know their duties.' Being contradicted by Stamford, he answered rudely, and the affair almost ended in a duel. Yet, after all, Strafford's fate rested even more with the King than with the Peers, and for the moment it seemed that Charles would bow his neck to submit to the wise guidance of Bristol. "The misfortune that is fallen upon you," he wrote April 23. The King's to Strafford two days after the Attainder Bill passed Strafford. the Commons, "by the strange mistaking and conjuncture of these times being such that I must lay by the thought of employing you hereafter in my affairs, yet I cannot satisfy myself in honour or conscience without assuring you now, in the midst of your troubles, that, upon the word of a king, you shall not suffer in life, honour, or fortune."2 letter to Rumours of changes. For the moment, too, it seemed likely that Charles would give some security that, if he had not changed his mind, he had changed his policy. Again, there were rumours official of a fresh distribution of offices. Bedford, who, without modifying his opinion that Strafford was a traitor, was ready to vote against the infliction of the death penalty in order to conciliate the King, was still named as Lord Treasurer. Saye, the most irreconcilable of Puritans, was to be Master of the Wards. Pym, it was supposed, as it had been supposed in February,3 was to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. Twice in the course of the week he was admitted to an interview with the King.1 Efforts to save Straf. ford. What passed between Charles and Pym we have no means of knowing. It is quite possible that Pym refused to be content with anything short of Strafford's life. Essex, at all events, would not hear of any lesser penalty. Hyde, of whom it is not known whether he had given a silent vote for the Bill of Attainder, or had abstained from voting, was employed by Bedford to argue down Essex's objections. At Hyde's suggestion that a heavy fine or a long imprisonment would be a sufficient punishment, 1 One of the Scottish Commissioners to MSS. xxv., No. 155. (?), April 27. The King to Strafford, April 23, Strafford Letters, ii. 416. Tomkins to Lambe, April 26, S. P. Dom. cccclxxix. 74. Wodrote 1641 'STONE-DEAD HATH NO FELLOW? 341 the Earl shook his head. "Stone-dead," he bluntly answered, "hath no fellow." He argued that, even if Strafford were fined or imprisoned, the King would not only restore his estate and release all fines, but would likewise give him his liberty, as soon as he had a mind to make use of him, which would be as soon as the Parliament should be ended. Essex did but express an opinion which was very widely entertained. It was not so much a question whether Strafford had been a traitor as whether April 24. Charles could be trusted.' The clamour of the The LonHouse of Commons was backed by a growing excitement in the City. On the 24th, 20,000 Londoners signed a petition calling for the execution of Strafford and the redress of grievances, as the only means of escape from the existing depression of trade.2 doners' petition. The Com mons answer the arguments of Strafford's counsel. During the first stages of this negotiation a compromise was come to between the Houses. The Commons agreed to reply to the legal arguments of Strafford's counsel, if they were understood to be directed to the question whether the Bill of Attainder ought to pass, and not to the question what judgment ought to be given on the impeachment. In spite of opposition from Bristol and Savile the compromise was accepted by the Lords, and on the 27th the Attainder Bill was read in their House a second time. The 29th was fixed for hearing the legal arguments of the Commons.3 April 27. Second reading of the Attainder Bill by the Lords. Nevertheless, an impression seems to have prevailed that, though the Lords were unwilling to quarrel with the other House on a point of form, they had made up their minds not to send Strafford to the scaffold. It was evidently Charles's wisest course to rely on the Lords, and to allow himself to appear before the world, if he must interfere at all on Strafford's Clarendon, iii. 164. Dates and events are as usual mixed up here so as to create a thoroughly false impression, but I feel inclined to accept the separate anecdotes as substantially true. They are just the things which would remain in the author's mind when all sense of relation was lost. 2 Rushworth, iv. 233. Brief Journal, March 1-May 3, S. P. Dom. cccclxxx. 9. L. J. iv. 227. behalf, as the guardian of constitutional right. Charles could not make up his mind to risk all that must be risked by the steady pursuance of this line of conduct. To the Queen his attempts to respect the law must have seemed to be sheer infatuation. Her head was full of projects. No enterprise seemed too daring, no combination too extensive, for her selfwilled inexperience. If we knew all we should probably be able to tell of Charles as carried away by her flashing eloquence, The Queen's agreeing to everything that she proposed, and professprojects. ing himself to be ready to carry out her projects, till calm consideration, out of her sight, once more commended to his mind some other plan which would at least keep him within the letter of the law. Such at least is the most probable explanation of the inconsistent action of the King during these agitated days. The Court of Henrietta Maria had few secrets. Rumour was busy with speculations as to the price paid by the Prince of Orange for a royal alliance. On the 19th Prince William arrived to claim his bride. The Court April 19. Arrival of William. Charles gossips at once fixed on the sum of 1,200,000 ducats as that which he had brought over to relieve the wants of his future father-in-law. One of the Scottish Commissioners asserted distinctly that the sum was 200,000l. Whether sends money the tale was true or not, there is little doubt that to the army. Charles was at this time sending money to York to conciliate the troops, and that he was encouraged by the reports which reached him to expect the help of the Northern army in the event of a breach with Parliament. He talked of going down in person to take the command. It was believed that he intended first to attack the Scots, and then to turn his arms against those who resisted his authority in England.' Almost April 23, 1 The King, says Giustinian, in his despatch of 'a dissegni di conciliarsi l'affetto loro, et renderle | ronte a quelle impressioni che il tempo et la occasione le conciliassero d' intraprendere maggiormente opportune.' In a later despatch of April 3 the ambassador adds that the soldiers were well disposed to the King: 'e pare che prosegua nei disegni avisati di voler tentare di nuovo con la forza di por freno all'ardire May 10 1641 CHARLES AND THE ARMY. 343 at the same time he was doing his best to conciliate these very Scots, and was assuring them of his intention to come to Scotland in person to preside over the next sitting of Parliament.' Plan for a violent dissolution of Other plans there were of still more extensive reach. Charles and the Queen were to take refuge at Hampton Court, whence they would find the way open to Portsmouth. There they would find Goring, and they still fancied Parliament. Goring to be true. An armed force was to be sent to seize the Tower, and the Northern army was to march on London. The Irish army, together with any troops which Frederick Henry might be disposed to lend, was to be summoned to Portsmouth, unless indeed it could be more profitably employed elsewhere. In the midst of the clash of arms, Parliament was to be dissolved, and Charles would be indeed a king once more.2 Such fantasies as these could hardly be reduced to practical de' Scozzesi, non meno che a quella de' più seditiosi d'Inghilterra ancora.' Ven. Transcripts. A contemporary letter embodied in the Brief and Perfect Relation (p. 83) mentions a rumour that the Dutchmen have offered money to the King for a new service of war.' ་ One of the Scottish Commissioners to XXV. No. 155. -, April 27, Wodrow MSS. 2 Quando si agitava la causa del V. Rè d'Irlanda e di volerlo in qualunque maniera salvarlo dalla morte, si determinò da quelle M. Mta l'andata all' Amtoncurt, et in questo mentre mandar gente a sorprendere la Torre di Londra, rompere il Parlamento, et havendosi di gia acquistata buona parte dell' esercito regio ritirarsi le persone Reali a Posmur, porto di mare forse il più forte che sia in quei Regni. Così credevasi di liberare il V. Rè, e dar leggi à quelli che le volevano distruggere, sperando di poter ciò più commodomente effettuare mediante gl'aiuti di Hibernia e d'Olanda, se non per altra parte, almeno per il medesimo porto. Ma mentre le loro M. Mtà stavano apparechiate per eseguire le cose predette, sopragiunse corriero con avviso che il Governatore di Posmur, benche havesse giurato fedeltà al Rè, haveva dato in mano al Parlamento la piazza. Al che s'aggiunse parimente che il Capitano della Torre rifutò di consegnar le chiavi di essa a S. Mtà, et il popolo trovavasi preparato per andar a Vitale, a passarene anche ad Amtoncurt, se fosse fatto besogno.' Rossetti Jan. 30 to Barberini, Feb. 1642, R. O. Transcripts. The refusal of the Lieutenant was on May 2, which brings the formation of the scheme to the end of April. 9 shape April 28. Plan for escape known. Something, too, was certain to ooze out. On the 28th it was known that for some weeks a vessel, chartered by Strafford's secretary, Slingsby, had been lying in the Thames, and that the master, being questioned about his destination, had answered gruffly, that it was nothing to him on what service he was employed so long as he had victuals and pay. The suspicions which the Commons were thus led to entertain could not but be heightened by a speech addressed to them by the King on the afternoon of the very day on which they had received information of the preparations for Strafford's flight. In involved phraagain refuses seology, Charles gave them to understand that he meant to keep the Irish army together till the English and Scottish forces in the north were disbanded. Strange as it may seem, Charles appears to have expected gratitude for the announcement. The King, wrote D'Ewes, “stayed a pretty while looking about, but there was The King to disband the Irish army. Dissatisfac tion of the Commons. not one man gave him the least hum or colour of plaudit to his speech, which made him, after some time of expectation, depart suddenly. Many were much grieved at this speech, because they saw no sudden hope of dissolving the said Irish, popish army." 3 April 29. St. John's argument. On the following day, in the midst of the investigations into the plans for Strafford's escape, and with the King's refusal to disband the Irish army fresh in their minds, the Lords were called on, to listen to St. John's argument on the legality of the Bill of Attainder. When he spoke, St. John had doubtless heard something at least of the rumours which were afloat, something perhaps of Charles's expectation from the Dutch marriage, or of the plan for bringing the army from the North, and he had certainly listened to the King's unsatisfactory speech of the preceding afternoon. Under the influence of this he broke away from the long chain of statute and precedent, upon which it was his business to 'D'Ewes's Diary, Harl. MSS. clxiii. 110. L. J. iv. 229. See also the story of the three women listening through the keyh le. An Exact Collection, 235. 2 C. J. ii. 131. D'Ewes's Diary, Harl. MSS. clxiii. fol. 113. |