as, by the Divine help of Almighty God, who is never wanting unto those who, in His fear, shall undertake the defence of His own cause, he may be able to do that by his sword which by peaceable courses shall not be effected." Again, when the declaration had been read, the hats were waved high in the air. Again the shouts of acclamation rang Adjourn House. out cheerily. Perrot had been just in time. The ment of the messengers from the Lords were at the door to notify the King's order to adjourn to November 14. The Commons answered that, according to custom, they would adjourn themselves. Before the motion was put, Coke stood up, and with tears in his eyes, repeated the prayer for the Royal Family, adding, as he finished it, "and defend them from their cruel enemies." For a time the work of the House of Commons was at an end. Complaints had been heard that the long months of Review of labour had produced nothing with which the conthe first part stituencies could be reasonably satisfied. With the of the ses sion. The exception of the Act by which the subsidies had been granted, not a single Bill had been passed. So far as legislation was concerned, monopolists were as safe as ever. claims of the prerogative were as undefined as at the commencement of the session. Yet the Houses had not sat in vain. They had rescued from oblivion the right of impeachment, and had taught a crowd of hungry and unscrupulous adventurers that Court favour would not always suffice to screen them. They had made judicial corruption almost impossible for the future. Yet the highest of their achievements had not been of a nature to be quoted as a precedent, or to be noted down amongst the catalogue of constitutional changes. Far more truly than any member of that House dreamed, a crisis had come in which Protestantism was to be tried in the balance. There was a danger greater than any which was to be dreaded from the armies of Spinola or the policy of Maximilian, a danger lest moral superiority should pass over to the champions of the reactionary faith. And it was at such a crisis that the English House of Commons placed itself in the foremost ranks of those who were helping on the progress 1621 CONDUCT OF THE COMMONS. 131 of the world. Cecil spoke truly when he said that their declaration would do more good than if ten thousand soldiers had been on the march. It showed that James and Frederick and John George were not the utmost that Protestantism could produce; that it had given birth to men who might be ignorant of much, but who were steeled with the armour of self-denial and self-restraint, and who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the common cause. It was of no political advantage to England that they were dreaming. They formed no schemes of national aggrandisement like Richelieu, they cherished no personal ambition like Gustavus. They thought of the poor inhabitants of the Palatinate, of the Bohemian churches empty or profaned, of the silenced voices of the ministers of the Gospel; and, though they never more than half-trusted James, they had the penetration to recognise the fact that it was only under James's leadership that they could help in averting the catastrophe. Therefore, they disciplined themselves into silence, and restrained their zeal, lest by a moment's ill-considered speech, they should alienate the man who alone was in a position to give effect to their wishes. They had done more than gain a victory. They had ruled their own spirits. James When James first heard that a declaration on the affairs of the Palatinate had been voted, he was much displeased; but as soon as he read it, his opinion changed. He ordered it to be translated into the chief languages of Europe, in order that foreign nations might learn to respect the loyalty of the English people.1 accepts the declaration. James was, no doubt, glad enough to regain his independence of action. No candid person will complain of his deter Bacon's imprisonment and release. mination to moderate the harshness of Bacon's sentence. He probably thought, as everyone else thought, that his late Chancellor was far more guilty than he really was; but the memory of old friendship and of years of devoted service indisposed him to harshness. For some days after the sentence was pronounced, Bacon was allowed to remain unmolested at York House, out of consideration for his 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, June 9, S. P. Dom. cxxi. 88. K 2 health. But before the Parliament broke up, he was conducted to the Tower.2 It was never, however, intended that he should remain long a prisoner. A warrant for his release was sent to him, with an intimation that he would do well not to use it till after the Houses had risen. So great, however, was June 2. his impatience that he could not wait, and came away at once, before the last sitting had taken place. Sir John Vaughan's house at Parson's Green was assigned him as a temporary residence. As, however, the place was within twelve miles of the Court, he could not be permitted to remain there long. A little breathing-time was granted him to settle his affairs; but on June 22, he was obliged, much against his will, to betake himself to Gorhambury. June 22. Any other man would have been crushed by the blow by which Bacon had been surprised, and would have resigned him His History of Henry VII. self, at least for a time, to lethargy. Bacon only saw in his exclusion from political life an additional reason for throwing himself heart and soul into other work. In less than five months after his liberation he had completed that noble history of the reign of Henry VII. which stands confessedly amongst the choicest first-fruits of the long harvest of English historical literature.3 Two days before Bacon's removal to Gorhambury, the sentence of the House of Lords upon an offender of a very Degradation different kind was carried out. Sir Francis Michell of Michell. was in due form degraded from knighthood. The spurs were hacked from his heels, the sword was broken over his head, and the heralds proclaimed to the applauding bystanders, that from henceforth he would be known as "Francis Michell, Knave." He was conducted back, amidst the hoot 1 On May 12 Southampton reminded the Lords that Bacon had not yet been sent to the Tower, and hoped that the world may not think our sentence is in vain ;' Buckingham replied that the King hath respited his going to the Tower in this time of his great sickness.'- Elsing's Notes, 79. 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, June 2, S. P. Dom. cxxi. 69. • Chamberlain to Carleton, June 9, ibid. cxxi. 88. Bacon to Buckingham, May 31, June 5, 22, Letters and Life, vii. 280, 282, 292. Bacon to the Prince of Wales, June 7, ibid. vii. 287. 1621 MEMBERS ARRESTED. 133 ings of the mob, to Finsbury Gaol, from which, about a fortnight later, he was contemptuously set at liberty.1 Not long afterwards, Mompesson's fine was granted to trustees, for the use of his wife and child.2 Against this lenity to men for whose faults the Government was more than half responsible, there would have been June 16. Arrest of little to be said, if it had not been sharply contrasted with harshness exercised in another direction. James had been deeply annoyed at the consultations which had been held between Southampton and certain members of the Lower House, with the object, it was said, of opening direct negotiations with Frederick and Elizabeth. On June 16, Southampton, as he rose from the councilboard, was ordered into confinement. On the same day, Sandys and Selden were arrested, the latter, though not a member of Parliament, having, it is said, given offence by an opinion delivered in support of the jurisdiction of the Commons over Floyd. Anything more impolitic it is impossible to conceive. At once a belief in the unreality of the apparent concord between the Crown and the Lower House began to spread. A story was eagerly repeated that, when the searchers applied to Lady Sandys for Sir Edwin's keys, she had answered that she wished his Majesty had a key to her husband's heart, as he would then see that there was nothing there but loyalty. It was to no purpose that the world was carefully informed that the prisoners were not called in question for anything done in Parliament. Men shrugged their shoulders incredulously. The wildest rumours flew about. Coke, it was said, had been sent for. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Lich July 13. Imprisonment of Oxford. field had been imprisoned. It was not long before another nobleman shared in reality Southampton's fate. A year before, the Earl of Oxford had surprised all who knew him by leaving those dissipations in which his 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, June 23, S. P. Dom. cxxi. 120. Meddus to Mead, June 22, Harl. MSS. 389, fol. 96. Michell's petition, June 30, S. P. Dom. cxxi. 135. 2 Grant to St. John and Hungerford, July 7, Sign Manuals, xii. 71. youth had been passed, for the sake of hard service under Vere in the Palatinate. But he did not remain long upon the Continent. In company with the more demure Essex, he hurried back, as soon as the summer was over, to take his place in the House of Lords, and he now thought himself justified by the very moderate amount of hardship which he had undergone, in grumbling about the thankless reception which had been accorded to his services. One day he inveighed over his wine against Popery and the Spanish match, and his words being reported to the King, he was placed under arrest.1 James was sufficiently vexed to issue a fresh proclamation 'against excess of lavish and licentious speech of matters of state.' 2 Fortunately for James there was one amongst those to whom he willingly listened, who was able to warn him against Williams, 3 the conseqences of such blunders as these. Since he had warded off a breach with the Commons, Williams had found the King's ear open to him on all occasions. His first thought had been to claim his own reward. The see of London was vacant, and he lost no time in asking for it. Before his pretensions could be satisfied, a still more brilliant prospect opened itself before him. It was necessary to provide a successor to Bacon. Ley and Hobart had been pointed out by rumour as competitors for the office, but it was soon understood that the King's choice would rest upon Cranfield. Before, however, the selection had finally been made, it happened that Williams, who had learned many secrets as Ellesmere's chaplain, was consulted on a point of detail relating to the profits of the place, and that James was so struck with the ability of his reply, and with his thorough knowledge of the subject, that he at once declared that he would entrust the Great Seal to no one else.4 Meddus to Mead, 1 Examinations. App. to Proceedings and Debates. June 22. Mead to Stuteville, June 23, Harl. MSS. 389, fol. 96, 98. Chamberlain to Carleton, June 23, July 14, S. P. Dom. cxxi. 121; cxxii. 23. 2 Proclamation, July 26, S. P. Dom. clxxxvii. 95. • Williams to Buckingham, April (?), Cabala, 374. Hacket's Life of Williams, 52. |