The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 (389 page)
Read The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 Online
Authors: David Hume
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A design of which Piercy’s evidence acquits the king, and which the near neighbourhood of the Scottish army seems to render absolutely impracticable.
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By means, however, of these suspicions, was the same implacable spirit still kept alive; and the commons, without giving the king any satisfaction in the settlement of his revenue, proceeded to carry their inroads, with great vigour, into his now defenceless
The two ruling passions of this parliament, were zeal for liberty, High commission and and an aversion to the church; and to both of these, nothing could star-chamber appear more exceptionable, than the court of high commission, abolished.
whose institution rendered it entirely arbitrary, and assigned to it the defence of the ecclesiastical establishment. The star-chamber also was a court, which exerted high discretionary powers; and had no precise rule or limit, either with regard to the causes which came under its jurisdiction, or the decisions which it formed. A bill unanimously passed the houses to abolish these two courts; and, in them, to annihilate the principal and most dangerous articles of the king’s prerogative.
By the same bill, the jurisdiction of the council was regulated, and its authority
abridged.h
Charles hesitated before he gave his assent. But finding that he had gone too far to retreat, and that he possessed no resource in case of a rupture, he at last affixed the royal sanction to this excellent bill. But to show the parliament, that he was sufficiently apprised of the importance of his grant, he observed to them, that this statute altered in a great measure the fundamental laws, ecclesiastical and civil, which many of his predecessors had established.
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By removing the star-chamber, the king’s power of binding the people by his proclamations, was indirectly abolished; and that important branch of prerogative, the strong symbol of arbitrary power, and unintelligible in a limited constitution, being at last removed, left the system of government more consistent and uniform. The star-chamber alone was accustomed to punish infractions of the king’s edicts: But as no courts of judicature now remained, except those in Westminster-hall, which take cognizance only of common and statute law, the king may thenceforth issue proclamations, but no man is bound to obey them. It must, however, be confessed, that the experiment here made by the parliament, was not a little rash and adventurous. No government, at that time, appeared in the world, nor is perhaps to be found in the records of any history, which subsisted without the mixture of some arbitrary authority, committed to some magistrate; and it might reasonably, beforehand, appear doubtful, whether human society could ever reach that state of perfection, as to support itself with no other controul than the general and rigid maxims of law and equity. But the parliament justly thought, that the king was too eminent a magistrate to be trusted with discretionary power, which he might so easily turn to the destruction of liberty. And in the event it has hitherto been found, that, though some sensible inconveniences arise from the maxim of adhering strictly to law, yet the advantages overbalance them, and should render the English grateful to the memory of their ancestors, who, after repeated contests, at last established that noble, though dangerous, principle.
At the request of the parliament, Charles, instead of the patents during pleasure, gave
all the judges patents during their good behaviour:k
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moment towards securing their independency, and barring the entrance of arbitrary power into the ordinary courts of judicature.
The marshal’s court, which took cognizance of offensive words, and was not thought sufficiently limited by law, was also, for that reason, abolished.
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The stannary courts, which exercised jurisdiction over the miners, being liable to a like objection, underwent a like fate. The abolition of the council of the north and the council of Wales followed from the same principles. The authority of the clerk of the market, who had a general inspection over the weights and measures throughout the kingdom, was transferred to the mayors, sheriffs, and ordinary magistrates.
In short, if we take a survey of the transactions of this memorable parliament, during the first period of its operations, we shall find, that, excepting Strafford’s attainder, which was a complication of cruel iniquity, their merits, in other respects, so much outweigh their mistakes, as to entitle them to praise from all lovers of liberty. Not only were former abuses remedied, and grievances redressed: Great provision, for the future, was made by law against the return of like complaints. And if the means, by which they obtained such advantages, savour often of artifice, sometimes of violence; it is to be considered, that revolutions of government cannot be effected by the mere force of argument and reasoning: And that factions being once excited, men can neither so firmly regulate the tempers of others, nor their own, as to ensure themselves against all exorbitancies.
The parliament now came to a pause. The king had promised his Scottish subjects, that he would this summer pay them a visit, in order to settle their government; and though the English parliament was very importunate with
8th of Aug. King’s
him, that he should lay aside that journey; they could not prevail journey to Scotland.
with him so much as to delay it. As he must necessarily in his journey have passed through the troops of both nations, the commons seem to have entertained great jealousy on that account, and to have now hurried on, as much as they formerly delayed, the disbanding of the armies. The arrears therefore of the Scots were fully paid them; and those of the English in part. The Scots returned home, and the English were separated into their several counties, and dismissed.
After this the parliament adjourned to the 20th of October; and a 9th of Sept.
committee of both houses, a thing unprecedented, was appointed to sit during the recess, with very ample powers.
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Pym was elected chairman of the committee of the lower house. Farther attempts were made by the parliament, while it sat, and even by the commons alone, for assuming sovereign executive powers, and publishing their ordinances, as they called them, instead of laws. The committee too, on their part, was ready to imitate the example.
A small committee of both houses was appointed to attend the king into Scotland, in order, as was pretended, to see that the articles of pacification were executed; but really to be spies upon him, and extend still farther the ideas of parliamentary authority, as well as eclipse the majesty of the king. The earl of Bedford, lord Howard, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Armyne, Fiennes, and Hambden, were the persons chosen.
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Endeavours were used, before Charles’s departure, to have a protector of the kingdom appointed, with a power to pass laws without having recourse to the king. So little regard was now paid to royal authority, or to the established constitution of the kingdom.
Amidst the great variety of affairs, which occurred during this busy period, we have almost overlooked the marriage of the princess Mary with William prince of Orange.
The king concluded not this alliance without communicating his intentions to the parliament, who received the proposal with satisfaction.
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This was the commencement of the connections with the family of Orange: Connections, which were afterwards attended with the most important consequences, both to the kingdom and to the house of Stuart.
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[Back to Table of Contents]
LV
Settlement of Scotland — Conspiracy in Ireland — Insurrection and massacre —
Meeting of the English parliament — The remonstrance — Reasons on both sides —
Impeachment of the bishops — Accusation of the five members — Tumults — King
leaves London — Arrives in York — Preparations for civil war
The Scots, who began these fatal commotions, thought, that they had finished a very perilous undertaking,
much to their profit and reputation. Besides the large pay voted 1641.
them for lying in good quarters during a twelvemonth, the
English parliament had conferred on them a present of 300,000 pounds for their brotherly assistance.
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In the articles of pacification, they were declared to have ever been good subjects; and their military expeditions were approved of, as enterprizes calculated and intended for his majesty’s honour and advantage. To carry farther the triumph over their sovereign, these terms, so ignominious to him, were ordered by a vote of parliament, to be read in all churches, upon a day of thanksgiving, appointed
for the national pacification:q
All their claims for the restriction of prerogative, were agreed to be ratified: And what they more valued than all these advantages; they had a near prospect of spreading the presbyterian discipline in England and Ireland, from the seeds, which they had scattered, of their religious principles. Never did refined Athens so exult in diffusing the sciences and liberal arts over a savage world; never did generous Rome so please herself in the view of law and order established by her victorious arms; as the Scots now rejoiced, in communicating their barbarous zeal and theological fervour, to the neighbouring nations.
Charles, despoiled in England of a considerable part of his
Aug. 14. Settlement
authority, and dreading still farther encroachments upon him, of Scotland.
arrived in Scotland, with an intention of abdicating almost
entirely the small share of power, which
there
remained to him, and of giving full satisfaction, if possible, to his restless subjects in that kingdom.
The lords of articles were an ancient institution in the Scottish parliament. They were constituted after this manner. The temporal lords chose eight bishops: The bishops elected eight temporal lords: These sixteen named eight commissioners of counties, and eight burgesses: And without the previous consent of the thirty-two, who were denominated lords of articles, no motion could be made in parliament. As the bishops were entirely devoted to the court, it is evident, that all the lords of articles, by necessary consequence, depended on the king’s nomination; and the prince, besides one negative after the bills had passed through parliament, possessed indirectly another before their introduction; a prerogative of much greater consequence than the former. The bench of bishops being now abolished, the parliament laid hold of the opportunity, and totally set aside the lords of articles: And till this important point was obtained, the nation, properly speaking, could not be said to enjoy any regular
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It is remarkable, that, notwithstanding this institution, to which there was no parallel in England, the royal authority was always deemed much lower in Scotland than in the former kingdom. Bacon represents it as one advantage to be expected from the union, that the too extensive prerogative of England would be abridged by the example of Scotland, and the too narrow prerogative of Scotland be enlarged from the imitation of England. The English were, at that time, a civilized people, and obedient to the laws: But among the Scots, it was of little consequence how the laws were framed, or by whom voted, while the exorbitant aristocracy had it so much in their power to prevent their regular execution.
The peers and commons formed only one house in the Scottish parliament: And as it had been the practice of James, continued by Charles, to grace English gentlemen with Scottish titles, all the determinations of parliament it was to be feared, would in time depend upon the prince, by means of these votes of foreigners, who had no interest or property in the nation. It was therefore a law, deserving approbation, that no man should be created a Scotch peer, who possessed not 10,000 marks (above 500
pounds) of annual rent in the kingdom.s
A law for triennial parliaments was likewise passed; and it was ordained, that the last act of every parliament should be to appoint the time and place for holding the
The king was deprived of that power, formerly exercised, of issuing proclamations, which enjoined obedience, under the penalty of treason: A prerogative, which invested him with the whole legislative authority, even in matters of the highest
So far was laudable: But the most fatal blow given to royal authority, and what in a manner dethroned the prince, was the article, that no member of the privy council, in whose hands, during the king’s absence, the whole administration lay, no officer of state, none of the judges, should be appointed but by advice and approbation of parliament. Charles even agreed to deprive of their seats, four judges who had adhered to his interests; and their place was supplied by others more agreeable to the ruling party. Several of the covenanters were also sworn of the privy council. And all the ministers of state, counsellors, and judges, were, by law, to hold their places
during life or good behaviour.w
The king, while in Scotland, conformed himself entirely to the established church; and assisted with great gravity, at the long prayers and longer sermons, with which the presbyterians endeavoured to regale him. He bestowed pensions and preferments on Henderson, Gillespy, and other popular preachers; and practised every art to soften, if not to gain, his greatest enemies. The earl of Argyle was created a marquis, lord Loudon an earl, Lesley was dignified with the title of earl of Leven.
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His friends, he was obliged, for the present, to neglect and overlook: Some of them were disgusted: And his enemies were not reconciled; but ascribed all his caresses and favours to artifice and necessity.