them from Puritan oppression. In New England those who stood for freedom and toleration invariably looked to the King of England.

The creation of the self-governing colony of Maryland is perhaps the most striking instance of Charles' desire for religious toleration. This was severed from the loyal colony of Virginia to form a place of refuge for English Catholics when Parliament insisted on their persecution. Not even in Rhode Island was there such perfect freedom from religious bigotry as in Maryland until England had lost her King. Then for a short while Puritans who had been invited to Maryland by their Catholic fellow-subjects extinguished religious freedom by force of arms. Maryland regained her freedom when royalty was restored in England.

During the last few years of Elizabeth's reign, although the Catholics were not actively persecuted in Ireland, a subtle attempt was made to impoverish the native Irish by the issue of base coin. This policy was, however, abandoned immediately after the accession of James I. Sir Arthur Chichester was appointed Lord Deputy in 1604. At first he attempted to force the Irish Catholics to obey the law and attend services in the Protestant churches; but, when he found that persecution was likely to end in civil war, Chichester reverted to the old system of practical toleration. The old Irish land system was socialistic. Land was held by an individual for life only. When the holder of land died the chief of his clan had power to divide it between the members of the clan. Chichester attempted, at first with apparent success, to substitute the English freehold system for the Irish tenure.

This success was probably due to the decision of the English Privy Council that the new system should not be made an excuse for alienating land from the Irish to English settlers, but that the freeholders should be Irish.

The introduction of the English land system struck a fatal blow at the independence of the chiefs of the Irish clans. A quarrel ensued between an Ulster chieftain and his vassal. They were finally summoned to argue their case in London. This invitation was interpreted by the chieftain as an English attempt to secure his person, and he and a fellow chief of the North fled from Ireland never to return. Nevertheless their departure was followed by an insurrection in Ulster which was suppressed without much difficulty. This revolt was followed by wholesale confiscation of land and the planting in Ulster of settlers from England and Scotland.

The English thought that the annexation of Ulster had broken the power of the Irish Catholics; but they found that it had driven the loyal Catholics of AngloNorman descent into alliance with the native Irish. The penal laws against Catholics could not be enforced, although attempts were made not only to enforce them but to increase their severity. The recall of Chichester in 1615 was followed by plantations in various parts of Ireland. Under the new English land laws it was easy to find pretexts for dispossessing Irish landowners. Thus, during the reign of James I., discontent in Ireland increased.

XXIII

CAUSES WHICH LED TO CIVIL WAR

1623-1629

BEFORE his father's death Charles had gained great popularity with Parliament by opposing the Spanish alliance. Buckingham shared this popularity and Charles made him his chief adviser, but their short-lived popularity vanished when Charles became King. This was inevitable. Parliament wished to gain for itself the same control over home and foreign affairs as the Dutch States-General possessed. On the other hand the King, from motives which were not altogether selfish, objected to becoming a mere Stadtholder. For whilst Parliament was formulating its extensive claim it was proclaiming its incompetence to direct foreign affairs or adequately consider the interest of English workers.

The factor which dominated the whole political situation was the overwhelming sea power of the Dutch. They claimed and exercised the right of fishing off the coasts of England as if they belonged to the Republic. When James prohibited foreigners from fishing in English waters, hoping to develop an English industry, the Dutch sent their fishing fleet with an armed escort, and the English had to submit. There

was only one remedy for this trouble, the creation of a strong navy. Both James and Charles did all they could to create this navy, but their efforts were largely neutralised by Parliament's refusal to grant the necessary funds. An alliance with the Dutch and a maritime struggle with Spain would have led to the same result as in Elizabeth's reign. England would have shared in the fighting, and the Dutch would have monopolised the rewards of a successful war. Yet this was the course advocated by Parliament.

The royal policy was a close alliance with France and friendship with the Dutch until the English navy was built. As a condition of the alliance the French demanded that English Catholics should enjoy the same freedom from persecution as French Protestants enjoyed in France. Just before his death James signed the required agreement with Louis XIII., and the penal laws were suspended. In 1625 Charles was married by proxy to the French King's sister Henrietta, who landed in England a week before Charles' first Parliament met. Nine months earlier Charles and Buckingham had prevailed upon James to yield to the wishes of Parliament and break with Spain. In return Parliament presented the King with a colossal programme for the war and an inadequate sum of money. Six months had nearly elapsed since an English force was despatched under Mansfield to make its way to Germany through the Netherlands. Owing to the poverty of the Crown this force was dying miserably of starvation and disease when Charles' first Parliament met.

Charles naturally asked Parliament for money that

he might carry out the Parliamentary programme. In reply a ridiculously insufficient supply was voted, and heedless of the sufferings of the English soldiers in the Netherlands, Parliament began to discuss grievances. One grievance was the suspension of the penal laws; another was that a clergyman named Montague had ventured to publish a book advocating doctrines held to-day by moderate high Churchmen, and pleading that Catholics as well as Protestants were members of the Church of Christ. Montague urged that Catholics were "corrupt and unsound in the highest degree, but not utterly apostate." Charles protected Montague from an impeachment threatened by the Commons; but the King had to promise to persecute Catholics. Even this concession failed to induce the Commons to grant supply, and in 1625 Parliament was dissolved.

Tunnage and poundage, in other words customs duties, included the export duties on English products (once chiefly raw wool, by this time manufactured cloth) and the impositions on imported goods which the Crown levied in virtue of its right to regulate foreign trade. At the commencement of a reign, tunnage and poundage were usually granted to the King for life. The grant was a renewal of the agreement made with Edward I. when that king surrendered his right of taking an arbitrary prise from England's exports. It was practically a charter for English producers, and no English king had ever refused to ratify this ancient compact. But Charles' first Parliament shelved a Bill which would have sanctioned tunnage and poundage for one year only.