The Origin and Growth of the English Constitution: The after-growth of the constitution

8. The Death Grapple between the Conciliar and Parliamentary Sys-

tems: the Long Parliament met November 3, 1640; leadership of Pym; his

conception of the end to be attained; means employed for its attainment

A duel to the death between Pym and Strafford; Strafford hurriedly impeached

on the 11th of November; difficult to formulate a provable charge of treason

against him, because "the law of England is silent as to conspiracies against

itself;" charged with "levying war against the king; " failure in the proof; for

that reason a bill of attainder brought in April 10; ambiguous opinion of the

judges; flight of Windebank and Finch

Impeachment of Laud, December 18, 1640; articles not presented until October,

1643; ordinance of attainder finally adopted as in Strafford's case; opinion

of the judges; executed January 10, 1645; release of Prynne, Bastwick, and

others; all proceedings concerning ship-money annulled; the entire taxing

power declared to be in the king in parliament.

The Triennial Act; machinery provided for its execution; dissolution of future

parliaments; present parliament not to be dissolved without its own consent;

acts as to compulsory knighthood, purveyance, and forests; star chamber
abolished; council forbidden to encroach upon ordinary judicial tribunals;
right of privy councillors to commit for crime regulated; habeas corpus; fate
of the Council of the North and other irregular tribunals; court of high com-
mission abolished upon the theory that it had always been a usurpation; no
ecclesiastical courts from 1641 to 1661; permanent work of the Long Parlia-
ment accepted at the Restoration

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Long Parliament irresistible while acting as a whole; its failure to agree as to the

fate of the episcopal office; the origin of political parties; settlement with the

army of the Scots; Charles hastened to Edinburgh to organize a counter-revo-

lution; made important concessions; sought proofs of treason against Pym

and Hampden; the “incident" in parliament after the recess; composition of

the royalist party; men who believed enough had been done; composition of the

Puritan opposition, who believed that the revolution must be carried further to

be effective; the Irish rising

Protestantism menaced; parliament refused the king an army unless he would
accept councillors approved by them; the appeal to the nation in the Grand
Remonstrance; essence of the demand, church reform and a responsible minis-
try; Puritan declarations upon the religious question; authority of bishops to
be diminished, conformity to be upheld, and ceremonies to be reformed; no tol-
eration for Arminians or sectaries; supplies to be granted only to responsible
ministers; inadequacy of impeachments recognized; Remonstrance adopted by
majority of eleven, November 22; Cromwell's memorable declaration; Palmer

protested for himself and "all the rest;" sent to the Tower; Remonstrance

ordered to be printed.

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313

Root-and-branch faction fail to secure abolition of episcopacy; bill excluding clergy

from secular office passed by the house and rejected by the lords; popular

demonstration against the bishops; origin of the names "Roundheads" and

"Cavaliers;" bishops protested that all acts done in their absence were void;

impeached for high treason; impeachment of the queen mooted

The attempt on the five members; substance of the articles presented by the attor-

ney-general; when the lords refused to order their arrest the king himself issued

the warrant; house failed to deliver them to the serjeant; Charles then

resolved to make the arrest in person; what occurred in the house January 4,

1642; Charles took the speaker's chair; Lenthal's reply to his demands; the

king sees that "the birds are flown;" charge against Strafford compared with

that against the five members; the irrepressible conflict

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Struggle for the control of the militia; the Impressment Bill approved February,
1642; the first militia bill and its provisions; the second militia bill and its
provisions; militia ordinance passed by the houses and put in force without
the king's assent; Pym's means for coercing the lords, who finally joined in
enacting the Bishops' Exclusion Bill; Charles refused admission to Hull; the
king's friends withdrew from Westminster; June 6 parliament claimed to be
sovereign; committee of safety appointed; houses won control of the fleet; the
army under Essex; the king not inactive; fixed his residence at York; issued
commissions of array; final attempt at reconciliation June 2; terms rejected
by Charles June 18; the royal standard raised at Nottingham August 22.

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CHAPTER III.

THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.

1. Continuity of Development of the English Constitution as affected

by the Revolutionary Epoch: monarchy not restored in the form in which

it was overthrown; ultimate effect of new ideas germinated during period of

upheaval; Puritan spirit lived on as the advancing force in English society;

beginnings of the modern constitution.

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322

2. Conservative Basis upon which the War began: "the king in parliament
waged war against the king in the royalist camp; " the war not a war of classes;
relations of the two parliaments to each other

Taxation without the royal assent; parliamentary ordinances of 1642 and 1645

contained the germs of the modern fiscal system; origin of the excise; the ordi-

nance of 1643; royal taxation at Oxford

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3. Constitutional Theory of the Houses embarrassed Military Opera-

tions: Essex shrank from a decisive stroke; first encounter at Edgehill;

energy of Hampden; aided in organizing association of the midland and east-

ern counties; died June, 1643; Pym resolved upon an alliance with the Scots,

who demanded adoption of presbyterian system; Covenant sworn to by the

commons September 25; its leading purposes; submitted to the Westminster

Assembly.

Treaty with the Scots the last work of Pym, who died December 6; "committee

324

of the two kingdoms " contained the germs of the modern cabinet; superseded
the old Committee of Safety; Marston Moor July 2, 1644; surrender of Essex
in September; battle of Newbury October 27; Cromwell, who quarreled with
Manchester because he was "afraid to conquer," now took the lead.

327.

329

• 326

4. Cromwell as a military organizer: his views as expressed to Hampden applied to
the organization of the body of "godly men" afterwards known as "Ironsides;"
resolved to remodel the whole army on the same basis; his purpose declared
in the house in November, 1644; the Self-Denying Ordinance; passed both
houses April 3, 1645; Fairfax made commander-in-chief; Cromwell appointed
by the house lieutenant-general; his plan applied to selection of officers of the
New Model; bulk of those in high command of noble or gentle blood
Rise of the independents; beginning of their religious movement; its suppres-
sion in England caused strongholds to be built upon the Continent and in
New England; the "New England way;" made the greatest progress among
the common people; no toleration for independents in the reorganized state
church; Cromwell as a mediator; declared for toleration before Marston
Moor; his letter to Lenthall after Naseby, to the same effect, coldly received;
independents increased their strength in the house

Peace party opened a fresh negotiation with Charles; proposals made at Uxbridge

in January, 1645; negotiations broken off in May, when Charles marched to

the north; Naseby, June 14, ruined the royal cause at a blow; last campaign

in the west

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5. Charles attempted to regain by Diplomacy what he had lost in War:
parliament divided into presbyterians and independents; the former relying on
the Scotch army at Newark, the latter upon the New Model; Cromwell's new
plea for toleration; two years of intrigue and negotiation .
Charles asked leave to return to Westminster, March, 1646; houses declined to
receive him prior to an understanding; arrived in Scottish camp in May, where
he was made a prisoner; attempt of presbyterians to arrive at a settlement;
their terms rejected; Charles hoped to extirpate one party with the help of the
other; "Ordinance for the suppression of blasphemies; " abolition of episco-
pacy; king surrendered to the houses, January, 1647 .

Presbyterians and independents struggle for the mastery; New Model refused to

be dissolved; adopted a constitution of its own; Ireton its leading statesman;

Joyce seized the person of the king June 4; army put forth its first political

programme June 15; eleven members forced to withdraw from the house; the

heads of the proposals submitted to the king; a London mob forced the inde-
pendents in parliament to fly to the army, which soon restored them to their
places; Charles escaped, November 11, only to begin a fresh imprisonment;
Scots crossed the border July, 1648; vow of the New Model upon the eve of
invasion; embodied, after victory, in "The Remonstrance; presented to the
commons November 20; Pride's purge; three resolutions adopted by the
Rump January 4, 1649; high court of justice constituted the 6th; Charles
refused to plead the 20th; executed on the 30th

THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE,

1. Results of the Revolution Unforeseen: they arose out of a great upheaval,

broken into four distinct stages; the first, embracing reforms made during first

ten months of Long Parliament; the second, the struggle that ended with the

adoption of the Grand Remonstrance; the third, the triumph of the presbyte-

rian over the episcopal system; the fourth, the triumph of the independents

over the presbyterians; all independent elements combined by Cromwell in the

New Model; the levellers as an organized republican association; "the Agree-

ment of the People; " prototype of all American constitutions; completed

January 15, 1649, and presented to the commons; army resolved to retain the

Rump, which proclaimed the sovereignty of the people, speaking through a

single chamber

2. The Rump cleared the Way for the First Republican Constitution by

abolishing monarchy and the house of lords February 7; the executive power

vested in a council of state elected by the house; its duties defined; powers of

the admiralty vested in the council; the oath to support the new régime "by

way of a republic without king or house of peers;" theory upon which the

new fabric rested; reorganization of the judiciary; the common law undis-

turbed; republic declared to be a commonwealth and a free state" May 19;

met with hostility everywhere; Charles II. proclaimed by the Scots; subjuga-
tion of Ireland and Scotland; the "Eikon Basiliké" answered by Milton's
"Eikonoklastes; " Rump refused to dissolve itself; the bill passed for that
purpose November, 1651; Cromwell finally dissolved both the Rump and its
council by the sword, April 20, 1653; Bradshaw's declaration

3. The Military Dictatorship organized by Cromwell as Captain-

General," who issued writs as such to persons designated by the congregational

churches; the constituent assembly thus constituted known as the "Barebones

Parliament; its abortive attempt at reform alarmed all classes; dissolved

December 12, 1653; Cromwell tendered the office of Protector under a new

constitution called the "Instrument of Government; " his installation

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342

· 346

4. The "Instrument" vested the Supreme Executive Power in a Pro-

tector and Council: the legislative, in a protector and single chamber

parliament, to be assembled triennially; the franchise regulated and religious

liberty guaranteed; the protector's ordaining power; sixty-four ordinances

issued.

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The parliament of 1654, in which representatives from the three kingdoms sat as

at the present day; subjected to military coercion; dissolved in January, 1655;

the major-generals and their powers; press censorship

A new parliament met September 17, 1656; returns laid before the council, which
excluded all who were unacceptable; powers of the major-generals withdrawn ;
new scheme of government adopted in March, 1657, giving the protector the
title of king, which was rejected; new scheme as amended became law May
25; commons adjourned pending formation of the "other house"

5. The "Act of Government " vested the Supreme Powers in a Protector

and a Two Chamber Parliament: protector authorized to name his suc-

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350

cessor; given a fixed revenue; uniformity to be reconciled with liberty of
conscience; writs issued to the new peers; protector met the collective body in
the upper chamber January 29, 1658; dissolved it February 4; capitulation of
Dunkirk in June; Cromwell died September 3; conflicting estimates of his
character; the nearest approach to a true portrait
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6. Richard Cromwell, Protector: called a new parliament, which met January

27, 1659; republicans and royalists combine for his overthrow; a fresh conflict

between the army and the houses; latter dissolved April 22; protectorate set

7. Rump returned to Power May 7, 1659, without the members excluded by

Colonel Pride December 6, 1648; Rump expelled in October; a division in the

army; General Monk, who commanded the Scottish forces, crossed the border

January, 1660; excluded members admitted; Long Parliament finally dissolved,

and the Convention Parliament met April 25, and settled the restoration of

Charles II..

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BOOK VI.

THE RESTORATION AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.

CHAPTER I.

CHARLES II. AND THE RESTORED CONSTITUTION.

1. Constitution restored as modified during the First Ten Months of

Long Parliament: commonwealth legislation treated as void; Charles

invited to return by both parties; his declaration from Breda; convention

declared itself to be "the two houses of parliament".

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· 359

360

Fate of the regicides; Bill of Indemnity; trial by a special court; failure to com-
pensate royalists for pecuniary sacrifices; their forcible reëntries
Disbandment of standing army; reorganization of militia
Exclusion of commonwealth clergy from church livings; restoration and election
of bishops; "act for the confirming and restoring of ministers"

Reorganization of the finances; incidents of feudal tenures abolished; with a few

exceptions all tenures converted into free and common socage; an hereditary

excise; imposition of hearth-money; old Tudor subsidy abandoned; new assess-

ment system applied to both clergy and laity; one effect of commonwealth

legislation