abandoned. Sir Walter Raleigh, charged with being one of the conspirators
in the Main plot (the alleged object of which was to raise Lady Arabella
Stuart, the king's cousin, to the throne), was convicted, and imprisoned
in the Tower, where he remained for more than twelve years.
1604. The Puritans having petitioned for alterations in the ritual of the
church, a conference was held between representatives of the Puritans, and
of the conservative church party, before the king at Hampton Court, but
very few concessions were granted to the petitioners.
1605. Discovery of a plot for blowing up the king and parliament with
gunpowder. The principal conspirators were either killed in resisting
their arrest, or executed. The executions took place early in 1606.
1607. James Town, in Virginia, founded;--the earliest permanent settlement
of the English in North America.
1611. Commencement of British colonization of Ulster. Institution of the
order of baronets. Publication of a new translation of the Bible (our
present authorized version).
1612. Death of Robert Cecil (earl of Salisbury, and chief minister of the
crown), and of Prince Henry, the king's eldest son.
1616. Sir Walter Raleigh released from the Tower. The earl and countess of
Somerset convicted of procuring the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.
1617. Raleigh sailed to Guiana in search of a gold mine, but was
unsuccessful, and on his return was committed to prison, because he had
engaged in hostilities with the Spaniards, who had attacked him on his
landing at St. Thomas.
1618. Raleigh executed on his former sentence.
1620. Emigration of the "Pilgrim Fathers" to New England.
1621. Parliament complained of monopolies, and prosecuted some of the
monopolists. Francis Bacon, viscount St. Alban's, convicted of bribery and
corruption in the exercise of his office of Lord Chancellor. The Commons
recorded in their journal that _the liberties of parliament are the
undoubted birthright of the subjects of England_.
1622. On the dissolution of Parliament, Sir Edward Coke, Pym, and some
other distinguished and patriotic members were imprisoned.
1623. Prince Charles and the duke of Buckingham proceeded to Spain in
disguise, in order that the prince might see the infanta, to whom he was
engaged to be married. They were received with great honour, but the
marriage treaty was broken off near the close of the year.
1624. The earl of Middlesex convicted of bribery and oppression in the
exercise of his office of lord treasurer.
During about half his reign, James governed without the control of
parliaments. Loans, the sale of honours, enormous fines levied by the Star
Chamber, and, on one occasion, a benevolence, were among the methods he
adopted to secure an income.
CHARLES I.
=D.= He was the son of James I. =B.= at Dunfermline, 1600. =M.= Henrietta
Maria, daughter of Henry IV., of France. =Executed= at Whitehall, Jan. 30,
1649. =R.= 24 years (1625 to 1649).
1625. Charles's first parliament met at Westminster, but was adjourned to
Oxford, as the plague was raging in the capital. The Commons granted a
supply, but, contrary to precedent, voted tonnage and poundage for one
year only. Parliament dissolved because a further supply was refused
unless coupled with a redress of grievances.
1626. Second parliament. Impeachment of the duke of Buckingham, the king's
minister, to save whom parliament was dissolved.
1627. Unsuccessful expedition of the duke of Buckingham to aid the
Protestants at Rochelle. The king raised money by illegal taxation, and by
forced loans: those who resisted the loans were imprisoned.
1628. =Third parliament.= _PETITION OF RIGHT_ drawn up, to which Charles
reluctantly agreed.
The Petition of Right declared the illegality--1, of all pecuniary
demands without the consent of parliament; 2, of the punishment of
persons for refusing to pay such demands; 3, of billeting soldiers and
mariners on private subjects; 4, of proceedings for punishing persons
by martial law.
1629. Parliament dissolved for passing resolutions on religion and
taxation which were obnoxious to the king. Some of the principal members
imprisoned.
1632. Lord Wentworth appointed deputy of Ireland.
1633. Laud appointed archbishop of Canterbury.
1634. =Imposition of ship-money= on seaport towns. It was extended to
inland towns in the following year.
1637. John Hampden having refused to pay ship-money, the legality of the
tax was discussed before the judges, who decided in its favour. An attempt
to introduce a book of canons and a liturgy in Scotland led to great
disturbances.
1638. =The Scots drew up a covenant=, by which they pledged themselves to
resist all innovations in religion.
1639. Charles determined to coerce the Scots, who assembled an army. Not
having confidence in his forces, he agreed to an accommodation with the
Scots, known as the ~Pacification of Berwick~.
1640. Fourth parliament assembled, and was soon dissolved, because it
refused to grant money without a redress of grievances. The Scots invaded
England, and defeated the royal vanguard at NEWBURN (Aug. 28). ~Treaty of
Ripon~, by the terms of which the Scottish army was to abstain from all
acts of hostility, on condition of receiving a weekly payment till the
differences between them and the king were adjusted. =THE LONG PARLIAMENT=
assembled (Nov. 3). The earl of Strafford (Lord Wentworth) impeached of
high treason.
1641. A statute passed, enacting that _parliament should not be dissolved
without its own consent_. Execution of the earl of Strafford. The Star
Chamber, High Commission Court, and other arbitrary courts abolished.
=Insurrection of the Catholics in Ireland=, and fearful excesses
committed. The Commons drew up a REMONSTRANCE on the state of the nation.
1642. =Charles went to the House of Commons to arrest five members=--Pym,
Hampden, Haselrig, Hollis, and Strode, whom, with Lord Kimbolton, he had
charged with high treason; but he failed in his attempt, as the obnoxious
members were designedly absent. _The parliament passed a bill for
regulating the militia_, to which he refused his assent. The =CIVIL WAR=,
or =GREAT REBELLION=: Charles raised his standard at Nottingham (Aug. 22).
Indecisive battle at EDGEHILL, in Warwickshire (Oct. 23).
The immediate cause of the rebellion, says Lord Brougham, were--1. The
religious zeal, or rather fury, excited by the encouragement which the
king and queen gave to Popery, and which was greatly magnified, at
least as concerned him. 2. A conspiracy was discovered of some leading
persons in the king's party to march the army to London and subdue the
parliament. 3. That which, more than all the rest, hurried on matters
to extremities, was the insane step he took of entering, in person,
the House of Commons, and claiming the surrender of five members, the
leaders of the party opposed to him, but who had the whole Commons and
nearly the whole Lords for their followers. That it led immediately to
the vote which vested in parliament the nomination of militia
officers--in other words, the command of the army--cannot be doubted;
and this was the commencement of the Civil War.
1643. Battle of CHALGROVE FIELD, near Oxford, where Hampden was mortally
wounded (June 18); Royalist victories at ATHERTON MOOR, in Yorkshire (June
30), and ROUNDWAY DOWN, near Devizes (July 13). Prince Rupert, the king's
nephew, took BRISTOL, but the king himself failed in an attempt on
GLOUCESTER. Royalists defeated at NEWBURY, in Berkshire, where the earls
of Sunderland and Carnarvon and Lord Falkland were slain (Sept. 20). Death
of Pym.
1644. The king assembled a rival parliament (consisting of the loyal
members) at Oxford. The Scots entered England to aid the Long Parliament.
Royalists defeated at NANTWICH (Jan. 25). The parliamentarians, mainly by
the military genius of Oliver Cromwell, gained a great victory at MARSTON
MOOR, in Yorkshire (July 2). Indecisive battle at NEWBURY (Oct. 27).
1645. Archbishop Laud executed for high treason. A treaty of peace begun
at Uxbridge, but the two parties could not agree as to the terms.
=Self-denying ordinance= passed, ordaining that no member of parliament
should hold in future any civil or military office. =The parliamentarians
gained a decisive victory at= NASEBY, in Northamptonshire (June 14).
Bristol retaken by Sir Thomas Fairfax. The earl of Montrose, who had
gained several victories over the covenanters, was totally defeated at
PHILIPHAUGH, near Selkirk (Sept. 13).
1646. The king surrendered himself to the Scots who were stationed near
Newark (May 5).
END OF THE FIRST CIVIL WAR.
1647. The Scots gave Charles up to the parliament on payment of part of
their arrears. The latter endeavoured to disband the English army, but
failed: and the army seized the king. About five months after, he escaped
to the Isle of Wight, but was arrested and imprisoned in Carisbrooke
Castle.
1648. SECOND CIVIL WAR. A royalist insurrection in Wales was soon
suppressed by Cromwell, who also defeated, at PRESTON, a Scotch army that
had invaded England in behalf of the king (Aug. 17). The Presbyterians, in
the absence of the army, being predominant in parliament, began a treaty
with Charles at Newport; but while the negotiations were proceeding, the
army directed Charles to be removed to Hurst Castle, and Colonel Pride
"purged" the House by forcibly excluding many of the members unfavourable
to the army: this proceeding was known as =Pride's Purge=. The remainder,
or =Rump Parliament=, voted that the king should be brought to trial as
guilty of high treason against the people.
1649. =THE KING= was tried in Westminster Hall, and though he refused to
acknowledge the jurisdiction of the high court of justice, he was
=CONDEMNED AND EXECUTED=.
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS IN THE CIVIL WAR.--Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice
(the king's nephews), the earls of Lindsey, Newcastle, and Montrose,
Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and Goring, royalist
commanders. The earl of Essex, Lord Kimbolton, afterwards earl of
Manchester, Sir William Waller, Sir Thomas Fairfax, Hampden, Cromwell,
Ireton, and Lambert, parliamentary commanders.
The Commonwealth.
1649 to 1660.
1649. Charles II. proclaimed king in Scotland, and soon after in Ireland.
The Commons voted that the House of Lords and the office of King should be
abolished. A council of forty-one persons appointed to conduct the
government. Cromwell went to Ireland, took DROGHEDA and WEXFORD by storm,
and captured several other towns.
1650. Montrose appeared in arms in Scotland on behalf of Charles II., but
was captured, and executed at Edinburgh. Cromwell returned from Ireland,
and about a month after Charles's arrival in Scotland, he crossed the
Tweed (July), and defeated the Scots under General Leslie at DUNBAR (Sept.
3).
1651. Charles crowned at Scone. He raised an army and invaded England, but
was pursued by Cromwell, and defeated at WORCESTER (Sept. 3). After a
series of perilous adventures he escaped to France. _Navigation Act_
passed.
This act, which aimed a deadly blow at the Dutch carrying trade,
forbade the importation of goods from Asia, Africa, or America, in any
ships except such as belonged to English subjects, and in the case of
European goods they must be imported in English ships, or in ships
that were the property of the people of the country producing the
goods.
1652. WAR WITH THE DUTCH. Van Tromp defeated by Blake off DOVER (May 19),
and an indecisive battle was fought between De Ruyter and Ayscue off
PLYMOUTH (Aug. 16). The English were victorious in the DOWNS (Sept. 28),
and defeated in the same neighbourhood two months after (Nov. 29).
1653. The Dutch defeated with great loss off PORTLAND (Feb. 18-20); and
they were again defeated off the NORTH FORELAND (June 2, 3), and off TEXEL
(July 31): Van Tromp killed in the last battle. =Cromwell forcibly
dissolved the Rump Parliament= (April 20). The Little Parliament met, and
about five months after surrendered their power into the hands of
=CROMWELL=, who was declared =LORD PROTECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH= (Dec.
16).
1654. Peace concluded with Holland. Scotland incorporated with England.
Cromwell called a new parliament, which met Sept. 3, and was dissolved
early in the next year (Jan. 22).
1655. Capture of Jamaica. The Jews were again allowed to settle in
England.
1657. A parliament, which had first assembled in =1656= (Sept. 17),
offered Cromwell the title of king, which he refused. He was then
empowered to name his successor, and to create a second legislative
assembly.
1658. The French and English defeated the Spaniards at the DUNES, near
Dunkirk (June 4). Dunkirk taken, and surrendered to the English. =DEATH OF
THE PROTECTOR= (Sept. 3). He was succeeded by his son Richard.
1659. A new parliament assembled, but after sitting three months was
dissolved by Richard Cromwell, at the request of the army leaders. He
resigned the Protectorate. The Long (Rump) Parliament reassembled. The
royalists attempted an insurrection, but were defeated at NANTWICH. The
parliament expelled by the army, and a Committee of Safety appointed; but
two months later the parliament was reinstated.
1660. General Monk, the parliamentary commander in Scotland, came to
London with his troops, and at his desire the members expelled by Pride
were readmitted. This parliament resolved that a new parliament should
assemble, and dissolved itself. The =Convention Parliament= met, and
Charles, who was residing at Breda, and with whom Monk had been lately
holding communications, sent, at his suggestion, a letter containing the
=Declaration from Breda=. CHARLES RECALLED. His restoration dates from his
public entry into London (May 29).
In the Declaration from Breda he promised, among other things,--1. A
general pardon to all persons, save those who should be afterwards
excepted by parliament, who should return to their obedience within 40
days. 2. That all differences about the grants, sales, and purchases
of estates should be settled in a free parliament. 3. That no man
should be disquieted for differences of opinion in religion that did
not disturb the peace of the kingdom.
PRINCIPAL COMMANDERS.--Ireton, Monk, Lambert, Desborough, Fleetwood,
generals; Blake, Penn, Venables, Ayscue, admirals.
HOUSE OF STUART RESTORED.
CHARLES II.
=D.= He was the son of Charles I. =B.= at St. James's Palace, 1630. =M.=
Catherine, daughter of John IV., of Portugal. =Dd.= at Whitehall, Feb, 6,
1685. =R.= 24-3/4 years (1660 to 1685).
1660. The system of military tenures abolished by parliament, and an
excise tax on beer and other liquors imposed in its stead. Ten of the
regicides executed. The Convention Parliament dissolved.
1661. A new parliament, sometimes called the =Pension Parliament=, met,
and sat for seventeen years. _Corporation Act_ passed. Savoy Conference,
between some of the bishops and leading presbyterian divines.
1662. _Act of Uniformity_ passed. Iniquitous execution of Sir Harry Vane.
Dunkirk sold to the French.
1664. _Conventicle Act_ passed. Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (now New
York) surrendered to the English.
1665. =War with the Dutch.= The English gained a great victory over them
off LOWESTOFT (June 3). The =Great Plague= raged in London, and carried
off more than 100,000 victims. _Five Mile Act_ passed.
The Corporation Act, the Act of Uniformity, the Conventicle Act, and
the Five Mile Act are called the Clarendon Code. The Corporation Act
required all persons holding offices in municipal corporations to take
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the
Church of England--to renounce the Solemn League and Covenant--and to
swear that they believed it unlawful to take up arms, upon any
pretence whatsoever, against the king. The Act of Uniformity required
all clergymen to declare their assent to everything contained in the
Prayer Book, and all schoolmasters were obliged to have a licence from
the bishop. About 2,000 clergymen declined to subscribe, and were
ejected from their livings: and, receiving no compensation from the
state, were, in many cases, reduced to the utmost poverty. The
Conventicle Act declared all meetings of more than five persons,
except the household, for religious worship not according to the
Prayer Book, seditious; and all persons above sixteen years old, who
attended, for a first offence were to be fined or imprisoned for three
months; for a second, fined or imprisoned for six months; and for a
third, transported for seven years. The Five Mile Act required all
dissenting ministers to take an oath similar to that imposed by the
Corporation Act, and, in case of refusal, they were not to approach
within five miles of any borough or place where they had ever
preached, nor to act as schoolmasters, under a penalty of £40 and six
months' imprisonment.
1666. Louis XIV. of France joined the Dutch against England. The Dutch
defeated the English off the NORTH FORELAND (June 1-4), but were
afterwards vanquished in the same neighbourhood (July 25). =Great Fire of
London=: the loss caused by the fire estimated at more than £7,000,000.
Some of the presbyterians rose in Scotland, and were defeated on the
PENTLAND HILLS (Nov. 28).
1667. The Dutch sailed up the Medway, and burnt several ships; and for
some time insulted our coasts. ~Treaty of Breda~, between the English,
Dutch, and French (July 21). Lord Clarendon, the king's chief minister
from the beginning of the reign, dismissed and banished. The Cabal
ministry formed; the chief ministers being Clifford, Arlington,
Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.
1668. ~Triple Alliance~ between England, Holland, and Sweden, to check the
aggressive policy of Louis. ~Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle~.
1670. A new act passed against conventicles. Secret treaty concluded
between Charles and Louis at Dover.
Charles agreed to declare himself a Catholic, to support Louis's
foreign policy, to receive a pension, and to be aided by foreign
troops in case of a rebellion. But, on account of the temper of the
country, he was afraid to carry out the first stipulation.
1672. Charles shut up the exchequer, and thereby ruined a large number of
persons whose money was in the hands of the government. He issued a
declaration of indulgence to Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists, but
it was withdrawn the next year, at the request of parliament. England and
France declared war against Holland, and the Dutch were defeated off
SOUTHWOLD BAY (May 28).
1673. _Test Act_ passed. The duke of York, being a Catholic, resigned his
office of lord high admiral. Sir Thomas Osborne, better known as the earl
of Danby, became chief minister.
By the Test Act all officers of the Crown were required to take the
oath of allegiance and supremacy, to take the sacrament according to
the usage of the Church of England, and to declare their disbelief in
transubstantiation.
1674. Peace concluded with Holland.
1677. _The statute for burning heretics repealed._ William, prince of
Orange, married Mary, daughter of James, duke of York.
1678. =Titus Oates' plot.= He falsely asserted that the Catholics were
plotting against the king's life, and several persons were executed for
their alleged share in the plot. Impeachment of the earl of Danby; but the
proceeding was stayed by the prorogation of the parliament, which was
dissolved in 1679.
1679. Charles called a third parliament.[2] A new ministry formed by Sir
William Temple, of which the earl of Shaftesbury was president. _HABEAS
CORPUS ACT_ passed.
[2] _I.e._ if we regard the Convention Parliament as the first.
A bill introduced to exclude the duke of York from the throne, but
frustrated by the dissolution of parliament. Insurrection in Scotland; the
duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the king, defeated the rebels at
BOTHWELL BRIDGE (June 22). =Meal Tub Plot=, so called because some
documents relative to another plot were placed in a meal tub. The earl of
Shaftesbury (Ashley) removed from the presidency of the council, and Sir
William Temple and other ministers soon resigned.
The Habeas Corpus Act was passed to prevent the illegal and indefinite
imprisonment to which persons obnoxious to the government could be
subjected. By its provisions--1. All persons except those charged with
treason or felony could demand from one of the judges a writ of Habeas
Corpus, directing the jailor to bring them before him, so that the
validity of their detention might be tested. 2. All persons charged
with treason or felony must be tried at the next sessions after
commitment, or else admitted to bail, and if not tried at the second
sessions they must be discharged. 3. No person could be recommitted
for the same offence. 4. No person was to be imprisoned beyond sea. 5.
Heavy penalties were imposed on those who violated the provisions of
the Act.
1680. A fourth parliament, summoned in 1679, did not actually meet till
Oct., 1680. The Commons passed a bill for excluding the duke of York, but
it was rejected by the Lords, and the parliament was dissolved in the
following January.
1681. A fifth parliament met at Oxford, but as the Commons resolved to
introduce an exclusion bill it was hastily dissolved. Shaftesbury charged
with high treason, but the grand jury threw out the bill. =The king's
government became very despotic.=
1683. =The Rye House Plot= discovered: some of the principal parties
concerned--as the duke of Monmouth, Lord Russell, and Algernon Sidney--had
apparently discussed the feasibility of compelling the king to establish a
constitutional government, but some of the inferior persons implicated had
formed a design to assassinate him. Russell and Sidney tried for high
treason, and executed. Monmouth was pardoned, but withdrew to Holland.
1684. Titus Oates convicted of having libelled the duke of York, fined
£100,000, and imprisoned in default of payment.
JAMES II.
=D.= He was the brother of Charles II. =B.= at St. James's, 1633. =M.= (1)
Anne Hyde, daughter of Lord Clarendon; (2) Mary d'Este, sister of the duke
of Modena. =His reign ended= Dec. 11, 1688. =Dd.= at St. Germains, Sept.
6, 1701. =R.= 3-3/4 years (1685 to 1688).
1685. Catholic worship publicly celebrated in the palace. Meeting of
parliament; the majority of the members very favourable to the king.
=Rebellions of Argyle and Monmouth=: the earl of Argyle landed in
Scotland, and attempted to raise a rebellion, but was taken and executed;
and the duke of Monmouth landed in Dorsetshire, raised a rebellion, and
assumed the title of king, but was defeated at SEDGEMOOR, in Somersetshire
(July 6), and afterwards executed. =Jeffreys' bloody campaign=, during
which he condemned a large number of persons for their share in the
rebellion. Persecution of Dissenters. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
in France. The parliament was prorogued because it disapproved of the
king's violation of the Test Act, and of his maintaining a standing army.
1686. The judges servilely decided that the king could dispense with penal
laws in particular cases--a decision which enabled him to confer offices
in church and state on Catholics, contrary to the Act of Uniformity and
the Test Act. Establishment of a court similar to the High Commission
Court.
1687. Rochester, the king's brother-in-law, deprived of the
lord-treasurership because he would not become a Catholic. Declaration of
Indulgence published, allowing Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to
perform their religious services openly. The universities resisted the
king's attempts to infringe their rights.
1688. He re-issued the Declaration of Indulgence, and ordered the clergy
to read it in the churches. Seven of the bishops presented a petition to
him, praying that he would not insist on their distributing and reading
the Declaration, and were on that account prosecuted for libel, but
acquitted, to the great joy of the nation. Birth of the Old Pretender.
William, prince of Orange, being invited to invade England, landed at
Torbay; and James, distrusting his army, tried to escape from the country,
but failed. Close of his reign (Dec. 11). =THE REVOLUTION.=
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