Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western SIV, episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty nine. Personal Rule. Now, while he was ruling on
Speaker 1: his own, Charles was determined that the local gentry and
Speaker 1: nobility should play an active part in the government of
Speaker 1: their own neighborhoods, and so a proclamation was issued fairly
Speaker 1: early on, ordering any of the nobility still living in
Speaker 1: London to go back to the countryside where they belong
Speaker 1: and take up an active role in his government. And
Speaker 1: all throughout the realm it seems like the servants of
Speaker 1: the Crown were doing their duties. At the beginning of March,
Speaker 1: William Laud preached at Paul's Cross in celebration of the
Speaker 1: sixth anniversary of the King's ascension. He remarked that quote
Speaker 1: some are so woppishly set to sting that nothing can
Speaker 1: please their ears until it sharpened their edge against authority.
Speaker 1: I hope I shall offend none by praying for the
Speaker 1: King end quote. But there are other counsilors going on.
Speaker 1: Sir Thomas Wentworth a name that we'll have to know.
Speaker 1: He had been dispatched to York as the Lord President
Speaker 1: of the North to curb disorder. But at the beginning
Speaker 1: of sixteen thirty two, he was further promoted to now
Speaker 1: the Lord Deputy of Ireland. The Lord Deputy of Ireland
Speaker 1: was a critical position. Ireland was, for all practical purposes,
Speaker 1: a colony of Great Britain at this point, and as
Speaker 1: a consequence he was there to rule over the rebellious,
Speaker 1: not only Irish, but what we'll call the old English,
Speaker 1: who will get to in short enough term here now Wentworth,
Speaker 1: like lawd believed that only royal sovereignty could bring order
Speaker 1: out of disorder and plan out of anarchy. As Lord
Speaker 1: Deputy of Ireland, therefore, he was inclined to drive himself
Speaker 1: over any opposition to consolidate the authority of the King
Speaker 1: to lead the people, and in particular the recent English settlers,
Speaker 1: the new English, into the pastors of obedience and docility.
Speaker 1: He believed fully in the powers of the King, and
Speaker 1: he believed them like scripture. Interestingly enough, it was Lawed
Speaker 1: the preacher that was more practical than Wentworth. All the
Speaker 1: facets of royal power, by virtue of the fact that
Speaker 1: Parliament wasn't going to be called for eleven years, had
Speaker 1: to grow in stature. During this period. Proclamations of the
Speaker 1: Privy Council were now given legislative authority. There wasn't another choice,
Speaker 1: and Privy councilors could make laws on those matters which
Speaker 1: actual courts neglected or simply avoided. The Star Chamber, that
Speaker 1: old institution that was developed under Henry the eighth, also
Speaker 1: enjoyed new authority with its enforcement of proclamations from the
Speaker 1: Council and his pursuit of any transgressors of royal prerogative. Now,
Speaker 1: of all the people who began to follow the law,
Speaker 1: there were, of course many who did not, and one
Speaker 1: of the most prominent public offenders was William Prine. He
Speaker 1: had already aroused controversy throughout this period of independent rule
Speaker 1: with his strongly Puritan opinions. He was also a writer,
Speaker 1: and in the late autumn of sixteen thirty two Prinn's
Speaker 1: History Max a Scourge of stage players, launched a general
Speaker 1: assault upon the plays and players of London, with a
Speaker 1: particular attack upon the practice of boys playing female roles,
Speaker 1: of any women at all appearing on stage. This was
Speaker 1: one of those sort of common targets of Puritans. He
Speaker 1: wrote that actresses were quote unquote notorious whores and asked
Speaker 1: quote if any Christian woman be so more than horrishly
Speaker 1: imputed to act to speak publicly on stage in presence
Speaker 1: of sundry men and women end quote. Now this was
Speaker 1: a very unfortunate sentence for Prine to write, because the Queen,
Speaker 1: Henrietta Maria, had only just taken part in a theatrical
Speaker 1: production entitled The Shepherd's Paradise, and did it just a
Speaker 1: few weeks after this tract came out. The play itself
Speaker 1: was totally mild. It was recorded that it's audience that quote,
Speaker 1: my Lord Chamberlain saith that no chamber maids shall enter
Speaker 1: unless she sit cross legged on top of a bulk
Speaker 1: end quote. Nevertheless, Prine's attack upon female characters was reinterpreted
Speaker 1: in royal circles as an attack upon the Queen herself.
Speaker 1: He also denounced dancing as the cause of shame and wickedness.
Speaker 1: It was also well known that the Queen was quite
Speaker 1: fond of dancing. Prine was ultimately sent to the Tower,
Speaker 1: where he faced prosecution by the Star Chamber and by
Speaker 1: the High Commission on Religious Affairs. He was sentenced to
Speaker 1: imprisonment for life, find five thousand pounds and expelled from
Speaker 1: London's Inn, where he had practiced law. The severity of
Speaker 1: this judgment was enhanced by the brutal order that both
Speaker 1: of his ears should be cut off, and the sentence
Speaker 1: was duly carried out. One of his ears was sent
Speaker 1: to Westminster, the other Cheapside. In the spring of sixteen
Speaker 1: thirty three, the king returned to his homeland, Scotland. He
Speaker 1: made a leisurely journey northward and reached Edinburgh by the
Speaker 1: middle of June. His relations with Scotland in the past
Speaker 1: had not been entirely happy, but on this occasion he
Speaker 1: was crowned the King of Scotland in due order on
Speaker 1: the eighteenth of June. The coronation itself marked by ritual
Speaker 1: and formal ceremony, and nobody was interested in this. Most
Speaker 1: of the Scots, brought up in the Presbyterian faith thought
Speaker 1: this looked a little bit too much like Roman popery.
Speaker 1: One of the complaints advanced by the Scots concerned the
Speaker 1: introduction of English ritual into their service. Yet the chief
Speaker 1: proponent of that ritual was about to be raised to
Speaker 1: the highest papal see in England when Bishop Laud came
Speaker 1: into the King's presence for the first time. After the
Speaker 1: journey to Scotland. He was greeted with unfamiliar words quote,
Speaker 1: my Lord's Grace of Canterbury, you are most welcome quote.
Speaker 1: Charles had just heard of the death of George Abbott,
Speaker 1: the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. As Bishop of London, lud
Speaker 1: had been the King's principal religious adviser, but his authority
Speaker 1: had been ill defined. Now as the new Archbishop of Canterbury,
Speaker 1: Laud became the source and spring of all English religion,
Speaker 1: with an energy and purpose that the King himself lacked.
Speaker 1: Lord was an interesting man, prone to bouts of anxiety
Speaker 1: and small in stature. His harshness and rigor quickly made
Speaker 1: him enemies, particularly among the Puritans, whom he hated. To them,
Speaker 1: he was known as quote unquote the Shrimp. But soon enough,
Speaker 1: despite his size, his influence would be felt. In October
Speaker 1: of sixteen thirty three, he and the King caused to
Speaker 1: be republished King james Declaration of Sports, which had granted
Speaker 1: a degree of entertainment and recreation on the sabbath. This
Speaker 1: indicated that the King's people should not be discouraged from
Speaker 1: dancing or archery, while the sports of leaping and vaulting
Speaker 1: would also be permitted for Calvinists and the stricter Sorts
Speaker 1: of Protestants. The declaration of Sorts was an anathema, and
Speaker 1: it was set to destroy the true religion. Lines were
Speaker 1: already being drawn. There were further provocations for the Puritans.
Speaker 1: In the same period. The church authorities determined that the
Speaker 1: plain communion table should be moved from the middle of
Speaker 1: the church to the eastern end, where it was to
Speaker 1: be railed off. It then more closely resembled the altars
Speaker 1: of the old Roman Catholic faith. In addition, the priests
Speaker 1: now bowed towards it, and some of them employed the
Speaker 1: sign of the Cross to bless it, angering strict Calvinists
Speaker 1: even further. The Archbishop Lowed was concerned to augment the
Speaker 1: beauty and the holiness of the rites of the church,
Speaker 1: inducing respect, if not awe. Laudianism as it has been
Speaker 1: known by historians, though wasn't Roman Catholicism. The archbishop in
Speaker 1: fact had a distaste for the Roman religion, and that
Speaker 1: distaste was genuine. Indeed, what lawd wanted more than anything
Speaker 1: else was to create a truly national church, void of
Speaker 1: zelotry and intolerance of the Puritans, as well as all
Speaker 1: the superstitions of the Papists. He honestly didn't care a
Speaker 1: lot for theological argument, And on that everlasting debate that
Speaker 1: had plagued the Church since Martin Luther between free will
Speaker 1: and predestination, he said only that quote something about these
Speaker 1: controversies is unmasterable in this life end quote that being said,
Speaker 1: Laude clearly was choosing a side in this fight. He
Speaker 1: appointed only bishops who were firmly anti Calvinist. Now it
Speaker 1: was believed also that he needed more. I guess you'd
Speaker 1: call them bureaucratic bishops, Bishops much more in the mold
Speaker 1: of a late medieval cleric, someone who could be a
Speaker 1: justice of the peace as well as being a bishop,
Speaker 1: a way to augment clerical power, to increase the strength
Speaker 1: of corporations of cathedral towns, a way to get those
Speaker 1: who were invested in the church back in the lifeblood
Speaker 1: of the government of England in a way that they
Speaker 1: truly had not been since Henry the Eighth and the
Speaker 1: break with Rome. In addition, Laud decided to bring back
Speaker 1: the old processions and festivals of the late medieval period.
Speaker 1: With the republication of the Declaration of Sports, came a
Speaker 1: general relaxing of social custom. The ritual of quote unquote
Speaker 1: beating the bounds was soon followed by the parishes of London.
Speaker 1: Holy days like all Saints were celebrated for the first
Speaker 1: time since Henry the Eighth Day. The custom of the
Speaker 1: Lord of misrule returned, and with the attendant atmosphere of party, games, dancing,
Speaker 1: and drinking of spiced ale. These feasts had never totally
Speaker 1: died away, but in this new atmosphere that was decidedly
Speaker 1: anti Puritan, they flourished, and as they flourished, they incensed
Speaker 1: the Puritans ever more. Now the king was to further
Speaker 1: test the loyalty of his nation in other ways, and
Speaker 1: the autumn of sixteen thirty four, writs of ship money
Speaker 1: were issued yet again for the first time ever, though
Speaker 1: in a period of peace. The proximate cause for the
Speaker 1: reintroduction of this tax was the prospect of new alliances
Speaker 1: in Europe. The French and the Dutch had entered into
Speaker 1: an unlikely alliance to dominate the continent, and a secret
Speaker 1: treaty between England and Spain was deemed necessary by many
Speaker 1: at court to counterbalance it. There was no hope, however,
Speaker 1: that the members of the king's own council would countenance
Speaker 1: the fact of an English force taking the part of
Speaker 1: Spain against the Dutch. How many asked, could the King
Speaker 1: of England the pre eminent Protestant power in Europe, or
Speaker 1: at least that's the way England liked to think of itself,
Speaker 1: ally with the pre eminent Catholic power, and attack a
Speaker 1: Protestant republic, It's just anathema. Once again, Charles relied upon
Speaker 1: intrigue with any or every party that seemed likely to
Speaker 1: favor him. He had to conceal his alliance with Spain
Speaker 1: and pretend that the ships were being prepared as a
Speaker 1: defense against a potential attack from all directions. It was
Speaker 1: said that we needed to protect English trade not from Spain,
Speaker 1: but from Tunis and Turkey Is maybe as much as France.
Speaker 1: So the King claimed the right of sovereignty in all
Speaker 1: of his sees, including the English Channel and of course
Speaker 1: the North Sea. The first writs of ship money were
Speaker 1: dispatched only to the ports into the towns along the coast.
Speaker 1: They were ordered to provide a sum sufficient to fit
Speaker 1: out a certain number of ships, as well as to
Speaker 1: maintain them and their crews for six months. The money
Speaker 1: was to be given to a collector appointed by the crown.
Speaker 1: London alone attempted to oppose this tax, having been required
Speaker 1: to raise one fifth of the total, but the town
Speaker 1: council and mayor were quickly subdued with threats and talks
Speaker 1: of treason. That's not going to work forever. Again, the
Speaker 1: question kept coming up, though, what was the purpose of
Speaker 1: this fleet that was being prepared. In the spring of
Speaker 1: sixteen thirty five, the first fleet raised by ship money
Speaker 1: finally took sale. The forty two vessels, nineteen of them
Speaker 1: over fifty tons, set forth with orders to curb piracy,
Speaker 1: protect English traders, prevent the Dutch from fishing in English waters, and,
Speaker 1: according to one news writer Edward Rossingham, quote, to preserve
Speaker 1: the sovereignty of the narrow seas from the French king,
Speaker 1: who had the design, longed to take it from us,
Speaker 1: and therefore he hath provided a very great navy unquote.
Speaker 1: In other words, what were these ships intended to do?
Speaker 1: The answer might come everything. The answer might also come nothing.
Speaker 1: So the ship money had been raised in the end,
Speaker 1: perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of loyalty, and the
Speaker 1: success of the tax ensured survival in the following year,
Speaker 1: ship money was again required, this time not by just
Speaker 1: the towns and ports on the water, by the whole country.
Speaker 1: It was argued that since counties and urban corporations were
Speaker 1: interested in the honor, profit and safety of the English seas,
Speaker 1: that was appropriate that everybody should chip in. The appeal worked,
Speaker 1: and the tax of sixteen thirty five became the model
Speaker 1: for the next five years, in which eighty percent of
Speaker 1: the money that was demanded by the king was paid. This, however,
Speaker 1: as we're about to see, would be one of the
Speaker 1: few long term success stories of Charles's finance during his
Speaker 1: period a personal rule. In the summer of sixteen thirty six,
Speaker 1: Charles and Henrietta Maria paid a visit to Oxford. It
Speaker 1: was now, in essence, you could just rename it to
Speaker 1: Lawd University. The archbishop had that much power over what
Speaker 1: went on there. Yet only the academic officials paid homage
Speaker 1: to the royal couple as they rode through the streets.
Speaker 1: There were no calls of God save the King. The
Speaker 1: scholars and the citizens alike stood silent, and this didn't
Speaker 1: bode well, And it was a little reminder that personal
Speaker 1: rule was building up steadily grievances amongst Charles's people. The
Speaker 1: fines for encroaching on royal forests had quote brought more
Speaker 1: prejudice upon the court and more discontent upon the King
Speaker 1: from the considerable parts of the nobility and gentry in
Speaker 1: England than any one action that it had its rise
Speaker 1: from the King's will and pleasure. Charles had alienated his
Speaker 1: subjects in a lot of different ways, many of them religious.
Speaker 1: He had unilaterally published a book of canons, which he
Speaker 1: required to be adopted by the Scottish Church. Now could
Speaker 1: receive the sacrament except on his or her knees. No
Speaker 1: man was allowed to cover his head during the divine service.
Speaker 1: No person was allowed to engage in spontaneous prayer. The
Speaker 1: clergy was not allowed to hold private meetings to explain
Speaker 1: and expound upon the scriptures. This was detested by many
Speaker 1: in England, and certainly by the Presbyterians in Scotland, and
Speaker 1: soon enough that bill would become due. In the spring
Speaker 1: of sixteen thirty seven, a new service book for Scotland
Speaker 1: was published by the King. It applied much of the
Speaker 1: English Book of Common Prayer and abolished most of John
Speaker 1: Knoxus's Book of Common Order. It was in effect another
Speaker 1: English imposition, bearing all the marks of the intervention of
Speaker 1: Archbishop Laud. It was first read in public at Saint Giles,
Speaker 1: recently become the Cathedral Church of Edinburgh. The dean ascended
Speaker 1: the pulpit, but when he began to recite the words
Speaker 1: of the new book, shouts of abuse came from the
Speaker 1: women of the congregation. The shouts sounded the mass is
Speaker 1: entered upon us, but all is in the church. The
Speaker 1: Bishop of Edinburgh then stepped forward to try to calm
Speaker 1: the angry women and begged them to desist from profaning
Speaker 1: holy ground. This was not a phrase to be used
Speaker 1: in front of a Puritan assembly, and further abuse was
Speaker 1: screamed against him. He was denounced as a fox, as
Speaker 1: a wolf, as a belly god. One of the women
Speaker 1: hurled her stool at him. It missed him barely and
Speaker 1: almost managed to hit the dean of the college behind him.
Speaker 1: The magistrates were then called to clear the church, but
Speaker 1: the women, once ejected, surrounded the building. Its great doors
Speaker 1: were pummeled and stones were flung in its windows. As
Speaker 1: the unhappy ceremony proceeded to its end, cries could be
Speaker 1: heard outside of quote a pape, a pape antichrist stone him,
Speaker 1: pull him down. Quote. When the bishop came out, the
Speaker 1: women shouted to kill the man. Now what's fascinating about
Speaker 1: this whole episode is that it is not a spontaneous action.
Speaker 1: It's not this random confluence of events that takes place
Speaker 1: to bring this into being. Really, what this was was
Speaker 1: an organized assault on the new service Book that the
Speaker 1: Presbyterians already knew was coming. Certain nonconformist gentry and clergy
Speaker 1: had been planning this event for about three months, and
Speaker 1: even though the scale of the riot was not perhaps
Speaker 1: and has anticipated regardless, the incident quickly became known both
Speaker 1: in Scotland and down in England as Stony Sunday. Now,
Speaker 1: on hearing the news of the riots in Edinburgh, the
Speaker 1: King ordered the immediate suppression of the malcontents in a
Speaker 1: city where the majority of the populace was on their side.
Speaker 1: This frankly wasn't possible. Laud asked the Scottish bishops if
Speaker 1: they were ready to quote cast down the milk they
Speaker 1: had given because a few milkmaids had scolded them. I
Speaker 1: hope they will be better advised end quote. Yet it
Speaker 1: was Archbishop Laud here who was in need of advice.
Speaker 1: The Edinburgh magistrates stated that no member of the clergy
Speaker 1: would be able to read the new service. Most of
Speaker 1: the ministers adherd its contents, and all of them feared
Speaker 1: further riot. Petitions were now arriving from all parts of Scotland,
Speaker 1: deploring these new papist intentions, this new prayer book that
Speaker 1: was so far from the old form of worship of Scotland.
Speaker 1: The Scottish Council wrote to the King that the interventions
Speaker 1: were simply unprecedented and not acceptable. Their remonstrances became all
Speaker 1: the more urgent when a second riot broke out in Edinburgh.
Speaker 1: The news had spread that the Lord Provest had tried
Speaker 1: to prevent a petition against the service book from ever
Speaker 1: reaching London. The petitioners, as they became known, were now
Speaker 1: the largest contingent in this very rebellious city. Charles back
Speaker 1: in London, he didn't know what to do. He had
Speaker 1: not anticipated such an unwelcome act of defiance. It's referred
Speaker 1: that his very first words were quote, I mean to
Speaker 1: be obeyed end quote. But how is he going to
Speaker 1: enforce his will? He didn't have an army and only
Speaker 1: unwilling support from his representatives in Scotland. A solution to
Speaker 1: the immediate impasse was then suggested by members of the
Speaker 1: Scottish Privy Council. The petitioners would leave Edinburgh and return
Speaker 1: to their homes, leaving a group of commissioners to speak
Speaker 1: and act in their names. It was clear that these commissioners,
Speaker 1: as they will be called, and as I'm going to
Speaker 1: refer to them, are going to essentially become the government
Speaker 1: of Scotland from this point forward in our story, and
Speaker 1: as possible to see all of these incidents in Edinburgh
Speaker 1: as a prelude to the more fatal incidents that are
Speaker 1: going to lead to a civil war in England. I mean,
Speaker 1: but that is ex post facto, like there's no way
Speaker 1: that anybody at the time could have looked at this
Speaker 1: and seen that coming. I mean, let's be honest. This
Speaker 1: was a minor uprising in Scotland. To put it mildly,
Speaker 1: it was religious in nature, but nobody had refused to
Speaker 1: pay any taxes. Yet there wasn't a complete abrogation of
Speaker 1: royal authority. This was a group of individuals that was
Speaker 1: upset about the imposition of religious change. Again in the
Speaker 1: sixteenth seventeenth centuries. There's nothing new here. This is you know,
Speaker 1: rinse and repeat. Charles should have been able to deal
Speaker 1: with this. The only problem is he was not the
Speaker 1: man for the hour, folks, as we're going to see. Instead,
Speaker 1: Scotland had set an example of defiance that was regarded
Speaker 1: by admiration in England, at least by some Now another
Speaker 1: great controversy concerning the king's authority now emerged in London.
Speaker 1: In the summer of sixteen thirty seven, the King decided
Speaker 1: to call John Hampton before the Court of Exchequer for
Speaker 1: refusing to pay his portion of ship money. Hampden having
Speaker 1: been imprisoned for ten years earlier for declining the King's
Speaker 1: forced loan. You know, but he didn't seem to have
Speaker 1: cared that experience didn't curb his independence, and so at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year twelve senior judges declared that,
Speaker 1: in the face of danger to the nation, the King
Speaker 1: had a perfectly fine right to order his subjects to
Speaker 1: finance the preparation of a fleet. In addition, they declared
Speaker 1: that in the event of the refusal, the King was
Speaker 1: entitled to use compulsion. One contemporary historian wrote, quote the
Speaker 1: judges could not have delivered a more important decision. It
Speaker 1: is one of the great events of English history. Quote.
Speaker 1: The royal prerogative of ship money had become essentially the
Speaker 1: foundation and cornerstone of Charles's entire government. Another would write that,
Speaker 1: if indeed it could be exacted lawfully, quote, the King,
Speaker 1: upon like pretense, might gather the same sum ten twelve
Speaker 1: or one hundred times redoubled, and so to infinite proportions
Speaker 1: to anyone shire, when and as often as he pleased,
Speaker 1: And so no man was in conclusion worthy of anything
Speaker 1: end quote. It was a powerful argument and one that
Speaker 1: was going to be tested in the trial of John Hampton.
Speaker 1: The court case lasted from November of sixteen thirty seven
Speaker 1: all the way through the following summer of sixteen thirty eight.
Speaker 1: It was watched with extreme interest by the political nation.
Speaker 1: This was really a test of power between sovereign and subject.
Speaker 1: Was considered to be one of the the most significant
Speaker 1: cases ever put to judgment. The prosecution essentially rested upon
Speaker 1: two points. The Crown contended that all precedents from the
Speaker 1: time of the Anglo Saxons were going back to the
Speaker 1: Anglo Saxons. Guys allowed the King to gather money for
Speaker 1: his navy. Okay, that's relatively undisputed. Hampton in turn argued
Speaker 1: back that previous methods of taxation had in no way
Speaker 1: resembled the recent rips for ship money that had been
Speaker 1: sent to inland counties. Now the Crown turned back and
Speaker 1: defended the reasonableness of its claim for financial assistance in
Speaker 1: face of foreign danger. By the time, I mean, after all,
Speaker 1: it took so long for Parliament to be assembled. By
Speaker 1: the time it got there to debate the member that
Speaker 1: the country could be an attacked. Heck, England itself could
Speaker 1: be invaded. There wasn't time to put these questions to Parliament.
Speaker 1: This is why you had an executive. The King had
Speaker 1: to act. Now turned around and argued that, well, you
Speaker 1: know what, but the rits had been sent out six
Speaker 1: months before any ships were fitted, and honestly, guys, there
Speaker 1: was ample time for an assembly at Westminster. Besides, the
Speaker 1: writs were, in any case contrary to statutes forbidding any
Speaker 1: tax without the consent of Parliament. So what's the big
Speaker 1: deal here? Now? As this all went back and forth,
Speaker 1: the court was packed with spectators. A squire from Norfolk
Speaker 1: had come to London simply to attend the trial. But
Speaker 1: when he arrived the crowd was already so great that
Speaker 1: he could only get two three yards from the door,
Speaker 1: and this was at dawn. Those who did obtain entrance
Speaker 1: seemed largely to have been on Hamden's side. When one
Speaker 1: of his councils, Oliver Sinjin, opened the defense, he was,
Speaker 1: according to a Puritan observer quote, much applauded and hummed
Speaker 1: by the bystanders, though my Lord Finch, the Chief Justice,
Speaker 1: signified his displeasure for it end quote. At the close
Speaker 1: of sin John's argument, everyone applauded again. The argument continued
Speaker 1: beyond the walls of the court. Debates between the opposing
Speaker 1: sides were fierce. They were spilling out. They were in
Speaker 1: the streets, they were in the markets, they were in
Speaker 1: the taverns. Everybody was talking about Hampton in his defense.
Speaker 1: This had become, I guess, the oj trial, except there
Speaker 1: wasn't a murder. People used to argue about ship money.
Speaker 1: Isn't that quaint? The judges deliberated and eventually gave a
Speaker 1: decision in favor of the court seven to five. It
Speaker 1: was the smallest of all possible majorities for the King Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: the words of the Chief Justice and his support were
Speaker 1: repeated throughout the country. Finch declared, and he was going
Speaker 1: to eat these words. Don't worry that quote acts of
Speaker 1: Parliament to take away royal power in the defense ends
Speaker 1: of the kingdom are void end quote, or as another
Speaker 1: judge put it rather inadvisedly, quote rex st lex. The
Speaker 1: king is the law. Now it seemed the ancient rights
Speaker 1: of the Englishmen were of no importance. The declarations of
Speaker 1: the Magna Carta and the petition of right had become inconsequential.
Speaker 1: Neither law nor parliament could bind the king's power. In
Speaker 1: our next episode we see just how it long that
Speaker 1: principle can last.