(M170) (M171)
Parliament—the Long Parliament—met as promised on the 3rd November, 1640.
Charles had intended to nominate Sir Thomas Gardiner, the Recorder, a
devoted adherent of the Crown, as Speaker of the Commons; but since the
days of Heneage Finch the City had failed to return its Recorder to
parliament.(424) Charles was therefore obliged to look elsewhere. His
choice fell upon William Lenthall, who was the first to realise the
position of a Speaker in times of political controversy, and who
throughout his career acted up to his famous dictum, that "he had neither
eyes to see nor tongue to speak, save as the House was pleased to direct
him."
(M172)
As soon as parliament met, Strafford, who was only too conscious of his
impending fate, determined to take the bull by the horns, and to use every
means to induce the king to anticipate the blow by boldly accusing the
parliamentary leaders of treasonable designs. His efforts were futile.
Rightly or wrongly, it was generally believed that he intended to
establish a military despotism in England, and that London was to be
brought into subjection. The way in which it was all to be effected was
even described by Cradock, one of the city members, in a speech he made to
the House. It is certain that the citizens regarded him as a deadly foe.
They had not forgotten the advice he gave to Charles respecting the
aldermen, nor his attempt to ruin their trade by depreciation of the
coinage. For weeks past the city had been in a disordered state. On the
22nd October, the mob having forced its way into the Court of High
Commission, some of the offenders were brought before the mayor and
aldermen sitting on a commission of Oyer and Terminer; but the grand jury
refused to find a true bill. These abortive proceedings were followed by a
riot at St. Paul’s.(425) Before the House had been in session a fortnight
Strafford was ordered into custody.
(M173)
The £50,000 which the City had advanced went but a little way towards
meeting the king’s necessities. The two armies in the north had to be
paid, and there was not the wherewithal to pay them. The City was ready to
lend a further sum of £25,000, on condition that the Londonderry estate
was restored, the garrison in the Tower removed and the ordnance
dismounted from its walls. Unless this were done, said Cradock, "such
jealousies would possess the city, it would hinder supply."(426)
Parliament agreed to the loan being repaid, as a first charge, out of the
£100,000 ordered to be raised for the relief of the army and northern
counties;(427) and the Common Council lost no time in preparing a petition
to parliament for the restoration of the Irish lands.(428) Nor was it only
in their corporate capacity that the citizens came forward to render
pecuniary assistance to the government. On the 21st November Isaac
Pennington, alderman of the ward of Bridge Without, and one of the city’s
representatives in parliament, announced to the House that his
constituents had subscribed £21,000 to the loan.
(M174)
The general feeling of distrust that prevailed was heightened by an attack
made upon a member of the House who, in his capacity of a justice of
peace, had prepared a list of recusants, in pursuance of a recent
proclamation.(429) So great was the alarm among the Commons that
Pennington offered the House a guard of three hundred citizens, and at
first there was a disposition to accept the alderman’s offer, but in
course of time better counsel prevailed and the idea was abandoned.
(M175)
The tendency of the city towards Puritanism at this time was very marked.
On the 28th November Prynne and Burton entered London, and their entry was
made one long triumphal procession. This circumstance was specially noted
by the royalist writer Clarendon as a remarkable "instance of the unruly
and mutinous spirit of the City of London," which he is pleased to term
"the sink of all the ill humour of the Kingdom."(430) A fortnight later
(11 Dec.) a petition for church reform and the abolition of episcopacy
"root and branch" was presented to parliament, signed by 15,000
Londoners.(431) The blow was aimed at Laud, who was looked upon as the
cause of all the country’s trouble. That day week (18 Dec.) the archbishop
was impeached.
(M176)
When the meetings held at Ripon between English and Scottish commissioners
for the purpose of negotiating a treaty ceased (Oct. 1640), it was on the
understanding that they were to be resumed in London. The Scottish
commissioners accordingly came south, and were lodged in the city in a
house adjacent to the church of St. Antholin, where they were visited by a
large concourse of citizens and magnificently entertained.(432) It was
with no little satisfaction that the success of the Scots had been watched
by the majority of the inhabitants of the city, and now that the northern
commissioners were in their midst the citizens took the opportunity of
showing them substantial marks of favour.
(M177) (M178) (M179)
On the 12th January, 1641, the Scottish demands were formally submitted to
parliament, but they were not taken into consideration until the 22nd.
After much debate it was agreed in general terms that a "friendly
assistance" should be given, leaving the amount and the manner of
collection for future consideration.(433) In the meantime the Speaker,
Lenthall, had written (15 Jan.) to the mayor directing him to summon a
Common Hall for the purpose of raising a loan of £60,000 required for the
army, and the Common Council had agreed (18 Jan.) that the amount should
be collected from the wards.(434) But before this could be accomplished an
incident occurred which threatened to jeopardise the loan. This was the
reprieve of John Goodman, a Roman Catholic priest, who had been condemned
to death. The morning after parliament had agreed to raise money for the
Scottish commissioners alderman Pennington rose in the House and declared
that, in consequence of Goodman’s reprieve and other suspicious
circumstances, the City had resolved to lend nothing.(435) The Lords as
well as the Commons followed the initiative of the alderman and made a
joint demand for the execution of the condemned priest. As he had often
done before, Charles again threw over the Catholics. He announced his
intention not to allow the increase of Popery or superstition in the
country; he would forthwith issue a proclamation commanding Jesuits and
priests to leave the kingdom within a month, and he was willing to submit
the case of Goodman to the decision of both Houses.(436) Fortunately for
Goodman, the City and the Commons had higher game to fly at in Strafford,
and the humbler priest was allowed to remain unmolested in prison.
(M180)
On the 6th February the Speaker addressed a second letter to the mayor to
the effect that the money was required sooner than it could be collected
by way of subsidies, as formerly suggested to his lordship, and that
consequently the House had directed him to take steps for having £60,000
raised by subscription and paid into the Chamber of London, to be at the
disposal of parliament.(437) The money not coming in so speedily as was
desired, the Speaker wrote a third time (19 Feb.) to the mayor, directing
him to summon a Common Hall and to lay before it the extreme urgency of
affairs.(438) The chief cause of the delay in getting in the money was the
dissatisfaction felt in the city at Strafford’s trial being put off so
long. The 17th February being at last fixed for his trial, there was some
hope that the money would speedily now be forthcoming,(439) and the same
day the Commons commissioned Sir William Uvedale to go to the lord mayor
and get an order for receiving the money that had been collected up to
£50,000.(440) Three days later the Court of Aldermen made out the
necessary order for the Chamberlain to pay over the money.(441)
(M181)
Again there was delay in bringing Strafford to trial, and it was not until
the 22nd March that he was arraigned in Westminster Hall, where alone room
could be found for the crowds that were anxious to witness the
proceedings. The mayor took steps to prevent a rush of people to
Westminster and to suppress any riot that might arise. From five o’clock
in the morning until nine at night a double watch was kept at the city’s
gates and landing stages on the river. The trained bands were held in
readiness, whilst servants and apprentices were ordered to keep
indoors.(442) At the end of three weeks a Bill of Attainder was brought in
and read a first time (10 April), and on the 21st April it was read a
third time and passed.(443) The Lords would willingly have let matters
rest here, but the discovery of a design entertained by the queen of
bringing the defeated English army from the north to Westminster to
overawe the parliament, and likewise of an attempt made by Charles to get
possession of the Tower that he might liberate Strafford by force, hurried
the unfortunate earl’s end. The citizens were determined not to rest until
his head was off his shoulders, and 20,000 Londoners signed a petition
addressed to both Houses (24 April) demanding his execution on the ground
that he had advised the plundering of the city and putting it to fine and
ransom.(444) The Peers deemed it advisable to give way. They passed the
Bill of Attainder and on the 12th May Strafford was beheaded.
(M182)
The Lords had another pressing reason for giving way, for until the
citizens were assured that the full penalty of the law would be executed
on Strafford they determined to stop payment of the loan. Writing to
Matthew Bradley on the 3rd May, the treasurer of the army tells him "a
strange story." "There is," he says, "money ready in the city, but none
will be delivered until justice be done upon my lord of Strafford."(445)
On that very day, the letter continues, there had been a crowd of 10,000
well-to-do persons at Westminster—"citizens of very good account, some
worth £30,000, some £40,000" demanding justice against Strafford and
threatening to send their servants the next day unless justice were
speedily executed. "Truly these unsettled times do much trouble me."
(M183)
The discovery of the so-called "army plot" had in the meanwhile led to a
preamble being drawn up to a document known as the "Protestation," or
declaration in favour of the reformed religion, in which the danger from
the army was for the first time clearly mentioned. The Protestation passed
the Commons on the 3rd May,(446) and on the following day received the
assent of the House of Lords. On the 11th May a printed copy of this
document was introduced into the Court of Aldermen, when it received the
willing assent not only of the aldermen present, but also of the Town
Clerk and the City Remembrancer.(447) On the 29th it was accepted by the
Common Council, and two days later the mayor issued his precept for a
house-to-house visitation to be made in every ward for the purpose of
getting all the inhabitants of the city to give in their adherence to
it.(448)
(M184)
Although the execution of Strafford somewhat allayed the nation’s fears of
having "two armies brought into the bowels of the kingdom," they were soon
revived by a second army plot. The armies thus became a constant source of
danger as well as expense, and it was determined to disband them. Charles
could not withhold his assent, and a poll tax was established for the
purpose of raising the necessary funds. This was in July (1641).(449) The
masters and wardens of the livery companies were forthwith called upon to
make a return in writing of the names of every person who had been and
then was master and warden of each company; the names of all the livery,
yeomanry and freemen of each company, noting in the margin of the return
those who had ever been fined for alderman or sheriff, and the parish and
ward in which each individual member of the company resided. Every
alderman was likewise instructed to make a return of the names of his
deputy and common councilmen of his ward; the names of every
merchant-stranger that kept house there, every English merchant and
factor, and every popish recusant; and finally the names of everyone in
the ward above the age of sixteen years not otherwise rated.(450)
(M185)
On the 3rd February the House had come to a resolution that the sum of
£300,000 might justly be appointed as a "friendly assistance and relief"
for the Scots. The manner in which it was to be raised was left for
further consideration.(451) It was now arranged that £80,000 of that sum
should be at once paid over to them, and that on August the 25th they
should cross the Tweed. The City was called upon to find £40,000—or
one-half of the amount immediately required—by Wednesday, the 28th
July.(452) By order of the House of Commons (29 July) it was to be repaid
with interest out of the poll money when levied.(453) So eager were the
citizens to contribute towards the work of ridding the country of the
Scottish forces before Charles should have an opportunity of using his
powers of persuasion upon them that there was a difficulty in getting a
sufficient number of tellers to receive it.(454)
(M186)
In addition to this heavy drain upon their resources, the citizens were
called upon by the House of Commons (31 July) to forthwith pay the sum of
£3,000 which they had undertaken to advance, upon the public faith of the
House, towards "the furnishing of the queen-mother of France in her
journey out of the kingdom."(455) Ever since October, 1638, Mary de
Medicis had resided at St. James’s Palace, and had caused no little
discontent by her intermeddling in the affairs of the country and the
favour she displayed towards Catholics. On her first arrival in London the
citizens had accorded her a hearty welcome.(456) The acknowledgment that
Charles subsequently made of his gratification at the City’s action on
this occasion was rendered somewhat ungracious by his requesting that a
gift of the value of £1,000, "or thereabouts," should be made to the
queen-mother in further demonstration of the City’s love. After
communicating with the Common Council the Court of Aldermen agreed to
present her with a cup of the value of £800, "or thereabouts."(457)
(M187)
Charles had determined to set out for Scotland on Monday, the 9th August,
in spite of every effort to get him to postpone his journey. So great
indeed was the fear of danger likely to be incurred if he carried out his
intention at this juncture that the House of Commons determined to sit on
Sunday to contrive measures for avoiding the threatened risk—a proceeding
which they publicly declared they would never have adopted, "but upon
inevitable necessity, the peace and safety both of Church and State being
so deeply concerned."(458) In answer to a fresh appeal Charles consented
to put off his journey for one day, and on Tuesday (10 Aug.)—the day on
which the treaty with the Scots was finished and the queen-mother left
England—he set out for Scotland.
(M188) (M189)
On the 28th August, when all danger in the north appeared to have passed
away and Charles had visited both armies without appealing to them for
assistance, parliament decided to adjourn from the 8th September until the
20th October. The Commons were in need of rest after the excitement of the
session, and the necessity for an adjournment was increased by another
visitation of the plague,(459) which had already driven many members home
without leave. The day preceding the adjournment was appointed to be kept
as a day of thanksgiving for the peace; and, pursuant to an order of both
Houses, the mayor issued his precept for shops to be closed and for the
inhabitants of the city to attend divine service, after which bells were
to be rung and bonfires lighted.(460)
(M190)
Before the Commons separated they delivered (26 Aug.) their judgment upon
a petition(461) which the City had prepared for them in January touching
its estate in Londonderry, of which it had been deprived in 1635 by
sentence of the Court of Star Chamber. That petition set forth the
unwillingness of the City to undertake the work of the Ulster plantation.
It had only been undertaken at the late king’s earnest desire, and subject
to special articles, the City absolutely refusing to be bound by the
general articles drawn up by his majesty for ordinary undertakers. The
Irish Society and the companies had expended more than £130,000 (exclusive
of money laid out by tenants) on their estate "in hope to have in the
future enjoyed some benefitt of their great cost and charge." The city of
Londonderry and the town of Coleraine had been rebuilt, and the castle of
Culmore repaired and entrenched. Fifteen churches had been either built or
repaired, besides a "very fair" church and free school which had been
erected in Derry at a cost of more than £4,000. Roads had been made which
had converted one of the most barbarous places in the kingdom into one of
the most civilised. The society and the companies, the petition went on to
say, had enjoyed this estate without interruption until Hilary Term a° 6
Charles I (1631), when the Attorney-General, Sir Robert Heath, exhibited
an information against the mayor, commonalty and citizens of London and
divers individuals, suggesting that they had possessed themselves of the
said lands and taken the profits before any grant was made to them, and
that they had a greater quantity of lands than was intended to be passed
by the grant, and had by indirect means procured divers privileges to be
inserted in the grant for which the Attorney General who passed the grant
had no warrant. Evidence of witnesses had been taken on the matter, but
before the cause came to a hearing this information was dropt and another
exhibited in Hilary Term a° 8 Charles I (1633) against the petitioners and
the Irish Society, in which new charges touching infringement of
conditions of Letters Patent were inserted, and upon these pretences the
Irish Society was adjudged by sentence of the Court of Star Chamber in
Hilary Term a° 10 Charles I (1635) to pay a fine of £70,000 and to lose
their estate on the ground that the said Letters Patent had been "unduly
and surreptitiously obteyned to the prejudice and deceipt of his
majestie." The companies refused to surrender their estates, and divers
lands belonging to the City and to the Bridgehouse were seized to satisfy
the fine, to the great prejudice of the City. Being otherwise unable to
redeem themselves from the penalty of the Star Chamber sentence, the
companies were forced to consent to relinquish their Irish estate and all
arrears of rent, amounting to £20,000. A _scire facias_ was brought in and
judgment allowed by default, whereupon the companies lost their estates,
whilst the mayor and commonalty and citizens of London, although not
parties to any patent or plantation—having done no more than lend their
name for the better transaction of the business and for the purpose of
raising money for the plantation, which otherwise could never have been
effected—were fined £70,000. Seeing that the matter reflected so badly
upon the justice of the late as well as the present king, the petitioners
humbly prayed that a full investigation of the whole proceedings might be
made and justice done.
Such was the nature of the petition which the Common Council ordered in
January (1641) to be submitted to parliament. The House had its hands too
full to pay much attention to the City’s grievance until recently; but
now, within a fortnight of their adjournment for a well-earned rest, the
Commons declared(462) the sentence in the Star Chamber to have been
unlawful and unjust. They declared that, in the opinion of the House, the
citizens of London had been solicited and pressed to undertake the
plantation of Londonderry, that the king had not been deceived in the
grant to the new corporation of the Irish Society, that no breach of
covenant (if any there were) had been committed sufficient to cause a
forfeiture of the lands, that the Star Chamber proceedings were _ultra
vires_, and that the citizens of London and all those against whom
judgment had been given in the _scire facias_ should be discharged of that
judgment and reinstated as they were before the sentence in the Star
Chamber.
(M191)
Before the Houses again met, Richard Gurney, a man of the same royalist
proclivity as Garway, and on that account, perhaps, described by Clarendon
as "a man of wisdom and courage," had been elected mayor in succession to
Edmund Wright.(463) The last days of Wright’s mayoralty were days of
sickness and tumult in the city. Numbers of disbanded soldiers from the
north had made their way to London, where they carried on a system of
rapine and outrage. The mayor issued precepts for search to be made in
every ward for suspected persons and disbanded soldiers, as well as for
keeping the streets well lighted at night by candle and lanthorn, whilst
public proclamation was made by the king for soldiers to repair to their
own homes.(464)
(M192)
Shortly after the House of Commons had resumed its session attention was
again drawn towards Ireland, where a rebellion had broken out. Seeing how
successful Scotland had been in its resistance to England, the Irish had
determined to strike a blow for the recovery of lands handed over to
Protestant colonists, as well as for religious liberty. Charles himself
had held out hopes of greater freedom to the Irish Catholics, who saw no
reason why they should be worse treated than the rebellious Puritans of
Scotland. The scene of massacre and cruelty which followed has been
described by others, and remains to this day (in the words of Carlyle) "a
huge blot, an indiscriminate blackness, one which the human memory cannot
willingly charge itself with."
(M193)
As soon as news of the outbreak reached parliament, application was
forthwith made to the City for assistance. On the 3rd November lord mayor
Gurney issued his precept(465) to the aldermen informing them that on the
previous day divers lords and others of both Houses of Parliament had come
to the Common Council and asked for a loan of £50,000 at eight per cent.
Seeing that the matter was of so great importance, each alderman was
desired to take steps in conjunction with his deputy and common councilmen
of his ward to get liberal contributions made towards the loan.(466)
(M194)
The attitude of the City now became more marked. Whilst consenting to find
the money required, it asked parliament that the persons of the Catholic
lords might be secured, and that the bishops, who were the cause of every
good measure being defeated in the Upper House, might be deprived of their
votes. It had a minor grievance in the custom that had arisen of members
of both Houses granting their servants "protections" against creditors, a
procedure extremely prejudicial to the city merchant and tradesman, and
one which they would willingly see remedied.(467)
(M195)
The City’s declaration against the bishops, which Dr. Gardiner(468)
characterises as being "the turning point in the struggle," augured badly
for Charles. Nevertheless, he had friends in the city. The new mayor was a
strong royalist, as also were the majority of the aldermen, and they took
the opportunity of Charles paying his first visit to the city (25 Nov.)
since he ascended the throne to demonstrate their loyalty. On the 17th the
Court of Aldermen appointed a committee to make the necessary
arrangements,(469) whilst the mayor issued his precept the same day to the
civic companies to prepare a certain number of their livery, well horsed
and apparelled, to assist him in escorting the king and queen from the
church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, to the Guildhall on the morning of the
eventful day, and thence, after the banquet, to Whitehall.(470) The Common
Council agreed that the cost of the entertainment at the Guildhall should
be defrayed by the Chamber.(471)
(M196)
On the king’s approaching the northern suburbs of the city, whither the
mayor and citizens had gone to meet him,(472) he was welcomed by the
Recorder. There was some talk of presenting the king with a gift either of
money or plate,(473) but the proposal fell through. "We tender to you,"
said Sir Thomas Gardiner, "no formal present; it would but lessen us; I am
sure whatever it were it would be far short of our meaning."
(M197)
It was of the utmost importance to Charles to win over the city to his
side if he could—"The loans of the London citizens alone had made it
possible for the House of Commons to disband the armies; and without the
loans of the London citizens the House would find it impossible to provide
for a campaign in Ireland," and thus place itself in a position of
military supremacy.(474) Accordingly, in a speech carefully prepared
beforehand,(475) he expressed his gratification at finding that the better
class of citizens were still loyal. "I see," said he, "that all those
former tumults and disorders have only risen from the meaner sort of
people, and that the affections of the better and main part of the city
have ever been loyal and affectionate to my person and government." He
proceeded to assure his hearers of his determination to maintain the true
Protestant religion as established by Elizabeth and James, and he hoped
with the assistance of parliament to re-establish the trade of the
country. But what pleased the citizens perhaps more than anything was a
promise he made to restore to them their Londonderry estate—at that moment
in the hands of the rebels, but soon, he hoped, to be recovered. The
Recorder was expressly commanded to wait upon his majesty and see that
this promise was punctually performed.(476)
(M198)
By way of further showing his favour Charles knighted both the Mayor and
Recorder on the spot. He afterwards expressed his gratification at the
reception that the City had accorded him,(477) and conferred knighthoods
upon both of the sheriffs and five of the aldermen.(478)
(M199)
The Common Council took Charles at his word and lost no time in appointing
a committee for the purpose of introducing a Bill in parliament for the
recovery of the city’s Irish estate. The Recorder had pointed out (20
Nov.) to the court that the "corporation" (_i.e._ the Irish society) had
been dissolved, and it behoved them to consider in whose names the Irish
estate should be vested, whether in the name of the mayor and commonalty
of London or a "select company."
(M200)
The disaffected element in the city, which had voluntarily kept itself in
the background, or had been suppressed by force on the day of the king’s
visit, again came to the surface as soon as the duties of hospitality had
been executed. Once more a crowd gathered (29 Nov.) at Westminster,
shouting "No bishops!" encouraged (it was said) by John Venn, a merchant
taylor, who had succeeded Cradock, on the latter’s decease, as one of the
city’s representatives in parliament. On the 10th December the mayor,
acting under orders from the king, issued his precept to the aldermen to
see that apprentices and servants were kept within doors and not allowed
to go abroad to make tumult and hold unlawful meetings.(479)
(M201)
A difference of opinion existed as to the representative character of
those who had thus threatened parliament. "You much mistake," wrote Thomas
Wiseman to Sir John Pennington ten days after the riot had taken place,
"if you think those seditious meetings of sectaries and others ill
affected, who have lately been at the parliament-house to cry for justice
against the delinquent bishops, are the representative body of the
city—they are not, but the representative body is the lord mayor, aldermen
and Common Council, who gave the entertainment to the king and will stick
to him and live and die in his service."(480)
(M202)
In order to dispel all doubts as to the respectability of the agitators
they determined to present a formal petition to parliament for the removal
of the bishops, and to do the thing in style. "Accoutred in the best
manner they could," they rode to Westminster in coaches, "to prevent the
aspersion that they were of the basest sort of people only which were that
way affected."(481) They declared that the petition was signed by over
20,000 well-to-do citizens, including aldermen and members of the Common
Council, and that many more signatures might have been obtained but for
the obstruction of divers "ill-affected persons."(482) When the Commons
came to inquire (20 Dec.) who these ill-affected persons were, it was
found that the Mayor and the Recorder were the chief. The former was
declared to have said that the petition had found favour only with
ignorant or idle people, who did not realise the danger they were in, and
that the petition "tended to mutiny." On hearing that part of the petition
which stated that it was the wish of the "representative body" of the city
to have the bishops removed, the Recorder lost all control over himself,
and swore it was a lie. The petition, he said, tended to sedition, and to
set men together by the ears. So far from tending to peace it was, he
declared, "for blood and cutting of throats; and if it came to cutting of
throats, thank yourselves; and your blood be upon your own heads."(483)
(M203)
The following day was the Feast of St. Thomas (21 Dec.), the day on which
the members of the Common Council go out of office and present themselves
to their constituents for re-election. The result of the elections turned
out to be largely in favour of the Puritan opposition. The new Common
Council, like the House of Commons, would support "King Pym" and his
policy; whilst the more aristocratic Court of Aldermen would side with
Charles and the House of Lords.(484) It cannot be doubted that the new
council was more truly representative of the inhabitants of the city, and
better able to give expression to their wishes than the last. There was
only wanting a popular lord mayor. He was to come.
(M204) (M205)
The tardy and unsatisfactory reply Charles gave to the remonstrance—the
"Grand Remonstrance of the state of the Church and Kingdom" presented to
him at Hampton Court on the 1st December—and his appointment of Colonel
Lunsford, a debauched ruffian, as lieutenant of the Tower, in place of
Balfour, who was a favourite with the city, increased the exasperation
against him, and the mayor was obliged to inform him (26 Dec.) that unless
Lunsford was removed he could not answer for the peace of the city. This
representation by Gurney had the desired effect, and Lunsford was removed
that night.(485) Before his removal became generally known another riot
broke out at Westminster (27 Dec.) between London apprentices and some
officers of the late army, among whom was Lunsford himself. The officers
drew their swords and drove the close-cropt apprentices, or "roundheads"
as they were jeeringly called, out of Westminster, chasing them up King
Street as far as Whitehall. Several of the rioters were hurt, but none
killed. For some days the excitement was so great that everyone attending
the court at Whitehall wore a sword; and 500 gentlemen of the Inns of
Court offered their services to the king.(486) On the 28th December
Charles directed the mayor to call out the trained bands, and to command
their officers, "by shooting with bullets or otherwise," to slay and kill
such as should persist in tumultuary and seditious ways and
disorders.(487) The Peers were inclined to throw the blame of the
disturbance upon the civic authorities, but Pym and the House of Commons
refused "to discontent the citizens of London, our surest friends," at
such a critical time.(488) Charles himself took the same view, and sent a
letter to the City by the hand of Lord Newburgh, in which he expressed his
continued confidence in the loyalty of the city, and ascribed the recent
tumults and distempers to "the meane and unruly people of the suburbs."
The Common Council in reply caused it to be signified to his majesty that
neither that court nor any individual member of it was implicated in the
late disorder, which they altogether disavowed and disclaimed.(489) Having
committed this message to Lord Newburgh to carry to the king, the court
proceeded to take measures for the better preserving the peace in the
several wards of the city.
(M206)
The same day that these measures were being taken for public safety in the
city the Commons directed halberds to be brought into the House for their
own use in case of a sudden attack, and desired the king to appoint the
Earl of Essex captain of the guard. After this they adjourned until the
3rd January, a committee being ordered to sit in the meanwhile at the
Guildhall. Upon the re-assembling of the House Charles refused its request
for a guard.(490) The Commons thereupon sent a message to the mayor for
the trained bands to be put in readiness "for the safety of the king’s
person, the city and the commonwealth," and for good and strong watches to
be set at all places convenient about the city. The following day Sir
Thomas Soame, Alderman Pennington and Captain Venn were despatched to the
city to inform the citizens of a new danger which was threatening the
Commons.(491)
(M207)
During the short recess Charles had at last made up his mind to a course
long premeditated. He determined to seize the parliamentary leaders on a
charge of treason, and articles of impeachment were drawn up against Lord
Kimbolton, of the House of Peers, and Pym, Hampden, Holles, Hazlerigg and
Strode, of the Commons. No sooner had the Commons met than the
Sergeant-at-Arms appeared with orders to arrest the five members.(492) As
such action affected the privileges of the House, a committee was
appointed to send a reply to the king in due course. Baffled in this
direction, the king despatched a message to the lord mayor forbidding him
to call out the trained bands at the order of the Commons, but only to
raise such a force as might be necessary to put down tumult and
disorder.(493) Gurney was in bed at the time, but he promised to see to it
in the morning.(494)
(M208)
When the Commons met the next morning (4 Jan.) they sent up the articles
of impeachment to the House of Lords as a scandalous paper. The king in
the meantime was taking steps to secure the Tower and the city. He had
heard that six pieces of ordnance had been removed from the artillery yard
and placed near the Leadenhall, and he wrote to the mayor bidding him see
that they were used only for the guard and preservation of the city if
need be.(495) It was these measures that caused the Commons to send Soame,
Pennington and Venn to the city to inform the citizens of the impending
danger. On the afternoon of the same day Charles himself appeared in the
House, to the door of which he had been accompanied by an armed retinue.
Taking his stand before the Speaker’s chair he professed sorrow for the
necessity that had brought him there. Yesterday he had sent, he said, a
Sergeant-at-Arms to apprehend certain persons accused of high treason. He
had expected obedience and not an answer. Careful as he was and always
would be of the privileges of the Commons, they were to know that there
was no privilege in matters of treason. Failing himself to discover those
whom he sought, he turned to Lenthall and asked him if they were in the
House. "Do you see any of them?" The Speaker’s reply was singularly apt.
"May it please your majesty," said he, falling on his knee before Charles,
"I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as this
House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." Casting one more
glance round the House, and finding that the "birds had flown," the king
withdrew amid cries of "Privilege! Privilege!" and the House immediately
adjourned.
(M209)
The king could not allow matters to rest here. The next morning, being
Wednesday, the 5th January, he set out for the city with a small retinue,
and presented himself at the Guildhall when a Court of Common Council was
sitting. The city’s archives are searched in vain for any record of what
took place on that memorable occasion, but we have a vivid account of the
scene handed down to us by an eye-witness, Captain Slingsby, who,
happening to meet the royal party on its way to the city, turned back and
followed it into the precincts of the Council Chamber.(496) Charles lost
no time in coming to the point. He had come, he said, to demand those
persons who had been already accused of high treason, and who were
believed at that moment to be lurking within the city. He desired to bring
them to a trial at law, and depended upon those present for their
assistance. He was resolved to redress grievances and to preserve the
privileges of parliament, but he must "question these traitors." After
justifying the existence of a guard at Whitehall and saying a few friendly
words to the aldermen, he invited himself to dinner with one of the
sheriffs, choosing the sheriff who was less favourably disposed towards
him, viz., sheriff Garrett. The king’s speech was followed by an ominous
pause. Then a cry, writes Slingsby, was raised in the council,
"Parliament! Privileges of parliament!" and presently another, "God bless
the king!" These continued for some time, but he professes to be unable to
say which of the two was loudest. When silence was restored the king asked
that a spokesman should make known to him their wishes. Thereupon a member
of the council arose and said, "It is the vote of this court that your
majesty hear the advice of your parliament." This statement was at once
challenged by another, who cried out, "It is not the vote of this court:
it is your own vote." The king replied by asking who it was that charged
him with not taking the advice of his parliament, adding that he did take
its advice and would continue to do so, but, said he, "I must distinguish
between the parliament and some traitors in it," and these, he repeated,
"he would bring to trial—to trial." "No privileges could protect a traitor
from a trial." With this he turned to leave the Council Chamber. On
reaching the outer hall he was again assailed with the cry that had been
made to ring in his ears all the way from Whitehall to the city, "The
privileges of parliament!" Undaunted he made his way through the mob to
dine at Garrett’s house, and later in the day, amid the same cries, he
returned to Whitehall.
(M210)
Relieved of his presence, the Common Council, with great deliberation,
agreed on the terms of a petition to be presented to his majesty.(497)
After expressing their regret for the continuation of the rebellion in
Ireland, the removal of the lieutenant of the Tower, in whom all had
confidence, the steps taken to fortify Whitehall, and the recent
disturbances at Westminster, they represented to the king the great
increase of the fears of the citizens owing to his attempt to seize the
five members, the effect of which was to prejudice the whole trade of the
city and the kingdom. They therefore humbly desired him to take steps for
the speedy relief of the Protestants in Ireland, to place the Tower in the
hands of persons of trust, to remove discredited persons from Whitehall
and Westminster, and not to proceed against Lord Kimbolton and the five
members of the Commons otherwise than in accordance with the privileges of
parliament.
(M211)
Having ordered this petition to be engrossed and afterwards to be
presented to his majesty, the Common Council proceeded to vote a sum of
£2,000 for the purpose of providing a stock of arms and ammunition for the
defence of the city in "theis tymes of daungers and feares."
(M212)
Each alderman had already been directed to see that the trained bands,
6,000 strong, were fully equipt without the necessity of borrowing arms
from the city halls or elsewhere; a double watch with halberds and muskets
was ordered to be kept in each ward by night and day, chains and posts
which were in any way defective were to be forthwith made good, and hooks,
ladders, buckets, spades, shovels, pickaxes, augers and chisels were to be
kept in readiness in case of fire.(498) Members of the Common Council were
forbidden on the 6th January to leave their wards without express
permission.(499) The same night an alarm was raised, and the mayor was
asked to call out the trained bands. On his refusal the trained bands
dispensed with his authority and turned out on their own account. The
panic quickly spread, and every inhabitant, arming himself as best he
could, hastened to join them. In course of time the alarm subsided, but
the mayor was commanded by an Order in Council (8 Jan.) to investigate the
cause of the alarm, and to secure the persons who had taken upon
themselves to call out the trained bands.(500) This Order in Council was
immediately met by a resolution of the Grand Committee of the Commons
sitting at Grocers’ Hall to the effect that the action of the citizens for
the defence of parliament had been in accordance with their duty, and that
anyone attempting to arrest them for so doing was a public enemy. More
than this, the Committee declared that at a time when the king, kingdom
and parliament were "in very eminent and apparent danger," it was the duty
of the lord mayor, aldermen and Common Council, or the greater number of
them, to make use of the trained bands or any other forces of the city for
the preservation of the peace.(501)
(M213)
On the same day (8 Jan.) the king’s reply to the City’s late petition was
read before the Common Council.(502) He had hoped, he said, to have
already satisfied most of the objections raised in the petition by his
speech to the citizens on the previous Wednesday; nevertheless, he was
willing to give a further answer to the several matters objected to, being
persuaded that his so doing would be considered the greatest proof that he
could offer of his good intention. His answer, however, in whatever terms
it was couched, was considered far from satisfactory to the council, and
preparations for resisting force by force began to be pushed on.
(M214)
On Monday, the 10th January, a joint agreement for the future defence of
parliament and the city was arrived at by the committee of parliament and
a committee appointed by the Common Council.(503) The trained bands were
ordered to their colours and placed under the command of Captain Philip
Skippon, as sergeant-major-general of the forces of the city. Eight pieces
of ordnance were to accompany the troops, and as many citizens as could
supply themselves with horses were to serve on horseback. All this was
done for the safety of the "king, parliament and kingdom." With the object
of increasing the number of trained bands, the mayor was authorised by the
Common Council (19 Jan.) to issue his precept for a return to be made by
the alderman of each ward (1) of the number of men in his ward fit to find
and bear arms, and (2) the number of men fit to bear arms but unable to
find them.(504) The Common Council agreed to pay Skippon £300 a year for
life, if he should so long continue in the city’s service.(505) Guns and
ammunition were stored up at the Leadenhall,(506) and a supply of corn
laid in by the livery companies.(507)
(M215)
In the meanwhile Charles committed the fatal mistake of quitting London
(10 Jan.), and parliament had thereupon returned to Westminster (11 Jan.).
The appearance of the five members as they made their way by water from
the city to Westminster was greeted with shouts of joy and firing of
volleys. On entering the House they publicly acknowledged the kindness
extended to them by the City, for which the sheriffs and the citizens
received the thanks of the Commons, and a promise of indemnity for their
action throughout the recent crisis.(508)
(M216)
Everything now promised well for parliament except the refusal of Sir John
Byron, lieutenant of the Tower, to submit to its orders. Once more the
seamen or mariners of London, who play no unimportant part in the history
of the city at political crises, came forward. They offered to take the
Tower by assault. There was some talk of reducing the fortress by
starvation, and Byron confessed to secretary Nicholas (22 Jan.)(509) that
if the measures had been carried out he could not long have held the
place, determined as he was to sell both the Tower and his life at as dear
a rate as he could. No such strict investment, however, took place.
Skippon attempted to win over a portion of the garrison in the absence of
the lieutenant, but failed. The Tower, however, became less an object of
fear to the citizens as its stock of munition of war became less every day
by reason of shipments to Ireland.
(M217)
It was to Ireland that Charles looked for assistance in his struggle with
parliament. It behoved the latter, therefore, to use its utmost endeavours
to reduce that country to subjection. A deputation from the House waited
on the Common Council (22 Jan.) with a request for a loan of £100,000.
Whilst this request was under consideration the mayor was directed by the
council to write to all the livery companies interested in the Londonderry
estate, and exhort them to contribute bread and corn for the relief of the
plantation.(510)
(M218)
Two days later (24 Jan.) the City resolved not to accede to the request.
Answer was sent that they were unable to raise money for a foreign war by
way of a tax, and it was hopeless to raise the money by voluntary
contributions. The House was reminded that the City had already advanced a
sum of £50,000 on the express understanding that troops should forthwith
be despatched to Ireland, but none had gone. The citizens would refuse to
lend more until assured that relief had been actually sent to Londonderry.
The House was further reminded that the City was dissatisfied with the
remissness shown in disarming Papists and pressing of soldiers, as well as
in displacing the lieutenant of the Tower, and appointing one well
approved by parliament. A similar representation was made to the House of
Lords.(511)
(M219)
On the 11th February a petition was presented to the House of Commons by
"divers of his majesty’s loyal subjects," offering to assist at their own
charge in putting down the Irish rebellion, provided that they might have
such satisfaction out of the rebels’ estates as should be thought
reasonable.(512) The suggestion was readily accepted, and a scheme for
opening a public subscription passed through both Houses in a week. The
mayor lost no time in setting a subscription on foot in the city.(513) The
companies, to whom application had been made a month before for
contributions of bread and corn, were now desirous to know if they could
limit their relief to those sufferers on what was or had been their own
estates in Ireland, and not have it distributed among all his majesty’s
distressed subjects in that country. The Common Council declined to
undertake to answer this question, but recommended each company to appear
before the parliamentary committee appointed for the purpose and make its
own conditions.(514)
The following day (3 March) the City was informed that an Act of
Parliament was already in preparation for settling 2,500,000 acres of land
according to the votes of both Houses, unto which his majesty had given
his royal assent.(515) The companies were subsequently (19th March)
invited to provide ordnance for the protection of Londonderry.(516)
(M220)
Meanwhile the struggle that had been going on between the king and
parliament as to who should have control over the fortresses and the
trained bands or militia of the kingdom, resulted in the Commons drawing
up an ordinance conferring power in each county upon persons, to be
afterwards named, to raise an armed force for the suppression of
rebellions and invasions (31 Jan.).(517) This "militia ordinance"—as it
was called—caused no little dissatisfaction in the city as trespassing
upon the authority of the lord mayor, and a petition against it was drawn
up by a certain section of the inhabitants and presented to both Houses of
Parliament. The same was printed and circulated together with the king’s
message to the Houses against the ordinance.(518)
(M221)
The Common Council were determined, however, to stand by parliament. They
passed a resolution disclaiming the petition against the militia
ordinance, and ordered other petitions to be drawn up and presented to
both Houses,(519) congratulating them on the steps they had taken "for the
safety of his majesty, the parliament and the kingdom," which would meet
with ready submission on the part of the petitioners, and thanking them
for the honour they had done the City in allowing it to nominate those
persons to whom its militia should be committed.(520) Gurney, the royalist
mayor, did not preside at the court which sanctioned these petitions,
being absent from illness, so it was said.
(M222)
On the 4th April a militia commission appointed by parliament for the city
was read before the Common Council, the commissioners being authorised to
raise and train forces, appoint and remove officers, and do other things
necessary for the suppressing of rebellions and resisting invasions.(521)
It was suggested that six colonels and thirty-four captains should be set
over the trained bands, which had been recently increased to forty
companies, each 200 strong.(522) The pay of the officers was guaranteed by
the Common Council.(523) A stock of gunpowder was laid up in the city
ready for any emergency, and the livery companies were called upon to make
a return of the arms stored in their several halls.(524)
(M223)
On the 10th May a grand review of all the trained bands of the city, with
their new officer Skippon at their head, was held in Finsbury Fields in
the presence of both Houses of Parliament, the members of which were
hospitably entertained on the ground at the City’s expense.(525)
(M224)
So pleased was parliament—both Lords and Commons—at the zeal of the City
in raising and training so large a force as 8,000 men, to serve as an
example (it was hoped) to the rest of the kingdom, as also in contributing
upwards of £40,000 (more than one-tenth part of the whole sum recently
voted by parliament) for the defence of the kingdom, that a deputation
from both houses waited on the Common Council (16 May) and returned their
hearty thanks.(526)
(M225)
On the following day (17 May) the Houses resolved that Skippon should
ignore an order from the king to attend his majesty at York, and directed
the sheriffs to suppress any levy of men made without the major-general’s
authority.(527)
(M226)
It was no long time before application was again made to the city for more
pecuniary assistance. The breach between king and parliament was rapidly
widening. Charles was known to be collecting forces around him in spite of
a formal prohibition by the Commons, who now more distinctly asserted
their claim to sovereignty. On Thursday, the 2nd June, a deputation of
Lords and Commons presented themselves before the livery of the several
companies assembled in Common Hall, and desired a loan of £100,000 towards
"the relief and preservation of the kingdom of Ireland" and "speedy supply
of the great and urgent necessities of this kingdom." The money was voted
"most freely and with great alacrity," and was to be raised by the
companies according to their corn assessment, as on previous occasions. On
the 4th June the Commons passed an ordinance for security of the loan, and
the thanks of both Houses and of the whole kingdom were returned to the
city for its ready compliance.(528) Two days later (6 June) Gurney, much
against his own inclination we may be sure, was forced to issue his
precept to the companies to raise their several contributions.(529) The
Grocers’ Company raised their quota of £9,000 by voluntary subscription
without demur. The Merchant Taylors, on the other hand, who were assessed
at £10,000, whilst expressing themselves ready to do their part in
furnishing the loan, took occasion to formally place on record their
resolution "that the Common Hall (consisting of the liveries of this city)
assembled in the Guildhall, London, hath no power, right or authority to
bind or impose upon this company any loan of money whatsoever."(530)
(M227) (M228)
On the 10th the Commons issued "propositions" for the bringing in of
money, plate, arms and horses for "the defence of the king and both houses
of parliament." Those living in and around London within a radius of
eighty miles were allowed a fortnight; and so great was the enthusiasm
displayed for the parliamentary cause that (in the words of
Clarendon)(531) "it is hardly credible what a vast proportion of plate was
brought in to their treasurers within ten days, there being hardly men
enough to receive it or room to lay it in." It was in vain that Charles
protested and threatened the citizens with the loss of their charter if
they carried out the behests of the Commons.(532) His protest was only met
with a further levy of £50,000 on all strangers and aliens residing within
the city.(533)
(M229) (M230)
Gurney’s position as mayor had become more and more an anomalous one every
day. In July he was impeached by the Commons for having published the
king’s commission of array in the city. On the 12th August the Lords
sentenced him to be imprisoned during the pleasure of the House, and to be
deprived of his mayoralty,(534) and at the same time ordered Sir Nicholas
Raynton to summon a Common Hall for the election of a new mayor. A Common
Hall was accordingly summoned for the 16th, when Isaac Pennington and John
Wollaston being nominated by the livery, the former was selected by the
Court of Aldermen as Gurney’s successor.(535) Upon application being made
to Gurney for the _insignia_—the sword, cap, mace and collar of esses—"he
pretended they were at his house in London, locked up, and he could not
come at them"; and he stoutly refused to deliver up the city’s sword to
any one but the king.(536) With a rigid Puritan like Pennington in the
mayoralty chair, and Gurney and Sir Thomas Gardiner already impeached, the
city was made secure for parliament before Charles set up his standard at
Nottingham (22 Aug.) in token that the Civil War had commenced.