From the nobility he desired assistance; from the City of London
he required a loan of L100,000. The former contributed but slowly; the
latter at length gave a flat denial. To equip a fleet, an apportionment
was made, by order of the Council, amongst all the maritime towns, each
of which was required, with the assistance of the adjoining counties, to
furnish a certain number of vessels or amount of shipping. The City of
London was rated at twenty ships. And this was the first appearance in
the present reign of ship-money--a taxation which had once been imposed
by Elizabeth, on a great emergency, but which, revived and carried
further by Charles, produced the most violent discontent.
[Illustration: STATUE OF JOHN HAMPDEN.]
In 1636, John Hampden became universally known by his intrepid
opposition to the ship-money, as an illegal tax. Upon this he was
prosecuted, and his conduct throughout the transaction gained him great
credit and reputation. When the Long Parliament began, the eyes of all
were fixed upon him as the father of his country. On the 3rd of January,
1642, the King ordered articles of high treason, and other
misdemeanours, to be prepared against Lord Kimbolton, Mr. Hampden, and
four other members of the House of Commons, and went to the House to
seize them, but they had retired.
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