XIII. 1618. CHAP. such an imprisonment was enough to satisfy the demands of justice. If afterwards he had been guilty, as was alleged, of some misconduct, while acting under the royal commission, for this he was amenable to the laws of his country. It was due to him, and to the public not less, that the charge should be brought forward openly against him, and that the accused should be put upon his defence. But the course adopted by the government in taking away his life, on a stale judgment of fifteen years' standing, was equally unjust and mean: for while they professed only to execute the sentence for the crime of high treason, their real object was, unquestionably, in compliance with the demands of the court of Spain, to take vengeance on him for some alleged misconduct in South America. You might think it heavy,' said the lord chief justice Montague, in delivering the judgment of the court, if this were done in cold blood to call you to execution. But it is not so. For new offences have stirred up his majesty's justice to remember to revive what the law hath formerly cast upon you.' With those new offences, whatever they might be, he was never publicly charged. Yet he was accused without a public prosecutor, and condemned without a trial. And at last he was executed for the presumed guilt of those undefined, untried, offences, on the old judgment of high treason, for which he had suffered no less than fifteen years' imprisonment.* Phillip's State Trials, I. 77–79. The governor of the tower was the father of the now well-known Lucy Hutchinson, and the kindness of his wife contributed much to lessen the tediousness and suffering of Raleigh's confinement. See Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, I. p. 22. CHAP. XIV. PARLIAMENT OF 1614. CONDUCT OF THE COURT.-KING'S SPEECH.-QUESTION OF IMPOSITIONS.- XIV. 1614. the court. THE first parliament under the present monarch CHA P. was dissolved at the close of the year 1610. The second was not convened until the spring of 1614. During this interval, the earl of Somerset had April 5. chiefly influenced the mind of the king, and toward the close of it, the opponents of that favourite appear to have been nearly all removed or reconciled. But the years which had passed since the Conduct of death of Salisbury, and the dissolution of the last parliament, had passed without improvement in the economy of the court; nor had the ministers succeeded in obtaining any adequate supply of money from those illegal practices, whence so much aid had been anticipated. By thus allowing more than three years to pass without a parliament, and by resorting to so many doubtful and difficult plans, for the purpose of conducting the government without the assistance of such an assembly, it became evident that James would not again meet the council of the nation, unless constrained by some hard necessity. In 1614 this crisis had arrived. СНАР. XIV. 1614. King's speech. April 8. Somerset endeavoured to rally the spirits of his master, by assuring him, that, with proper management, it would be possible to secure a majority in both houses, that should be favourable to the wishes of the court. The parties who thus undertook to influence the proposed elections, acquired from their service the name of "undertakers."* This experiment, on the part of the king's advisers, did not escape the notice of the popular candidates; and it became so much the matter of rumour through the country, that James, in his speech from the throne, considered it important to express his contempt of all such proceedings, as unsuited to his dignity. He chose rather to appeal to the religion, the patriotism, and the benevolence of his subjects, and assured them, as he should answer it to God, that " his natural affections were like the redness of his heart; his integrity like the whiteness of his robe; his purity like the metal of gold in his crown; and his firmness and clearness like the precious stones he wore." This solemn nonsense was followed by some remarks on the impolicy of religious persecution, which are more worthy of attention; and had the principle of them been acted upon, it would have prevented the chief calamities, and the ultimate overthrow of the house of Stuart. "No state or story," he observes, " can evidence that any religion or heresy was ever extirpated by the sword, or by violence, nor have I ever judged it a way of • These were the beginnings of that government influence with regard to parliaments, of which we have seen much in later times. The advice of Somerset, as to calling a parliament, was strongly seconded by lord Bacon. XIV. 1614. planting the truth. An example of this I take CHAP. where, when many rigorous councils were propounded, Gamaliel stood up and advised, that If that religion were of God, it would prosper; if of man, it would perish of itself.' Beside, men are so prone to glory in defending and sealing their opinions with their blood, that the primitive church in one age declined into an affectation of martyrdom. And many heresies have had their martyrs, which have gone with the same alacrity, and desire, and assurance, to the fire, as those who have witnessed for the truth have done." Yet at this moment the laws against the catholic worship were to be enforced with new rigour; and many of the most learned and devout protestants were compelled either to conform to practices which they believed to be sinful, or to become exiles, in search of liberty to worship God according to their conscience. The latter class of persons, also, had to ascribe their sufferings chiefly to the personal animosity of the sovereign. But, according to James, no suffering on account of religion was to be considered as persecution, if it did not extend to a loss of "life or land."* The chief topics of address, on the part of the king and his ministers, referred to the necessity of a liberal and an immediate supply. To obtain this, the monarch was lavish in his professions of friendship; promising, among many similar things, that he would in future show himself "contrary to all tyrants, who love not advising with their subjects, but hate parliaments." It was hoped, there * Parl. Hist. I. 1049-1051. XIV. 1614. CHAP. fore, that the present intercourse between the king and his people would be of so kindly a nature, as to deserve the name of the "parliament of love." And it was deemed particularly desirable that the commons should not approach any of the subjects of grievance, until the proposed supply of money should be voted. The parliament, it was said, should extend to another session, to take place at Michaelmas, when any matters left unsettled might be taken into consideration. The sovereign, indeed, notwithstanding the largeness of his promises in other respects, did not hesitate to affirm, that he would no more deal with them "like a merchant, by way of exchange, for every bargain chete the lone." Question of May 21. 66 But the commons placed little confidence in the impositions. royal word, and determined to provide against the possibility of becoming the victims of a treacherous policy. They accordingly began with proposing a conference of both houses on the question of impositions." This, the influence of the court and of the prelates was sufficient to prevent. The disappointment produced irritation, and occasioned other delays. In the upper house, the application of the commons led to a discussion, in the course of which, Neile, bishop of Lincoln, was said to have declared, that the right of levying impositions on Unconsti- property belonged to the crown; that to question doctrine of it was to disturb the foundations of kingly power; the bishop and that the method of procedure insisted on by the lower house originated in a temper of mind tending to sedition. In our time, the one house of parliament is not supposed to be aware of tutional of Lincoln. |