Read The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 Online
Authors: David Hume
The king’s power is, indeed, more exactly limited; but this period, of which we now treat, is the time at which that accuracy commenced. And it appears from Warwick and Hobbes, that many royalists blamed this philosophical precision in the king’s penman, and thought that the veil was very imprudently drawn off the mysteries of government. It is certain, that liberty reaped mighty advantages from these controversies and enquiries; and the royal authority itself became more secure, within those provinces which were assigned to it.
Since the first publication of this history,
the sequel of Lord Clarendon has been published; where that nobleman asserts, that
he himself was the author of most of these remonstrances and memorials of the king.
[g]The king, by his coronation oath, promises that he would maintain the laws and
customs which the people had chosen,
quas vulgus elegerit:
The parliament pretended, that
elegerit
meant
shall chuse;
and consequently, that the king had no right to refuse any bills which should be presented him. See Rushworth, vol. v. p. 580.
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[h]Whitlocke, p. 55. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 565, &c. May, book ii. p. 51.
[i]Whitlocke, p. 57. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 717. Dugdale, p. 93. May, book ii. p. 54.
[l]Whitlocke, p. 58. Dugdale, p. 96, 99.
[n]Rushworth, vol. v. p. 626, 627. May, book ii. p. 86. Warwick, p. 210.
[o]Rushworth, vol. v. p. 722. May, book ii. p. 54.
[p]Rushworth, vol. v. p. 728. Warwick, p. 189.
[t]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 1, 2.
[z]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 10.
[a]Rushworth, vol. v. p. 786. Dugdale, p. 102.
[c]Rushworth, vol. v. p. 683. Whitlocke, p. 6o. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 19.
[d]Clarendon, vol. vi. p. 2, 3, &c.
[f]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 16, 17. Dugdale, p. 104.
[g]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 25. May, book iii. p. 10.
[h]He was then lord Willoughby.
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[i]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 41. Warwick, p. 231.
[k]Whitlocke, p. 59. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 27, 28, &c.
[l]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 44.
[m]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 44, &c. May, book iii. p. 16, &c.
[n]Whitlocke, p. 61. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 59.
[o]Whitlocke, p. 62. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 73.
[p]Whitlocke, p. 62. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 75.
[r]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 87.
[s]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 171.
[w]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 166. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 119.
[NOTE [CC]]
Whitlocke, who was one of the commissioners, says, p. 65, “In this treaty, the king manifested his great parts and abilities, strength of reason and quickness of apprehension, with much patience in hearing what was objected against him; wherein he allowed all freedom, and would himself sum up the arguments, and give a most clear judgment upon them. His unhappiness was, that he had a better opinion of others judgments than of his own, though they were weaker than his own; and of this the parliament commissioners had experience to their great trouble. They were often waiting on the king, and debating some points of the treaty with him, until midnight, before they could come to a conclusion. Upon one of the most material points, they pressed his majesty with their reasons and best arguments they could use to grant what they desired. The king said, he was fully satisfied, and promised to give them his answer in writing according to their desire; but because it was then past midnight, and too late to put it into writing, he would have it drawn up next morning (when he commanded them to wait on him again) and then he would give them an answer in writing, as it was now agreed upon. But next morning the king told them, that he had altered his mind: And some of his friends, of whom the commissioners enquired, told them; that after they were gone, and even his council retired, some of his bed-chamber never left pressing and persuading him till they prevailed on him to change his former resolutions.” It is difficult, however, to conceive that any negociation could have succeeded between the king and parliament, while the latter insisted, as they did all along, on a total submission to all their demands; and challenged the whole power, which they professedly intended to employ, to the punishment of all the king’s friends.
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[y]Rush. vol. vi. p. 265, &c. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 237, 238, &c.
[z]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 137, 139.
[b]He had taken possession of Litchfield, and was viewing from a window St. Chad’s
cathedral, in which a party of the royalists had fortified themselves. He was cased in complete armour, but was shot through the eye by a random-ball. Lord Broke was a zealous puritan; and had formerly said, that he hoped to see with his eyes the ruin of all the cathedrals of England. It was a superstitious remark of the royalists, that he was killed on St. Chad’s day by a shot from St. Chad’s cathedral, which pierced that very eye by which he hoped to see the ruin of all cathedrals. Dugdale, p. 118.
Clarendon, &c.
[c]Whitlocke, p. 66. Rush. vol. vi. p. 152. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 151.
[f]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 130.
[g]Rush. vol. vi. p. 267, 273. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 269, 279.
[h]Rush. vol. vi. p. 284. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 282.
[i]Rush, vol. vi. p. 285. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 291.
[k]Warwick’s Memoirs, p. 241. Clarendon, vol. i. p. 264.
[NOTE [DD]]
The author is sensible, that some blame may be thrown upon him, on account of this last clause in Mr. Hambden’s character; as if he were willing to entertain a suspicion of bad intentions, where the actions were praiseworthy. But the author’s meaning is directly contrary: He esteems the last actions of Mr. Hambden’s life to have been very blameable; though, as they were derived from good motives only pushed to an extreme, there is room left to believe, that the intentions of that patriot, as well as of many of his party, were laudable. Had the preceding administration of the king, which we are apt to call arbitrary, proceeded from ambition, and an unjust desire of encroaching on the ancient liberties of the people, there would have been less reason for giving him any trust, or leaving in his hands a considerable share of that power which he had so much abused. But if his conduct was derived in a great measure from necessity, and from a natural desire of defending that prerogative which was transmitted to him from his ancestors, and which his parliaments were visibly encroaching on; there is no reason why he may not be esteemed a very virtuous prince, and entirely worthy of trust from his people. The attempt, therefore, of totally annihilating monarchical power, was a very blameable extreme; especially as it was attended with the danger, to say the least, of a civil war, which, besides the numberless ills inseparable from it, exposed liberty to much greater PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)
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perils than it could have incurred under the now limited authority of the king. But as these points could not be supposed so clear during the time as they are, or may be, at present; there are great reasons of alleviation for men who were heated by the controversy, or engaged in the action. And it is remarkable, that even at present, (such is the force of party prejudices,) there are few people who have coolness enough to see these matters in a proper light, and are convinced that the parliament could prudently have stopped in their pretensions. They still plead the violations of liberty attempted by the king, after granting the petition of right; without considering the extreme harsh treatment, which he met with, after making that great concession, and the impossibility of supporting government by the revenue then settled on the crown.
The worst of it is, that there was a great tang of enthusiasm in the conduct of the parliamentary leaders, which, though it might render their conduct sincere, will not much enhance their character with posterity. And though Hambden was, perhaps, less infected with this spirit than many of his associates, he appears not to have been altogether free from it. His intended migration to America, where he could only propose the advantage of enjoying puritanical prayers and sermons, will be allowed a proof of the prevalence of this spirit in him.
[m]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 284. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 293, 294, &c.
[n]Clarendon, ubi supra, p. 297.
[o]Whitlocke, p. 69. May, book iii. p. 91.
[p]Rush. vol. vi. p. 287. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 315. May, book iii. p. 96.
[q]The king afterwards copied from this example; but, as the far greater part of the
nobility and landed gentry were his friends, he reaped much less profit from this measure.
[r]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 326. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 249. 250, &c.
[t]Rush. vol. vi. p. 325. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 255.
[u]Whitlocke, p. 66. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 330. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 253, 254, &c.
[w]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 357.
[a]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 320. Rush. vol. vi. p. 588.
[b]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 292.
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[d]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 344.
[f]Rush. vol. vi. p. 293. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 347.
[g]Whitlocke, p. 70. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 350, 351, &c.
[n]Warwick, p. 261. Walker, p. 278.
[o]Rush. vol. vi. p. 390. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 68.
[p]Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord; curse ye bitterly the inhabitants
thereof: Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Judges, chap. v. ver. 23.
[NOTE [EE]]
In a letter of the king to the queen, preserved in the British Museum, and published by Mrs. Macaulay, vol. iv. p. 420, he says, that unless religion was preserved, the militia (being not as in France a formed powerful strength) would be of little use to the crown; and that if the pulpits had not obedience, which would never be, if presbyterian government was absolutely established, the king would have but small comfort of the militia. This reasoning shows the king’s good sense, and proves, that his attachment to episcopacy, though partly founded on religious principles, was also, in his situation, derived from the soundest views of civil policy. In reality, it was easy for the king to perceive, by the necessary connexion between trifles and important matters, and by the connexion maintained at that time between religion and politics, that, when he was contending for the surplice, he was, in effect, fighting for his crown and even for his head. Few of the popular party could perceive this connexion. Most of them were carried headlong by fanaticism; as might be expected in the ignorant multitude. Few even of the leaders seem to have had more enlarged views.
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[w]Whitlocke, p. 73. Rush. vol. vi. p. 466. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 300.
[x]Rush. vol. vi. p. 478. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 373.
[y]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 388.
[z]Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 383.
[a]A thousand acres in Ulster were given to every one that subscribed 200 pounds, in
Connaught to the subscribers of 350, in Munster for 450, in Leinster for 600.
[b]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 506.
[e]Idem, ibid. p. 530. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 167.
[f]Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 537.
[i]See farther Carte’s Ormond, vol. iii. No. 113, 127, 128, 129, 134, 136, 141, 144,
149, 158, 159. All these papers put it past doubt, that the necessities of the English army in Ireland were extreme. See farther, Rush. vol. vi. p. 537. and Dugdale, p. 853, 854.