A history of England principally in the seventeenth century, Volume 2 (of 6)

by Leopold von Ranke

CHAPTER IX.
FORMATION OF A NEW MINISTRY. TUMULTUOUS AGITATION IN THE CAPITAL.

The King was and remained determined to give way on neither point: while the anti-episcopalian tendencies were gaining the upper hand in the Commons, he had in a measure newly constituted the episcopal bench. The vacant sees, of which there was a great number, he filled without any limitation of their authority: in order to give proof of his genuine Protestant sentiments, he chose learned men of moderate views. Dr. Prideaux, one of the best professors at Oxford, a scholar and logician, and possessed of the most extensive theological learning, obtained the bishopric of Worcester. Dr. Brownrigge, a Cambridge Fellow, and possessing the sort of intellect at once solid and versatile, which is calculated to shine in public discussions, received the see of Exeter; Westfield, a popular preacher, that of Bristol. Bishop Hall, whose moderation had brought him under suspicion of being inclined to Presbyterianism, was advanced to the bishopric of Norwich; and Bishop Williams of Lincoln, who at the moment had developed a rare episcopal activity, to the archbishopric of York. Thus it was not the adherents of the Canterbury system, the old friends of Laud, who obtained the preference. The King wished to give the Church representatives free from all suspicion of a leaning towards Catholicism; and by this he caused the most thorough satisfaction to all the friends of the Church.

On November 25, the third day after that stormy sitting, he returned to London: once more he was welcomed with joyful sympathy, and as heartily as he could wish. The A.D. 1641. Recorder, in the name of the city, expressed confidence that he would defend the established religion: the King answered that he would prove his love to the people by maintaining intact the laws of the realm and of religion, as they had stood under his father and Queen Elizabeth—as if with a presentiment of the coming storm, he added, even at the risk of his life and all that was dear to him[289]. He had just confirmed the city in its rights, and restored the possessions in Ireland which had been taken away under Strafford. To prove their gratitude the magistrates had invited him to a banquet in Guildhall. On the way thither, as well as in going thence by torchlight to Whitehall, he was greeted with triumphant shouts. He derived thence a conviction that he would have the general voice in his favour if it came to open war between him and the Parliament: and that war was imminent no one could doubt.

On December 1 the Remonstrance was presented to the King at Hampton Court, by a deputation of the Commons. It was accompanied by a petition, in which the two chief demands, on which all the rest depended, were repeated in strong terms—that he would deprive the bishops of their temporal authority, and moderate their spiritual power so far that all oppression in doctrine, government and discipline should cease—that he would banish the malignants from his council, and admit no influence from the opposite side, however near or high the quarter from which it came. The request was appended that the King would not restore to the rebels their forfeited possessions in England, but keep them for the public service. At this and some other points the King let an exclamation of ironical astonishment or disapproval escape him; at the rest he exhibited neither anger nor annoyance, he only expressed the wish that the Remonstrance should not be published without his concurrence.

He had undoubtedly however resolved to resist with all his might the purposes disclosed in it. On the day after the presentation of the petition he showed this by a proclamation A.D. 1641. which, in opposition to the ordinance of the Parliamentary commission, forbade all deviation from the Book of Common Prayer. In relation to the other disputed question he acted in the same manner as in reference to spiritual affairs. It had hitherto remained doubtful on what principle the highest posts not yet disposed of should be filled up: in the last few months there had been again a talk of introducing men like Hollis and Pym into the highest ranks of the administration[290]. Even for the household posts there were candidates who reckoned on the support of Parliament. When however the opposition, which it was hoped had been lulled, again exhibited itself in so direct and implacable a form, the King would no longer think of any such approximation, as it would in fact have been endorsing the claims of the Commons. The dignity of Lord Steward, to which the Lower House wished to see the Earl of Pembroke appointed, was conferred by Charles on James Stuart, Duke of Lennox and Richmond, who, like his ancestors, was in the confidence of the royal family. Just as little was he disposed to entrust the office of Lord Treasurer to the Earl of Salisbury, the son of Robert Cecil: he named as Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Colepepper, one of the leaders of the minority. The two Vanes lost their posts, the elder to his bitter chagrin the Secretaryship of State, in which he had grown grey; and Lord Falkland was induced to undertake it. Edward Hyde as yet received no office, though he took part in all deliberations: he busied himself in answering the Remonstrance which he had so vainly resisted at the time. But the soul of the ministry was Lord Digby, another of Charles I’s advisers who came over to him from the opposition. The Queen asserted that she had by her personal intervention induced him to change sides. After he had, in the debate on the Bill of Attainder, broken with the majority in the Commons, which threatened to make him answer for his language, he was transferred to the Upper House, and obtained a post about the King’s person. He was a man of universal culture, who had seen many countries, and possessed very varied knowledge, amiable when he liked, and spirited, at once versatile and A.D. 1641. resolute. His speeches are favourably distinguished by good taste and happy expression from the style of his contemporaries: in the history of parliamentary eloquence he deserves a place. He found his chief support in his father, Lord Bristol, the only one of those who had been admitted into the council at the beginning of the year who exerted any real influence. Charles I once more selected from Parliament an enemy of Buckingham, whom he had attacked with the help of Parliament in former times. Now however their sentiments were no longer those prevalent in Parliament: both father and son had become favourable to Spain and to royalty.

Regarded in the light of later events it may seem strange that the King should have chosen his ministers from the minority and not from the majority. At the moment however the prospect was adverse to the demands of Parliament: while the King was sure of a large minority in the Lower House, of a majority in the Lords, of the great episcopal interest, and of a favourable sentiment among the people, he thought that he need not fear a hostile majority. The Queen in the course of December believed that her party would supplant, conquer, and punish the opposition.

The French ambassador distinguished between the Spanish cabal, and the other which consisted of his friends. ‘Each of them,’ said he, at the beginning of December, ‘does all it can to ruin the other. The Spanish party has been strengthened by the arrival of the King; he has a great idea of the strength of his adherents in both houses, and hopes with their aid to be able to restore his authority.’ In Parliament there grew up against Bristol and Digby a hatred similar to that which had once been felt against Strafford: on the other hand Holland, Essex, Say, Hertford, saw themselves threatened in their offices by the court party. It was still very doubtful which side would remain masters of the field: meanwhile the leaders of the Commons had reason to fear for their lives.

When the nature of the opposing principles and the strength of the parties embodying them were such as to produce a sort of equilibrium, or state of suspense, a change in the municipal representation in London, which went in favour of the revolutionary cause, was of all the greater moment.

A.D. 1641.

Although Episcopacy was liked by the magistrates and wealthy classes, Presbyterian opinions preponderated on the whole, and decidedly so in the middle and lower classes. The zealous and well-attended sermons, in which religious exhortation bore also a political character, contributed greatly to this. How great must have been the confusion when the deviations from Anglican usage which had been introduced under the protection of Parliament, were pronounced invalid, and had to be abandoned[291]. It is very intelligible that the declaration of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in favour of the bishops should have been met by counter manifestations on the part of the commonalty. At the beginning of December a petition was prepared in the city, and accepted in spite of the opposition of the Lord Mayor, in which the city adhered to the views of the majority in the Lower House, and fully adopted as its own the idea already prevalent there, of excluding the popish lords and the bishops from the Upper House. The great contest on the relations of Church and State which divided the nation was first fought out in the city of London. A considerable part of the public authority was here in the hands of the Common Council: those elected to a seat there had come to enjoy almost a personal life-long right, and it was the first step to the magisterial bench. Hitherto men of moderate opinions, such as had been expressed on the occasion of the King’s return, had had the upper hand there: now however the city populace found them not zealous enough for religion, and too much inclined to make terms with the court. Their chief crime was intending to petition in favour of Episcopacy and the Book of Common Prayer. At the new elections, which took place at this time in the various parishes and wards, a sudden change was made. The adherents of the government and of the bishops, such as Benyon and Drake, were rejected, and zealous Presbyterians were elected instead, though they might be less wealthy: many belonged to the class of artisans[292].