Read Ebook: London and the Kingdom - Volume 2 A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London. by Sharpe Reginald R Reginald Robinson

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Contemporaneously with the plantation of Ulster, another and more distant enterprise of somewhat similar character was being carried out in America; and to this, as to every great public undertaking, the citizens of London must need be called to lend their assistance. A company formed in 1606, and composed, in part at least, of London merchants, the object of which was the colonisation of Virginia, had proved a failure after a hopeless struggle for three years. It was therefore determined to reconstruct the company on a different basis and to make an entirely fresh start.

With the assistance thus afforded by the citizens of London the Virginia Company had no difficulty in obtaining another charter from the Crown . Among the adventurers to whom the charter was granted, and who embraced representatives of every rank, profession and occupation, we find Humphrey Weld, the mayor, whose name immediately follows those of the peers of the realm who shared in the undertaking, and Nicholas Ferrar, skinner, who died in 1620, and gave by will "?300 to the college in Virginia, to be paid when there shall be ten of the infidels' children placed in it, and in the meantime twenty-four pounds by the yeare to be disbursed unto three discreete and godly men in the colonie, which shall honestly bring up three of the infidels' children in Christian religion and some good course to live by."

In the meantime seven vessels with emigrants on board had set sail from Woolwich. After frequent delays on the south coast of England they crossed the Atlantic and reached their destination on the 11th August. Yellow fever had unfortunately broken out on board ship during the long voyage, and this, together with the plague, which is generally believed to have been conveyed to Virginia by the fleet, committed great havoc among the early emigrants.

It was not long before more money was wanted, and again application was made to the livery companies. The Mercers declined to make any further advance; but with the assistance of the other companies the sum of ?5,000 was raised, which was afterwards increased to ?18,000. Nevertheless, in spite of every exertion, the company was in the autumn of 1611 on the very verge of ruin, and something had to be done to prevent its utter collapse. It was accordingly again re-constructed, its domains were made to comprise the Bermudas, or Somers Islands, and a third charter granted , in which a number of citizens are named as having become adventurers since the last letters patent.

Two years later another lottery for the same purpose was set on foot. On the 1st April the lords of the council addressed a circular letter to the city companies, enclosing a copy of a pamphlet by Sir Thomas Smith, entitled "A declaration of the present estate of the English in Virginia, with the final resolucon of the Great Lotterye intended for their supply," and exhorting them to do their best to make the lottery a success. The object is there described as a "worthy and Christian enterprise, full of honour and profitt to His Majestie and the whole realme." A copy of this letter was forwarded to the several companies through Sir Thomas Middleton, the mayor, who, as we have already said, was himself a member of the Council of the Virginia Company in 1609. The lotteries, however, found but little favour with the companies, who were actively engaged at the time in managing their recently acquired Irish estates, and had but little money to spare. The Merchant Taylors' Company contented themselves with voting only ?50 out of their common stock for the lottery, leaving it to individual members to venture further sums on their own account as each might think fit. The Grocers' Company, of which Middleton was a member, voted nothing out of their common stock, but each member was exhorted "for the general advancement of Christianity and good of the commonwealth," to write with his own hands how much he was willing to venture. This was accordingly done , the lord mayor himself setting the example; but as to the result the company's records fail to give any information.

The prospects of the Virginia Company were seriously imperilled by an ill-advised speech made in the House of Commons by the lord mayor inveighing against the importation of tobacco. The Company was already in disgrace with the House, through the indiscretion of Counsel employed to prosecute a petition on its behalf, and all the members of the Company who held seats in the House were desired to withdraw until it should be decided what action should be taken in the matter. Eventually peace was restored by the offending Counsel coming to the Bar of the House and making a humble submission.

Some hitch, however, appears to have occurred in connection with the shipment of this second consignment of children. The City and the Virginia Company had fallen out for some reason or other. In a letter written about this time to the lord mayor the company express regret that differences should have arisen between the city and themselves. They assure his lordship that there was no real foundation for these differences, seeing that they had now ratified all, and more than all than had been previously offered and accepted. Everything had been done that was necessary for the shipment of the children. The City had collected the requisite funds and the children had been provided, whilst the company on its part had provided a fair ship, and the Privy Council had "at the city's desire" granted its warrant. The company therefore trusted that the lord mayor and aldermen would proceed to the speedy ending of differences.

The number of emigrants to Virginia was swelled by the transportation of a number of idle fellows who made it their business to follow the king and his court wherever they might happen to be. Early in 1619, when the king was at Newmarket, he took occasion to write to Sir Thomas Smith complaining of the annoyance and desired that they might be sent to Virginia at the next opportunity. Immediately on the receipt of this letter Sir Thomas Smith wrote to Sir Sebastian Hervey, the mayor, forwarding at the same time the king's letter, and asking that the batch of idle court loafers which had already been despatched from Newmarket to London, as well as those to follow, might be lodged for a time in Bridewell, and there set to work until such time as there should be a vessel starting for the colony.

The Virginia colony--the first of the free colonies of England--soon became firmly established, and the City of London can claim to have had no small share in the work of its establishment. To the enterprising spirit shown by the citizens in their efforts to forward the interests of the colony no better testimony is wanted than a thanksgiving sermon preached in the church of St. Mary-le-Bow by Patrick Copland, chaplain to the Virginia Company, in commemoration of the safe arrival of a fleet of nine ships at the close of the previous year. The City of London, the preacher said, had on two occasions sent over 100 persons to Virginia, and the present lord mayor and his brethren the aldermen intended to pursue the same course as previous mayors. "Your cittie," he continued, "aboundeth in people ; the plantation in Virginia is capable enough to receive them. O, take course to ease your cittie, and to provide well for your people, by sending them over thither, that both they of that colony there and they of your owne cittie here may live to bless your prudent and provident government over them.... Right Worshipfull, I beseech you ponder the forlorne estate of many of the best members of your citty, and helpe them, O helpe them out of their misery; what you bestow uppon them in their transportation to Virginia they will repay it at present with their prayers, and when they are able with their purses."

A few months after this sermon had been delivered tidings reached England of a calamity more disastrous than any that had yet befallen the colony. A treacherous attack had been made upon the white men by the Indians, which was only just saved by timely notice from becoming a general massacre. As it was, nearly 350 of the settlers were killed. The Common Council lost no time in testifying its sympathy with the colony in the great loss it had sustained, and voted a third sum of ?500 towards the transportation of 100 fresh colonists.

Ever since his accession to the throne of England the financial condition of James had been going from bad to worse. Besides resorting to antiquated feudal exactions, he took to levying impositions on articles of commerce. But even these failed to make up the deficiency created in his exchequer by his wanton extravagance, and in 1610 he was obliged to apply to parliament. An attempt to make a composition with the king for feudal dues and to restrict his claim to levy impositions failed, and parliament was hastily dissolved.

In the meanwhile James had applied to the City for a loan of ?100,000. He professed to prefer borrowing the money from the citizens to raising it by privy seals from his subjects generally, and he promised interest at the rate of ten per cent. and security on the customs. The aldermen consented to raise the money "out of aboundance of love ... but not of aboundance of riches or meanes." They and the Recorder divided themselves into nine several companies or divisions, each bound to furnish one-ninth of the whole loan. The king gave his own bond in ?150,000 besides bonds of the farmer of the customs as security, and the aldermen set to work to raise the money in as "secret and discreet manner" as they could. The loan did not go far towards discharging the king's liabilities, or those of the late queen, whose debts James had undertaken to repay. Before the end of the year certain wealthy merchants of the city were summoned to Whitehall to discuss the state of affairs. The king again wanted money, but inasmuch as he confessed himself unable to do more than pay the interest on former loans, leaving the principal to be discharged at some future time, they refused to make any further advances, consenting only not to press for the repayment of outstanding debts. Pursuant to this agreement the citizens, in April, 1611, when the repayment of the loan of ?100,000 became due, granted the king another year's respite. A similar concession was made in 1612; and in 1613 the loan was paid off.

The king had a right to look for consideration from the city, for in 1608 he had not only confirmed the liberties and franchises of the citizens by charter, but he had extended the civic jurisdiction, and had created all aldermen who had "passed the chair" Justices of Oyer and Terminer within the city and its liberties. He had, moreover, allowed them to tax non-freemen and strangers and to cause them to contribute in like manner as themselves to all talliages, aids and grants to the king. Two years later--soon after his son Henry had been created Prince of Wales and the city had done him honour by an aquatic display on the river between Richmond and London he confirmed the privileges granted to them in 1383 by Richard II with the sanction of parliament.

Before the close of 1611 his pecuniary difficulties increased to such an extent that he was driven to scatter broadcast "privy seals" or promissory notes for the purpose of raising money. These were not unfrequently placed in the hands of persons as they came out of church on Sunday evenings, a proceeding that caused no little scandal.

It was currently reported that many Papists and Recusants had taken the opportunity afforded by the recent court festivities to secrete themselves in London, and Swinnerton, who had already displayed considerable activity in searching for them as soon as he became lord mayor, was urged to redouble his efforts in that direction by a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury a few days before the marriage of the princess took place.

The close of the year witnessed a marriage of a very different character, viz., the union of the king's favourite, Carr, Earl of Somerset, with Frances Howard, the divorced wife of the Earl of Essex. Murderess and adulteress as she was, she was received at court with every honour; but when the king proposed to sup one night in the city, and to bring his whole court with him , the lord mayor, Sir Thomas Middleton, demurred, excusing himself on the ground that his house was too small. This excuse was of no avail, and the supper took place in Merchant Taylors' Hall, the earl and countess being specially invited as well as the entire court. The supper was followed by a masque devised for the occasion by a namesake of the mayor, Thomas Middleton, the dramatic poet. The entertainment cost the City nearly ?700, besides the sum of ?50 which the Court of Aldermen directed to be laid out in a present of plate to Somerset. In acknowledgment of the gift the earl presented the mayor and sheriffs with pairs of handsome gloves.

Financial difficulties, which a fresh issue of "privy seals" to the aldermen for loans of ?200 apiece had done little to alleviate, and which had been aggravated by recent court festivities, at length drove James to run the risk of summoning another parliament. He had learnt from the wire-pullers of the day--or "undertakers" as they were then called--that he could depend upon a majority being returned which would be willing to grant supplies in return for certain concessions. In this he was deceived. No sooner did constituents discover that pressure was being brought to bear in favour of court candidates than they used their best efforts to frustrate such a manifest design to pack parliament. The session was opened on the 5th of April by a speech from the king, in which he set forth his financial difficulties, which the extraordinary charge in connection with his daughter's marriage had helped to increase. He would not bargain for their money, he said, but would leave it entirely to their love what supplies should be granted. In token of his own affection towards his subjects he was ready to make certain concessions, and he entirely disavowed any complicity with the "strange kind of beasts called undertakers." The new parliament, however, stood out like the last and refused to grant supplies until public grievances had been considered. The result was that on the 7th June James dissolved what he had fondly hoped would have proved to be a "parliament of love," but which from its inability to pass a single measure came to be nick-named, "the addled parliament."

At his wit's end for money, James had recourse to benevolences. The bishops offered him the value of the best piece of plate in their possession to help him out of his difficulties, and their example induced many of the nobles to open their purses. Application was again made to the City for a loan of ?100,000. This they declined, but made the king a free gift of ?10,000, one moiety being paid by the City's Chamber and the other being furnished by the livery companies.

It was now that the City began to resort to the practice of recruiting their Chamber by nominating and electing as sheriffs those who were likely to prefer paying a fine to serving--a practice which more especially prevailed during the troublous times of the Stuarts. Nearly a dozen individuals were elected one after another to the office at Midsummer of this year, and one and all declined. Some, like Sir Arthur Ingram, had sufficient influence at court to obtain their discharge without fine, others paid fines varying in amount, which served to fill the City's exchequer.

Another reason, however, is given for so many refusals to serve as sheriff just at this time, and that was that men declined to serve sheriff with Peter Proby, who had once been a barber.

The shrewd ex-barber soon overcame any feeling of antipathy that may have been entertained towards him on entering upon municipal life. In 1616 he was sent with Mathias Springham to manage the city's Irish estate. In 1622 he was elected mayor and in the following year was knighted.

On the 5th May, 1615, the Common Council ordered another fifteenth to be levied on the inhabitants of the city "towards the defrayinge of all maner of charges to be disbursed in and about the trayninge and musteringe of men"; and in the following year the trained bands were divided into four regiments, under the command of Sir Thomas Lowe, Sir Thomas Middleton, Sir John Watts, and Sir John Swinnerton, and quartered in different parts of the city for the purpose of putting down riots. For these measures the mayor, Sir John Jolles, and the aldermen received the thanks of the lords of the council.

Yet, notwithstanding the manifest pains taken by civic authorities to carry out the wishes of the lords of the council, the latter within a few weeks again wrote to the mayor, rating him soundly for not having made a return of men and arms with which the city was provided, as previously directed. Their lordships had been informed that the city was altogether unprovided with arms and could not furnish the full number of trained men with weapons at one and the same time, and that there was scarce sufficient match and powder in the whole city to serve for one day's training. They expressed astonishment that the civic authorities, in whom was vested the government of the king's Chamber, should have proved so negligent in a matter so important, and directed them to set up forthwith a magazine of arms for supplying not only the inhabitants of the city, but also those of adjacent counties, with military weapons, and to supply themselves with a store of gunpowder of not less than 100 lasts, by the aid of the city companies, as had been usual in like cases. A certificate was also to be returned without delay to their lordships according to previous orders. The matter was referred by the Common Council to the "committees for martial causes" in the city, with instructions to report thereon to the Court of Aldermen.

After the receipt of this letter considerable activity was shown in the military preparations of the city. A muster and review were ordered to be held on the 6th August in Finsbury Fields, and steps were taken to fill up the muster-roll of every captain to its full strength of 300 men.

Matters remained on this footing for a year, when the lords of the council gave notice of the commission having been withdrawn, and at the same time directed the Court of Aldermen to furnish them with a certificate of the number of men enrolled in the trained bands , and to see that all previous orders relative to the magazine of arms and the storage of powder were duly executed. Special directions were given to replace the "calliver" by the musket, and to provide bullets in addition to powder and match. The letter of the lords was read at a Common Council held on the 31st July, when committees were appointed to see to the muster and training of 6,000 men, and to examine what sums of money remained over from the two last fifteenths levied for similar purposes.

That James, like his predecessor on the throne, had the increase of the material prosperity of his subjects very much at heart there is little doubt. The measures, however, which he took for increasing that prosperity were not always sound. Among these must be reckoned the withdrawal of all licences for the exportation of undyed and undressed cloth, the suppression of the old company of Merchant Adventurers and the formation of a new company. For these measures the king was not so much to blame as William Cockaine, the city alderman who gave him advice on the matter. That the advice was bad became soon manifest. The Dutch, who had been the principal buyers of English undyed cloth, retaliated by setting up looms for themselves, and threatened to destroy the English cloth trade altogether. The new company, with Cockaine at its head, proved a complete failure, and the old company was restored.

The aldermen of the city continued to be pressed for a loan of ?100,000, and after many refusals they at length consented to advance ?30,000; but "what is that"--wrote Chamberlain to Carleton--"among so many who gape and starve after it?"

During the brief career of the new company Cockaine had enjoyed the honour of entertaining the king at his own house in Broad Street. The cost of the entertainment, which took place on the 8th June, 1616--including a bason of gold and ?1,000 presented to James and another gift of ?500 to Prince Charles--amounted to more than ?3,000, and this was discharged by the company, whilst his majesty reserved his thanks for Cockaine alone, and at parting conferred upon him the honour of knighthood with the civic sword.

A few months later the city was the scene of another festive gathering, the occasion being a supper given at Drapers' Hall to the recently created Knights of the Bath. That the wives of city burgesses were looked upon as fair game for the courtier to fly at may be seen in the works of the dramatists of the day; nor was the merchant's or tradesman's daughter averse to the attention of the court gallant when kept within reasonable bounds, but on this occasion the exuberant spirits of the knights, after the long ordeal they had recently gone through, appear to have overcome them, for, we are told, they were so rude and unmannerly and carried themselves so insolently divers ways, but specially in "putting citizens' wives to the squeak," that the sheriff interfered, whereupon they left the hall in high dudgeon without waiting for the supper prepared for them.

Previous to his departure on a progress to Scotland in the spring of 1617, the king addressed a letter to the mayor and Common Council of the City asking for a loan of ?100,000. The necessary occasions of his affairs, he said, required just then "the present use of good somes of money," by way of a loan, and he could think of no better way of supplying himself than by resorting, as his forefathers had done, "to the love" of his city, and borrowing the money upon the credit of its common bonds. He reminded them that whenever he had borrowed money the lenders had always received "royall paiement," and he doubted not that they would now act as their own registers and records would show that their predecessors had acted on similar occasions. On the 22nd January this application was read to the Common Council, when, after mature deliberation, it was unanimously agreed--"without either word or hand to the contrary"--that one or more bonds should be made in the name of the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of London, under their common seal, for the repayment of principal, together with interest, to those who were willing to contribute towards the loan, upon such counter security as was mentioned in the king's letter. The security there mentioned was to be under the great seal and of such a character as the city had been accustomed formerly to receive from the king's predecessors. It appears that James had a few days before endeavoured to get the citizens to advance the sum of ?100,000 on the security of the crown jewels, but this proposal had met with little favour.

In March the mayor, John Leman, received the honour of knighthood and was publicly thanked by the king for the forwardness displayed by the citizens in the loan, although the money had not at the time been raised. Great difficulty was experienced in raising the money. One London merchant, John Eldred, whose name frequently occurs in the State Papers in connection with advances to the king, endeavoured to get the amount of his assessment reduced by ?400, whilst another, William Cater, kept out of the way to avoid contributing to the loan. In May there was still a deficiency of ?20,000, which called forth a reprimand from the lords of the council. The city authorities had been observed to omit or else to sparingly handle many of the best citizens who were "nicetest" to be dealt with, and especially intended for the purpose, and to lay the burden of contribution upon persons of weak and mean estate, or such as otherwise by their quality and place were not so fit to be called upon for any such occasion.

On his return from Scotland in September the king was met by the mayor and aldermen and a deputation from the livery companies at Knightsbridge and escorted to Whitehall with the same pomp and solemnity as had been accustomed to be displayed in attending Queen Elizabeth on her return from a progress. The mayor presented James with a purse of 500 gold pieces, and the king conferred the honour of knighthood upon Antony Benn, the Recorder, and Ralph Freeman.

In the following March the mayor and aldermen were informed by letter from the lords of the council of the king's inability to repay the last loan according to promise, and were asked to allow a twelvemonth's grace.

The king's financial position had become by this time reduced to so low a state that when his consort died in March of the following year there was some probability that her funeral would have to be delayed for want of money to buy "the blacks." As it was the funeral did not take place until the 13th May, but this may have been owing to the king himself having been ill. The mayor, Sebastian Hervey, and the aldermen received the customary allowance of mourning cloth, but for some reason or other they were not invited to attend the funeral.

James had recently been worrying the mayor into consenting to a match between his daughter, a girl barely fourteen years of age, and Christopher Villiers, son of the Countess of Buckingham. The match was "so much against the old man's stomach," wrote a contemporary, "as the conceit thereof hath brought him very near his grave already." He had publicly declared that he would rather that he and his daughter were both dead than that he should give his consent. The king pressed matters so far as one day to send for the mayor, his wife and daughter, from dinner at Merchant Taylors' Hall, in order to urge upon them the marriage. It was perhaps owing to the strained relations existing at the time between the king and the mayor that the civic authorities were not invited to the funeral of the queen. If that be the case James soon saw that he had made a mistake, and in order "to please them" caused a memorial service to be held on Trinity Sunday at Paul's Cross, which was attended by the aldermen and other officers of the city, but not by Hervey, the mayor, who--"wilful and dogged" as he may have been--had become seriously ill from the king's importunity and was unable to be present.

In the meantime a revolution had taken place on the continent, the effects of which were felt in London and the kingdom. In 1618 the Protestant nobility of Bohemia deposed their king, the Emperor Matthias, and in the following year they deposed his successor, Ferdinand, after unceremoniously flinging his deputies out of the window, and offered the crown to Frederick, the Elector Palatine, who had married James's daughter, the Princess Elizabeth. The Elector asked his father-in-law's advice before accepting the proffered crown, but James shilly-shallied so long that Frederick could wait no longer, and he signified his acceptance . James was urged to lend assistance to his son-in-law against the deposed Ferdinand, who had become by election the Emperor Ferdinand II, but to every appeal he turned a deaf ear.

Failing in this quarter the Elector turned to the city of London. On the 26th November, 1619, he wrote from Nuremburg to the lord mayor, saying he was about to send the Baron Dohna to explain how matters stood in Bohemia, and desiring his lordship to lend a favourable ear to what the baron would tell him. This letter the mayor forwarded to James, intimating that either himself or the Recorder would wait upon him when convenient. Time went on, and the king made no sign until in February of the next year secretary Calvert wrote to the mayor on the king's behalf to the effect that, his majesty having understood that a request had been made to the City for a loan, he could take no steps in the matter until he was fully satisfied of the justice of the cause; that at present he knew nothing and was "a mere straunger to the business." In the meantime, if the mayor desired to say anything more to his majesty, he might meet the king at Theobalds, or later on in London.

A fortnight passed, and then Baron Dohna wrote to the mayor making a formal application for a loan of ?100,000 for the defence of the Palatinate, and expressing a hope for a speedy and favourable reply. The king was asked to back up the baron's request, but declined. A month later the city authorities again consulted the king as to his wishes. The reply given was characteristic of the caution displayed by James throughout: "I will neither command you nor entreat you," was the answer they got, "but if you do anything for my son-in-law I shall take it kindly." The citizens were not in the least averse to advancing money for the cause of Bohemia, if only they could get some assurance from the king or council that they would not afterwards be blamed for it. Having got as much as ever they were likely to get by way of this assurance, they signified their assent to Dohna's request, and received in return a letter of thanks from Frederick himself.

Precept was issued by the mayor, not, as was usually the custom in similar cases, to the livery companies, but to the aldermen of each ward. Moreover, subscriptions to the loan were to be purely voluntary. Each alderman was especially directed not to "compell any wch are unwilling, nor refuse to accept the smaller summes of such as out of their loves doe offer the same."

On Sunday, the 26th March , the king paid a State visit to St. Paul's, attended by the mayor and aldermen and the members of the civic companies in their best liveries. The object of the visit, which had given rise to much surmise--the Catholics believing that it was to hear a sermon in favour of the proposed Spanish match, whilst the Protestants hoped it was for the purpose of exhorting the people to contribute to the fund that was being raised for the king of Bohemia--was to hasten the subscriptions for rebuilding the cathedral church, which for sixty years had been in a more or less ruinous state, in spite of all efforts to restore it. On this occasion the king was presented with a sum of 1,000 marks and Prince Charles with half that amount.

Towards the close of the year news reached England that a Spanish army had entered Bohemia and driven Frederick out of the country after a crushing defeat, and at last James was roused to action. A parliament was summoned to meet in January in order to vote supplies for war. In the meantime he endeavoured to raise what he could by way of a voluntary gift from the nobility and wealthier class of his subjects, to whom circulars from the council were sent urging them to assist.

When parliament at length met on the 30th January James opened the session with a long speech, in which a request for supplies held a prominent place. The Commons, however, without showing any disposition to be captious, were in no hurry to grant war supplies until they were assured that there was to be a war. The king had therefore to be content with a grant of no more than two subsidies, or about ?160,000. He had recently issued a proclamation forbidding his subjects to speak on affairs of State. If the nation in general was to be thus bridled the Commons showed their determination, whilst criticising the king's administration, to vindicate at least their own right to liberty of speech.

There was also a class of Londoner not easily silenced. A royal proclamation had no terrors for the London apprentice; and when they recognised an old enemy in the person of the Spanish ambassador in the street, they were accustomed to give tongue and, if thwarted, to resort to blows. It happened one day that as Gondomar was being carried down Fenchurch Street, an apprentice standing idly with one or two of his fellows at his master's door cried out, "There goeth the devil in a dung-cart." This remark raised a laugh which so stung one of the ambassador's servants that he turned sharply on the offender. "Sir," said he, "you shall see Bridewell ere long for your mirth." "What," cried one of his fellows, "shall we go to Bridewell for such a dog as thou?" and forthwith brought him to the ground with a box on the ear. The ambassador laid a complaint before the mayor, who somewhat reluctantly sentenced the offending apprentices to be whipt at the cart's tail. That any of their number should be flogged for insulting a Spaniard, even though he were the Spanish king's ambassador, was intolerable to the minds of the apprentices of London, who were known for their staunchness to one another. The report spread like wildfire, and soon a body of nearly 300 apprentices had assembled at Temple Bar, where they rescued their comrades and beat the city marshals. Again Gondomar complained to the mayor, who, sympathising at heart with the delinquents, testily replied that it was not to the Spanish ambassador that he had to give an account of the government of the city. The matter having reached the king's ears at Theobalds, he suddenly appeared at the Guildhall and threatened to place a garrison in the city and to deprive the citizens of their charter if matters were not mended. His anger was with difficulty appeased by the Recorder, and he at last contented himself with privately admonishing the aldermen to see the young fellows punished. The end of the affair was tragical enough. The original sentence was carried out, with the result that one of the apprentices unhappily died.

Such is the account of the disturbance as found in contemporary letters. From the City's records we learn a few additional particulars. On Wednesday, the 4th April, a special Court of Aldermen sat, at which a letter from the lords of the council was read signifying the king's pleasure that David Sampson, an apprentice to a tailor, should be very sharply whipt through the city from Aldgate to Fleet Street by the common executioner for an insult offered the Spanish ambassador on the preceding Monday . A good guard was also to be appointed for the purpose, and instructions were given to the Recorder and some of the aldermen to discover if possible the rest of the offenders. The result of their efforts in this direction was the apprehension of Robert Michell, an apprentice to a haberdasher, and Richard Taylor, an apprentice to a bricklayer, the former of whom was accused of threatening to throw a loaf at the "choppes" of the ambassador's servant, and the latter with having actually discharged a brickbat with effect at one of his suite. Sampson's whipping, which ought to have taken place in the forenoon of Wednesday, was thereupon postponed until the afternoon, when all three offenders were punished together, in the presence of a good guard. On the following morning another special Court of Aldermen sat at the mayor's own house, when it was ordered that Daniel Ray, a drayman, who had been convicted of holding up his hand at the Spanish ambassador as he passed through Gracechurch Street, grinning at him and calling him "Spanish dogge" just before Michell and Taylor committed their excesses, should also be whipt between eight and nine o'clock the next morning. In order to prevent a repetition of the disturbance which had occurred the previous day, the mayor issued his precept for a substantial double watch to be kept for twenty-four hours from nine o'clock in the evening of the 5th April. The inhabitants were further ordered to stand at their doors, halberd in hand, and ready for any emergency, whilst they were to see that their apprentices, children and servants behaved well towards all ambassadors and strangers as well as his majesty's subjects.

Whilst the Commons were chafing under the restriction which forbade them mentioning even the name of the Palatinate, an elderly individual named Floyd was imprisoned in the Fleet for displaying joy at the news of the battle of Prague. "Goodman Palsgrave and Goodwife Palsgrave," he had been heard to say, "were now turned out of doors." All sorts of punishment was suggested by members of the House, which after all had no jurisdiction in the matter whatever; and after a kind of three-cornered duel between the king, the Lords and Commons, Floyd was made to expiate his crime by riding from Fleet Bridge to the Standard in Cheapside, his face towards the horse's tail, and having a paper in his hat with the words, "For using ignominious and malicious words against the Prince and Princess Palatine, the king's only daughter and children." After standing there for two hours he was branded on his forehead with the letter K and conveyed to the Fleet.

The Commons having voted supplies, albeit small and inadequate for the king's wants, James lost no time in asking the citizens for an advance on the amount of subsidy due from them. On the 27th March the lord treasurer wrote very urgently on the matter. "I pray you," he added by way of postscript, "make noe stickinge hereatt; you shall bee sure to bee paid att the tyme named." If the citizens could not advance the whole sum at short notice, they were asked to give credit for the rest to the merchant whom Baron Dohna should appoint for transferring the money to the Palatinate by bills of exchange. It was all to no purpose. The mayor and aldermen were tired of the repeated calls upon their purse, and returned answer by word of mouth of the Common Sergeant and the Remembrancer that the City hoped rather to receive part of the money already lent than to "runne in further."

The failure of negotiations for a Spanish match, and the return of Prince Charles after his romantic expedition in 1623 without bringing the Infanta with him, was a source of great satisfaction both to the City and the nation. The following story of the day serves to illustrate the feeling prevalent at the time relative to the Spanish match. The bishop of London had given orders to the clergy, pursuant to instructions he had himself received from James, not to "prejudicate the prince's journey by their prayers," but only to pray to God to bring him safely home again and no more. A clergyman, who must have been a bit of a wag , is said to have literally carried out his bishop's orders, and to have prayed publicly "That God would return our noble prince home again to us and no more." When it became known that the prince had arrived safely at Madrid, bonfires were lighted and bells rung; but the Londoners were but half-hearted in expressing their joy, and would probably have made no display had they not received orders from the lords of the council. It was otherwise when the prince returned--and without the Infanta. As soon as news reached the mayor that Charles had arrived at Guildford he issued his precept for bells to be rung and bonfires to be lighted, and right gladly were his orders carried out. "I have not heard of more demonstrations of public joy than were here and everywhere, from the highest to the lowest," wrote Chamberlain from London; "such spreading of tables in the streets with all manner of provisions, setting out whole hogsheads of wine and butts of sack, but specially such numbers of bonfires, both here and all along as he went, the marks whereof we found by the way two days afterwards, is almost incredible."

The king's foreign policy having proved a total failure, there was no other course open for him but to summon a parliament. A parliament was accordingly summoned to meet in February of the next year . The king and Commons soon found themselves in opposition, the former advocating a war in Germany for the defence of the Palatinate, the latter a war against Spain. At length a compromise was effected, the Commons agreeing to vote supplies on the understanding that James broke off all negotiations with Spain.

Strenuous efforts to raise money in the city were made. Chamberlain, writing to Carleton from London , tells his friend, "Here is great expedition used to raise money, and make ready payment; insomuch that since Monday sevennight, the council have sat thrice at Guildhall about the subsidies." The lord keeper, in his endeavours to persuade the citizens to loosen their purse-strings, went so far as to declare that anyone disguising his wealth was committing the sin against the Holy Ghost, and was as Ananias and Saphira! So great was the general decay, both in the city and the country, that there was some talk of putting in force the penal laws against recusants, notwithstanding the negotiations that were going on for a French marriage, in order to make up the expected deficit. The civic authorities were again pressing the king for the repayment of the loan made in 1617. Time had wrought alterations in the condition of the lenders; some were dead and their widows and orphans were crying out for repayment; some were decayed and imprisoned, and others likely to undergo the same calamity if steps were not taken for their speedy relief. They complained that the city's seal, which had by his majesty's command been given as security to the tenders, suffered as never it had done before, and several suits had been commenced against the Chamber of London in the courts at Westminster, to which they knew not how to give satisfactory answer. They therefore prayed him to give order for such payment to be made to them as might give relief to the distressed and comfort to them all. The result was that the king directed his two principal secretaries and the chancellor of the exchequer to devise means for satisfying the debt.

In September Mansfield was again in England asking for men and money for the recovery of the Palatinate, in which he had been assured of the co-operation of France. This assurance, however, was only a verbal one, and nothing would induce Louis to reduce it to writing. James on his part was willing to make every concession, provided that the matrimonial alliance on which he had set his heart could be brought to a happy conclusion. But as these concessions involved broken pledges, he feared to face the Commons, and thus the parliament, which should have re-assembled this autumn, was further prorogued and never met again until James was no more.

The question how to supply Mansfield with men as well as money necessary for his undertaking in the absence of parliament was answered by making application to the Council of War. On the 29th October orders were issued for pressing 12,000 men for the service, and on the same day James himself wrote to the mayor for 2,000 men to be pressed in the city to assist in the recovery of the Palatinate. Two days afterwards followed a letter from the lords of the council directing the mayor to see that the men were of able bodies and years, but not taken out of the trained bands, which were to be left entire. They were to be ready by the end of November to march to Dover under such officers as the Privy Council might select. As the amount of conduct money, which was usually a half-penny per mile, would vary owing to the difference of localities where the men lived, it was thought best to allow them their ordinary pay of eightpence per day from the time they were handed over to the officers. The mayor was further directed to demand of the collectors of the subsidy sufficient money for the charge of coats, conduct, armour, etc. On the last day of November the lords of the council wrote again informing the lord mayor of the names of the officers appointed to conduct the men to Dover by the 24th December. He was to see that the men were delivered to the officers by roll indented, to be subscribed by himself or his deputy-lieutenants on the one part and the captains or officers on the other part. The service was very unpopular; many deserted, and it was with difficulty that the rest could be got to the sea-coast. The city contingent was ordered to assemble at Leadenhall on the night of the 18th December or by the next morning at the latest, in order to set out on their march by Monday, the 20th. The full complement of men was to be made up and the bail of deserters estreated.

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