The causes of this excessive parsimony deserve to be traced. It is in vain to say, that war during the feudal times, being supported by men, not money, the commons were not yet accustomed to open their purses. They must have been sensible, that the feudal militia being now laid aside naval and military enterprizes could not be conducted without money; especially as the heads of the country party, sir Edward Coke, sir Edwin Sandys, sir Robert Philips, sir Francis Seymour, sir Dudley Digges, sir John, Elliot, sir Thomas Wentworth, Mr. Selden, and Mr. Pym, were men of great talents and enlarged views. We must therefore look deeper for the motives of this cruel mockery of their young king, on his first appearance in parliament, and when his necessities, and the honour, if not the interests of the nation called for the most liberal supply. These enlightened patriots, animated with a warm love of liberty, saw with regret a too extensive authority exercised by the crown; and regardless of former precedents, were determined to seize the opportunity which the present crisis might afford them, of restraining the royal prerogative within more reasonable bounds, and of securing the privileges of the people by firmer and more precise barriers than the constitution had hitherto provided for them. They accordingly resolved to grant no supplies to their necessitous prince without extorting proportional concessions in favour of civil liberty; and how ungenerous soever such a conduct might seem, they conceived that it was fully justified by the beneficent end they had in view. The means were regular and constitutional. To grant or refuse supplies was the undoubted privilege of the commons; and as all human governments, but especially those of a mixed kind, are in continual fluctuation, it was, in their opinion, as natural and allowable for popular assemblies to take advantage of favourable conjunctures, in order to secure the rights of the subject, as for sovereigns to make use of such occasions, in order to extend the royal authority. VOL. 111. Beside Beside these general arguments the commons had reasons of a particular and personal nature, which induced them to be sparing in their aids to the crown. Though Buckingham, in order to screen himself from the resentment of James, who was enraged at his breaking off the Spanish match, had affected popularity, and entered into cabals with the Puritans, they were always doubtful of his sincerity. Now secure of the confidence of Charles, he had realized their suspicions, by abandoning them; and was, on that account, the distinguished object of their hatred, as well as of their fears. They saw, with terror and concern, the whole power of administration grasped by his ambitious hand; while he governed his master by a more absolute ascendant than he had ever held over the late king, and possessed in his single person the most considerable offices of the state. The rest were chiefly occupied by his numerous flatterers and dependents; whom his violent temper prompted him to raise suddenly to the highest point of elevation, and to throw down, on the least occasion of displeasure, with equal impetuosity and violence. Disgusted with the failure of the expedition under Mansfeldt, the commons were of opinion, that such a ministry was not to be trusted with the management of a war, how laudable soever its object; for allowing, what was very improbable, that success should attend their measures, the event was no less to be dreaded. A conquering army, in the hands of unprincipled men, might prove as dangerous to freedom, as the invasion of a foreign enemy. Religion, at least, would be exposed to the utmost peril: religion! already insulted by the appearance of popish priests in their vestments, and their relaxation of the laws against recusants, in consequence of the alliance with France'; and that too, at a time when the peace of many 2. A chapel at Somerset-house had been built for the queen and her family, with conveniencies thereunto adjoining for Capuchin friars, who had permission to walk abroad in their religious habits. Rushworth, vol. i. an an honest mind was disturbed, by being obliged to conform to the more decent ceremonies of the church of England, and when many a bold heart trembled at the sight of a surplice. Influenced by these reasonings, however justifiable the commons might think their parsimony, it appeared in a very different light to Charles. He at first considered it as spleen against Buckingham; and as such, ungenerous and cruel; but when he perceived, that it proceeded from a purpose of abridging his prerogative, which he thought already too limited, he regarded that purpose as highly criminal. Filled with lofty ideas of monarchical power, an attempt to circumscribe his authority seemed to him little less than a conspiracy against the throne. He therefore speedily reassembled the parliament, which he had been obliged to adjourn on account of the plague, which at that time raged in London. It met at Oxford; and there the king laying aside that AUG. 1. delicacy which he had hitherto observed, endeavoured to draw from the commons a more liberal supply, by making them fully acquainted with the state of his affairs-with the debts of the crown, the expences of the war, the steps he had taken, and the engagements into which he had entered for conducting it. But all his arguments, and even entreaties, were employed in vain: the commons remained inexorable, They obstinately refused any farther assistance, though it was known that a fleet and army were lying at Portsmouth in great want of pay and provisions, and that Buckingham and the treasurer of the navy had advanced, on their own credit, near an hundred thousand pounds for the sea service3. They answered him only by vexatious petitions, and complaints of grievances. Enraged at such obstinacy, Charles dissolved the parliament, and attempted to raise money by other means. He had recourse to the old expedient of forcing a loan from the 3. Parliamentary Hist. vol. vi. p. 300. subject. subject. For this purpose privy seals were issued; and, by sums so raised, he was enabled, though with difficulty, to equip his fleet. It consisted of eighty sail, including transports, and carried an army of ten thousand men, destined to act as occasion might require. The chief command was entrusted to lord viscount Wimbledon, lately sir Edward Cecil, one of Buckingham's creatures. He sailed directly' for Cadiz, and found the bay full of Spanish ships of great value; yet these, through misconduct, were suffered to escape! The troops were landed and a fort was taken; but that being found of small consequence, and an epidemical distemper having broke out among the soldiers and sailors, occasioned by the immoderate use of new wine, Wimbledon re-embarked his forces and after cruising a while off Cape St. Vincent, but without success, in hopes of intercepting the Spanish Plate-fleet, he returned to England with his sickly crew, to the great dissatisfaction of the nation. The failure of an enterprize, from which he expected so much treasure, obliged Charles again to call a A. D. 1626. parliament, and lay his necessities before the commons. They immediately voted him three subsidies and three fifteenths, and afterwards added one subsidy more ; yet the sum was still very inadequate to the exigencies of the state, and little fitted to promote the ambitious views of the young king. But the scantiness of this supply was not the most mortifying circumstance attending it. The commons, in the first instance only voted it; and reserved, until the end of the session, the power of giving that vote the sanction of a law. In the mean time, under colour of redressing grievances, they proceeded in regulating and controuling every part of government; and it required no deep penetration to perceive that if the king obstructed their measures, or refused compliance with their demands, that he must expect no aid from parliament. Though Charles 4. Rushworth, vol. i. Franklin, p. 113. expressed expressed great displeasure at this conditional mode of sup ply, as well as at the political inquiries of the commons, his pressing wants obliged him to submit, and wait with patience the issue of their deliberations5. In order to strike at the root of all their grievances, the commons took a step little expected by the king or his minister. They proceeded to impeach the duke of Buckingham, who had long been odious to the nation, and became more so every day by his arrogant behaviour, the uncontrouled ascendant which he maintained over his master, and the pernicious counsels which he was supposed to have dictated. The uniting of many offices in his person, accepting extensive grants from the crown, and procuring many ti tles of honour for his kindred, the chief articles of accusation exhibited against him, might perhaps be considered as grievances, and justly inspired with resentment such as thought they had a right to share in the honours and employments of the state, but could not, in the eye of the law, be considered as sufficient grounds for an impeachment. Charles, therefore, thinking the duke's whole guilt consisted in being his friend and favourite, rashly resolved to support him at all hazards, regardless of the fate of the conditional supply, or the clamour of the public. The lord-keeper, in the king's name, accordingly commanded the commons not to meddle with his minister and servant, Buckingham. A message was also sent them, that if they did not speedily furnish his majesty with supplies, he would be obliged to try NEW COUNSELS. They went on, however, with their impeachment of the duke; though sir John Elliot and sir Dudly Digges, two of the members who had been employed to conduct it, were sent to the Tower. And the majority of the house, after this insult, declared they would proceed no farther upon business until they were righted in their privileges; and Charles, ever ready to adopt 5. Parl. Hist. vol. vi. 6. Franklin, p. 198. Rushworth, vol. i. violent |