The First Civil War between British Cousins (a reprise may be in store)

Editorial (EG) by Ian Innes

With all of the fuss over the rights of Englishmen and the increasing sound of fury over the tyranny of the crown we thought it might be constructive to take a look at what occurred on the Isle of Britain just over 100 years ago. It may shock you to see that the issues we are dealing with today in the 18^th century may not be too fresh after all.

King Charles, the second son of King James the 6th of Scotland and the 1st of England, was raised in a very religious home and had taken on some of his father's conservative views about the Divine Right of Kings to rule by God's appointment. Even though, in most cases it would seem that his father looked upon God's Appointment more as a responsibility than a right, Charles took it to the extreme. He ignored the last 600 years of constitutional history in England and decided he could rule without the people's representation.

Three times he dissolved Parliament and the third time was the straw that broke the camel's back. In 1629 he made political prisoners of several of the leaders of the opposition and declared that he would rule alone. This was the beginning of eleven years of what the supporters of the king called "personal rule". His opponents called it the "eleven year tyranny". In 1632 he appointed Tom Wentworth a supporter from Parliament, and a member of the Privy Council, as Lord-Deputy of Ireland. Wentworth made himself odious to the predominantly Catholic Aristocracy of Ireland and that was just the beginning of his troubles. The tyranny of the King was transferred through him to the Irish people and was indirectly at least the cause of an Irish uprising in 1641.

He not only made patriotic enemies of his political opponents but made religious enemies as well. Charles embraced the "High" Anglican form of worship and appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud militantly opposed the Puritan movement as well as any other religious inkling that differed from his own. This meant that our Puritan forebears, who had gained a considerable following in the last century, could not hope to be happy. He also tried to force his form of worship on his Presbyterians neighbors to the north as well. In 1633 the King married the French Catholic Princess, Henrietta Maria. This meant that the only people he did not offend in religion or politics were those of a decided minority of the Popish persuasion who enjoyed freedom of worship with their Queen.

In 1639, the Scottish Presbyterians decided that enough was enough. Staunch Covenanters, Lords Argyll, Montrose, Rothes and Balmerino along with others, met in Edinburgh and began to raise an army. Alexander Leslie was named General of the Scottish forces and began training in earnest. King Charles also attempted to raise an Army but public sentiment, lack of funds and religious support among the Puritans stymied his efforts. An abortive attempt to subdue the Scots led to the King making vague concessions to Scots demands. By 1640 he had again decided to check the Covenanters by force.

He now needed more funds than he could ever hope to raise on his own ... so he recalled Parliament. This proved to be futile as the people's representatives refused to authorize funding of the war. A time when the check of the people was shown to abort tyranny, yet it was only possible because there was a representation in the first place. Wentworth was recalled from Ireland to assist his sovereign. This he did capably, if not popularly, by forcing the Irish Parliament to finance the war, again subverting the English ideal of representative government. Scotland decided to invade rather than wait for the English to take the initiative. The war was a disaster for the King. In the end he was forced to concede to all of the Scottish demands and his two most loyal ministers, Laud and Wentworth were impeached and ultimately put to death as traitors.

Then in 1641, the Irish revolted. This was in large part due to the strong handed tactics of Wentworth. It resulted in a struggle between Parliament and the King as to who would control the military. Charles tried to arrest the five leading members of the opposition as they were sitting in Parliament. This caused the King of England to lose his moral authority. The Royal family was forced out of London. England's first civil war was underway. Are we the only ones who see a parallel to our present struggle. As was done in the last century, republican virtue must rise again to check tyranny and the eventual enslavement of a whole continent of people.