Part 57 (1/2)

The chief matters of dispute between the king and the Commons were the limits of the authority of the former in matters touching legislation and taxation, and the nature and extent of the privileges and jurisdictions of the latter.

As to the limits of the royal power, James talked and acted as though his prerogatives were practically unbounded. He issued proclamations which in their scope were really laws, and then enforced these royal edicts by fines and imprisonment, as though they were regular statutes of Parliament. Moreover, taking advantage of some uncertainty in the law as regards the power of the king to collect customs at the ports of the realm, he laid new and unusual duties upon imports and exports. James's judges were servile enough to sustain him in this course, some of them going so far as to say that ”the sea-ports are the king's gates, which he may open and shut to whom he pleases.”

As to the privileges of the Commons, that body insisted, among other things, upon their right to determine all cases of contested election of their members, and to debate freely all questions concerning the common weal, without being liable to prosecution or imprisonment for words spoken in the House. James denied that these privileges were matters of right pertaining to the Commons, and repeatedly intimated to them that it was only through his own gracious permission and the favor of his ancestors that they were allowed to exercise these liberties at all, and that if their conduct was not more circ.u.mspect and reverential, he should take away their privileges entirely.

On one occasion, the Commons having ventured to debate certain matters of state which the king had forbidden them to meddle with, he, in reproving them, made a more express denial than ever of their rights and privileges, which caused them, in a burst of n.o.ble indignation, to enter upon their journal a brave protest, known as ”The Great Protestation,” which declared that ”the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England, and that the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the king, state, and defence of the realm ... are proper subjects and matter of council and debate in Parliament” (1621).

When intelligence of this action was carried to the king, he instantly sent for the journal of the House, and with his own hands tore out the leaf containing the obnoxious resolution. Then he angrily prorogued Parliament, and even went so far as to imprison several of the members of the Commons. In these high handed measures we get a glimpse of the Stuart theory of government, and see the way paved for the final break between king and people in the following reign.

King James died in the year 1625, after a reign as sovereign of England and Scotland of twenty-two years.

LITERATURE.--One of the most noteworthy literary labors of the reign under review was a new translation of the Bible, known as _King James's Version_. This royal version is the one in general use at the present day.

The most noted writers of James's reign were a bequest to it from the brilliant era of Elizabeth (see p. 560). Sir Walter Raleigh, the petted courtier of Elizabeth, fell on evil days after her death. On the charge of taking part in a conspiracy against the crown, he was sent to the Tower, where he was kept a prisoner for thirteen years. From the tedium of his long confinement, he found relief in the composition of a _History of the World_. He was at last beheaded.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TOWER OF LONDON.]

The close of the life of the great philosopher Francis Bacon, was scarcely less sad than that of Sir Walter Raleigh. He held the office of Lord Chancellor, and yielding to the temptations of the corrupt times upon which he had fallen, accepted bribes from the suitors who brought cases before him. He was impeached and brought to the bar of the House of Lords, where he confessed his guilt, pathetically appealing to his judges ”to be merciful to a broken reed.” He lived only five years after his fall and disgrace, dying in 1626.

Bacon must be given the first place among the philosophers of the English- speaking race. His system is known as the _Inductive Method of Philosophy_. It insists upon experiment and a careful observation of facts as the only true means of arriving at a knowledge of the laws of nature.

2. _Reign of Charles the First_ (1625-1649).

THE PEt.i.tION OF RIGHT (1628).--Charles I. came to the throne with all his father's lofty notions about the divine right of kings. Consequently the old contest between king and Parliament was straightway renewed. The first two Parliaments of his reign Charles dissolved speedily, because instead of voting supplies they persisted in investigating public grievances.

After the dissolution of his second Parliament Charles endeavored to raise the money he needed to carry on the government, by means of ”benevolences”

and forced loans. But all his expedients failed to meet his needs, and he was compelled to fall back upon Parliament. The Houses met, and promised to grant him generous subsidies, provided he would sign a certain _Pet.i.tion of Right_ which they had drawn up. Next after Magna Charta, this doc.u.ment up to this date is the most noted in the const.i.tutional history of England. It simply reaffirmed the ancient rights and privileges of the English people as defined in the Great Charter and by the good laws of Edward I. and Edward III. Four abuses were provided against: (i) the raising of money by loans, ”benevolences,” taxes, etc., without the consent of Parliament; (2) arbitrary imprisonment; (3) the quartering of soldiers in private houses--a very vexatious thing; and (4) trial without jury.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHARLES I. (After a painting by A. Vand.y.k.e.)]

Charles was as reluctant to a.s.sent to the Pet.i.tion as King John was to affix his seal to the Magna Charta; but he was at length forced to give sanction to it by the use of the usual formula, ”Let it be law as desired”

(1628).

CHARLES RULES WITHOUT PARLIAMENT (1629-1640).--It soon became evident that Charles was utterly insincere when he put his name to the Pet.i.tion of Right. He immediately violated its provisions in attempting to raise money by forbidden taxes and loans. For eleven years he ruled without Parliament, thus changing the government of England from a government by king, lords, and commons, to what was in effect an absolute and irresponsible monarchy, like that of France or Spain.

As is always the case under such circ.u.mstances, there were enough persons ready to aid the king in his schemes of usurpation. Prominent among his unscrupulous agents were his ministers Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Stafford) and William Laud. Wentworth devoted himself to establis.h.i.+ng the royal despotism in civil matters; while Laud, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury, busied himself chiefly with exalting above all human interference the king's prerogatives in religious affairs as the supreme head of the English Church.

All these high-handed and tyrannical proceedings of Charles and his agents were enforced by certain courts that had been wrested from their original purpose and moulded into instruments of despotism. These were known as the _Council of the North_, the _Star Chamber_, and the _High Commission Court_. [Footnote: The first was a tribunal established by Henry VIII., and was now employed by Wentworth as an instrument for enforcing the king's despotic authority in the turbulent northern counties of England.

The Star Chamber was a court of somewhat obscure origin, which at this time dealt chiefly with criminal cases affecting the government, such as riot, libel, and conspiracy. The High Commission Court was a tribunal of forty-four commissioners, created in Elizabeth's reign to enforce the acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.] All of these courts sat without jury, and being composed of the creatures of the king, were of course his subservient instruments. Their decisions were unjust and arbitrary; their punishments, harsh and cruel.

JOHN HAMPDEN AND s.h.i.+P-MONEY.--Among the illegal taxes levied during this period of tyranny was a species known as s.h.i.+p-money, so called from the fact that in early times the kings, when the realm was in danger, called upon the sea-ports and maritime counties to contribute s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+p- material for the public service. Charles and his agents, in looking this matter over, conceived the idea of extending this tax over the inland as well as the sea-board counties.

Among those who refused to pay the tax was a country gentleman, named John Hampden. The case was tried in the Exchequer Chamber, before all the twelve judges. All England watched the progress of the suit with the utmost solicitude. The question was argued by able counsel both on the side of Hampden and of the crown. Judgment was finally rendered in favor of the king, although five of the twelve judges stood for Hampden. The case was lost; but the people, who had been following the arguments, were fully persuaded that it went against Hampden simply for the reason that the judges stood in fear of the royal displeasure, and that they did not dare to decide the case adversely to the crown.

The arbitrary and despotic character which the government had now a.s.sumed in both civil and religious matters, and the hopelessness of relief or protection from the courts, caused thousands to seek in the New World that freedom and security which was denied them in their own land.

THE COVENANTERS.--England was almost ready to rise in open revolt against the unbearable tyranny. Events in Scotland hastened the crisis. The king was attempting to impose the English liturgy (slightly modified) upon the Scotch Presbyterians. At Edinburgh this led to a riot, one of the women wors.h.i.+ppers throwing a stool at the bishop who attempted to read the service. The spirit of resistance spread. All cla.s.ses, n.o.bles and peasants alike, bound themselves by a solemn covenant to resist to the very last every attempt to make innovations in their religion. From this act they became known as Covenanters (1638).

The king resolved to crush the movement by force, but he soon found that war could not be carried on without money, and was constrained to summon Parliament in hopes of obtaining a vote of supplies. But instead of making the king a grant of money, the Commons first gave their attention to the matter of grievances, whereupon Charles dissolved the Parliament. The Scottish forces crossed the border, and the king, helpless, with an empty treasury and a seditious army, was forced again to summon the two Houses.