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Leader (1850-1860), 8th December 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17

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    • December 8, 1855.1 THE LEADER. 1181

      December 8, 1855.1 THE LEADER. 1181

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      Macaulay's First And Second Volumes. 31a...

      reverence in the nation . Striving to establish the doctrine of divine right and of roval infallibility , James succeeded in proving that his own accession was a misfortune , and his wisdom arrant folly . Unchecked by fear or personal respect , the Puritans withdrew themselves more completely from the } 4 oglican Church , and as their opinions became more pronounced , their Sumbers and importance , increased . James I . was pusillanimous , but he was honest for a prince of that period . His sob and successor , Charles I ., was neither pusillanimous nor honest . Of personal courage he had a kingly portion , but he was utterly faithless , and his princely word could only be valued by the exact reverse of what it professed to indicate . Inheriting from his father an absurd and exaggerated notion about royal prerogatives , lie believed that it was his supreme and bounden duty , at all hazards and at every cost , to transmit to his successor the sovereign power without diminution or flaw . And as his most stubborn opponents were among the Puritans , he came to consider that body as peculiarly obnoxious to kingly authority , and accordingly lent a ready ear to their bitter enemy , his Papistical consort , Henrietta of France . He was unfortunate , too , in his counsellors . Thomas Wentworth , Earl of Stratford , was a man of a stern and uncompromising disposition , whose panacea for political and social evils was a standing army . It was probably through his representations that the Star Chamber was directed to the violent persecution of political offenders . Archbishop Laud was equally imperious , but cared less for the royal prerogative than for the establishment of a pompous and ceremonial Church . It was probably owing to his influence that the Court of High Commission exercised its inquisitorial functions with such unrelenting severity . After breaking faith with his subjects relative to the Petition of Right , Charles next endeavoured to levy ship-money throughout the realm , although it was notoriously a tax peculiar to the sea-board . It was patent to all men that his object was not to provide a fleet , but to raise and maintain an army , as a permanent menace to the liberties of his own people . The deceit was as transparent as the illegality of the impost . It was , therefore , firmly resisted by Hampden and a large body of patriots . The next step to ruin ¦ was the forcible introduction of the Liturgy of the Anglican Church into Scotland . Here also he encountered a violent opposition and alienated his most loyal subjects . . The Long Parliament met in November , 1640—a Parliament destined to witness and " sanction the most stirring events of English history . Now , for the first time , was formed the nucleus of the two great parties which , under different denominations , have ever since maintained the balance between wild empiricism and stolid inertness . The Parliament proving refractory , the King was sufficiently ill-advised , or self-willed , to attempt to arrest five of its members by armed soldiers under his own immediate command . An immense agitation pervaded London , and Charles was constrained to consult his personal safety by a hasty flight from his capital . In August , 1642 , the Civil War fairly commenced , and the soil of England was stained with the blood Of her most gallant sons slain by their own kinsmen . At first the Royalists \ were generally successful ; but after a time the terrible earnestness of uom- [ well infused a rig id discipline into his followers , against which the tumultuous ; onslaught of the Cavaliers was as the spray dashing upon a rock . The history j of this picturesque but mournful period is too well known to need repetition , j Charles perished on the scaffold , dying like a martyr after living more like a j perjured usurper , than a lawful prince . i His death placed the supreme power at the disposal of the victorious and fanatical army- The Scots and t je Irish murmured against this military despotism . Scotland and Ireland were subjugated as completely as England by the Normans . The Lord General became Lord Protector . But for the army he would have been king , and have founded a new dynasty . As it was , j he ruled with equity and firmness at home , and made the name of England respected and dreaded abroad . He was the protector of the Protestants in all lands . No man dared to raise a hand or wag a tongue against them , while Cromwell lived . Even the Pope enjoined tolerance and Christian forbearance , for Cromwell had threatened that English guns should be heard at the Castle of St . Angelo . And Cromwell was a hero , not a mere king—WA 3 word never returned unfulfilled . . When Cromwell was gathered to his fathers , his son Richard for a brief while assumed the guidance of affairs . But he lacked individuality and character , and at such a crisis none but a genuine man can hold his own . He was ignominiously deposed , and a swarm of puny dwarfs strove to bend the bow of Cromwell : the rebound dashed them to the ground . 1 he nation was prepared to submit to an usurper , but not to a series of experimentalists . George Monk and the army of Scotland gave utterance to the voice of the nation . A free Parliament was elected , and Charles II . ascended the throne of his ancestors . . The lessons of adversity , it was thought , would teach him to reign with wisdom and dignity . The thought was not sagacious , the expectation was ill-founded . One who has suffered adversity for only a brief space may learn much that is good and expedient for him to know . But he who baa been long acquainted with exile and poverty loses his self-respect , becomes callous to the opinion of his fullow-mc < i , is rendered cynical by disappointments of every kind , and recklessly seizes on every passing opportunity for immediate gratification . It was thus with Charles II . . Idolised at the commencement of his reign ns a being of a superior order , long before its conclusion be was despised and execrated . I ho nation was displeased at the injustice exercised towards the Nonconformists : it was shocked by the frightful profligacy of the Court . The King ' s leaning to the Roman Catholic religion was also an early object of suspicion , wliicli ins marriage with Catherine of Ifraganza did not tend to dissipate . A ho surrender of Dunkirk , again , deeply wounded the national vanity ; and allordctl an , unfavourable contrast to the incorruptible rule of the 1 rotector . Mien the Dutch fleet swept up the Thames with impunity . Ships of war were burned at Chatham . The report of hostile guns echoed through the Btrcets of London . Scarcely had this danger been averted by a disgraceful treaty , than a fearful pestilence broke out , which , in six month * , carried oil a hundred thousand persons . The plague wub followed by a fire , which consumed all London between the Temple and the Tower , the 1 names and tue purlieus of Smithueld .

      \ Weary of the restraints of constitutional government , and chafing under the patriotic spirit of the country party , Charles now sold himself and his kingdom to Louis XIV . By the treaty of Dover , he pledged himself to « public profession of the Roman Catholic faith , and to join his arms with those of the French monarch , in supporting his designs on the Spanish Crown , and against the liberties of the United Provinces . But who knows not the sad story of this ignominious reign ? For a quarter of a century-England was virtually effaced from the political map of Europe . At home , public affairs were for some time the sport of the infamous Cabal . On their downfal there was little reason for congratulation . The Popish plot , or fable , of Titus Oates poured forth much innocent blood . It was then the pure spirit of the noble Howard , Viscount Stafford , was emancipated on the scaffold 1 from the pollutions of such a Court . Somewhat later , the Rye House Plot furnished pretext for the judicial murde r of men , whose lives were a rebuke to the King and his wretched associates . Then perished Russell and Sidney —then fell Essex by his own hand . And yet , one bright spot illumines that gloomy period . The Habeas Corpus Act received the royal assent on the 26 th of May , 1679 , and the personal liberty of the subject was placed beyond the reach of a tyrant ' s caprice . . . Charles II . died in 1685 . Nothing but the terrible memories of the civir wars maintained him so long upon a throne he prostituted and disgraced . During the twenty-five years of his misrule , he had succeeded in rendering the name of Englishman a byevvord and a reproach . As m Imperial llome , so now , everything was venal except a good reputation , and that only was not offered for sale , because no one could have been found to bid for it . Disgusted with Presbyterian harshness in bis youth , Charles turned with complacency to the Roman Catholic religion , which seemed so tolerant of the frailties of the rich and powerful . At least , such must have been his impression during his forced sojourn on the Contment . particularly at Bruges , where superstition and profligacy have ever gone hand in hand . » » "J « is no doubt he died in the profession of that faith ; and his last moments were soothed by the belief that his sins would be remitted , for he had been judged worthy to partake of the body of his Redeemer and his God . At the accession of James II ., the condition of the country was such as to demand the utmost tact and forbearance , combined with firmness in emergencies . But James was only obstinate , overbearing , and implacable . In the course of his brief , but disastrous reign , he contrived to disgu . and alienate all parties and to render his warmest friends distrustful , if not ^ different . The British Government was just then in a transition state , " was neither an absolute despotism like that of France nor a limited "" rach y according to our present acceptation of the term . A constant and " ^ ceasing ¦ tru-trle was eoin ~ on between the sovereign and the legislature : the formei st vlf- to rafse himself above all law , the ° latter to make the law paramount and Sdthout appeal . The imperious character and despotic ¦ tendencies ; of ¦** new monarch were well known to the new Parliament , « ho «»««*«• sparingly doled out the supplies necessary for the maintenance of 1 usi legal splendour Could they have relied on his sincerity they would cheerfully Sv"Sered the mos / ample grants to enable him to . become the « W « * Europe . And James was really ambitious to undertake that h . gh inibsion--faut lie was still more ambitious to be the master of Ins own soibjce s . He was quite ready to employ the Parliamentary supplies in checking the ovei-K ^ n power & France-but he was equally prompt to accept a ^ 7 *™ Louis for the purpose of corrupting that Parliament , and of enslay ng his oSS people . Tie ' result of this double policy might have been easily predated lie only . Biiccceded in becoming an object of contempt and suspicion tO But 3 theTal and most active mainspring of his conduct was a I ^ f "' g » 3 ft ^^ ^^^ S ^ j ^ g 1- 1 = ^^ of the Anglican heresj . His treatment of the ^ oncon orrn . sts and beo eh Covenanters was not only severe but sanguinary Charlcs imlccd . Had chastised them with whips , but James scourged them with scoi pions . A g SralLlinTof disafTectLn was thus created throughout the : kin ^ 1 ™ , and ISK -sr-szs & SaSsMSS ?! SiXlV ° ? un « sful tm » o ... The -W" ^ . ^ Z As a bigot he must needs control their conscience * also . On this rock SrcsEKiS r ? u ££ sa ^ -aa ^ sus ^^^ tt ^ rS into spiritual , as well as into civil and military offices . Important "" I ™™ bz S ^ zss ^* tt £ zzte & $ s £ ^ ^^^^^^ SiASSbi SSSi was converted into a Popish seminary . Not lon K W ^ e ^ competent were committed to the Tower and put up on to ° » ^ £££ o ™ f their own court , because they refused to lend their a . « I to he «» "ve . M . cached Church . Hitherto the Protestant clergy h « Jj £ bJ eficcH were in danger the doctrine of non-resistance , but now tliat c " , I | CHII of their previous they began to entertain grave doubts JJf * ' » "jj VCil ju their defence of opinions . No doubt they were conscientu > usjy jn , flRm 0 ll , the -peril the Protestant reli g ion , but ^'''^^ ' t ^ E . Sopal character failed to comwhich menaced their livings . If even tno i- I incumbents expect ? mnn < l respect , what sort of treatment might not

      December 8, 1855.1 The Leader. 1181

      December 8 , 1855 . 1 THE LEADER . 1181

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 8, 1855, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08121855/page/17/