THE HOUSE OF STUART.

James I.

D. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and of Lord Darnley. Mary was the granddaughter of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. B. at Edinburgh, 1566. M. Anne, daughter of Frederick II., of Denmark. Dd. at Theobalds, in Hertfordshire, Mar. 27, 1625. R. 22 years (1603 to 1625).

1603. Two plots (the Bye and Main) formed against the king, but soon abandoned. Sir Walter Raleigh, charged with being one of the conspirators in the Main plot (the alleged object of which was to raise Lady Arabella Stuart, the king’s cousin, to the throne), was convicted, and imprisoned in the Tower, where he remained for more than twelve years.

1604. The Puritans having petitioned for alterations in the ritual of the church, a conference was held between representatives of the Puritans, and of the conservative church party, before the king at Hampton Court, but very few concessions were granted to the petitioners.

1605. Discovery of a plot for blowing up the king and parliament with gunpowder. The principal conspirators were either killed in resisting their arrest, or executed. The executions took place early in 1606.

1607. James Town, in Virginia, founded;—the earliest permanent settlement of the English in North America.

1611. Commencement of British colonization of Ulster. Institution of the order of baronets. Publication of a new translation of the Bible (our present authorized version).

1612. Death of Robert Cecil (earl of Salisbury, and chief minister of the crown), and of Prince Henry, the king’s eldest son.

1616. Sir Walter Raleigh released from the Tower. The earl and countess of Somerset convicted of procuring the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.

1617. Raleigh sailed to Guiana in search of a gold mine, but was unsuccessful, and on his return was committed to prison, because he had engaged in hostilities with the Spaniards, who had attacked him on his landing at St. Thomas.

1618. Raleigh executed on his former sentence.

1620. Emigration of the “Pilgrim Fathers” to New England.

1621. Parliament complained of monopolies, and prosecuted some of the monopolists. Francis Bacon, viscount St. Alban’s, convicted of bribery and corruption in the exercise of his office of Lord Chancellor. The Commons recorded in their journal that the liberties of parliament are the undoubted birthright of the subjects of England.

1622. On the dissolution of Parliament, Sir Edward Coke, Pym, and some other distinguished and patriotic members were imprisoned.

1623. Prince Charles and the duke of Buckingham proceeded to Spain in disguise, in order that the prince might see the infanta, to whom he was engaged to be married. They were received with great honour, but the marriage treaty was broken off near the close of the year.

1624. The earl of Middlesex convicted of bribery and oppression in the exercise of his office of lord treasurer.

During about half his reign, James governed without the control of parliaments. Loans, the sale of honours, enormous fines levied by the Star Chamber, and, on one occasion, a benevolence, were among the methods he adopted to secure an income.

Charles I.

D. He was the son of James I. B. at Dunfermline, 1600. M. Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV., of France. Executed at Whitehall, Jan. 30, 1649. R. 24 years (1625 to 1649).

1625. Charles’s first parliament met at Westminster, but was adjourned to Oxford, as the plague was raging in the capital. The Commons granted a supply, but, contrary to precedent, voted tonnage and poundage for one year only. Parliament dissolved because a further supply was refused unless coupled with a redress of grievances.

1626. Second parliament. Impeachment of the duke of Buckingham, the king’s minister, to save whom parliament was dissolved.

1627. Unsuccessful expedition of the duke of Buckingham to aid the Protestants at Rochelle. The king raised money by illegal taxation, and by forced loans: those who resisted the loans were imprisoned.

1628. Third parliament. PETITION OF RIGHT drawn up, to which Charles reluctantly agreed.

The Petition of Right declared the illegality—1, of all pecuniary demands without the consent of parliament; 2, of the punishment of persons for refusing to pay such demands; 3, of billeting soldiers and mariners on private subjects; 4, of proceedings for punishing persons by martial law.

1629. Parliament dissolved for passing resolutions on religion and taxation which were obnoxious to the king. Some of the principal members imprisoned.

1632. Lord Wentworth appointed deputy of Ireland.

1633. Laud appointed archbishop of Canterbury.

1634. Imposition of ship-money on seaport towns. It was extended to inland towns in the following year.

1637. John Hampden having refused to pay ship-money, the legality of the tax was discussed before the judges, who decided in its favour. An attempt to introduce a book of canons and a liturgy in Scotland led to great disturbances.

1638. The Scots drew up a covenant, by which they pledged themselves to resist all innovations in religion.

1639. Charles determined to coerce the Scots, who assembled an army. Not having confidence in his forces, he agreed to an accommodation with the Scots, known as the Pacification of Berwick.

1640. Fourth parliament assembled, and was soon dissolved, because it refused to grant money without a redress of grievances. The Scots invaded England, and defeated the royal vanguard at Newburn (Aug. 28). Treaty of Ripon, by the terms of which the Scottish army was to abstain from all acts of hostility, on condition of receiving a weekly payment till the differences between them and the king were adjusted. THE LONG PARLIAMENT assembled (Nov. 3). The earl of Strafford (Lord Wentworth) impeached of high treason.

1641. A statute passed, enacting that parliament should not be dissolved without its own consent. Execution of the earl of Strafford. The Star Chamber, High Commission Court, and other arbitrary courts abolished. Insurrection of the Catholics in Ireland, and fearful excesses committed. The Commons drew up a REMONSTRANCE on the state of the nation.

1642. Charles went to the House of Commons to arrest five members—Pym, Hampden, Haselrig, Hollis, and Strode, whom, with Lord Kimbolton, he had charged with high treason; but he failed in his attempt, as the obnoxious members were designedly absent. The parliament passed a bill for regulating the militia, to which he refused his assent. The CIVIL WAR, or GREAT REBELLION: Charles raised his standard at Nottingham (Aug. 22). Indecisive battle at Edgehill, in Warwickshire (Oct. 23).

The immediate cause of the rebellion, says Lord Brougham, were—1. The religious zeal, or rather fury, excited by the encouragement which the king and queen gave to Popery, and which was greatly magnified, at least as concerned him. 2. A conspiracy was discovered of some leading persons in the king’s party to march the army to London and subdue the parliament. 3. That which, more than all the rest, hurried on matters to extremities, was the insane step he took of entering, in person, the House of Commons, and claiming the surrender of five members, the leaders of the party opposed to him, but who had the whole Commons and nearly the whole Lords for their followers. That it led immediately to the vote which vested in parliament the nomination of militia officers—in other words, the command of the army—cannot be doubted; and this was the commencement of the Civil War.

1643. Battle of Chalgrove Field, near Oxford, where Hampden was mortally wounded (June 18); Royalist victories at Atherton Moor, in Yorkshire (June 30), and Roundway Down, near Devizes (July 13). Prince Rupert, the king’s nephew, took Bristol, but the king himself failed in an attempt on Gloucester. Royalists defeated at Newbury, in Berkshire, where the earls of Sunderland and Carnarvon and Lord Falkland were slain (Sept. 20). Death of Pym.

1644. The king assembled a rival parliament (consisting of the loyal members) at Oxford. The Scots entered England to aid the Long Parliament. Royalists defeated at Nantwich (Jan. 25). The parliamentarians, mainly by the military genius of Oliver Cromwell, gained a great victory at Marston Moor, in Yorkshire (July 2). Indecisive battle at Newbury (Oct. 27).

1645. Archbishop Laud executed for high treason. A treaty of peace begun at Uxbridge, but the two parties could not agree as to the terms. Self-denying ordinance passed, ordaining that no member of parliament should hold in future any civil or military office. The parliamentarians gained a decisive victory at NASEBY, in Northamptonshire (June 14). Bristol retaken by Sir Thomas Fairfax. The earl of Montrose, who had gained several victories over the covenanters, was totally defeated at Philiphaugh, near Selkirk (Sept. 13).

1646. The king surrendered himself to the Scots who were stationed near Newark (May 5).

END OF THE FIRST CIVIL WAR.

1647. The Scots gave Charles up to the parliament on payment of part of their arrears. The latter endeavoured to disband the English army, but failed: and the army seized the king. About five months after, he escaped to the Isle of Wight, but was arrested and imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle.

1648. SECOND CIVIL WAR. A royalist insurrection in Wales was soon suppressed by Cromwell, who also defeated, at Preston, a Scotch army that had invaded England in behalf of the king (Aug. 17). The Presbyterians, in the absence of the army, being predominant in parliament, began a treaty with Charles at Newport; but while the negotiations were proceeding, the army directed Charles to be removed to Hurst Castle, and Colonel Pride “purged” the House by forcibly excluding many of the members unfavourable to the army: this proceeding was known as Pride’s Purge. The remainder, or Rump Parliament, voted that the king should be brought to trial as guilty of high treason against the people.

1649. THE KING was tried in Westminster Hall, and though he refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the high court of justice, he was CONDEMNED AND EXECUTED.

Principal Officers in the Civil War.—Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice (the king’s nephews), the earls of Lindsey, Newcastle, and Montrose, Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and Goring, royalist commanders. The earl of Essex, Lord Kimbolton, afterwards earl of Manchester, Sir William Waller, Sir Thomas Fairfax, Hampden, Cromwell, Ireton, and Lambert, parliamentary commanders.