Somerset, 1625 to 1640: A County’s Government during the “Personal Rule” by Thomas Garden Barnes (review)

{•2 TI-IE CANADIAN HISTOHICAL REVIEW Somerset, 1625 to 1640: A County's Government duringthe "Personal Rule." ByTx•o•a__a.s Ga_VmE• Ba_m•s. Cambridge: Harvard University Press [Toronto: S. J. Reginald Saunders andCompany Limited].1961.Pp. xviii,369,maps. $9.00. IT mA COMMONPLACE thatCharles I's experiment in personal government founderedontherockof the"county organization." Thisbookisanattempt to explain howit happened in oneimportant county. In moregeneral terms it is a study of the organization andfunctioning of county government in Somerset at a time whenunusual, difficult, andunpopular duties werebeingimposed on justices, sheriffs, andotherofficials whose loyalco-operation wasessential forthesuccess of the King'spolicy The perioddifferssharpl fromthatwhichpreceded it. ß y Charles I began hisrei$•withanevident determination toputanendtothe indolence andneglect thathadprevailed underhisfather.His Bookof Orders envisaged a thorough overhaul andreformof the wholesystem of localgovernment .Magistrates andothers werecharged withduties andresponsibilities which wereeithernew,or hadbeenlargelyneglected for a generation or more;and it is clearfromProfessor Barnes' evidence thattheydidnotlikeit. Apartfromtheseduties, whichmanyof themdescribed asunprecedented andburdensome, theywereinvolved in the execution of themoreunpopular measures forraising money. Theloanof 1627aroused some discontent, butmost of it wascollected. Thelevyof shipmoney some years laterpresents a striking contrast. Opposition began assoon asit became evident thatthiswasto be a regular annual tax.Professor Barnes suggests thatthegrowth oftheopposition wasduein partto thefailureof theKingandcouncil to dealsternly withit assoon asit appeared. Just whattheycould have done isnotexplained. Strangely, in viewof all thathasbeenwrittenonthesubject, thelevywasnotopposed ontheground of itsillegality, orbecause it hadnotbeensanctioned byparliament .The collection wassimply frustrated. Against theendless devices which menunwilling to paycouldanddid adopt,thesheriff andhisassistants were helpless. By similar methods other unpopular measures, such theKing's attempt toreorganize themilitiawerenullified. Whathappened in Somerset wasperhaps typical of whatwashappening in othercounties. Studies of thekindfor otherpartsof thecountry, in particular for counties in whichthenewereconomic interests weremoreimportant, would beofgreat value. This book willserve inmany ways asamodel. D. J. McDoUGALL University ofToronto Skipper fromLeith:A Lifeof Robert Barton of OverBarnton. ByW. STANFORD Rzm.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1962.Pp.334.$6.00. max-m Pm•:FACE TO Tins, thefirst f,,u.l,l-length study ofRobert Barton, Professor Reidpoints outthatin recent yearsthere hasbeen a tendency insome quarters, although bynomeans universally, toregard theProtestant ethicasoneofthe maior sources oftheriseofmodern industrial capitalism." It istheauthor's professed intention to testthisgeneralization by a studyof thecareer of a man whohassome claimto beingthe leading capitalist of theperiod whichimmediately preceded thecoming of;the Reformation toScotland. There isample materialfor sucha study;Barrenscareeris well documented, and Professor Reidhasmined bothpublished andunpublished sources most industriously. Bartonbegan asa merchant adventurer ofLeithintheearly years ofJames IV. His ...