had been decided. There is no proof that his decisions were influenced by money considerations; but nevertheless he was sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, to be imprisoned in the Tower during the king's pleasure, and to be declared unfit to hold any office connected with the State. He admitted the sentence to be "just, and for reformation's sake fit," but added that he was "the justest Chancellor that hath been in the five changes since Sir Nicholas Bacon's time."

on.

Meantime, in spite of the opposition of the Commons, the negotiations for the marriage were dragging slowly Buckingham at last persuaded the king to send the young Prince Charles and himself to Spain to press the suit personally. The two adventurous knights travelled in disguise through France, and reached Spain in safety; but Buckingham's haughtiness offended the Spaniards, and Charles returned home without a bride.

Soon afterwards a treaty was signed for the marriage of Charles with Henrietta Maria of France, and an alliance concluded with France against Spain. Two years later, James died with the consciousness that his European policy had proved a failure, and that in his own kingdom the sovereign power had already passed out of his hands.

1. Cecil was the son of Burleigh the famous minister of Elizabeth.

2. The Palatinate, up to 1620, included two divisions of Upper or Bavarian and the Lower or Rhenish Palatinate. The chief towns were Mannheim and Heidelberg.

3. Monopolies, licenses conferring the sole right of selling certain articles.

4. Countess of Essex, wife of that Earl of Essex who joined the national party and became general of the Parliamentary forces in the Civil War.

5. The Tower of London was at that period a great political prison.

6. Thirty Years War between the Catholic and Protestant princes of Germany.

7. Frederick the Palatine Elector was James' son-in-law and the champion of the Protestant cause in Germany.

8. See note 3, page 15.

9. Bacon (1561-1626), the father of modern science. His chief works are, The Advancement of Learning, the Novum Organum Essays, and a History of Henry VII. The latter, strangely enough, seems to fill, in prose, the gap in Shakespeare's Series of Historical Plays.

CHARLES I.-THE PERIOD OF PARLIA-
MENTARY RULE.

CHARLES I.

HE Tonnage and Poundage Parliament, 1625.Although little or nothing was known of the character of Charles when he succeeded to the throne, he had become rather a popular favourite. His whole demeanour and conduct were strikingly different from those of his father. He was formal, dignified, and attentive to all the decencies of life.

His betrothal to the daughter of the King of France was not liked; but when the young queen passed up the Thames 2 towards London, she was received with the utmost enthusiasm by the multitude, who crowded into barges and thronged every point of vantage along the river's banks.

But the continuance of his connection with Buckingham was sufficient to prejudice the nation against him, and the first Parliament which Charles summoned declined to commit itself to warlike enterprises of which little was known except that they were invented by Buckingham. Instead, therefore, of the £1,000,000 asked for by Charles to carry on the war against Spain, the Commons refused to grant more than £140,000.

Further, the leaders of the Commons saw clearly that, to ensure constitutional government, the revenue must

be granted year by year. Experience has proved that they were right; for to this day, even under our beloved Queen, Parliament pursues the same plan. A change was felt to be necessary, and the accession of a new king was seen to be a favourable opportunity. Accordingly, the Commons voted the duties of tonnage and poundage (which had in previous reigns been given to the sovereign for life) for one year only.

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In the first year of Charles's reign there was a terrible outbreak of the plague in London, and on this account the Parliament adjourned to Oxford. It was proceeding to embody complaints against Buckingham, when Charles dissolved it. Both Buckingham and Charles were confident that the opposition would at once cease after the brilliant blow which they were about to strike against Spain.

The Cadiz Expedition, 1625.--Their device was to fit out an expedition to capture the treasure-ships of Spain returning from America, and it was also intended to make a descent on some part of the Spanish coast. For this purpose a strong fleet was sent out, but after two attempts to capture Cadiz, baffled by the cowardice of the crews in the merchant vessels, it stood out to sea in search of the treasure-ships, which, two days after it left, stole into Cadiz Bay.

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The English ships were now forced to return, but so old and rotten were many of them that it was almost impossible to keep them afloat.

The Buckingham Parliament, 1626.-Charles had thus to meet his new Parliament not only deeply involved in debt but disgraced by failure. The Commons met him with complaint and remonstrance.

On the motion of Sir John Eliot, the fearless and

eloquent leader of the Commons, it was resolved at once to impeach Buckingham, who was denounced by Eliot as having" broken those nerves and sinews of our land, the stores and treasures of the king." He was also charged with many acts of bribery and corruption. Charles at once declared his own responsibility for the acts of Buckingham, and rather than sacrifice his minister, dissolved the Parliament.

The money which the Commons would not vote, it was determined to raise by a forced loan, which in the country was met with general resistance. Payment was required even from the poorest tradesman. The rich who refused to pay were imprisoned, on the middle class were billeted soldiers and sailors, while the poor were impressed into the army and navy.

Meantime, Buckingham led Charles into a war with France. The Duke made a descent on the Isle of Rhé,8 but had to retire, having lost more than half of his troops.

The Petition of Right Parliament, 1628.-Charles was compelled to summon a third Parliament to grant money for this unfortunate war. The Commons resolved to make the best possible use of the opportunity, and refused to grant supplies until Charles gave his assent to the famous Petition of Right. This great measure was called forth by the illegal acts of the Crown between the second and third Parliaments. It received its name because it was drawn up in the form of a petition, and because the Commons claimed what they asked as the right of the people of England.

It first referred to the old laws forbidding the imposition of any tax or loan without the consent of Parliament, and then pointed out how the king's officers had