Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

have been long in coming to see more clearly, for during the next eleven years there was no parliament. Even when the Houses were summoned, they were summoned not because the temper of the people had undergone the desired change, but because the king had got into difficulties from which he could not escape without the help of parliament.

Throughout the long period when Charles governed alone he could not raise money in the ordinary way, and he therefore raised it in extraordinary ways, many of them unlawful and most of them unwise. Gentlemen were fined because they had disregarded a proclamation ordering them to receive knighthood at the king's coronation; the holders of lands, which were said to have once formed part of the royal forests, were deprived of those lands and sentenced to pay enormous sums. Then 5 many monopolies were granted; for instance, the sole right of making soap was given to a company that agreed to pay the king £8 for every ton made, and £10,000 for the charter. Starch, wine, salt, and almost every article in common use also fell into the hands of monopolists, till it was said that they had "marked and sealed" the people "from head to foot."

The court of Star Chamber, too, brought in much money. This Court had often proved very useful in the days of the Tudor sovereigns, because it was strong enough to punish great men against whom juries in the common courts were afraid to return verdicts, but during the reign of Charles it became little more than an instrument of 6 tyranny. It was made up of the members of the king's council, together with two of the judges, so that when persons were brought before it for finding fault with the government, they

were tried by the very people whom they had been blaming. The Court sentenced men to be imprisoned, to be whipped, to have their ears cut off, or to stand in the 7 pillory. In addition to one or more of these

[graphic]

punishments, it was in the habit of inflicting a heavy fine, and in order to have the chance of inflicting fines, it often heard cases which ought to have been decided in one of the other courts.

THE STAR CHAMBER, WESTMINSTER.

But the income from the Star Chamber and from all the other sources named being. insufficient for the king's wants, one of his lawyers hit upon a plan which, it was thought, would prove "a spring and magazine 9 that should have no bottom." In the past, when the country was in danger of attack from abroad, the coast towns had sometimes been called upon to find vessels for the national defence. The lawyer's plan was to require vessels when the country was in no danger of attack. In 1634 various ports were commanded to provide a certain number of ships or a certain sum of money. Next year the inland counties were commanded to do the same, though ship money had never before been asked from them even in time of war. Men grumbled greatly, and the boldest of them refused to pay. Among those who refused was John Hampden, a noble gentleman of Buckinghamshire. He said the tax was 10 illegal, and its lawfulness was argued before twelve judges. A 11 majority of them decided against Hampden. Their decision only increased the dissatisfaction of the people, for they did not any the more think ship-money legal, but believed that the judges had twisted the law to please the king.

Another fruitful cause of dissatisfaction was the government of the church. Charles's chief adviser in all matters of religion was William Laud, who from 12 Archdeacon of Huntingdon rapidly rose to be Bishop of Bath and Wells, then Bishop of London, and finally Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a man of fair ability, narrow mind, and bad temper. His intentions were on the whole honest, but many of his deeds were unwise. Like his master he leaned towards Catholic doctrines and ceremonies, and delighted in outward uni

formity of worship. His great aim was to increase the power of the king and the church. He persecuted the Puritans bitterly, and made a number of changes in the service very hateful to them. As the nation was growing more and more Puritan in feeling, the government became more and more unpopular.

[graphic]

6

5

THE PILLORY.

2

4 intent,

Patriot, one who loves his country. presumption, forwardness, impudence. 8 prescribe, to lay down, to name. intention, meaning. monopoly, the sole power of making or selling anything. tyranny, government according to the will of the governor. 7 pillory, a post having at the top a cross-beam with holes for the head and hands. 8 inflict, to give as a punish9 magazine, place for storing. 10 illegal, unlawful. 11 majority, a greater number. 12 archdeacon, a clergyman next in rank below a bishop.

ment.

REBELLION IN SCOTLAND.

Ir is impossible to say how long the rule of Charles would have been borne had not the affairs of Scotland hastened a breach between him and the parliament. The religious opinions of the Scotch were much the same as those of the English Puritans,-their prayerbook had been drawn up by a great Protestant reformer, and their bishops were without authority; but the king resolved, notwithstanding, to make the church in his northern like that in his southern kingdom. More power was to be given to the bishops and a new prayer-book was to be used. The Scotch opposed all the changes. There was a great riot in St. Giles's Church, Edinburgh, on the day when the altered service was first read. The congregation flung things at the clergy, who had to flee for their lives. The feeling of the people was the same all over the country. As the king would not withdraw the hated 2 liturgy, they hastened to renew 3 the Solemn League and Covenant. They pledged themselves to stand by the reformed religion, and "to labour by all means lawful to recover the purity of the gospel as it was established and professed before the innovations." "We promise and swear," they declared, "by the great name of the Lord our God, to continue in the profession and obedience of the said religion, and that we shall defend the same to the utmost of that power which God has put into our hands all the days of our life.”

They did not stop at words. Knowing the king would try to enforce his will, they collected an army. Charles marched north; but his soldiers being badly fed, and disposed to side rather with the Scotch than with him, he was obliged to come to an agreement with

« AnteriorContinuar »