BRITAIN. 



573 



in abandoning tlie Spanish war ; but, instead of this, 

 1 while embroiled with his own subjects, and with the 

 half of Europe for his enemies, be wantonly added 

 France to the number : a temerity really bordering 

 on madnces. This, too, was a war of Buckingham's 

 creating ; and the motives to it would appear incre- 

 dible, if the violence and profligacy of his character 

 were not known. At the time when Charles mar- 

 ried, by proxy, the Princess Henrietta, Bucking- 

 ham had appeared at Paris, to grace the scene of 

 splendid festivity : a scene the best fitted tor his su- 

 perficial accomplishments ; and had attracted admi- 

 ration from the Queen of France herself. In the 

 spirit of ambitious gallantry, he was preparing to re- 

 turn upon a new embassy, after he had brought Hen- 

 rietta to England ; when Richelieu, the minister, him- 

 self a disappointed lover of the queen, occasioned a 

 message from France, to decline the honour of his 

 vioit. In a romantic passion, Buckingham swore 

 that he would see the queen in spite of all the power 

 of France, and determined to embroil the- two king- 

 doms in war. After several unavailing provocations 

 to make the French declare war,-)- he persuaded the 

 king openly to espouse the cause of the Hugonots, 

 whose leader, the Duke de Soubize, was then in 

 L ndon. The foolish favourite himself set sail with 

 100 ships and 7000 men to assist the Hugonots of 

 Rochelle, who, uninformed of his designs, shut their 

 gates against him. Instead of attacking the /ertile 

 and defenceless isle of Oleron, he bent his course to 

 Rhe, which was well fortified. After allowing the 

 garrison of St Martyn to be well victualled, by his 

 negligence, he first attempted to starve it ; and, de- 

 spairing of that object, sacrificed his men in storming 

 the place without having made a breach. The small 

 fort of Prie, which he had overlooked in his advance, 

 poured out a force on his retreat, which converted it 

 into a route ; and, having embarked with a third part 

 of the force which he had taken out, he returned to 

 England covered with disgrace. 



Buckingham and his master might well tremble at 

 the prospect of meeting a third parliament, after ha- 

 ving squandered the money, illegally extorted from 

 a nation already on the point of insurrection, in 

 schemes of ambitious folly and disaster : But, in such 

 a state of men's minds, it was unsafe to attempt rai- 

 sing money without a parliament. 



From the king's declaration at opening the session, 

 that, if the parliament would not do their duty in 

 contributing to the necessities of the state, he must, 

 in the discharge of his conscience, use the means 

 which God had put into his hands : the commons 

 foresaw, that, upon the first disagreement with his 

 majesty, they might expect to be dismissed. Their 

 decency and dignity, however, rose with the advan- 

 tageous ground which so imprudent a threat afford- 

 ed them. At the same time, while cautious, they 

 were vigorous ; and the most enlightened views of 

 the rights of the people, the most definite ideas of 

 civil liberty, and the most spirited remonstrances a- 

 gainst the recent arbitrary measures of taxation and 

 imprisonment, were held up in all the venerable and 

 primitive simplicity of our language. The necessity 



of redress of grievances being admitted Ly the whole Bricain. 



house, even by the court members a. vote was passed "~~~i 



against arbitrary imprisonments and forced loans. "Jgj" 

 Five subsidies were voted to the king,, which, though 

 inferior tu his wants, weie gratefully received. When 

 his majesty's thankfulness was announced, the Duke 

 of Buckingham's approbation was mentioned by a 

 crown minister ; but the tiouyj treated the conjunc- 

 tion of his name with strong disapprobation : a symp- 

 tom that real respect for royalty was not yet extin- 

 guished, which, if Charles had been docile, might 

 have taught him an important lesson. 



The supply, though voted, was not immediately 

 passed into a law ; the commons resolved to employ 

 the interval in obtaining the sanction of the whole 

 legislature to their petition of rights against for- 

 ced loans, benevolences, taxes without consent of 

 parliament, arbitrary imprisonments, the billeting of 

 soldiers, and martial law. The bill was called a Pe- Petition of 

 tition of Right ; because it was only a confirmation right, 

 of the ancient constitution, not an assumption of a 

 new one. The peers leaning, in this question, to 

 the side of royalty, proposed to moderate the peti- 

 tion of right, by adding to a general declaration of 

 the rights of property and person ; that, in case the 

 sovereign be, from absolute necessity, obliged to im- 

 prison a subject, " he shall be petitioned to declare, 

 that, within a convenient time, he shall, and will ex- 

 press the cause of imprisonment ; and will, upon a 

 cause so expressed, leave the prisoner to be tried by 

 the common law of the land." On a conference be- 

 ing held between the two houses, the commons re- 

 fused to annihilate their petition, by such a compro- 

 mise. The king wished no less than the lords, to 

 cheat the national spirit by some such general decla- 

 ration. He did his utmost to evade the petition, by 

 repeated messages to the house ; in which he offered 

 his royal word, that there should be no. more infringe- 

 ments on the liberty of the subject. These promises 

 had no effect on the commons, who pressed their bill 

 upon the upper house. At last it passed it also, [ ><lsse( j ],,, 

 and only waited the royal assent. That assent, the both 

 king had neither the courage to give nor to refuse huu-es of 

 decidedly. Coming to the House of Peers, and being parliament, 

 seated in his chair of state, instead of giving the ex- 

 pected concise assent, he made the following answer : 

 " The king willeth, that right be done according to 

 the laws and customs of the realm, and that the sta- 

 tutes be put into execution, that his subjects may 



have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppres- _. 



, . r . . , ' , ,*?. . rr 1 he royal 



sion, contrary to their just rights and liberties ; to a , S( . at re _ 



the preservation whereof, he holds himself in con- fused to it 

 science, as much obliged as of his own prerogative." 

 The commons returned in the highest indignation 



at this answer. Their displeasure was first vented on 



T _ , , . r . mint ot Jjr 



the clergyman, Dr Mainwanng, who had preached, Mainwar- 

 and, by special command from the king, had publish- j n g. 

 ed a sermon containing doctrines subversive of all 

 civil liberty. He was impeached by the commons, 

 and sentenced by the peers, to be fined, imprisoned, 

 and suspended. But the session was no sooner over, 

 than Charles pardoned and promoted him to a con- 

 siderable living ; and, at the distance of a few years, 



By making Charles dismiss the queen's French domestics, anil encouraging the English ships to seize on those of France. 



