ely promised by James and Charles in a secret article, the
first instance of the duplicity and deception practised by Charles in
dealing with the parliament and the nation. The French on their side
promised to assist in Mansfeld's expedition for the recovery of the
Palatinate, but Louis in October refused to allow the men to pass
through France; and the army, without pay or provisions, dwindled away
in Holland to nothing.

On the 27th of March 1625 Charles I. succeeded to the throne by the
death of his father, and on the 1st of May he was married by proxy to
Henrietta Maria. He received her at Canterbury on the 13th of June, and
on the 18th his first parliament assembled. On the day of his marriage
Charles had given directions that the prosecutions of the Roman
Catholics should cease, but he now declared his intention of enforcing
the laws against them, and demanded subsidies for carrying on the war
against Spain. The Commons, however, responded coldly. Charles had lent
ships to Louis XIII. to be used against the Protestants at La Rochelle,
and the Commons were not aware of the subterfuges and fictitious delays
intended to prevent their employment. The Protestant feelings of the
Commons were also aroused by the king's support of the royal chaplain,
Richard Montagu, who had repudiated Calvinistic doctrine. They only
voted small sums, and sent up a petition on the state of religion and
reflecting upon Buckingham, whom they deemed responsible for the failure
of Mansfeld's expedition, at the same time demanding counsellors in whom
they could trust. Parliament was accordingly dissolved by Charles on the
12th of August. He hoped that greater success abroad would persuade the
Commons to be more generous. On the 8th of September 1625 he made the
treaty of Southampton with the Dutch against Spain, and sent an
expedition to Cadiz under Sir Edward Cecil, which, however, was a
failure. In order to make himself independent of parliament he attempted
to raise money on the crown jewels in Holland, and to diminish the
opposition in the Commons he excluded the chief leaders by appointing
them sheriffs. When the second parliament met, however, on the 6th of
February 1626, the opposition, led by Sir John Eliot, was more
determined than before, and their attack was concentrated upon
Buckingham. On the 29th of March, Charles, calling the Commons into his
presence, accused them of leading him into the war and of taking
advantage of his diffi