which they had seldom been long exempted before his time, and who valued blood and treasure, less than the splendour of battles and conquests.

Great riches acquired by commerce, were at this period rare; and high pride of family prevailed. Civil honours, which now hold the first place, were then subordinate to the military, and a romantic turn for chivalry, still shewed itself in furious and sanguinary duels.

The country life, which still prevails in England to a certain degree, was just beginning, in the reign of James, to give way to a fondness for the seducements of the city. The king wisely and benevolently set himself against this alteration of manners. "He was wont to be very earnest," says lord Bacon, "with the country gentlemen to go from London to their country seats; and would sometimes tell them. "Gentlemen, at London you are like ships in a sea, which show like nothing; but in your country villages, you are like ships in a river, which shew like great things."

The ordinary revenue in this reign, did not amount to half a million, nor the king's expenditure to more than thirty-six thousand pounds. All the extraordinary sums, which he raised by subsidies, loans, sale of lands, and of titles of baronetage, did not amount to two millions and two hundred thousand pounds.

Corn at this time, and the other necessaries of life, were higher in proportion than the present average: wheat was thirty-six shillings a quarter, rye eighteen, and barley sixteen. The usual bread of the poor was made of barley. It appears also that fourpence a pound was the

usual

usual price for beef and mutton, and that the general turn of the age, was to convert arable land into pasture, which no laws could prevent.

London at this time was entirely built of wood, and far from being elegant. The earl of Arundel first introduced the general practice of building with bricks.

The public had neither the danger, nor the expence of a standing army to fear. The militia, amounting to one hundred and sixty thousand men, was the sole defence of the kingdom.

The navy of England was esteemed formida ble in Elizabeth's reign; yet it received several additions from James. A ship of one thousand four hundred tons, and carrying sixty-four guns, the largest that had ever come from an English dock, was launched in this reign.

But what renders this æra more memorable, was the incipient organization of some parts of the continent of America. The island of Barbadoes was also planted in this reign.

Shakespeare, the immortal glory of his country, reflected a lustre on the times of James, as did Johnson, Fairfax, Raleigh, and Bacon. The latter pointed out the road to true philosophy, and made considerable advances in it himself.

CHA

CHAP. XIV.

The Reign of Charles I.

HARLES mounted the throne in the flower of his age, and having espoused Henrietta by proxy, no sooner

A. D. 1625.

was

was their marriage celebrated in England, than he hastened to call a parliament, whom he ad. dressed in the language of simplicity and cordi ality.

The commons, however, though aware of the expences of government, and though the war had been undertaken with their perfect concurrence, were very sparing in their grants; and puritanical zeal was soon infamed against the catholics; whose expectations were raised by the favour they expected to find with the queen. Conces sions in favour of liberty, were tacked to the very moderate supplies they were induced to allow; and Charles, who had been educated in high notions of prerogative, and full of the ge nerous feelings of youth, could ill brook any encroachments on his power, or any want of attention to his reasonable demands.

He frankly explained the nature of the engagements into which he had entered, and the sums that would be necessary to discharge them, particularly in regard to the operations of the war: but the commons were still inexorable; and a new discovery tended still more to increase them against Buckingham. When James courted the alliance of France, he had stipulated to lend Lewis eight ships, which were to be employed against the Genoese, the allies of Spain; but when the vessels arrived at Dieppe, a suspicion arose that they were intended to serve against the Hugonots of Rochelle. On this, the sailors broke out into a furious mutiny, and Pennington, the admiral, swore he would sooner be hanged in England, for disobedience, than fight against his brother protestants in France. Accordingly, the squadron immediately

ately returned to the Downs, when they received new orders from Buckingham, lord admiral, to return to their former station, to which they were principally induced, by a report which he caused to be spread, that the French king and his hugonot subjects had come to terms of accommodation. Finding themselves, however, deceived, they again returned to England, nor could the most magnificent offers prevail on them to engage in a cause, which they thought contrary to their religious duty.

These transactions increased the outcry against popery in parliament. To this Charles gave a gracious and compliant answer; but when he found no further supplies were to be obtained, he used the pretence of the plague to dissolve the assembly.

To supply the want of parliamentary aids, Charles was driven to the desperate and unconstitutional course of issuing privy seals, for borrowing money of his subjects. With the sum thus procured, he fitted out a fleet of eighty vessels, carrying ten thousand men, which sailed to Cadiz, under the command of sir Edward Cecil, created, lord Wimbleton. The bay was full of Spanish ships of great value; but owing to some misconduct, and the plague breaking out in the English fleet, the expedition failed in every respect.

A. D.

1626.

Charles was again obliged to have recourse to a parliament, and, though he had taken care that some of the popular leaders should be excluded from the representation, by being elected sheriffs of their respective counties, the ferment of opposition still continued. Supplies indeed were voted; but

the

the passing of that vote into a law, was reserved. till the end of the session, in order to extort what concessions they wished from the king's

necessities.

Charles was obliged to submit to this, and to stifle his resentment; but Buckingham becoming every day more unpopular, and his enemy the earl of Bristol having joined the patriotic party, the commons determined to impeach him.

Meanwhile, the lord keeper, in the king's name, expressly commanded the house not to meddle with Buckingham, and two members who had been most forward in this business were committed to prison. The commons were instantly in a flame; and by being obliged to release the imprisoned members, the king lost much consequence, and drove the parliament on still more daring measures. They claimed the execution of the laws against catholics; and they were framing a remonstrance against the levying tonnage and poundage without their consent, when Charles, with intemperate ardour, ended the session by a dissolution; and they parted with mutual ill humour.

The king had menaced the commons, that unless they furnished him with supplies, he should be obliged to have recourse to new counsels. These were now adopted; a commission was openly granted to compound with the catholics for dispensing with the penal laws against them; a loan was required, both from the nobility and the city; and the counties, as well as the capital, were compelled to equip a certain number of ships. This is the first appearance in Charles's reign of ship-money, a mode of taxation, which afterwards produced such violent discontents.

Though