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THE KING AND HIS PARLIAMENTS.

ING by Right Divine.-James held a very exalted view of his kingly office. He asserted that kings reigned not by the voice of their people but by the right bestowed upon them by the Creator, and that no human power could deprive them of that right. He also declared that such kings graciously allowed laws to be made and usually kept them, but that they were not bound to obey them upon all occasions, and might break them if they saw fit. Such a "right" has been described as "the right divine of kings to govern wrong." In this absurd notion James was sternly opposed by the Com

mons.

Before his first Parliament met, James gave great offence by interfering with the elections. In the short struggle that followed, the Commons established their sole right to inquire into the election of their own members; and, in opposition to the king, solemnly maintained

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the position of Parliament as the highest court of the realm—giving laws to all other courts, receiving them from none.

James still further alienated the Commons by declaring that their privileges were not matters of right, but were merely allowed by the king's grace. The Commons indignantly protested that their privileges were the right and inheritance of the people of England, and warned the king against believing that he could with impunity break the laws. Thus, James gradually alienated the affections of his people, and embarked in a struggle in which his son lost his life, and his dynasty-the throne.

During this first Parliament of James, his adviser was Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. This statesman yielded far too much to the king's notions of absolute power, but he endeavoured to guide the foreign policy of the country after the spirit of the great Elizabethan era. He thus kept James back from a union with Spain, and for a time maintained England in its old position as champion of Protestantism in Europe. Almost his last act was to arrange for the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth to the Elector Palatine," from which union sprang the present Royal Family of England.

The Rule of the Favourites.-Cecil and the promising Prince Henry died in the same year, and, instead of seeking the advice of statesmen, James gave himself up entirely to the influence of worthless favourites. All steady ideas of national policy, all memories of the Protestant leadership of the previous reign disappeared. The favourites flattered the king's absurd notions of his divine right, and, after a useless Parliament in 1614, urged him to throw aside the constitutional means of raising a revenue, and follow more arbitrary measures.

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By reviving the system of benevolences or loans (some of which were never repaid), from the great landowners, he only proved to himself how completely he had lost the support of the gentry, whom he further exasperated by the abuse of his rights in regard to taxes on marriages and wardships.

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The practice of granting monopolies in trade or manufacture to certain persons in return for the payment of a sum of money was increased beyond all precedent. Free gifts were exacted from the nobles; peerages were virtually sold to the highest bidder; and in order to defray the expense of an army in Ireland (which was never raised), the new order of baronet was created.

The first of these inexperienced favourites, in whose hands the king placed the direction of affairs, was Robert Carr, created Viscount Rochester and afterwards Earl of Somerset, whose only qualifications were his youth, his servility, and his personal beauty. Carr was the chief cause of the extravagant expenditure of the court, which led the king to raise money by illegal means.

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At first the favourite was opposed by the Earls of Suffolk and Northampton, but the two factions were united by the marriage of Rochester to the daughter of the former earl. This lady had been Countess of Essex; but Rochester had, with the aid of the king, procured for her a divorce from her husband. Before the trial began, Sir Thomas Overbury, the confidential adviser of Rochester, tried to dissuade his patron from the marriage. He was then on a frivolous charge committed to the Tower, where he perished by poison.

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The Lieutenant of the Tower soon afterwards revealed to the Secretary of State the manner of Overbury's death, and both Rochester and the Countess were brought to

trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But James, either from foolish clemency or from dread of dangerous disclosures, pardoned them, although their agents were executed.

The next favourite was George Villiers, ultimately created Duke of Buckingham. He was abler and far more ambitious than Somerset, but his vanity and rashness involved England in many serious difficulties.

Already James had entered into eager negotiations for the marriage of his son Charles, Prince of Wales, with the Spanish Infanta.

The aim of Spain was to prevent him from protecting the Protestants of Germany. Probably but for the indecision of James, the difficulties that led into the great Thirty Years' War" might have been easily solved.

The memory of the Armada made England jealous of Spain, and the conduct of. James in sacrificing to that power the life of Sir Walter Raleigh, gave greater offence to public feeling than his failure to save the Palatinate.

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Sir Walter Raleigh.-Sir Walter Raleigh was a man of fine and varied gifts, and had distinguished himself both as an explorer and a soldier. On account of his suspected connection with a conspiracy against the crown, he had suffered an imprisonment of more than twelve years in the Tower-the weariness of which he had lightened by writing his "History of the World."

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He

received his freedom by holding out to James and Buckingham hopes of discovering a gold mine of marvellous value on the banks of the Orinoco, on condition that he should abstain from attacking the Spaniards.

Raleigh did not succeed in discovering the mine, and after a conflict with the Spaniards, in which he lost his son, he returned "with his brain and his heart broken." To please the Spaniards, James most unjustly ordered the old sentence to be carried out. His execution took place on a cold frosty morning in October, 1618, and

BACON.

the Sheriff advised Raleigh

before setting out to warm 'himself at the fire. "Nay, let us be swift," said Raleigh, "in a few minutes my ague will return upon me, and if I be not dead before that, they will say I tremble for fear."

The Fallen Lord Chancellor.-A third parliament was called in 1621, and the members at once proceeded

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to show their determination to resist the king's arbitrary method of governing. They first impeached the chief monopolists, who were found guilty and severely punished. They next attacked the Lord Chancellor Bacon, who was accused of having accepted bribes. Now Bacon, whose writings are not more remarkable for their preeminent ability than for their noble and elevated morality, had in vain sought to check corruption; but in accordance with a custom, then universal, he had consented to accept presents from successful suitors after their cases