Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-03-24
OUR MONTHLY LONDON CORRESPONDENCE.
For the National Era.
THE ARIsT0CRACY OF ENGLAND. mo. 8.

For tho National Era
THE ARIsTOCRACY OF ENGLAND.-N0. s.
[coSoLUDxDl
The student Of English history who wishes
to have an accurate and comprehensive view OF
this important epoch, and Of the causes Of the
civil war, must carefully weigh variety, Of
conflicting facts, 80 as to give to each It's Que
Importance. tits q narrow appreciation OF the
subject, to decide that this war terminated with
the execution Of Charles and the usurpatlon
Of Cromwell. Those events only marked q date
in this protracted campaign, which much re-
scmbled an armistice. The war looking to Its
causes, only terminated in the revolution OF
1888 when the Stuart dynasty was expelled
never to return. There was in tins eyentiui
period no other arstooracy than the arlstocra-
cv Of land nor il this term to be limited 70 the
Peeraee, for many Commoners held larger e.
tates and could boast of more ancient pedi
gree There was then no m0ney0cracy, no
millocracy no shopocracy. The influence OF
the Church had fallen; that Of lawyers had in
creased, especially 10 the Legislature. There
was coalition against the Crown. FIRST stood
the land owners, whose desire was to get rid
Of the fcudal Dues then, those among them who
held the contiscated lands of the Church, with
whom the dread Of Popery was mere pretext
the abbeys priories monastic acres and the i'm
propriated tithes these were joined by the
really pious and conscientious members OF the
Anglican ritual, and the members Of dissent
ing denominations the lawyers, tenacious Of
constitutional rules and precedents, threw their
weight into the scale. The great body OF tho
people counted as nothing IN this controversy,
which, in all its main features, was an arisso-
cratic protest against badly-de6ned preroga-
tive. TWAS the Tudors who had prepared tho
scaffold Of Charles and expelled James II
from the kingdom.
Sir Thomas Smith, who was one of the prin-
cipal Secretaries of State to King Edward vi
and Queen Elizabeth thus describes the pres
sure Of the feudal obligation on the owners OF
real property:
When the father is dead, who has the mt
ural care Of his child? Not the mother, no
the uncle, nor the next Of kin, who by oil I,
son would have most natural care for Il
bringing up Of the infant and minor, hut the
lord Of whom he holdeth his land in the knight
service, be it the King or Queen, Duke Mar
qui., or any other, has the government OF his
body and marriage, or else who that bought
him at the first, second, or third hand. The
Prince, as having so many must needs give or
sell his wards away to others and 30 he does
Others do but seek which way they may make
most advantage OF him, as Of an OK or other
beast. These all lsay they have no natural
care OF the infant but Of their own gain; and
especially the buyer will not snffer his ward to
take any great pains either in rtndy or In any
other hardness, lest he should be sick and die,
before he has married his daughter, sister, or
cousin, for whose sake he bought him, and then
all his money which he paid for him should be
lost So he who had father which kept Il
e,c.od hnuSo and had o1 thsnUa Oond order
to maintain it shall come to his own, after he
ia out of wardship woods decayed, houses fallen
down, stock wasted and gone, lands let forth,
and ploughcd to be barren, and, to make
amends, shall pay yet one years rent, for re-
lief, and sue otisier he maine, besides other
charges, 30 that not of many years, and perad-
venture never he shall be able to recover, and
come to his estate, whero his father left it."
This was the great grievance Of the landed
proprietors and is Intimately connected with
the civil war and tho Restoration; and the
terms Of the Restoration clearly prove this po-
sition, though it is taken into small account by
general historians. The abolition of feudalism
had been mooted under James |, when plan
for committing the feudal conditions and inci-
dents into Competent yearly rent, to be as
sured to his Majesty, his heirs and successors,
was agitated, and Of which Lord Coke has pre-.
served detailed account in the fourth part e
his Institutes Suffice it here to state that this
scheme was formally submitted TO Parliament
in the 18th James l. when the Kings feudal
rights were estimated at f200,00 annually,
which amounted to nearly one-half Of the
whole revenue, then computed at f450S63
IL evidently formed the main design of the Par
lament which framed tie petition Of right as
was in fact the principal, though not the only,
cause Of the rebellion, and tina reason why that
rebellion was supported by 10 many members Of
the aristoeracy.
In the reign Of Charles |, the feudal rights
of the Crown were strictly insisted on and
levied, and great dissatisfaction was cccasioned
by An attempt to revive the ancient laws OF
the forests A court was held almost every
year by the Earl Of Holland, as chief Justice
10 eyre; and as no prescription could be plead
ed against the Kings title the resumption of
lands, which had formed part Of the royal for
ests made great havoc with private property.
Oliver Cromwell levied the feudal dnes with
rigor, and thus provoked the secret hostility Of
the landowners During the nineteen years OF
the Commonwealth, fs3, 1871, 1873 were raised
by taxes, or, one year with another, GA, 3S5S50
which was nearly Eve times the amount raised
during the reign Of Charles and one halt
Of it was raised by various contributions from
the land.
We arrive at the Restoration of Charles Ill,
and the great event that occurred is conclusive
evidence that the feudal dues lay at the root
OF the rebellion, and show that from the date
of the psTIrIoN or RIGHT down to the Resto-
ration, one continued policy had been acted
upon by the territorial aristocracy or, ut least,
by its dominant members. II appears, from
the journals Of the House Of Commons, that
the original intention was 10 commute rather
than abolish the fendal revenues, substituting
for them . fixed annual assessment 10 the ma
ture Of rent cbarge-thus getting rid Of all
that was vexstious doubtful or subsidiary; and
an spportionment had actually been made on
several counties But the landowners gained
courage when they reflected that the exiled
King was nt their mercy, and demanded the
complete abolition Of the taxes paid, as the
condition on which they held their estates 1t
aca1xdssaalu s.,cxed - H.