Page:The American encyclopedia of history, biography and travel (IA americanencyclop00blak).pdf/181

 Tyrone. He passed an act of oblivion and indemnity by which all persons who had committed offenses, coming to the judges of assize within a certain day, might claim a full pardon. At the same time, toleration was virtually refused to the Catholic persuasion, and much discontent therefore still existed. Some of the chieftains having conspired against the crown, were attainted, and their lands were given to English settlers, with a view to improving the population of the country by an infusion of civilized persons. But this experiment, though well-meant, was managed in a partial spirit, and gave rise to much injustice. In 1613, the first Irish Parliament was held in which there were any representatives of places beyond the Pale.

THE KING'S CHILDREN—THE SPANISH MATCH.

In 1612, the king had the misfortune to lose his eldest son, Henry, a youth of nineteen, who was considered as one of the most promising and accomplished men of the age. The second son, Charles, then became the heir-apparent, and James was busied for several years in seeking him out a suitable consort. The Princess Mary of Spain was selected, a match which could not be popular, considering that the young lady was a Catholic and of a family who had long been enemies of England. The prince, attended by the Duke of Buckingham, made a romantic journey in disguise to Madrid to push the match; but a quarrel between the British and Spanish ministers led to its being broken off, and to a bloody war between the two nations. Elizabeth, the only remaining child of the king, was married in 1613, to Frederick, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, who was afterwards so unfortunate as to lose his dominions, in consequence of his placing himself at the head of the Bohemians, in what was considered as a rebellion against his superior, the Emperor of Germany. This discrowned pair, by their youngest daughter Sophia, who married the Duke of Brunswick, were the ancestors of the family which now reigns in Britain.

FEATURES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF JAMES I.

The reign of James I was not marked by what are called great events. This was greatly owing to his timid character, which induced him to maintain peace, at whatever sacrifice, throughout the greater part of his reign. The prime leaders of his government were youthful favorites, who possessed no merit but personal elegance. Experienced statesmen, brave soldiers, and learned divines, had to bow to these dissolute youths, if they wished to advance in royal favor. Even Bacon, the noblest intellect of the age, and who, by the result of his studies, has done more than almost any other man to promote the progress of knowledge, is found to have attached himself to the minion Duke of Buckingham, for the purpose of improving his interest at court. In despotic countries, the vices of the court often corrupt all classes; but it was otherwise at that period in Britain. The country gentlemen, and the merchants in the incorporated towns, had privileges which the court dared not too often violate, and a feeling of rectitude and independence was encouraged among these classes, which the statesman of the age too much overlooked. The House of Commons gave frequent resistance to the court, and often compelled James to yield, at the very moment when he was preaching his doctrines of divine right. In his