of others ; and with the
consciousness that he had himself contributed, or appeared
to have contributed, to the misfortunes of Rochelle, he deter-
mined to support the town against its sovereign, at whatever
cost to the interests of the rest of Europe. Pennington
had for some time been getting ready a fleet at Plymouth,
which was destined in case of necessity to escort Sou-
bise with provisions for the blockaded Huguenots, and at a
Jan. 20. council held on January 20 it was resolved that the
Charles flee{ should be at once despatched. In order to
determines
to relieve impart greater energy to the crews it was arranged
that Buckingham should command in person. The
deputies from the insurgent city, who were in England seeking
for aid, were informed that the fleet would proceed to drive the
1 Extracts given by Vreede, Inleiding tot eene Gtschie tenis der Neder-
landtche Diplomatie, ii. 2, 85, 87.
1626 CHARLES THREATENS WAR. 45
troops of the King of France out of Rhe and Oleron, if the
Rochellese would consent to leave the islands at Charles's
disposal till the expenses of the undertaking had been repaid
to him.
No secret was made of the rerolution taken. Buckingham
informed Blainville that his master could no longer remain
Biainviiie neutral. He had contributed to the ruin ol the
informed. Protestants by the loan of his ships, and now, with
one voice, his Council and his people called upon him to under-
take the defence of those whom he had so deeply injured. If
war were once declared he would show the world that he was
not so destitute of men and money as was commonly supposed.1
The resolution thus taken at Court could not fail to have
its effects on the prospects of the owners of the French prizes.
As far as the ' St. Peter ' was concerned, everything had
proceeded regularly. Suspicion only attached to some hides
jan 26 an<^ a ^ew otner articles on board. Bonds were ac-
Orderforthe cepted in the Admiralty Court for the payment of
of'the* s°" their value, in case of their proving to be Spanish
property, and on January 26 Marten gave orders for
the delivery of ship and cargo to the owners.2
The proprietors of the other vessels had before this fancied
that their difficulties were at an end. Soon after the Order in
Council of December 28, goods to the value of 30,0007. were
given up to them, as being beyond question legitimately French
property. But when the news of the difficulties made in France
about the surrender of the English vessels reached England, the
Government took another tone. On January 24 the
Jan. 24. . *
Sale of prize goods were again seized for the King, and out of that
part of the cargo which was considered contraband
by the Crown lawyers, though it had not yet been condemned by
any court of law, property to the value of 7,ooo/. was sold by
1 Blainville to Louis XIII., Jan. 21, King's MSS. 138, p. 1206.
Conway to Holland and Carleton, Jan. 21, S. P. France. Buckingham
to Pennington, Jan. 7 ; Pennington to Buckingham, ^an. 17, S. P. Dom.
xViii. 18, 75.
'* Order for taking bonds, Jan. 21, Book of Acts, Admiralty Court, 159
fol. 30 b. Order for release, Jan. 26, S. P. Dom. xix. 52.
46 CHARLES'S .RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVL
auction. Having made up his mind to war, it would seem that
Charles no longer thought it necessary to keep terms with the
subjects of the King of France.1
With the King and Buckingham in this temper, it was not
likely that even the ' St. Peter ' would be allowed to escape. As
soon as the order had been issued for its release, Apsley, the
Lieutenant of the Tower, remonstrated with the Lord Admiral,
assuring him that he could bring as good evidence against that
vessel as against the others. To Apsley's statements Buckingr
ham gave too easy credence, and on February 4, having pre-
Feb. 4. viously obtained the King's consent, he ordered the
Peter '^e- detention of the ship. It is perhaps not an unreason-
arrested. abie conjecture that the real motive in these pro-
ceedings was the desire to detain as many pledges as possible
for the English ships at Rochelle, the recovery of which had
been the subject of repeated messages to the ambassadors at
Paris. Buckingham might well doubt his chances of obtaining
from the approaching Parliament a favourable consideration of
his policy, if Louis were still engaged in an attack upon the
Huguenots with the help of English vessels.
All this time the despatches sent to Paris had been growing
more peremptory. On January 23 the ambassadors were
ordered to hasten home if the ships were not sur-
jan. 23.
Negotiations rendered. On the 26th Charles was still unyielding,
in trance, jje had just received a letter from Holland and
Carleton, telling him that Richelieu, in his master's name,
insisted on the maintenance of the King's garrisons in Fort
Louis and the islands of Rh£ and Oldron, as well as on the
right to send a Royal Intendant of Justice into Rochelle. The
Huguenot deputies objected to all three points, and asked for
the full execution of the treaty of Montpellier. After a time,
however, they expressed their readiness to withdraw their
demands. They would reluctantly agree to admit the Intend-
ant, and to allow the garrisons to remain in the islands. Even
1 Joachimi to , S. P. Holland. Joachimi to the States-General,
Feb. -i, Add. MSS. 17,677 L., fol. 143. Blainville to Louis XIII.,
^-f, Kinjt MSS 138, p. 1270, 1273.
t626 CHARLEYS ; MISTAKE. 47
at Fort Louis they would . hot insist upon an immediate dis->
armament, if they could hope for its demolition in course of
time.
The ambassadors were satisfied that peace was virtually
made. Charles, however, was not satisfied. He thought that the
The English conditions were insufficient for the safety of Rochelie.
polmveiy6 Nothing less than the terms, of the Treaty of Mont-
demanded. pellier should receive his assent. The ambassadors
were also to ask for the immediate release of the ships, and if
that were refused, they were to return at once to England. J
The error of Louis was coming home to him. If he had
been faulty in appending to his sister's marriage contract a
interference condition which involved, an interference with the
°n Frendi administration of English law, Charles was now
politics. interfering far more incisively in French domestic
politics. When once it was understood that the Huguenots
were to owe their recovered independence to English help, a
situation would be created which would be intolerable even to
a king of France far less sensitive than Louis on all matters
connected with his personal authority. In the preceding
August Richelieu might wisely have argued that it would be
better for the King to grant all the demands of his Protestant
subjects, in order that he might turn his attention to external
war. But it was one thing to grant such demands upon con-
viction ; it was another thing to grant them to the menaces of
the King of England. Rochelie, freed from the control of its
own sovereign by Charles's interposition, would practically be
an independent republic, resting for security upon the support
of England. The work of uniting France, handed down as
the task of centuries from one generation of monarchs to
another, would receive a blow from which it would be hard to
recover. An English Rochelie would be a far more potent
instrument of mischief than even an English Calais had ever
been.
Such a view of the case was not likely to present itself to
1 Buckingham to Holland and Carleton, Jan. 23; Holland and Car-
leton to Conway, Jan. 23 ; Conway to Holland and Carleton, J»:i. 10,
S. P. France.
48 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI,
Charles. All he saw was that, as his ships had been used for
the defeat of Soubise, it was his business to take care that the
Huguenots suffered no loss. By this time, moreover, he had a
fresh grievance in his own domestic circle, which kept his mind
in a state of irritation. He had arranged that his own corona-
tion should take place before the opening of Parliament, and
he fondly hoped that the Queen would be at his side on that
solemn occasion. To his surprise he found that his
refusesUtoebe young wife had religious scruples about taking part
ned> in a Protestant ceremony, and he at once appealed to
her brother to convince her that she was in the wrong. The
coronation, Conway wrote to the ambassadors, was
but a form. " Yet," he added, "it is a wonder, it is
a disorder, it is a misfortune, so apparent a declaration of a
difference in judgment, obedience, and conformity." Charles
got no Jielp from Louis here. The view taken at the French
Court was, that there would be no harm done if the Queen sub-
mitted to coronation, provided that none of the Protestant
clergy took any part in the ceremony.1
As this was clearly inadmissible, Charles had to resign
himself to be crowned alone. Such a consequence he ought
to have foreseen when he decided upon marrying a Roman
Catholic princess; but he was bitterly disappointed., and he
threw the whole blame upon the French ambassador,
an^with Blainville, according to him, had made it his busi
««*• ness> smce his coming into England, to stir up ill-will
between himself and the Queen. Blainville was certainly not
conciliatory in his dealings with a Government against which
he had many and bitter grievances, and he had listened more
sympathisingly to the Queen's complaints than became an am-
bassador; but it is undeniable that Henrietta Maria's troubles
had their root in causes which existed before he set foot in
England.
The day fixed for the coronation was the 2nd of February.
The curtained seat which had been prepared for Henrietta
1 Louis XIII. to Blainville, Jan. ^, King's HfSS. 138. p. 1121.
Conw.»y to Holland and Carleton, Jan. 21, 5. P. Frame.
1626 THE CORONATION 49
Maria at a time when it was still hoped that she might be
Feb 2 present as a spectator, if she would not take her
The Corona- part in the ceremony, was empty. Its emptiness must
have reminded Charles bitterly of the misery of his
home life and of the most conspicuous failure of his political
life. Yet there was no want of loyalty in the hearty shout —
the echo of that old cry which had once given to English
kings their right to sit upon the throne — which greeted him as
he stood in the pride of youthful dignity in the face of the
assembled multitude. As yet, though the first enthusiasm
which greeted his accession had passed away, no personal un-
popularity had gathered round him. Whatever was ill-done
was attributed to the influence of Buckingham.1
1 Meade to Stuteville, Feb. 3 ; D'Ewes to Stuteville, Feb. 3, Ellis,
ser. I, iii. 220, 213. Mr. Forster is mistaken in supposing that the inci-
dent of Charles's stumbling, and of his answering, 'when Buckingham
offered to assist him, " 1 have as much need to help you as you to assist
me," ' took place ' when all was over, and the King and the Duke came
wearily away.' It really happened before the coronation, and D'Ewes
adds that the words were spoken ' with a smiling countenance.' Charles
doubtless merely meant that he was able to recover his footing without
help. It would not have been worth while mentioning this, but for the
doubt which I entertain whether Mr. Forster was right in attributing any
sort of foreboding of coming evil to Charles. There is no evidence either
way ; but my impression, from what I know of Charles's character and
actions, is that he never foreboded evil, and that he was so convinced that
he was always in the right, that the idea of Parliamentary opposition would
not occur to him till he was called to face it.
As for the people not shouting at the coronation when Arundel first
asked them to do so, I am content with D'Ewes's explanation : "Whether
some expected he should have spoken more, or others hearing not so well
what he said, hindered those by questioning which might have heard, or
that the newness and greatness of the action busied men's thoughts, or
the presence of so dear a thing drew admiring silence, or that those which
were nearest doubted what to do, but not one word followed till my Lord
of Arundel told them they should cry out, ' God save King Charles ! ' upon
which, as ashamed of their first oversight, a little shouting followed. At
the other sides where he presented himself there was not the like failing. "
Joachimi, as Ranke has observed, has no hesitation to tell of. He says
the answer was given 'with great ciy and shouting.' — Joachimi to the
States-General, Feb. ^, Add. MSS. 17,677 L, fol. 148.
VOL. VI. E
W CHARLES'S RELA TIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVI.
The new king was thus, to use words spoken by his direction
a few days later, married to his people. He chose on that day to
be clothed in white,1 as the sign of the virgin purity with which
he came to play a bridegroom's part, instead of in the purple
robe of sovereignty. Amor avium, Regis presidium was the
motto which in trustful confidence he placed upon the coins
which bore the Royal arms impressed upon the sails of a ship
careering through the waves, the emblem doubtless of that
great naval victory with which he hoped to illustrate the annals
of his reign. If Cecil had failed at Cadiz, Buckingham, he
might think, would hardly fail at Rochelle. Charles, indeed,
so far as it is possible to judge by the indications which have
reached us, was preparing to meet the new Parliament with all
the buoyancy of hopefulness. Neither Coke, nor Phelips, nor
Seymour would be there to distract the hearts of his faithful
Commons with factious opposition. So little did the King
New earl- suspect that he would meet with any difficulty in the
Upper House that he neglected the opportunity
which the coronation afforded of raising to the peerage persons
in whom he could confide. No additional votes were gained
by the earldoms which he distributed amongst members of the
existing peerage, and it was only a matter of personal importance
to themselves that Lord Ley, for instance, would for the
future be known as Earl of Marlborough, Viscount Mandeville
as Earl of Manchester, and Lord Carew as Earl of Totness.
There were yet a few days before the meeting of Parliament,
and if Charles had been capable of rising into a statesmanlike
Jan. 25. view of his relations with France, he would have
between'""15 seized the opportunity of reconsidering his position
L°uis xm. which was then offered him. Holland and Carleton
and the
Huguenots, had left no stone unturned to bring about a paci-
fication. The stumbling-block was Fort Louis. The French
minister frankly averred that, unless the King kept up a
garrison in it, he could have no security that when he was
engaged in war abroad the Rochellese would not rise in insur-
1 Heylin, Life of Laud, 144. After Charles's death, this was pointed
to as a presage of the innocence of martyrdom, as was also the text taken
by the preacher, " I will give thee a crown of life."
1626 RICHELIEU OFFERS PEACE. 51
rection, as they had done the year before. With equal energy
the Huguenot deputies argued that unless the fort were de-
molished, they could have no security for the freedom- of their
commerce. On the evening of January 25 it was believed on
both sides that the negotiation was at an end.
The next morning a chosen number of the French clergy
were to have an audience, to declare to the King their readiness
)an 16. to open their purses in support of the holy war which
An agree- tney hacj dOne their best to render imminent. They
ment come . . , _, . .
to- had, however, reckoned without the Cardinal Seizing
a pretext for deferring the audience for a time, he had proposed
a compromise through the English ambassadors. When at
last the deputation swept into the Royal presence they found
that they were too late. The Huguenot deputies were already
on their knees before the King, and the baffled priests came
only to witness the reconciliation of their Sovereign with his
Protestant subjects.
Unhappily the terms of reconciliation announced on the
following day by the Chancellor, were such as by no means to
Terms of the preclude the probability of a renewal of the strife
agreement, at no distant future. Under pressure from Holland
and Carleton, the deputies agreed to give up all the points at
issue, including the demolition of Fort Louis. In return they
were to have from the King an assurance that ' by long services
and continued obedience they might expect that which they
most desired,' and that ' in fitting time he would listen to their
supplications made with due respect and humility.'1 Before
the words were spoken a private exposition of their meaning
was given by the French ministers, to the effect that they pointed
to the eventual demolition of Fort Louis.2
Holland and Carleton had certainly taxed their authority
1 Answer of the Chancellor in the name of the King of France, *?"' '/'•
reb. 6,
S. P. France. This date, however, must be merely that on which a written
copy of the speech was delivered. It was spoken on -|r-g — .
2 Declaration by Holland and Carleton, fe^' ^, S. P. France.
E 2
£2 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVL
as mediators to the utmost. The deputies plainly told them
jan 2 *kat ^ey ^d agreed to the treaty 'because they
accepted by might now lawfully accept assistance from his
nots through Majesty.' When the ambassadors attended the
ofPEngaiishns Protestant church at Charenton on the following
support. Sunday, they found themselves the objects of uni-
versal enthusiasm. The preacher cook for his text, " How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace."
It was all very natural, but it was very dangerous. To thrust
foreign mediation in the face of Louis was the very way to
disgust him with the arrangement which had been made, and
if Charles had been wise he would have kept his part in the
treaty in the background. If the French Government were
once engaged in earnest in the conflict with Spain, any renewal
of persecution would be virtually impossible.
In such a course Charles would have had every assistance
from Richelieu. The treaty was signed on the 28th, and the
Richelieu Cardinal at once assured the ambassadors that the
takeyup°the English ships would be speedily restored, and that
conflict hjs master would practically, if not in name, join
against . J
Spain. England in the war in Germany. On the 2pth
Holland and Carleton reported that the French ministers dealt
with them more freely than they expected, ' for they have not
denied those of the Religion any of their demands, so as all
parties are satisfied.' l
On February 5 the ambassadors were able to write of offers
still more definite. Richelieu had assured them that his master,
besides carrying on the war in Italy, was ready to
offers'made create a diversion in favour of the King of Denmark
by sending into Germany an army nominally com-
manded by some German prince, but in reality supported
jointly by France and England. In addition he would give
the aid already promised to the King of Denmark. An army
maintained in this manner would not cost Charles a third of
1 Holland and Carleton to Conway, Jan. 27, 29 ; Declaration by
Holland and Carleton, £a"' 3T ; The state of Holland and Carletou's nego-
Feb. 10
tiations Aug. (?), S. P. France.
CHARLESES ILL-HUMOUR. 53
the expense of the force which he had proposed to send against
Dunkirk, whilst it would be of far greater advantage to the
common cause.1
Whether Charles, after his numerous failures, would have
been able to persuade the House of Commons to grant the
supply necessary for this or for any other enterprise,
Satisfactory may well be doubted ; but it ,was at least in his power
prospect. to meet parliament with the proposal of a definite joint
action with France, which was the very object at which he had
been so long driving. In a few days the English ships would
have returned and the establishment of peace in France would
have justified the policy upon which their loan had originally
depended, whilst it might be taken for granted that when once
England and France were actively co-operating in Germany,
there would be no disposition on the part of the French
Government to return to that system of annoyance of which the
Huguenots had previously complained, nor even to scrutinise
very closely Charles's failure to observe the provisions of his
marriage contract.
Such, however, was not the view which Charles took of the
situation. On February 6, when the first news of the agree-
Feb. 6. ment had reached England, Conway was directed to
pissatibfac- wrjte ironically to the ambassadors that his Majesty
tion or * J J
Charles. was confident that there must be in the treaty ' some
excellent good warrants and reservations provided that are not
expressed.'2 The next day Charles had an opportunity ot
Feb. 7. reading the treaty itself. " It seems," wrote Conway
^ains'o'fthe again> " something strange that your Lordships had
agreement, concluded the peace with so little surety for those of
the Religion, for aught appeared here ; but his Majesty is per-
suaded— if your Lordships have, as it seems, placed the con-
fidence of all those of the Religion and those of Rochelle upon
him for the maintaining of their surety, — that you have some
very good grounds that such underhand promises as may have
been made, which appear not, shall be kept ; or that, now that
the King is satisfied in point of honour, of his goodness he will
1 Holland and Carleton to Conway, Feb. 5, S. P. France.
2 Conway to Holland and Carleton, Feb. 6, ibid.
54 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. CH. LVl.
presently withdraw all his forces from Rochelle, and will appoint
a certain time when he will demolish the fort.
" His Majesty's pleasure is that you protest to that King
and his ministers that, under the hope and confidence of the
Theambas- real and present performance of those things, you
dedmlr,d°a had employed your mediation, and had engaged the
recognition authority of his Majesty to move and almost con-
of Charles s J J J
mediation, strain the deputies to accept the peace upon these
conditions.
" And further, you are, by the advice of the deputies, to
move for such conditions as may be for their surety, and so to
carry that business betwixt that king and those of the Religion
that, if his Majesty's honour must be pledged for the due
observation of the treaty, his Majesty may be called and
admitted to that office by that king and those of the Religion ;
and that there may be some ground and possibility for such a
surety to be in the power and possession of those of the
Religion and those of Rochelle, in the strength of which they
may subsist until such time as they may make their grievances
known to his Majesty, and for him to apply his mediation and
set his endeavours on work. But in these things his Majesty
can give you no exact limits, but must leave you to that restraint
or latitude your Lordships' own wisdom will take in your own
negotiation. But it is his Majesty's precise commandment that
you demand the present restitution of his Majesty's ship, and
of the merchants' ships ; and that in that point you admit no
delay, but take a delay as a denial."
Charles, in short, blind to the fact that the force of circum-
stances under Richelieu's guidance was working for him, would
Charles's be content with nothing less than an open acknow-
mistake, ledgment of his position as mediator between Louis
and his subjects. A few more despatches such as that which
had just been sent, would make even Richelieu powerless to
preserve peace between France and England.
On the nth the news of the French offer of co-operation
in Germany had reached England. Sir John Coke was directed
to answer as follows : —
" Concerning the raising of a new English-French army, —
1626 CHARLES PROVOKES A QUARREL. 55
which strange overture you have kept afoot by undertaking to
Feb. ii. procure an answer from hence, — that this may not
Charles serve them for any pretence to colour their with-
treating th« drawing of contribution from the King of Denmark
French co- and Mansfeld, you are to lay before them his Majesty's
wthcooi- great charges both by sea and land, and the impossi-
ness.
bility of levying more armies, of that kind ; and further
directly to profess that if that king perform not what he hath
promised for the support of those forces, his Majesty in like
manner will presently hold his hand and employ all his means
for the strengthening of his fleet, which he well knoweth to be
the best support of his own honour and state, all the rest having
a. principal relation to his allies. And, since the diversion in
Germany concerneth chiefly the security of France, against
which the Imperial forces were evidently designed, if the King
of Denmark had sat still ; you are to make them sensible of
this interest and of his Majesty's resolution to bear that burthen
no longer, if that king shall cast it off, or not contribute at least
in an equal proportion." l
On such terms a working alliance was impossible. A foreign
Government was to find now, as domestic parties were to find
An alliance afterwards, that it was not enough to give way to
onPthese'le Charles in some things, unless it was prepared to
conditions. gjve wav to him in all. What he asked was that
a high-spirited and sensitive nation should first submit its
domestic affairs to his arbitration, and should then enter upon
a war precisely in such a manner and on such conditions as it
pleased him to prescribe.
If knowledge of character be worth anything, it is to Charles
rather than to Buckingham that these unsatisfactory despatches
are to be ascribed. Charles, too, had annoyances at home which
may well have served to put him in a bad temper during the
days in which they were dictated. His dissatisfaction with his
wife had reached a crisis. Parliament was opened on Feb-
ruary 6, and arrangements had been made for the Queen to
witness the procession from one of the windows of the banquet-
ing hall at Whitehall. Charles, however, always anxious to
1 Coke to Holland and Carleton, Feb. n, S. P France.
56 CHARLES'S RELA TIONS WITH FRANCE CH. LVL
separate her from her French attendants, and to bring her as
Feb. 6. much as possible in communication with the ladies of
Itu^p'ro" the Villiers family, expressed a wish that she should
cession of the take a seat jn a balcony occupied by the old Countess
opening of J
Parliament, of Buckingham. The Queen assented, but when the
time came she either saw or fancied she saw that it was raining,
and asked to be excused from going out into the street in the
wet. Charles, on the other hand, insisted that it
Altercation ... • \ r i • i i •
with her did not ram, but finding that his words produced
usband. nQ jmpressjon) withdrew from the altercation. Dis-
satisfied at his rebuff, — so at least the French accounts of the
affair assert, — he betook himself to Buckingham. " How can
you expect," said the favourite, " to be obeyed by your Parlia-
ment if you cannot secure the obedience of yourwife?" Charles,
conscious perhaps of his own inability to impress the Queen with
sufficient awe of his commands, sent Buckingham to try his
powers upon her. Buckingham rated her soundly for her dis-
obedience, and as Blainville, who had perhaps objected origin-
ally to her showing herself in Lady Buckingham's company, now
advised submission, she took Buckingham's hand, and was led
across the street to the house from which his mother was to
view the procession.
Even this act of submission caused fresh umbrage to Charles.
The Queen, it would seem, would not obey him, but would
obey the French ambassador. With some reminiscence, per-
haps, of the ' Taming of the Shrew,' he sent orders to her to
come down from the window at which she was now seated, and
with these orders Henrietta Maria meekly complied.
For three days Charles kept entirely aloof from his wife,
\taiting sulkily till she should come to beg his pardon. At last,
weary of his silence, she sought him out and asked
between8 in what she had offended him. He expected her,
he answered, to acknowledge her error. She was
unable, she said, to accuse herself of anything wrong. Would he
not tell her what her fault had been ? The question
Feb. 10.
A reconciiia. seemed to take him by surprise. After some hesi-
tation he answered : " You told me that it rained
when I said that it did not rain." " I should never have
i6z6 DOMESTIC MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 57
thought that to be an offence," she replied ; " but if you think
so, I will think so too." Pleased with such evidence of humility,
Charles took his wife in his arms, and kissed her.1
The quarrel was over for the time. The Queen had perhaps
begun to open her eyes to the truth that with such a character
as Charles's the outward appearance of complete and unreason-
ing obedience is the surest way to mastery in the end.
Unhappily this misunderstanding between man and wife
became another element in the misunderstanding between two
kingdoms. On the day after the offence was given, the courier
Feb who carried the despatch expressive of Charles's
Charles dissatisfaction with the Huguenot treaty, took with
anoweBiain- him a letter from Charles to Louis himself, asking
appear at ^or Blainville's recall, on the ground that he had
Court done everything in his power to bring about a mis-
understanding between himself and the Queen. At the same
time he directed Conway to inform the ambassador that he
would no longer be permitted to appear at Court.2
Such were the conditions under which Charles met his
second Parliament. A great French minister, amidst unex-
Circum- ampled difficulties, had steered the vessel of state on
under which to tne track along which it was hereafter to be borne
nieetiepar- to vlctory on behmlf of a noble cause. In spite of
liament. the hesitations of Louis and of the opposition of the
clergy and of a large portion of the aristocracy, Richelieu had
firmly planted the banner of monarchical France on the basis
' M^moirea de Tillteres. It seems so unlikely that Charles should have
quarrelled with Blainville on this point, that it is as well to give the words
of the English narrative : " In the meantime a difference that fell out
about the place for the Queen to see the King ride to Parliament (she
affecting to stand in the Banqueting House, or in the Privy Gallery, when
the King had given reasons for her better sight in the house of the Countess,
mother to the Duke of Buckingham, next the gate in King Street), was a
subject for some. discontent, and so far as the Ambassador Blainville, seem-
ing to his Majesty to have been the causer ol it, had the next day a message
brought him by the Lord Conway." Affair of Blainville, undated, S. P.
France.
2 Message sent to Blainville, Feb. 7. The King to Louis XIII., Feb. 7,
S. P. France.
58 CHARLES'S RELATIONS WITH FRANCE, CH. LVI.
of toleration. He had gained his point by unwearied patience,
by yielding in details whilst never losing sight of his main
object, by the appearance of being but the servant of his king,
whilst in reality he was bending the king and France itself to
his own ends. One thing he yet wanted, that the ruler whom
fortune had placed upon the English throne should be capable
of understanding his meaning. As long as Charles was King
of England no such good fortune was likely to be his.
59
CHAPTER LVIL
rHE LEADERSHIP OF SIR JOHN ELIOT IN THE SECOND
PARLIAMENT OF CHARLES I.
FEW and unimportant were the words which Charles addressed
to the Houses at the opening of the session. " I mean to
Feb e show," he said, in excuse for this brevity, " what I
Opening of should speak in actions." Nor did the new Lord
Keeper, who followed, add much to the knowledge
of his hearers. He had nothing to say about the pressing
wants of the Exchequer, nothing about the position which the
King had taken up on the Continent ; and, but for a passing
allusion, no one would have gathered from Coventry's language
that England was at war with Spain, still less that she had
entered upon a serious diplomatic contest with France.
And yet money was sorely needed. The Privy seals were
coming in slowly, and eight weeks later they had produced less
Want of than zS,oooLl The hopes which had been placed
money. upon Buckingham's attempt to raise money in the
Netherlands had proved still more fallacious. The Amsterdam
merchants had refused to take the Crown jewels in pledge, un-
less they could also have security for their redemption within a
limited period.2
When, on February 10, Rudyerd, the usual mouthpiece of
the Government, rose to speak, he had still nothing to say
F t about supply. He commended the King's zeal for
religion as evinced by his late proceedings against
the Catholics, and moved for a committee to consider
how to increase the livings of the poorer clergy, and how to
1 Breviates of the receipts of the Exchequer.
* D, Carleton to Conway, Jan. 22, S. P. Holland.
60 ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVII.
deal with ministers who were leading immoral lives. The
motion was adopted with an amendment by Pym that the
committee should be empowered to consider all matters re-
lating to religion. Charles evidently intended to stand upon
his Protestantism. If he no longer protected the Roman
Catholics, if he was ready to carry out practical reforms in the
English Church, and if he was in close alliance with the States,
nrhy should not the Commons vote him large supplies to carry
out so popular a policy.
Why should they not ? Phelips was not there, to say him
nay ; nor Coke, nor Seymour, nor even Wentworth ; and Sir
Supply John Coke could therefore rise hopefully to hint some-
suggested, thing about a grant of supply. 1 There was, however,
one there who had been overlooked when the sheriffs had been
Eliot's posi- pricked, and from whom no opposition was expected,
las" p"artia- Dut wh° had something to say before a motion for
supply was carried. Eliot's last publicly spoken words
at Oxford had been in defence of Buckingham's personal in-
tegrity.2 The refusal of the favourite to submit his actions to
the judgment of independent councillors, and the contempt
shown for the House of Commons by the hasty dissolution, had
since thrown him entirely on the side of the Opposition.
Still Eliot was in no hurry to act. With a man of his warm
and affectionate disposition the old personal ties which had
bound him to Buckingham must still have counted for
1625. . °
He watches much. In the interval between the two Parliaments
events.
he had been anxiously watching the course of events.
As Vice-Admiral of Devon he had special opportunities for
noting the miserable results of a policy which his head and his
heart alike condemned. He had been present at the sailing
1 Mr. Forster (Sir jf. Eliot, i. 284) says — "The new secretary there-
upon reminding the House of his Majesty's hint as to time, and that un-
reasonable slowness might produce as ill effect as denial, Eliot promptly
rose." This is, I suppose, from the Port Eliot Notes, and must have re-
ferred to supply.
- The surprise at Eliot's turning against Buckingham in this Parlia-
ment, noticed by the Venetian Ambassador, as quoted by Ranke, Engl.
Gesch. ii. 103, is one more piece of evidence that he never uttered the
speech attributed to him in the Negotium Posterorum.
1625 ELIOT DISSATISFIED. 61
of the fleet, and when it sought refuge in Plymouth Sound from
its unlucky voyage, he had been witness of the miseries to which
those on board were doomed by a Government which had
launched them into the midst of the hazards of war without
sufficient means to provide for their daily wants. He knew
well how the poor wretches, torn from their homes a few short
months before, were wandering about the streets of Plymouth
without food or money ; how they were denied shelter by the
inhabitants ; and how, with nothing but their shirts on their
backs to ward off the wintry cold, they were dropping down
dead in the long December nights.1
Yet, whatever Eliot's thoughts may have been, there was no
open breach between him and the men in authority at Court.
Does not At the end of December he appealed to Conway for
theaGovern- th6 reduction of an exorbitant demand made upon
ment. hjs father-in-law by a Privy seal, and the wrong was
immediately redressed by a special resolution of the Council.2
A little later he wrote to request Pembroke, the Lord Lieu-
tenant of Cornwall, for a deputy-lieutenancy which was reported
to be vacant, and his request would have been immediately
granted but for the discovery that there had been no foundation
for the report.3
Plainly, therefore, there was no expectation of any opposition
from Eliot ; and it is possible that if Charles had met Par-
j626_ liament in a different spirit— if he had made the
Feb. 10. slightest acknowledgment of error, and had courted
ncwVariia6- inquiry instead of merely asking for money — Eliot's
first words in the new House might have been other
than they were. As it was, his whole soul was moved by that
which was passing before his eyes. To the high-hearted,
patriotic man it was bad enough that the failures of the past
should bring no warnings for the future ; but it was still worse that
1 The Commissioners of Plymouth to the Council, Jan. 4, S. P. Dom.
xviii. 7.
; Council Register, Jan. 5. Eliot's letter to Conway, Dec. 31, S. P.
Dom. xii. 95, is printed by Mr. Forster, Sir J Eliot, i. 272.
3 Eliot to his agent in London, Jan. 16, S. P. Dom. xviii. 68. Bc.g:j
to , March (?), Notes and Queries, 4th ser., x. 325.
62 ELSOT'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVH.
religion should be made the stalking-horse for political objects,
and that Parliament should be asked to legislate for the Church
as an inducement towards a grant of money.
When Eliot stood up, therefore, it was to ask that inquiry
into past disasters should precede present supply. The ac-
counts of the expenditure of the subsidies voted in
Eliot de-
m.nds in- 1624 must be laid fully before the House. Then,
the'cadii' rising with the occasion, and feeling that this would
not be enough, " Sir," he cried, " I beseech you cast
your eyes about ! View the state we are in ! Consider the
loss we have received ! Weigh the wrecked and ruined honour
of our nation ! O the incomparable hopes of our most excel-
lent sovereign checked in their first design ! Search the pre-
paration. Examine the going forth. Let your wisdoms travel
through the whole action, to discern the fault, to know the
faulty. For I presume to say, though no man undertook it,
you would find the ancient genius of this kingdom rise up to
be the accuser. Is the reputation and glory of our nation of a
small value ? Are the walls and bulwarks of our kingdom of
no esteem ? Are the numberless lives of our lost men not to
be regarded? I know it cannot so harbour in an English
thought. Our honour is ruined, our ships are sunk, our men
perished ; not by the sword, not by the enemy, not by chance,
but, as the strongest predictions had discerned and made it
apparent beforehand, by those we trust. Sir, I could lose my-
self in this complaint, the miseries, the calamities which our
Western parts have both seen, and still feel, strike so strong an
apprehension on me."
At this point, remembering doubtless that the special cir-
cumstances which gave a right of inquiring into the expendi-
ture of the subsidies of 1624 did not convey a right
and into ..... .... ,
earlier of inquiry into the expenditure of any other money,
Eliot paused for a moment, making, with the skill of
a consummate orator, the half-retractation which he was about
to utter an excuse for striking a yet harder blow. " Perchance,
sir," he proceeded, "it will be said that this concerns us not
— that our money was long since spent in other actions. To
prevent such objection I will make this answer, that I know
1626 ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP. 63
nothing so preposterous ' or good in those former actions that
may extenuate, much less excuse, the faults of this. Upon
both particulars, therefore, I will contract my motion ; this of
the war account, and that of the King's estate."
These questions — in short, inquiry into the past and
provision for the future — should be discussed in special com-
mittees. Till this had been done, nothing should be said
about the King's supply. The common cause must have the
precedence.2
In spite, therefore, of the relegation of the leaders of the
Opposition to their respective shires, a voice had been raised to
Weight of resume the work which they had left unfinished. In-
the speech. stinctively Eliot had taken up ground which was
unassailable. There was no personal attack upon Buckingham.
The Lord Admiral's name had not even been mentioned. But
there had been a plain assertion of the right of the Commons
to ascertain by every means in their power whether the money
for which they were asked would be used for the benefit of the
country. No doubt such an inquiry contained within itself the
germs of a mighty revolution. The Commons had certainly
not been accustomed thus to pry into the secret actions of
Henry VIII. or Elizabeth ; but, even if they were as yet hardly
fitted to occupy the place of sovereignty, it was not their fault
that circumstances had changed, or that there was good reason
for withdrawing from Charles I. the confidence which their
fathers had reposed in his predecessors.
It is possible that Eliot may have been irritated to some
extent by the sermon preached by Laud at the opening of the
session. "Jerusalem," the Bishop of St. Davids had
Land's told his hearers, " is builded as a city that is com-
pact together." By unity alone could Church or
State resist its foes. For the State the centre of unity was in
the King. It was his to do judgment and justice, to appoint
magistrates and to protect the oppressed. It was the part of
the nation to surround him with loving reverence. " And never
fear him," he said of Charles, "for God is with him. He will
not depart from God's service ; nor from the honourable care
1 i.e. 'so preferable or excellent.' 2 Forster, Sir jf. Eliot, i. 285.
64 ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP, CH. LVII.
of his people ; nor from } wise managing of his treasure ; he
will never undermine his own house, nor give his people just
cause to be jealous of a shaking foundation." 2
Those who have been engaged in tracing out Charles's errors
and failures will find it hard to understand how such words
could be applied to him by any sane man. The
Lauds l
devotion to difficulty, however, is not a great one. Laud was
an ecclesiastic, not a statesman. He saw Charles's
conscious wish to do right, and he took it for granted that his
conduct was as prudent as his intentions were upright. Having
every reason to doubt the fairness of the House of Commons
towards the clergy of his own opinions, he thought that they weie
equally unfair in their opposition concerning political matters.
Laud had been grieved at the resolution which the King
had taken to withdraw his objection to the examination of
Montague's opinions by the Commons, on the ground that he
was one of the Royal chaplains. On January 16 four bishops,
amongst whom were Andrewes and Laud, who had been asked
to investigate the question, had reported that Montague's book
was agreeable to the doctrine of the Church of England, and
had recommended Charles to prohibit all further controversy on
the disputed points.3 On the nth and iyth of the
The con- ' following month a conference was held at Bucking-
Montague's ham's house, in which Dr. Preston and Bishop Morton
did their best to impugn the doctrines propounded in
the incriminated books. Preston was a noted Puritan divine
who had secured Buckingham's good-will, and had, in 1622,
become Master of Emmanuel College in the University of
Cambridge through his patron's influence. Buckingham had,
however, for some time been pursuing courses which could
not be agreeable to Preston, who had spoken with dislike of his
advocacy of the French marriage, and of the concessions made
in consequence to the Catholics. Preston now discovered that
Buckingham repented of having offered his house for the
purpose of the conference, and drew the inference that he had
1 " for," as printed, but surely it should be " from."
* Sermon III., Land's Works, i. 63.
3 Neile, Andrewes, &c. to Buckingham, Jan. 16, Harl. MSS. 7000,
fol. 193-
1626 A THEOLOGICAL DISPUTE. «5
placed himself in the hands of the Bishops, and was indifferent
or hostile to the triumph of Gospel truth. l
As far as it is possible to judge from the accounts which
have reached us, the assailants failed to make their points
good, as in insisting on a complete accordance with the formulas
of the Church, they, in many cases, substituted their own inter •
pretation for the obvious meaning of the formulas themselves,
Yet, in spite of his controversial success, Montague was left ta
the judgment of Parliament. As might have been expected,
the House of Commons pronounced strongly against him ; but
the session was brought to an untimely end before the opinion
of the Lords could be taken, and he therefore escaped punish-
ment for a time.
These Church questions would before long attract universal
attention. At present the management of the war and the re-
lations between England and the Continental powers were of
•nore immediate interest. The four sub-committees of the
Committee for Grievances were hard at work, and the one over
The 'St. which Eliot presided was busily occupied in investi-
Heavreie gating the case of the ' St- p<?ter ' of Havre de Grace,
Grace. an(j jn inquiring incidentally why England was on
the verge of a war with France without any apparent reason.
The real history of the estrangement between the two Courts
was known to but very few. Probably no one except Bucking-
ham and one or two of his confidants had ever heard of the
despatches by which Charles had met with icy coldness the
overtures of Richelieu, or were acquainted with the course of
Feb. 8. the dispute about the French prizes ; but the re-
Consterna- seizure of the ' St. Peter ' was a fact patent to all.
tion of the .
English The merchants trading with France were in terror
ITtTtsre" lest reprisals should be made on the other side of
the Channel, and the Lord Admiral and the Privy
Council were besieged with petitions for the release of the ship.2
1 Ball's Life of Preston in Clarke's General Martyrology. ' The sum
and substance of the Conference.* Cosirt's Works, ii. 17. Buckingham
presided, and certainly showed great shrewdness and ability.
2 Petition of the merchants, Feb. 8, S. P. DOHI. xx. 51. Act of
Council, Feb. 12, Council Register.
VOL. VI. ¥
6* . ELICITS LEADERSHIP. ; . CH. LVM>
When '. the ship had been seized, war with France had been
imminent. As it was now known in England that the French
civil war was at an end, and that the English vessels might s,oon
be on their way home, Buckingham had no longer any interest
in detaining the prize. He sent for Marten, and asked what
Feb he ought to do. Marten answered cautiously that
Marten the ship might be detained if there was fresh evidence
scon c • against her, but that until he had seen the informa-
tion on which Buckingham relied, he could not say whether it
was sufficient or not. On the i5th the merchants' petitions
were considered in the Council, and an order was given that, if
the owners .would enter into bonds to abide by the decision of
the Court of Admiralty, the ship should be at once released. '
Soon after this it was discovered that the evi-
Pelea^e of
the ' St. dence alleged by Apsley was absolutely worthless,
and , all further proceedings were tacitly withdrawn.
This step, however, was taken too late. Even before the news
of the re-seizure of the ' St. Peter ' had reached France, the
owners of the prize goods which had been sold, being convinced
that they had nothing to hope from English justice, had peti-
tioned to their- own courts for redress. On the 7th the Judge
Feb of the Admiralty at Paris gave permission to all who
Reprisals in had been wronged to seek redress by the seizure of
English property in France, and on the loth a similar
order was issued by the Parliament of Rouen.2
Through this thicket of confusion, Eliot and his committee
did their best to cut their way. Was it strange if they did not
Eiiot;s com succeed in discovering the truth ? It was clear that
^"the" there was something behind of which they knew
seizure t« nothing. 'The second detention of the 'St. Peter'
have been . ° , . .
made for required an explanation which had not been vouch-
ham's'private safed to them* How Eliot would have branded with
scorn the blunder of selling the prize goods if only he
had become aware. o( the importance which it had in the eyes
.' Act qf Council, Feb. 15, Council Register.
2 List of proceedings about the ships, undated ; Sentence of the Par-
liament of Rouen, Feb. — , S. f. France. In the. subsequent correspond-
ence the seizure of the 'St. Peter ' is scarcely mentioned as complained of
by the French. The sale of the prize goods is the sore point.
16:6 THE l ST. PETER' OF HAVRE DE GRACE. 67
of the French, we can readily imagine ; but the seizure of the
' St Peter ' was all that met his eye, and being in ignorance of
the fact that England had been at the time on the brink of a
war with France, he had to account for the mystery as best he
might What wonder if he fancied that the Duke had done it
all for his own advantage ? He knew that some of Buckingham's
officers had had charge of valuable articles which had been on
board the 'St. Peter,' and that those articles had not been
restored. The inference seemed obvious that they had gone to
swell the Duke's private fortune, and that, for the sake of his
own personal enrichment, he was embroiling the kingdom in an
uncalled-for war.
Yet this was far from the truth. It was indeed an un-
equal contest upon which Eliot had entered. So unwise
was the alienation of that State which was ready to become
the ally of England, that so true a patriot could not but seek
to probe the mystery to the bottom. The mystery could
not be so probed. Charles and Buckingham had veiled their
actions in secrecy as with a cloud. What Eliot learned had to
be dragged from unwilling witnesses, themselves knowing but
little, and anxious to tell as small a portion of that little as they
March 6 cou^. When, therefore, Attorney- General Heath
Heath's appeared before the House to defend his patron, he
had an easy task before him. He was able to assert
that the ship had been seized by the King's directions, and
from public motives. It is ' not now,' he said, ' a particular or
personal cause, but a national controversy.' It is true that he
was not instructed to state what the grounds of that national
controversy were ; but he was able to add, with perfect truth,
that the seizure of the ' St. Peter ' had nothing whatever
to do with the embargo at Rouen. Heath's argument was
successful with the Commons. By a small majority in a not
very full House, they voted that the stay of the ' St. Peter ' was
not a grievance.1
Charles determined to strike while the iron was hot. On
the very day on which Heath was pleading before the Commons,
1 Commons' Journals, i. 831.
F2
68 ELIOT 'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVH.
the Lords were asked to take into consideration the state of
the realm. Already in a quiet way the Peers had given signs
that they had no intention of being Buckingham's humble
servants. Finding that the Duke held no less than thirteen
Feb 2 proxies, the independent Lords, after a debate in
Order about which almost every official member spoke on the
the House of other side,1 carried an order that for the future no
peer should hold more than two proxies. Restlessness
under Buckingham's supremacy did not, however, as yet imply
readiness to reject a proposal brought to them with the authority
of the Crown, and the House at once appointed a committee to
take into consideration the question propounded on the King's
behalf. The next morning the committee reported
The Peers that it was advisable to set forth one fleet against
Mantetfrthee Spain, and another for the defence of the English
realm. coast, and to maintain the armies of Mansfeld and
the King of Denmark.2
With this suggestion the Commons were at once asked to
comply. At the conference Buckingham prudently kept him-
self in the background, and Pembroke and Abbot were put
forward to induce the Lower House to assent to the demands
of the Government. After detailing the necessities of the fleet
and of the Danish army, Pembroke held out hopes that a
virtual alliance would be brought about with France.3
In the evening an attempt was made to carry the opinion of
the Commons by storm. A hopeful despatch had been received
News from from tne ambassadors at Paris. Edward Clarke, the
France. confidential servant of the Duke, who, when Charles
left Madrid, had been entrusted with the secret orders to Bristol
for the postponement of the marriage ceremony, and who, in
1625, had been imprisoned by the Commons for the strong
language which he had used in defence of his patron,4 went
about the streets spreading the news that all difficulties had been
1 Ehing V Notes, 1624-1626, 113,
* Lords' Journals, in. 517, 519.
• Speeches of Abbot and Pembroke, HcH. MSS. 4888, fol. 262.
« See Vol. V., pp. 118, 415.
1626 FRESH OVERTURES FROM LOUIS. 69
removed, and that there was no longer any danger of a dispute
with the King of France.1
It was not Richelieu's fault that a good understanding had
not long ago been effected. Though the news of Blainville's
exclusion from Court had been very unwelcome to
reb. 21. _ *
Negotiations Louis, no hard language had been used, and Charles's
objections to the French scheme of a joint army
having been taken into consideration, a fresh offer was made
that the King of France should confine himself to operations
in Italy, whilst aiding Charles with money to carry on the war
in Germany. On the commercial difficulty the French Govern-
ment was equally conciliatory. Let the vessels seized
on both sides, they said, be mutually restored, and
then let there be some friendly arrangement to prevent disputes
for the future.2
Charles's wisest course would undoubtedly have been to
accept the offer. Unfortunately he was punctilious and keen
March 3. to mark offences in others. The sense of injury
Cunctii1ous caus£d in France by the sale of the prize goods he
about the djcl not understand : and much less did it enter into
French
reprisals. his head that the strictness of the English law of prize
might not commend itself to a neutral Government ; but he
discovered that, in the commercial treaty agreed on by Louis
and his father, it was stated that embargoes were not to be laid
on either side without previous notice, and he therefore de-
manded that France, by taking the first step in the restoration
of vessels seized, should acknowledge herself to have been in
the wrong. Even this was conceded to him, as Louis
overtures^ himself assured the ambassadors. "I will rely," he
said, " upon your promise, and in confidence thereof
will ordain a present release ; but if in England what you under-
take be not faithfully executed, and that such as ... may be
present at the definitive sentence advertise me that my subjects'
goods are detained from them, the King my brother must not
1 Blainville to Louis XIII., March ^, King's MSS. 138, p. 1316.
* Holland and Carleton to Coke, Feb. 21 ; Holland and Carleton to
Coke, Feb. 26, S. P. France.
7b ELIOT S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVII.
take it ill if I do the like." This offer Louis followed up by send-
March 4. ing immediate directions to the Admiral at Rochelle,
directing him to send home to England the English ships under
his charge, and by promising that the order for removing the
embargo should be issued the next morning.1
Such was the news which Clarke was spreading about the
streets of London on the evening of March 7. Charles, how-
ever, was in a temper which tried the friendliness of the French
Government to the utmost. In his anxiety to prove his Pro-
testantism, he had inflicted a fresh blow upon Blainville which
was not likely to make his relations easier with the ambassador's
master. Blainville's lodgings were in Durham House, one of
the mansions which in those days stood between the Strand
and the river. It was the house where Raleigh had lived in
the days of his splendour, and which was so extensive that the
Bishop of Durham contented himself with occupying a small
portion. A large part was given over to the French
embassy. Blainville had his private chapel, and the
mass, when celebrated there, was attended by throngs
of the Catholics of London. To this abuse, as he considered
interference '* to ^e' Charles was determined to put an end. He
with the at- gave orders to the Council to see that it was no longer
tendance of
English tolerated, and on the morning of Sunday, February 26,
a strong body of constables was posted at the gates,
after mass had begun, with directions to seize all English sub-
jects as they came out.
When the capture began it was impossible for the French
gentlemen of the ambassador's suite to restrain their im-
patience. Charging upon the constables sword in
which hand, they rushed to the succour of their English
friends. In the scuffle which ensued two men were
injured, and one was dragged into the courtyard and borne in
triumph before the window at which the ambassador was stand-
ing. By this time the noise of the tumult had attracted atten-
tion outside, and the population of the neighbourhood hurried
up to take part in the fray. Fortunately the Bishop of Durham
1 Holland and Carleton to Conway, March 3, 5, S. P. France.
1626 TUMULT AT DURHAM HOUSE. 71
arrived in time to part the combatants before further mischief
was done.
Blainville of course was furious. " I wish," he said to the
Bishop, as soon as he caught sight of him, " that my" followers
Biainviiie's had killed the officers. The King my master will
anger. require reason for that which has been done against
the law of nations." 1
As a matter of law, Charles was plainly within his rights.
His prudence in raising so irritating a question was not so
certain. In the beginning of March, the very days in which
matters were taking a favourable turn at Paris, he contrived,
probably unconsciously, again to give offence to the French
Court. He had long regarded Arundel with suspicion. In
the last Parliament the Earl had been suspected of taking part
in the opposition against Buckingham, and, like Williams and
Wentworth, he had no sympathy with the warlike ardour of
the King and his chief adviser. At the opening of
Arundei's the new Parliament, alone amongst the Privy Coun-
lon' cillors he had sided with the independent Peers in
the affair of the proxies, and it was not long before Charles
found him interfering with his wishes on a more personal
question.
Arundei's eldest son, Lord Maltravers, had fallen in love
with Elizabeth Stuart, sister of the young Duke of Lennox, and
niece of the Lord Steward of James I. His affection was
warmly reciprocated. Charles had other views, and claimed, as
head of the lady's house, to dispose of her hand as he pleased.
The Earl of Argyle, a professed Roman Catholic, had long
been an exile from his native country, and had spent many
years of his life in the military service of the King of Spain.
His son and heir, Lord Lome, who was one day to be Charles's
bitterest enemy as the Covenanting Marquis of Argyle, was not
inclined to follow in his father's steps ; and Charles hoped
that by marrying him into a family so closely connected with
the Court as that of Lennox, he might acquire an influence
over his future life. Whilst Charles was scheming, the lovers
1 A true relation, &c., S. P. Dom. xxi. 61
?2 ELIOTS LEADERSHIP. CH. LVH
were acting. Lady Arundel favoured her son's pretensions, and
His son's sne was n°t a woman accustomed to be thwarted,
marriage. ^ clandestine marriage was hurried on, and, when it
was too late to interfere, Arundel was told by his wife that he
had better be himself the person to carry the news to the King,
as he might safely assert that he had known nothing of the
plot before it was carried into execution.1
Charles was at first not inclined to be very hard upon the
Earl ; but Arundel, or someone amongst his friends, thought
March 4. & worth while to enlist the Queen's sympathy on his
Arundel behalf. Either Charles was jealous of his wife's
fro.n the interference, or he saw in it some fresh plot of the
detested Blainville. He at once ordered that Arun-
del should no longer be admitted to the meetings of the
Council ; and a fresh application from the Queen was followed
. by an order for his imprisonment in the Tower,
Sent to the whilst the ladies who had favoured the marriage
were detained in various places of confinement.2
Charles's continued jealousy of the Queen did not augur
well for the chances of a better understanding with her brother.
Charles, not Into the recesses of his councils indeed we have
ham, trie no means of penetrating ; but the difficulties thrown
dtffiraw*" m tne way °f tne French alliance, the personal
with France. quarrel with Blainville, the punctilious hesitation
about the release of the prizes, the demand to be recognised
as a mediator between Louis and his subjects, all bear un-
mistakably the impress of Charles's quickness to take offence
and reluctance to forget a real or fancied injury. Buckingham
was more likely to snatch at the chance of bringing a French
army into the field ; and the one glimpse which we have of
him during these days shows him anxiously desiring permis-
sion to go as ambassador to France, no doubt to cement that
1 Meddus to Meade, March 10, Court and Times, i. 86. D'Ewes to
Stuteville, March, Harl. MSS. 383, fol. 26.
2 Council Register, March 4, Arundel to Lady Maltravers, March 5,
Harl. MSS. 1581, fol. 390. Blainville to Louis XIII., March ^ ; Blain-
ville to the Bishop of Mende, March -7, Kings MSS. 138, pp. 1316, 1333.
1 626 SUMMONS TO THE COUNCIL OF WAR. 73
'riendly understanding which his master was doing everything
to thwart.1
Whatever the truth may have been, it would have been hard
to persuade the Commons that Buckingham was not wholly
March 3. at fau^- Partly from motives of policy, still more
inquiry perhaps from traditional loyalty of disposition, the
directed by .,.. 111 11
the Com- maxim that the King could do no wrong was deeply
councifof ' imprinted on their hearts. If they had failed to
extract the whole truth about the P'rench prizes, they
hoped to be more successful in extracting from the council of
war the advice which its members had given about the disposal
of the subsidies voted in 1624, wishing probably to know
whether Mansfeld's disastrous expedition had received the
approbation of competent military authorities.2
The House was, however, destined to disappointment.
Heath, having been consulted by the King, gave it as his
Heath's opinion that though, under the unusual provisions of
opinion. j^g Act jn question, the Commons would be justified
in asking whether the council of war had issued warrants for
any expenditure not provided for in the Act, they would not be
justified in asking what advice any individual councillor had
given, or to require him in any way to inculpate a third party
by asking whether the advice given had or had not been followed.
1 Holland to Buckingham, March *-, S. P. France.
* In the Eliot Notes the proceedings in committee are given usually
without the speaker's name ; but the question of misemployment of the
subsidies of 1624 is continually recurring in a way which fully bears out my
view that the complaint was that they had been employed in too extensive
warfare. Thus, on Feb. 27, " That the council of war may first satisfy
the House what cour e hath been taken about the four ends, and what
money hath been expended about fortifying our coasts." On Feb. 28, a
cause of the war is said to be ' failing in the observation of the ratio [?] for
the four ends in the statute 21° Ja. ' On the Oth of Maich some one said
' that we gave our money for defence of our coasts.' The questions on
which the councillors of war were to be examined are, ' Whether they met
according to the Act, and how often, and when ? What they advised and
directed, and whether that advice were followed, or how hindered?'
Uoon the I7th of March it was voted that ' the misemploying of the money
given 21 Ja., and the not employing it to the four ends, &c.' a cause.
74 ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVH.
The acts of the councillors, in short, were a fair suoject for in-
vestigation, not their opinions.
The doctrine thus laid down is in our own day accepted by
all parties in the State. It never occurs to the most inquisitive
March 7. member of Parliament to ask what advice has been
cmore°r"fuse g^ven m tne privacy of the Cabinet. But if it has
to reply. become possible to cover advice with a wise secrecy,
it is because all those who act have submitted to a complete
responsibility to Parliament for their actions. It was not with-
out reason that when the councillors answered in accordance
with Heath's opinion, the Commons felt that the partial satis-
faction offered to them was illusory. In fact, the special stipu-
lations of the Act of 1624 had been the beginning of a great
change. It had recognised that certain special officials were to
be responsible to Parliament as well as to the Crown. It had,
however, effected either too much or too little, and the Commons
were naturally of opinion that it had effected too little. If they
came to the conclusion that the money had been spent on im-
proper objects, how could they call to account the councillors,
who might have acted under pressure or misrepresentation,
whilst Buckingham was placed beyond inquiry ?
The first thought of the Commons was to persist in their
original demand. They informed each councillor that two days
The Com- would be granted him for consideration, and that he
mons persist. wouic[ then be called upon individually to reply to
the questions put to him. l
So strong was the current of feeling, that the old Earl of
Totness — who, as Sir George Carew, had been Lord President
March °^ Munster in Elizabeth's days, and who was now
Interview one of the members of the council of war — thought
King-ami * that it was better that he and his fellows should bear
lotntss. t^e Displeasure of the Commons than that the King's
subsidies should be refused. "I beseech your Majesty," he
said, " to regard your own ends. For it is better that we should
suffer imprisonment than be the occasion of missing necessary
subsidies, or breed any difference between you and the House
1 Question and Answer, March 3 and 7 ; Heath's opinion, March,
5. /'. Dom. xxii. 16, 17, 18, 19.
1626 RESISTANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF WAR. 75
of Commons : for we cannot do you better service." It was
well and bravely spoken ; but Charles saw plainly that his own
authority was at stake. " Let them do what they list," he
answered proudly. "You shall not go to the Tower. It is
not you that they aim at, but it is me upon whom they
make inquisition. And for subsidies, that will not hinder it.
Gold may be bought too dear, and I thank you for your
offer."1
The council, therefore, returned much the same answer as
before, and the Commons, finding that no further information
March n. was to be had, desisted from their inquiry.2
$"£1 coS As was usually the case, Charles was right on the
of war. narrow technical view of the transaction. He was
also right in perceiving that, if there was to be a general in-
quiry into the past, his own authority would suffer grievously.
A complete revolution was implied in the demand made upon
him. Yet, after all that had happened, after the disaster which
had attended Mansfeld's army, and the failure which had
attended the expedition to Cadiz, after the French alliance,
of which he had boasted so loudly, was changing, for some
mysterious reason, into hardly-concealed hostility, was it reason-
able to ask the Commons to entrust large sums to his wisdom
and discretion, without that full and searching inquiry into
the past, by which alone confidence once shaken could be re-
stored ?
This, however, was what Charles seriously proposed to do.
1 Account by Totness, March 9, S. P. Dom. xxii. 51.
2 It has hitherto been supposed that the King rested his objection
simply on the impropriety of allowing the House to call his officers to ac-
count. Charles, however, acknowledged the right of the Commons to en-
quire into the employment of the money. " His Majesty," so stands the
form of answer finally agreed on, " hath given us leave to give an account
of our warrants to the Treasurers for the disbursements of the subsidies
given last in the time of his Royal Father, which is clearly warranted by
the Act of Parliament. But concerning our counsels, and the following
Ihereof, his Majesty hath directly forbidden us to give any account, as
being against his service to divulge those secrets, and expressly against our
oath as councillors of war." Form of answer settled, with alterations, in
Coke's letter of March 10, 5". P, Dom. xxii. 57, 60.
76 ELIOT 'S LEADERSHIP. CH. l.VH.
The announcement made by Pembroke on the yth, and the
March 10 rumours spread abroad by Clarke in the same even-
Supply de- ing had produced no effect. On the loth Weston
delivered a message asking for an immediate supply
for the necessities of State. The Commons were to vote the
money, and to ask no questions.1
It was absolutely impossible that the Commons should
accept the ignominious position thus assigned to them. Yet it
Difficult was hard to say what course they were to follow.
The'com°f Since the old turbulent days when an adverse vote
mons. jn Parliament had been enforced by actual or pos-
sible insurrection, ministerial responsibility had been a thing
unheard of. The officers of the Crown under the Tudors
were simply the agents of the sovereign, responsible for their
conduct to him alone.
It may be that the straightforward way would have been
the best in the end, and that a simple address assuring the
TWO courses King that no money could be voted till he could
before them, inspire the House with confidence that it would be
wisely expended, would have placed the Commons in a position
less logically assailable than any other. It was, however, certain
that such a course would have given deep offence to Charles,
and, on the other hand, a path was open which, strewed as it
was with hidden dangers, appeared to offer a far more inviting
prospect.
When men's minds are in a state of tension, it often
happens that the thought with which all are occupied rises to
the lips of some insignificant person, less able than
CokTs"' others to weigh the full import of his words. It was
words. t^ug t^at when the SUppiy proposed by Pembroke
and Abbot 2 was being discussed, Coke's son Clement, hitherto
chiefly known for his quarrelsome disposition, flung out the
taunt, " It is better to die by an enemy than to suffer at home."
Now that the King was pressing his demand by
Dr. Turner's Weston, Dr. Turner, a man otherwise of no note,
queries. ^^ ^ House that the cause of all their grievances
was ' that great man, the Duke of Buckingham.' Common
1 Message, March 10, Ilarl. MSS. 161, fol. 49. 2 See p. 68.
1626 DR TURNER'S QUERIES. 77
fame had supplied him with certain queries which called for
an answer. Had the Duke guarded the seas against pirates?
Had he not, by the appointment of unworthy officers, caused
the failure of the expedition to Cadiz ? Had he not engrossed
a large part of the Crown lands to himself, his friends, and his
relations ? Had he not sold places of judicature and titles of
honour ? Was he not dangerous to the State, his mother and
his father-in-law being recusants ? Was it fit that he should,
in his own person, enjoy so many great offices ? l
It has generally been supposed that the questions thus
put had been placed in Turner's mouth by others. However
this may have been, it marks a change of front on the part of
the Opposition. If there were no recent precedents for in-
quiring into the administrative acts of high officials, there were
the precedents of Bacon and Middlesex for inquiring into their
Personal personal delinquencies. For some days a multitude
B^Wng^°n °f facts damaging to Buckingham had been dis-
ham. covered by the various committees, and it may have
seemed a more hopeful task to induce Charles to abandon a
criminal of whose real character he had been ignorant, than to
surrender a minister to whose policy he had given his constant
approval.
If any such calculation as this passed over the minds of the
leading members, if, in short, the step which they were prepared
to take was the fruit of anything more than an honest
March 14. . °
Chariesasks indignation against the man whom they had come
for justice. to regar(j as a criminal indeed, they had not taken
into account the extent to which Charles had given, not merely
his name, but his cordial support, to Buckingham's proceedings.
The attack upon his friend roused him to indignation, and he
sent to demand justice upon Coke and Turner. At the same
time the Commons took their stand against the King on
Tonnage and another most important principle. They directed
poundage. fae King's Counsel in the House to bring in a Ton-
nage and Poundage Bill within a week, unless they wished to
1 I have abbreviated the Report in Add. MSS. 22, 474, fol. n, which
looks more like words actually spoken than that given in Rush worth.
7? ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVII.
see the farmers of the Customs called upon to explain by what
authority those duties had been levied.1
It would evidently not be easy to establish ministerial re-
sponsibility. With a sovereign who does not pretend to govern
Question of or with a sovereign who is ready to make a scape-
responsi-al 8oat °f an unpopular servant, it presents no difficulty,
biiiiy. Charles at the same time claimed to rule the State
and was too conscientious to throw over a minister whom he
believed to have been unjustly accused. It needed two revo-
lutions to make the doctrine current in England. Before the
Commons could succeed in making ministers responsible,
they had to re-establish in fact, if not in theory, the responsi-
bility of the Crown.
Under Eliot's guidance the House did its best to assure
the King of its loyalty to himself. Coke and Turner were
Loyal de- ordered to explain their words, and the King was
therco^-s°f assured that there was no wish to deprive him of the
mons. means necessary for carrying on a war. The wish
of the Commons was to make him ' safe at home and feared
abroad,' but they claimed a right to search out the causes of
his wants, and to propose such remedies as they might think
fitting.2
The Commons had not long to wait for an answer. Sum-
moning them to Whitehall, Charles spoke his mind plainly,.
" Mr. Speaker," he said, " here is much time spent in
March 15. r .
The King's inquiring after grievances. I would have that last,
and more time bestowed in preventing and redressing
them. I thank you all for your kind offer of supply in general,
but I desire you to descend to particulars, and consider of your
time and measure. For it concerneth yourselves, who are like
first to feel it, if it be too short.
" But some there are — I will not say all — that do make
inquiry into the proceedings, not of any ordinary servant, but
of one that is most near unto me. It hath been said, ' What
shall be done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour ? '
1 Rush-worth, i. 218; Adit. MSS. 22, 474, fol. 12. Commons' Jour'
tut Is, i 836. * Xushworth, i. 216
i6aS CHARLES INTERVENES. 79
But now it is the labour of some to seek what may be done
against the man whom the King thinks fit to be honoured.
" In a former time, when he was an -instrument to break
the treaties, you held him worthy of all that was conferred upon
him by my father. Since that time he hath done nothing but
in prosecution of what was then resolved on, and hath engaged
himself, his friends, and his estate for my service, and hath
done his uttermost to set it forwards ; and yet you question
him. And for some particulars wherewith he hath been
pressed, however he hath made his answer, certain it is that
I did command him to do what he hath done therein. I would
not have the House to question my servants, much less one
that is so near me. And therefore I hope I shall find justice
at your hands to punish such as shall offend in that kind."
He hoped, Charles concluded by saying, they would do
him right with respect to Coke as well as to Turner, To their
just grievances he would always be ready to listen.1
That the whole administration was one great grievance
Charles could not be brought to understand. Yet this was
precisely the belief to which the House was rapidly
March 17. . J . .
Eliot's coming ; and now Eliot took the lead in counselling
that there should be no drawing back. " We have
had a representation of great fear," he cried, " but I hope it shall
not darken our understandings." 2 Coke might explain away
his words : Turner, stricken with illness, perhaps the result of
anxiety, might shrink back into the obscurity from which he
had emerged for a moment ; 3 but the thought which they had
expressed had become the common property of the House.
During the following days the committees were busily at
1 1 quote the speech from a copy in Add. MSS. 22,474; fol. 19, which
again looks more like the words actually spoken than the form given by
Rushworth.
2 Mr. Forster (Sir J. Eliot, i. 500) has happily restored this exclama-
tion to its ] roper place.
3 I cannot share the opinion of those who speak disparagingly of Dr.
Turner's letter. It seems to me a manly and outspoken production. He
was afterwards one of the Straffordians, so that he can hardly have been a
timid man.
8o ELIOT S LEADERSHIP. ctf. LVII.
work accumulating fresh evidence against Buckingham. Charles
Suppiyagain impatiently urged the immediate consideration of
demanded, supply, and after the House had once more listened
to an explanation of the necessities of the Exchequer from
Sir John Coke,1 the 2-jih was fixed as the day for taking the
subject into consideration. On the 29th, Buckingham, if he
wished, might make answer to the charges collecting against
him.
On the ayth, after a persuasive speech from Rudyerd, Eliot
rose. Commencing with a graceful allusion to the day, as the
first anniversary of the King's accession, he threw
March 27. • '
EHofs aside the argument which had been so often the
refuge of timid reasoners in the last Parliament, that
the subject was unable to give. The only question, he justly
argued, was whether the subject was willing to give. Yet how
Foreign mis- could men be willing when one miscarriage had fol-
carriages. lowed another, and when these disastrous enterprises
' were undertaken, if not planned and made, by that great lord
the Duke of Buckingham.'
Nor were affairs at home much better. " What oppressions
have been practised," the orator continued, " are too visible ;
Domestic not om<y oppressions of the subject, but oppressions
oppressions. on the King. His treasures are exhausted, his re-
venues are consumed, as well as the treasures and abilities of
the subject ; and though many hands are exercised, and divers
have their gleanings, the harvest and great gathering comes to
one. For he it is that must protect the rest. His countenance
draws all others to him as his tributaries ; and by that they
are enforced not only to pillage for themselves but for him, and
to the full proportion of his avarice and ambition. This makes
the abuse and injury the greater. This cannot but dishearten,
this cannot but discourage, all men well affected, all men well
disposed to the advancement and happiness of the King. Nor,
without some reformation in these things, do I know what wills
or what abilities men can have to give a new supply."
Yet it was not Eliot's intention to dissuade the House from
« Add. MSS. 22,474, fol. 13.
1626 ELIOT S ATTACK ON BUCKINGHAM. 81
granting supply. He had two precedents to quote. In the
Precedents re'gn of Henry III., Hubert de Burgh, 'a favourite
quoted. never to be paralleled but now having been the only
minion both to the King then living and to his father which
was dead,' had been removed from office, and supply, refused
before, was at once granted. " The second precedent," he then
said, "was in loth of Richard II.; and herein I shall desire
you to observe the extraordinary likeness of some particulars.
First, for the placing and displacing of great officers. Then,
within the space of two years, the treasurer was changed twice,
the chancellor thrice, and so of others ; so that great officers
could hardly sit to be warmed in their places. Now you can
ask yourselves how it is at present, and how many shifts,
changes, and re-changes this kingdom can instance in like time
to parallel with that. Secondly, as to moneys. I find that then
there had been moneys previously granted and not accounted
for ; and you know that so it is yet with us. Thirdly, there
were new aids required and urged by means of a declaration
of the King's occasions and estate ; and this likewise, as we
know, agrees with our condition. Yet then, because of these
and other exceptions made against De la Pole, the Earl of
Suffolk, the minion of that time, of whom it was said that he
misadvised the King, misemployed his treasures, and intro-
verted his revenues, the supply demanded was refused, until,
upon the petition of the Commons, he was removed both from
his offices and the Court."
Then, after a bitter reference to the Crown 'jewels, the
pride and glory of this kingdom,' now offered in vain to the
merchants of Amsterdam, Eliot concluded by proposing that
the resolution for the three subsidies and three fifteenths
asked for by Rudyerd should be passed, but that it should not
be converted into a Bill till grievances had been redressed.
The position thus pointed out was at once taken up by the
House. '
It was the misfortqne of the situation that unless Charles
had been other than he was, he could not accept the hand thus
1 Forster, Sir J. Eliot, i. 515.
VOL. VL O
62 ELIOTS LEADERSHIP. CH. i.vn.
offered to him. Believing, and it may safely be added being
Charles not justified in believing, that Buckingham's character was
to be won. not that compound of avarice and self- seek ing which
had been described by Eliot, his apprehension was too dull to
realise the full meaning of the late disasters, or to understand
the state of mind into which they would throw a patriotic
Englishman anxious to fathom the causes of his country's mis-
fortunes. Evils, if they existed at all, if they were not the result
of mere ill-luck or of the parsimony of former Parliaments, were
to be brought before his notice in a respectful and decorous
fashion. It never occurred to him that, if Buckingham was
well-intentioned, he might be vain, rash, and incapable, still less,
that his own ability for government was no greater than that of
his minister.
To such a man it would seem a plain duty to hold his own.
He knew enough of history to be aware that the fall of Hubert
de Burgh had been followed by the insurrection of Simon de
Montfort, and the fall of Michael de la Pole by the revolution
which placed Henry IV. on the throne. He would take care
to guard in another fashion the crown which he had received
from his father. That the crown itself was attacked he had
no doubt whatever. The leaders of the Commons, he fancied,
were taking advantage of the necessities of the position into
which their advice had brought him, to raise themselves above
the throne.
With such thoughts in his mind, Charles summoned the Com-
mons into his presence on the agth, the day on which Buckingham
had been invited to give an account of his proceed-
March 29.
Coventry's ings to the House. As soon as they appeared they
declaration. w£re addressed by Coventry. The King, said the Lord
Keeper, would have them to understand the difference between
liberty of counsel and liberty of control. Not only had they
refrained from censuring Coke and Turner, but they had fol-
lowed in the steps of the latter by founding their charges upon
common fame. In their attack upon Buckingham they had
assailed the honour of the King and of his father, and they
had refused to trust him with the reformation of abuses. It
was therefore his Majesty's express command that they should
1 626 CHARLES AGAIN INTERVENES. 83
desist from this unparliamentary inquisition, and commit their
real grievances to his wisdom and justice. Further, he was
to say that the supply proposed was insufficient, and that
the mode in which it had been offered was dishonouring to
his Majesty. If they could not give a better answer in three
days, he could not promise that the session would continue
longer.
Charles had a few words of his own to add. " Now, that
you have all things according to your wishes," he said, after
Additions by reminding his hearers that he had entered upon the
the King. war m compliance with their advice, " and that I
am so far engaged that you think there is no retreat, now you
begin to set the dice, and make your own game ; but I pray
you to be not deceived ; it is not a Parliamentary way, nor it is
not a way to deal with a king. Mr. Coke told you it was better
to be eaten up by a foreign enemy than to be destroyed at
home. Indeed, I think it more honour for a king to be invaded
and almost destroyed by a foreign enemy, than to be despised
by his own subjects. Remember, that Parliaments are altogether
in my power for their calling, sitting, and dissolution ; there-
fore, as I find the fruits of them good or evil, they are to
continue, or not to be." l
Not so ! Precedent might be met by precedent, and the
history of the Constitution might be ransacked for evidence
weakness of that England had, at one time or another, been
HIS position, either almost a republic or almost an absolute
monarchy ; but the right of control, as opposed to the mere
right of giving counsel, was not to be won or defended by such
arguments as these. In the long run it would lie with those
by whom it was best deserved.
The Commons, moved as they were by grave necessity,
stood firm. At Eliot's advice they resolved to draw up a re-
March 3o. monstrance to explain their position to the King.2
Eliot pro- Before the resolution could take effect they were
poses a re- *
monsnance. summoned to a conference to hear Buckingham
explain away Charles's threat of immediate dissolution, and
1 Par!. Hist. ii. 56. * Forster, Sir 7. E/'ot, i. 529.
r. 2
*4 ELIOTS LEADERSHIP. CH. LVII.
announce that a committee was to be selected by the King
from both Houses to consider the state of the finances.
Buckingham did not stop here. With magnificent assurance
he proceeded to draw a picture of his own actions in startling
contrast with that which had been presented by
Buckingham _-,.. , , ... __ . , ,
vindicates Eliot three days before. He told the House of the
eagerness with which, after his return from Spain, he
had thrown himself into the business of the State, and of his un-
ceasing efforts to carry out the warlike policy of Parliament, frus-
trated, alas ! by accident, or by the faults of others. Then, after
an assurance from Conway that nothing of all this had been done
without counsel, he again rose to tell the true story
Tells the *
truth about of the ships which had been used against Rochelle,
s lps> revealing the secret that all the solemn orders and
injunctions into which the Commons had been so laboriously
inquiring were a mere farce. He had, he said, ' proceeded with
art,' and had done his best to avert the surrender of the ships.
If he had not succeeded in this, everything had turned out for
the best for the Huguenots, ' for the King of France, thereby
breaking his word, gave just occasion for my master to inter-
cede a peace for them, which is obtained, and our ships are
coming home.'
After a few words from Pembroke, who added that at the
time when the ships were surrendered it was believed that they
Effect of this would be used against Genoa, the meeting came to
revelation. an en(j i Qf the effect which this astounding revela-
tion produced at the time we have no information ; but as
the Commons never took the slightest notice of what they had
heard, it may be concluded that they disbelieved the entire
story. How indeed could they be assured that the man
whox openly boasted that he had cheated the King of France,
April 4. would not, on some future occasion, take credit for
Remon- having cheated them. At all events they returned
strance of . ,. . ,
the Com- to their own House, resolved to vindicate, in the re-
monstrance which they were preparing, their claim to
call in question the highest subjects who were found grievous to
1 Our knowledge of this conference has hitherto ended with Conway'j
speech. But the whole can now be read in Ad4. MSS. 22,474, fol.22 b~3i b.
1626 A COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. 85
the commonwealth. On April 4 the Remonstrance was pre-
sented to Charles, and at his request the Houses adjourned at
once for the Easter recess, to give him time to re-consider his
position.
When the Commons re-assembled on the I3th they found
April 13. that no further obstacle was to be opposed to their
They are proceedings. The King advised them to lay aside
allowed to f , . , i ,
go on. lesser things for greater ; ' but further than that he
did not go.
Charles's motives for this change of language are mere
matter of conjecture ; but, on the whole, it is most probable that
Buckingham's speech in his own defence appeared to
Probable . . r. . ....... n ,
motives of him to be so entirely conclusive that he fancied that,
Charles. lmless he provoked the Commons by opposition, it
could not fail in having its fitting effect.2
In these expectations, if he ever entertained them, Charles
was speedily to be undeceived. On the i;th a sub-com-
mittee met to discover the cause of causes, or, in
April 17. . '
Proceedings other words, to fix the grievances upon Buckingham,
intheHouse. of t
was ordered to consider the evils, causes, and remedies.
In order that this Committee might be freed from the fear
of an impending war with France, Carleton, who had just re-
A ril ig turned from his embassy, was directed to give an
Carietons account of the position of affairs. Besides telling
how the ' Vanguard ' and its comrades would soon
be back, and how the order for the release of the English ships
and goods had been granted, he had to tell of the hope of co-
operation with France upon the Continent. All now, he said,
rested on his Majesty's answer to the French King's proposals,
' and the King resteth upon the Parliament.'
Either, however, the Commons disbelieved Carleton's story,
1 West on 's message, Sloane MSS. 1710, fol. 289.
8 " And for his own particular, the Duke gave so pertinent answers to
those things which were cast upon him for faults, as I conceive the greatest
part and most indinerent men went away well satisfied." — Con way to
Wake, April 14, S. J'. Venice.
B6 ELIOT S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVH.
or they considered it irrelevant to the point at issue. They
went steadily on with the charges against the Duke,
Persistence , , *• « r i
of the Com- and they repined to a fresh message demanding an
increase of the subsidies voted, unless they wished
his Majesty to ' be driven to change his counsels,' by a resolution
that they would go on with the matter in hand fore-
noon and afternoon, so as to be able to take the
King's wish into consideration on the 25th.
By this time the charges against Buckingham were in so
forward a state* that it was necessary to clear the way for them
by considering the objections which had been raised to
Proceeding , , 1-11 i i T-.
on common the ground upon which they were based. For many
weeks the whole band of courtiers had been sneer-
ing at those who were attacking a minister upon mere common
fame, as if the House had based its action upon rumour
alone. One morning's debate sufficed to blow the fiction to
the winds. Eliot and Pym were not the men to ask the House
of Lords to accept the gossip of Paul's Walk as evidence
against the meanest Englishman alive. The difficulty, such as
it was, was of a purely technical character. In the cases of
Bacon and Middlesex inquiry had been preceded by the pre-
sentation of a petition from some person who felt himself
aggrieved. The question was whether the House could in-
stitute an inquiry when no private person had complained.
In either case the real justification of the action taken would
be the inquiry conducted by the House, and, in deciding that
a petition was unnecessary, the Commons undoubtedly decided
in accordance with the dictates of common sense. " Else,"
as Selden argued, " no great man shall, for fear of danger, be
accused by any particular man." If Buckingham could not be
called in question till some one out of the House was hardy
enough to appear against him, his opponents within the House
might have waited long enough.1
When this point had once been settled, the charges
The charges were speedily voted, the one relating to the ' St. Peter '
of Havre de Grace being replaced amongst them.
In order to point out distinctly that no attack was intended
1 Commons' Journals, i. 844-848.
1626 FRIENDLY DISPOSITION OF LOUIS. 87
upon the King, the Commons passed a resolution for a
Another sub- fourth subsidy, to be included in the Bill which was
sidy voted. to fog brought in as soon as grievances had been
redressed.
Whatever Buckingham's faults may have been, history can-
not, like the House of Commons, turn away its eyes from the
faults of Charles. During these weeks in which he
Charles and , , , ,. , .. , , . - . ,
the French had been struggling to defend his favourite, the
French alliance, which he had risked so much to
bring to pass, had been melting away before his eyes.
There can be very little doubt that in the beginning of
March, Louis as well as Richelieu, meant honestly to co-operate
March 4. with England on the Continent. The terms of the
Government Peace were accepted at Rochelle, and orders were
favourabieto sent to the King's commanders to withdraw their
the English *»
alliance. troops from before the walls ; ' but there was a large
party at the French Court which viewed with grave displeasure
a peace with the Huguenots and a war with Spain, and this
party had a useful instrument in Du Fargis, the French am-
bassador at Madrid.
Without instructions from his own Government, Du Fargis
drew up, in concert with Olivares, the draft of a treaty putting
Treaty with an end to tne disputes existing between the two
pared T'bu monarchies. When it reached Paris the question
Fargis. whether this treaty should be adopted or not formed
the battle-field between Richelieu on the one side and the
friends of the clergy on the other.
French historians have much to tell us of the strength of this
clerical party, and of the hold which it gained upon the mind of
the King. All this, however, was as true in January
it"accept-° as it was in March. If this party did not prevent
ance.
Louis from signing the treaty with the Huguenots,
why did it prevail upon him to sign the treaty with Spain ?
The answer is not very difficult to give. If Charles and Eng-
land had been ready to support the French movement towards
hostility with Spain, Du Fargis's treaty would surely have been
> Louis XIII. to Blainville, March ±, King's MSS. 138, p. 1283.
88 ELIOT'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVl
rejected ; but if Charles were lukewarm, or threatening t
interfere on behalf of the King's Protestant subjects, then ito
acceptance would become an act of imperative necessity, not
only for Louis, but even for Richelieu himself. No French
Government could prudently engage in war in Italy or Ger-
many, leaving the great seaport on the Atlantic coast to the
chances of a hostile occupation by the King of England.
All through March and April Charles was doing his best to
throw Louis into the arms of Spain. On March 7 Holland
and Carleton announced that, in addition to the
Charles's orders despatched to restore the English ships and
!heaFrench°f to withdraw the troops from Rochelle, a day was
Government. fixe(j for the consideration of the best way of assisting
Mansfeld and the King of Denmark, and that, in spite of the
clamour of the French merchants, directions had been given
for removing the embargo on English property. The English
ambassadors, on their part, had made some excuse for the
seizure of the ' St. Peter.' " But," they wrote, " for former pro-
ceedings in ill-treatment of the Frenchmen which were taken
in those prizes, in embezzling and selling their goods, in suffering
them to live in want and misery whilst their cause was in trial,
in delay of justice after his Majesty had resolved of restitution
of their goods at Hampton Court, we wish we had been better
furnished with matter than we were to answer their complaints,
which were made the cause of these reprisals, though not justi-
fiable by the treaties." Yet, in spite of his just ground of com-
plaint, Louis, though asking that Blainville should be admitted
to a formal audience, offered to recall him, and to appoint
another ambassador of a more conciliatory disposition.1
The next day the ambassadors wrote again. They had been
unable to accept the removal of the embargo, because it was
M . „ granted on condition that they would engage that the
Quezon of French prizes in England should be liberated within
irrefe^s'mg three weeks. Charles refused utterly to believe in
goods seued. ^ smcerjty of the French Government Instead of
giving his ambassadors orders to show signs of friendliness, he
1 Holland and Carleton to Coke, March 7, S. P. France.
1626 THE FRENCH OVEPTURES REJECTED. 89
left them without instructions about the embargo or the assist-
Mar , ance offered to Denmark, expressed his suspicion
Charles's that the French meant to attack Rochelle, and finally
suspicions. recalled them> on March 28 Holland and Carleton
left Paris.1 So plain was the folly of such conduct that even
the obsequious Conway, for once in his life, raised an objection
to the proceedings of his master. He perceived, he informed
Buckingham, ' that, by the whole scope of the present estate of
things, the French King hath no desire to fall in disorder with
his Majesty, and that what had passed in Paris declared an
intention rather to oppose the public enemy than to maintain
the broils at home.' 2
For a time it seemed that Conway's advice would be taken.
In the beginning of April, five ships were released in England.
April 19. Blainville was received with all ceremony at an audi-
recefred1 at ence at wmch he was to take leave. The deputies of
an audience. Rochelle, whose presence in England gave umbrage
to Louis, were about to return home.3 These bright hopes,
however, were but of short continuance. There were fresh
seizures of French vessels at sea, and the English goods were
still detained in France till better news came from beyond the
Channel.4
A few seizures more or less might easily have been got over,
if there had been any desire to remove the cause of the evil ;
but Charles maintained steadily that his view of the law of prize
was right, and that the French view was wrong. There was no
effort made to come to an understanding on this point, any more
than any effort was made to come to an understanding about
April 27. the German war. As the prospect of a close alliance
tmjdnedln w'tn England faded away, the French Government
France of became the more reluctant to fulfil the hopes which
alliance. it had held out to the Huguenots when that alliance
appeared to be attainable. One day the deputies from Rochelle
1 Holland and Carleton to Conway, March 1 1 ; Coke to Holland and
Carleton, March 16, 17, ibid.
* Conway to Buckingham, March, S. P. France.
» Blainville to Louis XIII., March p, Kings MSS. 138, p. 1429.
4 Louis to Conway, April 22, 27 : S. P. France.
9o ELIOT S LEADERSHIP. CH. LVII.
were told that Fort Louis could not be demolished, at all events
not till new fortifications were erected on the Isle of Rhe. They
appealed to Charles for aid, and Charles at once replied that he
was ready to support them in their lawful demands.1
Even if there was to be no actual war with England, if there
was to be nothing worse than coolness between the two Courts,
A rfl it was a pressing necessity for Louis to make up his
The Peace of quarrel with Spain. On April 30, Du Fargis's draft
was converted into the Treaty of Barcelona. Riche-
lieu gave a consent, doubtless unwillingly enough, but it was a
consent which was under the circumstances inevitable. To
.succeed in the policy which he had adopted, it was necessary
that Charles should give to it his active support As soon as it
was beyond doubt that this support was not to be given, Riche-
lieu, as prompt to seize the conditions of action as Charles was
dull, faced round for a time, till he could pursue his own object
again without the necessity of asking for the good word of so
unintelligent an ally. The alliance between England
End of the *
French and France was at an end. It was but too probable
that a war between England and France would not be
long in following.
1 Deputies of Rochelle in France to the Deputies in England, -^rc-, t*
April - ; Instructions to Barrett, April 30, S. P. France.
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
ALTHOUGH it was impossible that Parliament should have any
real knowledge of the course of the negotiation^ with France,
it can have been no secret that the relations be-
Apnl.
Details of tween the two crowns were anything but satisfac-
tionsewi°tha tory. It was a matter of common conversation that
e^eraiiy0' Blainville had for some weeks been refused admission
known. to courtj tnat English ships and goods had been
sequestered in France, and that French ships and goods were
still being brought as prizes into English ports. There was
enough in this to throw serious doubt on Carleton's assertion
that the King was only waiting for Parliamentary supplies in
order to join France in open war. If this had been the whole
truth, why did not Charles give further information of the
objects at which he was aiming, and of the means by which he
expected to attain them ?
Such general distrust of a Government is certain to vent
itself in personal attacks upon those of whom it is composed.
In the course of the past weeks the committees of the Com-
mons had been busily bringing together all kinds of charges
against Buckingham, thinking that here was to be found the
explanation of that which was otherwise so inexplicable. The
House of Lords too, unluckily for Buckingham, had a grievance
of its own. Charles had probably forgotten that by
Ear! of sending Arundel to the Tower whilst Parliament was
Aiunde ' sitting, he might be accused of violating the privileges
of the House of Lords ; but the Peers were not disposed to be
92 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
equally forgetful, and, after no long delay, they demanded an
account of the absence of a member of their House
of the House from his place in Parliament. During the Easter re-
cess Arundel was allowed to exchange his cell in the
Tower for confinement in one of his own houses. Agreeable as
the change may have been to himself, it did not affect the
. .. grievance of the Peers, and on April 19 they drew up
Their remon- a remonstrance vindicating their right to demand the
presence of any member of their House who was not
accused of treason, felony, or refusal to give security against
breach of the peace.1
At this juncture a fresh champion raised his voice on behalf
of the privileges of Parliament, a champion whose co-operation
was all the more valuable to the leaders of the Lower
appears on House, because he could speak with official know-
ledge of the actions which he denounced, and was
not, as they had been, compelled to extract the truth from the
mouths of unwilling witnesses.
When Charles first ascended the throne he had missed the
opportunity of putting an end gracefully to his long altercation
with Bristol. He assured his father's late ambassador
1025.
May. that, though he was quite aware that he had not of-
to fended in any matter of honesty, he could not acquit
Bristol. hjm of trusting too implicitly to the Spanish ministers.
Bristol must therefore acknowledge his error if he wished to
be received into favour, though the slightest acknowledgment
would be sufficient.
Slight as the acknowledgment required was, it was more
than Bristol could give, unless he were first convinced that he
had committed an error at all. When once Charles's
Bristol s con- . .
finement overtures had been rejected, and Bnstols confine-
ment at Sherborne was maintained, a grievance had
been established of which that cool and practised disputant
was certain sooner or later to avail himself. For, loose as the
1 Joachimi to the States-General, April -*, Add. MSS. 17,677, L,
foL 184 b, Lords' Journals, iii. 558, 564, 566.
i(>2S CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST BRISTOL. 93
notions on the right of imprisonment by prerogative had been,
it was difficult to argue that the King was justified in depriving
a subject of his liberty on the simple ground that the subject
thought that he had been right when the King thought he had
been wrong.
Even Charles seems to have had the glimmering of a sus-
picion that everything was not as it should be. He sent direc-
Tuneio ti°ns to Bristol to abstain from presenting himself at
Bristol for- his first Parliament, but he excused himself on the
bidden to jiiij 11-
come to ground that he had as yet had no time to examine
Parliament. ^ ^^ Qf ^ restrajnt
Months passed away, and there were no signs that the
requisite leisure would ever be found. Bristol quietly remained
1626. at Sherborne till the approaching coronation gave
H^asksTo kim an excuse for asking for liberty. He also re-
be present at minded the King that the instructions which he had
the Corona- . " . ...
tion. received commanded him to remain in the confine-
ment in which he had been at James's death. As, however,
his late master had ordered his liberation, it was hard to know
what was precisely intended.
Charles perhaps thought that Bristol was laughing at him,
and flashed into anger. Forgetting that he had already pro-
nounced the Earl to be guiltless of any real offence, he now
accused him of having attempted to pervert him from his religion
when he was in Spain, and of having given his approval to the
proposal that the Electoral Prince should be educated at
Vienna.
Violent as the King's letter was, it contained no intimation
of any intention to bring Bristol to trial. The incriminated
Bristol man saw his advantage. In his reply he plainly
h"su reldhat showed it to be his opinion that, though he could
for a trial. no^ as a subject, demand from his sovereign a trial
as a right, the charges which had been brought against him
were such as could only be fairly met in open court. '
At any other time Bristol would probably have been com-
The whole correspondence is printed in the sixth volume of the
Camden Miscellany.
94 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
pelled to remain quietly at Sherborne without hope of liberty.
Parliament, however, being again in session, the Earl, who, for
March 22. a second time had received no writ of summons,
the Lords for f°rced Charles's hand by petitioning the Lords to
his writ. mediate with the King that he might either be brought
to trial or allowed his rights as a subject and a Peer. 1
Here at least Bristol was sure of a favourable hearing. The
Peers had already expressed a strong opinion in Arundel's case
March 3o. that the King had no right to deprive their House
The Lords of the services of any one of its members without
support
Bristol. bringing him to trial, and a committee to which
Bristol's petition was referred reported that there was no instance
on record in which a Peer capable of sitting in Parliament had
been refused his writ. The King, answered Buckingham,
would grant the writ, but he had intimated to Bristol that he
did not wish him to make use of it. So transparent a subter-
fuge was not likely to be acceptable to the Lords. Lord Saye
and Sele, always, ready to protest against arbitrary proceedings,
moved that it should be entered in the Journal Book that, at the
Earl's petition, his Majesty sent him the writ ; — and no more.
Saye's proposal was at once adopted, and no trace of Charles's
unlucky contrivance is to be found in the records of the House.1
Bristol had another surprise in store for Charles. As soon
as he received the writ from Coventry, with the accompanying
A ril letter informing him that he was not to use it, he
Bristol comes replied with inimitable irony that as the writ, being
to London. under fae King's great seal, took precedence of a
mere letter from the Lord Keeper, it was his duty to obey the
Royal missive by coming to London.3
When Bristol reached London he proceeded to lay his
correspondence with Coventry before the Peers. For two
April 17. years, he added, he had been a prisoner simply
Attacks because Buckingham was afraid of him. He there-
Bucking-
ham, fore desired to be heard ' both in the point of his
wrongs, and of the accusation of the said Duke,'
1 Lords' Journals, iii. 537. 2 Ehings Notes, 1624-1626, p. 135.
• Earl of Bristol's Defence., Camden Miscellany, vi. Pref. xxxv.
1626 BRISTOL AT THE LOADS' BAR. 95
Charles and Buckingham seemed to be powerless in the
hands of the terrible Earl. They had but one move left in a
A ril ^ game in which their adversary had occupied all the
is accused positions of strength in advance. Though Charles
ofhigh ing had emphatically declared that Bristol had committed
treason- no actual offence, and had been guilty of nothing
worse than an error of judgment, he was now compelled to
accuse him of high treason, if he was not to allow him to take
his seat triumphantly and to attack Buckingham from the very
midst of the House of Lords.
That House had suddenly risen to a position unexampled
for many a long year. Its decision was awaited anxiously on
April 29. the gravest questions. It was called upon to do
to takehis01 Just^ce on Bristol, on Buckingham, and, by impli-
*«at? cation, on the King himself. By this time too it
was becoming evident that the sympathy of the House was not
with Buckingham. There was a sharp debate on the question
whether Bristol should be allowed to take his seat till his accu-
sation had been read. The supporters of the Government
were compelled to avoid an adverse decision by an adjourn-
ment, and prevent further discussion by hurrying on the accu-
sation.
On May i, therefore, Bristol was brought to the bar, to
listen to the allegations of the Attorney-General. Before Heath
could open his mouth the prisoner appealed to the
House, urging that the object of the charge was
merely to put him in the position of a person accused of treason,
so as to invalidate his testimony against Buckingham. He
called Pembroke to witness how, when he first returned from
Spain, Buckingham had proposed to silence him by sending
him to the Tower. Buckingham, he said, was now aiming at
the same object in another way.
If there had ever been any intention of getting rid of
The charges Bristol's charges upon technical grounds it could
s?mui^ted hardly be pressed after this. It was finally decided
neousiy. faat, though the Attorney-General was to have the
precedence, the two cases were to be considered as proceeding
96 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
simultaneously, so as to allow Bristol to say what he liked
without hindrance.1
Hitherto the contest had been very one-sided. In Bristol's
hands Charles and Buckingham had been as novices contend-
ing with a practised gladiator. In truth they had
The charges , , . , , , . __ , .
against but little to say. Many of Heath s charges related
to mere advice given as a councillor, and those
which went further would hardly bear the superstructure which
was placed upon them. The attempt to change the Prince';*
religion of course figured in the list, as did also an elaborate
argument that if Bristol had not advised the continuance of
the marriage negotiations in spite of his knowledge that the
Spaniards were not in earnest, Charles would not have been
obliged to go to Madrid to test the value of the ambassador's
asseverations. Still more strange was the accusation that
Bristol, in expressing a doubt of the accuracy of Buckingham's
narrative in the Parliament of 1624, had thrown suspicion upon
a statement which the present King had affirmed to be true,
and had thereby given ' his Majesty the lie.'
Bristol's charges against Buckingham were then read. His
main point was that Buckingham had plotted with Gondomar
to carry the Prince into Spain in order to effect a
charges change in his religion, and that Porter, when he
Bucking- went to Madrid in the end of 1622, was cognisant of
ham' this plot When Buckingham was in Spain, he had
absented himself from the English service in the ambassador's
house, and had gone so far as to kneel in adoration of the
Sacrament, in order ' to give the Spaniards a hope of the
Prince's conversion.' Far worse conditions had been imposed
by Spain after the Prince's visit than had been thought of
before, and if England was now free from them it was because
Buckingham's behaviour was so intolerable that the Spanish
ministers refused to have anything further to do with him.
Other charges of less importance followed, and then Bristol
proceeded to accuse Conway of acting as a mere tool of the
man whom he was accustomed to style his most gracious
patron.
1 Eking s Notes, 1624-1626, p. 154.
CHARGES AND COUNTER-CHARGES. 97
Even if Buckingham, as was probably the case, had been
the dupe rather than the confederate of Gondomar, and if he
Case he- had merely played with the Spaniards in their hope-
anTeuck-101 ^6SS design of converting the Prince, in order that
ingham. j^e might gain his own ends the better, the weight of
Bristol's charges against him tells far more heavily than those
which he was able to bring against Bristol. Not one of the
latter can compare in gravity with that one of his own actions
which is known beyond doubt to have actually taken place,
namely, that he formed a plan with a foreign ambassador for
carrying the Prince to Spain, and that he concealed the design
for nearly a whole year from the reigning sovereign.
No wonder that Buckingham and Buckingham's master
had been anxious to avoid the terrible exposure. They were
probably aware that Bristol had in his possession the letters
which had been carried by Porter to Spain ; and, though we have
no means of knowing what those letters contained, there can be
iittle doubt that there was much in them which neither Charles
nor Buckingham would wish to make public.1 As soon as it
was known that the Lords meant to go into the
May 2. . °
interference evidence on both sides, Charles sent them a message
by t e Kmg. t^at jjrjstoj's charges were merely recriminatory,
and that he was himself able to bear witness to their untruth.
Though Carlisle did his best to irritate the Peers against Bristol
by calling the attention of the House to the Earl's disrespect
to their lordships in sending a copy of his charges to the
Commons, they refused to notice an act in committing which
the prisoner had evidently intended to secure for himself the
publicity of which he feared to be deprived.2
The investigation therefore was left to take its course. On
the 6th, in the midst of a defence conducted with
May 6. .
Bristol's consummate ability, and m which Bristol pointed
out that whatever he might have said in Spain about
the Prince's conversion was caused by Charles's deliberate ab-
1 In tne Sherborne MSS. are the interrogatories which Bristol, in his
subsequent trial in the Star Chamber, put to Porter, asking him whether
each of these letters, of which the first words were quoted, was genuine or
not. 2 F.lsings Notes, 1624-1626, p. 163.
VOL. VI. H
98 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
stention from contradicting the rumours which were abroad of
his intended change of religion, the accused Earl extracted
from Pembroke an admission that he knew of Buckingham's
proposal to send him to the Tower on his return from Spain.
Such an admission, by showing how indifferent Buckingham
had been to the wishes of James, went far to strengthen the sus-
picions which were generally entertained, that he was now no
less indifferent t :> the wishes of Charles.
Every step of this great process was marked by some fresh
interference of the King. He now sent to contest the right of
May s. the Lords to allow Bristol the use of counsel, as
Question of being contrary to the fundamental laws of the realm,
counsel. This and the preceding message, in which Charles
had tendered his personal evidence, were very coolly received
by the Peers. The question of the propriety of admitting the
King's evidence was referred to the Judges. The question of
counsel was debated in the House. In the course of the dis-
cussion one of the Peers mentioned that in 1624, when Charles
himself was a member of the House, counsel had been allowed
to persons accused before the Lords.'
The discussion was at its height when fresh actors appeared
upon the scene. A deputation from the Commons, with
Buckingham Carleton, a most unwilling spokesman, at its head,
impeached ^ad come to demand a conference that afternoon,
by the Com-
mons. with the intention of proceeding with the long-
prepared impeachment of the Duke.
In the afternoon, therefore, eight managers on behalf of
the Commons, together with sixteen assistants, appeared to
read and to explain the charges. To the surprise of many,
though it was not strictly in contravention of precedent,2 Buck-
ingham himself was present, taking up a position directly
opposite to the managers, and even, it is said, expressing his
contempt for them by laughing in their faces.3
1 Elsing"s Notes, 1624-1626, p. 128. Charles afterwards argued that
Middlesex, in whose case the order was made, was not accused of high
treason, whereas Bristol was.
2 The theory which seemed likely to prevail in Bristol's case, was that
the accused person might keep his seat till his accusation had been read.
* Mcade to Stuteville, May 13, Ett'is, ser. I, iii. 266.
1626 THE STRUGGLE FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 99
The prologue was entrusted to Digges. " The laws of
England," he said, after a preamble in which he attributed to
Prologue by tne Duke all the calamities which had befallen the
Digges. nation, " have taught us that kings cannot command
ill or unlawful things. And whatsoever ill events succeed, the
executioners of such designs must answer for them."
It has been said that no one rises, so high as he who knows
not whither he is going. Little did the Commons
Importance ,., ,,, , ..... , , ,-. ,
ofhisdecia- think of all that was implied in these words. By the
mouth of Digges they had grasped at the sovereignty
of England.
By his constant personal interference Charles had shown
that he knew better than the House of Commons how much
Meaning of his own authority was at stake. They fancied that
imerference Buckingham had been the author of everything that
of Charles. had 5een done • had taken advantage of the King's
youth and docility ; had deceived him, misadvised him, even
plundered him, without his knowing anything about the matter.
Charles knew that it was not so ; that he had himself been a
party to all that had been done, either by agreeing to it before-
hand or by approving of it afterwards. As this was so, he would
never abandon Buckingham to his adversaries. Everything, he
assured the Houses again and again, had been done by him or
with his consent. It was not his fault if the Commons would
not face the larger question of royal responsibility before en-
tering upon the smaller question of ministerial responsibility.
He at least was perfectly clear about royal responsibility. The
king, he held, as Laud had taught him, was responsible to God
alone. When the king had said that a thing had been well
done, there was an end of the matter. The weakness of the
position of the Commons was that they would not look this
assertion in the face. They maintained that by impeaching
Buckingham they were strengthening the King's hands, whereas
they were in reality weakening them, and were making the
King indirectly responsible, whilst they would be the first to
deny that he was responsible at all.
The Commons had need to take good care to say no more
than they could prove. Yet how was this possible ? The records
H 2
loo BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
of State affairs were not accessible to them. No Blue Books
were issued in those days to enlighten them on the
D.fficultyof *
reaching the words spoken and the policy supported by a minister.
Since Charles's accession the acts of Government
had been veiled in deeper secrecy than ever before. If James
had sometimes changed his mind, he had never failed to speak
out the thought which ruled him for the time being. Charles
said as little as possible, and no one was commissioned to say
much on his behalf.
Besides the difficulty of knowing what had really been done,
the Commons had made another difficulty for themselves by
their resolution to spare the King. Again and again, in the
course of their investigations, they reached the point in which
Buckingham's acts ran into the acts of the King. In such a
case silence was their only resource. They could not tell all
they knew.
The first charge was entrusted to Edward Herbert, one day
to be the Attorney- General who took part in the impeachment
of the five members. He spoke of the danger to the
The first day „ . «-,,,.
of the i-n- State from the many offices held in one hand ; of
the purchase of the Admiralty from Nottingham, and
of the purchase of the Cinque Ports from Zouch. Selden had
then to speak of the failure to guard the Narrow Seas, and of
the detention of the ' St. Peter ' of Havre de Grace. To Glan-
ville was entrusted the tale of the money exacted from the
East India Company, and of the ships lent to serve against the
Protestants of Rochelle.
Can it be wondered that Buckingham, conscious of his
superior knowledge, should smile as he heard each story, told
only as these men were able to tell it ? Did he not
Criticism . . T . , * r* i
on these know that in paying money to Nottingham and Zouch
he had only conformed to the general custom ? Could
the failure to guard the seas be judged irrespectively of the
wisdom of the other employment to which the ships had been
destined in preference, or the exaction of money from the East
India Company irrespective cf the share which James had had in
the transaction ? To come to a true conclusion about the seizure
of the ' St. Peter,' or the loan of the ships for Rochelle, it was
1626 THE CASE AGAINST THE DUKE, 101
necessary to know the whole truth about the relations between
England and France ; and though the whole truth would have
told even more against the Court than the charges brought by
the Commons, Buckingham may perhaps be excused for think-
ing more of the weakness of his opponents' case than of the
weakness of his own. Still more had they missed the mark in
charging him with the assumption of many offices in his own
person. The Mastership of the Horse was a mere domestic
office in the King's household. There was a direct advantage
to the State in the accumulation of the Admiralty and the
Wardenship of the Cinque Ports in the hands of one person.
The real grievance was not that Buckingham nominally held
three offices, but that, although he was incompetent for the task,
he virtually controlled the action of the occupants of all other
offices
On May 10 the remainder of the charges were heard. This
time the Duke absented himself from the House. Sherland
May 10. declared that Buckingham had compelled Lord
Sf thetn*7 R°Dartes to buy a peerage against his will. He had
peachment. also sold the Treasurership to Manchester, and the
Mastership of the Wards to Middlesex. Pym spoke effectively
of the honours dealt out to Buckingham's poor kindred, entailing
upon the Crown the necessity of supporting them. Buckingham
had himself received from the Crown lands producing a rental of
more than 3,ooo/., and ready money to the amount of upwards
of i6o,ooo/., to say nothing of valuable grants of other kinds.
What these grants were worth no man could discover ; for the
accounts of the revenue were in such confusion that it was
impossible to say how much had come into the Duke's hands by
fictitious entries. One last charge remained, that of administer-
ing medicine to the late King on his death- bed. Wentworth's
friend, Wandesford, did not venture to allude to the rumours
of poison, which were at that time generally credited ; but he
justly characterised the act as one of ' transcendent presumption."
That the facts thus disclosed deserved the most stringent
investigation it is impossible to deny. On the other hand it
must be remembered that the lavish grants of James to Bucking-
ham and his kindred were a reproach rather to the giver than
102 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
to the receiver, and, further, that the looseness of the manner in
which the accounts were kept, which has been such as to baffle
every serious investigator into the financial history of the time,
is susceptible of another explanation than that which was given
by Pym. Nothing can be asserted positively, but there is every
reason to believe that the real accounts, if they were ever to be
recovered, would tell more in Buckingham's favour than against
him. Sums were paid into his hands, there can be little doubt,
which were used by him not for his personal objects, but for the
service of the State, or for purposes to which the King wished
them to be applied.1
Reform, in short, was absolutely needed, a reform to which
Need of t^6 expulsion of Buckingham from power would be
reform. t^Q first step Yet, with all his faults, the Buck-
ingham of history is very different from the Buckingham of the
1 This seems to have been the case with the money received from
Manchester and Cranfield (Middlesex). Robartes's money was paid to
Buckingham, but it does not follow that it was not used for the fleet or
some other public object. See Robartes's petition, March (?) 1626, and the
depositions of Robartes and Strode, S. P. Dom. xxiii. 1 18, Ixvii. 40, i. Thus,
too. in Pym's charge we have a statement that amongst moneys employed
for his own use, the Duke had the 6o,ooo/. , which were paid to Burlamachi on
Oct. 7, 1625 (Laras1 Journals, iii. 614). The Declared Accounts, Audit
Office (Agents for Special Services, roll 3, bundle 5)> show us that 60,000!.
was ordered to be paid to Burlamachi out of the Queen's portion money by
a Privy Seal of August 5, and that of this, 52,3137. 15^. were paid before
Michaelmas, 1625, and 6,3OO/. between Michaelmas and Easter, 1626. It
also appears that Burlamachi was ' allowed for monies paid to the Duke of
Buckingham, and such as 1 e appo'nted to receive the same for secret ser-
vices, and by him issued, most part upon his warrants and the rest upon
his verbal significations, as by several acquittances of those who received
the same may appear, the sum of 18,689!. 13^.' Nothing can be loosei
than this, but does it follow that the money was not employed by Bucking-
ham upon the public service ? Pro! ably this is the same money as that
mentioned in Buckingham's defe ice (Lords' Journals, iii. 666), as 58,8807.
Of the sum there named, 26,coo/. is said to have been spent on the Navy,
and the rest by his Majesty's directions Again, Buckingham stated that
on the 1 5th and 28th of January, he received of free gift 5o,ooo/. ; but it
was for the fleet, and that the 'Duke's name was only used for that his
Majesty was not willing to have that intention publicly discovered at that
time.' This seems a very probable explanation.
1 626 ELIOT'S SUMMING UP. 103
impeachment. Though it would go hard with him if he had
to prove that he had any one qualification fitting him for the
government of a great nation, he would have no difficulty in
showing that much which had been said by the Commons was
exaggerated or untrue.
It remained to sum up the different charges, and to em-
body the general feeling of the House in a few well-chosen
Eliot sums words. To none could the task better be entrusted
""P- than to Eliot, who above all others had urged on
the preparation of the charges with unremitting zeal, and who
believed, with all the energy of burning conviction, in the
unutterable baseness of the man against whom he was leading
the attack. The oratorical and imaginative temperament per-
vaded the conclusions of Eliot's judgment. The half-measures
and compromises of the world had no place in his mind. What
was right in his eyes was entirely right ; what was wrong was
utterly and irretrievably wrong. So too in his personal attach-
ments and hatreds. Those whom he believed to be serving
their country truly he loved with an attachment proof against
every trial. Those whom he believed to be doing disservice to
their country he hated with an exceeding bitter hatred. Such
a nature as Buckingham's, with its mixture of meanness and
nobility, of consideration for self and forgetfulness of self, of
empty vanity and real devotion, was a riddle beyond his power
to read. In his lofty ideal, in his high disdain for that which
he regarded as worthless, in his utter fearlessness and disre-
gard of all selfish considerations, Eliot was the Milton, as Bacon
had been almost the Shakspere, of politics.
The doctrine that the King's command relieved the subject
from responsibility found no favour in Eliot's eyes. " My
Eliot on re- I-ords," he said, in speaking of the loan of the ships
*ponsibiiity. to serve against Rochelle, " I will say that if his
Majesty himself were pleased to have consented, or to have
commanded, which I cannot believe, yet this could no way
satisfy for the Duke, or make any extenuation of the charge ;
for it was the duty of his place to have opposed it by his
prayers, and to have interceded with his Majesty to make
known the dangers, the ill consequences, that might follow.
104 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVlli.
And if this prevailed not, should he have ended here ? No ;
he should then have addressed himself to your lordships, your
lordships sitting in council, and there have made it known,
there have desired your aids. Nor, if in this he sped not,
should he have rested without entering before you a pro-
testation for himself, and that he was not consenting. This
was the duty of his place ; this has been the practice of his
elders ; and this, being here neglected, leaves him without
excuse."
It was characteristic of Eliot to approach the subject from
the moral rather than the political side. It was nothing to him
that he was lightly dashing into ruin the whole scaffolding
upon which the Tudor monarchy had rested — the responsibility
of ministers to the sovereign alone. He called upon every man
to profess openly, in the eye of day, his personal conviction
of right as the basis of action. With such a faith, whatever
mistakes Eliot might commit in the immediate present, he had
raised a standard for the future which could never be per-
manently dragged in the dust. Not in fidelity to constitu-
tional arrangements, not in obedience to the orders of a king
or in obedience to the votes of a Parliament, lay the secret of
political capacity. The ideal statesman was to be the man who
had the open eye to discern his country's wants, the tongue to
speak freely the counsel which his mind had conceived, and the
heart and the resolution to suffer, if not to die, in the defence
of his belief.
To such a man as Eliot the faults of Buckingham — his heed-
lessness, his wanton profusion — must have seemed infinitely
Attack upon mean, altogether meaner than they really were. Buck-
Jwm^ower mgnam's power, he said, was in itself a wonder ; it
and wealth, needed a party to support it. To that end ' he raised
and preferred to honours and commands those of his own
alliance, the creatures of his kindred and affection, how mean
soever.' Having thus got all power into his hands, he ' set upon
the revenues of the Crown, interrupting, exhausting, and con-
suming that fountain of supply.' " What vast treasures," cried
Eliot, " he has gotten ; what infinite sums of money, and what a
mass of lands ! If your lordships please to calculate, you will
1626 ELIOT^S SUMMING UP. 105
find it all amounting to little less than the whole of the subsidies
\\hich the King hath had within that time. A lamentable
example of the subjects' bounties so to be employed ! But
is this all ? No ; your lordships may not think it. These
are but collections of a short view, used only as an epi-
tome for the rest. There needs no search for it ; it is too
visible. His profuse expenses, his superfluous feasts, his mag
nificent buildings, his riots, his excesses, — what are they but
the visible evidences of an express exhausting of the State, a
chronicle of the immensity of his waste of the revenues of the
Crown ? No wonder, then, our King is now in want, this man
abounding so. And as long as he abounds the King must still
be wanting."
Worse was still to come. Eliot had to make reference to
the administration of medicine to the late King, perhaps too
Theadminis- m some covert way to the graver suspicions which
medi°cinefto attached to that act even in the eyes of men who, like
James. Bristol, had little sympathy with mere popular rumour.
" Not satisfied," Eliot continued, " with the wrongs of honour,
with the prejudice of religion, with the abuse of State, with the
misappropriation of revenues, his attempts go higher, even to
the person of his sovereign. You have before you his making
practice on that, in such a manner and with such effect as I
fear to speak it, nay, I doubt and hesitate to think it. In which
respect I shall leave it, as Cicero did the like, ne gravioribus
utar verbis quam naturafert, aut lei'ioribus quam causa postulat.
The examination with your lordships will show you what it is.
I need not name it.
" In all these now your lordships have the idea of the man ;
what in himself he is, and what in his affections. You have seen
his power, and some, I fear, have felt it. What hopes or ex-
pectations then he gives I leave it to your lordships.
he°to^m' I will now only see, by comparison with others,
where I may find him paralleled or likened ; and, so
considering what may now become him, from thence render
your lordships to a short conclusion.
" Of all the precedents I can find, none so near resembles
him as doth Sejanus, and him Tacitus describes thus : that he
io6 BUCKINGHAM^ IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVin.
was audax ; sui obtegens, in alias criminator ; jitxta adulatio
et superbia. If your lordships please to measure him by this,
Parallel with Prav see m what they vary. He is bold. We have
Sejanus. nac} experience lately ; and such a boldness I dare
be bold to say as is seldom heard of. He is secret in his pur-
poses, and more ; that we have showed already. Is he a
slanderer? Is he an accuser? I wish this Parliament had
not felt it, nor that which was before. And for his pride and
flattery, what man can judge the greater ? Thus far, I think,
the parallel holds. But now, I beseech your lordships, look a
little further. Of Sejanus it is likewise noted amongst hhi
policies, amongst his arts, that, to support himself, he did dientes
suos honoribus aut provinciis ornare. He preferred his clients
to second, to assist him. And does this man do the like ? Is
it not, and in the same terms, a special cause in our complaint
now? Does not this kingdom, does not Scotland, does not
Ireland speak it ? I will observe one thing more, and end. It
is a note upon the pride of Sejanus, upon his high ambition,
which your lordships will find set down by Tacitus. His
solecisms, his neglect of counsels, his veneries, his venefices ;
these I will not mention here : r only that particular of his
pride, which thus I find. In his public passages
and relations he would so mix his business with the
prince's, seeming to confound their actions, that he was often
styled laborum imperatoris socius. And does not this man do
the like ? Is it not in his whole practice ? How often, how
lately have we heard it ? Did he not, in this same place, in this
very Parliament, under colour of an explanation for the King,
before the committees of both Houses, do the same ? Have
not your lordships heard him also ever mixing and confusing
the King and the State, not leaving a distinction between them ?
It is too, too manifest.
" My Lords, I have done. You see the man. What have
been his actions, whom he is like, you know. I leave him to
your judgments."
1 "Such expressions, "Mr. Forster observes, "could not of course have
been directly applied to Buckingham. They are insinuated only through
Sejanus. "
t626 ELIOT'S SUMMING UP. \&J
Eliot had one other parallel to draw. " And now, my
Lords," he said, "I will conclude with a particular censure
Comparison given on the Bishop of Ely in the time of Richard I.
Bishothof That prelate had the King's treasures at his command,
K'y- and had luxuriously abused them. His obscure
kindred were married to earls, barons, and others of great
rank and place. No man's business could be done without his
help. He would not suffer the King's council to advise in the
highest affairs of State. He gave ignotis personis et obscuris the
custody of castles and great trusts. He ascended to such a
height of insolence and pride that he ceased to be fit for cha-
racters of mercy. And therefore, says the record of which I
now hold the original, per totam insulam publice prodametur,
Pereat qui perdere cuncta festinat ; opprimatur ne omnes
opprimat" '
Such was the terrible invective, glowing with the fire of
inmost conviction, and strong with the roused indignation of
an angry people collected into one burning focus,
How far was , . , to } J
this portrait which poured that day from the lips of the great
orator. Much, if not all, that he said went true to
the mark. The vanity and self-confidence of the man, the
assumption of almost regal dignity, the immense wealth heaped
up when the royal exchequer was drained of its last resources,
were depicted with unerring accuracy. And yet the portrait,
as a whole, was untrue to nature. It was false that Buckingham
was a Sejanus. It was false that he had been guilty of sordid
bribery. It was false that he had used the powers of govern-
ment in his own hands simply for his own private ends, and not
for that which for the time he believed to be the best interest
of the State.
If this is now plain to anyone who will carefully and
dispassionately study the records of Buckingham's misdeeds,
Anger of wnat must have been the effect of the speech upon
Charles. Charles, who believed as implicitly in the wisdom as
in the innocence of his minister, and who felt that he was him-
self attacked through Buckingham. " If the Duke is Sejanus, ''
1 Forste-, Sir J. Eliot, \. 324-330.
io8 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII
he is reported to have said, "I must be Tiberius."1 The next
May it. day, in a speech prepared for him by Laud, he tried
Seech tothe to enust ^e sympathies of the Peers in his favour.
Lords. jn the attack upon Buckingham, he told them, their
honour had been wounded. He had himself taken order for
the punishment of the offenders. If he had not done so before,
it was because Buckingham had begged that the impeachment
might proceed, in order that his innocency might be shown.
Of his innocency there could be no doubt whatever, ' for, as
touching the occasions against him,' he could himself ' be a
witness to clear him of every one of them.'
It was only in words that Charles attempted to conciliate
the Peers. Two days before they had petitioned for ' a gracious
present answer' to their request for the liberation of
abo\unsv Arundel. At these words he had taken fire. " I did
little look," he replied, " for such a message from
the House, and did never kn">w such a message sent from the
one House to the other. Therefore, when I receive n message
fit to come from you to your sovereign, you shall receive an
answer."
Before a reply could be given by the House, Sir Nathaniel
Rich appeared, on behalf of the Commons, to ask that Bucking-
The ham might be put under restraint during the im-
de^d15 peachment, a request with which the Lords refused
Bucking- for tne present to comply, on the ground that the
ham s im- . r J
prisonment. charges against him had not yet been formally re-
ported. But this concession to the Court, if concession it was,
was more than counterbalanced by the reply returned to the
King's message. As soon as it was understood that
The Lords' _, , , ..... , , , .
reply about Charles s special objection was to the demand of a
e ' ' present answer,' Saye and Sele proposed that it
should be explained to him that the word ' present ' only meant
' speedy.' Manchester, catching at the suggestion, moved that
the petition might be amended so as to ask for ' a gracious
speedy answer.' "Leave out the word 'speedy' also," cried
1 D'Ewes gives the words (ffarl. MSS. 383, fol. 32) apparently as part
of the King's speech which follows in the text. But, though this seems to
be incorrect, Charles may very likely have used the words in private.
1626 MEMBERS IMPRISONED. 109
Buckingham. Yes, was the reply, but leave out the word
' gracious ' too. The House accordingly voted that they would
merely ask for 'your Majesty's answer.' !
It was but a little thing in itself, but it indicated plainly the
temper into which the Lords had been brought.
The claim of the King to imprison members during the
session, maintained as yet in the face . of the Lords, was to
receive a more daring application in the face of the
mentof Eliot Commons. When Rich returned after delivering
igges. j^s message^ he foun(j the Lower House in great
commotion. It was discovered that neither Eliot nor Digges
were in their places, and on inquiry it appeared that they had
been sent for to the door, and had been hurried off to the
Tower. Shouts of Rise ! Rise ! sounded on all sides. In vain
Pym, not yet aware of the true state of the case,2 did his best
to quiet the tumult. The House broke up in discontent In
the afternoon an informal assembly gathered in Westminster
Hall, and serious words were interchanged on this unexpected
attack upon the liberties of Parliament.
The next morning, when the Speaker rose, as usual, at the
commencement of business, he was at once interrupted. " Sit
May 12. down ! " was the general cry. " No business till we
SfendTthe are righted in our liberties." Carleton attempted to
King. defend his master's conduct. He had much to say
of the tartness of Eliot's language. But the main offence, both
of Digges and Eliot, was that they had pressed ' the death of
his late Majesty, whereas the House had only charged the
Duke with presumption.' Eliot had hinted that more had taken
place than he dared to speak of. Digges had even suggested
that the present King had had a hand in his father's murder.
In speaking of the plaister given to James, he had added, 'that
he would therein spare the honour of the King.' It was for
the House to consider whether they had authorised such a
1 Rising's Notes.
z Which shouts 'Mr. Pym, not well understanding, stood up,' &c.
Meade to Stuteville, May 13, Harl. MSS. 390, fol. 57. This seems
more likely than that Pym should have objected, if he had known whai
happened.
110 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVllfc
charge as this. The two members, in short, were punished as
having gone beyond the directions of the House.
Carleton had something yet more startling to add. " I
beseech you, gentlemen, he said, " move not his Majesty with
trenching upon his prerogatives, lest you bring him out of love
with Parliaments. In his message he hath told you that if
there were not correspondency between him and you, he should
be enforced to use new counsels. Now I pray you to consider
what these new counsels are, and may be. I fear to declare
those that I conceive. In all Christian kingdoms you know
that Parliaments were in use anciently, until the monarchs
began to know their own strength ; and, seeing the turbulent
spirit of their Parliaments, at length they, by little and little,
began to stand upon their prerogatives, and at last overthrew
the Parliaments throughout Christendom, except here only with
us." Then he went on to speak of the scenes which he had
lately witnessed in France, of the peasants looking like ghosts
rather than men, of their scanty covering and wooden shoes,
as well as of the heavy taxation imposed upon them. " This,"
he ended by saying, " is a misery beyond expression, and that
which yet we are free from." l
With great difficulty the Commons were restrained from
calling Carleton to the bar. The danger with which they had
been threatened was, in their opinion, best met by a
thescom- firm pursuance of the course which they had already
chosen. On the one hand they ordered a protest
to be signed by every member disclaiming all part in the imputa-
tion upon the King in relation to his father's death, which had
been attributed to Digges. On the other hand they prepared a
vindication of their own liberties to be laid before Charles.2
Carleton's speech had neither made nor deserved to make
the slightest impression ; but it was not, as it is usually repre-
1 Though no country is named, I have no doubt that his last visit to
France was intended. Such scenes were not to be witnessed amongst
Dutch or Venetian peasants. Besides, the subsequent words about men
taxed to the King, show what Carleton was thinking of.
7 Rush-worth^ i. 360.
.1626 OPPOSITION IN THE LORDS. m
sented, either ridiculous or illogical. If it had been possible
to grant his premisses, and to allow that the Com-
Carieton's mons were factiously taking advantage of the danger
speec . Q£ t^ejj. country to advance their own position in the
State, Carleton's warnings might well have been listened to
with respect, in their substance, if not in their form. There is
no law of nature to save Parliaments any more than kings,
when they forget the interests of the nation which they are
appointed to protect. If Carleton and his master were in the
wrong, it was because whatever mistakes the Commons might
have committed, the interests of the nation were safer in their
hands than in those of the King.
If Charles erred in his general view of the case, it soon
appeared that he was no less wrong in his knowledge of the
M particular circumstances. As soon as the report
The Lords of the proceedings at the Conference was read in the
Digges's Upper House it was seen that, if that report could be
trusted, Digges had said something different from
that which was alleged against him. Buckingham, however,
was not satisfied. With a warmth which may easily be excused
in a man against whom a charge of having poisoned his bene-
factor had been brought, he protested his own innocence, and
then expressed an opinion that the report was not altogether
correct. Manchester, by whom that portion of the report had
been drawn up, admitted that, as his notes had been rapidly
taken, he had afterwards consulted Digges on their accuracy,
and that Digges had ' mollified ' the wording. According to
the notes, Digges had said that he wished ' not to reflect upon
the person either of the dead or of the present King.' That is
to say, cried Buckingham, ' on the dead King touching point of
government ; upon this King touching the physic.' A protest
was at once raised by North and Devonshire. "This," added
Saye, "may trench on all our loyalties." Each Peer, it was
then suggested, should be called upon to declare whether he
had heard anything ' that might be interpreted treason.' In
spite of an interruption from Buckingham, that he wanted
Digges's words, not his meaning, Saye rose and protested that
Digges had not spoken the words alleged, nor did he con-
I [2 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
ceive that he had the intention ascribed to him. The great
majority of the Peers followed Saye's example. A few only, on
various grounds, refused to make the declaration. In the end,
thirty-six Peers, Buckingham's brother-in-law Denbigh amongst
them, signed a protest that Digges had said nothing contrary
to the King's honour.
Before they parted, the Peers took another step in opposi-
tion. They replied to the King's message urging that to allow
Bristol the use of counsel was contrary to the funda-
co'msei for mental laws of the realm, by respectfully assuring
him that he was altogether mistaken. On the other
question of the King's right to tender evidence against a sub-
ject, which had been referred to the judges, Charles
ay I3' himself had already seen fit to waive his pretensions
for the present. He had directed the judges to give no reso-
lution on that point, ' not knowing how dangerous it may be
for the future.' l
After what had passed in the Lords, it was impossible to
keep Digges any longer in the Tower, and the next morning he
reappeared in his usual place. Charles could not
May 16.
Digges be so easily induced to relax his hold upon Eliot,
released. spirit of the attack upon his government.
If he should plead the precedents of Elizabeth's reign, he
would none the less find in the Commons the same
New ground ,. .. ..... - . 1111
taken in bitter opposition which his treatment of Arundel had
Eliot s case. rajse(j jn ^g LorclS- It seemed to him better to evade
the difficulty ; and, dropping the original complaint, he ordered
Weston to acquaint the Commons that Eliot was charged ' with
things extrajudicial to the House.' Weston, who was
Weston's ex- directed by the Commons to inquire what was the
pianauons. meanmg of the word ' extrajudicial,' informed them
that Eliot's crimes had been committed out of the House.
It was not likely that the Commons would be beguiled by
so transparent a subterfuge. The feeling of the House was
unmistakeable. In vain Carleton urged that they should clear
Eliot of all that he had done as a member, and ask the King to
1 Rising's Notes. 1624-1626, p. 193 ; Lords' Journals, iii. 627.
1626 ELIOT 'S RELEASE. 113
release him out of favour to themselves. It was the very ihing
which they absolutely refused to do. They were well aware
that a member might have done things which no Parliamentary
privilege could coyer. He might have committed high treason,
or highway robbery ; but they wished to have an opportunity
of judging for themselves whether anything so unlikely had
The Com- really happened. When, therefore, Carleton, pushed
^TcUhlir to the wau"> entreated them to give his Majesty time
sittings. to prove his accusation, they at once complied with
his request and suspended their sittings till the iptk It is
hardly likely that anyone present took Charles's explanations
seriously. "The King," wrote one of the members to a friend,
in speaking of Eliot's imprisonment, "hath sent him to the
Tower for some words spoken in Parliament, but we are all
resolved to have him out again, or will proceed to no busi-
ness." l
Charles, in fact, had still to discover the charges upon
which he had elected to take his stand. That Eliot had been
Ma ig instigated by Blainville to prefer the complaints
Fresh relating to the ' St. Peter' was too probable a solution
agamst* of all that had passed not to present itself to him ;
but it was a long step from mere suspicion to actual
evidence. In vain Eliot's study was searched for proof. In
vain Eliot was himself subjected to an examination. Not one
scrap of evidence was producible to show that the slightest
intercourse between him and the ambassador had ever taken
place. Charles had forgotten that the very imperfect manner
in which that part of the charge against Buckingham had been
produced was in itself the strongest evidence that the French
ambassador had not been consulted. With Blainville's assist-
ance Eliot would have drawn up a far more telling case than
he had succeeded in doing.
There was therefore nothing for it but to set
May 19.
Eliot Eliot at liberty. When the Commons re-assembled
x ' they were informed by Carleton that his imprisonment
was at an end. The House, however, was not to be so easily
1 Forster, Sir J. Eliot, i. 561.
VOL. VL I
114 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII
contented. The next morning Carleton was compelled to go
over one bv one the objections which he had originally taken
to the epilogue delivered before the Lords. With a mixture
May 20. of sarcasm and pleasantry, Eliot answered them in
and cleared detajL Qne reply waj. peculiarly fglicitOUS. He had
House. been accused of speaking slightingly of the Duke as
•'the man.' The word, he answered, had been commonly
applied to Alexander and Caesar, 'which were not less than he.'
It was therefore no dishonour to the Duke to be so called,
' whom yet he thinketh not to be a god.' In the end, both
Eliot and Digges were unanimously cleared of the imputations
brought against them.
The attempt and its failure were alike characteristic of
Charles. Prone to act upon impulse, he had been thrown off his
Charles's balance by the suggestion, which the words reported
failure. ^Q fam seemed to convey, that he had himself been
implicated in his father's murder. Taking it for granted that
the facts were as he supposed them to be, taking it for granted
too that he had the right, by the precedents of Elizabeth's
reign, to punish the offenders, he had been startled when the
House of Lords denied his facts, and the House of Commons
denied his right. The whole opposition of the protesting
Lords and the sternly resolute Commons which started up be-
fore him, was thoroughly unprovided for in his plan of action.
Like an inexperienced general who has forgotten to allow for
the independent action of the enemy, he had no resource but
to take refuge in the first defence which offered itself as a
means of prolonging the contest. The new device shivered in
his hands, and he stood unarmed and discredited in the face
of the nation.
In the House of Lords, too, the tide was running strongly
against his hopes. Already he had been driven to withdraw
his pretension to deprive Bristol of the help of
Bristol's case counsel ; and as soon as the accused Earl had had
m the Lords. ^^Q ^Q ^rjng jn njs answer to the charges against
him, the Lords warmly took up cheir claim to see Arundel
restored to their House. Nor was it only the exclusion of
their members that they dreaded. Grandison had just been
1626 ARUNDEVS RELEASE. 115
created Baron Tregoze in the English Peerage, and Carleton
had been snatched away from the assaults of the
champion of the Commons to sit on the benches of
the Upper House as Lord Carleton of Imberville. The inde-
pendent Lords regarded these promotions as a preliminary to
an attempt to pack, the House by a creation on a far larger
scale, and some were even heard to suggest the extreme
measure of depriving the new Peers of their votes till the end
of the session.1
In vain, therefore, Charles alleged, as he had alleged against
Eliot, that he had fresh charges to bring against
Liberation of Arundel. The Peers would listen to no excuses.
On June 5 the Earl recovered his entire liberty,2 and
on the 8th he was in his place amongst the Peers.
May 24. In the meanwhile the Commons had been busy
pwuidaze*11'5 remf°rcmg tne'r attack upon Buckingham by a simul-
deciared ii- taneous declaration of the illegality of the collection
granted by of tonnage and poundage, unless voted by them-
selves, and of their own readiness to settle an ample
revenue upon the King if he would conform to their wishes.
Before long, however, an incident occurred which must
have convinced the most reluctant that it was in vain to hope
May 28. that either fear or persuasion would induce the
The Cam- King to abandon Buckingham. On May 28 Suffolk
Bridge Chan- J
ceiiorship. died, leaving the Chancellorship of the University of
Cambridge vacant. " I would Buckingham were Chancellor,"
said Charles, when he heard the news. The idea took firm
possession of his mind, and the next morning a chaplain of
the Bishop of London 3 carried to Cambridge an intimation
of the royal pleasure. The Bishop himself soon followed ;
and the whole party which had seen with displeasure the con-
tinued attacks of the Commons upon Montague and his book
rallied round the Duke. The Masters of Trinity, of Peter-
1 Joachimi to the States-General, Jj^-£, Add. MSS. 17,677 L,
fol. 225.
* Conway to Arundd, June 5, S. P. Dom. Addenda
' i.e. Bishop Montaigne ; not Laud, as Mr. Forster stated by an ova-
sight
ti6 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII.
house, and of Clare Hall used all their influence in his favour ;
and the influence of the Head of a house, who thought more
of the object to be gained than of his own character for im-
partiality, was no slight weight in the scale. Yet, discouraging
as the prospects of the Calvinists were, they chose at the last
moment a candidate in the person of the Earl of Berkshire,
the second son of the late Chancellor ; and so strong was their
party numerically, that though there was no time to obtain
assurance of their candidate's consent, they secured no less than
June t. 103 votes in his favour. Buckingham, it was true,
HuecCk!nn-°f ODtamed 1 08 ; but it was known that many had
ham. voted for him sorely against their wishes, and it was
whispered amongst Berkshire's supporters that, even as it was,
an impartial scrutiny would have converted their opponents'
victory into a defeat1
Deep offence was taken by the Commons at this new
Junes. honour conferred upon a man whom they had
^f'th^cT'm6 Barged with holding too many offices already.
mons. Venturing upon unsafe ground, they resolved to
send for a deputation from the University and to demand an
account of the election, a resolution which was met
by positive orders from the King to proceed no
further in that direction, as the University was entitled to elect
anyone it pleased.2 The reply of the House was
the conversion of the remonstrance upon freedom
from arrest into a general statement of grievances.
On the day when this new appeal to the King was to be
drawn up, Buckingham laid his defence before the Lords.
Prepared, it is said, by Nicholas Hyde, in all pro-
haUm's'nR bability under Heath's supervision, and submitted
to the friendly criticism of Laud,3 the Duke's an-
swer displayed no common ability. Rebutting — as with their
1 Meade to Stuteville, June 3, Ellis, ser. i, iii. 228. Certain Considera-
tions, &c., Harl. MSS. 161, fol. 134.
« to Meade, June 9, Harl. MSS. 390, fol. 73.
1 Of Laud's part there is no doubt. See S. P. Dom. xxvii. 25. Hyde's
part we learn from Whitelocke 's Memorials, 8. For Heath, see the King's
warrant to assist Buckingham, S. P. Dom. Addenda.
1626 THE DUKE'S DEFENCE. 117
superior knowledge its authors were well able to do — many of
the accusations, in the form at least in which they had been
brought, they were able tp assert that in other respects the
Duke had either acted by the King's orders, or that, if he
had gone wrong, he had done so either from inadvertence or
through compliance with customs already established when he
came to Court. " Who accused me ? " said Buckingham —
" Common fame. Who gave me up to your Lordships ? — The
House of Commons. The one is too subtle a body, if a body ;
the other too great for me to contest with. Yet I am confident
neither the one nor the other shall be found my enemy when
my cause comes to be tried."
The confidence thus expressed was doubtless a genuine
expression of feeling. Buckingham could not hope to have
the issue tried on more favourable ground. He
ham's'con- knew that he had witnesses to prove that on many
important points the Commons had been in error ; l
and he had only to close his eyes to the political antagonism
which he had aroused, to imagine that an acquittal would be
the probable termination of the affair.
The news, however, that the Commons had embarked upon
a general remonstrance cannot have been without effect even
upon Buckingham. To Charles it must have been absolutely
decisive. Believing as he did that his minister was the victim
of a factious combination, he had submitted to wait till the
worthlessness of the evidence against him had been proved ;
but if the Commons were about to demand that, whether their
charges were proved or not, he should dismiss his minister, he
June 9. would only be strengthened in his opinion that the
The King honour of his crown was at stake. He therefore
demands
supply. peremptorily demanded that, happen what might,
the Subsidy Bill should be passed before the end of the follow-
ing week. If it were not, he should be forced 'to use other
resolutions.' 2
1 Nicholas, for instance, seems, fiom the notes prepared by him (S. /'.
Dom. xxvii, 105-111), to have been ready to tell the truth, and to call upon
Pennington to tell the truth, about the ships lent to the French.
2 Lords Journals, iii. ^7O.
uS BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEACHMENT. CH. LVIII
Before the Royal message was taken into consideration,
the Commons took a further step, which indicated plainly
June io. enough the spirit by which they were animated.
Furthersteps They ordered the committee to which the framing
of the Com- . /
mons. of the remonstrance had been entrusted to send for
the Parliament roll containing the declaration made by Buck
ingham after his return from Spain, and to require the young
Lord Digby, by whom his father's charges against the Duke
had formerly been communicated to the House, to prove, if he
June 9. was able, that Parliament had been abused on that
Bristol's case occasion. ' On the previous day the Lords had given
taken up by . . . ',,.',.
the Lords, a similar indication of their feeling by ordering the
Attorney-General to take charge of Bristol's case, so as to give
to it those official advantages which had been accorded to the
King's accusations.
The Commons probably intended to incorporate Bristol's
charges in their remonstrance ; but time pressed, and it was
doubtful whether, if they embarked upon such a
June 12.
The re- work, they would be allowed to finish it. The ques-
t^°precedee tion which they met to discuss on the morning of the
supply. i2th was whether the remonstrance or the supply
should be presented first. After a long and stormy debate, a
large majority voted that the remonstrance should have the
precedence.2
From the ground thus taken up by the Commons it would
in the long run be found impossible to drive them. After
running over the charges which they had brought
Substance of . „ , , , . .
theremon- against the Duke, they expressed their reprobation
of those new counsels which had been held before
their eyes by Carleton, and denied that tonnage and poundage
could be lawfully raised without their consent. Then, turning
upon Buckingham, they declared that the articles which they
had sent up to the Lords were not the measure of their objec-
tions to his 'excessive and abusive power.' These they had
1 Common? Journals, i. 870. Digby may be a slip for Bristol ; but the
young lord, having presented his father's complaint, had a locus standi
before the House.
* Meddus to Meade, June 16, Court and Tint's, i. no.
i626 PROTEST OF THE COMMONS. 119
been ' enforced to insist upon, as matters ' lying under their
' notice and proof ; ' but, beyond them, they believed him to
be an enemy to both Church and State. It was therefore
grievous to them to find that he had ' so great power and interest
in ' the King's ' princely affections,' so as, under his Majesty,
' wholly in a manner to engross to himself the administration
of the realm, 'which by that means .is drawn into a condition
most miserable and hazardous.' They therefore begged that
he would remove the Duke from his presence, and would not
' balance this one man with all these things and with the affairs
of the Christian world, which all do suffer, so far as they have
relation to this kingdom, chiefly by his means.'
"For we protest," they went on to say, "before your
Majesty and the whole world, that until this great person be
removed from intermeddling with the great affairs of State, we
are out of hope of any good success ; and do fear that any
money we shall or can give will, through his misemployment,
be turned rather to the hurt and prejudice of this your king-
dom than otherwise, as by lamentable experience we have
found in those large supplies formerly and lately given."
The Commons, in short, had again taken up the position
which they had occupied at the close of the Oxford meeting,
what this They would give no money where they could place
implied. no confidence. No impartial reader of the long
story of the mishaps of the Government can deny that they
were thoroughly in the right in refusing their confidence to
the man who was mainly responsible for these misfortunes.
In one respect indeed the Commons were slow to perceive
the whole consequence of their change of position. If they
had been able to substantiate the criminal charges which they
had brought against Buckingham, if they could have proved
him to be false, corrupt, and venal, Charles could have parted
with him without loss of honour. To ask the King to abandon
his minister on the ground that the Commons could not trust
him, though the acts at which they took umbrage had been
done, always nominally and often really, by the authority of
Charles, was to ask him to surrender himself as well as Buck-
ingham. Neither Elizabeth noi even his father had allowed
120 BUCKINGHAM'S IMPEALHMENT. CH. LVIII.
anyone to dictate the choice of counsellors. If the advisers of
the Crown and the officers of State were to be accepted or
dismissed at the will of the House of Commons, the supremacy
of that House would soon be undisputed. Would such a
change carry with it merely a constitutional re-arrangement?
Could a popular body form a government? Would not anarchy
and confusion ensue to the nation, personal danger to the King?
To yield now might be to launch the barque of Royalty without
chart or compass on that sea of violence and intrigue which
was to be descried by the anxious king in those annals of the
Middle Ages to which the Commons so cheerfully appealed.
To him the precedents of Eliot spoke not of justice executed,
but of riot and disorder. " Let us sit upon the ground," they
seemed to say,
" And tell sad stories of the death of kings :
How «ome have been deposed, some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed,
Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed, —
All murdered."
To acknowledge Buckingham's responsibility was indirectly
to acknowledge his own. Where was that to end ? Perhaps it
was too late for him now to learn a better way, and to discern
that alike behind the despotism of the Tudors and the violence
of the Middle Ages a deeper principle had been at work— a
principle which called upon rulers to guide, and not to force,
the national will. Precedents might be quoted for almost any
iniquity on either side ; but the great precedent of all, from
which all worthy precedents received their value, the tradition
of a healthy national life handed down by father to son from
the remotest days, was guarded in the heart of the English
nation by defences against which Charles would dash himself
in vain.
The King's choice was soon made. As he had said earlier
in the session, he would give liberty of counsel, not of control.
In vain Heath, with lawyer-like appreciation of the
A dissolution weakness of the articles of impeachment, pleaded
solved on. jjar(j for deiay. jn Vain the Peers begged earnestly
for a prolongation of the situation by which they were consti-
1 626 PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED. 121
tuted supreme arbitrators between the nation and the Crown.
To their urgent entreaty that Charles would grant them but
two days more, he replied impatiently, " Not a
Thedissoiu- minute." On June 15 the Parliament of 1626 ceased
to exist.1
" Let compounds be dissolved." * The words with which
Wotton had closed the epitaph of the great philosopher and
Future of the statesman who had passed away from his earthly work
constitution. aimost unnoticed amidst the contentions of the
session now brought to a close, might fitly be inscribed over
the tomb of the constitutional theories which Bacon had striven
hard to realise. The King and the House of Commons no
longer formed constituent parts of one body. On either side
new counsels would prevail. The King would demand to be
sole judge of the fitness of his own actions, and to compel the
nation to follow him whithersoever he chose to lead. Parlia-
ment would grasp at the right of control as well as the right of
counsel, and would discover that the responsibility of ministers
could only be secured by enforcing the responsibility of kings.
At last, after a terrible struggle, teeming alike with heroic
examples and deeds of violence, a new harmony would be
evolved out of the ruins of the old.
1 Heath to Buckingham, June 14 (?), S. P. Dom. Addenda. Lords'
Journals, iii. 682. — to Meade, June 15, Harl. MSS. 390, fol. 776.
* " Coniposita dissohianlitr."
122
CHAPTER LIX.
THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.
IN trying the effect of those 'new counsels' with which the
Commons had been so often threatened, Charles, it may be
safely said, had no intention of deliberately treading
Newcoun- under foot the laws of England. Holding, as he
did, that a few factious men had preferred their own
ambitious schemes to the welfare of the country, he believed
himself to be justified in putting forth for a time the powers of
that undefined prerogative which was given him for use in
special emergencies when the safety of the nation was at stake.
Charles's first thought was to issue a proclamation for the
establishing of the peace and quiet of the Church of England.
Tune 16 ^n April 1 1 Pym had reported to the Lower House
Prociama- a long string of charges against Montague,1 and, if
peac«°of the time could have been found before the dissolution,
urc his impeachment would doubtless have followed. In
his proclamation Charles spoke of ' questions and opinions '
lately broached in matters of doctrine, 'which at first only being
meant against the Papists, but afterwards by the sharp and in-
discreet handling and maintaining by some of either parts,
have given much offence to the sober and well-grounded readers
and hearers of these late written books on both sides, which
may justly be feared will raise some hopes in the professed
enemies of our religion, the Romish Catholics, that by degrees
the professors of our religion may be drawn into schism, and
after to plain Popery.'
1 Faws'ey Delates, App. 179.
1626 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. 123
Charles's remedy for the evil was to reduce both parties to
silence. No new opinions were to be introduced by tongue
or pen ; no innovation to be allowed in Church or State. As
both Pym and Montague claimed to set forth the original doc-
trine of the Church of England, it was not unlikely they would
both interpret the proclamation in their own favour. It was,
however, probable that those who carried it into execution would
interpret it in favour of Montague rather than of Pym.1
The next day a fresh proclamation was issued ordering the
destruction of all copies of the remonstrance of the Commons.2
June 17. Charles, however, took care not to inflict the slightest
inhtheRe^Ils Punishment upon the offending members of either
monstrance. House, with the exception of Bristol and Arundel ;
and he might fairly argue that if the two obnoxious Peers had
committed faults at all, they were faults which had nothing
to do with their position as members of the House of Lords.
Arundel was therefore relegated to confinement in
Commitment , . . , n . , ,
of Bristol and his own house,*5 and Bristol was sent to the Tower, to
prepare for a Star Chamber prosecution. If wrong
was done, the wrong did not this time take the shape of a breach
of privilege.
It was Charles's intention that Buckingham was still to be
allowed, in spite of the dissolution, to bring his defence to a
Bucking- triumphant issue. Heath was accordingly directed
habeSC?!d • to recluest *he managers of the impeachment to carry
the star on their case before the Star Chamber.4 The plan
broke down in consequence of the steady refusal of
June 19.
The Pariia- the managers to have anything to do with the matter,
managers " We," Eliot answered in their name, "entreat you to
plrtTn theke ta^e knowledge that whatsoever was done by us in that
trial business was done by the command of the House of
Commons, and by their directions some proofs were delivered
to the Lords with the charges, but what other proofs the House
would have used, according to the liberty reserved to themselves,
1 Kymer, xviii. 719. 2 Ibid. 721.
• Salvetti's News-Letter, Tune ^.
20
4 Heath to Eliot and others, June 17 ; Forster, Sir J. Eliot, i. 350.
124 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX:
either for the maintenance of their charge or upon their reply,
June 20. we neither know nor can undertake to inform you.'*
fence ofdtheir The next daY Eliot was pressed to give a better an-
refusai. swer. " My first knowledge and intelligence," he
replied, " happening in Parliament, after discharge of mine own
particular duties to the House, I remitted to that again wholly
the memory and consideration thereof." It was no private
charge which he had brought. The accusation had sprung from
the House of Commons, and if the King wished it to be carried
further, he must provide for the resuscitation of Parliament.
Charles, however, thought that he could carry on the accusation
without having recourse to so formidable an instrument. The
charges were formally repeated and formally answered, and the
Star Chamber gave a sentence in favour of the Duke which
inspired no confidence in anyone who was not already con-
vinced of his innocence. '
Such sentences were easily obtainable. It was less easy to
provide money for the war which Charles was resolved to carry
on. A loan of ioo,ooo/., on the security of the Crown
refuses' a jewels, was demanded from the City; but the City
firmly refused to lend, and it was only upon strong
pressure from the King himself that the aldermen agreed per-
sonally to provide him with the fifth part of the sum named.2
More general measures were required if the Exchequer was
to be filled. For some time rumours of a Spanish force gathering
in the ports of Biscay had been rife in England, and Charles
was well content to make more of these rumours than they
were really worth. To meet the danger, a fleet of a hundred sail
June 15. was to be brought together to guard the coast, and
Plan for another fleet of forty sail, with the assistance of a
asking the * .
freeholders Dutch contingent, was to seek out the enemy in his
subsidies. own harbours.3 In order to find means to support
so large an expenditure, Charles's first thought had been to
1 Forster, Sir J. Eliot, i. 350.
2 Rudyerd to Nethersole, July 9, S. P. Dom. xxxi. 39. Salvetti's
News-Letters, J-"-5-l°, July -. to Meade, Tune 30, Court and Times,
' July 10 J ] 17
i. 116.
* Rusdorf to Oxenstjerna, June 15, Mem. ii. 190.
1626 IRREGULAR LEVIES OF MONEY. 125
order the sheriffs to assemble the freeholders in the several
counties, and to take their votes for a direct grant of the subsidies
to which a factious Parliament had refused to agree.1 The project
was, however, abandoned in this hazardous form, and on July 7
letters were despatched to all justices of the peace,
AfreTgiit bidding them to acquaint their counties with the
proposed. requirements of the State, and to exhort them that,
as the House of Commons had judged four subsidies to be
needed for the defence of the country, they should, in a case ol
such necessity, be a law tc themselves, and should lovingly,
freely, and voluntarily supply that which might have been levied
by law if the Act had passed.2 In order to show that, in calling
on his subjects for contributions, he did not intend to spare his
own courtiers, Charles gave orders that, for two years to come,
no suits involving any charge on the revenue should be brought
before him.3
If Charles was to extract money directly from his subjects'
purses it was necessary for him to go through the form of
Julys. asking their consent. Tonnage and poundage, ac-
Tonnage and cordmg to the view taken by the Crown lawyers, could
poundage to ° J . J
be levied. be levied without any such formality. Once more,
as after the dissolution at Oxford, orders were given to continue
the collection of the duties, the King declaring that he could
not do without them, and that they must therefore be gathered
in till Parliament had leisure to make the usual arrangements.4
Almost at the moment when Charles was appeal-
jusiicesof ing to the people for a free gift, he purified the Com-
the peace. mission of the Peace by the dismissal of those persons
who were likely to oppose that measure. Eliot and Phelips,
1 Intended Proclamation, June 15, S. P. Dom. xxx. 2.
* The King to the Justices, July 7, ibid. xxxi. 30, 31. The official
view of these proceedings is expressed in a letter from Sir John Coke. " His
Majesty," writes the Secretary, "had sought his assistance, resolving
to take no violent or extraordinary way to levy monies, but in a common
danger to rely upon a common care and affection, that all men must have that
will not wilfully be guilty of abandoning their religion, Prince, and country,
to the enemy's power. "— Coke to Brooke, July 2, Melboui ne MSS. * Ibid.
4 Act of Council, July 8, Council Register. Commission, July 26,
Rymer, xviii. 737.
126 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. Lix.
Seymour and Alford, Mansell and Digges ceased to bear the
honours of justice of the peace in their respective
amongst counties. On the list of those judged unworthy
to serve the Crown stands the name of Sir Thomas
Wentworth, once more associated with those of the leaders of
the Opposition, as it had been upon the sheriffs' list the year
before. l
A Government which could alienate men so opposed to one
another as Eliot and Wentworth must indeed have gone far
Position of astray. Eliot's course in the last Parliament was
Wentworth. too decided to call for any additional explanation of
the causes which made all further co-operation between him
and Buckingham impossible. Wentworth stood on a very
different footing with the Court. He was himself longing to
enter the service of the Crown, and his frequent overtures
to the governing powers have exposed him to the suspicion
of those who misunderstand alike his character and his
principles.
The reforming spirit was strong in Wentworth. To him
England was a stage on which there was much to be done,
Wentworth many abuses to be overthrown, many interested and
a reformer, ignorant voices to be silenced. Since the days when
Bacon had been a member of the House of Commons no man's
voice had been raised so frequently in favour of new legislation,
legislation was the only mode in which, as a member of the
House of Commons, he could proceed to action. There could
be little doubt, however, that he would prefer a shorter course.
His desire Power in his own hands would be very welcome to
for power. njmj from whatever quarter it came. At first he was
content to a>K for local authority in his native Yorkshire. He
had long ago driven his rival Sir John Savile from the post of
1 Wentworth's name is happily on the list in Coventry's letter to the
Clerk of the Crown, July 8 (Harl. MSS. 286, fol. 297), from which I have
at last, after giving up the search entirely, been able to recover the date of
his dismissal, and to bring the fact into connection with the known events
of history. The list contains fifteen names for ten counties. It is mani-
festly imperfect, as we learn that Phelips was also dismissed from the Hist.
MSS. Commission Reports, iii. 182.
1626 SIX THOMAS WENTWORTH. 127
Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding. Having that dignity
in his hands, he had, during the last years of James, been con-
stantly seeking for higher employment.
A courtier in the ordinary sense of the word Wentworth
never was, — never by any possibility could become. He could
not learn like the Conways and the Cokes, to bear a patron's
yoke. Whatever his heart conceived his mouth would speak.
In any position occupied by him he was certain to magnify
his office. If he had been in Becket's place he would have
striven for the King as Chancellor, and for the Church as Arch-
bishop. As a member of the Commons in 1621
Wentworth . . , , ,, . . T , ,.
m earlier he had rebelled against James s attempt to refuse to
Parliaments. the assembly of which he formed a part the right of
giving counsel to its sovereign. In 1624 the tide of affairs
seemed to have stranded him for ever. To his mind the King
and the nation appeared to have gone mad together. What side
was he to choose when all England rushed with one consent into
war with Spain ? All war, unless it were a war of defence, was
hateful to Wentworth. He would leave the Continent to itself,
to fight its own battles. England, he thought, had enough to
do within her own borders. Whilst Buckingham was planning
fantastic schemes, and Coke and Phelips were cheering him on
to shed the blood of Englishmen like water, Wentworth could
but stand aside and wait till the excitement had run its course,
and till there was again time to think of legislation and reform
lor England.
In 1625 the tide had begun to ebb. If Wentworth had
little sympathy with the leaders of the Opposition, yet his place
,625. was naturally by their side. Yet, if he was ready to
He opposes jojn them in refusing or paring down the supplies
ham, which Buckingham needed for the war, he joined
them as one who would gladly be spared the task of resisting
the wishes of his sovereign.
Wentworth, in short, was with the Opposition, but not of it
Charles acknowledged the difference between his resistance and
that of Seymour and Phelips. Though he took care to include
him in the penal list of sheriffs, he spoke of him with kindness, as
one who might yet be won. Wentworth justified the preference.
128 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. Lix.
His objection was not against Charles's system of government,
but against the policy pursued by the King and his minister,
but is not Consequently, he refused to take measures to evade
hu0o°pu£hsi-n the restriction placed upon him. "My rule," he
tion- said, " which I will never transgress, is never to con-
tend with the prerogative out of Parliament, nor yet to contest
with a king but when I am constrained thereunto or else make
shipwreck of my peace of conscience, which I trust God will
ever bless me with, and with courage too to preserve it." He
would for the present ' fold himself up in a cold, silent for-
bearance, and wait expecting that happy night that the King
shall cause his chronicles to be read, wherein he shall find the
faithfulness of Mardocheus, the treason of his eunuchs, and
then let Haman look to himself.' l
Even if Haman here meant Buckingham, the feeling thus
expressed had nothing of the fierce earnestness which drove
Eliot to track out the footsteps of misgovernment with the en-
during steadfastness of a bloodhound. Nothing would induce
Wentworth to make himself partaker in Hainan's misdeeds ; but
he had no objection to pay a stately court to Haman, or to accept
,626 from him such favours as might be consistent with an
Wentworth honourable independence. In January 1626, before
asks for the . J
Presidency Parliament met, having heard a rumour that Lord
cii of the Scrope was about to resign the Presidency of the
Council of the North, he wrote to Conway to ask for
the appointment2 In such a post there would be nothing to
implicate him in the foreign policy which he disliked. The
rumour proved false, and Wentworth gained nothing by his
His over- request. Later in the spring, however, he drew still
BuckinV more closety to the Court. Whilst the Commons
ham- were bringing their charges against Buckingham, he
came up to London and was introduced by his friend Weston
to the Duke. Buckingham assured him of his desire ' to
contract a friendship with him.' 3
Whether Wentworth meant anything more by these over-
1 Wentworth to Wandesford, Dec. 5, 1625, Strafford Letters, i. 32.
2 Wentworth to Conway, Jan. 20, S. P. Dom. xviii. no.
* Wentworth to Weston, undated, 1 626, Strafford Letters, i. 34.
1 626 DISMISSAL OF WENTWORTH. 129
•
tures than that he was ready to conform to the custom of the
time in paying his court to Buckingham, it is impossible to say ;
Did he f°r> though his friend Wandesford took a leading
Part in ^e Cuke's impeachment, it is by no means
unlikely that he may have himself regarded the pro-
ceedings of the Commons with disfavour. That the Commons
might give counsel to the King, and. that, if that counsel were
rejected, they might proceed to a refusal of subsidies, was a
doctrine which Wentworth had advocated by word and action.
But he had never shown any inclination to support the theory
that the Commons had the right of meddling directly or in-
directly with the King's ministers ; and though he would doubt-
less have been well pleased if Charles had dismissed Buckingham
of his own motion, he may very well have refused his sympathy
with an attempt to force him to dismiss his minister whether
he wished it or not. Wentworth was just the man to doubt
whether the King's government could be carried on under such
conditions.
The dissolution of Parliament in June had left Buckingham
triumphant. It was speedily followed, on July 8, by a letter
TuJ from the Lord Keeper dismissing Wentworth from
Dismissal of the official position which he held in his own,
Wentworth. county> when it reached York, Wentworth was
sitting as High Sheriff in his court. The letter was handed to
him, and the proud, high-spirited man learnt that he was no
longer to call himself a justice of the peace. The office of Cus
tos Rotulorum, for which he had struggled so hard, was given to
his detested rival, Sir John Savile.1
That Wentworth felt the insult keenly it is unnecessary to
say; but he was not the man to betray weakness. In a few
measured words he protested his loyalty to the King. He
Wentworth's called those around him to witness that he had al-
jusufication. ways loved justice. '* Therefore," he added, "shame
be from henceforth to them that deserve it. For I am
well assured now to enjoy within myself a lightsome quiet as
1 This we learn from a note to the list in Coventry's letter ; see p. 126.
In the same way Sir D. Foulis succeeded Sir Thomas Hoby in the North
Riding, and the Earl of Hertford Sir F. Seymour in Wiltshire.
VOL. VI. K
130 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LlX.
Q
formerly. The world may well think I knew a way which
would have kept my place. I confess indeed it had been too
dear a purchase, and so I leave it." l
The bystanders doubtless understood this language better
than those who have, perhaps not unnaturally, seen in the
attack made upon Wentworth the fountain of his opposition in
the next Parliament. If words mean anything, Went-
ofhisdis- worth was deprived of office because he was already
in opposition. It was not a thunderbolt out of a
clear sky which struck him. He distinctly intimated that he
might have kept the place if he had chosen. There was some-
thing which he might have done, which he had refused to do.
What that was is entirely matter for conjecture ; but it is
highly probable that Wentworth had been asked to countenance
the collection of the free gift, and that he had refused to do so.
It is at all events certain that he could not possibly have used
his official influence in its support without sacrificing his self-
respect. The old doctrine of the constitution was that money
needed for war must be voted by Parliament. Wentworth
would feel probably more than any other man in England the
importance of maintaining this doctrine intact. To spend
money upon the war with Spain was, in his eyes, as bad as
throwing it into the sea. Was he to become the tool of such
a policy as this ? Was he to go round amongst the free-
holders, begging them to support the Crown in so ruinous an
infatuation? Well may he have refused to demean himself so
low.
It was the necessary consequence of the unhappy course
which Charles was pursuing that he could not fail to alienate
all who had it in their power to serve him best ; yet he still
believed himself to be possessed of the confidence
Orders for of the people. On July 8, the very day on which
the dismissal of the justices was resolved on, orders
were issued for carrying on the usual musters with more than
ordinary diligence. It looks as if Charles wished to appeal
from a faction to the body of the nation.2
1 Wentworth's speech, Strajford Letters, i. 36.
* Instruction? for Musters, July 8, S. P. Dom. xxxi. 34.
1626 THE FREE GIFT. 131
In the hands of Charles such a policy was not likely to be
successful, especially when it took the shape of a demand for
money. The first attempt to collect the free gift was
in Middled made in Westminster Hall. Cries of " A Parlia-
ment, a Parliament ! " were raised on every side, and
only thirty persons, all of them known to be in the King's
service, agreed to pay. In the rest of Middlesex and in Kent
similar failures were reported, and the Council was driven to
gild the pill by a declaration explaining away the compulsory
character of the demand. There was no intention,
July 26.
they said, of asking for four subsidies as if the Com-
mons' resolution had been in any way binding upon the nation.
All that was meant had been to show what was the opinion of
Parliament on the amount required for the defence of the
country.1
In a few days answers to the demand made in this new
fashion began to pour in. All througii August and the first
Au<mst fortnight of September the tale of resistance went up
Refuel of with almost uniform monotony. Here and there a
thecounaes. handful of ioyaiists offered a poor tribute of a few
pounds. Here and there a county based its refusal on its
poverty rather than on its disinclination to give ; but the great
majority of refusers . spoke out clearly. They would give in
Parliament. . Out of Parliament they would not give at all. The
figment of a nation passing by its representatives to fly to the
support of its King was demonstrated to be without a shadow
of foundation.2
After this, unless Charles was prepared either to make peace
with Spain, or to summon another Parliament, one course only
Charles remained. The English constitution had grown up
fofio'iTpre"- round the belief that the King was in very truth the
cedents. centre of the national life. Precedents as ancient,
and to the full as continuous, as the protests against tyranny
and misgovernment which had been quoted in the House of
1 Meade to Stuteville, July 24, Court and Times, i. 130. Council
Register, July 26.
* The answers will he found amongst the Domestic State Papers in
August ani September. Berkshire was the first to refuse, on August 5.
K. 2
132 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
Commons, told how the Kings of England had been accustomed
to call, not in vain, upon their subjects, to put no strict con-
struction upon their local or individual rights in times of
national danger. In reality nothing could be more perilous
than to gather up these precedents as a rule of government at
a time when the spirit which had animated them was being
violated at every turn. Yet this peril, apparently without the
least suspicion that there was any peril at all, Charles was de-
termined to confront.
One of these precedents had already been followed before
the appeal for the free gift had been made. The fleet which had
taken Cadiz in Elizabeth's reign had been partly supplied with
Ships to be ships by a levy on the maritime counties. The same
In^hime the course had been adopted now, and the shires along
counties. the coast had been ordered to join the port towns in
setting out a fleet of fifty-six ships.1 Few of the shires were
hardy enough to dispute the precedent, and most of them con-
tented themselves with an effort to shift as much as possible of
the burden upon their neighbours. The Dorsetshire magis-
trates, who took higher ground, were sharply reprimanded by
the Council. "State occasions," they were told, "and the
defence of the kingdom in times of extraordinary danger, do
July 24. not guide themselves by ordinary precedents." The
oVfhe'cuyof City of London, having ventured to argue that the
London. twenty ships at which it was assessed were more than
had been required in former times, was still more soundly
rated. "Whereas," answered the Council, "they
mention precedents, they may know that the pre-
cedents of former times were obedience and not direction,
and that there are also precedents of punishment of those who
disobey his Majesty's commandments signified by the Board
in the case of the preservation of the State, which they hope
there shall be no occasion to let them more particularly under-
stand."
On the 1 5th the City gave way.2 It would, however, be some
1 List of ports charged with furnishing ships, June, S. P. Dom.
nx. 81.
-* Proceedings in Council, July 24, Aug. II, 15. Council Register.
1 626 IVILLOUGHBY'S FLEET. 133
time before the ships thus obtained would be ready for sea. In
r the meanwhile a fleet of thirty-nine ships had been
The city gathering at Portsmouth, under the command of
gives way. ^ord \yilloughby. It had been given out that it
w^"g h*' would sail on August iz,1 to fall upon the transports
by's fleet at jn the Biscay harbours, and if possible to inter-
Portstnouth. i ir • n i 11 /->•!
cept the Mexico fleet, and to succeed where Cecil
had failed the year before. But August 12 came, and nothing
was ready. Provisions for the voyage were not forthcoming,
and the men, left without the necessaries of life, were deserting
as fast as they could.2 By Buckingham's own confession the
King was incurring a debt of 4,ooo/. a month because he could
not lay his hand upon i4,ooo/. to discharge some utterly use-
less mariners by paying off their arrears.*
New efforts were therefore made to get money. On August 18
the Council directed the sale of 50,000 oz. of the King's plate.
Aug. 18 On the 26th 20,000 oz. more were disposed of in the
Sale of plate. same way.4 Even Buckingham, sanguine as he was,
felt in some measure the seriousness of his position. Having
broken hopelessly with the leaders of the Commons, he would
do his best to attach the nobility to his cause. A marriage was
contrived between his little daughter and another child, the
son of Pembroke's brother, Montgomery. Pembroke himself,
incurring, if report spoke truly, no slight obloquy by his com-
pliance with Buckingham's wishes,8 was raised to the dignity of
Lord Steward, whilst Montgomery succeeded him as Chamber-
lain. The Earls of Dorset, Salisbury, and Bridgewater, who
had supported Buckingham in the last session, were admitted
to the Privy Council. If Arundel was still under a cloud, no
attempt was made to press hardly upon him, and the advance-
ment of Wallingford, the brother-in-law of the new Earl of
Suffolk, to the Earldom of Banbury, may probably be regarded
as an overture to the Howards.
1 List of ships, S. P. Dom. xxxii. 74.
* Gyffard to Nicholas, Aug. 24, 27, S. P. Dom. xxxiv. 28, 39.
1 Council Register, Aug. 23.
4 Ibid. Aug. 1 8, 26.
* Advice from England, Sept. 12, Brussels MSS.
134 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
Buckingham and his master had need of more support than
could be found in the House of Lords. Nothing had been done
to improve the King's relations with France. A commission
had, indeed, been issued, to inquire into the law of prize,1 but
as the French were not convinced that Charles had any inten-
tion of withdrawing his extreme pretensions, a fresh collision
might arise at any moment. This was the time chosen by
Charles to effect a domestic revolution, perhaps justifiable in
itself, but certain to cause bitter mortification to his wife and to
exasperate her brother more than ever.
For months Charles had felt that, as long as the Queen's
French attendants were in England, he could hardly call his
Tune w^e his own. Her ladies taught her to look upon
Charles and English men and women with distrust. Her priests
FrenchTa"-5 taught her to display ostentatiously more than the
nts' ordinary humiliations which found favour with her
Church. Her complaints of her husband's broken promises
met with a warm response in their sympathetic bosoms. When
she was in private with her chosen companions she was merry
enough, dancing and laughing as if no shadow of misfortune
had ever crossed her path. She reserved her ill-humour for
her husband, and in his presence bore herself as a martyr. The
winter before he had thought of sending the whole company
back to France ; but the marriage contract was against him,
and he desisted for a time. Then came fresh dis-
Quarrel ...
about the putes and recriminations. The Queen wished to name
some amongst her French attendants to take charge
of her jointure. Charles refused his permission. One night,
after the pair were in bed, there were high words between them.
" Take your lands to yourself," said the offended wife. " If I
have no power to put whom I will into those places, I will have
neither lands nor houses of you. Give me what you think
fit by way of pension." Charles fell back upon his dignity.
" Remember," he said, " to whom you speak. You ought not
to use me so." In reply, she broke out into mere fretfulness.
She was miserable, she said. She had no power to place servants,
' Commission, July II, Rymer, xviii. 730
1626 HUSBAND AtTD% WIFE. 135
and businesses succeeded the worse for her recommendation.
She was not of that base quality to be used so ill. She ran on
for some time, refusing to listen to her husband's explanation.
" Then," wrote Charles afterwards, in giving an account of the
scene, " I made her both hear me, and end that discourse." 1
Charles's displeasure is not likely to have been softened by
any real insight into his wife's difficulties, or by sympathy with
the poor child's natural clinging to those who alone shared her
feelings and her prejudices in a strange land. It was not long
before a fresh cause of offence arose. On June 26 2 the Queen
obtained leave to spend some time in retirement, in order to
give herself to a special season of devotion. After a long day
passed in attendance upon the services of her Church at the
chapel at St. James's, she strolled out with her attendants to
breathe the fresh evening air in St. James's Park. By-and by
she found her way into Hyde Park, and by accident or design
The Queen directed her steps towards Tyburn. In her position
at Tyburn. jt was ^ut natural that she should bethink herself of
those who had suffered there as martyrs for that faith which she
1 Instructions for Carleton, printed in Ludlow's Memoirs, (ed. 1751),
459. I rather suspect the date given as July 12, should be July 22, as the
other instructions (S. P. France] are dated July 23.
2 This date of the Jubilee is distinctly given in Salvetti's letter, June-3°>
July to,
and is nearly in agteement with Bassompierre's statement (Ambassadt,
185) that more than six weeks passed between the visit to Tyburn and the
notice taken of it on July 31. If the 25th of June was the day, there would
be exactly five weeks, and Bassompierre may be allowed a little exaggera-
tion. Miss Strickland's notion (Queens of England, 237) that the visit to
Hyde Park took place in 1625, founded on a blunder in an English trans-
lation of Bassompierre's speech, receives no countenance from the original
(Ambassade, 185). If Miss Str ckland consulted Pory's letter in the Court
and Times, in which the visit is said to have taken place on St. James's
Day last, its date as there given, July i, may have confirmed her in her
idea that ' St. James's Day last ' meant July 25, 1625. But the Queen \vas
not in London at that date, and the date July i is a blunder of the editor.
In the oiiginal it is July 5, as printed by Sir H. Ellis (ser. i, iii. 244).
Internal evidence, however, shows that it was really written on Aug. 5,
and Pory must therefore have meant July 25, 1626, an impossible date.
St. James's Day perhaps arose out of some confusion with St. James's Park.
136 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LlX.
had come to England to support. What wonder if her heart
beat more quickly, and if some prayer for strength to bear her
weary lot rose to her lips ?
A week or two probably passed away before the tale reached
Charles, exaggerated in its passage through the mouths of men.
There was no compassion in him for the disappoint-
The story , . , , , , . . . , .
told to ment to which he had given rise in his young wife s
c ares' heart, by the promises which had been made only
to be broken — a disappointment which was none the less real
because she could frolic amongst her companions with all the
gaiety of her nation and her age. The Queen of England, he
was told, had been conducted on a pilgrimage to offer prayer to
dead traitors who had suffered the just reward of their crimes.
The cup of his displeasure was now full. Whatever the contract
might say, those who had brought her to this should no longer
remain in England.
Something, however, must be done to diminish the indig-
nation with which the news would be received in France. An
excuse was found for sending Carleton on a special embassy to
Louis, in order that he might be at hand to explain everything
away. As soon as it was known that Carleton was safely on
the other side of the Channel, Charles proceeded to carry out
his intentions.
On July 31 the King and Queen dined together at White-
hall. After dinner he conducted her into his private apartments,
July 31. locked the door upon her attendants, and told her
inissai'of the ^at ^er servants niust go. In the meanwhile Conway
French. Was informing the members of her household that
the King expected them to remove to Somerset House, where
they would learn his pleasure* The Bishop of Mende raised
some objections, and the women ' howled and lamented as if
they had been going to execution.' The yeomen of the guard
interfered, and cleared the apartments.
Charles had a less easy task. As soon as the young Queen
perceived what was being done, she flew to the window and
The Queen's dashed to pieces the glass, that her voice might
anger. once more be heard bv those who were bidding her
adieu for the last time. Charges, it is said, dragged her back
1626 EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. 137
into the room with her hands bleeding from the energy with
which she clung to the bars. The next day Conway visited
Somerset House and told the angry crowd that they must leave
the country, with two or three exceptions which had been made
at the Queen's entreaty. Presents to the amount of 22,ooo/.
were offered them, and they were told that if anything was
owing to them it should be paid out of the remainder of the
Queen's portion, which had been detained in France in conse-
quence of the misunderstanding between the Courts.1
They refused to obey, and clung to England as their right.
For some days they remained at Somerset House, in spite of
Aug. 7. all orders to the contrary. Charles lost his patience.
finaiiFrex-ch " * command you," he wrote to Buckingham, " to
peiied. send all the French away to-morrow out of town ; if
you can, by fair means — but stick not long in disputing — other-
wise force them away, driving them away like so many wild
beasts until ye have shipped them, and so the Devil go with
them."
The King's pleasure was executed. At first the French
refused to move till they were ordered by their own King to
do so. The next morning the yeomen of the guard
were marched down to Somerset House, and there
was no more resistance. With the exception of a few personal
attendants specially named, all the foreigners were conducted
to Dover, and were there embarked for France as soon as the
wind served.2
What would Louis say to this high-handed transaction?
Carleton told his story in France as well as he could. The
Au jt King answered him sharply. His sister, he said,
Resentment had been treated cruelly. Charles had plainly broken
his promise. An ambassador of his own, Marshal
Bassompierre, should be sent to investigate the affair. When
' Pory to Meade, Aug. 5 (not July 5), Ellis, per. i, iii. 237. Private
instructions to Carleton, July 23 ; Conway to Carleton, Aug. 9, S. P.
France. Richelieu, Aft moires, iii. 176. Contarini to the Doge, Aug. — »
yen. Transcripts ; A\ 0.
- The King to Buckingham, Aug. 7 ; Pory to Meade, Aug. ll, If ;
Eliis, ser. I, iii. 244, 245, 247.
138 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIK
he had received his report he would say what he would do
From this resolution Carleton was never able to move him, and
was finally recalled to England, having effected nothing.1
It was a badly chosen moment to offend the King of France
The want of money was more crying every day. On August 1 7
Distress for some two hundred soldiers and sailors, hopeless ol
money. obtaining their pay at Portsmouth, nocked up to
London, stopped the Duke's coach, and presented their com-
plaint. Buckingham promised to satisfy them later in the day,
slipped home by water, and placed himself beyond their reach.'
All attempts, too, to fill the Exchequer were breaking down
The free gift had come to nothing. A resolution to issue
Privy seals in the old way was not persisted in.3 For
de^se athe° a time much was hoped from the issue of debased
coin, and the Mint had been busy for some weeks in
preparing the light pieces. The City merchants, however, re
monstrated strongly, and Sir Robert Cotton was heard on their
behalf before the Council. The King himself was present, and
in spite, it is said, of the opposition of Buckingham, refused to
agree to the iniquitous proposal. The new pieces were declared
by proclamation not to be current coin of the realm.4
In the face of all these increasing difficulties, there were
men at Court who held high language still. Dorset, who had
completely thrown in his lot with the high preroga-
guage at tive doctrines which now found favour with Charles,
talked of the impossibility of a rebellion in a country
where there were no fortresses, and asserted that, as it was the
duty of the people to maintain the war, the King would only
have to take irregularly what he had failed to obtain from
Parliament.5
In the midst of these perplexities, bad news arrived from
Germany. To all outward appearance the position of the King
1 Carleton to Conway, Aug. 13, S. P. France.
2 Pory to Meade, Aug. 17, Ellis, ser. I, iii. 247.
3 The King to the Council, Aug. 14, S. P. Dom. xxxiii. loi.
4 to Meade, Sept. 8, Court and Times, i. 145.
• Contarini-to the Doge, ^ug-2J, Vcn. Transcripts, A'. 0.
bept. 4
1 626 IMPERIALIST VICTORIES. 139
of Denmark at the opening of the campaign of 1626 v.ras
extremely strong. He had one army under his own
The cam- ' . T&
payn in command in Lower Saxony. Another army under
Mansfeld was on the east bank of the Elbe. Othei
troops were pushing forward in Westphalia. The peasants had
risen in Austria. Bethlen Gabor had engaged to fall upon the
Emperor's hereditary dominions from the east. It was true
that Christian had now to do with another enemy in addition
to Tilly. Wallenstein had brought against him that strange
army, self-supporting and self-governed, which, in the name of
the Emperor, was so soon to become a power in the Empire
almost independent of the Emperor himself. Yet it seemed
not unlikely, judging from numbers alone, that Christian and his
allies would be strong enough to make head against Tilly and
Wallenstein combined. From the beginning, however, one cir-
cumstance was against him. His finances were inadequate to
meet the strain. He had calculated that Charles would and
could keep his word, and that 30,000^. a month would flow into
his military chest from the English exchequer. Then had come
the refusal of subsidies by Parliament. The payments, scarcely
begun in May 1625, stopped altogether. Christian had levied
soldiers on the faith of the English alliance, and his soldiers
were clamouring for their pay.1 To stand on the defensive, with-
out money, was impossible, and there was no unity of command
Mansfeid's m tne united armies. In May Mansfeld made a dash
southwards, and was defeated by Wallenstein at the
Bridge of Dessau. Before the summer ended he was hurrying
through Silesia with Wallenstein hard upon his heels, hoping to
combine with Bethlen Gabor for a joint attack upon Austria and
Bohemia.
Then came the turn of Christian of Denmark. To him
a defensive war was impossible without Charles's money. An
Aug. 17. attempt to slip past Tilly and to make his way towards
Sfeat at" s Bethlen Gabor in Bohemia proved vain. Tilly, re-
Lutter. inforced by some of Wallenstein's regiments, started
in pursuit and overtook him at Lutter. After a sanguinary
1 Anstruther's despatches (S. P. Denmark] give a good insight into
these financial difficulties.
140 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE, CH. LIX.
battle the Danish King was completely defeated, and North
Germany lay open to the Imperialists.
The news of the disaster, for which the English Government
was so largely responsible, reached Charles on September iz.1
Sept. 12. Now that it was too late, he talked of raising 10,000
recedes the men *°r *"s uncle's service, and ordered the sale of a
news. large quantity of plate. He came at once to London,
and sat for four hours in the Council, a feat which he had
seldom performed before. When the Council was over he sent
for the Danish Ambassador, and assured him that he would
stake his crown and his life in his master's defence. With the
tears almost standing in his eyes, he reminded the Dane that
he was in distress for his own personal needs.'
The matter was discussed anxiously in the Council. The
most feasible project seemed to be to send on the
The four *- J
regiments in four volunteer regiments in the Netherlands, whose
lands to go term of service would expire in November. There
was, however, a difficulty in the way. The men, like
most others in Charles's service, had not been paid for some
months, and how was money to be found ? 2
The first instinct of the Government was to apply to the
City for a loan ; but the Lord Mayor and Aldermen had not
forgotten the sharp message about the ships, and closed their
purses tightly.
1 If, as seems almost certain, the following undated letter was written
at this time, we get from it Buckingham's feeling about the matter : — ' My
dear Master, — This noble lord hath this day behaved himself like your
faithful servant. He is able to relate to you what hath passed. I will only
say this, that already your brother and sister are thrust out of their inherit-
ance. If the news be true that runs current here, your uncle is in a very
ill estate. There is much difference between the cases. The one, with
the help of your people, brought you into this business, and yourself
brought the other. The times require something to be done and that
speedily, and the more it appears to be yours, certainly the better success
will follow. Strike while the iron is hot, and let your uncle at the least
see you were touched with the news. So, in haste, I kiss your Majesty's
hands, as your humble slave, STEENIE.' Buckingham to the King, Harl..
MSS. 6988, fol. 74.
2 Contarini to the Doge, Sept. *-, Ven. Transcripts, R. 0. to
Meade, Sept. 15, Court and Times, i 148.
x62f5 BASSOMPIERRE'S MISSION. 141
Such was the position of affairs when, on September 27,
Sept. 27 Bassompierre arrived in London. Everything had
Bassom- been done by Charles, since the expulsion of the
pierre s
arrival. French, to soothe the injured feelings of the Queen.
A new household of noble English ladies, amongst whom
Buckingham's wife and mother and sister were of course num-
Treatment of bered, was formed to minister to her dignity. But
the Queen. the deprivation which she suffered from the absence
of the old familiar faces, and the silence of the old familiar
accents of her mother-tongue, weighed heavily upon her spirits,
and, in spite of the sedulous attentions of her husband, a sullen
melancholy pervaded her features.1
The King's desire to please his wife did not extend to a
desire to please her countrymen. To the Venetian ambassador
he complained openly of the treachery and insincerity
feefing'abcfut of the French. Buckingham was still more bitter.
He gave orders that Bassompierre should be treated
on his arrival with studied rudeness. He summoned Soubise
to London, and talked with him for hours about the state of
France.2
If any man was capable of smoothing away the difficulties
in his course it was Bassompierre. He knew the world well,
and he had that power of seizing upon the strong point of his
opponent's case which goes far to the making of a successful
diplomatist To the young Queen he gave the best possible
advice ; told her to make the best of her situation, and warned
her against the folly of setting herself against the current ideas
of the country in which she lived and of the man to whom she
October, was married. In the question of the household he
pie^re^ne- was at t'ie same ^me ^rm an<^ conciliatory. He ac-
fhe"h"°non knowledged tnat Charles had a genuine grievance,
hold. that the Queen would never be a real wife to him as
long as she was taught by a circle of foreigners to regard her-
self as permanently a foreigner ; whilst at the same time he
spoke boldly of the breach of the contract which had been
1 Contarini to the Doge, ^^, Ven. Transcripts R. O.
• Ibid. S
142 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
committed. In the end he gained the confidence both of the
King and of Buckingham, and with the assent of the King of
France a new arrangement was agreed to, by which a certain
number of French persons would be admitted to attend upon
the Queen, whilst a great part of the household was to be
formed of natives of England.
The maritime questions at issue were discussed by Bas-
sompierre in the same spirit. He was ready to admit the
reasonableness of the English in objecting to a large
On the com- , , . c< • j T-I
merciai trade being earned on between Spain and r landers
isputes. under the French flag ; but he wished to see some
arrangement come to by which the perpetual interference
of the English cruisers could be obviated. But for events
which occurred to exasperate both nations, a commercial treaty
laying down the terms on which neutrals should be liable to
arrest might perhaps have been the result of Bassompierre's
mission.1
Unfortunately Charles was not disposed to withdraw any
one of his pretensions whilst the negotiations were pending,
wiiiough- In October Lord Willoughby's fleet contrived at
by's fleet. iast to put to sea . fou^ having met with a severe
storm in the Bay of Biscay, against which the ill-found vessels
were incompetent to struggle, was driven back to the English
ports without accomplishing anything. Before it
Three sailed, a squadron under Lord Denbigh had cap-
tain byhlps tured three Rouen vessels of immense value, on the
Denbigh. suspicion that they were laden with Spanish property.2
Public opinion in France was greatly excited, and a fresh
decree was issued by the Parliament of Rouen for
ct. 10. t^e sequestration of English goods.3 Yet the Eng-
lish Court did not contemplate the probability of a breach. In
_. , the beginning of November it was announced that
November. ° °
Goring to go Sir George Goring would go to France to clear
to ranee. Up &jj difficulties. Buckingham was by this time
once more in that frame of mind in which all things seemed
1 Ambassade de Bassompicrre.
1 Denbigh to Buckingham, Sept. 21, S. P. Dom. xxxvi. 31.
• An English merchant at Rouen to Ferrar, Oct. -, S. P. France.
1626 THE FORCED LOAN. 143
easy, aU the more because he had reason to believe that the
financial difficulties which had plagued him so long were at
last at an end.
In the course of September some clever man, not impro-
bably Sir Allen Apsley,1 suggested that though the King had
The forced found difficulties in raising a so-called free gift, there
loan. might be less difficulty in the way of raising a forced
loan. The Statute of Benevolences, it may have been urged,
stood clearly in the way of any attempt to make the gift com-
pulsory ; but forced loans under the name of Privy seals were
perfectly familiar to all Englishmen, and it would only be
necessary to extend the system a little further. It is only due
to Charles that he should be heard in defence of the proposal
In a letter which Abbot was required to circulate in
Sept. 21. n
The King's all the dioceses of England, Charles called upon the
Church to aid the necessities of the State. After
dwelling at length upon the evil consequences of the defeat of
Lutter, the King went over the old story how he had been
led into war by the counsel of Parliament. " This," he wrote,
" upon their persuasions and promises of all assistance and
supply we readily undertook and effected, and cannot now be
left in that business but with the sin and shame of all men : —
sin, because aid and supply for the defence of the kingdom
and the like affairs of State, especially such as are advised by*
Parliamentary counsel, are due to the King from his people by
all law both of God and men ; and shame if they forsake the
King while he pursues their own counsel just and honourable,
and which could not, under God, but have been successful
if he had been followed and supplied in time, as we desired
and laboured for." The greatest evil of Church and State,
Charles went on to say, was the breach of unity. The clergy
were to preach unity and charity, and to exhort the people to
prayers for themselves and for the King of Denmark.2
1 At least he afterwards claimed to have been the cause of bringing
<oo,ooo/. to his Majesty. And though the loan produced less than
3'jo,ooo/. , I am at a loss to think of any other scheme which produced
nearly so much. Apsley to Nicholas, Feb. 2, 1628, S. P. Dom. xcii. 18.
* The King t> Abbot, Sept. 21, Wilkins, iv. 471.
144 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
Two days after this letter was written, and before there was
time to put it in circulation, a first attempt to collect the loan
Sept. 23. was made in the county of Middlesex. The sum to
mi'stio'n'for ^ Pa'^ was ^xe(^ at ^ve subsidies, an amount far
Middlesex, greater than had ever been raised upon Privy seals.
The Commissioners appointed to collect the loan were directed,
first to lend money themselves, and then to summon before
them all men rated in the subsidy books. Anyone who refused
to lend was to be required to swear whether he had been
prompted in his refusal by another person, and if he would
neither lend nor swear, then to be bound over to answer for
his contempt before the Privy Council.1
Westminster was chosen as the scene of the first meeting
of the Commissioners. In the parishes of St. Margaret's and
October. St. Martin's, lying as they did under the very eye of
Proceedings the Court, little difficulty was made. In the parishes
minster. about the Strand there was more disturbance. When
the inhabitants of the country parts of Middlesex were sum-
moned, the majority of those who came agreed to pay, and the
Government was thus encouraged to apply to the other counties
in the neighbourhood of London.2
The moment when success seemed to be dawning upon
Charles was chosen by him to deal a blow at the man who had
tione more than anyone else to frustrate his hopes. As soon as
Eliot returned home, all the swarm of Buckingham's adherents
fell upon him. Foremost of all was Sir James Bagg, the man
who coveted Eliot's office, and who never signed a letter to the
Duke without subscribing himself his 'humble slave.' Charges
and complaints were easy to bring together when they were wel-
come to those who received them, and on October 25
Sequestra- they were brought into such shape as to induce the
EHo°Ivice- Privy Council to pronounce Eliot unworthy any
Admiralty. ]onger to exercise the duties of his office. The
Vice-Admiralty of Devon was made over to Sir James Bagg,
and to a kindred spirit, Sir John Drake.
Buckingham's heart was again full of triumph. In the
1 Commission and Instructions, Sept. 23, S. P. Dom. xxxvi. 42, 43.
* — — to Meade, Oct. 6, 2o, Court and Times, i. 154, 159.
1626 A FRENCH ALLIANCE IN VIEW. 145
beginning of November it had not only been finally decided to
send the four regiments in Holland to the assistance of the
King of Denmark, but arrangements had been made for paying
them, at least for a time.1 In his conversations with Bassom-
pierre, Buckingham had much to say about the revival of the
NOV< 5- French alliance, and on November 5 he adroitly took
The enter- the opportunity of a magnificent entertainment given
York House, by himself to the ambassador at York House to signify
the hopes which he had founded on the renewal of amity with
France. In the masque which the spectators were called upon
to admire, Mary de Medicis was represented as enthroned in
the midst of the celestial deities upon the sea which separated
England and France, welcoming the Elector and Electress
Palatine, as well as her three daughters, with their husbands
the Kings of England and Spain and the Prince of Piedmont.3
It was the old dream of 1623, with the substitution of Henrietta
Maria for the Infanta. In his conversations with Bassompierre
Buckingham talked freely of the difficulties caused by want of
money, and something was said of an arrangement to be brought
about in Germany by French influence.3
So smooth had the waters been running at home since
Bassompierre's arrival that everything seemed possible. The
Queen — with occasional outbursts of petulance — was
The Queen x-
and Buck- at last on good terms with her husband, and was
higham. . . . ., .,,_,,.,
even carrying on friendly intercourse with the English
ladies of her Court, and thrgugh them with Buckingham him-
self. But it was rot easy to make amends for the want of
foresight which had postponed so long the settlement of the
Nov. 9. maritime quarrel between the two countries. An
chaen«er" angry crowd interested in the French trade had
FVancf Wro-h latety gathered round Bassompierre's door, and had
test against loaded the ambassador with insults. On November g
trie-liberation *
of the prizes, a formal petition was presented to the Council by
the merchants, asking for the further stay of the French prizes
1 The King to the States-General, Nov. 3, AM. MSS. 17,677, L,
fol. 292.
2 Salvetti's News-Letter, Nov. IO.
3 Contarini to the Doge, Nov. I?, Ven. Transcripts, R. O.
VOL. VI. L
146 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH Lix.
till the goods sequestered at Rouen had been liberated.1
Buckingham's spirits only rose with the occasion. The
knot was worthy of his own personal intervention. Bassom-
pierre should go without the prizes. He should carry with
•him a few priests set free from prison, but the further con-
cessions promised to the Catholics should for the present be
postponed. The extraordinary ambassador about to
Buckingham l J
proposes to start for Pans should go to the heart of the difficulty,
and propose a reasonable settlement of the law of
prize, to be followed by a renewed understanding on the
general affairs of Europe. Goring was no longer considered
fit for a negotiation of such extended dimensions. There was
but one man in England believed by Buckingham to be equal
to the task, and that man was himself.2
Events were hurrying on too rapidly for Buckingham's
control. The example of the Rouen Parliament proved in-
fectious. Four English vessels were stopped off
seizures at Rochelle. Again the merchants flocked round the
Council, begging for letters of marque against the
French, and the Council was beginning to share in their
excitement Though, for the present, the King refused to issue
letter of marque, orders were drawn up for a further seizure
of French property in England. Fresh news might at any
time provoke an act which would involve the two countries
in war.3
Such news was already on its w^y.4 The Duke of Epernon,
Governor of Guienne, was one of the many amongst the French
aristocracy who were opposed to Richelieu and his policy. If
his motive was to frustrate that policy and to create a breach
between France and England he could hardly have acted more
1 Petition, Nov. — . Bassompierre to Herbault, Nov. — , Neg. 257*
259.
2 The Duke's intention is mentioned by Bassompieire in his letter of
Dec. - , but Contarini knew of it on Nov. — .
12 27
1 Contarini to the Doge, p"*' '4, Ven. Transcripts, R. 0.
4 It reached Bassompierre at Dover on the 24th of November, but was
not known in London till later.
1626 THE WINE FLEET SEIZED. 147
cleverly than he did. As a fleet of two hundred English and
The wine Scottish vessels, laden with the year's supply of wine,
fleet seized at was sailing from Bordeaux, he ordered the seizuie
of the whole. When the news reached England, it
was regarded as a peculiar aggravation of the offence that he
had waited till a new duty of four crowns a tun had been paid,
and had thus secured both the money and the wine. This
time not the merchants only, but all who drank wine were up
in arms. It was known that the last year's supply would soon
be exhausted, and its price consequently went up rapidly.1
Even before these last tidings from Bordeaux reached
Buckingham, he had discovered that others had not as much
Bucking- confidence as himself in his diplomatic powers,
^ectedem- Bassompierre hinted to him pretty plainly that his
bassy. presence would not be acceptable in France — advice
which may to some extent have been founded on the recollec-
tion of Buckingham's insolent behaviour to the Queen, but
which was fully justified by dislike of the impetuous character
of the Duke. Nor was resistance wanting from Buckingham's
own family. His wife, his mother, and his sister threw them-
selves on their knees, imploring him to desist from so hazardous
an enterprise.2 When the news arrived from Bordeaux the
enterprise became more hazardous still. The Council was in
favour of instant retaliation. Buckingham himself began to par-
take of the general exasperation ; but he was all the more con-
vinced that his own personal intervention would clear away the
Dec. 4. difficulty. Summoning back Bassompierre, who had
Buckingham already reached Dover on his return home, he went
offers to go '
a*, once. down to Canterbury to meet him, and offered to
cross the Straits at once in his company, to set matters right.
Bassompierre had some difficulty in persuading him to wait
till an answer could be received from the French Court.3
1 Contarini to the Doge, Dec. -, Ven. Transcripts, R. 0. to
Meade, Dec. 9, Court and Times, i. 180.
2 Bassompierre to Herbault, D^r-^> ^g- 297> Contarini to the Doge,
Dec. 4> M"' Transcripts, R. O.
15
1 Bassompierre to Louis XIII., Dec. |?, Neg. 307.
L2
148 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
It was hardly likely that this overture would be favour-
Dec 3 ably received. On December 3, before Buckingham
French ships started for Canterbury, an Order in Council was
^nd goods to .
ce seized. issued for the seizure of all French ships and goods
in English waters.1
Yet even then Buckingham still talked of going to Paris, as
if nothing had happened. He said that till he heard that the
King of France had himself refused to see him, he would
not believe that his overtures had been rejected. He may well
have hesitated to acknowledge that war was inevitable. Every
day he was receiving signs of the unpopularity of which he
was the object. At Court it was believed that his only aim
was to seek an opportunity of making love once more to the
Queen of France ; whilst reasonable men explained his desire
to go to France by his eagerness to be out of England during
the session of Parliament which was now naturally enough pre-
sumed to be inevitable. Wuen he set out to meet Bassom-
pierre at Canterbury, the mob followed him with curses, shout-
ing after him, " Begone for ever ! " 2
Hard pressed as he was, Charles had not the slightest in-
tention of meeting a Parliament. Yet the prospects of the loan
_ , were far less favourable in December than they had
October. '
Prospects of been at the beginning of November. At first, when
loan' the money had been demanded only from the five
counties nearest London, it seemed as if a little firmness
would bear down all opposition. In Essex, Sir Francis Bar-
rington and Sir William Masham were committed to prison for
a few days for refusing to sit upon the commission, and thirteen
poorer men were sent down to Portsmouth to serve on board
the fleet, as a punishment for their refusal to pay, though they
were allowed to go home again after a short detention.
November. »,-' i •,-,,-,
After this, little further resistance was made, and the
Government, congratulating itself that its difficulties were at an
1 Order in Council, Dec. 3, S. P. Dom. xli. 15.
2 Contarini to the Doge, Dec. ^8, Ven. Transcripts, R. O. The idea
about making love to the Queen is frequently mentioned by Contarini,
but, I think, without much belief on his part.
1526 THE JUDGES AA7D THE LOAN. 149
end, prepared to despatch to more distant shires the Privy
Councillors who were to take part in the commissions in order
that they might overawe the counties by their presence.
Suddenly opposition arose from an unexpected quarter.
The judges had hitherto borne their share of Benevolences and
Resistance of Privy seals without murmuring; but though they siill
the judges, expressed their readiness to pay their quota towards
the new loan, they now unanimously refused to acknowledge
its legality by putting their hands to paper to express their con-
NOV. 10. sent to tne demand. Charles, as soon as he heard
Jhe chief °f the ODJect'on> hastily sent for the Chief Justice,
justice. Sir Randal Crew, and, finding that he would not
give way, dismissed him on the spot from his office, as an
example to the rest.1
If Charles expected to intimidate the other judges he was
quickly undeceived. One and all they refused to give the
required signatures unless they were allowed to add that they
signed simply to please his Majesty, without any intention of
giving their authority to the loan.2
A successor was easily found for Crew in Sir Nicholas
Hyde, who had been the draftsman of Buckingham's defence.
The Chief Justiceship of the Common Pleas, which was va-
cant by Hobart's death, was filled by Serjeant Richardson, who
gave a pledge of his subserviency by marrying a kinswoman
of the Duke before he was admitted to the Bench.3 But the
wound inflicted by Charles upon his own authority was not so
easily healed. When at any future time he appealed to the
1 Meddus to Meade, Oct. 27, Nov. 4, Court and Times, i. 160, 165.
z " Sur ce refus, le Roy a envoye querir au principal des juges, le-
quel ayant refuse de signer, le Roy 1'a desmis au mestne instant de sa
charge, et puis a envoye presenter ledit livre aux autres juges, lesquels y
ont mis cette clause, que non pour donner exemple au peuple, nyle convier
a faire la mesme chose, mais qu'estant interpelles et presses, pour eviter de
fascher sa Majeste" ils ont souscrit." Bassompierre, Neg. 263. Compare
Contarini's Despatch, Nov. — ; Meddus to Meade, Nov. 10, 17, Court
and Times, i. 167, 170. Hyde's formal appointment was on Feb. 5,
1627 ; Rymer, xviii. 835.
1 Meddus to Meade, Dec. I, Court and Times, i. 175.
ISO THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
judges against what he regarded as the encroachments of the
Commons, it would be remembered that they were no longer
disinterested umpires, and that the highest of their number
had been dismissed from office because he refused to say that
to be legal which he believed to be illegal. The judges, in
short, were to be appealed to as impartial arbiters when they
were on the side of the Crown ; but to be treated with scorn
when they ventured to have opinions of their own.
The news that the judges had made objections spread like
wildfire. Fifteen or sixteen of the Peers — amongst them Essex,
Further Lincoln, Warwick, Clare, Bolingbroke, and Saye —
refusals. refused to lend. In Hertfordshire a large number
of persons who had already given their subscriptions, declared
Nov 2 that the opinion given by the judges had set them
Debate in free. In the Council the fiery Dorset urged the im-
mediate imprisonment of the recalcitrant Lords. The
majority, however, was against him, and it was resolved to
await the effect of the visits of the Privy Councillors to the
counties.1
Not even the risk of a failure of the loan could induce
Charles to change his policy towards France. On December 3,
December. as nas been seen, the order was issued for the seizure
Fear of _ of French vessels On the 8th Bassompierre left
French man- r
time force. Dover with a promise to send back the message
which would virtually imply peace or war.2 In the meanwhile
everything that passed in France was regarded with jealous
scrutiny. The evident determination of Richelieu to make
France a maritime nation, that she might no longer go a begging
to foreign powers for the means of repressing rebellion amongst
her own people, was treated at Whitehall as an insult to the
English supremacy at sea, an encroachment upon Charles's
rights which Buckingham was bent on resisting by any means
in his power.
A plan was soon formed. As in 1625, Pennington was
entrusted with the secret Of the twenty ships wrung from the
1 Meade to Sluteville, Nov. 25 ; Mecldus to Meade, Dec. I, Court and
Times. i. 172, 175. Rudyerd to Nethersole, Dec. i, S. P. Dom. xli. 3.
* Hippisk-y to Buckingham, Dec. 8, S. P. Dom. xli. 50.
1626 THE FRENCH TO BE ATTACKED, 151
City with so much difficulty, some were now ready and were
tying under Pennington's command in the .Downs.
The city On the 2 2nd Charles wrote to Buckingham that six
or eight ships purchased by the French King in the
Low Countries were at Havre. As they were intended to be
employed against England he was to see that they were sunk
Dec. 24. °r taken.1 Two days later Buckingham sent Pen-
»derenth!ST nington his instructions. "When you shall come
to attack where these ships ride," he wrote, " you are, accord-
French ships *. •
at Havre. ing to your best discretion to give the captains 01
commanders of them some occasion to fall out with you and to
shoot at you ; and thereupon presently, with the best force you
can make, you are to repulse the assault, and so to set upon
them with your own and all the ships of your fleet as that,
having once begun with them, you may be sure, God willing,
not to fail to take them, or, if they will not yield, to sink or fire
them. If, because they are but a few ships, and, as I am in-
formed, not well manned, they shall not dare, upon any occa-
sion, to meddle first with you, then you are to take occasion
to pick some quarrel with them upon some suspicion of their
intent to lie there to colour enemy's goods or countenance his
ships, and so to assure or take them, or otherwise to sink them
and fire* them. In which you are, as you see occasion, to make
as probable and just a ground of a quarrel as may be, and, if you
can, to make it their quarrel, not yours. But howsoever, if you
can meet with them you may not fail to take, sink, or fire them."2
With his usual readiness to obey orders as soon as he under-
stood what they meant, Pennington prepared to obey. He had
Dec. 28. ' n°w fifteen ships altogether ; ' but he complained
prep'arnJf °o that tne Londoners had taken no trouble to make the
obey. vessels extorted from them worthy of his Majesty's
service. The ships themselves were 'very mean things.' They
were undermanned, and those who had been sent on board were
chiefly landsmen and boys. With two of the King's ships he
would undertake to beat the whole fleet.3
1 The King to Buckingham, Dec. 22, S. P. Dom. xlii. 67.
2 Secret instructions from Buckingham to Pennington, Dec. 24, S. P.
JDoni. xlii. 8l. 3 Pennington to Buckingham, Dec. 28, ibid. xlii. IOO.
152 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
The value of Pennington's squadron was not to be tested
this time. Buckingham had been completely misinformed.
,627. Havre roads were empty, and after a few days'
Peimington cruise Pennington arrived at Falmouth, having done
does nothing. nothing at all, except that he had fired into ten
Dutch men-of war, believing them to be Dunkirkers. He was
himself not well pleased with the result. "Consider," he wrote
to Buckingham, " what a desperate employment you put upon
me, to be sent out at this time of year with three weeks' victual,
having long dark nights, base ships, and ill -fitted with munition
and worse manned, so that if we come to any service it is
almost impossible we can come off with honour or safety." l
Whilst Pennington was still at sea, Louis's final determina-
tion was placed in Charles's hands.2 Bassompiere's plan for
settling the Queen's household, which had been even
rmal
demands of more favourable to France than a scheme of which
Louis had expressed his approval in October,3 was
now entirely disavowed. The King of France, Charles was to
be informed, was unwilling to accept anything short of the
complete execution of the marriage contract. Nevertheless, at
his mother's intercession, he would consent to some changes,
though they were to be far fewer than those to which his am-
bassador had agreed. As for the ships, if the King of England
would fix a day for liberating the French prizes, he would do
the same on his side.
The answer was regarded in England as a personal affront.
Buckingham informed Richelieu that his master now considered
Their rejec- himself free from all former obligations about the
tion. household, and that France, having begun the seizure
of the English vessels unjustly, must be the first to make re-
paration.4
Open war could hardly be averted much longer. The
1 Pennington to Buckingham, Jan. 10, S. P. Dom. xlviii. 26.
2 The letter in Bassompierre's Negotiations (312) is undated, but was
written in the end of December.
3 Louis XIII. to Bassompierre, Oct. ", Neg. 153.
4 Buckingham to Richelieu, Jan. (?) 1627, Crowe's History of France,
162? IMPENDING WAR. 153
marriage treaty of 1624, so fair in its promise, had borne its
bitter fruits. The attempt to bind too closely nations
Cause of the l J
rupture with differing; in policy and religion had failed. The
France. _..,_, * , , , . . ,
English Government had made up its mind to in-
volve Catholic France in a declared war in defence of Pro-
testantism in Germany. The French Government had made
up its mind to secure toleration for the English Catholics.
When hopes that should never have been entertained failed
to be realised, there was disappointment and irritation on both
sides. Then came the interference of Charles on behalf of Ro-
ohelle, the quarrel about the prize goods, and the quarrel about
the Queen's household, all of them perhaps matters capable of
settlement between Governments anxious to find points of agree-
ment, but almost impossible of settlement between Governments
already prepared to take umbrage at one another's conduct.
How was a Government which had failed so signally in
making war against Spain, to make war against France and
How was Spain at the same time ? Even at Charles's Court
figlftlaFrance ll was acknowledged that, in the long run, the con-
ar.<i Spain? tesf wnich had been provoked would be beyond the
strength of England. Yet there were those who thought — and
Buckingham was doubtless one of the number — that the Eng-
lish superiority at sea was so manifest that it would be possible
to re-establish the independence of Rochelle and to drive the
French commerce from the seas, before either France or Spain
would be strong enough to make resistance.1
Was it certain, however, that even this temporary superiority
at sea would be maintained ? Again and again, during the
autumn and winter, mobs of sailors had broken away from dis-
cipline, and had flocked up to London to demand their pay by
battering at the doors of the Lord Admiral or the Treasurer of
the Navy : and now Pennington's crews were break-
Mutiny in » '
Pennington's ing out into open mutiny at Stokes Bay. The three
months for which the City fleet had been lent were
nearly at an end, and when orders were given to weigh anchor
and to make sail for the westward, the men responded with
' This is the substance of an undaiod paper amongst the State J\iperat
France, which seems to have come from some one of authority.
154 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
shouts of ' Home ! home ! ' and refused to touch a rope unless
they were assured that they would be allowed to return to the
Downs.1
After the return of Willoughby's fleet, the state of the Navy
had at last compelled Charles to order a special commission of
Commission inquiry, and the defects of the King's ships were
°ntoTe7tate being daily dragged to light. The workmen at
of the Navy. Chatham, the Commissioners discovered, had not
received their wages for a year. The sailors on board some of
the ships were in the greatest distress. They had neither
clothes on their backs nor shoes on their feet, and they had no
credit on shore to supply these deficiencies.2
Yet, in spite of all these disclosures, orders were given to
prepare a great fleet of eighty ships for the summer. French
prizes were now beginning to come in, and would doubtless
meet part of the expense. The revenue had been anticipated to
the amount of 2^6,ooo/.3 The utmost economy was practised
in the Royal household. If only the loan could be collected,
all might yet be well for a season.
In January the Privy Councillors and other persons of note
appointed to act as Commissioners for the loan started for the
Progress of counties assigned to them. It was thought that men
the loan. ^Q y,a(j ciosed their purses tightly in the presence
of the local Commissioners would be chary of offering a refusal
to the Lords of the Council. In the majority of cases, the
effect produced was doubtless great. Of the reports sent up in
the first three months of the new year, the greater part of those
preserved must have been tolerably satisfactory to the King.
Berkshire made but little difficulty. The university and city
of Oxford showed alacrity in the business. In Cheshire there
was ready obedience.4 In Somerset, Hereford, Shropshire,
Stafford, Durham, all but a small number were ready to pay.*
Nor does this afford matter for surprise. The immediate risk
1 Philpot to Buckingham, Jan. 15, S. P. Dom. xlix. 37.
2 Order of the Commissioners, Jan. 16, ibid. xlix. 68.
3 Ibid, xlvii. 55.
4 S. P. Dom. xlix. 12, 36 ; Ivi. 72.
4 Ibid. liii. 88, liv. 28, Ivi. 89, lix. 6.
1627 RESISTANCE TO THE LOAN. 155
was great. The refuser might be cast into prison, or sent to
be knocked on the head in some chance skirmish in the German
wars. Except for the most resolute and self-sacrificing, the
temptation to escape the danger by the payment of a few
shillings, or even a few pounds, was too strong to be resisted.
Yet, small as the number of refusers was, the Government could
not afford to pass lightly over their denial. It represented a
vast amount of suppressed discontent, and the men from whom
it proceeded were often in the enjoyment of high personal con-
sideration in their respective neighbourhoods. In some counties
Growing re- tndr example spread widely amongst all classes. In
^stance. Essex some of the local Commissioners themselves
refused to pay.1 In Northamptonshire twenty- two of the
principal gentry, followed by more than half the county, offered
so decided a resistance that the itinerant Privy Councillors at
once bound over the gentlemen to appear before the Board
at Whitehall, and sent up a number of refractory persons of
lesser quality to be mustered for service under the King of
Denmark. In Gloucestershire twelve out of twenty-five Com-
missioners refused to pay, and the example thus given was
widely followed.2 In Lincolnshire, at the end of January, only
two or three persons had given their consent.3 The Council
was in no great hurry to proceed to strong measures. Most of
the members were absent from London as Commissioners, and
during the greater part of February some twenty gentlemen
were allowed to remain in confinement without receiving any
summons to appear before the Board. When no signs of sub-
mission appeared they were called up and commanded to obey
the King. The threat produced no impression on them. The
flower of the English gentry refused to admit the justice of the
1 S. P. Dom. liv. 47.
2 Manchester,- Exeter, and Coke to Buckingham, Jan. 12 : Northamp-
ton and Bridgeman to the Council, Feb. 17, ibid. xlix. 8, liv. 28.
3 Contarini to the Doge, Feb. 2, Ven. Transcripts, R. O. to
Meade, Feb. 2, Court and Times, i. 191. The story of the riot and attack
on the house in which the Commissioners were sitting is contradicted by
Meade on the evidence of a Lincolnshire gentleman. The rumours of the
day contained in this correspondence must be received with great caution.
156 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. u-Jt
demand, and every one of the offenders was sent back to the
restraint from which he had come.
The battle once engaged had to be fought out to the end.
It would never do to accept payment from the weak and to
allow the strong to go free. A fresh attempt to overcome the
opposition in Lincolnshire ended somewhat better than the
former one. Still there were sixty-eight recusants. Ten of them,
who were Commissioners, were sent up to answer for the'r refusal
March before the Council. Others followed not long after-
Li^coin'sent wai"ds. The Earl of Lincoln was detected in agitat-
tothe Tower. jng against the loan, and was sent to the Tower.1
Reports of the confusion which prevailed poured in from
every side. Soldiers were wandering about the country, to the
dismay of quiet householders. " And besides," wrote Wimble-
don to Secretary Coke, " there are many vagabonds that, in
the name of soldiers, do outrages and thefts." The laws seemed
to be powerless against them, and yet " there was never time
more needful to have such laws put in execution, in regard of
the great liberty that people take, more than they were wont."
These obstructions to the well-being of the commonwealth
must be cleared away ' rather at this time than at any other,
for that the world is something captious at all things that are
commanded without a parliament.' Wimbledon's remedy was
the appointment of a provost-marshal in every shire. This
advice was adopted, and the men were thus brought under
martial law.2
The spirit of resistance was abroad. On February 28 orders
were given by the Council to press fifty of the Essex refusers for
February, the King of Denmark ; but the poorer classes were
the' poo"ere °f learmng. fr°m tne example of the gentry, to stand
classes. upon their rights. With one consent the men refused
to take the press-money, the reception of which would consign
them to bondage. On March 16 there was a long
debate on their case in the Privy Council, and some
of its members, with more zeal than knowledge, recommended
1 S. P. Dom. Ivi. 39. Meacle to Stuteville, March 17, Court and
Times, \. 207.
9 Wimbledon to Coke, Feb. 23, Melbourne MSS.
1627 HAMPDEN, ELIOT, AND WENTWORTH. 157
that they should be hanged, under the authority of martial law.
Coventry was too good a lawyer to admit this doctrine. Martial
Inw, he explained, was applicable to soldiers only, and men who
had not yet received press-money were not soldiers. The order
given for sending these bold men of Essex to the slaughter
was accordingly rescinded, and they were left to be dealt with
— if they could be dealt with at all — in some other way.1
The names of these obscure men have been long ago for-
gotten ; but that persons of no great repute should have been
found on the list of those who were willing to suffer persecution
for their rights as Englishmen is a thing not to be forgotten.
It was the surest warrant that the resistance, though led by an
aristocracy, was no merely aristocratic uprising. The cause
concerned rich and poor alike, and rich and poor stepped
forward to suffer for it — each class in its own way. The day
would come, if they were pressed hard, when rich and poor
would step forward to fight for it.
Amongst the names better known to the England of that
day are to be found three which will never be forgotten as long
as the English tongue remains the language of civilised
Hampden, _ \ __ , . -.-. . . , , .
Eiiot, and men. John Hampden, the young Buckinghamshire
'rt ' squire, known as yet merely as a diligent Member of
Parliament, active in preparing the case against Buckingham in
the last session,2 but taking no part in the public debates, was
amongst the foremost on the beadroll of honour to be called
up to London, on January 29, tc answer for his refusal to pay
the loan. Eliot's summons in May and his subsequent im-
prisonment need no explanation. With Hampden and Eliot
and many another whose names are only less honoured than
theirs, was Sir Thomas Wentworth.
If Wentworth had good reasons for opposing the free gift,
Wcntworth's ne nad still better reasons for opposing the forced
opposition. ioan Scarcely a shred was left of that freedom
of choice which, at least in appearance, accompanied the
Meade to Stuteville, March 17, 24, Court and Times, i. 207, 208.
This hearsay evidence is corroborated by the order in the Council Register,
March 19, for rescinding the directions for the press.
2 Forstcr, Sir J. £h\>t, \. 290.
irS THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. i.ix.
former demand. An attempt to draw money illegally from
Wentworth's purse was an insult which he would have been
inclined to resent even if Charles had intended to employ it for
purposes of which he approved. He knew that the present
loan was to be employed for purposes of which he entirely dis-
approved. To talk to him about the patriotism of lending
money for a war with Spain, and, for all he knew, for a war
with France too, was adding mockery to the insult. What he
wanted was to see the Crown and Parliament turning their
attention to domestic improvement. Instead of that, Charles
and Buckingham were ruining the sources of their influence
by forcing the nation to support unwillingly an extravagant and
ill-conducted war.
That the forced loan was not a loan in any true sense it
was impossible to deny. There was no reasonable prospect of
its repayment, and money thus given was a subsidy in all but
name. That Parliament alone could grant a subsidy was a
doctrine which no Englishman would be likely directly to deny,
and which few Englishmen not living under the immediate
shadow of the Court would be likely even indirectly to deny.
Wentworth, however, as usual contented himself with passive
opposition. His old rival, Sir John Savile, threw himself into
the vacancy which Wentworth had made, and was
The forced . , . ., . , - . ,
loan in York- able to report in April that the success of the loan in
Yorkshire was entirely owing to his exertions.1 For
the present Wentworth was suffered to stand aloof, taking his
ease at his ancestral manor of Wentworth Woodhouse. At
last, as the summer wore on, he was summoned before the
Council, answered courteously but firmly that he would not
lend, and was placed under restraint. Before the end of June
he was sent into confinement in Kent The last resource of
the King was to banish the leading opposers of the loan to
counties as far away as possible from their own homes.2
At Court the views which prevailed on the subject of the
1 Savile to Buckingham, April 4, 1627, S. P. Dom. lix. 35,
2 Council Register^ June 16, 20, 27, 29. Manchester to the King,
July 5, S. P. Dom. Ixx. 32.
1627 CHARLES'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION. 159
war with France were diametrically opposed to those which
commended themselves to Wentworth. Charles did
January.
Charles's not indeed either abandon his wish to recover the
theTa^with Palatinate or conceal from himself the hindrance
France. which a French war would be to the accomplishment
of that design ; but he was deeply persuaded that, whatever
the consequences might be, he could not act otherwise than he
Believes had done. Hi? explanation of the whole matter was
tetoeughtby verysimP^e- Richelieu had at first meant well. But
the Pope, he was a priest after all. He had been bribed by
the Court of Rome with an offer of the high position of Papal
Legate in France, to set his whole mind upon the extirpation
of the Huguencts.
If such an estimate of Richelieu's character strikes those
who hear of it at the present day as too monstrous to have been
seriously entertained, it must not be forgotten that good judges
of character are rare, and that Charles had neither the mate-
rials before him which are in our days accessible in profusion,
nor the dispassionate judgment which would have enabled
him to extract the truth from what materials he had.
and himself _ . . . , TT . .
to have been On one point he was quite clear. He himself
always nght. haa been always in fae ^g^ The treaty between
P'rance and England had been directly violated by the seizures
of English ships and goods in France. What had been done
in England had been a necessity of State policy. The Queen's
household had intrigued with the English Catholics and had
sown distrust between himself and his wife. Basspmpierre
had set matters straight, but had been disavowed by Louis in a
fit of ill-temper.1
If Charles and his ministers misunderstood the motives and
underrated the difficulties of the great statesman with whom
Hasnodoubt tneX na<^ to do, they were equally blind to the secret
neslsofweak" °^ n*s Power- They watched the struggles of the
France. inhabitants of Rochelle, and fancied that strength was
there. They watched the seething discontent of the French
1 This is the main result of the language used by Holland to Contarini
in giving an account of the opinion prevailing at Court. Contarini to the
Doge, ££-• Ven- Transcripts, R. 0
loo THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. Liy.
aristocracy, and fancied that strength was there. They thought
that they had but to strike hard enough, and the overthrow of
the Cardinal would be the work of a few months. They did not
see that they were aiming, not at the abasement of a minister
but at the disintegration of a nation, and that the effective
strength of the nation would fly in the face of the audacious
foreigners who based their calculations on its divisions.
In one point Charles was not deceived. The French had
nothing afloat which could look the English Navy in the face.
In March Pennington was let loose upon the French
March. °
Pennington shipping,1 and English cruisers swept the seas from
ifonch Calais to Bordeaux. The goods on boa *\1 the prizes
shipping. were gojd without delay. The effect was instan-
taneous. In the winter sailors and soldiers alike had been on
the verge of mutiny. Rioters had thronged the streets of
London, crying out upon the Duke for the pay of which they
had been defrauded. Before the summer came the prepara-
tions for the great expedition were going gaily forward. There
was money in hand to pay the men for a time, and to buy pro-
visions. France, it seemed, would provide the means for her
own ruin.
Buckingham was this time to go himself in command.
Februar • ^'^ ^e prospect of increased responsibility, even
Bucking- he looked uneasily at the enormous forces of the
tureSStoVer two great monarchies which he and his master
had provoked. He determined to make overtures
to Spain.
The proposal was not to be made through any accredited
agent of the Crown. In proportion as the policy of the Eng-
lish Government came to revolve round the favourite minister,
there sprang up a new swarm of courtier-like diplomatists,
whose chief qualification for employment was to be found in
their dependence on the great Duke. Such a one was Edward
Clarke, who had been employed on many a delicate mission
by Buckingham, and who had been reprimanded by the
Commons at Oxiord on account of the indecent warmth with
1 Instructions to Pennington, March 3, u, 12, S. P. Dom. Ivi. 18,
85,90-
1627 OVERTURES TO SPAIN. 161
which he defended his patron. Such a one too was Balthazar
Gerbier and Gerbier, architect and connoisseur, born in Zealand
Rubens of Frencn refugee parents,1 and settled in England — a
man at home in every nation and specially attached to none. In
1625 he had accompanied Buckingham to Paris, and had there
met Rubens, who was engaged to paint Buckingham's portrait,
and who coveted the distinction of a diplomatist as well as that
of a painter. Rubens then talked fluently to the Duke of the ad-
vantages to England of peace with Spain ; but as yet the tongue
of the great artist had no charm for Buckingham. The Cadiz
expedition, with all its expected triumphs, was still before him.
In January, 1627, Gerbier was again in Paris, where ha
l627> seems again to have met Rubens, who held much
January. faQ same language as he had done two years before.2
Buckingham, when he heard what had been said, resolved to
avail himself of the opportunity offered to him, but, to do him
Febma • justice, when he now sent Gerbier to Brussels to
Buckingham take up the broken thread of these conversations, it
hopes to gain ji j ,• r i • n- 1-11
everything was no cowardly desertion of his allies which he was
rom Spam. p]annjng just as when he made war with Spain he
was sanguine enough to suppose that he could get everything
he wanted by plunging into war, so now that he was ready to
make peace, he was sanguine enough to expect to get every-
Gerbier's thing he wanted for the mere asking. Gerbier was
proposals. ostensibly to open negotiations for the purchase of
a collection of pictures and antiques, but in reality to propose
that a suspension of arms should be agreed upon with a view
to peace. This suspension of arms was to include the Dutch
Republic and the King of Denmark.
Such a proposal was doomed to rejection, unless Charles
was ready to abandon the Dutch. With them Spain would
make neither truce nor peace unless they would open the
Scheldt, and tacitly abandon their claim to independence.3
1 Sainsbury, Papers relating to Rubfns, 316.
a That the overture came from Rubens was afterwards slated by
Buckingham, and is implied in an undated letter from Gerbier to Kubeas
in the Archives at Brussels.
3 The Infanta Isabella to Philip IV., Feb. i|, Brussels MSS.
VOL. VI M
16-2 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
Rubens, of course, by the direction of the Infanta Isabella, re-
Answer of plied courteously to Gerbier ; but he assured him,
Rubens. ^th truth,1 that the King of Spain had no longer
any great influence in Germany, and could do nothing in a
hurry about the King of Denmark. There would be a diffi-
culty, too, about tie Dutch, who insisted upon receiving the
title of independent States. The best thing would be to treat
for a separate peace between Spain and England. If Charles,
in short, would throw over his allies he would then see what
Spain would think fit to do for him.2 The claims put forward
by Spain, were, however, out of all proportion to her strength.
The siege of Breda had completely exhausted the treasury.
Never, wrote the Infanta, had she been in such straits for
money. If the enemy took the field she saw no means to
resist him.3
Before the end of February Gerbier was in London, telling
his story to Buckingham. Baltimore, the Calvert of earlier
days, was for the first time since his dismissal from
returns^ office summoned to consultation with the favourite.
lon' Buckingham failed to see that, at a time when Eng-
land had ceased to have any terrors for Spain, it was madness
to expect to impose on her such a peace as he designed. He
joachimi sent Carleton to acquaint the Dutch ambassador,
informed. Joachimi, with all that had passed. Joachimi was
to be asked to consult the States-General, assuring them that
nothing would be done without their consent.
Joachimi was frightened. He could not understand how
Buckingham could seriously expect, under the circumstances,
to bring about a general pacification in Germany and the
Netherlands, and he not unnaturally fancied that the proposal
made to him was only the prelude to a separate peace between
England and Spain. He was the more uneasy as Charles was
absent at Newmarket, and he supposed, whether correctly or
1 The Infanta's correspondence in the previous year, 1626, is full of
accounts of an abortive attempt at an alliance with the Emperor.
* Sainsl'ury, 68-76.
1 The Infanta Isabella to Philip IV., March -, Brussels MSS.
1627 UNREAL DIPLOMACY. 163
not cannot now be known, that Charles was to be kept in
ignorance till it was too late for him to remonstrate. His
suspicions were increased when he learned that Conway knew
nothing about the matter, and that when that usually submis-
sive Secretary was informed of what was passing, he burst out
into angry talk, and actually called his ' most excellent patron '
a Judas.
What Buckingham might have been induced to do, it is
impossible to say. Most probably he had, as yet, no fixed
design. At all events, if he had meant to keep the
r CD. 2o#
The King secret from Charles, he was now obliged to abandon
consulted. the .^^ Taking Baltimore with him, he went to
Newmarket, and invited all the Privy Councillors on the spot
to discuss the matter in the King's presence. Their opinions
were not favourable to the chances of the negotiation. Charles
himself, though he would not refuse to listen to anything that
the Spaniards might have further to say, positively declined to
abandon either his brother-in-law or the States-General. It was
Terms on finally arranged that Carleton should go as ambas-
nehiotiation sa^or to the Hague, upon a special mission for which
is to proceed, ft was easy to fin(j an excuse. In reality he was
to take the opportunity of persuading the Dutch to accept
any reasonable offers of peace which might reach him from
Brussels, and Gerbier was directed to inform Rubens that
England would not treat apart from the States-General. The
pacification of Germany might, however, be left to a separate
negotiation.1
Whilst the Spanish Government was amusing England
with negotiations which it had no expectation of being able
Agreement to bring to a conclusion satisfactory to itself,2
FVanceand Oh'vares was making use of Buckingham's over-
Spain. tures in another direction. He showed his letters
from Brussels to the French ambassador at Madrid, and, by
1 Jcachimi to the States-General, March 3> 9' Add. MSS. 17,677,
M, fol. 43, 48. Contarini to the Doge, j^iT , March -. Ven. Tran-
thrifts, R. 0. Sainsbury, 76-80.
» Philip IV. to the Infanta Isabella, ~^?, Brussels MSS.
M 2
164 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. Li*
holding up before his eyes the unwelcome prospect of peace
between Spain and England, frightened him into signing an
engagement between France and Spain for common
March 16. , • . T-> i j T<I •
action against England. This engagement was at
once ratified in Paris.1 It was so clearly against the political
interests of Spain to support the growing power of France, that
it has generally been supposed that the Spanish Go
vernment had no intention of fulfilling its promises.
It has, however, been forgotten that at Madrid religious took
precedence of political considerations. The letters written by
Philip IV. at the time leave no doubt that he contemplated
with delight the renewal of an alliance with a Catholic country,
and that if he afterwards failed to assist Louis in his hour of
danger, it was his poverty rather than his will that was at
fault.8
Between Charles and Buckingham there was much in
common. Both were ever sanguine of success, and inclined
The war in to overlook the difficulties in their path. But whilst
Germany. Buckingham was apt to fancy that he could create
means to accomplish his ends, Charles was apt to fancy that
he could accomplish his ends without creating means at all.
In the midst of his preparations for war with France, he still
thought it possible to intervene with effect in Germany. In the
spring of 1627 there was indeed just a chance of retrieving
Christian's defeat at Lutter if Charles could have given efficient
support to his uncle. With the merely nominal support which
he was now able to give, there was practically no chance at all.
The one bright spot in Christian's situation was that for a
time he had to contend with Tilly alone. Wallenstein was
Wallenstein away m Hungary, keeping Mansfeld and Bethlen
in Hungary. Gabor at bay. Before long, however, he reduced
Rethlen Gabor to sue for peace. Mansfeld, hopeless of suc-
cess, directed his course towards Venice, and died on the
way. Wallenstein, relieved from danger, was thus enabled to
• Philip IV. to the Infanta Isabella, April ^ ^ ". Philip IV. to
Mirabel, g^, Jlntsselt MSS.
* Richelieu, Memoires, Ui. 282 ; Siri, Mem. Rec. vi. 257.
1627 MORGAN'S EXPEDITION. 165
bring back his troops to North Germany before the summer
was over. Yet, if Charles had been an ally worth having at
all, he would by that time have enabled Christian to strike
a blow which might have changed the whole complexion of
affairs.
Charles had at his disposal only the four regiments which
had been sent to defend the Netherlands in 1624. Their
The four term °f seryice was now expired. The offer to place
regimenisfor them at the King of Denmark's service sounded
the King of °
Denmark. iike a mockery to Christian. He calculated that, by
the treaty of the Hague, 6oo,ooo/. were now due to him from
England, and Charles, who had no money to spare, offered to
send him jewels instead. There was no demand for jewels in
Denmark, and Christian complained bitterly. " Let God and
the world," he said, "judge whether this be answerable or
Christianlike dealing." 1 Even the four regiments were not
what they ought to have been. They should have numbered
6,000 men, but their commander, Sir Charles Morgan,
reported in April that when the men were mustered
to go on board ship at Enkhuisen, only 2,472 answered to their
names.2 The others had fallen a prey to the general disorga-
nisation of the English administration. The pay had come in
slowly. Many of the officers knew nothing of military service,
and were living in England whilst the soldiers were left to their
own devices in the Netherlands.
Such as they were, the skeletons of the four regiments were
shipped for the Elbe. From time to time recruits were sent
They sail for ^rom England to fill up their numbers. Men pressed
the Elbe. against their will, and men sent abroad because they
had refused to pay the loan, were expected to hold head
against Tilly's triumphant veterans. With all the efforts of the
English Government the numbers never reached their full
complement. On June i, Morgan had not quite 5,000 undei
his command. Disease and desertion soon thinned the ranks,
and it was found impossible to keep up even that number. A
1 Statement by the King of Denmark, Feb. 26, S. P. Denmark.
* Morgan to Carleton, March 27 ; Memorial, April 7, S. P. Denmark.
166 THE RUPTURE WITH FRANCE. CH. LIX.
jewel which Charles sent proved entirely useless. It was valued
at ioo,ooo/., but no one in Denmark would advance such
a sum upon it1 One more failure was about to be added to
the many which had baffled the sanguine hopes of Bucking-
ham and his master.
1 Anstruther to Con way, June 16, J. P. Denmark.
167
CHAPTER LX.
THE EXPEDITION TO RHlL
To fight in Germany still formed part of the plan of the English
King, but his heart — and, what was of still greater importance,
the heart of the favourite — was now elsewhere.
Charles Charles was deeply wounded by the refusal of the
cesPseagainstC King of France to agree to Bassompierre's plan for
France. ys household arrangements, and by Richelieu's evi-
dent intention to make France powerful by sea. He fell into
the mistake into which others have fallen before and after
him, of fancying that any weapon was good enough to be used
against a hostile Government, and that if he could raise a suffi-
cient number of adversaries against Richelieu it would be un-
necessary for him to inquire what cause they represented or
what moral weight they possessed.
That the French aristocracy were highly discontented with
Richelieu was no secret to anyone, and Charles and Bucking-
Montague's nam determined to send an agent to fan the flame
mission. of their discontent. Walter Montague, the youngest
son of the Earl of Manchester, one of those sprightly young
men who sunned themselves in the light of Buckingham's
favour, was selected for the mission. In Lorraine it was ex-
pected that he would find the Duchess of Chevreuse, whose
bright eyes and witty tongue were inspired by a genius for
political intrigue, and who had been exiled from France in con-
sequence of the part which she had taken against the Cardinal.
She had been a partisan of the English alliance from the be-
ginning, and it is believed that in 1624 she counted the English
168 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
ambassador Holland amongst her numerous lovers. Bucking-
nam now hoped that she would allure the Duke of Lorraine to
attack France from the east, whilst the communications which
she still kept up with her friends at home would be of service
in preparing trouble for the French Government nearer Paris.
Still greater hopes were founded on the Court of Turin. The
restless Charles Emmanuel, who had spent his youth in attack-
ing France and his middle age in attacking Spain, was now
believed to be willing to turn his arms once more against his
first enemy. With him was the Count of Soissons, a French
Prince of the Blood, who disliked the government of the Car-
dinal, and was pressing for a Savoyard force to enable him to
invade his native country.
Such were the allies with whose help Buckingham hoped to
effect a diversion for his great enterprise. The great enterprise
itself had something in it of a loftier strain. Cool reason may
suggest that the continued independence of the French Pro-
testants was in the long run likely to bring ruin on themselves ;
but the dangers attending upon complete submission to a
Catholic Government were so patent that wiser men than Buck-
ingham might easily have become enthusiastic in the defence
of Rochelle. For such a defence the time appeared favourable.
The Duke of Rohan, whose authority was great in the south
of France, was to raise the Protestants of Languedoc, and to
welcome Soissons on the one side, whilst he gave his support
to the Rochellese on the other.1
All through the spring preparations were going on in Eng-
land. In the beginning of May the new levies which were to
make up the wrecks of the Cadiz regiments to 8,000 '
Preparations men W6re beginning to gather round Portsmouth,
in England. DU(; fae reports which were sent to the Government
were not encouraging. Of 200 furnished by the county of
Hants, 120 were 'such base rogues' that it was useless to
keep them. No money had been sent down to meet the
wants of the men.2 The troops gathered at Southampton and
1 Buckingham's plans from time to time may be gathered far best from
Contarini's despatches.
2 Blundell to Buckingham, May i. S. P. Dom. Uxii. 6.
1 627 BUCKINGHAM^ PREPARATIONS. 169
Winchester were ready to mutiny for want of pay.1 The
deputy lieutenants, whose duty it was to collect the men and
send them forward, were hard put to it to satisfy the King and
their neighbours too. In Dorsetshire the Isle of Purbeck
refused to send men at all, and the officials who had advanced
the money required for the clothing and support of the levies
on the march to Portsmouth, complained that the county had
refused a rate for the purpose, and that they had heard nothing
of any order from the Lord Treasurer for their repayment.2 A
few days later came a fresh order for 150 more men. The
men were found, and were sent away amidst the tears and cries
of their wives and children. On June 3, Sir John Borough,
the old soldier who was going as second in command of the ex-
pedition, wrote that the surgeons' chests were still unfurnished.
A warrant had been given for the money, but it was not paid,
nor likely to be. If men were to be expected to fight, care
must be had to preserve them when they were hurt. Shirts,
shoes, and stockings too were wanting, and the arms had not
yet arrived. Yet he hoped that, when ' armed and clothed, the
men would be fit to be employed.'3
In spite of every drawback, the armament, with the help of
the French prize-money, was approaching completion. The
King went down to Portsmouth to see the fleet,
June ii. ° .
The King at dined on board the Admiral's ship, and talked merrily
Portsmouth. ^^ ^ prospects of the voyage>4 The Duke fol.
lowed soon afterwards, boasting as he went of what he would
do to re-establish the reputation of the English Navy, which
had been tarnished by the failure at Cadiz and by Willoughby's
disaster.8
The instructions issued to Buckingham were dated on
June ip.6 The view which Charles took of his relations to the
1 Mason to Nicholas, May 7, ibid. Ixii. 70.
2 Dc-puty Lieutenants of Dorsetshire to the Council, May 30, June 8,
ibid. Ixv. 19, Ixvi. 41.
1 Burgh to Buckingham, June 3, ibid. Ixvi. 19.
4 Mason to Nicholas, June u, ibid. Ixvi. 67.
5 Contarini to the Dog'e, June Iq, Ven. Transcripts > R. O.
• Instructions to Buck ngham, June 19, S. P. Dom. Ixvii. 57.
t;o THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
French Government was very much the same as that which he
June 19. had taken of his relations to the House of Commons,
ham^n-" ^ot^ ^ad urged him to war with Spain. Both, for
structions. their own objects, had basely deserted him. As Sey-
mour, Phelips, and Eliot wished to make themselves masters of
England, Richelieu wished to make himself master of the sea.
Charles was therefore only acting in self-defence. " Our nearest
allies," he maintained, " even those who have counselled us to
the same war, have taken advantage to encroach upon our
rights, to ruin our friends, and to root out that religion whereof
by just title we are the defender. Our resolution therefore is,
under the shield of God's favour, to prosecute our just defence."
Buckingham was therefore to consider as his first business
how to suppress all attempts on the part of Spain or France
to interfere with English commerce and to destroy or capture
the ships of either nation. Secondly, he was to conduct to
Rochelle certain regiments which were needed by the French
Protestants in consequence of the refusal of Louis to carry out
the stipulations of the treaty of the preceding year. He was to
explain to the Rochellese that there was no intention of raising
a rebellion in France on any pretence of English interests, but
that he was come on hearing that they were shortly to be be-
sieged in defiance of the treaty, for the maintenance of which
the King of England's honour had been engaged. He was
then to ask them if they still required assistance, and were
willing to enter into mutual engagements with England. If
the answer was ' negative or doubtful,' all the land soldiers not
needed for other purposes were to be sent back to England. If
the answer was in the affirmative, the troops were to be handed
over to Soubise, who was to accompany the expedition. Buck-
ingham was then to go on with the fleet to recover the English
vessels detained at Bordeaux, and, having made good his claim
to the mastery of the sea on the coast of France, was to pass on
to break up the trade between Spain and the West Indies and
between Spain and Flanders. After scouring the coasts of Spain
and Portugal, he was, if he thought fit, to despatch divisions
of his fleet to the Mediterranean, to the Azores, and even to
Newfoundland, in search of French or Spanish prizes.
1627 THE EXPEDITION SAILS. 171
Such were the instructions, drawn up doubtless with Buck-
ingham's full concurrence, under which the fleet was to sail. In
them the aid to Rochelle is mentioned almost in an apologetic
manner, as if it were only secondary to the greater object of
maintaining the dominion of the seas. It may be that doubts
were already entertained at the English Court of the extent to
which any meddling with the French national feeling was likely
to find favour in France. At all events it was already rumoured
in London that not a few amongst the Huguenot population of
the South were unwilling to join a foreign invader against their
own sovereign, and that doubts had been expressed even in
Rochelle itself of the feasibility of resisting the forces opposed
to the city with the aid of such help as Buckingham, variable
and inconstant as he was, was likely to bring to its succour.1
On June 27 the fleet, numbering some hundred sail, and
carrying 6,000 foot and 100 horse,2 left Stokes Bay with a
Sailing of the favourable wind. Except a few Dunkirkers, who
made all haste to escape, Buckingham saw nothing of
any enemy. The first part of the Admiral's instructions, which
enjoined upon him the duty of sweeping the Spaniards and
French from the seas, could not be fulfilled because Spaniards
and French alike kept carefully within their ports. A poetaster
of the day seized the glorious opportunity of declaring that King
Charles was superior to Edward III. or Elizabeth. Whilst they
had only conquered their enemies, he found no enemy willing
to meet him.3
1 Contarini to the Doge, May T-, Ven. Trans -rifts, J?. O.
"• Herbert (Philobiblon Society's edition), 46. The common soldiers
embarked numbered 5,934. S. /'. Dom. Ixxxii. 431.
* May (S. P. Dum. Ixviii. 74) made Neptune address the King
thus:—
" I saw third Edward stain my flood
By Sluys with slaughtered Frenchmen's blood :
And from Eliza's fleet
I saw the vanquished Spaniards fly.
But 'twas a greater mastery,
No foe at all to meet ;
When they, without their ruin or dispute,
Confess thy reign as sweet as absolute."
172 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. I A.
On the evening of July 10, Buckingham cast anchor off St.
Martin's, the principal town of the Isle of Rlie", lying on the
July 10 snore towards the mainland, and guarded by the new
Buckingham fort which had been recently erected, and which,
with the smaller fort of La Free on the island and
with Fort Louis on the mainland, served to hold in check the
commerce of Rochelle. The next day was spent in
collecting the fleet as it came in, and in battering
La Pre"e. On the morning of the i2th a council of
war was held. Sir William Becher, accompanied by
Soubise and an agent of Rohan, was to go to Rochelle to dis-
cover whether the citizens would accept the hand held out to
them. The English troops were to be landed at once upon the
island.
There were reasons apart from the decision of the Rochellese
which made Buckingham anxious to place himself in possession
of Rhe. If only it could be brought into English hands it
would be a thorn in the side of the rising French commerce.
Its ports within the still waters of the strait which divided it
from the mainland would be an admirable gathering-place for
English privateers, whilst its situation in the close neighbour-
hood of the Protestant populations of Southern France would
open the door to a skilful use of religious and political intrigue.
Its salt marshes too, which were in high repute all over Europe,
would offer a valuable source of revenue to the English ex-
chequer.
In the afternoon the preparations for. landing near the
eastern point of the island were completed. Buckingham, on
his first day of actual warfare, showed no lack of
1 'he landing. . . . ,,. TT . .. ,
spirit or intelligence. He was to be found every-
where, listening to information and urging on the men. When
the troops descended into the boats it was evident that opposi-
tion would be offered. Toiras, the Governor of St. Martin's,
the commander who had insidiously broken peace with Rochelle
two years before, had collected a force of some 1,200 J foot and
200 horse to dispute the landing of the English. Covered by
1 The numbers vary in different accounts from one to more than two
thousand.
16^7 THE LANDING ON THE ISLAND. 173
the fire of the ships the boats put off. The great defect of
the English army was at once made manifest. There was no
cohesion amongst the men, no tradition of customary discipline.
There were some who hastened to take up their place in rank
as good soldiers should. There were others, and that too not
merely raw recruits, who, weary with the long voyage, lingered
on shipboard and turned a deaf ear to the orders of their
commanders, or who, even when they reached the shore, hung
about the water's edge dabbling their hands in the waves.
Among this helpless mass Buckingham, cudgel in hand, went
to and fro, ' beating some and threatening others.' When two
regiments were on shore, he had to throw himself into a boat
and go back to do the like on shipboard. Sir William Court-
ney's regiment had refused to leave their safe position in the
vessels, and without the personal presence of the Duke nothing
could be done.1
Toiras saw his opportunity. The French horse charged
down upon the disordered clusters, and drove them headlong
into the sea. Many a brave man, carried away by the rush,
perished in the waters. The two colonels, Sir John Burgh
and Sir Alexander Brett, did their duty well. Buckingham,
perceiving what had happened, hurried back to the post of
danger. At last a line was formed, and before the French in-
fantry had time to come up, the horsemen, leaving on the
ground nearly half their number, many of them bearing some
of the noblest names in France, drew off from the unequal
combat. It was thought in the English ranks that, if the
enemy's foot had hastened up, the day must have gone other-
wise than it did.
Of personal bravery Buckingham had shown that
The march / ....
towards St. he possessed his full share, and m his march towards
St. Martin's he gave proof of that consideration for
the needs and feelings of others which is no slight element of
1 The account of the early history of the expedition is taken from
Graham's journal (S. P. Dom. Ixxi. 65) compared with another journal
(ibid. Ixxi. 60), and the printed books of Herbert (The Expedition to the
Isle of Rhe], Philobiblon Society's edition ; Isnard (Arcis Sammartiniana
Obsidio) ; Le Mercure Francois, torn. 13, &c.
174 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
success. He refused a large sum of money offered him for the
ransom of the bodies of the slain Frenchmen, and allowed
them to be taken freely away by their friends for burial. He
tended his wounded enemies as if they had been his own per-
sonal friends. Not content with issuing the usual orders against
pillage, he directed that none of his soldiers should even enter
a village, and he himself set an example to men less delicately
nurtured than himself, by sleeping under a cloak in the open
fields. He neglected nothing which would conduce to the
comfort of his men. With his own eyes he took care to see
that the provisions were landed in due time, and on one occa-
sion he risked his life to save a poor wretch who had been left
on a sandbank surrounded by the rising tide.
If only military and political capacity had been granted
to Buckingham, he might well have become the idol of his
soldiers ; but already the unstable foundations on which his en-
terprise was raised were beginning to make themselves manifest.
Answer from Before he reached St. Martin's he knew that the
Rocheiie. Rochellese, instead of springing into his arms at a
word, were doubtful and hesitating. Soubise thought that they
were like slaves too long held in captivity to venture to claim
their freedom. Becher thought that the magistrates had been
bribed by the King of France. But whatever the explanation
might be, the fact was certain that they would not stir till they
had consulted their brother Huguenots in the interior of the
country. A miserable handful of eighteen volunteers, gradually
swelling to 250 men, was all that Rocheiie had to offer to her
self-constituted deliverer.1
According to the letter of the Admiral's instructions, he
should have turned elsewhere as soon as he found that no reaJ
support was to be expected from Rocheiie ; but it was one
thing for Buckingham to contemplate in England the abandon-
ment of the main object of the expedition, it was another thing
for him to turn his back upon the enemy in the Isle of Rhe.
1 Soubise to Buckingham, July ^| (not '^y ", as calendared). Becher 's
Journal. Symonds to Nicholas, Aug. 15, S. P. Dotn. Ixii. 74, Ixxii. 22 ;
i. Ixxiv. 9. Mem. de Rohan, 21 1.
1627 THE SIEGE OF ST. MARTIN'S. 17$
He resolved, unsupported as he was, to remain on the island,
and to push on the siege of the fort of St. Martin's.
At first all seemed to promise well. Guns were landed and
placed in position and the English officers hoped to reduce
r the place in a short time. A fortnight later they
St. Martin's were of another mind. The fort was well garrisoned
besieged. an(j vjgOrousiy defended. The soil around was rocky
and ill-suited for the operations of a siege. What was worse
still, there was no longer any cordial co-operation between
Buckingham and his chief officers. Men who had served in
the hard school of actual warfare were restless under the
command of a novice, and the Duke, with his resolute desire
to look into everything with his own eyes, may easily have
given offence without any intention of being overbearing to
those beneath him. Whilst his own forces were diminishing,
the French armies were gathering around. Ships were fitting
out along the coast, and a land army, under the Duke of
Angouleme, was firmly established in the neighbourhood of
Rochelle.
To do him justice, Buckingham saw clearly into the heart
of the situation. He knew that his chance of obtaining auxi-
liaries in France depended entirely upon his success or failure
at St. Martin's. If force failed, a blockade must be kept up
till the fortress surrendered from sheer starvation, and if this
was to be done in the face of the threatened succour from the
mainland, reinforcements of every kind must be sent from
England, and that soon.1
By the middle of August the works surrounding the fort
had been completed. On the sea side the passage was guarded
August. by the fleet, and a floating boom was thrown round
?urneSdmtoa ^ landing-place to make ingress impossible. In
blockade. order that hunger might do its work the more speedily,
the wives and female relations of the soldiers of the garrison
were collected from the town on the nth, and driven towards
the fort. They were told that if they returned they would be
1 De Vic to Conway, July 27 ; Buckingham to Conway, July 2%,
Hardwicke S. P. ii. 23, 27.
176 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
put to death without mercy. Toiras at first turned a deaf ear
to the cries of these miserable creatures ; but the English
soldiers knew how to appeal to him in a way which he was
unable to resist. Again and again they fired into the midst of
the shrieking crowd. One at least, a mother with a child at her
breast, was killed on the spot. The demands of the fathers, hus-
bands, and brothers within could no longer be resisted, and the
fort received the helpless fugitives, to burden yet more its failing
resources.1 After this barbarity, excused doubtless in the eyes
of the English officers as a necessity of war, there is little satis-
faction in reading how the commanders corresponded with one
another in terms of high-flown courtesy, how Buckingham sent
to Toiras a present of a dozen melons, and how Toiras returned
the compliment by sending some bottles of citron-flower water
to his assailant.
It was well known in the English camp that the resources
of the besieged were limited; but the numbers of the besiegers,
too, were wasting away, and it was uncertain whether they
would be able to hold out long enough to enforce the hoped-for
surrender. Reinforcements were therefore absolutely
ments°r needed, all the more because there was little prospect
of aid from the allies from whom so much had been
expected.
The Duke of Lorraine had listened to Montague, but had
done no more. The Duke of Savoy was thinking of designs
upon Geneva and Genoa, and wanted the aid of an English
army before he would stir. Soissons asked that some strong
place — Sedan, Stenay, or Orange — might be given up to him
before he moved, and that he might marry a daughter of
the titular King of Bohemia, with a rich provision from her
uncle the King of England. Rohan was agitating the South
of France, and promised to take the field in September or
1 Isnard, ioi. Herbert (84") makes light of the whole matter, talks as
though the Duke had performed an office of piety in sending the women to
their husbands, and suggests that if any were shot it was by the French.
Uut a letter from the camp says coolly : ' Afterwards they were often shot
at by our men.' Symonds to Nicholas, Aug. 15, S, P. Dom. Ixxiv. 9.
1627 REINFORCEMENTS NEEDED. in
October.1 Whilst the aid upon which Buckingham had counted
was not forthcoming, Rochelle promised to be a burden rather
than a support. The neutral position which the citizens had
taken up was fast becoming untenable. No French commander
could endure to leave them unassailed whilst an English army
was on the Isle of Rhe. Angouleme accordingly let them
know that they must make up their minds. They must be
subjects of the King of France or subjects of the King of
England. The Rochellese upon this began to draw closer to
Buckingham ; but they approached him to ask for succour, not
to offer him assistance.2
Louder and louder grew Buckingham's entreaties for aid
;'rom home. Men and provisions were diminishing sadly, and
the work was still undone. His own personal risks he could
pass over lightly, and he scarcely mentioned the danger which
he had run from a French deserter who had attempted to
assassinate him ; but the army under his command must not
be neglected.3
A sanguine miscalculation of the state of feeling in France
had left Buckingham isolated in the Isle of Rhe\ Had he not
equally miscalculated the state of feeling at home ?
Of one thing at least he might be sure. The King would
stand by him stoutly. The quarrel with France was as much
ju, Charles's as Buckingham's. No sooner therefore
The King's had the fleet left Portsmouth than Charles threw
supporTthe0 himself with unwonted vigour into the conduct of
expedition. affajrs> Up to this time he had been content to leave
everything to Buckingham's energetic impulse. If be appeared
on rare occasions at the Council table, it was but to give the
sanction of his authority to schemes which Buckingham would
1 Montague's relation, July 5 ; Instructions to Montague, July 13, S. P.
Savoy. Rohan to Soubise, {^-^, S. P. France.
' Aug. 8
2 De Vic to Con way, Aug. 14, Hardwicke S. P. ii. 35.
* Buckingham to Nicholas, Aug. 14 [?], ffarduiicke S, P. ii. 34.
Buckingham to Becher, Aug. 14; Symonds to Nicholas, Aug. 15. An ac-
count of what happened at Rhe, Aug. 15, S. P. Dom. Ixxiii. 91, Ixxv. 53 ;
i. Ixxiv. 9, 10.
VOL VI. N
1/8 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
have to carry into effect. In Buckingham's absence the duty
of rousing the sluggish from their apathy and directing the
energies of the active devolved upon him alone.
As far as urgency went Charles left little to be desired by
his favourite. Marlborough and Weston, whose business it was,
as Treasurer and Chancellor of the Exchequer, to furnish
supplies, were not long in feeling the application of the spur.
"I will not think," wrote Charles on July 17, "that
now, in my absence, delaying answers will serve me,"
Ten days later, rinding that nothing had been done, he sent
Carlisle to see what they were about. " I confess," he com-
plained, "these delays make me impatient even almost beyond
patience, if I did not hope that the goodness of your answer
should in some measure recompense the slowness of it. One
item, and so an end. Let not my monies go wrong ways." '
Such exhortations were of little avail. Charles could call
upon others to do the work, but he had no practical suggestion
Difficulties °^ kis own to giye- Yet the position of the Ex-
oftheEx- chequer was one in which a single practical sueges-
chequer. . 111 ,
tion would be worth a whole torrent of exhorta-
tions. The great source which had made the fitting out of
the expedition possible — the sale of French prize goods —
had suddenly dried up. The supremacy of the English at sea
was so complete that the enemy's vessels refused to venture
from their harbours. The only resource left was the loan
money. Since Buckingham's departure the loan money had
been gathered in with a more unsparing hand. Many gentle-
men in custody were sent into places of confinement in counties
as far distant from their own homes as possible, so as to be a
standing token of his Majesty's displeasure, and fresh batches
erf refusers were summoned before the Council.2 For the present
this rough discipline was successful. A large part of the loan
was paid, grudgingly and angrily no doubt, but still it was paid.
On July 17, 24o,ooc/. had thus come into the Exchequer.3
1 The King to Marlborough and Weston, July l-7 ; printed by Mr. Bruce
in his Calendar of State Paters, Preface, viii.
2 Holies to Wentworth, Aug. 9, Strafford Letters, \. 40.
* Manchester to Conway, July 17, S. P. Doni. Ixxi 25.
1627 MONEY DIFFICULTIES. 179
It was like pouring water on the sand. The money was
paid out as soon as it was paid in. io,ooo/. a month by esti-
mate, amounting to nearer i2,ooo/. in practice,1 had to be paid
for Sir Charles Morgan's troops in the Danish service, and
claims of all kinds arising from the fitting out of the expedition
had to be paid by the help of the loan.
Immediately upon the sailing of the fleet the Council had
come to the conclusion that 2,000 recruits should be levied, and
some days later it was agreed to be necessary to spend I2,6i5/.
upon provisions for the seamen already at Rhe.2 The money was
not to be found. Marlborough was too old to lay the difficulty
very deeply to heart, and took refuge in telling all applicants
for payment that their case would be taken into consideration
to-morrow.3 VVeston growled over every penny he was called
upon to spend, but was powerless to raise supplies from an
alienated nation. Ordinary applicants for money due to them
were driven to despair. One of them declared that when he
waited on the Lord Treasurer he was treated ' like a cur sent
by a dog,' and ordered out of the room : when he applied to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer he was set upon like a bear
tied to the stake.4 The King could not be treated thus ; but
if he met with more civil treatment, he did not get more money
than his subjects.
On August i Charles wrote again. Becher had come from
Rh£ to urge on the reinforcements. The Council had at last
August. despatched orders for the levy of the 2,000 men,
urgency of an<^ tnere was a ta^ °f finding half the sum needed
the King. for the provisions for the sailors.5 Charles took
even this as a promise of better things, and charged his
officers to go on in the course they were pursuing. " For if,"
he wrote, " Buckingham should not now be supplied, not in
show but substantially, having so bravely, and, I thank God,
1 Manchester to the King, July 20, S. P. Dom. Ixxi. 44.
2 Manchester to the King, June 29 ; Estimate for victuals, July 5, ibid.
Ixviii. 28, Ixx. 37.
* Coke to Conway, June 20, ibid. Ixvii. 76.
4 Belou to Conway, July (?) July 30 (? , ibid. Ixx. I, Ixxii. 41.
• Coke to Conway, July 31, .S'. P. Dom. Ixxii. 4^
N 9
180 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX-
successfully begun his expedition, it were an irrecoverable
shame to me and all this nation ; and those that either hinders,
or, according to their several places, furthers not this action as
much as they may, deserves to make their end at Tyburn, or
some such place ; but I hope better things of you." l
Something at last was to come of all these consultations.
The King was able to announce to Buckingham on August 13,
that in eight days Becher would sail with provisions
ments and 400 recruits, as well as with i4,ooo/. of ready
money. Two thousand men were to follow on Sep-
tember 10. Two thousand more were getting ready in Scotland.2
Besides this, a fresh force of about the same number was in an
advanced state of preparation.
The King's calculations had outstripped reality. More than
three weeks passed before the money was actually provided,3
Progress of ano^ contrary winds prevented Becher from sailing till
the siege. September 16. He arrived at the Isle of Rhe on the
25th.4 An Irish regiment had anticipated him, and had joined
the army in the beginning of the month.5
When Becher landed, matters were looking more hopefully
for the besiegers. The recruits had done something towards
filling up the gaps in the English ranks. Food was known to
be scarce within the citadel, and desertions were becoming
numerous. Buckingham, at least, cannot be accused of mis-
understanding the requirements of his position. Everything,
he knew, depended upon keeping up the strength of the army
and stopping the ingress of supplies by sea. He erected a
floating battery to watch the sea face of the fort, and when this
was broken down by the violence of the waves he barred the
passage with a strong boom which, though it was in its turn
1 The King to Marlborough and Western ; Calendar of Domestic State
Papers, Preface, ix.
2 The King to Buckingham, Aug. 13, Hardwicke S. P. 17, 13.
3 Long to Nicholas, Aug. 18, S. P. Dom. Ixxiv. 40, 74, 81. Conway
to Coke, Aug. 22 ; the King to Marlborough and Weston, Aug. 23.
4 Becher to Conway, Sept. 27, ibid, xxv. iii. 16. Hard-wicke S, P.
ii. 46.
5 Sir E. Conway to Conway, Sept. 4, Hardwire S. P. Ixxvi. 26.
1 627 AN OFFER OF SURRENDER. 181
snapped by the beating waters, was subsequently replaced by a
barrier of hawsers stretched from ship to ship.
These failures increased the gloom which was spreading in
•.he army. Sir John Borough, Buckingham's second in command,
_ , had been killed by a shot. The hot words which had
September. •
Difficulties caused a. rupture between him and the Duke had
been long ago forgiven, and the two had worked
together in the face of difficulty. Buckingham did not conceal
from himself the extent of the danger. The French army was
gathering on the opposite coast, and if it should effect a landing
before the fort surrendered, he would hardly be able to meet it.
One attempt at negotiation was tried by Buckingham. Sending
his kinsman Ashburnham to Paris, on September 4, he made
overtures for peace. The suggestion was taken by the French
Government as a confession of weakness. Ashburnham was
told that as long as an English soldier stood upon French soil,
no peace was to be had.1 Even before this answer reached
Buckingham he was crying out for further reinforcements to be
sent at all costs.2 "The army," wrote Sir Edward Conway on
September 20 to his father the Secretary, "grows every day
weaker ; our victuals waste, our purses are empty, ammunition
consumes, winter grows, our enemies increase in number and
power ; we hear nothing from England." 3
A week later confidence had returned. With the excep-
tion of a few boats which had slipped in from time to time,
all attempts at victualling St. Martin's had hitherto being baffled.
Deserters were thrust back into the fort, to increase the number
of mouths. On the 25th a request that a gentleman might be
sent out ' to treat of a matter of importance,' was refused unless
he came to treat for a surrender. All men in the English camp
Sept. 27. were ' full of hope and confidence.' On the 27th the
Proposed offer to surrender was actually made. The officers
surrender of *
the fort. who brought it were to come back in the afternoon
to specify the conditions. When the appointed hour arrived, a
1 hnard, 135. Herbert, 5. 19. Richelieu to Louis XIII., Sept. 2O ;
Richelieu to Toiras, Sept. 22, Lettres de Richelieu, ii. 609, 620.
- Butkingham to the King, Sept. 19, Hardiuicke S. P. ii. 45.
1 Sir E. Con way to Conway, Sept. 20, S. P. Dom. Ixxviii. 71.
1 32 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
message was brought asking for a further delay till the next
morning.1 In three days more the provisions of the defenders
would be exhausted.2
Much, however, might be done before the next morning
dawned. A flotilla of thirty-five boats had been hindered by
contrary winds from attempting to bring relief to the garrison.
On the 2yth, while Toiras was negotiating, the wind changed
and blew strongly from the north-west. The night was dark and
gloomy, and the waves were running high. About three hours
after midnight, the Frenchmen, guided by beacon fires within
Se t 28 ^e *°rt' Cashed mto the heart of the English fleet.
The fort Buckingham, roused by the firing, hurried on board.
The combat was carried on almost at hazard in the
thick gloom. At one point the hawsers which defended the
passage were severed, and twenty-nine boats laden with supplies
succeeded in depositing their precious burden under the walls
of the fortress. After morning dawned a fire-ship was sent in
after them by the besiegers ; but the wind had dropped and the
garrison had no difficulty in thrusting off the dangerous as-
sailant. In the afternoon a second fire-ship was let loose, with
much the same result. Buckingham had all his work to re-
commence.3
On the 29th a council of war was summoned to consider
what was now to be done. The citadel had been fur-
bept. 29.
A council of nished with supplies which would last for more than
roaabSdonS a month. The delay could not be a long one. Yet
the siege. ^g prospects of the besiegers were not promising.
Sickness was making sad havoc in the ranks, and there were
1 Becher to Conway, Oct. 3, Hardwicke S, P. ii. 48. Isnard (157)
spreads the negotiation over the 27th and 28th.
* Letter from the French camp, Oct. —, S. P. France.
3 Eecher to Conway, Oct. 3, Hardwicke S. P. ii. 48. Symonds to
Ashburnham, Oct. 4, S. P. Dom. Ixxx. 43. Letter from the French camp,
Oct. 80, S. P. France. Herbert, 145. fsnard, 157. I give the number of
lo
boats ente.rinp; from the French letter, which is in accordance with Isnard.
The writer had the information from Audoin, who led them in. The
English fancied only 14 or 15 had got through. The dates I give from
Symouds. Becher gives the 28th wrot'gh as the day of the offer of sur-
render.
IG27 THE SIEGE PROLONGED. 183
only 5,000 men fit for duty. The winter was coming on, and it
would be harder than ever to watch the access to the fort ;
provisions were growing scarce, and as only unground corn had
been sent out,1 whenever the wind lulled the windmills were
rendered useless and the men were all but starved. The French
forces on the mainland were gathering thickly, and an attempt
to relieve the ganison might be expected at any moment.
On these grounds the council of war unanimously voted for
giving up the attempt. Buckingham reluctantly gave his con-
sent, and part of the siege material was carried on board ship.
Before long new considerations were presented. Soubise and
the Rochellese pleaded hard for delay. Their town was by
this time girt about with the entrenchments of the Royal army,
and they knew that they must make their choice between sub-
mission to their own King and a thorough alliance with Eng-
land. They offered to find quarters in the city for a thousand
sick men, to supply the troops with provisions, and to send
boats to assist in guarding the approach to St. Martin's. Nor
did the offer of the Rochellese stand alone. Dulbier, Mans-
feld's old commissary-general, who was now Buckingham's chief
military adviser, brought news from England that the long-
wished-for reinforcements would soon be on the way. The
Earl of Holland was coming with supplies in men and money
which would make the army safe for the winter.2
The council of war was again summoned on Oc-
it retracts tober 3. With only one dissentient voice it retracted
its former decision and voted for a continuance of
the siege.3
The resolution thus taken has been severely criticised. It
is possible that the officers may have yielded, against their better
judgment, to Buckingham's urgency ; but even if this were the
' Like the green coffee afterwards sent to the Crimea.
* Becher to Con way, Oct. 3 ; De Vic to Con way, Oct. 12, Hardwicke
S. P. ii. 48, 51. Herbert, 154.
3 This, which is distinctly staled in Bicher's letter, puts an end to the
theory, hitherto, I believe, generally accepted, that Buckingham remained
on the island in opposition to the officers. Their vote may have been re-
luctant.ly given, but given it undoubtedly was.
i8t THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
case it would have been hard to affirm that the military situation
was already desperate. October had been marked out for
Rohan's rising, and if that rising were to take place, the French
commanders, with a fortified city before them, would be in no
position to send further aid to St. Martin's. Even if Rohan's
rising came to nothing, Holland's reinforcement, if it really
arrived, would place any landing of French troops out of the
question. The 6,000 foot and 300 horse which the enemy
was preparing to throw upon the Isle of Rhe, would indeed
be a formidable diversion to Buckingham's 5,000 soldiers ;
but they would be powerless in the face of the 13,000 which
the army was expected to number upon Holland's arrival ; l
and, indeed, there is every reason to believe that if tho rein-
forcements had been furnished promptly no attempt would
have been made by the French to land troops on the island at
all.2 The only question would, then, be whether, with greater
care and a larger number of ships, it would be possible to frus-
trate any fresh attempt to revictual the fort.
The difficulties before Buckingham, in short, were, in
October as they had been in August, rather political than
Rohan's military. Rohan, indeed, kept his word, and before
insurrection. the en(j Qf October was at the head of 5,500 men.3
In his own country, and in the midst of a Protestant popula-
tion, he could not but meet with sdnie support, but there was
no general enthusiasm in his cause. Buckingham's theory
that Richelieu was bent upon the suppression of Protestantism
as a religion, in order to please the Pope, was entirely at variance
with fact. The assurances of the French Government that only
the political independence of the Protestant towns was at stake,
found ready credence.
1 Statement &c., Oct. 19, 5". P. Dom. Ixxxii. 35.
2 I say this on the authority of Richelieu himself. "II faut faire cet
effet devant que le secours d'Angleterre arrive, d'autant qu'estant renforces
de trois ou quatre mil hommes, il pourroit arriver que nous ne serions pas
en estat de deffaire nos ennemis " Memoire, Sept. — , Lettres, ii. 603.
The whole memoir should he read by those who think that Buckingham's
failure was a foregone conclusion.
3 Mtm. de Rohan, 235.
1627 DIPLOMATIC FAILURES. 185
Disappointed of the support which he had looked for from
the French ProtestanU1, Buckingham was equally disappointed
in his hopes of a French aristocratic rebellion. Montague had
Oct. 13. been sent back to Turin, and on October 13 he re-
ST* P°rted that the Duke of Chevreuse had made up his
Turin. quarrel with Richelieu, that the Duke of Savoy and
the Count of Soissons talked much of an attack upon France,
but that they would do nothing till St. Martin's was taken.
" Your Majesty's present undertakings," was Montague's con-
clusion, " grow upon their own roots, and can be nourished by
nothing but their own natural heat and vigour." J
His Majesty's undertakings had, indeed, need of all the heat
and vigour obtainable. Before the middle of September it was
Failure of known that the negotiation carried on by Gerbier and
tioennwft°hia" Rubens had broken down utterly.2 It would be well
Spain. jf Qlivares did not send an actual reinforcement to
the French army before Rochelle. While all Charles's atten-
tion was thus directed to the Isle of Rhe, the fortunes of the
King of Denmark were crumbling away in North
of the King Germany. England had helped him just enough to
of Denmark. , • , i
spur him on to the enterprise, not enough to save
him from ruin. Even if Morgan's troops had been duly paid,
;hey formed but a slight instalment of the aid which Charles
had promised at the beginning of the war. In point of fact
pay came to the poor men with the greatest irregularity. On
. ! July 23 Morgan reported, from his post near Bremen,
Morgan's that his men would probably refuse to fight if the
enemy attacked them.3 Just as Buckingham was
sailing, his confidant, Edward Clarke, was sent to the King of
Denmark to assure him that order was taken for the money,
and to console him for the past by informing him that the
expedition to Rhe' had been sent out ' to weaken and divert
our joint enemies, that our burden might be easier to our dear
uncle.' The uncle must have been possessed of no incou-
1 Montague to the King, Oct. 13, S. P. Savoy.
* Sainsbury, Rubens, 85-105.
1 Morgan to Conway, July 23, S. P.
1 86 THE EXPEDITION I'O RHE. CH. LX.
siderable control over his temper if he did not burst out into
angry reproaches when he received the message.1
Clarke reached the seat of war with a month's pay just in
time to prevent Morgan's regiment from breaking up ; but he
might as well have left the 1,400 recruits he brought at home.
No sooner had they set foot on shore than they deserted in
troops of a hundred or two at a time, to hire themselves out
to other masters who knew the value of a soldier. The one
service which was plainly intolerable to an Englishman, was
the service of the King of England. Some of them were re-
captured and brought back to their colours, but it was easy to
foretell that they would be at best of little use in the field.2
At last the crisis was come. A peace with Bethlen Gabor
had released Wallenstein from Hungary. Crushing the Danish
Se tember garrisons m Silesia as he passed, he met Tilly at
The King of Lauenburg towards the end of August. The plan of
^emuar ^e jomj campaign was soon arranged. Christian, with
powered. j^ fjnances in disorder and his forces diminished,
dared not offer resistance. Only 8,000 men gathered round
his standards. Throwing them into garrisons as best he might,
he took ship at Gliickstadt and fled hurriedly to his islands.
On August 28 Wallenstein was marching past Hamburg at the
head of 25,000 men. A few days later one of his lieutenants
smote heavily upon the Margrave o'f Baden at Heiligenhafen.
Excepting three or four fortified towns there was nothing to
resist the Imperialists but the ocean.3
The remnants of Morgan's men were called across the Elbe.
The money brought by Clarke had proved useless. There was
some confusion in the accounts, and the merchant
Morgans who was to pay the bills of exchange refused to do
so. Morgan borrowed 3,000 dollars on his own
credit ; but this would not last long. " What service," he wrote
in despair, " can the King expect or draw from these unwilling
men ? Thus I have been vexed all this summer, and could do
nothing but what pleased them. Their officers had little com-
1 Instructions to Clarke, July 27, S. P. Denmark.
* Clarke to Conway, Aug. 20, ibid.
* Anstruther to Conway, Sept. I ; Clarke to Conway, Sept. 7, ibid.
1627 VIOLATION OF NEUTRALITY. 187
mand over them, and by these reasons the King had no -jreat
services from us. ... I could have wished our men had
died at the point of the sword, rather than live to see those
miseries we are in, and like to be still worse." l
It was not owing to Charles's wisdom that he had war with
only half Europe on his hands. The art of giving up his
Blockade of rights from motives of policy was entirely unknown
Hamburg. to fam Ajj through the summer, when it was of the
utmost importance to conciliate the Germans of the North, an
English fleet, under Sir Sackville Trevor, had been lying off the
Elbe and stopping the whole commerce of Hamburg by pro-
hibiting trade with France or Spain. At last Trevor was recalled,
to take measures against a State more powerful than Hamburg.
When Carleton was sent to the Hague, he was ordered to watch
the progress of some ships which were building in Holland
for the French, and to remonstrate with the Dutch on the use
which was being made of their harbours. Carleton's remon-
strances proving fruitless, Trevor was ordered to sail into the
Texel and bring out every French vessel that he could find.
On the night of September 27, whilst the French boats were
dashing in to relieve St. Martin's, Trevor sailed along the front
of the Dutch vessels at anchor. Ranging up unexpectedly
alongside of a French ship he poured a broadside
ship seized into her. She was but half-manned, and her captain
hastily struck his colours. The next morning, before
the Dutch authorities had time to remonstrate, Trevor set sail
with his prize to the English coast, leaving Captain Alleyne
behind him, with orders to look out for other French ships
which were known to be fitting out in Holland.2
If the Dutch had been as easy to provoke as Charles or
Louis, so flagrant a violation of a neutral harbour might easily
have brought on an open rupture. The Dutch, however,
wished merely to draw as much assistance as possible from
each of the rival nations. To please the French they sent a
1 Morgan to Carleton, Sept. 7, S. P. Denmark.
2 Carleton to Coke, Sept. 29, S. P. Holland. Alhyne1! Journal,
Oct. 2 ; Duppa to Nicholas, Oct. 3, 6". P. Dom. Ixxx. 13, 26 AfJm. dt
Kichdicu, iii. 386.
188 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. en. LX.
commission to the Texel to seize upon Alleyne's ships ; but at
the same time the Prince of Orange sent a secret message to
Carleton, urging him to direct Alleyne to be gone before the
Commissioners arrived, and suggesting that, 'for fashion's sake,'
Alleyne and the Dutch officials should fire in the air over one
another's heads as he sailed out of the harbour.1 The imper-
turbable refusal of the Dutch to take offence is the more
noteworthy, as Charles, weary with their delay in giving him
satisfaction for the Amboyna massacre, had just seized upon
three Dutch East Indiamen, and had lodged them safely tmder
the guns of Portsmouth.
All these tidings of failure before the enemy and provocation
to allies came dropping in upon the ears of Englishmen during
October, the month of October, whilst the Government was
fedingin straining every nerve to get ready the reinforcements
England. for Buckingham. What wonder if the feeling against
Buckingham grew more bitter every day ? So strong was it
that it left its impression even on the letters of those who were
nearest and dearest to the absent man. His wife, whose clinging
tenderness was not to be turned aside by his many infidelities,
had been saddened by the absence of him who was to her the
head and front of all mankind. He had promised to see her
i-ettersofthe before he went, and he had broken his promise. " For
ofBucSne- mv Part>" s^e wrote when she first knew that he had
Um. slipped away from her, " I have been a very miserable
woman hitherto, that never could have you keep at home. But
now I will ever look to be so, until some blessed occasion comes
to draw you quite from the Court For there is none more
miserable than I am now ; and till you leave this life of a
courtier, which you have been ever since I knew you, I shall
ever think myself unhappy."2 After the bad news of the in-
troduction of supplies, a sense of her husband's personal danger
mingled with the thought of her own loneliness. Some hint he
seems to have given of an intention of throwing himself into
1 Carleton to Coke, Oct. 5, S. P. Holland.
* The Duchess of Buckingham to Buckingham, June 26 (?), S. P. Dom.
Ixviii. 3. This and the other letters have been quoted in part in the Pre-
face to Mr. Bruce 's Calendar, 1627-8.
.'627 BUCKINGHAM'S UNPOPULARITY. 189
Rochelle. Against this, in writing to Dr. Moore, a physician
in the camp, she protests with her whole soul. " I should
think myself," she says, " the most miserablest woman in the
world if my lord should go into the main land ; for though God
has blessed him hitherto beyond all imagination in this action,
yet I hope he will not still run on in that hope to venture
himself beyond all discretion ; and I hope this journey hath
not made him a Puritan, to believe in predestination. I pray
keep him from being too venturous, for it does not belong to a
general to walk trenches ; therefore have a care of him. I will
assure you by this action he is not any whit the more popular
man than when he went ; therefore you may see whether these
people be worthy for him to venture his life for."1
Buckingham's mother, as a good Catholic, wrote in another
tone, scolding her son for his blindness and presumption.
" Dear mother," he had written from Rlie", " I am
ham'scorre- so full of business as hardly have I time to say my
spondents. , , _.. , , T
prayers, but hardly passes an hour that I perceive
not His protecting hand over me, which makes me have re-
course to your prayers to assist me in so great a duty. For my
coming home, till I have means from England wherewithal to
settle this army here, I cannot with any honour leave them. If
it be possible for you to lend me some money, do it"2 The
Countess had plenty of good advice to give, but no money. " I
am very sorry," she wrote, " you have entered into so great a
business, and so little care to supply your wants, as you see by
the haste that is made to you. I hope your eyes will be opened
to see what a great gulf of businesses you have put yourself
into, and so little regarded at home, where all is merry and
well pleased, though the ships be not victualled as yet, nor
mariners to go with them. As for moneys, the kingdom will
not supply your expenses, and every man groans under the
burden of the times. At your departure from rne, you told me
1 The Duchess of Buckingham to Moore, Oct. 20 (?), S. P, Dom.
Ixxxii. 42.
2 Buckingham to the Countess of Buckingham. Printed from the EarJ
of Denbigh's collection in the Fourth Report cf the Hist MSS. CommissicH,
356.
l<)3 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX>
.you went to make peace, but it was not from your heart. This
is not the way ; for you to embroil the whole Christian world
in war, and then to declare it for religion, and make God a
party to these woful affairs, so far from God as light from
darkness, and the highway to make all Christian princes to
bend their forces against us, that otherwise, in policy, would
have taken our parts."1
Most of Buckingham's correspondents, however, wrote in
a different strain. The Earl of Exeter told him that his suc-
cess at Rlie" was ' miraculous.' Dorset assured him that he had
only to let him know his will, for if he failed to obey it he
deserved to be 'whipped with double stripes.'2 Yet even
amongst those who were entirely dependent on his favour
there were some whose anxieties would not allow them to
, conceal from him the misery at home. On Septem-
beptember. • l
pye's ber 21, amidst the difficulties of getting Holland's
reinforcement ready, Sir Robert Pye, whose position
as Auditor of the Exchequer gave him every opportunity of
knowing the truth, uttered a note of warning. " Pardon me, I
beseech you, if I humbly desire that you would advisedly con-
sider of the end, and how far his Majesty's revenue of all kinds
is now exhausted. We are upon the third year's anticipation
beforehand ; land, much sold of the principal ; credit lost ;
and at the utmost shift with the commonwealth. I would I
did not know so much as I do, for I do protest I would not
for 5oo/. but I had been in the country. Deputy lieutenants
are not active, and justices of the peace of better sort are willing
to be put oat of commission, every man doubting and pro-
viding for the worst, so that all our fears increase at home. I
know I please not, but I cannot see one I am so much .bound
unto and not inform him my reason. I know no way to
advise, but by some speedy accommodation of these loans,
for nothing pleaseth so long as this is on foot, and of late no
money, or little, hath been paid thereupon. For my own
1 The Countess of Buckingham to Buckingham, Aug. 26 (?), S. P.
Dam, Ixxv. 22.
z Exeter to Buckingham, Nov. 3 ; Dorset to Buckingham, Aug. 21,
5. /*. Dom. Ixxxiv. 16. Preface to Brace's Cakna'cu; p. i.
HOLLAND'S FLEET DELAYED. rgi
particular, I will lay myself to pawn for your Lordship, but so
soon as the fort "is taken I could wish your Lordship were
here." »
" So soon as the fort is taken " was easily said ; but the
taking of the fort depended on Holland's speedy setting
out, and the difficulties in the way of Holland's
Delays in ... . , . .
Holland's expedition were almost insuperable. Weston might
be, as Sir Humphrey May asserted, ' not a spark,
but a flame of fire, in anything that concerned' the Duke,
but the words with which this assertion was prefaced were
none the less true. " It is easy for us to set down on paper
ships, and money, and arms, and victual, and men, but to con-
gest these materials together, especially in such a penury of
money, requires more time than the necessity of your affairs
will permit." 2
The whole frame of government was unhinged. Lord
Wilmot, a veteran who had seen hard service in Ireland, was to
command the reinforcements which were to be shipped on board
Holland's fleet. On October 6 he was waiting at Plymouth
for supplies from London.3 The warrant for the money needed
for feeding the troops was only issued three days
later.4 On the same day Sir James Bagg, Bucking-
ham's creature who had succeeded Eliot in the Vice-Admiralty
of Devon, wrote that no money had been sent him to purchase
provisions, or to hire ships for his patron's relief.
Of the new levies which were ordered to rendezvous
at Plymouth, large numbers had, as was now usual, escaped
the hateful service by desertion.8 On the nth,
Wilmot again wrote that the supplies from London
had not arrived, that he had no arms with which to train the
men, and that the population of the county was exasperated
1 Pye to Buckingham, Sept. 21, S. P. Dom. Ixxix. 2.
2 May to Buckingham, Oct. 7, ibid. Ixxx. 60.
8 Wilmot to Conway, Oct. 6, ibid. Ixxx. 55.
4 Docquet, Oct. 9, S. P. Dorquct Book.
4 Commissioners at Plymouth to the Council, Oct, IO, S. P. Dom.
Ixxxi. 4.
.192 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
at being forced to maintain the soldiers upon credit.1 His
answer was an order from Conway to put his men as
*' "* soon as possible on board ships lying at Plymouth.
Holland would sail from Portsmouth, and the whole expedition
would meet before St. Martin's.2
Charles was growing anxious. " Since I have understood
your necessities," he wrote to Buckingham, "for fault of
timely supplies, I still stand in fear that these may
The King's come too late.3 But I hope God is more merciful
to me than to inflict so great a punishment on
me." Even yet Wilmot could not start. On the i5th the
ships from London had only reached the Downs.4
On the same day Holland reported from Portsmouth
that nothing was ready, but that, though the captains assured
him that it would take ten or fifteen days to remedy the defects
of their ships, he hoped to sail in two.5
On the 1 8th the long-expected supplies from the Thames
reached Plymouth. Holland, leaving Portsmouth on the igth,
o«. 21. was driven back to Cowes by a storm.6 Leaving
unabtew ^s windbound ships behind him, he posted to Ply-
leave, mouth to meet Wilmot, who was then ready to sail.7
Almost at the moment of his arrival the wind, which had been
favourable at Plymouth, chopped round and blew steadily from
the south-west.8
Everything on board the provision ships was in confusion.
No bills of lading were on board, no official to take any account
of the stores. But it mattered little now. The pitiless wind
made the voyage impossible. The Portsmouth squadron, at-
tempting once more to get out, was driven back into the Solent.9
1 Wilmot to Conway, Oct. II, S. P. Doin. Ixxxi. 13.
z Conway to Wilmot, Oct. 12, ibid. Ixxxi. 25.
* The King to Buckingham, Oct. 13, Hardwicke S P. ii. 19.
4 Conway to Wilmot, Oct. 15, S. P. Dom. Ixxxi. 50.
4 Holland to Conway, Oct. 15, ibid. Ixxxi. 5.
• Holland to Conway, Oct. 19, ibid. Ixxxii. 30, 31
7 Wilmot to Conway, Oct. 21, ibid. Ixxxii. 46.
• Holland to Conway, Oct. 22, ibid. Ixxxii. 58.
* Wiimot to Conw.iy, Oct. 23 ; Mervyn to Nicholas, Oct. 23,
Ltxxii. 66, 68.
1627 DISORGANISATION AT HOME. 193
The soldiers on board at Plymouth were eating the provisions
designed for the army at Rhe.1 On the 28th news
from Buckingham reached London. The Duke had
made up his mind to assault the fort. If Holland came in time
with the supplies, he would stay on the island. If not, he
would throw himself into Rochelle, and run all hazards with its
defenders.
On the 29th the wind lulled, and Holland's fleet left the
Catwater. In the night the storm raged once more, and the
ships were in great danger from the waves, lashed
into fury in the then open waters of the Sound. The
winds blew loudly for twenty hours. Even if the wind changed,
wrote Wilmot, it would be long before the damaged ships could
be repaired. The soldiers, besides, were ill armed, and there
was no store at Plymouth from which to supply them.2
If evidence were still needed of the thorough disorgani-
sation of the Government, it would be found in the circum-
Nov.2. stance that five or six hundred recruits arrived at
rion>SFthea" Plymouth without any directions accompanying
Government, them. Nobody had orders to receive them, and Hol-
land was obliged to support them out of his own pocket till he
could persuade the unwilling deputy- lieutenants to force their
maintenance upon the county.3
No wonder that one more of the Duke's confidants should
DC found bewailing to his patron the state of affairs at home.
" In my last," wrote the courtly Goring, " I was bold
Gorings ' to represent unto your Lordship the hazard you
would run if you expected more timely supplies ; for
the City, from whence all present money must now be raised,
or nowhere, is so infested by the malignant part of this king-
dom, as no man that is moneyed will lend upon any security,
if they think it to go the way of the Court, which now is made
diverse from the State. Such is the present distemper. . . .
1 Ashburnham to Nicholas, Oct. 25, .S1. P. Dom. Ixxii. 87.
2 Conway to Holland, Oct. 28 ; Holland to Conway, Oct. 30; Wilmot
to Conway, Oct. 31, ibid. Ixxxiii. 17, 32, 38.
s Holland to Conway, Nov. 2, ibid. Ixxxiv. 12.
VOL. VI. O
194 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE^ CH. LX.
In a word, therefore, my dearest Lord, let me tell you what
many honest-hearted men, divested of passion or bye-ends, say
— that if it be true, as is here conceived, that the fort be again
revictualled in such plenty as will force you to a winter siege at
the best, before you can hope for any good success, that then
your Lordship would rather betake you to a new counsel, and
think what way to curb the French insolency some other way
than by a wilful struggling against them where the season and
place give them such infinite advantage of you. Besides,
my dear Lord, here at home — where your judgment is first to
reflect — are such desperate obstructions as nothing but your
presence can remove, and that will do it, if you will yet be
pleased in time to look about you, or let me perish for a false,
vile wretch to you." '
Whatever others might think of him, Buckingham was still
certain of the King's support. The letter written by Charles
in the midst of all this uncertainty is very pathetic in
The Kin^s its mingled spirit of resignation and confidence. " I
1 never come to your hands, this being only to meet you at your
landing in England, in case you should come from Rhe without
perfecting your work, happily begun, but, I must confess with
grief, ill seconded. This is therefore to give you power — in
case ye shall imagine that ye have not enough already — to put
in execution any of those designs ye mentioned to Jack Hip-
pesley, or any other that you shall like of. So that I leave it
freely to your will, whether, after your landing in England, ye will
set forth again to some design before you come hither ; or else
that ye shall first come to ask my advice before ye undertake a
new work ; assuring you that, with whatsomever success ye
shall come to me, ye shall ever be welcome, one of my greatest
griefs being that I have not been with you in this time of suffer-
ing, for I know we would have much eased each other's griefs.
I cannot stay longer on this subject, for fear of losing myself in
it. To conclude, you cannot come so soon as ye are welcome ;
and unfeignedly in my mind ye have gained as much reputation
1 Goring to Buckingham, Nov. 5, S. P. Dom. Ixxxiv. 20.
1627 CONDITION OF THE BESIEGERS. 195
with wise and honest men, in this action, as if ye had performed
all your desires." '
Charles's forebodings of evil, though he knew it not, were
already realised. By the middle of October the condition of
Oct. 16. the besiegers was pitiable. The weather was cold
affairs°at0f anC^ WCt> atl(^ t*16 m£n W6re CXpOSCd tO grieVOUS
Rh«- misery in the trenches. The officers were ' looking
themselves blind ' by sweeping the horizon with their telescopes
for the first signs of Holland's fleet,2 as in old days the soldiers
of Nicias gazed across the Sicilian sea for the triremes of
Demosthenes. But for the south-west wind in the Channel,
Holland would have been with them in less than a week, and
their necessities would have been relieved ; but Holland came
not, and Buckingham was called on once more to face the
question of relinquishing his enterprise.
Everything hung on the chances of Holland's arrival. If
he came quickly, all might yet be well. If he delayed, the
army might easily be exposed to an irreparable disaster. Was
it strange that the officers of Buckingham's council concurred
in taking a gloomy view of the situation, while Buckingham
himself, upon whom failure would weigh infinitely more heavily
than upon all the rest together, hoped against hope, broke out
into passionate reproaches against those who seemed to have
forgotten him at home, and, whilst prudently making prepara-
tions for departure in case of necessity, still clung firmly to the
spot on which he was?
The time was fast passing by when hesitation would be any
longer possible. The smaller fort of La Free had been left
unassailed in July, and it now afforded a shelter to the French
Oct. 20. troops passing over from the mainland. By October 20
kndfrTthe*1 nearly 2,000 soldiers had been received within its
island. walls and within the entrenchments which had been
thrown up in front of it,3 and their number might be expected
to increase every day.
1 The King to Buckingham, Nov. 6, Hardivicke S. P. ii. 20.
- Bold to Nicholas, Oct. 16; Louis to Nicholas, Oct. 16, S. P. Doin.
Ixxxi. 59, 61.
3 htiard, 177-193. It is not for me, remembering the controversy
196 THE EXPEDITION TO KHE. CH. LX.
It was lamentable for Buckingham to be so near success
and yet to miss it. Toiras had only provisions to last him till
November 5,' and though the exact date was not known in the
English camp, the conjectures formed by the besiegers were
not far wrong. Between the greatness of the prize and the ter-
rible consequences of exposure to a French attack upon his
diminished army, Buckingham was unable to form a resolution.
During the week which followed upon the last landing of the
French there were continued combats, in which the English
held their own. Yet it was certain that when fresh troops arrived
at La Free, Buckingham's position would be untenable, and at
last he reluctantly gave way to those who urged him to retreat.
Yet in the desperate condition in which he was, he was ready
to catch at any straw, and having heard that Toiras had but
500 men left capable of bearing arms,2 he talked openly of or-
dering an assault upon the fortress, though an assault
Attempted had long ago been regarded as a hopeless opera-
tion.3 On the morning of the 27th the attempt was
made. Toiras, probably through Buckingham's want of reticence,
about attacking the north side of Sebastopol after the battle of the Alma,
to say whether Buckingham was right or wrong in neglecting La Free.
Of coune he was blamed after the event for what he did, and Herbert,
who represents the talk of the camp, says (p. 50) that ' some of our ancient
and well-experienced soldiers thought fit to begin with it,' whilst ' the
pretenders to the Duke's favour advised him to begin with St. Martin's. '
I do not see, however, that anybody supposed that the Duke was strong
enough to attack both at once ; and the only question therefore is, whether
he would have been able at the same time to master La Free and to hinder
Toiras from provisioning St. Martin's, so as to make a blockade of that fort
practically impossible after La Free was captured. As matters stood in July,
there was no danger of the landing of the French troops at La Free, because
there were none to spare on the mainland. Such a danger did not arise till
October. It therefore seems to me to be a perfectly sustainable argument,
for those who care to embark on such speculations, that Buckingham took
the wisest course. All that I am concerned with, however, is to show that
he was not the mere infatuated being that history chooses to represent him.
1 Isnard, 184,
3 News- Letter, Nov. 5, S. P. Dom. Ixxxiv. 24.
* See the account of Courtney's conversation with Eliot, in Forster^
i. 403-
i62'/ FAILURE AND RETREAT. 197
was amply forewarned, and the troops from La Prde came
out to threaten the assailants in the rear. Even if secrecy had
been maintained, the operation would probably have failed.
The works of the citadel were intact, and the scaling ladders
were too short. After a useless butchery, Buckingham was
compelled to draw off his men.
Military prudence counselled instant retreat ; but Buck-
ingham had not learned to steel his heart against suffering.
The Rochellese urged him to protect them a little longer, whilst
they gathered in provisions from the island to replace those
which they had made over to the English army in the beginning
of the month.1 Neither could he bear to leave his own wounded
to the mercies of the enemy. The whole of the next
day was spent in shipping the injured men.2 On the
Oct. 29. morning of the 2pth it was too late. Marshal Schom-
The retreat berg, who had already landed with fresh troops at La
Martin's. Pr^e, advanced to the attack at the head of little less
than 6,000 men.
Preparations for retreat had been duly made. A wooden
bridge had been constructed across the marshes and the narrow
arm of the sea which separated the Isle of Rhe from the
smaller Isle of Loix,3 and this bridge was to have been guarded
by a fortified work, which would have enabled the troops to
embark in safety. Unhappily, by some blunder, the causeway
which led to the bridge from the side of the Isle of Rh£ was left
entirely undefended, whilst only the farther end of the bridge
on the lesser island, to which the troops were marching, was
guarded by an entrenchment. The French accordingly had but
to watch their opportunity. As soon as three regiments were over
they charged the handful of horse which had been left to guard
the passage.4 Yielding to the weight of numbers the English
1 hnard, 210.
z Crosby to Conway (?), Nov. 14 (?), S. P. Dom. Ixxxiv. 78.
3 Now joined to the larger island.
4 Crosby notes on this leaving sixty horse to meet 200, "An error never
to be sufficiently condemned in the Colonel-General and the Sergeant-
Major-General, to whom the Duke committed the retreat." If this is true,
and not a mere camp rumour, Buckingham was not responsible for the
details of the manoeuvres ol that day.
198 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE~. CH. LX.
horse gave way, and dashing in headlong flight towards the
bridge, threw the infantry into hopeless confusion. Almost at the
same time a body of French, who had pushed round the three
English regiments which had not 'crossed the bridge, fired upon
them in the rear. From that moment a sheer mas-
The slaugh-
ter on the sacre ensued. Two colonels were slam upon the spot.
Not a horseman succeeded in crossing the bridge.
" By this time," wrote the officer who had the command bt
the work beyond the bridge, " the Rochellese, having found
another way on the left hand through the salt-pits, made ex-
traordinary haste to the bridge, and wedged themselves into
the flank of Sir Alexander Brett's regiment then passing over,
by means whereof, the passage being choked up, the enemy
had the killing, taking, and drowning of our men at the bridge
at his pleasure, without any hazard, musqueteers being not
able to annoy them without endangering our own men." The
bridge, too, had no protection at the sides, and large numbers
fell over and were drowned. At first the soldiers who guarded
the entrenchment beyond the bridge were borne away by the
flying rout But, after a time, a knot of men was rallied by
the officers, and the French were driven back. At nightfall the
English were still in possession of the entrenchment
Early in the morning the bridge was set on fire, and
the remains of Buckingham's army were enabled to re-embark
at their leisure.1
Various accounts have been given of the numbers lost in
this disastrous retreat. The French claimed to have destroyed
Estimate of 2>ooo men. The English authorities would hardly
admit that more than 1,000 perished.2 If, however,
the ravages caused by warfare and disease during the preceding
weeks be taken into account, the entire English loss must be set
down at little less than 4,000 men. On October 20, 6,884 soldiers
drew pay at St. Martin's. On November 8 the embarkation
was effected without further difficulty, and after a short voyage
1 Crosby to (Conway ?), Nov. 14 (?), S. P. Dom. Ixxxiv. 78. Com-
pare Herbert, 224. The bird's-eye view given by Isnard brings the whole
scene before us.
* Herbert, 257.
1627 .A DISASTROUS RETREAT. 199
2,989 poor wretches, worn with hunger and enfeebled by disease,
were landed at Portsmouth and Plymouth.1
One of the colonels has left on record his opinion of the
proximate causes of the disaster. " It is not to be doubted,"
Causesofthe he says, " that the Duke had both courage, munifi-
disaster. cence, and industry enough, together with many other
excellent parts, which in time would make him a renowned
general. But his prime officers undervaluing his directions
because of his inexperience, and taking a boldness in regard of
his lenity to delinquents, did not only fail to co-operate with
him, but by giving out that he cared not to expose them all for
his own vainglory, had infused into a great part of the army
a mutinous disposition, insomuch as whatsoever was directed
touching our longer abode or any attempt ro be made upon
the enemy was either cried down, or so slowly and negligently
executed as it took none effect For instance, when it was re-
solved in council that the little fort should be besieged, they
obstinately declined it.2 On the other side, whatsoever tended
to the retreat was acted with all possible expedition ; as for
example, the shipping of all the brass cannon, whereunto they
had by surprise gotten his consent before the assault, by him-
self often repented of. In this distraction of affairs, the Duke
was forced to resort to new and private counsels, by which he
was then so guided that Dulbier, one author thereof, writing to
his friend in Holland, used these words :- l L? ignorance et la
dissention qu'est entre les Anglois, nfa faict vendre les coquittes 3 a
von marche.'"*
An inexperienced general, discontented commanders, and
a half-mutinous soldiery were enough to ruin any undertaking,
and it can hardly be denied that Buckingham's hesitation
during the last few days went far to convert a necessary retreat
1 Accounts of the number of soldiers, Oct. 20 ; Statement of the num-
bers, Nov., S. P. Dom. Ixxxii. 43, Ixxxv. 94.
* This cannot refer to the original question of besieging La Pre'e, but
to some later resolution, probably when the French were beginning to land.
' ' Bien vendre les coquilltt ' is ' tirer un profit exagcre' (fune operation
ou (fun setvice.' Littrl, s.v. coquille. Dulbier, on the contrary, sold his
shells chenp, i.e. got little for his pains.
4 Crosby to Conway (?), Nov, 14 (?)• & P- D°m- Ixxxiv. 78.
200 THE EXPEDITION TO RHE. CH. LX.
into a terrible disaster. Yet neither must it be forgotten that, ex-
cept when he ordered the assault, his fault lay simply in his mis-
calculation of chances over which he had no control. But for
the persistence of the south-west wind in the Channel, Holland
would have been at Rhe about October 24 or 25, and the firm-
ness of Buckingham in resisting the timid counsels of his subor-
dinates would have been one of the commonplaces of history.
As a man Buckingham gains much from an impartial exa-
mination of his conduct in this expedition. At least he was no
Buckingham carpet knight, no mere courtier dancing attendance
at Rhe. upon the powerful at banquets and festivities. No
veteran could have surpassed him in the readiness with which
he exposed his person to danger, and in his determination to
see all with his own eyes, to encourage the down-hearted, and
to care for the suffeiing of his men. After all, the charge which
history has to bring against Buckingham is not so much that he
failed in the expedition to Rlie", as that there was an expedition
to Rlie" at all. The politician, not the man, was at fault. Even
if the French war had been justifiable in itself, the idea of
undertaking it with no support but that of an alienated nation
was hazardous in the extreme. The south-west wind which
kept Holland in port was but a secondary cause of the disaster.
But for the thorough disorganisation of the English Govern-
ment, which was the clear result of the quarrel with the House
of Commons, Holland would have been able to start at least
a fortnight earlier, whilst the wind was still favourable to his
voyage. The position at Rhe after the succour had been thrown
into the fort was something like that of the allied armies before
Sebastopol after the failure of the first bombardment ; but the
allied armies had powerful Governments behind them, and the
British army at least had the support of a nation feverishly
anxious for the honour of its arms, and ready to pour forth its
treasures without stint to support the enterprise which it had
undertaken. Buckingham had nothing behind him but an
attached but incapable sovereign, and a handful of officials
rendered inert by the dependence in which he had kept them,
and by their knowledge of the ill-will with which every act of
theirs was scanned by the vast majority of the nation.
201
CHAPTER LXI.
PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT IN CHURCH AND STATE.
ON November 1 1 Buckingham landed at Plymouth. Although
he was met by information that a plot had been formed to
N murder him on his way to London, he refused to take
Bucking- any precautions. To his young nephew, Denbigh's
son, Lord Fielding, who offered to change clothes
with him in order to shield him from danger, he replied that
if his enemies believed him to be afraid of danger, he should
never be safe.1
The meeting between Buckingham and the King was ex-
tremely cordial. Charles threw the whole blame of failure upon
the delay in sending supplies. Though Buckingham was well
aware of the temper of his officers towards him, he had nothing
but commendation to bestow upon them.2 If he sometimes
used hard language, it was directed against the officials at home,
and he was even heard to charge the faithful Sir John Coke
with stabbing him in the back in his absence.3 His anger,
however, soon cooled down, and the lesson of his failure was
quickly forgotten in the excitement of preparation for fresh
enterprises. Already he was talking of an attack upon Calais.4
Whatever the plan finally resolved on might be, he was con-
templating nothing but the active resumption of hostilities.
1 Rel. Wottqnianfe, i. 229.
2 Conway to Sir E. Conway, Nov. 20, S. P. Dom. Ixxxv. II.
* Contarini to the Doge, ^' ", Yen. Transcripts.
4 The King to Buckingham, Nov. 14 ; misdated in Hardwicke S. P.
li. 21.
202 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
Very different was the conclusion drawn outside the charmed
circle of the Court. All through the summer news had been
Feding in eagerly looked for, and rumours, true or false, had
England. spread from mouth to mouth. In spite of the general
unpopularity of the Government, sympathy with the Protestants
of Rochelle was not dead, and the hopes of success which had
been raised from time to time caused the final blow, ' the great-
est and shamefullest overthrow,' as one letter-writer described
it, ' since the loss of Normandy,' to fall all the more heavily.
At first it was rumoured that not a single man or gun had been
brought away. l
Although the exaggeration of the tale was soon discovered,
every tongue was loosed in criticism, and the object of every
criticism was the Duke. The sins of every officer and soldier
fell, as was perhaps inevitable, upon the head of the contriver
of the ill-starred expedition. " The disorder and confusion,"
wrote Denzil Holies to his brother-in-law Wentworth, " was so
great, the truth is no man can tell what was done. This only
every man knows, that since England was England it received
not so dishonourable a blow. Four colonels lost, thirty-two
colours in the enemy's possession, but more lost, — God knows
how many men slain, — they say not above two thousand on our
side, and I think not one of the enemy's." 2
After this disaster, the resistance to the loan could no longer
be treated from a purely legal point of view. The reply given
. in the summer by George Catesby when his contri-
Effectofthis . .
feeling in bution was demanded, " I will be master of my own
resistance purse,"3 would have had a somewhat sordid appear-
ance if Charles had in reality required his money
on behalf of an undoubted necessity of State. It was now im-
possible for the King to place himself before the world as the
defender of his country's honour in the face of a factious Op-
position. A disaster worse than that of Cecil in 1625, a failure
worse than that of Willoughby in 1626, had crowned the efforts
of an ill-advised and reckless administration. Whoever favoured
' Letters to Meade, Nov. 16, Court and Times, i. 285.
* Holies to Wentworth, Nov. 19, Stratford Letters, i. 41.
1 Letter to Meade, Feb. 23, Court and 7'imes, i. 196.
1627 ECCLESIASTICAL PARTIES. 203
Buckingham and his designs stood forth, in the eyes of all but a
select circle of his admirers, as the worst enemy of his country.
As if to make Charles's difficulties yet greater, he had
allowed the political strife between himself and his people to
February, be still further embittered by involving it with the
ricaUKffi- ecclesiastical problem which was already hard enough
cuitie«. to solve. As soon as the demand for the loan had
been made, each theological party drew instinctively to the
side of its natural supporter. The Puritan, sharing as he did
in the general sentiment of the House of Commons, and asking
for nothing but the exclusive maintenance of a popular form
of doctrine, trusted for support to the conservative feelings of the
nation. The new school of Churchmen, thirsting for change
after the standard of an earlier age, looked to the Royal power
as the lever with which they hoped to effect their purposes.
It is in the nature of things that the political theories and
preferences of ecclesiastics should vary with the circumstances
in which they find themselves, and it is easy to conceive a
state of things in which Puritans would appeal to a Govern-
ment for support, and their opponents would throw them-
selves upon popular sympathies. Yet it is difficult to imagine
Churchmen of the stamp of Laud and Montague placing any
confidence in the general good- will of the people. They were
too scholar-like and refined, too much inclined to throw doubt
on the sweeping assertions which pass current with the multi-
tude, and at the same time too little conversant with the world,
to know how to bring their influence to bear upon those who
distrusted or disliked them. As their idea of Church govern-
ment was the idea of a system controlled by a minority of
learned men without any consideration for the feelings and
prejudices either of their learned antagonists or of the ignorant
multitude, they looked with fondness upon the Royal authority
which was alone able to give them the strength which they
lacked. " Defend thou me with the sword and I
Nature of
theRoyaiism will defend thee with the pen," the sentence with
Laudian which Montague concluded his Appello Casarem,
expressed the common sentiment of the whole party.
The predominance of Charles in the State meant the predomi-
204 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
nance of their own way of thinking, and the carrying out of
their own principles into action. They did not see how in-
sufficient these principles were for purposes of government.
They did not see that, even if their ideas had been all that they
fancied them to be, they were pinning their faith to the mere
personal prepossessions of the reigning Sovereign. If Charles
was their supporter and protector, who could say that his suc-
cessor might not support and protect their opponents ?
The future might take care of itself. For the present,
to magnify the King's authority was the one way of safety.
The King The Laudian party of Charles's reign was the least
ofeth-£tre ecclesiastical of all ecclesiastical parties. The great
system. Popes and Churchmen of the Middle Ages would
have branded them as recreants to the cause of spiritual
supremacy. It mattered little to them. In the King's authority
they saw their only refuge against the tyrannical domination of
the multitude, the only fulcrum by the aid of which they could
hope to move the world and to settle the English Church in
that secure and orderly form which was the object of their
aspirations.
Laud, preaching before the King when he opened his first
Parliament, chose for his text, " When I shall receive the con-
1625. gregation, I will judge according unto right. The
June 19. earth is dissolved, and all the inhabitants thereof : I
Laud s
sermon. bear up the pillars of it." The king, he declared,
" is God's immediate lieutenant upon earth ; and therefore one
and the same action is God's by ordinance, and the king's by
execution. And the power which resides in the king is not any-
assuming to himself, nor any gift from the people, but God's
power, as well in as over him." If the earth was not to dis-
solve, ' the king must trust and endear his people ; the people
must honour, obey, and support their king ; both king and
peers and people must religiously serve and honour God.'
The king, however, could not take the whole of the burden of
government upon himself. "There must be inferior judges
and magistrates deputed by the king for this : men of courage,
fearing God and hating covetousness. All judges, even this
great congregation, this great council, now ready to sit, receive
1625 LAUD'S POLITICAL THEORIES. 205
influence and power from the king, and are dispensers of his
justice as well as their own, both in the laws they make and in
the laws they execute ; in the causes which they hear, and in
the sentences which they give : the king God's high steward,
and they stewards under him." l
Even the Parliament then was but an instrument m the
King's hands, for ' counsel not for control,' as Charles after-
Nature of wards said. Laud's view, of the constitution was no
oiyohvee°rny. new theory evolved out of the recesses of his own
ment- mind. It was in the main the doctrine of the Tudor
sovereigns, the doctrine under which England had won its
national independence from Rome. The authority of the State,
according to this view, did not lie in the multitude, necessarily
ignorant and driven hither and thither by passion and pre-
judice. It lay with him whom God had placed at the helm,
and who knew better what was good for the people than they
could possibly know for themselves. This authority was his not
that he might gratify his own will, but that he might do judgment
and justice. As long as he did this he would be an instrument
in God's hands for bearing up the pillars of the world.
Many months had not passed since the delivery of this
sermon before everywhere men were beginning to look about
for some other theory to live by. Whatever they
influence might think about the King, they had no longer
eventJon any belief that his ministers wished to do judgment
and justice. It was not in the nature of things that
these views should be shared by Laud and his friends. To
them the House of Commons, which attacked Montague and
impeached Buckingham, had ceased to do judgment and justice,
and they clung all the more closely to the only power in Eng-
land which they believed to be willing to do them right.
In this temper they were found by the forced loan. Looking
with admiration upon the King's ecclesiastical policy, they cared
little about his foreign policy, and were willing to take
it upon trust. The victory of Parliament would be a
terrible blow to them, and they threw themselves eagerly upon
1 Laud's Works, i. 93.
206 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
Charles's side. One of them, Dr. Robert Sibthorpe, preaching
before the Judges at the Lent Assizes at Northamp-
Feb. 22. J ° . .....
sibthorpe's ton, set forth the royal pretensions with irritating
plainness of speech. It was the duty of the prince,
he said, to 'direct and make laws.' Subjects were bound to
pay active obedience to the king, except when his commands
were either impossible, or contrary to the laws of God or nature.
But even then they were not to resist him.1
Sibthorpe's sermon was by no means remarkable for ability,
but it might be useful as a manifesto in behalf of the loan, and
Archbishop Abbot was ordered by the King to license it for the
press. The sanction of the highest authority in the Church was
thus demanded for the loan, just as the sanction of the highest
authority iu the law had been demanded a few weeks before.
Abbot, however, proved as impracticable as Crew.
Abbot re- TT , ' , • • , •
fuses to He had no objection to make against the ceremonies
eit' of the Church, but his austere and ungenial mind
was thoroughly wedded to the Calvinistic system of doctrine,
and in consequence thoroughly opposed to Laud and his ways.
Something, too, of personal bitterness doubtless mingled with
nobler motives. Laud had supplanted him with Charles, as
Williams had supplanted him with James. Since Buckingham's
predominance had been undisputed, he had ceased to attend
the Privy Council, where his word was held to be of little worth.
He now fancied that the message which he had received
was a trick of Buckingham's to bring him into still further dis-
credit with the King, if he refused to do that which his con-
science forbade him to do.
Once before in his life Abbot had bearded a king, when he
refused to marry Somerset to the divorced Countess of Essex
July 4. He now again refused to conform to the royal or-
Abbotsent fars. The consequences which he predicted were
into confine- 1 . r
ment. not long in coming upon him. Independence could
not be suffered in the Church any more than on the Bench.
1 Through the kindness of Mr. Wil«on, of King William Street, Charing
Cross, I was able to obtain a sight of this sermon, Apostolical Obedience^
which I could not find in the Museum Library.
1 627 SIBTHORPE^S SERMON. 207
On July 4 Abbot was ordered to betake himself to Ford, a
mansion in Kent belonging to the see of Canterbury, and there
Oct. 9. to remain in confinement. On October 9 a further
A^1**'5 . indignity was placed upon him. The archbishopric
jurisdiction ° '
sequestered, could not be taken away, but he could be deprived
of his jurisdiction, on the plea that he was unable to attend
to his duties in person. The control of the Church courts was
placed in the hands of a commission of which Laud was the
leading spirit. Care would now be taken to keep in check
those who, contrary to the King's proclamation, ventured to
write books against Arminianism.1
Laud rose higher in the King's favour as Abbot fell. Hopes
had been given to him of succeeding eventually to the Arch-
Land strong bishopric of Canterbury, and now, on June 17, just
Kind's as Buckingham was sent to Rlie", Charles promised
favour. him the Bishopric of London as soon as a vacancy
occurred.2 As Buckingham imposed upon Charles by the
romantic side of his nature, filling his mind with the promise of
those great achievements upon which he loved to dwell, Laud
imposed upon him by his love of external authority and his con-
tempt for the popular will. Two such counsellors were enough
to ruin any prince.
By this time a licenser had been found for Sibthorpe's
sermon in the least reputable of the prelates then living. Mon-
Mays. taigne, Bishop of London, has been severely dealt
Sibthorpe-s wjtn by both Of the Church parties. "Which,"
sermon *
licensed by wrote Milton ironically of the condition of a primi-
Bishop
Montaigne, tive bishop, " what a plural endowment to the
many-benefice-gaping mouth of a prelate, what a relish it would
give to his canary-sucking and swan-eating palate, let old
1 Commission, Oct. 9, State Trials, ii. 1451. Abbot's narrative in
Rush-worth, i. 434. Fuller's blunder (vi. 42), that Abbot was suspended
for his 'casual homicide,' has been exposed by Heylyn, Examett, 206. But
it has probably done more than anything else to keep alive the belief that
Abbot's retirement from affairs was owing to that cause. The part which
he took in the Parliament of 1628, and which is only known by the revcla/-
tions of Elsin^s Notes, shows that he did not shrink from public activity
when he expected any good to come of it.
'' Heylyn, life of Laud, 174; Laud's Diary, Works, in. 196.
208 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
Bishop Montaigne judge for me." l Even Laud's admiring
biographer, Heylyn, spoke of him as 'a man inactive and ad-
dicted to voluptuousness, and one that loved his ease too
well to disturb himself in the concernments of the Church. 2
The year before he had made himself notorious by the vigour
with which he threw himself into the support of Buckingham's
candidature at Cambridge, and he had recently, in sending a
present to the Duke, assured him that he could not live if the
present were refused. For, he said, when God returns back a
man's sacrifice, it is because he is offended with him.3
Sibthorpe's sermon had, indeed, done much to exasperate
the popular feeling ; but there were others who were prepared
to go to greater lengths than he. In two sermons
Manwaring's preached before the King in July, Dr. Roger Man-
waring asserted in the strongest possible terms the
duty of obeying the King as the ordinance of God, on pain
of eternal damnation. The King represented the rule of
justice as opposed to that of mere numbers. He then applied
the argument to the refusers of the loan. " First," he said,
after a reference to those who appealed to Parliamentary right,
" if they would please to consider that though such assem-
blies as are the highest and greatest assemblies of a kingdom,
be most sacred and honourable, and necessary also to those
ends to which they were at first instituted ; yet know we
must, that ordained they were not to this end, to contribute
any right to kings, whereby to challenge tributary aids and
subsidiary helps ; but for the more equal imposing and more
easy exacting of that which unto kings doth appertain by
natural and original law and justice, as their proper in-
heritance annexed to their imperial crowns from their birth.
And therefore if by a magistrate that is supreme, if upon
necessity extreme and urgent, such subsidiary helps be re-
quired, a proportion being held respectively to the ability of
the persons charged, and the sum and quantity so required
surmount not too remarkably the use and charge for which it
was levied, very hard would it be for any man in the world
1 On Reformation in England. * Heylyn, Life of Laud, 174,
* Montaigne to Buckingham, March (?), 1627, S. P. Dom.
1627 MANWARIN&S SERMONS. 209
that should not accordingly satisfy such demands, to defend
his conscience from that heavy prejudice of resisting the ordi-
nance of God, and receiving to himself damnation ; though
every of those circumstances be not observed, which by the
municipal law is required.
" Secondly, if they would consider the importunities that
often may be urgent, and pressing necessities of State that
cannot stay without certain and apparent danger for the motion
and revolution of so great and vast a body as such assemblies
are, nor yet abide their long and pausing deliberation when
they are assembled, nor stand upon the answering of those
jealous and over- wary cautions and objections made by some
who, wedded overmuch to the love of epidemical and popular
errors, and bent to cross the most just and lawful designs of
their wise and gracious sovereign, and that under plausible
shows of singular liberty and freedom, which, if their con-
science might speak, would appear nothing more than the
satisfying either of private humours, passions, or purposes." 1
Such was the argument which Charles wished to see printed
for the instruction of his subjects. Even Laud remonstrated.
There were things in the sermon, he said, 'which would be
very distasteful to the people.' Charles was, however, resolute.
Montaigne was ordered to license the book, and Montaigne
once more did as he was bid.2
Posterity has wisely decided against the principles advocated
by Manwaring. Whatever the evils were which he attacked,
Manwaring's tne remedy which he proposed was undoubtedly
opinions. worse than the disease. Yet it would be unfair to
deny that the germ of much that was evil existed in the pre-
tensions of the House of Commons. In defending the rights
of the individual against arbitrary taxation, words were some-
times spoken which might be used to countenance that undue
reverence for property and vested rights which was the bane of
1 This extract, brought before the Lords by Pym, is printed in State
Trials, iii. 346. A copy of the two sermons, printed under the title
* Religion and Allegiance,' is in the Library of Sion College.
2 Stale Trials, iii. 351. Books might be licensed by the Archbishop
of Canterbury or the Bishop of London.
VOL. VI. P
2io PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
a later period, and to discountenance that higher ideal accord-
ing to which each man is called to justify his claims upon
society by arguments founded upon the welfare of the society
in which he lives. Nor is it possible to deny that the growing
ascendency of the House of Commons, desirable as it was, had
yet its ugly side ; that it might come to represent the interests
rather than the wisdom of the nation, and that, unless the
national mind were aroused to reverence for justice, it might be
as arbitrary as Charles had ever been, and as little inclined to
deal justly with those who were from any cause regarded with
detestation or contempt by any considerable majority of its
members.
It may reasonably be allowed that Parliaments no more
approach ideal perfection than kings are likely to approach it.
It was Manwaring's mistake that he exaggerated that which
was worst in the House of Commons, and that he exaggerated
still more that which was best in Charles. What he saw in the
Royal authority was that which enthusiastic dreamers always
imagine that they see in the government of their preference.
Royalty was to him what the Republic has been to many a
republican. What he sighed for was a ruler who would look
beyond the wants of the moment, beyond the petty exigencies
of partisan and private objects, to that ideal justice to which
the influence of wealth would be no seduction and the clamour
of ignorance no hindrance. The authority of kings, he asserts,
rising almost into poetic fervour as he. utters the words, is
derived directly from God. It has no dependence even upon
angels. Nothing in the world, nothing in the hierarchy of the
Church can restrain them. " No parts within their dominions,
no persons, under their jurisdictions, be they never so great,
can be privileged from their power, nor be exempted from their
care be they never so mean. To this power the highest and
greatest peer must stoop, and cast down his coronet at the
footstool of his sovereign. The poorest creature which lieth
by the wall or goes by the highway-side, is not without sundry
and sensible tokens of that sweet and royal care and provi-
dence which extendeth itself to the lowest of his subjects. The
way they pass by is the king's highway. The laws which make
i62/ KING AND PARLIAMENT. 211
provision for their relief take their binding force from the
supreme will of their liege lord. The bread that feeds their
hungry souls, the poor rags which hide their nakedness, all are
the fruit and superfluity of that happy plenty and abundance
caused by a wise and peaceable government."
The time would come when a triumphant Parliament
would be forced to hear from the lips of Cromwell that a great
objections to country cannot be ruled by mere law and custom,
the theory. whiist those who are entrusted with its guidance are
fattening upon the abuses which they have neither the will nor
the understanding to remove. In 1627 the immediate danger
did not lie here. Whatever Laud or Manwaring might think,
Charles's government was in no sense of the word a national
government, able to appeal to the higher needs of the people,
and to take its stand above disputing factions. How such a
government would rise upon the basis of the Parliamentary
institutions of the seventeenth century was the secret of the
future. The claim of Parliament to predominance had yet to
be rendered otherwise than intolerable by the admission of
the air of liberty and publicity within its walls to an extent
which the foremost men of Charles's reign found it impossible
to conceive. Yet even as it was, with all its faults, the hope
of England was in the House of Commons and not in Charles.
The Commons, it is true, had failed in apprehending the full
meaning of religious liberty ; they had made mistakes in their
mode of dealing with this or that action of the Crown ; but
the great principle that, when new circumstances call for new
modes of action, the course to be pursued must be resolved
upon in concurrence with those men whom the nation chooses
or allows to represent it, was the principle upon which the
greatness of England had rested in past ages, and the vindica-
tion of which was the business upon which the Parliaments of
Charles's day employed themselves for the benefit of posterity.
It was fitting that the first answer — if not to Manwaring's
sermons, at least to the spirit by which those sermons were
prompted— should proceed from Eliot, the man to whom the
House of Commons was the re presentative of as high a wisdom
as the King was to Manwaring, and to whom the old laws of
212 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI
England were not records of the dead past, telling a mingled
tale of wisdom and folly, but words fraught with stern resolve
and prophetic hope, in which a mighty nation had recorded
for all future time the conditions on which alone it would deign
to live, and from which no subsequent generation, on pain of
degradation, might dare to depart.
From his prison in the Gatehouse Eliot's petition was sent
to the King,1 humble in outward form, unbending in its firm
Eliot 'spe- reliance on the strength of the position it assumed.
the°G/te.m "Tne rulfi °f justice," he declared, "he takes to be
house. the law ; the impartial arbiter of government and
obedience ; the support and strength of majesty ; the observa-
tion of that justice by which subjection is commanded ; whereto
religion, adding to these a power not to be resisted, binds up
the conscience in an obligation to that rule, which, without
open prejudice and violation to those duties, may not be im-
peached."
Then came a string of quotations from statutes of the first
and third Edward directed against taxation without the consent
of Parliament, followed by the one clause which
affecting the bore directly upon the question of the loan. In the
reign of Edward III., on the petition of the Com-
mons, it had been ' established that the loans which are granted
to the King by divers persons be released, and that none from
henceforth be compelled to make such loans against their
wills, because it is against reason and the franchises of the land ;
and that restitution be made to such as made such loans.'
Looked at narrowly, it may perhaps be doubted how far
these words1 will bear the interpretation placed upon them
The case in the time of Edward III. appears to have been that
the Royal officers first compelled certain merchants to advance
beforehand customs which were not due for some months to
come, and subsequently refused repayment of the money thus
1 Printed in Forster's Eliot, i. 410. The petition seems to have been
generally adopted by others in like circumstances (Forster, 408, note 4);
but the language seems characteristic of Eliot, and I have no doubt that
he had at least a main hand in drawing it up, doubtless after consultation
with lawyers.
1627 ELIOT ON THE LOAN. 713
obtained.1 An advocate of the prerogative might perhaps ask
what this had to do with a demand made generally in a case
of pressing necessity, when the House of Commons had, as
he would say, taken advantage of the King's circumstances to
impose its will upon the Crown, in defiance of the constitu-
tion of the kingdom. It is, however, needless to pursue further
such investigations. The strength of Eliot's case lay precisely
in that which even he did not venture to say, that the necessity,
so far as it was a necessity at all, had arisen from sheer mis-
government, and that the appeal to a higher law than that of
the realm, which Charles was continually making, needed no
discussion, because no case had really arisen making such an
appeal needful.
Such is the point of view which the modern reader should
keep resolutely before his eyes. If the gentry who closed their
purses against the loan had believed that a real danger
Point of * e
view from existed, or that Buckingham's policy was really cal-
which the e -r\
question is to culated to advance the cause of Protestantism, they
would surely not have been extreme to mark any
deviation from the strict laws of constitutional propriety. Many
of them were the same men who in 1621 and in 1624 had kept
silence on the subject of the impositions, deeply as they felt
the wrong which had been done to them. Their belief that
the whole argument from necessity was based upon a fiction
must be taken for granted ; but it was none the less present
to their minds because they veiled it in silence before that
sovereign whom they longed to honour and reverence above all
human beings.
At last five of the prisoners— Sir Thomas Darnel, Sir John
Corbet, Sir Walter Erie, Sir John Heveningham, and Sir Ed-
mund Hampden — appealed to the Court of King's
Five of the
prisoners de- Bench for a habeas corpus, in order that they might
fiZhfat e' know what their offence had been. On November 15
they were brought to the bar, and the 22nd was ap-
pointed for the argumen*- of their counsel.
Four notable lawyer.,, Bramston, Noy, Selden, and Cal-
1 25 Edw. III., Rolls of Parliament, ii. 239, compared with ii. 230.
*I4 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
throp appeared for the defence. It was admitted on both sides
NOV. 22. that the King and the Council had a right to commit
The defence. to prison • DUt it was held on the part of the de-
fendants that the cause of committal must be expressed in order
that the case might come before the Court of King's Bench,
which would proceed to bail the prisoner or to remand him to
prison, if it saw fit, till the day of trial came. From this point
of view the King and the Privy Council would be reduced to
the position occupied in less important cases by ordinary jus-
tices of the peace. They would merely prepare the case for
the King's Bench, and if they were too long in their prepara-
tions, the judges, on being appealed to, would set the prisoner
at liberty on bail.
Whether this theory were right or wrong, it is certain that
for many years it had not tjeen in accordance with the practice.
The Privy Council had again and again kept persons in prison,
as dangerous to the State, without attempting to bring them
to trial,1 and those so imprisoned had patiently awaited their
deliverance from the King's mercy, without venturing an appeal
to a court of justice. On their side the Privy Councillors
had taken their own time in preparing accusations, sometimes
because fresh evidence was expected, sometimes because they
had reasons for keeping the prisoner shut up as long as pos-
sible.
Inspired by the indignation which had blazed up everywhere
on the imposition of the loan, these four lawyers now stood
forward to plead that all this was utterly illegal. They
Argument . . , , ...... „.
from Magna had much to say in defence of their position. The
Great Charter, they urged, declared that ' no man
should be imprisoned except by the legal judgment of his peers,
or by the law of the land,' and these latter words, they said, were
interpreted by certain statutes of the time of Edward III. to
mean ' due process of law,' which an examination before the
Privy Council was not. They then drew attention to the con-
sequences which would result from any other interpretation.
1 Arabella Stuart, for instance, and more recently the Earl of Arundel,
for whom no claim had been put forward, except when Parliament was
-titling.
1627 THE FIVE KNIGHTS^ CASE. 215
If the Privy Council could imprison without showing a cause
upon which the Court of King's Bench could act, a man might
never leave his prison till he was released by death. The argu-
and from ment was followed by a long string of precedents in
precedents. wnich persons committed by the Privy Council had
been brought before the King's Bench to be bailed as a pre-
paration for trial.
When the argument was concluded, the decorum of the
place was startled by unusual sounds. Men shouted out their
Effectofthe approval and clapped their hands for joy.1 Even
argument. the judges themselves were shaken. " Mr. Attorney,"
said Jones, "if it be so that the law of Magna Carta and other
statutes be now in force, and the gentlemen be not delivered
by this Court, how shall they be delivered ? Apply yourselves
to show us any other way to deliver them." " Or else," said
Doderidge, "they shall have a perpetual imprisonment."
Heath was not likely to startle the Court by placing his
argument for the Crown in an extravagant form. The prece-
NOV. 26. dents on the other side he met by showing, at least
argument for to his own satisfaction, that they were all cases in
the Crown, which the King had voluntarily handed over the
prisoners to be dealt with in the King's Bench, and that they
therefore proved nothing as to the course which the Court
ought to take if the King refused to do so. Further, he urged
that due process of law extended to committals by the King,
just as it extended to committals by the House of Commons, and
that therefore the Court of King's Bench had no right to inter-
fere. In Queen Elizabeth's time the judges, as was proved by a
statement alleged— incorrectly as it afterwards appeared — to
have been drawn up by Chief Justice Anderson, had decided,
after due consultation, that the King was not bound in all cases
to show cause. For, as Heath argued, one of two things might
happen. There might be persons who had committed no crime
which would bring them under the ordinary penalties of the law,
but whose liberty would be dangerous to the State. In support
of this theory he referred to the children of an Irish chieftain,
1 — ^— to Meade, Nov. 23, Court und Times, i. 292.
2l6 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI
who had themselves done no wrong, but who had been con-
demned to a lifelong imprisonment in the Tower, lest their libe-
ration should be the signal for a revolution in Ireland. Upon
this branch of his argument, however, the Attorney- General
did not lay much stress. The days were long passed when —
in England at least — any individual was likely to be dangerous
from his social position, and Heath had more to say on the
other branch of his argument. It was the duty of the Privy
Council to prepare matters for trial. These matters, often in-
volving the discovery of deeply laid plots, frequently demanded
a long time to disentangle their intricacies. If the cause of
committal were at once signified, and the trial hurried on, accom-
plices would escape and the ends of justice would be frustrated.
All that the judges were asked to do was to trust the King so
far as to take it for granted that he had good reasons for with-
holding the case for the present from their knowledge.
The next day judgment was delivered. If Coke had been
upon the Bench he would probably have seized the opportunity
NOV 28 °^ assertmg th6 supremacy of the Court over all
Thejudg- causes whatever. But Hyde was not a Coke ; and
though the other judges — Whitelocke, Doderidge,
and Jones — were honourable men, they were not likely to see
their way clearly in so difficult a path. The judges took a
middle course.1 Adopting Heath's view of the statutes and
1 Whitelocke, when examined in the House of Lords, declared that
the prisoners might have had a fresh habeas corpus the next day, and that
the Judges only took time to advise. " I did never see nor know," he
said, "by any record that upon such a return as this a man was bailed, the
King not first consulted with in such a case as this. The Commons' House
do not know what letters and commands we receive, for these remain in
onr Court and are not viewed by them. " I do not understand these last
words as implying that there were private solicitations and threats addressed
to the Judges, for these could not be said to remain in court. I fancy the
argument is that the Judges had a right to decide whether they would
liberate or no, and that they ought to decide in favour of liberty if the pris-
oner remained in prison too long ; but that the special mandate of the King
was a primd facie argument that there was a good cause, though it was not
expressed. All that was needed was that the Judges should be convinced
that there was a good cause, and for this it was not necessary to have the case
1627 BAIL REFUSED. 217
precedents, they held that it would he impertinence on their
part to hasten the King's proceedings. They therefore refused
to admit the prisoners to bail ; but, on the other hand, they
refused to leave any evidence on the records of the Court that
they held that the Crown might persistently refuse to show
cause.1
It was perhaps best as it was. The question in debate
opened up so many issues too wide to be determined by the de-
The question cision of a purely legal tribunal, that it was well that it
not settled, should be discussed in an assembly more competent
to rise to the height of the great argument. For it is evident
that Heath's strongest point as a lawyer would be his weakest
when he came to appeal to statesmen. The judges might
nesitate to sanction a doctrine which might allow a wily
Pretender to the crown to wander about untouched on English
soil, or might force on the premature disclosure of the clue by
which the Government hoped to come upon the traces of some
second Gunpowder Plot. The multitude, which had broken
through the stern rules of etiquette by applauding the popular
lawyers a week before, knew full well that nothing of the kind
was really at issue at the moment. Eliot and Hampden had
no influence in England beyond that of the principles which
they professed. It was a matter of notoriety that there was no
fresh evidence to be collected, no deep conspiracy to be tracked
in its secret windings. If all that Charles wanted was to obtain
the decision of the Court of King's Bench upon the legality of
the loan, he might have sent every one of the prisoners to trial
months before as easily as he could now.
Yet the prospect of seeing the legality of the King's pro-
ceedings discussed in Parliament seemed more distant than
ever. The Duke talked confidently of ruining French commerce,
and of carrying on the war for many years.2 He argued that
argued in open court. This information they would derive from « letters
and commands,' and would exercise the discretion which a police magis-
trate now exercises when he grants a remand upon application in open court,
on the -ground that the evidence is not complete. Rushworth, i. <>6o«
1 State Trials, iii. I.
8 Contarini to the Doge, Dec. --, Ven. Transcripts, R. 0.
1 1 3 PREROGA TIVE GO VERNMENT. CH. LXI.
what had happened was no fault of his. His honour was safe.
He had been deserted by those who ought to have succoured
The Duke's mm at home. But, whatever the explanation might
difficulties, be, there was no turn in the tide of his mishaps. In
the beginning of December it was settled that Carlisle should
go upon the Continent, to take up the web of intrigue which
Walter Montague1 had spun. In a few days news arrived that
an officer commissioned by Richelieu had swooped
W. Monta- . - , ,
gue seized by down upon Montague as he was passing through
10 ' Lorraine, and, in spite of the protection of neutral
territory, had carried him and his despatches to Paris. Mon-
tague was lodged in the Bastille. His papers, with all they had
to tell of intrigues with the Dukes of Savoy and Lorraine and
with the French aristocracy, were under the cold, penetrating
eyes of the Cardinal.2
At home matters were in the greatest possible confusion.
Before the end of November Buckingham had gone to Ports-
mouth, and had distributed money in his affable way
money at amongst the soldiers and sailors ; 3 but he could do
no more than satisfy them for a time. His back
was hardly turned when letter after letter came to assure him
that everything was in disorder.4 At Plymouth the sailors
were stealing and selling the soldiers' arms ; all were without
Miseryofthe sufficient clothes in the wintry weather ; the ships
sailors. were leaky, and there were scarcely sailors enough
on board to carry them round to the Medway to be docked at
Chatham.5 The soldiers were paid till the loth of December,
but there was no means of doing anything more.6 Captain
Mason was sent down to set matters straight, but he reported
that Sir James Bagg, whose business it had been to pay the
1 See page 167.
2 Contarini to the Doge, Dec. — ; Beaulieu to Puckering, Dec. 12, 19.
Meade to Stuteville, Dec. 15, Court and Times, i. 303-307. Richelieu,
Memoires,
* Contarini to the Doge, ^ '", Yen. Transcripts, R. O.
4 Bagg to Buckingham, Nov. 29 ; Courtney to Buckingham, Nov. 29,
S. P. Dam. Ixxxv. 61, 64.
1 Holland to Buckingham, Dec. 5, ibid. Ixxxvi. 15.
• Bagg t - Buckingham, Dec. 7, ibid. Ixxxvi. 77.
1627 MONEY MUST BE HAD. 219
men. had received large sums for which he was unable or un-
willing to account1 At Portsmouth matters were even worse.
Many of the ships' companies prepared to desert in a body, and
to march up to Whitehall with their complaints. It was only
upon a false assurance that money was coming to relieve them
at Christmas, that they consented to remain on board. They
had not, they said, been paid for ten months. Their clothes
were worn out, and they knew not what to do.2
If the sailors were in evil plight no one suffered but them-
selves. The soldiers billeted about the country spread the
The soldiers' mischief in all directions. It was bad enough for a
outrages. quiet countryman to be forced to entertain, for due
payment, a number of rough young men whose character before
they were pressed into the service was probably none of the
best ; but when payment did not come the burden threatened
to become utterly unendurable. The Irish quartered in Essex
were especially obnoxious to the peasant. They treated him
and his family as the dust beneath their feet. They flung about
the goodwife's household utensils. They broke the furniture,
and threw the meat into the fire if it did not suit their tastes.3
A German peasant would perhaps have wondered at their
gentleness, and would have thanked God that they did not
proceed to graver outrages still In England, what was done
was enough to rouse public indignation in classes which the
loan had hardly reached.
At all costs money must be had. The loan had brought in
on the whole 236, ooo/., only 52,ooo/. less than the sum origin-
Means pro- ally expected.4 There was a talk, if rumour might
™u1ngfor be believed, of recurring to a fresh loan ; * but the
money. idea, if it was ever seriously entertained, was soon
abandoned, excepting so far as io,ooo/. were extracted on some
pretence or other from the Six Clerks of the Court of Chancery.
1 Mascn to Buckingham, Dec. 13, S. P. Dow. Ixxxvi. 70, 75.
1 Watts to Buckingham, Dec. 16, ibid. Ixxxvi. 83, 86.
* The inhabitants of Maldon to the Council, with inclosures, Feb. IO
(?), S. P. Dom. xcii. 85.
4 State of the loan up to Nov. 30, ibid. Ixxxv. 77.
» to Meade, Nov. 30, Co^^rt and Times, i. 296.
«ao PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
The only resource left was the mortgage or sale of Crown lands.
In this way 143,0007. were obtained in the half-year beginning
at Michaelmas, and on December 1 7 the City of London agreed
to pay i2o,ooo/. by instalments on the security of the King's
rents from landed property.1
The whole sum thus obtained was 263,0007. ; but even this
amount, large as it was, did not cover the deficit of the past
Pressing year> tne anticipations on the revenue on December
necessities. 2g amounting to 319,0007., 2 or little less than two-
thirds of the whole ordinary revenue of the Crown. Even if
this could be paid off, the pressuHe of the preparations for war
was enormous. Together with the recruits which had been
levied to reinforce Buckingham at Rhe, there were now 7,557
land soldiers and 4,000 seamen, entitled to pay at the rate of
20o,ooo/. a year. If fifty sail were to be sent out in the spring,
iio,ooo/. more would be needed for repairs and munitions,3
and there was besides the immediate necessity of providing
and sending out the provisions urgently wanted by Rochelle
before its supplies were cut off by the besieging forces.
The one thing needed was to make peace. Peace, how-
ever, was the last thing of which either Buckingham or Charles
thought. The dislike of the French war, which was universal
in the nation, had settled down even upon the Privy Council.
Some of its members were less outspoken than others; but
those who had the best opportunities of judging were of opinion
that Charles and the Lord High Admiral stood alone in their
resolution to resist all reasonable overtures of peace.
Not, indeed, that Charles and Buckingham acknowledged the
case to be so in their own minds. When the King of France
Charles de- sent back the prisoners taken at Rhe without demand-
"r^fng on m§ a ransom,4 the Venetian ambassador thought it a
the war. fajr opportunity to urge Charles to meet these ad-
vances in a conciliatory spirit " I will not say," was the King's
! Proceedings of the Common Council, Dec. 17, S. P. Dom. Ixxxvi. 97.
* List of anticipations, Dec. 29, ibid. Ixxxvii. 63.
1 Note of charges, Dec. 22, S. P. Dom. Ixxxvii. 35.
4 Contarini to the Doge, Dec. j|, Ven. Transcripts, K. 0,
1627 CHARLES DEFENDS HIMSELF. 221
reply, " that the retreat was fortunate, but neither can I assert
that it was ruinous. My intentions were always directed towards
the common cause, without the remotest thought of ever gain-
ing a span of territory from France, knowing that circumstances
were unsuited to such a design. Had not the King my brother
allowed me to give a guarantee for the Huguenots, I should
never have stirred. But as his intentions were always false and
feigned, as appeared by his actions in the employment of
Mansfeld, in the league for the Valtelline, and in the affair of
the edicts he promised to the Huguenots, I deemed it a lesser
evil to have him for an open enemy than to have him for a
false friend, m order that I might prevent his corrupt policy
from taking effect. I am aware that this is not the moment
for calling him to account for the lesser injuries he has done
me. Whenever he makes me think he is of the same mind
with myself, I shall readily join him in the relief of Germany.
" But he is determined to destroy Rochelle, and I am
determined to support it ; for I will never allow my word to
be forfeited.
" I believe that the safest plan would be to recommence
operations, and to send an army of 20,000 men to Rochelle,
from which point succour could be given to the whole Huguenot
body. I am convinced that in this way I and the King of
France will be the sooner friends."
In much the same way Buckingham spoke " The French,"
he said, " have vowed to destroy Rochelle, and we to preserve
Bucki-g- ik As l°ng as 'his punctilio exists there is no use
ham'sviews. jn treating or speaking of peace. Let all men beware
of dealing with Frenchmen, for they are thoroughly false." l
With such sentiments as these peace was hopeless. Yet
how were the growing expenses of the war to be met ? Buck-
ingham, audacious as ever, advocated the calling of a Parlia-
ment. The last of all men to believe that his actions would
not stand the light, he threw himself on his knees before the
1 Contarini to the Doge, ,ec' '3, Ven. Transcripts. R. 0. As I have
• ' Jan. 2
merely a translation of a translation to give, I have altered some of the
less important words, so as to bring out the sense more clearly.
222 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
King. If he were found worthy of death, he said, let them
not spare him.1 After Christmas he made the same proposal
in open council, but the King would not hear of such a
measure. The Councillors knew not what to think when they
heard the great Duke pleading for once in vain. They fancied
there was some collusion, and that the scene had been pre-
arranged for the purpose of winning popularity for the favourite.
Then was seen the effect of such predominance as Bucking
ham's upon the men whom he had trained to flatter, not to
counsel. Not a man ventured to open his mouth to give
advice. The sovereign and the favourite were isolated at the
council board as they were in the nation.2
It is far more likely that Buckingham expressed his real
opinions. The Council, however, had to obey the King, and
they were called upon to discuss the best means
the Council of filling up the deficiency irregularly.3 They were
' first asked to declare whether they would themselves
render obedience to any resolution which might be taken.
Proposed Upon their answering in the affirmative, they came to
excise. fac conclusion that some excise upon commodities
— beer or wine to begin with — would be necessary. And yet
how was it to be done ? Persuasion, it was generally recognised,
would be of no avail. Any attempt to impose the new taxes
by force would be met by an appeal to the courts of law, and
the courts of law were certain to decide against the Crown.
The only resort from this difficulty would be a proclamation,
the contravention of which would be punishable in the Star
Chamber.
1 Meade to Stuteville, Dec. 15, Court and Times, \. 304.
* Contarini to the Doge, Jan. ~, Ven. Transcripts, R. O.
* This debate in the Council is from a paper which was used by Hallam
(Hargrove MSS. 321, p. 300). It is a modern copy taken by some one
who could not properly read the original, and is in some parts unintelligible.
Its date is not given ; but from a statement in Contarini's despatch last
quoted, that the Council had been occupied with schemes for laying im-
positions on commodities, I have no doubt that the discussion took place
in the last week of the year. At all events, as the King's last words show,
it must have been before Jan. 30.
r627 DEVICES FOR GETTING MONEY. 223
It would be interesting to know from whom the last lecom-
mendation proceeded ; but the brief notes which alone have
reached us are silent on this head Whoever the bold man may
have been, the King felt himself called upon once more to
justify so unheard-of a proceeding. " If there were any other
way," he said, " I would tarry for your advices. I can find no
other real way. For the particulars, I have thought of some.
If you can find any easier, I will hearken to it. To call a
Parliament, the occasion will not let me tarry so long."
Was it really only the want of time which hindered the
calling of a Parliament ? At all events the courtiers were bound
to believe that it was so. When the King proceeded to support
the plan for an excise upon beer and wine, they all assented
to the wisdom of the proposal. Suffolk, Laud, and Weston
agreed that something of the kind must be done. Buckingham
spoke at greater length. In obedience to Charles he had by
this time abandoned the idea of a Parliament, and he fell back
upon the idea of strengthening the throne by military force,
which he had entertained in 1624.' "Had you not spent all
your own means," he is reported to have said, addressing the
King, " and yet your friends lost, I would not have advised this
way. But being raised to defend religion, your kingdoms, and
your friends, I see no other way but this. Neighbour kings are
now beyond you in revenue . . . therefore, not I, but necessity
pf affairs." The army, he went on to say, would require 200,000^.,
and 3<Do,ooo/. would be needed for the navy. The army would
be kept at home as a standing force of 11,000 men,
force pro- in readiness to be employed in the relief of Rochelle
or of the King of Denmark, as the case might re-
quire. On December 29 it was formally resolved that a fleet
of 100 sail should be got ready in the ensuing summer.8 To
the demand for an army, apart from any expeditionary force
to be actually employed for a definite purpose, all who spoke,
with the single exception of Sir John Savile, gave their ap-
probation. As a military measure it would be an admirable
precaution to have a standing depot at home ; but what would
1 See Vol. V. p. 195. * Council Register, Dec. 29.
824 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
be its effect upon the civil constitution ? Were the armed men,
in the intervals of fighting at Rochelle or in Denmark, to force
the new taxes upon England in defiance of courts of law and
universal indignation ? ' Nor was this the only danger. Dulbier,
i6zg now Buckingham's chief military adviser, was to be
January, sent over to Germany with Sir William Balfour to
tangent levy a thousand German horse, who were to form the
cavalry of this force. It would probably be hard to
convince those who heard the news that nothing more than a
mere measure of military precaution was intended. That Dul-
bier's horsemen were intended as a threat to the English oppo-
nents of the Government is a belief which has been frequently
adopted by modern writers. But, after all, there is one cir-
cumstance which militates against this interpretation. Already,
on December 29, the King had declared his intention of re-
viewing the cavalry of the militia of the ten counties nearest
London ;2 and it seems incredible that, if Charles had really
intended to suppress resistance by the sword, he should think
of calling out a body of armed men who, as drawn from a class
whose possessions were larger than those of the foot militia,
were hardly likely to stand by in silence whilst their countrymen
were being trodden down by a handful of German horse.
Probably, after all, nothing more was meant by Balfour and
Dulbier's commission than met the eye. It would only be one
more example of Charles's extreme ignorance of the people
amongst whom he lived if he fancied that he could summon
1 Conway to the Clerk of the Signet, Jan. 14, S. P. Doni. xc. 80.
The last suspicion was strongly entertained by Contarini in his despatch of
P"' 2 . Mr. Forster (Sir J. Eliot, \. 417) has suggested that they were in-
tended to overawe the Parliament. But the arrangements were made before
a Parliament was determined on. Still there may have been some eventual
intention of this kind. Mr. Forster was aware that the order for the money
for Balfour and Dulbier was signed on the joth of January. But he does
not seem to have noticed Conway's letter for its preparation as early as
the I4th. That Dulbier's horsemen were to be Roman Catholics is a later
invention. They were levied in North Germany, and were subsequently
transferred to the army of Gustavus. Dulbier was taken prisoner by Tilly
at New Brandenburg. Charles wrote in vain to request his liberation.
* Council Register, Dec. 20.
1628 A PROPOSED EXCISE. 225
them to his defence at the same time that he was pressing them
down with illegal taxation, and flaunting in their eyes the ban-
ners of his foreign mercenaries.
The deliberations of the Council about raising money
dragged on more slowly than their deliberations about raising
men. The more the subject was discussed the less easy it
must have seemed to venture upon so flagrant a breach of the
law as the scheme which had been mooted. Avowedly
The pro- . . . . t i i *
posed excise or tacitly the proposed excise was abandoned for a
time. The next scheme which rose and died away
was one to compel every parish to keep three armed men in
readiness at its own cost, thus producing a force of rather more
than 30,000 men. Towards the end of January the Council as-
sembled daily. One plan after another was discussed, and some
even took heart to maintain, in the face of the King and the
Duke, that it would be better to withdraw altogether from the
Continent, and to be content with maintaining a strong defence
at home. No names are given, but the counsel is attributed to
the Spanish faction, the old opponents of the war, of whom
Weston was the sole remaining Privy Councillor, though he
may possibly have been supported by other voices at such a
time.1
Nor was this the only unpalatable advice to which Charles
was compelled to listen. Those who were disinclined to with-
draw altogether from interference on the Continent told him
plainly that the only alternative was a Parliament.2 One ob-
stacle, indeed, no longer stood in the way. On January 2
orders 3 had been given that the prison doors should
Release of
thep.isoners be opened to those who had been confined for their
inent about refusal to pay the loan. Seventy-six persons in all,
some imprisoned, some in banishment in different
counties, were -permitted to return home, but we may be certain
that not one of the whole number felt the slightest gratitude for
> Contarini to the Doge, Jan. ™' 2°' ^"b"8. V™- Transcripts, R. 0.
* Council Register, Jan. 2.
* The King to the Council ; the King to Worcester, Jan. 25, S. f.
Dom. xci. 52. Docquet Book.
VOL. VI. Q
226 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. Lxr.
the word which had unbarred the doors closed upon them by
the decree of arbitrary power.
On January 25 the King, who had not yet consented to
summon Parliament, ordered a fresh issue of Privy seals, the
old resource of the forced loan under another form.
Jan. 25
Privy seals The next few days were spent in urging upon the
proposed. unwilling Charles the necessity of calling a Parlia-
ment. The leading personages at Court1 — their names have
not reached us — gave their personal guarantee that no attempt
should be made to renew the Duke's impeachment.
Jan. 30.
Parliament At a late hour on the night of the 3oth Charles gave
eet' way, and orders were given that writs should be issued
for a new Parliament.2
Nothing, however, was further from Charles's intention than
to place himself without conditions in the hands of the House
of Commons. As sheriffs were chosen in November, it was too
late to have recourse in January to the manoeuvre which had
been practised two years before ; but various schemes were
canvassed for making the Lower House pliable. It is even said
that it was proposed to issue a proclamation excluding all law-
yers from sitting, and it was decided that any attempt to touch
the Duke should be followed by an immediate dissolution. In
that case the King would consider himself no longer bound
by the laws and customs of the realm.3
Parliament was not even to be allowed the option of giving
or refusing. It was to meet on March 1 7, and the fleet was to
put to sea on the ist. A scheme for levying subsidies before
they were granted approved itself highly to Charles's mind.
His fleets since 1625 had been largely composed of vessels
demanded from the port towns and the maritime counties. The
idea of a universal ship-money to be levied in every county
in England seemed to him to be merely a further extension of
1 Pembroke, one would guess a likely man.
2 The date, with the rest of the facts, I get from Contarini's despatch of
J.an' -1. He is more likely to know than Me.ade, who gives Jan. 28.
fee. 10
Ian. 21
Contarini to the Doge, vr-g — , Veil, Transcripts, fi. O.
IG28 PROPOSED LEVY OF SHIP-MONEY. 227
the old principle. On February 1 1 letters were issued to all the
Feb. ii. shires. The distress of the King of Denmark, the
tohbe coi"ey ru*n °f English commerce in Germany and the Baltic,
kcted. the danger to Rochelle and the Protestant religion,
and the possibility of invasion from France and Spain were
made the most of. It was asserted that the fleet must go to sea
before Parliament could be brought together, and it was stated
that if the money were paid at once the King would allow Parlia-
ment to meet ; if not, he would think of some other way. The
sum assessed upon each county must be levied and paid into
the Exchequer by March i. The whole sum demanded in
England was*i73,ooo/.1 On the i5th the clergy were ordered
to pay 2o,ooo/. as a free gift.2
A few days brought wiser counsels. Lord Northampton,
when he made the unheard-of demand in Warwickshire, of
which county he was Lord Lieutenant, was told to his face that
he had promised that the last loan should be repaid, and was
asked how he could expect to draw more money from the sub-
jects' purses. In Berkshire the Earl of Banbury, the honest
Wallingford of James's reign, refused to raise his voice in favour
of ship-money, on the ground that he had engaged, if the loan
were paid, never to ask anything unparliamentary again. Such
words were doubtless but samples of others uttered all over
The orders England. Charles swiftly drew back, revoked his
revoked. letters, and hung up ship-money in the Royal armoury
of projects to be used as occasion might require.3
Charles, however, could not understand that the insuperable
objection which his subjects appeared to entertain towards
the payment of ship-money extended to all unpar-
CommisMon liamentary taxation whatever. On February 29 he
:ise' issued a commission to the leading members of the
Privy Council, directing them to consider all the best and
speediest ways and means of raising money ' by impositions or
1 The King to the Sheriffs of Anglesea, Feb. u ; List of the sums
levied on the counties (Feb. li), S. P. Dom. xcii. 88, 93.
2 The King to Archbishop Abbot, Feb. 15, S. P. Dom, xcrii. 39.
* Beaulieu to Puckering, Feb. 20 ; Meade to Stuteville, Feb. 22,
Court an^ Tim-t, \ 322 324.
Q2
228 PREROGATIVE GOVERNMENT. CH. LXI.
otherwise ' as they might think best, ' in a case of this inevitable
liecessity, wherein form and circumstance must be dispensed
with rather than the substance be lost or hazarded.' l
That Charles should have imagined it to be possible that
he could raise money in such a manner is indeed strange.
All that can be said is that he was in desperate
o ockade straits. While he was racking his brains Rochelle was
elle< perishing. Ever since November the city had been
blockaded. A line of entrenchments cut it off from all com-
munication with the country around, and the Cardinal, in the
midst of the winter storms, restlessly superintended the erection
of two vast piers projecting from either side'of the long
harbour to bar the passage of succours from without The
Rochellese, bold seamen as they were, had not force enough
FO resist the Royal fleet. Their deputies reminded Charles
that: they had deprived themselves of provisions to supply
Buckingham's wants, and Charles felt it a point of honour
to restore the means of subsistence of which he had stripped
them.
Denbigh was to take command of the convoy which was to
protect the store-ships laden with supplies for Rochelle ; but
Denbigh at trie same causes which had hindered Holland stood
Plymouth. m the wav of jjjg departure. The convoy was not
ready, and the bread, beer, and cheese were spoiling in har-
' bour.2 On March 15 everything was in disorder.
The ships needed repairs. Men ran away as soon
as they were pressed. The 26th was talked of as the day on
which all would be ready. But unless six hundred men could
be pressed and kept from deserting, the fleet could not sail.3
On land matters were as bad. At Banbury, encouraged
perhaps by the near neighbourhood of Lord Saye, men refused
to contribute to the billeting of the soldiers. In Dorsetshire,
when the promised payments from the Exchequer were not
forthcoming, the men were turned out of doors to steal or
1 Commission, Feb. 29. Par/. Hist. ii. 417.
2 Burlamachi to Conway, Feb. (?), S. P. Dom. xciv. 103.
* Denbigh to Buckingham, March 15 ; Manwaring to Buckingham,
March 16, S. P. Dom. xcvi. 3, n.
1628 THE ELECTIONS. 229
starve.1 It might be feared that, unless money could be found
speedily, all England would be in an uproar.
All this while the elections were going on, and with a few
rare exceptions they vent against the Crown. Those who had
refused the loan were sure of seats. The House when it met
would be as stern in its opposition to illegal measures as the
Parliament of 1626.
1 Banbury to Manchester, Feb. 28 ; Deputy Lieutenants of Dorset-
shire to Suffolk, March I, S. P. Dam. xciv. 73, xcv. 8.
230
CHAPTER -LXII.
THE PARLIAMENTARY LEADERSHIP OF SIR THOMAS
WENTWORTH.
ON March 1 7 the Houses met. The sermon was preached by
Laud, on the text, " Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace." The tone of the sermon was
March 17. r .
Laud's somewhat plaintive. Three years before he had set
forth, in the presence of the first Parliament of the
reign, his theory of the constitution.1 The King was to do
judgment and justice ; the Parliament, by its knowledge of all
that was passing in the realm, was to give him information
which would enable him to govern with full understanding.
The hope that this would be a picture of Charles's reign
had turned out to be a dream, and the preacher had no other
explanation to give than the evils of distraction and discord
against which he warned his hearers.2
It never entered into Laud's head that he was doing his
best to foment the distraction and discord which he deplored,
The meeting by teaching Charles the lesson which he was already
oftheCoin-rs to° Prone to learn, that he had nothing but informa-
mons. tion to look for from his subjects. The events of
the past year had brought the King's authority in question in a
way in which it had not been brought in question before. A
few days before the opening of the session a meeting of the
leading members of the House of Commons had been held at
the house of Sir Robert Cotton. There was a general feeling
1 See p. 204. " Laud's Works, \, 149.
1628 THE OPENING OF THE SESSION. 231
that the attack upon Buckingham should not be repeated, and
Eliot, who was of the contrary opinion, withdrew his opposition
in the face of the general sentiment, reserving his right to revert
to his original position at some future time. To the others it
was becoming clear, notwithstanding their reluctance to face
the truth, that the main struggle was with the King and not
with Buckingham. The gravity of the situation impressed itself
on their minds. A whole range of questions opened up before
them, every one of them possibly leading to a complete disloca-
tion of the relations existing between the King and his people.
Coke and Phelips, Wentworth and Selden, concurred in the
opinion that the violated rights of the subject must first be
vindicated. The very being of the commonwealth, they de-
clared, was at stake.1
If there had been any doubt before of the difficulty of the
work to which the new Parliament had to address itself, there
could be none after the King's speech was delivered.
March 17. ° r
The King's Charles seemed determined to console himself for
the unpleasant necessity of calling Parliament at all
by treating the Houses with studied rudeness. He at least did
not ' endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.' He had called his subjects together, he said, in order
that means might be provided to meet the common danger. If
they failed to do their duty in this, he must, in discharge of his
conscience, use those other means which God had put in his
hands. They were not to take this as a threat, ' for he scorned
to threaten any but his equals ;' but he wished them to under-
stand that, though he was ready to forget their distractions in
the last Parliament, he expected them to alter their conduct.2
This time there had been no attempt to exclude anyone
from the House of Commons. Yet in spite of all that had
Certain ^een sa^ an(^ done in the last Parliament, when the
Peersabsent. Lorcis took their seats, Abbot and Williams, Arundel,
Bristol, and Lincoln were absent from their places. The Peers
quickly called the roll of the House, and instituted inquiry into
the reasons of their absence. In a few days the missing
• Fcrster, Sir J. Eliot t ii. I. * Lord? Journals, iii. 687.
232 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. JJCH.
members took their places without further hindrance. Since
the last Parliament every one of the five had suffered much from
the Government. Abbot had been suspended from the exercise
of his functions ; Williams had been kept in banishment in his
diocese ; Arundel had been placed under restraint, nominally
for his part in his son's marriage — in reality, it would seem, as
an opponent of the warlike policy of the Court ; Lincoln had
resisted the loan, and had been sent to the Tower ; Bristol
had been summoned before the Star Chamber to
chamber * answer to the charges which Charles had been driven
lon' to bring against him in the last session. He had,
however, fallen seriously ill, and his illness had been taken as
an excuse for postponing the prosecution indefinitely. It is
hardly likely that it was more than an excuse. He had professed
his readiness to produce the private correspondence relating to
the journey to Madrid, and it would scarcely be pleasant to
Charles to see that mystery laid open, even before a Court as
devoted as the Star Chamber.1
The ability and tact of Bristol alone might make a great
difference to the Government if its fortune ever came to depend
on the opinion of the Upper House. For the present the main
interest was in the Commons. The root of the evils com-
plained of lay in the King's claim to withdraw from the cog-
nisance of the judges all cases of imprisonment by his own
command. If Charles could be deprived of the assumed right
of punishing offenders against his will, it would matter little
what commands he might choose to give. He might ask for
loans and taxes as he pleased. No one would be the worse, if
the judges invariably liberated persons committed to prison
for refusing to comply with his illegal requirements. Such
at least seems to have been Coke's opinion. On the 2ist
March 21. he brought in a Bill providing that, except by the
oni^ruHL sentence of a Court, no person should be detained
mcnt. untried in prison for more than two months if he
could find bail, or for more than three months if he could not.2
Whether Coke intended by this Bill to meet all the difficul-
1 Interrogatories to Porter, Shcrborne MSS,
3 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 15. Nicholas's
1628 ELIOT ON MISGOVERNMENT. 233
ties of the case we cannot tell, but it was certain that the
burning indignation which was in men's hearts would soon find
expression in a more sweeping form. The next day something
March 22 was sa'^ at>out supply. " If his Majesty," said Sey-
Seymouron mour, " shall be persuaded to take what he will, what
need we to give ? " Sermons had been preached to
persuade the people that all they had was the King's. The
question of supply was one to be discussed seriously in com-
mittee.1
In vain Edmondes and May, on the part of the Government,
pleaded that the House should forget and forgive. In a speech
EHot °^ wondrous power and comprehensiveness, Eliot
declares drew a lively picture of the past misgovernment. It
against arbi- \ \
trary taxa- was no question, he told his hearers, whether they
would forget and forgive. The question at issue
was the very existence of the ancient laws and liberties of
England. If these laws were set aside, all right of property
was at an end. " It falls," he said, " into the old chaos and
confusion, the will and pleasure of the mightier powers." It was
no mere question of money, no mere temporary breach of the
law under pressure of necessity, which might be considered as
being of no more consequence than any other accident. " Yes,"
he cried, "it is of more ; more than is pretended ; more than
can be uttered. Upon this dispute not alone our lands and
goods are engaged, but all that we call ours. These rights, these
privileges, which made our fathers freemen, are in question. If
they be not now the more carefully preserved, they will I fear
render us to posterity less free, less worthy than our fathers.
For this particular admits a power to antiquate the laws. It
gives leave to the State " — the Government, as we should now
say — " besides the Parliament, to annihilate or decline any Act
of Parliament ; and that which is done in one thing, or at one
time, may be done in more or oftener."
' This debate is not given by Nicholas. I have adopted the order of
speeches in the Harl. MS., which is confirmed by Phelips, who ai the end
of the debate referred to the principal speeches in the same order as that
given above. The ordinary arrangement, which was adopted by Mr. For
stcr, is. I believe, quite wrong.
234 WENTWORTH'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
All the evil, the great orator went on to say, sprang from
the danger of innovation in religion. Favour had been shown
within the Church to those who were most in unison
of thePstate with Rome, and even to Rome itself. No man in
of rehgion. £ng]an(j ha(j any interest in attacking the ancient
liberties of the kingdom ' but that false party in religion which
to their Romish idol sacrifice all other interests and respects.'
There was a danger therefore in ' the habit of disregarding and
violating laws.' "Apply to religion," said Eliot, "what has
been propounded as to moneys exacted for the loan. We
possess laws providing first in general against all forms- of inno-
vation, and also careful in particular to prevent the practice
of our enemies by exclusion of their instruments, by restraining
of their proselytes, by restricting their ceremonies, by abolish-
ing their sorceries. Sir, while these laws continue, while they
retain their power and operation, it is impossible but that we
should in this point be safe. Without that change also in our
policy by which law is set at nought, there could not be an
innovation in religion."
The attack upon the liberties of the subject, and the attack
upon the religion of the nation, were in reality, he argued, an
attack upon the King. To discuss these matters was the truest
service to the King, and the whole complicated subject should
be referred, in its several divisions, to the committees of the
House.1
Rudyerd followed, in his feeble way, trying to reconcile
things that could not be reconciled. The danger of the kingdom
was great : the danger of offending the King was also
Rudyerd , . ,
preaches great. It was the crisis of Parliaments, by which men
would know whether parliaments would live or die
"Men and brethren," he said in his distraction, "what shall
we do ? Is there no balm in Gilead ? " On the whole, he
thought the best thing would be to vote a large sum of money,
and then to ask the King to set everything straight that had
gone wrong.
1 Forster, Sir y. Eliot, ii. 8. Mr. Forster has given an abstract of the
part of his speech which referred to Laud and the clergy. It is a pity that
he did not give Eliot's own words.
1628 WENTWORTH AS A REFORMER. 235
Rudyerd was succeeded by a speaker of a different order.
The business of Parliament, said Wentworth, was to produce
union between the King and his people. Both had
W.entworth's , . . . . ., _ , *
view of the been injured by past evils. Both were interested in
finding a remedy for those evils. " The illegal ways,"
he exclaimed, " are punishments and marks of indignation. The
raising of loans strengthened by commissions with unheard-of
instructions and oaths, the billeting of soldiers by the lieutenants
and deputy-lieutenants, have been as though they could have
persuaded Christian princes, nay worlds, that the right of empire
had been to take away by strong hand, and they have endea-
voured, as far as was possible for them, to do it. This hath
not been done by the King, under the pleasing shade of whose
crown I hope we shall rather gather the fruits of justice, but by
projectors. They have extended the prerogative of the King
beyond its just symmetry, which makes the sweet harmony of
the whole. They have rent from us the light of our eyes,
inforced a company of guests worse than the ordinances of
France, vitiated our wives and daughters before our faces,
brought the Crown to greater want than ever it was by antici-
pating the revenue. And can the shepherd be thus smitten
and the flock not be scattered ? They have introduced a privy
council,1 ravishing at once the spheres of all ancient govern-
ment,2 imprisoning us without banks or bounds.3 They have
taken from us — What shall I say? Indeed, what have they
left us? They have taken from us all means of supplying the
King and ingratiating ourselves with him by tearing up the
roots of all property ; which, if they be not seasonably set into
the ground by his Majesty's hand, we shall have, instead of
1 A reference to the secret councils of Buckingham and his friends.
" Mr. Nutt, of Rugby, has pointed out to me that this phrase is founded
on one in Bacon's Essay on Superstition. " Superstition hath been the
confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new primum mobile, that
ravisheth all the spheres of government." Compare also in the Essay on
Counsel: "For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and the prac-
tice of France in some kings' times, hath introduced cabinet councils ; a
remedy worse than the disease."
1 This is the reading of some MS. authorities. The ordinary ' bail and
bond ' is probably the corruption of a prosaic copyist.
236 WENTWORTH>S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
beauty, baldness. To the making of all these whole I shall
apply myself, and propound a. remedy to all these diseases. By
one and the same thing hath the King and people been hurt,
and by the same must they be cured.1 To vindicate what ?
New things? No. Our ancient, sober and vital liberties, by
reinforcing of the ancient laws of our ancestors ; by setting such
a stamp upon them as no licentious spirit shall dare hereafter
to enter upon them. And shall we think this a way to break a
Parliament. No, — our desires are modest and just. I speak
truly, both for the interest of the King and people. If we enjoy
not these, it will be impossible to relieve him."
Wentworth and Eliot were heartily at one in denouncing
the evils of the times ; but the difference between the modes
Comparison m which the two men regarded the grievances of the
Wentworth nati°n was ominous of coming division between them,
and Eliot. Wentworth had nothing to say about religion, nothing
to say about the large constitutional groundwork on which
Eliot founded his conclusions. Both were loyal to King and
Parliament alike ; but, whilst Eliot was thinking chiefly of
Parliament as the mirror of the national will and the guardian
of ancient law, Wentworth was thinking chiefly how the King's
government was to be carried on. With him the practical
mischief was of more importance than all theoretical considera-
tions, as throwing obstructions in the way of the true work of
government, as well as inflicting the most exasperating injuries
upon the people. Different as were the points of view from
which the events of the past year were regarded by the two
men, the remedies which they proposed were no less different.
Eliot would have had the whole state of the nation discussed
in committee ; Wentworth, having very little confidence in
committees, and very great confidence in himself, stepped
Wentworth's forward to offer his own guidance to the House.
remedies. There must, he said in conclusion, be no more illegal
imprisonment, no more compulsory employments abroad, no
forced loans, no billeting of soldiers without the assent of the
householder.
1 There seems to he something omitted here, but I have been unable to
recover it.
t&28 EFFECT ON THE KING. 237
In a few short words Wentworth had laid the foundation
of the great statute which afterwards assumed the form of the
Petition of Right. A condemnation of martial law was after-
wards added. If Coke was finally to give to the Petition its
form, Wentworth was the originator of its substance.
The debate still rolled on for some little time. Phelips did
his best to reinforce Eliot's argument by protesting against the
sermons of Sibthorpe and Manwaring.1 Coke, on
Pheiipslnd the other hand, seems to have been unwilling to go
as far as Wentworth. He was not able, he said, in
allusion to the words of Phelips, ' to fly at all grievances, but
only at loans.' He recommended that subsidies should at once
be granted, but that a statement of the illegality of the late
loan should be inserted in the preamble of the Bill. In reply
Secretary Coke made an admission most damaging to the King.
He could not deny, he said in pressing for an immediate
supply, that the law had been broken, but he could say that it
had been broken under necessity. It would not be very long
before Sir John's acknowledgment that the law had been broken
would be thrown in his teeth as a complete abandonment of
the case set up by the King.
In the end Sir Henry Mildmay suggested that nothing
should be done hastily. The King should have time given
him to consider what had been said.
Charles's wisest course would evidently have been to close
promptly with Wentworth. He did not understand that Went-
March24. worth's demand was the measure of the House's
The King's determination. As in 1625 he had agreed to per-
reception ot
the demands, secute the Catholics in order to persuade the Com-
mons to give him money to send out the fleet to Cadiz, so
he would do now. Eliot and Phelips should learn that
against the Catholics at least they had the King upon their
side.
1 Phelips's speech is curious as enouncing, in opposition to Manwaring,
a doctrine which afterwards became famous. "It is well known," he
said, "the people of this state are under no other subjection than what
they did voluntarily assent unto by their original contract between king and
people."
238 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
A fev days before the meeting of Parliament a discovery
had been made, that a house at Clerkenwell, belonging to the
The Tesuit ^sl^ °^ Shrewsbury, was being used by a small party
at cierken- of Jesuits as a place of meeting. The Jesuits were
at once arrested and their goods and papers seized.
As there was nothing treasonable in the papers, some clever
scoundrel thought fit to forge a letter from one of the com-
munity, in which it was told how the Jesuits had a plot on
hand for keeping alive the quarrel between Buckingham and the
House of Commons, and the forged letter was widely circu-
lated.1 Buckingham, when he saw it, was highly offended, as
the unskilful forger had allowed expressions about Dulbier's
horse to slip in which might be more damaging to him than to
the Jesuits.
Neither Buckingham nor Charles, however, cared to protect
the Catholics,2 and they may very likely have instructed the
1 The whole story was told by Mr. J. G. Nichols in the Camden Mis-
cellany, vols. ii. and iv. Sir J. Maynard seems to have had something to
do with the forgery, if he was not himself the forger. Mr. Nichols printed
at the same time a curious letter from the Council to Falkland, which he
held to be a forgery also. But the grounds he alleged were manifestly
insufficient. He argued, in the first place, that the letter had an impossib e
date. This would be worth attending to if we had the original. But the
hasty copy which is all we have may easily have substituted the 2nd for the
22nd of March. Mr. Nichols's second argument is that the letter is signet!
by Suffolk, Salisbury, Morton, and Durham. The latter, he said, if meant
for the Bishop of Durham, would scarcely have come last. But surely
earls would come before bishops. "Morton," too, he argued, "is a
name not familiar to the history of the period." He was, however, a Privy
Councillor, being the Scotch earl who commanded the reinforcement
which was to have joined Buckingham at Rhe. The letter is very charac-
teristic of Buckingham's off-hand way of treating serious matters. I in-
cline to think it genuine. I may add that the List letter I ever wrote to
Mr. Nichols was to call his attention to these points, being unaware at th*;
time of his illness. Those who had the good fortune to know him will lie
sure that, if he had been convinced by its • arguments, he would have
accepted the correction with pleasure. Truth was the one thing which he
cared for in his investigations.
" The Northern Commission, of which the Earl of Sunderland was the
nominal chief and Sir J. Savile, the acting head, was, I fancy, intended
If28 A SUPPOSED PLOT. 2&
Secretary to make the most of the affair of the Jesuits at Clerken-
sir j. Coke well j but Sir John had not the light hand which was
fri|hte°n the needed to deal with the discovery so as to make a
House. good impression. On the 24th, after promising that
if the House would take the question of supply into imme-
diate consideration, his Majesty would then be ready to redress all
grievances, he proceeded to unfold his tale. " You little think,"
he said, " there was another pretended parliament of Jesuits,
and other well-willers to that party, within a mile of this place/'
The House was not to be frightened with this bugbear. Not
one of the speakers who followed even referred to the terrible
Grievances Portent- There was much sharp speaking about the
to precede Arminian divines, and the House gave it to be under-
supply.
stood that it meant to discuss its grievances before
doing anything about supply.1
This was a bitter pill for Charles. Denbigh's mournful let-
ters were pouring in day by day, to plead for the necessities of
March 25. his charge. The council of war, too, had just sent in
^et"eSQ"!s an estimate of little less than 6oo,ocoZ. for the mili-
vemment. {ary an(j navai service of the coming year, besides an
immediate demand for nearly 700, ooo/!. for repairs and munitions
of war.2 Charles was thus in much the same difficulty as he
had been in 1625. If he asked for all that he wanted, he would
get a refusal. If he asked for less, the service would be starved.
The course adopted was to lay before the House the heads of
expenditure, without any mention of the sums required for
each.
On points of form the Commons were not willing to contend
with the King. At the urgent entreaty of Secretary Coke, they
• i
simply to get money. By taking less than the Itgal fines directly from the
recusants, a whole set of informers would be discountenanced, and more
money come actually to the Crown. See the Commission, June 23, 1627 ;
Patent Rolls, 3 Charles L, Part 35, No. 7. The affair, however, seems to
have been mismanaged.
1 ffarl. MSS. 4771, fol. 24.
2 Estimate, March 22, S. P. Dom. xcviii. i. It is one of the few im-
portant errors in Mr. Bruce's Calendar, that he overlooked the first of these
demands, and so under-estimated the whole sum reqvired.
240 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
resolved that the . Grand Committee which was to discuss
On Charles's grievances should also discuss supply. It soon ap-
co^mfuee6 peared that Charles had gained but little. As soon as
ordered to the House had gone into committee, speaker after
consider °
bothgriev- speaker announced his full belief that their property
ances and ... , 111-1 /- i •
supply. m their goods and the liberty of their persons must be
placed beyond dispute before it would be fit to mention supply.
Debate in Phelips, with his usual proneness to seize upon ques-
on"the"ee tions which were not yet ripe for solution, even asked
sub£ct.of the wnat was tlie use °f ascertaining the law if the judges
could expound it as they pleased.
It was but the natural result of Charles's system of govern-
ment that he was as ill-served in the House of Commons as
he was everywhere else. To Eliot and Wentworth
The King . ,
almost with- and Phelips he had nobody to oppose but Secretary
°nUthSePP< Coke. May and Edmondes contented themselves
Commons. with generai exhortations to concord ; and Weston,
who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, had no love for the war
expenditure for which he was expected to provide, sat silent by
their side. To the great lawyers of the Opposition, with Coke
and Selden at their head, there was no one to reply except the
Solicitor-General, and Shilton was an example how easily in-
competency could float to the surface when buoyed up by Royal
favour. When he rose it was only to say that he had. not
been present when the case of the habeas corpus was argued in
the King's Bench, but that if they would give him time to
consult Heath, he would see what Heath had to say about the
matter.
Shilton's verbal admission of his own incompetence brought
up Sir Edward Coke. The old lawyer contemptuously replied
Coke's state- that he too would be glad to know what the Attorney-
i£w"to General had to say. In the meanwhile, he had
something worth his consideration to tell him. Whenever the
old law-books spoke of the King's imprisoning a man, they
meant that the King's command was signified through his
judges. " The King," said Coke, " can arrest no man, because
there is no remedy against him." He then produced a pre-
cedent from the reign of Edward III., according to which a
1628 ARGUMENT FOR THE CROWN. 2-41
committal without cause named had been deemed insufficient
by the judges. Scripture too was on his side. Had not Festus
said to Agrippa, "It seemeth to me unreasonable to send a
prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid to his
charge? " Coke ended by saying that he had given the Attor-
ney-General a preparative, but he had more physic in store
for him.
Coke's argument was another warning to Charles to close
with Wentworth quickly. If Eliot would have placed the
direction of affairs in the hands of the House of Commons,
Coke would have placed the final decision in the hands of the
judges. The question asked by Phelips earlier in the day had
to be answered in favour of the judges before they could be
considered competent to the task assigned them.
As Charles made no sign, the Commons stepped boldly
forward. They refused even to consider the Secretary's heads
of expenditure for the present, and they passed a resolution con-
, demnatory of taxation without a Parliamentary grant.
Resolution The question of imprisonment was not so easily
settled. There was something to be said on the side
of the King. In ordinary times it might be all very well that
the King should not imprison without showing cause,
and that the judges should be called upon at once
to decide whether the accused person should be admitted to
bail or kept in prison. Would not this, however, be dangerous
in extraordinary times? In the last two reigns there had been
grave conspiracies affecting the well-being of the whole nation.
There had been plots to assassinate Elizabeth, and more recently
a plot to blow up King, Lords, and Commons with gunpowder.
Nethersoie's " * w^ Put m^ case>" sa^ Nethersole, in evident al-
argument. lusion to the position of Northumberland in connexion
with the Gunpowder Plot : " there is amongst us a great party
of Jesuits and priests, and the scholars of Jesuits are about to
question the King's title to the crown ; and suppose some
friends of some one great man and allied to the Crown, do
conspire against the King and Crown. Now, to keep that great
man out of danger, they never acquaint him with the plot
Will not all men confess that a warrant in this case is both law-
VOL. VI. R
242 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII,
ful and necessary to secure this great man ? And what reason
of his imprisonment can be added ? "
In the course of the debates which followed, this argument
was put again and again in every possible form. It is childish
Estimate of to ignore its weight. The conclusion to which it
its force. points has been embodied in that unwritten con-
stitution under which Englishmen are content to live. In
ordinary times the rule which Coke advocated suffices ; but
when any extraordinary commotion makes itself felt in the
depths of society, when some great conspiracy is on foot, the
ministry of the day comes to Parliament for a suspension of
the Habeas Corpus Act, and arbitrary committals find no
impediment.
There are occasions on which the historian has to ac-
knowledge that no complete solution of existing difficulties was
possible at the time. Practically the great evil 01
scfutio^'th'en the day was that Charles was not fit to be entrusted
with powers which had been wielded by former
sovereigns. He had acted as if there had been an emergency,
when, if there was an emergency at all, it was one of his own
creation. Even if the leaders of the Commons had looked
fairly into Nethersole:s argument, all that they could have said
was that, by some possible re-arrangement of the constitution,
by some form of government hitherto untried, that which he
asked for might beneficially be granted. Sufficient for the day
was the evil thereof. The Commons had come to consider
that it was more important for them to bind the King's hands
than to arm them against conspiracies which, in their time at
least, had no existence except in the fertile imagination of
Secretary Coke.
The legal aspect of the question was by this time coming
to the front. It was in vain for Eliot to appeal to the high
The legal position of Parliament as the interpreter of the
question. national conscience, in vain for Wentworth to lay the
foundations of a new settlement in an intelligent perception of
.the requirements of the State, if Charles refused to take account
.of their just demands. It remained for the great legal authorities
i)f the Commons to lay down the law as it stood, to trace out
1628 A CHALLENGE TO COKE, 243
the long tradition of legality which in the coune of ages had
raised a barrier against arbitrary power.
That the barrier thus raised had not always been firmly
maintained it is impossible to deny. Precedents were not
always consistent, and the weak side of the legal argument was
that it attempted to reduce the fluctuations of social forces
to a uniform system, and to account for the constitution of
England in the Middle Ages without mentioning those revolu-
tionary disturbances which had supplemented the decisions of
the judges.
In the Commons Coke had no adversary worthy of his
steel. Yet even Shilton contrived to embarrass him for the
moment by producing a resolution of the King's
March 29. ' « °
Coke and Bench in 1615, in which Coke himself expressed
approval of the doctrine that when the Council sent
a man to prison the cause of the imprisonment need not be
disclosed. At the same time Shilton quoted the opinion of
Chief Justice Anderson, to which Heath had referred triumph-
antly in Westminster Hall.
Even Coke was for once disconcerted by the attack. The
report, he said, was not yet twenty-one years old. Then floun-
dering still more deeply in the mire, and forgetting dates and
everything else in his confusion, he began talking wildly of the
necessity of dealing strictly at that time with the traitors con-
cerned in the Gunpowder Plot, as if, in 1615, every one of them
who had fallen into the hands of the Government had not been
executed nine years before.
It was a fine opportunity for Shilton. " What ! " he might
have said, " do you really hold that in times such as that of the
Gunpowder Plot, the strict law for which you are pleading can-
not be executed ? " Shilton, however, was no debater, and sat
silent. Wentworth came to Coke's rescue with a few sarcastic
words. " Mr. Solicitor," he said, " hath done that which belongs
to his place, but not so ingeniously as he might." l
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, 45 b. The word is "ingeniously," which in
those days bore the signification of "ingenuously" as well as that of
"ingeniously." Probably Wentworth meant to reflect on Shilton's want
of skill. The ffarl. MS. gives the only satisfactory account of the affair.
K 2
244 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXir
Two days later Coke was himself again. He had the righr,
he said, of changing his opinion when his knowledge was in-
creased. Since he signed the resolution referred
March 31.
Coke's jus- to, he had seen members of Parliament imprisoned.
He had himself only just escaped imprisonment.
He had gone to his law-books, and there he had found that
the boasted resolution of Anderson and the judges of his day
was apocrvphal. Anderson's words were very different from
those which had been cited in Court.
Coke had risen above the weakness which led him to claim
infallibility in matters of law. " I cannot think of flattery,"
said Eliot, " but we may here thank him now whom posterity
will hereafter commend." * Eliot, in fact, had a great part in
the old lawyer's triumph. A report of Anderson's resolution in
his own handwriting had been treasured up as a precious pos-
session by his heirs. They now sought out Eliot and placed
the manuscript in his hands. On the morning of April i
Eliot laid it before a Committee of the House. If
April I.
Anderson's it was not by any means so explicit as the popular
piodlTcTd. lawyers would have drawn it, it was more in their
favour than the note which had been cited by Heath.2 Coke
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 46 b. Coke's speech has a wrong date in
State Trials, iii. 82.
2 "And where it pleased your Lordships to will divers of us to set
down in what cases a person sent to custody by her Majesty, her Council
[or] some one or two of them, are to be detained in prison and not delivered
by her Majesty's Courts or Judges, we think that if any person be committed
by her Majesty's commandment from her person, or by order from the
Council Board, or if any one or two of her Council commit one for high
treason, such persons, so in the case before committed, may not be de-
livered by any of her Courts without due trial by the law and judgment of
acquittal had. Nevertheless the Judges may award the Queen's writ to
bring the bodies of such prisoners before them ; and if upon return thereof
the causes of their commitment be certified to the Judges, as it ought to be,
then the Judges in the cases before ought not to deliver him, but to remand
him to the place from whence he came, which cannot be conveniently done
unless notice of the cause in generality or else specially be given to the
keeper or gaoler that shall have the custody of such prisoner." Anderson' i
Reports, i. 298. Upon this, Hallam (i. 387), observes : " For though this
is not grammatically worded, it seems impossible to doubt that it acknow-
1628 COKE'S' TRIUMPH 245
interpreted the words entirely as he wished them to be in-
terpreted. The old man was more than triumphant. " Of my
own knowledge," he said, "this book was written with my Lord
Anderson's own hand. It is no flying report of a young student.
I was Solicitor then, and Treasurer Burghley was as much
against commitment as any of this kingdom. . . . Let us draw
towards a conclusion. The question is, Whether a freeman
can be imprisoned by the King without setting down the
cause? I leave it as bare as ^sop's crow, they that argue
against it." *
Coke's appeal to Anderson's opinion swept everything
before it. In three resolutions the Committee unanimously
resolved that no freeman might be committed without
Resolutions .
on imprison- cause shown ; that every one, however committed^
had a right to a writ of habeas corpus ; and that, if no
legal cause of imprisonment appeared, he was to be delivered
or bailed.
These three resolutions on imprisonment, together with the
resolution on taxation, constituted the main part of the case of
the Commons with regard to the liberty of the subject. The
ledges the special command of the King, or the authority of the Privy
Council as a body, to be such sufficient warrant for a commitment as to
require no further cause to be expressed, and to prevent the Judges from
discharging the party from custody either absolutely or upon bail." The
consequence, he goes on to say, would be to render every statute by which
the liberties of Englishmen were protected, a dead letter. The effect of
Anderson's report depends on whether he meant ' the cause in generality '
to apply merely to the order of the Queen or Privy Council, or to some
general statement of the offence committed. In any case, however,
Anderson seems to have had in view a trial before the King's Bench as the
proper result, and to have been thinking rather of saying that bail ought to
be refused to persons so committed, till the time for trial came on, than of
the further question whether they could be kept back entirely or for any
long time from the jurisdiction of the Court. Anderson's assertion that the
cause of commitment ought to be certified, would be the part of the report
on which the Commons would probably lay stress.
1 There is some difficulty about this speech (Stale Trials, iii. 76).
Part of it, Humores tnoti, &c., occurs in a speech of the 29th, and the rest
is not mentioned by Nicholas or in the copy in the Ilarleian MSS. But
it can hardly have been spoken except on the production of Anderson's
origin*! MS.
246 WENTWORTH^ S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
day before, the King had accorded a gracious reception to the
joint petition of the two Houses for the strict execution of the
A rfl 2 Recusancy laws.1 On April 2 the Commons took into
Debate on consideration the heads of expenditure presented on
behalf of the King. The general opinion was that pro-
vision should be made for the defence of the kingdom, but that
no encouragement should be given to Charles to launch out into
another of those great expeditions which had hitherto ended
in such disastrous failure. Sir John Coke indeed argued that
attack was often the best defence. It might be so, retorted
Eliot's ob- Eliot, but attacks conducted after the fashion of the
jectbns. iate attempts Up0n Cadiz and Rlie" could defend
nobody. " Consider," he said, " in what case we are, if on
the like occasion, or with the like instruments, we shall again
adventure another expedition. It was ever the wisdom of our
ancestors here to leave foreign wars wholly to the State, and
not to meddle with them. There may be some necessity for a
war offensive, but, looking on our late disasters, I tremble to
Course re- think of sending more abroad." 2 Wentworth took
by"wentd-ed a course of his own. He would have nothing to say
worth- to Eliot's investigations into the past. " I will not
/all," he said, u into the deep of foreign actions, but address
myself to particulars. I cannot forget the duty I owe to my
country, and unless we be secured in our liberties we can-
not give." Wentworth recommended that there should be no
attempt to enter upon the heads of expenditure. He also re*
commended that a bountiful supply should be given ; but he
reminded the committee that the list of grievances was not yet
exhausted, and that there was no security that, if money were
voted, their grievances would be redressed. He therefore
moved and carried the adjournment of the debate to the 4th.
He held, in fact, that the House should not make itself respon-
sible for the mode in which the money voted would be spent.
He did not care enough for the war to think it worth while to
inquire whether Rochelle was likely to be lost or saved ; but he
did care for the settlement of those domestic difficulties which
1 IJarl. Hist. ii. 248. - Forster, Sir J. Eliot, ii. 22.
r6a8 FRESH RESOLUTIONS. 247
made all healthy government impossible, and though he was
not likely to abet any movement which would have placed the
House of Commons in direct opposition to the Crown, he was
quite ready to use the refusal of subsidies as a lever to obtain
that which he regarded as advantageous to the Crown and the
Commons alike.
As the result of the adjournment the committee betook
itself to supplement its previous resolutions. The practice of
Resolution confining a person obnoxious to the Court to his own
on confine- house, or to the house of any other private person,
which had been recently practised in the cases of
Bristol and the refusers of the loan, was voted to be illegal.
Billeting The warmest discussion, however, arose on the bil-
soidiers. leting of soldiers and the malpractices connected
with it. Eliot related, with striking effect, a circumstance of
which he was cognisant. The house of a gentleman near
Plymouth, he said, had been attacked by a band of soldiers,
and its owner forced to fly from their fury. A few days after-
wards he was recognised in Plymouth by the same soldiers, and
assaulted by them. He complained to the Mayor, and was by
him referred to the Commissioners appointed for the govern-
ment of the troops. Not only did the Commissioners give
him no redress, but they sent him and his servant to prison.
" Little difference I see," said Eliot, " between these and the
old Roman soldiers. Can this people give supply that are not
masters of themselves ? "
Complaint waxed louder and louder. " If we go on in
particular," said Uigges, " we shall never come to an end. It
is too common for the commanders to deny all justice."
Phelips said that the deputy lieutenants had no right to make
rates for the maintenance of the soldiers. Yet there was some-
thing in the defence of Sir Edward Rodney, himself a deputy
lieutenant. The soldiers, he said, came with empty stomachs
and with arms in their hands. If the King's orders had not
been obeyed, the men would have seized by force all that they
wanted. It had always been the custom to levy money for the
support of soldiers on the understanding that it would be repaid
from the Exchequer. If the men had been billeted in private
348 WENTWOSTirS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
houses it was because no money had come down from the
King to support them in inns.1
No money had come down. That was the gist of the whole
grievance. And why had no money come down ? Because,
. the King would say. the Commons, in neglect of
Question of . •- " ' °
authority their duty, had refused to vote it. The Commons
opened up. ,,•,,. , , T^ • , , , .
held that it was because the King had engaged in an
expenditure of which they were in the right in disapproving.
Do what they would, the deep question of sovereignty — of the
right of saying the last word when differences arose — was for
ever cropping up.
The next morning a message was delivered from the King
by Secretary Coke. His Majesty, he said, had heard that there
were rumours that he was angry with what the House
Satisfaction IT, • 11 T-.I-I
expressed by had been doing, and that Buckingham had spoken
'ing' malicious words against the Parliament. He assured
them that this was not the case. Sir John added that the
King wished them to vote him a supply the next day, without
any condition. He would then assure them that he had no in-
tention of intrenching upon their liberties. Charles, in short,
could not see that their liberties were at all in danger. " For
God's sake," he had said, " why should any hinder them of their
liberties ? If they did, I should think they dealt not faithfully
with me."
There is no reason to accuse Charles of hypocrisy in these
words. He did not yet fully understand where the struggle
really lay. He had regarded the loan as an irregular
What did J,. 3 ,
Charles expedient, forced upon him by the course taken by
the Commons in the first two Parliaments of his
reign, much as the King of Prussia regarded the unparliamen-
tary budget arranged by himself before the campaign of 1866.
Now that the Commons appeared likely to resume their proper
functions, there would be no need for him to revert to such
unusual proceedings. They would vote him the supplies
which he needed, and he would assure them that he would
not again put in force the extraordinary powers of which they
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 51-57 b. Nicholas's Notes.
1628 ARE SOLDIERS TO BE PRESSED? 249
complained ; but which he firmly believed to be part of the in-
heritance of the Crown, of which he was resolved not to divest
himself.
In the course of the day the four resolutions on imprison-
ment and taxation were formally reported to the House. The
debate on forced employment on foreign service took
Question of , J ° .
pressing men an unexpected turn when Selden called in question
for the army. .1 • .• r r -T. i
the existing system of pressing men for military and
naval service which had grown up since the commencement of
the Tudor reigns. Even Phelips was startled by the prospect
which had been opened by Selden. Without compulsory
service, he asked, how was an army to be maintained ? Went-
worth gave expression to the same doubt If Selden was right,
and the King had no power to press, the sooner the power was
given to him the better. The only point to be considered was
how such a power could be moderately exercised. On Went-
worth's motion a committee was appointed to consider the
question.1
The position thus taken up by Wentworth is significant.
Above the question of Royal or Parliamentary authority, above
wentworth's tne question of law and precedent, he kept ever
position. steadily before him the necessity of an intelligent
perception of the wants of the country. Parliaments might be
merely the reflection of the interests and passions of an ignorant
nation. Lawyers might appeal to the dry records of a dead
past which could give no rule to the living present ; but in-
telligence could not fail. The strength and the weakness of
Wentworth lay in this doctrine, so true when intelligence takes
account of the elements of passion and prejudice, zeal or
sluggishness in the nation, so false when it deals with a people
as mere brute matter, to be handled and directed as the man
of wisdom thinks best.2
Wentworth's motion had at all events, by taking up the
time of the House, made the completion of the list of grievances
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 57 b; 2313, fol. 28.
2 The modern idea of statesmanship, in fact, looks upon government as
a naKvrtK^i T«X»"). But the Socrates of politics was yet in the future in
Wentworth's days.
2so WENTWORTH-S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXH,
impossible for the present. The next morning had been
A ri[ fixed for the debate on supply. It was accordingly
Separationof resolved to suspend the consideration of the mili-
mii'itary"1 tary grievances for the present, and to lay the four
grievances. resoiutions on taxation and imprisonment before
the Lords.
Before the House went into Committee of Supply, a fresh
message from the King came to give assurance that they should
Debate on enjoy their liberties under him as fully as under the
supply. 1-^ of thei,- former kings. Though the House was
in a liberal mood, there were many to whom the heads of ex-
penditure seemed excessive, many too in whose minds they
awakened memories of disaster and defeat. Wentworth recom-
mended that the heads of expenditure should be quietly shelved.
The House should grant a large supply, and ask no questions
how it was to be employed. The recommendation had a
marked success. -Eliot said that he had intended to say some-
thing about the heads of expenditure, but that he had no wish to
interpose any further delay. Wentworth's motion was carried,
and the House was thus relieved from all responsibility for the
prosecution of the war. What was given wonld be a free gift,
binding no one for the future.
Then followed a discussion on the number of subsidies to
be granted. Some said five, others less. Eliot, frightened at
Five sub- tne excessive liberality of the House, moved the ad-
sidies voted, journment of the debate. Wentworth supported the
largest grant suggested, and he had the House with him. Eliot
protested in vain that so much could not be raised without the
aid of military force ; but he did not venture to appeal to a
division, and five subsidies were unanimously voted.
The leadership of the Commons was clearly in Wentworth's
Wentworth's hands. He represented the desire of the majority
leadership. of the members to carry conciliation to the utmost
possible limits ; but he also represented their desire to have a
full and effective remedy for their grievances. As
not'to"^ soon as the motion for the subsidies was carried,
report* . ^e prOpOsecj that no report of the vote should be
made to the House. What had been done, he said, was done
1628 WENTWORTWS BILL 251
conditionally on the King's agreement to settle the fundamental
liberties of the subject. The proposal thus made was practically
if not formally adopted.1 No report was made, and there .was
thus no official record that the subsidies had ever been voted
at all. It would be impossible for Charles, if matters went ill,
to levy the subsidies as he had attempted to do in 1626, on the
ground that they had been offered by the House.
Charles's hopeful picture of an immediate grant of supply,
followed by a vague declaration of his own intention to maintain
the liberties of his subjects, was therefore not to be realised.
Though Wentworth had no wish to reduce the Royal authority
to a shadow, it was by his hand that the cup had been dashed
from the King's lips. He had been one of the committee
which had unanimously recommended that the four resolutions
should be laid before the House of Lords.2 He may have
thought that such a course was unavoidable under the cir-
cumstances, or he may have been unwilling to lose
Wentworth . }
proposes a his influence by openly differing from the great lawyers
Hill on the /• i T-I n 111 •
liberties of of the House. At all events he had something more
definite to propose. " He would," he said, " have the
Grand Committee appoint a sub-committee to draw into a law
what may assure us of our liberty of our persons and property
of our goods before we report the resolution of our gift."
Here then, at last, was Wentworth's scheme. Not a humble
petition to the King, not a legal argument to accompany the
four resolutions when they were laid before the Peers, but a
law to provide for the future, was his solution of the difficulty.
Whatever might come of the argument before the Upper House,
it would be certain to offend the King. He would have to be
1 There is a discrepancy in the authorities. The Harleian MS. 4771
(60 b-&3 b) ends with an order for a report. Nicholas gives the further
speech noticed above, and then says, " the Speaker goeth unto the chair
and the House riseth." Another Harleian MS. (4313, fol. 34 b) gives the
order for the report with Wentworth's speech following. As no report
appears to have been made, there can be no doubt that the order was
dropped on Wentworth's intervention, though it may not have been for-
mally rescinded.
* Common? Journals, i. 879
• 2W WENTWOKTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
told that he had been utterly in the wrong, and that he had
broken a whole series of laws, from Magna Carta downwards.
It might indeed prove that Charles was not to be conciliated,
and then it might be necessary to go through all this. Went-
worth may well have thought that there was a better way. If
once it became statute law that the King might not levy loans
without the consent of Parliament, and that he might not
imprison men without allowing them to seek their trial in open
court, all the learning in the world about the constitution of
England in the Middle Ages would be no more than an anti-
quarian investigation, more interesting to Englishmen but not
more practically important than an inquiry into the laws of
Solon or the procedure of the Roman praetors.
A Bill, moreover, would have the advantage in Wentworth's
«yes of being capable of limitation. Nethersole's argument was
not likely to pass unheeded by Wentworth, and he was sure to
regard with special favour a mode of procedure by which it
would be possible to consider not merely what the law was, but
what the law ought to be.
For the present, however, the lawyers had it all their own
way. A day was fixed for their argument before the Lords.
A rfl Even Charles was in high good humour. Either
The King he did not yet see how far the claims of the Lower
the subsi- House would reach, or he confided in the firmness
of the Peers to reject anything which in his eyes was
clearly unreasonable. The five subsidies had surpassed his
expectations. " By how many voices was it carried ? " he asked
Secretary Coke, who brought the welcome news. Sir John
could afford to jest, and replied, " By one." Then, having
frightened (he King for a moment, he explained that the
Commons had voted with one voice and one assent
All this and more Coke garrulously reported to the House ;
but he had not the tact to be content with singing the praises
CoVe reports of the King. He added that Buckingham had joined
HWs'"8' m a hope that the desires of the House would be
speech. granted. If the spirit which had animated the last
Parliament was asleep it was not dead. Eliot sprang to his
feet and protested against the mediation of a subject between
1628 THE ARGUMENT BEFORE THE LORDS. 253
King and Parliament His words found an echo in the cries
of "Well spoken, Sir John Eliot ! " which arose on every side.1
That day brought knowledge to the King that more was
meant by the Commons than he had hitherto supposed. Coke.
.Selden, and Littleton laid the resolutions of the
tio.n oefore House before the Peers. Much new light had been
thrown on the subject since the proceedings in the
King's Bench, and the lawyers of the Commons made a strong
case in behalf of the absolute illegality of committals without
cause shown. The next day Heath commenced his argument
on the other side, contending that the King had never relin-
quished the right of interfering with the ordinary jurisdiction of
the Courts when the necessity of the State so required.
Charles was beginning to open his eyes to the magnitude of
the issues at stake* It was something more than a mere ques-
tion of the legality of this or that action, It was
Charles sees 3 *
the extent of sovereiguty itself, the right of deciding in the last
the conces- ° : . . . • j
sionsre- resort, which he was required to abandon. He was
ready to promise that no more loans or taxes should
be levied without the consent of Parliament ; and that in all
ordinary imprisonments he would leave the decisions to the
judges ; but he was not ready to promise that, in questions in
which the fortunes of the whole realm were interested, he would
stand aside and descend from the high position which his
predecessors had occupied with general consent.
Nor was it on the question of imprisonment alone that the
Commons were pressing upon him. Whilst the argument was
A .. proceeding before the Lords, the Lower House had
Billeting again taken up the grievance of billeting. " In my
county," said Sir Walter Erie, speaking of Dorsetshire,
"under colour of placing a soldier, 'there came twenty in a
troop to take sheep. They disturb markets and fairs, rob men
on the highway, ravish women, breaking houses in the night
and enforcing men to ransom themselves, killing men that have
assisted constables to keep the peace." Other members had
tales equally bad to tell. Sir Edward Coke proposed to petition
1 Pan. Hist. ii. 274. Meade to Stuteville, April 12, Court and Ti IMS
\ 336.
254 WENTWOJtTJPS LEADERSHIP. CH.
the King against the abuse. Wentworth, true to his principles,
suggested that a Bill should be drawn up to regulate the mode
of quartering soldiers for the future. Soldiers must live, and
Wentworth seems to have thought it useless to attack the evil
unless provision were made for the necessity which .had caused
it He proposed a petition to the King, to be followed by a Bill
in due course of time. Orders were at once given to draw up
the petition. This time, at least, Wentworth had succeeded in
keeping the whole subject from the cognisance of the Lords till
the Bill was in existence.1
Charles's hopefulness was beginning to fail. As the require-
ments of the House became plainer to him, the prospect of
supply grew more distant Yet money was sadly needed.
Denbigh had not left Plymouth. The pressed men were still
deserting daily. The ships laden with corn for Rochelle were
April ir-. reported to be unfit for sea.2 April 10 was Thursday
iSesffor" m Passion week, and the House had already made
bidden. provision for the Easter recess ; but a message was"
brought from the King conveying his pleasure that there should
be no recess. Not even on Good Friday were the Commons
to have rest The members were ill pleased to be deprived of
their holiday. Eliot suggested that worse was behind. He
believed that the King's message had been in the hands of the
Privy Councillors for two days. Why had it not been delivered
before, unless it were with the expectation that when many
members had left town it would be easy to hurry a vote of
supply through a thin House? He moved that no vote of
supply should be taken till the House was again full. Though
his motion was not formally adopted, the House had been put
upon its guard.3
Martial law, not supply, was the subject of that Good Friday's
debate. Eliot placed the whole subject on the right footing.
' Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 67-69 b.
- Denbigh to Buckingham, April 8, S. P. Dom. c. 56.
* Meade says that the motion was adopted. Meade to Stuteville, April
19, Court and Times, i. 342. Nethersole (S. P. Dom. ci. 4), who was
himself a member, says that it was rejected, and this is confirmed by the
absence of any mention of its adoption in the Harkian MS. 4771, fol. 74-
1628 MARTIAL LAW. 255
A paper of instructions had been read, appointing special
. punishments for military crimes. Mutiny, disregard
Debate on of orders, and such offences, were to be punished in
soldiers as they are now punished in every army in the
world. To all this Eliot raised no objection, but he held that
when a soldier committed an offence against a civilian, the
civilian should have his remedy in the ordinary course of law,
and not be dependent for justice on the good pleasure of the
officers. Thus stated, the case against the Government involved
the whole of the relations between the civil and the military
power. Were soldiers to be subject to the laws, or were they
to be a law to themselves ? If the latter view was to prevail,
how long would the laws of England subsist in their presence ?
The debate was interrupted in the strangest manner. In
spite of Eliot's warning of the previous day Sir Edward Coke,1
of all men in the world, started up to propose that
posai about the dates for the payment of the subsidies should be
fixed. In vain Eliot explained that the business
before the committee was not supply. Secretary Coke rap-
turously echoed the proposal and it seemed difficult to get rid
of it decently. At last Wentworth rose. " I must confess," he
said, with a bitter allusion to the day on which they were sit-
ting, "I expected within myself this day to hear a sermon."
As, however, the thing had been said, let the dates be fixed.
But let them not be reported any more than the grant itself.
Though even this was too much for some, Coke's untoward
proposal was eventually disposed of as Wentworth suggested.
Charles grew impatient, and sent a fresh message reproving
the Commons for spinning out their time, and ordering them
A riii2 to vote t^ie SUDS'dies at once. 'Notice,' the
impatient Secretary explained, was taken ' as if this House
from"8' pressed not upon the abuses of power, but upon
power itself.' Sir John was asked to explain what
he meant by power. The word, he replied, came from his
Majesty, and to his Majesty alone belonged the explanation.
Wentworth knew that he was himself the author of the
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 75 b, 78. That it was Sir Edward, and not
Sir John, seems to be settled by Nethersole's letter just quoted.
256 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXif.
motion against reporting the subsidies which had given such
offence to the King. He moved for a committee to explain that
there had been no intentional delay, and a statement to the
effect that grievances took precedence of supply, was prepared
for the Speaker to present together with the petition on billeting.1
The House was growing accustomed to Wentworth's leader-
ship. A letter-writer of the day speaks of him as the man ' who
The Lords hath the greatest sway in this Parliament.'2 Would
iowwdsthe he ^c a^le to f°rce his policy on the King as
^ng- well as on the Commons ? It seemed as if Charles
would soon receive a powerful ally in the House of Lords.
The Peers listened to Heath's argument, and arranged that the
opinion of the judges of the King's Bench should be heard
Buckingham and his friends pleaded for a decision without
admitting the Lower House to a further reply. Eliot took
alarm, and carried a motion for a message begging the Peers
to decide nothing without hearing the Commons once more.*
The temper of the courtiers in the Upper House was grow-
ing warm. " Will you not hang Selden ? " said Suffolk, the
Suffolk at- son °f Jarnes's Treasurer ; " he hath razed a record,
tacks Selden. an(j deserves to be hanged." Selden, in his place in
the Commons, indignantly denied the imputation. Suffolk was
too cowardly to stand by his words, and denied that he had
spoken them. The Commons took up the defence of their
member, but in the midst of more pressing business they were
unable to bring the accusation home.4
On the 1 4th the judges appeared before the Lords. They
did not bring much help to either party. They said that they
April 14. had not given a final judgment, and that the prisoners
rtea^b^he might have applied for a habeas corpus the next day
Lords. if they had pleased. The Court only meant to take
further time to consider.
That afternoon Charles received the explanation of the
Commons, that they were right in considering grievances before
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 78-81.
* Nethersole to Elizabeth, April 14, S. P. Dom. ci. 4.
1 Rhino's Notes. Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. Si.
4 Staff Trials, iii. 156.
1628 CHARLES PLEADS FOR SUPPLY. 257
supply. He replied sharply, that he did not question tneir
The King right- " But, for God's sake," he said, "do not
^!h the*"3 sPend so much time in that as to hazard the ruin
Commons. of your liberties and my prerogative by a foreign
army." He was as careful of their liberties as they were them-
selves.
Charles spoke under the influence of the disheartening news
which came to him from Plymouth. He had just sent an order
to Denbigh to sail at all risks, and he had been told that the
fleet might put to sea, but that there was no chance of its being
able to fight its way into Rochelle.1 All this made
The Com- to . '
mons again no impression on the Commons. They did not
proceeed°with know what the King understood by the liberties
supp y. which he said he was ready to maintain, even if they
had been inclined to trust his unsupported promise. They
accordingly took no notice of his words, but went quietly on
with the debate on martial law, as though he had never pressed
them for money at all.2
On April 16 and 17, in consequence of the message from
the Commons, there was a fresh argument by the lawyers
before the House of Lords. On the one side it
April 16. .
Fresh legal was maintained that the King could in no circum-
argument ... . . ... .
before the stances commit without showing cause. On the
other side it was alleged that, though the King might
not abuse his power by imprisoning men for ever without allow-
ing them to appeal to the Courts, he might exercise a discretion
in keeping back any particular case from the cognisance of the
judges.3
On the existence of this discretionary power the battle was
to be fought. The bare assertion of a right in the King to
override the laws would not meet with the support of the
Upper House. A statement made by Serjeant Ashley in the
course of his argument for the Crown, to the effect that the
question was too high to be determined by a legal decision,
was at once checked by Manchester and disavowed by Heath.
1 Council Register, April 12. Clarke to Buckingham, April -12, S. P.
Dom. c. 64.
* Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. Qt. • Lords' Journals, iii. 746.
VOL. VI. S
258 WENTWORTHS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
Ashley was committed to prison by the Lords till he had
apologised for his offence.1
On the 2ist the great subject was merely approached by
April 21. the Peers. They resolved that the King and Council
Debate in naci power to commit upon just cause. On the
the Lords. J .
2 2nd they considered whether it was necessary for
April 22. the cause to be expressed or not ; in other words,
whether the judges or the King were to decide upon the
legality of the commitment.
It was generally believed that the majority would be on the
King's side. Heath's arguments had told, and the influence
of the Court was strong. Within the last few days four new
Peers, Coventry and Weston amongst them, had taken their
seats. The Commons, in alarm, sent to beg for another con
ference before the vote was taken.
The opposition, minority as it was, stood firm. Saye was
foremost in the combat; and he was warmly supported by
those who had suffered from Buckingham's domina-
Of the tion. Williams pronounced strongly for the popular
interpretation of the law. Abbot was equally decided.
The first hand held out to the King outside the ranks of the
Court was that of a man whom he had deeply wronged.
Mjddie Bristol argued that they were simply discussing the
poseTby"0" limits of the King's legal power. Behind that was
Bristol. a regal power upon which he could fall back in extra-
ordinary cases. "As Christ," he said, "upon the Sabbath
healed, so the prerogative is to be preserved for the preserva-
tion of the whole." Bristol, in short, proposed that the law
should be declared according to the demand of the Commons,
but that an acknowledgment should be made that if a really
exceptional state of things arose, the King might boldly set
Rejected by aside the law for the sake of the nation. The Lord
Coventry. Keeper would have none of such help as this. For
the Privy Council to coramit without showing cause, he said,
was only in accordance with the ordinary law. Upon this,
Buckingham, confident in the support of the majority, moved
1 Lord's yournals, ii. 759. Elsing's Notes.
1628 THE LORDS AS MEDIATORS. 259
that the debate be closed. The next step would have been to
reject the Commons' resolutions, but Saye interposed with a
motion for delay till the judges had been consulted. If this
were not done, those who were in favour of the resolutions
would enter their protests. It was thought that, if it had come
to a division, there would have been fifty-six votes recorded
The debate m opposition to the Court, against sixty-six in its
adjourned, favour. Buckingham did not venture to divide in
the face of so formidable an opposition, and the debate was
adjourned.1
When the discussion was re-opened the next day, Arundel
declared his concurrence in the general doctrine of the
Commons ; but he thought that some modifications
Arundei's might be introduced into the resolutions. At Pem-
proposaL broke's suggestion a Committee was appointed to
examine the whole bearings of the question. Before this ex-
amination Buckingham's majority melted away. It is said that
when he went down to the House he assured the King that
the resolutions would be rejected before he came away. For
ten hours the debate swayed to and fro. The decisive impulse
came at last from Abbot, who pointed out the ruinous con-
sequences of a breach witi. the Lower House in the face of
so many enemies abroad.2 It was resolved that,
April 25. *
The Lord's instead of rejecting the resolutions of the Commons,
counter-propositions should be drawn up in lieu of
them. As Harsnet, the Bishop of Norwich, was employed
to put them into shape, it may be supposed that there was a
defection on the Episcopal Bench, which, as a rule, was the
chief support of the Court. The defection, however, was not
universal. To Laud, at least, Harsnet's desertion seemed a
base concession to expediency, sinning against the principle
1 Ehing's Notes. Harl. MSS. 4771, IO2 b. Meade to Stuteville.
May 3, Court and Times, i. 348.
* This debate is not reported by Elsing. The account in the text is
taken from Contarini's despatch of May — . He gives no date, but his
description will not suit any other day than this.
S 2
26o WENTIVORTH'S LEADERSHIP. CH. i,xn.
that the King is above all laws, even above Magna Carta
itself.1
The first four propositions were intended to secure the
subject against all interference with the ordinary course of
justice. The Great Charter, and six other statutes by which it
had been interpreted in early times, were asserted to be in force.
Every freeman was declared to have ' a fundamental property
in his goods, and a fundamental liberty of his person.' His
Majesty was to be requested to confirm the ' ancient just privi-
leges and rights of his subjects in as ample and beneficial
manner ' as ' their ancestors did enjoy the same under the best
of his Majesty's most noble progenitors ; ' and to promise that
' in all cases wi:hin the cognizance of the common law concern-
ing the liberty of the subject, his Majesty would proceed
according to the laws established in this kingdom, and in no
other manner or wise.'
The fifth proposition ran thus : " And as touching his
Majesty's royal prerogative intrinsical 2 to his sovereignty, and
The fifth entrusted him from God ad communem totius populi
proposition, salutem, et nan ad destructionem, that his Majesty
would resolve not to use or divert the same to the prejudice of
any of his loyal people in the property of their goods or liberty
of their persons ; and in case, for the security of his Majesty's
Royal person, the common safety of his people, or the peaceable
government of his kingdom, his Majesty shall find just cause,
for reason of State, to imprison or restrain any man's person,
his Majesty would graciously declare that, within a convenient
time, he shall and will express the cause of the commitment
or restraint, either general or special ; and, upon a cause so
expressed, will leave him immediately to be tried according to
the common justice of the kingdom."
1 A copy of the propositions (S. P. Dom. cii. 14) is endorsed by Laud,
as 'penned' by Dr. Harsnet, Bishop of Norwich.' Amongst other notes
in Laud's hand, is one referring to the confirmation of Magna Carta : —
" Yes, but salvo jure corona nostra is intended in all oaths and promises
exacted from a sovereign."
• So in Harl. M^S. 4771, fol. lie, and so quoted by Coke. The
Parl. Hist, has 'incident.'
1628 COKE'S CRITICISM. 261
In sending these propositions to the Commons, the Lords
Assured them that they had prejudged nothing. They were
ready to hear anything that might be said on the other side.1
It is only fair to the authors of these propositions to acknow-
ledge that they seem to have been actuated by a serious wish to
Spirit of the niediate between the opposing parties. Whilst they
propositions. wjshed, in opposition to Coventry and Buckingham,
to exclude the Crown from all interference with the ordinary
administration of the law, they also wished that the King
should enjoy a right, analogous to the right of suspending the
Habeas Corpus Act in our own times, of overriding the law in
any special State emergency. Whether such a middle course
was possible may well be doubted. The Lords who proposed
to entrust Charles with extraordinary powers forgot that he had
already ceased to inspire confidence. Even if this had not
been the case, the language of the propositions was not felicitous.
The prerogative referred to was spoken of as intrinsical to sove-
reignty and was traced to a Divine origin. It was therefore
entirely different from that prerogative which was considered as
part of the law, and as liable to discussion in the Courts.
When the propositions came before the Commons, they
were savagely criticised by Coke. Was the confirmation of
the Great Charter to be accorded as a grace ? What
April 26.
They are were just liberties ? Who were the best of his
the com- !n Majesty's predecessors ? "We see," he said, "what
an advantage they have that are learned in the law
in penning articles above them that are not, how wise soever."
Coming nearer to the heart of the matter, he asked what was
intrinsical prerogative. " It is a word," he said, " we find not
much in the law. It is meant that intrinsical prerogative is not
bounded by any law, or by any law qualified. We must admit
this intrinsical prerogative, and all our laws are out. And this
intrinsical prerogative is intrusted him by God, and then it is
jure divino, and then no law can take it away." His Majesty
could commit when he pleased. It was the very thing for
which King John had striven in vain. If the Lords refused
1 Part. Hint. ii. 329.
262 WENTWORTH'S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
their concurrence in the resolutions of the Commons, it would
be better to go directly to the King for redress. Selden spoke
in the same tone. "At this little gap," he said, referring to the
words 'convenient time,' "every man's liberty may in time
go out."
In the main, most of the speakers took the same view ol
the case. But there were some who were still seeking for a
middle course more satisfactory than that which had been pro-
Noy'spro- posed by the Lords. Let the old laws, argued Noy,
//*•!•£[* be recited and declared to be in force. Then let a
r*orp*s Act. provision be made for the more ready issue of writs
of habeas corpus, and let it be enacted that ' if there be no
cause of detaining upon that writ,' the prisoner ' is to be de-
livered.'
Wentworth was less explicit than Noy. He said that he had
no wish to dive into pointb ox" sovereignty or divine right. He
Wentworth's hoped that the question ' whether the King be above
speech. j^g jaw or the jaw aDOVe the King ' would never be
stirred. Though he rejected the fifth proposition as entirely
as Coke or Selden, and would have nothing to do with it ' but
only to disclaim it,' he doubted the wisdom of Coke's proposal
to petition the King. Perhaps he thought that such a petition
was sure of rejection ; but he merely argued that the petition,
even if granted, would only be laid up in a Parliament Roll,
and so remain practically unknown. Once more he declared
that what was wanted was a Bill. There must be a clearer ex-
planation of the words ' law of the land ' in the Great Charter,
and they might confer with the Lords about that. It should
be ordained in the Bill ' that none shall be committed without
showing cause.' A penalty must be set on those who violated
it. Then speaking in his grand, impetuous way of the possible
breach of the law in extraordinary cases — ' When it shall,' he
said, ' on any emergent cause, he thinks no man shall find fault
with it.' '
Wentworth's idea was much the same as Bristol's. The law
must be clear against arbitrary committals. If the time came
1 7/ar/. MSS. 4771, tbl. 112 b, 116. Nicholas's Notes.
1 628 CHARLESES OFFER. 263
when the good of the State imperatively demanded its viola-
tion, let the King violate it openly and boldly, and trust to the
good sense of the nation for his justification.1
To Charles there was but little to choose between Coke and
Went worth. On the 28th he summoned the Commons before
him in the Upper House. It was a point, said the Lord Keeper
A rii 28 'n ^e King'5 name, of extraordinary grace and justice
Coventry's in his Majesty to suffer his prerogative ' to rest so
thatTtTe"011 long in dispute without interruption.' But the delay
musfbeWord could be borne no further, and he was therefore
taken. commanded to declare that his Majesty held the
Great Charter and the six statutes to be in force, and would
' maintain all his subjects in the just freedom of their persons
and safety of their estates, according to the laws and statutes
of the realm.' They would 'find as much sincerity in his
Royal word and promise as in the strength of any law they
could make.' 8
It was characteristic of Charles to suppose that his word
1 It is worth noticing how this idea of a law binding for all ordinary
purposes, which might yet be broken ' on any emergent cause,' was Went-
worth's to the last. On September 13, 1639, he wrote about ship-money
to Judge Hutton : " I must confess in a business of so mighty importance,
I shall the less regard the forms of pleading, and do conceive that the
power of levies of forces at sea and land for the very not feigned relief and
safety of the public, is such a property of sovereignty as, were the Crown
willing, yet can it not divest itself thereof. Salus populi supremo, lex;
nay, in case of extremity even above Acts of Parliament." Straffbrd
Letters, ii. 388. Ship-money, to Wentworth, was money levied for a real
necessity. The forced loan was levied for a feigned necessity. One was
for defence, the other for aggression. The difference between Went-
worth in office and Wentworth out of office must also be taken into
account. Laud's opinions were much the same. In his ' History of the
Troubles ' (Works, iii. 399) he says : " By God's law and the . . . law of
the land, I humbly conceive the subjects met in Parliament ought to supply
their prince when there is just and necessary cause. And if an absolute ne-
cessity do happen by invasion or otherwise, which gives no time for counsel
or law, such a necessity — but no pretended one — is above all law. And I
have heard the greatest lawyers in this kingdom confess that in times of
•uch,a necessity, the King's legal prerogative is as great as this.''
2 Parl. Hist. ii. 331.
264 WENTWORTIfS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
could stand in the place of a formal enactment. Yet the
Debate in actlial intervention of the King was not without its
the com- effect. Rudyerd urged a fresh conference with the
Lords, in the vague hope that some plan would be
discovered which might please everyone. There was some-
thing, he thought, in the King's offer. He would be glad ' to
see that good old decrepit law of Magna Carta, which hath
been so long kept in and bedrid, as it were,' walking abroad
again with new vigour and lustre, attended by the other six
statutes. But even Rudyerd thought there must be a Bill for-
bidding imprisonment for refusing to pay loans or Privy seals.
To confer with the Lords, after the experience lately gained,
was poor advice. " I cannot conceive," said Eliot of the pro-
positions, " how they can be of use to us." He adhered to
Wentworth's suggestion of proceeding by Bill.
Wentworth's views were thus at last adopted by the House.
Resolutions and propositions were to drop together. Theories
A BUI to be °f ^awj theories of government, were to be left un-
prepared. touched. The Commons were to prepare a practical
solution of the difficulty, and to send it up to the Lords . for
.their acceptance or rejection. A sub-committee, in which Eliot,
Wentworth, Pym, and Phelips, and a few others of the leading
members sat with all the lawyers in the House, was to draw
up a Bill expressing the substance of the old statutes and of
the recent resolutions of the Commons.1
On the morning of the 2Qth the Bill which was to assure
the liberties of the subject was brought into the Grand Com-
mittee by Coke, in the name of the sub-committee.
April 29. J '
The Bill on " In this law," said the old lawyer, as he stood with
of^suh-8 ft stiU m his hand, "we looked not back, for qui
Ject< repetit separat. We have made no preamble other
than the laws, and we desired our pen might be in oil, not in
vinegar." 2
1 Commons'1 Journals, i. 890 ; Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 120 ; ibid. 2313,
fol. 65. Nicholas's Notes.
* As the Bill never got out of Committee, it is not mentioned in the
Journals. It has hitherto been confused with the subsequent Petition oi
Right, and only fragments of the debates which followed have been known.
1628 PROPOSED BILL OF LIBERTIES. 265
Unlike the subsequent Petition of Right, the Bill contained
no recital of grievances. Charles was not to be told that he
had broken the law ; but he was plainly to acknowledge that
he had no right to billet soldiers without the householder's
authority ; to levy loans or taxes without consent of Parlia-
ment ; or to commit a man to prison. If he did commit a
man to prison the judges were to bail him, or deliver him,
without paying regard to the King's orders.
The question of imprisonment gave rise to some difference
of opinion in committee. The declaration that the King could
Debate on n°t commit seemed to many to be harsh and un-
the Bill. called for ; and there were some who argued that it
would be enough if provision were made for the due granting of
the habeas corpus, whether the prisoner had been committed by
the King or by a subject.
There was an evident division in the House. Eliot and
Coke were for taking the Bill as it stood. Noy and Digges and
Seymour were in favour of a modification. The party which
afterwards passed over to the Crown was already forming.
The following is the only form in which I have met with it. Harl.
4771, fol. 123 :—
"An Act for the better securing of every freeman touching the propriety
of his goods and liberty of his person.
" Whereas it is enacted and declared by Magna Carta that no freeman
is to be convicted, destroyed, &c., and whereas by a statute made in E. i,
called de lallagio non concedendo : and whereas by the Parliament, 5 E. 3,
and 29 E. 3, &c., and whereas by the said great Charter was confirmed,
and that the other laws, &c.
" Be it enacted that Magna Carta and these Acts be put in due execu-
tion, and that all allegements, awards, and rules given or to be given to the
contrary shall be void ; and whereas by the common law and statute, it
appeareth that no freeman ought to be committed " (convicted in MS. )
" by command of the King, &c. ; and if any freeman be so committed and
the same returned upon a habeas corpus, he ought to be delivered or bailed ;
and whereas by the common law and statutes every freeman hath a pro-
priety of his goods and estate, as no tax, tallage, &c., nor any soldier can
be billeted in his house, &c. ; Be it enacted that no tax, tallage, or loan
shall be levied &c. by the King or any minister without Act of Parliament.
and that none be compelled to receive any soldiers into his house agairk-t
his will."
266 WENTWORTH' S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
On the third day of the debate Wentworth rose. " We are
here," he said, " to close up the hurt and danger of his Majesty's
Ma T people. All our desires are but to this Bill ; and
Wemwonh this left unsecured makes us lose all our labour. We
£o°i£xiify shall tread the olive and lose all the oil. I agree the
resolutions are according to law, and that we cannot
recede a tittle. We can lay no other foundation than what is
already laid. But here let us see how this misery comes on
us ; first by the too speedy commitments at Whitehall, and by
too slow bailments at Westminster Hall. If we secure the
subject at Westminster by a good law, it will satisfy and i egulate
the sudden commitments at Whitehall. We have by this Act a
security by Magna Carta and the other laws. Let us make
what law we can, there must — nay there will — be a trust left in
the Crown. Let us confirm Magna. Carta and those other
laws, together with the King's declaration, by this Act. Let us
provide by this law to secure us that we may have no wrong
from Westminster. Let it be enacted that we shall be bailed if
habeas corpus be brought and no sufficient cause. Such a law
will exceed all the laws that ever we had for the good of the
subject ; and if it be so, I desire to know whether our country
will not blame us if we refuse it. I am to be changed by better
reason if I see it." '
Wentworth, it would seem, would have made the form of
the Bill even more conciliatory chan it was. He would have
Value of the confined himself to a bare recital of the statutes con-
proposal, firmed, and would have added the words in which
the King had declared his intention to observe them. But he
tvould have omitted the denial of the King's right to commit.
With a good Habeas Corpus Bill such a right would be perfectly
harmless. If the prisoner committed without sufficient cause
shown were liberated at once by the judges, the committals
complained of would soon come to an end of themselves.
It would have been curious to have seen Wentworth's pro-
1 The reports in the Harleian MS. and Nicholas's Notes differ verbally
from one another. I have pieced the two together, taking the one or the
other as it seemed more full, and changing connecting words to fit the
sentences together.
1628 CHARLES REFUSES TO BE HELPED. 267-
posal in its complete shape. The judges would have had the
ultimate decision of the legality of the committal in their hands.
We know that Wentworth spoke of the trust to be reposed in
the King, and that he had spoken before of circumstances in
which a breach of the law would be a commendable action. In
his present speech there was no provision for such a case. Yet
the omission is perhaps one which strikes us more than it was
likely to strike Wentworth. In those days the communication
between the judges and the Government was much closer than
it is now, and Wentworth may have thought that if special pre-
cautions were needed, the King would lay the grounds upon
which he proposed to suspend the law privately before the
judges, and thus obtain their consent to the interruption of the
ordinary course of justice.
However this may have been, Wentworth's plan undoubtedly
contemplated the transfer of authority from the King to the
judges. It was enough for him that he could leave to the
Crown all authority worth having. It must not be forgotten that
no proposal had as yet been made for abolishing the power of
fine and imprisonment possessed by the Star Chamber. Went-
worth, at least, would have had no difficulty in ruling vigorously
under such conditions. But he had forgotten that the shadow
of authority was as dear to Charles as its substance. It was not
from Coke or Eliot that the blow came which levelled to the
dust the edifice which he was constructing with such toil.
For all we know, his sway over the House may have been
The King's as absolute as ever ; but as soon as he sat down
message. fae Secretary rose, declaring to the committee that
he was entrusted with a message from his Majesty. When the
Speaker had taken the chair, Sir John stated that the King
wished the question to be put ' whether they would rest on his
Royal word and promise.'
The text was bad enough. The Secretary's comment was
far more irritating. The House, he said, could not expect to
place the King in a worse position than he had been
Coke°scom- in before. He had a sword in his hand for the good
of his subjects. Make what law they pleased, they
could no', alter that. He was himself a Privy Councillor, and
jf.8 WENTWORTH' S LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII.
it would be his duty under any circumstances to commit with-
out showing the cause to anyone but the King.1
After such a message the Commons had but one course
to pursue. They adjourned to consider their position. One
The House gleam of hope remained. It was known that the
adjourned. Secretary had been in the House for some time, and
it did not appear that any fresh communication had reached
him after Wentworth began to speak. It was therefore just
possible that, if Wentworth's overtures were allowed to reach
Charles, they might still be accepted.
When the House met the next day the case against Charles
was put in the plainest terms by Sir Walter Erie. " It is con-
ceived," he said, " that the subject had suffered more
May 2. ' ' J
Debate on in the violation of the ancient liberties within these
lessage. few years t^an m ^g tnree hundred years before."
Charles, in short, could not be trusted with powers which
had been conceded to Henry and Elizabeth. The debate
which followed showed how completely he had succeeded in
throwing a chill over the sentiment which was rising in his
favour. Those who thought that some moderate latitude
should be allowed to the action of the Government were re-
pelled by Charles's claim to be above all constitutional restric-
tions. Noy and Digges remained silent. Seymour spoke in
defence of the Bill. The awkward advocacy of the Solicitor-
General only served to irritate his hearers. The King, he said,
was certain to keep his word as long as he lived. A bad king
in future times would not be bound by any law which they
might make.
The doctrine that the King was permanently above law
was as offensive to those who, like Wentworth, recognised the
, , fact that all possible cases could not be provided
\Ventworths r . r
appeal to the for by legislation, as to those who, like Coke, would
reduce all government to the observation of the law.
Wentworth, persisting in his opinion, almost smothered the
King in compliments. Let them thank his Majesty, he said,
for his gracious message. Never House of Parliament trusted
1 Pa;-/, ffirt. ii. 342.
1628 WENTWORTH'S APPEAL. 269
more in his goodness than they did as far as their own private
interests were concerned. " But," he added firmly, " we are
ambitious that his Majesty's goodness may remain to posterity,
and we are accountable for a public trust ; and therefore, seeing
there hath been a public violation of the laws by his ministers,
nothing can satisfy them but a public amends ; and our desires
to vindicate the subjects' right by Bill are no more than are
laid down in former laws, with some modest provision for illus-
tration, performance, and execution." As if to suggest that the
Bill, as it stood, was not altogether such as he approved of, he
added that the King should be informed that the House had
not yet agreed upon its terms. When it had been discussed
and perhaps amended in the two Houses, the King would have
it before him in its final shape.
Nothing could be firmer in substance or more conciliatory
in form. Even Coke, touched by the solemnity of the occa-
Coke's sion, was conciliatory too. Let the Bill, he said, be
proposal. couched in the form of a promise. " We will grant,
for us and our successors, that we and our successors will do
thus and thus." " It is to the King's honour," said Coke, " that
he cannot speak but by record."
All respect, in short, should be shown to the King. The
House was ready to trust his word ; but his word must be
given and his authority exercised as part of the constitutional
system of the country, and not as something outside of it.
Against the determination of the House it was useless to
strive. Sir John Coke contented himself with denying the
correctness of Wentworth's assertion that the laws
laws been had been violated. Wentworth proudly answered that
he had not said that the laws had been violated by
his Majesty. They had been violated by his ministers. Seymour
reminded the unlucky Secretary that he had himself acknow-
ledged the violation, and had been content to excuse it on the
plea of necessity.1
A sub-committee was appointed to draw up a Remonstrance
on the basis of Wentworth's speech. The House answered
1 In his speech of March 22, Par/. Hist. ii. 233. See p. 237.
270 WENTWORTWS LEADERSHIP. CH. LXII
readily to the hand of its leader. Charles, however, would have
Wentworth's none of such mediation. He knew well that what-
t-amed im^ 6ver n's ministers had done, had been done with his
a riemon- approbation. He therefore anticipated the Remon-
strance.
The King strance by a message that he was ready to repeat the
promise he had made, but that he would not hear ot
any encroachment upon that sovereignty or prerogative which
God had put into his hands for the good of his people. On
May 13 the session must be brought to a close.1
The Commons could not but stand firm. They ordered
the Remonstrance to be presented in spite of the message,
M adding a few words of assurance to the King that
The Re- they had no wish to encroach on his sovereignty or
™resemed?c prerogative. Charles held his ground. He would
The King's confirm Magna Carta and the six statutes, but it
must be ' without additions, paraphrases, or explana-
tions.' For the rest he had given his Royal word, and that was
enough.2
In the Remonstrance of May 5 Wentworth spoke for the last
time in the name of the House of Commons. On that day
his leadership came to its inevitable end. He had
Wentworth's hoped to reconcile the King and his subjects. His
1 lp' idea of kingship was a high one — too high, indeed, for
the circumstances of the time ; but he regarded it, as Bacon had
regarded it, as part of the constitution of England, as restricted
to action in consonance with the laws, and only rising above
them because no written laws could possibly provide for all the
emergencies which might occur. For Charles the kingship was
something different from this — something divine in its origin
and unlimited in its powers. Therefore, even if he was willing
to agree that he would not repeat the actions which had given
just offence in the preceding year, he was not willing to bind
himself to more. He would surrender the abuse. The authority
from which the abuse sprang he would not surrender.
Wentworth's hopes were thus baffled. There was to be no
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 129-136; Nicholas's Notes ; Par!. Hist. ii.
345-
* Part. Hist. ii. 347.
1628 WENTWORTK BAFFLED 271
])iovision for the future with Charles's consent, no great con-
structive measure which would lay afresh the foundation of a
higher union between King and people in accordance with the
wants of the age and the experience of the past. Wentworth
must step aside and make room for another policy and other
men. The Commons, if they were to carry their point at all,
must set their teeth hard and declare war to the end against
their sovereign. It would have been well for Wentworth if he
had recognised once ibi all that no stable constitutional edifice
could be raised with Charles for its foundation, if the bitter
cry " Put not your trust in princes " which was to be wrung
from him when at last he stooped his proud head before an
angry and triumphant nation, had risen to his lips as he sat
moodily watching the troubled assembly which it was now no
longer his to guide.
CHAPTER LXII1.
THE PETITION OF RIGHT.
WHEN the King's answer to the Remonstrance was read, Sir
John Coke proposed that it should be debated in the House
May 6. an(i not ^n committee, as being more for the King's
The King's honour. Against this proposal Eliot protested. There
answer to he ^ l r «
considered, was greater freedom of speech in committee. If a
member changed his views, he could say so, though he had
already spoken. " For my part," said Eliot, " I am often con-
verted."
It was no hypocritical affectation of humility which brought
these words to Eliot's lips. The records of this session are the
Eliot's moral highest witnesses to the moral worth of the patriotic
worth. orator. No man was ever placed in more trying cir-
cumstances than Eliot during the first weeks of this session.
He had been the life and soul of the last Parliament. It had
thought with his thoughts and spoken with his words. Now
other men were listened to more than himself. Policy which
he thought unwise was frequently adopted. Yet all this he had
borne without the slightest sign of self-will or petulance. He
had spoken his opinion freely, and had frankly acknowledged
that his opinion was changed whenever he saw that the argu-
ment was going against him.
After Wentworth's failure it was not likely that the House
would again ask for anything short of the extreme measure of
Debate in ^ts claims. The discussion in committee was opened
committee, ^y an appeal from Alford to the lawyers present to
inform him what benefit would accrue to the subject by the
1628 THE KING'S OFFER CRITICISED. 273
confirmation of the statutes without explanation. Lyttelton
promptly answered that the subject would be in a worse con-
dition than before, as the abandonment of the resolutions would
imply a doubt whether they were a correct interpretation of the
statutes confirmed. Other members dwelt upon the vagueness
of the King's offers. The King, said Sir Nathaniel Rich, was
like a debtor who said, ' I owe you nothing, but pray trust me.'
They must know what the King offered before they could say
whether they would trust him or not. Another member pointed
to the difference of opinion on the meaning of the words ' the
law of the land ' in Magna Carta. " We all," he said, " agree
what it is. But have the Lords and the judges so agreed ? "
Pym pushed the argument still further home. " Our assurance,"
he said, "in the King's word were sufficient, if we knew what
the King's sense and meaning is. We have not his word only,
but his oath also at his coronation." If the law had been broken,
it was clear that the King did not know what the law was.
" We complain," he added, " of unjust imprisonment upon
loans. I hear not any say we shall be no more, or that matter
of State shall be no more pretended when there is none. . . .
We all rest on the King's royal word. But let us agree in a
rule to give us satisfaction."
Sir John Coke remonstrated. Did Pym. mean that the King's
word added no force to a law ? Sir Harbottle Grimston threw
back upon the Secretary the words which he had recently
spoken. " The King's ministers," he replied, " tell us here they
must commit." Till the law on the point of committal was
clearly understood, it was hopeless to expect an agreement.
Even Sir John saw that something must be conceded. The
loan, he said, was the original grievance. Let them petition
his Majesty not to repeat it
The Secretary little thought what echo his words would
have. Sir Edward Coke rose at once.1 Yes, he said, let us
1 Mr. Forster (Sir J. Eliot, ii. 47) is evidently mistaken in speaking of
Coke as rising with the draft in his hand. The Bill had been before the
Committee for some days, and the petition was not yet in existence. It
must be remembered that without the use of Harl, MS. 4771, or Nicholas's
Notes, Mr. Forster had a very limited amount of straw to make his bricks
VOL. VI. T
574 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXin
rely on the King. " Under God, he is God's lieutenant. Trust
him we must." Yet what was an answer in general words to
particular grievances ? A verbal declaration was not the word
of a king. " Did ever Parliament rely on messages ? They
ever put up petitions of their grievances, and the king ever
answered them ? The King's answer is very gracious. But
what is the law of the realm ? that is the question. I put no
diffidence in his Majesty. The King must speak by a record
cote pro- and m particulars, and not in general. Let us have
Petition of a conference with the Lords, and join in a Petition
Right. of Right to the King for our particular grievances.
Not that I distrust the King, but because we cannot take his
trust but in a Parliamentary way."
The word had at last been spoken which the House could
accept as its only safe guidance. The King would not allow
them to consider what was right and what was wrong ;
General ac- . . 11111 • r * • '
ceptance of at least they could a^k that the meaning of the exist-
the proposal. Jng laws should be p]ace(i beyond doubt, and that
they should know whether the interpretation of Heath or the
interpretation of Coke and Selden was to prevail. The accept-
ance of the proposal was general and immediate. Eliot, Sey-
mour, Glanville, Littleton, Phelips, Pym, Hoby, Coryton, and
Digges adhered to it at once. Even Wentworth accepted it
as now inevitable, though he reserved for himself the right of
reconsidering his position after the King's answer had been
received.
The leaders of the House had all declared that they were
ready to trust the King, and they doubtless persuaded them-
selves that it was really so. Sir Nathaniel Rich rose
Was the
King really at the end of the debate to tear away the veil. A
petition, he said, was better than a Bill, for by it
they would have an answer before they sent up the subsidies.
A petition, in fact, would receive an immediate answer. A
Bill would be sent up at the end of the session, and what was
with. A great part of the speech he al tributes to Coke does not seem to
stand on any evidence, and I fancy he must inadvertently have carried his
{narks of quotation too far.
I62S THE PETITION DRA WN UP. 275
there to hinder the King from accepting the subsidies and re-
jecting the Bill ? '
The sub-committee which had drawn up the previous Bill
was entrusted with the preparation of the petition.
A Petition of . . - , . . .
Right to be A protest against forced loans, arbitrary impnson-
prepare . men^ an(] compulsory billeting was to form its
substance. To these heads was to be added another against
the late commissions for the execution of martial
May 7.
Martial law law. After recent experience it was hopeless to
testedpr° guard the broad assertion of their illegality by any
provision for the maintenance of proper discipline in
the army, and all that could be done was to declare that the
exercise of martial law was absolutely illegal.
There was no delay in the labours of the sub-committee.
Ma s ^n t^e 8t'1 t^ie ^>et^t^on °f Right was brought in
The petition by Selden, and the House of Lords was asked to
brought m. appOjnt a <jay for a conference upon it In order
to make the medicine more palatable to Charles, the resolution
for the five subsidies was at last reported to the House.2
There was, indeed, need to render the medicine palatable
if Charks was to accept it willingly. Everything to which he
had objected in the Bill re- appeared in the petition
contrasted0" in a harder and more obnoxious form. He was no
with the Bin. longer asked merely to regulate the course of his
future action. He had to allow that actions done by his orders
had been in direct opposition to the law of England. His
acceptance of the Bill would have been a friendly agreement to
order his relations with the nation on new terms. His accept-
ance of the petition would be a humble acknowledgment of error.
During these days, when his proposals had been flatly re-
jected by the House, Charles lost all patience. A draft exists
A dissolution °f a declaration which was to explain the causes
resolved on. of fae dissolution which had been resolved on ; but
bettdr counsels prevailed, and the breach was averted for a time.3
1 Ifarl. MSS. 4771, fol. 137-140 b. Nicholas's Notes.
"> Commons' Journals, i. 894. Harl. MSS. 4.771, fol. 144.
1 The draft is in Heath's hand (S. P. Dom. cxxxviii. 45, i.\ and was
calendared by Mr. Bruce, and quoted by Mr. Forster as applying to the
T3
2?6 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
The petition was at' once sent up to the Upper House.
On the loth a Committee of the Lords reported that they left
Ma the question of imprisonment to the House. The
The petition rest of the petition they accepted with a few amend-
j.ord«. e ments, most of which were intended to render the
tnePLords~' condemnation of the past conduct of the Government
Committee. jess abrupt, whilst there were two which had been
drawn up with the object of retaining for the King the power of
exercising martial law over soldiers, though not over civilians. l
Coming from such a source the report was clearly more
condemnatory of the Government than the petition itself. As
we read over the list of the committee — Coventry,
Composition ,, , . i t -n i /• t -n • • ^ T->
of the Com- Manchester, Arundel, Bedford, Bristol, baye, Paget,
Weston, with Bishops Harsnet and Williams 2 — we
feel that Charles must indeed have stood alone in England
before such names would be appended to words which even in
their modified form contained the severest censure to which
any King of England had submitted since the days of
Richard II.
Before such a demonstration of opinion it was impos-
sible for Charles to maintain his ground. In a letter to the
Ma 12 Lords he condescended to argue the point of his
The King right to imprison. " We find it insisted upon," he
argues on his .1 . ,, • i , i ij-^
right of im- wrote, that "in no case whatsoever, should it ever
pnsonment. SQ near]v concem matters of State or Government,
neither we, nor our Privy Council, have power to commit any
man without the cause be showed, whereas it often happens
that, should the cause be showed, the service itself would
thereby be destroyed and defeated. And the cause alleged
must be such as may be determined by our Judges of our
Courts of Westminster in a legal and ordinary way of justice ;
dissolution in 1629. I find it hard to believe that either Mr. Bruce or Mr.
Forster ever seriously examined the paper. There is not a word referring
to the second session, whilst everything would be in place in May 1628.
The paper is undated, but if it belongs to this session must have been
drawn up in the week following May 2 ; I suspect after the petition was
known to the King.
1 Part. Hint. ii. 351. 2 Lords' Journals, iii. 788.
rb28 THE LORDS ATTEMPT TO MEDIATE. 277
whereas the causes may be such as those Judges have not the
capacity of judicature, nor rules of law to direct and guide
their judgment in cases of so transcendent a nature ; which
happening so often, the very intermitting of that constant rule
of government practised for so many ages within this kingdom,
would soon dissolve the foundation and frame of our mon-
archy." Yet Charles was ready to engage that he would never
again imprison anyone for refusing to lend him money, and
that when he did imprison he would always disclose the cause
as soon as it could be done conveniently for the safety of the
State.
The King's letter was forwarded to the Commons by the
Lords. The Commons would not hear of such a basis of
May 14 settlement. When the petition was complete they
His overture would ask for the King's assent. A letter was of no
She Com- value. The Lords replied that they did not place
more weight than the Commons upon the letter. All
that they wished was to bring the petition into conformity with
the letter, so as to give it a chance of securing the King's
issent.1
The Lords were about to try what they could do to give
effect to their wishes; but though they had been apparently
The Lords unanimous in supporting the proposed course, the
Tcxol^moda- unanimity was greater in appearance than in reality.
tlon- Saye and his friends agreed to allow the attempt to
be made, on the express understanding that if it failed they
might fall back on the petition as it stood.
That there was a strong element in the Upper House which
desired to take a middle course was manifest. Though men
like Williams and Bristol and Arundel had suffered
May 15.
Debate in too much from the unrestrained exercise of the King's
rds' authority not to join heartily in the main demands
of the petition, they were too old statesmen not to be aware
that a discretionary power must be lodged somewhere, and
they laboured hard to discover some formula which should
restrict it to real cases of necessity. At first it seemed that the
1 Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 155. Lords' Journals, Hi. 796.
273 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
Lord Keeper would meet them half-way. "No man," said
Coventry, "ought to be imprisoned but a clear and direct
cause ought to be showed, unless the very declaration of the
cause will destroy the business, and in such a case, for a time,
a general cause may serve." A committee was appointed to
draw up a form of words in which Coventry's view might be
embodied.
It was no such easy matter. The Committee for a long
time was unable to agree upon anything. At last they re-
Ma 16 P°rted a clause proposed by Williams.1 Thus it
wniiams's ran : — " Thai no freeman be — for not lending money
or for any other cause contrary to Magna Carta and
the other statutes insisted upon, and the true intention of the
1 There are two clauses in the LordS Journals (iii. 799, 80) with no
names to them. Compare Rising's Notes. The second, the one finally
adopted, is twice claimed by Weston. From the same notes we learn that
there had been two forms before, the one proceeding from Williams and the
other from Arundel, the latter of which was probably in some way or other
amended by Weston. Williams's speeches, as there reported, leave no
doubt that his was the one in which the King's sovereignty is not men-
tioned. The usual attribution to Williams of the clause about sovereignty
falls to the ground, and that theoiy, in fact, is directly contradicted by
Williams's notes on the King's letter as given by Hacket, ii. 77. Of the
supposed intrigues of Williams, and his alleged efforts at this time to bring
Wentworth over to the Court, I know nothing. Racket's account of a
later reconciliation with Buckingham will be given in its proper place.
Williams, no doubt, acted with Bristol and Arundel, but to act with
Bristol and Arundel was to be opposed to Buckingham and the Court,
though not so decidedly as Saye. The true story of William's proposed
clause is told in a paper in Harl. MSS. 6800, fol. 274, under the heading
" The offer of accommodation made by the Bishop of Lincoln. " He would
have left the preface to the petition as it stood, adding a complaint that
divers of his Majesty's subjects had been imprisoned without cause shown,
and would then have inserted the clause in the text for ' that no freeman
in any such manner as is before mentioned be imprisoned or detained.'
He also proposed a form for the King's reply, as follows : " Neither we
nor our Privy Council shall or will at any time hereafter commit or com-
mand to prison, or otherwise restrain the persons of any for not lending
of money unto us, nor for any other cause contrary to the true intention of
Magna Carta and those other six statutes insisted upon to be expounded
by our judges in thai behalf."
1628 AMENDMENTS OF THE LORDS. 279
same, to be declared by your Majesty's judges in any such
matter l as is before mentioned — imprisoned or detained."
The clause was certainly not clear, and needed all Williams's
explanations ; but its intention was manifestly that which he said
it was. While he believed, as Wentworth believed,
that in very special cases the King had by his pre-
rogative the right of suspending the action of the ordinary
law, he shrank from affirming this in so many words. The
result was ambiguity itself. The author of the clause was the
first to discover that his meaning had been misun-
May 17. °
Explanation derstood. He had to explain that in referring the
ims' decision of the legality of a commitment to the judges
he had no thought of countenancing the idea that they might
refuse bail on the old ground of want of cause expressed. He
meant, he protested, nothing of the sort. If his proposition
meant that, it was 'the idlest that ever was offered.'
A medium of agreement which needs explanation from its
author is self-condemned ; but it was probably not its obscurity
which rendered it unpalatable to the majority of the Upper
House. " Power," said Weston, " which is not known and
confessed, cannot be obeyed." The following clause, probably
originally drawn up by Arundel and finally brought
Arundel's • , ,,r , c , • e
clause in by Weston, left no doubt of the reservation of
1 °pte ' authority. It ran thus : — " We humbly present this
petition to your Majesty, not only with a care of preserving
our own liberties, but with due regard to leave entire that
sovereign power wherewith your Majesty is trusted for the pro-
tection, safety, and happiness of your people."
Was even this free from ambiguity? On the ipth, the
Commons having asked leave to argue against the proposed
Ma t amendments in the body of the petition, Williams
its meaning moved that those amendments should be with-
drawn and the new additional clause alone discussed.
Buckingham rose to give his approval to the proposal, on the
understanding that the reservation of sovereignty applied to
the whole petition. Such a demand undeniably went far
1 " Matter" in the Harl. copy ; " manner " in the Lords' Journals.
* As I have said, he twice claims the authorship in Eking* s Notes.
28o THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
beyond the intention of all members of the House who were
„ . . more than mere courtiers. If it was granted, the King
Bucking- °. '
ham's inter- would be at liberty not merely to imprison without
pretation. . ' 11111 /- e
showing cause whenever he thought that the safety of
the State so required, but to collect forced loans, to issue com-
missions of unlimited martial law, and to billet soldiers by force,
whenever, in his judgment, such a contingency might arise.
Save " If you extend this addition to every particular in
dissents. tne petition," said Saye, " the petition is quite over-
thrown. Your expressions were to reserve the sovereign power
only in emergent cases, and not in the particulars mentioned
in the petition, for then a man may be, for any particular men-
tioned in the petition, committed hereafter." l
Saye's objection was certain to find an echo in the Lower
House. With a comparatively unimportant exception, all the
May ao. amendments to the body of the petition were rejected
thebcom-n ^ tne Commons, and their rejection was acquiesced
mons. jn by the Lords. The additional clause now formed
the only point in dispute between the Houses.2 It was soon
evident that the Commons would have nothing to say to it.
They professed themselves unable to discover what sovereign
power might mean. According to Bodin, said Alford, it means
that which ' is free from any condition.' " Let us give that to
the King that the law gives him, and no more." " I am not
able," said Pym, " to speak to this question. I know not what
it is. All our petition is for the laws of England, and this
power seems to be another distinct power from the law. I
know how to add sovereign to his person, but not to his power.
Also we cannot leave to him sovereign power, for we never
were possessed of it."3 Then, showing how well he was in-
1 Ehing's Notes.
2 Rushworth, whom Mr. Forster had no choice but to follow, gives a
debate as taking place on the I7th, which is really the debate of the aoth,
together with a jumble of two speeches of Wentworth's foisted in from the
22nd and 23rd, and a speech of Selden's from the 22nd.
* Mr. Forster corrects 'he never was' for 'we never were ' (Sir J.
Eliot, ii. 55, Note 8) ; but "we never were " has the authority of MSS.
otherwise varying from one another ; and Pym may have meant, ' We can
only leave what we have control over. This is beyond our control."
t<323 THE COMMONS STAND B Y THE PETITION. 28 1
formed of what had passed in the Upper House, Pym went on
to allude to Buckingham's explanation. " We cannot," he said,
" admit of these words with safety. They are applicable to
all the parts of our petition." The clause, in fact, was of the
nature of a saving, and would annul the whole. Coke followed
in much the same way. The prerogative, he said, was part of
the law, but sovereign power was not.
Without a dissentient voice, therefore, the clause was rejected
by the House of Commons. Coke had clearly taken the right
The clause ground when he said that the prerogative was part of
rejected. ^g jaw ^5 Wentworth had said before, if an actual
emergency occurred, no man would dispute what the King did.
Yet to insert a special saving of such a right as being above the
law was to make all law uncertain.1
When the answer of the Commons was carried up to the
Lords, many a tongue was loosed to speak against Weston's
clause. "The prerogative of the Crown," said
Objection to -,,.,.. ... .... ., . 1*1
the clause in Williams, " is a title in law, and those learned in the
'e or s> law do know the extent of it as well as of any other
articles." "The saving," declared Bristol, "is no way essential
to the business." Might not, he suggested, the petition be
sent up as it was, accompanied by a verbal statement that the
Houses had no intention of infringing upon the prerogative.
Buckingham T° such a solution as this, however, Buckingham
stands by it. would not listen. " Let it be resolved here among
us," he said, " that there be a saving." He was not allowed to
have his way. The House adjourned, at the joint motion of
Saye and Arundel.
The next day Buckingham expressed his willingness to make
a great concession. He was ready to change the words ' sove-
reign power ' into ' prerogative/ The House seems
try to explain to have been fairly puzzled. Paget suggested that
the judges should be asked their opinion. Abbot
said he had heard a learned peer say that they could not
destroy the prerogative, even by an Act of Parliament. Bridge-
water naively expressed his opinion that after so long a debate
1 Harl JlfSS. 4771, ful. 1 66.
282 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
they ought to ' resolve of some addition or other,' and ' to think
of fitting reasons.' Williams said he would not vote till it was
made plain to him that the addition ' did not reflect nor any
way operate upon the petition ; ' and Weston, the author of the
clause, together with Dorset, usually one of the most determined
partisans of the Government, expressed their full concurrence
in this view of the case. No wonder that the original Opposi-
tion pushed their advantage home. Saye and North urged
that before going in search of reasons for the addition, they had
better decide whether the addition was necessary at all. Buck-
ingham begged the House to vote at once whether there was to
be a saving of the King's power or not. Rather, urged Essex,
let us vote first whether we will agree to the petition or not.
In this chaos of opinion a proposal of Coventry's was finally
adopted, that the addition should be again commended to the
Lower House, but that he should be authorised to explain that
it really meant as little as possible.1
Buckingham had clearly lost his hold upon the Lords. As
far as it is possible to judge from the debates, the prevailing
opinion was that the law was as it was stated in the
The Lords L
no longer petition, although a loophole ought to be left for
under Buck- r , , ... ,.. .
ii.gham's sudden and unforeseen emergencies. Yet the mo-
ment they came to put this upon paper the difficulty
of not yielding more than they intended to yield was altogether
insuperable.
Insuperable, at least, the difficulty seemed to the Commons.
In the debate which followed the Lord Keeper's communication,
not a single voice was raised in favour of the clause.
May 22. °
The addition Lawyers and country gentlemen argued alike that the
theeco^i-by additional clause would destroy the whole petition,
mons. ^r;ne King, it would be understood to say, cannot
billet soldiers or force loans upon us by the law ; but he can
by his sovereign power. Sir Henry Marten stripped the whole
question of its techicalities. According to ^Esop, he said,
the lion, the ass, and the fox went out hunting together. The
booty was taken, and the ass having divided it into three equal
1 Elf ing's Notes.
1628 WENTWORTWS INTERVENTION. 283
portions, told the lion that it was his prerogative to choose
between them. The lion took it ill that only a portion was
offered him, and saying, " It is my prerogative to choose," tore
the ass in p eces. The fox, taught by the ass's calamity, con-
tented himself with a little piece of skin. Such, implied
Marten, would be the fate of the English people if they once
acknowledged a power superior to the laws. To this view of
the case Wentworth gave his hearty approval. " I think," he
said, " we all agree we may not admit of this addition. If we
do, we shall leave the subject worse than we found him, and
we shall have little thanks for our labours when we come home.
I conceive this addition, as it is now penned, amounts to a
saving, whereas before the law was without a saving. I am
resolved not to yield to it ; but let us not vote it ; let a sub-
committee collect the reasons already given." '
Wentworth was unwilling to come into unnecessary collision
with the Lords, and as the House was of the same opinion, he
Arguments had no difficulty in carrying his point so far as its
sentecUo the immediate action was concerned. The clause was
Lords. not rejected, but a sub-committee was to prepare an
argumentative answer to be laid before the Lords.
The next morning the sub-committee reported the heads of
the answer which they proposed that Glanville and Marten
Maya3. should deliver. Before they had been adopted by the
Wentworth Grand Committee. Wentworth rose. " We are now
proposes a '
lurtherac- fallen," he said, " from a new statute and a new law
commoda- . . .
tion. to a Petition of Right, and unless the Lords co-operate
with us, the stamp is out of that which gives a value to the
action. If they join with us it is a record to posterity. If we
sever from them it is like the grass upon the house-top, that is
of no long continuance. And therefore let us labour to get the
Lords to join with us. To this there are two things consider-
able ; first not to recede in this petition either in part or in
whole from our resolutions ; secondly, that the Lords join with
us, else all is lost. We have protested we desire no new thing ;
1 This is from Ha>-l. MSS, 4771, fol. 176 b, except the words ' as it is
now penned,' which come from Nicholas's Notes. The debate is headed in
Nicholas, May 23.
284 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIIT:
we leave all power to his Majesty to punish malefactors. Let
us clear ourselves to his Majesty that we thus intend. It is far
from me to presume to propound anything. I dare not trust
my own judgment, only to prevent a present voting l with the
Lords. Let us again address ourselves to the Lords that we
are constant in our grounds that we desire no new thing, nor
to invade upon his Majesty's prerogative : but let us add,
though we may not admit of this addition, yet if their Lordships
can find out any way to keep untouched this petition, we will
consider of it and join with them." 2
Wentworth was consistent with himself in attempting to
provide for all emergencies. To Eliot the suggestion was a
mere machination of evil, for he saw, what Wentworth did not
see, that these emergencies must be left to future generations
to provide for ; and he saw too, in a dim way, that the House
of Commons was the heir of the Tudor monarchy, and would
be the depositary of those extraordinary powers which Charles
had forfeited the right to exercise. Thus, without knowing
it clearly, he became the advocate of change in the frame of
the State, which should indeed maintain old principles and
should operate within the lines of the old constitution ; whilst
Wentworth, whose mind was full of schemes for alteration and
reform, was an advocate of the constitutional forms which had
existed in the days of his youth. Early in the session he had
announced that the Commons could do nothing without the
King. He now announced that they could do nothing without
the Lords.
To Eliot such a suggestion was intolerable. " As though,"
he said, " the virtue and perfection of this House depended
Eliot's re- upon and were included in their Lordships ! Sir, I
ioinder. cannot make so slight an estimation of the Commons
as to make them mere cyphers to nobility ! I am not so taken
with the affectation of their Lordships' honour, so much to
flatter and exalt it. No ! I am confident that, should the Lords
desert us, we should yet continue flourishing and green." At
the proposal itself, he went on to say, he could not but be
1 Voting a rejection of the clause in opposition to them.
* Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 176 b.
1628 ELIOT AND WENTWORTH. 285
amazed. Il was to throw them back after so long a debate
into new rocks and difficulties.1 Eliot then insisted on the
danger of making the slightest change in the petition, and
charged Wentworth with deserting the cause which he had
once espoused. Then addressing himself to the substance of
the proposal, he exposed in masterly language its entire futility.
" No saving in this kind," he said, "with what subtlety soever
worded, can be other than destructive to our work."
These last words contain the true vindication of the persist-
ency with which the Commons held to their determination.
Not that Wentworth, looking at the question from a different
point of view, was without excuse. Whether the Commons
were right or wrong, their petition contained within it the germs
of a revolution. As a matter of fact no man then living could
remember the time when the discretionary power which Charles
claimed had not been exercised by the Crown. Wentworth at
Wentworth's once rose to vindicate his motives. Declaring that
reply. he hac} mereiy meant by bis metaphors that without
the assent of the Peers the petition would have no statutory
force, he explained his own position. " My proposition," he
said, " is for no moderation, but preserve the petition in the
whole or the parts of it. I will never recede from it. Put it
not in extremity to have it voted against us. It was wondered
I spake after so long a debate. I have discharged my con-
science and delivered it. Do as you please. God, that knows
my heart, knows that I have studied to preserve this Parlia-
ment, as I confess the resolutions of this House, in the opinion
1 There is evidence here that Eliot's speeches in the Port Eliot MSS.,
though in the main correct, were subject to some manipulation. He is
there made to refer to that which had been done ' by the Grand Committee
this morning in direction of those arguments to the Lords which they
framed.' When Eliot wrote this down, he must have fancied that the
speech had been delivered in the Hou<e itself, and Mr. Forster thereupon
(ii. 68) supposed that Wentworth's speech to which Eliot replied was
delivered in support of a fresh proposal of the Lords which was really not
discussed till the 24th. But unless the whole debate is a dream of the
llarleian reporter, the debate was in committee, and the direction of the
committee was not given till after Eliot's speech was finished. The end
cf Eliot's speech, too, see;ns to have been altered in the same way.
286 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
of wise men, stretch very far on the King's power, and if they
be kept punctually, will give a blow to government. The
King said that if government were touched, he was able to
protect us ; and by l this saving indeed is added nothing to
him." 2
It was quite true ; the bare law of the petition could never
be the rule for all future time. Martial law would have to
be executed upon soldiers if discipline was to be
there weight maintained Provision must somehow be made for
lodging the men when they were brought together,
and, if extraordinary evils demanded extraordinary remedies,
men must be imprisoned without much regard for their legal
rights. What Eliot saw and Wentworth did not see, was
that these powers could no longer safely be entrusted to
Charles. When the law was once made without exception,
exceptional cases could be settled as they arose with consent of
Parliament. To us the change seems simple enough. But
the change was great in those days. By making the consent
of Parliament necessary to the King, it deprived him of that
right of speaking in all emergencies as the special representative
of the nation, which he held from custom if not from con-
stitutional law.
Wentworth's argument made no impression on those who
heard it. Seymour alone supported it; but he met with
The Com- no response, and Glanville and Marten were de-
ag°ainsdtec'de sPatcned to lay their long train of reasoning before
Wentworth. (;}ie Lords.
It was impossible for the Lords to maintain the addition
any longer. As far as we can judge, the great majority of the
House, with Bristol and Williams at its head, was of the same
opinion as Wentworth. Argument and the current of events
had made Buckingham powerless. Whilst, however, this majority
was strong enough to refuse to follow Buckingham, its weakness,
like Wentworth's weakness, lay in the impossibility of placing
ideas upon paper without surrendering to the King more than
it was willing to surrender. Weston's clause had merely beeu
' "to "in MS.
* ffarl. MSS. 4771, fol. 176 b. Part. Hist. ii. 364.
1628 PERSISTENCE OF THE COMMONS. 287
thrown out as a feeler, and the moment it was seriously
assailed it was dropped without difficulty. Yet the Lords felt
that something must be done. Clare proposed that
make a frLh a Committee of both Houses should draw up another
proposa , form upon which they could all agree. Abbot sug-
gested that a conference should be held to see ' if there be any
that can find a more commodious way of accommodation.' There
was plainly nothing definite fixed, nothing which it was possible
to ask the House to stand on. Laud's old friend, Bishop
Buckeridge, of Rochester, made a very different proposal. Let
the petition, he said, be delivered to the judges, that they may
give their opinion whether anything in it ' do intrench upon
the King's prerogative.' Their opinion could then be entered
on the roll, ' and then this petition can no way prejudice the
King's right.' The idea here was much the same as Went-
worth's ; the idea of an inalienable prerogative, not above the
law but part of the law, and which it was therefore not neces-
sary to express in words. Clare's suggestion was the one
adopted. The Commons were asked to join the Lords in a
committee, 'to see if, by manifestation and protestation or
declaration or any other way, there could be any way found
out to satisfy his Majesty.'1
The proposal was elastic enough. The reasons for reject-
ing it were admirably put by Phelips. "What," he said,
" should be the subject of this accommodation ? It
jected by" the must be somewhat like the last addition. If it be
ons' so put into other words and acted otherwise, yet
virtually and actually it will be interpreted to amount to the
very same thing. Also we have already expressed as much
care over his Majesty's prerogative as can be made. We have
obliged ourselves by our oaths, and how apt have we been to
defend it upon all occasions ! " Wentworth and Seymour were
in favour of appointing the joint committee ; but they found
no support, and the proposal of-the Lords was rejected.
The action thus taken by the Commons was in little danger
of meeting with a repulse in the House of Lords, as Wentworth
Notes; Harl. MSS. 4771, fol. 193 b.
28S THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXin.
had feared. The leaders of that middle party, which was now
able to command a majority, declared that they would push
Mayas, their desire for an accommodation with the King no
pahret>^lnfhe mrther. Arundel explained rhat he had now no wish
•udsuagree to press the Lower House ' with an addition to this
with the \
Commons, petition.' " We do hold it fit," he added, "to declare
to the King that we intend not to prejudice his prerogative in
this petition, in regard we are exempted from the oath of
supremacy." The Lords, in fact, would practically join in that
cath to which Phelips had appealed, and the right of the pre-
rogative would be left as vague as before. Bristol accepted the
way of escape offered. The Commons, he said, had declared
that they had no intention of prejudicing the prerogative. Let
the Lords make the same declaration at once.
•Would this view of the case be acceptable at Court.
Dorset, impulsive as when he had gone forth to the bloody
Resistance duel which has fixed a stain on his name for ever, or
hamUaCudn&'s vvnen he declared in the Parliament of 1621 that the
friends. passing bell was tolling for religion, stood foremost
in the breach. " My Lords," he said, " if I did not believe
this petition would give the King a greater wound here in his
government than I hope ever an enemy shall, I would hold
my peace." l Buckingham himself declared firmly against the
course proposed. " The business," he said, " is now in your
hands alone, which gives me comfort. It now remains whether
you will depart from your addition. If we now depart from
our addition, we do in a manner depart from ourselves. The
addition must 2 be either in the preamble, or in the body, or the
conclusion. If it be nowhere I cannot give my vote to it. The
reason is 3 that it carries words in it not expressed in Magna
Carta and the other six statutes. Let them go their way and
we make a petition, and then we may make a protestation as
we please."
If anything were needed *to justify the resolution of the
1 The report ends at "shall." The five following words are added
from conjecture.
» " to be," MS. » " Reason that," MS.
1 6z8 THE LORDS GIVE WA F. • 289
Commons, it was these words of Buckingham. He, at least,
The Lords wanted something more than the prerogative which
vfeTofthe Bristol and Arundel were ready to allow. But the
Commons, (jays were gone by when Buckingham could hope
to cany the House with him. Abbot advised the Peers to
'join with the Commons in the petition, though we would
have had also some demonstration of their saving of the King's
just prerogative.' l "When their liberties," said Northampton,
" have been trenched upon, their goods have been taken away
not by a legal course, I will desire that it may be amended.
When the subjects' liberty is in question, I will creep upon rny
knees with a petition to his Majesty with all humility. When
the King's prerogative is in question, I will get upon my horse
and draw my sword, and defend it with my life and estate."
After this a motion was made by another peer that a declaration
might be prepared for clearing the King's prerogative.2
The advice thus given was taken. The next day a form
was unanimously adopted by which the Lords declared, alto-
6 gether apart from the petition, that their intention
Declaration was not to lessen or impeach anything which by
the oath of supremacy they had ' sworn to assert
and defend.'
It was not much. The oath of supremacy simply bound
those who took it to defend the authority of which the Crown
was already possessed, without specifying what that authority
was. The declaration, however, left it open to those who held
that the Crown had a right to override the law in cases of
emergency, to assert that they had not sacrificed their con-
sciences to political conveniency. The Commons on their
May 28. Part had no desire to push matters farther. On the
^JTbo't'h" 28th tne petition was brought up to the Lords, and
Houses. was by them adopted without more discussion.
Three or four weeks earlier, Charles would probably have
refused even to consider the petition in the form in which it
The King's now reached him ; but the last week had brought
difficulties, news of disaster which would hardly allow him to
turn his back so easily upon the proffered subsidies. In
1 Minute Book, House of Lords MSS, * Ehing1* Notes.
VOL. VI. U
j9o THE PETITION OF RIGHT, CH. LXin.
Germany Stade was lost. In France Rochelle was still un-
succoured.
The disasters of the autumn of 1627 had converted the
war in North Germany into a succession of sieges. Whilst
r Schleswig and Jutland were overrun by the Imperial-
January. . . . . .
Morgan at ists, Christian clung with the grasp of despair to
the fortresses by which the mouth of the Elbe was
guarded. Krempe and Gliickstadt on the eastern side were
supplied with money and provisions by the Dutch. Stade,
near the western bank, had the misfortune to be confided to
Morgan's English garrison. Every disposable penny in the
Exchequer had been applied to the French war, and since
August the little force — 4,000 men in all — was left to shift for
itself.1 Anstruther and Morgan raised a little money on their
own credit, not enough to do more than to procure a fresh
supply of shoes and stockings. Even though no actual siege
was opened, the enemy lay closely around the town, and pro-
visions were not to be obtained from the surrounding country.
Yet the brave old Morgan showed no signs of flinching. " If
it must be my extreme hard fortune," wrote the General, " to be
thus abandoned, I will not yet abandon myself, nor this plac^,
as long as with cat and dog— our present diet — we shall be able
to feed an arm to that strength that it may lift a sword." 2
Week after week slipped away, and help came not. Want
and disease were doing their fell work, and Morgan had little
hope of holding out. Before the end of March Anstruther
received a little money from England. It was now too late.
The town was closely blockaded and no supplies could be sent
in. On April 27 Stade was formally surrendered to
Surrenderor Tilly.3 The garrison was allowed to march out with
all the honours of war, and a month later, whilst the
Lords and Commons were fighting their last battle over the
Petition of Right, the whole sad story was known in England.4
1 At the beginning of the year the garrison numbered 3,900, viz. 2,700
Knglish, 700 Scots, 500 Germans. Anstruther to Conway, Jan. 5, S. P.
Denmark.
* Morgan to Conway, Jan. 25, S. P. Denmark.
* Anstruther to Conway ; Morgan to Conway, May 3, ibid.
* Woodward to Windebank, May 21, S. P. Dam. civ. 47.
1628 STADE AND ROCHELLE. 291
Thus dropped the curtain, amidst gloom and disaster, upon
the scene of English history on which Charles and Bucking-
End of ham nad entered so hopefully four years before. The
tervendon" in war ^or t^ie deliverance of the Palatinate, to be waged
Germany, whether the nation supported it or not, had come, to
this. The sixteen hundred brave men, worn with toil and
hunger, who stepped forth from Stade with colours flying and
with arms in their hands, the noble old General who had held
his own so long, abandoned as he was by King and country,
had no need to feel the shame of failure. The shame was foi
those who had directed the course of war so aimlessly, and who
had so erroneously judged the conditions of the contest.
• Even now Charles thought but little of the disaster in
Germany compared with the other disaster in France. The
deliverance of the Palatinate had come to be for him a matter
of secondary importance, in which he had long since ceased to
expect success. The deliverance of Rochelle was a matter of
personal honour.
Before the end of April Denbigh's fleet, sixty-six vessels in
all, bad at last left Plymouth Sound. The crews were pressed
men, carried off against their wills from their daily occupations
to a service of danger in which the reward was but scanty pay,
or most probably no pay at all. Many of them were soldiers
converted forcibly into sailors from very necessity. Such a
fleet was hardly likely to overcome even moderate opposition.
May i. When, in the afternoon of May i, Denbigh's force
fleeMif11'5 ranged UP m front of the port of Rochelle, the danger
Rochelle. was plainly seen to be of the most formidable descrip-
tion. The passage up the harbour, narrow enough of itself,
was still further narrowed by moles jutting out from either side,
Defences of an(^ the opening between them was guarded by pali-
the French. sa(jeS) m frOnt of which were vessels, some of them
sunken, some floating at the level of the water. Even to reach
such a formidable obstruction it would be necessary to beat
clown the fire of twenty armed vessels, supported by crowds
of musqueteers, who were in readiness either to fire upon the
enemy from the shore or to float off in barges to the succour of
their friends. It may be questioned whether Drake or Nelson,
U 2
292 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXlll.
followed by crews as high-spirited and energetic as themselves,
could have made the attack successfully. It is certain that
Denbigh's force, composed as it was of men without heart in
the matter, could not but fail.
Of the details of the failure it is hardly possible to decide
in the midst of the conflicting evidence. The English officers,
when they came home, threw all the blame upon the Rochellese
who accompanied them, whilst the Rochellese bitterly retorted
the accusation. It is, however, plain that the English officers had
no confidence in their chance of success, and Denbigh was not
the man to inspire those beneath him with a more daring spirit.
A resolution was taken to wait till the next spring-tides made
the attack easier for his fire-ships. On the morning of the 8th
Mays. a fresh apprehension seized upon the commander.
ihe*und°f- ^hc wmc^ was blowing from Rochelle, and if he
taking. could not set fire to the ships of the enemy, the
French might possibly set fire to his. He therefore gave the
order to weigh anchor, that the fleet might retire to a little
distance. When the minds of men are in a state of despon-
dency the slightest retrograde movement is fatal. The Rochellese
weighed anchor as they were told, but they understood that the
expedition had been abandoned, and made. all sail for England.
Thus deserted, the whole fleet followed the example.1
The first news of difficulty had only served to sharpen
Charles's resolution. On the 1 7th he issued orders to Denbigh
to hold on at Rochelle as long as possible, and to ask
Deterniina- f°r reinforcements if he found them needful.2 On
Chariesnot '^e 19^ ne ^new tna* the fleet was on its way home.3
to give way. Never before had he been so angry. "If the ships
had been lost," he cried, impatiently, " I had timber
enough to build more." He at once despatched Denbigh's
son, Lord Fielding, to Portsmouth with orders to press into the
1 Examinations of Rnmboilleau and Le Brun, May 16. Denbigh,
Palmer, and Weddell to Buckingham, June 2, S. P. Dom. civ. 2 i., 3 i.,
cvi. II.
* The King to Denbigh, May 17, S. P. Dom. civ. 8.
1 The date we learn from Contarini. The news, as we know from the
examinations cited above, reached Plymouth and Dartmouth on the i6th.
Iba8 DENBIGH'S FLEET. 291
King's service every vessel he could meet with, and to direct
his father to go back at all hazards to Rochelle, and there to
await the further supplies which would be sent.1 Secretary
Coke himself was sent down to Portsmouth to hurry on the
reinforcements. On the 27th Denbigh was off the
Isle of Wight, professing his readiness to return as
soon as his shattered fleet could be collected.2 It was easier
for him to talk of returning than actually to return. Three of his
vessels laden with corn for Rochelle were snapped
up by the Dunkirk privateers within sight of the
English coast.3 The ships which remained were full of sick
men, and in urgent need of repair. The fire-ships were not
ready. There were not enough provisions on board
to enable the fleet to stay long at Rochelle, even if it
returned at once. Although the ships were in want of water,
Denbigh dared not send his men on shore, lest they should run
away from so unpopular a service. Before this combination of
difficulties even Charles was compelled to give way, and orders
were despatched to Denbigh to refit his squadron, but to remain
in England till the whole available maritime force of the country
could be got ready to accompany him.4
Such were the tidings pouring in upon Charles during the
days when he was considering the answer which he would give
Ma 26 to the Petition of Right. Unless he gave his consent
The King's to that, he would never touch a penny of the sub-
about1 the* sidies, and without the subsidies the relief of Rochelle
lon> was absolutely hopeless. Everything combined to
make him anxious to assent to the petition, if he could do it
without sacrificing the authority which he believed to be justly
his. The one point which still appeared necessary to him to
1 Fielding to Buckingham, May 20 ; Woodward to Windebank, May 21,
J. P. Dom. civ. 34, 47. Contarini to the Doge, May — . Ven. Tran-
tcripts, K. 0.
2 Denbigh to Buckingham, May 27, S. P. Dom. cv. 29.
3 The Council to Buckingham, May 30, Rushworth, \. 587.
4 The letters of Denbigh and Coke containing these details will be
found in S. P. Dom. cv. and cvi.
294 THE PETITION OF RIGHT, CH. LXlll.
guard was the right of committing men to prison in special
cases without showing cause.
In the face of past events, the Commons had reasonably
decided that this could not be. Charles naturally thought
otherwise. We need not suppose that he nourished any violent
or unfair intentions. He would doubtless represent to himself
that he wanted no more than the power of intervening in special
emergencies for the good of his people, and enough had passed
in the two Houses to make it possible for him to imagine that
he would still be able to have his way. The Lords had distinctly
spoken of his prerogative as something untouched by the peti-
tion, and even the Commons had declared that they had no
intention of encroaching upon it.1 A hypocritical prince would
perhaps have been content with this — would have assented to
the petition and have tacitly reserved for himself the right of
breaking it afterwards. But Charles's hypocrisy was not often
of this deliberate kind. He usually deceived, when he did
deceive, rather by reticence and concealment than by open
falsehood. As soon, therefore, as the petition was agreed to
by the Peers, and before it had been formally presented to him,
he summoned the judges into his presence.
The question he asked them was ' whether in no case whatso-
°verthe King may not commit a subject without showing a cause.'
Their answer was delivered the next day. " We are
The King s '
questions to of opinion," they said, "that by the general rule
the Judges. , , , , I . i , • » , •
. . of the law the cause of commitment by his Majesty
May 27. J J - j
their ought to be shown ; yet some cases may require such
secrecy that the King may commit a subject without
showing the cause, for a convenient time." In other words,
the judges held that they would still have the power of remand-
ing an accused person.
That such a question should have been asked can surprise
no one who has attended carefully to the debates in the House
of Lords. The idea that the petition in this respect could not
be literally carried out was one which had occurred even to
many of those who were prepared to recommend its adoption as
it stood.
1 far!. Hut. ii. 347.
1628 CHARLES APPLIES TO THE JUDGES. 295
The King's second question was of more doubtful wisdom.
He asked ' whether in case a habeas corpus be brought, and
a warrant from the King without any general or
secondmg special cause returned, the judges ought to deliver
lon' him before they understood the cause from the
King?' Such a question answered in the negative would
imply that, as in the case of the last autumn, the judges ought
to await the King's announcement of the cause, however long
it might suit him to withhold it.
The judges answered cautiously. " Upon a habeas corpus"
they said, "brought for one committed by the King, if the
May 30. cause be not specially or generally returned, so as the
The judges' Court may take knowledge thereof, the party ought
answer. by the general rule of law to be delivered. But if the
case be such that the same requireth secrecy and may not
presently be disclosed, the Court in discretion may forbear to
deliver the prisoner for a convenient time, to the end the Court
may be advertised of the truth thereof."
Charles was evidently dissatisfied with this reply. In plain
English, it meant that the judges might grant a remand at their
discretion, but that the length of the remand was not to depend
upon the King's pleasure. So far the decision of the judges
was in consonance with the rules of common sense. As had
been pointed out again and again, cases would arise in which
criminals at large would escape from justice if they knew
on what charge their confederates had been arrested. But
was the decision in consonance with the Petition ' of Right ?
The third Charles anxiously put the question ' whether, if the
question. King grant the Commons' petition, he did not
thereby conclude himself from committing or restraining a
subject for any time or cause whatsoever, without showing a
cause.' The answer of the judges was that he did
May 31. » !
The third not. " Every law," they explained, " after it is made,
hath his exposition, and so hath this petition ; and
the answer must have an exposition as the case in the nature
thereof shall require to stand with justice, which is to be left to
the courts of justice to determine, which cannot be discerned
until such case shall happen ; and althjugh the petition L»e
296 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
granted there is no fear of conclusion as is intimated in the
question." l
The day after the last reply was given in was Whit Sunday,
a day spent as busily by the King as Good Friday had been
spent by the House of Commons. At the council
June i. L *
The council table the whole question of the petition was discussed,
te ' and the forms of answer drawn up by Heath to suit
every possible contingency were doubtless laid before the board.
Of these forms 2 there was probably only one which, to anv
extent, suited the exigencies of Charles's position,
suggested " Since both the Lords and Commons," it was pro-
posed that the King should say, "have severally, with
dutiful respect to us, declared their intentions not to lessen our
just power or prerogative as their sovereign, we do as freely
declare our clear intention no way to impeach the just liberty
of our subjects ; and therefore, this right undoubtedly being so
happily settled between us and our people, which we trust shall
ever continue, we do freely grant that this petition shall in all
points be duly observed."
By these words the petition would become the law of the
land, especially if the old words of Norman French, " Soit droit
fait comme est desire" had been added. The claim to special
powers would still have been maintained, but by the use of the
word ' prerogative ' Heath not only borrowed the expression
of the House of Commons itself, but placed the King's
claim under the special guardianship of the judges, who
were constantly accustomed to decide on the extent of the
prerogative.
It may be that Charles shrank from subjecting his authority
to the decision of the judges. It may be that he had little
taste for a clear and definite restriction upon his powers. The
day before, too, had been spent in Buckingham's company,3
1 Ellis, ser. 2, iii. 250. The original copy of the questions and answers
is in Har grave MSS. 27, fol. 97.
* The first one in S. P. Dom. cv. 95. Others will be found in this and
the following papers.
* Contarini's Despatch, June -.
1628 THE KING'S FIRST ANSWER. 297
and Buckingham had no wish to see the King give way. The
form finally adopted, with the full consent of the Privy Council,1
Answer united all the objections it is possible to conceive,
agreed on. "The King willeth," so it was determined that the
Lord Keeper should speak, " that right be done according to
the laws and customs of the realm ; and that the statutes be
put in due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to
complain of any wrongs or oppressions contrary to their just
rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds him-
self in conscience as well obliged as of his prerogative." 2
Such an answer meant nothing at all. The petition was
not even mentioned. It was Charles's old offer of confirming
its worth- tne statutes whilst refusing the interpretation placed
kssness. upon them by the Commons. Its words breathed an
entirely different spirit from the questions to the judges. The
King no longer asks for a limited power to meet special emer-
gencies, which Bristol and Wentworth, if not Eliot and Coke,
would have been willing to grant him, but he throws back not
merely the question of imprisonment, but every question which
the petition professed to answer, into the uncertain mazes of
his own arbitrary will. If nothing better than this was to be
had, the Commons had toiled in vain.
The next morning the Peers and Commons were in the
King's presence in the House of Lords. " Gentlemen," he
said, " I am come here to perform my duty. I
June a. ' *
The answer think no man can think it long, since I have not
taken so many days in answering the petition as ye
spent weeks in framing it ; and I am come hither to show you
that, as well in formal things as essential, I desire to give you
as much content as in me lies." Then, after a few words from
the Lord Keeper, the answer agreed upon the day before was
read.
When this answer was read the next morning in the
Commons, Eliot, representing the general dissatisfaction, moved
1 The part taken by the Council is gathered from the subsequent de-
bates in the House of Lords.
* Lords' Journals, iii. 835.
298 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
that its consideration should be postponed till Friday, June 6.1
junc3. He nad, however, something more to say than
sideration tnat The hreacn witn tne King against which he
postponed. hacj struggled so long seemed now inevitable. But
was it really the King who was to blame ? Eliot must have
known at least as well as we can know how Bucking-
Bucking- . .,, , t r i
ham's part ham had been the soul of the opposition to the
petition in the House of Lords, and how he haa
struggled to the last to make it meaningless ; and he must have
suspected, if he did not know,, that the last unsatisfactory
answer had been dictated by the favourite.2 If this were so,
Eliot may well have thought that the time was come when
the legal claims on which the Commons had been hitherto
standing must be reinforced with other arguments, reaching far
more widely than any which that Parliament had yet heard.
He would again stand forward as the Eliot of 1626. Subsidies
must be refused — if they were to be refused at all — not merely
because the King's part of the bargain, tacitly made, had rot
been fulfilled, but because, as the last Parliament had declared,
they would be utterly wasted it they were to pass through
Buckingham's hands. What danger he might draw on his own
head, Eliot recked nothing. Like the great Scottish reformer,
he was one who ' never feared the face of any man.' As he
spoke he felt within him the voice of an offended nation
struggling for utterance.3
1 Nicholas's Notes. This, with the King's answer, and a short note of
Eliot's second speech, is all that Nicholas gives us between May 26 and
June 6. The invaluable Harleian report, too, deserts us at May 27 ; so
that we are by no means so well informed about these later proceedings
as about the earlier ones.
2 Whether it was so or not, I cannot say ; but the contrast between
the spirit of the questions to the judges, and that of the answer adopted by
the Council where Buckingham was supreme, is very suspicious.
* See Mr. Forster's remarks on this speech (Sir J. Eliot, ii. 78). On
one point I am almost inclined to go beyond him. He thinks that Eliot's
' fearless spirit could discern the safety that lay beyond the danger,' as if
he had expected to frighten the King into giving way. I fancy that,
judging t»y past experience, he could have little hope of this, and if he
spoke from a sheer sense of duty, without expectation of success, his con^
duct is all the more admirable.
ELIOT ON FOREIGN POLICY. 299
He began by reminding his hearers that they met there as
the great Council of the King, and that it was their duty to
,,.. „ f, inform him of all that it was well for him to know.
Eliot on the
state of the That duty it was now for them to fulfil. At home
and abroad everything was in confusion. At home
true religion was discountenanced. Abroad their friends had
On foreign been overpowered, their enemies had prospered,
i-oiicy. Rash and ill-considered enterprises had ended in
disaster. In Elizabeth's days it -had not been so. She had
built her prosperity upon a close alliance with France and the
Netherlands. Now France was divided within herself, and
driven into war with England. To this French war the
Palatinate had been sacrificed. Such a policy might well be
regarded rather ' a conception of Spain than begotten here
with us.'
At these words Sir Humphrey May rose to interrupt the
speaker. Knowing as he did how closely this French war was
May 'sinter- entwined round the King's heart, he was perhaps
ruption. anxious to check words which would only widen the
breach which he so much deprecated. But the House was in
no mood to listen to a Privy Councillor. Eliot was encouraged
with cries of " Go on ! " from every side. " If he goes on,"
said May, "I hope that I may myself go out." ''Begone!
begone ! " was the reply from every bench ; but the spell of
the great orator was upon him, and he could not tear himself
away.
When Eliot resumed he was prepared to try a higher flight
than even he had hitherto ventured on. He had no longer to
speak merely of disaster and mismanagement, which might be
plausibly at least accounted for by the niggardliness of the
Commons. Striking at the very heart of the foreign policy of
Eliot on the tne Government, he asked why the moment when
French war. Denmark had been overpowered at Lutter had been
chosen tor the commencement of a fresh quarrel with France.
Was it credible that this had been advised by the Privy
Council ? With full knowledge doubtless how completely the
French war had been the act of Buckingham, with less know-
kdge, it may be, how completely it had also been the act of the
300 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXUI.
King, he turned upon the councillors present, perhaps specially
upon May. " Can those now," he said, " that express their
troubles at the hearing of these things, and have so
Asks who . °
had advised often told us in this place of their knowledge in the
conjunctures and disjunctures of affairs, say they
advised in this ? Was this an act of Council, Mr. Speaker ? I
have more charity than to think it ; and unless they make a
confession of themselves, I cannot believe it"
The main error in policy, if it was but an error, having been
thus exposed, Eliot turned to the mismanagement of the war.
The expedition to Cadiz, the expedition to Rhe, the
Misconduct ' v '
in military latest failure at Rochelle, he painted in the gloomiest
colours. Buckingham's name was not mentioned,
but it must have been branded in letters of flame upon the
mind of every man who sat listening there. At home, too, the
Court, the Church, the Bar, the Bench, the Navy, were handed
over to men ignorant and corrupt ; the Exchequer was empty,
the crown lands sold, the King's jewels and plate pawned.
" What poverty," he cried, " can be greater ? What necessity
so great ? What perfect English heart is not almost dissolved
into sorrow for the truth ? For the oppression of the subject,
which, as I remember, is the next particular I proposed, it needs
no demonstration. The whole kingdom is a proof. And for
the exhausting of our treasures, that oppression speaks it What
waste of our provisions, what consumption of our ships, what
destruction of our men have been ! Witness the journey to
Algiers ! Witness that with Mansfeld ! Witness that to Cadiz !
Witness the next ! ' Witness that to Rhe ! Witness the last ! —
And I pray God we shall never have more such witnesses. —
Witness likewise the Palatinate ! Witness Denmark ! Witness
the Turks ! Witness the Dunkirkers ! Witness all ! What
losses we have sustained ! How we are impaired in mu-
nition, in ships, in men ! It has no contradiction. We were
never so much weakened, nor had less hope now to be
restored."
Such was the terrible catalogue of grievances flung forth,
1 This contemptuous reference is to Willoughby's fleet, which only
reached the Bay of Biscay.
1628 A REMONSTRANCE PROPOSED. 301
one after another, in words which pierced deeply into the hearts
of those who heard. To the end Buckingham's name had not
been mentioned. Whatever Eliot's secret thoughts might have
been he said nothing of reviving the impeachment of the un-
popular minister. He asked that a Remonstrance—
A Remon- *
strance to be a statement of grievances, as we should now say —
might be drawn up, in order that the King might be
informed what the Commons thought of his policy.
There were many among Eliot's hearers who shrank from
so bold a step. Some thought it would be better to ask for a
Feeling of fuller answer to the petition. Sir Henry Marten sug-
the House. gested that Eliot's speech proceeded from disaffection
to his Majesty, whilst others looked upon it as an angry retort
upon the King's answer. Eliot rose to explain. So far from
his words having been called forth by the King's answer, he and
others had long ago formed a resolution to call attention to these
grievances when a fit opportunity occurred ; and the truth of
this statement, which doubtless referred to the line taken by
Eliot at the private meeting before the opening of the session,1
was attested by Wentworth and Phelips. In spite of all that
had been said, Eliot's proposal was adopted, and the next day
was fixed for the discussion of the Remonstrance.2
Even as an answer to the King's reply, it might fairly be
argued that Eliot's proposal was well-timed. The King had
Bearing of claimed to be possessed of special powers above the
the proposal. jaw> fQT ^g honour and safety of the realm. Such
powers he had wielded for more than three years, and the Re-
monstrance would tell him what had come of it.
Charles fancied himself strong enough to drive back the
rising tide. Believing, as he did, that all the disasters which
had happened had arisen from the reluctance of the
June 4.
The King Commons to vote him money, he now sent to tell
thTRemon^ them that the session would come to an end in a
week, that he had given an answer to their petition
' full of justice and grace,' and would give no other. They
were therefore seriously to proceed to business, without enter-
1 See page 230. * Forster, Sir J. Eliot, ii. 79.
J02 . THE PETITION OF RIGHT. cir. LXIII.
taining new matters ; in other words, to pass the Subsidy Bill,
and let the Remonstrance alone.1
The House was now in Eliot's hands. The silence to
which Wentworth was self-condemned since the failure of
his conciliatory efforts, was the measure of the
refuses to downward progress which Charles had been making
since the days of the leadership of the member for
Yorkshire. After listening to a report from the Committee
of Trade,2 strongly condemnatory of the cruel treatment to
which shipowners and mariners had been subjected when
pressed into the King's service, the House, taking not the
slightest notice of the Royal message, went into committee on
the Remonstrance.3
The next morning a sharper message was delivered from
Tune t^ie King, positively forbidding the House to proceed
sharper with any new business which might spend greater
from the time than remained before the end of the session, or
which might ' lay any scandal or aspersion upon the
State, Government, or ministers thereof.'
It was a terrible awakening for the leaders of the Commons;
Distress of the more painful because, in their simple loyalty,
the House. tkey woui(j not Open their eyes to its real meaning.
If they could have fully realised the fact that their King was
against them; that even without Buckingham's intervention,
Charles would have closed his ears to their prayers ; that
Charles, if he was not the originator, was the most obstinate
defender of all that had been done, they might have nerved
themselves with pain and sorrow to the conflict before
them. It was because they could not see this that a feel-
ing of helplessness came over them. The King, they earnestly
attempted to believe, was good and wise ; but he was beyond
their reach. Between him and them stood the black cloud
cf Buckingham's presence, impenetrable to their wishes, and
1 Par!. Hist. ii. 388.
" Commons' Journals, i. 909 ; and more fully in HarL MSS. 6800,
fol. 353-
* Except from a few words in Nethersole's letter (S. P. Dom. cvi. 55)
I know nothing of t!;is debate.
:628 A WEEPING HOUSE. 303
distorting every ray of light which was suffered to reach the
place in which Charles remained in seclusion. Before this grim
shadow, almost preternatural in its all-pervading strength,
bearded men became as children. Sobs and tears burst forth
from every side of the House.
With quivering voice and broken words Phelips strove to
Pheiipsde- giye utterance to the thoughts within him. There
mfs'foituneof was ntt^e hope, he said ;. for he could not but re-
the House, member with what moderation the House had
proceeded. " Former times," he said, mournfully, " have
given wounds enough to the people's liberty. We came hithei
full of wounds, and we have cured what we could. Yet what
is the return of all but misery and desolation ? What did we
aim at but to have served his Majesty, and to have done that
which would have made him great and glorious ? If this be a
fault, then we are all criminous." It was their duty, he pro-
ceeded, to give advice to the King. If they were to be stopped
in doing this, let them cease to be a council. " Let
w to us presently," he concluded by saying, "inform his
go home. Majesty that our firm intents were to show him in
what danger the commonwealth and state of Christendom
stands ; and therefore, since our counsels are no better accept-
able, let us beg his Majesty's leave every man to depart home,
and pray to God to divert those judgments and dangers: which
too fearfully and imminently hang over our heads."
Perhaps it would have been better, if anything could have
been better with such a king as Charles, that Phelips's proposal
should have been adopted on the spot. But whatever reticence
the leaders may have deliberately imposed upon themselves,
there was too much angry feeling against Buckingham to be
long suppressed. Eliot pointed out that there had been mis-
representation to the King, as was especially shown in the
clause of the message forbidding them to lay aspersions on the
Government. They had no such intention. " It is said also,"
he added, "as if we cast some aspersions on his Majesty's
ministers. I am confident no minister, how dear soever,
can—
The sentence was never ended. Finch, the Speaker,
P4 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
started from his chair. He, too, felt the weight of the issues
E1Jot with which the moment was fraught. " There is
stopped by command laid upon me," he said, with tears in his
the Speaker. . '
eyes, " to interrupt any that should go about to lay
an aspersion on the ministers of State."
What Eliot meant to say can never be known. He had
too much self-command to make it likely that he was going
beyond the position he had assumed in the former debate.
Probably he was but about to express an opinion that no mi-
nister could stand higher with his Majesty than the needs of
his subjects. But the ill-timed intervention of Finch had done
more than Eliot's tongue could have done. It was one more
proof how impossible it was for the Commons to reach the
King.
Eliot sat down at once. If he was not to speak freely, he
would not speak at all. What Eliot expressed by his silence,
Digges expressed in words : " Unless we may speak
Digges de- , , f. . « ,. •
ciares their of these things in Parliament, let us arise and be
useless."18 gone, or sit still and do nothing." Then there was a
long pause. At last Rich rose to protest against the
Rich wishes ,...., _ ._ .. . .
10 consult policy of silence. It was most safe for themselves,
>e Lords. ^e saj^ ^j. not for their constituents. Let them go
to the Lords and ask them to join in the Remonstrance.
In the despondent mood in which the members were, there
were not wanting a few who thought Eliot had been to blame.
It was that terrible speech of his on the 3rd,1 they said, which
had done the mischief. The House would not hear of such
an exp'anation. From the first day of the session, it was
resolutely declared, no member had been guilty of undutiful
speech. Others again essayed to speak. Old Coke, with the
tears running down his furrowed face, stood up, faltered, and
sat down again. At last it was resolved to go into committee
to consider what was to be done.
Finch, thus released from his duties, asked permis-
The Speaker . ^u TT T-u
leaves the sion to leave the House. The permission was not
refused. With streaming eyes he hurried to the King
to tell what he had heard and seen. To him too, and to all real
1 See page 299.
t628 THE DUKE NAMED. 305
friends of the prerogative, the breach between the Crown and
so thoroughly loyal a House must have been inexpressibly
sad.
The impression left by the Speaker's departure was that a
dissolution was imminent. Men waxed bolder with the sense
Debate in of coming danger. "The King," said Kirton, "is
mittee. as good a prince as ever reigned. It is the enemies
to the commonwealth that have so prevailed with him, therefore
let us aim now to discover them ; and I doubt not but God
will send us hearts, hands, and swords to cut the throats of the
enemies of the King and State." Wentworth, rejecting Rich's
proposal, moved to go straight to the King with the Remon-
strance. Were they not the King's counsellors ?
Coke was the next to rise, his voice no longer choked by
his emotions. He was about to say that which Eliot had
refrained from saying. He quoted precedent after precedent
in which the Commons had done the very thing that the King
had warned them against doing. Great men, Privy Councillors,
the King's prerogative itself, had once not been held to be
beyond the scope of Parliamentary inquiry. " What shall we
do?" he cried; "let us palliate no longer. If we do, God
Coke names will wot prosper us. I think the Duke of Bucks is
the Duke. faQ cause of aL our miseries, and till the King be
informed thereof, we shall never go out with honour, or sit with
honour here. That man is the grievance of grievances. Let
us set down the causes of all our disasters, and they will all
reflect upon him." Let them not go to the Lords. Let them
go straight to the King. It was not the King, but the Duke,
who had penned the words, ' We require you not to meddle
with State government, or the ministers thereof.' Did not
the King once sanction the principle which this message con-
demned ? Did he not, as Prince of Wales, take part as a Peer
of Parliament in the proceedings against Lord Chancellor
Bacon and Lord Treasurer Middlesex ?
Amidst expressions of approbation from every side, Coke
sat down. At last the word which was on all lips had been
spoken. Then, as a contemporary letter- writer expressed it.
'as when one good hound recovers the scent, the rest come in
VOL. VI. X
306 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXlll.
with a full cry, so they pursued it, and every one came on
home, and laid the blame where they thought the fault was.'
Selden but put into shape what Coke had suggested. " All
this time," he said, "we have cast a mantle on what
t^me'°n was done last Parliament ; but now, being driven
hamk'ng again to look on that man, let us proceed with that
which was then well begun, and let the charge be
renewed that was last Parliament against him, to which he
made an answer, but the particulars were sufficient that we
might demand judgment on that answer only." '
As Charles had made Wentworth's leadership impossible,
so, it seemed, he would now make Eliot's leadership impossible.
The mere representation of the evils of the State seemed tame
after what had taken place that day. The remaining heads
of the Remonstrance were hurried over, and just as a final
clause, condemnatory of Buckingham, was being put to the
vote, the Speaker reappeared with a message from the King,
The Kin ordering them to adjourn till the following morning,
stops the In doubt and wonder the members departed to
debate.
their homes.
It was but eleven o'clock when the debate that morning was
forcibly interrupted. It may be that if the words spoken in
the Commons had reached the King alone, the Houses would
have met the next day only to be dissolved. But the Coin-
Debate in rnons were not alone. In the other House a message
the Lords. from trie King demanding an adjournment had been
interpreted as ominous of a dissolution. Bristol at once inter-
Bristol pro- posed the weight of his authority. It was indiscretion,
^e^ivaTion ^e sa'd> to sPea^ °^ suc^ a thing as a dissolution from
io the king, conjecture. If it was true that the Privy Council
had advised it, the Lords were greater than the Privy Council.
They were the great council of the kingdom, and it was for
them to lay before the King the true state of the kingdom.
There was danger from Spain, danger from France, danger from
the Dunkirk privateers. " The whole Christian world," he said,
1 Par!. Hist. ii. 401. Kushworth, i. 605-610. Meade to Stuteville,
June 15, Comt and Times, i. 359. Meade is plainly mistaken in assigning
Coke's sp<;« *\ lo the 4lh.
1628 A DISSOLUTION RESISTED, 307
" is enemy to us. We have not in all the Christian world but one
port to put a boat into, Rochelle. We have been like the broken
staff of Egypt to all that have relied upon us. The distress of our
friends lies before us, the power and malice of our enemies.
Now, if we return home, when God had put it into the King's
heart to call a Parliament, what disadvantage will it be unto
us when our adversaries shall observe that the King and his
people have three times met, and departed with no good !
Whosoever shall say that a monarch can1 be fed by projects
and imaginations, knows not of what he is speaking." ' Bristol
concluded by moving for a Select Committee to 'represent
unto the King the true state of the kingdom, to be humble
suitors unto him to let things pass as they have done in the
times of his ancestors. To be likewise suitors unto the King,
that 2 if there have been any carriage of any private persons
displeasing to him, he will not make a sudden end of this
Parliament.'3
Although, from motives of respect to Charles, Bristol's
The Lord motion was not formally adopted, the Lord Keeper
Ordered to was directed to acquaint the King with the feeling of
acquaint the the HoUSC.4
King with
the feeling of Even Charles, self-willed as he was, could not ven-
charies * ture to s^nd up against both Houses. Thanking the
withdraws Lords for the respect which they had shown him by
from his • •
ground. refusing to appoint the committee which Bristol had
proposed, he assured them that he was as fully aware as they
were of the dangers of the kingdom — a message which drew
from Essex the demand that Bristol's motion for a committee
should be put again, and from Bristol himself the expression of
a hope that they would at least petition the King not to put a
sudden end to the Parliament.5
By the Lower House, too, a message had been received
1 The words after " imaginations " are added by conjecture.
2 The word ' that ' is not in the MS.
3 The report ends at " carriage." The rest of the sentence is filled ia
fri^m Bristol's speech of the next day.
4 Ehin^s Notes. s Ibid.
X 2
3o8 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
qualifying the one which had given such offence the day before.
The King, according to this explanation, had no wish to debar
the Commons from their right of inquiry, but wished merely
to prohibit them from raking up old offences by looking into
counsel which had been tendered to him in past times. The
explanation was gravely accepted. " I am now as full of joy,'1
The Com- sa'^ Eliot, " as yesterday of another passion." But
mons go on the Commons went steadily on with their Remon-
with t^e Re- ....
munstranee. strance. On the morning of the yth they had gone
June 7. so far as to inquire jnto the levy of Dulbier's German
horse, intended, as one member said, ' to cut our throats or else
to keep us at their obedience.' l
The House of Lords again intervened. Bishop Harsnet,
the author of the Lords' propositions, from which the contro-
intervention versy had by this time drifted so far, now stood up
of the Lords. jn defence of the Petition of Right. Hateful to the
Calvinists on account of his bold attacks made in early life
upon the extreme consequences of their cherished doctrine of
predestination, he was no less distrusted by Laud for his refusal
to entertain the extreme consequences of the opinions which
they held in common. The answer to the petition, he said,
was full of grace, but it did not come home or give the satis-
faction which was expected. Let the Commons be asked to
join in a petition to the King for another answer. Williams
supported the proposal. It was rumoured, he said, that the
answer was not the King's, but had been voted by the Council.2
" I do not see," he added, " in all the learning I have, that
this is at all applicatory to the petition or any part of it." " I
conceive," said Bristol, " the answer to be rather a waiving
of the petition than any way satisfactory to it I believe that
those distractions and fears which since have sprung
The King
asked for a amongst us took their original from that answer."
tott-e"* The House was unanimous in its desire for a clearer
reply. Even Buckingham was unable to oppose
himself to the current. The Commons, as soon as they v ere
1 far/. Hist. ii. 406. Nil-holes'* Notes.
2 "An assembly which I reverence," is the periphrasis.
1628 THE ROYAL ASSENT. 309
invited, gladly gave their consent, and a deputation, with
Buckingham at its head, was sent to ask Charles for a cleat and
satisfactory answer to the petition.1 They returned with tha
news that the King would bring his own reply to their request at
four o'clock.
At four o'clock, therefore, on that eventful day, Charles
took his seat upon the throne. The Commons came troop-
Charies ing to the bar, ignorant whether they were to hear
pS^c?* the sentence of dissolution or not. They had not
Right. long to wait. " The answer I have already given
you," said Charles, " was made with so good deliberation, and
approved by the judgment of so many wise men, that I could
not have imagined but that it should have given you full satis-
faction ; but, to avoid all ambiguous interpretations, and to show
you that there is no doubleness in my meaning, I am willing
to please you in words as well as in substance. Read your
petition ; and you shall have such an answer as I am sure will
please you." Then after it had been read, as the shouts of
applause rang out loud and clear from the Commons, the
clerk pronounced the usual words of approval, ' Soit droit fait
comme est desire?
Charles had yet a few more words in reserve. " This," he
said, " I am sure is full ; yet no more than I granted you on
my first answer ; for the meaning of that was to confirm all
your liberties ; knowing, according to your own protestations,
that you neither mean nor can hurt my prerogative. And I
assure you that my maxim is, that the people's liberties strengthen
the King's prerogative, and that the King's prerogative is to
defend the people's liberties. You see how ready I have shown
myself to satisfy your demands, so that I have done my part ;
wherefore if the Parliament have not a happy conclusion, the
sin is yours ; I am free from it." 2
Once more the acclamations of the Commons rose. The
General joy. shout was taken up without as the news spread from
street to street. The steeples of the City churches rang out
1 Risings Notes. Lords' Journals, iii. 842,
* Lords' Journals, iii. 843.
310 THE PETITION OF RIGHT. CH. LXIII.
their merriest peals. As the dusk deepened into darkness
bonfires were lighted up amidst rejoicing crowds. Since the
day when Charles had returned from Spain no such signs of
public happiness had been seen.1
1 Nethersole to the titular Queen of Bohemia, June 7 ; Conway to
Coke, June 9, S. P. Dam. cvi. 55, 71.
CHAPTER LXIV.
REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION.
WHATEVER interpretation might still be placed by the King on
the concession which he had made, it was undeniable that the
June 7. House of Commons had gained a great advantage,
importance ft might still be doubtful whether, in case of neces-
petuion. sity, the King might not break the law, but it could
never again be doubtful what the law was.
The Petition of Right has justly been deemed by constitutional
historians as second in importance only to the Great Charter
Comparison itself. It circumscribed the monarchy of Henry VIII.
Greatthe an(^ Elizabeth as the Great Charter circumscribed
Charter. the monarchy of Henry II. Alike in the twelfth and
in the sixteenth century the kingly power had been established
on the ruins of an aristocracy bent upon the nullification cf
government in England. Alike in the thirteenth and in the
seventeenth century, the kingly power was called to account
as soon as it was used for other than national ends. Like the
Great Charter, too. the Petition of Right was the beginning, not
the end, of a revolution.
So far as in them lay the Commons had stripped Charles
of that supreme authority which he believed himself to hold.
Their action had, however, been purely negative.
kuThorhy in Somewhere or another such authority must exist
ibeyance. abOve all positive law, capable of setting it aside
when it comes in conflict with the higher needs of the nation.
Charles was right enough in thinking that the Commons were
3T2 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
consciously or unconsciously tending to seize upon this autho-
rity themselves ; but as yet they had not done so. They had
cried, as it were, The King is dead ! They had not cried, Long
live the King ! The old order had received a deadly blow,
but it had not given place to the new. Many a stormy dis-
cussion, many a sturdy blow, would be needed before the Com-
mons seated themselves in the place of the King.
In every nation supreme authority tends to rest in the hands
of those who best respond to the national demand for guidance.
Would the House of Commons be able to offer such guid-
ance ? Could it represent the wishes, the wisdom, the strength,
it may be the prejudices, of the nation, as Elizabeth had repre-
sented them ? At least it could throw into disrepute those
theories upon which the King's claim to stand above the
laws was founded, and set forth its policy and its wishes so
June 9. as to be understood of all men. On June 9, Pym
impeach- carried up to the Lords the charges which had been
ment of l . • .
Manwaring. gradually collected against Manwaring, and on the
same day the Commons went steadily on with their Remon-
strance, as if nothing had happened to divert them from their
purpose.
It was certain that Manwaring would find no favour in
the House of Lords. More clearly than many others whose
theological opinions coincided with his own he had allowed
political speculation to follow in the train of doctrinal thought.
The notion that the clergy had an independent existence apart
from the rest of the community easily led to the conclusion that
that community had no rights which it could plead against the
King, by whom the clergy were protected. The theory that the
King had a divine right to obedience apart from the laws of
the realm was one which had failed to find support amongst the
lay Peers in the discussions on the Petition of Right.
June 14.
Sentence Manwaring was therefore condemned to imprison-
agamsthim. mcnt durjng fae pleasure of the House, to pay a fine
of i,ooo/., to acknowledge his offence, to submit to suspension
from preaching at Court for the remainder of his life, and from
preaching elsewhere for three years. He was further forbidden
to hold any ecclesiastical or civil office, and the King was to be
1628 PYM AND MANWARING. 313
asked to issue a proclamation calling in all copies of his book
in order that they might be burnt.1
That Manwdring should be impeached and condemned
was a matter of course. His offence and his punishment are of
little interest to us now ; but it is of great interest to know
what answer his challenge provoked, what political principle was
advocated by the House of Commons in reply to the political
principle which it condemned.
The accusation had been entrusted to Pym, and by Pym's
mouth the Commons spoke. "The best form of government,"
he said, " is that which doth actuate and dispose
Pym s reply
to Man- every part and member of a State to the common
darantfon of good ; and as those parts give strength and orna-
ment to the whole, so they receive from it again
strength and protection in their several stations and degrees.
If this mutual relation and intercourse be broken, the whole
frame will quickly be dissolved and fall in pieces ; and instead
of this concord and interchange of support, whilst one part
seeks to uphold the old form of government, and the other part
to introduce a new, they will miserably consume and devour
one another. Histories are full of the calamities of whole
states and nations in such cases. It is true that time must
needs bring about some alterations, and every alteration is a
step and degree towards a dissolution. Those things only are
eternal which are constant and uniform. Therefore it is ob-
served by the best writers on this subject, that those common-
wealths have been most durable and perpetual which have
often reformed and recomposed themselves according to their
first institution and ordinance, for by this means they repair
the breaches and counterwork the ordinary and natural effects
of time."2
What then was the first institution and ordinance of the
1 Par/. Hist. ii. 388, 410.
2 Bacon has the same conservatism as Pym, but more appreciation of
the need of reform. " It is good also not to try experiments in States,
except the necessity be urgent, or the utility evident ; and well to beware
that it be the reformation that draweth on the change, and not the desire
of change that pretendeth the reformation." — Essay on Innovations.
314 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. i.xiv.
laws of England ? Pym's answer was ready. " There are plain
footsteps," he said, "ot those laws in the government of the
Saxons. They were of that vigour and force as to overlive
the Conquest ; nay, to give bounds and limits to the Con-
queror. ... It is true they have been often broken, but they
have been often confirmed by charters of Kings and by Acts
of Parliaments. But the petitions of the subjects upon which
those charters and Acts were founded, were ever Petitions
of Right, demanding their ancient and due liberties, not suing
for any new."
A far nobler view this than Manwaring's. In the historical
past of the English people lay the justification of its action in
Superiority th6 present. Beyond the precedents of the lawyer
»f his view. an(j the conclusions of the divine, the eye of the
statesman rested on the continuity of responsibility in the
nation for the mode in which it was governed. It may be that
many things seem otherwise to us than they seemed to Pym,
and that we should condemn actions which to him appeared
worthy of all praise ; but our sympathies are nevertheless with
Pym and not with Manwaring. If there were faults in the
House of Commons, if there was a danger of the establishment
of a self-seeking aristocracy in the place of a national govern-
ment, it was not from Charles that the remedy was likely to
come. Whatever justification might be put forth, Charles's
assumption of power had been clearly revolutionary. To
conduct war and to extort money in defiance of the nation was
an act which had nothing in common with those acts which
had been done by former sovereigns with the tacit assent of
the nation. The root of the old constitution was the respon-
sibility of the Crown to the nation, a responsibility which, it
is true, was often enforced by violence and rebellion. Yet a
view of the constitution which takes no account of those acts
of violence is like a view of geology which takes no account of
earthquakes and volcanoes. There was indeed a certain amount
of unconscious insincerity in the legal arguments adduced on
either side, which, though dealing with the compacts which sanc-
tioned the results of force, yet shrank from the acknowledgment
that the force itseK, the steady determination that a king who
i6a8 THE REMONSTRANCE TO GO ON. 315
spoke for himself and acted for himself should not be permitted
to reign, was part of that mass of custom and opinion which,
varying in detail from age to age, but animated in every age by
the same spirit, is, for brevity's sake, called the English con-
stitution. To the spirit of this constitution the Tudor princes
had, even in their most arbitrary moods, sedulously conformed.
No rulers have ever been so careful to watch the temper of the
nation as were Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. That the King
was established by God Himself to think and act in opposition
to the thoughts and acts which the nation deliberately chose
to think best, was a new thing in England, and even when the
King was right and the nation was wrong, it was a change for
the worse.
The Commons did their best to persuade themselves from
time to time that every step taken in the wrong direction had
been owing to the King's ministers rather than to himself ; but
it was growing hard for them to close their eyes much longer
, to the truth. „ A discovery was now made that Man-
pan in the waring's sermons had been licensed for printing by
M^nwaring's the King's special orders, and that too against Laud's
remonstrances, for even Laud had warned him that
many things in the book would be 'very distasteful to the
people.' l
In one respect Charles had gained his object by his accept
Subsidies ance °f the petition. As soon as it was ascertained
voted. tnat jt was to j-jg em-oiled ijke any other statute, the
Subsidy Bill was pushed on, and on the i6th was sent up to
the Lords.
Of the Remonstrance, however, Charles had not heard
June 9. the last It is true that Selden's proposal for renew-
sVranceepro"" *nS the impeachment of Buckingham was quietly
ceededwuh. dropped, but it was certain that the name of Buck-
ingham would appear in the Remonstrance. All that Charles
1 Lords' Journals, iii. 856. Manwaring's absolute appeal to first
principles would probably not be agreeable to Laud, who preferred leaving
such matters to the schools, and basing his demands upon the authority of
established institutions.
316 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV
had gained was that the name would appear in a state-
ment made to himself, not in an accusation addressed to the
Lords.
The King, in fact, had never understood the reasons which
had induced the House, under Eliot's guidance, to prepare this
Remonstrance. He had fancied that it was a mere weapon of
offence intended to wrest from him a better answer to the
petition, and certain to be let drop as soon as its purpose had
been accomplished. He could not perceive how deeply the
disasters of the years in which he had ruled England had im-
pressed themselves upon the mind of the nation, and so far
as he took account of those disasters at all he argued that they
had resulted from the niggardliness of the Commons, not from
the incapacity of his own ministers.
On June n 1 the Remonstrance was finally brought into
shape. First came the paragraphs relating to religion, including
June ir. the inevitable demand for the full execution of the
s^ran^e6"10" penal laws against the Cathodes and a special corn-
voted, plaint against the commission which had been issued
for compounding with recusants in the northern counties, of
which Sir John Savile had been the leading member, and which
had been warmly attacked by Wentworth. Still more
Attack on .....
the Armi- bitter was the cry against Armmiamsm. The Calvm-
istic preachers had not, it is true, been actually per-
secuted. They had, however, been discountenanced. Books
written by their opponents easily found a licenser. Books
written by themselves were scanned more strictly. Laud and
Neile were in high favour with the King, and those who adopted
their opinions were on the sure road to promotion. Before long
the high places of the Church would be occupied exclusively
by men whose opinions were those of a minority of the clergy
and of a still smaller minority of the laity.
It is easy to see that these complaints were not without
1 The debate in committee is given by Nicholas, and the adoption of
the Remonstrance is in the Journals of the same day. Rushworth is
clearly wrong in saying the charge against Buckingham was voted on the
I3th. We here take leave of Nicholas, who gives nothing later than the
nth.
1628 WANT OF CONFIDENCE. 317
foundation. It is easy to see, too, that the course of silencing
the Arminians, suggested rather than advised by the Commons,
would have been of little avail. But for the present the main
stress of the petition was directed to another quarter. The
whole history of the past three years was unrolled before the
The Duke King, and, after a warm debate, the blame of all the
blamed. mischief was laid upon the Duke. " The principal
cause," so the House declared, " of which evils and dangers we
conceive to be the excessive power of the Duke of Buckingham,
and the abuse of that power ; l and we humbly submit unto
your Majesty's excellent wisdom, whether it be safe for yourself
or your kingdoms that so great a power as rests in him by sea
and land should be in the hands of any one subject whatsoever.
And as it is not safe, so sure we are it cannot be for your
service ; it being impossible for one man to manage so many
and weighty affairs of the kingdom as he hath undertaken
besides the ordinary duties of those offices which he holds ;
some of which, well performed, would require the time and
industry of the ablest men, both in counsel and action, that
your whole kingdom will afford, especially in these times of
common danger. And our humble desire is further, that your
excellent Majesty will be pleased to take into your princely
consideration, whether, in respect the said Duke hath so abused
his power, it be safe for your Majesty and your kingdom to
continue him either in his great offices, or in his place of near-
ness and counsel about your sacred person." 2
The Commons had thus returned to the position which they
had taken up at the close of the last session, as soon as it had
become evident that the impeachment would not
taken by the be allowed to take its course. They passed what in
Commons. . . 111 ni /•
modern times would be called a vote of want ot
confidence in Buckingham. They brought no criminal charges.
They asked for no punishment But they demanded that the
man under whose authority the things of which they complained
1 These words were inserted after a proposal from Phelips that on'y
the Duke's power, and not the abuse of his power, should be complained
of. 2 Rushwort ht i. 619.
318 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
had been done, should no longer be in a position to guide all
England by his word.
On minor points Charles was willing to gratify the Com-
mons. He allowed his ministers to give out that he was ready
to discountenance the Arminians, which he might easily do, as
Laud and his friends entirely disclaimed the title. He can-
celled the patent by which certain Privy Councillors had been
empowered, before the meeting of Parliament, to consider the
Charles win best way of raising money by irregular means,1 and
Bucking-up he announced that Dulbier should not bring his
ham. German horse into England.2 But he would not
give up the Duke. To abandon Buckingham was to abandon
himself.
Before the Remonstrance was presented to the King an
event occurred which must have served to harden Charles in
the belief that the movement against Buckingham
and Budc- was nothing more than a decent veil for an outbreak
of popular anarchy which if it were not checked
might sweep away his throne and all else that he held sacred.
Dr. Lambe, an astrologer and quack doctor, a man too, if
rumour is to be believed, of infamous life, had been consulted
by Buckingham, and was popularly regarded as the instigator
of his nefarious designs. Things had now come to such a pass
that nothing was too bad to be believed of the Duke. Men
declared without hesitation that Buckingham had caused the
failure of Denbigh's expedition to Rochelle, out of
Wild stories •«_,, •/•,»_ i* j -i
told of the fear lest, if the town were relieved, a peace might
follow.3 His luxury, his immoralities, his bragging
incompetence, once the theme of Eliot's rhetoric, were now
sung in ballads passed from hand to hand. In these verses it
was told how he had poisoned Hamilton, Southampton, Oxford,
Lennox, and even King James himself ; how he had sat in a
boat out of the way of danger, whilst his men were being
slaughtered in the Isle of Rhe ; how he was indifferent to the
• ParL Hist. ii. 417 ; Lords' Journals, iii. 862. See p. 224.
• Rushworfh, i. 623.
• Contarini to the Doge, June •£•, Ven, Transcripts, R. 0.
lt>2'* DR. LAMBED MURDER. 319
ravages of the Dunkirkers and to the ruin of the country,1
whilst he employed Dr. Lambe to corrupt by his love-charms
the chastest women in England. Even at Cambridge the
judicious Meade found himself treated with contempt for
venturing to suggest that the Duke's faults arose from inca-
pacity rather than from any settled purpose to betray the
kingdom.2
Whilst such thoughts were abroad, Dr. Lambe stepped forth
one evening from the Fortune Theatre. A crowd of London
apprentices, ever ready for amusement or violence,
June 13. •
Murder of« gathered round him. hooting at him as the Duke's
Dr. Lambe. ^^,\\ Fearing the worst, he paid some sailors to
guard him to a tavern in Moorgate Street, where he supped.
When he came out he found some of the lads still standing
round the door, and imprudently threatened them, telling them
'he would make them dance naked.' As he walked they
followed his steps, the crowd growing denser every minute. In
the Old Jewry he turned upon them with his sailors, and drove
them off. The provocation thus given was too much for the
cruel instinct of the mob. A rush was made at him, and he
was driven for refuge into the Windmill Tavern. Stones began
to fly, and the howling crowd demanded its victim. In vain
the landlord disguised him before he sent him out. There was
another scamper through the streets, another attempt to find
refuge. The master of the second house satisfied his conscience
by dismissing him with four constables to guard him. Such
aid was of little avail. The helpless protectors were dashed
aside. The object of popular hatred was thrown bleeding on
the ground. Blows from sticks and stones and pieces of board
snatched up for the occasion fell like rain upon his quivering
flesh. After he could no longer speak to plead for mercy, one
of his eyes was beaten out of its socket. No man would open
his doors to receive the all but lifeless body of the detested
necromancer. He was at last carried to the Compter prison,
where he died on the following morning.
1 Fairholt's Poems and Songs relating to the Duke of Buckingham,
Percy Society.
* Meade to Stuteville, July 12, Court and Times, i. 373.
320 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
Charles, when he heard the news, was greatly affected. The
murderers had been heard to say that if the Duke had been
Junei6 there they would have handled him worse. They
The King's would have minced his flesh, and have had everyone
a bit of him. He summoned before him the Lord
Mayor and Aldermen, bidding them to discover the offenders, '
and he subsequently imposed a heavy fine upon the City for
their failure to detect the guilty persons.
The King's heart was hardened against the assailants of
the Duke. To sift the statements of the Remonstrance, or to
promise an inquiry into the cause of the late disasters, would
be beneath his dignity. He determined to meet the charges
of the Commons as a mere personal attack upon innocence.
The i yth was the day fixed by Charles for the reception
of the Remonstrance. The day before, he sent to the Star
Orders the Chamber an order that all documents connected
fnTh^ttaf with the sham prosecution of Buckingham which
PSI^tThe nad followed the last dissolution, should be removed
Duke to from the file ; ' that no memory thereof remain of
be taken ' . J
from the file, the record against him which may tend to his
disgrace.' 2
When the reading of the Remonstrance was ended, Charles
answered curtly. He did not expect, he said, such a remon-
june 17. strance from them after he had so graciously granted
Answers the them their Petiuon of Right. They complained of
Remon- ° j r
strance. grievances in Church and State, ' wherein he per-
ceived they understood not what belonged to either so well as
he had thought they had done. As for their grievances, he
would consider of them as they should deserve.' When he
had finished, Buckingham threw himself on his knees, asking
permission to answer for himself. Charles would not allow
him to do so, giving him his hand to kiss in the presence of his
accusers.3
If it had not been too late for anything to have availed
1 Meade to Stuteville, June 21, June 29, Court and Times, i. 364, 367.
Diary, S. P. Dom. cii. 57. Rusltworth, i. 618.
* Kushworth, i. 626.
* Meade to Stuteville, June 21, Court and Tim r, i. 364.
I62S SATIRES UN BUCKINGHAM. 321
Buckingham, it might be thought that he had judged better
Contrast for himself than his master had done. His way was
Bu'dklngham to meet charges boldly and defiantly. Charles's way
and Charles. was to relapse into silence, to fall back upon his
insulted dignity, and to demand the submission to his mere
word which argument could alone have secured for him. His
own notions were to him so absolutely true that they needed
no explanation.
So far as Buckingham was able, he sought to meet the
charges against him. It had been rumoured in the House of
Commons that the Duke had said, " Tush ! it makes no matter
what the Commons or Parliament doth ; for without my leave
and authority they shall not be able to touch the hair of a dog."
Buckingham In vain Buckingham protested that the slander was
silnderous absolutely untrue.1 The accusation was repeated in
story. verses drawn up to suit the popular taste, in which
the Duke was made to declare his entire independence of the
popular feeling. "Meddle," he is made to say to his oppo-
nents—
"Meddle with common matters, common wrongs,
To the House of Commons common things belongs.
They are extra sph&raiii that you treat of now,
And ruin to yourselves will bring, I vow,
Except you do desist, and learn to bear
What wisdom ought to teach you, or your fear.
Leave him the oar that best knows how to row,
And State to him that best the State doth know.
Though Lambe be dead, I'll stand, and you shall see,
I'll sii.ile at them that can but bark at me." 2
Though in reality these words applied far more correctly to
the King than to Buckingham, so long as Buckingham was in
favour no man would believe how great a part Charles had in
his own calamities. " Who rules the kingdom ? " were the
words of a pasquinade found nailed to a post in Coleman
1 Lords' Journals, iii. 897.
- Poems on Buckingham, Percy Society, 30.
VOL. VI. Y
}22 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
Street. " The King. Who rules the King ? The Duke. Who
rules the Duke? The devil. Let the Duke look to it." l
Under the influence of the feeling provoked by the rejection
of the Remonstrance the Commons went into committee on
the Bill for the grant of tonnage and poundage which
Tonnage and had been brought in at the beginning of the session,
11 age' but had been postponed on account of the pressure
of other business. With the exception of the merest fragment,
no record of the debates in this committee has reached us ;
but we learn from a contemporary letter 2 that the Commons,
whilst making a liberal grant, equal to the whole of the customs
and imposts put together, wished to alter the incidence of
some of the rates, partly because they considered them too
heavy on certain articles, partly for the preservation of their
own right to make the grant.
As soon as it appeared that the work to which the Commons
had set themselves would take two or three months, they pro-
Dissatisfac Pose(^ to Pass a temporary Bill to save the rights which
tiouofthe they claimed, leaving all further discussion till the
next session. When the King refused to assent to this
proposal, they expressed a wish that they might have an adjourn-
ment instead of a prorogation. In this way the Act, when finally
passed at their next meeting, would take effect from the be-
ginning of the session in the past winter, and the illegality, as
they held it, of the actual levy would be covered by it.
It may be that the Commons did not at the time mean
more than they said, and had no fixed intention of using their
claim to be the sole originators of the right to levy customs'
duties in order to compel the King to attend to their political
grievances. It may very well have seemed to Charles that
the case was otherwise ; and the more persistent they were
in asserting their right, the more determined he was not to give
way on a point where concession would make it impossible
for him to govern the kingdom except in accordance with their
views. If the Commons saw fit at their next meeting to vote
him less than the old tonnage and poundage and the new im-
1 Meade to Stuteville, June 29, Court and Times, i. 367.
8 Nethersole to Elizabeth, June 30, S. P. Dom. cviii. 52.
1628 ANOTHER REMONSTRANCE. 323
positions put together, he would be landed in a perpetual
deficit, even if a treaty of peace could be signed at once with
France and Spain. For Charles a perpetual deficit meant the
expulsion of Buckingham from his counsels and the domina-
tion of Puritanism in the Church ; in other words, it meant his
own surrender of that Royal authority which had been handed
down to him from his predecessors — a surrender far more
complete than he had contemplated in giving his assent to the
Petition of Right.
Accordingly, on the 23rd Charles sent a message once more
June 23. declaring that he had fixed a date for the proroga-
Theproroga- tion. The Houses might sit till the 26th, but they
tion deter- . *
mined on. should Sit no longer.
The Commons at once proceeded to draw up another Re-
monstrance. They would not have complained, they asserted,
if an adjournment and not a prorogation had been offered.
In that case the matter would have been taken up when they
met again, and the Act when passed would have given a retro-
spective sanction to all duties levied under it since the com-
mencement of the session. The Commons then proceeded to
declare that no imposition ought to be laid upon the goods of
merchants, exported or imported, without common consent by
Act of Parliament ; which, they said to the King, ' is the right
and inheritance of your subjects, founded not only upon the
most ancient and original constitutions of this kingdom, but
often confirmed and declared in divers statute laws.' They had
hoped that a Bill might have been passed to satisfy the King
in the present session. " But not being now able," they con-
cluded by saying, " to accomplish this their desire, there is no
course left unto them, without manifest breach of their duty
both to your Majesty and their country, save only to make this
humble declaration : That the receiving of tonnage
Remon- and poundage and other impositions not granted by
foifnTgeTnd Parliament, is a breach of the fundamental liberties
pondage. Q- tnjs kingdom) and contrary to your Majesty's
Royal answer to their late Petition of Right ; and therefore they
do most humbly beseech your Majesty to forbear any further
receiving the same ; and not to take it in ill part from those of
Y 2
324 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
your Majesty's loving subjects who shall refuse to make pay-
ment of any such charges without warrant of law demanded.
And as, by this forbearance, your most excellent Majesty shall
manifest unto the world your Royal justice in the observation
of your laws, so they doubt not but hereafter, at the time ap-
pointed for their coming together again, they shall have occa
sion to express their great desire to advance your Majesty's
honour and profit." l
Rather than listen to such words as these, Charles deter-
mined to hasten the end of the session by a few hours.
Hurriedly, and without taking time to put on the usual robes,
he entered the House of Lords early the next morning, almost
as soon as the Peers had met.
" My Lords and Gentlemen," he said, when the Commons
had been summoned, "it may seem strange that I come so
suddenly to end this session : wherefore, before I
June 26. » '
The King's give my assent to the Bills, I will tell you the cause;
though I must avow that I owe an account of my
actions but to God alone. It is known to everyone that a
while ago the House of Commons gave me a Remonstrance,
how acceptable every man may judge ; and for the merit of it
I will not call that in question, for I am sure no wise man can
justify it.
" Now, since I am certainly informed that a second Re-
monstrance is preparing for me, to take away my chief profit of
tonnage and poundage — one of the chief maintenances of the
Crown — by alleging that I have given away my right thereof by
my answer to your petition ; this is so prejudicial unto me that
I am forced to end this session some few hours before I meant
it, being willing not to receive any more Remonstrances to
which I must give a harsh answer.
" And since I see that even the House of Commons begins
already to make false constructions of what I granted in your
petition, lest it might be worse interpreted in the country I will
now make a declaration concerning the true meaning thereof : —
" The profession of both Houses, in time of hammering
1 Parl. Hist. ii. 431.
i623 END OF THE SESSION. 325
this petition, was no ways to entrench upon my prerogative,
saying they had neither intention nor power to hurt it : there-
fore it must needs be conceived I granted no new, but only
confirmed the ancient liberties of my subjects ; yet, to show the
clearness of my intentions, that I neither repent nor mean to
recede from anything I have promised you, I do here declare
that those things which have been done whereby men had some
cause to suspect the liberty of the subjects to be trenched upon
— which indeed was the first and true ground of the petition —
shall not hereafter be drawn into example for your prejudice :
and in time to come, on the word of a King, you shall not have
the like cause to complain.
" But as for tonnage and poundage, it is a thing I cannot
want, and was never intended by you to ask — never meant, I
am sure, by me to grant.
" To conclude, I command you all that are here to take
notice of what I have spoken at this time to be the true intent
and meaning of what I granted you in your petition, but es-
pecially you, my Lords the Judges — for to you only, under me,
belongs the interpretation of laws ; for none of the House of
Commons, joint or separate — what new doctrine soever may be
raised — have any power either to make or declare a law without
my consent." l
After the Royal assent had been given to a few Bills the
session was formally brought to an end by prorogation to Octo-
ber 20. It was the first time in his reign that Charles
pmro^ed. had ended a session otherwise than by a dissolution.
Breach be- Yet the crisis was more serious, the breach more
King"andthe complete and hopeless, than ever before. In 1625
commons. ^& £ommons to
counsel with persons upon whom dependence could be placed.
In 1626 he had been asked to dismiss one unpopular minister
from his service. In 1628 his whole policy was to be changed
at home and abroad, his whole personal feeling was to be
sacrificed by the condemnation of Laud and Neile as well as
of the great Duke himself. Statesmen and divines who were
1 Lords' Journals, iii. 879. The last clause is corrected from Parl.
Hist. ii. 434.
326 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXlv.
pleasing to the Commons were to be promoted : statesmen
and divines who were displeasing to them were to be dis-
couraged and silenced. The will of the Lower House was to
be the rule by which all that was taught and all that was done
in England was from henceforward to be gauged ; and this
claim to sovereignty — for it was nothing less — was backed by
the ominous claim to relieve individual persons from the duty
of paying to the Crown dues which, though they had been de-
clared illegal by a resolution of the House of Commons, had
been declared to be legal by the judges. It would
Charles
formally in have taxed the Commons to the utmost, if the
opportunity had been afforded them, to answer the
King within the lines of existing constitutional practice. That
the judges, and not the King, were to decide questions affecting
the liberty of the subject had been the point pressed most
firmly by the Commons in the debates on the Petition of Right.
Yet now they proceeded to ignore entirely the fact that the
unreversed decision of the judges in the case of impositions
was clearly on the King's side. If the Commons were to sus-
pend the payment of these duties by their own resolution in
the face of a judicial decision, why might they not suspend the
operation of any law whatever against which they entertained
objections ? And, unless new checks were provided, what would
government by the resolutions of a single House lead to but
the tyranny which enabled Cromwell to turn the key on the
expelled Long Parliament, and which in the following century
roused the thinking part of the nation to take up the defence
of a man so unworthy as Wilkes ?
Nor was it only in his resolution to leave the interpretation
of the laws to the judges that Charles took ground which was
Was tonnage at least formally defensible. That the words of the
»ge Included Petition of Right, praying that 'no man hereafter be
in the PC- compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevo-
tmen of i 1-1 i • ,
Right? lence, tax, or such like charge, without common
consent by Act of Parliament,' ought to have covered the case
of customs' duties is a proposition from which few would
now be inclined to dissent. Yet amongst the words used, only
• tax ' was sufficiently general to be supposed for a moment to
1628 THE CASE FOR THE KING. 327
cover the case of duties upon imports and exports, and even
that word, though often used loosely to apply to payments of
every kind, had the specific meaning of direct payments, and
in this sense would not be at all applicable to the dues which
were levied at the ports.1 When, therefore, Charles said that in
granting the petition he had never intended to yield on this
point, he undoubtedly said nothing less than the truth. He
might have said even more than he did. It is as certain as
anything can well be that, either because they did not wish to
enhance the difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory answer from
the King, or because they expected to gain their object in
another way, the Commons never had any intention to include
the question of tonnage and poundage in the Petition of Right.
The Tonnage and Poundage Bill had been brought in early in
the session. From time to time it had been mentioned, but,
except a few words from Phelips, nothing had been said to give to
it any sort of prominence. What would have been easier than,
by the addition of one or two expressions to the petition, to
include the levy of these duties amongst the grievances of the
House ? Yet nothing of the kind was done, though the words
of the petition, as was known to every lawyer, if not to every
member of the House, were such as would not be acknowledged
by the King to cover the case of tonnage and poundage. What
was still more important was that the Petition of Right, like every
other statute, was subject to the interpretation of the judges,
and that it was well known that the judges were in the habit ot"
deciding every doubtful point in favour of the Crown. It was
therefore with full knowledge that the ambiguous word ' tax '
would not carry with it the consequences which they now
wished to derive from it, that the framers of the petition, them-
selves being lawyers of the highest eminence, had abstained from
strengthening their work with other words which would have
put an end to all doubt. For these reasons, the insertion of the
appeal to the Petition of Right in the final Remonstrance can
only be regarded as a daring attempt to take up new ground
1 The notes of Montague's speech in the Par/. Debates in 1610 give ;
"Tax or tallage only by Parliament. Custom or imposition proceed from
a regal power, and matter of inheritance in the King.'
328 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV,
which would place the right of the House above that decision
given in the last reign by the Court of Exchequer, which they
had hitherto contested in vain.1
It by no means follows, however, that the Commons, if
formally in the wrong, may not have been materially in the
right. Legal decisions cannot bind a naiion for ever,
The case for &, , , . , .
the Com- and the power of saying the last word, with all the
terrible responsibilities which weigh upon those who
pronounce it, must be with those by whom the nation is
most fully represented. The Commons had at least shown
that they had confidence in the English people. In every
petition which had come before them relating to the exercise
of the franchise, they had always decided in favour of the most
extended right of voting which it was in their power to acknow-
ledge. Great as was the influence of wealthy landowners in
returning members to the House, those members had no wish to
be anything else than the representatives of the nation.2 With
the nation their conservatism placed them at a great advantage
as the defenders of what to that generation was the old religion
and the old law. In his resistance to Calvinistic dogmatism, in
his desire to make the forces of the nation more easily available
for what he conceived to be national objects, Charles was the
advocate of change and innovation. His weakness lay in his
utter ignorance of men, in his incapacity to subordinate that
which was only desirable to that which was possible, and above
all, in his habitual disregard of that primary axiom of govern-
ment, that men may be led though they cannot be driven. He
looked upon the whole world through a distorting lens. If
1 The wording of this clause in the petition is 'that no man hereafter
be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like
charge without common consent by Act of Parliament.' In the Tonnage
and Poundage Act of the Long Parliament we hear ' that no subsidy, cus-
tom, impost, or any charge whatsoever ought to be laid or imposed upon
any merchandise exported or imported.' In the debates in 1610 the ques-
tion was almost entirely debated, especially on the side of the Crown, as if
customs' duties were to be treated apart from other taxation.
2 For the results of this work in committee I must refer to Mr. Forster.
Sir J. Eliot, ii. 1 19.
£628 THE CASE AGAINST THE KING. 329
Buckingham was far from being the scoundrel which popular
opinion imagined him to be, his failures could not be ascribed,
as Charles thought fit to ascribe them, to mere accident. If
Calvinistic orthodoxy must, sooner or later, be struck down in
England, it was not from Laudian uniformity that the blow
could come. In Charles blindness, narrow-mindedness, and
obstinacy, combined with an exaggerated sense of the errors of
his opponents, were laying the sure foundations of future ruin.
Then would come the turn of the Commons, the day when
they too would learn that sovereignty is only permanently en-
trusted to those who can represent the nation with wisdom as
well as with sympathy. The secret of the future was with those
who could guide England into the sure haven of religious liberty.
It was not enough to say that the Commons represented
England in 1628 as well as Elizabeth represented England in
1588. Elizabeth at least took care that all manner of com-
plaints should reach her ears, and that no man should be ex-
cluded from her Privy Council on account of his opinions. If
the preponderance in the constitution was to pass from the King
to the House of Commons, many a compensating change would
be needed before the great alteration could be safely effected.
Above all, opinion must be set free to an extent of which Pym
and Coke never dreamed, if it were only that the nation might
itself receive that enlightenment which had in old times been
thought necessary for the sovereign.
Such considerations, however, were still in the future.
Though men were beginning to feel, and sometimes to act, as
if some constitutional change was necessary, they had not yet
learned to give verbal expression to their thoughts. If Charles
was still sovereign of England in the eyes of others, more espe-
cially was he sovereign in his own eyes. Unhappily he did not
see in past events a reason for acting so as to regain the hearts
of his people. Having the opportunity of flinging
ticai appoint- defiance in the face of the Commons, he chose to
place in high positions in the Church the men whom
he knew to be most unpopular. Not long ago Neile had been
transferred from Durham to Winchester ; and now Mon-
taigne, the old, infirm, luxurious Bishop of London, who was
330 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
at the moment best known as the licenser of Manwaring's ser-
mons, was promoted first to Durham, and then to the
Archbishopric of York ; l whilst the See of London,
with all its authority over a more than ordinarily Cal-
vinistic clergy and people, was handed over to Laud.2 Howson,
one of Laud's chief supporters amongst the bishops, was raised
to the important See of Durham ; 3 Buckeridge, another of his
supporters, having been recently translated to Ely.4 Yet the
promotion which gave the greatest offence was undoubtedly that
of Richard Montague to the bishopric of Chichester.5 Whatever
Montague's merits may have been, a wise king would not have
chosen such a moment to promote a man so unpopular. The
very circumstance which should have told most against him
was doubtless that which most recommended him to Charles's
favour. The Puritans must be made to understand that they
had no standing ground in the English Church ; and how
could that be brought more clearly before their eyes than by
the promotion of a man who openly declared them to be a
usurping faction ?
Scarcely less unwise was Charles's course with Manwaring.
It can hardly be wondered that he desired to relieve the un-
lucky divine from the penalties which had befallen him for advo-
cating a doctrine which in the King's eyes had only been pushed
too far. Charles was indeed careful to mark his dissent from
the extreme form which that doctrine had taken. In
July 6.
Manwaring's the pardon which he caused to be drawn up for Man-
pardon, waring, he stated that the ground on which it was
based was his recantation of the most objectionable part of his
opinions.6 But Charles did not stop here. He conferred upon
Manwaring the rectory of Stanford Rivers, just vacated by
Montague,7 again confirming the assertion of the Commons,
that promotion in the Church was becoming the exclusive
property of that section whose opinions were regarded with ab-
horrence by the majority of the clergy and of the religious laity.
1 Date of congt cTelire, June 5. 2 July 4.
* July 4. 4 April 8. 5 Cong tfelire, July 8.
• The King to Heath, July 6, S. P. Don;, cix. 42.
7 Docquet, July 18.
/628 PEACE WITH SPAIN HOPED FOR. 331
These promotions in the Church had been made in the first
swing of indignation against the Puritans, to whom Charles
and Buckingham l traced all their calamities. Of the two men,
Buckingham, though his impetuousness and self-confidence
were perpetually leading him astray, was more accessible than
Charles to statesmanlike considerations. When Charles was
inclined to treat the unpopularity of his government as a matter
of no moment, and to regard the objections raised against his
proceedings with the cool contempt of silence, Buckingham
was always ready to give a reason for his actions,
Bucking- J J .
ham's foreign with the firm assurance that he needed only a fair
hearing to set him right with those who disapproved
of his conduct. To him, too, the war in which he had engaged
was now a matter rather of necessity than of enthusiasm, and
he had for some time been seeking to limit its operations. The
Negotiations correspondence Gerbier continued to carry on with
with Spain. Rubens gave some reason to believe that Spain would
still be induced, through jealousy of Fiance, to make peace with
England ; and, whatever Buckingham may have thought of the
matter, the sanguine mind of Charles was not without some hopes
of obtaining in this way the restitution of the Palatinate and an
acknowledgment of the independence of the Dutch republic.2
Circumstances, too, had occurred in Italy which made it not
impossible that Spain might be brought to make unusual con-
The succes- cessi°ns- In December the Duke of Mantua had
Mpn of died, leaving as the undoubted heir to his possessions
Mantua. ' °
a distant kinsman, the Duke of Nevers, whose family
had long been settled in France. Against this extension of
French influence in Italy the Emperor interfered, claiming the
right, as King of Italy, to dispose of vacant fiefs, a right which
he was inclined to exercise, as far as Mantua was concerned,
in favour of another candidate who would have been entirely
1 Laud, in his History of the Troubles (Works, iv. 273), says that
Montague's appointment was procured by Buckingham.
* The papers translated in Mr. Sainsbury's Rubens should be compared
with Contarini's despatches, after making allowance for the anti-Spanish
feeling of the Venetian, and his consequent tendency to suspect all sorts of
treachery in Charles and Buckingham.
332 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
under the influence of Spain. At the same time the Duke of
Savoy, who had lately been swinging round in his political
alliances, proposed to divide with Spain the territory of Mont-
ferrat, which had formed part of the dominions of the deceased
Duke.
Charles was still anxious to push on the war in all directions.
Though it was a point of honour with him to succour Rochelle
. at all risks, he would gladly have saved the King of
Carlisle's Denmark and the German Protestants as well, if he
had only known how to do it. Carlisle was therefore
sent in April on a special mission to Savoy. He was to visit the
Duke of Lorraine on his way, in order to stir him up against
France ; and when he reached Turin he was to take advan-
tage of the disturbances in Italy to embitter the rising quarrel
between France and Spain, and thus to leave room for the freer
action of England at Rochelle and in the North of Germany.1
Whatever might come of these various negotiations, the
idea of a forced retirement from Continental affairs was not
entertained either in the Court or the Council of Charles. As
soon as the acceptance of the Petition of Right
Warlike had given assurance that the subsidies would be
projects. reaiiy voted, the Privy Council began to discuss the
best mode of sending a force to assist the King of Denmark to
maintain himself in Gliickstadt and Krempe, which were still
holding out. Morgan's men who had surrendered at Stade
were to be employed for the purpose ; and Dulbier's horse,
which could not now be landed in England, were to be kept
in Germany or the Netherlands, in order that they might be
used in defence of the North German Protestants as soon as
Rochelle had been either captured or relieved.2 The belief,
in fact, was rapidly gaining ground that the war with France
1 Carlisle's instructions, March 10, HarL MSS. 1584, fol. 173.
2 Conway to Carleton, June 7, 10, S. P. Holland. Morgan's men
were to be reduced to one regiment of 1,50x3 men, and were offered tem-
porarily to the Dutch, to be paid by England "and lodged-and fed by the
States-General. D. Carleton to the States-General, July i6, Add. MSS
17,677, M. fol. 256.
1628 PORTER SENT TO SPAIA. 333
would not be of long continuance. It was hardly thought pos-
juiy. sible that the great expedition now preparing could
pacrwith* fail to relieve Rochelle ; and if Rochelle were once
France relieved, whether peace were formally concluded
with France or not, there would be no further need for any
great exertions in that quarter. If, on the other hand, the
attempt ended in failure, Rochelle must of necessity submit,
and the same result would ensue. In either case, Charles
would be at liberty to turn his attention to Germany.
The only question therefore was whether the opening of nego-
tiations with Spain should be encouraged. Buckingham had
and with now veered round to his earlier policy of 1622, and
Spam. was h0ping everything from the friendliness of Spain.
" Let us make peace with Spain, and settle the affairs of the
Palatinate," he said to the Savoyard ambassador, the Abbot of
Scaglia, "and then the Dutch will do as we please." At all
events, he assured the Abbot, there should be no peace with
France till an answer had been received to the offer about to be
addressed to Spain.1 It was finally arranged that Endymion
Porter, once the messenger who had made arrangements for
Charles's journey to Madrid, should make his way to Spain in
order to come to an understanding with Olivares, and to assure
him that, if it were thought necessary, Buckingham would come
in person to carry on the negotiation for peace.2 The hope
entertained in England seems to have been that the Spaniards
would throw their whole strength into Italy, thus leaving Ger-
many free.
Buckingham was far more anxious than Charles for the
success of these negotiations. Yet not long after the proroga-
charies tion, Charles sent a message to the Prince of Orange,
Prinr«sofhe informing him that, ' being unable to bear the burden
Orange. of war against two such great kings,' he had resolved
to listen to the Spanish overtures for a treaty in which the
restoration of the Palatinate and the pacification of the Nether-
1 Statement enclosed in a letter from the Infanta Isabella to Philip IV.,
June, JHJ^Z Brussels MSS.
1 The Infanta Isabella to Philip IV., Oct. ^4, Brussels MSS.
334 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION, CH. LXIV.
lands would be expressly included.1 The proposal was received
with astonishment and indignation at the Hague, where the
circumstance that Carlisle, in passing through Brussels, had an
audience of the Infanta was considered as enough to indicate
the intention of Charles to conclude a separate peace. The
Dutch ambassadors in England were accordingly instructed to
remonstrate all the more warmly against any such purpose,
because it was believed by the States-General that even a peace
in which they were themselves included would be most dele-
terious to their interests, as leaving the Spaniards free to act in
aid of the Emperor in Germany. Naturally enough, too, the
Dutch found a warm advocate in the Venetian ambassador, to
whom Charles's project of putting an end to the troubles of the
North by fanning the flames of war in Italy appeared to be an
act of the blackest ingratitude. Neither he nor the Dutch am-
bassadors were inclined to believe Charles's assurances that
nothing should be done without the knowledge of his allies. Yet
there is no reason to doubt Charles's sincerity. As he had scarcely
as yet opened his eyes to the absolute necessity of putting an
end to the war on account of the poverty of his exchequer, he
was likely enough to flatter himself that it was in his power to
continue fighting on his own terms, and to reject any offers from
Spain which might be disagreeable to his sense of right.2
It is impossible to disconnect these diplomatic efforts from
the personal changes which at the same time took place in the
Government. The anxiety for the future which led
Changes in .
the Govern- Buckingham to attempt to impose a limit upon his
menu ... • , , , ,
military operations abroad, was also shown in his
desire to meet Parliament, when it re-assembfed, in something
like a conciliatory spirit. Although in the King's present
temper it would be impossible to expect that Charles would
consent to give much satisfaction to the Puritans, it might be
1 Extract from a despatch of the Prince of Orange in Contarini's
despatch of July *—.
* The Dutch Ambassadors to the States-General, ^^7, Add. MSS,
17,677, M. fol. 266; Contarini to the Doge, July ^' iu'V ^' Ven' Tran'
so if is, R.O.
1 628 WENTWORTH*S PEERAGE. 335
possible, if once success at Rochelle should have limited the
extent of the war, to restore order to the finances, and also
to gain the good-will of men Whose names would seem to be
a guarantee for the strict execution of the Petition of Right,
and who would yet be the last to acquiesce in the claim of
the House of Commons to direct the external policy of the
kingdom.
Such men were to be found in trie leaders of the majority
of the House of Lords. Bristol and Arundel were therefore
restored to favour, and Weston, who was practically
Weston, ' J
LordTrea- one in policy with them, became Lord Treasurer.
Marlborough, old and thoroughly inefficient, found
a place as President of the Council, and Manchester became
Privy Seal, Worcester having died some months before. It
was certain that the influence of these men would be exerted in
favour of economy and peace, and that they would give their
countenance to an understanding with the House of Commons,
if they could attain that object without diminishing that which
they regarded as the legitimate authority of the King. A para-
graph in a letter written by Weston to the Duke, doubtless ex-
pressed the feelings of the others as well. " I long to see you at
home again with honour, in a quiet and settled Court, studying
his Majesty's affairs, which require two contrary things to cure
them — rest and vigilancy." l
The letter-writers of the day are full of news of these
changes at Court, and of others which have less interest in
our eyes. On one promotion, which has never ceased to en-
gage the attention of Englishmen, they are entirely silent. Not
July 22. one of them notices the fact that on July 22 Sir
Wentworth Thomas Wentworth became Lord Wentworth, and
created a
Peer. was, on Weston's introduction, received into favour
by Charles.
From that time to this no word has been found too hard
for the great apostate, the unworthy deserter of the principles
Was he an °f n's youth. Those who have studied the true
apostate? records of the session which had just come to an end
are aware that he was neither an apostate nor a deserter. The
' \Vtstou to Buckingham, Aug. 18, S. P. Dom. cxiii. 14.
3;,5 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGA TION. CH. LXIV.
abuses struck at by the Petition of Right he regarded as
prejudicial to government as well as injurious to the subject.
When they had been swept aWay he was free to take his own
course ; and that course must have been greatly determined
by the proceedings of the Commons in the last days of the
session. With Puritanism he had no sympathy whatever. He
had no confidence in the House of Commons as an instrument
of government, and must have regarded its claim to strip the
Crown of tonnage and poundage, and its declaration that sub-
jects were released from the obligation of paying those dues, as a
proclamation inviting to anarchy. If, however, he thought the
Lower House unfit to govern England, he was equally of opinion
that Buckingham was unfit to govern England. We may well
believe, therefore, that he had no anxiety to accept a share in
the responsibilities of a Privy Councillor's place at a time when
the duties of a Privy Councillor were reduced to the uncongenial
task of echoing the words of the all-powerful minister. Many
months were yet to pass before Wentworth would be asked to
take his seat at the Council board.1 The position which he
was now called upon to occupy exactly suited his present mood.
His peerage removed him from the House of Commons, where
he had been isolated ever since the failure of his effort to
mediate between the Crown and the nation. In the House of
Lords he would find, in the lately formed majority, a body of
men with whom he could cordially co-operate. Bristol and
Arundel were as opposed as he was to the extravagances by
which the policy of the Crown had lately been disfigured,
whilst they were of one mind with himself in resenting any
attempt of the House of Commons to make itself master of the
State.
Although it is likely enough that Wentworth had no imme-
diate wish to gain that admittance to the Council which was
1 That he became a Privy Councillor at this time is a mistake. Sir G.
Radcliffe (Strafford Letters, ii. App. 430) having put together the two
years 1628 and 1629, seems to say that he became a Privy Councillor in
Michaelmas term, 1628. The true date, as we learn from the Council
A'sgister, is Nov. 10, 1629, a fact of considerable importance in an estimate
«f VVentworth's character.
1628 WENTWORTH AS A STATESMAN. 337
denied him by Charles, it is also likely that he aspired, at a not
distant future, to a higher post than any which was for the pre-
sent open to him. No man knew better than he that the war
must soon come to an end for want of supplies, and that the
policy of abstention from interference with the Continent which
he had advocated from the beginning would be forced upon
Charles. When peace was restored the hour of VVentworth would
Hisexpected come. For the present he was content with the pro-
ThTp^ofThe m'se tnat he should before long succeed the Earl of
North. Sunderland as President of the Council of the North.
At York he would be far removed from all responsibility for the
general government. At York, too, he would be able to carry
out those principles which he had professed in the House of
Commons. One of the grave complaints made by the Lower
House at the close of the session had been against the leniency
shown by Sunderland to the recusants, and Wentworth's voice
had been raised as loudly as Pym's against this leniency. In
times of difficulty Charles was always ready to throw the re-
cusants over, and there was now an understanding between
him and Wentworth that, in this matter at least, the will of the
House of Commons should prevail.
To Wentworth himself this temporary abstraction from all
public consideration of national affairs was doubtless extremely
Wentworth grateful We are tempted to ask whether it was
mentar^ha equally beneficial to the nation. In the last session
leader. he alone amongst the leaders of the House had
shown anything like powers of constructive statesmanship.
Coke and Eliot, Pym and Phelips, had been content with the
negation of misgovernment. Their wish was simply that the
law and religion of England should remain as it was. Went-
worth had not shown himself content with this. An active, wise,
and reforming Government was the ideal after which he strove
from first to last.
In that session, too, Wentworth had developed powers for
which those whose knowledge of him is acquired only from the
acts of his later life must have some difficulty in giving him
credit. The impetuous haughtiness of his disposition had been
curbed before that great assembly which he was learning to
VOL. vi. z
338 REMONSTRANCE AND PROROGATION. CH. LXIV.
lead. There he could be silent and patient, could watch his
opportunity till the time arrived when he could express his
special thought in harmony with the thoughts of those around
him. Whatever mistakes may have been committed in judging
Wentworth's career, those are not wrong who hold that his
leadership of the Commons in the early part of the session of
1628 was the brightest, noblest period of his life.
From all this Wentworth was now cut off, not by his peer-
age or by the allurements of power, but by the impossibility of
Causes finding a common ground upon which the King and
trangedShim l^e House of Commons could work together. If
from the Charles had abandoned him, as he was to abandon him
House of m '
Commons, again, he was still drawn to Charles by every tendency
of his nature. He could persuade himself, as the Commons
had persuaded themselves in 1625, that Charles had erred from
want of counsel, and he could hope to breathe into his soul a
higher, loftier spirit. Even whilst he had played the foremost
part amongst the Commons, he had never been one with them
in heart. He could make use of their power over the grant of
subsidies to put an end to the folly and violence of which he
complained ; but he could not lift up the standard of Puritanism
as Pym or Eliot could lift it up. He could not believe in the
capacity for government of a House composed for the most
part, as it was of necessity, of men of ordinary abilities. He
could not see that in the face of a Government which was hurry-
ing a nation against its will into a path from which it recoiled,
the mere conservatism of the Lower House, the simple deter-
mination to stand in the old paths and to cling to the old
familiar religious and political traditions, might be, for the
moment, the highest political virtue.
Wentworth's acceptance of a peerage marked to a great
extent the choice which he had made ; but more than thirteen
His time not nioiiths — momentous months for England— were to
y« come. elapse before he took his place in the Privy Council
and finally threw in his lot with Charles. As yet Buckingham
stood in the way. A Council controlled by a minister so in-
capable and so headstrong was no place for Wentworth.
339
CHAPTER LXV.
THE ASSASSINATION OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
WOULD the policy foreshadowed in the names of Bristol and
Weston be sufficient to save the King from the difficulties
which would stare him in the face when Parliament met
again? Even if an attempt were made to effect some com-
promise about tonnage and poundage, the religious difficulty
remained unsolved. There was one man at least in the party
which had played so stirring a part in the House of Lords who
had no confidence in the system of giving promotion to a small
minority amongst the clergy. Williams had sense enough to
views of see ^at ^e favour shown to Manwaring and Mon-
wiiiiams. tague was no road to a settled government. For the
high dogmatic ways of Calvinism he had little taste ; but he
could not ignore the fact that Calvinism was a great power in
England, and he had too much of the instinct of a statesman
to treat with contempt the religion of the large majority of the
English people.
Already, before the session was at an end, overtures had
been made to Williams by Buckingham's mother. The Countess
had in old days been on familiar terms with him, and
May.
Overtures of she may well have looked at that sagacious counsellor
of^uckC!!-5 as the most likely man to save her son from the ruin
ham- which she saw approaching. Before the end of May,
at a time when the Petition of Right, if not accepted by the
King, had been definitively accepted by the House of Lords, she
had a long interview with him, whether at her son's instigation
z a
340 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. ixv.
or not \ve cannot say.1 The result was that Williams, being
allowed to kiss the Duke's hand, made use of the opportunity
to urge the wisdom of a policy of indulgence towards
Reconciha- ° L J
tion between the Puritans.
ham and Unless there is some error in the report which
im!>' has reached us, Williams had already recommended
that Eliot rather than Wentworth should be selected to receive
tokens of the Royal favour. Though it may be doubted whether
Eliot, as matters stood, would have responded to the call, the
suggestion, if it was really made, showed a clear insight into
the political situation. The fact that English Calvinism ex-
isted was one which no wise Government could pass by, and
though Williams would not have been likely to advise Charles
to silence Laud and Montague to please the House of Com-
mons, he would have advised that Laud and Montague should
not be permitted to impose their opinions on the rest of the
clergy. Williams would, however, have changed his nature if
some intrigue had not been mingled with the wise counsel
which he gave. He suggested that his reconciliation with
Buckingham should be veiled in profound secrecy, in order
that when he supported a compromise on the dispute about
tonnage and poundage in the next session, he might speak
with greater authority as an independent member of the Upper
House.2
Whatever may be the truth about the proposal made re-
lating to Eliot, there can be no doubt that Williams's counsel
was worthy of acceptance. As far as it is possible to argue from
cause to consequence, if Williams had been trusted by Charles
instead of Laud, there would have been no civil war and no
dethronement in the future.
1 The fact of the interview between them is all that is known. Wood-
ward to Windebank, May 28, S. /'. Dom. cv. 55.
2 Hacket) ii. 80, 83. Mr. Hallam, who has been followed by Mr.
Disraeli and Mr. Forster, fancied that this promise of support referred to
Williams's behaviour in the debates on the Petition of Right ; whereas any-
one who will read Hacket's words with the least attention will see that it
refers to the 'next session,' Williams's conduct is, perhaps, open to cen-
sure, but it does not deserve all the blame which has been bestowed upon
it. He was perfectly straightforward about ti.e petition.
1628 WILLIAMS AND CARLETON. 341
It is needless to pursue the speculation further. How could
Eliot trust the overtures of a King who had just given
Bucking- , ...
ham's diffi. a bishopric to Montague and a rich living to Man-
waring ? Nor could Williams be sure even of Buck-
ingham. If Williams could speak of wise toleration, he could
not speak otherwise than as an advocate of peace, and peace
would be the ruin of the Duke. During the whole of the last
five years Buckingham had been planning some effective blow
against Spain or France, some brilliant achievement which was to
fix upon himself the admiring gaze of a whole continent. How
could he settle down to the ordinary drudgery of attending to
the administration of the law, of balancing arguments for or
against religious liberty, of improving the finances, and banishing
corruption from the machinery of government ? On all these
questions Williams and Laud, Wentworth and Weston, would
have something to say. The brilliant Duke, who had for more
than three years been in the King's stead in the eyes of the na-
tion, would have to sit as a learner at the feet of those towards
whom he had hitherto played the part of a providence upon earth.
There was one man, with little real knowledge of England,
who was eager to lead Buckingham in a more congenial path.
Carieton's In tne middle of June Carleton had returned from
influence. fae Hague. He soon gained Buckingham's entire con-
fidence, and received from him a promise that before long he
should be Secretary in place of Conway, whose health had lately
July 25. become impaired. He was soon raised, as Viscount
toVvls'-156'1 Dorchester, to a higher step in the peerage. The
coumcy. new Viscount was too completely dependent on Court
favour to advocate a policy which would be unpalatable to his
patron ; but there could be no doubt that if he found a favour-
able moment he would advocate, not a general peace such as
Wentworth and Williams desired, but a peace with France
which would enable Buckingham to turn his attention to Ger-
many and to reconquer popularity by achieving the recovery of
the Palatinate.1
1 After Buckingham's death Dorchester wrote as follows: "My private
respects are many testimonies of his love, and none greater than a purpose
he declared unto me upon my last return from your Majesty and hath
342 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV
One step was taken by Buckingham to conciliate popular
opinion. His retention of many offices had long been matter
D . . of complaint, and he now divested himself of the
oucking-
bam's sur- Wardcnship of the Cinque Ports. That which might
render of the . r . "* . ' °
Cinque have gamed him credit in 1625 could gain him
no credit now, even if he had not chosen as his
successor Suffolk, the cowardly Peer who had brought a false
charge against Selden, and had shrunk from supporting the
accusation. '
Almost at the same time an attempt was made to win back
Restoration the friendship of the Dutch Government The East
indiTm^to Indiamen seized in the autumn were restored, on an
the Dutch, engagement that effectual steps should be taken to
investigate the truth of the massacre of Amboyna.2
Was it indeed possible for Buckingham to shake off his past
and to replace himself in the position from which he had started
in 1624? One terrible object must have been ever
thTfiege of before his eyes to remind him that things were not
elie' as they had been then. Rochelle was suffering the
horrors of starvation, and he could not act as though he had
no part in the matter.
The city was by this time in great distress. Before the end
of June famine was making fearful ravages. Grass and roots,
with a little shell-fish and boiled leather, formed the only food
of the women and children, the weak and infirm, though men
since often reiterated unto me, of making me by his favour with the King,
our gracious master, an instrument of better days than we have seen of late,
he having had a firm resolution, whijh he manifested to some other persons
in whom he reposed trust and confidence, as well as to myself, to walk new
ways, but upon old grounds and maxims both of religion and policy, finding
his own judgment to have been misled by errors of youth and persuasions
of some persons he began better to know, so as I must confess to your
Majesty, knowing otherwise the nobleness of his nature and great parts,
and vigour both of mind and body, as I had full satisfaction in him myself,
so I made no doubt but the world would soon have, notwithstanding the
public hatred to which he was exposed. " — Dorchester to Elizabeth, Aug.
27, -S. P. Dom. cxiv. 17.
' Suffolk's appointment, July 14, Patent Rolls. 4 Charles I. Part 28.
1 Contarini to the Doge, Aug. — , Ven. Transcripts^ R. 0.
1628 DSSTAESS IN ROCHELLE. 343
with arms in their hands were able to take advantage of their
strength to extort for a time the means of subsisting
Resistance on a somewhat better fare. Guiton, the champion
ocheiie. QJ- resjstancej ha(j neid out bravely as yet ; but now,
for a moment, even Guiton's iron resolution gave way. He sent
to ask Richelieu for terms.1 Before the answer reached him he
had changed his mind, and had resolved to resist to the uttei-
most. A month later the starving crowd was crying
^u y' out for surrender, and the cry of misery awoke the pity
of men in high office. Guiton called upon his armed followers
for support, and drove the officials from the town. Yet from
what quarter could assistance be hoped for ? In the South of
France Rohan was still in arms, but he was utterly unable to
make head against the forces opposed to him. In other quarters
Richelieu's success was telling. The incapable Soissons, who
the year before had been meditating an attack upon France
with the aid of England and Savoy, made his peace with the
Cardinal, and the Duke of La Tremoille, a leader amongst the
Huguenot aristocracy, came into the camp before Rochelle to
profess himself a convert to the religion which was accompanied
by the sure tokens of victory. Yet it was not on victory alone
that Richelieu rested, so much as on the conviction which he
was able to impart that he was not engaged in a war of religion.
After Rochelle was taken, the French Protestants should be
free, as before, to worship after their own fashion ; but the King's
authority must be supreme.
Amongst the French Protestants outside the city the re-
sistance of Rochelle came to be regarded as a great misfortune,
increasing their prospect of hard treatment from their Catholic
neighbours.2 Even in Rochelle itself the same opinion was
gaining ground. At last, even Guiton could not prevent the
opening of negotiations with Richelieu, though he contrived
to delay them till he knew that the English fleet was really
coming to his aid.
1 That the offer came from Guiton, and not from Richelieu, is proved
by M. Avenel. Lettres de Richelieu, iii. 125.
* Substance of letters from Niort, July * , S. P. France.
344 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
The enterprise in which Buckingham was now engaged was
one in which success or failure would be equally ruinous. To
allow the great Protestant city, which was suffering
ham's pros- untold misery m reliance upon his plighted word, to
be taken before his eyes, was to confirm the settled
belief of the world in his incompetence if not in his treachery.
Yet what would be the result of his success ? If the arms of
the national King were beaten back from the walls of Rochelle,
the innocent Protestant populations scattered over France
would be regarded as the traitorous allies of the foreign
enemy. It would be well if the horrors of the Revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, combined with the horrors of the rule of
the Jacobin Committee of Public Safety, were not anticipated
Royal indignation would combine with popular bigotry to mark
the Huguenots out for destruction. All this would happen
because Buckingham and his master had failed to read the
signs of the times, and had thought that it was as easy for them
to interfere to prevent the national consolidation of France as
it was for them to interfere to prevent the merely military con-
solidation of Germany.
Some perception of the dangers upon which he was running
was beginning to dawn upon Buckingham. The Dutch and
bangers in Venetian ambassadors had warned him from time
his way. J.Q tjme that he was throwing away his chances of
again interfering in Germany. If once Catholic and Protestant
were exasperated to the utmost against one another in France,
there would be little hope of obtaining French co-operation
against the House of Austria in the Empire, even if France
did not throw all her weight on the side of Spain and the
Emperor. Buckingham listened to what they said without
impatience, though he had no definite plan to propose.
•Evidently he would have been glad to be relieved from the
duty of succouring Rochelle, if only he could be relieved with-
out dishonour.
Difficulties of another sort now came upon Buckingham.
During the summer months the trusty Sir John Coke had been
at Portsmouth, toiling in vain to re-organise the fleet. "Give
me leave to 'say freely," he had written to his patron on June 25,
1628 THE FLEET AT PORTSMOUTH. 345
"that not only my abode here will now be of no use, but
that every day whilst the fleet stayeth in this harbour
August. J J *
Slowness it will be less ready and worse provided to set to
the fleet Ts sea. The victuals and provisions daily waste, and
uted out. supplies cannot be made so fast ; and if it linger
till towards autumn, when the winds will blow high, they will
require more supplies of anchors, cables, and all things else
than I fear all the stores of the navy can supply ; and, what is
most important, the men, part by sickness, part by running
away, do every day grow fewer." '
At last, at the beginning of August, an effort was to be made
to bring order out of chaos. The King went down to South-
wick, a house of Sir Daniel Norton, in the neighbourhood of
Portsmouth, to superintend the fitting out of the fleet, whilst
Buckingham remained in London to hasten the supplies which
were needed for the expedition. The great Duke had to learn
the weakness of the omnipotence which he was accused of pos-
sessing. No man in England believed any longer in him or his
undertakings. His own officers opposed the force of inertia to
Aug. e. his reiterated commands. "I find nothing," he was
Bucking- reduced to write, " of more difficulty and uncertainty
ham s de- ' J '
spondency. than the preparations here for this service of Rochelle.
Every man says he has all things ready, and yet all remains
as it were at a stand. It will be Saturday night before all the
victuals will be aboard, and I dare not come from hence till I
see that despatched, being of such importance." 2
On the day on which Buckingham wrote these despairing
lines, Dorchester received a visit from Contarini, the Venetian
Contarini ambassador, which threw a ray of light into the
peacTwhh darkness. Contarini had been horror-struck at the
France. j^ea of Buckingham's cold-blooded scheme for
making Italy the battle-ground between France and Spain,
and he now brought with him nothing less than a project of
pacification with France which had been forwarded to him by
Zorzi, the representative of the Republic in France. Dorchester
1 Coke to Buckingham, June 25, Mefitntrnt MSS.
7 Buckingham to Conway, Aug. 6, S. P. Dum. cxii. 32.
346 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV
received Contarini with open arms, and assured him that the
Duke would always prefer a peace with France to a peace
with Spain, if it could be had on honourable terms. The
moment the fleet was no longer needed at Rochelle it would
steer to the aid of the King of Denmark.
Contarini then had an interview with Buckingham himself.
The only difficulty in the way seemed to be that the King of
His inter- France would m?ke it a point of honour not to treat
Hudcin'^ w"h a f°reign sovereign on the conditions to be granted
ham. t0 his own subjects. It was at last agreed to propose
that the Rochellese should treat directly with Louis. Nothing,
said Buckingham, would satisfy him better than to find when
Buckingham he arrived at Rochelle that the citizens had received
the'ldTaof satisfaction from their own king. Zorzi should be
i**06- entrusted with the negotiation, and if there was not
time to settle everything before the Duke sailed, the good
news might meet him when he arrived on the coast of France.
Care, however, must be taken not to effect peace between
Louis and the Huguenots without making peace between
France and England at the same time. When everything was
arranged there might be an interview between Buckingham
and Richelieu to conclude peace under the walls of Rochelle.1
Once more the sanguine Buckingham was looking forward
to carry out his old scheme of a Protestant war.
for war in Morgan was ordered to gather together the remains
of the garrison of Stade, and to carry them back to
the aid of the King of Denmark. Dulbier had letters of credit
1 Contarini to the Doge, with enclosures, Aug. — , Ven. Transcripts,
K, O, Carleton to Wake, Sept. 2, Court and Times, i. 391. Carleton
Letters, xxi. Mr. Forster saw treachery in all this ; I see none. There
was no intention to withdraw from fighting unless the negotiation was
satisfactory, as is shown in a letter from Peblitz and Knyphausen to the
King, in which the details of Buckingham's plans are given, Aug. 25,
Melbourne MSS. The facts must be taken in connection with Clarendon's
statement that the Duke, shortly before his death, thought of turning
against Weston. If Cottington, as is most likely, was Clarendon's inform-
ant, the story doubtless originated with Westor, and may be taken as
Western's interpretation of the probable result of Buckingham's change of
policy.
1628 BUCKINGHAM^ LAST DA YS. 347
given him, with orders to keep his men on foot till the end of
October.1
Buckingham's authority was great in England, but it was
not everything. It was necessary for him to go down to Ports-
Au r mouth to consult the King. On the i5th he was
Buckingham back in London, and told Contarini that Charles was
King1 wishes in no hurry. He was afraid that if the negotiations
began before the fleet arrived, the Rochellese would
be disheartened and the French inspirited to make exorbitant
demands.
On the i yth Buckingham was again at Portsmouth. Soubise,
backed by two of the deputies from Rochelle, spoke vehemently
Aug. 17. against peace. Buckingham himself was to some ex-
Buckmgham tent shakeri- He told Contarini, who had followed
mouth. hjmj that jt was impossible to trust Richelieu, who
might communicate the whole negotiation to Spain if time were
allowed him. Contarini was perfectly satisfied that Bucking-
ham wished for peace, and was not making difficul-
AUg. 22.
Contarinis ties in order to create delay. He left him on the
view' with understanding that they were to meet the next morn-
the Duke. jng m ^ Kjng>s presence at Southwick, to come to
a final decision on the matter.2
That interview was never to take place. Before the hour
for the meeting arrived the great Duke had been struck down
by the knife of a fanatic.
The members of Buckingham's family had long been pre-
pared for coming evil. Strange fancies, the offspring of de-
spondency, lay, doubtless, at the root of the wild stories which
have floated into the history of the time. Clarendon himself
1 Contarini to the Doge, Aug. ^, Ven. Transcripts, R. 0,
2 Contarini to the Doge, -^ — , ibid. It does not appear from these
letters what terms Contarini proposed ; but we know from another source
that he meant to suggest that the King of France should raise the siege
of Rochelle and grant religious liberty to the Protestants, on condition
that the King of England should renounce all pretensians. to interfere
between Louis and his subjects. Contarini to Dorches'.er, - ug' 27, S. P.
f ranee.
348 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
gravely told how the ghost of Sir George Villiers appeared to
an ancient servitor, commanding him to warn his son to pro-
pitiate the nation which he had offended ; and Buckingham's
sister, the Countess of Denbigh, writing to him on the fatal
23rd of August, ' bedewed the paper with her tears,' and fainted
away as she thought of the dangers of his voyage. Even Buck-
ingham himself, fearless as he was, was haunted by a feeling of
insecurity. In taking leave of Laud he begged him to put his
Majesty in mind of his poor wife and children. "Some adven-
ture," he explained, " may kill me as well as another man." '
Yet he was not prepared for assassination. Some weeks
before, Sir Clement Throgmorton had begged him to wear a
shirt of mail beneath his clothes. "A shirt of mail," answered
the Duke, " would be but a silly defence against any popular
fury. As for a single man's assault, I take myself to be in no
4u 22 danger. There are no Roman spirits left." 2 On the
Mutiny at 22nd he had nearly fallen a victim to that popular
fury which alone he dreaded. A sailor who had
affronted him a fortnight before was condemned to death by
a court-martial. As he was led to execution, an attempt was
made to rescue him by force, and the guard was attacked by
an angry mob of his comrades. Buckingham, followed by a
train of mounted attendants, rode hastily to the defence. The
assailants were driven on board ship. Two of them were killed
in the struggle, and many more were wounded by the armed
horsemen. Buckingham then accompanied the procession to
the gibbet. But for the mutiny the poor man's life would have
been spared, as the Duchess had interceded for him. The
pardon could no longer be granted, if discipline was to be
maintained.3 Yet, even after this vindication of his authority,
Buckingham was still in danger. The officers formed a circle
round him, and brought him in safety to the house in the High
Street, in the occupation of Captain Mason, the treasurer of
the army, in which he was lodging.
That night Buckingham was restless in his sleep, as well he
1 Rel. Wottoniana, i. 335.
2 Ibid. i. 233. D'Ewes, Autobiography, 381.
3 A letter from one of the Highams. ROMS' s Diary.
1628 BUCKINGHAM MURDERED. 349
might be. The Duchess, anxious as ever, adjured him in the
morning to take more precautions. At first he spoke harshly
to her. Then, softened by her manifest affection, he told her
that he would take her importunity as a sign of her love.1
About nine o'clock he came down to breakfast, in a room com-
Aug. 23. municating by a dark passage with the central hall.
u.eTehef°off As he breakfasted news was brought that Rochelle
Rocheiie. hac[ been relieved. Such news, if it had been true,
would have set him free at once from the burthen which he
had found too heavy to bear. A peace with France — a
triumphant peace — would have speedily followed, and the fleet
would have steered for the mouth of the Elbe, where Gliick-
stadt still held bravely out for the King of Denmark and the
Protestant cause. But, alluring as the prospect was, it was aL'
the more necessary for Buckingham to be on his guard against
false rumours. Soubise and the deputies of Rochelle protested
warmly that the tale could not be true, and their vehement
gesticulations gave rise, with those who were alike ignorant of
the French language and the French temperament, to the sup-
position that their eagerness to bear down contradiction was
passing into angry menace.
The breakfast party was soon at an end. Dorchester had
come in from Southwick to fetch the Duke to the conference
with Contarini, which was to settle the terms on which Charles
would be ready to agree to peace when the fleet arrived at
Rochelle. Buckingham rose to follow him. As he stepped
into the crowded hall he stopped for an instant to speak to one
of his colonels, Sir Thomas Fryer. Fryer was a short man, and
Murder of t^e Duke stooped to listen to him, As his attention
the Duke. was tjius engaged, a man who had been standing at
the entrance of the passage into the breakfast room stepped
forward, and struck him heavily with a knife in the left breast,
saying, "God have mercy upon thy soul!"2 as he dealt the
blow. Buckingham had strength enough to draw the knife out
of the wound, and crying ' Villain ! ' attempted to follow the
assassin. But the blow had been struck by no feeble arm.
1 Johnston's fitif. Rerum Britannicarum, 722.
* Clarendon, i. 55.
350 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
Tottering on for a step or two, the Duke fell heavily against a
table and sank dead upon the ground.1
All was confusion for a moment: the immediate bystanders
thought that Buckingham had been seized with a stroke of
The mur- apoplexy; but the blood gushing from his mouth and
derer seized. from fae wound soon undeceived them. The mur-
derer had slipped away into the kitchen, and men who had
witnessed the quick words and flashing eyes of Soubise in the
breakfast room, fancied that they had found there the expla-
nation of the mystery. Shouts of " A Frenchman ! a French-
man ! " were mingled with " Where is the villain ? Where is
the butcher ? " In the excitement of the moment, the assassin
fancied that his own name, Felton, was pronounced. He was
no coward, and, stepping calmly into the hall with his sword in
his hand, he confronted the crowd with the simple words, " I
am the man. Here I am." But for the intervention of Dor-
chester and a few others, he would have been cut down on the
spot. It was only with difficulty that he was rescued and
carried off for examination.
Then followed a scene the like of which had never been
witnessed by any present. Lady Anglesea, the Duke's sister-
The Duchess in-law, was watching the crowd in the hall from a
hamUinkihe" gaHerv mto which the sleeping apartments opened,
gallery. Flinging open the door of the chamber in which the
Duchess was, she told her that the sad day which her loving
heart had so long foreboded had come at last. Rushing out in
her night-dress with a bitter cry, the poor lady, now a widow,
looked down upon the bleeding, lifeless corpse of him who had
been her only joy. " Ah, poor ladies ! " wrote one who was
present ; " such was their screechings, tears, and distractions
that I never in my life heard the like before, and hope never to
hear the like again."*
In a few minutes the body was taken up and removed
to the room in which the Duke had breakfasted. There was
no one there who thought it his duty to watch by the corpse
1 Meade to Stuteville, Sept. 20, Ellis, ser. I, iii. 261.
' Dorchester to Elizabeth, Ellis, ser. I, iii. 256, Aug. 27, 5". P. Dom.
cxiv. 20.
1628 CHARLES HEARS OF THE MURDER, 351
of him who had been the greatest man in England. The throng,
amongst which were so many who had received everything at
his hand, poured forth to spread the news or to provide for
the dangers of the hour. The mortal remains of him who had
stood apart in life from his fellow-men were left for the moment
untended by any friendly hand.1
In the meanwhile the news was on the way to Southwick.
The messenger who bore the tidings found the King at morning
The King prayers, and whispered the tale of horror in his ear.
informed. jf ^g workings of his countenance betrayed the
emotion within, he did not rise or leave the room till the service
was at an end. Then going into his own apartment he threw
himself upon his bed, and with bitter tears and lamentations
gave free vent to his sorrow.2
Charles might well grieve for the loss of the only real per-
sonal friend he ever had ; but with personal sorrow was doubt-
less mingled another feeling. " His Majesty," says a contempo-
rary letter- writer, "since his death, hath been used to call him
his martyr, and to say the world was much mistaken in him.
For whereas it was commonly thought he ruled his Majesty, it
was clear otherwise, having been his Majesty's most faithful and
obedient subject in all things ; as his Majesty would make
hereafter sensibly appear to the world." 3 There was doubtless
much exaggeration in the view that Buckingham did no more
than carry out the King's orders. Charles was the last person to
discover how much he had been influenced. There was, how-
ever, more truth in it than history has been willing to acknow-
ledge. The secrets of the intercourse between the two men
will, in all probability, never be revealed ; but there is every
reason to believe that Charles's tenacity and self-sufficiency had
to the full as large a share in the mischief as the presumptuous
optimism of his favourite.
1 Ril. Wotteniana, i. 234.
* Clarendon, \. 62. Contarini distinctly speaks of the King as showing
trouble in his countenance ; and it is likely enough that the contrary story,
which has been usually accepted, was an exaggeration based upon the fact
that the King did not leave his place.
1 Meade to Stuteville, Sept 20, Court and Timer, i. 395.
352 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
It was for Charles a melancholy duty to discover the mo-
tives of the assassin. John Felton, a gentleman springing from
story of an old Suffolk family, had served as a lieutenant in
Feiton. tne expedition to Rhe\ The captain of his regiment
had been killed and he had expected promotion. But promo-
tion, on account of some rule of the service, was refused him.
When he applied a second time, the Duke, to whom he ap-
pealed asking how he was to live, had, according to one ac-
count, told him that he might hang himself if he could not
live.1 Returning to England, he remained in London, a moody,
discontented man, whiling away his time by much reading. At
last he could bear his misery no longer. Besides his own special
grievance, he was weighed down by the common misfortune of
all who entered the King's service. His pay amounted to some
seventy or eighty pounds, and not a penny of it was forthcoming.
At the beginning of August he was deeply in debt, and he saw
no means of sustaining life much longer. His reading brought
to him the persuasion that the man who had cut short his
career was a public enemy. The Remonstrance of the Com-
mons taught him that the Duke was the cause of all the
grievances of the kingdom. A book written by Dr. Eglesham,
a physician of James I., in which Buckingham was accused of
poisoning the late King, and the Marquis of Hamilton as well,
painted his oppressor in still darker colours.2 Certain pro-
positions culled out of a book called the Golden Epistles,
which taught him that all things done for the good, profit, and
benefit of the commonwealth should be accounted lawful, con-
firmed him in the resolution to rid the country of its tyrant.3
On the i pth his resolution was finally taken. He himself
always ascribed his determination to the reading of the Remon-
strance. One who saw him in his disconsolate condition not
1 This is but a way of reconciling Wotton's statement that Felton was
satisfied with the Duke's answer with the other story that he received from
the Duke the reply which is given above, and which he could not have re-
garded as satisfactory. He said he was twice rejected, so both accounts
may be true.
2 Rel. Wottoniana, i. 232.
* Inclosure (Sept. 19) in Meade's letter to Stuteville, Court and 7'imes
i. 399. Duppa's Report^ Sept. II, S. P. Dom. cxvi. 101.
1623 JOHN FELTON. 353
long before, had told him that it was not fit for a soldier to want
courage. " If I be angered or moved," replied Felton, " they
shall find I have courage enough." It was quite true. At a
cutler's shop on Tower Hill he bought a tenpenny knife, and,
as his left hand was maimed, he sewed a sheath for it into his
pocket, that he might draw it easily with one hand. As he
passed through Fleet Street he went into a church and left
his name to be prayed for as 'a man much discontented in
mind.' So he passed on to Portsmouth, making his way
mostly on foot, but riding whenever he fell in with a friendly
waggoner. On the morning of the 2yd he was at Mason's
house, ready for his victim.
Felton's only care was to assure the world that
The writing , . , .
in the crown he was an executioner, not an assassin. In the crown
of his hat he had sewn a paper on which he had
written, to persuade others as he had persuaded himself, that
Nought he did in hate, but all in honour : —
" If I be slain, let no man condemn me, but rather con-
demn himself. It is for our sins that our hearts are hardened
and become senseless, or else he had not gone so long un-
punished.
"JOHN FELTON."
Then again, as if he had just risen from the perusal of those
propositions in the Golden Epistles, of which he kept a copy in
his trunk : —
" He is unworthy of the name of a gentleman or soldier, in
my opinion, that is afraid to sacrifice his life for the honour of
God, his King, and country.
"JOHN FELTON. "'
If Felton stood alone in conceiving his murderous purpose,
he did not stand alone in regarding it with complacency after
Hispopu- it was accomplished. The popular feeling about
Buckingham was something like that with which the
despot of an old Greek city was regarded. He had placed him-
self above his king, his country, and the laws of his country, and
' Doichester to Elizabeth, El.is, ser. I, iii. 256.
VOL. VI. A A
354 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM CH. LXV,
he had no right to the sympathy of honest men. When the
news was known in London, men went about with smiling
faces, and healths were drunk to Felton on every side.1 " God
bless thee, little David ! " cried an old woman to
the slayer of the Goliath of her time, as he passed
through Kingston on his way to the Tower. Outside the
Tower itself a dense throng was gathered to see him, and
friendly greetings of " The Lord comfort thee ! The Lord be
merciful unto thee ! " were the last sounds which rang in his ears
as the gates closed upon him.2 Nor was the feeling of exulta-
tion confined to the illiterate and uneducated. Even Nether-
sole, courtier as he was, spoke of the murder as the removal
of the stone of offence by the hand of God, and as a means
by which the King might be brought to join in perfect unity
with his people.3 Verses expressive of satisfaction were passed
in manuscript from hand to hand. One of these copies was
believed, even in such a well-informed company as that which
met at Sir Robert Cotton's at Westminster, to have been the
work of Ben Jonson himself, who, as poet laureate, was officially
bound to abstain from sympathy with the national rejoicing.
The charge was thought sufficiently serious to demand inquiry
by the Attorney- General, and the verses were finally traced to
Towniey's a minister, Zouch Townley, a devoted admirer of the
verses. poet, who had caught the ring of Jonson's versifica-
tion. Townley avoided punishment by a prudent flight to
Holland ; but his words remain as a startling memorial of what
a student of Christchurch and a minister of the gospel could
write under the impressions caused by Buckingham's rule.
The poem is a long exhortation to Felton to enjoy his bondage
and to bear with courage the tortures preparing for him.
Townley ended with words of encouragement which doubtless
met with a hearty reception from their readers : —
" Farewell ! for thy brave sake we shall not send
Henceforth commanders enemies to defend ;
1 Nethersole to Carlisle, Aug. 24, S. P. Dom. cxiv. 7.
1 Meade to Stu'eville, Sept. 13, 20, Court and Times, i. 394, 395.
1 Ntthersole to Carlisle, Aug. 24, S. P. Dom. cxiv. 7.
1C 26 PEL TON'S POPULARITY. 355
Nor would it our just monarchs please
To keep an admiral to lose the seas.
Farewell ! Undaunted stand, and joy to be
Of public sorrow the epitome.
Let the Duke's name solace and crown thy thrall,
All we for him did suffer — thou for all ;
And I dare boldly write, as thou darest die,
Stout Felton, England's ransom he doth lie." '
When assassination was thus lauded, it is no wonder that those
few to whom Buckingham was not a monster regarded with
horror the deed which threatened to refer political disputes to
the arbitration of the dagger. To Charles and Laud this out-
burst of hatred conveyed no warning of the risk of conducting a
government in defiance of opinion ; it was simply the opening
of the floodgates of iniquity, which they were in duty bound to
keep closed at all hazard to themselves. Such a feeling as this
could alone account for a strange passage in the life of William
Chillingworth, the divine whom all men now combine to honour.
He was at this time a Fellow of Trinity at Oxford, and to his
argumentative mind, with its eagerness to try every conclusion
by its own logical tests and its dislike of foregone conclusions,
the Puritan dogmatism was extremely hateful, especially when
it was found in conjunction with a noisy, irreverent temper.
Gin at Ox- Amongst the members of the College was a certain
ford. Alexander Gill, a man of some abilities, who was
assistant to his father, the head master of St. Paul's School, and
who, in that capacity, had contrived to impress at least one of
his pupils, John Milton, with the idea of the splendour of his
talents. The younger Gill, however, was much given to bluster
and wild talk of every kind, and one day towards the end of
August he came down to Oxford full of delight at the Duke's
murder. " The King," he said, " is fitter to stand in a Cheapsicle
shop, with an apron before him, and say ' What lack ye? ' than
to govern a kingdom." Then he proposed Felton's health,
and talked rashly about the Duke and the late King beini^
in hell together. All this Chillingworth, in disgust at the
ribaldry, related to Laud. Gill was brought before the Star
1 Preface to Brace's Calendar, 1628-9, viii. Court and Tit/us, i. 427.
A A 2
3S& ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LW.
Chamber, and only escaped the full infliction of a terrible
sentence by Laud's intercession on the ground of his father's
position and services.1
The day before Felton was brought to the Tower, the
Duke's funeral was hurried over 'in as poor and confused
Sept. ii. manner as hath been seen.' At ten o'clock at night
of R^khfg- a c°ffin was brought to Westminster Abbey, attended
ham's by oniy about a hundred mourners. Yet even this, if
Sept. 10. the story told can be believed, was mere show. The
His body body had the day before been privately interred in
buried the . J J • •. l '
day before, the Abbey, lest the people in their madness should
rise to offer insult to the remains of the man whom they hated.
Even the sham funeral was attended with marks of extra-
ordinary precaution. "To prevent all disorders," we are told,
" the trainbands kept a guard on both sides of the way all along
from Wallingford House to Westminster Church, beating up
their drums loud, and carrying their pikes and muskets upon
their shoulders as in a march, not trailing them at their heels,
as is usual in mourning."
The dishonour shown to the remains of the Duke ceased
at the Abbey doors. His place had already been marked out
by "the excessive favour of his sovereign. In the Chapel of
Henry VII., set apart in older days for members of the Royal
house, Buckingham had received permission to take possession
of a vault for his own family. It had already been twice
opened. There lay his eldest son, a child who had died in
infancy. There lay his sister's son, young Philip Fielding.
Now the vault was open for the third time, to receive the
mortal remains of him who whilst living had stood amongst
kings, and who was not to be divided from them in his death.
Charles at first spoke of erecting a stately monument to the
memory of him whom he had loved so well ; but he had no
money to spare, and Weston warned him against the
ham's monu- costly project. " I would be loth," said the Lord
Treasurer, "to tell your Majesty what the world
would say, not only here, but all Christendom over, if you
1 The facts are collected from Meade's letters and the State Papers in
Masson's Life cf Milton, i. 177.
1 628 BUCKINGHAM'S MONUMENT. 357
should erect a monument for the Duke before you set up one
for King James, your father." Charles took the warning to
heart, and left his friend without the token of respect with
which he had intended to honour him.1 At last, the widow to
whom he had ever been the most loved of husbands, in spite
of his many infidelities, stepped in and built that pretentious
tomb in which the bad taste of an age in which grace and
beauty were forgotten was signally manifested. Yet with an
unconscious irony the piled marble points the moral of the story
of him who sleeps below. Unlike the figure of the Duke of
Lennox on the opposite side of the chapel, the form of Buck-
ingham lies open to the eye of day without the superincumbent
shadow of a canopy to shroud him from the crowd whose ob-
servation in life he loved to court. The report of his actions
is committed not to some ' star-ypointing pyramid ' firmly and
immovably based upon the firm earth, but to a sprightly Fame,
who, with bursting cheeks, proclaims with a trumpet the great
deeds of the Duke. On either side of her are two slender
obelisks, which would evidently succumb to the first gust of
wind that blew, and which rest upon a foundation of skulls.
" Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," is the sentence
written upon the works of him who has built his house upon
the sand. The one touch of human interest in the tomb is
the attendance of the children, who had been taught by their
loving mother to reverence their father's name. The Duchess,
in truth, had no doubt of her lost husband's perfections. In the
inscription which she caused to be affixed to the monument,
she spoke with sweet remembrance of his gifts of mind and
body, of his liberality, and above all of his singular humanity
and incomparable gentleness of disposition. To her he was
still the enigma of the world, who had been styled at one time
the parent, at another time the enemy, of his country. She, at
least, herself cherishing in her heart a warm attachment for the
ancient forms of religion, could speak with wonderment, if not
perhaps with half-concealed sarcasm, of the strange fate which
caused him to be charged with attachment to the Papacy whilst
1 Meade to Stuteville, Nov. i, Court and Times, i. 419.
358 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
he was making war against Papists, and to be slain by a Pro-
testant whilst he was doing what he could to give assistance to
Protestants. '
The solution of the enigma is not to be found in the popular
imagination of the day, and still less in the popular history
Career of w^ich has been founded upon it. Buckingham owed
Bucking- his rise to his good looks, to his merry laugh and
ham. . . ,..,>,
winning manners ; but to compare him with Gaves-
ton is as unfair as it would be to compare Charles with Ed-
ward II. As soon as his power was established, he aimed at
being the director of the destinies of the State. Champion in
turn of a war in the Palatinate, of a Spanish alliance, and of a
breach first with Spain and then with France, he nourished a
fixed desire to lead his country in the path in which for the
time being he thought that she ought to walk. His abilities
were above the average, and they were supported by that kind
of patriotism which clings to a successful man when his objects
are, in his own eyes, inseparable from the objects of his country.
If, however, it is only just to class him amongst ministers rather
than amongst favourites, he must rank amongst the most incap-
able ministers of this or of any other country. He had risen too
fast in early life to make him conscious of difficulty in anything
which he wished to do. He knew nothing of the need of living
laborious days which is incumbent on those who hope to achieve
permanent success. He thought that eminence in peace and
war could be carried by storm. As one failure after another
dashed to the ground his hopes, he could not see that he
and his mode of action were the main causes of the mischief.
Ever ready to engage in some stupendous undertaking, of
which he had never measured the difficulties, he could not
understand that to the world at large such conduct must seem
entirely incomprehensible, and that when men saw his own
fortunes prospering in the midst of national ruin and disgrace,
they would come to the mistaken but natural conclusion that
he cared everything for his own fortunes and nothing for the
national honour.
1 Keepe, Momtmenta IVestmonasteriensia, 283. Compare Stanley's
Memorials of Westminster Abbey, 236.
1628 FELTON 'S EXECUTION. 359
Buckingham's ignorance of the real basis of the popular
indignation was fully shared by the King. The explanations
Feiton of Felton, natural as they were, were received with
She6'1 deeP incredulity by Charles. He could hot but
rack. believe that Felton was the instrument of a wide-
spread conspiracy. Dorset, who was one of the councillors
employed to examine the prisoner, threatened him with the rack.
Felton replied that if he were put on the rack he would accuse
Dorset himself of being his accomplice.1 Still the wish to wring
the supposed truth out of the murderer was strong with Charles.
On November 1 3 he ordered that the judges should
Nov. 13. J
The judges be consulted whether Felton could be tortured by
consulted. -i , , • .• j , . • ,•
law, as he was not inclined to use his prerogative as
it had been so often used in former reigns. To this question
NOV. 14. the judges unanimously returned an answer in the
NOV. 27. negative.2 On the 27th, therefore, Felton was at
denmed°and last brought up for trial. He pleaded guilty. Some
ted' compunction he showed for his deed, though the
repentance was probably not very deep. He asked that the
hand which had been the instrument of the crime might be cut
off before he suffered. His request was, of course, refused, as
contrary to the law.3 On the 2pth he was hanged at Tyburn.
The body was then carried down to Portsmouth, to be suspended
in chains in the sight of those amongst whom his crime had
been committed.
The murdered Buckingham had no successor in Charles's
1 to Stuteville, Sept, 19, Court and Times, i. 399.
* Mr. Jardine, in his Reading on the use of Torture, has reduced this
matter to its true dimensions. Torture had been allowed by custom as
inflicted by the prerogative, but not by law. The judges only said what
Charles ought to have known already. Torture was inflicted as late as
1640 by prerogative. I do not agree with Mr. Jardine in throwing dis-
credit on Rushworth's narrative, or in connecting the inquiry which was
made on Nov. 13 with the affair about the hand which took place on the
ajth. The position Charles was in after the grant of the Petition of Right
would make him shy of using his prerogative unless he felt himself to be
unquestionably justified in doing so.
* WhitelocUe's story that Charles wished the hand to be cut ©ff is no
doubt a mere substitution of Charles for Felton.
360 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. i.xv
affections. No other man could bring with him the long
Se tember nabitude of personal friendship, or the promptness of
Buckingham decision made palatable by winning gracefulness of
"n°che^ie?s manner, which had enabled the late Lord Admiral,
under the show of deference, to guide his sovereign
at his pleasure.
It was easy to dispose of Buckingham's offices, to give the
Mastership of the Horse to Holland, and to place the Ad-
His offices miralty in commission, in order that the profits of the
given away. pjace mjght be applied to the payment of debts which
Buckingham had contracted, for the most part in his master's
service. Charles, however, marked his sense of personal loss
by refusing to give away the vacant Garter which his friend
had worn.1
Buckingham had been more than a Master of the Horse
or a Lord Admiral. He had been even more than a Prime
The govern- Minister is in a modern Cabinet. His word had
taken bythe given tne impulse to the whole machine of govern-
Kmg. ment. Every act had been submitted to his approval.
Every office had been filled by personal followers, who had
learned that their fortunes could be made or marred by his nod.
Into this supreme direction of affairs Charles stepped at once.
He announced his intention of presiding continually at the
Council, and ordered each minister to report directly to himself
on the business entrusted to his charge.
Of industrious attention to business Charles was eminently
capable. Countless corrections upon the drafts of despatches
Charles and state papers show how diligent he was in mould-
of ao^m-°r m§ tne mmutest turns of expression to his taste, and
ment. now little latitude he allowed to those who served
under him. For government in the higher sense he had no
capacity. He was as obstinate in refusing to abandon any
plan which he had once formed, as he was irresolute in the face
of any obstacles which might arise in the way of its execution.
Hence the contrast between his treatment of difficulties at
home and abroad. Within the kingdom, where his authority
> Contarini to the Doge, ^-?, I'm. Transcripts, ff. O.
1628 CHARLES AND WESTON. . .361
was undisputed, he required prompt obedience without troubling
himself about the growing ill-will which was storing itself up
to become the source of future trouble. With the Kings and
States of the Continent, who had no thought of taking his word
for law, he never succeeded in gaining his ends. Constant
repetition of the same demand without any intention to offer
advantages in return, or any power to extort by prompt action
the object which he sought, made Charles's diplomacy a by word
on the Continent, as his father's had been before.
From the beginning of the reign it had been the fault of
Charles's foreign policy that it rested rather on the supposed
necessity of giving satisfaction to the personal honour
Charles s . " . , .
foreign of the King than on the well-understood interests,
either of England or of the nations of the Continent.
Because he had himself failed to secure a wife at Madrid, and
because the Elector Palatine was his brother-in-law, he had
engaged in war with Spain. Because his guarantee to the
treaty between Louis XIII. and his Huguenot subjects had
been disregarded, he had engaged in a war with France. As
long as Buckingham lived Charles had struck blow after blow
in the vain hope of recovering the Palatinate and saving Ro-
chelle. With Buckingham no longer at his side, it was likely
that words would take the place of deeds, and that he would
write despatches and instruct ambassadors, instead of arming
fleets and appointing generals ; but it was not likely that he
would frankly acknowledge that events were stronger than
himself, or that he would give up the hope of obtaining objects
which he still believed to be desirable, because they were be-
yond his reach.
Everything thus combined to increase the influence of the
minister whose voice was persistently raised in favour of peace.
Oiaracterof Western, the Lord Treasurer, was neither a high-
Weston. minded nor a far-sighted politician. His wife and
some of his children were acknowledged recusants ; and though
he himself conformed to the English Church, it was generally
believed that but for the allurements of temporal interest he
would have followed in their steps. He was outrageously rude
to those whom he could afford to despise, and obsequiously
j6i ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
subservient to those upon whom he was obliged to depend.
He alone of all who had advocated the maintenance of peace
n 1624 had contrived to keep his place in Buckingham's
favour by promptly accommodating his actions to the wishes of
the favourite ; and men were already beginning to laugh at the
timidity with which he shifted his ground whenever a persist- .
ence in the course which he had adopted would be likely to be
accompanied by consequences unpleasant to himself.
Like Middlesex, Weston was a careful and economical
administrator of the treasury, though he took good care to
His political ^ his own pockets, by means even more unscru-
induence. pulous than those to which Middlesex had re-
sorted. Like Middlesex, too, he was now endeavouring to
impress upon the Government the policy of complete absten-
tion from foreign complications, except when intervention was
absolutely required by the material interests of England. The
men of the sixteenth century had handed down traditions of
heroism displayed on behalf of the Continental Protestants.
Weston wished to hear of nothing of the kind. He cared for
England alone ; but he cared for England with no exalted
patriotism. It was not to him the land of ordered liberty and
ancient pre-eminence in arts and arms. It was a land the
people of which it was his business to make rich, in order that
they might be more easily made obedient.
The influence of Weston would thus bring itself to bear on
that side of Charles's character which had been neglected by
Buckingham. Buckingham had encouraged Charles's
fluen'ce upon unyielding persistency, and had relieved his help-
charies. iessness by his own promptness in action. Weston
taught him that inactivity was in itself a virtue, and that the best
policy was to do nothing. But he did not weary him by con-
tradiction. He offered himself as the instrument of his will,
whatever it might be, certain that something would occur in
the end to throw insuperable difficulties in his way. No
minister, in fact, could hope to keep his place for an hour who
should venture to inform Charles that the recovery of the
Palatinate was beyond his power to effect.
for the present, however, it was evidently not in Charles's
1623 LINDSEY S FAILURE. 363
power to do anything for the Palatinate. When great men die,
or are driven from office, their works survive them. The testa-
ment of Richelieu was written in the triumphant story of victory
which decorated the annals of his weaker successor. The
legacy of Buckingham to his country was failure and disgrace.
All through August the misery of Rochelle was growing blacker.
The inhabitants were dying by hundreds. Rats and other
A unclean animals were no longer to be met with.
Misery at Leather and parchment boiled up with a little
sugar were regarded as delicacies. Entire families
perished together. Even the soldiers, for whom the scanty
supplies in the town had been husbanded to the utmost, were
dying of sheer starvation. Voices were everywhere raised for
a surrender, and it was with difficulty that Guiton was able
to induce his fellow-citizens to hold out till the English fleet
appeared. l
Charles had thrown himself eagerly into the preparations
for succouring the beleaguered town, and on September 7 the
fleet weighed anchor. Buckingham's place as Ad-
miral was filled by the Earl of Lindsey, who, as
Lord Willoughby, had commanded the futile ex-
pedition which had been driven back by a gale in the Bay of
Biscay in the summer of i626.2
On the 1 8th Lindsey anchored off St. Martin's,
Anchors off the scene of Buckingham's failure of the year before.
St. Martm s. j}affljng caims an(j contrary winds prevented an
immediate attack, and it was not till the 23rd that any attempt
Se ( was made to succour the starving city. The diffi-
Prospcctsof culties were almost if not entirely insuperable. Up
lck' the narrow channel which led to the port lay the
two moles advancing from either side, the space left between
them to admit of the scour of the tide being covered by a pali-
sade. In front of the moles were thirty or forty vessels, which
in themselves would have been unable to oppose a persistent
1 Tory to Meade, Nov. 28, ibid. i. 437. Aryere, Hist, de la Rochelle,
ii. 306.
: Dorchester to Carlisle, Aug. 30 ; Meade to Stuteville, Sept. 23,
Court and Times, i. 388, 398.
364 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
resistance to the far more numerous English force ; but the
harbour swarmed with boats and small craft laden with armed
soldiers, and artillery was posted on each point of vantage at
the entrance of the harbour, so that an advancing squadron
could only reach the enemy under a cross fire of cannon and
musketry from either side, as well as under the fire of the guns
upon the moles.
Lindsey, unhappily for his chances, had other risks to en-
counter besides those which awaited him from the enemy. His
crews were no more ready to follow him into danger
thusiasmln than Denbigh's had been to follow their commander
leet- in the spring. The system which had ruined the Cadiz
expedition was still at full work. Now, as then, men had been
brought together by compulsion, and those in authority had
fancied that human valour and enthusiasm could be had to
order, like so much wood and iron. When the word was given
to attack, the masters of the merchantmen which had been
pressed into the service complained that they were being ex-
posed to danger by being ordered to the front, where they
might possibly be deserted by the King's ships, which had
been directed to follow in support. The King's ships drew
too much water to come to close quarters, and the Admiral
could only order them to go as near the danger as possible
ineffectual without running aground. It was to no purpose,
attack. The merchantmen remained at such a distance that
after firing for two hours the whole fleet lost but six men. No
attempt was made to board the enemy, though Lindsey be-
lieved the operation to be perfectly feasible.
The next day's attack was equally ineffectual. In vain
orders were issued to the commanders to carry their vessels
nearer to the danger and to send in fire-ships to
Sept. 24.
Second grapple with the enemy. Five or six fire-ships were
attack fails. seni drifting in, without any attempt to direct their
course, and the Frenchmen in the boats easily towed them
aside and ran them ashore where they could do no harm. Not
one ship of the French fleet was set on fire. Not one English-
man was slain in the attempt.
In spite of these pitiable results Lindsey could not make
1528 A NEGOTIATION OPENED. 365
up his mind to relinquish hope. In a few days the spring tide
would enable him t'~> bring his largest ships nearer
News from to the mole. Time, however, pressed. A messenger
town' from the town succeeded in reaching the English fleet
with a tale of desperate misery, whilst the deputies who had
accompanied the fleet from England talked of placing the
town in the hands of the King of England, as if he had any
chance of taking possession of it in any other than a figurative
way.1
Walter Montague had accompanied the fleet in order to
carry out the negotiations which had occupied Buckingham
on the eve of his assassination. Hitherto no use
Montague's had been made of his services ; but, as the pros-
negotiation. pect Q£ re]jevjng Rochelle was becoming dubious,
Lindsey resolved to send him to the Cardinal on pretence of
effecting a change of prisoners, to see what the French might
have to say. Montague had no reason to complain of his
reception. Richelieu received him with all courtesy, showed
him over the moles, and convinced him that the works were
impregnable by any force which Lindsey could bring against
them.2 Naturally Richelieu refused to quit his hold upon
Rochelle. The city, he said, must surrender to its own sove-
reign. It was not to Charles's interest to support rebellion.
He would, however, assure him that there should be no per-
secution. As soon as the King returned to Paris
Oct. 7.
Richelieu's after the town had yielded, he would issue a decla-
ration confirming to the Huguenots freedom of
worship in the places in which they had formerly enjoyed it.
The prizes taken at sea, with the exception of the ship unfairly
seized in the neutral waters of the Texel,3 might be kept by
the captors. The Queen's household might be regulated on
the scheme negotiated by Bassompierre. The moment that
these terms were accepted Louis would turn his arms against
Spain in Italy, and would come to an understanding with
1 Lindsey to the King, Oct. 3, S. P. Dom. cxiii. 7. Soubise to the
King, Oct. 2, S. P. France.
2 to the Count of Morette, Oct. \, S. P. France.
1O
' See page 187.
366 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
England and her allies on the best mode of assisting the King
of Denmark.1
With these terms Montague was despatched to England,
with instructions to inform the King that the fleet was in need
o of victuals and munitions. On October 14 he ap-
Montague in peared before Charles. His message could hardly
fail to carry conviction that the relief of Rochelle
was hopeless, and that it was absurd to expect better terms
than those which were now offered. Charles, too, had need
, of his forces in another direction. In the beginning
September.
Mission of of September a Danish ambassador, Rosencrantz,
Rosencrantz. 11-1 . /~M • • i •> e
had arrived to represent Christian s urgent need of
men and money. Charles accordingly desired Morgan to carry
to Gliickstadt the 1,200 men who formed the shattered remains
of the garrison of Stade, and to do his utmost to relieve
Krempe. Before the end of the month, commissioners were
appointed to treat with Rosencrantz on the best means of
rendering more considerable assistance.2 They would find
their task all the lighter if the ships and men under Lindsey
could be spared for service in the North. Contarini too
continued to offer the mediation which had been interrupted
by Buckingham's assassination. He had the unusual satisfac-
tion of finding his advances accepted by men of every shade
of opinion. Weston was delighted to help on peace in any
shape ; whilst Pembroke and Dorchester looked upon a treaty
with France as a necessary preliminary to an active co-opera-
tion with the German Protestants.
In the view taken by Pembroke and Dorchester Charles
apparently concurred. In conversation with Contarini he
even went so far as to express a preference for the plan which
he had rejected when proposed by Gustavus in 1624, that
France should carry on war against Spain in Italy, whilst
1 Propositions sent by Montague, Oct. 7 (?) ; Lindsey to the King,
Oct. 7, S. P. Dom. cxviii. 27.
- Proposition by Rosencrantz, Sept. 4 ; Commission to Weston ard
others. Sept. 28, S. P. Denmark. Carleton to the Privy Council,
Oct, 20, S. P. Holland.
1628 FREXCH OVERTURES REJECTED. 367
England and the Protestant Powers combated the Emperor in
Northern Germany.'
Contarini had further found a warm ally in the Queen.
Henrietta Maria had been gradually accustoming herself to the
The Queen loss of her French attendants. Buckingham's death
^heTrench na<^ ^een tne removal of a wall of separation between
alliance. herself and her husband. When the confidential friend
was gone, Charles turned for consolation to his wife. At last
he tasted the pleasures of a honeymoon. She was now in her
nineteenth year, ignorant and undisciplined, but bright and
graceful, with flashing eyes and all the impulsive vehemence of
her race. Her pouting sulkiness had been the response to her
husband's cold assertion of superiority, and when he threw
aside his reserve, and sought but to bask in the sunshine of
her smiles, she repaid him with all the tenderness of a loving
woman. Courtiers had many stories to tell of the affection of
this pair so long estranged, and it was soon announced that a
direct heir to the English throne was to be expected.
Of politics the Queen was completely ignorant, and
it was always difficult to interest her in them, unless some
personal question was involved ; but she could not be in-
different to the continuance of strife between her brother and
her husband.
In spite, however, of all the influence brought to bear
upon him, Charles received the overtures brought by Mon-
tague coldly. Montague carried back to France
Charles the following reply : " His Majesty cannot admit to
French' * hearken to any accommodation wherein his Majesty
shall leave those of the Religion in worse condition
than he found them when he was invited by the King of France
to treat for them, and his ambassadors were received to stand as
pledges for the performance of the conditions. If, therefore,
his brother the King of France will show his affection to the
common good of Christendom by taking away the cause of the
difference, and put those of the Religion into their promised
liberties, and dis-siege Rochelle, his Majesty will not only ro
- Contarini's despatches give full particulars of his conversations with
the King and others.
368 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV;
enter into a stro'ng league and friendship with his dear brother,
but will endeavour to draw not only the Duke of Savoy, but all
his other friends and allies into a resolution for the re-estab-
lishing of the affairs of Italy and Germany, and to enter into
it with united counsel and forces as to the defence of the com-
mon cause ; and therein, in respect of the near correspondence
that is between them, his Majesty doubts not to prevail with
them."1
Evidently his Majesty was fitted to control the affairs of
some other than this world of ours, where men have to submit
to superior force, if they will not yield to superior reason.
More ridiculous demand was never made than this, that after
all that had passed Louis should raise the siege of a city which
would in a few days be in his hands.
Charles's letter to Lindsey did not echo the despondent
tone of the Admiral's despatches. " We will give you no other
charge or advice," he wrote, " than that you take
Lindveyto care of our honour, the honour of our nation, and
ere' your own honour, according to the rules of wisdom
and reason and the ancient practice of former generals. We
see that the passage must be opened before the town can be
relieved. And we conceive the French ships must be beaten
before the passage can be opened, which we think can best
be done while they are on float, but cannot be done without
hazard of some of our ships, and loss of our subjects whom we
much more tender. But our honour and our pious intention
to relieve those distressed churches give way to such actions
as may clear our affections and intentions in that point. And
therefore we do call for it at your hands, that, according to your
wisdom and noble disposition, upon which we rely, you make
a vigorous trial for beating of their ships, and that being done,
and when you shall have applied your engines of war and your
courage and industry to force the passage for the relief of the
town — to which we pray God give success — if it prove unfeas-
ible, we shall hold ourself to be excused to the world, and that
you have worthily acquitted yourself to us. We will only add
1 The King's answer, Oct. 14 (?), S. P. Dom, cxviii. 68.
1628 ROCHELLE SURRENDERS. 369
this word, that whereas the French ! have often made the work
feasible to us, and offered to lead on our men, and instruct
their courages by example, we would have you let them know
that we expect at their hands that they do now by some notable
action make good their former boastings, howsoever we do rel>
upon the courage of our own subjects, which we hope will
never deceive us, and particularly in this occasion of the relief
of Rochelle." 2
It was not a very useful letter to address to a commander
whose chief difficulty was that he could not persuade three
quarters of his force to go into action. Its effect was never to
n be tried. The Rochellese had discovered for them-
UCt. 18.
Surrenderor selves the futility of Charles's efforts to save them.
.ocheiie. Qn Qctober xg tj.je capitulation was signed which put
an end to their long and heroic resistance.
Externally Rochelle was treated like a conquered city. The
massive walls which had bid defiance to so many armies were
Treatment of destroyed. The privileges of the town were can-
the city. celled, and the King's officers governed the Protestant
municipal republic as they governed Paris or Rouen. Riche-
lieu had, however, set his heart on showing to the world an
example of toleration, and his influence with Louis was great
enough to enable him to have his way. He, at least, was no
dreamer, and he knew that if France was to be strong against
her enemies without, she must be at peace at home. Those
who expected that the victory of a Cardinal would be the signal
for outrages upon the Huguenots found that they were much
mistaken. Wherever the French Protestants had enjoyed liberty
Of worship before, they were to enjoy it still Protestant -md
Catholic would be equally welcome to aid their common country
with their services ; but there was to be no more political inde-
pendence, no more defiance of the sovereign who represented,
in the eyes of all, the unity of France.
The fall of Rochelle was a bitter draught for Charles. Whilst
he had grown weaker, Louis, who had rejected his mediation and
1 i.e. the refugees from Rocbellc.
1 The King to Lindsey, Oct. 14, S. P. Dom. xviii. 66.
VOL. VI. B B
J70 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LxV.
frustrated his efforts, was growing stronger. Nor was Charles's
Charles's military and naval failure the measure of his dis-
faiiure. aster. The French king's declaration of tolerance
"was an announcement to the world that the war which Charles
and Buckingham had persistently waged had been a blunder
from the beginning. All for which Charles could reasonably
ask was now given to the Huguenots without his intervention.
There need have been no forced loan, no arbitrary imprison-
ments, no expedition to Rhe", no attempt to goad unwilling
mariners to break through the guarded barrier at Rochelle.
Charles's fancy that Richelieu was a mere emissary of the
Roman See, was shown beyond question to have been an entire
delusion. He had proved himself as incompetent to recognise
the conditions under which war ought to be waged as Buck-
ingham had proved himself incompetent to carry it to a satis-
factory conclusion.
Yet even the news of the fall of Rochelle did not at once
convince Charles that it was necessary to come to terms with
„ France. He took it ill that Richelieu did not im-
November.
Effect of the mediately despatch messengers to England to sue for
"fpture of6 peace,1 and began to cast about for other means than
Rochelle. Frencn aid by which to recover the Palatinate. In
Buckingham's lifetime Endymion Porter had been sent to Ma-
drid, and Carlisle, after passing through Brussels and Lorraine,
had arrived at Turin, to knit together, if possible, a general league
of the enemies of France. Ever since the failure of the French
alliance, which he had negotiated in 1624, Carlisle had thrown
himself warmly into opposition to Richelieu, by whose arts, as
he held, the honest intentions of the English Government had
been thwarted. There was, indeed, much to complain of on
both sides. If Charles had broken his word in the matter of the
marriage treaty, Louis had broken his word in the matter of
Mansfeld's expedition ; and whilst the expulsion of the Queen V
attendants and the renewed persecution of the English Catholics,
were bitterly remembered at the Louvre, the utter failure cf
1 Contarini to Zorzi. Nov. £ ; Contarini to the Doge, *^ ", Ven.
Transcrifts, R. O.
1628 W.ES TON'S GROWING INFLUENCE. 371
the first military expedition of the war was by no means for-
gotten at Whitehall. Carlisle now urged the con-
He suggests . _,
a Spanish tmuance of the war with France. " If the present
Government of France," he wrote, "were such as
good and honest patriots do wish and desire, many questions
would fall to the ground." The King of France, however, he
continued, had neither the power nor the will to recover the
Palatinate, and he certainly designed the ruin of Protestantism
in his own country. If Charles listened to the overtures of
Spain, without accepting them too impatiently, he might have
full satisfaction in all that he desired. Charles caught at the
suggestion. He hoped that no one would suspect him of ' so
great a villainy ' as a peace with France which failed to secure
terms for the Huguenots. He at once invited the Savoyard
diplomatist, the Abbot of Scaglia, to England, to act as an
intermediate agent between Spain and himself, and he assured
the Duke of Rohan that he would continue to support him in
spite of ' the late mis-accident of Rochelle.' l
It was the fundamental weakness of Charles's foreign policy
that he had no moral sympathy with any single party on the
Continent The States which he courted were nothing more
in his eyes than instruments which might help him to gain his
own objects. If one King would not help him, another might.
He forgot that it was unlikely that anyone would care to help
him at all, unless he had something to offer in return.
In the meanwhile, Weston's influence was daily growing.
He effected a complete reconciliation between the King and
Arundel. That stately nobleman once more took his
Arundei in place at the Council board, ready when the moment
the Council. • i • • /• /- TT
came to give his vote in favour of peace. He was
Coittngton a soon joined there by Cottington, a man of the world
Councillor. wjthout enthusiasm, believing that the Roman Catho-
lic belief was the safest to die in, and that Weston's policy ran
less risk than any other in the immediate present Weston was
1 Carlisle and Wake to Conway, Nov. I ; Conway to Carlisle and
Wake, N6v. 23 ; The King to Carlisle, Nov. 24, S. P. Savoy. Conway
to Rohan, Nov. 23, S. P. France.
372 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV
thankful for his support, and marked him out for the Chancel-
lorship of the Exchequer as soon as a vacancy could be made.
Weston's voice was always raised in favour of economy.
With as great persistency as he had shown in opposing the
Weston's erection of a monument to Buckingham, he now
economy. opposed every enterprise which was likely to require
fresh warlike expenditure. Rosencrantz was urgent that some
He holds of the ships and troops returning from Rochelle
inurflre'nce might be sent to the King of Denmark's assistance,
in Germany. Weston hastened to pay off the landsmen, and gave
an unfavourable answer about the ships.1
When news arrived that Krempe had surrendered to the
Imperialists, Charles resolved to send no present aid to Den-
mark, and Morgan was ordered to keep quiet at
Gluckstadt till the winter was over. Yet though
Charles allowed himself to be persuaded into inaction for the
present, he could not be induced to forego the luxury of pro
mising large aid in the future. His ambassador, Anstruther,
was directed to inform the King of Denmark that though the
aid which he sorely needed was postponed, it was not refused.
Parliament would, doubtless, grant the necessary supplies, and
help would be sent in the spring. Morgan's regiment should be
reinforced, and a fleet of forty ships should be despatched to
the Elbe.2
In the course of December a nomination was made which
showed that Charles did not place himself unreservedly in
Weston's hands. Conway was old and sickly, and
Dorchester was removed from the Secretaryship to the less
secretary, troublesome office of President of the Council,
which the still older Marlborough was induced to vacate. He
was succeeded by Dorchester, a warm advocate of the French
alliance. It was not long before Dorchester had the satisfac-
tion of seeing the difficulties in the way of peace with France
1 Council Register. Oct. 26, Nov. 12. Contarini to the Doge. °ct'-— -'
' Nor. 3,
2~*. Ven. Transcripts, R, O.
1 Coke to Morgan, Nov. 24 ; Anstruther to Conway, Dec. 29. An-
swer cf the Commissioners, Jan., 5. P. Denmark,
1629 PROSPECTS OF PEACE. 373
gradually removed ; and in January a treaty sent over by
l6ag> Richelieu was, with the exception of one not very
January, important particular, agreed to by the English
Council.1
Almost at the same time Carlisle and Porter returned from
their respective missions. The most dazzling offers were
dangled before Charles's eyes as the price of an
Cariisteand alliance with Spain. With the help of Olivares,
Frederick and Elizabeth would soon be reinstalled
at Heidelberg, whilst Denmark and the Dutch Republic should
be relieved from the attack of the Catholic Powers. Already
the two great rivals, Richelieu and Olivares, were measuring
one another's strength with hostile glances, and were anxious
to secure the neutrality, if not the alliance, of England in the
inevitable conflict.
A negotiation almost completed and publicly avowed for
a treaty with France, which might possibly lead to an alliance
Progress of against Spain and the Emperor— an inchoate and
the negotia- unavowed negotiation for a treaty with Spain, which
tion with J
France. might possibly lead to an alliance against Fra nee — and
a promise to send active aid to Denmark in its war against the
Emperor ; such were the bewildering results of three months of
Charles's diplomacy since he had lost Buckingham's
Charles's assistance. What likelihood was there that he would
diplomacy. succeecj m making his policy intelligible to the House
of Commons, or that he would gain the support of the nation
for his plans ?
As far as it is possible to gauge the feeling of the nation, it
may be asserted that, though any favour shown to Spain would
Feeling of ^e unpopular, there was no longer that burning zeal
the nation. fOT war whid} had animated the political classes
when the news of the loss of the Palatinate first reached
England. Not only had the thoughts of the nation
weakness of been diverted to domestic affairs, but Spain herself
was far less formidable in 1629 than she had been in
1621. The reduction of Breda in 1625 had been followed by a
1 Contarini to the Doge, D.ec 3°, Tan. -. Ven. Transcripts, R. 0.
Jan. 9 J 20
374 ASSASSINATION QF BUCKINGHAM. CH. LXV.
long period of quiescence, during which the Spanish generals
had not even attempted to push home the advantage which
they had gained. In Germany, though Spanish troops con-
tinued to occupy Frankenthal and the Western Palatinate,
they stood aloof from all active participation in the war, and
left Tilly and Wallenstein to stamp out, if they could, the
last embers of resistance on the coasts of the Baltic Nor, if
Spain failed to make any show of strength in Germany or the
Netherlands, was she able to explain her inertness by any
increased activity in opposing England. Even at the height of
Buckingham's mismanagement, when Cecil returned discom-
fited from Cadi/,, when Buckingham brought back the beaten
remnants of his army from Rochelle, she had not ventured
on a single aggressive movement. Now at last it was seen
that she could no longer hold her own. In the summer of
1628, the stadtholder, Frederick Henry, for the first time,
quitting the defensive tactics which necessity had for so many
i6ag years imposed on the guardians of the Dutch Re-
Thefaiiof public, had attacked and taken Grol under the
eyes of Spinola. Before the year was out, still more
glorious tidings were wafted across the Atlantic. The prize
which Drake and Raleigh had failed to secure, and for which
Cecil had waited in vain, had been secured by the skill and
courage of a Dutch mariner. Peter Hein had cap-
ture"ofthe tured the Plate fleet, and the treasure which had
been destined for the payment of Spanish soldiers
was on its way to support the arms of the Republic in a more,
daring campaign than any Dutchman had ventured to con-
template since the day when Ostend had surrendered to the
skill and resources of Spinola.
It had thus become plain in England that the danger of the
erection of a universal monarchy having its seat at Madrid had
1629. passed away. Nor were the imaginations of English-
pinthySwfthm" men much moved by the risk of the establishment
Protestant" °^ a strong military and Catholic empire having its
limited. seat at Vienna. No doubt there was sympathy with
the German Protestants, and much angry talk about the devas-
tations of Wallenstein and Tilly. But, after all, the coast of the
i62q THE WAR FEELING COOLS DOWN. 375
Baltic was far away, and the fall of Krempe did not touch
Englishmen as the fall of Ostend had touched them in earlier
days. It did not bring home to them any sense of immediate
danger to themselves, nor were the conquerors men of that race
whose very existence had been a standing menace to England
ever since the early days of Elizabeth's reign. Tilly's veterans
were not the military representatives of the troops who had
contended with Sidney under the walls of Zutphen, or had
waited on the Flemish sandhills under Parma till the Armada
should appear to convey them to the invasion of the island
realm.
Above all, neither the King of Spain nor the Emperor
threatened now to undermine the institutions of England by
secret sap. There was no longer any fear of the
I he fear of r ° J •
Spanish in- arrival of an Infanta to be the bride of a King of
aTh^me" England ; and it is difficult to say how much of the
warlike ardour of 1621 was to be attributed rather to
the fear of the intrigues of Spain in the English Court, than
to the fear of its warlike predominance in Germany and the
Netherlands. 1 hose who in 1621 were eager to avert a domestic
danger by engaging in a foreign war, were ready in 1628 to
allow the Continental nations to shift for themselves.
Whatever might be the ultimate result of Charles's diplo-
macy, there could be no doubt that the period of history which
End of the began with the meeting of the Parliament of 1624
war period. wag aj. an en(J The war fever had die(J down Upon
its embers. A few months might pass before peace would be
actually signed with France and Spain, but sooner or later
l>eace was inevitable. Charles had no longer the means of
carrying on war. Would he be able to lead the nation in time
of peace ? The man was dead who had concentrated upon
his own person the general hatred, and it might seem as if
Charles would start fairly upon a new course. Such an expec-
tation, if it really existed, was founded on a delusion. In all
the mischief of the past years Charles had had his share, and
the qualities which had combined with Buckingham's presump-
tion to bring about the ruin, were not likely to assist him when
he undertook to calm the excitement and discontent of an
376 ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM. ex. LXV.
alienated people. James had been regarded with disfavour
because, with all his knowledge and shrewdness, he had no
resolute energy to give effect to his determinations. Charles
had forfeited his popularity because he refused to look facts in
the face, or to acknowledge that opinions other than his own
had either a right to exist or strength to compel their recog-
nition. When the war was at an end questions about internal
government and legislation, questions especially about Church
doctrine and discipline, would be certain to come into the fore
ground ; and there was unfortunately no chance that the man
who had dealt so unwisely with foreign opposition to the wishes
which he had conceived, would deal more wisely with the op-
position of his own subjects to the principles which he believed
to be true. The years of unwise negotiation in James's reign
led up to the war and desolation which followed. The years
of unwise war in the reign of Charles were leading up to divi-
sions and distractions at home, to civil strife, and to the de-
thronement and execution of the sovereign who had already
given such striking proofs of his incapacity to understand the
feelings of those whom he was appointed to govern.
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