Page images
PDF
EPUB

The king had received the dreadful news in Scotland before O'Connelly arrived in London. In Scotland, as in England, the effect produced was appalling, and in both countries, from the very beginning, the general feeling connected the bloody massacre with the intrigues of the king and queen. Charles named the Earl of Ormond lieutenant-general of all his forces in Ireland; and, at last, at the end of November, he took the road for London, where people continued to wonder at his protracted absence. Upon his arrival in the city he was received with some congratulations, and was sumptuously feasted by the citizens; all which led him to hope that he might again be a king indeed. In return he banqueted the citizens at Hampton Court, and knighted several of the aldermen. He instantly took offence at the houses surrounding themselves with an armed guard. The Earl of Essex acquainted the lords that he had surrendered his commission of captain-general of the south into his majesty's hands, and therefore could take no further order for these guards. The intelligence was communicated by their lordships to the commons. Then Charles informed the houses, through the lordkeeper, that as he saw no reason for any such guards, it was his royal pleasure that they should be dismissed, hoping that now his presence would he a sufficient protection to them. As soon as this order was communicated to the commons, they proposed that both houses should petition the king for the continuance of the guard till they might satisfy his majesty why a guard was necessary. After some dispute the lords consented, and the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Digby waited upon the king, who thereupon said, that he would command the Earl of Dorset to appoint some of the train-bands, only for a few days, to wait upon both houses. The commons, not satisfied, considered the matter in committee, and drew up reasons to prove the necessity of a protection. They also told the king that they could not trust him with the nomination of the commander of their guard, who must be a person chosen by themselves.

not have been time enough, "for sure it would take some debate." Cromwell replied, "a very sorry one;" for he and his party had calculated that very few would oppose the Remonstrance.' But Cromwell was disappointed, for there was a formidable opposition, consisting of men who considered the Remonstrance as an extreme measure, appealing too openly to the people against the king and government; and so fierce and long was the debate about it, that it took up not only the day, but a good part of the night also; and though the popular party carried it at two o'clock in the morning, it was only by a majority of nine, or, according to another account, of eleven. At the beginning of the debate there was a full house, but before its close many of the members had retired from exhaustion; and hence the decision was compared to the verdict of a starved jury. So important a trial of strength was it deemed, that Oliver Cromwell is said to have declared, after the division, that he would have sold his estate, and retired to America, if the question had been lost. A violent debate then followed, on the motion of Mr. Hampden, that there might be an order entered for the present printing of their Remonstrance; and the excitement became so great, that several members were on the point of proceeding to personal violence. Mr. Hyde (Clarendon) maintained that to print and publish the Remonstrance, without the consent of the peers, was illegal; and upon a division, the popular side lost this question by 124 to 101.

The Remonstrance thus carried, was certainly put forward to stem the returning tide of loyalty, by men who felt that the king's love of arbitrary dominion was much better proved than his sincerity in relinquishing it; who were informed on all sides that Charles deplored the restrictions put upon him by the parliament, and was constantly making efforts or forming designs to shake off those restrictions. The paper consisted of a long preamble, and 206 several clauses. From the lending of English shipping to the Papist forces proceeding against the Protestant Rochellers, to the rumoured Popish plots of the day-from the imprisonment of Sir John Eliot, to the late army plot-nothing was omitted that told against Charles and his government.*

Clarendon. This writer thus, not very incorrectly, describes the Remonstrance:-"It contained a very bitter representation

Two days after this the commons presented to the king their celebrated "Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom." This paper was brought before the house on the 22d of November. The house had sat from eight o'clock till about noon, the hour at which the members usually retired of all the illegal things which had been done from the first hour to dine. Then there was a loud call for the Re-sharp reflections which could be made upon the king himself, of the king's coming to the crown to that minute; with all the monstrance. Some would have postponed it, at so late an hour, but Oliver Cromwell, and some others, insisted that they should proceed with it. Oliver Cromwell, who at that time was little taken notice of, asked the Lord Falkland why he would have it put off, for that day would have settled it. Falkland answered, that there would form in the church against Episcopacy-reform in the govern

the queen, and council; and published all the unreasonable jealousies of the present government, of the introducing Popery; and all other particulars that might disturb the minds of the

people: which were enough discomposed."

2 Three hundred and seven, however, remained to vote. The

majority, according to the journals of the commons, was 159, the minority 148.

3 Hallam. "Thus in the minds of the authors of the Remonstrance, re

Sir Ralph Hopeton presented this paper to the king at Hampton Court on the evening of the 1st of December. Charles, at the reading of it, hesitated at the charges respecting a malignant party, and the design of altering religion, and said, "The devil take him, whosoever he be, that hath a design of that sort." He also stopped at the reading of that part of the Remonstrance which gave the lands of the rebels in Ireland to those who should suppress the rebellion, and said, "We must not dispose of the bear's skin till the bear be dead." When the petition was read, Charles asked several questions, but Hopeton told him that he had no power to speak to anything without the permission of the commons. "Doth the house intend to publish this declaration?" said Charles. Again Hopeton said that he could not answer.

many tales both to tell and to hear, which had no reference to that business. On the 8th of December the commons debated upon certain propositions about to be offered to his majesty by the Irish rebels, who, as a preliminary, asked for a full toleration of the Catholic religion; and it was resolved, both by the lords and commons of England, that they would never give consent to any toleration of the Popish religion in Ireland, or in any other of his majesty's dominions! During the debate a great stir was caused by the report that a guard had been set near the parliament without their privity. Forthwith the commons sent a sergeant-at-arms to bring the commander of that guard to their bar. The officer said that the sheriff had received a writ to that purpose, and that the soldiers had a warrant from the justices of the peace. The commons immediately resolved that this was a dangerous breach of the privileges of their house, and that the guards should be discharged.

Six days after (on the 14th of December), the king spoke to both houses upon the business of Ireland. He again complained of the slowness of their proceedings, and recommended despatch. These delays had in part arisen out of the commons' jealousy of the royal prerogative of levying troops. Charles spoke directly to this point, and told them that he had taken notice of the bill for pressing of soldiers, now debating among the lords; and that in case the bill came to him in such a shape as not to infringe or diminish his prerogative, he would pass it as they chose. "And, further," said he, "seeing there is a dis

On the following day the king sent to the commons his answer to the petition which accompanied the Remonstrance. He told them that he thought their declaration or remonstrance unparliamentary; that he could not at all understand what was meant by a wicked and malignant party; that the bishops were entitled to their votes in parliament by the laws of the kingdom, and that their inordinate power was sufficiently | abridged by the taking away of the High Commission Court; that he would consider of a proposal for the calling of a national synod, to examine church ceremonies, &c.; that he was persuaded in his conscience that the Church of England professed the true religion, with more purity than any other; that its government and discipline were more beautified and free from super-pute raised (I being little beholden to him whostition; and that, as for the removing of evil counsellors, they must name who they were, bringing a particular charge, and sufficient proofs, against them, and forbearing their general aspersions.

Two Scotch commissioners came up to concert measures with the English parliament for the suppression of the Irish rebellion; but they had ment against the king-the commercial aggrandizement of Eng. land against an ignorant, incapable, and corrupt administration --presented themselves as three grand tasks to be accomplished, and the entire revolution was resolved on. The Presbyterian majority in parliament, as well as out of doors, were eager to begin the work, thinking they could end readily on the king's consenting to the abolition of Episcopacy, which, in order to obtain that consent, they declared to be a mere form; then they went so far as to say that it was not necessary, that the will of the parliament was the law, and that the king must submit to it. But this last pretension shocked those who desired neither parliamentary omnipotence nor royal absolutism; it forced the various elements, united hitherto against the latter abuse, to separate and distribute themselves, and thenceforth the king had a party resolved on asserting for him, and even, if need were, on restoring to him by the sword, rights sanctioned by time equally with those of the parliament and the people.

"When the king unfurled at Nottingham his royal standard in token of a still haughty distress, the thirty-two lords, the sixty members of the House of Commons, and the ministers who responded to this appeal, formed, together with the bishops, the Roman Catholic peers, and the great officers of the crown, the

soever at this time began it), concerning the bounds of this ancient and undoubted prerogative, to avoid further debate at this time, I offer that the bill may pass with a salvo jure both for king and people, leaving such debates to a time that may better bear them. If this be not accepted, the fault is not mine that this bill pass head of the party called the Cavaliers. The regular troops which remained faithful, a part also of the country nobility—who for the last thirty years had been living strangers altogether to what was passing around them, and still retaining the pare monarchical doctrines of Queen Elizabeth's time-and some ad venturers, younger members of the universities, promptly formed an army which was ready to act for this party. Glorying in the name of Roundheads, given to the national party in derision by the Cavaliers, the mass of the population supported the par liament, which now seized the revenues of the crown, and in vested a committee of its members with all the functions of government. The women divested themselves of their orna ments in order to furnish means. The men filled with enthusi asm the ranks of the militia. The leading chiefs of the parlia mentary army were naturally those members of the two houses, who by their wealth could contribute most towards the cost of the war, the great lords and rich landed gentry, nearly all of whom were Presbyterians. In the secondary ranks, illustrious orators and soldiers by profession sided with the members of the lower house, who until now were better known by ther religious and patriotic zeal than by their talents."--Armand Carrel, History of the Counter-Revolution in England, p. 8.

should appear before them the very next day. Balfour attended, and was examined touching the causes of his removal; after which the house fell into debate about a petition to be presented to his majesty for continuing him in his charge.

HAMPTON COURT.2-From an old picture in possession of W. Bray, Esq.

not, but theirs that refuse so fair an offer." Parliament took fire at this speech, and lords and commons instantly joined in a petition touching the privileges of parliament, the birthright and inheritance not only of themselves, but of the whole kingdom. They declared, with all duty, that the king ought not to take notice of any matter in agitation and debate in either house, except by their information; that he ought not to propose any condition, provision, or limitation to any bill in debate or preparation, nor express his consent or dissent, approbation or dislike, until the bill was presented to him in due course. They complained that his majesty had broken those privileges in his speech, particularly in mentioning the bill of impress, in offering a provisional clause before it was presented, and in expressing his displeasure against such as moved a question concerning the same; and they desired to know the names of such persons as had seduced his majesty to that item, that they might be punished as his great council should advise. The parliament at first resolved not to proceed with any business till they had a satisfactory answer to their petition and, during their heat, hints were thrown out that the Irish rebels were actually favoured by some about the queen; "and divers went yet higher." On the very next day (the 15th of Desember), the motion for printing the Remontrance, which had been lost on the 22d of Noember by a majority of twenty-three, was trimphantly carried by 135 to 83. This striking aper, when distributed through the country, was f more effect than an army could have been. Charles, moody and discontented, withdrew > Hampton Court to prepare an answer to the Remonstrance in the shape of a declaration. He hose this very moment of doubt and suspicion or an attempt to get the Tower of London into is hands by changing the governor or lieutenant. pon the 20th of December a report was made the vigilant commons that his majesty intened to remove Sir William Balfour, the sturdy eutenant who had secured the Earl of Strafford r them; and they ordered that Sir William

[graphic]

1 Rushworth: Whitelock.

*The original palace of Hampton Court was a brick building,

it erected upon a plan of superior magnificence, and furnished th a splendour which was not to be seen on this side of the Is. It contained 280 beds, which were adorned with silk and ld hangings. Henry VIII., whom Wolsey found it expedient compliment with the assurance that he had built it expressly his pleasure and accommodation, greatly enlarged the build Of the original splendour there are few remains. incipal of them is the spacious hall, formerly used as a baneting room. Hentzner, in his Itinerary, gives a description the apartments, and their superb contents and fittings.

The

But on the following day Sir William resigned the keys of the Tower to the king, who forthwith appointed Colonel Lunsford, who took the oaths, and entered upon the charge. The very day after this appointment, the common councilmen, and others of the city of London, petitioned the House of Commons against it, representing this Colonel Lunsford as a man outlawed, most notorious for outrages, and therefore fit for any desperate enterprise, and reminding the house that they (the citizens) had lately been put into fear of some dangerous design from that citadel. The commons demanded a conference with the lords, and communicated to their lordships the petition from the city, representing the unfitness of Lunsford for a place of such great trust, and desired their lordships to concur in a remonstrance, and in a prayer to the king to recommend Sir John Conyers to be lieutenant, under the command of that honourable person the Earl of Newport, who was constable of the Tower. The lords declined doing anything, upon which the commons passed the following vote:-"Resolved, nemine contradicente, that this house holds Colonel Lunsford unfit to be, or continue, lieutenant of the Tower, as being a person whom the commons of England cannot confide in." When this was done they sent to desire a second conference with the peers. The managers of this conference, Mr. Hollis, Mr. Pym, Mr. Strode, Sir Edmond Montfort, Mr. Glynne, Sir Philip Stapleton, Mr. Martin, and Sir John Hobham, importuned their lordships to join in their petition for removing Colonel Lunsford, alleging that they already found the evil consequence of his being lieutenant, inasmuch as merchants had already

withdrawn their bullion out of the mint, &c. | the citizens rescued the youth, and about a hun Still the lords refused to join. That same even- dred of them coming up so hemmed in the lord ing, being Christmas Eve, the commons ordered bishop, that he could not stir; and then all of that Sir Thomas Barrington and Mr. Martin them with a loud voice cried out "No bishops!" should that night repair to the Earl of Newport, The mob let old Williams go, apparently without constable of the Tower, and desire him, in the injuring him; but one David Hide, a reformado name of their house, to lodge and reside within in the late army against the Scots, and now apthe citadel, and take the custody and entire care pointed to go upon some command into Ireland, of that place. The two members went, but the began to bustle and to say that he would cut the Earl of Newport was not to be found. The throats of those round-headed dogs' that bawled second day after this, being Sunday, the 26th of against bishops. Nor did this David Hide stop December, the lord mayor waited upon his ma- at threats, for he drew his sword, and called jesty to tell him that the apprentices of London upon three or four others with him to second were contemplating a rising, to carry the Tower him; but his comrades refused, and he was soon by storm, unless he should be pleased to remove disarmed by the citizens and carried before the his new lieutenant. That same evening Charles House of Commons, who first committed him, took the keys from Colonel Lunsford. On the and afterwards cashiered him. On the same morrow Sir Thomas Barrington reported to the stormy Monday, Colonel Lunsford, the recently commons that the Earl of Newport had been dismissed lieutenant of the Tower, went through with him on Sunday evening, to tell him that Westminster Hall, with no fewer than thirty or the king had discharged him from the constable- forty friends at his back. A fray ensued, the ship of the Tower. This earl, though very ac- colonel drew his sword, and some hurt was done ceptable to the citizens, was odious to the king, among the citizens and apprentices. Presently who, at this moment this critical moment-had there came swarming down to Westminster some a violent altercation with him, which was re- hundreds more of apprentices and others, with ported to the House of Lords on the same Mon- swords, staves, and other weapons. The lords day morning. sent out the gentleman usher, to bid them depart in the king's name. The people said that they were willing to be gone, but durst not, because Colonel Lunsford and other swordsmen in Westminster Hall were lying in wait for them with their swords drawn, and because some of them that were going home through Westminster Hall had been slashed and wounded by those soldiers. With great difficulty the lord mayor and sheriffs appeased this tumult, which caused the loss of some blood, and which was the prelude to the fiercer battles that soon followed between the Roundheads and Cavaliers.

All this day the houses of parliament were surrounded by tumultuous multitudes-for it was not yet publicly known that the king had removed Colonel Lunsford. The citizens who had petitioned against that officer collected at Westminster for an answer to that petition, and the London apprentices were there also for an answer to their petition. It was a Monday morning, and they made of it a most noisy St. Monday, crying out, "Beware of plots! No bishops! no bishops!" Old Bishop Williams seems to have lost his coolness and circumspection with increase of age. On his way to the House of Lords with the Earl of Dover, observing a youth crying out lustily against the bishops, he stepped from the earl, rushed into the crowd, and laid hands upon the stripling. Thereupon general."

1 Rushworth attributes the origin of the term Roundhead to this David Hide :-" Which passionate expression," says he "as far as I could ever learn, was the first minting of that

term or compellation of Roundheads, which afterwards grew so

CHAPTER XIII.-CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY.-A.D. 1641-1642.

CHARLES I.

The bishops protest against their exclusion from parliament-They declare the proceedings of the lords null during their absence-They are committed to the Tower-The commons petition the king for a guard-He offers them one of his own choosing-He accuses six leaders of the commons of high treason-He commands their arrestHe prepares, on the refusal of the house, to secure them by force-His arrival in the house for the purposeHe finds the accused withdrawn-Indignation at his intrusion-He again attempts to secure the members in the city-Petition and remonstrance of the commons on the occasion-Voluntary offers tendered for the protection of the accused members-Charles retires with his family and court from London-He abandons his prosecution of the members-Parliament alarmed by reports of military musters-Their preparations for defence-Symptoms of approaching civil war-Proceedings of both parties in the Irish rebellion-The lukewarmness of the lords denounced by the commons-Intercepted letters produced before the commons-Their contents produce alarm and remonstrance-The queen departs from England-The commons demand the power of the sword to be lodged in their own hands-They pass the Militia bill to that effect-Charles refuses to sanction it-The commons put the kingdom in a state of defence-They proclaim the Militia ordinance in their own name-A Declaration agreed by the lords and commons-Indignant remarks of Charles on receiving it-His abrupt refusal to intrust the militia to parliament-Justification he delivers for his proceedings-His message to the two houses-Their resolutions in consequence-They transmit their justification to the king -Both parties attempt to secure possession of Hull-It is secured for the commous-Intrigues of Charles to recover it-He is refused admittance into the town-The commons approve of the refusal-Reply of the king, and his remonstrance-Counter-remonstrance of parliament-Charles forbids the muster of troops without his orders--The lieutenants of the counties disregard his prohibition-Gathering of the parliamentary army-The English fleet inclined to the popular cause-Charles attempts to win the Scots to his party-They reject his advances-The adherents of the king, and their proceedings-Dilemma occasioned by the application of Charles for the great seal-Clarendon's account of its delivery-Preparations of Charles to besiege HullNine peers enlist themselves on the side of the king-They are impeached by the commons-Proposals from the commons of an accommodation rejected by the king.

HE thirteen bishops impeached for | very few days before. The other eleven bishops their share in the obnoxious can

ons and Laud's last convocation, had been admitted to bail, and, after a short time, to their seats in the House of Lords. Now, twelve of them drew up a protest and petition to the king, stating, that they could not attend in their places in parliament, where they had a clear and indubitable right to vote, because they had several times been violently menaced, affronted, and assaulted by multitudes of people, and had lately been chased away from the House of Lords, and put in danger of their lives-for all which they could find no redress or protection, though they had lodged several complaints in both houses. "Therefore," continued the document, "they (the bishops) do in all duty and humility protest before your majesty and the peers against all laws, orders, votes, resolutions, and determinations, as in themselves null and of none effect, which in their absence have already passed; as likewise against all such as shall hereafter pass in the House of Lords, during the time of this their forced and violent absence," &c. To the surprise of most men, the first signature to this protest and petition was that of old Williams, who had been translated to the archbishopric of York a

VOL. II.

that signed were Durham, Lichfield, Norwich, St. Asaph, Bath and Wells, Hereford, Oxford, Ely, Gloucester, Peterborough, and Llandaff. If the lords had acquiesced in the views of the petitioners, the Long Parliament might have been ended now, in so far at least as the upper house was concerned, and the slur of illegality might have been cast upon all the acts that had been passed during the last year in the frequent absence of the lords spiritual. The move on the part of the court was a bold one; but the revolution was now in progress, and, without even offering to provide for the bishops' safety, so that they might come to their house, or be accused of staying away wilfully and voluntarily, the lords desired a conference with the commons, and denounced the petition and protest as highly criminal, and subversive of the fundamental privileges and the very being of parliament. The commons instantly re-echoed the charge, accused these twelve bishops of high treason, and sent Mr. Glynne to the bar of the lords, to charge the prelates in the name of the House of Commons, and to desire that they might be forthwith sequestered from parliament and put into safe custody. "The lords sent the black rod instantly to find out these bishops and apprehend them; and by eight o'clock

169-70

« PreviousContinue »