Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/467

Rh  of the Catholics, and by the seizure of French vessels oil the ground that they were engaged in carrying goods for Spain.

When Charles's second Parliament met on February 6, 1626, it was not long before, under Eliot's guidance, it asked for Buckingham's punishment. He was impeached before the House of Lords on a long string of charges. Many of these charges were exaggerated, and some were untrue. But as long as Charles refused to listen to the complaints of his minister's incompetency, the only way in which the Commons could reach him was by bringing criminal charges against him. Charles dissolved his second Parliament as he had dissolved his first.

To find money was the great difficulty. Recourse was had to a forced loan, and men were thrown into prison for refusing to pay it. There had been disasters to Charles's allies in Germany, and a French war was impending in addition to the Spanish one. The French were roused to reprisals by Charles's persistence in seizing French vessels. Unwilling to leave Rochelle open to the entrance of an English fleet, Richelieu laid siege to that stronghold of the French Huguenots. On June 27, 1627, Buckingham sailed from Portsmouth at the head of a numerous fleet, and a considerable land force, to relieve the besieged city.

His first enterprise was the siege of the fort of St Martin's, on the Isle of Rhé. The ground was hard, and the siege operations were converted into a blockade. On September 27, the defenders of the fort announced their readiness to surrender the next morning. In the night a fresh gale brought over a flotilla of French provision boats, which dashed through the English blockading squadron. The fort was provisioned for two months more. Buckingham re solved to struggle on, and sent for reinforcements from England. Charles would gladly have answered to his call. But England had long since ceased to care for the war. There was no money in the exchequer, no enthusiasm in the nation to supply the want. Before the reinforcements could arrive the French had thrown a superior force upon the island, and Buckingham was driven to retreat with heavy loss.

His spirits were as buoyant as ever. Ill luck, or the misconduct of others, was the cause of his failure. He had new plans for carrying on the war. But the Parliament which met on March 17, 1628, was resolved to exact from the king an obligation to refrain from encroaching for the future on the liberties of his subjects.

In the parliamentary battle, which ended in the concession of the Petition of Right, Buckingham took an active share as a member of the House of Lords. He resisted as long as it was possible to resist the demand of the Commons, that the king should abandon his claim to imprison without showing cause. When the first unsatisfactory answer to the petition was made by the king on June 2, the Commons suspected, probably with truth, that it had been dictated by Buckingham. They prepared a remonstrance on the state of the nation, and Coke at last named the duke as the cause of all the misfortunes that had occurred. Though on June 7 the king granted a satisfactory answer to the petition, the Commons proceeded with their remonstrance, and on June 11 they informed the king that Buckingham had "so abused his powers," that it was no longer safe to continue him in office.

Once more Charles refused to surrender Buckingham, and a few days later he prorogued Parliament in anger. The popular feeling was greatly excited. Lampoons circulated freely from hand to hand, and Dr Lambe, a quack doctor, who dabbled in astrology, and was believed to exercise influence over Buckingham, was murdered in the streets of London. Rude doggerel lines announced that the duke should share the doctor's fate.

With the clouds gathering round him, Buckingham went down to Portsmouth to take the command of one final expedition for the relief of Rochelle. For the first time even he was beginning to acknowledge that he had undertaken a task beyond his powers. There was a force of inertia in the officials which resisted his efforts to spur them on to an enterprise which they believed to be doomed to failure. He entered gladly into a scheme of pacification proposed by the Venetian ambassador. But before he could know whether there was to be peace or war, the knife of an assassin put an end to his career. John Felton, who had served at Rh6, had been disappointed of promotion, and had not been paid that which was due to him for his services, read the declaration of the Commons that Bucking ham was a public enemy, and eagerly caught at the excuse for revenging his private wrongs under cover of those of his country. Waiting, on the morning of August 23, beside the door of the room in which Buckingham was breakfasting, he stabbed him to the heart as he came out. The man who for four years had been practically the ruler of England fell dead upon the ground. He had only completed his thirty-sixth year three days before.  BUCKINGHAM,, (1627–1688), was born at London January 30, 1627, about a year and a half before the murder of his father. He was educated at Cambridge, returned from a Continental tour on the outbreak of the civil war, and at once threw in his lot with the king. The detachment in which he held a command was defeated at Nonsuch, and he with difficulty effected an escape from England. His estates were confiscated by Parliament, and part of them were bestowed upon Fairfax. He returned with Charles II. and took part in the battle of Worcester, after which he again fled. About 1657 he returned secretly to England and married one of Fairfax's daughters. Arrested by order of Cromwell, he was thrown into the Tower and kept in confinement for some time. After the Restoration he recovered his estates, and rose to high favour with Charles II. He was a man of great talent, but utterly without principle, versatile and whimsical to the last degree.

He was a profligate and a statesman, a musician, an alchemist, a writer of farces, and a courtier,—"everything by starts, and nothing long." He was radically fickle, and could not be faithful to any party. In 1671 his power was at its height. He had done much to bring about the dismissal of Clarendon, had formed the famous council called the Cabal, and was in fact prime minister of England. But the measures he and his associates passed were little calculated to allay the strong popular feeling against the Government. The Cabal was quickly dissolved, and Buckingham, with his usual versatility, at once became an ardent friend of the democratic leaders. Soon afterwards he seems to have been disgusted with politics, and gradually withdrew from court. After the death of Charles he retired to his seat at Helmsley in Yorkshire, and devoted himself to hunting and other country amusements. He died on the 17th April 1688, in the house of one of his tenants, having been seized with a fever produced by sitting on the damp ground after being heated with riding. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Buckingham was the author of some farces, comedies, and miscellaneous poems, but he is chiefly remembered in English literature by the Rehearsal, a clever parody upon Dryden and other stilted tragedians. His works were collected in 1704.  BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,, (1649–1721), was the son of Edmund, second earl of Mulgrave, and succeeded to that title on his father's death in 1658. At the age of seventeen he joined the fleet in