6. Such a bold step necessarily led to war. The Covenanters seized the revenues of the crown, its magazines, and strongholds. An army was soon raised and placed under the orders of General Lesly, whom personal resentment had exasperated against the court of London. Charles now saw the necessity of reducing the rebels. Although the English people were in general much opposed to this war, yet they congratulated each other on a concurrence of circumstances that must necessarily compel the king to call a parliament, and afford an opportunity to redress the grievances of England. But Charles, shrinking from such an extremity, had recourse to other resources. He borrowed large sums from the nobility, exacted loans from the judges and officers of the government, and received from the clergy of all ranks liberal contributions towards this "espiscopalian war." By means of these supplies, and with the aid of the court nobility and a great number of country gentlemen, who crowded with their tenantry round the royal banner, Charles collected an army of 20,000 foot and 6000 horse, supported by a considerable fleet. The rebels were not in a condition to oppose A.D. 1639. such a powerful force, and if one vigorous blow had been struck, the war would probably have been ended. But Charles was restrained by his affection for the Scotch, and by his aversion to severe measures. He permitted himself to be softened by the first symptoms of submission, and a treaty was concluded on the 18th June 1639.

The hollow peace which succeeded was of short duration, and Charles was compelled to resume his arms. He recalled Wentworth from Ireland, created him Earl of Strafford, and made him his principal minister. All his resources, however, were exhausted, and he was obliged to convene a parliament, and writs were accordingly issued for assembling that body both in England and Ireland.

In a fortnight Wentworth obtained from the Irish parlia ment all that he desired; but a less docile body awaited him in England. Charles, flattering himself that the ancient jealousy between England and Scotland would advance his cause, and prevail over every other consideration, had at length assembled the English parliament after an interval of eleven years. But the new members, far from disapproving of the Scotch revolt, looked upon it as an opportunity and a precedent. Instead of voting the required supplies, they drew up a long catalogue of the abuses and wrongs that had neces

sarily accompanied the exercise of absolute power during so long a period, and solicited their redress, without regard to the representations of the Lords, who called upon them to inquire first into the necessities of the state. Charles dissolved this fourth parliament, as he had dismissed its predecessors,—an imprudent measure, which greatly increased the danger of his position (1640).

The clergy, who had been convoked at the same time as the parliament, concluded their sittings by voting six subsidies. This supply, and the gratuitous presents which his faithful servants lavished on the king with generous eagerness, enabled him to raise a second army. But instead of acting with celerity, he lost much valuable time in fruitless negotiation. Lesly at length crossed the Tweed at the head of the Covenanters, surprised the advanced posts of the English army, drove before him the main body, and took possession of Durham and Newcastle. Strafford rallied the royalists, and advised the king to give battle. But the Scotch proposed a negotiation, to which, contrary to the earl's advice, the king assented. A suspension of arms was agreed to, and the Scotch remained provisionally in possession of their conquests, while the conclusion of a definitive treaty was adjourned to London.

EXERCISES.

1. What was the state of the nation at the accession of Charles? What vas his character? What were the defects which caused his chief calamiLies? How did the character of his wife affect him with the country? · What was the effect of his partiality for Buckingham?

2. How did the disputes between the king and parliament begin? What inquiries was it the practice of parliament to make? What remedies did the king attempt? What was the conduct of Buckingham? What circumstance helped him in furthering his personal objects? What was the petition of rights?

3. What was the fate of Buckingham? How did the expedition to Rochelle turn out? What discussion arose from the imposition of tonnage and poundage? What was the conduct of the king towards the House of Commons? What was Wentworth's history? Describe his proceedings in Ireland.

4. What was the outward appearance of the state of the country at this time? What discovery did Ñoy make? What was the effect of the attempt to extort ship-money? Describe the events which produced discontent in Scotland.

5. What was the character of Archbishop Laud? What did he desiro to accomplish in Scotland? How was the liturgy for Scotland prepared? Describe what took place when it was first used. Relate the events that followed in Scotland.

6. Who led the Scottish army into England? the English about it? How did Charles act? members of parliament make of these events? Scottish army accomplish?

What was the feeling of What use did the English What did Lesly and the

CHAPTER XXIV.

FROM THE Meeting of the LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE DEATH OF CHARLES I., A. d. 1640–1649.

The Long Parliament-Impeachment of Strafford-Massacre in IrelandThe Remonstrance-Impeachment of the Five Members-Commencement of the Civil War-Cromwell-Scottish Army enters England-Battle of Marston Moor-The Independents-The Self-denying Ordinance-Trial and Execution of the King.

1. "BETWEEN the dissolution of the fourth and the meeting of the fifth parliament," says Macaulay, "there intervened a few months, during which the yoke was pressed down more severely than ever on the nation, while the spirit of the nation rose up more angrily than ever against it. Members of the House of Commons were questioned by the Privy Council touching their parliamentary conduct, and thrown into prison for refusing to reply. Ship-money was levied with increased rigour. The Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs of London were threatened with imprisonment for remissness in collecting the payments. Soldiers were enlisted by force. Money for their support was exacted from their counties. Torture, which had always been illegal, and which had recently been declared illegal even by the servile judges of that age, was inflicted for the last time in England in the month of May 1640."

Charles having exhausted his precarious resources, a fifth parliament was assembled in November 1640. This was the famous Long Parliament, which overturned the throne, sacrificed the king, and ultimately became the victim of its own despotism and contempt for the laws.

There were undoubtedly many individuals in this assembly whose only desire was to limit the royal authority; but there were others who secretly laboured to destroy it. One of the main objects of the party opposed to the court was to get rid of Strafford, whom they viewed as their most dangerous enemy, and who had established an absolute military government in Ireland, intending as they believed to extend it to England. The nature of his plans has been thus described

by Mr Macaulay. "This object was to do in England all and more than all that Richelieu was doing in France; to make Charles a monarch as absolute as any on the continent; to put the estates and the personal liberty of the whole people at the disposal of the crown; to deprive the courts of law of all independent authority even in all questions of civil right between man and man, and to punish with merciless rigour all who murmured at the acts of the government, or who applied even in the most decent and regular manner to any tribunal for relief against those acts."

The attack on this powerful statesman was commenced by Pym, who proposed to institute an inquiry into the present state of Ireland, with the view of revealing a series of transactions of which he had already informed himself through secret agents. Pym and his party proceeded so sagaciously and successfully that the same Irish Commons, who a few months before had greeted Strafford with enthusiasm, drew up against him a long list of grievances, which their commissioners laid before the king. On this foundation Pym grounded a capital accusation against the minister.

Strafford was with the army in the north of England when letters reached him warning him of his imminent danger, and he was advised either to withdraw secretly to some foreign country, or to place his reliance on the affections of the troops. But he professed to desire no other support than his innocence, and determined to appeal to parliament. A numerous deputation, with Pym at its head, accused him before the Lords of high-treason, and he was immediately placed in custody until the charges should be investigated.

The leaders of the Commons hastened to set the seal to their victory by making radical changes in the constitution. Many of these alterations were certainly wise and beneficial. The limitation of the duration of parliaments, the independence of the judges, the suppression of illegal taxes and courts, of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, the accountability of the treasury, and the responsibility of ministers, were all acts conducive to the public welfare. But few men, situated as they were, conduct their proceedings with absolute justice and moderation. They took up their position as the enemies of the court, and considered every victory they could gain over it a fair advantage. Thus, there were many arrogant and arbitrary acts done by that parliament which few people will now be hardy enough to vindicate. Charles, alarmed by

Strafford's danger, endeavoured to disarm the Commons by condescension. Each succeeding sacrifice appeared to him a guarantee for his minister's safety, and from concession to concession, he at last allowed himself to be deprived of nearly every means of defence.

2. STRAFFORD'S IMPEACHMENT.-At length after an investigation that lasted three months, the Commons, through their organ Pym, brought twenty-eight charges against Strafford, in pursuance of an old constitutional principle, by which the legislature, including the King, the Lords, and the Commons, were entitled to punish any great and powerful oppressor too strong to be reached by the ordinary laws. The Commons, therefore, passed a bill of attainder against Strafford. He was a man of high genius, and of a bold and commanding spirit, and he defended himself with great eloquence. When the Commons, who were his enemies, had passed the bill, it had to receive the assent of the House of Lords, who were supposed to be friendly to him, and of the king, whom he had zealously served. After unavailing negotiations with the Lower House to save the life of his minister, the king prepared to employ force, and turned his eyes to the army. But this unhappy prince was surrounded by traitors: his intentions were revealed to the Commons, who immediately wrote to the army for the purpose of influencing it in their favour, and passed a bill depriving the king of the power of dissolving or even proroguing parliament without the consent of both houses. When the bill for the attainder of Strafford was passed by the Peers, only one-half of them voted. It has been inferred, that those who were absent were in his favour, and they thus incurred the odium of cowardice in leaving him to his fate.

The king's assent was still required. The privy-council, the magistrates, and the bishops, who were all in turns consulted, advised him to yield, and while thus distracted, Charles received a letter from Strafford, who with a magnanimity that went far to redeem his faults, begged his royal master to abandon him to his fate. At length, the king, even while declaring that his hand should never sign the fatal warrant, had the weakness to authorize a commission to sign the bills that awaited his sanction,-a step for which he never ceased to reproach himself through the remainder of his brief but troubled life. Strafford underwent his sentence on the 12th of May 1641 with calm intrepidity. There is no doubt that