The Leading Facts of History Series The Leading Facts of English History by D. H. Montgomery "Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how thepresent came to be what it is. " -- Stubbs, "Constitutional History ofEngland" Revised Edition Ginn and CompanyBoston - New York - Chicago - London Copyright, 1887, 1889, 1898, 1901, 1912, by D. H. MontgomeryEntered at Stationers' HallAll Rights Reserved313. 8 The Athenaeum PressGinn and Company - Proprietors - Boston - U. S. A. I dedicate this bookto the memory of my friendJ. J. M. Who generously gave time, laborand valuable suggestionstoward the preparation of the first editionfor the press Preface Most of the materials for this book were gathered by the writer duringseveral years' residence in England. The attempt is here made to present them in a manner that shallillustrate the law of national growth, in the light thrown upon it bythe foremost English historians. The present edition has beencarefully revised throughout, and, to a considerable extent, rewritten. The authorities for the different periods will be found in theClassified List of Books in the Appendix; but the author desires toparticularly acknowledge his indebtedness to the works of Bright, Brewer, Gardiner, Guest, Green, Lingard, Oman, and Traill; to thesource books of Lee and of Kendall; and to the constitutionalhistories of Stubbs, Hallam, May, and Taswell-Langmead. The author's hearty thanks are due to the late Professor W. F. Allen, of The University of Wisconsin; Professor Philip Van Ness Myers, ofCollege Hill, Ohio; Professor George W. Knight, of Ohio StateUniversity; and to a number of teachers and friends for many valuablesuggestions which they have kindly made. David H. Montgomery Contents Leading Dates xviiiPeriodI. Britain before Written History beganII. The Geography of England in Relation to its HistoryIII. Roman Britain; A Civilization which did not civilizeIV. The Coming of the Saxons[1]; the Coming of the NormansV. The Norman Sovereigns[1]VI. The Angevins, or Plantagenets; Rise of the English Nation[1]VII. The Self-Destruction of FeudalismVIII. Absolutism of the Crown; the Reformation; the New Learning[1]IX. The Stuart Period; the Divine Right of Kings versus the Divine Right of the PeopleX. India gained; America lost--Parliamentary Reform--Government by the PeopleA General Summary of English Constitutional HistoryConstitutional DocumentsGenealogical Descent of the English Sovereigns[2]A Classified List of BooksSpecial Reading References on Topics of English History [1] Each of these six Periods is followed by a General ReferenceSummary of that period. See pp. 43, 71, 141, 174, 230, 316[2] For special Genealogical Tables see pp. 124, 140, 161, 172, 179, 207, 323 Suggestions to Teachers The writer of this brief manual is convinced that no hard-and-fastrules can be laid down for the use of a textbook in history. Hebelieves that every teacher will naturally pursue a system of his own, and that by so doing he will get better results than if he attempt tofollow a rigid mechanical course which makes no allowance forindividual judgment and gives no scope to originality of method. The author would simply suggest that where time is limited it might bewell to omit the General Reference Summaries (see, for instance, p. 43) and to read the text as a continuous narrative. Then theimportant points in each day's lesson might be talked over at the endof the recitation or on the following day. On the other hand, where time permits a thorough course of study, allof the topics might be taken up and carefully examined, and theGeneral Reference Summaries may be consulted by way of review and foradditional information. The pupil can also be referred to one or morebooks (see the Classified List of Books in the Appendix) on thesubjects under consideration. Instead of the teacher's asking a prescribed set of routine questions, the pupil may be encouraged to ask his on. Thus in undertaking theexamination of a given topic--say, the Battle of Hastings (SS69-75), the issue of the Great Charter (SS195-202), or "The IndustrialRevolution" and Watt's invention of an improved Steam Engine(S563)--there are five inquiries which naturally arise and whichpractically cover the whole ground. These are: 1. When did the event occur? 2. Where did it occur?3. How did it occur? 4. What caused it? 5. What came of it? It willsoon be seen that these five questions call attention first to thechronology of he event, secondly to its geography, thirdly to thenarrative describing it, fourthly to its relations to precedingevents, and fifthly to its relations to subsequent events. The pupil will find that while in some instances he can readily obtainanswers for all of these inquiries, --for example, in the case of theGreat Charter, --in other instances he will have to content himselfwith the answer to only a part of the questions, perhaps, in fact, toonly a single one; nevertheless the search will always proveinstructive and stimulating. Such a method of study, or one akin toit, will teach the pupil to think and to examine for himself. It willlead him to see the inevitable limitations and the apparentcontradictions of history. It will make him realize, as pehapsnothing else can, that the testimony of different writers must betaken like that of witnesses in a court of justice. He will see thatwhile authorities seldem entirely agree respecting details, they willgenerally agree in regard to the main features of important events. Last of all, and best as well as last, these five questions will befound to open up new and broader fields of inquiry, and they mayperhaps encourage the pupil to continue his work on some subject inwhich he becomes interested, beyond the limits of the textbook and theclassroom. Pursued in this way, the study of history will cease to be a drydelving for dead facts in the dust of a dead past. It will rousethought, it will quicken the pulse of an intellectual life, and itwill end by making the pupil feel the full force of the great truth:that the present is an outgrowth of the past, and that it is only whenwe know what men have done, that we can hope to understnad what theyare now doing. D. H. M. Leading Dates (The most important constitutional dates are marked by an asterisk) 55. B. C. Caesar lands in Britain (S18) 449. A. D. Coming of the Saxons (S36) 878. Alfred's Treaty of Wedmore (S56) 1066. Battle of Hastings (S74)*1100. Henry I's Charter of Liberties (S135)*1164. Constitutions of Clarendon (S165)*1190. Rise of Free Towns (S183) 1204. John's Loss of Normandy (S191)*1215. John grants Magna Carta (SS198, 199)*1265. De Montfort's Parliament (S213)*1279. Statute of Mortmain (S226) 1282. Conquest of Wales (S218)*1295. First Complete Parliament (S217)*1297. Confirmation of the Charters (S220) 1336. Rise of Wool Manufacture (S236) 1338. The Hundred Years' War (S237) 1346. Batty of Cr'ecy; Cannon (S238)*1350. Origin of Trial by Jury (S176) 1378. Wycliffe's Bible; Lollards (S254) 1381. Revolt of the Labor Class (S251) 1390. Chaucer writes (S253)*1393. Great Act of Praemunire (S243) 1455. Wars of the Roses (SS299, 316) 1477. Caxton introduces Printing (S306) 1485. Battle of Bosworth Field (S315) 1497. Cabot discovers America (S335) 1509. The New Learning (S339)*1534. The Act of Supremacy (S349) 1536. The Monasteries destroyed (S352)*1549. Protestantism established (S362)*1554. Mary restores Catholicism (S370) 1558. Rise of the Puritans (S378) 1559. Act of Uniformity (S382) 1582, 1605. Bacon's New Philosophy (S393) 1587. Mary Queen of Scots executed (S397) 1588. Destruction of the Armada (S400) 1588. Rise of the English Navy (SS401, 408) 1589(?). Shakespeare's First Play (S392) 1601. The First Poor Law (SS403, 607) 1604. The "Divine Right of Kings" (S419) 1607. Virginia permanently settled (S421) 1611. The "King James Bible" (S418) 1622. First Regular Newspaper (S422)*1628. The Petition of Right (S433) 1642. The Great Civil War (S441)*1649. Charles I beheaded; the Commonwealth established (SS448, 450) 1651. Navigation Act (S459) 1660. Restoration of Monarchy (S467)*1660. Abolition of Feudal Dues (S482) 1665. The Plague in London (S474) 1666. Great Fire in London (S474) 1670. Secret Treaty of Dover (S476) 1673. The Test Act (S477) 1678. The Disabling Act (S478)*1678. Rise of Political Parties (S479)*1679. Habeas Corpus Act (S482) 1684. Newton's Law of Gravitation (S481) 1685. Monmouth's Rebellion (S486) 1687. Declaration of Indulgence (S488) 1688. The Great Revolution (S491)*1689. The Bill of Rights (S497)*1689. Mutiny Act, Toleration Act (S496) 1690. Battle of the Boyne (S500) 1694. National Debt; Bank of England (S503)*1695. Liberty of the Press (SS498, 556) 1697. Peace of Ryswick (S502)*1701. Act of Settlement (S497)*1707. England and Scotland united (S513) 1713. Peace of Utrecht (S512) 1720. The South Sea Bubble (S536)*1721. Rise of Cabinet Government (S534) 1738. Rise of the Methodists (S546) 1748. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (S542) 1751-1757. English Conquests in India (S544)*1759. The English take Quebec (S545)*1776. American Independence (S552)*1782. American Independence acknowledged (S553) 1784. Mail Coaches begin to run (S566) 1785. "Industrial Revolution"; Canals; Watt's Steam Engine (S563) 1796. Vaccination introduced (S537) 1799. First Savings Bank (S621)*1800. Great Britain and Ireland united (S562) 1805. Battle of Trafalgar (S557) 1807. Steam Navigation begins (S565) 1812. War with America (S558) 1815. Battle of Waterloo (S559) 1819. The Six Acts (S571) 1829. Catholic Emancipation (S573) 1830. First Passenger Railway (S584)*1832. Great Suffrage Reform (S582)*1835. Municipal Reform (S599) 1837-1911. Colonial Expansion (S618)*1838-1848. Rise of Chartrists (S591) 1839. Postage Reform (S590) 1845. First Telegraph (S614) 1845. Irish Famine (S593) 1846. Repeal of the Corn Laws (S594) 1857. Rebellion in India (S597) 1858. Jews enter Parliament (S599) 1859. Darwin's Evolution (S606) 1861. The Trent Affair (S598) 1866. Permanent Atlantic Cable (S595) 1867. Second Suffrage Reform (S600) 1869. Partial Woman Suffrage (S599) 1869. Free Trade established (S594) 1870. The Education Act (S602)*1870. Civil Service Reform (S609) 1870. Irish Land Act (S603) 1871-1906. Trades Unions Acts (S616) 1884. Third Suffrage Reform (S600)*1888, 1894. Local Government Acts (S608) 1899. The Boer War (S623)*1906. Labor enters Parliament (S628) 1908. Old-Age Pensions (S628) 1910. Imperial Federation (S625)*1911. Parliament Act; Salary Act (S631) THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY FIRST PERIOD[1] "This fortress built by Nature for herselfAgainst infection and the hand of ewar;This happy breed of men this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands;This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. " Shakespeare, "Richard II" BRITAIN BEFORE WRITTEN HISTORY BEGAN 1. The Earliest Inhabitants of England. England was inhabited for many centuries before its written historybegan. The earliest races that possessed the country were stunted, brutal savages. They used pieces of rough flint for tools andweapons. From flint too they produced fire. They lived by huntingand fishing, and often had no homes but caves and rock shelters. Following the Cave-Men came a race that had learned how to grind andpolish the stone of which they made their hatchets, knives, andspears. This race cleared and cultivated the soil to some extent, andkept cattle and other domestic animals. [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. 2. The Britons Finally, a large-limbed, fair-haired, fierce-eyed people invaded andconquered the island. They came from the west of Europe. They madetheir axes, swords, and spears of bronze, --a metal obtained by meltingand mingling copper and tin. These implements were far superior toany made of stone. The new people were good farmers; they exported grain, cattle, andhides to Gaul (France), and mined and sold tin ore to merchants whocame by sea from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. This strong and energetic race, known as Celts, eventually calledthemselves Britons. By the time they had adopted that name they hadmade a great step forward, for they had learned how to mine andmanufacture iron, --the most useful metal known to man; from it theyforged scythes, swords, and spears. Such were the people Caesar met when he invaded Britain, fifty-fiveyears before the beginning of the Christian era. The great Romangeneral called the Britons "barbarians"; but they compelled him torespect them, for they were a race of hard fighters, who fearlesslyfaced even his veteran troops. 3. The Religion of the Britons; the Druids. The Britons held some dim faith in an overruling Power and in a lifebeyond the grave. They offered human sacrifices to that Power, andwhen they buried one of their warriors, they buried his spear with himso that he might fight as good a battle in the next world as he hadfought in this one. Furthermore, the Britons had a class of priests called Druids, whoseem to have worshiped the heavenly bodies. These priests also actedas prophets, judges, and teachers. Caesar tells us that the Druidsinstructed the youth about the stars and their motions, about themagnitude of the earth, the nature of things, and "the might and powerof the immortal gods. " More than this, the Druids probably erected the massive stone columnsof that strange stucture, open to the sky, whose ruins may still beseen on the lonely expanse of Salisbury Plain. There, on one of thefallen blocks, Carlyle and Emerson sat, when they made theirpilgrimage to Stonehenge[1] many years ago, and discussed the lifeafter death, with other questions of Druid philosophy. [1] Stonehenge: This remarkable structure is believed to be theremains of a pre-historic monument to the dead, which was, perhaps, used also as a place of worship. It stands on Salisbury Plain aboutnine miles northeast of the city of Salisbury. (See map facingp. 38. ) It consists of a broken circle of huge upright stones, someof which are still connected at the top by blocks of flat stones. Within this circle, which is about one hundred feet in circumference, is a circle of smaller stones. The structure has no roof. The recentdiscover of stains of bronze or copper on one of the great stones, seven feet below the surface, strengthens the theory that Stonehengewas constructed by the race who used bronze implements and who werelater known as Britons (S2). Consult Professor C. Oman's "Englandbefore the Norman Conquest"; see also R. W. Emerson's "EnglishTraits, " and O. W. Holmes's fine poem on the "Broken Circle, "suggested by a visit to Stonehenge. 4. What we owe to Prehistoric Man. We have seen that the Romans called the Britons "barbarians" (S2). But we should bear in mind that all the progress which civilizationhas since made is built on the foundations which those primitive racesslowly and painfully laid during unnumbered centuries of toil andstrife. To them we owe man's wonderful discovery of the power to producefire. To them we are indebted for the invention of the first tools, the first weapons, and the first attempts at architecture andpictorial art. They too tamed the dog, the horse, and our otherdomestic animals. They also discovered how to till the soil and howto mine and manufacture metals. In fact those "barbarians" who livedin "the childhood of the world, " and who never wrote a line ofhistory, did some things equal to any which history records, for outof wild plants and trees they developed the grains and fruits whichnow form an indispensable part of "our daily bread. " Finally, through their incessant struggles with nature, and incessantwars among themselves, those rude tribes learned to establish forms ofself-government for towns or larger districts. Many of their salutarycustoms--their unwritten laws--still make themselves felt in theworld. [1] They help bind the English nation together. They do evenmore than that, for their influence can be traced in the history ofnewer nations, which, like the American republic, have descended fromthe great mother-countries of Europe. [1] For example, parts of the "Common Law" can be traced back, throughEnglish "dooms" (decisions or laws), to prehistoric times. SeeE. A. Freeman in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (10th edition, VIII, 276). The New England "Town Meeting" can be likewise traced back tothe German ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons. [Figures: Carved bone, flint dagger, and bronze spearhead] SECOND PERIOD[1] "Father Neptune one day to Dame Freedom did say, `If ever I lived upon dry land, The spot I should hit on would be little Britain. 'Says Freedom, `Why that's my own island. 'O, 't is a snug little island, A right little, tight little island!Search the world round, none can be foundSo happy as this little island. " T. Dibdin THE GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND IN RELATION TO ITS HISTORY[2] 5. Geographical Names given by the Britons and the Romans The steps of English history may be traced to a considerable extent bygeographical names. Thus the names of most of the prominent naturalfeatures, the hills, and especially the streams, originated with theBritons. They carry us back to the Bronze Age (S2) and perhapsearlier. Familiar examples of this are found in the name MalvernHills, and in the word Avon ("the water"), which occurs inStratford-on-Avon, and is repeated many times in England and Wales. The Roman occupation of Britain is shown by the names ending in"cester" or "chester" (a corrupton of castra, a military camp). ThusLeicester, Worcester, Dorchester, Colchester, Chester, indicate thatthese places were walled towns and military stations. [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. [2] As this Period necessarily contains references to certain eventswhich occurred in later history, it may be advantageously reviewed bythe pupil after he has reached an advanced stage in his course ofstudy. 6. Saxon and Danish Names. On the other hand, the names of many of the great political divisions, especially in the south and east of England, mark the Saxonsettlements, such as Essex (the East Saxons), Sussex (the SouthSaxons), Middlesex (the Middle or Central Saxons). In the same waythe settlement of the two divisions of the Angles on the coast isindicated by the names Norfolk (the North folk) and Suffolk (the Southfolk). (See map facing p. 24. ) The conquests and settlements of the Danes are readily traced by theDanish termination "by" (an abode or town), as in Derby, Rugby, Grimsby. They occur with scarcely an exception north of London. Theydate back to the time when King Alfred made the Treaty of Wedmore(S56), A. D. 878, by which the Danes agreed to confine themselves tothe northern half of the country. (See map facing p. 32. ) 7. Norman Names. The conquest of England by the Normans created but few new names. These, as in the case of Richmond and Beaumont, generally show wherethe invading race built a castle or an abbey, or where, as inMontgomeryshire, they conquered and held a district in Wales. While each new invasion left its mark on the country, it will be seenthat the greater part of the names of counties and towns are of Roman, Saxon, or Danish origin. With some few and comparatively unimportantexceptions, the map of England remains to-day in this respect whatthose races made it more than a thousand years ago. 8. Climate. With regard to the climate of England, --its insular form, geographicalposition, and its exposure to the warm currents of the Gulf Streamgive it a temperature generally free from great extremes of heat orcold. On this account, it is favorable to the full and healthydevelopment of both animal and vegetable life. Nowhere is greater vigor or longevity found. Charles II said that hewas convinced that there was not a country in the world so far as heknew, where one could spend so much time out of doors comfortably asin England. 9. Industrial Division of England. From an industrial and historical point of view, the country fallsinto two divisions. Let a line be drawn from Hull, on the northeastcoast, to Leicester, in the Midlands, and thence to Exmouth, on thesouthwest coast. (See map on p. 10. ) On the upper or northwest sideof that line will lie the coal and iron which constitute the greaterpart of the mineral wealth and form the basis of the manufacturingindustry of England; here too are all the largest towns except London. On the lower or southeast side of the line there will be acomparatively level surface of rich agricultural land, and most of thefine old cathedral cities with their historic associations; in aworld, the England of the past as contrasted with modern anddemocratic England, that part which has grown up since theintroduction of steam. 10. Eastern and Western Britain compared. As the southern and eastern coasts of Britain were in most directcommunication with the Continent, and were first settled, theycontinued until modern times to be the wealthiest, most civilized, andprogressive part of the island. Much of the western portion is arough, wild country. To it the East Britons retreated, keeping theirprimitive customs and language, as in Wales and Cornwall. In all the great movements of religious or political reform, up to themiddle of the seventeenth century, we find that the people of theeastern half of the island were usually on the side of a largermeasure of liberty; while those of the western half were generally infavor of increasing the power of the King and the Church. 11. Influence of the Island Form on the Roman Invasion Geologists tell us that Great Britain was once connected with themainland of western Europe. It was fortunate for Britain that thisconnection was severed and that it became an island. We see anillustration of this advantage in the case of the Roman invasion. Itwas easy for the Romans to march great armies into Gaul and takecomplete possession of that country, but it was with no littledifficulty that they sent fleets across the tempestuous waters of theChannel. This may have been one reason why they never succeeded inpermanently establishing their language and their laws in the islandof Britain. It is true that they conquered and held it for severalcenturies, but they never destroyed its individuality, --they neverLatinized it as they did France and Spain. 12. Influence of the Island Form on the Saxon Invasion. In like manner, when the northern tribes of Europe overran the RomanEmpire, they found themselves, in some measure, shut out from Britainby its wall of sea. The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles could not enter itin countless hordes, but only in small numbers and by occasionalattacks. Because of this, the invaders could only drive back theBritons by slow degrees, and they never entirely crushed them. Again, the conquerers could not build up a strong, united kinigdom, but they had to content themselves with establishing a number of pettykingdoms which were constantly at war with each other. Later, thewhole of England became subject to a sing sovereign. But the chiefmen of the separate kingdoms, which had now become simply shires orcounties, retained a certain degree of control over the government. This prevented the royal power from becoming the unchecked will of anarbitrary ruler. Finally, it may be said that the isolation ofEngland had much to do with the development of the strong individualcharacter of its people. 13. Influence of the Island Form on the Danes and Normans. In the course of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries the Danesinvaded England, but the sea prevented their coming all at once andwith overwhelming force. They got possession of the throne (S63) andpermanently established themselves in the northern half of thecountry. The English, however, held their own so well that the Daneswere eventually compelled to unite with them. Even when the Normansinvaded England and conquered it (SS74, 107), they felt obliged tomake many concessions to both the English and the Danes. The resultwas that every invasion of the island ended in a compromise, so thatno one race ever got complete predominance. In time all the elementsmingled and became one people. 14. Influence of the Channel in Later History. Furthermore, the immense protective value of the Channel to Englandmay be traced down to our own day. In the great crisis when Simon deMontfort was fighting (1264) to secure parliamentary representationfor the people (S213), King Henry III sought help from France. TheFrench monarcy got a fleet ready to send to England, but bad weatherheld it back, and Henry was obliged to concede De Montfort's demandsfor reform. [1] [1] W. Stubb's "Select Charters, " p. 401 Again, when the Spanish Armada swooped down upn England (1588) aterrible tempest dispersed a part of the enemy's fleet. Many of thevessels were wrecked (S399) and only a few were left to creep back, crippled and disheartened, to the ports of Spain. When QueenElizabeth publicly thanked the leaders of her valiant navy for whatthey had done to repel the Spanish forces, she also acknowledged howmuch England owed to the protective power of wind and wave. The same elements taught Napoleon a lesson which he never forgot. Hehad carefully planned an expedition against England (S557), butviolent and long-continued storms compelled him to abandon thehazardous undertaking (1804). The great French commander felt himselfinvincible on land, but he was obliged to confess that "a few leaguesof salt water" had completely out-generaled him. In fact, ever since England organized a regular navy (1512) theencircling arms of the ocean have been her closest and surest friend. They have exempted her from keeping up a large standing army and sopreserved her from the danger of military despotism at home. They toohave made her the greatest sea power, [1] and, at the same time, thegreatest colonizing power[2] the world has yet seen. They have alsomade her the greatest commercial power on the globe. [3] [1] The English navy far outranks that of any other nation in thenumber of its warships. [2] The English colonial possessions and "spheres of influence" coveran area of more than 11, 400, 000 square miles. (See map betweenpp. 422, 423. )[3] The total commerce of the United Kingdom in 1910 was nearly912, 000, 000 pounds and that of the British Empire exceeded1, 990, 680, 000 pounds. It is true that the use of steam for vessels of war has diminished thenatural protective service of the Channel, since a hostile fleet cannow move against England in almost any weather. Still, the "silverstreak, " as the English call that waterway, will always remain, insome degree, a defense against sudden invasion, except, of course, from a squadron of military airships. 15. England as a Commercial Center. In closing this period, the position of England, with respect tofacilities for commerce, deserves particular attention. In the firstplace the country has many excellent harbors; next, it is situated inthe ocean which is the great highway between the two continents havingthe highest civilization and the most constant intercourse. Finally, a glance at the maps on pages 185 and 420 will show thatgeographically England is located at about the center of the landmasses of the globe. It is evident that a large island so placed stands in the favorableposition for easy and rapid trade communications with every quarter ofthe world. For this reason England has been able to attain, and thusfar to maintain, the highest rank among maritime and commercialpowers. It is true that since the opening of the Suez Canal (1869)the trade with the Indies, China, and Japan has considerably changed. Many cargoes of teas, silks, spices, and other Eastern products, whichformerly went to London, Liverpool, or Southampton, to be reshipped todifferent countries of Europe, now pass by other routes direct to theconsumer. Furthermore, it is a question what effect the completion ofthe Panama Canal will have on English trade in parts of the Pacific. But for the present England retains her supremacy as the great carrierand distributor of the productions of the earth, --a fact which has hada very decided influence on her history, and on her relations withother nations, both in peace and war. [Industrial Map of England (S9)] THIRD PERIOD[1] "Force and Right rule the world: Force, till Right is ready. " Joubert ROMAN BRITAIN, 55 B. C. ; 43-410 A. D. A CIVILIZATION WHICH DID NOT CIVILIZE 16. Europe shortly before Caesar's Invasion of Britain. Before considering the Roman invasion of Britain let us take a glanceat the condition of Europe. We have seen that the tribes (S2) ofBritain, like those of Gaul (France), were not mere savages. On thecontrary, we know that they had taken more than one important step inthe path of progress; still the advance should not be overrated, fornorth of the shores of the Mediterranean there was no realcivilization. [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. 17. Caesar's Campaigns. Such was the state of Europe when Julius Caesar, who was governor ofGaul, but who aspired to be ruler of the world, set out on his firstcampaign against the tribes north of the Alps (58 B. C. ). In undertaking the war he had three objects in view: First, he wishedto crush the power of those restless hordes that threatened the safetyof the Roman Republic. Next, he sought military fame in the hope thatit would make him supreme ruler of that Republic. Lastly, he wantedmoney to maintain his army and to bribe the party leaders of Rome tohelp him carry out his political plans. To this end he compelledevery tribe which he conquered to pay him tribute in cash or slaves. 18. Caesar reaches Boulogne and crosses over to Britain, 55 B. C. In three years Caesar had subjugated the enemy in a succession ofvictories, and a great part of Europe lay helpless at his feet. Latein the summer of 55 B. C. He reached Boulogne on the coast of Gaul. Standing there, he could see the gleaming chalk cliffs of Britain, sovividly described in Shakespeare's "King Lear. "[1] [1] Shakespeare's "King Lear, " Act IV, scene vi. While encamped on the shore he "resolved, " he says, "to pass over intoBritain, having had trustworthy information that in all his wars withthe Gauls the enemies of the Roman commonwealth had constantlyreceived help from thence. "[2] [2] Caesar's "Gallic War, " Book IV. Embarking with a force of between eight and ten thousand men[3] ineighty small vessels, Caesar crossed the Channel and landed not farfrom Dover, where he overcame the Britons (S2), who made a desperateresistance. After a stay of a few weeks, during which he did notleave the coast, he returned to Gaul. [3] Caesar probably sailed about the 25th of August, 55 B. C. Hisforce consisted of two legions, the 7th and 10th. A legion varied atdifferent times from 3000 foot and 200 horse soldiers to 6000 foot and400 horse. 19. Caesar's Second Invasion of Britain. The next year (54 B. C. ), a little earlier in the season, Caesar made asecond invasion with a much larger force, and penetrated the country ashort distance north of the Thames. Before the September gales setin, he reembarked for the Continent, never to return. The total results of his two expeditions were a number of nativescarried as hostages to Rome, a long train of captives destined to besold in the slave markets, and some promises of tribute which theBritons never fulfilled. Tacitus, the Roman historian, says Caesar"did not conquer Britain; he only showed it to the Romans. " 20. The Third Invasion of Britain by the Romans, 43 A. D. For nearly a hundred years the Romans made no further attempt onBritain, but in 43 A. D. The Emperor Claudius invaded the island. After nine years' fighting, he overcame Caractacus, the leader of theBritons, and carried him in chains to Rome. The brave chief refusedto beg for life or liberty. "Can it be possible, " said he, as he wasled through the streets, "that men who live in such places as theseenvy us our wretched hovels!" "It was the dignity of the man, even inruins, " says the Roman historian, "which saved him. " The Emperor, struck with his bearing and his speech, ordered him to be set free. 21. The Romans plant a Colony in Britain, Llyn-din. Meanwhile the armies of the Empire had established a strong colony atColchester in the southeast of Britain. (See map facing p. 14. )There they built a temple and set up the statue of the EmperorClaudius, which the soldiers worshiped, both as a protecting god andas the representative of the Roman Empire. The army had also conquered other places. One of these was a littlenative settlement on a bend in the Thames where the river broadenedslightly. It consisted of a few miserable huts and a row ofintrenched cattle pens. It was called in the British tongue Llyn-dinor the Fort-on-the-pool. This name, which was pronounced withdifficulty by Roman lips, eventually became known wherever ships sail, trade reaches, or history is read, --London. 22. Expedition against the Druids. But in order to complete the conquest of the country, the Romangenerals resolved to crush the power of the Druids (S3), since thesepriests exhorted the Britons to refuse to surrender. The island ofAnglesey, off the northwest coast of Wales, was the stronghold towhich the Druids had retreated. (See map facing p. 14. ) As the Romansoldiers approached to attack them, they beheld the priests and womenstanding on the shore, with uplifted hands, uttering "dreadful prayersand imprecations. " For a moment the Roman troops hesitated; then they rushed upon theDruids, cut them to pieces, and cast their bodies into their ownsacred fires. From this blow Druidism as an organized faith neverrecovered, though traces of its religious rites still survive in theuse of the mistletoe at Christman and in May-day festivals. 23. Revolt of Boadicea (61). Still the power of the Latin legions was only partly established, forwhile the Roman general was absent with his troops at Anglesey, aformidable revolt had broken out in the east. A British chief, inorder to secure half of his property to his family at his death, leftit to be equally divided between his daughters and the Emperor. Thegovernor of the district, under the pretext that Boadicea, the widowof the dead chief, had concealed part of the property, seized thewhole of it. Boadicea protested. To punish her presumption, the Romans strippedand scourged her, and inflicted still more brutal and infamoustreatment on her daughters. Maddened by these outrages, Boadiceaappealed to her countrymen for vengeance. The enraged Britons fellupon London, and other places held by the Romans, burned them to theground, and slaughtered many thousand inhabitants. But in the endRoman forced gained the victory, and Boadicea took her own life ratherthan fall into the hands of her conqueror. The "warrior queen" died, let us trust, as the poet has represented, animated by the prophecy of the Druid priest that, -- "Rome shall perish--write that word In the blood that she has spilt;-- Perish, hopeless and abhorred, Deep in ruin, as in guilt. " [1] [1] Cowper's "Boadicea. " 24. Christianity introduced into Britain. Perhaps it was not long after this that Christianity made its way toBritain; if so, it crept in so silently that nothing certain can belearned of its advent. The first church, it is said, was built atGlastonbury, in the southeast of the island. (See map facing p. 38. )It was a long, shedlike structure of wickerwork. "Here, " says an oldwriter, [1] "the converts watched, fasted, preached, and prayed, havinghigh meditations under a low roof and large hearts within narrowwalls. " [1] Thomas Fuller's "Church History of Britain. " At first no notice was taken of the new religion. It was the faith ofthe poor and the obscure, and the Roman generals treated it withcontempt; but as it continued to spread, it caused alarm. The Roman Emperor was not only the head of the state, but the head ofreligion as well. He represented the power of God on earth: to himevery knee must bow (S21). But the Christians refused this homage. They put Christ first; for that reason they were dagerous to thestate, and were looked--[SECTION MISSING]--rebels, or as men likely tobecome so. 25. Persecution of British Christians; [SECTION MISSING] ________________last of the third century the Roman Emperor / \root out this pernicious belief. The first | |He refused to sacrifice to the Roman | | | |But the ancient historian[2] says, with | SECTION |executioner who struck "the wicked stroke | MISSING |rejoice over the deed, for his eyes dropped | |together with the blessed martyr's head | |later the magnificent abbey of St. Albans | |commemorate him who had fallen there. \________________/ [2] Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of Britain, " completed about theyear 731. [3] St. Albans: twenty miles northwest of London. (See map facingp. 16. ) 26. Agricola builds a Line of Forts (7 [END OF LINE MISSING] When Agricola, a wise and equitable Roman ruler, became governor ofBritain he explored the coast, and first discovered Britain to be anisland. He gradually extended the limits of the government, and, inorder to prevent invasion from the north, he built a line of forts(completed by Antoninus) across Scotland, from the mouth of the riverForth to the Clyde. (See map facing p. 14. ) From this date the power of Rome was finally fixed. During the threehundred years which followed, the surface of the country underwent achange. The Romans cut down forests, drained marshes, reclaimed wasteland, and bridged rivers. Furthermore they made the soil soproductive that Britain became known in Rome as the most importantgrain-producing and grain-exporting province in the Empire. 27. Roman Cities; London; York. Where the Britons had once had a humble village enclosed by a ditchand protected by a stockade, the Romans built the cities of Chester, Lincoln, London, York, and other towns, protected by massive walls andtowers of stone. These places have continued to be centers ofpopulation ever since. London early became the Roman commercial metropolis, while the city ofYork in the north was made the military and civil capital of thecountry. (See map facing p. 14). There the Sixth Legion wasstationed. It was the most noted body of troops in the Roman army, and was called the "Victorious Legion. " It remained there for upwardsof three centuries. There, too, the governor resided and administeredjustice. For these reasons York got the name of "another Rome. " The city had numerous temples and public buildings, such as befittedthe Roman capital of Britain. There an event occurred in the fourthcentury which made an indelible mark on the history of mankind. Constantine, the subsequent founder of Constantinople, was proclaimedEmperor at York, and through his influence Christianity became theestablished religion of the entire Roman Empire. [1] [1] Constantine was the first Christian Emperor of Rome. Thepreceding emperors had generally persecuted the Christians. 28. Roman System of Government; Roads. During the Roman possession of Britain the country was differentlygoverned at different periods, but eventually it was divided into fiveprovinces. These were intersected by a magnificent system of pavedroads running in direct lines from city to city, and having London asa common center. (See map facing p. 14. ) Over these road bodies of troops could march rapidly to any requiredpoint. By them, and by similar roads, leading through France, Spain, and Italy, officers of state, mounted on relays of fleet horses, couldpass from one end of the Empire to the other in a few days' time. (See map below, and that facing p. 14. ) So skillfully and substantially were these highways constructed, thatmodern engineers have been glad to adopt them as a basis for theirwork. The four chief Roman roads[1] continue to be the foundation, not only of numerous turnpikes in different parts of England, but alsoof several of the great railway lines, especially those from London toChester and from London to York. [1] The four chief roads were: (1) Watling Street; (2) IcknieldStreet; (3) Irmin Street; and (4) The Fosse Way. (See map facingp. 14. ) 29. Roman Forts and Walls Defenses against Saxon Pirates. Next in importance to the roads were the fortifications. In additionto those which Agricola had built (S26), either Hadrian or Severusconstructed a wall of solid masonry across the country from the shoreof the North Sea to the Irish Sea. This wall, which was aboutseventy-five miles south of Agricola's work, was strengthened by adeep ditch and a rampart of earth. (See map facing p. 14. ) It was furthur defended by square stone castles built at regularintervals of one mile. Between them were stone watchtowers, used assentry boxes; while at every fourth mile there was a stone fort, covering several acres and occupied by a large body of troops. But the northern tribes were not the only ones to be guarded against;bands of pirates prowled along the east and south coasts, burning, plundering, and kidnaping. These marauders came from Denmark and theadjacent countries (S37). The Britons and Romans called them Saxons, a most significant name ifit refers to the stout sharp knives which made them a terror to everyland on which they set foot. To repel them, the Romans built a strongchain of forts along the coast, extending from the Wash on the NorthSea to the Isle of Wight on the south. (See map facing p. 14. ) The greater part of these Roman walls, fortifications, and cities haveperished. But those which remain justify the statement that "outsideof England no such monuments exist of the power and military genius ofRome. " 30. Wherein Roman Civilization fell Short. But this splendid fabric of Roman power signally failed to win thesupport of the majority of the Britons. Civilization, like truth, cannot be forced on minds unwilling or unable to receive it. Least ofall can it be forced by the sword's point and the taskmaster's lash. In order to render his victories on the Continent (S17) secure, Caesarbutchered thousands of prisoners of war, or cut off the right hands ofthe entire population of large settlements to prevent them from risingin revolt. The policy pursued in Britain, though very different, was equallyheartless and equally fatal. There were rulers who endeavored to actjustly, but such cases were rare. One of the leaders of the NorthBritons said, "The Romans give the lying name of Empire to robbery andslaughter; they make a desert and call it peace. " 31. The Mass of the Native Population Slaves; Roman Villas. It is true that the chief cities of Britain were exempt fromoppression. They elected their own magistrates and made their ownlaws. But they enjoyed this liberty because their inhabitants wereeither Roman soldiers or their allies, or Romanized Britons. Outside these cities the great mass of the native Britons were boundto the soil and could not leave it, while a large proportion wereabsolute slaves. Their work was in the brickyards, the quarries, themines, or in the fields or forests. The Roman masters of these people lived in stately villas adorned withpavements of different-colored marbles and beautifully painted walls. These country houses, often as large as palaces, were warmed inwinter, like our modern dwellings, with currents of heated air. Insummer they opened on terraces ornamented with vases and statuary, andon spacious gardens of fruits and flowers. [1] On the other hand, thelaborers on these great estates lived in wretched cabins plasteredwith mud and thatched with straw. [1] More than a hundred of these villas or country houses, chiefly inthe south and southwest of England, have been exhumed. Some of themcover several acres. 32. Roman Taxation and Cruelty. But if the condition of the British servile classes was hard, many whowere free were but little better off, for nearly all that they couldearn was swallowed up in taxes. The standing army of Britain, whichthe people of the country had to support, rarely numbered less thanforty thousand. Great numbers of Britons were forced into the ranks, but most of them appear to have been sent away to serve abroad. Theirlife was one of perpetual exile. In order to meet the civil andmilitary expenses entailed upon him, every farmer had to pay a thirdof all that his farm could produce, in taxes. Furthermore, he had topay duty on every article that he sold, last of all, he was obliged topay a duty or poll tax on his own head. On the Continent there was a saying that it was better for a propertyowner to fall into the hands of savages than into those of the Romanassessors. When they went round, they counted not only every ox andsheep, but every plant, and registered them as well as the owners. "One heard nothing, " says a writer of that time, speaking of the dayswhen revenue was collected, "but the sound of flogging and all kindsof torture. The son was compelled to inform against the father, menwere forced to give evidence against themselves, and were assessedaccording to the confession they made to escape torment. "[1] [1] Lactantius, cited in Elton's "Origins of English History, "p. 334. It should be noted, however, that Professor C. Oman in his"England before the Norman Conquest, " pp. 175-176, takes a moerfavorable view of the condition of Britain under the Romans than thatwhich most authorities maintain. So great was the misery of the land that sometimes parents destroyedtheir children, rather than let them grow up to a life of suffering. This vast system of organized oppression, like all tyranny, "was notso much an institution as a destitution, " undermining andimpoverishing the country. It lasted until time brought its revenge, and Rome, which had crushed so many nations of barbarians, was in herturn threatened with a like fate, by bands of northern barbariansstronger than herself. 33. The Romans compelled to abandon Britain, 410. When Caesar returned from his victorious campaigns in Gaul in thefirst century B. C. , Cicero exultantly exclaimed, "Now let the Alpssink! the gods raised them to shelter Italy from the barbarians; theyare no longer needed. " For nearly five centuries that continued true;then the tribes of northern Europe could no longer be held back. Whenthe Roman emperors saw that the crisis had arrived, they recalledtheir troops from Britain in 410 The rest of the Roman colonists soonfollowed. At this time we find this brief but expressive entry in the"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (SS46, 99): "After this the Romans never ruledin Britain. " A few years later this entry occurs: "418. This yearthe Romans collected all the treasures in Britain; some they hid inthe earth, so that no one since has been able to find them, and somethey carried with them into Gaul. " 34. Remains of Roman Civilization. In the course of the next three generations the political and socialelements of Roman civilization in Britain seem to have disappeared. Afew words, such as "port" and "street, " which may or may not have beenderived from the Latin, have come down to us. But there was nothingleft, of which we can speak with absolute certainty, save the materialshell, --the walls, roads, forts, villas, arches, gateways, altars, andtombs, whose ruins are still seen scattered throughout the land. The soil, also, is full of relics of the same kind. Twenty feet belowthe surface of the London of to-day lie the remains of the London ofthe Romans. In digging in the "City, "[1] the laborer's shovel everynow and then brings to light pieces of carved stone with Latininscriptions, bits of rusted armor, broken swords, fragments ofstatuary, and gold and silver ornaments. [1] The "City": This is the name given to that part of central London, about a mile square, which was formerly enclosed by Roman walls. Itcontains the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, and other veryimportant business buildings. Its limit on the west is the site ofTemple Bar; on the east, the Tower of London. So, likewise, several towns, long buried in the earth, and thefoundations of upwards of a hundred country houses have beendiscovered; but these seem to be about all. If Rome left any tracesof her literature, law, and methods of government, they are [TWO PAGES MISSING (21-22)] FOURTH PERIOD[1] "The happy ages of history are never the productive ones. " -- Hegel THE COMING OF THE SAXONS, OR ENGLISH449(?) A. D. THE BATTLES OF THE TRIBES--BRITAIN BECOMES ENGLAND 36. The Britons beg for Help; Coming of the Jutes, 449 (?). The Britons were in perilous condition after the Romans had left theisland (S33). They had lost their old spirit (SS2, 18). [2] They wereno longer brave in war or faithful in peace. The Picts and Scots[3]attacked them on the northwest, and the Saxon pirates (S29) assailedthem on the southeast. These terrible foes cut down the Britons, saysan old writer, as "reapers cut down grain ready for the harvest. " [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. [2] Gildas, in Bohn's "Six Old English Chronicles"; but compareProfessor C. Oman's "England before the Norman Conquest, " pp. 175-176. [3] The Picts and Scots were ancient savage tribes of Scotland. At length the chief men wrote to the Roman consul, begging him to helpthem. They entitled their piteous and pusillanimous appeal, "TheGroans of the Britons. " They said, "The savages drive us to the sea, the sea casts us back upon the savages; between them we are eitherslaughtered or drowned. " But the consul was busy fighting enemies athome, and he left the groaning Britons to shift for themselves. Finally, the courage of despair forced them to act. They seemed tohave resolved to fight fire with fire. Acting on this resolution, they accordingly invited a band of sea rovers to come and help themagainst the Picts and Scots. The chiefs of these Jutes[1] or Saxonpirates did not wait for a second invitation. Seizing their"rough-handled spears and bronze swords, " they set sail for theshining chalk cliffs of Britain, 449(?). They put an end to theravages of the Picts and Scots. Then instead of going back to theirown country, they took possession of the best lands of Kent andrefused to give them up. (See map opposite. ) [1] The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles appear to have belonged to the sameTeutonic or German race. They inhabited the seacoast and vicinity, from the mouth of the Elbe, northward along the coast of Denmark orJutland. These tribes which conquered England, and settled there, remained for a long time hostile to each other, but eventually, theyunited and came to be known as Anglo-Saxons or English. (See mapopposite. ) 37. The Saxons and Angles conquer Britain. The success of the first band of sea robbers in Britain (S36)stimulated other bands to invade the island (477-541). Theyslaughtered multitudes of Britons and made slaves of many more. Theconquerors named the parts of the country which they settled, fromthemselves. Each independent settlement was hostile to every other. Thus Sussex was the home of the South Saxons, Wessex of the WestSaxons, Essex of the East Saxons. (See map opposite. ) Finally, aband of Angles came from a little corner, south of the peninsula ofDenmark, which still bears the name of Angeln. They took possessionof all of eastern Britain not already appropriated. Eventually, theycame to control the greater part of the land, and from them, all theother tribes, when fused together, got the name of Angles or English(S50). (See map opposite. ) 38. Resistance made by the Britons; King Arthur. Meanwhile the Britons had plucked up courage and made the best fightthey could. They were naturally a brave people (SS2, 18). The factthat it took the Saxons more than a hundred years to get a firm gripon the island shows that fact. The legend of King Arthur's exploitsalso illustrates the valor of the race to which he belonged. According to tradtion this British Prince, who had become a convert toChristianity (S25), met and checked the invaders in their isolentmarch of triumph. The battle, it is said, was fought at Mount Badonor Badbury in Dorsetshire. There, with his irresistable sword, "Excalibur, " and his stanch British spearmen, Arthur compelled hisfoes to acknowledge that he was not a myth but a man[1] able "to breakthe heathen and uphold the Christ. " [1] See "Arthur" in the "Dictionary of National British Biography";and Professor Rowley in Low and Pulling's "Dictionary of EnglishHistory, " p. 434. See also Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of theBritons" and Tennyson's "Idylls of the King. " 39. The Saxons or English force the Britons to retreat. But though King Arthur may have checked the pagan Saxon invaders, hecould not drive them out of the country. They had come to stay. Onthe other hand, many Britons were forced to take refuge among thehills of Wales. There they continued to abide. That ancient stocknever lost its love of liberty. More than eleven centuries latertheir spirit helped to shape the destinies of the New World. ThomasJefferson andseveral of the other signers of the Declaration ofAmerican Independence were either of Welsh birth or of direct Welshdescent. 40. Gregory and the English Slaves. The next period, of nearly eighty years, is a dreary record ofconstant battles and bloodshed. Out of this very barbarism aregenerating influence finally arose. In their greed for grain, some of the English tribes did not hesitateto sell their own children into bondage. A number of these slaves, exposed in the market place in Rome, attracted the attention of a monknamed Gregory. Struck with the beauty of their clear, ruddy complexions and fairhair, he inquired from what country they came. "They are Angles"(S37), was the dealer's answer. "No, not Angles, but angels, "answered the monk; and he resolved that, when he could, he would sendmissionaries to convert a race of so much promise. [2] [2] Bede's "Ecclesiastical History. " 41. Coming of Saint Augustine, 597. When Gregory (S40) became Pope he fulfilled his resolution, and sentAugustine with a band of forty monks to Britain. In 597 they landedon the very spot where the first Saxon war band had set foot onEnglish soil nearly one hundred and fifty years before. Like Caesarand his legions, Augustine and his monks brought with them the powerof Rome. But this time that power did not come armed with the swordto force men to submit or die, but inspired with a persuasive voice tocheer them with new hope. 41. Augustine converts the King of Kent and his People (597). The English at that time were wholly pagan, and had, in allprobability, destroyed every vesetige of the faith for which theBritish martyrs gave their lives (S25). But the King of Kent hadmarried a French princess who was a devout Christian. Through theQueen's influence, the King was induced to receive Augustine. He wasafraid, however, of some magical practice, so he insisted that theirmeeting should take place in the open air and on the island ofThanet. (See map facing p. 32. ) The historian Bede tells us that the monks, holding a tall silvercross and a picture of Christ in their hands, advanced and saluted theKing. Augustine delivered his message, was well received, and invitedto Canterbury, the capital of Kent. There the King became a convertto his preaching, and before the year had passed ten thousand of hissubjects had received baptism; for to gain the King was to gain histribe as well. 43. Augustine builds the First Monastery. At Canterbury Augustine became the first archbishop over the firstcathedral. There, too, he established the first monastery in which totrain missionaries to carry on the work which he had begun (S45). Part of the original monastery of St. Augustine is now used as aChurch of England missionary college, and it continues to bear thename of the man who brought Christianity to that part of Britain. Theexample of the ruler of Kent was not without its effect on others. 44. Conversion of the North. The north of England, however, owed its conversion chiefly to theIrish monks of an earlier age. They had planted monasteries inIreland and Scotland from which colonies went forth, one of whichsettled in Durham. Cuthbert, a Saxon monk of that monastery in theseventh century, traveled as a missionary throughout Northumbria, andwas afterward recognized as the saint of the North. Through hisinfluence that kingdom was induced to accept Christianity. Othermissionaries went to other districts to carry the "good tidings ofgreat joy. " In one case an aged chief arose in an assembly of warriors and said:"O king, as a bird flies through this hall in the winter night, comingout of the darkness and vanishing into it again, even such is ourlife. If these strangers can tell us aught of what is beyond, let usgive heed to them. " But, as Bede informs us in his history of the English CHurch (S99), some of the converts were too cautious to commit themselves entirelyto the new religion. One king, who had set up a large altar devotedto the worship of Christ, set up a smaller one at the other end of thehall to the old heathen deities, in order that he might make sure ofthe favor of both. 45. Christianity organized; Labors of the Monks. Gradually, however, the pagan faith was dropped. Christianity waslargely organized by bands of monks and nuns, who had renounced theworld in order to lead lives of self-sacrifice and service. Theybound themselves by the three vows of obedience, poverty, andchastity, and the monastic law forbade them to marry. Monasteriesexisted or were now established in a number of places in England. [1] [1] For instance, at Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, off the coast ofNorthumberland (see Scott's "Marmion, " Canto II, 9-10), at Wearmouthand Jarrow in Durham, at Whitby on the coast of Yorkshire, and atPeterborough in Northamptonshire. (See map facing p. 38. ) The monasteries were educational as well as industrial centers. Themonks spent part of each day in manual toil, for they held that "tolabor is to pray. " They cleared the land, drained he bogs, plowed, sowed, and reaped. Another part of the day they spent in religiousexercises, and a third in writing, translating, and teaching. Each monastery had a school attached to it, and each had, besides, itslibrary of manuscript books and its room for the entertainment oftravelers and pilgrims. In these libraries important charters grantedby the King and important laws relating to the kingdom were preserved. 46. Literary Work of the Monks. It was at the monastery of Jarrow[2] that Bede wrote in rude Latin theChurch history of England. It was at that in Whitby that the poetCaedmon composed his poem on the Creation, in which, a thousand yearsbefore Milton, he dealt with Milton's theme in Milton's spirit. [2] Jarrow, Whitby, etc. ; see note 1, above. It was at the great monasteries of Peterborough and Canterbury thatthe "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" was probably begun (S99). It was thefirst history of England written in English, and the one from which wederive very important knowledge of the period extending from thebeginning of the Christian era down to a time nearly a hundred yearsafter the Norman conquest of the island. Furthermore we find that thehistory of the country was written by the monks in the form ofindependent narratives, some of which are of very great value assources of information. [1] [1] See six extracts from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, " inE. K. Kendall's "Source-Book of English History, " chaps. Ii and iii;also William of Malmesbury's "Conquered and Conquerors" (1066) andMatthew Paris's "England in 1257, " in the same book, pp. 41 and 78. See also Bogn's "Six Old English Chronicles. " 47. Influence of Christianity on Society. But the power of Christianity for good was not confied to themonasteries; the priests took their part in it. Unlike the monks, they were not bound by monastic rules, though they were forbidden tomarry. They lived in the world and worked for the world, and had animmense social influence. The Church, as a rule, in all forms of itsactivity took the side of the weak, the suffering, and the oppressed. Slavery was then the normal condition of a large class, but when theChurch held slaves it protected them from ill usage. It securedSunday for them as a day of rest, and it often labored effectually fortheir emancipation. 48. Political Influence of Christianity, 664. More than this, Christianity had a powerful political influence. Agreat synod or council was held at Whitby, on the coast of Yorkshire, 664, to decide when Easter should be observed. Delegates to thatmeeting were sent from different parts of the country. After aprotracted discussion all the churches finally agreed to accept theRoman custom. This important decision encouraged a spirit of truereligious unity. The bishops, monks, and priests who gathered atWhitby represented Saxon tribes which were often bitterly hostile toeach other (S37), but their action on the Easter question united themin a certain way. It made them feel that they had a common interest, that they were members of the same Church, and that, in that Church, they were laboring for the same object. The fact that they bowed toone supreme spiritual authority had a political significance. Itsuggested that the time might be coming when all the conflictingtribes or petty kingdoms in Britain would acknowledge the authority ofone King, and form one English nation. 49. Egbert becomes King of Wessex, and Overlord of the Whole Country, 829. Somewhat more than a hundred and sixty years later a great step wastaken toward the accomplishment of the political union of thedifferent sections of Britain. By the death of the King of Wessex(S37), Egbert, a descendant of Cerdic, the first chief and King ofthat country, succeeded to the crown. He had spent some time inFrance at the court of Charlemagne and had seen that great ruler makehimself master of most of western Europe. Egbert was not content toremain simply King of Wessex. He resolved to make himself master ofthe whole country. He began a series of wars by which he, at length, compelled all the other Saxon Kings to acknowledge him as theirOverlord. That title marks the beginning, in 829, of a new period inthe history of the island. 50. How Britain got the Name of England. In making himself supreme ruler over the entire English population ofBritain, Egbert laid the foundations of what was finally to become the"Kingdom of England. " Several causes contributed to this change ofname. We can trace the process step by step. First, the people ofKent and the great council held at Whitby (SS42, 48) laid thecornerstone of the National Church; next, the people of Wessexfurnished the National Overlord (S49); finally, the preponderance ofthe people called Angles (S37) furnished the National Name ofAngle-Land or England. It is a fact worthy of notice, in this connection, that from Egbert asa royal source every subsequent English sovereign (except the fourDanish Kings, Harold II, and William the Conqueror) has directly orindirectly descended down to the present time. (See Table of RoyalDescent in the Appendix, p. Xlii. ) 51. Alfred the Great. Of these sovereigns the most conspicuous during the period of which weare writing was Alfred. He was a grandson of Egbert (S49). He wasrightly called Alfred the Great, since he was the embodiment ofwhatever was best and bravest in the English character. The keynoteof his life may be found in the words which he spoke at the close ofit, "So long as I have lived, I have striven to live worthily. " 52. Danish Invasion. When Alfred came to the throne (871) the Danes, or Northmen, as theywere often called, were sweeping down upon the country. A few monthsbefore he became King, he had aided his brother in a desperatestruggle with them. In the beginning, the object of the Danes was toplunder, later, to possess, and finally, to rule over the country. They had already overrun a large portion of England and had invadedWessex or the country of the West Saxons. (See map facing p. 30. )Wherever their raven flag appeared, destruction and slaughterfollowed. 53. The Danes or Northmen destroy the Monasteries. These terrible pirates despised Christianity. They scorned it as theweak religion of a weak people. They hated the English monasteriesmost of all and made them the especial objects of their attacks (SS43, 45, 46). Many of these institutions had accumulated wealth, and somehad gradually sunk into habits of laziness, luxury, and other evilcourses of life. The Danes, who were full of the vigorous virtues ofheathenism, liked nothing better than to scourge those effeminatevices of the cloisters. From the thorough way in which they robbed, burned, and murdered, there can be no doubt that they enjoyed their work of destruction. Intheir helplessness and terror, the panic-stricken monks added to theirusual prayers, this fervent petition: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!" The power raised up to answer thatsupplication was Alfred the Great. 54. Alfred's Victories over the Danes: the White Horse. After repeated defeats Alfred finally drove back these savage hordes, who thought it a shame to earn by sweat what they could win by blood. In these attacks Alfred led one half the army and his brother Ethelredled the other. They met the Danes at Ashdown Ridge in Berkshire. (See map facing p. 32. ) While Ethelred stopped to pray for success, Alfred, under the banner of the "White Horse, "--the common standard ofthe English at that time, --began the attack and won the day. Tradition declares that after the victory he ordered his army tocommemorate their triumph by carving that colossal figure of a horseon the side of a neighboring chalk hill, which still remains soconspicuous an object in the landscape. It was shortly after thisthat Alfred became "King of the West Saxons"; but the war, far frombeing ended, had in fact but just begun. 55. The Danes compel Alfred to retreat. The Danes, reenforced by other invaders, overcame Alfred's forces andcompelled him to retreat. He fled to the wilds of Somersetshite, andwas glad to take up his abode for a time, so the story runs, in apeasant's hut. Subsequently he succeeded in rallying part of hispeople, and built a stronghold on a piece of rising ground, in themidst of an almost impassable morass. There he remained during thewinter. 56. Alfred's Great Victory; Treaty of Wedmore, 878. In the spring Alfred marched forth and again attacked the Danes. Theywere intrenched in a camp at Edington, Wiltshire. He surrounded them, and starved them into complete submission. They had to confess thatAlfred's muscular Christians were more than a match for the moststalwart heathen. The Danish leader swore to maintain a peace, calledthe Peace or Treaty of Wedmore. (See maps facing p. 32 and p. 38. )More than this, the discomfited warrior sealed the oath with hisbaptism, --an admission that Alfred had not only beaten him butconverted him as well. By the Treaty of Wedmore, 878, the Danes bound themselves to remainnorth and east of a line drawn from London to Chester, following theold Roman road called Watling Street. All south of this line, including a district around London, was recognized as the dominions ofAlfred, whose chief city, or capital, was Winchester. (See map facingp. 32. ) By this treaty the Danes got much the larger part of England (calledthe Danelaw), but they acknowledged Alfred as their Overlord. He thusbecame, in name at least, what his predecessor, Egbert (S49), hadclaimed to be, --supreme ruler of the whole country, though the highesttitle he ever assumed was "King of the Saxons or English. " 57. Alfred's Laws; his Translations. Alfred proved himself to be more than mere ruler, for he was also alawgiver and teacher as well. Through his efforts a written code wascompiled, prefaced by the Ten Commandments and ending with the GoldenRule. Referring to this introduction, Alfred said, "He who keeps thisshall not need any other law book. " Next, that learning might not utterly perish in the ashes of theabbeys and monasteries which the Danes had destroyed (S53), the King, though feeble and suffering, set himself to translate from the Latingthe "Universal History of Orosius, " and also Bede's valuable "ChurchHistory of England. " 58. Alfred's Navy. Alfred, however, still had to fight against fresh invasion by theDanes, who continued to make descents upon the coast, and even sailedup the Thames to take London. The English King constructed a superiorclass of fast-sailing war vessels from designs made by himself. Withthis fleet, which may be regarded as the beginning of the Englishnavy, he fought the enemy on their own element. He thus effectuallychecked a series of invasions which, if they had continued, might havereduced the country to barbarism. 59. Estimate of Alfred's Reign. Considered as a whole, Alfred's reign (871-901) is hte most noteworthyof any in the annals of the early English sovereigns. It was markedthroughout by intelligence and progress. His life speaks for itself. The best commentary on it is the factthat, in 1849, the people of Wantage, his native place, celebrated thethousandth anniversary of his birth, --another proof that "what isexcellent, as God lives, is permanent. "[1] [1] R. W. Emerson's "Poems. " 60. St. Dunstan's Three Great Reforms (960-988). Long after Alfred's death, St. Dunstan, then Archbishop of Canterburyand head of the English Church, set out to push forward the work begunby the great King. He labored to accomplish three things. First, hesought to establish a higher system of education; secondly, he desiredto elevate the general standard of monastic life; finally, he tried toinaugurate a period of national peace and economic progress. He began his work when he had control of the abbey of Glastonbury, inthe southwest of England. He succeeded in making the school connectedwith that abbey the most famous one in the whole kingdom (S45). Henot only taught himself, but, by his enthusiasm, he inspired others toteach. He was determined that from Glastonbury a spirit should goforth which should make the Church of England the real educator of theEnglish people. Next, he devoted himself to helping the inmates ofthe monasteries in their efforts to reach a truer and strongermanhood. That, of course, was the original purpose for which thoseinstitutions had been founded (S45), but, in time, many of them hadmore or less degenerated. Every athlete and every earnest studentknows how hard it is to keep up the course of training he has resolvedupon. The strain sometimes becomes too great for him. Well, the monkin his cell had found out how difficult it was for him to be alwaysfaithful to his religious vows. St. Dunstan roused these men to begintheir work anew. He re-created monasticism in England, making itstricter in discipline and purer in purpose. Last of all, the Archbishop endeavored to secure greater freedom fromstrife. He saw that the continued wars of the English were killingoff their young men--the real hope of the country--and were wastingthe best powers of the nation. His influence with the reigningmonarch was very great, and he was successful, for a time, inreconciling the Danes and the English (SS53, 56). It was said that heestablished "peace in the kingdom such as had not been known withinthe memory of man. " At the same time the Archbishop, who was himselfa skillful mechanic and worker in metals, [1] endeavored to encourageinventive industry and the exportation of products to the Continent. He did everything in his power to extend foreign trade, and it waslargely through his efforts that "London rose to the commercialgreatness it has held ever since. "[2] Because of these things, one ofthe best known English historians, [3] speaking of that period, declares that Dunstan "stands forth as the leading man in both Churchand State. " [1] The common people regarded his accomplishments in this directionwith superstitious awe. Many stories of his skill were circulated, and it was even whispered that in a personal contest with the EvilOne, it was the foul fiend and not the monk who got the worst of it, and fled from the saint's workshop, howling with dismay. [2] R. Green's "English People. "[3] E. A. Freeman's "Norman Conquest, " I, 65. 61. New Invasions; Danegeld (992). With the close of Dunstan's career, a period of decline set in. TheNorthmen began to make fresh inroads (S53). The resistance to thembecame feeble and faint-hearted. At last a royal tax, calledDanegeld, or Dane money (992), was levied on all landed property inEngland in order to buy off the invaders. For a brief period thiscowardly concession answered its purpose. But a time came when theDanes refused to be bribed to keep away. 62. The Northmen invade France. The Danish invasion of England was really a part of a great Europeanmovement. The same Northmen who had obtained so large a part of theisland (S56) had, in the tenth century, established themselves inFrance. There they were known as Normans, a softened form of the word"Northmen, " and the district where they settled came to be called fromthem Normandy. They founded a line of dukes, or princes, who weredestined, in the course of the next century, to give a new aspect tothe events of English history. 63. Sweyn conquers England; Canute[1] (1017-1035). Early in the eleventh century Sweyn, the Dane, conquered England(1013), and "all the people, " says the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (S99), "held him for full king. " He was succeeded by his son Canute (1017). He could hardly be called a foreigner, since he spoke a language andset up a government differing but little from that of the English. [1] "Cnut, " a shortened form of Canute. After his first harsh measures were over he sought the friendship ofboth Church and people. He gave the country peace. Tradition reportsthat he rebuked the flattery of courtiers by showing them that theinrolling tide is no respecter of persons; he endeavored to rulejustly, and his liking for the monks found expression in his song: "Merrily sang the monks of Ely As Cnut the King was passing by. " 64. Canute's Plan; the Four Earldoms. Canute's plan was to establish a great northern empire embracingDenmark, Norway, Sweden, and England. To facilitate the government ofso large a realm, he divided England into four districts, --Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria--which, with their dependencies, embraced the entire country. (See map facing p. 38. ) Each of these districts was ruled by an earl[1] invested with almostroyal power. For a time the arrangement worked well, but eventuallydiscord sprang up and imperiled the unity of the kingdom. AfterCanute's death two of his sons divided England between themselves;both were bad rulers. [1] Earl ("chief" or "leader"): a title of honor and of office. Thefour earldoms established by Canute remained nearly unchanged untilthe Norman Conquest, 1066. 65. Restoration of the Saxon or English Kings; Edward the Confessor(1042-1066). On the occasion of the Danish conqueror Sweyn (S63), Ethelred II, theEnglish King, sent his French wife Emma back to Normandy for safety. She took her son, Prince Edward, then a lad of nine, with her. Heremained at the French court nearly thirty years, and among otherfriends to whom he became greatly attached was his second cousin, William, Duke of Normandy. The oppressive acts of Canute's sons (S64) excited insurrection(1042), and both Danes and English joined in the determination torestore the English line. They invited Prince Edward to accept thecrown. He returned to England, obtained the throne, and pledgedhimself to restore the rights of which the people had been deprived. By birth King Edward was already half Norman; by education and tasteshe was wholly so. It is very doubtful whether he could speak a word of English, and itis certain that from the beginning he surrounded himself with Frenchfavorites, and filled the Church with French priests. Edward's pietyand blameless life gained for him the title of "the Confessor, " or, aswe should say to-day, "the Christian. " He married the daughter of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, the most powerfulnoble in England. Godwin really ruled the country in the King's nameuntil his death (1053), when his son Harold (S67) succeeded him asearl. 66. Edward the Confessor builds Westminster Abbey. During a large part of his reign the King was engaged in building anabbey or monastery at the west end of London, and hence called theWestminster. [2] He had just completed and consecrated this great workwhen he died, and was buried there. We may still see a part of theoriginal building in the crypt or basement of the abbey, while theKing's tomb above is the center of a circle of royal graves. [2] Minster: a name given originally to a monastery; next, to a churchconnected with a monastery; but now applied to several large Englishcathedrals. Multitudes made pilgrimages to King Edward's tomb, for the Pope hadenrolled him among the saints. Even now a little band of devotedCatholics gather around his shrine every year. They go there to showtheir veneration for the virtues and the piety of a ruler who wouldhave adorned a monastery, but had not breadth and vigor to fill athrone. 67. Harold becomes King (1066). On his deathbed, King Edward, who had no children, recommended Harold, Earl of Wessex, as his successor (S65). But the Normans in Francedeclared Edward had promised that his cousin William, Duke of Normandy(S65), should reign after him. The Witan, or National Council ofEngland (S81), chose Harold. That settled the question, for theCouncil alone had the right to decide who should rule over the Englishpeople. Harold was soon afterward crowned (January 16, 1066). 68. Duke William prepares to invade England (1066). William, Duke of Normandy, was getting ready for a hunting expeditionwhen the news was brought to him of Harold's accession (S67). The oldchronicler says that the Duke "stopped short in his preparations; hespoke to no man, and no man dared speak to him. " Finally he resolvedto appeal to the sword and take the English crown by force. During the spring and summer of that year, he occupied himself infitting out a fleet to invade England, and his smiths and armorerswere busy making lances, swords, and coats of mail. The Pope favoredthe expedition and presented a banner blessed by himself, to becarried in the attack; "mothers, too, sent their sons for thesalvation of their souls. " 69. The Expedition Sails (1066). William sailed on his great expedition in the autumn with a fleet ofseveral hundred vesseles and a large number of transports. The Duke'sship, with the consecrated banner at the masthead, led the fleet. His army consisted of archers and cavalry. Its strength has beenvariously estimated at from 14, 000 men up to 60, 000. They were partlyhis own subjects, and partly hired soldiers, or those who joined forthe sake of plunder. William also carried a large force of smiths andcarpenters, with timber ready cut and fitted to set up a woodencastle. 70. William lands at Pevensey. The next day the fleet anchored at Pevensey, on the south coast ofEngland, under the walls of an old Roman fortress which had stood, avacant ruin, since the Saxons stormed it nearly six hundred yearsbefore. (See map facing p. 38. ) Tradition says that as Williamstepped on shore he stumbled and fell flat with his face downward. "God preserve us!" cried one of his men; "this is a bad sign. " Butthe Duke, grasping the pebbles of the beach with both his outstretchedhands, exclaimed, "Thus do I seize the land!" 71. King Harold in the North. There was, in fact, no power to prevent him from establishing hiscamp, for King Harold (S67) was in the north quelling an invasionheaded by the King of the Norwegians and his brother Tostig, who hopedto secure the throne for himself. Harold had just sat down to avictory feast, after the battle of Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, whennews was brought to him of the landing of William. It was this fatal want of unity in England which made the NormanConquest possible. If Harold's own brother, Tostig, had not turnedtraitorously against him, or if the north country had stood squarelyby the south, Duke William might have found his fall on the beach anomen full of disaster. 72. What Duke William did after Landing. As there was no one to oppose him, William made a fort in a corner ofthe old Roman wall at Pevensey (S70), and then marched to Hastings, afew miles farther east, where he set up a wooden castle on that hillwhere the ruins of a later stone castle may still be seen. Havingdone this, he pillaged the country in every direction. 73. Harold marches to meet William. King Harold, having gathered what forced he could, marched to meetWilliam at a place midway between Pevensey and Hastings, about fivemiles back from the coast. Harold had the advantage of a stockadedfort he had built; William, that of a body of cavalry and archers, forthe English fought on foot with javelins and battle-axes mainly. TheSaxons spent the night in feasting and song, the Normans in prayer andconfession; both were eager to fight. 74. The Great Battle of Hastings, 1066. On the morning of the 14th of October the fight began. It lasteduntil dark, with heavy loss on both sides. At length William'sstrategy carried the day, and Harold and his brave followers found totheir cost that then, as now, it is "the thinking bayonet" whichconquers. The English King was slain and every man of his chosentroops with him. A monk who wrote the history of the period of theConquest, says that "the vices of the Saxons had made them effeminateand womanish, wherefore it came to pass that, running against DukeWilliam, they lost themselves and their country with one, and that aneasy and light, battle. " Doubtless the English had fallen off in manyways from what hey had been generations earlier; but the record atHastings shows that they had lost neither strength, courage, norendurance, and a harder battle ws never fought on British soil. 75. Battle Abbey; Harold's Grave; the Beyeu^x Tapestry. A few years later, the Norman Conqueror built the Abbey of Battle onthe spot to commemorate the victory by which he gained his crown. Hedirected that the monks of the abbey should chant perpetual prayersover the Norman soldiers who had fallen there. Here, also, traditionrepresents him as having buried Harold's body, just after the fight, under a heap of stones by the seashore. Some months later, it is saidthat the friends of the English King removed the remains to Waltham, near London, and buried them in the church which he had built andendowed there. Be that as it may, his grave, wherever it is, is thegrave of the old England. Henceforth a new people (though not a newrace, for the Normans originally came from the same Germanic stock asthe English did) (S62) will appear in the history of the island. Several contemporary accounts of the battle exist by both French andEnglish writers, but one of the best histories of it is that which waswrought in colors by a woman's hand. It represents the scenes of thefamous contest on a strip of canvas known as the Bayeux Tapestry(S155), a name derived from the French town where it is stillpreserved. 76. Close of the Period; what the Saxon Conquest of Britain hadaccomplished. The death of King Harold ends the Saxon or English period of history. Before entering upon the reign of William the Conqueror let usconsider what that period had accomplished. We have seen that theJutes, Saxons, and Angles (SS36, 37) invaded Britain at a criticalperiod. Its original inhabitants had become cowed and enervated bythe despotism and the worn-out civilization forced on them by theRomans (SS30-32). The newcomers brought that healthy spirit of barbarism, thatirrepressible love of personal liberty, which the country sorelyneeded. The conquerors were rough, ignorant, cruel; but they werevigorous, fearless, and determined. These qualities were worth a thousand times more to Britain than thegilded corruption of Rome. But in the course of time the Saxons orEnglish themselves lost spirit (S36). Their besetting sin was astolidity which degenerated into animalism and sluggish content. 77. Fresh Elements contributed by the Danes or Northmen. Then came the Danes or Northmen (SS52, 63). They brought with them anew spirit of still more savage independence which found expression intheir song, "I trust my sword, I trust my steed, but most I trustmyself at need. " They conquered a large part of the island, and in conqueringregenerated it. So strong was their love of independence, that eventhe lowest classes of farm laborers were quite generally free. More small independent landholders were found amongh the Danishpopulation than anywhere else; and it is said that the number nowexisting in the region which they settled in the northeast of Englandis still much larger than in the south. (See map facing p. 32. )Finally, the Danes and the English, both of whome sprang from theNorth Germanic tribes (S36), mingled and becames in all respects onepeople. 78. Summary: What the Anglo-Saxons accomplished. Thus Jutes, Saxons, Angles, and Danes, whom together we may call theAnglo-Saxons, [1] laid the corner stone of the English nation. Howevermuch that nation has changed since, it remains, nevertheless, in itssolid and fundamental qualities, what those peoples made it. [1] Anglo-Saxons: Some authorities insist that this phrase means theSaxons of England in distinction from those of the Continent. It isused here, however, in the sense given by Professor Freeman, as a termdescribing the people formed in England by the union of the Germanictribes which had settled in the island. They gave first the language, simple strong, direct, and plain--thefamiliar, everyday speech of the fireside and the street, thewell-known words of both the newspaper and the Bible. Next they established the government in its main outlines as it stillexists; that is, a king, a legislative body representing the people, and a judicial system embodying the germ, at least, of trial by jury(S89). Last, and best, they furnished conservative patience, persistenteffort, indomitable tenacity of purpose, and cool, determinedcourage. These qualities have won glorious victories on both sides ofthe Atlantic, not only in the conflicts of war, but in the contests ofpeace, and who can doubt that they are destined to win still greaterones in the future? GENERAL REFERENCE SUMMARY OF THE SAXON, OR EARLY ENGLISH, PERIOD(449-1066) This section contains a summary of much of the preceding period, withconsiderable additional matter. It is believed that teachers andpupils may find it useful for reference on certain topics(e. G. Feudalism, etc. ) which could not be conveniently treated indetail in the history proper. I. Government. II. Religion. III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art. V. General Industry and Commerce. VI. Mode ofLife, Manners, and Customs I. Government 79. Beginning of the English Monarchy. During the greater part of the first four centuries after the Saxonconquest Britain was divided into a number of tribal settlements, orpetty kingdoms, held by Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, constantly at warwith each other. In the ninth century, the West Saxons, orinhabitants of Wessex, succeeded, under the leadership of Egbert, inpractically conquering and uniting the country. Egbert now assumedthe title of Overlord or Supreme Ruler of the English people. In timeBritain came to be known, from the name of its largest tribe, theAngles, as Angle-Land, or England. Meanwhile the Danes had obtainedpossession of a large part of the country on the northeast, but theyeventually united with the English and became one people. 80. The King and the Witan. The government of England was vested in an elective sovereign, assisted by the National Council of the Witan, or Wise Men. It is anopen question where every freeman had the right to attend thisnational council, [1], but, in practice, the right became confined to asmall number of the nobles and clergy. [1] Professor Stubbs and Freeman take opposite views on this point. 81. What the Witan could do. 1. The Witan elected the King (its choice being confined, as a rule, to the royal family). 2. In case of misgovernment, it deposed him. 3. It made or confirmed grants of public lands. 4. It acted as asupreme court of justice both in civil and criminal cases. (See theConstitutional Summary in the Appendix, p. Ii, S3. ) 82. What the King and Witan could do. 1. They enacted the laws, both civil and ecclesiastical. (In mostcases this meant nothing more than stating what the custom was, thecommon law being merely the common custom. ) 2. They levied taxes. 3. They declared war and made peace. 4. They appointed the chiefofficers and bishops of the realm. 83. Land Tenure before the Conquest. Before they invaded Britain the Saxons and kindred tribes appear tohave held their lands in common. Each head of a family had apermanent homestead, but that was all. [1] "No one, " says Caesar, "hasa fixed quantity of land or boundaries to his property. Themagistrates and chiefs assign every year to the families andcommunities who live together, as much land and in such spots as theythink suitable. The following year they require them to take upanother allotment. [1] Tacitus ("Germania") says that each house "was surrounded by aspace of its own. " "The chief glory of the tribes is to have their territory surroundedwith as wide a belt as possible of waste land. They deem it not onlya special mark of valor that every neighboring tribe should be drivento a distance, and that no stranger should dare to reside in theirvicinity, but at the same time they regard it as a precautionarymeasure against sudden attacks. "[2] [2] Caesar, "Gallic War, " Book VI. 84. Folkland. Each tribe, in forming its settlement, seized more land than itactually needed. This excess was known as Folkland (the People'sland, [3] and might be used by all alike for pasturing cattle orcutting wood. With the consent of the Witan, the King might grantportions of this Folkland as a reward for services done to himself orto the community. Such grants were usually conditional and could onlybe made for a time. Eventually they returned to the community. Other grants, however, might be made in the same way, which conferredfull ownership. Such grants were called Bocland (Book land), becauseconveyed by writing, or registered in a charter or book. In time theKing obtained the power of making these grants without having toconsult the Witan, and at last the whole of the Folkland came to beregarded as the absolute property of the Crown. 85. Duties of Freemen. Every freeman was obliged to do three things: 1. He must assist in themaintenance of roads and bridges. 2. He must aid in the repair offorts. 3. He must serve in case of war. Whoever neglected or refusedto perform this last and most important of all duties was dclard to bea "nithing, " or infamous coward. [4] [4] Also written Niding. The English, as a rule, were more afraid ofthis name than of death itself. 86. The Feudal System (see, too, the Constitutional Summary in theAppendix, p. Iii, S5). The essential principle of the feudal system was the holding of landon condition of military or other service. It appears to havegradually grown up in England from grants made by the King. Inaddition to the Eorls (earls)[1] or nobles by birth, there graduallygrew up a class known as Thanes (companions or servants of the King), who in time outranked those who were noble by birth. He wouldfrequently have occasion to give rewards to the nobles and chief menfor faithful service and for deeds of valor. As nearly all his wealthconsisted in land, he would naturally give that. To this gift, however, he would attach a condition. On making such a grant the Kingrequired the receiver to agree to furnish a certain number of fullyequipped soldiers to fight for him. These grants were originally madefor life only, and on death of the recipient they returned to theCrown. [1] The Saxons, or Early English, were divided into three classes:Eorls (they must nut be confounded with the Danish jarls or earls), who were noble by birth; Ceorls (churls), or simple freemen; andslaves. The slaves were either the absolute property of the master, or were bound to the soil and sold with it. This latter class, underthe Norman name of villeins, became numerous after the Norman Conquestin the eleventh century. The chieftains of the first Saxon settlerswere called either Ealdormen (aldermen) or Heretogas, the first beingcivil or magisterial, the latter military officers. The Thanes were alater class, who, from serving the King or some powerful leader, became noble by military service. Next, the nobles and other great landholders, following the example ofthe King, granted portions of their estates to tenants on similarconditions, and these again might grant portions to those below themin return for satisfactory military or other service. In time it came to be an established principle, that every freemanbelow the rank of a noble must be attached to some superior whom hewas bound to serve, and who, on the other hand, was his legalprotector and responsible for his good behavior. The man who refusedto acknowledge his duty to serve a lord or superior was looked upon asan outlaw, and might be seized like a robber. In that respect, therefore, he would be worse off than the slave, who had a master towhom he was accountable and who was accountable for him. Eventually it became common for the small landholders, especiallyduring the Danish invasions, to seek the protection of someneighboring lord who had a large band of followers at his command. Insuch cases the freeman gave up his land and received it again oncertain conditions. The usual form was for him to kneel and, placinghis hands within those of the lord, to swear an oath of homage, saing, "I BECOME YOUR MAN for the lands which I hold to you, and I will befaithful to you against all men, saving only the service which I oweto my lord the King. " On his side the lord solemnly promised todefend his tenant or vassal in the possession of his property, forwhich he was to perform some service to the lord. In these two ways, first, by grant of lands from the King or asuperior, and, secondly, by the act of homage (known as commendation)on the part of the recipient when he had given up lands on conditionof protection and had received them back again, the feudal system (aname derived from feodum, meaning land or property) grew up inEngland. Its growth, however, was irregular and incomplete; and itshould be distinctly understood that it was not until after the NormanConquest in the eleventh century that it became fully establised. Itshould also be distinctly understood that William the Conqueror made amost important change in this system by requiring the tenants of allthe great landholders, as well as their masters, to swear directobedience to him (S121). 87. Advantages of Feudalism. This system had at that time many advantages. 1. The old method ofholding land in common was a wasteful one, since the way in which thepossessor of a field might cultivate it would perhaps spoil it for theone who received it at the next allotment. 2. In an age of constantwarfare, feudalism protected all classes better than if they had stoodapart, and it often enabled the King to raise a powerful andwell-armed force in the easiest and quickest manner. 3. It cultivatedtwo important virtues, --fidelity on the part of the vassal, protectionon that of the lord. It had something of the spirit of the GoldenRule in it. Its corner stone was the faithfulness of man to man. Society had outgrown the outward forms of feudalism, which like everysystem had its drawbacks, but it would seem as though it could neverwholly outgrow the feudal principle. 88. Political Divisions; the Sheriff. Politically the kingdom was divided into townships, hundreds(districts furnishing a hundred warriors, or supporting a hundredfamilies), and shires or counties, the shire having been originally, in some cases, the section settled by an independent tribe, as Sussex, Essex, etc. In each shire the King had an officer, called a shire reeve orsherrif, [1] who represented him, collected the taxes due the Crown, and saw to the execution of the laws. In like manner, the town andthe hundred had a headman of its own choosing to see to matters ofgeneral interest. [1] Reeve: a man in authority, or having charge of something 89. The Courts. As the nation had its assembly of wise men acting as a high court, soeach shire, hundred, and town had its court, which all freemen mightattend. There, without any special judge, jury, or lawyers, cases ofall kinds were tried and settled by the voice of the entire body, whowere both judge and jury in themselves. 90. Methods of Procedure; Compurgation. In these courts there were two methods of procedure; first, theaccused might clear himself of the charge brought against him bycompurgations[1]; that is, by swearing that he was not guilty andgetting a number of reputable neighbors to swear that they believedhis oath. If their oaths were not satisfactory, witnesses might be brought toswear to some particular fact. In ever case the value of the oath wasgraduated according to the rank of the person, that of a man of highrank being worth as much as that of twelve common men. 91. The Ordeal. Secondly, if the accused could not clear himself in this way, he wasobliged to submit to the ordeal. [2] This usually consisted incarrying a piece of hot iron a certain distance, or in plunging thearm up to the elbow in boiling water. [2] Ordeal: a severe test or judgment The person who underwent the ordeal appealed to God to prove hisinnocence by protecting him from harm. Rude as both these methodswere, they were better than the old tribal method, which permittedevery man or every man's family to be the avenger of his wrongs. 92. The Common Law. The laws by which these cases were tried were almost always ancientcustoms, few of which had been reduced to writing. They formed thatbody of Common Law[3] which is the foundation of the modern system ofjustice both in England and America. [3] So called, in distinction from the statute laws made byParliament. 93. Penalties. The penalties inflicted by these courts consisted chiefly of fines. Each man's life had a certain "wergild" or money value. The fine forthe murder of a man of very high rank was 2400 shillings; that of asimple freeman was only one twelfth as much. A slave could neither testify in court nor be punished by the court;for the man in that day who held no land had no rights. If a slavewas convicted of crime, his master paid the fine, and then flogged himuntil he had got his money's worth out of him. Treason was punishedwith death, and common scolds were ducked in a pond until they wereglad to hold their tongues. These methods of administering justicewere crude, but they had the great merit of being effective. Theyaimed to do two very necessary things: first, to protect the communityagainst dangerous criminals; secondly, to teach those criminals that"the way of the transgressor is hard. " II. Religion 94. The Ancient Saxon Faith. Before their conversion to Christianity, the Saxons worshiped Wodenand Thor, names preserved in Wednesday (Woden's day) and Thursday(Thor's day). The first appears to have been considered to be thecreator and ruler of heaven and earth; the second was his son, the godof thunder, slayer of evil spirits, and friend of man. The essential element of their religion was the deification ofstrength, courage, and fortitude. It was a faith well suited to awarlike people. It taught that there was a heaven for the brave and ahell for cowards. 95. What Christianity did. Christianity, on the contrary, laid emphasis on the virtues ofself-sacrifice and sympathy. It took the side of the weak and thehelpless. The Church itself held slaves, yet it labored foremancipation. It built monasteries and encouraged industry andeducation. The church edifice was a kind of open Bible. Very few who entered the sacred building then could have spelled out asingle word of either the Old or New Testament, even if they had thenbeen translated from Latin into English; but all, from the poorestpeasant or the meanest slave up to the greatest noble, could read themeaning of the Scripture histories painted in brilliant colors on walland window. The church, furthermore, was a peculiarly sacred place. It waspowerful to shield those who were in danger. If a criminal, or aperson fleeing from vengeance, took refuge in it, he could not beseized until forty days had expired, during which time he had theprivilege of leaving the kingdom and going into exile. This "right of sanctuary" was often a needful protection in an age ofviolence. In time, however, the system became an intolerable abuse, since it enabled robbers and desperadoes of all kinds to defy thelaw. The right was modified at different times, but was not whollyabolished until 1624, in the reign of James I. III. Military Affairs 96. The Army. The army consisted of a national militia, or "fyrd, " and a feudalmilitia. From the earliest times all freemen were obliged to fight inthe defense of the country. Under the feudal system, every largelandholder had to furnish the King a stipulated number of men, fullyequipped with armor and weapons. As this method was found moreeffective than the first, it gradually superseded it. The Saxons always fought on foot. They wore helmets and rude, flexible armor, formed of iron rings, or of stout leather covered withsmall plates of iron and other substances. They carried oval-shapedshields. Their chief weapons were the spear, javelin, battle-ax, andsword. The wars of this period were those of the different tribesseeking to get the advantage over each other, or of the English withthe Danes. 97. The Navy. Until Alfred's reign the English had no navy. From that period theymaintained a fleet of small warships to protect the coast frominvasion. Most of these vessels appear to have been furnished bycertain ports on the south coast. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 98. Runes. The language of the Saxons was of Low-German origin. Many of thewords resemble the German of the present day. When written, thecharacters were called runes, mysteries or secrets. The chief use ofthese runes was to mark a sword hilt, or some article of value, or toform a charm against evil and witchcraft. It is supposed that one of the earliest runic inscriptions is thefollowing, which dates from about 400 A. D. It is cut on a drinkinghorn, [1] and (reproduced in English characters) stands thus: EK HLEWAGASTIR - HOLTINGAR - HORNA - TAWIDO I, Hlewagastir, son of Holta, made the horn [1] The golden horn of Gallehas, found on the Danish-German frontier. With the introduction of Christianity the Latin alphabet, from whichour modern English alphabet is derived, took the place of the runiccharacters, which bore some resemblance to Greek, and Englishliterature began with the coming of the monks. 99. The First Books. One of the first English books of great value was the "Anglo-SaxonChronicle, " a history covering a period beginning 1 A. D. And ending in1154. The work was probably written by the monks in Canterbury, Peterborough, and other monasteries. It may be considered as anannual register of iportant events. Thorpe says of it, "No othernation can produce any history written in its own vernacular, at allapproaching the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" either in antiquity, truthfulness, or extent, the historical books of the Bible aloneexcepted. " Though written in prose, it countains various fragments of poetry, ofwhich the following (rendered into modern English), on the death ofEdward the Confessor (1066), may be quoted as an example: "Then suddenly came On Harold's self, Death the bitter A noble Earl! And that dear prince seized. Who in all times Angels bore Faithfully hearkened His steadfast soul Unto his lord Into heaven's light. In word and deed, But the wise King Nor ever failed Bestowed his realm In aught the King On one grown great, Had needed of him!" Other early books were Caedmon's poem of the Creation, also inEnglish, and Bede's "Church History" of Britain, written in Latin, awork giving a full and most interesting account of the coming ofAugustine and his first preaching in Kent. All of these books werewritten by the monks in different monasteries. 100. Art. The English were skillful workers in metal, especially in gold andsilver, and also in the illumination of manuscripts. [1] Alfred'sJewel, a fine specimen of the blue-enameled gold of the ninth century, is preseved in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It bears theinscription: "Alfred me heht gewurcan, " Alfred caused me to be worked[or made]. [1] These illuminations get their name from the gold, silver, andbright colors used in the pictures, borders, and decorated letterswith which the monks ornamented these books. For beautiful specimensof he work, see Silvestre's "Pale'ographie. " The women of that period excelled in weaving fine linen and woolencloth and in embroidering tapestry. 101. Architecture. In architecture no advance took place until very late. The smallancient church at Bradford-on-Avon in the south of England belongs tothe Saxon period. The Saxon stonework exhibited in a few buildingslike the church tower of Earl's Barton, Northamptonshire, is anattempt to imitate timber with stone, and has been called "stonecarpentry. "[2] Edward the Confessor's work in Westminster Abbey wasnot Saxon, but Norman, he having obtained his plans, and probably hisbuilders, from Normandy. [2] See Parker's "Introduction to Gothic Architecture" forillustrations of this work. V. General Industry and Commerce 102. Farms; Slave Trade. The farming of this period, except on the Church lands, was of therudest description. Grain was ground by the women and slaves in stonehand mills. Late, the mills were driven by wind or water power. Thepricipal commerce was in wool, lead, tin, and slaves. A writer ofthat time says he used to see long trains of young men and women tiedtogether, offered for sale, "for men were not ashamed, " he adds, "tosell their nearest relatives, and even their own children. " VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs 103. The Town. The first Saxon settlements were quite generally on the line of theold Roman roads. They were surrounded by a rampart of earth set witha thick hedge or with rows of sharp stakes. Outside this was a deepditch. These places were called towns, [1] from "tun, " meaning a fenceor hedge. The chief fortified towns were called "burghs" orboroughs. Later on, this class of towns generally had a corporateform of government, and eventually they sent representatives toParliament (S213). [1] One or more houses might constitute a town. A single farmhouse isstill so called in Scotland. 104. The Hall. The buildings in these towns were of wood. Those of the lords orchief men were called "halls, " from the fact that they consistedmainly of a hall, or large room, used as a sitting, eating, and oftenas a sleeping room, --a bundle of straw or some skins thrown on thefloor serving for beds. There were no chimneys, but a hole in theroof let out the smoke. If the owner was rich, the walls would bedecorated with bright-colored tapestry, and with suits of armor andshields hanging from pegs. 105. Life in the Hall. Here in the evening the master supped on a raised platform at one endof the "hall, " while his followers ate at a lower table. The Saxons were hard drinkers as well as hard fighters. After themeal, while horns of ale and mead were circulating, the minstrels, taking their harps, would sing songs of battle and ballads of wildadventure. Outside the "hall" were the "bowers, " or chambers for the master andhis family, and, perhaps, an upper chamber for a guest, called laterby the Normans a sollar, or sunny room. If a stranger approached a town, he was obliged to blow a horn;otherwise he might be slain as an outlaw. Here in the midst of rude plenty the Saxons, or Early English, lived alife of sturdy independence. They were rough, strong, outspoken, andfearless. Theirs was not the nimble brain, for that was to come withanother people (the Normans), though a people originally of the samerace. The mission of the Saxons was to lay the foundation; or, inother words, to furnish the muscle, grit, and endurance, without whichthe nimble brain is of little permanent value. 106. Guilds. The inhabitants of the towns and cities had various associationscalled guilds (from gild, a payment or contribution). The object ofthese was mutual assistance. The most important were the Frith guildsor Peace guilds and the Merchant guilds. The former constituted avoluntary police force to preserve order and bring thieves topunishment. Each member contributed a small sum to form a common fund which wasuseed to make good any losses incurred by robbery or fire. Theassociation held itself responsible for the good behavior of itsmembers, and kept a sharp eye on strangers and stragglers, who had togive an account of themselves or leave the country. The Merchant guilds were organized, apparantly at a late period, toprotect and extend trade. After the Norman Conquest they came to bevery wealthy and influential. In addition to the above, there weresocial and religious guilds, which made provision for feasts, formaintenance of religious services, and for the relief of the poor andthe sick. FIFTH PERIOD[1] "In other countries the struggle has been to gain liberty; in England, to preserve it. " -- Alison THE NORMAN CONQUEST THE KING AGAINST THE BARONS Building the Norman Superstructure -- The Age of Feudalism Norman Sovereigns William I, 1066-1087William II, 1087-1100Henry I, 1100-1135Stephen (House of Blois), 1135-1154 [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation will be found in theIndex. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all others are inparentheses. 107. William marches on London; he grants a Charter to the City. Soon after the great and decisive battle of Hastings (S74), WIlliamthe Conqueror advanced on London and set fire to the Southwarksuburbs. The Londoners, terrified by the flames, and later cut offfrom help from the north by the Conqueror's besieging army, openedtheir gates and surrendered without striking a blow. In return, William, shortly after his coronation, granted the city a charter, bywhich he guaranteed to the inhabitants the liberties which they hadenjoyed under Edward the Confessor (S65). That document may still be seen among the records in the Guildhall, inLondon. [2] It is a narrow strip of parchment not the length of aman's hand. It contains a few lines in English, to which William'sroyal seal was appended. It has indeed been said on high authoritythat the King also signed the charter with a cross; but no trace of itappears on the parchment. The truth seems to be that he who wieldedthe sword with such terrible efficiency disdained handling the pen(S154). [2] See Constitutional Documents in the Appendix, p. Xxxiii. 108. The Coronation; William returns to Normandy. On the following Christmas Day (1066) William was anointed and crownedin Westminster Abbey. His accession to the throne marked the union ofEngland and Normandy (S191). (See map facing p. 54). He assumed thetitle of "King of the English, " which had been used by Edward theConfessor and by Harold. The title "King of England" did not fullyand finally come into use until John's accession, more than a hundredand thirty years later. William did not remain in London, but madeWinchester, in the south of England, his capital. In the spring(1067) he sailed for Normandy, where he had left his queen, Matilda, to govern in his absence. While on the Continent he intrusted England to the hands of tworegents, one his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, the other hisfriend William Fitz-Osbern; the former he had made Earl of Kent, thelatter Earl of Hereford. During the next three years there were outbreaks and uprisings in thelowlands of Cambridgeshire and the moors of Yorkshire, besidesincursions of both Danes and Scots. 109. William quells Rebellion in the North (1068). The oppresive rule of the regents (S108) soon caused a rebellion, andin December William returned to England to put it down. He found thetask a hard one. The King of Denmark made it all the harder bysending over a powerful fleet to held the English. William bribed theDanish commanders and they "sailed away without striking a blow. "Then, little by little, he brought the land to obedience. By forcedmarches in midwinter, by roads cast up through bogs, and by suddennight attacks William accomplished the end he sought. But (1068) news came of a fresh revolt in the north, accompanied byanother invasion of foreign barbarians. Then William, roused byterrible anger, swore by the "splendor of God" that he would lay wastethe land. He made good his oath. For a hundred miles beyond the river Humber inYorkshire he ravaged the country, burning villages, destroying houses, crops, and cattle, and reduced the wretched people to such destitutionthat many sold themselves for slaves to escape starvation. Havingfinished his work in the north, he turned toward the ancient Romancity of Chester, in the west, and captured it. (See map facingp. 38. ) 110. Hereward (1091). Every part of the land was now in William's power except an island inthe swamps of Ely, in the east of England. There the EnglishmanHereward, with his resolute little band of fellow countrymen, continued to defy the power of the Conqueror. (See map facing p. 38. )"Had there been three more men like him in the island, " said one ofWilliam's own soldiers, "the Normans would never have entered it. "But as there were not three more, the Conquest was at lengthcompleted. 111. Necessity of William's Severity. The work of death had been fearful. But it was better that Englandshould suffer from these pitiless measures than that it should sinkinto anarchy, or into subjection to hordes of Northmen (S53). Forthose fierce barbarians destroyed not because they desired to buildsomething better, but because they hated civilization and all itsworks. Whatever William's faults may have been, his great object was to buildup a government better than any England had yet seen. Hence hisseverity, hence his castles and forts, by which he made sure ofretaining his hold upon whatever he had gained. 112. William builds the Tower of London. We have seen that William gave London a charter (S107); butoverlooking the place in which the charter was kept, he built theTower of London to hold the turbulent city in wholesome restraint. That tower, as fortress, palace, and prison, stands as the darkbackground of most events in English history. It was the forerunner of a multitude of Norman castles. They rose onthe banks of every river, and on the summit of every rocky height, from the west hill of Hastings to the peak of Derbyshire, and from thebanks of the Thames to those of the Tweed. Side by side with thesestrongholds there also rose a great number of monasteries, churches, and cathedrals. 113. William confiscates the Land; Classes of Society. Hand in hand with the progress of conquest, the confiscation of landwent on. William had seized the lands belonging to Harold (S67) andthose of the chief men associated with him, and had given them to hisown followers in England. In this way, all the greatest estates andthe most important offices passed into the hands of the Normans. TheKing made these royal grants on the express condition that those whoreceived them should furnish him a certain number of armed menwhenever he should demand them. Two great classes of society now existed in England. First, theleading Norman conquerors, who, as chief tenants or landholders underthe Crown, and as peers of the realm, had the title of barons. Theynumbered about fifteen hundred, and, as we have just seen, they wereall pledged to draw their swordss in behalf of the King. Secondly, the English who had been reduced to a subordinate state; most of thesenow held their land as grants from the Norman barons on condition ofsome kind of service. A majority of these men were no longer entirelyfree, while some were actual slaves. The greater part of this servileclass were villeins or farm laborers (S150). They were bound to thesoil, and could be sold with it, but not, like the slaves, separatelyfrom it. They could be compelled to perform any menial labor, butusually held their plots of land and humble cottages on condition ofplowing a certain number of acres or doing a certain number of days'work in each year. In time the villeins generally obtained theprivilege of paying a fixed money rent, in place of labor, and theircondition gradually improved. 114. How William distributed his Gifts. Yet it is noticeable that when William granted estates to his Normanfollowers (S113), he was careful not to give any baron too much landin any one county or shire. His experience in Normandy had taught himthat it was better to divide than to concentrate the power of thegreat nobles, who were often only too ready to plot to get the crownfor themselves. Thus William developed and extended the feudal system of landtenure, [1] already in existence in outline among the Saxons (S86), until it covered every part of the realm. He, however, kept thissystem strictly subordinate to himself, and we shall see that beforethe close of his reign he held a great meeting by which he gotabsolute control over it (S121). [1] See, too, the Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, p. V, S6. 115. The Three Counties Palatine. The only exceptions which William made in these carefully restrictedgrants were the three Counties Palatine, [1] which he created. Theybordered on Wales in the west, Scotland in the north, and the EnglishChannel in the southeast. To the earls of these counties of Chester, Durham, and Kent, which were especially liable to attack from Wales, Scotland, or France, William thought it expedient to give almost royalpower, which descended in their families, thus making the titlehereditary. (See map facing p. 436. ) [1] Palatine (from palatium, palace): having rights equal with theKing in his palace. The county of Chester is now Cheshire. Durhambordered on Northumberland, then opposed to William. Shropshire waspractically a fourth County Palatine until Henry I. Later, Lancasterwas added to the list. 116. How William stopped Assassination; the Law of Englishry; GregoryVII. The hard rule of the Norman nobles caused many secret assassinations. To put a stop to these crimes, William enacted the Law of Englishry. It compelled the people of the district where a murder was perpetratedto pay a heavy fine for every Norman so slain; for it was assumed thatevery man found murdered was a Norman, unless proof could be broughtto the contrary. While these events were taking place in England, Hildebrand, thearchdeacon who had urged the Pope to favor William's expeditionagainst England (S68), ascended the papal throne, under the title ofGregory VII. He was the ablest, the most ambitious, and, in somerespects, he most farsighted man who had been elected supreme head ofthe Catholic Church. 117. State of Europe; Gregory's Scheme of Reform. Europe was at that time in a condition little better than anarchy. Aperpetual quarrel was going on between the feudal barons. The Church, too, as we have seen (SS53, 60), had temporarily lost much of itspower for good. Pope Gregory conceived a scheme of reform which heintended should be both wide and deep. Like Dunstan (S60), he determined to correct the abuses which hadcrept into the monasteries. He resolved to have a priesthood whoshould devote themselves body and soul to the interests of the Church;he resolved to bring all society into submission to that priesthood;finally, he resolved to make the priesthood itself acknowledge him asits sole master. His purpose in this gigantic scheme was a noble one;it was to establish the unity and peace of Europe. 118. The Pope and the Conqueror, 1076. Pope Gregory looked to William for help in this matter. TheConqueror, who was a zealous Catholic, was ready to give that help, but with limitations. He pledged himself to aid in reforming theEnglish Church, which had enjoyed "an insular and barbaricindependence. " He undertook to remove inefficient men from its highplaces. The King also agreed to do something that had never been donebefore in England, namely, to establish separate courts (S151) for thetrial of Church cases (SS164, 165). Finally, he agreed to pay thecustomary yearly tax to Rome, called "Peter's pence. " But Pope Gregory was not satisfied. He demanded that the Conquerorshould do him homage for his crown, and should swear "to become hisman" (S86). This William respectfully, but decidedly, refused to do, saying that as no "King of the English before him had ever become thePope's man, so neither would he. " In taking this action the Kingdeclared himself to be an obedient and affectionate son of the "HolyCatholic Church. " But at the same time he laid down these three rulesto show that he would not tolerate any interference with his power asan independent English sovereign: 1. That no Pope should be acknowledged in England, or letters from thePope received there, without his sanction. 2. That no national synod or meeting of churchmen (S48) should enactany decrees binding the English Church, without his confirmation. 3. That no baron or officer of his should be expelled from the Churchwithout his permission. [1] [1] Taswell-Langmead's "English Constitutional History, " p. 59;Professor W. Stubb's "Constitutional History of England, " I, 286. It is noticeable that Pope Gregory never seems to have censuredWilliam for the position he took, --perhaps because one brave manalways understands and respects another. Yet a little later than this (1077), when Henry IV, Emperor ofGermany, refused to comply with certain demand made by Gregory VII, the German monarch had to submit. More than this, he was compelled tostand barefooted in the snow before the Pope's palace, waiting threedays for permission to enter and beg forgiveness. 119. William a Stern but Just Ruler; the Jews; the New Forest. Considering his love of power and strength of will, the reign ofWilliam was conspicuous for its justice. He was harsh, but generallyfair. He protected the Jewish traders who came over to England in hisreign, for he saw that their commercial enterprise and their financialskill would be of immense value in developing the country. Then too, if the royal treasury should happen to run dry, he thought it might beconvenient to coax or compel the Jews to lend him a round sum. On the other had, the King seized a tract of over sixty thousand acresin Hampshire for a hunting ground, which he named the New Forest. [1]It was said that William destroyed many churches and estates in orderto form this forest, but these accounts appear to have been greatlyexaggerated. The real grievance was not so much the appropriation ofthe land, which was sterile and of little value, but it was theenactment of the savage Forest Laws. These ordinances made he life ofa stag of more value than that of a man, and decreed that anyone foundhunting the royal deer should have both eyes torn out (S205). [1] Forest: As here used, this does not mean a region covered withwoods, but simply a section of country, partially wooded and suitablefor game, set apart as a royal park or hunting ground. As Williammade his residence at Winchester, in Hampshire, in the south ofEngland (see map facing p. 38), he naturally took land in thatvicinity for the chase. 120. The Great Survey; Domesday Book, 1086. Not quite twenty years after his coronation William ordered a surveyand valuation to be made of the whole realm outside of London. Theonly exceptions were certain border counties on the north were war hadleft little to record save heaps of ruins and ridges of grass-growngraves (S109). The returns of that survey were known as Domesday or Doomsday Book. The English people said this name was given to it, because, like theDay of Doom, it spared no one. It recorded every piece of propertyand every particular concerning it. As the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"(S46) indignantly declared, "not a rood of land, not a peasant's hut, not an ox, cow, pig, or even a hive of bees escaped. " While the report showed the wealth of the country, it also showed thjesuffering it had passed through in the revolts against William. Manytowns had fallen into decay. Some were nearly depopulated. IN Edwardthe Confessor's reign (S65) York had 1607 houses; at the date of thesurvey it had but 967, while Oxford, which had had 721 houses, hadthen only 243. The census and assessment proved of the highest importance to Williamand his successors. The people indeed said bitterly that the Kingkept to book constantly by him, in order "that he might be able to seeat any time of how much more wool the English flock would bearfleecing. " The object of the work, however, was not to extort money, but to present a full and exact report of the financial and militaryresources of the kingdom which might be directly available for revenueand defense. 121. The Great Meeting; the Oath of Allegiance to William, 1086. In the midsummer following the completion of Domesday Book, Williamsummoned all the barons and chief landholders of the realm, with theirprincipal vassals or tenants, to meet him on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. [1] It is said that the entire assemblage numbered sixtythousand. There was a logical connection between that summons and thegreat survey (S120). Each man's possesions and each man'sresponsibility were now known. Thus Domesday Book prepared the wayfor the action that was to be taken there. [1] See map of England facing p. 436. Wiltshire is in the south ofEngland. Alfred had established the seat of government at Winchesterin Hampshire, but under Edward the Confessor and Harold it wastransferred to Westminster (London); the honor was again restored toWinchester by William, who made it his principal residence. This wasperhaps the reason why he chose Salisbury Plain (the nearest openregion) for the great meeting. It was held where the modern city ofSalisbury stands. The place chosen was historic ground. On that field William had oncereviewed his victorious troops. Toward the north of the widespreadplain rose the rugged columns of Stonehenge (S3), surrounded by theburial mounds of prehistoric peoples. On the south rose the fortifiedhill of Old Sarum, scarred by British and by Roman entrenchments. William probably made his headquarters in the Norman castle thenstanding on that hill. On the plain below were the encampments of allthe chief landholders of England. 122. The Oath of Allegiance. There William the Conqueror finished his work. There not only everybaron, but every baron's free vassal or tenant, from Cornwall to theScottish borders, bowed before the King and swore to be "his man"(S86). By that act England was made one. By it, it was settled thatevery landholder in the realm, of whatever condition, was bound firstof all to fight in behalf of the Crown, even if in so doing he had tofight against his own lord. [1] The barons broke this oath in the nextreign (S130), but the moral obligation to keep it still remainedbinding. [1] See SS86, 150; see also the Constitutional Summary in theAppendix, p. V, S6. Even if the men should disregard this oath ofallegiance, they could not help feeling that the principle itrepresented had been acknowledged by them. 123. What William had done. A score of years before, William had landed, seeking a throne to whichno law had given him any claim whatever (S67). [2] But Nature hadelected him to it when she endowed him with power to take, power touse, and power to hold. Under Harold, England was a kingdom dividedagainst itself (S71). It was fortunate for the country that Williamcame; for out of chaos, or affairs fast drifting to chaos, his stronghand, clear brain, and resolute purpose brought order, beauty, safety, and stability. We may say, therefore, with an eminent Fernchhistorian, that "England owes her liberties to her having beenconquered by the Normans. "[3] [2] "William, in short, had no king of right to the crown, whether bybirth, bequest, or election. " (E. A. Freeman's "Short History of theNorman Conquest, " p. 65. )[3] Guizot; see also note 1 on page 64. 124. William's Death (1087). In less than a year from that time, William went to Normandy to quellan invasion led by his eldest son, Robert. As he rode down a steepstreet in Mantes, his horse stumbled and he received a fatal injury. He was carried to the priory of St. Gervase, just outside the city ofRouen. Early in the morning he was awakened by the great cathedral bell. "Itis an hour of praise, " his attendant said to him, "when the priestsgive thanks for the new day. " William lifted up his hands in prayerand expired. 125. His Burial (1087). His remains were taken for interment to St. Stephen's church, which hehad built in the city of Caen, Normandy. As they were preparing tolet down the body into the grave, a man suddenly stepped forward andforbade the burial. William, he said, had taken the land, on whichthe church stood, from his father by violence. He demanded payment. The corpse was left on the bier, and inquiry instituted, and not untilthe debt was discharged was the body lowered to its last restingplace. "Thus, " says the old chronicle, "he who had been a powerful king, andthe lord of so many territories, possessed not then of all his landsmore than seven feet of earth, " and not even that unttil the cash waspaid for it. But William's bones were not to rest when finally laidin the grave, for less than five centuries later (1532) the FrenchProtestants dug them up and scattered them. 126. Summary (1066-1087). The results of the Norman Conquest may be thus summed up: 1. The Conquest was not the subjugation of the English by a differentrace, but rather a victory won for their advantage by a branch oftheir own race. [1]2. It found England a divided country (S71); it made it a unitedkingdom. It also united England and Normandy (SS108, 191), andbrought the new English kingdom into closer contact with the highercivilization of the Continent. This introduced fresh intellectualstimulus, and gave to the Anglo-Saxon a more progressive spirit. 3. It modified the English language by the influence of theNorman-French element, thus giving it greater flexibility, refinement, and elegance of expression. 4. It substituted for the fragile and decaying structures of woodgenerally built by the Saxons, Norman castles, abbeys, and cathedralsof stone. 5. It hastened influences, which were already at work, for theconsolidation of the nation. It developed and completed the feudalform of land tenure, but it made that tenure strictly subordinate tothe Crown, and so freed it, in great measure, from the evils ofContinental feudalism (SS86, 150). 6. It reorganized the English Church and defined the relation of theCrown to that Church and to the Pope (S118). 7. It abolished the four great earldoms (S64), which had been aconstant source of weakness, danger, and division; it put an end tothe Danish invasions; it brought the whole of England under a strongmonarchical government, to which not only all the great nobles, butalso their vassals or tenants, were compelled to swear allegiance(SS121, 122). 8. It made no radical changes in the English laws, but enforcedimpartial obedience to them among all classes. [2] [1] It has already been shown that Norman, Saxon, and Dane wereoriginally branches of the Teutonic or German race. (SS36, 62). [2] Professor E. A. Freeman, who is the highest authority on thissubject (see especially his "Short History of the Norman Conquest"), holds the view that the coming of William was, on the whole, thegreatest advantage to England. Nearly all leading historians agreewith him; for a different view consult Professor C. Oman's "Englandbefore the Norman Conquest, " pp. 648-651. William Rufus[3]--1087-1100 [3] William Rufus: William the Red, a nickname probably derived fromhis red face. 127. William the Conqueror's Bequest (1087). William the Conqueror left three sons, --Robert, William Rufus, andHenry. He also left a daughter, Adela, who married a powerful Frenchnobleman, Stephen, Count of Blois. On his deathbed (S124) Williambequeathed Normandy to Robert. He expressed a wish that William Rufusshould become ruler over England, while to Henry he left five thousandpounds of silver, with the prediction that he would ultimately be thegreatest of them all. Before his eyes were closed, the two sons, who were with him, hurriedaway, --William Rufus to seize the realm of England, Henry to getpossession of his treasure. Robert was not present. His recentrebellion (S124) would alone have been sufficient reason for allotingto him the lesser portion; but even had he deserved the scepter, William knew it required a firmer hand than his to hold it. 128. Condition of England. France was simple an aggregation of independent and mutually hostiledukedoms. The ambition of the Norman leaders threatened to bringEngland into the same condition. During the twenty-one years ofWilliam the Conqueror's reign, the Norman barons on the Continent hadconstantly tried to break loose from his restraining power. It wascertain, then, that the news of his death would be the signal forstill more desperate attempts. 129. Character of William Rufus. Rufus had his father's ability and resolution, but none of hisfather's conscience. As the historian of that time declared, "hefeared God but little, man not at all. " He had Caesar's faith indestiny, and said to a boatman who hesitated to set off with him in astorm at his command, "Did you ever hear of a king's being drowned?" 130. His Struggle with the Barons. The barons broke the solemn oath which they had taken in the previousreign (S122) to be faithful to the Crown. During the greater part ofthe thirteen years of the new King's reign they were fighting againsthim. On William's part it was a battle of centralization againstdisintegration. He rallied the country people to his help--those whofought with bows and spears. "Let every man, " said the King, "whowould not be branded infamous and a coward, whether he live in town orcountry, leave everything and come to me" (S85). In answer to that appeal, the English people rallied around theirNorman sovereign, and gained the day for him under the walls ofRochester Castle, Kent. Of the two evils, the tyranny of one or thetyranny of many, he first seemed to them preferable. 131. William's Method of raising Money; he defrauds the Church. If in some respects William the Conqueror had been a harsh ruler, hisson was worse. His brother Robert had mortgaged Normandy to him inorder to get money to join the first crusade (S182). William Rufusraised whatever funds he desired by the most oppressive andunscrupulous means. William's most trusted counselor was Ranulf Flambard. Flambard hadbrains without principle. He devised a system of plundering bothChurch and people in the King's interest. Lanfranc, Archbishop ofCanterbury, died three years after William's accession. ThroughFlambard's advice the King left the archbishopric vacant andappropriated its revenues to himself. He practiced the same coursewith respect to every office of the Church. 132. The King makes Anselm Archbishop (1093). While this process of systematized robbery was going on, the Kingsuddenly fell ill. In his alarm lest death was at hand, he determinedto make reparation to the defrauded and insulted priesthood. Heinvited Anselm, the abbot of a famous monastery in Normandy, to acceptthe archbishopric. Anselm, who was old and feeble, declined, sayingthat he and the King could not work together. "It would be, " said he, "like yoking a sheep and a bull. " But the king would take no refusal. Calling Anselm to his bedside, heforced the staff of office into his hands. Anselm became the championof the freedom of the Church. But when the King recovered, he resumedhis old practices and treated the Archbishop with such insult that heleft the country for a time. 133. William's Merit; his Death. William II's one merit was that he kept England from being devouredpiecemeal by the Norman barons, who regarded her as a pack of houndsin full chase regard the hare that is on the point of falling intotheir rapacious jaws. Like his father, he insisted on keeping the English Church independentof the ever-growing power of Rome (S118). In both cases his motiveswere purely selfish, but the result to the country was good. His power came suddenly to an end (1100). He had gone in the morningto hunt in the New Forest (S119) with his brother Henry. He was foundlying dead among the bushes, pierced by an arrow shot by an unknownhand. William's character speaks in his deeds. It was hard, cold, despotic, yet in judging it we should consider the woulds of that quaint oldwriter, Thomas Fuller, when he says, "No pen hath originally writtenthe life of this King but what was made with a monkish penknife, andno wonder if his picture seems bad, which was thus drawn by hisenemy. " 134. Summary. Notwithstanding William's oppression of both Church and people, hisreign checked the revolt of the baronage and prevented the kingdomfrom falling into anarchy like that existing in France. Henry I--1100-1135 135. Henry's Charter of Liberties. Henry, third son of William the Conqueror, was the first of the Normankings who was born and educated in England. Foreseeing a renewal ofthe contest with the barons (S130), he issued a Charter of Libertieson his accession, by which he bound himself to reform the abuses whichhad been practiced by his brother William Rufus. The charterguaranteed: (1) The rights of the Church (which William Rufus hadconstantly violated); (2) the rights of the nobles and landholdersagainst extortionate demands by the Crown; (3) the right of allclasses to protection of the old English customs or laws. The King sent a hundred copies of this important document to theleading abbots and bishops for preservation in their respectivemonasteries and cathedrals (S45). As this charter was the earliest written and formal guarantee of goodgovernment ever given by the Crown to the nation, it marks animportant epoch in English history. It may be compared to thestatements of principles and pledges issued by our modern politicalparties. It was a virtual admission that the time had come when evena Norman sovereign could not dispense with the support of thecountry. It was therefore an admission of the truth that while apeople can exist without a king, no king can exist without a people. Furthermore, this charter established a precedent for those which wereto follow, and which reached a final development in the Great Charterwrested from the unwilling hand of King John somewhat more than acentury later (S198). Henry further strengthened his position withhis English subjects by his marriage with Maud, nice of the SaxonEdgar, a direct descendant of King Alfred (S51). 136. The Appointment of Bishops settled. King Henry also recalled Anselm (S132) and reinstated him in hisoffice. But the peace was of short duration. The Archbishopinsisted, as did the Pope, that the power of appointment of bishopsshould be vested wholly in Rome. The King was equally determined thatsuch appointments should spring from himself. Like William theConqueror (S118), he declared: "No one shall remain in my land whowill not do me homage" (S86). The quarrel was eventually settled by compromise. The Pope was toinvest the bishop with ring and crosier, or pastoral staff of office, as emblems of the spiritual power; the King, on the other hand, was togrant the lands from which he bishop drew his revenues, and in returnwas to receive his homage or oath of allegiance. This acknowledgement of royal authority by the Church was of greatimportance, since it gave the King power as feudal lord to demand fromeach bishop his quota of fully equipped knights or cavalry soldiers(SS150, 152). This armed force would usually be commanded by thebishop in person (S140). 137. Henry's Quarrel with Robert; the "Lion of Justice. " While this Church question was in dispute, Henry had still morepressing matters to attend to. His elder brother Robert (SS124, 127)had invaded England and demanded the crown. The greater part of theNorman nobles supported this claim, but the English people held toHenry. Finally, in consideration of a heavy money payment, Robertagreed to return to Normandy and leave his brother in full possessionof the realm. On his departure, Henry resolved to drive out theprominent nobles who had aided Robert. Of these, the Earl ofShrewsbury, called "Robert the Devil, " was the leader. With the aidof the English, who hated him for his cruelty, the earl was at lastcompelled to leave the country. He fled to Normandy, and, in violation of a previous agreement, wasreceived by Henry's brother Robert. Upon that, Henry declared war, and, crossing the Channel, fought (1106) the battle of Tinchebrai, [1]by which he conquered and held Normandy as completely as William, Dukeof Normandy, had conquered England forty years before. The Kingcarried his brother captive to Wales, and kept him in prison duringhis life in Cardiff Castle. This ended the contest with the nobles. [1] Tinchebrai, Normandy, in the region west of Caen and Avranches. (See map facing p. 54. ) By his uprightness, his decision, his courage, and by his organizationof better courts of law (S147), Henry fairly won the honorable titleof the "Lion of Justice"; for the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" says, "Noman durst misdo against another in his time. "[2] [2] See, too, the Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Vi, S7. 138. Summary. The three leading points of Henry I's reign are: (1) theself-limitation of the royal power embodied in his Charter ofLiberties; (2) the settlement of old disputes between the King and theChurch; (3) the banishment of the chief of the mutinous barons, andthe victory of Tinchebrai, with its important results. Stephen--1135-1154 139. The Rival Candidates. With Henry I's death two candidates presented themselves for thethrone, --Henry's daughter, Matilda (for he left no lawful son), andhis nephew, Stephen. In France the custom of centuries had determinedthat the crown should never descend to a female. It was an age whenthe sovereign was expected to lead his army in person, and itcertainly was not expedient that a woman should hold a position one ofwhose chief duties she could not discharge. This French custom had, of course, no force in England; but the Norman nobles must haverecognized its reasonableness; or if not, the people did. [1] [1] Before Henry's death, the baronage had generally sworn to supportMatilda (commonly called the Empress Matilda, or Maud, from hermarriage to the Emperor Henry V of Germany; later, she marriedGeoffrey of Anjou). But Stephen, with the help of London and theChurch, declared himself "elected King by the assent of the clergy andthe people. " Many of the barons now gave Stephen their support. Four years after Stephen's accession Matilda landed in England andclaimed the crown. The east of England stood by Stephen, the west byMatilda. For the sake of promoting discord, and through discord theirown private ends, part of the barons gave their support to Matilda, while the rest refused, as they said, to "hold their estates under adistaff. " In the absence of the Witan or National Council (S80), London unanimously chose Stephen King (1135). The fatal defect in the new King was the absence of executive ability. Following the example of Henry (S135), he issued two charters orpledges of good government; but without power to carry them out, theyproved simply waste paper. 140. The Battle of the Standard (1135). David I of Scotland, Matilda's uncle, espoused her cause and invadedEngland with a powerful force. He was met at North Allerton, inYorkshire, by the party of Stephen, and the battle of the Standard wasfought. The leaders of the English were both churchmen, who showed that theycould fight as vigorously as they could pray (S136). The standardconsisted of four consecrated banners, surmounted by a cross. Thiswas set up on a wagon, on which one of the bishops stood. The sightof this sacred standard made the English invincible. (See map facingpage 436. ) After a fierce contest the Scots were driven from the field. It issaid that this was the first battle in which the English peasants usedthe long bow; they had taken the hist, perhaps, from the Normanarchers at the battle of Hastings (SS73, 74). Many years later, theirskill in foreign war made that weapon as famous as it was effective(S238). 141. Civil War (1138-1153). For fifteen years following, the country was torn by civil war. Whileit raged, fortified castles, which, under William the Conqueror, hadbeen built and occupied by the King only, or by those whom he couldtrust, now arose on every side. These strongholds became, as the"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (S99) declares, "very nests of devils and densof thieves. " More than a thousand of these castles, it is said, werebuilt. The armed bands who inhavited them levied tribute on the wholecountry around. Not satisfied with that, these miscreants seized those who weresuspected of having property, and, in the words of the "Chronicle, ""tortured them with pains unspeakable; for some they hung up by thefeet and smoked with foul smoke; others they crushed in a narrow chestwith sharp stones. About the heads of others they bound knotted cordsuntil they went into the brain. " "Thousands died of hunger, the townswere burned, and the soil left untilled. By such deeds the land wasruined, and men said openly that Christ and his saints were asleep. " The sleep, however, was not always to last; for in the next reign, Justice, in the person of Henry II, effectually vindicated her power. The strife for the crown continued till the last year of Stephen'sreign. Then the Church came to the rescue, and through its powerfulinfluence the Treaty of Wallingford (in Berkshire) was made. By thattreaty it was agreed that Matilda's son Henry should succeed Stephen. 142. Summary. Stephen was the last of the Norman kings. Their reign had coverednearly a century. The period began in conquest and usurpation; itended in gloom. We are not, however, to judge it by Stephen's reignalone, but as a whole. This considered, it shows at least one point of advance over thepreceding period, --the triumph of the moral power of the Church overfeudal discord. But Stephen's reign was not all loss in otherrespects, for out of the "war, wickedness, and waste" of hismisgovernment came a universal desire for peace through law. Thusindirectly this weak King's inefficiency prepared the way for futurereforms. GENERAL REFERENCE SUMMARY OF THE NORMAN PERIOD (1066-1154) I. Government. II. Religion. III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art. V. General Industry and Commerce. VI. Mode ofLife, Manners, and Customs I. Goverment 143. The King. We have seen that the Saxons, or Early English rulers, in the case ofEgbert and his successors, styled themselves Kings of the West Saxonsor of some other division of that race, and that finally they assumedthe broader title of "Kings of the English, " or leaders of the entirerace or people (S49). The Norman sovereigns made no immediate changein this title, but as a matter of fact William, toward the close ofhis reign, claimed the whole of the country as his own by right ofconquest. For this reason he and his Norman successors might properly havecalled themselves "Kings of England, " that is, supreme owners of thesoil and rulers over it; but this title of territorial sovereignty wasnot formally assumed until about fifty years later, in John's reign. 144. The Great Council. Associated with the King in government was the Great or CentralCouncil, made up of, first, the earls and barons; and secondly, of thearchbishops, bishops, and abbots; that is, of all the greatlandholders holding directly from the Crown. The Great Councilusually met three times a year, --at Christmas, Easter, andWhitsuntide. All laws were held to be made by the King, acting withthe advice and consent of this Council, --which in the next centuryfirst came to be known as Parliament (1246, 1265, 1295), --butpractically the King alone often enacted such laws as he saw fit(SS213, 217). When a new sovereign came to the throne, it was with the consent or bythe election of the Great Council, but their choice was generallylimited to some one of the late King's sons, and unless therer wasgood reason for making a different selection, the oldest was chosen. Finally the right of imposing taxes rested, theoretically at least, inthe King and Council, but, in fact, the King himself frequently leviedthem. This action of the King was a cause of constant irritation andof frequent insurrection. 145. The Private or King's Council. There was also a second and permanent council, called the King'sCouncil. The three leading officers of this were: first, the ChiefJustice, who superintended the execution of the laws, represented theKing, and ruled for him during his absence from the country; secondly, the Lord Chancellor (so called from cancelli, the screen behind whichhe sat with his clerks), who acted as the King's adviser andconfidential secretary, and as keeper of the Great Seal, with which hestamped all important papers;[1] thirdly, the Lord High Treasurer, whotook charge of the King's revenue, received all moneys due the Crown, and kept the King's treasure in the vaults at Winchester orWestminster. [1] The Lord Chancellor was also the "Keeper of the King'sConscience, " because intrusted with the duty of redressing thosegrievances of the King's subjects which required royal interference. The Court of Chancery (mentioned on page 73, note 1) grew out of thisoffice. 146. Tallies. All accounts were kept by the Treasurer on tallies or small sticks, notched on the opposite sides to represent different sums. These weresplit lengthwise. One was given as a receipt to the sheriff, or otherperson paying in money to the treasury, while the duplicate of thistally was held by the Treasurer. This primitive method of keepingroyal accounts remained legally in force until 1785, in the reign ofGeorge III. 147. The Curia Regis, [2] or the King's Court of Justice. The Chief Justice and Chancellor were generally chosen by the Kingfrom among the clergy; first, because the clergy were men ofeducation, while the barons were not; and next, because it was notexpedient to intrust too much power to the barons. These officials, with the other members of the Private Council, constituted the King'sHigh Court of Justice. [2] Curia Regis: This name was given, at different times, first, tothe Great or National Council; secondly, to the King's PrivateCouncil; and lastly, to the High Court of Justice, consisting ofmembers of the Private Council. It followed the King as he moved from place to place, to hear anddecide cases carried up by appeal from the county courts, togetherwith other questions of importance. [1] In local government thecountry remained under the Normans essentially the same as it had beenbefore the Conquest. The King continued to be represented in eachcounty by an officer called the sheriff, who collected the taxes andenforced the laws. [1] The King's High Court of Justice (Curia Regis) was divided, about1215, into three distinct courts: (1) the Exchequer Court (so calledfrom the chequered cloth which covered the table of the court, andwhich was probably made useful in counting money), which dealt withcases of finance and revenue; (2) the Court of Common Pleas, which hadjurisdiction in civil suits between subject and subject; (3) the Courtof King's Bench, which transacted the remaining business, both civiland criminal, and had special jurisdiction over all inferior courtsand civil corporations. Later, a fourth court, that of Chancery (see S145, and note 1), over which the Lord Chancellor presided, was established as a court ofappeal and equity, to deal with cases where the common law gave norelief. 148. Trial by Battle. In the administration of justice, Trial by Battle was introduced inaddition to the Ordeal of the Saxons (S91). This was a duel in whicheach of the contestants appealed to Heaven to give him the victory, itbelieved that the right would vanquish. Noblemen[2] fought onhorseback in full armor, with sword, lance, and battle-ax; commonpeople fought on foot with clubs. [2] See Shakespeare's "Richard II, " Act I, scenes i and iii; alsoScott's "Ivanhoe, " Chapter XLIII. In both cases the combat was in the presence of judges and might lastfrom sunrise until the stars appeared. Priests and women had theprivilege of being represented by champions, who fought for them. Trial by Battle was claimed and allowed by the court (though thecombat did not come off) as late as 1817, in the reign of George III. This custom was finally abolished in 1819. [3] [3] Trial by Battle might be demanded in cases of chivalry or honor, in criminal actions, and in civil suits. The last were fought not bythe disputants themselves but by champions. 149. Divisions of Society. The divisions of society remained after the Conquest very nearly asbefore, but the Saxon orders of nobility, with a few very rareexceptions, were deprived of their rank and their estates given to theNormans. It is important to notice here the marked difference between the newor Norman nobility and that of France. In England a man was considered a noble because, under William and hissuccessors, he was a member of the Great or National Council (S80), or, in the case of an earl, because he represented the King in thegovernment of a county or earldom. His position did not exempt him from taxation, nor did his rankdescend to more than one of his children. In France, on the contrary, the aristocracy were noble by birth, not office; they were generallyexempt from taxation, thus throwing the whole of that burden on thepeople, and their rank descended to all their children. During the Norman period a change was going on among the slaves, whosecondition gradually improved. On the other hand, many who had beenfree now sank into that state of villeinage (S150) which, as it boundthem to the soil, was but one remove from actual slavery. The small, free landholders who still existed were mostly in the oldDanish territory north of Watling Street (see map facing p. 32), andin the county of Kent on the southeast coast of England. 150. Tenure of Land in the Norman Period; Military Service, FeudalDues, National Militia, Manors and Manor Houses. All land was held directly or indirectly from the King on condition ofmilitary or other service. The number of chief tenants who derivedtheir title from the Crown, including ecclesiastical dignitaries, wasprobably about fifteen hundred. These constituted the Norman barons. The undertenants were about eight thousand, and consisted chiefly ofthe English who had been driven out from their estates. Every holder of land was obliged to furnish the King a fully armed andmounted soldier, to serve for forty days during the year for eachpiece of land bringing 20 pounds annually, or about $2000 in modernmoney[1] (the pound of that day probably representing twenty timesthat sum now). All the chief tenants were also bound to attend theKing's Great or National Council three times a year, --at Christman, Easter, and Whitsuntide. [1] This amount does not appear to have been fully settled until theperiod following the Norman kings, but the principle was recognized byWilliam. Feudal Dues or Taxes. Every free tenant was obliged to pay a sum ofmoney to the King or baron from whom he held his land, on threespecial occasions: (1) to ransom his lord from captivity in case hewas made a prisoner of war; (2) to defray the expense of making hislord's eldest son a knight; (3) to provide a suitable marriage portionon the marriage of his lord's eldest daughter. In addition to these taxes, or "aids, " as they were called, there wereother demands which the lord might make, such as: (1) a year's profitsof the land from the heir, on his coming into possession of hisfather's estate; this was called a relief; (2) the income from thelands of orphan heirs not of age; (3) payment for privilege ofdisposing of land. [1] [1] The clergy, being a corporate and hence an ever-living body, wereexempt from these last demands. Not satisfied with this, they wereconstantly endeavoring, with more or less success, to escape ALLfeudal obligations, on the ground that they rendered the state divineservice. In 1106, in the reign of Henry I, it was settled, for thetime, that the bishops were to do homage to the King, i. E. Furnishmilitary service for the lands they received from him as their feudallord (S136). In case of an orphan heiress not of age, the feudal lord became herguardian and might select a suitable husband for her. Should theheiress reject the person selected, she forfeited a sum of money equalto the amount the lord expected to receive by the proposed marriage. Thus we find one woman in Ipswich giving a large fee for the privilegeof "not being married except to her own good liking. " In thecollection of these "aids" and "reliefs, " great extortion was oftenpracticed both by the King and the barons. Besides the feudal troops there was a national militia, consisting ofpeasants and others not provided with armor, who fought on foot withbows and spears. These could also be called on as during the Saxonperiod (S96). In some cases where the barons were in revolt againstthe King, for instance, under William Rufus (S130), this nationalmilitia proved of immense service to the Crown. The great landholders let out part of their estates to tenants onsimilar terms to those on which they held their own, and in this waythe entire country was divided up. The lowest class of tenants werethe common agricultural laborers called villeins, --a name derived fromthe Latin villa, meaning a country house or farm. These villeins, orserfs, held small pieces of land on condition of performing labor forit. They were bound to the soil and could be sold with it, but not, like slaves, apart from it. They were not wholly destitute of legalrights. Under William I and his successors, all free tenants, of whatevergrade, were bound to uphold the King, [2] and in case of insurrectionor civil war to serve under him (S122). In this most importantrespect the great landholders of England differed from those of theContinent, where the lesser tenants were bound only to serve their ownmasters, and might, and in fact often did, take up arms against theKing. William removed this serious defect. By doing so he did thecountry an incalculable service. He completed the organization offeudal land tenure, but he never established the Continental system offeudal government. (See, too, the Constitutional Summary in theAppendix, p. V, S6. ) [2] See the Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, pp. Iii-v, SS5, 6. The building is Ludlow Castle, Shropshire. Manor houses proper, asdistinct from castles, existed in England at least from the thirteenthcentury (See Gibbin's "Industrial History of England" and Cheyney's"Industrial and Social England") The inhabitants of a manor, or the estate of a lord, were: (1) thelord himself, or his representative, who held his estate on conditionof furnishing the King a certain number of armed men (SS113, 150); (2)the lord's personal followers, who lived with him, and usually aparish priest or a number of monks; (3) the farm laborers, orvilleins, bound to the soil, who could not leave the manor, were notsubject to military duty, and who paid rent in labor or produce; theremight also be a few actual slaves, but this last class gradually roseto the partial freedom of villenage; (4) certain free tenants or"sokemen, " who paid a fixed rent either in money or service and werenot bound to the soil as the villeins were. Next to the manor house (where courts were also held) the mostimportant buildings were the church (used sometimes for markets andtown meetings); the lord's mill (if there was a stream), in which alltenants must grind their grain and pay for the grinding; and finally, the cottages of the tenants, gathered in a village near the mill. The land was divided as follows: (1) the "demesne" (or domain)surrounding the manor house; this was strictly private--the lord'sground; (2) the land outside the demesne, suitable for cultivation;this was let in strips, usually of thirty acres, but was subject tocertain rules in regard to methods of tillage and crops; (3) a pieceof land which tenants might hire and use as they saw fit; (4) commonpasture, open to all tenants to pasture their cattle on; (5) waste oruntilled land, where all tenants had the right to cut turf for feul, or gather plants or shrubs for fodder; (6) the forest or woodland, where all tenants had the right to turn their hogs out to feed onacorns, and where they might also collect a certain amound of smallwood for feul; (7) meadow land on which the tenants might hire theright to cut grass and make hay. On the above plan the fields oftenants--both those of villeins and of "sokemen, " or tenants who paida fixed rent in money or service--are marked by the letters A, B, C, etc. If the village grew, the tenants might, in time, purchase from thelord the right to manage their own affairs in great measure, and sobecome a Free Town (S183). II. Religion 151. The Church. With respect to the organization of the Church, no changes were madeunder the Norman kings. They, however, generally deposed the Englishbishops and substituted Normans or foreigners, who, as a class, weresuperior in education to the English. William the Conqueror made itpretty clearly understood that he considered the Church subordinate tohis will, and that in all cases of dispute about temporal matters, he, and not the Pope, was to decide (S118). During the Norman periodgreat numbers of monasteries were built. In one very important respect William the Conqueror greatly increasedthe power of the Church by establishing ecclesiastical courts in whichall cases relating to the Church and the clergy were tried by thebishops according to laws of their own. Persons wearing the dress ofa monk or priest, or those who could manage to spell out a verse ofthe Psalms, and so pass for ecclesiastics, would claim the right to betried under the Church laws, and, as the punishments which the Churchinflicted were notoriously mild, the consequence was that the majorityof criminals escaped the penalty of their evil doings. So great wasthe abuse of this privilege, that, at a later period, Henry II made anattempt to reform it (S164); but it was not wholly and finally doneaway with until the beginning of the nineteenth century. III. Military Affairs. 152. The Army. The army consisted of cavalry, or knights, and foot soldiers. Theformer were almost wholly Normans. They wore armor similar to thatused by the Saxons. It is represented in the pictures of the BayeuxTapestry (S75, 155), and appears to have consisted of leather or stoutlinen, on which pieces of bone, or scales, or rings of iron weresecurely sewed. Later, these rings of iron were set up edgewise, andinterlinked, or the scales made to overlap. The helmet was pointed, and had a piece in front to protect the nose. The shield was long andkite-shaped. The weapons of this class of soldiers consisted of a lance and adouble-edged sword. The foot soldiers wore little or no armor andfought principally with long bows. In case of need, the King couldprobably muster about ten thousand knights, or armed horsemen, anda much larger force of foot soldiers. Under the Norman kings theprincipal wars were insurrections against William I, the variousrevolts of the barons, and the civil war under Stephen. 153. Knighthood. [1] Candidates for knighthood were usually obliged to pass through a longcourse of training under the care of some distinguished noble. Thecandidate served first as a page, or attendant in the house; then, asa squire or attendant, he followed his master to the wars. Afterseven years in this capacity, he prepared himself for receiving thehonors of knighthood by spending several days in a church, engaged insolemn religious rites, fasting, and prayer. [1] Knighthood: Originally the knight was a youth or attendant. Later, the word came to mean an armed horse soldier or cavalier whohad received his weapons and title in a solemn manner. As a rule, only the wealthy and noble could afford the expense of a horse andarmor; for this reason chivalry, or knighthood, came to be closelyconnected with the idea of aristocracy. In some cases soldiers weremade knights on the battlefield as a reward for valor. The young man, in the presence of his friends and kindred, then madeoath to be loyal to the King, to defend religion, and to be thechampion of every lady in danger or distress. Next, a high-born dameor great warrior buckled on his spurs, and girded the sword, which hepriest had blessed, to his side. This done, he knelt to the prince ornoble who was to perform the final ceremony. The prince struck himlightly on the shoulder with the flat of the sword, saying: "In thename of God, St. Michael, [2] and St. George [the patron saint ofEngland], I dub thee knight. Be brave, hardy, and loyal. " [2] St. Michael, as representative of the triumphant power of goodover evil. Then the young cavalier leaped into the saddle and galloped up anddown, brandishing his weapon in token of strength and skill. In casea knight proved false to his oaths, he was publicly degraded. Hisspurs were taken from him, his shield was reversed, his armor brokento pieces, and a sermon preached upon him in the neighboring church, proclaiming him dead to the order. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 154. Education; Use of Seals or Stamps. The leaning of this period was confined almost wholly to the clergy. Whatever schools existed were connected with the monasteries andnunneries. Oxford had begun to be regarded as a seat of leaning(1120). The instruction was given by priests, though some notedJewish scholars may have had pupils there. Very few books werewritten during this period. Generally speaking, the nobilityconsidered fighting the great business of life and cared nothing foreducation. They thought that reading and writing were beneath theirdignity, and left such accomplishments to monks, priests, andlawyers. For this reason seals or stamps having some device orsignature engraved on them came to be used on all papers ofimportance. 155. Historical Works; the Bayeux Tapestry. The chief books written in England under the Norman kings werehistories. Of these the most noteworthy were the continuation of the"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" in English (S99) and the chronicles of Williamof Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon in Latin. [1] William's book andthe "Saxon Chronicle" still continue to be of great importance tostudents of this period. Mention has already been made of the BayeuxTapestry (S75), a history of the Norman Conquest worked in coloredworsteds, on a long strip of narrow canvas. [1] Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Britons" belongs to thisperiod. It abounds in romances about King Arthur. Tennyson based his"Idylls of the King" on it. It consists of a series of seventy-two scenes, or pictures, done aboutthe time of William's accession. It was probably intended to decoratethe cathedral of Bayeux, in Normandy, France, where it was originallyplaced. Some have supposed it to be the work of his Queen, Matilda. The entire length is two hundred and fourteen feet and the width abouttwenty inches. It represents events in English history from the lastof Edward the Confessor's reign to the battle of Hastings. As a guideto a knowledge of the armor, weapons, and costume of the period, it isof very great value. The tapestry is preserved at Bayeux. 156. Architecture. Under the Norman sovereigns there was neither painting, statuary, norpoetry worthy of mention. The spirit that creats these arts foundexpression in architecture introduced from the Continent. The castle, cathedral, and minster, with here and there an exceptional structurelike the Tower of London, London Bridge, and the Great Hall atWestminster, built by William Rufus, were some well-known Normanbuildings which mark the time. All were of stone, a material whichthe Normans generally preferred to any other. Aside from WestminsterAbbey, which, although the work of Edward the Confessor, was reallyNorman, a fortress or two, like Coningsborough in Yorkshire, and a fewchurches, like that at Bradford-on-Avon, the Saxons had erected littleof note. The characteristics of the Norman style of architecture was itsmassive grandeur. The churches were built in the form of a cross, with a square, central tower, the main entrance being at the west. The interior was divided into a nave, or central portion, with anaisle on each side for the passage of religious processions. Thewindows were narrow, and rounded at the top. The roof rested on roundarches supported by heavy columns. The cathedrals of Peterborough, Ely, Durham, Norwich, the church of St. Bartholomew, London, andSt. John's Chapel in the Tower of London are fine examples of Normanwork. The castles consisted of a square keep, or citadel, with walls ofimmense thickness, having a few slitlike windows in the lower storyand somewhat larger ones above. In these buildings everything wasmade subordinate to strength and security. They were surrounded by ahigh stone wall and deep ditch, generally filled with water. Theentrance to them was over a drawbridge through an archway protected byan iron grating, or portcullis, which could be raised and lowered atpleasure. The Tower of London, Rochester Castle, Norwich Castle, Castle Rising, Richmond Castle, Carisbrooke Keep, New Castle on theTyne, and Tintagel Hold were built by William or his Normansuccessors. The so-called Jews' houses at Lincoln and St. Edmundsbury are rare andexcellent examples of Norman domestic architecture. Although in manycases the Norman castles are in ruins, yet these ruins bid fair tostand as long as the Pyramids. They were mostly the work ofchurchmen, who were the best architects of the day, and knew how toplan a fortress as well as to build a minster. V. General Industry and Commerce 157. Trade. No very marked change took place in respect to agriculture or tradeduring the Norman period. Jews are mentioned in a few cases in Saxonrecords, but they apparently did not enter England in any number untilafter William the Conqueror's accession. They soon got control ofmuch of the trade, and were the only capitalists of the time. They were protected by the Kings in money lending at exorbitant ratesof interest. In turn, the Kings extorted immense sums from them. The guilds (S106), or associations for mutual protection amongmerchants and manufacturers, now became prominent, and in time theyacquired great political influence. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs. 158. Dress. The Normans were more temperate and refined in their mode of livingthan the Saxons. In dress they made great display. In Henry I'sreign it became the custom for the nobility to wear their hair verylong, so that their curls resembled those of women. The clergythundered against this effeminate fashion, but with no effect. Atlast, a priest preaching before the King on Easter Sunday, ended hissermon by taking out a pair of shears and cropping the entirecongregation, King and all. By the regulation called the curfew, a bell rang at sunset in summerand at eight in winter, which was the government signal for puttingout lights and covering up fires. This law, which was especiallyhated by the English, as a Norman innovation and act of tyranny, was anecessary precaution against fire, at a time when London and othercities were masses of wooden hovels. Surnames came in with the Normans. Previous to the Conquest, Englishmen had but one name; and when, for convenience, another wasneeded, they were called by their occupation or from some personalpeculiarity, as Edward the Carpenter, Harold the Dauntless. Among theNormans the lack of a second, or family, name had come to be lookedupon as a sign of low birth, and the daughter of a great lord(Fitz-Haman) refused to marry a nobleman who had but one, saying, "Myfather and my grandfather had each two names, and it were a greatshame to me to take a husband who has less. " The principal amusements were hunting, and hawking (catching birds andother small game by the use of trained hawks). The Church introduced theatrical plays, written and acted by themonks. These represented scenes in Scripture history, and, later, thecareers of the Vices and the Virtues were personified. Jousts and tournaments, or mock combats between knights, were notencouraged by William I, or his immediate successors, but becamecommon in the period following the Norman Kings. On some occasionsthey were fought in earnest, and resulted in the death of one, ormore, of the combatants. SIXTH PERIOD[1] "Man bears within him certain ideas of order, of justice, of reason, with a constant desire to bring them into play... ; for this he laborsunceasingly. "--Guizot, "History of Civilization. " THE ANGEVINS, OR PLANTAGENETS, 1154-1399 THE BARONS VERSUS THE CROWN Consolidation of Norman and Saxon Interests--Rise of the New EnglishNation Henry II, 1154-1189Richard I, 1189-1199John, 1199-1216Henry III, 1216-1272Edward I, 1272-1307Edward II, 1307-1327Edward III, 1327-1377Richard II, 1377-1399 [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. 159. Accession and Dominions of Henry II. Henry was just of age when the death of Stephen (S141) called him tothe throne. From his father, Count Geoffrey of Anjou, a province of France, camethe title of Angevin. The name Plantagenet, by which the family cameto be known later, was derived from the count's habit of wearing asprig of the golden-blossomed broom plant, or Plante-gene^t, as theFrench called it, in his helmet. Henry received from his father the dukedoms of Anjou and Maine, fromhis mother Normandy and the dependent province of Brittany, whilethrough his marriage with Eleanor, the divorced Queen of France, heacquired the great southern dukedom of Aquitaine. Thus on his accession he became ruler over all England, and over morethan half of France besides, his realms extending from the borders ofScorland to the base of the Pyrenees. (See map facing p. 84. ) To these extensive possessions Henry added the eastern half ofIreland. [1] The country was but partially conquered and never justlyruled. The English power there remained "like a spear-point embeddedin a living body, " inflaming all around it. [2] [1] Ireland: The population of Ireland at this time consisted mainlyof descendants of the Celtic and other prehistoric races whichinhabited Britain at the period of the Roman invasion. When theSaxons conquered Britain, many of the natives, who were of the samestock and spoke essentially the same language as the Irish, fled tothat country. Later, the Danes formed settlements on the coast, especially in the vicinity of Dublin. The conquest of England by the Normans was practically a victorygained by one branch of the German race over another (Saxons, Normans, and Danes having originally sprung from the same Teutonic stock orfrom one closely akin to it, and the three soon mingled); but thepartial conquest of Ireland by the Normans was a radically differentthing. They and the Irish had really nothing in common. The latterrefused to accept the feudal system, and continued to split up intosavage tribes or clans under the rule of petty chiefs always at warwith each other. Thus for centuries after England had established a settledgovernment, Ireland remained, partly through the battles of the clans, and partly through the aggressions of a hostile race, in a state ofanarchic confusion which prevented all true national growth. [2] W. E. H. Lecky's "England in the XVIIIth Century, " II, 102. 160. Henry II's Charter and Reforms. On his mother's side Henry was a descendent of Alfred the Great (S51);for this reason he was hailed with enthusiasm by the native English. He at once began a system of reforms worthy of his illustriousancestor. His first act was to issue a charter confirming the Charterof Liberties or pledges of good government which his grandfather, Henry I, had made (S135). His next was to begin leveling to theground the castles unlawfully built in Stephen's reign, which hadcaused such widespread misery to the country[3] (S141). He continuedthe work of demolition until it is said he destroyed no less thaneleven hundred of these strongholds of oppression. [3] Under William the Conqueror and his immediate successors no onewas allowed to erect a castle without a royal license. DuringStephen's time the great barons constantly violated this salutoryregulation. The King next turned his attention to the coinage. During the civilwar (S141) the barons had issued money debased in quality anddeficient in weight. Henry abolished this dishonest currency andissued silver pieces of full weight and value. 161. War with France; Scutage (1160). Having completed these reforms, the King turned his attention to hisContinental possessions. Through his wife, Henry claimed the countyof Toulouse in southern France. To enforce this claim he declaredwar. Henry's barons, however, refused to furnish troops to fight outside ofEngland. The King wisely compromised the matter by offering to acceptfrom each knight a sum of money in lieu of service, called scutage, orshield money. [1] The proposal was agreed to (1160), and in this waythe knights furnished the King the means to hire soldiers for foreignwars. [1] Scutage: from the Latin scutum, a shield; the understanding beingthat he who would not take his shield and do battle for the Kingshould pay enough to hire one who would. The scutage was assessed attwo marks. Later, the assessment varied. The mark was two thirds ofa pound of silver by weight, or thirteen shillings and fourpence($3. 20). Reckoned in modern money, the tax was probably at leasttwenty times two marks, or about $128. Later in his reign Henry supplemented this tax by the passage of theAssize of Arms, a law which revived the national militia (SS96, 150)and placed it at his command for home service. By these two measuresthe King made himself practically independent of the barons, and thusgained a greater degree of power than any previous ruler hadpossessed. 162. Thomas Becket. There was, however, one man in Henry's kingdom--his Lord Chancellor(S145), Thomas Becket--who was always ready to serve him. At his ownexpense the Chancellor now equipped seven hundred knights, and, crossing the Channel, fought valiantly for the suppression of therebellion in Toulouse (S161) in the south of France. (See map facingp. 84. ) Shortly after Becket's return from the Continent Henry resolved toappoint him Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket knew that the Kingpurposed beginning certain Church reforms with which he was not insympathy, and declined the office. But Henry would take no denial. At last Becket consented, but he warned the King that he should upholdthe rights of the clergy. He now became the head of the CatholicChurch in England. He was the first man of English birth called tothat exalted position since the Norman Conquest. This promotion made a decided change in Becket's relation to the King. So long as he was Chancellor he was bound to do what the King ordered, but as soon as he was made Archbishop he became the servant of theChurch. Again, on his assumption of this sacred office Becketunderwent a remarkable charge of character. He had been a man of theworld, fond of pomp and pleasure. He now gave up all luxury and show. He put on sackcloth, lived on bread and water, and spent his nights inprayer, tearing his flesh with a scourge. 163. Becket's First Quarrel with the King. The new Archbishop's presentiment of trouble soon proved true. Beckethad hardly taken his seat when a quarrel broke out between him and theKing. In his need for money Henry levied a tax on all lands, whetherbelonging to the barons or to churchmen. Becket opposed this tax. [1]He was willing, he said, that the clergy should contribute, if theydesired to do so, but not that they should be compelled to pay thetax. [1] See page 76, note 1, on Clergy. The King declared with an oath that all should pay alike; theArchbishop vowed with equal determination that not a single pennyshould be collected from the Church. From that time the King andBecket never met again as friends. 164. The Second Quarrel. Shortly afterward, a much more serious quarrel broke out between theKing and the Archbishop. Under the law made by William the Conqueror, the Church had the right to try in its own courts all offensescommitted by monks and priests (S118). This privilege, in time, ledto great abuses, since even in cases of the commission of the gravestcrimes the Church had no direct power to inflict the penalty ofdeath. On the contrary, the heaviest sentence it could give wasimprisonment in a monastery, with degradation from the clericaloffice; while in less serious cases the offenders generally got offwith fasting and flogging. On this account some criminals who deserved to be hanged escaped witha comparatively slight penalty. Such a case now occurred. In oneinstance a priest had committed an unprovoked murder. Henry commandedhim to be brought before the Kings' court; Becket interfered, andordered the case to be tried by the bishop of the diocese. The bishopsimply sentenced the murderer to lose his place for two years. 165. The Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164. The King determined that such flagrant disregard of justice should nolonger go on. He called a council of his chief men at Clarendon, nearSalisbury, in Wiltshire, and laid the case before them. He demandedthat in future the state or civil courts should be supreme, and thatin every instance their judges should decide whether a criminal shouldbe tried by the common law of the land or handed over to the Churchcourts. He furthermore required that the clergy should be held strictlyresponsible to the Crown, so that in case of dispute the final appealshould be neither to the Archbishop nor to the Pope, but to himself. In this respect he went even farther than William the Conqueror haddone (S118). After protracted debate the council, composed of acommittee of bishops and barons, passed the measures which the Kingdemanded. The new laws were entitled the Constitutions of Clarendon. They consisted of sixteen articles which clearly defined the powersand jurisdiction of the King's courts and the Church courts. Theirgreat object was to secure a more uniform administration of justicefor all classes of men. (See the Constitutional Summary in theAppendix, pp. Viii and xxxii. ) Becket, though bitterly oppsed to the new laws, finally assented, andswore to obey them. Afterward, feeling that he had conceded too much, he retracted his oath and refused to be bound by the Constitutions. The other Church dignitaries became alarmed at the prospect, and leftBecket to settle with the King as best he might. Henceforth it was abattle between the King and the Archbishop, and each resolved that hewould never give up until he had won the final victory (S170). 166. The King enforces the New Laws; Becket leaves the Country. Henry at once proceeded to put the Constitutions of Clarendon intoexecution without fear or favor. A champion of the Church of that daysays, "Then was seen the mournful spectacle of priests and deacons whohad committed murder, manslaughter, robbery, theft, and other crimes, carried in carts before the comissioners and punished as thogh theywere ordinary men. "[1] [1] William of Newburgh's "Chronicle. " Furthermore, the King sems now to have resolved to ruin Becket ordrive him from the kingdom. He accordingly summoned the Archbishopbefore a royal council at Northampton to answer to certain chargesmade against him. Becket answered the summons, but he refused toacknowledge the jurisdiction of the council, and appealed to thePope. "Traitor!" cried a courtier, as he picked up a bunch of muddyrushes from the floor and flung them at the Archbishop's head. Becketturned and, looking him sternly in the face, said, "Were I not achurchman, I would make you repent that word. " Realizing, however, that he was now in serious danger, he soon after left Northampton andfled to France. 167. Banishment versus Excommunication (1164). Finding Becket beyond his reach, Henry next proceeded to banish theArchbishop's kinsmen and friends, without regard to age or sex, to thenumber of nearly four hundred. These miserable exiles, many of whomwere nearly destitute, were forced to leave the country in midwinter, and excited the pity of all who saw them. Becket indignantly retaliated. He hurled at the King's counselors theawful sentence of excommunication or expulsion from the Church(S194). It declared the King accursed of God and man, deprived ofhelp in this world, and shut out from hope in the world to come. Inthis manner the quarrel went on with ever-increasing bitterness forthe space of six years. 168. Prince Henry crowned; Reconciliation (1170). Henry, who had long wished to associate his son, Prince Henry, withhim in the government, had him crowned at Westminster by theArchbishop of York, the bishops of London and Salisbury taking part. By custom, if not indeed by law, Becket alone, as Archbishop ofCanterbury, had the right to perform this ceremony. When Becket heard of the coronation, he declared it an outrage bothagainst Christianity and the Church. So great an outcry now arosethat Henry believed it expedient to recall the absent Archbishop, especially as the King of France was urging the Pope to take up thematter. Henry accordingly went over to the Continent, met Becket, andpersuaded him to return. 169. Reneral of the Quarrel; Murder of Becket (1170). But though the Archbishop and the King had given each other the "kissof peace, " yet the reconciliation was on the surface only; underneath, the old hatred smoldered, ready to burst forth into flame. As soon ashe reached England, Becket invoked the thunders of the Church againstthose who had officiated at the coronation of Prince Henry. Heexcommunicated the Archbishop of York with his assistant bishops. The King took their part, and in an outburst of passion against Beckethe exclaimed, "Will none of the cowards who eat my bread rid me ofthat turbulent priest?" In answer to his angry cry for relief, fourknights set out without Henry's knowledge for Canterbury, and brutallymurdered the Archbishop within the walls of his own cathedral. 170. Results of the Murder. The crime sent a thrill of horror throughout the realm. The Popeproclaimed Becket a saint with the title of Saint Thomas. The mass ofthe English people looked upon the dead ecclesiastic as a martyr whohad died in the defense of the Church, and of all those--butespecially the laboring classes and the poor--around whom the Churchcast its protecting power. The great cathedral of Canterbury was hung in mourning; Becket'sshrine became the most famous in England. The stone pavement, and thesteps leading to it, still show by their deep-worn hollows wherethousands of pilgrims coming from all parts of the kingdom, and fromthe Continent even, used to creep on their knees to the saint's tombto pray for his intercession. Henry himself was so far vanquished by the reaction in Becket's favor, that he gave up any further attempt to formally enforce theConstitutions of Clarendon (S165), by which he had hoped to establisha uniform system of administration of justice. But the attempt, though baffled, was not wholly lost; like seed buried in the soil, itsprang up and bore good fruit in later generations. However, it wasnot until near the close of the reign of George III (1813) that thecivil courts fully and finally prevailed. 171. The King makes his Will; Civil War. Some years after the murder, the King bequeathed England and Normandy(SS108, 159) to Prince Henry. [1] He at the same time provided for hissons Geoffrey and Richard. To John, the youngest of the brothers, hegave no territory, but requested Henry to grant him several castles, which the latter refused to do. "It is our fate, " said one of thesons, "that none should love the rest; that is the only inheritancewhich will never be taken from us. " [1] After his coronation Prince Henry had the title of Henry III; butas he died before his father, he never properly became king in his ownright. It may be that that legacy of hatred was the result of Henry's unwisemarriage with Eleanor, an able but perverse woman, or it may havesprung from her jealousy of "Fair Rosamond" and other favorites of theKing. [1] Eventually this feeling burst out into civil war. Brotherfought against brother, and Eleanor, conspiring with the King ofFrance, turned against her husband. [1] "Fair Rosamond" [Rosa mundi, the Rose of the world (as THENinterpreted)] was the daughter of Lord Clifford. According totradition the King formed an attachment for this lady before hisunfortunate marriage with Eleanor, and constructed a place ofconcealment for her in a forest in Woodstock, near Oxford. Someaccounts report that Queen Eleanor discovered her rival and put her todeath. She was buried in the nunnery of Godstow near by. WhenHenry's son John became King, he raised a monument to her memory withthe inscription in Latin: "This tomb doth here enclose The world's most beauteous Rose-- Rose passing sweet erewhile, Now naught but odor vile. " 172. The King's Penance (1173). The revolt against Henry's power began in Normandy (1173). While hewas engaged in quelling it, he received intelligence that Earl Bigodof Norfolk[2] and the bishop of Durham, both of whom hated the King'sreforms, since they curtailed their authority, had risen against him. [2] Hugh Bigod: The Bigods were among the most prominent and also themost turbulent of the Norman barons. Believing that this new trouble was a judgment from Heaven forBecket's murder, Henry resolved to do penance at his tomb. Leavingthe Continent with two prisoners in his charge, --one his son Henry'squeen, the other his own, --he traveled with all speed to Canterbury. There, kneeling abjectly before the grave of his former chancellor andfriend, the King submitted to be beaten with rods by the priests, inexpiation of his sin. 173. End of the Struggle of the Barons against the Crown. Henry then moved against the rebels in the north (S171). Convinced ofthe hopelessness of holding out against his forces, they submitted. With their submission the long struggle of the barons against theCrown came to an end (SS124, 130). It had lasted nearly a hundredyears (1087-1174). The King's victory in this contest was of the greatest importance. Itsettled the question, once for all, that England was not, like therest of Europe, to be managed in the interest of a body of greatbaronial landholders always at war with each other; but was henceforthto be governed by one central power, restrained but not overridden bythat of the nobles and the Cuhrch. 174. The King again begins his Reforms (1176). As soon as order was restored, Henry once more set about completinghis legal and judicial reforms (S165). His great object was to securea uniform system of administering justice which should be effectiveand impartial. Henry I had undertaken to divide the kingdom into districts orcircuits, which were assigned to a certain number of judges whotraveled through them at stated times collecting the royal revenue andadministering the law (SS137, 147). Henry II revised and perfectedthis plan. [1] [1] This was accomplished by means of two laws called the Grand Assizeand the Assize of Clarendon (not to be confounded with theConstitutions of Clarendon). The Assize of Clarendon was the firsttrue code of national law; it was later expanded and made permanentunder the name of the Assize of Northampton. (See the ConstitutionalSummary in the Appendix, p. Vii, S8. ) In addition to the private courts which, under feudal law, the baronshad set up on their estates (S150), they had in many cases got theentire control of the town and other local courts. There they dealtout such justice or injustice as they pleased. The King's judges nowassumed control of these tribunals, and so brought the common law ofthe realm to every man's door. 175. Grand Juries. The Norman method of settling disputed was by Trial by Battle, inwhich the contestants or their champions fought the matter out eitherwith swords or cudgels (S148). There were those who objected to thisclub law. To them the King offered the privilege of leaving thedecision of twelve knights, chosen from the neighborhood, who weresupposed to know the facts. (See the Constitutional Summary in theAppendix, p. Vi, S8. ) In like manner, when the judges passed through a circuit, a grand juryof not less than sixteen was to report to them the criminals of eachdistrict. These the judges forthwith sent to the Church to beexamined by the Ordeal (S91). If convicted, they were punished; ifnot, the judges considered them to be suspicious characters, andordered them to leave the country within eight days. In that way therascals of that generation were summarily disposed of. Henry II may rightfully be regarded as having taken the first steptoward founding the system of Trial by Jury, which England, andEngland alone, fully matured. That method has since been adopted byevery civilized country of the globe. (See the Constutional Summaryin the Appendix, p. Vii, S8. ) 176. Origin of the Modern Trial by Jury, 1350. In the reign of Henry's son John, the Church abolished the Ordeal(S91) throughout Christendom (1215). It then became the custom inEngland to choose a petty jury, acquainted with the facts, whochconfirmed or denied the accusations brought by the grand jury. Whenthis petty jury could not agree, the decision of a majority wassometimes accepted. The difficulty of securing justice by this method led to the custom ofsummoning witnesses. These witnesses appeared before the petty juryand testified for or against the party accused. In this way it becamepossible to obtain a unanimous verdict. The first mention of this change occurs more than a hundred and thirtyyears later, in the reign of Edward III (1350); and from that time, perhaps, may be dated the true beginning of our modern method, bywhich the jury bring in a verdict, not from what they personally know, but from evidence sworn to by those who do. 177. The King's Last Days. Henry's last days were full of bitterness. Ever since his memorablereturn from the Continent (S172), he had been obliged to hold theQueen a prisoner lest she should undermine his power (S171). His sonswere discontented and rebellious. Toward the close of his reign theyagain plotted against him with King Philip of FRance. Henry thendeclared war against that country. When peace was made, Henry, who was lying ill, asked to see a list ofthose who had conspired against him. At the head of it stood the nameof his youngest son, John, whom he trusted. At the sight of it theold man turned his face to the wall, saying, "I have nothing left tocare for; let all things go their way. " Two days afterward he died ofa broken heart. 178. Summary. Henry II left his work only half done; yet that half was permanent, and its beneficent mark may be seen on the English law and the Englishconstitution at the present time. When he ascended the throne he found a people who had long beensuffering the miseries of a protracted civil war. He established astable government. He redressed the wrongs of his people. Hepunished the mutinous barons. He compelled the Church, at least in some degree, to acknowledge thesupremacy of the State. He reformed the administration of law;established methods of judicial inquiry which gradually developed intoour modern Trial by Jury; and he made all men feel that a king sat onthe throne who believed in a uniform system of justice and whoendeavered to make it respected. Richard I (Coeur de Lion)[1]--1189-1199 179. Accession and Character of Richard I. Henry II was succeeded by his second son, Richard, his first havingdied during the civil war (1183) in which he and his brother Geoffreyhad fought against Prince Richard and their father (S171). Richardwas born at Oxford, but he spent his youth in France. [1] Richard Coeur de Lion: Richard the Lion-Hearted. An oldchronicler says that the King got the name from his adventure with alion. The beast attacked him, and as the King had no weapons, hethrust his hand down his throat and "tore out his heart. " This storyis not without value, since it illustrates how marvelous legends growup around the lives of remarkable men. The only English sentence that he was ever known to speak was when hewas in a raging passion. He then vented his wrath against animpertinent Frnchman, in some broken but decidedly strong expressionsof his native tongue. Richard has been called "a spendid savage, "having most of the faults and most of the virtues of such a savage. The King's bravery in battle and his daring exploits gained for himthe flattering surname of Coeur de Lion. He had a right to it, for hecertainly possessed the heart of a lion, and he never failed to getthe lion's share. He might, however, have been called, in equaltruth, Richard the Absentee, since out of a nominal reign of ten yearshe spent but a few months in England, the remaining time beingconsumed in wars abroad. 180. Condition of Society. Perhaps no better general picture of society in England during thisperiod can be found than that presented by Sir Walter Scott's novel, "Ivanhoe. " There every class appears. One sees the Saxon serf andswineherd wearing the brazen collar of his master Cedric; the pilgrimwandering from shrine to shrine, with the palm branch in his cap toshow that he has visited the Holy Land; the outlaw, Robin Hood, lyingin wait to strip rich churchmen and other travelers who were on theirway through Sherwood Forest. He sees, too, the Norman baron in hiscastle torturing the aged Jew to extort his hidden gold; and thesteel-clad knights, with Ivanhoe at their head, splintering lances inthe tournament, presided over by Richard's brother, the traitorousPrince John (S177). 181. Richard's Coronation. Richard was on the Continent at the time of his father's death. Hisfirst act was to liberate his mother from her long imprisonment atWinchester (S177); his next, to place her at the head of the Englishgovernment until his arrival from Normandy. Unlike Henry II, Richarddid not issue a charter, or pledge of good government (S160). He, however, took the usual coronation oath to defend the Church, maintainjustice, make salutary laws, and abolish evil customs; such an oathmight well be considered a charter in itself. 182. The Crusades (1190); how Richard raised Money. At that period all western Europe was engaged in the series of warsknown as the Crusades. The object of this long contest, which beganin 1096 and ended in 1270, was to compel the Saracens or Mohammedansto give up possession of the Holy Land to the Christians (S186). Immediately after his coronation, Richard resolved to jion the King ofFrance and the Emperor of Germany in the Third Crusade. To get moneyfor the expedition, the King extorted loans from the Jews (S119), whowere the creditors of half England and had almost complete control ofthe capital and commerce of every country in Europe. The English nobles who joined Richard also borrowed largely from thesame source; and then, suddenly turning on the hated lenders, theytried to extinguish the debt by extinguishing the Jews. A pretextagainst the unfortunate race was easily found. Riots broke out inLondon, York, and elsewhere, and hundreds of Israelites were brutallymassacred. Richard's next move to obtain funds was to impose a heavy tax; hisnext, to dispose of titles of rank and offices in both Church andState, to all who wished to buy them. Thus, to the aged and covetousbishop of Durhap he sold the earldom of Northumberland for life, saying, as he concluded the bargain, "Out of an old bishop I have madea new earl. " He sold, also, the office of chief justice to the same prelate for anadditional thousand marks (S161, note 1), while the King of Scotlandpurchased freedom from subjection to the English King for ten thousandmarks. Last of all, Richard sold cities and town, and he also sold chartersto towns. One of his courtiers remonstrated with him for his greedfor gain. The King replied, "I would sell London itself could I finda purchaser rich enough to buy it. " 183. The Rise of the Free Towns. Of all these devices for raising money, that of selling charters totowns had the most important results. From the time of the NormanConquest the large towns of England, with few exceptions, wereconsidered part of the King's property; the smaller places generallybelonged to the great barons. The citizens of these towns were obliged to pay rent and taxes ofvarious kinds to the King or lord who owned them. These dues werecollected by an officer appointed by the King or lord (usually thesheriff), who was bound to obtain a certain sum, whatever more hecould get being his own profit. For this reason it was for hisinterest to exact from every citizen the uttermost penny. London, aswe have seen, had secured a considerable degree of liberty through thecharter granted to it by William the Conqueror (S107). Every town wasnow anxious to obtain a similar charter. The three great objects which the citizens of the towns sought were: (1) To get the right of paying their taxes directly to the King. (2) To elect their own magistrates. (3) To administer justice in their own courts in accordance with lawsmade by themselves. The only way to gain these privileges was to pay for them. Many ofthe towns were rich, and, if the King or lord needed money, theybargained with him for the favors they desired. When the agreementwas made, it was drawn up in Latin and stamped with the King's seal(S154). Then the citizens took it home in triumph and locked it up asthe safeguard of their liberties, or at least of some part of them. Thus, the people of Leicester, in the next reign, purchased from theEarl of Leicester, their feudal lord, the right to decide their owndisputes. For this they payed a yearly tax of threepence on everyhouse having a gable on the main street. These concessions may seemsmall, but they prepared the way for greater ones. What was still more important, these charters educated the citizens ofthe day in a knowledge of self-government. The tradesmen andshopkeepers of these towns did much to preserve free speech and equaljustice. Richard granted a large number of these town charters, andthus unintentionally made himself a benefactor to the nation. [1] [1] Rise of Free Towns: By 1216 the most advanced of the English townshad become to a very considerable extent self-governing. SeeW. Stubbs's "Constitutional History of England. " 184. Failure of the Third Crusade. The object of the Third Crusade (S182) was to drive the Mohammedansfrom Jerusalem. In this it failed. Richard got as near Jerusalem asthe Mount of Olives. When he had climbed to the top, he was told thathe could have a full view of the place; but he covered his face withhis mantle, saying, "Blessed Lord, let me not see thy holy city, sinceI may not deliver it from the hands of thine enemies!" 185. Richard taken Prisoner; his Ransom (1194). On his way home the King fell into the hands of the German Emperor, who held him captive. His brother John (S177), who had remained inEngland, plotted with Philip of France to keep Richard in prison whilehe got possession of the throne. It is not certainly known how thenews of Richard's captivity reached England. One account relates thatit was carried by Blondel, a minstrel who had accompanied the King toPalestine. He, it is said, wandered through Germany in search of hismaster, singing a song, which he and Richard had composed together, atevery castle he came to. One day, as he was thus singing at the footof a tower, he heard the well-known voice of the King take up the nextverse in reply. Finally, Richard regained his liberty (1194), but to do it he had toraise an enormous ransom. Every Englishman, it was said, was obligedto give a fourth of his personal property, and the priests were forcedto strip the churches of their jewels and silver plate. When the King of France heard that the ransom money had at length beenraised, he wrote to John, telling him that his brother was free. "Look out for yourself, " said he; "the devil has broken loose. "Richard generously pardoned his treacherous brother; and when the Kingwas killed in a war in France (1199) John gained the throne hecoveted, but gained it only to disgrace it. 186. Purpose of the Crusades. Up to the time of the Crusades, the English, when they entered uponContinental wars, had been actuated either by ambition for militaryglory or desire for conquest. But they undertook the Crusades frommotives of religious enthusiasm. Those who engaged in them fought for an idea. They consideredthemselves soldiers of the cross. Moved by this feeling, "allChristian believers seemed redy to precipitate themselves in oneunited body upon Asia" (S182). Thus the Crusades were "the firstEuropean event. "[1] They gave men something noble to battle for, notonly outside their country, but outside their own selfish interests. [1] Guizot's "History of Civilization. " Richard, as we have seen, was the first English King who took part inthem. Before that period England had stood aloof, --"a world byitself. " The country was engaged in its own affairs or in itscontests with France. Richard's expedition to the Holy Land broughtEngland into the main current of history, so that it was now moved bythe same feeling which animated the Continent. 187. The Results of the Crusades: Educational, Social, Political. From a purely military point of view, the Crusades ended in disastrousfailure, for they left the Mohammedans in absolute possession of theHoly Land. Although this is the twentieth century since the birth ofChrist, the Mohammedans still continue in that possession. But inspite of their failure these wars brought great good to England. Inmany respects the civilization of the East was far in advance of theWest. One result of the Crusades was to open the eyes of Europe tothis fact. When Richard and his followers set out, they looked uponthe Mohammedans as barbarians; before they returned, many were readyto acknowledge that the barbarians were chiefly among themselves. At that time England had few Latin and no Greek scholars. TheSaracens or Mohammedans, however, had long been familiar with theclassics, and had translated them into their own tongue. Not only didEngland gain its first knowledge of the philosophy of Plato andAristotle from Mohammedan teachers, but it also received from them theelements of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and astronomy. This new knowledge gave a great impulse to education, and had a mostimportant influence on the growth of the universities of Cambridge andOxford, though these institutions did not become prominent until morethan a century later. Had these been the only results, they would still, perhaps, have beenworth all the blood and treasure spent by the crusaders in their vainattempts to recover the permanent possession of the sepulcher ofChrist; but these were by no means all. The Crusades brought about asocial and political revolution. They conferred benefits and removedevils. When they began, the greater part of the inhabitants ofwestern Europe, including England, were chained to the soil (S150). They had neither freedom, property, nor knowledge. There were in fact but three classes, who really deserved the name ofcitizens and freemen; these were the churchmen (comprising the clergy, monks, and other ecclesiastics), the nobles, and the inhabitants ofcertain favored towns. The effect of the Crusades was to increase thenumber of this last class. We have seen that Richard was compelled, by his need of money, to grant charters conferring localself-government on many towns (SS182, 183). For a similar reason thegreat nobles often granted the same powers to towns which theycontrolled. The result was that their immense estates were broken upin some measure. It was from this period, says the historian Gibbon, that the common people (living in these chartered towns) began toacquire political rights, and, what is more, to defend them. 188. Summary. We may say in closing that the central fact in Richard's reign was hisembarking in the Crusades. From them, directly or indirectly, Englandgained two important advantages: first, a greater degree of politicalliberty, especially in the case of the towns; secondly, a newintellectual and educational impulse. John--1199-1216 189. John Lackland; the King's Quarrels. When Henry II in dividing his realm left his youngest son, John, dependent on the generousity of his brothers, he jestingly gave himthe surname of "Lackland" (S171). The nickname continued to cling tohim even after he had become King of England and had also securedNormandy and several adjacent provinces in France. The reign of the new King was taken up mainly with three momentousquarrels: first, with France; next, with the Pope; lastly, with thebarons. By his quarrel with France he lost Normandy and the greaterpart of the adjoining provinces, thus becoming in a new sense JohnLackland. By his quarrel with the Pope he was humbled to the earth. By his quarrel with the barons he was forced to grant England theGreat Charter. 190. Murder of Prince Arthur. Shortly after John's accession the nobles occupying a part of theEnglish possessions in France expressed their desire that John'snephew, Arthur, a boy of twelve, should become their ruler. Johnrefused to grant their request. War, ensued, and Arthur fell into the hands of his uncle John, whoimprisoned him in the castle of Rouen, the capital of Normandy. Anumber of those who had been captured with the young prince werestarved to death in the dungeons of the same castle, and not longafter Arthur himself mysteriously disappeared. Shakespeare representsJohn as ordering the keeper of the castle to put out the lad's eyes, and then tells us that he was killed in an attempt to escape. [1] Thegeneral belief, however, was that the King murdered him. [1] Shakespeare's "King John, " Act IV, scenes i and iii. 191. John's Loss of Normandy (1204). Philip, King of France, accused John of the crime, and ordered him asDuke of Normandy, and hence as his feudal dependant (S86), to appearat Paris for trial. John refused. The court met, declared him atraitor, and sentenced him to forfeit all his lands on the Continent. John's late brother, Richard Coeur de Lion (S185), had built a famousstronghold on the Seine to hold Rouen and Normandy. He named it"Saucy Castle. " King Philip vowed in Richard's lifetime that he wouldmake himself master of it. "I would take it, " said the French King, "were its walls of iron. " "I would hold it, " retorted Richard, "wereits walls of butter. " Richard made his word good, and kept the castleas long as he lived; but his successor, John, was of poorer and meanerstuff. He left his Norman nobles to carry on the war against Philipas best they could. At last, after much territory had been lost, theEnglish King made an attempt to regain it. But it was too late, and"Saucy Castle" fell. Then the end speedily came. Philip seized allNormandy and followed up the victory by depriving John of his entirepossessions north of the river Loire. (See map facing p. 84. ) 192. Good Results of the Loss of Normandy. Thus after a union of nearly a hundred and forty years Normandy wasfinally separated from England (S108). From that time the Normannobles were compelled to choose between the island of England and theContinent for their home. Before that time the Norman's contempt forthe Saxon was so great, that his most indignant exclamation was, "Doyou take me for an Englishman?" Now, however, shut in by the sea, with the people he had hithertooppressed and despised, the Norman came to regard England as hiscountry, and Englishmen as his countrymen. Thus the two races, whowere closely akin to each other in their origin (S126), found at lastthat they had common interests and common enemies, [1] and henceforththey made the welfare of England their main thought. [1] Macaulay's "England"; also W. Stubb's "Early Plantagenets, "p. 136. 193. The King's Despotism. Hitherto our sympathies have been mainly with the kings. We havewatched them struggling against the lawless nobles (S173), and everygain which they have made in power we have felt was so much won forthe cause of good government. But we are coming to a period when oursympathies will be the other way. Henceforth the welfare of thenation will depend largely on the resistence of these very barons tothe despotic encroachments of the Crown. [2] [2] Ransome's "Constitutional History of England. " 194. Quarrel of the King with the Church (1208). Shortly after his defeat in France (S191), John entered upon hissecond quarrel. Pope Innocent III had commanded a delegation of themonks of Canterbury to choose Stephen Langton archbishop in place of aperson whom the King had compelled them to elect. When the newsreached John, he forbade Langton's landing in England, although it washis native country. The Pope forthwith declared the kingdom under an interdict, orsuspension of religious services. For two years the churches werehung in mourning, the bells ceased to ring, the doors were shut fast. For two years the priests denied the sacraments to the living andfuneral prayers for the dead. At the end of that time the Pope, by abull of excommunication (S167), cut off the King as a withered branchfrom the Church. John laughed at the interdict, and met the decree ofexcommunication with such cruel treatment of the priests that theyfled terrified from the lnd. The Pope now took a third and final step; he deposed John and orderedPhilip, King of France, to seize the English Crown. Then John, knowing that he stood alone, made a virtue of necessity. He knelt atthe feet of the Pope's legate, or representative, accepted StephenLangton as Archbishop of Canterbury, and promised to pay a yearly taxto Rome of one thousand marks (about $64, 000 in modern money) forpermission to keep his crown. The Pope was satisfied with the victoryhe had gained over his ignoble foe, and peace was made. 195. The Great Charter. But peace in one direction did not mean peace in all. John's tyranny, brutality, and disregard of his subjects' welfare had gone too far. He had refused the Church the right to fill its offices and enjoy itsrevenues. He had extorted exhorbitant sums from the barons. He hadviolated the charters of London and other cities. He had compelledmerchants to pay large sums for the privilege of carrying on theirbusiness unmolested. He had imprisoned men on false or frivolouscharges, and refused to bring them to trial. He had unjustly claimedheavy sums from villeins, or farm laborers (S113), and other poor men;and when they could not pay, had seized their carts and tools, thusdepriving them of their means of livelihood. Those who had suffered these and greater wrongs were determined tohave reformation, and to have it in the form of a written charter orpledge bearing the King's seal. Stephen Langton, the new archbishop, was likewise determined. He no sooner landed in England than hedemanded of the King that he should swear to observe the laws ofEdward the Confessor (S65), a phrase[1] in which the whole of thenational liberties was summed up. [1] Not necessarily the laws made by that King, but rather the customsand rights enjoyed by the people during his reign. 196. Preliminary Meeting at St. Albans (1213). In the summer (1213) a council was held at St. Albans, near London, composed of representatives from all parts of the kingdom. It was thefirst assembly of the kind on record. It convened to consider whatclaims should be made on the King in the interest of the nobles, theclergy, and the people at large. A few weeks later they met again, atSt. Paul's in London. The deliberations of the assembly took shape probably under ArchbishopLangton's guiding hand. He had obtained a copy of the charter grantedby Henry I (S135). This was used as a model for drawing up a new oneof similar character, but in every respect fuller and stronger in itsprovisions. 197. Battle of Bouvines; Second Meeting of the Barons (1214). John foolishly set out for the Continent, to fight the French at thesame time that the English barons were preparing to bring him toterms. He was defeated in the decisive battle of Bouvines, in thenorth of France, and returned to England crestfallen (1214), and in nocondition to resist demands at home. Late in the autumn the baronsmet in the abbey church of Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, under theirleader, Robert Fitz-Walter, of London. Advancing one by one up thechurch to the high altar, they solemnly swore that they would obligeJohn to grant the new charter, or they would declare war against him. 198. The King grants the Charter, 1215. At Easter (1215) the same barons, attended by two thousand armedknights, met the King at Oxford and made known their demands. Johntried to evade giving a direct answer. Seeing that was impossible, and finding that the people of London were on the side of the barons, he yielded and requested them to name the day and place for theratification of the charter. "Let the day be the 15th of June, the place Runnymede, "[1] was thereply. In accordance therewith, we read at the foot of the shriveledparchment preserved in the British Museum, "Given under our hand... Inthe meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the 15thof June, in the seventeenth year of our reign. " [1] Runnymede: about twenty miles southwest of London, on the southbank of the Thames, in Surrey. 199. Terms and Value of the Charter, 1215; England leads inConstitutional Government. This memorable document was henceforth known as the Magna Carta, [2] orthe Great Charter, --a term used to emphatically distinguish it fromall previous and partial charters. [2] Magna Carta: Carta is the spelling in the medieval Latin of thisand the preceding charters. (See the Constitutional Documents in theAppendix, p. Xxix. ) It stipulated that the following grievances should be redressed:First, those of the Church; secondly, those of the barons and theirvassals or tenants; thirdly, those of citizens and tradesmen;fourthly, those of freemen and villeins or serfs (SS113, 150). Such was the first agreement entered into between the King and allclasses of his people. Of the sixty-three articles which constituteit, the greater part, owing to the changes of time, are now obsolete;but three possess imperishable value. These provide: (1) That no free man shall be imprisoned or proceeded against exceptby his peers, [1] or the law of the land. (2) That justice shall neither be sold, denied, nor delayed. (3) That all dues from the people to the King, unless otherwisedistinctly specified, shall be imposed only with the conselt of theNational Council (S144). This last provision "converted the power of taxation into the shieldof liberty. "[2] [1] Peers (from Latin pares): equals; this clause secures a fair andopen trial. [2] Sir J. Mackintosh's "History of England. " This provision wasdropped in the next reign (see W. Stubb's "Constitutional History ofEngland"); but after the great civil war of the seventeenth centurythe principle it laid down was firmly reestablished. Thus, for the first time, the interests of all classes were protected, and for the first time the English people appear in the constitutionalhistory of the country as a united body. So highly was this charteresteemed, that in the course of the next two centuries it wasconfirmed no less than thirty-seven times; and the very day thatCharles II entered London, after the civil wars of the seventeenthcentury, the House of Commons asked him to confirm it again (1660). Magna Carta was the first great step in that development ofconstitutional government in which England has taken the lead. 200. John's Efforts to break the Charter (1215). But John had no sooner set his hand to this document than hedetermined to repudiate it. He hired bands of soldiers on theContinent to come to his aid. The charter had been obtained by armedrevolt; for this reason the Pope opposed it. He suspended ArchbishopLangton (S196), and threatened the barons with excommunication (S167), if they persisted in enforcing the provisions of the charter. 201. The Barons invite Louis of France to aid them (1215). In their desperation, --for the King's hired foreign soldiers were nowravaging the country, --the barons dispatched a messenger to John'ssworn enemy, Philip, King of France. They invited him to send overhis son, Prince Louis, to free them from tyranny, and become ruler ofthe kingdom. He came with all speed, and soon made himself master ofthe southern counties. 202. King John's Death (1216). John was the first sovereign who had styled himself, on his greatseal, "King of England, "[1] thus formally claiming the actualownership of the realm. He was now to find that the sovereign who hasno place in his subjects' hearts has small hold of their possessions. [1] The late Professor E. A. Freeman, in his "Norman Conquest, " I, 85, note, says that though Richard Coeur de Lion had used this title inissuing charters, yet John was the first king who put this inscriptionon the great seal. The rest of his ignominious reign was spent in war against the baronsand Prince Louis of France. "They have placed twenty-five kings overme!" he shouted, in his fury, referring to the twenty-five leading menwho had been appointed to see that the Great Charter did not become adead letter. But the twenty-five did their duty, and the war was on. In the midst of it John suddenly died. The old record said ofhim--and said rightly--that he was "a knight without truth, a kingwithout justice, a Christian without faith. "[2] The Church returnedgood for evil, and permitted him to be buried in front of the highaltar of Worcester cathedral. [2] The late Professor W. Stubbs, of Oxford, says, in his "EarlyPlantagenets, " p. 152: "John ended thus a life of ignominy in which hehas no rival in the whole long list of our sovereigns.... He was inevery way the worst of the whole list: the most vicious, the mostprofane, the most tyrannical, the most false, the most short-sighted, the most unscrupulous. " A more recent writer (Professor Charles Oman, of the University of Oxford), says of John, "No man had a good word tosay for him... ; he was loathed by every one who knew him. " 203. Summary. John's reign may be regarded as a turning point in English history. 1. Through the loss of Normandy, the Norman nobility found it fortheir interest to make the welfare of England and of the English raceone with their own. Thus the two peoples became more and more united, until finally all differences ceased. 2. In demanding and obtainign the Great Charter, the Church and thenobility made common cause with all classes of the people. Thatdocument represents the victory of the entire nation. We shall seethat the next eighty years will be mainly taken up with the efforts ofthe nation to hold fast to what it had gained. Henry III--1216-1272 204. Accession and Character. John's eldest son, Henry, was crowned at the age of nine. During hislong and feeble reign of fifty-six years England's motto might wellhave been the warning words of Scripture, "Woe to thee, O land, whenthy king is a child!" since a child he remained to the last; for ifJohn's heart was of millstone, Henry's was of wax. Dante in one of his poems, written perhaps not long after Henry'sdeath, represents him as he sees him in imagination just on theborderland of purgatory. The King is not in suffering, for as he hasdone no particular good, so he has done no great harm. He appears "asa man of simple life, spending his time singing psalms in a narrowvalley. " That shows one side of his negative character; the other was his loveof extravagance, vain display, and instability of purpose. Much ofthe time he drifted about like a ship without compass or rudder. 205. Reissue of the Great Charter. Louis, the French prince who had come to England in John's reign as anarmed claimant to the throne (S201), finding that both the barons andthe Church preferred an English to a foreign king, now retired. During his minority Henry's guardians twice reissued the Great Charter(S199): first, with the omission of the article which reserved thepower of taxation to the National Council (S199, No. 3); and, secondly, with an addition declaring that no man should lose life orlimb for hunting in the royal forests (S119). On the last occasion the Council granted the King in return afifteenth of their movable or personal property. This tax reached alarge class of people, like merchants in towns, who were notlandholders. On this account it had a decided influence in makingthem desire to have a voice in the National Council, or Parliament, asit began to be called in this reign (1246). It thus helped, as weshall see later on, to prepare for a very important change in thatbody. [1] [1] The first tax on movable or personal property appears to have beenlevied by Henry II, in 1188, for the support of the Crusades. UnderHenry III the idea began to become general that no class should betaxed without their consent; out of this grew the representation oftownspeople in Parliament. 206. Henry's Extravagance. When Henry became of age he entered upon a course of extravagantexpenditure. This, with unwise and unsuccessful wars, finally piledup debts to the amount of nearly a million of marks, or, in modernmoney, upwards of 13, 000, 000 pounds. To satisfy the clamors of hiscreditors, he mortgaged the Jews (S119), or rather the right ofextorting money from them, to his brother Richard. He also violated the chaters and treaties in order to compel those whobenefited from them to purchase their reissue. On the birth of hisfirst son, Prince Edward, he showed himself so eager forcongratulatory gifts, that one of the nobles present at court said, "Heaven gave us this child, but the King sells him to us. " 207. His Church Building. Still, not all of the King's extravagance was money thrown away. Everywhere on the Continent magnificent churches were rising. Theheavy and somber Norman architecture, with its round arches andsquare, massive towers, was giving place to the more graceful Gothicstyle, with its pointed arch and lofty, tapering spire. The King shared the religious enthusiasm of those who built the grandcathedrals of Salisbury and Lincoln. He himself rebuilt the greaterpart of Westminster Abbey (S66) as it now stands. A monument soglorious ought to make us willing to overlook some faults in thebuilder. Yet the expense and taxation incurred in erecting the greatminster must be reckoned among the causes that bred discontent and ledto civil war (S212). 208. Religious Reformation; the Friars, 1221; Roger Bacon. While this movement, which covered the land with religious edifices, was in progress, religion itself was undergoing a change. The oldmonastic orders had grown rich, indolent, and corrupt. The priestshad well-nigh ceased to do missionary work. At this period a reformsprang up within the Church itself. On the Continent two newreligious orders arose, calling themselves Friars, or Brothers. Theyfirst came to England in 1221. These Brothers bound themselves to alife of self-denial and good works. Some labored in the outskirts oftowns among the poor and the sick and called them to hear the gladtidings of the teachings of Christ. From their living on charity theycame to be known as "Beggin Friars. " Others, like Roger Bacon at Oxford, took an important part ineducation, and endeavored to rouse the sluggish monks to make effortsin the same direction. Bacon's experiments in physical science, whichwas then neglected and despiseed, got him the reputation of being amagician. He was driven into exile, imprisoned for many years, anddeprived of books and writing materials. But, as nothing could check the religious fervor of his mendicantbrothers, so no hardship or suffering could daunt the intellectualenthusiasm of Bacon. When he emerged from captivity he issued hisgreat book entitled an "Inquiry into the Roots of Knowledge. "[1] Itwas especially devoted to mathematics and the sciences, and deservesthe name of the encyclopedia fo the thirteenth century. [1] Bacon designated this book by the name of "Opus Majus, " or"Greater Work, " to distinguish it from a later summary which he alledhis "Opus Minus, " or "Smaller Work. " 209. The "Mad Parliament"; the Provisions of Oxford (1258). But the prodigal expenditure and mismanagement of Henry kept onincreasing. At last the burden of taxation became too great to bear. Bad harvests had caused a famine, and multitudes perished even inLondon. Confronted by these evils, Parliament (S205) met in the GreatHall at Westminster. Many of the barons were in complete armor. Asthe King entered there was an ominous clatter of swords. Henry, looking around, asked timidly, "Am I a prisoner?" "No, sire, " answered Earl Bigod (S172); "but we must have reform. "The King agreed to summon a Parliament to meet at Oxford and considerwhat should be done. The enemies of this assembly nicknamed it the"Mad Parliament" (1258); but there was method and determination in itsmadness, for which the country was grateful. With Simon de Montfort, the King's brother-in-law, at their head, theydrew up a set of articles, called the Provisions of Oxford, to whichHenry gave an unwilling assent. These Provisions practically took thegovernment out of the King's inefficient hand and vested it in thecontrol of three committees, or councils. (See Summary ofConstitutional History in the Appendix, p. X, S11. ) 210. Renewal of the Great Charter (1253). Meanwhile the King had been compelled to reaffirm that Great Charterwhich his father had unwillingly granted at Runnymede (S198). Standing in St. Catherine's Chapel within the partially finishedchurch of Westminster Abbey (S207), Henry, holding a lighted taper inhis hand, in company with the chief men of the realm, swore to observethe provisions of the covenant. At the close he exclaimed, as he dashed the taper on the pavement, while all present repeated the words and the action, "So go out withsmoke and stench the accursed souls of those who break or pervert thischarter. " There is no evidence that the King was insincere in his oath; butunfortunately his piety was that of impulse, not of principle. Thecompact was soon broken, and the lnd was again compelled to bear theburden of exorbitant taxes. These were extorted by violence, partlyto cover Henry's own extravagance, but also to swell the coffers ofthe Pope, who had promised to make Henry's son, Prince Edward, rulerover Sicily. 211. Growing Feeling of Discontent. During this time the barons were daily growing more mutinous anddefiant, saying that they would rather die than be ruined by the"Romans, " as they called the papal power. To a fresh demand for moneyEarl Bigod (S209) gave a flat refusal. "Then I will send reapers andreap your field for you, " cried the King to him. "And I will send youback the heads of your reapers, " retorted the angry Earl. It was evident that the nobles would make no concession. The samespirit was abroad which, at an earlier date (1236), made theParliament of Merton declare, when asked to alter the customs or lawsof the country to suit the ordinances of the Church of Rome, "We willnot change the laws of England. " So now the were equally resolved notto pay the Pope money in bahalf of the King's son. 212. Civil War; Battle of Lewes (1264). The crisis was soon reached. War broke out between the King and hisbrother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (S209), betterknown by his popular name of Sir Simon the Righteous. With fifteen thousand Londoners and a number of the barons, he metHenry, who had a stronger force, on the heights above the town ofLewes, in Sussex. (See map facing p. 436. ) The result of the greatbattle fought there was as decisive as that fought two centuriesbefore by William the Conqueror (S74), not many miles distant on thesame coast. 213. De Montfort's Parliament; the House of Commons, 1265. Bracton, the foremost jurist of that day, said in his comments on thedangerous state of the times, "If the King were without a bridle, --that is, the law, --his subjects ought to put a bridle on him. " Earl Simon (S209) had that "bridle" ready, or rather he saw clearlywhere to get it. The battle of Lewes had gone against Henry, who hadfallen captive to De Montfort. By virtue of the power he nowpossessed, the Earl summoned a Parliament. It differed from allprevious Parliaments in the fact that now, for the first time, representatives of the boroughs or principal towns (S103) were calledto London to join the earls, barons, and clergy in theirdeliberations. Thus, in the winter of 1265, that House of Commons, or legislativeassembly of the people, as distinguished from the House of Lords, originated. After it was fully and finally established in the nextreign (S217), it sat for more than three hundred years in the chapterhouse[1] of Westmister Abbey. It showed that at last those who hadneither land nor rank, but who paid taxes on personal property only, had obtained at least temporary representation in Parliament. [1] The building where the governing body of an abbey transactsbusiness. When that principle should be fully recognized, the King would have a"bridle" which he could not shake off. Henceforth Magna Carta (S199)would be no longer a dead parchment promise of reform, rolled up andhidden away, but would become a living, ever-present, effectivetruth. (See SS261, 262, and Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, p. X, S11. ) From this date the Great Council or Parliament of England (S144)commenced to lose its exclusive character of a single House consistingof the upper classes only. Now, it gave promise of becoming a truerepresentative body standing for the whole nation. Thus De Montfortbegan--or at least tried to begin--what President Lincoln called"government of the people, by the people, for the people. " But itshould be distinctly understood that his work had the defects of afirst attempt, and that it did not last. For, in the first place, DeMontfort failed to summon all who were entitled to have seats in sucha body; and secondly, he summoned only those who favored his policy. We shall see that the honor of calling the first full and freeParliament was reserved for Edward I. Thirty years later, he summonedthat body, which became the final model of every such assembly whichnow meets, whether in the Old World or the New (S217). 214. Earl Simon's Death (1265). But De Montfort's great effort soon met with a fatal reaction. Thebarons, jeolous of his power, fell away from him. Prince Edward, theKing's eldest son, gathered them round the royal standard to attackand crush the man who had humiliated his father. De Montfort was atEvesham, Worcestershire (see map facing p. 436); from the top of theBell Tower of the Abbey he saw the Prince approaching. "Commend yousouls to God, " he said to the faithful few who stood by him; "for ourbodies are the foes'!" There he fell. He was buried in EveshamAbbey, but no trace of his grave exists. In the north aisle of Westminster Abbey, not far from Henry III'stomb, may be seen the emblazoned arms of the brave Earl Simon. ButEngland, so rich in effigies of her great men, so faithful, too, inher remembrance of them, has not yet set up in the vestibule of theHouse of Commons, among the statues of her statesmen, the image of himwho took the first actual step toward founding that House in itspresent form. 215. Summary. Henry III's reign lasted over half a century. During that periodEngland, as we have seen, was not standing still. It was an age ofreform. In religion the "Begging Friars" were exhorting men to betterlives. In education Roger Bacon and other devoted scholars werelaboring to broaden knowledge and deepen thought. In political affairs the people now first obtained a place inParliament. Their victory was not permanent then, but it was theprecursor of the establishment of a permanent House of Commons whichwas to come in the next reign. Edward I--1272-1307 216. Edward I and the Crusades. Henry's son, Prince Edward, was in the East, fighting the battles ofthe Crusades (S182), at the time of his father's death. According toan account given in an old Spanish chronicle, an enemy attacked himwith a poisoned dagger. His wife, Eleanor, saved his life byheroically sucking the poison from the wound (S223). 217. Edward's First "Complete or Model Parliament, " 1295. Many years after his return to England, Edward convened a Parliament, 1295, to which representatives of all classes of freemen weresummoned, and from this time they regularly met (S213). Parliamenthenceforth consisted of two Houses. [1] This first included the Lordsand Clergy. The second comprised the Commons (or representation ofthe common people). It thus became "a complete image of the nation, ""assembled for the purposes of taxation, legislation, and unitedpolitical action. "[2] This body declared that all previous lawsshould be impartially executed, and that there should be nointerference with elections. [2] By this action King Edward showedthat he had the wisdom to adopt and perfect the example his father'sconqueror had left him (S213). Thus it will be seen that though EarlSimon the Righteous (SS212, 213, 214) was dead, his reform went on. It was an illustration of the truth that while "God buries hisworkers, he carries on his work. " [1] But during that period of the Commonwealth and Protectorate(1648-1660) the House of Lords did not meet (S450)[2] Stubb's "Early Plantagenets" (Edward I). See also the Summary ofConstitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xi, S12. [3] The First Statute of Westminster. 218. Conquest of Wales, 1282; Birth of the First Prince of Wales. Henry II had labored to secure unity of law for England. Edward I'saim was to bring the whole island of Britain under one ruler. On thewest, Wales only half acknowledged the power of the English King, while on the north, Scotland was practically an independentsovereignty. The new King determined to begin by annexing Wales tothe Crown. He accordingly led an army thither, and after several victoriousbattles, considered that he had gained his end. To make sure of hisnew possessions, he erected along the coast the magnificent castles ofConway, Beaumaris, Harlech, and Carnarvon, all of which he garrisonedwith bodies of troops ready to check revolt. In the last-named stronghold, tradition still points out a little darkchamber in the Eagle Tower, more like a state-prison cell than a roylaapartment, where Edward's second son was born (1284). Years afterwardthe King created him the first Prince of Wales (1301). The Welsh hadvowed that they would never accept an Englishman as King; but theyoung Prince was a native of the soil, and certainly in his cradle, atleast, spoke as good Welsh as their own children of the same age. Noobjection, therefore, could be made to him; by this happy compromise, it is said, Wales became a principality joined to the EnglishCrown. [4] [4] Wales was not wholly incorporated with England until more than twocenturies later, namely in 1536, in the reign of Henry VIII. It thenobtained local self-government and representation in Parliament. 219. Conquest of Scotland (1290-1296); the Stone of Scone. An opportunity now presented itself for Edward to assert his power inScotland. Two claimants, both of Norman descent, had come forwarddemanding the crown. [1] One was John Baliol; the other, Robert Bruce, an ancestor of the famous Scottish King and general of that name, whowill come prominently forward in the next reign. He decided inBaliol's favor, but insisted, before doing so, that the latter shouldacknowledge the overlordship of England, as the King of Scotland haddone to William I. [1] Scotland: At the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, Scotlandwas inhabited by a Celtic race nearly akin to the primitive Irish, andmore distantly so to the Britons. In time, the Saxons from theContinent invaded the country, and settled on the lowlands of theeast, driving back the Celts to the western highlands. Later, manyEnglish emigrated to Scotland, especially at the time of the NormanConquest, where they found a hearty welcome. In 1072 William the Conqueror compelled the Scottish King toacknowledge him as Overlord, and eventually so many Norman noblesestablished themselves in Scotland that they constituted the chieflanded aristocracy of the country. The modern Scottish nation, thoughit keeps its Celtic name (Scotland), is made up in great measure ofinhabitants of English descent, the pure Scotch being confined mostlyto the Highlands, and ranking in population only as about one to threeof the former. Baliol made a virtue of necessity, and agreed to the terms; butshortly after formed a secret alliance with France against Edward, which was renewed from time to time, and kept up between the twocountries for three hundred years. It is the key to most of the warsin which England was involved during that period. Having made thistreaty, Baliol now openly renounced his allegiance to the EnglishKing. Edward at once organized a force, attacked Baliol, and at thebattle of Dunbar (1296) compelled the Scottish nobleman to acknowledgehim as ruler. At the Abbey of Scone, near Perth, the English seized the famous"Stone of Destiny, " the palladium of Scotland, on which her Kings werecrowned. (See map facing p. 120. ) Carrying the trophy to WestminsterAbbey, Edward enclosed it in that ancient coronation chair which hasbeen used by every sovereign since, from his son's accession (1307)down to the present day. 220. Confirmation of the Charters, 1297. Edward next prepared to attack France. In great need of money, hedemanded a large sum from the clergy, and seized a quantity of wool inthe hands of the merchants. The barons, alarmed at these arbitrarymeasures, insisted on the King's confirming all previous charters ofliberties, including the Great Charter (SS135, 160, 199). Thisconfirmation expressly forbade that the Crown should take the people'smoney or goods except by the consent of Parliament. Thus out of thewar England gained the one thing it needed to give the finishing touchto the building up of Parliamentary power (SS213, 217); namely, asolemn acknowledgement by the King that the nation alone had the rightto levy taxes. [1] (See Summary of Constitutional History in theAppendix, p. Xi, S12. ) [1] Professor Stubbs says in his works (i. E. "Constitutional Historyof England, " and "Select Charters"), that the Confirmation of theCharters "established the principle that for all taxation, direct andindirect, the consent of the nation must be asked, and made it clearthat all transgressions of that principle, whether within the latterof the law or beyond it, were evasions of the spirit of theConstitution. " See also J. Rowley's "Rise of the English People. " 221. Revolt and Death of Wallace (1303). A new revolt now broke out in Scotland (S219). The patriot, WilliamWallace, rose and led his countrymen against the English, --led themwith that impetuous valor which breathes in Burns's lines: "Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled. " Fate, however, was against him. After eight years of desperatefighting, the valiant soldier was captured, executed on Tower Hill inLondon as a traitor, and his head, crowned in mockery with a wreath oflaurel, was set on a pike on London Bridge. But though the hero who perished on the scaffold could not prevent hiscountry from becoming one day a part of England, he did hinder itsbecoming so on unfair and tyrannical terms. "Scotland, " says Carlyle, "is not Ireland. No; because brave men arose there, and said, `Behold, ye must not tread us down like slaves, --and ye shallnot, --and ye cannot!'" But Ireland failed, not for any lack of bravemen, but for lack of unity among them. 222. Expulsion of the Jews, 1290. The darkest stain on Edward's reign was his treatment of the Jews(S119). Up to this period that unfortunate race had been protected bythe Kings of England as men protect the cattle which they fatten forslaughter. So long as they accumulated money, and so long as thesovereign could extort from them whatever portion of theiraccumulations he saw fit to demand, they were worth guarding. A timehad now come when the populace clamored for their expulsion from theisland, on the ground that their usury and rapacity was ruining thecountry. Edward yielded to the clamor, and first stripping the Jews of theirpossessions, he prepared to drive them into exile. It is said thateven their books were taken from them and given to the libraries ofOxford. Thus pillaged, they were forced to leave the realm, --amiserable procession, numbering some sixteen thousand. Many perishedon the way, and so few ventured to return that for three centuries anda half, until Cromwell came to power, they disappear from Englishhistory (S458). 223. Death of Queen Eleanor. Shortly after this event, Queen Eleanor died (S216). The King showedthe devoted love he bore her in the beautiful crosses of carved stonethat he raised to her memory, three of which still stand. [1] Thesewere erected at the places where her coffin was set down, in itstransit from Grantham, in Lincolnshire, where she died, to the littlevillage of Charing (now Charing Cross, the geographical center ofLondon). This was the last station before her body reached its finalresting place, in that abbey at Westminster which holds such wealth ofhistoric dust. Around Queen Eleanor's tomb wax lights were keptconstantly burning, until the Protestant Reformation extinguishedthem, nearly three hundred years later. [1] Originally there were thirteen of these crosses. Of these, threeremain: namely, at Northampton, at Geddington, near by, and atWaltham, about twelve miles northeast of London. 224. Edward's Reforms; Statute of Winchester (1285). The condition of England when Edward came to the throne was far fromsettled. The country was overrun with marauders. To suppress these, the Statute of Winchester made the inhabitants of every districtpunishable by fines for crimes committed within their limits. Everywalled town had to close its gates at sunset, and no stranger could beadmitted during the night unless some citizen would be responsible forhim. In addition, both sides of the main roads were cleared of bushes inorder that desperadoes might not lie in wait for travelers. Furthermore, every citizen was required to keep arms and armor, according to his condition in life, and to join in the pursuit andarrest of criminals. 225. Land Legislation, 1285, 1290. Two very important statutes were passed during this reign, respectingthe free sale or transfer of land. [1] [1] These laws may be regarded as the foundation of the English systemof landed property; they completed the feudal claim to the soilestablished by William the Conqueror. They are known as the SecondStatute of Westminster (De Donis, or Entail, 1285) and the ThirdStatute of Westminster (Quia Emptores, 1290). See S264 and Summary ofConstitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xi, S11. The effect of these statutes was to confine the great estates to thehands of their owners and direct descendants, or, when land changedhands, to keep alive the claims of the great lords or the Crown uponit. These laws rendered it difficult for landholders to evade theirfeudal duties to the King (S150) by the sale or subletting ofestates. Hence, while they often built up the strength of the greatfamilies, they also operated to increase the power of the Crown at thevery time when the growing influence of Parliament and the people wasbeginning to act as a check upon the royal authority. 226. Legislation respecting the Church; Statute of Mortmain, 1279. A third enactment checked the undue increase of Church property. Through gifts and bequests the clergy had become owners of a verylarge part of the most fertile soil of the realm. No farms, herds ofcattle, or flocks of sheep compared with theirs. These lands weresaid to be in mortmain, or "dead hands"; since the Church, being acorporation, never let go its hold, but kept its property with thetenacity of a dead man's grasp. The clergy constantly strove to get these Church lands exempted fromfurnishing soldiers, or paying taxes to the King (S136). Instead ofmen or money they offered prayers. Practically, the Crown succeededfrom time to time in compelling them to do considerably more thanthis, but seldom without a violent struggle, as in the case of HenryII and Becket (S165). On account of these exemptions it had become the practice with manypersons who wished to escape bearing their just share of the supportof the King, to give their lands to the Church, and then receive themagain as tenants of some abbot or bishop. In this way they evadedtheir military and pecuniary obligations to the Crown. To put a stopto this practice, and so make all landed proprietors do their part, the Statute of Mortmain was passed, 1279. It required the donor of anestate to the Church to obtain a royal license, which, it is perhapsneedless to say, was not readily granted. [1] [1] See p. 76, note 1, on Clergy; and see Summary of ConstitutionalHistory in the Appendix, p. Xi, S11. 227. Death of Edward I. Edward died while endeavoring to subdue a revolt in Scotland, in whichRobert Bruce, grandson of the first of that name (S219), had seizedthe throne. His last request was that his son Edward should continuethe war. "Carry my bones before you on your march, " said the dyingKing, "for the rebels will not endure the sight of me, alive or dead!" Not far from the beautiful effigy of Queen Eleanor in Westminster Abey(S223), "her husband rests in a severely simple tomb. Pass it not byfor its simplicity; few tombs hold nobler dust. "[2] [2] Goldwin Smith's "History of the United Kingdom. " 228. Summary. During Edward I's reign the following changes took place: 1. Wales and Scotland were conquered, and the first remainedpermanently a part of the English kingdom. 2. The landed proprietors of the whole country were made more directlyresponsible to the Crown. 3. The excessive growth of Church property was checked. 4. Laws for the better suppression of acts of violence were enactedand rigorously enforced. 5. The Great Charter, with additional articles for the protection ofthe people, was confirmed by the King, and the power of taxationexpressly acknowledged to reside in Parliament only. 6. Parliament, a legislative body now representing all classes of thenation, was permanently organized, and for the first time regularlyand frequently summoned by the King. [1] [1] It will be remembered that De Montfort's Parliament in 1265 (S213)was not regularly and legally summoned, since the King (Henry III) wasat that time a captive. The first Parliament (consisting of a Houseof Commons and House of Lords, including the upper Clergy), convenedby the Crown, was that called by Edward I in 1295 (S217). Edward II--1307-1327 229. Accession and Character. The son to whom Edward I left his power was in every respect hisopposite. The old definition of the word "king" was "the man whoCAN, " or the able man. The modern explanation usually makes him "thechief or head of a people. " Edward II would satisfy neither of thesedefinitions. He lacked all disposition to do anything himself; heequally lacked power to incite others to do. By nature he was ajester, trifler, and waster of time. Being such, it is hardly necessary to say that he did not push the warwith Scotland. Robert Bruce (S227) did not expect that he would; thatvaliant fighter, indeed, held the new English sovereign in uttercontempt, saying that he feared the dead father, Edward I, much morethan the living son. 230. Piers Gaveston; the Lords Ordainers; Articles of Reform. During his first five years of his reign, Edward II did little morethan lavish wealth and honors on his chief favorite and adviser, PiersGaveston, a Frenchman who had been his companion and playfellow fromchildhood. While Edward I was living, Parliament had with hissanction banished Gaveston from the kingdom, as a man of corruptpractices; but Edward II was no sooner crowned than he recalled him, and gave him the government of the realm during his absence in France, on the occasion of his marriage. On Edward's return, the barons protested against the monopoly ofprivileges by a foreigner, and the King was obliged to consent toGaveston's banishment. He soon came back, however, and matters wenton from bad to worse. Finally, the indignation of the nobles rose tosuch a pitch that at a council held at Westminster the government wasvirtually taken from the King's hands and vested in a body of baronsand bishops. The head of this committee was the King's cousin, the Earl ofLancaster; and from the Ordinances or Articles of Reform which thecommittee drew up for the management of affairs they got the name ofthe Lords Ordainers. Gaveston was now sent out of the country for athird time; but the King persuaded him to return, and gave him theoffice of Secretary of State. This last insult--for so the LordsOrdainers regareded it--was too much for the nobility to bear. They resolved to exile the hated favorite once more, but this time tosend him to that "undiscovered country" from which "no travelerreturns. " Edward, taking alarm, placed Gaveston in ScarboroughCastle, on the coast of Yorkshire, thinking that he would be safethere. The barons besieged the castle, starved Gaveston intosurrender, and beheaded him forthwith. Thus ended the first favorite. 231. Scotland regains its Independence; Bannockburn, 1314. Seeing Edward's lack of manly fiber, Robert Bruce (S229), who had beencrowned King of the Scots, determined to make himself ruler in fact aswell as in name. He had suffered many defeats; he had wandered afugitive in forests and glens; he had been hunted with bloodhoundslike a wild beast; but he had never lost courage or hope. On thefield of Bannockburn, northwest of Edinburgh (1314), he once again metthe English, and in a bloody and decisive battle drove them back likefrightened sheep into their own country. (See map facing p. 120. ) Bythis victory, Bruce reestablished the independence of Scotland, --anindependence which continued until the rival kingdoms were peacefullyunited under one crown, by the accession of the Scottish King, James, to the English throne (1603). 232. The New Favorites; the King made Prisoner (1314-1326). For the next seven years the Earl of Lancaster (S23) had his own wayin England. During this time Edward, whose weak nature needed someone to lean on, had got two new favorites, --Hugh Despenser and hisson. They were men of more character than Gaveston (S230), but asthey cared chiefly for their own interests, they incurred the hatredof the baronage. The King's wife, Isabelle of France, now turned against him. She hadformerly acted as a peacemaker, but from this time she did all in herpower to make trouble. Roger Mortimer, one of the leaders of thebarons, was the sworn enemy of the Despensers. The Queen had formed aguilty attachment for him. The reign of Mortimer and Isabelle was "areign of terror. " Together they plotted the ruin of Edward and hisfavorites. They raised a force, seized and executed the Despensers(1326), and then took the King prisoner. 233. Deposition and Murder of the King (1327). Having locked up Edward in Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, the baronsnow resolved ot remove him from the throne. Parliament drew uparticles of deposition against him, and appointed commissioners todemand his resignation of the throne. When they went to the castle, Edward appeared before them clad in deepmourning. Presently he sank fainting to the floor. On his recoveryhe burst into a fit of weeping. But, checking himself, he thankedParliament through the commissioners for having chosen his eldest sonEdward, a boy of fourteen, to rule over the nation. Sir William Trussel then stepped forward and said: "Unto thee, O King, I, William Trussel, in the name of all men of this land of England andSpeaker of this Parliament, renounce to you, Edward, the homage [oathof allegiance] that was made to you some time; and from this timeforth I defy thee and deprive thee of all royal power, and I shallnever be attendant on thee as King from this time. " Then Sir Thomas Blount, steward of the King's household; advanced, broke his staff of office before the King's face, and proclaimed theroyal household dissolved. Edward was soon after committed to Berkeley Castle, [1] inGloucestershire. There, by the order of Mortimer, with the connivanceof Queen Isabelle, the "she-wolf of France, " who acted as hiscompanion in iniquity (S232), the King was secretly and horriblymurdered. [1] Berkeley Castle is considered one of the finest examples of feudalarchitecture now remaining in England. Over the stately structurestill floats the standard borne in the Crusades by an ancestor of thepresent Lord Berkeley. 234. Summary. The lesson of Edward II's career is found in its culmination. Othersovereigns had been guilty of misgovernment, others had put unworthyand grasping favorites in power, but he was the first King whomParliament had deposed. By that act it became evident that great as was the power of the King, there had now come into existence a greater still, which could notonly make but unmake him who sat on the throne. Edward III--1327-1377 235. Edward's Accession; Execution of Mortimer. Edward III, son of Edward II, was crowned at fourteen. Until hebecame of age, the government was nominally in the hands of a council, but really in the control of Queen Isabelle and her "gentle Mortimer, "the two murderers of his father (S233). Early in his reign Edward attempted to reconquer Scotland (S219), butfailing in his efforts, made a peace acknowledging the independence ofthat country. At home, however, he now gained a victory whichcompensated him for his disappointment in not subduing the Scots. Mortimer was staying with Queen Isabelle at Nottingham Castle. Edwardobtained entrance by a secret passage, carried him off captive, andsoon after brought him to the gallows. He next seized his mother, theQueen, and kept her in confinement for the rest of her life in CastleRising, Norfolk. 236. The Rise of English Commerce; Wool Manufacture, 1336. The reign of Edward III is directly connected with the rise of aflourishing commerce with the Continent. In the early ages of itshistory England was almost wholly an agricultural country. At lengththe farmers in the eastern counties began to turn their attention towool growing. They exported the fleeces, which were considered thefinest in the world, to the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. Therethey were woven into cloth and returned to be sold in the Englishmarket; for, as an old writer quaintly remarks, "The English people atthat time knew no more what to do with the wool than the sheep onwhose backs it grew. "[1] [1] Thomas Fuller. This remark applies to the production of finewoolens only. The English had long manufactured common grades ofwoolen cloth to some extent. Edward's wife, Queen Philippa, was a native of a French provinceadjoining Flanders, which was also engaged in the production ofcloth. (See map facing p. 128. ) She used her influence in behalf ofthe establishment of woolen factories at Norwich, and other towns inthe east of England, in 1336. Skilled Flemish workmen were induced tocome over, and by their help England successfully laid the foundationof one of her greatest and most lucrative industries. From that time wool was considered a chief source of the nationalwealth. Later, that the fact might be kept constantly in mind, asquare crimson bag filled with it--the "Woolsack"--became, and stillcontinues to be, the seat of the Lord Chancellor in the House ofLords. 237. The Beginning of the Hundred Years' War, 1338. Indirectly, this trade between England and Flanders helped to bring ona war of such duration that it received the name of the Hundred Years'War. Flanders was at that time a dependency of France (see map facingp. 128), but its great commercial towns were rapidly rising in power, and were restive and rebellious under the exactions and extortion oftheir feudal master, Count Louis. Their business interests bound themstrongly to England; and they were anxious to form an alliance withEdward against Philip VI of France, who was determined to bring theFlemish cities into absolute subjection. Philip was by no means unwilling to begin hostilities with England. He had long looked with a greedy eye on the tract of country south ofthe Loire, [2] which remained in possession of the English kings, andonly wanted a pretext for annexing. Through his alliance withScotland, he threatened to attack Edward's kingdom on the north. Again, Philip's war vessels had been seizing English ships laden withwool, so that intercourse with Flanders was maintained with difficultyand peril. [2] Names Aquitaine (with the exception of Poitou). At a later periodthe province got the name of Guienne, which was a part of it. (Seemap facing p. 128. ) Edward remonstrated in vain against these outrages. At length, havingconcluded an alliance with Ghent, the chief Flemish city, he boldlyclaimed the crown of France as his lawful right, [1] and followed thedemand with a declaration of war. Edward based his claim on the factthat through his mother Isabelle he was nephew to the late FrenchKing, Charles IV, whereas the reigning monarch was only cousin of thatmonarch. To this the French replied that since their law excludedwomen from the throne, Edward's claim was worthless, because he couldnot inherit the crown of France from one who could not herself haveworn it. [1] Claim of Edward III to the French Crown Philip III (of France)* (1270-1285) H =============H------------------ H | Philip IV Charles, Count of (1285-1314) Valois, d. 1325 H H ==========================------ Philip VI H H H | (of Valois) Louis X Philip V Charles IV Isabelle (1328-1350) (1314-1316) (1316-1322) (1322-1328) m. Edward II H H of England H John I | John II (15 No. -19 Nov. 1316) Edward III (1350-1364) of England, 1327 *The heavy lines indicate the direct succession. 238. Battle of Cr'ecy; the "Black Prince, " 1346. For the next eight years, fighting between the two countries was goingon pretty constantly on both land and sea, but without decisiveresults. Edward was pressed for money and had to resort to all sortsof expedients to get it, even to pawning his own and the Queen'scrown, to raise enough to pay his troops. At last he succeeded inequipping a strong force, and with his son, Prince Edward, a lad offifteen, invaded Normandy. His plan seems to have been to attack the French army in the south ofFrance; but after landing he changed his mind, and determined toravage Normandy, and then march north to meet his Flemish allies, whowere advancing to join him. King Edward halted on a little rise ofground not far from Cr'ecy (or Cressy), near the coast, on the way toCalais. There a desperate battle took place. (See map facingp. 128. ) The French had the larger force, but Edward the better position. Philip's army included a number of hired Genoese crossbowmen, on whomhe placed great dependence; but a thunderstorm had wet theirbowstrings, which rendered them nearly useless, and, as they advancedtoward the English, the afternoon sun shone so brightly in their eyesthat they could not take accurate aim. The English archers, on theother hand, had kept their long bows in their cases, so that thestrings were dry and ready for action (S270). In the midst of the fight, the Earl of Warwick, who was hard pressedby the enemy, became alarmed for the safety of young King Edward. Hesent to the King, asking reenforcements. "Is my son killed?" asked the King. "No, sire, please God!" "Is hewounded?" "No, sire. " "Is he thrown to the ground?" "No, sire; buthe is in great danger. " "Then, " said the King, "I shall send no aid. Let the boy win his spurs[1]; for I wish, if God so order it, that thehonor of victory shall be his. " The father's wish was gratified. From that time the "Black Prince, " as the French called Prince Edward, from the color of his armor, became a name renowned throughout Europe. [1] Spurs were the especial badge of knighthood. It was expected ofevery one who attained that honor that he should do some deed ofvalor; this was called "winning his spurs. " The battle, however, was gained, not by his bravery, or that of thenobles who supported him, but by the sturdy English yeomen armed withtheir long bows. With these weapons they shot their keen white arrowsso thick and fast, and with such deadly aim, that a writer who waspresent on the field compared them to a shower of snow. It was thatfatal snowstorm which won the day. [2] We shall see presently (S240)that the great importance of this victory to the English turned on thefact that by it King Edward was able to move on Calais and securepossession of that port. [2] The English yeomen, or country people, excelled in the use of thelong bow. They probably learned its value from their Normanconquerors, who empoyed it with great effect at the battle ofHastings. Writing at a much later period, Bishop Latimer said: "In mytyme my poore father was as diligent to teach me to shote as to learneanye other thynge.... He taught me how to drawe, how to laye my bodyein my bowe, and not to drawe wyth strength of armes as other nacionsdo, but wyth strength of the bodye. I had bowes broughte me accordyngto my age and strength; as I encreased in them, so my bowes were madebigger, and bigger, for men shal neuer shot well, excepte they bebroughte up in it. " The advantage of this weapon over the steelcrossbow (used by the Genoese) lay in the fact that it could bedischarged much more rapidly, the latter being a cumbrous affair, which had to be wound up with a crank for each shot. Hence theEnglish long bow was to that age what the revolver is to ours. Itsent an arrow with such force that only the best armor could withstandit. The French peasantry at that period had no skill with thisweapon, and about the only part they took in a battle was to stabhorses and despatch wounded men. Scott, in the Archery Contest in "Ivanhoe" (Chapter XIII), hasgiven an excellent picture of the English bowman. 239. Use of Cannon, 1346; Chivalry. At Cre'cy (S238) small cannon appear to have been used for the firsttime in field warfare, though gunpowder was probably known to theEnglish friar, Roger Bacon (S208), a hundred years before. The objectof the cannon was to frighten and annoy the horses of the Frenchcavalry. They were laughed at as ingenious toys; but in the course ofthe next two centuries those toys revolutionized warfare (S270) andmade the steel-clad knight little more than a tradition and a name. In its day, however, knighthood (S153) did the world a good service. Chivalry aimed to make the profession of arms a noble instead of abrutal calling. It gave it somewhat of a religious character. It taught the warrior the worth of honor, truthfulness, and courtesy, as well as valor, --qualities which still survive in the best type ofthe modern gentleman. We owe, therefore, no small debt to thatmilitary brotherhood of the past, and may join the English poet in hisepitaph on the order: "The Knights are dust, Their good swords rust; Their souls are with the saints, we trust. "[1] [1] Coleridge; see Scott's "Ivanhoe. " 240. Edward III takes Calais, 1347. King Edward now marched against Calais. He was particularly anxiousto take the place: first, because it was a favorite resort ofdesperate pirates; secondly, because such a fortified port on theStrait of Dover, within sight of the chalk cliffs of England, wouldgive him at all times "an open doorway into France. " After besieging it for nearly a year, the garrison was starved intosubmission and prepared to open the gates. Edward was so exasperatedwith the stubborn resistance the town had made, that he resolved toput the entire population to the sword. But at last he consented tospare them, on condition that six of the chief men should givethemselves up to be hanged. A meeting was called, and St. Pierre, thewealthiest citizen of the place, volunteered, with five others, to goforth and die. Bareheaded, barefooted, with halters round theirnecks, they silently went out, carrying the keys of the city. Whenthey appeared before the English King, he ordered the executioner, whowas standing by, to seize them and carry out the sentence forthwith. But Queen Philippa (S236), who had accompanied her husband, now fellon her knees before him, and with tears begged that they might beforgiven. For a long time Edward was inexorable, but finally, unableto resist her entreaties, he granted her request, and the men who haddared to face death for others found life both for themselves andtheir fellow citizens. [1] Calais now became an English town and theEnglish kept it for more than two hundred years (S373). This gavethem the power to invade France whenever it seemed for their interestto do so. [1] Froissart's "Chronicles. " 241. Victory of Poitiers (1356). After a long truce, war again broke out. Philip VI had died, and hisson, John II, now sat on the French throne. Edward, during thiscampaign, ravaged northern France. The next year his son, the BlackPrince (S238), marched from Bordeaux into the heart of the country. Reaching Poitiers with a force of ten thousand men, he found himselfnearly surrounded by a French army of sixty thousand. The Prince soplaced his troops amidst the narrow lanes and vineyards, that theenemy could not attack him with their full strength. Again theEnglish archers gained the day (S238), and King John himself was takenprisoner and carried in triumph to England. (See map facing p. 128. ) 242. Peace of Bre'tigny, 1360. The victory of Poitiers was followed by another truce; then war beganagain. Edward intended besieging Paris, but was forced to retire toobtain provisions for his troops. Negotiations were now opened by theFrench. While these great negotiations were going on, a terriblethunderstorm destroyed great numbers of men and horses in Edward'scamp. Edward, believing it a sign of the displeasure of Heaven against hisexpedition, fell on his knees, and within sight of the Cathedral ofChartres vowed to make peace. A treaty was accordingly signed atBre'tigny near by. By it, Edward renounced his claim to Normandy andthe French crown. But notwithstanding that fact, all Englishsovereigns insisted on retaining the title of "King of France" down toa late period of the reign of George III. France, on the other hand, acknowledged the right of England, in full sovereignty, to the countrysouth of the Loire, together with Calais, and agreed to pay anenormous ransom in pure gold for the restoration of King John. 243. Effects of the French Wars in England. The great gain to England from these wars was not in the territoryconquered, but in the new feeling of unity they aroused among allclasses. The memory of the brave deeds achieved in those fiercecontests on a foreign soil never faded out. The glory of the BlackPrince (SS238, 241), whose rusted helmet and dented shield still hangabove his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral, [1] became one with the gloryof the plain bowmen, whose names are found only in countrychurchyards. [1] This is probably the oldest armor of the king in Great Britain. See Stothard's "Monumental Effigies. " Henceforth, whatever lingering feeling of jealousy and hatred hadremained in England, between the Norman and the Englishman (S192), nowgradually melted away. An honest, patriotic pride made both feel thatat last they had become a united and homogeneous people. The second effect of the wars was political. In order to carry themon, the King had to apply constantly to Parliament for money (SS217, 220). Each time that body granted a supply, they insisted on somereform which increased their strength, and brought the Crown more andmore under the influence of the nation. (See Summary ofConstitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xii, S13. ) The it came to be clearly understood that though the King held thesword, the people held the purse; and that the ruler who made thegreatest concessions got the largest grants. It was also in this reign that the House of Commons (SS213, 217, 262), which now sat as a separate body, obtained the important power ofimpeaching, or bringing to trial before the upper House, any of theKing's ministers or council who should be accused of misgovernment(1376). (See S247, and Summary of Constitutional History in theAppendix, p. Xii, S13. ) About this time, also, statutes were passed which forbade appeals fromthe King's courts of justice to that of the Pope, [1] who was then aFrenchman, and was believed to be under French political influence. Furthermore, all foreign Church officials were prohibited from askingor taking money from the English Church, or interfering in any waywith its management. [2] [1] First Statute of Provisors (1351) and of Praemunire (1353)(S265). The first Statute of Praemunire did not mention the Pope orthe Court of Rome by name; the second, or Great Statute of Praemunireof 1393, expressly mentioned them in the strongest terms. SeeConstitutionals Documents in the Appendix, p. Xxxii. [2] Statute of Provisors (1351), and see S265. 244. The Black Death, or Plague, 1349. Shortly after the first campaign in France, a frightful pestilencebroke out in London, which swept over the country, destroying upwardsof half the population. The disease, which was known as the BlackDeath, had already traversed Europe, where it had proved equallyfatal. "How many amiable young persons, " said a noted writer of that period, "breakfasted with their friends in the morning, who, when eveningcame, supped with their ancestors!" In Bristol and some other Englishcities, the mortality was so great that the living were hardly able tobury the dead; so that all business, and for a time even war, came toa standstill. 245. Effect of the Plague on Labor, 1349. After the pestilence had subsided, it was impossible to find laborersenough to till the soil and shear the sheep. Those who were free nowdemanded higher wages, while the villeins, or serfs (S113), and slavesleft their masters and roamed about the country asking for pay fortheir work, like freemen. It was a general agricultural strike, which lasted over thirty years. It marks the beginning of that contest between capital and labor whichhad such an important influence on the next reign, and which, after alapse of more than five hundred years, is not yet satisfactorilyadjusted. Parliament endeavored to restore order. It passed laws forbidding anyfreeman to ask more for a day's work than before the plague. It gavethe master the right to punish a serf who persisted in running away, by branding him on the forehead with the letter F, for "fugitive. "But legislation was in vain; the movement had begun, and statutes ofParliament could no more stop it than they could stop the rolling ofthe ocean tide. It continued to go on until it reached its climax inthe peasant insurrection led by Wat Tyler, under Edward's successor, Richard II (S251). 246. Beginning of English Literature, 1369-1377. During Edward's reign the first work in English prose may have beenwritten. It was a volume of travels by Sir John Mandeville, who hadjourneyed in the East for over thirty years. On his return he wrotean account of what he had heard and seen, first in Latin, that thelearned might read it; next in French, that the nobles might read it;and lastly he, or some unknown person, translated it into English forthe common people. He dedicated the work to the King. Perhaps the most interesting and wonderful thing in it was thestatement of his belief that the world is a globe, and that a ship maysail round it "above and beneath, "--an assertion which probably seemedto many who read it then as less credible than any of the marvelousstories in which his book abounds. William Langland was writing rude verses (1369) about his "vision ofPiers the Plowman, " contrasting "the wealth and woe" of the world, andso helping forward that democratic outbreak which was soon to takeplace among those who knew the woe and wanted the wealth. JohnWycliffe (S254), a lecturer at Oxford, attacked the rich and indolentchurchmen in a series of tracts and sermons, while Chaucer, who hadfought on the fields of France, was preparing to bring forth the firstgreat poem in our language (S253). 247. The "Good Parliament" (1376); Edward's Death. The "Good Parliament" (1376) attempted to carry through importantreforms. It impeached (for the first time in English history)[1]certain prominent men for fraud (S243). But in the end its workfailed for want of a leader. The King's last days were far fromhappy. His son, the Black Prince (S238), had died, and Edward fellentirely into the hands of selfish favorites and ambitious schemerslike John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Perhaps the worst one of thiscorrupt "ring" was a woman named Alice Perrers, who, after QueenPhilippa was no more (S240), got almost absolute control of the King. She stayed with him until his last sickness. When his eyes began toglaze in death, she plucked the rings from his unresisting hands, andfled from the palace. 248. Summary. During this reign the following events deserve especial notice: 1. The acknowledgment of the independence of Scotland. 2. The establishment of the manufacture of fine woolens in England. 3. The beginning of the Hundred Years' War, with the victories ofCre'cy and Poitiers, the Peace of Bre'tigny, and their social andpolitical results in England. 4. The Black Death and its results on labor. 5. Parliament enacts important laws for securing greater independenceto the English Church. 6. The rise of modern literature, represented by the works ofMandeville, Langland, and the early writings of Wycliffe and Chaucer. Richard II--1377-1399 249. England at Richard's Accession. The death of the Black Prince (SS238, 241, 247) left his son Richardheir to the crown. As he was but eleven years old, Parliamentprovided that the government during his minority should be carried onby a council; but John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (S247), speedilygot the control of affairs. He was an unprincipled man, who wasted the nation's money, opposedreform, and was especially hated by the laboring classes. The timeswere critical. War had again broken out with both Scotland andFrance, the French fleet was raiding the English coast, the nationaltreasury had no money to pay its troops, and the government debt wasrapidly accumulating. 250. The New Tax; the Tyler and Ball Insurrection (1381). In order to raise money, the government resolved to levy a new form oftax, --a poll or head tax, --which had been tried on a small scaleduring the last year of the previous reign. The apttempt had beenmade to assess it on all classes, from laborers to lords. The imposition was now renewed in a much more oppressive form. Notonly every laborer, but every member of a laborer's family above theage of fifteen, was required to pay what twould be eequal to the wagesof an able-bodied man for at least several days' work. [1] [1] The tax on laborers and their families varied from four to twelvepence each, the assessor having instructions to collect the lattersum, if possible. The wages of a day laborer were then about a penny, so that the smallest tax for a family of three would represent theentire pay for nearly a fortnight's labor. See Pearson's "England inthe Fourteenth Century. " We have already seen that, owing to the ravages of the Black Death, and the strikes which followed, the country was on the verge of revolt(SS244, 245). This new tax was the spark that caused the explosion. The money was roughly demanded in every poor man's cottage, and itscollection caused the greatest distress. In attempting to enforcepayment, a brutal collector shamefully insulted the young daughter ofa workman named Wat Tyler. The indignant father, hearing the girl'scry for help, snatched up a hammer, and rushing in, struck the ruffiandead on the spot. Tyler then collected a multitude of discontented laborers onBlackheath Common, near London, with the determination of attackingthe city and overthrowing the government. John Ball, a fanatical priest, harangued the gathering, now sixtythousand strong, using by way of a text lines which were at that timefamiliar to every workingman: "When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?" "Good people, " he cried, "things will never go well in England so longas goods be not in common, and so long as there be villeins (S113) andgentlemen. They call us slaves, and beat us if we are slow to dotheir bidding, but God has now given us the day to shake off ourbondage. " 251. The Great Uprising of the Laboring Class, 1381. Twenty years before, there had been similar outbreaks in Flanders andin France. This, therefore, was not an isolated instance ofinsurrection, but rather part of a general uprising. The rebellionbegun by Tyler and Ball (S250) spread through the southern and easterncounties of England, taking different forms in different districts. It was violent in St. Albans, where the peasants, and farm laborersgenerally, rose against the exactions of the abbot, but it reached itsgreatest height in London. For three weeks the mob held possession of the capital. They pillagedand then burned John of Gaunt's palace (SS247, 249). They seized andbeheaded the Lord Chancellor and the chief collector of the odiouspoll tax (S250). They destroyed all the law papers they could layhands on, and ended by murdering a number of lawyers; for the riotersbelieved that the members of that profession spent their time forgingthe chains which held the laboring class in subjection. 252. Demans of the Rebels; End of the Rebellion. The insurrectionists demanded of the King that villeinage (S113)should be abolished, and that the rent of agricultural lands should befixed by Parliament at a uniform rate in money. They also insistedthat trade should be free, and that a general unconditional pardonshould be granted to all who had taken part in the rebellion. Richard promised redress; but while negotiations were going on, Walworth, mayor of London, struck down Wat Tyler with his dagger, andwith his death the whole movement collapsed almost as suddenly as itarose. Parliament now began a series of merciless executions, andrefused to consider any of the claims to which Richard had shown adisposition to listen. In their punishment of the rebels, the Houseof Commons vied with the Lords in severity, few showing any sympathywith the efforts of the peasants to obtain their freedom from feudalbondage. The uprising, however, was not in vain, for by it the old restrictionswere in some degree loosened, so that in the course of the nextcentury and a half, villeinage (S113) was gradually abolished, and theEnglish laborer acquired that greatest yet most perilous of allrights, the complete ownership of himself. [1] [1] In Scotland, villeinage lasted much longer, and as late as 1774, in the reign of George III, men working in coal and salt mines wereheld in a species of slavery, which was finally abolished thefollowing year. So long as he was a serf, the peasant could claim assistance from hismaster in sickness and old age; in attaining independence he had torisk the danger of pauperism, which began with it, --this possibilitybeing part of the price which man must everywhere pay for theinestimable privilege of freedom. 253. The New Movement in Literature, 1390 (?). The same spirit which demanded emancipation on the part of the workingclasses showed itself in literature. We have already seen (S246) how, in the previous reign, Langland, in his poem of "Piers Plowman, " gavebold utterance to the growing discontent of the times in hisdeclaration that the rich and great destroyed the poor. In a different spirit, Chaucer, "the morning star of English song, "now began (1390?) to write his "Canterbury Tales, " a series of storiesin verse, supposed to be told by a merry band of pilgrims on their wayfrom the Tabard Inn in Southwark, London, to the shrine of St. ThomasBecket in Canterbury (S170). There is little of Langland's complaint in Chaucer, for he wasgenerally a favorite at court, seeing mainly the bright side of life, and sure of his yearly allowance of money and daily pitcher of winefrom the royal bounty. Yet, with all his mirth, there is a vein ofplayful satire in his description of men and things. His pictures ofjolly monks and easy-going churchmen, with his lines addressed to hispurse as his "saviour, as down in this world here, " show that he sawbeneath the surface of things. He too was thinking, at least attimes, of the manifold evils of poverty and of that danger springingfrom religious indifference which poor Langland had taken so much toheart. 254. Wycliffe; the First Complete English Bible, 1378. But the real reformer of that day was John Wycliffe, rector ofLutterworth in Leicestershire and lecturer at Oxford (S246). Heboldly attacked the religious and the political corruption of theage. The "Begging Friars, " who had once done such good work (S208), had now grown too rich and lazy to be of further use. Wycliffe, whose emaciated form concealed an unconquerable energy anddauntless courage, organized a new band of brothers known as "PoorPriests. " They took up and pushed forward the reforms the friars haddropped. Clothed in red sackcloth cloaks, barefooted, with staff inhand, they went about from town to town[1] preaching "God's law, " anddemanding that Church and State bring themselves into harmony with it. [1] Compare Chaucer's "A good man ther was of religioun, That was a poure persone [parson] of a town. " Prologue to the "Canterbury Tales" (479) The only complete Bible then in use was the Latin version. The peoplecould not read a line of it, and many priests were almost as ignorantof its contents. To carry on the revival which he had begun, Wycliffenow began to translate the entire Scriptures into English, 1378. Whenthe great work was finished it was copied and circulated by the "PoorPriests. " But the cost of such a book in manuscript--for the printing press hadnot yet come into existence--was so high that only the rich could buythe complete volume. Many, however, who had no money would give aload of farm produce for a few favorite chapters. In this way Wycliffe's Bible was spread throughout the country amongall classes. Later, when persecution began, men hid these preciouscopies and read them with locked doors at night, or met in the foreststo hear them expounded by preachers who went about at the peril oftheir lives. These things led Wycliffe's enemies to complain "thatcommon men and women who could read were better acquainted with theScriptures than the most learned and intelligent of the clergy. " 255. The Lollards; Wycliffe's Remains burned. The followers of Wycliffe were nicknamed Lollards, a word of uncertainmeaning but apparantly used as an expression of contempt. From havingbeen religious reformers denouncing the wealth and greed of a corruptChurch, they seem, in some cases, to have degenerated into socialistsor communists. This latter class demanded, like John Ball (S250), --who may have been one of their number, --that all property should beequally divided, and that all rank should be abolished. This fact should be borne in mind with reference to the subsequentefforts made by the government to suppress the movement. In the eyesof the Church, the Lollards were heretics; in the judgment of manymoderate men, they were destructionists and anarchists, asunreasonable and as dangerous as the "dynamiters" of to-day. More than forty years after Wycliffe's death (1384), a decree of theChurch council of Constance[1] ordered the reformer's body to be dugup and burned (1428). But his influence had not only permeatedEngland, but had passed to the Continent, and was preparing the wayfor that greater movement which Luther was to inaugurate in thesixteenth century. [1] Constance, in southern Germany. This council (1415) sentencedJohn Huss and Jerome of Prague, both of whom may be consideredWycliffites, to the stake. Tradition says that the ashes of his corpse were thrown into the brookflowing near the parsonage of Lutterworth, the object being to utterlydestroy and obliterate the remains of the arch-heretic. Fuller says:"This brook did conveeey his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severninto the narrow sea, and that into the wide ocean. And so the ashesof Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which is now dispersed allthe world over. "[2] [2] Thomas Fuller's "Church History of Britain. " Compare alsoWordsworth's "Sonnet to Wycliffe, " and the lines, attributed to anunknown writer of Wycliffe's time: "The Avon to the Severn runs, The Severn to the sea; And Wycliffe's dust shall spread abroad, Wide as the waters be. " 256. Richard's Misgovernment; the "Merciless Parliament. " Richard had the spirit of a tyrant. He declared "that he alone couldchange and frame the laws of the kingdom. "[3] His reign was unpopularwith all classes. The people hated him for his extravagance; theclergy, for failing to put down the Wycliffites (SS254, 255), with thedoctrines of whose founder he was believed to sympathize; while thenobles disliked his injustice and favoritism. [3] W. Stubb's "Constitutional History of England, " II, 505. In the "Merciless Parliament" (1388) the "Lords Appellant, " that is, the noblemen who accused Richard's counselors of treason, put to deathall of the King's ministers that they could lay hands on. Later, thatParliament attempted some political reforms, which were partiallysuccessful. But the King soon regained his power, and took summaryvengeance (1397) on the "Lords Appellant. " Two influential men wereleft, Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and Henry Bolingbroke, Duke ofHereford, whom he had found no opportunity to punish. After a timethey openly quarreled, and accused each other of treason. A challenge passed between them, and they prepared to fight the matterout in the King's presence; but when the day arrived, the Kingbanished both of them from England (1398). Shortly after they hadleft the country Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, Duke ofLancaster, died. Contrary to all law, Richard now seized andappropriated the estate, which belonged by right to the banishednobleman. 257. Richard deposed and murdered. (1399). When Bolingbroke, now by his father's death Duke of Lancaster, heardof the outrage, he raised a small force and returned to England, demanding the restitution of his lands. Finding that the powerful family of the Percies were willing to aidhim, and that many of the common people desired a change ofgovernment, the Duke boldly claimed the crown, on the ground thatRichard had forfeited it by his tyranny, and that he stood next insuccession through his descent from Henry III. But in reality HenryBolingbroke had no claim save that given by right of conquest, sincethe boy Edmund Mortimer held the direct title to the crown. [1] [1] See Genealogical Table, under No. 3 and 4, p. 140 The King now fell into Henry's hands, and events moved rapidly to acrisis. Richard had rebuilt Westminster Hall (S156). The firstParliament which assembled there deposed him on the ground that he was"altogether insufficient and unworthy, " and they gave the throne tothe victorious Duke of Lancaster. Shakespeare represents the fallenmonarch saying in his humiliation: "With mine own tears I wash away my balm, [2] With mine own hand I give away my crown. " [2] "Richard II, " Act IV, scene i. The balm was the sacred oil usedin anointing the King at his coronation. After his deposition Richard was confined in Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire, where he found, like his unfortunate ancestory, Edward II(S233), "that in the cases of princes there is but a step from theprison to the grave. " His death did not take place, however, untilafter Henry's accession. [1] Most historians condemn Richard as anunscrupulous tyrant. Froissart, who wrote in his time, says that heruled "fiercely, " and that no one in England dared "speak againstanything the King did. " A recent writer thinks he may have beeninsane, and declares that whether he "was mad or not, he, at allevents acted like a madman. " But another authority defends him, saying that Richard was not a despot at heart, but used despotic meanshoping to effect much-needed reforms. [2] [1] Henry of Lancaster was the son of John of Gaunt, who was thefourth son of Edward III; but there were descendents of that King'sTHIRD son (Lionel, Duke of Clarence) living, who, of course, had aprior claim, as the following table shows: Edward III [Direct descendant of Henry III] 1 2 3 | 4 5 --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Edward, the William, d. Lionel, Duke John of Gaunt, EdmundBlack Prince in childhood. Of Clarence Duke of Lancaster Duke of | | | York Richard II Philippa, m. Henry Bollinger Edmund Mortimer Duke of Lancaster, | afterward Roger Mortimer Henry IV d. 1398-1399 | Edmund Mortimer (heir presumptive to the crown after Richard II) [2] See Gardiner, Stubbs, and the "Dictionary of English History. " 258. Summary. Richard II's reign comprised: 1. The peasant revolt under Wat Tyler, whic hled eventually to theemancipation of the villeins, or farm laborers. 2. Wycliffe's reformation movement and his complete translation of theLatin Bible, with the rise of the Lollards. 3. The publication of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales, " the first greatEnglish poem. 4. The deposition of the King, and the transfer of the crown byParliament to Henry, Duke of Lancaster. General Reference Summary of the Angevin, or Plantegenet, Period(1154-1399) I. Government. II. Religion. III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art. V. General Industry and Commerce. VI. Mode ofLife, Manners, and Customs. I. Government 259. Judicial Reforms. In 1164 Henry II undertook, by a series of statutes called theConstitutions of Clarendon, to bring the Church under the common lawof the land, but was only temporarily successful. By subsequentstatutes he reorganized the administration of justice, and laid thefoundation of trial by jury. 260. Town Charters. Under Richard I many towns secured charters giving them the control oftheir own affairs in great measure. In this way municipalself-government arose, and a prosperous and intelligent class ofmerchants and artisans grew up who eventually obtained importantpolitical influence in the management of national affairs. 261. Magna Carta, or the Great National Charter. This pledge, extotrted from King John in 1215, put a check to hearbitrary power of the sovereign, and guaranteed the rights of allclasses, from the serf and the townsman to the bishop and baron(S199). It consisted originally of sixty-three articles, foundedmainly on the first royal charter (that of Henry I), given in 1100(S135). Magna Carta was not a statement of principles, but a series ofspecific remedies for specific abuses, which may be summarized asfollows: 1. The Church to be free from royal interference, especially in theelection of bishops. 2. No taxes except the regular feudal dues (S150) to be levied, exceptby the consent of the Great Council, or Parliament. 3. The Court of Common Pleas (see p. 73, not 1) not to follow theKing, but to remain stationary at Westminster. Justice to be neithersold, denied or delayed. No man to be imprisoned, outlawed, punished, or otherwissssse molested, save by the judgment of his equals or bythe law of the land. The necessary implements of all freemen, and thefarming tools of villeins, or farm laborers (S113), to be exempt fromseizure. 4. Weights and measures to be kept uniform throughout the realm. Allmerchants to have the right to enter and leave the kingdom withoutpaying exorbitant tolls for the privilege. 5. Forest laws to be justly enforced. 6. The charter to be carried out by twenty-five barons together withthe mayor of London. This document marks the beginning of a written constitution, and itproved of the highest value henceforth in securing good government. It was confirmed thirty-seven times by subsequent kings andparliaments, the confirmation of this and previous charters byEdward I in 1297 being of especial importance. 262. Rise of the House of Commons. In 1265, under Henry III, through the influence of Simon de Montfort, two representatives from each city and borough, or town, together withtwo knights of the shire, or country gentlemen, were summoned to meetwith the Lords and Clergy in the Great Council, or Parliament; but theHouse of Commons did not become a permanent body until the ModelParliament of 1295 was summoned. From that time the body of thepeople began to have a permanent voice in making the laws. Later in the period the knights of the shire joined therepresentatives from the towns in forming a distinct body inParliament, sitting by themselves under the name of the House ofCommons. They asserted their right to assent to legislation, and(1376) they exercised hte right of impeaching before the House ofLords government officers guilty of misuse of power. Somewhat later(1407) they obtained the sole right to originate "Money Bills, " thatis, grants or appropriations of money for public purposes or for theKing's use. 263. New Class of Barons. Under Henry III other influential men of the realm, aside from thebarons, who were tenants in chief, began to be summoned to the King'scouncil. These were called "barons by writ. " Later (under RichardII), barons were created by open letters bearing the royal seal, andwere called "barons by patent. "[1] [1] This is the modern method of raising a subject (e. G. The poet, Alfred Tennyson) to the peerage. It marks the fact that from thethirteenth century the ownership of land was no longer considered anecessary condition of nobility; and that the peerage was graduallydeveloping into the five degrees, which were completed in 1440, in thefollowing ascending order: barons, viscounts, earls, marquises, dukes. 264. Land Laws. During this period important laws (De Donis, or Entail, and QuiaEmptores) respecting land were passed, which had the effect of keepingestates in families, and also of preventing their possessors fromevading their feudal duties to the King. At the same time the Statuteof Mortmain (a restriction on the acquisition of land by the Church, which was exempt from paying certain feudal dues) was imposed toprevent the King's revenue from being diminished. II. Religion 265. Restriction of Papal Power. During the Angevin period the popes endeavored to introduce the canonlaw (a body of ordinances consisting mainly of the decisions of Churchcouncils and popes) into England, with the view of making it supreme;but the Parliament of Merton refused to accept it, saying, "We willnot change the laws of England. " The Statute of Mortmain was also passed (SS226, 264) and othermeasures (Statutes of Provisors and Statute of Praemunire) (S243), which forbade the Pope from taking the appointment of bishops andother ecclesiastics out of the hands of the clergy; and whichprohibited any appeal from the King's Court to the Papal Court. Furthermore, many hundreds of parishes, formerly filled by foreignerswho could not speak English, were now given to native priests, and thesending of money out of the country to support foreign ecclesiasticswas in great measure stopped. During the Crusades two religious military orders had beenestablished, called the Knights Hospitalers and the Knights Templars. The object of the former was, originally, to provide entertainment forpilgrims going to Jerusalem; that of the latter, to protect them. Both had extensive possessions in England. In 1312 the order ofTemplars was broken up on a charge of heresy and evil life, and theirproperty in England given to the Knights Hospitalers, who were alsocalled Knights of St. John. 266. Reform. The Mendicant or "Begging Friars" began a reformatory movement in theChurch and accomplished much good. This was followed by Wycliffe'sattack on religious abuses, by his complete translation of the Bible, with the revival carried on by the "Poor Priests, " and by the rise ofthe Lollards. Eventually severe laws were passed against theLollards, partly because of their heretical opinions, and partlybecause they became in a measure identified with socialistic andcommunistic efforts to destroy rank and equalize property. III. Military Affairs 267. Scutage. By a tax called scutage, or shield money, levied on all knights whorefused to serve the King in foreign wars, Henry II obtained the meansto hire soldiers. By a law reviving the national militia, composed offreemen below the rank of knights, the King made himself in aconsiderable measure independent of the barons with respect to raisingtroops. 268. Armor; Heraldry. The linked or mail armor now began to be superseded by that made ofpieces of steel joined together so as to fit the body. This, when itwas finally perfected, was called plate armor, and was both heavierand stronger than mail. With the introduction of plate armor and the closed helmet it becamethe custom for each knight to wear a device, called a crest, on hishelmet, and also to have one called a coat of arms (because originallyworn on a loose coat over the armor). The coat of arms served to distinguish the wearer from the others, andwas of practical use not only to the followers of a great lord, whothus knew him at a glance, but it served in time of battle to preventthe confusion of friend and foe. Eventually, coats of arms becamehereditary, and the descent, and to some extent the history, of afamily can be traced by them. In this way heraldry may often provehelpful in gaining knowledge of men and events. 269. Chivalry; Tournaments. The profession of arms was regulated by certain rules, by which eachknight solemnly bound himself to serve the cause of religion and theKing, and to be true, brace, and courteous to those of his own rank, to protect ladies (women of gentle birth), and succor all persons indistress. Under Edward III the system of knighthood and chivalryreached its culmination and began to decline. One of the grotesque features of the attack of France was anexpedition of English knights with one eye bandaged; this half-blingcompany having vowed to partially renounce their sight until they didsome glorious deed. The chief amusement of the nobles and knights wasthe tournament, a mock combat fought on horseback, in full armor, which sometimes ended in a real battle. At these entertainments alady was chosen queen, who gave prizes to the victors. 270. The Use of the Long Bow; Introduction of Cannon; Wars. The common weapon of the yeomen, or foot soldiers, was the long bow. It was made of yew-tree wood, and was the height of the user. Armedwith this weapon, the English soldiers proved themselves irresistablein the French wars, the French having no native archers of anyaccount. Roger Bacon is supposed to have known the properties of gunpowder asearly as 1250, but no practical use was made of the discovery untilthe battle of Cre'cy, 1346, when a few very small cannon are said tohave been employed by the English against the enemy's cavalry. Later, cannon were used to throw heavy stones in besieging castles. Stilllater, rude handguns came slowly into use. From this period kingsgradually began to realize the full meaning of the harmless-lookingblack grains, with whose flash and noise the Oxford monk had amusedhimself. The chief wars of the time were the contests between the kings and thebarons, Richard I's Crusade, John's war with France, resulting in theloss of Normandy, Edward I's conquest of Wales and temporarysubjugation of Scotland, and the beginning of the Hundred Years' Warwith France under Edward III. The navy of this period was made up of small, one-masted vessels, seldom carrying more than a hundred and fifty fighting men. As themariner's compass had now come into general use, these vessels could, if occasion required, make voyages of considerable length. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 271. Education. In 1264 Walter de Merton founded the first college at Oxford, aninstitution which has ever since borne his name, and which reallyoriginated the English college system. During the reign of EdwardIII, William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, gave a decided impulseto higher education by the establishment, at his own expense, ofWinchester College, the first great public school founded in England. Later, he built and endowed New College at Oxford to supplement it. In Merton's and Wykeham's institutions young men of small means wereinstructed, and in great measure supported, without charge. They werebrought together under one roof, require to conform to properdiscipline, and taught by the best teachers of the day. In this way ageneral feeling of emulation was roused, and at the same time afraternal spirit cultivated, which had a strong influence in favor ofa broader and deeper intellectual culture than the monastic schools atOxford and elsewhere had encouraged. 272. Literature. The most prominent historical work was that by Matthew Paris, a monkof St. Alban's, written in Latin, based largely on earlier chronicles, and covering the period from the Norman Conquest, 1066, to his death, in 1259. It is a work of much value, and was continued by writers ofthe same abbey. The first English prose work was a volume of travels by Sir JohnMandeville, dedicated to Edward III. It was followed by Wycliffe'stranslation of the Bible into English from the Latin version, and byChaucer's "Canterbury Tales, " the first great English poem. 273. Architecture. Edward I and his successors began to build structures combining thepalace with the stronghold. [1] Conway and Carnavon Castles in Wales, Warwich Castle, Warwickshire, and a great part of Windsor Castle onthe Thames, twenty-three miles west of London, are magnificentexamples; the last is still occupied as a royal residence. [1] The characteristic features of the Edwardian castles are doublesurrounding walls, with numerous protecting towers, and the omissionof the square Norman keep. In churches, the massive architecture of the Normans, with its heavycolumns and round arches, was followed by the Early English style orthe first period of the Gothic, with pointed arches, slender, clustered columns, and tapering spires. Salisbury Cathedral is thegrandest example of the Early English style. Later, the Decorated Style was adopted. It was characterized bybroader windows, highly ornamented to correspond with the elaboratedecoration within, which gave this style its name; this is seen toadvantage in Exeter Cathedral, York Minster, and Merton College Chapelat Oxford. V. General Industry and Commerce 274. Fairs; Guilds. The domestic trade of the country was largely carried on during thisperiod by great fairs held at stated times by royal license. Bunyan, in "Pilgrim's Progress, " gives a vivid picture of one of these centersof trade and dissipation, under the name of "Vanity Fair. " Though itrepresents the great fair of Sturbridge, near Cambridge, as he saw itin the seventeenth century, yet it undoubtably describes similargatherings in the time of the Plantagenets. In all large towns the merchants had formed associations for mutualprotection and the advancement of trade, called merchant guilds. Artisans now instituted similar societies, under the name of craftguilds. For a long time the merchant guilds endeavored to shut outthe craft guilds, --the men, as they said, "with dirty hands and bluenails, "--from having any part in the government of the towns. Buteventually the latter got their full share, and in some cases, as inLondon, became the more influential party of the two. There theystill survive under the name of the "City Companies. " 275. The Wool Trade. Under Edward III a flourishing trade in wool grew up between Englandand Flanders. The manufacture of fine woolen goods was also greatlyextended in England. All commerce at this period was limited tocertain market towns called "staples. " To these places produce and all other goods for export had to becarried in order that the government might collect duty on them beforethey were sent out of the country. If an Englishman carried goodsabroad and sold them in the open market without first paying a tax tothe Crown, he was liable to the punishment of death. Imports alsopaid duties. 276. The Great Strike. The scarcity of laborers caused by the ravages of the Black Deathcaused a general strike for higher wages on the part of freeworkingmen, and also induced thousands of villeins to run away fromtheir masters, in order to get work on their own account. The generaluprising which a heavy poll tax caused among the villeins (S150), orfarm laborers, and other workingmen, though suppressed at the time, led to the ultimate emancipation of the villeins by a gradual processextending through many generations. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs 277. Dress; Furniture. During most of this period great luxury in dress prevailed among therich and noble. Silks, velvets, scarlet cloth, and cloth of gold wereworn by both men and women. At one time the lords and gallants atcourt wore shoes with points curled up like rams' horns and fastenedto the knee with silver chains. Attempts were made by the government to abolish this and otherridiculous fashions, and also to regulate the cost of dress accordingto the rank and means of the wearer; but the effort met with smallsuccess. Even the rich at this time had but little furniture in theirhouses, and chairs were almost unknown. The floors of houses werestrewn with rushes, which, as they were rarely changed, becamehorribly filthy, and were a prolific cause of sickness. 278. The Streets; Amusements; Profanity. The streets of London and other cities were rarely more than twelve orfifteen feet wide. They were neither paved nor lighted. Pools ofstagnant water and heaps of refuse abounded. There was no sewage. The only scavengers were the crows. The houses were of timber andplaster, with projecting stories, and destructive fires were common. The chief amusements were hunting and hawking, contests at archery, and tournaments. Plays were acted by amateur companies on stages onwheels, which could be moved from street to street. The subjects continued to be drawn in large measure from the Bible andfrom legends of the saints. They served to instruct men in Scripturehistory, in an age when few could read. The instruction was not, however, always taken to heart, as profane swearing was so common thatan Englishman was called on the Continent by his favorite oath, whichthe French regarded as a sort of national name before that of "JohnBull" came into use. SEVENTH PERIOD[1] "God's most dreaded instrument, In working out a pure intent, Is man--arrayed for mutual slaughter. " Wordsworth The Self-Destruction of Feudalism Baron against Baron The Houses of Lancaster and York (1399-1485) House of Lancaster (the Red Rose) House of York (the White Rose)Henry IV, 1399-1413 Edward IV, 1461-1483Henry V, 1413-1422 +Edward V, 1483*Henry VI, 1422-1461 Richard III, 1483-1485 [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. *Henry VI, deposed 1461; reinstated for a short time in 1470. +Edward V, never crowned. 279. Henry IV's Accession. Richard II left no children. The nearest heir to the kingdom by rightof birth was the boy Edmund Mortimer, a descendant of Richard's uncleLionel, Duke of Clarence. [2] Henry ignored Mortimer's claim, andstanding before Richard's empty throne in Westminster Hall (S257), boldly demanded the crown for himself. [3] [2] See Genealogical Table on page 140. [3] "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, Henry ofLancaster, challenge this realm of England and the Crown, with all themembers and the appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line ofblood, coming from the good King Henry III, and through that rightthat God of his grace hath sent me, with help of kin and of all myfriends to recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone bydefault of government and undoing of the good laws. " The nation had suffered so much from the misgovernment of those whohad ruled during the minority of Richard, and later by Richardhimself, that they wanted no more boy kings. Parliament, therefore, set aside the direct line of descent and accepted Henry. But the airwas full of tumultuous passion. The Lords were divided in theirallegiance, some stood by the former King, others by the new one. Noloess than forty noblemen challenged each other to fight, and civilwar seemed imminent. [1] [1] J. F. Bright's "History of England, " I, 276. 280. Conspiracy in favor of Richard. The new King had hardly seated himself on the throne when a conspiracywas discovered, having for its object he release and restoration ofRichard, still a prisoner in Pontefract Castle. The plot was easilycrushed. A month later Richard was found dead (S257). Henry had his body brought up to London and exposed to public view inSt. Paul's Cathedral, in order that not only the people, but allwould-be conspirators might now see that Richard's hands could neveragain wield the scepter. There was, however, one man at least who refused to be convinced. Owen Glendower, a Welshman, whom the late King had befriended, declared that Richard was still living, and that the corpse exhibitedwas not his body. Glendower prepared to maintain his belief by arms. King Henry mustered a force with the intention of invading Wales andcrushing the rebel on his own ground; but a succession of terribletempests ensued. The English soldiers got the idea that Glendower raised these storms, for as an old chronicle declares: "Through art magike he [Glendower]caused such foule weather of winds, tempest, raine, snow, and haile tobe raised for the annoiance of the King's armie, that the like had notbeene heard of. "[2] For this reason the troops became disheartened, and the King was obliged to postpone the expedition. [2] Holinshed's "Chronicle. " 281. Rovolt of the Percies; Bold Step of the House of Commons, 1407. The powerful Percy family had been active in helping Henry to obtainthe throne, [3] and had spent large sums in defending the North againstinvasions from Scotland. [4] They expected a royal reward for theseservices, and were sorely disappointed because they did not get it. As young Henry Percy said of the King: "My father, and my uncle, and myself, Did give him that same royalty he wears; And, --when he was not six-and-twenty strong, Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low, A poor, unminded outlaw sneaking home, -- My father gave him welcome to the shore: . . . . . . . . Swore him assistance and perform'd it too. "[1] [3] Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, with Henry Percy, Earl ofNorthumberland, and his son, Sir Henry Percy, or "Hotspur" (S257). [4] See the "Ballad of Chevy Chase. "[1] Shakespeare's "Henry IV, " Part I, Act IV, scene iii. But the truth is, King Henry had little to give except promises. Parliament voted money cautiously, limiting its supplies to specificpurposes. Men of wealth, feeling anxious about the issue of theKing's usurpation, --for such many regarded it, --were afraid to lendhim what he required. In 1406 the House of Commons (SS213, 217) took a very decisive step. It demanded and obtained first, the exclusive right of originating all"Money Bills, " or in other words, of making all grants of money whichthe King asked for. This practically gave the people the control ofthe nation's purse. [2] Secondly, the Commons demanded and obtainedfrom the King that he should not in any way interfere with the rightto deliberate what action they should take in regard to making suchgrants of money. Besides being held in check by the House of Commons, the King was hampered by a council whose advice he had pledged himselfto follow. For these reasons Henry's position was in every wayprecarious. [2] This right of originating "Money Bills" had been claimed as earlyas the reign of Richard II, but was not fully and formally recognizeduntil 1407. See Taswell-Langmead's "English Constitutional History, "p. 260, and Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xii, S13. He had no clear title to the throne, and he had no means to buymilitary support. In addition to these difficulties, he had made anenemy of Sir Henry Percy. He had refused to ransom hisbrother-in-law, a Mortimer, [3] whom Glendower had captured, but whomthe King wished well out of the way with others of that name. [3] Sir Edmund Mortimer: He was uncle to the Edmund Mortimer, Earl ofMarch, who was heir to the crown. See Bailey's "Succession to theEnglish Crown. " Young Percy proved a dangerous foe. His hot temper and impetuousdaring had got for him the title of the "Hotspur of the North. " Hewas so fond of fighting that Shakespeare speaks of him as "he thatkills me osme six or seven dozen of scots at a breakfast, washes hishands, and says to his wife, Fie upon this quite life! I wantwork. "[1] This "fire eater, " with his father, his uncle (the Earl ofWorcester), the Scotch Earl of Douglas, and, last of all, OwenGlendower, now formed an alliance to force Henry to give up thethrone. [1] Shakespeare's "Henry IV, " Part I, Act II, scene iv. 282. Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). At Shrewsbury, on the edge of Wales, the armies of the King and of therevolutionists met. A number of Henry's enemies had sworn to singlehim out in battle. The plot was divulged, and it is said thatthirteen knights arrayed themselves in armor resembling the King's inorder to mislead the assailants. The whole thirteen perished on thatbloody field, where fat Sir John Falstaff vowed he fought on Henry'sbehalf "a long hour by Shrewsbury clock. "[2] [2] Shakespeare's "Henry IV, " Part I, Act V, scene iv. 283. Persecution of the Lollards; Statute of Heresy; the First Martyr(1401). Thus far Henry had spent much time in crushing rebels, but he had alsogiven part of it to burning heretics. To gain the favor of theclergy, and so render his throne more secure, the King favored thepassage of a Statute of Heresy. The Lords and bishops passed such alaw (to which the House of Commons seems to have assented). [3] Itpunished the Lollards (S255) and also all others who dissented fromthe essential doctrines of Rome with death. [3] See Stubb's "Constitutional History of England, " III, 32. William Sawtrey, a London clergyman, was the first victim under thenew law (1401). He had declared that he would not worship "the crosson which Christ suffered, but only Christ himself who had suffered onthe cross. " He had also openly denied the doctrine oftransubstantiation, which teaches that the sacramental bread ismiraculously changed into the actual body of the Saviour. For theseand minor heresies he was burned at Smithfield, in London, in thepresence of a great multitude. Some years later a second martyrdom took place. But as the Englishpeople would not allow torture to be used in the case of the KnightsTemplars in the reign of Edward II (S265), so but very few of themseem to have believed that by committing the body to the flames theycould burn error out of the soul. The Lollards, indeed, were still cast into prison, as some of theextreme and communistic part of them doubtless deserved to be (S255), but we hear of no more being put to cruel deaths during Henry's reign, though later, the utmost rigor of the law was again to some extentenforced. 284. Henry's Last Days. Toward the close of his life the King seems to have thought ofreviving the Crusades for the conquest of Jerusalem (S182), where, according to tradition, an old prediction declared that he shoulddie. But his Jerusalem was nearer than that of Palestine. Whilepraying at the tomb of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey(S66), he was seized with mortal illness. His attendants carried himinto a room near by. When he recovered consciousness, and inquired where he was, he wastold that the apartment was called the Jerusalem Chamber. "Praise beto God, " he exclaimed, "then here I die!" There he breathed his last, saying to his son, young Prince Henry: "God knows, my son, By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways, I met this crown; and I myself know well How troublesome it sat upon my head; To thee it shall descend with better quiet, Better opinion, better confirmation; For all the soil of the achievement[1] goes With me into the earth. " [1] "Soil of achievement": stain or blame by which the crown was won. Shakespeare's "Henry IV, " Part II, Act IV, scene iv. 285. Summary. At the outset of his reign Parliament showed its power by changing thesuccession and making Henry King instead of young Edmund Mortimer, thedirect hereditary heir to the crown. Though successful in crushingrebellion, Henry was obliged to submit to the guidance of a council. Furthermore, he was made more entirely dependent on Parliament, especially in the matter of supplies, than any previous King, for theHouse of Commons now got and held control of the nation's purse. Forthe first time in English history heresy was made punishable by death;yet such was the restraining influence of the people, that but twoexecutions took place in Henry IV's reign. Henry V--1413-1422 286. Lollard Outbreak at Henry's Accession. Henry's youth had been wild and dissolute, but the weight of the crownsobered him. He cast off poor old "Jack Falstaff"[1] (S282) and hisother roistering companions, and began his new duties in earnest. [1] Shakespeare's "Henry IV, " Part II, Act V, scene v, beginning, "Iknow thee not, old man. " Sir John Oldcastle, or Lord Cobham, was at this time the mostinfluential man among the Lollards (SS255, 283). He was brought totrial and convicted of heresy. The penalty was death; but the Kinggranted him a respite, in the hope that he might recant, and Oldcastlemanaged to escape from prison (1414). Immediately after, a conspiracy was detected among the Lollards forseizing the government, destroying the chief monasteries in and aboutLondon, and raising Oldcastle to power. Henry attacked the rebelsunawares, killed many, and took a large number of prisoners, who wereexecuted on a double charge of heresy and treason. Several yearsafterwards Oldcastle was burned as a heretic. 287. Report that Richard II was alive. A strange report now began to circulate. It was said that Richard II(S257) had been seen in Scotland, and that he was preparing to claimthe throne which Henry's father had taken from him. To silence thisseditious rumor, the King, it is said, exhumed Richard's body from itsgrave in the little village of Langley, Hertfordshire. At any rate, adead body, reputed to be Richard's, was brought to London and proppedup in a chair, so that all might see it. In this manner the King and his court escorted the corpse in solemnprocession to Westminster Abbey, where it was reinterred among thetombs of the English sovereigns. With it he buried once for all thetroublesome falsehood which had kept up insurrection, and had made thedeposed King more feared after death than he had ever been duringlife. 288. War with France (1415). To divert the attention of the nation from dangerous home questionslikely to cause new plots and fresh revolts (SS286, 287), Henry nowdetermined to act on his father's dying counsel and pick a foreignquarrel. The old grudge against France, which began with the feuds ofDuke William of Normandy before he conquered England, made a war withthat country always popular. At this period the French were dividedinto fierce parties that hated each other even more, if possible, thanthey hated the English. This, of course, greatly increased thechances of Henry's success, as he might form an alliance with one ofthese factions. The King believed it a good opportunity to get three things hewanted, --a wife, a fortune, and the French crown. The King of Franceand his most powerful rival, the Duke of Burgundy, had each adaughter. To make sure of one of them, Henry secretly proposed toboth. After long and fruitless negotiations the French King declinedto grant the enormous dowry which the English King demanded. Thelatter gladly interpreted this refusal as equivalent to a declarationof war. 289. The Great Battle of Agincourt, 1415. Henry set to work with vigor, raised an army, and invaded France. Hebesieged Harfleur, near the mouth of the Seine, and took it; but hisarmy suffered so much from sickness that, after leaving a garrison inthe place, he resolved to move north, to the walled city of Calais. It will be remembered that the English had captured that city nearlyseventy years before (S240), and Henry intended to wait there forreenforcements. (See map facing p. 128. ) After a long and perilous march he reached a little village aboutmidway between Cre'cy and Calais. There he encountered the enemy ingreat force. Both sides prepared for battle. The French had fiftythousand troops to Henry's seven or eight thousand; but the latter hadthat determination which wins victories. He said to one of his nobleswho regretted that he had not a larger force: "No, my fair cousin; If we are marked to die, we are enough To do our country loss; and if we live, The fewer men, the greater share of honor. "[1] [1] Shakespeare's "Henry V, " Act IV, scene iii. A heavy rain had fallen during the night, and the plowed land overwhich the French must cross was so wet and miry that their heavilyarmed horsemen sank deep at every step. The English bowmen, on theother hand, being on foot, could move with ease. Henry ordered everyarcher to drive a stake, sharpened at both ends, into the groundbefore him. This was a substitute for the modern bayonet, andpresented an almost impassable barrier to the French cavalry. As at Cre'cy and Poitiers, the English bowmen gained the day (SS238, 241). The sharp stakes stopped the enemy's horses, and the blindingshowers of arrows threw the splendidly armed knights into wildconfusion. With a ringing cheer Henry's troops rushed forward. "When down their bows they threw, And forth their swords they drew, And on the French they flew: No man was tardy. Arms from the shoulder sent; Scalps to the teeth they rent; Down the French peasants went: These ere men hardy. "[2] [2] These vigorous lines, from Drayton's "Ballad of Agincourt" (1606), if not quite true to the letter of history (since it is doubtedwhether any French peasants were on the field), are wholly true to itsspirit. When the fight was over, the King asked, "What is the name of thatcastle yonder?" He was told it was called Agincourt. "Then, " saidhe, "from henceforth this shall be known as the battle of Agincourt. "This decisive victory made the winner feel sure that he could now holdhis throne in spite of all plots against him (S288). 290. Treaty of Troyes, 1420; Henry's Death. Henry went back in triumph to England. Two years later, he againinvaded France. His victorious course continued. By the Treaty ofTroyes (1420) he gained all that he had planned to get. He obtainedlarge sums of money, the French Princess Catharine in marriage, andthe promise of the crown of France on the death of her father, CharlesVI, who was then insane and feeble. Meantime Henry was to govern theFrench kingdom as regent. Henry returned to England with the bride he had won by the sword, buthe was soon recalled to France by a revolt against his power. He diedthere, leaving an infant son, Henry. Two months afterward Charles VIdied, so that by the terms of the treaty Henry's son now inherited theFrench Crown. 291. Summary. The one great event with which Henry V's name is connected is theconquest of France. It was hailed at the time as a gloriousachievement. In honor of it his tomb in Westminster Abbey wassurmounted by a statue of the King, having a head of solid silver. Eventually the head was stolen and never recovered; the wooden statuestill remains. The theft was typical of Henry's short-lived victoriesabroad, for all the territory he had gained was soon destined to behopelessly lost. Henry VI (House of Lancaster, Red Rose)--1422-1461 292. Accession of Henry; Renewal of the French War. The heir to all the vast dominions left by Henry V was proclaimed Kingof England and France when in his cradle, and crowned, while still achild, first in Westminster Abbey and then at Paris. But the accession to the French possesions was merely an empty form, for as Prince Charles, the son of the late Charles VI of France, refused to abide by the Treaty of Troyes (S290) and give up thethrone, war again broke out. 293. Siege of Orleans. The Duke of Bedford[1] fought vigorously in Henry's behalf. In fiveyears the English had got possession of most of the country north ofthe Loire. They now determined to make an effort to drive the FrenchPrince south of that river. To accomplish this they must take thestrongly fortified town of Orleans, which was situated on its banks. (See map facing p. 84. ) [1] During Henry's minority, John, Duke of Bedford, was Protector ofthe realm. When absent in France, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, actedfor him. Forts were accordingly built around the place, and cannon planted tobatter down its walls (S239). Six month later, so much progress hadbeen made in the siege, that it was plain the city could not hold outmuch longer. The fortunes of Prince Charles seemed to depend on thefate of Orleans. If it fell, nothing, apparently, could save Francefrom yielding to her conqueror. 294. Joan of Arc, 1429-1431. At this juncture Joan of Arc, a peasant girl of eighteen, came forwardto inspire her despairing countrymen with fresh courage. She believedthat Heaven had called her to drive the English from the land. Thetroops rallied round her. Clad in white armor, mounted on a white warhorse, she saved Orleans; then she led the troops from victory tovictory, until she saw Prince Charles triumphantly crowned in theCathedral of Rheims. (See map facing p. 128. ) Her fortunes soon changed. Her own people basely abandoned her. Theunworthy King Charles made no attempt to protect the "Maid ofOrleans, " and she fell into the hands of the infuriated English, whobelieved she was in league with the devil. In accordance with thisbelief Joan was tried for witchcraft and heresy at Rouen, andsentenced to the flames. She died (1431) as bravely as she hadlived, saying in her last agonies that her celestial voices had notdeceived her, and that through them she had saved France. "God forgive us, " exclaimed one of Henry's courtiers who was present, "we are lost! We have burned a saint!" It was the truth; and from themartyred girl's ashes a new spirit seemed to go forth to bless herungrateful country. The heart of the French people was touched; theyrose and drove the English invaders from the soil of France. Before Henry VI reached his thirtieth year the Hundred Years' War withFrance, which Edward III had begun (S237), was ended (1453), andEngland had lost all of her possessions on the Continent, except abare foothold at Calais, and that was destined to be lost a fewgenerations later (S373). 295. Henry VI's Character and Marriage. When Henry became of age he proved to be but the shadow of a King. His health and character were alike feeble. At twenty-five he marriedthe beautiful and unfortunate French Princess, Margaret of Anjou, whowas by far the better man of the two. When years of disaster came, this dauntless "Queen of tears" headed councils, led armies, and ruledboth King and kingdom. 296. Poverty of the Crown and Wealth of the Nobles. One cause of the weakness of the government was its poverty. Therevenues of the Crown had been greatly diminished by gifts and grantsto favorites. The King was obliged to pawn his jewels and the silverplate from his table to pay his wedding expenses; and it is said onhigh authority[1] that the royal couple were sometimes in actual wantof a dinner. [1] Fortescue, on the "Government of England" (Plummer). On the other hand, the Earl of Warwick and other great lords had madefortunes out of the French wars, [2] and lived in regal splendor. ThisEarl, it is said, had at his different castles and his city mansion inLondon upwards of thirty thousand men in his service. Their livery, or uniform, a bright red jacket with the Warwick arms--a bear erectholding a ragged staff--embroidered on it in white, was seen, known, and feared throughout the country. [2] First, by furnishing troops to the government, the feudal systemhaving now so far decayed that many soldiers had to be hired;secondly, by the plunder of French cities; thirdly, by ransomsobtained from noblemen taken prisoners. Backed by such forces it was easy for the Earl and other powerfullords to overawe kings, parliaments, and courts. Between the heads ofthe great houses quarrels were constantly breaking out. The safety ofthe people was endanged by these feuds, which became more and moreviolent, and often ended in bloodshed and murer. 297. Disfranchisement of the Common People, 1430. With the growth of power on the part of the nobles, there was alsoimposed for the first time a restriction on the right of the people tovote for members of Parliament. Up to this period all freemen mighttake part in the election of representatives chosen by the counties tosit in the House of Commons. A law was now passed forbidding any one to vote at these electionsunless he was a resident of the county and possessed of landedproperty yielding an annual income of forty shillings (S200). [1]Subsequently it was further enacted that no county candidate should beeligible unless he was a man of means and social standing. [1] The income required by the statute was forty shillings, which, says Freeman, we may fairly call forty pounds of our present money. See E. A. Freeman's "Growth of the English Constitution, " p. 97. These two measures were blows against the free self-government of thenation, since their manifest tendency was to make the House of Commonsrepresent the property rather than the people of the country (S319). (See, too, Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xiii, S14. ) 298. Cade's Rebellion (1450). A formidable rebellion broke out in Kent (1450), then, as now, one ofthe most independent and democratic counties in England. The leaderwas Jack Cade, who called himself by the popular name of Mortimer(S257, note 1, and S279). He claimed to be cousin to Richard, Duke ofYork, a nephew of that Edmund Mortimer, now dead, whom Henry IV hadunjustly deprived of his succession to the crown. Cade, who was a mere adventurer, was quite likely used as a tool byplotters much higher than himself. By putting him forward they couldjudge whether the country was ready for a revolution and change ofsovereigns. Wat Tyler's rebellion, seventy years before (S250), was almost purelysocial in its character, having for its object the emancipation of theenslaved laboring classes. Cade's insurrection was, on the contrary, almost wholly political. His chief complaint was that the people werenot allowed their free choice in the election of representatives, butwere forced by the nobility to choose candidates they did not want. Other grievances for which reform was demanded were excessivetaxastion and the rapacity of the evil counselors who controlled theKing. Cade entered London with a body of twenty thousand men under strictdiscipline. Many of the citizens sympathized with Cade's projects ofreform, and were ready to give him a welcome. He took formalpossession of the place by striking his sword on London Stone, --aRoman monument still standing, which then marked the center of theancient capital, --saying, as Shakespeare reports him, "Now is Mortimerlord of this city. "[1] After three days of riot and the murder of the King's treasurer, therebellion came to an end through a general pardon. Cade, however, endeavored to raise a new insurrection in the south, but was shortlyafter captured, and died of his wounds. [1] "Now is Mortimer lord of this city, and here, sitting upon LondonStone, I charge and command that, at the city's cost, this conduitruns nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign; and now itshall be treason for any man to call me other than Lord Mortimer. "--Shakerspeare's "Henry VI, " Part II, Act IV, scene vi. It is noticeable that the great dramatist expresses no sympathy inthis play with the cause of the people. In fact he ridicules Cade andhis movement. In the same spirit he does not mention the GreatCharter in his "King John, " while in his "Richard II" he passes overWat Tyler without a word. Perhaps the explanation may be found in thefact that Shakespeare lived in an age when England was threatened byboth open and secret enemies. The need of his time was a strong, steady hand at the helm; it was no season for reform or change of anysort; on this account he may have thought it his duty to be silent inregard to democratic risings and demands in the past (S313, note 2). 299. Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485. The real significance of Cade's insurrection is that it showed thewidespread feeling of discontent caused by misgovernment, and that itserved as an introduction to the long and dreary period of civilstrife known as the Wars of the Roses. So long as the English nobles had France for a fighting ground, Frenchcities to plunder, and French captives to hold for heavy ransoms, theywere content to let matters go on quietly at home. But that day wasover. Through the bad management, if not through the positivetreachery, of Edmund, Duke of Somerset, the French conquests had beenlost. Henry VI, a weak king, at times insane, sat on the Englishthrone (S295), while Richard, Duke of York, a really able man and adescendant of the Mortimers (see table, p. 161), was, as manybelieved, unlawfully excluded from it. This fact in itself would have furnished a plausible pretext forhostilities, even as far back as Cade's rising. But the birth of ason[2] to Henry (1453) probably gave the signal for the outbreak, since it cut off all hopes which Richard's friends may have had of hispeaceful succession. [2] Prince Edward. See Genealogical Table, p. 161, under Henry VI. 300. The Scene in the Temple Garden. Shakespeare represents the smoldering feud between the rival houses ofLancaster and York (both of whom it should be remembered weredescendants of Edward III)[1] as breaking into an angry quarrel in theTemple Garden, London, when Richard, Duke of York, says: "Let him that is a true-born gentleman, And stands upon the honor of his birth, If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, From off this brier pluck a white rose with me. "[2] To this challenge John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, [3] a descendant ofthe house of Lancaster, who has just accused Richard of being thedishonored son of a traitor, replies: "Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, But dare maintain the party of the truth, Pluch a red rose from off this thorn with me. " A little later on the Earl of Warwick rejoins: "This brawl to-day, Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden, Shall send, between the red rose and the white, A thousand souls to death and deadly night. "[4] [1] Table showing the descendants of Edward III, with reference to theclaims of Lancaster and York to the crown: Edward III | ---------------------------------------------------- | | | Lionel, Duke of John of Gaunt, Duke of Edmund, Duke ofClarence (3d son) Lancaster (4th son) York (5th son) | ----------------- | Philippa | | Richard, Earl of | Henry IV +John, Earl Cambridge, m. -------------- | of Somerset Anne Mortimer | | Henry V |Edmund Anne Mortimer | ---------------Mortimer m. Richard, Prince Edward, | |(Earl of Earl of b. 1453; killed John, Edmund, March) Cambridge (s. At battle of Duke of Duke ofd. 1424 of Edmund, Tewkesbury, Somerset, Somerset Duke of York) 1471 d. 1448 | *Richard, Duke of York | Edward IV (1461-1483) *Inherited the title of Duke of York from his father's brother, Edward, Duke of York, who died without issue. Richard' father, theEarl of Cambridge, had forfeited his title and estates by treason, butParliament had so far limited the sentence that his son was notthereby debarred from inheriting his uncle's rank and fortune. Richard, Duke of York, now represented the direct hereditary line ofsuccession to the crown, while Henry VI and his son represented thatestablished by Parliament through the acceptance of Henry IV (S279). +John, Earl of Somerset, was an illegitimate half brother of HenryIV's, but was, in 1397, declared legitimate by act of Parliament and apapal decree. [2] Shakespeare's "Henry VI, " Part I, Act II, scene iv. [3] John, Duke of Somerset, died 1448. He was brother of Edmund, Dukeof Somerset, who was slain at St. Albans, 1455. [4] Shakespeare's "Henry VI, " Part I, Act II, scene iv. 301. The Real Object of the Wars of the Roses. The wars, however, did not directly originate in this quarrel, butrather in the strife for power between Edmund, Duke of Somerset(John's brother), and Richard, Duke of York. Each desired to get thecontrol of the government, though at first neither appears to haveopenly aimed at the crown. During King Henry's attack of insanity (1453) Richard was appointedProtector of the realm, and shortly afterward the Duke of Somerset, the King's particular favorite and chief adviser, was cast into prisonon the double charge of having culpably lost Normandy and embezzledpublic moneys. When Henry recovered (1455), he released Somerset and restored him tooffice. Richard protested, and raising an army in the north, marchedtoward London. He met the royalist forces at St. Albans; a battleensued, and Somerset was slain. During the next thirty years the war raged with more or less furybetween the parties of the Red Rose (Lancaster) and the White Rose(York). The first maintained that Parliament had the right to choosewhatever king it saw fit, as in Henry IV's case (S279); the secondinsisted that the succession should be determined by strict hereditarydescent, as represented in the claim of Richard. [2] [2] See Genealogical Table, p. 161. But beneath the surface the contest was not for principle, but forplace and spoils. The great nobles, who during the French wars (S288)had pillaged abroad, now pillaged each other; and as England wasneither big enough nor rich enough to satisfy the greed of all ofthem, the struggle gradually became a war of mutual extermination. It was, to a certain extent, a sectional war. Eastern England, thenthe wealthiest and most progressive part of the country, had stronglysupported Wycliffe in his reforms (S254). It now espoused the side ofRichard, Duke of York, who was believed to be friendly to religiousliberty, while the western counties fought for the cause of Lancasterand the Church. 302. The First Battles (1455-1460). We have already seen (S301) that the first blood was shed atSt. Albans (1455), where the Yorkists, after half an hour's fighting, gained a complete victory. A similar result followed at Bloreheath, Staffordshire (1459). In a third battle, at Northampton, the Yorkistswere again successful (1460). Henry was taken prisoner, and QueenMargaret fled with the young Prince Edward to Scotland. Richard nowdemanded the crown. (See map facing p. 172. ) Henry answered with unexpected spirit: "My father was King, his fatheralso was King. I have worn the crown forty years from my cradle; youhave all sworn fealty to me as your sovereign, and your fathers didthe like to my fathers. How, then, can my claim be disputed?" Aftera long controversy, a compromise was effected. Henry agreed that ifhe were left in peaceable possession of the throne during his life, Richard or his heirs should succeed him. 303. Battles of Wakefield and Towton (1460-1461). But Queen Margaret refused to see her son, Prince Edward, thus tamelyset aside. She raised an army and attacked the Yorkists. Richard, Duke of York, whose forces were inferior to hers, had entrenchedhimself in Sandal Castle near Wakefield, Yorkshire. Day after dayMargaret went up under the walls and dared him to come out. At length, stung by her taunts, the Duke sallied from his strongold, and the battle of Wakefield was fought (1460). Margaret wasvictorious. Richard was slain, and the Queen, in mockery of hisclaims to sovereignty, cut off his head, decked it with a paper crown, and set it up over the chief gate of the city of York. Fortune nowchanged. The next year (1461) the Lacastrians were defeated withgreat slaughter at Towton, Yorkshire. The light spring snow wascrimsoned with the blood of thirty thousand slain, and the way strewnwith corpses for ten miles up to the walls of York. The Earl of Warwick (S296), henceforth popularly known as "KingMaker, " now place Edward, eldest son of the late Duke of York, on thethrone, with the title of Edward IV (S300, table). Henry and Margaretfled to Scotland. The new government summoned them to appear, and asthey failed to answer, proclaimed them traitors. Four years later Henry was taken prisoner and sent to the Tower ofLondon (S305). He may have been happier there than battling for histhrone. He was not born to reign, but rather, as Shakespeare makeshim say, to lead a shepherd's life, watching his flocks, until thepeacefully flowing years should-- "Bring white hairs unto a quiet grave. "[1] [1] See Henry's soliloquy on the field of Towton, beginning, "O God! methinks it were a happy life To be no better than a homely swain. " Shakespeare's "Henry VI, " Part III, Act II, scene v 304. Summary. The history of the peiod is one of loss to England. The brilliantFrench conquests of Henry V (SS289, 290) slipped from the nervelesshands of his son, leaving France practically independent. Thepeople's power to vote had been restricted (S297). The House ofCommons had ceased to be democratic even in a moderate degree. Itsmembers were all property holders elected by property holders (S297). Cade's rebellion was the sign of political discontent and theforerunner of civil war (S298). The contests of the parties of the Red and White Roses drenchedEngland's fair fields with the best blood of her own sons. The reignends with King Henry in prison, Queen Margaret and Prince Edwardfugitives, and the Yorkist, Edward IV, placed on the throne by thehelp of the powerful Earl of Warwick (S296). Edward IV (House of York, White Rose)--1461-1483 305. Continuation of the War; Barnet; Death of Henry; Tewkesbury(1471). During the whole of Edward IV's reign (S303) the war went on withvarying success, but unvarying ferocity, until at last neither sidewould ask or give quarter. Some years after the accession of the newsovereign, the Earl of Warwick (S296) quarreled with him, thrust himfrom the throne, and restored Henry VI (S303). But a few months later, at the battle of Barnet, near London (1471), Warwick, who was "the last of the great barons, " was killed, andHenry, who had been led back to the Tower of London again (S303), diedone of those "conveniently sudden deaths" which were then so common. The heroic Queen Margaret (SS295, 303), however, would not give up thecontest in behalf of her son's claim to the crown. But fate wasagainst her. A few weeks after the battle of Barnet her army wasutterly defeated at Tewkesbury (1471), her son Edward slain, and theQueen herself taken prisoner. (See map facing p. 172. ) She was eventually released on the payment of a large ransom, andreturned to France, where she died broken-hearted in her native Anjou, prophesying that the contest would go on until the Red Rose, representing her party, should get a still deeper dye from the bloodof her enemies. 306. The Introduction of Printing, 1477. But an event was at hand of greater importance than any question ofcrowns or parties, though then none was wise enough to see its realsignificance. William Caxton, a London merchant, had learned the newart of printing with movable type[1] at Bruges in Flanders (nowBelgium). When he returned to his native country, he set up a smallpress within the grounds of Westminster Abbey. [1] The first printing in Europe was done in the early part of thefifteenth century from wooden blocks on which the words were cut. Movable types were invented about 1450. There, at the sign of a shield bearing a red "pale, " or band, headvertised his wares as "good chepe. " He was not only printer, buttranslator and editor. King Edward gave him some royal patronage. His Majesty was willing to pay liberally for work which was not longbefore the clergy in France had condemned as a black art emanatingfrom the devil. Many, too, of the English clergy regarded it with novery friendly eye, since it threatened to destroy the copying trade, of which the monks had well-nigh a monopoly (S154). The first printed book which Caxton is known to have published inEngland was a small volume entitled "The Sayings of the Philosophers, "1477. [1] This venture was followed in due time by Chaucer's"Canterbury Tales" (S253), and whatever other poetry, history, orclassics seemed worthy of preservation; making in all nearly a hundreddistinct works comprising more than eighteen thousand volumes. [1] "The dictes or sayengis of the philosophres, enprynted by mewilliam Caxton at westmestre, the year of our lord MCCCCLxxvii. " Up to this time a book of any kind was a luxury, laboriously "writtenby the few for the few"; but from this date literature of all sortswas destined to multiply and fill the earth with many leaves and somegood fruit. Caxton's patrons, though few, were choice, and when one of them, theEarl of Worcester, was beheaded in the wars, Caxton said, "The ax didthen cut off more learning than was left in all the heads of thesurviving lords. " Towards the close of the nineteenth century amemorial window was placed in St. Margaret's Church within the abbeygrounds, as a tribute to the man who, while England was red withslaughter, introduced "the art preservative of all arts, " andpreservative of liberty no less[1] (S322). [1] "Lord! taught by thee, when Caxton bade His silent words forever speak; A grave for tyrants then was made, Then crack'd the chain which yet shall break. " Ebenezer Elliott, "Hymn for the Printers' Gathering at Sheffield, " 1833 307. King Edward's Character. The King, however, cared more for his pleasures than for literature orthe welfare of the nation. His chief aim was to beg, borrow, orextort money to waste in dissipation. The loans which he forced hissubjects to grant, and which were seldom, if ever, repaid, went underthe name of "benevolences. " But it is safe to say that those whofurnished them were in no very benevolent frame of mind at the time. Exception may perhaps be made of the rich and elderly widow, who wasso pleased with the King's handsome face that she willingly handed hima 20 pounds (a large sum in those days); and when the jovial monarchgallantly kissed her out of gratitude for her generosity, she at once, like a true and loyal subject, doubled the donation. Edward's courseof life was not conducive to length of days, even if the times hadfavored a long reign. He died early, leaving a son, Prince Edward, tosucceed him. 308. Summary. The reign was marked by the continuation of the Wars of the Roses, thedeath of King Henry VI and of his son, with the return of QueenMargaret to France. The most important event outside of the war wasthe introduction of the printing press into England by William Caxton. Edward V (House of York, White Rose)--1483 309. Gloucester appointed Protector. Prince Edward, heir to the throne, was a lad of twelve (S307). Hisposition was naturally full of peril. It became much more so, fromthe fact that his ambitious and unscrupulous uncle, Richard, Duke ofGloucester, had been appointed Lord Protector of the realm until theboy should become of age. Richard protected his young nephew as awolf would protect a lamb. He met the Prince coming up to London from Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, attended by his half brother, Sir Richard Grey, and his uncle, LordRivers. Under the pretext that Edward would be safer in the Tower ofLondon than at Westminster Palace, Richard sent the Prince there, andsoon found means for having his kinsmen, Grey and Rivers, executed. 310. Murder of Lord Hastings and the Two Princes. Richard shortly after showed his object. Lord Hastings was one of thecouncil who had voted to make him Lord Protector, but he was unwillingto help him in his plot to seize the crown. While at the counciltable in the Tower of London Richard suddenly started up and accusedHastings of treason, saying, "By St. Paul, I will not to dinner till Isee thy head off!" Hastings was dragged out of the room, and withouteither trial or examination was beheaded on a stick of timber on theTower green. The way was now clear for the accomplishment of the Duke's purpose. The Queen Mother (Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Edward IV) (S305) tookher younger son and his sisters, one of whom was the PrincessElizabeth of York, and fled for protection to the sanctuary (S95) ofWestminster Abbey, where, refusing all comfort, "she sat alone, on therush-covered stone floor. " Finally, Richard half persuaded and halfforced the unhappy woman to give up her second son to his tender care. With bitter weeping and dread presentiments of evil she parted fromhim, saying: "Farewell, mine own sweet son! God send you good keeping!Let me kiss you once ere you go, for God knoweth when we shall kisstogether again. " That was the last time she saw the lad. He andEdward, his elder brother, were soon after murdered in the Tower, andRichard rose by that double crime to the height he coveted. 311. Summary. Edward V's nominal reign of less than three months must be regardedsimply as the time during which his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, perfected his plot for seizing the crown by the successive murders ofRivers, Grey, Hastings, and the two young Princes. Richard III (House of York, White Rose)--1483-1485 312. Richard's Accession; he promises Financial Reform. Richard used the preparations which had been made for the murderedPrince Edward's coronation for his own (S310). He probably gainedover an influential party by promises of financial reform. In theiraddress to him at his accession, Parliament said, "Certainly we bedetermined rather to adventure and commit us to the peril of ourlives... Than to live in such thraldom and bondage as we have livedlong time heretofore, oppressed and injured by extortions and newimpositions, against the laws of God and man, and the liberty, oldpolicy and laws of this realm, wherein every Englishman isinherited. "[1] [1] Taswell-Langmead's "Constitutional History of England. " 313. Richard III's Character. Several attempts have been made of late years to defend the Kingagainst the odium heaped upon him by the older historians. But thesewell-meant efforts to prove him less black than tradition painted himare answered by the fact that his memory was thoroughly hated by thosewho knew him best. No one of the age when he lived thought ofvindicating his character. He was called a "hypocrite" and a"hunchback. " We must believe then, until it is clearly proved to the contrary, thatthe last of the Yorkist kings was what common report and Shakespearehave together represented him, [2]--distorted in figure, and withambition so unrestrained that the words the great English poet hasseen fit to put into his mouth may have really expressed Richard's ownthought: "Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so, Let hell make crookt my mind to answer it. "[1] [2] In this connection it may be well to say a word in regard to thehistorical value of Shakespeare's utterances, which have been freelyquoted in this book. He generally followed the Chronicles of Hall andHolinshed, which constitute two important sources of information onthe periods of which they treat; and he sometimes followed them soclosely that he simply turned their prose into verse. Mr. JamesGairdner, who is a high authority on the Wars of the Roses, callsShakespeare "an unrivaled interpreter" of that long and terribleconflict. (See the preface to his "Houses of Lancaster and York. ")In the preface to his "Richard III" Mr. Gairdner is still moreexplicit. He says: "A minute study of the facts of Richard's life hastended more and more to convince me of the general fidelity of theportrait with which we have been made familiar by Shakespeare and SirThomas More. " On Shakespeare's faithful presentation of history seealso A. G. S. Canning's "Thoughts on Shakespeare, " p. 295; theDictionary of National (British) Biography under "Holinshed"; Garnettand Gosse's "English Literature, " Vol. II, p. 68; and H. N. Hudson's"Shakespeare's Life and Characters, " Vol. II, pp. 5-8. See, too, S298, note 1. [1] Shakespeare's "Henry VI, " Part III, Act V, scene vi. Personally he was as brave as he was cruel and unscrupulous. Hepromoted some reforms; he encouraged Caxton in his great work (S306), and he abolished the forced loans ironically called "benevolences"(S307), at least for a time. 314. Revolts; Buckingham; Henry Tudor. During his short reign of two years, several revolts broke out, butcame to nothing. The Duke of Buckingham, who had helped Richard IIIto the throne, turned against him because he did not get the rewardshe expected. He headed a revolt; but as his men deserted him, he fellinto the King's hands, and the executioner speedily did the rest. Finally, a more formidable enemy arose. Before he gained the crownRichard had cajoled or compelled the unfortunate Anne Neville, widowof that Prince Edward, son of Henry VI, who was slain at Tewkesbury(S305), into becoming his wife. She might have said with truth, "Small joy have I in being England's Queen. " The King intended thathis son should marry Elizabeth of York, sister to the two Princes hehad murdered in the Tower (S310). By so doing he would strengthen hisposition and secure the succession to the throne to his own family. But Richard's son shortly after died, and the King, havingmysteriously got rid of his wife, now made up his mind to marryElizabeth himself. The Princess, however, was already betrothed to Henry Tudor, Earl ofRichmond, the engagement having been effected during that sad winterwhich she and her mother spent in sactuary (S95) at WestminsterAbbey, watched by Richard's soldiers to prevent their escape (S310). The Earl of Richmond, who was an illegitimate descendant of the Houseof Lancaster (see the Genealogical Table, p. 172), had long beenwaiting on the Continent for an opportunity to invade England andclaim the crown. Owing to the enmity of Edward IV and Richard toward him, the Earl hadbeen, as he himself said, "either a fugitive or a captive since he wasfive years old. " He now determined to remain so no longer. He landed(1485) with a force at Milford Haven, in Wales, where he felt sure ofa welcome, since his paternal ancestors were Welsh. [1] Advancing through Shrewsbury, he met Richard on Bosworth Field, inLeicestershire. [1] Descent of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond: Henry V (House of Lancaster) married Catharine of France, who after | his death married Owen Tudor, a Welshman of AngleseyHenry VI | Edmund Tudor (Earl of Richmond) married Margaret Beaufort, a descendent of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster [she was granddaughter of John, Earl of Somerset; see p. 161] | Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (also called Henry of Lancaster) 315. Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485. There the decisive battle was fought between the great rival houses ofYork and Lancaster (S300). Richard represented the first, and HenryTudor, Earl of Richmond, the second. The King went out the eveningbefore to look over the ground. He found one of his sentinelsslumbering at his post. Drawing his sword, he stabbed him in theheart, saying, "I found him asleep and I leave him asleep. " Going backto his tent, he passed a restless night. The ghosts of all hismurdered victims seemed to pass in procession before him. Such asight may well, as Shakespeare says, have "struck terror to the soulof Richard. "[2] [2] Shakespeare's "Richard III, " Act V, scene iii. At sunrise the battle began. Before the attack, Richard, it is said, confessed to his troops the murder of his two nephews (S310), butpleaded that he had atoned for the crime with "many salt tears andlong penance. " It is probably that had it not been for the treacheryof some of his adherents the King would have won the day. When he saw that he was deserted by those on whose help he hadcounted, he uttered the cry of "Treason! treason!" and dashed forwardinto the thick of the fight. With the fury of despair he hewed hisway into the very presence of Henry Tudor, and killing the standardbearer, flung the Lancastrian banner to the ground. But he could gono further. Numbers overpowered him, and he fell. During the battle Richard had worn his crown. After all was over, itwas found hanging on a hawthorn bush[1] and handed to the victor, whoplaced it on his own head. The army then gathered round Henry Tudorthus crowned, and moved by one impulse joined in the exultant hymn ofthe Te Deum. [2] Thus ended the last of the Plantagenet line (S159). "Whatever their faults or crimes, there was not a coward amongthem. "[3] [1] An ancient stained-glass window in the east end of Henry VII'sChapel (Westminster Abbey) commemorates this incident. [2] "Te Deum laudamus" (We praise thee, O God): a Roman Catholic hymnof thanksgiving, now sung in English in the Episcopal and otherchurches. [3] W. Stubb's "Constitutional History of England. " 316. End of the Wars of the Roses (1485); their Effects. With Bosworth Field the Wars of the Roses ceased (SS299, 300). Duringthe thirty years they had continued, fourteen pitched battles had beenfought, in a single one of which (Towton) (S303) more Englishmen losttheir lives than in the whole course of the wars with France duringthe preceding forty years. In all, eighty princes of the blood royaland more than half of the nobility of the realm perished. Of those who escaped death by the sword, many died on the scaffold. The remnant who were saved had hardly a better fate. They left theirhomes only to suffer in foreign lands. A writer of the day[4] says, "I, myself, saw the Duke of Exeter, the King of England'sbrother-in-law, walking barefoot in the Duke of Burgundy's train, andbegging his bread from door to door. " [4] See the "Paston Letters. " Every individual of two families of the great houses of Somerset andWarwick (SS296, 300) fell either on the field or under theexecutioner's ax. In tracing family pedigrees it is startling to seehow often the record reads, "killed at St. Albans, " "slain at Towton, ""beheaded after the battle of Wakefield, " and the like. [5] [5] Guest's "Lectures on English History. " When the contest closed, the feudal baronage was broken up (SS113, 114, 150). In a majority of cases the estates of the nobles eitherfell to the Crown for lack of heirs, or they were fraudulently seizedby the King's officers. Thus the greater part of the wealthiest andmost powerful aristocracy in the world disappeared so completely thatthey ceased to have either a local habitation or a name. But the elements of civil discord at last exhausted themselves. Bosworth Field was a turning point in English history. When the sunwent down, it saw the termination of the desperate struggle betweenthe White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster; when it ushed ina new day, it shone also on a new King, Henry VII, who introduced anew social and political period. 317. Summary. The importance of Richard's reign is that it marks the close of theWars of the Roses. Those thirty years of civil strife destroyed thepredominating influence of the feudal barons. Henry Tudor (S314) nowbecomes the central figure, and will ascend the throne as Henry VII. General Reference Summary of the Lancastrian and Yorkist Period(1399-1485) I. Government. II. Religion. III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art. V. General Industry and Commerce. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs I. Government 318. Parliament and the Royal Succession. The period began with the parliamentary recognition of the claim tothe crown of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, son of John of Gaunt, Duke ofLancaster, fourth son of Edward III. By this act the claim of EdmundMortimer, a descendant of Edward III by his third son, Lionel, Duke ofClarence, was deliberately set aside, and this change in the order ofsuccession eventually furnished an excuse for civil war. [1] [1] Before the accession of Henry III, Parliament made choice of anyone of the King's sons whom it considered best fitted to rule. Afterhat time it was understood that the King's eldest son should be chosento succeed him; or incase of his death during the lifetime of hisfather, the eldest son of the eldest son; and so forward in thatline. The action taken by Parliament in favor of Henry IV was adeparture from that principle, and a reassurtion of its ancient rightto choose and descendant of the royal family it deemed best. (SeeGenealogical Table, p. 140. ) 319. Disfranchisement of Electors; Benevolences. Under Henry VI a property qualification was established by act ofParliament which cut off all persons from voting for countyy membersof the House of Commons who did not have an income of forty shillings(say 40 pounds, or $200, in modern money) from freehold land. Countyelections, the statute said, had "of late been made by a very great, outrageous, and excessive number of people... Of which the most partwere people of small substance and of no value. " Later, candidates for the House of Commons from the counties wererequired to be gentlemen by birth, and to have an income of not lessthan 20 pounds (or say 400 pounds, or $2000, in modern money). Thoughthe tendency of such laws was to make the House of Commons representproperty holders more than the freemen as a body, yet no apparentchange seems to have taken place in the class of county memberschosen. Eventually, however, these and other interferences with free electionscaused the rebellion of Jack Cade, in which the insurgents demandedthe right to choose such representatives as they saw fit. But themovement appears to have had no practical result. During the civilwar which ensued, King Edward IV compelled wealthy subjects to lendhim large sums (seldom, if ever, repaid) called "benevolences. "Richard III abolished this obnoxious system, but afterward revived it, and it became conspicuously hateful under his successor in the nextperiod. Another great grievance was Purveyance. By it the King's purveyorshad the right to seize provisions and means of transportation for theKing and his hundreds of attendants whenever they journeyed throughthe country on a "royal progress. " The price offered by the purveyorswas always much below the real value of what was taken, and frequentlyeven that was not paid. Purveyance, which had existed from theearliest times, was not finally abolished until 1660. II. Religion 320. Suppression of Heresy. Under Henry IV the first act was passed by Lords and clergy, apparently with the assent of the House of Commons, for punishingheretics by burning at the stake, and the first martyr suffered inthat reign. Later, the Lollards, or followers of Wycliffe, who appearin many cases to have been socialists as well as religious reformers, were punished by imprisonment, and occasionally with death. The wholenumber of martyrs, however, was small. III. Military Affairs 321. Armor and Arms. The armor of the period was made of steel plate, fitting andcompletely covering the body. It was often inlaid with gold andelegantly ornamented. Firearms had not yet superseded the oldweapons. Cannon were in use, to some degree, and also clumsy handgunsfired with a match. The long bow continued to be the chief arm of the foot soldiers, andwas used with great dexterity and fatal effect. Targets were set upby law in every parish, and the yeomen were required to practicefrequently at contests in archery. The principle wars were the civilwars and those with France. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 322. Introduction of Printing; Books. The art of printing was introduced into England about 1477 by Caxton, a London merchant. Up to that time all books had been written oneither parchment or paper, at an average rate of about fifty cents perpage in modern money. The age was not favorable to literature, andproduced no great writers; but Caxton edited and published a largenumber of works, many of which he translated from the French andLatin. The two books which throw most light on the history of the times arethe "Sir John Paston Letters" (1424-1506), and a work by Chief JusticeFortescue on government, intended for the use of Prince Edward (slainat Tewkesbury). The latter work is remarkable for its bolddeclaration that the King "has the delegation of power from thepeople, and he has no just claims to any other power than this. " Thechief justice also praises the courage of his countrymen, and declareswith honest pride that "more Englishmen are hanged in England in oneyear for robbery and manslaughter than are hanged in France in sevenyears. " 323. Education. Henry VI took a deep interest in education, and founded the greatpublic school of Eton, which ranks next in age to that of Winchester. The money for its endowment was obtained by the appropriation of therevenues of alien or foreign monasteries which had been erected inEngland, and which were confiscated by Henry V. The King watched theprogress of the building from the windows of Windsor Castle, and tosupplement the course of education to be given there, he furthermoreerected and endowed the magnificent King's College, Cambridge. 324. Architecture. There was a new development of Gothic architecture in this period, theDecorated giving place to the Perpendicular. The latter derives itsname from the perpendicular divisions of the lights in the arches ofthe windows. It marks the final period of the Gothic or Pointedstyle, and is noted for the exquisite carved work of its ceilings. King's College Chapel, Cambridge, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, andHenry VII's Chapel (built in the next reign), connected withWestminster Abbey, are among the most celebrated examples of thisstyle of architecture, whic his peculiar to England. The mansions of the nobility at this period exhibited great elegance. Crosby Hall, London, at one time the residence of Richard III, was oneof the best examples of the "Inns" of the great families and wealthyknights. The Hall was pulled down in 1903, but it has been reerectedon the Chelsea Embankment, on the Thames. V. General Industry and Commerce 325. Agriculture and Trade. Notwithstanding the Civil Wars of the Roses, agriculture wasprosperous and foreign trade largely increased. The latter was wellrepresented by Sir Richard Whittington, thrice mayor of London, who, according to tradition, lent Henry V large sums of money, and then atan entertainment which he gave to the King and Queen in his citymansion, generously canceled the debt by throwing the bonds into theopen sandalwood fire. There is a fine fresco, representing thisscene, in the Royal Exchange, London. Goldsmiths from Lombardy had now settled in London in such numbers asto give the name of Lobard Street to the quarter they occupied. Theysucceeded the Jews in the business of money lending and banking, andLombard Street still remains famous for its bankers and brokers. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs 326. Dress. Great sums were spent on dress by both sexes, and the courtiers'doublets, or jackets, were of the most costly silks and velvets, elaborately puffed and slashed. During the latter part of the periodthe pointed shoes, which had formerly been of prodigious length, suddenly began to grow broad, with such rapidity that Parliamentpassed a law limiting the width of the toes to six inches. At the same time the court ladies adopted the fashion of wearing hornsas huge in proportion as the noblemen's shoes. The government triedlegislating them down, and the clergy fulminated a solemn curseagainst them; but fashion was more powerful than Church and Parliamentcombined, and horns and hoofs came out triumphant. EIGHTH PERIOD[1] "One half her soil has walked the rest In poets, heroes, martyrs, sages!" O. W. Holmes Political Reaction--Absolutism of the Crown--The English Reformation and the New Learning Crown or Pope? House of Tudor (1485-1603) Henry VII, 1485-1509Henry VIII, 1509-1547Edward VI, 1547-1553Mary, 1553-1558Elizabeth, 1558-1603 [1] Reference Books on this period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. 327. Union of the Houses of Lancaster and York. Before leaving the Continent Henry Tudor (S314) had promised theYorkist party that he would marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of EdwardIV (see Genealogical Table, p. 179), and sister to the young Princesmurdered by Richard III (S310). Such a marriage would unite the rivalhouses of Lancaster and York, and put an end to the civil war. A few months after the new King's accession the wedding was dulycelebrated, and in the beautiful east window of stained glass in HenryVII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, the Roses are seen joined; so that, as the quaint verse of that day says: "Both roses flourish--red and white-- In love and sisterly delight; The two that were at strife are blended, And all old troubles now are ended. " Peace came from the union, but it was peace interrupted byinsurrections which lasted for several years. Origin of the House of Tudor Edward III 1 2 3 | 4 5 -------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Edward William, Lionel, Duke John of Gaunt, Edmund, Duke of York (the Black no of Clarence, Duke of | Prince) issue from whom Lancaster /-----------------\ | descended in | Edward, Duke of Richard, Richard II the fourth Henry IV York, no issue Earl of generation | Cambridge, *Richard, Henry V (Catharine, m. Anne Duke of York | his widow, Mortimer, great- | Henry VI married granddaughter of --------------------- Owen Tudor, Lionel, Duke of | | a Welsh gentleman) Clarence; their Edward IV Richard III | son was | Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richard, --------------------------- Richmond, m. Margaret Duke of York | | | Beaufort, a descendant+Edward V +Richard, Elizabeth of John of Gaunt, Duke Duke of York of York, of Lancaster, see m. Henry VII pages 161, 172 (of Lancaster) | Henry (Tudor) VII (formerly Earl of Richmond), m. Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the House of Lancaster (Red Rose) and York (White Rose) in the new royal House of Tudor *Inherited the title Duke of York from his uncle Edward. See No. 5. +The Princes murdered by Richard III. 328. Condition of the Country; Power of the Crown. Henry, it is said, had his claim to the throne printed by Caxton, anddistributed broadcast over the country (S306). It was the firstpolitical appeal to the people made through the press, and was a signof the new period upon which English history had entered. SinceCaxton began his great work, the kingdom had undergone a mostmomentous change. The leading nobles, like the Earl of Warwick (SS296, 303), were, withfew exceptions, dead. Their estates were confiscated, their thousandsof followers either buried on the battlefield or dispersed throughoutthe land (S316). The small number of titled families remaining was nolonger to be feared. The nation itself, though it had takencomparatively little part in the war, was weary of bloodshed, andready for peace on any terms. The accession of the Welsh house of Tudor (S39) marks the beginning ofa long period of almost absolute royal power. The nobility were tooweak to place any check on the King. The clergy, who had notrecovered from their dread of Lollardism (SS255, 283) and its attackson their wealth and influence, were anxious for a strong conservativegovernment such as Henry promised. The House of Commons had no clearunited policy, and though the first Parliament put certain restrainston the Crown, yet they were never really enforced. [1] The truth is, that the new King was both too prudent and too crafty to give them anopportunity. By avoiding foreign wars he dispensed with the necessityof summoning frequent Parliaments, and with demanding large sums ofmoney from them. [1] At the accession of Henry VII, Parliament imposed the followingchecks on the power of the King: (1) No new tax to be levied withoutconsent of Parliament; (2) No new law to be made without the sameconsent; (3) No committal to prison without a warrant specifying theoffense, and the trial to be speedy; (4) Criminal charges andquestions of fact in civil cases to be decided by jury; (5) The King'sofficers to be held responsible to the nation. By thus ruling alone for a large part of the time, Henry got themanagement of affairs into his own hands, and transmitted the power tothose who came after him. In this way the Tudors with theirsuccessors, the Stuarts, built up a system of "personal sovereignty"--or "one-man power"--unchecked by constitutional restraints. Itcontinued for a hundred and fifty years, when the outbreak of thegreat Civil War brought it to an end forever. 329. Growth of a Stronger Feeling of Nationality. It would be an error, however, to consider this absolutism of theCrown as an unmitigated evil. On the contrary, it was in oneimportant direction an advantage. There are times when the great needof a people is not more individual liberty, but greater nationalunity. Spain and France were two countries consisting of a collectionof petty feudla states. Their nobility were always trying to stealeach other's possessions and cut each other's throats. But the rise in each country of a royal despotism forced the turbulentbarons to make peace, and to obey a common central law. By this meansboth realms ultimately developed into great and powerful kingdoms. When the Tudors came to the throne, England was still full of ranklinghate engendered by the Wars of the Roses (S299). Held down by theheavy hand of Henry VII, and later, by the still heavier one of HenryVIII, the country learned the same salutary lesson of growth underrepression which had benefited Spain and France. Henceforth Englishmen of all classes no longer boasted that theybelonged to the Yorkist or the Lancastrian faction (S300), but beganto pride themselves on their loyalty to Crown and country, and theirreadiness to draw their swords to defend both. [1] [1] But the passage of Poyning's Act (1494) in Ireland prohibited theIrish Parliament from passing any law which did not receive thesanction of the English Council. This act was not repealed until1782. 330. Henry's Methods of raising Money; the Court of Star Chamber. Henry's reign was in the interest of the middle classes, --the farmers, tradesmen, and mechanics. His policy was to avoid heavy taxation, toexempt the poor from the burdens of state, and so ingratiate himselfwith a large body of the people. In order to accomplish this, he revived "benevolences" (SS307, 313), and by a device suggested by his chief minister, Cardinal Morton, andhence known and dreaded as "Morton's Fork, " he extorted large sumsfrom the rich and well-to-do. [2] [2] Those whose income from land was less than $2, or whose movableproperty did not exceed 15 pounds (Say 150 pounds and $1125 now), wereexempt. The lowest rate of assessment for the "benevolences" wasfixed at twenty pence on the pound on land, and half that rate onother property. The Cardinal's agents made it their business to learn every man'sincome, and visit him accordingly. If a person lived handomely, theCardinal would insist on a correspondingly liberal gift; if, however, a citizen lived very plainly, the King's minister insisted none theless, telling the unfortunate man that by his economy he must surelyhave accumulated enough to bestow the required "benevolence. "[3] Thuson one prong or the other of his terrible "fork" the shrewd Cardinalimpaled his writhing victims, and speedily filled the royal treasuryas it had never been filled before. [4] [3] Richard Reed, a London alderman, refused to contribute a"benevolence. " He was sent to serve as a soldier in the Scotch warsat his own expense, and the general was ordered to "use him in allthings according to sharp military discipline. " The effect was suchthat few after that ventured to deny the King what he asked. [4] Henry is said to have accumulated a fortune of nearly two millionssterling, an amount which would perhaps represent upwards of$90, 000, 000 now. But Henry VII had other methods for raising money. He sold offices inChurch and State, and took bribes for pardoning rebels. When hesummoned a Parliament he obtained grants for putting down some real orpretended insurrection, or to defray the expenses of a threatenedattack from abroad, and then quietly pocketed the appropriation, --adevice not altogether unknown to modern government officials. A third and last method for getting funds was invented in Henry'sbehalf by two lawyers, Empson and Dudley, who were so rapacious andcut so close that they were commonly known as "the King's skinshearers. " They went about the country enforcing old and forgottenlaws, by which they reaped a rich harvest. Their chief instrument for gain, however, was a revival of the Statuteof Liveries. This law imposed enormous fines on those noblemen whodared to equip their followers in military garb, or designate them bya badge equivalent to it, as had been the custom during the late civilwars (S296). In order to thoroughly enforce the Statute of Liveries, Henryorganized the Court of Star Chamber, so called from the starredceiling where the tribunal met. This court had for its object thepunishment of such crimes committed by the great families, or theiradherents, as the ordinary law courts could not, or throughintimidation dared not, deal with. It had no power to inflict death, but might impose long terms of imprisonment and ruinous fines. It, too, first made use of torture in England to extort confessions ofguilt. Henry seemed to have enforced the Law of Livery against friend and foealike. Said the King to the Earl of Oxford, as he left his castle, where a large number of retainers in uniform were drawn up to do himhonor, "My lord, I thank you for your entertainment, but my attorneymust speak to you. " The attorney, who was the notorious Empson, brought suit in the Star Chamber against the Earl, who was finedfifteen thousand marks, or something like $750, 000, for the incautiousdisplay he had made. 331. The Introduction of Artillery strengthens the Power of the King. It was easier for Henry to pursue this arbitrary course because theintroduction of artillery had changed the art of war. Throughout theMiddle Ages the call of a great baron had, as Macaulay says, beensufficient to raise a formidable revolt. Countrymen and followerstook down their tough yew long bows from the chimney corner, knightsbuckled on their steel armor, mounted their horses, and in a few daysan army threatened the holder of the throne, who had no troops savethose furnished by loyal subjects. But since then, men had "digged villainous saltpeter out of the bowelsof the harmless earth" to manufacture powder, and others had inventedcannon (S239), "those devilish iron engines, " as the poet Spensercalled them, "ordained to kill. " Without artillery, the old feudalarmy, with its bows, swords, and battle-axes, could do little againsta king like Henry, who had it. For this reason the whole kingdom layat his mercy; and though the nobles and the rich might groan, they sawthat it was useless to fight. 332. The Pretenders Symnel and Warbeck. During Henry's reign, two pretenders laid claim to the crown: LambertSymnel, who represented himself to be Edward Plantagenet, nephew ofthe late King; and Perkin Warbeck, who asserted that he was Richard, Duke of York (S310), who had been murdered in the Tower by his uncle, Richard III. Symnel's attempt was easily suppressed, and he commutedhis claim to the crown for the position of scullion in the King'skitchen. Warbeck kept the kingdom in a turmoil for more than five years, duringwhich time one hundred and fifty of his adherents were executed, andtheir bodies exposed on gibbets along the south coast of England todeter their master's French supporters from landing. At lengthWarbeck was captured, imprisoned, and finall hanged at Tyburn. 333. Henry's Politic Marriages. Henry accomplished more by the marriages of his children and bydiplomacy than other monarchs had by their wars. He gave his daughterMargaret to King James IV of Scotland, and thus prepared the way forthe union of the two kingdoms in 1603. He married his eldest son, Prince Arthur, to Catharine of Aragon, daughter of the King of Spain, by which he secured a very large marriage portion for the Prince, and, what was of equal importance, the alliance of Spain against France. Arthur died soon afterward, and the King got a dispensation from thePope, granting him permission to marry his younger son Henry toArthur's widow. It was this Prince who eventually became King ofEngland, with the title of Henry VIII, and we shall hereafter see thatthis marriage was destined by its results to change the whole courseof the country's history. 334. The World as known at Henry's Accession (1485). The King also took some small part in certain other events, whichseemed to him, at the time, of less consequence than these matrimonialalliances. But history has regarded them in a different light fromthat in which the cunning and cautious monarch considered them. A glance at the map (opposite) will sho how different our world isfrom that with which the English were acquainted when Henry wascrowned. Then the earth was generally supposed to be a flat bodysurrounded by the ocean. The only countries of which anything wascertainly known, with the exception of Europe, were parts of westernAsia, together with a narrow strip of the northern, eastern, andwestern coasts of Africa. The knowledge which had once existed ofIndia, China, and Japan appears to have died out in great measure withthe travelers and merchants of earlier times who had brought it. Theland farthest west of which anything was then known was Iceland. 335. First Voyages of Exploration; the Cabots, 1497. About the time of Henry's accession a new spirit of exploration sprangup. The Portuguese had coasted along the western shores of Africa asfar as the Gulf of Guinea, and had established trading posts there. Later, they reached and doubled the Cape of Good Hope (1487). Stimulated by what they had done, Columbus, who believed the earth tobe round, determined to sail westward in the hope of reaching theIndies. In 1492 he made his first voyage, and discovered a number ofthe West India Islands. Five years afterward John Cabot, a Venetian residing in Bristol, England, with his son Sebastian, persuaded the King to aid them in asimilar undertaking. They sailed from that port. On a map drawn bythe father after his return we read the following lines: "In the yearof our Lord 1497, John Cabot and his son Sebastian discovered thatcountry which no one before his time had ventured to approach, on the24th June, about 5 o'clock in the morning. " That entry is supposed torecord the discovery of Cape Breton Island; a few days later they setfoot on the mainland. This made the Cabots the first discoverers ofthe American CONTINENT. As an offset to that record we have the following, taken from theKing's private account book: "10. Aug. 1497, To him that found the newisle 10 pounds. " Such was the humble beginning of a series of explorations which gaveEngland possession of the largest part of North America. 336. Henry VII's Reign the Beginning of a New Epoch. A few years after Cabot's return Henry laid the corner stone of that"solemn and sumptuous chapel" which bears his own name, and whichjoins Westminster abbey on the east. There he gave orders that histomb should be erected, and that prayers should be said over it "aslong as the world lasted. " Emerson remarks in his "English Traits" that when the visitor to theAbbey mounts the flight of twelve black marble steps which lead fromit to the edifice where Henry lies buried, he passes from the medievalto the beginning of the modern age, --a change which the differentstyle of the architecture distinctly marks (S324). The true significance of Henry's reign is, that it, in like manner, stands for a new epoch, --new in modes of government, in law, ingeographical discovery, in letters, art, and religion. The century just closing was indeed one of the most remarkable inhistory, not only in what it had actually accomplished, but still morein the seed it was sowing for the future. The celebrated Germanartist Kaulbach, in his fresco of "The Age of the Reformation, " hassummed up all that it was, and all that it was destined to become inits full development. Therein we see it as the period which witnessed the introduction offirearms, and the consequent overthrow of feudal warfare and feudalinstitutions; the growth of the power of royalty and of nationalitythrough royalty; the sailing of Columbus and of Cabot; the revival ofclassical learning; the publication of the first printed book; andfinally, the birth of Martin Luther, the monk who broke away from theCatholic Church, and persuaded many people to become Protestants. 337. Summary. Looking back, we find that with Henry VII the absolutism of the Crown, or "personal monarchy, " began in England. Yet the repressive power ofthat "personal monarchy" procured peace for the English people and, despite "benevolences" and other exactions, they grew into a strongernational unity. Simultaneously with this increase of royal authority came thediscovery of a "New World, " in which England and her colonies were tohave the chief part. A century will elapse before those discoveriesbegin to bear fruit. After that, our attention will no longer beconfined to the British Islands, but will be fixed as well on thatwestern continent where British enterprise and English love of libertywere destined to find a new and broader field of activity. Henry VIII--1509-1547 338. Henry's Advantages. Henry VIII was not quite eighteen when he came to the throne. Thecountry was at peace, was fairly prosperous, and the young King hadeverything in his favor. He was handsome, well educated, and fond ofathletic sports. His frank disposition won friends everywhere, and hehad inherited from his father the largest private fortune that hadever descended to an English sovereign. Intellectually, he was inhearty sympathy with the revival of learning, then in progress both onthe Continent and in England. 339. The New Learning; Colet, Erasmus, More. During the greater part of the Middle Ages the chief object ofeducation was to make men monks, and originally the schoolsestablished at Oxford and Cambridge were exclusively for thatpurpose. In their day they did excellent work; but a time came whenmen ceased to found monasteries, and began to erect colleges andhospitals instead. [1] [1] In the twelfth century four hundred and eighteen monasteries werefounded in England; in the next century, only about a third as many;in the fourteenth, only twenty-three; after that date theirestablishment may be said to cease. In the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries William ofWykeham and King Henry VI built and endowed colleges which werespecially designed to fit their pupils to live in the world and servethe state, instead of withdrawing from it to seek their own salvation. These new institutions encouraged a broader range of studies, and inHenry VI's time particular attention was given to the Latin classics, hitherto but little known. The geographical discoveries of HenryVII's reign, made by Columbus, Cabot, and others (S335), began tostimulate scientific thought. It was evident that the day was not fardistant when questions about the earth and the stars would no longerbe settled by a text from Scripture which forbade further inquiry. With the accession of Henry VIII education received a still furtherimpulse. A few zealous English scholars had just returned from Italyto Oxford, full of ardor for a new study, --that of Greek. Among themwas a young clergyman named John Colet. He saw that by means of thatlanguage, of which the alphabet was as yet hardly known in England, men might put themselves in direct communication with the greatestthinkers and writers of the past. Better still, they might acquire the power of reading the Gospels andthe writings of St. Paul in the original, and thus reach their truemeaning and feel their full influence. Colet's intimate friend andfellow worker, the Dutch scholar Erasmus, had the same enthusiasm. When in sore need of everything, he wrote in one of his letters, "Assoon as I get some money I shall buy Greek books, and then I may buysome clothes. " The third young man, who, with Erasmus and Colet, devoted himself to the study of Greek and to the advancement oflearning, was Thomas More, who later became Lord Chancellor (SS145, 351). The three looked to King Henry for encouragement in the work they hadundertaken; nor did they look in vain. Colet, who had become a doctorof divinity and a dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, encountered afurious storm of opposition on account of his devotion to the "NewLearning, " as it was sneeringly called. His attempts at educationalreform met the same resistance. But Henry liked the man's resolute spirit, and said, "Let others havewhat doctors they will; this is the doctor for me. " The King alsotook a lively interest in Erasmus, who was appointed professor ofGreek at Cambridge, where he began his great work of preparing anedition of the Greek Testament with a Latin translation in parallelcolumns. Up to this time the Greek Testament had existed in scatteredmanuscripts only. The publication of the work in printed form gave anadditional impetus to the study of the Scriptures, helped forward theReformation, and in a measure laid the foundation for a revisedEnglish translation of the Bible far superior to Wycliffe's (S254). In the same spirit of genuine love of learning Henry founded TrinityCollege, Cambridge, and at a later date confirmed and extendedCardinal Wolsey's endowment of Christ Church College, Oxford. 340. Henry against Luther. The King continued, however, to be a staunch Catholic, and certainlyhad no thought at this period of doing anything which should tend toundermine the authority of that ancient form of worship. In Germany, Martin Luther was making ready to begin his tremendous battle againstthe power and teachings of the Papacy. In 1517 he nailed to the doorof the church of Wittenberg that famous series of denunciations whichstarted the movement that ultimately protested against the authorityof Rome, and gave the name of Protestant to all who joined it. A few years later Henry published a reply to one of Luther's books, and sent a copy bound in cloth of gold to the Pope. The Pope was sodelighted with what he termed Henry's "angelic spirit" that heforthwith conferred on him the title of "Defender of the Faith. " TheEnglish sovereigns have persisted in retaining this title to thepresent time, though for what reason, and with what right, even aroyal intellect might be somewhat puzzled to explain. With this new and flattering title the Pope also sent the King acostly two-handed sword, intended to represent Henry's zeal in smitingthe enemies of Rome. But it was destined by fate to become to tsymbolof the King's final separation from the power that bestowed it (S349). 341. Victory of Flodden (1513); "Field of the Cloth of Gold" (1520). Politically, Henry was equally fortunate. The Scotch had ventured toattack the kingdom during the King's absence on the Continent. AtFlodden, on the borders of Scotland and England, they were defeated bythe Earl of Surrey, with great slaughter. (See map facing p. 120. )This victory placed Scotland at Henry's feet. [1] [1] See Scott's "Marmion. " The King of France and the Emperor Charles V of Germany now vied witheach other in seeking Henry's alliance. The Emperor visited Englandin order to meet the English sovereign, while the King of Francearranged an interview in his own dominions, known, from themagnificence of its appointments, as the "Field of the Cloth of Gold. "Henry held the balance of power by which he could make France orGermany predominate as he saw fit. It was owing to his ablediplomatic policy, or to that of Cardinal Wolsey, his chiefcounsellor, that England reaped advantages from both sides, andadvanced from a comparatively low position to one that was fullyabreast of the foremost nations of Europe. 342. Henry's Marriage with his Brother's Widow. Such was the King at the outset. In less than twenty years he hadbecome another man. At the age of twelve he had married at hisfather's command, and solely for political and mercenary reasons, Catharine of Aragon, his brother Arthur's widow (S333), who was sixyears his senior. Such a marriage was forbidden, except in certaincases, by the Old Testament and by the ordinances of the RomanCatholic Church. The Pope, however, had granted his permission, and when Henry ascendedthe throne, the ceremony was performed a second time. Severalchildren were the fruit of this union, all of whom died in infancy, except one daughter, Mary, unhappily fated to figure as the "BloodyMary" of later history (S374). 343. The King's Anxiety for a Successor; Anne Boleyn. No woman had yet ruled in her own right, either in England or in anyprominent kingdom of Europe, and Henry was anxious to have a son tosucceed him. He could not bear the thought of being disappointed; infact he sent the Duke of Buckingham to the block for casually saying, that if the King died without issue, he should consider himselfentitled to receive the crown. It was while meditating this question of the succession, that Henrybecame attached to Anne Boleyn, one of the Queen's maids of honor; shewas a sprightly brunette of nineteen, with long black hair andstrikingly beautiful eyes. The light that shone in those eyes, though hardly that "Gospel light"which the poet calls it, [1] was yet bright enough to effectually clearup all difficulties in the royal mind. The King now declared that hefelt conscientiously moved to obtain a divorce from his old wife, andto marry a new one. In that determination lay most momentousconsequences, since it finally separated England from the jurisdictionof the Church of Rome. [1] "When love could teach a monarch to be wise, And Gospel light first dawned from Bullen's [Boleyn's] eyes. " --Gray. 344. Wolsey favors the Divorce from Catharine. Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's chief counselor, --the man who thought that heruled both King and Kingdom, [2]--lent his powerful aid to bring aboutthe divorce, but with the expectation that the King would marry aprincess from France, and thus form an alliance with that country. Ifso, his own ambitious schemes would be forwarded, since the unitedinfluence of the two kingdoms might elevate him to the Papacy. [2] The Venetian ambassador in a dispatch to his government, wrote ofCardinal Wolsey: "It is he who rules both the King and the entireKingdom. At first the Cardinal used to say, `His Majesty will do soand so'; subsequently he went on, forgetting himself, and commencedsaying, `We shall do so and so'; at present (1519) he has reached sucha pitch that he says, `I shall do so and so. '" When Wolsey learned that the King's choice was Anne Boleyn (S343), hefell on his knees, and begged him not to persist in his purpose; buthis entreaties had no effect, and the Cardinal was obliged to continuewhat he had begun. 345. The Court at Blackfriars (1529). The King had applied to the Pope to annul the marriage with Catharine(S342) on the ground of illegality; but the Emperor Charles V, who wasthe Queen's nephew, used his influence in her behalf. Vexatiousdelays now became the order of the day. At last, a court composed ofCardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio, an Italian, as papal legates, or representatives, was convened at Blackfriars, London, to test thevalidity of the marriage. Henry and Catharine were summoned. The first appeared and answered tohis name. When the Queen was called she declined to answer, butthrowing herself at Henry's feet, begged him with tears and sobs notto put her away without cause. Finding him inflexible, she left thecourt, and refused to attend again, appealing to Rome for justice. This was in the spring (1529). Nothing was done that summer, and inthe autumn, the court, instead of reaching a decision, dissolved. Campeggio, the Italian legate, returned to Italy, and Henry, to hisdisappointment and rage, received an order from Rome to carry thequestion to the Pope for settlement. 346. Fall of Wolsey (1529). Both the King and Anne Boleyn believed that Wolsey had played falsewith them. They now resolved upon his destruction. The Cardinal hada presentiment of his impending doom. The French ambassador, who sawhim at this juncture, said that his face had shrunk to half its size. But his fortunes were destined to shrink even more than his face. By a law of Richard II no representative of the Pope had any rightfulauthority in England[1] (S265). Though the King had given his consentto Wolsey's holding the office of legate, yet now that a contraryresult to what he expected had been reached, he proceeded to prosecutehim to the full extent of the law. [1] Act of Praemunire. See S243 and Summary of Constitutional Historyin the Appendix, p. Xiii, S14, and p. Xxxii. It was an easy matter for him to crush the Cardinal. Erasmus said ofhim, "He was feared by all, he was loved by few--I may say by nobody. "His arrogance and extravagant ostentation had excited the jealous hateof the nobility; his constant demands for money in behalf of the Kingset Parliament against him; and his exactions from the common peoplehad, as the chronicle of the time tells us, made them weep, beg, and"speak cursedly. " Wolsey bowed to the storm, and to save himself gave up everything; hisriches, pomp, power, all vanished as suddenly as they had come. Itwas Henry's hand that stripped him, but it was Anne Boleyn who movedthat hand. Well might the humbled favorite say of her: "There was the weight that pulled me down. ... All my glories In that one woman I have lost forever. "[1] [1] Shakespeare's "Henry VIII, " Act III, scene ii. Thus deprived of well-nigh everything but life, the Cardinal waspermitted to go into retirement in the north; less than a twelve-monthlater he was arrested on a charge of high treason. Through the ironyof fate, the warrant was served by a former lover of Anne Boleyn's, whom Wolsey, it is said, had separated from her in order that shemight consummate her unhappy marriage with royalty. On the way toLondon Wolsey fell mortally ill, and turned aside at Leicester to diein the abbey there, with the words: "... O, Father Abbot, An old man, broken with the storms of state, Is come to lay his weary bones among ye: Give him a little earth for charity!"[2] [2] Shakespeare's "Henry VIII, " Act IV, scene ii. 347. Appeal to the Universities. Before Wolsey's death, Dr. Thomas Cranmer, of Cambridge, suggestedthat the King lay the divorce question before the universities ofEurope. Henry caught eagerly at this proposition, and exclaimed, "Cranmer has the right pig by the ear. " The scheme was at onceadopted. Several universities returned favorable answers. In a fewinstances, as at Oxford and Cambridge, where the authoritieshesitated, a judicious use of bribes or threats soon brought them tosee the matter in a proper light. 348. The Clergy declare Henry Head of the Church, 1531. Armed with these decisions in his favor, Henry now charged the wholebody of the English Church with being guilty of the same crime ofwhich Wolsey had been accused (S346). The clergy, in their terror, made haste to buy a pardon at a cost reckoned at nearly $5, 000, 000 atthe present value of money. They furthermore declared Henry to be the supreme head on earth of theChurch of England, adroitly adding, "in so far as is permitted by thelaw of Christ. " Thus the Reformation came into England "by a sidedoor, as it were. " Nevertheless, it came. 349. Henry marries Anne Boleyn; Act of Supremacy, 1534. Events now moved rapidly toward a crisis. In 1533, after havingwaited over five years, Henry privately married Anne Boleyn (S343), and she was soon after crowned in Westminster Abbey. When the Popewas informed of this, he ordered the King, under pain ofexcommunication (S194), to put her away, and to take back QueenCatharine (S345). Parliament met that demand by passing the Act of Supremacy, 1534, which declared Henry to be without reservation the sole head of theChurch, making denial thereof high treason. [1] As he signed the act, the King with one stroke of his pen overturned the traditions of athousand years, and England stood boldly forth with a National Churchindependent of the Pope. [2] [1] Henry's full title was now "Henry VIII, by the Grace of God, Kingof England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of theChurch of England, and also of Ireland, on earth the Supreme Head. "[2] Attention is called to the fact that a controversy, more or lessserious in its character, had been going on, at intervals for nearlyfive hundred years, between the English sovereigns (or the barons) andthe popes. It began with William the Conqueror in 1076 (S118). Itwas continued by Henry I (S136), by Henry II (SS163-170), by John(S194), by the barons under Henry III (S211), by the Parliament ofMerton (S211), by Edward I (S226), and it may be said to havepractically culminated under Henry VIII in the Act of Supremacy of1534 (S349). But after the formal establishment of Protestantism byEdward VI in 1549 (S362) we find the Act of Supremacy reaffirmed, inslightly different form, by Queen Elizabeth in 1559 (S382). Finally, the Revolution of 1688 settled the question (S497). 350. Subserviency of Parliament. But as Luther said, Henry had a pope within him. The King nowproceeded to prove the truth of Luther's declaration. We have alreadyseen (S328) that since the Wars of the Roses had destroyed the powerof the barons, there was no effectual check on the despotic will ofthe sovereign. The new nobility were the creatures of the Crown, hence bound to support it; the clergy were timid, the Commons anythingbut bold, so that Parliament gradually became the servile echo andready instrument of the throne. That body twice released the King from the discharge of his justdebts. It even exempted him from paying certain forced loans which hehad extorted from his people. Parliament also repeatedly changed thelaws of succession to the Crown to please him. Moreover it promptlyattainted and destroyed such victims as he desired to put out of theway (S351). Later (1539) it declared that proclamations, concerningreligious doctrines, when made by the King and Council, should havethe force of acts of Parliament. This new power enabled Henry topronounce heretical many opinions which he disliked and to punish themwith death. 351. Execution of More and Fisher (1535). Thomas Cromwell had been Cardinal Wolsey's private secretary; but hehad now become chief counselor to the King, and in his crooked andcruel policy reduced bloodshed to a science. He first introduced thepractice of condemning an accused prisoner without any form of trial(by Act of Attainder), and sending him to the block[1] withoutallowing him to speak in his own defense (S356). No one was now safewho did not openly side with the King. [1] Act of Attainder. See Constitutional Documents in Appendix, p. Xxxii. Sir Thomas More, who had been Lord Chancellor (S339), and the agedBishop Fisher were executed because they could not affirm that theyconscientiously believed that Henry was morally and spirituallyentitled to be the head of the English Church (S349). Both died with Christian fortitude. More said to the governor of theTower with a flash of his old humor, as the steps leading to thescaffold shook while he was mounting them, "Do you see me safe up, andI will make shift to get down by myself. " 352. Destruction of the Monasteries; Seizure of their Property, 1536-1539. When the intelligence of the judicial murder of the venerableex-chancellor reached Rome, the Pope issued a bull of excommunicationand deposition against Henry (S194). It delivered his soul to Satan, and his kingdom to the first invader. The King retaliated by the suppression of the monasteries. In doingso, he simply hastened a process which had already begun. Yearsbefore, Cardinal Wolsey had not scrupled to shut up several, and taketheir revenues to found Christ Church College at Oxford. The truthwas, that, in most cases, monasticism "was dead long before theReformation came to bury it" (S339, note 1). It was dead because ithad done its work, --in many respects a great and good work, which theworld could ill have spared (SS43, 45, 46, 60). The monasteriessimply shared the fate of all human institutions, however excellentthey may be. "Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be: They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. "[1] [1] Tennyson's "In Memoriam. " Henry, however, had no such worthy object as Wolsey had. His pretextwas that these institutions had sunk into a state of ingnorance, drunkenness, and profligacy. This may have been true of some of thesmaller monasteries, though not of the large ones. But the vices ofthe monasteries the King had already made his own. It was theirwealth which he now coveted. The smaller religious houses werespeedily swept out of existence (1536). This caused a furiousinsurrection in the North, called the "Pilgrimage of Grace" (1537);but the revolt was soon put down. Though Parliament had readily given its sanction to the extinction ofthe smaller monasteries, it hesitated about abolishing the greaterones. Henry, it is reported, sent for a leading member of the House oCommons, and, laying his hand on the head of the kneelingrepresentative, said, "Get my bill passed by to-morrow, little man, orelse to-morrow this head of yours will come off. " The next day thebill passed, and the work of destruction began anew (1539). Propertyworth millions of pounds was confiscated, and abbots like those ofGlastonbury and Charter House, who dared to resist, were speedilyhanged. [1] [1] The total number of religious houses destroyed was 645monasteries, 2374 chapels, 90 collegiate churches, and 110 charitableinstitutions. Among the most famous of these ruins are Glastonbury, Kirkstal, Furness, Netley, Tintern, and Fountains abbeys. The magnificent monastic buildings throughout England were nowstripped of everything of value, and left as ruins. (See mapopposite. ) The beautiful windowes of stained glass were wantonlybroken; the images of the saints were cast down from their niches; thechimes of bells were melted and cast into cannon; while the valuablelibraries were torn up and sold to grocers and soap boilers forwrapping paper. At Canterbury, Becket's tomb (S170) was broken open, and after he hadbeen nearly four centuries in his grave, the saint was summoned toanswer a charge of rebellion and treason. The case was tried atWestminster Abbey, the martyr's bones were sentenceeed to be burned, and the jewels and rich offerings of his shrine were seized by theKing. Among the few monastic buildings which escaped was the beautiful abbeychurch, now the cathedral of Peterborough, where Catharine of Aragon(S345), who died soon after the King's marriage with her rival, wasburied. Henry had the grace to give orders that on her account itshould be spared, saying that he would leave to her memory "one of thegoodliest monuments in Christendom. " The great estates thus suddenly acquired by the Crown were granted tofavorites or thrown away at the gambling table. "It is from thisdate, " says Hallam, "that the leading families of England, both withinand without the peerage, became conspicuous through having obtainedpossession of the monastery lands. " These were estimated to compriseabout one fourth of the whole area of the kingdom. 353. Effects of the Destruction of Monasteries. The sweeping character of this act had a twofold effect. First, itmade the King more absolute than before, for, since it removed theabbots, who had held seats in the House of Lords, that body was madejust so much smaller and less able to resist the royal will. Next, the abolition of so many religious institutions necessarilycaused much misery, for the greater part of the monks and all of thenuns were turned out upon the world destitute of means. In the end, however, no permanent injury was done, since the monasteries, by theirprofuse and indiscriminate charity, had undoubtably encouraged much ofthe very pauperism which they had relieved. 354. Distress among the Laboring Classes. An industrial revolution was also in progress at this time, which wasproductive of widespread suffering. It had begun early in Henry'sreign through the great numbers of discharged soldiers, who could notreadily find work. Sir Thomas More had given a striking picture of their miserablecondition in his "Utopia, " a book in which he urged the government toconsider measures for their relief; but the evil had since become muchworse. Farmers, having discovered that wool growing was moreprofitable than the raising of grain, had turned their fields intosheep pastures; so that a shepherd with his dog now took the place ofseveral families of laborers. This change brought multitudes of poor people to the verge ofstarvation; and as the monasteries no longer existed to hold out ahelping hand, the whole realm was overrun with beggars and thieves. Bishop Latimer, a noted preacher of that day, declared that if everyfarmer should raise two acres of hemp, it would not make rope enoughto hang them all. Henry, however, set to work with characteristicvigor and made away, it is said, with great numbers, but withoutmaterially abating the evil (S403). 355. Execution of Anne Boleyn; Marriage with Jane Seymour (1536). Less than three years after her coronation, the new Queen, Anne Boleyn(SS343, 349), for whom Henry had "turned England and Europe upsidedown, " was accused of unfaithfulness. She was sent a prisoner to theTower. A short time after, her head rolled in the dust, the light ofits beauty gone out forever. The next morning Henry married Jane Seymour, Anne's maid of honor. Parliament passed an act of approval, declaring that it was all done"of the King's most excellent goodness. " It also declared Henry's twoprevious marriages, with Catharine and with Anne Boleyn, void, andaffirmed that their children, the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, werenot lawfully the King's daughters. A later act of Parliament gaveHenry the extraordinary power of naming his successor to the crown. [1]A year afterwards Henry's new Queen died, leaving an infant son, Edward. She was no sooner gone than the King began looking about forsome one to take her place. [1] By his last will he made Mary and Elizabeth heirs to the crown incase all male and female issue by himself or his son Edward failed(S361). Henry's eldest sister, Margaret (see No. 3 in GenealogicalTable on page 207), was passed by entirely. But long after Henry'sdeath, Parliament set his will aside (1603) and made James I (adescendent of Margaret) King of England. 356. More Marriages (1540). Thomas Cromwell, the King's trusted adviser (S351), succeeded inpersuading his master to agree to marry Anne of Cleves, a GermanProtestant Princess. Henry had never seen her, but her portraitrepresented her as a woman of surpassing beauty. When Anne reached England, Henry hurried to meet her with all alover's ardor. To his dismay, he found that not only was sheridiculously ugly, but that she could speak--so he said--"nothing butDutch, " of which he did not understand a word. Matters, however, hadgone too far to retract, and the marriage was duly solemnized (1540). The King obtained a divorce within six months, and then took hisrevenge by cutting off Cromwell's head. What is more, he cut it offby virtue of that very Act of Attainder which Cromwell had used sounscrupulously in Henry's behalf (S351). The same year (1540) Henry married Catharine Howard, a fascinatinggirl still in her teens, whose charms so moved the King that it issaid he was tempted to have a special thanksgiving service prepared tocommemorate the day he found her. Unfortunately, Catharine was accused of having been guilty ofmisconduct before her marriage. She confessed her fault, but for suchcases Henry had no mercy. The Queen was tried for high treason, andsoon walked that fatal road in which Anne Boleyn had preceded her(S355). Not to be baffled in his matrimonial experiments, the King tookCatherine Parr for his sixth and last wife (1543). She was inclinedto be a zealous Protestant, and she too might have gone to the block, on a charge of heresy, but her quick wit came to her rescue. Sheflattered the King's self-conceit as a profound theologian and thecompliment saved her life. 357. Henry's Action respecting Religion. Though occupied with these rather numerous domestic infelicities, Henry was not idle in other directions. By an act known as the SixArticles, or, as the Protestants called it, the "Bloody Act, " or the"Whip with Six Lashes" (1539), the King established a new and peculiarform of religion. In words, at least, it seemed to be practically thesame as that upheld by the Pope, but with the Pope left out. [1] [1] The Six Articles: The chief article ordered that all persons whodenied the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation should be burned atthe stake as heretics and that all their possessions should beforfeited to the Crown. The remaining five articles affirmed theobligation of all persons to accept and obey certain other Catholicdoctrines under pain of punishment for felony, if they refused. Geographically, the country was about equally divided betweenCatholicism and Protestantism. The northwestern half clung to theancient faith; the southeastern half, including most of the largecities where Wycliffe's doctrines had formerly prevailed was favorableto the Reformation. On the one hand, Henry prohibited the Lutheran or Protestant doctrine(S340); on the other, he caused the Bible to be translated (SS254, 339), and ordered a copy to be chained to a desk in every parishchurch in England (1538); but though all persons might now freely readthe Scriptures, no one but the clergy was allowed to interpret them. Later in his reign, the King became alarmed at the spread ofdiscussion about religious subjects, and prohibited the reading of theBible by the "lower sort of people. " 358. Henry versus Treason. Men now found themselves in a strange and cruel delimma. If it wasdangerous to believe too much, it was equally dangerous to believe toolittle. Traitor and heretic were dragged to execution on the samehurdle; for Henry burned as heretics those who declared their beliefin Protestantism, and hanged or beheaded, as traitors, those whoacknowledged the authority of the Pope and denied the supremacy of theKing (S349). Thus Anne Askew, a young and beautiful woman, was nearly wrenchedasunder on the rack, in the hope of making her implicate the Queen inher heresy. She was afterward burned because she insisted that thebread and wine used in the communion service seemed to her to besimply bread and wine, and not in any sense the actual body and bloodof Christ, as the King's statute of the Six Articles (S357) solemnlydeclared. On the other hand, the aged Countess of Salisbury suffered fortreason; but with a spirit matching the King's, she refused to kneelat the block, and told the executioner he must get her gray head offas best he could. 359. Henry's Death. But the time was at hand when Henry was to cease his hangings, beheadings, and marriages. Worn out with debauchery, he died at theage of fifty-six, a loathsome, unwieldy, and helpless mass ofcorruption. In his will he left a large sum of money to pay forperpetual prayers for the repose of his soul. Sir Walter Raleigh saidof him, "If all the pictures and patterns of a merciless prince werelost in the world, they might all again be painted to the life out ofthe story of this king. " It may be well to remember this, and along with it this other sayingof one of the ablest writers on English constitutional history, that"the world owes some of tis greatest debts to men from whose memory itrecoils. "[1] The obligation it is under to Henry VIII is that throughhis influence--no matter what the motive--England was lifted up out ofthe old medieval ruts, and placed squarely and securely on the newhighway of national progress. [1] W. Stubbs's "Constitutional History of England. " 360. Summary. In this reign we find that though England lost much of her formerpolitical freedom, yet she gained that order and peace which came fromthe iron hand of absolute power. Next, from the destruction of themonasteries, and the sale or gift of their lands to favorites of theKing, three results ensued: 1. A new nobility was in great measure created, dependent on theCrown. 2. The House of Lords was made less powerful by the removal of theabbots who had had seats in it. 3. Pauperism and distress were temporarily increased. 4. Finally, England completely severed her connection with the Pope, and established for the first time an independent National Church, having the King as its head. Edward VI--1547-1553 361. Bad Government; Seizure of Unenclosed Lands; High Rents;Latimer's Sermon. Edward, son of Henry VIII by Jane Seymour (S355), died at sixteen. Inthe first part of his reign of six years the goverment was managed byhis uncle, the Duke of Somerset, an extreme Protestant, whoseintentions were good, but who lacked practical judgement. During thelatter part of his life Edward fell under the control of the Duke ofNorthumberland, who was the head of a band of scheming and profligatemen. They, with other nobles, seized the unenclosed lands of the countryand fenced them in for sheep pastures, thus driving into beggary manywho had formerly got a good part of their living from these commons. At the same time farm rents rose in somee cases ten and even twentyfold, [1] depriving thousands of the means of subsistence, and reducingto poverty many who had been in comfortable circumstances. [1] This was oweing to the greed for land on the part of themercantile classes, who had now acquired wealth, and wished to becomelanded proprietors. See Froude's "England. " The bitter complaints of the sufferers found expression in BishopLatimer's outspoken sermon, preached before King Edward, in which hesaid: "My father was a yeoman [small farmer], and had no lands of hisown, only he had a farm of three or four pounds [rent] by year, andhereupon tilled so much as kept half a dozen men; he had walk[pasture] for a hundred sheep, and my mother milked thirty kine. "He was able and did find the King a harness [suit of armor] withhimself and his horse, until he came to the place where he shouldreceive the King's wages. I can remember that I buckled his harnesswhen he went into Blackheath Field. He kept me to school, or else Ihad not been able to have preached before the King's majesty now. Hemarried my sisters with five pounds [dower] ... Apiece. He kepthospitality for his poor neighbors, and some alms he gave to the poor. "And all this he did off the said farm, where he that now hath itpayeth sixteen pounds a year or more, and is not able to do anythingfor his prince, for himself, nor for his children, or give a cup ofdrink to the poor. " But as Latimer patheticall said, "Let thepreacher preach till his tongue be worn to the stumps, nothing isamended. "[1] [1] Latimer's first sermon before King Edward VI, 8th of March, 1549. 362. Edward establishes Protestantism, 1549. Henry VIII had made the Church of England independent of the Pope(S349). His son took the next great step, and made it practicallyProtestant in doctrine. At his desire, Archbishop Cranmer compiled abook of Common Prayer in English. It was taken largely from the RomanCatholic Prayer Book, which was in Latin (1549). The first Act ofUniformity, 1549 (reenacted 1552), obliged all churches to use the newEnglish Prayer Book, thereby, (for the time) establishing a modifiedform of Protestantism throughout England (S405). [2] [2] On the Church of England, see Macaulay's "England, " I, 40-42. Edward's sister, the Princess Mary, was a most devout Catholic. Sherefused to adopt the new service, saying to Bishop Ridley, who urgedher to accept it as God's word, "I cannot tell what you call God'sword, for that is not God's word now which was God's word in myfather's time. " It was at this period (1552) that the Articles ofReligion of the Church of England were first drawn up; but they didnot take their final form until the reign of Elizabeth (S383). 363. King Edward and Mary Stuart. Henry VIII had attempted to marry his son Edward to young Queen MaryStuart, a daughter of the King of Scotland, but the match had beenbroken off. Edward's guardian now insisted that it should be carriedout. He invaded Scotland with an army, and attempted to effect themarriage by force of arms, at the battle of Pinkie (1547). The English gained a decided victory, but the youthful Queen, insteadof giving her hand to young King Edward, left the country and marriedthe son of the King of France. She will appear with melancholyprominence in the reign of Elizabeth. Had Mary Queen of Scots marriedEdward, we should perhaps have been spared that tragedy in which shewas called to play both the leading and the losing part (SS394-397). 364. Renewed Confiscation of Church Property; Schools founded. The confiscation of such Roman Catholic church property as had beenspared was now renewed (S352). The result of this confiscation and ofthe abandonment of Catholicism as the established form of worship wasin certain respects disastrous to the country. In the generalbreak-up, many who had been held in restraint by the old form of faithnow went to the other extreme, and rejected all religion. Part of the money obtained from the sale of church property wasdevoted, mainly through Edward's influence, to the endowment ofupwards of forty grammar schools, besides a number of hospitals, indifferent sections of the country. But for a long time thedestruction of the monastic schools (SS45, 60), poor as many of themhad become, was a serious blow to the education of the common people. 365. Edward's London Charities; Christ's Hospital. Just before his death Edward established Christ's Hospital, or homefor the support and education of fatherless children, and refoundedand renewed the St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew hospitals for the sickin London. Thus "he was the founder, " says Burnet, "of those houseswhich, by many great additions since that time, have risen to beamongst the noblest of Europe. " Christ's Hospital was, perhaps, the first Protestant charity schoolopened in England; many more were patterned on it. It, and otherslike it, are known as "Blue-Coat Schools, " from the costume of theboys, --a relic of the days of Edward VI. This consists of a long, blue coat, like a monk's gown, reaching to the ankles, girded with abroad leather belt, long, bright yellow stockings, and buckle shoes. Most of the boys go bareheaded winter and summer. An exciting game of football, played in the schoolyard in thispeculiar medieval dress, used to seem strangely in contrast with thesights of modern London streets. It was as though the spectator, bypassing through a gateway, had gone back over three centuries oftime. Coleridge, Lamb, and other noted men of letters were educatedthere, and have left most interesting reminiscences of their schoollife, especially Lamb, in his delightful "Essays of Elia. " Late inthe nineteenth century this famous institution was removed to thecountry, and part of the site of the ancient school is now coveredwith a great business structure. 366. Effect of Catholicism versus Protestantism. Speaking of the Protestant Reformation, of which Edward VI may betaken as a representative, Macaulay remarks that "it is difficult tosay whether England received most advantage from the Roman Catholicreligion or from the Reformation. For the union of the Saxon andNorman races, and the abolition of slavery, she is chiefly indebted tothe influence which the priesthood in the Middle Ages exercised overthe people" (S47); "for political and intellectual freedom, and forall the blessings which they have brought in their train, she owes themost to the great rebellion of the people against the priesthood. " 367. Summary. The establishment of the Protestant faith in England, and of a largenumber of Protestant charity schools known as Edward VI's or"Blue-Coat Schools" may be regarded as the leading events of Edward'sbrief reign of six years. Mary--1553-1558 368. Lady Jane Grey claims the Crown. On the death of King Edward, Lady Jane Grey, a descendant of HenryVII, and a relative of Edward VI, was persuaded by her father-in-lawe, the Duke of Northumberland, to assume the crown, which had been leftto her by the will of the late King. Edward's object in naming Lady Jane was to secure a Protestantsuccessor, since his elder sister, Mary, was a zealous Catholic, whilefrom his younger sister, Elizabeth, he seems to have been estranged. By birth, though not directly by Henry VIII's will, Mary was withoutdoubt the rightful heir. [1] Queen Mary received the support of thecountry, and Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Dudley, werearrested and sent to the Tower of London. [1] Table showing the respective claims of Queen Mary and Lady JaneGrey to the crown. By his last will Henry VIII left the crown toEdward VI, and (in case he had no issue) to his daughters, Mary andElizabeth, followed by the issue of his sister Mary. Edward VI's willundertook to change this order of succession. Henry VII 1 2 | 3 4 --------------=------------------------------------- | H | |Arthur, b. 1486 Henry VIII Margaret Mary, m. D. 1502, no H | Charles Brandonissue ======================= James V of | H H H Scotland, Frances Mary, b. Elizabeth, Edward VI, d. 1542 Brandon, m. 1516, d. 1558 b. 1533, b. 1538, | Henry Grey d. 1603 d. 1553 Mary Queen | of Scots, JANE GREY, b. 1542, m. Lord d. 1587 Guilford Dudley, | beheaded 1554 | James VI of Scotland and I of England, crowned 1603 369. Question of Mary's Marriage; Wyatt's Rebellion (1554). While they were confined there, the question of the Queen's marriagecame up. Out of several candidates for her hand, Mary gave preferenceto her cousin, Philip II of Spain. Her choice was very unpopular, forit was known in England that Philip was a selfish and gloomy fanatic, who cared for nothing but the advancement of the Roman Catholic faith. An insurrection now broke out, led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the object ofwhich was to place the Princess Elizabeth on the throne, and thussecure the crown to Protestantism. Lady Jane Grey's father wasimplicated in the rebellion. The movement ended in failure, theleaders were executed, and Mary ordered her sister Elizabeth, who wasthought to be in the plot, to be seized and imprisoned in the Tower(1554). A little later, Lady Jane Grey and her husband perished on thescaffold. The name JANE, deeply cut in the stone wall of theBeauchamp Tower, [1] remains as a memorial of the nine days' Queen. She died at the age of seventeen, an innocent victim of the greatnesswhich had been thrust upon her. [1] The Beauchamp Tower is part of the Tower of London. On its wallsare scores of names cut by those who were imprisoned in it. 370. Mary marries Philip II of Spain (1554); Efforts to restoreCatholicism. A few months afterward the royal marriage was celebrated, but Philipsoon found that the air of England had too much freedom in it to suithis delicate constitution, and he returned to the more congenialclimate of Spain. From that time Mary, who was left to rule alone, directed all herefforts to the restoration of the Catholic Church. Hallam says herpolicy was acceptable to a large part of the nation. [2] On the otherhand, the leaders in Scotland bound themselves by a solemn Covenant(1557) to crush out all attempts to reestablish the Catholic faith. Through her influence Parliament repealed the legislation of HenryVIII's and Edward VI's reigns, in so far as it gave support toProtestantism. She revived the persecuting statutes against heretics(S283). The old relations with the Pope were resumed but the monasticlands were left in the hands of their new owners (S352). Toaccomplish her object in supporting her religion, the Queen resortedto the arguments of the dungeon, the rack, and the fagot, and whenBishops Bonner and Gardiner slackened their work of persecution anddeath, Mary, half crazed by Philip's desertion, urged them not to staytheir hands. [2] See A. H. Hallam's "Constitutional History of England, " andcompare J. Lingard's excellent "History of England, " to the sameeffect. 371. Devices for reading the Bible. The penalty for reading the English Scriptures, or for offeringProtestant prayers, was death. In his autobiography, BenjaminFranklin says that one of his ancestors, who lived in England inMary's reign, adopted the following expedient for giving his familyreligious instruction. He fastened an open Bible with strips of tapeon the under side of a stool. When he wished to read it aloud heplaced the stool upside down on his knees, and turned the pages underthe tape as he read them. One of the children stood watching at thedoor to give the alarm if any one approached; in that case, the stoolwas set quickly on its feet again on the floor, so that nothing couldbe seen. 372. Religious Toleration unknown in Mary's Age. Mary would doubtless have bravely endured for her faith the fullmeasure of suffering which she inflicted. Her state of mind was thatof all who then held strong convictions. Each party believed it aduty to convert or exterminate the other, and the alternative offeredto the heretic was to "turn or burn. " Sir Thomas More, who gave his life as a sacrifice to conscience inHenry's reign (S351), was eager to put Tyndale to the torture fortranslating the Bible. Cranmer (S362), who perished at Oxford (1556), had been zealous in sending to the flames those who differed fromhim. Even Latimer (S361), who died bravely at the stake, exhortinghis companion Ridley (1555) "to be of good cheer and play the man, since they would light such a candle in England that day as in God'sgrace should not be put out, " had abetted the kindling of slow firesunder men as honest and determined as himself but on the oppositeside. In like spirit Queen Mary kept Smithfield, London, ablaze withmartyrs, whose blood was the seed of Protestantism. Yet persecutionunder Mary never reached the proportions that it did on theContinent. At the most, but a few hundred died in England for thesake of their religion, while Mary's husband, Philip II, during thelast of his reign, covered Holland with the graves of Protestants, whohad been tortured and put to cruel deaths, or buried alive, by tens ofthousands. 373. Mary's Death (1558). But Mary's career was short. She died (1558) near the close of aninglorious war with France, which ended in the fall of Calais, thelast English possession on the Continent (S240). It was a great blowto her pride, and a serious humiliation to the country. "After mydeath, " she said, "you will find Calais written on my heart. " Couldshe have foreseen the future, her grief would have been greaterstill. For with the end of her reign the Pope lost all power inEngland, never to regain it. 374. Mary deserving of Pity rather than Hatred. Mary's name has come down to us associated with an epithet expressiveof the utmost abhorrence (S342); but she deserves pity rather thandetestation. Froude justly says, "If any person may be excused forhating the Reformation, it was Mary. " Separated from her mother, the unfortunate Catharine of Aragon, whenshe was only sixteen, Mary was ill-treated by Henry's new Queen, AnneBoleyn, and hated by her father. Thus the springtime of her youth wasblighted. Her marriage brought her no happiness; sickly, ill-favored, childless, unloved, the poor woman spent herself for naught. Her first greatmistake was that she resolutely turned her face toward the past; hersecond, that she loved Philip II of Spain (S369) with all her heart, soul, and strength; and so, out of devotion to a bigot, did a bigot'swork, and earned that execration which never fails to be a bigotsreward. But the Queen's cruelty was the cruelty of sincerity, andnever, like her father's hangings, beheadings, and burnings (S358), the result of tyranny, indifference, or caprice. A little book ofprayers which she left, soiled by constant use and stained with manytears, tells the story of her broken and disappointed life. 375. Summary. This reign should be looked upon as a period of reaction. Thetemporary check which Mary gave to Protestantism deepened andstrengthened it. Nothing builds up a religious faith like martyrdom, and the next reign showed that every heretic that Mary had burnedhelped to make at least a hundred more. Elizabeth--1558-1603 376. Accession of Elizabeth. Elizabeth, the last of the Tudor family, was the daughter of HenryVIII and Anne Boleyn (S349). At the time of Mary's death she wasliving in seclusion in Hatfield House, near London, spending most ofher time in studying Greek and Latin authors. When the news wasbrought to her, she was deeply moved, and exclaimed, "It is the Lord'sdoings; it is marvelous in our eyes. " Five days afterwards she wentup to London by that road over which the last time she had traveled itshe was being carried a prisoner to the Tower (S369). 377. Difficulty of Elizabeth's Position. An act of Parliament declared Elizabeth to be the true and lawful heirto the crown[1] (S355); but her position was full of difficulty, ifnot absolute peril. Mary Stuart of Scotland, now by marriage Queen ofFrance (S363), [2] claimed the English crown through descent from HenryVII. She based her claim on the ground that Elizabeth, the daughterof Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, was not lawfully entitled to thethrone, because the Pope had refused to recognize Henry's secondmarriage (S349). Both France and Rome supported Mary Stuart's claim. [1] See Genealogical Table, p. 207. [2] After Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, stood next in orderof hereditary succession. See Table, p. 207. On the other hand, Philip II of Spain (SS370, 374) favored Elizabeth, but solely because he hoped to marry her and annex her kingdom to hisdominions. Scotland was divided between two religious factions, theCatholics and the Protestants, and its attitude as an independentkingdom could hardly be called friendly. The Catholics in the greaterpart of Ireland were in a state bordering on rebellion, and were readyto join in any attack on an English sovereign. 378. The Religious Problem. But the religious problem was more dangerous than any other, forEngland itself was divided in its faith. In the north, many noblefamilies stood by the Catholic faith, and hoped to see the Pope'sauthority fully and permanently restored (S352). In the towns of thesoutheast, a majority favored the Church of England as it had beenorganized under the Protestant influence of Edward VI (S362). [1] [1] See Goldwin Smith's "England. " Within these two great parties there were two more, who made up inzeal and determination what they lacked in numbers. One was theJesuits; the other, the Puritans. The Jesuits were a new RomanCatholic order (1540), banded together by a solemn oath to restore thecomplete power of the Church and to extend it throughout the world. Openly or secretly their agents penetrated every country, and theiropponents declared that they hesitated at nothing to gain their ends. The Puritans were the extreme Protestants who, like John Calvin ofGeneva and John Knox of Edinburgh, were bent on cleansing or"purifying" the reformed faith from every vestige of Catholicism. Many of them were what the rack and the stake had naturally madethem, --hard, fearless, narrow, bitter. In Scotland the Puritans had got possession of the government, whilein England they were steadily gaining ground. They were ready torecognize the Queen as head of the Church of England, they even wishedthat all persons should be compelled to worship as the governmentprescribed, but they protested against what they considered thehalfway form of Church which Elizabeth and the bishops seemed inclinedto maintain. 379. The Queen's Choice of Counselors. Elizabeth's policy from the beginning was one of compromise. In orderto conciliate the Catholic party, she retained eleven of her sisterMary's counselors. But she added to them Sir William Cecil (LordBurghley), who was her chief adviser, [2] Sir Nicholas Bacon, and, later, Sir Francis Walsingham, with others who were favorable to theProtestant faith. [2] See Macaulay's essay on "Lord Burghley. " On his appointment, Elizabeth said to Cecil, "This judgment I have ofyou, that you will not be corrupted with any gifts, that you will befaithful to the State, and that without respect to my private will yougive me that counsel which you think best. " Cecil served the Queenuntil his death, forty years afterward. The almost implicit obediencewith which Elizabeth followed his advice sufficiently proves thatCecil was the real power not only behind, but generally above, thethrone. 380. The Coronation (1559). The bishops were Roman Catholics, and Elizabeth found it difficult toget one to perform the coronation services. At length one consented, but only on condition that the Queen should take the ancient form ofcoronation oath, by which she virtually bound herself to support theRoman Catholic Church. [1] To this Elizabeth consented, and havingconsulted an astrologer, Dr. Dee, he named a lucky day for theceremony, and she was crowned (1559). [1] By this oath every English sovereign from William the Conqueror toElizabeth, inclusive, and even as late as James II, with the singleexception of Edward VI, swore "to preserve religion in the same stateas did Edward the Confessor. " The form of the coronation oath waschanged to support Protestantism by the Revolution of 1688. Finally, under George V, in 1910, the phraseology of the oath was modified byAct of Parliament in order to make it less objectionable not only toEnglish Catholics, but to a large majority of the people of thenation. 381. Changes in the Church Service (1559). The late Queen Mary (S373), besides having repealed the legislation ofthe two preceding reigns, in so far as it was opposed to her ownstrong religious convictions (S370), had restored the Roman CatholicLatin Prayer Book (S362). At Elizabeth's coronation a petition waspresented stating that it was the custom to release a certain numberof prisoners on such occasions. The petitioners, therefore, beggedher Majesty to set at liberty the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and also the apostle Paul, who had been for some timeshut up in a strange language. The English Book of Common Prayer(S362), with some slight changes, was accordingly reinstated, Parliament repealed the laws by which the late Queen Mary hadpractically restored the Roman Catholic religion, and it authorizedthe publication of a new and revised edition of the English Bible(S357). 382. New Act of Supremacy; Act of Uniformity; High Commission Court, 1559. No sooner was the Queen's accession announced to the Pope than hedeclared her illegitimate (SS349, 355), and ordered her to lay asideher crown and submit herself to his guidance. Such a demand was asignal for battle. However much attached a large part of the nation, especially the country people, may have been to the Catholic religionof their fathers (S370), yet the majority of them were loyal to theQueen and intended to stand by her. The temper of Parliament manifested itself in the immediatereenactment of the Act of Supremacy. It way essentially the same, "though with its edge a little blunted, " as that by which Henry VIIIhad freed England from the dominion of the Pope (S349). It declaredElizabeth not "supreme head" but "supreme governor" of the Church. Later, the act was made more stringent (1563). To this act, every member of the House of Commons was obliged tosubscribe; thus all Catholics were exclued from that body. The Lords, however, not being an elective body, were excused from the obligationat that time (S478). In order to enforce the Act of Supremacy, Parliament passed a new Actof Uniformity (S362), which ordered the minister of every congregationin England, whether Catholic or Protestant, to use the services laiddown in the recently established Book of Common Prayer, and to use noother. In fact the law forbade the holding of any other service, evenin a room with closed doors. In case he failed to obey this law hewould be severely punished, and for a third offense would beimprisoned for life. The same act imposed a heavy fine on all personswho failed to attend the Established Church of England on Sundays andholidays. The reason for these stringent measures was that in that age Churchand State were everywhere considered to be inseparable. No country inEurope--not even Protestant Germany--could then conceive the idea oftheir existing independently of each other. Whoever refused tosupport the established form of worship, whatever that might be, waslooked upon as a "rebel" against the government. In order to try such "rebels" Parliament now gave Queen Elizabethpower to organize the High Commission Court. [1] By that Court manyCatholics were imprisoned and tortured for refusing to comply with thenew Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, and later on about two hundredpriests and Jesuits were put to death on charges of treason. A numberof Puritans, also, were executed for publishing books or pamphletswhich attacked the government, and others were cast into prison orbanished from the realm. [1] High Commission Court: so called because originally certain churchdignitaries were appointed commissioners to inquire into heresies andkindred matters. See, too, Summary of Constitutional History in theAppendix, p. Xiv, S15. 383. The Thirty-Nine Articles (1563); the Queen's Religion. Four years later, the religious belief of the English Church, whichhad been first formulated under Edward VI (S362), was revised andreduced to the Thirty-Nine Articles which constitute it at the presenttime. [1] But the real value of the religious revolution which wastaking place did not lie in the substitution of one creed for another, but in the new spirit of inquiry, and the new freedom of thought, which that change awakened. [1] But the Clerical Subscription Act (1866) simply requires theclergy of the Church of England to make a general declaration ofassent to the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Prayer Book. As for Elizabeth herself, she seems to have had no deep and abidingconvictions on these matters. Her political interests practicallycompelled her to favor Protestantism, but to the end of her life shekept up some Catholic forms. Though she upheld the service of theChurch of England, yet she shocked the Puritans by keeping a crucifix, with lighted candles in front of it, hung in her private chapel, before which she prayed to the Virgin as fervently as her sister Maryhad ever done. 384. The Nation halting between Two Opinions. In this double course she represented a large part of the nation, which hesitated about committing itself fully to either side. Menwere not wanting who were ready to lay down their lives forconscience' sake, but they do not appear to have been numerous. Some sympathized at heart with the notorious Vicar of Bray, who kepthis pulpit under the whole or some part of the successive reigns ofHenry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, changing his theology witheach change of rule. When taunted as a turncoat, he replied, "Not so, for I have always been true to my principles, which are to live anddie Vicar of Bray. "[2] [2] "For this as law I will maintain Until my dying day, sir, That whatsoever king shall reign, I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir. " Though there was nothing morally noble in such halting between twoopinions, and facing both ways, yet it saved England for the time fromthe worst of all calamities, a religious civil war. Such a conflictrent France in pieces, drenched her fair fields with the blood ofCatholics and Protestants, split Germany and Italy into petty states, and ended in Spain in the triumph of the Inquisition and ofintellectual death. [1] [1] S. R. Gardiner's "History of England"; consult also J. F. Bright's"History of England" and L. Von Ranke's "History of England. " 385. The Question of the Queen's Marriage. Elizabeth showed the same tact with regard to marriage that she didwith regard to religion. Her first Parliament, realizing that thewelfare of the country depended largely on whom the Queen shouldmarry, begged her to consider the question of taking a husband. Herreply was that she had resolved to live and die a maiden queen. Whenfurther pressed, she returned answers that, like the ancient Greekoracles, might be interpreted either way. The truth was that Elizabeth saw the difficult of her position betterthan any one else. The choice opf her heart at that time wouldprobably have been Robert Dudley, her "sweet Robin, " the handsome butunscrupulous Earl of Leicester; but, as he called himself aProtestant, she knew that to take him as consort would be to incur theenmity of the Catholic powers of Europe. On the other hand, if sheaccepted a Catholic, she would inevitably alienate a large andinfluential number of her own subjects. In this delimma she resolved to keep both sides in a state of hopefulexpectation. Philip II of Spain, who had married her sister Mary(S370), made overtures to Elizabeth. She kept him waiting inuncertainty until at last his ambassador lost all patience, anddeclared that the Queen "was possessed with ten thousand demons. " Later, the Duke of Anjou, a son of Henry II of France, proposed. Hewas favorably received, but the country became so alarmed at theprospect of having a Catholic King, that Stubbs, a Puritan lawyer, published a coarse and violent pamphlet denouncing the marriage. [2]For this attack his right hand was cut off; as it fell, says aneyewitness, [3] he seized his hat with the other hand, and waved it, shouting, "God save Queen Elizabeth!" That act was an index to thepopular feeling. A majority of the people, whether Catholics orProtestants, stood by the Crown even when they condemned its policy, determined, at all hazards, to preserve the unity of the nation. Thatspirit of intense loyalty and love of country without regard to creedor calling found perfect expression in Shakespeare's utterance: "This England never did, nor never shall, Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror. . . . . . . . . Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall shock them: nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do but rest true. "[4] We shall see that this feeling showed itself still more unmistakably, when, years later, men of all classes and of widely differentreligious views rose to destroy the Armada, --that great fleet whichSpain sent to subjugate the English realm (SS398-401). [2] Stubbs's pamphlet was entitled "The Discovery of the Gaping Gulf, wherein England is likely to be swallowed up by another Frenchmarriage, unless the Lords forbid the bans by letting her see the sinand punishment thereof. "[3] Camden's "Annals, " 1581. [4] Shakespeare's "King John, " Act V, scene vii; written after thedefeat of the Armada. 386. The Queen a Coquette. During all this time the court buzzed with whispered scandals. Elizabeth was by nature an incorrigible coquette. Robert Dudley, Earlof Leicester, the Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh were by turnsher favorites. Over her relations with Dudley there hangs theterrible shadow of the suspected murder of his wife, the beautiful AmyRobsart. [3] [3] See the "De Quadra Letter" in Froude's "England. " Elizabeth's vanity was as insatiable as it was ludicrous. She issueda proclamation forbidding any one to sell her picture, lest it shouldfail to do her justice. She was greedy of flattery even when longpast sixty, and there was a sting of truth in the letter which MaryQueen of Scots wrote her, saying, "Your aversion to marriage proceedsfrom your not wishing to lose the liberty of compelling people to makelove to you. " 387. Violence of Temper; Crooked Policy. In temper Elizabeth was arbitrary, fickle, and passionate. When herblood was up, she would swear like a trooper, spit on a courtier's newvelvet suit, beat her maids of honor, and box Essex's ears. She wroteabusive and even profane letters to high Church dignitaries, [1] andshe openly insulted the wife of Archbishop Parker, because she did notbelieve in a married clergy. [1] For the famous letter to the bishop of Ely attributed toElizabeth, see Hallam's "Constitutional History of England, " Froude, or Creighton; but the "Dictionary of National Biography" ("Elizabeth")calls it a forgery. The age in which Elizabeth reigned was preeminently one of craft andintrigue. The Kings of that day endeavored to get by fraud what theirless polished predecessors got by force. At this game of doubledealing Elizabeth had few equals and no superior. So profound was herdissimulation that her most confidential advisers never felt quitesure that she was not deceiving them. In her diplomatic relations shenever hesitated at an untruth if it would serve her purpose, and whenthe falsehood was discovered, she always had another and moreplausible one ready to take its place. In all this her devotion toEngland stands out unquestioned and justifies the saying, "She livedand lied for her country. " 388. Her Knowledge of Men; the Monopolies. The Queen's real ability lay in her instinctive perception of theneeds of the age, and in her power of self-adjustment to them. Elizabeth never made public opinion, but watched it and followed it. She knew an able man at sight, and had the happy faculty of attachingsuch men to her service. By nature she was both irresolute andimpulsive; but her sense was good and her judgment clear. She couldtell when she was well advised, and although she fumed and blustered, she yielded. It has been said that the next best thing to having a good rule is toknow when to break it. Elizabeth always knew when to change herpolicy. No matter how obstinate she was, she saw the point whereobstinacy became dangerous. In order to enrich Raleigh and hernumerous other favorites, she granted them the exclusive right to dealin certain articles. These privileges were called "monopolies. " They finally came to comprise almost everything that could be boughtor sold, from French wines to secondhand shoes. The effect was toraise prices so as to make even the common necessaries of lifeexcessively dear. A great outcry finally arose; Parliament requestedthe Queen to abolish the "monopolies"; she hesitated, but when she sawtheir determined attitude she gracefully granted the ptition (S433). 389. The Adulation of the Court. No English sovereign was so popular or so praised. The great writersand the great men of that day vied with each other in theircompliments to Elizabeth's beauty, wisdom, and wit. She lived in anatmosphere of splendor, of pleasure, and of adulation. Her reign wasfull of pageants, progresses, or journeys made with great pomp andsplendor, and feasts, like those which Scott describes in hisdelightful novel, "Kenilworth. " Spenser composed his poem, the "Faerie Queen, " as he said, to extol"the glorious person of our sovereign Queen. " Shakespeare is reportedto have written the "Merry Wives of Windsor" for her amusement, and inhis "Midsummer Night's Dream" he addresses her as the "fair vestal inthe West. " The translators of the Bible spoke of her as "that brightOccidental Star, " and the common people loved to sing and shout thepraises of their "good Queen Bess. " After her death at Richmond, whenher body was being conveyed down the Thames to Westminster, oneextravagant eulogist declared that the very fishes that followed thefuneral barge "wept out their eyes and swam blind after!" 390. Grandeur of the Age; More's "Utopia. " The reign of Elizabeth was, in fact, Europe's grandest age. It was atime when everything was bursting into life and color. The world hadsuddenly grown larger; it had opened toward the east in the revival ofclassical learning; it had opened toward the west, and disclosed acontinent of unknown extent and unimaginable resources. About twenty years after Cabot had discovered the mainland of America(S335), Sir Thomas More (SS339, 351) wrote a remarkable work offiction, in Latin (1516), called "Utopia" (the Land of Nowhere). Init he pictured an ideal commonwealth, where all men were equal; wherenone were poor; where perpetual peace prevailed; where there wasabsolute freedom of thought; where all were contented and happy. Itwas, in fact, the Golden Age come back to earth again. More's book, now translated into English (1551), suited such a time, for Elizabeth's reign was one of adventure, of poetry, of luxury, ofrapidly increasing wealth. When men looked across the Atlantic, theirimaginations were stimulated, and the most extravagant hopes did notappear too good to be true. Courtiers and adventurers dreamed offountains of youth in Florida, of silver mines in Brazil, of rivers inVirginia, whose pebbles were precious stones. [1] Thus all weredazzled with visions of sudden riches and of renewed life. [1] "Why, man, all their dripping-pans [in Virginia] are pure gould;... All the prisoners they take are feterd in gold; and for rubies anddiamonds, they goe forth on holydayes and gather 'hem by thesea-shore, to hang on their children's coates. "--"Eastward Hoe, " aplay by John Marston and others, "as it was playd in the Blackfriers[Theatre] by the Children of her Maiesties Revels. " (1603?) 391. Change in Mode of Life. England, too, was undergoing transformation. Once, a nobleman'sresidence had been simply a square stone fortress, built for safetyonly; but now that the Wars of the Roses had destroyed the old feudalbarons (SS299, 316), there was no need of such precaution. Men wereno longer content to live shut up in somber strongholds, surroundedwith moats of stagnant water, or in meanly built houses, where thesmoke curled around the rafters for want of chimneys by which toescape, while the wind whistled through the unglazed latticed windows. Mansions and stately manor houses like Hatfield, Knowle, parts ofHaddon Hall, and the "Bracebridge Hall" of Washington Irving, [2] roseinstead of castles, and hospitality, not exclusion, became theprevailing custom. The introduction of chimneys brought the cheerycomfort of the English fireside, while among the wealthy, carpets, tapestry, and silver plate took the place of floors strewed withrushes, of bare walls, and of tables covered with pewter or wooodendishes. [2] Aston Hall, Birmingham, is the original of Irving's "BracebridgeHall. " It came a little later than Elizabeth's time, but isElizabethan in style. An old writer, lamenting these innovations, says: "When our houseswere built of willow, then we had oaken men; but, now that our housesare made of oak, our men have not only become willow, but many arealtogether of straw, which is a sore affliction. " 392. An Age of Adventure and of Daring. But they were not all of straw, for that was a period of daringenterprise, of explorers, sea rovers, and freebooters. Sir WalterRaleigh planted the first English colony in America, which the maidenQueen named Virginia, in honor of herself. It proved unsuccessful, but he said, "I shall live to see it an English nation yet"; and hedid. Frobisher explored the coasts of Labrador and Greenland. Sir FrancisDrake, who plundered the treasure ships of Spain wherever he foundthem, sailed into the Pacific, spent a winter in or near the harbor ofSan Francisco, and ended his voyage by circumnavigating the globe. (See map facing p. 222. ) In the Far East, London merchants hadestablished the East India Company, the beginning of English dominionin Asia; while in Holland, Sir Philip Sydney gave his lifeblood forthe cause of Protestantism. 393. Literature and Natural Philosophy. It was an age, too, not only of brave deeds but of high thoughts. Shakespeare, Spenser, and Jonson were making English literature thenoblest of all literatures. Furthermore, Shakespeare had no equal asa teacher of English history. His historical plays appealed then, asthey do now, to every heart. At his touch the dullest and driestrecords of the past are transformed and glow with color, life, movement, and meaning. [1] On the other hand, Francis Bacon, son ofSir Nicholas Bacon, of Elizabeth's council, was giving a whollydifferent direction to education. In his new system of philosophy, [2]he taught men that in order to use the forces of nature they mustlearn by observation and experiment to know nature herself; "for, "said he, "knowledge is power. " [1] On the value of Shakespeare's Historical Plays, see S298, note 1;S313, note 2; and S410. [2] In his tract on "The Greatest Birth of Time, " in 1582. 394. Mary Queen of Scots claims the Crown (1561). For England it was also an age of great and constant peril. Elizabeth's entire reign was undermined with plots against her lifeand against the life of the Protestant faith. No sooner was oneconspiracy detected and suppressed than a new one sprang up. Perhapsthe most formidable of these was the effort which Mary Stuart, Queenof Scots, made to supplant her English rival. Shortly afterElizabeth's accession, Mary's husband, the King of France, died. Shereturned to Scotland (1561) and there assumed the Scottish crown, atthe same time asserting her right to the English throne. [3] [3] See Genealogical Table (p. 207). Mary's claim was based on thefact that the Pope had never recognized Henry VIII's marriage to AnneBoleyn, Elizabeth's mother, as lawful, while she, herself, as thedirect descendant of Henry's sister, Margaret, stood next insuccession. 395. Mary marries Darnley; his Murder. A few years later Mary married Lord Darnley. He became jealous ofRizzio, her private secretary, and, with the aid of accomplices, seized him in her presence, dragged him into an antechamber, and therestabbed him. The next year Darnley was murdered. It was believedthat Mary and the Earl of Bothwell, whom she soon married, were guiltyof the crime. The people rose and cast her into prison, and forcedher to abdicate in favor of her infant son, James VI, who eventuallybecame King of England and Scotland (1603). 396. Mary escapes to England (1568); plots against Elizabeth andProtestantism. Mary escaped and fled to England. Elizabeth, fearing she might passover to France and stir up war, confined her in Bolton Castle, Yorkshire. During her imprisonment in another stronghold, to whichshe had been transferred, she was accused of being implicated in aplot for assassinating the English Queen and seizing the reins ofgovernment in behalf of herself and the Jesuits (S378). It was, in fact, a time when the Protestant faith seemed everywheremarked for destruction. In France evil counselors had induced theKing to order a massacre of the Reformers, and on St. Batholomew's Daythousands were slain. The Pope, misinformed in the matter, ordered asolemn thanksgiving for the slaughter, and struck a gold medal tocommemorate it. Philip II of Spain, whose cold, impassive facescarcely ever relaxed into a smile, now laughed outright. Still morerecently, William the Silent, who had driven out the Catholics from apart of the Netherlands, had been assassinated by a Jesuit fanatic. Meanwhile the Pope had excommunicated Queen Elizabeth (1570) and hadreleased her subjects from allegiance to her. A fanatic nailed thisbull of excommunication to the door of the Bishop of London's palace. This bold act, for which the offender suffered death, brought mattersto a crisis. Englishmen felt that they could no longer remain halting between twoopinions. They realized that now they must resolve to take theirstand by the Queen or else by the Pope. Parliament at once retaliatedagainst the Pope by passing two stringent measures which declared ithigh treason for any one to deny the Queen's right to the crown, toname her successor, to denounce her as a heretic, or to say or doanything which should "alienate the hearts and minds of her Majesty'ssubjects from their dutiful obedience" to her. Later, the"Association, " a vigilance committee, was formed by a large number ofthe principal people of the realm to protect Elizabeth againstassassination. Not only prominent Protestants but many Catholicnoblemen joined the organization to defend the Queen at all hazards. 397. Elizabeth beheads Mary, 1587. The ominous significance of these events had their full effect on theEnglish Queen. Aroused to a sense of her danger, she signed theScottish Queen's death warrant, and Mary, after nineteen years'imprisonment, was beheaded at Fotheringay Castle. [1] [1] Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire, demolished by James I. As soon as the news of her execution was brought to Elizabeth, shebecame alarmed at the political consequences the act might have inEurope. With her usual duplicity she bitterly upbraided the ministerwho had advised it, and throwing Davidson, her secretary, into theTower, fined him 10, 000 pounds, the payment of which reduced him tobeggary. Not satisfied with this, Elizabeth even had the effrontery to write aletter of condolence to Mary's son, James VI, declaring that hismother had been beheaded by mistake! Yet facts prove that Elizabethhad not only determined to put Mary to death, but that she had urgedthose who held Mary prisoner to kill her privately. [2] [2] See "Elizabeth" in the "National Dictionary of (British)Biography. " 398. The Spanish Armada. Mary was hardly under ground when a new and greater danger threatenedthe country. At her death, the Scottish Queen, disgusted with hermean-spirited son James, [3] bequeathed her dominions, including herclaim to the English throne, to Philip II of Spain (S370). He wasthen the most powerful sovereign in Europe, ruling over a territoryequal to that of the Roman Empire in its greatest extent. [3] James had deserted his mother and accepted a pension fromElizabeth. Philip II, with the encouragement of the Pope, and with the furtherhelp of the promise of a very large sum of money from him, resolved toinvade England, conquer it, annex it to his possessions, and restorethe religion of Rome. To accomplish this, he began fitting out the"Invisible Armada, " an immense fleet of warships, intended to carrytwenty thousand soldiers, and to receive on its way reenforcements ofthirty thousand more from the Spanish army in the Netherlands. 399. Drake's Expedition; Sailing of the Armada (1588). Sir Francis Drake (S392) determined to check Philip's preparations. He heard that the enemy's fleet was gathered at Cadiz. He sailedthere, and in spite of all opposition effectually "singed the SpanishKing's beard, " as he said, by burning and otherwise destroying morethan a hundred ships. This so crippled the expedition that it had to be given up for thatyear, but the next summer a vast armament set sail. Motley[1] says itconsisted of ten squadrons, of more than one hundred and thirty ships, carrying upwards of three thousand cannon. [1] Motley's "United Netherlands, " II, 465; compare Froude's"England, " XII, 466, and Laughton's "Armada" (State Papers), pp. Xl-lvii. The impending peril thoroughly roused England. Both Catholics andProtestants rose to defend their country and their Queen. 400. The Battle, 1588. The English sea forces under Lord High Admiral Howard, of Effingham, azealous patriot, with Sir Francis Drake, who ranked second in command, were assembled at Plymouth, watching for the enemy. Whe nthelong-looked-for Spanish fleet came in sight, beacon fires were lightedon the hills to give the alarm. "For swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war flame spread; High on St. Michael's Mount it shone: it shone on Beachy Head. Far on the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern shire, Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire. " --Macaulay's "Armada. " The enemy's ships moved steadily toward the coast in the form of acrescent seven miles across; but Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh, andother noted captains, were ready to receive them. With theirfast-sailing cruisers they sailed around the unwieldy Spanishwarships, firing four shots to the enemy's one, and "harassing them asa swarm of wasps worry a bear. " Several of the Spanish vessels werecaptured and one blown up. At last the commander sailed for Calais torepair damages and take a fresh start. The English followed. Whennight came on, Drake sent eight blazing fire ships to drift down amongthe Armada as it lay at anchor. Thoroughly alarmed at the prospect ofbeing burned where they lay, the Spaniards cut their cables and madesail for the north. 401. Destruction of the Armada, 1588; Elizabeth at Tilbury and atSt. Paul's. They were hotly pursued by the English, who, having lost but a singlevessel in the fight, might have cut them to pieces, had notElizabeth's suicidal economy stinted them in body powder andprovisions. Meanwhile the Spanish fleet kept moving northward. Thewind increased to a gale, the gale to a furious storm. The commanderof the Armada attempted to go around Scotland and return home thatway; but ship after ship was driven ashore and wrecked on the wild androcky coast of western Ireland. On one strand, less than five mileslong, over a thousand corpses were counted. Those who escaped thewaves met death by the hands of the inhabitants. Of the magnificentfleet which had sailed so proudly from Spain only fifty-three vesselsreturned, and they were but half manned by exhausted crews stricken bypestilence and death. Thus ended Philip II's boasted attack onEngland. When all danger was past, Elizabeth went to Tilbury, on the Thamesbelow London, to review the troops collected there to defend thecapital. "I know, " said she, "that I have but the feeble body of awoman, but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England too. "Unhappily the niggardly Queen had half starved her brave sailors, andmany of them came home only to die. None the less Elizabeth went withsolemn pomp to St. Paul's Cathedral to offer thanks for the greatvictory, which was commemorated by a medal bearing this inscription:"God blew with his winds, and they were scattered. " The date of thedefeat of the Armada, 1588, was a turning point in English history. From that time England gradually rose, under the leadership of suchillustrious commanders as Drake, Blake, and Nelson, until she becamewhat she has ever since remained--the greatest sea power in the world(SS459, 557). 402. Insurrection in Ireland (1595). A few years later a terrible rebellion broke out in Ireland. From itspartial conquest in the time of Henry II (S159), the condition of thatisland continued to be deplorable. First, the chiefs of the nativetribes fought constantly among themselves; next, the English attemptedto force the Protestant religion upon a people who detested it;lastly, the greed and misgovernment of the rulers put a climax tothese miseries. Sir Walter Raleigh said, "The country was acommonwealth of common woe. " What made this state of things stillmore dangerous was the fact that the Catholic rulers of Spainconsidered the Irish as their natural allies, and were plotting tosend troops to that island in order to strike England a deadly sideblow when she least expected it. Elizabeth's government began a war, the object of which was "not tosubdue but to destroy. " The extermination was so merciless that theQueen herself declared that if the work of destruction went on muchlonger, "she should have nothing left but ashes and corpses to ruleover. " Then, but not till then, the starving remnant of the Irishpeople submitted, and England gained a barren victory which has eversince carried with it its own curse. 403. The First Poor Law (1601). In Elizabeth's reign the first effective English poor law was passed. It required each parish to make provision for such paupers as wereunable to work, while the able-bodied were compelled to labor fortheir own support. This measure relieved much of the distress whichhad prevailed during the three previous reigns (S354), and forms thebasis of the law in force at the present time (S607). 404. Elizabeth's Death (1603). The death of the great Queen (1603) was as sad as her life had beenbrilliant. Her favorite, Essex, Shakespeare's intimate friend, hadbeen beheaded for an attempted rebellion against her power. From thattime she grew, as she said, "heavy-hearted. " Her old friends andcounselors were dead, her people no longer welcomed her with theirformer enthusiasm. She kept a sword always within reach. Treason hadgrown so common that Hentzner, a German traveler in England, said thathe counted three hundred heads of persons, who had suffered death forthis crime, exposed on London Bridge. Elizabeth felt that her sun wasnearly set; gradually her strength declined; she ceased to leave herpalace, and sat muttering to herself all day long, "Mortua, sed nonsepulta!" (Dead, but not buried). At length she lay propped up on cushions on the floor, [1] "tired, " asshe said, "of reigning and tired of life. " In that sullen mood shedeparted to join that "silent majority" whose realm under earth isbounded by the sides of the grave. "Four days afterward, " says awriter of that time, "she was forgotten. " [1] See in the works of Delaroche his fine picture of "The Death ofQueen Elizabeth. " One sees her tomb, with her full-length, recumbent effigy, in thenorth aisle of Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, while in thesouth aisle he sees the tomb and effigy of her old rival and enemy, Mary Queen of Scots (S397). The sculptured features of both lookplacid. "After life's fitful fever they sleep well. " 405. Summary. The Elizabethan period was in every respect remarkable. It was greatin its men of thought, great in its literature, and equally great inits men of action. It was greatest, however, in its successfulresistance to the armed hand of religious oppression. "Practically thereign of Elizabeth, " as Bishop Creighton remarks, "saw Englandestablished as a Protestant country. "[2] [2] See "The Dictionary of English History" ("The Reformation"), p. 860. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 gave renewed courage to thecause of the Reformation, not only in England, but in every Protestantcountry in Europe. It meant that a movement had begun which, thoughit might be temporarily hindered, would secure to all civilizedcountries, which accepted it, the right of private judgment and ofliberty of conscience in matters of religion. General Reference Summary of the Tudor Period (1485-1603) I. Government II. Religion III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature, Learning and Art. V. General Industry and Commerce. VI. Mode ofLife, Manners, and Customs I. Government 406. Absolutism of the Crown; Free Trade; the Post Office. During a great part of the Tudor period the power of the Crown waswell-nigh absolute. Four causes contributed to this: (1) Thedestruction of a very large part of the feudal nobility by the Wars ofthe Roses. [1] (2) The removal of many of the higher clergy from theHouse of Lords. [2] (3) The creation of a new nobility dependant on theking. (4) The desire of the great body of the people for "peace at anyprice. " [1] In the last Parliament before the Wars of the Roses (1454) therewere fifty-three temporal peers; at the beginning of the reign ofHenry VII (1485) there were only twenty-nine. [2] Out of a total of barely ninety peers, Henry VIII, by thesuppression of the monasteries, removed upwards of thirty-six abbotsand priors. He, however, added five new bishops, which made the Houseof Lords number about fifty-nine. Under Henry VII and Elizabeth the courts of Star Chamber and HighCommission exercised arbitrary power, and often inflicted cruelpunishments for offenses against the government, and for heresy or thedenial of the religious supremacy of the sovereign. Henry VII established a treaty of free trade, called the "GreatIntercourse, " between England and the Netherlands. Under Elizabeththe first postmaster-general entered upon his duties, though the postoffice was nott fully established until the reign of her successor. II. Religion 407. Establishment of the Protestant Church of England. Henry VIII suppressed the Roman Catholic monasteries, seized theirproperty, and ended by declaring the Church of England independent ofthe Pope. Thenceforth he assumed the title of Supreme Head of theNational Church. Under Edward VI Protestantism was established bylaw. Mary led a reaction in favor of Roman Catholicism, but hersuccessor, Elizabeth, reinstated the Protestant form of worship. Under Elizabeth the Puritans demanded that the National Church becompletely "purified" from all Catholic forms and doctrines. Severelaws were passed under Elizabeth for the punishment of both Catholicsand Puritans who failed to conform to the Church of England. III. Military Affairs 408. Arms and Armor; the Navy. Though gunpowder had been in use for two centuries, yet full suits ofarmor were still worn during a great part of the period. An improvedmatchlock gun, with the pistol, an Italian invention, and heavy cannonwere introduced. Until the death of Henry VIII foot soldierscontinued to be armed with the long bow; but under Edward VI thatweapon was superseded by firearms. The principal wars of the periodwere with Scotland, France, and Spain, the last being by far the mostimportant, and ending with the destruction of the Armada. Henry VIII established a permanent navy, and built several vessels ofupwards of one thousand tons register. The largest men-of-war underElizabeth carried forty cannon and a crew of several hundred men. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 409. Schools. The revival of learning gave a great impetus toeducation. The money which had once been given to monasteries was nowspent in building schools, colleges, and hospitals. Dean Coletestablished the free grammar school of St. Paul's, several collegeswere endowed at Oxford and Cambridge, and Edward VI opened upwards offorty charity schools in different parts of the country, of which theChrist's Hospital or "Blue-Coat School, " originally established inLondon, is one of the best known. Improved textbooks were rpeparedfor the schools, and Lily's "Latin Grammar, " first published in 1513for the use of Dean Colet's school, continued a standard work for overthree hundred years. 410. Literature; the Theater. The latter part of the period deserves the name of the "Golden Age ofEnglish Literature. " More, Sydney, Hooker, Jewell, and Bacon were theleading prose writers; while Shakespeare, Spenser, Marlowe, and Jonsonrepresented the poets. In 1574 a public theater was erected in London, in which Shakespearewas a stockholder. Not very long after, a second was opened. At boththese, the Globe and the Blackfriars, the great dramatist appeared inhis own plays, and in such pieces as "King John, " "Richard the Third, "and the Henrys, he taught his countrymen more of the true spirit andmeaning of the nation's history than they had ever learned before. His historical plays are chiefly based on Holinshed and Hall, twonoted chroniclers of the period. 411. Progress of Science; Superstitions. The discoveries of Columbus, Cabot, Magellan, and other navigators, had proved the earth to be a globe. Copernicus, a Prussianastronomer, now demonstrated the fact that it both turns on its axisand revolves around the sun, but the discovery was not accepted untilmany years later. On the other hand, astrology, witchcraft, and the transmutation ofcopper and lead into gold were generally believed in. In preachingbefore Queen Elizabeth, Bishop Jewell urged that stringent measures betaken with witches and sorcerers, saying that through their demoniacalacts "your Grace's subjects pine away even unto death, their colorfadeth, their flesh rotteth. " Lord Bacon and other eminent men heldthe same belief, and many persons eventually suffered death for thepractice of witchcraft. 412. Architecture. The Gothic, or Pointed, style of architecture reached its final stage(the Perpendicular) in the early part of this period. The firstexamples of it have already been mentioned at the close of thepreceding period (S324). After the close of Henry VII's reign noattempts were made to build any grand church edifices until St. Paul'sCathedral was rebuilt by Wren, in the seventeenth century, in theItalian, or classical, style. In the latter part of the Tudor period many stately country houses[1]and grand city mansions were built, ornamented with carved woodworkand bay windows. Castles were no longer constructed, and, as thecountry was at peace, many of those which had been built wereabandoned, though a few castellated mansions like Thornbury, Gloucestershire, were built in Henry VIII's time. The streets ofLondon still continued to be very narrow, and the houses, with theirprojecting stories, were so near together at the top that neighborsliving on opposite sides of the street might almost shake hands fromthe upper windows. [1] Such as Hatfield House, Knowle Hall, Hardwick Hall, and part ofHaddon Hall; and, in London, Crosby Hall and other noble mansions. V. General Industry and Commerce 413. Foreign Trade. The eographical discoveries of this period gave a great impulse toforeign trade with Africe, Brazil, and North America. The wool tradecontinued to increase, and also commerce with the East Indies. In1600 the East India Company was established, thus laying thefoundation of England's Indian empire, and ships now brought cargoesdirect to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Francis Drake did a flourishing business in plundering Spanishsettlements in America and Spanish treasure ships on the sea, and SirJohn Hawkins became wealthy through the slave trade, --kidnapingnegroes on the coast of Guinea, and selling them to the Spanish WestIndia colonies. The domestic trade of England was still carried onlargely by great annual fairs. Trade, however, was much deranged bythe quantities of debased money issued under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Elizabeth reformed the currency, and ordered the mint to send out coinwhich no longer had a lie stamped on its face, thereby setting anexample to all future governments, whether monarchical or republican. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs 414. Life in the Country and the City. In the cities this was an age of luxury; but on the farms the laborerwas glad to get a bundle of straw for a bed, and a wooden trencher toeat from. Vegetables were scarcely known, and fresh meat was eatenonly by the well to do. The cottages were built of sticks and mud, without chimneys, and were nearly as bare of furniture as the wigwamof an American Indian. The rich kept several mansions and country houses, but paid littleattention to cleanliness; and when the filth and vermin in one becameunendurable, they left it "to sweeten, " as they said, and went toanother of their estates. The dress of the nobles continued to be ofthe most costly materials and the gayest colors. At table a great variety of dishes were served on silver plate, butfingers were still used in place of forks. Tea and coffee wereunknown, and beer was the usual drink at breakfast and supper. Carriages were seldom used, except by Queen Elizabeth, and mostjourneys were performed on horseback. Merchandise was also generallytransported on pack horses, the roads rarely being good enough for thepassage of wagons. The principal amusements were the theater, dancing, masquerading, bull and bear baiting (worrying a bull or bearwith dogs), cockfighting, and gambling. Ninth Period[1] "It is the nature of the devil of tyranny to tear and rend the bodywhich he leaves. "--Macaulay Beginning with the Divine Right of Kings and Ending with the DivineRight of the People King or Parliament? House of Stuart (1603-1649, 1660-1714) James I, 1603-1625Charles I, 1625-1649"The Commonwealth and Protectorate, " 1649-1660Charles II, 1660-1685James II, 1685-1689William and Mary, [2] 1689-1702Anne, 1702-1714 [1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the ClassifiedList of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will befound in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all othersare in parentheses. [2] House of Orange-Stuart. 415. Accession of James I. Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor family (S376). By birth, JamesStuart, only son of Mary STuart, Queen of Scots, and great-grandson ofMargaret, sister of Henry VIII, was the nearest heir to the crown. [3]He was already King of Scotland under the title of James VI. He now, by act of Parliament, became James I of England. By his accession thetwo countries were united under one sovereign, but each retained itsown Parliament, its own National Church, and its own laws. [4] The newmonarch found himself ruler over three kingdoms, each professing adifferent religion. Puritanism prevailed in Scotland, Catholicism inIreland, Anglicanism or Episcopacy in England. [3] See Genealogical Table, p. 207. [4] On his coins and in his proclamations James styled himself King ofGreat Britain, France, and Ireland. But the term "Great Britain" didnot properly come into use until somewhat more than a hundred yearslater, when, by an act of Parliament under Anne, Scotland and Englandwere legally united. The English Parliament refused to grant free trade to Scotland anddenied to the people of that counttry, even if born after James I cameto the English throne (or "Post Nati, " as they were called), therights and privileges possessed by natives of England. 416. The King's Appearances and Character. James was unfortunate in his birth. Neither his father, Lord Darnley, nor his mother had high qualities of character. The murder of Mary'sItalian secretary in her own palace, and almost in her own presence(S395), gave the Queen a shock which left a fatal inheritance ofcowardice to her son. Throughout his life he could not endure thesight of a drawn sword. If we can trust common report, his personalappearance was by no means impressive. He had a feeble, rickety body, he could not walk straight, his tongue was too large for his mouth, and he had goggle eyes. Through fear of assassination he habituallywore thickly padded and quilted clothes, usually green in color. Hewas a man of considerable shrewdness, but of a small mind, and ofunbounded conceit. His Scotch tutor had crammed him with muchill-digested learning, so that he gave the impression of a maneducated beyond his intellect. His favorites used to flatter him bytelling him that he was the "British Solomon"; but the Frenchambassador came nearer to the mark when he called him "the wisest foolin Christendom. " The King wrote on witchcraft, kingcraft, and theology, and composednumerous commonplace verses. He also wrote a sweeping denunciation ofthe new plant called tobacco, which Raleigh (S392) had brought fromAmerica, and whose smoke now began to perfume, or, according to James, to poison, the air of England. His Majesty had all the superstitionsof the age, and one of his earliest acts was the passage of a statutepunishing witchcraft with death. Under that law many a wretched womanperished on the scaffold, whose only crime was that she was old, ugly, and friendless. 417. The Great Puritan Petition (1603). During the latter part of Elizabeth's reign, the Puritans (S378) inEngland had increased so rapidly that Archbishop Whitgift told Jameshe was amazed to find how "the vipers" had multiplied. The Puritansfelt that the Reformation had not been sufficiently thorough. They complained that many of the forms and ceremonies of the Church ofEngalnd were by no means in harmony with the Scriptures. Many of themwished also to change the Episcopal form of Church government, andinstead of having bishops appointed by the King, to adopt the moredemocratic method of having presbyters or elders chosen by thecongregation. While James was on the way from Scotland to London to receive thecrown, the Puritans presented the "Millenary Petition" to him. It wasso called because it purported to have a thousand signers. Theministers presenting it asked that they might be permitted to preachwithout wearing the white gown called a surplice, to baptize withoutmaking the sign of the cross on the child's forehead, and to performthe marriage ceremony without using the ring. Bishop Hooker and LordBacon had pleaded for a certain degree of toleration for the Puritans. They even quoted the words of Christ: "He that is not against us isfor us. " But the King had no patience with such a plea. 418. Hampton Court Conference (1604). The King convened a conference at Hampton Court, near London, toconsider the Petition, or rather to make a pedantic display of hisown learning. The probability that he would grant the petitioners'request was small. James had come to England disgusted with theviolence of the Scotch Presbyterians or Puritans (S378), especiallysince Andrew Melville, one of their leading ministers in Edinburgh, had seized his sleeve at a public meeting and addressed him, with asomewhat brutal excess of truth, as "God's silly vassal. "[1] [1] Gardiner in the "Dictionary of National (British) Biography, ""James I, " thinks that by "silly" Melville meant "weak. " But that isnot much improvement. But the new sovereign had a still deeper reason for his antipathy tothe Puritans. He saw that their doctrine of equality in the Churchnaturally led to that equality in the State. If they objected toEpiscopal government in the one, might they not presently object toroyal government in the other? Hence to all their arguments heanswered with his favorite maxim, "No bishop, no king, " meaning thatthe two must stand or fall together. At the Hampton Court Conference all real freedom of discussion waspractically prohibited. The Conference, however, had one good result, for the King ordered a new and revised translation of the Bible to bemade (SS254, 357). It was published a few years later (1611). Thistranslation of the Scriptures excels all others in simplicity, dignity, and beauty of language. After more than three hundred yearsit still remains the version used in the great majority of Protestantchurches and Protestant homes wherever English is spoken. James regarded the Conference as a success. He had refuted thePuritans, as he believed, with much Latin and some Greek. He ended bydeclaiming against them with such unction that one enthusiastic bishopdeclared that his Majesty must be specially inspired by the HolyGhost! He closed the meeting by imprisoning the ten persons who had presentedthe petition, on the ground that it tended to sedition and rebellion. Henceforth, the King's attitude toward the Puritans (S378) wasunmistakable. "I will make them conform, " said he, "or I will harrythem out of the land" (S422). Accordingly, a law was enacted which required every curate to acceptthe Thirty-Nine Articles (S381) and the Prayer Book of the Church ofEngland (S381) without reservation. This act drove several hundredclergymen from the Established Church. 419. The Divine Right of Kings, 1604; the Protest of the Commons;"Favorites. " As if with the desire of further alienating his people, James nowconstantly proclaimed the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings. Thistheory, which was unknown to the English constitution, declared thatthe King derived his power and right to rule directly from God, and inno way from the people. [1] "It is atheism and blasphemy, " he said, "to dispute what God can do, ... So it is presumption and highcontempt in a subject to dispute what a king can do. " [1] James's favorite saying was, "A Deo rex, a rege lex" (God makesthe king, the king makes the law). He boasted that kings might, as hedeclared, "make what liked them law and gospel. " In making these utterances James seems to have entirely forgotten thathe owed his throne to that act of the English Parliament whichaccepted him as Elizabeth's successor (S415). In his exalted positionas head of the nation, he boasted of his power much like the dwarf inthe story, who, perched on the giant's shoulders, cries out, "See howbig I am!" Acting on this assumption, James levied customs duties on goodswithout asking the consent of Parliament; violated the privileges ofthe House of Commons; rejected members who had been legally elected;and imprisoned those who dared to criticize his course. The contestwas kept up with bitterness during the whole reign. Toward its close James truckled meanly to the power of Spain, hopingthereby to marry his son Charles to a Spanish princess. Later, hemade a feeble and futile effort to help the Protestant party in thegreat Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which had begun between theCatholics and Protestants in Germany. The House of Commons imploredthe King not to humiliate himself and the nation at the feet ofSpain. The King replied by warning the House not to meddle withmatters which did not concern them, and denied their right to freedomof speech. The Commons solemnly protested, and James seized theirofficial journal, and with his own hands tore out the record of theprotest (1621). Yet, notwithstanding his arbitrary character, James was easily managedby those who would flatter his vanity. For this reason he was alwaysunder the control of worthless favorites like Carr, Earl of Somerset, or Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. These men were the secret powerbehind the throne, and they often dictated the policy of the Crown. 420. The Gunpowder Plot (1605). The King's arbitrary spirit angered the House of Commons, many of whomwere Puritans (S378). They believed that the King secretly favoredthe Roman Catholics; and for this reason they increased the stringencyof the laws against persons of that religion. To vindicate himselffrom this suspicion, the King proceeded to execute the new statuteswith rigor. As a rule, the Catholic were loyal subjects. We haveseen that when Spain threatened to invade the country, they fought asvaliantly in its defense as the Protestants themselves (SS399, 400). Many of them were now ruined by enormous fines, while the priests weredriven from the realm. One of the sufferers by these unjust measures was Robert Catesby, aCatholic gentleman of good position. He, with the aid of a Yorkshireman, named Guy Fawkes, and about a dozen more, formed a plot to blowup the Parliament House on the day the King was to open the session(November 5, 1605). Their intention, after they had thus summarilydisposed of the government, was to induce the Catholics to rise andproclaim a new sovereign. The plot was discovered, the conspiratorswere executed, and the Catholics treated with greater severity thanever (S382). 421. American Colonies, Virginia, 1607. A London joint-stock company of merchants and adventurers, orspeculators, established the first permanent English colony inAmerica, on the coast of Virginia, in 1607, at a place which theycalled Jamestown, in honor of the King. (See map facing p. 222. ) Thecolony was wholly under the control of the Crown. The religion was to be that of the Church of England. Most of thosewho went out were described as "gentlemen, " that is, persons notbrought up to manual labor. Fortunately the eneergy and determinedcourage of Captain John Smith, who was the real soul of theenterprise, saved it from miserable failure. Negro slavery, which in those days touched no man's conscience, wasintroduced, and by its means great quantities of tobacco were raisedfor export. The settlement grew in population and wealth, and at theend of twelve years (1619) it had secured the privilege of making itsown local laws, thus becoming practically a self-governing community. 422. The Pilgrims; the New Power. The year after the Virginia legislature was established, another bandof emigrants went out from England, not west, but east; not to seekprosperity, but greater religious freedom. James's declaration thathe would make all men conform to the Established Church, or drive themout of the land, was having its due effect (S418). Those who continued to refuse to conform were fined, cast into filthyprisons, beaten, and often half starved, so that the old and feeblesoon died. Strange to say, this kind of treatment did not win overthe Puritans to the side of the bishops and the King. On thecontrary, it set many of them to thinking more seriously than ever ofthe true relations of the government to religion. The result was that not a few came to the conclusion that each body ofChristians had the right to form a religious society of its own, wholly independent of the state. That branch of the Puritans (S378)who held this opinion got the name of Independents, or Separatists, because they were determined to separate from the Established Churchof England and conduct their worship and govern their religioussocieties as they deemed best. In the little village of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire (see map opposite), Postmaster William Brewster, William Bradford, John Carver, and someothers, mostly farmers and poor men of the neighborhood, had organizedan independent religious society with John Robinson for its minister. After a time they became convinced that so long as they remained inEngland they could never be safe from persecution. They thereforeresolved to leave their native country. They could not get a royallicense to go to America, and for this reason they emigrated toHolland, where all men were free to establish societies for theworship of God in their own manner. With much difficulty and dangerthey managed to escape to that country. After remaining in Holland about twelve years, a part of themsucceeded in obtaining from King James the privilege of emigrating toAmerica. [1] A London trading company, which was sending out anexpedition for fish and furs, agreed to furnish the Pilgrims passageby the Mayflower, though on terms so hard that the poor exiles saidthe "conditions were fitter for thieves and bondslaves than for honestmen. " [1] See "Why did the Pilgrim Fathers come to New England?" by EdwinD. Mead, in the New Englander, XLI, 711. These Pilgrims, or wanderers, set forth in 1620 for that New Worldbeyond the sea, which they hoped would redress the wrongs of the Old. Landing at Plymouth, in Massachusetts, they established a colony onthe basis of "equal laws for the general good. " Ten years later, JohnWinthrop, a Puritan gentleman of wealth from Groton, Suffolk (see mapopposite), followed with a large number of emigrants and settledBoston (1630). During the next decade no less than twenty thousandEnglishmen found a home in America. But to the little band thatembarked under Bradford and Brewster in the Mayflower, the scene ofwhose landing at Plymouth is painted on the walls of the Houses ofParliament, belongs the first credit of the great undertaking. Of that enterprise one of their brethren in England wrote in the timeof their severest distress, with prophetic foresight, "Let it not begrievous to you that you have been instruments to break the ice forothers; the honor shall be yours to the world's end. " From this timeforward the American coast south of the Bay of Fundy was settledmainly by English emigrants, and in the course of a little more than acentury (1620-1733), the total number of colonies had reachedthirteen. Thus the nation of Great Britain was beginning to expandinto that *greater* Britain which it had discovered and planted beyondthe sea. Meanwhile a new power had arisen in England. It was mightier eventhan that of kings, because greater for both good and evil. Itsinfluence grew up very gradually. It was part of the fruit ofCaxton's work undertaken nearly two centuries earlier (S306). Thispower appeared in the spring of 1622, under the name of the _WeeklyNews_, --the first regular newspaper. 423. The Colonization of Ireland (1611). While the colonization of America was going on, King James was himselfplanning a very different kind of colony in the northeast of Ireland. The greater part of the province of Ulster, which had been the sceneof the rebellion under Elizabeth (S402), had been seized by theCrown. The King now granted these lands to settlers from Scotland andEngland. The city of London founded a colony which they calledLondonderry, and by this means Protestantism was firmly and finallyestablished in the north of the island. 424. The "Addled Parliament"; the New Stand taken by the House ofCommons (1610-1614). The House of Commons at this period began to slowly recover the powerit had lost under the Tudors (S350). James suffered from a chroniclack of money. He was obliged to apply to Parliament to supply hiswants (1614), but that body was determined to grant nothing withoutreforms. It laid down the principle, to which it firmly adhered, thatthe King should not have the nation's coin unless he would promise toright the nation's wrongs. After several weeks of angry discussion the King dissolved what wasnicknamed the "Addled Parliament, " because its enemies accused it ofhaving accomplished nothing. In reality it had accomplished much forthough it had not passed a single bill, it had shown by its determinedattitude the growing stregnth of the people. For the next seven yearsJames ruled without summoning a Parliament. In order to obtain meansto support his army in Ireland, the King created a new title of rank, that of baronet, [1] which he granted to any one who would payliberally for it. As a last resort to get funds he compelled allpersons having an income of forty[2] pounds or more a year, derivedfrom landed property, to accept knighthood (thus incurring feudalobligations and payments [S150]) or purchase exemption by a heavyfine. [1] Baronet: This title (S263, note 1) does not confer the right to aseat in the House of Lords. A baronet is designated as "Sir, "e. G. Sir John Franklin. [2] This exaction was ridiculed by the wits of the time in theselines: "He that hat forty pounds per annum Shall be promoted from the plow; His wife shall take the wall of her grannum*-- Honor's sold so dog-cheap now. " The distraint of knighthood, as it was called, began at least as farback as Edward I, 1278. *Take precedence of her grandmother. 425. Impeachment of Lord Bacon (1621). When James did finally summon a Parliament (1621), it met in a sternmood. The House of Commons impeached Lord Bacon (S393) for havingtaken bribes in lawsuits tried before him as judge. The House ofLords convicted him. He confessed the crime, but pleaded extenuatingcircumstances, adding, "I beseech your lordships to be merciful unto abroken reed"; but Bacon had been in every respect a servile tool ofJames, and no mercy was granted. Parliament imposed a fine of 40, 000pounds, with imprisonment. Had the sentence been fully executed, itwould have caused his utter ruin. The King, however, interposed, andhis favorite escaped with a few days' confinement in the Tower. 426. Execution of Sir Walter Raleigh. Meanwhile Sir Walter Raleigh (S392) had been executed on a charge oftreason. He had been a prisoner in the Tower for many years(1603-1616), accused of having plotted against the King. [3] Influencedby greed for gain, James released him to go on an expedition in searchof gold to replenish the royal coffers. Raleigh, contrary to theKing's orders, came into collision with the Spaniards on the coast ofSouth America. [1] He failed in his enterprise, and brought backnothing. Raleigh was especially hated by Spain, not only on accountof the part he had taken in the defeat of the Armada (S400), but alsofor his subsequent attacks on Spanish treasure ships and property. [3] At the beginning of the reign two plots were discovered: one, called the "Main Plot, " aimed to change the government and perhaps toplace Arabella Stuart, cousin of James, on the throne. The object ofthe second conspiracy, called the "Bye Plot, " was to obtain religioustoleration. Raleigh was accused of having been implicated in the MainPlot. [1] It is said that James had treacherously informed the Spanishambassador of Raleigh's voyage, so that the collision was inevitable. The King of that country now demanded vengeance, and James, in orderto get a pretext for his execution, revived the sentence which hadbeen passed on Raleigh fifteen years before. He doubtless hoped that, by sacrificing Raleigh, he might secure the hand of the daughter ofthe King of Spain for his son, Prince Charles. Raleigh died as SirThomas More did (S351), his last words a jest at death. His deeperfeelings found expression in the lines which he wrote on the fly leafof his Bible the night before his judicial murder: "Even such is Time, that takes in trust Our youth, our joys, our all we have, And pays us but with age and dust; Who in the dark and silent grave, When we have wandered all our ways, Shuts up the story of our days. Buy from this earth, this grave, this dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust!" 427. Death of James. James died suddenly a few years later, a victim of sloth, drunkenness, and gluttony. He had taught his son, Prince Charles, to believe thatthe highest power on earth was the royal will. It was a terribleinheritance for the young man, for just as he was coming to thethrone, the people were beginning to insist that their will should berespected. 428. Summary. Three chief events demand our attention in this reign. First, theincreased power and determined attitude of the House of Commons. Secondly, the growth of the Puritan and Independent parties inreligion. Thirdly, the establishment of permanent, self-governingcolonies in Virginia and New England, destined in time to unite withothers and become a new and independent nation, --the AmericanRepublic. Charles I--1625-1649 429. Accession of Charles; Result of the Doctrine of the Divine Rightof Kings. The doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings, which had been so zealouslyput forth by James (S419), bore its full and fatal fruit in the careerof his son. Unlike his father, Charles was by nature a gentleman. Inhis private and personal relations he was conscientious andirreproachable; in public matters he was exactly the reverse. This singular contrast--this double character, as it were--arose fromthe fact that, as a man, Charles felt himself bound by truth andhonor, but, as a sovereign, he considered himself superior to suchobligations. In all his dealings with the nation he seems to haveacted on the principle that the people had no rights which kings werebound to respect. 430. The King's Two Mistakes at the Outset. Charles I began his reign with two mistakes. First, he insisted onretaining the Duke of Buckingham, his father's favorite (S419), as hischief adviser, though the Duke was, for good reasons, generallydistrusted and disliked. Next, shortly after his accession, Charlesmarried Henrietta Maria, a French Catholic princess. The majority ofthe English people hated her religion, and her extravagant habits soongot the King into trouble. To meet her incessant demands for money, and to carry on a petty warwith Spain, and later with France, he was obliged to ask Parliamentfor funds. Parliament declined to grant him the supply he demandedunless he would redress certain grievances of long standing. Charlesrefused and dissolved that body. 431. The Second Parliament (1626); the King extorts Loans. Necessity, however, compelled the King to call a new Parliament. Whenit met, the Commons, under the lead of Sir John Eliot and othereminent men, proceeded to draw up articles of impeachment, accusingthe Duke of Buckingham of mismanagement (SS243, 425). To save hisfavorite from being brought to trial, the King dissolved Parliament(1626), and as no supplies of money had been voted, Charles nowproceeded to levy illegal taxes and to extort illegal loans. Sir JohnEliot, Sir Edmund Hampden, cousin of the famous John Hampden (S436), and Thomas Wentworth refused (1627) to lend his Majesty the sum askedfor. For this refusal they were thrown into prison. This led toincreased agitation and discontent. At length the King found himselfagain forced to summon Parliament; to the Parliament, Eliot andWentworth, with others who sympathized with them, were elected. 432. ThePetition of Right, 1628. Shortly after assembling, the House of Commons, led by Sir ThomasWentworth and John Pym, drew up the Petition of Right, which passedthe Lords and was presented to the King for his signature. ThePetition was a law reaffirming some of the chief provisions of theGreat Charter, which the nation, more than four centuries earlier, hadextorted from King John (S199). It stipulated in particular, that notaxes whatever should be levied without the consent of Parliament, andthat no one should be unlawfully imprisoned for refusing to pay suchtaxes. In the petition there was not an angry word, but as a memberof the Commons declared, "We say no more than what a worm trodden uponwould say if he could speak: I pray thee tread on me no more. " 433. Charles signs the Petition of Right, 1628; but he revivesMonopolies. Charles refused to sign the Petition; but finding that money could begot on no other terms, he at length gave his signature, 1628. [1] Butfor Charles to pledge his royal word to the nation meant its directand open violation. The King now revived the "monopolies, " which hadbeen abolished under Elizabeth (S388). [1] Petition of Right: See Summary of Constitutional History in theAppendix, p. Xvi, S17, and p. Xxix. By these grants certain persons bought the sole right of dealing innearly every article of food, drink, fuel, and clothing. The Commonsdenounced this outrage. One member said: "The `monopolists' haveseized everything. They sip in our cup, they sup in our dish, theysit by our fire. " 434. Eliot's Remonstrance (1629). Sir John Eliot (S431) drew up a remonstrance against these new acts ofroyal tyranny, but the Speaker of the House of Commons, acting underthe King's order, refused to put the measure to vote, and endeavoredto adjourn. Several members sprang forward and held him in his chair until theresolutions were passed, which declared that whoever levied or paidany taxes not voted by Parliament, or attempted to make any change inreligion, was an enemy to the kingdom. In revenge Charles sent Eliotto close confinement in the Tower. He died there three years later, amartyr in the cause of liberty. 435. The King rules without Parliament; "Thorough. " For the next eleven years (1629-1640) the King ruled without aParliament. The obnoxious Buckingham (S431) had led an expeditionagainst France which resulted in miserable failure. He was aboutsetting out on a second expedition to aid the Huguenots, who hadrebelled against the French King, when he was assassinated (1628). His successor was Sir Thomas Wentworth, who later (1640) became Earlof Strafford. Wentworth had signed the Petition of Right (S432), buthe was now a renegade to liberty, and wholly devoted to the King. Bymeans of the Court of Star Chamber (S330) and his scheme called"Thorough, " which meant that he would stop at nothing to make Charlesabsolute, Strafford labored to establish a complete despotism. Archbishop Laud worked with Strafford through the High CommissionCourt (S382). Together, the two exercised a crushing and mercilesssystem of political and religious tyranny; the Star Chamber fining andimprisoning those who refused the illegal demands for money made uponthem, the High Commission Court showing itself equally zealous inpunishing those who could not conscientiously conform to theEstablished Church of England. [1] [1] To strengthen the hands of Archbishop Laud and to secure absoluteuniformity of faith, Charles issued (1628) a Declaration (still foundin the English editions of the Book of Common Prayer), which forbadeany one to understand or explain the Thirty-Nine Articles (S383) inany sense except that established by the bishops and the King. Charles exasperated the Puritans (S378) still further by reissuing(1633) his father's Declaration of Sunday Sports, which had neverreally been enforced. This Declaration encouraged parishioners todance, play games, and practice archery in the churchyards afterdivine service. Laud used it as a test, and turned all clergymen outof their livings who refused to read it from their pulpits. When thePuritans finally got the upper hand (1644) they publicly burned theDeclaration. 436. "Ship Money"; John Hampden refuses to pay it, 1637. To obtain means with which to equip a standing army, the King forcedthe whole country to pay a tax known as "ship money, " on the pretextthat it was needed to free the English coast from the depredations ofAlgerine pirates. During previous reigns an impost of this kind onthe coast towns in time of war might have been considered legitimate, since its original object was to provide ships for the nationaldefense. In time of peace, however, such a demand could not be rightfully made, especially on the inland towns, as the Petition of Right (S432)expressly provided that no money should be demanded from the countrywithout the consent of its representatives in Parliament. JohnHampden, a wealthy farmer in Buckinghamshire, refused to pay thetwenty shillings required from him. He did not grudge the money, buthe would not tamely submit to have even that trifling sum taken fromhim contrary to law. The case was brought to trial (1637), and thecorrupt judges decided for the King. 437. Hampden and Cromwell endeavor to leave the Country. Meanwhile John Winthrop with many other Puritans emigrated to Americato escape oppression. According to tradition John Hampden (S436) andhis cousin, Oliver Cromwell, who was a member of the last Parliament, embarked on a vessel in the Thames for New England. But it is saidthat they were prevented from sailing by the King's order. The twofriends remained to teach the despotic sovereign a lesson whichneither he nor England ever forgot. [1] [1] Macaulay's "Essay on Hampden, " Guizot's "English Revolution, " andother well-known authorities, relate the proposed sailing of Hampdenand Cromwell, but several recent writers question its truth. 438. The Difficulty with the Scottish Church (1637). The King determined to force the use of a prayer book, similar to thatused in the English Church (S381), on the Scotch Puritans. But nosooner had the Dean of Edinburgh opened the book than a general cryarose in the church, "A Pope, a Pope! Antichrist! Stone him!" When thebishops endeavored to appease the tumult, the enraged congregationclapped, stamped, and yelled. Again the dean tried to read a prayer from the hated book, when an oldwoman hurled her stool at his head, shouting, "D'ye mean to saymass[1] at my lug [ear]?" Riots ensued, and eventually the Scotchsolemnly bound themselves by a Covenant to resist all attempts tochange their religion. The King resolved to force his prayer book onthe Covenanters[2] at the point of the bayonet. [1] Mass: here used for the Roman Catholic church service. [2] The first Covenanters were the Scottish leaders, who, in 1557, bound themselves by a solemn covenant to overthrow all attempts toreestablish the Catholic religion in Scotland; when Charles Iundertook to force the Scotch to accept Episcopacy the Puritan partyin Scotland drew up a new covenant (1638) to resist it. But he had no money to pay his army, and the "Short Parliament, " whichhe summoned in the spring of 1640, refused to grant any unless theKing would redress the nation's grievances. 439. The "Long Parliament, " 1640; Impeachment of Strafford and Laud;the "Grand Remonstrance. " In the autumn Charles summoned that memorable Parliament which met inNovember of 1640. It sat almost continuously for thirteen years, andso got the name of the "Long Parliament. "[3] This new Parliament wasmade up of three parties: the Church of England party, thePresbyterian party, and the Independents (S422). The spirit of thisbody soon showed itself. John Pym (S432), the leader of the House ofCommons, demanded the impeachment of Strafford (S435) for high treasonand despotic oppression. He was tried and sentenced to execution. The King refused to sign the death warrant, but Strafford himselfurged him to do so in order to appease the people. Charles, frightened at the tumult that had arisen, and entreated by his wife, finally put his hand to the paper, and thus sent his most faithfulservant to the block. Parliament next charged Archbishop Laud (S435) with attempting tooverthrow the Protestant religion. It condemned him to prison, andultimately to death. Next, it abolished the Star Chamber and the HighCommission Court (S435). It next passed the Triennial Act, [1] a billrequiring Parliament to be summoned once in three years, and also astatute forbidding the collection of "ship money" unless authorized byParliament. [1] The Triennial Act was repealed (in form only) in 1664; it wasreenacted in 1694; in 1716 it was superseded by the Septennial Act(S535). Under the leadership of Pym, it followed this by drawing up the "GrandRemonstrance, "[2] which was printed and circulated throughout thecountry. The "Remonstrance" set forth the faults of the King'sgovernment, while it declared utter distrust of his policy. Cromwelldid not hesitate to say that if the House of Commons had failed toadopt and print the "Remonstrance, " he would have left England neverto return. The radicals in the House next made an ineffectual attemptto pass the "Root and Branch Bill, " for the complete destruction--"root and branch"--of the Established Church of England. Finally, theHouse enacted a law forbidding the dissolution of the presentParliament except by its own consent. [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xvii, S19. 440. The King attempts to arrest Five Members (1642). The parliamentary leaders had entered into communication with theScots and so laid themselves open to a charge of treason. It wasrumored, too, that they were about to take a still bolder step andimpeach the Queen for having conspired with the Catholics and theIrish to destroy the liberties of the country. No one knew betterthan Charles how strong a case could be made out against his frivolousand unprincipled consort. Driven to extremities, Charles determined to seize the five members, John Pym, John Hampden (SS432, 436), and three others, who headed theopposition. [3] The King commanded the House of Commons to give them upfor trial. The request was not complied with and the Queen urgedCharles to take them by force, saying, "Go along, you coward, and pullthose rascals out by the ears!" Thus taunted, the King went on thenext day to the House of Parliament with a company of soldiers toseize the members. They had been forewarned, and had left the House, taking refuse in the "city, " which showed itself then, as always, onthe side of liberty (S34, note 1). Leaving his soldiers at the door, the King entered the House of Commons. Seeing that the five memberswere absent, the King turned to the Speaker and asked where theywere. The Speaker, kneeling before the King, answered, "May it pleaseyour Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in thisplace but as this House is pleased to direct me. " Vexed that he couldlearn nothing further, Charles left the hall amid ominous cries of"Privilege! privilege!"[1] [3] The full list was Hampden, Pym, Hollis, Haselrig, and Strode, towhich a sixth, Mandeville, was added later. Copley's fine painting ofthe "Attempted Arrest" is in the Boston Public Library. [1] Privilege:the privilege of Parliament to debate all questions exempt from royalinterference. 441. The Great Civil War, 1642-1649, between the King and Parliament. The King, baffled in his purpose, resolved to coerce Parliament bymilitary force. He left London in 1642, never to return until he cameas a prisoner, and was delivered into the custody of that legislativebody that he had insulted and defied. Parliament now attempted tocome to an understanding with the King. There was then no standing army in England, but each county and largetown had a body of militia, formed of citizens who were occasionallymustered for drill. This militia was under the control of the King. Parliament insisted on his resigning that control to them. Charlesrefused to give up his undoubted constitutional right in the matter, and raised the royal flag at Nottingham, August, 1642. Parliamentthen organized an army of its own, and the war began. 442. Cavaliers and Roundheads. It opened in the autumn of that year (1642) with the battle ofEdgehill, Warwickshire, and was at first favorable to the King. Onhis side were a majority of the nobility, the clergy and the countrygentlemen. They were mainly members of the Church of England and wereknown collectively as Cavaliers, from their dashing and daringhorsemanship. Their leader was Prince Rupert, a nephew of Charles. [1] [1] See "A charge with Prince Rupert, " _Atlantic Monthly_, III, 725. On the side of Parliament were the shopkeepers, small farmers andlandowners, with a considerable number of men of high rank; as a rulethey were Puritans (S378). The King's party nicknamed them"Roundheads, " because, despising the long locks and effeminateringlets worn by the Cavaliers, they cut their hair short so that itshowed the shape of the head. [2] Essex and Fairfax were the firstleaders of the "Roundheads"; later, Cromwell became their commander. [2] "Those roundheaded dogs that bawled against bishops, " said theCavaliers. 443. How the Country was divided; Rise of Political Newspapers. Taking England as a whole, we may say that the southeastern half, thatis, what was then the richest part of England, with London and most ofthe other large towns, was against the King, and that the southwesternhalf, with most of the North, was for him. (See map opposite. ) Eachside made great sacrifices in carrying on the war. The Queen sold hercrown jewels, and the Cavaliers melted down their silver plate toprovide money to pay the King's troops. On behalf of the People's army Parliament imposed heavy taxes, andlevied now for the first time a duty on domestic products, especiallyon ales and liquors, known as the "Excise Tax. " Furthermore, itrequired each household to fast once a week, and to give the price ofa dinner to support the soldiers who were fighting against the King. Parliament also passed what was called the "Self-denying Ordinance"(1644) (repeated in 1645). It required all members who had any civilor military office to resign, and, as Cromwell seaid, "deny themselvesand their private interests for the public good. " The real object ofthis measure was to get rid of incompetent commanders, and give thePeople's army (soon to be remodeled) the vigorous men that the timesdemanded. With the outbreak of the war great numbers of little local newspaperssprang into short-lived existence in imitation of the firstpublication of that sort, the _Weekly News_, which was issued notquite twenty years before in the reign of James I (S422). Each of therival armies, it is said, carried a printing press with it, and wagedfurious battles in type against the other. The whole country wasinundated with floods of pamphlets discussing every conceivablereligious and political question. 444. The "New Model"; Death of John Hampden; the Solemn League andCovenant (1642-1645). At the first battle fought, at Edgehill, Warwickshire (1642), Cromwellsaw that the Cavaliers (S442) had the advantage, and told John Hampden(SS436, 440) that "a set of poor tapsters [drawers of liquor] and townapprentices would never fight against men of honor. " He forthwithproceeded to organize his regiment of "Ironsides, " a "lovely company, "he said, none of whom swore or gambled. After the first Self-denying Ordinance was passed (S443), Cromwell andFairfax formed a new People's army of "God-fearing men" on the samepattern, almost all of whom were Independents (S439). This was calledthe "New Model" (1645) and was placed under the joint command of themen who organized it. Very many of its officers were kinsmen ofCromwell's, and it speedily became the most formidable body ofsoldiers of its size in the world, --always ready to preach, pray, exhort, or fight. [1] [1] "The common soldiers, as well as the officers, did not only prayand preach among themselves, but went up into the pulpits in allchurches and preached to the people. "--Clarendon, "History of theRebellion, " Book X, 79. Meanwhile John Hampden (SS436, 440) had been mortally wounded in askirmish at Chalgrove Field, Oxfordshire. His death was a terribleblow to the parliamentary army fighting in behalf of the rights of thepeople. [2] [2] See Macaulay's "Essay on Hampden. " Clarendon says that Hampden'sdeath produced as great consternation in his party "as if their wholearmy had been cut off. " Parliament endeavored to persuade the Scotch to give their aid in thewar against the King. The latter finally agreed to do so (1643) oncondition that Parliament would sign the Solemn League and Covenant(S438). Parliament signed it, and so made the Scotch Presbyterianworship the state religion of England and Ireland (1647). In realityonly a small part of the English people accepted it; but the chargeforced a large number of Episcopal clergymen to leave their parishes. 445. Marston Moor and Naseby, 1644, 1645. On the field of Marston Moor, Yorkshire, 1644, the north of Englandwas conquered by Cromwell with his invincible little army. Thefollowing year Cromwell's "Ironsides, " who "trusted in God and kepttheir powder dry, " gained the decisive victory of Naseby, 1645, in theMidlands. (See map facing p. 252. ) After the fight papers belongingto the King were picked up on the battlefield. They proved thatCharles intended betraying those who were negotiating with him forpeace, and that he was planning to bring foreign troops to England. The discovery of these papers, which were published by Parliament, wasmore damaging to the royal cause than the defeat itself. 446. The King and Parliament. Standing on the walls of the ancient city of Chester, Charles saw hislast army utterly routed (1645). Shortly afterwards he fled to theScots. Oxford, the King's chief city in the Midlands, surrendered toFairfax (1646). The first civil war was now practically over. TheScots gave up the King (1647) to the parliamentary commissioners, andhe was taken to Holmby House, Northamptonshire. There Cromwell andthe army made overtures to him, but without effect. He was thenbrought by the Parliamentary or People's army to Hampton Court, nearLondon. Here, and elsewhere, the army again attempted to come to some definiteunderstanding with the King, but all to no purpose. Politicallyspeaking, Charles was his own worst enemy. He was false to the core, and, as Carlyle has said: "A man whose word will not inform you at allwhat he means, or will do, is not a man you can bargain with. Youmust get out of that man's way, or put him out of yours. " 447. The Second Civil War (1648); Pride's Purge (1648); the "RumpParliament. " After two years spent in fruitless negotiations, Charles, who had fledto Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight, made a secret treaty withthe Scots (1648), promising to sanction the establishment of theScotch Presbyterian Church in England (S444), if they would send anarmy into the country to restore him to the throne. [1] [1] When Cromwell found out that Charles had resolved to destroy himand the Independent army, he apparently made up his mind to put theKing to death. See Lord Broghill's story in S. R. Gardiner's"History of the Great Civil War, " III, 259. The Scots marched into England, the Royalists rose to aid them, andthe second civil war began. It speedily ended in the utter defeat ofthe King's forces. The People's army now vowed that they would bringthe King to justice. To this neither the Presbyterians in the Houseof Commons nor the members of the House of Lords would agree. Colonel Pride then proceeded (1648), as he said, to purge the "LongParliament" (S439) by driving out all who were opposed to thismeasure. Cromwell had no part in Pride's expulsion of members, thoughhe afterwards expressed his approval of it. Those who remained were asmall body of Independents only (SS422, 439). They did not numbersixty; they became the mere tool of the Parliamentary or People's armyand were called in derision the "Rump Parliament. " 448. Execution of King Charles, 1649. This so-called "Rump Parliament" named one hundred and thiry-fivepersons to constitute a high court of justice to try the King on acharge of treason against the nation; the chief judge or presidingofficer was John Bradshaw. Less than half of these judges werepresent throughout the trial. Of those who signed the death warrantOliver Cromwell was one. Prince Charles, the King's son, then arefugee in France, made every effort to save his father. He sent ablank paper, bearing his signature and seal, to the judges, offeringto bind himself to any conditions they might insert, provided theywould spare his father's life; but no answer was returned. The King was brought into court in Westminster Hall, London; a weeklater the trial was over. The judges pronounced sentence of death on"Charles Stuart, King of England, " as a "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy. " Throughout the trial Charles bore himself with dignity andself-possession. The crisis had brought out the best elements of hisnature. He was beheaded January 30, 1649, in London in front of theroyal palace of Whitehall. "A great shudder ran through the crowdthat saw the deed, then came a shriek, and all immediately dispersed. "Tradition declares that Cromwell went secretly that night to see thebeheaded corpse. He looked steadfastly at it, shook his head, sighedout the words "Cruel necessity!" and departed. [1] [1] S. R. Gardiner's "Great Civil War, " III, 604; and see inDelaroche's works the picture of Cromwell looking at the King'scorpse. 449. Summary. The whole of Charles I's reign must be regarded as a prolongedstruggle between the King and the nation. Under the Tudors and JamesI the royal power had been growing more and more despotic, while atthe same time the progress of the Protestant Reformation and ofPuritanism had encouraged freedom of thought. Between these opposite forces a collision was inevitable, sincereligious liberty always favors political liberty. Had Charles knownhow to yield in time, or been sincere in the concessions which he didmake, all might have gone well. His duplicity was his ruin. Thoughhis death did not absolutely destroy the theory of the Divine Right ofKings, yet it gave it a blow from which it never recovered. The Commonwealth and Protectorate--1649-1660 450. Establishment of the Commonwealth, or Republic, 1649. While the crowd that had witnessed the execution of Charles I wasleaving the spot (S448), the remnant of the House of Commons met. This "Rump Parliament" (S447), composed of only about fifty members, claimed the right to act for the whole nation. A few days later itabolished the House of Lords as "useless and dangerous. " Next, forsimilar reasons, it abolished the office of king, and declared that"The People are, under God, the origin of all just power. " England was now a commonwealth or republic, governed, in name atleast, by a Council of State. Of this Council John Bradshaw (S448)was president, and the poet Milton was foreign secretary, whileGeneral Fairfax with Oliver Cromwell had command of the army. Thereal power was in the army, and the true head of the army wasCromwell. Without him the so-called republic could not have stood aday. 451. Radical Changes. All members of the House of Commons, with those who held any civil ormilitary office, were required to swear allegiance to the Commonwealth"without King, or House of Lords. " The use of the English churchservice was forbidden, and the statues of Charles I in London werepulled down and demolished. The Great Seal of England (S145) had already been cast aside, and anew one adopted, having on one side a map of England and Ireland, onthe other a representation of the House of Commons in session, withthe words, "In the first year of freedom, by God's blessing restored1648. "[1] [1] 1648 Old Style would here correspond to 1649 New Style. (See S545, note 2. ) 452. Difficulties of the New Republic. Shortly after the establishment of the Commonwealth, General Fairfax(S442) resigned his command, and Cromwell became the sole leader ofthe military forces of the country. But the new government, even withhis aid, had no easy task before it. It had enemies in the Royalists, who, since the King's execution, hadgrown stronger; in the Presbyterians, who hated both the "RumpParliament" (S450) and the Parliamentary army; finally, it had enemiesin its own ranks, for there were half-crazy fanatics. "Levelers, "[1]"Come-outers, "[2] and other "cattle and creeping things, " who would besatisfied with nothing but destruction and confusion. [1] "Levelers": a name given to certain radical republicans who wishedto reduce all ranks and classes to the same level with respect topolitical power and privileges. [2] "Come-outers": those who abandoned all established ways ingovernment and religion. Among these there were socialists, or communists, who, like those ofthe present day, wished to abolish private property, and establish "anequal division of unequal earnings, " while others declared and actedout their belief in the coming end of the world. Eventually Cromwellhad to deal with these crack-brained enthusiasts in a decided way, especially as some of them threatened to assassinate him in order tohasten the advent of the personal reign of Christ and his saints onearth. 453. The Late King's Son proclaimed King in Ireland and Scotland;Dunbar; Worcester (1649-1651). An attempt of the English Puritan party (S378) to root out Catholicismin Ireland (1641) had caused a horrible insurrection. The Royalistparty in Ireland now proclaimed Prince Charles, son of the lateCharles I, King. Parliament deputed Cromwell to reduce that countryto order, and to destroy the Royalists. Nothing could have been morecongenial to his "Ironsides" (S445) than such a crusade. Theydescended upon the unhappy island (1649), and wiped out the rebellionin such a whirlwind of fire and slaughter that the horror of thevisitation has never been forgotten. To this day the direstimprecation a southern Irishman can utter is, "The curse of Cromwellon ye!"[3] [3] At Drogheda and Wexford, Cromwell, acting in accordance with thelaws of war of that day, massacred the garrisons that refused tosurrender. Several years later (1653-1654), Cromwell determined to put inpractice a still more drastic policy. He resolved to repeople a verylarge section of southern Ireland by driving out the Roman Catholicinhabitants and giving their lands to English and Scotch Protestants. It seemed to him the only effectual way of overcoming the resistancewhich that island made to English rule. By the use of military power, backed up by an Act of Parliament, his generals forced the people toleave their houses and emigrate to the province of Connaught on thewest coast. Part of that district was so barren and desolate that itwas said, "it had not water enough to drown a man, trees enough tohang him, or earth enough to bury him. " Thousands were compelled togo into this dreary exile, and hundreds of families who refused wereshipped to the West Indies and sold to the planters as slaves for aterm of years, --a thing often done in that day with prisoners of war. In Scotland also Prince Charles was looked upon as the legitimatesovereign by a strong and influential party. He found in the braveMontrose, [1] who was hanged for treason at Edinburgh, and in otherloyal supporters far better friends than he deserved. The Prince cameto Scotland (1650); while there, he was crowned and took the oath ofthe Covenant (S438). It must have been a bitter pill for a man of hisfree and easy temperament. But worse was to come, for the ScottishPuritans made him sign a paper declaring that his father had been atyrant and that his mother was an idolater. No wonder the caricaturesof the day represented the Scots as holding the Prince's nose to agrindstone. Later, Prince Charles rallied a small force to fight forhim, but it was utterly defeated at Dunbar (1650). [1] See "The Execution of Montrose, " in Aytoun's "Lays of the ScottishCavaliers. " Prince Charles basely abandoned Montrose to his fate. Twelve months afterward, on the anniversary of his defeat at Dunbar, the Prince made a second attempt to obtain the crown. At the battleof Worcester Cromwell again routed his forces and brought the war toan end. Charles escaped in Shropshire, where he hid for a day in anoak at Boscobel. After many narrow escapes he at length succeeded ingetting out of the country. 454. Cromwell expels Parliament. Cromwell now urged the necessity of dissolving the "Rump Parliament"(S450) and of electing a Parliament which should really represent thenation, reform the laws, and pass a general act of pardon. In hisdespatch to the House of Commons after the victory of Worcester, hecalled the battle a "crowning mercy. " Some of the republicans in thatbody took alarm at this phrase, and thought that Cromwell used it toforeshadow a design to place the crown on his own head. For thisreason, perhaps, they hesitated to dissolve. But at last they could not withstand the pressure, and a bill wasintroduced (1653) for summoning a new Parliament of four hundredmembers, but with the provision that all members of the present Housewere to keep their seats, and have the right to reject newly electedmembers. Cromwell, with the army, believed this provision a trick on the partof the "Rump" (S450) to keep themselves in perpetual power. Sir Harry Vane, who was a leading member of the House of Commons, andwho had been governor of the colony of Massachusetts, feared that thecountry was in danger of falling into the hands of Cromwell asmilitary dictator. He therefore urged the immediate passage of thebill as it stood. Cromwell heard that a vote was about to be taken. Putting himself at the head of a squad of soldiers, he suddenlyentered the House (1653). After listening to the debate for sometime, he rose from his seat and charged the Commons with injustice andmisgovernment. A member remonstrated. Cromwell grew excited, saying:"You are no Parliament! I say you are no Parliament!" Then he calledin the musketeers. They dragged the Speaker from his chair, and drovethe members after him. As they passed out, Cromwell shouted "drunkard, " "glutton, ""extortioner, " with other opprobrious names. When all were gone, helocked the door and put the key in his pocket. During the night someRoyalist wag nailed a placard on the door, bearing the inscription inlarge letters, "The House to let, unfurnished!" 455. Cromwell becomes Protector; the "Instrument of Government"(1653). Cromwell summoned a new Parliament, which was practically of his ownchoosing. It consisted of one hundred and thirty-nine members, andwas known as the "Little Parliament. "[1] The Royalists nicknamed it"Barebone's Parliament" from one of its members, a London leatherdealer named Praise-God Barebone. Notwithstanding the irregularity ofits organization and the ridicule cast upon it, the "Barebone'sParliament" proposed several reforms of great value, which the countryafterwards adopted. [1] A regularly summoned Parliament, elected by the people, would havebeen much larger. This one was chosen from a list furnished by theministers of the various Independent churches (S422). It was in notrue sense a representative body. A council of Cromwell's leading men now secured the adoption of aconstitution entitled the "Instrument of Government. "[1] It madeCromwell Lord Protector of England, Ireland, and Scotland. [1] "Instrument of Government": The principal provisions of thisconstitution were: (1) the government was vested in the Protector anda council appointed for life; (2) Parliament, consisting of the Houseof Commons only, was to be summoned every three years, and not to bedissolved under five months; (3) a standing army of thirty thousandwas to be maintained; (4) all taxes were to be levied by Parliament;(5) the system of representation was reformed, so that many largeplaces hitherto without representation in Parliament now obtained it;(6) all Roman Catholics, and those concerned in the Irish rebellion, were disfranchised forever. Up to this time the Commonwealth had been a republic, nominally underthe control of the House of Commons, but as a matter of facct governedby Cromwell and the army. Now it became a republic under a Protector, or President, whowas to hold his office for life. A few years later (1657), Parliament offered the title of King toCromwell, and with it a new constitution called the "Humble Petitionand Advice. " The new constitution provided that Parliament shouldconsist of two houses, since the majority of influential men felt theneed of the restoration of the Lords (S450). For, said a member of"Barebone's Parliament, " "the nation has been hopping on one leg"altogether too long. Cromwell had the same feeling, and endeavored toput an end to the "hopping" by trying to restore the House of Lords, but he could not get the Peers to meet. He accepted the newconstitution, but the army objected to his wearing the crown, so hesimply remained Lord Protector. 456. Emigration of Royalists to America. Under the tyranny of the Stuart Kings, John Winthrop and many othernoted Puritans had emigrated to Massachusetts and other parts of NewEngland. During the Commonwealth the case was reversed, and numbersof Royalists fled to Virginia. Among them were John Washington, thegreat-grandfather of George Washington, and the ancestors ofJefferson, Patrick Henry, the Lees, Randolphs, and other prominentfamilies, destined in time to take part in founding a republic in theNew World much more democractic than anything the Old World had everseen. 457. Cromwell as a Ruler; Puritan Fanaticism. When Cromwell's new Parliament (S455) ventured to criticize hiscourse, he dissolved it (1654) quite as peremptorily as the late Kinghad done (S431). Soon afterwards, fear of a Royalist rebellion ledhim to divide the country into eleven military districts (1655), eachgoverned by a major general, who ruled by martial law and withdespotic power. All Royalist families were heavily taxed to supportCromwell's standing army, all Catholic priests wre banished, and nobooks or papers could be published without permission of thegovernment. Cromwell, however, though compelled to resort to severe measures tosecure peace, was, in spirit, no oppressor. On the contrary, heproved himself the Protector not only of the realm but of theProtestants of Europe. When they were threatened with persecution, his influence saved them. He showed, too, that in an age of bigotryhe was no bigot. Puritan fanaticism, exasperated by the persecutionit had endured under James and Charles, often went to the utmostextremes, even as "Hudibras"[1] said, to "killing of a cat on Mondayfor catching of a rat on Sunday. " [1] "Hudibras": a burlesque poem by Samuel Butler (1663). Itsatirized the leading persons and parties of the Commonwealth, butespecially the Puritans. It treated the most innocent customs, if they were in any wayassociated with Catholicism or Episcopacy, as serious offenses. Itclosed all places of amusement; it condemned mirth as ungodly; it madeit a sin to dance round a Maypole, or to eat mince pie at Christmas. Fox-hunting and horse-racing were forbidden, and bear-baitingprohibited, "not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gavepleasure to the spectators. " In such an age, when a man could hardly claim to be religious unlesshe wore sad-colored raiment, talked through his nose, and quotedScripture with great frequency, Cromwell showed exceptional moderationand good sense. 458. Cromwell's Religious Toleration. He favored the toleration of all forms of worship not directly opposedto the government as then constituted. He befriended the Quakers, whowere looked upon as the enemies of every form of worship, and who weretreated with cruel severity both in England and America. He wasinstrumental in sending the first Protestant missionaries toMassachusetts to convert the Indiands, then supposed by many to be aremnant of the lost tribes of Israel; and after an exclusion of manycenturies (S222), he permitted the Jews to return to England, and evento build a synagogue in London. On the other hand, there are few of the cathedral or parish churchesof England which do not continue to testify to the Puritan army'sdestructive hatred of everything savoring of the rule of either Popeor bishop. [1] The empty niches, where some gracious image of theVirgin or the figure of some saint once looked down; the patchedremnants of brilliant stained glass, once part of a picture tellingsome Scripture story; the mutilated statues of noted men; the tombs, hacked and hewed by pike and sword, because they bore some emblem orexpression of the old faith, --all these still bear witness to the furyof the Puritan soldiers, who did not respect even the graves of theirancestors, if those ancestors had once thought differently fromthemselves. [1] But part of this destruction occurred under Henry VIII and EdwardVI (SS352, 364) 459. Victories by Land and Sea; the Navigation Act (1651). Yet during Cromwell's rule the country, notwithstanding all therestrictions imposed by a stern military government, grew andprospered. The English forces gained victories by land and sea, andmade the name of the Protector respected as that of Charles I hadnever been. At this period the carrying trade of the world, by sea, had falleninto the hands of the Dutch, and Amsterdam had become a more importantcenter of exchange than London. The Commonwealth passed a measurecalled the "Navigation Act"[2] (1651) to encourage British commerce. It prohibited the importation or exportation of any goods into Englandor its colonies in Dutch or other foreign vessels. [2] The Navigation Act was renewed later. Though aimed at the Dutch, this measure damaged the export trade of the American colonies for atime. Later, war with the Dutch broke out partly on account of questions oftrade, and partly because Royalist plotters found protection inHolland. Then Cromwell created such a navy as the country had neverbefore possessed. Under the command of Admiral Blake, "the sea king, "and Admiral Monk, the Dutch were finally beaten so thoroughly (1653)that they bound themselves to ever after salute the English flagwherever they should meet it on the seas. A war undertaken inalliance with France against Spain was equally successful. Jamaicawas taken as a permanent possession by the British fleet, and France, in return for Cromwell's assistance, reluctantly gave the town ofDunkirk to England (1658), and the flag of the English Commonwealthwas planted on the French coast. But a few years later (1662), theselfish and profligate Charles II sold Dunkirk back to Louis XIV inorder to get money to waste on his pleasures. 460. Cromwell's Death; his Character (1658). After being King in everything but name for five years, Cromwell died(September 3, 1658) on the anniversary of the victories of Dunbar andWorcester (S453). During the latter part of his career he had livedin constant dread of assassination, and wore concealed armor. At thehour of his death one of the most fearful storms was raging hat hadever swept over England. To many it seemed a fit accompaniment to theclose of such a life. In one sense, Cromwell was a usurper and a tyrant; but, at heart, hisobject was his country's welfare. In such cases the motive is all inall. He was a lonely man of rough exterior and hard manner. [1] Hecared little for the smooth proprieties of life, yet he had thatdignity of bearing which high moral purpose gives. In all that he didhe was eminently practical. In an age of isms, theories, andexperiments, he was never confused and never faltered in his course. To-day a colossal bronze statue of the great soldier and ruler standsin the shadow of the Houses of Parliament, where the English people, more than two hundred and forty years after his burial, voted to erectit. [1] Cromwell was always a lonely man, and had so few real friends thatWalter Scott may have expressed his true feeling when he makes him sayin his novel of "Woodstock": "I would _I_ had any creature, were itbut a dog, that followed me because it loved me, not for what it couldmake of me. " 461. The Times needed Such a Man. There are emergencies when an ounce of decision is worth a pound ofdeliberation. When the ship is foundering or on fire, or when thecrew have mutinied, it will not avail to sit in the cabin and discusshow it happened. Something must be done, and that promptly. Cromwellwas the man for such a juncture. He saw clearly that if the countrywas to be kept together, it must be by decided measures, which noprecedent, law, or constitution justified, but which stood justifiednone the less by exigencies of the crisis, by his own consciousrectitude of purpose, and by the result. If there is any truth in Napoleon's maxim, that "The tools belong tohim that can use them, " then Cromwell had a God-given right to rule;for, first, he had the ability; and, next, though he used his power inhis campaign in Ireland (S453) with merciless severity, yet the greatpurpose of his life was to establish order and justice on what seemedto him the only practical basis. 462. Summary. Cromwell's original object appears to have been to organize agovernment representing the will of the nation more completely than ithad ever been represented before. He strongly favored the restorationof the House of Lords, he endeavored to reform the laws, and he soughtto secure religious toleration for the great body of Protestants. Onewho knew Cromwell intimately said, "A larger soul, I think, hathseldom dwelt in a house of clay, than his was. " Circumstances, however, were often against him; he had many enemies, and in order to secure peace he was obliged to resort to the exerciseof absolute power. Yet the difference in this respect betweenCromwell and Charles I was immense: the latter was despotic on his ownaccount, the former for the advantage of those he governed. RICHARD CROMWELL--September 3, 1658-April 22, 1659 463. Richard Cromwell's Incompetency. Richard Cromwell, Oliver's eldest son, now succeeded to theProtectorate (S455). He was an amiable individual, as negative incharacter as his father had been positive. With the extreme Puritans(S457), known as the "godly party, " he had no sympathy whatever. "Here, " said he to one of them, pointing to a friend of his who stoodby, "is a man who can neither preach nor pray, yet I would trust himbefore you all. " Such frankness was not likely to make the new rulerpopular with the army, made up of men who never lacked a Scripturetext to justify either a murder or a massacre. Moreover, the timeswere perilous, and called for a decided hand at the helm. After abrief reign of less than eight months the military leaders requestedRichard to resign, and soon afterwards recalled the "Rump Parliament"(S447). 464. Richard retires. The Protector retired not only without remonstrance, but apparentlywith a sense of relief at being so soon eased of a burden too heavyfor his weak shoulders to carry. To the people he was hereafterfamiliarly known as "Tumbledown-Dick, " and was caricatured as such ontavern signboards. The nation pensioned him off with a moderate allowance, and he livedin obscurity to an advanced age, carrying about with him to the last atrunk filled with the congratulatory addresses and oaths of allegiancewhich he had received when he became Protector. Years after his abdication it is reported that he visited Westminster, and when the attendant, who did not recognize him, showed him thethrone, he said, "Yes; I have not seen that chair since I sat in itmyself in 1659. " 465. The "Convention Parliament. " The year following Richard Cromwell's withdrawal was full of anxietyand confusion. The army of the Commonwealth had turned Parliament outof doors (1659). There was no longer any regularly organizedgovernment, and the country drifted helplessly like a ship without apilot. General Monk, then commander in chief in Scotland, now marched intoEngland (1660) with the determination of calling a new Parliament, which should be full, free, and representative of the real politicalfeeling of the nation. When he reached London with his army, themembers of the "Rump Parliament" (S447) had resumed their sessions. At Monk's invitation the Presbyterian members, whom Colonel Pride haddriven from their seats eleven years before (S447), now went back. This assembly issued writs for the summoning of a "ConventionParliament" (so styled because called without royal authority), andthen dissolved by their own consent. Thus ended that memorable "LongParliament" (S439), which had existed nearly twenty years. About amonth later the Convention, including ten members of the House ofLords, met, and at once invited Charles Stuart, then in Holland, toreturn to his kingdom. He had made certain promises, called the"Declaration of Breda, "[1] which were intended to smooth the way forhis return. [1] The Declaration of Breda, made by Charles in Holland (1660)promised: (1) free pardon to all those not excepted by Parliament; (2)liberty of conscience to all whose views did not disturb the peace ofthe realm; (3) the settlement by Parliament of all claims to landedproperty; (4) the payment of arrears to Monk's army. 466. Summary. Richard Cromwell's government existed in name only, never in fact. During his so-called Protectorate the country was under the control ofthe army of the Commonwealth or of that "Rump Parliament" whichrepresented nothing but itself. The period which elapsed after Oliver Cromwell's death was one ofwaiting and preparation. It ended in the meeting of the free nationalParliament, which put an end to the republic, and restored royalty inthe person of Charles II. CHARLES II--1660-1685 467. The Restoration of Monarchy; Accession of Charles; a New StandingArmy, 1660. The English army heard that Charles was coming, with sullen silence;the ex-members of the "Rump Parliament" (S465), with sullen dread; therest of the nation, with a feeling of relief. However much they hadhated the despotism of the two Stuart Kings, James I and Charles I, four fifths of the people stood ready to welcome any change whichpromised to do away with a government maintained by bayonets. Charles II was received at Dover with the wildest demonstrations ofjoy. Bells pealed, flags waved, bonfires blazed all the way toLondon, and the King said, with characteristic irony, "It must havebeen my own fault that I did not come before, for I find no one butdeclares that he is glad to see me. " The existence of the late Republic and the Protectorate (SS450, 455)was as far as possible ignored. The House of Lords was restored(SS450, 455). The new reign was dated, not when it actually began, but from the day of Charles I's execution twelve years before. Thetroops of the Commonwealth were speedily disbanded, but the Kingretained a picked guard of five thousand men, which became the nucleusof a new standing army. 468. The King's Character. The sovereign who now ascended the throne was in every respect theopposite of Cromwell. Charles II had no love of country, no sense ofduty, no belief in man, no respect for woman. Evil circumstances andevil companions had made him "a good-humored lad but hard-heartedvoluptuary. " For twelve years he had been a wanderer, and at timesalmost a beggar. Now the sole aim of his life was enjoyment. Hedesired to be King because he would then be able to accomplish thataim. 469. Reaction from Puritanism. In this purpose Charles had the sympathy of a considerable part of thepeople. The Puritan faith (S378), represented by such men as Hampden(S436) and Milton (S450), was noble indeed; but unfortunately therewere many in its ranks who had no like grandeur of soul, but whopushed Puritanism to its most injurious and offensive extreme. Thatattempt to reduce the whole of life to a narrow system of sourself-denial had at last broken down. Now, under the Restoration, the reaction set in, and the lower andearthly side of human nature--none the less human because it is at thebottom and not at the top--seemed determined to take its fullrevenge. Butler ridiculed religious zeal in his poem of "Hudibras"(S457), which ever courtier had by heart. Society was smitten with anepidemic of immorality. Profligacy became the fashion in both speechand action, and much of the popular literature of that day will notbear the light. 470. The Royal Favorites. The King surrounded himself with men like himself. This merry gang ofrevelers vied with each other in dissipation and in jests on eachother. Charles's two chief favorites were the Earl of Rochester, agifted but ribald poet, and Lord Shaftesbury, who became LordChancellor. Both have left on record their estimate of their royalmaster. The first wrote on the door of the King's bedchamber: "Here lies our sovereign lord, the King, Whose word no man relies on; He never says a foolish thing, Nor ever does a wise one. " To which Charles, on reading it, retorted, "'Tis true! because whilemy words are my own, my acts are my ministers'. " A bright repartee tells us what the second favorite thought. "Ah!Shaftesbury, " said the King to him one day, "I verily believe you arethe wickedest dog in my dominions. " "Yes, your Majesty, " repliedShaftesbury, "for a SUBJECT I think perhaps I may be. " 471. The Clarendon Ministry; Punishment of the Regicides. From a political point of view, the new reign began decently and ablyunder the direction of the Earl of Clarendon as leading minister oradviser to the King. The first act of Charles's first Parliament wasto proclaim a pardon to all who had fought against his father in thecivil war. The only persons excepted wre the members of that highcourt of justice (S448) which had sent Charles I to the block. Ofthese, ten were executed and nineteen imprisoned for life. Most ofthe other regicide judges were either already out of the country ormanaged to escape soon after. Among these, William Goffe, Edward Whalley, and Colonel John Dixwelltook refuge in Connecticut, where they remained concealed for severalyears. Eventually the first two went to Hadley, Massachusetts, wherethey lived in seclusion in the house of a clergyman until their death. The bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Ireton, Bradshaw, and Pride, all ofwhom had served as judges in the trial and condemnation of Charles(S448), were dug up from their graves in Westminster Abbey and hangedin chains at Tyburn. [1] They were then buried at the foot of thegallows along with he moldering remains of highway robbers andcriminals of the lowest sort, but Cromwell's head was cut off and setup on a pinnacle of Westminster Hall. [2] [1] Tyburn: near the northeast entrance to Hyde Park, London. It wasfor several centuries the chief place for the public execution offelons. [2] It has since been questioned whether Cromwell's body was disposedof in this manner or whether another body, supposed at that time to behis, was dealt with as here described. See the "Dictionary ofNational (British) Biography, " under "Oliver Cromwell. " 472. Religious Persecution; Covenanters; Bunyan. The first Parliament that met (1661) commanded the common hangman topublicly burn the Solemn League and Covenant (S444); it restored theEpiscopal form of worship and enacted four very severe laws, calledthe "Clarendon Code, " against those Nonconformists or Dissenters whohad ejected the Episcopal clergy (S444). [1] [1] The chief Nonconformists then were: (1) the Presbyterians; (2) theIndependents, or Congregationalists; (3) the Baptists; (4) the Societyof Friends, or Quakers. Originally the name "Nonconformist" was givento those who refused to conform to the worship of the Church ofEngland, and who attempted to change it to suit their views or elseset up their own form of faith as an independent church. The name"Nonconformist" (or Dissenter) now applies to any Protestant outsidethe Established Church of England (SS496, 498). The first of these new laws was entitled the "Corporation Act"(1661). It ordered all holders of municipal offices to renounce theCovenant[2] which had been put in force in 1647, and to take thesacrament of the Church of England. Next, a new Act of Uniformity(1662) (S382) enforced the use of the Episcopal Prayer Book upon allclergymen and congregations. This was followed by the ConventicleAct[3] (1664), which forbade the meeting of any religious assembliesexcept such as worshiped according to the Established Church ofEngland. Lastly, the Five-Mile Act (1665) forbade all dissentingministers to teach in schools, or to settle within five miles of anincorporated town. [2] Covenant: the oath or agreement to maintain the Presbyterian faithand worship. It originated in Scotland (S438). [3] See, too, on these acts, the Summary of Constitutional History inthe Appendix, p. Xix, S20. The second of these stringent retaliatory statutes, the Act ofUniformity, drove two thousand Presbyterian ministers from theirparishes in a single day, and reduced them to the direst distress. The able-bodied among them might indeed pick up a precariouslivelihood by hard labor, but the old and the weak soon found theirrefuge in the grave. Those who dared to resist these intolerant and inhuman laws werepunished with fines, imprisonment, or slavery. The ScottishParliament abolished Presbyterianism and restored Episcopacy. It viedwith the Cavalier or King's party in England in persecution of theDissenters, [4] and especially of the Covenanters (S438). [4] The Scottish Parliament granted what was called the "Indulgence"to Presbyterian ministers who held moderate views. The extremeCovenanters regarded these "indulged Presbyterians" as deserters andtraitors who were both weak and wicked. For this reason they hatedthem worse than they did the Episcopalians. See Burton's "Scotland, "VII, 457-468. Claverhouse, who figures as the "Bonny Dundee" of Sir Walter Scott, hunted the Covenanters with bugle and bloodhound, like so many deer;and his men hanged and drowned those who gathered secretly in glensand caves to worship God. [1] The father of a family would be draggedfrom his cottage by the soldiers, asked if he would take the test ofconformity to the Church of England and the oath of allegiance to KingCharles II; if he refused, the officer in command gave the order, "Make ready--take aim--fire!"--and there lay the corpse of the rebel. [1] See the historical poem of the "Maiden Martyr of Scotland, " in thecollection of "Heroic Ballads, " Ginn and Company. Among the multitudes who suffered in England for religion's sake was apoor tinker and day laborer named John Bunyan. He had served againstthe King in the civil wars, and later had become converted toPuritanism, and turned exhorter and itinerant preacher. He wasarrested, while preaching in a farmhouse, and convicted of having"devilishly and perniciously abstained from coming to church. " The judge sentenced him to the Bedford county jail, where he remaineda prisoner for twelve years (1660-1672). Later on, he was againarrested (1675) and sent to the town jail on Bedford Bridge. It was, he says, a squalid "Denn. "[2] But in his marvelous dream of "APilgrimage from this World to the Next, " which he wrote while shut upwithin the narrow limits of that filthy prison house, he forgot themisery of his surroundings. Like Milton in his blindness, loneliness, and poverty, he looked within and found that "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell. "[3] [2] "As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on acertain place where there was a Denn, and I laid me down in that placeto sleep: and as I slept I dreamed a dream. "--"The Pilgrim'sProgress, " 1678. [3] "Paradise Lost, " Book I, 253. 473. Seizure of a Dutch Colony in America (1664). While these things were going on in England, a strange event tookplace abroad. The Dutch had established a colony on the Hudson River. It was on territory which the English claimed (S335), but which theyhad never explored or settled. The Dutch had built a town at themouth of the Hudson, which they called New Amsterdam. They held theplace undisturbed for fifty years, and if "Possession is nine pointsof the law, " they seem to have acquired it. Furthermore, during theperiod of Cromwell's Protectorate (S455), England had made a treatywith Holland and had recognized the claims of the Dutch in the NewWorld. Charles had found shelter and generous treatment in Holland when heneeded it most. But he now cooly repudiated the treaty, and, thoughthe two nations were at peace, he treacherously sent out a secretexpedition to capture the Dutch colony for his brother James, Duke ofYork, to whom he had granted it. One day a small English fleet suddenly appeared (1664) in the harborof the Dutch town, and demanded its immediate and unconditionalsurrender. The governor was unprepared to make any defense, and theplace was given up. Thus, without so much as the firing of a gun, NewAmsterdam got the name of New York in honor of the man who had nowbecome its owner. The acquisition of this territory, which hadseparated the northern English colonies from the southern, gaveEngland complete control of the Atlantic coast from Maine to northernFlorida. 474. The Plague and the Fire, 1665, 1666. The next year a terrible outbreak of the plague occurred in London, 1665, which spread throughout the kingdom (S244). All who could, fledfrom the city. Hundreds of houses were left vacant, while on hundredsmore a cross marked on the doors in red chalk, with the words "Lordhave mercy on us, " written underneath, told where the work of deathwas going on. [1] [1] Pepys writes in his "Diary, " describing the beginning of theplague: "The 7th of June, 1665, was the hottest day I ever felt in mylife. This day, much against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two orthree houses with a red cross upon the door, and `Lord have mercy uponus' writ there, which was a sad sight. "--Pepys, "Diary, " 1660-1669. Defoe wrote a journal of the plague in 1722, based, probably, on thereports of eyewitnesses. It gives a vivid and truthful account of itshorrors. The pestilence swept off over a hundred thousand victims within sixmonths. Among the few brave men who voluntarily remained in thestricken city were the Puritan ministers, who stayed to comfort andconsole the sick and dying. After the plague was over, they receivedtheir reward through the enforcement of those acts of persecutionwhich drove them homeless and helpless from their parishes and friends(S472). The dead cart had hardly ceased to go its rounds, when a fire brokeout, 1666, of which Evelyn, a courtier who witnessed it, wrote that it"was not to be outdone until the final conflagration of the world. "[1]By it the city of London proper was reduced to ruins, little morebeing left than a fringe of houses on the northeast. [1] Evelyn's "Diary, " 1641-1705; also compare Dryden's poem "AnnusMirabilis. " Great as the calamity was, yet from a sanitary point of view it didimmense good. Nothing short of fire could have effectually cleansedthe London of that day, and so put a stop to the periodical ravages ofthe plague. By sweeping away miles of narrow streets crowded withmiserable buildings black with the encrusted filth of ages, theconflagration in the end proved friendly to health and life. A monument near London Bridge still marks the spot where the flamesfirst burst out. For many years it bore an inscription affirming thatthe Catholics kindled them in order to be revenged on theirpersecutors. The poet Pope, at a later period, exposed the falsehoodin the lines: "Where London's column pointing toward the skies Like a tall bully lifts its head and lies. "[2] [2] "Moral Essays, " Epistle III. Sir Christopher Wren, the most famous architect of the period, rebuiltthe city. The greater part of it had been of wood, but it rose fromthe ashes brick and stone. One irreparable loss was the old Gothicchurch of St. Paul. Wren erected the present cathedral on thefoundations of the ancient structure. On a tablet near the tomb ofthe great master builder one reads the inscription in Latin, "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around. "[1] [1] "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice. " 475. Invasion by the Dutch (1667). The new city had not risen from the ruins of the old, when a thirdcalamity overtook it. Charles was at war with France and Holland. The contest with the latter nation grew out of the rivalry of theEnglish and the Dutch to get the exclusive possession of foreign trade(S459). Parliament granted the King large sums of money to build andequip a navy, but the pleasure-loving monarch wasted it indissipation. The few ships he had were rotten old hulks, but halfprovisioned, with crews ready to mutiny because they could not gettheir pay. A Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames. It was manned in part by Englishsailors who had deserted in disgust because when they asked for cashto support their families they got only worthless government tickets. There was no force to oppose them. They burned some half-builtmen-of-war, blockaded London for several weeks, and then made theirown terms of peace. 476. The "Cabal" (1667-1673); Treaty of Dover, 1670; the King robs theExchequer (1672). Shortly after this humiliating event the enemies of Clarendon drovehim from office (S471). The fallen minister was accused of hightreason. He had been guilty of certain arbitrary acts, and, ratherthan stand trial, he fled to France, and was banished for life. Hesent a humble petition to the Lords, but they promptly ordered thehangman to burn it. Six years later the old man begged piteously thathe might "come back and die in his own coutnry and among his ownchildren. " Charles refused to let him return, for Clarendon hadcommitted the unpardonable offense of daring to look "sourly" at thevices of the King and his shameless companions flushed "with insolenceand wine. " Charles now formed a new ministry or "Cabal, "[1]consisting of five of his most intimate friends. Several of itsmembers were notorious for their depravity, and Macaulay calls it the"most profligate administration ever known. "[2] The chief object ofits leaders was to serve their own private interests by making theKing's power supreme. The "Cabal's" true spirit was not unlike thatof the council of the "infernal peers" which Milton portrays in"Paradise Lost, " first published at that time. There he shows us thefive princes of evil, Moloch, Belial, Mammon, Beelzebub, and Satan, meeting in the palace of Pandemonium to plot the ruin of the world. [3]he chief ambition of Charles was to rule without a Parliament; he didnot like to have that body inquire too closely how he spent the moneywhich the taxpayers granted him. But his lavish outlays on hisfavorites made it more and more difficult for him to avoid summoning aParliament in order to get supplies of cash. At length he hit on aplan for securing the funds he wanted without begging help fromParliament. [1] This word was originally used to designate the confidentialmembers of the King's private council, and meant perhaps no more thanthe word "cabinet" does to-day. In 1667 it happened, however, by asingular coincidence, that the initial letters of the five personscomprising it, namely, (C)lifford, (A)shley-Cooper [Lord Shaftesbury], (B)uckingham, (A)rlington, and (L)auderdale, formed the word "CABAL, "which henceforth came to have the odious meaning of secret andunscrupulous intrigue that it has ever since retained. It was toCharles II's time what the political "ring" is to our own. [2] Macaulay's "Essay on Sir William Temple. "[3] Milton's "Paradise Lost, " Book II. The first edition waspublished in 1667, the year the "Cabal" came into power, though itsmembers had long been favorites with the King. It has been supposedby some that the great Puritan poet had them in his mind when herepresented the Pandemonic debate. Shaftesbury and Buckingham arealso two of the most prominent characters in Dryden's noted politicalsatire of "Absalom and Achitophel, " published in 1681; and compareButler's "Hudibras. " Louis XIV of France, then the most powerful monarch in Europe, wishedto conquer Holland, with the double object of extending his ownkingdom and the power of Catholicism. He saw in Charles the tool hewanted to gain this end. With the aid of two members of the "Cabal, "Charles negotiated the secret Treaty of Dover, 1670. Thereby Louisbribed the English King with a gift of 300, 000 pounds to help himcarry out his scheme. Thus, without the knowledge of Parliament, Charles deliberately sold himself to the French sovereign, who wasplotting to destroy the political liberty and Protestant faith ofHolland. In addition to the above sum, it was furthermore agreed that Louisshould pay Charles a pension of 200, 000 pounds a year from the datewhen the latter should openly avow himself a Roman Catholic. Later(1671), Charles made a sham treaty with Louis XIV in which the articleabout his avowing himself a Catholic was omitted in order to deceiveParliament. [1] [1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xix, S21. True to his infamous contract, Charles provoked a new war with theDutch, but found that he needed more money to prosecute itsuccessfully. Not knowing where to borrow, he determined to stealit. Various London merchants, bankers, and also persons of moderatemeans had lent to the government sums of money on promise of repaymentfrom the taxes. A part of the national revenue amounting to about 1, 300, 000 pounds, asum equal to at least $10, 000, 000 now, had been deposited in theexchequer, or government treasury, to meet the obligation. The Kingseized this money, [2] partly for his needs, but chiefly to squander onhis vices, and to satisfy the insatiate demands of his favorites, --ofwhom a single one, the Duchess of Portsmouth, had spent 136, 000 poundswithin the space of a twelvemonth! The King's treacherous act caused afinancial panic which shook London to its foundatyions and ruinedgreat numbers of people. [2] "`Rob me the Exchequer, Hal, ' said the King to his favoriteminister in the `Cabal'; then `all went merry as a marriagebell. '"--Evelyn's "Diary. " 477. More Money Schemes; Declaration of Indulgence; Test Act, 1673. By declaring war against Holland Charles had now fulfilled the firstpart of his secret treaty with Louis (S476), but he was afraid toundertake the second part and openly declare himself a convert to theChurch of Rome. He, however, did the next thing to it, by issuing acautiously worded Declaration of Indulgence, 1673, suspending allpenal laws affecting the religious liberty of Protestant Dissenters(SS382, 472) and Roman Catholics. Under cover of this act the Kingcould show especial favor to the Catholics. Parliament issued such avigorous protest, however, that the King withdrew the Declaration. Parliament next passed the Test Act, [1] 1673, requiring everygovernment officer to acknowledge himself a Protestant according tothe rites of the Church of England. Charles became alarmed at thisdecided stand, and now tried to conciliate Parliament, and coax fromit another grant of money by marrying his niece, the Princess Mary, toWilliam of Orange, President of the Dutch republic, and head of theProtestant party on the Continent. [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xix, S21. 478. The So-Called "Popish Plot"; the Exclusion Bill, and DisablingAct, 1678. While the King was playing this double part, a scoundrel, named TitusOates, whose hideous face was but the counterpart of a still morehideous character, pretended that he had discovered a terrible plot. He declared that the Catholics had formed a conspiracy to burn London, massacre the inhabitants, kill the King, and restore the religion ofRome. The news of this alleged discovery caused an excitement which soongrew into a sort of popular madness. The memory of the great fire(S474) was still fresh in people's minds. In their imagination theynow saw those scenes of horror repeated, with wholesale murder added. Great numbers of innocent persons were thrown into prison, and manyexecuted. As time went on, the terror seemed to increase. With its increase, Oates grew bolder in his accusations. Chief Justice Scroggs showedhimself an eager abettor of the miserable wretch who swore away men'slives for the sake of the notoriety it gave him. In the extravaganceof his presumption Oates even dared to accuse the Queen of an attemptto poison Charles. The craze, however, had at last begun to abatesomewhat, no action was taken, and in the next reign Oates got thepunishment he deserved--or at least a part of it (S485). An attempt was now made (1679) to pass a law called the "ExclusionBill, " debarring Charles's brother James, the Catholic Duke of York, from succeeding to the crown; but though voted by the Commons, it wasdefeated by the Lords. Meanwhile a second measure, called the"Disabling Act, " had received the sanction of both Houses, 1678. Itdeclared Catholics incapable of sitting in either House of Parliament(S382); and from this date they remained shut out from all legislativepower and from all civil and corporate offices until 1829, a period ofover a century and a half (S573). 479. Rise of Permanent Political Parties, 1678; the King revokes CityCharters. It was about this time that the names "Whig" and "Tory" (changed after1832 to Liberal and Conservative) (S582) began to be given to twopolitical parties, which soon became very powerful, and practicallyhave ever since divided the government of the country between them. The term "Whig" was originally given by way of reproach to the ScotchPuritans, or Covenanters, who refused to accept the Episcopacy whichCharles I endeavored to impose upon them (S438). "Tory, " on the otherhand, was a nickname which appears to have first been applied to theRoman Catholic outlaws of Ireland, who were regarded by Elizabeth andby Cromwell as both robbers and rebels (S453). The name of "Tory" was now given to those who supported the claims ofthe King's brother James, the Roman Catholic Duke of York, assuccessor to the throne; while that of "Whig" (or "Country Party") wasborne by those who were endeavoring to exclude him (S478), and securea Protestant successor. [1] [1] Politically, the Whigs and Tories may perhaps be considered as thesuccessors of the Roundheads and Cavaliers of the civil war, theformer seeking to limit the power of the Crown, the latter to extendit. At the Restoration (1660), the Cavaliers were all-powerful; butat the time of the dispute on the Exclusiiion Bill (1679), theRoundhead, or People's party, had revived. On account of theirpetitioning the King to summon a new Parliament, by means of whichthey hoped to carry the bill shutting out the Catholic Duke of Yorkfrom the throne, they were called "Petitioners, " and later, "Whigs";while those who expressed their abhorrence of their efforts werecalled "Abhorrers, " and afterwards, "Tories. " The more radical Whigscame to be known as the "Country Party, " and at least one of theirmost prominent leaders, Algernon Sidney, was in favor of restoring therepublican form of government in England. The excitement over this Exclusion Bill (S478) threatened at oneperiod to bring on another civil war. In his fury against the Whigs, Charles revoked the charters of London and many other cities, whichwere regranted only on terms agreeable to the Tories. An actualoutbreak against the government would probably have occurred had itnot been for the discovery of a new conspiracy, which resulted in areaction favorable to the Crown. 480. The Rye-House Plot (1683). This conspiracy, known as the "Rye-House Plot, " had for its object themurder of Charles and his brother James at a place called the RyeHouse in Hertfordshire, not far from London. It was concocted by anumber of violent Whigs, who, in their disappointment at their failureto secure the passage of the Exclusion Bill (S478), took this methodof gaining their ends. It is said that they intended placing on the throne James, Duke ofMonmouth, a natural son of Charles, who was popularly known as the"Protestant Duke. " Algernon Sidney, Lord Russell, and the Earl ofEssex, who were prominent advocates of the Exclusion Bill (S478), werearrested for participating in the plot. Essex committed suicide inthe Tower; Sidney and Russell were tried, convicted, and sentenced todeath on insufficient evidence. They died martyrs to the cause ofliberty, --Russell, with the fortitude of a Christian; Sidney, with thecalmness of a philosopher. The Duke of Monmouth, who was supposed tobe implicated in the plot, was banished to Holland (S486). 481. The Royal Society (1662). Early in this reign the Royal Society was established for purposes ofscientific research. In an age when thousands of well-informed peoplestill cherished a lingering belief that lead might be changed intogold; that some medicine might be discovered which would cure everydisease, (including old age, that worst disease of all); when everycross-grained old woman was suspected of witchcraft, and was liable tobe tortured and hanged on that suspicion, --the formation of anassociation to study the physical facts was most significant. It showed that the time had come when, instead of guessing what mightbe, men were at last beginning to resolved to know what actually is. In 1684 an English mathematician and philosopher demonstrated theunity of the universe by proving that the same law which governs thefalling of an apple also governs the movements of the planets in theirorbits. He published his great work on this subject a few yearslater. It was with reference to that wonderful discovery of the all-pervadingpower of gravitation, which shapes and holds in its control the dropof dew before our eyes, and the farthest star shining in the heavens, that the poet Pope suggested the epitaph which should be graven on thetomb of the great thinker in Westminster Abbey: "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night; God said, `Let Newton be!' and all was light. " 482. Chief Political Reforms; Abolition of Feudal Dues, 1660; theHabeas Corpus Act, 1679. As the age did not stand still with respect to progress in knowledge, so it was not wholly unsuccessful in political progress. A greatreform inaugurated in the outset of Charles's reign was the abolition, 1660, of the King's right to feudal dues and service, by which he wasaccustomed to extort as much as possible from his subjects[1] (S150), and the substitution of a fixed yearly allowance, raised by tax, of1, 200, 000 pounds on beer and liquor. [2] This change may be consideredto have practically abolished the feudal system in England, so far asthe Crown is concerned, though the law still retains some remnants ofthat system with respect to the relation of landlord and tenant. [3] [1] See Blackstone's "Commentaries, " II, 76. [2] This tax should have been levied on the landed proprietors who hadbeen subject to the feudal dues, but they managed to put it on beerand spirits; this compelled the body of the people to bear the burdenfor them. [3] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xviii, S20. The second great reform measure was the Habeas Corpus Act, [4] 1679, which provided that no subject should be detained in prison except bydue process of law, thus putting an end to the arbitrary confinementof men for months, and years even, without conviction of guilt or evenform of trial. [4] Habeas Corpus (1679) (you may have the body): This writ isaddressed by the judge to him who detains another in custody, commanding him to bring him into court and show why he is restrainedof his liberty. The right of Habeas Corpus was contained in germ inthe Great Charter (S199, Article 2); and see Summary of ConstitutionalHistory in the Appendix, p. Xix, S21, and p. Xxxii. 483. Death of Charles. The reign came suddenly to an end (1685). Evelyn, one of thecourtiers of the day, tells us in his "Diary" that he was present atthe palace of Whitehall on Sunday morning, the last of January of thatyear. There he saw the King sitting in the grand banqueting room, chatting gayly with three famous court beauties, --his specialfavorites, --while a crowd of richly dressed nobles were gatheredaround a gambling table heaped with gold. Six days after, as heexpresses it, all was "in the dust. " Charles died a Roman Catholic, his Catholic brother James (S478)having quietly brought a priest into the King's chamber in time tohear his confession and grant him absolution. Certainly few Englishrulers ever stood in greater need of both. 484. Summary The chief events of the period were the persecution of the Puritans, the Plague and Great Fire of London, the Secret Treaty of Dover, theTest Act, the Disabling Act, the so-called "Popish Plot, " theRye-House Plot, the Dutch Wars, the Abolition of Feudal Dues, theHabeas Corpus Act, the rise of permanent Political Parties, andNewton's Discovery of the Law of Gravitation. Aside from these, thereign presents two leading points: (1) the policy of the King; (2)that of the nation. Charles II, as we have seen, lived solely to gratify his inordinatelove of pleasure. For that, he wasted the revenue, robbed theexchequer, and cheated the navy; for that, he secretly sold himself toFrance, made war on Holland, and shamefully deceived both Parliamentand people. In so far, then, as Charles II had an object, it began and ended withhimself. Therein he stood lower than his father, who at leastconscientiously believed in the Divine Right of Kings (S429) and theiraccountability to the Almighty. The policy of the nation, on the other hand, was divided. The Whigswere determined to limit the power of the Crown, and secure at allhazards a Protestant successor to the throne. The Tories were equallyresolved to check the growing power of the people, and preserve thehereditary order of succession (then in the Stuart family) without anyimmediate regard to the religious question involved in the ExclusionBill (S478). Beneath these issues both parties had a common object, which was tomaintain the National Episcopal Church and the monarchical system ofgovernment. Whigs and Tories alike detested the principles of thelate Commonwealth period. They preferred to cherish patriotismthrough loyalty to a personal sovereign rather than patriotism throughdevotion to a democratic republic. James II--1685-1689 485. James II; his Proclamation; his Two Objects; Titus Oates again. James, Duke of York, brother of the late Charles II, now came to thethrone. He at once issued a Proclamation pledging himself to"preserve the government in both Church and State as it is now by lawestablished. " This solemn declaration was welcomed as "the word of aking, " but unfortunately that king did not keep his word. His firstgreat ambition was to rule independently of Parliament, so that hemight have his own way in everything; his second, which was, ifpossible, still nearer his heart, was to restore the Roman Catholicreligion in England (SS370, 382, 477). He began that restoration at once; and on the Easter Sunday precedinghis coronation, "the worship of the Church of Rome was once more, after an interval of a hundred and twenty-seven years, performed atWestminster with royal splendor. "[1] [1] Macaulay's "England. " Not long afterwards James brought the miscreant Oates to trial for theperjuries he had committed in connection with the so-called "PopishPlot" (S478). He was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment forlife; in addition he was publicly whipped through London with suchterrible severity that a few more strokes of the lash would have endedhis worthless life (1685). But in the next reign Oates was liberatedand a pension was granted him. 486. Monmouth's Rebellion; Sedgemoor, 1685. At the time of the discovery of the Rye-House Plot (S480) a number ofWhigs (S479) who were implicated in the conspiracy fled to Holland, where the Duke of Monmouth had gone when banished. Four months afterthe accession of James, the Duke, aided by these refugees and by asmall force which he had gathered in the Netherlands, resolved toinvade England and demand the crown. He believed that a large part ofthe nation would look upon him as representing the cause ofProtestantism, and would therefore rally to his support. He landed atLyme on the coast of Dorsetshire (1685), and there issued an absurdproclamation declaring James to be a usurper, tyrant, and murderer, who had set the great fire of London (S474), cut the throat of Essex(S480), and poisoned Charles II! At Taunton, in Somersetshire, a procession of welcome, headed by alady carrying a Bible, met the Duke, and presented him with the bookin behalf of the Protestant faith. He received it, saying, "I come todefend the truths contained in this volume, and to seal them, if itmust be so, with my blood. " Shortly afterwards he proclaimed himselfsovereign of Great Britain. He was popularly known as "KingMonmouth. " Many of the country people now joined him, but the Whignobles (S479), on whose help he had counted, stood aloof, alienateddoubtless by the ridiculous charges he had made against James. At the battle of Sedgemoor, in Somersetshire (1685), "King Monmouth, "with his hastily gathered forces, was utterly routed. He himself wassoon afterwards captured, hiding in a ditch. He desired to be takento the King. His request was granted. When he entered his uncle'spresence, he threw himself down and crawled to his feet, weeping andbegging piteously for life--only life--on any terms, however hard. He denied that he had issued the lying proclamation published at Lyme;he denied that he had sought the crown of his own free will; finally, in an agony of supplication, he hinted that he would even renounceProtestantism if thereby he might escape death. James told him thathe should have the service of a Catholic priest, but would promisenothing more. Monmouth groveled and pleaded, but the King's heart waslike marble, and he turned away in silence. Then the Duke, seeingthat all his efforts were vain, rose to his feet and regained hismanhood. He was forthwith sent to the Tower, and shortly afterwards toexecution. His headless body was buried under the communion table ofthat little chapel of St. Peter within the Tower grounds, where theremains of Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Thomas More, and manyother royal victimsf, are gathered. No sadder spot exists on earth, "since there death is associated with whatever is darkest in humannature and human destiny. "[1] [1] Macaulay's "England. " After Monmouth's death there were no further attempts at insurrection, and the struggle at Sedgemoor remains the last encounter worthy of thename of battle fought on English soil. 487. The "Bloody Assizes" (1685). The defeat of the insurgents who had rallied under Monmouth's flag wasfollowed by a series of trials known, from their results, as the"Bloody Assizes" (1685). They were conducted by Judge Jeffreys, assisted by a band of soldiers under Colonel Kirke, ironically called, from their ferocity, "Kirke's Lambs. " Jeffreys was by nature cruel, and enjoyed the spectacle of mental as well as bodily anguish. As hehimself said, he delighted to give those who had the misfortune toappear before him "a lick with the rough side of his tongue, "preparatory to roaring out the sentence of torture or death, in whichhe delighted still more. All who were in the remotest way implicated in the late rebellion werenow hunted down and brought to a trial which was but a mockery ofjustice. No one was permitted to defend himself. In fact, defensewould have been useless against the blind fury of such a judge. Thethreshold of the court was to most that crossed it the threshold ofthe grave. A gentleman present at one of these scenes of slaughter, touched with pity at the condition of a trembling old man called upfor sentence, ventured to put in a word in his behalf. "My Lord, "said he to Jeffreys, "this poor creature is dependent on the parish. ""Don't trouble yourself, " cried the judge; "I will soon ease theparish of the burden, " and ordered the officers to execute him atonce. Those who escaped death were often still more to be pitied. A youngman was sentenced to be imprisoned for seven years, and to be whippedonce a year through every market town in the county. In his despair, he petitioned the King to grant him the favor of being hanged. Thepetition was refused, but a partial remission of the punishment was atlength gained by bribing the court; for Jeffreys, though his heart wasshut against mercy, always had his pockets open for gain. AliceLisle, an aged woman, who, out of pity, had concealed two men flyingfrom the King's vengeance, was condemned to be burned alive; and itwas with the gratest difficulty that the clergy of WinchesterCathedral succeeded in getting the sentence commuted to beheading. As the work went on, the spirits of Jeffreys rose higher and higher. He laughed, shouted, joked, and swore like a drunken man. When thecourt had finished its sittings, more than a thousand persons had beenbrutally scourged, sold as slaves, hanged, or beheaded. Theguideposts of the highways were converted into gibbets, from which theblackened corpses swung in chains, and from every church tower inSomersetshire ghastly heads looked down on those who gathered there toworship God; in fact, so many bodies were exposed that the whole airwas "tainted with corruption and death. " Not satisfied with vengeance alone, Jeffreys and his friends madethese trials a means of speculation. Batches of rebels were given aspresents to courtiers, who sold them for a period of ten years to beworked to death or flogged to death on West India plantations; and theQueen's maids of honor extorted large sums of money for the pardon ofa number of country schoolgirls who had been convicted of presentingMonmouth with a royal flag at Taunton. On the return of Jeffreys to London after this carnival of blood, hisfather was so horrified at his cruelty that he forbade him to enterhis house. James, on the contrary, testified his approval by makingJeffreys Lord Chancellor of the realm, at the same time mildlycensuring him for not having shown greater severity! The new Lord Chancellor testified his gratitude to his royal master byprocuring the murder, by means of a packed jury, of Alderman Cornish, a prominent London Whig (S479), who was especially hated by the Kingon account of his support of that Exclusion Bill (S478) which wasintended to shut James out from the throne. On the same day on whichCornish was executed, Jeffreys also had the satisfaction of knowingthat Elizabeth Gaunt was burned alive at Tyburn, London, for havingassisted one of the Rye-House conspirators, who had fought forMonmouth at Sedgemoor, to escape. 488. The King makes Further Attempts to reestablish Catholicism;Second Declaration of Indulgence (1687); Oxford. An event occurred about this time which encouraged James to make amore decided attempt to restore Catholicism. Henry IV of France hadgranted the Protestants of his kingdom liberty of worship, by theEdict of Nantes (1598). Louis XIV deliberately revoked it (1685). Bythat shortsighted act the Huguenots, or French Protestants, wereexposed to cruel persecution, and thousands of them fled to Englandand America. James, who, like his late brother Charles II, was "the pensioned slaveof the French King" (S476), resolved to profit by the example set himby Louis. He did not expect to drive the Protestants out of GreatBritain as Louis had driven them from France, but he hoped to restorethe country to its allegiance to Rome (SS370, 382, 477). He began bysuspending the Test Act (S477) and putting Catholics into importantoffices in both Church and State. [1] He furthermore established anarmy of 13, 000 men on Hounslow Heath, just outside London (1686), tohold the city in subjection in case it should rebel. [1] The Dispensing Power and the Suspending Power were prerogatives bywhich the King claimed the right of preventing the enforcement of suchlaws as he deemed contrary to public good. A packed bench of judgessustained the King in this position, but the power so to act wasfinally abolished by the Bill of Rights (1689). See S497 and top ofpage xxxii, Article XII. He next recalled the Protestant Duke of Ormonde, governor of Ireland, and put in his place Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, a Catholic. Tyrconnelhad orders to recruit an Irish Roman Catholic army to aid the King incarrying out his designs (1687). He raised some soldiers, but he alsoraised that famous song of "Lilli Burlero, " by which, as its authorboasted, James was eventually "sung out of his kingdom. "[2] [2] Lord Wharton, a prominent English Whig (S479), was the author ofthis satirical political ballad, which, it is said, was sung andwhistled from one end of England to the other, in derision of theKing's policy. It undoubtably had a powerful popular influence inbringing on the Revolution of 1688. The ballad began: "Ho, Brother Teague, dost hear de decree? Lilli Burlero, bullen a-la, Dat we shall have a new deputie, Lilli Burlero, bullen a-la. " The refrain, "Lilli Burlero, " etc. (also written"Lillibullero"), is said to have been the watchword used by the IrishCatholics when they rose against the Protestants of Ulster in 1641. See Wilkins's "Political Songs, " Vol I. Having got the courts completely under his control through theappointment of judges in sympathy with Jeffreys (S487) and withhimself, the King issued a Declaration of Indulgence similar to thatwhich his brother Charles II had issued (S477). [1] It suspended allpenal laws against both the Roman Catholics on the one hand, and theProtestant Dissenters (S472) on the other. The latter, however, suspecting that this apparently liberal measure was simply a trick toestablish Catholicism, refused to avail themselves of it, anddenounced it as an open violation of the Constitution. [1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxi, S23. James next proceeded, by means of the tyrannical High CommissionCourt, which he had revived (S382), to bring Magdalen College, Oxford, under Catholic control. The President of that college having died, the Fellows were considering the choice of a successor. The Kingordered them to elect a Catholic. The Fellows refused to obey, andelected a Protestant. James ejected the new President, and drove outthe Fellows, leaving them to depend on the charity of neighboringcountry gentlemen for their support. But the King, in attacking the rights of the college, had "run hishead against a wall, "[2] as he soon discovered to his sorrow. Histemporary success, however, emboldened him to reissue the firstDeclaration of Indulgence (1688). Its real object, like that of thefirst Declaration (S477), was to put Roman Catholics into still higherpositions of trust and power. [2] "What building is that?" asked the Duke of Wellington of hiscompanion, Mr. Croker, pointing, as he spoke, to Magdalen Collegewall, just as they entered Oxford in 1834. "That is the wall whichJames II ran his head against, " was the reply. 489. The Petition of the Seven Bishops, 1688. James commanded the clergy throughout the realm to read thisDeclaration (S488) on a given Sunday from their pulpits. The clergywere by nature conservative. They still generally upheld the theoryof the "Divine Right of Kings" and of "Passive Obedience. " A majorityof them taught the doctrine which James I had proclaimed: "God makesthe King; the King makes the law; his subjects are bound to obey thelaw" (SS419, 429). Now, however, nearly all of them revolted. Theyfelt that to comply with the mandate of the King would be to strike ablow at the supremacy of the Church of England. In this crisis theArchbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by six bishops, petitioned theKing to be excused from reading it from their pulpits. The Kingrefused to consider the petition. When the day came, hardly aclergyman read the paper, and in Westminster Abbey the entirecongregation rose in a body and left rather than listen to it. Furious at such an unexpected result, James ordered the refractorybishops to be sent to the Tower and kept prisoners there. The whole country now seemed to turn against the King. By hisobstinate folly James had succeeded in making enemies of all classes, not only of the Whig Roundheads (S479) who had fought against hisfather in the civil war, but also of the Tory Cavaliers (S479) who hadfought for him, and of the clergy who had taught the duty of obedienceto him. One of the bishops sent to the Tower was Trelawney of Bristol. He wasa native of Cornwall. The news of his imprisonment roused the rough, independent population of that country. From one end of it to theother the people were now heard singing: "And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die? There's thirty thousand Cornishmen will know the reason why. " Then the miners took up the words, and beneath the hills and fieldsthe ominous echo was heard: "And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die? There's twenty thousand underground will know the reason why. " When the seven bishops were brought to trial the popular feeling intheir favor was so strong that not even James's servile judges dareduse their influence to convict them. After the case was given to thejury, the largest and most robust man of the twelve rose and said tothe rest: "Look at me! I am bigger than any of you, but before I willbring in a verdict of guilty, I will stay here until I am no thickerthan a tobacco pipe. " That decided the matter, and the bishops wereacquitted (1688). The news was received in London like the tidings ofsome great victory, with shouts of joy, illuminations, and bonfires. 490. Birth of a Prince; Invitation to William of Orange (1688). But just before the acquittal an event took place which changedeverything and brought on the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, --for suchwas the title which was solemnly given to it after William and Maryhad come to the throne (SS491, 494). Up to this time the succession to the throne after James rested withhis two daughters, --Mary, who had married William, Prince of Orange(S477), President of the Dutch republic, and resided in Holland; andher younger sister Anne, who had married George, Prince of Denmark, and was then living in London. Both of the daughters were zealousProtestants, and the expectation that one of them would receive theEnglish crown on the King's death had kept the people quiet whileJames was endeavoring to restore Catholicism. But while the seven bishops were in prison awaiting trial (S489) thealrming intelligence was spread that a son had been born to the King(1688). If true, he would now be the next heir to the crown, andwould in all probability be educated and come to power a Catholic. This prospect brought matters to a crisis. Many people, especially the Whigs (S479), believed the whole matter animposition, and it was reported that the young Prince was not the trueson of the King and Queen, but a child that had been smuggled into thepalace to deceive the nation. For this report there was absolutely nofoundation in fact. On the very day that the bishops were set at liberty (S489) seven ofthe leading nobility and gentry, representing both the Whigs and theTories (S479), [1] seconded by the city of London, secretly sent aformal invitation to William, Prince of Orange, "the champion ofProtestantism on the Continent and the deadly foe of James's ally, theKing of France. " Admiral Herbert, disguised as a common sailor, setout on the perilous errand to the Prince. The invitation he carriedimplored William to come over with an army to defend his wife Mary'sclaim to the English throne, and to ensure "the restoration of Englishliberties and the protection of the Protestant religion. " William decided to accept the invitation, which was probably notunexpected on his part. He was confirmed in his decision not only bythe cordial approval of the leading Catholic princes of Europe, except, of course, Louis XIV of France, but also by the Pope himself, who had more than once expressed his emphatic disgust at the foolishrashness of King James. [2] [1] The seven gentlemen who signed in cipher the secret letter toWilliam, Prince of Orange, were Henry Sidney, brother of AlgernonSidney (S480); Edward Russell, a kinsman of Lord Russell, beheaded byCharles II (S480); the Earl of Devonshire, chief of the Whig party;Lord Shrewsbury; Danby, the old Tory minister of Charles II; Compton, Bishop of London, whom James II had tyrannically suspended; and LordLumley. See the letter in J. Dalrymple's "Memoirs of Great Britain, "II, Appendix, p. 228. [2] Bright's, Guizot's, Lingard's, and Von Ranke's Histories ofEngland. 491. The "Glorious Revolution of 1688; William comes, James goes. William's ship, which led his fleet, displayed this flag. I WILL MAINTAIN THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND AND THE PROTESTANT RELIGION He landed with 14, 000 troops on the shore of Torbay, Devonshire. (Seemap facing p. 334. ) It was the fifth and last rgeat landing in thehistory of England. [1] He declared that he came in the interest ofhis wife Mary, the heir to the throne (S477), and in the interest ofthe English nation, to secure a free and legal Parliament which shoulddecide the question of the succession. James endeavored to rally aforce to resist him, but Baron Churchill, afterwards Duke ofMarlborough (S509), and the King's son-in-law, Prince George, bothsecretly went over to William's side. [1] The first being that of the Romans, the next that of the Saxons, the third that of St. Augustine, the fourth that of William heConqueror, the fifth that of the Prince of Orange. His troops likewise deserted, and finally even his daughter Anne wentover to the enemy. "Now God help me!" exclaimed James, in despair;"for my own children forsake me!" The Queen had already fled toFrance, taking with her her infant son, the unfortunate Prince JamesEdward, whose birth (S490) had caused the revolution. Instead of akingdom, he inherited nothing but the nickname of "Pretender, " whichhe in turn transmitted to his son. [2] King James soon followed hiswife. [2] Prince James Edward Stuart, the so-called "Old Pretender, " and hisson, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the so-called "Young Pretender. "See, too, Genealogical Table, p. 323. As he crossed the Thames in a boat by night, James threw the GreatSeal of State into the river, in the vain hope that without it aParliament could not be legally summoned to decide the question whichhis adversary had raised. [3] The King got as far as the coast, butwas discovered by some fishermen and brought back. Williamreluctantly received him, and purposely allowed him to escape a secondtime. He reached France, and Louis XIV, who had long had thetreacherous King in his secret pay, received him at the court ofVersailles. There could be now no reasonable doubt that James'sdaughter Mary (S477) would receive the English crown. [3] On the Great Seal of State (S145). 492. Character of the Revolution of 1688. Never was a revolution of such magnitude and meaning accomplished morepeacefully. Not a drop of blood had been shed. There was hardly anyexcitement or uproar. Even the bronze statue of the runaway King waspermitted to stand undisturbed in the rear of the palace of Whitehall, London, where it remains to this day. The great change had taken place thus quietly because men's minds wereripe for it. England had entered upon another period of history, inwhich old institutions, laws, and customs were passing away and allwas becoming new. Feudalism had vanished under Charles II (S482), but political andreligious persecution had continued. In future, however, we shallhear no more of the revocation of city charters or other punishmentsinflicted because of political opinion (SS479, 487), and rarely of anypunishment for religious dissent. Courts of justice will undergo reform. They will cease to be "littlebetter than caverns of murderers, "[1] where judges like Scroggs andJeffreys (SS478, 487) browbeat the prisoners, took their guilt forgranted, insulted and silenced witnesses for their defense, and evencast juries into prison under penalties of heavy fines, for venturingto bring in verdicts contrary to their wishes. [2] [1] Hallam's "Constitutional History of England, " p. 138. Hallam alsosays that the behavior of the Stuart judges covered them "withinfamy, " p. 597. [2] See Hallam, and also the introduction to Professor Adams's "Manualof Historical Literature. " For a graphic picture of the times, see, in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress, " Christian's trial before LordHategood. The day, too, had gone by when an English sovereign could cast hissubjects into fetid dungeons in the Tower and leave them to die thereof lingering disease, in darkness, solitude, and despair. No futureking like the marble-hearted James II would sit in the court room atEdinburgh, and watch with curious delight the agony inflicted by theScotch instruments of torture, the "boot" and the thumbscrew, or likehis grandfather, James I, burn Unitarian heretics at the stake inSmithfield market place in London (S518). For the future, thought and discussion in England were to be in greatmeasure free, as in time they would be wholly so. Perhaps the cowardKing's heaviest retribution in his secure retreat in the royal Frenchpalace of Versailles was the knowledge that all his efforts, and allthe efforts of his friend Louis XIV, to prevent the coming of thisliberty had absolutely failed. 493. Summary. The reign of James must be regarded as mainly taken up with theattempt of the King to rule independently of Parliament and of law, and, apparently, he sought to restore the Roman Catholic faith as theEstablished Church of England. Monmouth's rebellion, though without real justification, since hecould not legitimately claim the crown, was a forerunner of thatmemorable Revolution which invited William of Orange to come to thesupport of Parliament, and which placed a Protestant King and Queen onthe throne. WILLIAM AND MARY (House of Orange-Stuart)--1689-1702 494. The "Convention Parliament"; the Declaration of Right. 1689. After the flight of James II, a "Convention Parliament" met, anddeclared that, James having broken "the orginal contract between kingand people, " the throne was therefore vacant. The Convention nextissued a formal statement of principles under the name of the"Declaration of Right, " 1689. [1] [1] It was called a "Convention Parliament" because it had not beensummoned by the King (S491). Declaration of Right: see Summary ofConstitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxii, S24. On thecoronation oath see S380, note 1. That document recited the illegal and arbitrary acts of the late KingJames II, proclaimed him no longer sovereign, and resolved that thecrown should be tendered to William and Mary. [2] The Declarationhaving been read to them and having received their assent, they wereformally invited to accept the joint sovereignty of the realm, withthe understanding that the actual administration should be vested inWilliam alone. [2] William of Orange stood next in order of succession to Mary andAnne (provided the claim of the newly born Prince James, the so-called"Pretender, " was set aside [SS490, 491]). See Genealogical Table, p. 323. 495. Jacobites and Nonjurors (1689). At the accession of the new sovereigns the extreme Tories (S479), whobelieved the action fo the Convention unconstitutional, continued toadhere to James II as their lawful King. Henceforth this class becameknown as "Jacobites, " from Jacobus, the Latin name for James. Theywere especially numerous and determined in the Highlands of Scotlandand the south of Ireland. They kept up a secret correspondence withthe refugee monarch, and were constantly plotting for his restoration. About four hundred of the clergy of the Church of England, includingthe Archbishop of Canterbury and four more of the famous seven bishops(S489), with some members of the universities and also some ScotchPresbyterians, refused to take the oath of allegiance to William andMary. They became known on this account as the "Nonjurors, " andalthough they were never harshly treated, they were compelled toresign their positions. 496. The Mutiny Act and the Toleration Act, 1689. We have seen that one of the chief means of despotism on which JamesII relied was the organization of a powerful standing army (S488), such as was unknown in England until Cromwell was compelled to rule bymilitary force (S457). Charles II had perpetuated such an army(S467), but it was so small that it was no longer formidable. It was now evident that owing to the abolition of the feudal levies(SS150, 482) a standing army under the King's command must bemaintained, especially as war was impending with Louis XIV, whothreatened by force of arms and with the help of the Jacobites (S495)to restore James II to the English throne. To prevent the sovereignfrom making bad use of such a power, Parliament passed a law calledthe "Mutiny Act, " 1689, which practically put the army under thecontrol of the nation, [1] as it has since remained. Thus all dangerfrom that source was taken away. [1] The Mutiny Act provides: (1) that the standing army shall be atthe King's command--subject to certain rules--for one year only; (2)that no pay shall be issued to troops except by special acts ofParliament; (3) that no act of mutiny can be punished except by theannual reenactment of the Mutiny Bill. James's next method for bringing the country under the control of Romehad been to issue Declarations of Indulgence (S488). It was generallybelieved that his object in granting these measures of toleration, which promised freedom to all religious beliefs, was that he mightplace Roman Catholics in power. As an offset to these Declarations, Parliament now passed theToleration Act, 1689, which secured freedom of worship to allreligious believers except "Papists and such as deny the Trinity. "This measure, though one-sided and utterly inconsistent with thebroader and juster ideas of toleration which have since prevailed, wasnevertheless a most important reform. It put an end at once andforever to the persecution which had disgraced the reigns of theStuarts, though unfortunately it still left the Catholics, theUnitarians, and the Jews subject to the heavy hand of tyrannicaloppression, [1] and they remained so for many years (SS573, 599). [1] In 1663 Charles granted a charter to Rhode Island which securedreligious liberty to that colony. It was the first royal charterrecognizing the principle of toleration. 497. The Bill of Rights, 1689, and Act of Settlement, 1701. Not many months later, Parliament embodied the Declaration of Right(S494), with some slight changes, in the Bill of Rights, 1689, [2]which received the signature of the King and became law. Itconstitutes the third and last great step which England has taken inmaking anything like a formal WRITTEN Constitution, [3]--the firstbeing Magna Carta, or the Great Charter (S199), and the second thePetition of Right (S432). The Habeas Corpus Act (S482) was contained, in germ at least, in Magna Carta (S199 (2)); hence these threemeasures, namely, Magna Carta, 1215; the Petition of Right, 1628; andthe Bill of Rights, 1689 (including the Act of Settlement to bementioned presently), sum up the written safeguards of the nation, andconstitute, as Lord Chatham said, "The Bible of English Liberty. " [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxii, S25, and p. Xxxi. [3] It should be borne in mind that a large part of the EnglishConstitution is based on ancient customs or unwritten laws, andanother part on acts of Parliament passed for specific purposes. With the passage of the Bill of Rights, [4] the doctrine of the DivineRight of Kings to govern without being accountable to their subjects(SS419, 429), which James I and his descendants had tried so hard toreduce to practice, came to an end forever. [4] For summary of the bill, see Constitutional Documents in theAppendix, p. Xxxi. For the complete text, see Taswell-Langmead's"Constitutional History of England" or Lee's "Source Book of EnglishHistory. " The chief provisions of the Bill of Rights were: (1) That the King should not maintain a standing army in time ofpeace, except by consent of Parliament. (2) That no money should be taken from the people save by theconsent of Parliament. (3) That every subject has the right to petition the Crown for theredress of any grievance. (4) That the election of members of Parliament ought to be free frominterference. (5) That Parliament should frequently assemble and enjoy entirefreedom of debate. (6) That the King be debarred from interfering in any way with theproper execution of the laws. (7) That a Roman Catholic or a person marrying a Roman Catholic behenceforth incapable of receiving the crown of England. Late in the reign (1701) Parliament reaffirmed and still furtherextended the provisions of the Bill of Rightss by the Act ofSettlement, which established a new royal line of sovereigns confinedexclusively to Protestants. [1] This Act with the preceding one may besaid to have introduced that principle of the British Constitutionwhich has been called "The Reign of Law. " It practically abolishedthe principle of a fixed hereditary succession and reestablished inthe clearest and most decided manner the right of the nation to chooseits own rulers. [1] Compare S349, note 2. The Act of Settlement (see p. Xxxii ofAppendix) provided that after Princess Anne (in default of issue byWilliam or Anne) the crown should descend to the Electress Sophia ofHanover, Hermany, and her PROTESTANT DESCENDANTS. The ElectressSophia was the granddaughter of James I. She married Ernest Augustus, Elector (or ruler) of Hanover. As Hallam says, she was "very farremoved from any hereditary title, " as, aside from James II's son(S490), whose legitimacy no one now doubted, there were several whostood nearer in right of succession. According to that measure, "an English sovereign is now as much thecreature of an act of Parliament as the pettiest taxgatherer in hisrealm";[2] and he is dependent for his office and power on the will ofthe people as really, though of course not as directly as thePresident of the United States. [2] Green's "Short History of the English People" and Bryce's"American Commonwealth. " Finally, the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, by restrictingthe royal succession to Protestants, made it henceforthunconstitutional for the Crown to permit or invite the Papal Power totake any recognized part in the government of England. The enactmentof these two measures, therefore, effectually put an end to that greatconflict between England and Rome which had been going on, in someform, for more than six hundred years (S349, note 2). To-day entire harmony exists. Catholics and Protestants "worktogether for good" in Parliament, in the Cabinet, in the Courts ofJustice, in the Universities, in the Army and Navy, in the service ofthe Press, and in private life. [1] [1] The names of many eminent Catholics might be cited, such asProfessor Lingard, the historian (1851), the late Lord Chief JusticeRussell, the late Lord Acton, Professor of History at Cambridge, andthe late Sir Francis Burnand, editor of _Punch. _ 498. Further Benefits of the Revolution. Foremost in the list of other benefits which England gained by theRevolution of 1688 should be placed: 1. The Toleration Act alreadymentioned (S496), which gave a very large number of people the rightof worshiping God according to the dictates of conscience, and whichwas the stepping-stone to later measures that completed the good workof extending religious liberty in England (SS573, 599). 2. Parliament now established the salutory rule that no money shouldbe voted to the King except for specific purposes, and it also limitedthe royal revenue to a few years' supply instead of granting it forlife, as had been done in the case of Charles II and James. Later thesupply was limited to an annual grant. As the Mutiny Act (S496) madethe army dependent for its existence on the annual meeting and actionof the House of Commons, these two measures practically gave thepeople full control of the two great powers, --the purse and thesword, --which they have ever since retained. 3. Parliament next enacted that judges should hold office not asheretofore, at his Majesty's pleasure, but during good behavior (oruntil the death of the reigning sovereign vacated their commissions). This took away that dangerous authority of the King over the courts ofjustice, which had caused so much oppression and cruelty. 4. But, as Macaulay remarks, of all the reforms produced by thechange of government, perhaps none proved more extensively useful thanthe establishment of the liberty of the press. Up to this time nobook or newspaper could be published in England without a license. [2]In the period of the Commonwealth John Milton, the great Puritan poet, had earnestly labored to get this severe law repealed, declaring that"while he who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, ... He whodestroys a good book [by refusing to let it appear in print] killsreason itself. "[3] But under James II, Chief Justice Scroggs haddeclared it a crime to publish anything whatever concerning thegovernment, whether true or false, without a license. During thatreign there were only four places in England--namely, London, Oxford, Cambridge, and York--where any book, pamphlet, or newspaper could belegally issued, and then only with the sanction of a rigid inspector. [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxiii, S26. [3] Milton's "Areopagitica, " or "Speech for the Liberty of UnlicensedPrinting. " Under William and Mary this restriction was removed. Henceforth menwere free not only to think, but to print and circulate their thought(subject, of course, to the law of libel and sedition). They couldthus bring the government more directly before that bar of publicopinion which judges all men and all institutions. 499. James II lands in Ireland (1689); Act of Attainder; Siege ofLondonderry. But though William was King of England, and had been accepted as Kingof Scotland, yet the Irish, like the Scotch Highlanders, refused torecognize him as their lawful sovereign. The great body of Irishpopulation was then, as now, Roman Catholic. But they had beengradually dispossessed of their hold on the land (SS159, 402, 453), and the larger part of the most desirable portion of the island wasowned by a few hundred thousand Protestant colonists. On the other hand, James II had, during his reign, put the civilgovernment and the military power in the hands of the Catholics. TheEarl of Tyrconnel (S488) now raised the standard of rebellion inIreland in the interest of the Catholics, and invited James II to comeover from France (S491) and regain his throne. The Protestants of thenorth stood by William of Orange (S491), and thus got that name ofOrangemen which they have ever since retained. James landed inIreland in the spring (1689) with a small French force lent him byLouis XIV (S491). He established his headquarters at Dublin. Not long afterwards heissued that great Act of Attainder (1689) which summoned all who werein rebellion against his authority to appear for trial on a given day, or be declared traitors, hanged, drawn, and quartered, and theirproperty confiscated. [1] Next, the Protestant city of Londonderry(S423) was bebesieged (1689). For more than three months it held outagainst shot and shell, famine and fever. [1] Attainder (S351): This act contained between two and threethousand names. It embraced all classes, from half the peerage ofIreland to tradesmen, women, and children. If they failed to appear, they could be put to death without trial. The starving inhabitants, exceeding thirty thousand in number, werefinally reduced to the last extremities. Nothing was left to eat buta few miserable horses and some salted hides. As they looked intoeach other's hollow eyes, the question came, Must we surrender? Thenit was that an aged clergyman, the venerable George Walker, one of thegovernors of the city, pleaded with them, Bible in hand, to remainfirm. That appeal carried the day. They declared that rather than open thegates to the enemy, they would perish of hunger, or, as some voicewhispered, that they would fall "first on the horses and thehides, --THEN ON THE PRISONERS, --then--ON EACH OTHER!" But at thismoment, when all hope seemed lost, a shout of triumph was heard. AnEnglish force had sailed up the river, broken through allobstructions, and the valiant city was saved. 500. Battle of the Boyne, 1690; Treaty of Limerick. A year later occurred the decisive battle of the Boyne, [1] 1690, atwhich King William commanded in person on one side, while James II waspresent on the opposite side. William had a somewhat larger force andby far the greater number of well-armed, veteran troops. The contestended with the utter defeat of James. He stood on a hill at a safedistance, and when he saw that the battle was going against him, turned and fled to France. William, on the other hand, thoughsuffering from a wound, led his own men. The cowardly behavior ofJames excited the disgust and scorn of both the French and Irish. "Change kings with us, " shouted an Irish officer later, to one ofWilliam's men, "change kings with us, and we'll fight you over again. " [1] Fought in the east of Ireland, on the banks of the river of thatname. (See map facing p. 358. ) The war was brought to an end by the treaty of Limerick (1691), whenabout ten thousand Irish soldiers who had fought for James, and who nolonger cared to remain in their own country after their defeat, werepermitted to go to France. "When the wild cry of the women, who stoodwatching their departure, was hushed, the silence of death settleddown upon Ireland. For a hundred years the country remained at peace, but the peace was that of despair. "[1] In violation of that treaty, asevere act was passed against Roman Catholics; they were hunted likewild beasts, and terrible vengeance was now taken for that Act ofAttainder (S499) which James had issued. Furthermore, Englandselfishly closed her own ports and those of her colonies against Irishproducts; this policy starved the industry of that unfortunate island. [1] Green's "Short History of the English People. " 501. Massacre of Glencoe (1692). Fighting against William and Mary had also been going on in Scotland;for Claverhouse, or "Bonny Dundee" (S472), was an ardent adherent ofJames II and vowed, "Ere the King's crown shall fall, there are crownsto be broke. "[2] But the Jacobites, or adherents of James (S495), hadbeen conquered, and a proclamation was sent out commanding all theHighland clans to take the oath of allegiance before the beginning ofthe new year (1692). [2] Scott's Poems, "Bonny Dundee. " A chief of the clan of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, through no fault ofhis own, failed to make submission within the appointed time. Scotchenemies of the clan told the King that the chief had refused to takethe oath, and urged William "to extirpate that set of thieves. " TheKing signed an order to that effect, without clearly understnadingwhat was intended. Thereupon the Scotch authorities sent a body of soldiers to Glencoe, who were hospitably received by the Macdonalds. After stopping withthem a number of days, they rose before light one winter morning, and, suddenly attacking their friendly hosts, murdered all the men who didnot escape, and drove the women and children into the snowdrifts toperish of cold and hunger. They finished their work of destruction by burning the cabins anddriving away the cattle. By this act, Glencoe, or the "Glen ofWeeping, " was changed into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Theblame which attaches to William is that he did nothing towardpunishing those who planned and carried out the horrible massacre. 502. La Hogue; the Peace of Ryswick, 1697. The English naval commander, Admiral Russell, like many of William'spretended friends and supporters, had been engaged in treasonablecorrespondence with James II. If the latter succeeded in recoveringhis crown, the Admiral hoped to bask in the sunshine of royal favor;but he later changed his mind and fought so bravely in the sea fightoff La Hogue that the French supporters of James were utterly beaten. King William, however, continued his Continental wars for the nextfive years, until, by the Peace of Ryswick, in Holland, 1697, LouisXIV bound himself to recognize William as King of England, thePrincess Anne[1] as his successor, to withdraw all support from James, and to place the chief fortresses of the Netherlands, or LowCountries, in the hands of the Dutch garrisons. The Peace of Ryswickmarked the end of the conspiracy between Louis and the Stuarts to turnEngland into a Roman Catholic country dependent on France (SS477, 488). When William went in solemn state to return thanks for theconclusion of the war, it was to the new cathedral of St. Paul's, which Wren had nearly completed (S474), and which was then first usedfor public worship. [1] The second (Protestant) daughter of James II. See GenealogicalTable, p. 323. 503. The National Debt, 1693; the Bank of England, 1694. William had now gained, at least temporarily, the object that he hadin view when he accepted the English crown. He had succeeded indrawing the English into a close defensive alliance against LoisXIV, [2] who, as we have seen, was bent on destroying both thepolitical and the religious liberty of the Dutch as a Protestantpeople (S476). [2] Guizot's "History of Civilization, " chap. Xiii. William's wars had compelled him to borrow large sums from the Londonmerchants. Out of these loans sprang the permanent National Debt. That debt was destined to grow from less than a million of pounds toso many hundred millions that all thought of ever paying it has longsince been given up. Furthermore, it became necessary to organize aBanking Company, 1694, for the management of this collosal debt;together the two were destined to become more widely known than any ofWilliam's victories. The building erected by that Company covers not far from four acres ofland in the very heart of London. In the first room which one entersstands a statue of the King, bearing this inscription: "To the memoryof the best of Princes, William of Orange, founder of the Bank ofEngland, "--the largest and most important financial institution in theworld. 504. William's Death. King William hasd a brave soul in a feeble body. All his life he wasan invalid, but he learned to conquer disease, or at least to hold itin check, as he conquered his enemies. He was worn out by overwork, sickness, and the cares of office. If he could have been assured ofthe safety of his beloved Holland, death would have been welcome toone who had so long been stretched "upon the hard rack of this toughworld. " He was never popular in England, and at one time was keptfrom returning to his native country only through the earnestprotestation of the Lord Chancellor, who refused to stamp the King'sresignation with the Great Seal (S145). There were plots to assassinate him, and many who pretended to befriends were treacherous, and only wanted a good opportunity to goover to the side of James II. Others were eager to hear of his death, and when it occurred, through the stumbling of his horse over amolehill, they drank to "the little gentleman in black velvet, " whosework underground caused the fatal accident. 505. Summary. William's reign was a prolonged struggle for the great Protestantcause and for the maintenance of political liberty in both England andHolland. Invalid as he was, he was yet a man of indomitableresolution as well as indomitable courage. Though a foreigner by birth, and caring more for Holland than for anyother country in the world, yet, through his Irish and Continentalwars with James II and Louis XIV, he helped more than any other man ofthe seventeenth century, Cromwell alone excepted, to make Englandfree. ANNE--1702-1714 506. Accession and Character of Anne. William (S504) left no children, and according to the provisions ofthe Bill of Rights (S497)[1] the Princess Anne, younger sister of thelate Queen Mary, now came to the throne. She was a negativecharacter, with kindly impulses and little intelligence. "When ingood humor she was meekly stupid, and when in ill humor, sulkilystupid. "[2] But if there was any person duller than her Majesty, thatperson was her Majesty's husband, Prince George of Denmark. CharlesII, who knew him well, said, "I have tried Prince George sober, and Ihave tried him drunk, and drunk or sober, there is nothing in him. " [1] See the Bill of Rights (third paragraph) on page xxxi of theAppendix. [2] Macaulay's "England"; and compare Stanhope's "Reign of Anne. " Along with the amiable qualities which gained for the new ruler thetitle of "Good Queen Anne" her Majesty inherited the obstinacy, theprejudices, and the superstitions of the Stuart sovereigns. Though amost zealous Protestant and an ardent upholder of the Church ofEngland, she declared her faith in the Divine Right of Kings (SS419, 429), which had cost her grandfather, Charles I, his head, and she wasthe last English sovereign who believed that the touch of the royalhand could dispel disease. The first theory she never openly proclaimed in any offensive way, butthe harmless delusion that she could relieve the sick was a favoritenotion with her; and we find in the London _Gazette_ (March 12, 1712)an official announcement, stating that on certain days the Queen would"touch" for the cure of "king's evil, " or scrofula. Among the multitudes who went to test her power was a poor Lichfieldbookseller. He carried to her his little half-blind, sickly boy, who, by virtue either of her Majesty's beneficent fingers or from someother and better reason, grew up to be known as the famous author andlexicographer, Dr. Samuel Johnson. [2] [2] Johnson told Boswell, his biographer, that he remembered theincident, and that "he had a confused, but somehow a sort of solemnrecollection of a lady in diamonds and a long black hood. "--Boswell's"Johnson. " 507. Whig and Tory; High Church and Low. Politically, the government of the country was divided between the twogreat parties of the Whigs and the Tories (S479), since uscceeded bythe Liberals and Conservatives. Though mutually hostile, eachbelieving that its rival's success meant national ruin, yet both weresincerely opposed to despotism on the one hand, and to anarchy on theother. The Whigs (S479), setting Parliament above the throne, werepledged to maintain the Act of Settlement (S497) and the Protestantsuccession; while the Tories (S479), insisting on a strict, unbrokenline of hereditary sovereigns, were anxious to set aside that act andrestore the excluded Stuarts (S494). The Church of England was likewise divided into two parties, known asHigh Church and Low Church. The first, who were generally Tories, wished to exalt the power of the bishops and were opposed to thetoleration of Dissenters (S472); the second, who were Whigs as a rule, believed it best to curtail the authority of the bishops, and tosecure to all Trinitarian Protestants entire liberty of worship andall civil and political rights and privileges. Thus to the bitternessof heated political controversy there was added the still more acridbitterness of theological dispute. Addison illustrates the feeling that then prevailed by an amusingstory of an earlier occurrence. A boy who had lost his way in Londonwas called a "popish cur" by a Whig because he ventured to inquire forSaint Anne's Lane, while he was cuffed for irreverence by a Tory when, correcting himself, he asked bluntly for Anne's Lane. The Queen, although she owed her crown mainly to the Whigs (S479), sympathized with the Tories (S479) and the High Church, and did all inher power to strengthen both. As for the leaders of the two parties, they seem to have looked out first for themselves, and afterwards--often a long way afterwards--for their country. During the wholereign they were plotting and counterplotting, mining and undermining. Their subtle schemes to secure office and destroy each other become asincomprehensible and fathomless as those of the fallen angels inMilton's vision of the bottomless pit. 508. The War of the Spanish Succession, 1702. Anne had no sooner come to the throne than war broke out with France. It had its origin in the previous reign. William III had cared littlefor England compared with his native Holland, whose interests alwayshad the first place in his heart. He had spent his life battling topreserve the independence of the Dutch republic and fighting Louis XIVof France, who was determined, if possible, to annex the Netherlands, including Holland, to his own dominions (S502). During the latter part of William's reign the French King seemedlikely to be able to accomplish his purpose. The King of Spain, whohad no children, was in feeble health, and at his death it wasprobable that Louis XIV's grandson, Philip of Anjou, would receive thecrown. If that happened, Louis XIV, who was then the most powerfulprince in Europe, would obtain the control of the Spanish dominions, which, besides Spain, comprise a large part of the Netherlands, [1]parts of Italy, and immense provinces in South America. Thepossession of such an empire would make Louis irresistible in Europe, and the little, free Protestant states of Holland could not hope tostand before him. [1] The whole of the Netherlands at one time belonged to Spain, butthe northern part, or Holland, had succeeded in establishing itsindependence, and was protected on the southern frontier by a line offortified towns. Not long afterwards, the King of Spain died and bequeathed the crownto Philip of Anjou. When Philip left Paris for Madrid, Louis XIVexultingly exclaimed, "The Pyrenees no longer exist. " That was simplyhis short way of saying, Now France and Spain are made one, andFRANCE is that one. [2] [2] When Philip of Anjou went to Spain, Louis XIV, by letters patent, conditionally reserved the succession to the Spanish throne to France, thus virtually uniting the two countries, so that the PyreneesMountains would no longer have any political meaning as a boundarybetween the two countries. Louis at once put French garrisons in the border towns of the SpanishNetherlands, and he thus had a force ready at any moment to marchacross the frontier into Holland. Finally, on the death of the royalrefugee, James II (S9491), which occurred shortly before KingWilliam's death, Louis XIV publicly acknowledged the exiled monarch'sson, James Edward, the so-called "Old Pretender" (SS490, 491), asrightful sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This effectually roused the English people; they were prepared forhostilities when William's sudden death occurred (S504). Immediatelyafter Anne came to the throne (1702) war with France was declared, andsince it had grown out of Louis's designs on the crown of Spain, itwas called the "War of the Spanish Succession. " The contest was begun by England, mainly to prevent the French Kingfrom carrying out his threat of placing the so-called "Pretender, " sonof the late James II, on the English throne and so overturning theBill of Rights (S497) and the Act of Settlement (S497), and therebyrestoring the country to the Roman Catholic Stuarts. Later, the warcame to have two other important objects. The first of these was todefend Holland, now a most valuable ally; the second was to protectthe colonies of Virginia and New England against the power of France, which threatened, through its own American colonies and through theextensive Spanish possessions it expected to acquire, to get controlof the whole of the New World. [1] [1] At this time England had twelve American colonies extending fromNew England to South Carolina, inclusive, with part of Newfoundland. France and Spain claimed all the rest of the continent. Thus England had three objects at stake: (1) The maintenance of Protestant government at home. (2) The maintenance of the Protestant power of Holland. (3) The retention of a large part of the American continent. For this reason the War of the Spanish Succession may be regarded asthe beginning of a second Hundred Years' War between England andFrance (S237), [2] one destined to decide which was to build up thegreat empire of the future in the western hemisphere. [3] [2] During the next eighty years fighting was going on between Englandand France, directly or indirectly, for a great part of the time. [3] Seeley's "Expansion of England. " 509. Marlborough; Blenheim, Gibraltar, and Other Victories(1702-1709). John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (S491), commanded the English andDutch forces, and had for his ally Prince Eugene of Savoy, who led theGerman armies. The Duke, who was known in the enemy's camps by theflattering name of "the handsome Englishman, " had risen fromobscurity. He owed the beginning of his success to his good looks anda court intrigue. In politics he sympathized chiefly with the Tories(S479), but his interests in the war led him to support the Whigs(S479). He was avaricious, unscrupulous, and teacherous. James II trustedhim, and he deceived him and went over to William (S491); Williamtrusted him, and he deceived him and opened a treasonablecorrespondence with the dethroned James; Anne trusted him, and hewould undoubtedly have betrayed her if the so-called "Pretender"(SS490, 491) had been able to bid high enough, or if he could haveshown him that his cause was likely to be successful. In his greedfor money the Duke hesitated at nothing; he took bribes from armycontractors, and robbed his soldiers of their pay. [1] [1] See Hallam, Macaulay; and Thackeray's "Henry Esmond. " As a soldier, Marlborough had no equal. Voltaire says of him withtruth that "he never besieged a fortress which he did not take, norfought a battle which he did not win. " This man, at once so able andso false, to whom war was a private speculation rather than a contestfor right or principle, now opened the campaign. He captured thosefortresses in the Spanish Netherlands which Louis XIV had garrisonedwith French troops to menace Holland, but he could not induce theenemy to rish a battle in the open field. At length, Marlborough, by a brilliant movement (1704), changed thescene of the war from the Netherlands to Bavaria in southern Germany. There, at the little village of Blenheim, [2] he, with Prince Eugene, gained a victory over the French which saved Germany from the power ofLouis XIV. (See map opposite. ) England, out of gratitude for thehumiliation of her powerful enemy, presented the Duke with the ancientroyal Park of Woodstock, near Oxford, and built for him the palace ofBlenheim, which the architect called "the biggest house for thebiggest man in England. " It is still occupied by descendants of theDuke's family. A few days before the battle of Blenheim, a powerfulEnglish fleet had attacked and taken Gibraltar (1704). England thusgained and still holds the command of the great inland sea of theMediterranean. In the course of the next five years Marlboroughfought three great battles, [3] by which he drove the French out of theNetherlands once for all, and finally beat them on a hotly contestedfield in northern France. The power of Louis XIV was now so farbroken that England no longer felt any fear that he would overcome hercolonies in America (S508). [2] Blenheim: The palace grounds are nearly twelve miles incircumference. The Marlborough family hold Blenheim on condition thatthey present a flag every year (August 2) to the English sovereign atWindsor Castle. [3] Ramillies (1706); Oudenarde (1708); Malplaquet (1709). 510. The Powers behind the Throne; Jennings against Masham. But if the Duke of Marlborough was remarkable, so too was his wife. While the war was going on, the real power of the Crown, though itstood in Anne's name, was practically in the hands of Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, who held the office of Mistress of the Robes. She and the Queen had long been inseparable, and it was her influencethat cause Anne to desert her father (S491) and espouse the cause ofWilliam of Orange. The imperious temper of the Duchess carried all before it, and in herdepartment she won victories which might well be compared with thosethe Duke, her husband, gained on the field of battle. In time hersway over her royal companion grew to be so absolute that she seemedto decide everything, from questions of state to the cut of a gown orthe color of a ribbon. Finally, it became a common saying that "QueenAnne reigns, but Queen Sarah governs. "[1] [1] For years the Queen and the Duchess corresponded almost dailyunder the names of "Mrs. Morley" (the Queen) and "Mrs. Freeman" (theDuchess), the latter taking that name because, she said, it suited thefrank and bold character of her letters. While the Duchess continued in power, she used her influence to urgeforward the war with France undertaken by England to check the designsof Louis XIV on Spain and Holland, and also to punish him for hisrecognition of the claim of the Pretender to the English crown(S491). Her object was to advance her husband, who, as commander inchief of the English and Dutch forces on the Continent, had won fameand fortune, --the first by his splendid ability, the second by hisunscrupulous greed (S509). After a number of years, the Queen and the Duchess quarreled, and thelatter was superseded by her cousin, a Mrs. Masham (1711), who soongot as complete control of Anne as the former favorite had possessed. Mrs. Masham was as sly and supple as the Duchess had been dictatorialand violent. She was cousin to Robert Harley, a prominent Torypolitician (S479). Through her influence Harley now became PrimeMinister in everything but name. He succeeded in putting a stop tofurther fighting, and Marlborough was ordered home in disgrace on acharge of having robbed the government. Thus it was, as Hallamremarks, that "the fortunes of Europe were changed by the insolence ofone waiting woman and the cunning of another. "[1] 511. Dr. Sacheverell (1710). An incident occurred about this time which greatly helped the Tories(S479) in their schemes. Dr. Sacheverell, a violent Tory and HighChurchman (S507), began preaching a series of vehement sermons inLondon condemning the Whig policy which called for the reopening ofthe war. He also endeavored to revive the exploding theory of theDivine Right of Kings (S419, 429), and declared that no tyranny on thepart of a sovereign could by any possibility justify a subject inresisting the royal will. The Whig leaders brought the preacher totrial for alleged treasonable utterances (1710). He was suspendedfrom his office for three years, and his book of sermons was publiclyburned by the common hangman. This created intense popular excitement; Sacheverell was regarded as apolitical martyr by all who wished the war ended. A reaction againstthe Government set in; the Whigs (S479) were driven from power, andthe Tories passed two very harsh laws[2] against Dissenters (S472), though they were repealed a few years later. The Duchess ofMarlborough had to leave her apartments in the palace of St. James, and in her spite broke down marble mantels and tore off the locks fromdoors. Mrs. Masham's friends, the Tories (S479), or peace party, whohad now triumphed, prepared to put a complete end to the fighting. [2] These were the Occasional Conformity Act and the Schism Act(S518). 512. The Peace of Utrecht, 1713. Not long after this change a messenger was privately dispatched toLouis XIV to ask if he wished for peace. "It was, " says the Frenchminister, "like asking a dying man whether he would wish to becured. "[3] Later, terms were secretly agreed upon between the Tories(S479) and the French, and in 1713, in the quaint Dutch city ofUtrecht, the allies, together with France and Spain, signed the treatybearing that name. [2] Morris's "The Age of Anne. " By it Louis XIV bound himself: (1) To acknowledge the right of England to limit the succession tothe crown to Protestant sovereigns (S497). (2) To compel Prince James Edward, the so-called "Pretender" (SS490, 491) to quit France. (3) To renounce the union of the crowns of France and Spain; butPhilip was to retain the Spanish throne (S508). (4) To cede to England all claims to Newfoundland, Acadia, or NovaScotia, and that vast region known as the Hudson Bay Company'sPossessions. Next, Spain was to give up: (1) The Spanish Netherlands to Austria, an ally of Holland, and grantto the Dutch a line of forts to defend their frontier against France. (2) England was to have the exclusive right for thirty-three years ofsupplying the Spanish-American colonists with negro slaves. [1] [1] This right (called the "Assiento, " or Contract) had formerlybelonged to France. By its transfer England got the privilege offurnishing 4800 "sound, merchantable negroes "annually, " "two thirdsto be males" between ten and forty years of age. This trade had long been coveted by the English, and had been carriedon to some extent by them ever since Sir John Hawkins entered upon itin Queen Elizabeth's reign. Sir John grew very rich through histraffic in human flesh, and he set up a coat of arms emblazoned with aslave in fetters, so that all might see how he had won wealth anddistinction. 513. Union of England and Scotland, 1707. Since the accession of James I (1603), England and Scotland had beenruled by one sovereign, but each country retained its own Parliamentand its own forms of worship. In 1707 the two countries were finallyunited under the name of Great Britain. The Established (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland and the Scottishlaws were to be preserved. The independent Parliament of Scotland wasgiven up, and the Scotch were henceforth represented in the EnglishParliament by sixteen peers chosen by members of the Scottish peerageat the summoning of every Parliament; and by forty-five (now seventy-two) members returned by Scotland to the House of Commons. With the consummation of the union between the two countries GreatBritain adopted a new flag, the Union Jack, which was formed by thejunction of the red cross of St. George of England and the white crossof St. Andrew of Scotland. [1] [1] After Ireland was united to Great Britain (1800) the red cross ofSt. Patrick was added to the flag (1801). The first Union Jack wasthe work of James I, whose usual signature was Jacques (hence "Jack"), French for James. 514. Literature of the Period; the First Daily Paper. The reign of Anne has been characterized as one of corruption in highplaces and of brutality in low, but in literature it takes rank nextto that of Elizabeth (S393). There was indeed no great centralluminary like Shakespeare, but a constellation of lesser ones, --suchas Addison, Defoe, and Pope. They shone with a splendor of theirown. The lurid brilliancy of the half-mad satirist Dean Swift wasbeginning to command attention; on the other hand, the calm, clearlight of the philosopher John Locke was near its setting. Aside from these great names in letters, it was an age generally ofcontented dullness, well represented in the good-natured mediocrity ofQueen Anne herself. During her reign the first daily newspaper(SS422, 443) appeared in England, --the Daily Courant (1703); it was adingy, badly printed little sheet, not much bigger than a man's hand. The publisher said he made it so small "to save the Publick at leastone half the Impertinences of Ordinary News-Papers. " Perhaps it was well this journal set up no greater pretensions, for ithad to compete with swarms of abusive political pamphlets, such asSwift wrote for the Tories and Defoe for the Whigs (S479). It hadalso to compete with the gossip and scandal of the coffeehouses andthe clubs; for this reason the proprietor found it no easy mattereither to fill it or to sell it. A few years later (1711) a periodical appeared, called the Spectator. It was published daily, and Addison, its chief contributor, soon madeit famous. Each number consisted of an essay hitting off the folliesand foibles of the age, and it was regularly served at the breakfasttables of people of fashion along with their tea and toast. One of the greatest merits of the Spectator was its happy way ofshowing that wit and virtue are after all better friends than wit andvice. Neither this little magazine nor the newspapers of that timedared to publish a single line of parliamentary debate. But theymarked the humble beginning of that vast organized power, representedby the daily press of London, which discusses everything of interestthroughout the world. 515. Death of the Queen. The ingratitude of public men and the furious quarrels of politiciansso teased and vexed the Queen that she at last fell into a fatalillness. Her physician wrote to Dean Swift, "I believe sleep wasnever more welcome to a weary traveler than death was to her. " Whenshe laid down the scepter (1714) she left no heir to the throne, andso the power of the Stuarts (S415) came to an end. According to the terms of the Act of Settlement (S497) the crown nowpassed to George, Elector of Hanover, a Protestant descendant of JamesI of England. (See Table, p. 323. ) James Edward, son of James II, believed to the last that his half-sister, Queen Anne, would name himher successor;[1] instead of that it was she who first dubbed him the"Pretender" (S491). [1] Anne and the so-called "Pretender" were children of James II bydifferent mothers. 516. Summary. The whole reign of Anne was taken up with the strife of politicalparties at home, and the War of the Spanish Succession abroad. TheWhigs (S479) were always intriguing through the Duchess of Marlboroughand other leaders to keep up the war and to keep out the so-called"Pretender"; the Tories (S479), on the other hand, were just as busythrough Mrs. Masham and her coadjutors in endeavoring to establishpeace, and with it the Divine Right of Kings (SS419, 429). The extreme Tories hoped for the restoration of the Roman CatholicStuarts in the person of James Edward, the so-called "Pretender. " TheWar of the Spanish Succession resulted in the defeat of Louis XIV andthe confirmation of that Act of Settlement (S497) which secured theEnglish crown to a Protestant prince. GENERAL REFERENCE SUMMARY OF THE STUART PERIOD 1603-1714 (Commonwealth, 1649-1660) I. Government. II. Religion. III. Military Affairs. IV. Literature andLearning. V. General Industry and Commerce. Vi. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs I. Government 517. The Divine Right of Kings; the Civil War; the "GloriousRevolution" of 1688. The period began with the attempt of James I to carry out his theorythat the King derives his right to rule directly from God, and in nowise from the people. Charles I adopted this disastrous theory, andwas supported in it by Manwaring and other clergymen, who declaredthat the King represents God on earth, and that the subject whoresists his will, or refuses a tax or loan to him, does so at theeverlasting peril of his soul. Charles I's arbitrary methods of government and levies of illegaltaxes, with the imprisonment of those who refused to pay them, led tothe meeting of the Long Parliament and the enactment in 1628 of thestatue of the Petition of Right, or second great charter of Englishliberties. The same Parliament abolished the despotic courts of Star Chamber andHigh Commission, which had been used by Strafford and Laud to carryout their tyrannical scheme called "Thorough. " Charles I's renewed acts of oppression and open violation of the laws, with his levies of "ship money, " led to the Grand Remonstrance, anappeal to the nation to support Parliament in its struggle with theKing. The attempt of the King to arrest five members who had taken aprominent part in drawing up the Remonstrance brought on the Civil Warand the establishment of the Commonwealth. The new republic wasutterly opposed to the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings. Itdeclared "the People are, under God, the origin of all just power. "Eventually Cromwell became Protector of the nation, and ruled by meansof a strong military force. On the restoration of the Stuarts, Feudal Tenure and the Right ofPurveyance were abolished by Parliament (1660). Charles II endeavoredto rule without Parliament by selling his influence to Louis XIV, bythe secret Treaty of Dover. During his reign, the Habeas Corpus Actwas passed and feudalism was practically abolished. James II endeavored to restore the Roman Catholic religion. Histreatment of the University of Oxford, and imprisonment of the SevenBishops, with the birth of a son who would be educated as a RomanCatholic, caused the Revolution of 1688, and placed William and Maryon the throne. Parliament now, 1689, passed the Bill of Rights, the third greatcharter for the protection of the English people, and later confirmedit, 1701, by the Act of Settlement, which secured the crown to a lineof Protestant sovereigns. The Mutiny Bill, passed at the beginning ofWilliam III's reign, made the army dependent on Parliament. Thesemeasures practically put the government in the hands of the House ofCommons, where it has ever since remained. The Long Parliament hadpassed a Triennial Act (1641) requiring a new Parliament to besummoned within three years from the dissolution of the lastParliament, which was to sit not longer than three years. This lawwas repealed in 1664 and reenacted under William III in 1694. William's wars caused the beginning of the National Debt and theestablishment of the Bank of England. In the reign of Anne, 1707, Scotland and England were united under thename of Great Britain. During her sovereignty the permanent Whig andTory parties, which came into existence in the time of Charles II, became especially prominent. They have since continued to divide theparliamentary government between them, --the Whigs seeking to extendthe power of the people; the Tories, that of the Crown and theChurch. After the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832 (S582) the Whigstook the name of Liberals and the Tories that of Conservatives. Thesystem of Cabinet Government, which now prevails, took its rise in1721 under Robert Walpole, seven years after Anne's death (S534). II. Religion 518. Religious Parties and Religious Legislation. At the beginning of this period we find four religious parties inEngland: (1) the Roman Catholics; (2) the Episcopalians, or supportersof the National Church of England; (3) the Puritans, who wised toremain members of that Church, but who sought to "purify" it fromcertain Roman Catholic customs and modes of worship; (4) theIndependents, who were endeavoring to establish independentcongregational societies. In Scotland the Puritans established theirreligion in a Church governed by elders, or presbyters, instead ofbishops, which on that account got the name of Presbyterians. James I persecuted all who dissented from the Church of England; andafter the Gunpowder Plot the Roman Catholics were practically deprivedof the protection of the law, and subject to terrible oppression. InJames's reign Bartholomew Legate, a Unitarian, was burned at WestSmithfield Market, London (1612), for denying the doctrine of thetrinity. He was the last English martyr. Charles I greatlyexasperated the Puritans in the English Church by his Declaration ofSports, which recommended games in the churchyards after service onSunday. Clergymen who refused to read the Declaration to theircongregation were dismissed from their places. During the period of the Civil War and the Commonwealth, Presbyterianism was established as the national worship of England andScotland by the Solemn League and Covenant. A great many Episcopalclergymen were deprived of their parishes. At the Restoration severallaws against the Scotch Covenanters and other Dissenters wereenforced, and retaliatory legislation drove two thousand clergymenfrom their parishes to starve. On the other hand, the pretendedPopish Plot caused the exclusion of Roman Catholics from both housesof Parliament, and all persons holding office were obliged to partakeof the sacrament according to the Church of England. James II'sfutile attempt to restore Catholicism ended in the Revolution and thepassage of the Toleration Act, granting liberty of worship to allProtestant Trinitarians. Stringent laws were passed against Catholics(1700), but they were not regularly enforced. Under Anne theOccasional Conformity Act (1711) and the Schism Act (1714) were aimedat Dissenters. The first of these laws punished officeholders who, during their term of office, should attend any dissenting place ofworship; the second forbade any person's keeping a public or privateschool unless he was a member of the Church of England. Both lawswere repealed a few years later (1718). III. Military Affairs 519. Armor and Arms. Armor still continued to be worn in some degree during this period, but it consisted chiefly of the helmet with breastplates andbackplates. Firearms of various kinds were in general use; also handgrenades, or small bombs, and the bayonet. The chief wars of theperiod were the Civil War, the wars with the Dutch, William's war withFrance, which extended to America, and the War of the SpanishSuccession. IV. Literature, Learning, and Art 520. Great Writers. The most eminent prose writers of this period were Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, John Bunyan, Bishop Hooker, JeremyTaylor, John Locke, Hobbes, Dean Swift, Defoe, and Addison; the chiefpoets, Shakespeare and Jonson (mentioned under the preceding period), Milton, Dryden, Pope, Butler, and Beaumont and Fletcher, with a classof writers known as the "Comic Dramatists of the Restoration, " whoseworks, though not lacking in genius, exhibit many of the worstfeatures of the licentious age in which they were produced. Threeother great writers were born in the latter part of this period, --Fielding, the novelist, Hume, the historian, and Butler, [1] the ablestthinker of his time in the English Church, --but their productionsbelong to the time of the Georges. [1] Bishop Butler, author of "The Analogy of Religion" (1736), a workwhich gained for him the title of "The Bacon of Theology. " 521. Progress in Science and Invention. Sir Isaac Newton revolutionized natural philosophy by his discoveryand demonstration of the law of gravitation, and Dr. William Harveyaccomplished as great a change in physiological science by hisdiscovery of the circulation of the blood. The most remarkableinvention of the age was a rude steam engine, patented in 1698 byCaptain Savery, and so far improved by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 that itwas used for pumping water in coal mines for many years. Both weredestined to be superseded by James Watt's engine, which belongs to alater period (1765). 522. Architecture. The Gothic style of the preceding periods was followed by the Italian, or classical, represented in the works of Inigo Jones andSir Christopher Wren. It was a revival, in modified form, of theancient Greek and Roman architecture. St. Paul's Cathedral, thegrandest church ever built in England for Protestant worship, is thebest example of this style. Many beautiful manor houses were built inthe early part of this period, which, like the churches of the time, were often ornamented with the exquisite wood carving of GrinlingGibbons. There were no great artists in England in this age, thoughCharles I employed Rubens and other foreign painters to decorate thepalace of Whitehall and Windsor Castle. 523. Education. The higher education of the period was confined almost wholly to thestudy of Latin and Greek. The discipline of all schools was extremelyharsh. Nearly every lesson was emphasized by a liberal application ofthe rod, and the highest recommendation a teacher could have was thathe was known as "a learned and lashing master. " V. General Industry and Commerce 524. Manufactures. Woolen goods continued to be a chief article of manufacture. Silkswere also produced by thousands of Huguenot weavers, who fled fromFrance to England in order to escape the persecutions of Louis XIV. Coal was now extensively mined, and iron and pottery works were givingindustrial importance to Birmingham and other growing towns in theMidlands. 525. Commerce. A permanent English colony was established in America in 1607, and by1714 the number of such colonies had increased to twelve. During agreat part of this period intense commercial rivalry existed betweenEngland and Holland, each of which was anxious to get the monopoly ofthe colonial import and export trade. Parliament passed stringentnavigation laws, under Cromwell and later, to prevent the Dutch fromcompeting with English merchants and shippers. The East India andSouth Sea companies were means of greatly extending English commercialenterprise, as was also the tobacco culture of Virginia. 526. Roads and Travel. Good roads were still unknown in England. Stagecoaches carried a fewpassengers at exorbitant rates, requiring an entire day to go adistance which an express train now travels in less than an hour. Goods were carried on pack horses or in cumbrous wagons, and so greatwas the expense of transportation that farmers often let their producerot on the ground rather than attempt to get in to the nearest markettown. In London a few coaches were in use, but covered chairs, carried onpoles by two men and called "sedan chairs, " were the favoritevehicles. They continued to be used for a century after this periodcloses. Although London had been in great part rebuilt since theGreat Fire (1666), the streets were still very narrow, withoutsidewalks, heaped with filth, and miserably lighted. 527. Agriculture; Pauperism. Agriculture generally made no marked improvement, but gardening did, and many vegetables and fruits were introduced which had not beforebeen cultivated. Pauperism remained a problem which the government had not yet found apractical method of dealing with. There was little freedom ofmovement; the poor man's parish was virtually his prison, and if heleft it to seek work elsewhere, and required help on the way, he wascertain to be sent back to the place where he was legally settled. VI. Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs 528. Dress. In the time of Charles II and his successors the dress of the wealthyand fashionable classes was most elaborate and costly. Gentlemen woretheir hair long, in ringlets, with an abundance of gold lace andruffles, and carried long, slender swords, known as rapiers. Sometimes indeed they outshone the ladies in the splendor of theircostume, and in one instance the bride at a wedding burst into tearsbecause her gorgeously dressed husband looked so much handsomer thanshe did that all eyes were fixed on him alone. Later on, largeflowing wigs came into fashion, and no man of any social standingthought of appearing without one. In Queen Anne's reign both ladies and gentlemen powdered their hair. The ladies also painted their faces and ornamented them with minuteblack patches, which served not only for "beauty spots, " but showed, by their arrangement, with which political party they sympathized. 529. Coffeehouses. Up to the middle of the seventeenth century ale and beer were thecommon drink of all classes; but about that time coffee wasintroduced, and coffeehouses became fashionable resorts for gentlemenand for all who wished to learn the news of the day. Tea had not yetcome into use; but, in 1660, Pepys says in his diary: "Sept. 25. Idid send for a cup of tee, a China drink, of which I never had drankbefore. " 530. The Streets of London. No efficient police existed in London; at night the streets wereinfested with brutal ruffians, and, as late as Queen Anne's time, bybands of "fine gentlemen" not less brutal, who amused themselves byoverturning sedan chairs, rolling women downhill in barrels, andcompelling men to dance jigs, under the stimulus of repeated pricksfrom a circle of sword points, until the victims fell fainting fromexhaustion. Duels were frequent, on the slightest provocation. Highwaymen abounded both in the city and without, and, unless one wentwell armed, it was often dangerous to travel any distance in thecountry. 531. Brutal Laws. Hanging was the common punishment for theft and many other crimes. The public whipping of both men and women through the streets wasfrequent. Debtors were shut up in prison, and left to beg frompassers-by or starve; and ordinary offenders were fastened in a woodenframe called the "pillory" and exposed on a high platform, where theywere pelted by the mob with mud, rotten eggs, and other unsavorymissiles. In some cases their bones were broken with clubs andbrickbats. The pillory continued in use until the accession ofVictoria in 1837. TENTH PERIOD "The history of England is emphatically the history of progress. Itis the history of a constant movement of the public mind, of aconstant change in the institutions of a great society. "--Macaulay India Gained; America Lost--Parliamentary Reform--Government by thePeople The House of Hanover (1714) to the Present Time George I, 1714-1727 William IV, 1830-1837George II, 1727-1760 Victoria, 1837-1901George III, 1760-1820 Edward VII, 1901-1910George IV, 1820-1830 George V, 1910- 532. Accession of George I. As Queen Anne died without leaving an heir to the throne (S515), George, Elector of Hanover, in accordance with the Act of Settlement(S497), now came into possession of the English crown. (SeeGenealogical Table opposite. ) The new King had no desire whatever togo to England. As he owed his new position to Whig legislation (S479), he naturallyfavored that party and turned his back on the Tories (S479), who, deprived of the sunshine of royal favor, were as unhappy as theirrivals were jubilant. The triumphant Whigs denounced "the shamefulPeace of Utrecht" (S512). Next, they impeached the three fallen Toryleaders, [2] of whom Harley was the chief (S510), on a charge oftreason. The indictment accused them of having given back toLouis XIV, in the late war, more captured territory than wasnecessary. Furthermore, they were said to be guilty of havingintrigued to restore the House of Stuart with the design of making the"Pretender" King (SS490, 491). Harley was sent to the Tower of Londonfor a time; he was then acquitted and released. Meanwhile his twoindicted associates had fled to France. [2] The three Tory leaders were Harley, now Earl of Oxford (S510), St. John (Viscount Bolingbroke), and Butler (Duke of Ormonde). Bolingbroke and Ormonde fled to Frnce, where the first entered theservice of the "Pretender, " but he was ultimately permitted to returnto England. Ormonde never came back. Harley, as stated above, wassent to the Tower; while there he secretly wrote to the "Pretender"(S490), and offered him his services. Later, the Whigs repealed two harsh religious statutes (S511) directedagainst Dissenters (S472), which the Tories and the High Churchmen hadenacted in the previous reign for the purpose of keeping themselves inpower. The House of Hanover, also called Brunswick and Guelf James (Stuart) I of England I +------------------====================== | I Charles I Elizabeth, m. Frederick, | Elector-Palatine, * and ------------------------------- later King of Bohemia | | | ICharles II James II Mary, m. Sophia, m. The Elector | William II of of Hanover+ ----------------------- Orange I | | | | George, Elector ofMary, m. Anne James William III of Hanover, becameWilliam III Edward Orange, became George I of England, of Orange, Stuart, William III of 1714afterward (the so- England, IWilliam III called "Old 1689 George IIof England Pretender, I b. 1688, Frederick, Prince of d. 1765 Wales (died before | coming to the throne) Charles Edward I Stuart (the so-called ============================ "Young Pretender"), I I I b. 1720, d. 1788 George IV William IV Edward, Duke of Kent, d. 1820*Elector-Palatine: a prince ruling over the I territory called the Palatinate in Victoria western Germany, on the Rhine. I+Elector of Hanover: a prince ruling over the Edward VII province of Hanover, a part of the German I Empire, lying on the North Sea. The elector George V received his title from the fact that he was one of a certain number of princes who had the right of electing the German Emperor. 533. Character of the New King. The new sovereign was a selfish, coarse old man, who in private lifewould, as Lady Montagu said, have passed for an honest blockhead. Heneither knew anything about England, nor did he desire to knowanything of it. He could not speak a word of the language of thecountry he was called to govern, and he made no attempt to learn it;even the coronation service had to be explained to him as best itmight, in such broken Latin as the ministers could muster. Laboring under these disadvantages he wisely declined to take anyactive part in the affairs of the nation. He trusted everything tohis Whig friends (S532) and let them, with Sir Robert Walpole at theirhead, manage the country in their own way. Forunately, the great body of the English people were abundantly ableto take care of themselves. A noted French writer said of them thatthey resembled a barrel of their own beer, froth at the top, dregs atthe bottom, but thoroughly sound and wholesome in the middle. It wasthis middle class, with their solid practical good sense, that keptthe nation right. They were by no means enthusiastic worshipers of the German King whohad come to reign over them, but they saw that he had three goodqualities: he was no hypocrite, he did not waste the people's money, and he was a man of unquestioned courage. But they also saw more thanthis, for they realized that though George I might be as heavy, dull, and wooden as the figurehead of an old-fashioned ship, yet, like thatfigurehead, he stood for something greater and better than himself, --for he represented Protestantism, with civil and religious liberty, --and so the people gave him their allegiance. 534. Rise of Cabinet Government; the First Prime Minister. The present method of Cabinet Government dates in great part from thisreign. From the earliest period of English history the sovereign wasaccustomed to have a permanent council composed of some of the chiefmen of the realm, whom he consulted on all matters of importance(SS144, 145). Charles II, either because he found this bodyinconveniently large for the rapid transaction of business, or becausehe believed it inexpedient to discuss his plans with so many, selecteda small confidential committee from it (S476). This committee met toconsult with the King in his cabinet, or private room, and so came tobe called "the Cabinet Council, " or briefly, "the Cabinet, " a namewhich it has ever since retained. During Charles II's reign and that of his immediate successors theKing continued to choose this special council from those whom hebelieved to be friendly to his measures, often without much regard toparty lines, and he was aways present at their meetings. With theaccession of George I, however, a great change took place. His wantof acquaintance with prominent men made it difficult for him to selecta Cabinet himself, and his ignorance of English rendered his presenceat its meetings wholly useless. For these reasons the new Kingadopted the expedient of appointing a chief adviser, or PrimeMinister, who personally chose his own Cabinet from men of thepolitical party to which he belonged. Sir Robert Walpole, who held this office of chief adviser for morethan twenty years (1721-1742), is commonly considered to have been thefirst actual Prime Minister, and the founder of that system of CabinetGovernment which prevails in England to-day. He was a master hand atmanaging his fellow ministers in the Cabinet, and when one of them, named Townshend, aspired to share the leadership, Walpole said to him, "The firm must be Walpole and Townshend, not Townshend and Walpole. "But later (1741) a minority in the Lords protested "that a sole oreven First Minister is an officer unknown to the law of Britain, inconsistent withthe Constitution of this country, and destructive ofliberty in any government whatsoever. " Then Walpole thought itexpedient to disclaim the title; but many years later the younger Pittdeclared (1803) that there ought to be "an avowed minister possessingthe chief weight in the Council" or Cabinet, and that view eventuallyprevailed. [1] The Cabinet, or "Government, " as it is usuallycalled, [2] generally consists of twelve or fifteen persons chosen bythe Prime Minister, or Premier, [3] from the leading members of bothhouses of Parliament, but whose political views agree in the main withthe majority of the House of Commons. [4] But this system, as it now stands, was gradually developed. It hadadvanced to such a point under the dictatorial rule of Sir RobertWalpole that George II, chafing under the restriction of his power, said bitterly, "In England the ministers are King. " George III, however, succeeded, for a time, in making himself practically supreme, but Cabinet Government soon came to the front again, and, underWilliam IV, the Prime Minister, with his Cabinet, ceased to look tothe sovereign for guidance and support, and became responsible to theHouse of Commons (provided that body reflects the public opinion ofthe nation). [1] Feilden's "Constitutional History of England, " Taswell-Langmead's"English Constitutional History, " and A. L. Lowell's "The Government ofEngland, " 2 vols. [2] "The Cabinet, the body to which, in common use, we have latterlycome to give the name of Government. " Encyclopaedia Britannica (10thedition, VIII, 297). [3] "Premier": from the French premier, first or chief. [4] The existence of the Cabinet depends on custom, not law. Itsthree essential characteristics are generally considered to be: (1)Practical unanimity of party; (2) Practical unity of action under theleadership of the Prime Minister; (3) Collective responsibility to theparty in the House of Commons which represents the political majorityof the nation. Its members are never OFFICIALLY made known to thepublic, nor its proceedings recorded. Its meetings, which take placeat irregular intervals, according to pressure of business, areentirely secret, and the sovereign is never present. As the Cabinetagrees in its composition with the majority of the House of Commons, it follows that if the Commons are Conservative, the Cabinet will beso likewise; and if Liberal, the reverse. Theoretically, thesovereign chooses the Cabinet; but practically the selection is nowalways made by the Prime Minister. If at any time the Prime Minister, with his Cabinet, finds that his political policy no longer agreeswith that of the House of Commons, he and the other members of theCabinet resign, and the sovereign chooses a new Prime Minister fromthe opposite party, who forms a new Cabinet in harmony with himselfand the Commons. If, however, the Prime Minister has good reason forbelieving that a different House of Commons would support him, thesovereign may, by his advice, dissolve Parliament. A new electionthen takes place, and according to the political character of themembers returned, the Cabinet remains in or goes out of power. TheCabinet, or Government, now invariably includes the followingofficers: 1. The First Lord of the Treasury (usually the Prime Minister). 2. The Lord Chancellor. 3. The Lord President of the Council. 4. The Lord Privy Seal. 5. The Chancellor of the Exchequer. 6. The Secretary of State for Home Affairs. 7. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 8. The Secretary of State for the Colonies. 9. The Secretary of State for India. 10. The Secretary of State for War. 11. The First Lord of the Admiralty. In addition, a certain number of other officers are frequentlyincluded, making the whole number about twelve or fifteen. 535. The "Pretender"; "The Fifteen" (1715); the Septennial Act (1716). The fact that George I exclusively favored the Whigs exasperated theopposite, or Tory, party. The Jacobites or extreme members of thatparty (S495), in Scotland, with the secret aid of many in England, nowrose, in the hope of placing on the throne James Edward Stuart, theson of James II. He was called the "Chevalier"[1] by his friends, butthe "Pretender" by his enemies (SS490, 491, 512). The insurrectionwas led by John, Earl of Mar, who, from his frequent change ofpolitics, had got the nickname of "Bobbing John. " Mar encountered theroyal forces at Sheriffmuir, in Perthsire, Scotland (1715), where anindecisive battle was fought, which the old ballad thus describes: "There's some say that we won, and some say that they won, And some say that none won at a', man; But one thing is sure, that at Sheriffmuir A battle there was, which I saw, man. " [1] The Chevalier de St. George: After the birth of the "Chevalier's"son Charles in 1720, the father was known by the nickname of the "OldPretender, " and the son as the "Young Pretender. " So far as birthcould entitle them to the crown, they held the legal right ofsuccession; but the Revolution of 1688 and the Act of Settlementbarred them out (S497). On the same day of the fight at Sheriffmuir, the English Jacobites(S495), with a body of Scotch allies, marched into Preston, Lancashire, and there surrendered, almost without striking a blow. The leaders of the movement, except the Earl of Mar, who, with one ortwo others, escaped to the Continent, were beheaded or hanged, andabout a thousand of the rank and file were sold as slaves to the WestIndia and Virginia plantations (S487). The "Pretender" himself landedin Scotland a few weeks after the defeat of his friends; but findingno encouragement, he hurried back to the Continent again. Thus endedthe rebellion known from the year of its outbreak (1715) as "TheFifteen. " One result of this was the passage of the septennial Act (1716), extending the duration of Parliament from three years, which was thelongest time that body could sit (SS439, 517), to seven years (sincereduced to five years). [2] The object of this change was to do awaywith the excitement and tendency to rebellion at that time, resultingfrom frequent elections, in which party feeling ran to dangerousextremes. [2] The Triennial Act (SS439, 517) provided that at the end of threeyears Parliament must be dissolved and a new election held. This wasto prevent the sovereign from keeping that body in power indefinitely, contrary, perhaps, to the political feeling of the country, whichmight prefer a different set of representatives. Under the SeptennialAct the time was extended four years, making seven in all, but thesovereign may, of course, dissolve Parliament at any time. In 1911the Parliament Act (S631) limited the duration of Parliament to fiveyears. 536. The South Sea Bubble, 1720. A few years later a gigantic enterprise was undertaken by the SouthSea Company, a body of merchants originally organized as a companytrading in the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Scotchmannamed Law had started a similar project in France, known as the"Mississippi Company, " which proposed to pay off the national debt ofFrance from the profits of its commerce with the West Indies and thecountry bordering on the Mississippi River. Following his example, the South Sea Company now undertook to pay offthe English National Debt (S503), mainly, it is said, from the profitsof the slave trade between Africa and Brazil. [1] Sir Robert Walpole(S534) had no faith in the scheme, and attacked it vigorously; butother influential members of the Government gave it theirencouragement. The directors came out with prospectuses promisingdividends of fifty per cent on all money invested. Everybody rushedto buy stock, and the shares rapidly advaced from 100 pounds to 1000pounds a share. [1] Loftie's "History of London"; and see S512. A speculative craze followed, the like of which has never since beenknown. Bubble companies sprang into existence with objects almost asabsurd as those of the philosophers whom Swift ridiculed in"Gulliver's Travel's, " where one man was trying to make gunpowder outof ice, and another to extract sunbeams from cucumbers. A mere list of these companies would fill several pages. One was togive instruction in astrology, by which every man might be able toforetell his own destiny by examining the stars; a second was tomanufacture butter out of beech trees; a third was for a wheel fordriving machinery, which once started would go on forever, therebyfurnishing a cheap perpetual motion. A fourth projector, going beyond all the rest in audacity, had theimpudence to offer stock for sale in an enterprise "which shall berevealed hereafter. " He found the public so gullible and so greedythat he sold 2000 pounds worth of the new stock in the course of asingle morning. He then prudently disappeard with the cash, and theunfortunate investors found that where he went with their money wasnot among the things to "be revealed hereafter. " The narrow passage leading to the London stock exchange was crowdedall day long with struggling fortune hunters, both men and women. Suddenly, when the excitement was at its height, the bubble burst, asLaw's scheme in France had a little earlier. Great numbers of people were hopelessly ruined, and the cry forvengeance was as loud as the bids for stock had once been. Oneprominent government official who had helped to blow the bubble wassent to the Tower. Another committed suicide rather than face aparliamentary committee of investigation, one of whose members hadsuggested that it would be an excellent plan to sew the South Seadirectors up in sacks and throw them into the Thames. 537. How a Terrible Disease was conquered, 1721, 1796. But among the new things which the people were to try in that centurywas one which led to most beneficient results. For many generationsthe great scourge of Europe was the smallpox. Often the disease wasas violent as the plague (S474), and carried off nearly as manyvictims. Medical art, seemed powerless to deal with it, and even inyears of ordinary health in England about one person out of ten diedof this loathsome pestilence. In the early part of George I's reign, Lady Mary Montagu, then traveling to Turkey, wrote that the Turks werein the habit of inoculating their children for the disease, whichrendered it much milder and less fatal, and that she was about to trythe experiment on her own son. Later, Lady Montagu returned to England, and through her influence andexample the practice was introduced there, 1721. It was tried firston five criminals in Newgate who had been sentenced to the gallows, but were promised their freedom if they would consent to theoperation. As it proved a complete success, the Princess of Wales, with the King's consent, caused it to be tried on her daughter, withequally good results. The medical profession, however, generally refused to sanction thepractice, and the clergy in many cases preached against it as an"invention of Satan, intended to counteract the purposes of anall-wise Providence. " But through the perseverance and good sense ofLady Montagu, with a few others, the new practice gradually gainedground. Subsequently Dr. Jenner began to make experiments of adifferent kind, which led, late in the century (1796-1798), to thediscovery of vaccination, by which millions of lives have been saved;this, and the discovery of the use of ether in our own time (S615), may justly be called two of the greatest triumphs of the art ofmedicine. 538. How Sir Robert Walpole governed. We have seen that Sir Robert Walpole (S534) became the first PrimeMinister in 1721, and that he continued in office as head of theCabinet, or Government, until near the middle of the next reign. Hewas an able financier, and succeeded in reducing the National Debt(S503). He believed in keeping the country out of war, and also, aswe have seen, out of "bubble speculation" (S536). Finally, he wasdetermined at all cost to maintain the Whig party in power, and theProtestant Hanoverian sovereigns on the throne (SS515, 532). In order to accomplish these objects, he openly bribed members ofParliament to support his party; he bought votes and carried electionsby gifts of titles, honors, and bank notes. He thus proved to his ownsatisfaction the truth of his theory that most men "have their price, "and that an appeal to the pocketbook is both quicker and surer than anappeal to the principle. But before the end of his ministry he had toconfess that he had found in the House of Commons a "boy patriot, " ashe sneeringly called him, named William Pitt (afterward Earl ofChatham), whom neither his money could buy nor his ridicule move(SS549, 550). Bad as Walpole's policy was in its corrupting influence on the nation, it as an admission that the time had come when the King could nolonger venture to rule by force, as in hte days of the Stuarts. Itmeant that the Crown no longer possessed the arbitrary power it oncewielded. Walpole was a fox, not a lion; and "foxes, " as Emerson tellsus, "are so cunning because they are not strong. " 539. Summary. Though George I did little for England except keep the "Pretender"(S535) from the throne by occupying it himself, yet that was no smalladvantage, since it gave the country peace. The establishment ofCabinet Government under Sir Robert Walpole as the first PrimeMinister, the suppression of the Jacobite insurrection, the disastrouscollapse of the South Sea Bubble, and the introduction of vaccinationare the principle events. George II--1727-1760 540. Accession and Character. The second King George, who was also of German birth, was much likehis father, though he had the advantage of being able to speak Englishreadily, but with a strong German accent. His tastes were far frombeing refined and he bluntly declared, "I don't like Boetry, and Idon't like Bainting. " His wife, Queen Caroline, was an able woman. She possessed the happy art of ruling her husband without hissuspecting it, while she, on the other hand, was ruled by Sir RobertWalpole, whom the King hated, but whom he had to keep as PrimeMinister (SS534, 538). George II was a good soldier, and decidedlypreferred war to peace; but Walpole saw clearly that the peace policywas best for the nation, and he and the Queen managed to persuaded theKing not to draw the sword. 541. The War of Jenkins's Ear (1739). At the end of twelve years, however, trouble arose with Spain. According to the London newspapers of that day, a certain CaptainJenkins, while cruising, or, more probably, smuggling, in the WestIndies, had been seized by the Spaniards and barbarously maltreated. They, if we accept his tory, accused him of attempting to land Englishgoods contrary to law, and searched his ship. Finding nothing againsthim, they vented their rage and disappointment by hanging him to theyardarm of his vessel until he was nearly dead. They then tore off one of his ears, and bade him take it to the Kingof England with their compliments. Jenkins, it is said, carefullywrapped up his ear and put it in his pocket. When he reached England, he went straight to the House of Commons, drew out the mutilated ear, showed it to the House, and demanded justice. The Spanish restrictions on English trade with the Indies and SouthAmerica[1] had long been a source of ill feeling. The sight ofJenkins's ear brought matters to a climax; even Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, could not resist the clamor for vengeance, andcontrary to his own judgment he had to vote for war (S538). [1] By the Treaty of Utrecht one English ship was allowed to carryslaves once a year to the colonies of Spanish America (S512, note 1). Though Jenkins was the occasion, the real object of the war was tocompel Spain to permit the English to get a larger share in thelucrative commerce, especially the slave trade, with the New World. It was another proof that America was now rapidly becoming animportant factor in he politics of Great Britain (SS421, 422). The announcement of hostilities with Spain was received in London withdelight, and bells pealed from every steeple. "Yes, " said Walpole, "they may ring the bells now, but before long they will be wringingtheir hands. " This prediction was verified by the heavy losses theEnglish suffered in an expedition against the Spanish settlement ofCarthagena, South America. But later the British commander, CommodoreAnson, inflicted great damage on the Spanish colonies, and returned toEngland with vessels laden with large amounts of captured silver. 542. War of the Austrian Succession, 1741; Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748. On the death of Charles VI, of the House of Austria, Emperor ofGermany, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Austriandominions. France now united with Spain, Prussia, and other Europeanpowers to overturn this arrangement, partly out of jealousy of theAustrian power, and partly from desire to get control of portions ofthe Austrian possessions. England and Holland, however, both desiredto maintain Austria as a check against their old enemy France, anddeclared war, 1741. During this war George II went over to the Continent to lead theEnglish forces in person. He was not a man of commanding appearance, but he was every inch a soldier, and nothing exhilarated him like thesmell of gunpowder. At the battle of Dettingen, in Bavaria, he gotdown from his horse, and drawing his sword, cried: "Come, boys, nowbehave like men, and the French will soon run. " With that, followed by his troops, he rused upon the enemy with suchimpetuosity that they turned and fled. This was the last battle inwhich an English king took part in person. It was followed by that ofFontenoy, in the Netherlands (Belgium), in which the French gained thevictory. After nearly eight years fighting the treaty ofAix-la-Chapelle, 1748, secured a peace advantageous for England. 543. Invasion by the "Young Pretender"; "The Forty-Five. "[1] [1] "The Forty-Five": so called from the Scotch rising of 1745. While the War of the Austrian Succession was in progress, the Frenchencouraged James II's grandson, Princle Charles Edward, the "YoungPretender" (S535), to make an attempt on the English crown. He landed(1745) on the northern coast of Scotland with only seven followers, but with the aid of the Scotch Jacobites (SS495, 535) of the Highlandshe gained a battle over the English at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh. Emboldened by his success, he now marched into Derbyshire, England, onhis way to London. He hoped that as he advanced the country wouldrise in his favor; but finding no support, he retreated to Scotland. The next year he and his adherents were defeated, with great slaughterby "Butcher" Cumberland, as the Scotch called him, at Culloden, nearIverness (1746). (See map facing p. 120. ) The "Young Pretender" fledfrom the battlefield to the Hebrides. After wandering in thoseislands for many months he escaped to France through the devotion andcourage of the Scottish heroine, Flora Macdonald. When he left thecountry his Highland sympathizers lost all hope. There were no moreringing Jacobite songs, sung over bowls of steaming punch, of "Wha'llbe king but Charlie?" "Over the Water to Charlie, " and "Wae's me forPrince Charlie"; and when (1788) Prince Charles Edward died in Rome, the unfortunate House of Stuart, which began with James I (1603), disappeared from English history. [2] [2] Devoted loyalty to a hopeless cause was never more truly orpathetically expressed than in some of these Jacobite songs, notablyin those of Scotland, in honor of Prince Charles Edward, the "YoungPretender, " of which the following lines from "Over the Water toCharlie" are an example: "Over the water, and over the sea, And over the water to Charlie; Come weal, come woe, we'll gather and go, And live or die with Charlie. " Scott, "Redgauntlet" 544. War in the East; the Black Hole of Calcutta; Clive's Victories; English Empire of India, 1751-1757. The English acquired Madras, their first trading post in India, in thereign of Charles I (1639). Later, they obtained possession of Bombay, Calcutta, and other points, but they had not got control of thecountry, which was still governed by native princes. The French alsohad established an important trading post at Pondicherry, south ofMadras, and were now secretly planning through alliance with thenative rulers to get possession of the entire country. They had metwith some success in their efforts, and the times seemed to favortheir gaining still greater influence unless some decided measuresshould be taken to prevent them. At this juncture Robert Clive, a young man who had been employed asclerk in the service of the English East India Company, but who hadobtained a humble position in the army, obtained permission to try hishand at driving back the enemy. It was a work for which he wasfitted. He met with success from the first, and he followed it up bythe splendid victory of Arcot, 1751, which practically gave theEnglish control of southern India. Shortly after that, Clive returnedto England. During his absence the native prince of Bengal undertook an expeditionagainst Calcutta, a wealthy British trading post. He captured thefort which protected it (1756), and seizing the principal Englishresidents, one hundred and forty-six in number, drove them at thepoint of the sword into a prison called the "Black Hole, " a dungeonless than twenty feet square, and having but two small windows. In such a climate, in the fierce heat of midsummer, that dungeon wouldhave been too close for a single European captive; to crowd it withmore than sevenscore persons for a night meant death by all theagonies of heat, thirst, and suffocation. In vain they endeavored tobribe the guard to transfer part of them to another room, in vain theybegged for mercy, in vain they tried to burst the door. Their jailersonly mocked them and would do nothing. When daylight came the floor was heaped with corpses. Out of thehundred and forty-six prisoners only twenty-three were alive and theywere so changed "that their own mothers would not have known them. "[1] [1] Macaulay's "Essay on Clive. " When Clive returned he was met with a cry for vengeance. He gatheredhis troops, recovered Calcutta, and ended by fighting that greatbattle of Plassey, 1757, which was the means of permanentlyestablishing the English empire in India on a firm foundation. (Seemap opposite. ) 545. The Seven Years' War in Europe and America, 1756-1763. Before the contest had closed by which England won her Asiaticdominions, a new war had broken out. In the fifth year, 1756, of theNew Style[2] of reckoning time, the aggressive designs of Frederickthe Great of Prussia caused such alarm that a grand alliance wasformed by France, Russia, Austria, and Poland to check his furtheradvance. Great Britain, however, gave her support to Frederick, inhope of humbling her old enemy France, who, in addition to herattempts to oust the English from India, was also making preparationson a grand scale to get possession of America. [2] The New Style was introduced into Great Britain in 1752. Owing toa slight error in the calendar, the year had, in the course ofcenturies, been gradually losing, so that in 1752 it was eleven daysshort of what the true computation would make it. Pope Gregorycorrected the error in 1582, and his calendar was adopted in nearlyevery country of Europe except Great Britain and Russia, both of whichregarded the change as a "popish measure. " But in 1751, notwithstanding the popular outcry, September 3, 1752, was madeSeptember 14, by an act of Parliament, and by the same act thebeginning of the legal year was altered from March 25 to January 1. The popular clamor against the reform is illustrated in Hogarth'spicture of an Election Feast, in which the People's party carry abanner, with the inscription, "Give us back our eleven days. " Every victory, therefore, which the British forces could gain inEurope would, by crippling the French, make the ultimate victory ofthe English in America so much the more certain; for this reason wemay look upon the alliance with Frederick as an indirect meansemployed by England to protect her colonies on the other side of theAtlantic. These colonies now extended along the entire coast, fromthe Kennebec Riber, in Maine, to the borders of Florida. The French, on the other hand, had planted colonies at Quebec andMontreal, on the St. Lawrence; at Detroit, on the Great Lakes; at NewOrleans and other points on the Mississippi. They had also begun tobuild a line of forts along the Ohio River, which, when completed, would connect their northern and southern colonies, and thus secure tothem the whole country west of the Alleghenies. They expected toconquer the East as well, to erase Virginia, New England, and allother English colonial titles from the map, and in their place to putthe name New France. During the first part of the war, the English were unsuccessful. Inan attempt to take Fort Duquesne, General Braddock met with a crushingdefeat (1756) from the combined French and Indian forces, which wouldindeed have proved his utter destruction had not a young Virginiannamed George Washington saved a remnant of Braddock's troops by hiscalmness and courage. Not long afterwards, a second expedition wassent out against the French fort, in which Washington led theadvance. The garrison fled at his approach, the English colors wererun up, and the place was named Pittsburg, in honor of William Pitt, later, Lord Chatham, Secretary of State, but virtually Prime Minister(S534) of England. About the same time, the English took the forts on the Bay of Fundy, and drove out several thousand French settlers from Acadia, or NovaScotia. Other successes followed, by which they obtained possessionof important points. Finally, Canada was won from the French byWolfe's victory over Montcalm, at Quebec, 1759. [1] where both gallantsoldiers verified the truth of the words, "The paths of glory lead butto the grave, "[2] which the English general had quoted to some brotherofficers the vening before the attack. This ended the war. [1] See "Leading Facts of American History, " in this series, S142. [2] "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour; The paths of glory lead but to the grave. " Gray, "Elegy" (1750)"I would rather be the author of that poem, " said Wolfe, "than to havethe glory of beating the French to-morrow. " Wolfe and Montcalm wereboth mortally wounded and died within a few hours of each other. Spain now ceded Florida to Great Britain, so that, when peace was madein 1763, the English flag waved over the whole eastern half of theAmerican continent, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Thus, within a comparatively few years, England had gained an empire in theeast (India) (S544) and another in the west (America). Six years later (1769) Captain Cook explored and mapped the coast ofNew Zealand, and next the eastern coast of the island continent ofAustralia. Before the middle of the following century both thesecountries were added to the possessions of Great Britain. Then, asDaniel Webster said, her "morning drum beat, following the sun andkeeping company with the hours, " literally circled "the earth with onecontinuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England. " 546. Moral Condition of England; Intemperance; Rise of the Methodists, 1738. But grand as were the military successes of the British arms, thereign of George II was morally torpid. With the exception of a fewpublic men like Pitt, the majority of the Whig party (S479) seemedanimated by no higher motive than self-interest. It was an age whosewant of faith, coarseness, and brutality were well protrayed byHogarth's pencil and Fielding's pen. For a long time intemperance had been steadily on the increase; strongdrink had taken the place of beer, and every attempt to restrict thetraffic was met at the elections by the popular cry, "No gin, noking. " The London taverns were thronged day and night, and in thewindows of those frequented by the lowest class placards wereexhibited with the tempting announcement, "Drunk for a penny; deaddrunk for twopence; clean straw for nothing. " On the straw lay men andwomen in beastly helplessness. Among the upper classes matters were hardly better. It was a commonthing for great statesmen to drink at public dinners until one by onethey slid out of their seats and disappeared under the table; and SirRobert Walpole, the late Prime Minister of England (S534, 538), saidthat when he was a young man his father would say to him as he pouredout the wine, "Come, Robert, you shall drink twice while I drink once, for I will not permit the son in his sober senses to be witness of theintoxication of his father. "[1] [1] Coxe's "Memoirs of Walpole" and Lecky's "England. " Such was the condition of England when a great religious revivalbegan, 1738. Its leader was John Wesley. A number of years earlier, while a tutor at Oxford, he and his brother Charles, with a fewothers, were accustomed to meet at certain hours for devotionalexercises. The regularity of their meetings, and of their habitsgenerally, got for them the name of "Methodists, " which, like "Quaker"and many another nickname of the kind, was destined to become a titleof respect and honor. At first Wesley had no intention of separating from the Church ofEngland, but labored only to quicken it to new life; eventually, however, he found it best to begin a more extended and independentmovement. The revival swept over England with its regeneratinginfluence, and was carried by Whitefield, Wesley's lifelong friend, across the sea to America. It was especially powerful among those whohad hitherto scoffed at both Church and Bible. Rough and hardened menwere touched and melted to tears of repentance by the fervor of thisOxford graduate, whom neither threats nor ridicule could turn asidefrom his one great purpose of saving souls. Unlike the Church, Wesley did not ask the multitude to come to him; hewent to them. In this respect his work recalls that of the "BeggingFriars" of the thirteenth century (S208), and of Wycliffe's "PoorPriests" in the fourteenth (S254). For more than thirty years he rodeon horseback from one end of England to the other, making known theglad tidings of Christian hope. He preached in the fields, undertrees which are still known by the expressive name of "Gospel Oaks";he spoke in the abandoned mining pits of Cornwall, at the corners ofthe streets in cities, on the docks, in the slums; in fact, whereverhe could find listening ears and responsive hearts. The power of Wesley's appeal was like that of the great Puritanmovement of the seventeenth century (SS378, 417). Nothing moreeffective had been heard since the days when Augustine and his band ofmonks set forth on their mission among the barbarous Saxons (S42). The results answered fully to the zeal that awakened them. Betterthan the growing prosperity of extending commerce, better than all theconquests made by the British flag in the east or west, was the newreligious spirit which stirred the people of both England andAmerica. It provoked the National Church to emulation in good works;it planted schools, checked intemperance, and brought into vigorousactivity whatever was best and bravest in a race that when true toitself is excelled by none. 547. Summary. The history of the reign may be summed up in the great ReligiousMovement begun by John Wesley, which has just been described, and inthe Asiatic, Continental, and American wars with France, which endedin the extension of the power of Great Britain in both hemispheres, --in India in the Old World and in North America in the New. George III--1760-1820 548. Accession and Character; the King's Struggle with the Whigs. By the death of George II his grandson, [1] George III, now came to thethrone. The new King was a man of excellent character, who pridedhimself on having been born an Englishman. He had the best interestsof his country at heart, but he lacked many of the qualities necessaryto be a great ruler. He was thoroughly conscientious, but he wasnarrow and stubborn to the last degree and he was at times insane. [1] Frederick, Prince of Wales, George II's son, died before hisfather, leaving his son George heir to the throne. See GenealogicalTable, p. 323. His mother, who had seen how ministers and parties ruled in England(S534), resolved that her son should have the control. Her constantinjunction to the young Prince was, "Be King, George, be King!" sothat when he came to power George was determined to be King ifself-will could make him one. [2] [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxv, S28. But beneath this spirit of self-will there was a moral principle. Inbeing King, George III intended to carry out a reform such as neitherGeorge I nor George II could have accomplished, supposing that eitherone had possessed the desire to undertake it. The great Whig (SS479, 507) families of rank and wealth had now helduninterrupted possession of the government for nearly half a century. Their influence was so supreme that the sovereign had practicallybecome a mere cipher, dependent for his authority on the politicalsupport which he received. The King was resolved that this state ofthings should continue no longer. He was determined to reassert theroyal authority, secure a government which should reflect hisprinciples, and have a ministry to whom he could dictate, instead ofone that dictated to him. For a long time he struggled in vain, but at last succeeded, and foundin Lord North a Prime Minister (S534) who bowed to the royal will, andendeavored to carry out George III's favorite policy of "governingfor, but never by, the people. " That policy finally called forthMr. Dunning's famous resolution in the House of Commons (1780). Itboldly declared the King's influence "had increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished. " But his Majesty's measures had otherconsequences, which were more far-reaching and disastrous than any onein the House of Commons then imagined. 549. Taxation of the American Colonies. The wars of the two preceding reigns had largely increased theNational Debt (S503), and the Government resolved to compel theAmerican colonies to share in a more direct degree than they had yetdone the constantly increasing burden of taxation. England then, likeall other European countries, regarded her colonies in a totallydifferent way from that in which she considers the colonies she nowholds. It was an open question at that time whether colonial legislativerights existed save as a matter of concession or favor on the part ofthe Home Government. It is true that the Government had found itexpedient to grant or recognize such rights, but it had seldom definedthem clearly, and in many important respects no one knew just what thesettlers of Virginia or Massachusetts might or might not lawfullydo. [1] [1] Story's "Constitution of the United States. " The mother country, however, was perfectly clear on three points: 1. That the American colonies were convenient receptacles for thesurplus population, good or bad, of the British Islands. 2. That they were valuable as sources of revenue and profit, politically and commercially. 3. That, finally, they furnished excellent opportunities for theKing's friends to get office and make fortunes. Such had long been the feeling about India, and such too was thefeeling, modified by difference of circumstances, about America. Politically the English colonists in America enjoyed a large measureof liberty. So far as local legislation was concerned, they were inmost cases preactically self-governing and independent. So, too, their personal rights were carefully safeguarded. On the other hand, the commercial policy of England toward her colonies, though severelyrestrictive, was far less so than that of Spain or France towardtheirs. The Navigation Laws (S459) compelled the Americans to confinetheir trade to England alone, or to such foreign ports as shedirected. If they sent a hogshead of tobacco or a barrel of salt fishto another country by any but an English or a colonial built bessel, they were legally liable to forfeith their goods. On the other hand, they enjoyed the complete monopoly of the English tobacco market, andin certain cases they received bounties on some of their products. Furthermore, the Navigation Laws had not been rigidly enforced for along time, and the New England colonists generally treated them as adead letter. When George III came to the throne he resolved to revive theenforcement of the Navigation Laws, to build up the British WestIndies, and to restrict the colonial trade with the Spanish and FrenchWest Indies. This was done, not for the purpose of crippling Americancommerce, but either to increase English revenue or to inflict injuryon foreign rivals or enemies. Furthermore, British manufacturers had at an earlier period inducedthe English Government to restrict certain American homemanufactures. In accordance with that policy, Parliament had enactedstatutes which virtually forbade the colonists making their own woolencloth, or their own beaver hats, except on a very limited scale. Theyhad a few ironworks, but they were forbidden to erect another furnace, or another mill for manufacturing iron rods or plates, and suchindustries were declared to be a nuisance. William Pitt, who later became Lord Chatham (S538), was one of thewarmest friends that America had; but he openly advocated this narrowpolicy, saying that if British interests demanded it he would notpermit the colonists to make so much as a "horseshoe nail. " AdamSmith, an eminent English political economist of that day, vehementlycondemned the British Government's colonial mercantile system assuicidal; but his condemnation came too late to have any effect. Thefact was that the world was not ready then--if indeed it is yet--toreceive the gospel of "Live and let live. " 550. The Stamp Act, 1765. In accordance with these theories about the colonies, and to meet thepressing needs of the Home Government, the English ministry proceededto levy a tax on the colonies (1764) in return for the protection theygranted them against the French and the Indians. The colonists, however, had paid their full proportion of the expense of the Frenchand Indian wars out of their own pockets, and they now felt abundantlyable to protect themselves. But notwithstanding this plea, a form of direct tax on the Americancolonies, called the stamp tax, was brought forward in 1765. Theproposed law required that a multitude of legal documents, such asdeeds, wills, notes, receipts, and the like, should be written uponpaper bearing stamps, purchased from the agents of the HomeGovernment. The colonists, generally, protested against the passageof the law, and Benjamin Franklin, with other agents, was sent toEngland to sustain their protests by argument and remonstrance. Butin spite of their efforts the law was passed, and the stamps were sentover to America. The people, however, refused to use them, andserious riots ensued. In England strong sympathy with the colonists was expressed by WilliamPitt (Lord Chatham), Burke, Fox, and generally by what was well called"the brains of Parliament. " Pitt in particular was extremelyindignant. He urged the immediate repeal of the act, saying, "Irejoice that America has resisted. " Pitt further declared that any taxation of the colonies without theirrepresentation in Parliament was tyranny, and that opposition to suchtaxation was a duty. He vehemently insisted that the spirit shown bythe Americans was the same that had withstood the despotism of theStuarts in England (S436), and established the principle once for allthat the King cannot take his subject's money without that subject'sconsent (S436). So, too, Fox ardently defended the Americancolonists, and boldly maintained that the stand they had taken helped"to preserve the liberties of mankind. "[1] [1] See Bancroft's "United States, " III, 107-108; "Columbia UniversityStudies, " III, No. 2, "The Commercial Policy of England toward theAmerican Colonies"; Lecky's "American Revolution"; and C. K. Adams's"British Orations. " Against such opposition the law could not stand. The act wasaccordingly repealed (1766), amid great rejoicing in London; thechurch bells rang out in triumph, and the shipping in the Thames wasilluminated. But the good effect on America was lost by the passageof another act which maintained the unconditional right of Parliamentto legislate for the colonies, and to tax them, if it saw fit, withouttheir consent. 551. The Tea Tax and the "Boston Tea Party, " 1773, with its Results. Another plan was now devised for getting money from the colonies. Parliament enacted a law (1767) compelling the Americans to pay taxeson a number of imports, such as glass, paper, and tea. In oppositionto this law, the colonists formed leagues refusing to use these taxedarticles, while at the same time they encouraged smugglers to landthem secretly, and the regular trade suffered accordingly. Parliament, finding that this was bad both for the government and forcommerce, now abolished all of these duties except that on tea(1770). That duty was retained for a double purpose: first, andchiefly, to maintain the principle of the right of Great Britain totax the colonies; and, next, to aid the East India Company, which waspleading piteeously for help. In consequence mainly of the refusal of the American colonies to buytea, the London warehouses of the East India Company were full tooverflowing with surplus stock, and the company itself was in ahalf-bankrupt condition. The custom had been for the company to bringthe tea to England, pay a tax on it, and then sell it to be reshippedto America. To aid the company in its embarrassment, the Governmentnow agreed to remit this first duty altogether, and to impose a tax ofonly threepence (six cents) a pound on the consumers in America. In itself the threepenny tax was a trifle, as the ship-money tax oftwenty shillnigs was to John Hampden (S436); but underlying it was aprinciple which seemed to the Americans, as it had seemed to Hampden, no trifle; for such principles revolutions had been fought in thepast; for such they would be fought in the future. The colonists resolved not to have the tea at any price. A number ofships laden with the taxed herb arrived at the port of Boston. Thetea was seized by a band of men disguised as Indians, and thrown intothe harbor, 1773. The news of that action made the King and hisministry furious. Parliament sympathized with the Government, and inretaliation passed four laws of such severity that the colonistsnicknamed them the "Intolerable Acts. " The first law was the "Boston Port Act, " which closed the harbor toall trade; the second was the "Regulating Act, " which virtuallyannulled the charter of Massachusetts, took the government away fromthe people, and gave it to the King; the third was the "Administrationof Justice Act, " which ordered that Americans who committed murder inresistance to oppression should be sent to England for trial; thefourth was the "Quebec Act, " which declared the country north of theOhio and east of the Mississippi a part of Canada. [1] The object ofthis last act was to conciliate the French Canadians, and secure theirhelp against the colonists in case of rebellion. [1] Embracing territory now divided into the five states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, with eastern Minnesota. Even after Parliament had enacted these four drastic measures acompromise might have been effected, and peace maintained, if thecounsels of the best men had been followed; but George III wouldlisten to no policy short of coercion. He meant well, but his brainwas not well balanced, he was subject to attacks of mentalderangement, and his one idea of BEING KING at all hazards had becomea kind of monomania (S548). Pitt condemned such oppression as morallywrong, Burke denounced it as inexpedient, and Fox, another prominentmember of Parliament, wrote, "It is intolerable to think that itshould be in the power of one blockhead to do so much mischief. " For the time, at least, the King was as unreasonable as any of theStuarts. The obstinacy of Charles I cost him his head, that of JamesII his kingdom, that of George III resulted in a war which saddled theEnglish taxpayer with an additional debt of 120, 000, 000 pounds, andforever detached from Great Britain the fairest and richest dominionsthat she ever possessed. 552. The American Revolution; Independence declared, 1776. In 1775 war began, and the stand made by the patriots at Lexington andthe fighting which followed at Concord and Bunker Hill showed that theAmericans were in earnest. The cry of the colonists had been, "Notaxation without representation"; now they had got beyond that, anddemanded, "No legislation without representation. " But events moved sofast that even this did not long suffice, and on July 4, 1776, thecolonies, in Congress assembled, solemnly declared themselves free andindependent. As far back as the French war there was at least one man who foresawthis declaration. After the English had taken Quebec (S545), aneminent French statesman said of the American colonies with respect toGreat Britain, "They stand no longer in need of her protection; shewill call on them to contribute toward supporting the burdens theyhave helped to bring on her; and they will answer by striking off alldependence. "[2] [2] This was Vergennes; see Bancroft's "History of the United States. " This prophecy was now fulfilled. After the Americans had defeatedBurgoyne in 1777 the English ministry became alarmed; they declaredthemselves ready to make terms; they offered to grant everything butindependence;[3] but they had opened their eyes to the facts too late, and nothing short of independence would now satisfy the colonists. Attempts were made to open negotiations with General Washington, butthe commander in chief declined to receive a letter from the EnglishGovernment addressed to him, not in his official capacity, but as"George Washington, Esq. , " and so the matter came to nothing. [3] This was after France had recognized the independence of theUnited States, 1778. 553. The Battle of Yorktown; the King acknowledges American Independence, 1782. The war against the rebellious states was never really popular inEngland. From the outset great numbers refused to enlist to fight theAmericans, and spoke of the contest as the "King's War" to show thatthe bulk of the English people did not encourage it. The strugglewent on with varying success through seven heavy years, until, withthe aid of the French, the Americans defeated Lord Cornwallis atYorktown in 1781. [1] By that battle France got her revenge for theloss of Quebec in 1759 (S545), and America finally won the cause forwhich she had spent so much life and treasure. [1] It is pleasant to know that a hundred years later, in the autumnof 1881, a number of English gentlemen were present at the centennialcelebration of the taking of Yorktown, to express their hearty goodwill toward the nation which their ancestors had tried in vain to keepa part of Great Britain. George III could hold out no longer; on a foggy December morning in1782, he entered the House of Lords, and with a faltering voice read apaper in which he acknowledged the independence of the United Statesof America. He closed his reading with the prayer that neither GreatBritain nor America might suffer from the separation; and he expressedthe hope that religion, language, interest, and affection might provean effectual bond of union between the two countries. Eventually the separation proved "a mutual advantage, since it removedto a great extent the arbitrary restrictions on trade, gave a newimpetus to commerce, and immensely increased the wealth of bothnations. "[2] [2] Goldwin Smith's lectures on "The Foundation of the AmericanColonies. " In general see "Lecky's American Revolution, " and the"Leading Facts of American History" or the "Student's AmericanHistory, " in this series. 554. The Lord George Gordon Riots (1780). While the American war was in progress, England had not been entirelyquiet at home. A prominent Whig leader in Parliament had moved therepeal of some of the most severe laws against the Roman Catholics. [3]The greater part of these measures had been enacted under William III, "when England was in mortal terror" of the restoration of James II(S491). The Solicitor-General said, in seconding the motion forrepeal, that these lwas were "a disgrace to humanity. " Parliamentagreed with him in this matter. Because these unjust acts werestricken from the Statute Book, Lord George Gordon, a half-crazedfanatic, [1] who was in Parliament, led an attack upon the government(1780). [3] The worst of these laws was that which punished a priest whoshould celebrate mass, with imprisonment for life. SeeTaswell-Langmead's "English Constitutional History, " p. 627, andcompare J. F. Bright's "History of England, " III, 1087. [1] Gordon seems to have been of unsound mind. He used to attack bothpolitical parties with such fury that it was jocosely said there were"three parties in Parliament--the ministry, the opposition, and LordGeorge Gordon. " For six days London was at the mercy of a furious mob of 50, 000people, who set fire to Catholic chapels, pillaged many dwellings, andcommitted every species of outrage. Newgate prison was broken into, the prisoners were released, and the prison was burned. No one wassafe from attack who did not wear a blue cockade to show that he was aProtestant, and no man's house was secure unless he chalked "NoPopery" on the door in conspicuous letters. In fact, one individual, in order to make doubly sure, wrote over the entrance to hisresidence: "No Religion Whatever. " Before the riot was subdued a largeamount of property had been destroyed and many lives sacrificed. 555. Impeachment of Warren Hastings (1788). Six years after the American Revolution came to an end WarrenHastings, Governor-General of India, was impeached for corrupt andcruel government in that distant province. He was tried before theHouse of Lords, gathered in Westminster Hall. On the side of Hastingswas the powerful East India Company, ruling over a territory manytimes larger than the whole of Great Britain. Against him werearrayed the three ablest and most eloquent men in England, --Burke, Fox, and Sheridan. "Raising his voice until the oak ceiling resounded, Burke exclaimed atthe close of his fourth great speech, `I impeach Warren Hastings ofhigh crimes and misdemeanors. I impeach him in the name of theCommons of Great Britain, whose trust he has betrayed. I impeach himin the name of the English nation, whose ancient honor he hassullied. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whoserights he has trodden under foot, and whose country he has turned intoa desert. Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name ofboth sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, Iimpeach the common enemy and oppressor of all!'" The trial was continued at intervals for over seven years. Itresulted in the acquittal of the accused (1795); but it was provedthat the chief business of those who went out to India was to wringfortunes from the natives, and then go back to England to live like"nabobs, " and spend their ill-gotten money in a life of luxury. Thisfact, and the stupendous corruption that was shown to exist, eventually broke down the gigantic monopoly, and British India wasthrown open to the trade of all nations. [1] [1] See Macaulay's "Essay on Warren Hastings"; also Burke's"Speeches. " 556. Liberty of the Press; Law and Prison Reforms; Abolition of the Slave Trade. Since the discontinuance of the censorship of the press (S498), thoughnewspapers were nominally free to discuss public affairs, yet theGovernment had no intention of permitting any severe criticism. Onthe other hand, there were men who were determined to speak theirminds through the press on political as on all other matters. In theearly part of the reign, John Wilkes, an able but scurrilous writer, attacked the policy of the Crown in violent terms (1763). Some yearslater (1769), a writer, who signed himself "Junius, " began a series ofletters in a daily paper, in which he handled the King and the "King'sfriends" still more roughly. An attempt was made by the Government topunish Wilkes and the publisher of the "Junius" letters, but itsignally failed in both cases. Public feeling was plainly in favor ofthe freest political expression, [2] which was eventually conceded. [2] Later, during the excitement caused by the French Revolution, there was a reaction from this feeling, but it was only temporary. Up to this time parliamentary debates had rarely been reported. Infact, under the Tudors and the Stuarts, members of Parliament wouldhave run the risk of imprisonment if their criticisms of royalty hadbeen made public; but now, in 1771, the papers began to contain thespeeches and votes of both Houses on important questions. Everyeffort was made to suppress these reports, but again the press gainedthe day. Henceforth the nation could learn how far itsrepresentatives really represented the will of the people, and socould hold them strictly accountable, --a matter of vital importance inevery free government. [3] [3] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxvi, S30. Another field of reform was also found. The times were brutal. Thepillory still stood in the center of London;[4] and if the unfortunateoffender who was put in it escaped with a shower of mud and otherunsavory missiles, instead of clubs and brickbats, he was luckyindeed. Gentlemen of fashion arranged pleasure parties to visit thepenitentiaries for women to see the wretched inmates whipped. Thewhole code of criminal law was savagely vindictive. Capitalpunishment was inflicted for about two hundred offenses, many of whichwould now be thought to be sufficiently punished by one or two months'imprisonment in the house of correction. [4] The pillory (S531) was not abolished until the accession of QueenVictoria. Not only men, but women and children even, were hanged for pilferinggoods or food worth a few shillings. [1] The jails were crowded withpoor wretches whom want had driven to theft, and who were "worked off"on the gallows every Monday morning in batches of a dozen or twenty, in sight of the jeering, drunken crowds who gathered to witness theirdeath agonies. [1] Five shillings, or $1. 25, was the hanging limit; anything stolenabove that sum in money or goods might send the thief to the gallows. Through the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly, Jeremy Bentham, and others, a reform was effected in this bloody code. Next, the labors of thephilanthropic John Howard, and later of Elizabeth Fry, purified thejails of abuses which had made them not only dens of suffering anddisease, but schools of crime as well. The laws respecting the pubishment for debt were also changed for thebetter, and thousands of miserable beings who were without means tosatisfy their creditors were set free, instead of being kept inuseless lifelong imprisonment. At the same time Clarkson, Wilberforce, Fox, and Pitt were endeavoring to abolish that relic ofbarbarism, the African slave trade. After twenty years of persistenteffort both in Parliament and out, they at last accomplished thatgreat and beneficent work in 1807. 557. War with France (1793-1805); Battle of the Nile; Trafalgar, 1805. Near the close of the century (1789) the French Revolution broke out. It was a violent and successful attempt to destroy those feudalinstitutions which France had outgrown, and which had, as we haveseen, disappeared gradually in England after the rebellion of WatTyler (SS250, 252). At first the revolutionists received the heartysympathy of many of the Whig party (S479), but after the execution ofLouis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, [1] England became alarmed notonly at the horrible scenes of the Reign of Terror but at theestablishment of the French democratic republic which seemed tojustify them, and joined an alliance of the principal European powersfor the purpose of restoring monarchy in France. [1] See "Death of Marie Antoinette, " in Burke's "Reflections on theFrench Revolution. " Napoleon had now become the real head of the French nation, and seemedbent on making himself master of all Europe. He undertook anexpedition against Egypt and the East, which was intended as astepping-stone toward the ultimate conquest of the English empire inIndia, but his plans were frustrated by Nelson, who completelydefeated the French fleet at the battle of the Nile (1798). With the assistance of Spain, Napoleon next prepared to invadeEngland, and was so confident of success that he caused a gold medalto be struck, bearing the inscription, "Descent upon England. " "Struckat London, 1804. " But the English warships drove the French andSpanish fleets into the harbor of Cadiz, and Napoleon had to postponehis great expedition for another year. [2] In the autumn of 1805, theFrench and Spanish fleets sallied forth determined to win. But LordNelson, that frail little man who had lost his right arm and the sightof his right eye fighting his country's battles, lay waiting for themoff Cape Trafalgar, [3] near by. [2] In 1801 Robert Fulton, of Pennsylvania, proposed to Napoleonthathe should build warships propelled by steam. The proposal wassubmitted to a committee of French scientists, who reported that itwas absurd. Had Napoleon acted on Fulton's suggestion, his descent onEngland might have been successful. [3] Cape Trafalgar, on the southern coast of Spain. Two days later he descried the enemy at daybreak. Both sides feltthat the decisive struggle was at hand. With the exception of a long, heavy swell the sea was calm, with a light breeze, but sufficient tobring the two fleets gradually within range. "As they drifted on their path There was silence deep as death; And the boldest held his breath For a time. "[4] [4] Campbell's "Battle of the Baltic, " but applicable as well toTrafalgar. Just before the action Nelson ran up this signal to the masthead ofhis ship, where all might see it: "England explects Every Man to dohis Duty. " The answer to it was three ringing cheers from the entirefleet, and the fight began. When it ended, Napoleon's boasted navywas no more. Trafalgar Square, in the heart of London, with its tallcolumn bearing aloft a statue of Nelson, commemorates the decisivevictory, which was dearly bought with the life of the great admiral. The battle of Traflagar snuffed out Napoleon's projected invasion ofEngland. He had lost his ships, and their commander, in his despair, committed suicide. The French Emperor could no longer hope to bridge"the ditch, " as he derisively called the boisterous Channel, whosewaves rose like a wall between him and the island which he hated(S14). A few years later, Napoleon, who had taken possession of Spainand placed his brother on the throne, was driven from that country bySir Arthur Wellesly, destined to be better known as the Duke ofWellington, and the crown was restored to the Spanish nation. 558. Second War with the United States, 1812-1815. The United States waged its first war with Great Britain to gain anindependent national existence; in 1812 it declared a second war tosecure its rights upon the sea. During the long and desperatestruggle between England and France, each nation had prohibitedneutral powers from commercial intercourse with the other, or with anycountry friendly to the other. Furthermore, the English Government had laid down the principle that aperson born on British soil could not become a citizen of anothernation, but that "once an Englishman always an Englishman" was theonly true doctrine. In accordance with that theory, it claimed theright to search American ships and take from them and force into theirown service any seaman supposed to be of British birth. In this wayGreat Britian had seized more than six thousand men, andnotwithstanding their protest that they were American citizens, eitherby birth or by naturalization, had compelled them to enter the Englishnavy. Other points in dispute between the two countries were in a fair wayof being settled amicably, but there appeared to be no method ofcoming to terms in regard to the question of search and impressment, which was the most important of all, since though the demand of theUnited States was, in the popular phrase of the day, for "Free Tradeand Sailors' Rights, " it was the last which was especially emphasized. In 1812 war against Great Britain was declared, and an attack made onCanada which resulted in the American forces being driven back. During the war British troops landed in Maryland, burned the Capitoland other public buildings in Washington, and destroyed theCongressional Library. On the other hand, the American navy had unexpected and extraordinarysuccesses on the ocean and the lakes. Out of fifteen sea combats withapproximately equal forces, the Americans gained twelve. The contestclosed with the signal defeat of the English at New Orleans, whenGeneral Andrew Jackson (1815) completely routed the forces led by SirEdward Pakenham, brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. The rightof search was thenceforth dropped, although it was not formallyabandoned by Great Britain until more than forty years later (1856). 559. Battle of Waterloo, 1815. In the summer of 1815, the English war against Napoleon (S557), whichhad been carried on almost constantly since his accession to power, culminated in the decisive battle of Waterloo. [1] Napoleon had crossedthe Belgian frontier in order that he might come up with the Britishbefore they could form a junction with their Prussian allies. All theprevious night rain had fallen in torrents, and when the soldiers rosefrom their cheerless and broken sleep in the trampled and muddy fieldsof rye, a drizzling rain was still falling. [1] Waterloo, near Brussels, Belgium. Napoleon planned the battle for the purpose of destroying first theEnglish and then the Prussian forces, but Wellington held his ownagainst the furious attacks of the French. It was evident, however, that even the "Iron Duke, " as he was called, could not continue towithstand the terrible assaults many hours longer. As time passed on, and he saw his solid squares melting away under themurderous French fire, as line after line of his soldiers comingforward silently stepped into the places of their fallen comrades, while the expected Prussian reenforcements still delayed theirappearance, the English commander exclaimed, "O that night or Blucherwould come!" At last Blucher with his Prussians did come, and asGrouchy, the leader of a division on which Napoleon was counting, didnot, Waterloo was finally won by the combined strength of the allies. Not long afterwards Napoleon was sent to die a prisoner on thedesolate rock of St. Helena. When all was over, Wellington said to Blucher, as he stood by him on alittle eminence looking down upon the field covered with the dead anddying, "A great victory is the saddest thing on earth, except a greatdefeat. " With that victory ended the second Hundred Years' War of England withFrance, which began with the War of the Spanish Succession (1704)under Marlborough (S508). At the outset the object of that war was, first, to humble the power of Louis XIV that threatened theindependence of England; and, secondly, to protect those Americancolonies which later separated fromthe mother country and became, partly through French help, the republic of the United States. 560. Increase of the National Debt; Taxation. Owing to these hundred years and more of war (S559) the National Debtof GReat Britain and Ireland (S503), which in 1688 was much less thana million of pounds, had now reached the enormous amount of over ninehundred millions (or $4, 500, 000, 000), bearing yearly interest at therate of more than $160, 000, 000. [1] So great had been the strain on thefinances of the country, that the Bank of England (S503) suspendedpayment, and many heavy failures occurred. In addition to this, asuccession of bad harvests sent up the price of wheat to such a pointthat at one time an ordinary-sized loaf of bread cost the farm laborermore than half a day's wages. [1] Encyclopaedia Britannica, under "National Debt. " Taxes had gone on increasing until it seemed as though the peoplecould no longer endure the burden. As Sydney Smith declared, withentire truth, there were duties on everything. They began, he said, in childhood, with "the boy's taxed top"; they followed to old age, until at last "the dying Englishman, pouring his taxed medicine into ataxed spoon, flung himself back on a taxed bed, and died in the armsof an apothecary who had paid a tax of a hundred pounds for theprivilege of putting him to death. "[1] [1] Sydney Smith's Essays, "Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States. " 561. The Irish Parliament; the Irish Rebellion (1798). For a century after the battle of the Boyne (S500) Ireland can hardlybe said to have had a history. The iron hand of English despotism hadcrushed the spirit out of the inhabitants, and they suffered insilence. During the first part of the eighteenth century thedestitution of the people was so great that Dean Swift, in bittermockery of the government's neglect, published what he called his"Modest Proposal. " He suggested that the misery of the half-starvedpeasants might be relieved by allowing them to eat their own childrenor else sell them to the butchers. But a new attempt was now made to improve the political condition ofthe wretched country. That distinguished statesman, Edmund Burke(S550), had already tried to secure a fair measure of commercialliberty for the island, but without success. Since the reign of HenryVII the so-called "free Parliament" of Ireland had been bound hand andfoot by Poynings's Act (S329, note 1). The eminent Protestant Irishorator, Henry Grattan, now urged the repeal of that law with all hisimpassioned eloquence. He was seconded in his efforts by the powerfulinfluence of Fox in the English House of Commons. Finally, theobnoxious act was repealed (1782), and a, so-called, independent IrishParliament, to which Grattan was elected, met in Dublin. But although more than three quarters of the Irish people wereCatholics, no person of that faith was permitted to sit in the newParliament or to vote for the election of a member. This was not theonly injustice, for many Protestants in Belfast and the north ofIreland had no right to be represented in it. Such a state of thingscould not fail to excite angry protest, and Grattan, with otherProtestants in Parliament, labored for reform. The discontent finallyled to the organization of an association called the "Society ofUnited Irishmen. " The leaders of that movement hoped to secure thecooperation of Catholics and Protestants, and to obtain fair and fullrepresentation for both in the Irish Parliament. A measure ofpolitical reform was secured (1793), but it did not go far enough togive the relief desired. Eventually the Society of United Irishmen became a revolutionaryorganization which sought, by the help of the French, to make Irelandan independent republic. The sprigs of shamrock or shamrock-coloredbadges displayed by these men gave a new significance to "the wearingof the green. "[1] By this time many Protestants had withdrawn from theorganization, and many Catholics refused to ask help from the Frenchrevolutionary party, who were hostile to all churches and to allreligion. [1] See a quotation from the famous Irish song, "The Wearin' o' theGreen, " in the "Shan Van Vocht, " in the "Heroic Ballads, " published byGinn and Company. Then a devoted band of Catholics in the south of Ireland resolved torise and, trusting to their own right arms, to strike forindependence. A frightful rebellion broke out (1798), marked by allthe intense hatred springing from rival races and rival creeds, andaggravated by the peasants' hatred of oppressive landlords. Bothsides perpetuated horrible atrocities. The government employed alarge force of Orangemen, [2] or extreme Protestants, to help suppressthe insurrection. They did their work with remorseless cruelty. [2] Orangemen: the Protestants of the north of Ireland, who had takenthe side of William of Orange in the Revolution of 1688-1689 (S499). They wore an orange ribbon as their badge, to distinguish them fromthe Catholic party, who wore green badges. 562. Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 1800; Emmet. Matters now came to a crisis. William Pitt, son of the late Earl ofChatham (S550), was Prime Minister. He believed that the bestinterests of both Ireland and England demanded their political union. He devoted all his energies to accomplishing the work. The result wasthat in the last year of the eighteenth century the English Governmentsucceeded, by the most unscrupulous use of money, in gaining thedesired end. Lord Cornwallis, acting as Pitt's agent, confessed withshame that he bought up a sufficient number of members of the IrishParliament to secure a vote in favor of union with Great Britain. In1800 the two countries were joined--in name at least--under the titleof the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. "[3] [3] The first Parliament of the United Kingdom met in 1801. Pitt used all his powerful influence to obtain for Ireland a full andfair representation in the united Parliament (1801). He urged thatCatholics as well as Protestants should be eligible for election tothat body. But the King positively refused to listen to his PrimeMinister. He even declared that it would be a violation of hiscoronation oath for him to grant such a request. The consequence wasthat not a single Catholic was admitted to the Imperial Parliamentuntil nearly thirty years later (S573). Two years after the first Imperial Parliament met in London the Irishpatriot, Robert Emmet, made a desperate effort to free his country(1803). To his mind the union of England with Ireland was simply "theunion of the shark with its prey. " He staked his life on the cause ofindependence; he lost, and paid the forfeit on the scaffold. But notwithstanding Emmet's hatred of the union, it resultedadvantageously to Ireland in at least two respects. First, morepermanent peace was secured to that distracted and long-sufferingcountry. Secondly, the Irish people made decided gains commercially. The duties on their farm products were removed, at least in largedegree, and the English ports hitherto closed against them were thrownopen. The duties on their manufactured goods seem to have been takenoff at that time only in part. [1] Later, absolute freedom of trade wassecured. [1] See May's "Constitutional History of England, " Lecky's "England inthe Eighteenth Century"; but compare O'Connor Morris's work on"Ireland, from 1798 to 1898, " p. 58. 563. "The Industrial Revolution" of the Eighteenth Century; Material Progress; Canals; the Steam Engine, 1785. The reign of George III was in several directions one of markedprogress, especially in England. Just after the King's accession theDuke of Bridgewater constructed a canal from his coal mine in Worsleyto Manchester, a distance of seven miles. Later, he extended it toLiverpool; eventually it was widened and deepened and became the"Manchester and Liverpool Ship Canal. " The Duke of Bridgewater's workwas practically the commencement of a system which has since developedto such a degree that the canals of England now extend nearly 5000miles, and exceed in length its navigable rivers. The two form such acomplete network of water communication that it is said no place inthe realm is more than fifteen miles distant from this means oftransportation, which connects all the large towns with each other andwith the chief ports. In the last half of the eighteenth century James Watt obtained thefirst patent (1769) for his improved steam engine (S521), but did notsucceed in making it a business success until 1785. The story istold[1] that he took a working model of it to show to the King. HisMajesty patronizingly asked him, "Well, my man, what have you tosell?" The inventor promptly answered, "What kings covet, may itplease your Majesty, --POWER!" The story is perhaps too good to betrue, but the fact of the "power" could not be denied, --power, too, not simply mechanical, but, in its results, moral and political aswell. [1] This story is told also of Boulton, Watt's partner. See Smile's"Lives of Boulton and Watt, " p. 1. Newcomen had invented a rude steamengine in 1705, which in 1712 came into use to some extent for pumpingwater out of coal mines. But his engine was too clumsy and toowasteful of fuel to be used by manufacturers. Boulton and Watt builtthe first steam-engine works in England at Soho, a suburb ofBirmingham, in 1775; but it was not until 1785 that they began to dosufficient business to make it evident that they were on their way tosuccess. Such was the increase of machinery driven by steam, and such were theimprovements made by Hargreaves, Arkwright, and Crompton in machineryfor spinning and weaving cotton, that much distress arose among thehand spinners and hand weavers. The price of bread was growing higherand higher, while in many districts skilled operatives working at homecould not earn by their utmost efforts eight shillings a week. Theysaw their hand labor supplanted by great cotton mills filled withmachinery driven by "monsters of iron and fire, " which never grewweary, which subsisted on water and coal, and never asked for wages. Led by a man named Ludd (1811), the starving workmen attacked a numberof these mills, broke the machinery to pieces, and sometimes burnedthe buildings. The riots were at length suppressed, and a number ofthe leaders executed; but a great change for the better was at hand, and improved machinery driven by steam was soon to remedy the evils ithad seemingly created. It led to an enormous demand for cotton. Thishelped to stimulate cotton growing in the United States of America aswell as to encourage the manufacture of cotton in Great Britain. Up to this period the north of England had remained the poorest partof the country. The population was sparse, ignorant, andunprosperous. It was in the south that improvements originated. Inthe reign of Henry VIII, the North fought against the dissolution ofthe monasteries (SS352, 357); in Elizabeth's reign it resistedProtestantism; in that of George I it sided with the so-called"Pretender" (S535). But steam transformed an immense area. Factories were built, population increased, cities sprang up, and wealth grew apace. Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield, andLiverpool made the North a new country. (See Industrial Map ofEngland, p. 10. ) Lancashire is the busiest cotton-manufacturingdistrict in Great Britain, and the saying runs that "what Lancashirethinks to-day, England will think to-morrow. " So much for James Watt'sPOWER and its results. 564. Discover of Oxygen (1774); Introduction of Gas (1815). Notwithstanding the progress that had been made in many departments ofknowledge, the science of chemistry remained almost stationary until(1774) Dr. Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, the most abundant, aswell as the most important, element in nature. That discover "laid the foundation of modern chemical science. " Itenlarged our knowledge of the composition of the atmosphere, of thesolid crust of the earth, and of water. Furthermore, it revealed theinteresting fact that oxygen not only enters into the structure of allforms of animal and vegetable life, but that no kind of life can existwithout it. Finally, Priestley's great discovery proved to be ofdirect practical utility, since the successful pursuit of innumerabletrades and manufactures, with the profitable separation of metals fromtheir ores, stands in close connection with the facts which hisexperiments with oxygen made known. As intellectual light spread, so also did material light. In London, up to near the close of the reign of George III, only a few feeble oillamps were in use. Many miles of streets were dark and dangerous, andhighway robberies were frequent. At length (1815) a company wasformed to light the city with gas. After much opposition from thosewho were in the whale-oil interest the enterprise succeeded. The newlight, as Miss Martineau said, did more to prevent crime than all theGovernment had accomplished since the days of Alfred. It changed, too, the whole aspect of the English capital, though it was only theforerunner of the electric light, which has since changed it evenmore. The sight of the great city now, when viewed at night from Highgatearchway on the north, or looking down the Thames from WestminsterBridge, is something never to be forgotten. It gives one a realizingsense of the immensity of "this province covered with houses, " whichcannot be got so well in any other way. It bring to mind, too, thoselines expressive of the contrasts of wealth and poverty, success andfailure, inevitable in such a place: "O gleaming lamps of London, that gem the city's crown, What fortunes lie within you, O lights of London town! . . . . . . . . . . . O cruel lamps of London, if tears your light could drown, Your victims' eyes would weep them, O lights of London town. "[1] [1] From the play, "The Lights of London. " The same year in which gas was introduced, Sir Humphry Davy inventedthe miner's safety lamp. Without seeking a patent, he generously gavehis invention to the world, finding his reward in the knowledge thatit would be the means of saving thousands of lives wherever men arecalled to work underground. 565. Steam Navigation, 1807, 1819, 1840. Since Watt had demonstrated the value of steam for driving machinery(S563), a number of inventors had been experimenting with the newpower, in the hope that they might apply it to propelling vessels. In1807 Robert Fulton, an American, built the first successful steamboat, and made the voyage from New York to Albany in it. Shortly afterwardshis vessel began to make regular trips on the Hudson. A number ofyears later a similar boat began to carry passengers on the Clyde, inScotland. Finally, in 1819, the bold undertaking was made of crossingthe Atlantic by steam. An American steamship, the Savannah, of aboutthree hundred tons, set the example by a voyage from the United Statesto Liverpool. Dr. Lardner, an English scientist, had proved to hisown satisfaction that ocean steam navigation was impracticable. Thebook containing the doctor's demonstration was brought to America bythe Savannah on her return. Twenty-one years afterward, in 1840, the Cunard Company establishedthe first regular line of ocean steamers. They sailed between Englandand the United States. Since then fleets of steamers ranging from twothousand to more than forty thousand tons each have been built. Theynow make passages from continent to continent with the regularity ofclockwork, and in fewer days than the ordinary sailing vesselsformerly required weeks. The fact that during a period of more thanseventy years one of these lines has never lost a passenger isconclusive proof that Providence is on the side of steam, when steamhas men that know how to handle it. 566. Literature; Art; Education; Travel; Dress. The reign of George III is marked by a long list of names eminent inletters and art. First in point of time among these stands Dr. SamuelJohnson, the compiler of the first English dictionary worthy of thename, and that on which those of our own day are based to aconsiderable extent. He was also the author of the story of"Rasselas, "--that notable satire on discontent and the search afterhappiness. Next stands Johnson's friend, Oliver Goldsmith, famous forhis genius, his wit, and his improvidence, --which was always gettinghim into trouble, --but still more famous for his poems, and his novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield. " Edward Gibbon, David Hume, author of the well-known "History ofEngland, " and Adam Smith come next in time. In 1776 Gibbon publishedhis "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, " which after more than ahundred years stands the ablest history of the subject in ourlanguage. In the same year Adam Smith issued "An Inquiry into theNature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, " which had a great effecton legislation respecting commerce, trade, and finance. During thisperiod, also, Sir William Blackstone became prominent as a writer onlaw, and Edmund Burke, the distinguished orator and statesman, wrotehis "Reflections on the French Revolution. " The poets, Burns, Byron, Shelley, and Keats, with Sheridan, the oratorand dramatist, and Sterne, the humorist, belong to this reign; so, too, does the witty satirist, Sydney Smith, and Sir Walter Scott, whose works, like those of Shakespeare, have "made the dead past liveagain. " Then again, Maria Edgeworth and Jane Austen have leftadmirable pictures of the age in their stories of Irish and Englishlife. Coleridge and Wordsworth began to attract attention toward thelast of this period, and to be much read by those who loved the poetryof thought and the poetry of nature; while, early in the next reign, Charles Lamb published his delightful "Essays of Elia. " In art we have the first English painters and engravers. Hogarth, whodied a few years after the beginning of the reign, was celebrated forthe coarse but perfect representations of low life and street scenes;and his series of Election pictures with his "Beer Lane" and "GinAlley" are valuable for the insight into the history of the times. The chief portrait painters were Reynolds, Lawrence, and Gainsborough, the last of whom afterwards became noted for his landscapes. Theywere followed by Wilkie, whose pictures of "The Rent Day, " "TheReading of the Will, " and many others, tell a story of interest toevery one who looks at them. Last came Turner, who in some respects surpassed all former artists inhis power of reproducing scenes in nature. At the same time, Bewick, whose cuts used to be the delight of every child that read "Aesop'sFables, " gave a new impulse to wood engraving, while Flaxman rose tobe the leading English sculptor, and Wedgwood introduced useful andbeautiful articles of pottery. In common-school education little advance had been made for manygenerations. In the country the great mass of the people were nearlyas ignorant as they were in the darkest part of the Middle Ages. Hardly a peasant over forty years of age could be found who could reada verse in the Bible, and not one in ten could write his name. There were no cheap books or newspapers, and no proper system ofpublic instruction. The poor seldom left the counties in which theywere born. They knew nothing of what was going on in the world. Their education was wholly of the practical kind which comes from workand things, not from books and teachers; yet many of them with onlythese simple helps found out two secrets which the highest culturesometimes misses, --how to be useful and how to be happy. [1] [1] See Wordsworth's poem "Resolution and Independence. " The ordinary means of travel were still very imperfect. Stage-coacheshad been in use for more than a hundred and fifty years. They crawledalong at the rate of about three miles an hour. Mail coaches began torun in 1784. They attained a speed of six miles an hour, and later often. This was considered entirely satisfactory. The close of George III's reign marks the beginning of the presentage. It was indicated in many ways, and among others by the declininguse of sedan chairs, which had been the fashion for upwards of acentury, and by the change in dress. Gentlemen were leaving off thepicturesque costumes of the past, --the cocked hats, elaborate wigs, silk stockings, ruffles, velvet coats, and swords, --and graduallyputting on the plain democratic garb, sober in cut and color, by whichwe know them to-day. 567. Last Days of George III. George III died (1820) at the age of eighty-two. During ten years hehad been blind, deaf, and crazy, having lost his reason not very longafter the jubilee, which celebrated the fiftieth year of his reign(1809). Once, in a lucid interval, he was found by the Queen singinga hymn and playing an accompaniment on the harpsichord. He then knelt and prayed aloud for her, for his family, and for thenation; and in closing, for himself, that it might please God to averthis heavy calamity, or grant him resignation to bear it. Then heburst into tears, and his reason again fled. [1] In consequence of theincapacity of the King, his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, wasappointed regent (1811), and on the King's death came to the throne asGeorge IV. [1] See Thackeray's "Four Georges. " 568. Summary. The long reign of George III covered sixty very eventful years. During that time England lost her possessions in America, but gainedIndia and prepared the way for getting possession of New Zealand andAustralia. During that period, also, Ireland was united to GreatBritain. The wars with France, which lasted more than twenty years, ended in the great naval victory of Trafalgar and the still greatervictory on the battlefield of Waterloo. In consequence of these wars, with that of the American Revolution, the National Debt of GreatBritain rose to a height which rendered the burden of taxationwell-nigh insupportable. The second war with the United States in 1812 made America independenton the sea, and eventually compelled England to give up her assumedright to search American vessels. The two greatest reforms of theperiod were the abolition of the slave trade and the mitigation of thelaws against debt and crime; the chief material improvement was theextension of canals and the application of steam to manufacturing andto navigation. The "Industrial Revolution" transformed the North ofEngland. GEORGE IV--1820-1830 569. Accession and Character of George IV. George IV, eldest son of the late King, came to the throne in hisfifty-eighth year; but, owing to his father's insanity, he hadvirtually been King for nearly ten years (S567). His habits of lifehad made him a selfish, dissolute spendthrift, who, like Charles II, cared only for pleasure. Though while Prince of Wales he had receivedfor many years an income upwards of 100, 000 pounds, which was largelyincreased at a later period, yet he was always hopelessly in debt. Parliament (1795) appropriated over 600, 000 pounds to relieve him fromhis most pressing creditors, but his wild extravagance soon involvedhim in difficulties again, so that had it not been for help given bythe long-suffering taxpayers, His Royal Highness must have become asbankrupt in purse as he was in character. After his accession matters became worse rather than better. At hiscoronation, which cost the nation over 200, 000 pounds, he appeared inhired jewels, which he forgot to return, and which Parliament had topay for. Not only did he waste the nation's money more recklesslythan ever, but he used whatever political influence he had toopposesuch measures of reform as the times demanded. 570. Discontent; the "Manchester Massacre" (1819). When (1811) George, then Prince of Wales, became regent (S567), hedesired to form a Whig ministry, not because he cared for Whigprinciples (S479), but solely because he would thereby be acting inopposition to his father's wishes. Finding his purpose impracticable, he accepted Tory rule (S479), and a Cabinet (S534) was formed withLord Liverpool as Prime Minister. It had for its main object thecontinued exclusion of Catholics from representation in Parliament(S478). Lord Liverpool was a dull, well-meaning man, who utterly failed tocomprehend the real tendency of the age. He was the son of a commonerwho had been raised to the peerage. He had always had a reputationfor honest obstinacy, and for little else. After he became Premier, aprominent French lady, who was visiting England, asked him one day, "What has become of that VERY stupid man, Mr. Jenkinson?" "Madame, "answered the unfortunate Prime Minister, "he is now Lord Liverpool. "[1] [1] Earl's "English Premiers, " Vol. II. From such a Cabinet or Government, which continued in power forfifteen years, nothing but trouble could be expected. The misery ofthe country was great. Food was selling at famine prices. Thousandswere on the verge of starvation, and tens of thousands did not getenough to eat. Trade was seriously depressed, and multitudes wereunable to obtain work. Under these circumstances, the sufferingmasses undertook to hold public meetings to discuss the cause and cureof these evils; but as violent speeches against the Government wereoften made at the meetings, the authorities dispersed them on theground that they were seditious and tended to riot and rebellion. Many large towns at this period had no voice in legislation. AtBirmingham, which was one of this class, the citizens had met andchosen, though without legal authority, a representative toParliament. Machester, another important manufacturing town, nowdetermined to do the same thing. The people were warned not toassemble, but they persisted in doing so, on the ground that peacefuldiscussion, with the election of a representative, was no violation oflaw. The meeting was held in St. Peter's Fields, and, through theblundering of a magistrate, it ended in an attack by a body of troops, by which many people were wounded an a number killed (1819). 571. The Six Acts (1819); the Conspiracy. The bitter feeling caused by the "Manchester Massacre, " or "Peterloo, "as it was called, was still further aggravated by the passage of theSix Acts (1819). The object of these severe coercive measures was tomake it impossible for men to take any public action demandingpolitical reform. They restricted freedom of speech, freedom of thepress, and the right of the people to assemble for the purpose of opendiscussion of the course taken by the Government. These harsh lawscoupled with other repressive measures taken by the Tories (S479), whowere still in power, led to the "Cato Street Conspiracy. " Shortlyafter the accession of George IV a few desperate men banded together, and meeting in a stable in Cato Street, London, formed a plot tomurder Lord Liverpool and his entire cabinet at dinner at which allthe ministers were to be present. The plot was discovered, and the conspirators were speedily disposedof by the gallows or transportation, but nothing was done to relievethe suffering which had provoked the intended crime. No newconspiracy was attempted, but in the course of the next ten years asilent revolution took place, which, as we shall see later, obtainedfor the people that fuller representation in Parliament which they hadhitherto vainly attempted to get (S582). 572. Queen Caroline. While he was Prince of Wales, George IV had, contrary to law, privately married Mrs. Fitzherbert (1785), [1] a Roman Catholic lady ofexcellent character, and possessed of great beauty. Ten years later, partly through royal compulsion and partly to get money to pay offsome of his numerous debts, the Prince married his cousin, thePrincess Caroline of Brunswick. The union proved a source ofunhappiness to both. The Princess lacked both discretion anddelicacy, and her husband, who disliked her from the first, wasreckless and brutal toward her. [1] By the Royal Marriage Act of 1772, no descendant of George IIcould make a legal marriage without the consent of the reigningsovereign, unless twenty-five years of age, and unless the marriagewas not objected to by Parliament. He separated from her in a year's time, and as soon as she could, shewithdrew to the Continent. When he became King he excluded QueenCaroline's name from the Prayer Book, and next applied to Parliamentfor a divorce on the ground of the Queen's unfaithfulness to hermarriage vows. Henry Brougham, afterwards Lord Brougham, acted as the Queen'scounsel. No sufficient evidence was brought against her, and theministry declined to take further action. It was decided, however, that she could not claim the honor of coronation, to which, as QueenConsort, she had a right sanctioned by custom but not secured by law. When the King was crowned (1821), no place was provided for her. Bythe advice of her counsel, she presented herself at the entrance ofWestminster Abbey as the coronation ceremony was about to begin; but, by order of her husband, admission was refused, and she retired todie, heartbroken, a few days after. 573. Three Great Reforms. Seven years later (1828) the Duke of Wellington, a Tory (S479) inpolitics, became Prime Minister. His sympathies in all matters oflegislation were with the King, but he made a virtue of necessity, andfor the time acted with those who demanded reform. The CorporationAct (S472), which was originally passed in the reign of Charles II, and had for its object the exclusion of Dissenters (S472) from alltown or corporate offices, was now repealed; henceforth a man mightbecome a mayor, alderman, or town officer, without belonging to theChurch of England. At the same time the Test Act (S477), which hadalso been passed in Charles II's reign to keep both Catholics andDissenters out of government offices, whether civil or military, wasrepealed. As a matter of fact "the teeth of both acts had long beendrawn" by by an annual Indemnity Act (1727). [1] [1] This act virtually suspended the operation of the Corporation Act(S472) and the Test Act against dissenters so that they could obtaincivil offices from which these two acts had excluded them. In 1829 a still greater reform was carried. For a long period theCatholic Association had been laboring to obtain the abolition of thelaws which had been on the statute books for over a century and ahalf, by which Catholics were excluded from the right to sit inParliament. These laws, it will be remembered, were enacted at thetime of the alleged Popish Plot, and in consequence of the perjuredevidence given by Titus Oates (S478). [2] The King, and the Tory partymarshaled by the Duke of Wellington, strenuously resisted the repealof these statutes; but finally the Duke became convinced that furtheropposition was useless. He therefore suddenly changed about andsolely, as he declared, to avert civil war, took the lead in securingthe success of a measure which he heartily hated. [2] See Sidney Smith's "Peter Plymley's Letters. " But at the same time that Catholics were admitted to both Houses ofParliament, an act was passed raising the property qualification of avery large class of small Irish landholders from 2 pounds to 10pounds. This measure deprived many thousands of their right to vote. The law was enacted on the pretext that the small Irish landholderswould be influenced by their landlord or their priest. Under the new order of things, Daniel O'Connell, an Irish gentleman ofan old and honorable family, and a man of distinguished ability, cameforward as leader of the Catholics. After much difficulty hesucceeded in taking his seat in the House of Commons (1829). Hehenceforth devoted himself, though without avail, to the repeal of theact uniting Ireland with England (S562), and to the restoration of anindependent Irish Parliament. 574. The New Police (1829). Although London had now a population of a million and a half, it stillhad no effective police. The guardians of the peace at that date wereinfirm old men, who spent their time dozing in sentry boxes, and hadneither the strength nor energy to be of service in any emergency. The young fellows of fashion considered these venerable constables aslegitimate game. They often amused themselves by upsetting the sentryboxes with their occupants, leaving the latter helpless in the street, kicking and struggling like turtles turned on their backs, and aspowerless to get on their feet again. During the last year of the reign Sir Robert Peel got a bill passed(1829) which oganized a new and thoroughly efficient police force, properly equipped and uniformed. Great was the outcry against thisinnovation, and the "men in blue" were hooted at, not only by London"roughs, " but by respectable citizens, as "Bobbies" or "Peelers, " inderisive allusion to their founder. But the "Bobbies, " who carry novisible club, were not to be jeered out of existence. They did theirduty like men, and have continued to do it in a way which long sincegained for them the good will of all who care for the preservation oflaw and order. 575. Death of the King (1830). George IV died soon after the passage of the new Police Bill (1830). Of him it may well be said, though in a very different sense from thatin which the expression was originally used, that "nothing in his lifebecame him like the leaving of it. " During his ten years' reign he hadsquandered enormous sums of money in gambling and dissipation, and haddone his utmost to block the wheels of political progress. How far this son of an insane father (S567) was responsible, it maynot be for us to judge. Walter Scott, who had a kind word for almostevery one, and especially for any one of the Tory party (S479), didnot fail to say something in praise of the generous good nature of hisfriend George IV. The sad thing is that his voice seems to have beenthe only one. In a whole nation the rest were silent; or, if theyspoke, it was neither to commend nor to defend, but to condemn. 576. Summary. The legislative reforms of George IV's reign are its chief features. The repeal of the Test and Corporation acts and the grant to Catholicsof the right to reenter Parliament were tardy measures of justice. Neither the King nor his ministers deserve any credit for them, but, none the less, they accomplished great and permanent good. WILLIAM IV--1830-1837 577. Accession and Character of William IV. As George IV left no heir, his brother William, a man of sixty-five, now came to the throne. He had passed most of his life on shipboard, having been placed in the navy when a mere lad. He was somewhat roughin his manner, and cared nothing for the ceremony and etiquette thatwere so dear to both George III and George IV. His faults, however, were on the surface. He was frank, hearty, and a friend to thepeople, to whom he was familiarly known as the "Sailor King. " 578. Need of Reform in Parliamentary Representation. From the beginning of this reign it was evident that the greatquestion which must soon come up for settlement was that ofparliamentary representation. Large numbers of the people of Englandhad now no voice in the government. This unfortunate state of thingswas chiefly the result of the great changes which had taken place inthe growth of the population of the Midlands (or the central portionof England) and the North (S563). Since the introduction of steam (S563) the rapid increase ofmanufactures and commerce had built up Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, and other large towns in the iron, coal, pottery andmanufacturing districts. (See Industrial Map of England, p. 10. ) Theseimportant towns could not send a member to Parliament; while, on theother hand, many places in the south of England which did send membershad long ceased to be of any importance. Furthermore, therepresentation was of the most haphazard description. In one sectionno one could vote except substantial property holders, in another nonebut town officers, while in a third every man who had a tenement bigenough to boil a pot in, and hence called a "Pot-walloper, " possessedthe right. To this singular state of things the nation had long beenindifferent. During the Middle Ages the inhavitants often had nodesire either to go to Parliament themselves or to send others. Theexpense of the journey was great, the compensation was small, andunless some important matter of special interest to the people was atstake, they preferred to stay at home. On this account it was oftenalmost as difficult for the sheriff to get a distant county member upto the House of Commons in London as it would have been to carry himthere a prisoner to be tried for his life. Now, however, everything was changed; the rise of political parties(S479), the constant and heavy taxation, the jealousy of the increaseof royal authority, the influence and honor of the position of aParliamentary representative, all conspired to make men eager toobtain their full share in the management of the government. This new interest had begun as far back as the civil wars of theseventeenth century, and when Cromwell came to power he effected manymuch-needed reforms. But after the restoration of the Stuarts (S467), the Protector's wise measures were repealed or neglected. Then theold order, or rather disorder, again asserted itself, and in manycases matters became worse than ever. 579. "Rotten Boroughs. " For instance, the borough or city of Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, whichhad once been an important place, had, at an early period, graduallydeclined through the growth of New Sarum, or Salisbury, near by. (Seemap, p. 436. ) In the sixteenth century the parent city had socompletely decayed that not a single habitation was left on thedesolate hilltop where the caste and cathedral once stood. At thefoot of the hill was an old tree. The owner of that tree and of thefield where it grew sent (1830) two members to Parliament, --thataction represented what had been regularly going on for something likethree hundred years! In Bath, on the other hand, none of the citizens, out of a largepopulation, might vote except the mayor, alderman, and commoncouncil. These places now got the significant name of "rottenboroughs" from the fact that whether large or small there was nolonger any sound political life existing in them. Many towns were socompletely in the hands of the squire or some other local "politicalboss" that, on one occasion when a successful candidate for Parliamentthanked the voters for what they had done, a man replied that he neednot take the trouble to thank them; for, said he, "if the squire hadzent his great dog we should have chosen him all one as if it wereyou, zur. "[1] [1] See Hindon, in Murray's "Wiltshire. " 580. The Great Reform Bill. For fifty years after the coming in of the Georges the country hadbeen ruled by a powerful Whig (SS479, 548) monopoly. Under George IIIthat monopoly was broken (S548), and the Tories (S479) got possessionof the government. But whichever party ruled, Parliament, owing tothe "rotten-borough" system, no longer represented the nation, butsimply stood for the will of certain wealthy landholders and towncorporations. A loud and determined demand was now made for reform. In this movement no one was more active or influential among thecommon people than William Cobbett. He was a vigorous and fearlesswriter, who for years published a small newspaper called the PoliticalRegister, which was especially devoted to securing a just and uniformsystem of representation. On the accession of William IV the pressure for reform became so greatthat Parliament was forced to act. Lord John Russell brought in abill (1831) providing for the abolition of the "rotten boroughs" andfor a fair system of elections. But those who owned or controlledthose boroughs had no intention of giving them up. Their opponents, however, were equally determined, and they knew that they had thesupport of the nation. In a speech which the Reverend Sydney Smith made at Taunton, hecompared the futile resistance of the House of Lords to the proposedreform, to Mrs. Partington's attempt to drive back the rising tide ofthe Atlantic with her mop. The ocean rose, and Mrs. Partington, seizing her mop, rose against it; yet, notwithstanding the good lady'sefforts, the Atlantic got the best of it; so the speaker prophesiedthat in this case the people, like the Atlantic, would in the endcarry the day. [1] [1] Sydney Smith's "Essays and Speeches. " When the bill came up, the greater part of the Lords and the bishops, who, so far as they were concerned personally, had all the rights andprivileges they wanted, opposed it; so too did the Tories (S479), inthe House of Commons. They thought that the proposed law threatenedthe stability of the government. The Duke of Wellington (S573) wasparticularly hostile to it, and wrote, "I don't generally take agloomy view of things, but I confess that, knowing all that I do, Icannot see what is to save the Church, or property, or colonies, orunion with Ireland, or, eventually, monarchy, if the Reform Billpasses. "[2] [2] Wellington's "Dispatches and Letters, " II, 451. 581. The Lords reject the Bill; Serious Riots (1831). The King dissolved Parliament (S534, note 2); a new one was elected, and the Reform Bill was passed by the House of Commons; but the upperHouse rejected it. Then a period of wild excitement ensued. Thepeople in many of the towns collected in the public squares, tolledthe church bells, built bonfires in which they burned the bishops ineffigy, with other leading opponents of the bill, and cried out forthe abolition of the House of Lords. In London the rabble smashed the windows of Apsley House, theresidence of the Duke of Wellington. At Nottingham the mob fired anddestroyed the castle of the Duke of Newcastle because he was opposedto reform. In Derby a serious riot broke out. In Bristol matterswere still worse. A mob got possession of the city, and burned theBishop's Palace and a number of public buildings. The mayor wasobliged to call for troops to restore order. Many persons werekilled, and four of the ringleaders of the insurrection were hanged. All over the country shouts were heard, "The Bill, the whole Bill, andnothing but the Bill!" 582. Passage of the Great Reform Bill, 1832; Results. In the spring of 1832 the battle began again more fiecely than ever. Again the House of commons voted the bill, and once again the House ofLords defeated it. Earl Grey, the Whig Prime Minister (S479), had set his heart oncarrying the measure. In this crisis he appealed to the King forhelp. If the Tory Lords would not pass the bill, the King had thepower to create a sufficient number of new Whig Lords who would. William refused to exercise this power. Thereupon Earl Grey, with hisCabinet (S534), resigned, but in a week the King had to recall them. Then William, much against his will, gave the following document tohis Prime Minister: "The King grants permission to Earl Grey, and to his Chancellor, Lord Brougham, to create such a number of Peers as will be sufficient to insure the passing of the Reform Bill--first calling up Peers' eldest sons. "William R. , Windsor, May 17, 1832"[1] [1] "First calling up Peers' eldest sons": that is, in creating newLords, the eldest sons of Peers were to have the preference. WilliamR. (Rex, King): this is the customary royal signature. Earl Grey wasthe leader of that branch of the Whig party known as the "AristocraticWhigs, " yet to him and his associate Cabinet minsiters the people wereindebted for the great extension of the suffrage in 1832. But there was no occasion to make use of this permission. As soon asthe Lords found that the Cabinet (S534), with Earl Grey at the head, had actually compelled the King to bow to the demands of the people, they withdrew their opposition. The "Great Charter of 1832" wascarried, received the royal signature, and became law. The passage of this memorable act brought about these beneficentchanges: (1) It abolished nearly sixty "rotten boroughs" (S579). (2) It gave every householder who paid a rent of ten pounds in anytown a vote, and largely extended the list of county voters as well. (3) It granted two representatives to Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and nineteen other large towns, and one representativeeach to twenty-one other places, all of which had hitherto beenunrepresented, besides granting fifteen additional members to thecounties. (4) It added, in all, half a million voters to the list, mostly menof the middle class, and it helped to purify the elections from theviolence which had disgraced them. [1] [1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxvi, S31. Before the passing of the Reform Bill, and the legislation whichsupplemented it, the election of a member of Parliament was a kind oflocal reign of terror. The smaller towns were sometimes under thecontrol of drunken ruffians for several weeks. During that time theyparaded the streets in bands, assaulting voters of the opposite partywith clubs, kidnaping prominent men and confining them until after theelection, and perpetrating other outrages, which so frightenedpeacable citizens that often they did not dare attempt to vote at all. Finally, the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 effected, in its ownway, a change which was perhaps as momentous as that which theRevolution of 1688 had accomplished. [2] That, as we have seen (S497), made the King dependent for his crown on his election to office byParliament. On the other hand, the Reform Bill practically took thelast vestige of real political authority from the King and transferredit to the Cabinet (S534), who had now become responsible to the Houseof Commons, and hence to the direct will of the majority of thenation. But though the Sovereign had laid down his political scepter, never to resume it, he would yet, by virtue of his exalted position, continue to wield great power, --that of social and diplomaticinfluence, which is capable of accomplishing most important resultsboth at home and abroad. To-day then, though the King still reigns, the People, and the People alone, govern. [2] Compare the three previous Revolutions represented by (1) MagnaCarta (S199); (2) De Montfort's House of Commons (S213); (3) the CivilWar and its effects (SS441, 450, 451). 583. Abolition of Slavery, 1833; Factory Reform, 1833-1841. With the new Parliament that came into power the names of Liberal andConservative began to supplant those of Whig and Tory (S479), for itwas felt that a new political era needed new party names. Again, thepassage of the Reform Bill (S582) changed the policy of both thesegreat political parties. It made Liberals and Conservatives bidagainst each other for the support of the large number of new voters(S582 (4)), and it acted as an entering wedge to prepare the way forthe further extension of suffrage in 1867 and 1884 (S534), representing the Commons, had gained a most significant victory; andfurther reforms were accordingly carried against the strenuousopposition of the King. Buxton, Wilberforce, Brougham, and other noted philanthropists securedthe passage through Parliament of a bill, 1833, for which they, withthe younger Pitt, had labored in vain for half a century. By this actall negro slaves in the British West India colonies, numbering abouteight hundred thousand, were set free, and the sum of 20, 000, 000pounds was appropriated to compensate the owners. It was a grand deed grandly done. Could America have followed thatnoble example, she might thereby have saved a million of human livesand many thousand millions of dollars which were cast into the gulf ofcivil war, while the corrupting influence of five years of waste anddiscord would have been avoided. But negro slaves were not the only slaves in those days. There werewhite slaves as well, --women and children born in England, butcondemned by their necessities to work underground in the coal mines, or to exhaust their strength in the cotton mills. They were driven bybrutal masters who cared as little for the welfare of those under themas the overseer of a West India plantation did for his gangs of blacktoilers in the sugar-cane fields. On investigation it was found thatchildren only six and seven years of age were compelled to labor fortwelve and thirteen hours continuously in the factories. In the coalmines their case was even worse. All day long these poor creaturessat in absolute darkness, opening and shutting doors for the passageof coal cars. If, overcome with fatigue, they fell asleep, they werecruelly beaten with a strap. [1] [1] See Gibbin's "Industrial History of England, " E. F. Cheyney's"Industrial History of England, " and Mrs. E. B. Browning's poem, "The Cry of the Children. " Parliament at length turned its attention to these abuses, and passedacts, 1833, forbidding the employment of women and young children insuch work; a later act put an end to the barbarous practice of forcingchildren to sweep chimneys. 584. The First Steam Railway, 1830; the Railway Craze; the Friction Match, 1834. Ever since the application of steam to machinery, the inventors hadbeen discussing plans for placing the steam engine on wheels and usingit as a propelling power in place of horses. Macadam, a Scotchsurveyor, had constructed a number of very superior roads made ofgravel and broken stone in the south of England, which soon made thename of "macadamized turnpike" celebrated. The question then arose, Might not a still further advance be made byemploying steam to draw cars on these roads, or, better still, on ironrails? The first locomotives built were used in hauling coal at themines in the North of England. Puffing Billy, the pioneer machine(1813), worked for many years near Newcastle. At length GeorgeStephenson, an inventor and engineer, together with certaincapitalists, succeeded in getting Parliament to pass an act forconstructing a passenger railway between Liverpool and Manchester, adistance of about thirty miles. When the line was completed by Stephenson, he had great difficulty ingetting permission to use an engine instead of horse power on it. Finally, Stephenson's new locomotive, The Rocket, --which firstintroduced the tubular boiler, and employed the exhaust, or escaping, steam to increase the draft of the fire, --was tried with entiresuccess. [1] [1] Stephenson's Rocket and Watt's stationary steam engine (S563) areboth preserved in the South Kensington Museum, London. The boiler ofthe Rocket was traversed by a number of tubes communicating with thesmoke pipe. The steam, after it hada done its work in the cylindersof the engine, escaped with great force through the smoke pipe and socreated a very powerful draft. Without these two importantimprovements the locomotive would probably never have made an averagespeed of more than six or seven miles an hour. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was formally opened in the autumnof 1830, and the Duke of Wellington, then Prime Minister, was one ofthe few passengers who ventured on the trial trip. The growth of thisnew mode of transportation was so rapid that in five years from thattime London and the principal seaports were connected with the greatmanufacturing towns, while local steam navigation had also nearlydoubled its vessels and its tonnage. Later on (1844-1847), Stephenson might easily have made himself "richbeyond the dreams of avarice, "--or at least of the avarice of thatday. All he had to do was to lend the use of his name to new anddoubtful railway projects; but he refused on the ground that he didnot care "to make money without labor or honor. " Meanwhile the wholecountry became involved in a speculative craze for building railways. Scores of millions of pounds were invested; for a time Hudson, theso-called "Railway King, " ruled supreme, and Dukes and Duchesses, andmembers of Parliament generally, did homage to the man whose schemespromised to cover the whole island with a network of iron roads, everyone of which was expected to be as profitable as a gold mine. Theseprojects ended in a panic, second only to that of the South Sea Bubble(S536), and thousands found that steam could destroy fortunes evenfaster than it made them. Toward the close of William's reign (1834-1835) a humble invention wasperfected of which little was said at the time, but which contributedin no small degree to the comfort and convenience of every one. Up tothis date two of the most important of all civilizing agents--fire andlight--could be produced only with much difficulty and at considerableexpense. Various deviced had been contrived to obtain them, but the commonmethod continued to be the primitive one of striking a bit of flintand steel sharply together until a falling spark ignited a piece oftinder or half-burned rag, which, when it caught, had, with no littleexpense of breath, to be blown into a flame. The progress ofchemistry suggested the use of phosphorus, and after years ofexperiments the friction match was invented by an English apothecary, who thus gave to the world what is now the commonest, and perhaps atthe same time the most useful, domestic article in existence. 585. Summary. William IV's short reign of seven years was marked (1) by the greatReform Bill of 1832, which, to a great extent, took Parliament out ofthe hands of rich men and "rotten boroughs" and put it under thecontrol of the people; (2) by the abolition of slavery in the Britishcolonies, and factory reform; (3) by the introduction of the frictionmatch, and by the building of the first successful line of steamrailway. VICTORIA--1837-1901 586. The Queen's Descent; Stability of the Government. As William IV left no child to inherit the crown, he was succeeded byhis niece, the Princess Victoria, daughter of his brother Edward, Dukeof Kent. (See Genealogical Table, p. 323. ) In her lineage the Queenrepresented nearly the whole past sovereignty of the land over whichshe reigned. [1] The blood of both Cerdic, the first Saxon king, and ofWilliam the Conqueror, [2] flowed in her veins, --a fact whichstrikingly illustrates the vitality of the hereditary and conservativeprinciples in the history of the English Crown. [1] The only exceptions are the four Danish sovereigns and Harold II. [2] See Genealogical Table of the Descent of English Sovereigns in theAppendix. The fact stands out in stronger relief if we call to mind what Englandhad passed through in that intervening period of time. In 1066 the Normans crossed the Channel, invaded the island, conqueredits inhabitants, and seized the throne. In the course of the nextfive centuries two kings were deposed, one died a captive in the Towerof London, [3] and the Catholic religion, as an established Church, wassupplanted in England by the Protestant faith of Luther. [3] Namely, Edward II (S233), Richard II (S257), and Henry VI (S305). Somewhat less than a hundred years after that event, Civil War brokeout in 1642; the King was dethroned and beheaded, and in 1648 arepublic established. The monarchy was restored in 1660, only to befollowed by the Revolution of 1688, which changed the order of royalsuccession, drove one line of sovereigns from the land, and called inanother from Germany to take its place. Meanwhile the House ofCommons had gained enormously in political power, and CabinetGovernment had been fully and finally established (S534). In 1832 theReform Bill was passed, by which the power of the people was largelyextended in Parliament; the two great political parties had beenreorganized; yet after all these events, at the end of more than tencenturies from the date when Egbert first became Overlord of all theEnglish, in 829 (S49), we find England governed by a descendant of herearliest rulers! 587. The Power of the House of Commons and of the Cabinet fully and finally recognized. Queen Victoria was but little over eighteen when called to thethrone. At her accession a new order of things began. The Georgesinsisted on dismissing their Cabinet ministers, or chief politicaladvisers, when they pleased, without condescending to give Parliamentany reason for the change. We have seen too that William IV tried todo the same thing, but had to acknowledge that he was beaten (S582). William's unsuccessful attempt was never repeated. The last vestigeof "personal government, "[1] that is, of the determination of theCrown to act contrary to the will of the majority of the nation, asexpressed by the Cabinet, died with the late King. [1] See the reign of Victoria in McCarthy's "History of Our OwnTimes. " With the coronation of Victoria the principle was established, oncefor all, that henceforth the Sovereign of the British Empire cannotremove the Prime Minister or his Cabinet (S582) without the consent ofthe House of Commons; nor, on the other hand, would the Sovereign nowventure to retain a ministry which the Commons refused to support. [2]This limitation of the prerogatives of royalty emphasized the factthat the House of Commons had practically become the ruling power inEngland; and since that House is freely elected by the great body ofthe people, in order that it may declare and enforce their will, itfollows that the government of the realm is essentially democratic. In fact, so far as reflecting public opinion is concerned, no republicin the world is more democratic. [2] In order to guard herself against any political influence adverseto that of the Cabinet (S582), and hence of the majority of the Houseof Commons, the Queen was compelled to consent (1841) that theMistress of the Robes, or head of her Majesty's household, shouldchange at the demand of the incoming Prime Minister; and it wasfurthermore agreed that any ladies under her whose presence might bepolitically inconvenient to the Prime Minister, should retire "oftheir own accord. " In other words, the incoming Prime Minister, withhis Cabinet, has the right to remodel the Sovereign's household--orany other body of offices--in whatever degree he may think requisite, and the late Prince Albert could not even appoint his own privatesecretary, but much to his chagrin had to accept one appointed for himby the Prime Minister. See May's "Constitutional History of England"and Martin's "Life of the Prince Consort. " Custom, too, has decided that the Sovereign must sanction every billwhich Parliament approves and resolves to make law. Queen Anne wasthe last occupant of the English throne who ventured to veto a bill, by refusing to assent to it. That was in 1707, or more than twohundred years ago, and there is little probability that any wearer ofthe crown will ever attempt to do what she did. In fact, an able andauthoritative English writer has not hesitated to declare that if thetwo Houses of Parliament should agree to send the reigning Sovereignhis own death warrant, he would be obliged to sign it, or abdicate. [1] [1] See Bagehot's "The English Constitution. " An English sovereign's real position to-day is that of a person whohas much indirect influence and but little direct power, --far less infact than that of the President of the United States; for the lattercan veto a bill, and can remove any or all of his cabinet officers atpleasure. 588. The House of Lords in the Past and To-day. A change equally great was taking place with respect to the Peers, orLords. [2] As that body has played a most important part in thegovernment of England and still retains considerable influence, it maybe well to consider its history and present condition. [2] Peers (from the Latin pares, equals): The word first occurs in anact of Parliament, 1321, --"Pares et proceres regni Angliae spiritualeset temporales. " The name Peers, referring to the House of Lords, ishere limited, as it has been ever since, to the higher clergy (nowconsisting of certain bishops) and to the hereditary nobility. It will be remembered that the peerage originated with the NormanConquest. William rewarded the barons, or chief men, who fought underhim at Hastings[3] with grants of immense estates, which were given ontwo conditions: one of military service at the call of the Sovereign(S150); the other their attendance, when required, at the Great orRoyal Council (S144), an advisory and legislative body which containedthe germ of what later came to be called Parliament. It will thus be seen that the Conqueror made the possession of landedproperty directly dependent on the discharge of public duties. Sothat if, on the one hand, the Conquest carried out the principle "That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can, "[1] on the other, it insisted on the higher principle that in return forsuch *taking* and *keeping* the victors should bind themselves by oathto help defend the kingdom, and to help govern it. [1] Wordsworth's "Rob Roy's Grave. " In later reigns the King summoned other influential men to attendParliament. To distinguish them from the original barons by landtenure, they were called "barons by writ" (S263). Subsequently itbecame customary for the Sovereign to create barons by letters patent, as is the method at present (S263). Edward I, 1295, is generally considered to have been the "Creator ofthe House of Lords" in the form in which it has since stood. [2] Fromhis time the right to sit in the House of Lords was limited to thosewhom the King summoned, namely, the hereditary Peers (save in the caseof a very limited number of life Peers), and to the upper clergy. [2] W. Stubb's "English Constitutional History, " II, 184, 203; alsoFeilden's "Short Constitutional History of England, " pp. 121-122. The original baronage continued predominant until the Wars of theRoses (S316) destroyed so many of the ancient nobility that, as LordBeaconsfield says, "A Norman baron was almost as rare a being inEngland then as a wolf is now. " With the coming in of the Tudors a newnobility was created (S352). Even this has become in great measureextinct. Perhaps not more than a fourth of those who now sit in theHouse of Lords can trace their titles further back than the Georges, who created great numbers of Peers in return for political serviceseither rendered or expected. Politically speaking, the nobility of England, unlike the old nobilityof France, is strictly confined and strictly descends to but onemember of the family, --the eldest son receiving the preference. Noneof the children of the most powerful Duke or Lord has, during hisfather's life, any civil or legal rights or privileges above that ofthe poorest and most obscure native-born day laborer in GreatBritain. [1] [1] Even the younger children of the Sovereign are no exception tothis rule. The only one born with a title is the eldest, who is Dukeof Cornwall by birth, and is created Prince of Wales. The others aresimply commoners. See E. A. Freeman's "Growth of the EnglishConstitution. " The whole number of Peers is about six hundred. [2] They own a verylarge part of the land of England[3] and possess all the social andpolitical influence naturally belonging to such a body. Yetnotwithstanding the exclusive and aristocratic spirit of this long-established class, it has always been ready to receive recruits fromthe ranks of the people. For just as any boy in America feels himselfa possible senator or President, so any one born or naturalized inEngland, like Pitt, Disraeli, Churchill, Nelson, Wellesley, Brougham, Tennyson, Macaulay, Lord Lyndhurst, [4] and many others, may win hisway to a title, and also to a seat in the House of Lords, since brainsand character go to the front in England just as surely as they doeverywhere else. [2] The full assembly of the House of Lords would consist of fivehundred and sixty-two temporal Peers and twenty-six spiritual Peers(archbishops and bishops). [3] So strictly is property entailed that there are proprietors oflarge estates who cannot so much as cut down a tree without permissionof the heir. See Badeau's "English Aristocracy. "[4] J. S. Copley (Lord Lyndhurst), son of the famous artist, was bornin Boston in 1772. He became Lord Chancellor. All of the eminent mennamed above rose from the ranks of the people and were made Peers ofthe realm, either for life or as a hereditary right; and in a numberof cases, as the elder Pitt (Earl of Chatham), Wellesley (Duke ofWellington), Disraeli (Earl of Beaconsfield), Copley (Lord Lyndhurst), they received seats in the House of Lords. In their legislative action the Lords are, with very rare exceptions, extremely conservative. It is a "galling fact"[5] that they haveseldom granted their assent to any liberal measure except frompressure of the most unmistakable kind. They opposed the HabeasCorpus Act under Charles II, Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the GreatReform Bill of 1832, the Education Bill of 1834, the repeal of theCorn Laws in 1846, the admission of the Jews to Parliament in 1858, and they very reluctantly consented to the necessity of granting laterextensions of the elective franchise. [5] See A. L. Lowell's "The Government of England, " I, 414, 422. But, on the other hand, it was their influence which compelled John tosign Magna Carta in 1215; it was one of their number--Simon deMontfort, Earl of Leicester--who called the House of Commons intobeing in 1265; and it was the Lords as leaders who inaugurated theRevolution of 1688, and established constitutional sovereignty underWilliam and Mary in the place of the despotic self-will of James II. Again, it was Lord Derby, the Prime Minister, and Mr. Disraeli, laterknown as Lord Beaconsfield, who, as leaders of the Tory, orConservative, Party, felt obliged to carry the Reform Bill of 1867, bywhich the right to vote was greatly extended among the people (S600). Seven hundred years ago the House of Lords was the only legislativeand executive body in the country; now, nearly all the most importantbusiness of Parliament is done in the House of Commons (consisting ofsome six hundred and seventy members), and the Lords cannot vote apenny of money for any purpose whatever unless Commons first passes abill to that effect (S281). Thus taxation, which is generallyregarded as the most important of all measures, has passedf from theLords to the direct representatives of the people. At one time certain impatient Radicals in the House of Commonsdenounced the Peers as "titled obstructionists. " In fact, late in thenineteenth century (1894) a resolution to put an end to theirobstructive power was carried in the Commons (when half the memberswere absent) by a majority of two. But the vote was not takenseriously, and the Lords were not called upon to go out of business. The upper House has continued, on occasion, to exercise itsconstitutional righ of vetoing bills sent up to it by the House ofCommons, though since 1860 it has rejected but one "Money Bill"(1909), and that only temporarily (SS629, 631). [1] Since then theLiberal Party has demanded more strenuously than ever that the vetopower of the Lords should be either greatly limited or abolishedaltogether (SS629, 632). [1] As far back as 1671, the House of Commons resolved "that in allaids given to the King by the Commons, the rate or tax ought not to bealtered by the Lords. " In 1678 they emphatically repeated thisresolution. In 1860 when the Lords rejected a "Money Bill" (for therepeal of paper duties) the Commons vigorously protested, declaringthat they regarded the exercise of that power by the upper House with"particular jealousy. " From that time the Commons were careful toinclude all the financial measures of the year in one bill, which theLords "were forced to accept or reject as a whole. " SeeH. S. Feilden's "Short Constitutional History of England, " pp. 114-115, and A. L. Lowell's "The Government of England, " I, 400-401. The House of Lords always includes a number of members eminent fortheir judicial ability, some of whom have been created Peers for thatreason. This section acts as the National Court of Appeal and sits todecide the highest questions of constitutional law. In this respectit corresponds to the Supreme Court of the United States. 589. The Queen's Marriage (1840). In her twenty-first year, Queen Victoria married her cousin, PrinceAlbert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a duchy of Central Germany. The Princewas about her own age, of fine personal appearance, and had justgraduated from one of the German universities. He was particularlyinterested in art and education, and throughout his life used hisinfluence to raise the standard of both. 590. Sir Rowland Hill's Postal Reforms, 1839. The preceding year Sir Rowland Hill introduced a uniform system ofcheap postage. The rate had been as high as a shilling for a singleletter. [1] Such a charge was practically prohibitive, and, as a rule, no one wrote in those days if he could possibly avoid it. Sir Rowlandreduced it to a penny (paid by stamp) to any part of the UnitedKingdom. [2] Since then the government has taken over all the telegraphlines, and cheap telegrams and the cheap transportation of parcels bymail (a kind of government express known as "parcels post") havefollowed. They are all improvements of immense practical benefit. [1] An illustration of the effects of such high charges for postage isrelated by Coleridge. He says that he met a poor woman at Keswickjust as she was returning a letter from her son to the postman, sayingshe could not afford to pay for it. Coleridge gave the postman theshilling, and the woman told the poet that the letter was reallynothing more than a blank sheet which her son had agreed to send herevery three months to let her know he was well; as she always declinedto take this dummy letter, it of course cost her nothing. SeeG. B. Hill's "Life of Sir Rowland Hill, " I, 239, note. [2] The London papers made no end of fun of the first envelopes andthe first postage stamps (1840). See the facsimile of the ridiculous"Mulready Envelope" in Hill's "Life of Sir Rowland Hill, " I, 393. 591. Rise of the Chartists (1838-1848). The feeling attending the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582)had passed away; but now a popular agitation began which produced evengreater excitement. Although the act of 1832 had equalizedparliamentary representation and had enlarged the elective franchiseto a very considerable degree, yet the great body of workingmen werestill shut out from the right to vote. A Radical Party called the"Chartists" now arose, which undertook to secure further measures ofreform. They embodied their measures in a document called the "People'sCharter, " which demanded: 1. Universal male suffrage. 2. That the voting at elections should be by ballot. 3. Annual Parliaments. 4. The payment of memebers of Parliament. 5. The abolition of the property qualification for parliamentarycandidates. [1]6. The division of the whole country into equal electoral districts. [1] Property qualification: In 1711 an act was passed requiringcandidates for election to the House of Commons to have an income ofnot less than 300 pounds derived from landed property. The object ofthis law was to secure members who would be comparatively free fromthe temptation of receiving bribes from the Crown, and also to keepthe landed proprietors in power to the exclusion of rich merchants. This law was repealed in 1858. The Chartists held public meetings, organized clubs, and publishednewpapers to disseminate their principles, but for many years madevery little progress. The French revolution which dethroned KingLouis Philippe (1848) imparted fresh impetus to the Chartistmovement. The leader of that movement was Feargus O'Connor. Heformed the plan of sending a monster petition to Parliament, containing, it was claimed, nearly five million signatures, prayingfor the passage of the People's Charter. A procession of a million or more signers was to act as an escort tothe document, which made a wagonload in itself. The Government becamealarmed at the threatened demonstration, forbade it, on the groundthat it was an attempt to coerce legislation, and organized a body of250, 000 special policemen to preserve order. The Duke of Wellington took command of a large body of troops held inreserve to defend the city; and the Bank of England, the Houses ofParliament, the British Museum, and other public buildings were madeready to withstand a siege. It was now the Chartists' turn to be frightened. When they assembled(1848) on Kennington Common in south London, they numbered less thanthirty thousand, and the procession of a million which was to marchacross Westminster Bridge, to the Houses of Parliament, dwindled tohalf a dozen. When the huge petition was unrolled it was found tocontain only about a third of the boasted number of names. Furtherexamination showed that many of the signatures were spurious, havingbeen put down in jest, or copied from gravestones and old Londondirectories. With that discovery the whole movement collapsed, andthe House of Commons rang with "inextinguishable laughter" over thenational scare. Still the demands of the Chartists had a solid foundation of goodsense, which the blustering bravado of the leaders of the movementcould not wholly destroy. Most, if not all, of the reforms asked forwere needed. Since then, the steady, quiet influence of reason and oftime has compelled Parliament to grant the greater part of them. [1] [1] Sir Thomas Erskine May, in his "Constitutional History ofEngland, " says: "Not a measure has been forced upon Parliament whichthe calm judgment of a later time has not since approved; not anagitation has failed which posterity has not condemned. " The printed or written ballot has been substituted for the old methodof electing candidates by a show of hands or by shouting yes or no, --a method by which it was easy to make blunders, and equally easy tocommit frauds. Every voter must now have his name and addressregistered in a printed list. Every voter, too, casts a secret ballotand so safeguards his political independence (S609). The propertyqualification has been abolished (S591, note 1), so that the daylaborer may now run for Parliament. He is sure, too, of being wellpaid, for Parliament voted (1911) to give 400 pounds a year to everymember of the House of Commons. The right of "manhood suffrage" hasbeen greatly extended, and before the twentieth century has advancedmuch farther every man in England will probably have a voice in theelections. 592. The Corn Laws (1841). At the accession of the Queen protective duties or taxes existed inGreat Britain on all imported breadstuffs and on many manufacturedarticles. Sir Robert Peel, the Conservative Prime Minister (1841), favored a reduction in the last class of duties, but believed itnecessary to maintain the former in order to keep up the price ofgrain and thus encourage the English farmers. The result of thispolicy was great distress among the poorly paid, half-fed workingmen, who could not afford to buy dear bread. A number of philanthropistsled by Richard Cobden and John Bright organized an Anti-Corn LawLeague[1] to obtain the repeal of the grain duties. [1] Corn is the name given in England to wheat or other grain used forfood. Indian corn or maize cannot be grown in that climate, and isseldom eaten there. At the same time, Ebenezer Elliott, the "Corn-Law Rhymer, " gave voiceto the sufferings of the poor in rude but vigorous verse, whichappealed to the excited feelings of thousands in such words as these: "England! what for mine and me, What hath bread tax done for thee? . . . . . . . . Cursed thy harvest, cursed thy land, Hunger-stung thy skill'd right hand. " When, however, session after session of Parliament passed and nothingwas done for the relief of the perishing multitudes, many began todespair, and great numbers joined in singing Elliott's new nationalanthem: "When wilt Thou save the people? O God of mercy! when? Not kings or lords, but nations! Not thrones and crowns, but men! Flowers of thy heart, O God, are they! Let them not pass, like weeds, away! Their heritage a sunless day! God save the people!" Still the Government was not covinced; the Corn Laws were enforced, the price of bread showed no signs of falling, and the situation grewdaily more desperate and more threatening. 593. The Irish Famine, 1845-1846. At last the Irish famine opened the Prime Minister's eyes (S592). When in Elizabeth's reign Sir Walter Raleigh brought over the cheapbut precarious potato from America and planted it in Ireland, hismotive was one of pure good will. He could not foresee that it wouldin time become in that country an almost universal food, that throughits very abundance the population would rapidly increase, and thatthen, by the sudden failure of the crop, terrible destitution wouldensue. Such was the case in the summer of 1845. It is said byeyewitnesses that in a single night the entire potato crop was smittenwith disease, and the healthy plants were transformed into a mass ofputrefying vegetation. Thus at one fell stroke the food of nearly awhole nation was cut off. [1] [1] O'Connor's "The Parnell Movement. " In the years that followed, the famine became appalling. The starvingpeasants left their miserable huts and streamed into the towns forrelief, only to die of hunger in the streets. Parliament responded nobly to the piteous calls for help, and voted inall no less than 10, 000, 000 pounds to relieve the distress. [2]Subscriptions were also taken up in London and the chief towns, bywhich large sums were obtained, and America contributed shiploads ofprovisions and a good deal of money; but the misery was so great thateven these measures failed to accomplish what was hoped. When thefamine was over, it was found that Ireland had lost about two million(or one fourth) of her population. [3] This was the combined effect ofstarvation, of the various diseases that followed in its path, and ofemigration. [4] [2] Molesworth's "History of England from 1830. "[3] The actual number of deaths from starvation, or fever caused byinsufficient food, was estimated at from two hundred thousand to threehundred thousand. See the Encyclopaedia Britannica under "Ireland. "[4] McCarthy's "History of Our Own Times, " Vol. I. 594. Repeal of the Corn Laws, 1846-1849; Free Trade established, 1869. In the face of such appalling facts, and of the bad harvests anddistress in England, Sir Robert Peel (S592) could hold out no longer, and by a gradual process, extending from 1846 to 1849, the obnoxiousCorn Laws were repealed, with the exception of a trifling duty, whichwas finally removed in 1869. The beginning once made, free trade in nearly everything, except wine, spirits, and tobacco, followed. They were, and still are, subject toa heavy duty, perhaps because the government believes, as Napoleondid, that the vices have broad backs and can comfortably carry theheaviest taxes. A few years later (1849) the old Navigation Laws(S459) were totally repealed. This completed the English free-trademeasures. But, by a singular contrast, while nearly all goods andproducts now enter England free, yet Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa--in a word, all the great self-governingEnglish colonies--continue to impose duties on imports from the mothercountry (S625). 595. The World's Fair (1851); Repeal of the Window and the Newspaper Tax; the Atlantic Cable, 1866. The great industrial exhibition known as the "World's Fair" was openedin Hyde Park, London (1851). The original plan of it was conceived byPrince Albert. It proved to be not only a complete success in itself, but it led to many similar fairs on the part of different nations. For the first time in history the products and inventions of all thecountries of the globe were brought together under one roof, in agigantic structure of glass and iron called the "Crystal Palace, "which is still in use for exhibition purposes at Sydenham, a suburb ofLondon. The same year (1851) the barbarous tax on light and air, known as the"Window Tax, "[1] was repealed and the House Tax (which is still inforce) was substituted for it. From that date the Englishman, whetherin London or out, might enjoy his sunshine, when he could get it, without having to pay for every beam, --a luxury which only the richcould afford. [1] This tax, which took the place of the ancient Hearth Tax(1663-1689), was first imposed in 1695. A little later (1855) a stamp tax on newspapers, which had beendevised in Queen Anne's time in the avowed hope of crushing them out, was repealed. The result was that henceforth cheap papers could bepublished, and the workingman, as he sat by his fireside, could informhimself of what the world was doing and thinking, --two things of whichhe had before known almost nothing, and cared, perhaps, even less. To get this news of the world's life more speedily, England hadestablished the first line of Atlantic steamers (S565); next, thefirst Atlantic cable, connecting England with America, was laid(1858). It soon gave out, but was permanently relaid not longafterwards, in 1866. Since then a large part of the globe has beenjoined in like manner, [1] and the great cities of every civilized landare practically one in their knowledge of all important events. Somany improvements have also been made in the use of electricity, notonly for the transmission of intelligence, but as an illuminator, andmore recently still as a motive power, that it now seems probable that"the age of steam" will be superseded by the higher "age ofelectricity. " [1] There are now over 250, 000 miles of submarine electric cables inoperation in the world. 596. The Opium War (1839); the War in the Crimea (1854). For nearly twenty years after Victoria's accession no wars occurred inher reign worthy of mention, with the exception of that with China(1839). At that time the Chinese Emperor, either from a desire to puta stop to the consumption of opium in his dominions, or because hewished to encourage the home production of the drug, prohibited itsimportation. As the English in India were largely engaged in theproduction of opium for the Chinese market, --the people of thatcountry smoking it instead of tobacco, --the British governmentinsisted that the Emperor should not interfere with so lucrative atrade. War ensued. The Chinese, being unable to contend against English gunboats, weresoon forced to withdraw their prohibition of the foreign opiumtraffic. The English government, with the planters of India, reaped agolden reward of many millions for their deliberate violation of therights of a heathen and half-civilized people. The war opened fiveimportant ports to the British trade, and subsequent wars opened anumber more on the rivers in the interior. This action, with thelater aggressions of other European powers, roused an intensely bitterfeeling among large numbers of the Chinese. Their hatred offoreigners finally led to a desperate but unsuccessful attempt (1900)to drive all Europeans and Americans, including missionaries, out ofthe country. Eventually, the pressure of the great powers of Europe and thediplomatic influence of the United States induced China to grant the"Open Door" to the demands of foreign trade. Later, England and Chinamade an agreement (1911) which bids fair to stop the exportation ofopium to that country. Next, Turkey declared war against Russia (1853). The latter Power hadinsisted on protecting all Christians in the Turkish dominions againstthe oppression of the Sultan. England and France considered theCzar's championship of the Christians as a mere pretext for occupyingTurkish territory. To prevent this aggression they formed an alliancewith the Sultan, which resulted in the Russo-Turkish war, and ended inthe taking of Sebastopol by the allied forces. Russia was obliged toretract her demands, and peace was declared (1856). 597. The Great Rebellion in India, 1857. The following year, 1857, was memorable for the outbreak of rebellionin India. The real cause of the revolt was probably a long-smotheredfeeling of resentment on the part of the Sepoy, or native, troopsagainst English rule, --a feeling that dates back to the extortion andmisgovernment of Warren Hastings (S555). The immediate cause of theuprising was the introduction of an improved rifle using a greasedcartridge, which had to be bitten off before being rammed down. To the Hindu the fat of cattle or swine is an abomination, and hisreligion forbids his tasting it. An attempt on the part of theBritish Government to enforce the use of the new cartridge brought ona general mutiny among three hundred thousand Sepoys. During therevolt the native troops perpetrated the most horrible atrocitise onthe English women and children who fell into their hands. When theinsurrection was finally quelled under Havelock and Campbell, theEnglish soldiers retaliated by binding numbers of prisoners to themouths of cannon and blowing them to shreds. At the close of therebellion, the government of India was wholly transferred to theCrown, and later the Queen received the title of "Empress of India"(1876). 598. Death of Prince Albert; the American Civil War, 1861. Not long after the Sepoy rebellion was quelled, Prince Albert (S589)died suddenly (1861). In him the nation lost an earnest promoter ofsocial, educational, and industrial reforms, and the United States atrue and judicious friend, who, at a most critical period in the CivilWar, used his influence to maintain peace between the two countries. After his death the Queen held no court for many years, and socomplete was her seclusion that Sir Charles Dilke, a well-knownRadical, suggested in Parliament (1868) that her Majesty be invited toabdicate or choose a regent. The suggestion was indignantly rejected;but it revealed the feeling, which quite generally existed, that "thereal Queen died with her husband, " and that only her shadow remained. In the spring of the year 1861, in which Prince Albert died, theAmerican Civil War broke out between the Northern and SouthernStates. Lord Palmerston, the Liberal Prime Minister, preferred to beconsidered the minister of the nation rather than the head of apolitical party. At the beginning of the war he was in favor of theNorth. As the conflict threatened to be bitter the Queen issued aproclamation declaring her "determination to maintain a strict andimpartial neutrality in the contest between the said contendingparties. " The rights of belligerents--in other words, all the rightsof war according to the law of nations--were granted to the Southequally with the North; and her Majesty's subjects were warned againstaiding either side in the conflict. The progress of the war caused terrible distress in Lancashire, owingto the cutting off of supplies of cotton for the mills through theblockade of the ports of the Confederate States. The starvingweavers, however, gave their moral support to the North, and continuedsteadfast to the cause of the Union even in the sorest period of theirsuffering. The great majority of the manufacturers and businessclasses generally, and the nobility, with a few exceptions, sympathized with the efforts of the South to establish an independentConfederacy. Most of the distinguished political and social leaders, in Parliament and out, with nearly all the influential journals, wereon the same side, and were openly hostile to the Union. [1] [1] Lord John Russell (Foreign Secretary), Lord Brougham, Sir JohnBowring, Carlyle, Ruskin, and the London Times and Punch espouses thecause of the South more or less openly; while others, likeMr. Gladstone, declared their full belief in the ultimate success ofthe Confederacy. On the other hand, Prince Albert, the Duke ofArgyll, John Bright, John Stuart Mill, Professor Newman, LordPalmerston, at least for a time, and the London Daily News defendedthe cause of the North. After the death of President Lincoln, Punchmanfully acknowledged (see issue of May 6, 1865) that it had beenaltogether wrong in its estimation of him and his measures; andMr. Gladstone, in an essay on "Kin beyond Sea" in his "Gleanings ofPast Years, " paid a noble tribute to the course pursued by Americasince the close of the war. Late in Autumn (1861) Captain Wilkes, of the United States Navy, boarded the British mail steamer Trent, and seized two Confederatecommissioners (Mason and Slidell) who were on their way to England. When intelligence of the act was conveyed to President Lincoln, heexpressed his unqualified disapproval of it, saying: "This is the verything the British captains used to do. They claimed the right ofsearching American ships, and taking men out of them. That was thecause of the War of 1812. Now, we cannot abandon our own principles;we shall have to give up these men, and apologize for what we havedone. " The British Government made a formal demand that the commissionersshould be given up. Through the influence of Prince Albert, and withthe approval of the Queen, this demand was couched in mostconciliatory language. Slidell and Mason were handed over to GreatBritain, and an apology was made by Secretary Seward. During the progress of the Civil War a number of fast-sailing vesselswere fitted out in England, and employed in running the blockade ofthe Southern ports, to supply them with arms, ammunition, andmanufactured goods of various kinds. Later, several gunboats werebuilt in British shipyards by agents of the Confederate government, for the purpose of attacking the commerce of the United States. Themost famous of these vessels was the Alabama, built expressly for theConfederate service by the Lairds, of Birkenhead, armed with Britishcannon, and manned chiefly by British sailors. Charles Francis Adams, the American Minister at London, notified LordPalmerston, the Prime Minister, of her true character. But Palmerstonpermitted the Alabama to leave port (1862), satisfied with the pretextthat she was going on a trial trip. [1] She set sail on her career ofdestruction, and soon drove nearly every American merchant vessel fromthe seas. Two years later (1864) she was defeated and sunk by theUnited States gunboat Kearsarge. After the war the Government of theUnited States demanded damages from Great Britain for losses caused bythe Alabama and other English-built privateers. [1] The Queen's advocate gave his opinion that the Alabama should bedetained, but it reached the Foreign Secretary (Lord Russell) justafter she had put out to sea. A treaty was agreed to by the two nations; and by its provisions aninternational court was held at Geneva, Switzerland (1872), to dealwith the demands made by the United States on Great Britain. Thecourt awarded $15, 500, 000 in gold as compensation to the UnitedStates, which was duly paid. One very important result of thisdecision was that it established a precedent for settling byarbitration on equitable and amicable terms whatever questions mightarise in future between the two nations. [1] [1] This treaty imposed duties on neutral governments of a far morestringent sort than Great Britain had hitherto been willing toconcede. It resulted, furthermore, in the passage of an act ofParliament, punishing with severe penalties such illegal shipbuildingas that of the Alabama. See Sheldon Amos's "Fifty Years of theEnglish Constitution, 1830-1880. " 599. Municipal Reform (1835); Woman Suffrage; the Jews. Excellent as was the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582), it did not go farenough. There was also great need of municipal reform, since in manycities the taxpayers had no voice in the management of local affairs, and the city officers sometimes spent the income of large charitablefunds in feasting and merrimaking while the poor got little ornothing. A law was passed (1835) giving taxpayers in cities (except London)control of municipal elections. By a subsequent amendment, the ballotin such cases was extended to women, [2] and for the first time perhapsin modern history partial woman suffrage was formally granted bysupreme legislative act. A number of years later the politicalrestrictions imposed on the Jews were removed. [2] Woman suffrage in municipal elections was granted to single womenand widows (householders) in 1869. In 1870 an act was passed enablingthem to vote at schoolboard elections, and also to become members ofsuch boards. By act of 1894 women were made eligible to sit and votein district and parish councils (or local-government elections). There was a considerable number of Jews in London and in other largecities who were men of wealth and influence. They were entitled tovote and hold municipal office, but they were debarred from electionto Parliament by a law which required them to make oath "on the faithof a Christian. " The law was now so modified (1859) that a veryprominent Jew, Baron Rothschild, took his seat in Parliament. Finallythe Oaths Act (1888) abolished all religious tests in Parliament. 600. Second and Third Reform Acts, 1867, 1884; County and Parish Councils (1884, 1894). In 1867 the pressure of public opinion moved Mr. Disraeli (later LordBeaconsfield), a member of Lord Derby's Conservative Cabinet (S479), to bring in a second Reform Bill (S582), which became law. This billprovided "household suffrage. " It gave the right to vote to all malehouseholders in the English parliamentary boroughs (that is, townshaving the right to elect one or more members to Parliament), who paida tax for the support of the poor, and to all lodgers paying a rentalof 10 pounds yearly; it also increased the number of voters amongsmall property holders in counties. [1] [1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxvi, S31. Lord Derby held the office, but Mr. Disraeli was really PrimeMinister. There still remained, however, a large class in the country districtsfor whom nothing had been done. The men employed by the farmers totill the soil were wretchedly poor and deplorably ignorant. JosephArch, a Warwickshire farm laborer, who had been educated by hunger andtoil, succeeded in establishing a national union among men of hisclass (1872). In 1884 Mr. Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister, secured the ballot for agricultural laborers by the passage of thethird Reform Act, which gave all residents of counties throughout theUnited Kingdom the right to vote on the same liberal conditions as theresidents of the towns. It is estimated that this last law added about two and a half millionsof voters; this gave one voter to every six persons of the totalpopulation, whereas, before the passing of the first Reform Bill in1832, thre was not over one in fifty. When the new or so-called"People's Parliament" convened (1886), Joseph Arch and several othercandidates took their seats in the House of Commons as representativesof classes of the population who, up to that date, had no voice in thelegislation of the country. The next step may bring universal "manhood suffrage. " The CountyCouncil and Parish Council acts (1888, 1894) greatly extended thepower of the people in all matters of local government, so that nowevery village in England controls its own affairs. 601. Compulsory Church Rates abolished; Disestablishment in Ireland (1869). While these great reforms were taking place with respect to elections, others of great importance were also being effected. From its originin 1549 the established Protestant Church of England (S362) hadcompelled persons of all religious beliefs to pay rates or taxes forthe maintenance of the Established Cuhrch in the parish where theyresided. Methodists, Baptists, and other Dissenters (SS472, 496, 507)objected to this law as unjust, since, in addition to the expense ofsupporting their own form of worship, they were obliged to contributetoward maintaining one with which they had no sympathy. So great hadthe opposition become to paying these "church rates, " that in overfifteen hundred parishes in England (1859) the authorities could notcollect them. After long debate Mr. Gladstone carried through a bill(1868) which abolished this mode of taxation and made the payment ofthese rates purely voluntary. [1] [1] Church rates were levied on all occupiers of land or houses withinthe parish. The Church of England is now supported by a tax onlandowners, by its endowments, and by voluntary gifts. A similar act of justice was soon after granted to Ireland (1869). [2]At the time of the union of the two countries in 1800 (S562), themaintenance of the Protestant Episcopal Church continued to remainobligatory upon the Irish people, although only a small part of themwere of that faith. Mr. Gladstone, now Liberal Prime Minister, succeeded in getting Parliament to enact a law which disestablishedthis branch of the National Church and left all religiousdenominations in Ireland to the voluntary support of those whobelonged to them. Henceforth the English Protestants residing in thatcountry could no longer claim the privilege of worshiping God at theexpense of his Roman Catholic neighbor. [2] The Disestablishment Bill was passed in 1869 and took effect in1871. 602. The Elementary Education Act, 1870. In 1870 Mr. Forester, a member of Mr. Gladstone's Liberal Cabinet(SS534, 601), succeeded in passing a measure of the highestimportance, entitled The Elementary Education Act. This act did notundertake to establish a new system of instruction, but to aid andimprove that which was then in use. In the course of time, however, it effected such changes for the better in the common schools that itpractically re-created most of them. It will be remembered that before the Reformation the Catholicmonasteries took the leading part in educating the children of thecountry (SS45, 60). The destruction of the monasteries by Henry VIII(S352) put a stop to their work; but after Henry's death, his son, Edward VI, established many Protestant schools (SS364, 365), whiletohers were founded by men who had grown suddenly rich through gettingpossession of monastic lands. These new schools did good work, andare still doing it; but they seldom reached the children of the poor. Later on, many wealthy persons founded Charity Schools to help theclass who could not afford to pay anything for their tuition. Thepupils who lived in these institutions (of which a number still exist)were generally obliged to wear a dress which, by its peculiarity ofcut and color, always reminded them that they were "objects of publicor private benevolence. " Furthermore, while the boys in theseinstitutions were often encouraged to go on and enter Grammar Schools, the girls were informed that a very little learning would be all thatthey would ever need in the humble station in life to which Providencehad seen fit to call them. Meanwhile, the Church of England, and other religious denominations, both Catholic and Protestant, established many common schools (1781-1811) for the benefit of the poor. The cost of carrying them on wasusually met by private contributions. All of these schools gave someform of denominational religious instruction. As the populationincreased many more schools were required. At length Parliament began(1833) to grant money to help the different religious societies inmaintaining their systems of instruction. When able, the parents ofthe children were also called on to pay a small sum weekly. In 1870the Liberal Government took hold of the education question with greatvigor. It provided that in all cases where the existing Church ofEngland or other denominational schools were not able to accomodatethe children of a given district, School Boards should be establishedto open new schools, which, if necessary, should be maintainedentirely at the public expense. In these "Board Schools, " as theywere called, no denominational religious instruction whatever could begiven. This very important act "placed a school within the reach of everychild, " but, except in very poor districts, these schools were notmade free schools; in fact, free schools, in the American sense, cannot be said to exist in Great Britain. Later on (1880) compulsoryattendance was required, and subsequent acts of Parliament (1902, 1904) transferred the management of these schools from the SchoolBoards to the Town and County Councils. [1] Again, these new measuresmake it practicable for a boy or girl, who has done well in theprimary course, to secure assistance which will open opportunities forobtaining a higher education. Thus, as a recent writer declares, "There is now a path leading from the workman's home even to theUniversity. "[2] [1] But many men and women who belong to the Dissenting Denominationscomplain that the Educational Acts of 1870-1904 compel them to paytaxes for the support of a great number of public elementary schoolswhich are under the control of the English Church, and furthermore, that teachers who are members of Dissenting societies, such as thePresbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, etc. , can seldom, if ever, getappointments in the class of schools mentioned. Quite a number ofthese Dissenters who call themselves "Passive Resisters" have refusedto pay the school tax and have had their property seized or have beensent to jail year after year. [2] A. L. Lowell's "The Government of England, " II, 323. Meanwhile (1871) the universities and colleges, with most of theoffices and professorships connected with them, were thrown open toall persons without regard to religious belief; whereas, formerly, noone could graduate from Oxford or Cambridge without subscribing to thedoctrines of the Church of England. 603. The First Irish Land Act, 1870. In 1870, the same year that the Government undertook to provide forthe education of the masses (S602), Mr. Gladstone, who was still PrimeMinister and head of the Liberal Party (S601), brought in a bill forthe relief of small Irish farmers, those who had to support themselvesand their families from the little they could get from a few hiredacres. Since the union (S562) much of the general policy of Englandtoward Ireland had been described as "a quick alternation of kicks andkindness. " Mr. Gladstone did not hesitate to say that he believed themisery of the island sprang mainly from its misgovernment. He thoughtthat the small farmer needed immediate help and that it was the dutyof the Liberal Party to grant it. The circumstances under which the land was held in Ireland werepeculiar. A very large part of it was owned by Englishmen whoseancestors obtained it through the wholesale confiscations of James I, Cromwell, and later rulers (SS423, 453). Very few of these Englishlandlords cared to reside in the country or to do anything for itsimprovement. Their agents or overseers generally forced the farmtenants to pay the largest amount of rent that could be wrung fromthem, and they could dispossess a tenant of his land whenever they sawfit, without giving a reason for the act. If, by his labor, thetenant made the land more fertile, he seldom reaped any additionalprofit from his industry, for the rent was usually increased, andswallowed up all that he raised. Such a system of extortion wasdestructive to those who tilled the soil, and if it brought in moremoney for the landlord, it produced nothing but misery and discontentfor his tenant. Mr. Gladstone's new law endeavored to remedy these evils by thefollowing provisions: 1. In case a landlord ejected a rent-paying tenant, he was to pay him damages, and allow him a fair sum for whatever improvement he had made. 2. It secured a ready means of arbitration between landlord and tenant, and if a tenant failed to pay an exorbitant rate he could not be hastily or unjustly driven from his farm. 3. It made it possible for the tenant to borrow a certain sum from the government for the purpose of purchasing the land in case the owner was willing to sell. 604. Distress in Ireland; the Land League (1879). The friends of the new Irish land law hoped it would be foundsatisfactory; but the potato crop again failed in Ireland (1876-1879), and the country seemed threatened with another great famine (S593). Thousands who could not get the means to pay even a moderate rent werenow forced to leave their cabins and seek shelter in the bogs, withthe prospect of dying there of starvation. The wrected condition of the people led an number of influentialIrishmen to for a Land League (1879). This organization sought toabolish the entire landlord system in Ireland and to securelegislation which should eventually give the Irish peasantrypossession of the soil they cultivated. In time the League grew to have a membership of several hundredthousand persons, extending over the greater part of Ireland. Findingit difficult to get parliamentary help for their grievances, theLeague resolved to try a different kind of tactics. Its membersrefused to work for, buy from, sell to, or have any intercourse withlandlords, or their agents, who extorted exhorbitant rent, ejectedtenants unable to pay, or took possession of land from which tenantshad been unjustly driven. This process of social excommunication wasfirst tried on an English agent, or overseer, named Boycott, and soonbecame famous under the name of "boycotting. " As the struggle went on, many of the suffering poor became desperate. Farm buildings belonging to landlords and their agents were burned, many of their cattle were horribly mutilated, and a number of theagents shot. At the same time the cry rose of "No Rent, Death to theLandlords!" Hundreds of Irish tenants now refused to pay anything forthe use of the land they cultivated, and attacked those who did. Eventually the lawlessness of the country compelled the Government totake severe measures. It suppressed the Land League (1881), which wasbelieved to be responsible for the refusal to pay rent, and for theaccompanying outrages; but it could not extinguish the feeling whichgave rise to that organization, and the angry discontent soon burstforth more violently than ever. 605. The Second Irish Land Act (1881); Fenian and Communist Outrages. Mr. Gladstone (S603) now succeeded in carrying through a second IrishLand Law (1881) (S603), which he hoped might be more effective inrelieving the Irish peasants than the first had been. This measurewas familiarly known as the "Three F's, "--meaning Fair rent, Fixity oftenure, and Free sale. By the provisions of this act the tenant couldappeal to a board of land commissioners appointed to fix the rate ofhis rent in case the demands made by the landlord seemed to himexcessive. Next, he could continue to hold his farm, provided he paid the ratedetermined on, for a period of fifteen years, during which time therent could not be raised nor the tenant evicted except for violationof agreement or persistent neglect or waste of the land. Finally, hecould sell his tenancy whenever he saw fit to the highest bidder. This law was later amended and extended in the interest of the peasantfarmer (1887). The year following the passage of this second Land Act, Lord FrederickCavendish, chief secretary of Ireland, and Mr. Burke, a prominentgovernment official, were murdered in Phoenix Park, Dublin (1882). Later, members of the Fenian society, and of other secretorganizations sympathizing with the small Irish farmers, perpetrateddynamite outrages in London and other parts of England for the purposeof intimidating the Government. These acts were denounced by theleaders of the Irish National Party. They declared that "the cause ofIreland was not to be served by the knife of the assassin or by theinfernal machine. " Notwithstanding the vindictive feeling caused by these rash deeds, despite also the passage of the Coercion Bill (1887), the majority ofthe more intelligent and thoughtful of the Irish people had faith inthe progress of events. They believed that the time would come whentheir country would obtain the enjoyment of all the political rightswhich England so fully possesses. It will be seen (S620) that aboutten years later they did gain a very important extension of the rightof local self-government. [1] [1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxvii, S33. 606. The Darwinian Theory of Evolution, 1859; the Persistence of Force. In the progress of science the Victorian period surpassed all previousrecords in England except that made by Sir Isaac Newton's discovery ofthe law of gravitation (S481). That great thinker demonstrated in1684 that all forms of matter, great or small, near or distant, aregoverned by one universal force of attraction. In like manner theresearches and investigations of the nineteenth century led to theconviction that all forms of life upon the earth obey a universal lawof development. By this law the higher are evolved from the lowerthrough a succession of gradual but progressive changes. This conception originated long before the beginning of the Victorianera, but it lacked the support of carefully examined facts, and mostsensible men regarded it as nothing more than a plausible conjecture. The thinker who did more than any other to supply the facts, and toput the theory, so far as it relates to natural history, on a solidand lasting foundation, was the distinguished English naturalist, Charles Darwin. [1] [1] Alfred Russel Wallace, also noted as a naturalist, worked out thethoery of evolution by "natural selection" about the same time, thoughnot so fully, with respect to details, as Darwin; as each of theseinvestigators arrived at his conclusions independently of the other, the theory was thus doubly confirmed. On his return (1837) from a voyage of scientific discovery round theworld, Darwin began to examine and classify the facts which he hadcollected, and continued to collect, relating to certain forms ofanimal life. After twenty-two years of uninterrupted labor hepublished a work in 1859, entitled "The Origin of Species, " in whichhe aimed to show that life generally owes its course of development otthe struggle for existence and to "the survival of the fittest. " Darwin's work may truthfully be said to have wrought a revolution inthe study of nature as great as that accomplished by Newton in theseventeenth century. Though it excited heated and prolongeddiscussion, the Darwinian theory gradually made its way, and is nowgenerall received, though sometimes in a modified form, by practicallyevery eminent man of science throughout the world. After Mr. Darwin began his researches, but before he completed them, Sir William Grove, an eminent electrician, commenced a series ofexperiments which resulted in his publishing his remarkable book[2] onthe connection of the physical forces of nature. He showed that heat, light, and electricity are mutually convertible; that they must beregarded as modes of motion; and, finally, that all force ispersistent and indestructible, thus proving, as Professor Tyndallsays, that "to nature, nothing can be added; from nature, nothing canbe taken away. " Together, the work of Darwin and Grove, with kindreddiscoveries, resulted in the theory of evolution, or development. Later on, Herbert Spencer and other students of evolution endeavoredto make it the basis of a system of philosophy embracing the wholefield of nature and life. [2] "The Correlation of the Physical Forces" (1846). The Victorian period was also noted for many other great names inscience, philosophy, literature, and art. The number was so greatthat it would manifestly be impracticable to devote any adequate spaceto them here. [1] [1] It will be sufficient to mention the novelists, Dickens, Thackeray, Bronte, and "George Eliot"; the historians, Stubbs, Hallam, Arnold, Grote, Macaulay, Alison, Buckle, Froude, Freeman, andGardiner; the essayists, Carlyle, Landor, and De Quincey; the poets, Browning and Tennyson; the philosophical writers, Hamilton, Mill, andSpencer; with Lyell, Faraday, Carpenter, Tyndall, Huxley, Darwin, Wallace, and Lord Kelvin in science; John Ruskin, the eminent artcritic; and, in addition, the chief artists of the period, Millais, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Watts, and Hunt. 607. The Queen's Two Jubilees; Review of Sixty Years of English History (1837-1897). Queen Victoria celebrated the fiftieth year of her reign (1887); tenyears later (1897) the nation spontaneously rose to do honor to her"Diamond Jubilee. " The splendid military pageant which marked thatevent in London was far more than a brilliant show, for itdemonstrated the enthusiastic loyalty of the English people and of theEnglish colonies. The real meaning of the occasion is best sought in a review of therecord of those threescore years. They were, in large degree, aperiod of progress; perhaps, in fact, no similar period in Europeanhistory has been so "crowded with benefit to humanity. " When Victoria came to the throne in her nineteenth year (1837) shefound the kingdom seething with discontent, and the province of Canadaapproaching rebellion. In business circles reckless speculation andthe bursting of "Bubble Companies" had been followed by "tight money"and "hard times. " Among the poor matters were far worse. Wages werelow, work was scarce, bread was dear. In the cities half-fedmultitudes lived in cellars; in the country the same class occupiedwretched cottages hardly better than cellars. [2] [2] See Cobbett's "Rural Rides, 1821-1832. " The "New Poor Law" (S403), [3] which went into effect in 1834, orshortly before the Queen's accession, eventually accomplished muchgood; but for a time it forced many laborers into the workhouse. Theresult aggravated the suffering and discontent, and the predominantfeeling of the day may be seen reflected in the pages of Dickens, Carlyle, and Kingsley. [1] [3] The "New Poor Law": Between 1691 and 1834 the administration ofrelief for the poor was in the hands of justices of the peace, whogave aid indiscriminately to those who begged for it. In 1795 wagesfor ordinary laborers were so low that the justices resolved to grantan allowance to every poor family in accordance with its numbers. Theresult of this mistaken kindness was speedily seen; employers cut downwages to the starvation point, knowing that the magistrates would givehelp out of the poor fund. The consequence was that the tax rate forrelief of the poor rose to a degree that became unbearable. The "New Law" of 1834 effected a sweeping reform: (1) it forbadeoutdoor relief to the able-bodied poor, and thus, in the end, compelled the employer to give better wages (but outdoor relief is nowfrequently granted); (2) it restricted aid to that given inworkhouses, where the recipient, if in good health, was obliged tolabor in return for what he received; (3) it greatly reduced theexpense of supporting the poor by uniting parishes in workhouse"unions"; (4) it modified the old rigid Law of Settlement, therebymaking it possible for those seeking employment to take their labor tothe best market. [1] See Dickens's "Oliver Twist" (1838), Carlyle's "Chartism" (1839), and Kingsley's "Yeast" and "Alton Locke" (1849). Notwithstanding the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582), political power was still held chiefly by men of property whodistrusted the masses of the people. They feared that the widespreaddistress would culminate in riots, if not in open insurrection. The Chartist movement (S591) which speedily began (1838) seemed tojustify their apprehension. But the dreaded revolt never came; theevils of the times were gradually alleviated and, in some cases, cured. Confidence slowly took the place of distrust and fear. When, in June (1897), the Queen's "Diamond Jubilee" procession moved fromBuckingham Palace to St. Paul's, and thence through some of thepoorest quarters of London, none of the dense mass that filled thestreets cheered more lustily than those who must always earn theirdaily bread by their daily toil. The explanation of that change was to be found in the progress of goodgovernment, the extension of popular rights, and the advance ofmaterial improvements. Let us consider these changes in their naturalorder. 608. Further Extension of the Right to Vote, 1832-1894. [2] We have already described the far-reaching effects of the Reform Bill(S582) of 1832, which, on the one hand, put an end to many "rottenboroughs, " and on the other, granted representation in Parliament to anumber of large towns hitherto without a voice in that body. Threeyears later (1835) came the Municipal Reform Act. It placed thegovernment of towns, with the exception of London, [1] in the hands ofthe taxpayers who lived in them. [2] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. Xxvi, S31. [1] The ancient city of London, or London proper, is a districtcovering about a square mile, and was once enclosed in walls; it isstill governed by a lord mayor, court of aldermen, and a commoncouncil elected mainly by members of the "city" companies, representing the medieval trade guilds (S274). The metropolis outsidethe "city" is governed by the London County Council and a number ofassociate bodies, among which are the councils of twenty-eightmetropolitan boroughs. This radical measure put a stop to the arbitrary and corruptmanagement which had existed when the town officers elected themselvesand held their positions for life (S599). Futhermore, it preventedparliamentary candidates from buying up the entire municipal vote, --athing which frequently happened so long as the towns were under theabsolute control of a few individuals. A generation passed before the next important step was taken. Then, as we have seen, the enactment of the Second Reform Bill (1867) (S600)doubled the number of voters in England. The next year an act reducedthe property qualification for the right to vote in Scotland andIreland; thus the ballot was largely increased throughout the UnitedKingdom. The Third Reform Act (1884) (S600) granted the right to vote formembers of Parliament to more than two million persons, chiefly to thefarm laborers and other workingmen. Since that date, whether theLiberals or the Conservatives[2] have been in power, "the country, " asProfessor Gardiner says, "has been under democratic influence. " [2] The Whigs (S479) included two elements, one aristocratic and theother radical. After the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 they tookthe name of Liberals; and the Tories (S479), who found their old nameunpopular, adopted that of Conservatives. But though these acts wrought an immense change by transferringpolitical power from the hands of the few to the greater part of thenation, further progress in this direction was destined to come soon. Originally the government of the shires, or counties, was in the handsof the people; they gradually lost it, and the wealthy landedproprietors obtained control. The Local Government, or CountyCouncils, Act (1888) restored the power in great measure to those whohad parted with it, by putting the management of county affairs underthe direction of the County Councils elected by the householders ofthe counties or shires. These Councils look after the highways, thesanitary condition of the towns, the education of children, and thecare of the poor. Six years later (1894) the principle of self-government was carriedalmost to the farthest point by the passage of the Parish CouncilsBill. [1] This measure did for country villages and other small placeswhat the Local Government Act did for the counties. It gave back tothe inhabitants of the parishes certain rights which they had oncepossessed, but which had gradually come under the control of thesquire, the parson[2], and a few privileged families. [1] Parish: This name was given originally to a district assigned to abishop or priest; at present it generally refers simply to the areawhich was formerly contained in such a district. [2] The squire was the chief landholder in a village or parish; theparson, the minister of the parish church. Now every man and woman who has resided in the parish for atwelvemonth has the right not only to vote for the members of theParish Council but to run as candidate for election to that body. Thevillage parliament discusses all questions which are of publicinterest to the parish. It is in some respects more democratic eventhan a New England town meeting, since it gives women a voice, a vote, and opportunity to hold office. Its work supplements that of theCounty Councils and of Parliament. 609. Overthrow of the "Spoils System"; the Army; the "Secret Ballot, " 1870-1872. Meanwhile reforms not less important had been effected in themanagement of the civil service. The ancient power of the Crown togive fat pensions to its favorites had been pared down to very modestproportions, but another great abuse still flourished like an evilweed in rich soil. For generations, public offices had been regarded as public plunder, and the watchword of the politicians was, "Every man for himself, andthe National Treasury for us all. " Under this system of pillage thesuccessful party in an election came down like a flock of vulturesafter a battle. They secured all the "spoils, " form petty clerkshipsworth 100 pounds a year up to places worth thousands. About the middle of the last century (1855) an effort was made tobreak up this corrupt and corrupting system, but the real work was notaccomplished until 1870. In that year England threw open the majorityof the positions in the civil service to competitive examination. Henceforth the poorest day laborer, whether man or woman, might, ifcompetent, ask for any one of many places which formerly someinfluential man or political "boss" reserved as gifts for those whoobeyed his commands. The next year (1871) the purchase of commissions in the army wasabolished. [1] This established the merit system in the ranks, and nowmilitary honors and military offices are open to all who can earnthem. [1] Up to 1871 an officer retiring from the army could sell hiscommission to any officer next below him in rank who had the money tobuy the position; whereas under the present system the vacancy wouldnecessarily fall to senior officers in the line of promotion. In theyear following this salutary change the entire British army wasreorganized. The Registration Act of 1843 required every voter to have his name andresidence recorded on a public list. This did away with electionfrauds to a large extent. It was supplemented in 1872 by theintroduction of the "secret ballot" (S591). This put an end to theintimidation of voters and to the free fights and riots which had sofrequently made the polls a political pandemonium. The Bribery Act of1883 was another important measure which did much toward stopping thewholesale purchase of votes by wealthy candidates or by powerfulcorporations. 610. Reforms in Law Procedures. During Queen Victoria's reign great changes for the better wereeffected in simplifying the laws and the administration of justice. When she came to the throne the Parliamentary Statutes at Large filledfifty-five huge folio volumes, and the Common Law, as contained injudicial decisions from the time of Edward II (1307), filled abouttwelve hundred more. The work of examining, digesting, andconsolidating this enormous mass of legislative and legal lore wastaken in hand (1863) and has been slowly progressing ever since. The Judicature Acts (1873, 1877) united the chief courts in a singleHigh Court of Justice. This reform did away with much confusion andexpense. But the most striking changes for the better were those madein the Court of Chancery (S147) and the criminal courts. In 1825 the property belonging to suitors in the former court amountedto nearly forty millions of pounds. [1] The simplest case might requirea dozen years for its settlement, while difficult ones consumed alifetime, or more, and were handed down from father to son, --a legacyof baffled hopes, of increasing expense, of mental suffering worsethan that of hereditary disease. [1] See Walpole's "History of England, " Vol. III. Much has been done to remedy these evils, which Dickens set forth withsuch power in his novel of "Bleak House. " At one time the prospect ofreform seemed so utterly hopeless that it was customary for a prizefighter, when he had got his opponent's neck twisted under his arm, and held him absolutely helpless, to declare that he had his head "inchancery"! 611. Reforms in Criminal Courts and in the Treatment of the Insane. In criminal courts an equal reform was effected, and men accused ofburglary and murder are now allowed to have counsel to defend them, and the right of appeal is secured; whereas, up to the era ofVictoria, they were obliged to plead their own cases as best theymight against skilled public prosecutors, who used every resourceknown to the law to convict them. Great changes for the better have also taken place in the treatment ofthe insane. Until near the close of the eighteenth century thisunfortunate class was quite generally regarded as possessed by demons, and dealt with accordingly. William Tuke, a member of the Society ofFriends, inaugurated a better system (1792); but the old methodcontinued for many years longer. In fact, we have the highestauthority for saying that down to a pretty late period in thenineteenth century the inmates of many asylums were worse off than themost desperate criminals. They were shut up in dark, and often filthy, cells, where "they werechained to the wall, flogged, starved, and not infrequentlykilled. "[2] Since then, mechanical restraints have, as a rule, beenabolished, and the patients are generally treated with the care andkindness which their condition demands. [2] Encyclopaedia Britannica (10th and 11th editions) under"Insanity. " 612. Progress in the Education of the Masses. We have seen that since 1837 the advance in popular education equaledthat made in the extension of suffrage and in civil service reform. When Victoria began her reign a very large proportion of the childrenof the poor were growing up in a stat bordering on barbarism. Many ofthem knew little more of books or schools than the young Hottentots inAfrica. The marriage register shows that as late as 1840 forty per cent of theQueen's adult subjects could not write their names in the book; by theclose of her reign (1901) the number who had to "make their mark" inthat interesting volume was only about one in ten. This proves, asLord Brougham said, that "the schoolmaster" has been "abroad" in theland. The national system of education began, as we have already seen, in1870 (S602). Later, the Assisted Education Act (1891) made provisionfor those who had not means to pay even a few pence a week forinstruction. That law practically put the key of knowledge withinreach of every child in England. 613. Religious Toleration in the Universities; Payment of Church Rates abolished. The universities felt the new impulse. The abolition of religioustests for degrees at Oxford and Cambridge (1871) threw open the doorsof those venerable seats of learning to students of every faith. Since then colleges for women have been established at Oxford and inthe vicinity of Cambridge, and the "university-extension"examinations, with "college settlements" in London and other largecities, have long been doing excellent work. The religious toleration granted in the universities was in accordwith the general movement of the age. It wil be remembered that theCatholics were readmitted to sit in Parliament (S573) late in thereign of George IV (1829), and that under Victoria the Jews wereadmitted (1858) to the same right (S599). Finally Mr. Bradlaugh gothis Oaths Bill passed (1888), and so opened PArliament to persons notonly of all religious beliefs but of none. In the meantime the compulsory payment of rates for the support of theChurch of England had been abolished (1868) (S601); and the next year(1869) was made memorable by the just and generous act by whichMr. Gladstone disestablished the Irish branch of the English Church(S601). 614. Transportation and Communication. When the Queen ascended the throne (1837), the locomotive (S584) wasthreatening to supersede the stagecoach; but the progerss of steam asa motor power on land had not been rapid, and England then had lessthan 200 miles of railway open;[1] but before the end of her reignthere were nearly 22, 000 miles in operation, and there are now24, 000. At first, the passenger accommodations were limited. Thosewho could indulge in such luxuries sometimes preferred to travel intheir own private carriages placed on platform cars fortransportation. For those who took first-class tickets there wereexcellent and roomy compartments at very high prices. The secondclass fared tolerably well on uncushioned seats, but the unfortunatethird class were crowded like cattle into open trucks, without seats, and with no roofs to keep the rain out. But time remedied this. Longbefore the Queen celebrated her first Jubilee (S607) the workingmancould fly through the country at the rate of from thirty to fiftymiles an hour, for a penny a mile, and could have all the comfortsthat a reasonable being should ask for. [1] A part of what is now the London and Northwestern Railway. Cheap postage (S590) came in (1840) with the extension of railways, and in a few years the amount of mail carried increased enormously. Every letter, for the first time, carried on it a stamp bearing aportrait of the young Queen, and in this way the English people cameto know her better than they had ever known any preceding sovereign. The London papers now reached the country by train. The Telegraph began to come into use in January, 1845, between therailway station at Paddington, a western district of London, andSlough, near Windsor. The government eventually purchased all thelines, and reduced the charge on a despatch of twelve words tosixpence to any part of the United Kingdom. The Telephone followed(1876), and then Wireless Telegraphy (1899). 615. Light in Dark Places; Photography; the New Surgery (1834-1895). The invention of the friction match, 1834 (S584), the abolition of thetax on windows (1851) (S595), with the introduction of Americanpetroleum, speedily dispelled the almost subterraneous gloom of thelaborer's cottage. Meanwhile photography, which began to be used in1839, revealed the astonishing fact that the sun is always ready notonly to make a picture but to take one, and that nothing is so humbleas to be beneath his notice. News came across the Atlantic from Boston, 1846, that Dr. Morton hadrendered surgery painless by the use of ether. Before a year passedthe English hospitals were employing it. Sir James Y. Simpson ofEdinburgh introduced chloroform (1847). These two agents haveabolished the terror of the surgeon's knife, and have lengthened lifeby making it possible to perform a class of operations which formerlyvery few patients had been able to bear. A score of years later Sir Joseph Lister called attention to theimportant results obtained by antiseptic methods in surgery; next came(1895) the introduction from Germany of the marvelous X ray, by whosehelp the operator can photograph and locate a bullet or other foreignsubstance which he is endeavoring to extract. Together, thesediscoveries have saved multitudes of lives. 616. Progress of the Laboring Classes; Free Trade, 1846. At the date of the Queen's accession a number of laws existedrestricting the free action of workingmen. Only three years beforeVictoria's coronation six poor agricultural laborers in Dorsetshirewere transported (1834) to penal servitude at Botany Bay, Australia, for seven years, for peacefully combining to secure an increase oftheir wages, which at that time were only six shilling a week. Infact, the so-called "Conspiracy Laws, " which made Labor Unions liableto prosecution as unlawful, if not actually criminal organizations, were not wholly repealed until after the opening of the twentiethcentury. Meanwhile Parliament passed the Trade Union Acts, in 1871 and 1876, which recognized the right of workingmen to form associations toprotect their interests by the use of all measures not forbidden bythe Common Law. [1] In 1906 the persistent political pressure oforganized labor induced a Liberal Cabinet (of which Sir HenryCampbell-Bannerman was Prime Minister) and the invariably ConservativeHouse of Lords to pass a still more important act. That measureexempted Trade Unions from liability to pay damages for a certainclass of injuries which they might commit in carrying on a strike. [2]During the above period of more than thirty years the unions havegained very largely in numbers and in financial as well as politicalstrength. On the other hand they now have to contend with the radicalSocialists who are seeking to convert England into a republic in whichthe government would carry on all industries and would prohibitprivate individuals from conducting any business whatever. [1] One result of the organization of Trades or Labor Unions has beenthe shortening of the hours of labor. In 1894 the Governmentestablished an eight-hour day for workingmen in dockyards and inordnance factories. [2] The Trade Disputes Act of 1906. This forbids any suit for tortagainst a Trade Union. See A. L. Lowell's "The Government ofEngland, " II, 534; and S. Gompers in _The Outlook_ for February, 1911, p. 269. The unions will accomplish more still if they succeed in teachingtheir members to study the condition of industry in England, torespect the action of those workers who do not join associations, andto see clearly that "if men have a right to combine, " they must also"have an equal right to refuse to combine. " In 1837 the English Corn Laws (S592) virtually shut out theimportation of grain from foreign countries. The population hadoutgroiwn its food supply, and bread was so dear that even theagricultural laborer cried out. "I be protected, " said he, "but I bestarving. " The long and bitter fight against the Corn Laws resultednot only in their gradual abolition, 1846, but in the opening ofEnglish ports to the products and manufactures of the world. With theexception of tobacco, wines, spirits, and a few other articles, allimports enter the kingdom free. But though Great Britain carries out the theory that it is better tomake things cheap for the sake of those who buy them, than it is tomake them dear for the sake of those who produce them, yet all of thegreat self-governing English colonies impose protective duties[1] evenagainst British products (S625). One of the interesting questionssuggested by the Queen's "Diamond Jubilee" (1897) (S607) was whetherEngland's children in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada would takeany steps toward forming a commercial fre-etrade union with the mothercountry. More than ten years later that point still remained underdiscussion (S625). [1] Except in certain cases, where the colonies, e. G. Canada, grantpreferential duties, or practical free trade, in certain articlesexported to the British Isles. 617. The Small Agricultural Holdings Act; the Agricultural Outlook. Through the influence of the greatly increased popular vote, whichresulted from the Third Reform Act (S600), the farm laborers madethemselves felt in the House of Commons. They secured the passage ofthe Small Agricultural Holdings Act (1892). This gave those whoworked on the land the privilege of purchasing from one to fiftyacres, or of taking it on lease if they preferred. [2] But, notwithstanding the relief granted by this measure, the agriculturalproblem is to-day one of the most serious England has to solve. Justas New England now depends in large measure on the West for its foodsupply, so the British Isles depend in great measure on America forbreadstuffs. Thousands of acres of fertile soil have gone out ofcultivation in the eastern half of the island, mainly because thefarmers cannot compete with foreign wheat. [2] The Small Agricultural Holdings Act enables the County Council(S600) to acquire, by voluntary arrangement, suitable land for thepurpose of reletting or reselling it to agricultural laborers and menof small means. Under certain safeguards the Council may advance upto three fourths of the purchase money. The Royal Agricultural Commission, in a report made a number of yearsago (1897), could suggest no remedy, and believed matters must growworse. A leading English journal, [3] in commenting on the report, said, "The sad and sober fact is that the English farmer's occupationis gone, or nearly gone, never to return. " [3] The Bristol _Times and Mirror_, August 5, 1897. The continued agricultural depression ruined many tillers of the soil, and drove the rural population more and more into the alreadyovercrowded towns. There they bid against the laboring men for work, and so reduced wages to the lowest point. If they failed to get work, they became an added burden on the poor rates, and taxes roseaccordingly. Should no remedy be found, and should land in England continue to goout of cultivation, it is difficult to see how the majority ofproprietors can resist the temptation to break up and sell theirestates. The tendency of an important act of Parliament (1894) isbelieved by many to work in the same direction. [1] It imposes aninheritance tax on the heirs to landed property, which they find ithard to meet, especially when their tenants have abandoned theirfarms rather than try to pay the rent. [1] The Consolidated Death Duties Act. To-day a few thousand wealthy families hold the title deeds to a largepart of the soil on which more than forty millions live. Generallyspeaking, the rent they demand does not seem to be excessive. [2] It isan open question whether England would be the gainer if, as in France, the land should be cut up into small holdings, worked by men withoutcapital, and hence without power to make improvements. [2] This is the opinion of the Royal Commission; but Gibbins's"Industry in England" (1896), p. 441, takes the opposite view. 618. The Colonial Expansion of England. Meanwhile, whether from an economic point of view England is gainingor losing at home, there can be no question as to her colonialexpansion. A glance at the accompanying maps of the world (see doublemap opposite and map facing p. 420) in 1837 and in 1911 shows themarvelous territorial growth of the British Empire. When Victoria was crowned it had an area of less than three millionsquare miles; to-day it has over eleven million, or more than onefifth of the entire land surface of the globe. England added to herdominions, on the average, more than one hundred and forty-fivethousand square miles of territory every year of Victoria's reign. Canada's wonderful growth in population and wealth is but oneexample. Australia began its career (1837) as a penal colony with afew shiploads of convicts; now it is a prosperous, powerful, and loyalpatr of the Empire (S545). Later than the middle of the nineteenthcentury, New Zealand was a mission field where cannibalism stillexisted (1857); now it is one of the leaders in English civilization. Again, when Victoria came to the throne (1837) the greater part ofAfrica was simply a geographical expression; the coast had beenexplored, but scarcely anything was known of the country back of it. Through the efforts of Livingstone and those who followed him (1840-1890), the interior was explored and the source of the Nile wasdiscovered (1863). Stanley undertook the great work on the CongoRiver and the "dark continent" ceased to be dark. Trade was openedwith the interior, and the discovery of diamond mines and gold minesin South Africa (1867, 1884) stimulated emigration. Railways havebeen pushed forward in many directions (S622), new markets arespringing up, and Africa, once the puzzle of the world, seems destinedto become one of the great fields which the Anglo-Saxon race isdetermined to control, if not to possess. On the other hand, the British West Indies have of late years greatlydeclined from their former prosperity. The English demand for cheapsugar has encouraged the importation of beet-root sugar from Germanyand France. This has reduced the market for cane sugar to so low apoint that there has been but little, if any, profit in raising it inthe West Indies;[1] but fruit is a success. [1] See Brooks Adams's "America's Economic Supremacy. " 619. England's Change of Feeling toward her Colonies. One of the most striking features of the "Diamond Jubilee" celebration(S607) was the prominence given to the Colonial Prime Ministers. There was a time, indeed, when the men who governed England regardedCanada and Australia as "a source of weakness, " and the ColonialOffice in London knew so little of the latter country that it maderidiculous blunders in attempting to address official despatches toMelbourne, Australia. [2] Even as late as the middle of the lastcentury Disraeli, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote to LordMalmesbury in regard to the Newfoundland fisheries, "These wretchedcolonies will all be independent, too, in a few years, and are amillstone around our necks. " [2] See Traill's "Social England, " VI, 684. Twenty years afterwards Disraeli, later Lord Beaconsfield, declaredthat one of the great objects he and his party had in view was touphold the British Empire and to do everything to maintain its unity. That feeling has steadily gained in power and was never stronger thanit is to-day. Canada, Australia, and the other governing colonies(S625) have since responded by actions as well as words, and "ImperialFederation" has become something more than a high-sounding phrase(SS625, 626). 620. The Condition of Ireland; International Arbitration. But to make such federation harmonious and complete, the support ofIreland must be obtained. That country is the only member of theUnited Kingdom whose representatives in Parliament refused, as a rule, to take part in the celebration of the Queen's reign. They felt thattheir island had never been placed on a true equality with itsstronger and more prosperous neighbor. In fact, the Royal Commission, appointed to inquire into the relative taxation of England andIreland, reported (1897) nearly unanimously that "for a great manyyears Ireland had paid annually more than 2, 000, 000 pounds beyond herjust proportion of taxation. "[1] It has been estimated that the totalexcess obtained during the Queen's reign amounted to nearly100, 000, 000 pounds. [1] McCarthy's "History of Our Own Times, " V, 487. Mr. Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister (1893) made a vigorouseffort to secure "Home Rule" for Ireland. His bill granting thatcountry an independent Parliament passed the House of Commons by avery large majority, but was utterly defeated in the House of Lords. Five years later (1898) Lord Salisbury, the Conservative PrimeMinister, passed a bill which, though it did not give Ireland "HomeRule, " did give it local self-government on the same popularfoundation on which it rests in England (S608) and Scotland. Mr. Bryce, the British Ambassador at Washington, recently said (1911)that he was convinced that the condition of the people of Ireland hadgreatly improved and was "still advancing, " and that "before longnearly all the land wouyld belong to the cultivators" (S605). The recognition of the principle of international arbitration byEngland in the Alabama case (S598), in the Bering Sea Seal Fisheriesdispute (1893), in the Venezuela boundary controversy (1896), and inthe Newfoundland Fisheries case (1910) proved that the English peoplesaw that the victories of peace are worth as much to a nation as thevictories of war. The Hague Peace Conference Treaty, ratified byGreat Britain with the United States and the leading nations of Europeand the Far East (1899), provided for the establishment of a permanentCourt of Arbitration at The Hague between all of the great powerswhich signed it. All appeals to it, however, are entirely voluntary. Ten years earlier, a proposition to establish such a court for thepurpose of strengthening the cause of international peace would havebeen looked upon as "a splendid but delusive dream. " To-day many ofthe ablest men on both sides of the Atlantic believe that the time isnot far off when England and America will agree to settle byarbitration all questions which diplomacy cannot deal with, which mayarise between them. Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign Affairs inMr. Asquith's Liberal Cabinet, fears that the continued expenditure onlarger and larger armaments "will end in international revolution. "On the other hand, those who are constantly advocating the building ofmore and bigger battleships admit that the Peace Party presents strongarguments in support of its views, and that "the war against war" ismaking progress. 621. Death of Gladstone; the Cabot Tower; Centennial of the First Savings Bank, 1899. Meanwhile, Mr. Gladstone, the great Liberal leader, died, full ofyears and honors, at his residence, Hawarden Castle, in North Wales(1898). The "Grand Old Man"--as his friends delighted to call him--was buried in that Abbey at Westminster which holds so much ofEngland's most precious dust. His grave is not far from the memorialto Lord Beaconsfield, the eminent Conservative leader, who was hislifelong rival and political opponent. In the autumn (1898) the Cabot monument was opened at Bristol. It isa commanding tower, overlooking the ancient city and port from whichJohn Cabot (S335) sailed in the spring of 1497. The monumentcommemorates that explorer's discovery of the mainland of the NewWorld. An inscription on the face of the tower expresses "the earnesthope that Peace and Friendship may ever continue between the kindredpeoples" of England and America. In May of the next year, 1899, the one hundredth anniversary of theestablishment of savings banks in Great Britain was celebrated. Nearthe closing year of the eighteenth century, 1799, Reverend JosephSmith, Vicar of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, invited the laborers ofhis parish to deposit their savings with him on interest. "Upon thefirst day of the week, " said he, quoting St. Paul's injuction, "letevery one of you lay by him in store. "[1] He offered to receive sumsas small as twopence. Before the end of the year he had sixtydepositors. Eventually the government took up the scheme andestablished the present system of national postal savings banks. [1] The quotation is from I Corinthians xvi, 2. They have done and are doing incalculable good. At present there areover eleven million depositors in the United Kingdom. Most of thembelong to the wage-earning class, and they hold more than 212, 000, 000pounds. In this case certainly the grain of mustard seed, sown a fewgenerations ago, has produced a mighty harvest. 622. England in Egypt; Progress in Africa. While busy at home, the English had been busy outside of theirisland. Five years after the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), LordBeaconsfield, then the Conservative Prime Minister, bought nearly halfof the canal property from the Governor of Egypt. Since then Englandhas kept her hand on the country of the Pharaohs and the pyramids, andkept it there greatly to the advantage of the laboring class. About ten years later (1881), Arabi Pasha, an ambitious colonel in thenative army, raised the cry, "Down with all foreigners--Egypt for theEgyptians!" Lord Wolseley defeated Arabi's forces, and the colonel wasbanished from the country. Two years afterwards (1883) a still more formidable rebellion brokeout in the Sudan, --a province held by Egypt. (See map facing p. 428. )The leader of the insurrection styled himself the Mahdi, or greatMohammedan Prophet. Then (1884) Gladstone sent General Gordon towithdraw the Egyptian troops from Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan. The Mahdi's forces shut up the heroic soldier in that city, and beforehelp could reach him, he and all his Egyptian troops were massacred. No braver or truer man ever died at the post of duty, for in him wasfulfilled Wordsworth's eloquent tribute to the "Happy Warrior. "[1] [1] See Wordsworth's poems "The Happy Warrior. " Many years later, Lord Kitchener advanced against the new Mahdi, andat Omdurman his terrible machine guns scattered the fanaticalDervishes, or Mohammedan monks, like chaff before the whirlwind. Thenext autumn (1899) the British overtook the fugitive leader of theDervishes and annihilated his army. Since then British enterprise, British capital, and American inventiveskill have transformed Egypt. The completion of the great dam acrossthe Nile, at Assouan (1902), regulates the water supply for lowerEgypt. The creation of this enormous reservoir promises to make theNile valley one of the richest cotton-producing regions in the world. The "Cape to Cairo" railway, which is more than half finished, isanother British undertaking of immense importance. (See mapopposite. ) When ready for traffic, through its whole length of nearlysix thousand miles, besides its branch lines, it will open all EasternAfrica, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean, to the spreadof commerce and civilization. 623. The Boers; the Boer War, 1899; Death of Queen Victoria (1901). The history of the British in South Africa has been even more tragicthan their progress in Egypt (S622). In the middle of the seventeenth century (1652) the Dutch tookpossession of Cape Colony. (See map opposite. ) Many Boers, or Dutchfarmers, and cattle raisers emigrated to that far distant land. Therethey were joined by Huguenots, or French Protestants, who had beendriven out of France. All of them became slaveholders. Early in thenineteenth century (1814) England purchased the Cape from Holland. Twenty years later the English Parliament bought all the negroes heldby the Boers and set them free. Eight thousand Boers, disgusted with the loss of their slaves and withthe small price they had received for them, left the Cape (1836) andpushed far northward into the wilderness. Crossing the Orange River, they founded the "Orange Free State. " Another party of Boers, goingstill further north, crossed the Vaal River (a tributary of theOrange) and set up the Transvaal, or "South African Republic, " on whatwas practically a slaveholding foundation. Later (1852), England, bya treaty known as the Sand River Convention, virtually recognized theindependence of the settlers in the Transvaal, and two yearsafterwards made a still more explicit recognition of the independenceof the Orange Free State. The Zulus and other fierce native tribes bordering on the Transvaalhated the Boers and threatened to "eat them up. " Later (1877), Englandthought it for her interest, and for that of the Boers as well, toannex the Transvaal. The English Governor did not grant the Boers themeasure of political liberty which he had promised; this led to arevolt, and a small body of English soldiers was beaten at Majuba Hill(1881). Mr. Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister, did not think that theconquest of the Transvaal, supposing it to be justifiable, would payfor its cost, and he accordingly made a treaty with the people of thatcountry (1881). Lord Beaconsfield thought this policy a seriousmistake, and that it would lead to trouble later on. He said, "Wehave failed to whip the boy, and we shall have to fight the man. " TheGladstone Treaty acknowledged the right of the Boers to governthemselves, but subject to English control. Three years later (1884)that treaty was modified. The Boers declared that the English thengave up all control over them, except with regard to the power to maketreaties which might conflict with the interests of Great Britain. But this statement the English Government emphatically denied. [1] [1] The preamble of the Convention or agreement made between Englandand the Boers in 1881 at Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, secured to the Boers "complete self-government, subject to thesuzerainty of her Majesty, " Queen Victoria. In the Convention of1884, made at London, the word "suzerainty" was dropped; butMr. Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary of Great Britain, contended thatit was implied or understood. This interpretation of the agreementPresident Kruger of the South African or Boer Republic absolutelyrejected. The discovery of diamond fields in Cape Colony (1867) and of therichest gold mines in the world (1884) in the Transvaal stimulated agreat emigration of English to South Africa. In a few years the"Outlanders"--as the Boers called all foreigners--outnumbered theBoers themselves. The "Outlanders, " who worked the gold mines andpaid nearly all the taxes, complained that the laws made by the Boerswere unjust and oppressive. They demanded the right to vote. TheBoers, on the other hand, refused to give them that right, exceptunder arduous restrictions, lest the foreigners should get the upperhand in the Transvaal Republic, and then manage it to suit themselves. Things went on from bad to worse. At length (1895) a prominentEnglishman of Cape Colony, Dr. Jameson, armed a small body of"Outlanders, " who undertook to get by force what they could not get bypersuasion. The Boers captured the Revolutionists and compelled someof the leaders to pay, in all, about a million dollars in fines. Dr. Jameson was sent to England and imprisoned for a short time. Acommittee appointed by Parliament investigated the invasion of theTransvaal and charged Cecil J. Rhodes, then Prime Minister of CapeColony, with having helped on the raid. From this time the feeling ofhatred between the Boers and the "Outlanders" grew more and moreintense. Lord Salisbury, the Conservative Prime Minister, believed, with his party, that the time had come for decisive action on the partof the Government. The fires so long smoldered now burst into flame, and England resolved to fight to maintain her authority in theTransvaal. War began in the autumn of 1899, and the Orange Free State united withthe Transvaal against Great Britain. (See map facing p. 428. ) TheBoers took up arms for independence. The English forces under LordRoberts began fighting, first in behalf of the "Outlanders, " next tokeep the British Empire together, and, finally, "to extend Englishlaw, liberty, and civilization. " Mr. Chamberlain, who was in Lord Salisbury's Cabinet (S534), agreedwith his chief that the sword must settle the question, but he saidthat the contest in South Africa would be "a long war, a bitter war, and a costly war. " Events proved the truth of part of his prediction. The contest was certainly "bitter, " for it carried sorrow and deathinto many thousand homes. It was "costly, " too, for the total expenseto England amounted to nearly 200, 000, 000 pounds. England finally overthrew and formally annexed (1901) the two Boerrepublics, aggregating over one hundred and sixty-seven thousandsquare miles. But to accomplish that work she was forced to send twohundred and fifty thousand men to South Africa, --the largest army sheever put into a field in the whole course of her history. The greatmajority of the English people believed that the war was inevitable. But there was an active minority who insisted that it was reallyundertaken in behalf of the South African mine owners. They did nothesitate to condemn the "Jingo" policy[1] of the Government asdisastrous to the best interests of the country. In the midst of thediscussion Queen Victoria died (January 22, 1901). The Prince ofWales succeeded to the crown under the title of King Edward VII. [1] Lord Beaconsfield, the Conservative Prime Minister (1874-1880), made several petty wars in South Africa and in Afghanistan. A popularmusic-hall song glorified his work, declaring: "We don't want to fight, but by Jingo, if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, We've got the money, too. " 624. Summary. Queen Victoria's reign of sixty-three years--the longest in Englishhistory--was remarkable in many ways. The chief political events were: 1. The establishment of the practical supremacy of the House of Commons, shown by the fact that the Sovereign was now obliged to give up the power of removing the Prime Minister or members of his Cabinet without the consent of the House, or of retaining them contrary to its desire. 2. The broadening of the basis of suffrage and the extension of the principle of local self-government. 3. The abolition of the requirement of property qualification for Parliamentary candidates; the admission of Jews to Parliament; and the overthrow of the Spoils System. 4. The repeals of the Corn Laws; the adoption of the Free-Trade policy; and the Emancipation of Labor. 5. The Small Agricultural Holdings Act; the Irish Land Acts; the abolition of Church rates; and the disestablishment of the Irish branch of the Church of England. 6. The arbitration of the Alabama case. 7. The progress of transportation and of the rapid transmission of intelligence was marked by the extension of railways to all parts of hte British Isles and to many other parts of the Empire; the introduction of the telegraph and the telephone; the laying of the Atlantic cable; the introduction of penny postage; the rise of cheap newspapers, of photography, of wireless telegraphy, and of the use of electricity to drive street cars and machinery. 8. The progress of education was marked by the establishment of practically free elementary schools, free libraries, and the abolition of religious tests in the universities. 9. The progress of science and philosophy was shown by the introduction of painless and also of antiseptic surgery, the use of the German X ray, and the rise and spread of the Darwinian theory of Evolution. 10. Other events having far-reaching results were the terrible Irish famine, the Opium War, the Crimean War, the rebellion in India, the Trent affair, the war in the Sudan, and the great Boer War. 11. Finally, we see the important work accomplished in India, Egypt, and other parts of Africa; the acquisition of the control of the Suez Canal; and the great expansion of the power of the Empire in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. EDWARD VII--1901-1910 625. End of the Boer War (1902); Completion of Imperial Federation, 1910. Not long after Edward VII came to the throne the Boers (S623) laiddown their arms (1902) and recognized the King as their true andlawful Sovereign. The announcement set the "joy bells" ringing allover Great Britain. Under Edward VII the Crown became the center of a greart movement formore complete Imperial Unity. We have seen that the process offorming a federation of Great Britain and her widely scatteredcolonies had made good progress under Victoria (SS618, 619). She hadseen the creation of the Dominion of Canada (1867), the Dominion ofNew Zealand (1875), and the consolidation of the six Australiancolonies into the Commonwealth of Australia (1901). Nine years later(1910) the four states which had been the scene of the Boer War (S623)were consolidated in like manner and received the name of the Union ofSouth Africa. [1] Boer and Briton seem now to have made up their mindsto live together as one family, and, as farmers and stock raisers, they will work out their destiny on the land. Speaking of thepolitical significance of this event, a prominent official in SouthAfrica said, "Without the influence of King Edward I, I do not thinkthe union could have been effected. " [1] The Union of South Africa is formed of the states of the Cape ofGood Hope, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. Lord Gladstone, son of the late W. E. Gladstone, was appointed Governor of the newCommonwealth, and General Botha, who had commanded in the Boer army, was made Prime Minister. The establishment of the Union of South Africa completed the frameworkof the Imperial Federation (SS618, 619). Admiral Mahan, of theAmerican navy, classes the expansion of the British Empire with thatof the expansion of the United States, and declares that it ranks asone of the foremost facts of "contemporaneous history. " TheCommonwealth of Australia and the Union of South Africa (with theDominion of New Zealand) mark the southern limit of the ImperialFederation. The Dominion of Canada marks its northeren limit. (Seemap facing p. 422. ) All these British possessions enjoy a degree of self-government whichfalls but little short of entire independence. In fact, commerciallythey are independent, for, as we have seen (S616), while Englandmaintains free trade, her colonies still keep up a strict protectivetariff and impose duties even on British imports. Notwithstandingthis difference, all the colonies are loyal subjects of the EnglishCrown, and all stand ready to defend the English flag. 626. The League of Empire. While this successful movement toward Imperial Federation was goingon, the organization of the League of Empire had been formed (1901) tocooperate with it and strengthen it. The League is nonpolitical and nonsectarian. It aims to unite thedifferent parts of the Imperial Federation by intellectual and moralbonds. It appeals to the whole body of the people of the Empire, butit deals especially with the children in the schools. It endeavors toeducate them in the duties of citizenship, and it calls on them tosalute the national flag as the symbol of patriotism, of unity, and ofloyalty. A little later, Empire Day was established (1904) as apublic holiday to help forward the work of the League. King Edwardgave it his hearty encouragement, and it is celebrated throughout theBritish Isles and the self-governing colonies of the ImperialFederation. 627. The King's Influence in Behalf of Peace. While seeking to make all England and English dominions in one spirit, King Edward constantly used his influence to maintain peace both athome and abroad. He was a man whose natural kindliness of heartendowed him with the double power of making and of keeping friends. Furthermore, he was a born diplomatist. He saw at once the bestmethod of handling the most difficult questions. Those who knew himintimately said that "he always did the right thing, at the righttime, in the right way. " To a great extent he was a creator of international confidence. Inhis short reign he succeeded in overcoming the old race feeling whichmade England and France regard each other as enemies. Again, Russiaand England had been on unfriendly terms for nearly two generations, but the King, by his strong personal influence, brought the twocountries to understand each other better. He saw that Europe needed peace. He saw that the outbreak of ageneral war would strike the laboring man a terrible blow, and woulddestroy the fruits of his toil. When he ascended the throne (1901)the contest with the Boers in South Africa was still going on. General Botha, one of the Boer leaders, publicly stated that the Kingdid everything in his power to secure the establishment of anhonorable and permanent peace between the combatants. More than that, even, he was in favor of granting a large measure of self-governmentto the very people who had only just laid down the arms with whichthey had been fighting him. But the King's influence for good was not limited to the Old World. It extended across the Atlantic. Mr. Choate, who was formerly ourambassador to England, said that Edward VII endeavored to remove everycause of friction between Great Britain and America. While he lay ona sick bed he signed a treaty relating to the Panama Canal, which made"it possible for the United States to construct the waterway and toprotect it forever. "[1] [1] This was the treaty repealing the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850. See the address of Honorable Joseph H. Choate before the New YorkChamber of Commerce, June 2, 1910. 628. The Politcal Battle in England; Labor gets into Parliament, 1906. But the King's success in international politics did not secure peacein the field of home politics. Organized labor had long been bent onpushing its way into Parliament. In a few cases, like that of JosephArch (S600), it had elected a representative, [2] but these werescattered victories which made no great impression. [2] Besides Joseph Arch, such men as John Burns and J. Keir Hardie. The real upheaval came in the General Election of 1906. That contestwrought a silent revolution. Up to that date, with very fewexceptions, the wealthy class was the only one which had beenrepresented in the House of Commons. Furthermore, it cost a good dealof money for any candidate to get into the House, and as members drewno pay, it cost a good deal more money to remain there. In 1906 the Liberal Party and the Labor Party gained a sweepingvictory over the Conservative Party, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal Prime Minister, came into power, 1906-1908. Out of thesix hundred and seventy members who had been elected to the House ofCommons, fifty-four came from the ranks of the workingmen, --those towhom life means an unending struggle to live. [3] The combined Laborvoters sent these men to represent them in Parliament, and then raiseda fund to meet the expense of keeping them there. [4] [3] John Burns, who was one of the earliest workingmen to enterParliament as a Labor leader, said of himself, "Came into the worldwith a struggle, struggling now, with prospects of continuing it. "[4] But later, the Court of Appeal (S588) decided that the Labor Partycould not legally compel any member of the Labor Union to contributeto this fund against his will. Now (1911) Parliament pays all membersof the Commons (see S591). These "Laborites, " as they are popularly called, claim that theirinfluence secured the passage of the Old Age Pensions Act (1908), forthe relief of the aged and deserving poor; the Act for FeedingDestitute School Children; and the Act establishing Labor Exchanges(1909) throughout the country to help those who are looking for work. The entrance of the working class and of the Socialists intoParliament marks the transference of power from the House of Commonsdirectly to the mass of the people. Public opinion is now the realactive force in legislation, and the lawmakers are eager to know what"the man in the street" and the "man with the hoe" are thinking. This closeness of touch between Parliament and People has evidentadvantages, but it also has at least one serious drawback. In timesof great public excitement it might lead to hasty legislation, unlessthe House of Lords should be able to interpose and procure the furtherconsideration of questions of vital importance which it would bedangerous to attempt to settle offhand (S631). 629. The Budget; Woman Suffrage; the Content with the Lords. Mr. Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister, [1] found that the Governmentmust raise a very large amount of money to defray the heavy cost ofthe old-age pensions (S628) and the far heavier cost of eight newbattleships. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, orSecretary of the Treasury, brought in a Budget[2] which roused excitedand long-continued debate. The Chancellor's measure called for agreat increase of taxes on real estate in towns and cities where theland had risen in value, and on land containing coal, iron, or othervaluable minerals. [3] [1] Mr. Asquith succeeded Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the LiberalPrime Minister (S628), who died in the spring of 1908. [2] The official estimate of the amount of money which the Governmentmust raise by taxation to meet its expenses for the year, togetherwith the scheme of taxation proposed, are called the Budget. [3] In all cases where the owner of the land had himself done nothingto produce the rise in value, the Chancellor called that rise the"unearned increment, " and held that the owner should be taxed for itaccordingly. Most great landowners and many small ones execrate theman who made a practical application of this unpalatable phrase. The House of Commons passed the Budget (1909), but the House of Lords, which includes the wealthiest landowners in the British Isles, rejected it. They declared that it was not only unjust andoppressive, but that it was a long step toward the establishment ofsocialism, and that it threatened to lead to the confiscation ofprivate property in land. A bitter conflict ensued between the twobranches of Parliament. This contest was rendered harder by the actions of a small number ofturbulent women, who demanded complete suffrage but failed to get it(SS599, 608). [1] Adopting the methods of a football team, theyendeavored to force themselves into the House of Commons; theyinterrupted public meetings, smashed winows, assaulted members of theCabinet, and, in one case, tried to destroy the ballots at thepolls, --in short, they broke the laws in order to convince the countryof their fitness to take part in making them. Over six hundred ofthese offenders were put in prison, not because they asked for "Votesfor Women, " but because they deliberately, persistently, andrecklessly misconducted themselves. [1] The great majority of woman suffragists refused to adopt theseviolent methods. 630. A New Parliamentary Election; the Lords accept the Budget. The rejection of the Budget by the House of Lords (S629) caused a newParliamentary election (1910). The Liberal Party with the Labor Partyagain won the victory, but with a decidedly diminished majority. Mr. Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister, declared that the policy ofthe Liberal Government forbade any concessions whatever to the Lords. The Lords thought it unwise to carry the contest further, and when thenew Parliament met they bowed to the inevitable and reluctantly votedto accept the Budget, --land taxes and all. [2] [2] The Liberal Party in power threatened, in case the Lords continuedto refuse to accept the Budget, that they would either request theKing to create a sufficient number of Liberal Peers to carry it(S582), or that they would make the country go through anotherelection. 631. New Warships; a New Domesday Book; Death of King Edward. This acceptance of the Budget made the Government feel reasonably surethat it would get the 16, 000, 000 pounds required to pay for eight newbattleships (S629). It also encouraged the War Department to spend aconsiderable sum in experimenting with military airships as a means ofdefense against invasion. Great Britain, like Germany, believes thatsuch vessels have become a necessity; for since a foreigner flewacross the Channel and landed at Dover (1909), England has felt thather navy on the sea must be supplemented by a navy above the sea. Twoof these government airships are now frequently seen cricling atexpress speed around the great dome of St. Paul's. The Government also began preparations for the compilation of a newDomesday Book (S120), which should revalue all the land in the BritishIsles, in order to establish a permanent vasis for increasedtaxation. [1] The House of Commons furthermore took up the debate onadopting measures for limiting the power of Lords to veto bills passedby the Commons. While they were so engaged King Edward died (May 6, 1910); his son was crowned in 1911, with the title of George V. [1] The last general valuation of the land was made in 1692; it wasthen fixed at 9, 000, 000 pounds. The land tax, based on thisvaluation, has yielded about 2, 000, 000 pounds annually. TheGovernment expects that the new valuation will yield much more. In the summer of 1911 Mr. Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister, afterprolonged and heated discussion, forced the House of Lords to acceptthe Veto Bill, which is now law. He did this by using the same threatwhich enable Earl Grey to carry the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582). TheVeto Act makes it impossible for the House of Lords to defeat anyPublic Bill which the House of Commons has passed for three successivesessions, extending over a period of not less than two years. Thismomentous Act was passed at a critical time when the great DockersStrike had practically closed the port of London, and had cut off thechief food supply of the city. A little later, the Prime Ministerpassed the Salary Bill, which pays the members of the House of Commons400 pounds annually (S591). Next, the Government passed (1911) theWorkmen's Compulsory Insurance Bill against sickness andunemployment. The worker and his employer contribute small sumsweekly, the Government gives the rest. The law has an excellentmotive. 632. General Summary of the Development of the English Nation. Such is the condition of the English nation in the twentieth centuryand in the reign of King George V. Looking back to the time whenCaesar landed in Britain, we see that since that period an islandwhich then had a population of a few thousand "barbarians" (SS4, 18)has gradually become the center of a great and powerful empire (SS14, 15). The true history of the country began, however, not with Caesar'slanding, but with the Saxon invasion in 449, about five centurieslater. Then the fierce blue-eyed German and Scandinavian races livingon the shores of the Baltic and North Seas took possession of Britain. They, with the help of the primitive British, or Celtic, stock, laidthe foundation of a new nation. Their speech in a modified form, their laws, and their customs became in large degree permanent. Later, missionaries from Rome converted this mixed population to theChristian faith. They baptized Britain with the name England, whichit has ever since retained (S50). In the eleventh century the Normans, who sprang originally from thesame stock as the Northmen and Saxons, conquered the island. Theygrafted onto the civilization which they found there certain elementsof Continental civilization (S126). Eventually the Saxon yeoman andthe Norman knight joined hands and fortunes, and became one people(S192). This union was first unmistakable recognized in the provisions ofMagna Carta (S199). When in 1215 the barons forced King John to grantthat memorable document they found it expedient to protect the rightsof every class of the population. Then nobles, clergy, farmers, townsmen, and laborers whether bond or free, stood, as it were, shoulder to shoulder. The rise of free towns marked another long step forward (S183). Thatmovement secured to their inhabitants many precious privileges ofself-government. Then the Wat Tyler insurrection of a subsequentperiod (S251) led gradually to the emancipation of that numerous classwhich had long been in partial bondage (S252). Meanwhile the real unity of the people clearly showed itself at thetime when the Crown began to tax the poor as well as the rich. Themoment the King laid hands on the tradesman's and the laborer'spockets they demanded to have their share in making the laws. Out ofthat demand, made in 1265, rose the House of Commons (SS213, 217). Itwas a body, as its name implies, composed of representatives chosenmainly from the people and by the people. Next, after generations of arduous struggle, followed by the King'sgrant of the Petition of Right (S432) and then by the great Civil War(SS441, 450), it was finally settled that the House of Commons, andthe House of Commons alone, had complete power over the nation'spurse. From that time the King knew, once for all, that he could nottake the people's money unless it was granted by the people's vote(S588). After the flight of James II Parliament passed the Bill of Rights in1689 and in 1701 the Act of Settlement (S497). These tworevolutionary measures wrought a radical change in the government ofEngland. They deliberately set aside the old order of hereditaryroyal succession and established a new order which made the Kingdirectly dependent on the people for his title and his power to rule(S497). About the same time, Parliament passed the Toleration Act, which granted a larger degree of religious liberty (S496), and in 1695the House of Commons took action which secured the freedom of thepress (S498). Less than thirty years afterwards another radical change took place. Hitherto the King had appointed his own private Council, or Cabinet(S476), but when George I came to the htrone from Germany he couldspeak no English. One of the members of the Cabinet became PrimeMinister in 1721, and the King left the management of the governmentto him and his assoaciates (S534). Two generations later another great change occurred. Watt's inventionof a really practical steam engine in 1785, together with the rapidgrowth of manufacturing towns in the Midlands and the North ofEngland, brought on an "Industrial Revolution" (S563). A factorypopulation grew up, which found itself without any representation inParliament. The people of that section demanded that this seriousinequality be righted. Their persistent efforts compelled the passageof the great Reform Bill of 1832. That measure (S582) broke up thepolitical monopoly hitherto enjoyed in large degree by thelandholders, and distributed much of the power among the middleclasses. The next important change took place at the accession of Victoria(1837). The principle was then finally established that the rulingpower of the government does not center in the Crown but in theCabinet (S534). Furthermore, it was settled that the Prime Ministerand his Cabinet are responsible solely to the House of Commons, whichin its turn is responsible only to the expressed will of the majorityof the nation (S587). In the course of the next half century the Reform Bills of 1867 and1884 extended the suffrage to the great majority of the population(S600). A little more than twenty years later, in 1906, the combinedLiberal and Labor parties gained an overwhelming victory at thepolls. This secured the workingmen fifty-four seats in Parliament(S628), whereas, up to that time, they had never had more than threeor four. It then became evident that a new power had entered theHouse of Commons. From that date the nation has fully realized thatalthough England is a monarchy in name, yet it is a republic in fact. The slow progress of time has at length given to the British people--English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish--the great gift of practicalliberty; but along with it, it has imposed that politicalresponsibility which is always the price which must be paid for themaintenance of liberty. 633. Characteristics of English History; the Unity of the English-Speaking Race; Conclusion. This rapid and imperfect sketch shows what has been accomplished bythe people of Britain. Other European peoples may have developedearlier, and made, perhaps, more rapid advances in certain forms ofcivilization, but none have surpassed, nay, none have equaled, theEnglish-speaking race in the practical characer and permanence of itsprogress. Guizot says[1] that the true order of national development in freegovernment is, first, to convert the natural liberties of man intoclearly defined political rights; and, next, to guarantee the securityof those rights by the establishment of forces capable of maintainingthem. [1] Guizot's "History of Representative Government, " lect. Vi. Nowhere do we find better illustrations of this truth than in thehistory of England, and of the colonies which England has planted. For the fact cannot be too strongly emphasized that *in Europeanhistory England stands as the leader in the development ofconstitutional Government* (SS199, 497). Trial by jury (S176), thelegal right to resist oppression (S261), legislative representation(SS213, 217), religious freedom (S496), the freedom of the press(S498), and, finally, the principle that all political power is atrust held for the public good, [1]--these are the assured results ofAnglo-Saxon growth, and the legitimate heritage of every nation ofAnglo-Saxon descent. [1] Macaulay's "Essay on Sir Robert Walpole. " It is no exaggeration to say that the best men and the best minds inEngland, without distinction of rank or class, are now laboring forthe advancement of the people. They see, what has never been soclearly seen before, that the nation is a unit, that the welfare ofeach depends ultimately on the welfare of all, and that the higher aman stands and the greater his wealth and privileges, so much the moreis he bound to extend a helping hand to those less favored thanhimself. The Socialists, it is true, demand the abolition of private propertyin land and the nationalizing not only of the soil but of all mines, railways, waterworks, and docks in the kingdom. Thus far, however, they have shown no disposition to attain their objects by violentaction. England, by nature conservative, is slow to break the bond ofhistoric continuity which connects her present with her past. "Do you think we shall ever have a second revolution?" the Duke ofWellington was once asked. "We may, " answered the great general, "butif we do, it will come by act of Parliament. " That reply probablyexpresses the general temper of the people, who believe that they cangain by the ballot more than they can by an appeal to force, knowingthat theirs is "A land of settled government, A land of just and old renown, Where freedom broadens slowly down, From precedent to precedent. "[2] [2] Tennyson's "You Ask Me Why. " It is impossible for the great majority of Americans not to take adeep interest in this movement, for we can never forget that Englishhistory is in a very large degree our history, and that England is, asHawthorne likes to call it, "our old home. " In fact, if we go back less than three centuries, the record ofAmerica becomes one with that of the mother country, which firstdiscovered (SS335, 421) and first permanently settled this, and whichgave us for leaders and educators Washington, Franklin, the Adamses, and John Harvard. In descent by far the greater part of us are ofEnglish blood or of blood akin to it. [1] We owe to England--that is, to the British Isles and to the different races which have met andmingled there--much of our language, literature, law, legislativeforms of government, and the essential features of our civilization. In fact, without a knowledge of her history, we cannot rightlyunderstand our own. [1] In 1840 the population of the United States, in round numbers, was17, 000, 000, of whom the greater part were probably of Englishdescent. Since then there has been an enormous immigration, 40 percent of which were from the British Isles; but it is perhaps safe tosay that three quarters of our present population are those were wereliving here in 1840, with their descendents. Of the immigrants (up to1890) coming from non-English-speaking races, the Germans andScandinavians predominated, and it is to them, as we have seen, thatthe English, in large measure, owe their origin (SS37-39, 126). Itshould be noted here that the word "English" is used so as to includethe people of the United Kingdom and their descendants on both sidesof the Atlantic. Standing on her soil, we possess practically the same personal rightsthat we do in America; we speak the same tongue, we meet with the samefamiliar names. We feel that whatever is glorious in her past is oursalso; that Westminster Abbey belongs as much to us as to her, for ourancestors helped to build its walls and their dust is gathered in itstombs; that Shakespeare and Milton belong to us in like manner, forthey wrote in the language we speak, for the instruction and delightof our fathers' fathers, who beat back the Spanish Armada and gavetheir lives for liberty on the fields of Marston Moor and Naseby. Let it be granted that grave issues have arisen in the past toseparate us; yet, after all, our interests and our sympathies, likeour national histories, have more in common than they have apart. Theprogress of each country now reacts for good on the other. [2] [2] In this connection the testimony of Captain Alfred T. Mahan, inhis recent work, "The Problem of Asia, " is worth quoting here. Hesays (p. 187), speaking of our late war with Spain: "The writer hasbeen assured, by an authority in which he entirely trusts, that to aproposition made to Great Britain to enter into a combination toconstrain the use of our [United States] power, --as Japan was fiveyears ago constrained by the joint action of Russia, France, andGermany, --the reply [of Great Britain] was not only a positive refusalto enter into such a combination [against the United States], but anassurance of active resistance to it if attempted... Call such anattitude [on the part of England toward the United States] friendship, or policy, as you will--the name is immaterial; the fact is theessential thing and will endure, because it rests upon solidinterest. " If we consider the total combined population of the United States andof the British Empire, we find that to-day upwards of 150, 000, 000people speak the English tongue and are governed by the fundamentalprinciples of that Common Law which has its root in English soil. This population holds possession of more than 15, 000, 000 square milesof the earth's surface, --an area much larger than that of the unitedcontinents of North America and Europe. By far the greater part ofthe wealth and power of the globe is theirs. They have expanded by their territorial and colonial growth as noother people have. They have absorbed and assimilated the multitudesof emigrants from every quarter of the globe that have poured intotheir dominions. The result is that the inhabitants of the British Isles, of Australia, of New Zealand, of a part of South Africa, of the United States, andof Canada practically form one great Anglo-Saxon race, [1] diverse inorigin, separated by distance, but everywhere exhibiting the samespirit of intelligent enterprise and of steady, resistless growth. Thus considered, America and England are necessary one to the other. Their interests now and in the future are essentially the same. Bothecontries are virtually pledged to make every effort to maintainliberty and self-government, and also to maintain mutual peace byarbitration. [1] Such apparent exceptions as the Dutch in South Africa, the Frenchin Canada, and the Negroes in the United States do not essentiallyaffect the truth of this statement, since in practice the people ofthese races uphold the great fundamental principles on which allAnglo-Saxon government rests. In view of these facts let us say, with an eminent thinker[2] whoseintellectual home was on both sides of the Atlantic: "Whatever therebe between the two nations to forget and forgive, is forgotten andforgiven. If the two peoples, which are one, be true to their duty, who can doubt that the destinies of the world must be in large measurecommitted to their hands?" [2] Dean Farrar, Address on General Grant, Westminster Abbey, 1885. General Summary of English Constitutional History[1] [1] This Summary is inserted for the benefit of those who desire acompact, connected view of the development of the EnglishConstitution, such as may be conveniently used either for reference, for a general review of the subject, or for purposes of specialstudy. --D. H. M. For authorities, see Stubbs (449-1485); Hallam (1485-1760); May (1760-1870); Amos (1870-1880); see also Hansard and Cobbett's "ParliamentaryHistory, " the works of Freeman, Taswell-Langmead (the best one-volumeConstitutional History), Feilden's Manual, and A. L. Lowell's "TheGovernment of England, " 2 vols. , in the Classified List of Booksbeginning on page xxxvi. The references inserted in parentheses are to sections in the body ofthe history. 1. Origin and Primitive Government of the English People. The main body of the English people did not originate in Britain, butin Northwestern Germany. The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles wereindependent, kindred tribes living on the banks of the Elbe and itsvicinity. They had no written laws, but obeyed time-honored customs which hadall the force of laws. All matters of public importance were decidedby each tribe at meetings held in the open air. There every freemanhad an equal voice in the decision. There the people chose theirrulers and military leaders; they discussed questions of peace andwar; finally, acting as a high court of justice, they tried criminalsand settled disputes about property. In these rude methods we see the beginning of the EnglishConstitution. Its growth has been the slow work of centuries, but thegreat principles underlying it have never changed. At every stage oftheir progress the English people and their descendants throughout theglobe have claimed the right of self-government; and, if we except theperiod of the Norman Conquest, whenever that right has beenpersistently withheld or denied, the people have risen in arms andregained it. 2. Conquest of Britain; Origin and Power of the King. After the Romans abandoned Britain the English invaded the island449(?), and in the course of a hundred and fifty years conquered itand established a number of rival settlements. The native Britonswere, in great part, killed off or driven to take refuge in Wales andCornwall. The conquerors brought to their new home the methods of government andmodes of life to which they had been accustomed in Germany. A clusterof towns--that is, a small number of enclosed habitations (S103)--formed a hundred (a district having either a hundred families or ableto furnish a hundred warriors); a cluster of hundreds formed a shireor county. Each of these divisions had its public meeting, composedof all its freemen or their representatives, for the management of itsown affairs. But a state of war--for the English tribes fought eachother as well as fought the Britons--made a strong central governmentnecessary. For this reason the leader of each tribe was made king. At first he was chosen, at large, by the entire tribe; later, unlessthere was some good reason for a different choice, the King's eldestson was selected as his successor. Thus the right to rule waspractically fixed in the line of a certain family descent. The ruler of each of these petty kingdoms acted as commander-in-chiefin war, and as supreme judge in law. 3. The Witenagemot, or General Council. In all other respects the King's authority was limited--except when hewas strong enough to get his own way--by the Witenagemot, or GeneralCouncil. This body consisted of the chief men of each kingdom actingin behalf of its people. [1] IT exercised the following powers: (1) Itelected the King, and if the people confirmed the choice, he wascrowned. (2) If the King proved unsatisfactory, the Council mightdepose him and choose a successor. (3) The King, with the consent ofthe Council, made the laws, --that is, he declared the customs of thetribe. (4) The King, with the Council, appointed the chief officersof the kingdom (after the introduction of Christianity this includedthe bishops); but the King alone appointed the sheriff, to representhim and collect the revenue in each shire. (5) The Council confirmedor denied grants of portions of the public lands made by the King toprivate persons. (6) The Council acted as the high court of justice, the King sitting as supreme judge. (7) The Council, with the King, discussed all questions of importance, --such as the levying of taxes, and the making of treaties; smaller matters were left to the towns, hundreds, and shires to settle for themselves. After theconsolidation of the different English kingdoms into one, theWitenagemot expanded into the National Council. In it we see "thetrue beginning of the Parliament of England. " [1] The Witenagmot (i. E. The Meeting of the Witan, or Wise Men, S80), says Stubbs ("Select Charters"), represented the people, although itwas not a collection of representatives. 4. How England became a United Kingdom; Influence of the Church and of the Danish Invasions. For a number of centuries Britain consisted of a number of littlerival kingdoms, almost constantly at war with each other. Meanwhilemissionaries from Rome had introduced Christianity, 597. Through theinfluence of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (668), theclergy of the different hostile kingdoms met in general Churchcouncils. [2] This religious unity of action prepared the way forpolitical unity. The Catholic Church--the only Christian Church(except the Greek Church) then existing--made men feel that theirhighest interests were one; it "created the nation" (S48). [2] This movement began several years earlier (S48), but Theodore ofTarsus was its first great organizer. This was the first cause of the union of the kingdoms. The second wasthe invasion of the Danes. These fierce marauders forced the peoplesouth of the Thames to join in common defense, under the leadership ofAlfred, King of the West Saxons. By the Treaty of Wedmore, 878, theDanes were compelled to give up Southwestern England, but theyretained the whole of the Northeast. About the middle of the tenthcentury, one of Alfred's grandsons conquered the Dnaes, and took thetitle of "King of England. "[1] Later, the Danes, reenforced by freshinvasions of their countrymen, made themselves masters of the land;yet Canute, the most powerful of these Danish kings, ruled accordingto English methods. At length the great body of the people united inchoosing Edward the Confessor king (1042-1066). He was English bybirth, but Norman by education. Under him the unity of the Englishkingdom was, in name at least, fully restored. [1] Some authorities consider Edgar (959) as the first "King of allEngland. " In 829 Egbert, King of the West Saxons, forced all theother Saxon Kings of Britian to acknowledge him as their "Overlord"(S49). 5. Beginning of the Feudal System; its Results. Meantime a great change had taken place in England with respect toholding land (SS86, 150). We shall see clearly to what that changewas tending if we look at the condition of France. There a system ofgovernment and of land tenure existed known as the Feudal System. Under it the King was regarded as the owner of the entire realm. Hegranted, with his royal protection, the use of portions of the land tohis chief men or nobles, with the privilege of building castles and ofestablishing courts of justice on these estates. Such grants weremade on two conditions: (1) that the tenants should take part in theKing's Council; (2) that they should do military service in the King'sbehalf, and furnish besides a certain number of fully armed horsemenin proportion to the amount of land they had received. So long asthey fulfilled these conditionms--made under oath--they could retaintheir estates, and hand them down to their children; but if theyfailed to keep their oath, they forfeited the land to the King. These great military barons or lords let out parts of their immensemanors, [2] or estates, on similar conditions, --namely (1) that theirvassals or tenants should pay rent to them by doing military or otherservice; and (2) that they should agree that all questions concerningtheir rights and duties should be tried in the lord's privatecourt. [3] On the other hand, the lord of the manor pledged himself toprotect his vassals. [2] Manor (man'or): see plan of a manor (Old French manoir, "amansion") on page 75, the estate of a feudal lord. Every manor hadtwo courts. The most important of these was the "court baron. " Itwas composed of all the free tenants of the manor, with the lord (orhis representative) presiding. It dealt with civil cases only. Thesecond court was the "court customary, " which dealt with casesconnected with villeinage. The manors held by the greater barons hada third court, the "court leet, " which dealt with criminal cases, andcould inflict the death penalty. In all cases the decisions of themanorial courts would be pretty sure to be in the lord's favor. InEngland, however, these courts never acquired the degree of powerwhich they did on the Continent. [3] See note above, on the manor. On every manor there were usually three classes of these tenants:(1) those who discharged their rent by doing military duty; (2) thosewho paid by a certain fixed amount of labor--or, if they preferred, inproduce or in money; (3) the villeins, or common laborers, who werebound to remain on the estate and work for the lord, and whosecondition, although they were not wholly destitute of legal rights, was practically not very much above that of slaves (S113). But there was another way by which men might enter the Feudal System;for while it was growing up there were many small free landholders, who owned their farms and owed no man any service whatever. In thosetimes of constant civil war such men would be almost in daily peril oflosing, not only their property, but their lives. To escape thisdanger, they would hasten to "commend" themselves to some powerfulneighboring lord. To do this, they pledged themselves to become "hismen, " surrendering their farms to him, and received them again asfeudal vassals. That is, the lord bound himself to protect themagainst their enemies, and they bound themselves to do "suit andservice"[1] like the other tenants of the manor; for "suit andservice" on the one side, and "protection" on the other, made up thethreefold foundation of the Feudal system. [1] That is, they pledged themselves to do suit in the lord's privatecourt, and to do service in his army. Thus in time all classes of society became bound together. At the topstood the King, who was no man's tenant, but, in name at least, everyman's master; at the bottom crouched the villein, who was no man'smaster, but was, in fact, the most servile and helpless of tenants. Such was the condition of things in France. In England, however, thissystem of land tenure was not completely established until after theNorman Conquest, 1066; for in England the tie which bound men to theKing and to each other was originally one of pure choice, and hadnothing directly to do with land. Gradually, however, this changed;and by the time of Edward the Confessor land in England had come to beheld on conditions so closely resembling those of France that one stepmore--and that a very short one--would have made England a kingdomexhibiting all the most dangerous features of French feudalism. For, notwithstanding certain advantages, [2] feudalism had this greatevil: that the chief nobles often became in time more powerful thanthe King. This danger now menaced England. For convenience Canutethe Dane had divided the realm into four earldoms. The holders ofthese vast estates had grown so mighty that they scorned royalauthority. Edward the Confessor did not dare resist them. Theambition of each earl was to get the supreme mastery. This threatenedto bring on civil war, and to split the kingdom into fragments. Fortunately for the welfare of the nation, William, Duke of Normandy, by his invasion and conquest of England, 1066, put an effectual stopto the selfish schemes of these four rival nobles. [2] On the Advantages of Feudalism, see S87. 6. William the Conqueror and his Work. After William's victory at Hastings and march on London (SS74, 107), the National Council chose him sovereign, --they would not have daredto refuse, --and he was crowned by the Archbishop of York inWestminster Abbey. This coronation made him the legal successor ofthe line of English kings. In form, therefore, there was no break inthe order of government; for though William had forced himself uponthe throne, he had done so according to law and custom, and notdirectly by the sword. Great changed followed the conquest, but they were not violent. TheKing abolished the four great earldoms (S64), and restored nationalunity. He gradually dispossessed the chief English landholders oftheir lands, and bestowed them, under strict feudal laws, on hisNorman followers. He likewise gave all the highest positions in theChurch to Norman bishops and abbots. The National Council now changedits character. It became simply a body of Norman barons, who werebound by feudal custom to meet with the King. But they did notrestrain his authority; for William would brook no interference withhis will from any one, not even from the Pope himself (S118). But though the Conqueror had a tyrant's power, he rarely used it likea tyrant. We have seen[1] that the great excellence of the earlyEnglish government lay in the fact that the towns, hundreds, andshires were self-governing in all local matters; the drawback to thissystem was its lack of unity and of a strong central power that couldmake itself respected and obeyed. William supplied this power, --without which there could be no true national strength, --yet at thesame time he was careful to encourage the local system of self-government. He gave London a liberal charter to protect its rightsand liberties (S107). He began the organization of a royal court ofjustice; he checked the rapacious Norman barons in their efforts toget control of the people's courts. [1] See SS2, 3 of this Summary. Furthermore, side by side with the feudal cavalry army, he maintainedthe old English county militia of foot soldiers, in which everyfreeman was bound to serve. He used this militia, when necessary, toprevent the barons from getting the upper hand, and so destroyingthose liberties which were protected by the Crown as its own bestsafeguard against the plots of the nobles. Next, William had a census, survey, and valuation made of all theestates in the kingdom outside London which were worth examination. The result of this great work was recorded in Domesday Book (S120). By means of that book--still preserved--the King knew what no Englishruler had known before him; that was, the property-holding populationand resources of the kingdom. Thus a solid foundation was laid onwhich to establish the feudal revenue and the military power of theCrown. Finally, just before his death, the Conqueror completed theorganization of his government. Hitherto the vassals of the greatbarons had been bound to them alone. They were sworn to fight fortheir masters, even if those masters rose in open rebellion againstthe sovereign. William changed all that. At a meeting held atSalisbury, 1086, he compelled every landholder in England, from thegreatest to the smallest, --sixty thousand, it is said, --to swear to be"faithful to him against all others" (S121). By that oath he "brokethe neck of the Feudal System" as a form of government, though heretained and developed the principle of feudal land tenure. Thus atone stroke he made the Crown the supreme power in England; had he notdone so, the nation would soon have fallen prey to civil war. 7. William's Norman Successors. William Rufus has a bad name in history, and he fully deserves it. But he had this merit: he held the Norman barons in check with a stiffhand, and so, in one way, gave the country comparative peace. His successor, Henry I, granted, 1100, a Charter of Liberties (S135, note 1) to his people, by which he recognized the sacredness of theold English laws for the protection of life and property. Somewhatmore than a century later this document became, as we shall see, thebasis of the most celebrated charter known in English history. Henryattempted important reforms in the administration of the laws, andlaid the foundation of that system which his grandson, Henry II, wasto develop and establish. By these measures he gained the title ofthe "Lion of Justice, " who "made peace for both man and beast. "Furthermore, in an important controversy with the Pope respecting theappointment of bishops (S136), Henry obtained the right (1107) torequire that both bishops and abbots, after taking possession of theirChurch estates, should be obliged like the baron to furnish troops forthe defense of the kingdom. But in the next reign--that of Stephen--the barons got the upper hand, and the King was powerless to control them. They built castleswithout royal license, and from these private fortresses they salliedforth to ravage, rob, and murder in all directions. Had that periodof terror continued much longer, England would have been torn topieces by a multitude of greedy tyrants. 8. Reforms of Henry II; Scutage; Assize of Clarendon; Juries; Constitutions of Clarendon. With Henry II the true reign of law begins. To carry out the reformsbegun by his grandfather, Henry I, the King fought both barons andclergy. Over the first he won a complete and final victory; over thesecond he gained a partial one. Henry began his work by pulling down the unlicensed castles built bythe "robber barons" in Stephen's reign. But, according to feudalusage, the King was dependent on these very barons for his cavalry, --his chief armed force. He resolved to make himself independent oftheir reluctant aid. To do this he offered to release them frommilitary service, provided they would pay a tax, called "scutage, " or"shield money" (1159). [1] The barons gladly accepted the offer. Withthe money Henry was able to hire "mercenaries, " or foreign troops, tofight for him abroad, and, if need be, in England as well. Thus hestruck a great blow at the power of the barons, since they, throughdisuse of arms, grew weaker, while the King grew steadily stronger. To complete the work, Henry, many years later (1181), reorganized theold English national militia, [2] and made it thoroughly effective forthe defense of the royal authority. For just a hundred years (1074-1174) the barons had been trying to overthrow the government; underHenry II the long struggle came to an end, and the royal powertriumphed. [1] Scutage: see S161. The demand for scutage seems to show that thefeudal tenure was now fully organized, and that the whole realm was bythis time divided into knights' fees, --that is, into portions of landyielding 20 pounds annually, --each of which was obliged to furnish onefully armed, well-mounted knight to serve the King (if called on) forforty days annually. [2] National militia: see SS96, 140. But in getting the military control of the kingdom Henry had won onlyhalf of the victory he was seeking; to complete his supremacy over thepowerful nobles, the King must obtain control of the administration ofjustice. In order to do this more effectually, Henry issued the Assize ofClarendon (1166). It was the first true national code of law ever putforth by an English king, since previous codes had been little morethan summaries of old "customs. " The realm had already been dividedinto six circuits, having three judges for each circuit. The Assizeof Clarendon gave these judges power not only to enter and presideover every county court, but also over every court held by a baron onhis manor. This put a pretty decisive check to the hithertouncontrolled baronial system of justice--or injustice--with itsprivate dungeons and its private gibbets. It brought everything underthe eye of the King's judges, so that those who wished to appeal tothem could now do so without the expense, trouble, and danger of ajourney to the royal palace. Again, it had been the practice among the Norman barons to settledisputes about land by the barbarous method of Trial by Battle (S148);Henry gave tenants the right to have the case decided by a body oftwelve knights acquainted with the facts. In criminal cases a great change was likewise effected. Henceforthtwelve men from each hundred, with four from each township, --sixteenat least, --acting as a grand jury, were to present all suspectedcriminals to the circuit judges. [3] The judges sent them to the Ordeal(S91); if they failed to pass it, they were then punished by law asconvicted felons; if they did pass it, they were banished from thekingdom as persons of evil repute. After the abolition of the Ordeal(1215), a petty jury of witnesses was allowed to testify in favor ofthe accused, and clear them if they could from the charges brought bythe grand jury. If their testimony was not decisive, more witnesseswere added until twelve were obtained who could unanimously decide oneway or the other. In the course of time[1] this smaller body becamejudges of the evidence for or against the accused, and thus the modernsystem of Trial by Jury was established about 1350. [3] See the Assize of Clarendon (1166) in Stubbs's "Select Charters. "[1] The date usually given is 1350; but as late as the reign ofGeorge I juries were accustomed to bring in verdicts determined partlyby their own personal knowledge of the facts. See Taswell-Langmead(revised edition), p. 179. These reforms had three important results: (1) they greatly dimishedthe power of the barons by taking the administration of justice, inlarge measure, out of their hands; (2) they established a more uniformsystem of law; (3) they brought large sums of money, in the way ofcourt fees and fines, into the King's treasury, and so made himstronger than ever. But meanwhile Henry was carrying on a still sharper battle in hisattempt to bring the Church courts--which William I had separated fromthe ordinary courts--under control of the same system of justice. Inthese Church courts any person claiming to belong to the clergy had aright to be tried. Such courts had no power to inflict death, evenfor murder. In Stephen's reign many notorious criminals had managedto get themselves enrolled among the clergy, and had thus escaped thehanging they deserved. Henry was determined to have all men--in thecircle of clergy or out of it--stand equal before the law. Instead oftwo kinds of justice, he would have but one; this would not onlysecure a still higher uniformity of law, but it would sweep into theKing's treasury may fat fees and fines which the Church courts werethen getting for themselves. By the laws entitled the "Constitutions of Clarendon, " 1164 (S165), the common courts were empowered to decide whether a man claiming tobelong to the clergy should be tried by the Church courts or not. Ifthey granted him the privilege of a Church-court trial, they kept asharp watch on the progress of the case; if the accused was convicted, he must then be handed over to the judges of the ordinary courts, andthey took especial pains to convince him of the Bible truth, that "theway of the transgressor is hard. " For a time the Constitutions wererigidly enforced, but in the end Henry was forced to renounce them. Later, however, the principle he had endeavored to set up was fullyestablished. [2] [2] Edward I limited the jurisdiction of the Church courts to purelyspiritual cases, such as heresy and the like; but the work which he, following the example of Henry II, had undertaken was not fullyaccomplished until the fifteenth century. The greatest result springing from Henry's efforts was the training ofthe people in public affairs, and the definitive establishment of thatsystem of Common Law which regards the people as the supreme source ofboth law and government, and which is directly and vitally connectedwith the principle of representation and of trial by jury. [3] [3] See Green's "Henry II, " in the English Statesmen Series. 9. Rise of Free Towns. While these important changes were taking place, the towns weregrowing in population and wealth (S183). But as these towns occupiedland belonging either directly to the King or to some baron, they weresubject to the authority of one or the other, and so possessed no realfreedom. In the reign of Richard I many towns purchased certainrights of self-government from the King. [1] This power of controllingtheir own affairs greatly increased their prosperity, and in time, aswe shall see, secured them a voice in the management of the affairs ofthe nation. [1] See S183. 10. John's Loss of Normandy; Magna Carta. Up to John's reign many barons continued to hold large estates inNormandy, in addition to those they had acquired in England; hencetheir interests were divided between the two countries. Through warJohn lost his French possessions (S191). Henceforth the barons shutout from Normandy came to look upon England as their true home. FromHenry II's reign the Normans and the English had been graduallymingling; from this time they became practically one people. John'styranny and cruelty brought their union into sharp, decisive action. The result of his greed for money, and his defiance of all law, was atremendous insurrection. Before this time the people had always takenthe side of the King against the barons; now, with equal reason, theyturned about and rose with the barons against the King. Under the guidance of Archbishop Langton, barons, clergy, and peopledemanded reform. The Archbishop brought out the half-forgottencharter of Henry I (S135, note 1). This now furnished a model forMagna Carta, or the "Great Charter of the Liberties of England. "[2] [2] Magna Carta: see SS195-202; and see Constitutional Documents, p. Xxix. It contained nothing that was new in principle. It was simply aclearer, fuller, stronger statement of those "rights of Englishmenwhich were already old. " John, though wild with rage, did not dare refuse to affix his royalseal to the Great Charter of 1215. By doing so he solemnlyguaranteed: (1) the rights of the Church; (2) those of the barons;(3) those of all freemen; (4) those of the villeins, or farmlaborers. The value of this charter to the people at large is shownby the fact that nearly one third of its sixty-three articles wereinserted in their behhalf. Of these articles the most important wasthat which declared that no man should be deprived of liberty orproperty, or injured in body or estate, save by the judgment of hisequals or by the law of the land. In regard to taxation, the Charter provided that, except the customaryfeudal "aids, "[3] none should be levied unless by the consent of theNational Council. Finally, the Charter expressly provided thattwenty-five barons--one of whom was mayor of London--should beappointed to compel the King to carry out his agreement. [3] For the three customary feudal aids, see S150. 11. Henry III and the Great Charter; the Forest Charter; Provisions of Oxford; Rise of the House of Commons; Important Land Laws. Under Henry III the Great Charter was reissued. But the importantarticles which forbade the King to levy taxes except by consent of theNational Council, together with some others restricting his power toincrease his revenue, were dropped, and never again restored. [1] [1] See Stubbs's "Select Charters" (Edward I), p. 484; but compare note I, p. 443. On the other hand, Henry was obliged to issue a Forest Charter, basedon certain articles of Magna Carta, which declared that no man shouldlose life or limb for hunting in the royal forests. Though the Great Charter was now shorn of some of its safeguards toliberty, yet it was still so highly prized that its confirmation waspurchased at a high price from successive sovereigns. Down to thesecond year of Henry VI's reign (1423) we find that it had beenconfirmed no less than thirty-seven times. Notwithstanding his solemn oath (S210), the vain and worthlessHenry III deliberately violated the provisions of the Charter, inorder to raise money to waste in his foolish foreign wars or on hiscourt circle of French favorites. Finally (1258), a body of armed barons, led by Simon de Montfort, Earlof Leicester, forced the King to summon a Parliament at Oxford. Therea scheme of reform, called the "Provisions of Oxford, " was adopted(S209). By these Provisions, which Henry swore to observe, thegovernment was practically taken out of the King's hands, --at least asfar as he had power to do mischief, --and entrusted to certain councilsor committees of state. A few years later, Henry refused to abide by the Provisions of Oxford, and civil war broke out. De Montfort, Earl of Leicester, gained adecisive victory at Lewes, and captured the King. The Earl thensummoned a National Council, made up of those who favored his policyof reform (S213). This was the famous Parliamnet of 1265. To it DeMontfort summoned: (1) a small number of barons; (2) a large number ofthe higher clergy; (3) two knights, or country gentlemen, from eachshire; (4) two burghers, or citizens, from every town. The knights of the shire had been summoned to Parliamnet before;[2]but this was the first time that the towns had been invited to sendrepresentatives. By that act the Earl set the example of giving thepeople at large a fuller share in the government than they had yethad. To De Montfort, therefore, justly belongs the glory of being"the founder of the House of Commons. " His work, however, wasdefective (S213); and owing, perhaps, to his death shortly afterwardsat the battle of Evesham (1265), the regular and continuousrepresentation of the towns did not begin until thirty years later. [2] They were first summoned by John in 1213. Meanwhile, 1279-1290, three land laws of great importance wereenacted. The first limited the acquisition of landed property by theChurch;[3] the second encouraged the transmission of land by will tothe eldest son, thus keeping estates together instead of breaking themup among several heirs;[1] the third made purchasers of estates thedirect feudal tenants of the King. [2] The object of these three lawswas to prevent landholders from evading their feudal obligations;hency they decidedly strengthened the royal power. [3] [3] Statute of Mortmain (1279): see S226; it was especially directed against the acquisition of land by monasteries. [1] Statute De Donis Conditionalibus or Entail (Westminster II) (1285): see S225. [2] During the same period the Statute of Winchester (1285) reorganized the national militia and the police system (S224). 12. Edward I's "Model Parliament"; Confirmation of the Charters. In 1295 Edwrad I, one of the ablest men that ever sat on the Englishthrone, adopted De Montfort's scheme of representation. The King wasgreatly pressed for money, and his object was to get the help of thetowns, and thus secure a system of taxation which should include allclasses. With the significant words, "That which toucheth all shouldbe approved by all, " he summoned to Winchester the first reallycomplete or "Model Parliament" (S217), [4] consisting of King, Lords(temporal and spiritual), and Commons. [5] The form Parliament thenreceived it has kept substantially ever since. We shall see how fromthis time the Commons gradually grew in influence, --though withperiods of relapse, --until at length they have become the controllingpower in legislation. [4] De Montfort's Parliament was not wholly lawful and regular, because not voluntarily summoned by the King himself. Parliament mustbe summoned by the sovereign, opened by the sovereign (in person or bycommission); all laws require the sovereign's signature to completethem; and, finally, Parliament can be suspended or dissolved by thesovereign only. [5] The lower clergy were summoned to send representatives to theCommons; but they came very irregularly, and in the fourteenthcentrury ceased coming altogether. From that time they voted theirsupplies for the Crown in Convocation, until 1663, when Convocationceased to meet. The higher clergy--bishops and abbots--met with theHouse of Lords. Two years after the meeting of the "Model Parliament, " in order to getmoney to carry on a war with France, Edward levied a tax on thebarons, and seized a large quantity of wool belonging to themerchants. So determined was the resistance to these acts that civilwar was threatened. In order to avert it, the King was obliged tosummon a Parliament, 1297, and to sign a confirmation of all previouscharters of liberties, including the Great Charter (S202). Hefurthermore bound himself in the most solemn manner not to tax hissubjects or seize their goods without their consent. HenceforthParliament alone was considered to hold control of the nation's purse;and although this principle was afterwards evaded, no king openlydenied its binding force. Furthermore, in Edward's reign the House ofCommons gained (1322), for the first time, a direct share inlegislation. This step had results of supreme constitutionalimportance. 13. Division of Parliament into Two Houses; Growth of the Power of the Commons; Legislation by Statute; Impeachment; Power over the Purse. In Edward III's reign a great change occurred in Parliament. Theknights of the shire (about 1343) joined the representatives from thetowns, and began to sit apart from the Lords as a distince House ofCommons. This union gave that House a new charactyer, and invested itwith a power in Parliament which the representation from the townsalone could not have exerted. But though thus strengthened, theCommons did not venture to claim an equal part with the Lords inframing laws. Their attitude was that of humble petitioners. Whenthey had voted the supplies of money which the King asked for, theCommons might then meekly beg for legislation. Even when the King andthe Lords assented to their petitions, the Commons often found totheir disappointment that the laws which had been promised did notcorrespond to those for which they had asked. Henry V pledged hisword (1414) that the petitions, when accepted, should be made intolaws without any alteration. But, as a matter of fact, this was noteffectually done until the close of the reign of Henry VI (about1461). Then the Commons succeeded in obtaining the right to presentproposed laws in the form of regular bills instead of petitions. These bills when enacted became statues or acts of Parliament, as weknow them to-day. This change was a most important one, since it madeit impossible for the King with the Lords to fraudulently defeat theexpressed will of the Commons after they had once assented to thelegislation which the Commons desired. Meanwhile the Commons gained, for the first time (1376), the right ofimpeaching such ministers of the Crown as they had reason to believewere unfaithful to the interests of the people. This, of course, putan immense restraining power in their hands, since they could now makethe ministers responsible, in great measure, for the King. [1] [1] But after 1450 the Commons ceased to exercise the right ofimpeachment until 1621, when they impeached Lord Bacon and others. Next (1406), the Commons insisted on having an account rendered of themoney spent by the King; and at times they even limited[2] theirappropriations of money to particular purposes. Finally, in 1407, theCommons took the most decided step of all. They boldly demanded andobtained *the exclusive right of making all grants of money* requiredby the Crown. [3] [3] This right the Commons never surrendered. In future the King, unless he violated the law, had to look to theCommons--that is, to the direct representation of the mass of thepeople--for his chief supplies. This made the will of the Commonsmore powerful than it had ever been. 14. Religious Legislation; Emancipation of the Villeins; Disfranchisement of County Electors. The Parliament of Merton had already (1236) refused to introduce thecanon or ecclesiatical law (S265). In the next century two veryimportant statutes relating to the Church were enacted, --that ofProvisors (1350)[4] and the Great Act of Praemunire, 1393, [1]--limiting the power of the Pope over the English Church. Onthe other hand, the rise of the Lollards had caused a statute to bepassed (1401) against heretics, and under it the first martyr had beenburned in England. During this period the villeins had risen ininsurrection (1381) (SS250-252), and were gradually gaining theirliberty. Thus a very large body of people who had been practicallyexcluded from political rights now began to slowly acquire them. [2]But, on the other hand, a statute was enacted (1430) which prohibitedall persons having an income of less than forty shillings a year--orwhat would be equal to forty pounds at the present value of money--from voting for knights of the shire (S297). The consequence was thatthe poorer and humbler classes in the country were no longer directlyrepresented in the House of Commons. [4] Provisors: this was a law forbidding the Pope to provide anyperson (by anticipation) with a position in the English Church untilthe death of the incumbent. [1] Praemunire: see Constitutional Documents, p. Xxxii. Neither thelaw of Provisors nor of Praemunire was strictly enforced untilHenry VIII's reign. [2] Villeins appear, however, to have had the right of voting forknights of the shire until the statute of 1430 difranchised them. 15. Wars of the Roses; Decline of Parliament; Partial Revival of its Power under Elizabeth. The Civil Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) gave a decided check to thefurther development of parliamentary power. Many noble families wereruined by the protracted struggle, and the new nobles created by theKing were pledged to uphold the interests of the Crown. Furthemore, numerous towns absorbed in their own local affairs ceased to electmembers to the Commons. Thus, with a House of Lords on the side ofroyal authority, and with a House of Commons diminished in numbers andin influence, the decline of the independent attitude of Parliamentwas inevitable. The result of these changes was very marked. From the reign ofHenry VI to that of Elizabeth, a period of nearly a hundred and fortyyears, "the voice of Parliament was rarely heard. " The Tudorspractically set up a new or "personal monarchy, " in which their willrose above both Parliament and the constitution;[3] and Henry VII, instead of asking the Commons for money, extorted it by finesenforcedby his Court of Star Chamber, or compelled his wealthysubjects to grant it to him in "benevolences" (S330)--those "lovingcontributions, " as the King called them, "lovingly advanced"! [3] Theoretically Henry VII's power was restrained by certain checks(see S328, note 1), and even Henry VIII generally ruled according tothe letter of the law, however much he may have violated its spirit. It is noticable, too, that it was under Henry VIII (1541) thatParliament first formally claimed freedom of speech as one of its"undoubted privieges. " During this period England laid claim to a new continent, andHenry VIII, repudiating the authority of the Pope, declared himselfthe "supreme head" (1535) of the English Catholic Church. In the nextreign (Edward VI) the Catholic worship, which had existed in Englandfor nearly a thousand years, was abolished (1540), and the Protestantfaith became henceforth--except during Mary's short reign--theestablished religion of the kingdom. It was enforced by two Acts ofUniformity (1549, 1552). One effect of the overthrow of Catholicismwas to change the character of the House of Lords, by reducing thenumber of spiritual lords from a majority to a minority, as they haveever since remained (S406, note 2). At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign the Second Act of Supremacy(1559) shut out all Catholics from the House of Commons (S382), Protestantism was fully and finally established as the statereligion, [1] embodied in the creed known as the Thirty-Nine Articles(1563); and by the Third Act of Uniformity (1559) very severe measureswere taken against all--whether Catholics or Puritans--who refused toconform to the Episcopal mode of worship. The High Commission Courtwas organized (1583) to try and to to punish heretics--whetherCatholics or Puritans. The great number of paupers caused by thedestruction of the monasteries under Henry VIII and the gradual decayof relations of feudal service caused the passage of the first PoorLaw (1601) (S403), and so brought the Government face to face with aproblem which has never yet been satisfactorily settled; namely, whatto do with habitual paupers and tramps. [1] By the Third Act of Uniformity and the establishment of the HighCommission Court (S382). The First and Second Acts of Uniformity wereenacted under Edward VI (S362). The closing part of Elizabeth's reign marks the revival ofparliamentary power. The House of Commons now had many Puritanmembers, and they did not hesitate to assert their right to advise theQueen on all questions of national importance. Elizabeth sharplyrebuked them for presuming to meddle with questions of religion, orfor urging her either to take a husband or to name a successor to thethrone; but even she did not venture to run directly counter to thewill of the people. When the Commons demanded (1601) that she shouldput a stop to the pernicious practice of granting trading monopolies(S388) to her favorites, she was obliged to yield her assent. 16. James I; the Divine Right of Kings; Struggle with Parliament. James began his reign by declaring that kings rule not by the will ofthe people, but by "divine right. " "God makes the King, " said he, "andthe King makes the law" (S419). For this reason he demanded that hisproclamations should have all the force of acts of Parliament. Furthermore, since he appointed the judges, he could generally gettheir decisions to support him; thus he made even the courts ofjustice serve as instruments of his will. In his arrogance hedeclared that neither Parliament nor the people had any right todiscuss matters of state, whether foreign or domestic, since he wasresolved to reserve such questions for the royal intellect to dealwith. By his religious intolerance he maddened both Puritans andCatholics, and the Pilgrim Fathers fled from England to escape histyranny. But there was a limit set to his overbearing conceit. When hedictated to the Commons (1604) what persons should sit in that body, they indignantly refused to submit to any interference on his part, and their refusal was so emphatic that James never brought the matterup again. The King, however, was so determined to shut out members whom he didnot like that he attempted to gain his ends by having such personsseized on charges of debt and thrown into prison. The Commons, on theother hand, not only insisted that their ancient privilege ofexemption from arrest in such cases should be respected, but theypassed a special law (1604) to clinch the privilege. Ten years later (1614) James, pressed for money, called a Parliamentto get supplies. He had taken precautions to get a majority ofmembers elected who would, he hoped, vote for him what he wanted. Butto his dismay the Commons declined to grant him a penny unless hewould promise to cease imposing illegal duties on merchandise. TheKing angrily refused and dissolved the so-called "Addled Parliament. "[1] [1] This Parliament was nicknamed the "Addled Parliament, " because itdid not enact a single law, though it most effectually "addled" theKing's plans (S424). Finally, in order to show James that it would not be trifled with, alater Parliament (1621) revived the right of impeachment, which hadnot been resorted to since 1450. [2] The Commons now charged LordChancellor Bacon, judge of the High Court of Chancery, and "keeper ofthe King's conscience, " with accepting bribes. Bacon held the highestoffice in the gift of the Crown, and the real object of theimpeachment was to strike the King through the person of his chiefofficial and supporter. Bacon confessed his crime, saying, "I was thejustest judge that was in England these fifty years, but it was thejustest censure in Parliament that was these two hundred years. " [2] See S13 of this Summary James tried his best to save his servile favorite, but it was useless, and Bacon was convicted, disgraced, and partially punished (S425). The Commons of the same Parliament petitioned the King against thealleged growth of the Catholic religion in the knigdom, and especiallyagainst the proposed marriage of the Prince of Wales to a SpanishCatholic princess. James ordered the Commons to let mysteries of thestate alone. They claimed liberty of speech. The King asserted thatthey had no liberties except such as the royal power saw fit togrant. Then the Commons drew up their famous Protest, in which theydeclared that their liberties were not derived from the King, but were"the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the people ofEngland. " In his rage James ordered the journal of the Commons to bebrought to him, tore out the Protest with his own hand, and sent fiveof the members of the House to prison (S419). This rash act made theCommons more determined than ever not to yield to arbitrary power. James died three years later, leaving his unfortunate son Charles tosettle the angry controversy he had raised. Macaulay remarks thatJames seems to have been sent to hasten the coming of the Civil War. 17. Charles I; Forced Loans; the Petition of Right. Charles I came to the throne full of his father's lofty ideas of theDivine Right of Kings to govern as they pleased. In private life hewas conscientious, but in his public policy he was a man "of dark andcrooked ways. " He had married a French Catholic princess, and the Puritans, who werenow very strong in the House of Commons, suspected that the Kingsecretly sympathized with the Queen's religion. This was not thecase; for Charles, after his peculiar fashion, was a sincereProtestant, though he favored the introduction into the English Churchof some of the ceremonies peculiar to Catholic worship. The Commons showed their distrust of the King by voting him the tax oftonnage and poundage (certain duties levied on wine and merchandise), for a single year only, instead of for life, as had been theircustom. The Lords refused to assent to such a limited grant, [1] andCharles deliberately collected the tax without the authority ofParliament. Failing, however, to get a sufficient supply in that way, the King forced men of property to grant him "benevolences, " and toloan him large sums of money with no hope of its return. Those whodared to refuse were thrown into prison on some pretended charge, orhad squads of brutal soldiers quartered in their houses. [1] See Taswell-Langmead (revised edition), p. 557, note. When even these measures failed to supply his wants, Charles wasforced to summon a Parliament, and ask for help. Instead of grantingit, the Commons drew up the Petition of Right[2] of 1628, as anindignant remonstrance, and as a safeguard against further acts oftyranny. This Petition has been called the "Second Great Charter ofthe Liberties of England. " It declared: (1) That no one should becompelled to pay any tax or to supply the King with money, except byorder of act of Parliament. (2) That neither soldiers nor sailorsshould be quartered in private houses. [3] (3) That no one should beimprisoned or punished contrary to law. Charles was forced by hisneed of money to assent to this Petition, which thus became a mostimportant part of the English constitution. But the King did not keephis word. When Parliament next met (1629), it refused to grant moneyunless Charles would renew his pledge not to violate the law. TheKing made some concessions, but finally resolved to adjournParliament. Several members of the Commons held the Speaker in thechair by force, --thus preventing the adjournment of the House, --untilresolutions offered by Sir John Eliot were passed (S434). Theseresolutions were aimed directly at the King. They declared: (1) thathe is a traitor who attempts any change in the established religion ofthe kingdom;[4] (2) who levies any tax not voted by Parliament; (3) orwho voluntarily pays such a tax. Parliament then adjourned. [2] Petition of Right: see S432, and Constitutional Documents, p. Xxx. [3] The King was also deprived of the power to press citizens into thearmy and navy. [4] The Puritans had come to believe that the King wished to restorethe Catholic religion as the Established Church of England, but inthis idea they were mistaken. 18. "Thorough"; Ship Money; the "Short Parliament. " The King swore that "the vipers" who opposed him should have theirreward. Eliot was thrown into prison and kept there till he died. Charles made up his mind that, with the help of Archbishop Laud inChurch matters, and of Lord Strafford in affairs of state, he wouldrule without Parliaments. Strafford urged the King to adopt thepolicy of "Thorough"[1] (S435); in other words, to follow the bent ofhis own will without consulting the will of the nation. This, ofcourse, practically meant the overthrow of parliamentary andconstitutional government. Charles heartily approved of this plan forsetting up what he called a "beneficent despotism" based on "DivineRight. " [1] "Thorough": Strafford wrote to Laud, "You may govern as youplease.... I am confident that the King is able to carry any just andhonorable action thorough [i. E. Through or against] all imaginableopposition. " Both Strafford and Laud used the word "thorough, " in thissense to designate their tyrannical policy. The King now resorted to various unconstitutional means to obtainsupplies. The last device he hit upon was that of raising shipmoney. To do this, he levied a tax on all the counties of England, --inland as well as seaboard, --on the pretext that he purposed buildinga neavy for the defense of the kingdom. John Hampden refused to paythe tax, but Charles's servile judges decided against him, when thecase was brought into court (S436). Charles ruled without a Parliament for eleven years. He might, perhaps, have gone on in this way for as many more, had he notprovoked the Scots to rebel by attempting to force a modified form ofthe English Prayer Book on the Church of that country (S438). Thenecessities of the war with the Scots compelled the King to call aParliament. It declined to grant the King money to carry on the warunless he would give some satisfactory guarantee of governingaccording to the will of the people. Charles refused to do this, andafter a three weeks' session he dissolved what was known as the "ShortParliament. " 19. The "Long Parliament"; the Civil War. But the war gave Charles no choice, and before the year was out he wasobliged to call the famous "Long Parliament" of 1640. [2] That body metwith the firm determination to restore the liberties of Englishmen orto perish in the attempt. (1) It impeached Strafford and Laud, andsent them to the scaffold as traitors. [3] (2) It swept away thoseinstruments of royal oppression, the Court of Star Chamber and theHigh Commission Court (SS330, 382). (3) It expelled the bishops fromthe House of Lords. (4) It passed the Triennial Bill, compelling theKing to summon a Parliament at least once in three years. [4] (5) Italso passed a law declaring that the King could not suspend ordissolve Parliament without its consent. (6) Last of all, the Commonsdrew up the Grand Remonstrance (S439), enunciating at great length thegrievances of the last sixteen years, and vehemently appealing to thepeople to support them in their attempts at reform. The Remonstrancewas printed and distributed throughout England. [1] [2] The "Long Parliament": it sat from 1640 to 1653, and was notfinally dissolved until 1660. [3] Charles assured Strafford that Parliament should not touch "a hairof his head"; but to save himself the King signed the Bill ofAttainder (see p. Xxxii), which sent his ablest and most faithfulservant to the block. Well might Strafford exclaim, "Put not yourtrust in princes. "[4] The Triennial Act was repealed in 1664 and reenacted in 1694. In1716 the Septennial Act increased the limit of three years to seven. This act is still in force. [1] The press soon became, for the first time, a most active agent ofpolitical agitation, both for and against the King (S443). About a month later (1642) the King, at the head of an armed force, undertook to seize Hampden, Pym, and three other of the most activemembers of the Commons on a charge of treason (S449). The attemptfailed. Soon afterwards the Commons passed the Militia Bill, and thustook the command of the national militia and of the chief fortressesof the realm, "to hold, " as they said, "for King and Parliament. " Theact was unconstitutional; but, after the attempted seizure of the fivemembers, the Commons felt certain that if they left the command of themilitia in the King's hands, they would simply sign their own deathwarrant. In resentment of this action, Charles now (1642) began the great CivilWar. It resulted in the execution of the King, and in the temporaryoverthrow of the monarchy, the House of Lords, and the EstablishedEpiscopal Church (SS450, 451). In place of the monarchy, the party inpower set up a short-lived Puritan Republic. This was followed by theProtectorate of Oliver Cromwell (which claimed to be republican inspirit) and by that of his son Richard (SS455, 463). 20. Charles II; Abolition of Feudal Tenure; Establishment of a Standing Army. In 1660 the people, weary of the Protectorate form of government, welcomed the return of Charles II. His coming marks the restorationof the monarchy, of the House of Lords, and of the National EpiscopalChurch. A great change was now effected in the source of the King's revenue. Hitherto it had sprung largely from feudal dues. These had long beendifficult to collect, because the Feudal System had practically diedout. The feudal land tenure with its dues was now abolished, --areform, says Blackstone, greater even than that of Magna Carta, --andin their place a tax was levied for a fixed sum (S482). This taxshould in justice have fallen on the landowners, who profited by thechange; but they managed to evade it in great measure, and by gettingit levied on beer and some other liquors, they forced the workingclasses to shoulder the chief part of the burden, which they carrieduntil very recently. [2] [2] See S34 of this Summary. Parliament now restored the command of the militia to the Kign;[3]and, for the first time in English history, it also gave him thecommand of a standing army of five thousand men, --thus, in one way, making him more powerful than ever before (S467). [3] See Militia Bill, S19 of this Summary. On the other hand, Parliament revived the practice of limiting itsappropriations of money to specific purposes. [4] It furthermore beganto require an exact account of how the King spent the money, --a mostembarrassing question for a man like Charles II to answer. Again, Parliament did not hesitate to impeach and remove the King's ministerswhenever they forfeited the confidence of that body. [1] [4] See S13 of this Summary. [1] See S13 of this Summary (Impeachment). The religious legislation of this period marks the strong reactionfrom Puritanism which had set in. (1) The Corporation Act (1661)excluded all persons who did not renounce the Puritan Covenant andpartake of the Sacrament according to the Church of England, fromholding municipal or other corporate offices (S472). (2) The FourthAct of Uniformity (1662)[2] required all clergymen to accept the Bookof Common Prayer of the Church of England (S472). The result of thislaw was that no less than two thousand Puritan ministers were drivenfrom their pulpits in a single day. (3) The Conventicle Act (S472)followed (1664). It forbade the preaching or hearing of Puritandoctrines, under severe penalties. (4) The Five-Mile Act (1665) (S472)[3] prohibited non-conforming clergymen from teaching, or from comingwithin five miles of any corporate town (except when traveling). [2] The First and Second Acts of Uniformity date from Edward VI (1549, 1552), the Third from Elizabeth (1559) (SS362, 382, 472). [3] The Five-Mile Act (1665) excepted those clergymen who took theoath of nonresistance to the King, and who swore not to attempt toalter the constitution of Church or State. See Hallam's"Constitutional History of England. " 21. Charles II's Cabinet; the Secret Treaty of Dover; the Test Act; the Habeas Corpus Act; Rise of Cabinet Government. Charles II made a great and most important change with respect to thePrivy Council. Instead of consulting the entire Council on matters ofstate, he established the custom of inviting only a few to meet withhim in his cabinet, or private room. This limited body ofconfidential advisers was called the "Cabal, " or secret council(S476). Charles's great ambition was to increase his standing army, to ruleindependently of Parliament, and to get an abundance of money to spendon his extravagant pleasures and vices. In order to accomplish these three ends he made a secret and shamefultreaty with Louis XIV of France, 1670 (S476). Louis wished to crushthe Dutch Protestant Republic of Halland, to get possession of Spain, and to secure, if possible, the ascendancy of Catholicism in Englandas well as throughout Europe. Charles, who was destitute of anyreligious principle, --or, in fact, of any sense of honor, --agreed topublicly declare himself a Catholic, to favor the propagation of thatfaith in England, and to make war on Holland in return for veryliberal grants of money, and for the loan of six thousand Frenchtroops by Louis, to help him put down any opposition in England. Twomembers of the "Cabal" were acquainted with the terms of this secretTreaty of Dover. Charles made a second secret treaty with Louis XIVin 1678. Charles did not dare to openly avow himself a convert--or pretendedconvert--to the Catholic religion; but he issued a Declaration ofIndulgence, 1672, suspending the harsh statutes against the EnglishCatholics (S477). Parliament took the alarm and passed the Test Act, 1673, by which allCatholics were shut out from holding any government office or position(S477). This act broke up the "Cabal, " by compelling a Catholicnobleman, who was one of its leading members, to resign. Lather, Parliament further showed its power by compelling the King to sign theAct of Habeas Corpus, 1679 (S482), which put an end to his arbitrarilythrowing men into prison, and keeping them there, in order to stoptheir free discussion of his plots against the constitution. [1] [1] See Habeas Corpus Act in Constitutional Documents, p. Xxxii. But though the "Cabal" had been broken up, the principle of a limitedprivate council survived, and long after the Revolution of 1688 it wasrevived and the Cabinet, under the lead of Sir Robert Walpole, thefirst Prime Minister, [2] in 1721, became responsible for th epolicy ofthe sovereign. [3] At present, if the Commons decidedly oppose thatpolicy, the Prime minister, [2] in 1721, became responsible for thepolicy of the sovereign. [3] At present, if the Commons decidedlyoppose that policy, the Prime Minister, with his Cabinet, eitherresigns, and a new Cabinet is chosen, or the Minister appeals to thepeople for support, and the sovereign dissolves Parliament and ordersa new parliamentary election, by which the nation decides thequestion. This method renders the old, and never desirable, remedy ofthe impeachment of the ministers of the sovereign no longernecessary. The Prime Minister--who answers for the acts of thesovereign and for his policy--is more directly responsible to thepeople than is the President of the United States. [2] See S27 of this Summary. [3] The real efficiency of the Cabinet system of government was notfully developed until after the Reform Act of 1832 had widely extendedthe right of suffrage, and thus made the government more directlyresponsible to the people (S582). 22. The Pretended "Popish Plot"; Rise of the Whigs and the Tories; Revocation of Town Charters. The pretended "Popish Plot" (1678) (S478) to kill the King, in orderto place his brother James--a Catholic convert--on the throne, causedthe rise of a strong movement (1680) to exclude James from the rightof succession. The Exclusion Bill failed; but the Disabling Act waspassed, 1678, excluding Catholics from sitting in either House ofParliament; but an exception was made in favor of the Duke of York(S478). Henceforward two prominent political parties appear inParliament, --one, that of the Whigs or Liberals, bent on extending thepower of thepeople; the other, that of the Tories or Conservatives, resolved to maintain the power of the Crown. Charles II, of course, did all in his power to encourage the latterparty. In order to strengthen their numbers in the Commons, he foundpretexts for revoking the charters of many Whig towns (S479). He thenissued new charters to these towns, giving the power of election tothe Tories. [4] While engaged in this congenial work the King died, andhis brother James II came to the throne. [4] The right of election in many towns was then confined to the townofficers or to a few influential inhabitants. This continued to bethe case until the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832. 23. James II; the Dispensing Power; Declaration of Indulgence; the Revolution of 1688. James II was a zealous Catholic, and therefore naturally desired tosecure freedom of worship in England for people of his own faith. Inhis zeal he went too far, and the Pope expressed his disgust at theKing's foolish rashness. By the exercise of the Dispensing Power[1]he suspended the Test Act and the Act of Uniformity, in order thatCatholics might be relieved from the penalties imposed by these laws, and also for the purpose of giving them civil and military offices, from which the Test Act excluded them (S477). James also establisheda new High Commission Court[2] (S488), and made the infamous JudgeJeffreys the head of this despotic tribunal. This court had thesupervision of all churches and institutions of education. Its mainobject was to further the spread of Catholicism, and to silence thoseclergymen who preached against that faith. The King appointed aCatholic president of Magdalen College, Oxford, and expelled from thecollege all who opposed the appointment. Later, he issued twoDeclarations of Indulgence, 1687, 1688, in which he proclaimeduniversal religious toleration (S488). It was generally believed thatunder cover of these Declarations the King intended to favor theascendancy of Catholicism. Seven bishops, who petitioned for theprivilege of declining to read the Declarations from their pulpits, were imprisoned, but on their trial were acquitted by a jury in fullsympathy with them (S489). [2] New High Commission Court: see S19 of this Summary. These acts by the King, together with the fact that he had greatlyincreased the standing army, and had stationed it just outside ofLondon, caused great alarm throughout England (S488). The majority ofthe people of both political parties (S489) believed that James wasplotting to "subverty and extirpate the Protestant religion and thelaws and liberties of the kingdom. " [3] See the language of the Bill of Rights (Constitutional Documents), p. Xxxi. Still, so long as the King remained childless, the nation wasencouraged by the hope that James's daughter Mary might succeed him. She was known to be a decided Protestant, and she had married William, Prince of Orange, the head of the Protestant Republic of Holland. Butthe birth of a son to James (1688) put an end to that hope. Immediately a number of leading Whigs and Tories (SS479, 490) unitedin sending an invitation to the Prince of Orange to come over toEngland with an army to protect Parliament against the King backed byhis standing army. 24. William and Mary; Declaration of Right; Results of the Revolution. William came; James fled to France. A Convention Parliament[4] drewup a Declaration of Right which declared that the King had vacated thethrone, and the crown was therefore offered to William and Mary(S494). They accepted. Thus by the bloodless Revolution of 1688 theEnglish nation transferred the sovereignty to those who had no directlegal claim to it so long as James and his son were living (S490). Hence by this act the people deliberately set aside hereditarysuccession, as a binding rule, and revived the primitive Englishcustom of choosing a sovereign as they deemed best. In this sense theuprising of 1688 was most emphatically a revolution (S491, 492). Itmade, as Green has said, an English monarch as much the creature of anact of Parliament as the pettiest taxgatherer in his realm (S497). But it was a still greater revolution in another way, since it gave adeathblow to the direct "personal monarchy, " which began with theTudors two hundred years before. It is true that in George III'sreign we shall see that power temporarily revived, but we shall neverhear anything more of that Divine Right of Kings, for which one Stuary"lost his head, and another his crown. " Henceforth the House ofCommons will govern England, although, as we shall see, it will benearly a hundred and fifty years before that House will be able tofree itself entirely from the control of either a few powerfulfamilies on the one hand, or that of the Crown on the other. [4] Convention Parliament: it was so called because it was notregularly summoned by the King, --he having fled the country. 25. Bill of Rights; the Commons by the Revenue and the Mutiny Act obtain Complete Control over the Purse and the Sword. In order to make the constitutional rights of the people unmistakablyclear, the Bill of Rights, 1689, --an expansion of the Declaration ofRight--was drawn up (S497). The Bill of Rights[1] declare: (1) Thatthere should be no suspension or change in the laws, and no taxationexcept by act of Parliament. (2) That there should be freedom ofelection to Parliament and freedom of speech in Parliament (bothrights that the Stuarts had attempted to contrl). (3) That thesovereign should not keep a standing army, in time of peace, except byconsent of Parliament. (4) That in future no Roman Catholic should siton the English throne. This last clause was reaffirmed by the Act ofSettlement, 1701 (S497). [2] [1] Bill of Rights: see Constitutional Documents, p. Xxxi. [2] See, too, Constitutional Documents, p. Xxxii. This most important bill, having received the signature of William andMary, became law. It constitutes the third great written charter orsafeguard of English liberty. Taken in connection with Magna Cartaand the Petition of Right, it forms, according to Lord Chatham, *theBible of English liberty* (S497). But Parliament had not yet finished the work of reform it had taken inhand. The executive strength of every government depends on itscontrol of two powers, --the purse and the sword. Parliament had, aswe have seen, got a tight grasp on the first, for the Commons, and theCommons alone, could levy taxes; but within certain very wide limitsthe personal expenditure of the sovereign still practically remainedunchecked. Parliament now, 1689, took the decisive step of voting bythe Revenue Act (1) a specific sum for the maintenance of the Crown;and (2) of voting this supply, not for the life of the sovereign, ashad been the custom, but for four years (S498). A little later thissupply was fixed for a signle year only. This action gave to theCommons final and complete control of the purse (SS498, 588). Next, Parliament passed the Mutiny Act (1689) (S496), which grantedthe King power to enforce martial law--in other words, to maintain astanding army--for one year at a time, and no longer, save by renewalof the law. This act gave Parliament complete control of the sword, and thus finished the great work; for without the annual meeting andthe annual vote of that body, an English sovereign would at the end ofa twelvemonth stand penniless and helpless. 26. Reforms in the Courts; the Toleration Act; the Press made Free. The same year (1689) Parliament effected great and sorely neededreforms in the administration of justice (S492). Next, Parliament passed the Toleration Act, 1689 (S496). This measuregranted liberty of worship to all Protestant Dissenters except thosewho denied the doctrine of the Trinity. [1] The Toleration Act, however, did not abolish the Corporation Act or the Test Act[2](SS472, 477), and it granted no religious freedom to Catholics. [3]Still, the Toleration Act was a step forward, and it prepared the wayfor that absolute liberty of worship and of religious belief which nowexists in England. [1] Freedom of worship was granted to Unitarians in 1812. [2] The Act of Indemnity of 1727, and passed from year to year, suspended the penalties of the Test and the Corporation Acts; theywere both repealed in 1828. [3] Later, the fear that James II might be invited to return led tothe enactment of very severe laws agaisnt the Catholics; and in thenext reign (Anne's) the Act of Occasional Conformity and the SchismAct were directed against Protestant Dissenters. In finance, the reign of William and Mary was marked by the practicalbeginning of the permanent National Debt in 1693 and by theestablishment in 1694 of the Bank of England (S503). Now, too, 1695, the English press, for the first time in its history, became, in large measure, free (SS498, 556), though hampered by a verysevere law of libel and by stamp duties. [4] From this period theinfluence of newspapers continued to increase, until the finalabolition of the stamp duty (1855) made it possible to issue penny andeven halfpenny papers at a profit. These cheap newspapers sprang atonce into an immense circulation among all classes, and thus theybecame the power for good or evil, according to their character, whichthey are to-day; so that it would be no exaggeration to say that backof the power of Parliament now stands the greater power of the press. [4] Debates in Parliament could not be reported until 1771 (S556), andcertain Acts (1793, 1799) checked the freedom of the press for atime. See May's "History of England. " 27. The House of Commons no longer a Representative Body; the First Two Georges and their Ministers. But now that the Revolution of 1688 had done its work, and transferredthe power of the Crown to the House of Commons, a new difficultyarose. This was the fact that the Commons did not represent thepeople, but stood simply as the representative of a small number ofrich Whig landowners. [1] In many towns the right to vote was confinedto the town officers or to the well-to-do citizens. In other cases, towns which had dwindled in population to a very few inhavitantscontinued to have the right to send two members to Parliament, while, on the other hand, large and flourishing cities had grown up which hadno power to send even a single member (S578). The result of thisstate of things was that the wealthy Whig families bought up the votesof electors, and so regularly controlled the elections (S538). [1] The influence of the Whigs had secured the passage of the Act ofSettlement which brought in the Georges; for this reason the Whigs hadgained the chief political power. Under the first two Georges, both of whom were foreigners, theministers--especially Sir Robert Walpole, who was the first real PrimeMinister of England, and who held his place for twenty years (1721-1742)--naturally stood in the foreground. [2] They understood the insand outs of English politics, while the two German sovereigns, thefirst of whom never learned to speak English, neither knew nor caredanything about them. When men wanted favors or offices, they went tothe ministers for them (S538). This made men like Walpole so powerfulthat George II said bitterly, "In England the ministers are king"(S534). [2] See S21 of this Summary. 28. George III's Revival of "Personal Monarchy"; the "King's Friends. " George III was born in England, and prided himself on being anEnglishman. He came to the throne fully resolved, as Walpole said, "to make his power shine out, " and to carry out his mother's constantinjunction of, "George, be King!" (S548). To do this, he set himselfto work to trample on the power of the ministers, to take thedistribution of offices and honors out of their hands, and furthermoreto break down the influence of the great Whig families in Parliament. He had no intention of reforming the House of Commons, or of securingthe representation of the people in it; his purpose was to gain thecontrol of the House, and use it for his own ends. In this he wasthoroughly conscientious, according to his idea of right, --for hebelieved with all his heart in promoting the welfare of England, --buthe thought that welfare depended on the will of the King much morethan on that of the nation. His maxim was "everything for, butnothing by, the people. " By liberal gifts of money, --he spent 25, 000pounds in a single day (1762) in bribes, [3]--by gifts of offices andof honors to those who favored him, and by taking away offices, honors, and pensions from those who opposed him, George III succeededin his purpose. He raised up a body of men in Parliament, known bythe significant name of the "King's Friends, " who stood ready at alltimes to vote for his measures. In this way he actually revived"personal monarchy"[4] for a time, and by using his "Friends" in theHouse of Commons and in the Lords as his tools, he made himself quiteindependent of the checks imposed by the Constitution. [3] Pitt (Lord Chatham) was one of the few public men of that day whowould neither give nor take a bribe; Walpole declared with entiretruth that the great majority of politicians could be bought, --it wasonly a question of price. The King appears to have economized in hisliving, in order to get more money to use as a corruption fund. SeeMay's "Constitutional History. "[4] "Personal monarchy": see S15 of this Summary. 29. The American Revolution. The King's power reached its greatest height between 1770 and 1782. He made most disastrous use of it, not only at home but abroad. Heinsisted that the English colonists in America should pay taxes, without representation in Parliament, even of that imperfect kindwhich then existed in Great Britain. This determination brought onthe American Revolution--called in England the "King's War" (SS549-552). The war, in spite of its ardent support by the "King'sFriends, " roused a powerful opposition in Parliament. Chatham, Burke, Fox, and other able men protested against the King's arbitrarycourse. Inally, Dunning moved and carried this resolution (1780) inthe Commons: "Resolved, that the power of the Crown has increased, isincreasing, and ought to be diminished" (S548). This vigorousproposition came too late to affect the conduct of the war, andEngland lost the most valuable of her colonial possessions. Thestruggle, which ended successfully for the patriots in America, was inreality part of the same battle fought in England by other patriots inthe halls of Parliament. On the western side of the Atlantic itresulted in the establishment of national independence; on the easternside, in the final overthrow of royal tyranny and the triumph of theconstitution. It furthermore laid the foundation of that just andgenerous policy on the part of England toward Canada and her othercolonies which has made her mistress of the largest and mostprosperous empire on the globe. [1] [1] The area of the British Empire in 1911 was nearly 12, 000, 000square miles. 30. John Wilkes and the Middlesex Elections; Publication of Parliamentary Debates. Meanwhile John Wilkes (S556), a member of the House of Commons, hadgained the recognition of a most important principle. He was a coarseand violent opponent of the royal policy, and had been expelled fromthe House on account of his bitter personal attack on the King. [2]Several years later (1768) he was reelected to Parliament, but wasagain expelled for seditious libel;[3] he was three times reelected bythe people of London and Middlesex, who looked upon him as thechampion of their cause; each time the House refused to permit him totake his seat, but at the fourth election he was successful. A fewyears later (1782) he induced the House to strike out from its journalthe resolution there recorded against him. [4] Thus Wilkes, by hisindomitable persistency, succeeded in establishing the right of thepeople to elect the candidate of their choice to Parliament. Duringthe same period the people gained another great victory overParliament. That body had utterly refused to permit the debates to bereported in the newspaperes. But the redoubtable Wilkes wasdetermined to obtain and publish such reports; rather than haveanother prolonged battle with him, Parliament conceded the privilege(1771) (S556). The result was that the public then, for the firsttime, began to know what business Parliament actually transactaed, andhow it was done. This fact, of course, rendered the members of bothHouses far more directly responsible to the will of the people thanthey had ever been before. [1] [2] In No. 45 of the _North Briton_ (1763) Wilkes rudely accused theKing of having deliberately uttered a falsehood in his speech toParliament. [3] The libel was contained in a letter written to the newspapers byWilkes. [4] The resolution was finally stricken out, on the ground that it was"subversive of the rights of the whole body of electors. "[1] The publication of Division Lists (equivalent to Yeas and Nays) bythe House of Commons in 1836 and by the Lords in 1857 completed thiswork. Since then the public have known how each member of Parliamentvotes on every important question. 31. The Reform Bills of 1832, 1867, 1884; Demand for "Manhood Suffrage. " But notwithstanding this decided political progress, still thegreatest reform of all--that of the system of electing members ofParliament--still remained to be accomplished. Cromwell had attemptedit (1654), but the Restoration put an end to the work which theProtector had so wisely begun. Lord Chatham felt the necessity sostrongly that he had not hesitated to declare (1766) that the systemof representation--or rather misrepresentation--which then existed wasthe "rotten part of the constitution. " "If it does not drop, " said he, "it must be amputated. " Later (1770), he became so alarmed at theprospect that he declared that "before the end of the century eitherthe Parliament will reform itself from within, or be reformed fromwithout with a vengeance" (S578). But the excitement caused by the French Revolution and the wars withNapoleon not only prevented any general movement of reform, but madeit possible to enact the Six Acts and other stringent laws againstagitation in that direction (S571). Finally, however, theunrepresented classes rose in their might (SS580-582), and by terribleriots made it evident that it would be dangerous for Parliament topostpone action on their demands. The Reform Bill--the "Great Charterof 1832"--swept away the "rotten boroughs, " which had disgraced thecountry. It granted the right of election to many large towns whichhad hitherto been unable to send members to Parliament, and it placedrepresentation on a broader, healthier, and more equuitable basis thanhad ever existed before (S582). It was a significant fact that whenthe first reformed Parliament met, composed largely of Liberals, itshowed its true spirit by abolishing slavery in the West Indies. Itwas followed by the Municipal Reform Act of 1835 (S599). Later(1848), the Chartists advocated further reforms (S591), most of whichhave since been adopted. In 1867 an act (S599), scarcely less important than that of 1832, broadened representation still further; and in 1884 the franchise wasagain extended (S599). A little later (1888) the County Council Actreconstructed the local self-government of the country in greatmeasure. [2] It was supplemented in 1894 by the Parish Council Act(S600). The cry is now for unrestricted "manhood suffrage, " on theprinciple of "one man one vote";[1] woman suffrage in a limited degreehas existed since 1869 (S599). [2] The "Local Government" Act: this gives to counties the managementof their local affairs and secures uniformity of method and ofadministration. [1] That is, the abolition of certain franchise privileges springingfrom the possession of landed property in different counties orparliamentary districts by which the owner of such property isentitled to cast more than one vote for a candidate for Parliament. 32. Extension of Religious Liberty; Admission of Catholics and Jews to Parliament, Free Trade. Meanwhile immense progress was made in extending the principles ofreligious liberty to all bodies of believers. After nearly threehundred years (or since the Second Act of Supremacy, 1559), Catholicswere admitted in 1829 to the House of Commons (S573);and in the nextgeneration, 1858, Jews were likewise admitted (S599). The Oaths Actof 1888 makes it impossible to exclude any one on account of hisreligious belief or unbelief (S599). Commercially the nation has made equal progress. The barbarous CornLaws (SS592, 594) were repealed in 1848, the narrow protective policyof centuries abandoned; and since that period England has practicallytaken its stand on unlimited free trade with all countries. 33. Condition of Ireland; Reform in the Land and the Church Laws; Civil-Service Reform; Education. In one direction, however, there had been no advance. Following theexample of Scotland (S513), Ireland was politically united to GreatBritain (S562); at the beginning of the century when the firstImperial Parliament met (1801), but long after the Irish Catholics hadobtained the right of representation in Parliament, they werecompelled to submit to unjust land laws, and also to contribute to thesupport of the Established (Protestant) Church in Ireland. Finally, through the efforts of Mr. Gladstone and others, this branch of theChurch was disestablished (1869) (S601); later (1870, 1881, 1903), important reforms were effected in th eIrish land laws (SS603, 605, 620). To supplement the great electoral reforms which had so widely extendedthe power of the popular vote, two other measures were now carried. One was that of Civil-Service Reform, 1870, which opened allclerkships and similar positions in the gift of the government to thefree competition of candidates, without regard to their politicalopinions (S609). This did away with most of that demoralizing systemof favoritism which makes government offices the spoils by whichsuccessful political parties reward "little men for little services. "The "secret ballot, " another measure of great importance, followed(1872) (S609). The same year, 1870, England, chiefly through Mr. Forster's efforts, took up the second measure, the question of national education. Theconviction gained ground that if the working classes are to vote, thenthey must not be allowed to remain in ignorance; the nation declared"we must educate our future masters. " In this spirit a system ofelementary government schools was established, which gives instructionto tens of thousands of children who hitherto were forced to grow upwithout its advantages (S602). These schools are not yet entirelyfree, although the legislation of 1891-1894 practically puts most ofthem on that basis. England now has a strong and broad foundation of national educationand of political suffrage. 34. Imperial Federation; Labor enters Parliament; Old Age Pensions; Budget of 1910; Veto Power of the Lords. The defeat of the Boers in the Great Boer War (1899-1902) led to thecompletion of the scheme of Imperial Federation, by the establishmentof the Union of South Africa (1910) as the fourth of the self-governing colonies, of which Australia, New Zealand, and Canada arethe other three. In 1906, in the reign of Edward VII, organized Labor secured for thefirst time adequate representation in Parliament, through theoverwhelming victory gained at the elections by the combined Liberaland Labor parties (S628). The "Laborites, " as they are popularlycalled, claim that their influence obtained the passage of the Old AgePensions Act of 1908. Two years later the Liberal Government compelled the Lords to accept aBudget calling for an enormous increase of taxes imposed in largemeasure on land and incomes and levied partly for the purpose ofpaying the new pensions (SS629, 630). The death of Edward VII, in the spring of 1910, brought George V tothe throne. He came at a critical time. Mr. Asquith, the LiberalPrime Minister, was then demanding that the veto power of the House ofLords should be limited or practically abolished so that in future theHouse of Commons should be distinctly recognized as the dominantfactor in the government (S631). In the summer of 1911 Mr. Asquith succeeded in passing his Veto Billrestricting the power of the House of Lords, and making it impossiblefor that body to resist any measures the Commons should resolutelyresolve to carry. He also passed the Salary Bill, by which members ofthe House of Commons are paid 400 pounds annually. Later, in 1911, hepassed the Workmen's Compulsory Insurance Bill against sickness andunemployment. The worker contributes a small sum weekly, his employerdoes the same, and the Government gives the rest. The law applies tomany millions of people and it is expected to do great good. These facts show that while England remains a monarchy in name, it hasnow become a republic in fact. A sovereign reigns, but the Peoplerule. The future is in their hands. CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS Abstract of the Articles of Magna Carta, 1215. 1. "The Church of England shall be free, and have her whole rights, and her liberties inviolable. " The freedom of elections ofecclesiastics by the Church is confirmed. 2-8. Feudal rightsguaranteed, and abuses remedied. 9-11. Treatment of debtorrsalleviated. 12. "No scutage or aid [except the three customary feudalaids] shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless by the Common Council ofthe realm. "[1] 13. London, and all towns, to have their ancientliberties. 14. The King binds himself to summon the Common Council ofthe realm respecting the assessing of an aid (except as provided in12) or a scutage. [1] 15, 16. Guarantee of feudal rights to tenants. 17-19. Provisions respecting holding certain courts. 20, 21. Ofamercements. They are to be proportionate to the offence, and imposedaccording to the oath of honest men in the neighborhood. Noamercement to touch the necessary means of subsistence of a free man, the merchandise of a merchant, or the agricultural tools of a villein;earls and barons to be amerced by their equals. 23-34. Miscellaneous, minor articles. 35. Weights and measures to be uniform. 36. Nothingshall be given or taken, for the future, for the Writ of Inquisitionof life or limb, but it shall be freely granted, and not denied. [2]37, 38. Provisions respecting land-tenure and trials at law. 39. "NOFREEMAN SHALL BE TAKEN OR IMPRISONED, OR DISSEIZED, OR OUTLAWED, ORBANISHED, OR ANY WAYS DESTROYED, NOR WILL WE PASS UPON HIM, NOR WILLWE SEND UPON HIM, UNLESS BY THE LAWFUL JUDGMENT OF HIS PEERS, OR BYTHE LAW OF THE LAND. " 40. "WE WILL SELL TO NO MAN, WE WILL NOT DENY TOANY MAN, EITHER JUSTICE OR RIGHT. " 41, 42. Provisions respectingmerchants, and freedom of entering and quitting the realm, except inwar time. 43-46. Minor provisions. 47, 48. Provisions disafforestingall forests seized by John, and guaranteeing forest rights tosubjects. 49-60. Various minor provisions. 62. Provision forcarrying out the charter by the barons in case the King fails in theperformance of his agreement. 63. The freedom of the Churchreaffirmed. Every one in the kingdom to have and hold his libertiesand rights. "Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named, and many others, in the meadow called Runnymede between Windsor andStains, the 15th day of June, in the 17th of our reign. " [Here isappended the King's seal. ] [1] These important articles were omitted when Magna Carta wasreissued in 1216 by Henry III. Stubbs says they were never restored:but Edward I, in his Confirmation of the Charters, seems to reaffirmthem. See the Confirmation; see also Gneist's "English Constitution, "II, 9. [2] This article is regarded by some authorities as the prototype ofthe statute of Habeas Corpus; others consider that it is implied inArticles 39-40. Confirmation of the Charters by Edward I, 1297. In 1297 Edward I confirmed Magna Carta and the Forest Charter grantedby Henry III in 1217 by letters patent. The document consists ofsevent articles, of which the following, namely, the sixth andseventh, are the most important. 6. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well toarchbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, as also to eaarls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that*for no business from henceforth will we take such manner of aids, tasks, nor prises but by the common consent of the realm, * and for thecommon profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due andaccustomed. 7. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realmfind themselves sore grieved with the maletote [i. E. An unjust tax orduty] of wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for everysack of wool, and have made petition to us to release the same; we, attheir requests, have clearly released it, and have granted for us andour heirs that we shall not take such thing nor any other withouttheir common assent and good will; saving to us and our heirs thecustom of wools, skins, and leather, granted before by the commonaltyaforesaid. In witness of which things we have caused these ourletters to be made patents. Witness Edward our son, at London, the10th day of October, the five-and-twentieth of our reign. And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same terms, wordfor word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's Great Seal, that isto say, at Ghent, the 5th day of November, in the 25th year of thereign of our aforesaid Lord the King, and sent into England. THE PETITION OF RIGHT June 7, 1628 The Petition exhibited to His Majesty by the Lords Spiritual andTemporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, concerningdivers Rights and Liberties of the Subjects, with the King's Majesty'sRoyal Answer thereunto in full. Parliament. TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY: Humbly show unto our SovereignLord the King, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons inParliament assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by astatute made in the time of the reign of King Edward the First, commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non concedendo, [1] that notallage [here, a tax levied by the King upon the lands of the crown, and upon all royal towns] or aid shall be laid or levied by the Kingor his heirs in this realm, without the goodwill and assent of theArchbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses, and other thefreemen of the commonalty of this realm: and by authority ofParliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the reign of KingEdward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that from henceforth noperson shall be compelled to make any loans to the King against hiswill, because such loans were against reason and the franchise of theland; and by other laws of this realm it is provided, that none shouldbe charged by any charge or imposition, called a Benevolence, or bysuch like charge, by which the statutes before-mentioned, and otherthe good laws and statutes of this realm, your subjects have inheritedthis freedom, that they shuld not be compelled to contribute to anytax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by common consent inParliament. [1] A statute concerning tallage not granted by Parliament. This isnow held not to have been a statute. See Gardiner's "Documents of thePuritan Revolution, " p. 1. It is considered by Stubbs an unauthorizedand imperfect abstract of Edward I's Confirmation of the Charters--which see. Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to sundryCommissioners in several counties with instructions have issued; bymeans whereof your people have been in divers places assembled, andrequired to lend certain sums of money unto your Majesty, and many ofthem upon their refusal so to do, have had an oath administered untothem, not warrantable by the laws or statutes of this realm, and havebeen constrained to become bound to make appearance and giveattendance before your Privy Council, and in other places, and othersof them have been therefore imprisoned, confined, and sundry otherways molested and disquieted: and divers other charges have been laidand levied upon your people in several counties, by Lords Lieutenants, Deputy Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices of Peace andothers, by command or direction from your Majesty or your PrivyCouncil, against the laws and free customs of this realm: And where also by the statute called, "The Great Charter of theLiberties of England, " it is declared and enacted, that no freeman maybe taken or imprisoned or be disseized of his freeholds or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled; or in any mannerdestroyed, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law ofthe land: And in the eighth and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward theThird, it was declared and enacted by authority of Parliament, that noman of what estate or condition that he be, should be put out of hislands or tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disenherited, norput to death, without being brought to answer by due process of law: Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and other thegood laws and statutes of your realm, to that end provided, divers ofyour subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause showed, and when for their deliverance they were brought before your Justices, by your Majesty's writs of Habeas Corpus, there to undergo and receiveas the Court should order, and their keepers commanded to certify thecauses of their detainer; no cause was certified, but that they weredetained by your Majesty's special command, signified by the Lords ofyour Privy Council, and yet were returned back to several prisons, without being charged with anything to which they might make answeraccording to law: And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have beendispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitantsagainst their wills have been compelled to receive them into theirhouses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws andcustoms of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of thepeople: And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have beendispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitantsagainst their wills have been compelled to receive them into theirhouses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws andcustoms of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of thepeople: And whereas also by authority of Parliament, in the 25th year of thereign of King Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that noman shall be forejudged of life or limb against the form of the GreatCharter, and the law of the land: and by the said Great Charter andother the laws and statutes of this your realm, no man ought to beadjudged to death; but by the laws established in this your realm, either by the customs of the same realm or by Acts of Parliament: andwhereas no offender of what kind soever is exempted from theproceedings to be used, and punishments to be inflicted by th elawsand statutes of this your realm; nevertheless of late diverscommissions under your Majesty's Great Seal have issued forth, bywhich certain persons have been assigned and appointed Commissionerswith power and authority to proceed within the land, according to thejustice of martial law against such soldiers and mariners, or otherdissolute persons joining with them, as should commit any murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or misdemeanour whatsoever, and by such summary course and order, as is agreeable to martial law, and is used in armies in time of war, to proceed to the trial andcondemnation of such offenders, and them to cause to be executed andput to death, according to the law martial: By pretext whereof, some of your Majesty's subjects have been by someof the said Commissioners put to death, when and where, if by the lawsand statutes of the land they had deserved death, by the same laws andstatutes also they might, and by no other ought to have been, adjudgedand executed. And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof, claiming anexemption, have escaped the punishments due to them by the laws andstatutes of this your realm, by reason that divers of your officersand ministers of justice have unjustly refused, or forborne to proceedagainst such offenders according to the same laws and statutes, uponpretence that the said offenders were punishable only by martial law, and by authority of such commissions as aforesaid, which commissions, and all other of like nature, are wholly and directly contrary to thesaid laws and statutes of this your realm: They do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Majesty, that no manhereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent by Act of Parliament;and that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to giveattendance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquietedconcerning the same, or for refusal thereof; and that no freeman, inany such manner as is before-mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; andthat your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said soldiers andmariners, and that your people may not be so burdened in time to come;and that the foresaid commissions for proceeding by martial law may berevoked and annulled; and that hereafter no commissions of like naturemay issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever, to be executed asaforesaid, lest by colour of them any of your Majesty's subjects bedestroyed or put to death, contrary to the laws and franchise of theland. All which they most humbly pray of your Most Excellent Majesty, astheir rights and liberties according to the laws and statutes of thisrealm: and that your Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare, that theawards, doings, and proceedings to the prejudice of your people, inany of the premises, shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence orexample: and that your Majesty would be also graciously pleased, forthe further comfort and safety of your people, to declare your royalwill and pleasure, that in the things aforesaid all your officers andministers shall serve you, according to the laws and statutes of thisrealm, as they tender the honour of your Majesty, and the prosperityof this kingdom. [Which Petition being read the 2d of June, 1628, th eKing gave thefollowing evasive and unsatisfactory answer, instead of the usual one, given below. ] The King willeth that right be done according to the laws and customsof the realm: and that the statutes be put in due execution, that hissubjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservationwhereof he holds himself as well obliged as of his prerogative. On June 7 the King decided to make answer in the accustomed form, Soitdroit fait comme est desir'e. [Equivalent to the form of royal assent, "Le roi (or la reine) le veult, " meaning "the King grants it. " On thePetition of Right, see Hallam and compare Gardiner's "England"; andhis "Documents of the Puritan Revolution. "] The Bill of Rights, 1689. This Bill consists of thirteen Articles, of which the following is anabstract. It begins by stating that "Whereas the late King James II, by the advice of divers evil counsellors, judges, and ministersemployed by him, did endeavor to subvert and extirpate the Protestantreligion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom:" 1. Bydispensing with and suspending the laws without consent of Parliament. 2. By prosecuting worthy bishops for humbly petitioning him to beexcused for concurring in the same assumed power. 3. By erecting aHigh Commission Court. 4. By levying money without consent ofParliament. 5. By keeping a standing army in time of peace withoutconsent of Parliament. 6. By disarming Protestants and arming Papists. 7. By violating the freedom of elections. 8. By arbitrary and illegalprosecutions. 9. By putting corrupt and unqualified persons on juries. 10. By requiring excessive bail. 11. By imposing excessive fines andcruel punishments. 12. By granting fines and forfeiture againstpersons before their conviction. It is then declared that "the late King James the Second havingabdicated the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, "therefore the Prince of Orange ("whom it hath pleased Almighty God tomake the glorious instrument of delivering their kingdom from Poperyand arbitrary power") did by the advice of "the Lords Spiritual andTemporal, and divers principal persons of the Commons "summon aConvention Parliament. " This Convention Parliament declares, that the acts above enumeratedare contrary to the law. They then bestow the Crown on William andMary--the sole regal power to be vested only in the Prince of Orange--and provide that after the decease of William and Mary the Crown shalldescend "to the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and, fordefault of such issue, to the Princess Anne of Denmark[1] and theheirs of her body; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of thebody of the said Prince of Orange. " [1] The Princess Anne, sister of the Princess Mary, married PrinceGeorge of Denmark in 1683; hence she is here styled "the Princess ofDenmark. " Here follow new oaths of allegiance and supremacy in lieu of thoseformerly required. The subsequent articles are as follows: IV. Recites the acceptance ofthe Crown by William and Mary. V. The Convention Parliament to providefor "the settlement of the religion, laws, and liberties of theKingdom. " VI. All the clauses in the Bill of Rights are "the true, ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of thisKingdom. " VII. Recognition and declaration of William and Mary as Kingand Queen. VIII. Repetition of the settlement of the Crown andlimitations of the succession. IX. Exclusion from the Crown of allpersons holding communion with the "Church of Rome" or who "professthe Popish religion" or who "shall marry a Papist. " X. Every King orQueen hereafter succeeding to the Crown to assent to the Act[i. E. Disabling Act of 1678 (S478)] "disabling Papists from sitting ineither House of Parliament. " XI. The King and Queen assent to all thearticles of the Bill of Rights. XII. The Dispensing Power (S488, note 1) abolished. XIII. Exception made in favor of charters, grants, and pardons made before October 23, 1689. The Act of Settlement, 1700-1701. [2] Excludes Roman Catholics from succession to the Crown; and declaresthat if a Roman Catholic obtains th eCrown, "the people of theserealms shall be and are thereby absolved of their allegiance. " Settlesthe Crown on the Electress Sophia, [3] and "the heirs of her body beingProtestants. " Requires the sovereign to join in communion with theChurch of England. No war to be undertaken in defence of anyterritories not belonging to the English Crown except with the consentof Parliament. Judges to hold their office during good behavior. Nopardon by the Crown to be pleadable against an impeachment by theHouse of Commons (S488). [2] This act, says Taswell-Langmead, is "the Title Deed of thereigning Dynasty, and a veritable original contract between the Crownand the People. "[3] The Electress Sophia was the granddaughter of James I: she marriedthe Elector of Hanover, and became mother of George I. Seegenealogical table of Descent of the English Sovereigns in theAppendix. MISCELLANEOUS ACTS AND LAWS I. The Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164. These measures (S165), says Bishop Stubbs, were "really a part of agreat scheme of administrative reform. " They were drawn up by acommittee of bishops and barons, with the Justiciar or Chief Ministerat the head. The object of the Constitutions was "to assert thesupremacy of the State over clergy and laity alike. " They limited thejurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts; they established a moreuniform system of justice; and, in certain cases, they provided for akind of jury trial (see Stubb's "Constitutional History, " I, 525; or, for a brief abstract of the Constitutions, see Acland and Ransome's"Political History, " p. 24). II. Bill of Attainder, 1321. This was a bill (first used apparently in 1321) passed by Parliament, which might in itself decree sentence of death (SS351, 356). Originally, the blood of a person held to be convicted of treason orfelony was declared to be *attainted* or corrupted so that his powerto inherit, transmit, or hold property was destroyed. AfterHenry VIII's reign the law was modified so as not to work "corruptionof blood" in the case of new felonies. Under the Stuarts, Bills ofAttainder were generally brought only in cases where the Commonsbelieved that impeachment would fail, --as in the cases of Straffordand Laud. It should be noticed that in an Impeachment the Commonsbring the accusation, and the Lords act as judges; but that in a Billof Attainder the Commons--that is, the accusers--themselves act asjudges, as well as the Lords. III. The Great Statutes of Praemunire, 1393. This statute, (first passed in 1353) was reenacted in 1393 to checkthe power claimed by the Pope in England in cases which interferedwith power claimed by the King, as in appeals made to the Court ofRome respecting Church matters, over which the King's court hadjurisdiction. The statute received its name from th ewrit served onthe party who had broken the law: "Praemunire facias, A. B. "; that is, "Cause A. B. To be forewarned" that he appear before us to answer thecontempt with which he stands charged. Henry VIII made use of thisstatute in order to compel the clergy to accept his supremacy over theEnglish Church (SS265, 346, 348). IV. Habeas Corpus Act, 1679. The name of this celebrated statute is derived from its referring tothe opening words of the writ: "Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum. "Sir James Mackintosh declares that the essence of the statute iscontained in clauses 39, 40 of Magna Carta--which see. The right toHabeas Corpus was conceded by the Petition of Right and also by theStatute of 1640. But in order to better secure the liberty of thesubject and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas, theHabeas Corpus Act of 1679 was enacted, regulating the issue and returnof writs of Habeas Corpus. The principal provisions of the Act are: 1. Jailers (except in casesof commitment for treason or felony) must within three days of thereception of the writ produce the prisoner in court, unless the courtis at a distance, when the time may be extended to twenty days at themost. 2. A jailer, refusing ot do this, forfeits 100 pounds for thefirst offence, and 200 pounds for the second. 3. No one set at libertyupon any Habeas Corpus to be recommitted for the same offsense exceptby the court having jurisdiction of the case. 4. The Act not to applyto cases of debt. V. Abstract of the Parliament Act (or Veto Act, S631), 18th August, 1911. The Preamble states that "it is intended to substitute for the Houseof Lords, as it at present exists, a Second Chamber *constituted on apopular instead of hereditary basis, * but such substitution cannot beimmediately brought into operation": therefore "it is expedient otomake such provision as in this Act appears for restricting theexisting powers of the House of Lords" (i. E. The power of the Lords toveto bills sent them by the Commons). 1. If a Money Bill--that is, a Public Bill concerning taxation or theappropriation of money or the raising of a loan, etc. --shall be passedbyy the House of Commons, but shall not be passed by the House ofLords, within one month, then it shall become law without the consentof the Lords. 2. If any Public Bill (other than a Money Bill or a bill providing forthe extension of the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years)shall be passed by the House of Commons in three successive sessions(whether of the same Parliament or not) and shall be rejected by theHouse of Lords in each of those sessions, "that Bill shall on itsrejection for the third time by the House of Lords, unless the Houseof Commons direct to the contrary, become an Act of Parliament, without the consent of the Lords, provided that two years have elapsedsince the Bill was introduced and passed by the House of Commons. " 7. Five years shall be substituted for seven years as the time fixedfor the maximum duration of Parliament under the Septennial Act of1715[1] (S535). See "The Public General Statutes, " of Great Britain and Ireland, for1911; Chapter 13, pp. 38-40. [1] This date is usually given 1716. VI. William the Conqueror's Charter to London (S107). "William, the King, greets William the Bishop, and Gosfrith thePort-reeve [or chief officer of the city] and all the burghers [orcitizens] within London, French and English, friendly: and I do you towit that I will that ye twain be worthy of all the law that ye wereworthy of in King Edward's day. And I will not endure that any manoffer any wrong to you. God keep you. " Taswell-Langmead's "English Constitutional History, " Chapter 1, p. 18. E. A. Freeman, in his "Norman Conquest, " IV, 29, says that Williamsigned this charter with a cross (in addition to his seal, which wasattached to the document), but Dr. R. R. Sharpe, in his "History ofLondon and the Kingdom, " I, 34, note 1, states that "this appears tobe a mistake. " Dr. Sharpe is the "Records Clerk" of the City, and heshows that there is no trace of any cross on the charter, which is nowpreserved in Guildhall Library, London. DESCENT OF THE ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS FROM EGBERT TO GEORGE V* 1. Egbert (descended from Cerdic, 495), first "King of the English, " H 828-8372. Ethelwulf, 837-858 H H================================================= H H H H3. Ethelbald, 4. Ethelbert, 5. Ethelred I, 6. Alfred, 858-860 860-866 866-871 871-901 H =======================*=============== H * * 7. Edward I, 901-925 15. Sweyn, the Dane, 1013 H | ========================== \________ H H H \8. Ethelstan 9. Edmund 10. Edred, 17. Canute, 925-940 940-946 946-955 1017-1035 H | ============ ------------------------- H H | * |11. Edwin, 12. Edgar 18. Harold * * 19. Hardicanute 955-959 959-975 1035-1040 Richard I 1040-1042 H Duke of Normandy H H ================*============= H============== H * * H H H13. Edward II Elgiva, ? m. 14. Ethelred II, m. (2) Emma Richard II, 975-979 H 979-1016 H * Duke of 16. Edmund II =================H* * Normandy (Ironside), H Godwin, Earl H 1016-1016 20. Edward III, of Kent H H the Confessor, H H Edgar Atheling, 1042-1066, second ______H H grandson of Edward II cousin of William | H H [should have succeeded the Conqueror, m. Edith H H Harold II (No. 21)] H H 21. Harold II, H----------------------------- 1066-1066, slain H * This sign shows that the| at Hastings, 1066 H* * person over whose name | Hit stands was not in the | Robert, Duke of Normandydirect line of descent. | H----------------------------- THE NORMAN KINGS 22. William the Conqueror 1066-1087, second cousin of Edward the Confessor (No. 20) m. Matilda of Flanders, a direct descendant of Alfred the Great, (No. 6) H ================================== H H H 23. William II, +24. Henry I, Adela 1087-1100 1100-1135 H H 25. Stephen Maud, or of Blois, Matilda, m. 1135-1154 (2) Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou H THE HOUSE OF ANJOU ++Henry II, 1154-1189 H =================================== H H H 27. Richard I Geoffrey 28. John (Lackland), (Coeur de Lion), H 1199-1216 1189-1199 Arthur, murdered H by John? 29. Henry III, 1216-1272 H =================================================30. Edward I, 1272-1307 H -----------------------------------------------31. Edward II, 1307-1327 | * The heavy lines indicate the Saxon or Early H | Norman sovereigns with their successors. 32. Edward III, 1327-1377 | + Henry I (No 24) m. Matilda of Scotland, a H | descendant of Edmund II (Ironside) (No 16). H |++ Henry II m. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the H | divorced queen of France, thereby acquiring H | large possessions in Southern France. H ----------------------------------------------- H ============================================================= H | H HEdward, the Lionel, Duke John of Gaunt Edmund LangleyBlack Prince of Clarence Duke of Lancaster Duke of York H | H------------------ H33. Richard Philippa, m. HOUSE OF LANCASTER | HII, 1377-1399 Edmund Mortimer 34. Henry IV, 1399- John Richard, | H 1413 Beaufort Earl of ------------------ 35. Henry V, Earl of Cambridge, | 1413-1422, m. _*_ _Somerset++ _m. Anne |-------------- Catharine of / * * | Mortimer. | | Valois, who m. (2)Owen John Beau- (See +Edmund Mortimer Anne H / Tudor fort, Duke dotted Mortimer, m. - - -H- - - - H of Somer- line) 36. Henry VI, Edmund set H_______________________ 1422-1462, m. Tudor, | Richard, Duke*Richard II, before he| Margaret of Earl of | of York, d. 1460was deposed, had named| Anjou Richmond, m. Margaret HRoger Mortimer as his | H H Beaufort. =========successor, but Roger | Edward H HOUSE OF YORKdied before the King | Prince of Wales H 37. Edward 39. Rich-+Edmund Mortimer, son | m. (?) Anne Neville H IV, 1461- ard III, of Roger Mortimer, | who later m. Richard H 1483 1483-1485stood in the order of | H H m. Annesuccession after Rich-| H ============ Neville**ard II, but his claim | HOUSE OF TUDOR H Hwas not allowed. He | 40. Henry VII, m. Elizabeth 38. Edward Vdied 1424. | ++1485-1509 of York (murdered in H the Tower by =================================---------------- Richard III?), H H | 1483-148341. Henry VIII, 1509-1547, Margaret Tudor, Mary, m. M. (1) Catharine of Aragon, (2) m. James (Stuart) Charles BrandonAnne Boleyn, (3) Jane Seymour, IV, King of Scoland Duke of Suffolk(4) Anne of Cleves, (5) Catharine H |Howard, (6) Catherine Parr James (Stuart) V Frances Brandon, H H m. Henry Grey, Duke of ======================= &Mary Queen of Suffolk H H H Scots, beheaded, 1587 |43. Mary (d. 44. Eliza- 42. Edward H Lady Jane Greyof 1), 1553-1558, beth (d. VI (s. Of H (m. Lord Dudley), m. Philip II of 2), 1558- 3), 1558- H beheaded, 1554 of Spain 1603 1553 H H HOUSE OF STUART 45. James (Stuart) I of England 1603-1625 H =============================================== H H 46. Charles I, Elizabeth, m. Frederick, Elector-Palatine 1625-1649++ H H Sophia, m. The Elector of Hanover =============================== H H H H HOUSE OF HANOVER47. Charles II, 48. James II, Mary, m. William 51. George, Elector of 1660-1685 1685-1688 II of Orange Hanover, became George I H H of England, 1714-1727 ======================= 49. William III H H H H of Orange, became 52. George II, 1727-49. Mary, 50. Anne, James William III of 1760m. William 1702-1714 (the Old England, 1689- HIII of Or- Pretender), 1702 Frederick, Prince of Walesange, afterward b. 1688, (died before coming to the throne)William III of d. 1765 H England | 53. George III, 1760-1820 Charles, (the Young H Pretender), b. 1720, d. 1788 =============================== H H H 54. George IV, 55. William IV, Edward, 1820-1830 1830-1837 Duke of Kent, _________________________________________________ d. 1820++Henry VII (called Henry of Richmond and Henry | Hof Lancaster): by his marriage with Elizabeth | 56. Victoria, of York, the rival claims of the houses of | 1837-1901Lancaster and York were settled and the house of| HTudor began. | 57. Edward VII, & Mary Queen of Scots stood next in order of | 1901-1910succession after Mary (No. 43), provided Henry |_________ HVIII's marriage with Catharine, or his marriage with | 58. George V, Catharine of Aragon (Mary's mother) was not held to have | 1910-been dissolved. The Pope never recognized Henry's |divorce from Catharine, or his marriage with Anne Boleyn, |and therefore supported Mary Queen of Scots in her claim |to the English crown after Mary's (43) death in 1558. |** Richard III (No. 39) married Anne Neville, widow (?) |of Edward, Prince of Wales (son of Henry VI), slain at |Tewkesbury. |++ Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660 | A CLASSIFIED LIST OF BOOKS OF ENGLISH HISTORY [The * marks contemporary or early history] N. B. A selected list of twenty-eight works, especially adapted to theuse of teachers and pupils for reference and collateral reading, isgiven on this first page. It includes names of publishers withprices. General Histories Oman, C. History of England (earliest times to the present). 7 vols. Putnam's Sons, N. Y. ($3. 00 per vol. ). Gardiner, S. R. A Student's History of England, illustrated, 3 vols. Longmans, N. Y. ($3. 50); or bound in one very thick volume ($3. 00). Tout, T. F. History of England, 1 vol. Longmans, N. Y. ($1. 50). Gardiner, S. R. English History. Holt, N. Y. (80 cents). (For young folks. )Smith, Goldwin. The United Kingdom, a Political History, 2 vols. The Macmillan Company, N. Y. ($4. 00). Bright, J. F. History of England, 4 vols. Longmans, N. Y. ($6. 75). Green, J. R. A Short History of the English People, 1 vol. Harper & Bros. , N. Y. ($2. 00); the same beautifully illustrated, 4 vols. ($20. 00). Brewer, J. S. The Student's Hume, 1 vol. Murray, London (7s 6d). Creighton, M. Epochs of English History, 6 small vols. In one. Longmans, N. Y. ($1. 25). Knight, C. The Popular History of England, 9 vols. , illustrated. Warne, London (5 pounds 3s. ). English Constitutional History Ransome, C. Rise of Constitutional Government in England, 1 vol. Longmans, N. Y. ($2. 00). (An excellent short constitutional history. )Taswell-Langmead, T. P. English Constitutional Histry, new and revised edition, 1 vol. Stevens & Haynes, London ($3. 12). (This is the best complete constitutional history of England. )Feilden, H. St. C. A Short Constitutional History of England (revised edition), 1 vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($1. 25). (This is a reference manual of exceptional value. ) General Works of Reference Cannon, H. L. Reading References for English History, 1 vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($2. 50). (This is a work practically indispensible to both teachers and students. See further, p. Xl. )Low and Pulling. Dictionary of English History (revised edition), 1 vol. Cassell, N. Y. ($3. 50). Gardiner, S. R. A School Atlas of English History, 1 vol. Longmans, N. Y. ($1. 50). Lee, G. C. Source-Book of English History (giving leading documents, etc. ), 1 vol. Holt & Co. , N. Y. ($2. 00). Cheyney, E. P. Readings in English History, 1 vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($1. 80). Kendall, E. K. Source-Book of English History, 1 vol. The Macmillan Company, N. Y. (80 cents). Acland and Ransome. English Political History in Outline. Longmans, N. Y. ($1. 25). (Excellent for reference. )Powell, J. York. English History from Contemporary Writers, 16 vols. Nutt & Co. , London (1s. Per vol. ) (A series of great value. )Cheyney, E. P. Industrial and Social History of England, 1 vol. The Macmillan Company, N. Y. ($1. 40). Gibbins, H. De B. An Industrial History of England, 1 vol Scribner's, N. Y. ($1. 20). Cunningham and MacArthur. Outlines of English Industrial History. The Macmillan Company, N. Y. ($1. 50). Church, A. J. Early Britain. (Story of the Nations Series. ) Putnams, N. Y. ($1. 50). Story, A. T. The Building of the British Empire, 2 vols. Putnams, N. Y. ($3. 00). McCarthy, J. The Story of the People of England in the XIXth Century, 2 vols. Putnams, N. Y. ($3. 00). ----- Works of Reference to be found in Libraries Hunt, W. , and Poole, R. L. Political History of England (earliest times to the present). 12 vols. Traill, H. D. Social England, 6 vols. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 29 vols. Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 10 vols. Nelson's Encyclopaedia, 12 vols. The International Encyclopaedia, 17 vols. The New Encyclopaedia Americana, 15 vols. The Catholic Encyclopaedia, 15 vols. The Jewish Encyclopaedia, 12 vols. Stephen, L. Dictionary of National [British] Biography, 66 vols. (A work of the highest rank. )Adams's Manual of Historical Literature. Mullinger's Authorities on English History. Bailey's Succession to the Crown (with full genealogical tables). Henderson's Side Lights on English History. Poole's Index to Reviews. I. The Prehistoric Period Dawkin's's Early Man in Britain. Wright's The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon. Elton's Origins of English History. Rhys's Celtic Britain. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary). Geike's Influence of Geology on English History, in Macmillan's Magazine, 1882. II. The Roman Period, 55, 54 B. C. ; A. D. 43-410 *Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War (Books IV and V, chiefly 55, 54 B. C. )*Tacitus' Agricola and Annals (chiefly from 78-84). *Gildas' History of Britain (whole period). *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (whole period). Wright's The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon. Elton's Origins of English History. Pearson's England during the Early and Middle Ages. Scarth's Roman Britain. [1] [1] The best short history. III. The Saxon or Early English Period, 449-1066 *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (whole period). *Gildas' History of Britain (Roman Conquest to 560). *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (earliest times to 731). *Nennius' History of Britain (earliest times to 642). *Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary) (earliest times to 689). *Asser's Life of Alfred the Great. Elton's Origins of English History. Pauli's Life of Alfred. Green's Making of England. Green's Conquest of England. Freeman's Norman Conquest, Vols. I-II. Pearson's History of England during the Early and Middle Ages. Freeman's Origin of the English Nation. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Taine's History of English Literature. Church's Beginning of the Middle Ages. Armitage's Childhood of the English Nation. [2]Freeman's Early English History. [2] [2] The two best short histories. IV. The Norman Period 1066-1154 *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Peterborough continuation) (whole period)*Ordericus Vitalis' Ecclesiastical History (to 1141). *Wace's Roman de Rou (Taylor's translation) (to 1106). *Bruce's Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated (with plates). *William of Malmesbury's Chronicle (to 1142). *Roger of Hoveden's Chronicle (whole period). Freeman's Norman Conquest. Church's Life of Anselm. Taine's History of English Literature. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Freeman's Short History of the Norman Conquest. [3]Armitage's Childhood of the English Nation. [3]Johnson's Normans in Europe. [3]Creighton's England a Continental Power. [3] [3] The four best short histories. V. The Angevin Period, 1154-1399 *Matthew Paris's Chronicle (1067-1253). *Richard of Devizes's Chronicle (1189-1192). *Froissart's Chronicles (1325-1400). *Jocelin of Brakelonde's Chronicle (1173-1102) (see Carlyle's Past and Present, Book II). Norgate's Angevin Kings. Taine's History of English Literature. Anstey's William of Wykeham. Pearson's England in the Early and Middle Ages. Maurice's Stephen Langton. Creighton's Life of Simon de Montfort. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Gairdner and Spedding's Studies in English History (the Lollards). Blade's Life of Caxton. Seebohm's Essay on the Black Death, in Fortnightly Review, 1865. Maurice's Wat Tyler, Ball, and Oldcastle. Gibbins's English Social Reformers (Langland and John Ball). Buddensieg's Life of Wiclif. J. York Powell's History of England. Burrows's Wicklif's Place in History. Pauli's Pictures of Old England. Stubbs's Early Plantagenets. [1]Rowley's Rise of the People. [1]Warburton's Edward III. [1]Shakespeare's John and Richard (Hudson's edition). Scott's Ivanhoe and The Talisman (Richard I and John). [1] The three best short histories. VI. The Lancastrian Period, 1399-1461 *The Paston Letters (Gairdner's edition) (1424-1506). *Fortescue's Governance of England (Plummer's edition) (1460?). *Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509). Brougham's England under the House of Lancaster. Besant's Life of Sir Richard Whittington. Taine's English Literature. Rand's Chaucer's England. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Strickland's Queens of England (Margaret of Anjou). Reed's English History in Shakespeare. Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York. [2]Rowley's Rise of the People. [2]Shakespeare's Henry IV, V, and VI (Hudson's edition). [2] The two best short histories. VII. The Yorkist Period, 1461-1485 *The Paston Letters (Gairdner's edition) (1424-1506)*Sir Thomas More's Edward V and Richard III*Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509)Hallam's Middle Ages. Gairdner's Richard III. Taine's English Literature. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York. [2]Rowley's Rise of the People. [2]Shakespeare's Henry IV, V, and VI (Hudson's edition). [2] The two best short histories. VIII. The Tudor Period, 1461-1485. *Holinshed's History of England (from earliest times to 1577). *Lord Bacon's Life of Henry VII. *Latimer's 1st and 6th Sermons before Edward VI and "The Ploughers" (1549). *Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509). Hallam's Constitutional History of England. Lingard's History of England (Catholic) 13 vols. Brewer's Reign of Henry VIII. Creighton's Cardinal Wolsey. Gibbins's Social Reformers (Sir Thomas More). Froude's History of England. Strickland's Queens of England (Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Mary, Elizabeth). Demaus's Life of Latimer. Froude's Short Studies. Nicholls's Life of Cabot. Dixon's History of the Church of England. Hall's Society in the Age of Elizabeth. Thornbury's Shakespeare's England. Macaulay's Essay on Lord Burleigh. Barrows's Life of Drake. Creighton's Life of Raleigh. [3]Seebohm's Era of the Protestant Revolution. [3]Moberly's Early Tudors. [3]Creighton's Age of Elizabeth. [3]Shakespeare's Henry VIII (Hudson's edition). Scott's Kenilworth, Abbot, Monastery (Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots). [3] The four best short histories. IX. The Stuart Period (First Part), 1603-1649 *The Prose Works of James I (1599-1625)Jesse's Memoirs of the Court of England. *Fuller's Church History of Britain (earliest times to 1648). *Clarendon's History of the Rebellion (1625-1660). *Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson (1616-1664). *May's History of the Long Parliament (1640-1643). Carlyle's Historical Sketches of Reigns of James I and Charles I. Taine's History of English Literature. Spedding's Lord Bacon and his Times. Gardiner's History of England (1603-1649). Church's Life of Lord Bacon. Hallam's Constitutional History of England. Hume's History of England (Tory). Macaulay's History of England (Whig). Lingard's History of England (Catholic). 13 vols. Strickland's Queens of England. 10 vols. Ranke's History of England in the Seventeenth Century. 5 vols. Macaulay's Essays (Bacon, Hampden, Hallam's History). Goldwin Smith's Three English Statesmen (Cromwell, Pym, Hampden). Cordery's Struggle against Absolute Monarchy. [1]Cordery and Phillpott's King and Commonwealth. [1]Gardiner's Puritan Revolution. [1]Scott's Fortunes of Nigel (James I). [1] The three best short histories. X. The Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660 (see Preceding Period) Gardiner's History of England (1649-1660). *Ludlow's Memoirs (1640-1668). *Carlyle's Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell. Carlyle's Hero Worship (Cromwell). Guizot's Cromwell and the Commonwealth. Morley's Cromwell. Roosevelt's Cromwell. Guizot's Richard Cromwell. Guizot's Life of Monk. Masson's Life and Times of Milton. Bisset's Omitted Chapters in the History of England. Pattison's Life of Milton. Scott's Woodstock (Cromwell). XI. Stuart Period (Second Part) 1660-1714 *Evelyn's Diary (1641-1706). *Pepys's Diary (1659-1669). *Burnet's History of his Own Time (1660-1713). Macaulay's History of England (Whig). Hallam's Constitutional History of England. Taine's History of English Literature. Strickland's Queens of England. Ranke's History of England in the Seventeenth Century. Hume's History of England (Tory). Brewster's Life of Newton. Lingard's History of England (Catholic). 13 vols. Green's History fo the English People. Stanhope's History of England. Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth Century. Macaulay's Essays (Milton, Mackintosh's History, War of the Spanish Succession, and The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration). Creighton's Life of Marlborough. Guizot's History of Civilization (Chapter XIII). Morris's Age of Anne. [1]Hale's Fall of the Stuarts. [1]Cordery's Struggle against Absolute Monarchy. [1]Scott's Peveril of the Peak and Old Mortality (Charles II). Thackeray's Henry Esmond (Anne). XII. The Hanoverian Period, 1714 to the Present time *Memoirs of Robert Walpole. *Horace Walpole's Memoir's and Journals. Hallam's Constitutional History of England (to the death of George II, *1760). May's Constitutional History (1760-1870). Amos's English Constitution (1830-1880). Bagehot's English Constitution. Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth Century. Walpole's History of England (1815-1816). Molesworth's History of England (1830-1870). Martineau's History of England (1816-1846). Taine's History of English Literature. Gibbins's Social Reformers (Wesley and Wilberforce; and the Factory Reformers)Lecky's American Revolution (edited by Professor J. A. Woodburn). Bancroft's History of the United States. Bryant's History of the United States. Stanhope's History of England (1713-1783). Green's Causes of the Revolution. Seeley's Expansion of England. Frothingham's Rise of the Republic. Southey's Life of Wesley. Southey's Life of Nelson. Wharton's Wits and Beaux of Society. Waite's Life of Wellington. Massey's Life of George III. Smith's, Goldwin, Lectures (Foundation of the American Colonies). Macaulay's Essays (Warren Hastings, Clive, Pitt, Walpole, Chatham, Johnson, Madame D'Arblay). Scott's Rob Roy, Waverley, and Redgauntlet (the Old and the Young Pretender, 1715, 1735-1753). Thackeray's Virginians (Washington). Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (1780). Smiles's Life of James Watt. Smith's, Sydney, Peter Plymley's Letters. Smiles's Life of Stephenson. Thackeray's Four Georges. McCarthy's Four Georges. Smiles's Industrial Biography. Allen's, Grant, Life of Darwin. Ashton's Dawn of the XIXth Century in England. Ludlow's American Revolution. [1]Rowley's Settlement of the Constitution (1689-1784). [1]Morris's Early Hanoverians (George I and II). [1]McCarthy's Epoch of Reform (1830-1850). [1]Tancock's England during the American and European Wars (1765-1820). [1]Browning's Modern England (1820-1874). [1]McCarthy's History of Our Own Times (1837-1897). McCarthy's England under Gladstone (1880-1884). Ward's Reign of Victoria (1837-1887). Bolton's Famous English Statesmen of Queen Victoria's Reign. Hinton's English Radical Leaders. Gibbins's Social Reformers (Kingsley, Carlyle, and Ruskin). Traill's Social England, Vol. VI. Adams's, Brooks, America's Economic Supremacy. Escott's Victorian Age. The article on Victoria in the Dictionary of National [British] Biography, Vol. LX. The English Illustrated Magazine for July 1897. [2]The Contemporary Review for June, 1897. [2]The Fortnightly Review for June, 1897. [2]King Edward VII. See Poole's Index to Reviews for 1910. McCarthy's History of Our Own Times (to accession of George V). [1] The nine best short histories. [2] Contain valuable articles on the Victorian Era, giving generalview of the reign. SPECIAL READING REFERENCES ON TOPICS OF ENGLISH HISTORY[1] I. See, on this whole subject, Professor H. L. Cannon's ReadingReferences for English History referred to in the Short List of Bookson page xxxvi. Professor Cannon's volume contains "exact referencesto some two thousand of the most useful and accessible works onEnglish history. " No other single volume can compare with it forusefulness in this department. II. See E. K. Kendall's Source-Book of English History; G. C. Lee'sSource-Book of English History; and Professor E. P. Cheyney's Readingsof English History (1 vol. ); and Professor E. P. Cheyney's Readings ofEnglish History (1 vol. ); A. H. D. Acland, and C. Ransome, Outline ofthe Political History of England, 1 vol. III. See, for brief but carefully written biographical and historicalarticles relating to English history, Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 10vols. For fuller treatment see the New Encyclopaedia Britannica (29vols. ), The Dictionary of National [British] Biography (66 vols. ), anthe International Encyclopaedia (17 vols. ). IV. For recent events in English history, see Whitaker's Almanack, Hazell's Annual, the Annual Register, the Statesman's Year-Book, andother publications of this class.