attempt to seize the five members, Lord Falkland's appointment was confirmed by his being sworn one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State.1

Lord Clarendon speaks of the King's "feeling within "himself the trouble and agony which usually attends

generous and magnanimous minds upon their having "committed errors which expose them to censure and "to damage." But the King's repentance in this instance, as in the abrupt dissolution of that short Parliament on whose loyalty he might so well have relied, came only when the extent of the error could not be concealed from his view, and when events had fully exposed the short-sighted wisdom which had directed a crooked policy.

Lord Falkland and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir J. Culpepper) seem on this important occasion to have rather been called upon to act for the Commons, than empowered as ministers to give any explanation

of the King's conduct.

On the 3rd of January the Attorney-General, by command of the King, appeared at the table of the

'FROM THE COUNCIL REGISTER.

1st Jan. 1641-2.- "This day Lucius Viscount Falkland was sworne of "his Ma most Honble. Privy Counsell, by his Mats command sitting in "Counsell, tooke his place and signed with the other Lords."

1st Jan.-Sir John Culpepper was sworn of the Privy Council, and on the same day the King, being present in Council, gave order for Sir J. Culpepper's admission "into the place of his May. Under Treasurer and "Chancellor of his Excheq"." The patent of the office is dated the 6th of January.

8th Jan. 1641-2.-" This day, his Matie. present in Counsell, and by his "Royall Command, the Lord Visc Falkland was sworne one of his "Ma Principall Secretaries of State."

2 Clarendon's Hist. of the Rebellion,' vol. ii. p. 133.

2

House of Lords, and impeached Lord Kimbolton and five members of the House of Commons of high treason.1 The King had also ordered their chambers to be searched and locked, their trunks, &c., sealed, and issued out warrants for their apprehension. The Commons on the same day resolved that every person engaged in the execution of this command should be immediately seized and brought to the House as delinquents, and that the Serjeant should have power to break open the doors and tear off the seals. A conference with the Lords on the breach of privilege confirmed this resolution. Immediately after the conference a Serjeant-atArms was announced as the bearer of a message from the King to the House of Commons, requiring the Speaker to give up the five accused members. Lord Falkland, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and two others were appointed instantly to wait upon the King and acquaint him that "this message of His Majesty "is a matter of great importance as it concerns the "privilege of Parliament;" at the same time promising that the House would take it into consideration. The Speaker also, by command of the House, enjoined the daily attendance there of the five members.

The following day (the 4th) Lord Falkland thus reported the King's answer to the message from the Commons: The King," he said, "had asked them "whether the House did expect an answer?" They

1 Mr. Denzil Holles, Sir Arthur Hazelrig, Mr. J. Pym, Mr. John Hampden, and Mr. William Strode.

2 Nalson's Coll., vol. ii. p. 811.

9 Sir Philip Stapelton and Sir John Hotham.

• Nalson's Coll., vol. ii. p. 816.

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replied, they had no more commission to say, but

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only to deliver the message." The King asked them, as private persons, "what they thought of it?" They said they conceived "the House did expect an answer." The King, hearing the House was up, said he would "send an answer the next morning;" but, in the mean time, he commanded them to acquaint the House that the Serjeant-at-Arms did nothing but what he had directions from himself to do.

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On the disingenuousness of the King's conduct in thus concealing his purposes from the counsellors to whom he had promised "to do nothing that in any

degree concerned the House of Commons without an "exact communication to them of all his own concep"tions," it is needless to comment. The folly of deceiving those who were selected by himself, and trusted by the Commons, at such a juncture, shows how incapable he was of appreciating the value of men between whose character and his own there was indeed but little affinity. In the afternoon of the same day (the 4th) that Lord Falkland delivered the King's answer, the King came in person to the House of Commons to demand the five members. The Speaker left the chair; the King took his place, and, standing on the step with his hat off, addressed the House. He told them he had expected obedience and not an answer from them the day before, and announced that he had come himself for the five gentlemen; he looked around in vain for them; he asked the Speaker where they were, called upon them by name, and received no answer: then, saying "that his birds were flown, but that

"he expected the House would send them to him," he finished his speech, and then retired, his hat still off till he came to the door.1

The members had received timely warning to absent themselves from the House. The failure of this royal intrusion as a coup d'état must have produced at the moment an effect almost ludicrous, but the consequences were of most serious and lasting moment. The House immediately adjourned, and on the next day (the 5th) met with locked doors, and then decided on a further adjournment till the 11th of January. A Committee was appointed to sit in Guildhall, consisting of twentyfive members, and on which the names of Lord Falkland and the Chancellor of the Exchequer appear. On the 5th the King made a speech to the Common Council assembled at Guildhall, requiring their assistance in apprehending the members. On the 8th he issued a proclamation for their apprehension and imprisonment in the Tower. On the 10th the King left Whitehall for Hampton Court, never again to enter his capital of his own free will. On the 11th Parliament met at Westminster, and the accused members, who had been concealed in the city, were triumphantly brought back to Westminster with every demonstration of public

The King was so well pleased with this speech that on that evening it was transcribed from notes in his presence, sent to the press, and published the next morning.-Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 479.

The Speaker's answer to this appeal showed where he felt his allegiance due. "May it please your Majesty," said he, "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased "to direct me, whose servant I am here; and humbly beg your Majesty's "pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your Majesty is pleased to demand of me.”

rejoicing. On the 13th came the day of retractation, when the Lord Keeper announced to the Houses of Parliament that the King had determined to waive any present proceedings against the accused members. There is but little means of tracing the advice given by Lord Falkland individually on his first coming into office, but Lord Clarendon tells us that before the King left Whitehall he renewed his commands to his two ministers and Mr. Hyde to consult on his affairs, and also again declared solemnly that he would take no step with Parliament but by their advice; accordingly, they met late every night to communicate the information they had each gathered, and their respective impressions as to what had passed, during the day, and to consult on what should be their course for the morrow. Mr. Hyde's house being the most convenient for these nocturnal meetings, they were generally held there, a circumstance which seems to have excited the suspicions of their opponents. They believed it," says Lord Clarendon, "a condescension that had some other "foundation than mere civility." Mr. Hyde was, in fact, looked upon with particular jealousy, from the supposition that he had influenced Lord Falkland in his decision to accept the service of the King. Lord Falkland seems to have also exercised a strong influence over his two colleagues, for Lord Clarendon speaks of himself and Sir John Culpepper as being men of very different natures, but both of warm tempers, and that it was from the deference each paid to Lord Falkland,

VOL. I.

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'Clarendon, Life,' vol. i. p. 91.

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