Strafford still hoped to put down the opponents of the sovereign authority in both countries. He thought to bring the strength of England into the field by the means which formerly had been at the service of the crown; he intended that the very revolt of the Scots should help him to subdue them. A new battle of Flodden Field would have restored the monarchy as it once existed, on both sides of the border.

No one will make any very heavy political charge against Strafford on the score of his government of Ireland, or of the partisan attitude which he had taken up in the intestine struggle in England in general; for the ideas for which he contended were as much to be found in the past history of England as were those which he attacked. His royalist principles are not without basis and elevation; he at all events had no conscious intention of proceeding to employ illegal violence. The greatest blame which falls upon him is incurred by his behaviour during these days; his mistake lay in wishing to treat England in the same way as Ireland: but a past success is an evil counsellor under circumstances which are entirely different; both he and his sovereign were deficient in the sense of what was practicable in England. While they in their zeal were proceeding to the most extreme assertion of the prerogative for which old precedent could be found, they were placed in a position where such an assertion could no longer be made with effect. For whatever may be the nature of laws, they never can be executed unless, to a certain extent, they are voluntarily accepted. Strafford’s most imprudent act A.D. 1640. was the prosecution of the war against Scotland, after Parliament had refused to grant the subsidies necessary for that object. However large the sums which the Lords might contribute in accordance with the pledge which they had given, it was clear that these would not suffice to carry on a great war. But what resources were left when these were exhausted?

In that case the King would have to depend principally on the city of London. But this was the very place in which the dominant system had provoked the greatest discontent: nowhere were there more staunch supporters of parliamentary government. A proof of this assertion may be found in the tumult which broke out in the capital after the last dissolution of Parliament, and was directed against the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was threatened with death by an excited multitude. These disturbances had been quieted and their promoters punished; but placards were constantly put up indicative of the same feelings. For a long time the Archbishop did not venture to return to Lambeth; he considered himself secure only in the King’s palaces. The middle classes were excited rather than disposed to compliance by a threat, which Strafford held out, of attaching the silver in the Tower, or of raising the value of the currency. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen refused the King a loan which he requested, not because they lacked money, but because it seemed dangerous to allow the necessity of the consent of Parliament to be called in question in this manner. The government turned to the Common Council, before which Cottington laid the most urgent representations: but his proposals were rejected even by this body. Strafford indeed spoke of treason; for the money, he said, was in hand, only people refused to lend it to the King under the circumstances: but the threats which he founded on these statements he was unable to carry out; even in the Privy Council he met with firm and well-grounded opposition to his proposals. Tonnage and poundage, as usual, brought in a certain amount: but ship-money was paid into the exchequer in smaller quantities even than before. The sheriffs in vain gave the necessary directions to the bailiffs of the hundreds: they no longer took the matter up with any zeal, but returned empty-handed. In this embarrassment A.D. 1640. Charles I betook himself to the East India Company, to which he proposed that the spices which it had imported should be handed over to the King, and sold on his account: but the Company would not trust the King either with their wares or their capital[189]. Foreign capitalists or governments were then solicited in the King’s name. But the former, the Genoese for instance, demanded securities which he could not obtain for them, as they depended on the consent of the city of London: and the latter were engrossed in their own affairs. Application was secretly made to the French, and the prospect of an advantageous treaty was held out to them as a return for an adequate loan[190]: they were told that, if only a French ambassador were present in England, much might be effected in their interest. It is true that at this moment the Scots were neither supported nor even instigated by the French. But the latter were still less inclined to help King Charles to gain an advantage over Scotland. And what could possibly have been expected from the Spanish monarchy, which just at that time was plunged into the greatest difficulties? Whilst Charles was quarrelling with his subjects, the French had gained the mastery over the Spaniards: this was one of the years which decided the ascendancy of the former power on the Continent. But if there were no pecuniary resources available, in what manner could such an army as was required have been created? This deficiency was the reason why the Earl of Northumberland declined the command-in-chief which the King offered to him. The militia called out in the different counties was guilty of acts of violence which made its presence intolerable; and moreover it displayed an insubordination that was unparalleled. In some places the soldiers assaulted their officers; in others they refused to embark in the ships destined for a descent on the Scottish A.D. 1640. coast: the government no longer ventured to arm them. It was even found that the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose hierarchical system the soldiers ought to have maintained by their weapons, was insolently scorned and mimicked by them. In the army assembled at York there were no doubt trustworthy officers in considerable numbers, but the common soldiers were not of this character. Neither the Earl of Strafford nor the King ventured to lead their troops against the Scots, and besides, their army was too weak for a serious attack. They could not but expect such events as those which had occurred in the entrenchments by the river Tyne.

In the Privy Council misunderstandings and dissensions broke out. Pembroke and Holland absented themselves on different pretexts, in reality merely to avoid taking part any longer in its deliberations.

Things had now come to a crisis: the springs which the government had been accustomed to set in motion lost all their elasticity. No one would any longer concern himself about its designs and undertakings, about what it did or left undone[191]: its commands and instructions had no longer any hold: that free co-operation was withheld without which a government can do nothing.

Not even among the Anglican clergy, whose cause the King had intended to conduct, did any real agreement with his system exist. The majority rejected the canons of the last Convocation. There were formal reasons enough for such rejection, as the Convocation had continued to sit after the dissolution of Parliament; but the substance of the canons were still more fatal to their acceptance. It was thought dangerous for the crown itself that the doctrine of the divine right of bishops was laid down in them, for how easily, it was remarked, might that lead to the assertion of a claim to independence! The oath demanded of the clergy was refused on the ground that it was illegal and contrary to the royal supremacy[192].

A.D. 1640.

But if the clergy of the State Church were dissatisfied, what was to be expected from the dissenting clergy and their supporters? The Puritans hailed the inroad of the Scots and even their occupation of Newcastle as a victory. For they thought that the King would now be forced to convene a Parliament, and that that body would overthrow the government, which had now drawn universal hatred upon itself, and would restore the ancient rights and liberties of England.

FOOTNOTES:

[181] ‘Sexte acte rescissory—it rescindes all former actes of parliament, which grantes to the kirk or kirkmen the priviledge of ryding and wotting in parliament;—nynthe acte called statutarie, ordaining parliaments to be holdin every three yeires.’ Balfour, Annals ii. 376.