JAMES I.--_James VI_. of Scotland, and _I_. of England, was
the son of _Mary Stuart_ and _Darnley_. Scotland and England
were now united under one king. He was not wanting in acquirements,
and plumed himself on his knowledge of theology. A conceited pedant,
he was impatient of dissent from his opinions. In Scotland, among
insubordinate nobles and the ministers of the Kirk,--who on one
occasion went so far as to pull his sleeve when they addressed to him
their rebukes,--he had hardly tasted the sweets of regal power. The
deference with which the English clergy treated him deepened his
attachment to their Church. He had high notions of the divine right of
kings. "No bishop, no king," was his favorite maxim. Early, in the
_Hampton Court Conference_ between the bishops and the Puritans,
over which James presided, he showed his antipathy to the Puritans. It
may be here stated, that a suggestion there made led to the making of
the Authorized Version of the Bible, for which previous translations,
especially the translation of _Tyndale_, furnished the basis. The
king's severity to the Catholics was the occasion of the "Gunpowder
Plot," a project that failed, for blowing up the Parliament House by
means of powder placed under it, to which one _Guy Fawkes_ was to
apply the match (1605).
IRELAND.--The _Earl of Tyrone_, an Irish chief, fell into a
dispute with the English authorities, and, with another Irish earl,
fled to Spain. The best of their lands in _Ulster_ were given to
English and Scotch colonists. Only what was left of the land was
granted to the Irish, many of whom were dispossessed of their
homes. The Ulster colonies were industrious and prosperous; but among
the natives, seeds of lasting enmity were sown by this injustice.
JAMES'S FOREIGN POLICY.--The nation became imbittered against the
king. One grievance was the sale not only of patents of nobility, but
also of monopolies to companies or individuals. This was a continuance
of an old abuse. The trial and conviction of _Lord Bacon_, the
Lord Chancelor, who was impeached on the charge of receiving presents
which were intended to influence his decisions as a judge, was one
evidence of the corruption of the times, and of the displeasure
occasioned by it. Instead of aiding his son-in-law, _Frederick
V_., the Elector Palatine, whose dominions had been seized by a
Spanish army sent to aid his enemies, _James_ busied himself with
schemes for marrying his son _Charles_ to the _Infanta_, or
Princess, _Maria_ of Spain, the sister of _Philip IV_. As a
part of his truckling to Spain, he caused _Sir Walter Raleigh_ to
be executed. _Raleigh_, who had no love for Spain, had long been
kept in the Tower on the charge of treason; but the king, who wanted
gold, had permitted him to go on a voyage to South America to seek for
it. There, without his fault, some of his men had a collision with the
Spaniards, up the _Orinoco_. Not having procured any treasure, he
was disposed to attack Spanish ships; but the captains with him would
not consent. On his return to England, he was again thrown into
prison, and brought to the block. At length the marriage treaty with
Spain, to the joy of the nation, was broken off. _Charles_, it
was agreed, should marry _Henrietta Maria_, the sister of
_Louis XIII._, the king of France. The king came to a better
understanding with Parliament, which had constantly opposed his policy
and withstood his arrogant assumption of absolute authority.
CHARLES I. (1625-1649).--_Charles I._ in dignity of person far
excelled his father. He had more skill and more courage; but he had
the same theory of arbitrary government, and acted as if insincerity
and the breaking of promises were excusable in defense of it. His
strife with Parliament began at once. They would not grant supplies of
money without a redress of grievances and the removal of
_Buckingham_, the king's favorite. War had begun with Spain
before the close of the last reign. An expedition was now sent to
Cadiz, but it accomplished nothing. Buckingham was impeached; but
before the trial ended, the king dissolved Parliament. A year later he
went to war with France. He was then obliged (1628) to grant to his
third Parliament their _Petition of Right_, which condemned his
recent illegal doings,--arbitrary taxes and imprisonment, the
billeting of soldiers on householders, proceedings of martial law. A
few months later Buckingham was assassinated by one _John Felton_
at Portsmouth. Certain taxes called _tonnage_ and
_poundage_, _Charles_ continued to levy by his own
authority. A patriotic leader and a prominent speaker in the House of
Commons was _Sir John Eliot_. The king dissolved Parliament
(1629), and sent _Eliot_ and two other members of the House to
prison. No other Parliament was summoned for eleven years. The king
aimed to establish an absolute system of rule such as _Richelieu_
had built up in France. Two ministers were employed by him in
furthering this policy. One was a layman, _Wentworth, Earl of
Strafford_, who exercised almost unlimited power in the northern
counties. The other was _William Laud_, Bishop of London and then
Archbishop of Canterbury (1633), who undertook to force the Puritans
to conform to all the observances of the Church. Two courts--the
_High Commission_, before which the clergy were brought; and the
_Star Chamber_, which was made up from the king's council--were
the instruments for carrying out this tyranny. Grievous and shameful
punishments were inflicted on the victims of it.
JOHN HAMPDEN.--There was need of a fleet. Charles, without asking any
grant from Parliament, undertook to levy a tax called "ship-money" in
every shire. _John Hampden_, a country gentleman, refused to pay
it. The judges gave a verdict against him, but he won great applause
from patriotic Englishmen.
BEGINNING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT.--In 1637 Charles embarked in the
foolish enterprise of endeavoring to force the English liturgy upon
Scotland. This called out the _Solemn League and Covenant_ of the
Scots for the defense of Presbyterianism. For eleven years the king
had governed without a Parliament, but he needed money. The "Short
Parliament" was assembled; but, as it refused to obey the king, it was
quickly dissolved. The invasion of the Scots in 1640 made it necessary
for Charles to assemble that body known as the _Long Parliament_,
one of the most memorable of all legislative
assemblies. _Strafford_ and _Laud_ were
impeached. _Strafford_, by a bill of attainder passed by both
Houses, was condemned and executed (1641). It was enacted that the
present Parliament should not be dissolved or prorogued without its
own consent,--an act which Charles reluctantly sanctioned. The Star
Chamber and High Commission Courts were abolished. A great Irish
insurrection broke out in _Ulster_. It has already been related
how _Henry VIII._ established in Ireland his ecclesiastical
system; how, during _Elizabeth's_ reign, there was fierce and
incessant war with the _Desmonds_, and other Anglo-Irish
families, who resisted Protestantism; and how _James I._, robbing
many Irish of their lands, planted in _Ulster_ numerous English
and Scotch Protestant settlers. These were now massacred in great
numbers by the Irish, who almost succeeded in seizing
_Dublin_. Parliament would not trust _Charles_ with an army
to use in Ireland, fearing that the troops would be used by him to
defend his arbitrary government at home. The king came to the House of
Commons with a body of armed men, and made an abortive attempt to
seize five members on the charge of resisting his authority, among
whom were _John Hampden_, and _John Pym_, who was one of the
most influential orators on the popular side. A bill was passed
excluding the bishops from the House of Lords, where a majority were
for the king. To this Charles consented, but he refused to allow
Parliament to control the militia.
The CIVIL WAR: SUCCESS OF CROMWELL.--In July, 1642, Parliament
appointed a Committee of Public Safety, and called out the
militia. Soon _Charles_ raised the royal standard at
_Nottingham_. In the civil war, on one side were the Royalists,
who were familiarly styled _cavaliers_ (that is, _horsemen_,
or gentlemen), and on the other were the Parliamentarians, who were
nicknamed _Roundheads_, for the reason that the Puritans did not
follow the fashion of allowing their hair to fall in tresses on the
shoulders.
_The Earl of Essex_, the Parliamentary general, fought an
indecisive battle with the king at _Edgehill_. _Charles_
then made _Oxford_ his headquarters. Early in the war, two men of
spotless character fell,--_Hampden_, on the popular side (1643),
and _Lord Falkland_ (1643), who, not without hesitation, had
joined the Royalists. The cavalry of Charles, under a gallant but rash
leader, Prince _Rupert_, son of the _Electress Palatine_,
and grandson of _James I_., was specially
effective. _Charles_ made peace with the Irish insurgents in
order to get their help in fighting Parliament. Parliament united with
the Scots in the _Solemn League and Covenant_, by which there was
to be uniformity in religion in England, Ireland, and Scotland.
PRESBYTERIANS AND INDEPENDENTS.--_Presbyterianism_ was now made
the legal system; and about two thousand beneficed clergymen in
England, who refused to subscribe to the Covenant, were deprived of
their livings. The _Westminster Assembly_ met in 1643, and
organized a church system without bishops and without the liturgy. But
Parliament did not give up its own supremacy in ecclesiastical
affairs. There was no "General Assembly" to rule the Church, as in
Scotland. Another party, the _Independents_, were gaining
strength, and by degrees getting control in the army. Of their number
was _Oliver Cromwell_, a gentleman of Huntingdonshire, who had
been a member of the House of Commons, where he spoke for the first
time in 1629.
CROMWELL: NASEBY.--By many of his adversaries, and by numerous writers
since that day, _Cromwell_ has been considered a hypocrite in
religion, actuated by personal ambition. The Puritan poet, _John
Milton_, who became his secretary after he acquired supreme power,
gives to him the warmest praise for integrity and piety, as well as
for genius and valor. Of his religious earnestness after the Puritan
type, and of his sincere patriotism, there is at present much less
doubt. As to the transcendent ability and sagacity that lay beneath a
rugged exterior, there has never been any question. He raised and
trained a regiment of Puritan troops, called the "_Ironsides_,"
who were well-nigh invincible in battle, but whose camp was a
"conventicle" for prayer and praise. With their help, the Royalists
were defeated at _Marston Moor_ (1644). The army was now modeled
anew by the Independents. The _Self-denying Ordinance_ excluded
members of Parliament from military command. _Cromwell_ was made
an exception. He came to the front, with no other general except
_Fairfax_, who had replaced _Essex_, above him. _Laud_
was condemned for high treason by an ordinance of Parliament, and
beheaded (1645). The Royalist army experienced a crushing defeat at
_Naseby_ in June of the same year.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF CHARLES.--Charles surrendered to the army of
the Scots before _Newark_ (1646); and by them he was delivered
for a ransom, in the form of an indemnity for war expenses, to their
English allies. The king hoped much from the growing discord between
the _Presbyterians_, who favored an accommodation with him if
they could preserve their ecclesiastical system; and the
_Independents_, who controlled the army, and were in favor of
toleration, and of obtaining more guaranties of liberty against regal
usurpation. In June, 1647, the army took the king out of the hands of
Parliament, into their own custody. He negotiated with all parties,
and was trusted by none. In 1648 he agreed, in a secret treaty with
the Scots, to restore Presbyterianism. There were Royalist risings in
different parts of England, which _Cromwell_ suppressed. He
defeated at _Preston Pans_ a Scotch army, led into England by the
_Duke of Hamilton_ to help Charles. _Cromwell's_ army were
now determined to baffle the plans of the Parliamentary
majority. _Col. Pride_, with a regiment of foot, excluded from
the House of Commons about a hundred members. This measure, dictated
by a council of officers, was called _Pride's Purge_. The Commons
closed the House of Lords, and constituted a _High Court of
Justice_ for the trial of the king. He refused to acknowledge the
tribunal, and behaved with calmness and dignity to the end. He was
condemned, and beheaded on a scaffold before his own palace at
_Whitehall_, Jan. 30, 1649. By one party he was execrated as a
tyrant, whose life was a constant danger to freedom. By the other
party he was revered as a martyr. His two eldest sons were
_Charles_, born in 1630, and _James_, born in 1633.
THE COMMONWEALTH.--The monarchy was now abolished; and England was a
free commonwealth, governed by the House of Commons. A council of
state, under the presidency of _Bradshaw_, who had presided at
the trial of the king, was appointed to carry on the government. In
Ireland, a rebellion in behalf of young Charles, son of the late king,
was organized by _Butler, Marquis of Ormond_ (1649). In nine
months _Cromwell_ subdued it, treating the insurgents with
unsparing severity. There was a savage massacre of the garrisons at
_Drogheda_ and _Wexford_. The massacre at _Drogheda_
was by his orders. Soldiers of Parliament were settled in
_Munster_, _Leinster_, and _Ulster_. The country was
reduced to complete subjection. In 1650 _Charles_ landed in
Scotland, subscribed to the Covenant, and was proclaimed
king. Cromwell fought the Scots at _Dunbar_, and totally routed
them. Returning to England, he overtook _Charles_ and his army at
_Worcester_, and defeated them (1651). Cromwell called this
victory "a crowning mercy." _Charles_ escaped in disguise, and,
after strange perils and adventures, landed in Normandy.
WAR WITH HOLLAND.--England, under its new government, engaged in a
contest for dominion on the sea. The new order of things, contrary to
the expectation of _Cromwell_, was regarded with hostility in
_Holland_, where the _Orange_ family were in power. In 1651
the English _Navigation Act_, requiring all goods from abroad to
be brought in, either in English ships, or in ships of the countries
on the Continent in which the imported wares were produced, struck a
heavy blow at Dutch commerce. War followed, in which the great Dutch
admirals, _Van Tromp_, _De Ruyter_, _De Witt_, found
more than a match in the English commander, _Blake_. The terms of
peace were dictated by _Cromwell_, and Holland had to attach
itself to his policy (1654).
THE LORD PROTECTOR.--There was a growing discord between the unworthy
remnant of the Parliament--now called the "Rump Parliament"--and the
army. In 1653 _Cromwell_ used his military force to dissolve the
assembly. By the "Little Parliament" which he called together, he was
constituted _Lord Protector_, with a _Council of State_
composed of twenty-five members. Later he declined the title of king,
out of respect to the feelings and prejudices of his party. But he
reigned in state, and exercised regal functions. His attempts to
restore the old forms of parliamentary government, in an orderly form,
with two houses, were baffled by difficulties beyond control. He
insisted on a large degree of toleration, so long as "religion was not
made a pretense for arms and blood."
CROMWELL'S GOVERNMENT.--Under the Protector, England once more took
the proud and commanding place in Europe which she had not held since
the death of _Elizabeth_. _Cromwell_ made his power to be
everywhere respected. _Blake_ chastised the pirates of the
Barbary States, and punished the Duke of Tuscany for attacks on
English commerce. In 1655 _Jamaica_ was wrested from
_Spain_; and, two years after, _Blake_ burned the Spanish
treasure-ships in the harbor of _Santa Cruz_, in
Teneriffe. _Cromwell_ efficiently protected the adherents of the
Protestant faith in _Piedmont_, and wherever they were subjected
to persecution. In the last year of his life, in conjunction with the
French, he took _Dunkirk_ from the Spaniards.
POWER OF CROMWELL.--Cromwell's power was not diminished in his closing
years. _Macaulay_, who pronounces him the greatest prince that
ever ruled England, says of him, "It is certain that he was to the
last honored by his soldiers, obeyed by the whole population of the
British Isles, and dreaded by all foreign powers; that he was laid
among the ancient sovereigns of England with funeral pomp such as
England had never before seen; and that he was succeeded by his son,
Richard as quietly as any king had ever been succeeded by any Prince
of Wales." (1658).
The talents of Cromwell, and the vigor of his administration, deeply
impressed those who heartily disliked him. A strong illustration of
this fact is presented in the character of the Protector as depicted by
_Lord Clarendon_, in the _History of the Great Rebellion_;
and by the poet _Cowley_ in his essay or _Discourse_.