CHARLES I.
125
gland, The following year Sir William Alexander obtained from James
a charter for the colonization of the peninsula of Nova Scotia; but the
French having already taken possession of that country, its occupation
by the English had to be postponed to a later period.
CHAPTER XXXVIIL.
HOUSE OF STUART.—CHARLES I.
1625 to 1649 AD. =
1. Charles I. was in his twenty-fifth year when he ascended the
throne. His first care was to carry out his marriage- AGUES-
contract with the French Princess, Henrietta Maria. sion of
Buckingham, whose influence over Charles was even Charles I.
greater than that which he had exercised over the pre-
ceding King, was despatched to Paris to bring over the royal bride.
The next matter that engaged the attention of Charles was the finan-
cial state of the kingdom. "The treasury was exhausted, and the
heavy expenses of a war with Spain were impending.
2. Charles was an accomplished Prince, and his person and manners
were in striking contrast to those of his father. His
frame was well-proportioned, his bearing dignified, his Charae-
fextures handsome and ex pressive, He possessed highly-, en or
; ; z “. v es I.
cultivated tastes, hoing fond of music, painting, and
architecture, His mind was of 2 deeply religious cast, and in Private
life he was a model of all the domestic virtues, "The weakness which
historians profess to find in his character is a fatal tendency towards
insincerity, a disposition to make promises when not really expecting to
fulfil them. Both in political and in religious matters Charles inherited
his father’s views, He was a firm believer in the doctrine that the pre-
rogatives of Kings should not be questioned by their subjecte, "This led
him, from the very beginning of his reign, to make assertions of arbitrary
power that brought him into constant conflict with Parliament, The
favorite phrase to express his view of the duty of the subject to the
King was “ passive obedience.” Like his father, Charles was a zealous
upholder of the Kpiscopal form, of Church government.
3. The first Parliament of this reign met in June 1625. The House
of Commons contained a number of singularly able men, ,
Who names will become familiar-to the student of this Charles S
part af Knglish history. We may mention Coke, Eliet, Parılament.
rn 00 and Wentworth. These were all deter-
mined opponents of arbitrary power, though Wentworth subsequently
united his fortunes with those of the King. "This, as wel] as succeeding
