truth in his statement as there was in attributing to the King the intention of becoming a Catholic. Men on either side, judging from what has occurred, attribute to the opposite party the intentions which are most offensive to themselves. On this the principle of parliamentary and military, or, which is much the same, of limited and absolute monarchy, once more came into conflict with one another in the King’s Privy Council. The latter obtained a complete ascendancy. The alliance between Scotland and a foreign power was thought to remove all doubts regarding its treatment; it was therefore to be attacked by sea and land at once, from the side both of England and Ireland, with all the strength which the Crown, unaided by Parliament, had remaining to it. The militia of the country had already been called out for that object. It was intended that part of the expense should be defrayed by the contributions of the Lords, which proved very considerable, and by those of the clergy[179]. Two days after the dissolution of Parliament the assembled Privy Council embraced the resolution of calling the High Sheriffs of eight counties, among which were Middlesex, Yorkshire and Essex, to account for having improperly neglected to collect the ship-money; they were to be dealt with straightway, without regard for their rank, and to be treated according to their deserts. A command was issued to the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk to punish with imprisonment [A.D. 1640.] all men of any position who had shown themselves contumacious during the levy and on the march of the troops. Fresh negotiations were begun with a view to obtaining a loan from Spain. It was also suggested that the silver lying in the Tower might be coined to more advantage than before. Strafford laid before the Council a memorial about the French practice of raising forced loans from the wealthy, and advised imitation of that practice. Can we be surprised if the opinion gained ground that the war against Scotland, which was not in itself necessary, was intended to serve as a means of introducing absolute monarchy on the French and Spanish model into England also. Without doubt men like Strafford, Laud, Cottington, and the King himself, thought of realising, despite of all opposition in England and Scotland, the ideal of a monarchy resting on a spiritual basis.