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Makers of History
Charles I.
BY JACOB ABBOTT
WITH ENGRAVINGS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1901
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.
Copyright, 1876, by JACOB ABBOTT.
[Illustration: TOWER OF LONDON.]
[Illustration: JOHN HAMPDEN.]
PREFACE.
The history of the life of every individual who has, for any reason,
attracted extensively the attention of mankind, has been written in a
great variety of ways by a multitude of authors, and persons sometimes
wonder why we should have so many different accounts of the same
thing. The reason is, that each one of these accounts is intended for
a different set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely
dissimilar from each other. Among the twenty millions of people in the
United States, there are perhaps two millions, between the ages of
fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to become acquainted, in general,
with the leading events in the history of the Old World, and of
ancient times, but who, coming upon the stage in this land and at this
period, have ideas and conceptions so widely different from those of
other nations and of other times, that a mere republication of
existing accounts is not what they require. The story must be told
expressly for them. The things that are to be explained, the points
that are to be brought out, the comparative degree of prominence to be
given to the various particulars, will all be different, on account of
the difference in the situation, the ideas, and the objects of these
new readers, compared with those of the various other classes of
readers which former authors have had in view. It is for this reason,
and with this view, that the present series of historical narratives
is presented to the public. The author, having had some opportunity to
become acquainted with the position, the ideas, and the intellectual
wants of those whom he addresses, presents the result of his labors to
them, with the hope that it may be found successful in accomplishing
its design.
CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 13
II. THE EXPEDITION INTO SPAIN 34
III. ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 58
IV. BUCKINGHAM 81
V. THE KING AND HIS PREROGATIVE 107
VI. ARCHBISHOP LAUD 131
VII. THE EARL OF STRAFFORD 155
VIII. DOWNFALL OF STRAFFORD AND LAUD 177
IX. CIVIL WAR 203
X. THE CAPTIVITY 234
XI. TRIAL AND DEATH 261
ENGRAVINGS.
Page
PORTRAIT OF HAMPDEN _Frontispiece_.
ILLUMINATED TITLE
TOWER OF LONDON 1
CHARLES I. AND ARMOR BEARER 10
QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA 11
WINDSOR CASTLE 22
THE ESCURIAL 55
ST. STEPHEN'S 76
LAMBETH PALACE 133
WESTMINSTER HALL 187
STRAFFORD AND LAUD 199
THE KING'S ADHERENTS ENTERING YORK 221
THE LANDING OF THE QUEEN 228
NEWARK 236
CARISBROOKE CASTLE 254
RUINS OF CARISBROOKE CASTLE 265
[Illustration: CHARLES I. AND ARMOR BEARER]
[Illustration: QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA]
KING CHARLES I.
CHAPTER I.
HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.
1600-1622
Born in Scotland.--The circumstance explained.--Princess
Anne.--Royal marriages.--Getting married by proxy.--James
thwarted.--Getting married by proxy.--James thwarted.--James
in Copenhagen.--Charles's feeble infancy.--Death of
Elizabeth.--Accession of James to the English crown.--Second
sight.--Prediction fulfilled.--An explanation.--Charles's
titles of nobility.--Charles's governess.--Windsor Castle.--Journey
to London.--A mother's love.--Rejoicings.--Charles's continued
feebleness.--His progress in learning.--Charles improves in
health.--Death of his brother.--Charles's love of athletic
sports.--Buckingham.--Buckingham's style of living.--Royalty.--True
character of royalty.--The king and Buckingham.--Indecent
correspondence.--Buckingham's pig.--James's petulance.--The story of
Gib.--The king's frankness.--Glitter of royalty.--The appearance.--The
reality.
King Charles the First was born in Scotland. It may perhaps surprise
the reader that an English king should be born in Scotland. The
explanation is this:
They who have read the history of Mary Queen of Scots, will remember
that it was the great end and aim of her life to unite the crowns of
England and Scotland in her own family. Queen Elizabeth was then Queen
of England. She lived and died unmarried. Queen Mary and a young man
named Lord Darnley were the next heirs. It was uncertain which of the
two had the strongest claim. To prevent a dispute, by uniting these
claims, Mary made Darnley her husband. They had a son, who, after the
death of his father and mother, was acknowledged to be the heir to the
British throne, whenever Elizabeth's life should end. In the mean
time he remained King of Scotland. His name was James. He married a
princess of Denmark; and his child, who afterward was King Charles the
First of England, was born before he left his native realm.
King Charles's mother was, as has been already said, a princess of
Denmark. Her name was Anne. The circumstances of her marriage to King
James were quite extraordinary, and attracted great attention at the
time. It is, in some sense, a matter of principle among kings and
queens, that they must only marry persons of royal rank, like
themselves; and as they have very little opportunity of visiting each
other, residing as they do in such distant capitals, they generally
choose their consorts by the reports which come to them of the person
and character of the different candidates. The choice, too, is very
much influenced by political considerations, and is always more or
less embarrassed by negotiations with other courts, whose ministers
make objections to this or that alliance, on account of its supposed
interference with some of their own political schemes.
As it is very inconvenient, moreover, for a king to leave his
dominions, the marriage ceremony is usually performed at the court
where the bride resides, without the presence of the bridegroom, he
sending an embassador to act as his representative. This is called
being married by proxy. The bride then comes to her royal husband's
dominions, accompanied by a great escort. He meets her usually on the
frontiers; and there she sees him for the first time, after having
been married to him some weeks by proxy. It is true, indeed, that she
has generally seen his _picture_, that being usually sent to her
before the marriage contract is made. This, however, is not a matter
of much consequence, as the personal predilections of a princess have
generally very little to do with the question of her marriage.
Now King James had concluded to propose for the oldest daughter of the
King of Denmark and he entered into negotiations for this purpose.
This plan, however, did not please the government of England, and
Elizabeth, who was then the English queen, managed so to embarrass and
interfere with the scheme, that the King of Denmark gave his daughter
to another claimant. James was a man of very mild and quiet
temperament, easily counteracted and thwarted in his plans; but this
disappointment aroused his energies, and he sent a splendid embassy
into Denmark to demand the king's second daughter, whose name was
Anne. He prosecuted this suit so vigorously that the marriage articles
were soon agreed to and signed. Anne embarked and set sail for
Scotland. The king remained there, waiting for her arrival with great
impatience. At length, instead of his bride, the news came that the
fleet in which Anne had sailed had been dispersed and driven back by a
storm, and that Anne herself had landed on the coast of Norway.
James immediately conceived the design of going himself in pursuit of
her. But knowing very well that all his ministers and the officers of
his government would make endless objections to his going out of the
country on such an errand, he kept his plan a profound secret from
them all. He ordered some ships to be got ready privately, and
provided a suitable train of attendants, and then embarked without
letting his people know where he was going. He sailed across the
German Ocean to the town in Norway where his bride had landed. He
found her there, and they were married. Her brother, who had just
succeeded to the throne, having received intelligence of this, invited
the young couple to come and spend the winter at his capital of
Copenhagen; and as the season was far advanced, and the sea stormy,
King James concluded to accept the invitation. They were received in
Copenhagen with great pomp and parade, and the winter was spent in
festivities and rejoicings. In the spring he brought his bride to
Scotland. The whole world were astonished at the performance of such
an exploit by a king, especially one of so mild, quiet, and grave a
character as that which James had the credit of possessing.
Young Charles was very weak and feeble in his infancy. It was feared
that he would not live many hours. The rite of baptism was immediately
performed, as it was, in those days, considered essential to the
salvation of a child dying in infancy that it should be baptized
before it died. Notwithstanding the fears that were at first felt,
Charles lingered along for some days, and gradually began to acquire a
little strength. His feebleness was a cause of great anxiety and
concern to those around him; but the degree of interest felt in the
little sufferer's fate was very much less than it would have been if
he had been the oldest son. He had a brother, Prince Henry, who was
older than he, and, consequently, heir to his father's crown. It was
not probable, therefore, that Charles would ever be king; and the
importance of every thing connected with his birth and his welfare was
very much diminished on that account.
It was only about two years after Charles's birth that Queen Elizabeth
died, and King James succeeded to the English throne. A messenger came
with all speed to Scotland to announce the fact. He rode night and
day. He arrived at the king's palace in the night. He gained admission
to the king's chamber, and, kneeling at his bedside, proclaimed him
King of England. James immediately prepared to bid his Scotch subjects
farewell, and to proceed to England to take possession of his new
realm. Queen Anne was to follow him in a week or two, and the other
children, Henry and Elizabeth; but Charles was too feeble to go.
In those early days there was a prevailing belief in Scotland, and, in
fact, the opinion still lingers there, that certain persons among the
old Highlanders had what they called the gift of the second
sight--that is, the power of foreseeing futurity in some mysterious
and incomprehensible way. An incident is related in the old histories
connected with Charles's infancy, which is a good illustration of
this. While King James was preparing to leave Scotland, to take
possession of the English throne, an old Highland laird came to bid
him farewell. He gave the king many parting counsels and good wishes,
and then, overlooking the older brother, Prince Henry, he went
directly to Charles, who was then about two years old, and bowed
before him, and kissed his hand with the greatest appearance of regard
and veneration. King James undertook to correct his supposed mistake,
by telling him that that was his second son, and that the other boy
was the heir to the crown. "No," said the old laird, "I am not
mistaken. I know to whom I am speaking. This child, now in his nurse's
arms, will be greater than his brother. This is the one who is to
convey his father's name and titles to succeeding generations." This
prediction was fulfilled; for the robust and healthy Henry died, and
the feeble and sickly-looking Charles lived and grew, and succeeded,
in due time, to his father's throne.
Now inasmuch as, at the time when this prediction was uttered, there
seemed to be little human probability of its fulfillment, it attracted
attention; its unexpected and startling character made every one
notice and remember it; and the old laird was at once an object of
interest and wonder. It is probable that this desire to excite the
admiration of the auditors, mingled insensibly with a sort of poetic
enthusiasm, which a rude age and mountainous scenery always inspire,
was the origin of a great many such predictions as these; and then, in
the end, those only which turned out to be true were remembered, while
the rest were forgotten; and this was the way that the reality of such
prophetic powers came to be generally believed in.
Feeble and uncertain of life as the infant Charles appeared to be,
they conferred upon him, as is customary in the case of young princes,
various titles of nobility. He was made a duke, a marquis, an earl,
and a baron, before he had strength enough to lift up his head in his
nurse's arms. His title as duke was Duke of Albany; and as this was
the highest of his nominal honors, he was generally known under that
designation while he remained in Scotland.
[Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.]
When his father left him, in order to go to England and take
possession of his new throne, he appointed a governess to take charge
of the health and education of the young duke. This governess was
Lady Cary. The reason why she was appointed was, not because of her
possessing any peculiar qualifications for such a charge, but because
her husband, Sir Robert Cary, had been the messenger employed by the
English government to communicate to James the death of Elizabeth, and
to announce to him his accession to the throne. The bearer of good
news to a monarch must always be rewarded, and James recompensed Sir
Robert for his service by appointing his wife to the post of governess
of his infant son. The office undoubtedly had its honors and
emoluments, with very little of responsibility or care.
One of the chief residences of the English monarchs is Windsor Castle.
It is situated above London, on the Thames, on the southern shore. It
is on an eminence overlooking the river and the delightful valley
through which the river here meanders. In the rear is a very extensive
park or forest, which is penetrated in every direction by rides and
walks almost innumerable. It has been for a long time the chief
country residence of the British kings. It is very spacious,
containing within its walls many courts and quadrangles, with various
buildings surrounding them, some ancient and some modern. Here King
James held his court after his arrival in England, and in about a year
he sent for the little Charles to join him.
The child traveled very slowly, and by very easy stages, his nurses
and attendants watching over him with great solicitude all the way.
The journey was made in the month of October. His mother watched his
arrival with great interest. Being so feeble and helpless, he was, of
course, her favorite child. By an instinct which very strongly evinces
the wisdom and goodness which implanted it, a mother always bestows a
double portion of her love upon the frail, the helpless, and the
suffering. Instead of being wearied out with protracted and incessant
calls for watchfulness and care, she feels only a deeper sympathy and
love, in proportion to the infirmities which call for them, and thus
finds her highest happiness in what we might expect would be a
weariness and a toil.
Little Charles was four years old when he reached Windsor Castle. They
celebrated his arrival with great rejoicings, and a day or two
afterward they invested him with the title of Duke of York, a still
higher distinction than he had before attained. Soon after this, when
he was perhaps five or six years of age, a gentleman was appointed to
take the charge of his education. His health gradually improved,
though he still continued helpless and feeble. It was a long time
before he could walk, on account of some malformation of his limbs. He
learned to talk, too, very late and very slowly. Besides the general
feebleness of his constitution, which kept him back in all these
things, there was an impediment in his speech, which affected him very
much in childhood, and which, in fact, never entirely disappeared.
As soon, however, as he commenced his studies under his new tutor, he
made much greater progress than had been expected. It was soon
observed that the feebleness which had attached to him pertained more
to the body than to the mind. He advanced with considerable rapidity
in his learning. His progress was, in fact, in some degree, promoted
by his bodily infirmities, which kept him from playing with the other
boys of the court, and led him to like to be still, and to retire from
scenes of sport and pleasure which he could not share.
The same cause operated to make him not agreeable as a companion, and
he was not a favorite among those around him. They called him _Baby_
Charley. His temper seemed to be in some sense soured by the feeling
of his inferiority, and by the jealousy he would naturally experience
in finding himself, the son of a king, so outstripped in athletic
sports by those whom he regarded as his inferiors in rank and station.
The lapse of a few years, however, after this time, made a total
change in Charles's position and prospects. His health improved, and
his constitution began to be confirmed and established. When he was
about twelve years of age, too, his brother Henry died. This
circumstance made an entire change in all his prospects of life. The
eyes of the whole kingdom, and, in fact, of all Europe, were now upon
him as the future sovereign of England. His sister Elizabeth, who was
a few years older than himself, was, about this time, married to a
German prince, with great pomp and ceremony, young Charles acting the
part of brideman. In consequence of his new position as heir-apparent
to the throne, he was advanced to new honors, and had new titles
conferred upon him, until at last, when he was sixteen years of age,
he was made Prince of Wales, and certain revenues were appropriated to
support a court for him, that he might be surrounded with external
circumstances and insignia of rank and power, corresponding with his
prospective greatness.
In the mean time his health and strength rapidly improved, and with
the improvement came a taste for manly and athletic sports, and the
attainment of excellence in them. He gradually acquired great skill in
all the exploits and performances of the young men of those days, such
as shooting, riding, vaulting, and tilting at tournaments. From being
a weak, sickly, and almost helpless child, he became, at twenty, an
active, athletic young man, full of life and spirit, and ready for any
romantic enterprise. In fact, when he was twenty-three years old, he
embarked in a romantic enterprise which attracted the attention of all
the world. This enterprise will presently be described.
There was at this time, in the court of King James, a man who became
very famous afterward as a favorite and follower of Charles. He is
known in history under the name of the Duke of Buckingham. His name
was originally George Villiers. He was a very handsome young man, and
he seems to have attracted King James's attention at first on this
account. James found him a convenient attendant, and made him, at
last, his principal favorite. He raised him to a high rank, and
conferred upon him, among other titles, that of Duke of Buckingham.
The other persons about the court were very envious and jealous of his
influence and power; but they were obliged to submit to it. He lived
in great state and splendor, and for many years was looked up to by
the whole kingdom as one of the greatest personages in the realm. We
shall learn hereafter how he came to his end.
If the reader imagines, from the accounts which have been given thus
far in this chapter of the pomp and parade of royalty, of the castles
and the ceremonies, the titles of nobility, and the various insignia
of rank and power, which we have alluded to so often, that the mode of
life which royalty led in those days was lofty, dignified, and truly
great, he will be very greatly deceived. All these things were merely
for show--things put on for public display, to gratify pride and
impress the people, who never looked behind the scenes, with high
ideas of the grandeur of those who, as they were taught, ruled over
them by a divine right. It would be hard to find, in any class of
society except those reputed infamous, more low, gross, and vulgar
modes of life than have been exhibited generally in the royal palaces
of Europe for the last five hundred years. King James the First has,
among English sovereigns, rather a high character for sobriety and
gravity of deportment, and purity of morals; but the glimpses we get
of the real, every-day routine of his domestic life, are such as to
show that the pomp and parade of royalty is mere glittering tinsel,
after all.
The historians of the day tell such stories as these. The king was at
one time very dejected and melancholy, when Buckingham contrived this
plan to amuse him. In the first place, however, we ought to say, in
order to illustrate the terms on which he and Buckingham lived
together, that the king always called Buckingham _Steeny_, which was a
contraction of Stephen. St. Stephen was always represented in the
Catholic pictures of the saints, as a very handsome man, and
Buckingham being handsome too, James called him Steeny by way of a
compliment. Steeny called the king _his dad_, and used to sign
himself, in his letters, "your slave and dog Steeny." There are extant
some letters which passed between the king and his favorite, written,
on the part of the king, in a style of grossness and indecency such
that the chroniclers of those days said that they were not fit to be
printed. They would not "blot their pages" with them, they said. King
Charles's letters were more properly expressed.
To return, then, to our story. The king was very much dejected and
melancholy. Steeny, in order to divert him, had a pig dressed up in
the clothes of an infant child. Buckingham's mother, who was a
countess, personated the nurse, dressed also carefully for the
occasion. Another person put on a bishop's robes, satin gown, lawn
sleeves, and the other pontifical ornaments. They also provided a
baptismal font, a prayer-book, and other things necessary for a
religious ceremony, and then invited the king to come in to attend a
baptism. The king came, and the pretended bishop began to read the
service, the assistants looking gravely on, until the squealing of the
pig brought all gravity to an end. The king was _not_ pleased; but the
historian thinks the reason was, not any objection which he had to
such a profanation, but to his not happening to be in a mood for it at
that time.
There was a negotiation going on for a long time for a marriage
between one of the king's sons, first Henry, and afterward Charles,
and a princess of Spain. At one time the king lost some of the papers,
and was storming about the palace in a great rage because he could not
find them. At last he chanced to meet a certain Scotchman, a servant
of his, named Gib, and, like a vexed and impatient child, who lays the
charge of a lost plaything upon any body who happens to be at hand to
receive it, he put the responsibility of the loss of the papers upon
Gib. "I remember," said he, "I gave them to you to take care of. What
have you done with them?" The faithful servant fell upon his knees,
and protested that he had not received them. The king was only made
the more angry by this contradiction, and kicked the Scotchman as he
kneeled upon the floor. The man rose and left the apartment, saying,
"I have always been faithful to your majesty, and have not deserved
such treatment as this. I can not remain in your service under such a
degradation. I shall never see you again." He left the palace, and
went away.
A short time after this, the person to whose custody the king had
really committed the papers came in, and, on learning that they were
wanted, produced them. The king was ashamed of his conduct. He sent
for his Scotch servant again, and was not easy until he was found and
brought into his presence. The king kneeled before him and asked his
forgiveness, and said he should not rise until he was forgiven. Gib
was disposed to evade the request, and urged the king to rise; but
James would not do so until Gib said he forgave him, in so many words.
The whole case shows how little of dignity and noble bearing there
really was in the manners and conduct of the king in his daily life,
though we are almost ready to overlook the ridiculous childishness and
folly of his fault, on account of the truly noble frankness and
honesty with which he acknowledged it.
Thus, though every thing in which royalty appeared before the public
was conducted with great pomp and parade, this external magnificence
was then, and always has been, an outside show, without any thing
corresponding to it within. The great mass of the people of England
saw only the outside. They gazed with admiration at the spectacle of
magnificence and splendor which royalty always presented to their
eyes, whenever they beheld it from the distant and humble points of
view which their position afforded them. Prince Charles, on the other
hand, was behind the curtain. His childhood and youth were exposed
fully to all the real influences of these scenes. The people of
England submitted to be governed by such men, not because they thought
them qualified to govern, or that the circumstances under which their
characters were formed were such as were calculated to form, in a
proper manner, the minds of the rulers of a Christian people. They did
not know what those circumstances were. In their conceptions they had
grand ideas of royal character and life, and imagined the splendid
palaces which some saw, but more only heard of, at Westminster, were
filled with true greatness and glory. They were really filled with
vulgarity, vice, and shame. James was to them King James the First,
monarch of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and Charles was
Charles, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, and heir-apparent to the
throne. Whereas, within the palace, to all who saw them and knew them
there, and really, so far as their true moral position was concerned,
the father was "Old Dad," and the son, what his father always called
him till he was twenty-four years old, "Baby Charley."