againſt their Engliſh Subjects. In this Reign that ridi-
culous Doctrine of Kings being Jure Divino was coined,[1] never before heard of even in the Eaſtern Tyrannies.[2] The other Parts of his Government had ſuch a mixture of Scharamuchi and Harlequin, that they ought not to be ſpoken of ſeriouſly; as Proclamations upon every Trifle, ſome againſt talking of News; Letters to the Parliament, telling them he was an old and wiſe King; that State Affairs were above their reach, therefore they muſt not meddle with them, and ſuch like Trum-
pery. But our happineſs was, that this Prince was a great Coward, and hated the fight of a Soldier; ſo that he could not do much againſt us by open force. At laſt he died (as many have believed) by Poiſon,[3] to make room for his Son Charles the Firſt.
This King was a great Bigot, which made him the Darling of the Clergy; but having no great reach of his own, and govern'd by the Prieſts (who have been al-
ways unfortunate when they have meddled with Politics) with a true Eccleſiaſtic Fury he drove on the Deſtruc-
tion of all the Liberties of England.[4] This King's whole Reign was one continued Act against the Laws. He diſ-
ſolved his Firſt Parliament for preſuming to inquire into his Father's Death, tho' he loſt a great Sum of Money by it, which they had voted him:[5] He entred at the ſame time into a War with France and Spain, upon the private Pi-
ques of Buckingham, who managed them to the eternal Diſhonour and Reproach of the Engliſh Nation; witneſs the ridiculous Enterprizes upon Cadiz and the Iſle of Rhee. He delivered Pennington's Fleet into the French hands, betrayed the poor Rochellers,[6] and ſuffered the Proteſtant Intereſt in France to be quite extirpated. He raiſed Loans, Exciſes, Coat and Conduct-mony, Tun-
nage and Poundage, Knight-hood and Ship money, without Authority of Parliament; impoſed new Oaths on the Subjects, to diſcover the value of their Eſtates; impriſoned great numbers of the moſt conſiderable Gen-
try and Merchants for not paying his Arbitrary Taxes; ſome he ſent beyond Sea, and the poorer ſort he preſt for Soldiers. He kept Soldiers upon free Quarter, and executed Martial Law upon them. He granted Monopolies without number, and broke the bounds of the Fo-
- ↑ James I argued for the Divine Right of Kings in his works The Trew Law of Free Monarchies (wikipedia) and Basilikon Doron (wikipedia).
- ↑ Contrast Mandate of Heaven
- ↑ The Duke of Buckingham, a favorite of the King, was rumored to have poisoned him; today it is believed that the James I died of natural causes (namely a fever, stroke, and dysentery) but that a medicine recommended by the Duke had worsened the king's condition.
- ↑ English Parliament passed the Petition of Right in May 1628, and Charles I assented to it the following month. The document asserted that only Parliament had the right to levy taxes, required that prisoners have access to the writ of habeas corpus, and forbade the quartering of soldiers in private residences.
- ↑ Charles I called a Parliament early in his reign (1626) to raise funds for war, but Parliament promptly began impeachment proceedings of the Duke of Buckingham, forcing Charles to dissolve it prematurely and find other means to raise money.
- ↑ cf. the Siege of La Rochelle
