o accept the smaller summes of such as out of
their loves doe offer the same."(239)

(M99)

On Sunday, the 26th March (1620), the king paid a State visit to St.
Paul's, attended by the mayor and aldermen and the members of the civic
companies in their best liveries.(240) The object of the visit, which had
given rise to much surmise--the Catholics believing that it was to hear a
sermon in favour of the proposed Spanish match, whilst the Protestants
hoped it was for the purpose of exhorting the people to contribute to the
fund that was being raised for the king of Bohemia--was to hasten the
subscriptions for rebuilding the cathedral church,(241) which for sixty
years had been in a more or less ruinous state, in spite of all efforts to
restore it. On this occasion the king was presented with a sum of 1,000
marks and Prince Charles with half that amount.(242)

(M100)

Towards the close of the year (1620) news reached England that a Spanish
army had entered Bohemia and driven Frederick out of the country after a
crushing defeat, and at last James was roused to action. A parliament was
summoned to meet in January (1621)(243) in order to vote supplies for war.
In the meantime he endeavoured to raise what he could by way of a
voluntary gift from the nobility and wealthier class of his subjects, to
whom circulars from the council were sent urging them to assist.(244)

(M101)

The council also applied (31 Oct.) to the city of London,(245) but more
than a month elapsed before a reply was sent,(246) and it was not until
the 14th December that the mayor issued his precept to the livery
companies to raise among themselves the several sums of money they had
been accustomed to pay on former occasions,(247) such sums being in
accordance with a corn assessment made in the mayoralty of Sir Thomas
Middleton (1613-14). Several of the companies, and notably the Merchant
Taylors (the largest contributors), objected to this mode of imposing
assessment upon them according to the corn rate as working an injustice.
The Court of Aldermen therefore agreed to again revise the corn rate.(248)
A dispute also arose as to the amounts to be paid by the Apothecaries and
the Grocers respectively, the former having recently severed themselves
from the latter and become incorporated as a separate company.(249) After
all said and done the companies could not be prevailed upon to contribute
more than L5,000, which sum was raised to 10,000 marks, or L6,66