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THE REVOLUTION.

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

THE above heading is usually applied in England to the bloodless change of Government that took place in 1688, whilst that of "Commonwealth" is affixed to the epoch following the reign of Charles I. Both titles are clearly misnomers as applied to these different periods. The tempest which swept away the throne, and left an interregnum which was filled by an Absolute Government, can only be designated as a Revolution; and therefore I attach this word to the present chapter, which will describe those events. On the other hand, I will head the chapter which narrates the pacific substitution of William III. for James II. as simply the Limitation of the Monarchy, for that was the true meaning of what occurred.

The Revolution, in my opinion, originates from that juncture when it was evident that both King and Parliament were engaged in a deadly struggle for the supremacy. From this point dates the rise of those waters of discord which were destined to flow and swell in volume till, finally, they overspread and deluged the land.

The King then called his fifth Parliament in November, 1640-better known as the "Long Parliament." The Government of the King had brought him into such discredit that Parliament was resolved to give him no quarter. The Commons were eager for the fray; "the

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Lords," says Rowland, "were animated by the same feeling;" and both went to work in earnest. The Commons impeached the Earl of Strafford, the King's chief adviser, and the Lords tried him for High Treason. He was condemned and executed. Sir F. Windebank, Secretary of State, was next impeached, but he escaped to France. The new canons of the Clergy were all denounced, as not having the consent of Parliament; the tax called "Ship Money" was declared illegal; and the Commons expelled four of their Members for being monopolist patentees. The impeachments of Archbishop Laud and the Lord-Keeper Finch followed. The Lords condemned the Archbishop, who was afterwards executed. Finch fled to France.

The King was alarmed, and resorted to strategy. He summoned both Houses, and made a conciliatory speech. More politic still, he offered office to the Puritan party. Oliver St. John, one of his bitterest enemies, became Solicitor-General. The Earl of Bedford, one of the Puritan leaders of the Lords, and Mr. Pym, of the Commons, were tempted with high appointments; but they waived their claims until their fellow-leaders were provided for.

Parliament, however, pressed on. They passed an Act that neither House should be dissolved or prorogued without their consent. The High Commission Court and the odious Star Chamber were abolished-both effective instruments of tyranny in previous reigns. The King was completely cowed. He assented to all those Acts stripping him of the prerogatives his predecessors had enjoyed. He remonstrated sometimes. "You have taken the Government almost in pieces," he said once: "it is almost off the hinges."

The surrender of the Royal power was so complete

that a popular reaction in the King's favor took place. Demonstrations of loyalty and affection burst forth whenever he appeared. This alarmed Oliver Cromwell, who had now become the real leader of the Puritan party, and bent on the downfall of the unfortunate Charles. So adroitly had he played his rôle that few suspected it was his hand skilfully guiding the various movements which were fast precipitating the country into civil war. Cromwell counted on the fatuity of his intended victim, and was not disappointed. The Puritan party in the Commons suddenly proposed a "Grand Remonstrance" against any control over legislation by the Crown. It was debated twelve hours, and passed-159 to 148. Cromwell said to Lord Falkland, as they left the House, "If the Remonstrance had been rejected, I would have sold all that I had the next morning, and never have seen England more." Hume refers to this Remonstrance as aiming at " abolition almost total of the Monarchical Government of England." Hallam considers that "it was put forward to stem the returning tide of loyalty, which threatened to obstruct the further progress of the popular leader." Other attacks on the Crown followed. The Commons accused twelve Bishops of High Treason, and the Lords ordered their arrest.

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The unanimity of the Lords and Commons-the Nobles and Middle Class-during this epoch is striking. The Lords aimed at the establishment of Parliamentary Government, and the abolition of absolute power. So did a portion of the Commons, to the number of 148. Another portion, counting 159, with Oliver Cromwell at their head, had a very different project in view, which neither the Nation, the Lords, nor a half of the Commons suspected at the time.

The King, after he had accepted the "Grand Remonstrance" and several other measures strongly obnoxious to him, at last determined to yield no more. Accordingly, he ordered four Members of the Commons, Pym, Hampden, Haselrigge, and Strode, with one Member of the Lords, Kimbolton, to be accused of High Treason-January, 1642. He even went in person to the House of Commons with a guard to arrest the objects of his resentment; but they escaped as he entered. The King then asked the Speaker if the accused were present. Falling on his knees, the Speaker replied, "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here, and humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this." The House then adjourned in great excitement. Next day they passed a declaration that the King's proceedings were a breach of the rights and privileges of Parliament, and adjourned for a week. The House of Lords made a similar adjournment.

On reassembling, the accused Members took their places. The King admitted his impetuosity, offered a free pardon, and appealed to the Lords to mediate once more between him and the Commons. The appeal, however, came too late. The Commons grew more defiant. They demanded, with the concurrence of the Lords, that the town of Hull, with its magazine and arms, should not be given up without their authority. Both Houses next passed a Bill removing the Bishops from Parliament; and to this Bill the King, contrary to expectation, assented. They then insisted on taking the command of the Militia; but with this demand the King resolutely refused to comply, and thus the final breach was made.

From this brief résumé it will be plainly seen that Parliament was triumphant in every contest with the vacillating Charles. It stripped him of all his prerogatives, and extinguished irresponsible power in England. When the King signed the law which made Parliament indissoluble but by its own vote, his surrender was complete. If Parliament, therefore, merely sought for a preponderance over the Sovereign, the struggle was ended. In all the previous conflicts between King and Parliament, the concessions of the King terminated the contest. In this way for centuries Parliamentary power grew up, and Royal authority was cut down. It is often asserted that Charles was faithless, and would have reclaimed the power he had yielded; but if Parliament was strong enough to take it from him, how could he recover it? The truth is, as subsequent facts proved, there was a wing of the Puritan party in the Long Parliament of 1640, called the "Root and Branch Men," and afterwards known as the "Independents," who aimed at something more than the union of Legislative and Executive power in the hands of Parliament—a faction whose real object was to suppress the Monarchy itself. The opportunity was favorable, for the King though able, was irresolute, and controlled by the influences about him, so that Par

The wife of Charles exercised a fatal ascendency over him. She was intrepid, but ignorant of England and the situation. It was she who forced the hesitating King to attempt the seizure of the five members of the Commons, his bitterest antagonists. "Go, coward," she exclaimed, "and pull out these rogues by the ears, or never see my face again." When the conflict became inevitable, she escaped to Holland, and sold her own and other jewels to buy arms. Eluding the cruisers, she landed soon afterwards on the Yorkshire coast. A few hours later, four Parliamentary ships came up, and opened fire on the village she occupied. Fleeing with her attendants to a ditch in the outskirts, she crouched there for a time in concealment, until the Queen remembered she had

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