CHAPTER XXI.
A city loan of £60,000 to King Charles, 1625.
The commencement of the reign of Charles I, like his father's, was marked by a recurrence of the plague, which greatly affected the trade of the city. Matters were made worse by an application from the Lord High Treasurer for a loan of £60,000 to the king within a few weeks of Charles ascending the throne. He promised that the money, which was wanted for fitting out the fleet which the late king was busy preparing at the time of his death, should be repaid in six months. Interest would be allowed at the rate of eight per cent., and Charles would give mortgage security for repayment of this as well as of the sum of £100,000 borrowed by James.[285] After mature deliberation the Common Council agreed (16 April) to accede to the Lord Treasurer's request, and appointed two representatives of each ward to consult with the mayor and aldermen as to the mode of raising the amount, as well as to consider the nature of the security offered. On the 20th May the Common Council received the committee's report on the matter.[286] It recommended that the money should be borrowed and taken up by twenty aldermen and one hundred commoners nominated for the purpose; that five commoners should be allotted to each alderman, and that they should stand bound for[pg 093] the sum of £3,000. Any alderman or commoner refusing to be so joined was to be forced to lend £1,000 on his own account. The assurance of the king's lands was to be made in the names of such aldermen and commoners as the Court of Aldermen should appoint. A week later (27 May) the Court of Aldermen, in anticipation of the money being raised, ordered an advance to be made to the king out of the City's Chamber of the sum of £14,000.[287] On the 2nd June the king's mortgage was executed;[288] and there being no longer any necessity for keeping the bonds entered into by various aldermen for the payment of interest due to contributors to the loan of £100,000, they were ordered to be cancelled.[289] In November the lords of the council wrote to the City for an extension of time for the repayment of the £60,000.[290]
Arrival of Henrietta Maria in London, June, 1625.
On the 1st May Charles was married by proxy at Paris to Henrietta Maria. When the news of the marriage treaty between England and France reached London in the previous November the citizens showed their joy by bonfires and fireworks.[291] They forgot for a while the danger likely to arise from the heir to the throne allying himself in marriage with a Catholic princess. On her arrival in the Thames in June the citizens gave her a hearty welcome, whilst the fleet, which was about to set sail—few knew whither—fired such a salute as the queen had never heard before.[292]
The expedition to Cadiz, 1625.
In the meantime (1 May) Charles had issued his warrant to the lord mayor for levying 1,000 men—"part of 10,000 to be raised by our dear father's gracious purpose, according to the advice of both his Houses of Parliament, in contemplation of the distress and necessity of our dear brother and sister."[293] He thought that if he could only gain a victory it would serve to draw a veil over his delinquencies. The City was to be assisted by the county of Middlesex in raising the men,[294] and an allowance was made for "coat and conduct money" for the soldiers at the rate of eightpence apiece per day for their journey to Plymouth, the place where they were to embark (£400), and four shillings a coat (£200), the pay of a captain being four shillings a day.[295] The mayor's precept to the aldermen to raise the men enjoined them to search all inns, taverns, alehouses, "tabling-houses" and tobacco-houses, and to press, especially, all "tapsters, ostlers, chamberlains, vagrants, idle and suspected persons."[296] By August the condition of the troops at Plymouth was pitiable. No money was forthcoming for wages, and the soldiers were forced to forage for themselves in the neighbouring country. At last the fleet set sail (8 Oct., 1625). Its destination proved to be Cadiz, whither it was despatched in the hope of securing West Indian treasure on its way home. The expedition, however, turned out to be as complete a failure as that under Mansfeld in the previous year.
The plague of 1625.
The citizen soldiers returned to find their city almost deserted owing to the ravages of the plague. In July the sickness had been so great as to necessitate the adjournment of parliament to Oxford.[297] The colder weather, as winter approached, appears to have made but little difference. Dr. Donne, the Dean of St. Paul's, estimated that in November there died a thousand a day in the city of London and within the circuit of a mile. "The citizens fled away as out of a house on fire," he writes,[298] they "stuffed their pockets with their best ware and threw themselves into the highways, and were not received so much as into barns, and perished so, some of them with more money about them than would have bought the village where they died." Donne himself removed to Chelsea, but the infection even there became so great that "it was no good manners to go to any other place," and Donne therefore did not go to court. As early as September the want and misery in the city was described as being the greatest that ever any man living knew: "No trading at all, the rich all gone, house-keepers and apprentices of manual trades begging in the streets, and that in such a lamentable manner as will make the strongest heart to yearn."[299]
The City called upon to furnish five ships for the defense of the river, Jan. 1626.
The new year brought relief, and Sunday, the 29th Jan. (1626) was appointed a solemn day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for his mercy in "stayinge his hand."[300] The civic authorities, however,[pg 096] were scarcely rid of one trouble before they found others springing up. Towards the close of the last year a committee had been appointed by the Court of Aldermen to devise measures for relieving the City from the burden of supplying military arms and "other like services" such as they had recently been called upon to perform.[301] The committee had not been long appointed before the City was called upon to look to its stock of gunpowder, prepare the trained bands,[302] and furnish the king with five ships towards protecting the river. This last demand was made on the ground that they had furnished vessels for the same purpose in the reign of Elizabeth.[303] The Court of Aldermen objected. Times were changed since Elizabeth's day, the lords of the council were informed in reply; the galleys then furnished by the City were only wanted for a short time and when the country was threatened with an invasion; but even then considerable difficulty was experienced before the Common Council passed an Act for supplying the vessels. At the present time, when the City was in a far worse condition than then, there was little or no hope of a similar Act being passed.[304]
The parliament of 1626.
The disastrous expedition to Cadiz increased the necessity of summoning a new parliament, and on the 16th December the lord keeper was directed to issue the necessary writs. The enforcement of the recusancy[pg 097] laws, wrung from Charles by the last parliament, had in the meantime been carried out, and fresh proclamations were issued as the day for the meeting of parliament (6 Feb.) approached.[305] As soon as the Commons assembled they chose Sir Heneage Finch, the city's Recorder, for their Speaker.[306] The new parliament was not a whit more inclined to subject its ancient privileges to the control of the Crown than its predecessor had been. Buckingham himself, the king's bosom friend and most trusted adviser, was impeached; and the Commons declined to vote supplies until they had presented their grievances to the king and received his majesty's answer. This was more than Charles could stand. He summoned them to Whitehall and commanded them to cancel the condition. He would give them "liberty of counsel, not of control." To the urgent entreaty of the Peers that he would grant a short respite he replied, "Not a minute," and on the 15th June the parliament of 1626 was dissolved.[307]
A demand for a city loan of £100,000 not complied with, Jan., 1626.
If the war was to go on it was necessary that money should be found with or without parliament. Application was made to the City by the lords of the council, at first verbally, afterwards by letter, for a loan of £100,000, and a deputation was ordered to wait upon the king at Greenwich on Sunday, the 25th June, with the City's answer.[308] The answer given was to[pg 098] the effect that the City was unable to advance the sum required, and it occasioned no little disappointment to the king, who referred the matter back to the mayor and aldermen once more. It was not that Charles had not offered sufficient security for the loan. The money could not be raised. At length it was agreed (30 June) at another special court that the aldermen themselves should advance the sum of £20,000 for one year on the security of the petty customs.[309] In such haste was this trifling sum required, in order to guard the coast against a rumoured attack from Spain, that the mayor and aldermen were requested by the lords of the council to part with the money before the exchequer tallies could be made out.[310]
A demand for 4,000 men and 20 ships, July-Aug., 1626
Not only was money wanted, but men and ships. A demand made on the 15th July by the lords of the council for the City to furnish 4,000 men for the defence of the Isle of Sheppey[311] was quickly followed (4 Aug.) by another for twenty of the best ships in the river, to be fitted out and victualled in order that the war might be carried into the enemy's country.[312] To the first demand "there was made a double demur, one because the letters came from some of the lords and not from the king; secondly, for that by charter they are for the defence of the[pg 099] city, and not to go further than the lord mayor goes, unless it be for guard of the king's person."[313] To the second the mayor was instructed to reply to the following effect, viz.—that (1) the City was ready to share with the rest of his majesty's subjects in a matter which touched the state and defence of the whole kingdom; (2) that inasmuch as the City had been called upon in 1588, when the enemy was upon the coast, to furnish only ten ships, and that each of the twenty ships now demanded would, from its larger burden, cost treble the amount of the former ships, the citizens humbly desired to be relieved of so great a charge, in respect of the city's decay in trade and commerce, and its impoverishment by the late visitation and otherwise; (3) that the ships could not be furnished and victualled in the time named; (4) that the city merchants would be the more willing to adventure their lives and means against the enemy if they were allowed letters of mark.[314]
The Lords expressed the greatest dissatisfaction at this answer, and insisted upon the ships being forthcoming. It was in vain that the City offered to provide ten ships and two pinnaces; nothing less than the full number of vessels would suffice, and the City had eventually to give way.[315]
The sum of £18,000 to be raised for fitting out the vessels.
In order to fit out the vessels the sum of £18,000 had to be raised.[316] Much indignation was caused by this further tax on the purses of the citizens. Many[pg 100] stoutly refused to pay; and the constables whose duty it was to distrain in such cases manifested great reluctance to proceed to extremities. When they did make an effort to carry out their instructions the people rescued one another. The result was that the Chamber of the city had to make up a large deficiency.[317]
Unpopularity of the Duke of Buckingham.
The Duke of Buckingham, the king's favourite, whose extravagant projects had ended in nothing but disaster, had rendered himself most unpopular, and one day in August his coach was stopped by a band of sailors, men who had served in the ill-fated expedition to Cadiz or in the ships which Buckingham had sent to assist the French king in suppressing the Huguenots of Rochelle—who clamoured for arrears of pay. The duke put them off with fair words, and so escaped with a whole skin; but for long afterwards the streets of the city, and even the confines of the royal palace, were infested with disaffected seamen, and special precautions had to be taken to prevent riot.[318]
The Forced Loan, 1626.
Having failed to raise the necessary supplies by a free gift or benevolence of the nation, Charles betook himself to a forced loan. The sum to be raised was fixed at five subsidies. Commissioners were appointed in September, 1626, to summon before them all men rated in the subsidy books. At first the scheme was confined to the five counties nearest London.[pg 101] Opposition was met by imprisonment. The City for awhile was left untouched. It was unwise to try the temper of the citizens too much. It was found that the nearer the City the greater was the opposition shown to the commissioners; and the inhabitants of the Strand and the Savoy offered a more determined resistance than those of the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, or St. Martin-in-the-Fields.[319] On the 7th October a proclamation[320] appeared setting forth his majesty's "clear intention" in requiring the aid of his loving subjects by the loan. It was not to be made a precedent, and a parliament should be called as soon as convenient and as often as it should be necessary.
The loan declared illegal.
Just at a time when privy councillors were about to set out for the more distant counties to collect the subsidies the judges suddenly pronounced an unanimous opinion against the legality of the new loan. The report of their decision quickly spread, and increased the opposition of the country gentry, many of whom were content to suffer imprisonment rather than yield to the demands of the commissioners.
Ten of the city's ships to be victualled for a descent on Spain, Nov., 1626.
On the 10th November the committee appointed to take in hand the preparation of the citizens' fleet reported to the Common Council that the lords of the council had made a request that the City would provision ten out of the twenty ships for a further period of two or three months, in order that they might join two of his majesty's ships and fifteen[pg 102] Hollanders in a descent on the Spanish coast. The court, after due consideration, directed the committee to wait upon the lords and inform them that the City was prepared to spend £1,200 on further victualling, provided the ships were commanded by officers of the City's choosing, and were sent to sea alone "to be at their own liberties and directions without joining or being consorted with any others whatsoever." The City was, moreover, to be provided with letters of mark, and to be allowed to enjoy the benefit of all prizes.[321] The result of the interview was reported to the Common Council on the 14th November, when it was clearly pointed out what the lords of the council were ready to concede and what not.[322] After more haggling,[323] the ships were at length got ready and placed under the command of Captain John Pennington, a cousin of Alderman Isaac Pennington, of whom we shall hear more later on. Pennington had but a poor opinion of the fleet; the ships were badly manned and unfit for men-of-war; "with two of the king's ships he would undertake to beat the whole fleet about which so much noise had been raised."[324]
The City and the Forced Loan, 1627.
In 1627 war broke out between England and France, and payment of the forced loan was more strictly exacted. On the 14th June the lords of the council wrote to the mayor reminding him of the king's urgent need of money. The greatest part of the kingdom had well expressed their affection and had sent in their moneys to the Exchequer. Because London had been found so slack their lordships had[pg 103] been commanded to call upon the lord mayor to send in forthwith the moneys already collected towards the loan, and to call for all moneys promised.[325] Many of the citizens declined altogether to contribute, and fourteen were committed to prison.[326] Writs of habeas corpus were obtained on their behalf—but not before November—and Counsel, of whom the Recorder was one, were appointed for their defence. They were eventually set at liberty without trial.[327]
The expedition to Rochelle, 1627.
Whilst a small force, to which the City contributed a contingent of 300 men,[328] was sent to assist the King of Denmark, a fleet was despatched (27 June, 1627) to the Isle of Rhé, under the Duke of Buckingham, with the object of relieving Rochelle. The expedition failed in its purpose and Buckingham had soon to ask for reinforcements. In August the City was called upon by the king to furnish 100 men towards making up the losses sustained, for which the Chamberlain was authorised to disburse £50 in impress money.[329] In October Charles asked for 250 soldiers in addition to those already raised, and these were found without drawing upon the trained bands.[330] In spite of all efforts there was great delay in forwarding to Buckingham the reinforcements in which he stood in sore need, and in November he was forced to return home,[pg 104] baffled in his enterprise, and with a loss from war and disease of little less than 4,000 men.[331]
The Royal Contract, 1627-1628.
The time had now arrived for some arrangements to be made for discharging the king's debt to the City.[332] After protracted negotiations an agreement, known at the present day as the "royal contract," was drawn up and executed (3 Jan., 1628) whereby the citizens covenanted to advance the king a further sum of £120,000 by instalments of £60,000 at an interval of six months, whilst Charles, on the other hand, covenanted to convey to the City certain lands, tenements and hereditaments.[333] The City at once set to work to raise the money required among the livery companies. The Merchant Taylors were called upon to contribute £6,300, the highest sum. The Grocers came next with £6,000, after which follow the Haberdashers (£4,800), the Drapers (£4,608), the Goldsmiths (£4,380), the Mercers (£3,720), the Fishmongers and Clothworkers (each £3,390) and the Vintners (£3,120).[334] Certain members of the Vintners' Company having proved refractory, the master and wardens complained to the Court of Aldermen, who promptly committed the offenders to prison, thereby earning the approval of his majesty.[335] In cases where the master and wardens of a company had shown neglect in gathering the[pg 105] company's quota they were themselves committed to Newgate.[336]
The Court of Aldermen even committed one of their own body for refusing to contribute his quota.[337] With difficulty the first instalment of £60,000 was raised, several of the companies being forced to part with their plate.[338]
£20,000 advanced by the aldermen, Feb., 1628.
In such a hurry was Charles for the money that the aldermen had to advance him £20,000 out of the £60,000 on their own personal security. This was in February. Discharged seamen were again clamouring for pay, and the Exchequer was empty. The aldermen came to his assistance, but, inasmuch as the lands and tenements had not yet been conveyed to the City according to the terms of the late agreement, the Court of Aldermen passed a formal resolution that no further advances should be made until "one or more books of the lands to be assured by the contract be passed under the great seale of England."[339]
Buckingham and Dr. Lamb.
Notwithstanding the growing unpopularity of Buckingham, the king absolutely refused to abandon his favourite, against whom all kinds of rumours were astir. Nothing was too bad to be believed of him, and popular fury spared neither him nor his friends. Dr. Lamb, an astrologer and quack doctor, was set upon in the city as being one of the latter, and was[pg 106] nearly done to death one night whilst returning home from supper. None would receive into his house the almost lifeless body of the necromancer—the duke's devil, as he was called—who supplied him with love potions wherewith to corrupt women. He was at last removed to one of the compters, where he died the following day.[340] Charles was highly incensed on hearing of the occurrence, more especially as some of the murderers had been heard to say that if Lamb's "master"—the duke himself—had been there they would have handled him worse and so minced his flesh that every one should have had a bit of him. He forthwith summoned the mayor and sheriffs to court and threatened to take away their charter if the murderers were not quickly discovered.[341] The lords of the council also wrote to the mayor (15 June) reprimanding him for not taking steps to repress the riot and ordering him to seize the principal actors and abettors and commit them to prison.[342] These were not so easily to be discovered, but the Court of Aldermen (17 June) committed to Newgate two of the City Marshal's men for neglecting to give notice of the disturbance to the mayor or sheriffs, or even to the alderman or deputy of the ward, as in duty bound.[343] Others were taken on suspicion but were shortly afterwards set at liberty by order of the lords of the council (23 June).[344] The matter eventually ended by the City being fined £1,000.[345] In the meantime libellous[pg 107] placards[346] appeared stuck up in Coleman Street, and the Court of Aldermen committed a man to prison for no other reason than because he took one down to read and after reading it put it up again. That at least was the man's own story.[347]
Preparations for another expedition to Rochelle, 1628.
The Duke of Buckingham assassinated 23 Aug., 1628.
Early in July the balance of the second instalment of £60,000 (part of the late loan of £120,000) was due from the City, but Charles could not wait so long. An expedition to Rochelle under the Earl of Denbigh had recently proved a failure. Determined not to give way, Charles sent orders to the earl to refit his squadron and remain in England until the whole available maritime force of the country could be got ready to accompany him. Money must be raised at once. Charles himself wrote to the mayor and aldermen (30 June) stating that a sudden and important occasion of the relief of Rochelle required present succours, and directing them to find immediately the sum of £20,000 out of the moneys due on the last purchase of the Crown lands. If they had not such a sum in hand they were to raise it on credit.[348] This sum exactly represented the balance due from the City to the king, and precepts had already been issued to the livery companies for raising the amount. Another precept was sent out immediately on receipt of the king's letter, whilst other precepts were directed to levying the subsidies granted by parliament.[349] The[pg 108] fate of Rochelle was, in spite of every effort, soon to be sealed. The Duke of Buckingham fell by the hand of an assassin (23 Aug.) whilst engaged at Portsmouth in superintending preparations for its relief, and two months later (18 Oct.) the fortress was compelled to capitulate.
Tonnange and Poundage, 1628.
Dissolution of parliament 10 March, 1629.
In the meantime the question of the king's right to claim Tonnage and Poundage for life had given rise to so much opposition that Charles had occasion more than once to prorogue parliament. Merchants had refused to pay the dues, and their goods had been seized. Recourse was thereupon had to the Sheriffs' Court of the City, where the owners sued out a replevin as for property illegally distrained. Popular feeling was so much on the side of the merchants that when parliament met Charles publicly renounced all claim to tonnage and poundage as a right. Nevertheless the contest continued, and the feeling of both parties was embittered by mutual provocation and by proceedings taken in the Star Chamber against merchants for protecting their property from these exactions. At length matters reached such a crisis that Charles determined upon an adjournment; but no sooner was the king's intention divined than the Commons determined to put their grievances into writing and to cause them to be read by the Speaker, whom they forcibly detained in the chair. Sir John Finch having refused to accede to their request, resolutions condemning religious innovation, as well as the levying of tonnage and poundage, were hastily put and carried by acclamation, whilst Black Rod was vainly endeavouring to gain admission to the House with a message from the king. Before[pg 109] admittance was granted the House had voted its own adjournment. On the 10th March it was dissolved,[350] not to be summoned again until eleven years had passed away.
Sickness and famine, 1629-1631.
The years immediately succeeding the dissolution of Charles's third parliament, during which he was preparing a system of personal government destined eventually to work his own destruction, were years of sorrow and trouble to the citizens of London. A "pestilent sickness" again visited the city in the autumn of 1629—brought over from Holland or Rochelle—and remained until 1631. It was followed as usual by a great scarcity of provisions. The civic authorities did what they could to prevent the spread of infection and to alleviate the distress, but it was to little purpose. Riots were of frequent occurrence, necessitating the keeping a posse of constables quartered in the Mercers' chapel.[351] Doggrel rhymes appeared in 1630[352] threatening the wealthier class with mischief if food were not forthcoming—
The corne is so dear
I dout mani will starve this yeare.
If you see not to this
Sum of you will speed amiss.
Our souls they are dear,
For our bodyes have sume ceare.
Before we arise
Less will safise.
The birth of Prince Charles, afterwards Charles II, 29 May, 1630.
In the midst of the general gloom one bright spot appeared, namely, the birth of an heir to the crown (29 May, 1630), an event which the king lost no time[pg 110] in communicating to the mayor and Common Council of the city—his "principal city and chamber."[353] On the occasion of the christening of the infant prince the bells of the city churches were set ringing,[354] and he was presented with a fair large standing cup of gold with cover, weighing nearly 300 ounces, and enclosed in a case of crimson velvet, the cost of the whole exceeding £1,000.[355] Two years later, when the prince was carried into the city to witness the pageants on lord mayor's day, the Court of Aldermen were so gratified with this unexpected mark of royal favour that they forthwith voted the babe a gift of £500.[356]
Loss of the queen's plate and jewels, 1631.
The year following the birth of Prince Charles the queen was robbed of a great part of her plate and jewels. As the thieves were likely to dispose of their booty among the goldsmiths of the city, a precept was issued to the master and wardens of the Goldsmiths' Company to try and recover it.[357] The goldsmiths had long ago begun to leave Goldsmiths' Row in Cheapside, and to set up shops in different parts of the city, and in 1623 they had been ordered to resume their old quarters, which in the meantime had been given up to poor petty trades.[358] It was easier to trace lost property when all the goldsmiths were congregated together in one spot. This order, however, was so ineffectually carried out that another order was issued[pg 111] by the lords of the council ten years later directing all goldsmiths to find shops for themselves either in Cheapside or Lombard Street within the next six months, inasmuch as the practice of setting up their shops in obscure places in different parts of the city offered facilities for abuses, and more especially "in passing away of stolen plate."[359]
City gifts to king and queen, May-June, 1633.
On the occasion of the king's departure for Scotland in May, 1633, the Court of Aldermen voted him a present of £2,000 "in two severall purses of velvett or sattin," as a pledge of the City's true loyalty, love and obedience to his majesty.[360] After he had gone the mayor and aldermen proceeded in State to Richmond to pay their respects to the queen and to offer her a bason and ewer of gold of the value of £800, with her arms engraved thereon.[361]
Christening of the Duke of York, Nov., 1633.
In the following November the Duke of York was christened, the ceremony being attended by the mayor, aldermen and sheriffs, as well as the chief officers of the City. The infant prince was presented with a gilt cup and cover weighing sixty ounces, and containing the sum of £500 in gold. Similar fees were paid to the midwife, nurse and "rockers" to those paid on the occasion of the baptism of his elder brother.[362] During the absence of the mayor and aldermen at St. James', where the ceremony took place, a double watch was ordered to be kept in the city.[363]
Demand for ship money, Oct., 1634.
Five years had now elapsed since the dissolution of the last parliament, during which time the country[pg 112] had submitted to the personal government of Charles. Matters might have continued on the same footing for some time longer had not Charles conceived the idea of claiming the sovereignty of the seas as a pretext for raising a fleet. The difficulty then arose as to how to equip a fleet without summoning a parliament. It had been the custom ever since the time of the Plantagenets to call upon maritime towns to furnish ships ready manned for the defence of the realm at a time of threatened invasion. This custom had been rendered sufficiently elastic to comprise the port of London, and the City had frequently been called upon to furnish a contingent of vessels in time of war. Occasionally a protest may have been made against such demands, but they were seldom, if ever, altogether refused. On the 20th October, 1634, writs were issued calling upon the city of London and various port towns and places along the coast to furnish a certain number of ships of war, and to have them ready at Portsmouth by the 1st March, 1635. In many cases it was impossible to supply ships of the size required, and in these the king offered to supply ships of his own on condition that the port towns should equip and man them. London was called upon to supply seven ships varying in size from 300 to 900 tons, with an equipment of from 150 to 350 men.
Search to be made for precedents, Nov., 1634.
The Court of Aldermen appointed (13 Nov.) a committee to consider this writ to the City as well as another sent to the borough of Southwark, and to learn what had formerly been done in like case. The City's records were to be consulted with the view of ascertaining how far it was exempt from such charges,[pg 113] and the City's Solicitor was to attend them on that behalf.[364] The law officers had previously been directed (6 Nov.) to consult together on the matter, and the Town Clerk had received orders to translate the writs into English and make copies of the same.[365]
Petition of Common Council against demand for ships, 2 Dec., 1634.
When the matter came before the Common Council that body, after serious consideration, decided (2 Dec.) to present a petition to his majesty setting forth that, by ancient privileges, grants and Acts of Parliament, which were ready to be produced, the City was exempt from any such obligation as that contained in the writ, and praying that the City's privileges might be upheld.[366]
The City forced to submit.
The only effect of this petition was to cause another writ to be issued a week later (9 Dec.) enjoining specific performance of the former writ.[367] Finding that there was no way of escape the mayor, Sir Robert Parkhurst, began to take the necessary steps for raising £30,000, the sum required from the different wards.[368] On Sunday, the 14th December, Robert Mason, who had recently been appointed Recorder in succession to Littleton, on the king's own recommendation (although the election is recorded as having been according to "antient custom and freedom of election"!),[369] appeared before the lords of the council with an account of the progress made in the city in the matter of the ships, with which Charles was well pleased, and the Recorder was ordered to attend the[pg 114] council every Sunday afternoon with a similar account "untill the worke be perfected."[370] On the 19th the Court of Aldermen appointed a committee to fit out the ships as required, but they were limited in expenditure to the sum of £30,000.[371] On the 17th February, 1635, the committee reported to the court that his majesty had resolved that two of the City's ships should be assigned to the admiral and vice-admiral of the fleet, and that they should be fitted out by the care and oversight of officers of the navy. For this purpose the sum of £11,475, out of the £30,000 already voted, was ordered to be paid to the treasurer of the navy, whilst the committee proceeded with the business of the other five ships.[372]
A fresh writ for ship money, 4 Aug., 1635.
Hitherto all had promised well, but on the 4th August Charles thought fit to issue another writ calling upon the nation at large, and not only port and maritime towns, to furnish ship money, on the ground that as all were concerned in the mutual defence of one another, so all might contribute towards the defence of the realm.[373] The City found itself called upon to provide two more vessels of 800 tons apiece.[374] The authorities, however, were so slow in executing this further order that the Sheriffs were made to[pg 115] appear every Sunday before the lords of the council to report what progress was being made.[375]
Richard Chambers and ship money, 1636.
In June, 1636, Richard Chambers, a merchant, who had previously displayed a bold front against the king's demand of tonnage and poundage, for which the Star Chamber had condemned him to a term of imprisonment (1628-1629), again came to the fore, and carried the question of the king's right to levy ship money to the Court of King's Bench. The judges, however, refused to allow the question to be argued. "There was a rule of law and a rule of government"—said Justice Berkeley, scarce realising the true import of his words—"and many things which might not be done by the rule of law might be done by the rule of government." Chambers was again committed for contempt, but was afterwards liberated from prison upon payment of the £10 at which he had been assessed. He contented himself with bringing an action in the King's Bench against the mayor, who had made the assessment on the ground of some technical informality.[376]
The City's forfeiture of its Irish estate, 1635-1638.
Other matters had arisen lately—"great and important businesses"—all tending towards an estrangement of the City from the king. Early in 1635 the City had been condemned by the Court of Star Chamber to a fine of £70,000 and the loss of its Irish estate for having, as was alleged, broken the terms of the charter under which their Irish estate[pg 116] was held. One of the charges against the city and the companies was that they continued to employ the "mere Irish" on their estates instead of relegating them to the narrow limits reserved for them, there to perish of disease or starvation.[377] There were differences too touching the Royal Contract, differences as to the City's rights to estreated recognisances, as to pretended encroachments and other matters. It was felt that there would be no peace until some arrangement could be made with Charles on all the matters in question, and for this purpose a committee was appointed in May, 1636, to see what could be done. A schedule of "thinges desired by the cittie of London" was drawn up, and an offer was made to the king of the sum of £100,000, to be paid by annual instalments of £20,000, if he would make the concessions desired.[378] The king's commissioners, who had the business in hand, refused the offer. They informed the committee that not only would the City have to surrender certain valuable fisheries and other privileges in Ireland, as well as the castle of Culmore, but it would have to provide an allowance of £5,000 to Sir Thomas Philips. Instead of £100,000 it would have moreover to pay £120,000.[379] Negotiations continued for two years. Eventually a compromise was effected in June, 1638, and the city was fain to accept a pardon on surrendering its Irish estates and payment of the comparatively small sum of £12,000,[380] of which the queen happened at that time to stand in[pg 117] need. The patents of the Irish Society and of the companies were not however actually surrendered until 1639.[381]
Other grievances of the City.
In the meantime Charles had given umbrage to the City in other matters, more especially in the measures he had taken for regulating trade and the institution of corporate monopolies. An order restricting the use of coaches and carts, and forbidding anyone to keep a carriage unless he was also prepared to keep four sufficient horses or geldings for the king's service, weighed heavily upon the mayor and aldermen of the city, who were for the most part men advanced in years and whose duties carried them a good deal abroad. They therefore petitioned the king for an exception to be made in their favour. The petition was granted, but only after long delay.[382]
Corporation of tradesmen, etc., created, 1636.
The civic authorities were not better pleased with the king for his having (1636), in spite of all protest, created a new corporation which embraced all tradesmen and artificers in the city and suburbs, and thus threatened to be a formidable rival to the ancient corporation.[383]
A third writ for ship money, Oct., 1636.
In the midst of a growing feeling of dissatisfaction at the existing state of things, a third writ for ship money appeared (9 Oct., 1636). It raised such a storm of opposition in every quarter, however, that Charles once more appealed to the judges for a formal acknowledgment of his right. Their opinion proving[pg 118] favourable,[384] the work went on and the City was called upon (Sept., 1637) to furnish two ships each of 700 tons.[385]
In the following year, after Hampden's case had been decided, Charles continued to levy ship money, and the City was told to furnish a ship of 500 tons (5 Nov., 1638). The cost was estimated at £1,000. The usual precept was issued (26 Nov.) to the alderman of each ward for the purpose of ascertaining how best that sum could be raised.[386] The returns must have been unfavourable, for on the 29th January (1639) the Court of Aldermen appointed a committee to wait upon the lord high admiral and explain to him that the City was not in a position to fit out another ship.[387] The money was eventually raised by the twelve principal livery companies, seven of which contributed £100 apiece and the other five £60.[388]
Charter of Charles to the City, 18 Oct., 1638.
In the meantime troubles had arisen in Scotland through Charles's ill-advised and bigoted attempt to impose upon his northern subjects a Book of Common Prayer. By midsummer (1638) he was preparing for war and would shortly be under the necessity of applying to the city for money and men. It was probably with this end in view that he granted (18 Oct., 1638) to the citizens an ample inspeximus charter, confirming to them their ancient privileges and franchises. Negotiations for a new charter had[pg 119] been going on since the preceding March[389] (if not earlier), and it was only now conceded on payment of a sum of £12,000.[390]
Disorders in Scotland, 1639.
At the opening of the new year (4 Jan., 1639) Charles applied by letter under his hand to the City for a liberal contribution and assistance towards putting down the disorders in Scotland, notifying at the same time the fact that he had called upon the peers of the realm to attend in person at York by the 1st April. The letter was read to the court of Common Council on the 12th February, but the matter seemed of so great importance that further consideration of it was adjourned to the 16th, when it was agreed to issue a precept to the alderman of each ward to take steps for raising a free and liberal contribution.[391] A month elapsed, and notwithstanding every effort of the aldermen, less than £5,000 was got together. The aldermen were directed to renew their efforts, but this only resulted in increasing the amount by £200 or £220.[392] The whole amount was so small that it was contemptuously refused. At the beginning of April Charles found himself at York with an indifferent army, and with little prospect of being in a position to maintain even that army beyond a very limited period.
Demand for a loan of £100,000, June, 1639.
In June he caused another application to be made to the City.[393] On the 7th the lord mayor, who[pg 120] had been summoned to appear before the lords of the council, appeared with so few of his brother aldermen that he was ordered to go back and to return on the 10th with the whole court. When they at last made their appearance they were told that the king expected from them no less a sum than £100,000. The war was, if possible, more unpopular in the city than in the country. The memory of the recent confiscation of their Irish estates had not been obliterated from the minds of the citizens by the subsequent grant of a charter. The mayor and aldermen replied that it was impossible to find the money. The council told them that it must be done, one of the lords declaring that they ought to have sold their chains and gowns before making such a reply. They were ordered to appear once more on the 12th June with a final answer.[394]
The trained bands called out.
A warrant had in the meantime been issued for raising 3000 men from the trained bands of the city for service in Scotland.[395] Although it does not appear that this demand was acceded to,[396] seeing that the trained bands were a force especially intended for the defence of the city, greater activity was shown in making the city's troops as perfect in their drill as circumstances permitted.[397] Boys from Christ's Hospital and Bridewell were taught to play the drum and fife, weapons were marked, and musters held in[pg 121] Goodman's Fields and elsewhere under the eye of Captain John Fisher, recently appointed muster-master.[398]
The City's free gift of £10,000, 31 July, 1639.
That the citizens were not indisposed to assist the king, if left to themselves and not subjected to threats and intimidation, is shown by the fact that, in anticipation of the return of Charles from the North, the Common Council voted him (31 July, 1639) the sum of £10,000 as a free gift in consideration that the City had not contributed anything to his majesty on his setting out, as had been required, "albeit the counties and private personnes both nobles and others had done the same."[399] Even this small sum could not be raised without resorting to sheriffs' fines, no less than sixteen individuals being mulcted for refusing to serve as sheriff in less than two months.[400] It was no difficult task to find men unwilling to serve such a thankless office at so critical a time.
The "short parliament," 1640.
Before the close of the year (1639) the country was agreeably surprised at the news that it was the king's intention to summon a parliament. Parliament opened on the 13th April (1640). Few of its members could have served in the last parliament of eleven years before, but although so long a time had elapsed since the Commons had met, they had not forgotten their old constitutional claims to have the country's grievances redressed before proceeding to grant[pg 122] supplies. An offer to relinquish ship money proved insufficient, and after three weeks the "short parliament" was dissolved (5 May, 1640).
Attempt to force a city loan of £100,000, April-May, 1640.
For some days before parliament was dissolved every effort had been made by the king to get the mayor and aldermen to lend him £100,000. This being found impossible, the mayor, Henry Garway, or Garraway, was directed to make out a list of the wealthiest commoners. After several attempts to negotiate with the aldermen individually, they were summoned to appear in a body on Sunday, the 11th April. Charles himself then told them that his necessity at the time was so great that he must borrow £100,000 of the City; that he must not be denied; the money he must have at once, as it would benefit him more then than twenty subsidies granted by parliament afterwards. After the king had finished speaking the Lord Privy Seal[401] addressed them, setting forth that a similar sum had been advanced by the City to King James; that he himself, being Recorder at the time, had lent £3,000 towards it, and that the money had been repaid with interest. The City, he continued, was rather beholden to his majesty for taking the money and repaying it with interest, than the king beholden to the City for lending it. He further instanced the case of the City having lent King Henry III a sum of £100,000 rather than allow that monarch to pledge his crown and jewels to the merchants of the Steelyard, and it was truly repaid. To this the aldermen were not permitted to[pg 123] make any reply, but were sent away to advise together how the sum should be raised.[402]
On Thursday, the 7th May, the mayor and aldermen were again summoned before the council, when they were told that, having failed to provide the sum previously asked for, they would now have to find £200,000. If the latter sum was not forthcoming the king threatened to "have £300,000 of the city." They were to come again on the following Sunday (10 May) and bring with them a list of the rich men of the wards.
Four aldermen committed to prison, 1640.
On the day appointed they came, but brought with them a petition to be excused making such a list as that required. The excuse was not allowed. Strafford is recorded as having lost his temper at the obstinacy of the aldermen. "Sir," said he, addressing the king, "you will never do good to these citizens of London till you have made examples of some of the aldermen," and recommended Charles, in his own "thorough" way, to hang a few of them.[403] Charles did not take the advice offered. He would have made, however, the mayor resign his sword and collar then and there but for the intercession of the bystanders, and actually committed four of the aldermen to prison, viz., Nicholas Rainton, John Gayre, Thomas Soame and Thomas Atkins, for refusing to make a list of those inhabitants of their respective wards who were able to lend from £50 upwards.[404] One of them, Alderman Soame, gave particular offence. "I was an[pg 124] honest man whilst I was a commoner," he told the king to his face, "and I would continue to be so now I am an alderman." The other aldermen professed their readiness to give in the names of the richer citizens, but objected to rate them according to their means.
Impeachment of Sir Thomas Gardiner, Recorder, 1642.
Both Garway and Sir Thomas Gardiner, the Recorder, favoured the king. The latter was particularly anxious that the City should lend the £100,000 originally requested, and did his best to get the money advanced. For his zeal on this occasion, and for "other high crimes and misdemeanours," he was afterwards (1642) impeached.[405]
Riot at Lambeth, 11 May, 1640.
The aldermen were not long kept in confinement. Even before their committal the city was in a ferment, and a placard had appeared posted up in the Exchange inviting all who were lovers of liberty to assemble in St. George's Fields in Southwark early on Monday morning (11 May). Archbishop Laud was a special object of hatred to the citizens, and against him the mob directed their attack. As soon as the trained bands, which kept order during the day, had retired for the evening, the rabble marched to Lambeth. Laud, however, had been warned in time, and had made good his escape across the river to Whitehall. The rioters finding themselves baulked of their prey retired with threats of returning to burn down the palace. For the next few days the city was under martial law. A double watch was kept in its streets. The companies looked to their store of powder and match. A strict guard was kept over servants and[pg 125] apprentices, and a warrant issued for raising 1,000 men of the trained bands, or as many more as the lord mayor should think necessary "to suppress, slay, kill, destroy and apprehend all such as should be tumultuously assembled in or about Southwark, Lambeth, Blackheath or elsewhere in parts adjacent."[406]
The aldermen released, 15 May, 1640.
If the royal warrant was to be effectually and loyally carried out some concession to the citizens was necessary, and accordingly, on the same day (15 May) that the warrant appeared, the four aldermen were released.
Collection of ship money in the city enforced, June, 1640.
Pending the negotiations for a loan, payment of ship money had not been strictly enforced; but now that threats and entreaties had failed to open the purse-strings of the citizens Charles made a desperate effort to exact ship money. On the 9th June, 1640, the lord mayor and both the sheriffs were summoned to attend the council to give an account of the ship money due from the city. Why had it not been paid in? The mayor replied that he had sent his officers to collect, but few or none would pay.[407] Upon the king telling him that he should have distrained, the mayor remarked that one of his predecessors in office, Sir Edward Bromfield, was still a defendant in a suit in the King's Bench brought against him by Richard Chambers for acting in that manner, and was likely to be cast. "No man," said Charles peremptorily, "shall suffer for obeying my commands." Thus encouraged the mayor himself[pg 126] made a house-to-house visit the next day, accompanied by the sheriffs, for the purpose of collecting the money. Throughout the whole city, however, only one man was found ready and willing to pay. When the mayor ordered the sheriffs to distrain they refused on the plea that it was the mayor's business, not theirs. Entering a draper's shop the mayor attempted to seize a piece of linen cloth; the owner set about measuring it, and naming the price told the mayor that if he persisted in taking it he should esteem it a purchase and put it to his lordship's account.[408]
Demand for a city force of 4,000 men for service in the North, 11 June, 1640.
On the 11th June the Common Council took into consideration two letters—one from Charles, dated the 17th March, and another from the lords of the council, of the 31st May—asking for a city force of 4,000 men (but none to be taken out of the trained bands) for service in the north of England, and directing the mayor to see that coat and conduct money was at once raised for the purpose.[409] The court declined to come to an immediate decision; but on the 15th the lord mayor issued his precept for the necessary funds to be levied on the wards.[410]
Application to the Common Council for a loan of £200,000 renewed, 23 July, 1640.
On the 19th July news arrived from the North that the Scots were about to seize Newcastle—a very serious matter to the Londoners, as they would thereby be cut off from their supply of coal. Charles took advantage of this, writes Dr. Gardiner,[411] and sent Lord Cottington and Sir Henry Vane to the Common Council—specially summoned to meet on the 23rd by[pg 127] the king's order[412]—to assure them that if the long-desired loan of £200,000 were granted the citizens would hear nothing more of the project recently promulgated of debasing the coinage, a project which, if carried out, would have worked great mischief to the London merchant and tradesman. "Leaving the Common Council to discuss the demand, the privy councillors amused themselves by strolling through the Cloth Exchange at Blackwell Hall. The owners of cloth gathered quickly round them. They hoped, they said, that they were not to be compelled to sell for copper goods for which sterling silver had been paid. After a debate of an hour and a half Cottington and Vane were re-admitted, to be informed that the Common Council had no power to dispose of the money of the citizens."
Application to the livery companies for £120,000, Aug., 1640.
Having failed once more in this direction, and driven to his wits' end for money, Charles applied to the livery companies for a loan of £120,000. They were told that the money was not required for the purpose of making war, but only to enable his majesty to make the more honourable peace, sword in hand. It would be used to pay off the soldiers and so prevent them pillaging the country after disbandment. Each company was assessed according to its wealth; but most of the principal companies pleaded inability to subscribe on the ground that the Londonderry plantation had "consumed their stocks." It was believed at the time that not a tenth part of the money would be raised.[413]
A last effort to obtain a city loan of £200,000, Sept., 1640.
Six weeks or more elapsed. The king and nobles were at York holding a council. The City had been brought into a better humour by a confirmation of its rights (5 Sept.) to tolls known as "package" and "scavage," and a pardon for all past offences in daring to exact such tolls.[414] The citizens were still better pleased with a promise of another parliament which Charles made in answer to a petition (24 Sept.),[415] and with the prospect of a speedy conclusion of peace with Scotland. Under these circumstances one last effort was made to get them to advance the long-wished-for loan of £200,000. Not only did the king and the lords ride to the city, but the Earl of Manchester, the Lord Chamberlain, Viscount Campden, and other lords paid a personal visit to the Guildhall and used their utmost powers to persuade the citizens to advance the money. The money might be paid by two instalments of £50,000 and one instalment of £100,000 between October and December, and the Peers themselves would give security for repayment.[416] This time the application was more successful, thanks to a little high-handedness practised by the lords on the Common Council. "With all diligence becoming us we have gone upon the business wherewith your majesty and the Peers entrusted us," they wrote to the king (3 Oct.), giving him a long account of their visit to the city.[417] "On Friday morning (2 Oct.) we desired the lord mayor to call a Court of Aldermen[pg 129] at Guildhall, whither we all went, sat with them in council, and opened to them all our business, and read our letters, which satisfied them very much, yet they reserved themselves till they saw how it would take with the Commons. Then we all went to dinner with the lord mayor and there appointed to have a Common Council that afternoon, amongst which we mingled divers commoners that were not of the Common Council, such as we knew well affected and powerful in the city." We are not surprised to learn that this action on the part of the lords was strongly objected to as not being altogether regular. The lords insisted, however, and they were allowed to have their own way. "At three o'clock that afternoon," the letter goes on to say, "we met at Guildhall, sat with them in the Court of Common Council, and according to our instructions acquainted them with the proceedings of the Assembly of Peers, and used the best rhetoric, which was plain remonstrance of all the passages at York, not concealing the admirable grace and freeness shown by your majesty in this great council, to the infinite content of all the Peers, nor the true affection shown to you by the Peers." They first read the letter from the lords and then that from his majesty. They feared lest some words which his majesty had (falsely) been reported to have uttered on the occasion of the late petition from the City for a parliament might have an injurious effect, so they had explained this and other matters, and the Common Council appeared well satisfied. "We then withdrew, that they before they rose might more freely debate upon the way of raising the sum desired, for we persuaded ourselves it would not be[pg 130] denied." They were not disappointed. Before the council rose it resolved to make application to the livery companies, and a draft of a letter was prepared. A copy of this letter the lords forwarded to his majesty. In conclusion they assured the king of the great services done in the matter, more particularly by Garway, the out-going mayor, the Recorder, and the whole bench of aldermen, and suggested the advisability of sending them a letter of thanks. If the letter were addressed to the whole commonalty so much the better. This suggestion was carried out.[418] There was a difficulty about the security for repayment of the loan. It was at one time proposed that the queen's jewels to the value of £100,000 should be taken in pledge, but this suggestion was afterwards disavowed by the city.[419]
Edmund Wright elected mayor loco Garway, 29 Sept., 1640.
On Michaelmas-day an election of a new mayor took place in succession to Garway. William Acton was the senior alderman below the chair, but he was set aside and Edmund Wright and Thomas Soame were returned by the Common Hall. The former was selected by the Court of Aldermen. This much and no more we learn from the City's own record of the election.[420] From other sources, however, it appears that the election was a very tumultuous one; that the wishes of Charles were consulted, and that Acton was elected and was afterwards discharged by parliament.[421]
The loan reduced to £50,000.
The loss of an adherent in the mayor of London did not affect Charles so much as the immediate cutting down of the promised loan to the modest sum of £50,000, an event which followed, if it were not occasioned by, the election of Wright. The delay, moreover, in forwarding to the city the writs for the parliament had created a general impression that the promise of a parliament was a mere device to get money.[422] The king determined to take no notice of the City's withdrawal from its original undertaking, but sent another letter "to quicken the business by reason of the straitness of time."[423]
The Treaty of Ripon, 21 Oct., 1640.
It only remained for Charles to make the best terms with the Scots that he could. Negotiations were accordingly opened at Ripon by commissioners appointed by both parties (2 Oct.), with the result that a cessation of arms, under certain conditions, was agreed to until a permanent treaty could be arranged in London (21 Oct.).