CENTRE for REFORMATION ard RENAISSANCE STUDIES VICTORIA UNIVERSITY T O R O N T O Eî, D|INBURGH C::ATHC)LIC CH,,PLAINCY, IIISTORY Oir ENGLAND I6O3-I642 VOL. 11. IIBLIOGRAPHICAL ArOT. HISTORV of ENGLAND, from the ACCESSION of JAMES I. to the DISGRACE of CHIEF-JUSTICE COKE, t6o3-x6t6. 2 vols. 8vo. 1863. IRINCE CtlARLES and the SPANISI[ MARRIAG E, 67-i623. 2 vols. 8vo. 1869. IIISTORV of ENGLAND under the DUKE of 13UCKINGHAM andCHARLES I. 1624-x628. 2 vols. 8vo. I87. The PERSONAL GOVERNMENT of CHARLES I. from the DEATH of BUCKIN(;HAM to the IECLARA- TION of the JUDGES in F-AVOUR of SHIP-MONEY. 1628-1637.  vols. 8vo. I877. The FALL of the MONARCIIY of CtIARLES I. I637-I642. vols. 8vo. z881. These Volumes have been revised and re-lssued 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, I6o3-I642.' io vols. Crown 8vo. I883-4. IIISTORY of the GREAT CIVIL WAR. I642-x649. VOL. l. i642-i644. 8vo. 886. VoL. ll. i644-1647. 8vo. i889. ,'OL. III. 1647-1649. 8VO. Z89 I. These Volumes bave been revised and re-ssued in a cheaper form» in 4 vols. crown 8vo. uniform with the  History of England, 16°3-164" 1893. IIISTOR¥ of the COMMONWEALTH and PRO- TECTORATE, 1649-166o. Yol |. 1649-I65L 8vo. I894. VoL II. i651-16.54. 8vo. 1897. HISTORY TIIE OF ENGLANI) FP, OM THE ACCESSION OF JA.XIES I. TO OUTBREAK OF TIIE CIVIL WAR I6O3-642 lï,¥ SAMUEI. R. GARDINER, D.C.I.., i-EI LOW OF lt, IERTON COLLt¢GF OXFCRD ETC. IN TEN VOLUMES T.T..I). VOI.. I I. 1607--1616 FIFTI1 ]AII'.RESSIO.V LONGMANS, GREEN, AND 39 PATF.RNOSTER RO1,V, LONDON NE\V YORK AND BOMBAY I899 CO. All riKhts reserved THE CONTENTS OF SECOND VOLUME. CHAPTER XI. I'HE IEW IMPOSI'rlOlqS AND THE TRUCE OF AlqTWERP. IAGE t6o 7 Financial difficuhies i 159t The Levant Company . 16o3 Imposition on currants , 3 16o6 Bate resists pavment . 13ate's case in {he Court o'f Exchequer . 6 16oB Salisbury becomes Lorc Treasurer I I The new impositions Thedebt and the deficit . J6oo l'_'ntail of the Cown lands 6o6 Ianishment of the priests. Paul V. I6 The Pope" condems thë oath of allegiance . . Sufferings of the Catholics t6o7 The Pope again condemns the oath of a]legiance . Negotiations for a peace in the Netherlands . English dip]omaey . 2 James's view of the nego- tiations . • • -'4 i6o8 C)pening of the con ferences at the Hague 2é Spanish intrigues . . 27 League between England and the States . 28 i6o 9 The Truceof Antwerp. . 29 16o8 Church diflïculties in Scot- land . . . 3c ]3almerino detected in obtaining surreptitiously the King's signature 3 I 16o 9 ]3almerino's trial and sen- tence . . - 53 James appeals to Europe against the Pope • 34 CHAPTER XII. "I'HE t'ROHIBITIOI'S AND THE COLONISATION OF VIRGINIA. x6o6 Coke on the Bench 35 16o 7 Fuller's case . . Coke's conflict with thë 36 King . . • 38 It6o8 Fuller's submission and release . ]Dispute betwecn Cokë anal 40 Bancroft . . 41 The question of prohibi- tions discussed before • the King . 4 Rise of Robert Carr 42 i6o 5 Raleigh loses the manor of Sherborne • • 43 16o 9 Sherborne granted to Carr 46 Value of the estate • 47 585-i6o5 Early attempts to colonise Virginia . . x6o6 The first Virginian charter a6o 7 Landing of the first co- lony . . Smith's adventures t6o8 Smith elected president COIVTENTS PAGE I6O9 50 54 55 OF The new charter . 57 Lord De la \Varr ap- pointed govern« r . . 59 Smith returns to England 6o Arrival of De la Warr and Gates 6I Administra'tion of )ale 62 x6-*o CHAPTER. XIII. THE GREAT CONTRAC Padiament summoned 63 Opening of the session 64 Salisbury's financial pro- posais . . 65 Cowell's Inlerp'eter 66 Bacon's speech on tenures 68 Offer of the Commons . 69 The Commons forbidden by the Kivg to complain of the lmpositions . 7o Excitement in the Coin- ruons . 7 t The King gives way . 72 Prince Henry created Prince of \Vales • 73 Salisbury bargains with the Commons . - 74 The debate on the Imposi- tions • • 75 The Commons almost un- animous against the Cro n . . 8 t The Bill on Impositions . 8 The Great Contract con- cluded . . 83 The King's repl; to the Petition of Grievances . 84 Prorogation of Parliament 87 ] 606 6O8 *6o 9 161o CHAPTER XIV. THE BREACH WITH THE C0iMMONS. The Peace of Augsburg . 88 "l-he Cathoic reaction 9 ° Parties in Germany 9 t The Protestant Union 92 The Catholic League . 92 The succession of Clercs and Juliers . • 93 Strife between the preten- ders. • • 94 Interference f foreign powers . 95 Projects of Henry'IV. 90 Murder of Henry IV. . 98 English and French inter- vention in the Duchies. 99 Surrender of Juliers too Treaty betxveen Englan£1 and France. IOi Prospects of Episcopacy in Scotland ioi The Assembly of G!a.sgow introduces Episcopacy . IO2 Consecration of Bishops . io3 Opinion of the judges on i611 16to 1611 i6io the King's right to issue proclamations . . lO 4 Opening of a new session of Parliament . . IO 5 The Great Contract dis- cussed . . . Io6 Abandonment of the Great Contract . • lO7 Resistance to a demand for asupply. . . o8 Dissolution of Parliament io 9 Commencement of the quarrel between the King and tbe Commons IIO Crr ruade Viscount chester . I  I The Baronets . I 1. Case of Arabella Stuart . 1,3 Her escape and recapture    Case of the Countess of Shrewsbury . 119 Death of Bancroft 119 Expectation that he w;ll bë succeeded by Andrewes I2O TtfE .çECOND VOLU2[E. PAGt 161I AbbotbecomcsArchbishop i2 Chancev's case in the High Commission Court 122 #,bbot appea]s to the Councilagainst Coke . 123 Abbot and Laud at Oxford 124 Theories of Laud 126 I.aud becomes Presi'den of St. John's . i27 vii PAGl Controversy between James and Vorstius 128 1612 Proceedings against Le'- gate and Vightman . i28 Legate and Wightman burnt . . . I3 o Lord Sanquhar's case . I3 I Execution of Lord San- q.har . • I33 CHAPTER XV. FOREIGN ALLIANCES. I6Io Salisbury joins the oppo- nents of Spain . 134 English merchants iii" treated in Spain . 135 16ii Marriages proposed fo the Princess Elizabeth . 136 Digby ordered to ask for the Infanta Arme for the Prince of XVales . . 138 13reach of the negotiation  ith Spain . 139 Proposais from Tuscany . 14o The Elector Palatine ac- ce0ted for the Princess l'_lizabeth . I6iz ]llness of Salisbury i4 t Sahsbury's death . 142 Estimate of his career. 143 The Treasury put in com- mission . . 145 Cndidates for thè Secre- taryship . . 146 James resolves to bë his own secretary I48 i613 Digby advocates the claires ofthe merchantsin Spain I49 Zufiiga's nfission . . The Eleetor Palatine in England Marriages proposed foi thë Prince . . I53 A French alliance sug- gested . 154 ]llness of the Prince I57 I)eath ofthe Prince . . i58 Northampton's slanderers fined • • I59 Betrothal f the Prineess Elizabeth . . . x6o Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 16i League between te State and the Union James at the head of thë Protestant Alliance 163 Dissatisfaction f thë Spanish Government . 164 Sarmiento sent as ambas- sador to England . 16.5 CHAPTER XVI. THE ESSEX DIVORCE. 16o6 Marriage of the Earl of Essex 166 Conduct o Lady Ëssex x67 1613 She thinks of procuring a divorce . 168 , Commission appointefi to try the case . . 17o Abbot's letter to the Kmg 171 entence in tavour of the divorce . • • I72 Conduct of James and Andrewea I73 Unpopularity of the sen- tence . • • 174 Overbury's connection with Rochester . 17` 5 Overbury opposes the di" • vorce . Overbury sent to thë 176 Tower • • 178 Schemes o Northampton and Rochester . 179 conspiracy to poison Overbury . , 181 i613 1614 COArTENTS OF PAGE. Overbury's death . , 186 The Navy Commission . 87 Whitelocke's argument against it . . . 188 Mansell and Whitelocke charged before the Council . • 189 Bacon's theory of govern- ment . . 191 Sir J. Coesar's report on the Exchequer . 199 Efforts to improve thé revenue . . . 2o0 Necessity of summoning Parliament . 2Ol Neville's advice 202 PAGll Bacon's advice . • Bacon recommends that Coke be ruade Chief Justice of the King's Bench . . 207 Coke's penal promotion . 2o8 Rochester mrries Lady Essex, and is created Earl of Somerset 21o 1614 Star Chamber decree a- gainst duels. . 212 1613 Sutton's Hospital. . 213 The water supply of Lon- don .... 2r4 The New River completed 215 CHAPTER XVII. THE ADDLED PARLIAMENTo Digby discovers the Spa- nish pensions . 216 Sarmiento's diplomacy 218 James's foreign policy 220 Affair of Donna Luisa dé Carvajal. . . 221 Position ofthe negotiations with France. . 223 The pensioners of Spain . 224 Cottington urges Sar- miento to propose a Spanish marriage . 226 Ja.mes decides on summon- ng Parliament 227 The Undertakers . 228 The elections . . 230 Iqecessity of choosing a Secretary . . 231 Appointment of Winwood 232 Opening of the session . 233 Supply and grievances 236 Impositions and mono- polies 237 Debate on the Impositions 238 The Lords refuse to confer 241 The Commons excited by Bishop Neile's speech . 243 The King intervenes . . 244 The Bishopexcuseshimself 24 The Commons demand his punishment . 246 Northampton foments thé quarrel . • • --47 Dissolution of Parliament Imprisonment of members --49 James complains to Sar- tniento . . 251 The Spanish marriage pro- posed . 252 Sarmiento's plans. 252 Discussions in Spain on the marriage 255 Digby's mission . . 256 His advice on the Spanisll marriage 257 CHAPTER XVIII. THE BENEVOLENCE» AND THE IRISH PARLIAMENT. Death of Northampton 259 Suffolk appointed Lorci Treasurer . 259 8omelset becomes orc Chamberlain . 260 A Benevolence offered. . 260 Appeal to the country for money . . 26i The Duchies of Cleves and Juliers . . . 262 Spinola and Maurice in- vade the Duchies . 263 The payment of the Bene- volence urged . 264 General disinclination fo pay . 265 x6t 5 TtlI SECOA'D VOL PAGE Deputations summoned to London . 266 Payment under pressure . 267 Letter of Oliver St..John. 268 Bacon prosecutes him in the Star Chamber 269 His sentence . . 27o Raleigh's Prerogalive Parliamcnts . . 271 Peacham's seditious writings . . 272 Peacham is committed to the Tower 273 Torture inflicted on Pea" cham . . . 275 The judges consulted sepa- rately on the nature of his offence 277 Coke's opinion 278 Position assumed by Cokë 279 Peacham brings false charges against his neighbours . . . 28o Peacham's trial and con- viction . 282 Irish grievances . 283 Proposal of summoning an Irish Parliament , 84 ix PAGE The nexv constituencies 285 Alarm of the Catholics 286 1612 Proposed legislation a- gainst priestsandJesuits 287 Pctition of the Lords of the l'aie i6 3 Protest of" the Catholi 287 Lords . . 288 Opening of Parliament 289 Struggle in the House oP Colnmons over the elec- tion of a Speaker 289 Deputation to the Kin'g . 292 Talbot questioned . . 294 Commissioners sent to in- vestigate grievances 295 16I 4 The King's decision . 296 Chiehester instructed to carry out the laws against recusants %Vithdrawal of te Bili 297 against Priests and Jesuits . . . 298 The Irish Parliament at work . 99 Irish complaints . . 3or x6I 5 Dissolution of Parliament and recall of Chichester 3o2 CHAPTER XIX. THE OPPOSITION TO SOMERSET. I6I 50wen's case . o 304 i0i 4 Building fines. . 305 The Brewers . 306 The Treaty of Xanten 307 The whale fishery and thë East India trade 309 1599--i6i 5 Early history of thë East India Company 3o 16i 5 Roe's embassy 3 x x Rivalry between t'he Eng" lish and the Dutch in the East . . . 312 Negotiations at the Hague 313 i614 TheFrenchmarriagetreaty 314 The French States-General 35 Sarmiento hopes that the Prince will visit Madrid 316 Digby's negodations at Madrid . . . 316 First appearance of Villiers at Court. . . 317 161 b Somerset's behaviour to the King . 319 The King's visit to Cam- bridge . . . 320 Cotton's negotiation with Sarmiento . . . Intrigues against Somerset 322 ViIliers ruade Gentleman of the Bedchamber 323 The articles of the Spanisl marriage treaty sent to James . . . 323 James hesitates to accept them . . . 324 The articles accepted as the basis of the negotiation 326 Somerset is to conduct the negotiation . . 327 Somerset's dissatisfaction with the King . 322 The Chancellor refuses to pass his pardon. 32_9 James c.rders the Chance( lot to seal it, but neglects to enforce his command 350 x CONTI£ArTS OF TttE SECOArD I'OLU2IE. CHAPTER XX. THEFALL OF $OMERSETo PAGE 16I 5 V¢inwood informed of Overbury's murder 33 r Confession of Helwys 332 Weston's confession . • 333 Commissioners appointed to investigate the affair. 334 Somerset's behaviour . • 335 James refuses fo interfere 336 Trial of XVeston • • 337 Proceedings m the Star Chamber . . 34 r Trials of Mrs. Turner and I lelwys . . 342 Trial of Franklin . • 343 Sir Thomas Monson's trial postponed . • • 344 Information extracted from x66 FAGI Cotton on Somerset's re- lations with Sarmiento . 345 The Earl and Countess of Somerset indicted . • 347 Bacon's conduct in the affair . . 348 Somerset threatens to ac- cuse the King . 35r Trial of the Countess of Somerset . 352 Trial of the Earl o Somer- set . - 353 The Countess pardoned . 3oo Somerset's life spared 36r Sir Thomas Monson par- doned o o 363 CHAPTER XXI. TWO FOREIGN POLICIES. t6IS Discussion in the Privy Council on the sum- moning of Parliament . 364 P.acon encourages James to call a Parliament . 366 James resolves to proceed with the Spanish mar- riage . . . 368 The design of summoning Parliament abandoned. 369 x594 Raleigh's early projects 370 EI Dorado . . 372 x595 Paleigh's first voyage to Guiana . . The gold mine on thé 373 Orinoco . 374 Raleigh's return . 375 x596 Voyage of Keymis to Guiana 377 x6o 3 Explorations of Leigh'an Harcourt . 378 Raleigh's imprisonment . 379 x6r Raleigh proposes to send Keymis to Guiana . 8o x6x6 x6x 3 I64 I6 5 I616 Raleigh released from the Tower . . 38r Treaty for thë surrender oftheCaufionaryTowns 382 The cloth manufactory 385 Cockaine's proposais . o 386 The new company . 387 Distress in the clothing districts . 388 Bacon's proposais. 389 James resolves to break the negotiation for a French marriage . 390 Hay's mission to Paris 39 r Embarrassment of James 392 Sale of peerages , 393 Hay's negotiation, • 394 The French marriage broken off . . 396 Carleton in Holland . The Dutch decline to execute the Treaty of Xanten , • • 397 IIISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAPTER NI. THE NEW IMPOSITIONS AND "IHE TRUCE OF ANTWERP. TrIE troubles in Ireland were a constant drain on the English Exchequer, which was by no means in a condition to meet un- usual demands, t Those Mm were entrusted with 6o7. Financial the administration of the finances had therefore long difficultles, been anxiously looking about for a new source of revenue, and, at the time of the flight of the Earls, circumstanccs seemed to offer them the resource which they needed. That resource, indeed, was hot one of which a statesman of the highest order would bave availed himself. In the four- teenth century, the Crown, in consequence of pressure from the House of Colnmons, had abandoned the practice of levying customs and duties without Parliamentary consent. Mary had, however, revived it to a small extent, and Elizabeth had followed in her steps. In I575, she granted a patent to Acerbo Velutclli, a native of I,ucca, giving him the sole right of importing into England currants and oil from the Venetian territories. On the strength of this he exacted fines for licences to trade in those 1 In the year ending at Michaelmas, x6o7, the money sent over to heland was 34,oool In the three following years the amounts were 98,ooo/., 7i,oool. and 66,coo/. VOL. II. 1 articles from both English and foreign merchants. The vateni's Venetians, dissatisfied that their merchants should be ,,o,opoly. compelled to pay Yelutelli for permission to carry their own products to England, set a duty of 5 s. 6d. per cwt. on currants exported in other than Venetian bottoms, with corre- sponding duties on oil and wine. At the request of the English merchants, a similar impost was laid by Elizabeth on these products when landed in England from foreign vessels.  Not long afterwards Velutelli's patent was cancelled, and a fresh one was granted to a few English merchants, who were formed into a company, having the monopoly of the The Venet[an Yenetian trade. The duty on currants inported in Conpy. foreign vessels was thus changed into a total prohibi- tion. This patent expired in 59 x, and an imposition was then laid upon the articles in question, whether imported in English or in foreign ships. Affer due deliberation, however, The first .«-,t this plan was abandoned, and a new Company was Company. formed, in which the merchants trading with Veniee were incorporated with an equally small company trading with Turkey, under the title of the ' Levant Company.'  In the course of the year 16oo, colnplaints were nmde that this colnpany had exeeeded its powers. On the strength of its power to license persons to carry on the trade, to the exclusion of all others, it had allowed, as Velutelli had donc belote, merchants who were hOt melnbers of the company to import currants, on condition of a payment of Ss. 6d. per cwt. It was represented to the Queen that she had never intended that a few Londoners should virtuaily levy customs for their own x,,. profit, and that to allow such proceedings to pass unnoticed would derogate from the honour of her zrown. The question thus mooted was never decided. The Government, taking advantage of a teclmical flaw in the Com- pany's chrter, pronounced it to have been nulI and void from the beginning.  Statement by the Levant Company, Feb. I6o4. Obse'ations on two special grievances, Nov. 6o4, S. P. Dom. ri. 69, and x. eT-  The patent is printed in Hakluyt (ed. 599), ii. 95- See also Cott. zlISS. Tit. F. iv. lol. e3e ; and Fleming's judgment, Stale rrials, il. 391o 6oo IJIPOSITIC«V ON CUIRANS.  As soon as this was known, the Queen was pressed by manv merchants who were not members of the company to Ifs charte, throw the trade open. They declared that they were ,«,mcd. not only willing to support the ambassador at Con- stantinople, and the consuls at the other ports of the Levant, at an annual cost of 6,oooL  but that they were ready, in addition to these expenses, to pay to the Queen the duty of 5 s. 6d. per cwt. which had been exacted from them by the monopolists. The Queen, however, prefcrred bargaining with the ch«« old company, and granted to it a new charter, by granted, which its monopoly was confirmed, on condition of a yearly payment of 4,ooo/. During the few remaining years of Elizabeth's reign the Levant trade was unprosperous. The Venetians put new re- strictions upon the export of currants, in order to favour their own navigation. The fise of the direct trade with India was already beginning to exercise a deleterious influence upon the whichis commerce of Turkey. Consequently when, soon ,,rr¢.area al'ter the accession of James, the proclamation ,y. against monopolies was issued, the company appeared • 6o» at the council-table and surrendered its charter, con- fessing it to be a rnonopoly. In return, it was excused the pay- ment of arrears amounting to the sure of e,oooL The forfeiture of the chart'er caused a deficiency in the King's revenue which he could hot well afford. It was only natural that, the trade being now open, the Council Imposlton po should revert to the imposition which had been '»'" before levied, either by the Crown or by the com- pany itself. They could hardly expect much opposition from the merchants. Of those who had not been members of the company, many had, in 6oo, expressed their readiness to pay the duty; and those who had been members had for many years exacted the paymênt for their own profit. That the Crown had no need to obtain the consent of Parlialnent, there could be little doubt, according to the notions which at t The sum is given in the Pctition of the Levant Company, Nov. 16o4, ç. /'. Dom. x. 2 0. 4 TttE .A'.EIU IJIPOSITIO2VS. cr. XL that time prevailed in official quarters. The Exchequer had long been in the habit of receiving money paid in on account of similar impositions, and nearly half a century had passed since the slightest question had been raised of their legality. /3ut before proceeding further, the Government determined to take a legal opinion. That opinion being favourable, the Lord Treasurer was directed to reimpose the former duties.  There was no intention, on the part of the Government, of pressing hardly upon the merchants. It was customary, instead of paying duties of this kind immediately upon the landing of the goods, to give bonds that the lnoney would be forth- 6o. coming after a certain interval of time. Nearly a year • rre,» fo- passed, and the payments due upon the bonds which given, had been given had not been ruade. The Lord Treasurer was lnet by objections, and declarations of inability to pay7 Upon this, in November, 6o4, the whole subject was taken once more into consideration, z and a discharge was granted to the merchants of the whole of their arrears, estimated at about 6,oooL, upon the understanding that, in future, the imposition would be paid. In x6o 5 the state of the Levant trade was again under the notice of the Government. Though the monopoly had ceased, the old company still continued to trade as a éo5.  ele ,a]  h . private association. Under its altered circumstances, ,,nt Cte, however, its members were no longer able to support Levant Com- ».,yon the ambassador and the consuls. Debts had been new footing. incurred in the East, and fears xs.ere entertained lest the Turkish authorities should seize the buildings and other property of the society.  The merchants requested Salisbury to obtain for them the re-establishment of the company on a new footing ; and, after receiving froln Popham an assurance  Council to I)orset, Oct. 31, 6o3, S. t'. Dom. iv. 46.  ]3ocquet of letter, July 23, I6o4, S. 1 . Docq. -" Docquet of discharge, Nov. Io, I6o4, S. t . Docq. Petition of the Levant 1Merchants, July. R. Stapers to Sal]sLmT, Ju|y 8, s. f'. Z)om. xv. 3 and 4. "If," Salisbury wrote, "there might be some project only :o incorporate all merchants (that are the King's sub- iects), 'ithout.any such hjmious exclusion as it vas before, then all suc.h 16o 5 THE LIlI'O..çlTION RESISTED.  that no legal objection stood in his way, he procured from the King a patent by whida a new open company was constituted, in which all who paid the subscription might take part, and ,«-hich was to be possessed of the exclusive right of trading to the Levant. In order that the new association might start fairly, the King directed that the sure of 5,3.-,2Z, being the amount which he was to receive in one year from the farmers to whom the imposition on currants had been lately let, should be handed over to the company as a free gift. With this they would be able to defray the expenses of the present which it was customary to offer to the Sultan at certain intervals of rime.  The Councillors probably hoped that they had now heard the last of the Levant Company. In the course of two years and a half, they had either given or remitted to the *606. ll, ateresists merchants no less than i3,322/. They were, how- payment of the imposi- ever, soon undeceived. Not long after the new ar- titre, rangement had been made, John late, one of the members of the COlnpany, asked his servant to drive away from the waterside a cartful of currants before it had been examined by the officer of the customs. 13ate was immediately sum- moned befçre the Council, and declared that his servant had acted by his instructions, which he had given because he be- lieved the imposition to be illegal.  He was committed to the larshalsea for contempt of the King's officers. The Govern- ment, however, was anxious that the question which had been raised should be set at rest, and decided upon bringing the case formally before the Court of Exchequer. Ieanwhile, the merchants appealed to the House of Com- ruons. The Commons at once inserted in the Petition of Grievances, which they presented at the end of the session inconveniences might be provided for, and yet no xvrong done fo the liberty of any other subject. For I would bave it to be open to all men to trade that would into all places ; neither should there be any privilege for sole bringing in of any commodity, as it was before."Salisbury to Fopham, Scpt. 8, S. f'. Z),»t. xv. 54-  Warrant, Dec., 3. 6o5, S. /'. Dom. xvii. 35.  Memoranda, April  i» ç. ï. Z)0t. xx. 25. 6 TIIE IYE IV 131POSITIOV.5. c. xL following the Gunpowder Plot, a request that the impositions Whe mer- might cease to be levied, on the ground that no such chants petl- duty could be legally demanded without the consent t:on the P.o,,se of of Parliament. A similar statement was ruade with Common». respect to a high duty of 6s. Bd. per lb.  laid on tobacco by James, who thus sought to express his feelings with regard to what was, in lais opinion, a most deleterious dlug. A few days before Parliament met, in November, x6o6, the case was brought to an issue in the Court of Exchequer, ;=,e's»e and James was able to declare that lais action i,,h«Cot had received the approval of the judges, lly an of Eche- q-. unanimous decision of the four Barons of the l';xchequer, Bate was called upon to pay the duty on the currants which had been landed in his naine ; and the doctrine, that the King was entitled by his sole prerogative to levy ira- positions upon the imports and exports, was declared to be accordance with the law of the land. The pleadings in the case bave uot been handed down to us, and of the judgments only two, those of Clarke and Fleming, bave been preserved. Their decision bas been received by posterity with universal disfavour. Lawyers and statesmen have been unanimous in coudemning it. Those who have tried it by the technical rules which prevail in the courts have pronounced it to bave violated those rules openly. Those who have examined it ri-oin the point of view of political and constitutional expediency, have unhesitatingly declared that it is based on principles which would lead to the extinction of English liberty. In x6xo the decision of the court was subjected to a long and sifting amination, and the superiority in argument was decidedly on the side of those who took the popular view of the subject. At the present day, it is happily an understood rule that d=tion members of the Government shall not use their per- bt,ee,, sonal influence with the judges who are called on J udges and teCow, to decide a question in which the Government is interested. In the reign of James I., the line between executive  Ryme; xvi. 6o. t6o6 "2?ATE'S CASE I«V TItE EA'CHEQUER. "7 and judicial functions was not as clearly drawn as it now is. Every Privy Councillor sat in judgment in the Court of Star Chamber. The Lord Treasurer was himself a member of the Court of Exchequer, though he was hOt accustomed to deliver a judicial opinion. On this occasion Dorset had an interview with the judges before the cause was argued,  apparently to inquire whether they would not think it better to deliver their judg- ments without assigning any reasons for them. It is evident rioto lais letter that even if he had been inclined to put a pressure upon them, he had no object in doing so, as their opinions entirely coincided vith his own. The King, he wrote, lnight be ' assured that the judgment of the Barons ' would be ' clear and certain Ola his side, not only to please His Majesty, but even to please God himself, for in their conscience the law stands for the King.'  Salisbury, too, appears from his letters on the subject of the impositions,  and on other similar questions, to have been  " I sent for my Lord Chief Bron early in the morning, and had con- lerence with him accotding to the contents of your letter, and afterwards in the Court I had like conference with the rest of the Barons ; but the¥ all are confident and clear of opinion that as their judgments ae resolute tor the King, so, nevertheless, in a cause of so great importance as this is, and so divulgcd in the popular mind as it now stands, and being most likely that themerchants will, notwithstanding the judgment of the Barons, yet pursue their writ of error, they all, I say, are absolute of opinion that before they give judgment it is most fit and convenient that the Barons who are to give judgment shall in like sort argue it, and so to give reasons of their judgment, which being so done and reported, it will be for ever a settled and an assured foundation for the King's impositions for ever ; and thereby also, if they should bring their writ of error, the judgment will stand so much the more firm and strong against them  where not only the judges are to give their judgment, but also do show the ground and reason of their judgment ; whereas contrarywise certainly the adversary will give forth that judgment is given without ground, and only to please the King's lIajesty. _And for my part I am confident of that mind, and that the snppressing of arguments in the Barons, notwithstanding ail the judgment in the world, will yet leave the world nothing well satisfied."--Dorset to Salisbury, iNov. 16o6, Iara/jqeld AISS. 8, fol. 44. "- Ibid. s See especially Salisbury to Popham, Sept. 8, 6o5, S. F. Dom. xm. 54.  THE AEIV ZIPOSITIOA'S. c. xt. most anxious on ail occasions to keep within the bounds of "i'hejudges the law. Nor is there any reason to suppose that hot intimi- the judges were influenced by the fear of dismissal. dated or crru»t«a. AS yet, though in theory they held their offices during the good pleasure of the Sovereign, they were able to regard theln as permanently their own. 8ince the accession of Elizabeth hOt a single case had occurred of a judge being dismissed for political reasons.  Startling as their opinions now seem, they were not so regarded at the time by un- 1)rejudiced persons. Hakewill, who was present at the trial, and who afterwards delivered in the House of Commons one of the ablest speeches on the popular side, confessed that at the rune vhen he was listening to the judgments he had been per- fectly satisfied with the arguments which he heard.  Coke, too, declared that, at all events in this particular case, the Govern- ment had the law on its side) Finally, the House of Commons itself, upon receiving inforlnation from the King that judg- ment had been given in his favour, acquiesced in the decision, and, for a time at least, thought no more about the matter. A little consideration will make it less difficult to under- stand the feelings by which the judge.s were in reality influence& c}, They had been accustomed during the greater part which, they of their lires to sec the collection of similar imposi- uenced. tions going on as a matter of course,  and they would naturally go to their law bo0ks, impressed with the idea that Bate was attempting to establish a novel claim against the Crown. It must be remembered that the men who were selected to be judges would invariably be such as were disposed to be friendly to the prerogative. When they were once upon the Bench, their habits oflife and their position as officers of the Crown would be certain to lead them imperceptibly to share  There is a doubt whether Chief Baron Manwood was actually de- posed in 572. If he was, it was upon complaint of gross misconduct in gis office. Foss, 'udgcs, v. 32.  State Trials, ii. 404. s ,. xii. 33- • On the other hand, the judges before whom the question was brought at the beginning of E!izabeth's reign had not becn accustomed to see ira. positions collected. 1606 rUDG3IENT IJV THE EXCttEQUER. 9 the views of the Government on questions of this kind. As soon as they looked to precedents, they would find that all exist- ing impositions had sprung up in the last two reigns. Up to the accession of Mary, none had been levied since the time of Rmhard II. Important as this intermission would appear to a statesman, it was not likely to be regarded by a lawyer as being of any great consequence. The only question for him would be whether the prerogative in dispute had been detached froln the Crown by any means which the law was bound to recognise. That it had been so dctached by Act of Parliament there can be no reasonable doubt whatever. But it must be acknowledged that it is difficult to lay our hands on more than one or two statutes the language of which is so explicit as not to admit of being explained away, ,and that even these are open to the objections of men who had come to a foregone conclusion before they read them. Our ancestors in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were not careful to lay down general principles, and generally contented themselves with stipulations that no duties should be laid upon the wools, woolfells, and leather, which were at that time the favourite objects of the King's rapacity. If indeed the judges had ]ooked upon tlie history of those rimes as we are able to do, they would have perceived at a Argument» glance that such objections were utterly unworthy of fro,, h- attention. They would have seen the English con- torical pre- «««,t, stitution marching steadily onwards under the in- fluence of a great principle, and they would have interpreted every verbal difficulty in accordance with the law by which the progress of the nation was governed. But these things were hidden from them. They had been brought up under a different system from that under which England had grown in vigour in the days of the Plantagenets, and they required strict and unimpeachable evidence that the King did not still retain all that had once been his. Even the fact that the early kings had been accustomed continually to violate the law, and had so ruade it necessary that new statures should be from rime to rime enacted in order to keep them under restraint, was dealt -ith by the judges as if it had been evidence in favour of the Io THE A'I 1V LWPOSITIO2VS. cH. xI. Crown. Instead of regarding such acts as struggles against the power of the law, they fancied that they perceived that the King had been aware that the law was on his side, but that he had allowed himself to be bought off by yielding some of his rights in return for a considerable subsidy. 1 They were encouraged in this lnistake by an idea that there had been in those times some definite system of constitutional law acknowledged by both parties, so that they were led to look upon the bar- gains into which the Commons frequently entered as if they had contained an acknowledgment of the rights clailned by the Crown. Nor were the arguments which Fleming based upon political reasoning less characteristic of opinions which were soon to « f, om become obsolete, excepting in the immediate neigh- constitu- bourhood of the Sovereign. t-Ie held, as all the tional tho» Royalist s.atesmen held during the reigns of the first two Stuart Kings, that, in addition to the ordinary power, the King was possessed of an absolute authority, which he might exercise whenever he saw fit, for the general safety of the Comlnonwealth. He was especially entitled to use his discretion on all questions arising with foreign states : he might conclude treaties and declare war; he might regulate com- merce and watch over the admission of foreign coin into the realln. It would, however, be ilnpossible for hiln to provide for the regulation of commerce, unless the power of laying ira- positions were conceded to hiln. It was truc that he could hot lay any tax upon his subjects, or upon any commodity within the realm without the consent of Parliament, but this did not affect his right to lay duties upon ilnported goods, which were to be considered as being the property of foreigners until they were actually landed in England. It might safely be left to the King's wisdoln to judge whether his subjects would be injured by the duties which he ilnposed, just as it was left to his wisdom to determine what felons might be safely par- doned. t Clarke's argument that Edward III., in givlng his assent to one o[ these statutes, did hot bind his successors is outrageous. There is nothing of this kind in Fleming's judgment x6o6 S.4LISBURI" BECO.IES LORD TRA'.4SURER. ix Such as it was, this reasoning was sufficiently in accordance with the ideas then prevalcnt to impose upon the Itouse of 'rb« Co,- Colnmons. When Parliament met, nota single voice ,,onsaait was raised against the King's refusal to remove the the reaoll- i,,g. imposition on currants and tobacco. These duties continued to be levied without difficulty. In I6O7, when the troubles in Ulster increased the expenses of the Crown, Dorset proposed to raise money by fresh impositions, but was per- suaded to substitute a new loan. When the news of O'I)ogherty's rebellion arrived, the Lord Treasurer was no more. On April I9, IOOo e, the very day ,6s. on which English and Irish were struggling for aeh« the lnastery within the walls of l)erry, l)orset died I »orset. He issue- suddenly in his place at the council table. After ceeded by 5a[isbury. the shortest possible delay, Salisbury was appointed to the vacant office. He took upon himself the burden of the disordered finances, vithout relinquishing the Secretaryship. ro¢h_.,p- Northampton, who was lais only possible rival, was ton vi, compensated by promotion to the post of Lord l'rivy s. Seal, a position which brought an increase to lais income, if it did uot carry with it lnuch additional political influence. Salisbury's appointment gave satisfaction to all who had hot profited by the previous confusion.  It was generally e.,¢pected that under his able management great changes would take place. The debt at this time was not much less than I,OOO,eOOL  It was plain that the King's finances could hot long continue in such a state without the most disastrous results : yet it was only too probable that if Parliament were called together, it would refuse to vote another subsidy till the whole of the existing grant had been levied, which would not be till the spring of I6IO. For some months belote Dorset's death, the Council had been busily employed in an attempt to meet the growing t Neville to Winwood, May 8, llTnw, iii. 398.  Account of the King's debts, Jan. 8, x61o, s. P. Dom. liii. 6. I,. THE WïlV LIIPOSITIOA'S. cH. xl. demands on the Treasury. James, knowmg how hard it vas to impose restrictions upon his own prodigal liberality, had called on his council to draw up rules to cure the 5o 7. F;nancia, distemper which wasted his resources, and especially dilficulties. to warn him when suitors applied for gifts who had already received enough to satisfy them. " For since," ho wrote "there are so many gapers, and so little tobe spared, I must needs answer those that are so diseased with the ou/imie,  or caninus ate/ilus, as a King of France did long ago answer one, Cecy sera fioz«r toi autre. ''z It was time that something should be done. During the year ending at Michaelmas 6o7, the expenditure had risen to the anaount of 500,000/. Such a suln was scarcely less than that which Elizabeth had required in the days when ail Ireland was in rebellion, and when England was still at war with Spain. James's ordinary revenue at this time hardly exceeded 32o, oooL, and even with the addition of the money derived from the recent Parliamentary grant it only reached 427,oooL, leaving a deficiency of 73,ooo/., tobe met by loans or by the sale of Crown property, z Under these circumstances, Salisbury, soon after his entrance on lais new office, determined to avail himself of the resources ,eoS. which had been so telnptingly offered to him by r,io, the recent judgment in the Exchequcr, and, without sitions, obtaining Parlialnentary consent, to lay impositions on merchandise, in addition to the customs granted in the Tonnage and Poundage Act. In order that the new ina- ¢¢ti,g« positions might be as little burdensome as possible, mer«hants, the Treasurer SUlnmoned a meeting, at which the principal merchants of the City were present, as well as several of the officers of the Custom /-Iouse. The result of their deliberations was an order for the collection of new duties, accompanied by a book of rates, 4 x'hich was published on  BovXql«.  The King to the Council, Oct. 9, lSra(fl ehtI[SS. 34, fol. 3- s See the tables in the Appendix at the end of the work, and the Pells Declarations in the ]i'. O.  A bc.'.k of rates was ordinaril issucd, because the poundagc granted ,6o8 July 28. Care was taken to lay the new duties as much as possible either upon articles of luxury, or upon such foreign manufactures as entered into competition with the productions of English industry. On the other hand, some of the existing duties, which were considered by the merchants tobe too high, were lowered. Amongst these, the imposts on currants and tobacco were considerably reduced.i The produce of these impositions was estimated at 7o,ooo/3 tIaving thus obtained an augmentation of revenue, Salisbury Redu«tionof proceeded to deal with the debt. Evcry possible the debt. effort was ruade to bring money into the Exchequer. The payment of debts due to the Crown was enforced, lands were sold, and the officials were required to be more vigilant than ever in demanding the full acquittal of all payments to which the King could lay claire. Something, too, was brought in by an aid, which, after the old feudal precedent, was levied for the knighting of Prince Henry. 13y these and similar measures, which must often have been felt to be extremely severe, Salisbury contrived to pay off 7oo,ooo/., lcaving at the commencement of 6o a sure of 3oo, ooo/. still unpaid, a Still the dif6culty of meeting the current expenditure cor- tinued to make itself felt. Such had been the exertions of St,ndig Salisbury, that, at the beginning of I6O, it was ,tfi«it. calculated that the ordinary income derived from non-Parliamentary sources which, four ycars previously, had been only 35,ooo/., had reached the amount of 46o, ooo/. This sure, though it would bave been more than ample for the wants of Elizabeth, was too little for James. tIis regular in Parliament was one shilling upon every 2o.ç. value of goods. The Crown was left to fix the amount of weight, &c., supposed on an average tobe worth 2os. Some writers speak as if the nacre issuing of a book of lates were unconstitutional.  _Par/. ])eh. in 6o (Camden Society), p. 55, and Introduction, p. xviii. z _Parl..Deb. in I6IO, Introduction, p. xx. s Besides meeting the deficits of 6o8 and 6o9, anaounting togethe to rather more than 5oo, oooL S. /'. /9». lii. 6. I4 TttE ArE IV IAIPOSITIOA'S. CH. Xt. ' expenses were estimated to exceed his income by 49,oooZ, and his extraordinary annual payments were calculated to amount to at least IOO, oooL more. Thusit had become evident, before the end of i6o9, that, unless Parliament could be induced in time of peace to make up the revenue to at least 6oo, oooL, a sure considerably exceeding that which had been raised in time of war, it was only by the most unsparing retrenchment that the King would be able to avoid a hopeless bankruptcy.  If Salisbury had ever entertained any hope of reducing the expenditure, that hope must long have been at an end. James, ,6o9. indeed, was anxious to retrench, but he was not I)ifficulty of possessed of the strength of will which alone could reducing the expenditure, bave enabled him to dismiss an importunate peti- tioner ; and even if he had refrained from granting a single farthing to lais favourites in addition to the sums to which he was already pledged, he would not bave saved much more than a quarter of his yearly deficit. It was therefore necessary that he should reduce his household expenditure by carrying economy into lais domestic arrangements, and that he should cease to squander large sums of money upon useless purchases of plate and jewels. 13y degrees he might also have lessened the charges upon the pension list, which had grown so enormcusly since lais accession.  'l_'he most striking evidence of the want of success with  Par/. De& in 6IO, Introduction, pp. xiii. and xix. e _An examination of the records of the Exchequer ill show how little truth there was in the theory which was put forward by Dorset and Salis- bury alike» that James's increase of expenditure was caused by state necessity. The ordinary peace expenditure of Elizabeth in 588-9 was, in round numbers, 2zz,ooo/. _Add to this the 46,oool which the Queen, the Princes, and the Princess cost James in 6o, and the excess of 34,000/. which he sent over to Ireland, and we bave an amount of 3o2,ooo. _Add twenty per cent. for the moderate extravagance vhich might be permitted after Elizabeth's parsimony, and we bave 362,oooL, leavlng a surplus of 99,oool from the revenue of 16IO--a surplus which would bave enabled the King to dispense with the new impositions alto- gether, and yet to keep in hand zg,oooL, which, added to what he would bave obtained from the Great Contract, would bave been far more thatl encugh to meet all reasonab.e extraordinary expenss. 16o9 '4MES CANA'O T _FCOA'OM'ISE. 15 which James's attempts to economise were usually attended, is afforded by the results of an order which he issued in the ntaa or sanguine hope of being able to put a check upon his  o,,,., own profusion. In lIay  69, he signed a docu- lauds. lnent  by which he entailed upon the Crown the greater part of the lands which were at that time in lais posses- sion. He engaged hot to part with them without the consent of a certain number of the members of the Privy Council. A few months before he had ruade a declaration that in future he should refuse to grant away any portion of lais revenues, except- ing out of certain sources which were expressly named.  Iht this measure, admirable in itself, was insufficient to remedy the evil. James had forgotten to bind lais hands, so as to prohibit himself from giving away ready money; and the consequence was, that whereas before the promulgation of the King's decla- ration, the courtiers who were anxious to fill their pockets usually asked for an estate, they afterwards asked directly for money. That they did hOt find any insuperable obstacles to contend with is shown by the fact that, although the King ceased to grant land, the free gifts paid out of the Exchequer showed no tendency to diminish. Whilst Salisbury was thus engaged as Lord Treasurer in an apparently hopeless effort to clear away the financial embarrass- ments of the Crown, he was also called on as Secretary to take the lead in domestic policy and in delicate negotiations with foreign powers. At home, the difficuhies caused by the increased severity of the recusancy laws continued to give trouble. For some time indeed after the enactment of the statute re- quiring the oath of allegiance to be taken, the condition of the july o, English Catholics had been better than might bave ,o6. been expected in the midst of the outburst of indigna- P, anlshment o,t tion which had followed the abortive plot. On July x o, la«»t. 6o6, James fell back upon his old plan of banishing the priests, and at the same time informed the Catholic laity that he would only regard those as disloyal who ' under pretext  Indenture, 5Iay 8, 6o9, 5". /'. D,m. xlvi.  King's DecL-ration, Nov. 68, & P. Dotn. xxxvii. 74, I6 THE NEIV I, TIPOSITIONS. cH. xt of zeal,' ruade ' it their only object to persuade disobedience and to practise the ruin of this Church and Commonwealth.'  If the oath had been freely and generally taken, it is probable that, in spire of all that had happened, the Catholics would bave been hot much worse off than they had The Catho- licsdifferas been in x6o 5. There was, however, a difference of to the law- fulness of opinion amongst them as to the lawfulness of taking the taking the oath of oath. Shortly after the prorogation in i6o6 a meeting allcgiance, was held at the bouse of Blackwell, the Archpriest, at which rive other priests were present. Blackwell himself had at first doubted whether ho might take the oath ; but ho finally became persuaded that ho lnight lawfully do so, on the curious ground that as the Pope could hot depose James with- out doing harm, it might be said, generally, that he could hot doit, and if ho could hot doit, he certainly had no right to do it. Two of those prescrit were convinced by this strange logic, but the three others held out. Blackwell allowed it to be publicly known that he saw no objection to the oath, but attempted, noc long afterwards, to recall an opinion in which ho round that he differed from the greater number of the priests.  The oppenents of the oath determined to refer the difiïculty to Romc. Unhappily, Clement YJJI. was dcad, and of ail Th Pop mon thon living Paul V. was tbe least fitted to deal ¢oultd. withsuch a question. At the deathof his predecessor the College of Cardinals was divided into two bitterly opposed factions ; they agreed to unite upon the naine of a man who was indifferent to both. The new Pope had passed his lire in retirement and study. The cardinals imagined that they had found a man who would romain isolated among his books, and would leave all political interests and emoluments to them. It was not the first time that the cardinals had elected a Pope under the influence of similar feelings. Itis certain that they were noyer more bitterly disappointed than on this occasion : they knew that the man whom they had chosen was a student, but they had forgotten that his studios had been  Proclamation ; Tierney's Dod& iv. App. p. cxxxii.  5Itsh to , July t t ; Tiemey's Dodd. App. p. cxxxvi. 6o6 /'/UL H chiefly conned to the canon law. The world in whch he lived was one which had long passed way from the earth. To him ail the c]ahns of the Gregorys and the Innocents were disputable rights, and the boldest assertions of the decretals were the fundamental axioms of Divine and human wisdoln. A man of the world would have felt instinctively the change vhich had passed over Europe since the thirteenth century. Paul knew nothing of it. In a few months after his election, it the spring of 6o5, he was flinging his denunciations broad- cast over Italy, and in little more than a year he had brought himself to m open rupture -ith the powerful Relublic of Yenice. His first step towards James had been conciliatory. As soon as he heard of the discovery of the plot, he despatched an agent to London, in order to obtain from the july. King some promise of better treatment for the Catho- The Pope triesto liCS, and to assure him of his own detestation of the open nego- " " with attempted violence. As might bave been expected tlatlons J--nes, in the excited state in which mens minds were, these negotiations led to nothing. The news of the promulgation of the new oath was calcu- lated to raise the bitterest feelings of indignation in the mind of Paul. The denial of his right to authorise the deposition of kings struck at the authority whieh had often been wielded by his predecessors. AI1 who were around him urged hiln to take some step against such an insolent invasion of his rights. A meeting had been held at Brussels by the English Jesuits who were in the Archduke's dominions, and they despatched twc messengers to press the Pope to sustain the cause of the Church.  Paul did not stand in need of much pressure on such a subject. On September --', he issued a breve,  in which the  Villeroi to Boderie, Aug..o, A»,bassades de ,JZ. de la BoJo'ge, i. 284.  Bod.erie to the King of France, July xo, Boderie, i. 2oo. Edmondes fo Salisbtry, Sept. 7, I6O6, & /'. Flan,lors.  Tierney's Dodd. iv. App. p. cxl. VOL. II. C 8 YHE A;EI.V I:.IPOSITIO:VS. cH. x, ¢)ath was condenmed, and the Eng|ish Catholics were told Sept. {{. that they could not take it without peril of their Iut con- salvation. Care was, however, taken not to specify demns the oath. what particular clause of the oath was considered to be liable to objection. Before the breve arrived in England, many of the banishcd priests had returned to their duty, at the risk of a martyr's death. The breve itself was a declaration of war where terres of peace had been offered. Yet it was some time before James was goaded into retaliation. The Catholics were strong »e«e,er. at Court, and James's finances were in disorder. ]'o»oI to Suffolk and his wife approached the Spanish aln- ptzrchase toleration, bassador with a proposal that his toaster should pay over a large sure of money to buy toleration for the Catholics. Such a proposal could only delay, and hot avert, the blow. The press poured forth pamphlets against the Church of Rome. James could hardly have consented to so mean a concession if he had wished, and, in fact, the Catholics themselves shrewdly suspected that the whole project was set on foot merely to fill the pockets of Suffolk and Northampton. * He gave Fcb. fS 16o» orders to the judges to put the low in execution Sufferingsof against a few priests, by way of terrifying the rest. " the priests, In consequence, on February 6, a priest, Robert Drury, suffered at Tyburn the barbarous penalty of treason. 4 The treatment of the laity was harsh enough, even ifit did not fill up the measure of the law. The wretched sacramental test ,na ofth indeed was rendered nugatory by James's good sense, laity, and the fines for keeping recusant servants were hot inflicted, » but a new commission was issued to lease the lands of convicted recusants. Fresh names were added to tle list,  131ount to Persons, Dec. 7 ; Tierney's Dod, t. iv. App. 13. cxliv.  Persons to Paul V., Jan. 8, 6o7 ; oltat Trmtscri.pls, l. O. Feb. 7, -  Zansd. MS& 53, fol. 93- * Tierney's Dod, t. iv. 79- » There is no trace in the Receipt Books of the Exchequer of any fine exacted either for not taking the sacrament or for keeping recusant servants. On the promulgation of the stature, hovever, many Catholic servants had been discharged, to escape the penalties of the Act. ,6o7 TREATM'E2VT OF TIrE . CA TttOLICS. 9 and larger sums than ever were wrung out of the unfortunate landowners. The way in which advantage was taken of that clause of the statute which related to those who had hitherto paid the zoL fine lnUSt have been peculiarly annoyilag. The King had now power to refuse this fine, and to seize two-thirds of the property. Instead of doing this, as had been intended, for the benefit of the Exchequer, he retained the fine himsélf, and granted to his favourites leave to extract bribes out of the owners by holding over them the threat of putting the stature in force.  Of those who were hot rich enough to pay the fine, and whose lands were seized, a large nmnber saw their possessions pass into the hands of courtiers, who were frequently Scotchmen. In the ][ouse of Commons, which had again met, the strongest Protestants protested that they would never have passed these clauses of the Act if they had known that the Scots were to had bave the benefit of them. But, whatever evil sp,rang from the stricter execution of the confiscatory statures, it was as nothing when coml)ared with the Conse- misery which resulted from the new oath. In vain quences of refusing the the Catholics offered to take another oath, which oath. would equally bind them to obedience, whilst it left the claires of the Pope unmentioned.  Such a colnpromise was rejected with scorn. There were, indeed, many of the Catholics, especially amongst the laity, who imitated the Archpriest in taking the oath. There were even many who, either terrified by the severity of the la; or dissatis- fied with a Church which had counted Catesby and his associ- ates among its members, deserted the religion which they had hitherto professed ;  but numbers of loyal subjects stood firm in their refusal. The prisons ¥ere soon crowded with men who were hot to be induced to betray their consciences. Even  Notification from the Signet Office, 6o6, in Tierney's Z)o,t,L iv. App. p. Ixxv. The date of Oct. I6O 5 there given must be wrong, as the stature was hOt then in existence, and Lord IIay, who was one of the recipients, had hot received his peerage.  Two forms are given in Tierney's DodL iv. App. p. exc. s Emondes to SalisbulT, Sept. 7, I6O6, S. 1: Tat,ters. Cg 2o 7"HE _'E IV L]IPOSITIOA'S. ch. xt. those who escaped actual ill-treatment lived in a state of constant insecurity. A miserable race of informers, and of oficials who were as bad as the informers, swarmed over the country, who, knowing that by a word they could consign to ruin the toaster of the bouse into which they entered, allowed themselves to treat the inmates with the most overbearing insolence. These rnen cared rnuch more about putting money into their own pockets than about procuring a conviction which would enrich the King. Heavy bribes might buy them off, until they chose to return to renew their demands. Those who re- fused in this way to obtain a respire from their persecutors, were dragged off, often under circumstances of the greatest in- dignity, to the nearest justice of the peace, where the oath was tendered to them, on pain of being ilmnediately committed to prison. The aged and the weak were hot seldom subjected to personal violence. It frequently happened that those who escaped were reduced to beggary, and were compelled to sub- sist upon the charity of others who were left in possession of some little which they could, for the moment, call their own. In the course of this persecution, Blackwell was captured and sent to the gate-house. He was one of those men who never look a dil-ficulty in the face if they can help it, llackwell takesthe and he took advantage of some informality in the tl. Pope's breve to throw doubts on its being the rem product of the Pope's mind. Accordingly hellOt only took Cnductof the oath himself, but wrote a letter to the priests l;t,ck,,.«n, under lais charge, recolnmending them to follow his example.  It is easy to conceive with what eyes this conduct was viewed at Rome. g.-l. The Pope issued .a second breve, reiterating his ]'he Pope ico- condemnation of the oath.  I3ellarmine wrote to re- d,-,.,ti,, th monstrate with lSlackwell, and as the Archpriest at- * The report ot Father Pollard in Tierney's Zodd. iv. App. p. elx, should be read by all who wish to know what svas the character of the cenes which took place at this time. - Blackwell to the clergy, July 7, Tiernej¢'s IDot. iv. App. p. exlvii.  Tierney's Da.Id. iv. App. p. cxlvi. I608 Ttt-E AR,IIISTICE I.V TtIE ,VETtlERLAA'DS. =! V,.b.., eoS. tcmpted to justify bimself he was dcposcd from his l)eposition oflllackwdl. Ofi(ïce. 1 Belote the Pope's second breve reached England, the flight of Tyrone and Tyrconnell was known. The danger flore a Catholic insurrection in Ireland would be very great if the Earls proved justified in their expectation of receiving support from Spain; and there was every reason to pose that Spain would soon bave ber banals ffee from that war with the I)utch which had eaten out the vigour of the monarchy of Philip II. On Match S), x6o7, an agreement had been signed be- tween the Archdukes and the States of the United Province & 3, arranging for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to Ce«sation oç the opening ofnegotiations for peace. I)uring the ]ast hostilitiesin tWO years the Dutch had learnt a lesson. the Nether- lands, they had been able to set the capture of Sluys against the loss of Ostend ; but in the two following years Spinola had pressed thcm back step by step, upon their eastcrn fronticr.  It was .alrcady becoming doubtful xvhether it would hot be xviser to obtain peace upon honourable terres, than to set no limits to the war short of the acquisition of the whole of the Spanish Netherlands. Barneveld, at least, ald thc large party which looked up to his guidance, had changed their views since they had steadily refused to take part with England the treaty of I6O4. On the other hand, Maurice, at the head of the army, and a great part of the population of Holland and Zeeland, who were making their fortunes at sea, were still desirous of continuing the war upon any terres. The Archduke, on his part, had long been sighing for an opportunity of pcace to repair the ravages of war in his wasted dominions. Nor was the King of Spain himself now inclincd to resist. The capture of a few towns in Guelderland and Overyssel could not make alnends for the drain uon his impoverished exchequer. Every month it was becoming more  Bellarmine to lackwell, Sept. g. Blaekwell to Bellarmine, Nov. à, 6o 7. Breve deposing Blackwcll, Fcb. 4, 6o8. Tierne}"s Zodd. App. pp. cxlviii-dix. Match. 3', 1607 » S. . tIotland. z Agreelnent April 2" TttE TRUCE OF A2VTIVERP. cI. xI. and more impossible to find money to pay the troops in the Nctherlands, and at any moment the ablest combinations of Spinola might be frustrated by a mutiny of the army. At sea the Dutch were completely masters, and the once powerful monarchy of Spain was trembling for her communications with the Indies. The news of the cessation of hostilities was hot acceptable either to Salisbury or to James. l.ike Burke in 1793, Salisbury believed that the encroachment of foreign intrigues could be hecked by war alone. But, unlike Burke, he wished the burden of the war to fall on the Continental nations, whilst England enjoyed the blessings of peace. But besides his hesitation to accepta change which would leave the Spanish forces free to attack Egland, Salisbury Sallsbury's undoubtedly believed that the cessation of war «,pinionson woald be injurious to the States themselves. He he negotia- ,io». feared lest the edifice of government, which had been so laboriously reared out of discordant materials, would fall to pieces as soon as Spanish agents were allowed free access to the discontented.  In the instructions given in August to Sir Nalph Winwood and Sir Richard Spenser, who were to represent England at the conferences which were expected to open at the Hague, care was taken to impress on flaem that, though they ere not to put themselves forward as opponents of the peace, they were to encourage the States o rcnew the war, if they should find that they had any wish to do so.  ŒEhe question raised by these negotiations was no Spanlsh ,,-,-t,,¢» to altogether a simple one. If Spain were weakened in J'» the Netherlands, it might be that lrance would reap the profit, and no English Government could do otherwise than  This double feeling is naïvely expressed in a letter of Winwood and Spenser to Salisbury : "We knov how necessary the continuance of the ar would be to the safety of the Provinces if means might be round to malntain it, and hov convenient this war would be for the good of Iti llajesty's realms, il" it might be malntained without his charge," Nov. 22, 16o7, & : t]olland. "' Cmmission to Winwood and Spencer» Atg. Io Z'j,mer xvk 663. Instructions» ll'inw, ii. 329. 16o7 SP./IAV /A'D TII C./ITIlOLZC._ç. 3 rcsist the extension of French power on the eastern shores of the North Sea. Scarcely, thel'efore, had the cessation or hostilities been agreed on, whcn Spain attelnpted to win James over by renewing the abortive scheme for a marriage between Irince Henry and the Infanta, coupled with a demand for the conversion of the former.l Nothing came or was likely to corne of the proposal, and in December the English ambassador at lX[adrid was inforlned that, without the Prince's conversion, there could be no lnarriage.  In the autumn, however, a counter project was forwardcd to Spain from England. The l'ope s second breve must have rcached England about the beginning of Septelnber. A few days later calne news that the Irish earls had bcen wcll received by the Spanish authorities in the Low Countries, which naturally gave fise to a beliefthat the Spaniards intcnded to support their designs upon hcland.  Northamp- ton and Suffolk were anxious to persuade Jalnes to treat the Catholics more leniently, and Saisbury, either in consequence of James's anxiety tobe on good terlns with Spain, or through his o'n anxiety at the menacing aspect of affairs, joined North- ampton in urging the Spanish ambassador, Zuffiga, to suggest to his Governlnent a marriage betwecn the son of Philip's brother- Octobre. in-law, the Duke of Savoy, and the Princess Elizabeth, ooa on the understanding that the religion of the latter marriage of th, Pi,c« as hot to be interfered -ith.  So serious did the Elizabeth. danger of a general resistance of the Ctholics of the three kingdoms appear that, belote the end of October, Salis- bury, probably at James's instigation, begged Zufiga to urge Jam«s the l'ope to write a kind lettcr to James, offering fo ,,.i.,h. r« excolnlnunicate those Catholics who rebelled against the help of the Pope. their Sovereign, and to direct them to take arms, if necessary, to defend him against invasion. If Paul would do this all the fines imposed upon the Catholics would be at once t t3arberini to Borghese, June 3o Ioman TranscHlç, 1. O. Jury to, 2 Cornwallis to Salisbury, Dec. io, IITnw. ii. 363. s Vertaut to Puisieux, Sept.  moassaacs d« la lo&ric, il. 387.  Philip III. to Aytona, Oct. 2t---:" Persons to Paul V., oman Tatl. tcrils» R. O. 4 TttE TRUCE OF A2VTII'ERP. cH. xl remitted, and they would be allowed to keep priests in their houses without hindrance from the Government. In forwarding these schemes for a reconciliation with Spain and the Catholic world, Salisbury did hot wish to abandon the Dutch. He expected that the King of Spain would, in return for the English alliance, seriously carry on the negotiations with the Republic, and acknowledge the independence of the States. z A policy which depended on a mutual understand- ing for the good of mankind between James I., Paul v., and the King of Spain, was likely to meet with considerable obstacles. In the meanwhile there had been considerable delay in opening the conferences at the Hague, in consequence of the Th« St,te» difficulty of inducing Spain to recognise the Provinces ,em,nd  as free and independent states. Whilst these delays guarantee. were rendering the ultimate issue of the negotiations doubtful, the States were pressing England and France to enter into an engagement to succour them in case of the failure of their efforts to obtain peace, or, at least, to guarantee the future treaty with Spain. Jeannin, the able diplomatist who was ena- ployed by the King of France to watch the negotiation, waited upon the English Colaalaaissioners, and told them that he had orders to promote a peace, unless England would join with France in supporting war. He therefore wished to know what course their Government would take.  James was jealous of French influence in the Netherlands, and he considered the de- mands ruade by the Dutch to be exorbitant. The States, he said, were asking him for a ' huge number of ships ' and a vast mnount of lnoney. "Should I ruin myself," he wrote to Salis-  Zuîïlga to Philip III., Oct.., Simancas [SS. e584, 69.  I gather this from a despatch of Zuiïiga's of Dec. L (Simancas I'SS. 584, 84), in which he describes Salisbury as excessively angry on the receipt of a letter from Cornwallis, announcing that the King of Spain has assigned only the small sure of 5,oooL for his pensions to his confidants in England ; and also that the King of Spain does hot intend to make peace 'ith the Dutch 'sino intretenerlos hasta ponerse muy poderoso, y luego hechar por todo." * Commissioners to Salisbury, Nov. 29, I0O7, S. I . I[olland. 167 A3[ES A«VD TtlE DUTc-t. bury, " for maintaining them ? Should I bestow as much upon »e«emer. them yearly as cometh to the value of my vhole j.,e yearly rent ? I look that by a peace they should indisposition lhelpthena, enrich themselves to pay me mS" dcbts, and if they be so weak as they cannot subsist, either in peace or war, without I ruin myself for upholding them, in that case surely the nearest harm is to be first eschewed : a man will leap out of a burning ship and drown himself in the sea ; and it is doubtless a farther off harm from me to surfer them to fall again into the hands of Spain, and let God provide for the danger that may wilh time fall upon me or my posterity, than presently to starve myself and naine with putting the meat in their mouth ; nay rather, if they be so weak as they can neither sustain themselves in peace nor war, let them leave this vainglorious thirsting for the ttle of a free state, which no people are worthy of, or able to enjoy, that cannot stand by themselves like substantives, and . . . let their country be divided betwixt France and me, otherwise the King of Spain shall be sure to consume us, making us waste ourselves to sustain his enemies."  So James wrote garrulously. Jkfter a little while, however, time, and perlaaps Salisbury's advice, brought counsel. It 'as obvious that, if England refused to take part in the guarantee required, the States would throw thenaselves into the arms of France. James therefore resolved to give a guarantee, though he stipulated that it should be kept entirely separate from thê similar engagement of the King of France.  Even after James's refusal to join the French, it would bave been desirable that, at least, the two documents should be signed on the sarne day, in order that the two Govervments might show a common riont to Spain. ut here a difficulty occurred. The English commissioners required, before they signed, that an acknowledgment should be given them of the debt -hich the tates owed to the King of England, and as differences existed both as to the amount of the debt .'md as to the time when it was to be paid, they declined to join the  The King to Salisbury, Dee (?} 6o7. IIa(el,1 3IS.ç. x34, fol. 48.  Corespondence in the Lette 13oo of SI0enser and Winwood, . P, tIolland. 6 TIIE TRUCE OF AVT'ERP. cH. xL lrench, t Several COlnpromises were proposed in vain, and on January xS, 16o8, the French signed alone. "I'he English treaty lingered on for some months before its terres were finally agreed upon. The news of these differences between the mediating powers must have gladdencd the hearts of the Spanish Commissioners, who arrived shortly after the signature of the French Jan. 6, ,6o8. treaty. On January 26 the conferences were at last Opening of the confer- opened, and in a few days the Spaniards announced, to the astonishment of all, that their master was rcady to agree to the complete renunciation of all sovereignty over the United Provinces, on the part either of the Archdukes or of the King of Spain. It was less easy to corne to terms on the question of the right of navigation to the Indies. The States offered to leave the question undecided, as it had been left in the treaty with England ; but that which Spain had granted to an independent sovereign she refused to yield to subjects who had so lately escaped from ber dolninion. The Spaniards offered to leave the traffic open for a few years, if the States would prolnise to bind themselves to prohibit their subjects frorn enain,« «" , for a longer period in that trade. At last, af'ter several counter-propositions had been ruade, it was agreed that the Dutch should be allowed to trade for nine years to those parts of the Indies which were not in the actual occupation of Spain, upon the understanding that before the expiration of that Tr. period, negotiations should be entered into for the areedtobYtheCommis, definite settlement of the question. On March _i, ins. one ofthe Spanish Commissioners was sent to Madrid to obtam the approval of the King, and the conferences were soon afterwards adjourned.  The King of Spain kept the States in suspense during the "rh : whole of the summer. He had great difficulty in of Spain • «,, to bringing himself to consent to the proposais to which theagreet°term$ his representatives had agreed. If he refused to vrolos«a, give way, there were still many chances in his favour.  Commissioners to the Council, Jan. 6, 6o8, S./'. t[oll«nd. Jean- tain and Russy to the King of France, Jan. , 6o8» Jeannin»  2][etcren. 1608 ,ç. PA A TSH LVTRIG UES. 27 Of the United Provinces, only two were engaged in com- merce. The other rive were particlllarly exposed to the ravages of the contending arlnies. It might, therefore, be reasonably supposed that they would be unwilling to renew the war for the sake of the trade with the Indies. Egland was known to be lukewarln, and James had been urging Philip once more to consent to the marriage of the Princess Eizabeth with the Prince of Piedtnont.l But even if the project had been received with favour at Madrid, it would have bcen wrecked by the illwill of the Pope, who pereml)torily refused to consent to an arrange- ment which would have given a heretic duchess to Savoy. l ,« Spain too was looking elsewhere for support. Pedro Spàin de Toledo was sent on a special mission to France, attentpts to gain over to propose a marriage between Philip's second son, tlenry IV. Charles, and a daughter of Henry IV., on the vldcr- standing that the young couple were to bave the sovereignty of the l_ow Countries after the death of its present rulers. In rcturn it was expected that Henry would help in the reconquest of the rebellious States for the benefit of his future son-in-law, or would at least insist on the Dutch abandoning the trade with the Indies, and permitting the free exercise of the Çatholic re. ligion within their territories. It was believed at Madrid that, if these two concessions were ruade, the Rcpublic would, in the course of a few years, be unable to maintain its independence. Henry was, however, impervious to the arguments of the ambassador, and rejected the proffered alliance.  Until it was known that these overtures had been rejected by Henry there was lnuch alarm at the English court. The Fb,-,r» suggestion ruade by Salisbury in November  that a :i,,g' the Pope should take the first step towards a re- A oloLy for t« o,a of conciliation by entering into an engagelnent for the au««/'«e" loyalty of the English Cntholics had met with no reponse, and in February James had transferred his quarrel * Summary of ZuNga' depatch, Iarch u 0, Roman Transcrits» . O. April 8,  Cardinal Millino to Paul V. June u._..__.. 64, ibid. J uly 4, Mav 3'_ ' Oct. 4-- Roman Transcri.t't:  Ubaldini to Iorghese, Jun ,o, , * Page 2 3. 28 THE TRUCE OF A2VTI'tRP. cm xI. with the Pope from the field ef diplomacy to that of literature. In his Mology for the Oatl, of Allegian,'e, he attacked the two breves, and vindicated the rights of temporal authority agamst the ecclesiastical power. Would it be possible, "however, to maintain this defiant attitude if Spain and France came to terms ? This was the question which was discussed in June in the Privy Council. Many of tb.ose prescrit urged that it would be necessary, in the face of such a danger, to grant toleration to the Q,,.tio of Catholics. Salisbury, however, stood firln.l If Spain tolerating ,,e was to be on good terlns with France, England must cthoics, rely upon its Protestantism. Salisbury:s reply to the mission of Pedro de Toledo was the signature, on June 6, of the long-deferred league with June x6. the States.  James prolnised that, if the peace were .gb¢- concluded, and was afterwards broken by Spain, he ,,gla would send to the defence of the Republic 6,000 and the .s. foot and 600 horse, besides a fleet of twenty ships. If he were attacked, the Dutch were to assist hiln with a silnilar number of ships, but a land force of 4,000 foot and 300 horse would be sufficient. In a separate agreement  the States acknowledged a debt of 88,4o8/. Nothing was, how- ever, to be required of them till two years after the conclusiol of peace with Spain. The repayment was then to commence by half-yearly instalments of 3o,ooo/., an amount which was afterwards reduced to 2o,oooL Een the failure of their attempt to corne to an understanding with France did not teach the Spaniards wisdom. When, on August o, the con- f«rences re-opened, the Spanish Commissioners announced that Philip would only acknowledge the States to be independent comlnunities on condition of their abandoning the Est India trade, and tolerating the Catholic religion. « These proposais vere at once rejected. The 2English and French Commis- Jtlrle  Singleton to -- (?)  oman 'ranscr;ls) . O.  Nymcr, xvi. 667.  ymer, xvl. 673.  Motley's gSdt,'d étherlands» iv. 46I. 16o9 SIG2M TURE OF TttE TRUCE. sioners, now, at last, able to work together, perceiving that the rroposal two parties were not likely to corne to an agreement, or,truc« proposed that a long truce should be substituted for a peace. The Provinces were to be acknowledged as an independent State, and the trade with the Indies was to be thrown open to them as long as the truce lasted. This arrange- ment was accepted in principle ; but even then it was difficult to draw it up in terms which would be satisfactory to both the contracting l'owers. The States demanded that their absolute independence should be acknowledged. The Spaniards thought that enough was conceded if they consented to treat with them as an independent State for the time being, so as to have it in their power to reassert their claires upon the re- sumption of hostilities. Neither party would give way. On September o, the Spanish and Flemish Commissioners bro.ke up the conferences "rh eo,- and returned to t3russels, giving it to be understood fcrences that if the States were willing to renew the negctia- re broken "v. tions, no difficulty would be thrown in their way. It was not without considerable labour that Jeannin suc- ceeded in bringing the negotiators together again. At last, o9. however, the conferences were resumed at Antwerp, "rh t,c« where, on March 3 o, 6o9,  a truce was signed for signed at .ntwerp. twelve years. The States contented themselves with a general recognition of their independence. The King of Spain, though he reserved a right to prohibit traffic ith his own territories in the Indies, )'et declared that he would throw no impediment in the way of the trade of the Dutch with any of the native states beyond the limits of the Spanish posses- sions. This was the greatest concession vhich had )'et been wrung from Spain. The position of England, at the conclusion of the truce, was no doubt inferior to that which she might have occupied if J ames had at once entered upon a bolder policy. Still, at the end of the negotiations, she was found in her right placex She had joined with France in guaranteeing the States I lIarch 30. April q. TttE TIUCE OF iLVTH'EIP. CH. XL against any attelnpt on the part of Spain to infringe the articles of the truce. There can be no doubt that, in the course he had finally taken, Salisbury was acting wisely. If France and England had been faithful to the policy which they now adopted, and had continued to present a bold front to the aggression of Spain and her allies, the storm which was even then hanging over Central Europe might have been permanently averted. Jaines was probably the more ready at this rime to act in conjunction with France, as he was still under considerable alarm lest Spain should give aid to the Irish fugitives. So great was lais anxiety, even after the suppression of O'Dogherty's rebcllion, that in the autmnn of 6o8 the Spanish ambassador in England was assured, either by James himself or by lame offers i,, .do some one speaking in lais naine, that it was in conten» Tyrone. plation to grant a pardon to Tyrone, and to tolerate the Catholic religion.t Nowhere would any project conceived in favour of the july =6. Catholics meet with steadier resistance than in Scot- -r a.-«- land. In July x6o8, a General Assembly met at Lin- bly of Lin- lithgow, lithgow. The influence of the new Moderators  had everywhere been employed to procure the election of persons acceptable to the Court. a The hopelessness of resistance, the absence of the banished and imprisoned leaders, together with the knowledge that the Bishops were possessed of the power to raise ministers' stipends, did wonders with that numerous class of men which is inclined by natural temperament to go with the stream. Nor can it be doubted that many of the decidedly Presbyterian clergy too had taken no great interest in the high ecclesiastical pretensions of Melville and Forbes. Nor was the appearance of Dunbar, attended by some forty noblemen, who  tlorghese to the Nuncio in Spain, Nov.  Roman Transcriils , R.O. = Vol. i. p. 32I.  " We bave already visited three Presbyterles, and bave round the number of yonr honest servants to exceed the seditious. We bave caused them choose Commissioners to the ensuing General Asem]c.ly, and, ot twelve, I will be answerable for nine. This has been the most seditious province"--i.e. Fife--" in ail our kingdom.'--Gladstanes to the King, April I7, 13otfield, OrAg. Z.ell«rs, I3I. 16o8 TtlE CASE .dG.412VST BALI1ERI2VO. 3t came to vote as well as to listen, likely to add to the inde- pendence of the ministers present. At all events the Assembly turned its attention chiefly to the extirpation of 'Popery,' excommunicated Huntly and ordered the excommunication of the Earls of Errol and Angus, and of Lord Sempill, as soon as legal proceedings taken against them as Catholics could be completed. Then, after resolving that the Catholics should be subjected to several fresh restrictions, and appointing a com- mission to discuss the controversy which agitated the Church, the Assembly separated, after choosing a body of Con'mais- sioners to wait on the King for his approval to its measures.  The Scottish Catholics were in great alarm. The Chan- cellor, who was now known as the Earl of Dunfermline, and the Secretary Lord 13ahnerino, who, under the naine of Sir James Elphinstone, bad once surreptitiously obtained the King's signature to a letter to Clement 3,'III., conferred anxiously on so threatening a conjuncture of affairs. They Sept. resolved to despatch Balmerino to England, to entreat P, almerino's James to hold lais hand.  They could not have choscn vislt to »:,,g,d. a more inopportune moment. When Balmerino ar- rived at Royston, about the middle of October, James had for some days had in his hands an answer to his .41ology for the OaN, eU..i of Allegiance written by Bellarmine under the naine charges j,s,,-;th of one of lais chaplains, l\[atthew Tortus. In this having writ- answer it was asserted that, before James left Scot- ten to the »op« land, his ministers had assured the Pope that he was likely to become a Catholic, and that he had bimself written to Clement, recommending the promotion of the Bishop of Vaison to the cardinalate, s James was deeply vexed. He had no recollection of ever having written anything of the kind, and he directed Salisbury to ask Lord Gray, a Scottish Catholic noblelnan who had been in Rome at the time when .J,..,--ks the letter was said to have arrived, whether he could ,,,q,,,,s. tell him anything about the matter.  When, therefore, Balmerino entered the King's presence at  Calderv,ood, vl. 751.  S2oltist,ocde , 197.  Vol. i. p. 8o. * Gra)" to Salisbury, Oct. 3, ttat.fi«ld «]ISS. 126 fol. 59- 3 2 TttE TI¢UCE OF A_/VTIVRP cH. x. Royston he was at once challenged, as having been secretmy when the lctter was written, to state what had really happened. To secure the presence of itnesses James had placed Hay and one or two others in lais bedroom, which opened out of ll.dmerlno the room in which he was, and had left the door of Ideshis communication open. ]3ahnerino fell on lais knees f,,)t, and acknowledged that he had drawn up the letter. After a faim attempt at denial, he acknowledged also that the King had not known what he was about when he signed it. James determined to make the whole story public. His character for truthfulness, on which he was extrelnely sen- sitive, was involved. IIe bade the English Privy ames orders i,, ,o « Council examine the affair, and sent them a whole ,i»« string of elaborate interrogatories to help them in sifting the matter to the bottom. "Though ye were born straners, he wrote to them xvith lais own hand, "to the country where this was done, yet are ye no strangers to the King thereof; and ye know, if the King of Scotland prove a knave, the King of England can never be an honest man. Work so, therefore, in this as having interest in your King's reputaticn." "I ferait to you and ail honest men," he said in a letter to Salisbury, "to think upon ail the ways that may be for clearing of lny honesty in it, which I had the more need to do, considering his treachery. I only pray you to think that never thing in this world touched me nearlier than this doth. God knows I ana and ever was upright and innocent ; but how the world may know it, that must chiefly be done by some publie course of his punishment, wherein I look to bear your advice af ter his examination." Balmerino, upon examination by the Privy Councillors, deliberately acknowledged his offence. James was ahnost v..ei,o' childishly triumphant. "For my part," he told :o,,fio,. Salisbury, "I may justly say that the name-giving me of James included a prophetical mystery of my fortune, for, as a Jacob, I wrestled with my arms upon the fifth of August  for my lire, and overcame. Upon the fifth of November I wrestled and  The day of the Gowrie l'lot. 1839 I?AL2IERIA'O'S CO.VFESSIO,V. 33 overcame with my wit, and now in a case ten times dearer to me than my life, I mean my reputation, I have wrestled and overcome with my memory. "1 James had hot succeeded so completely as he had hoped in silencing lais advcrsarics, tte shrank from shedding blood, and there would have been some difficulty in bringing evidence against ]3ahnerino, as lais confession before the English Privy Councillors could hot be produced in a Scottish 6o9. lm«ri,o court. Dunbar was therefore authorised to assure «o,,«n,«,. him that if he would plead guilty he should hOt surfer in lire or estate, u almcrino took the advice, and at St. Andrews he acknowledged lais offence as he had acknow- ledged it at Whitchall. He was condemned to death, but was allowed to remain in confinement in lais own bouse during the test of his lire. It became an article of faith with ail good Presbyterians that no credence was to be given to a confession thus collusively obtained. They were the more confirmed in their opinion because when James produced an answer to  The King to the Council, Oct. 17. Interrogatories for 13ahnerino. Confession of Bahnerino. Thc King to Salisbury, Oct. 19 and Oct. (?), rIal.fl eM3[SS. '34, fois. I23, 24 ; 6, fol. 67 ; I34, fols. 98, o4. I do hot think that even the most firm believer in the theoryofJames'sduplicity could read these letters without being convinced of his transparent in- genuousness. 13esides, if 13almerino had been induced to confess a fault which he had not committed. James would bave sent him at once to Scot- land, without undergoing the totally unnecessary investigation before the English Privy Council, and would, at all events, hot bave had anyone bebind his bedroom door to be witness at the first audience. Moreover, in the narrative dravn up by 13almerino, and printed in Calderwood, ri. 789, the secretary hot only avovs, but justifies, his act. I t is evident that it was hot prepared in the King's interest, as it charges him with being guilty of entering upon the negotiations in spirit if hot in letter. Besides, it appears, from ]3almerino's language, when he asked X'elverton's legal opinion {.4dd. 21LçS. 4,o3o, fol. 89) , that the letter was written without the King's knovledge. It is true that he speaks of his act as being ' reputed very good service while it vas a-doing, and only kept close at that time for the offence of the late Queen and this State ;' but as he distinctly acknow- ledged that he had obtained the signature surreptitiously, this statement must refer to the correspondence vith the cardinals and the Italian princes.  Caldet-,oood ri. 825. VOL, II. D 34 THE TIUCE OF ANTH'ERP. cH. Tortus under the title of A t're»tozilz'on fo all [he most mighLy "rb« Ki,z'. _&rozar,'hs, Aï,gs, _Free t'rimes, and S[a[cs of Cbristen- Premonition. l]Olil, he did hot refer to 13almerino's confession at all.  It is possible that, by the rime that book appeared, James had relnelnbered that the signature of the letter to the Pope was but a small part of the charge against him, and had become unwilling to call attention to the fact that, at all events, he had ordered letters to be written to the Cardinals. In the spring of x6o 9, therefore, James had everywhere taken up a position of hostility to the Catholics. In Scotland j.,.« he had authorised fresh attempts to reduce their losition to- nulnbers by the terrors of the law. In Ireland he wards the Catholics. WaS laying the foundations of English supremacy by the plantation of Ulster. On the Continent he appeared as the ally of the States General, and had allowed the project of Catholic marriages for lais children to drop out of sight. He had thrown himself vigorously into a literary controversy on the timits of ecclesiastical authority. Would all this be suffi- cient to knit together again the broken bonds of sympathy between himselfand his people ? CH.\P'I'ER XII TItE PROHIBITIONS AND THE COLONISATION OF VIRGINIA. TttE want of sympathy which undoubtedly existed between James and the existing House of Commons had been shown 69. whenever the king's financial difficulties had been lrobab« treated of; and when Parliament met for another ppostion in Parliament. session, it would be those difficulties which vould bave the first claire on its attention. The foot of the evil lay deeper than in lnere finance. It la), in James's habit of treating all questions which came before him as if they were to be decided by his own personal wisdom, without any reference to the current of ideas which prevailed in the country at large. He lived a life apart from the mass of his subjects, and by failing to understand them he became unable to give theln that true guidance which is the highest form of service. During the years which had elapsed since the last session, a warm discussion had taken place on a constitutional question which decply affected the King's position in the state. Coke had scarcely taken his place ou the Bench when he x6o6. Cok o, th sought to animate lais colleagues with his own spirit ch. of opposition to ail who in any way interfered with the pre-elninent jurisdiction of the courts of common law. The quarrel had indeed commenced belote he becmne a judge. It had frequently happened that the common law judges taad issued prohibitions to the Ecclesiastical Courts, in order to compel them to proceed no further in the causes before them, till they had proved to the satisfaction of the judges that the matter in hand was really one which ought to fall within tber D2 36 THE PROttLBITfOArS. CH. Xo jurisdiction. The clergy naturally resisted this claim, and argued that their courts were independent of any other, and that their jurisdiction flowed directly from the Crown. Towards the end of I6o 5, Bancroft presented a series of complaints to the Kiug against these proceedings of the judges. xeos. /n the course of the following year, the judges, who n«r««s had now the assistance of Ceke's stores of know- M rticnli cl«i. ledge, answered the complaints one by one. l Both parties were, no doubt, pleading their own cause, and feeling, as x6. they both did, the weakness which resulted to their rejuges case from this, were ready to appeal to a third party appeal larllament- for support. Whilst Bancroft would bave placed the power of granting prohibitions in the hands of the Court of Chancery, the judges, who were well aware that that court was far more subject to political influences than their own, at once declared that though they were ready to submit to an Act of Parliament, they declined to surrender their im- memorial rights to any lesser authority. It is this appeal to Parliament which raises the dispute from a more quarrel about jurisdiction to the dignity of a constitutional event. Whilst the clergy were content to rely upon the Sovereign, the interpreters of the law entered boldly into alliance with the nation. Shortly after the prorogation in I6o7 a case occurred which drew the attention of all who were interested in ecclesiastical • 7. affairs to the question of the prohibitions. Fuller, Fueec«. who, as a member of Parliament, had always been the first to give expression to the fears and wishes of the Puritans, had frequently been employed as a lawyer to plead the cause of those who were endangered by opinions which they held in common with himself. In this way he had been retained to demand the interference of the Court of King's 13ench in the case of two persons who had suffered hard '« usage at the hands of the High Commission.  The Lada, first of these, Thomas Ladd, had been brought be- lote the Chancellor of the diocese of Norwich on the charge  2nd Inst. 6oL " The Aument of 3[as[er Nicholas Ful/er in the case of T. [acId and Æ. .1[attnsdl, 1607. z6o7 ATI'ACA" OV THE HIGIt COJI.IIISSIOA r. 37 of having attended a conventicle. According to Fuller's account, his client had been living with one of the suspended ministers, named Jackler. He had been accustomed to join the malter of the bouse on Sunday evenings in repeating the serinons which he had heard at church. Though it was hOt stated by Fuller, it is hOt improbable that they added observa- tions of their own, nor is it unlikely that some of their neigh- oours were occasionally present at their meetings. On being brought before the Chancellor, I.add was compelled to answer upon oath to the questions which were put to him, and was finally sent up to Lambeth upon a charge of peury, as having given false information at Norwich. Ho was then required by the High Commission to swear that lac would answer truly to such questions as might be put to hiln. This time he refuscd to take the oath, unless the questions were previously shown to him. He was, in consequence, thrown into prison, where he remained till he appealed to the common law judges. Fuller's other client, iIaunsell, was imprisoned at Lambeth a or for having taken part in the presentation of a petition »l-.,»n. to the House of Commons, and for having refused to take the oath when brought up for examination. Fuller, in defence of l.add, whose case first came on, boldly denied that the Court of High Commission had any right what- v« ever to fine or imprison, and l:e seems, in putting argument, lais case, to have indulged in unguarded language, assailing the High Commission as a Popish authority, by which men were imprisoned without sufficient cause, and by which the true doctrine of the Church was imperilled. The statute of Elizabeth, l indeed, undcr which it acted, had been drawn up with a singular want of precision. Fuller's contention was at least arguable, though it certainly was hot accepted by the judges at that rime. = The Court did hot grant the whole of his request, but they issued a writ ofconsultation--that is to say, a modified form of prohibition, acknowledging the right of the High Con> mission to imprison for schism or heresy, but forbidding that  i Ellz. cap. . = Fuller's case, Æans,tawn: 3ZSS. II7-', fol. 1130. Fuller'sstatement tztlç,'[,1 3ISS. z4, fol. 38 TtlE PIOtlIITIOIVS. c)L x. court to restrain the liberty of FulIer's clients on any other grounds. Either at that time, however, or on some subsequent aplalication , the Judges of the King's Bench referred the legality of their proceedings to ail the twelve judges. Fuller was retained to plead once more on behalf of his clients. cfore the day for lais argument arrived, he was Xo,-enber. hilnself in prison. The High Colnmission had F,,ner sumnaoned him to accourir for lais attack upon its imprisoned, jurisdiction. Fuller at once applied for a prohibition, and obtained a writ of consultation on the saine terres as Ladd had obtained one before. The High Commissiola was hOt to be baffled thus. Charging Fuller with 'schism and erroneous opinions,' as contained in the words vhich he had addressed to the Court of King's ]3ench, it imposed on hiln a fine of «ooZ, and COlmnitted hiin to prison. When, therefore, the twelve judges met to consider the point of law which had al-isen through Ladd's colnmittal, they were naturally led to turn their attention to the more Stliking case which lmd then arisen through Fuller's ilnprisonlnent. In the end, while acknowledging the claim of the ecclesiastical court to punish for heresy and schism, they declared that a contempt of an ecclesiastical court committed by a barrister in lais pleading was to be punished by the colnlnon law court, and llOt by the ecclesiastical. lVuller seems to have interpreted this decision as being on the whole in lais favour, and he applied to the King's Bench for a writ of habeas corpus. Bancroft was l'lOt likely to be satisfied with the position in which he was placed. He appealed to the King on the ground that the judges were lnerely the King's delegates, 12,ancroft pp«l.to and that Jalnes was therefore at liberty to take what the King. causes he plcased out of their hands and to deter- mine them hirnself. On this, Coke fired up, and, with the full Altercation support of the judges, assured the King that he between could do nothing of the kind. James replied that Coke and the r.i,g. ' he thought that the law was founded on reason, and that he and others had reason as well as the judges.' Coke xii. 44. I6o7 COA'E'S COA'FI.ICT IIïTtt TttE A'L'VG. 39 answered that ' true it was that God had endowed His Majesty with excellent science and gleat endowments of nature ; but ttis Majesty was hot learned in the laws of his reahn of England ; and causes which concern the lire, or inheritance, or goods, or fortunes, of his subjects are not to be decided by natural reason, but by the artificial reason and iudgment of law, which law requires long study and experience before that a man can attain to the cognizance of it ; and that the law was the golden mete-wand and means to try the causes of the subjects ; and which protected His Majesty in safety and peace.' At this James grew excessively angry, "Then," he said, " I shall be under the law, which is treason to affirm." Coke replied by quoting the well-known maxim of ]lracton, that the King ought not to be under any man, but under God and the ]W. i James was probably inclined to rebel rather against the yoke of the lawyers than against that of the law. What he wanted was to prevent the common law judges from over- lo,,«,b«, throwing the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. "I 1)ray 3"ou," a'e i,.g he wrote to Salisbury, " forget hot l"uller's matter, i,,«,,«, that the Ecclesiastical Commission may not be suffered to sink, besides the evil deserts of this villain ; for this farther I prophesy unto 3"ou that, vhensoever the ecclesiastical dignity, together with the government thereof, shall be turned in contempt and begin evanish in this kingdom, the kings hereof shall not long after prosper in their government, and the monarchy shall fall to ruin, which I pray God I may never lire to see." -  /?,7 . xii. 6 5. The date of thls altercation [s given as Sunday, Nov. o, 5 Jac. i., i.e. 16o 7. In that year, however, Nov. IO fell en a Tuesday, and the probable date is Nov. 8. It is only by conjecture that I bave put it between the opinion of the judges and the King's letter to SalisbulT, as we can only give them approximate dates. Mr. Foss (Liz,«s ofthe vi. I), in telling the story, prefaces it by a statement that James occasionally appeared in the Court of King's Bench, when the Chief Justices ruade w.qy tor him and sat at his feet. It was, however, Eward IV, not James I., who did this. Mr. Foss was led astray by a mistake in the State Trials» iii. 94z where Popham is printed instead of Markham. ' The King to Salisbury (Nov. 7), tIajq«IdeISS. 134 , fol. 16. 40 T/lE PROHIB1TIOA'S. ci-t. xtl. It was probably in consequence of this letter frola'l the King, that the twelve judges asselnbled to discuss the point of law raised by Yuller's application. They maintained "]'he opinion ofthe distinctly the right of the common law judges to udge. prevent the High Commission from deciding the legality of its own acts ; but they expressly acknowledged its clailn to punish for schisln and heresy under the Act of Eliza- beth, and thus abandoned Fuller, as the charge against hiln had been one of schisln. 1t would seeln that Coke, who probably held that the iln- prisonlnent of Fullcr for schisln was technically correct, had Thejudges unexpectedly thrown the influence of lais authority de«id upon the side of the Governlnent. Salisbury at ail again:t Fuller. events was assured, before the case Calne on, that Fuller would have the Court against hiln. "The judges," wrote James, "have donc well for themselves as well as for me. For I was resolved, if they had donc otherwise and maintained their habeas corpus, to bave cOlnlnitted theln." As to the conduct of the judges ila issuing 1)rohibitions, he added ' that, by their leaves, they should not use their liberty, but be prescribed.' 1 Accordingly, when, on November -"4 and z6, Fuller pleaded lais cause before the King's Bench he found but little favour.  Fme, He was left to the High Conamission Court to be dealt before the with at its pleasure. Fuller soon found that he had no King's Bench. further assistance to expect. After a short ilnprison- ment of laine weeks, he paid lais fine, and having ruade lais j,. 6oS. submission, was released, a A few days later he was u'» again taken into custody, solne indiscreet admirers submiion --,a ». having published his argument in the cases of I,add and l\Iaunsell. An inquiry by the Attorney-General, however, ruade it plain that he had taken no part in the publication, and he vas probably restored to fieedoln after no long delay. 4 At ' Lake to Salisbury, Nov. "7, ibid. 1",3, fol. 55- "- Salisbury to Lake, Nov. 25 (?). Salisbury to the King, Nov. i[,id. 23, fol. 37, 59- a Chamberlain to Carlcton, Jan. 5 and 8, Co«rl atd Times. i. 69.  Whyte to Shrewsbury, Jan. "6, Zo«tgc, iii. 2 5. IIobart to Sali»bury» taralfleld «ISS. 24, fol. 8. x6o8 COA'E AWD BAA'CROFT. 4 all events, he was in his place in Parlialnent two years after- ards. i Though ]3ancroft had triumphed over Fuller, he had hOt succeeded in stopping the flood of prohibitions by which the »iatisr,,c- ordinary ecclesiastical courts were threatened2 Find- tion o« thé. ing that their professional gains were at stake, some ecclesiastical -,»-«. of the leading ecclesiastical lawyers petitioned the King to take up their cause and begged Bancroft to continue his exertions in their behŒElf, a ]3ancroft condoled with them on jn.3,,609, their hard case, and told them that he was anxious }lancro«t that the King shoukl take the decision of the question takes their part. into lais own hands. I/e added that he had no wish that the King should assume absolute power ; but he believed that, as the fountain of justice from whom both courts derived their jurisdictions, he had a right to act as mediator betwccn thcm. He thought it more likely that the poor would obtain justice from the King than fron: the country gentlemen who composed the Housc of Commons, or from the judges, who were in league with them. Juries were generally dcpendcnts of thc gentry, and the cause of justice could not but surfer from thcir elnployment. * Accordingly, in February, 6o9, Coke and some others of the judges were summoned to Whitel-,all to discuss the general rbrry, question of prohibitions with the ecclesiastical lawyers. Cok«at- In the course of his argument, Coke pleaded with tacked b¥ the King. the King to respect the common law of the land, and to consider that the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was a foreign one. James was furious. He clenched his fists, as if he were  The well-known assertion of Fuller, the Church historian, that he died in prison is certainly untrue. I Ie is said, in the inquisition post mor¢cm on his son, Sir Nicholas Fuller, who died on July 3, 6eo, to have died at Chamberhouse in Berkshire, on Feb. z 3 in the saine year.  The language of the King addressing the jttdges on Feb. 5 (Bacon's Comm. Sol. Lello:r atd Zife, iv. $9) appears to have been directed against interferences with lay courts. The Council of the North was much troabled by prohibitions. : Petl;.lon of the lawyers fo Bancrofl, ColL AZSS., Cleop. F. i., fol. o7.  Bancroft to --, Jan. 3, Cotl. AISS., Cleop. F. il., fol. let 4 TIIE PIOIIII'ITIOA:S. CH XTI. about o strike thc Chief Justice. Coke fell wovelling on the ground, and beggcd for mercy.  James perhaps felt that, after such a scene, it was useless to continue the discussion, and the debate was postponed. At last, on July 6, the parties were once more summoned before the King. The discussion lted three days. The july6-9, actual point at issue was the right of deciding "heques- questions connected with the payment of tithe ; but tton dis- ctassed b«. the controversy ranged over a far wider field. The fore the li,lg, judges clailned to interpret all statutes under which the ecclesiastical courts acted, and to interfere with their juris- diction in every possible way. Their arguments were, of course, resisted by the bishops and by the lawyers who practised in these courts. Jalnes was anxious to keep the peace, but he was fairly puzzled by the opposing reasons to which he had been listening. He must wait, he said, for further information. For "/'he King ostpones the present, the issue of prohibitions was to cease. is decision. He wishcd to support both jurisdictions. He was anxious, he added in lais good-natured way, that the two parties should cease to abuse one another, and that they should lire together in future 'like brothers without emulation.' - I t was hot very likely that this wish would be gratifie& As the eccle- siastical courts were then constituted, they had little hold on the national feeling. In appealing to the 1,2ing for support, the ]3ishops were widening the chasln between hi:n and his subjects. Nothing, however, ruade James so unpopular as the wealth which he showered down upon the Scotch courtiers. Alnongst . them a new favourite was rapidly obtaining the pre- NobertCarr, eminence. That favourite, Robert Carr, was de- scended rioto the well-known fmnily of the Kers of Ferniehurst, and had, as a boy, attended the King in Scotland, in the capa- city of a page. Affer James's accession to the English throne,  Bosworth to lXlilborne, Feb., Halfleld ISS. I25, fo!. 36. 2 Notes by Sir J. Coesar, Zansd. «ISS. 6o, fol. 4o6 ; Coke's xiii. 46 There are papers connected with this affair in Cor. JISS. Cleop. F. i. I6o 3 RISE Ot" CARR. 43 he had been.dislnissed ffom his post, and had sought to push his fortunes in France. Having failed of success upen the Continent, he returned to England, where he atta«hed himself to the service of Lord Hay. He had not been long at Court before he had the good fortune to break lais ieg at a tilting lnatch in the presence of the King. I"rom that moment lais success was certain. Jalnes was attracted by lais personal activity aud lais strong animal spirits. He dclighted in his coin- pany, and, having knighted him, was eager to provide him with a fortune suitable to his merits. Step by step thc lad rose in the royal favour, till he took his place anmng the old nobility of the reahn. Jalnes was indeed ready hilnself to be the foundcr of Carr's fortune .; but the way in which he did it exposed lais favourite ,64. to contact with a man fiar greater than lfimself. Raleighand Amidst the wreck of lais fortune, Raleigh had suc- the manor of s»b« ceeded in inducing the King to make over lais life interest in the manor of Sherborne, which was all that had been forfeited to the King by lais attainder,  to trustees who were to hold it in behalf of kady laleigh and ber eldest son. Imme- diately upon lais death, it would descend to his son, in virtue of the conveyance which he had sîgned in the days of lais pros- «o,,ry« perity. A few lnonths after this arrangement had  «,,, i th« been ruade, he was horrified by the news that a flaw conveyalce at«l-,, had been discovered in the conveyance, which would after lais death place the whole property at the King's disposal. He immediately wrote to Salisbury, begging him to corne fo lais help, and requesting that the deed might be laid x6o5. before Coke and Popham, in order that he might know what the rem state of the case was. a His request was acceded to. Unhappily, there could be no doubt whatever as to the fact. The words omitted were of such importance that Popham could do nothing but declare that, as a legal docu- ment, the conveyance was worthless. He added, however, that Wilson in A'«nncl» ii. 686. Vol. i. p. I4O. Raleigh to Cranborne, 6o4 (?). Edwards's Lift C/'Ral,,gh, ii, 3II. 44 TIgE I'ROI[[BITIOJVS. c,'-I, xii. he believed the error had arisen from the fault of the clerk who had engrossed Ihe deed.  As soon as it was known how the case really stood, lady Raleigh lost no time in imploring the King not to take advan- The King tage of lais legal rights to ruin ber innocent children. vromie-to James at once consented to waive all pretensions to give up his c>in, the reversion of the land, and directed Salisbury to prepare a grant of it to Lady Raleigh and ber children3 It would have been well for James's good name if these directions had been carried out. There are no lneans of knowing with certainty what the inducement was which caused him to draw back. It is possible that the foolish rumours which tracts his reached him shortly afterwards of Raleigh's partici- promise, pation in the Gunpowder t'lot, a caused delay, and that when those rumours proved to be without foundation, solne new influence had obliterated his good intentions from his facile mind. In the summer of 6o6, Raleigh even entertained a hope that he lnight recover his liberty. 4 He supposed that the King of l)enmark, who was on a visit to his brother-in-law, 6o6. might be induced to plead his cause.  When these expectations proved tobe without foundation, Lady Raleigh,  Popham to Salisbury, June 7, 16o5, Ad, l. A[SS. 6177, fol. 393- Much indignation bas been thrown aay upon this opinion, which was given at Raleigh's own request, and which, as will be secn, could hot possibly bave been given in favour of the validity of the document. In (.o8, the Attorney-General, Hobart, said, in the Court of Exchequer, that ' the sentence that should bave appointed the said Sir W. Raleigh, his heirs and assigns, or such as had estate in the saine premises to stand and to be seized thcreof to the intended uses, was all wanting ' (AA'morand of lhe A*ing's Rcmcmbrancer, R.O., lMich. Terre, 6 Jac. i. 545)- Sec also an extract from a letter of Coke, Ad, L [SS. 6177 , fol. 391, the date of which should apparently be June 7, 6o5- "- A,fiL MSS. 6177, fol. 323. The date I6O 3 in the copy lS clearly wrong. The petition was probably sent and answered in the autumn of I6O 5.  At. Jll"SS. 6178 ' fol. 469, 553- lIoby to Edmondes, Nov. 19, 6o 5. Ad, L .afSS. 4176, fol. 34 b.  Examination of Cottrell, Feb. 4, 16o7, S. 1: .Z)om. xxvL 42.  Carleton to Chamberlain Aug. -',% 6o6» S..P..Z)om. xxiii. o. 16o6 Tiare ci[MA'OR OF SHEigBORNE. 45 in despair, ruade her way to Hampton Court, where she threw herself on ber knees befere the King. Jafiaes passed her by in silence.  Another year passed away, and the King had taken no steps to call Raleigh's conveyance in question. But before the close i5o7, of x6o7 a temptation was presented to him which he -,,,t«,-,ines to was unable to resist. Carr was rapidly rising in pro¢u,e th favour, and James was anxious that he should become manor for Carr. il landed proprietor. He was, however, preparing at that rime to entail the greater part of lais own lands upon the Crown, and had, probably, aiready corne to the determination to grant away no more manors excepting those which might fali into his hands hy forfeiture. In this difficulty Salisbury, quick to detect the inclinations of hs toaster, suggested that the manor of Sherborne would be a suitable gift for the new favourite.  Early in x6o8, a6o8'. an information was exhibited in the Exchequer, calling upon Raleigh to show the title by which his heirs held the re- version of the manor. He could only produce the conveyance, which, as he knew, would not bear the scrutiny of the court. In order that he might have fait play, the judges assigned him ¢ounsel. The lawyers sho were thus appointed, after consul- tation amongst themselves, refused to argue the case, as it would be impossible to find any line of defence to which the court could be induced to listen. It was hot. ,owever, till October 7  Whyte to Shrewsbury, Sept. 4, x6o6, Zodge, iii. $6. -. «, The more I think of your remembrance of Robert Carr for yon manor of Sherborne, the more cause bave I to conclude that your rnind ever watcheth to seek out all advantzges for my honour and contentment ; for as itis only your duty and affection to me that makes you careful for them that serve me, so must 1 confess that he is the only young man whom, as I brought with me and brought up of a child, that was now left unprovided for, I mean according to thzt rank whereunto I have promoved him, besides that the thing itself, when I have now considered it, will prove excellent fit for him ; and withal that 3," Le. Northampton, "befçre my parting, requested me for him in it, who, as I told you, was ever before otherways minded in that marrer, whomunto I seemed hot to take know- ledge that any other had moved me in that matter befol'e."--'/'he King to Salisbury. Undated. hra_/ield3lS S. 34, fol. 49- 46 TttE PkOHIIîlO.VS. cil. xTl. that judgment was finally pronounce d in favour of the Crown. J,dz,en¢  James had'already bought up for 5,ooo/. the interest th¢ »x«¢- which, by lais grant in x6o4, Lad), Raleigh possessed quer in 'a,,ourot-the in the estate during her husband's lifetime. = If, Co,,.. therefore, he determined to present it to Carr, the new owner would be able at once to enter into possession, without waiting for Raleigh's death. A letter has been preserved in which Raleigh, a few weeks afer the decision of the court was known to him, begged Carr to do him justice, and implored him not to I:uild lais The manor granted to rising fortunes upon the ruin of an innocent man.  t_'arr. I.ady Raleigh, too, ruade one more attempt to more the compassion of the King. Taking with her young Walter and the boy who had been born to her in ber hours of sorrow in the Tower, she again threw herself at James's feet and begged for mercy. It is said that lais only answer was, " I maun bave the land, I maun bave it for Carr." On January 9 the grant was passed by which the estate, which Raleigh had x 609. received from Elizabeth in the days of his prosperity came into the pessession of a worthless favourite? In preferring Carr to Raleigh, James had given to the world an additional evidence of his shortsightedness. He had, Co,p,.» however, no intention of taking the land from Raieigh tion to without allowing him compensation for his loss. t-le Raleigh. therefore ordered a survey tobe taken of the land».. and, as a guarantee that it would be fairly carried out, he allowed the naine of Raleigh's follower, Keymis, to appear anaongst those of the Commissioners by whom the survey was tobe ruade.  A negotiation was entered into with Sir Arthur Throck-  .A'moranda ofthe A'ing:s Remembrancer, R.O. IIich. Terre, 7 Jac. i. - Devon. Issues of lhe xchequer, p. 99. The first instalment was hot tobe paid till June, 16o9, though the writ for its payment was dateà Match 3, I6O8. This may have been in order to leave the rents in the hands of Lady Raleigh's trustees till the decision was given in tle Ex- chequer. a Raleigh to Carr, Jan. 6o 9 (?) ; Edwards's ZoEe of Ralegh, il. 326. * Pat. 6 James L, part 32.  Keymis fo Salibury, Set-t. 3, I6O9, S. 1 . Dont. xlviii. 5 .% prlntecl 6o 9 TI-ZE MAA'OR OF SHERBORNE. 47 morton and the other feoffees to whom the estate had been con- veyed by the deed lately proved to be invalid, which ended in the renunciation I of the 5,000/. which was to have been paid to Lad)' Raleigh for her interest in the land, and in the grant by the King of a pension of 400/. a-year, tobe paid during ber own life and that of her eldest son. To this was added a sure of 8,000/. in ready money. In order fo judge the extent of the wrong done to Raleigh,. it is necessary to know what was the precise money vahle of the land which was taken from him. Unfortunately, it is hot very easy to obtain this information. Raleigh, indeed, writing in 16o4, under circumstances in which it was his interest to calculate the value of lais property as low as possible, ruade it out to be considerably under 40o/. a ycar. - ]3ut in 1612 the payments on account of the manor amounted to a little more than 75o/.,  and there is other evidence which makes it probable that this was in reality the amount of revenue derived froln it in the Z#erary Gazette, new series, No. 18. The survey is also rcferred to in the Excheqt«cr Dtosiliotts, 7 Janaes I. Mich. Terre. No. z4,/?. O.  This may, I suppose, be taken for grantcd, as the payment to Lady Raleigh of the interest due upon the 5,oool., which had been retained in the King's hand.% was ruade on Jan. 13, I6IO ([sstle oo]e of t]le &]l.), and the two patents assigning the pension on the two lires, are dated on the 16th of the same month (Pat. 7 James I., part I3). l'x'othing further is heard of the 5,oooL The $,oooL was paid over fo Keymis on Dec. z 3, 16o9. During the year I6O9 a second information had been exhibited in the Exchequer, calling upon Raleigh to produce any other title by xxhich the land might be claimed ri'oto the Crown. IIe had been heard to speak of an earlier conveyance which he had marie in 1598 , of the ninety-nine years' lease which he held. _As he was unable to produce it, and no witness could be found to speak fo its contents, judgrnent was given against him on lqov. 23, I6O9.--2]fcmorand of the Ix'ing's A'emcmbrancer, '. O. llich. Terre. 7 Jac. I. 253.  Pxaleigh to the Council, 16o4. Mdd. A[SS. 6177, fol. 297, 3o5 .  On March 15, 1614, x. Connock, bailiff of the manor of Sherborne, paid money into the Exchequer as part of 754L I Is. Iod., as arrears of his office due at lXIichaelmas 1612, at which rime Sherborne was the propert¥ or" Prince Henry. I suppose this is the amount of the rents of the year, which would agree xvith Chamberlain's statement that Sherborne, 'beside the goodly bouse and other commodities, is presently worth 8ooL a year, and in reasonable time will be double ' {Court and Times ofames I 426). 48 THF PROHIBITIOA'S. cH. xii. st that time. As the ordinary value of land in the reign of Jnmes was calculated at sixteen years' purchase,  this would give  2,oool. as the total value of the estate, which would be about equivalent to the 8,000/, with the 400/. pension  which was granted. If this calculation be admitted, it would appear tha! Raleigh obtained a fair payment for his property, and that the wrong that was done him consisted only in the compulsion wh|ch was used to force him to sell it--a wrong the hardship of which was considerably lessened by the -known fact that he had long been anxious to find a purchaser. 3 There is, however, evidence in existence which conflicts strangely with the result of these calculations. When, shortly after Carr had received the manor, he resold it to the King, he obtained 20,000/. ; and when, in x6i 5, he bought it back again, it was, according to a statement ruade by 13acon, valued at 25,ooo/. 4 Either, then, the value of the house and pleasure grounds must bave been expressed by this very great difference, or the expectations, which do not appear to have been realised, s mlght be supposed that this is inclusive of the rent paid to the ]3ishop ; but I can find no payment to the ]3ishop in the Issue ]3ooks.  ]3acon, in his Essay on Usury, speaks of this as if it were the ,rdinary rate, and this is confirmed by a note in Sir Julius Coesar's hand- writing, appended in I612 to a calculation of the revenue derived from the estate of Lord Vaux of Harrowden : 'Afier sixteen years' purchase, the common rate of sale there,' &c.  It is sometimes stated that this pension was very irregularly paid. This charge seems to have arisen from the difficulty she had in obtaining payment on one occasion, apparently shortly af ter ber husband's execution. Lady Raleigh to Coesar.--Zansd. AZçS. I4-', , fol. 252, and note at fol. 25o. s Raleigh to Cecil, Add. AZSS. 677 , fol. $I. Raleigh to Cran- borne, Add..MSS. 6178, fol. 457-  ]3acon to Villiers, iNov. 29, I616, Zet«rs and ].if t., vi. Il 5. The sure actually paid into the Exchequer in 6I 5 by Somerset was only o,ooo1., but 4,00o/. more may be accounted for, as the King owed him that sure at the time. lerhaps the remaining I,ooo/. was wiped off in the saine way.  ]3y the account in the oj,alisl Com¢os#ion Paers, Ser. i. xcii. 6o5, it ,ppears that in the time of the Commonwealth the gross annual value of th.-" property was 1,3o2l. 6s. Sg. ; but of this 2861. stands for the Prebend which had been bought since the land came into Digby's hands, and for 16o 9 TttE .]L4.VOI¢ OF SHERBOR.VE. 49 of a great increase in the future income to be dcrived from the land, raised its value in the market. Whether this or some other explanation be the truc one, it would seem that the dif- ference between the actual value of the estate and the ordinary lnarket value of the revenue derived from the estate at the time, will give the amount of which Raleigh was mulcted. Such is the truc story of the transfer of the manor of Sher- -borne  from Raleigh to Carr. As it stands it is bad enough, but itis needless to say that this is not the story which has obtained credence for more than two centuries. Posterity bas revenged itself upon James by laying to lais charge sins of which he was guiltlcss, and by exaggerating those which he in reality committed. The value of the lands was swollen, in the imaginations of men, to an enormous anaount, and it has been believed by one of Raleigh's biographers after another, that James threw to the man from whom he had, by means of sentence procured in a corrupt court, wrenched an estate worth 5,oooL a year, a pittance which barely exceeded the annual renlal of the land. Worn out with weariness and sickness, Raleigh con- tinued from time to rime to send forth piteous cries to those who, like the Queen, were ready to sympathise with him. But towards lais enemies he bore himself as proudly as ever, as Northampton found to his cost, when he attempted to ex- tract from him some information of which he was in need.  certain new purehased grounds. For the purposes of comparing the value ofthe property at tle two periods, Raleigh's outgoings of 334L 3 s. o,L, must also be deducted, leaving 6SL 3 s. 8,L, or less than the value in 16I. Of course land may bave been sold, but of this there is no trace, at least in Hutchins's I)orsetshire.  An accusation was brought zgainst Ralelgh about this rime, by Johrt More, of having offered him a bribe to give false evidence concerning the cçnveyance, lXlr. Sainsbury, who published More's letter in the Literay Gazette (New Ser. No. I8), together with the cnclosed letter of Raleigh's offering the bribe, pronounces the latter to be a forgery. Ilis suspicions derive confirmation froaa a sentence taken from z letter of Raleigh's )vritten to Cecil in I6OI (.4dd. I]ISS. 6177, I87). He there saysthat More ' writes t y hand so perfectly as I cannot any way discern the difference.' - iYorthampton to Rochester, July I2, 1611, S. 29. /)ott. lxv. 26. 'OL. I1. I o THE COLONfSATION OF VII¢,GLZVIA. cH. XL Poor Ialeigh paid for lais outspoken language by being placed in closer confinement than before; 1 but itis hardly hkely g-!g.h,«, that, if he could bave known what was coming upon ,,,» , him, he would have consented to purchase a remis- vris°n" sion of the rigours of his imprisonment by flattering 1611, Northampton. He consoled himself as best he could with his books and lais chemical experiments. It is to his en- forced leisure that we owe the ltisliy flhe lI'arldj but we may be sure that he would willingly bave surrendered all his faine as an author for one whiff of fresh air on the western seas. Whilst Raleigh was longing for escape one great dream of lais life was becoming a reality. His had been the fertile brain ,»as. which had conceived the idea of sending out settlers "lTaefir.t to Virginia. The first colonists sent out in i585 were ¢olony in ,'irginia. appallcd by the dangers of their undertaking, and re- turned to Èngland with Drake. A second colony landcd in ,587. i587, and had subsisted for some time. But the vessels which had been sent toits relief failed in their object, either from accident or negligcnce. The colony was lost sight of, and when the next vessel appeared to bring help, hot a trace of it could be found. In x6oz an attempt was ruade by Bartholomew Gosnold to colonise New Èngland, which was then known by the naine ,cŒ. of Northern Virginia. The enterprise failed, but o,o' Gosnold came back fully impressed with the idea of voyage to , .,lg. its feasibility. He succeedcd in imparting his views land. to a little knot of men, anaong whom was the Richard tlakluyt who had devoted lais life to the celebration of the dceds of maritime daring by wlfich the last reign had been distinguished. It was of far more importance for the ultimate destinies of the colony that he succeeded in obtaining the co- operation of John Smith. Smith was still a young man, but s,ih'» he had gone through more hardships and adventures advcntures, than had fallen to the lot of any other Englishman, even in that adventurous age. He had served in the I.ow Countries against the Spaniards, and in Hungary against the  13ennet to Cadeton, July xS, x6xL S. t'..Data. Ixv. 3 z. Turks. He had been thrown overboard in a storm in the 1Iediterranean, by the crew of a French ship in which he was, vho imagined that the presence of a Huguenot on board had callêd down the vengeance of IIeaven upon their vessel, tte had been taken prisoner by the Ïurks, and had been sent to serve as a slave amongst the Tartars on the Don. 13ut whatever might happen, he was always able to turn it to account. In the worst dangers, he knew what was the right thing fo be donc. For such a scheme as that which Gosnold proposed, the presence of such a man was indispensable to year, Gosnold and lais ffiends were unable to find carry their plan into execution. They were, however, hot alone in the hopes with which they were inspire& Sir Ferdi- ,.,,ao In x6o5, a ship, commanded by Captain Weymouth, Gorges. was fitted out by the Earls o.f Arundel and $outh- ampton. On lais rcturn Weymouth brought with him rive nativcs of Ncw England. Sir Ferdinmdo Gorges, who was Governor of Plymouth, fell in with him, and conversed with him on the countries which he had visited. Ite took three of the Indians into lais house, and obtahmd every possible infor- mation from them. From that time he set lais heart upon the colonisation of America. He acquainted Chier Justice Popham with his de.signs. Popham had always taken a deep interest in the mercantile and maritime enterprises of the time, and readily agreed to ask the King for a charter authoising the proposed undertaking. He became acquainted with Gosnold's desire to carry out a similar enterprise, and both schemes were comprehended in the charter which he obtained. That charter was dated April o, 6o6.  It declared that Yirginia extended from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth degree 6o6. of latitude, or, in other words, from what is now the Whe .t southern boundary of the State of North Carolina to Virginian charter, the shores of Nova Scotia. On this ong line of coast two settlements were to be ruade. Gorges and his  The Trafds of Catlain S»tilh. On the general credibility of the narrative, sec Vol. III. p. 58.  Itening, Slalttlïs of l'iginia, i. 57- OHN S3IITtL Success. 1 15"or a means to 5  - TttE COLONISATION OF VIRG1NIA. cH. xii friends from the West of England were to choose a place for a colony somewhere in the Northern part of the territory, whilst the Londol merchants and gentlemen who had listened to Gosnold's persuasion were to confine themselves to the South. It was necessary to devise some form of government for the two colonies. The rock upon which all former attempts had split, was the difficulty of inducing the spirited The instruc- ti,,ns rot the adventurers who took part in them to submit to con- çolo,its. trol. The crews of the vessêls which had been sent out had been too oftên bent merely upon making their fortunes. The chance of capturing a Spanish prize had frequently Iured them away from the object for which they were despatched, and had ruined the best concerted undertakings. Many of the emigrants carried with them the idea that in America gold lay upon the ground in lumps ; and when they discovered, by a bitter experience, the terrible hardships which awaited them anaidst hostile tribes on an uncultivated shore, their hearts too often gave way at once, and they could think of nothing but of the easiest way of return. In the hope of providing some authority which nfight pre- vent the recurrence of these disasters,  a machinery was in- troduced, which was far too complicated to work successfull)-. 13y the side of the company itself, upon which the burden rested of supporting the colonists, and which was to be in ex- clusive possession of the trade which might spring up in con- sequence of their settlement, a council was erected in London, the members of which were nominated by the King. This council was entrusted with the generaI supervision of the colonies. 13y it were to be appointed the first members of the two colonial councils, and their presidents, to whom was as- signed a casting vote in their deliberations. In each colony the really important part of the machinery of government was in the hands of these local councils. They were empowered, after the expiration of the first year, to elect the annual presi- dent, and they were to depose him in case of his misconduct. They might fill up all vacancies occurring in their own body, Instructions, Nov. zo, 6c6. Henlng, S[attttes of l'irginl«, i. 67. 16o6 COLOA'A£ GO VER2V.I[EVT 53 and the whole of the administrative and judicial authority assigned to them, without any check or control whatever, beyond the necessity--to be interpreted by themselves--of conforming, as closely as was possible under the circumstances, to the laws of England. The criminal law was, however, to be milder than it was at hgme , as the punishment of death was to be reserved for certain specified crimes of peculiar enormity. On the other hand, it was only in these special cases that a jury was to be allowed to pronounce its verdict ; in all others the sentence of the council would be sufficient. Power was reserved to the King to veto the legislation of the councils, and to overrule it by thë issue of regulations in lïngland. Alnerican writers have, with one accord, cried out against these instructions, on the ground that they contain no grant or acknowledgment of representative institutions. 1 This com- plaint, which would bave been valid enough if it had only referred to a colony which had once been completely settled, is founded upon a forgetfulness of the difficulties which beset an infant settlement at the commencement of the seventeenth century. The only chance of success for such a colony lay in lae introduction of some strong rule by which a check might be put upon the independent action of the settlers, hnme- diately upon landing, they occupied the position of a garrison in a hostile territory. The folly of a few wild spirits might compromise the safety of the whole colnmunity, and it was but seldom that the adventurers of hom it was composed were distinguished either for prudence or self-restraint. In their dealings vith the Indians, the utmost foresight was needed. By provoking the native tribes, a danger of hostilities was incurred which might end in sweeping the infant colony into the sea. What was, in reality, the first necessity of the settlement, was not a parliament to discuss laws and regula- tions, but a governor of sufficient ability to know what ought to be donc, and of sufficient authority to persuade or compel the 1-nost refractory to yield obedience to his COlnmands.  Smith's tIist, of I.?rghda, I747, 4 I. ]3ancroft, llisL of .4moica i. S-4 TttE COLOA'ISATIOA" OF I.TRGIATA. c. xr. From the want of such a man, the Northern Colony proved a total failure. It was under very different auspices that, afte F.iL, reof a delay of many years, a permanent settlement was theNor- ruade upon the shores of New England. If the thcrn c,o,,y. Southern Colony proved more successful, it was in sl;ite of the elaborate arrangements which James had ruade "for its guidance. On December 9, ]6o6, the little COlnpany which was destined to succeed '-here so lnany had failed, sailed from the Thames in three small vessels. They were in ail The N,mthern a hundred and lire. The vessels were commanded Çdolly. by a Captain Newport. It was arranged that the names of the colonial council should be kept secret until the arrival of the expedition in America. This precauti.on had probably been taken to prevent an), collision between Newport and the colonial authorities. It was, however, attended x-ith unforeseen results. The chief persons who had engaged in the undertaking were jealous of the abilities of Smith, and absurd rumours were spread among them that he intended to make himself King of Yirginia. They, therefore, resolved upon anticipating his supposed design by placing hiln in con- t;nement ; and they conducted across the Atlantic as a prisoner the man to whom the whole conduct of the enterprise ought to have been confided. After a tedious voyage, the expedition arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake. They gave to the headlands between ,6,.» which they sailed the names of Cape Henry and Cape "n«y,,i«i ,ne Charles, in honour of the two English princes. As C«»eke. soon as they had landed, they opened their instruc- tions, and found that seven of their number had been appointed to form the council, and that both Slnith and Gosnold were in- cluded in the nmnber. After some hesitation, they selected a site upon a stream to which they gave the naine of the Jalnes River, upon which they proceeded to build the town which is known as Jamestown to this day. The first act of the council was to nominate Wingfield, one of the earlier promoters of the expedition, to the presidency, and to expel Smith from their  t'ur«l, as, iv. 683--1733. Smith's ttist, of lïT, iMa , 4t.  6o 7 S,IHT.H'S .,4 D V.E_,VT URE S. 5 5 body. It was hot till some weeks had passed that they were persuaded to allow him to take his seat. In June Newport returned to England with the vessels. As soon as he had left Virginia the troubles of the colonists began. Difficultles Thcy had arrived too late in the season to allow of the them to sow the seed which they had brought sttler«, with them with any hope of obtaining a crop. The food which was leff behind for their support was bad in quality, and the hot weather brought disease with it. Nearly fifty of their number were gentlemen, who had nevcr been accustomed to manual labour, t Ialf of the little company were swept away before the beginning of September. Amongst those who perished was Gosnold, whose energetic disposition lnight, perbaps, if he had survived, have done good service to the colony. To make matters worse, the president was inefficient and selfish, and cared little about the wclfare of his comrades, if he only had food enough for himself. The.council deposed him; but his successor, Ratcliffe, was equally incompetent, and it was only by the unêxpected kindness of tlm natives that the colonists were enabled to maintain their existence. As the winter approached, their stock was increased by large numbers of wild fowl which came within their reach. In spire, however, of this change in their circumstances, it was only at Smith's earnest entreaty that they were prevented from abandoning the colony and returning to England. During the winter Smith employed himself in exploring the country. In one of his expeditions he was taken prisoner by the Indians. Any other man would have been instantly Smlth taken p,'isoner by massacred. With great presence of mind, he took a the htdians. compass out of his pocket, and began talking to them about its wonders. Upon tbis, the chier forbade them to do him any barre, and ordered him to be carried to their village. Whilst he was there he still more astonished his captors by sending a party of them with a letter to Jamestown. They were unable to comprehend how his wishes could be conveyed by lneans of a piece of paper. At last he was conducted belote Powhattan, the super.ior chier over all the tribes of that .l)art of the country. After a long consultation, it was deter- 56 THI" COLOWIS.4TIOWOF VIRGLVL4. c. x17. mined to put him to death. He was dragged forward, and his head was laid upon a large stone, upon which the Indians were preparing to beat out lais brains with their clubs. Even then his good fortune did not desert hiln. The chief's daughter, ]'ocahontas, a young girl of ten or twelve years of age, rushed forward, and, taking him in her arms, laid her head upon Iris, Jeisetat to shield it from the clubs. The chier gave liberty, before the entreaties of his daughter, and allowed him full liberty to return to Jamestown On his arrival there he found all things in confusion. The president had again formed the intention of abandoning the colony, and was only deterred once more by the energetic exertions of Smith The colonists were also indebted to him for the liberal supplies of provisions which were from time to time brought to them by Pocahontas. He had not been long at liberty, when Newport arrived with a fresh supply of provisions. He also brought with him about a hundred and twenty men, the greater part of ,608. «,-»ot' whom were bent upon digging for gold. Smith app!ied ,«,. himself to the more profitable undertaking of carry- ing his explorations over the whole of the surrounding country. The gold-diggers did not add anything to the stock of the com- munity ; and it was only by the arrival of another ship that the colonists were enabled during the summer of 6o8 to avoid absolute starvation. Some little corn had, however, been sown in the spring, and it was hoped that, with the help of what they could obtain from the natives, there would be sufficient pro- vision for the winter. Shortly after Newport had again left the colony, Smith re- turned from one of lais exploring expeditions. He found the whole colony dissatisfied with the conduct of the in- Smith l«cted capable president, who, with the exception of Smith, t,resident. was thc only member of the original council still re- maining in VirginioE A third member had, however, been sent out from Egland. This man, whose naine was Scrivener, had attached himselt warmly to Smith, and, to the general satisfac- tion of the settlers, the two friends deposed Ratcliffe, and ppointed Smith to fill his place. I6o8 Z'ROGRESS OF ?FILE COLOWI: 57 Smith had hot long been president when Newport again arrived. The members of the company in England were anxious to sec a return for the capital wlfich they had expended. They pressed Smith to send them gold, and threatened to leave the colony to starve, if their wishes were hOt complied with. The only conditions on wlaich he was to be excused were the discovery of a passage into the Pacific, or of the lost colony which had been founded by Raleigh. They sent him seventy more men, of whom, as usual, the greater number were gentle- men. They expected lfim to send them home, in return, pitch, tar, soap-ashes, and glass. To assist him in this, they lmt on board eight Poles and Dutchmen, who were skilled in such manufactures. He at once wrote home to the treasurer of the company, Sir Thomas Slnith, explaining to him the absurdity of these demands. The colonists, he told him, must be able to feed lhemselves before they could establish lnanufactures. If any more men were sent out, ' but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blackslniths, masons, and diggers-up of trees ' and ' roots,' would be better ' than a thousand of such ' as had lately arrived. Under Smith's rule the settlement passed safely through another winter. The Indians were compelled to respect thê rising colony. The greater part of the gentlemen were induced to work heartily, and those who refused were plainly told that if they would hot do the work they would be leff to starve. It appeared as if, at last, the worst difficulties had been over- OOllle. "l'be summer of 6o 9 was drawing to a close, when news arrived in Yirginia that a fresh charter had been granted, by which considerable changes were authorised in the T,¢ government of the colony. The working of the eharter, original arrangements had been, in many respects, unsatisfactory. The council at home, which had been enlarged in 6o7,  had found but little to do, as all practical business connected with the support of the colony was in the hands of a Ordinance in IZotht£, l. 76. 2"8 TtlE COZO.;IS.4TIO«V OF VI.çGI2VI«t. cH. xtt. the company. The company itself had proved but ill-fitted to devise the best measures for the maintenance of the settlers. Its members had been too anxious for a quick return for the money which they had laid out, and lq.d been too eager to press the colonists to engage .n trade before they had brought under cultivation a sufficient quantity of land for their own support. On the other hand, nothing could be more unsatis- factory than the accounts which they received of the proceed- ings of the colonial council. It was certain that the whole attempt would prove a failure if the settlement were allowed tobe distracted by the d;.sputes and follies of the members of the local government. When the last news was brought to England in 6c8, Smith had but just entered upon his office ; and, even if the good effects of the change had already begun to appear, the company was not likely to receive any information which would give them an idea of the value of his services. Those who returned in the vessels which had left Virginia in the autunm vere the declared enemies of the new prêsident. Newport especially, who commanded the expedition, had been too often made to feel the superior ability of Smith to be likely to speak many words in his favour. The company, therefore, in asking for a change in its origi- nal charter, was acting in ignorance of the improved state of things in Virginia. "l_'he alterations ruade were, on the whole, calculated to benefit the colony. In the first place, an end was put to the doublegovernment. The council in London was from henceforth to take charge as wêll of the commercial as of the political interests of the colon)-. Though the first appointmeqts vere to be ruade by the King, vacanciês, as they occurred, were to be fillêd up by the company. Care was taken that, of the fifty-two persons who were named to take their seats in the new council, but a very small number should be engaged in com- merce. For some years to corne, the arrangement of the in- tercourse which was to be kept up between Virginia and thë mother country would no longer be in the hands of men who were liable to look upon the whole affair as a mere commercial Second chartcr, I-2",'nhg, i. 8o. 6o9 THE A*EIV CttARTER. $9 speculation. There would, therefore, be some chance that the necessities of the colonists would be regardcd, as well as the pockets of the subscribers. At all events, as long as such men as ]3acon and Sandys took part lu the deliberations of the council, the colonists were hot likely to be again urged to search for gold, under thc threat that, if they failed, they would be cut off from all further assistance from England. It was no less necessary to carry out a thorough reform in \ïrginia itself. The first thing to be done was to sweep away the colonial council, with its annual presidents. Even Change in the sS"..tem had the home govcrnment known what was passing of govern- n*ent in the in the colon),, they couÆd hardly bave corne to any eolony, other conclusion. The accident which had brought about the election of Smith might never again occur, and even during lais year of office the council, if its vacancies were fillcd up, would be rather an obstruction than an assistance to him. t3y the new charter, the council in Virginia was deservedly swept away, and the council in London received full powers to appoint all officers who were needed for the government of the colon)'. Undoubtedly, the best thing which the new council could bave donc would bave been to bave placed Smith at the head Appoint- of the settlement. But, being ignorant of his truc mentofLord value, they took the next best step in their power. De la Warr asGovernor. The government of merchants and captains had proved only another naine for organised disorder. They, there- fore, determined to try the experiment of sending out persons whose rank had ruade theln accustomed to comlnand, and who, if they were under the disadvantage of being new to colonial lire, might be supposed to be able to obtain respect from the factions by which the colony was distracted. It was also plain that the settlement must be regarded, at least for the present, as a garrison in a hostile country, and that the new government must be empowered to exercise military discipline. The selec- tions ruade were undoubtedly good. Lord de la Warr, an able aud conscientious man, was to preside, under the naine of General; Sir Tholnas Gates, one of the oldest promoters of the undertaklng, was to act as his Lieutenant  Sir George Somers TIIE COLO2VISA ]lOf OF UIRGI, VL,4. cH. xzz. was to command the vessels of the company as Admiral ; Sir Thomas Dale, an old soldier froln the Low Country wars, was to keep up discipline as Marshal ; whilst Sir Ferdinando Wain- man was invested with the rather unnecessary title of General of the Horse. Lord de la Warr was to be preceded by Gates, Semers, and Newport, who were jointly to administer the government till the appearance of the General himself. The whole schelne was well contrived, and if it had been carried out according to the intentions of the council all would have gone well. In May, nine ships sailed, with rive hundrcd fresh lnen to recruit the colony, and with large stores of pro- visions.  Unfortunately, the ship which contained the three comlnissioners was wrecked on the Bermudas, and Shipwreck oOhy Co,-- the remaining vessels, with the exception of one hich "'»'°"»" perished at sea, arrived in the Chesapeake with the information that Smith's authority was at an end, but without bringing any new officers to fill his place. "1"o lnake matters worse, the men who arrived were chiefly a loose and disorderly mob, who had been chosen without any special regard for the requirements of an emigrant's lire, and with theln were several of Smith's old opponents, who had previously returned to England. Slnith, seeing that no lawful authority had corne to replace his own, deterlnined to maintain himself in lais post. The new- comers raised unlooked-for difficulties. They hot only showed great disinclination to submit to lais orders, but they set at naught all the ordinary rules of prudence in their intercourse with the natives. The Indians came to Slnith with complaints that his men were stealing their corn and robbing their gardens. He was doing lais best to introduce order again amongst these miserable men, when an accident deprived the colony of his services. Some gunpowder in a boat, in whicli he was, acci- dentally took tire, and the wounds which he received ruade it Smith «- impossible for him to fulfil the active duties of lais turns to office. He accordingly determined to return to Eng- ng>nd. land, leaving the unruly crowd of settlers to discover by a bitter experience the value of his energy and prudence.  Compare l'urchas, iv. 1733, vith Smilla. I6o 9 LORD DE LA If'ARR'S ARRIIAL. They were hot long in learning the extent of their capacity for self-government. They utterly refused to submit to Percy, who had been elêcted by the council as Smith's successor. 1 As soon as the natives heard that Smith was gone, they attacked the settlement, and met with but little resistance. The settlers themselves wasted the provisions which should bave served for their subsistence during the winter. There was no recognised authority, and every man followed his own inclination. When Smith sailed for England the colony consisted of V(retched state ofthe four hundred and nincty men. Within six months a coo,»-, miserable remnant of sixty pcrsons was supporting itself upon roots and berries. In this extremity, Gates  arrived, having contrived to escape in a pinnace flore the Bermudas. On May 23, I61o, he landed :,« at Jamestown. He had expected to find a flourishing ri,.t or colony, where he could obtain support for the h undred Gat. and fiffy shipwrecked settlers who accompanied him. He found famine staringhim in the face. The corn which had been sown would not be ready for harvest for months, and the Indians refused to bargain with their oppressors. Whcn he had landed all lais little store, he found that there would only be enough to support life for sixteen days. It was therefore dêtermined, by common consent, to forsake the country, as the only means to avoid starvation, and to make for Newfoundland, where the fugitives hoped to obtain a pasage to England in the vessels which were engaged in fishing. On June 7 the remnants of the once prosperous colony quitted the spot which had been for three years the centre of their hopes, and dropped down the river. efore, The cn|ony ,-,,.a by t« however, they had got out into the Chesapeake, they arrival of I.od I) a were astonished by the sight of a boat coming up to Warr. meet them. The boat proved to belong to Lord de la Warr's squadron, which had arrived ffoln England in tilne to save the settlement from ruin. The arrival of Lord de la Warr was the turning point in the t « They persuaded lXIaster l'ercy fo stay . . . and be their presi- «lent" {Smith, 93), must mean that the council persuaded him.  l'ttrchas, iv. 1745, 6 • THE COLO.VISATIO?¢ OF VIRGINIA. cri xii. eafly history of Virginia. He brought provisions upon which the settlers could subsist for a year, and by his authority he was able to curb the violence of the factions which had been with difficulty kept down even by the strong hand of Smith. Peace was restored with the Indians, and the colonists worked wil- lingly under the Governor's directions. He had hot been long in "VÏrginia before ill health compelled him to return. After a short interval he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale. Dale introduced a code of martial Sir T. Dale's administra- ]aw. l This code was unustifiably severe, but even tion, that was better than the anarchy which threatened to break out again on Lord de la Warr's departure. A still more advantageous change was brought about under his government. ttithcrto the land had been cultivated for the good of the whole colony, and it had been found difficult to make men work heartily who had no individual interests in their labours. ])ale assigned three.acres of land to each setfler. The imme- diate results of this innovation were manifest. The improve- ment was still more decided when Gates, who had been sent back to England, returned as Governor, in August x6r, with considerable supplies, of which the naost valuable part consisted f arge numbers of cattle. From that time the difficulties vhich had impeded the formation of the settlelnent were hcard of no more. For lk« Colo O, of lïqinia 13rilannia, Laws diz'hte, moral, and martia. 63 CHAPTER XIII. THE GREAT COIWTRACT. Tm opposition which the proceedings of the Ecclesiastical Courts had raised amongst the judges must bave ruade Salis- l,li.-,r,e,,t bury anxious as to the success of the appeal which s,,,o,«t, he was about to address to the House of Commons, which was, as he well knew, animated by a still stronger dislike to those courts. All other means, however, of restoring the finances to a sound condition having been exhausted, it was determined to summon Parliament to meet early in i6o. l.Jnusual precautions were taken to obtain a majority in favour of the scheme which the Lord Treasurer had in preparation. EImio,,to During the long interval which had passed since the ,,-¢,«iCs. last session several vacancies had occurred. To four, at least, of the constituencies which had seats at their disposal Salisbury ruade applications in favour of nominees of lais own. The answers which he received throw some light upon the manner in which elections were at that time conducted. The bailiffs of Eye said that they had already selected a candidate at the nomination of a neighbouring gentleman, but that he had consented to waive his claire, when he heard that a letter had been received from Salisbury.t Another of the Treasurer's letters was sent down to 13ossiney. It was carried by the mayor to a gentleman named Hender, who wrote to Salisbury, telling him that he had held the nomination for more than twenty l'ears, but that, on this occasion, he was willing to place it at  I3ailiffs of tye to Salisbury, Oct. I6, S. I'. D.,m. xlviii. o9. 64 TH GRA ï COA'TR.] CT. c. x. the disposal of the Government. 1 The bailiffs of Boroughbridge answered a similar request by saying that they would rather die than refuse to elect Salisbury's nominee.  The corporation of Ludlow alone refused to elect tle person designated, as they were bound to choose no one who was not a resident in their town. They would, however, take care that their new member should vote entirely according to the wishes of the Govern- ment. 3 The session commenced on February 9- At a conference on the xsth, Salisbury laid before the House of Commons an 6« exposition of the condition of the Treasury. As was Meeting of only natural, he laid far more stress on the necessities l'arliament, of the King than on the prodigality by which they had, in a great measure, been caused. Nor did he fail to draw attention to the exertions by which the debt had been reduced to a sure of 3oo, oooL, and the revenue had been brought to within 46,ooo/? of the regular expenses, although the King would need much more to supply his extraordinary expenditure. He begged the Commons not to allow the ship of State to be wrecked at the entrance of the port. He was obliged, in noticing the objection that the King had been too prodigal of his bounty, to tCall back upon commonplaces on the necessity of rewarding merit, and to quote the example of other princes whose expenditure had been equally profuse. If the House would consent to assist the King in his need, he would, on his part, be ready to redress all just grievances. 5 In taking the Treasurer's speech into consideration, the Feb. 8. Commons decided upon postponing the question of sppb---a the supply to be granted for the payment ofthe debt, mpport. until they had determined upon some regular sui» port by which the revenue itself might be permanently increased.  Hender fo Salisbury, Oct. 2, S. P. Dom. xlviii.  I6.  Bailiffs of Bomughbridge to Salisbury, Nov. 5, S. I'. Dom. xlix. s Corporation of Ludlow to SalisbmT, I)ec. I, S. Z'. Z)om. l. .  So he said. The difference in the estimate, which is printed in l'arl. Z)b. in 6o, Introd. p. xii., and which is fixed by internal evi- dence in the beginning of 6to, is 49,oool A few months later it uaa 56,ooo/.  .Parl. D,'b. in 6o, p. . ttarl. ,ISS. 777, fol. . 6o SUPPORT AWD SUPPZ. I: 65 V.qrious proposais were ruade. _Amongst others, Thomas Wentworth, the member for the city of Oxford, and son of the l'eter Wentworth who had been committed to the Tower by Elizabeth, for the boldness of his language in the House, pro- posed that the King should be asked to reduce his expenditure. The House, however, was hOt prepared for so strong Feb. 2z. a measure, and the whole question was referred to the Committee of Grievances. The Committee proposed that the l.ords should be requested to state precisely what the King was wiIling to do. If the Lords reflsed to do this, the Commons were to ask for leave to treat with the King for the abolition of the feudal tenures, and especiaIIy of the whole system of ward- ship. It was plain that there was a difference in the manner in which the matter in hand was regarded bv those who were principally concerned. Salisbury considered it to be the duty of the Colnmons to supply the wants of the King, and looked upon the redress of grievances as a favour which was to be granted to them if they performed their duty. With the Com- lnons, on the other hand, the first object was that grievances should be redressed. In the conference which ensued, Salisbury plainly put forward the demands of the Government. He asked for a supply of 6oo,ooo£, half of which was to pay off the Feb. 4. debt, whilst 5o,oL was to be employed in meeting the extraordinary expenses of the nax3" , and the remainder was to be laid by to be used on any emergency which lnight arise. He also asked for a permanent support of zoo, ooo£ a yeaç which would give the King an annual incolne of 66,ooo£, a sure nearly 5,o£ in excess of his whole annual expenditure,  pro- vided that that expenditure continued at its present rate, and that his income was hot diminished by the concessions which he was prepared to make to the demands of the nation. He was answered, that the supply could only be given by lneans of subsidies, and that the Lower House always kept such questions  The extraordinary expenses were ealculated to amount to about oo, oooL ut there can be little doubt thal this was putting them f higher than w at all necessary. VOL. II. ç 66 'ItE GREA T COATRACT. in it. osn hands. With respect to the permanent support, the Çommons wou|d consider of it. As Salisbury ruade no pro- posal to redress grievances, he was distinct|y sked whether t]le Lords would join in requesting the King to give them leave to treat for the surrender of those rights connected T Co- with the feudal tenures which were felt to be so op- ,,o-.kto pressive to the subject. He answered that he could treat for tt:llllres, not reply without filSt consulting the Lords. lnentioned, however, several points in which the King's pre- rogative trenched upon the case of the subjeçt. Ite proposed that they should consider whether these might hot form part of the contract with the King. Among them was one of the old subjects of dispute, the right of purveyance. The Lords appointed a Comnaittee to wait upon the King, for the purpose of asking him whether he was willing to treat on the tenures. James told them that he must take lime to consider upon a question of such importance. 1 Meanwhile the ConllYlons were busy with a book which had been published rather more than two years before. It was a . Co,.er law dictionary entitled Z'he 2?n'o2pr«'«r. The author, book. Dr. Cowell, was the Reader on Civil Law at the Unirersity of Cambridge. Itis work had been brought out under the patronage of Bancroft, and for that reason, if for no other, it was likely to be subjected to minute criticism by tbe partisans ofthe COlnmon law. It was said--and it is by no means improbable--that the inquiry which was lnade by the House of Commons was set on foot at the instigation of Coke. The opi- nions which were contained il the book were such as no Itouse of Cornmons could rail in pronouncing unconstitutional. If in some places the author took pains to state that he did hot put forth tbese opinions as unquestionable truths, he left no doubt in the minds of his readers to which side his own ideas incline& Thus, after declaring that he left it for wiser men to decide whether it was binding upon the King to require the consent of Parliament to the enactment of laws, he asserted that the King of England was undoubtedly an absolute King, and pro- 16:z CO IVELL'S 'IWTERI'RETER.' 67 ceeded te quote authorities in support of the doctrine that te make laws was part of the prerogative of such a King. 1 In anothcr place he stated this opinion still more forcibly. " Of these two," he wrote, "one must needs be true, that eithcr the King is above the Parliamcnt, that is, the positive laws of lais kingdom, or else that he is net an absolute King ..... "nd, therefore, though it be a merciful policy, and also a politic lnercy (uot alterablê without great peril), te make laws by consent of the whole reahn, because se no one part shall have cause te colnplain of a partiality, yet simply te bind a prince te or by those laws were repugnant te the nature and consti- tution of an absolute lnonarchy." 2 In a sinilar spirit, he put it forth as an opinion held by seine, ' that subsidies were granted by Parliament in consideration of the King's good- ness in waiving his absolute power te make laws without their consent.' " The Commons requested the Lords te join them in calling the King's attention te the book. Before, however, the Lords 1,terr,« had rime te take any steps in the matter, they were oftheKing, told by Salisbury that the King had summoned Cowell before him, and that he wished him te inform the Commons that he was much displeased vith the book. He considered that it impugned the Common Law of England, and the fundamental grounds of the constitution of Parliament, and that in opposing the prerogative te the law the author had attacked both King and Parliament together. If the book had been brought before the King's notice earlier, he would have taken order with it ; as it was, he would take immediate steps for suppressing it. Salisbury also reported that the King had acknowledged that although he derived his title frein his ancestors, ' yet the law did set the crown upon his head,' ' and that he was a King by the Common I.aw of the land.' He 'had no power te make laws of himself, or te exact any sub- sidies de .lute without the consent of his three estates, and, Article ' Prerogative,' ed. I6O7. Article 'Parliament.' The article 'King Article ' Subsidy.' F2 ' contains similar doctrines. ,8 TttE GREAT CO.VTRACT. crr. x. therefore, he was so far flore approving the opinion, as lac did hate those that believed it.'  Soon afterwards, a proclamation appeared commanding the suppression of the book. The House received the news with svvrio,a pleasure, and ordered that thanks should be given to ,rthe »,,,,k. the King for the promptness with which their wishcs had been met. A few days after the King's disavowal of the opinions con- tained in Cowell's book, Bacon, in the n.'une of the Commons, lr« 8. once more brought the subject of tenures before the :.«o,«» Lords at a conference. He begged them to assure speech on tes, the King that, in asking for leave to treat, the Lower ItTouse b.ad never intended in any way to diminish the Royal revenues. It was a mistake to suppose that the dignity of tlm Crown would be in any way affected by the concessions the King was asked to make. The right of wardship was by no means peculiar to Royalty. It was no longer by the feudal tenures that men were under obligations to serve the Çron. The soldiers who had followed the English captains in the late wars had been bound by very different ties from those which compelled a vassal to hold himself in readiness to defend his lord. When the nmsters were held in the counties of England, men never dreamed of asking whose tenants they were, or how they held theîr land. Ail they remembered was that they were the subjects of the King, and this they would never forget if ail the tcnures in existence were swept away at a stroke. If the change would deprive the King of the right of protecting those who had hitherto been his wards, he must remember that he would only relinquish lais claire in favour of the nearest relations of the orphans, who were, above all others, most likely to care for their welfare, lqor would there be the slightest difficulty in providing means by vhich the misuse of authority by harsh or avaricious relatives might be kept in check. He concluded by requesting the Lords to join the Commons in petitioning the King to give lais answer as soon as he conveniently could. The work before them was  l'arL Deb. in 161o, p. "4- It is curious that no care was taken to ecord this admission in the journals. ! 61o IrE U1)AL TE.'VUI?ES. 6 9 one of great importance, and would require long dcliberatiorl. Solomon's temple, he remindcd them, was ruade without noise, but it was hOt built in one day. t On IXlarch i2, the Commons received a favourable answcr from the King to their demand. On the 26th, the Committee • rh Coin- to vhich the subject had been referred, proposed that IllOnS receive the King should givc up ail the emoluments resulting leave to treat ,,.tn. from the feudal tcnures, with the exception of the aids, which were due upon the knighting of the King's eldest son, and upon the marriage of lais eldcst daughter. For this, and for the remission of thc claires which Salisbury had pro- ay or posed to abandon, thcy offcred no more than i oo,oool. ,oo,,1. Stach an offcr was hot likely to be acceptable to thc King, The concessions he vas required to naake vould pro- bable be equivalent to a deduction of more than 4o, ooo/. from lais revenue,  and he would be left -ith a total income of 5--o, oool. Such a sure was certainly insufficicnt to meet an expenditure of 6oo, oool. The Comlnons, however, believed that much of this expenditure was unnecessary, and they had not realised the impossibility of any sovereign coming after Elizabeth being as economical as she had been. Their view of the cast, however, vas not likdy to meet with acceptance at court. Salisbury told them that so far from ioo, oool. being sufficient, the King would not now accept even zoo, ooo/. unless they also ruade up to him the loss which his revenue would sustain if he yielded to thcir denaands. He may perhaps bave thought that he had more chance of getting vhat he wanted by asking more than he expected to get. s On )lay 4, however, the Commons disappointed him by refusing lais terres; and the nego- tiations were, in consequence, brought to an end for the time. A few days before the Great Contract, as it was The Petitlon «(;ri,,- called, was thus broken off, Sandys reported on behalf ances, of the Committee "vhich had been occupied evcr since the beginning of the session in drawing up the Petition  Zetlers atdZif« of I¢acot, iv. 63.  Sir J. Coesar estimated the King's loss t 44,oool (Z'arl. 19cb. in 6o, p. 64).  _Parl. l)eb. in 6o, 10. .t6. 70 - TII GRA T COA'TR.4CT. c. of Gricvanccs, t|mt thcy had arrivcd at thc question of thc impostions which had bccn psscd over so unccrcmonious]y in lhc last session. Hc askcd that scarch miht be madc for l,rcccdcnts beafing on the subjcct. _Accordingly, on thc following day, certain members, amongst whorri was the well- known antiquary Sir Robert Cotton, were nalned for the 'ïheCom- purpose. On May i, however, before they had ,,,« for- lnade their report, the Speaker informed the tIouse bidden to di«»,the that he had received a lnessage from the King, to ilnpo«itions, the effect that if they intended only to take into consideration the inconveniences alleged to result from any particular imposition, he would readily hear their complaints ; but tlmt if they were about to discuss his right to levy ilnpo- sitions in general, they must remember that the Curt of Exchequer had given a judgment in his favour. He there- fore commanded them to refrain from questioning his preroga- rive.  As soon as the Speaker had finished, Sir Willialn Twisden, who knew that the King had been absent from London for a week, asked him who gave him the message. The Speaker confessed that he had not received it from the King, but from the Council. Upon this a resolution was passed, that what had just been heard should hot be received as a message from the King. James was at first greatly displeased, but, upon further consideration, he forbore to press the point. Scarcely had this episode corne to an end, when both Houses vere summoned to Whitehall, to meet thc King, who had corne back to London upon hearing of the resistance with which lais .y =,. message had been received.  tte began by remind- a'h l-:i,g'« ing them that they had been now sitting for fourteen spee«h, weeks, and had as )-et donc nothing towards the relief of his necessities. As for the impositions, he was per- fectly justified in what he had donc. He would, however, engage hOt to lay any more, at any future time, without hearing ' cott. àlss. Tit. F. iv. fol. =55- See also C. aw. i. 4z7, and /'arL /-)d,. in I6IO, p. 3.  Abst,act of the King's Speech, .S'. /'. Dom. liv. 65 l"arL D«b. in 161o, p. 34" H«rl. 3ISS. 777, fol. 27 a. 6o TIIE IJIPOSITIONS. 7r what both Houses had to say respecting the proposed increase of taxation. But he refused to be bound by any opinion which they might then express. The Kings of Spain, France, and Denmark had the right of levying impositions, and why should he not do as they did? He would hot have his prerogative called in question. Next morning the House met in high dudgeon.  Sir Francis Hastings declared that the King might as well have claimed a right to dispose of ail their properties. May . Aco,- He therefore moved for a Cmmittee to consider mittee ap- pointed to how they might obtain satisfaction. It was in vain consider t« i,g' that Sir Julius Coesar, now Chancellor of the Exche- speech. quer, advised that they should be content to take the law from the judges. The motion for the appointment of a Committee was carried without a division. The Committee met in the afternoon. Fuller and Wentworth maintained the right of Parliament to discuss ail questions which concerned the commonwealth. Bacon answered by quoting precedents from the time of the late Queen, in which the House had un- doubtedly allowed its discussions to be interfered with by the sovereign. He said that the House might always discuss matters which concerned the interest of the subject, but hot matters which related to the prerogative. He therefore recom- mended that the impositions should be complained of as grievances, but that the King's power to impose should hOt be called in question. Those who answered him were hot very successful in dealing with Bacon's precedents, as it was dicult to get rid of the fact, that Elizabeth had often prevented the House flore meddling with her prerogative. But on the general merits of the case, their reply was unanswerable. They argued, that if they had a right to discuss grievances which bore hardly upon individuals, much more had they a right to discuss a grievance which bore hardly upon the whole commonwealth. A petition of right was accordingly drawn up, in which the Commons declared that they could hOt be prevented from  The debate in the House in the morning is reported in C.  [. 4o. The afternoon dcbate in Committee will be round in Parl. D«b. in I6IO» p. 36. .', TtIE GREAT COA'TRACT. CH. XIII. debating on any matter which concerned the rights and interests A petition of of the subject. They had no intention of impugn- right, ing the King's prerogative ; but it was necessary for them to ascertain what were its true limits, as there was a general apprehension that upon the saine arguments as those upon hich the judgment in the Exchequer had been founded, the whole property of the subject lnight be confiscated at the will of the sovereign. Accordingly, they prayed to be allowed to proceed in their inquiries, in order that the matter being settled once for all, they might be able to pass on to his Majesty's business. 1 A deputation was sent with this petition to the King at Greenwich. Ite received the members most affably. He had round that he had gone too fro; and he was anxious llay 4- "lhe Kmg to draw back. He pretended that in the message gi,-« ,y. delivered by the Speaker he had only intended that the House should not debate on the impositions till he returned to London. His own speech had been misunderstood. He lneant to warn them against impugning his prerogative, which they now declared that they had no intention of doing. He had no wish to al;ridge any of their privileges, and he gave them full liberty to consider the whole question. He only hoped that they would not forget his wants, and that they did hOt intend to take with one hand what they gave with the other. = The Conlmons were well satisfied ith this answer, and at once agreed to take the contract into further consideration. Thecontract For the nmlnent, however, they were occupied with ,a. other matters. News had arrived of the murder of llenry I\\ by the fanatic Ravaillac. For this atrodous gt&ot crime the English Catholics were to pay the penalty. yIV. The House saw in it an attelnpt similar to that by Mich their own lires and that of their sovereign had been endangered rive years before, and they dreaded its influence upon the minds of those who might be prepared to imitate the  C. J. i. 43.  Il, id. i. 43 e. Report cf the King's Answer, S. /'..Dom. liv. 73. t're'l. ZM,. in 6o, p. 4 I. 16Io HEA'_/] P[¢I.VCE OF II'ILES. 73 example of the assassin. They knew of no othcr way to mcct the danger than that which had long becn tricd in vain. Th«Co,- They accordingly petitioncd the King to put in ,onspeti- execution the laws against recusants. In this thcy tion against r««,s-nts, were joined by the Upper House. James thankcd them, and promised to comply with their ishes. An Act 'as also passed, ordering that ail English subjects without exception should take the oath of allegiance, and for the first time imposing a penalty upon married women who were rccusants. If thcy refused to take the Sacralnent in the Church of England thcy ere to be imprisoned, unless their husbands were willing to pay oI. a month for their liberty. The House was proceeding to dcbate the contract, when thcy were again interrupted to witness a ceremony which must bave corne like a burst of sunshine in the midst of these Creation of ,, PrinCe« unsatisfactory disputations. On lune 4, in the prc- Wales. sence of both Houses, l'rince Henry was solcnmly created Prince of Walcs. He was now in lais eighteenth year, and he had already von the heart of the whole nation. lais bright young face old men saw a prospect of a return to the Elizabethan glories of their youth. His mind was open to all noble influences, and, if he had livcd, he would bave becn able to rule England, because he would have sympathised, as his father never did, -ith ail that was good and great in the English character. No doubt there was much which 'as wanting to make him a perfect ruler. Prudence and circum- spection are hot the qualifies which manifest themselves in boyhood ; but these would bave corne in time. His thoughts, even in lais childhood, had been filled with images which presaged a stirring life. There was nothing prematurely old about him, as there had been in his father's earlier years. When he first came to England, he talked of imitating the Plantagenets when he should be a man, and of leading armies to the conquest of France. These dreams passed a-ay, and he threw himself heart and soul into the tales of maritime adventure which were so rife in England. In everything that concerned ships and ship-building he took a peculiar intcrest Nothing, however, marks the soundness of lais character more "14 THE GREA T CONTRACT. Cil. xln. than the steadfastness with which he remained constant to those whom he admired. Alone, in his father's court, he continued to profess his admiration of the unfortunate Raleigh. No man but his father, he used to say, would keep such a bird in a cage. The man to whom he owed the greater part of his knowledge of shipping was l'hineas l'ett, one of the King's shipwrights. On one occasion a complaint was ruade against Pett, and he was examined in the presence of the King. During the whol of the examination the l'rince stood by lais side to encourage him, and when he was pronounced innocent of the charge which had been brought against him, was the first to con- gratulate him on his success, and to give utterance to a boyish wish that his accuses might be hanged. * We can readily imagine that, as long as the Prince lived, the House of Coin- morts were able to look with hope to the future, and that the ceremony which they were called to witness must have inclined them not to deal harshly with the King's demands, in the hope that the crown would sooner or later test upon a worthier head. On June , Salisbury addressed the Colnmons on the subject of the contract. He proposed that they should at once grant a supply to pay off the debt, and to meet Salisbury «,,,.e the deficit caused by the current expenditure. The supply. support was to be deferred till the next session, which would commence in October. The annual sure required by the King was now distinctly stated to be 24o, ooo/., which, allowing for the loss he expected to surfer, was equal to the 2oo, oooL which he had originally demanded. He also wished them to defer the presentation of their grievances to the following session. He told them that the impositions had been examined, and that several had been altogether remitted, at a yearly loss to the Crown of o, oooL  The proposal that the presentation of the Petition of Grievances should be postponed met with little favour in the House of Commons. In spite of messages sent by the King, t Birch, Zi./é of[fenry, l'rince of ll'ales, p. I57. - ['arl. Deb. in 16to, pp. 52, 154, I65. See the Commission to draw up a new book of rates» Sept. 5. t'atent Rolls, 8 'ames [., part 3 o. t6io T]]E .DEBA TE O.V LllPOSITIO2VS. 75 essuring them that he would hear their grievances, and give them an answer before the prorogation, they steadily refused to vote any money till they had completed thcir petition. On June 23 the House resolved itself hato a Committee, in order to consider the question of the impositions. The debate, ret which lasted for four days, was left ahnost entirely on imposi- in the hands of the lawyers. Even Sandys, who fions based ,pon pre«e- was usually heard on every important occasion, sat dents, silent. The speakers on both sides seem to have had a horror of general rcasoning. The Crown lawyers repeatedly called upon their antagonists to rclnembcr that they were debating a question of law and fact, into which they had no right to introduce political arguments. The popular speakers readily followed them upon this ground, and carefully fortified their case with quotations of statutes and precedents. If they ever strayed away into a wider field, it was only after they had COlupleted the structure of their main defences, and were provoked to reply to SOlne dangerous assertion of their antagonists. The line of argulnent, whlch was thus adopted at the COlnmencement of the great constitutional battle, was steadily lnaintained during a struggle extending over a period of eighty years. Those who lnade use of it have obtained much unlnerited praise, and have incurred much unmerited obloquy. Englishlnen are too often inclined to represent the course taken by their ancestors as an example which should be invariably followed by other nations, and have been ready to sneer at statesmen who bave adopted, under totally different circumstances, a totally different systeln of political reasoning. French writers, on the other hand, are continually tempted to look down upon an opposition which contented itself with appealing to the practice of former ages, and with in- vestigating the laws of one particular nation, but which shrank fi'om putting forth general principles, which might be a guide to all nations for all tilne. In fact, English Conservatism was as much the consequence as the cause of political success. Our ancestors did not refer to prccedents merely because they ere anxious to tread in the steps of those v ho went before them, but because it was their settled belief that England h,',d ahvays been well governed and prosperous. They quoted t stature hOt because it was old, but because they knew that, ninety-nine rimes out of every hundred, their predecessors had passed good laws. From this feeling grew up the attachment which Englishmen have ever shown to the law of the land. Knowing that, whatever defects it lnight bave, those defects were as nothing in comparison toits merits, they took their stand upon it, and appealed toit on every occasion. It was an attachment hot so much to law in general as to the particular law under which they lived. It must hOt, however, be supposed that the two parties were quarrelling about the mere letter of the law. The letter of pi«,,: « the old statutes was singularly confused and uncertain, mtervret'ng and could only be rightly interpreted by those who the prcce, dents, cntered into the spirit of the men who had draxn them up. i)ifferences of opinion on the form of government which was most suited for the seventeenth century were sure to reappear in differences of opinion on the form of government whch had actually existed iii the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and would lnake themselves felt in any attempt to educe a true lneaning fron the early statutes. Ïhese differences were none the less felt because they did not on either side find their expression iii any well-defined system of political opinion. Both parties agreed that there were certain definite functions which belonged to the King alone, and that there were other definite functions which belonged only to the House of Coin- ruons. But the great majority of the I.ower House were begimfing to feel-that when any difference of opinion arose Oppoi« on any important subject between the King and the • -iews of Comlnons, it was for the King, and hot for them- constitu- tional la'. selves, to give way. A few, however, with Bacon at their head, thought that the King ought to be, at least in a great measure, independent of the House of Comnaons. looking back to the past history of their country, both parties allowed their view of the old constitution to be tinged with colours vhich were derived from their own political opinions. As might be expected, when such a history as that of England 6o TttE DELTA TE OW 1.11"POSITIOAW. 77 was in question, those who were the best politicians proved also to bave the most accurate knowledge of history. Both parties, indeed, marie one mistake. It is impossible to read the argmnents which were used in the long debate without perceiving that all the speakers agreed in attributing to the constitution of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries far more of a settled character than it in reality possessed. They all seem to have imagined that on impCtant points there was SOlne fixed rule to which all had assented, the contravention of vhich was known to be a breach of constitutional law. They failed to seize the true character of the epoch as a rime of struggle during which the idea of law was gradually evoh'ing itself in the midst of a conflict of opposing ills. But the popular party had the better of their adversaries in this, that what it alleged to have been the acknowledged law of that period was in reality the system upon which the constitution was finally moulded after the conclusion of the struggle, and towards which, during its continuance, every step taken in advance was constantly tending ; whereas the powers claimed for the Crown had gradually sunk under the unintermitted protests of the nation, and had been finally, by universal consent, either explicitly given up or tacitly abandoned, till they had been in part regained under very different circumstances during the reigns of the Sovereigns of the House of Tudor. If the popular party was right in its interpretation of the spirit of English history, it would have been strange if they had been unable to meet their opponents on merely technical grounds. Careless as the early Parliaments had been of laying down general principles, it would have been very remarkable if in the course of a century and a half they had not dropped some words whch could be understood as a bar to all future at- tempts of the King to exercise the right of laying impositions in I Besides the notes in _Pari. Z)«b. in 1610, we bave in the Slalc ]'riais (il. 395 part of Bacon's speech, with the speeches of Itakewill and White- locke, the latter erroneously attributed to Yelverton ; and in Cott. A[SS. Tir. F. v. fol. 244, Doderidge's speech ; and at fol. 242 a speech of CromFton's which was probably delivered on this occasion. 78 TtlE GREAT COA:TRACT. CH. Xlit. general, although at the time they were only occupied ir defeat- ing certain particular exactons. The two statutes upon which the greatest weight was justly placed were the Confirmation of the Charters by Edward I., s,.tL, tes and another Act passed in the reign of his grandson. quoted. The Act of Edward I. declared, ' that for so much as the more part of the Commonalty of the Realm find them- selves sore grieved with the maltolt of wools, that is, to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have ruade 1,etition to us to release the saine ; we at their request have «learly released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we will hOt take such things without their common assent and good«vill, saving to us and our heirs the custom of wool.q, skins, and leather granted by the Commonalty aforesaid.'  ]]acon, and those who followcd on the saine side, urged that this statute did hot take away the original right of the Crown, because the words, 'such things ' were applicable only to the wool mentioned at the beginning of the sentence. He was answered by Hakewill, who argued that if the words were meant to apply to wool alone, it would have been absurd to insert a clause saving the customs cn skins and leather. J'he other stature  stated that the Commons having petitioncd against the duties which had lately been imposed upon lead, tin, leather, and woolfells, the King prayed the Parliament to grant him certain duties for a limited time, and promised that, at the expiration of the terre, he would only exact the old custom on the wool and leather. ]3acon argued, from the King's silence regarding lead and tin, that the imposition upon these articles was intended to continue. Fortunately, Hakewill was able to quote from a later paragraph that ' the King hath pro- mised hot to charge, set, or assess upon the custoln but in the manner aforesaid.' Even as an interpretation of the mere letter of the statute, ]3acon's view of the case is manifestly inferior to that of Hake- will ; but if the Acts are read in the spirit of the times in which they were drawn up, the superiority of the popular party be- * 25 Ed. I. Confirm. Cart. ca[,. 7. " 4 Ed. III. stat. i. cap. 2. x6lo Tltt DtB.4 TE ON LIlPOSITIOA'S. 79 cornes still more undoubted. The words in which these old contracts between the Kings of England and their Parliaments were drawn up wcre undoubtedly loose, but their intention was manifest. If the Commons only spoke of the impositions on wools, woolfells, and leathcr, from which they suffered, there could not be the slightest doubt that they would bave had equally invincible objections to any other form of ilnposition. That after a long struggle the King gave up the point, and did hOt attelnpt to shift the duties from wool to some other articles of cornmerce, plainly shows that he understood the lneaning of the words that were used better than the lawyers who attempted two hundred years aftcrwards to fix their own sense upon theln. Among the many speakers on the popular side, IIakcwil! bas the credit of having been the first to establish that the .Argument Commons were technically in the right. Ie was no o. th« less successful in meeting an argument which was King's pre- rogativeof drawn from the supposed necessity of the case. It regulating trade, was said, that if foreign princes laid burdens upola English commerce, it would be necessary to retaliate by laying similar burdens upon the importations into England of the produce of their dominions. This must be done at once, and there would be no time to summon a Parliament. Hakewill  answered by denying that it was likely that the negotiations, which were sure to be entered upon when the quarrel first arose, would be so quickly despatched as to allow no time for suln- moning Parliament. But the answer of Whitelocke,  a member who had entered Pariiament for the first time in this session, went straight to the point. "This strain of policy," he said, "maketh nothing to the point of right. Out rule is, in this plain commonwealth of ours, that no man ought to be wiser than the laws. If there be an inconvenience, itis fitter to have it removed by a lawful means than by an unlawful. But this is rather a mischief than an inconvenience, that is, a prejudice in .preseMi of some few, but not hurtful to the comnaonwealth. And itis more tolerable to surfer a hurt to some few for  Carleton's argument, Z'arL Z?c3. in i6m, 6L  S'a[c Trials, ii. 476. s Ibid. il. 5$, 9 TfI"E GI?E«4 T CO«VTI?«4CT. cH. xlm a short rime, than to give way to the breach and violation of the right of the whole nation--for that is the true inconve- nience ; neither need it be so difficult or tedious to bave the consent of Parliament, if they were held as they ought or might be." Another argument had been put forth by Bacon, which was hardly likely to meet with acceptance. The King, he reasoned,  had power to restrain goods from entering the ports, Argument on the and if he lniglat prohibit their entrance, he might King's right t,, r.tri continue the prohibition until a certain sure was paid. ,rçht.% Tbis reasoning was adopted by Yelverton, who ruade it the main staple of lais speech. Ite had lately given offence to the King by some words which he had uttered in the course of the last session, but he had sought forgiveness, and had eceived a promise of the royal favour. He now came forwarà as the most thoroughgoing advocate of the prerogative in tl:e House. The law of England, he told the astonished Coin- ruons, - extended only to low-water mark. 13eyond that, every- thing was subject to the law of nations, which knew nothing of either statute or common law. All things upon the sea being thus within the King's immediate jurisdiction, he had a right to restrain them from approaching the shore. ]3ate's imposition was consequent upon a restraint of this kind. He was told, "You shall bring no currants ; if you do, you shall pay so much." He concluded by repudiating a doctrine which had been maintained by those who had spoken on the saine side. It was not true, he said, that, if the impositions were excessive, the judges might interfere. No man could meddle with them but the King himself. Yelverton was answered by Martin, the member for Christ- church, who told him that Englishmen 'were, by the constitu- tion of' the kingdom, entitled to be judged by the answered by lHartin and law of England. The merchants' liberty and riches Whitelocke. were 'upon the sea.' He had as 'good right to plough the sea as the ploughman had to plough the land. The common law' extended 'as far as the power of the King.' It  Letters and Zife, iv. I99.  Parl. 19cb. in 161o, 85. 16o TflE I_)EIL1 TIE OA r LIIPOS'ITIO.VS. was'as the soul in the body. The liberty of the seas' was 'parcçl of the liberty of the subiect." Whitelocke, who had slaown that he could quote precedents to better purpose than any of the Crown lawyers, grounded lais opposition on higher l»rinciples than any which they could allege in their defence. With theln the King was the possessor of certain definite rights, which he might enforce wil:hout COla- sidering whether the country suffered froln them or no. With Whitelocke, on the other hand, the King only held them in trust for the COlnmonweahh, in the interest of which those rights lnust be interprcted. ' The prelnises of the argunlents of lais opponents,' he said, 'are of a power in the King only fiduciary, and in point of trust and government ;' but their conclusion inferred 'a right of interest and gain.' If the King had the custody of the ports, it was in order that he lnight 'open and shut upon consideration of public good to the people and state, but not to make gain and benefit by it.' "The ports," he added, "in their own nature are public, free for all to go in and out, yet for the common good this liberty is restrainable by the wisdom and policy of the l'rince, who is put in trust to discern the times when this natural liberty shall be restrained... In point of government and common good of the reahn he may restrain the person. But to conclude therefore he may take money not to restrain, is to sell government, trust, and common justice, and most unworthy the divine office of a King."  There could be no doubt-which opinion would carry the day within the walls of the House of Commons. Not only were the arguments of those who opposed the claire The House --,ost of the King far superior to those of their adversaries, unanimous against the but the House instinctively feR, as soon as the ques- Co,,,. tion was fairly put before it, that its whole future existence was bound up with the arguments of the popular speakers. If the King was justified in what he had donc, he might in future raise far larger sulns in a silnilar manner, and obtain a revenue which would make it unnecessary for b.im» except on rare occasions, to consult his Parliament. ]]acon VOl» II. G 82 TIt.E GId.E.4 T C02VT.,4CT. cH. XtL ,and his friends did hot divide the House. A Committee was appointed to draw up a petition which was to be inserted in the general petition of grievances. On July 7, the grievances were presented to the King. l James, on catcbing sight of the long roll of parchment upon which they were written, called out that it was large The pethion «ri¢- enough to serve for a piece of tapestry. He proln_:sed ""碻" to give an answer in a few days. Accordingly, on the xoth, in the presence of both IIouses, aftcr Salisbury had given an account of the manner in which the impositions had been set, and had justified hilnself with regard to the part which he had taken in the matter, James gave lais answers to some of the grievances, reserving the others for a future day. With most of his answers the Colmnons were well satisfied. On the subjcct of the impositions he proposed a compromise. He would retain those which had been already set, but he would give lais consent to an Act by which he should be prohibited from levying any similar exactions for the future. The next day, the House resolved to grant a supply ; but in spite cf ail the exertions of the Court party, they refused to Grant of a give more than one subsidy and one fifteenth. This subsidy, would be sufficient to meet the most pressing neces- sities of the Governlnent, and they were anxious hot to give too liberally till the points in dispute between thcm and the King were finally settled. It would be well that, at the com- mencement of the following session, the King should still feel it necessary to look to them for the payment of lais debts. In the course of the debate, one lnember was heard whispering to his neighbour, that the limitation of the supply would do the King good, and would serve as a subpcena to bring him to answer for himself when he was wanted. • r itlo, In accordance with the King's wishes, a 13ill  impositions, was brought in, enacting that no imposition should hereafter be laid without the consent of Parliament, other  t'arL 19e. 6to, t23. The whole petition is in Petyt's 't«s t'arlia. mcnlarium, 3t8. The reprint in the Slale Trials is imperfect.  l'arL 19eh. in 6to, I62. The Bill there printed is from the dra ruade at its reintroduction in lhe next session. 6o CO.IIPLETIOW OF TI-ZE COVTA'ACT. s$ than those which were already in existence. This Bill was dropld in the House of Lords : probably, in order lhat it might stand over till the next session, hen it would forma art çf a general settlement of all questions pending between the Crown and the House of Commons. The Lower House now set itself to work upon the contract. On June 6, Salisbury announced that the King was ready Th««,,« to accept 22o, oool I On July 3, the Colnmons ¢,aM. answered by proposing to give 8o, oeo£ Salisbury was indefatigable in attempting to bring the King and the House to terres.  At last he succeeded in inducing both to give way. The Commons consented to advance their offer to 2oo,ooo£, n which James agreed to accept. As, however, they had now included in the concessions for which they asked the purveyance and other matters which had been originally put forward by Salisbury, the actual increase çf the King's revenue, afier accounting for the late dilninution in the ilnpositions, vould have alnounted to about oo, oooZ,* giving him, in ail, about 56o, ooo/. a year, an amount which ought to bave been suNcient for his wants, though it was considerably less than the sums which he had lately been spending. A memorial was accordingly drawn up, in which the Coin- morts prolnised to give the sum upon which the parties to the contract had finally determineoE In whatever way they lnig[t agree to raise it, it 'should bave these two qualities : one, that it should be a revenue firm and stable; another, that it should not be dicult in the levy.' They were, however, de- termined that nota penny should be laid upon the food of the peopl A list was also drawn up of the concessions which were to be granted by the King, in which, in addition to the  C.i. 444.  Aston to , July z4, s. . Dom. lvi. 4 .  C.  i. 45.  Coesar makes it only 85,oooL, before deducting the zo,oeoL for the decrease in the impositions ; but this appears to be much too little (Parl. eb. in I6O, p. 64). The King valued the Purveyance and the Vards at 8o,oooi., which wovld bave leR 2o,oooL if no other con- cessions had been made.--C.  i. 444- This 8o,o/. represents rather what might be ruade of these sources of revenue, than what they actually çrodtced. 84 77rire GREA T CONTA'ACT. CH. XIII. tenures and wardships, were named a considerable number of points in which the law or the prerogative pressed hardly upon the subject. Parliament was to meet in October to decid upon the mode in which the required sure was to be levied. Regarded flore a merely financial point of view, the ar- rangement was excellent. It is difficult to say which of the two parties to the bargain would hav'e gained most if it had been finally carried out. To the King, it would bave brcught an increase o,f income of about oo, ooo/.,  and with the ex.ercise of some economy, might have enabled him to meet lais expenditure for some time to corne. Yet the tax-payers would have gained even more than the sure which the King lost by lais concessions. An enormous amount of money was intercep.ted b' the lawyers, in consequence of the disputes which constantly turned on questions connected with rights now to be abandoned for ever; and the annoyance caused by these disputes was almost as bad as the loss of the money actually spent upon them. The memorial was presented to the House of Lords on July 2. Two days later, the King came down to prorogte The King's Parliament. Before he did so he ordered that the .,.,,-to clerk should read lais answer to those grievances the griev- ««r«,. which he had reserved for further consideration. Upon this answer, in ail probability, the future rate of the contract depended. If the King gave way on the points of which the Colaalaaons COlnplained, every cause of variance be- tween him and the House would have been at once removed, aud he would have found no opposition to lais demands during the next session. The Colnlnons seem to have taken it for granted that they would receive a favourable answer, for they inserted in the memorial, as an algument by which they hoped to convince their constituents of the wisdom of their course in assenting to the contract, that they had obtained a gracious answer to their grievances. Unfortunately, the main question in dispute was hot of a nature to tender an agreelnent probable. Was it likely that, after a stead' refusal during so man'¢ years to alter the existing  z. . il. 660. 5o IIIA'DRAA*C, ç5 TO A«V AGREEIE2VT. 8 5 system of ecdesiastical governlnent, James would give way at last? Nothing less than this would content the Çonllïlïlons. They knew tbe ilnporiance of lheir demand, and, until it was granted, they could never be expected to render a hearty support to tbe Çrovn. To their request tbat the deprived lninisters might again be allowed to preacb, provided that they abstained from criti- «««.i.- cising the institutions of the Cburch, James at once ficalgfi:v- refused to listen. No Cburch, he said, had ever ,««. cxisted Mfich allowed lninisters to preacb who re- fused to subscribe to ifs doctrine and discipline. If there were any particular cases where he could, without injury to tbe Cburcb, reverse tbe sentence whicb bad been pronounced, he should be glad to hear of tbeln. To the old grievance of pluralities and non-residence be answered that it was impos- sible to do everytbing ai once, but that he would order the Bishops to sec tbat cvery minister wbo had two benefices supplied a prcacher to instruct tbe people in his absence. '1"o the Colnplaint tbat exconununications were mflicted for trifling offences, he replied that the Bishops had agreed not to excoln- municate for contulnacy as soon as the l'arlialnent would pass a statute inflicting SOlne other pulaishmeut npon that offence. He said that he would hilnself examine into tbe working of tbe Ecclesiastical Conunission, and would take measures for preventing the recurrence of any irregularity vhich lnight have occurred. They knew how anxious be had been to settle tbe vexed question of prohibitions, and he hoped to bring the matter to a filial settlement, iii wbich the rigbts of tbe telnporal t ourts should hot be neglected. It is evident that these answers were intcnded to be conciliatory, and tbat Jalnes ilnagined that he had done his utmost to satisfy the Commons ; but it is also evident tbat be had yielded nothing which tbey were likely to accept. they required was, tbat the exercise of the power of tbe siastical Courts should be limited by statute, so that a lnigbt be raised against any future encroachnients of the What he offered was, that he would bilnself sec that no -ere committed. Even if they could trust hiln to decide What Eccle- barrier clergy. abuses rightly 86 "III_E. GRA Z" COATTI.4CT. cH. xiI. on such complicated questions, what assurance had they that all the restrictions which he might place upon the courts might hot at any moment be swept away ? Two other grievances related to civil affairs. There had long been a complaint that the inhabitants of the four counties 'l,e ,»ur which bordered upon Wales had been subjected to his. lhe jurisdiction of the President and Council of Wales. The gentlemen of these counties had protested vigorou.ly, as they were thereby deprived of the influence which, in other parts of the kingdom, they were accustomed to exercise in courts of justice. There was some doubt whether the statute under which the jurisdiction was exercised real]y lore the interpretation which had been put upon it. To the demand of the Çommons that he would exempt the four counties from the jurisdiction of the Council, James answered that he must make further inquiries before he could determine upon a subject of such difficulty, t The other grievance was of greater constitutional importance. .qince the accession of James, proclamations had been issued far »o«n»-- more frequently than had been the custom in the pre- tio, ceding reign. Nor were they confined to the simple enunciation of the duty of the subject to obey the law. Some of them, as the Colmnons with justice complained, condemned actions which were forbidden by no existing law ; others imposed penalties greater than those which were authorised by law, or prescribed that the accused persons should be brought belote courts which had no right to try the offcnce. If these proceed- ings were hot checked, the powers of legislation would, to all intents and purposes, fall into the hands of the King. James promised to be more careful in future, but he claimed a right of still issuing proclamations which went beyond the law, in cases of emergency, when no Parliament was sitting which could remedy the inconvenience. He engaged, however, to consult lais Council and the judges on the subject, and to cause the proclamations already issued to be amendeck  The whole question is treated at some length by Mr. Heath in introduction to the 'Argument on the Jurisdiction of the lXIarches,' in t'ul. vil. of Bacon's Vorks. 6o 2ROtOG4 TIO.V OF P4RLA431ENT. 87 Immediately after these answers had been given, Parliament was prorogued, and the members dispersed to their several Themem- constituencies, to give an account of their con- ««ountb'gi"eofn duct, and to ask the support of the nation in the thelr conduct to theconstl- measures which it would be necessar)r to take in tuencies, apportioning the new burdens which were to be laid upon the country. Of these conferences, excepting in one single instance, we know nothing. The electors of Ieicestershire expressed their readiness to see the contract carried ir'to effect, provided that the bill for abolishing impositions were passed, and a more satisfactory answer were giron to the petition of grievances.  Itis likeIy enough that in other parts more stress was laid upon the removal of grievances, and less upon the fulfihnent of the contract. Partly through the fault of Salisbury, but still more through the fault of James, the Government and the country had lost touch, and the attempt to settle the King's revenue by bargain only brought out into stronger relief the separation of feeling which divided the nation from its rulers. When once attention had been directed, hot to the necesdty of fur- nishing the King with the naeans of carrying out national objects, but to the largeness of his personal expenses, the inevitable consequence was that the eyes of the constituents would be di- rected in the first place to the fact that the King would gain more than he gave, and this would be in itself sufficient to make the contract the thelne of disparaging remarks in every" quarter of the country.  .ParL Dcb. in 16o, p. t3o. CHAPTER XIV. THE 13REACII WITII THE COMMONSo VttlLST James and the Commons were struggling over the Great Cntract, evcnts were occurring on the Continent which portended the outbreak of a European conflagration. To the statcsman of the early part of the seventeenth q'rottbled .,,.,e o4 century Germany was what Spain became under the Germany. feeble rule of Charles II., and hat the Turkish empire is to the politicians of the present da3". It was there, if anywhere, that the outburst of smouldering passions would en- .danger the existing political system of Europe. Yet it was un- fortunately far more easy to point out the causes of the malady ,s» than to remove them. The P, eformation had corne "rhe «o- upon Germany belote its national consolidation had mation in t;»,,w, been effected; and to the difficulty of deciding whether its population was to be Protestant or Catholic was added the difficulty of deciding where the power of settliug the question really lay. In 1555 the preliminary question was resolved by the Peace of Augsburg. The lay princes were to be allowed, without fear ,sss. of opposition from the Emperor, to introduce Luther- c:,y,,,.xe, anism into their territories. On the most important Kto, ejus J«tligio. subject of the day, the central government of the Empire rclinquished its claire tobe heard. The maxim that the religion of a country belongs to him to whom the country itself belongs, which was thus adoptcd as thc basis of the ecclesiastical settlement of the Empire, is seldom mentioned at the prescrit day witbout obloquy. It bas been _r55 TttE IEACE OF A UGSBURG. 8 9 forgotten that it was once a landmark on the path to freedom. For it was directed hot against the religion of individuals, but against the jurisdiction of the Eml»eror. It was in the nature of things that local toleration should precede personal tclcration, and that before the claires of the individual conscience could be listened to, the right of each State to rcsist external dictation should obtain recognition. That it was the dut)" of the lawful magistrate to suppress false religion was never doubtcd. The only question was who the persecutor was to be. The smallness of the German territories was undoubtedly conducive to theological bitterness. Nowhere were clerical coteries so narrow-minded, uowhere was the circle of orthodoxy fenced about with such subtle distinctions as in these pctty states. But the saine cause which narrowed the creed and soured the temper of the court divines, rendered the lot of the dcfenders of uncourtly opinions comparatively easy. It was better to be persecuted in a State of which the frontier was only ten toiles from the capital than in a huge kingdom like Frauce or England. If the Emperor had won the day, and had imposed a uniform creed upon the whole of Germany, escapc would only have been possible at the expense of exile in a forcign land. Banishment from Saxony or Bavaria was avery different thing. In a few hours the fugitive Lutheran or the fugitive Catholic would be welcomed by crowds who spoke the saine mother tongue with himself, and would be invited by a fiiendly prince to enjoy at once the satisfaction of martyrdom and the sweel • of popularity. If the States of Germany had all been in the hands oflaylnen, it is not unlikely that the treaty of 555 would bave been ac- Wh«««««- cepted as a final settlement. Though Lutheranism siastl«al alone had been recognised by it, it is hardly probable reservation, that any serious difficulty would have been caused by the dêfection of several of the princes to Calvinism. The rock upon which the religious peace of Gerlnany was wrecked was the ecclesiastical reservation. A stop was to be put to the further secularisation of the Curch lands ; yct it was hardly wise to expect that this stipulation would be scru- pulously observe& Uder the cover of sympathy witk the 9 ° TIt£ sS'RE.'tC-tt II'ITtt TtlE COM.IlO.VS. CH. XlV. Protestant inhabitants of the ecclesiastical districts, the princes were able to satisfy their greed of territory, and the remaining abbeys and bishoprics in the North of Germany were, under one pretext or another, annexed by their Protestant neighbours. At last a check was placed upon these encroachments. _An attempt to secularise the ecclesiastical electorate of Cologne ss2. and the bishopric of Strasburg ended in total failure. TheCa- ïhe prelates, whose lands stretched ahnost con- Iholic ation. tinuously along the banks of the Rhine, were too nea: to the Spanish garrisons in the Netherlands to be assailed with ease. The repulse was followed by a Catholic reaction in the eccle- siastical states. Protestant preachers were silenced or driven into exile; l'rotestant congregations were dispersed; and, before the end of the sixteenth century, the inhabitants ofthese states were once more contented lnembers of the Roman Catholic Church. The ease with which the change was effected is hot to be ascribed to the sword alone. The selfishness of the princes, and the wrangling of the theologians, were littl'e cal- culated to attract the hearts of lnen by the side of the discipline and devotion of the Jesuits. " Order is Heaven's first law," and it was only when Protestants could appeal to an order lnore noble and lnore divine that they had any chance of victory. In this way, at the commencement ofthe seventeenth century, the Protestants saw themselves threatened in turn, and a cry Protestant arose froln their ranks demanding the revision of the dem.ands, l'eace of Augsburg. "Recognise," they said in effect, "the changes which have been already lnade, and we, on our part, will cease to encroach further on the Church lands." In the saine spirit they approached the question of the imperial courts, which were naturally inclined to decide disputed points in accordance with the existing law, and it was impossible to den) r that the existing law was not on the side of the Protestants. A demand was accordingly ruade that the dis- putes then pending should not be brought belote the courts at ali, but should be settled by amicable negotiation. Few will be fi,und at the present day to deny the fairness of these terres. They were, in fact, substantially the saine as I6o6 STA TE Off GEI?.][A.,'I: 9 ! those which, after forty weary years, were conceded at the Peace of Westphalia. The line drawn would have separated hot merely Protestant rioto Catholic governments ; it would, with the single but most important exception of the dominions of the House of Austria, have separated Protestant from Catholic populations. The proposal was one which contained the elements of permanency, because it was substantially just. Yet, unless the Catholics were prepared to take into consideration the wishes and interests of the populations, it was impossible ,6. for them to regard such terms otherwise than with obi««,i«, the deepest loathing. To them, the secularisation of of the Catholi«s. the Church lands was nothing better than an act of high-handed robbery. Yet, great as the difficulty was, it might not bave been ina- [,ossible to overcome it, t if it had hot formed part of another and a largcr question. For the Catholics saw well Vas the Empire to enough that, for all practical purposes, they were be dissolved ? asked to decree the dissolution of the Empire. q'he authority of that venerable institution had been deeply impaired by the Peace of Augsburg. Would any remnant of power be left toit, if it were unable to vindicate the legal title of the suppressed ecclesiastical foundations ? If the Empire were to fall, what was to take its place ? It was easy to talk of settling difficulties by amicable negotiation instead of bringing them before a legal tribunal ; but could anyone seriously doubt that anaicable negotiations carried on between a hundred petty sovereigns would end in anarchy at home and impotence abroad ?  Such arguments were very difficult to answer. But they could hot be answered at all excepting bymen who were resolved to hold fast by the substance of order, even when they were breaking up its existing form. Unless, therefore, the Protestant leaders could make up their minds to renounce all  By some such compromise as that whch was adopted at gliihlhausen in 162o, vhen the Catholics bound themselves hot to use force to recover the lands to which they still laid claim as of right. z What Germany was in its disorganised state may be judged from Ritter's G,'sch#hlc d«r etttsch«n 2 TtiE I?REACtt IVITtt T:E C03A]IOA'S. c. xw. persona] ambition, and, above all, to keep themselves clear from every suspicion of seeking to accoml)lish their own selfish objects under the cover of the eneral confusion, they would find their most leitimate desins ffustrated by the swelling ride of adverse opinion. When minds are in this inflamed state, a collision is ahnost unavoidable. In 6o7, in consequence of an attack ,o» ruade, in the preceding year, by the Protestants of "rho««p- I)onauwSrth upon a Catholic abbot, the city was lion3)onau.Of placed under the ban of the Empire, and occupied ve0r,h, by Maxinfilian, Duke of Bavaria. In 6o8, the Protestant Union sprang into existence, as a confederacy formed ,o. in dolente of religion; it owed what sympathy it "rh erots, obtained to the idea that it was in reality, as well as tant Union. i]. naine, a defensive body. Unhappily this was hot the case. Its nominal head, Frederick 1V., the Elector Pala- tine of the da)', was contelnp]ating fresh almexations of eccle- siastical territory; and its guiding spirit, Christian of Anhalt, was prepared to put forth ail his unrivalled powers of intrigue to sweep the house of Austria and the Catholic religion out of the Empire together. In the following year, the step which they had taken was met by the formation of a Catholic League, at the head of ,o9. which was Maximilian of Bavaria. It was plain that The Catho- the two parties could hot long remain in such anta- lic Lg,. gonistic positions without colning to blows. As )-et, however, the Catholic League was the weaker of the two associations. With the exception of the l)uke of Bavaria, hot a single secular prince had joined it, and neither the resources nor the character of the bishops fitted them for carrying on military operations. Events had recently occurred in Austria which ruade it doubtful how far Maximilian would meet with the support of the Austrian Govermnent. Ferdinand of Gratz, indeed, the cousin of the Emperor Rudolph II., still held his  Sec Gindely's .R«atolf .I'L, and especially his account (i. 159) of the Elector Palatine's instructions to his ambassadors in the Diet of Ratisbon, edering them to adroit no agreement which did hot put an end to the pri» =iple of the Ecclesiastical Reservation. 6io TttE SUCCESSIOV OF C£E I OES. 93 ground for the Pope and the Jesuits in his own dominions, which comprised Styria, Carniola, and Carilathia; but a successful revolution had recently put Austria, Hungary, and Moravia into the hands of the Emperor's brother Matthias, whilst Rudolph himself retained Bohemia alone. Both Rudolph and Matthias, weakened by the competition in which they had e.ngaged, were forced, sorely against their will, to grant religious fi-eedom to the estates of their several provinces. Under these circumstances, Maximilian was obliged to turn to Spain for help. He found that the Spanish Government was inclined to assist him, although it was jealous of lais per- sonal influence in Germany. It was finally agreed that the King of Spain should furnish a sure of lnoney, on condition that he should be named director of the League. A few months belote the formation of the League, an event had occurred which was calculated to bring about a collision between the rival confederacies. On Match 25, John Death of theDukeof William, Duke of Cleves, died without male heirs, Cleves. and left his dominions exposed to all the evils of a disputed succession. At such a rime, the succession to any one of the nmnerous States of Germany could hot fail to be treated Importance as a party question. But there was hot one of all o the those States the possession of which was of equal =lisputed »cce»ion. importance to that of the territories which were now in dispute. It was hot merely that the successful candidate would be possessed of the acknowledged right of imposing his own religion upon the inhabitants of an extensive and flourish- ing district, but that he would be able, if war should again break out, to commanda position of the greatest strategical importance. The dominions of the late duke were an age- gate of petty states, which had been brought into his family by a series of well-timed marriages, and which formed a tolerably compact territory, lying along the banks of the Rhine, excepting where they were interrupted by the narrow strip of land be- longing to the Elector of Cologne. In the hauds of the last duke, who had been a Catholic, they hot only connected the outlying bishoprics of Minster, Paderborn, and Hildesheim with the Ecclesiastical Electorates and the Spanish Netherlands, ç4 TItE IRtCH IIVTtI Ttttï. CO.]A]lO'l'..ç. cil. but, by their command of the Rhine, they served to interrupt the communications of the Protestants of Cntral Germany • aith the Dutch lepublic. In the hands of a Protestant all these conditions would be reversed; and it happened that the only claimants whose pretensions were hot absolutely ridiculous ,aere Protestants. The eldest sister of the last duke had married the Duke of l'russia, and had died without male heirs. Her eldest daugl- ,««,a ter, vho had married the Elector of trandenberg, ,o,,u¢- was also dead, and ber title had descended to her cession. son, the Electoral Prince. The second sister of the late Duke of Cleves, on the other hand, was still alive ; and her husband, the Count Palatine of Neuburg, declared that the younger sister, being alive, was tobe preferred to the desce:- dants of the elder sister, who was dead. The whole case was still further complicated by a number of Imperial grants and marriage contracts, the stipulations of which were far from coinciding with one another. It was upon one of these that the Elector of Saxony founded a claire, which he hoped to prosecute successfully by the help of the Emperor, as he had carefully held aloof from the proceedings of the Princes of the Union. There were also other pretenders, who asked only for a portion of the land, or for an equivalent sure of money. At first, it seemed hot unlikely that the Elector of Branden- berg and the Palatine of Neuburg would corne to blows. They 'h« l«to both entered the duchy in order to take possession. a ln«ç,- They were, however, induced by the Landgrave of berg nd the htin¢ot Hesse and other Protestant princes to corne to a Neuburg ,kvos- mutual understanding, and they agreed that Cleves tion. should be governed in their joint names until the controversy between them could be decided. It was hot likely that the Catholic party would look on -r« quietly at these proceedîngs. At their request, the «d, Emperor cited the pretenders before his court, and Leopold i«ji, no notice having been taken of this citation, he in the naine of ,h put the Possessioners, as they were called, to the ban Z,,lV«O. of the Empire, and ordered the Archduke Leopold, s-ho, as Bishop of Strasburg and Passau, had an interest in 6,o APPEAL OF THE PRIWCES. 9ç resisting the encroachments of the Protestants, to take posses- sion of the territory until the question ws settled. The Possessioners refused to adroit these pretensions. Not only was the Emperor's Court notoriously partial in questions of this kind, but it was supposed that he was determined to st aside the grants of his predecessors, and that he would himself lay claire to Cleves as a fief vacant by default of maie heirs. The Archduke, supported by a force which he had raised with tbe assistance of the League, obtained possession of the town of Juliers, by means of the treachery of the commander of the garrison, but was unable to advance further iu the face of the forces of the Possessioners. These princes, on the other hand, appealed to foreign powers for aid in a struggle by which the interests of the whole of Western Europe were affecte& The King of France had already declared himself in their favour. When he first heard of the death of the Duke, he at once said that he would never permit such an iIn- The Posses- sioners sup- portant position to fall into the hands of the House ported by th« i.gof of Austria. He openly declared that he was ready France» to assist the Possessioners, hot because he carcd who obtained the inheritance, but because he would not allow either Austria or Span to establish itself at lais gares.  At the saine rime he ordered lais troops to march towards the frontier, in order to assure the German Protestants that he did hot intend t'o desert their cause. The assistance of the Dutch, in a cause which interested them so deeply, might certainly be counted upon ; and, a!though the matter in dispute was of less immediate impor- and by ota,a na tance to England, yet it might thirly be expected that England. James would not be content to look on when Pro- testant Germany was assailed by Austria aud Spain. He was, perhaps, the more ready to give his help as he foresaw that the forces on the other side were utterly unable to offer a prolonged resistance. The divisions in the Austrian family had rendered the Emperor powerless for the rime, and Spain was engaged in the suicidal operation of expelling from her territory the de-  Carew to Salisbury, April 5, I6O9, S. /. t:mnce. ç6 TttE }IEACtt II'ITtI TttE CO.]I.]I02VS. scendants of the conqucred Moors, who were, hot without reason, suspected to be wantmg in attachment to the faith of thcir Christian oppressors. James, therefore, who knew that the independence of Central Gennany was thc best guarantce for the permanent peace of Europe, consented to send a fo:ce fo the assistance of the Princes; but he prudently declared that, as the French and Dutch were far more interested in thc question than he could possibly be, he considered that thcy ought tobe the first to move. He was the more unwilling to engage 1,recipitately in th¢ war, as the King of France secmed to be hanging back, under l'roect «,f pretcnce of waiting for the meeting of the Princes of H«,rn'. the Union, which was appointed to take place in January, at Hall in Swabia. It was supposed in England that this delay was caused by his unwillingness to engage the arms of France in the support of a Protestant cause. The English Government was mistaken. Henry was thoroughly in earnest. He had no doubt a personal object which gave zest to his public designs. The old profligate had ruade advances to the Princess of Condè, and had becn deeply irritated when the young beauty had fled to the Spanish Netherlands, to save ber honour. It was part of his quarrel with the Archdukes that they refused to deliver ber up, though le protested loudly that he was only offended in his royal dig- nity by the disobedience of a subject, and that it was a mere calumny to say that he was in aly way moved by the lady's charms.t It was nçt, however, Henry's habit to aire at personal satisfaction onl)ç As far as we are able to judge of his inten- tions, he had ruade up his mind, as soon as the war of Cleves was at an end, to throw himself boldly upon the Archdukes' dominions in the Low Countries. At the saine time he hoped to secure Lorraine by negotiating a marriage between the Dauphin and the eldest daughter of the Duke, who had no sons to inherit is possessions ; and he cMculated tbat there would be little diculty in-driving the Spaniards from Franche Comt StiI1 eater importance was attached by him to the campaign  Ubaldini to Borghese, April@ oman Transcrits, . O. t6o9 I)ESIG,VS OF ttEVRI" IU. 97 which he projected in Ital: For the first time since Charles VIII. had crossed the Alps, a monarch wa' upon the throne of France who was aware that Italy would be lnore valuable as an ally than as a conquered province. On the other hand, Charles Emmanuel, the Duke of Savoy, an able but unscrupulous prince, had spent the greater part of his reign in a fruitless endeavour to extend his dominions on the side of France. He had now learned, by a bitter experience, that he could have no hope of success in that direction ; and he was ready to turn his energies against the Spanish possessions in the Milanese. There was, therefore, no difficulty in establishing an understanding between the two powers; and negotiations were commenced, which resulted in a treaty by which tbey bound themselves to join in the conquest of Milan,  which, with the exception of a portion which was to be the price of tbe co-operation of the Republic ofVenice, was to be annexed to the Duke's dominions. AI- though in the treaty the French only stipulated for the de- struction of the fortress of Montmeillan, by which Savoy was commanded, it is probable that there was an understanding that, in the event of complete success, the whole of Savoy should be ceded to France.  It was also agreed that the Prince of Piedmont should lnarry the eldest daughter of the King of France. A large army was collected, in the course of the spring, on the Italian frontier, under the Duke's old opponent., lXIarshal Lesdiguieres, and a force was prepared to assist the lXIoriscos in defending their homes in Spain, in order to prevent the Spanish Government froln sending any assistance to Milan. The King himself was to command the army which was to assemble in Champagne. It is hOt probable that under any circumstances Henry wonld have been able to carry out the whole of his plans. ]¢ut if he had succeeded in establishing a strong barrier on the Lower Rhine between the Spanish Netherlands and the Catbolic States, and had placed the lXIilanese in the hands of the Duke  Dumont, Cos )3i_plomaNquc, v. 2, x37. - See, besides, the French authorities quoted by Martin, Itist. de Fratce,.xii. 53- 13eeeher to Salisbury, Nov, 2, 6o9 ; Feb. 2, 9, and I8 ; lIarch 9 ; April Io ; IXIay 3, 6Io, S. t . t:rance. VOL. IL H 98 FIlE REACIl llTTil FIlE CO.LIONS. Clq. xIv. of Savoy, he would have isolated Spain from Austria, and Austria from the Netherlands. The links which bound the unwieldy fabric together would bave been broken, as forty years afterwards they were broken by Richelieu. Whilst Henry was engaged in preparation for the campaign in the spring, he had the satisfaction of knowing that in (;er- r«w.tio many everything was going on in accordance with r« t« w... his wishes. The Princes of the Union met at Hall in January, and decided upon taking up the cause of the Possessioners. The forces which they agreed to furnish were to be placed under the command of Prince Christian of Anhalt. The I)utch promised to send four thousand men, and England was to furnish an equal number. The latter force was to be taken from anaongst the English and Scotch who were in the pay of the United Provinces, and who were to return to their old service after the conclusion of the war. It was to be placed under the command of Sir Edward Cecil, a son of the Treasurer's elder brother, the Earl of Exeter. On their part the Catholic Princes had given up all hope of being able to resist the forces which were being brought against them. There seemed at one rime a prospect that Spinola's veterans would throw themselves on the French line of naarch ; but even if the position of the Court of Brussels between France and Holland had been less dangerous than it was, its want of money was so great that there was reason to fear that a mutiny would break out in the arlny as soon as it was brought into the field, t Under these circumstances resistance was impossible, and the Archduke was obliged to submit o the humiliation of granting permission to the French to pass through the territory of the Netherlands on their way to Juliers. The courier who carried this permission was still on his way to Paris when the knife of Ravaillac freed the House of t««o« Austria from its fears. The murder of the King as tryV. he was setting out to join the army was greeted with a shout of exultation from every corner of Catholic Europe. * Trumbull to Salisbury, April IS, 16IO, S. I'. Flanders 16m TItE SIEGE OF 'ULIER5. 99 Those who were endangered by lais policy knew well that he had left no successor who was capable of carrying out lais designs. James at once declared t that, whether he had the co-opera- tion of the French or not, he x.'as determined to fulfil lais engagements to the German Princes. He sent Sir Thomas Edlnondes, who had alrcady served with distinction in several ilnportant diplolnatic employments, to Paris, in order to learn what was likely to be the consequence of the death of Henry IV. On lais arrivai, Emondes found that the late King's widow, Mary de Medicis, was quietly in possession of the govcrnment, .as Regent, in the naine of lier son Louis XIII., who was still a child. It was hot to be expectêd that she would attelnpt to carry out her husbaud's dêsigns. Even if she had had the power, she was far from having the inclination, to enter Ul)On a general war. Eucatêd as she had been at a petty Italian Court, she had learned from ber childhood to look with awe and admiration upon the grandeur of the Spanish monarchy. The Queen Regent had never forgiven her husband's rejec- tion of the proposal, ruade whilst the negotiations for the "I'ruce of Antwerp were in progress, for a double marriage between her children and those of the King of Spain. Now that power had unexpectedly fallen into her hands, she was anxious to carry out the plan which had failêd to obtain the approval of ber husband. X'et even under the influcnce of these feelings, the Rêgênt was unable to refuse to carry out that part, at least, of ber 'ne,ew husband's plan vhich consistêd in sending troops to government the siege of Juliers. It was impossible that any decides upon sending ruler of France should allow the House of Austria forces to Juliers. tO extend its dollainions upon the hine. It was therefore in vain that the Nuncio at Paris z exercised all his influence in endeavouring to divert lier froln her purposc. t Instructions to Edmondes, ]Iay, S..P. 1;rattce. The Council fo Winwood, May I$, 16o, klTnw, iii. 16 5. - Nuncio at Paris to the Nuncio at Prague, May o, i,lay 3,_ I7«¢,. i. 3% June 171 » tî6. Ioo TtlE I]IE.4CH IIYTtt 21-HE COII2IO,VS. cI. xlv. Af ter a short delay, it was announced that lIarshal de la Châtre would be ready to match on July 5.t Before, however, De la Châtre arrived at Julicrs, the siege had already commenced. The English and Dutch contingents came up on July z7, and they felt themselves strong The slege, enough to do without the assistance of the French. They were the more eager to reduce the place with all possible speed, as they were hOt without apprehension that the le, egent might be intending to play them false. It was to no purpose that the French pressed for a delay.  The works were carried on vigorously, under the superintendence of Prince Maurice, who was in command of the Dutch troops ; and when De la Châtre arrived on August 8, he found that the siege was already far advanced. On the 22nd the garrison surrendered. The commander, in hopes of obtaining better terres, opened negotiations with I)e la Ch'5tre. He was anxious to put the place Aug. Surrender into the hands of the French. This was, of course, of Juliers. refused by the allies, and Juliers was placed under the charge of the Princes of the Union. The reduction of Ju]iers had been accomplished without any great difficulty. Winwood, who had been despatched to Winwood's Diisseldorf, in order to conduct, in conjunction with ,gotitio. the French ambassador ]3oississe, the negotiations which were to decide upon the disputed succession, had a far more difficult task before him. James was anxious for peace, and little inclined to allow the burden of maintaining it to fall on lais own shoulders. " My anabassador," he wrote, "can do me no better service than in assisting to the treaty of this reconciliation, wherein he may have as good occasion to employ lais tongue and lais pen--and I wish it may be with as good success--as General Cecil and his soldiers have done their swords and their mat- tocks ; I only wish that I may handsomely wind myself out of this quarrel, wherein the principal parties do so little for them- elves." a An agreement was unfortunately hot easy to arrive at.  Edmondes to Winwood, June 14, lI'im,, iii. = Winwood to Salisbury, July '2, .sç .r,. I4"oL 7. • The King to Salisbury, ItaoEehl .ISS. 34, fol. I6IO ,4 FI?EA'CtI AZZIAA'CE. The Elector of Saxony had thrown himself into the hands of the Emperor, and had succceded in obtaining his good-will. He now came forward with a demand that the whole ,natter in dispute should be referred to the Emperor, and that, in the lneanwhile, he should be adlnitted to share in the possession of the disputed territories. This proposal was considered by the other two claimants as inadmissible. They offered to submit to the arbitration of the Princes of the Empire, who were not likely to support any claimant supported by the Elnperor. * Under such circumstances all hope of coming to an agreement was at an end. The negotiations were broken off, and Winwood "returned to the t lague, leaving ail the important questions connected with the Cleves succession still unsettled. Whilst the arlnies vere occupied with the siege of Julicrs, the English Goverlment signed a treaty with France, by which the two powers engaged nmtually to furnish one Aug. x 9. Treatywith another with troops, if either of them should be »»« attacked by a foreign enem): A stipulation was also inserted that, if the merchants of either country should uffer wrong in the dominions of a third power, both govern- ments should join in making reprisais upon the subjects of the offending State. A few weeks after the fall of Juliers James brought to an end another controversy in which he was far more deeply interested than in the defence of Protestant Europe against the encroachments of Spain. In May x6o9, the conference ,69. which had been convened at Falkland to discuss Prospect of the question of episcopacy broke up without coming _E piscopacy ,. s«,-,a, to any conclusion,  but its failure only ruade James more resolute to attain his end in some other wa): At the l'arlialnent which lnet in June, ,an Act was passed entrusting the Bishops with jurisdiction over testamentary and matri- monial causes, and a few months later, Spottiswoode received froln the King a grant of a place amongst the Lords of Session. In the same year, without a shadow of authority from Parlia- ment or Assembly, James established a Court of High Com-  Winwood to Salisbury, Sept. , 6, Oct. , 6 S. P. IIolland. • Caldo-.t,ood» vii. e6. ioz T[4"E BIïEACtt If7TII THE CO.IAI[O.VS. cH. xrv. mission in ench of the two Archiepiscopal provinces. Froln k High ihat moment fine and imprisonment would be the Commission. lot hot only of those who had been guilty o£ acts of immorality, or who had committed themselv to heretical doctrines, but also of those ministers or teachers who qutioned in any point the order established in the Church. The snlae laite awaited them if they uttered a word in favour of the me» who were lying under the Kins displeasure. With suçh an instr;ment as this in his hands, James could have but little difficulty in obtaining the consent of an Asm- bly elected under the influence of the Bishops to anything A,ls that might be laid before it. Such an Assembly met »,,m»,« at Glasgow in June i6io. The names of those who I, let at Gk,,go,,'. were to compose it had previously been sent down to the different Presbyteries,  nnd there were probably few, if any, of them who dared to make an independent choice. This &ssembly, thus nominated, gave its consent to the introduction of Episcopacy. It began by acknowledging that hasntsto the Assembly at Aberdeen, in 16o5, was unlawful, the intro- and that thc convocation of Asselnblies belonged to duction of :pi«y. the King. The Bishops, it w declared, were to be g[oderators in eveu- diocesan Synod, and all sentences of ex- communication or absolution were to be submitted to them for their approvM. They were also to judge of the fitness of persons who obtained 1,resentations, and to ordain them to the ministu. The Bishop was, moreover, empowered to try any of the clerD" who might be accused of any delinquency, and, with the assistance of the neighbouring ministerg to deprive him of his office.  Thus, after a stggle of many years, James had sueceeded in establishing, under the shadow of Episcopacy, his own c=,or authority over the Presbyterian Assemblie The Ihe jucce¢ of me King's means to which he owed his victory sufficed to bring proj«ct, disgmce upon it in the eyes of succeeding generations. Not only were the cler deprived, by unjustifiable construc- tions of the law, of their natural leaders, but they themselves  Cal, k'wood, vii. 92. 2 Ibid. 'ii. 99- 16o SCOTTISH .EPISCOPACF'. xo 3 were convinced, by sad experience, of the inutility of making any further resistance to the overwhehning power of the King, 'hich rnight, by means of the instrumentality of the High Commission, be brought to bear upon them at any moment. As if ail this had not been enough, James allowed himself to employ Dunbar in tempting the Assembly, by means of what, under whatever specious names it might be called, was nothing less than direct bribery.  The King, unable as he was to divest lais 13ishops of the purely official character which in reality belonged to them, did oct.l, lais best to conceal it from the eyes of those who Consecration might be inclined to look too closely into his work. of the l;ishops. The Archbishop of Glasgow and two of the other ]3ishops were summoned to London, where they received from the English prelates the consecration, which, as soon as they were once more in their own country, they in turn conferred on the remainder of their brethren. It was ira vain, however, to attempt to place them on an equality with the English Bishops. However much the English Bishops were dependent upon the Crown, they were supported by the great body of the clergy, who submitted contcntedly to their jurisdiction. Even if the House of Commons had had its way, their office, though it might have been restricted, would certainly hOt have been abolished. In Scotland, those who claimed to hold a similar position to that which had been occupied by Whitgift and Bancroft, were nothing more than puppets in the hands of the King, and were looked on with detestation by one part of the population, and with indifference by the rest. Already, before the consecration of the Scottish ]3ishops, ' Spottisvoode (iii. o7) says that this money was merely paid in satis- faction of a debt owing to the Constant lIoderators for their services. But the money thus paid only amounted to 3,ooL Scots. V'hereas, on llay 8, the following ortier was directed to Dunbar : "It is out pleasure, will, and express comlnand, that against this ensuing Assembly, to be kcpt at Out City of Glasgow, you shall have in readiness the sure of ten thousand marks, Scottish money, to be divided and dealt among such persons as you shall hold fitting by the advice of the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Glasgow," &c.--Botfield, Ori,htal [.tlhT"s, i. 425, 429 . Io4 7"tlE IPtEMCH II'I7"H TttE CO,]IMONS. CH. James had remembered that he had promised to reconsider his claire to forbid by proclanaations acts which were hot contrary to any existing law. On September 20, Coke was sent for, and two questions were put to him by Salisbury, first, whether the King could by "l'h« j,,,g« proclamation prohibit the building of new bouses in ,o,.utea London ; and secondly, vhether he could in the ©n the pro- «amtio. saine way forbid the manufacture of starch. The first of the proclamations in question had been issued with the intention of checking what was then çonsidered to be the overgrowth of the capital, the othe in order to prevent the use of wheat for any other purpose than that of supplying food. Coke asked for leave to take the opinion of other judges. It was in vain that the Chancellor, with Northampton and Bacon, attempted to draw out of him an opinion favourable to the Crown. They were obliged to allow him to consult with three of the judges, and it was thought advisable to issue, on the saine da)', a proclamation by which the more obnoxious of the former proc]amations were on various pretexts called in, though the King's right to interfere in cases of emergency was expressly reserved. A few days afterwards, the four judges delivered their opinion in the presence of the Privy Council. The King, they said, could not create any offence by lais pro- clamation. He could only admonish lais subjects to keep the law. Nor could he, by proclamation, make offences punishable in the Star Chamber which were hot by law under the juri- diction of that Court. That there might be no doubt of their opinions on this question, they formally declared that the King had no prerogative but that which the law of the land allowed him. This firmness on the part of the iudges was sufiïcient to check the attack which had been ruade upon the constitution. For some time proclamations imposing fine and inalrisonmen t ceased to appear. When in the course of the following year a fresh proclamation was put forth against the increase of buildings, lames contented himself with directing that offenders should be punished according to the law. The names of the 1 _e. xii. 74- naen who rendered so great a service to their country should never be forgotten. The three judges who joined Coke in this protest xvere Chief Justice Fleming,  Chier Baron Tanfield, and Baron Altham. The King, however, took no pains to make this opinion of the judges known, and l'arliament met under the impression that he was determined to lnaintain the right which he had claimed. The new session comlnenced on October 6. On the i9sh, the House of Commons showed its determination to carry on op«ni,of its labours in the spirit of tl:e former session by ap- «, .,«. pointing a Committee to review the Bills which had failed in passing, and to select such as they tho.ught were propcr to be sent up once more to the House of Iords. u The I.ower IIouse was ver)' thinly attended. On the eznd hot more than a hundred lnembers were present. It was evident that there was little heart for the busilaess upon which they were to be en- gaged. Still it was necessary to do something. On the e3rd a lnessage was sent by the Lords to request the Lower House to meet the'n at a conference. Of that conference no account has been handed down to us. A few days later, however, the Colmnons sent to the Lords for a copy of the King's answers to their petition of grievances. It can hardly be doubted that they were hesitating to proceed with the contract until they could bave a more satisfactory answer than that which had been given in the last session. On the 3 st, the day after they received the copy, they were sumnoned to Whitehall. James begged theln to let him know whether they intended to go on with the contract or not. If not, he would take SOlne other course for the supply of his wants. He was resolved to cut lais coat according to his cloth, but he could do nothing till he knew how much cloth he was to have.  The occurrence of Fleming's naine here should make us caulious in supposing that he was influenced by servilily in his judgment on Bate's case. He was regarded by lais contemporaries as an honourable man. 6o4 the House of Commons did him the high honourof requesting him tetain his seat upon his appointment to the office of Chief Baron.  Coll. IIS.S: Tit. F. iv. fol. 3 o. The proceedings of this session xvill be found in t'arl. Dcb. in 6xo, -6-x45.- o6 THE BEACtl IIYTtt THE CO«]I.1IOA'S. cr. Of the debates of the next two days, if any there were, we are in co'mplete ignorance. On November 3, Sir Maurice Berkeley r«e.,«h with moved that the King should be informed that nothing th r:i,g, could be donc until a larger number of the members were present. The House was in no mood to offer such excuses. Sir Roger Owen followed by declaring the terres upon which he was willing to proceed--a course which was, doubtless, more satisfactory to those who were present than ]3erkeley's complimentary speeches. A full answer, he said, must be given to the grievances, and the King must resign all claire to lay impositions. The money granted in return must be levied in such a way as. to be least burdensome to the country. The King must not be allowed to alienate the new revenue, nor to increase its value by tampering with the coinage. If doubts arose as to the meaning of any of the articles of the contract, they were to be referred to l'arliament for explanation. Care must also be taken that the King did hot allow himself to neglect summoning Parliaments in future, which he might do if lais wants were fully supplied. It is not known whether these propositions were in any way adopted by the House. But the impression which they produced upon the King was instantaneous. It is probable that he no lo,.ger looked upon the contract with the eyes with which he had regarded it at the close of the former session. Representations had been ruade to him that, after all, he would hot gain much by the bargain. His ordinary deficit had been 5o, ooo/., and lais extraordinary expenses were reckoned at oo, ooo/. As o,ooo/. had been added to his expenditure to defray the annual expenses of the household of the Prince of Wales, and as, at the saine time, his income had been dimin- ished by 8,ooo/., in consequence of the concessions which he had ruade in his answer to the petition of grievances  he would have to face a deficit of x78,ooo/. Of the oo, ooo/. to be brought by the Great Contract only 98,ooo/. would be net gain, and the future deficit, if the contract were completed, would begin at 8o, ooo/. and was likely to increase as his children grew up and required larger establishments to support their  l'arL D,'I,. in t6o, 6 5. 6o DISPUTE A,'OUT TtfE CO'TIACT. o7 dignity. In the face of this difficulty Jaœees was told that it vould be possible for him to obtain the required revenue vith- out having recourse to Parliament at all. tly giving a little more care to the condition of lais landed property, and by putting in force with the utmost rigour all the rights which he possessed against his subjects, he might obtain a considerable increase of revenue. As a mere matter of business, considering that lais present rate of expenditure could hardly be suddenly con- tracted, James had every reason for believing that the contract would not put an end to lais difficulties, though it might make it easier to do so than it had been befoa'e. 1 With such ideas in lais mind, it must bave been vith con- siderable irritation that he heard of the determination of the Commons to include the grievances in the contract. /te at once resolved to take up new ground. On the 5th, he sent a message to the House by the Speaker. In the first place, he told them that they must grant him a supply of 5oo, ooo/. to pay lais debts, before he would hear anything more about the contract. When the contract was afterwards taken up he expectcd to have a larger sum granted than he had agreed in the previous session to accept. Instead of taking oo, ooo/. in return for the concessions which he was to make, he nust have that sure in addition to the value of those concessions, or, in other words, he expected a grant of an additional annual revenue of about 3oo, ooo/. The whole of this sure must be so raised as to be 'certain, firm, and stable.' The House of Commons must also provide a compensation for the officers of the Court of Wards. The Commons were hot likely to consent to these terres. If the contract was to be regarded as a bargain they had already offered about twice as much as the King's concessions ere worth, and James, in refusing to meet their wishes further in answer to their grievances, had made it impossible for them to regard his demands in any higher light than in that of a bar- gain. They informed the King that they could not proceed in accordance with his last declaration. "l'he King accepted their i The rough draft of the paper printed in Pari. 13eb. in x6o, I63, is in Coesar's handwriting ; and Coesa, no doubt, laid the opinions which are lhe,'ê maintained belote the King. o8 lltE 1;RACH II'ITH TH COM,|[ONS. c. xw. refisal ; and the negotiations, which had lasted so long, came to an end. The King's answer was delivered on the 4th. The saine afternoon a conference was held with the Lords. Salisbury was s.li.b,,w sad at heart at the failure of his scheme. ' He well per- attempts to ceved, he said, that the Commons ' had a great desire obtain a .,wl,b,. to have effected that great contract,' and he knew ' that the King's Majesty had willingly given lais assent to the saine, and that )-et, neverthêlêss, it proceeded hot, wherein he could hot find the impedinaent, but that God did hOt bless it.' 1 If they vould hot proceed with the contract, they might perhaps be villing to supply the King's most pressing necessities. In that case the King would, doubtless, grant lais assent to several Bills xvhich would be of advantage to his subjects. He would do away with the legal 1)rinciple that 'l)tllum tt'mpttS otgurrit regi. Henceforth a possession of sixty years should be a bar to ail claires on the part of the Crown. He would grant greater securities to persons holding leases from the Crown. The «reditors of outlax's should be satisfied before the property was seized in the King's naine. The fines for respite of homage should be abolished. The penal statutes should be examined, and those which were obsolete should be repealed. The King would give up the right which he possessed of making laws for Wales independently of Parliament ; and, finally, he would consent to the passing of the Bill against impositions as it had proceeded fronl the Gommons in the last session. VChen the Commons took these proposais into consideration, it was evident that they were hOt in a mood to corne to terres on Debatelnthe any grounds short of the concession of the whole of Coo.. their demands. One lnember said that he 'wished the King would be pleased to live of his own, and to remove his pensions and lessen his charge.' It was ' unfit and dishon- ourable that those should waste the who take no pains to lire of their own, and riot, depending wholly upon the Another said that no supply ought to  These words were quoted by Fuller in a zpeaker's naine, i the Samcrs Tracts, ii. 151. treasure of the State but spend ail in excess bounty of the Prince.' be granted unless the speech printed, without the I6IO .c1,l[S IOSES I'M TIEA'CE. o 9 whole of their grievances were redressed. The next day the ]-touse was adjourned by the King's command until he had time to consider on the position of affairs. On the 2ist the Commons met again. Aletter from the King was read, in which he promised to grant their requests in the The King's matter of the prohibitions and the proclamations, as letter, well as to give lais assent to the hnposition Bill. With respect to the four counties, he would suspend lais considera- tion of the question till Midsummer, and affer that he would leave them to the course of law and justice. On the 23rd , the King's letter was taken into consideration, Sharp things were said of the King's favourites, and especially of the Scotchmen by whom he was surrounded. It was finally agreed to thank the King for lais proposed concessions, but to tell him that the House would hOt be satisfied unless he went further still. Meanwhile James's patience was rapidly becoming ex- hausted. He had long been chafing under the language which Parllament was held in the House on the subject of the pro- ,ai,»ol,.«o. digality of himself and lais favourites. He was determined to bear it no longer. He knew that at their next meeting the Commons would proceed to consider vhat fresh demands might be ruade upon him, and he was unwilling to allow them another opportunity of expressing their feelings. He complained of Salisbury, who continued to advise forbearance. A rumour, apl)arently unfounded, had reached hiln that some lnembers intended to ask him to send the Scots back to their own country. On this Carr took alarm, and did ail that he could to excite his toaster against the House. James lost all patience. He said that he could not have 'asinine patience,' and that he would hOt accept the largest supply which it was in the power of the Commons to grant, if they 'were to sauce it with such taunts and disgraces as' had 'been uttered of him and those that' appertained 'to him.' I-Ie accordingly ordered the Speaker to adjourn the House. It was with difficulty that his wiser counsellors prevented him from com- mitting some of the naembers to the Tower. _After a further  Lake to Salisbury, I)ec, 2 and 6» 1610, S. f'..Dol'n, Iviii. 54 and 62. t lo THE y3REACH IVITlf THE CO.ILIIO.VS. CH. XlV. adjournment, Parliament was finally dissolved on February 9, I6II. The dissolution of the first Parliament of James I. was the .10IL signal for the commencement of a contest between Commence- the two most important powers known to the con- »aent of the qtmrreibe- stitution, which lasted till all the questions in dis- tween the Commons pure were finally settled by the landing of William and the King. of Orange. When this l'arliament had met, seven years before, the House of Commons had been content with tempe- Ç'ourse taken by the rately urging upon the King the necessity ofchanging Commons. the policy which he had derived from his predeces- sor in those points in which it had becolne obnoxious to them- selves. Upon his refusal to give way, the Commons had waited patiently for an opportunity of pressing their grievances once more upon him. In 6o6 they had been too much engaged in enacting statutes against the un.Cortunate Çatholics to give more than a passing attention to these subjects. In x6o7 the discussion of the proposed union with Scotland took up the greater part of their time ; but in 6zo a fait opportunity was offered them of obtaining a hearing. James had flung his money away till he was forced to apply for help to the House of Commons. It was in vain that year by year his income was on the increase, and that he had added toit a revenue derived from a source which, in spire of the favourable judgment of the Court of Exchequer, was considered to be illegal by the majority of his subjects. When the King laid his necessities belote them, they took advantage of the opportunity to urge their own demands. Step Thepointln by step he gave way. He ngreed to give up ail dispute, the obnoxious rights which were connected with the feudal tenures. He would abandon the oppressive system of purveyance. A bill should receive his assent, by which he was to be bound to raise no more impositions without the consent Salisbury to the King, Dec. 3- The King to Salisbury, Dec. 4. Lake to Salisbury, Dec. 3 and 4- Salisbury to Lake, Dec. 9, tAalfield .lzrSS. 134 , fol. 142 , 143 ; 1-9-8, fol. 168, 171 , 172. I6  ..OISSOL U'ïlOA" OF PARLL43IEA"T.    of Parliament. On one point alone he steadily refused to give way. The ecclesiastical system of the Church of England was fo relnain unchanged, with its uniformity of ceremonies, and its courts exercising a jurisdiction which Parliament was unable to control. It was on this rock that the negotiations split. In a question of first-rate importance the King and the Commons ere unable to corne to terlns. If the Commons had been in ignorance of the path which it behoved them to follow, the preceding negotiation would have opened their eyes. They had been asked to conclude a bargain, and the result of that bargain would have been that they would have laid a fl'esh burden of taxation on themselves, and by so doing would have left the King free to govern as he pleased. Naturally they objected to so one-sided an arrange- ment. James on his side was hot likely to let slip from lais hands those reins of authority which he had received from lais predecessors. A rupture of the negotiations was hardly less than inevitable. Salisbury's mistakewas that he had attempted to drive a financial bargain without taking care that it should be preceded by a political reconciliation. James had ruade up his mind to defy such public opinion as found expression in the House of Colnmons. In February he granted to six favourites, four of whom were of Feb. x. Money Scottish birth, no less a sure than 34,ooo/. 1 011 granted to Scottish March =5, he conferred upon Carr an English favourites. peerage by the title of Viscount Rochester. It t.s. was the first time that a Scotchman had obtained C.,r,d a seat in the House of Lords,  and that Scotch- Viscount «tr. man was the one who had done his utmost to rouse the King to resist the Commons. No wonder that Salisbury was at lais wits' end to discover a cure for the financial disorder which, since the failure of the wh« Great Contract, threatened to be irremediable, and o,ets. that he gave his consent fo a mode of procuring money from which, in less critical circumstances, he would * Warrant, Feb. , 5". P. IIa,v'atl £'oo.(', iL 19I.  See vol. i. p. 33 o, note 3. - THE ]31gE.4CH H'ITH THE COJ/IO]VS. cH. pcrhaps have turned away. For many years the demands of Ireland upon the English Exchequer had been considerable, and they had increased greatly since the flight of the Earls. Even now that peace was established and the colonists had begun to settle in Ulster, the military expenditure ]ay as a heavy weight upon James. Though, after consultation with Carew, Chichester had agreed to diminish the number of the troops, the expenses of the army alone far exceeded the revenue of the country, leaving the civil establishment still to be providcd for. 1 The English Exchequer had hitherto borne the burden of supplying the deficiency ; but affer the failure of the Great Contract, the English Government had enough to do to find money to meet its own wants. In this difficaalty itis not sur- prising that )ames consented to an arrangement which had at all events the advantage of providing money when it was most needed. It was suggested to him that there were many among the English gentry who would willingly pay considerable sums for the grant of a hereditary title, and that the money thus obtained might be used for the support of the army in Ulster. Accordingly Jalnes offered the title of Baronet to all persons of good repute, being knights or esquires possessed of lands worth i,oooL a year, provided that they were ready to pay the Exchequer i,o8oL in three annual payments, being the sure required to keep thirty foot-soldiers for three years. It was expected that there would be two hundred persons bearing the new title.  Although, however, the number was ruade up before the end of the reign, it was not for some years that even half that number was obtained. Within three years, 9o, oool. had been gained by the Exchequer in this manner, which, though it did not amount to the whole sure required to defray the expenses of the Irish Government, was a considerable assist- ance in a time of difficulty.   After the reduction, the army cost 35,$Io/. The revenue of Ireland was 24,oool Lambeth .3ISS. 629, fol. I9, 98.  Patent, May 22, I6II, in Collins's lTaronelage, iv. 289.  Paid up to Match 25, 1614, 9o,885L Sent into Ircland up te lXIichaelmas I613, I29,oi3/. (Zansd..3ISS. I63, fol. 396 ; carapate Zansd. 21L5S. 152 , fol. I). For the three years the expenses of the Iri»h anuy The relief to the Exchequer causcd by the creation of the 13aronets was hardly felt in the midst of James's unrestrainable profusion. Salisbury, indeed, resigned to the King all attempts to personal profits dêrived from his office of Mastcr of the economise. Court of Wards, and issued instructions to his officers, forbidding them to accept irregular payments froln suitors. 1 Negotiations were also entered upon with the several counties, on the basis of a relinquishment of all clailns to purveyance in consideration of a composition, a scheme whmh before long was acccpted by the large lnajority of the shires.  But it was in vain that Salisbury toiled. Jalnes, profuse in promises of reform, could not bc thrift)) cven under the pressure of alarm that he might have to reckon with anothcr House of ColnlllOns, Whilst Salisbury was deep in accounts, James liad to decide upon a case which, at the present day, would rouse the indig- nation of the whole population ri-oto one end of the C«e of Arab«lla kinffdom to the other. Politics would be forgotten tuart.   and business would be interrupted till justice had been donc. There tan be no better proof of the indistinct notions which still prevailed on the subject of personal liberty than the indifference with which Englishlnen heard of the harsh treat- ment of Arabella Stuart. During the first six ycars of his reign, James had treated his cousin with consideration. The pension which she received from Elizabeth was increased soon after he came to the throne, and she was allowed to occupy apartments in the palace, and to pass her time with the ladies who were attached to the court of the Queen. Alnongst those of her lettcrs which bave bcen preserved the most interesting are those which she wrote to her uncle must bave been about xo6.oooL, so that though it wa probably hot literally truc that quite all the money was expended upon foot soldiers actually in Ulster, it was at least spent upon troops available for the defence of the colony in the north.  Instructions, Jan. 9, S. t'. Dom. lxi. 6. Pembroke to Edmondes, Court and Times, i. I32.  Justices of ltertfordshire to Sal;sbmy, April If, S. /'. /gett. lxi[i. I. Nee nlso Hamilto" l's Qttar!cr S«ssions from JElizal, cth fo .4nne. VOL. II. 1 lI 4 Tttl?. .BR.EACH II'ITtI TItE COAIAIO.VS. cH. xlv and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury. 1 Their ,6o3. style is lively and agreeable, and they convey the im- r 1«,. pression of a gentle and affectionate, as well as of an to the Earl naCou accomplished woman. She had no ambition to figure of Shrews- bury. among the great ladies by whom the Queen was sur- rounded, far less to aspire to the dignity of a pretender to the Crown. She had a good word for ail who showed her any kindness, however small. She expressed her especial gratitude to Cecil for his declaration, at Raleigh's trial, of lais assurance that she had been totally ignorant of any conspiracy against the King. In one of her letters she answered a jest of her uncle's, by assuring him, with the most winning earnestness, that she intended to prove that it was possible for a woman to retain ber purity and innocence in the midst of the follies with which a life at court was surrounded. In another she stepped forward to act the part of a peacemaker, and conjured the Earl to for- give once more that notorious termagant, lais stepmother, the Dowager Countess. Altogether, it is impossible to fise from the perusal of these letters without the conviction that, if only a man who was worthy of ber should be found, she would be fitted, above ail the ladies of that age, to fulfil the quiet domes- tic duties of a wife and mother. With thc life which she was forced to lead she was iii at ease; she did hot care for the perpetual round of gaieties in which the Queen delighted, and she submitted with but an ill grace to take ber part in the childish gaines by means of which the ladies of the court con- trived to while away the weary hours. Offers were ruade for ber hand by various foreign potentates, but these were invariably declined.-" To one of such a nature ,o. as hers, it would bave been intolerable to promise Offers or to marry a man whom she had never seen. But rnarrl:«g dclina, as the years passed on, it was evident that she was anxious to escape from the uncongenial life which she was leading. A little before Christmas, 6e9, the Court was startled by hearing that she had been suddenly arrested, and sunnnoned a Lady Shrewsbary was a sister of Arabella's mother. The letters are in M i ss Cooper's Zeltcrs and Z ife of Arabella SluarL " Fowler fo Shrewsbury, Oct. 3, 6°4, Lodge'z Ilhtslr«lfi,ns, iii. 97, 6o9 before the  609. brought befre the Council. .,41.,4.BELL.I STU.4RT. I  5 Council. AI1 that we know of what passed on that occasion is that the King assured lier that he would have no objection to lier marriage with any subject of his.l It may be gathered rioto this that some rumour had reached him that she was engaged in negotiations to marry a foreigner, and that he was afraid lest after such a mar- riage she might be ruade use of by someone who would in ber naine lay claire to the crown of England. However this may bave been, ber explanations were considered satisfactory. She was set at liberty at once, and ilnmediatcly afterwards Jmnes showed that he had again received her into favour, by granting lier an addition to lier income.  A few weeks after she had ruade lier peace with the King, she gave her heart to young William Seymour. On February  ,r,o. he round his way to lier apartments, and obtained eo,,,i from lier own lips the asstlrance of her willingness to to narry 6»,ou. become his wife. The promise which Jamcs had given led the happy pair to persuade themseh'es that they would meet with no obstruction from him, and they parted with the full intention of asking his approval of their marriage, ° U- fortunately, ilowevçr, either from an instinctive apprehension that he might refuse his consent, or from disinclination to expose their happiness so soon to the eyes of the world, they did hot at once tell their own story to the King. Twice again they met clandestinêly. Two days affer their last lneeting the King was in possession of their secret. They were both summoned bêfore the Council and examined on the subject. Willialn Seymour was perhaps the only nlan in England to whom James would have objected as a husband for Arabella.   Arabella to the King, [.cllcrs andZif«, il.  14. There can have been no suspicion of ber having formed any intention of marrying Seylllour, or James would certainly not bave used this language. Pcrhaps the true history of her arrest at this tilne is to be round in aletter of 13eecher's mentionlng a report vhich had Ieached Paris, that Lerma was desirous of marrying ber to a relation of his own.--Beeche to Salisbury, Jan. 2o» IGIO, S..P. /'r. 2 Chamberlain to Winwood, Feb. 3, IVinw. ii. I7.  ]3eaulieu to Trumbull, Feb. 15, IUinw. iii. Il 9. VV. Seymour to 12 6 THE I?REACIt II'ITtt THE CO.)L)IO.%'S. CH. XW ttis father, Lord P, eauchamp, as the son of the Earl of I-Iertford Reon»«« and of Catherine Grey, inherited from his mother J:Lmes's dis- the claims of the Suffolk line. It is true that Lord like of the marriage. P, eauchamp's eldest son was still alive, but if, as actually happened, he should die without children, a plausible title to the throne might at any rime be ruade out in behalf of his brother William. Since the accession of James, the mar- riage of the Earl of Hertford had been pronounced by a con> petent tribunal tobe valid, and it might be argued that the Act under which the Suffolk family had claimed the Crown was passed by a lawful Parliament, whereas the Pu'liament which acknowledged the title of James was itself incompetent to change the succession, as it had not been SUlmnoued by a lawful lZing. Arguments of this kind are never wanting in a political crisis, and if Jalnes did hot speedily corne to terres with his Parliament, such a crisis might occur at any rime. That any political motive was mingled with Seymour's love for Arabella is in the highest degree improbable, and itis certain that an attempt to change the dynasty would as yet have failed to meet with the slightest response in the nation. James, however, could hOt divest himself of the notion that there was a settled plan to connect the title of the Seymours vith the title, such as it was, of Arabella. He did not consider himself bound by the words of a promise xvhich he had ruade without foreseeing the particular circumstances in which he would be called upon to fulfil it, and he forbade the loyers to think any further of marriage. Seymour engaged that he would give up ail claires to his affianced wife, and it was supposed that the wholê matter was at an end. For a little more than three months after this scene before the Council, Seymour kept lais promise. At last affection Wh« prevailed overall other considerations. Towards thê ,g« end of May,  he had ruade up his mind to fulfil the priately et«. promise which he had given to Arabella, rather than that which he had given to the King. She readily the Council, Feb. Io, Letters a,,d Lire o A Sl«tarl, ii. m 3. Seymour's letter is incorrectly printed with the date of Feb.  l.odney's Declaration, Add. 2]ISS. 46, fol. a6. If[c ./tR.4BELLA STUART.  7 gave her consent, and they were privately married a few days afterwards at Greenwich. Earlyin J uly, James heard ofwhat had happened. He was indignant at what he considered to be the presumption of the -,be: ,a young couple, and it must be acknowledged that the h,-r,,.u,,a lady had been singul.trly unfortunate in ber selec- co.mmitted ,,to-. tion of a husband. No other marriage could have so infelicitously combined two titles to the English throne. James therefore determined to treat the pair as Seymour's grandparents had been treated by Elizabeth. Even if \ra- bella and ber husband had no treasonable intentio.ns, it was impossible to predict vhat claires naight be put forvard by thcir children,  ho would inherit whatever rights might be pos- sessed by both parents. Undcr the influence of fcar, Jamcs became regardless of the misery which he was inflicting. Ara- bella was committed to tI:e custody of Sir Thomas 1'arry, at Lambeth ; and Seymour was ai once sent to the Tower. From hcr place of confinement, ArabeIla used her utmost endeavours to more the heart of ber oppressor. It was all in vain. She had eaten of the forbidden tree, he said, and he meant it tobe inferred that she must take thc consequenccs. A_fier a rime Jamcs, having discovcred that she She is still held a correspondence with ber husband, deter- ordered to e,,o,,to mined to make its continuance impossible by re- »r,,m. moving her to a distance from London. Durhan. was sclected as the place of ber banishlnent, where she was to reside under the care of the J3ishop. On 3larch  5,  6  , \rabella left Lambeth under the ]3ishop's charge. Her health had given way under her sufferings, and her weakness was such that it was only with difficulty that the party reached Highgate. There she remained for six days, and it was not until the 2ist that she was rcmoved as far as Barnet. James declared that if he was king of England, she should sooner or later go to Durham ; but he gave her permission to remain till June x at 13arnet, in order to recruit ber health. She remained accordingly for some time under the charge of Sir James Crofts, the Bishop having continued his journey to the north without her. i8 TttE IREACIg II'ITtI TIgE CO.IL][O2V._ç. CH. X[V. lï}efore the day appointed for the departure of the prisoner she had contrived a scheme by which she hoped to effect her Jçr ;gt own escape, as well as her husband's. On June 3 ç,-on, Urnet. she disguised herself as a man, and left the house in which she had been for some weeks, accompanied by a gcntleman named Markham. At a little distance they round horses waiting for theln at a roadside inn. She was so pale and weak that the ostler expressed doubts of the possibility of ber reaching London. About six in the evening she arrived at Blackwall, where a boat, in which were some of her attendants, was in waiting. It was hot till the next morning that the party reached I.eigh, where they expectcd to find a French vessel which had been engaged to take them on board. Not perceiving the signal which the captain of this vessel had agreed to hoist, they rowed up to anothcr vesscl Mfich was bound for Berwick, and attempted to induce the toaster to change lais course. He rcfused to do so, but pointed them to the lrrench ship of which they wcre in quest. As soon as they were on board, Arabella's attendants, fenrful of pursuit, pcrsuaded the captain to set sail, in spite of the remonstrances of tt:e lady herself, who was only anxious to wait for her busband. lIeanwhile, Seymour had effected his escape without difiqculty. Whcn he ar,ived at Leigh, he was disappointed to Symo, find that the lrrench vessel bad already sailed. He .,,««,, however, persuaded the toaster of a collier to e scaph'g to Ostend. carry him over to the Continent. The man kept lais promise, and landed him safely at Ostend. His vife was less fortunate. With her whole heart fixed upon the safety of ber a«ll husband, when the vessel in which she was was within tk«,r a few mlles of Calais, she caused it to linger on its Calais, coinse, in hopes of hearing solne tidings of him for whose sake she had ventured anmngst so many dangers. Itere, vithin sight of the port of safety, the figitives were overtaken by a vessel whicb had been despatched from Dorer in pursuit of them. Arabella cahnly resigned herself to ber fate. She did hot care what became of herself if she could be sure tbat ber husband had reached the Continent in safety. Arabella was COlnmitted to the Tower. Her reason gave 16  _I'L4A'CROFT'S DEA T/l. l 9 way, and in this nliserable state she died, after an imprison- ment of four years. It was not till after her dcath tler int- prisonment that Seylnour obtained permission to return to Eng- nd death, land.l A few days aiter Arabella's recapture, the Countess of Shrcwsbury was summoned before the Council on the charge of having furnished her niece with money, and of l'he t:«nteor havingbeen an accolnplice in her flight. She boldly /Shrewsbury. answered that she had done nothing wrong; if the Council had any charge to bring against ber, she would be ready to defend hcrself ata public trial.  She was committed to the Tower for a ycar, and then was brought belote a Com- mission appointcd to examine her. She refused to answer ny questions, alleging that she had taken a vow to give no evidence, and that it was the privilege of the nobility to answer only when called upon belote their peers. The judges declred that she was bound to answer, and the Comnlission rcported tlmt if she were brought into the Star Chamber the fit punish- lnent for her contumacy would be imprisonment during pleasure, and a fille of 2o, ooo/. This threat, howevcr, was not carried into execution, and she was sent back to thc Tower, wlaere she rcmained for some years, till she was rel'eased in order that she might be present at her husband's deathbed. Amongst the cares which awaited James after the dissolu- tion was that of providing a new Archbishop of Canterbury. ,&o. P, ancroft died il Novelnber 6o. Except when r,-o,,. _. called on to stand forwards as the champion of the Death of" mn««t, clergy against the attacks of the House of Comlnons or of the judges, the latter years of his life had been passed fol" the most part in the unostentatious exercise of the duties of lais office. After carryinglais point at Hampton Court, and seeing the Nonconforlnist clergy ejected fiom their cures, he found occupation enough il, endeavouring to lnake those who had submitted nore worthy of the position which they held. His efforts were not unattended with success. Itis undeniable ! Zetters anarZife o_fA. Stuart, il. I I2-246. " More to Vinwood, ]'une I$, IFitu,. iii. -"8. Northampton to the King, June 9, S./'. Dom. lxiç. 2 3. o TIIE DICEACII li'ITll TIIE CO.AU'OA'S. CH. XIV. lhat, within the limits which had been prescribed by the Eliza- bethan system, the clergy were advancing under his superin- tendence in intelligence and vigour. He succeeded in winning over some who by less skilful treatment would have been driven into opposition. The unmeasured violence with which he had met those whom he looked upon as the confirmed enemies ot the Church passed away when he had to deal with men whose course was yet doubtful. To such he was always kind, and he spared no labour in inducing them to surrender opinions which he legarded as erroneous. The lnan who was recolnmended by the Bishops as the fitting successor of 13ancroft was Launcelot Audrewes, at that time llishop of Ely. Of all those whose piety was l'xpcca- tion that ge rcmarkable in that troubled age, there was none who '«-211 be suc- teeded by could bear comparison for spotlessness and purity Andrewes. of character with the good and gentle Andrewes. Going in and out as he did amongst the flivolous and grasping courtiers who gathered round the King, he seelned to live in a peculiar atmosphere of holiness. James reverenced and admired him, and was always pleased to hear hiln preach. His life was a devotional testimony against the Roman dogma- tisln on the one side and the Puritan dogmatisln on the other. He was nota great administrator, nor was he amongst the first rank of learned men. But lais revêrence for the past and breadth of intelligence gave him a forelnost place in the midst of that band with which James was in such deep sympathy, and which met the Roman argument from antiquity by a deeper and rnore thoughtful study of antiquit)5 and the Puritan argu- ment from the Scriptures by an appeal to the iuterpretation of the Scriptures by the Church-writers of the early centuries. The work done by these men was no slight contribution to the progress of human thought. Yet there is no reason to regret that Andrewes was hOt appointed to the vacant arch- bishopric. Few will be found who still believe with Clarendon that his appointment would have turned back the rising tide of l'uritanism. What he could do in that direction he did in the study and in the pulpit, and work of this kind could as well be done in one official p)sition as in another. Tl:e work of 6I THE .'VElf" ./IRCIIBISItOP.  repression was not one to which he would have taken kindly, and he would have been himself none the better for the change. After some delay, James fixed his choice upon George Abbot, Bishop of London. I[e had formerly been chaplain to ,,. the Earl of Dunbar, wholn he had accompanied to Semio,,of Scotland in 6o8, where he had been serviceable, Abbot by the King. probably through his doctrinal agreement with the Scottish clergy. In January, 6, Dunbar died, andJamçs declared that he would show respect to lais lrernory by pro- tIismeHts moting Abbot to the archbishopric. Thoroughly imbued with the Calvinistic theology, Abbot had ruade it the business of his life to oppose the doctrines and principles of the Church of Rome. At the saine rime, he had no wish to see any change in the Church of England, and he was prepared to defend the authority of the Sovereign in ecclesiastical matters, in the maintenance of which he saw the stro.ngest bulwark against Popery and heresy. Nor was he wanting in other qualities more entitled to respect. His piety was deep and real, and his thorough conscientiousness was such that it might safely bc predicted that, whatevcr mistakes he might make ila his new office, neither fear laor interest would induce him to swerve for a moment from hat he con- sidered to be the strict line of duty. These merits were balanced by faults which would have been far more conspicuous than they were, if the managelnent of Church affairs had been left more completely in and defects. his hands than James allowed it tobe. It was ob- served of him that he had never had personal experience of pastoral duties, and that when, in a6o9, he became a Bishop, he had hot been fitted for the exercise of his office by any 1,ractical knowledge of the difficulties and trials of the parochial clergy. It may, however, be fairly questioned whether any experience would have given him that knowledge of men and things which was required in order to fulfil satisfactorily the duties of lais new position. His mind was deficient in breadth and geniality, and he never could have acquired the capacity for entering into the arguments and feelings of an opponent, which is the first requisite for public life. His theolow was 2 TIIE PREACII IITTH TIIE COAAIIO.VS. cH. x. the theology of the Puritans, and Puritanism failed to show itself toits best advantage till it had bëen filtered through the lninds of men who were engaged in the active business of lire. In lais hands, if he had been allowed to have lais will, the Church of England would have become as one-sided as it afterwards became in the hands of lais opponents, l'ractices which nany pious Christians loved would bave been rigorously proscribed, and doctrines which seemed irrefi'agable to a large and growing section of the clergy would bave been ehecked by the stern exercise of authority. If he was not allowed to carry out lais theory into practice, he unfortunately brought with him a temper which boded ill for the prospects of peace. It is said that under lais administration the sentences of the High Commi.sion acquired a harsher tone, and that lais eagerness to repress heresy and vice led ifim far beyond the limits which ]lancroft had imposed upon hinself in the punishlnent ot off endors. The new Archbishop, upon taking possession of his see, round himself already involved in a quarrel with Coke upon Thelqlgh the interminable question of the prohibitions. :A. Comi»io certain Sir William Chancey had been charged before t.'aurt. «h,r'» the High Commission with adultery, and with having c,. expelled his wife from his house without providing for her tnaintenance. The Cominissioners, after hearing the case, ordered him to support lais wife, and to make submission for lais offence ; and upon lais refusal to obey, they committed him to the l"leet. He applied to the Court of Common Pleas for a babeas corpus. The judges unanimously decided that the t'ommission had no power to imprison for adultery, and that the order to Chancey to find 'a competent maintenance'for his wife was too vague to justify a committal. They therefore ordered that the prisoner should be set at liberty, though they took bail for lais future appearance in order that they might bave an opportunity of conferring with the Archbishop belote they came to a final decision.  Upon bearing what had happened, Abbot, who was as little inclined as Bancroft had been to submit to any diminution ot t Re2L xii. 8z. I6I AIIBOT'S DISPUTE II'ITH COKE. "-3 the privileges of the clergy, appealed to the Council. 1 In con- AbUot sequence of this complaint, the judges were sent for, ppe.l. to in order that the arguments might be heard on both the Cou ncil against sides of the question. Coke, in the naine of the Coke. judges of the Court of Common Pleas, produced a treatise which he had drawn up in support of the doctrine that the Commission had no right to fine and imprison excepting in cases of heresy and schism. " A few days later, the judges of the Common Pleas were sent for separately, and every effort was ruade by the Chancellor to shake their resolution, l:inding that it was all in vain, the other judges were sent for, who at once declared that, in their opinion, Coke and lais colleagues were in the right. One more attempt was ruade. The judges of the King's Bench, and the Barons of the Exchequer, were summoned before the King himself, whilst the judges of the Common Pleas were this time excluded rioto the conference. Belote this ordeal some of those who were consulted gave way. When Coke was at last admitted, he was told that the other judges differed rioto him, and that the King would take tare to reform the Commission, so as to obviate the objections which had been brought against it. Coke answered that he would reserve his opinion on the new Commission till he saw it, and that, however much he regretted that lais brethren differed in opinion rioto himself, he was still more grieved that he had hot been allowed to set forth lais views in their presence, a The new Commission, in which the jurisdiction in case of alimony was omitted, was issued in August. Amongst the A ne, names of the Commissioners appeared those of Coke Commi.sion and of six others of the jndges, apparently under the issued, in which the idea that they would be tempted to acknowledge the judges re- ru t, t, legality of proceedings in which they were themsch-es prt. called to take a part. The members of the Court were invited to meet at Lmnbeth in order to hear the Com- mission read. With the intention of showing that he refusedto  Lansd..M'SS. 6o, fol. 4o. "- 4 htsl. 324; Co,?. }lISS"., Faus. D., ri. fol. 3-x. Zansct. 16o, fol. 42.  A']'. xii. 8 4. I2 4 THE IREACtt IYTH THE CO,IAIOArS. ci« xIv. acknowledge its legality until he had heard the terres in which it was couched, Coke refused to take his seat until the reading of the document was concluded. In this course he was followed by the other judges. .As soon as the reading was over, they, witl-, one voice, protested against it, as containing points which were contrary to the law of England. Upon this, Abbot had recourse to a scheme which he had planned as being likely to convince even Coke of the advantages wbich the country would derive from the maintenance of the Court. He ordered two men, who are described as blasphemous heretic:-'., tobe introduced, in the expectation that their language would be sufficiently alamaing to turn the tide in lais favour. He did not know the man with whom he had to deal. In spite of the Archbishop's ingenious device, the judges left the room with- out having taken their seats in a tribunal which was directed to inflict fine and imprisonment beyond the limits which they held to be authorised by the law. Abbot, however, though flouted by the judges, gained his point through the support of the King. He ]ittle knew that he was forging a weapon for the lmnds of the man whom, above all others, he cordially detested, and who would be certain to use it in defence of a system which he himself regarded Opposition «,««n with the deepest abhorrence. That man was Willialn Abbot and 1..a :,t Laud, then a fellow of St. John's, at Oxford. Abbot o,r«-a, had frequently corne into collision with him in the University, and had done everything in lais power to throw obstacles in the path of one who boldly professed lais adherence to a very different system of theology fron tlmt in which he had lfimself been trained. It was in Laud that the reaction against Cahinism reached its cuhninating point. The whole theory and practice of the Calvinists circled round the profound conviction that God makes Himself known to nmn by entering into a direct com- munication with lais spirit. The whole theory and practice of their opponents circled round an equally profound conviction that God makes Himself known by means of operations external ' Re]'. xii. 88. The naine of Bancroft is, of course, inserted in this report by mistake for that of Abbot. 6i i If'ILLIAM" LA UD. 12ç to the individual Christian. Starting fiom this point, they wcre ready to ascribe an importance, which appeared to their adversaries to be little short of idolatry, to everything which could speak to the senses and the imagination. With them the place, which in the Calvinistic system was occupied by the preaching of the Word, was filled by the sacraments which spoke of a reliance upon God which was hot based upon the growth of the understanding or the feelings. Men were tobe schooled into piety by habitual attendance upon the services of the Church. At those services iothing unseemly or disordcrly was tobe permitted, by which the mind of the worshippcr might be distracted. Uni%rmity of liturgical forms and unifomity of ecclesiastical ceremony would impress upon every Englishlnan the lessons of devotion which were to sustain him in the midst of the distractions of the world. This uniformity was to be preserved by the exercise of the authority of the Bishops, who were divinely appointed %r its maintenance. The men who held these opinions were the leaders in that great controversy with the Papal Church which was agitating Europe, and who based their argmnents on the writers of the third and fourth centuries. It was there that they saw the principles prevailing which they had adopted, and it was from thence that they drew arguments by which their cause was tobe defended. Itis evident that each of these systcms supplied something which was hot to be round in the other. At the saine time, if was evident that a considerable time must elapse The two »-« before they would agrce to tolerate one another. counter- balmce one For solne time to corne, a violent controversy was another. to be expected : uncharitable accusations would be ruade, and fiery words would be flung about from every pulpit in the land ; but if the Governlnent would be content to main- tain order between the contending parties, no great harm would be done. The great body of the laity would refuse to listen to the violence of noisy partisans. Something would be Imrned from the more moderate on either side. Puritanism, with its healthy faith and manly vigour, would long have continued to supply the muscle and sinew of English religion, but its narrow severity wçuld bave given way before the broader and gentle 26 Ttlh." IREACtf I'ITH Ttt CO«AIOVS. cn. teaching of the disciples of Hooker and of Andrewes. The storm would have been followed by a calm very different flore the stagnation of the eîghteenth century. If, on the other hand, the Government should determine to interfere, and to lend its aid to establish the unchecked supre- lng«r « macy ofeither part)', the most disastrous consequences (;ovt:rnment would inevitably ensue. Once armed with powers SUflï- iterfcrence. cient to enforce their own principles upon the whole Church of England, that party which was fortunate enough to gain the ear of the King would excite a general resistance, and bring about a conflict from which the Sovereign himself would hardly escape scathless. Of those to whom Calvinism was distasteful, Laud was the most decided in lais opposition. Of ail men then living, he was ç-hr«t the least fitted to be entrusted with political power. «L,,a. No less conscientious than Abbot, he vas still more riveted to the system which he had adopted. To him the words might have been applied which were afterwards used of Robes- pierre: "This man will go far, for he believes every word he says." His thorough belief in the unbounded efficacy of external forms and institutions, combined with lais complete ignorance of human nature, would be sufficient to goad to anadness any nation which might be subjected to lais control. Within the limits which his system allowed him he was ail that could be desired. He was ever anxious to do good, and was unwearied in his labours for what he considered to be the cause of God, of the Church, and of his country. The question which brought Laud into collision with the Calvinists at Oxford was one which placed the principles of the t/is theory contending parties in distinct relief. In his exercise ofthe Divine for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity he maintained right of Episcopacy. hot only that Episcopacy was of Divine origin, but that no congregation which was hOt under the government of a ]3ishop could be considered to form part of the Church. It was objected to him that, in that case, he unchurched the whole body of foreign Protestants. 1 I-Ie might have answered,  This answer bas, I think, been rnisunderstood by those who reply that if Laud's theory was true it was to no purpose to urge that it led to :6il THI" ZRUGGLE T O.I'FOIïD. ( he had choen, ht Abbo' Beory unchurcBed g. Anehn nd g. Bernard  for Abbot would acknowledge no church excephg where wht he condured fo be pure doctrine w preched. From that thne Laud w regarded as a mere by the Clvinist party, Mich was in the majority amongst the elder members of the University. This he certainly was not, though he looked at many questions from the saine point of view as that from which they would be regarded by the Catholics. He doubtless found consolation in the support of that large number of the younger members of the University who shared in his opinions. Towards the end of 6o, Abbot's friends were thrown into dismay by hearing that Laud was likely to acquire an influential Hctd position at Oxford. It was known that Buckeridge, i,,t the President of St. John's, was to be appointed fo of St. John's. the vacant sec of Rochester, and that he was using all his influence with the fellows to induce them to appoint Laud as his successor. News of the apprehended danger was carried to Abbot, who immediately waited upon Ellesmere, who, affer Bancroft's death, had been elected Chancellor of the University, and persuaded him to represent to the King the danger of allowing a man so deeply tainted with l'opery to occupy a post of such importance. Laud, however, round an advocate in his patron Neile, the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and the election was allowed to proceed. On May xo, 6 , he was chosen President  but as there was some irregu- larity in the proceedings, an attempt was ruade to set the election aside. The King, whose intervention was asked, referred the matter to Bilson, ho, as Bishop of Winchester, was the Visitor of the College. Bilson reported that the irregularity certainly existed, and suggested that James should lake advantage of it to claire the nomination for himsel£ James begged him to let him know hether the error in the proceedings had been intentionally committed. In the end, he sulnmoned the parties before hilnself, and, after an examiua- tion which lasted for thrce days, he deciaed that the election unpleasant consequences. It was an az«»«nlz«n M ast'dtn. Thc consequences were manifestll" false» therefore the theo could not be truc. 8 îttE II?EACtI IIYTIa r TttE C02LI[O.VS. cri. x'. was to stand good, as there was reason to suppose that the mistake had resulted simply froln a misunderstanding of the statutes. He refused to take advantage of ]3ilson's suggestion, which would, as he said, be a bad exalnple for the future.l Abbot was lnore successful in directing the current of the King's indignation against the learned Conrad Vorstius, who Co.ntroversy had recently been appointed professor of theology « I.,,,-, in the University of Leyden. His opinions COl>  ith Vors- tius. cerning the nature of God= were such as in our own days would certainly disqualify him from holding such an office in any Christian University. Connected as Holland and Englaud then were, in the defence of their common religion, there would have been nothing strange if James had contented himself with offering a friendly remonstrance to the States. Such a course, however, would not have satisfied him. I[e threw himself into the quarrel with ail the zeal of a theo- logical controversialist. He had on his side Maurice and the greater part of the I)utch clergy. On the other hand, the statesmen of Holland, and the mercantile aristocracy which they represented, were on the side of toleration. Their oppo- sition brought down upon their heads a whole torrent of pro- tests and invectives from the Royal theologian. It was only after a long resistance that the fear of alienating the King of England ff-oto their cause induced them to give way, and Vorstius was ordered to resign lais professorship. Whilst this controversy was still in progress, James round an opportunity for the establishment of his reputation for ,. orthodoxy nearer home. An unfortunate man, P,,,rning of named Edward Wightman, was convicted by Bishop l.egate an. Wightman Neile of holding several distinct heresies. About tl-,e saine rime a question arose in London as to what was to be done with a man named Bartholomew Legate, who professed Arian opinions. I.egate had frequently been brought into the presence of James, wlo had finally, upon his confessing that  Laud's Dfary. Answer to Lord Say's speech (Laud's ll'orZ.s, iii. 34 ; ri. 88). Bilson to the King, June 4, 6. The King fo Bilson June and Sept. 23, 6, S. _P. Z)o»t. lxiv. 35, 36; lxvi. z ll')wood, iii. 94- 16I - Hi:RI'TICS TO BE URWED. he had ceased to pray to Christ for seven years, dr[ven him out of his presence. He was then brought belote the Con- sistory Court of the Bishop of London, by which he was com- mitted to Newgate. Having been released, he had the im- prudence to threaten to bring an action against the Court for false imprisonment, and he was again arrested, in order to be brought once more to trial. Unfortuntely, James was in the full flush of his contro- versy with Vorstius. It was not to be borne that the heresy against which he was contending in tIolland should rear head in his own dominions. Elizabeth had burnt twoheretics, and why should not he do the saine ? There was, however, some doubt as to the legality of the proceedings which were contemplated ; and it was necessary to take the opini,»n of at least some of the judges. Coke, as was knovn, believed that the proposed execut[on was illegal. Abbot was thcrefore directed to write to Ellesmere, requesting him to choose some of the judges to be consulted on tbe point, and informing him tbat the King would not be sorry if Coke were excluded from the number.  It must not, however, be imagined that Coke had any scruples on the score of humanity ;--it was with him, like everything else, a mere question of ]axv, and he never had the slightest doubt that it was perfectly lawful to burn a heretic ; but he believed that it was necessary to obtain a conviction in the Court of High Commission belote a writ could issue out of Chancery for the execution. Hobart and ]acon, together with the judges who were consulted, declared that a conviction i, the ]ishop's court would be sufficient.  Upon this it was determined to proceed against Legate in the Consistory Court, although even the judges, who held tltt I Abbot to Ellesmere, Jan. et and 22, 1612, LgCr[ot l'a;bers, 447- - The Act of Elizabeth, it was agreed, abolished all statutes concern- ing the burning of heretics. Coke held that, previously to the reign of Henry IV., heretics had been burned by Convocation alone, and that the judicial powers of Convocation were now vested in the tligh Conmfission. The other lawyers held that 13ishops had exercised jurisdiction over heresy before the reign of Henry IV., and that they conseq_uently retained those VOL. II. K 13o TttE ]RE4Ctt IUITH TtlE C03I.]fONS. cH. xIv. such a course would be legal, thought it advisable to cite the t)risoner before the Itigh Commission. The only explanation of this decision is that James wished to show that he was able to override the opinions of Coke. The conviction followed as a matter of course, and the writ was issued out of Chancery without remonstrance from any quarter. On March 8, x6x2, the wretched man was burnt at Smithfield. A few days later, Wightman suffered a similar rate at Lichfield. It seems strange to us that hot a word was uttered against this horrible cruelt}; As we read over the brief contemporary notices which have reached us, we look in vain for the slightest intimation that the death of these two men was regarded with any other feelings than those with which the writers were ac- customed to hear of the execution of an ordinary murderer. If any remark was ruade, it was in praise of James for the devotion wbich he showed to the cause of God. Happily, if men of education failed to regard these acts of tyranny in their true light, there was a spirit abroad amongst the coin- mon people which warned the King that there was nothing to be gained by a repetition of the experiment which had been tried. When, a few years afterwards, a Spanish Arian was convicted of heresy, he was allowed to linger out the rest of his life in prison. This was bad enough, but it was at least a step in advance. Since the judicial murder of Vïghtman, no such atrocity has disgraced the soil of England.  Not long after the execution of Legate and Wightman, an event took place which enabled James to vindicate his character for justice. The favour shown to Scotchmen at Court gave fise to much ill-feeling amongst Englishmen, who fancied them- selves slighted, and this feeling sometimes gave fise to actual violence. Amongst those who, on one occasion, took part in the festivities at Whitehall, was a gentleman named Hawle.v, a powers, though they could no longer make use of lhe .,ct of IIenry IX'. to require the sheriff to bur the heretic. It would now be necessary obtain a vrit de herelico cctbztrttaro out of Chancery.-- 3 Znst. 39 ; Re.P. aii. 56, 93 ; Hale, tleas ofthe Crown, part i. chal). :3o.  F, dler v. 48 ; State Trials» ii. '2î,. 62 £OR SAA'QUHAR'S CASE. I31 member of the Temple. Ho gave some slight offence to one Q« of the gentlemen ushers, a Scotchman of the name t,,een of Maxwell. Maxwell, instead of remonstrating, /! ax'well and ]-'"y- seized him by the ear to drag him out of the palace. Next day, ail the Inns of Court were talking over the out- rage, and the lnembers came in crowds to Hawley, offering to support him in the quarrel. His first step was to send a challenge to Maxwell. Here, however, he was stoppe& The King, who had heard what had happened, sent for him. Sucl was the feeling against the lnanner in which James supported lais countrymen, that Hawley purposely kept out of the way, in order hOt to receive the message, which would, as he supposed, only lcad to lais being subjected to fresh insults at Court. James was actually obliged to send for the Benchers of the Temple, and to assure them that, if Maxwell were in the wrong, he would give him no support. Upon this Hawley came forward, and Maxwell was with some difficulty induced to lnake a proper apology. A few days before this quarrel occurred, a murdcr was com- mitted in London, under circulnstances of no ordinary atrocity. About seven years previously, Lord Sanquhar, a ]Iurder of Turner by Scottish baron of the ancient family of Crichton, had the order of Lord 1ost an eye in playing with a well-known fencing- S,qha. toaster of the naine of Turner. Ho fancied that the injury had been inflicted by design, or, at least, through culpable negligence .; and, from that timc forward, ho bore a grudge against Turner for what ho had done. As soon as ho recovered froln the effects of the wound, he went into France, and whilst ho was there Henry IV., thoughtlessly or nais- chievously, asked whether the man who had disfigured him still lived. Not long afterwards Sanquhar returned to England de- termined to take vengeance for the injury which he had received. Ho brooded over lais loss till ho was rcady to become a lnurderer, fancying ail the while that ho was only acting in ac. cordance with the dictates of the ]aws of honour. For some days ho tracked lais victim up and down London in vain. On lais return fro'..n a visit to Scotland, ho renewed the search. It was at this rime that ho descended a stop lower in his career of baseness, tte was aware that ho was well known in White- 3  _ THE BPtEACII [VITII TttE CO.I[.]IO.VS. c. riJars, where Turner's fencing school was situated, and that, if he set upon him in his own bouse, it would be ahnost impossible for him to escape detection. He therefore agreed with two of his countrymen to play the part of the assassin in his place. He himself went to France, in order to be out of the reach of the !aw, when the deed was done. For some time he waited for the news in vain. Either the two men had never intended to execute his orders, or their hearts failed them when the time came. When Sanquhar came back to London once more, "['urner was still alive and well. This rime, two of his own servants, Gray and Carlisle, undertook to accomplish the villany. But Gray's heart failed him, and he fled away, intending to take refuge from his toaster in Sweden. Upon this Carlisle assured Sanquhar that he should not be disappointed, as he was himself ready to carry the project into execution. He accordingly took with him a friend, named Irwin, and going at once to Turner's bouse, shot him dead with a pistol. Carlisle succeeded in escaping to Scotland, but his accomplice was taken. Irwin was examined, and gave reason to be!ieve that Sanquhar was, in some way or another, implicated in the deed The suspicions against him were strengthened by the fact that he had been keeping out of sight for three or four days. The King took the matter up warmll, , and issued a proclama- tion offering a reward for his apprehension, as well as for that of Carlisle. Before the proclamation appeared, Sanquhar surrendered himself to the Archbishop at Lambeth. He pro- tested his innocence, and apparently thought that he might escape punishment as he had had no direct dealings with Irwin, and the only witnesses who could speak of his guilt from per- sonal knowledge had ruade their escape. In this hope he was doomed to disappointment. Gray was intercepted at Harwich as he was going on board ship, and ruade such revelations as were sufficient to drive Sanquhar to a full confession of his guilt. Carlisle was afterwards taken in Scotland, and brought up to London. ]3oth he and Irwin were convicted ithout difficulty, and were immediately executed. On June 27, Sanquhar was indicted in the Court of King's 13ench, for procuring the murder of the unfortunate Turner. I612 LORD SAVQUHAR'S CASE. I33 He pleaded guilty, acknowledging in general terres that he "ri.à had acted wrongly; but it was evident that he still .ti,, « bclieved that he was justified in what he had done, at anquhar. least by the laws of honour. He concluded his con- fession by asking for mercy. James was hot inclined to interfere with the sentence of the law. Sanquhar, though a Scotchman, was not ont of his favourites, and there was no motive, in this case, to pervert his sense of justice. "l'iae wretched man was rccordingly left to his rate. On the morning of the gth he was hanged in front of the great gare of Westminster Hall. Before lais execution he expressed his sorrow for lais crime, and ended by declaring that lac died in the faith of the Roman _'.atholic Church. It is characteristic of the rime that the compassion of the bystanders, which had been moved by lais acknowledgment of his offence, visibly abated when this last statement was made. 1  Sta[e Trials, ii. 743- Chamberlain to Carleton» Ma O, o, .lul)" 3» Curl and 'mcs» i. 166 179. I34 CHAPTER XV. FOREIGN AI. LIAlq CES. Ir is impossible to track out with any certainty the policyof Salisbury either in domestic or foreign affairs. Not merely had he often to affect an unreal acquiescence in James's opinions, but he seems, in ortier that he might keep himself in the current of political influence, frequently to have marie a show of for- warding schemes of which he disapproved. Yet there is a strong ,6,« probability that he hoped to make the English inter- s.n»b,rr vention in Juliers the basis of a fresh departure in and the anti- Spanish foreign policy, and to place England at the head of alliance, ail alliance which, without assuming a provocative attitude, should at le]st oppose a barrier to that Spanish aggres- sion which, since the murder of Henry l's'., had once more become a positive danger to :Europe. It was in this spirit that he had warmly supported the union -ith France, and that as soon as tlus was assured, he turned "rb« «»« « his attention to those grievances of the English mer- the English chants in Spain which in 6o7 had moved the com- merchanl, il sp, passion of the House of Çommons, and which were still substantially unredressed. Crnwallis, indeed, had been most active in pressing these claires upon the attention of the Spanish Gorernment, and had at his own expense ,69. employed advocates to maintain them in the courts of law. When he returned to England in 6o9, he left behind him his secretary, Cottington, who was to act as agent for the King of England until the appointment of another ambassador. Cottington took up the cases immediately, and left no store I 6¢a9 THE .M E R C I-l.,4 2V T...ç IN ...ç P.,4 I«V. 135 unturned to obtain justice.  At last, on December i, i6o 9, a iudgment was given in the case of the 'Trial.' The vessel was to be restored to its owners, but nothing was said about the value of the merchandise, or about reparation for the inhumarl treatment inflicted upon the crew. Nor was it easy to obtaia restitution even of the vessel itself. The Duke of Feria, who had been Viceroy of Sicily when the seizure was effected, was dead, and lais son, who had succeeded to his title, was far too 6o. powerful a personage to pay any attention to the sen- tence of an ordinary court. Cottington complained that, in spire of all his efforts, nothing was done. At last, three days after the signature of the treaty with France,  Salisbury wrote to him, ordering him to present his colnplaints formally before the Spanish Govermnent, and to intilnate that if justice vere still denied, he was directed to return home at once, to give an account of the treatment to which English subjects were exposed. The effect of this was immediate. He was told indeed that, in the case of the ' Trial,' nothing could be done for the ««t« present, as the Duke of Feria was in France, and it cottington's was necessary to wait for his return. Orders were, how- t.,«« ever, placed in his hands, commanding the various tribunals to proceed expeditiously in the other cases of which he complained. These orders he received on October zo, and on April x o in the following year a he was able to xSxx. report hot only that he had at last obtained several decisions in favour of the merchants, but that those decisions had actually been carried into effect. There were, however, important cases still remaining undecided, and these were left to the advocacy of Sir John Digby, who was to go out as alnbassador in the course of the summer of i6 1. Whilst Salisbury was thus extending his protection to Englishmen whose interests were menaced by Spain, he did hot neglect the wider political aspect of the situation. It was  The despatches in the 5". /'. are full of details on this subject. = Salisbury to Cottington, Aug. 2, S. l: .S/s. The treaty was slgned on the 19th. See p.  Cttington to Salisbury, April I% S. /. Sa/,. 136 .FORE1GN AL£IAA'CES. CH. his anxious wish that the alliance with the enemies of the House a'hVr;,ç«ss of Austria might be strengthened by the marriages liab«a. of the King's children.  The Lady Elizabeth had grown up far from the frivolities and dissipations of the Court, at Combe Abbey, under the watchful care of Lord and I.ady Harrington. No better school could bave been round for ber flaan a country house, presided over by a toaster and mistress who gained the respect and the love of ail who knew them. From them she learned the religion, free from fanaticism or superstition, which was at no distant date to support ber under no ordinary trials. In the spring of x6t, she had hot com- I, leted her lifteenth year, but she was already noted for a grace and discretion beyond her years. She was the darling of iaer brother Henry, and she won golden opinions from young and old at ber father's court, to which she was now transferred.  ¥ouug as she was, proposais had already been ruade for ber hand. Since the plan for marrying ber to the Prince of Pied- mont had been wrecked on the Pope's refusal to countenance it, ber hand had been demanded for the yomhful heir to the throne of Sweden, who was afterwards to be so well known ,as the great Gustavus Adolphus. James, however, had refused to countenance an alliance with an enemy of his brother-in-law the King of Denmark, and it was hot till the beginning of x6t that an offer was ruade which James thought worthy of being taken into consideration. The Elector Palatine, to whose leadership the Protestant Union owed its existence, had died in the previous year, leavin8 his son, Frederick V., a minor. Not long before his lroposed nmrriage death, the old Elector had ruade advances to the with the l':lector English Court, with a view of obtaining the hand of Palatine. Elizabeth for lais heir. They had been hot unfavour- ably received, but they do hot appear to bave assumed the form of a definite proposal. The idea was taken up, after the death of the Elector, by his widow, daughter of the great  Elizabeth was now again James's only daughtcr. The two children, lIary and Sophia, who had been born after his accession to the Ènglish i.hrone, had both died in their infancy. " Green, Irincesses of JEnglamt, wl. v. 6 OFFERS OF THE DbKE OF SAVON. I37 William of Orange, and by her brother-in-law, the Duke of Bouillon, one of the leaders of the French l'rotestants. In January 6 , Bouillon met Edmondes at Paris, and sounded him as to the reception which the proposal of such an alliance would find in England. Edmondes, on applying for instruc- tions, was told to answer that .lames regarded the marriage with a favourable eye, but that he could hot give a decided answer till a formal demand had been ruade.  The Electress, on hear- ing this, declared herself well satisfied, but said that she could not send a regular proposal till she had secured the conscnt of the three guardians of her son, Count i%Iaurice, the t'rince of Auhalt, and Count .lohn of Nassau.  This reply must have reached London about the end of_April. About a lnonth before another application for Elizabeth's hand had been ruade on behalf of the Prince of Piedmont The Duke « s-.oy by the Savoyard ambassador, the Count of Cartignana. proposes a ,,, ma- On inquiry, it appeared that he had only authority to ,ia.g. treat on condition that another marriage should be effected between the Prince of Wales and his master's daughter, and that even on those terres he was not at liberty to promise to the Princess Elizabeth the free exercise of her religion. It is probable that the Duke knew that in no other way would Paul V. be induced to give permission to the marriage. It is in the highest degree probable that, if Salisbury could have had his way, Cartignana would have been dismissed with a polite but decided refusal. ]3ut tlae Lord '/'reasurer had to reckon with that party at the English Court which was headed by Northampton, and which, believing that a restoration of Catholicism would be the safest bulwark against democratic Puritanism, hoped to effect its object by providing the Prince of Wales with a Catholic wife. Yct if Salisbury was unable entirely to break off the negotiation, he was strong enough to throw almost insuperable difficulties in its way. Cartignana, who was returning to Turin, was told that no overture could be ruade on the subject of the prince's marriage, and that as to  The Council to Edmondes, Feb. 7. Edmondes to Salisbury, Ja.n $. I'. Fratce. -" Edmondes to Salisbury, April z4, ibid. z38 FOREIGN ALLIANCES. cH. x • the Princess, she would never marry without the free exercise of her religion. The King, said Salisbury, would not so abandon her to make her Queen of the world.  In Northampton's dream of a Catholic restoration James assuredly had no part. IIis own dream was nobler, if it was quite j.,,,cs's as impracticable. He wished to put an end to religious v,ws, warfare, and to persuade the Catholic powers and the Protestant powers of the Continent that it was for their rem in- tercst to abstain from lnutual aggression. Why should hOt he and lais family be the centre round which this new league of peace should form itself? Why should hOt one at leastof lais children bc united in marriage bonds with a Catholic? The difference of religion ought to prove no hindrance, if mutual respect kept those united who were disunited by creed. The arrangement by which a Catholic bride was to be provided for the future King of England would be especially satisfactory if a princess could be found whose dowry would be large enough to be employed in the payment of ber father-in-law's debts. Scarcely had Cartignana left England when James's hopes A Spanish lnfanta were cncouraged by a far more brilliant proposal than cffcrcd. that which the Savoyard envoy had it in his power to make. The Spanish ambassador, Alonzo de Velasco, de- clared that if the king would demand for his son the hand of the Infanta Arme, the proposal would hot meet with a refusal at Madrid. Whatever Salisbury may have thought of the offer, James could hot bring himsclf to suspect that the Spaniards igby ordered to ask for the lnfanta. willing to 'The Spanish I ;overument draws back. as soon as he saw him, began to make excuses. lnerely wanted to amuse him, = and directed .Digby to demand the Infanta on his arrival at Madrid, if he round that the Spaniards were in earnest, and were agree to reasonable conditions. When Digby arrived, in June, he round that the Spanish Governlnent was by no lneans anxious for the alliance. Philip passed Digby on to Lerma, who, He said that, ' Salisbury to Winwood, April 3, l)nv, iii. Paul V. No,,. 0, I612, Vamat 7"ramcrif, ts, '.0. Dec. 9,  ]gby to the King, June 4, 63, S. I'. Sain. Sir R. Dudley to  5  1 DIGB " ,4 T ,1,4 DRID.  30 although he should be glad if such a marriage could take place, the difference of religion was an obstacle which could only be removed by the Pope ; and that if the King thought that lais daughter would be drawn away from her faith, he would not consent to see ber married to a heretic, if it were to save his kingdom. 1 In spite of these obstacles, however, the matter siaould be taken into consideration, and in due time an answer should be given. The fact was, as Digby soon learned, that the Queen-Regent of France had proposed that the double marriage, to which she had been unable to obtain ber husband's consent, should now take place ; and that the Spaniards rigbtly judged that an alliance with a Catholic sovereign was more likely to prove lasting than one with Protestant England. Some weeks later, Digby was informed that the ambassador in England had exceeded his instructions, and that the Infanta Arme was to become the wife of the young King of France. If, however, the Prince of Wales would be content with her sister Maria, Spain would be ready to negotiate on the subject. In reporting this conversation, Digby begged the King to give up all thought of a Spanish match for the Prince. The Infanta Maria, he told him, was a mere child, hOt yet six years of age, and it was certain that the Spaniards were only desirous of playing upon lais credulity.  Salisbury was delighted with the turn matters had taken. The Prince, he said, could find roses elsewhere ; he need not trouble hiluself about this Spanish olive, a James, perhaps ashamed of having been deceived so thoroughly, was only anxious to let the matter drop. lut his desire for a Catholic daughter-in-law had hot died awa,, and Northampton was not likely to be slack in arguments in favour of such a plan. Salisbury, however, resolved that if there was to be a Catholic Princess of Wales it should be one of his own choosing. Before the end of October he sent for Lotto, the agent of t Digby to--, Birch, Life of H«n,y Prince of lf'al«s, 530. Instruc. tions to Digby, Ap,il 7, I6II ; Digby to Salisbury June I8, I6I» «. '. s. "-' Digby to the King, Aug. 9, 16  t, S. Z'. Sp. s Salisbury to Winwoodæ Sel,t. 5, IITnw. iii. 29o. I4o FOREIG.,'V _/ILLZ/I.VCES. cH. xv. the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and asked him to enquire whether his toaster would give one of his sisters to the Prince. October. Salisb,ry The agent said something about the question of re- l'roposes a • r,,s«=, ligion. "If ),ou want," replied Salisbury, "to change l,,-i,,çss, the religion of the reahn, we will never consent, but if t'ou only wish that the Princess shall bave the exercise of her own religion, we shall easily agree." He added that, as Treasurer, he had another point to mention, tte wished to knov what portion the Grand Dukes of Tuscany were accus- tomed to give. Whilst Salisbury's message was on the way to Florence, Cartignana reappeared in England with instructions to ask for November. the l'rincess Eizabeth alone. Salisbury threw all lais The Savoy- .,a m,i.g weight into the scale against him, and James inclined j«ct«a. to follow Salisbury's advice. "O;hen, in December, James con- s:nts to lb« he ]earned that the Electress had obtained the con- marriage of hls daughter sent Of her son's guardians to lais marriage with the ,,-i,  English Princess, he gave up ail thought of marrying ]".lector l',t,tin« his daughter to the Prince of Piedmont. Cartignana returned home complaining of the indignity put upon lais toaster by the preference shown to a German elector.  To show that something more than a merely family alliance was intended, James directed Winwood to attend a March 8 ,,. meeting which was held by the German Protestants Treaty of .-,ni.,n«,,-i, at Wesel in the beginning of 6, and to assent to the Union. a treaty, by which the King of England and the Princes ofthe Union agreed upon the succours vhich they were  Lotto adds, in wrlting to hls toaster, that there had been a lalk of find- ing a Protestant wife for the Prince, ' ma dcgli Inglesi et occulti Cattolici, che ve ne sono perd molti, affirmano tutti, che se il signor Principe piglia una moglie heretica, che loro sono spediti per sempre, et che mai più quel Rcgno non tornerà Cattolico, che per cssere stato non è lnolto Cattolichissimo. Sperebbcno con l'introduzione d'ana Regina Cattolica di poter forse tornare al lor primiero stato.'--Abstract from Lotto's de- spatches, Oct.  t, Oct. 5, st, Roman -anscrils, . O. I 1 OVo 41  Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. I3; ottrtatza r 7ïmes, i. I44; 7ïd- ingsfrom »gla»d, Dec., S. J. ]9oto., lxvii.  8. Edmondes to Salisbury, I)ec. z ; Salisbury fo Edmondes, Dec. z6, S. /. 'ance. 612 1)E,4 TIt OF SALISBUR g. I4t mutually to afford to one another in case of need.t The envoys who brought tlfis treaty to England for ratification were ena powered to make a fonnal delnand for the hand of Elizabeth, and on May 16, the lnarriage contract was signed. 2 The treaty was perhaps the more acceptable to James because the Spanish Government had latcly been compelled to unluask its views. Ail through the spring, Digby had C«;nt;nued «rrs or been from time to time charged with lnessages to his Spain. toaster to the effect that Philip would gladly agree to give lais younger daughter to the Prince, if only matters of rc- ligion could be accolnmodated. When Lerma was askcd what was meant by accommodating lnatters of rcligion, ho coolly rcplied that Philip cxpected that the Prince of Wales shoultl become a Catholic. For some time at least no more was heard of a Spanish narriage. No one would have rejoiced lnore than Salisbury at tle failure of the negotiation with Spain, Colnbined vith the success of the negotiation with the Elector Palatine. He was no ty. longer capable of joy or sorrow. His health had long Salisbury's been faihng. Though he had not completed hls forty- death, ninth ycar he was prematurely old. In Decernber, 6ii, he had an attack of rheulnatism in lus right arm. To- wards the end of the month, it had almost entirely 6. passed away.  A few weeks later he was seized ith an ague, which was accompanied by sylnptOlnS wlfich indicated that lais whole system was breaking up.  From this condition he rallied, and it was supposed that the danger was at an cnd. In the second week in March he was able to walk in his garden and began to apply himself to the business of his office. A few days later it was given out that he was completely recovcred, and that his illness had nevcr been serious.  The change did t March 28. j,mo; xvi. 714 . - Zbid. xvi. 722. s Chamberlain to Carleton, Dec. 4 and 18, ColII' and Tim«s, i. 151.  More to Winwood, Jan. 25 and Feb. I7, l.ïlt,, iii. 33 I, 337. n Chamberlain to Carleton, Feb. 26, Match II and 2I {Cottl't _7"lines, i. 135, 137 ; S. 9. 1)oto. lxviii. 78). IIere, as in several instances, the editor of the valuable collection publibhed as the Co«rt 4z FOREIGN ,4LLIMA'CES. CH. xv. hOt last long. The physicians were unable to discover the nature of the disorder which was again settling upon him. To- 'ards the end of April, he ruade up his mind to try the Bath waters, though he was told that the place would only prove mjurious to him. He was anxious tobe quiet, and to lose sight of the men who, as he well knew, were only waiting for his death to scramble for lais offices. Before he went, he twice dragged himself to the council table, and on each occasion spoke for no less than two hours. 1 He remained at Bath for sixteen days. At first he revived a little, but afterwards he rapidly grew worse. His mind was troubled by the remem- ]»rance of the plotters in London, and he could hot test satisfied without making one nlore effort to show them that he wa» still alive. In this determination he was strengthened by his dislike of what he called the suffocating sulphurous air of Bath. Sum moning the last remains of his strength, he set out for London. He never accomplished lais journey. On May 24 he breathed his last at the parsonage-house at Marlborough. 2 When the dying statesman left Bath, his steps had been hastened by a desire to show hirnself once more in London, to the discolnfiture of his rivals. Before he reached Marlborough, all such thoughts seemed to have leff hirn for ever. If he ex- pressed any anxiety, it was that his children might lire virtuous and religious lires. When he spoke of himself, his words were those of a man who had been too much occupied with the affairs of life to know much about theological questions. What- ever his faults were, and they were many, he had in the main striven to do his duty to his country. Whatever may be the truth concerning the dark intrigues with the Spanish ambas- sador, or concerning those more private vices with which ru- mour delighted to blacken lais faine, to ail appearance, at least, he died as one who was aware of having committed many faults, yam«s L, bas misplaced the letters, having forgotten to alter the date vith the change in the commencement of the year.  Chamberlain to Carleton, Match 25, Court and imes, i. 162, April 9, & P. Ixviii. o 4.  Chamberlain to Carleton, May 27, Caurt and irtes» i. I68 ; Finett fo Trumbull, May 28, Iii)m,. iii. 367. I62 SALIS£?UR 1"S CAREER. i43 but who was ignorant of any deed which might weigh down bis conscience in the hour of death, and who had kept the sim- plicity of his faitn intact. The victories and the defeats of the world were all forgotten now. Quiêtly and calmly the last of the Elizabethan statesmen went to lais rest. 1 The news of the Treasurer's death was received in London with satisfaction. The heartless Northampton and his followers fancied that the time was n.ow corne when they might Unpopu- larity of rule England unchecked, and might divide the spoils s,lisbuw, of office amongst themselves. Bacon beliêved that a free field would now at last be open for the exercise of lais talents, and for the reforms upon which he had meditated so long. James had long been weary of the yoke, and was by no means sorry to be rid of lais monitor. Nor was it only at Court that the dead man's naine was regarded with aversion. The popular party, which was daily growing in strength, looked upon him as the author of the hated impositions. Many who cared little about politics, only knew him as the great man xho had kept the reins of governlnent in his own bands, and who him- self was rich whilst the Exchequer was lying empty. Other causes have ruade posterity unjust to his memory. The system of government which he upheld was deservedly doomed, and when it had passed away, it was hard to believe that anyone could innocently bave taken part in practices which a later age condemned as oppressive and injurious to the welfare of the nation. It was still barder to imagine that the man who suc- eeeded, whilst Essex and Raleigh, Northumbedand and Bacon failed, could have prospered except by the most unscrupulous treachery. Salisbury's want of sympathy with the foremost lnen of lais own generation prevented hiln from attracting round him the c,»»of rising talent of the next. He founded no political lais failme, school ; he left behind him no watchword by which the leaders in the great conflict which was so soon to break out could arouse the flagging energies of their followers ; he threw no light upon the questions which were for such a length or Observations of Mr. John 13owles, Peck's Desiderata Cttr[êra 2o 5. ,44 FORE.IGN ALLIANCES. c. rime to agitate the minds of lais countrymen ; he stood alone whilst he lived, and when he died there were few to mourn hs loss. 13acon spoke truly of Salisbury when he told the King that he was fit to prevent affairs from growing worse, though he was not fit to make them better. James, in lais reply, let it be known that he thought that Salisbury had 12iled ira preventing lais affairs from growing worse.  "Fhe charge was truc, but it was not alto. ether truc that the fault lay at Salisbury's door. It was James, whose extravagance had driven the Treasurer to the necessity of laying the impositions which raised such ill-feeling between the nation and the Crown; and if Salisbury failed to give his support to the wider ecclesiastical policy of the House of Com- lnons, lais mistake in this respect was shared by James. Of Salisbury's unwearied industry it is unnecessary to speak. His presence at the Treasury breathed at once a new spirit into the financial administration. Nothing was too small to escape him. He succeeded without difficulty in raising the revenue to an amount which would have filled Elizabeth with admiration, though it was all too little for her successor, z All the while he was carrying on the business of Secretary, which he continued to hold, and directing the course of foreign and domestic policy. Of his foreign policy it is difficult, if not impossible, to speak with certainty. It is probable that if he had been left to himself he would have advocated a general policy of distrust towards Spain, and a cautious alliance with the Dutch Republic. But he was not lais own toaster. James's fantastic views on the possibility of obtaining the concurrence of all sorts of persons by the simple expression of honest opinion, had nowhere greater scope than in the direction of his foreign relations. Salisbury  Zctlcrs aud Zi[e, iv. 78, note I. e A good sketch of what he effected in this office will be found in Sir Walter Cope's Apology, printed in Gutch's Coll«clan«a C«riosa, i.  r9. IvIr. Spedding (Bacon's Zctters amt Lift, iv. 76) says that the total result of Salisbury's financial administration appears to have been the halving of the debt, at the cost of almost doubling the deficiency. Eut the former was the result of his own labour ; over the latter he had but little control, 16  2 THE TRE.I SUR I" COM3IISSIOA r.  4 5 had not to guide, but sometimes to influence, oflen merely to follow. He had to advocate schemes whici he detested, and to co-operate with persons whom he disliked. It is probable that, ifwe knew all, these considerations would be round to SUplfly the key to the riddle of his seemingly cordial relations with thampton, and of the friendly footing upon which, by the accept- ance of large su .ris of money, he stood with successive Spanish ambassadors. There can be little doubt that his latest achieve- ment, the alliance with the Elector Palatine, was all his own,  nd that it fairly represents the policy to which, if he had had froc course, he would bave addicted himself in by-past years. However ably the late Treasurer discharged the duties of lais place, it could hardly be expected that the aspirants for office could look on with satisfaction whilst he engrossed the whole work and credit of government. It remained to be seen whether those who were so eager to occupy his seat would be able to imitate his wisdom. It was generally expected that the white staff of the laie Lord Treasurer would be placed in the hands of Northampton ; but Northampton was by no means eager, at such a The Trea- sury put.in time, to take upon himself the responsibilities of the «o,,m,_,o. office. The Treasury was therefore entrusted to the charge of Cmmissioners. Their names were hOt likely to inspire confidence in their skill. The only man amongst them who had any practical acquaintance vith finance was Sir Julius Coesar, the Cancel[or of the Exchequer, and even he had no abilities above those which might be possessed by any cxpe- rienced clerk. The high-sounding names of the Earls of Northampton, Suffolk, and Worcester, and of Lords Zouch and Wotton, only served to fill up the list.  Far more eagerness was shown to obtain the Secretaryship, which did not entail the labour of watching over an empty Candidates Exchequer. The post was coveted by a large tlUll- ,hS««- ber of persons, each of whom imagined that he had tarysh;p, the best claire to succeed to the deceased stateslnan. Alnongst them was one, who if James conld have been bold Chamberlain to Carleton, June 17, Cour; and Y'im«s l. 173. Lord XV,»tton was a brother of Sir lient)'. VOL. IL L 46 FOREirGN //./.]'/A'CES. ci. xv. enough te: accept him as an adviser, and humble enough to submit to his teaching, might have ruade the course of his reign different ffom what it was. ]3acon offered to forsake the law and to devote himself to the task of reconciling the King with his Parliament.  James, however, was in no hurry to meet his Parliament again, and had a very insufficient perception of the necessity of changing his mode of government if he was to avoid disaster. ]3acon was therefore passed over in silence. Gradua|ly, however, the numbers of those who had any chance of obtaining the object of their desires diminished ; and at last it was rumoured among the courtiers that the choice ]ay be- tween Sir Henry Wotton, Sir Thomas Lake, and Sir Henry Neviile.  Sir Henry Wotton was supported by the influence of the Queen, and at first even by that of the Prince of Wales. He s; ny was looked upon as a man likely to walk in the path "Wotton. which had been traced out by Salisbury. It was reported that belote his death Salisbury had intended to resign the Secretaryship in his favour. He was a man of integrity and ability, and had won the regard of James as well by his reputa- tion for learning as by a service which he had rendered him belote his accession to the English throne. There was some- thing in him of that steadiness and solidity of character for which Salisbury had been distinguished, but it is hardly likely that he would have succeeded as a statesman. Even if he had been naturally qualified to act as the guide of a nation which requires in its leaders sympathy with its noblest aspirations, his long absence from lais native land was sufficient to create a wide gulf between himself and lais fellow-countrymen. Since he had completed his education, he had spent the greater part of his life in Italy, at first by choice, and latte."ly as Ambassador at Venice. The opposition which had been aroused by nine years of unpopular government round no echo in lais breast. He had only heard of the errors of lais Sovereign through the medium of a distant correspondence. If he had learned in Italy to be toler- an of differences of opinion, he had also learned to think  Bacon to the King, .ellcrs atdZi_/e, iv. * Chamberlain to Carleton, June  Cour! ml Tintcs, 62 TttE I'.4C.4A'T SECIET.4R YSIIIP. ith indifference of that great cause of Irotestantism in which EngLtnd was sure for a long rime to corne to feel the deepest interest.: Sir Thomas Lake was a man of a very different character. He had no prctensions tobe anything more than a diligent sit Th,,,.s and ready official. No scheme of policy, domestic or L-k« foreign, was ever connected with lais name. Of the three rivals he is the only one of whom we hear that he offered a bribe to obtain the post which he coveted. His promotiou would hardly bave given pleasure to anyone, excepting perhaps to Northampton. The candidate xvhose selection xvould have given most satis- faction to the nation w.xs undoubtedly Sir Henry Nevillc. IiI .;, vr«,y the reign of Elizabeth, he had served with crcdit as ]Neville. Ambassador at l'aris. He was in London at the time when Essex was plamxing lais foolish and unprincipled rcbellion, and had unfortunately been ruade acquainted with a portion at least of the schemcs of the conspirators. There xvas no reason to suppose that he sympathiscd with them in the slightest degree ; but either from thoughtlcssness, or flore regard for his informants, he omitted to givc information to the (;overnment of what he had heard. As this anaounted to mis- l,rision of treason, he was conamitted to the Tower, flore which he was only released at the accession of James, in company with Southampton and the other conspirators who had escaped the scaffold. In the Parliament which met in the following year he sat for ]3erkshire, and although he refrained flore taking any prominent part in opposition to the Government, there was never any doubt that his sympathies were with the popular party. A little belote the end of the first session of 6xo, he took an opportunity of stating to the King, in the pIainest possible terres, what the demands of that party were, and of pressing upon him the necessity of giving way. It is evident that the elevation of such a man to the secretaryship would * The manifest dislike whlch he felt for his embassy to HolIand in 64-5 is enough to show how he fer in this marrer. ,Yinwood would never bave begged to be removed to Italy or Spain. I bave taken my view of Wotton from his voluminous tmpubli.hel correspondence in the l(ecord Office. »48 FOR,IG,V ALLL4A'C,S. cIL xv. bave been equivalent to a declaration on the part of the King that he was willing to retrace his steps, and in future to govern in accordance with the wishes of the House of Commons. The lnembers of the last Parliament who happened to be in London, came flocking round their candidate. Southampton came up from the country, hoping that the time was now corne when the friends of Essex might be admitted to power, and did ail he could to forward Neville's prospects. Even if James had been otherwise dispcsed to look upon Neville with favour, ail this would have been sufficient to move j.,«s ae- his jealousy. Although, from some unexplained ,«mi,s,o motive, Rochester gave his support to the popular be his own eetaw. candidate, the King at once declared against him, saying that he would bave no secretary imposed upon.him by Parliament. He let it be known that he had no thought, for lhe present at least, of making an appointment at ail. He imagined that he was perfectly capable of acting as his own secretary, and of directing the complicated machinery of the domestic and foreign policy of the Government himself. Lake would be sufficiently capable of receiving and sending out the despatches and other necessary documents. If he needed any assistance beyond this, Rochester, whom he had recently raised to the dignity of a Privy Councillor, would be with him. To James it was a recommendation that Rochester had no real knowledge of public business. He wanted an instrument, not a statesman. In the saine spirit he chose the Sir Gêorge Carew, who had been Ambassador in France, to be lIaster of the Court of Wards, apparently on the principle that a candi- date who was in no way distinguished mnongst his contempo- raries was more likely, than an abler man would be, to submit to the bidding of his Sovereign. It would have been strange if the attitude assumed 6t3. Relations by the English Government during the last months hetween :,g,,a of Salisbury's life had not ruade a difference in its --,,d S»ai,. relations with the Court of Spain. As long as there had been any hope that the overtures of that Court would  Chamberlain to Crleton, June I! and I7, July 2, Gmrl ami Time, i. 7, 73, 179. 6,3 TIIE SPA.VISIf CO£rTç. '49 meet with a favourable reception in England, Digby had round that the ministers of Philip III. were not indisposed to redress the grievanc.es of which he xvas instructed to complain. As soon as he could obtain a hearing, he presented a The mer- chants' memorial, in which the wrongs done to the English wivances, merchants were set down in detail,  and he threatened the Spaniards with the severe displeasure of his toaster if justice were hot donc. He was met vith abundant promises I)ec., .6 *. of compliance, and orders were immediatey given tiret fiae cases should be brought fo a speedy decision. In some of the more recent ones, where the tribunals had hot ),et taken cognizance of the supposed offences, commands were issued that the goods hich had been seized by thc King's officers should at once be restored to their owners. 1)igby was hot content, as Cornwallis had been, with merely demanding justice, and reporting his good or bad success from ,e, time to time to lais Government. Immediatcly upon igby in. lais arrival at Madrid he set himself to investigate the vestigate te c,ue. causes of the evils complained of, and did lais best to o!evilsthecom, devise a remedy against their recurrence. He was hot vi,i,,ea or. long in discovering that they were the almost inevitable result of the Spanish judicial system. Whenever, in consequence of a real or supposed infringement of the customs' law, sentence was given in the local courts against a merchant, the property in question was immediately confiscated and divided into three equal parts, which were assigned respectively to the King, the judge, and the informer. Thus it happened that the interest of the judgê would lead him to pronounce sentence for the Crown whenever the case was sufficently doubtful to give him an excuse for doing so. It was true that an appeal lay to the Courts at Madrid, and that hot only were these courts notorious for their integrity, but as a matter of fact, scarcely a single instance had occurred since the peace, in Match an Englishman had appealed to them without obtaining a sentence in his favour. But their forlns of procedure were extremely wearisome, and it was seldom that a case was before t Digb.y to Salisbury, Dec. 2 9, I6 , & -P. 5o FOREIGN ALLIANCES. Clq. x, them for less than two or three years. Such a delay, involving as it did the residence at Madrid of the merchant himself, or of lais representativc, in order to watch the proceedings, caus.ed an expense which none excepting the most wealthy traders could afford. Nor were thc difficuities of the merchant at an end cven when he had obtained a favourable sentence, as hi. goods had been divided immediately after the original decision had been given against him. The informer was sure to be a beggar, who had spent long ago all that had fallen to his share. The judge had probably been removed to some distant station, perhaps in Amcrica, and if he were still to be found where the wrong had originally been done, it was no easy marrer to put the law in force against a great man presiding in his own court. The King's third xas the only one which there was a chance of recovering, but so low was the Treasury that the Royal warrants for satis-ing claires of this nature scarcely ever obtained payment in less than two or three years. To remedy these evils Digby proposed two changes, which the Spanish Government at once promised to adopt. In fiture, ,«i vhenever an appeal was ruade against the decision g«a « of the local court, it was to be brought before a special commissicn, which would be able to hcar and determine the matter at once. The second concession was of stiil greater importance : the goods were no longer to be confiscated by the inferior judges, but bonds were to be given by which the owners engaged to pay their value, in case of the rejection of their appeal. In order to show his willingness to oblige the English, the King directed, a few days after thcse arrangements had been made, that several Englishmcn, who were prisoners in the galleys, shouid immediately be set at iiberty. Lastly, Digby had long been urging lais Govcrnment to eppoint consuls. It had often happened that, either through co»,l», ignorance or wiifldness, English traders had suffered punisbment for the breach of Spanish laws. Digby thought it would be well to bave some experienced persan present at the chier ports, to warn inexperienced Englisbmen of their danger, and to send him intelligence which would save him frçm advocating the causes of men who were themselves 1612 ZUA'IGA'S JIIISSIOAr.  to blame. The Government at home fully agreed with his suggestion, and appointed a person named Lee to act as Consul at Lisbon. They also directed that Cottington should reside in the saine capacity at Seville. 1 13efore Salisbury's death a strange overture had reached James froln Madrid. Philip III. had become a widower in ,,o, the preceding autumn, and Digby was allowed to tt: understand that he would gladly take the Princess Kiug of sp.-,ii,,- Elizabeth for his second wife. Queen Arme was teds to ask for the delighted to hear that such a prospect was opening vi:,¢, before her daughter, and Velasco informed lais Government that hot only was James ready to give lais con- sent, but that Elizabeth hersclfwould cheerfully renounce the Protestant faith in which she had been nurtured.  In consequence of this information, the Spanish Court decided upon despatching a special mission to James. l'edro de Zuffiga, who was chosen for this service, had formerly resided in England as ambassdor, and was therefore well qualified, by lais knowledge of the court to which he was accredited, to fulfil the delicate senice entrusted to him. Ostensibly July, I612. z,:i.g« he was only sent to give explanations concerning the ,,»,on. French marriages ; but in Spain, nobody doubted that he was empowered to demand the Princess for lais toaster, if, upon lais arrival, he should have reason to believe that the offer would be accepted. As soon as he had time to discover what the King's real intentions were, he found that the marri:ge with the Elector was irrevocably decided upon, and that there was as much probability of the Princess Elizabeth deserting the religion of her childhood as there vas of the King of Spain turning Pro- testant. Accordingly, when James granted hiln an audience, he contented himself with giving explanations on the subject of' the negotiations with which the two courts had been occupied in the past year. As soon as he had finished, the King asked him if he had nothing more to say, and on lais replying in the  Digby to the Councll ; Digby to Salisbury, Jan. I9, S. 1". Siaht. " The important part of Digby's despatch of Jan. 4, 1612, is ærinted by Mrs. Everett Green, Z&,,'s ofthe t'rinc«sses, v. 78. . 2 FOREIGA r ALLIIA'CES. cH. xv. negative, dismissed him with evident signs of anger. * It can hardly be doubted that he was eager to return in kind the insult which he had received in the preceding year, and that he was vexed at being baulked of an opportunity of venting his indignation. As soon as Zufaiga was gone, James told his councillors what had passed, and assured theln that nothing should ever induce him to allow lais daughter to marry a l'apist.  Though James had ruade up his mind to carry out the contract into which he had entered with the Elector Palatine • rhe re«¢p- in May, there were still many points to be settled, ,ionof,he and it was not till September that the negotiations Eleclor in England. were sufficiently advanced to allow the young Elector to set out to visit his affianced bride. When it was known that the vessel in which he sailed had arrived in safety at Gravesend, the enthusiasm in London was unbounded. As his barge passed up the river to Whitehall, he was welcomed by the thousands who had corne out to sec him arrive. James received him cordially, and even the Queen forbore to give expression to ber dislike. It was not long before he was able to assure himself that he had won the heart of Eizabeth as well as ber hand, though, if rumour is to be trusted, she had hitherto shared her mother's dislike of a connection which she had been taught to regard as a marriage of disparagement. The impression which he ruade upon all who conversed with him was favourable, and even those who, before his arrival,  Zuiïiga's despatch, Aug. , 6z, S. /'. S/s. Nrs. Green (v. 79) supposes that James -ished to receive a proposal, and was disappointed in not getting one. I do not thlnk this is possible. If k.e still had any desire for the connection, he would hot bave allowed the contract to be signed in May. At that time he knew that Zuiîiga was coming. Besides, lais conduct ever since the German alliance had been suggested to him was lhat of a man vho wished to sec it accomplished. Perhaps too much has been nmde of his anger on this occasion ; he b.ad a very bad toothache at the rime, which will account for a good deal of it. = IIe had other reasons for distrusting Zuïîlga. A feue days belote, he had discovered that the ambassador had brought large sums of money with him for the purpose of cornpting the courtiers.--Abbot to the King, July zz, S. t'. Z)om. lxx.  . a62 Sq l'O Y" q.'VD TUSCqA']: 153 had spoken slightingly of the match, were obliged fo confess that, as far as his personal appearance went, he was worthy even of Elizabeth hersel£ Of all those who had favoured the Elector's suit no one had been more deeply interested in its success than the Prince of Wales. His attachment to his sister had ripe'_ed The mar- iage into the warmest affection during the few years which favoured loy , 'i,,«« had passed since she had left Lord Harrington's roof. of v c..ici. He had been deeply vexed when he learned that there was a prospect of an offer being ruade to her by the King of Spain, and had publicly declared that, in his eyes, whoever favoured such a match was a traitor. He bclieved that the only aire of the Spaniards was to get the succession :o the English throne into their hands, and that, as soon as they had possession of the Princess, flaey would immediately clear the way for her accession by murdering himself and lais br,ther. He was proportionably delighted when he learnt that his father had irrevocably declared in favour of the Elector. Whilst James was engaged in concluding the arrangements for his daughter's marriage, he was also busy in deliberating with his councillors upon the equally important Question of thePrince's question of providing a wife for the Prince. He marriage. ,,»po«« knew that the Duke of Savoy was ready, on the aliances 'ith Savoy slightest hint, to renew the offer vhich he had naade or Tuscany. on behalf of his daughter, and that the Grand Duke of Tuscany had willingly accepted the overture ruade to him by Salisbury. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, howevcr, had consulted the Pope, and had been informed that the union vhich he proposed would hot mect with the aF.probation of the Church.  The Duke Sf Savoy, who was desirous of freeing himself from the chains of Spanish domination, was more bent upon securing a political ally than upon obtaining the appro- bation of the Pope. He offered to give his daughter a dowry of seven hundred thousand crowns,  and engaged that she would be content if she were allowed the exorcise of ber religion » C:,rleton to the King, .lune 9 ; the Courir of Vische to --, July 4, 1612, 3: a/°. l.'tt. I.e V.assor, Hist. de Louis .'[[[. (757) i. I59.  .Northampton to Rochester, Oct. 7, 16z, S. /9. Dont. lxxi. . r 54 FOREIGA/" .4LLL42VCES. cH. Xro in the most private manner possible. This marriage was warmly supported by Wotton, who had passed through Turin on lais return from lais embassy at Venice. His fondness for Italian society rendered him blind both to the political objections to the 'natch, and to the domestic unhappiness which was likely to ensue if such a man as Prince Henry were tobe condenmed to lire with a wife who would find it lin- possible to sylnpathise with him in any one of his feelings. At first Wotton contrived to carry the Prince with him. It was not long, however, before the young lnan's good sense told him that such a marriage wouid conduce neither to his own welfare nor to that of the country. Yet, in spire of this feeling, he determined to keep quiet, in order hot to provoke his father by untimely opposition to a plan which lnight never be actuaily presented to him for lais acceptance. Jalnes, indeed, had hOt confined his attention to the two Italian Courts. The Duke of Bouillon had been in England in the spring, when A marrlage with a he had taken an opportunity of bringing before the French ,ic» King the advisability of entering into a close alliance suggested, with France, and had even hinted that it was not impossible that, after all, the Spanish marriages might colne to nothing, and that in that case the Regent wouid gladly bestow the hand of her eidest daughter upon the Prince of Wales. If this shouid not prove to be the case, there would be no diculty in obtaining her sister, the Princess Christina. Jalnes, upon making inquiry, found that Bouillon had no authority for giving any hopes of the elder Princess, and was for a time dis- posed to give up ali further thoughts of the alliance, as Christina was a mere child, in her seventh year. A week or two later he changed his mind. The French alliance would be worth having, in the state in which Europe then was. The mere fact of such an overture having corne from France showed that the Regent was not disposed to place herself unreservedly in the hands of Spain. In truth, though she was glad enough to obtain the support of the Spaniards aginst her enemies, foreign and domestic, she had no idea of t The King to Edmondes, June .'6ta, S. t'. F;: Christina was bore on February o, 16o6. x6x. TItE FRE.VCH MLLL4,VCE. I joining in a crusade against Protestantism. She wanted tobe quiet, and she thought that an alliance with her great neigh- bours would be likely to preserve her from foreign war, and to overawe her turbulent nobles at home. If she could gain an influence in England as well as in Spain, so much the better ; it would be one chance the lnore for peace. With these guarantees, she would surely be able, when the time came when she would be called upor to deliver over the governlnent to her son, to boast that in her hands France had not been exposed to the miseries of war. James, too, loved peace, and an alliance which might free the French Court from the subserviency to Spain which had Arguments lately characterised its policy was not to be lightly i,, it f,-ou, rejected. He therefore ordered Edmondes to discuss the marrer in an unofficial manner with the French minister Villeroi, and to ascertain under what conditions the Regent would agree to the match.  After all, if the Prince should be willing to consent to defer his lnarriage for so long a rime, the extreme youth of the l'rincess might not be an objection. If the Regent could be persuaded to part with her daughter at once, she might be educated in England, and would, in ail probability, be induced to embrace the religion of ber future husband. Edmondes accordingly ruade his proposal to Villeroi, and expressed his hope that if the marriage were agreed to, the Princess would be sent into England before thê end of the following year. In consequence of that minister's illness, it was not till September z5 that he was able to forward an answer to James. Villeroi assured hiln that the Regent was most anxious for the conclusion of the lnarriage, but that she begged for a little longer time, in order that ber daughter night be fully instructed in ber religion before she left her home. Edmondes, however, stated that it was his belief that the Queen was so desirous of the marriage that, if she were pressed upon this point, she would certainly givc way; and, in fact, on November 7, he was able to write that Villeroi had ! Edmendes to the King, July 2I, 6x2, & t'. Fr. informed him that his mistress was ready to consent to part with her daughter at the time proposed by James. By the King's command, Edmondes's despatch of Septem- ber 2 5 was forwarded by Rochester to the Prince, with a request that he would give his opinion upon a matter which q'he question submitted to concerned himself so dceply. The Prince did not the l'rince. give any decided answer. The Savoyard Princess, be said, would bring with hcr a larger dowry tban the daughter of the Qucen «,f France. On the other hand, the French riage would give far greater satisfaction to the Protestants abroad. If the offer çf the Regent was to be accepted, it must I,e undcrstood that the Princess was only to be allowed the cxercise of hcr religion in private, and it must be expressly stipulated that she should be sent over before the end of the following year at thc latest, in order that there might be a reason- able prospect ef ber conversion. If he seemed indiffercnt, his fathcr must remember that he knew little or nothing of State affairs, and that the time for making love, which was his part in the inatter, had hot yet arrived.  'l'he French alliance had the support of no less a man than Raleigh. In a treatise which he wrote ai this rime s he went Raleigh's once more over the arguments against the Savoy pamphlet, match which had been urged by hiln when the Prin- cess's marriage was being discussed in the preceding year. A marriage with a German lady would, he said, be equally unde- sirable, as the friendship of Protestant Germany was already secured. On the other hand, it was of the utmost importance that France should be won over as soon as possible to the cause of European liberty. He saw at once that the present friend- ship between France and Spain could not last for ever, and  Edmondes to the King, Sept. 25 and Nov. 7, 162, S. /'. /ù: The first of these despatches is endorsed with a wrong date, which may mislead anyone who is in search of it. The true date will be found at the end of the despatch itself. œee Rochester to the Prince, Oct. 2; the Prince to Rochester, Oct. 1612 ; Birch's Life of tient3, , t'rince f IYalcs, 308. a 24 Discourse touchitg a 2][arr[age belrvect Prbtce Hen'y of England and a &n«ghter of Saz.oy. Raleigh's ll'o'bs, viii. 237. The date, 9 Jacobi is evldently ertoneous. 6 ". DEM TtI OF I'I¢IA'CE ///'2N/?I: xS7 that, if Spain should renew her aggressions, France would of necessity be found sooner or later in opposition to her natural enemy. Itis evident that, in spite of these arguments, the Priuce was ill at case. He knew that if he expressed lais real sentiments The Pri,c« to lais father he would only draw down upon himself ,ot »-:i»ei. a torrent of argument. After all, even if the Princess should be sent over at an early age, it was hot certain that he would succeed in converting her, and ' he was resolved,' as he afterwards expressed it, 'that two religions should never lie in his bed.'  He was secretly meditating a scheme of which, as )'et, he did hot breathe a syllable to anyone .; he would accom- pany lais sister to Germany : when there, he would fting polit.ics to the winds, and choose a wife for himself. This plan of lais was destined never tobe accomplished. For some weeks he had been fiar from well. During the The Prlnce's summer he had neglected to take the most ordinay in,«. precautions for the preservation of his health. In the hottest season within living memory he had allowed himself to take far too violent exercise. I.ike lais father, he was fond of fruit, and had partaken of it in unusually large quantities. He had even indulged in the imprudent practice of svimming immediately after supper. Though he had complained of feeling unwell during the -hole of the autumn, it was not till October xo that he was actually attacked by an illness which is now known to have been typhoid fever.  A violent cold was attended with other symptoms of disease. Two days afterwards he recovered to some extent, and insisted, in opposition to the advice of his physicians, upon going out. For some days he kept up, but he looked pale and haggard. On the -4th he foolishly played i Wake to Carleton. Undated, 62 (5". /". lCt.). Wake derived his information from Newton, to whom the Prince spoke of his designs upon his deathbed. "- ïrhe Ill, tess and Deatl of IIenry. Prbtce of tUales--a Msgor&al case of lI,,hoidfever, lg, y Norman iXloore, iI.D. This pamphlet, reprinted fiom the ' St. Bartholomew Hospital Reports,' vol. xvii., lays at test /or ever whaever may still be left of the old theory, that the Prince was poisoned. 158 FOREIGN ALLL4.VCES. CH. XV. at tennis, in which he exposed himself in his shirt to thë chiily air of the season. The next day the fever was upcn him, and he was forced to take to his bed. On November i he was somewhat better, and the King, the Queen, and his brother and sister, as well as the Elector, were admitted one by one to lais bedside to see him. They left him in the belief that he might yet recover. The amendment was hot for any length of titaae ; he grew worse and worse, and the physicians lost all hope. On the 6th he was evidently dying. The Queen, who had oftcn derived benefit from and death, Raleigh's prescriptions, sent, as a last resource, to the prisoner in the Tower for help. He immediately prepared a medicine, which was given to the dying l'rince. It was all in vain ; before the day was over, the sufferer was no more. Of all who knew him, the one who fclt his loss most deeply was lais sister Elizabcth. Since her visit to his sick room on the xst, she had ruade repeated efforts to see him, and had even attempted to penetrate to lais apartments in disguise. She was, however, not allowed to pass, as, by that time, it was considered that his disease was infectious. Nor had he forgotten ber : the last words he uttered in a state of consciousness were, "Where is my dear sister ?"  Throughout the whole of England the sad news was received with tears and lamentations. Never in the long history ot tr,i,.».l England had an heir to the throne given rise to such gi«. hopes, or had, at such an early age, inspired every class of his countrymen with love and admiration. They were hot content with sorrowing over his memory, they vented their affection in the foolish outcry that their beloved Prince had been murdered. Sometimes it was Rochester, sometimes it was Northampton, who was supposed to have administered the poison which carried him off. Nor was there any lack of sus- picions more horrible still: grave men actually whispered to one another that James himself had a hand in the imaginary murder of his son. If the Prince had lived, he certainly would not bave thrown  Corwallis, Lire oft'ritce [cn3', Somers' Tracts, ii. 23i ; Chamber- lain to Carleton» 1Nov. I2, I612 ; Conrl aud Timcs, i. 202. 6 -A'OPTHA31PTOA"S UA'POP[JOEAPITI . 59 the teins of government nto the hands of the leaders of the Chacteof House of Çommons. He would hot bave anticipatcd the Pn,«« the result of tbe inevitable struggle by abandoning what he would bave considered to be his rights  he would bave had his own views on every question as it arose, and he -ould have striven by every means in his power to carry them out. iorthampton was right, as far as he and such as he were con- cerned, when he said tbat ' the Prince, if ever be came to reign, would I)rove a tyrant.' He would bave ronde short wozk wth the men and measures which Northampton regarded with approvah Whether the young Henry would have fulfillcd the promise of his youth it is impossible to say. It is enough for us that a keen observer bas l)laced it on record that he xxas slow of speech, pertinent in lais questions, patient in listcning, and strong in understanding.t Northampton must bave fclt lais position strengthened by the removal of a formidable antagonist. Yct he was hot long in dis- Bayley's covering that he and those who agreed with him vere ,os. intenscly unpopulaf. A little more tban a week aftcr the Prince's deatb, one of lais chal,lains , named Bayley, preached a sermon, in which he told lais congregation that Religion was lying bleeding, and that there were members of the Council who attended mass, and told their master's secrets to their wives, by whom they werc betrayed to the _lesuits3 ]3ayley was re- primanded by the Archbishop, but he only repeated lais ac- cusation, in a nore distinct form, on thc following Sunday. Similar insinuations were ruade by other preachers, who took care not to bring any direct accusation vhich could be laid st hold of by the Government. A few days Inter, Chamber fines ira- Northampton heard that it was a matter of comnaon losedon six conversation that, after he had published the speech persons for slandering which he had delivered at Garnet's trial, he had lqortb.- ampton, written secretly to ]3ellarmine, beseeching him to take no notice of what he had said, as ho had only spoken in oppositign to the Papal claires, for the sake of pleasing the !Itt lr-2"ctn'icuttt Priuci.#ettz llalliw eloght»t, Bacon's LiL and l"rof. ll'orks i. 323 . z This, I suppose, t eferred to Sufolk. I6O FOREIGV ttLLIAOE'CE3, cH. xv. King and the people. The story obtained credit the more easily as, in ail the controversial works which had appeared upon the Catholic side, nota word had been said of Nortk- mnpton's speech. Whether it were true or not, Northampton took the course which in those days was the usual resource of persons in aathority who thought themselves maligned. He smnmoned belote the Star Clmmber six unlucky persons, who had been detected in spreading the report, and sent them away smarting under heavy fines. As might be expected, such a proceeding, though it rendered the newsmongers of the day more cautious in what they said, had no effect in changing their ol)inions.  But if Northampton was allowed to inflict punishment upon his personal opponents, he was not allowed to guide the policy of the Government. Itopeg had been entertained, by Betrotha| of rb« those who were interested in breaking off the marriage ri««, of the Princess, that James would be less willing to carry out his design now that, by the death of ber brother, she was a step nearer to the throne. He was determined to show that he had set his heart upon the match by directing the signature of the final marriage articles upon November 17, and by ordering that the ceremony of betrothal should take place on the -"Tth, the marriage itself being necessarily postponed on account of the Prince's death. The solenmity of the betrothal was ahnost marred by Sir Tiaolnas Lake, who was directed to act as Secretary for the occasion. In that capacity he was called upon to read the contract in Frcnch, in order that the young couple might repeat the words after him. His translation, however, was so bad, and his pronunciation so detestable, that those who were present coutd hot refrain from laughing, till the Archbishop, whose whole heart was in the scene before him, broke in with the solemn words, "The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of  Chamberlair, to Carleton, Nov. 9, Dec. 7, 62, Cour¢ancl 7ïmcs, i. zo6, -"3 ; Stage 7"rials, il. 86--. The story of Abbot's producing the letter can only refer to this trial, and is quite irreconcilable with the facts given us upon contemporary authority. If another trial had occurred later, we should surely have heard of it. Jacob, bless these nuptials, and make them prosperous to these kingdoms and to His Church."  Although Lake was allowed to act as Secretary on this occasion, it was generally understood that, in spite of his _>arlia- x63. mentary antecedents, Neville was now the candidate Question most likely to obtain the post, if the King should of the retaryship, determine to fill it up. In the beginning of January the Council petitioned him to naine a Secretary.  With his "usual impulsiveness, James had at first thrown himself into the lmsiness of the office, and had read and answered despatchcs with commendable regularity. But he had soon grown tired of lhe labour, and complaints were heard that business was often at a standstill for want of his application to the duties which he had vohmtarily undertaken. James promised to consider the advice of his Council ; but he was too desirous of keeping power in his own hands to take anv steps in the matter. But whatever night be the King's decision on this point, he threw,'no obstacles in the way of the solemnisation of the marriage to which all good Protestants were hope- Feh. *4- ;«offully looking forward. The ceremony was performed the Pri,,cess. with all possible pomp and splendour on February 4, ,6,3. Even the Queen herself condescended to be present, though she had long looked with displeasure on the alliance, and had hitherto refrained from showing any sign of favour to the Elector. His frank and hearty manners seem to have won her over, and to ail appearance she was now perfectly contented  Chamberlain ]/'.l',,w,', xri. 7:5. -" Chamberlain to Carleton, an. 7- x63, Court and imes, i. IS. Votton was out of favour at this time, as James had just heard of cdebrated inscription in the Album at Augsburg, ' Legatus est vir bonus peregrè missus ad mentiendum Reipublicoe causà." The diculty of the ordinary explanation bas often been felt. It is impossible that he should bave meant to make a joke vhich is unintelligible excepting in Eglish, langage which was aaot understood at Augsburg. Is it hot possible that the interpretation, ' An anabassador is a good man sent fo lie abroad for the sake of his country," was a happy thought, which first occurred to him as a good excuse fo make, vhen he was taxed by James with what he had done ? VOL. II. 6 FOEIGA" .qLLLAY'E5 . CH. XV. vith ber daughtcr's lot. None of those who were present at that gay scene had the slightest foreboding of vhat that lot would be. If it was to be sad and stormy, at least it was to be uithout shame. It was not long before the shadows of Elizabeth's future lire began to fall upon her. The expenses connected with her mar- riage amounted to-more than 6o, ooo/. l Such a burden would bave been severcly fclt at any time ; but in the disordered con- dition in which the finances were, it was ahnost insupportable." James was accordingly obliged, as a mere matter of necessity, in less than a inonth after the wedding, to dismiss the greater number of the attendants who had been appointed to wait upon the Elector during lais stay in England. The Princess l\.it the slight put upon ber husband deeply, z It was hOt the i.tst time that James would be forced to tutu lais back upon ber for want of means to help her. On Aprii o the Elector and his bride left Whitehall. They travelled slowly, as if Elizabcth were loth to take leave of the land in which she had spent so many happy days. The l'ri,mess and When they reached Margate they were detained by hcr hu,band ,-¢ r..,,g_ the state of the weather, and it was not tiil the l,nd. that they set sail for Holland.  toth she and her l-msband were young to face the storms which were before them, neither of them having )'et completed their seventeenth year. " tlefore the Elector left ber, in order to make preparations for ber reception ila the Palatinate, he was called upon to take part n a ceremony which was of no slight inportance to The .qtates join the himself. On May 6 the States, at the request of the ',,io. King of England,  signed a treaty with the Princes of the Union, by which the two parties engaged themselves for  This includes all the expenses of the Elector's household during his stay in Èngland,  well as the expenses of the journey to Heidelberg. "ihe Princess's portion was 4o, oool. in addition. " Chamberlain to Carleton, March II, x6x3, Court a»d Times, i. 232.  Chamberlain to Carleton, April 29, S. F. /)om. Ix.xii. x2o ; Green's  The King to Winwood, April x, 6x3, & I'. HoL I6i 3 TtlE PRO TESTAA'T ./ILLIA.VCI'.. 16 3 fifteen years to give mutual succour to one another in case ofnccd. ahe Vr«.ch Attempts had been ruade in vain to induce the French ee tO a»o. to join the alliance. There was, however, one point upon which France still ruade common cause with England: when at the commencement of i612 the Imperial throne became vacant by the death of Rudolph II., both countries had strenu- ously resisted an attempt on the part of Spain to obtain the election of the Archduke Albert,  and had doue everything in their power to promote the success of Matthias. Spain was now renewing the attempt to favour the brother-imlaw of Philip III., nnd the French Government again declared that it would use every means to hinder the election of Albett to the dignity of King of the Romans.  James was now in close alliance with Holland and with Protestant Gennany, and upon friendly terres with France. j,a th« The position which England had thus taken up ,et, promised to place him at the head of the league ]'roteslant anin«« which was forming against the House of Austria and the German Catholics. Already his voice had been heard even in the far North, where his alnbassadors had been successful in lnediating a peace betwcen two l'rotestant States, and in putting an end to a war in which the genius of the young Gustavus had maintained an unequal struggle against the uperior forces of the King of Denmark. The attitude taken by Spain was now thoroughly hostile. James's treatment of Zufiiga in July x6œ caused great annoy- &=. ance at Madrid, and the relations between l)igby Cl, r and the Spanish Government grew perceptibly cooler. lhe Spanish .,-,nmnt. Nothing was done about the prolnised appointlnent of a tribunal of appeal for the causes of the English merchants, and for some time a steady resistance was opposed to the ana- bassador's demand for the establishment of the uew consuls. At last, in January x6 3, he was told that, though Lee, who was a Protestant, would be admitted at Lisbon, only a Catholic would be allowed to act at Seville. a  eaulieu to Trumbull, June 9, I6, llD«w, xiii. 375. = Edmondes to the King, April 4, 63, £. P.  Cttington to Lake, Jan. 5 ; Digby to Lake, Jan. 18, £. I64 t:OREIG2V ALZA42VCES. cH. xv. For some time it was even thought possible that Spain might venture upon a declaration of war. The Virginian "rh Sp=,i.h Colony had long been a thorn in the sides of the «;o,'«rnme,, Spanish Govermnent, and long and anxious delibera- dissatlsfied ,,.it Èg- tions wcre held at Madrid upon the expediency of ,,,d. sending an expedition against it.' The iii feeling in Spain was increased by the return of sevcral vessels which had gone out to take part in the Spitzbergen whale fishery, from which they had been driven by the crews of the ships belonging to the English Muscovy Company, which claimcd the exclusive right to that lucrative emFloyment.  Nor was the treatment which the recusants were now receiving at the hands of James likely to çonciliate the good-will of a Catholic nation. The oath of alle- giance had become a mere contrivance for filling the pockcts of the courtiers. In 6 a proclamation had been issued com- mandingthat the oath should be adm;_nistered according to law.  At first, two or three wealthy persons, who refused to take it, had been thrown into prison, and had only been released upon payment of large sums. It was, however, soon discovercd that it was hot necessary to go through these forms ; it was enough to intimate to the persons who were supposed to be unwilling to take the oath, that unless they were ready to pay for their immunity, proceedings would be taken against them. * This course was never knon to rail. The money, almost invariably, went directly, without even passing through the Exchequer, into the hands of some hanger-on of the Court, vho had managed to secure a share of the bootv. The treatment which the ordinary recusants received was equally harsh. The number of the persons whose lands were seized was considerably  Digby to the lçing, Sept. a, 162, &/'. s]. In hls despatches of the next six months, he frequently mentions the feelings of the Spaniards vith respect to Virnia. "' Digby fo Lake, Sel»t. 4, 63, S. /.  Proclamation Collection, No. S, S. /'.  Coesar to the Ning, Aug. I4, I62, Lansd. There arc in the saine volumes sevcral letters rioto recusants, offer[ng coin- l:osi:ions for taking the oath, fol. 78-87. In the S. t'. Dom. Ixx. 9, is a list ofseventy pcrsons tobe called npon to take tlae oath, dated July J6t2. 16I 3 S.-IC]IIE'TO'S JIISSIOA'. 6 rcatcr than if had been n the ear]ier years of James's rcln. The new fine which had been imposed by Parliament upon persons whose wives refused the oath, pressed hardly upon Catholic ladies. Many of them were obliged to lcave their husbands' houses in order to remain in conceahnent. 1 In the first days of 6i 3 the English Government was in expectation of a Spanish invasion. An order was therefore issued for an immediate search of the bouses of the Fcar of inva.,ion in recusants for arms, and directions were givcn that 2ngland. none should be left in their hands beyond those whicg were sufficient for the defence of thcmsêlves and their familles.  It was hOt long, howcvcr, before all apprehension was at an end. If the disorderly state of the English finances had, for a moment, lcd the Spaniards to imagine that an appeal to arms would terminate in their favour, they must speedily have re- lnembered their own poverty, and a little reflection must have taught them that therê was no suret mcans to fill the Exchequer of the King of England than an unprovoked aggression by a h_reign enemy. They persuaded themselves that the colony in Virginia would certainly die out of itself, and they resolvcd to take no active measures to hastcn what they considered to be its inevitable rate.  The defcnce of the English recusants must be postponed to a lnore convenient season. In the neanwhile they dctermined to replace their anabassador in England by one of the ablest diplomatists in lheir Arrival of Sarn,into service, Don i)iego Sarmiento de Acufia, better in England. known to us by lais later title as the Count of Gondomar. tic was instructed to watch events, but to take no active steps in favour of the persecuted Catholics.   Lewknor to  (Tierney's l?odd, iv. 45). 1Hany particulars in lhis letter are demonsh'ably gross exaggerations, but the facts of the per- secution are probably in the main trne. Sec also the account given by Lady Blount, March 63, in the salue volume.--App. 188.  Council to Sheriffs, &c., Jan. xo, r6x 3 (Tierney's Dodd, iv.  App. 188). The date given here is the truc date. -" Digby to the King, Sept. 3, 163, S.  Instructions of Sarmiento, sent with Digby's despatch of Nay x63, .5: P. 166 CHAPTER XVI. TIIE ESSEX ]DIVORCE. WHaN James first came to England, he was anxious to put an end to those personal disputes between the leading men by • o6. which the later years of his predecessor had b_en .,-,-ige « troubled. He hoped to accomplish this by bringing the E,rl of }:x.d about marriagcs between the great families. The ].ad/ ',-,,« Èarl of Suffolk had two daughters Mo would, as he ,,,-,-d. thought, serve his purpose. The elder was destined for Lord Cranborne, the only son of the Earl of Salisbury : the younger was to become the wife of the young Earl of Essex, who would, as it was hoped, forger his father's çate in this new alliance with the Howards and the Cecils. 1 It was no obstacle to the King's benevolent intentions that the bride and bridegroom by whose union such great things were to be accomplished wcre mere children. On January 5, I6o6, thcy were called upon to pronounce those solemn vows of which they little knew the import. Essex was only fourteen, and Lady Frances Howard was a year younger than the husband who had been chosen for her ; but by a doctrine which the ecclesiastical law of England had accepted without examination from the jurisconsults of more southern climes, they were held to be of full age for the purpose of taking upon themselves the engagements of married lire. Great were the festivities by  It is also sald that the match was proposed by Salisbury. The idea, probably, occurred to both of them. It is no argument against James's participation in the affak that he afterwards invcighed against eafl]t marriages. 6o6 ESSEX'5' 1L41?RIED LZFE. I67 which the auspicious event was celebrated. Ben Jonson did lais best to produce a lnasque worthy of the occasion, and Inigo Jones gave lais talents to construct the machinery and the decorations which were to amuse the ffivolous crowd. The hollowness of the cerelnony which had been witnessed by the adlniring spectators must bave betrayed itself by the necessity of separating the boy bridegroom froln lais wife. Two years affer lais lnarriage the Earl was sent to tra:,el on the Continent, and it was hot till some tilne after he had attained the age of eighteen that he returned, apparently shortly after Christlnas, a69, to clailn lais bride, t If upon lais return he looked for a faithful and loving wife, he was doomed to a bitter disapi)ointment. He soon discovered Co,dct « that she regarded hiln with the deepest repugnance. l.:,ay v:». Uuder the most favourable circumstances this ill- to ber l,b,,a, assorted pair could never bave lived together with any degree of comfort. The sterling qualities which Essex possessed, and which had already gained for him the respect of l'rince Henry, were shrouded froln the eye of the thoughtless observei" by the heaviness and ilnperturbability of lais outward demeanour. Of all WOlnen then living, the young girl of seven- teen who bore the naine of Countess of Essex was the least capable of appreciating his virtues. Headstrong and impetuous I,y nature, she had received but an evil training at the hands of ber coarse-minded and avaricious lnother. The Court in which she had been bound to ber child-husband was no place for the cultivation of the feluinine virtues of modesty and self-restraint.: t The date is proved by the statement in the libel (S/ale 7"rLds, il. 7S5) that Essex had lived with lais ife for three years before the divorce case began, and afier he had arrived at the age of eighteen. The date of his b.qptism was Jan. 22, t59 (Devereux, Liz.esofthelgcveïux, i. 2), con- sequently he mu»t have been eighteen in January, I6O9. Lady Essex's re- ference to ' the winter ' in he letter to 31fs. Turner, State æ)-ials, il. 93, probably refers to the winter of 6o9-o. - It is difficult to pronounce with certainty upon the extent to whlch the Court immorality vent. It is evldent, from the circumstances which are known to us, that it was bad enough ; but I believe that Mr. Hallam's comparison of the Court of James with that of Charles II. is considerably 68 Ttt ESSEçI?II'ORCE. cI. xv. She had already attractcd the notice of the r[sing favourite, ai that time still Sir Robert Carr, and if that unhallowed marriage,had hot stood in the way, she might bave become lais wife innocently enough, and bave left no records of her buttcrfly cxistence with whicla history would bave cared to mcddle. She was startled from ber dream of enjoyment by the sombre figure of lhe man who «laimed ber as lais wife. At first she rcfused to lire with him; but she was at last forced by ber parents to treat him as ber hîsband, and finally to accompany him to lais country seat at Chartley. The whole truth of ber miserable ]ife for the next three years can never be known ; but enough bas bccn told to repel even the lnOSt callous investigator of history. It is enough to say that the wretched woman set hcr hcart upon remaining a wife only in naine, and upon pre- scrving hersdf for the man to wholn she had given ber affections. .'-;he called in the aid of Mrs. Turner, a widow of abandoned «haracter, in whom she had found a confidant. With the aid of Doctor Forman, one of those quaçk doctors, half-physician and half-sorcerer, who were the pests of that age, thëse two women proceeded to administer drugs to the unconscious husband. Partly by such means as these, and partly by the forbidding demeanour which the Countess assumed towards him, she succeeded in repelling lais advances.  At the beginning of the year 6,3, three years had passed away since the return of the Earl from the Continent. With ,,. the completien of this period a new hope awoke in • qhe thi-nks the breast of Lady Essex. It was now possible to of procnring :, aio««, obtain a declaration of the nullity ot the marriage, if she could persuade a court to believe her declaration that ber husband was incapacitated by a physical defect from entering into marriage ; and she lnay bave thought that, in his eagerness to escape from a connection which had brought him so much exaggerated. Would it be possible for a series of lctters, such as lhat o[ I.hamberlain, containing so little of a scandalous character, to bave been vritten af ter the Restoration?  The Erl's accourir of the mattcr is probably that which is at the basis of the paragraphs in Wilson's Igistory relating to the divorce.. 6 3 IOCHtïSTER .d.VD T/tE HOII'ADS. 69 misery, he would allow ber statements to pass without any strict examination. She succeedcd in gaining the support  of hcr thther and of his uncle, Northampton, to whom she probably told only as much of the story as suited her convenience. Nor were they insensible to the advantages which would accrue to them from a close alliance with Rochester. They had no doubt that a marriage with him would follow immediately upon the divorce. To the Howards, at that moment, such an alliance would be most «elcome. For some nonths they had encoun- tered the opposition of Rochester, and they had round, by experience, that Rochester's opposition was fatal to their endea- vours to influence the policy or to share in the patronage of the (;overnment. The Howards found little difficulty in gaining over the King. He would naturally be pleased with any prospect of bringing abont a reconciliation between the two factions which were so troublesome to him. It is not likely that he was ac- quainted with the darker side of the story, and it is probable that he was blind to nmch vhich a man of clearer moral per- ception would have detected at once. Nor should it be for- gotten that he may well have been desirous of repairing the ruin of which he could not but feel that he had himself been, in no small degree, the author. In May a mceting was held at Whitchall, to consider upon the course which was to be Imrsued. The Earls of Ieetng of thefiiendsof Northampton and Suffolk appeared for the lady, the partie» whilst her husband was represented by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Knollys. = It was round that Essex was dctermined to admit of no assertion which would throw any ' In February a curlous episode occurred. One Mary \Voods accused the Countess of bribing her to procure poison for the Erl. This ruade the IIowards for a little time hesitate about proceeding with the divorce (Chamberlain to Winwood, Ilay 6, 63, 11D¢w. iii. 45")- There are several examinations in the & /'. taken on the subject, but nothing cma be ruade of them, as it is difficult to say whether it is more probable that llary Woods invented the whole story, or that Lady Essex in reality tricd to poison her husband.  Lord Knollys was married to a third daughter of the Earl of Suffdk. 7o TtIE ESSE.Y DI['O)CE. CH. xvr. obstacle in the way of ]ds own remarriage; and both Suffolk and Northampton knew that they "z_ould not prove their case without his consent. They were consequently compelled to allow that, though the Earl was incapable of being the husband of his present wife, there was nothing to prevent him marrying another. Accordingly, the way having been thus Appoint- ¢.¢.o« smoothed, a commission was issued on the 6th commission to trythe for the trial of the case, to Archbishop Abbot, =e. Bishops King, Andrewes, and Neile, Sir Thomas Parry, and Sir Julius Coesar, together with the civilians, Sir ])aniel Dun, Sir John 13ennet, and Doctors James and Edwards. As the case  proceeded, the Howards round that they were likely to meet with an unexpected obstacle in the unyielding conscientiousness of the Archbishop. Supported as they were by the King, they had met with willing instruments in some of the Commissioners, especially in Bishop Neile and Sir Daniel ]hln. But the more Abbot heard of the evidence the less he was satisfied with the part which he was expected to play. With incredible effrontery, Lady Essex allowed her counsel to argue that her husband was bewitched, though we may be sure that she took tare that Dr. Forman's naine was not mentioned Abbot's in court. Abbot had grave doubts concerning the ,r« probability of such effects being produced by -itch- disatis«ac- tion with the craft, and these doubts were shared by the more I_'ountess's «. respectable members of the commission, and, as it appeared, even by the lawyers who pleaded on behalf of the lady. He was still more struck with the manner in which the proceedings wcre hurried over, and with the apparent shrinking on the part of I.ady Essex's counscl from entering into the particulars of the case. Nor did it escape him that, even if the alleged facts were true, such a precedent would open a widc field for future evil, and that the proceedings of the Commis- sioners would be quotcd by every couple who happened to be without children, and who were anxious to obtain a divorce by mcans of collusivc proceedings.  Statc Tric&, il. 785. 6i 3 ABBOT'S l'ROI'EST. After some tilne had been spent in hearing the evidence Mfich was produced, and in listening to the arguments of the lawyers on either side, it was round that the Commissioners were equally divided in opinion. I Abbot, who knew that the lZing was bent upon obtaining a declaration in favour of a divorce, took an opportunity of an interview with him to beg to be released froln his ungrateful task. James seelned much affected by the arguments wlnch he used, and showed no signs of being displeased with him for the course which he had taken. But after the Archbishop had left him, and he was once more in the hands of Rochester and the Howards, he was agaiu ',,mSr induced to take up their cause more warmly. The oft|leÇom- equal division of the members of the Commission missioners i««a, gave him an excuse for adding to their number, and he allowed hilnself to take the unjustifiable step of appointing t3ishoI»s 13ilson and Buckeridge, who could only be regarded in the light of partisans, to sit amongst the judges. Abbot determined to write a letter to the King. It was a great opportunity, and if he had been content to set down the Al,bot'.q arguments which he was prepared to maintain when le, ter tothe his opinion was asked amongst the other Con» King. missionersÙ he would at least have left on record an unanswerable defence of the course which he had taken, even if he had failed in producing any lasting effect upon the mind of James. But, unfortunately, the Archbishop had an unlucky knack of committing blunders when it would seem that he could hardly have avoided taking the right step. Incredible as it appears, he contrived, in the letter which he wrote, to omit the slightest mention of an 5" one of the points upon which the strength of lais case reste& and to substitute for them a number of most questionable propositions. To the deficiency of evi- dence, and to the danger of the precedent, he did hot even t Chamberlain to Carleton, Aug. , 6 3 (Court an,t Times, i. 26o). In this lêttêr four Commissioners only are mentioned as pronouncing against the nullity. Doctor James, however, though probably absent at tlat stage of the proceedings, would have joined them i£ they had actully corne to a vote. = In the speech prepared, but never delivered. Sla¢e Trfizls, il. 845. 172 THE ESSE.Y DI['ORCE. crr. xvi. make a passing allusion. But he argued at some length that there was no express statement in Scripture bearing upon this case, and that although it was perfectly possible that the effects attributed to witchcraff might have been produced by that means in the times of darkness and of Popish superstition, yet that it was impossible that the devil should be possessed cf such power where the light of the Gospel was shining. He had hot heard that either Lord or Lady Essex had taken measures against the supposed witchcraft, either by applying themseh'es to prayer and fasting, or by using medical remedies. He concluded by appending to his letter a string of totally irrelcvant quotations from the works of celebrated l'rotestant divines.  It can hardly be a matter for astonishment that James re- fused to adroit such reasoning as this. In the answer which he a,,.  wrote,  he had evidently the better of the Archbishop, J"'- at least so far as the grounds were concerned upon dfich Abbot had based his reasoning. But he was hot content with delnostrating that the argulnents used in the letter were tmtenable. Proud of his own logic, he called upon Abbot to dthdraw such insufficient reasonings, and to rest his faith for the fiture upon the unerring judgment of a Sovereign who was, as he told him, not -ithout solne skill in divinity, and who was undoubtedly ilnpartial in the present case. Abbot did not take the advice thus tendered to him. When the day came for pronouncing the decision of the Com- h c- missioners, the votes of the new members made it no missioners longer doubtful which way that decision would be ,,,h« given. On September e 5 there were seven rotes «i,«« given in favour of the divorce, against which the Archbishop, with four others, protested in vain.  In order to prevent the arguments of the protestors from being heard, an express order was brought from the King that the Com-  glalé 'ia].ç, ii. 794.  Zbht. il. 798, 860.  Bishops Bilson, Andrewes, Ndle, and Buckeridge, with Sir Jullus Coesar, Sir Tholnas Parry, and Sir Daniel Dun, were in the lnofity. The nfinority was composed of the Anhbishop Abbot, and Bishop King, -ith Ducos Edwards, James, and Bennet. 6I 3 THE DII'ORCE PROA'Ot-.VCED. x73 missioners should content themselves with giving thcir de- cision without adding the reasons by which they cre in- flucnced.  Of the conduct of James if is difficult fo speak with paticnce. Ifowever impartial he may have believed himself fo bc, he in rcality acted as a merc partisan throughout the wholc affair, and Cor.duct of if was nevcr doubtcd that his influence contributed James, materially to the result. Nothing could well have been more prejudicial to the interests of justice than lais med- dling interference at every step, which did even lnore harm than the appointment of the additional members. Yet it may reasonably be doubted whether he was conscious of doing any- thing which bore evcn the scmblance of an error. He was thrown ahnost entirely amongst men whose interests led them to influence him in one direction, and he probably looked with complacency upon an act which, at all events, freed two wretched persons from a lire of misery. That it was improper for a Sovereign to meddle with the proceedings of a court once con- stituted, was an idea which certainly never entered into lais head. There was one man who took part in these proceedings whose character for truthfulness and honesty of purpose is of far ,,dor greater importance than that of James. 13efore the a,,a,¢,,-, commencement of the sittings of the Commission, Andrewes had pronounced an opinion unfavourable to the divorce ; and yet, soon after he had taken his seat, he changed his view of the case, and steadily adhered to the opinion of the majority. Suspicions could not fail to arise that he had given way before the influence of the Court, and these suspicions de- rived some importance from the fact that he ruade no use o lais intimate knowledge of the canon law, but, with rare excep- tions, remained silent during the whole course of the proceed- ings. All that c.an be said is, that against such a man it is im- possible to receive anything short of direct evidence, and that it is better to suppose that he was, by some process of reasoning with which we are unacquainted, satisfied with the evidence adduced, though he mtlst have felt that there was that in the conduct oi   Chamberlain to Carleton, Oct. 4, 6à. Court atd Ti»tes, i. z75. 74 TH SS.Y Z)IKOI?CE. CH. XW. I.ady Esscx which prevented him from regardlng the result ot the trial with any degree of satisfaction.  For four months the trial had formed the general topic ot conversation wherever inen met together in public or in private. ;.,,,o, The effror,tery of the Countess, the shameless med. ,.nde.m» dling of the King and of his courtiers, the truckling sub- lion of the ...,e,«« serviency of Neile and his supporters, were discussed  hroughout h««omy. with a remarkable unanimity of abhorrence in every corner of the land. The sober stood aghast at James's disregard for the decencies of lire, whilst the light-hearted laughed at the casy credulity with which he took for granted ail the tales of a ],rofligate woman. It may be doubted whether his rupture with the House of Commons contributed so much to widen the breach between himself and his subjects as his conduct on this occasion. The bitterest shafts of ridicule, howevo; were reserved for J3ilson. J3etter things were expected of his known talents and «,c. learning; and those who thought it only natural ,.prio, that men like Neile should wallow in the mire for ¢,f dis]ike at , ce,e,« the sake of Court favom; were ill-pleased to see the fP, ilson. 13ishop of Winchester following lais unworthy ex- alnple. J3ilson himself was not ill-satisfied with what he had donc, and was gratified by the honour of knighthood which was conferred by the King upon his son. I-Ie was hOt long in dis- covering the unpopularity which he had incurred, ttis son was immediately nicknamed, by some wag, Sir Nullity 13ilson, and the appellation stuck to the unfortunate man for the re- mainder of his lire. Itis own son-in-law refused to live in his house, because he could not endure the jeers of his companions, who used to remind him that he only held lais wife on the 13!shop's sufferance, who would be able at any time to declare that his marriage was a nullity. = Abbot's conduct thoughout the whole affair, on the other hand, ruade him for the time the most popular man in England.  In the IIarl. 2ISS. 39, fol. 416, is a paper drawn up by Dr. Dun, which will give ail that was to be said by those who were in favour of tke divorce. z Slate Trials, ii. 833. t013 SIR TttO.IL4S 0 l'tïldBUId lç x75 The country was delighted to final that in that corrupt Curt Pc, pularity there was at least one who could hold lais ground in of Abb,)t. opposition tO thc King's wihes, when a mattcr of conscielace was at stake. When the long-expected sentence was pronounced, Lady Frances Howard, now no longer Countess of Essex, was once t..d,-v,- more fiee from the bonds under which she had ,« ito,,,-rd, writhed so long. The prize for which she had played the desperatc gaine, and for the sake of which she had thrown away ail feminine modesty, was within ber reach at last ; the man for whose sake she had braved the scorn of the world, and had submitted to makc ber naine the subject of unseemly jests, was now ready to take ber as lais vife. 13ut even those whose sense of ber degradation was the deepest had failed to measure the full extent of ber guilt. They did hOt know that, whilst she was recciving the congratulations of ail who believed that hêr stalle would light them on the road to wealth and honour, she was carrying about with her the consciousness that in an instant the edifice of ber fortunes might tumble into the dust, and that she was liable at any moment to be dragged off from the bright scenes which she lovcd too well, to take ber place in the felon's dock as a murderess. The story of the tragedy, in which the proud beauty enacted so fearful a part, will in all probability never be known in ail its details with anything approaching to certainty. The evidence upon which it rests bas only reached us in a mutilated state, and even that which is in our hands is in such an unsatisfactory condition that it is impossible to corne to any definite con- clusion on the greater part of the questions which may be raised. 13ut amidst all these unceltainties onê fact stands out too clear]y to be explained away. q_'he guilt of ].ad)' Essex is 10roved by evidence of which no reasonable doubt can, by any possibility, be entertained. Overbury's Amongst those who had attached themselves to connection the rising fortunes of the favourite was Sir Thomas with Ro- «ht. Overbury, a young man of considerable talents, and, as lais published writings prove, hot w]thout some noble- ness of character. I-Ie was hot long in obtaining an ascen- 176 JI'tlE ESSE.Y DrI'OICE. cr. xv. dency over the inferior mind of Iochester, who had submitted to be instructed by him in the wiles by which he hoped to make good his footing at Court.  Itis difficult to say how far Over- bury was actuated by any fecling higher than a desire for per- sonal aggrandisement. It was probably through lais means that ïochester adopted Neville as his candidate for the Secretary- ship, and entered on a rivalry with the Howards. The position in which Overbury was placed was hot one to develope whatcver virtues he may have originally posscsscd. Even if he had hot been naturally of a self-satisfied and overbearing disposition, he c,mld hardly have continued for any length of rime to supply l formed to the orders of the Senate. Thcre are other passages which remi,ad us forcibly of Caleb 13alderstone shutting eyes, and doing lais best to make others shut their cyes, to evidences of the decline of lais master's fortunes. In addition to this abounding confidence in himsclf and in lais mission, Sarmiento was possessed of ail those qualities which are the envy of ordinary diplomatists. He had that tlis diplo- matic knowledge of character which told him instinctively ttualitles" what, on every occasion, it was best to say, and what 'as better left unsaid. His prolnpt, ready tonmae was al,-«ays 220 TIIE ADDLED PAI¢.ZL4JIE.VT. cH. xvir. under control. No man at Court could pay a more refined compliment, could jest with greater case, or could join with greater dignity in serious conversation. Such a man was, above all others, qualified to make an impression upon Jalnes. His conversational powers were sure to prove attractive to one vho was so fond of chatting over all kinds of subjects, and his maperturbable firmness would go far to win the confidence of the vacillating king. Sarmiento was able, too, to appeal to the better side of Jalnes's character, his love of peace. A war with Spain would have becn popular in l.;ngland, and in the Council, since Salisbury's death, it would have had the eager support of l';llesmere and of Abbot. lï3,ut there was too much of the old laccaneering spirit in the cry for war to enlist our sylnpathies in favour of those from whom it proceeded,  and it is undeni- able that James's strong feeling against a war commenced for purposes of plunder, or for the sake of gratifying sectaran anilnosity, was of the greatest service to the nation. In point of fact, whatever may have been the errors of which James was guilty, there tan be no doubt that the dominant idea of his foreign policy was truc and just. " Blessed are the peace-makers," was the motto which he had chosen for himself, and from the day of lais accession to the English  Lord IIay, who wa» present at the scene he described, told Sarmiento that "un dia, hecha ya la liga de los Pr »teslantes de Alemaïîa y Francia con este Rey, el Principe muerto y el Salberi le apretron para que rom- piese la guerra con V. lIa., dandole para esto algunas trazas y razones de conveniencia, y el Salberi concluya la platica con que, rota la guerra, 6 este Rey seria Sdîor de las Indias 6 de las flotas que fuesen y viniesen, y que por lo menos no podria ninguna entrar ni salir de Sevilla sln peleax cox la armada Inglesa : y que 1o que se aventurarfi, ri. ganar era mucho, y .4 perder no nada." The king replied that, as a Chrisfian» he could not break the treaty. Salisbul T said it had already been broken by Spain a hundred rimes. James said that might justify a defensive, but not an offen- sive war. Salisbury's reply was, that if he ruade everything a matter of conscience, he had better go to his bishops for advice, which ruade James very angry. Hay added, that ri'oto that day Salisbury began to fall into disgrace, and that t'rince Itenry began to speak of his father with dis- 6 I613" Simaucas «ILS& reqect.--Sarmiento to Philip III.» Nov. ]ê 59o. 63 SARJI'IE,VTO MA'l) TttE AVNC throne he strove, not always wisely, but always persistently, to maintain the peace of Europe. tlis abhorrence James in- elined to of violence and aggression was the most honourable ,.,«« trait in lais charactcr. It might be doubted whether he would not stand in need of more than this fo steer lais way through the storms which were even then nmttering in the distance, but for the present, at least, he was in the right path. Ite had expressly assured the German Protestants that lais assistance was only to be reckoned upon if they abstained from all aggression. If he lmd done no more than to desire to lire in friendship with Spain, and to gain such influence over the Spanish Government as would have enabled him to preserve peace upon the Continent, he would have deserved the thank, of posterity, even if he had seemed craven and pusillanimcus to lais own generation. If Sarmiento had studied the character of James during a lifelong intilnacy, he could not bave contrived anything better actif o¢ calculated to make an ineffaceable impression upon Donna lais mind than the line of conduct which he adopted Luisa de Carvajal. in an affair which chance threw in lais way not lnany weeks after his arrival in England. There was a certain lad3", Donna Luisa de Carvajal, who had for more than eight years been living in the house in the Barbican, which had been occupied in turn by the Spanish ambassadors. To zealous Protestants ber lnere presence without any assignable reason vas objectionable. She had sacrificed a good estate to round a college in Flanders for the education of English youths in her own religion, and she had settled in England with the express intention of persuading everyone who came within her reach to forsake the paths of heresy. She had been a frequent visitor of the priests shut up in prison, and had lnade herself notorious by the attentions which she lmd paid to the traitors who had taken part in the Gunpowder Plot. She had herself been imprisoned for a short time in 6o8, for attempting to convert a shop-boy in Cheapside, and for denying the legiti- macy of Queen Elizabeth's birth) It was well known that she i I owe my information on this imprisonment of Donna Luisa, and on tl'.e ¢ollege she founded in Flanders, to the kindness of the late Sir Edmund .2x TIIE ADDLED PARLL4JIE.VT. CH. XWt kept a large retinue of English servants, and it was rumoured that hcr household was nothing less than a nunnery in disguise. Abbot especially had his iye upon her. One day he heard that she had left the embassy, and had gone fit change of air to a house in Spitalfields. He immediately IIer im- obtained from the Council an order for her arrest, l.risonment, and had her sent to I.ambeth, to be kept in confine- ment under his own roof. Sarmiento, as soon as he heard -hat had been donc, directed his wife to go immediately to l.ambeth, and ordered her to rêmain with the lady till she was libêrated. Having thus provided that at least a shadow ot his protection should be extended over her, he went at once before the Council, and demandêd her rrlease. Failing to obtain redress, he sent one of his secretaries, late as it was in the evening, with a letter to the King. Jamês, hearing a stir in the ante-chamber, came out to sec hat was going on. As soon as he had read the letter, he told the secretary that ever since Donna Luisa had been in England, she had been busy in converting his subjects to a religion which taught them to refuse obedience to a King hose creed diffêred from their own. She had even attempted to set up a nunnery in his dominions. If an Englishman lad played such tricks at Madrid, he would soon have round his way into the Inquisition, with every prospect of ending lais lire at the stake. He was, however, disposed to be merciful, and would give orders for the inmediate release of the lady, on condition of ber engaging to leave England without dêlay. The next morning a formal message was brought to Sar- «e miento, repeating the proposal which had thus bcen effected by ruade. There are probably few men who, if they Sarmiento. had been in Sarmiento's place, would not have hesitated a little before rejecting the offêr. To refuse the King's terms would be to affront the man upon whom so nmch depended. Sarmiento did not hesitate for a moment. The IIead, who showed me an extract from a letter of Mr. Ticknor's, describ- ing a book in his library, giving an account of the lady's proceedings and printed at Seville immediately after ber death, wla!ch took place in Sarmiento's house in January, 6  4. xb 3 S.-IIL]IIEA'TO AA'D TIIE A'IA'G. lady, lac aid, had done no wrong. If the King wished it, she would no doubt be ready to leave England at the short«st notice. J3ut it must be clearly understood that in that case lac, as the ambassador of lais Catholic Maiesty , would leave England at the saine rime. The answer produced an immediate effect. That very evening Donna Luisa was set at liberty, and Sarmiento was informed that her liberation was entirely unconditional. There is nothing in Sarn-,iento's account of the matter which would lead us to suppose that he acted from any deep Effect ofhis design. But it is certain that the most consummate ¢onduct on skill could not bave erved him bettcr. From hence- the King's find. forth the two men knew each other ; and when the rime arrived in which Jmnes would be looking round him for the support of a stronger arm than lais own, he would bethink him of the Spanish stranger in whom he had so unexpectedly found a master. Sarmiento was not the man tobe elated by success. He knew well that over-eagerness on lais part would be fatal to lais S,rm«nt« hopes of being able ultimately to divert James from continued the French alliance. He could afford to wait till inaction. an opportunity occurred in which he might assume for Philip the character of a disinterested friend, and lnight thereby be enabled to throw his net with greater skill. He had gcod friends at Court, who kept him well informed, and he was aware that, for the time at least, James had set lais heart upon marrying lais surviving son to a sister of the young King of France, and that not only had Edmondes long been busy at Paris discussing the terres on which the French Government would consent to give the Princess Christina to Prince Charles,  but that in the beginning of November the negotiations were so far advanced tlmt the marriage was considered in France to be all but actually concluded.  Nor was the Spanish Ambassador  Sarmiento to l'hilip III., Nov. 6__ Si»tancas IS.Y. 59 o. fol. Sarmiento to Northampton (?). Sarmiento to the King, Oct. L9 29  & P.  Edmondes to the King, Jan. 9, July '9, Nov. 4, I613, S. t'. France. s Sarmiento to Phillp III., Nov'x , Silt,tttcra I[SS. 59 o, fol. 12, TItE ilDDLED PARLItt]IEA;T. cH. XVL ignorant that in this desire James was encouraged not only by the moderate English Protestants, but also by his Scotch favourites, whose national predilection Ied them, as it had so often led their ancestors, to lookwith favour upon an alliance with France. Those who bave derived their ideas of Sarmiento from the idle stories which were a few years later so readily accepted by the credulous multitude, and which have round "_Fhe pen- sioners of their way into every history of the reign, will no doubt Spain. imagine that he was occupied during this period of inaction in winning over to his side, with offers of pensions and rewards, ail whose influence might hereafter be of use to him. The truth is that no ambassador of the day was so little dis- posed to profusion as Sarmiento. The tales of the floods of Spanish gold which were popularly supposed to be flowing at regular intervals into the pockets of every Englishman worth buying, if hot quite as imaginary as the stories of Pitt's English gold, which still find their place in French histories of the Great Revolution, have but slight support in actually existing facts. When Saïmiento arrived in England, there were only four sur- vivors out of the seven who had been placed upon the pension ]ist shortly after the signature ot the Peace of London.  These four, the Earl of 7Northampton and Lady Suffolk, Sir William Monson, the admiral of the narrow seas, and Mrs. Drummond, the first lady of the bedchamber to the Queen, continued, as a matter of course, to draw their annual stipends. But Sarmiento as yet ruade no proposal for increasing their number. He no doubt knew perfectly well that if he could gain the King he had gained everything, and that, excepting in some special cases, as long as he could find his way to the ear of James, the assistance of venal courtiers would be perfectly worthless. The good offices of the Catholics and of those who were anxious tc. become Catholics, were secured to him already. Amongst those of whose assistance he never doubted was the Queen. The influence which Anne exercised OEhe Quee.n. over ber husband was not great, but whatever it was she was sure to nse it on behalf of Spain. l[rs. Drummond, t See Vol. I. p, 214.  6  3 SA R311EWTO 'S SUI'POR TERS. z  in whom she l)laced all her confidence, was a fervent Catholic, and rioto her, whilst she was still in Scotland, she had learucd to value the doctrines and principles of the Church of Rome She did hot indeed make open profession of hcr faith. She still accompanied her husband to the services of the Curch of England, and listened with ail outward show of revcrence the serinons which were preached in the Chal)cl Royal. But she never could now be induced to pal-take of the communion at the hands of a Protestant minister, and those who wcre admitted to her privacy in l)enlnark tIouse  kncw well that, as often as she thought she could escal)e observatiou, the Qucen of England was in the habit of repairing to a garret, for the pur- pose of hearing mass ri-oto the lips of a Catholic pricst, who was SPdU«ohd itl for the purpose.  Ready as the Queen was to do everything lu her power to help forward the conversion of ber son and his marriage with "rh Ecor a Spanish princess, ber assistance would be of far s,,,,.a, less value than that of Somerset. It is hot likely that Somerset cared much whethcr his future quecn was to be a daughter of the King of Spain or a sister of the King of France. But lais insolent demeanour had involved him in a quarrel vith Lennox and t[ay, the consistent advocates of the French alliauce, and under Northampton's influence he had suddenly become a warm advocate of the marriage with a daughter of the Duke of Savoy, which had been adopted by the partizans of Spain, as soon as they saw that an apparently insuperable obstacle had been raised in the way of the match with the Infanta, by l'hilip's declaration that it was impossible for him to give a Spanish princess to a t'rotestant. ,,4. At the time of Solnerset's marriage, Sarlniento fol- Cottington's lowed the fashion, and presented both the bride and visit to S,i«nt« the bridegroom with a vedding present. But no pe- culiar intimacy had as yet sprung up between thelu, aud indeed, t This was the naine given to Somerset IIouse during her residence there.  Sarmiento to Plilip III., Ag. =7 Sept. 6' 1613" Minutes of Sarmiento's ]ï)espatchês, June =-2° Jtme , 30 )uly 2, 3, 424, 1614" Simancas 3ISS. 2590 , fol. 2518, fol. 1. VOL. II. Q 26 TIIEADDLE l.dlLl'.dJIE'T. CH. it was not till after he had obtained permission from the King that Somerset consented Io accept the jewels, of which the ambassadçr's gift consisted) Sarmiento was, therefore, a few weeks after the marriage, somewhat surprised to receive a visit from Cottington, who announced to him that he had beeri charged with a message from the favourite. Solnerset, he said, was anxious to put a stop to the negotiations xvith France, and in this he was acting in concert with Lake, who was at the time the candidate of the Howards for the secretaryship which had been vacant ever since Salisbury's death. Cottington added that he was comlnissioned to request the ambassador to seek an audience of the King, and urge him by every argument in his power to have nothing further to do with the French Court. Sarmiento was highly delighted at the overture. It seemed, he wrote home a few days afterwards, as if God had opened a Sarmiento's way before him. But he was far too prudent to v,-d««, comply with Somerset's request. He knew that, if he thrust himself prematurely forward, his words would be regarded with suspicion  and that no one would believe that anything that he might now say would hot be repudiated at Madrid as soon as it had served its purpose. It was not from him that any open attack upon the French alliance could safely corne. He accordingly assured Cottington that he was always ready to listen to advice from such a quarter, but that he could not help thinking that the step proposed would be pre- mature. A few weeks later Somerset ruade another attempt to dag the cautious ambassador on to over-hasty action. It was all in vain. His suggestions were received with becomingdefer- ence. Nothing could be more polite than Sarmiento's language. But the compliments in which he was so profuse always ended in a refusal to compromise his master's cause by the slightcst appearance of eagerness to seize the prey. = Sarmiento may have been the more cautious because, on  Accounts of the Spanish Ebassy, Fcb. , I64. Sarmiento fo Philip III., May -- 616. Si»tancas «51.5"S. 254, fol. 15, 2595, fol. 77. The Earl's jewel was worth about 2oo/. ; the Countess's rather less.  Sarmiento to Philip III., Jan. x5_ Feb. ïa'2 614" Siman«as 592, fol. , 6. 6t4 A PAI?LIAJIEA'T 2"0 BE SUAIMOA'ED. one point of capital ilnportance, his friends had been unable to maintain their ground. The proposal to sumlnon h-cide« Jpon Parlialnent had long been resisted by Northampton.  erLi-- In September, when the question was debated in the i1111[. Council, he had told the King that to do so would ouly be to call together an assembly of his enemies,  and James assured him, after the conclusion of the discussion, that he be- lieved that he was in the right. On February 5, Jalnes acquainted the Council with the condition of the negotiation with France, and on the 16th he asked its opinion whether he should summon Parlialnent. The two subjects were understood tobe closely connected with one another, and to involve a rejection of that good understanding with Spain which was desired by North- alnpton and kis supporters. The majority of the Council, however, did not side with Northampton, and the answer of the Board was that they had taken the King's question iuto con- sideration, and that they were of opinion that the only course tobe pursued was the summoning of Parlialnent. = It was high tilne. In spite of the enormous sales of land, it had been found impossible to obtain money enough to defray the necessary expenses of the Governlnent. The garrisons in the cautionary towns in Hoiland were ready to mutiny for their pay. The ambassadors were crying out for their salaries and allowances. The sailors who manned the navy were unpaid, Amo,,t « and the fortifications by which the coast was guarded thedebt, were in urgent need of repair, a Lord Harrington, who had a claim upon the King for 3o, oooL, which he had speut upon the establishment of the Princess, was put off with a patent giving him a monopoly of the copper coiaage of the country. In every department there was a long list of arrcars which there were no lneans of satisfying, and which alnounted on the whole to 488,oool To repay the money borrowed upon Priv 7 Seals 25,oooL would be needed, and the 67,oooi. which had been levied by anticipation froln the revenues properly  Digby to the King, Sept. 22, 6 3, & P. "çA" Sanniento to Philip Ill. Feb. s. 7. Sima,c«s A/SS. 2592 , fol. 7, 27. = Council to the King, Feb. 6, & /. Data. lxxvi. • Speeches of Winwood and Caesar, C. . i. 46, 46a. 28 Tttlz" MDDLED P.IILI«tIENT. ctr. xvtl. belonging to the following year, must in some way or other be nlade good. Altogether, the King's liabilities now amounted to 68o, oooL t to say nothing of a standing deficit which, after iacluding the extraordinary expenditure, was certain to exceed 9_oo, ooo/. a year. J3efore the resolufion to summon Parliament had been taken, the Government had belote it a list of the concessions proposed p,-opo.a by Neville to be ruade. Iartly from this, and partly kgisafio,, rioto other sources, a list of I3ills was drawn up to be offered to the new ]ar]Jament.  Undoubtedly if even a quarter of those bills had become law, that Parliament would have Ieen noted for its useful legislation. ]ut it would have acquired its reputation by the abandonment of all interest in those higher questions which, once mooled, can never drop out of sight. Nota word was suggested by the Governrnent of any solution of the vexed question of impositions, or of the still more vexed question of the ecclesiastical settlement. Whether Neville was harnpered by his knowledge that the King had resolved to stand firm on these two points itis impossible to sa5'. It must have required a very sanguine temperament to expect that the elections would produce an assemblage likely to content itself with being a mere Parlia- ment of ail:airs, that last vain hope of statesmen who wish to turn aside from the problems before them, because they find it impossible to solve them to their own satisfaction. For the first time within the memory of man, the country was subjected to the turmoil of a general election in which a A contested great question of principle was at stake. Under these election, circumstances, the ministers of the Crown were in- duced to take steps to procure a favourable majority, to which they had thought it unnecessary to resort ten years previously. How far they went it is difficult to say, with the scanty informa- tion which we possess. Neville, indeed, had offered to nndertake, "r«u,d- on behalf of the future House of Commons, that if takers, the King would concede all the chier points in dispute, the House would not be niggardly in granting the  Lansd..M'SS. I65, fol. z57. The statement is dated May ".  13acon's l[cllo's and ZïC v. 14. t 6  3 TtfE UA'DE I TA ICERS.   ç supplies which he requred. It seems, however, tht there were some x'ho xx'ent beyond ths very safe assertion, and who were allured by promises of Curt favour to engage to do wha lhey could to obtah the return of members who were likely to favour the prerogafive. Whoever they may have been, they were certainly hot nlell of any great iml)ortance , and it is hot probable that they offered to do more than to influence a few elections here and there. Unimportant as the whole affair was, the Govcrnment injared its own chances of success by meddling with such in- trigues. Rumour magnified the marrer into a conspiracy to procure a whole Parliament of nolninces. The Undertakers, as they wcr2 termcd in the phraseology of the day, had dared to speak in the naine of the whole Comlnons of England. It was hot long before the lnost discouraging reports reached the Council of the reception which the Government candidates were cverywhere meeting with.  It was in vain that lords  Compare Bacon's estimate of them, in his letterjtst quoted, with Ihe fi»llowing extract of aletter from Suffolk to Somerset, written about the end of Match : "The lait night, l'embroke came to me in the garden, speaking in broken phrases, that he could hot tell what would COlne of this l'arliament, because he fi)und by the consnltation last day that mv lords had no great conceit that there would be any great good effected for our toaster : divers of my Iords having spoken ith many wise Parliament men, who do generally decline from the Undertakers, only Pembroke and my- self were the hopefitl believers of good success, two or three petty Coun- cillors more seemed tobe indiflrently conceited, but so as my Lord of Pembroke is luuch umatisfied that they are no more confident in his fiiends .... We are appointed to lneet again on Saturday. Pembroke and I have undertaken to bring to my lord» the demands that ill be asked of the King this Parliament, and that they shall be moderate for the King, and yet p!easing to them. XYhich we affirm to lny lords we conceive will be attractive inducements to get the good we look for, and • vhat this shall work at ur next meeting you shall know as soon as itis past. But I lnUSt lnake you laugh to teq you that my Lord l'rivy Seal soberly says to me, ' My Lord, you incline before the Council too lnuch to Ihese Undertakers.' This troubles me nothing, for if we may do our toaster the service we wish hy out dissembling, I ana well contented to play the knave a little with them, which you must give lne dispensaticn for following your direction."Cott. 3ISS. Tir. F. iv. fol. 335.  Lake to , l:eb. 9 ïchols' IS"grcsses. ii. 755- Chamberlain 3o 27/-E ADDLED I"ARLL.'I.'IFA'7". cH. xvtt. and great men wrote to every borough and coun'_y where thev had any influence. Cnstituencies which had never The ele¢- ,i.,n .re ,,,- before raised an objection to the persons ho had been /:vorable ,,the I)ointed out to theln, now declared their determina- t;ove,nme,,t, tion to send to Westminser lnen of their own selec- tion. It frequently happened that the Court candidates were ttatty told that no rotes would be given to any man xvho was in tbe King's service. The pressure whi«h was put upon the clectors, wbilst it failed in the object for which it was intended, only served to strengthen the belief that an attempt had been lnade to pack the Parliament. So strong was the feeling against the Government in the city of l.ondon, that although Sir Henry Montague, who had represented the city in the last Parliament, and who had served as Recorder for lnany years, was again re- tulned, in compliance with the custom which prescribed that the Recorder of the city should be one of its representatives, )et Fuller, the strenuous asserter of the principles of the 1,opular and Puritan party, was elected without difficulty. 1N'ot one of the men who had distinguished themselves on the 1,opular side during the debates in x6o was without a scat. Sandys and Hakewill, Whitelocke and Wentworth, xele all there, once more to defend the liberties of England. The scanty ranks of the defenders of the prerogative were headed as before by Bacon and Coesar ; and the four candidates for the Secretaryship, Neville and \Vinwood, Wotton and I.ake, were ail successful in obtaining seats. One of the most remarkable fcatures of the new House was the number of those who ap- 1,eared for the first time xvithin the walls of Parliament. Three lmndred members, making nearly two-thirds of the whole assembly, were elected for the first time. The fact admits of an easy explanation : the constituencies in their present tempcr would be on the look-out for lnen who represented the de- tcrmined spirit of the nation even more strongly than the lnembers of the late Parl.;ament had done. Amongst those xvho were thus elccted were tx-o men who were to set their mark upon the history of their country. Sir Thomas Went- worth, a young man of twenty-one, and heir to a princely Io Carlelon, Match 3, larch I7, Co,trl ami ï»tes, 30% 235. The last letter is mispIaced, 16I 3 THE VACANT SECRET«tRI'SttlP. 23t estate in ¥orkshire, represented the great county of the north ; John Eliot, a Devonshire country gentleman, nine years older than Wentworth, was sent to the House of Commons by tle little borough of St. Germans. We may be sure that neither Wentworth nor Eliot were unobservant spectators of the events o the session ; but, as far as out information extends, neither of them took any part in the debates.  The unfavourable character of the elections ruade it more than ever necessary that a Secretary should be chosen who 6,3. could speak with authority in the naine of the l'ffecessity,;f Government, and who could make use of any in- t:hoosi:x_,g-.  S«t.ry. fluence which he might possess as a member of the }[ouse of Commons to frustrate the cxpected opposition. As late as September in the preceding year Neville was still con- rident of success. 2 I3ut he had great difiïculties to conteud vith. The t{owards had no cause tobe satisfied with him, as le had never taken care to conceal lais dislike of the divorce. Northampton, besicles, had reason to look askance upon him, as he suspected him of having some connection with the scheme by which Mansell had hoped to overthrow the Commission for the Reformation of the Navy, in which Northaml»ton took a peculiar interest, a Above all, the King never could forget the part hich he had taken in the last l'arliament, and the plain words in which he had set forth the grievances of the Cmmons. In October, Neville discovered that lais hopes wele destined to be disappointed. It was generally believed that the favourite would continue to act in that confidential capacity to the King in which he had hitherto been empJoyed, and that Lake, as the nominee of the Howards, would be admitted to perform the subordinate duties of the Secretaryship. a In order to console IX'eville for his disappointment, Somerset  proposed to purchase I The only known list of this Parliament is that printed Dom the Kim- bohon MSS. in the lal, t[ine lrole t;ook, vol. iii. lXTo. 3 o. 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, Sept. 9, 63, Court and Times, i. 27.  Whitelocke, Zi3cr 1ltt"licztS, 46.  Chamberlain to Carleton, Cour! and Times, i. 277.  IIe was still only- Rochester, but it is perhaps better to avold coa- fu»ion by giving the title by which he was known in 6 4. 232 TttE ADDLED PARLL43IEA'T. CH. XVII. for him the office of Treasurer of the Chamber. Neville, at once replied, that he would take neither money, nor anything bought for money, at the hands of a subject, and gave him to under- stand that, though he was ready to act as Secretary, he would hot put up with any lower place. illa Fcbruary hopes of success were given him once lnore. It was intimated to him by Suffolk that he was selected for the 4. appointment ; but that, as the King was still displeased vith him for lais conduct in the former Parlimnent, he lnust expiate lais lnisdemeanours before he could hope to be 1,romoted. 1 If this was anythilag more than a mere trick on the part of Suffolk, to secure lais services during the session, cither James must soon bave changed lais mind, or Neville lnUst lmve refilsed to lnake the required submission. Appoint- ,,,e,,t « On l\[arch 29, Winwood took the oaths as Secretary. wi,,ooà. I.ake, as some compensation for his disappointment, was admitted to the t'rivy Çouncil on the saine day. = Winwood's whole heart was in the opposition to Spain and the Çatholic powers. It was by him that all those treaties had been negotiated which bound England to support tus qualifi- «:,aoo the Dutch Republic and the Princes of the German the post. Union against the House of Austria. I11 the Council he would be sure to side with Abbot and Ellesmere in denounc- ing the elatanglements of a Spanish policy. In some respects, indeed, he was far less fitted than lais friend Neville to act as leader of the House. He had, with the exception of occasional visits, been absent froln England for many years, and he was hardly aware how completely the feeling of lais countrylnen had changed since the death of Elizabeth. Nor had his position at the Hague tended to soften down the asperities of his some- what unconciliatory temper. He was also at the further dis- advantage of being altogether untried in Parlialnentary life, and of being destitute of that peculiar experience which is a necessity to those who attempt to guide the delibera.tions of a  Suffolk to Solnerset, Colt. 3ISS. Tit. F. iv. fol. 335" = It vas said that the Dutch, r_oping much from the appointment, gave 6 7,oooL to Somerset to obtah it. Sarmiento to Lerma, Dec. , Sita,tca.r ,alS.: 2594 , fol. 94. 26;4 OPIA'LVG OF" THE SISSIOAr.. 233 large public assembly. It was probably this very circumstance vhich recommcnded him to James. His appointment must have, in some resl'ects , been of the nature of a com- promise. His naine brought with it no reminiscences of l'arliamentary opposition, nor did it revive the rcmembrance of the tilne when Somcrset and the Howards wcre at deadly feud, and when Neville and I,ake were the rival candidates, supported by the two parties who were struggling for power. Winwood's position was not to be envied. IIe had to in- duce a hostile House of Cmlnons to grant supplies, at the saine tilne that he would bave to refuse those COla- The King's speechatthe cessions upon which their hearts were set. It was opening of the session, hot long before he had to make lais first essay in the art of guiding the House. The session was opened on Aprll 5- April 5 by a speech from the King. ]3acon had indeed suggested to Jalnes the lines upon which he would have had the King's opening speech eonstructed. But though Jalnes, to a certain extent, followed the advice given, he could not help showing his eagerness for a money grant more openly than a third person would have done. He told the Houses that he called thcln together for three reasons : he was anxious that, by their support, religion might be mailatained, the future suc- cession to the Çrowla provided for, and his necessities relieved by the grant of a supply. He COlnlnended to their I-Ie speaks of the consideration the increase of l'opery, which was «u».,m,, spreading in spite of the exe:tions which he had used to combat it both with lais tongue and with lais pen. He had no wish for any more rigorous laws against recusancy, but he hoped that some means lnight be contrived for executing more strictly those which were already in existence. He then referrcd to the events which had taken place in lais own family since he had last met his Parliament. God had taken of his daug.hter's lais cldcst son from him, but Hc had just givcn him marrlage» a grandson in lais place, and helooked to Parliament to settle the succession, in case of the çailure of heirs through l'rince Charles, upon this child and the other children who might be born to the Electress. He had chosen a husband for lais daughter out of a Protestant family, in order that, if his own 234 TItE ADDLED P.ŒEERLI..IE.VT. cH. xw. issue maie shou|d rail, the future ]dngs of England might be brought up bu the Protestant fath. Thus far he must bave carfied wkh hhn the sympathies of every man amongst his audience. He now entered upon more and demands dangerous ground. The extraordinary charges con- upplies. nected with the marriage had emptied the Exchequer, and there were other expenses which pressed heavily upon him. He would, howerer, speak plainly to them. He would hOt Iargain with them for their money. He would see what fl,ey would do in their love. He had shown them that he relied upon their affection, by having recourse to them rather than to his own prerogative. He must, however, clear himself on one point : it had been rumoured that he relied upon some private Undertakers, 'who, with their on credit and industry, would do great matters.' This he declared to be false : he would rather have the love of his subjects than their money.  i arl. tIisl. I49. James is generally accused of deceiving his bearers on this point ; and it is said that in 162I he acknowledged that ' in the last Pafliament there came up a strange kind of beasts callel Under- takers, a naine which in my nature I abhor. ' In this, however, there is no necessa W contradiction ith -hat he said in I64. OEhere were, no doubt, men in I64 who were called Undertakers; but the question is, laow far the King a'ailed himself of their efforts. We have seen that Bacon aud Nortlmmpton laughed at the scheme, though theïe were a few among the Council ho encouraged them. We do not l«mw enough about their proceedings to say what it was that they proposed to do, but the rumour appears to bave been that they offered to infltaence the returns to such an extent as to procure a Government majority. Such a rulnour was absurd in itself, as Jalnes said in his speech of the 8th : " If any Imd been so foolish as to offer it, yet it had been greater folly in lne to bave nccepted it. » No doubt he knew that lctters had been sent by the Lords of the Councll and others fo influence the electors ; but he may bave held that such letters did not amount to interference with electlons. esides, influence of this kind was used on th sidcs. The following extract from XYhitelocke's Zib,'r Nz»telicts (p. 4o) gi'es an insight into the manner in which electlons were conducted : "I was returned a burgess for the town of Woodstock, in the county of Oxon, where I was recorder, and was elected, notwithstanding the town . hardly pressed for another by the Earl of Montgomery, steward of the aanors, and keeper of t} e bouse and pak there. " There was returnea 'ith me Sir Philip Cary, younger son to Sit 164 7"HE ICI;VG'S APPEAL TO 7"HL ttOU.3"E& Three days later, James again addressed the Houses. This Parliament, he said, was to be a Parliament of love. The April 8. world was to ste his own love to his subjects, and a'he li,lg's the love of his subjccts to their King. God was v««h. loved for he gift which he gave, and he, who as a King represented God, wouhl begin by offering theln a gift, and he expected from theln cheerfulness in retribution for his favour. He then went over the heads of his former speech. He again denied that he had attempted to 'hinder or prolnpt any lnan iu the free election,' and asserted confidence in a party l'arlialnent.' begin this Parlialnent by making vould soon be laid before thcm. ould be bettcr that each lnember tlmt he had never 'lmt any He declared that he would offers of concessions which As to their grievances, it should present theln on be- half of his OWla constituency ; ' to heap theln together in che scroll like an arlny' would 'but cast aspersion upon' hiln and lais ' governlnent, and' would ' savour more of discontent than of desire for reforlnation.' IIe was unwilling to give up any of the honours and flowers of the Crowll, but he would hot stretch the prerogative further than his predecessors had donc. t Ié never intended lais proclalnations to bave the force of law, but he thought that they ought to Se obeyed, until Parliament could lneet to provide a remedy for the evil in question. He once more denied having ruade any bargain with the Under- Edward Cary, toaster of the jewels. IIe was nominated in the place by Sir Tholnas Spencer, who, being steward of the town, refused to serve hilnself, but commended that gentleman. " I was returned burgess also for the borough of Corfe Castle, and that was by the nomination of . . . the Lady Èlizabeth Coke... I gave her thanks for it,. and yielded up the place to her again, and in it was chosen Sir Thomas Tracy. "My worthy friend, Sir Robert Killlgrew, gave me a ptace for IIel- stone, in the County of Cornwall, and I caused lny brother-in-law, tIenry Bulstrode, to Se returned for that place." The fact, probably, vas that, whilst the recomtnendations of the in- fluential landowners were geaerally in accordance with the feeling of the electors, the recommendations of th » Court Lords were hot. That James had ruade a bargain Mtk certain persons to return members labourable to hirn, has hot been proved. 236 T]]E ADDLED t'ARLI.-IJIE.VT. CH. X.II. takers, and declared that he relied altogether upon the love of his subjects. What is most remarkable in this speech is the air of self- satisfaction which pervades the whole of it. James had ei. deutly no idca that anyone besides himself was competent judge what grievances ought to be redressed, or in what degree his pre:ogative was injurious to the interests of the nation. The first question taken up by the ttouse was raised by a lncmbcr who doubted whether Bacon could take his seat, as there was no 1,recedent for the election of an Ouestion ,Thetherthe Attorney-Gcneral. The lnatter was referred to a Attorney- General colnmittec, who were ordered to search for precedents. nfight sit. The tIouse finally decidcd that Bacon might be allowed to sit, but that for thê future no Attorney-General A supply might take lais seat in the House. On A1)ril x , demand.d. Wiuwood rose to lnove the grant of sui)plies, and rcad over the list of concessious which the King was preparcd to makê. ".1"o ask for supplies so early in the session whên no special reason for haste could be alleged, was entircly without precedent, and the course taken by the inexperienced Secretary must have caused considerable surprise. The next da)', when the House was about to take up the subject, Myddelton rose and said that Winwood's offers chiefly conccrned the country gentlemen, and offered to the House a Bill concerning the Ilnpositions. Othcr lnembers followed, bringing forward one by one the old list of the ecclesiastical grievances. It was in vain that Winwood rose and spoke at length upon the necessities of the public service, and that he panegyrized the forcign policy of the King ; that Coesar entered into details of the misery which was inflictcd upon the debtors of the Crown ; and that Bacn appealed to the House to consider thc state of th«. Continent, where war lnight break out at any moment. The House was It is post- poned, The £rievances referred to a tommittee. It had alrcady become trident that  ¢..9. i. 456-460. nnwilling to grant the supply until the rumours re- lating to the Undertakers had been inquired into.  A few days later Sandys moved that the grievances which had been presented to the last Parlianel-t should be referred to the Committee on Petitions. the /-Iouse would not 614 13 UR NI'G Q. UE S TI O 2VS. e37 be satisfied with the instahnent of redress which had been offered them by the King, and that James would hardly obtain supplies from this Parliament unless he were ready to face the deeper questions at issue. Yet even in the improbable event of lais consenting to give way on these, lais concession would lose all its grace by being delayed till after the attitude of the Gommons had become known. On April i7, the whole House received the Colmnunion together. Tl»ey chose St. Margaret's, the church of the parish in Mfich they were sittig, irl preference to West- The House • ci,.e the minster Abbey, ' for fear of copes and wafer-cakes.' t Commi«. It is from this day that the peculiar connection of St. Margaret's with the House of Çommons dates. The object of the members in thus solemnly taking the Çomnmnion together was partly the expectation that they would be able to detect any recusant who might have slipped in amongst them. When the day arrived it was round that there was not one member absent. The next day the Bill on Impositions was read a second time. It was ordered that it should be considered in Çom- rh Bin o mittee of the whole House, in order that, as Hake- hnpositions, will said, the three hundred new members might hear the argmnents, and that, understanding the truc state of their right, they might leave it to their posterity. The House, it appeared, insisted that the resolution to which it had corne in 6o, was indisputably true, thus setting aside the judgment of the Court of Exchequer, which was legally and constitu- tionally binding. The lnembers felt that the question was one to be decided on political rather than on legal grounds, and they were at all events in their right in declaring that un- less it were settled to their lnind, they would grant no subsidies. The Commons had other gnevances in view. A patent had been granted for the lnanufacture of glass, which they re- garded in the light of an injurious monopoly, whilst IIonopolies. the Government looked upon it as an encouragement to native industry. A company had been recently established for exclusive trading with France, which was liable to the same objections under which the Spanish Company had sunk. On  Chamberlain to Carleton, April I4, & P. Don. lxxvii. 7 ; C. '. i. 463. 38 THE ADDLED PARLL4ME.VT. CH. XVt. l[ay 2 the question of the Undertakers was again before them, TheUnder- and in spire of Bacon's  attempt to persuade them takers, to be content with a protest, they directed that the suspected Undertakers should be strictly examined. After a long investigation, the Committee were unable to obtain any evidence whatever of any corrupt bargain having been struck. At last a paper was produced, which was owned by Sir Henry Neville. tic said that he had written it more than two years before, as containing the heads of the advice which he then offered to the King. As there was no reason why he should hot bave donc lais best to persuade the King to call a Parlia- ment as soon as possible, and as his advice must have seemed wise to those who now read it, the House had nothing to do but to express its satisfaction in the course which he had taken ; and finding that its search was likely to prove fruitless, it allowed the matter to drop. = The argulnents which were used ila the Committee on the Impositions for the benefit of the new members bave not been The Impo- preserved. It was, however, detennined that a con- skions, ference with the Lords should be demanded, and that they should be requested to join in a petition to the King, and the parts were assigned which each manager was to take. a On May 2, the House took the subject again into con- sideration, before sending to the Lords to demand a conference. Ow« In the argument which the managers were directed argument from the to put forward there was, unluckily, one point Maich **« was sufficiently doubtful to offer a hold to the SUl»- foreign. co,,tr,, porters of the prerogative. One of the managers was Sir Roger Owen, the member for Shrewsbury, a man who, ,«ith no rem claim to distinction, chose to consider himself an t acon's Zcllcrs and Z, v. 42. - "- C..7- i. 485. Chamberlain to Carleton, May 19, S. /'. Ixxvii. -'6. Lorkin to Puckering, lXlay -'8, Com't and Timcs, i. 34- For the paper, sec p. 2o2. A few days before, Sir Thomas Parry, the Chancellor of tlae lDuchy of Lancaster, had been detected in interfering in the Stockbridge election. IIe was expelled the IIouse, s well as the sitting members. The King sequestered him from the Privy Council.  C..7. i. 48, 486. I6X4 DtïBATtï ON Ttltï LI]OSITIOArS. 239 authority upon the constitutional law of the nations of the Continent as well as upon that of England. He had, in the !ast Parliament, argued strongly  that the right of imposing, without the consent of the three estates, was hot allowed by the law in any Eropean nmnarchy, tIe was now instructed to enforce this argument upon the Lords. Such a theory was entirely irrelevant to the question at issue, and it involved a long discussion upon the principles upon which foreign con- stitutions were founded, to which the Lords could hardly be expected to bave the patience to listcn. Wotton Answered by Wottonand saw lais opportunity. He knew very well that, as Wimvood. a matter of fact, foreign Sovereigns did succeed in obtaining money which had hot been voted by their estates, and he was hot inclined to mquire too closely into the methods by which this power had been acquired. He accordingly, after expressing a hope that Owen would look well to thc ground upon which he was treading, asserted his own belicf that the power of imposing belonged to hereditary but hot to elective monarchs. He was supported by Winwood, who aftcr declaring that he had no wish to maintain the right of ina- posing, added that his opinion was that the foreign princes in question imposed in right of their prerogative. Owen, he said, lmd ruade several assertions, but had proved absolutely nothing. It was high rime to draw back from the ground which Owen had so i, nconsiderately taken up. Sir Dudley Digges Replyof accordingly put the matter upon its right footing. ]Oigges, The ground upon which the House rested its claire, he said, was that which Englishmen had received from their ancestors:  Arol«mus leges Aglioe zttare. Ail else was merely illustrative of the nmin argulnent, and was used as an answer to those who urged the King to imitate the Kings of France and Spain, if he wished it to be thought that he was not inferior to those monarchs. Still there was something more to be said. The contrast, which had been insisted upon so strongly between the elective  ]a,l. Deb. in 161o, 112. "- "That the first ground that we have received from eut neighbours» iYdumus," &c. should e idently be ' from out ancestors,' C..7. i. 493- 2.fo TIIF_. ./IDDLED P.41LIM3I. 'IT. cH. xwt. and the hereditary monarchies of the Continent, adnitted of very diffcrent inferences from those which had occurred of Sandys, to Wotton and Winwood. They had argued that hereditary monarchs had the right of imposing ; others might Colne to the conclusion that if kings were not to impose, it was necessary that they should hold their crowns by a tenure which -as not altogether independent of the consent of their subjects. This seems to have been the ground which was taken up by Sandys, as far as we can judge from the very imperfect notes of his speech which have corne down to us. It is certainly un- fortunate that his words have not been preserved in full, as it would have been interesting to trace the first dawning of the idea that, in ordcr to preserve the rights of the subject intact, it would be necessary to make some change in the relations l,ctween the authority of the Crown and the representatives ot" the people, t Ie began, apparently, by referring to the enormous burden of taxation which had been imposed upon France by the sole authority of Henry IV. He reminded the House that it was not merely the right of laying impositions which was claimed by those hereditary sovereigns of which they had heard so much ; they exercised a]so the right of making ]aws, without the consent of their estates. What could corne of such a state of things but tyranny, from which both prince and people would surfer alike ? The origin of every hereditary monarchy lay in election. If, on every occasio.n of the demise of the Crown, the new Sovereign does not go through the for- malities of an election, he must relnember that the authority which he holds was, in its origin, voluntarily accepted by the peop]e ;_and that, h.ell the nation gave its consent to the authority which he is called to exercise, they did so upon the express understanding that there were certain reciproca,  con- ditions which neither king nor people might violate with inpunity. A king who pretended to rule by any other titie, such as that of co:aquest, might be dethroned whenever there was force sufficient to overthrow him. 1 He concluded by  Thls is, I suppose, the meanlng of the brief notes, " lX,'o snccessive King, but first elected. E-lection double, of person, and tare ; but both corne in by consent of people, and with reciprocal conditions betwee w64 Ttt, D,B.-IT"EO.V T.[tEIM'POS[7"[OA'._ç. denying the validity of the argument that the King of England aight do whatever the King of France might do, and by rnoving that Owen might be called upon to substantiate lais doctrine. It would bave been well if the debate had corne to an end here. Though the doctrine of the original contract thus pro- do, pounded by Sandys wilI hot stand before the re- Wentworth. searches of modern historical inquiry, it was, nevcr- theless, a far doser approximation to the truth than any rival theory which was at that aime likely to be opposed to it. t le was, howevcr, followed by Wentworth, the Puritan la%ver, who sat for the city of Oxford, and who had given offcnce in the last Parliament by the freedom of his language. Hc was one of those men who arc always to be found in times of political excitement, and who, whilst they generally succeed in speaking to the point, are carcless of the decencies of expression undcr which the rcaI leaders of the naovement are accustomed to veil their opinions. On this occasion lais speech was in strong con- trast to the cahn argument of Sandys. "fhe Spaniards, he said, had lost the Low Countries by attempting to lay impositions. Ail the power of the greatest of the French monarchs had nt saved them from dying like calves by the butcher's knife. t'rinces who taxed their people as they had done should remember that in the description givcn by Ezekicl of the future state of the Holy Land, a portion of the soil was assigned to the Prince, in order that he might hot oppress the peoplc. Kings who refused to profit by this example might read their destiny in Daniel's prediction that there should stand up a raiscr of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but that within a few days lac should be destroyed.  As soon as the debate was at an end, Winwood lkIay 4- 7"ne ro« carried up to the House of Lords the message de- OfrefuseLOrdSto manding a conference. The Lords, aftcr some con- «o«e. sideration, resolved to consult the judges. The judges were now Ied by Coke, and Coke's notion of the position King and people. That a King by conquest may also (when power) be expelled." C. . i. 493-  Chamberlain to Carleton, lIay 6, Cour! and Time«, i ¥OL. II. R • 42 HE tDDLED P«qR[«III'E.VT. CloE. x¥II. of the judges was something far loftier than that of advisers of the House of Lords. The judges, therefore, by Coke's mouth requested that they might hot be equired to give nn opinion, on the ground that they were expected in udicial course to speak and udge between the King's lnaesty and his people, and likewise between His Highness's subjects, and in no case tobe disputants on any side.  Coke probably had a vision ofthe twelve judges being called on in some way to review the udg- ment of the Court of Exchequer and to decide magisterially between the King on the one side and the House of Commons on the other. If so, his ambition was not gmtified. The Lords, either fearing that Coke intended to throw the weight of his authofity against the King, or not liking to undertake the burden of resisting the Commons, if they were themselves un- fortified by the support of the judges, answered on May 24, with a refusal, at least for the present, to meet the Lower House in confcrence.  If as yet the Lords were unwilling to occupy the ound Mich the Commons had assigned them, as leaders in a consti- The dvison tutional resistance to the Çrown, an examination of in theLords, the division must have been reassuring to all who did not despair of SOlne day seeing the two Houses on the saine side. Of the sixty-nine peers who recorded their opinions, at least thirty  voted in the minority. Of the majority, sixteen were bishops, Matthew, Archbishop of York, being the only one who voted for conferring with the Lower House. Amongst the twenty-three lay peers -ho voted with the majority were the two Scotchmen, Somerset and Lennox, the latter of whom had re- cently been raised to the English earldom of ichmond. There were nine Pri3' Councillors present ; so that it appears that iÇ as is probable, they all voted against the conference, it was impos-  L. 7- ii. 706. - C: '. il. 707, 708; Cott..ILS& OEit. F. iz. 257. t'etyt's ff's arliamotaritot, 34 o.  Chmberlain gives the numbers as thirty-nJne and thirty. Accord- ioE to the Journals, there were seventy-one present. Perhaps, if Cham- berlain is right, to vent out without voting. The difference çf two -otes is n,»t of much in, portance. 164 YOTE OF TtlF. t'EERç. -43 sible to find lnore than twelve independent lay peers who would vote with the Govermnent, and of these at least four or rive wer¢ in some way or other under obligations to the court. Annoying as the refusal of the Upper House must bave been to the Commons, they felt themselves to be still more spe«chof deeply aggrieved when they heard of some words ];ici,op which had fallen from one of the speakers in the Neil«. debate iii the House of Lords. Of all the syco- phants who sought for power and place during the reigns of Jmnes and of his son, Bishop Neile was justly regarded as the worst, tic had latcly been notofious as the one amongst the Commissioncrs sitting in the case of Lady Essex who had been most active in pushing on the divorce with indccent haste. As soon as the sentence was pronounced, he put forth ail his efforts in attempting to ruin the Archbishop, and althougl he did hot succeed in this as he desired, he ingratiated hilnself with Jalnes sufficiently to obtain the bi.hopric of Lincoln, Mfich had been originally destined for Abbot's brother Robert, -ho had donc the King no small service in his controversy with Bellarlnine. Neile now stood up to vilify the House of Colnlnons. The matter, he said, on Mfich the Lords were asked to confer with the Lower House was one with which it had no right to meddle. No lllan who had taken the oaths of supremacy and allegiance could, with a good conscience, even oin in a discussion upon the question of the hnpositions. Not only were the Commons striking at the foot of the prerogative of the Crown, but they would, if they were admitted to argue their case, be sure to give utterance to seditious and undutiful speeches, which would be unfit for the Lords to listcn to, and which would tend as well to a breach between the two Houses as to one between the King and his subjects, l The next day the whole House of Commons was in an up- roar. The idea that it is well to allow violence and folly to y,. remain unpunished is of slow growth, and it would Indignation be long before it would be received as an axiom by t" the Cm,o. any party in the State. One member called for a bill confiscating to his Ma]esty's use the profits of the bishopric Z. . il. 709. 44 TttE ADDLED PilRLL4ME2'T. cte. xvz. of Lincoln for the next seven years. Another said that Neile's head ought to be set upon Tower Hill. A third declared that l,anishment was the fitting punishment for lesser offences than this. Those who treated the subject more cahnly were doubt- ful whcther it would be preferable to make their complaint o the King or to the House of Lords. A Colnlnittee was appointed to take the question into consideration. On the following day, the committee reported that they had decided by a small majority to recommend that an immediate reference might be ruade to the King, and that no y6. other business might be taken up till an answer was received. As soon as the report had been ruade, Sandys rose to hinder the House froln the suicidal step which it was advised to take. He told them that by COlnplaining to the King of words spoken in the House of Lords, they were hot only in- sulting the Peers, and placing the King in a position of great difficulty, but they were cutting at the root of their own most cherished right of freedom of speech. If the Colnmons might appeal to the King to punish a Peer for words uttered in the House of Lords, it was clear that they could never again pro- test against any claire which might be put forth by the King to a silnilar jurisdiction orer the House of Commons. This reasoning carried conviction with it, atad in spite of the opposi- tion of Sir Roger Owen and a few others who were afi'aid that justice would hot be done by the Peers, it was decided to aban- don the idea of an appeal to the King, and to ask satisfaction from the Lords ; it was also resolved, that until satisfaction had been given to the House no business should be proceeded with. The King had long been watching the debates in the House of ComlllOns. He could now have little doubt that the House "r, i,g' would take up the position which they had occupied letter, at the close of the last session. They had already showr that they were determined to carry their point in regard to the ïlnpositions before they consented to a grant of lnoney. They were only waiting till the Committee had finished its labours to present a petition of grievances as objectionable to him as that rioto which he had turned aside four years before. On both of these points he had lnade up his mind not to gve 6r4 17ISHOP A'EILE'S SPECH. 245 • 'ay. He accordingly wrote a letter to them, objecting to their Iesolution to abstain from business till they had obtained satisfaction frein the Upper House, and telling them that it did hot belong to them to call or dissolve assemblies. They scnt in reply a deputati.on of forty members, with the Speaker at its head, which was directed to inform him that they had nevcr claimed any such right, but that they intended merely to for- bear from entering upon matters of moment, as they were unfit to treat ofsuch subjects until they could clear themselves rioto the imputations which had been cast upon them. 1 On May 3 o, the Lords sent down an answcr, to the effcct that they should always be sorry to hear any aspersion cast upon the other House, but that, as the accusation against The I.ords" • eply con- the ]3ishop was grounded simply upon conamon lame, cerning the Bishop's they did hot think it right to entertain it. If, how- speech. ever, they had any express charge brought before them, they would be ready to do justice3 The excuse was manifestly frivolous. The Commons had appealed from common fame to those who were present when the speech was ddivcred. It would no doubt have been better to have ignored the whole affair ; and the Lords might very well have refused to discuss with any external body words which had been spoken within their own walls. If they had done this, the Conlnlons would probably have drawn back, for fear of damaging thcir own claims. Eut it was impossible for the Commons to accept the excuse which was ruade. They replied by sending Sir Roger Owen xvith a paper containing the words xvhich had been uttercd by the Bishop, as closely as they could gather them. Upon this, the Lords called upon the J3ishop to explain his speech. He seems to bave been frightened at the position iuto xvhich his rash, headlong retaper had brought him. The "Bi,hop ,:,,c,.:_li- He protested, xith many tears, that he had been ,lr. misconstrued, and that he never meant to speak any evil of the House of Commons. The Lords acquainted the Commons -itla hat had 10assed, and added, that though they t C. y. L 500. Charr.berlaln to Carleton, June , 64, Court and 2ïv«ts, i. 3  8.  £..7. ii. 71 I. -46 TtlE IDD£FD PIZA]IE.VT. cH. xvIl. had taken care to ve them contentment n ths matter, they" whed it to be understood tlmt h future they would not allow my member of ther ouse to be called h question on the ground of common fame. tIere the Commons ought to have stopped. Ç'n]uckily, a ouse of Commons without definite lcadership, and more especially one with a large proportion of new members, is apt to degenerate into a mere mob. The Lords had throvn them out of gear by refusing the conference on the Impositions, and ffoto that moment ail reasonable and well-considered action was at an end. Each speaker in turn urged more vchemently than the last that somc steps should be takcn against the ]lishop. Onc membcr declarcd that Neilc had once given a false certificate of conformity to a rccusant. The House could hot rcsist the tcmptation of inquiring into the Bishop's mis- conduct, and, without pcrceiving that it xvas lowering itself by indulging in personal recriminations, dctcrmined that the j» chmge should be examined. = Upon this the King wh i,,g lost ail patience. On June , he sent thcm a mes- threatens to ,¢. sage that, unless they proceeded forthwith te, treat of supply, he should disso]ve Fallialnent. On the receipt of this message, some of the members were willing that something should be done to satisfy the King. ]t was too ]ate for this. The House felt instinctively Exdtement i. a,¢ that the objects on which its heart was set were not House. to be attained, and it did nothing to check its more violent mcmbers. Christopher Ncville, a younger son of Lord Abergavenny, poured forth a torreut of abuse against the courtiers, and declarcd that they were 'spaniels to the King, and wolves to the people.' Hoskins boldly cntcrcd upon the more tender subject of the Scottish favourites, and even went so far as to put them in mind of the possibility of an imitation of the Sicilian Vespers. According to the belief of contemporaries Hoskins was set on by persons of high station, and eve indication points to Northampton as the person who was suspected to bave becn at J Z... il. 73.  C..7- i. 504. 64 AJItïS APIZ1ES TO SARJIIEA'TO. 247 the bottom of the plot. There is every reason to suppose that the charge was true. _An understanding between the King and ort- the House of Commons would hot have suited Nor- ,,wto, thampton. If James had been put in good humour foments the quantum, by a spontaneous grant of subsidies, he might have naade concessions of which Northampton would have strongly disapproved. Amicable relations with the present House would bring with theln a decidcd Protestant policy abroad, and, as Northampton woiald have put it, a Puritalx and delnocratic cendency at hoirie. His view was that the King ought to resit the Colnlnons, to grant toleration to the English Catholics, and to strengthen himself by a Spanish alliance, to be confirmed by a marriage between l'lince Charlcs and the Infanta Maria. The portion which she would bring would be sufficient to pay the debts of her father-in-law, and xvhen those were paid SOlne means of getting rid of the deficit might readily be round. James was too angry to discover the lniserable ilnpolicy of this advice. Digby had recently returned from Spain, and was able to inforln hiln that Lerma had been lnaking fresh ovcrtures for the renewal of the negotiations for the lnarliage.  But ungl James could be assured of the approval of the Spanish Ambassador, he did not venture to dissolve the Parliament. He accordingly sent to Sarmiento, asking hiln to inform hiln whether, in the event of lais quarrelling with the House of Commons, he could depend upon lais master's support.  Sar-  Dgby to the King, Jan. 3, I6I. Printed wlth a wrong date in Zots' onrn«Is, iii. 239 , as having been written in I62 5  Minutes of Sarmlento's despatches, June =o, June uu, 3°, July man_-a- MSS". Est. -"5S. Printed in App. fo t;randsco de ¢stti. There is a curlous passage in a paper which undoubtedly proceeded from Sarmiento's pen, after his return to Spain, in which he describes his method of obtaining a mastery over James :--" E1 medio que el Conde de (;ondomar ha tenido para quitarle estos miedos " (Le. his fears lest Spain should deceive him) " y irle empeiiando en la lnistad con V. Ma, ha sido mostrandole el gran poder de V. lla, y una muy gran llaneza y confiança con mucha verdad en su tratto, encareciendole lo que se tratta en EspaUa, la seguridad con que podr'A vivi en sus mismos Reynos, asentando esta ,'unistad ; pues viendole unido con esta Corona se aquietarAn todos sia ---48 THE ADDLED PARLL4.IEA'T. ci,. XWl. ,viento, unwilling to commit himself, vaguely answered that l'hilip was always perfectly disinterested in his friendships, and that he was undoubtedly desirous of being on good terres with England. This was enough for James. On June 7 Tune 7- r-i..,e,,t he dissolved the l'arliament, which had sat for little diolved. more than two months. Nota single bill received lhe Royal Assent. The Parliament was, in consequence, nick- named by the wits, 'The Addled Parliament.'  Up to the unfortunate episode of the speech of Iishop Ncile, the proceedings of the House of Commons had been all that could be desired. They were undoubtedly right in refusing fo grant supplies until the questions of the mapositions and of the grievances had been settled in their favour. There might indeed arise upon the Continent, at any moment, dangers which would call upon them to support the Cown even at the «ost of postponing to a fiture tilne the demand for justice vhich they put forward on behalf of thelnselves and of their children. But that time had not yet corne. The visions of var which Bacon had called up bcfore them were not as yet realities, and the Commons wisely decided to provide for the dangers which were at hand, rather than to supply James with means of defence against perils which were still in the future. Even the violence of their behaviour during the last few days of the session admits of some excuse. They knew that the refusal of the House of Lords to hold a conference was the death-knell of their hopes. There could hOt be the slightest doubt that in thus rejecting their demand the Peers were acting in concert with the King ; and the Commons, perceiving that all que nadie ose menearsele :--que los m[smos Catolicos de quien oy se rezela tanto serin los mas seguros y de quien mejor se podr5, fiar, y juntamente con esto ha procurado conserbar y aumentar en Inglaterra la religion Catolica, particularmente er, tre los ministros y personas mas poderosas de aquel Reyno, para que estos de su parte ayudassen tambien . empefiar aquel Rey en estrecha anaistad con esta Corona y ser seguros de la parte de V. Mag  para en caso que se rompa y sea necesaria la guerra " Consulta by Aliaga and Gondomar, an. , I6t 9. Simancas .ISS. Est.  Chamberlain to Carleton, June 9- Lorkin to Fuckering, June Court attd Titnes, i. 320» 3-*3. 64 Z IPRISOA JIEI T OF ,]IEJBEI& 49 their labours had been in vain, would have bcen more than men if they had felt disposed to treat vith deferencc those who »erc taking such a course. These, however, were not the feelings of James. Not having ever grasped the idea that he had asked the COlllnlons to surrender points upon which it was impossible for E xaspera. lion o! the thcnl to give way, he was proportionately exasperated ilng. at their steady refusal to give up their clailns, ttis first act was to sumlllon before the Council those mcmbcrs xvho had bcen appointed to take part in the conference xith the Lords, and to ordcr them to deliver up all thc notes and collcctions which had been preparcd to assist them in COla- ducting their argument. All these papers were immediately burnt in the prcsence of the Council, in order, no doubt, to ro. prcvent their publication. After this was done, four memb«rslm- lnembcrs vlxo had distinguished themselves by the ,i»«,d. violence of their language, Wentworth, Hoskins, Christopher Neville, and Sir Walter Chute, were sent to the Tower. Ail this while Jalnes was sitting in a neighbouring room, amusing himself by looking through an opening in thc hanÇings, in order to see his orders carried out. On the saine da)-, Sandys and four other melnbers were ordered not to leave London without permission. In a few weeks, however, they were allowed to return hoirie, 'rrcatmcnt of, though Sandvs was required to give bonds for his appearance vhenever he might be caIled for. 1 Sir John Savile, Sir :Roger Owen, Sir Edward Phelips, and Nicholas Hyde were put out of the commission of the peace.  Of the four members who were sent to the Tower, Wentworth was «.,of allowed, on June 9, to go out for a few days to lheim- visit his wife, and was finallv released on lune -"9" prisoned ,«b. Neville was set ff-ce on July o, and Chute on October -".a Hoskins did hOt escape so easily. When he was  ]'ri'y C,,uncil N,'glsler, Jtme 8, 9, I5, 9, and July IO. « Whitelocke, Zibcr ]7amcliats, 43- • Prij, Coundl lcgi.ter of the above-mentioned dates. Chamberlain, vriting to Çarleton on Jnne 3 ° (Court amt 7"imrs, i. 3"5), was mistakcn in supposit,g that Wentwoth was still a prisoner. o TItE. ,'IDDLED P,4RLL4JiEN7". CH. XVlt. cluestloned as to what he meant by threatening the Scots with Sicilinn Vespers, it nppenred that he had no clear notion of the meaning of the words which he had used, .as he had not F.xamina- udied history very deeply. On being asked where ti,,n«Co,-,» he got lais information, he said it was from Doctor wallis and slr,. Sharp, a clergyman, who had pressed him to animate the IIouse against the 6cots, and had assured him that, in so doing, he would have the protection of Sir Charles Crnwallis, the late ambassador in Spain, and even of the Earl of North- ampton himself.  Çornwallis declared tl:mt he had nothing to do with this speech of IIoskins, though he had procured the election of another lnember, by the help of a letter from North- anapton, and had given him notes of a speech which he was to deliver, complaining of the recusants and the Scots. This speech, however, he said was never delivered. Sharp, on the other hand, declared that Crnwallis had promised to give Hoskins 2o/. for the loss of his practice during the session, a piece of evidence which was denied by Cornwallis. The (;overnment considered the whole matter as a conspiracy to frustrate its objects by hiring melnbers to stir up the passions of the IIouse.  ]3oth Cornwallis and Sharp were committed to the Tower, from which they were only liberated, together with IIoskins, at the expiration of a twelvemonth.  Of the two men whose advice had lnost contributed to the calling of this Parliament, one of them Sir IIenry Neville, did not l)«.th or long survive its dissolution, fie died in the summer Ne,Aile. of 1615, regretted by ail who knew how to value lais integrity and worth. The condition of the other was far sadder. r.«o,«» ]3acon lived on in the service of the Crown, a silent «.i. witness of his own faihlre. He had built his hopes on the possibility of reconciling Kingand Parlia,nent, and front all that is known of him he was quite capable of accomplishing his task, if only his hands had been free. IIis hands un- fortunately had not been free. IIe had under-estilnated the  Wotton to Sir Edmund Bacon, June x6, Rel. ll'olt, il. 434. = Chamberlain to Carleton, June 3o, Conrl and Times, i. 3-.25. Corrto wallis to the King, June I?), s. P. lxxvii. 43-  On June 8, 6I 5. _privy Coun«il Re$islcr of that date. 6 4 RESUL TS OF TH 19ISSOL UTIO«M 5 r difficulties in lais way, and above ail, had omitted to reckon on thc impossibility of persuading James to change lais nature, and to look upon a struggle in which he was himself deeply concerned, with the impartial eye of a mere spectator. It is casy to trace out mistakes committed on either side, but. under the existing personal and political conditions, itis hard to see how the l'arliament of I64 could bave ended otherwise than it did. No man, however highly placed, can shake himself ahogether loose from the limitations imposed on him by the conscntient wills of lais fellow-creatures, and James would soon lêarn that by refusing to accept the terms ofired by the House of Commons, he had only placed himself in the power of others who were less plain-spoken, and who had ends of their owfi to serve by flattering and cajoling him. A few days after the dissolution, James sent for Sarmiento, and poured into lais willing car lais complaints of the insolence J.m of the Commons. "I hope," he said, when he had d,ri.n finished lais story, " that you will send the ncws to grtevances to Sarmiento. your toaster as 3-ou hear it from me, and not as it i..; told by the gossips in the streets." The ambassador, having assured him that he would lnake a truc report, James went on ith lais catalogue of grievances. "The King of Spain," he said, "has more kingdoms and subjects than I have, but there is one thing in which I surpass him. He has not so large a Parliament. The Cortes of Castile is composed of little more than thirty persons. In lny Parliamênt thêre are nearly rive hundred. The House of Commons is a body without a head. The members give their opinions in a disorderly manner. At their meetings nothing is heard but cries, shouts, and con- fusion. I ana surprisêd that my ancestors should êver have permittêd such an institution to corne into existence. I am a stranger, and found it here when I arrived, so that I am obliged to put np with what I cannot get rid of." Here James coloured and stopped short, perhaps because he had been surprised into an admission that there was something in his dominions of which he could hot get rid if he pleased. Sarmiento, with ready tact, came to his assistance, and remindêd b.im that he THE ./IDDLED PAI-¢LIA,]IENT. c. xw. was able to summon and dismiss this formidable body at his pleasure. "That is true," replied James, delighted vith the turn which the conversation had taken, "and, what is more, without my assent, the words and acts of the Parliament are altogether worthless." Having thus maintained his dignity, he proceeded to assure Sarmiento that he would gladly break off the negotia- tions with France, if only he could be sure that the hand of the Infanta would not be accompanied by conditions vhich it Wolld be ilnpossible for hi,n to grant. The anabassador gave him every encouragement in his power, and promised to write to Madrid for furthcr instructions. ]f only James conld bave looked over Sarlnlento's shoulder as he was writing his nê×t despatch, he would soon have sickened of his scheme for freeing himself from his own subjects by the help of Spain. Sarmientos plans aimed at ju,,, something fa," more splendid than the allcviation of s,io' the distress of a handful of Catholics in England. He plans for »uo»«. believed--as many besides himself believed--that a crisis was at hand in which the very existence of the Çatholic system would be at stake. He saw in the overtures vhich had lately been ruade by James to tbe Continental Protestants, the foundation of an aggressive league against the Catholic powers. The attack, he thought, would be commenced by a demand that the Catholic sovereigns should grant liberty of conscience to their subjects, and he never doubted that such a concession vould be fatal to the retention by the Pope of the i:afluence -hich he still possessed. He therefore proposed to carry the war into the enemy's quarters. If liberty of conscience, under the guarantee of England and the German Union, vould dis- integrate Catholicism in the South, why should hot liberty of conscience, under the guarantee of Spain, disintegrate Protes- tantism in the Ix'orth ? Nor had he any doubt that Egland vas the key-stone of Protestantism. If the countenance of Eng- land were withdrawn from the Protestants on the Continent, the Catholic Princes would be able to resume their legitimate authority. The Dutch rebels would be compelled to submit lo their lawful sovereign. The Freqch Huguenots would be unable any longer to make head against the King of France. i64 SAR.IIIE£VTO'S SCH£2IES. 253 The German Protestants would find it impossible to resist the Emperor. bigismund of Poland would regain the throne of Sweden, from which he had been driven by lais usurping uncle Charles IX. and lais usurping cousin Gustavus Adolphus. The Restoration of Catholicism would go hand in hand with the cause of legitimate monarchy. Law and order would take the place of religious and political anarchy. The only re- remaining Protestant sovereign, the King of Denmark, it could hOt be doubted for an instant, would conforln to the counsels and example of lais brother-in-law, who, before many years were past, would be the Roman Catholic king of a Roman Catholic England. Nothing less than this was the mark at which Sarmicnto aimed. It is truc that he did not think it necessary, as and for Philip and Lerma had thought it necessary three :,,g,a years before, to ask that the conversion of the Prince should precede his marriage. IIe had seen enough of James to know that such a proposal would only irritate him. He thought he could make sure of lais prey without difficulty in another way. If he could only by the political advantages which he had to offer, tempt James to relax the penal laws, the cause of English Protestantism was lost. Catholic truth, when once these artificial obstacles were removed, would be certain to prevail. A Catholic majority would soon be returned to the House of Commons, and James himselç if he wished to pre- serve his crown, would be driven to declare himself a convert, and to lend lais aid to the suppression of heresy, t There vere not wanting a few facts which, with the exercisc of considerable ingenuity, or by the instigation of a hopeful C«ounds on imagination, might be made to serve as a foundation which he for this stupendous edifice of fancy. The cessation founded lis xp«t-- of the war with Spain had led to a reaction against tions, extreme Puritanism, now no longer strengthened by the patriotic feeling that whatever was most opposed to the Church of P,.ome was most opposed to the enemies of 54 TIIE DD_ED P//,qL/'//.I/ENT. CH. XWL England. And as the mass of the nation was settling down into content with the rites and with the teaching of the English Church, there were some who floated still further with the returning tide, and who were beginning to cast longing looks towards Rome. Four times a day Sarmiento's chapel was filled to overftowing. From time to rime the priests brought him word that the number of their converts was on the increase : and they were occasionally able to report that some great lord, or some member of tho Privy Council, was added to the list.  Already, he believed, a quarter of the population were Catholics at heart, and another quarter, being without any religion at all, would be ready to rally to the side of the Pope if it proved to be the strongest.  An impartial observer might, per- haps, have rmarked that no weight could be attached to such loose statistics as these, which probably owed their origin to the fervid imaginations of the priests and Jesuits who thronged the anabassador's bouse, and that, whatever might be said of the number of the converts, there was not tobe round amongst them a single lnan of moral or intellectual pre-eminence. Indeed, as far as we are able to judge, they were for the most part persons who were very unlikely to influence the age in which they lived. The giddy and thoughtless courtier, or the man of the world who had never really believed anything in his lire, might forswear a Protestantism which had never been more than nominal, and England would be none the worse. Notwithstanding his conviction of the soundness of his reasoning, Sarmiento knew that he would bave considerable difficulty in gaining the consent of t'hilip to his scheme ; and i These cases are occasionally mentioned in Sarmiento's despatches ; but Lord Wotton's name is the only one which is hot concealed. * Sarmiento divides the population as follows :-- Recusants .... Catholics who go to church . . Undecided .... l%ritans ..... Other Protestants .... 60%00o 900, OOO 600» Ot30 ,200)000 3,600,0oo AIMI 9 6X4. Sity:aucas.8ISS. 259-, , fo!. 69. Saxmiento to Philip III. t-ï-  ' x 6  4 COI'S UL TA T.[OA'S .4 T 'IA- DRID.  5  especially in persuading him to withdraw lais dcmand for the ilmnediate conversion of the Prince. He, thcrefore, fie urges Philip to began by assuring him that it would be altogether close with James'i useless tO persist in asking for a concession which r. James was unable to make without endanger- mg both lais owrt lire and that of lais son. Evcn to grant liberty of conscicnce by repealing the laws against the Catholics was beyond the power of a king of England, unless he could gain the consent of lais Parliament. All that he could do would be to connive at the breach of the penal laws by releas- ing the priests from prison, and by refusing to receive the fines of the laity. James was willing to do this; and if this offer was accepted, everything else would follow in course of time.  Sannicnto may well havc doubted whether lais suggestions would prove acceptable at Madrid. On the first news of Somerset's ovcrturcs, Philip, or the great man who- Jul_v. ah l'«s acted in lais name, had determined upon consulting opposition. the Pope.  The reply of Paul V. was anything but favourable. The proposed union, he said, would hot only imperil the faith of tbe Infanta, and the faith of any children that she might bave, but would also bring .about increased facilities of comnmlfication between the two countries which could hot but be detrimental to the purity of religion in Spain. ]3esides this, it was well known that it was a maxim in England that a king was justified in divorcing a childless wife. On these grounds he was unable to give lais approbation to the marriage.  ,,,.t. Even those to Maom the l'ope's objections are no "rh¢,,t objections at all cannot but wish that his judgment of theolo- i,. had been accepted as final in the matter. In his eyes marriage was not to be trifled with, even hen the political ad- Minutes of Sarmlento s despatches, june ,j-fi 2, , 4 " dllSS. 258, fol. . Philip III to Paul V., June &. Wrandsco de csus, 6. Guizot» Projet de 3lariage Woyal, 43- The Count of Castm to l'hilip III., July &. ranHsco de yesus» 6. x4 Guizot» 46. .6 TttE MDDLED PAI?LL4.1rE,vT. cH. XVllo vantages to be gained by it assumed the form of the propagation of religion. In his inmost heart, most probably, Philip thought the saine. ut Philip was seldom accustomed to take the initiative in matters of importance, and, upon the advice of the Çouncil of State, he laid the whole question before a junta of theologians. t was arranged that the theologians should be kept in ignorance of the Pope's reply, in order that they might not be biassed by it in giving their opinions. The hopes of the conversion of England, which fonned so brilliant a picture Sarmiento's despatches, overcame any scruples which they may have felt, and they voted in fitvour of the marriage on con- dition that the Pope's consent could be obtained. The Cuncil adopted their advice and ordered that the articles should l»e prepared. On one point only was there nmch discussion. Statesmen and theologians were agreed that it was unwise to ask for the conversion of the l'rince. But they were epte mer. Preparativn uncertain vhether it would be sale to content them- ofthe ,-,-i« seh'es with the remission of the fines by the mere contract, connivance of the King. At last one argument turned the scale. A change of law which would ant com- plete religious liberty would probably include the Puritans and the other Protestant sects. The remission of penalties by the royal authority would benefit the Catholics alone.  l)igby was expected to rcturn to his post at Madrid before the end of the year. With the men who, like Somerset, looked Digb»-'s upon an intrigue with Spain as a good political ,-«,,,,, speculation, or whose vanity was flattered by the 51adrid. cheap courtesies of Sarmiento, he had nothing in common. The Spanish ambassador never ventured to speak of him except as of a man of honesty and worth, to whom his master's interests were dearer than his own. No doubt, as long as human nature remains what itis, a man through whose hands the most important business of the day is passing can hardly help feeling a growing interest in the success of the policy which  Consultas of the Council of State, July =o 6, =o 'O'. 7 Aug. ' Aug. x6, S' , I614; Consulta of the jenta of theolo#ans, Sept. , I614. imancas 58, fol. I, 3, 5, 9- ran«iscodecsus, 2. 1614 DiGII I"S AD 'ICE. z:.7 is to gain him a naine in history, as well as to secure him the hmnediate favour of his sovere[gn. Yet Digby had hot accepted the charge of the negotiations without a protest. He lffis views on themax- had told the King that, in his opinion, it would be riage. far better that his son's wife should be a Protestant. Why should he hot look for support to the affections of his subjects rather than to the ducats of the Infanta? A Spanish Princess of Wales would bring with her elements of trouble and confusion. Under her protection the English Catholics would grow in numbers and authority, till it would become impossible to repress their insolence without adopting those harsh and violent measurcs which had long becn foreign to the spirit of the English law. Having thus done his duty by warning James of the danger which he was incurring, Digby proceeded to assure him that, whatever his wishes might be, he would do his utmost to conduct the negotiations to a successful issue. If the future Princess of Wales was tobe a Catholic, he thought that a marriage with an Infanta would be better than a marriage with the sister of the King of France. In Spain the t'rince would find the most unquestionable royal blood, and from Spain a larger portion might be obtained for the relief of the King's necessities. The only question was vhether the marriage could be arranged with no worse conditions than those with which other Catholic princes would be contented? The whole foreign policy of James was so mismanaged, and his attempt to conciliate Spain turned out so ill, that itis difiï- cult to estimate at its true value so moderate a pro- The Span- i_.h alliance test. Knowing, as we do, all that was to follow, it is anti the Spanish hot easy for us to remember that, if there was nothing match. tobe said in favour of the Spanish marriage, there was much tobe said in favour of keeping up a good under- standing with Spain, if only the Spaniards ruade it possible to do so. To put ourselves in Digby's place, it is necessary to realise the weariness which the long religious wars of thc six- teenth century had left behind them, and the anxious desire which was felt in so many quarters that the peace which had at I Digby to the Prince of Wates, I6I 7. Stale Trials, il. I4O8. VOL. II. S TItE .,4DDLED P.4IeLZ.4.1IENT. cI. xw. last been gained might hOt be endangered by zealots on either side. Could not England and Spain, the most powerful Pro- testant State and the most powerful Catholic State, corne to an understanding on the simple basis of refraining from aggression? l'erhaps even with that policy of meddling which had not been entirely renounced at lXIadrid, it might not have been altogether impossible, but for the events which a few years later occurred in Germany to reawaken the feverish antipathies of religious parties. At all events, if Digby's advice had been regarded, James would bave round himself with his hands free, when the çrisis came, and would have occupied a position which would have enabled hiln to mediate in reality as well as in name. CIIAPTER XVIII. TtiE IIENEVOLENCE AND TIiE IRIStt PARLIAMENT. THE dissolution of Parliament had been a triumph for North- ampton. He had long been looking forward to lais own ap- puie 5. pointment to the high office of Lord Treasurer. The l,&«h o investigations conducted by the Commissioners who Norh- ,,,pto,,. had been appointed after Salisbury's death, had re- lieved him from an}' fcar lest he should be held accountable for a deficit which was plainly not of lais making. In these inves- tigations he had taken part, and had shown no little diligence in conducting the inquiry. Whether his hopes were likely to be realised it is impossib!e to sa3'. tte was already strickcn down by disease. During the whole of the session he had been 1.ring ill st Greenwich. On the day after the dissolution, he was wdl enough to corne up to London. His strength, how- ever, was hot sufficient to bear a surgical operation to which he submitted, and on the isth of June he died, unregretted by men of ail classes and of ail parties.  Even if he had lived, Northampton might bave failed in at- taining the object of his ambition, as for some months before his s,,tCok death, James had known that he was a recipient of a appointeCl Spanish pension. Suffolk's character, on the other Treasur'.r. hand, had passed under Digby's investigations with- out a stain, and Suffolk, like lais uncle, was a warm partisan of the Spanish alliance. It was therefore only natural that the vacant appointment should be given to him. On July o, the King informed him that he had ruade choice of him for no  Chamberlain to Catleton, Jnne 3 o, Court a,»t Times, i. 325. $2 z6o TttE BEA'I'I'OLEA CE. cit. xvllt. other reason than for his approved fidclity and integrity. The office of Lord Chamberlain, vacated by Suffolk, was conferred S,rt upon Somerset. The King told him that he gave » him the place which would bring him into such close Chamber- i. relations with himself, becau»e he loved him better than all men living.  The offices of the Lord Privy Scal and of the Warden of the Cinque Ports, vhich had belongcd to Northampton, were tobe kept vacant till some one could be found fitted to hold them. In the meanwhile, Somerset was to transact the business of both thcse places. Not very long afterwards, the Chancellorship of the Exchequer -as given to Sir Philip Sydney's old fiiend, Sir Fulk Grcville, in place of Sir Julius Coesar, who had been appointed Iaster of the Rolls. The new Lord Treasurer had no light task before him. The state of the finances had been slightly improved during thc past Stateofthe year, but they still presented formidable obstacles to "" any Tl-easurer who was rash enough to entertain hopes of being able to balance the two sides of the account. From a statement  dtawn up the day after Suffolk's accession to office, it appeared that the estimated annual CXlenditure of the Crown now anaounted to 5z3,L, and that cven by including the 4,L which the Dutch were bound to pay every year until the whole debt was wipcd ooE the revenue could hot be cal- culated at more than 46,L, leaving a deficit of 6,L There vere, as usual, extraordinary expenses tobe takcn into account, and a debt of about 7,L was pressing on the King, who had no means çf paying a çarthing of it. Jamcs had «ertainly hOt chosen an opportune rime for breaking with his Parliament. At the rime of the dissolution some of the bishops ruade  «,- an offer to the King of the value of the bcst piece 1,« a of plate in their possession, to help him out of his by the i,p a difficulties, q'he proposal was eagerly acccpted, and others. in a few days ail the great lords and officers of the Crown were following their example. Soon, every man who had  Chamberlain to Carleton, July 4, S. . lxvii. 64 LoA fession tO make. A few days before the tf!al, Somerset threatened to brmg some charge or other against the King himself. James at once wrote to Sir George More, the new Lieutenant of the T»wer, telling him that this was merely 'some trick of' 552 Ttt" t.21LL OF SO.]IERSE7". CIL XX. prisoner's 'idle brain ; ' that it was easy to see that he intended Somerset to threaten hiln by laying an aspersion upon him th,-ete,l» ' of being in some sort accessory to his crime.' All the King. ho couid say was that, if Somerset had any message to send about the poisoning, there was no necessity to send it in private ; if ho wished to communicate with him on any other subject, he n-ltlSt wait till after the trial, as ho could not listen to hiln thon without incurring the suspicion of having in reality been accessory to the crilne. A day or two 1 r Solnerset s resistance took another turn. IIe declared that ho would hot go to the trial, on the plea, it would seem of sickness, being perhaps still hopeful that it would be possible to work on the compassion of the King.' Bacon had been for some time engaged in arranging with the King the manner in which it was intended that the trial should be conducted. Ho was resolved to do all A rrange- n,entsforthe that ho could to keep out of sight the wi!d stories trial, which Coke had adopted from I"ranklin, and to re- strict the evidence to that which had a direct bearing on the case.  Ho had also ruade arrangements for withdrming the Countess from the court as soon as possible, lest she should make in public that declaration of her husband's innocence which she had already ruade in private to two messengers sent  The King to Sir George More (.4mos, 273,276). Mr. Amos's supposi- tion that James had anything to do with the Overbury murder is quite in- admissible. It hot only contradicts all that we know of his charactzr, but it is rendered improbable by these letters themselves. If it had been true, xvould James have refused to receive any private message froln Somer- set ? would he have sent Lord Hay and Sir Robert Carr to see him? Mur- derers, if t.ey choose anybody to be a confidant of their secrets, would take care hot to double the danger of disclosure by employing two persons where one would be sufficient. But, in faet, the theory above referred to stands on no basis sufficiently solid to adroit of argument. It is impossible to prove a negative in such a case. " This seems to be the meaning of the letter of January 22 (Bacon's lVorks, ed. iXIontagu, ri. I9). In asking for the choice of a 'Steward of iudgment that may be al»le to moderate the evidence and cut off digres- sions,' Bacon, probably, was thinking of the way in which Essex's trial had been allowed to lapse into a scene of mtual recrimination. x616 TRL4L OF LADV SO.1IERSET. 353 to her by the King at her own request, l and he had proposed that a sirnilar course should be pursued towards Somerset hiln- self, if he allowed himself to use language derogatory of the King's honour. On lIay-4, the Countess of Somerset took her place in Westminster Hall, as a prisoner, at the bar of the High Tri1 orth« Steward's Court. It was to this that the passions and cOUl,t», frivolities of her young life had led her. The Hall was crowded with the faces of men who had corne to look upon her misery as upou a spectacle. No wouder that, whilst the indictment was being read, she turned pale and trembled, and that when she heard the naine of Weston first mentioned, she laid her face behiud her fan. Wheu the indictment had been read, she was asked, according to the usual form, whether she was guilty. The evidence was too plain, and there was nothing for it but to plead guilty. After Bacon had ruade a statement of ber connection with the poisoning, she was asked whether she had anythiug to say in arrest of judgment. In a voice so low as to be ahnost inaudible, she replied that she could not extenuate ber fault. She desired lnercy and begged that the Lords would intercede for her with the King. Ellesmere upon this pronounced sentence, and the prisoner was taken back to the Tower, to await the Kmo s decision. - The next day was appointed for the trial of the Earl. He had ruade one last effort to avoid the necessity of standing at 7 rl the bar. He pretended to be mad or ill, and unable v.opto to leave the Tower. If he still hoped to work on the c s._'apc a trial. King's feeliugs to save him from the degradation of a public trial, he had calculated wrongly, aud at the appointed time Sir George lIore, the new Lieuteuant of the Tower, was able to produce him at the bar.  Bacon to Villiers, May io. Zcltcrs aul ZoEe, v. e9o ; see p. I86, note " State 7)-ials, il. 95I. Chamberlain says, " She won pity by ber sober demeanour, which, in my opinion, was more curious and confident lhan was fit for a lady in such distress, yet she shed or ruade show of some tears divers rimes." Chamberlain to Carleton, May eS, Court aud i, 4o6. It is easy to see that there was a difference of feeling on the part the obsetvers. Chamberlain was evidently in a critical mood. ¥OL il. A A .354 TttE F«4ZZ, OF SOdIEI?SET. cr. xx. I t does hot follow that these repeated efforts to avoid a trial were equivalent to an acknowledgment of guilt. The Court was composed of English t'eers, and thcre was scarcely an English Pcer ho was hOt lais mortal enemy, whilst Ellesmere, who actcd as Lord High Steward, had bcen one of the leaders of the party which had long strivcn to pull him clown. Vhether he were innocent or guilty, at least Somerset bore himsclf proudly in the face of danger. All the efforts which had been ruade to vring a confession from him had May 5. T,-i,a«th« been in vain. In spire of threats and promises, he »=" pleadcd Not guilty. After a few words from Montague, Ilacon opcned the case. He spoke of the horrible nature of n.«o' the crilne which had been committed, a crime from speech, xvhich no man could secure himself, and which, when it was once committed, it was ahnost impossible to detect. He then proceedcd to lay down the doctrine hich, however iniquitous it might be, was genera]ly accepted at the time, that the Peers were bound to consider the verdict in Weston's case as fi, lly proved, so that they might hot allow themselves to raise any questions as to the fact of the poison having been adminis- tered, as that verdict declared it to bave been. AI1 that he had to prove was that Somerset was accessory to the murder, the facts of which must be taken for granted. He then gave his account of the connection which had existed between the prisoner and the murdered man. Somerset, he told the Court, had been on terres of the closest intimacy with Overbu,3- , till he round that his dependent was doing his best to deter him frona the marriage upon which he had set his heart. Upon this Somerset grcw alarmed, as he had entrusted Overbury with important state secrets, which might be easily used to lais ruin. At the saine time, Lady Somerset and Northampton agreed in hating the man who was opposing the marriage out of dislike both to the lady herself and to the whole family of the Howards. It was agreed amongst thena that Overbury should be invited to go abroad, whilst Somerset was to induce hina to refuse the employment offered to him. .An excuse would in this way be round for his conamittal to the Tower, where it would be easy to get rid of him by poison. Whilst Weston, by Mrs. Turner's direction, was giving him one poison after another, Somerset t6t6 TRIAL OF SOMERSET. 355 was doing what he could to prevent lais obtaining his enlarge ment from the King. ]3acon then stated that there was evi- dence in possession of the Government sufficient to prove four points : namely, that Somerset bore malice to Overbury before his imprisonment ; that he contrived the scheme by which that inaprlsomuent was effected ; that he actually sent poisons to the Tower ; and that he did his best to suppress the proofs of his guilt. The first two of these he proposed to deal with himself, the others would be left to Montague and Crew, who werc lais assistants in conducting the prosecution. There could be little difficulty in proving the two points hicla Bacon had selected tbr himself, as they referred to facts of which there could be no reasonable doubt. The Evidence vro,t,«,à Ietters which Overbury had written, together with by him. P , Somers.t s answers to Northampton, were now avail- able as evidence, having been brought to Coke by the person to whom they had been delivered for the purpose of concealing them. By ineans of these and of some other evidcnce which was prçduced, it was shown beyond a doubt that Solnerset had entrusted Overbury with state secrets, and that Overbury con- sldered that he had been ill-treated by lais patron. But when J3acon proceeded to argue that it was the fcar of the disclosure of these state secrets which ruade Solnerset desirous of putting Overbury to death, he was simply begging the question at issue, t With the second point there was as little difficulty. Somer- set had hilnself acknowledged that he had had a hand in pro- curing Overbury's ilnprisonment, and it was easy to establish the fact that he had taken part in the appointment of Helwys and Weston. Passages were also produced from Northampton's Ietters to Somerset, which proved that there had been some plot in which they had both been concerned, and that Helwys had expressed his opinion that Overbury's death would be a  " That," he says, " might rather cause him to fear him than the hlndrance of his marriage ; if that had been it alone, his going beyond sea would have served the turn." Not at all, if he was afraid that Overbury might give information to the Court then sitting, hich would lead it to reject the suit for the dissolution of marriage, tle rr.ight do this by letter ; hich was the ver), thing he was Frevented from doing in the Tower. AA. 356 TtIE F«4LL OF .çOJIERSST. cH. x:-. satisfactory tennination to lais imprisonment. 1 As soon as Bacon had concluded the part which had been assigned to him, Ellesnere pressed Somerset to acknowledge lais guilt. "My lord," was Somerset's reply, "I came hither with a resolution to defênd myself." "l'he evidence by which it was intended to prove that the poison had actually been administered with Somerset's know- gtontg,,e's ledge, xvas then produced by Montague. He first rgume,t. showed that Somerset had been in the habit of sending powders to Overbury. ]3eing, however, destitute of even a shadow of evidênce to prove that the powders were poisonous, he was obliged to fall back upon the irrelevant assertion that fotlr several juries had declared by their ver- dicts that they were so. Ite then produced a lêttêr of the Countess of Somerset's, written to Helwys, to prove that the tarts and jellies sent had contained poison, and attempted to show, by the interpretation of an expression which had been disavowcd by Lady Somerset herself, that Somerset had been the person who had sent them. That there had been any poison in the tarts at all, was supported by a declaration of Lady Somerset ; but we bave no means of knowing whether this de- claration might hot have been ruade after she had discovered that it was inpossible to make any satisfactory defence for herself, and when she was ready to confess anything that her examiners wished. Even if there had been poison in the tarts, it would be necessary to show something more than that they had been originally sent from his kitchen. Accordingly, a deposi- tion of Franklin's was produced, in which he declared that I.ady Somerset had shown hiln a letter written by the Earl whilst Ovêrbury was in prison, in xvhich he said that 'he wondered ' In the printed trial it is said that the Lieutenant concludes that Overbury ' will recover and do good offices betwixt my Lord of Suffolk and )ou, which, if he do not, you shall have reason to count him a knave ; or else, that he shall hot recover at all, which he thinks the most sure and happy change of all.' In the other report, the last sentence stands, ' but the best is not to surfer him to rccover.' If Nol'thampton really had written this, it is inconceivable that no more use should have been Inade of it by the prosecution. x616 TIIAL OF SOJIERSET. these things were not yet despatched ;' and added, that ' Over- bury was like to come out within a few days, if Weston did hot ply himself.' Montague took care hot to breathe a syllable of the worthless trash which Franklin had also sought to palm off upon the examiners in hopes of obtaining a pardon, which would have been sufficient to prove that no crcdit whatevct ought to be given to the lnost solemn declarations of so un- blushing a liar. The effort to show that Somerset had had any connection Mmtever with the administration of poisons to Overbury having Cre,,-'s thus, according to our notions, thoroughly broken argument, dOWll, and not cven an attempt ha-ing been ruade to prove that he had so much as heard of the bribe which had been given to the apothecary's boy, by whom the nmrder, as far as we can judge, was actually effected, Serjeant Crew rose, and took up the comparatively easy task of drawing inferences from the subsequent proceedings of Somerset. His suppres- sion of the etters which had been written at the time, lais authorising Cotton to misdate them so as to mislead the judges, and his attcmpt to procure a pardon from the King, were un- doubtedly indications that Somerset had donc something of which he was ashamed. But that they proved that he had poisoned Overbury was another matter altogether, which Crew himself could only take for granted. Upon this the case for the prosecution was closed. In our own day the counsel who would appear on behalf of the prisoner vould have little trouble in overthrowing the evidence which had been produced. Ite would probably content himself with C,oe «t« pointing out, in a few short words, that no sufficient .aseforthe proof had been alleged that Overbury had ever t'rsecuti°n" been poisoned at all, and that, if he had been, it had certainl" not been shown that Somerset had had anything what- ever to do vith the crime. How different was the case when Somerset stood at the bar to reply to the charges which had been brought against him ! J)ifficu!tles He knew that there were some amongst his judges ,ls,»,t. who had lor/g been prejudiced against him, and that even if they came with the vmst honest intentions» 3;8 2"14t? I:'..ILL OF St')AI1?RS.ET. cr. xx. they had never been trained to the difficult task of sifting evldence so as to arrive at the truth, and that they were liable tobe lcd away, both by their own feelings, and by the skill and eloqucnce of the lawyers. He was allowed no counsel to under- take lais defence, and, unpractised as he was, he was called o to point out the defects in a long train of evidence, nmch of which he had, on that day, heard for the first time, without the power of summoning any witnesses, or of producng any evidence which it had hOt suited the purposes of the Crown lawyers to bring forward of their own accord. Ail these difficulties Somerset laboured under, in common with every man who, in those days, stood in the position which he was occupying. But there was one obstacle in lais way hich was peculiar to himself. It was necessary for him not only to show that the evidence against him was insufficient to justify lais condemnation, but to lnake out a story in which the facts were sufficient to account for the suspicious circumstances connected with the imprisonment of Overbury, and with the subsequent destruction of the letters which he had written and received at that time. This story, though it was probably truc, would not bear telling. He could hOt well tell the Court of all that had passed between himself and Lady Essex before the dissolution of the lnarriage, and that he had plotted and intrigued to detain Overbury in prison, through fear lest he should give evidence Maich might prevent the passing of the sentence of divorce, which the lady was then desirous of obtain- ing by means of false representations. .And if he had told this talc ofshame in the face of the world, what hope was there that the Peers, hostile to him as they were, would believe hiln, or, if they did believe him, that they would abstain from pronouncing a verdict against him, which they might easily justify fo them- selves by the loose views which prevailed in that age ? Whatever may have been his faults, and even his crimes, it s impossible not to look with some respect upon the lnan who stood up, exhausted by the long course of the trial, to make lais defence in what he xnust have known to be a hopeless cause, rather than purchase the pardon which was held out to him by confessing himself to be guilty of nmrder. It was 65 TRL'4L OF SO.II'RSET. 359 late in the evening when he began to plead in defence of his honour rather than of lais life. The daylight had died away before the Crown lawyers had donc their part, and the torches threw their glaring light over the faces which were all turned in one direction, to hear what defence could possibly be ruade by the man of whom such a talc could be told as that to which they had just been listening. He began by acknowledging that he had consented to Oveïbury's imprisomnent, in order to put it out of his power to hinder lais lnarriage with Lad)" Esex. If any means I-lis defence. had been used to poison Overbury whilst he was in prison, he had known nothing of it. As to Northampton's letters, they proved nothing against him. He then referred to the letter which, according to Franklin, had been written by him, and which formed one of the strongest parts of the evidence against him. " If this letter," he said, "be to be produced, if l«rances ever confessed that I did ever send such a letter unto lier, I ana then guilty and convicted without excuse ; but I call Heaven now to witness I never wrote any such letter, neither can such be produced. Let hOt you, then, my noble Peers, rdy upon the memorative relation of such a villain as Franklin, neither think it a hard request when I humbly desire )-ou to weigh my protestations, my oath upon n-ly honour and con- science, against the lewd information of so bad a lniscreant." He then proceeded to answer the charge of having been con- cerned in sending poisons to the Tower. The tarts, he said, which he had sent were good; if lais wife had sent anv in which poison had been mixed, this wv, s nothing to him. As for the powders, he had received them from Sir Robert Killigrew, and sent them on; and Overbury had himself acknowledged, in a letter which was before the Court, that he had hot suffered from them. Here he was interrupted by Crew, who told him that the three powders which he had received from Killigrew had been otherwise accounted for. The powder in question was one hot sent by Killigrew, and must have been poison. The discrepancy was hot material, as it was hOt likely that Somerset would remelnber the exact history of the powders which he had sent to Overbury two years before, and it was a 36o Ttt£." FALL OF S0.1I£I¢S£T. cIq. xx nacre assertion of the lawyers that this fourth powder, however acquired, vas poison. But vith che general feeling of che Court against him, Somerset's inability to explain the origin of this 1,owder was undoubtedly damaging to his case. Nor were his explanations as to lais reasons for destroying the papers and obtaining the pardon altogether satisfactory. Whcn he had concluded his defence, the Lords rctired to consider their verdict. On the one hand they had heard an argument which had no inherent improbability in "l'hc ,'era;a. itself, and which was supported by a chain of evidence of which they, at least, were unable to see the deficiencies. On the other hand, the prisoner's defence had been ruade ith courage and ability, but il was hOt without some reticence on points which it was necessary to clear up. He had failed to prove lais innocence tobe beyond question, and the Peers unani- mously agreed to pronounce him guilty, l Somerset, after ex- pressing a hope that the Court would intercêde vith the King for mercy, was removed from the bar.   Mr. Spedding's argument on the side of Somerset's guilt should be compared with vhat I have said, especially in Lett«rs and L, v. 328. .%till, closely reasoned as the greater part of che argument is, I cannot con- rince myself that che destruction and falsification of evidence is so fatal to lhe theory of Somerset's innocence as Mr. Spedding thought. Knowing, as Somerset did, chat he had been at the bottom of che original scheme of admifistering emetics, he nmst bave seen Chat all che evidence of that vhich he had done xvould tell against him on the g=ver charge. Nor does Mr. Spedding talle account of Somerset's knowledge of the violent hosfilily of che lords and gentlemen about che Court, which must bave ruade him feel chat everything against him woud be interpreted in ils xvorst sense. This comes out strongly in incidental allusions to his position in .qal-miento's despatches, -hich I have recently been able to read over again in Mr. Cosens's transcfipts. " Amos, 65-I I I ; I22-I56. It is difficult to say vhat is the principle upon hich the differences between the reports prlnted by Mr. Amos test. The tvo reports of Lady Somerset's letter show that neither reporter had access to the documents read in Court, as do also the mistakes in the nick- qames applied to pcrsons in the Overbury correspondence. If tlfis is the case it would hot be right to attribute the alterations in the first report to n official hand. Yet some of the discrepancies noticed by Mr. &mos {3-I2O) are suspicious. Il is curious that he does hot mention the most i,nportant c,f ail, that in thc Icttcrs fzom Northampton. " t66 )'A31"I:.-S'S CLEÀI£2'c  I; 36t It was now left to the King to decide wbat he would do. James was eatly relieved when he heard that the trial had 'n passed off Yithout anything disagreeable to himsel£ r,h Hc had sbown great anxiety for news, fearing, no C,l,ts. doubt, that Somerset would betray the secret of those negotiations with Spain which he was so desirous of concealing.  Whatever might be thought of the other actors in the tragedy, if there had been one thing which had been more plainly proved than another, it was that Lady Somerset had been the main insligator and author of the nmrder. was unjust to take away the lires of her tools, whilst she her- self was allowed fo escape. Yet Jalnes never seems to have entertained the thought of allowing the sentence to pass upon ber, and it vould indeed have been very hard for him to de- cide otherwise than he did. Her youth and beauty, hcr powerful friends, her very womanbood, with its impulsive, passionate nature, all concurred to plead hard for her. On July 3 her i,ardon was sealed,  though the imprisonlnent in the Towcr was not rcmitted. Bcfore it was COml>leted it had been sent back to Bacon, a with directions that he should insert in it the excuse that she had been drawn into crime 'by the procure- ment and wicked instigation of certain base persons.' We are left to depend upon conjecture for the lnotives hich Jalnes allowed to influence him in spariug Somerset's s¢¢t' lire. We know that he refused to allow his arms to lifeisspared, be taken dovn froln amongst those of the other Knights of the Garter at St. George's Chapel at Windsor. We also gain glimpses of a negotiation which was going on, by 'hich Somerset might have obtained a pardon if he had «hosen to submit to the conditions offered.  A letter  has i Sherburn to Carleton, May 3 , & P. lxxxvii. 4o.  Stale Trials, ii. loe 5. Sherburn to Carleton, July lxxxviii. 5. a This ts implied in Bacon's lelter to Villiers, July  , Zcltw's and Z, v. 375- * Nethersole to Cmleon, Sept. , 624, * The letter is printed in Cal, ala, i. . It bas been used to prove that Somerset was aware of some secret with hich he was able t threaten the King, a use which can be ruade of it only b), those who corne to the readlng 36z 2"7tE F.ILL Ot: SOM'ERSET. cH. xx. also been preserved, written by Somerset to the King, ap- parently after it had been agreed that his life should be spared, of it with a foregone conclusion. The intention of the wrlter is evidently fo ask for the restitution of his property from the King himself, without being obliged to obtain the intercession of anyone. The passage, "I will say no further, neither in that wbich your 3Iajesty doubted my aptness to fall into ; for my cause, nor my confidcnce is hOt in that distress as for to u.e that means of intercession, nor of anything besides, but to remember your Majesty that I ain the workmanship of your hand, &c.," plainly bears he meaning which I bave assigned to it, as does the earliei sentence, " I ŒEm in hope that my condition is hOt capable of so much more misery as that I need to make mysêlf a passage fo you by such way of intercession." The whole letter, I think, presupposses that Somerset's life had already 1,een granted him. fie is now petitioning for the restoration of the whole ofhis property. Ile distinctly declares his innocence. " I fell," he say% "rather for want of well-defending than by the violence or force of any proofs : for I so far forsook myself and my cause, as that it may be a question whether I was more condemned for that, or for the matter itself which was the subject of this day's controvcrsy." Another passage is very curious : " Aspersions are taken away by your Majesty's letting me become stlbject to tiae utmost power of the law, with the lires of so many of the offenders .... Neither ever was there such aspersion (God knows), in any possibility towards your Majesty, but anaongst those who would create those pretences to mislead your Majesty, and thereby make me miserable." loes hot this refute the idea that Somerset threatened James that he would accuse him of having part in the murder of Overbury ? The idea had first proceeded from the King himself, who wrote to More that he could hot hear a private message from the prisoner without making him- self accessory to his crime. The aspersions just spoken of evidently refer to lames's fear lest he should be supposed to have had part in the crime. XVould Somerset have written thus, if he had ever threatened James with accusing him of taking such a part ? Still, however, the difficulty remains tlnsolved as to the real purport of Somerset's messages, which threw James into such consternation. There is a slight hint iii the letter which may, I,erhaps, help us a little. " Nay, to some concerned in this business, wherein I Stlffer, you have pardoned more unto than I desire, who (as it is reported), if they had corne to the test, had proved copper, and shouhl have drunk of the bitter cup as well as others." I)oes hot this l'efer to the iXlonson.;? And if we put this together with whatever fact is at th bottom of Weldon's distorted story about the trial of Sir T. Ionson, it makes it hot altogether improbable that it was something connected with the Spanish pensions wnich Someiset threatened to blurt out at the trial. 16 x 6 SOJ[ERSET P,4RDO2VED. 363 in which he states that he had renounced all claire to pension, place, or office, and, as far as can be made out from the obscure allusions to circumstances which are unknown to us, refuses to accept of the intercession of some peon whose naine is not given, which he was, as it would seem, to purchase by the sacrifice of some portion of his property. Knowing as we do that there w a proposal to ant to Villiers the manor of Sherborne, which had been repurchased by Somerset from the Crown in the preceding summer, it is by no means unlikely that a pardon was offered to Somerset, vith full restitution of his property, if he would agree to make use of the intercession of Villiers, and to give up to him the manor of Sherborne. This, however, was what Somerset steadily refused to do. He declared that he was an innocent nmn, and as such he would accept favours from no hand but from that of the King himself. H ikpt It was in all probability in consequence of this firm-  pi« ness that he was kept in prison, with the judgment for nlany 3 -ears" which had been pronounced against him hanging over his head, till January I622, when he and the Countess were permitted to leave the Tower, though they were still confined to certain places of residence vhich were allotted to them. At last, a few months before the King's But recei-es a pardnat death, Somerset received a formal pardon for the t. offence of which he had been convicted. The Monsons did not remain long in prison. In July, Sir William was set at liberty.  Sir Thomas was allowed to leave the Tower, on bail, in October, and his case was I .iberat{on of the referred to Bacon and Yelverton, who reported that 51,«. there was not suNcient evidence to proceed against him. Accordingly, a pardon was granted to him, which he pleaded at the bar of the King's Bench, declaring, at the saine time, that he was perfectly innocent of the crime which had been imputed to him.   Cav L«tt«rs, 39. « Z,id. 47. Bacon and Yelverton fo the K[ng, Dec. 7, I616. State- ment of the case of Sir Thomas Monson, Feb. 12, 1617, Bacon's Lctlers and Æ, vi. 12o. CHAPTER XXI. TWO FOREIGN POLICIES. THERE iS one subject which presents itself again and again with unvarying monotony to all who study the history of the Stuart ,6. Kings. Whilst everything clse was changing around Sept. 4. theln, the elnltiness of the Exchequer continued to Ja,e. perl,lex the brains ofa whole succession of Treasurers. xpresses a ,,ishtopay O13 September 24, just after the Government had his debts and to reduce his COllle upon the traces of the poisoners, Jamcs as- expenditure, scmbled the Council at Greenwich, and informed them that he was anxious to pay lais debts, and to reduce lais expenditme, and that he looked to theln to tel! hiln how it xas possible to effect the object which he had in view. "l'he next day the Council met again, and, after full delibera- tion, decided that the debt, which was now above 7oo, ooo/., was far too great to be met in any way excepting by Sept. 5. ïhe Comcil a Parlialnentary grant. Three days later, a dis- recommend a Parlia- CUSSiOFI was opened as to the measures Mfich it xvas ,,«t. necessary to take in order to induce the House of ComlllOlaS tO treat thê King with liberality. The first who spoke was Lakê. Hê had no difficulty in putting lais finger upon thê real points at issue. There was a Sept. $. general ilnpression, he said, that the King was too the"l'heydiscUSSmeasures bountiful, and that hê x-as acting illegally against thê t,» be ,ke, libertiês and privilegês of his subjêcts. With a view before it is ,m,noed. to meeting the first complaint, His Majesty must be moved to stay lais hand from gifts until lais estate xvas in a more flourishing condition, and to reduce his expenses in whatever vay might appear to be most practicable. As to the other 165 DISCUSSION ON C.4LLING A PARLI'A'IIE.NT. 36!; marrer, let the grievances of I61o be submitted to the King's Council, and if any of them were selected as being fit to be re- dressed, let them be dealt with without any further delay. Of ail the grievances, that which roused the greatest opposition was the levy of the Impositions, and it would be necessary to deal with them in some way or another. Although, however, Lake saw where the difficulties lay, he did not propose that the King should relinquish his right to the Impositions altogether; but he proceeded to suggest the enactment of certain laws for the benefit of trade. The two following speakers, Sir Julius Caesar and Sir Thonas Parry, contented themselves with ex- pressing a general assent to these views. Coke, who spoke after Parry, advocated still stronger measures. It would be necessary, he said, that, in addition to the contelnplated reduction of the expenditure, a stop should be put to the paylnent of pensions till the King's debts had been liquidated. It would also be well that a statement should be drawn up of the expenses which had been incurred at the comlnencelnent of the King's reign, and that it should be pre- sented to Parliament, in order that it might be seen that the difficulties of the Treasury did not arise from prodigality. He then proceeded to advise that no attempt should be lnade to influence the elections. He had seen in the last Parlialnent that all efforts of this kind had only recoiled upon their authors. He then recommended (and it is difficult to believe that he was hot influenced by a desire to put a check upon the influence of his great rival) that none of the King's learned counsel should have seats in the Lower House, partly because they were needed in the House of Lords, and partly because their presence was disliked by the ColnmOllS. He concluded by moving that committees might be formed of melnbers of the Council to consider of the particular concessions which were to be made. On the point of the Impositions he did not utter a word. Sir Fulk Greville, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, seemed unwilling to give up the revenue which he derived from that source, but he finally consented to make over the whole subject to the new Parliament, to deal with it at its pleasure. Winwood was the next speaker. He agreed with Coke, 366 TIVO FOREIGW POLICIES. cH. xx. as far as he had gone, but he expressed a wish that a special comlnittee lnight exalnine the Ilnpositions, to see in what way relief could best be given. He added a suggestion of lais own, that assurance should be given to the Parliament that vhatever supplies it might grant should be employed upon the public service, and in no other way. The principal speakers who followed were Bishop 13ilson, who recolnlnended that the Ieople should be taught 'that relief to their Sovereign in necessity was due jure dt",-'i/zo, and no less due than their allegiance and service ;' Pembroke, who laid special stress on the settlement of the Ilnpositions ; Suffolk, who declared his beliefthat 'the taking away of ilnpositions de f,cto would not satisfy the Parliament, but that the point of right would be insisted upon;' and Elleslnere, who assured the 13oard that ' he would not speak of His Majesty's right of iml»osing, nor even give consent it should be spoken of in Parlialnent or elsewhere,' and who pro- posed a thorough investigation into various proposais for im- proving the financial position, or for rendering the King lnore l)Ol)ular. As soon as thc King had bccn informcd of thc discussion, lac approved of most of Ellesmere's recolmnendations, and on the following day the Council divided itself into committees, for the purpose of taking them separately into consideration. 1 The Councillors, it would appear, were ail of theln anxious that Parliament should be called, and were ail of Feeling «the them aware of the importance of the question of the Councillors. Ilnpositions. Not one of theln, however, really suggested a way out of the difficulty. It is by no means unlikely that James felt that it would be well to consult another and a better adviser than was to be found in the Pri W Council. At all events Bacon, about this lime, wrote hiln a long letter, encouraging hiln to smnmon a Parliament.  In many respects lais view coincided with that of 1 I Consultation . . . for a Parliament,' Bacon's Zelters and Zife, v. 94. As Mr. Spedding has suggested in his errata, the Bishop of Wincheso ter should be Bilson, not Andrewes. = Bacon to the King, £ellers and Zife, v. 76. ]Ir. Spedding thlnks it must bave boen written a little belote the meeting of the Council because 6 5 tTMCO.V'S AD 1 7CE. ;367 the Councillors ; but he had a definite plan for dealing with the hnpositions, and he saw, what none of the Councillors had seen, the connection between the domestic and the foreign policy of the King. The double marriages between France and SFain were ahnost immediately to take place, and the French Pro- testants were ata grave disadvantage. There was still a danger of war breaking out in Cleves and Juliers. "These things," he wrote, " will give tire to our nation, and make them aspire fo be again umpires of those wars, or at least to retrench the greatness of Spain for their own preservation. And this is a subject worthy for counsellors of state and others of quality to work upon to more a Parliament, which is ever best persuaded l»y somewhat that is above their capacity ; and not to stand as in a shop to set out the King's bills of graces, whereof every man will take upon him to discern, and to value lais own judgment by disvaluing the pieces." Such a policy implied no war of aggression upon Spain. It was one of defence against a Government bent upon ilnposing its religious and political system by force and intrigue upon the test of Europe. It was necessary, however, for Bacon to say more than this. Writing of the good effect which might ensue if the King could show that he was not entirely dependent on Parliament, he referred to that negotiation which Digby was then carrying on at Madrid, and of which, if he knew little, he certainly suspected more than he knew. He therefore recommended James to make use of' the opinion of some great offer for a marriage of the Prince with Spain.' " Not," he went on to say, "that I shall easily advise that that should be really effected ; but I say the pinion of it may have singular use, both because it will easily be believed that the offer may be so great froln that hand, as may at once free tlm King's estate ; and chiefly because it will be a notable attractive to Parliament, that hates the Spaniard, so to do for ttm K-ing as his state may not force him to fall upon that condition." the di»cussion is not mentioned. But it would be disrespectful in hlm to mention what was understood to be secret. The beginning woulcl llardly' bave bcen so abruï_t unless his opinion had been asked. 368 TIIOEo FOREIG.V I'OZICIES. ch. xx. l'erhaps, if Bacon had been writing simpl), to express h,_'s own thoughts, he would not have couched them in quite so unsatisfactory a forlal ; but at all events the meauing is clear. He ¥ished James to take his place against Spain in the coming struggle. I11 fact the question whether there was to be a successflll Parliament or not depended quite as much on the line which James might take in this matter as it did on his resolution about the Ilnpositions. Unfortunately, James was the last man in the world to take up the position to which Bacon pointed. Opposition to Spain was, for hiln, too closely connected with the war of plunder and aggaession which was favoured by Abbot and Winwood, to bave any charms in his eyes. On I)ecember 7, whilst the Council was still labouring over projects of econolny, he sent I.ord Fenton--the trusty 1»««.. Scotchman who, as Sir James Erskine, had suc- James re- ceeded Raleigh as Captain of the Guard---to assure St»l ,'es to proceed with Sarmicnto that in spire of the interruption caused by the Spanih marriage. Somerset's disgrace, he was ready to go on with the negotiations for the nmrriage, and that he wished to be on the most friendly terres with the King of Spain.t That there was anything incompatible bctween this reso- lution and lais wish to call a Parlialnent, James did not undcrstand. Abbot .and Winwood continued to represent to J.m.«s him the advantages which he would gain by sum- ,,,«.to moning Parliament. Shortly before Christmas the l'arliament. Council reported in favour of various economies, and Jmnes prolnised to diminish his personal expenditure as far as he could. He expressed himself as being eager tiret Parlimnent should meet,  and on Decelnber e_-, he gave a public intilnation of his wishes by appointing Pembroke, who was hostile to the Spanish alliance, to the office of Lord Chamberlain, which had becolne vacant upon So herser s arrest, s  Sarmiento to ïiaillp iii., Dec. o__ Simanca.r ,ZSS. 594, fol. 77. 6, » Farmiento to Philip III., Dec. 6, ibid. "594, fol. 93.  Crezo J¢llers, 2I. 66 P..RLLIM'E.VT NOT TO IE SU.ILII'O.VED. 369 In less than a fortnight the wind had changed. On Janu- ary z, 66, the CathoFc Earl of Worcester became I.ord Privy x6,6. Seal, and on January 3, not only was the Mastership of Thesudesignm- of the Horse, which had been vacated by Worcester, moning given to Villiers, an appointment which had no Pai-liament ,b-ndoned. political significance, but Lake the confidant of the Howards, the friend and now the pensioner of Spain, was ruade Secretary of State, to counterbalance Winwood. l On the saine day James had a long interview with Sarmiento, and on January o, the Spanish ambassador was able to inform his toaster that the thought of summoning Parliament vas for the present laid aside. The King had in fact taken alarm at the turmoil around him. The impression ruade by the Spanish lnarriages in France had resulted in a war-cry in England, and the hesitation of the Dutch to carry out their part of the treaty of Xanten until they could be certain that the Spaniards would carry out theirs, irritated James in the extreme.  James could hot, however, be consistent in any one line of policy. I-te saw too many sides to every question to be a mere partisan, whilst he was incapable of rising into a states- man, because he never saw more than one side at a time. The abandonment of the idea of calling a Parliament brought with it the necessity of finding a large sure of money; and however large might be the portion which the Infanta might be ex- pected to bring with her, some rime must necessarily elapse before that source of revenue would be available to meet the wants of the English Exchequer. The rime was therefore propitious to those who could hold out hopes of gain to James, and the-opponents of Spain were at this time fertile Plans of the opponents of in financial projects which, as they fondly hoped, Spain. might lead him into a quarrel with that country. With this object in view, Ellesmere and Abbot, Pembroke and Winwood, had turned their eyes upon the man who still survived as the foremost relic of the Elizabethan age.  Carezo Zellers, 2. "-Sarmiento to Fhilip III. Jan. °' lan. z,  .  Situa»cas 3ISS. 595, fol. 3, 33- -OL. Il B B 17o TII'O FOREIG2V I'O.L[C.F_..ç. CH. XXI. That age, indeed, had hOt bcen altogether of pure gold. Side by side with its hardy daring, and its chivalrous devotion, were to be round its low intrigue, and its disregard of moral rcstramt. The social and rcligious system of the fiffeemh century had fallen to the ground. The social and religious system of the seventeenth century was hot 3et in being. The men who had served Elizabeth had, indeed, for the most part, the foot of the marrer in them. Their imaginations were fixed on high and noble objects. But it was reserved for another gencration to define, more strictly than they had been able to do, the boundary between right and wrong ; and to foire those habits of duty which stand like a wall of rock against tenapta- tion, whcn the unaided heroism of the mdivldual man would resist in vain. Of this age, of its faults and vices, as well as of its herotsm, Sir XValter Raleigh was the most complete representative. Thcre had been a time when men had looked to x 594- SrV. him for counsel, and they had seldom looked in /Raleigh. vain. He had been the Uysse.; of a time prolific in heroes. His exploits had been-achieved in many climes and under every possible variety of circnmstances. Amongst the bogs of Ireland, and under the walls of Cadiz ; here the surf of the Atlantic dashes against the rocks of the Western Isles ; and where the mighty flood of the Orinoco ffeshens the salt waves of the ocean, he had ruade his naine known as that of a nan fertile in expedients and undaunted in valour. Unfortunately Raleigh's heroism was the result rather of high instinct than of high principle. It was certain that he would never betray to the enemy, like Sir Vïlliam Stanley, a post committed to his charge, or accept a pension from Spain, like Salisbury and Northampton. lut he never could learn the lesson that thcre are rimes when inaction, or even failure, is better than the lnOSt glorious success. He loved to bask in the sunshine of a court, and he tempted men to forger the blows which he had dealt upon the Spaniard, in the ever-present spectacle of the monopolies with which his purse was filled, anti of the broad lands which he had torn ffom the feeb!e grasp of the Curch. Nor could he ever understand that if 1"594 RALEIGIt'S E.42ïL Y I'RO'ECTS. 371 was bettcr to lose sight of the object which he had in iew, than to secure it by falsehood and deceit. In his later years he was most especially exposed to his besetting tenptation. l:or it was then that he was called upon to bear injustice with equanimity, and to submit patiently to suffcring, rather than to put forth his hand to work which he was unable honestly to accomplish. Long before Raleigh ever saw the lace or James, he had been attracted to those countries which were to witness the ttisthoughts last exploits of his lire. In '594, he was living at «,ccupied Sherborne in forced retircment, and was undergoing with the ,,ai. the penalty which had been inflictcd upon hiln by 1,;lizabcth for the wrong which he had donc to ber whom he had at last ruade his wife. tic there round leisure to pondcr once more ovcr the narratives of the Spani.,:h discoverics in America, in which he had taken so deep an interest. As he read, the tire of mnbition lighted up within him. He, too, longed to place his nmne on the roll of the conquerors of the New World. But the fmne for which he was eager was very diffcrcnt from that ith which Cortes and Pizarro had bcen contented. His mind had been stirred to the depths by the tales of demoniac cruelty which were wafted across the Atlantic with every ship which returned in safety fron the perils of the western seas. Over these tales he brooded till he conceived the idea of another conquest--of a conquest to be undertaken for the preservation, not for the destruction, of the nativcs er the land. Might there not be other elnpires upon the American continent as rich and as powerful as those which had suc- Culnbed to a handfll of Spanish adventurers? To them he would present himself in the naine of the Great Queen, whose servant he was, in order that he lnight save them from the oppressors of their race. He would train them to the use of arms, and to habits of military discipline. Spain had degraded the Indians to the lot of bondsmen. England should rai.se them to the dignity of civilised and intelligent freemen. For such services, he doubted not, the gratefld Indians would willingly pay tribute to their benefactors out of the superfluity of their wealth. E.gland would no longer be over-matched .372 TII'O FOREIGW POI.ICIF_.S. ¢. xxl. in the battle which she was waging for her very existence. The golden strealn which was ceaselessly flowing into the Tagus and the Guadalquiver would, ai lcast in part, be diverted t,» the Thalnes. No longcr would complaints be heard of the dificulty of lneeting the expenses of the war with the lniserable revenue which was all that Elizabeth could call ber own. The gold which had becn used by Philip to COlrupt and enslave would, in F.nglish hands, be all-powerful to free the nations of Europe rioto his detested yoke. The tract of country in Mfich Raleigh hoped to try the grand experilnent was s/tuated somcwhere above the head of the delta of the Orinoco, at an unknowll distance 1:1 Dorado. froln the southern bank of the river, tt'ere, if credit was to be given to the reports generally current, was to be found a kingdom whose treasures were ai least equal to those which, at the cost of so much blood and misel3, , had been wrested from the Incas of Peru. It was said that the sovereign of this inighty elnpire had his abode in the city of [anoa, ul)oll the shores of the lake of Parima, a vast inland sea to hich the Caspian alone, amongst eastern waters, was to be compared. The naine of EI Dorado, the Golden, was in these narratives solnetilnes applied to the king himself, who was said to appear on festive occasions with his bare lilnbs sprinklcd with gold dust ; but more gelmrally to the city in -hich he was supposed to hold his court. According to a legend, which was probably of Spanish origin, he was a descendant of a younger brother of the Inca Atahualpa, who had hilnself been treacherously slaughtered by Pizarro. The relnainder of this story was perhaps of native growth, though the seeds froln hich it sprang had in all probability been quickened into life by the eager inquisitiveness of Eulopeans. The lake of Parilna has long since resolved itself into the ilmndations which, ai certain seasons of the year, spread over Probable the level plains, to the enormous extent of fourteen origin of the fable, thousand square mlles.  For the fable of the Golden City no similar foundation has been discovered. Gold is  Raleigh's Z)iscoz..oy of GMam,. Ed. Schcmburgk, Introd. 54. I hall alwa)-s quote from this editio. 1 $94 RALEIGIt ZV G'L.tA'.I. 373 indeed round amongst the rocks and in the rivcr-beds of Guiana, but if does not ex,st in sufficient quantities to repay the expenses of working. It must not, however, be forgotten, that to gare rase to such a talc, it was enough that the wealth described should have been of importance in the eyes of the first narrators, however little its value may have been when judged by th« Eropean standard. Whatever gold was iii existence would soon find its way into the hands of the most l:.owerfil and warlike of the neighbom'ing tribes, and it as certain that the value of the riches thus acquired would spcedily be exaggeratcd by all who had suffered frolll the violence of its possessors. When once the idea of great wealth had been a.ccepted, the talc would quickly spread froln tribe to tribe, and would be repeated with peculiar emphasis whenever a xvhite man hapl»ened to be present. It was too wcll known hat these strange beings from beyond the sea had corne to search for gold, and the lesson was soon learned that the surest way to purchase their aid was to impress them with a bclicf in the unbounded wealth of the enemy. It as easy for us to laugh at such a talc as this. In Ralelgh's day it would bave becn difficult to show any satis- sç». factory reason for rejecting it. Raleigh, at all events, Raleigh's bclieved it" and the spring of 595 saw him once first voyage  to ç;i-,,-. more upon the seas, bound for that new world which had filled so large a place il1 lais thoughts, but which he had never )et seen with lais bodily eyes. From Berreo, the Spanish governor of Trinidad, xxlaOln ho had contrlved to capture, Raleigh learned something of the Golden Land of which he was in search. The Spaniard, too, had joined il1 the quest, and had even formed a settlelnent, named San "l'honaè, hOt far from the spot here the Caroni discharges its waters into the Orinoco, hich he had hoped to make the basis of lais future operations. But it was hot long before the presence of Spaniards produced its usual conse- quences. The Indians were goaded into resistance by the «ruelty of thier oppressors, and Berreo's little band round the post no longer tenable. ]3erreo had accordingly been com- pelled to retire to Trinidad, where he was awaiting reinforce- 374 îrH'O FOREIG.V I0LICI£5: cil xxI. ments rioto Spain at the time when Ra|cigh appeared upon the coast. The only Spanish force leff on the Orinoco was a slnall garrison occupying a village belongmg to a chief named ('arapana .: but, as this place xvas situated bclow the head of the delta, on the eastern branch of the river, Raleigh would find no difficulty iii making his way unobserved up the western channel. Hostile attacks, howcver, were hot the only danger to be encountercd. For two hundred and fifty miles--a distance "Vh«««t xvhich xvas magnified into four hundred by the or h« ,i,.«. imagination of the weary roxYers--Raleigh and his companions strugglcd in open boats against the mighty stream which xvas sweeping past them to the sea. The unwholesome fl»od whi«h thev carried xvith them was barely sufficient in quantity to support their exhausted frames. Day afler day they were parched by the scorching sunbeams, and by night they wcre exposed to the heavv dew. At last they arrived at 2\romaia, a district not far from lerreo's deserted settlement of S'an Thomè. The chief of the tribe by which that part of the country xvas occupied had been put to death by Berreo's orders, and his uncle and successor, Topiaxvari, was glad cnough to welcome in the English stranger an enemv of Spain. The Indian told him all he knew, or thought he knew, about the golden elnpire, and gave him guides to accompany him amongst the neighbouring tribes. Ralcigh, as soon as he had lç-ft the friendly chicf, ascended the stream as far as the lnouth f the Caror.i, where he picked up some stones in which frag- ments of gold were imbedded. On his return, he held a long consultation with Topiawari. The Indian promised him the assistance of the ncighbouring tribes in his attack upon El ] orado, but recommcnded him, on account of the lateness of the season, to defer his enterprise till the following year. l Raleigh, thercforc, took leave of Topiawari, with a promi.e that he would soon be back again. A little lower down the .«godm,,« strcam he was persuaded by his Indian guide to w,,,«d ot. leave the boats, and to strike off into a track which tan along the foot of the hills at no great distance ffOln th¢ 1595 R.4LEIGI I2V GUI_tiN.4. 375 southern bank of the river, and which led, as the Indian assured him, to a lnOUntain where stoncs of the colour of gold were to be found. Raleigh accompanied hiln to thc place, and saw the stones, but does hot seem to bave thought them of any great value. After some further explorations, he rcturned to the boats, leaving Keymis, his faithful follower, who was a better walker than hi,nself, to accompany the Indian in a direction parallel with the stream, so as to rejoin lais comrades lower down. In due course of time Keymis was taken on board at the appointed place. At first he did hot speak of having seen anything rcnmrkable. Afterwards he rcmcmbered that, as he passed a certain spot, the guide had ruade signs fo hiln to follow him ; but that, supposing that he mcrcly wished to show him a waterfall, he had refused to turn asidc rioto the track. For the time, he remembered the circumstancc lncrcly as an ordiuary incident of travel, Iittle knowing what an in- fluence that lonely SlZOt amongst the hills was to excrcise upon the dcstinies of lais toaster and of hilnselfi  Raleigh's reception in Egland was hot what he had a right to expect. Eizabeth still looked coldly tlpon him, and ligh' gave no sign of readiness to forward the enterprise rcturn, upon which he had -:et lais heart. Sober lnell, who would have given him an enthu.iastic welcome if he had sailed into Plymouth Sound followed by a long train of Spanish prizes, shook their heads dubiously wla.'ll taey saw that he had re- turned empty-handed, and came to the conclusion that the story of the golden empire was a mere fabrication, as baseless as the wonderful tales about the armies composed of fcmalc warriors, or about the men with heads beneath their shoulders which Raleigh had found floating amongst the Indian tribes. 'ar more galling were the charges which were circulated in secret by lais enemies. Some said that he had been hiding in Cornwall, and had never crossed the Atlantic at ail. Others declared that he had gone as far as the toast of Africa, and had there bought the pieces of gold which he exhibited. After this, it was easy to say that his specimens were hot gold at all, but orly pieces of some glittering mineral of no use to anyone.  19isc'erj, of G«iana, 9 S. 376 7"II'0 I:OREIGW POLICIES. CH. XXL Raleigh's reply to these calumnies was the publication :ff the xxhole history of the voyage from xvhich he had just returned. Pulqicafion I11 other works he may have displayed higher genius, of the dis- and in other achievements he may have approached covery of C;uiana. nlore nearly to success ; but whenever lais character is callcd in question, it is to this little book that a hearing should first be given. To Raleigh, the man of action, the discovery and conquest of Guialaa was what the New Atlantis was to lIacon, the man of thought. It shows not so rnuçh what he was as what he would have been. t A great idea had taken lOSSeSsion of him, and, in ordcr to carry it out, he had spurned tvery ordinary means of enriching himself. It was an idea which was to haunt bim through good fortune and through evil tbrtune, till it brought him to lais grave. He was now looking forward to returning to Guiana under the Queen's authority, that he might establish anaougst those simple tribes the empire t,f which he hoped to be the founder. If Raleigh could bave contented hilnself with merely literary saccess, the reception which was accorded to his book would have been sufficient to gladden his heart. In two or three years it went through at least two editions in England, at a rime -hen second editions were far rarer than thev are at present. It was hot long before it was translated into ahnost evei T language of cultivated Europe. iFrom the banks of the Clyde to the banks of the Danube, men were able to aUatlse thelnselves in the -inter evenings vith the stories about the strange peoples who lived on the shores of the Orinoco ; and opened their eyes in wolder'as they read of the Amazolaian warriors, of the men lao scarcely bore a human shape, and, above all, of the golden monarch of the golden city beside the lake of Parima. But, as as far as any practical result was concerned, the book fell fiat upon the world. Amongst the thousands who amused them- selves over its pages, it was difficult to find one who would make any sacrifice, however slight, to help on the realisation of laleigh's dream. - t "A man's ideal," says Mr. Spedding, "though hot necessaril I, a description of what he is, is ahnost always a description of what he would be." Preface fo the New Atlantis, ]Tacon's l'hilos@hical ll'orbs, iii. 22o - Jisa'oy of Gtt[ata, Introd. 55. t.96 A'E I21[I._ç'S I'O I'AGE. 377 Still, though the nation and the Queen looked coldly on, there were a few who were ready to trust him once nlore. ,s96. The aged Burghley gave him 5ol. towards the ex- Theexpedi- penses of another voyage, and Sir Robert Cecil tion to Cadiz. risked a new ship, the mere hull of which cost 8ooL ]lut Raleigh could not leave England. ïhe Queen needed lais services nearer home. He had tried in vain to interest ber in Guiana. Vhilst Raleigh was thinking of E1 Dorado, Eliza- beth was thinking of the great Spanish fleet lying in Cadiz harbour. In obedience to her, he turned aside to Cadiz, rioto whence he returned after having achieved, in co-operation with the sailors of the I)utch Republic, the most glorious victory which had for centuries been won by English arms upon the Continent. ]lut if Raleigh could not go to Guiana, at least he could send Keymis. His faithful follower sailed in the February aftcr his return. In the Essequibo he heard ffesh rumours Voyage of .)-mito of Manoa, and was told of a new route by which it (;"'"" might be apl)roached ; but the news from the Orinoco was disheartening. The rivalry which always existed between the Spanish governors of the various towns aiong the coast iaad broken out into a flame. 13erreo had been assaulted by the combined forces of lais countrymen from Cumana and Mar- garita. He had been overmatched, and had fled up the river towards lais old settlement on the Caroni. Even there he bad been in danger, but had been relieved by the news of the arrival of the Iong-expected reinforcements from Spain. As, however, there was likely to be some little delay bcfore the Spanish vessels ruade their way up the Orinoco, Keymis determined to profit by the opportunity, and to revisit the spot at the mouth of the Caroni, where the specimens of ore had been picked up the year before. On lais arrival he found that Topiawari was dead, and that the friendly Indians had been won over by the Spaniards, or had been terrified into submission. All attempts to reach the Caroni were in vain, as Berreo had posted lais handful of men in a position which could not be attacked with any prospect of success. Keymis, therefore, dropped down the river ir search of the 378 7"1I"0 FOI?EIG.V I'OZICIES. cI. xxl. Indian guide who had accompanied him in the preceding year, and ho had pointed out, as he supposed, a spot Ile agaln h. rs ota from vhich a view of a waterfall was to be obtained. gold-mine. The man was not to be round, and inquiry soon con- vinced Keymis that the natives were completely cowed, and could not be expected to join in an attack upon their con- querors. But belote he left the district lais Indian pilot directed his attention to the very spot on the mountain's side where he imagined the waterfall to be. On inquiry, he learned to his atonishment that he had misunderstood the signs of his last year's companion, and that he had missed the opportunity of vi.iting what all the natives present concurred in describing as a gold mine of exceeding richness. Ite did not eonsider him- self justified in making the attempt with the small force at his disposal ; but he marked the spot, and he kept the information vhich he had acquired for Raleigh's use. 1 In the midst of the employments which were now coming thickly upon him, Raleigh did hot forget his darling s«heme. r.«,-w' He had not been many weeks in Egland, after his ,sg. return from Cadiz, before he commenced fitting out another vcssel which he despatched to Guiana under the com-- mand of ]3errv. 13erry struck the coast at a point farther to the east than Keymis had done. He seems to bave becn deterrcd, by the representations of the natives, from proceeding farther than the mouth of the Oyapok, and he returned vithout making any attempt to penetrate to EI Dorado.  Here, for a time, Raleigh's active participation in the (;Mana voyages ceased. I,eigh and Harcourt, who attempted 6o. colonisation early in the rcign of James, confined l"xplorations thcir attention to the more easterly part of the coast, t,f Leigh and mr«-t, where there were no Spaniards to interfere with them ; and, in the charter by which James gave his authority to their proceedings, the western boundary of their intended settlement was fixed at the Essequibo.  But if Raleigh sent n,» more vessels to the Orinoco, he did hot forget the Indians t Keymis, A Relaliot oflhe Scco,,l lvagc lo Guian,z.  ilakhtj,t, iii. 69z. * Grant, A, g. zS, 6o 3, S. 1: Gr, rt! l?ooA', i26. 16o3 TtIE LVDI.4,VS O.V TtlE ORLVOCO. 379 who had received him with so hearty a welcome, and whcnevcr he heard of a ship bound for Guiana he took care to charge the conmander with kindlv messages for his old friends. Nor was the great white chief forgotten in the West. Leigh's companions had to tell how an Indian had corne all the way ri-oto the Orinoco to inquire after Raleigh, and to know when lais promise to return was likely to be fulfilled. Harcourt reported that Leonard, who had been with Raleigh in Eng- land, bore him great affection, and that he loved the English nation with all lais heart. ! Evil days came upon Raleigh.  .As he lay in the Towcr he  tgttrc]tas, iv. I264, 270. " I have seen many of Aremberg's despatches at Simancas, but the following passages are the only ones in which the names of Iïaleigh and t_'obham occur : "Ayer . la tarde, despues de aver despachado mis cartas de 5 desto, me vino . buscar un amigo, el quai me dixo que se murmtrava de alna cons.piracion contra la persona del Rey por algunos Seïïores Yngleses, pero aun no me supo dezir la verdadera rayz, bien que havian ellos depositado algunos aqul (que quiere dezir puesto en manos de algunos Seïiores en guarda) algunos Seïïores, cuyos nombres son llilort Drak," i.e. Br«oke, " Ser Water Iïale, hermano menor de Milor Cobham, que le fuéron . sacar de su casa, cosa que rira t mayor. Despues otro me ha confirmado lo mismo, y que son hasta diez personas, quiriendo dezir que havian deter- minado de tomar al Rey, y prendelle yendo . caza, llevalle preso ,-i un castillo para hazelle trocar la manera de governar, y quitar algunos del consejo, y entre otros Cecil que t esta ora es tan enemigo de Ser Water ](alè, y hombre de grande opinion aqui, como havia sido otra vez anligo en tiempo de la Reyna .... Todas estas cosas espero que no servirAn poco t V. Alteza, porque [el Rey] conoscer, por ello !o que son relzeldes, y quanto le conviene tener amigos fundados, y de no creer los que le aconsejan de fomentar tal gente y abandonar los verd-deros amigos." Aremberg to the Archduke Albert, July x_6_. 26. "Por nuevas me ha d:cho que nteayer rué presto uno llamado Griffin llarques, que era el principal de una conspiracion hecha contra el Re), moderno de Inglaterra, de la quai eran dos clerigos .... Pareceme que son dos conzpiraciones differentes, esta y la de Cobham, pero que comuni- cavan juntos, segun el dicho Idonoit (?) me ha dicho? y que todos dos 1,roceden de discontento que ellos dizen tener del lïey, por no havello lzuardado lo que les habe prometido." Aremberg to the Archduke Albcrt, july 8._. 16o3" These extracts seem to leave no reasonable dcubt tlat • '.ug. 7, 38o TII'O FOREIGIV .POZICIES. cII. xx. turned again, vith almost desperate hope, to the V'estern con- tinent. The report which Keylnis had brought of Jalt ih's imprin- the mine pointed out to him by the Indian took an abiding place in his imagination. £'o dobt he had hot forgotten his loRier schemes, but he knew well tha, to James, gold was a topic hich never came amiss, and he saw in the secret of which he believed himself to be possessed, the sure lneans of recovering his lost position. Raleigh accordingly appealed vehemently for help to ail whom he could induce to listen to his scheme. Haddington was the first whom he called to his assistance  but llls wish to Icltlrll lO Haddington was unable or unwilling to do anything ui,. for him. Salisbury, = fo vhom he next betook him- self, had perhal)s no wish to help in setting such a rival at liberty, and had himself lost too much money in Guiana voyages to be very sanguine of the result. It wa not till after lhe death of the Lord Treasurer a that Raleigh again attempted to seize the opportunity afforded by Jalnes's resentment at'the ,e,,. rejection of his proposal for the hand of the Infanta elg, Anne. Writing to the Lords of the Council, he offered proposes ,.,,« to fit out two vessels at his own expense. He would «ymis. himself remain as a hostage in the Tower. The ex. pedition should be entrusted to Keymis. If Keymis brought back less than hall a ton of gold, he would be content to remain a prisoner for lire : if, on the other hand, he brought more, he was immediately tobe set at liberty. "l'he Spaniards were not to be attacked, 'except themselves shall begin the war.' _Aremberg was hot cognizant of any plot against James, though he might bave had conversations with Cobhan on the subject of money fo be given for procuring the peace. "lhe only strong evidence, on the other hand, l}eaumont's account (A'i,tg's .alSS. a4, 1ol. 577 b) of Cobham's deposi- tion, and his direct statement that he knew that the King had two pronaising letters of Aremberg's in his hands. Unfortunately I was not able to discover any despatch of Aremberg's written after the ' inchester trial.  Raleigh fo lladdmgton, 16o ; Edwards's ZWj.Ralegh, ii. 39--'. "' Raleigh toWinwood, 6 5 ; ibid. ii. 339- a Raleigh to the Lords of the Council, 1612 ; ibid. il. 337- I accel,t 'dr. Edwards's al-gument in favour of this date, to hich the circun stances noticed aL, ove give additional force. x b   .LI.BE4 TIOA" OF I?.4LEIGI. 3 8 The proDosal thus mae was rejecte& If may De that mnes was too cautous to consent to m unertakn wh[ch )i would have involved a risk of war with Spain. It tejected, lnay be that the influence of Somerset was thrown into the balance aga!nst Raleigh. But at last a gleam of hope appeared : rumours were abroad that Somerset's influence was on the wane. An appeal to Winwood was sure to go straight to the heart of that unbending hater of Spain, and 65. Villiers, now in the hands of the enemies of Somerset and the Spanish faction» willingly gave car to the pleadings of the captive.  The voices of Winwood and Villiers were not raised in vain, The Queen, too, who in her jealousy of Somerset's in- .8,. fluence, had shifted round to the side of those who Raleigh's viewed a Spanish policy with suspicion, threw ber « weight into the scale of the new tarourite. On March x9,  x66, a warrant was issued to the Lieutenant of the  In the Obscn, aHons on Sanderson's HistoT, we are told that 'Sir 3Villiam St. John and Sir dward Villiers procured Sir W. RaleigI's liberty, and had ISOOL for their labour, and for 7oo/. more offered him his fill pard,)n and liberty not to go his voyage, if he pleased. ) Tl,is story bas been generally adopted by subsequent writers, some of whom speak of Sir W. St. John as nearly connectM in some way with Villiers' family, probably by confusing him with Sir Oliver St. John. From IIowel's letter o C. Raleigh it appears that the original stery was ' that Sir %V. St. John ruade an o'erture to him of pro:uring his pardon for I5OO/. ,, which is a ve W different thing ; 'but whether he could bave effected the writer proceeds, 'I doubt a little, when he had corne to negotiate eally. ) Howel, at least, did not think the money had been paid, and I suspect the story originated ri-oto some loose talk. In the political situa- tion, no bribery was necessary 1o gain the car of Villiers. Sir %V. St John appears 1o ave been acting cordially in Raleigh's interest. Sherburn to Carleton, Match 3; Chamberlain to Carleton, Match S. . ont. lxxvi. IOO, III. s The letter of the Pri Council of Match I9, [s printed by Ir. Edwards { Ralcgl, i. 563), who has obligingly communicat to me the warrant of the saine date from the Loely ISS. He has also placcd in my hands the warrant tn which he had founded his statement that Naleigh's release had taken place two months previously. It appears, lmwever, that the truc date of this is Jan. 3 o, I617) and it will be referred to in the propcr place. 392 2rllO FOREIGN POLICIES. cH. xxl. Tower, authorising hinl to permit Raleigh to go abroad in the company of a keeper to lnake preparations for lais voyage. At last, therefore, after a confinelnent of little less than thirteen years, he stepped forth from his prison, with the sentence of death still hanging over lais head. Against lais liberation itis ilnpossible to say a word ; but that James should have thought of sending hinl across the ocean to Guiana at a tilne when he was secretly assuring Sar- miento of hi, intention to abide by Solnerset's policy of the .qpanish alliance is truly marvellous. To choose with Bacon or with 1 figby a broad ground of policy which would bave raised him above the contending factions was beyond his capacity. If to intrigue with Sarlnicnto for the ducats of the Spanish l,rincess was a blunder of which he did not hilnself recognise the full ilnport, neithcr did he recognise the full ilnport of his assent to Raleigh's expedition. He was assured by those vho favoured it that Raleigh had no intention of attacking Spain, and it can hardly be doubted that the prospect of sharing in the profits of the gold mine blinded hiln to the risk to himself, as vell as to Raleigh, by which the search would be ac- companied. The want of money, which was the probable cause of the facility with which Jalnes gave ear to Raleigh's supporters, led hiln at the saine tilne to corne to an understanding with the l )utch on a subject in which the Republic was deeply interested. Blill, Flushing, and '.amlnekens, the cautionary towns as they were called, which had been pledged by the Dutch to Elizabeth as security for the money which she had lent them at the height of their struggle against Spain, were still occupied by English garrisons, and the States-Geneml were naturally anxious to recover theln, especially as it was always possible that, in a molnent of disgust, Jalnes lnight give up these precious posses- sions to the King of Spain. Caron, the Alnbassador of the Treatyfor States, had therefore long been pressing Jalnes to t», make SOlne arrangelnent by which the towns might der of the cautionary be surrendered to their rightful owners ; but it was towns. not till the end of 16I 5 that Jalnes in any way listened to the proposal. At that trr e Caron found that his 66 TtlE CA UTIOA'AR Y TO.IIYVS. 383 request was supported by some members of the Privy Council. James listened to what they had to say, but refused to give a decision on his own responsibility. At his request the whole subject was thoroughly discussed in the Council, and Commis- sioners were appointed to treat with Caron on the amount to be received. At last, on April 23, i616, it was agreed that the tOWllS 8hould be surrendered on condition of the payment of  15,oool., of which sure 15,ooo/'. was tobe ruade over to the officers of the garrisons, and the rest was to be paid into the Exchequer,  and that upon the receipt of this money the dcbt of the Pro- , il'mes to England was to be cancelled. Perhaps no treaty which has ever been concluded has re- ceived a greater amount of obloquy than this agreelnent, l:cw Ibiections amongst the contemporaries of the men who signcd which have it spoke of it with any degree of favour, and fewer been made tothetreaty, still, amongst the writers who have referred to it il! later times, have described it otherwise than as a liard bal-gain, to which James was compelled by mis necessities to sublnit. Curiously enough, however, although these two classes of critics have been unanimous in the opinions which they have adopted, they have given very different reasons for coming to the saine conclusion. It is hOt difficult to account for this discrepancy. Those who wrote in the seventeenth century shut their eyes to the principles upon which independent nations ought to deal vith one another ; those who have written in the nineteenth century shut their eyes to the Facts of the case which they were discussing. The objections which were marie in the Privy Council are probably well represented by a paper which was drawn up for the use of Sir Fulk Greville.  The writer was afi-aid Those ruade bycontem- lest the King should sacrifice his honour, lest Eng- poraries, lnd should be excluded from the Continent, lest the'e should be no longer any place where Englishmen could  Reasons by Winwood for giving up the Towns. Undated, 66. Winwood to Carleton, lIay 23, & t . Z-Id. • Reasons against the surrender, written by Sir John Coke for S,.'r Fulk Greville, April 24, -ç. /. IL, l. Danvers te Carleton, April 2» t66 & /'. ]9oto. lxxxvi. 47. 384 TII'O FORIGWt'OLICIE,_ç, cx. xx be trained for a military life, lest France shonld become too powerfifl, and, above all, lest the I)utch, when they were relieved ffoto the fear of the English garrisons, should bring scandal upon Protestantism by the encouragement which they gave to heresy and schism. We bave learned to estimate such objections as these at their real worth. In the whole paper there is only one point in any way worthy of consideation. The writer doubted the propriety of abandoning the towns, because Flushing and Brill were the keys of the navigation of the Rhine and the Meuse, and without their possession the English merchants might be debarred from trading in the regions watered by those rivers. It must, however, be remembered that neither FIushing nor Brill guarded, as Gibraltar does, the communications with an open sea. They were only valuable so far as they afforded lneans of retaliation upon the l)utch in case they were inclined to make use of their position on the banks of these rivers ata greater distance from the sea, to hinder English nerchandise from passing into the interior. Under such circumstances, it would certainly be better to retain the friendship of the Dutch by an honourable course of policy, than to exasperate them by retaining garrisons in places which they justly regarded as their OWI]. In modern rimes it bas usually been said,  that though James was quite right in surrendering the towns, yet, if he had hot been in extreme distress he would bave bargained Those made bylater for more money than he actually got. It is no vriters. doubt truc that he would have ruade rather a better bargain if he had been able to wait, but it is not truc that he was tn any way cheated out of what he ought to bave received, or that he did hOt benefit by listening to the overtures of the Dutch. At the time when he agreed to the surrender, the amount owing to him was indeed no less than 6oo, ooo1., which was to be paid, as long as the truce lasted, in half-yearly instahnents of o,ooo!. each. If, then, the truce were renewed at its expira- tion in 6 , he might expect to receive the whole smn by the * IIume bas stated the matter with perfect corrçctness, excepting that he supposed that the King received 25o, oooz ". 11I6 TttE TREATI z IIYTH TttE DUTCH. 385 end of x63o. On the other hand, as the expenses of the garrisons anmunted to z6,ooo/, annually, lais real gain would be reduced to _o, oool., coming in slowly in the course of fifteen years. It will be seen therefore, that the result of James's bar- gain was to give him at once rather more than he could ever hope to obtain by slow degrees in the course of a long period. Nor was it at all certain that the advantages Maich accrued to him by the surrender would not be greater still It was always possible that the truce might not be renewed, and that, as eventually proved to be the case, the war might hreak out again. He would then find that, after havlng re- jected 5,ooo/., he had succeeded belote x6z, the year in which the truce was to expire, in obtaining a barc 7o, ooo/., and that there was belote him an indefinite prospect of an annual expenditure of ",6,oooL for the support of the garrisons without any equivalent vhatever.  Nor was this all. The fortifications of the towns were sadly out of repair, and if James had refused the offers of the Dutch, an immediate outlay would have been necessary, which would have swallowed up some considerable portion of the future payments. Whilst James was thus carrying out an engagement equally advantageous to himself and to the Dutch Republic, be was brought by his desire to advance the manufactures of England into a dispute which, coming, as it did, so soon after the dis- agreement with regard to the East India trade and the whaIe fishery, bid fair, for a molnent, permanently to disturb those amicable relations which had hitherto subsisted between the two nations. So long ago as in I613, if hot at an earlier time, the atten- tion of the King had been called to the condition of the English 3. cloth trade. The manufacture of cloth was in the a'he «otn seventeenth century as much the leading trade of manu fac- to»'. England as the manufacture of cotton goods has become in our own days. 17rom time to rime statutes had been passed for the encouragement of the trade, the object of which had been to secure that the cloth should be dyed and dressed, as  Winwood to Carleton, nd Winwood's Reasons, as before quoted. ,'OL. II. C C 385 3rlI'O FOREIG«V POLICIEr. cH. XXl. well as woven, before it left the country. With the greater part of the cloth exported this legislation had been successful. There was, however, one part of the Continent which refused to take any cloths excepting those which were undressed. Whethcr it was that our mode ofpreparing the cloth was in rcality inferior to that which prevailed in the countries bordering on the Rhine, or that from economical causes the later stages of the manufac- ture could be more profitably carried on abroad, it was certain that, in the whole domain of the great company of the Mer- chant Adventurers, which extended from Calais to tIamburg, it was impossible to commanda market for cloths which had been dressed and dyed in England. So far had this feeling or prejudice reached, that whenever, in obedience to the inter- ference of the Government or of the Legislature, the merchants consented to carry any such cloths abroad, they found that they were actually unable to sell them for a price even equal to that which was commanded by those upon which no labour had been expended after the first rough process of the manufac- ture.  In spire of these reasons for leaving the trade to take its natural course, there were some persons who, with Alderman Coclaine at their head, pressed the King to make z6t 4. Cock,ine's another effort to bring the whole process into the proposal a«ceptedby hands of English workmen. - Vfhatever their the King. arguments may have been worth, they succeeded, in 614, after a hearing before the Privy Council, in inducing James to issue a proclamation in which he declared his wish to throw work into the hands of Englishmen, and expressed his dissatisfaction at the injury which was donc to the cloth by the unscrupulous treatment which it met with in the hands of the foreign dyers, who were, as he alleged, accustomed to stretch t, in order to make it cover the greatest possible number of ' Merchalat Advelaturers to the Coulacil, April (?), 6o6. A IIerchar.t of the Eastland Company to --, March (?), 63, S. lxxii. 7 o. The Kilag to Coke and others, Dec. 3, 63, Add. 2LISS. 4,oa, fol. 54. z RcasolaS of the Merchant Adventnrers, with Answers by Cockaine and others Za**sd..ISS. 5-', fol. 164 THE CLOT[-[ TR4DE. 3S7 yards. The consequence was that the cloth which had been thus maltreated wore badly, and the blame was thrown upon the English manufacturers. In order to protect the foreign consumer, as well as the Englih workman, he had detcrmined upon withdrawing all licenses for the exportation of undyed and undressed cloth. The Merchant Adventurers ¥ho refused to carry on trade under these disadvantageous restrictions, were ready to abandon thcir charter, and a new company was to be formcd, with Aldnnan Cockaine at its head. The new asso- ciation was to bc open to ail who would give in their names, together with a statemcnt of the amount of money which they intended to embark in the trade during the following three years, t In taking this stop, James was but acting in accordance vith the universal opinion of the day, that it was worth while to sacrifice much in order to keep native industry cmployed. He was certainly disinterestcd in the matter, as the old company had offered him an increase of payment if he would allo,v them to continue the trade on the old footing. As, however, he would hot give way, the old company delivered up its charter on February _-i, 65, and Cockaine and his fol- 6x5. "I'hene,v lowers had the whole trade, as far as the English omp--,y. Government could help theln, in their hands. They soon discovered that it was impossible to fulfil the magni- ficent promises which they had ruade, and they were obliged to ask for leave to export undyed cloths as their predecessors had done, on condition of making some beginning in carrying out the trade upon the new principle.  After considerable haggling they consented to export six thousand dyed cloths within the year, and twelve and eighteen thousand in the second and third years respectively of their corporative ex- istence, s Whatever they sent out of the country beyond this was to be undyed. They had hot been many months at vork before the Government expressed its dissatisfaction at the manner in which  Proclamation, july -"3, 614. See also the proclamation of Dec. z, ç. 1..Dom. clxxxvii, z9, 35. - Chamberlain to Carleton, Feb. 3, I615, 5". _P. I)om. Ixxx. 38. - Co«ttcil ]cg¢:¢l«', June 7 and I9, 16I 5. 3[:8 TH'O FOREIGW ?OLICI£S. c. xx. they were carrying out their contract, and even had it in contemplation to put an end to the agreement which had been ruade with theln. Accordingly the members of the old company received permission to make proposais for a more effectual method of executing the King's designs. 1 As, how- ever, the meeting persisted in declaring that there was no reason to suppose that trade could be carried on on the terres proposed to them, and refused to do more than to offer to export one thousand cloths by way of an experiment, = the negotiation was brokcn off, and the new company was allowed to proceed vith the undertaking, a It was not long before James met with an unexpected check. The intelligence that the English were endeavouring to get into their own hands the dressing and dyeing of the cloth roused the Dutch to resist the change by every means in their power. They declared that if the English would send them nothing but dressed cloths they would refuse to buy them, as they would be able, without difiiculty, to establish a manufacture of their own. It w«s soon seen that these were hOt mere tesistanceof words. Jx bounty was offered for every fresh loom tu« »t«h. which was set up, and, after a few weeks, Carleton reported that, as he went about the country to examine the progress which had been made, lais ears were saluted by the busy sound of the shuttle in all directions. It was in vain that James stormed against the ungrateful Dutchmen who were thwarting him in lais beneficent intentions, and that he protested that he would not be the first to give wa3: The Dutch continued to weave their cloth in spite of his pretensions. t3efore the English Government had time to take ]Distress in ,ho «ohi= any violent measures against the Dutch, it round districts. itself involved at home in difficulties of its own crea- tion. It was impossible that the disturbance of the course of  Warrant, Feb, 7, I616, S. -P. Don. Ixxxvi. 48. 13acon to the King, .Aug. z, 6I 5, Feb. zS, I66, Lellersa,dZife, v. 178 , 56. z Old Company to the Council, May 66, S. ..)otlt, Ixxx. I IO. Endorsel May, I65, and so calendared b Mrs. Green ; but the wan'ant just quoted shows this to have been a mistake. s Chamberlain to Carleton, March 27, i6r6, Çottr[ and 2"irnes. i. 392. z,« TIIE CLOTII T?;DE 39 trndc should rail to producc hjurious cffccts n thc nglish clothing distficts. Evcn bcforc thc utch Imd thnc fo crry out thcir plan of opposing prohibition by prohibition, a pctifion cmnc up from GlouccstcrsNrc, compIMMng of thc nmnbcr of ]ronds whM Imd been thrown out of cmploy- ment by thc new regulafions. Thc mcurcs tcn by thc Governmcnt in conscqucncc of this pcfifion wcrc clmmctcrisfic of thc idcs prcvnlcnt ni thc thnc on such subccts. Thcy sent for the govcrnor of thc ncw company, mM askcd hhn wly thc Glouccstcrshirc clothworcrs wcrc out of work. He cxcuscd himself by saying chat they ruade bad cloth, for which if was impossible to obtain a salc. The excuse was at once rejected, and he was ordercd to summon a mceting of the company, and to tell Che mcmbers chat they were expected to buy any amomat of Gloucestershire cloth which naight be cxposed for sale. If, in spite of this, any clothier should discharge his 'orkmen, he would be duly punished by Che Council. Either stinmlated by Che example of Che Gloucester- shirc clothiers, or urged by che increasing distress resulting from diminished exportation, Worcestershire and Wiltshire soon joined in Che cry. Bacon, who had taken a great interest in Bacor.'s pro- the King's scheme, now advised Chat a proclamation - should be issued, forbidding any Englishnan, during Che next six months, to wear any silken stuffwhich did not contain a mixture ofwool. This would give emlloyment to Che manufacturers, at Che saine Cime chat it would show the foreigners Chat che King had no intention of receding from his purpose.  Either this last proposal carried interference too far for Che cooler heads in Che Council, or, as is more probable, Che members of Che new company themselves were frightened at che diculties which were before them. They seem to have ruade demands Mfich Che Government refused to con- cede, and after some months of fi-uitless negotiation, they sur-  Council to Che Justices of che Peace in Gloucestershire, Aug. 2 ; Council with che King to Che Council in London, Aug. 6 ; Council ia London to Che Council with Che King, Aug. 3 (& W. Dom. lxxxviii. 4, 45, 5 ) ; Bacon to che King, Sept. 3, Lelto's au,t L., v. 7t. 390 TII'O FOREIG.V POLICIES. C!1, XXI. rendered their charter to the Crown.l A few months later the ,6,7. old company was restored toits original privileges.  letor--,«, lames did hot, indeed, resign lais intention of ai- fA" the old ««,,p,w. tempting to change the course of trade, though he round that it was impossible, at the moment, to carry out lais designs. Unhapl)ily , his pretensions, which had been so injurious to the individual interests of his subjects, thougk so thoroughly in accordance with their theoretical principles, had also served to diminish the good understanding which ought always to have prevailed between England and the btates. l)uring these alternations of friendliness and jealousy towards the Dutch, the arrangements for an alliance with Spain had been steadily progressing. When Digby returned to Match, x6x6. Y)igby's England in March 66, after giving James full in- advica, forlnation on the relations between Somerset and the Spanish Court, he reminded him that as the King of Spain could do nothing without the approval of the Pope, he was hot hinaself able to dispose of lais daughter's hand. For this reason, he said, it would be better to seek a German wife for the Prince, as a German husband had been sought for his sister. James was so pleased with the openness and sagacity of the ;oung ambassador that he adlnitted him to the Privy Council, and conferred upon him the office of Vice-Chamberlain, which would give him constant access to lais person, s In spite of his hesitations, however, James carried out the engagement which he had ruade with Sarmiento in January,  that he would put an end to the negotiation for a April. The Frecnh French marriage. In April he lnade a statement marriage to be broken to the Council of the inconveniences of the French °ff- alliance. Iii fact, it was not difficult to make out a case against it. The Princes of the Blood, headed by the Prince of Condé, had taken advantage of the unpopularity CotozcilI?egislo; Jan. 9, 67. Proclamation, Aug. 2, 617, . -P. /?om. clxxxvii. 50% Sarmiento to Philip III., April '--' Simatcas ISS. 2595, fol. 55. Sarmiento to Phillp III., Jan. , Simatcas ISS. 2595, fui. 33. 1.': b. , 616 Y'IIE FI'¢EA'CttALLZdA'CE III¢OA'EW OFF. 39 of the Spanish marriages, and of the well-founded distrust of the Huguenots, to enter upon a rebellion. Either on account of the weakness of the French Government, or because thc King had evidcntly ruade up lais lnind, the English Council wcre unanimous in holding that the French terms were insufficient. Lennox alone appeared to hesitate. It might be, he said, that the French Government had hot offered more becausc it kncw that the King was looking in another direction. James rcsolvcd to put the Regefit to the test. Ho would ask ber to yicld on thrce points: that, in thc case of the de- ccase of thc Princess Christina without childrcn, he July, .?r,!H.y's should hot be rcquirêd to rcimburse hcr portion: ,,,,.,«. that the marriagc, though so!cmnised in France aftcr the forms of the Roman Catholic Church, should be again solemniscd in England according to the Protestant ritual ; and that the Princess should hot be forced to rcnounce the claires to Navarre and 13carn, which she would bave in the improbable case of the dcccase, without heirs, of her two brothers and hcr eldcr sister. For the purpose of this mission James selected Lord Hay, vho, as a Scotchman, would be welcome in France, and who was sure to pcrform his part with ostentation, and to attract notice whcrcver he wcnt. Though he was possessed of the equivocal distinction of knowing how to spend money more rapidly than anyone else in England, he was hot without a strong fund of comnaon sense, for which the world bas hardly been inclincd to give him credit. For some wecks aftcr Digby's arrival in Elngland, the Cour:s of London and Madrid were fencing with one another on a j.«s point of considerable importance. ]3efore James hesitation, would consent to discuss the terres of the marriage contract, he wishcd to have some assurance that the Pope would grant tl:.e dispensation, if rcasonable concessions were naade. Philip, who kncw that it was perfcctly hopeless to ex- pect the Pope to promise anything of the kind, answered that it would be an insult to His Holiness to ask him to consent to articles vhich he had ncvcr secn. Al last James, findiug 9 TII'O FOREIGA" POLICIES. c. xxl. that on this point the Spaniards were immovable, relinquished his demands. * Itis true that belote Digbyleft Spain he had obtained from Lerma some modification of the original articles. The stipula- tion that the children should be baptized as Catho- 1Modification fthe lics waswithdrawn. The condition that the servants articles, should be cxclusivcly Catholics was exchanged for an engagement that they should be nominated by the King of Spain. The question of the education of the children, and the question of the boon to be granted to the English Catholics, were allowed to drop out of sight for the present.  The changes were, however, greater in appearance than in reality, as James was wcll aware that though he was not called upon to express an immediate opinion on these last subjects, the whole of the religious difficulty would corne up again for solution belote the final arrangements were ruade. Even now, therefore, he was C,mt;nued hOt without occasional hesitation. One da)- he told ,mb,-»- Sarmiento that there were 'terrible things in the ment of J=m. articles,' and suggested that it would be well if they could be reconsidered in England belote a special ambassador was sent to discuss them at Madrid. This was hOt what Sar- lniento wanted. He had no wish to be brought into personal collision with James on questions of detail, and with a few well- chosen sentences about the impropriety of asking the lady's representative to argue the conditions of the marriage treaty, he quietly set the whole scheme aside. In giving an account to lais lnaster of this conversation, he expressed lais opinion that James was desirous of reaping the political advantages of the alliance, but that he would prove to be unwilling to make the required concessions to the Catholics.  Yet, whatever lais future prospects might be» Sarmiento knew that, for the present at xo, May 3 r,  .Francisco de csus, 13; Sarmiento to l'lfilip III., May ao, June io, Simancas 1ISS. 2595, fol. $I, 99- z The articles are amongst the S. t 9. S.kaln, and are, with a few verbal differences, the saine as the twenty articles in Prynne's tZi&tcn ll'orbs, 4. s fi'ratclsco de ésus, 15 ; Minutes of Sarnfiento's despatches, A__ug. o Sept. u° Seit. o, ,_çi»mncg« Lç,_ç. Est. 285% 251S , fol. 20. 1616 HA I"S AIISSIOA r TO FI'¢AA'C.E. 393 least, James was in his net. It would hot be long before the negotiations were formally opened at Madrid. At the outset of lais mission, Hay met x-ith an obstacle of which many an ambassador had complained before. If he I-[ay'swant was to enter 'aris with the magnificence which he ,,r,,on«r. thought fitting for the occasion, he n'lust have money ; and, as usual, the Exchequer had none to spare. The device resorted to was in the highest degree disgraceful. An idea had already been canvassed from rime to rime, that it ,night be s.I« of possible to raise money by the sale of peerages. Thc peerages, precedent of the baronetages was sure, sooner or later, to turn the thoughts of the ncedy King in that direction ; but as yet he had held back from such a desecration of the pre- rogative. It would be impossible to disguise the transaction under the pretence that the honour was granted for services rcndered. It would make the grant of the highest dignity which it was in the power of the Crown to bestow a mere matter of bargain and sale. Yet to this it was necessary to corne. There were many gentlemen who were reedy to pay the required sure. One of those selected was Sir John Roper ; the other was Sir John Holles. They paid lo,oco/, apiece, and were, as a recompense, decorated with the titlcs of I,ord Teyn- haro and Lord Houghton. The sure paid by the first of the new barons was handed over to Hay. Half of Lord Houghton's noney was taken possession of by the King; the other half went to Winwood, who was promised 5,ooo/. more when the next baron was ruade, lX,'o doubt Winwood had worked hard br many years vith little reward ; but it speaks volumes for the corrupt atmosphere of James's Court that a man of Winwood's integrity should have condescended to accept payment from such a source, t As soon as he had thus acquired the money which was v,y' «t,- necessary to enable him to leave England, Itay started toVi». on his journey. His entry into Paris was long talked of by the French as a magnificent exhibition. His train ! Chamberlain to Carleton, July zo, 66 (Court ami 7imcs, i. 4o$). Sr J. Holles had been condemned to fine and imprisonment only a fe' m»nths befote, for lais proceedings at Weston's execution. 394 TIVO FOREIGN ?OLICIES. ,as unusually large, and all his followers were attired in a sumptuous costume, which surpassed all that had ever been seen on such cccasions, q'hat his horse was shod vith silver shoes, which were intentionally attached se loosely that he dropped them as he passed along the streets, is probably a tale Maich grew up in the popular imagination ; but all accounts agree in speaking of the Ambassador's entry into Paris as astonshing the spectators by the gorgeous spectacle which it presented. It is more important, however, to note the re- ception which he met with from high and low. The whole populace of Paris cheered him as he passed, and from all ranks of the people he received a greeting which assured him that the English alliance would be welcolned by thousands who were heartily weary of the subservience of the Queen to Spain. It is proof of Hay's good sense that he was not intoxicated by his reception. He talked over with Edmondes the instruc- isdi- tions which he had received,'and sat down to repeat culties, in writing to Winwood the misgivings which he had expressed, before he went away, upon the success of his mission. He felt, he said, that the course which he was directed to take could end in nothing but failure. The negotiations would be broken off, and the fault would be laid upon James. 1 If Winwood had been left to himself he would doubtless bave agreed with Hay. But he was obliged to write a despatch ordering him to persevere in the course which had been marked out for him. Before that despatch arrived in Paris, an event had occurred  "And we must confess we find ourselves extremely troubled how to disguise IIis Majesty's intentions, so as they may hot here plainly discover he bath a desire quite to break off this match, and take advantage thereby to drive that envy upon us which, if they had hot yielded to IIis Majesty's desires, would have lighted heavily upon them from this people, whom we find generally much to desire this alliance might take effect." (tIay and Edlnondes fo Winwood, July 3 , S. . 'attce.) IIay and Edmondes evidently understothat James had determined to break off the match at ail hazards. Winwoed's replyof the I9th, which still directs them to agree to the match if they can get better terlns, was a mere conventional rejoinder» d James was hot likely to impart his intentions to Winwood. I6r6 HA Y'S 21IISSI03, r TO FI¢4A'CE. 3ç hich ruade it still more unlikely that the French Govermnent would give ear to the proposals with which Hay had been »wo- charged. Condé, though he had ruade lis submis- ,e.t o sion to the P-,egent on favourable terres, felt that, for (20halé, Aug. 2,. some tilne, the position which he had attained gave hiln little more than a nominal dignity, and formed designs against Concini, the Queen's favourite, wl:ose influence was su- preme at Court. 1 In the place of the Queen and ber dependents, he would have organized a Council, in which the principal parts ould have been played by the Princes of the 131ood. The Quecn saw the danger, and anticipated the blow. Instigated perhaps by the young P-,ichelieu, thon first rising into note, she attelnpted to surprise the heads of the opposite party. As far as Condé was concerned, she was successful in ber attempts. The first _a»rince of the ]31ood was thrown into prison. Ilis confederates succeeded in lnaking their escape. No popu- lar comlnotion ensucd upon this sudden blow. In spire of the popular language of Condé, it was difficult to persuade the nation that it would be happier by substituting for the Govcrlament Mich had becn carried on ilx thc naine of thc King, a Council principalIy composed of the l'rinces of the lllood. lVive days affcr the seizure of Condé had taken place, the English alnbassadors had an interview with Yilleroi and the lntrview of other principal ministers. Ha3" , being asked what ,,yd proposais he had brought frolal England, gave in a l'idmondes • vith the imper which related silnply to the grievances of which French ministel's, lais nmster's subjects complained. The 'renchmen were not to be put off the scent in this rnanner. They asked, at OllCe, what he had to say about the marriage. Hay, accord- ing to lais instructions, could only answer, that the King of England was dissatisfied with tlae last reply of the French Government, that he would bave broken off the ncgotiations at once, if he had not been unwilling to do so at a time when France was suffering the miseries of a civil war, and that he -as now waiting for new propositions which might be more  Such at least is the explanation derived by Ranke from the dcspatches f the Vcnetian Ambassador, Franzi,sische Gcsc/dchtc, i. 2oi. 396 Tlt'O FOREIGW POLICIES. cH. xxl. acceptable. The French ministers said that it was necessary to discuss the old proposais before bringing forward any new ones. James's three demands were then laid before them, and it soon appeared that, on the questions of the repetition of the marriage ceremony, and of th renunciation of the right of succession, neither party would give way to the other.  Hay therefore brought the negotiations to a close, and returned fo England, whither he was soon followed by Edmondes, who, in rcward for lais long diplomatic services, was raised to the dig- nity of a Privy Councillor. James was now free to listen, if he pleased, to the advances of the Spanish ambassador. While Jalnes was thus putting an end to the projccted French alliance, he was still making unsuccessful attempts to carry into effect the treaty of Xanten. Sir Henry Sir Dudley ,-to, i Wotton, who had returned from the Hague weary of normand, lais twclvemonth's sojourn amongst the imperturbable ])utchmen, had becn once more despatched to an elegant re- tirement in the mere congenial atmosphere of Venice. He was replaced at the Hague by Sir Dudley Carleton, who had long been to the full as eagcr to escape ffom Italy as Wotton had been to return there. As a diplomatist, Carleton takes rank as one of the most prominent members of the school of which Winwood was the acknowledged chier. He had, atone time, acted as secretary to the Earl of Northmnberland, and had been involved in his patron's disgrace, being for some time causelessly suspected of some connection with the Gunpowder Plot. _As soon as his character was cleared, he succeeded in obtaining the good- vill of the all-powerful Salisbury, and was by his influence appointed, in 6io, to the embassy at Venice. A post of this nature could hardly have satisfied him under any circumstances. He not only longed for the free air of a Protestant country, and was anxious to be lcss completely cut off ffom his ffiends in England, but he took a warm interest in the opposition to Spain, which ruade him anxious to find another sphere for the exercise of his talents. It was therefore with no small pleasure  Iiay and Edmondes to Winwood, Aug. 26, t616, & /'. Fnnc¢. 166 .d3IES A.VD THE DUTCI. 397 that he received the news of his appointment to the post which had just been vacated by Wotton. It was to no purpose that he did lais best to obtain the consent of the Dutch to the execution of the treaty of Xanten. "rhe Dut«h Rightly or wrongly, they believed that there was a «dn« settled disposition on the part of the Spaniards to executing he «ty make themselves masters of the disputed territories, «x-t. and that even if the Spanish troops left the countr after the withdrawal of their own forces, they would either return under some pretext or another, or the Emperor and the German Catholic League would carry out that which Spinola had been unable to do. Towards the end of the year, Carleton was directed to inform the States  that a declaration had been ruade by the Spanish ambassador in London, that, if the treaty of Xanten were hot executed belote the end of the ensuing February, his toaster would consider himself justified in retain- ing as his own the places occupied by his troops. Even this threat was without effect upon the Dutch, wlao persisted iii looking with distrust upon every proposition emanating from Madrid. Although, ho,ve,,er, James was on less cordial terres with Holland and France than had formerly been the case, and Jm.««h. although he was on the point of opening negotiations no «o, vith Spain, it would be a mistake to suppose that he of desêrting th )«h. had any intention of turning against lais old allies. I-Ie was guilty of no such base treachery to the Protestant cause, of which, in word at least, he had constituted himself the Protector. During the very year in which these differences had sprung up, he had been anxiously urging the Duke of Savoy to loin the union of the Prolestant Princes of Germany in a defensive league which would support him in lais resistance to the encroachments of the King of Spain." He wished simply to keep the peace, tic saw that the Continental Pro- testants were alarmed, and that alarm led to irritation. He was constantly afraid of some outbreak of temper or anabition  Winwood to Carleton, Nov. 3, 66, C«rleton Zegers, 7 O.  Wotton to trie King, 5Iay 2, S. P. Feinte. .398 TI'O FOR2IGW FOLICIES. cH. xx. which would set Europe in a blaze. The cahn dignity of Spain, and of the Spanish ambassador, imposed upon him. He did not see that the Spanish monarchy was compelled by its interests and traditions to interfere in the affairs of every European state, and that subservience to Spain might easil)r bring on that very danger which he sought to avoid. t'ND OF THE SECOND VOLU.IN, PEINTED BY 8POTTISWOODE AND çO., NEW-STEEET SQUARE LONDON ME%RS. I.()N(;IANS, GREEN, & C0.'S CLASSIFIED CATALOGUE OF WORK8 IN GENERAL LITERATURE. History, Politics, Polity, Political lIemoirs, &c. Abbott.--A I[ISToRY OF GREECE. By Bagwell.I--IREt.AND UNDER EVFLYN ABBOTT, M.A., LL.D. I TUD!»RS. By RICHARD ]A(J,l*'E| I., Palt l.--From the Earliest Times to the I LL.D (3 vols.) Vols. I. and !1. From lonian Revoit. 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