A history of the Scottish people from the earliest times
Thomson, Thomas, 1798-1869 | Annandale, Charles, 1843-1915
t> ''•'j'''^?>v , "C ■ "■ \ > "*3 » l' 5*Kt<" V. '^ ^.; 'i^^^-^aa^^^^ • /> W. II. MARGKTSON PATERSON EXPLAINING THE DARIEN SCHEME IN HIS LODGINGS AT EDINBURGH. (a.d. 1694 ) Vol. iii. p. 234 PATERSON EXPLAINING THE DARIEN SCHEME IN HIS LODGINGS AT EDINBURGH. The most notable event of this period (a.d. 1695) was the iormation in Scotland of the Darien Company. The projector of this gigantic mercan- tile scheme was William Paterson, a native of Dumfriesshire. He was educated as a clergyman, but his extreme opinions in religion required him to flee into England, where he became a trader. Subsequently he went to America, and on his return to England he originated the Bank of England, and became one of its first directors. Another of his projects was the Darien Scheme, in which he proposed to found a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, which would concentrate the commerce of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and establish easy communication with the Eastern seas. Coming to Edinburgh with his scheme — after vain efforts elsewhere — he captured the imagination of the 7ioblcs and people of Scotland, and secured their substantial assistance. Three several expeditions set sail for the Lsthmus of Panama, but they all ended in complete failure, partly by reason of tlie enmity of the English traders, and partly because the scheme itself was ill-devised and badly managed. A HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH PEOPLE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. BT.TKE RE.y.. THOMAS; THOMSON, EDWOK/^P^ " ^ClfE IiOmpIiIjH^NSJVE niSTORY OF ENGLAND;" ETC. A CONTINUAnoK TO '^ti.^ JUBILEE YEAR OF HEE MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA (1887), AND AN INTRODUCTION GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS IN THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE INVASION OF THE ROMANS. BY CHARLES ANNANDALE, M.A, LL.D. EDITOR OP "THE IMPERIAL ENGLISH DICTIONARY;" "THE MODERN CYCLOPEDIA;" ETC. DIVISIONAL-VOLUME V. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES I., 1625, TO THE UNION OF THE KINGDOMS, 1706. BLACKIE & SON, Limited, LONDON, GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN. *tf ^c « « a » « c » ^ CONTENTS OF DIVISIONAL-VOL. V. LIST OF PLATES. Page Paterson explaining the Darien Scheme in his Lodgings at Edinburgh: a.d. 1694, Frontis. 234 Signing the Covenant in Grayfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh: a.d. 1638, - - to face 28 Sir William Balfour, Governor op the Tower of London, receives a Warrant FROM the King to behead Lord Loudon: a.d. 1640, „ 44 Execution of James Guthrie, Minister of Stirling, in Edinburgh : a.d. 1661, - „ 130 A Covenanters' Communion: a.d. 1670, „ 158 Richard Cameron before the Charge of Covenanters at Aird's Moss: a.d. 1680, „ 182 Scene in Hall of a Highland Chieftain in the Seventeenth Century, - - „ 280 Period X. From the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms op Scotland AND England. a.d. 1603-1706 {Continued). Chap, IV. Charles L: 1625-1635.— First years of Charles's administration — ■ Parliament demands reformation of abuses — Outcry against the Duke of Buckingham — Dis- astrous expeditions to Rochelle — The Petition of Right — -Oliver Cromwell's first parliamentary appearance — Des- potism of Laud — Disturbances in the Western Isles — Attempts of Charles and Laud to establish Episcopacy in Scotland — Charles visits Scotland — Meeting of Scottish parliament — The king's unjust proceedings to obtain a majority, - Charles I.: 1635-1638.— Liturgy com- manded to be used— Indignation of the people, and riots in Edinburgh — The Tables — Demands of the Presbyterians — The king temporizes — A Covenant drawn up and signed — A General As- sembly held at Glasgow — Episcopacy abolished, and Presbyterianism restored, Charles I. : 1639-1641. — Preparations for war — March of Charles towards Scot- land— Negotiations opened, and terms of peace accepted — Opening of the Scot- tish parliament — Charles resolves on a fresh war with the Covenanters — The Scottish army enters England — Suspen- sion of hostilities decreed — Intrigues of Montrose, ------ Charles L: 1641-1645.— The king's un- constitutional proceedings — Parliament prepares for the national defence — The king proclaims war against the parlia- ment— The Solemn League and Cove- nant— A Scottish army raised — Battle of Edgehill — Unsuccessful negotiations — Battle of Marston Moor — Intrig-ues of 20 36 Chap. Page Cromwell and the Independents — The Self-denying Ordinance — Execution of Archbishop Laud, - - - - 54 viil. Charles I.: 1644-1647. — Montrose upholds the royal cause in Scotland — War in England continues — The king's final defeat at Naseby — Montrose's victory at Kilsyth — Leslie defeats him at Philip- haugh — The king escapes to the Scottish army — He is finally consigned to the English, 69 IX. Charles L: 1647-1649.— March of the army towards London — Overthrow of Presbyterianism and triumph of the In- dependents— The king's double-dealing alienates the army — He escapes to the Isle of Wight — State of affairs in Scotland — Battle of Preston — Charles brought to trial and condemned — His execution — Character of his reign, - 88 X. The Commonwealth: 1649-1651. — The Scots proclaim the Prince of Wales as Charles II. Chap. Page He is tried and executed — James Guthrie sufiFers death for the Covenant, - - 118 XII. Charles II.: 1662-1667. — Episcopacy re- established — Four hundred ministers resign their livings — Church attendance compelled by penalties — liise of conven- ticles— Oppressive rule of Lauderdale — Persecution of the Covenanters — -The Court of High Commission restored — Insurrection begins — The insurgents defeated at Eullion Green — Torture in- troduced— Triumphant death of Hugh M'Kail, 132 XIII. Charles II.: 1667-1678. — Cruel persecu- tion of the Presbyterians — The First Indulgence — Plan of a modified Episco- pacy— The Second Indulgence — Letters of intercoramuning inflicted — Lawless proceedings of the Highland Host, - 149 XIV. Charles II. : 1679-1681.— Severities against conventicles increased — Murder of Arch- bishop Sharp — Defeat of Claverhouse at Drumclog — Battle of Bothwell Bridge — Cruelties of Claverhouse — Lauderdale ■ succeeded by the Duke of York — Origin of the Cameronians — Their Sanquhar Declaration — They are defeated at Aird's Moss — Hackston of Kathillet — Cargill excommunicates the king and chief per- secutors, --..-. 169 XV. Charles IL : 1681-1685. — Severity of Duke of York's administration — The Gibbites — Trial and execution of Cargill — The Test Act — Persecution of the Covenanters increased — The Ryehouse Plot — Carstairs tortured — Execution of Baillie of Jerviswood — Proceedings of the Cameronians — Death of Charles IL, 183 XVI. James Aai.: 1685-1688.— Affairs in Scot- land— Persecutions continued — Argyle lands in Scotland — He is taken prisoner and executed — Failure of Monmouth's expedition — Merciless proceedings of Chap. Page Claverhouse — The king's determined attempts to restore Popery — Martyrdom of Renwick — Trial and acquittal of the bishops — WiUiam of Orange lands at Torbay— Flight of the king, - - 200 XVII. William and Mary: 1688-1690.— State of the Scottish government at the Revo- lution— The Protestant succession settled — Scotch Convention held at Edinburgh — Plots of Viscount Dundee— Battle of Killiekrankie — James lands in Ireland — Battle of the Boyne — Events in Scot- land— The ejected ministers replaced, - 216 XVIII. William III. : 1G90-1702.— Pacification of the Highlands — History of the Darien Scheme— William Paterson its originator — Death of the exiled James — Death of William III, 230 XIX. Queen Anne: 1702-1706. PERIOD X. FROM THE UNION OF THE CEOWNS TO THE UNION OF THE KINGDOMS OF SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND (a.d. 1603 to a.d. 1706)— Continued. CHAPTER IV. REIGN OF CHARLES I. (1625-1635). Accession of Charles I. At his acce.ssion to the throne of the three kingdoms Charles was twenty-five years old, and to his youth he added a comeliness of presence and dignity of manners which his father had never possessed. But, unfortunately for him, he adopted with implicit faith his father's theory VOL. III. of absolute rule, and was prepared to carry it out witli an obstinacy of which his father had been incapable. On the other hand his sub- jects, provoked by the high pretensions of James, had awoke to a jealous sense of their rights, and were more disposed to question a 76 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. [a.d. 1625-1635. royal order tliau to yield it implicit obedience. All was ali-eady prejjariug for that struggle between kingly absolutism on the jiart of the sovereign and constitutional liberty on that of the people, which was sooner or later inevitable, and the result of which, considering the char- acter of Charles I., could scarcely be doubtful. Even at his accession there wei'e omens of a reign of sorrow and disaster. On the day he was proclaimed in London the weather was wet and lowering; and a few days after such a plague broke out as greatly exceeded that which had accompanied the accession of his father to the English throne. The beginning of his reign, however, was full of ^jromise. He dismissed the buffoons and fools who had been so familiar with the late king, discountenanced the coarse revelries of the court, and introduced by his example a more decorous behaviour among the courtiers, which, since the death of Elizabeth, had fallen very much out of fashion. He also evinced great zeal for religion, was devout in attendance at church and the performance of his religious duties, and was supposed to have as little toleration for Popery as for Puritanism. These auspicious tokens gladdened the hearts of the people, who could not imagine that a reign thus commenced would be still worse than that of his father, leading only to anarchy and civil war and closing with his trial and execu- tion. The first public event by which the new reign was signalized was the fulfilment of the marriage treat}' with the French princess; and on the 1st of May (1625) Charles married Henrietta Maria by proxy at Paris, while the Duke of Bucking- ham was sent to bring the bride to England. But no sooner had this vain man arrived in Paris, which he did with a train that astonished even the Parisians by its magnificence, than he disgusted the French court by declaring love to its queen, the beautiful Anne of Austria, so that Cai'dinal Eichelieu was glad to hasten his de- parture with the princess, which was effected in eight days. They travelled, however, so slowly, that although they commenced their journey on the 23d of May, they did not reach Dover till the following month, where Charles received his royal bride with every demonstration of regard. It was now necessary to call a parliament, and it was assembled on the 10th of June, the day after the arrival of Charles and his queen at "Whitehall. In his speech to the assembled houses the young king, instead of giving a long, learned, and pedantic discourse, as his father would have done, went directly to the point by telling them that he wanted money. His father had left debts to the amount of £700,000, and he had contracted debts of his own, while money w;is also needed to prosecute the Spanish war, which was languishing from want of the supplies. But the parliament was in no mood either to receive his statements or comply with his de- mands. Accordingly they only voted two sub- sidies, or about £140,000, and the duties of ton- nage and poundage for a single year instead of grantiiig the last /or life, as had been the prac- tice in the jjrevious reigns. But in return they demanded concessions and reforms, the chief of which concerned religion and the suppression of Popery in his own household. In consequence of the secret marriage treaty subscribed by his father and himself, pledging to Henrietta Maria the free and open exercise of her rehgion, that princess had brought over in her train twenty- nine priests, fifteen seculars, and a bishop, and mass was celebrated on Sundays and saints' days in her closet at Whitehall. Indignant at such practices in the very palace of their Protestant sovereign, the Commons demanded that they should be suppressed ; but this Charles, on account of the treaty, felt that he could not do, and dared not state the cause of his refusal. Another grievance the redress of which the Commons took into their own hands was in the case of Dr. Montague, one of his majesty's chap- lains. This learned divine had maintained both in sermons and writings those Arminian doc- trines for which Laud afterwards suffered ; and he had endeavoured to pi'ove that the English reformed church more closely agreed with Eome in many of its doctrines than with Calvin and the church of Geneva. This roused the indigna- tion of the clergy, of whom by far the greater pai't were strict Calvinists ; and Montague was represented as a Papist in disguise, who, under shelter of his office and the protection of the court, was endeavouring to lead the church back to its old allegiance. His case was brought before the House of Commons, by whom the doctor was summoned to their bar ; and when Chai'les represented that Montague, as his chap- lain, was resjjousible to him alone, they replied that they were competent to try a royal chap- lain or any other servant of the court. They made the doctor give bail to the amount of £2000 for his reappearance, while the king, regarding him as a martyr for the truth, after- wards promoted him to a bishopric. In the midst of the mutual discontent occasioned by these proceedings, and while the king was appealing foi- more liberal supplies of money, the plague became so alarming in London that the parliament was adjourned till the 1st of August, and to meet at Oxford instead of its usual place of Westminster.^ iRiishworth; Parliamentary History. A.D. 1625-1035.] CHAELES I. An event now occurred which justified the parsimony of the House of Commons in grant- ing subsidies for the war. The persecuted Protestants of France still held possession of Eochelle and the island of Ehe ; and as Eiche- lieu wished to deprive them of this their last •defence, but was deficient in shipping, he ap- plied for the aid of the English navy in virtue of the late matrimonial alliance. Charles and his minister Buckingham complied ; but know- ing how the nation would regard a war against French Protestants, they pretended that the •expedition was intended against Genoa, which was in alliance with Austria, and that it was to be attacked simultaneously by the French and English navies. Under this assurance the preparations were conducted, and as Bucking- ham, in his capacity of lord high-admiral, had allowed the service to fall into utter decay, seven of the largest merchant ships liad to be pressed into the service, and hastily manned and armed, with the Vanguard, the only ship of war in readiness, to bear them company. This extemporized fleet crossed the Channel; but when off Dieppe they were informed by the French high-admiral that they were to take French soldiers and sailors, on board, and then proceed to an attack on Eochelle. Indignant at the fraud, both captains and sailors not only refused to serve against their French co-relig- ionists, but compelled their admiral, Pennington, to sail back to the Downs. The same trick, how- ever, was repeated ; and under pretext of pro- ceeding against the Genoese they were again led back to Dieppe, but when there Pennington read to them a letter from his royal master com- manding him to put the Vanguard into the hands of the French and comjjel the commanders of the other seven ships to do the same or sink them in the case of disobedience. Again they refused, but were compelled by the shotted guns of the Vanguard to stay, with tlie excej^tion of Sir Ferdinand Gorges, who carried off his ship, the Neptune. The vessels were reinforced with French soldiers and taken to Eochelle; but there the English, instead of fighting against the Huguenots, either deserted to them or went home, and told how basely they had been tre- panned into the service of Popery and France.^ On the 1st of August the parliament met in Oxford, and the king's demand for more money to carry on the war was met by a demand of the Commons for fresh reforms of abuses. The remissness in executing the penal statutes against Papists, the multiplication of new and useless offices, and the prevalent practice of exposing them to sale, were each made the subject of 'Rymer; Kusliworth; Cabala. bold and eloquent declamation, with Bucking- ham as the head and front of these offences. After nine days had thus been spent without answering the king's demand, the proceedings of the Commons were quickened by a message from his majesty reminding them that he needed more money, that his necessities required des- patch, and that the prevalence of the plague, which made their continued sitting dangerous, wovild comjiel him to take more care of their health than they were themselves disposed to take, and shift as he best might without them. This hint of a dissolution produced an answer, in which, without refusing fresh supplies, they respectfully but firmly avowed their determina- tion to search into the abuses and grievances of the state and proceed to reform them. But before this declaration could be presented the IDarliament was dissolved on the 12th of August. As money was not to be obtained from the Commons but at a price which he was unwilling to pay, Charles now resolved to enrich himself by the plunder that might be obtained from the war with Spain, which under his father had been nothing more than a war of threats and procla- mations. He therefore issued writs to the no- bility, gentry, and clergy soliciting loans of money, with threats of his displeasure for non- compliance ; and by these methods, and re- trenching the expenditure of the court, he was enabled to fit out a fleet of eighty ships, that carried an army of 10,000 soldiers. This arma- ment was reinforced by the states of Holland with sixteen sail, and altogether composed the largest force which England had yet mustered upon the sea. Men marvelled at the rapidity with which it had been collected, and wondeied upon what country the blow was to fall. But Buckingham, with whom the scheme originated, had also contrived to mar it at the outset by appointing to the command of both fleet and army Lord Wimbledon, a creature of his own, one who was not only a mere landsman, but had already pi'oved himself an inefficient general. His instructions contained a roving commission, which Queen Elizabeth's admirals would have easily understood : it was to scour the Spanish coast, destroy the shipping in the harbour, and iutercej^t tlie Plate ships from America — to ob- tain all the plunder and work all the damage that he could, according to his own discretion. But when fairly out at sea Wimbledon knew not what to do or where to begin ; and after a series of attempts, in all of which he was shame- fully repulsed, he disembarked his troops at the Isla de Leon, and advanced towards Cadiz, which he hoped to take and plunder. But on their march his soldiers scattered themselves among the wine-cellars, where they became so 4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. [a.d. 1625-1635. drunk as to be unnt for action, so that they had to be recalled to their ships, leaving some hun- dreds behind them to be slaughtered by the enraged peasantry. A contagious disorder, the effects of the late intemperance, broke out in one of the ships; the sick were removed into other vessels, by which the disease was spread over the fleet ; and after beating about during eighteen days in quest of the treasure ships, which were not far oft', although he could not descry them. Lord Wimbledon issued ordere to return home. While he was ujDon the station four of the richest carracks from the Indies had got safely into Lisbon ; a few days after his de- parture the Plate fleet arrived at Cadiz; and when Wimbledon entered Plymouth not a single prize of any value had been captured to redeem the expense and disgrace of the enterprise. The outcry was so loud that an inquiry was instituted, and the unfortunate commander put upon his trial before the privy-council; but through the influence of the Duke of Bucking- ham the prosecution was stopped, and the failure of the expedition was excused as a dispensation of Providence.^ Although Charles hated the name of a par- liament his necessities became so urgent that the calling of one was inevitable, and accord- ingly it was appointed to assemble on the 6th of February, 1626, four days after his corona- tion. To render it compliant he put in force the disused statutes against the Papists, and in the fines and forfeits which accrued to him from their persecution he found a comfortable supply for his immediate wants. Another device by which he hojjed to lessen the opposition of par- liament was still more unwise and unsatisfac- tory. As sherifts could not sit there he appointed to that office seven membei's, from whom the chief resistance in jDarliament was to be feared. It was so flimsy a device, that while he valued himself upon its cunning, all men could see through it and despise it. The business com- menced with the outcry against grievances and a demand for their redress, while the Duke of Buckingham was denounced as their author or encourager; and the king by his attempts to abate the storm only helped to increase it. He sent a message to the Commons telling them that he would not allow any of his servants to be questioned among them, much less one so near him, and of such eminent standing as the duke. " The old question was," he said, "what shall be done to the man whom the king shall honour; but now it hath been the labour of some to seek what may be done against him whom 1 Howell's Letters; Letters to Buckingham, published in Cahula. the king thinks fit to honour. I wish," he added in conclusion, "you would hasten my supply, or else it will be worse for yourselves; for if any ill happen I shall be the last shall feel it." Disregarding this imperious command, and asserting their right to complain of all per- sons whatsoever who were dangerous to the commonwealth as its public servants, the Com- mons jiroceeded in their inquiry against Buck- ingham. Charles again interposed in a manner still more offensive by requiring the punish- ment of two members who had offended him by their speeches in the house, and ordering them to cease this unparliamentary inquiry ; he also bade them remember that upon him parliaments depended for their calling, sitting, or dissolu- tion, and that, therefore, as he should find the fruits of them good or evil, they were to be or not to be. LTpon this charge the Commons retired to deliberate, after locking the door of the house and committing the key to the cus- tody of the speaker, and the favourite was finally impeached at the bar of the House of Lords. He was tried upon thirteen separate charges; the trial was long, and the evidence condemn- ing; and he would soon have found himself a prisoner in the Tower had not the king, after frequent interpositions in his behalf, abruptly terminated the difficulty by dissolving the par- liament, which was done on the 15th of June, and before any supplies had been voted. After the dissolution Charles, as if to complete the alienation of his subjects, ordered the declara- tion or remonstrance of parliament, which had been published, to be suppressed and destroyed, and sent the Earls of Bristol and Arundel, who had headed the opposition against the Duke of Buckingham, to the Tower.- The necessity of raising money without a par- liament was now so urgent, that every means both legal and illegal were adopted for the pur- pose. Catholics were hunted out and subjected to pecuniary penalties; imports and exports were burdened with additional duties; fresh loans were demanded from the nobility, gentry, and mei'chants. But, as the money derived from these sources was far short of the exigency, Charles resolved to borrow from the nation at large and make the jmyment of the loans com- pulsory. Each individual was therefore rated according to his means, and commissioners were sent throughout the kingdom to levy these assessments, and examine and bring to punish- ment all who refused. This money, the people were assured, would be paid back by the king as soon as the subsidies should be voted by par- ■'' Meade ; Rushworth ; Journals of Parliament ; White- lock. A.D. 1625-1635.] CHAELES I. liament; bvit it was uncertain the while whether a parliament would again be called, or if called, would grant the means of repayment. In the meantime the forced loan was levied with the utmost rigour, the rich who refused being sent to prison, and the poor to serve in the army and navy. But these oppressive acts, only fit for the despotism of the dark ages, provoked the new- born spirit of English liberty into a more de- termined resistance, and the cry became general, "No money without a parliament." The clergy and high-church party who interposed in behalf of royalty only tended to increase the prevalent alienation. Under the directions of Laud, now Bishop of Bath and Wells, the ministers preached the divine right of kings to exact money with- out the sanction of parliaments, and their hearers were taught that the duty of obedience to such demands was an essential condition of their sal- vation. The sermons on this occasion outsoared each other in inculcating total submission, and the most transcendental of these orations were published, and their authors rewarded with a deanery or a bishopric. Such extravagance was certain to defeat its own purpose and cause dis- like to the church tliat sanctioned it; and Puri- tanism, which during the reign of James had been greatly on the increase, was now regarded as identified with liberty both civil and religi- ous. Its ranks, therefore, wei'e daily and hourly increasing by the accession of those who re- sisted the tyranny of the state and the priest- hood by whom it was upheld; and the time was fast approaching when the Puritans, no longer a down-trodden party, would be able to speak as an important power in the commonwealth and make their voice be heard and regarded.^ It was unfortunate for Charles at this time, as well as afterwards, that all his attemj:)ts to repair his blunders and conciliate the nation only sunk him deeper in the mire. In the hope of soothing the popular exasperation he had become a persecutor of the Papists; he was now ready to assure his subjects of his Protestantism by purifying his own household from the taint of Eomish superstition. His queen was still accompanied by her priests and Popish atten- dants, on whom tlie nation looked with a jealous eye, and these he was resolved to banish to their own country. Park, and there briefly informed that they must depart the kingdom ; and a similar intimation was briefly given to the French attendants of her majesty. The bishop remonstrated, the female attendants shrieked, and the queen, learn- ing what was going on, attempted to escape from her confinement, and broke the glass window with her fist. But Charles was resolute, and the Duke of Buckingham, to whom the work of their extradition had been intrusted, was so punctual in fulfilling his commission, that in a few days the whole of them were shipped at Dover and conveyed to their own country.^ However the Protestant spirit of the nation might be gratified by these disjjlays of his ma- jesty's zeal, they were peculiarly irritating to France, where they were regarded in the light of insult and defiance. They were a complete violation of that secret marriage compact which Charles and his father subscribed, by which the Papists were to be relieved from the operation of the penal statutes, and the queen indulged in the free exercise of her religion ; and after an ineff'ectual remonstrance of the French court, war between the two countries was proclaimed. This was what Buckingham wanted, and the object for which he had fomented the quarrel between his master and the queen. The vain man had fallen in love with the Queen of France; and when it was announced to him that his pre- sence at the French court was not desired he had vowed to return to the country as an enemy, if not as a friend. In compliance with his re- solution the Protestants of Kochelle were to be relieved, and to ensui'e success to the expedition it was to be commanded by Buckingham in person; and Charles, who entered cordially into the proposal, believed that by this Protestant movement not only the general odium against his favourite would be removed, but the suspi- cions against his own popish tendencies be laid to rest. It would also gratify the national re- sentments of the English, who regarded the French as their hereditary enemies, and who still regretted the loss of Calais, the trophy of their former conquest of France. Under the gleam of that temporary popularity which such a war was certain to produce, such eflfectual preimrations were made, that on the 27th of June, 1627, an armament of 100 ships with 7000 land troops on board embarked from Portsmouth, with the inexperienced incom- petent Buckingham for its commander. It had been given out that the object of the expedition was to chastise the Spaniards and recover the honour that had been lost at the Isla de Leon, and its real purpose was not understood until it 2 Sir H. Ellis, collection of Letters. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. [a.d. 1625-1635. anchored off Eochelle on the 11 th of July. Tlie people of tlie town were neither jnepared to admit nor to co-operate with such doubtful anxiliaiies; and, therefore, instead of receiving them into Eochelle, they advised them to attack and occupy the neighbouring Isle of Khe, which had lately been taken from them by Richelieu. With this suggestion Buckingham complied, and the French troops in Rhe being taken by surprise his first attempts on his landing were successful ; but, having quickly recovered, such effectual preparations for resistance were made, that, instead of overrunning the little island, he found himself delayed b}' the citadel of the town of St. Martin, to which he was compelled to lay siege, and in which he persisted at a great ex- pense of time and soldiers. Finding that he could make no impression upon this citadel, and that, in spite of the blockade of his ships, it had been reinforced with soldiers and provisions, Buckingham, after a desperate attempt on the 6th of November to take it by storm, in which he was baffled, resolved to abandon both citadel and island. This, however, was not to be done with impunity ; an army strongly fortified was collected in his rear, and through this he had to fight his way at disadvantage befoi'e he reached his shipping. He returned home at the end of November, after having lost half of his army and ruined the cause of Protestantism in France; but, though the whole expedition had been a series of palpable blunders, he was welcomed like a conqueror by his infatuated master, who told him that as a geuei'al he had done past expectation, and, if a man might say it, even beyond possibility.^ It was necessary to have money for the pro- secution of the war; but this could not be ob- tained without a parliament. The king had endeavoured to raise it b}^ extorted loans, and sending those who refused to prison ; but the effect of all this was to make the people inquire more naiTowly into the right of royalty to levy money without their consent, and to confirm their resistance to those arbitrary claims which Charles put forth as his prerogative. They were also indignant at the disgraceful issue of the expedition to the island of Rhe, and the in- fatuation which had appointed Buckingham to conduct it. would think of a more summary expedient. This threat produced such an outcry of indigna- tion that he was fain to revoke it; but in a few days after he made his revocation worthless by iuijjosing some new duties on merchandise. These orders he was in like manner glad to re- call in consequence of the remonstrances of his counsellors and ministers of law.^ When par- liament met everything was ready for opposi- tion to the royal wishes. The people had elected the most patriotic or democratic for their i-epre- sentatives, and the thii'd estate had grown so- formidable that the collective wealth of the House of Commons was three times greater than that of the Lords. But, even at the open- ing Charles continued to give proofs of his wavering inconsistency. He had set free seventy- eight gentlemen who had been imprisoned for refusing to contribute to the forced loans, and made other concessions that were grateful to the popular feeling; but, as if ashamed of these re- lenting symptoms, he thus addressed the par- liament in his opening sjaeech : "I have called you together, judging a parliament to be the ancient, the speediest, and the best way to give such supjily as to secure ourselves and save our friends from imminent rtiin. Every man must now do according to his conscience ; wherefore, if you, which God forbid, should not do your duties in contributing what this state at this time needs, I must, in discharge of my conscience, use those other means which God has jjut into my hands to save that which the follies of other men may otherwise hazard to lose. Take not this as a threatening; I scorn to threaten any but my equals; but as an admonition from him that, both out of nature and duty, hath most care of your jDreservation and prosperities." This menacing speech was aggravated by that of the lord-keeper, who declared that the king had chosen a parliamentary way to obtain sup- plies, not as the only way, but as the fittest. " If this be deferred," he added, " necessitj- and the sword may make way for others. Remember his majesty's admonition ; I say, remember it I" To these threats, insulting and irritating as they were, the parliament presented the tranquil demeanour of men whose course of action was fixed, and who were not to be driven from it. They agreed to give five subsidies, the whole to be paid within the year ; bt;t the king was not to receive this money until he recognized the rights of the people, and solemnly j^romised the redress of grievances. These rights and these grievances were made sufliciently intelligible by the speeches that followed, and by the re- solutions which were unanimously passed on the 2 Rusliworth ; Eymer ; Somers's Tracts. A.D. 1625-1635.] CHARLES I. 8th of May, to the following effect: — 1. That no freeman should be imprisoued by command of the king or privy-council without cause accor- dant with law. 2. That a writ of habeas corpus should be granted to every person so detained or imprisoned on his demanding it. 3. That all persons imprisoned by command of the king or privy-council without cause should obtain the benelit of habeas corpus; and, 4. That no tax, tallage, loan, benevolence, or other like chai'ges should be commanded or levied by the king or his ministers without common consent of par- liament. These demands were embodied in their celebrated " Petition of Right," which was presented to Cluirles on the 28th of May. The king, who was impatient for the subsidies, but unwilling to surrender one iota of what he deemed his prerogative, was in a dilemma from which, as usual^ he endeavoured to extricate himself by an equivocal or unsatisfactory an- swer that might afterwards be interpreted ac- cording to his own good pleasure. It was the following: — "The king willeth, that right be done according to the laws and customs of the realm ; and that the statutes be put in due exe- cution, that his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrongs or oppressions contrary to their jnst rights and liberties, to the pre- servation whereof he holds himself in conscience as well obliged as of his own prerogative." The Commons were indignant at this vague reply, which might bear any or no meaning whatever; and their wrath was increased by a message which he sent, intimating his intention to pro- rogue the parliament upon the 11th of June, commanding them withal to enter upon no new business which might lead to the censuring or aspersion of any of the officers of his govern- ment. But, instead of being silent, they pro- ceeded to accuse the Duke of Buckingham as the evil counsellor of the king and source of all the national calamities. The Lords also joined the Commons in petitioning for a more explicit and satisfactory answer to the Petition of Right, and driven from his subterfuges Charles was obliged to comply. He came to the Lords, and, having commanded the attendance of both houses, he there ratified the petition in the most express terms, by which it became one of the statutes of the realm. " You see now," he said in conclusion, " how ready I have showed myself to satisfy your demands, so that I have done my part; wherefore, if this parliament hath not a happy conclusion, the sin is yours — I am free of it." The Commons showed their satis- faction by passing, on the 12th of June, the bill for granting the five subsidies. They afterwards proceeded to the tonnage and poundage bill, in- tending to pass it for one year, but to remon- strate against levying its duties without their consent. But here Charles, alarmed for his pre- rogative, came down unexpectedly to the House of Lords before the bill had passed ; and when the Commons appeared, with the speaker at their head, he stated, that by granting the Peti- tion of Right he had conceded notliing new, but only confirmed the ancient liberties of his sub- jects, and that if they thought he had thereby given up his right to tonnage and poundage, they were under a mistake; these profits he could not want, and they were the chief maintenance of his crown. Having thus shown the worth- lessness of his assent to the petition, and how little he was disposed to depart from his former absolutism, he thus concluded his address, by which he prorogued the parliament: "I com- mand you all that are here to take notice of what I have spoken at this time, to be the true intent and meaning of what I granted you in your petition ; but especially you, my lords, the judges; for to you only, under me, belongs the interpretation of laws ; for none of the Houses of Parliament, either joint or separate, what new doctrine soever may be raised, have any power either to make or declare a law without my consent." ^ The attention of the English nation was now drawn to the condition of the unfortunate Hugue- nots of Rochelle. 