Chapter 11

The trained band divided into four regiments, 1616.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[pg 066]trayninge and musteringe of men";201and 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.202Letter from the lords of the council, 24 April, 1616.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,203rating 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[pg 067]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.A muster in Finsbury Fields, 6 Aug., 1616.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.204Commission of lieutenancy granted to the City, 30 April, 1617.By the spring of the next year (1617) the city authorities had succeeded so far in recovering the confidence and goodwill of the government as to have a royal commission of lieutenancy for the city of London granted to the mayor, Sir John Leman, eight of the aldermen and Antony Benn, the Recorder.205The commission was to continue during the king's pleasure, or until notice of its determination should have been given by the Privy Council under their hands and seals.The commission withdrawn, May, 1618.Matters remained on this footing for a year, when the lords of the council gave notice (17 May, 1618) 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 (such as had long since been ordered but had never yet been[pg 068]sent), 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" (now become unserviceable) by the musket, and to provide bullets in addition to powder and match.206The 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.207The old Company of Merchant Adventurers suppressed, 21 Feb., 1615. 12 Aug., 1617.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,208the 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.209[pg 069]The City consents to a loan of £30,000, July, 1615.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?"210The king entertained at Alderman Cockaine's house. 8 June, 1616.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 (we are told) 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.211Knights of the Bath at Drapers' Hall, Nov., 1616.A few months later (Nov., 1616) 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[pg 070]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.212Request for a loan of £100,000, 1617.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 £100,000.213The 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[pg 071]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.214Difficulty experienced in raising the money.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.215Great 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 £400,216whilst another, William Cater, kept out of the way to avoid contributing to the loan.217In 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.218[pg 072]Reception of James on his return from Scotland, Sept., 1617.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.219The mayor presented James with a purse of 500 gold pieces,220and the king conferred the honour of knighthood upon Antony Benn, the Recorder, and Ralph Freeman.221Letter from lords of council touching king's inability to repay loan, 17 March, 1618.In the following March (17th) 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.222Death of the queen, March, 1619.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 (1619) there was some probability that her funeral would have to be delayed for want of money to buy "the blacks."223As 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.224The mayor, Sebastian Hervey, and the aldermen received (after some delay) the customary allowance of mourning cloth,225but for[pg 073]some reason or other they were not invited to attend the funeral.Sebastian Hervey and his daughter.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,226"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.227It 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.228The commencement of the Thirty Years' War, 1618.In the meantime a revolution had taken place on the continent, the effects of which were felt in[pg 074]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 (26 Aug., 1619). 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.The Elector applies to the City for assistance, Nov., 1619.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.229This letter the mayor forwarded to James, intimating that either himself or the Recorder would wait upon him when convenient.230Time went on, and the king made no sign until in February of the next year (1620) secretary Calvert wrote to the mayor231on 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[pg 075]was "a mere straunger to the business."232In 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.Formal application for a city loan of £100,000, 28 Feb., 1620.The City agrees to advance the money.A fortnight passed, and then Baron Dohna wrote (28 Feb.) 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.233The king was asked to back up the baron's request, but declined.234A 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."235The 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.236Having 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 (25 Mar.) from Frederick himself.237[pg 076]Precept was issued (29 March) by the mayor, not, as was usually the custom in similar cases, to the livery companies, but to the aldermen of each ward.238Moreover, subscriptions to the loan were to be purely voluntary. Each alderman was especially directed not to "compell any wchare unwilling, nor refuse to accept the smaller summes of such as out of their loves doe offer the same."239State visit to St. Paul's, 26 March, 1620.On Sunday, the 26th March (1620), 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.240The 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,241which 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.242James determined to assist the Elector.Towards the close of the year (1620) news reached England that a Spanish army had entered[pg 077]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 (1621)243in 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.244Application to the City for assistance.The council also applied (31 Oct.) to the city of London,245but more than a month elapsed before a reply was sent,246and it was not until the 14th December that the mayor issued his precept to the livery companies to raise among themselves the several sums of money they had been accustomed to pay on former occasions,247such sums being in accordance with a corn assessment made in the mayoralty of Sir Thomas Middleton (1613-14). Several of the companies, and notably the Merchant Taylors (the largest contributors), objected to this mode of imposing assessment upon them according to the corn rate as working an injustice. The Court of Aldermen therefore agreed to again revise the corn rate.248A dispute also arose as to the amounts to be paid by the Apothecaries and the Grocers respectively, the former having recently severed themselves from the latter and become incorporated as a separate company.249After[pg 078]all said and done the companies could not be prevailed upon to contribute more than £5,000, which sum was raised to 10,000 marks, or £6,666 13s.4d., by contribution from the City's Chamber.250We have it on record that the lords of the council never intended that any call should be made on the companies at this juncture, but that only the mayor and aldermen and those who had fined either for sheriff or alderman should contribute towards the defence of the Palatinate as they themselves had done.251Nor would the companies have been called upon on this occasion (any more than they appear to have been called upon on the last) had the collection of money from the various parishes risen to the proportion required. It was only when a deficiency was discovered that the mayor and aldermen had resort to the expedient of raising £5,000 from the companies, each company paying rateably according to their usual rates for other assessments.252The parliament of 1621.When parliament at length met (after several prorogations) on the 30th January (1621) 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.[pg 079]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 (24 Dec., 1620) forbidding his subjects to speak on affairs of State.253If 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.The citizens and the Spanish ambassador.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 ambassador254in 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[pg 080]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.255Such is the account of the disturbance as found in contemporary letters. From the City's records256we 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,[pg 081]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 (2 April). 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 (5 April) 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 precept257(5 April) for a substantial double watch to be kept for twenty-four hours from nine[pg 082]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.By this time news of the confusion and rescue attending the earlier punishment had reached the king's ears. Ray's whipping was put off. The Recorder informed the Court of Aldermen, specially summoned to the mayor's house on Friday afternoon (6 April), that the king purposed coming that day to the Guildhall in person between two and three o'clock, when the mayor and aldermen were commanded to attend, and until then the execution of Ray's punishment was not to be carried out. At the appointed hour James arrived with divers lords of the council. He is recorded258as having made an excellent oration to the mayor and aldermen, "much reprovinge their misgovernment, and the ill carriage of the rude sorte of people, and the affront lately offered to justice in that rescue." He commanded them at their peril to see that no manner of affront occurred in the punishment of Daniel Ray, but that he should after his whipping be quietly conveyed to prison until his majesty's pleasure should be further known. Three days later (9 April) Ray, Sampson and Taylor (Michell appears to have been the one who succumbed to ill treatment) appeared before a special Court of Aldermen and, acknowledging their offences, asked pardon of God and the king. Thereupon the Recorder signified to them the king's remission of[pg 083]further punishment, and they were discharged out of prison.259Insult offered to the Elector and his wife.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.260The City asked to advance £20,000 on security of subsidy, March, 1621.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 (1621) 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."261If the[pg 084]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."262

The trained band divided into four regiments, 1616.

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[pg 066]trayninge and musteringe of men";201and 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.202

Letter from the lords of the council, 24 April, 1616.

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,203rating 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[pg 067]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.

A muster in Finsbury Fields, 6 Aug., 1616.

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.204

Commission of lieutenancy granted to the City, 30 April, 1617.

By the spring of the next year (1617) the city authorities had succeeded so far in recovering the confidence and goodwill of the government as to have a royal commission of lieutenancy for the city of London granted to the mayor, Sir John Leman, eight of the aldermen and Antony Benn, the Recorder.205The commission was to continue during the king's pleasure, or until notice of its determination should have been given by the Privy Council under their hands and seals.

The commission withdrawn, May, 1618.

Matters remained on this footing for a year, when the lords of the council gave notice (17 May, 1618) 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 (such as had long since been ordered but had never yet been[pg 068]sent), 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" (now become unserviceable) by the musket, and to provide bullets in addition to powder and match.206The 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.207

The old Company of Merchant Adventurers suppressed, 21 Feb., 1615. 12 Aug., 1617.

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,208the 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.209

The City consents to a loan of £30,000, July, 1615.

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?"210

The king entertained at Alderman Cockaine's house. 8 June, 1616.

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 (we are told) 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.211

Knights of the Bath at Drapers' Hall, Nov., 1616.

A few months later (Nov., 1616) 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[pg 070]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.212

Request for a loan of £100,000, 1617.

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 £100,000.213The 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[pg 071]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.214

Difficulty experienced in raising the money.

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.215Great 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 £400,216whilst another, William Cater, kept out of the way to avoid contributing to the loan.217In 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.218

Reception of James on his return from Scotland, Sept., 1617.

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.219The mayor presented James with a purse of 500 gold pieces,220and the king conferred the honour of knighthood upon Antony Benn, the Recorder, and Ralph Freeman.221

Letter from lords of council touching king's inability to repay loan, 17 March, 1618.

In the following March (17th) 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.222

Death of the queen, March, 1619.

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 (1619) there was some probability that her funeral would have to be delayed for want of money to buy "the blacks."223As 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.224The mayor, Sebastian Hervey, and the aldermen received (after some delay) the customary allowance of mourning cloth,225but for[pg 073]some reason or other they were not invited to attend the funeral.

Sebastian Hervey and his daughter.

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,226"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.227It 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.228

The commencement of the Thirty Years' War, 1618.

In the meantime a revolution had taken place on the continent, the effects of which were felt in[pg 074]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 (26 Aug., 1619). 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.

The Elector applies to the City for assistance, Nov., 1619.

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.229This letter the mayor forwarded to James, intimating that either himself or the Recorder would wait upon him when convenient.230Time went on, and the king made no sign until in February of the next year (1620) secretary Calvert wrote to the mayor231on 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[pg 075]was "a mere straunger to the business."232In 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.

Formal application for a city loan of £100,000, 28 Feb., 1620.

The City agrees to advance the money.

A fortnight passed, and then Baron Dohna wrote (28 Feb.) 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.233The king was asked to back up the baron's request, but declined.234A 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."235The 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.236Having 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 (25 Mar.) from Frederick himself.237

Precept was issued (29 March) by the mayor, not, as was usually the custom in similar cases, to the livery companies, but to the aldermen of each ward.238Moreover, subscriptions to the loan were to be purely voluntary. Each alderman was especially directed not to "compell any wchare unwilling, nor refuse to accept the smaller summes of such as out of their loves doe offer the same."239

State visit to St. Paul's, 26 March, 1620.

On Sunday, the 26th March (1620), 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.240The 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,241which 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.242

James determined to assist the Elector.

Towards the close of the year (1620) news reached England that a Spanish army had entered[pg 077]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 (1621)243in 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.244

Application to the City for assistance.

The council also applied (31 Oct.) to the city of London,245but more than a month elapsed before a reply was sent,246and it was not until the 14th December that the mayor issued his precept to the livery companies to raise among themselves the several sums of money they had been accustomed to pay on former occasions,247such sums being in accordance with a corn assessment made in the mayoralty of Sir Thomas Middleton (1613-14). Several of the companies, and notably the Merchant Taylors (the largest contributors), objected to this mode of imposing assessment upon them according to the corn rate as working an injustice. The Court of Aldermen therefore agreed to again revise the corn rate.248A dispute also arose as to the amounts to be paid by the Apothecaries and the Grocers respectively, the former having recently severed themselves from the latter and become incorporated as a separate company.249After[pg 078]all said and done the companies could not be prevailed upon to contribute more than £5,000, which sum was raised to 10,000 marks, or £6,666 13s.4d., by contribution from the City's Chamber.250We have it on record that the lords of the council never intended that any call should be made on the companies at this juncture, but that only the mayor and aldermen and those who had fined either for sheriff or alderman should contribute towards the defence of the Palatinate as they themselves had done.251Nor would the companies have been called upon on this occasion (any more than they appear to have been called upon on the last) had the collection of money from the various parishes risen to the proportion required. It was only when a deficiency was discovered that the mayor and aldermen had resort to the expedient of raising £5,000 from the companies, each company paying rateably according to their usual rates for other assessments.252

The parliament of 1621.

When parliament at length met (after several prorogations) on the 30th January (1621) 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.[pg 079]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 (24 Dec., 1620) forbidding his subjects to speak on affairs of State.253If 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.

The citizens and the Spanish ambassador.

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 ambassador254in 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[pg 080]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.255

Such is the account of the disturbance as found in contemporary letters. From the City's records256we 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,[pg 081]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 (2 April). 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 (5 April) 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 precept257(5 April) for a substantial double watch to be kept for twenty-four hours from nine[pg 082]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.

By this time news of the confusion and rescue attending the earlier punishment had reached the king's ears. Ray's whipping was put off. The Recorder informed the Court of Aldermen, specially summoned to the mayor's house on Friday afternoon (6 April), that the king purposed coming that day to the Guildhall in person between two and three o'clock, when the mayor and aldermen were commanded to attend, and until then the execution of Ray's punishment was not to be carried out. At the appointed hour James arrived with divers lords of the council. He is recorded258as having made an excellent oration to the mayor and aldermen, "much reprovinge their misgovernment, and the ill carriage of the rude sorte of people, and the affront lately offered to justice in that rescue." He commanded them at their peril to see that no manner of affront occurred in the punishment of Daniel Ray, but that he should after his whipping be quietly conveyed to prison until his majesty's pleasure should be further known. Three days later (9 April) Ray, Sampson and Taylor (Michell appears to have been the one who succumbed to ill treatment) appeared before a special Court of Aldermen and, acknowledging their offences, asked pardon of God and the king. Thereupon the Recorder signified to them the king's remission of[pg 083]further punishment, and they were discharged out of prison.259

Insult offered to the Elector and his wife.

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.260

The City asked to advance £20,000 on security of subsidy, March, 1621.

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 (1621) 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."261If the[pg 084]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."262

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