he ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the people of
England." In his rage James ordered the journal of the Commons to be
brought to him, tore out the Protest with his own hand, and sent five
of the members of the House to prison (S419). This rash act made the
Commons more determined than ever not to yield to arbitrary power.
James died three years later, leaving his unfortunate son Charles to
settle the angry controversy he had raised. Macaulay remarks that
James seems to have been sent to hasten the coming of the Civil War.

17. Charles I; Forced Loans; the Petition of Right.

Charles I came to the throne full of his father's lofty ideas of the
Divine Right of Kings to govern as they pleased. In private life he
was conscientious, but in his public policy he was a man "of dark and
crooked ways."

He had married a French Catholic princess, and the Puritans, who were
now very strong in the House of Commons, suspected that the King
secretly sympathized with the Queen's religion. This was not the
case; for Charles, after his peculiar fashion, was a sincere
Protestant, though he favored the introduction into the English Church
of some of the ceremonies peculiar to Catholic worship.

The Commons showed their distrust of the King by voting him the tax of
tonnage and poundage (certain duties levied on wine and merchandise),
for a single year only, instead of for life, as had been their
custom. The Lords refused to assent to such a limited grant,[1] and
Charles deliberately collected the tax without the authority of
Parliament. Failing, however, to get a sufficient supply in that way,
the King forced men of property to grant him "benevolences," and to
loan him large sums of money with no hope of its return. Those who
dared to refuse were thrown into prison on some pretended charge, or
had squads of brutal soldiers quartered in their houses.

[1] See Taswell-Langmead (revised edition), p. 557, note.

When even these measures failed to supply his wants, Charles was
forced to summon a Parliament, and ask for help. Instead of granting
it, the Commons drew up the Petition of Right[2] of 1628, as an
indignant remonstrance, and as a safeguard against further acts of
tyranny. This Petition has been called the "Second Great Charter of
the Liberties of England." It declared: (1) That no one should be
compelled to pay any tax or to supply the King with money, except by
order of act of Parliament. (2) That ne