III. 1626. CHAP. king's natural obstinacy, and he accordingly determined to strain his prerogative, as far as it might be done with apparent safety, that the supplies withholden by parliament might be otherwise obtained. We are assured, indeed, that the conduct of that assembly appeared to him as little short of a conspiracy to deprive him of his rights as a sovereign. It is difficult, however, to conceive how this could be, when, with the exception of limiting their grant of the revenue arising from tonnage and poundage to a single year, nothing had been done, since the king's accession, which had not been the practice of such assemblies during the reign of James, and scarcely any thing for which much older precedents might not have been pleaded. Moderate men might, in some instances, have suggested an abatement of the claims preferred by the commons, or rather might have recommended their seeking a more gradual removal of disorders, which had risen gradually, making a selection, for the present, from the multitude of existing grievances, of such as were most pressing. But the same class of persons could not fail to admit, that a king, who evidently scorned the prayer of his subjects, ought not to calculate on being greatly beloved by them, or to expect an implicit obedience from them. Were it certain that the patriots might have accomplished more, if they had attempted less, it surely is not less certain that the monarch who refused to hear them in any thing, except when tendering him their substance, could not reasonably expect that any great sacrifices of that III. 1626. sort should be made in his favour. The advocates CHA P. of the people, whom it was considered proper to treat thus distantly and haughtily, may have passed the bounds of prudence, in one or two instances of their proceedings; but it is questionable whether, in a single instance, they had passed the bounds of constitutional right; and their seemingly unmanageable feeling should by no means be judged of apart from the temper with which they had to contenda temper that bespoke nothing but faithlessness and enmity with regard to those liberties, which to themselves were dearer than existence. To determine that nothing shall be granted, because too much is required, may be very common, and may sometimes be very foolish-Charles and his advisers should have known this. CHAP. IV. PROCEEDINGS FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF THE KING'S EXPEDIENTS TO RAISE MONEY.-A GENERAL LOAN. PRIVATE INSTRUC- WITH 1626. to raise money. CHAP. THE single year, to which the commons had limited IV. their vote respecting the duties at the ports, was Expedients now closed. Those imposts, however, continued to be levied. This was done on the assumption that the commons would have issued their consent, as a matter of course, had not the sudden dissolving of that assembly prevented it, and not upon the plea that their vote on the subject had been rejected by the lords, on account of the novel limitation which was attached to it. Several measures were also adopted, to increase the value of the crown lands, and by means of leases and compositions, to obtain some assistance in the present exigency from that source. The fines imposed on catholic recusants were more strictly enforced, and rendered more productive. Privy seals, by which IV. 1626. the sovereign required the loan of money from the CHAP. nobility, and the more opulent commoners, had been sent forth on the dissolution of the last parliament, and the same expedient was now resumed. The sum of 120,000l. was specified as to be supplied by the city of London. But the citizens hesitated, and at length refused. The mention of the demand also, in other instances, created discontent, and was censured as an infringement of the statute against benevolencies, upon which so much complaint had been previously founded. Several of the sea-ports were compelled to provide tain number of vessels, as means of protecting the trade of the country. The lord-lieutenants were likewise instructed to train the militia of their respective counties, and to be prepared to exert themselves in preserving the tranquillity of the kingdom, or in defending it in case of invasion. The subsidies and fifteenths, which the late parliament had voted, were not legally within the reach of the monarch, as they had not passed into a bill. An attempt was made to collect them, notwithstanding that defect; but the scheme, though tried in the most favourable quarters, was so decidedly opposed, that it was considered prudent to abandon it.* Such were the plans which engaged the attention of the king and his ministers, during the six months which followed the dissolution of the last parliament; and as the preparations for hostilities were continued, it is scarcely necessary to add, Rushworth, 413-417. Rymer, 730. et seq. IV. 1626. CHAP. that the embarrassments of the crown increased during the whole of that interval. Of late, its difficulties had been seriously augmented by the defeat and the losses of the allies of England, under command of the king of Denmark. The impe Feb. 5. A general loan. rialists had driven the friends of the unfortunate elector Palatine across the Elbe; the whole of Lower Saxony was exposed to their ravages; and that noble edifice which the genius of Luther had reared within the states of Germany, was believed to be menaced with destruction. By the more zealous protestants in this country, these events were viewed with sorrow and alarm, and Charles resolved to avail himself of this passing feeling. An extended proclamation was issued, stating the good intentions, and some of the perplexities of the government, and urging the necessity of obtaining a large and speedy supply of money. To have obtained the assistance required through the medium of parliament, would, it was admitted, have been more desirable, but it was stated, that the time necessarily consumed by such a process, did not comport with the exigencies of the moThe plan proposed was that of a forced loan. The rate of the last subsidy was to determine the amount of each man's property, and the proportion of the present assessment was to be about four subsidies in amount. It was carefully stated, however, that the money so raised was not to be considered as a tax, but purely as a loan, and to be repaid from the next parliamentary supply. Much confidence was expressed in the zeal of the clergy, as the defenders of protestantism, ment. |