[161] ‘Nous ne consentirons jamais, que tant et tant d’alliances faites entre les deux royaumes soient jamais teintes par la moindre soupçon de notre côté.’ 20/30 Août.
[162] ‘Ils ne feront point de traité avec le roi sans que les conditions suivantes ne leur soient accordées: à savoir 1. que l’ancienne alliance entre les roys et les royaumes de France et d’Ecosse sera entièrement retablie; 2. le roi d’Ingleterre ne pourra entreprendre aucune guerre sans l’avis et le consentement du parlement d’Ecosse, et s’il le fait autrement, les Ecossois ne seront tenus d’en prendre part; 3. dans le conseil des affaires étrangères et près de la personne du roi d’Ingleterre il y aura dorénavant des Écossois qui prendront garde, que rien ne se resolve qui préjudice à leurs alliances, 4. que les rois d’Ingleterre et leurs fils auront des Ecossois en chaque office de leur maison, 5. que le roi d’Ingleterre trouvera bon que les Ecossois tiennent un agent à la cour de France, ainsi qu’ils font a la Haye.’
[163] Traduction de l’instruction du Sr. Colvil envoyé par les Seigneurs d’Ecosse in Mazure, Histoire de la Revolution de 1688, iii. 406. The letter also is printed there according to the copy found in the French archives.
CHAPTER V.
STRAFFORD AND THE SHORT PARLIAMENT.
About this time the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Viscount Wentworth, was summoned to England to take a seat in the Council of the King: the affairs of Scotland were the immediate cause of his return.
The statesmen of England have always been distinguished from those of other countries by the combination of their activity in the Council and in the Cabinet with an activity in Parliament, without which they cannot win their way into the other sphere. Wentworth, like others, had first made himself a name in Parliament as a resolute and dangerous opponent of Buckingham. But there was as yet no clear consciousness of the rule, infinitely important for the moral and political development of remarkable men, that the activity of a minister must be harmonious and consistent with his activity as a member of Parliament. In the case of Wentworth especially it is clear that he opposed the government of that day, by which he was kept down, only in order to make himself necessary to it. His natural inclination was, as he once avowed, to live, not under the frown, but under the smile of his sovereign. The words of opposition to the government had hardly died away from his lips, when, at the invitation of that government, he joined it, although no change had been introduced into its policy. He accepted the position of Lord President in the North, although the powers of this office, which transgressed the ordinary limits of jurisdiction, were repugnant to those conceptions of English law of which he had just before been A.D. 1639. the champion. He had been trained beforehand for an office of this kind in the school of the Law Courts, principally by the proceedings of the Star Chamber, which he had attended for five years; he was afterwards for a time a Justice of the Peace, and had the reputation of knowing, perhaps better than any one in England, what was required for the exercise of that office. Nature, inclination, and ability, united in fitting him to wield authority. The Council of the North, which embraced the counties of Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Westmoreland, the bishopric of Durham, the towns of Newcastle, York, and Hull, was restored by him, in spite of all opposition, to the high position which it had possessed under the Tudors. Charles I assisted him in this enterprise by conferring fresh powers upon him. But Wentworth afterwards found a far larger arena for his activity as Lord Deputy of Ireland, where we have already met with him, and where, for the first time for centuries, obedience to the King was once more enforced. He despised the custom, adopted by former viceroys, of coming to an agreement beforehand with the native nobility about the measures that were to be taken; his only counsellors were the exigencies of the country, his only support was the royal authority itself. He derived great advantage from the exclusive possession of the initiative in Parliament, which was enjoyed by the government in Ireland: he there brought his idea of the royal prerogative into practical operation; he declared to the members without any circumlocution, that reward, or even punishment, awaited each of them according to his behaviour during the deliberations. The resolutions of Parliament served him as his instruments in ruling the country; he put an army into the field, and found means to pay it: for the first time the revenues of Ireland covered the outgoings; the island was protected from piracies by its own naval power. While he remitted many oppressive burdens in favour of the Catholics, he yet gave fresh encouragement to the Protestant Churches by the agency of learned bishops and theologians; he maintained the conformity between the Irish and English Churches, which by his decisive word he had restored. Under him justice was regularly administered, principally for the protection of the humble and weak; he considered that in his position A.D. 1639. he was justified in directing arbitrary measures against the great, if at the same time he did not come into collision with the actual letter of the law, which he was careful not to do. The impulses of natural imperiousness he nevertheless moderated by deliberating with prudent confidants[164]. If Ireland, which needed the adjustment of internal rivalries and enmities, not by counsel but by a strong arm, had alone been concerned, Wentworth would certainly have been the right man for the government of that country; for he was, as it were, born to conduct administration according to his own judgment of what was best: he was indisputably one of the greatest of the administrators who rose up among the English before they gained possession of India. But nevertheless Ireland could only be governed on those principles which prevailed in the rest of the kingdom. What if these were in contradiction to the principles which he himself followed? The Lord Deputy was of opinion, and he thought the King’s system required, that the whole realm should be governed as he governed Ireland.
Thomas Wentworth was a man of lofty stature, who although still in the full strength of manhood, already stooped as he walked. When he was seated and immersed in reflection, a cloud seemed to rest upon his face; when he raised himself and gave expression to his thoughts his countenance appeared cheerful and almost radiant: he spoke fluently and with effect; and he had the gift of quick apprehension and apt rejoinder.
In the narrow circle of persons among whom the affairs of Scotland were first debated, Laud, Wentworth, and Hamilton, the opinion was quickly arrived at, that nothing could be done without resorting to arms. But the importance of the matter made it indispensable to bring the question also before a full sitting of the Privy Council, to which all the members were summoned. Traquair was present on this occasion, A.D. 1639. and delivered a speech about the late proceedings in Scotland. Charles put the question, whether he should concede the demands of the Scots, which in his opinion were inconsistent with the honour of the King and the obedience due to him in temporal matters, or whether he should not rather bring back the people to their duty by force of arms. Every individual was invited to give his opinion on the subject. The Council answered unanimously that it was now advisable to have recourse to arms. But it still remained to consider how Charles should obtain the means requisite for the war; whether, on this occasion at all events, he should not seek to obtain them in the ordinary way by the help of Parliament. It seems strange at first sight that the smaller body which surrounded the King expressed itself favourably to this plan. But the necessity of such a step had been already foreseen when the King resolved not to go on from Berwick into Scotland; for the most important turns are given to affairs at a few decisive moments. Hamilton had at that time already remarked that the King would be obliged to employ force, and to claim a grant of Parliament for that purpose[165]. Yet the royal councillors did not intend thereby to make themselves entirely dependent on the opinion of Parliament. On the contrary, they definitely set before themselves the possibility that Parliament might refuse its assistance. And perhaps they looked forward with no great anxiety to an unfavourable result. They were of opinion that in such a case the King would be justified in the eyes of God and man, if he had recourse to the extraordinary means which he was still trying to avoid.
The summoning of a Parliament was also approved at a meeting of the Privy Council: the anticipation was expressed that Parliament would take the honour of the King into consideration, and would provide him with the necessary subsidies. The King, who knew the temper of the people, was not satisfied with this conclusion: he put forward the possibility that Parliament might perhaps even oppose his A.D. 1639. wishes, and he submitted to the assembled Councillors the question whether in such a case they would support him in resorting to extraordinary means. They unanimously and cheerfully declared ‘that in such case they would assist him with their lives and fortunes, in such extraordinary way, as should be advised and found best for the preservation of his state and government[166].’ On this the King gave out that he would summon the English Parliament for the ensuing 13th of April.
The prospect of a successful issue of the negotiations with Parliament was not perhaps in the first instance altogether hopeless. Some old members gave an assurance that the House of Commons would on this occasion remain within its proper limits, and would agree to the necessary grants. Some effect was expected from the impression which the connexion between the Scots and the French, that was by degrees coming to light, could not fail to produce upon Englishmen of the genuine old stamp. The Puritans themselves had been put into an ill humour with the French and their selfish policy by the imprisonment of the Elector Palatine, from whose appearance in Germany they had expected great things. People had said that in the next war the English arms might be turned against France as easily as against Scotland[167]; and the Queen, at all events, had now no objection to such a measure. She had been formerly an opponent of Wentworth, whose ambition had been represented to her as dangerous; she was now one of his admirers, as were also her friends the Countess of Carlisle and the Duchess of Chevreuse. The most influential members of her household, her intimate friends Jermyn and Montague, passed for the most decided adversaries of the French. Yet there were some who adhered to their side: the Earl of Holland would not be deterred from visiting Bellièvre, even when he lay under the displeasure of the court; but he and his friends feared for the results of the next Parliament. They thought that the A.D. 1639. dominant party had laid their plans so well that they would maintain their ascendancy[168]: that the King would allow only the affairs of Scotland and the imprisonment of the Elector to be brought under discussion: that his design was to hold a Parliament according to his own views, and after his own fashion, and to become more powerful by its assistance than any of his ancestors had ever been. It was thought that the opposite party had already resolved, if all went well, not to spare the heads of their opponents.