The king wept at the loss of his favourite, but the people rejoiced and praised Felton for the deed.
5. Sir John Eliot.—Buckingham, whom all thought the cause of the king’s bad government, was dead, yet matters did not mend. The king soon ceased to be bound by the Petition of Right, and began once more to raise money by illegal means, just as if he had never promised to wait the consent of his parliament. He also caused his people anxiety by making William Laud, Bishop of London. Laud wanted to bring the English Church nearer to the Roman Catholic in its form of worship, and he taught that Charles ruled by Divine Right, and could do as he wished without asking the consent of his people. What with Laud’s efforts to make changes in the Church, and Charles’ arbitrary rule, there was much fear among the Puritans lest England should lose her religion and her freedom. So when Parliament met in 1629, there was great excitement, and Eliot demanded that the custom-house officers who had taken away the goods of a member of Parliament should be punished. Charles sent down an order to Parliament to adjourn. Parliament refused, and to prevent the speaker or chairman from leaving his place, two members held him down while Eliot put a strong resolution to vote, condemning, as a traitor, any one who would make any changes in religion, or who should pay or take custom duties without consent of Parliament. The vote had scarcely been taken when the king’s guard appeared and broke up the session. A few days later Charles dissolved Parliament and sent Eliot to the Tower, where three years and a half after he died, killed by the close confinement of prison life. Charles knew that Eliot was dying from the effects of imprisonment; yet he refused to release him.
6. Wentworth and Laud.—For eleven years Charles now ruled without a parliament. Weston was his Treasurer; Wentworth, who had deserted his old friends, was his chief adviser; while Laud, who became Archbishop of Canterbury, ruled the Church. Perhaps Charles did not, at first, intend to go so long without a parliament; but as the years passed he found it easier to have his own way without a parliament than with one. He had made peace with France, and Weston was a careful treasurer, so his expenses were light. Times, too, were better, and with the revival
