The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 (344 page)

Amidst all these attacks, some more, some less violent, on royal prerogative, the king displayed, as openly as ever, all his exalted notions of monarchy and the authority of princes. Even in a speech to the parliament, where he begged for supply, and where he should naturally have used every art to ingratiate himself with that assembly, he expressed himself in these terms: “I conclude, then, the point, touching the power of kings, with this axiom of divinity, that, as to dispute
what God may do,
is blasphemy, but
what God wills,
that divines may lawfully and do ordinarily dispute and discuss; so is it sedition in subjects to dispute what a king may do in the height of his power.

But just kings will ever be willing to declare what they will do, if they will not incur the curse of God. I will not be content, that my power be disputed upon; but I shall ever be willing to make the reason appear of my doings, and rule my actions according to
my
laws.”
i
Notwithstanding the great extent of prerogative in that age, these expressions would probably give some offence. But we may observe, that, as the king’s despotism was more speculative than practical, so the independency of the commons was, at this time, the reverse; and though strongly supported by their present situation as well as disposition, was too new and recent to be as yet founded

on systematical principles and opinions.NOTE [G]

This year was distinguished by a memorable event, which gave 3d May. Death of the

great alarm and concern in England; the murder of the French French king.

monarch by the poinard of the fanatical Ravaillac. With his

death, the glory of the French monarchy suffered an eclipse for some years; and as that kingdom fell under an administration weak and bigotted, factious and disorderly, the Austrian greatness began anew to appear formidable to Europe. In England, the PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)

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antipathy to the catholics revived a little upon this tragical event; and some of the laws, which had formerly been enacted, in order to keep these religionists in awe, began now to be executed with greater rigour and severity.
l

Though James’s timidity and indolence fixed him, during most 1611.

of his reign, in a very prudent inattention to foreign affairs, there happened, this year, an event in Europe of such mighty consequence as to rouze him from his lethargy, and summon up all his zeal and enterprize. A professor of divinity, named Vorstius, the disciple of Arminius,

was called from a German to a Dutch university; and as he

Arminianism.

differed from his Britannic Majesty in some nice questions

concerning the intimate essence and secret decrees of God, he was considered as a dangerous rival in scholastic fame, and was, at last, obliged to yield to the legions of that royal doctor, whose syllogisms he might have refuted or eluded. If vigour was wanting in other incidents in James’s reign, here he behaved even with haughtiness and insolence; and the states were obliged, after several remonstrances, to deprive

Vorstius of his chair, and to banish him their dominions.m
The king carried no farther his animosity against that professor; though he had very charitably hinted to the states,
That, as to the burning of Vorstius for his blasphemies and atheism, he left them to
their own Christian wisdom, but surely never heretic better deserved the flames.
n
It is to be remarked, that, at this period, all over Europe, except in Holland alone, the practice of burning heretics still prevailed, even in protestant countries; and instances were not wanting in England, during the reign of James.

To consider James in a more advantageous light, we must take a view of him as the legislator of Ireland; and most of the institutions, which he had framed for civilizing that kingdom, being finished about this period, it may not here be improper to give some account of them, He frequently boasts of the management of Ireland as his master-piece; and it will appear, upon inquiry, that his vanity, in this particular, was not altogether without foundation.

After the subjection of Ireland by Elizabeth, the more difficult State of Ireland.

task still remained; to civilize the inhabitants, to reconcile them to laws and industry, and to render their subjection durable and useful to the crown of England. James proceeded in this work by a steady, regular, and well-concerted plan; and in the space of nine years, according to Sir John Davis, he made greater advances towards the reformation of that kingdom, than had been made in the 440 years, which had elapsed since the conquest was first attempted.
o

It was previously necessary to abolish the Irish customs, which supplied the place of laws, and which were calculated to keep that people for ever in a state of barbarism and disorder.

By the
Brehon
law or custom, every crime, however enormous, was punished, not with death, but by a fine or pecuniary mulct, which was levied upon the criminal.

Murder itself, as among all the ancient barbarous nations, was atoned for in this manner; and each man, according to his rank, had a different rate or value affixed to him, which, if any one were willing to pay, he needed not fear assassinating his PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)

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enemy. This rate was called his
eric.
When Sir William Fitzwilliams being lord deputy, told Maguire, that he was to send a sheriff into Fermannah, which, a little before, had been made a county, and subjected to the English law;
Your sheriff
said Maguire,
shall be welcome to me: But, let me know, beforehand, his
eric,
or the price
of his head, that, if my people cut it off, I may levy the money upon the county.
p
As for oppression, extortion, and other trespasses, so little were they regarded, that no penalty was affixed to them, and no redress for such offences could ever be obtained.

The customs of
Gavelkinde
and
Tanistry
were attended with the 1612.

same absurdity in the distribution of property. The land, by the custom of Gavelkinde, was divided among all the males of the sept or family, both bastard and legitimate: And, after partition made, if any of the sept died, his portion was not shared out among his sons; but the chieftain, at his discretion, made a new partition of all the lands, belonging to that sept, and gave every one his share.
q
As no man, by reason of this custom, enjoyed the fixed property of any land; to build, to plant, to inclose, to cultivate, to improve, would have been so much lost labour.

The chieftains and the Tanists, though drawn from the principal families, were not hereditary, but were established by election, or more properly speaking, by force and violence. Their authority was almost absolute; and, notwithstanding that certain lands were assigned to the office, its chief profit resulted from exactions, dues, assessments, for which there was no fixed law, and which were levied at pleasure.
r
Hence arose that common byeword among the Irish,
That they dwelt westward of the law, which
dwelt beyond the river of the Barrow:
Meaning the country, where the English inhabited, and which extended not beyond the compass of twenty miles, lying in the

neighbourhood of Dublin.s

After abolishing these Irish customs, and substituting English law in their place, James, having taken all the natives under his protection, and declared them free citizens, proceeded to govern them by a regular administration, military as well as civil.

A small army was maintained, its discipline inspected, and its pay transmitted from England, in order to keep the soldiers from preying upon the country, as had been usual in former reigns. When Odoghartie raised an insurrection, a reinforcement was sent over, and the flames of that rebellion were immediately extinguished.

All minds being first quieted by a general indemnity;
t
circuits were established, justice administered, oppression banished, and crimes and disorders of every kind severely punished.
u
As the Irish had been universally engaged in the rebellion against Elizabeth, a resignation of all the rights, which had been formerly granted them to separate jurisdictions, was rigorously exacted; and no authority, but that of the king

and the law, was permitted throughout the kingdom.w

A resignation of all private estates was even required; and when they were restored, the proprietors received them under such conditions as might prevent, for the future, all tyranny and oppression over the common people. The value of the dues, which the PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)

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nobles usually claimed from their vassals, was estimated at a fixed sum, and all farther arbitrary exactions prohibited under severe penalties.
x

The whole province of Ulster having fallen to the crown by the attainder of rebels, a company was established in London, for planting new colonies in that fertile country: The property was divided into moderate shares, the largest not exceeding 2000 acres: Tenants were brought over from England and Scotland: The Irish were removed from the hills and fastnesses, and settled in the open country: Husbandry and the arts were taught them: A fixed habitation secured: Plunder and robbery punished: And, by these means, Ulster, from being the most wild and disorderly province of all Ireland, soon became the best cultivated and most civilized.
y

Such were the arts, by which James introduced humanity and justice among the people, who had ever been buried in the most profound barbarism. Noble cares! much superior to the vain and criminal glory of conquests; but requiring ages of perseverance and attention to perfect what had been so happily begun.

A laudable act of justice was, about this time, executed in England upon lord Sanquhir, a Scottish nobleman, who had been guilty of the base assassination of Turner, a fencing-master. The English nation, who were generally dissatisfied with the Scots, were enraged at this crime, equally mean and atrocious; but James appeased them, by preferring the severity of law to the intercession of the friends and family of the criminal.
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[Back to Table of Contents]

XLVII

Death of Prince Henry — Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with the Palatine —

Rise of Somerset — His marriage — Overbury poisoned — Fall of Somerset — Rise
of Buckingham — Cautionary towns delivered — Affairs of Scotland
This year the sudden death of Henry, prince of Wales, diffused 1612.

an universal grief throughout the nation. Though youth and royal birth,

both of them strong allurements, prepossess men mightily in

Nov. 6th. Death of

favour of the early age of princes; it is with peculiar fondness, Prince Henry.

that historians mention Henry: And, in every respect, his merit seems to have been extraordinary. He had not reached his eighteenth year, and he already possessed more dignity in his behaviour, and commanded more respect, than his father, with all his age, learning and experience. Neither his high fortune, nor his youth, had seduced him into any irregular pleasures: Business and ambition seem to have been his sole passion. His inclinations, as well as exercises, were martial. The French ambassador, taking leave of him, and asking his commands for France, found him employed in the exercise of the pike;
Tell your king,
said he,
in what occupation
you left me engaged.
a
He had conceived great affection and esteem for the brave Sir Walter Raleigh. It was his saying,
Sure no king but my father would keep such a bird

in a cage.b
He seems indeed to have nourished too violent a contempt for the king, on account of his pedantry and pusillanimity; and by that means struck in with the restless and martial spirit of the English nation. Had he lived, he had probably promoted the glory, perhaps not the felicity, of his people. The unhappy prepossession, which men commonly entertain in favour of ambition, courage, enterprize, and other warlike virtues, engages generous natures, who always love fame, into such pursuits as destroy their own peace, and that of the rest of mankind.

Violent reports were propagated, as if Henry had been carried off by poison; but the

physicians, on opening his body, found no symptoms to confirm such an opinion.c

The bold and criminal malignity of men’s tongues and pens spared not even the king on the occasion. But that prince’s character seems rather to have failed in the extreme of facility and humanity, than in that of cruelty and violence. His indulgence to Henry was great, and perhaps imprudent, by giving him a large and independent settlement, even in so early youth.

The marriage of the princess Elizabeth, with Frederic, Elector 1613.

Palatine, was finished some time after the death of the prince, and served to dissipate the grief, which arose on that melancholy event.

But this marriage, though celebrated with great joy and festivity, Febr. 14. Marriage of proved, itself, an unhappy event to the king, as well as to his son- the Princess Elizabeth in-law, and had ill consequences on the reputation and fortunes with the Palatine.

of both. The Elector, trusting to so great an alliance, engaged in enterprizes beyond his strength: And the king, not being able to support him in his PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)

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distress, lost entirely, in the end of his life, what remained of the affections and esteem of his own subjects.