,x INTRODUCTORY. 



sequences by the Act of Indemnity which William insisted 

 on passi; 



The dissidence between King and Parliament is curiously 

 illustrated by the different attitude which each took in 

 relation to the events which occurred in the Thirty Years' 

 War. The nation was resolved to assist the king's son-in- 

 law, the titular king of Bohemia, in the recovery of the 

 Palatinate. The Commons therefore made the king the 

 largest grant ever offered, and provided for its levy in the 

 shortest possible time. To secure the grant for the purpose 

 which they had in view, they appropriated 1 it, to use a 

 more modern Parliamentary term, and named the Commis- 

 sioners who should superintend its expenditure. The king 

 could hardly be offended, but he was certainly far from 

 pleased with the zeal of Calvinists in defence of a Calvinistic 

 prince, who had attempted to usurp part of the divine right 

 of the House of Austria. 



If James never had the respect of his people, Charles 

 never had their confidence, even for an hour. Posterity has 

 been more generous to him than his contemporaries were, 

 just as it has been to his grandmother. He owes a good 

 deal to the pen of Dr. Gauden, the probable author of the 

 Kikon Basilike. He owes more to the pencil of Vandyke, 

 who bestowed refinement on his face and grace on his gait. 

 He owes much more to the grim conclave of regicides, to 

 Bradshaw and Harrison, to Cromwell and Ludlow. He owes 

 most of all to himself, to his own dignity when he was fore- 

 doomed and hopeless. The sternest republican, the bitterest 

 enemy of kings, the man who is most fully acquainted with 

 the political vices which stained the character of Charles, 

 cannot but be affected by the tragedy of his death. 



After the death of Buckingham, the two ministers of 

 Charles were Wentworth and Laud. The former was a man 

 of dauntless courage, of considerable administrative ability, 

 of implacable purpose. He hated as only a renegade does, 



1 Sec Protests of the Lords, No. i. 



