DOWNFALL OF STRAFFORD AND LAUD.
[Sidenote: Opening of the new Parliament.]
The Parliament assembled in November, 1640. The king proceeded to
London to meet them. He left Strafford in command of the army at York.
Active hostilities had been suspended, as a sort of temporary truce
had been concluded with the Scots, to prepare the way for a final
treaty. Strafford had been entirely opposed to this, being still full
of energy and courage. The king, however, began to feel alarmed. He
went to London to meet the Parliament which he had summoned, but he was
prepared to meet them in a very different spirit from that which he
had manifested on former occasions. He even gave up all the external
circumstances of pomp and parade with which the opening of Parliament
had usually been attended. He had been accustomed to go to the House of
Lords in state, with a numerous retinue and great parade. Now he was
conveyed from his palace along the river in a barge, in a quiet and
unostentatious manner.
[Sidenote: The king's speech.]
His opening speech, too, was moderate and conciliatory. In a word, it
was pretty evident to the Commons that the proud and haughty spirit of
their royal master was beginning to be pretty effectually humbled.
[Sidenote: Attacks on Strafford and Laud.]
[Sidenote: Speeches against them.]
Of course, now, in proportion as the king should falter, the
Commons would grow bold. The House immediately began to attack Laud
and Strafford in their speeches. It is the theory of the British
Constitution that the king can do no wrong; whatever criminality at
any time attaches to the acts of his administration, belongs to his
_advisers_, not to himself. The speakers condemned, in most decided
terms, the arbitrary and tyrannical course which the government had
pursued during the intermission of Parliaments, but charged it all, not
to the king, but to Strafford and Laud. Strafford had been, as they
considered, the responsible person in civil and military affairs, and
Laud in those of the Church. These speeches were made to try the temper
of the House and of the country, and see whether there was hostility
enough to Laud and Strafford in the House and in the country, and
boldness enough in the expression of it, to warrant their impeachment.
The attacks thus made in the House against the two ministers were made
very soon. Within a week after the opening of Parliament, one of the
members, after declaiming a long time against the encroachments and
tyranny of Archbishop Laud, whose title, according to English usage,
was "his Grace," said he hoped that, before the year ran round, his
grace would either have more grace or no grace at all; "for," he added,
"our manifold griefs do fill a mighty and vast circumference, yet in
such a manner that from every part our lines of sorrow do meet in him,
and point at him the center, from whence our miseries in this Church,
and many of them in the Commonwealth, do flow." He said, also, that if
they must submit to a pope, he would rather obey one that was as far
off as the Tiber, than to have him come as near as the Thames.
[Sidenote: Feelings of hostility.]
[Sidenote: Bill of attainder.]
Similar denunciations were made against Strafford, and they awakened no
opposition. On the contrary, it was found that the feeling of hostility
against both the ministers was so universal and so strong, that the
leaders began to think seriously of an impeachment on a charge of high
treason. High treason is the greatest crime known to the English law,
and the punishment for it, especially in the case of a peer of the
realm, is very terrible. This punishment was generally inflicted by
what was called a bill of attainder, which brought with it the worst
of penalties. It implied the perfect destruction of the criminal in
every sense. He was to lose his life by having his head cut off upon a
block. His body, according to the strict letter of the law, was to be
mutilated in a manner too shocking to be here described. His children
were disinherited, and his property all forfeited. This was considered
as the consequence of the _attainting_ of the blood, which rendered it
corrupt, and incapable of transmitting an inheritance. In fact, it was
the intention of the bill of attainder to brand the wretched object of
it with complete and perpetual infamy.
[Sidenote: Mode of proceeding.]
[Sidenote: The trial.]
The proceedings, too, in the impeachment and trial of a high minister
of state, were always very imposing and solemn. The impeachment must be
moved by the Commons, and tried by the Peers. A peer of the realm could
be tried by no inferior tribunal. When the Commons proposed bringing
articles of impeachment against an officer of state, they sent first
a messenger to the House of Peers to ask them to arrest the person
whom they intended to accuse, and to hold him for trial until they
should have their articles prepared. The House of Peers would comply
with this request, and a time would be appointed for the trial. The
Commons would frame the charges, and appoint a certain number of their
members to manage the prosecution. They would collect evidence, and get
every thing ready for the trial. When the time arrived, the chamber of
the House of Peers would be arranged as a court room, or they would
assemble in some other hall more suitable for the purpose, the prisoner
would be brought to the bar, the commissioners on the part of the
Commons would appear with their documents and their evidence, persons
of distinction would assemble to listen to the proceedings, and the
trial would go on.
[Sidenote: Proceedings against Strafford.]
[Sidenote: Arrest of Strafford.]
It was in accordance with this routine that the Commons commenced
proceedings against the Earl of Strafford, very soon after the opening
of the session, by appointing a committee to inquire whether there was
any just cause to accuse him of treason. The committee reported to the
House that there was just cause. The House then appointed a messenger
to go to the House of Lords, saying that they had found that there was
just cause to accuse the Earl of Strafford of high treason, and to
ask that they would sequester him from the House, as the phrase was,
and hold him in custody till they could prepare the charges and the
evidence against him. All these proceedings were in secret session, in
order that Strafford might not get warning and fly. The Commons then
nearly all accompanied their messenger to the House of Lords, to show
how much in earnest they were. The Lords complied with the request.
They caused the earl to be arrested and committed to the charge of
the _usher of the black rod_, and sent two officers to the Commons to
inform them that they had done so.
[Sidenote: Usher of the black rod.]
The usher of the black rod is a very important officer of the House
of Lords. He is a sort of sheriff, to execute the various behests
of the House, having officers to serve under him for this purpose.
The badge of his office has been, for centuries, a black rod with a
golden lion at the upper end, which is borne before him as the emblem
of his authority. A peer of the realm, when charged with treason, is
committed to the custody of this officer. In this case he took the Earl
of Strafford under his charge, and kept him at his house, properly
guarded. The Commons went on preparing the articles of impeachment.
[Sidenote: 1641.]
[Sidenote: Laud threatened with violence.]
This was in November. During the winter following the parties struggled
one against another, Laud doing all in his power to strengthen the
position of the king, and to avert the dangers which threatened
himself and Strafford. The animosity, however, which was felt against
him, was steadily increasing. The House of Commons did many things to
discountenance the rites and usages of the Episcopal Church, and to
make them odious. The excitement among the populace increased, and mobs
began to interfere with the service in some of the churches in London
and Westminster. At last a mob of five hundred persons assembled around
the archbishop's palace at Lambeth.[5] This palace, as has been before
stated, is on the bank of the Thames, just above London, opposite to
Westminster. The mob were there for two hours, beating at the doors and
windows in an attempt to force admission, but in vain. The palace was
very strongly guarded, and the mob were at length repulsed. One of the
ringleaders was taken and hanged.
[5] See view of this palace on page 133.
[Sidenote: Arrest of Laud on the charge of treason.]
One would have thought that this sort of persecution would have
awakened some sympathy in the archbishop's favor; but it was too
late. He had been bearing down so mercilessly himself upon the people
of England for so many years, suppressing, by the severest measures,
all expressions of discontent, that the hatred had become entirely
uncontrollable. Its breaking out at one point only promoted its
breaking out in another. The House of Commons sent a messenger to the
House of Lords, as they had done in the case of Strafford, saying that
they had found good cause to accuse the Archbishop of Canterbury of
treason, and asked that he might be sequestered from the House, and
held in custody till they could prepare their charges, and the evidence
to sustain them.
The archbishop was at that time in his seat. He was directed to
withdraw. Before leaving the chamber he asked leave to say a few words.
Permission was granted, and he said in substance that he was truly
sorry to have awakened in the hearts of his countrymen such a degree of
displeasure as was obviously excited against him. He was most unhappy
to have lived to see the day in which he was made subject to a charge
of treason. He begged their lordships to look at the whole course of
his life, and he was sure that they would be convinced that there was
not a single member of the House of Commons who could really think him
guilty of such a charge.
[Sidenote: Laud's speech.]
Here one of the lords interrupted him to say, that by speaking in
that manner he was uttering slander against the House of Commons,
charging them with solemnly bringing accusations which they did not
believe to be true. The archbishop then said, that if the charge must
be entertained, he hoped that he should have a fair trial, according
to the ancient Parliamentary usages of the realm. Another of the lords
interrupted him again, saying that such a remark was improper, as it
was not for him to prescribe the manner in which the proceedings should
be conducted. He then withdrew, while the House should consider what
course to take. Presently he was summoned back to the bar of the House,
and there committed to the charge of the usher of the black rod. The
usher conducted him to his house, and he was kept there for ten weeks
in close confinement.
[Sidenote: His confinement.]
[Sidenote: Trial of Strafford.]
[Sidenote: Unjust conduct of the Commons.]
At last the time for the trial of Strafford came on, while Laud was in
confinement. The interest felt in the trial was deep and universal.
There were three kingdoms, as it were, combined against one man.
Various measures were resorted to by the Commons to diminish the
possibility that the accused should escape conviction. Some of them
have since been thought to be unjust and cruel. For example, several
persons who were strong friends of Strafford, and who, as was supposed,
might offer testimony in his favor, were charged with treason and
confined in prison until the trial was over. The Commons appointed
thirteen persons to manage the prosecution. These persons were many
months preparing the charges and the evidence, keeping their whole
proceedings profoundly secret during all the time. At last the day
approached, and Westminster Hall was fitted up and prepared to be the
scene of the trial.
[Sidenote: Arrangements at Westminster Hall.]
Westminster Hall has the name of being the largest room whose roof is
not supported by pillars in Europe. It stands in the region of the
palaces and the Houses of Parliament at Westminster, and has been for
seven centuries the scene of pageants and ceremonies without number.
It is said that ten thousand persons have been accommodated in it at a
banquet.[6]
[6] It is two hundred and seventy feet long, seventy-five wide, and
ninety high.
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER HALL.]
This great room was fitted up for the trial. Seats were provided for
both houses of Parliament; for the Commons were to be present as
accusers, and the Lords as the court. There was, as usual, a chair of
state, or throne, for the king, as a matter of form. There was also a
private gallery, screened from the observation of the spectators, where
the king and queen could sit and witness the proceedings. They attended
during the whole trial.
[Sidenote: Charges.]
[Sidenote: Imposing Scene.]
[Sidenote: Strafford's able and eloquent defense.]
One would have supposed that the deliberate solemnity of these
preparations would have calmed the animosity of Strafford's enemies,
and led them to be satisfied at last with something less than his
utter destruction. But this seems not to have been the effect. The
terrible hostilities which had been gathering strength so long, seemed
to rage all the more fiercely now that there was a prospect of their
gratification. And yet it was very hard to find any thing sufficiently
distinct and tangible against the accused to warrant his conviction.
The commissioners who had been appointed to manage the case divided the
charges among them. When the trial commenced, they stated and urged
these charges in succession. Strafford, who had not known beforehand
what they were to be, replied to them, one by one, with calmness and
composure, and yet with great eloquence and power. The extraordinary
abilities which he had shown through the whole course of his life,
seemed to shine out with increased splendor amid the awful solemnities
which were now darkening its close. He was firm and undaunted, and yet
respectful and submissive. The natural excitements of the occasion;
the imposing assembly; the breathless attention; the magnificent hall;
the consciousness that the opposition which he was struggling to
stem before that great tribunal was the combined hostility of three
kingdoms, and that the torrent was flowing from a reservoir which had
been accumulating for many years; and that the whole civilized world
were looking on with great interest to watch the result; and perhaps,
more than all, that he was in the unseen presence of his sovereign,
whom he was accustomed to look upon as the greatest personage on earth;
these, and the other circumstances of the scene, filled his mind with
strong emotions, and gave animation, and energy, and a lofty eloquence
to all that he said.
[Sidenote: The charge of treason a mere pretext.]
The trial lasted eighteen days, the excitement increasing constantly to
the end. There was nothing proved which could with any propriety be
considered as treason. He had managed the government, it is true, with
one set of views in respect to the absolute prerogatives and powers of
the king, while those who now were in possession of power held opposite
views, and they considered it a matter of necessity that he should
die. The charge of treason was a pretext to bring the case somewhat
within the reach of the formalities of law. It is one of the necessary
incidents of all governmental systems founded on force, and not on the
consent of the governed, that when great and fundamental questions
of policy arise, they often bring the country to a crisis in which
there can be no real settlement of the dispute without the absolute
destruction of one party or the other. It was so now, as the popular
leaders supposed. They had determined that stern necessity required
that Laud and Strafford must die; and the only object of going through
the formality of a trial was to soften the violence of the proceeding
a little, by doing all that could be done toward establishing a legal
justification of the deed.
[Sidenote: Vote on the bill of attainder.]
The trial, as has been said, lasted eighteen days. During all this
time, the leaders were not content with simply urging the proceedings
forward energetically in Westminster Hall. They were maneuvering
and managing in every possible way to secure the final vote. But,
notwithstanding this, Strafford's defense was so able, and the failure
to make out the charge of treason against him was so clear, that it
was doubtful what the result would be. Accordingly, without waiting
for the decision of the Peers on the impeachment, a bill of attainder
against the earl was brought forward in the House of Commons. This bill
of attainder was passed by a large majority--yeas 204, nays 59. It was
then sent to the House of Lords. The Lords were very unwilling to pass
it.
[Sidenote: Interposition of the king.]
While they were debating it, the king sent a message to them to say
that in his opinion the earl had not been guilty of treason, or of
any attempt to subvert the laws; and that several things which had
been alleged in the trial, and on which the bill of attainder chiefly
rested, were not true. He was willing, however, if it would satisfy
the enemies of the earl, to have him convicted of a misdemeanor, and
made incapable of holding any public office from that time; but he
protested against his being punished by a bill of attainder on a charge
of treason.
[Sidenote: Clamor of the populace.]
[Sidenote: Condemnation.]
This interposition of the king in Strafford's favor awakened loud
expressions of displeasure. They called it an interference with the
action of one of the houses of Parliament. The enemies of Strafford
created a great excitement against him out of doors. They raised
clamorous calls for his execution among the populace. The people made
black lists of the names of persons who were in the earl's favor, and
posted them up in public places, calling such persons Straffordians,
and threatening them with public vengeance. The Lords, who would have
been willing to have saved Strafford's life if they had dared, began
to find that they could not do so without endangering their own. When
at last the vote came to be taken in the House of Lords, out of eighty
members who had been present at the trial, only forty-six were present
to vote, and the bill was passed by a vote of thirty-five to eleven.
The thirty-four who were absent were probably all against the bill, but
were afraid to appear.
The responsibility now devolved upon the king. An act of Parliament
must be signed by the king. He really enacts it. The action of the two
houses is, in theory, only a recommendation of the measure to him. The
king was determined on no account to give his consent to Strafford's
condemnation. He, however, laid the subject before his Privy Council.
They, after deliberating upon it, recommended that he should sign the
bill. Nothing else, they said, could allay the terrible storm which
was raging, and the king ought to prefer the peace and safety of
the realm to the life of any one man, however innocent he might be.
The populace, in the mean time, crowded around the king's palace at
Whitehall, calling out "_Justice! justice!_" and filling the air with
threats and imprecations; and preachers in their pulpits urged the
necessity of punishing offenders, and descanted on the iniquity which
those magistrates committed who allowed great transgressors to escape
the penalty due for their crimes.
[Sidenote: The king hesitates about signing the bill.]
The queen, too, was alarmed. She begged the king, with tears, not any
longer to attempt to withstand the torrent which threatened to sweep
them all away in its fury. While things were in this state, Charles
received a letter from Strafford in the Tower, expressing his consent,
and even his request, that the king should yield and sign the bill.
[Sidenote: The Tower.]
The Tower of London is very celebrated in English history. Though
called simply by the name of the Tower, it is, in fact, as will be seen
by the engraving in the frontispiece, an extended group of buildings,
which are of all ages, sizes, and shapes, and covering an extensive
area. It is situated below the city of London, having been originally
built as a fortification for the defense of the city. Its use for this
purpose has, however, long since passed away.
[Sidenote: Strafford's letter to the king.]
Strafford said, in his letter to the king,
"To set your Majesty's conscience at Liberty, I do most humbly
beseech your Majesty for Prevention of Evils, which may happen by
your Refusal, to pass this Bill. Sir, My Consent shall more acquit
you herein to God, than all the World can do besides; To a willing
Man there is no Injury done; and as by God's Grace, I forgive all the
World, with a calmness and Meekness of infinite Contentment to my
dislodging Soul, so, Sir, to you I can give the Life of this World
with all the cheerfulness imaginable, in the just Acknowledgment of
your exceeding Favors; and only beg that in your Goodness you would
vouchsafe to cast your gracious Regard upon my poor Son and his three
sisters, less or more, and no otherwise than as their unfortunate
Father may hereafter appear more or less guilty of this Death. God
long preserve your Majesty."
[Sidenote: The king signs the bill.]
[Sidenote: Strafford's surprise.]
On receiving this letter the king caused the bill to be signed. He
would not do it with his own hands, but commissioned two of his council
to do it in his name. He then sent a messenger to Strafford to announce
the decision, and to inform him that he must prepare to die. The
messenger observed that the earl seemed surprised; and after hearing
that the king had signed the bill, he quoted, in a tone of despair, the
words of Scripture, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of
men, for in them is no salvation." Historians have thought it strange
that Strafford should have expressed this disappointment when he had
himself requested the king to resist the popular will no longer; and
they infer from it that he was not sincere in the request, but supposed
that the king would regard it as an act of nobleness and generosity on
his part, that would render him more unwilling than ever to consent to
his destruction, and that he was accordingly surprised and disappointed
when he found that the king had taken him at his word. It is said,
however, by some historians, that this letter was a forgery, and that
it was written by some of Strafford's enemies to lead the king to
resist no longer. The reader, by perusing the letter again, can perhaps
form some judgment whether such a document was more likely to have
been fabricated by enemies, or really written by the unhappy prisoner
himself.
[Sidenote: The king asks mercy for Strafford.]
[Sidenote: Mercy refused.]
The king did not entirely give up the hope of saving his friend, even
after the bill of attainder was signed. He addressed the following
message to the House of Lords.
My Lords,--I did yesterday satisfy the Justice of this Kingdom by
passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford: but Mercy
being as inherent and inseparable to a King as Justice, I desire at
this time in some measure to shew that likewise, by suffering that
unfortunate Man to fulfill the natural course of his Life in a close
Imprisonment: yet so, if ever he make the least Offer to escape, or
offer directly or indirectly to meddle in any sort of public Business,
especially with Me either by Message or Letter, it shall cost him his
Life without farther Process. This, if it may be done without the
Discontentment of my People, will be an unspeakable Contentment to me.
"I will not say that your complying with me in this my intended Mercy,
shall make me more willing, but certainly 'twill make me more cheerful
in granting your just Grievances: But if no less than his Life can
satisfie my People, I must say Let justice be done. Thus again
recommending the consideration of my Intention to you, I rest,
"Your Unalterable and Affectionate Friend, "CHARLES R."
[Illustration: STRAFFORD AND LAUD.]
[Sidenote: Strafford's message to Laud.]
The Lords were inexorable. Three days from the time of signing the
bill, arrangements were made for conducting the prisoner to the
scaffold. Laud, who had been his friend and fellow-laborer in the
king's service, was confined also in the Tower, awaiting his turn to
come to trial. They were not allowed to visit each other, but Strafford
sent word to Laud requesting him to be at his window at the time when
he was to pass, to bid him farewell, and to give him his blessing.
Laud accordingly appeared at the window, and Strafford, as he passed,
asked for the prelate's prayers and for his blessing. The old man, for
Laud was now nearly seventy years of age, attempted to speak, but
he could not command himself sufficiently to express what he wished to
say, and he fell back into the arms of his attendants. "God protect
you," said Strafford, and walked calmly on.
[Sidenote: Composure of Strafford.]
[Sidenote: His execution.]
He went to the place of execution with the composure and courage of a
hero. He spoke freely to those around him, asserted his innocence, sent
messages to his absent friends, and said he was ready and willing to
die. The scaffold, in such executions as this, is a platform slightly
raised, with a block and chairs upon it, all covered with black cloth.
A part of the dress has to be removed just before the execution,
in order that the neck of the sufferer may be fully exposed to the
impending blow. Strafford made these preparations himself, and said, as
he did so, that he was in no wise afraid of death, but that he should
lay his head upon that block as cheerfully as he ever did upon his
pillow.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Execution of Laud.]
[Sidenote: His firmness.]
Charles found his position in no respect improved by the execution of
Strafford. The Commons, finding their influence and power increasing,
grew more and more bold, and were from this time so absorbed in the
events connected with the progress of their quarrel with the king,
that they left Laud to pine in his prison for about four years. They
then found time to act over again the solemn and awful scene of a
trial for treason before the House of Peers, the passing of a bill
of attainder, and an execution on Tower Hill. Laud was over seventy
years of age when the ax fell upon him. He submitted to his fate with
a calmness and heroism in keeping with his age and his character. He
said, in fact, that none of his enemies could be more desirous to send
him out of life than he was to go.