The reign of James VI does not present much that is remarkable. The plot, for which s'r Walter Raleigh suffered long afterwards, and the Gunpowder plot—the insig nificant proportions of which were so magnified for factious purposes—disturbed the earlier years; and the close of the reign found the nation engaged in an unfortunate war to assist the king's son-in-law, Frederick, elector of Bohemia, against the emperor Fer dinand II. of Germany. But for the greater portion of the 23 years of the reign there was neither foreign nor domestic war. These years the king occupied industriously in rendering monarchy odious and contemptible. • He lavished money upon unworthy favorites, and to supply his extravagance, openly sold the dignities of the peerage and the other honors of the state. His personal demeanor was vain, weak, and ridiculous; but in contrast with the insignificance of his talents was his extravagant conception of the extent of his royal prerogative. His conduct occasioned great discontent in parlia ment, and but for his timidity might have led to more serious consequences.
The misfortunes of Charles I. were the legitimate result of the principles of his father. Charles committed the mistake of repeating, in the 17th c., acts which the Plantagenet sovereigns had done with impunity in the 14th and 15th. One of his first acts was to exact a benevolence to carry on the war. Had he been successful, this might have been overlooked, but when the bad management of the duke of Buckingham lost the fleet off Rochelle, the indignation of the commons was without hounds. In place of taking measures to allay this feeling, the king dissolved the parliament, and resolved to govern without calling another. In 1630, 'he concluded peace, and for the next seven years, in council with Strafford and Laud, he carried on the government. Taxes were raised as before without parliamentary authority; and when the taxes failed, money was raised by selling to the Roman Catholics immunities from the penal laws against their worship.
Nevertheless, there were limits to these methods of raising money; and in 1637, when the king found himself involved in a war with Scotland, in consequence of his endeavor to introduce a liturgy there, he was compelled to call a parliament. The commons refused supplies, and were again dissolved. In 1640, the king once more summoned a parliament. He found the temper of the houses more indomitable than ever. In place of voting him supplies, they impeached his minister Strafford, and condemned him to death. The commons then presented a grand remonstrance to the king, embodying all the grievances the nation had suffered since the death of Elizabeth. Matters proceeded
from bad to worse, till an open rupture tain'e, 'and an uprical wasmadete•arms. In Aug., 1642, the king- erected his standard at Nottingham, while the rebels took arms under the earl of Essex. The first conflict was at Edgehill, where the loss on both sides was severe and nearly equal. The fortune of war continued to vary, till at Marston moor it turned against Charles, and at Naseby, in June, 1645, he was finally defeated. He was executed on 30th Jan., 1649.
The government for the next four years was conducted by parliament. Meanwhile, Cromwell was rising into distinction, and power gradually fell from the hands of par liament into those of the military. In 1653, Cromwell had himself proclaimed "pro tector." He was now absolute monarch. He governed with a firm hand, and never was E. more respected abroad than during his time. In 1654, he concluded peace with Holland, and employed the gallant admiral Blake in an expedition against the Spaniards. which ended brilliantly for the English navy. But the nation grew as discontented with the government of Cromwell as it had been with that of Charles. After the death of the protector in 1658, and a short interval during which his son Richard held the office, parlia ment received with acclamations a proposal from Charles II. to return. In May, 1660, the populace clamored with delight on the royal entry to London of him who, a few years before, had fled from Worcester for his life.
While Clarendon was minister, the government of Charles II. was well conducted A war with Holland was brought to a successful ending in the conquest of New York. On Clarendon's resignation, the government passed into the hands of the ministry known as the Cabal. They were as profligate and as careless as the king himself. A succession of cruelties against the Catholics, for which the pretended revelations of Titus Oates and his imitators furnished the excuse, betokened rather the wanton temper of the sovereign and the nation, than any zeal for the Protestant religion. The only act which reflects • much credit on any portion of the reign was the passing, in 1679, of the habeas corpus act, designed more effectually to protect the liberty of' the person. Strong efforts were made in parliament after that to pass the exclusion bill, the object of which was to exclude the duke of York, as a Roman Catholic, from the succession. To the great sat isfaction of the king, parliament rejected the bill. • In 1681, parliament was dissolved, and Charles II. never called another.