n the ill-fated expedition to Cadiz or in the ships which
Buckingham had sent to assist the French king in suppressing the Huguenots
of Rochelle--who clamoured for arrears of pay. The duke put them off with
fair words, and so escaped with a whole skin; but for long afterwards the
streets of the city, and even the confines of the royal palace, were
infested with disaffected seamen, and special precautions had to be taken
to prevent riot.(318)

(M124)

Having failed to raise the necessary supplies by a free gift or
benevolence of the nation, Charles betook himself to a forced loan. The
sum to be raised was fixed at five subsidies. Commissioners were appointed
in September, 1626, to summon before them all men rated in the subsidy
books. At first the scheme was confined to the five counties nearest
London. Opposition was met by imprisonment. The City for awhile was left
untouched. It was unwise to try the temper of the citizens too much. It
was found that the nearer the City the greater was the opposition shown to
the commissioners; and the inhabitants of the Strand and the Savoy offered
a more determined resistance than those of the parish of St. Margaret,
Westminster, or St. Martin-in-the-Fields.(319) On the 7th October a
proclamation(320) appeared setting forth his majesty's "clear intention"
in requiring the aid of his loving subjects by the loan. It was not to be
made a precedent, and a parliament should be called as soon as convenient
and as often as it should be necessary.

(M125)

Just at a time when privy councillors were about to set out for the more
distant counties to collect the subsidies the judges suddenly pronounced
an unanimous opinion against the legality of the new loan. The report of
their decision quickly spread, and increased the opposition of the country
gentry, many of whom were content to suffer imprisonment rather than yield
to the demands of the commissioners.

(M126)

On the 10th November the committee appointed to take in hand the
preparation of the citizens' fleet reported to the Common Council that the
lords of the council had made a request that the City would provision ten
out of the twenty ships for a further period of two or three months, in
order that they might join two of his majesty's ships and fifteen
Hollanders in a descent on the Spanish coast. The court, after due
consideration, directed the committee to wait upon the lords and inform
them that the City was prepared to spend