The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) π
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a plan by which the property of
every man in England was placed at the mercy of the Crown; but he
has been disgraced, ruined, and compelled to take refuge in a
foreign land. The ministers of tyranny have expiated their
crimes. The victims of tyranny have been compensated for their
sufferings. It would therefore be most unwise to persevere
further in that course which was justifiable and necessary when
we first met, after a long interval, and found the whole
administration one mass of abuses. It is time to take heed that
we do not so pursue our victory over despotism as to run into
anarchy. It was not in our power to overturn the bad institutions
which lately afflicted our country, without shocks which have
loosened the foundations of government. Now that those
institutions have fallen, we must hasten to prop the edifice
which it was lately our duty to batter. Henceforth it will be our
wisdom to look with jealousy on schemes of innovation, and to
guard from encroachment all the prerogatives with which the law
has, for the public good, armed the sovereign."
Such were the views of those men of whom the excellent Falkland
may be regarded as the leader. It was contended on the other side
with not less force, by men of not less ability and virtue, that
the safety which the liberties of the English people enjoyed was
rather apparent than real, and that the arbitrary projects of the
court would be resumed as soon as the vigilance of the Commons
was relaxed. True it was,-such was the reasoning of Pym, of
Hollis, and of Hampden-that many good laws had been passed: but,
if good laws had been sufficient to restrain the King, his
subjects would have had little reason ever to complain of his
administration. The recent statutes were surely not of more
authority than the Great Charter or the Petition of Right. Yet
neither the Great Charter, hallowed by the veneration of four
centuries, nor the Petition of Right, sanctioned, after mature
reflection, and for valuable consideration, by Charles himself,
had been found effectual for the protection of the people. If
once the check of fear were withdrawn, if once the spirit of
opposition were suffered to slumber, all the securities for
English freedom resolved themselves into a single one, the royal
word; and it had been proved by a long and severe experience that
the royal word could not be trusted.
The two parties were still regarding each other with cautious
hostility, and had not yet measured their strength, when news
arrived which inflamed the passions and confirmed the opinions of
both. The great chieftains of Ulster, who, at the time of the
accession of James, had, after a long struggle, submitted to the
royal authority, had not long brooked the humiliation of
dependence. They had conspired against the English government,
and had been attainted of treason. Their immense domains had been
forfeited to the crown, and had soon been peopled by thousands of
English and Scotch emigrants. The new settlers were, in
civilisation and intelligence, far superior to the native
population, and sometimes abused their superiority. The animosity
produced by difference of race was increased by difference of
religion. Under the iron rule of Wentworth, scarcely a murmur was
heard: but, when that strong pressure was withdrawn, when
Scotland had set the example of successful resistance, when
England was distracted by internal quarrels, the smothered rage
of the Irish broke forth into acts of fearful violence. On a
sudden, the aboriginal population rose on the colonists. A war,
to which national and theological hatred gave a character of
peculiar ferocity, desolated Ulster, and spread to the
neighbouring provinces. The castle of Dublin was scarcely thought
secure. Every post brought to London exaggerated accounts of
outrages which, without any exaggeration. were sufficient to move
pity end horror. These evil tidings roused to the height the zeal
of both the great parties which were marshalled against each
other at Westminster. The Royalists maintained that it was the
first duty of every good Englishman and Protestant, at such a
crisis, to strengthen the hands of the sovereign. To the
opposition it seemed that there were now stronger reasons than
ever for thwarting and restraining him. That the commonwealth was
in danger was undoubtedly a good reason for giving large powers
to a trustworthy magistrate: but it was a good reason for taking
away powers from a magistrate who was at heart a public enemy. To
raise a great army had always been the King's first object. A
great army must now be raised. It was to be feared that, unless
some new securities were devised, the forces levied for the
reduction of Ireland would be employed against the liberties of
England. Nor was this all. A horrible suspicion, unjust indeed,
but not altogether unnatural, had arisen in many minds. The Queen
was an avowed Roman Catholic: the King was not regarded by the
Puritans, whom he had mercilessly persecuted, as a sincere
Protestant; and so notorious was his duplicity, that there was no
treachery of which his subjects might not, with some show of
reason, believe him capable. It was soon whispered that the
rebellion of the Roman Catholics of Ulster was part of a vast
work of darkness which had been planned at Whitehall.
After some weeks of prelude, the first great parliamentary
conflict between the parties, which have ever since contended,
and are still contending, for the government of the nation, took
place on the twenty-second of November, 1641. It was moved by the
opposition, that the House of Commons should present to the King
a remonstrance, enumerating the faults of his administration from
the time of his accession, and expressing the distrust with which
his policy was still regarded by his people. That assembly, which
a few months before had been unanimous in calling for the reform
of abuses, was now divided into two fierce and eager factions of
nearly equal strength. After a hot debate of many hours, the
remonstrance was carried by only eleven votes.
The result of this struggle was highly favourable to the
conservative party. It could not be doubted that only some great
indiscretion could prevent them from shortly obtaining the
predominance in the Lower House. The Upper House was already
their own. Nothing was wanting to ensure their success, but that
the King should, in all his conduct, show respect for the laws
and scrupulous good faith towards his subjects.
His first measures promised well. He had, it seemed, at last
discovered that an entire change of system was necessary, and had
wisely made up his mind to what could no longer be avoided. He
declared his determination to govern in harmony with the Commons,
and, for that end, to call to his councils men in whose talents
and character the Commons might place confidence. Nor was the
selection ill made. Falkland, Hyde, and Colepepper, all three
distinguished by the part which they had taken in reforming
abuses and in punishing evil ministers, were invited to become
the confidential advisers of the Crown, and were solemnly assured
by Charles that he would take no step in any way affecting the
Lower House of Parliament without their privity.
Had he kept this promise, it cannot be doubted that the reaction
which was already in progress would very soon have become quite
as strong as the most respectable Royalists would have desired.
Already the violent members of the opposition had begun to
despair of the fortunes of their party, to tremble for their own
safety, and to talk of selling their estates and emigrating to
America. That the fair prospects which had begun to open before
the King were suddenly overcast, that his life was darkened by
adversity, and at length shortened by violence, is to be
attributed to his own faithlessness and contempt of law.
The truth seems to be that he detested both the parties into
which the House of Commons was divided: nor is this strange; for
in both those parties the love of liberty and the love of order
were mingled, though in different proportions. The advisers whom
necessity had compelled him to call round him were by no means
after his own heart. They had joined in condemning his tyranny,
in abridging his power, and in punishing his instruments. They
were now indeed prepared to defend in a strictly legal way his
strictly legal prerogative; but they would have recoiled with
horror from the thought of reviving Wentworth's projects of
Thorough. They were, therefore, in the King's opinion, traitors,
who differed only in the degree of their seditious malignity from
Pym and Hampden.
He accordingly, a few days after he had promised the chiefs of
the constitutional Royalists that no step of importance should be
taken without their knowledge, formed a resolution the most
momentous of his whole life, carefully concealed that resolution
from them, and executed it in a manner which overwhelmed them
with shame and dismay. He sent the Attorney General to impeach
Pym, Hollis, Hampden, and other members of the House of Commons
of high treason at the bar of the House of Lords. Not content
with this flagrant violation of the Great Charter and of the
uninterrupted practice of centuries, he went in person,
accompanied by armed men, to seize the leaders of the opposition
within the walls of Parliament.
The attempt failed. The accused members had left the House a
short time before Charles entered it. A sudden and violent
revulsion of feeling, both in the Parliament and in the country,
followed. The most favourable view that has ever been taken of
the King's conduct on this occasion by his most partial advocates
is that he had weakly suffered himself to be hurried into a gross
indiscretion by the evil counsels of his wife and of his
courtiers. But the general voice loudly charged him with far
deeper guilt. At the very moment at which his subjects, after a
long estrangement produced by his maladministration, were
returning to him with feelings of confidence and affection, he
had aimed a deadly blow at all their dearest rights, at the
privileges of Parliament, at the very principle of trial by jury.
He had shown that he considered opposition to his arbitrary
designs as a crime to be expiated only by blood. He had broken
faith, not only with his Great Council and with his people, but
with his own adherents. He had done what, but for an unforeseen
accident, would probably have produced a bloody conflict round
the Speaker's chair. Those who had the chief sway in the Lower
House now felt that not only their power and popularity, but
their lands and their necks, were staked on the event of the
struggle in which they were engaged. The flagging zeal of the
every man in England was placed at the mercy of the Crown; but he
has been disgraced, ruined, and compelled to take refuge in a
foreign land. The ministers of tyranny have expiated their
crimes. The victims of tyranny have been compensated for their
sufferings. It would therefore be most unwise to persevere
further in that course which was justifiable and necessary when
we first met, after a long interval, and found the whole
administration one mass of abuses. It is time to take heed that
we do not so pursue our victory over despotism as to run into
anarchy. It was not in our power to overturn the bad institutions
which lately afflicted our country, without shocks which have
loosened the foundations of government. Now that those
institutions have fallen, we must hasten to prop the edifice
which it was lately our duty to batter. Henceforth it will be our
wisdom to look with jealousy on schemes of innovation, and to
guard from encroachment all the prerogatives with which the law
has, for the public good, armed the sovereign."
Such were the views of those men of whom the excellent Falkland
may be regarded as the leader. It was contended on the other side
with not less force, by men of not less ability and virtue, that
the safety which the liberties of the English people enjoyed was
rather apparent than real, and that the arbitrary projects of the
court would be resumed as soon as the vigilance of the Commons
was relaxed. True it was,-such was the reasoning of Pym, of
Hollis, and of Hampden-that many good laws had been passed: but,
if good laws had been sufficient to restrain the King, his
subjects would have had little reason ever to complain of his
administration. The recent statutes were surely not of more
authority than the Great Charter or the Petition of Right. Yet
neither the Great Charter, hallowed by the veneration of four
centuries, nor the Petition of Right, sanctioned, after mature
reflection, and for valuable consideration, by Charles himself,
had been found effectual for the protection of the people. If
once the check of fear were withdrawn, if once the spirit of
opposition were suffered to slumber, all the securities for
English freedom resolved themselves into a single one, the royal
word; and it had been proved by a long and severe experience that
the royal word could not be trusted.
The two parties were still regarding each other with cautious
hostility, and had not yet measured their strength, when news
arrived which inflamed the passions and confirmed the opinions of
both. The great chieftains of Ulster, who, at the time of the
accession of James, had, after a long struggle, submitted to the
royal authority, had not long brooked the humiliation of
dependence. They had conspired against the English government,
and had been attainted of treason. Their immense domains had been
forfeited to the crown, and had soon been peopled by thousands of
English and Scotch emigrants. The new settlers were, in
civilisation and intelligence, far superior to the native
population, and sometimes abused their superiority. The animosity
produced by difference of race was increased by difference of
religion. Under the iron rule of Wentworth, scarcely a murmur was
heard: but, when that strong pressure was withdrawn, when
Scotland had set the example of successful resistance, when
England was distracted by internal quarrels, the smothered rage
of the Irish broke forth into acts of fearful violence. On a
sudden, the aboriginal population rose on the colonists. A war,
to which national and theological hatred gave a character of
peculiar ferocity, desolated Ulster, and spread to the
neighbouring provinces. The castle of Dublin was scarcely thought
secure. Every post brought to London exaggerated accounts of
outrages which, without any exaggeration. were sufficient to move
pity end horror. These evil tidings roused to the height the zeal
of both the great parties which were marshalled against each
other at Westminster. The Royalists maintained that it was the
first duty of every good Englishman and Protestant, at such a
crisis, to strengthen the hands of the sovereign. To the
opposition it seemed that there were now stronger reasons than
ever for thwarting and restraining him. That the commonwealth was
in danger was undoubtedly a good reason for giving large powers
to a trustworthy magistrate: but it was a good reason for taking
away powers from a magistrate who was at heart a public enemy. To
raise a great army had always been the King's first object. A
great army must now be raised. It was to be feared that, unless
some new securities were devised, the forces levied for the
reduction of Ireland would be employed against the liberties of
England. Nor was this all. A horrible suspicion, unjust indeed,
but not altogether unnatural, had arisen in many minds. The Queen
was an avowed Roman Catholic: the King was not regarded by the
Puritans, whom he had mercilessly persecuted, as a sincere
Protestant; and so notorious was his duplicity, that there was no
treachery of which his subjects might not, with some show of
reason, believe him capable. It was soon whispered that the
rebellion of the Roman Catholics of Ulster was part of a vast
work of darkness which had been planned at Whitehall.
After some weeks of prelude, the first great parliamentary
conflict between the parties, which have ever since contended,
and are still contending, for the government of the nation, took
place on the twenty-second of November, 1641. It was moved by the
opposition, that the House of Commons should present to the King
a remonstrance, enumerating the faults of his administration from
the time of his accession, and expressing the distrust with which
his policy was still regarded by his people. That assembly, which
a few months before had been unanimous in calling for the reform
of abuses, was now divided into two fierce and eager factions of
nearly equal strength. After a hot debate of many hours, the
remonstrance was carried by only eleven votes.
The result of this struggle was highly favourable to the
conservative party. It could not be doubted that only some great
indiscretion could prevent them from shortly obtaining the
predominance in the Lower House. The Upper House was already
their own. Nothing was wanting to ensure their success, but that
the King should, in all his conduct, show respect for the laws
and scrupulous good faith towards his subjects.
His first measures promised well. He had, it seemed, at last
discovered that an entire change of system was necessary, and had
wisely made up his mind to what could no longer be avoided. He
declared his determination to govern in harmony with the Commons,
and, for that end, to call to his councils men in whose talents
and character the Commons might place confidence. Nor was the
selection ill made. Falkland, Hyde, and Colepepper, all three
distinguished by the part which they had taken in reforming
abuses and in punishing evil ministers, were invited to become
the confidential advisers of the Crown, and were solemnly assured
by Charles that he would take no step in any way affecting the
Lower House of Parliament without their privity.
Had he kept this promise, it cannot be doubted that the reaction
which was already in progress would very soon have become quite
as strong as the most respectable Royalists would have desired.
Already the violent members of the opposition had begun to
despair of the fortunes of their party, to tremble for their own
safety, and to talk of selling their estates and emigrating to
America. That the fair prospects which had begun to open before
the King were suddenly overcast, that his life was darkened by
adversity, and at length shortened by violence, is to be
attributed to his own faithlessness and contempt of law.
The truth seems to be that he detested both the parties into
which the House of Commons was divided: nor is this strange; for
in both those parties the love of liberty and the love of order
were mingled, though in different proportions. The advisers whom
necessity had compelled him to call round him were by no means
after his own heart. They had joined in condemning his tyranny,
in abridging his power, and in punishing his instruments. They
were now indeed prepared to defend in a strictly legal way his
strictly legal prerogative; but they would have recoiled with
horror from the thought of reviving Wentworth's projects of
Thorough. They were, therefore, in the King's opinion, traitors,
who differed only in the degree of their seditious malignity from
Pym and Hampden.
He accordingly, a few days after he had promised the chiefs of
the constitutional Royalists that no step of importance should be
taken without their knowledge, formed a resolution the most
momentous of his whole life, carefully concealed that resolution
from them, and executed it in a manner which overwhelmed them
with shame and dismay. He sent the Attorney General to impeach
Pym, Hollis, Hampden, and other members of the House of Commons
of high treason at the bar of the House of Lords. Not content
with this flagrant violation of the Great Charter and of the
uninterrupted practice of centuries, he went in person,
accompanied by armed men, to seize the leaders of the opposition
within the walls of Parliament.
The attempt failed. The accused members had left the House a
short time before Charles entered it. A sudden and violent
revulsion of feeling, both in the Parliament and in the country,
followed. The most favourable view that has ever been taken of
the King's conduct on this occasion by his most partial advocates
is that he had weakly suffered himself to be hurried into a gross
indiscretion by the evil counsels of his wife and of his
courtiers. But the general voice loudly charged him with far
deeper guilt. At the very moment at which his subjects, after a
long estrangement produced by his maladministration, were
returning to him with feelings of confidence and affection, he
had aimed a deadly blow at all their dearest rights, at the
privileges of Parliament, at the very principle of trial by jury.
He had shown that he considered opposition to his arbitrary
designs as a crime to be expiated only by blood. He had broken
faith, not only with his Great Council and with his people, but
with his own adherents. He had done what, but for an unforeseen
accident, would probably have produced a bloody conflict round
the Speaker's chair. Those who had the chief sway in the Lower
House now felt that not only their power and popularity, but
their lands and their necks, were staked on the event of the
struggle in which they were engaged. The flagging zeal of the
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