The History of England Volume VI

LXV

HistEng6_201-250.indd 33 6/17/11 11:12 AM LXV A Parliament - The Cabal Their Characters - Their counsels - Alliance with France - A Parliament - Coventry act Blood 's crimes- Duke declares himself CatholicExchequer shut - Declaration of indulgence Attack of the Smyrna fleet - War declared with Holland - Weakness of the States - Battle of Solebay - Sandwich killed - Progress of the French - Consternation of the Dutch Prince of Orange Stadtholder- Massacre of the de Wits - Good conduct of the Prince A Parliament- Declaration of indulgence recalled- Sea fight- Another sea fightAnother sea fight - Congress of Cologne -A Parliament- Peace with Holland ~~~ SINCE T HE RESTORATION, England had attained a situation, which had never been experienced in any former period of her government, and which seemed the only one, that could fully ensure, at once, her tranquillity and her liberty: The king was in continual want of supply from the parliament; and he seemed willing to accommodate himself to that dependent situation. Instead of reviving those claims of prerogative, so strenuously in233 r668. HistEng6_201-250.indd 34 6/17/11 11:12 AM 234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND sisted on by his predecessors, Charles had strictly confined himself within the limits of law, and had courted, by every art of popularity , the affections of his subjects. Even the severities, however blameable, which he had exercised against nonconformists, are to be considered as expedients, by which he strove to ingratiate himself with that party, which predominated in parliament. But notwithstanding these promising appearances, there were many circumstances , which kept the government from resting steddily on that bottom, on which it was placed. The crown having lost almost all its ancient demesnes, relied entirely on voluntary grants of the people; and the commons not fully accustomed to this new situation , were not yet disposed to supply with sufficient liberality the necessities of the crown. They imitated too strictly the example of their predecessors in a rigid frugality of public money; and neither sufficiently considered the indigent condition of their prince, nor the general state of Europe; where every nation, by its increase both of magnificence and force, had made great additions to all public expences. Some considerable sums, indeed, were bestowed on Charles; and the patriots of that age, tenacious of ancient maxims , loudly upbraided the commons with prodigality: But if we mayjudge by the example of a later period, when the government has become more regular, and the harmony of its parts has been more happily adjusted, the parliaments of this reign seem rather to have merited a contrary reproach. The natural consequence of the poverty of the crown was, besides feeble irregular transactions in foreign affairs, a continual uncertainty in its domestic administration. No one could answer with any tolerable assurance for the measures of the house of commons. Few of the members were attached to the court by any other band than that of inclination. Royalists indeed in their principles , but unexperienced in business, they lay exposed to every rumour or insinuation; and were driven by momentary gusts or currents, no less than the populace themselves. Even the attempts made to gain an ascendant over them, by offices, and, as it is believed, by bribes and pensions, were apt to operate in a manner contrary to what was intended by the ministers. The novelty of the practice conveyed a general, and indeed a just, alarm; while at the same time, the poverty of the crown rendered this influence very limited and precarious. HistEng6_201-250.indd 35 6/17/11 11:12 AM 235 CHAPTER LXV The character of Charles was ill fitted to remedy those defects in the constitution. He acted in the administration of public affairs, as if government were a pastime, rather than a serious occupation; and by the uncertainty of his conduct, he lost that authority, which could alone bestow constancy on the fluctuating resolutions of the parliament. His expences too, which sometimes perhaps exceeded the proper bounds, were directed more by inclination than by policy; and while they encreased his dependance on the parliament , they were not calculated fully to satisfy either the interested or disinterested part of that assembly. The parliament met after a long adjournment; and the king promised himself every thing from the attachment of the commons . All his late measures had been calculated to acquire the good will of his people; and above all, the triple league, it was hoped, would be able to...