2L, A 1CT 20) , B B o
THE
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
WILLIAM LAUD, D.D
LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
BY
JOHN PARKER LAWSON, M.A.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR C. J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD,
AND WATERLOO-PLACE, PALL-MALL.
MDCCCXXIX.
1 LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. GILBERT,
ST. JOHN'S-BQUAUE.
PREFACE.
IN appearing for the first time in an avowed
manner before the Public, it is allowable to
indulge in a few introductory remarks. I
am well aware of the delicacy of the sub-
jects which I have attempted to discuss, and
I am also aware of the popular feeling which
exists respecting them. This, however, has
not deterred me from stating my own opi-
nions, which I am strongly disposed to main-
tain, because I believe them to be true ;
and they are to be ascribed neither to par-
ticular connexions, nor to the prejudices
of education, but to a candid conviction,
resulting from anxious and laborious re-
search.
It has often appeared to me a singular
circumstance, that in this prolific age of lite-
rature, no complete biographical history of
Archbishop Laud should have appeared.
When I reflected on the many celebrated
names which adorn our national literature,
A 2
iv PREFACE.
distinguished alike for their loyalty, their
talents, and their learning, I had anticipated
that a work such as the present would have
fallen into the hands of some writer, whose
reputation would, perhaps, have given addi-
tional authority to his opinions. When I
reflected, again, on the distinguished place
which such men as Archbishop Laud hold
in our national history, that they lived at
periods confessedly the most momentous
and interesting in the English annals, I could
not refrain from surprise that those who had
been the glory and the renown of their age,
both in Church and State, should thus be
neglected by modern writers.
ouit 9cl r v 'y ? ')Hof; I f>&JM"j xl
For myself, I can truly say, that a sincere
desire to search after truth, and a wish
to rescue the memory of a great man from
opprobrium, have been my chief motives
in this undertaking. Educated as I have
principally been at a Northern University,
having generally resided during that period,
(excepting the winter seasons, when I was
pursuing my academical studies,) in places
sequestered, and remote from business, and
the bustle of active life, I cannot be sup-
posed to have formed those connexions to
PREFACE. v
which many look forward with fond antici-
pation, to whom fortune has been more
propitious, and circumstances more favour-
able. I submit this work to the Public, there-
fore, trusting solely to their opinion as the
reward of my labours. Whatever may be
thought of the propositions I have advanced,
sure I am that they are offered in singleness
of heart, and in firm devotion to that Church,
to which I reckon it my privilege and my
happiness to belong.
The Memoirs of Archbishop Laud, writ-
ten by his chaplain, Dr. Peter Heylin, are
of great importance in a history of the Pri-
mate's life and times ; but this work, which
was published twice, first in 1668, and again
in 1671, (London, folio) is now a rare book, and
seldom to be found except in our public libra-
ries. Notwithstanding its value, it labours
under great disadvantages. Many of the facts
recorded therein are not correct ; which is
easily to be accounted for, as Dr. Heylin,
who died in 1662, had never seen the au-
thentic copy of Laud's Diary, [which was
published by the learned Henry Whar-
ton in 1695,] but was compelled to make
use of Prynne's disgraceful publication of it,
vi PREFACE.
entitled the Breviat, published in 1644, in
which that individual, after he had most
illegally and nefariously seized the Primate's
private papers, altered, mutilated, omitted,
and inserted whatever he pleased, in order
to inflame the public mind against the Arch-
bishop. Thus, the defects of Dr. Heylin's
work, although I have found it extremely
useful in the course of my labours, are the
results of circumstances over which that
learned man had no control: and I am certain
that, had he seen the authentic copy of the
Diary, his work would have been complete.
I have been greatly assisted by an article
contained in the eleventh and twelfth Num-
bers of the Scottish Episcopal Magazine, an
able periodical work, which is unfortunately
but little known, and now discontinued.
These Numbers contain a memoir of Arch-
bishop Laud, bare, indeed, in facts, from the
necessarily confined space of the medium
through which the account w r as given to the
world, but abounding with admirable and pro-
found observations. Its author, to whom I
am indebted, in common with others who ad-
here to a now depressed and humble Com-
munion, for many excellent and valuable
PREFACE. vii
instructions, is one of the most learned and
distinguished members of the Scottish Epis-
copal Church.
It may be necessary to mention some
other sources whence I have derived my
information. In the Library of the HO-
NOURABLE AND LEARNED THE FACULTY
OF ADVOCATES, at Edinburgh, I found much
important information. That noble Institu-
tion contains a vast collection of MSS. on
Scottish history, as well as on other sub-
jects, and I perused those which relate to
this work.
From the Library of the UNIVERSITY OF
EDINBURGH, I have received some valu-
able hints from various documents and
books.
The MSS. in the Library of the UNIVER-
SITY OF GLASGOW are of greater value.
There, among others, are preserved the
Wodrow MSS., the fruit of the labours of
the indefatigable Robert Wodrow, a Pres-
byterian minister at the period of the Revo-
lution, and Professor of Divinity in that
University. By the kindness of a friend, I
viii PREFACE.
received various important communications
on the affairs of Scotland from those MSS., to
which I have referred in the proper place.
But in the Library of our splendid na-
tional establishment, the BRITISH MUSEUM,
the historical inquirer may freely indulge his
favourite pursuits. Encomium on this Esta-
blishment is needless : in it, besides the
printed books, the valuable MSS. on every
subject are inexhaustible, and are submitted
to the perusal of the student with the utmost
promptness. Access to such a Library is an
invaluable privilege. Besides the MSS., and
the productions of the seventeenth century,
which I consulted, and to which I have re-
ferred, many of the Archbishop's original
letters are there preserved. I transcribed
the most interesting ; and I proposed to in-
sert a few of them, but my limits precluded
me from making use of these and other
documents in the present w^rk, farther than
by reference.
The principal papers of the Archbishop,
however, are to be found in ST. JOHN'S
COLLEGE, OXFORD. Some of these have al-
ready been published by the learned Henry
PREFACE. ix
Wharton, and in the Second Volume of
Archbishop Laud's Remains, edited by his
father, and published in folio, 1700. Those
preserved in St. John's College relate chiefly
to the University during his Chancellorship,
which have merely a local interest, and
would be serviceable only in a history of
that venerable seat of learning. To some of
these I have referred, in detailing the Arch-
bishop's proceedings at Oxford.
It is unnecessary to observe, that, after
all, the Diary of the Archbishop must be
the great text-book in a history of his
life. For this valuable work the world
is indebted to the learned Henry Wharton,
who too soon for his country closed his
short and useful life. This publication
has established the infamy of Prynne.
Printed with the- Archbishop's affecting
History of his Troubles and Trials, writ-
ten by himself while a prisoner, with other
interesting documents, it forms a valuable
folio volume. It is quite refreshing, after
perusing Prynne's disgraceful and muti-
lated edition of the Diary, and his " Can-
terburie's Doome," to turn to a work in
x PREFACE.
which reason and learning prevail, in con-
tradistinction to fanaticism and want of
judgment.
In the progress of the present work, be-
sides the MSS. preserved in the public
Libraries, I have consulted upwards of three
hundred works, exclusive of numerous bio-
graphies and general histories of recent date,
which I perused rather to ascertain the sen-
timents of the different writers, than in the
hope of discovering any new or unknown
facts. From the above number of works,
more than two hundred are cited in the
following volumes. As these are principally
our great standard authorities, this Life of
Archbishop Laud, the Notes to which I
consider its most important part, will supply
the historical student with a very ample list
of all the principal writers on the history of
that age.
I am desirous that it should be understood
that throughout these volumes I have dis-
cussed systems alone, not individuals ; the
former I hold to be fair subjects of discus-
sion, the latter not ; and it is in this light,
PREFACE. xi
therefore, that I wish my remarks to be
viewed as exclusively my own, and as nei-
ther maintained nor denied by the Church
to which I belong.
I am aware that many of the sentiments,
both political and ecclesiastical, contained
in this work, are neither common nor popu-
lar ; but it does not follow, that because a
doctrine is unpopular, it is therefore false.
That Archbishop Laud died a martyr for
the Church of England, no man can have the
slightest doubt. Persecution is detestable,
under whatever form, and by whomsoever
inflicted whether it proceed from Popish
Conclaves, Parliamentary Committees on
religion, Presbyterian Synods or General
Assemblies.
Much has been said and written on the
history of this momentous period, and much
difference of opinion exists on those eventful
times. I quote on this subject, with satisfac-
tion, the following passage from a well-known
periodical Journal :
" Did our limits permit, we would show
xii PREFACE.
ft
what has been well observed by a most dili-
gent and meritorious author*, intimately
conversant with the history of that age, and
better acquainted than any other person
with what were then the bearings and ef-
fects of religious opinions upon ecclesiastical
affairs, that the constitution, even at its
deepest depression in Charles' days, con-
tained within itself copious materials for
self-restoration, and that the course pursued
by the Calvinistic malcontents, was not that
which the laws suggested for the redress of
grievances. We would show that the griev-
ances which excited discontentment arose
from no scheme of tyranny in the crown,
but from the remains of feudal oppression,
and the rapacity of powerful men, among
whom were some of those who were most
active in instigating and directing the rebel-
lion; that the financial difficulties which
accelerated the crisis, and without which
that crisis could not have been brought
about, were not produced by any wasteful
expenditure on the part of Charles' govern-
* Mr. James Nichols, in his " Calvinism and Arminian-
ism compared."
PREFACE. xiii
ment, but by the conduct of Parliament at
the commencement of his reign, in with-
holding the just and necessary supplies ;
and, finally, by the Scottish insurrection,
raised by the intrigues of France, and of a
knot of factious men, who are at this day
called patriots by a certain party, because,
having succeeded in rebellion, they escaped
the punishment of treason ; that the intole-
rance and persecution were not on the side
of the Laws and the Establishment, but of
the Puritans ; that there was no design of
subverting the liberties of the nation, but
that there was a settled purpose of over-
throwing the Church and the Monarchy ;
that the King appealed to the laws, and his
opponents to the prejudices, the passions,
and the physical force of the people. It is
impossible for us here to enter upon this
wide subject, but we will not suppose that
the duty (for such it has become in this age of
systematic misrepresentation) will long remain
unperformed ; rather we will hope, that it
may be undertaken by some person qualified
for the task by ability, industry, and accu-
racy, added to those principles which were
formerly the proud characteristics of Eng-
land, and on which the strength and the
xi* PREFACE.
safety of these kingdoms are founded, and
alone can rest *."
I may here add, that such a work I have
determined to undertake ; not, certainly, in
the presumptuous hope that I shall be
able to supply the desideratum so forcibly
pointed out by the learned Reviewer, but
with a view to lay before the Public a plain
and authentic history of the enormities of
that turbulent age. Having enjoyed oppor-
tunities of obtaining much knowledge of the
authorities relating to that eventful period
of history, and having access to the prin-
cipal Libraries both of England and Scot-
land, it will be my endeavour to collate
these authorities with the utmost impar-
tiality, sparing neither time nor industry in
the laborious research. I have already
proceeded a considerable way in the first
volume : but various circumstances prevent
me from fixing the period of its completion.
I propose to commence from the death of
Henry VIII., and to continue the narrative
till the Revolution, or, perhaps, till the Ac-
cession of the House of Hanover.
* Quarterly Review, No. Ixxiii. Vol. xxxvii. p. 237,
238.
PREFACE. xr
In conclusion, I have only to observe,
that, should the present work meet with the
approbation of the Public, a third volume
will be added, containing the select Theo-
logical Works of Archbishop Laud, most of
which have never been republished since the
life-time of the Primate. This volume will
contain : 1. The Archbishop's Sermons,
preached on public occasions. 2. An Ab-
stract of his incomparable Treatise against
the Church of Rome, entitled, the Confer-
ence with Fisher the Jesuit. 3. His Manual
of Private Prayers and Devotions ; and,
4. His Speeches on various public occasions.
The whole will be accompanied with notes
and illustrations from rare and original do-
cuments now in my possession, or to which
I enjoy the privilege of access. Such a
republication will, I trust, prove a desirable
addition to modern theological literature.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
15731603.
PAGE
Birth of Laud His family connections Notices of them
Laud's education Sent to St. John's College, Oxford
Dr. John Buckeridge Notice of him Is Laud's tutor
Reputation of Laud His conduct at the University
Admitted into Holy Orders Bishop Young Principles
of Laud Calvinism, its nature and tendency Its un-
happy influence in the Church of England The Puri-
tans Conduct of Laud Remarks 1 43
CHAPTER IL
16031604.
Accession of James I. State of parties at that period
Religious feeling Conduct of James Remarks on his
life The Presbyterians Insolence of their ministers
The Scottish Episcopal Church Review of the Puritan
objections to Episcopacy The Hampton Court Confe-
rence Its objects and results Remarks on the Articles
Concluding observations 43 91
vot, i. b
xviii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
16041606.
PAGE
Promotion of Laud James' first Parliament His speech
Meeting of the Convocation Death of Archbishop
Whitgift Notices of his life His character Laud
becomes B.D. His exercise on that occasion Dispute
with the Puritans Cardinal Bellarmine Arguments of
Laud Remarks on his opinions Story of the Earl of
Devonshire Unfortunate conduct of Laud His re-
pentance Is traduced as a Papist Letter from Bishop
Hall Reflections on Laud's conduct '91126
CHAPTER IV.
16061616.
Archbishop Bancroft His prudent conduct Laud's pre-
ferments His generosity Bishop Neile Hatred of
Abbot towards Laud Friendship of Bishop Neile
Laud is chosen President of St. John's His election
disputed Decided in his favour by the King His con-
duct Death of Archbishop Bancroft His character-
Inconsistencies of the Puritans Their inveterate preju-
dices Danger and evil of sectarianism Promotion of
Archbishop Abbot His enthusiasm Encouragement
of the Puritans Effects of his Primacy His opposition
to Laud Laud's promotion Dr. Robert Abbot His
sermon against Laud Gloucester Cathedral Instruc-
tions of the King to the University of Oxford .... 126 1 65
CONTENTS. xix
CHAPTER V.
16161619.
PAGE
Remarks on the state of Scotland James resolves to visit
that kingdom Remarkable violence of the Presbyterian
ministers Proposal for a union between Scotland and
England defeated Consecration of the Scottish Bishops
at Westminster Departure of James His arrival in
Scotland Laud accompanies him The Scottish Par*
liament The Perth Articles General Assembly Ra-
tification of the Perth Articles Return of James to
England Laud arrives at Oxford Is inducted into the
Rectory of Ibstock Death of Dr. Robert Abbot,
Bishop of Salisbury 165184
CHAPTER VI.
16191622.
Political errors of James Clamours against Laud His
promotion Made Prebend of Westminster Selfish
conduct of Bishop Williams Promotion of Laud to the
See of St. David's Fruitless opposition of Archbishop
Abbot Aspect of the times Archbishop Abbot's mis-
fortunes He kills a game-keeper by accident History
of the affair He is pardoned by the King Consecra-
tion of the new Bishops Their unfounded scruples
Diligence of Laud His primary Visitation Advan-
tages of it His return to London The Parliament
Distressing situation of the King Vindication of James
The Parliament is dissolved Intrigues of the Puritans
Calvinism Remarks on Predestination Its effects
xx CONTENTS.
PAGE
Instructions of the King to the Clergy Critical situation
of the Church of England Intrigues of the Papists
The famous Conference between Laud and Fisher, the
Jesuit Extracts from the relation of it His senti-
ments on error 1 84 227
CHAPTER VII.
16221625.
Land's connexion with the Duke of Buckingham Notice
of that favourite The Prince of Wales Intended mar-
riage with the Infanta His journey to Spain with Buck-
ingham Their adventures False assertions of Laud's
enemies Zeal of Archbishop Abbot Insolence of the
Papists Cunning intrigues of Bishop Williams Enmity
to Laud Conduct of the Archbishop towards Laud
Instances of Laud's piety Meeting of the Parliament
Remarkable conduct of Abbot Opposition of Laud
to Buckingham Moderation of that nobleman Nego-
ciations with France Death of James I. His character
His conduct towards Scotland The Book of Sports
Defence of James His character by Archbishop
Spottis woode 227263
CHAPTER VIII.
16251626.
Accession of Charles I.- State of the nation Character of
the King the Duke of Buckingham Bishop Laud
Proceedings of the King Intrigues of Laud's enemies
Marriage of Charles I. Meeting of the first Parlia-
ment Its proceedings Remarks on it Dr. Richard
CONTENTS. xxi
PAGE
Montague Bishop Williams Proclamation of the King
Conduct of Archbishop Abbot Exertions of Laud
His appointment at the Coronation to officiate as
Dean of Westminster The Regalia He regulates
Westminster Abbey Coronation of Charles I. The
Coronation oath False charges against Laud The se-
cond Parliament Intended impeachment of Buckingham
he is vindicated by the King Conclusion of the se-
cond Parliament Practices against Laud Dr. Good-
man Proclamation of the King 263 32?
CHAPTER IX.
16261628.
Removal of Laud to the Bishopric of Bath and Wells
His appointment to manage the subsidies by loan Re-
marks on his instructions Apology for the King's con-
duct His hazardous situation Death of Bishop An-
drews Laud's appointment Bishop Williams His
conduct Comment on it Dr. Sibthorpe and Sir John
Lamb Sermons by Dr. Sibthorpe and Dr. Manwaring
Their fallacious positions Passive obedience Sen-
timents of the two preachers Remarks on the doctrine
of non-resistance Definition of it The opinions of the
Classic writers and the Primitive Christians Of mo-
dern writers Publication of the sermons Conduct of
Archbishop Abbot His sequestration Received again
into favour Public affairs Transactions of Bucking-
ham Promotion of Laud The Bishopric of London
Its importance Dr. Montaigne Death of Archbishop
Matthews of York The Third Parliament Impolitic
measures of the King Meeting of the Parliament
conduct of the Commons Their proceedings Speci-
xxii CONTENTS.
PAGE
mens of their injustice Their practices Arminianism
Subtle tenets of Calvin Remarks on Arminianism
Definition of it Observations on the Synod of Dort
Remonstrance of the Commons against Laud and Neile
Pretended Letter of a Jesuit Remarks on it Prac-
tices of the Jesuits Their union with the Puritans
Prorogation of the Parliament Laud removed to the
Bishopric of London General observations 327 -424
CHAPTER X.
16281629.
Insinuations against Laud His conduct Preparations for
the war with France The Duke of Buckingham as-
sumes the command He proceeds to Portsmouth Is
there assassinated Account of the murder Public ex-
pressions of detestation Character of Buckingham
Laud's conduct Consecration of Dr. Montague The
exceptions against it over-ruled; Examination of Pel-
ton, the Duke's murderer His trial and execution
The University of Oxford Laud's care and munificence
His patronage of learning The King's Declaration
Its nature and tendency Remarks on it The King's
inclination to a reconciliation Advancement of Sir Tho-
mas Wentworth The third Parliament Notice of the
speeches in it Censure of the King's Declaration
Intolerance of the Puritanical party Proceedings of
Laud Theological disputes Conduct of the Parlia-
ment Disorders in the Commons Their contempt of
the royal authority Uproar at their adjournment
Dissolution of the third Parliament Libels against
Laud.. .424481
CONTENTS. xxiii
CHAPTER XI.
16291631.
PAGE
The Court of Charles I. Character of the King The
Queen Laud The expediency of ecclesiastics inter-
fering with state affairs discussed Character of the
Marquis of Hamilton Notice of his life Character of
Sir Thomas Wentworth, Lord Wentworth Notice of his
life Consequence of Abbot's Primacy The Lecturers
Their practices Cognizance taken of them by the
court Instructions concerning them Preaching Its
nature and uses Popular errors on it Conduct of
Archbishop Abbot Proceedings of Laud Specimens
of the devotions of the Lecturers Prosecutions against
them for sedition Death of the Earl of Pembroke,
Chancellor of Oxford Election of Laud as Chancellor
of that University His munificence and patronage of
literature Birth of Charles II. Laud officiates at the
baptism Revival of the Predestinarian Controversy
Dr. Davenant, Bishop of Salisbury Libels against Laud
Story of Dr. Alexander Leighton His book termed
" Zion's Plea" His degradation and punishment
Defence of Laud Examination of the Star-Chamber
proceedings The consecration of the Church of St. Ca-
therine Cree The nature of religious ceremonies
The Papists and Puritans Remarks on Laud's con-
duct Farther instances of his munificence 481 549
CHAPTER XII.
16311633.
The Impropriations Conduct of Laud Dr. Peter Hey-
lin's Sermon at St. Mary's, Oxford Laud restrains the
2
xxiv CONTENTS.
PAGE
Impropriations His proceedings at Oxford He en-
larges St. John's College Promotes the repairs of St.
Paul's Cathedral Clamours of the Puritans His go-
vernment of the University Enforces the" statutes
Remarkable enthusiasm of a graduate Combination of
the Puritan faction at Oxford Cognizance of three of
the leaders Their punishments Impartiality of Laud
New revival of the Predestinarian controversy Arch-
bishop Usher of Ireland Calumnies against Laud
Lord Wentworth proceeds to Ireland Ecclesiastical af-
fairs Prosecution of the King's printers Henry Sher-
field William Prynne Notice of him and his writings
His seditious libels His imprisonment Proceedings
relative to Chaplains and foreign service The English
congregation at Hamburgh Salutary regulations by
Laud General remarks *.. 549592
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
WILLIAM LAUD, D.D.
CHAPTER I.
15731603.
Birth of Laud His family connections Notices of them
Laud's education Sent to St. John's College, Oxford Dr.
John Buckeridge Notice of him Is Laud's tutor Reputa-
tion of Laud His conduct at the University Admitted into
Holy Orders BishopYoung Principles of Laud Calvinism,
its nature and tendency Its unhappy influence in the Church
of England The Puritans Conduct of Laud Remarks.
WILLIAM LAUD was born on the 7th day of October,
1573 \ in the parish of St. Lawrence, Reading, a
town of considerable importance in Berkshire, plea-
santly situated on the river Kennet, and famous
for its magnificent abbey, now in ruins, founded by
Henry I. in 1126, and dedicated to St. James the
Apostle 2 . He was the only son of William Laud,
1 Wood, Athen. edit. 1721, vol. ii. col. 55. Laud's Diary,
p. 1. fol. edit. 1695.
3 Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. i. folio, edit. 1682,
p. 417. Lansdowne MSS. 721. " Abstract of the Lives of
John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York,
and of William Laud, Bishop of London, and Archbishop of
VOL. I. B
2 LIFE AND TIMES [1573.
by profession a clothier, and Lucy Webb, sister to
Sir William Webb of the same county, of an ancient
and respectable family, who filled the office of Lord
Mayor of London in 1591 *. His mother had been
once married, previous to her marriage with his
father : but of her first husband we know nothing,
save his name and occupation. He was John Ro-
binson, an eminent clothier and merchant in Read-
ing, by whom she had several sons and daughters,
all of them respectably connected in after life.
A younger son entered into holy orders, and was
Prebendary of Westminster and Archdeacon of
Nottingham, and two of the daughters were mar-
ried to clergymen of considerable reputation in the
Church 2 .
Though the man who was in future to rise to
Canterbury, written by Bishop Racket and Dr. Heylin, who
had been their Chaplains." It is there stated, " 1573, William
Laud was born at Reading, in Berkshire, his father a rich
clothier, and his mother (widow to one Robinson, a clothier, by
whom she had children) a sister to Sir William Webb, Lord
Mayor of London in 1591. So he was not born of poor and
obscure parents, efaece plebis, as many said." Sir William
Webb, it appears, was a salter. Fuller's Church History, book
xi. p. 246.
1 Laud's maternal relatives were natives of Reading. His
mother was a daughter of John Webb, of whom we know nothing.
John Webb was father of Sir William Webb. Wood. Athen.
Oxon. by Dr. Bliss, vol. iii. col. 117. Fuller's English Wor-
thies, folio, edit. 1662, p. 98.
2 Dr. Cotsford and Dr. Layfield. Cyprianus Anglicus, or
Life of Archbishop Laud, by his chaplain, Dr. Peter Heylin, fol.
1671, p. 42.
7
1573.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 3
the highest ecclesiastical station in the Church,
and to be alike distinguished for his munificence,
his learning, and his genius, could not boast of
noble birth or splendid alliance, yet his parents,
while engaged in trade, were respectable in their
station, and possessed of considerable wealth 1 . His
father was most extensively engaged in manufac-
tures, and we are informed that he kept " not only
many looms in his house, but many weavers, spin-
ners, and fullers ; living in good esteem and repu-
tation among his neighbours to the very last 2 ." ,Of
Laud's plebeian birth, however, his enemies after-
wards took advantage, with that illiberality which
is characteristic of little minds. When his actions
were exhibited to his disadvantage by those whose
extravagant pretensions he restrained, it was not
1 I may here notice the puerile and false assertions of the Pu-
ritans. Neal (History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 156.) says,
that " he was educated at St. John's College, Oxford, upon the
charitable donation of Mr. White, Founder of Merchant Tailors'
School." There is here a contemptuous way of talking of Sir
T. White's scholarships, which marks the disposition of the
party : besides, Laud was one year at College on his own ex-
pences, before he received the scholarship, an appointment so
honourable to his promising talents. That violent fanatic,
Prynne, also tells us, that he was born of " poor and obscure
parents in a cottage," and in July, 1589, " he came a poor
scholar to Oxford." Such were the low and scurrilous false-
hoods retailed by the Puritans. Prynne's Breviat of the Life of
Laud, folio, London, 1644, p. 1.
2 Heylin, ut sup. p. 42. Laud's father died on the llth of
April, 1594, and his mother on the 24th of November, 1600.
Diary, folio, ut sup. p. 1,2. Lansdowne MSS. 721.
B2
4 LIFE AND TIMES [1573.
forgotten, that he who was then primate of all
England was comparatively of humble origin ; nor
were those furious zealots satisfied with stating that
he was the son of a respectable and wealthy trades-
man, and abiding by the naked truth, but falsehoods
were busily circulated, and his enemies, delineating
his character to their liking, broadly asserted that he
was sprung from the very dregs of the people 1 .
1 E faece plebis. Lord Brook, referred to by Heylin, who
falsely asserted this not only of Laud, but of all the other Bi-
shops. Republicanism, however, had then wrought its ferment,
and the sectaries were rapidly advancing in their career of ex-
travagance, rebellion, and blood. Lord Brook, however, ought
to have been sparing of this insinuation on his part, inasmuch as
he succeeded to the estate and honour in a very remote degree,
his father, though a kinsman, being only keeper of Sir Fulk
Greville's park. The son afterwards succeeded to the estate, Sir
Fulk Greville having never been married. (Vide Peerage of Eng-
land, London edit. 8vo. 1710, p. 67, 68.) Dr. Heylin, who was
the chaplain and confidential friend of Laud, introduces an anec-
dote of the Archbishop on this subject. He says that he once
found him in his garden at Lambeth walking to and fro in re-
markable agitation, and though he did not, through delicacy, in-
quire the reason, the primate shewed him a paper, on which was
printed a vile libel, which he had stopped at the press, repre-
senting him with " so base a parentage, as if he had been raked
out of the dung-hill." He at the same time said, that " though
he had not had the good fortune to be born a gentleman, yet
he thanked God he had been born of honest parents, who lived
in a plentiful condition, employed many poor people in their
way, and left a good report behind them." As if ashamed,
however, to have been impressed with those falsehoods which
his sectarian enemies daily invented and retailed, and reflecting
with satisfaction on the worth and respectability of his pa-
rents, his countenance resumed its wonted composure. " And
1573.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 5
They chose to forget, that, even had it been the
case, the more worthy was he of that eminence to
which he had attained, since the man who could
exalt himself solely by his genius and merit, was
to be held in much greater reverence than he who,
boasting of his noble lineage, had no other recom-
mendation. They forgot that it is a remarkable
feature of that country, about whose liberty they
clamoured so violently, that the highest offices are
open to every Briton, and that he whose genius has
secured for him a well-earned reputation, is every
way as noble when he is exalted, as the offspring of
fortune and ancestral fame. But, without enlarging
on these inconsistences, I may here remark, that
the coincidence between Laud's situation, and that
of some of his predecessors in the Church, as well
as of some of those who were his ecclesiastical
contemporaries, is very remarkable. I need not
go to the Church of Rome for examples, though
abundant proofs could be adduced from its his-
tory, that the best and the most celebrated of the
Popes and dignitaries were men of humble origin,
thereupon," says Heylin, " I told him as presently as I durst,
that Pope Sixtus V. as stout a Pope as ever wore the triple
crown, but a poor man's son, did use familiarly to say, in con-
tempt of such libels as frequently were made against him,
that he was domo natus illustri, because the sun-beams passing
through the broken walls and ragged roof, illuminated or illus-
trated every corner of that homely cottage in which he was
born : with which facetiousness of that Pope, so applicable to
the present occasion, he seemed very well pleased." Heylin,
ut sup. p. 43, 44.
6 LIFE AND TIMES [1573.
nay, some of them of menial extraction. In our
own country, especially in the Church, before the
Reformation, there are two notable examples, and
the impartial pen of history will yet, perhaps, do
justice to Thomas a Beckett, as it has done, it is
pleasing to know, to the memory of Cardinal
Wolsey. An Erasmus and a Luther on the con-
tinent owed nothing to birth or grandeur, nor yet
did Abbott, Laud's predecessor in the See of Can-
terbury, who was nevertheless saved from such
reproaches because he favoured the absurdities
of the Puritans. It is needless, indeed, to enu-
merate those prior to the days of Laud, both
ecclesiastics and laymen, who rose superior to. the
depressing influence of poverty, and whose minds,
cast in other than plebeian mould, enabled them to
surmount the difficulties opposed to them by hum-
ble birth and adverse fortune. Nor yet need I stop
to animadvert on that most certain mark of a
pusillanimous mind, which repines at the uncon-
trolable allotment of Providence, forgetting that
heaven is impartial in its dispensations, and that all
are equal in the eyes of Omnipotence, who " giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." And
who, after all, were those who thus dealt in slander
and falsehood ? It was too base, indeed, and too
ignoble for the man of illustrious descent, who,
animated with noble and virtuous principles, dis-
dains the weak retort, and rather looks on him
thus elevated to his own rank as a brother ; nor
were the nobles of that age, proud and haughty as
1573.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 7
they were, actuated by such weakness : but those
very persons who themselves were Jiumili nati,
who inherited the low and grovelling associations
of their birth, who nevertheless felt their humilia-
tion before Laud's vigorous mind, and who, because
their fanaticism and absurdities had been restrained,
endeavoured to excite among the people their das-
tardly and ignoble spirit of revenge 1 .
During his infancy, Laud was subject to illness,
to such a degree that he was not expected to live 2 .
1 A scandalous libel upon Laud appeared in a production
entitled the Scots Scouts Discoveries, London, 1642. (Bishop
Kennet, apud Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. iii. col. 117, note.) " His
father was a clothier, his mother a spinster ; he was from his
cradle ordained to be a puiiisher of poor people, for he was born
between the stocks and the cage, which a courtier one day
chanced to speak of, whereupon his grace removed them thence,
and pulled down his father's thatched house, and built a fair one
in the place." But let us state the truth. The Puritan writer
endeavours to insinuate, that Laud was ashamed of his birth, and
that he built a house, in order to obliterate the recollection of the
one in which he was born. The " fair house," therefore, which
" his grace" built, w r as, as the Puritan writer knew well, an
alms-house, which he endowed with two hundred pounds per
annum. So much for Puritan veracity. I find, moreover, that
in a small black letter tract, printed in quarto, 1641, which
contains an account of Laud, although it is written by no pro-
fessed friend, there is no notice taken of his connections, or any
insinuations made on his birth. At all events, it is despicable in
a modern writer to repeat this slander. Many of our present
noble families were in the days of Laud ignoble. See Diary, and
Fuller, book xi. p. 216, also the Topographical and Historical
Account of Berkshire.
3 Diary, p. 1. " In my infancy," says Laud, " I was in
danger of death by sickness, &c,"
8 LIFE AND TIMES [1589.
Having recovered, he received the rudiments of his
education at the free-school of his native town, at
which he continued till he was sixteen years of age.
It is recorded, that, while he was at school, he gave
so many indications of his future eminence, that
his master frequently said to him, that he hoped
he would remember Reading School when he be-
came a great man l . Little, however, is known
of his juvenile years. In the month of July, 1589,
he was sent to the University of Oxford, when only
sixteen years of age, and was admitted a com-
moner of St. John's College, at that time under the
superintendence of John Buckeridge, afterwards its
President, and successively Bishop of Rochester
and Ely. This distinguished prelate was born
at Draycot, near Marlborough, in Wiltshire, and
was the son of William Buckeridge, and Elizabeth,
daughter of a gentleman named Keblewhyte, of
Baseldon, and cousin to Sir Thomas White, founder
of St. John's College, Oxford. He was educated
at Merchant Taylors School, and in 1578 became
scholar of St. John's, Oxford, and shortly after-
wards Fellow of that society 2 . It was, perhaps,
among the most fortunate events of Laud's early
1 Lloyd's Memoires, folio, London, 1668, p. 225. "After
a wonderful preservation in his infancy from a very sore fit of
sickness, and a happy education in his childhood under a very
severe schoolmaster, who, from his strange dreams, witty
speeches, generous spirit, great apprehensions, and notable per-
formances, promised him the greatness which he afterwards
enjoyed."
2 Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. ii. col. 507.
1589.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 9
life, that he was under the direction of this eminent
man. Buckeridge was distinguished for his zeal-
ous attachment to the Church of England, parti-
cularly in opposition to the Puritans, who, notwith-
standing the dislike entertained towards them by
Queen Elizabeth, and the severity which she felt it
necessary to exercise, had already broached that
wild enthusiasm which was destined to break out
with violence in the succeeding century. Laud
was not unmindful of his venerable and learned
preceptor in the days of his elevation, and Bishop
Buckeridge has left behind him most honourable
memorials of his zeal for apostolical and primitive
truth '.
1 Godwin, Catal. Episc. p. 534. " Et tarn scribendo, quam
concionando veritatem Evangelicam haud segniter satagit pro-
pugnare." Of this worthy prelate it may also be proper to ob-
serve, that he was one of the most zealous defenders of the Pro-
testant doctrines of the Church of England, in opposition to the
dogmas of Ijiome. " A person he was," says Antony Wood, " of
great gravity and learning, and one that knew as well as any other
person of his time, how to employ the two-edged sword of the
holy Scripture, of which he made good proof in the times suc-
ceeding, brandishing it on the one side against the Papists, and
on the other against the Puritans and Non-conformists." And
Dr. F. Godwin (Comment, de Praesulibus Angllce) says, that
he endeavoured most industriously to defend and propagate the
true religion, by law established, as appears from his famous
work, De Potestate Papce in Rebus temf.oralibus, sive in Regi-
bus deponendis usurpata, adversus Robertum Cardinalem Bellar-
minum. This elaborate work, which is a large quarto volume,
was published in London, 1614. In his celebrated sermon
preached at Whitehall, March 22, 1617, " touching prostration
and kneeling in the worship of God," from Psalm xcv. 6, and
10 LIFE AND TIMES [1590.
Under the superintendence of this excellent man,
young Laud pursued his studies with the most in-
defatigable activity and success. After residing
one year at St. John's College as commoner, in the
month of June, 1590, he was chosen scholar of
Ij.SiMi ixJn dsifiw ". ''':'> rrv? ;''.)
in his " Discourse concerning Kneeling at the Communion," he
completely vanquished the Scotch Presbyterians, four of whom
had been honoured with an audience at Hampton Court, when
he preached a sermon from Romans xiii. 5, on September 23,
1606. On that occasion the two Melvilles were present, famous
for their turbulence, and fiery zeal for Calvinism. He published
three other sermons, a funeral one on Heb. iv. 7. the
second, on the sixteenth verse of the same chapter, and the third
on Heb. iv. 7. (1618.) The second sermon, which is a truly
admirable one, is to be found at the end of Bishop Andrews'
Sermons, folio, London, edit. 1661. This prelate was a bene-
factor to St. John Baptist's College, Oxford, where his picture,
says Kennet, (anno 1717) is now preserved on the south wall of
the common hall. " Dr. J. Buckeridge, episcop. Eliensis altaris
suae capellae vestimenta Phrygii operis pulvinaria, pallium,
calicem, &c. collegio-legavit, ann. 1631. Hie episcopus dona-
vit 500 Ib. terris quibusdam redimendis quarum proventus omni-
bus et singulis turn sociis turn scholaribus ex sequa divideren-
tur, ann. 1631." Two extracts from letters written by the
unfortunate Earl of Essex (to whom Bishop Buckeridge was
chaplain) to the Lord Keeper Puckering ; the one dated 1 7th
Feb. 1594, and the other 12th Jan. 1595, will be found in
Strype's Annals, vol. iv. p. 245, 246. and in Wood, vol. ii. col.
509, 510. The exact date of Bishop Buckeridge's death is not
known, save that he was buried in the parish church of Brom-
ley, in Kent, the manor of which belongs to the see of Roches-
ter, on the 31st of May, 1631. Wood, ut supra; Strype's
Annals, vol. iv. ; also Fuller's Church History, cent. xvii.
London edit, folio, 1655. " By the temper of the tutor we
may see that of the scholar." Lansdowne MSS. 721.
1593.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 11
that society l . We are informed, by Dr. Heylin 2 ,
that he was held in so great estimation in his own
native town, " partly by his own proficiency, and
partly by the good esteem which was had of his
father/' that he was nominated, by the mayor and
others, a scholar of St. John's, " according to the
constitutions of Sir Thomas White, the honourable
and sole founder of it ;" for, though that munificent
patron of letters had originally intended Merchant
Taylors School in London as the chief place
whence his scholarships should be supplied, yet he
was a man of too liberal a mind to make his muni-
ficence comparatively so exclusive, and therefore he
instituted seven fellowships unconnected with that
establishment, assigning two to Coventry, two to
Bristol, two to Reading, and one to Tunbridge. In
1593, Laud was admitted Fellow of St. John's, and
in June, 1594, he took the degree of Bachelor of
Arts 3 . In the years 1596-7, he himself informs us,
that he was overtaken by a severe illness 4 . After
his recovery, he proceeded Master of Arts, which
degree he received in July 1598, when he became
grammar reader, but relapsed into sickness towards
the end of the same year 5 .
1 Laud's Diary, p. 1. Lansdowne MSS. ut sup.
2 Life of Laud, ut sup. p. 45.
3 Diary, ut sup.
4 Anno 1596, " I had a great sickness/' and another, 1597,
Diary, ut sup.
5 Diary, ut sup. Wood, however, asserts, (Fasti, vol. i. col.
144,) that he became B.A. July 1, 1594, and M.A. June 26,
1598. That industrious writer has confounded the months.
12 LIFE AND TIMES [1598.
Respecting Laud's general conduct while at the
University, we are informed by Wood \ that he
was " at that time esteemed by all that knew him,
(being little in stature) a very forward, confident,
and zealous person." It is not at all improbable,
that he felt much of that rashness and buoyancy
natural to youth, which would be more particularly
liable to excitement on account of the influence of the
Puritan faction in the University, whose enthusiasm
it was impossible not to despise. But it does not
follow, though his enemies, who eagerly caught at
every thing- to suit their purpose, endeavoured after-
wards to make it appear, since he was uniformly the
same man from his birth to his death, that he gave
any extraordinary signs of haughty demeanour.
It is to be remarked, that the testimony now be-
fore us is on the authority of the Puritans, and of
those violent supralapsarians whom he afterwards
so successfully opposed ; who themselves were not
too scrupulous in veracity, either in public or pri-
vate, as is notorious to every one who knows any
thing of the crafty and designing methods which
they adopted to accomplish their own ends 2 ; and it
will be much more apparent to him who impartially
peruses the volumes of Neal, the Puritan histo-
rian 3 , or any of those contradictions repeated by
Messrs. Bogue and Bennet, in their History of
Dissenters. Nevertheless, it may have so happened
'Wood, vol. iii. col. 117. 122.
2 For example, in the affair about the famous Lambeth Articles;
3 Neal's History of the Puritans, vols. ii, and iii. ch. 5.
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 13
that Laud did conduct himself haughtily (at least
reservedly) towards the Puritan faction in the Uni-
versity,, nor am I at all inclined to exhibit him as
destitute of any of the failings of humanity, or su-
perior to the sallies of youth, before his mind was
matured by experience and reflection. But it is un-
fair to allow sectarian prejudice so completely to ob-
scure common sense, as to seize on the slightest
peculiarities of youth, and fasten them on the actions
of maturer years, as indications of what some men
choose to call tyranny, and others popery. And
thus much must be said of Laud, while only a pri-
vate member of the University, that he then laid the
foundation of his future eminence ; that he was held
in no small estimation ; and that the fame which he
acquired in all his public appearances is honourable
to his genius, his industry, and his learning.
On the fourth of January, 1600, he was admitted
into deacon's orders, by Dr. Young, Bishop of
Rochester, and, on the 5th of April, 1601, he was
ordained a priest by the same prelate 1 . We are
informed that this prelate, " finding his study
raised above the systems and opinions of the age,
upon the noble foundation of the fathers, councils,
and the ecclesiastical historians, early presaged,
that, if he lived, he would be an instrument of
restoring the church from the narrow and private
principles of modern times, to the more enlarged,
Diary, p. 2. Lloyd's Memoires, p. 225. Heylin's Life
of Laud, p. 45. Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol. iii. col. 117, 118.
et seq.
14 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
liberal, and public sentiments of the apostolic and
primitive ages 1 ." Nor was Bishop Young mistaken
in his judgment, though he well knew that it would
be a task of no small difficulty, a task, indeed,
not likely to be accomplished without bloodshed.
For, after the English Reformation of religion,
notions had been entertained by many persons in
the Church, not only subversive of its constitution,
but highly detrimental to the safety and well-being
of the state. The discipline of Geneva, and the
doctrine of expediency, as laid down by John Calvin,
who has the merit, if merit it be, of contriving and
introducing a new system of ecclesiastical polity,
and who, moreover, has the still more questionable
merit of discovering in the sacred Scriptures cer-
tain doctrines which exhibit the Deity not in the
most favourable light, as he himself was forced to
confess, when with grief he admits it to be an hor-
ribile decretum: this discipline had led many
astray from the maxims of primitive truth and
order, and the notions of expediency as to the
Church and its visibility, had engendered a la-
mentable callousness towards that very Church of
which they all professed to be sincere members.
Forgetting that the Church of Christ is one and
undivided, forgetting that the Saviour himself
declared, " my kingdom is not of this world," and
forgetting, too, that this union is not solely a spi-
ritual union, composed at the same time of outward
J Lloyd's Memoires, &c. p. 225, 226.
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 15
heterogeneous masses, but is, in truth, both a spiri-
tual and a temporal union, no limits were assigned
to the extravagances of fancy, and no safeguard
adopted for the preservation of that Church, the
doctrines of which Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer,
had sealed with their blood. But the axiom
which Laud subsequently assumed, though doubt-
less sneered at by Dissenters, is strictly true,
that the Church must be guarded both against
Rome and Geneva that a Church founded on the
Apostles, and not on Christ, is the Roman and the
Genevan rock but that the Church must have a
more solid basis, or it has no foundation at all ;
and that, though it must be built on the founda-
tion of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself must be the chief corner-stone. There were,
therefore, only two positions, either that the Church
must be a regularly organized body, which, though
a voluntary association, acknowledges Christ for
its head, or it must not ; there must either be
systems of authority and regulation, or there must
be anarchy and confusion ; it must, in short,
either be like a well-governed and well- organised
kingdom, to which it is compared in the Holy
Scriptures *, or it must be so ill-regulated, as that
all its members may literally do that which is right
1 1 Cor. i. 10. Ephes. iii. 4. 7. 14. v. 2330. 1 Tim. vi. 34.
Heb. xii. 22. Matt. xvi. 18, 19. Col. i. 18. Rom. xiii. 1. xv. 6.
xvi. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 13. 1 John xvii. 17. 1 Cor. xii. 13. 27. Gal.
iii. 28. 1 Tim. iv. 6. vi. 4. 20, 21. 2 Tim. i. 13. Phil. i. 27.
2 Cor. xiii. 11. Jude 19.
16 LIFE AND TIMES [1G01.
in their own eyes. The former, then,, was the
position of the well-wishers of the Church of Eng-
land, the latter that of those who were preparing
the way for its overthrow : the former was advo-
cated by those who defended order and primitive
truth, the latter by those who were on the point of
holding out the right hand of fellowship to novelty
and fanaticism. Laud hesitated not for a moment
to decide ; and his memory does truly deserve well
of the Church of England, since he so early avowed
himself the bold defender of its constitutions.
Nor was it long before Laud had an opportunity
of displaying his sentiments. Upon this subject,
however, it is necessary to go a little into detail,
more especially as it will serve to explain the oppo-
sition which he encountered. During the Marian
persecution, as it is termed, Laurence Humphries,
Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, having been
deprived of his fellowship for his attachment to the
Reformation, retreated to the city of Zurich, in
Switzerland, then famous as the birth-place and re-
sidence of Zuinglius. Associating with that Re-
former, and maintaining a constant correspondence
with Calvin and his friends at Geneva, he became
so much attached to the Calvinistic tenets, that, on
his return to England after the death of Mary, he
studied to promote them with all his influence.
" The best that could be said of him," says Dr.
Heylin 1 , "by one who commonly speaks well of
:...: I* ? ,'fll ' .' -O.v %' mVf ^J ''{ / . 'I. .2V.
1 Life of Laud, p. 46.
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 17
all that party, is, that he was a moderate and con-
scientious nonconformist 1 !' As he was a man of
very great learning 2 , on his return from his exile
he was presented by Queen Elizabeth to the Pre-
sidency of Magdalen College, and was also ap-
pointed Professor of Theology, and Vice-chancellor
of the University. The duties of this office he dis-
charged till 1596, about which time it is supposed
he died 3 . With these advantages, his influence was
great in the University, nor was he idle in dissemi-
nating the tenets which he had imbibed while in
exile. Hence, through the influence of Dr. Hum-
phries, Magdalen College became a nursery of
non-conformity, and those students were only no-
ticed who were zealous supporters of the dogmas of
Calvin. It would appear that he coincided with
some of that school who positively deny that
Papists are Christians, or that there can be any
1 Fuller's Church History, lib. ix. p. 234.
2 " He was master," says Heylin, " of a pure Latin style."
Heylin, ut sup.
3 The year of this learned man's death, however, is uncer-
tain. Fuller, in his Church History of Britain, (lib. ix. p. 233,
234. London, folio, 1655.) says, " Here I am at a loss for the
death of Laurence Humphries, but confident I hit the but,
though miss the mark, at about this time, (1596). He was a
conscientious and moderate Nonconformist, (condemned for
lukewarm by such as were scalding hot) Dean of Winchester,
and Master of Magdalene College in Oxford, to which he be-
queathed a considerable sum of gold, left in a chest, not to be
opened unless some great necessity urged it thereto."
VOL. I. C
18 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
good in their corrupt and degenerate Church 1 . For
his anti-popish zeal he was jocularly surnamed
Papisto-Mastix.
Dr. Humphries was succeeded by Dr. John Hol-
land, Ptector of Exeter College, who, though a man
of much greater moderation, was strongly inclined
to the tenets of the Puritans. But, zealous as Dr.
Humphries had been against every thing, whether
good or bad, which was observed in the Church of
Rome, it would appear that he found an active
assistant in the Lady Margaret Professor of Divi-
nity 2 . Yet even he was thought to be deficient in
zeal ; and accordingly, Sir Francis Walsingham, the
principal Secretary of State, who favoured the Non-
conformists, founded a new theological lecture in
the University 3 . The reader of this lecture was re-
quired to make short annotations on the holy Scrip-
tures, in order that the students might be induced
to pursue their researches 4 . Whitgift was then
primate, whose character for mildness, firmness,
and moderation, is most conspicuous in those
troublous times. By his judicious conduct he had
1 Heylin, p. 46. " He did not only stock his college with
such a generation of Non-conformists, as could not be wormed
out in many years after his decease, but sowed in the divinity
schools such seeds of Calvinism, and laboured to create in the
younger students such a strong hate against the Papists, as if
nothing but divine truth were to be found in the one, and no-
thing but abominations in the other."
2 Heylin'sLife of Laud, p. 46.
3 Heylin, ut sup. Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 597.
4 Collier, ut sup.
7
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 19
brought over many Roman Catholics to the Church
of England ; but he was completely unsuccessful in
his attempts to restrain the enthusiasm of the Puri-
tans 1 . Before his promotion, he had engaged in
dispute with the celebrated Puritan leader, Thomas
Cart wright of Cambridge, and had written an an-
swer to the Admonition of that zealot ; to which
Cartwright wrote a reply. Whitgift rejoined in
the following year, (1571), in a work entitled, " A
Defence of the Answer." " To which," observes
Collier, " Cartwright offered nothing, but retired
from the field, and left the enemy possessed of all
the entire marks of victory 2 ." Walsingham, who
had already signalised himself by his opposition to
the subscription of three articles, which had been
enacted " for the better increase of learning in the
inferior ministers, and for the more diligent preach-
ing and catechizing 3 ," and which are in themselves
truly admirable, as he was a resolute friend to the
Puritans, and had, besides, engaged in other dis-
putes, in which he always advocated the cause of
his dissenting friends, instituted this lecture not so
much out of a pure desire to foster and encourage
learning, as to make it subservient to the schemes
of the Puritans, and to irritate and insult the fallen
Roman Catholics *. And that this might be the more
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 684.
2 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 537.
3 Register, Whitgift, Part I. fol. 97. 131. 162.
Strype's Annals of Queen Elizabeth, vol. ii. ; also Lives of
Archbishops Parker and Whitgift. Collier, Eccles. Hist. vol. ii.
c 2
20 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
effectually promoted, the celebrated Dr. John Rey-
nolds, President of Corpus Christi College, who
afterwards distinguished himself in the dispute held
at Hampton Court, before King James, in 1603-4,
was appointed to the lectureship. Reynolds, though
now a violent enemy to Popery, and to the hierarchy
in general, had been in his youth on the continent,
and, during his residence there was devoted in his
attachment to Popery ; but having been drawn over
to the Church of England by his brother, who himself
recanted l , he fell into the other extreme, and resolved
rlfr 1 ) I . ' '' ' ' ' - -
p. 597. Wood, Hist, and Antiq. Oxon. Heylin, ut sup. The last
writer says, that Walsingham was " a man of great abilities in
the schools of policy, an extreme hater of the Popes and
Church of Rome, and no less favourable unto those of the Pu-
ritan faction." It would appear that the lecture was well at-
tended by the younger students ; but its object was censured
by many, and even by some of the moderate Puritans, who, sus-
pecting Walsingham's motives, " ventured to say, that the pre-
tence of propagating truth, was only a colour to convey Wal-
singham's sacrilege out of sight. For this gentleman, it seems,
during the vacancy of the see of Oxford, had lopped the reve-
nues." Collier, ut sup.
1 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 47. Dr. Reynolds'
brother, William Reynolds, had been as resolute a Protestant as
he was a Papist. A mutual disputation took place between them
on the articles of their faith, which ended in the Papist turning
Protestant, and the Protestant to the Church of Rome, in which
he died. " This singular occurrence," says Fuller, " gave the
occasion to an excellent copy of verses, concluding with this
distich :
" Quod genus hoc pugnae est? ubi victus gaudet uterque?
Et simul alteruter se superdsse dolet."
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 21
to exalt himself among the Puritan enthusiasts.
He was, accordingly, high in favour with Sir Fran-
cis Walsingham, who consulted him on every occa-
sion, and also with the Earl of Leicester, Chancellor
of the University, who, from political motives, was
sometimes inclined to co-operate with the malcon-
tents l . Reynolds was a man of great learning, and
extensive reading, and he was no less remarkable
for his prodigious memory 2 . His private character,
too, was most exemplary and pious, and he appears
to have been very solicitous about the soundness of
the doctrines which he taught 3 .
1 " Divinity," says Collier, " had now a new face at Oxford,
and the first reformation was reformed away in great measure ;"
ut sup.
2 Heylin, ut sup. ; Fuller, ut sup. p. 48 ; Wood, Athen. Oxon. ;
Neal's History of the Puritans.
3 There seem to be different opinions concerning Dr. Rey-
nolds. Collier says, " As for Dr. Reynolds, he made it his busi-
ness to read against the hierarchy, and to weaken the authority
of bishops." Fuller, on the other hand, asserts, that he, of all
the Puritans, was most conformable in his practice to the Church
of England. " His disaffection," says he, " to the discipline
established in England, was not so great as some bishops did
suspect, or as some Nonconformists did believe. No doubt he
desired the abolishing of some ceremonies, for the care of the
conscience of others, to which in his own practice he did willingly
submit, constantly wearing hood and surplice, and kneeling at
the Sacrament." In opposition to this testimony, however, re-
specting the ecclesiastical habit, Heylin asserts, (p. 47), that
" Dr. Reynolds had the confidence to appear in the conference at
Hampton Court [in 1603] in his Turkey gown, and therefore
may be thought to have worn no other in the University." It is
a singular fact, at the same time, that Dr. Reynolds on his death-
22 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
Under the auspices of those and other leaders of
the Puritans, the tenets of Geneva were making
rapid progress in the University, engendering the
most novel speculations about the Church, and
producing a general carelessness about its consti-
tution, which threatened to sap its very foundation.
Forgetting the moderation and admirable caution
of the great men under whose auspices the reforma-
tion of the Church of England had been conducted,
they seemed as if they had themselves determined
to commence a new reformation, while at the same
time they admitted, that the line of demarcation
between the Reformed Church and that of Rome
was broad and insurmountable. Nor was their po-
licy the less crafty than their general conduct ; for
since they well knew that, were they to make any
notorious innovation at once, they would be pu-
nished by the civil and ecclesiastical power as dis-
turbers of the peace of the realm, their sole hope
lay in biassing the minds of the students in the Uni-
versity, over whom they were placed ; while, at the
same time, they merely corresponded about their
differences with their friends among the laity who
were in power and influence. Now it was, indeed,
that the doctrines of the Church of England, founded
bed, at his own earnest request, received absolution, according
to the form of the Church of England. " He received it," says
Fuller, " from Dr. Holland, [the successor of Dr. Humphries,
who was himself inclined, as I have already remarked, to Non-
conformity,] whose hand he affectionately kissed, in expression
of the joy he received thereby."
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 23
on holy Scripture, were not only disputed, but po-
sitively denied. The opinions of Calvin respecting
predestination, reprobation, election, and all the
other kindred dogmas, were zealously maintained,
although their defenders might have known that,
besides looking in vain for Calvin's horribile decre-
tum in the holy Scriptures, the fathers, with the
exception of St. Augustine, and his two disciples,
Prosper and Fulgentius, never conceived such tenets,
so far as individuals are concerned ; and perhaps in
this view even St. Augustine himself may not be
conceded l . The doctrine of Scripture and of the
Church respecting regeneration in infant baptism
was denied, as was also the doctrine of the Church
respecting the holy Eucharist. It was absolutely
denied, that either of these sacred rites had any
efficacy in man's salvation. The article in the
Apostle's Creed respecting Christ's local descent
into hell, asserted in the Convocations of the Church
in 1552 and 1562, was disclaimed as erroneous,
merely, as Dr. Heylin well remarks, " because re-
pugnant to the fancies of some foreign divines,
though they were in dispute among themselves
about the meaning of it 2 ." The episcopal govern-
ment of the Church was held to be against the
1 Prosper confesses, that they who condemned Pelagianism,
rejected St. Augustine's notion as a mere novelty; and that
Father himself says, " It is the height of madness and injustice
to hold any person guilty because he did not that which he
could not do."
2 See the great work, Bishop Pearson on the Creed, folio.
24 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
ecclesiastical constitution of the apostolic and pri-
mitive times, and this, too, by men who were conver-
sant with the apostles and fathers. Presbyters and
bishops were held to be synonymous, and the falla-
cious doctrine of expediency in church government
was assumed, it being asserted, that the apostles
did not trouble themselves about ecclesiastical
polity ; the doctrine of the visibility of the Church
was disclaimed, and sectarian conventicles were
held to be as scriptural as the Church, though these,
it was evident, were all founded on the visions of
enthusiasts, and false positions erroneously drawn
from holy Scripture. The Pope was furiously de-
clared to be Antichrist ; the ordination of the
Church of Rome was pronounced invalid, as part of
" the mark of the beast." These and other such
opinions were <e as positively and magisterially
maintained, as if they had been the chief articles of
the Christian faith 1 ." The public services of the
Church, according to the Book of Common Prayer,
were either carelessly performed, or neglected ; of-
fence was taken at every sacred rite and ceremony
which had been practised since the days of the apos-
tles. " In a word," to quote from Heylin 2 on this
very subject, " the books of Calvin made the rule
by which all men were to square their writings, his
only word (like the ipse dixit of Aristotle) ad-
mitted as the sole canon to which they were to
1 Heylin, p. 47.
3 See also the Preface to Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity.
1601.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 25
frame and conform their judgments, and in compa-
rison to whom, the ancient fathers of the Church,
men of renown, and the glory of their several times,
must be held contemptible : and to offend against
this canon, or to break this rule, was esteemed a
more unpardonable crime, than to violate the apos-
tles' canons, or dispute the doctrines and determi-
nations of any of the four first General Councils ; so
that it might have proved more safe for any man, in
such a general deviation from the rules and dictates
of this Church, to have been looked upon as an
heathen or a publican, than an anti-Calvinist."
Let me not be misunderstood, in the preceding
remarks, as if I have given only a partial view of the
lamentable state to which ecclesiastical discipline
was reduced towards the last years of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth. The Church of England has
been justly called the great bulwark of the Protes-
tant Reformation ; and why, it is asked, has it re-
ceived this glorious appellation ? , Not certainly
because, in its resolution to separate from Rome,
it was actuated, in the persons of its venerable
reformers, by mean and sinister motives, for they
nobly sealed their attachment to the truth with their
blood; nor yet, by trampling upon every sacred
and venerable institution, as if, after having been
long in one extreme, it was determined to run into
the other, and, by making a total divestment of
faith and sense, reduce religion to a pyebald exte-
rior, presenting no counteraction to the effusions of
fanaticism and ignorance, no means to preserve true
26 LIFE AND TIMES [1601.
religion within its pale, apart from the individual
opinions of men, even supposing that its clergy
were simultaneously to become degenerate ; nor
yet by resigning the practice of the Church uni-
versal in all ages, and closing with, novelty, as if
anxious for new discoveries. Novelty in theology
is the certain indication of error ; nor would the
Church have appeared, as it does to this day, vener-
able in its institutions, and simple in its ritual, had
it so far wandered from the right path. But Eliza-
beth was now in the decline of life, and the death
of the unfortunate Essex had reduced her vigorous
mind to a state of imbecility. Enthusiasm was, in
consequence, making rapid progress at the accession
of James. The Calvinism of Geneva had disgusted
that monarch in Scotland, insolently as it was advo-
cated by the Melvilles and their associates. It
was highly necessary, therefore, that James should
take measures, on his accession to the English
throne, to oppose that insolent fanaticism which
had been secretly kindling in the minds of the peo-
ple for half a century, and disturbing the peace of
the Church by every new importation of zealots
from the school of Geneva. Nor, while thus speak-
ing of the dogmas of Calvin, and the grand features
of Presbyterianism, would I be thought wanting in
respect to those who differed from us. I speak of
systems only, not of individuals, excepting so far as
their public conduct is concerned. Our Church
has been incessantly attacked, but we are unwilling
to retaliate, while we know the sure ground on
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 27
which we tread. " Having a sure and certain word
of prophecy, unto which it will be well for us to
take heed," we reject the fallacious doctrine of ex-
pediency, and assert with confidence the constant
visibility and oneness of the Church in all ages,
from the days of its Divine Founder. Nor need
the authorities on which our positions are grounded,
be required of us : even Calvin himself could not
reconcile them to his own opinions l . To the merit
of that reformer, indeed, I willingly bear testi-
mony : his learning is indisputable, he was a great
man ; but the same spirit which prompted him to
pursue the mild, though mistaken, Servetus to the
stake, was too amply inherited by his disciples both
in England and Scotland, in the sixteenth and se-
venteenth centuries ; by which the frenzy of a
stern republicanism overthrew the government of
the land, and, even after it was re-established, in-
volved the northern part of the island in rebellion
and bloodshed. The opinions he taught, as he con-
ceived them to be derived from the Scriptures, re-
quire other proof than that which he furnishes : and
those do greatly err, who believe them to be the
doctrines of the Church of England. That Church,
it is consolatory to know, takes a much higher
authority, and by the holy Scriptures it stands or
falls.
Such, then, was the state of the Church in the
years 1602-3, when Laud made his first public ap-
\ ; - " ^1 ^nil
1 Calvin, Institut. lib. iv. cap. iv. 1.
28 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
pearance^ Many of the original n on -confer mist
leaders were now dead, but some of them still sur-
vived. They wanted not, however, successors to
tread in the same path. The celebrated Abbott ! ,
afterwards primate, and Prideaux, who succeeded
Drs. Holland and Reynolds as theological profes-
sors, taught the tenets of their predecessors, and
warmly attached themselves to the Puritans 2 . In
the year 1602, Laud read the divinity lecture in
St. John's College, founded by Mrs. Maye 3 , and
received the general applause of that society. In
this lecture, he boldly advocated those opinions
which he ever afterwards maintained. It would
appear that he had long beheld, with deep regret,
the dangerous tendency of the enthusiasm of the
times ; and he resolved, though he stood alone, to
raise his solitary voice in defence of the doctrines of
the Church of England. He had studied the fa-
thers with peculiar care, and had made himself
master of the constitution of the Church, as set
forth during the apostolic and primitive times in the
canons of the general councils. His theological
studies had been founded on the sacred canon,
carefully perusing at the same time the comments
and interpretations of the fathers ; and his vigorous
i
1 He was then Master of University College, and Vice-chan-
cellor of the University.
8 Original Manuscript of Dr. Heylin, Lansdowne MSS. 721.
3 He was the last who read that lecture. Diary, p. 2 ; Hey-
lin, p. 49 ; Lloyd's Memoirs, p. 226 ; Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol.
iii. col. 121.
1608.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 29
mind enabled him at once to perceive the errors
which the ancient heretics and modern schismatics
had imbibed, by their attempts at private interpreta-
tion of the canon of inspiration : a practice which is
unhappily too prevalent among their successors in
the present times. He was not to be led astray by
the names of men, however great and renowned, and
he was determined to oppose those novelties in theo-
logy, which were daily becoming more prevalent.
Fortified as he was by the canons of the Church,
and, above all, by holy Scripture, he resolved " to
hold fast the form of sound words" which had been
delivered ; and, solitary as he stood in this perilous
undertaking, to try his fortune in the w r ork, and to
leave the issue thereof unto God, by whom " Paul's
planting and Apollo's watering do receive the
increase V
On no subject, perhaps, has there been greater
dispute than on the meaning of the Articles of the
Church of England. While the zealous Puritan
rejected them in toto, both because they were not
sufficiently Calvinistic to suit his notions, and be-
cause they contained that form of ecclesiastical po-
lity which he abhorred ; the Calvinist, on the one
hand, who wished not to leave the Church, disco-
vered them to be thoroughly Calvinistic, and was
1 Dr. Heylin, p. 48. " Nor would he run precipitately into
common opinions, (for common opinions many times are but
common errors) ; as Calderinus is reported to have gone to
mass, because he would not break company with the rest of his
friends."
30 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
content ; the Arminian loudly asserted, on the other
hand, that they contained the doctrines and tenets
of Arminius, and cordially subscribed to them. Such
was the procedure in the time of Laud, and such
it is in the present day. Now, keeping out of view
the Puritan and the modern Dissenter as completely
hopeless subjects, or, in other words, as men be-
yond the reach of argument or reason, nothing is
more evident than that both the Calvinist and Ar-
minian are decidedly wrong. The Articles are ex-
pressed with such clearness, that he who candidly
peruses them, and is gifted with an ordinary share
of reason, cannot fail to perceive their meaning,
and to acquiesce at once in their decisions ; but it
is most absurd to say that they are founded upon,
or that they favour, the individual theories either of
John Calvin or of James Arminius. A division has
indeed taken place in the Church in modern times,
and an unaccountable zeal has now decided that
the orthodox clergy are the Calvinists : those who
deny Calvin's tenets being of course anti-evange-
lical. Yet, if the test of evangelism be the rash
assumptions of the predestinarian, most unquestion-
ably that evangelism rests upon a feeble foundation,
and they do greatly err whose zeal is thus per-
mitted to triumph over their reason. But the
Church of England at once disdains a blind vene-
ration for any frail and erring mortal, however
great or excellent in the eyes of his fellow men.
That the Articles of the Church are not Calvinistic,
I hope to shew in another place ; and that they are
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 31
not Arminian, I here assert, inasmuch as the tenets
of Arminius were not propagated until a long time
after these Articles were compiled \ But if by Ar-
minian (for language is arbitrary, and it matters
not what may be the name, however odious that
name may be to the descendants of the champions of
the Covenant in the north) if, I say, by Arminian,
it be meant, that the Church of England in its
Articles, not in its clergy, rejects and disapproves
a rash inquiry into those " secret things which be-
long unto the Lord our God," if it rejects the
liorribile de ere turn of Calvin, on whose shewing, to
adopt the language of John Wesley, " the elect
will be saved, do what they will; the reprobate
will be damned, do what they can," and in all its
public ministrations, formularies, articles, rituals,
and homilies, asserts, that every man, without excep-
tion, who hears the glad sound of the gospel, may
become a partaker of the same, and a true mem-
ber of Christ's body, as he did become in infancy by
" the washing of water and the renewing of the
Holy Spirit," if, in short, it is the constant theme
of the Church that " he who cometh unto God, will
in no wise be cast out," and if its ministers are com-
manded to call on all men every where to repent,
without any reservation of election or reprobation,
1 James Van Harmen, or Arminius, was the disciple of
Beza, and minister at Amsterdam. He was at first educated in
rigid Calvinism, but on reflection, he expressed doubts as to
that system in 1591. The Articles were compiled almost half
a century previous.
32 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
then let it be called Arminian, for such is the doctrine
of Holy Scripture. And if the Episcopal government
of the Church be taken into account, in opposition
to the Calvinistic system of ecclesiastical parity, by
which the unedifying sight has often been exhibited,
of preachers at war with one another, without a head
to control them, or to impose on them ecclesiastical
obedience, then let it be Arminian, it matters riot,
since the polity which is enjoined and practised,
has been that of the Church in every age, since the
days of its divine Founder.
When Laud, therefore, stepped boldly forth to
vindicate the Articles and Constitution of the
Church, against the fancies and enthusiasm of her
Puritan members, those Articles " had been wrested
from the literal and grammatical sense, to fit them
to the sense of particular persons," and "a differ-
ent construction had been put upon . them from
that which had been the true and genuine meaning
of the men that framed them, and the authority
which had confirmed them." It was either in this
lecture, , or in some other academical exercise, that
Laud asserted and maintained the perpetual visibi-
lity of the Church, as derived from the apostles by
the Romish Church, and therein continued (as in the
Churcr/es of the East and South) until the period
of the Reformation 1 . This lecture gave great of-
fence to the Puritans of the University. Abbot,
1 It is uncertain whether it was in this lecture or not ; but the
conjecture is probably right that it was. Heylin, p. 49. Diary,
p. 2. Wood, Athen, Oxon. vol. iii, col. 121.
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 33
the vice-chancellor, who was secretly jealous of him,
and who liked not to be surpassed in learning by a
person who was under his control, was of a differ-
ent opinion, which, indeed, was natural, consider-
ing his attachment to the Puritan faction. He
asserted, on the other hand, that there was no de-
finite visibility of the Church ; and, forgetting the
axiom, that a corrupt Church may be nevertheless
a true one, so far as ordination is concerned, out
of his zealous abhorrence to popery, he yet traced
a visibility from the time of the apostles to the
sect called Berengerians, the followers of Berenge-
rius, who flourished in the eleventh century 1 , from
them to the Albigenses, or Waldenses, so called from
the city Albi, or the district of Albigeois, in the
south of France, supposed by Toplady and others
to have been the uncorrupted descendants of the
first Christians, but whose creed was pronounced
by the Council of Tours, A.D. 1163, to be " a
damnable heresy, long since sprung up in the ter-
ritory of Toulouse V From them, again, to the
Wickliffites, or Lollards, the followers of Wick-
liffe, the proto-reformer of England, and the
" morning-star of the English Reformation," from
1 Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 558560. Milner's
Church Hist. vol. iii. p. 289 291.
2 Mr. Hume (History of England, vol. ii. chap, xi.) ob-
serves, that the decree of this council so subjected them to perse-
cution, that " those sectaries, though the most innocent and in-
offensive of mankind, were exterminated with all the circum-
stances of extreme violence and barbarity."
VOL. I. D
34 LIFE AND TIMES [160*.
them to the Hussites, whose leader, John Huss,
adopted Wickliffe's opinions, for which he suffered
martyrdom in the year 1415 \ and from them to the
days of Martin Luther and John Calvin. This
fanciful hypothesis, which Abbot assumed, was com-
pletely refuted by Laud; which so enraged the
former, and excited so much mutual disgust, that
an enmity took place, which ever afterwards sub-
sisted between them 2 : and so violent was Abbot's
antipathy to his opponent, that he embraced every
opportunity of displaying his opposition, which hap-
pened more than once in after life 3 .
1 Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. iv. p. 384 ; vol. v. p. 117.
Milner, vol. iv. p. 279, 280. 597.
2 Heylin, p. 49. Original Manuscript of Dr. Heylin, Lans-
downe MSS. 721. Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 440.
" Abbot wrote a work on the subject, entitled, * A Treatise of
perpetual Visibility and Succession of the True Church in all
Ages.' London, 4to. 1624. He was then in the see of Canter-
bury. His name is not at the work, but only his family arms,
impaled with those of Canterbury." Dr. Heylin, who, by the
way, was no friend to Abbot, remarks on this work, " This being
his opinion also when he lived in Oxford, he thought it a great
derogation to his parts and credit, that any man should dare to
maintain the contrary, and thereupon conceived a strong grudge
against Laud, which no tract of time could either abolish or
diminish." It would appear, however, that some differences
had taken place between him and Laud as early as 1597.
3 Abbot, says an author, conceived a very strong prejudice
against Mr. Laud, which no time could either lessen or destroy.
Although Abbot was a great and good man, it is certain that he
entertained a violent hatred to Laud, and it so far influenced him,
as to make him in after life give Laud a most unfavourable cha-
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 35
That Abbot, if he defended the visibility of the
Church at all, was wrong in his positions, and fan-
ciful in his illustrations, is sufficiently evident from
the incongruous nature of those sects amongst
whom he traced that visibility. For, though Be-
rengerius was Archdeacon of Angers, he died in
the communion of the Romish Church, after making
a public recantation of his opinions, both at Paris
and Rome l . His followers, therefore, had no re-
gularly ordained pastors, and, besides, they were
racter, which could only result from a recollection of the opposi-
tion he had received. In the Archbishop's narrative concerning
his disgrace at court, written by himself, (Rushworth, vol. i. p.
434, &c.) he talks about " knowing in general the disposition of
the man," p. 439 ; and again, " about the dispute between the
King and himself," Bishop Laud is designated " the only in-
ward counsellor with Buckingham, sitting with him sometimes
privately whole hours, and feeding his humours with malice and
spite. His life in Oxford was to pick quarrels in the lectures
of the public readers, and to advertise them to the then Bishop
of Durham, that he might fill the ears of King James with dis-
content against the honest men that took pains in their places, and
settled the truth, which he called Puritanism, in their auditors.
He made it his work to see what books were on the press, and to
look over epistles dedicatory, and prefaces to the reader, to see
what faults might be found," p. 440. That this is over-coloured
there can be no doubt, when we recollect Abbot's feelings to-
wards Laud, whom he secretly charged as helping to procure
his disgrace.
He died, moreover, firm in his belief of transubstantiation.
He maintained the doctrines of the famous Duns Scotus, sur-
named Erigena. 'Although the Church of Rome in his time
(1058) had not adopted any particular doctrine on the Eucharist,
his heresy was condemned.
D 2
36 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
in dispute amongst themselves about the eucharist,
all agreeing that the elements were not essentially
changed, though some asserted that they were
partly changed. " Some admitted a change in
part, and others an entire change, with this re-
striction, that to those who communicated unwor-
thily the elements were changed back again V The
Waldenses had for their apostle Peter Waldo, or
Valdo, a merchant of Lyons, who, whether he gave
his name to them or not, never received the ordi-
nation of a priest. It is not my intention here to
enter into the discussion of this important subject
in reference to those sectaries, nevertheless I may
remark, that they also were not agreed among them-
selves on certain doctrines. They held various opi-
nions about infant baptism, and they asserted "that
the sacraments are signs of the holy things, visible
forms of the invisible grace ; and that it is good for
the faithful to use those signs or visible forms ; but
they are not essential to salvation." The same tenets
were held by theWickliffites or Lollards, the Hussites,
the Calvinists, and the Puritans, of the sixteenth
century, as they are yet held by the Dissenters of
almost every description. Sects which entertained
those vague and confused notions on the holy sa-
craments, have always framed equally crude ideas
about the office of the priesthood ; and, in truth,
they had no regular canonical ordination, and cared
little about the unity of the Church, as taught in
1 Williams' Dictionary of all Religions, p. 63.
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 37
holy Scripture. Now, it certainly is the doctrine
of the Church of England, that the sacraments are
not mere rites or memorials, (for we can conceive no
opinion more unworthy of institutions set apart by
the Saviour himself,) but are, in very truth, on
their right reception, the ordinary means by which
men obtain salvation. But the opposite opinion
was held by the Puritans, and sanctioned by Ab-
bot, on which account they totally misinterpreted
those simple but sacred symbols, and rested more
on visionary themes about faith and other doc-
trines. The view which Abbot took of the visi-
bility of the Church, therefore, struck at the very
root of that Church of which he was a member,
and still farther tended to promote the spirit of
dangerous enthusiasm. It went far to overthrow
that union and consistency which are necessary for
the peace and well-being of the state ecclesiastical,
and was, in a word, completely congenial to the
views of the non-conformists.
, The question has been often sneeringly asked by
the Romanists, where was the Protestant Church
before Luther ? This question was common in the
days of Laud, nor was it at all answered with satis-
faction by the Puritan divines, who seldom abode
by the argument, but went on to a discussion of
certain doctrines, and spirituality in matters of faith.
Now, that these are all right in themselves there
can be no question, still there was another way in
which the Romanists might be silenced, and the
catholic doctrine of the visibility of the Church
38 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
maintained. This position, therefore, Laud as-
sumed, and he managed the subject with the ability
of a master. While the positions of Abbot and
others, who took refuge among the continental
sectaries, were easily overthrown by the priests and
Jesuits ; they were at once staggered by the argu-
ments of a more powerful opponent, who revelled
not in an enthusiasm which they had long despised,
but successfully opposed them with the very autho-
rities to which they themselves laid claim. The whole
subject turned on the nature of the Church on
its polity, and the ordination of the clergy whether
there actually existed an apostolical descent, and
whence it was transmitted. To deny the validity
of the orders of the Romish Church, is unques-
tionably absurd : for, however corrupt and dege-
nerate that Church is, it cannot in the least degree
affect the ordination it confers. For if such were
the case, there would then be a dangerous position
assumed, that there is a virtue in the ordination,
which does not exist, any farther, than that no
man without that ordination can lawfully and
scripturally exercise the functions of the sacred
office : and that he who does so, without being
lawfully ordained to them, is actuated by that sec-
tarian fanaticism which deluded multitudes in the
seventeenth century, and produced an anarchy in
the Church unparalleled in the records of history.
If there be no such thing as regular and valid or-
dination, then there is no ministry, and it matters
not how the sacraments are administered, or by
1603.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 39
whom, seeing that one man has just as good a right
to administer them as another. And if the orders
of the Romish Church are to be rejected, as being
part of the "mark of the beast/' let the most
zealous Dissenter tell us of what he has to boast,
or what hidden virtue there is in his form of ordi-
nation. For the new inventions of modern times
do not form the scriptural basis by which we are to
regulate our ideas of ecclesiastical practice ; and
I hazard the assertion, even though it may be re-
ceived with a sneer, that there is no Dissent-
ing minister whose ordination is as valid or as
scriptural as that of the Romish priests. And if
tenaciousness of ordination be held as a remnant
of popery, then why do Dissenters ordain at all,
seeing that they submit to a practice, which, even
though exercised in their own way, they cordially
set at nought and despise ? The truth is, every
gift is not a grace : ordination is one thing, the
doctrine taught is another : and he who imagines
that the chief excellence of the Christian ministry
rests in the mere act of preaching, and a human
display of eloquence from the pulpit, labours under
a most grievous delusion. The sacraments are
among the ordinary means of salvation ; and the
efficacy of these sacraments is rendered void as well
by the want of regular ordination, as by the un-
worthiness of the person partaking of them. v Our
Saviour himself, when he declared that his kingdom
was not of this world, distinctly taught that the office
of the priesthood was to be separate, distinct, and
40 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
removed from the secular concerns of the world ;
and that they who assume this office must be re-
gularly admitted thereto according to the practice
which he has enjoined, as laid down by the holy
apostles.
Without, however, enlarging farther on this
subject, I merely observe, that whatever may be
thought of Laud's principles by Dissenters in the
present day, to all conscientious members of the
Episcopal Church they must appear sound and
scriptural, otherwise their ministry or ordination
is of little avail. If Laud was wrong, so was the
Church, but he chose rather to err with the Church
whose doctrines had been pondered well by the
venerable fathers of the Reformation, than to adopt
the private interpretation of any man, or be led
away by the current of extravagance, which was
daily making rapid encroachments. Not that he did
not exercise that freedom of thought which is natu-
ral to every man : but he had studied the Scrip-
tures with peculiar care, and the Articles appeared
to him agreeable to that sacred standard.
But at this time an event happened, which ma-
terially altered the state of the kingdom. On the
24th of March, 1602-3, Queen Elizabeth died at
Richmond, in the 70th year of her age, and 45th
of her prosperous reign. Her administration had
been brilliant and glorious ; she had raised the
kingdom to a degree of greatness, which made her
an object of fear to foreign potentates, and gained
her the admiration and affection of her subjects ;
1602.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 41
she knew well how to govern her people, and her
promptitude and decision were equally remarkable
in all her actions. It was her happiness to have
statesmen whose names are rendered immortal,
who loved their country, and who combined the
most consummate political foresight with admira-
ble talents for the administration of public affairs.
She was invariably the defender of the Protestant
Church, and though it may be questioned whether
she ever felt the animating and superior power of
true religion, yet her name will be transmitted to
posterity with unsullied reputation for the fostering
care which she bestowed on the Reformation. Not
that her conduct is free from reproach. Her
haughtiness and cruelty to the unhappy Mary,
Queen of Scots, will always be a stigma on her
memory, as acts of injustice, and outrages on
injured innocence, unworthy of her vigorous mind,
and which have few parallels in history. Her
conduct to the clergy was often haughty and tyran-
nical. " She restored the Reformation it is true,"
says Collier, " but in many places left little pro-
vision to maintain it. She drew back the patri-
mony of the Church restored by her sister Queen
Mary, and reached somewhat unkindly unto the
remainder. These things considered, if the Queen's
usage of the clergy be compared with that which
they experienced in the reign of Henry VIII. it is
to be feared that it may be said, her little finger
was thicker than her father's loins ; and that he
42 LIFE AND TIMES [1602.
disciplined them with whips, but she chastised them
with scorpions V
Thus far have I detailed the first years of the life
of Laud. A new scene now opens to our view
the accession of James of Scotland and the im-
portant public transactions in which Laud was en-
gaged the theological disputes of the times and
the encroachments of the Puritans, who were
making rapid progress in their endeavours to over-
turn the constitution.
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 669, 670.
1603.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 43
CHAPTER II.
1603-4.
Accession of James I. State of parties at that period Reli-
gious feeling Conduct of James Remarks on his life The
Presbyterians- Insolence of their ministers The Scottish
Episcopal Church Review of the Puritan objections to Epis-
copacy The Hampton Court Conference Its objects and
results Remarks on the, Articles Concluding observations.
THE eyes of the English nation were now turned on
James ; the princes of Europe beheld his accession
to the English throne with no ordinary interest.
More fortunate than any of his ancestors who had
swayed the Scottish sceptre, and destined to be
happier than any of his descendants, his singular
good fortune was the source of envy to many con-
tinental princes, who beheld him called from the
government of a small and feeble state, to become
the monarch of three consolidated powerful king-
doms. Nor was the enthusiasm of the English
nation on his accession the less excited, though
afterwards that very people, whose joy was so uni-
versal, were destined to exhibit many vicissitudes
before the close of the seventeenth century. The
beginning of that era saw the royal House of Stuart
welcomed to the throne of Britain by every indi-
7
44 LIFE AND TIMES [1G03.
vidual : its close beheld those princes driven from
the throne, exiled, and their station among the
princes of Europe occupied by others.
I design to examine briefly the causes of this
wonderful revolution in public opinion ; in the mean
time, it is necessary to offer a few general remarks
upon the state of parties at this eventful period of
our history. I have already noted the progress
of Puritanism, more especially in the University of
Oxford, during Laud's residence there, and the in-
fluence which the Puritan leaders possessed over the
minds of the students. It must be confessed that
they were great men, although led away by an ex-
travagant zeal : but hitherto, although both Oxford
and Cambridge were well supplied by those eccle-
siastical malcontents, by the vigorous administration
of Elizabeth, and the salutary restraints imposed
by the primates, this faction had not in its early
progress assumed a regular form, nor had it become
united as one grand opposing body. The leaders
and partizans were detached, and even in dispute
among themselves : at all events, many of them,
though raising a clamour about a second reforma-
tion, as they called it, were by no means anxious to
leave the Church. But on James' accession, they
had become more united : and they clearly saw the
necessity of co-operation. The genius of Laud had
excited their alarm, and his sentiments in the lec-
tures he delivered were not to be passed over in
silence. He was, in fact, no common opponent :
he was not to be put clown by the sophisms of
1603.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 45
Calvin, or the tenets of Genevan theology : and,
armed as he was with an intimate knowledge of every
argument of the Papists on the one hand, and of
the Puritans on the other, they already anticipated
this man in his rise to power, which they foresaw
was inevitable. They could indeed boast of great
men among their own adherents, whose learning
was profound, and not surpassed by Laud himself,
but unfortunately, however, having deeply imbibed
the opinions of Calvin, they rejected the practice
of the apostles and the authority of the primitive
Church, in their anxiety to comprehend and ex-
pound the Institutes of that Reformer. But here
was a man who was under no such restraints : who
valued no more the opinion of Calvin than he did
that of the Bishop of Rome, and who was resolved
to uphold and defend that Church whose ordination
he had received, according to her Articles, and to
the canons passed in her most solemn Convoca-
tions l .
1 The famous Thomas Cartwright died the year before James'
accession. Whitgift had all along treated him with lenity, think-
ing that when his enthusiasm subsided, he would become well
affected towards the Church, and was not disappointed in the
expectations he had formed of him. Cartwright, who had con-
tributed his full share towards the spread of Calvinism, and the
fomenting of the religious disputes, after being admitted to bail,
through the kindness of the Archbishop, died expressing his
good inclinations towards the Established Church. He always
acknowledged with gratitude the primate's kindness, as appears
from several of his letters to the primate. Sir George Paul's
Life of Whitgift, p. 71, 72. Strype's Annals, chap, xxviii.
46 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
The accession of James was hailed by men of all
ranks, and in that perilous age, when religious
disputes engaged the attention of almost every
man, each party beheld it with jealous and interested
feelings. Surrounded by the stern reformers of the
north, who, by the excitement of their frenzy had
marched over the country, carrying with them fire,
sword, and sedition, and committing the most ruth-
less and furious devastations 1 : educated by the cele-
brated George Buchanan, a philosopher in prin-
ciple, and a zealous votary of Geneva in religion 2 ,
who defended the excesses of his reforming friends,
and traduced the memory of the hapless Mary, his
first benefactress; it was supposed by the Calvi-
nists of the north, and their brethren the Puritans
of the south, that they would have now a king after
their own heart, more especially as the former had
compelled James, during his minority, to sign all
Sir Henry Yelverton, in his Epistle to the Reader before Mor-
ton's Episcopacy Justified. " His last words on his death-bed
were, that he sorely lamented the unnecessary troubles he had
caused in the Church, by the schism he had been the great fo-
menter of, and wished he was to begin his life again, that he
might testify to the world the dislike he had of his former
ways."
1 Knox's History, p. 136, 147, &c. Spottiswoode's Hist.
P. 121 126. Stuart's Hist, of Scottish Reformation, p.. 11 3,
114. 203, 204. Dalyell's Cursory Remarks on Scottish Poems
of the Sixteenth Century, vol. i. in the account of the Earl of
Moray, p. 52, 53,
8 Nevertheless, Buchanan says of himself, that he was a Lu-
theran. Vita scrip, ipso. Dr. Irving's Memoirs.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 47
their covenants, confessions, and leagues, of every
description. Accordingly, although James, when
he assumed the reins of government, had given in-
dications that he was not so pliable as they ima-
gined, and, moreover, being more learned than the
Presbyterian ministers, was easily able to confound
them in their positions, yet the Puritans, and those
who favoured their doctrines, presuming on his Pres-
byterian education, or, at least, upon his favour and
connivance, began to raise their desponding minds,
and to augur much from this new combination of
circumstances 1 . The Roman Catholics, who looked
on the enthusiasm of the Puritans with perfect con-
tempt, and who, in truth, were animated with less
hatred towards them than towards the Established
Church, (although the Puritans clamoured the
more violently against them,) beheld James' acces-
sion with the greatest exultation, and naturally
expected favour from a monarch whose mother they
considered to have died a martyr for their cause.
The supporters of the Reformed Church by law
established, were not the less animated by hope ;
for, the Church being an integral part of the con-
stitution, the king was bound to defend it against
Popery and Puritanism, the two extremes between
which the Church of England was placed.
Nevertheless, Archbishop Whitgift was not without
fears concering James's real intentions. That excel-
lent primate had been entrusted by Elizabeth with
1 Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 3, 4.
48 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
the government of the Church, he had been long
and deservedly in the favour of the queen, he had
attended her in her last illness, and had composed
a prayer on that occasion, remarkable for its piety
and beauty 1 . He had been the chief mourner at
her funeral, had received the offerings, and had
the banners presented to him, as if he had been a
member of the royal House. It is observed by Sir
George Paul, that he had the chief management of
all ecclesiastical affairs, the disposal of the bishop-
rics, and other patronage ; and that the queen laid
the whole burden of those cares upon his shoulders,
saying, That if any thing were amiss, it was upon
his soul and conscience to answer for it ; for she
had rid her hands, and looked that he would yield an
account on her behalf unto Almighty God 2 . After
James had been proclaimed, the Archbishop dis-
1 Sir George Paul's Life of Whitgift, p. 116. Strype, chap.
xxix. from Reg. Whitgift, vol. iii. p. 148. The words of this
beautiful prayer are : O most heavenly Father, and God of all
mercy, we most humbly beseech thee to behold thy servant the
queen, with the eyes of pity and compassion. Give unto her the
comfort of thy Holy Spirit, work in her a constant and lively
faith, grant unto her true repentance, and restore unto her, if it
be thy will, her former health and strength both of body and
soul. Let not the enemy, nor his wicked instruments, have any
power ever to do her harm. O Lord, punish her not for our
offences, neither us in her. Deal not with us, O Lord, as we
have deserved ; but for thy mercy's sake, and for Christ's
sake, forgive us all our sins, and prolong her days, that we may
still enjoy her, to the glory of thy holy name, and good of all
such as truly fear thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2 Sir G. Paul's Life of Archbishop Whitgift, p, 78.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 49
patched Dr. Neville, Dean of Canterbury, into Scot-
land to do homage in the name of the Bishops and
Clergy of the Church of England, and to ascertain
the king's intentions concerning the government of
the Church. Though James declared that he would
maintain the Church as then established, yet Whit-
gift passed the summer of the year 1604 in great
anxiety *. The king's arrival, however, dissipated
those fears, and at once opened the eyes of the non-
conformists. They had printed a book in the former
year, entitled " The Plea of the Innocents," which
was written by one Nicholls, and now they had
begun to despise the church service, " to forbear the
use of the surplice, and to omit the ceremonies ;
and those omissions they hoped would be acceptable
to the king, considering his education, and the prac-
tice of the Scotch kirk 2 ." But a proclamation ap-
1 Neal, the Puritan historian, who takes every opportunity
to prevaricate, here remarks, that the king's assurances " com-
forted the timorous Archbishop, who had sometimes spoken with
great uneasiness about the Scotch Church." The latter clause
is true, but it became this historian to be a candid man ; for
though Dr. Neville did get such an assurance from James, it was
a general one, and Whitgift was not comforted by it. Neal
himself records, that James in his public declaration at Edin-
burgh in 1590, said, " As for our neighbour Kirk of England
their service is an evil said mass in English ; they want nothing
of the mass but the liftings." James, by the way, was under
tutorage when he uttered this speech. There was occasion
for being timorous, when surrounded by men who were under-
mining the Church.
2 Collier, vol. ii. p. 671, 672.
VOL. I. E
50 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
p eared on the king's arrival, strictly prohibiting
any innovation in the doctrine or discipline of the
Church as established by law.
It was not to be expected that James would
escape censure for this procedure. Besides the impu-
tation that he had changed his principles, ( if he had
any, says Neal,) the most pusillanimous insinua-
tions were daily sent abroad by the Puritans. For-
getting that James had been the offspring of mis-
fortune that both his parents had suffered violent
deaths they actually asserted that he was deficient
in intellect, and that the surprise which his mother
had experienced at the murder of Rizzio had so
affected the foetus, as to produce this intellectual
weakness. But James, though peacefully inclined,
was neither a coward nor an imbecile man. He had
grappled with an assassin in the Gowry conspiracy ;
in after life he gave other proofs of courage ; and
his learning, though it abounded with pedantry,
was extensive and profound. But what insinua-
tions will not disappointment and passion provoke ?
Men blinded by religious enthusiasm forget the
first principles of true religion, and resort to miser-
able subterfuges, which excite contempt and de-
rision l .
The circumstances in which James was placed when he
assumed the government were of a peculiar kind. He was
never a real Presbyterian, though he has been often charged with
apostasy by that party. His age had witnessed the most dread-
ful catastrophes, and there is not perhaps in the history of any na-
tion events so pregnant with interest as those which took place
7
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 51
But it seems not the less surprising, that James
should still be viewed by Presbyterians as if he had
at one period of his life belonged completely to their
party, and as if he had made a fearful apostasy
when he succeeded to the English throne. Now,
the simple truth is, that Andrew Melville first in-
troduced Calvinism into Scotland; for, though
Knox and the other Reformers were disciples of
Calvin, they by no means adopted the system of
ecclesiastical parity, but established the form of
government by superintendents, (another term for
bishops,} of whom there were Jive; and this polity
was not, as some late Presbyterian writers would
persuade us, designed to be merely temporary, but
to be the regular ecclesiastical constitution of the
Church 1 . Knox had himself, though at one period
in Scotland in the sixteenth century. Scarcely one of the lead-
ing men escaped a violent death. James's great-grandfather,
James IV, was slain at Flodden, with the flower of the nobility;
his grandfather, James V, died of a broken heart ; his father
murdered by an unprincipled nobleman ; his mother, the hapless
Mary, murdered, too, under colour of justice, by the English
queen. Cardinal Beaton assassinated by a band of enthusiasts
in his own palace ; his successor, Archbishop Hamilton, most
unjustly executed; Huntly slain; Moray assassinated ; Maitland
of Lethington committed suicide ; Bothwell degraded and de-
spised, a vile pirate in the Northern Seas ; Morton brought to the
block ; Kirkcaldy of Grange hanged as a traitor ; terminating
with the famous Gowry conspiracy. In short, every man who
figured in public was cut off, with only one or two exceptions,
without taking into account those who suffered for religion.
1 It were easy to multiply references and authorities in proof
of my positions, but it is needless, and indeed the very anxiety
E'2
52 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
of his life he refused a bishopric *, been the bearer
of the Presbyterians to make the superintendent system, which,
they well know, was nothing else than a form of Episcopacy, as
if it were designed merely pro tempore, is a sufficient argument
in favour. The Scottish reformers might have had a horror at
the name of bishop, if they had not the sagacity to disunite that
office from the associations of Popery, and therefore they changed
the word, which, by the way, has exactly the same meaning ; but
no man who is acquainted with Knox's temper and actions, in
particular, will for one moment suppose, that he was likely to
gratify the prejudices or the associations of any individual.
No ; he was for immediate reformation ; he forgot that all im-
provements must he accomplished by the slow and imperceptible
hand of time. " But after all," says Collier, whose authority is
just as good as that of Dr. M'Crie, as set forth in the Life of
Knox, vol. ii. and in the Life of Andrew Melville, vol. i.
" Knox was no entire convert to the Geneva discipline ; he de-
clared against Presbyterian parity, promoted the superintendent
scheme, and pressed submission to that establishment." Ec-
cles. Hist. vol. ii.
1 It may be disputed, however, whether Edward VI. did ac-
tually offer Knox a bishopric ; his admirers affirm so, but he
himself only hints, in his " Historic," about some great prefer-
ment, which he rejected. His ambition would not have been
gratified by his remaining in England, for he wished not to be a
member, but the leader of a party. In some editions of his His-
toric, there is the above insinuation, but it must be recollected,
that there are considerable doubts as to the authenticity of the
work, because Knox was dead before its publication, and we find
the General Assembly of the Kirk granting authority to Richard
Bannatyne, Knox's servant, a violent enthusiast, to collect and
collate all the scraps and papers which Knox had left after his
decease. His Genevan friends, therefore, thrust in what they
pleased to favour their own purposes, and to make Knox speak
the language of their party. Goodall's Queen Mary, vol. i.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 53
of a letter to the Bishops of the Church of Eng-
land, in which he and his friends distinctly acknow-
ledged Episcopacy, and their own polity as a mo-
dification of it l . Melville, however, a furious zealot,
was the first in Scotland who ventured to call in
question the episcopal office, which he did in a
crafty manner, by practising on one John Durie, a
minister in Edinburgh, a good but simple and un-
learned man, whom, in a General Assembly, he per-
suaded to start the question, which he, of course,
vigorously seconded. It is somewhat remarkable,
too, that Melville, zealot as he was, admits in his
speech on this very occasion, that the episcopal
office is laid down in holy Scripture ; expressing
himself in the following contradictory manner : " It
is true the distinction of bishops is mentioned in
Scripture, but then it was not to be taken in the
customary construction, for our Saviour has allowed
no superiority among his ministers : he himself is
1 Knox's History, p. 439. Spottiswoode's History, p. 198.
Bishop Keith's History, folio. M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. ii.
Dr. Cook's History of the Reformation, vol. iii. Neal's History
of the Puritans, vol. i. Appendix. This is aremarkable fact, even
though the letter was written in favour of the Puritans. It was
signed by the five superintendents, to- wit, John Spottiswoode,
father of the Archbishop ; John Winram, who had been subprior
of St. Andrew's ; John Erskine, the baron of Dun ; John Row,
and Robert Pont ; with the names of a few ministers attached.
It is entitled, " The superintendents, ministers, and others, of
the realm of Scotland, to their brethren, the bishops and pastors
of England, who have renounced the Roman Antichrist, and do
profess with them the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
54 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
the only Lord of his Church, and as for his officers,
they are all ranged in the same degree, and allotted
the same proportion of power." It is needless to
comment on this absurd observation.
It must be observed, that no act of parliament
was ever passed for the abolition of Scottish Episco-
pacy ; and, in fact, no acts at all, save those of the
Assembly, which, after 1575, was very often self-
elected. Hence, the Episcopal Church, until the
period of the Revolution in 1688, was the Church
established by law, as it had been often ratified by
various parliaments. The Regent Morton had estab-
lished Episcopacy, in the person of John Douglas,
whom he presented to the primacy of St. Andrew's,
and who was accordingly consecrated to that office.
The very first year, then, in which James governed
in his own person, he evinced his dislike to the Ge-
nevan polity, and it was not allowed to pass unno-
ticed. But that monarch, though he never regarded
Melville and his associates with friendly feelings,
was often tutored unto submission by those whom
he favoured among the nobles, and hence arose his
speeches on various occasions, which the Puritans
afterwards turned so much against him.
It is amusing to observe the opinions which the
Puritan historian indulges on James's accession.
That veracious writer, determined to support his
enthusiastic party at the expence of truth, fears
not to hazard any assertion, however absurd or con-
tradictory ; and as Laud is most conspicuous in his
narrative of this period, for the public share he
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 55
sustained in the controversies of the day, a few re-
marks upon the following passages may not be out of
place. " There had been a cessation of controversy,"
says Neal *, " for some time before the death of
Queen Elizabeth : the Puritans being in hopes, upon
the accession of a king that had been educated in
their own principles, to obtain an easy redress of
their grievances ; and certainly no prince ever had it
so much in his power to compromise the differences
of the Church as King James I. at the Conference at
Hampton Court ; but being an indolent and vain
glorious monarchy he became a willing captive to
the bishops, who flattered his vanity, and put that
maxim into his head, ( No bishop, no king. 9 " " If
King James," he farther remarks, " had any prin-
ciples of religion besides what he called king-craft,
or dissimulation, he changed them with the climate,
for, from being a rigid Calvinist, he became a fa-
vourer of Arminianism in the latter part of his
reign : from being a Protestant of the purest kirk
upon earth 2 , a doctrinal papist 3 : and, from a dis-
guised Puritan, the most implacable enemy of that
1 Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. ii. Preface, p. iii. iv.
3 He here means the Kirk of Scotland. Cedite Graii ! It is
an assertion which even some of the members of that legal estab-
lishment would not hazard at the present day, though it is much
better now than it was in the days of Andrew Melville, or the
succeeding years of covenanting chivalry.
3 That Neal must have been aware he was here writing a
falsehood, is undeniable, if he had any common discrimination.
Luckily for him, he does not give his authorities ; in truth, he
could not, but his followers have believed it !
56 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
people, putting all the springs of the prerogative
in motion to drive them out of both kingdoms."
And once more, to the same purpose, in another
place, about James's accession, " The Scotch minis-
ters did not approach him with the distant submis-
sion and reverence of the English bishops, and
therefore within nine months he renounced Pres-
bytery, and established it for a maxim, no bishop,
no king : so soon did this pious monarch renounce
all his former principles, (if he had any,) and break
the most awful and solemn oaths and vows V
The above assertions are utterly groundless from
beginning to end, and this, even although I were
not persuaded that future generations will yet do
justice to the too-often misrepresented motives and
actions of James, when those times arrive in which
men will divest themselves of the prejudice of
party, and accustom themselves to calm and sober
reflection. These statements, however, are false,
on three accounts : first, because they contain a
dogmatic apology for the fanaticism of the Puritans,
not on facts, but on mere assumptions ; secondly,
because they are libels on the character of James,
which are disgraceful to the writer, in his lamen-
tation for James's departure from " the purest kirk
on earth ;" because they are not supported ; and
because some few phrases which the monarch used
in ordinary conversation, are taken advantage of:
1 Neal's History, vol. ii. p. 4. Calderwood's Church History,
p. 418. 473, &c.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 57
thirdly, because they are denied by historical fact,
and refuted by the practice of modern times.
The apology which is here made for the fana-
ticism of the Puritans is remarkable. There had
been no cessation of controversy before the death
of Elizabeth, for the Puritans, as I have already
shewn, had filled the Universities with their dis-
putes, had been patronized by Walsingham, and
had been strengthening themselves by training
future supporters to their cause. If there was a
cessation, it was because they had the advantage,
and, being adepts in intrigue, they looked forward
to the accession of James as the period of their
complete triumph : for already did they prevail in
the University of Oxford under the fostering care
of Abbot, and Cambridge contained a considerable
number of the disciples of Cartwright. Accord-
ingly we find, that in the former University they
held the chief influence, until Laud astonished them
by his lecture of Mrs. Maye's foundation. The
Puritan leaders had been industrious in circulating
their principles among the people, as their works
still testify, and they were indefatigable in securing
to themselves a vantage-ground, which they anti-
cipated would enable them to triumph in the next
reign. Knowing Elizabeth's determined opposition
to them, it was not to be supposed that they would
brave her power: her decease could not be far
distant ; they were busy, therefore, in laying the
foundation on which they were afterwards to build.
But not a single authority can be adduced to prove
58 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
that this part of Neale's representation is supported
by facts, and the slightest examination might have
satisfied that writer, had he resolved to be candid,
that the veiy histcry of those enthusiasts whom he
lauds so highly, is against himself; nay, he himself
has written in his first volume what he directly con-
tradicts in the second.
These statements, again, are false, because they
are malicious libels on the character of James.
We are told, that " from a Protestant of the purest
kirk upon earth," he became " a doctrinal Papist V
from a ' ' disguised Puritan," he became their " im-
placable enemy." And were there, then, no purer
churches in that age than the Kirk of Scotland? and
are the opinions of John Calvin the sole criterion
of purity ? But do the admirers of Neal require to
be told that it is not so ? I am persuaded that there
are few Dissenters in England, the very descend-
1 By the phrase, a " doctrinal papist," it must be understood,
I presume, that James was a believer in the doctrines of the Rom-
ish Church ; otherwise, if the Puritan historian really did write
figuratively, he might have condescended to explain his meaning
more fully. But the severity of James' treatment towards the
Roman Catholics so exasperated them, that human sagacity alone
enabled him to escape from the dreadful vengeance which they
had prepared to execute on him and his court, in the memorable
Gunpowder Plot. From his fondness for controversial learning,
too, he founded Chelsea College, for the support of a number of
polemical divines, whose talents and exertions were to be em-
ployed in refuting the Roman Catholics. This is the monarch
whom our Puritan calls a " doctrinal papist," and a prince who
" was destitute of principle, if he ever had any !"
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 59
ants of the Puritans, who will subscribe to these
assertions of their historiographer. The preachers of
the " purest kirk upon earth" had disgusted James
on almost every occasion. They had insulted him,
traduced the memory of his mother, had openly
denounced her before his face, had made pointed
allusions to her from the pulpit, had offered sedi-
tious prayers to the throne of Heaven, had preached
sedition. Whenever their conclave thought proper
to legislate, they did so as if that legislation were
the standard of government ; if the slightest oppo-
sition was made, condemnation was openly de-
nounced : they were invariably sharers in secret plots
and intrigues ; continually interfering in politics,
with which they had no concern ; they vindicated
the plots of more than one band of conspirators ;
they had their own share in the daring conspiracy
of Ruthven, Earl of Gowrie : in a word, they de-
clared that they were superior to the parliament,
and that it had no right to enact laws without their
consent, " because/' said they, " our power is of
God, and Jesus Christ alone is our king." Such
were the insufferable conduct and fanaticism of the
preachers of the " the purest kirk upon earth." And
if the Church of Scotland was the purest then, it
must consequently be the purest now, for it pro-
fesses (at least its present members do, for them-
selves,) that it is a perfect specimen of the early
Scottish Reformation. But there is not a Dissenter
in England, not even Presbyterians, who would not
smile at this assertion : and more than once have
60 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
they declared their opinions on this matter *, and
they, by a singular inconsistency with the practice
of their ancestors, reject the Erastian tenet, " That
Christ and his apostles have prescribed no particular
form of discipline for the Church in after ages, but
have left the keys in the hands of the civil magis-
trate, who has the sole power of punishing trans-
gressors, and of appointing such particular forms of
church-government from time to time, as are most
subservient to the peace and welfare of the com*
monwealth." This was the notable discovery of
John Calvin, too, after what Dr. Cook calls, " a
careful study of the New Testament :" and the very
essence of Calvinism therefore is, the doctrine of
resistance to civil governors, if, no matter how
trivial or useful, they should be conceived to do any
thing which the individual chooses to think a griev-
ance 2 . A strange inconsistency truly, first to give
the civil magistrate the sword, and then to aver
that it is lawful to resist his authority, if it be
thought that he rules with impropriety. Who are
the judges ? The people, say the admirers of Cal-
vin; but is it not a fact, that a state in which
every man sets himself as an expounder of the laws
would be one of anarchy and bloodshed : that the
people are not themselves sufficient judges, nor, if
they promise obedience, have they a right to dispute
1 See the Congregational Magazine, for 1819, No. 16 ; and
the Evangelical Magazine for April 1828, in the review of the
Scotch Presbytery of London's Pastoral Letter.
fl a Calvin's Epist, 283. 285. -305, 306. Knox'sHist. 391401,
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 61
authority, however repugnant that may be to their
individual opinions ? These remarks are not against
liberty of conscience, but they are against private
interpretation ; and history presents a too faithful
record of the effects of those baneful maxims which
were inculcated in this country. For, from the
combined violence and fanaticism of the English
Puritans and the Scottish Covenanters, we know
enough to deprecate another attempt to make the
rabble of a nation the judges and arbiters of reli-
gious and political disputes.
I venture to add one remark upon the Puritan
historian's assertion, that James was a " doctrinal
Papist," and that from " a disguised Puritan," he
became their most "implacable enemy." These
falsehoods are made, because James defended his
own prerogative, and the Episcopal Church of
England, and because he did not countenance and
yield to puritanical extravagance 1 . But James,
though pedantic, and often imprudent though at
times weak, and, it maybe, indolent, was not deficient
in political foresight, though he knew not always
how to exercise it. His misfortune, and that of his
successor, was the want of such able statesmen as
conducted the public affairs in the reign of Eliza-
beth, while his partiality to favourites made him
elevate some to that distinction who had no capa-
city for it, and disregard others who were more
deserving. But he saw the enthusiasm of his Pu-
1 Kirkton's History of the Church of Scotland, edited from
the original MS. by C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. 4to. Edit.
1817, p. 15 r 16.
62 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
ritan subjects ; he needed " no bishops" to be his
instructors ; he had felt it, severely felt it, before
his accession, while his rule was confined to their
Presbyterian friends in the north. He saw it neces-
sary, therefore, to assert his prerogative, to draw
tightly the reins of government, and, if possible, to
restrain that religious frenzy which had excited the
spirit of faction. The pupil of Buchanan was not
destitute of penetration, and he is called a "doctrinal
papist," not because he believed in Popery, for not
even the sturdiest Puritan could be animated by a
greater anti-popish zeal than he, but because he
became the ' ' implacably enemy" of men who, he
saw, were secretly spreading their enthusiastic opi-
nions throughout the kingdom, to overthrow the
constitution of the Church and State, and who
were attempting to make Calvin the grand oracle
of all theological and political science. What, there-
fore, was the result ? Of what advantage would the
reformation of religion have been to James, as a
monarch and a prince, had he yielded at his acces-
sion to the demands of the Puritans ? A Church
in which " every man did that which was right in
his own eyes," and rejected all human authority, was
a nursery of sedition, of treason, of every thing, in
short, which could molest and annoy, and which
its preachers would not fail to defend, in their
visionary themes about spirituality, and what they
termed things lawful. These remarks, therefore,
are against private interpretation, whether in re-
ligion or politics : it should be the voice of the
learned, not of the ignorant ; of the prudent, not of
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 63
the clamorous and violent : and not even should it be
always the former, seeing that they are alike subject
to deception. The Reformation had indeed rid
James of the intolerance and tyranny of one Pope ;
but to have yielded to Puritans, would have been to
have raised up against himself a pope in every parish
of England and Scotland. He had been delivered,
I say, from the absurdities of one extreme, now he
would have fallen into another. And if the contest
had been between him and the Bishop of Rome,
if he fell, there was glory in the fall : it was to
crouch before the majestic lion : but to have fallen
before the Puritans, and tlje Calvinistic preachers
of the north, to have yielded to them, to have al-
lowed their fanaticism to triumph, it was un-
worthy of him as an English monarch, <vi
The Puritan historian's assertions are, moreover,
proved to be false by historical facts, and are re-
futed by the practice of modern times. The former
part of this particular I shall point out as I pro-
ceed ; the latter part may be discussed in a few
words. " No bishop, no king," was a favourite
phrase among their party, which they faithfully re-
peated from James, who had jocularly used it on
one occasion. But granting its absurdity, had it
been seriously used, the practice of the Puritans,
and indeed their language, may justly be retorted
upon them with no less acrimony, for it was with
them virtually, No Puritans, no freedom ; no Cal-
vinism, no religion ; no Presbytery, no true church-
government ; no opposition to Episcopacy, no li-
64 .0 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
berty of conscience ! And, let it be noted, the writer
who has faithfully recorded this phrase, and his
partizans who believe it true, are the very persons
whose conduct displays that heated imagination
which will not allow men to think with candour,
and reason with impartiality. It has, indeed, been
again and again asserted by the Presbyterians of
the north, and the Dissenters of the south, and in
this they make a most deplorable display of igno-
rance, that Episcopacy did not exist before it was
countenanced by the civil power : that it was readily
adopted by those monarchs who aimed at arbitrary
government and despotism : and that it is merely a
worldly hierarchy, existing solely by the support
and protection of the secular arm : therefore, ac-
cording to these speculators, there can be no Epis-
copacy where there is no monarchy no Episcopacy
where there is no civil support. The first and
second of these assertions will come under my
notice in another place : let me therefore make a
single remark on the third, and on the natural in-
ference which is to be drawn from the facts. In the
United States of America, in which it yet remains
to be shewn whether the government, or that of the
monarchy of England, is the wiser and the better,
notwithstanding the high encomiums which have
been passed on that republicanism by certain men
in this country, under a government which pro-
fesses to countenance no religion at all, but to pro-
tect every sect, however absurd and ridiculous its
belief, however infidel and deluding, in that coun-
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 65
try, where, notwithstanding its many works of reli-
gious philanthropy, infidelity stalks abroad, shew-
ing its gorgon head, and ejecting its deadly poison,
there is a branch of the Episcopal Church, having
dioceses and regularly consecrated bishops, who by
their practice conform to every apostolical and pri-
mitive injunction which Church, to say the least,
ranks the third in point of numbers in the United
States, and the first in point of the learning and
moral worth of its clergy, and its conformity to
apostolical truth and primitive order. Here, then, is
a church, a branch of the ancient Episcopal Church,
which has bishops, where there is " no king ;" and
which is not only existing, but reckons an increase of
its members every year. This fact, therefore, proves
the fallaciousness and ignorance of the assertion,
that Episcopacy is dependent upon monarchy, and
cannot prosper without it ; which is refuted by
Presbyterianism being now the legal establishment
of Scotland, which, though professing to be repub-
lican and free in its constitution, nevertheless is
closely allied to the state, and exists as an establish-
ment by its protection from the secular power.
But there is another proof, which in a discussion
of this nature, and especially in a narrative of
Laud's life and times, ought not to be forgotten.
I allude to that venerable and primitive, though
humble and depressed communion, the Episcopal
Church of Scotland, about which it will be my duty
hereafter to say much in detail. This small suffer-
ing Church, in whose welfare Laud in his prosperous
VOL. I. F
66 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
days interested himself so greatly, has existed since
the Revolution in a state of total neglect, at which
period it ceased to be the Established Church, not
because William III. had any particular partiality
for Presbyterianism, although a Calvinist, for he
solemnly declared to Bishop Rose of Edinburgh, at
the Hague, that he would preserve it, but because
the bishops and clergy, from conscientious motives,
would not take the oath of allegiance. Nay, this
Church has not only existed without the slightest
support or patronage from the secular power, but
even when its clergy were proscribed and punished,
if found " worshipping God after the manner of
their fathers," when its members were prohibited
from assembling themselves together, and when
their chapels were plundered and destroyed by out-
rageous and ignorant mobs of Presbyterians. Nor
was this the procedure of that age of strife, turbu-
lence, and sedition, when the zealots of the Cove-
nant drew the sword, and threw the scabbard away,
but it was the procedure of the eighteenth century,
and the vengeance of the government was wreaked
on the unfortunate Episcopalians of Scotland, as if
they had been the chief ringleaders of the insurrec-
tion of 1745. The Episcopal clergy had been rab-
bled out (as it was called) from their livings on the
triumph of Presbytery in 1688, nor were the insults
few which they experienced from the stern and in-
tolerant Calvinists. But with a purpose still more
malignant, more than half a century after that event,
the Presbyterians made ample retaliation for the
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 67
persecutions which their fathers were said to have
undergone, and which they most unjustly and igno -
rantly ascribed to the Church. At that time, they
procured edicts from the court, not only against the
Episcopalians of Scotland, but against their re-
ligion itself 1 ; and some of the clergy were actually
imprisoned in the middle of the last century for
officiating according to the established ritual of the
Church. Nor was it till within the last thirty years
that those penal acts were removed, which so dis-
gracefully oppressed this humble Church, under
which it laboured long, without exciting the commi-
seration of the more flourishing Church of England.
And at this moment, what are the prospects of this
our Church in Scotland ? We rejoice to know that
it is advancing in popular opinion, which must be
the case in proportion as men become more enlight-
ened ; that it can reckon a considerable number of
chapels within the five dioceses, and that it can
boast of a clergy who are riot, for learning, in any
respect, behind their more favoured neighbours of
England. Here, then, is another branch of the
Episcopal Church, existing, as if in a republic,
without any protection from the state save tolera-
tion ; and yet the episcopal order is preserved with-
out the slightest variation. This is a powerful argu-
ment against the maxim on which the Puritans have
expatiated so copiously, " no bishop, no king,"
1 The reader will find this subject copiously treated in the,
Continuation to Bishop Keith's Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops,
by the Rev. Dr. Russel of Leith.
F 2
68 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
Having made these remarks, it is needless to en-
large farther on the religious state of the kingdom
at the accession of James. The Puritans, who had
indulged in the most sanguine hopes, and who had
thought proper to make some innovations in the
Church, were extremely mortified at the king's pro-
clamation, that no alteration was to take place in
the doctrine and discipline. They were not, how-
ever, all animated with the same spirit, nor inclined
to proceed at the very outset to unwarrantable ex-
tremes ; for though they were all inclined to Pres-
byterianisrn, and secretly designed the downfall of
the Church, " they disliked," says Collier, " those
sallies of zeal, and resolved to manage by a more
regular motion." Accordingly, they appointed
meetings among themselves ; and, after a long de-
liberation, they presented a petition to the king,
entitled, ' ' The humble petition of certain Ministers
of the Church of England, desiring reformation of
sundry ceremonies and abuses." This petition,
known as the famous Millenary Petition, because,
it was alleged to have been subscribed by a thou-
sand Puritan ministers, though it wanted, at the
least two hundred to complete that number l , was
presented in the month of April, 1603. Its pream-
ble was set forth by a denial that they " were fac-
tious men, affecting a popular party in the Church,"
or that they were " schismatics, aiming at the dis-
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 672. Neal's History of
the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 5,
J604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 69
solution of the state ecclesiastical ;" but affirming
that they were " faithful ministers of Christ, and
loyal subjects to his Majesty ;" and that they groaned
"under the burden of human rites and ceremonies :"
and they proceeded to enumerate their desires of
reformation in four heads ; namely, in the church
service ; concerning ministers ; about church liv-
ings ; and on church discipline. As this petition,
though written in plausible language, and making
no express remonstrance against Episcopacy, or the
service of the Liturgy, bore generally against the
whole practice of the Church, the Universities in-
stantly opposed it, as they were more likely to dis-
cover the designs of the Puritans, from the numbers
who resided within their walls. An order passed at
a Congregation in Cambridge, ordaining that he
who wrote against the Church, or opposed in any
way the doctrine and discipline, should be sus-
pended from all his degrees, and be deprived of
taking others at any future period l . Instructions
were also given to draw out an answer to the peti-
tion ; but the heads of colleges at Cambridge, being
informed that an answer was in a state of consi-
derable forwardness at Oxford, contented them-
selves with merely writing a letter of thanks to that
University for its zeal and activity.
Laud had by this time been chosen Proctor for
1 Collier, ut sup. p. 673. Fuller's Church History, p. 22.
Wood, Athen. Oxon. Life of Whitgift, p. 267. Neal, vol. ii.
p. 7.
70 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
the University of Oxford, his appointment to that
office being dated May 4, 1603 l . Although he took
no remarkable share in the answer to the Millenary
Petition, he yet exerted all his influence to thwart
the craftiness and smoothness which were concealed
therein. He penetrated into its design, and as it
had been strongly rumoured that some of the
Scots Presbyterians at court had promised to aid
it with all their influence, thereby furthering the
views of their Calvinistic friends in the north, and
as he saw, moreover, that its success would prove
the destruction not only of the Church, but also of
the Universities, he lent his efficient aid to the re-
ply, entitled, " An Answer of the Vice-Chancellor,
Doctors, Proctors, &c. in the University of Oxford,
to the Petition of the Ministers of the Church of
England desiring Reformation." In this petition,
the University justly charges the Puritans with
false conduct, in first subscribing, and then com-
plaining of those things which they had subscribed.
They are asserted to be factious men, and some
severe but just remarks are made on the Scotch
reformation, and the intemperate zeal for novelty
which characterized those who were embroiling the
Church in that kingdom. A severe censure, too,
is passed therein on the intolerance of Presbyte-
rianism, as it was displayed among the Scots, by
which every preacher carried himself in the most
domineering manner, not only towards his equals
1 Diary, p. 2.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 71
who differed from him, but even towards those who
conducted the government.
Nothing, in truth, could be more unfair than the
conduct of the Puritans on this occasion. Besides
giving occasion to a multitude of smaller petitions
from all quarters of the country, they had not the
manliness to declare, that they wished the extirpa-
tion of Episcopacy, and the establishment of Pres-
byterianism,that irreverent offspring of a foreign soil>
but they adopted covert language, and affected the
greatest piety and moderation. The measures which
they tpok to procure subscriptions, too, were cha-
racteristic of the party. The chief petition, indeed,
was subscribed only by ministers, but the minor
ones were subscribed by every person who could
scrawl his own name. " Sure I am," says Fuller 1 ,
" the prelatical party complained, that to swell a
number, the non-conformists did not choose, but
scrape subscribers, not to speak of the ubiquita-
riness of some hands, the same being always pre-
sent at all petitions. Indeed, to the first only
ministers were admitted, but to the latter brood of
petitions, no hand which had five fingers was re-
fused. Insomuch, that Master George (now Lord)
Goring, who then knew little, and cared less, for
Church government, as unable to govern himself,
being then (fifty years since,) rather a youth than
a man, a boy than a youth, set his hand thereto, in
the right, I believe, of his mother, a good lady,
1 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 24.
72 , LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
and much inclined to that party : and King James
would in merriment make sport with him, to know,
what reasons moved him at that age to this sub-
scription."
The result of this petition was the famous Hamp-
ton Court Conference, held on the 14th of January,
1604. In this procedure the king acted contrary
to the practice of his predecessor. Elizabeth con-
ceived that public religious disputations frequently
induced disorders, and therefore she avoided them
altogether ; but James was of a different opinion,
and resolved to embrace the opportunity of paving
a public debate, and perhaps making a display of his
learning, of which he was exceedingly vain; He
accordingly issued a summons to each party for this
Conference. The commissioners of the Church
were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of
London, Durham, Winchester, Worcester, St. Da-
vid's, Chichester, Peterborough, and Carlisle, the
Deans of Westminster, St. Paul's, Christ Church,
Worcester, Salisbury, Chester, and Windsor, with
Dr. King, the Archdeacon of Nottingham, and Dr.
Field, afterwards Dean of Gloucester. The Mil-
lenary petitioners, on their side, sent only four de-
legates Dr. John Reynolds, already mentioned,
and Dr. Thomas Sparke, from Oxford ; Messrs.
Chadderton and Knewstubbe, from Cambridge l .
The Conference lasted three days, and ultimately
1 The Sum and Substance of the Hampton Court Conference,
by William Barlow, D.D. and Dean of Chester, London, 1604.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 73
ended in the defeat of the Nonconformists. It pro-
duced, however, some alterations in the Liturgy.
The baptizing of children by women was forbid-
den : in the rubric of absolution, the words, the re-
mission of sins, were inserted : confirmation was
termed an examination of children : some words
were altered in the Gospels ; and it was resolved
at this Conference, in fine, that there should be a
new translation of the Bible l . This most import-
ant of all points, was speedily carried into effect,
and our present translation is the version which
was produced by the famous Conference at Hamp-
ton Court 2 .
1 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 21.
* The changes, to be more particular, were as follows. In the
general absolution, after the confession of sin, the words the re-
mission of sins, were added. In the office for baptism, instead
of let them that be present, we now have, " let the lawful minister
and them that be present." See some other minor changes, on
comparing the Book of Common Prayer, printed in 1599, with
that of 1 61 5. Dr. Reynolds and his three friends were satisfied
with these changes and explanations, and promised to render due
obedience to their ecclesiastical superiors. The thanksgivings,
added on this occasion, were those for rain, fair weather, plenty,
peace, and victory, and for deliverance from the plague, with a
few additions to the Catechism. Vide Records, apud Collier's
Eccles. History, vol. ii. No. C. from the Paper Office. I ex-
tract the last particular, under " the fourth head to be reformed
rather by care of good magistrates, than by straitness of law."
* Lastly, for matter of ceremonies and order, being thought in-
different, that the rule of the apostle be kept, that all things be
done to edification, that so neither grave, sober, and peaceable
persons be not too far urged at first, nor turbulent and unquiet
74 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
Neal, the Puritan historian, speaks of this Con-
ference with great contempt. He calls it " a mock
conference," and insinuates that the commissioners
of the Church had transacted matters with the king
before the appointed time. Reynolds, it would ap-
pear, lost the favour of his party ; and though
Neal well knew that he was defeated in the argu-
ment, he accounts for it by asserting, that it was
nothing wonderful, " being overawed by the place
and company, and his sovereign as his opponent."
The Puritans, indeed, sent forth numerous misrepre-
sentations of this Conference, being enraged at the
keen disappointment. They asserted, that the
King had summoned their delegates, not to hear
them debate, but to inform them of his pleasure ;
not to know what they wished to say, but to let
them know what he resolved to do. They charged
Dr. Barlow with giving a partial account of the dis-
putation, alleging, that as he was then a professed
enemy, it must follow that his account was false.
But the conduct of the King during the conference
deserves the highest applause ; and from the re-
marks on Dr. Barlow's narrative, it is evident that
the Puritans were not an order of men at all inclined
to learn truth even from an enemy. Though Neal
asserts, that the primate and his brethren had been
indefatigable in possessing the King with their opi-
ry "< "' '.'ii'V ;>
persons, and true spirits, to do what they list. These," it i&
added, " are the conclusions of this conference, wherein his Ma-
jesty sat as moderator to the great admiration of all."
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 75
nions of the excellency of the English hierarchy, as
resembling the practice of the primitive Church, and
best suited to monarchical government, thereby in-
sinuating, according to custom, that his friends re-
ceived unfair treatment ; yet the observations which
James made are honourable to his talents, and cre-
ditable to his learning. It was no hasty tutorage
which induced that prince to decide ; indeed, it was
by no means easy to control him in points which
related to theological speculations. But the Puri-
tans did not stop with these insinuations ; numerous
pamphlets were printed and circulated among their
associates, in which they abused Dr. Barlow, who
had published an account of the conference. " Not-
withstanding," says Collier, te the Nonconformists
came off with disadvantage, they gave out the news
of their having gained an absolute victory : and for
this purpose they affirmed, that the King had gra-
tified Dr. Reynolds "in every thing desired; that
these concessions (the alterations in the Liturgy)
were but the beginnings of reformation ; and that
greater things were expected ; that the Bishop of
Winchester was silent upon the matter ; that the
Bishop of London called Dr. Reynolds a schismatic,
but said little to the purpose ; that the King treated
the bishops haughtily, but was kind and caressing to
Dr. Reynolds ; that the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishop of London, kneeling to the King,
entreated his Majesty to take their cause into his
own hands, and put such an end to it as might not
76 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
injure their reputation V 'Neal, of course, has
given his own account of it, in which he makes his
remarks to bear against Dr. Barlow's narrative, and
insinuates, on the authority of a Puritan minister,
that Barlow repented on his death-bed of the injus-
tice he had done the Nonconformists : forgetting
that the Dean's narrative would not have been pub-
lished at all, had it not been necessary for his own
vindication 2 .
After this a proclamation was issued by the king
for uniformity in discipline and worship ; and thus
1 I quote another specimen of the Puritan historian's can-
dour in his authorities. " The Account of the Conference," says
he, " was published only by Dr. Barlow, who being a party-man,
(says Fuller), set a sharp edge on his own, and a blunt one on his
adversaries' weapons." (Vol. ii. p. 11.) Now, from this we na-
turally would conclude, that these are Fuller's exact words, and
bearing quite to the point ; but no such thing. Neal was not
over-scrupulous in giving new and improved versions of his quo-
tations. The passage in Fuller is simply this : after remarking
that the Puritans complained that only Dr. B., their professed
enemy, (there is nothing about party-man) had given a narration
of the affair, to their own disadvantage, " and when the Israel-
ites," says Fuller, " go down to the Philistines, to whet all their
own tools, no wonder if they set a sharp edge on their own, and a
blunt one on their enemies' weapons." (Book x. p. 21.) Com-
ment is needless, when these two passages are compared. It is
no doubt a trifling circumstance, yet it goes far to let us know the
method of the Puritans in taking advantage of their authors.
2 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 683. The object of Dr.
Barlow's publication was to remove the aspersions which were
cast on himself and some prelates, particularly the Primate, and
the Bishops of London and Winchester.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 77
the Puritans retired from the Conference completely
overcome. No doubt they craved time to give in
their answers, but this was the result of their cause,
that they must have time to reflect before they came
to a decision. On the whole, therefore, the senti-
ments of the royal proclamation were rigidly just :
" that they (the Nonconformists) did absolutely use
a form of prayer of their own ; held assemblies with-
out authority; and did other things, carrying a very
apparent shew of sedition more than zeal : that the
success of the Conference was that, which happens
to many other things, which give great expectation
before they are closely examined : that he found
strong remonstrances supported by such slender
proofs, that both himself and his council perceived
there was no ground for any change in those things
which were loudly clamoured against : that the Book
of Common Prayer, and the doctrine of the Esta-
blished Church, were both unexceptionable ; and as
to the rites and ceremonies, they had the practice
of the primitive Church to plead in their defence :
and, lastly, that notwithstanding, with the consent
of the bishops, and other learned men, some passages
were rather explained than altered; yet, with a rea-
sonable construction, every thing might very well
have stood in its former condition." The king then
proceeds to enjoin the use of the Book of Common
Prayer on all his subjects, civil and ecclesiastical;
and commands offenders to be punished agreeably to
the laws of the realm. In fine, he admonishes all
his subjects, of what rank soever, not to expect any
78 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
alteration in the public service ; and that he would
give no persons any occasion to presume that his re-
solution, so maturely settled, could be removed by
any frivolous suggestions ; neither was he ignorant
how much a government must suffer by admitting
innovations, and departing from things settled after
a thorough debate. And yet, such is the levity of
some men, that they are always languishing after
change and novelty ; insomuch, that were they to
be humoured in their inconstancy, they would ex-
pose the public management, and make the admi-
nistration ridiculous l .
In these remarks I feel persuaded that all judi-
cious men will coincide. Our own experience in the
ordinary business of life, as well as our observation,
must corroborate them ; and if this " desultory le-
vity" be observed in common affairs, and be natural
to some people, is it not much more likely that in
religion, a subject on which, above all others, men
disagree, it will be more prevalent ? If religious
matters must invariably appear different to differ-
ent individuals, what would be the consequence
were every impulse of methodistical enthusiasm to
be regarded ? But let us hear Neal on this pro-
clamation. " It was a high strain of the preroga-
tive to alter a form of worship established by law
merely by a royal proclamation, without consent of
parliament or convocation ; for by the same autho-
rity that his Majesty altered one article in the Li-
Jfs aifai K^.L> : r \3aii id fo ,o valVrft
1 Proclamation to the Book of Common Prayer, printed 1615.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 79
turgy, he might set aside the whole ; for every sen-
tence was equally established by act of parliament :
but this wise monarch made no scruple of dispensing
with the laws. However, the validity of all procla-
mations determining with the king's life,, and there
being no subsequent act of parliament to establish
these amendments, it was argued very justly in the
next reign that this was not the Liturgy of the
Church of England established by law, and conse-
quently not binding upon the clergy." Now, Neal
should have told us by whom this was justly argued,
though we know well it was by one of the most vio-
lent republican Puritans. Yet this writer should
have established his first assertion, in order to make
out an argument, before he laid before us a second,
and proved to us wherein James " altered one arti-
cle in the Liturgy," or what he meant by " one
article !" James himself, in his declaration, says,
that, with consent of the bishops and other learned
men, some passages had rather been explained than
altered ; yet, with a reasonable construction, every
thing might very well have stood in itsformer con-
dition; and, in fact, he had no intention of altering
at all. Where, then, consisted the " high strain-
ing of the prerogative," or the " altering of a form
of worship established by law ?" Had the form of
worship really been altered, according to the literal
meaning of that expression, that is, had there been
an alteration from Episcopacy to Popery or Pres-
bytery, it would truly "have been a high strain
of the prerogative " to have done so by a royal pro-
7
80 LIFE AND TIMES [1604,
clamation merely, " without the consent of the par-
liament or convocation :" although I may remark
by the way, that the Puritan ministers in this Con-
ference, when pressing James to make complete
alterations, spoke neither of parliament nor convo-
cation, but fell on their knees before him, and ad-
dressed him as if he, in his own person, and by his
own command, could alter the ecclesiastical consti-
tution. And had James gratified their desires, whe-
ther he consulted the parliament and convocation
or not, we should have heard nothing about the
" mock conference," or the " high strain of the pre-
rogative;" but, on the contrary, we should have
had a complete defence of every step taken in the
affair. Such is the inconsistency of the men who
have asserted, that the freedom of our country is
owing to the rigid adherence of the Puritans to the
doctrines of Calvin. But had Neal only read the
thirty- seventh Article, he might have seen what the
fathers of the English Church meant by the royal
prerogative, with which James' conduct was in strict
accordance ; and as that Article, with the others, had
been ratified both by parliament and the convoca-
tion in 1571 ; and as not only the bishops, and other
learned men, but the privy council (a fact which
Neal forgets) were present at this Conference, there
was not, in the nature of things, a high straining of
the prerogative in this royal proclamation,, inasmuch
as James acted solely with the power vested in him
by the constitution. Had he, I repeat, " altered
one article in the Liturgy," with the consent of the
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 81
t
civil and ecclesiastical powers, he would have
" strained his prerogative/' and acted in direct
opposition to the laws. But it does not follow,
that the " explaining, rather than altering," to
quote from this very proclamation, " some pas-
sages," which, " with a reasonable construction,"
might have " stood in their former condition," is
an altering of articles, in the meaning which is at-
tached to that expression. In short, James merely
modified a few phrases, so far as the language was
concerned ; but no article or doctrine was altered,
which Neal either knew, or might have known, had
he examined the subject, and compared the royal
proclamation with this pretended " straining of the
prerogative," and alteration of the Articles.
Much, indeed, might be said on this subject,
more especially as the Puritans took occasion to
misrepresent this famous Conference, which, had it
done nothing more, is entitled to the veneration
and gratitude of posterity, for giving rise to the
translation of the Holy Scriptures. Meeting, there-
fore, all Neal's assertions, and reprobating his ca-
lumnies, and the falsehoods which he has repeated
to serve his purpose, along with his garbled ex-
tracts from, and misrepresentations of, the language
of his antagonists, his remark is utterly ground-
less, that if " his Majesty altered one article in the
Liturgy, he might set aside the whole," Having
seen that he has here perverted truth, by calling the
mere modification of a sentence, the changing of
VOL. I. G
82
LIFE AND TIMES
[1604.
an article of religion, not less ambiguous is the
meaning of the next observation, that " every
sentence was equally established by act of Par-
liament." Now, this, in effect, is either ignorance
or malice, for though the Parliament has rati-
fied all which the Liturgy contains, and has en-
joined that it be daily used at morning and evening
prayer, yet it has not ratified every individual
word, as if there were no other words of the same
meaning, or as if the mere modification or explain-
ing of a sentence were the alteration of an article of
belief. The prohibition merely is, that no person
shall explain away the Articles from their literal and
grammatical sense, and force a construction upon
them which it was never intended they should
admit, to suit his own purposes of private inter-
pretation a prohibition which is imperatively ne-
cessary, seeing the fondness of some men for
authority in their religious frenzies. And as to
the puerile argument used, it would appear " very
justly in the next reign, that this was not the
Liturgy of the Church of England, established by
law, and consequently not binding upon the clergy,"
merely, forsooth, because the slight explanation of
some sentences had been given in James* reign, it
is evident that it was a mere quibble, employed by
those violent and fanatical republicans, who were
mustering their forces to overturn the civil and
ecclesiastical constitution, in which unhappily they
too well succeeded. But it was characteristic of
7
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 83
the Puritans, whose determined hostility to the
Church, because their Calvinistic prejudices were
not gratified, requires no comment.
On the whole, then, the puritanical objections
to the Church of England must evidently appear
to be weak and trifling. Indeed, they themselves
acknowledged that the " common burden of rites
and ceremonies" under which they professed " to
groan," were in themselves immaterial, and did not
affect or endanger salvation. Where, then, was
their vantage-ground ? Where their justification for
that fanatical schism which they were the means of
introducing ? Where their defence for that alleged
spirituality and " godly reformation," about which
they clamoured so violently ? If they were of little
consequence, why not adopt them, since they were
agreed to by the whole Church, if there was
nothing in the Scriptures against them, why strain
the language of scriptural truth by far-fetched in-
ductions and illustrations to oppose them ? They
said they were of little consequence ; on their own
shewing, therefore, they could do no harm : but
if they could be proved to have been the practice
of the primitive Church, then they must be in
themselves not only useful, but laudable, and, if
not repugnant to God's holy word, tending to edi-
fication. If they were agreed to by the Church in
general, ought the greater number to yield to the
lesser? The case, in short, stands thus: The
Church, after the Reformation, adopted certain
rites and ceremonies which were practised in the
G 2
LIFE AND TIMES
[1604.
apostolical and primitive times, and certainly what
was then practised is at least entitled to some
authority ; but a few men start up and argue, that
they cannot agree to these things, they find no
command for them in the Scriptures, their con-
sciences are wounded, they must be given up.
What then ? There is no direct authority for the
change from the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian ;
not a single passage is there to support this act of
the Church : it is a mere matter of tradition, ought
tradition, then, to be rejected because it is so ? A
Puritan, if he be consistent, must reject it. I
could adduce other facts, assented to by the Pu-
ritans themselves, which rest merely on tradition,
though it is needless ; nay, is it not evident, that the
ascertaining of the number and extent of the canon-
ical books of the Old and New Testaments is a
matter of literary research, there not being a single
command in these books as to their direct limita-
tion ? If, therefore, the individual consciences of
a few men were wounded, is that a sufficient reason
to justify schism? Ought they not to have known
that the opinions of those whom they opposed were
just as much entitled to reverence as their own ?
And was it lawful for them, who were but few in
number, to disturb the peace of the Church, and
harass the civil power, and, on being defeated, to
give utterance to their feelings in foul calumnies
and bitter reproaches, when the opinion of the
Church was, at least, as good as that of the schis-
matics ? But the wildness of their opinions was too
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 85
well known : and their attachment to the Calvi-
nistic novelties met with a deserved opposition.
They had some years before been most active in-
struments in a conspiracy against Elizabeth ] , and
now they were again sowing the seeds of national
discontent : they were contending, in a word, for
an exercise of religion, which, had it been granted,
would have been productive of the most fearful
absurdities and extravagances.
Had the Puritans soberly weighed the Articles
of the Church, they would most probably have re-
flected before they proceeded to extremities. I
know well that the Article to which I am about to
refer is unpopular among their admirers, but it does
not follow, that, because a proposition is unpopu-
lar, it is not true ; for the most wholesome truths
are generally those which are ill-digested. The
20th Article, then, contains three propositions :
" The Church hath power to decree rites and cere-
monies, and authority in matters of faith. And yet
it is not I awful for the Church to ordain any thing
that is contrary to God's word written, neither
may it so expound Scripture at one place that it
be repugnant to another." The truth of these
propositions is evident. For what is the Church ?
The 19th Article answers the question ; and there-
fore, it being " a congregation of professing Chris-
1 Nichol's Defence of the Doctrine and Discipline of the
Church of England, p. 195. Bishop Madox's Vindication of
the Government, &c. of the Church, p. 394.
86
LIFE AND TIMES
[1604.
tians," met together for the hearing of the word, and
the administering of the sacraments, it must be met
together under some particular authority, to which
all men profess adherence and subjection, when
they enter this voluntary association. The autho-
rity is that of its divine Founder, and as the
Church is " a kingdom not of this world," that is,
a spiritual kingdom, set apart from the civil power,
and having no connexion with it except as an esta-
blishment, not requiring, but demanding support,
both for the moral and spiritual benefit of man,
there must be certain officers in that kingdom, and
certain degrees, too, as in a temporal kingdom,
the officers to be an order peculiar to themselves,
and the degrees to be conferred on them for the
government of the Church as a peculiar govern-
ment. The Church, then, is subject to human
laws, because its officers and members are subjects
of a civil government, and because " a house divided
against itself cannot stand." And when its clergy
meet to legislate, they meet by permission, but not
in the name, of the prince, because it is his duty to
protect all his subjects, as the first magistrate of the
nation, whether civil or ecclesiastical. These offi-
cers, therefore, have a right to legislate, in virtue
of their ordination, to exercise " authority in mat-
ters of faith," because they meet in the name of the
divine Founder of the Church, if they expound not
" one place of holy Scripture that it be repugnant
to another."
But from the conduct of the Puritans of this
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 87
period, we specially learn the truth, that men have
often become violent sticklers for forms,, while they
forgot more essential concerns ; and thus they
affected to see a merit placed in things, which had
actually none. If, however, they had perused the
discourse which is prefixed to the Book of Common
Prayer, entitled, <( Of Ceremonies, why some may
be retained, and others abolished," they would
have seen that those very men whom they con-
demned as being semi-papists, and as wishing to
make them " groan under the burden of rites and
ceremonies," which, as practised in the Church of
England, are simple and edifying, were as de-
voted Protestants as themselves, as violent enemies
of the Church of Rome, as great lovers of truth, of
order, and of rightful ecclesiastical government.
The difference, however, consisted in this the mo-
deration and candour rested in the Church, the
fanaticism and extravagance were adopted by the
Puritans : the former took the vantage-ground of
the apostles, prophets, and fathers ; the latter had
adopted the doctrines of Calvin and his adherents.
Now, they might have known that the thirty-fourth
Article was an answer to all their scruples ; while,
if they had been reasonable men, its judicious and
solemn warnings were calculated to make them
ponder at the threshold of their schism. " It is
not necessary," say the venerable compilers, " that
traditions and ceremonies be in all places one, or
utterly like ; for at all times they have been divers,
and may be changed, according to the diversities of
88 LIFE AND TIMES [1604-
countries, times, and men's manners ; so that no-
thing be ordained against God's word" Their
great apostle, Calvin himself, sets forth this very
proposition, and asserts, that the order of ceremo-
nies is not one and the same in all ages and all
countries. But the Puritan error, and that indeed
of all his Presbyterian followers, lay in wholly re-
jecting human authority and tradition, though
many of the forms which they practise in their own
way have no warranty in Scripture ; whereas the
Church guards against this fanaticism, by adding
in this Article, " But whoever, through his private
judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break
the traditions and ceremonies of the Church, which
be not repugnant to the word of God, and be or-
dained and approved by common authority, ought
to be rebuked openly, that others may fear to do
the like ; as he that offendeth against the common
order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of
the magistrate, and woundeth the conscience of
the weak brethren. Every particular or national
Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abo-
lish ceremonies or rites of the Church, ordained
only by man's authority." These propositions, in
direct accordance with Scripture, and in parti-
cular with St. Paul's injunction to Timothy, " to
hold fast the form of sound words, and the tradi-
tions of the Church," were trampled under foot by
the Puritans, who, it must not be disguised, started
numerous trifling objections, that their own eccle-
siastical discipline might be established, and that
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 89
they might succeed in causing the authority of Cal-
vin to supersede that of the fathers, prophets, and
apostles, nay, (so far as his polity and some of his
tenets were concerned) even that of the holy Scrip-
tures.
From these remarks, an idea may be formed of
those troublous times, and of the difficulty of re-
straining that dangerous spirit of enthusiasm which
had already been too widely spread throughout the
nation. It was a great and hazardous task, suffi-
cient to overwhelm the reflecting mind; but it was
worthy of the effort, even though attended with
certain failure and misfortune. Unhappily, the
age has not yet arrived when men may be induced
by any arguments to think rationally and philoso-
phically on the actions of the past. And what will
men not say and do when stimulated by enthu-
siasm ? They actually think that they are fighting
in the cause of truth, when they are only gratifying
their individual prejudices, and striving to support
their cause ; mistaking the impulses of enthusiasm
for the certain indications of a superior judgment,
they spurn the sober inquiry, and subject themselves
to a more inglorious slavery of intellect than that
which they pretend it is justifiable to oppose. This
is not an age in which men, unrestrained by party,
gird up their loins, and manfully descend into the
arena of argument, combating with the weapons of
reason and research : but when that age does arrive,
a much better feeling will animate the population
at large, than that which our visionary reformers
90
LIFE AND TIMES
[1604.
of the present day augur from their exertions for
the dissemination of what they call useful know-
ledge. It is by making men acquainted with the
blessings of religion, that they can be made happy,
and that the foundations of real knowledge can be
securely laid ; not by rejecting faith, and making
sense oracular, by sowing the seeds of discontent-
ment among the superficial, or by teaching them to
long with ardour, and to rejoice in the overthrow,
of the bulwark of the Protestant faith, of the Church
of our fathers, and of those establishments and insti-
tutions connected with it, which have been all along
considered sacred, venerable, and holy.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 91
CHAPTER III;
16041606.
Promotion of Laud James 1 First Parliament His Speech
Meeting of the Convocation Death of Archbishop Whitgift
Notices of his Life His Character Laud becomes B.D.
His exercise on that occasion Dispute with the Puritans
Cardinal Bellarmine Arguments of Laud Remarks on his
opinions Story of the Earl of Devonshire Unfortunate
conduct of Laud His repentance 7s traduced as a Papist
Letter from Bishop Hall Reflections on Laud's conduct.
DURING those contentions Laud was residing at
Oxford, taking no public share in the transactions
between the Church and the Puritans, but a sedu-
lous observer of their effects. He had been chosen
Proctor for the University in May 1603, " with-
out," says Wood, "any canvass, or seeking for it 1 /'
and in September the same year he was appointed
chaplain to Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire 2 , a
younger brother of William Blount, Lord Mountjoy,
1 " His brother proctor," says Wood, (Athen. Oxon. vol. ii.
col. 121.) " was Mr. Christopher Dale, of Merton College,
who being very rigid and severe in his office, and intolerably
choleric towards the seniors, he was so much hissed and hooted
at in his return to his college, after he had laid down the
badges of his office, that it was then usually said, he was proc-
tor, and bore his office, cum parva-o LAUDE."
Diary, p. 2. Heylin says that he was appointed in 1605.
92 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
who had distinguished himself in the Irish wars in
Queen Elizabeth's reign.
James' first Parliament met on the 19th of
March, 1604, at Westminster, on which occasion
the King made a long speech to the Lords and
Commons l . His remarks on religion are curious,
and characteristic of the times. " On my first
coming into England," he says, " I found three
different ways of worshipping God professed. The
first is the religion established by law, and which I
now profess : the second is that of the Roman Ca-
tholic, and the third that of the Puritans. And
these novellists I take rather for a sect, than a so-
ciety of Christians." He then observes, that these
last, notwithstanding their differing from us in sub-
stantial points were not great, yet their schemes of
polity were very untoward : they were so fond of
party and levelling, so perpetually remonstrating
against all kind of superiority, " that they were al-
ways uneasy, and disaffected to the public estab-
lishment ; for which reason they were scarcely to
be endured* in a well-regulated commonwealth."
He then remarks on the Papists, that he owns the
Romish communion for his mother church, though
under the disadvantages of blemishes and corrup-
tions. He compassionates the young people amongst
them, " who have fallen under unhappy instruction,
and been poisoned with ill principles," and sug-
gests that the rest of the laity, who, out of affecta-
1 Stowe's Annals. Strype's Annals, vol. iv.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 93
lion, passion, or perverseness, have altered their
persuasion, and have revolted from our communion,
only to embroil the commonwealth, should be
looked after, and their obstinacy corrected. The
King then condemns the extravagant claims of the
Pope, and the unsufferable pretensions of his clergy;
and, finally, he cautions the English Roman Ca-
tholics not to misapprehend him, or to presume
too far upon his lenity, nor ever to entertain any
visionary hopes of bringing their persuasion to a
public establishment. He bids them assure them-
selves that, though he is a friend to their persons on
account of their dutiful behaviour, yet shall he al-
ways continue a mortal enemy to their errors, and
make it his business to prosecute and crush their
mistakes. For that he should " either countenance
or connive at the spreading of their religion, as it
now stands, can never be expected upon three ac-
counts. First, Such an indulgence cannot be granted
without acting against his conscience. Secondly,
The liberties of the island must suffer by relaxing
to such an excess : and, thirdly, the crown would
be conveyed to his posterity in a worse condition
than he found it V
The Convocation met on the following day, but
before that time Archbishop Whitgift had departed
this life. This distinguished prelate, whom the
Puritan historian characterizes as a " severe gover-
1 Rapin's History of England, vol. ii. p. 261. &c. Collier's
Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 616.
94 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
nor of the Church, pressing conformity with great
rigour V' was k rn at East Grimsby, in Lincoln-
shire, about the year 1530 2 , and was descended
from the ancient family of the Whitgifts, of Whit-
gift in Yorkshire. He had been placed in his
youth under the care of his uncle, Robert Whit-
gift, who was abbot of the monastery of Wellow,
near Grimsby 3 , and from him young Whitgift first
imbibed unfavourable opinions towards the Romish
Church. The abbot, observing his nephew's genius,
persuaded his father to send him to St. Anthony's
school in London. He resided in St. Paul's Church-
yard with his aunt, who being a rigid Papist, often
importuned him to attend mass, but having become
already a convert to the truths of the Reformation,
he withstood all her entreaties ; which so exaspe-
rated her, that, at length, she turned him out of
doors, remarking, " That at first she thought she
had received a saint into her house, but now she
perceived he was a devil." He was obliged to re-
turn to his uncle the abbot, in Lincolnshire, who
advised his father to send him to the University.
He was accordingly sent to Cambridge in 1548,
and entered of Queen's College there, but, not
being pleased with the disposition of some members
of that society, he removed to Pembroke Hall, and
placed himself under the tuition of the famous John
1 Neal's Hist, of Puritans, vol. ii. p. 26.
2 Sir George Paul's Life of Whitgift, p. 2.
3 Strype's Life of Whitgift, in Appendix, No. I. fol. edit.
1711.
16Q4.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 95
Bradford, the martyr, who had been previously chosen
Fellow. He was soon recommended by Bradford
and Grindall, (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
but then Fellow) to the celebrated Nicholas Rid-
ley, the martyr, through whose influence he was
appointed Scholar of Pembroke Hall, and Bible
Clerk. In 1553-4, he became Bachelor of Arts,
and on the 31st of May, 1555, he was admitted
Fellow of Peter-house, to which he had been unani-
mously elected. He commenced Master of Arts in
1557, about which period he was overtaken by a
severe illness ; and on his recovery, happened the
famous visitation of the University under Cardinal
Pole, to extirpate all the heretics who were found
there. He at first thought of retreating to the
Continent, to escape imprisonment, but having se-
cured the friendship of Dr. Perne, the Master of
his College, though a violent papist, that ecclesiastic
undertook to shelter him from the Commissioners,
if he promised not to leave the University. Perne
kept his promise, and Whitgift escaped without any
enquiry, notwithstanding the vigilance of the com-
missioners. In 1560 he took holy orders, and
preached his first sermon in St. Mary's Church be-
fore the University, from the passage, " I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ." In this year he
was appointed Chaplain to Dr. Cox, Bishop of Ely,
who gave him the rectory of Fever sham, in Cam-
bridgeshire. In 1563, he commenced Bachelor of
Divinity, and in that year he was also appointed
Margaret Professor. He acquired so great fame as
a preacher, that two years afterwards he was made
96 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
one of Elizabeth's chaplains. He shortly after-
wards received distinguished marks of favour from
the University, having a licence granted him to
preach throughout the realm 1 9 and in the following
year his salary was raised from twenty marks to
twenty pounds 2 . He was this year also a consi-
derable benefactor to his own College 3 , of which, in
b^'::Cii;n gr;vr yrf , I ^uvl ^$S& l nfb no i/nat-
1 This licence he received under the common seal of the Uni-
versity. Those preachers had the privilege of holding livings
with their fellowships, which otherwise was not consistent with
the statutes of the University.
2 While Whitgift was Lady Margaret Professor, he lectured
throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse. His
lectures, as we are informed by Sir George Paul, (Life, p. 8.) were
prepared for press, but for some reason unknown, they were never
published. Strype, in his Life of Whitgift, (Appendix, p. 8.)
says, that he saw this manuscript of Dr. Whitgift's, in his own
hand- writing, in the possession of Dr. William Payne, minister of
Whitechapel, London, which, after the death of that clergyman,
was intended to be purchased by Dr. More, Bishop of Ely,
Whitgift's thesis for Doctor of Divinity was also contained in this
manuscript : the subject of it was, Papa est ille Antichrist.
3 The commemoration-book of Peter-house contains the fol-
lowing notice : " Reverendus Pater, Dom. Joh. Whitgift, Arch.
Cant, et socius hujus collegii, dum adhuc erat Rector de Fever-
sham, infra Cantabrigiam, una cum Margaretta relicta Bartho-
lomaei Fulnethy, de eadem villa, dederunt nobis quatuor mar-
charum pensionem annuam, exeuntem de manerio de Cailes in
Elexia, ad sustentationem unius Bibliotistae." It is dated Octo-
ber 4, 1 565. We are not informed as to this Margaret Fulnethy.
Strype (p. 3.) says, that he was related to a family of that name.
His picture is in the parlour at Peter-house, under which is the
following distich on his name in Latin :
" Quod pace, Whitgifte, faves studiisq'ue priorum,
Dat tibi pacis amans Candida dona Deus."
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 97
1567, he was appointed President. His great
talents now paved the way for his future preferment.
He was soon called from being President of Peter-
house, to be Master of Pembroke Hall, and Regius
Professor of Divinity : and, in less than three
months, he was called from that place to be Master
of Trinity, which appointment he received from the
Queen, through the interest of Cecil. This year
he became Doctor of Divinity. In December, 1568,
Dr. Cox, Bishop of Ely, gave him a prebend's
stall, In 1570, he compiled new statutes for the
University, and in this year he procured an order
from the Vice-chancellor and Heads of Colleges,
prohibiting the famous Cartwright, who was now
Margaret Professor, to read his lectures, until he
should give satisfaction as to his principles. This
the Puritan refusing to do, or at least refusing to
renounce his tenets, he was deprived by Whitgift
of the professorship, and expelled from his Fellow-
ship in 1572, for not entering into orders at the
time appointed by the statute. In 1571, Dr. Whit-
gift was Vice-chancellor, and University Preacher,
and in that year he was also appointed Dean of Lin-
coln . He was now engaged in the controversies of the
Puritans fomented by Cartwright and his associates,
and one or two productions of his appeared in reply
to lucubrations of the Calvinistic malcontents. On
the 24th of March, 1576, he was nominated Bishop
of Worcester, and, in virtue of his See, made Vice-
president of the Marches of Wales, in the absence
VOL. I. H
89 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
of Sir Henry Sydney, the President. Whitgift
continued seven years in this See,, exerting himself
with the utmost diligence to promote the interests
of the Reformation, and on Archbishop Grindal's
death, in 1583, he was nominated by the Queen to
the See of Canterbury. He now, by the Queen's
express order, exerted himself to repress the dis-
orders of the Puritans, who, taking advantage of
his predecessor's easiness in that respect, were pos-
sessed of a great many ecclesiastical benefices and
preferments, in which they were supported by some
of the principal men at court. Being high in favour
with the Queen, who consulted him on almost every
occasion, he had a share in many of the public
transactions of her reign ; and his exertions for the
Church, and for promoting the Reformation of re-
ligion, in opposition to the absurdities of Popery,
and the extravagances of Puritanism, well entitle
him to be held in the utmost reverence. Neal in-
sinuates, that he was afraid of the first Parliament
of James, and died with grief before it met, saying,
that he would rather give an account of his bi-
shopric to God than man 1 . He had appointed a
1 This assertion of Neal's (see vol. ii. p. 26, Hist, of the Puri-
tans) is founded on Camden's testimony (Annal. Reg. Jacob,
ad ann. 1604), who, though he ascribes the Archbishop's death to
palsy, expressly declares, that " he died with grief, as he found
the king began to contend about the Liturgy, and reckoned some
things in it necessary to be altered. " Dum de Liturgia," says
Camden, " recepta Rex contendere co3pit, et nonnulla in ea mu-
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 99
meeting of the Bishops and other ecclesiastics at
Fulham, to confer about the affairs of the Church
before the Parliament assembled, on which occasion
he caught cold, as he proceeded by water in his
barge. On the next Sunday, however, being the
first in Lent, he and the Bishop of London held a
long discourse with the king at Whitehall, but de-
parting from that place, he fell into a fit, which
ended in paralysis, and almost deprived him of
speech. The venerable primate was speedily con-
veyed to Lambeth. On the following Tuesday he
was visited by the king, who said to him, " that
he would pray to God for his life, and that if he
could obtain it, he would think it one of the great-
est temporal blessings that could be given him in
this kingdom." The aged archbishop would have
spoken to the king, but his speech failed him, yet
he was heard to repeat distinctly once or twice with
great earnestness, and with eyes and hands lifted
up, Pro Ecclesia DeL This was the subject which
had occupied his whole life, and which was nearest
his heart. He died on the 29th of February, 1603-4,
in the seventy-third year of his age, and was in-
tanda censuit, Johannes Whitgiftus Archiepiscopus ex moerore
obiit." Saunders, moreover, in his history of King James,
asserts, that he used these words on his death-bed : " Et nunc,
Domine, exaltata est mea anima, quod in eo tempore succubui,
quando mallem episcopatus mei Deo reddere rationem, quam
inter homines exercere." " And now, O Lord, my soul rejoices
that I die in a time when I would rather give an account of my
bishopric to thee, than exercise it any longer among men."
H 2
100 LIFE AND TIMES [1004.
terred on the 27th of March, in the Parish Church
of Croydon, where a monument is erected to his
memory 1 .
The death of this pious and venerable prelate,
who throughout a long life was active in promoting
the interests of the Reformed Church, afforded a
momentary joy to the Puritan faction. One of their
great leaders, the famous Prynne, has traduced his
memory, and heaped upon him the most scurrilous
abuse 2 . But his excellence ought not to be for-
gotten by the Church, of which he was the boast
and ornament at that momentous period. He was
a popular and diligent preacher; his munificence
was great, and his benevolence was unbounded,
which he shewed by the relief he afforded to various
foreigners in distress from France and Germany,
recommended by Beza, and also by the large sums
which he remitted to the latter from his own purse.
Nor was his hospitality less conspicuous than his
generosity; he hoarded not the revenues of his
diocese, but liberally distributed them among his
friends and the poor. The judicious Hooker re-
marks of him, that " he always governed with that
1 Sir George Paul's Life of Whitgift. Strype's Life of Whit-
gift, edit. 1718. Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker, in same
edition. Regist. Univ. Cantab, and in Strype's Appendix, Nos.
I. IV. VI. IX. &c. Regist. Matthaei Archiepiscopi Cantuar.
Bancroft's Survey of Discipline. Strype's Life of Grindal, in
edit. 1718. Anthony Wood's Fasti. Fuller's Church History,
Books ix. and x. and History of Cambridge. Cotton Library,
Cleopatra, F. 2. Regist. Whitgift. Camden's Annals.
2 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 26.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 101
moderation which useth by patience to suppress
boldness, and to make them conquer that suffer :"
and Strype observes, " that he lived and died in
great reputation,, and was particularly happy in
being highly esteemed for his wisdom, learning,
and piety, by both his sovereigns, Elizabeth and
James; who both consulted him in all matters re-
lating to the Church, and in all laws and orders
which they framed for the salutary government
thereof; and likewise took his advice respecting
proper men to be placed in the chief situations."
This excellent prelate persevered to the end of his
life, in the face of much opposition, in devoting his
pains, his studies, his learning, and his interest, to
the defence of the Church, against the efforts by
which its doctrines were assailed by the Papists,
and its discipline and constitution by the Puritans V
1 One or two anecdotes are recorded of this distinguished
prelate, which it may be interesting to insert. In his own courts
he always behaved with great boldness and resolution. On one
occasion, before he was a privy-counsellor, a gentleman who was
afraid that he would lose a law-suit, which was before the court,
told the Archbishop, that the lords of the council seemed to be
of a different opinion from his Grace. " What tellest thou me,"
said the primate, " of the lords of the council ? I tell thee they
are in these cases to be advised by us, and not us by them." On
other occasions, towards the end of his life, he was wont to ob-
serve to his friends, " that two things did help much to make a
man confident in good causes, namely, orbitas and senectus; and,
said he, they speed me both." When the French ambassador,
Boys Sisi, asked what books the Archbishop had published, that
he might purchase them, and read the works of him who was
held to be " the peerless prelate for piety and learning in our
102 LIFE AND TIMES [1604-
When the Parliament assembled, and was pro-
ceeding to enact laws to promote the interests of
the Reformed Church, and, with the Convocation,
to restrain the fanaticism of the Puritans, by the
establishing of the Book of Canons, which were
afterwards ratified by the King under the great seal,
the University of Oxford was again in a state of
fermentation with religious disputes. In this year,
(1604,) on the 6th of July, Laud took his degree
of Bachelor of Divinity, and in the exercise which
he performed on the occasion, he gave great offence
to the Calvinists. I have already observed, that a
dispute was occasioned between him and Abbot
about the visibility of the Church, which Laud suc-
cessfully maintained in opposition to the fanciful
theory of the latter. This had occasioned no little
animosity between them, and accordingly the Pu^
ritan party determined not to lose this opportu-
nity of renewing the disputation. The propositions
days," he was answered, that he had only published one or two
books in defence of the English ecclesiastical constitution. But
when he was told that the Archbishop had founded an hospital
and a school, the ambassador immediately exclaimed, " Pro-
fecto, hospitale ad sublevandam paupertatem, et schola ad in-
struendam juventutem, sunt optimi libri quos archiepiscopus
aliquis conscribere potuit." " Truly, an hospital to shelter the
poor, and a school to instruct youth, are the best books that an
archbishop could publish." Sir George Paul's Life of Whitgift,
p. 10. 111. The hospital alluded to is that at Croydon, which
he endowed for the maintenance of twenty-eight men and wo-
men, and near it is a free-school, with an ample salary for the
master.
r L-i'JJii j J ] *_ -'" -*J *~ J *-'*
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 103
which Laud laid down and defended were two, the
necessity of baptism, and that there could be no
true church without diocesan bishops. The doc-
trine contained in the first proposition was alleged
against him on another occasion, but, in the mean
time, he was charged with having taken the greater
part of his argument from the works of the famous
Cardinal Bellarmine ; while Dr. Holland, the divi-
nity professor, violently attacked him on the second,
as one who endeavoured to excite discord between
the English and the Reformed Churches l .
The first objection, certainly an instance of
foolish prejudice, which was fomented, as Dr.
Heylin justly remarks, "as if the doctrine of the
incarnation of the Son of God, or any necessary
truths, were to be renounced, because they are de-
fended by that learned Cardinal," struck, of course,
at the very root of Puritanism and Nonconformity.
The celebrated ecclesiastic, whose tenets Laud was
accused of advocating, had been well-known to the
Protestant controversialists ; and Bayle informs us,
that "most of their learned divines wrote against
him for the space of fifty years ; their profess-ors,
lectures, and theses, made his name resound every
where. He was attacked on all sides, and his ad-
versaries did not forget to examine whether he had
not afforded weapons which might be turned against
1 Heylin, Life of Laud, p. 49. Diary, p. 2. Prynne's Can-
terbury's Doom, p. 29. Trial of Laud, p. 380. Wood, Athen.
Oxon. vol. ii. col. 121
104 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
himself 1 . It is the subject of a book which must
needs have perplexed him not a little 2 ." Cardinal
Robert Bellarmine, of the order of the Jesuits, was
the best controversialist of his age, and no Jesuit
did more for the honour of his order, or maintained,
with greater skill, the cause of the Romish Church.
He was born in 1542, and died in 1621. Unques-
tionably Laud was acquainted with the writings of
this celebrated man, but it did not follow that he
was to reject any just reasonings they contained,
because they were the productions of a Romish
ecclesiastic. " There are some indiscreet and rash
men/' says Bayle, " to be found every where, and
therefore it is no wonder if some Protestant writers
have published falsehoods againt Bellarmine, of
which his party took advantage." He was much
reviled by the Calvinists in particular, because he
wrote against their dogma of predestination, (which,
by the way, is a dogma also of the Jansenists,) and
because he ventured to call in question some of the
assumptions of St. Augustine. He was, indeed, a
man admirably adapted for the age in which he
lived, and the Calvinists and other sectaries had
frequently experienced the severity of his pen. So
famous, indeed, was Bellarmine, that whenever the
Calvinists or the Lutherans wrote against the
Romish Church, they invariably attacked his writings.
1 Bayle's Dictionary, vol. i. p. 726.
2 Bellum Jesuiticum, written by Andrew Castorius, and pub-
lished in 4to. at Basle, in 1594.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 105
"If," says Ancillon 1 , "he undertakes to confute
the Pelagians, he makes use of all the arguments
of those whom he calls Calvinists ; if he has to do
with the Calvinists, he makes use of the reasons
and distinctions of the Pelagians. If he writes
against the Anabaptists, concerning the baptism of
children, he proves it by Scripture ; if he disputes
with us about tradition, the baptism of children is
one of the points which, he says, seems to prove
the necessity of it, and of which the Scriptures do
not speak in a convincing manner."
The opinions which Laud advanced in his exer-
cise involved the doctrine of baptismal regeneration,
a doctrine which is taught in Scripture, and
which has been held by the Church in every age.
It is maintained in all the Confessions of the
Reformed Churches, of every description : that it is
the doctrine of the Church of England is unde-
niable; it was that of the Church of Scotland,
both when that Church was alternately Episco-
palian and Presbyterian, so far as the original Con-
fession is conceived, and perhaps the Confession
of the present legal Establishment of that country
may be included, although the Westminster Assem-
bly of Divines, whose tenets it has adopted, were
the first who 'ventured to call it in question. And
the opposition which Laud encountered was a com-
1 Critical Miscellanies, torn. i. p. 352, quoted by Bayle, vol. i.
p. 726.
106 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
plete specimen of that diffuse and irreverent feeling
which, it must be said, prevails among the Calvinists
and other dissenters of the present day, by which
they degrade the holy sacraments of the Church into
mere signs or commemorative rites, not at all con-
nected with salvation. But it is evident, that if
there be no necessity for infant baptism, there is no
conformity to the practice of the apostles, and of
the Church in all ages : and if that holy sacra^
ment, simple as it is, (and, in our opinion, its sim-
plicity farther proves its efficacy) does not confer
regeneration upon the infant, who has committed
no actual sin, and the same to the adult who
worthily receives it, that is, if it is not only " a
sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby
Christian men are discerned from others that be
not christened, but is also a sign of regeneration,
or new v birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they
that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the
Church, the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and
of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy
Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed ; faith is con-
firmed, and grace increased, by virtue of prayer
unto God 1 /' then is it nothing at all, and there is
a levelling or degrading of that sacrament which
was ordained by our divine Saviour himself, as in-
1 Article XXVII. It is remarkable that the Church of Eng-
land, when speaking of Baptism, always employs the words
renatusy renati. The Church may be wrong, but such is the
fact.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 107
dispensably necessary to be observed in the Church.
Thus much is certain, that our Saviour taught a
different doctrine to Nicodemus in his admirable
discourse, from that which has unfortunately ob-
tained at the present day : and I hesitate not to
say, that no opinion can be conceived more un-
worthy of the holy sacraments, than that they are
mere rites or commemorations, and not, as they
are indeed, the ordinary means whereby men ob-
tain salvation.
When it is remembered that Calvin himself, in
his Institutes, bears his testimony to the truth of
these remarks, it is astonishing that those who
profess to adopt his opinions should have exhibited
such a lamentable disregard of primitive and scrip-
tural truth. At the same time, however, it must
be remarked, that opinions such as those which the
Puritans held, are the natural results of the pre-
destinarian tenets. Considering the times, it was
not probable that Laud would escape censure for
enforcing the Articles of the Church, and it marked
the pusillanimity of the Puritan faction, to charge
him with adopting Bellarmine's sentiments, as if it
were utterly impossible for a Roman Catholic to
maintain any scriptural truth. But it is useless
to reason with men who are resolved upon opposi-
tion, and who eagerly seek after novelties, rejecting
the salutary and sober standard of scriptural and
rational enquiry.
On his second proposition, that there can be no
true church without diocesan bishops, Laud was
108 LIFE AND TIMES [1604.
virulently attacked by Dr. Holland l . This was a
startling proposition 'to the Puritans. As to his
arguments for the necessity of infant baptism, he
was merely charged, though most unjustly, with
adopting Bellarmine's sentiments ; but on this point
they condescended to enter into debate. It gave
great offence to the Calvinists, and it is denounced
in no very measured language by his adversary
Prynne, in that production of his entitled " Can-
terburie's Doome." Of course, it struck at the very
root of that polity of which the Puritans were so
warm admirers, and overturned their famous doc-
trine of expediency. But it was not the less sur-
prising, that he should have been opposed on this
subject by men who professed to be members of the
Church of England, even though influenced by the
doctrines of Calvin, and violent sticklers for a new
reformation. They had all received its ordination,
and professed to remain within its pale ; and their
learning was neither circumscribed nor superficial.
For what is it which gives to the Episcopacy of the
1 Dr. Holland, however, was a very learned man. We are
told by Wood, (Atlien. Oxon. vol. ii. col. 111.) that " he did not,
as some, only sip of learning, or at the best only drink thereof,
but was mersus in libris ; so that the scholar in him drowned
almost all other relations. He was esteemed by the precise men
of his time, and after, ' another Apollos, mighty in the Scrip-
tures/ and so familiar with the fathers, as if he himself was a
father ; and in the schoolmen, as if he had been a seraphical
doctor." He was born at Ludfcw, in Shropshire, and (lied in
1612. He was one of the translators of King James' Bible.
1604.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 109
English Church its high character and authority in
the eyes of Protestant Europe, and of the world at
large ? or, were it to fall, could an establishment so
meagre and limited as that of Scotland, or could
exertions so diffuse, and opinions so jarring and dis-
cordant, as those of the English dissenters, prove
bulwarks and defences to maintain and protect the
reformed religion ? It is not because the Church
of England is established by law ; it is not because
that church reckons the princes and nobles of these
kingdoms among its sons ; it is not because it is
vested with a splendor and political importance
which ensure for it homage and respect ; it is not
because among its prelates and clergy there have
been, and still are, those whose names will be re-
membered by latest posterity with veneration and
gratitude ; but it is because that Church is a portion
of that Catholic Church, which retains the discipline
and polity of apostolical truth and order ; it is be-
cause in its ordination it follows the dictates of holy
Scripture and the practice of the apostles and the
primitive church, in the distinct order of bishops,
priests, and deacons, as our Saviour himself set
forth in his calling first his twelve disciples, and then
in his ordination of the seventy ; and as the apostles
set forth in their election of another by lot in the
room of Judas, who " by transgression fell from his
bishopric ;" it is because it enforces rigidly that
canonical discipline set forth in the General Coun-
cils of the Church in the earliest ages. For as the
church of the Jews was an hierarchy, so must the
110 LIFE AND TIMES [1604:
Christian Church be also : the former being the type,
the other the substance ; the former being the old
dispensation, the latter the new, which our Saviour
came " to fulfil ;" and which hierarchy it can be,
and yet, unlike that of the Jews, be "a spiritual
kingdom." But it is unnecessary to enter into a
train of reasoning to shew the truth of Laud's pro-
position. The question is, what is the true church ?
and the answer to this question must not be dictated
by enthusiasm, or affected and alleged spirituality.
It was not, therefore, to be expected, that Laud's
opinions would pass uncensured by his opponents.
The allegations of the Puritans failed to convict
him of having employed the arguments of Bellar-
mine ; nevertheless, they were determined not to lose
this opportunity of displaying their hostility. A
report had already been industriously circulated in
the University that he was secretly inclined to Po-
pery, and this insinuation was farther strengthened
in the minds of the Puritans by the theme for his
Bachelor's degree. The scandal was turned to ac-
count by his enemies, who now invariably connected
his name with Popery, as if glad of this plausible
pretext to declare their hostility. But, in truth, it
was the fashion of the Puritans of that age to tra-
duce all those as popishly affected, who did not
coincide with their Calvinistic ideas ; and Laud
received part of that obloquy which was cast on all
conscientious defenders of the Church of England,
from the sovereign, who was called " a doctrinal
Papist," to the humblest member of the Church.
1605.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. Ill
But in the following year, 1605, an affair hap-
pened, which made as much noise as the scandal
about his being a Papist. It has been already ob-
served, that on the 3d of December, 1603, Laud
had been appointed chaplain to the Earl of Devon-
shire ; I now proceed to relate the particulars of an
unfortunate transaction, which he remembered with
penitence and humiliation in after life. Charles
Lord Mountjoy, for his conduct in the Irish wars,
had been created Earl of Devonshire by James, a
Knight of the Garter, and Lord Deputy of Ire-
land. This nobleman, before his preferment, when
only Sir Charles Blount, had conceived a violent
attachment for Lady Penelope Devereux, a daugh-
ter of the Earl of Essex, and her beauty and accom-
plishments had long excited his fondest admiration.
This affection was returned by the lady with equal
ardour, and promises of marriage at a future period
passed between them. Her friends, however, were
averse to the alliance, as he was only a younger bro-
ther to Lord Mountjoy, having no estate or private
fortune, and depending solely on court patronage :
they, therefore, absolutely prohibited the intended
union of the parties, and compelled her to marry
Lord Rich, a nobleman of great fortune and estate,
but of disagreeable manners, and no very engaging
person. The lady being under the control of her
friends, was compelled to this connexion, and Blount,
conscious of his want of fortune, was necessarily
obliged to submit calmly to the disappointment of
his hopes. Had there been any written documents
7
112 LIFE AND TIMES [1605.
connected with their mutual engagement, he might
have opposed the marriage at law ; but, unfortu-
nately for him, all their assurances had been verbal,
and there were no witnesses to support his attes-
tations.
It happened, however, as is frequently the case
in constrained marriages, that Lady Rich still re~
collected her affection for her former lover, and the
rude behaviour of her husband contributed not a
little to preserve this feeling. It is even recorded,
that in her endeavours to make Blount acquainted
with her disposition towards him, she made her
husband the unconscious agent in her guilty com-
munication. The consequence was, that a criminal
connexion ensued between Lady Rich and Blount,
at first indulged in private meetings, but afterwards
publicly, without any disguise : and Blount began
to act with more confidence on account of succeed-
ing to his brother's estate, who died about this
period. This guilty intercourse had been perse-
vered in for some time, till at length Blount, now
Lord Mountjoy, was ordered to Ireland, to assist
in repressing the rebellion raised by the Earl of
Tyrone : but, during his absence, Lord Rich had
discovered the infamy of his lady, and procured a
divorce. Mountjoy on his return, crowned with
victory, and high in favour with the king, who
created him Earl of Devonshire, finding Lady Rich
separated from her husband, and having had chil-
dren by her during their former guilty connexion,
thought that in point of honour he could do no less
1605.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 113
than marry her, as it had beer; on his account that
she had brought herself into disgrace. He, more-
over, imagined, that by this act he would legitimatize
his children, according to the doctrine of the civil
law ] . For this purpose he prevailed with Laud,
his chaplain, not without many importunate en-
treaties, to solemnize the marriage, which was ac-
cordingly done at Wanstead, in Essex, December
26, 1605, being St. Stephen's day 2 .
In this unfortunate affair, it must be remarked,
that Laud was solely overcome by the persuasions
of his friends, from the dangerous opinion, that,
when a divorce ensues, the innocent and the guilty
might lawfully remarry, and that the individual who
has caused the divorce, might marry the individual
divorced. The latter opinion, unquestionably to
be condemned, as productive of the most dangerous
consequences, and destructive of domestic peace,
was, much more than the former, liable to the most
serious objections. But Laud, as Dr. Heylin re-
marks, though that writer does not profess to vin-
dicate him, was not without reasons, and even
precedents, to induce him to this affair : though
these, it is not denied, were grounded on fallacious
principles. He found that assurances of marriage
had actually passed between the parties, before the
Some of those children afterwards distinguished themselves.
One of them, Mountjoy Blount, became Earl of Newport.
2 Diary, p. 2. Heylin, p. 52, 53. Prynne's Beviat, p. 2 ;
and Canterbury's Doome, p. 29. Rushworth's Collections, vol. i.
p. 440.
VOL. I. I
1U LIFE AND TIMES [1G05.
lady was married to Lord Rich, which, though null
in law, as being merely verbal, might, mforo con-
scientice, have some -weight in procuring his com-
pliance, and he might pity the situation of the
parties, who had thus endured the disappointment
of their fondest affections, although they took the
most guilty means to establish an intercourse.
Allowing his sympathy more than his reason to be
influenced by the persuasions of his patron, and
finding that Lord Rich had procured a final sen-
tence of divorce, for the sake of the children born
in this adulterous intercourse, he complied with
the request made under such circumstances. There
were also three opinions concerning marriages after
divorce, maintained by different parties. 1. That
such marriages are lawful unto neither party
during the life-time of either, which is most posi-
tively declared by the Council of Trent, and is
therefore the doctrine of the Roman Catholic
Church. 2. That such marriages are lawful to
the party wronged, but not to the guilty, a doc-
trine which is practised in the present day, and
which was maintained by some ancient writers, and
some of the Calvinists : and 3. That both the inno-
cent and the guilty party might lawfully marry if
they pleased, which was maintained generally by
Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics. If he
suffered himself to be misled, then, by authorities,
Laud was not unfurnished with them, as there were
three distinct doctrines laid down on the subject :
" and though," to adopt the language of Heylin,
I
1605.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 115
" in this case he followed the very worst of the three,
yet it may serve for a sufficient argument that he
was no Papist, nor cordially inclined to that reli-
gion, because he acted so directly against the doc-
trines and determinations of the Church of Rome.
If any other considerations of profit, preferment,
or compliance, did prevail upon him, (as perhaps
they might) they may with charity be viewed as
the common incidences of human frailty, from
which the holiest and most learned men cannot
plead exemption."
The result of this unfortunate affair was, that
the Earl of Devonshire was disgraced at Court,
and though he wrote an apology to the king, yet
he was never restored to the royal favour. It
seems to have made a considerable impression on
his mind, and he died the following year. Con-
cerning Laud's conduct in the affair, it is unques-
tionably true, that no apology can be offered on
religious or moral grounds, and it is evident that
he acted on an erroneous and unjustifiable prin-
ciple. Of this, indeed, he was himself sensible 1 ,
and so humbled did he afterwards feel, that, in-
stead of attempting to justify himself, he always
observed St. Stephen's day as an annual fast, hum-
bling himself before God, and imploring forgive-
ness for that great error of his life 2 . It operated
1 Diary, p. 2. " My cross about the Earl of Devon's mar-
riage, Dec. 26, 1605."
He composed the following prayer on this occasion, as proof
of his contrition and piety. (Canterburie's Doome, by Prynne,
i 2
116 LIFE AND TIMES [1605.
also most powerfully against his preferment; for
James was so prejudiced against him, that, not-
withstanding his contrition, he would not for a
long time, listen to any recommendation in his
favour. And so long was he upbraided with it by
his enemies, that in an after period of his life, in
order to counteract their false representations, he
was compelled to make the Duke of Buckingham
acquainted with the whole affair, in order that
p. 29.) " Behold thy servant, O my God, and in the bowels of
thy mercy have compassion upon me. Behold, I am become a
reproach to thy holy name, by serving my ambition and the sins
of others, which, though I did by the persuasion of other men,
yet my own conscience did check and upbraid me in it. Lord,
I beseech thee, for the mercies of Jesus Christ, enter not into
judgment with me thy servant, but hear his blood imploring
mercies for me. Neither let this marriage prove a divorcing of
my soul from thy grace and favour ; for much more happy had
I been, if being mindful this day, I had suffered martyrdom, as
did St. Stephen, the first of martyrs, denying that whether either
my less faithful friends, or less godly friends, had pressed upon
me. I promised to myself that the darkness would hide me ;
but that hope soon vanished away : nor doth the light appear
more plainly, than that I have committed that foul offence.
Even so, O Lord, it pleased thee, of thy infinite mercy, to de-
ject me with this heavy ignominy, that I might learn to seek thy
name. O Lord, how grievous is the remembrance of my sin to
this very day, after so many and such reiterated prayers poured
out unto thee from a sorrowful and afflicted spirit. Be merci-
ful unto me ; hearken to the prayers of thy humble and dejected
servant, and raise me up again, O Lord, that I may not die in
this my sin, but that I may live in thee hereafter ; and living,
evermore rejoice in thee, through the merits and the mercies of
Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Amen,"
1605.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 117
Charles I. might impartially judge of his conduct 1 .
The man who could record in his private papers
those failings for which he expressed repentance,
who in moments of retirement approached the
throne of grace and offered his ardent supplica-
tions, and who yearly commemorated his impru-
dence by solemn fasting and humiliation, such
man displayed a truly Christian spirit, which
brooded over its own sorrows, while it soared
superior to the injurious attacks of those who de-
lighted to remind him of those " thorns in the
flesh." Had his enemies told the truth, and pro-
perly represented the whole affair, there would
have been perhaps some excuse, but they studiously
reminded him of the fact, while they concealed
what was most important in extenuation namely,
the previous divorce. Accordingly, Archbishop
Abbot, in his Narrative, represents it as if there
had been no divorce at all, thereby indulging his
prejudices, and exhibiting Laud in the worst pos-
sible aspect 2 ; and Prynne, that violent enthusiast,
of course follows in the same track, as if Laud had
solemnized this marriage without the slightest ex-
cuse, and in open defiance of the laws of God and
man 3 .
1 Heylin, p. 54. Lansdowne MSS. ut sup.
2 " The first observable act," says Abbot, " which he (Laud)
did, was the marrying of the Earl of Devonshire to the lady R' ;h,
when it was notorious to the world, that she had another hus-
band, and the same a nobleman, who had divers children then
living by her." Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 440.
a Prynne's Breviat, p. 2 ; and Canterbury's Doom, p. 29.
118 LIFE AND TIMES [1606.
The next year, 1606, the former scandal, that
Laud was inclined to Popery, was renewed with
additional acrimony. On the 26th of October he
preached a sermon before the University, in St.
Mary's Church, Oxford, for which he was vehe-
mently attacked by Dr. Henry Array, the Vice-
chancellor for that year, who was a violent Calvinist.
What the subject of this sermon was, or on what
occasion it was preached, is no where positively re-
corded ; however, it was conceived by Dr. Array to
be Popish in its tendency ; " the good man," says
Heylin, " taking all things to be matter of Popery,
which were not held forth unto him in Calvin's In-
stitutes, conceiving that there was as much idolatry
in bowing at the name of Jesus, as in worshipping
the brazen serpent ; and as undoubtedly believing,
that Antichrist was begotten on tfee whore of Baby-
lon, as that Pharez and Zara were begotten on the
body of Tamar." During the time that Dr. Array
served the office of Vice-chancellor, he shewed him-
self a zealous Calvinist, and a great defender of the
Puritans, in opposition to the members of the Church
of England l . He wrote a book, entitled, " A Trea-
( tise against bowing at the Name of Jesus :" and he
was held in great veneration among the Puritan
faction for his reputed sanctity and holiness of life,
for his learning and gravity, and for the interest he
took in the welfare of his College 2 . But Laud, it
1 Hist, and Antiq. Oxon. lib. i. p. 300. 309. 312. Athen.
Oxon. vol. iii. col. 176.
2 Dr. Henry Array was born in Westmoreland in 1560, edu-
1606.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 119
appears, vindicated himself with such ability, that
he was not compelled to make a formal retractation
of any of his positions, which otherwise, being a
subordinate member of the University, he would
have been obliged to do l . Yet his old adversary,
Abbot, took advantage of this commotion, and so
openly traduced him as a Papist, that, as Heylin de-
clares he was told by Laud himself, it was reckoned
a heresy to speak to him, and a suspicion of heresy
to salute him as he walked in the street 2 . This is
cated by the famous Bernard Gilpin, and by him sent to St. Ed-
mund's Hall in 1579, at the age of nineteen. He was afterwards
removed to Queen's College, " where," says Wood, " he became
* pauper puer serviens,' that is, a poor serving boy, that waits on
the Fellows in the common hall at meals, and in their chambers,
and does other servile work about the college." After he be-
came Bachelor, he was made pauper puer or tabardius and ta-
bardarius ; and in 1586, Master of Arts and Fellow. About this
time he entered into holy orders, and became a popular preacher
in the University. In 1594 he was B.D. and four years after he
was elected Provost of the College. He died in 1616.
1 Wood, Hist, and Antiq. ut sup. p. 312. " Nonnulla pro-
tulit quse academicis plerisque, Calvinismo nimirum jam peni-
tus imbutis, superstitionem pontificiam sapere viderentur ; qua-
propter virum ad se accersivit Doctor Array, Vicecancellarius,
superque tradita pro suggesto doctrina quaestionem habuit. At
vero durante in hebdomadas nonnullas ejusdem eventilatione,
ita se demum purgavit Laudus, ut publicam dogmatum suorum
retractionem evaserit."
2 The Puritan historian here writes according to his usual cus-
tom. After quoting a passage from Bishop Hall, and Abbot's
Narrative, (Rushworth, vol. i. p. 440.) he says, " Heylin con-
fesses, it was thought dangerous to keep him company." (Hist.
120 LIFE AND TIMES [1606,
an instance of the moderation and charity of the
Puritans. The report thus circulated at Oxford,
soon reached Cambridge ; and one or two members
of that University, inclined to Puritanism, " exer-
cised their pens in the way of epistles." Among
these, Dr. Hall, afterwards Bishop of Norwich,
wrote him a letter, in which he expressed great con-
cern for his inclination to Popery on this occasion.
" I would I knew where to find you," said he,
" then I could tell how to take direct arms, whereas
now I must pore and conjecture. To-day you are
in the tents of the Romanists, to-morrow in ours ;
the next day between both ; against both. Our ad-
versaries think you ours, we theirs, your conscience
finds you with both, and neither : I flatter you
not. This of yours is the worst of all tempers.
How long will you halt in this indifferency ? Re-
solve one way, and know at last what you do hold,
and what you should. Cast off either your wings
or your teeth, and, loathing this bat-like nature, be
of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 155.) Now, in giving this version of
the affair, Neal ought not to have written it, as he has done, with
the intention to mislead his readers, as if Dr. Heylin coincided
with the testimonies of Bishop Hall and Dr. Abbot. He does
indeed confess, that it was thought dangerous to keep his com-
pany ; but by whom ? not certainly by the whole University, but
by Abbot's satellites, and by the enthusiasts of Nonconformity.
On reading Neal's observation, it would be natural to conclude,
that Laud stood solitary in his opinions. With what pity must
Laud have beheld the men, whose minds were so wofully
perverted by prejudice ! It is not surprising that the recollection
of this academical fanaticism operated powerfully in after life.
1606.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 121
either a bird or a beast. To die wavering and un-
certain, yourself will grant fearful. If you must
settle, when begin you ? If you must begin, why
not now ? God crieth with Jehu, Who is on my
side, who ? Look out at your window to him, and
in a resolute courage cast down the Jezebel that
hath bewitched you V
An excellent comment might be made on this
extract from Dr. Hall's letter, more especially as it
has been often retailed by Nonconformist writers ;
but it is scarcely necessary to offer any remarks.
The pious correspondent evidently laboured under
the enthusiasm of the times, and one sentence of his
epistle generally contradicts another. Nothing
1 One would imagine that the author of this epistle had Car-
dinal Bellarmine in his view, and what is said of him by a certain
writer. Ancillon's Critical Miscel. of Lit. torn. i. p. 352. apud
Bayle, vol. i. p. 726, note. " This puts me in mind of the com-
parison which I have seen somewhere of Bellarmine with a cer-
tain African whose name was Leo, whom he himself compares to
that amphibious bird of ^Esop, which was sometimes a bird and
sometimes a fish : a bird, when the king of fishes exacted a tri-
bute ; and a fish, when the king of birds exacted it." " Ut Leo-
quidam Africanus in Granatensi regno natus, et, postquam sub-
jugatum est illud regnum, in Africam profugus, de se fatetur,
Si Afros vitio aliquo notari sentio, me Granatae natum profiteer ;
si Granatensis male audiant, mox Afer sum : Bellarminus certe
multo quam ille elegantius aviculam illam imitatur, qui nimi-
rum respondet. (Tom. i. Controv. 1. i. 7.) Patres, secutos esse
septuaginta interpretum editionem, (ut sup. 20. 3.) Esdrae
agens, ait Patres secutos esse Hebrseos, et tamen illud alterum,
notate, quanta vi verborum efferat. Negari (inquit) non potest.
Ipse tamen id ipsum loco posteriori negat :" p. 354.
122 LIFE AND TIMES [1606.
could be more absurd than this clamour that Laud
was popishly inclined. He may be termed any
thing in the present day by his modern enemies
high churchman or semi-papist ; but the Puritans,
every one of whom was a papisto-mastix, unfortu-
nately neglected to exercise their reasoning powers.
And why was Laud so reproached ? It was not, in-
deed, because he advocated Popery ; thrice had the
Puritans attempted to convict him of this, and they
had failed : but it was because his mind rose supe-
rior to the enthusiasm of the age ; it was because
he rejected not the good which is to be found com-
mixed with the superstition of Rome ; it was be-
cause he well understood the whole doctrine and
discipline of the Church, and attacked the Papists
with their own weapons. On Bishop Hall's own
shewing, the Papists rejected him : " our adversa-
ries," says he, " think you ours :" the Puritans of
course rejected him ; " we think you theirs." Laud,
then, was neither Papist nor Puritan in principle.
There were in those times, as there are yet, two ex-
tremes ; Popery and Sectarianism. Laud steered
clear of both ; he was, therefore, a devoted member
of the Church of England, a supporter and strenu-
ous advocate of its doctrines, a defender of its con-
stitution. His object was truth, and the interests
of the Reformation ; and so zealous was he in the
path of duty, that he had no enemies more bitter
against him than the members of that church which
he was charged with favouring. This conduct,
however, seems to be a component part of Noncon-
1606.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 123
formity. In the present day, if a Christian be in-
clined to reason calmly and rationally, he is imme-
diately branded by the visionary zealots of evange-
lism as being irreligious and careless a moralist ; if
he does not incessantly talk about election, faith,
and the total wretchedness of man, he is called
unsound, Pelagian, or Arminian ; if he does not
patronise all the fanaticism exhibited at missionary
and other meetings (excellent, doubtless, in them-
selves if rightly conducted), where men meet merely
to sound each others' praise, to pay fulsome compli-
ments, to talk bombastic jargon, and " to be seen of
men," immediately he is traduced as caring not for
the soul, as being unregenerated, " yet in tres-
passes and sins." And if he be a minister of the
Church, how unfortunate is his case ? He is calum-
niated every where as caring for " none of these
things." And to such an improvement has the age
attained in these weighty matters, that the very
women have set themselves up as judges and critics
in matters of religious controversy, and he is only
accounted the gospel minister who whines about
them, and flatters them with compliments on their
spiritual perfection.
But if Laud had been a mere worldly priest, as
his enemies represented him, if he had merely his
own interest in view, and had been in heart a Pa-
pist, then did he indeed make a sacrifice by remain-
ing in the Church of England, instead of going over
to that of Rome ; he would not have remained in
the Protestant Church a single hour. Is it said
7
124 LIFE AND TIMES [1606.
that he wanted to make it Popish ? How absurd is
the charge, when throughout a long life, in all his
actions and writings, and at the hour of death, he
defended the Protestant constitution. His interest
at this time in the Church was not so great as to in-
duce him to remain ; he had no preferment, but, as
Clarendon observes, a poor Fellowship : nor had he
hopes of greater, for his concern in the Earl of
Devonshire's marriage had completely prejudiced
James against him; and this, perhaps, was the rea-
son why he was more than middle-aged before he
was promoted. He had few or no powerful friends
at court, whose patronage could be extended to-
wards him ; and we have yet to learn from his ene-
mies', that he was endowed with a prophetical spirit,
by which he could foresee his future grandeur, and
wait with patience till he emerged from the cloisters
of his venerable University. And when he did ob-
tain preferment, what was it for such a man as he ?
It was not like that of his adversary, Abbot, who,
more fortunate in his chaplaincy, stepped almost
from the University into a bishopric ; but it was
an humble benefice, in which he faithfully per-
formed his duty as a parish priest, and from it his
advancement was slow and gradual. It was against
his worldly interest, therefore, though it was accord-
ing to his principles, to remain in the Church of
England ; that Church held out to him no alluring
prospect ; whereas in the Church of Rome he would
have been received with open arms, and would have
obtained, perhaps, no small portion of its ecclesias-
1606.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 125
tical importance. And, had his enemies reflected
for a moment, they would have seen the absurdity
of charging a man with Popery for maintaining
those grand truths which they admitted in practice,
though they denied in theory the visibility of the
church, the necessity of infant baptism, the divine
warrant for Episcopacy. These were truths directly
opposed to Calvinism in church-polity ; but they
were truths to which those men who so violently
traduced Laud had subscribed, and to which those
" new reformers," as professing to be members of
the Church of England, although they pretended
to desire what they called a " godly reformation/'
were bound to maintain and defend, if they wished
to preserve their consistency ; or else to leave a
Church, the peace of which they disturbed by their
contentions, but which, according to the notions of
their modern admirers, " was not worthy of them !"
126 LIFE AND TIMES [1606,
CHAPTER IV.
16061616.
Archbishop Bancroft His prudent conduct Laud's prefer-
ments His generosity Bishop Neile Haired of Abbot to-
wards Laud Friendship of Bishop Neile Laud is chosen
President of St. John's His election disputed Decided in
his favour by the King His conduct Death of Archbishop
Bancroft His character Inconsistencies of the Puritans
Their inveterate prejudices Danger and evil of sectarianism
Promotion of Archbishop Abbot His enthusiasm En-
couragement of the Puritans Effects of his primacy His
opposition to Laud Laud's promotion Dr. Robert Abbot
His sermon against Laud Gloucester Cathedral Instruc-
tions of the King to the University of Oxford.
DR. RICHARD BANCROFT succeeded the venerable
Whitgift in the See of Canterbury, a prelate
worthy of the government of the Church. His
progress at the University of Cambridge, while a
student, marked his great abilities ; and his prefer-
ments, after he left the University, enabled him to
display his assiduity in defending the Church
against the attacks of enthusiasm *. While he
was prebendary of Westminster, he had distin-
guished himself by a sermon preached in 1593, at
1 Newcourt, Repertorium, &c. Le Neve's Lives and Cha-
racters of Protestant Bishops.
1606.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 127
St. Paul's Cross, against the Puritans, in which in
glowing colours he exhibited their extravagance,
their ambition, and the tendency of their principles
to mutiny and disorder l . In 1597, he had been
advanced to the See of London, when he was
Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury 2 , and
from this period he in reality managed the archie-
piscopal see, and governed the Church, as Whit-
gift's declining health had rendered him unfit for
business, and his advanced age required an active
and efficient coadjutor 3 .
Many important events had in the mean time
occurred. Religious disputes ran high in that age,
and required all the vigilance and activity of the
Church to restrain the inciters of them within due
bounds. Sufficient indications were given that the
reign of fanaticism was fast approaching, when the
sectaries, determined no longer to be peaceful
members of the state, were resolved to obtain the
ascendancy. The turbulence of the Scots had been
a source of annoyance to the government, and,
stimulated by the furious zeal of the Melvilles and
their associates, their conduct had become intolerable,
their spirit that of factious demagogues, their sedi-
tious principles had been widely diffused through-
out the nation 4 . The laws for Episcopacy, I have
1 Collier's Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 609, 610.
2 Strype's Lives, p. 515.
3 Fuller's Worthies of England, Lancashire, p. 112.
* Spottiswoode's Hi&tory of the Church of Scotland, book vii.
128 LIFE AND TIMES [1609.
already observed, had never been repealed in that
kingdom, not even in those Parliaments in which
the influence of Knox preponderated, nor was the
nation at all favourable to Presbyterianism, till
Andrew Melville practised in the General Assembly,
and induced that ecclesiastical court to legislate on
ivil affairs. The violent opposition which James
experienced, made him summon to London the
Melvilles, and others of their associates, that they
might answer for their conduct and opposition to-
wards the Episcopal Church. They obeyed the sum-
mons, and proceeded to Hampton Court, in Septem-
ber, 1609, when four distinguished men, namely,
Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Chichester ; Dr. Barlow,
Bishop of Rochester; Dr. King, then Dean of
Christ Church, and Dr. Buckeridge, already men-
tioned, were appointed to preach before the King,
that they might the more fully explain the doctrine
and principles of the Church of England, of which
the Scottish Presbyterians were utterly ignorant.
Buckeridge, on this occasion, discoursed from Rom.
xiii. 1. and discussed in a masterly manner the
point of the king's supremacy in ecclesiastical mat-
ters. " He handled it," says Archbishop Spottis-
woode, who was present at the sermon, " both
learnedly and soundly, to the satisfaction of all the
hearers ; but that the Scottish ministers seemed very
much grieved to hear the Pope and the Presbytery
Sanderson's Life of King James. Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii.
Kirkton's Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland,
Introd. Law's Memorials, edited by C. K. Sharp, Esq
1607.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 129
so often equalled in their opposition to sovereign
princes V Buckeridge, however, and his able coad-
jutors, discoursed to men who were above the reach
of argument or reason : they made no impression on
the Scots, who had resolved, before they set out, to
continue in their opposition. The condescension of
the king, too, was, of course, repaid by the insolence
of Andrew Melville, who, hurried along by his vio-
lent temper, forgot that respect which was due to
his superiors, and seemed to believe that every man
who was not a follower of Calvin was an enemy to
the Reformation. For his republican fanaticism,
his contempt of the king's authority, and his inso-
lence to Archbishop Bancroft, he was shortly after-
wards punished by imprisonment and exile : but
though Scotland was deprived of that great apostle
of Presbytery, it was not before he had infused his
principles among his associates, and taught them
the tenets of opposition 2 .
Laud was now thirty-four years of age, and he
had as yet resided almost constantly at the Univer-
sity. But in this year, 1607, being then Bachelor
of Divinity, he received his first preferment, which
was the vicarage of Stamford, in Northamptonshire 3 ,
1 Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland, book
vii. p. 497.
2 Dr. M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville, vol. i.
3 " 6th Nov. 1607, Will. Laud, cler. institutus S. T. B. ad vie.
perpet. eccl. paroch. de Stamford, ad pres. Tho. Cave, mil, per
resign. Robt. Walker, ult. incumb. resign, ante 2 Dec. 1609."
Reg. Dove. ep. Petrib.
VOL. I. K
130 LIFE AND TIMES [1608-9.
into which he was inducted on the 13th of Novem-
ber ; and in the following April he received the ad-
vowson of North Kilworth, in Leicestershire. In
the summer of this year he proceeded Doctor of
Divinity. While engaged in his parochial duties,
he was recommended by Dr. Buckeridge, his former
tutor, to Dr. Neile, Bishop of Rochester, a prelate
who was well instructed in the history and consti-
tution of the Church, and knew how to distinguish
its zealous and sincere defenders. Laud was ap-
pointed one of his chaplains, August 5, 1608, and
was received into his confidence, on which occasion
he exchanged his living of North Kilworth for
the rectory of West Tilbury, in Essex, into which
he was inducted on the 28th of October, 1609 l ,
that he might be near his friend and patron 2 .
He had, however, previous to this, on the 17th
of September, preached his first sermon before
King James at Theobalds. Next year, on the
25th of May, he was presented by Bishop Neile
to the living of Cuckstone, in Kent; on ac-
count of which, on the 2d of October, he re-
1 " 1609, 26 Oct. Will. Laud, cler. admiss. ad ecclesiam de
West Tilbury, per resign. Job. Boake, S. T. B. ad pres. regis."
Reg. Bancroft, Ep. London.
2 Diary, p. 2. Lloyd's Memoires, p. 226, and State Wor-
tbies of England, Lond. 12mo. edit. 1670. Fuller's Cburch
History, book x. Wood's Atben. Oxon. vol. iii. col. 121 .
Heylin, p. 55. Prynne's Life and Trial of Laud, p. 2. Prynne
says, Laud was inducted into Stamford on Nov. 16. Laud, in
bis own Diary, says Nov. 13.
1610.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 131
signed his Fellowship in St. John's, and resided on
his benefice \
The generosity of Dr. Laud's disposition was re-
markably conspicuous in those minor preferments.
We are informed by an author, that he was no
sooner invested in any of those livings than he gave
twelve poor people an annual allowance out of them,
besides " his constant practice of repairing the
houses, and furnishing the churches, wheresoever
he came 2 ." His parish duties, too, he discharged
with zealous assiduity, faithfully expounding to his
hearers the doctrines of the Church of England, and
in all things exhibiting a conduct worthy of a man
who assumes the important office of a parish priest.
While at Cuckstone, Laud was attacked by an
ague, brought on by the unhealthiness of the place,
which confined him two months. He was, after his
recovery, compelled to exchange this benefice for that
of Norton, one of less value, but more agreeably
situated. In the mean time his friend and patron,
Bishop Neile, was removed to the see of Lichfield,
and that prelate was not forgetful of his chaplain on
this occasion ; for having held the Deanery of West-
minster in commendam with the see of Rochester,
before he resigned it, he recommended Laud so
powerfully to the king, that he obtained for him a
prebend's stall in that cathedral. His preceptor,
1 Diary, p. 3. Lloyd, Heylin, Fuller, &c. ut sup. Rapin's
History of England, vol. ii. fol. Camden's Annals. Chalmers'
Biography. Original MS. of Dr. Heylin, Lansdowne MSS. 721.
2 Lloyd's Memoires, p. 28.
K 2
132 LIFE AND TIMES [1610.
too, Dr. Buckeridge, having succeeded Bishop
Neile in the- see of Rochester, retained towards him
the warmest friendship, on account of his great
talents and attachment to the Church. Thus did
Providence, notwithstanding Laud's many enemies,
and the numerous slanders which they sent abroad
against him, pave the way for his future advance-
ment, and prove him worthy of the patronage of his
venerable and distinguished superiors.
The promotion of Dr. Buckeridge occasioned his
resignation of the Presidency of St. John's College,
which happened during the time that Laud was
confined at Cuckstone by the ague. He had often
ardently wished for an influential situation in the
University, which would enable him to suppress
those disorders which the Puritan faction, under
the fostering auspices of Abbot, were daily making
more prevalent. Bishop Buckeridge had corre-
sponded with him on the subject, and was deter-
mined to support a man as his successor, who had
remained unmoved amidst all the slanders and per-
secutions of the Calvinists. Accordingly, Laud stood
candidate for the Presidency of St. John's ; but, as
there was a considerable probability of his success,
Dr. Robert Abbot, who had by this time been pro-
moted to the see of Lichfield and Coventry in the
room of Dr. Neile, who had been again translated
to the see of Lincoln, resolved by every exertion to
thwart his success, suspecting and fearing the pro-
motion of his opponent. " So natural a thing it
is," as Heylin well observes, " to hate the man whom
z '
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 133
we have wronged ; to keep him down, whom we
have any cause to fear, when we have him in our
power." For this purpose, Abbot, indefatigable in
his opposition, made heavy complaints against him
to Lord Ellesmere, High Chancellor of the kingdom,
who had unfortunately been chosen Chancellor of the
University. The substance of Abbot's insinuations
was the old report of Laud's popish inclinations.
He alleged that " he was a Papist at heart, and
cordially addicted to Popery ;" that " he kept com-
pany with real and suspected Papists ;" and that,
" if he were suffered to have any place of govern-
ment in the University, it would undoubtedly turn
to the great detriment of religion, and the dishonour
of his Lordship." The Chancellor, believing Abbot's
representations, immediately informed the king ;
and thus his chance of election was almost frus-
trated.
But Bishop Neile did not desert Laud on this
occasion. Knowing well the falsehood of those in-
sinuations, he nobly defended him to the king, and
happily succeeded in removing the royal prejudice.
Laud was so fortunate as to secure a majority of the
votes of the Fellows, and he was accordingly elected
President of St. John's on the 10th of May, 1611,
during the time of his illness at London. The
enmity of the faction against him, however, did not
stop here ; " though/' as he himself says, " he made
no party then, for four being in nomination for that
headship, he lay then so sick at London, that he was
neither able to go to Oxford, nor so much as write
134 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
to his friends about it 1 ." In his Diary, when re-
cording this affair, he justly charges Abbot with
being the cause of all his troubles 2 . His enemies
quarrelled at his election, and he found more oppo-
sition than he at first expected ; for bejng opposed
by another candidate, named Rawlinson, Fellow
of St. John's, and afterwards Principal of St. Ed-
mund's Hall, after the election Had been declared in
Laud's favour, one of the other party snatched the
paper containing the scrutiny, and tore it to
pieces. Laud's enemies took advantage of this cir-
cumstance, and appealed to the King, thinking,
from what Abbot had reported through the me-
dium of Lord Ellesmere, that his Majesty would
decide in their favour. This appeal was heard by
James at Tichbourne, in Hampshire, as he was
returning from an excursion to the western counties,
on the 28th of August. Both parties were heard
for the space of three hours, and, after a full in-
vestigation of the proofs adduced on both sides,
Laud's election was confirmed, to the great morti-
fication of Abbot and his friends. The affirmation
of the election, we are informed, was given on St.
John Baptist's day, the Saint after whom the Col-
lege had been named by the munificent founder,
which, because St. John the Baptist was beheaded,
was looked upon afterwards by Laud's fanatical and
superstitious enemies, who eagerly caught at every
1 Answer of Laud to the Speech of William Lord Say and
Sele touching the Liturgy, edit. 1695, p. 474.
2 Diary, p. 3.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 135
thing to gratify their malice, as a prognostication of
the death which its new President was to suffer.
Laud's election being thus finally ratified by the
king, he was admitted President of St. John's, and,
in the exercise of his duty, he was compelled to make
an example of some of those who had abetted the
disorders by tearing the paper containing the scru-
tiny of election. The principal individual was of
course selected, and here the conduct of the Presi-
dent, and that of his enemies, afford a striking con-
trast. Although the member had committed an
act which would have justified expulsion, or at least
some very severe sentence, yet Laud, knowing his
talents, not only pardoned him, but bestowed on
him special marks of favour, made him his chaplain,
" preferred him,'* says Heylin, " from one good be-
nefice to another, married him to his brother's
daughter, and finally promoted him to the very Pre-
sidency which had been the first cause of the breach,
and to one of the best deaneries in the kingdom."
Such was the magnanimity of this great man, who,
in every action of his life, rose superior to the petty
distinctions of party, even when injured and calum-
niated. " To the other Fellows," continues this
writer, " who had opposed him in his election to
that place, he always shewed a fair and equal coun-
tenance, hoping to gain them by degrees ; but if he
found any of them to be untractable, not easily to
be gained by favours, he would find some handsome
way or other to remove them out of the College,
that others, not engaged upon either side, might
136 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
succeed in their places. But, notwithstanding all
this care, the faction still held up against him, the
younger fry inclining to the same side which had
been taken by their tutors."
Laud, however, was not to be overcome, and,
exercising his accustomed patience and moderation,
in November following, by his wise and prudent
choice of the officers belonging to the College, he at
length succeeded in reducing this spirit of factious
turbulence. In this month, too, his Puritan ene-
mies were farther mortified by the conduct of the
king ; for, through the influence of Bishop Neile,
his constant friend, he was admitted one of the
royal chaplains. But whilst Laud had been com-
bating with his enemies at Oxford, the venerable
Bancroft departed this life on the 2d of November,
1610, after having occupied the see of Canterbury
little more than six years. With him, it has been
too truly remarked, died the uniformity of the
Church of England. He died of the stone, at his
palace of Lambeth, in the 64th year of his, age l .
1 His body, according to his orders, was buried in the chan-
cel of Lambeth Church, and on the flat stone over his grave
there is the following inscription : (Stowe's Survey, &e. of
London, p. 790.)
VOLENTE DEO.
Hie jacet Ricardus Bancroft, S. Theologia?
Professor, Episcopus Londinensis primo,
Deinde Cantuarensis Archiepiscopus, et
Regi Jacobo secretioribus Conciliis obiit
Secundo Novembris, An. Dom. 1610. JEtat. suae 67.
YOLENTE DEO.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 137
He was a iigid defender of the Church, a vigilant
governor and disciplinarian, learned in controversial
theology, an admirable preacher, and a distinguished
statesman. In his famous sermon against the Pu-
ritans, there is an elegance of style, an eloquence,
and a logical arrangement, which prove him to have
been a master in composition. His character is of
course traduced by the Puritan historian, who says,
he was a " divine of a rough temper, a perfect crea-
ture of the prerogative, and a declared enemy of the
religious and civil liberties of the country V And
again, " This prelate left behind him no extraordi-
nary character for piety, learning, hospitality, or
any other episcopal quality 2 ." The same invective
has been repeated by similar writers, in order that
they might justify the excesses of their friends 3 .
Among our general historians, too, there are found
He left his library to the Archbishops his successors for ever,
upon condition that his successor would leave it as he found it,
and if not, he left it to Chelsea College, then building, on con-*
dition of its being finished at a certain time, and if not, to the
University of Cambridge. Whether Abbot and Laud, his suc-
cessors, gave the security, does not appear, but the library re-
mained at Lambeth till the Commonwealth, when, by the failure
of Chelsea College, and the fall of the Church establishment, it
was acquired by the University of Cambridge. It was retained
there till after the Restoration, when Archbishop Juxon de-
manded this splendid library, and his successor, Archbishop
Sheldon, succeeded in getting it restored to Lambeth Palace.
1 History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 41.
2 Ibid, ut sup. p. 91.
' Messrs. Bogue and Bennet, in their History of Dissenters,
vol. iii. M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. i.
138 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
enemies to his memory; by one he is called the
fiery Bancroft l ; and the author of the " Altar of
Damascus" has contributed his share of abuse 2 .
Another writer says, that " Bancroft filled the see
of Canterbury with no extraordinary reputation :
he had extreme high notions of government in
Church and State, and was strongly suspected of
having cherished the king's disposition to assume a
power above the laws and constitution of the coun-
try. He was most certainly a greater friend to pre-
rogative than to liberty; and what with the want of
an hospitality that became a bishop, what with the
roughness of his temper, and his high and arbitrary
notions, he was but little regarded in his station as
the head of the Church 3 ." It is amusing to ob-
serve, however, the contradictions of these writers.
They ascribe to an exercise of what they call arbi-
1 Confessional, p. 277, 278, 279.
2 He says, that when the Primate enforced the strict observ-
ance of all the Festivals of the Church, &c. according to the
first Service-Book of Edward VI.. by compelling the clergy to
subscribe over again the three Articles of Whitgift, which, by
the 36th canon, they were obliged to declare they did willingly
and from the heart, 300 ministers were deprived or silenced,
either by banishment, excommunication, or imprisonment. The
number, however, is grossly exaggerated, for, from the lists
given in by Bancroft before his death, it appears that not more
than forty-nine were deprived in any way. This, in a kingdom
such as England, and in that age, was no great number ; but
perhaps the worthy writer, in order to make out a case, com-
prehended all those who were indulging in scruples.
3 Warner's Eccles. Hist, of Eng. fol. 1759, vol. ii, p. 496,
497.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 139
trary power, whatever influence a man high in sta-
tion, whom they chose to vilify, may have possessed.
This author, nevertheless, makes the following ad-
mission, which it is but fair to quote : " If we read
of no extraordinary virtues in this prelate, it is cer-
tain that there are no vices laid to his charge by
those who did not esteem him, but cruelty and co-
vetousness, which, when they are examined narrowly
into, appear not to deserve those names in the
strictest acceptation. In short, there have been
archbishops who have been much worse than Ban-
croft, who, by their good humour and generosity,
have been more esteemed when living, and more
lamented at their death V
Amidst the jarring testimonies of prejudice and
passion, occasioned, for the most part, by keen
disappointment and neglect, it is extremely difficult
to ascertain truth. The private feelings of such a
writer are minutely recorded, and the passions
which he cherished deprive him of that faculty of
investigation as to motives, which must first be
noted before we predicate any thing of actions.
Accordingly we find, that the Puritan writers and
their modern defenders, one and all, pursue the
same beaten track, and, determined to condemn a
man who did not espouse their cause, and who
was actuated by conscientious motives much more
than they pretended to be, they took every advan-
tage to establish their conclusions ; and, when every
1 Warner's Eccles. Hist, of Eng, vol. ii. p. 4-96, 497.
7
140 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
other resource failed, they addressed themselves to
the prejudices of the people, and began their usual
declamations about liberty and popular rights. It
is too evident, that the testimonies of Puritans
must be received with caution, for, even granting
that they were justified in their opposition, what
dependence can be placed on men who were stimu-
lated by hatred, disappointment, neglect, enthu-
siasm, love of novelty, and determined opposition
to the civil and ecclesiastical power ? Often, indeed,
they pretended to wish for fair and manly argu-
ment, yet what was their conduct when put to the
trial ? When challenged to gird up their loins like
men, invited to descend into the arena of discus-
sion, and thoroughly contest their points of dispute,
did they accept the invitation, or boldly come for-
ward and meet their opponents by sound, scrip-
tural, and rational argument ? Had they done so,
some respect might have been shewn to their intre-
pidity, and it were to be wished that at the present
time they would give a sufficient reason for " the
hope that is in them." But, amid the numberless
divisions, strifes, and differences of opinion, which
characterised the Puritanism of the seventeenth
century, and which do still distinguish dissension
from the Church, (and Dissension or Sectarianism
carries with it the canker-worm of dissatisfaction,
discordance, and private interpretation, which eats
it in its very vitals,) amid these, I say, we look in
vain for any thing like general harmony of opinion
on religious matters, and nothing, save a simulta-
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 141
neous consent to vilify and oppose the Church and
the civil power. I do not deny, that there might
be some points which bore hard on the Puritans, and
which ought to have been modified, and rendered
less severe ; but where is the government that is
immaculate, or where the church that is faultless in
its administration ? If they had been successful in
modifying the Church to suit their own wishes,
would they have made it, if we may judge from
the present appearance of Dissent, a harmonious
communion, pure and faultless ? But their error was,
that they rejected all authority in reasoning, they
adopted the pernicious system of private interpre-
tation, and where was the barrier to fanaticism ?
they looked with contempt on human learning, and
how could they escape the wild dreams of a heated
imagination ? they revelled in the visionary fancies
of enthusiasm, could their minds, in such a state,
reflect and reason with impartiality ? Moreover,
the Puritans fell into those worst of all errors and
extremes, which unfortunately are amply inherited
by some sects of the present day, they forgot
that many parts of the sacred Scriptures, although
adapted to our instruction and edification, are not
applicable to us in our circumstances, but strictly to
those who made the transition from paganism and
idolatry to Christianity, they forgot that the apos-
tolic times were widely different from those of the
seventeenth century, and they endeavoured to as-
similate every expression which they found in holy
Scripture to their own visionary ideas of spirituality.
142 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
Could such men, then, violent sticklers for private
interpretation, be candid judges, or could it be ex-
pected that they would be favourable to those who
defended the constitution of the Church against
foreign innovation ?
Our great authorities, then, in ascertaining the
truth on the motives and actions of men in that
age of fermentation> are those who write in defence
of the Church, for this reason, that they had no
prejudices to gratify. The power was in their
hands, and they were required to exercise it, but
to whom were they accountable ? Not certainly to
the Puritans, who were but a party in the nation.
Unmoved by any of those excitements of passion
which the Puritans felt, they wrote without any pri-
vate animosity. Let us then notice the testimonies of
other writers concerning Archbishop Bancroft, for
it is from the character of the clergy that we can
principally arrive at a right knowledge of the state
of the Church. " He was," says Camden, " a
person of singular courage and prudence in all
matters relative to the discipline and establishment
of the Church 1 ." Fuller observes, that he was an
excellent preacher, happy in raising the affections
of his auditory, which, having excited, he could
preserve till the close of his sermon ; and an indus-
trious writer, as his Commentaries on the Five
Books of Moses, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed,
and Commandments, with other portions of Scrip-
f Camden's Brittanica, by Bishop Gibson, vol. i. col. 24?.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 143
ture, testify 1 . "His adversaries," says this old
writer, " describe him as a greater statesman than
divine, a better divine than preacher, though his
printed Sermon testifieth his abilities. I find two
faults charged on his memory, cruelty and covetous-
ness. To the first it is confessed he was most stern
and stiff to press conformity ; but what more usual
than for offenders to nickname necessary severity as
cruelty? As for his covetousness, he never was
observed in his own person to aim at the enriching
of his kindred :" " his clear estate at his death
did not exceed six thousand pounds ; no great sum
to make a single man covetous, who had sat six
years in the See of Canterbury, and somewhat
longer in London 2 ." ,
1 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 56, 57.
2 Wilson, in his Life of King James, (apud Complete Hist,
of England, vol. ii. p. 10.) " A witty writer," says Fuller, " but
more a satirist than a historian," has the following pasquils on
his memory, for his alleged covetousness, which are worthy of
notice, as that writer is hostile to him,
" Here lies his grace in cold clay clad,
Who died for want of what he had."
And as the primate at one time cancelled his first mil, the fol-
lowing distich was published :
" He who never repented of doing ill,
Repented that once he had made a good will."
Fuller, in treating this primate as a great statesman, and the
grand champion of church discipline, observes farther, " No
wonder if those who were silenced by him in the church were
loud against him in other places. David speaketh of poison
under other men's lips. The Bishop tasted plentifully thereof
144 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
Abbot, Laud's violent enemy, succeeded Bancroft
in the primacy, of whom more particular mention
will be made hereafter. " He was promoted to
Canterbury," says Lord Clarendon, " upon the
never enough lamented death of Dr. Bancroft, that
metropolitan who understood the church excel-
from the mouths of his enemies, till atiast he was so habituated
to poisons, (as Mithridates) that they became food to him.
Once, a gentleman coming to meet him, presented him with a
libel which he found posted on his door : but he, nothing moved
thereat, said, " Cast it beside an hundred more which lie here
in an heap in my chamber." Other two anecdotes I may
give, the first of which shews that he was not so severe as the
Puritans aver. A clergyman, who was on the point of being
deprived, declared to him that he could not conform. " How
will you live," asked the primate, " if put out of your bene-
fice ?" The clergyman replied, that he had no other resource
than to beg, and resign himself to Providence. " You will not
need to do that," said the Archbishop ; " come to me, and
I will take order for your maintenance." Some courtiers,
daring Elizabeth's reign, indulging in gambling above their in-
comes, solaced themselves with the hope, solvat ecclesia, the
church will pay all. Bancroft, then Bishop of London, being
informed of this, contrived to disappoint them of some of the
church-lands which the queen had been inclined to bestow on
them, and left them to pay for their folly as they could out of
their own purses. It is said, that he saved the lands of the
bishopric of Durham from being alienated to one of James's
Scotch favourites, by his speedy and seasonable interposition.
As to his preferments, when he was promoted to LlandafF, he
used to call that bishopric aff, because the property had been
lost ; " thence he was translated to Exeter, thence to Worcester,
thence to Heaven." See Fuller, book x. p. 56, 57. Lans-
downe MSS. vol. xlix. of Bishop Rennet's Collections, from
16001620, fol. 153. 155. 157.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 145
lently, and had almost rescued it out of the hands
of the Calvinist party, and very much subdued the
unruly spirit of the Nonconformists by and after the
Conference at Hampton Court, countenanced men
of the greatest parts in learning, and disposed the
clergy to a more solid course of study than that to
which they had been accustomed ; and, if he had
lived, would quickly have extinguished all that in
England which had been kindled at Geneva ; or,
if he had been succeeded by Bishop Andrews, Bi-
shop Overall, or any man who understood and loved
the Church, that infection would easily have been
kept out, which could not afterwards be so easily
expelled V In a word, concerning this Primate, his
strictness was absolutely necessary; and there is
little doubt that, had he lived, the enthusiasm of the
times would have been restrained. And we know
that his vigilance and activity gave, as Collier ex-
presses it, "anew face to religion;" the services of
the Church were performed with reverent devotion,
the utmost uniformity prevailed in every part, the
Common Prayer was diligently used according to
the constitution of the Reformed Church, as set forth
in the first years of Elizabeth 2 . And whatever may
be said of him, there is this to be kept in remem-
brance, that his traducers are those whom he silenced
for their contumacy, and who took that ignoble
1 Clarendon's Hist, of the Rebellion, Oxford ed. 1721, vol. i.
p. 188.
3 Collier's Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 687, &c.
VOL. I. L
146
LIFE AND TIMES
[1611.
mode of retaliation, by vilifying his memory with
their false aspersions.
This inference of Lord Clarendon is worthy of
particular notice, for never was the Church of Eng-
land in greater peril than at this juncture. Sur-
rounded by enemies without, and attacked by traitors
within, every thing depended on the disposition of
the Metropolitan. It was unfortunate for the Church
that Abbot succeeded ; certain it is that the Puritan
faction from this period gained a complete victory,
and during his primacy arose those evils which were
entailed on his successor. We have already ob-
served his conduct towards Laud, whom he pursued
with unrelenting opposition, raising unfounded ca-
lumnies against him, and taking every advantage to
blast his prospects and reputation. He had indeed
failed ; still, what was to be expected from a Metro-
politan who had always signalised himself as a vio-
lent Puritan leader ? Was it not evident, that pro-
tection and patronage Would be awarded to all who
went to those extremes into which his party fell
while he was a resident in the University, and
which, in truth, he openly declared, by the share
which he took in opposing Laud's election to the
Presidency of St. John's? He is characterised as
being " a sound Protestant, a thorough Calvinist,
an avowed enemy to Popery, and even suspected of
Puritanism l ;" as if no one could be a " sound Pro-
Neal's Hist, of Puritans, vol. ii. p. 93.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 147
testant," and " an avowed enemy to Popery/* who
was not a follower of Calvin, and inclined to the
Puritan extravagances. Abbot was doubtless a
good and a learned man, but he was not attached
to the Church of England. " He considered/' says
the noble author already quoted, " the Christian
religion no otherwise than as it abhorred and reviled
Popery, and valued those men most who did that
most furiously. He enquired but little after the
strict observance of the discipline of the Church, or
conformity to the Articles or Canons established,
and did not think so ill of the (Presbyterian) disci-
pline as he ought to have done ; but if men pru-
dently forbore a .public reviling at the hierarchy
and ecclesiastical government, they were secure
from any inquisition from him, and were equally
preferred. His house was a sanctuary to the most
eminent of the factious party, and he licensed their
pernicious writings V
The advancement of Abbot could not have been
beheld by Laud, and all true members of the Church
of England, without great apprehensions. Bancroft
had restrained the turbulence of the Nonconformists;
and even in Scotland the minions of discontentment
were not very numerous. But that spirit was only
slumbering, which was to rise with increased fury.
Abbot, in fact, was not well instructed in the consti-
tution of the Church, and his strong attachment to
Calvinism made him disregard its divine authority.
1 Clarendon, ut sup,
L 2
148
LIFE AND TIMES
[1611.
His learning was extensive and profound, yet he did
not direct it at all times with candour in a fair dis-
/ cussion. It has been remarked of him, that he re-
ceived one preferment after another until he had
reached the primacy, before he thoroughly under-
stood the duties of a parish priest ; whereas, his
episcopal cotemporaries had gone through all the
degrees in the Church before they had been pro-
moted to their respective Sees. The first occasion
of his advancement was at the period of his journey
into Scotland, in 1606 ; for from this period must
be dated his extraordinary elevation from the Deanery
of Winchester to the see of Canterbury, in little
more than three yedrs. On the death of his first
patron, Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, he was so
fortunate as to be appointed chaplain to George
Hume, Earl of Dunbar, Treasurer of Scotland, one
of James* favourites, but perhaps the wisest and
the best of those favourites whom the monarch se-
lected from his native kingdom. The object of
Abbot's journey was to establish a union between the .
Churches of the two kingdoms, in which, it is ad-
mitted, he acted with great prudence and modera-
tion \ It was while he was in Scotland that he
drew up his Narrative of the trial of George Sprot,
for his concern in the famous Gowry conspiracy,
1 Calderwood, fol. 1680, p. 588, 589. Heylin's Hist, of the
Presbyterians, 1672, p. 383. Life of Laud, p. 64. Speed's
History of Great Britain, book x. fol. 1227. Petrie's Compen-
dious History of the Catholic Church, &c. folio. Hague, 1662,
vol. iii. p. 554. 4 j r
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. U9
at whose trial Abbot was present 1 . His remarks
on that occasion secured for him the favour of
James, and, as that prince knew well the turbu-
lence and fanaticism of the Scots at that period, he
conceived a very high opinion of Abbot's genius
and ability. Having been further consulted by
James on a political mediation between the crown
of Spain and the States of Holland 2 , he received
on that occasion a singularly confidential letter
from the monarch 3 . In 1609, he was promoted to
the Bishopric of Lichfield, in 1610, to that of Lon-
don, and in 1611, on the death of Bancroft, he
was removed to the primacy of Canterbury ; thus,
before the age of fifty years, he was entrusted with
the government of the Church, promotions, per-
1 The Examinations, Arraignment, and Conviction of Geo.
Sprot, Notary at Ayemouth, together with his constant and ex-
traordinary behaviour at his death, in Edinburgh, Aug. 12,
1600. Written and set forth by Sir William Hart, Knight,
Lord Justice of Scotland, whereby appeareth the treasonable
device betwixt John Earl of Gowry, and Robert Logan of
Restalrig, (commonly called Lesterig,) plotted by them for the
cruel murthering of our most gracious Sovereign. Before which
treatise is prefixed also a Preface, written by Geo. Abbot, Doc-
tor in Divinity, and Dean of Winchester, who was present at
the said Sprot's execution. London, printed by M. Bradwood,
for William Apsley, 1608, 4to. pp. 60.; the Preface extends
to thirty-eight pages.
2 Wilson's King James, p. 37. Camden's Annals, ad an. 1609.
Sanderson, 561.
3 Sherlock's (Master of the Temple) Vindication, &c. in an-
swer to Dr. Sherlock, p. 4. New Observator, vol. iii. No. 12.
150 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
haps, unexampled since the era of the Reforma-
tion l .
The bishops about the court had desired the pro-
motion of the celebrated Launcelot Andrews, then
Bishop of Ely 2 , and they perhaps calculated with
too much security upon the king's known attach-
ment to that distinguished man, without making
much exertion. " The world ? " we are informed,
" wanted learning to know how learned he was, so
skilled in all (especially oriental) languages, that
some conceived he might, if then living, almost
have served as an interpreter general in the confu-
sion of tongues 3 ." His integrity, uprightness, and
determined adherence to the constitution of the
Church were also well known, though his memory
has not escaped the insolent attacks of the Puritan
faction 4 . But the King's favour for Abbot was
either too recent, or the Earl of Dunbar's interest
succeeded in securing his nomination.
A certain author has said of this primate, that
" honest Abbot could not flatter 6 ." But Abbot was
not wanting in flattery towards his royal master,
as the following passage, extracted from the pamph-
let already referred to, testifies, and which it does
'.; . f. ' ' . ,
1 Regist. Bancroft, fol. p. 96. Godwin, de Praesul. Ang. 4to,
London, 1616, p. 225. Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 735.
2 Heylin's Hist, of Presbyterians, p. 383.
3 Fuller's Church Hist. xi. p. 126.
4 Prynne's Canterburie's Doome, p. 121.
f Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. 1 74.
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 151
not appear that Walpole had perused. He speaks
of James, (and he well knew the monarch's failing,)
as one " whose life hath been so immaculate and
unspotted in the world, so free from all touch of
viciousness and staining imputations, that even
malice itself, which leaveth nothing unsearched,
could never find true blemish in it, nor cast proba-
ble aspersions on it. Zealous as David, learned
and wise, the Solomon of our age ; religious as
Josias, careful of spreading Christ's faith as Con-
stantine the Great, just as Moses, undefiled in all
his ways as a Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah, full of
clemency as another Theodorus." We are not in-
formed how those opinions were relished by the
Puritans, but Abbot's inclination to their cause
could make those pretended self-denying and godly
men overlook many things. They would not, cer-
tainly, be altogether pleased at seeing the " doc-
trinal Papist" extolled in such language as the pre-
ceding, yet not one of them has commented on the
sentiments of Abbot, although, had they been the
declarations of Laud, or of any other who had
opposed their Genevan notions, they would not
have passed unnoticed. Abbot, however, with all
his Puritanism, was a courtier, and he was not un-
concerned about promotion in the Church, not-
withstanding his attachment to Nonconformity and
Calvinism. Yet, it must be recorded of him, that
he was not remarkably ambitious, and his modera-
tion, though ill-directed, ought at least to secure
for him respect, in connexion with his learning.
152 LIFE AND TIMES [1611.
The Puritan historian has a remark, however, on
this occasion, which ought not to be omitted. He
informs us, that had Abbot's counsels for modera-
tion been followed, the Church would have been
saved from the ruin which it brought on itself.
But the Church, as Neal admits, did not ruin itself,
nor would it have fallen, had it not been for the
efforts of those very men, or their successors, whom
Abbot patronized, and Laud opposed. If the Church
was severe, with what factions was it not surround-
ed, and how many enemies could it not reckon who
would have rejoiced in its utter annihilation ? Nor
would the Church have been severe, for an inclina-
tion to persecution, at least, is no feature of the
Church of England, had it not been virulently
attacked by a fanatical faction, who continually
annoyed its governors by declamations about refor-
mation, according to their tender consciences, Cal-
vinistic dogmas about election and predestination,
and a thousand visionary subtleties, which they fan-
cied to be the certain indications of spirituality and
evangelism ; and not satisfied with expressing their
own dissatisfaction, its opponents were zealous in
creating a partizanship, and in exciting the turbu-
lent spirit of the people. Conceiving every thing
to savour of Popery which was not Calvinistic, they
were not sparing in their invectives against all who
really could not perceive, either by internal evidence,
or by any process of reasoning, the infallible in-
spiration of Calvin's opinions and writings. The
truth, however, is, that the Church did not fall
7
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 153
until it was undermined by a faction whom it had
long cherished as vipers in its bosom. Had a pre-
late succeeded Bancroft in that age of polemical
disputation who would have pursued his judicious
measures, who can tell but, in all human probability,
the dreadful catastrophes of the next reign might
have been avoided ? The Church had sufficient
power to restrain extravagances, but it was a task
entailed upon Abbot's successor in the primacy,
though by no means too much for his vigorous
mind, to combat with the wild and irregular notions
of men who had been thrust into benefices by Abbot,
and had been strengthening themselves during his
life-time, gaining the people, and aiming at popu-
larity. For all men, as we are informed by Lord
Clarendon, were promoted equally by Abbot, if
they were Calvinists, and inclined to Puritanism :
and thus it was that James, notwithstanding his
antipathy to the malcontents, unconsciously laid the
foundation of future evils in the Church, by the
promotion of Abbot, however excellent the new
archbishop was in himself as an ecclesiastic, apart
fromhis official duties, and the patronage he awarded
to disappointed ambition.
The new primate was Laud's inveterate enemy.
The breach between them was now wider ; for Laud
was not ignorant of his conduct during his election
as the President of St. John's. He could not in-
deed feel otherwise than mortified that he had been
traduced as a Papist, and that the scandal had
154 LIFE AND TIMES [1614.
reached the ears of the king, by the very man who
had been its original mover.
Laud, now a chaplain of the court, naturally ex-
pected some other preferment, especially when he
saw the good fortune of his adversary ; and he
lingered about the court for three years in this
expectation. Abbot's influence, however, retarded
his advancement ; for he was no farther noticed,
and he had adopted the resolution of retiring from
the court, and residing altogether at his College.
But he sought his constant friend, Bishop Neile,
to whom he communicated his resolution. That
excellent prelate had been an attentive observer of
the state of affairs, and was well aware to whom
Laud was indebted for the neglect he experienced ;
nevertheless, he advised him to wait another year,
before he took this decisive step. In the mean
time, the Bishop, having bestowed on him the pre-
bendary of Bugden, in the diocese of Lincoln, on
December 1, 1615, presented him to the arch-
deaconry of Huntingdon. The Lord Chancellor
Ellesmere died in 1616, and Laud saw the wisdom
of following the advice of Bishop Neile. James,
disregarding the underhand representations of Ab-
bot's party, resolved to bestow some marks of fa-
vour on his hitherto neglected chaplain, and, ac-
cordingly, he bestowed on him the Deanery of
Gloucester then vacant, a dignity, not of great
value, but which was of consequence as establishing
his reputation.
1614.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 155
Here, however, it is necessary, in order farther
to observe the violent antipathy entertained against
Laud by the Puritans, to notice their conduct a
little before this period. Dr. Holland, Rector of
Exeter College, and Regius Professor of Divinity,
having died in the year 1612, Dr. Robert Abbot,
brother to the archbishop, was appointed his suc-
cessor. He was a man much more amiable than
his brother, and so modest, that he would not even
accept the theological chair, until his brother had
procured the royal mandate. Nor was he a violent
predestinarian, or firm believer in the Calvinistic
tenets, at least he was more moderate than his two
predecessors in that chair, for he openly expressed
his belief in sublapsarianism. He was a learned
man, and an eloquent preacher, but of course
strongly affected towards the Puritans, as appears
from some of his works, particularly his Sermon on
the 110th Psalm, entitled " The Exaltation of the
Kingdom and Priesthood of Christ," dedicated to
Bishop Babington, published at London, 1601 ;
his " Antichristi Demonstratio, contra fabulas pon-
tificias, ineptam Belarmini," &c., dedicated to King
James, 1603 ; and his " Treatise against Bishops!'
Dr. Abbot's moderate Calvinism, however, excited
against him the wrath of a host of predestinarians,
who, liking nothing which savoured of moderation,
were sturdy champions for election and reproba-
tion. Yet, being a dependent on his brother, or,
at least, guided very much by his advice, and also
favourable to Puritanism, he was of that party
156 LIFE AND TIMES [1614.
who violently opposed Laud, and now, when he
was resident in the University, he thought nothing
would be more pleasing to the Calvinistic faction,
than to give a proof of his opposition.
On Shrove Sunday, 1614, Laud preached a ser-
mon before the University, in which he touched on
some points, about which the Puritans, as usual,
took alarm. The cry had been set up against
Arminianism, by men, too, who seemingly would
not, or could not, understand the meaning of the
term, and Laud's opinions were held as either fa-
vouring that system, or as completely Popish ; for
in this last position, the Puritans always took re-
fuge. They either imagined, or affected to ima-
gine, that Popery and Arminianism were synony-
mous, whereas no two systems are more at variance ;
and, besides, among the different orders of the
Romish Church, there were many who were as
violent predestinarians as themselves. The Church
of Rome, before the Reformation, was thoroughly
Calvinistic l , in particular the Franciscans, and a
considerable number of tlie Dominicans. Laud, in
this sermon, reflected on the Presbyterians with
some severity, in which he was completely justified
on account of their late proceedings. Dr. Abbot
soon got notice of Laud's sermon, at which he felt
no small indignation, and he resolved to embrace
the first opportunity of exposing his opinions to
censure. Accordingly, being Vice-chancellor that
1 Dean Tucker's Letters to Dr. Kippis, p. 81, &c.
1614.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 157
year, he preached a sermon in St. Peter's Church
on Easter-day, in which he made allusions to Laud,
which were at once understood. Laud, then Pre-
sident of St. John's, was not present on this occa-
sion, but he was persuaded by some of his friends
to attend at St. Mary's Church on the following
Sunday, when the sermon, according to ancient
custom, was again to be delivered. He complied,
and heard Dr. Abbot abuse him for nearly an hour
from the pulpit, and in such an undisguised man-
ner, that he was actually pointed at by the audi-
tors.
The particular passage which Laud objected to
was the following " Some," said Dr. Abbot, " are
partly Romish, partly English, as occasion serves
them, that a man might say unto them, noster cs, an
adversariorum? who, under pretence of truth, and
preaching against the Puritans, strike at the heart
and root of the religion now established among us.
They cannot plead that they are accounted Papists
because they speak against the Puritans, but, be-
cause, being indeed Papists, they speak nothing
against them. If they do at any time speak against
the Papists, they do but beat a little about the bush,
and that but softly too, for fear of waking and dis-
quieting the birds that are in it : they speak nothing
but that wherein one Papist will speak against an-
other, as against equivocation, the Pope's temporal
power, and the like, and, perhaps, some of their
blasphemous speeches : but in the points of free-
will, justification, concupiscence being a sin after
158 LIFE AND TIMES [1614.
baptism, inherent righteousness, and certainty of
salvation, the Papists beyond the seas can say they
are wholly theirs ; and the Recusants at home make
their boast of them. In all things they keep them-
selves so near the brink, that upon occasion they
may step over to them. Now, for this speech, that
the Presbyterians are as bad as the Papists, there is
a sting in the speech, which I wish had been left
out, for there are many churches beyond the seas,
which contend for the religion established among
us, and yet have approved and admitted Presby-
tery." After defending Presbytery for a considera-
ble time, he then exclaimed, " Might not Christ
say, What art thou ? Romish or English ? Papist or
Protestant ? Or, what art thou ? a mongrel com-
pound of both; a Protestant by ordination, a Papist
in point of free-will, inherent righteousness, and
the like. A Protestant in receiving the Sacrament,
a Papist in the doctrine of the Sacrament. What ?
Do you think there are two heavens ? If there be,
get you to the other, and place yourselves there,
for unto this where I am ye shall not come V
This is a specimen of the singular eloquence of
Dr. Abbot ; and because Laud did not hold the opi-
nions of St. Augustine and Calvin about free-will,
inherent righteousness, the sacraments, and the po-
lity of the Church, he was condemned from the
pulpit of St. Mary's as a Papist. Laud immediately
wrote to Bishop Neile, to receive his advice, as he
1 Heylin, p. 61, 62. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 62.
1614.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 159
felt himself almost called upon to answer these scur-
rilous and false charges. " I came time enough/'
says Laud to that prelate, " to be at the rehearsal
of this sermon, upon much persuasion, where I was
fain to sit patiently, and hear myself abused almost
an hour together, being pointed at as I sat. For
this present abuse I would have fain taken no notice
of it, but that the whole University did apply it to
me ; and my own friends tell me I shall sink my
credit, if I answer not Dr. Abbot in his own. Ne-
vertheless, in a business of this kind, I will not be
swayed from a patient course ; only I desire" your
Lordship to vouchsafe me a direction what to do."
Bishop Neile, however, it would appear, advised
him not to excite a quarrel, for the matter went no
farther ; and as Abbot was soon afterwards pro-
moted to the bishopric of Salisbury, through his
brother's influence, though not without considera-
ble opposition, Laud did not think it prudent to
engage in a dispute with one who was now advanced
to so high a station in the Church. Abbot was suc-
ceeded in the divinity chair by the famous Dr. John
Pride aux, Rector of Exeter College, " who proved,"
says Heylin, " a violent assertor of all the Calvinian
rigours, in the matter of predestination, and the
points depending thereupon, as appears by his first
lecture, De Absolut o Decreto, and the rest which
followed."
After Laud's promotion to the Deanery of Glou-
cester, he resigned his Rectory of West Tilbury, in
Essex. When he received the appointment from
160 LIFE AND TIMES [1614.
James, he was commanded to reform and set in
order what was necessary in that cathedral, for no
church in England was so ill governed. Dr. Miles
Smith, for his care in the part assigned him in the
translation of the Bible, had been advanced to that
see. He was a rigid Calvinist, and greatly inclined
towards the Puritans, on which account the cathe-
dral, and indeed many of the churches in the dio-
cese, were approximated as near as possible to the
appearance' of conventicles. Laud, instructed by
the king, proceeded to Gloucester, and found the
cathedral in a state of decay. He immediately
called a chapter of the prebends, in which two acts
were passed, the one ordering a speedy repair of the
church, the other ordering the removal of the com-
munion table to the east end of the choir, and re-
commending a becoming reverence and devotional
feeling to th$ clergy and officers of the cathedral
when they entered, as had been always the practice
of true worshippers, and not to follow the fashion
of the Puritans, who were accustomed, like their
brethren in Scotland, to treat the churches with the
utmost contempt, and to exult in doing so, fre-
quently sitting with their hats on during divine
service, and rushing in and out of the church in
mobs, without any appearance of reverence for the
great Being in whose more immediate presence
they had been, thus making an improvement on the
passage of Scripture, that " God is not confined to
temples made with hands." Those proceedings
were beheld with great indignation by the bishop,
1611.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 161
who openly expressed his indignation ; but he found
the new Dean by no means inclined to gratify the
enthusiasm of the sectarians in the city of Glouces-
ter. So enraged, indeed, was Dr. Smith, that he
declared, unless those acts were revoked, he would
never again enter the cathedral while he lived ; and
he adhered to his resolution. One of his chaplains,
however, took up the affair, and endeavoured to
excite, through means of seditious letters, a tumult
in the city. The Puritans "were grown multitu-
dinous," says Heylin, " by reason of the short stay
which the Dean and Prebendaries had made in the
city, the dull connivance of their Bishop, and the
remiss government of the Metropolitan, so that it
seemed both safe and easy to some of the rabble to
make an outcry in all places that Popery was in-
troduced that the transforming of the communion
table into an altar, with the worship and obeisance
rendered to it, were popish superstitions, and the
like." The civil authorities interposed, and after
committing some persons to prison, and threaten-
ing others for their outrageous disorders, they sent
notice to Laud, who immediately wrote to the
Bishop of Gloucester, explaining his conduct, and
maintaining that he had done nothing contrary to
the established practice of the primitive church, and
of the Reformed Church of England l .
Having thus discharged his duty at Gloucester,
1 Heylin's Life of Laud, p. 6366.
VOL. I. M
.
162 LIFE AND TIMES 1616.
Laud returned to court. In the mean time, his
treatment from Dr. Abbot had been represented to
James by Bishop Neile, at which the King ex-
pressed considerable indignation. A representation
was also given of the danger which might in future
result to the Church, were such proceedings to pass
unnoticed, more especially as the Calvinists at Oxford
were diligently training numbers of the students to
succeed them in the promulgation of their opi-
nions. After mature deliberation, Laud and the
clergy about the court procured directions for the
better government of the University, which were
dispatched, on the 18th of January, 1616, to the
Vice-chancellor and the Heads of Colleges. Those
directions, which ought to have been issued some
years sooner, contain the first official disapprobation
of the tenets of the Calvinists and supralapsarians,
as will be seen from their nature. They are to the
following effect :
" 1. That it is his Majesty's pleasure, that all who
^take any degree in schools, subscribe the three arti-
cles in the thirty-sixth Canon.
" 2. That no preachers be allowed to preach in
the town, but such as are every way conformable by
subscription, and every other way.
" 3. That all students do resort to the sermons
at St. Mary's, and be restrained from going to any
other church in the time of the sermons at St.
Mary's ; and that provision be made, that the ser-
mons in St. Mary's be diligently made and per-
formed both before and after noon.
7
1616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 163
" 4. That the ordinary Divinity Act be constantly
kept, with three replicants.
" 5. That there be a greater restraint of scholars
haunting town-houses, especially in the night.
" 6. That all scholars, both at the chapels and at
the schools, keep their scholastic habits.
" 7. That young students in divinity be directed
to study such books as are most agreeable to the
Church of England in doctrine and discipline, and
excited to bestow their time on the Fathers and
Councils, schoolmen, histories, and controversies,
and not to insist too long upon compendiums and
abbreviatures, making them the grounds of their
study in divinity.
" 8. That no man, either in pulpit or schools, be
suffered to maintain dogmatically any point of doc-
trine that is not allowed by the Church of Eng-
land.
" 9. That the Vice-chancellor, and the two Pro-
fessors, or two Heads of Houses, do, at such times
as his Majesty resorts into those parts, wait upon his
Majesty, and give his Majesty a just account how
these his Majesty's instructions are observed.
"10. Let no man presume, of what condition or
degree soever, not to yield his obedience to these his
Majesty's directions, lest he incur such censures as
the statutes of this University may justly inflict upon
such transgressors."
These directions, evidently levelled against the
Puritans, are, it must be conceded, not altogether
justifiable, (although the last is indeed a qualifica-
M2
164
LIFE AND TIMES
[1616.
tion,) inasmuch as they deprived the University of
its independence, and subjected it completely to the
control of the king. But the state of the times ren-
dered such instructions necessary; and the conster-
nation of the Puritan faction, when they were made
known at Oxford, is a proof of the wisdom of the
monarch and his advisers, in thus placing a timely
restraint on the progress of sectarian partisanship
and enthusiasm.
i}flj> (10 OffLii MI
i
1616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 165
CHAPTER V
16161619.
Remarks on the state of Scotland James resolves to visit that
kingdom Remarkable violence of the Presbyterian minis-
ters Proposal for a union between Scotland and England
defeated Consecration of the Scottish Bishops at Westmin-
ster Departure of James His arrival in Scotland Laud
accompanies him The Scottish Parliament The Perth Ar-
ticles General Assembly Ratification of the Perth Articles
Return of James to England Laud arrives at Oxford
t Is inducted into the Rectory of Ibstock Death of Dr. Robert
Abbot, Bishop of Salisbury.
THIS year King James resolved to undertake a
journey into his native kingdom, which he had not
visited since his accession to the English crown.
He had indeed promised, in his farewell address
delivered in the High Church of Edinburgh, that
he would visit his ancient people every third year,
and that, as his good fortune had now made him
more powerful, he was more able, and he would
be more inclined, to attend to their interests, and
to consult their welfare. The tears which were
shed, however, by the inhabitants of the Scottish
metropolis, when they beheld the representative of
their ancient sovereigns finally departing from
among them, depriving them of the gaudy splen-
dour of a court, to a kingdom which they not only
166 LIFE AND TIMES [1616.
considered foreign, but also hostile, where, in
all probability, their own barren and uncultivated
country would be speedily forgotten amidst English
splendour and the luxuriance of the English plains,
were those of deep regret, as resulting from their
attachment to the House of Stuart, and from their
veneration to their sovereign, who, notwithstand-
ing all their turbulence and rudeness, had conti-
nually resided amongst them. The hatred and strife
which had been long cherished against their more
powerful southern neighbours were not yet for-
gotten : they recollected the fearful inroads which
the English armies had made into their country,
and the marks of devastation which they had left
behind. The fatal and melancholy disaster of
Flodden was within the memory of their parents :
and little more than half a century had elapsed
since the surrender at Solway, and their complete
defeat at Pinkey, by the Marquis of Hertford.
Numerous minor engagements, especially on the
Borders, had farther tended to increase the mutual
exasperation : the English looked on them with
contempt, they on the English with hatred: the
policy of Elizabeth, her persecution of Mary, and
the subserviency of the Regent Moray, had com-
pleted their subjection to the English influence,
while the Regents who succeeded him were afraid
to displease a neighbour so powerful and so danger-
ous. Not calculating on the advantages which must
ensue from a union with a more wealthy neigh-
bour, they imagined that they beheld the independ-
1616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 167
ence of their country, for which their fathers had so
nobly and so successfully fought at Bannockburn,
and which, during three centuries afterwards, they
had guarded with vigilance and determination, at
once sacrificed in a manner inglorious to their former
renown in arms ; not decided by the sword, but
controled by a destiny inevitable.
Yet the reformation from Popery had engrossed
much of their attention. The Roman Catholics
were still a numerous and powerful party, headed
by many of the northern chiefs ; and religious dis-
putes characterized the age as one of strife, tur-
bulence, and sedition ; giving sufficient indications
of the approaching reign of violence and religious
enthusiasm. The departure of James was for-
gotten amidst theological contentions : the disci-
ples of Geneva had succeeded in disseminating the
Presbyterian notions among the inhabitants of the
Lowland counties, particularly the western dis-
tricts ; and had taught the people to behold their
sovereign as one who temporized with circum-
stances, and was inclined to impose on them a
Church and a ritual which they conceived little
better than Popish. They forgot that the ancient
constitution of their Church, before it was subject
to the Bishop of Rome,, had been thoroughly Epis-
copal J , and their fiery leaders failed not to foment
1 Bishop Lloyd's History of the Church, as it was in Great
Britain and Ireland when they first received the Christian Re-
ligion. Bishop Stillingfleet's Origines Brittanicae, London, fol.
1685. Goodall's Essay on the Culdees, apud Bishop Keith.
168 LIFE AND TIMES [1616.
the excitement of feeling by their partial and pre-
judiced representations. Accordingly, the measures
of James in Scotland had been extremely unpo-
pular; the Scots charged him with listening to
men who knew nothing of their country, and who
judged of its inhabitants from themselves; and
they had invariably displayed that determined op-
position, which no arguments or concessions of the
monarch could induce them to forego.
In the year 1604, a political union of the two
kingdoms had been proposed by James to the Eng-
lish Parliament, and Lord Chancellor Ellesmere
procured with difficulty the nomination of forty-five
commissioners to treat with the Scots 1 . On the
llth of July, in that year, the Scottish Parliament
assembled at Perth, who, when the measure was
proposed, heard it with alarm and apprehension.
An intimation, however, was conveyed to the nobi-
lity from James, that a speedy compliance could
alone avert his displeasure, and, unable to contend
with their sovereign, they yielded with reluctance.
Thirty-six commissioners were appointed to meet
those of England. But numerous obstacles caused
the intended union to be postponed, and afterwards
to be finally abandoned 2 .
Although the commissioners assembled at West-
minster had abandoned the measure as imprac-
1 King James's Works, p. 159.
2 MSS. State Papers'in the Advoc. Lib. Edin. Spottiswoode,
History, p. 318. Journals of the Commons, vol. i. p. 318. Parl.
17. James VI.
J616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 169
ticable, it was still cherished in secret by James.
For this purpose, his first intentions were to effect
an uniformity of religion a union of the two
churches. James, who was a zealous Episcopalian,
was exasperated against the Presbyterians on ac-
count of their intolerant spirit ; they attempted to
justify all their excesses by examples from the Old
Testament, and thence they inculcated rigidly on
their followers " to go and do likewise." But not
the less did he recollect their bitter animosity and
hatred towards his mother how they had defended
the murder of the most beautiful princess in Chris-
tendom, how they had traduced her memory, and
personally insulted himself 1 . The revival of Epis-
1 On one occasion, James, before the murder of his mother,
commanded her to be prayed for in all religious assemblies,
and appointed a day of fasting and prayer, on which Adamson,
Archbishop of St. Andrew's, was to preach. But the Pres-
byterian ministers, on the day appointed, placed a miserable
young fanatic named John Couper, in the pulpit of St. Giles'
Church, where the service was to be performed. The king,
who was in his own seat, immediately exclaimed, " Master
John, that place was designed for another, yet since you are
there, do your duty, and obey the charge to pray for my
mother." Couper replied, that he would pray as the Spirit
directed him, and immediately began a tirade of the most
abusive invectives against the queen. The king interrupted
him, whereupon he thumped the pulpit, exclaiming, " This day
shall bear witness against you in the day of the Lord. Woe
be to thee, O Edinburgh, for the last of thy plagues shall be
the worst ;" and immediately he came down from the pulpit,
and departed, " followed by the whole wives in the Kirk."
Archbishop Spottiswoode's History, p. 354. Sanderson, p. 120.
170 LIFE AND TIMES [1616.
copacy had been attempted before the Accession,
but the preachers discovered it, and opposed it
with industrious zeal. They met without permis-
sion of the civil power, nay, in direct opposition to
it, at Aberdeen, in July, 1605, and constituted a
General Assembly, for which act they were punished
by the government l . Shortly afterwards the Mel-
villes were summoned to court, to answer for their
turbulence, where the " venerable Andrew" in par-
ticular, the elder of the brothers, behaved with his
accustomed rashness. The sermons of the English
clergy were heard with the utmost contemgt, the
service was beheld with abhorrence, and spoken
of with levity. Several epigrams were written
to ridicule the Church 2 ; one of which, of an ex-
John Welch, another fanatic, whom the enthusiasts believed to
have the gift of prophecy, was of the same description. Some
of his sermons are printed, and are remarkable for his "fami-
liaritie with his Maker." Archbishop Spottiswoode declares,
that his common effusions were also abundantly treasonable. In
the year 1596 he had the insolence to declare from the pulpit
in the High Church of Edinburgh, that " the king was possessed
with a devil, and one devil being put out, seven more were en-
tered in place, and that his subjects might lawfully rise, and
take the sword out of his hand." Tantane animis ccelestibus
irce ?
1 Only nineteen individuals composed this Assembly out of
fifty Presbyterians. The majority of the ministers were averse
to it. Spottiswoode, Hist. p. 487.
2 Calderwood's History, p. 537, &c. Spottiswoode's History,
p. 500. Calderwood's MS. vol. v. ad an. 1606. Woodrow's
MSS. vol. i. folio, in the Library of the University of Glas-
gow, f-.rtf
1616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 171
tremely reprehensible description, breathing the
genuine spirit of Calvinism, had found its way to
the king l . And when Melville had been summoned
before the Council to assign a reason for his licen-
tious freedom, he had not only reviled the Church
of England, but had abused Archbishop Bancroft,
who was present, because he opposed the extra-
vagancies of Puritanism, blamed him for introduc-
ing what those zealots called " corruptions, vanities,
and superstitions," into the Church 2 , addressed
that venerable prelate as the enemy of the Re-
formed Churches, and, boldly advancing towards
him, shook his lawn sleeves, and termed them
Romish rags. Such was the insolence of those
worthy coadjutors of the English Puritans in the
presence of their sovereign, and in contempt of all
well-regulated civil authority. But James con-
1 Calderwood and Wodrow, ut sup. Spottiswoode, p. 500.
The following is the Epigram, which has been often printed.
" Cur stant clausi Anglis libri duo, regia in ara,
Lumina caeca duo, pollubra sicca duo ?
Num sensum cultumque Dei tenet Anglia clausum
Lumine caeca suo, sorde sepulta sua ?
Romano et ritu dum regalem instruit aram
Purpuream purget religiosa lupam."
2 Spottiswoode, who was present, says (History, p. 500.) that
Melville's behaviour was more like that of a madman than a
divine. The Dissenting Calvinists invariably followed the no-
tions of their oracle, Calvin, who was pleased to condescend
on the Liturgy and Service of the Church, that they were
" tokrabiles ineptice !"
172 .$ LIFE AND TIMES [1616-
trived to punish them for their insolence, and An-
drew Melville, in particular, never returned to the
country, the inhabitants of which he had excited by
his furious and intolerant zeal.
Various were the disputes which intervened be-
tween the years 1606 and 1610, the year in which
Archbishop Spottiswoode and the Bishops of Gal-
loway and Brechin were consecrated at Westmin-
ster. In 1612, Episcopacy was completely re-esta-
blished in Scotland, and the prelates shewed their
attachment to the Protestant Church by their zeal-
ous opposition to Popery, more especially in the
prosecution of Ogilvy, a Jesuit, by the Archbishop
of Glasgow *. They endeavoured, by every expe-
dient, to convince the people of their attachment to,
and zeal for, the Church ; nor would they have been
unsuccessful, had they not been opposed by new
zealots.
The promise made by James to visit Scotland
every third year had been hitherto unfulfilled, by
reason of his negligence and his poverty. At this
time, however, he had received a supply of money
by his negotiations with the Dutch, and he prepared
to perform his engagement. He had not relin-
quished his hopes of the desired union of the king-
doms, and he naturally thought that his presence
might tend to conciliate the people, and further his
wise intentions. The king made a careful selection
of those who were to accompany him, and Laud
1 Spottiswoode, p. 521, 522, 523. Calderwood, p. 649.
1616.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 173
was included in the number; because, besides the
favour which he at this time enjoyed, his well-
known abilities might be of service among the
northern enthusiasts. The grand object of the king,
in the first instance, was to effect a uniformity in
the two Churches ; a measure not only expedient,
but highly justifiable, especially in times when it had
not been discovered, as the experience of the last
century has proved, that two separate Protestant
establishments may exist in a kingdom united in
political force, and yet each have a different eccle-
siastical constitution. " In the next century," says
Laing, " their posterity discovered, nor was experi-
ence necessary to prove, that if the relative obliga-
tions to government are the same, uniformity of
religious or of municipal laws is not essential to an
incorporating union." These opinions, however,
must be received with very great limitations, and as
only applicable in some instances and in a more en-
lightened age ; for had Presbytery, Puritanism, or
Calvinism (for these names are all synonymous) been
established in Scotland in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, had the enthusiasm of the Scot-
tish votaries of Geneva been gratified, where would
have been the security of the Church of England ?
Leagued as they had been with the Puritans of Eng-
land, even when they had not thoroughly adopted
the order of Calvin, in the reign of Elizabeth, and
still more united with them at this time, since they
viewed the Puritan cause as their own, and as
congenial to their feelings, the constitution of Eng-
174 LIFE AND TIMES [1616.
land would have fallen, it would have passed, as it
latterly did, into the hands of demagogues, who,
when they did obtain the mastery both in England
and Scotland, were not one whit behind their Popish
predecessors in insolence and persecution. And it
certainly does ill become factious men of the present
day to charge the Church of England with cruelty
and intolerance towards the Puritans ; since those
very factions, as they themselves admit, were striv-
ing to overturn the state, under the specious pre-
tence of a tender conscience. The unhappy primacy
of Abbot was fostering the dark and daring spirit
of Calvinism ; men were admitted into the Church
who were secretly undermining its foundations.
The Church, under this Primacy, was too visibly
hastening to its fall ; for it had less to fear, as the
issue proved, from those without, than from those
within. Hence, then, in general, uniformity of
religious laws is absolutely necessary ; and it is only
because the legal church-establishment of Scotland
at present is somewhat different from the plan of
its first supporters ; it is because the insufferable
Solemn League and Covenant, that precious speci-
men of Calvinistic intolerance and rebellion, is sup-
pressed; it is because frequent intercourse with
their more learned and more polished neighbours of
England has softened the rude asperity and gloomy
fanaticism of the descendants of the Covenanters ;
it is because the rage for covenanting chivalry has
passed away, and the consolidated civil laws of Great
Britain alike prevail over the religious and muni-
1617/J OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 175
cipal laws of Scotland, which are now in force ; it
is, in short, because Calvinism has lost its power,
and, consequently, is shorn of its intolerance, that
two different Protestant establishments can co- exist,
holding, in general, the same doctrinal truths, and
that " uniformity of religious or municipal laws is
not essential to an incorporating union."
Laud having been appointed to accompany James,
on the 14th day of March, 1617, the monarch began
his journey. -We are informed, that as he passed
through Lincoln, he was magnificently entertained
by Laud's constant friend, Dr. Neile, the Bishop of
the See. He had previously dispatched commis-
sioners to Scotland, to make some preparations for
his arrival ; and among the rest, as he did not
choose to patronise the rhodomontade and extem-
poraneous effusions of the Calvinists, or to attend
their conventicles, to repair the chapel-royal at the
palace of Holyroodhouse, that public worship might
be celebrated in it according to the forms of the
Episcopal Church. This exercise of conscience the
zealots of Edinburgh chose to consider as a re-
markable innovation ; and seeing a few decorations
in the interior of the building, (for it had been
almost in a state of dilapidation since the reign of
Mary), a report was instantly spread, that mass was
to be introduced, and their preachers assisted in
publishing the falsehood ; so grossly ignorant were
they of the Church they reviled. Cowper, Bishop
of Galloway, though an amiable man, dean of
the chapel-royal, having been formerly a zealous
'
176 LIFE AND TIMES [1617.
Calvinist, entered into the feelings of the populace,
and wrote to Spottiswoode, who was now in the
primacy of St. Andrew's ; but the Archbishop justly
treated his fears as visionary and groundless. The
other bishops, however, succeeded in restraining
some of the arrangements in the chapel, for which
they were reproved by the king, who ascribed it to
their narrow views, and unceremoniously told them,
that he would bring with him some English theolo-
gians to enlighten their minds.
On the 13th of May the king arrived in Scotland,
and was received with the greatest demonstrations
of joy. His learning was gratified by an exhibition
of pedantry from the Scottish Universities, particu-
larly those of St. Andrew's and 'Edinburgh ; and his
wit, by puns on the names of the professors l . But
the affairs of the Church required his especial care.
Although the Episcopal Church was established, and
its government thoroughly primitive, yet it re-
tained the Presbyterian form of worship a form, as
Lord Kaimes well expresses it, fit only for philoso-
phers. Its rude simplicity seemed to enthusiasts
pure and divine ; but to the rational, nothing could
be more indecorous and illiberal. The Scottish
Church wanted that admirable protection against
fanaticism, preservative of vital religion, and de-
fence of sound doctrine, a Liturgy, such as the
1 The Muse's Welcome to James, Johnston's History, p. 5 1 9.
Crawford's Account of Edinburgh College, MS. in the Library
of that University.
1617.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 177
Church of England possessed ; and Laud, fre-
quently consulted by James, pressed him to adopt
some decisive measures. The king was resolved
not to lose sight of his favourite object, and expe-
rience had taught him the beneficial effects of a
public form of prayer.
The Scottish parliament assembled; the proceed-
ings of which were protested against by three
preachers, Simpson, Ewart, and Calderwood the
historian. They were summoned to St. Andrew's,
and there silenced by deprivation, inasmuch as their
protest was reckoned seditious in its interpretation.
The king presided in the court, and in passing sen-
tence remarked, that " as long as they were de-
prived only of their benefices, they stood out, be-
cause they preached on, and lived on the benevo-
lence of the people : but when they were deprived
of their office, many yielded, and were now the best
men in the kingdom : therefore the same course
must be adopted with them as with the Puritans."
In the mean time, the sermons of the Presbyterians
abounded with invectives against the king ; and in
their prayers they not only condemned the rites and
ceremonies of the Church, but zealously prayed that
they might be preserved from the same. Laud, and
some of the king's chaplains, heard these discourses,
and reported them to the king ; but " at this time,"
says Heylin, " there was no remedy ; the Scots
were Scots, and were resolved to go on in their own
way."
On the clay after the punishment of the factious
VOL. i. N
178 LIFE AND TIMES [1617.
preachers, the following alterations in the service of
the Church were proposed by James : " I. That the
holy Eucharist should be reverently received kneel-
ing. II. That it should be administered in private,
and in extreme sickness. III. That baptism should
be administered in private, if necessary. IV. That
episcopal confirmation should be bestowed on youth.
V. That the descent of the Holy Ghost, the birth,
passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, should
be commemorated, on the appointed days." In
these propositions James observed, that it was the
prerogative of a Christian king to regulate the ex-
ternal polity of the Church ; nor would he disregard
their disapprobation of these articles, unless their
arguments admitted of no reply. The assembled
preachers said nothing, but fell upon their knees
before him, and requested a General Assembly, that
these articles might be discussed l .
We are told that Laud was not content with these
articles, but pressed the king to bring the Scottish
Church to a nearer conformity with that of Eng-
land 2 . This was hardly prudent at the present
juncture, because the Genevan adherents were nu-
merous and popular. > Nevertheless, it might appear
to him, that were the king to tamper with the
enthusiasm of the populace, additional strength
might be imparted to the opposition. Decisive
measures were perhaps as expedient as the reverse ;
for the king had found that the Scots, like the
<^
/
1 Spottiswoode, p. 534. 2 Heylin, p. 72, 73.
7
1617.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 179
English Puritans, were not to be gained by lenity or
moderation ; and if one request was granted them,
they would soon make it a precedent for others.
They had advanced no arguments in defence, but
what had been refuted ; and as they made consci-
ence the* excuse for their extravagant conduct in
religion, so the same pretence might be assigned
for their political acts, since they had the address
invariably to blend religion and politics together.
And it appears, after all, that had the king exercised
coercion at this juncture ; had he established the
Episcopal Church in Scotland on its rightful basis
at once, before the malecontents acquired strength
and influence to rally their adherents ; and had he
assigned to that Church a jurisdiction and a power
ample and complete, much of the fanaticism of the
nation would have been restrained, and the people,
by the diligence of their pastors, would have forgot-
ten or disregarded the pretended infallibility of the
notions of Calvin.
James, advised by Laud and the clergy who were
with him, granted the preachers an Assembly, after
having held an interview with the prelates. But
he took a politic course to ensure compliance with
his wishes. Instead of arguing and disputing, which
the king saw was useless, he withheld from the
preachers the salaries which had been paid out of his
Exchequer ; and this had no inconsiderable effeet.
He then took his departure from Scotland, in which,
contrary to his expectations, his authority had as yet
been treated with decided opposition and contempt.
N 2
ISO LIFE AND TIMES [1G18.
After his departure the Assembly met at St. An-
drew's, but nothing was decided ; and the king was
highly incensed at the conduct of the bishops, when
the account was transmitted to him. They had
demanded from the faction that nothing should be
determined until another assembly ; and in the mean
time Archbishop Spottiswoode, who had incurred
James' displeasure, was most indefatigable in his
exertions for the Church. The next Assembly, known
by the name of the Perth Assembly, was held at
Perth on the 26th of August, 1618, when the fa-
mous " Five Articles" were finally confirmed. It
was attended by commissioners from the king,
almost all the nobility and gentry, all the bishops,
(except the Bishop of Argyle), and the ministers who
were elected by the Presbyterians. Archbishop
Spottiswoode opened the court with an admirable
sermon, in which he defended, with great ability,
the discipline and ritual of the Church. He then
proceeded to the moderator's chair, and when an
objection was urged to his right, the primate stoutly
replied, that the Assembly was held within his dio-
cese, and while he lived no one should occupy his
place. The Dean of Winchester then presented a
letter from the king, and, after some little discus-
sion, the five Articles were ratified, when put to
the vote, by a large majority l , and henceforward
1 Pamphlets, published 1619. Calderwood's MSS. vol. vi.
p. 407. 422424. Spottiswoode, p. 534, 535, &c. Calder-
wood's Hist. p. 691, 692. Life of Spottiswoode, apud Wod-
row MSS. p. 6273. Lord Hailes' Memorials, p. 94104.
1618.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 181
were to be adopted into the ritual of the Scottish
Church.
Such was the result of an Assembly, memorable
as the last in James* reign, in which an act was
passed for the admission of Articles which the king
had been negotiating for two years, and which,
perhaps, would not have been assented to by many
of the Calvinists, had not the king withheld the pay-
ment of their stipends. It is doubtless true, that
the Presbyterians afterwards denied the validity of
its proceedings, and their adherents have laboured
to prove that it was informal ; but it appears, not-
withstanding, that the Assembly was lawfully con-
vened, and was composed of the representatives of
the nation l . The Articles were rigidly enforced,
but without effect. On Christmas day, divine wor-
ship was disregarded ; and rather than receive the
Eucharist kneeling, the zealots either refrained from
it altogether, or associated with the rabble. They
followed their daily avocations on the days enjoined
by the Church for public worship ; and in Edin-
burgh, it is hinted by Spottiswoode, the magistrates
secretly encouraged the populace in their opposi-
tion 2 . The rebellious ministers were of course de-
prived, some were punished by imprisonment, others
by fines, for inflaming their adherents. Let us hear
what a Scottish historian remarks on this subject.
" The ceremonies were imposed," says Laing, " by
1 Vindication by Lindsay, apud Lord Hailes, vol. i. p. 89.
Spottiswoode, p. 540.
182 LIFE AND TIMES [1618.
the prelates as things in themselves indifferent, in
which obedience is due to the supreme power ;
without recollecting, that whatever is indifferent in
religion, should belong to the votary's discretion or
choice. A nation whose prayers to the Deity are
uttered on foot, in an erect posture, was not disposed
to obey the requisition of the sovereign, and to bend
the knee to the sacramental symbols 1 ." But such
opinions are founded on fallacious principles, which
would lead to tumult and confusion ; they contain
an apology for that irreverence and rashness in the
presence of the Deity, which too much prevails
among the sectarians of every description, by which
the sacred duty of prayer is often profaned, or its
language is used as a vehicle for the expression of
private prejudice, and as a vindication of that seem-
ing carelessness and recklessness in Presbyterian
congregations, on the pernicious effects of which it
is needless to expatiate.
Thus ended, for the remainder of James* reign,
all attempts to carry into effect the scheme for
uniting the English and Scottish Churches ; a scheme
judicious in itself, and worthy of James' character-
istic wisdom, but which the fanaticism of the origi-
nal Scottish reformers first rendered abortive, and
which the Calvinism of Geneva, with the Puritanism
in England, and the unhappy primacy of Abbot,
finally made hopeless, by a bold and daring opposi-
tion. It was left to James' successor to continue
1 Laing's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 79, 80. Lond. 1800.
*
1618.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 183
his father's design, but with worse success ; and it
was reserved for Laud to take a more active part
in the business at a subsequent period. James re-
turned to England, discontented with his journey.
He proceeded through Lancashire, and, while in
that county, Laud obtained his permission to visit
Oxford, and was inducted into the rectory of
Ibstock, in Leicestershire, in the gift of the Bishop
of Rochester, which he had exchanged for Norton.
At Oxford he was received by his friends with the
greatest affection, after his long absence ; and here
he received the pleasing information, that by his
exertions he had restrained the Puritan enthusiasm
at Gloucester, and that the service of the Church
was performed with devotion and solemnity. Nor
had any thing remarkable happened during his ab-
sence, except some domestic afflictions to Archbishop
Abbot. This year died his brother, Dr. Robert
Abbot, Bishop of Salisbury, who, we are informed
by Heylin, having married when near sixty years of
age, incurred the resentment of his brother to such
a degree, that it affected him " even unto death."
184 LIFE AND TIMES [1619.
CHAPTER VI.
16191622.
:> >m : any;' :
Political errors of James Clamours against Laud His pro-
motion Made prebend of Westminster Selfish conduct of
Bishop Williams Promotion of Laud to the See of St. Da-
vid's Fruitless opposition of Archbishop Abbot Aspect of
the times Archbishop Abbot's misfortunes He kills a game-
keeper by accident History of the affair He is pardoned
by the King Consecration of the new Bishops Their un-
founded scruples Diligence of Laud His primary Visita-
tion Advantages of it His return to London The Parlia-
ment Distressing situation of the King Vindication of
James The Parliament is dissolved Intrigues of the Pu-
ritans Calvinism Remarks on Predestination Its effects
Instructions of the King to the Clergy Critical situation
of the Church of England Intrigues of the Papists The
famous Conference between Laud and Fisher the Jesuit Ex-
tracts from the Relation of it His sentiments on error.
OF the many historical transactions which took
place at this period, I shall at present notice only
the most important: these were, the death of
Henry Prince of Wales, the meeting of the famous
Synod of Dort, in which James, by countenancing
its proceedings, committed the most unfortunate
error into which he was betrayed during the whole
course of his reign, and the death of the Queen,
Archbishop Abbot's chief supporter, an intriguing
and artful princess, who had but little regard for
r.
1619.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 185
the honour and dignity of her husband, or for the
welfare of his subjects. The king's greatest mis-
fortune, I have said, was his ratifying the Synod
of Dort ; and bitterly did his family feel it in an
after period. Nor would he, indeed, have counte-
nanced that Synod, so replete in its effects with
disasters to himself and to the Church of Eng-
land, had he not been stimulated by political mo-
tives, that he might support the party of the
Prince of Orange, and further the interests of the
Elector Palatine, who had married his daughter,
the Princess Elizabeth.
Laud had now surmounted the various persecu-
tions he had encountered ; yet his enemies resolved
still to oppose him, on every favourable opportu-
nity. In proportion as he rose in the King's favour,
Archbishop Abbot declined; for James saw the
malevolence of those who had studiously endea-
voured to ruin the reputation of a man so resolute
in his defence of the Church against the innova-
tions of the sectarian members. Yet one of Laud's
actions had given them occasion to renew their
scandal : he had placed an organ in St. John's
Chapel, and this was held by his fanatical enemies
to be a decisive proof of his popish inclinations.
The Presbyterians, who looked with contempt on
every harmless decoration, delighted in the nearest
approximation possible to rudeness in the churches,
and preached a crusade against every thing which
tended to promote devotional feeling, apart from
their own absurd and clownish taste. And yet it
186 LIFE AND TIMES [1620.
is not the less remarkable, that the admirers of
those very men, whose bigotry and insolence were
intolerable, have either adopted an instrument
which their ancestors condemned, or others much
less harmonious and impressive, or, as in the north,
where the cry of Popery would at once be raised
by the zealots of Presbytery, they have become
disgusted in many places at the nasal drawlings of
their clerks, termed precentors, and have now a
hired band of vocalists, who warble forth such mer-
cenary strains as are to be heard in many of the
English conventicles. But when the remnants of
fanaticism have been obliterated, men will learn to
think and judge with reason, nor will they deny to
the temples of the Almighty those decorations
which are fitted to quicken and nourish that inward
reverence and devotion which are due to sovereign
Majesty and Power.
On the 20th of January, 1620, Laud was in-
stalled Prebendary of Westminster, to which dig-
nity he had been advanced ten years before by his
friend Bishop Neile. It had been generally reported
at Court, that he was to get the Deanery of that
Church *, but Dr. Williams, the Dean, having been
presented to the Bishopric of Lincoln, wished
rather to keep it in his own hands. The King,
Laud says himself, used to observe to him, when
commending him for his long services to the crown,
1 Diary, p. 4. Prynne's Breviat, p. 3. Heylin, p. 80. Wood,
A then. Oxon. vol. iii.
16*0.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 187
that he had given him nothing but the Deanery of
Gloucester, " a shell without a kernel V From
this it appears that the King thought his merits and
services had not been sufficiently rewarded.
That Laud would have preferred the Deanery of
Westminster to the Bishopric of St. David's, to
which he was about to be promoted as a compensa-
tion, there can be no question ; for, though he does
not expressly say so, yet his eliptical notation of
the circumstance evinces that he was disappointed.
Perhaps he felt, too, that the conduct of Bishop
Williams was not in accordance with his former
professions of friendship ; and he could not be in-
different to the extraordinary self-interest of that
prelate, who, in addition to the See of Lincoln,
had been appointed Keeper of the Great Seal of
England, in the room of the famous Francis Bacon,
Lord Verulam, and Lord High Chancellor, who
had been banished from Court in disgrace. " Wil-
liams so prevailed at Court," says Heylin, " that
when he was made Bishop of Lincoln, he retained
his Deanery in commendam, together with such
other preferments as he held at the time, that is to
say, a prebend and residentiary place in the Ca-
thedral Church of Lincoln, and the Rectory of
Walgrave, Northamptonshire, so that he was a
perfect Diocese within himself (in his own person,)
as being Bishop, Dean, Prebend, Residentiary, and
1 Diary, ut sup. Bishop Williams, says Wood, shewed him-
self more a politician than a friend.
188 LIFE AND TIMES [1620.
Parson,, and all these at once." This is no favour-
able specimen of Bishop Williams. The Bishopric
of St. David's being then vacant by the promotion
of Dr. Milbourne to the See of Carlisle, and Wil-
liams, seeing the king's disposition towards Laud,
being aware, that if he was not promoted to that
vacant See, he would most certainly receive West-
minster, employed his interest with the king, and
with the celebrated Buckingham, the court favourite,
James, it is said, being at first unwilling to raise
him to the Episcopate at once. Laud was nomi-
nated to the Bishopric of St. David's. The insi-
nuation, however, that the King was averse to his
promotion, is undoubtedly gratuitous, and rests
solely on the authority of his enemies ; for he ex-
pressly informs us, that he got permission from the
King, so great was his favour towards him, to hold
not only his Prebend in Westminster, but also the
Presidentship of St. John's College, in commen-
dam, with the Bishopric of St. David's, Bishop
Williams, however selfishly he acted on this occasion,
still remained Laud's friend, for we find him about
a year afterwards assigning to Laud a benefice of
120/. per annum in the Diocese of St. David's, to
increase the revenues arising from the bishopric *.
1 Philips' Life of Archbishop Williams, p. 78. That the
King's disposition was favourable towards him, appears from
his Diary, p. 4, where he records the facts. The enemies of
Laud, however, have been busy here in their mal-representa-
tions. Coke, in his Detection, vol. i. p. 144, 145 (edit. 1719.)'
and Bishop Hacket, in his Life of Archbishop Williams (p. 63,
1620.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 189
Those transactions were not observed without
concern by Archbishop Abbot, who, beholding the
elevation of a man whom he hated, endeavoured to
oppose it as much as possible. His motives for
doing so were two-fold the former hostility which
subsisted between them, and their difference of
64.) assert, that the King was utterly averse, " assigning for
reasons, Laud's marriage of the Lady Rich, and his urging the
King not to rest at the Five Articles of Perth," &c. But the
Duke of Buckingham, and especially Lord Keeper Williams,
earnestly importuned King James, and saying, how sorry Laud
was for them, the King at last said, "And is there no hoe but
you will carry it ! then take him to you, but on my soul you
will repent it : and so went away in anger, using other
fierce ominous words." This story is ridiculous and improbable,
especially concerning the Five Articles of Perth, the urging of
which w T ould have been rather a recommendation to James.
It is asserted by some writers, that he owed his advance-
ment solely to Bishop Williams, (Hacket, ut sup. p. 64 66.
85, 86. 115, &c. Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 61.
Oldmixon's History of the Stuarts, vol. i. p. 57.) by which
they endeavour to substantiate Laud's criminality in his subse-
quent conduct to the Bishop, and to prove his ingratitude : but
every one who candidly examines this part of Laud's life will
admit, that Williams interested himself in Laud not so much
out of kindness as to answer his own purposes. (Wood, Athen.
Oxon. ut sup.) Bishop Hacket's aspersions on Laud bear in
the very language the hostile spirit of party, and a resolution to
traduce the memory of one man at the expense of another.
Wharton's Preface to Laud's Diary, &c. p. 5, 6. That they
both fell into dispute afterwards is too true, nor can the whole
conduct of Laud be entirely justified, but we shall afterwards
see Archbishop Williams acting in no very favourable manner
towards his enemy, taking advantage of his misfortunes, and
pursuing him with the most inveterate hostility.
190 LIFE AND TIMES {1620.
opinion *. It was in vain that he lodged represen-
tations about Laud's fiery spirit,, and his Popish in-
clinations ; Calvinism was now on the decline, the
Archbishop's Puritan inclinations were observed by
the King, who saw, with regret, the consequences
which were daily arising from his patronage of the
Calvinists ; and the Primate's friends at court now
turned a deaf ear to all his insinuations. Perhaps,
indeed, his opposition was of service to Laud ; for
James was the more disposed to promote a man who
had the courage to oppose and restrain the Calvin-
istic extravagances, as daily exhibited by the Puri-
tans, whose opinions, as South well remarks, James
hated heartily, because he understood them tho-
roughly. One writer remarks of Laud, " He was
too full of fire, though a just and good man ; and
his want of experience in state matters, and his too
much zeal for the Church, and heat, if he proceeded
in the way he was then in/ would set this nation on
fire 2 ." But Laud saw well the consequences of
Abbot's government, and he was convinced that de-
cisive measures could alone counteract the impend-
ing fate of the Church. His prognostications were
unhappily too well founded. During Abbot's un-
happy primacy, Calvinism was permitted to take its
natural course, fostered and countenanced by him,
and " schism and rebellion, its twin offspring, went
hand in hand," and were destined, in the next reign,
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 61, 62.
2 Whitelock's Memorials, p. 34.
1620.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 191
to break out with uncontrolable violence, and over-
turn the constitution, making a melancholy ruin of
Church and State. Had the Church been rightly
governed after the death of Bancroft, had a suc-
cessor worthy of that primate been appointed, no
opposing power could have effected its overthrow,
and it would have stood secure against every adver-
sary. But the fall of the Church was that of the
State ; and the factious enthusiasts well knew, that
their ambition would not be gratified until that
achievement was accomplished. Such will again
be the case, if ever rebellion be permitted to make
silent inroads in our land. The Church will first
be attacked, and if it falls, the State will share in
its ruin. The fact is clear from former experience:
the Church of England, in those perilous times,
was overthrown not by the Nonconformists who
were kept out, for they were well-known, and even
honourable enemies, inasmuch as they did not dis-
guise their hostility, but by the Calvinists whom
Abbot admitted within its pale. It had resources
within itself, sufficient to withstand all its enemies.
It was betrayed in the house of its pretended
friends 1 .
But while Abbot beheld with regret a man whom, 7 f
because he was not a Calvinist, he heartily hated,
and while he was fruitlessly exerting himself, and
pertinaciously adhering in his opposition, an un-
happy circumstance occurred to himself, shortly
1 Quarterly Review, No. LXXIII,
192 LIFE AND TIMES [1620,
after Laud's nomination to St. David's, which,
while it delayed his consecration, was of no small
importance. Towards the end of 1619, the Elec-
tor Palatine, James' son-in-law, had involved him-
self in misfortune, by rashly accepting the crown
of Bohemia, calculating that the British monarch
would assist him in his affairs l . Great disputes,
consequently, arose in the English Council ; some
members insisting that James ought not to inter-
fere, while others, and all those who favoured the
Calvinistic faction, asserted that James ought to
espouse the cause of his son-in-law, from natural
affection, and a regard to the Protestant interest.
The first opinion, which was held by all those who
loved their country, and who, rising superior to
the whining enthusiasm of the day, saw that James*
interference would excite a war in Germany, was
strenuously opposed by the admirers of Calvinism,
on whose minds the words Protestant interest ope-
rated like some hidden charm. Abbot, of course,
agreed with the latter, and bethought himself of
addressing a letter to the Secretary of State on the
subject. The following year was spent in debates
and fruitless negotiations, in which James took
great interest 2 . In the mean time, the primate's ill
health made him less active in this political trans-
action, and having been long on terms of friend-
ship with Lord Zouch, that nobleman invited hii
to his seat at Bramshall, in Berkshire, to enjoy
1 Sanderson's King James, p. 482. 2 Ibid. p. 48.
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 193
the pleasures of the field, and invigorate his
body. The primate accepted the invitation, but,
while hunting one day in the park, he discharged an
arrow at one of the deer, which, missing its mark,
unfortunately struck one of Lord Zouch's game-
keepers. The man had been warned more than
once to keep out of the way, but whether the Arch-
bishop's hand trembled, or the man disregarded
the admonition, is uncertain : he was mortally
wounded, and bled to death in the course of an
hour. He was concealed about the thicket when
he was struck, and nothing could exceed Abbot's
distress when the cries of the man reached his ear.
The unhappy accident excited in him the deepest
despondency, and throughout his whole life he re-
ligiously observed the day, on its annual return, as
a solemn fast. He retired to Guildford, his native
town, and there resigned himself to grief, abiding
with patience the issue of the great calamity which
had befallen him \
At this very time four bishops were to be con-
secrated, Dr. John Davenant, to the See of Salis-
bury; Dr. John Williams, Lord Keeper of the Great
Seal, to that of Lincoln ; Dr. Valentine Casey, to
1 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 87. Heylin, p. 80.
Baker's Chronicle, 1674, p. 521. Racket's Life of Williams,
p. 65. Le Neve's Protestant Archbishops, p. 6-5. Sanderson,
p. 531. Reliquiae Spelmanniae, p. 122, 123. Laud's Diary,
p. 4. Prynne'a Breviat, p. 2. Neal, vol. ii. p. 138. Collier,
vol. ii. p. 720.
VOL. I. O
194 LIFE AND TIMES [1621.
the See of Exeter, and Dr. Laud,, whom he had so
zealously opposed in this promotion to the See of
St. David's. Abbot, in consequence of this fatal
accident, could not exercise his episcopal functions
until cleared of his irregularity; and the bishops-
elect, with the exception of Dr. Davenant, objected
to his consecration until the affair was investigated.
In the mean time, Bishop Williams dispatched a
letter to the Marquis of Buckingham, dated July
27, 1621, informing that nobleman of the affair ;
and from that letter we may at once perceive that
the objections of Laud, Casey, and himself, on the
validity of Abbot's consecration, were not without
warrant. " His Grace," says Dr. Williams, " upon
this accident is, by the common law of England,
to forfeit all his estate to his Majesty, and by the
canon law, which is in force with us, is irregular,
ipso facto y and so suspended from all ecclesiastical
functions, until he be again restored by his superior,
which, I take it, is the King's Majesty, in this
rank and order of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. I
wish, with all my heart, his Majesty may be as
merciful as ever he was in all his life, but yet I
hold it to be my duty to let his Majesty know, by
your Lordship, that his Majesty is fallen upon a
matter of great advice and deliberation. To add
affliction unto the afflicted, (as no doubt he is in
mind) is against the King's nature ; to leave virum
sanguinum, or a man of blood, primate and patri-
arch of all his churches, is a thing that sounds
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 195
very harsh in the old Councils and Canons of the
Church. The Papists will not fail to descant upon
the one and the other V s
This unfortunate accident, of course, excited great
interest, and there were some about the court who
did not fail to take advantage of the primate's situ-
ation to his prejudice. Laud, however, conducted
himself in a very different manner. Although
he was then secure in the royal favour, and al-
though Abbot had opposed him for many years,
persecuted him, and had done every thing to wound
his reputation, nevertheless he felt too much of the
power of religion to take this advantage over his
fallen enemy. His scruples about consecration, in
common with his brethren, were conscientious ; but
farther than this he did not interfere. When James
heard of Abbot's misfortune, he is said to have ob-
served, that " an angel might have miscarried in
this sort 2 ;" and he wrote a letter to the primate
with his own hand, in which he told him, that " he
would not add affliction to his sorrow ; or take one
farthing from his chattels or moveables, which were
forfeited by law 3 ." But an investigation was neces-
sary ; a commission was issued on the 3d of Octo-
ber to Dr. Williams, Lord Keeper, the Bishops
of London and Winchester, the Bishops-elect of St.
David's and Exeter, Sir Henry Hubbard, Mr.
Justice Dodderidge, Sir Henry Martin, and Dr.
1 Letters, apud Heylin, p. 80, 81. It appears that Williams
had an eye to the primacy himself. Cabala, 4to. 1654. p. 56,
2 Hacket, p. 65. 3 Ibid. ut. sup.
o 2
196 LIFE AND TIMES [1621.
Steward, to institute an inquiry. On the 10th No-
vember they returned their answer, that as to the
Primate's irregularity, " no greater part of their
members could assent or agree, because the canons
and decrees themselves are so general, and so ready
to entertain distinctions and glosses, that they could
not come to an unanimous decision ;" and so far as
scandal was concerned, though they admitted that
it might give offence to the weak-minded and mali-
cious, both at home and abroad, most of them be-
lieved, that " there was no scandal given by the
right reverend father ;" and they were finally of
opinion, that " it is most fitting for the said reve- .
rend father, both in regard of his person, and the
honour of the Church, to sue unto his most gracious
Majesty for a dispensation in major em cautelam,
si qua forte fit irregulariter V
A pardon was accordingly issued to the Arch-
bishop under the Great Seal, declaring, him free of
all irregularity and defamation, and capable of exer-
cising his ecclesiastical authority, as if the accident
had not occurred. Thus ended this melancholy
affair, about which much was said and written 01
both sides 2 ; and on which, it must be confessed,
the remarks of Collier on the power which the King
assumed are not without foundation 8 . Abbot do<
1 Sanderson's Contin. of Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvii. p. 33'
340. Reliquiae Spelmanuiae, p. 107, &c.
2 Collier, vol. ii. p. 722, 723.
5 Collier, ut sup. p, 722, 723, 724,.
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 197
not seem to have lost the favour of James by it, nor
was his courage at all subdued ; for we find him, in
the next year, vigorously opposing the intended alli-
ance between one of the Spanish princesses and
Charles, Prince of Wales, although he knew well
the King's strong inclination towards the match l .
He settled 20L a-year upon the widow of the man
of whose death he had been the innocent cause,
" which," says Fuller, " soon procured her another
husband 2 ." *
Notwithstanding the royal proclamation, however,
the scruples of the Bishops-elect were not overcome,
and they presented a petition to the King, entreat-
ing that his Majesty would select some other pre-
lates to assist at their consecration, as they still felt
a reluctance to receive it from the hands of the
Archbishop. The King complied with their request,
and issued a commission to the Bishops of London,
Oxford, Ely, Worcester, and Llandan^ to act in
the room of the Primate. Accordingly, Dr. Wil-
liams, the Bishop of Lincoln, was consecrated by
those prelates on the llth of November, in Henry
VII.'s Chapel ; and on the 18th, Doctors Laud, Casey,
and Davenant, were consecrated to their respective
1 Heylin, p. 111. Sanderson, p. 236. 550. Rush worth's
Collections, vol. ii. p. 85. 88. 101. 438, 439. Frankland's An-
nals of King James, p. 80. Parliamentary History, vol. vi.
p. 91, &c. Sir Arthur Wilson's Court and Character of King
James, p. 175.
5 Fuller's Church History, hook x. p. 87.
198 LIFE AND TIMES [1621.
dioceses by the same prelates, in the Bishop of
London's chapel. Here another instance of Laud's
magnanimity and uprightness must not be forgotten.
The day before his consecration, he resigned the
Presidentship of St. John's College. " The King
gave me leave/' says he, " to hold the Presidentship
of St. John's College, in Oxon, in commendam with
the Bishopric of St. David's ; but, by reason of the
strictness of that statute, which I shall not violate,
nor my oath to it, under any colour, I am re-
solved before my consecration to leave it 1 ." Now,
had Laud been the man his enemies represented
him, desirous of power and influence, nothing could
have been more easy for him than to have retained
his office. He had the King's authority for so doing,
and his situation gave him an importance in the
University necessary for him to maintain, that he
might repress the Calvinistic extravagances ; and
his bishopric was not so wealthy but that he might
have retained it with justice, without the charge of
avarice. Yet nothing could induce him to violate
an oath, to act against the dictates of his conscience,
or to sacrifice his religion to the advancement of his
worldly importance 2 . Was such a man deserving
1 Prynne, in his Breviat, p. 2, maliciously omits the last
clauses.
2 Dr. Heylin, p. 82, has here fallen into an error. He says,
that Laud held the Presidentship and the Bishopric, and later
writers have followed this authority. Of course, Heylin's error
can be easily accounted for. Prynne ransacked Laud's papers,
and concealed the originals, whence he inserted what he pleased.
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 199
of the foul reproaches of his enemies, who, besides
branding him with every thing which their ingenuity
and craftiness could devise, as hostile to the reformed
religion, alleged that he was a mere worldly priest,
and, as the fanatical Prynne, clamoured about his
great preferments ; whereas he resigned many of
the minor benefices he possessed before his elevation
to the Episcopate ?
It is not necessary to enlarge on the conduct of
Laud and the other prelates, in objecting to Abbot's
consecration. When we reflect on Abbot's circum-
stances-, we must concede, that their scruples,
though sincere, were utterly groundless 4 , for they
themselves had admitted, that, after the King's par-
don, he could lawfully exercise his metropolitan
functions. No man can be deposed from the minis-
try of the Church unless he commits crimes against
the state, or preaches doctrines in direct opposition
to the holy Scriptures. Now, Abbot had committed
no crime, he was unconscious of his misfortune at
the time, and therefore his consecration could not be
irregular, even although he had not received the
King's pardon ; for by that act the King did certainly
assume to himself a power, which virtually he did
not possess ; whereas the course which ought to
have been adopted was a regular trial or investiga-
tion by judges, who themselves would have pro-
Heylin's work was published in 1671, and he was compelled to
use Prynne's mutilated edition of the Diary, published in 1644.
The authentic copy was published in 1695. Wharton's Preface,,
p. 1, 2. and Diary, p. 4.
200 LIFE AND TIMES [1621.
nounced on the case. But it must not be forgotten,
that though the bishops did perhaps entertain their
scruples without foundation, their conduct is highly
meritorious, because those scruples were conscien-
tious, and not resulting from any private dislike
towards the primate, while, as dignitaries of the
Church, and having its honour and advancement
at heart, they could not but deplore his unhappy
government. They made Abbot amenable to the
civil power, and from that source he was exculpated.
But their enemies, the Papists, conduct their pro-
ceedings very differently in such cases : they make
their ecclesiastics subject to no civil power, and this
abominable error is at once destructive of the con-
stitution of government. For if a priest, whether
he be guilty or not, is to be tried by men who de-
clare that they are independent in themselves, what
security is there against tyranny and intolerance ?
The history of the Romish Church abundantly
exemplifies this remark. All men, whether civil or
ecclesiastical, are members of the state ; therefore,
they must be subject to its laws, and under the con-
trol of the King, who, as the guardian of all his sub-
jects, is temporal head of the Church, as he is the
head of the State. But the politics of Popery
require no comment ; and it rests with the unpre-
judiced mind to judge what anarchy would be intro-
duced were these politics again to prevail.
At this time, and previously, we find Laud in-
dustriously employed in preaching on many occa-
sions, which he has recorded in his Diary. The
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 201
first of his printed sermons, remarkable for its
reasoning, was preached before the King at Wan-
stead, on the 19th of June, 1620. On the 24th of
March, 1621, we find him again preaching at Court,
and this sermon was commanded to be published.
It is the second of his published discourses.
Laud, immediately after his consecration, being
installed into his diocese by proxy, took his seat in
the Parliament, which was sitting at the time. The
public business of the two Houses, however, was not
of great consequence, yet in this Parliament we
cannot fail to observe the symptoms of that intole-
rance by which they afterwards arrogated to them-
selves the exclusive right to legislate for the nation.
The intended marriage between the Prince of
Wales and the Infanta of Spain was then dis-
cussed, which, though it was never destined to be
accomplished, it being defeated in another quarter,
engrossed the attention of the King, who was
greatly inclined to the alliance from political mo-
tives. The King demanded fresh supplies from
the Commons, but the zealots among them had
adopted their resolution. Forgetting that the
queen, whoever she might be, was only an indivi-
dual in the nation, and subject to its laws, they
transmitted successive addresses to the King, in
which they expressed their alarm at the growth of
Popery, and the danger of an alliance with a Roman
Catholic Princess. At that crisis, perhaps, those
representations were not without foundation, never-
theless, they acted most unconstitutionally in ad-
202 LIFE AND TIMES
vising the King rather to make war against Spain
than to sanction such an alliance. The influence
of Calvinism among the members had made such
as were puritanically inclined so fanatical, as to
propose that no connexion not even those relating
to the rights and laws of nations, should be formed
with any princes, save Protestants, a proposition
as absurd as it was ridiculous and extravagant.
James saw a faction growing in strength, already
arrayed against him ; and no monarch, perhaps,
was more disagreeably situated. His natural love
of peace made him at all times decisive on that
subject a policy which he doubtless carried to
excess, inasmuch as the glory of Britain was almost
forgotten by the continental princes. But he was
never in a condition to engage in war ; his treasury
was poor, his resources circumscribed, and, above
all, a virulent faction against him ; it became him,
therefore, as a prudent monarch, to guard against
the fanaticism of the times. With his subjects dis-
united, and many of them under the influence of
wild enthusiasm, it was impossible for James not
to reflect without serious apprehensions on the con-
sequences of war. Moreover, the disputes on the
continent had rendered many of the states a scene
of anarchy and strife. His son-in-law, the Elector,
had rashly involved himself in ruin ; and James
could afford him no pecuniary assistance : it was
state policy, therefore, when he beheld a porten-
tous storm gathering on the continent, to form an
alliance, which, without sacrificing the honour of
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 203
the kingdom, would avert the danger which threat^
ened the speedy destruction of his children. But
James unfortunately could not calculate on the
affections of his people ; nor yet could his prede-
cessor Elizabeth, notwithstanding her popularity
and vigorous administration ; and hence arose the
necessity for adopting those measures which are
pretended to be arbitrary and tyrannical by some
of the sagacious statesmen of modern times, who
invariably reason from their own consciousness,
and will not make allowances for the age, and
for the intrigues of Papists and Puritans, against
whom those sovereigns had to contend. England
at this time was dissatisfied : the Calvinists had dis-
seminated their tenets among the people, and had
inflamed their zeal by their own extravagant ex-
ample : Scotland, a country in which faction had
predominated for a century, was now in a state of
turbulence by the exertions of the Presbyterian
leaders : and but little assistance could be derived
from Ireland, a country whose inhabitants, being
principally Papists, and bigotted to a proverb, re-
quired to be kept in subjection by the strong arm
of power, more especially as Tyrconnel's rebellion
had not been long restrained, and as the Papists
were as intolerably factious, from the very nature
of their religion, as their brethren of the opposite
extreme in England. Let us only look, then, at
the King's situation. He made no encroachments
on the liberties of the Commons ; they, in reality,
had at that period greater liberties than they had
201- LIFE AND TIMES [1621,
ever enjoyed during any preceding reign : and their
conduct towards the King fully justifies the conclu-
sion, that he yielded too much to their former de-
mands, while they were beginning to forget that
there were other two estates in the constitution as
essential as their own in the act of legislating for
the nation. With a people whom he could not
trust, and a Parliament arrogating to itself the
power of an independent state in the very heart
of the monarchy., no resource was left for James
but to exercise his prerogative, which he did, by
adjourning the Parliament, on the 19th of Decem-
ber, and then by dissolving it on the 8th of Ja-
nuary.
Not one of the many opinions formed concerning
this procedure at the time seems to approach the
truth ; for James acted neither from natural timi-
dity, poverty, nor hatred to parliamentary business,
but from the clear discernment which he possessed.
He felt his difficulties, but he saw misfortunes ; and
he therefore adopted the only measure by which
he could frustrate the intensions of the parliamen-
tary faction. And though James was wrong in the
issue, yet, in the conduct of princes we are not so
much to judge of their actions as of their motives ;
for they can control their motives, but the actions,
as effects involved in comparative uncertainty, they
cannot. It is the motive or will which criminates
a man, whether his carrying it into effect succeeds
or not. No one can charge James with a design
against the liberties of his country, as if he wished
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 205
to overthrow the constitution, ruin the Church, and
entrench himself in arbitrary power. He held the
reins of government tightly, because it was necessary
for him to do so ; but, notwithstanding all the asper-
sions which have been cast upon his memory for his
notions of his own prerogative, it remains to be
proved that he stretched it beyond its rightful
limits. If he was severe in enforcing the discipline of
the Church, what else could he do, when he saw it
surrounded by men who were fondly anticipating
its ruin ? Plots in succession had been formed
against him, from the daring Gunpowder treason
to the minor ones, which his vigilance counter-
acted. He had been repeatedly excommunicated
by the Pope, and the Roman Catholics, of course,
were in league with the Pontiff; while the Puritans
were no less seditious in their sermons, their pamph-
lets, and their private exhortations. His hatred to
the Papists was not surpassed by his hatred to the
Puritans, more particularly as he saw that their
claims were not less arrogant, or their conduct less
intolerable. The proceedings of this Parliament, in
fact, proved the seditious nature of its enthusiasm,
and justified the remark which James made on one
occasion on the Puritan faction in general. " There
never was a faction," said he, " during the times of
my minority, nor trouble since, but they that were
upon that factious part were ever careful to persuade
and allure those unruly spirits among the ministry
to espouse their quarrels as their own ; whereupon
I was often calumniated in their popular sermons,
7
206 LIFE AND TIMES [1621.
not for any evil or vice in me, but because I was a
King, which they thought the greatest evil."
Such was the nature of this famous Parliament,
of which Bishop Laud was a member. It has been
said that Laud was no statesman, that he knew
nothing of political business, that he had no talents
for affairs. But had Laud lived in an age when
reason prevailed instead of enthusiasm, and mode-
ration instead of fanatical violence, he would have
been as great at the helm of government as he
was in the Church, of which he was a distinguished
ornament. To adopt the language of a celebrated
writer of the present day 1 , whose numerous incon-
sistences, however, will not be forgotten, " there
is no middle course in dealing with religious secta-
ries, between the persecution that exterminates and
the toleration that satisfies." To them, as to the
Roman Catholics, who are most noted schismatics,
nothing can be conceded which will satisfy their
demands ; the more concessions they receive, the
greater ingenuity they exercise in inventing fresh
claims. But short as the sitting of this Parliament
was, and it only sat one month, Laud saw enough
to convince him of the intentions of those who
traduced and injured their sovereign. Popery and
Puritanism were the two extremes between which
the Church of England was situated, both openly
opposed to it, but the danger, as the event
proved, was not so threatening from the former,
,:* * Mr. Hallam, in his Constitutional History of England.
1621.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 207
as the latter. Forgetting esssential doctrines in
religion, the Puritans eagerly contended for what
they admitted were in themselves of little con-
sequence. " The Puritans," says Heylin, whom I
quote at length, as the remarks are indisputable,
" seeing they had no more prevailed against the
Church by their open batteries, than the Roman
Emperors had done against the primitive Church by
their persecutions, resolved upon more secret and
consequently more dangerous practices, to attain,
their ends. In order whereunto, they had perpe-
tually alarmed the King, from his first coming to
the crown, with continual dangers from the Papists,
for which the Gunpowder treason gave them too
much reason. Nor would they suffer any session
of Parliament to pass, from that time forward, in
which the dangerous practices of priests, Jesuits,
&c. did not sound in his ears. And this they did,
not so much because they saw any such visible
growth of Popery as was by them pretended from
time to time, but that they thought it the best way
to carry on the other projects which they had in
hand. For well they knew that when the thoughts
both of King and people were totally engrossed by
the dangers which were feared from the Papists,
the Puritan party, in the mean time, might gather
strength, without being noted or observed."
After the dissolution of Parliament, Laud pro-
ceeded to his diocese, to make a pastoral inspection
of its affairs : and, in the mean time, as a farther
increase to his revenues, the King gave him, in
208 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
commendam, the Rectory of Creeke, in Northamp-
tonshire l . In his primary visitation he manifested
his accustomed care for the Church, by taking
cognizance of the parishes in that extensive diocese,
repairing the churches, and generously appropri-
ating his revenues towards the laudable purpose of
rendering them commodious and comfortable for
the celebration of divine service. His own chapel
he built and fitted in a manner suitable to his con ?
dition, solemnly consecrating it himself for the
worship of God, according to the Form of the vene-
rable and learned Bishop Andrews, which act was
afterwards recorded by his enemies, as an addi-
tional proof of the charges they brought against
him 2 ; so natural is it for fanatics to take advan-
tage of every thing, falsely to condemn what
they cannot refute, and reckon the crazy effusions
of their brains as absolute truth, while they cannot
substantiate a single assertion.
The building and consecrating of this chapel
were not completed till some years afterwards ;
but in the mean time this active prelate, having
arranged the affairs of his diocese, returned to
London on the 15th of August, 1622, and waited
on the King. While Laud was at Court, the
Puritans endeavoured to give an indication of their
intentions as gently as possible, yet merely by way.
of trial. A member of Pembroke College, Oxford,
1 Diary, p. 4. 6. Heylin, p. 96.
2 Canterburie's Doome, by Prynne, p. 504.
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 209
named Knight, in a sermon on Palm Sunday, April
14, 1622, at St. Peter's Church, from Rom. xiii. 1.
" Let every soul be subject to the higher powers,"
set forth the genuine tenets of Puritanism, that the
inferior magistrate has power to order and correct
the king, if he acts in error ; in other words, that
subjects may rise in rebellion when they think
themselves aggrieved. This dogma, maintained
by Calvin, who often from the pulpit threatened
the magistrates of Geneva with an insurrection, if
they did not yield to his desires, and vigorously set
forth by Knox and others in Scotland, this pro-
tege of the faction divided into four heads, in which
he justified resistance: 1. When the chief magis-
trate turns tyrant : 2. When he forces blasphemy
or idolatry upon his subjects. 3. When intolerable
burdens are laid upon them. And, 4. When re-
sistance is the only expedient to save themselves,
and to obtain their objects. These dangerous and
seditious opinions, true only in particular cases,
and under great restrictions, the genuine essence
of enthusiasm, were more especially calculated to
inflame the nation at this time; for though none of
them could be charged on the King, nevertheless
they would be received with exultation by the
Puritans, and turned to their own advantage.
Knight was called to account for his opinions by
the Vice-chancellor of the University, and compelled
to deliver a copy of the sermon. Laud was then
with the King, and, at the command of James, the
preacher was cited to court, and the sermon was
VOL. i. p
210 LIFE' AND TIMES [1622.
also transmitted. Knight confessed that he had
taken his illustrations from the work of a foreign
Calvinist l , and that he had advanced them without
calculating the consequences ; but he protested
that, with regard to himself, he had preached
the sermon without any political motive, and that
he was heartily sorry for what he had done.
His apology was received by the King, who saw
that the tenets were not so much his own as the
tenets of those around him ; and, perceiving in
him indications of genius, dismissed him with a
salutary admonition. The Puritans, however, spe-
culated so much on the affair, that it was found ne-
cessary to take further steps. The book of Pareus
was publicly burnt at Oxford, Cambridge, and
at St. Paul's Cross, London, by the common exe-
cutioner ; its dogmas were declared seditious and
treasonable; and, to put a stop at once to the
fanaticism of the Puritans in the University, an oath
was framed, which every one was called to sub-
scribe, declaring that he renounced and disbelieved
the dangerous principles of that book, that they
were utterly subversive of the Church and State,
and that he would oppose them to the utmost of
his ability during his life 2 .
1 A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, by Pareus,
a minister of Heidelburgh.
2 " Was there ever," exclaim Messrs. Bogue and Bennett,
" so unreasonable and so absurd an oath devised ? It seems to
have been the determined resolution of Archbishop Bancroft to
crush at once the religion of the Puritans and the liberties of the
nation." A few remarks may be offered to these worthy secta-
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 211
But it was found necessary to take other mea-
sures. Hitherto I have abstained from making any
rian writers, or at least, to their enthusiastic admirers. As to
their question, it would require little research into history to
answer it, hut as it is impossible to digress continually to expose
the falsehoods and sophistry of Neal, Messrs. Bogue and Ben-
nett, and their great authority, Warner, I must refrain. Yet
I could prove to them, that the Puritans violated the most so-
lemn oaths, that they persuaded others to do so, and, more-
over, that their seditious sermons and pamphlets rendered
oaths more " unreasonable and absurd" than the above ab-
solutely necessary. Let the following effusion from a Puri-
tan pamphlet suffice. " As to you, dear brethren, whom God
hath called into the brunt of the battle, the Lord keep you
constant, that ye yield neither to toleration, neither to any subtle
persuasions of dispensations and licences, which are to fortify
these Romish practices, but, as ye fight the Lord's fight, be
valiant." These writers, moreover, have charged Bancroft
with this oath ; by which they display their utter ignorance of
history. If they require to be told it, Bancroft, whom they so
much vilify, died in 1610, and this affair took place in 1622,
and under the primacy of their favourite, Abbot. It is de-
plorable to see men writing about facts which they have never
investigated, and setting down any thing to serve their own
purposes. But if they must have the truth, Bancroft did at-
tempt " to crush the religion of the Puritans," but it by no
means follows that Puritanism and British liberty are one and
the same. He nobly wished to check the extravagant fanati-
cism of those Calvinistic malcontents, and Bancroft was gifted
with more penetration than Messrs. Bogue and Bennett. The
religion of the Puritans! what was it? Rhodomontade, en-
thusiasm, eternal quibblings on trifles, hatred to the King
and government, gloomy Calvinism, zeal for Geneva, intoler-
ance, and obstinacy ; in short, it was such as the present age, it
is admitted even by Dissenters, would not endure. And as to
their religion being identified with the " liberties of the nation,"
P2
212 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
observations on the sermons of the Puritans, nor do
I now intend to enlarge on this copious subject ; yet
I may remark, that they partook, of course, of the
known extravagance of their authors. The havoc
which their opinions were making among the
younger students and the people was notorious ;
some of the former had turned Papists, some had
become infected with the heresy of the Anabap-
tists, some had turned Brownists or Independents,
and all of them incessantly intermeddled with affairs
of state, and passed their seditious verdicts of cen-
sure with the most undisguised assurance ; while
the people were imbibing with avidity the fanaticism
which they heard inculcated. But the doctrines of
Calvin were chiefly in the mouths of the preachers ;
the abstruse, and fanciful, and daring dogmas of
predestination, election, reprobation, irresistibility
of grace, and final perseverance, themes which ought
never to be introduced into popular sermons even by
a supporter of them, as being by far too profound
for the capacities of a popular (or indeed any) audi-
ence, in which the great majority are illiterate, and
which, besides their contradiction to the Scriptures,
have the most dangerous effect upon the mind. For
where is he who can prove what he calls the divine
\ decree I Most daring indeed is that man who pre-
| tends to scan the ways of Omnipotence, and to set
who requires to be told of the state to which their cunning in-
trigues reduced this kingdom when they obtained the mastery,
of the blood which they shed, the murders they committed, under
the sacred names of religion and liberty ?
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 213
limits to divine grace ; who forgets that " secret
things belong to the Lord our God alone," and who
pretends that he, a short-sighted, frail, and erring
mortal, has discovered the will of Heaven ; that in-
fants and full-grown men, ages before they are born,
were doomed to eternal punishment for Adam's
transgression, by a divine decree, which they could
not alter. Most impious is he who thus sets limits
to the mercy of Heaven, and makes the God of love
appear as an implacable tyrant ; mocking the crea-
tures he has made, offering them salvation, punish-
ing them if they do not accept of it, and yet who
has decreed from all eternity, that salvation shall
not be theirs. Most guilty is he who thus contracts
the efficacy of Christ's redemption, and asserts, that
the death of our divine Saviour is not the ground of
hope to every son and daughter of Adam's degene-
rate offspring, who sincerely repents and unfeignedly
believes God's holy gospel. Need I stop to reflect
on the tendency which such preaching must have
had on the minds of the people in that fierce age of
religious contention ? or need I enter into any meta-
physical argument to shew how destructive these
tenets are to the spread of pure and undefiled reli-
gion, and to the peace and well-being of civil
government ? The history of that age furnishes too
many melancholy illustrations. Let the reader only
turn to the daring actions of the English Puritans
under Charles I. which they planned during his
father's life-time ; let him look to the reign of fana-
ticism under Cromwell, that patron of sectaries ; let
214 LIFE AND TIMES [1G22.
him turn to the achievements of the Covenanting
religionists of the north, to their rebellions, their
enthusiasm, their insolence to their rulers, their
canting sermons, their almost impious prayers, and
their irreverent " familiaritie" with the Majesty of
Heaven. Let the reader ponder well the intolera-
ble arrogance of those religionists, who, like their
brethren, the Papists, alleged that they were the
only true Church, excommunicated all who differed
from them, and swore solemn oaths, that with the
sword) and without mercy, they would extirpate
Popery, Prelacy, Arminianism, Erastianism, &c.
as their precious record of treason, entitled the
Solemn League and Covenant, sets forth : who in-
variably spoke with the most intolerable insolence
of their rightful governors, and who more than once
acted as vile assassins, when it was in their power.
And then let the reader trace the history of the Dis-
senters in the last century, when he will find Soci-
nianism, Arianism, and Infidelity, making dreadful
havoc among them. It is at times dangerous and
hazardous for one poor sinner to denounce damna-
tion from the pulpit to his hearers, when perhaps he
has as much need of repentance as they, and at all
times it must be done with solemn caution ; but it
is doubly presumptuous for erring and frail men to
pretend to scan the ways of Heaven, and assert,
with the most positive assurance, the dogmas of
election and reprobation.
To counteract these principles, so pregnant with
disastrous consequences, the king, not unlikely by
7
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 215
the advice of Laud, issued a letter to the Arch-
bishops of Canterbury and York, bearing date the
20th of August, 1622, and by them to be commu-
nicated to their suffragans, containing sundry rules,
which they were enjoined to put in execution. This
letter commences thus : " Most reverend father in
God, right trusty and right entirely beloved counsel-
lor, we greet you well. Forasmuch as the abuses and
extravagances of preachers in the pulpit have been
at all times passed in this realm by some act of
council or state, with the advice and resolution of
grave and learned prelates, insomuch as the very
licensing of preachers had beginning by an order of
Star-chamber the 8th day of July, in the 19th year
of King Henry VIII. our noble predecessor : and
whereas at this present divers young students, by
reading of late writers and ungrounded opinions,
do broach mriny times unprofitable, infamous, sedi-
tious, and dangerous doctrines, to the scandal of
this Church, and disquieting of this state and pre-
sent government, upon humble representations of
this inconveniency to yourself and sundry others,
&c. Given at Windsor, 4th Aug. in the 20th year
of our reign V
The directions were six in number, and are in-
serted in various historical works 2 . The nature of
them may be easily conceived, yet the moderation
1 Collection of MSS. vol. i. p. 85. Tho. Cant.
2 Heylin, p. 93, 94. Neal, vol. ii. p. 137. Rushworth's
Collections, vol. i. p. 64, 05, G6.
216 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
of the language is remarkable. In the third direc-
tion it is set forth, " That no preacher of what title
soever under the degree of a bishop, or dean at the
least, do from henceforth presume to preach in any
popular auditory the deep points of predestination,
election, reprobation, or of the universality, effi-
cacy, resistibility, or irresistibility, of God's grace ;
but rather leave those themes to be handled by
learned men, and that modestly and moderately by
use and application, rather than by way of positive
doctrine, as being fitter for schools and universities
than for simple auditories." And the fifth declares,
" That no preacher, of what title or denomination
soever, shall causelessly, and without any invitation
from the text, fall into any bitter invectives and in-
decent railings against the Papists or Puritans, but
wisely and gravely, when they are occasioned there-
unto by the text of Scripture, free both the doctrine
and discipline of the Church of England from the
aspersions of either adversary, especially when the
auditory is suspected to be tainted with the one or
the other infection."
The directions were of course levelled against the
Puritans, and made the faction excessively clamor-
ous l . But the activity of the Church succeeded in
silencing those malecontents 2 , notwithstanding the
pains they took to excite the people by visionary
fears 3 . And the observation of Fuller is quite suffi-
1 Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 137, 138.
2 Fuller's Church History, book x. p. 111.
3 Heylin,p. 94.
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 217
cient on the subject, for these directions were highly
necessary at a time when " many shallow preachers
handled the profound points of predestination,
wherein, pretending to guide their flocks, they lost
themselves V
The situation of the Church at this period was
truly hazardous. Attacked on the one hand by the
Papists, and on the other by the Puritans, it re-
quired the greatest skill in those who regarded the
interests of the Reformation, and the welfare of
Church and State, to restrain the hostile intentions
of those factions. No sooner had the Parliament
been dissolved, than the Papists began to exert
themselves with the greatest activity. The Puri-
tans were chiefly popular among the lower classes,
who were sufficiently illiterate, and were generally
treated with contempt by the higher orders of the
kingdom. The Papists, however, who could also
reckon a considerable number of adherents among
the rabble, were more ambitious, and endeavoured
to secure adherents among the nobility. For this
purpose they laid a most crafty plot, and began first
to practise on the Duchess of Buckingham, the lady
of the celebrated court favourite ; not doubting,
that if they were successful in inducing her to re-
cant, they might have some chance of favour for
their tenets from her husband. The famous John
Fisher, the Jesuit, had undertaken the task of ma-
1 Fuller, ut sup. p. 108.
218 LIFE AND TIMES
naging the lady, and he had succeeded so well, that
she was beginning to think favourably of the super-
stition. But the Jesuit's designs were reported to
the king, who was himself not wanting in ability to
argue the matter, and who frequently discoursed to
her on the subject. James, however, feeling inte-
rested in the lady, and resolving to silence the
Jesuit at once by fair argument, advised the Duke
to appoint a conference between Fisher and a
learned divine of the Church, on the errors of the
Romish superstition. The Duke agreed, and Dr.
Francis White, then Rector of St. Peter's, Corn-
hill, afterwards Bishop of Ely, was appointed to
meet the Jesuit l . Three disputes were held in the
presence of the Duke of Buckingham, his mother,
his lady, and the Lord Keeper Williams, on the 24th
of May, 1622, the last was conducted by Laud.
The result was as might have been expected : Laud
1 This learned man had acquired no small popularity by his
divinity lectures in St. Paul's, of which he was reader, in preach-
ing against the absurdities of Popery : and he was profoundly
learned in all points of theological controversy. He was en-
gaged to meet Fisher in the presence of the Duke (then
Marquis,) and his mother ; but one meeting not being suffi-
cient, another was appointed at which the King himself was
present. In the second conference, nothing had been said
on the dogma of an infallible church, which, says Heylin,
" was the chief and only point in which the party doubting
required satisfaction." The King then appointed a third
meeting, in which Laud was nominated to oppose Fisher,
instead of Dr. White.
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 219
was more than a match for the Jesuit in learning,
and victory was declared on the side of truth '.
It is impossible here to give an abstract of Laud's
admirable arguments. An account of the confer-
ence was published in 1624, and a justification of
it published by the Archbishop himself in 1637, in
connexion with a pamphlet written by Dr. Francis
White, entitled, " A Reply to Jesuit Fisher's An-
swer to certain Questions propounded by his most
gracious Majesty King James." The ingenuity with
which Laud detects the Jesuist's sophistry, the pro-
found learning which he displays, and the intimate
acquaintance which he appears to have had with the
Fathers and Councils of the Church, prove the great-
ness of his genius, and his devotion to the Reforma-
tion. " In this discourse," says he, " I have no aim
to displease any, nor any hope to please all. If I
can help on the truth in the Church, and the peace
of the Church together, I shall be glad, be it in any
measure. Nor shall I spare to speak necessary
truth, out of too much love of peace ; nor thrust an
unnecessary truth to the breach of that peace which,
once broken, is not so easily renewed again. And
if, for necessary truth's sake only, any man will be
offended, nay take, nay snatch at, the offence which
is not given, for that I know no protection. It is
truth, and I must state it ; it is the gospel, and I
must preach it, 1 Cor. xi. 16. And far safer it is
There is an account of this Jesuit, whose real name was
Perse, or Persey, in " Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Jesu,"
Romae, 167G, p. 487.
220 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
in this case to bear anger from men, than a woe from
God. And where the foundations of faith are
shaken,, be it by superstition or profaneness, he that
stretches not out his hand as firmly as he can to sup-
port them, is too wary, and hath more care of him-
self than of the cause of Christ : and it is a wariness,
that brings more danger in the end than it shuns.
For the angel of the Lord issued out a curse against
the inhabitants of Meroz, because they came not to
help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty,
Judges, v. 23. I know it is a great ease to let every
thing be as it will, and every man believe .and do
as he lists : but whether governors in State or
Church do their duty therewhile is easily seen, since
this is an effect of no king in Israel."
Such is the eloquence of this great prelate, who
was, when he wrote the above, in the See of Can-
terbury. This is the man whom his enemies
charged as being a Papist, these are the sentiments
of him whom sectarians have traduced as being
of " infamous memory." But I will proceed to ano-
ther extract, which I am certain the reader will
peruse with interest, while here considering one
of the most splendid actions of Laud's life. " Now
one thing more," says Laud, " let me be bold to
observe to your Majesty in particular, concerning
your great charge in the Church of England. She
is in hard condition. She professes the ancient
Catholic faith, and yet the Romanist condemns her
for novelty in her doctrine. She practises church
government as it hath been in use in all ages, and
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 221
all places, where the Church of Christ hath been
established both in and since the days of the Apos-
tles, and yet the separatist condemns her for anti-
christianism in her discipline. The plain truth is,
she is between these two factions, as between two
millstones, and unless your Majesty look to it, to
whose trust she is committed, she will be ground
to powder, to an irreparable dishonour and loss to
this kingdom. And it is very remarkable, that
while both these press hard upon the Church of
England, both of them cry out against perse-
cution, like froward children, who scratch, and
kick, and bite, and yet cry out all the while, as if
they were killed. Now, to the Romanist I shall
say this : The errors of the Church of Rome are
grown now (many of them) very old, and when
errors are grown, by age, and continuance, to
strength, they which speak for the truth, though it
be of an older, are usually challenged for the
bringers in of new opinions. And there is no
greater absurdity stirring this day in Christendom,
than that the reformation of an old corrupted
Church, whether we will or not, must be taken for
the building of a new. And were not this so, we
should never be troubled with that idle and imper-
tinent question of theirs, Where was your Church
before Luther? for it was just there, where theirs
is now : /me and the same Church still, no doubt of
that ; one in substance, but not one in condition of
state and purity : their part of the same Church
remaining in corruption, and our part of the same
222 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
Church under reformation. The same Naaman,
and he a Syrian still ; but leprous with them, and
cleansed with us : the same man still. And for the
separatist, and him that lays his grounds for sepa-
ration, or change of discipline ; though all he says,
or can say, be, in truth of divinity, and among
learned men, little better than ridiculous ; yet since
those fond opinions have gained some ground among
the people, to such among them as are wilfully set
to follow their blind guides through thick and thin,
till they fall into the ditch together, I shall say no-
thing. But for so many of them as mean well, and
are only misled by artifice and cunning, concerning
them I shall say thus much only, they are bells of
passing good metal, and tunable enough of them-
selves, and in their own disposition ; and a world of
pity it is, that they are rung so miserably out of tune
as they are by them who have acquired power in and
over their consciences. And for this there is remedy
enough, but how long there will be I know not."
" The Scripture," continues Laud, in another
place, " where it is plain, should guide the Church ;
and the Church, where there is doubt or difficulty,
should expound the Scripture : yet so, as neither
the Scripture should be forced, nor the Church so
bound up, as that, upon just and farther evidence,
she may not revive that which in any case hath slept
by her. What success the great distemper, caused
by the collision of two such factions, may have, I
know not, I cannot prophesy. And though I can-
not prophesy, yet I fear that atheism and irreligion
1622.-] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 223
gather strength, while the truth is thus weakened
by an unworthy way of contending for it. And
while they thus contend, neither party consider that
they are in a way to induce upon themselves and
others that contrary extreme, which they both seem
to oppose and to fear. The Catholic Church of
Christ is neither Rome nor a conventicle ; out of
that there is no salvation, I easily confess it ; but
out of Rome there is, and out of a conventicle too.
Salvation is not shut up into such a narrow conclave.
In this discourse I have, therefore, endeavoured to
lay open those wider gates of the Catholic Church,
confined to no age, time, or place, not knowing any
bounds, but that faith which was once, and but
once for all, delivered to the saints. And in my
pursuit of this way, I have searched after, and deli-
vered with a single heart, that truth which I pro-
fess. In the publishing whereof I have obeyed your
Majesty, discharged my duty, to my power, to the
Church of England, given account of the hope that
is in me, and so testified to the world that faith in
which I have lived, and by God's blessing and favour
purpose to die l ."
1 A Relation of the Conference between William Laud, then
Lord Bishop of St. David's, now Lord Archbishop of Canter-
bury, and Fisher the Jesuit, by the command of King James of
ever-blessed memorie. With an Answer to such Exceptions as
A. C. takes against it. By the said Most Rev. Father in God,
William, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, folio. London, 1639.
Introductory Dedication to Charles I. The last edition of this
admirable work, now almost forgotten, appeared in 1673.
224
LIFE AND TIMES
[1622.
The points which Dr. White discussed with the
Jesuit, were the usual differences between the
Romish and the Reformed Church. The Jesuit
defended, 1. Praying to images. 2. Prayers and
oblations to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 3. Wor-
shipping and invocations of Saints and Angels.
4. The Liturgy and private prayers for the igno-
rant in an unknown tongue. 5. The repetition of
paternosters, aves, and credos, especially affixing
a kind of merit to the number of them. 6. The
doctrine of Transubstantiation. 7. Communion
under one kind, and the abetting of it by conco-
mitancy. 8. Works of Supererogation, especially
with reference to the treasures of the Church. 9.
The opinion of deposing kings, and giving away
their kingdoms by papal power, whether directly
or indirectly. Dr. White, as a reward for his merit,
was made royal chaplain, and Dean of Carlisle.
His work displays his erudition. On the above
dogmas Laud entered with his usual ability ; the
Jesuit was defeated, and Laud's enemies were con-
founded. And yet so modest was the prelate, that,
though this is a work which will justly entitle him
to the gratitude of posterity, and which, as was
declared by his enemies, is unequalled, far less
surpassed, he at first prefixed to it the initials R. B.
(Dr. Richard Bailey, the name of one of his cha]
lains, who afterwards married his niece,) and merel;
published it as an Appendix to Dr. White's work.
And though Prynne, who caught at every thing,
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 227
CHAPTER VII.
16221625.
Laud's connexion with the Duke of Buckingham Notice of that
favourite The Prince of Wales 'Intended marriage with the
Infanta His journey to Spam with Buckingham TJieir ad-
ventures False assertions of Laud's enemies Zeal of Arch-
bishop Abbot Insolence of the Papists Cunning intrigues
of Bishop Williams Enmity to Laud Conduct of the Arch-
bishop towards Laud Instances of Laud's piety Meeting of
the Parliament Remarkable conduct of Abbot Opposition
of Laud to Buckingham Moderation of that nobleman
Negotiations with France Death of James /. His character
His conduct towards Scotland The Book of Sports De-
fence of James His cliaracter by Archbishop Spottiswoode.
THE conduct of Bishop Laud, in his Conference
with the Jesuit, was the commencement of an inti-
mate friendship between him and the Marquis
(afterwards Duke) of Buckingham 1 . That cele-
brated favourite, whose life was so brilliant, and
whose death was so melancholy, inclined though he
was to splendour and gaiety, could nevertheless ap-
preciate the value of a man of learning and genius,
whose integrity was conspicuous in all his actions.
1 Diary, p. 5. " June 9, being Whitsunday, my Lord Mar-
quis of Buckingham was pleased to enter upon a near respect for
me. The particulars are not for paper."
Q2
228 J.IFE AND TIMES [1622.
The favours which Buckingham had received at
Court, his extraordinary advancement and influ-
ence, and the ascendancy which he had acquired
over the King, are facts indeed remarkable, yet he
was no worthless minion, neither was he altogether
undeserving of his good fortune ; and, though he
certainly exalted the members of his own family,
and his dependents, yet it was not with a view to
establish himself more securely at Court, since he
was there supported solely by his own genius l . He
has been traduced as licentious and profligate by
many, and thence have they taken occasion to infer,
that while he was the Prince's confidant and com-
panion, Charles' life, like his own, was not the
most virtuous 2 : but it must not be forgotten, that
1 MS. Sir Simon D'Ewes' Account of Himself. Harleian
Library.
a Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi II. ab auct. T. Hearne,
p. 404. In this work there is a letter from the Prince to the
Duke, from which it appears that he was a confidant in an in-
trigue of the former. It is to the following effect :
" Steanie, I have nothing now to wryte to you, but to give you
thankes bothe for the good councill ye gave me, and for the event
of it. The King gave me a good sharp potion, but you took away
the working of it by the well-relished comfites ye sent after it.
I have met with the party that must not be named, once alreddie,
and the cullor of wrighting this letter shall make me meete with
her on Saturday, although it is written the day being Thursday.
So assuring you that the business goes safelie now, I rest your
constant loving friend, CHARLES.
" I hope ye will not shew the King this letter, but put it in the
safe custodie of Mister Vulcan."
Hearne informs us, that this letter is reported to have at one
2 p
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 229
while his favour at Court made him unpopular,
and his natural courage too often haughty and
unrelenting 1 , his conduct was distinguished by
many imprudences. Whatever may have been
his errors, certain it is that he regarded his lady
with fond affection, and he evinced his attachment
towards her at his death by the most indubitable
proofs 2 .
The friendship which Buckingham conceived
for Laud, induced him to appoint the Bishop his
chaplain on the 15th of June, 1622, and from him
he received the sacrament at Greenwich on the
following day 3 . Next month we find Laud making
time been in the possession of Archbishop Sancroft, and that it is
the only amour in which the Prince was known to have been con-
cerned.
1 Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, fol. vol. i.
2 Sir Henry Wotton's Life of the Duke.
3 Diary, p. 5. Prynne's Breviate, p. 3. In his Diary, Laud
says, " I became C. to my lord of Buckingham ;" and Prynne,
therefore, to establish his Popish insinuations, says, that he be-
came Confessor. Allowing this to be the case, it by no means
follows that the word " Confessor" has no other meaning than the
Popish one, or that which is attached as connected with the
functions of the Romish ecclesiastics ; but whether the Bishop
meant so or not, may be justly questioned. The letter C is all
that he expresses, and it may as well mean Chaplain. Heylin
(p. 96) has adopted the word Confessor, because he had used
Prynne's corrupted edition of the Diary. Abbot observed this
intimacy with uneasiness and jealousy, Narrative, apud Rush-
worth's Col. vol. i. p. 440. " This man," says he, " is the only
inward counsellor with Buckingham, sitting with him sometimes
privately whole hours, and feeding his humour with spite and
malice."
230 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
a visitation of his diocese, diligently preaching, and
arranging the affairs of his extensive see, and re-
turning from Wales to London in the ensuing
August. He remained in London in attendance
at the Court, preaching at various places in the
city, until the 27th of January, when he left the
metropolis, and was inducted into the rectory of
Creeke, near Peterborough, on the 31st, a bene-
fice which the King had given him in commendam l .
On the 5th of February, we find him again with the
King at London, and he informs us that he received
a book from his Majesty, written by a Capuchin
friar, who had been once a Protestant, proving
from the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,
where an account is given of St. Paul's vision,
that the body of Christ had been actually in two
places at once 2 . On the 9th of February, the
Bishop returned it to the King, with his own re-
marks upon it, and on that day we find him hold-
ing his first ordination, which he has piously re-
corded s .
In the meanwhile, the negotiations were pro-
ceeding for Charles' marriage with the Infanta
which James had vigorously prosecuted, in the
hope that by it the Palatinate would be recovered
for his son-in-law. But the Spanish armies and
their allies had committed the most dreadful ra-
vages in the country of the unfortunate Elector,
1 Diary, p. 6. ' Ibid, ut sup.
9 Ibid, ut sup. " Promovi Edmundum Provant Scotum in
Presbyterium. Primogenitus meus fuit in Domino."
16S3.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 231
contrary to their professions of amity and peace,
and had left that prince only the towns of Heidel-
burg, Frankendale, and Meinhem, which owned his
authority. James, displeased with the conduct of
the Spanish monarch, and wearied with the anxieties
of delay, was resolved that the intended treaty should
either be completed at once or annulled. For this
purpose it was planned that the Prince should pro-
ceed to Spain in disguise, and leave England with-
out the knowledge of the Court and the English
Council. Charles eagerly embraced the design,
for besides his being as intent on the marriage as
the King, several circumstances occurred which
made him more anxious for the journey. Accordingly
he set out, accompanied only by Buckingham and
Sir Richard Graham, Buckingham's Master of the
Horse. The affair was known only to a very few
persons at Court in the confidence of the King, of
whom Laud was one, whom Buckingham left as his
confidential agent and correspondent while he was
abroad.
Buckingham has received the merit of contriving
this extraordinary and hazardous adventure, ha-
zardous, certainly, when we reflect on the conse-
quences which might have attended the discovery
of the Prince's rank while abroad. Lord Claren-
don informs us, that the Duke's great favour with
the King, had almost made him forget his duty to
the Prince, whom one day he almost attacked with
personal violence, for which conduct the Prince was
greatly enraged ; and that he planned this journey
232 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
to recover his affection, in which he succeeded to his
wish. The adventures of the Prince and his two com-
panions on the way are not less extraordinary. They
set out on Tuesday, Feb. 18, from a house belong-
ing to Buckingham at Newhall, in Essex, with false
beards, and assuming the names of Thomas and
John Smith. When they were crossing the Thames
at Gravesend, they discovered that they had no
silver, upon which they presented the waterman
with gold. The poor man was so astonished and
overjoyed at his unusual good fortune, and so
grieved that such gentlemen, as they appeared,
should be journeying, as he thought, to the Con-
tinent to decide a private quarrel, that he could
not refrain from acquainting the authorities of the
town with his suspicions. They sent after the tra-
vellers as far as Rochester to stop them, but the
Prince and his companions did not halt in that city.
When they were on Clapham Hill, they were again
in danger of discovery, by the appearance of the
French ambassador, with the King's coach, and
some of the royal household, but they passed from
the high road through fields, leaping hedges and
ditches, till they were out of sight. At Canter-
bury, some suspicious rumours had preceded them,
and the Mayor attended in person, alleging, that
he had a warrant to arrest them on suspicion,
first, from the council; secondly, from Sir Lewis
Lewknor, Master of the Ceremonies ; and, thirdly,
from Sir Henry Manwaring, Lieutenant of Dover
Castle. This fictitious speech was delivered in a
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 233
ludicrous manner, and Buckingham could not retain
his gravity ; but at length he discovered himself,
and informed the Mayor, that he was proceeding
privately with two attendants to take a secret view
of the King's fleet, to observe in what state of
forwardness it was, some preparations being then
making for service. As Buckingham was Admi-
ral, he was readily believed, and was accordingly
permitted to depart. After they left the city, how-
ever, a post-boy, who had been frequently at Court,
discovered who they were, and they were com-
pelled to bribe him to silence. They arrived at
Dover at six in the evening, where Sir Francis Cot-
tingham, secretary to the Prince, and Mr. Endy-
mion Porter, were in attendance. They had been
sent before to provide a vessel, and they joined the
party ; Porter being admitted as confidential ser-
vant, from his knowledge of the Spanish language,
and his popularity in Spain, whither he had been
in an official capacity. They all embarked at six
the following morning, and landed at Boulogne
about two o'clock in the afternoon, whence they
proceeded to Montreuil that night, where they
slept, and arrived at Paris the next day. The
Prince spent a whole day in viewing the city and
the court, and he and Buckingham more effectually
disguised themselves by purchasing large periwigs,
which concealed their foreheads. They beheld the
King and Queen without discovery, though Cad-
met, who had been ambassador to England, was
in attendance. In the evening, overhearing some
234 LIFE AND TIMES 11622.
persons discoursing about a mask to which they
were going, at which the Princesses were to be
present, they joined the crowd, and were admitted
by the Duke de Montba9on, the Queen's cham-
berlain, from civility to strangers ; and here the
Prince first saw the beautiful Henrietta Maria, his
future queen, with the dauphiness and other ladies.
It has been asserted that he was captivated by her on
this occasion, but this is not the case : it is certain,
however, that she excited his admiration, and that,
as the issue proved, he did not forget this occa-
sion. The travellers left Paris about three on the
following morning, and proceeded to Bayonne, the
last town on the frontiers of France, having pre-
viously purchased some articles of dress at Bour-
deaux. Here Cottingham was employed to prevent
their being entertained by the Duke D'Espernon,
by informing him that they were of low extraction,
and unaccustomed to politeness. It was Lent, and
there was no animal food to be got at the inns, but
meeting with a flock of kids near Bayonne, the
Prince shot one of them, for which he satisfied the
goat-herd, and succeeded in conveying it to their
lodgings unobserved. While at Bayonne, they were
carefully observed by the famous Count de Gram-
mont, the lieutenant of that frontier, who sus-
pected that they were in disguise, yet he allowed
them to pass without examination. We are in-
formed, however, that the French Court having got
notice of the quality of their visitors, sent messen-
gers after them to stop them, but they had already
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 235
passed into Spain. Four days after they left
Bayonne, they arrived at Madrid, and proceeded
to the house of the English ambassador, the Earl
of Bristol. Buckingham, who went by the name
of Thomas Smith, first entered the house, carrying
a portmanteau, and then John Smith, (the Prince,)
was called, who was waiting on the opposite side
of the street. They were afterwards received by
the Spanish Court with great hospitality, but
Buckingham conducted himself so haughtily to the
Prince, and so insolently to the Spanish favourite,
the Duke de Olivarez, that his behaviour was one
of the causes why this match was frustrated l .
This journey has been called accidental, and Sir
Simon D'Ewes declares, that none, except the King,
knew the Prince's resolution. " Their going," says
he, " was so secret, that none, I believe, in England
knew it till they were in France 2 ." The utmost
concern was evinced by the English nation for the
Prince's safety, and the Puritans were not behind in
their declamations about Popery and Popish inclina-
tions. Nor did Laud escape, for, as he had been left
by the Duke as his agent at court, it was well known
that he corresponded with Buckingham, and he was
charged with being privy to the whole design. The
travellers were declared to have gone into Spain for
the purpose of betraying their religion, with the
King's consent ; and Laud, who was frequently at
1 Howell's Letters, vol. i. sect. 3. No. xv. xvi. &c. edit.
1650. Strafford's Letters, vol. i.
2 Life of Sir Simon D'Ewes, fol. 67.
236 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
the Court,, heard the old scandal revived, with double
violence, against himself. Now, that the King,
while he was anxious for the success of this matri-
monial alliance, was no less careful about the re-
formed religion, appears most evident from all the
documents on the subject, and particularly by the
instructions he gave to Sir Kenelm Digby, at the
beginning of this negotiation, in which he says,
" The matter of religion is to us of most principal
consideration, for nothing can be to us dearer than
the honour and safety of the religion we profess :
and therefore, seeing that this marriage, if it shall
take place, is to be with a lady of a different religion
from us, it become th us to be tender, as on the one
part, to give them all satisfaction convenient ; so on
the other, to admit nothing that may blemish our
conscience, or detract from the religion here esta-
blished 1 ." But this monarch's language was so
studiously perverted by many, that they actually
contrived to force other meanings on the words
than they really conveyed. The conduct of the
Prince while in Spain, in duly attending the Pro-
testant worship, notwithstanding his public com-
munications with the Popish powers, is a sufficient
argument against those who believe these insi-
nuations 2 .
As to Laud's share in the transaction, Prynne de-
clares, in his publication of the Breviat, that he was
1 Apud Heylin, p. 98, 99. Hidden Works of Darkness, p. 34.
2 Life of Laud, p. 100, 101.
1623.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 237
privy to the Prince's journey into Spain, which was
purposely plotted to pervert him to the Popish reli-
gion, which he assumes from the Earl of Bristol's
impeachment of the Duke in 1626. This he endea-
vours to make evident, from a prayer which Laud
composed on the occasion, and which, had he only
read it, would have completely silenced him on that
cavil 1 . It is also charged against him, that he
wrote a letter to Buckingham, the fifth day
after his departure ; that he was a party to some
expressions which the King had used to the Prince
before he left the Court ; and, as James, in some
of his productions, had called the Pope Antichrist,
by which a barrier might arise in procuring the
Pope's dispensation for the marriage, that the King
urged the Prince to declare, that he had written
nothing on that point but by way of argument 2 .
Now, this, which Prynne imagined to be quite conclu-
sive, completely refutes himself; for it is undeniable
that the King could only affirm that the Pope was
Antichrist by way of argument. If the King said,
" the Pope was Antichrist," he made an assertion
which he was called upon to prove ; for the Pope
and his defenders denied it in toto : there was only,
then, an assertion, and how could the King prove it
in any other way than by argument ? If Laud was
present at this interview, which is doubtful, what
1 Breviate, p. 14.
2 Canterburie's Doome, by Prynne, p. 276, and Hidden
Works of Darkness, p. 34, 35.
238 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
reasonable objection could he make to the King's
assertion, seeing that he had confuted the Jesuit
solely by argument ? But the assertions of Prynne
are nugatory ; for, though he wrote to Bucking-
ham the fifth day after the Prince's departure, it
must not be forgotten that the whole affair was
then no longer a secret, but that it was publicly
known over all England : and besides, the letters
which he received from the Duke contain not the
slightest foundation for the assertion. But how
absurd is it to say, that, because Laud was acquainted
with the King's observation to the Prince, therefore
he was one of the cabinet-council! as if there
were no other methods for a man in Laud's situa-
tion to become acquainted with a fact, than by being
personally present. Might not the King himself
inform Laud after his departure ? Might not Laud
be informed by the Prince after his return ? There
were, in truth, many ways of becoming acquainted
with it, without such a necessity. " Yet this whole
passage," says the fanatical Puritan, " was known
to him (Laud), and he privy to this secret, not
known formerly to others ; therefore, he was cer-
tainly one of the privy council who was privy to
the Prince's going into Spain, and to the private
instructions given him by King James before his
departure : yea, very likely, one that suggested this
distinction to King James, to please the Pope, and
promote the match, and therefore he could not but
speak with the King about it, who hereupon com-
manded this Bishop to qualify his expressions in
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 239
these particulars, and so not to differ from the known
judgment of his pious and learned father, from whose
orthodox judgment, notwithstanding, the Arminians
might freely dissent both from his Majesty's and
this arch-prelate's approbation ; after which we may
infallibly conclude, from his (Laud's) own pen, that
all the forementioned purgations of passages against
the Papacy, Pope, and his being Antichrist, were
made by this Archbishop's own especial direction,
without any other suggestion than his own Romish
genius and good affection to the Pope, to induce a
more easy reconciliation with him V But had this
fanatic not been hurried away by his constant love
of scribbling, he might have saved himself the trou-
ble to prove that the Pope is Antichrist from these
absurd premises ; but the Prynnes, and Pyms, and
other worthies of that age, were phrenzied by their
enthusiasm, and unable to reason from the fierce-
ness of their hatred to the Church, though they had
facts before them which required no demonstra-
tion.
Charles scarcely ever saw the Infanta while he
was in Spain ; and at last the whole affair ended in
an open rupture. On this occasion, however, hap-
pened the cause of the dispute between Laud and
Bishop Williams, the Lord Keeper, which ended in
the disgrace of the latter. The King, while the
Prince was absent, not wishing altogether to inflame
the Popish recusants, who, by the representations
1 Canterburie's Doome, p. 276.
7
240 LIFE AND TIMES
of their emissaries, could make an ample retaliation
by securing the Prince, relaxed the seventy of those
laws which were in force against them. It was not
long before the Puritans began their clamour, as if the
King had actually intended to establish the Romish
Church, never reflecting that the relaxing of a law
is a very different thing from its total abrogation.
And the extreme facility with which they found means
to express their visionary alarms, was equalled by
the patronage which they received. A letter was
immediately addressed by Archbishop Abbot to
the King, in which he denounced the negotiation,
declared against toleration, and prophesied the
wrath and judgment of God upon the whole nation.
This letter would have been well enough, had it
been appropriate ; but the author was completely
mistaken. " I have been too long silent," says the
primate, " and am afraid, by my silence, I have
neglected the duty of the place it hath pleased God
to call me unto, and your Majesty to place me in.
Your Majesty hath propounded a toleration of reli-
gion ; I beseech you to take into your consideration
what your act is, and what the consequence may be ;
by your act you labour to set up the most damnable
and heretical doctrine of the Church of Rome, the
whore of Babylon ! And hereunto I add, what you
have done, in sending the Prince into Spain, with-
out consent of your council, the privity and appro-
bation of your people : and although you have a
charge and interest in the Prince, as son of your
flesh, yet have the people a greater, as son of this
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 241
kingdom, upon whom, next after your Majesty,
are their eyes fixed, and welfare depends, and so
tenderly is his going apprehended, as, believe it,
however his return may be safe, yet the drawers of
him into this action, so dangerous to himself, so
desperate to the kingdom, will not pass away un-
questioned, unpunished. What dreadful conse-
quences these things may draw afterwards, I be-
seech your Majesty to consider, and, above all, lest
by this toleration, and discountenancing of the
true profession of the gospel, wherewith God hath
blessed us, and this kingdom hath so long flourished
under it, your Majesty do not draw upon this
kingdom in general, and yourself in particular,
God's heavy wrath and indignation 1 ."
Whether Abbot was really the author of this
letter may be questioned ; yet it cannot be denied,
from the extract given above, that the language is
extraordinary. As I have just said, had there, even
in that hazardous age, been any warrant for its
assertions, it would have been completely justifiable,
nor would Abbot have done his duty as governor
of the Church, had he allowed any thing like an
emancipation of the Papists to pass unobserved
without opposition. But Abbot well knew that
toleration is widely different from emancipation,
and. that a mere protection is not equivalent to a
full removal of all disabilities, and a formal recog-
nition of the Romish Church. He knew, moreover,
' Rush worth's Collections, vol. i. p. 85.
VOL. I. R
242 LIFE AND TIMES [1622.
that nothing could be farther from the King's inten-
tions than to patronise the Papists men, who, like
the Puritans, were continually intriguing against
him; the very nature of whose religion, because they
held certain mischievous dogmas, was faction and
conspiracy, or intolerable arrogance and presump-
tion. And, as it is impossible to recognise Popery,
without admitting the Pope's supremacy, he did
not require to be told the mind of the King on that
subject. He knew that the King was tenacious of
his prerogative to a proverb, and he loved it too
well, as Dr. Heylin remarks, " to quit any part
thereof to the Pope of Rome, and, consequently,
to part with that supremacy in ecclesiastical mat-
ters, as he must have done by a toleration, which
he esteemed the fairest flower in the royal ga.rland."
He knew, besides, that the Papists would disdain
yielding obedience to James, inasmuch as their
dangerous politics denounced him at once, if he
would not do homage to the Pontiff. And, in
fine, Abbot knew that the King had repeatedly de-
clared, that he would defend the Church of England
till his dying day ; that he would leave religion
established as he found it ; that he had been fight-
ing, since the day of his Accession, to restrain, on
the one hand, the absurdities of Popery, and on
the other, the intolerable extravagances of Puri-
tanism.
It has been asserted that Abbot was not the
author of this letter, but that it was an effusion of
the Puritan faction, who had borrowed his name
7
1622.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 243
to give it greater authority l . But when we re-
collect that the Primate had all along been held as
the head and patron of those zealots, that he had
through life manifested the greatest anxiety for the
prevalence of Calvinism,, and that he admitted
into the Church those men who afterwards betrayed
it, there is no reason to adopt this opinion. Yet
it is remarkable, that though Abbot was actually
concerned in this letter, he afterwards signed the
articles of marriage, nay, was the first who did so,
and thus countenanced an alliance which he had
said would incur the vengeance of heaven, and that,
too, in the face of this very toleration, against
which he had so violently protested 2 .
But be this as it may, perhaps, after all, it was
hardly a matter of prudence, though one of state
policy, to propose this toleration, as the event
proved. For no sooner had the Papists got the idea,
than they began, as usual, to conduct themselves
with insolence. The Pope presumed to nominate
bishops to all the dioceses in England, that they
might exercise episcopal jurisdiction, as his bishops
do at this day in Ireland ; and issued various orders
to his emissaries to be indefatigable in the spread
of the superstition. But Dr. Williams, having got
notice of this, instantly acquainted the King, who,
enraged at the presumption of this nomination, and
viewing it both as an encroachment on his prero-
1 Heylin's Life of Laud, p. 105, 106.
2 Life and Reign of James, p. 60. Sanderson, p. 550.
R 2
244 LIFE AND TIMES [1G23.
gative, and as taking advantage of his own good-
ness, at once ended his negotiations with the Court
of Rome.
The Marquis of Buckingham, during his absence,
had been advanced to ducal honours, and, in the
mean time, Bishop Williams, who had originally dis-
dained to make court to that nobleman, because he
thought that his favour with the King could not be
of long continuance, took an active part in fomenting
the discontent of the people, and endeavoured to
undermine Buckingham in the royal favour. Laud
observed this, and felt himself compelled in honour
to acquaint a nobleman who had entrusted him with
his confidence, with the proceedings of the Lord
Keeper. Buckingham had before this time become
less familiar with Williams, but he felt peculiarly
mortified that a man, whom he had been the in-
strument of raising to power and influence, should
thus endeavour to throw all the popular odium on
him on account of the intended Spanish alliance.
He hastened home, therefore, from a country with
which he had already become disgusted, and in
which his own conduct had aided considerably to
make him unpopular ; resolved to oppose the mar-
riage, and publicly declared that the Spanish Court
had acted with duplicity; had amused the Prince
by delays, and had no intention of yielding the
Palatinate : and that, on these accounts, the King
ought to finish at once all treaties with Spain, by a
formal proclamation that they would not be ful-
filled.
.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 245
Without, however, detailing at length the poli-
tical transactions of this period, it may be proper
to mention, that from this time Buckingham re-
solved to supplant Williams, though without suc-
cess, during James' reign. This was the occasion,
too, of the dispute between Laud and that prelate,
which was never afterwards reconciled. Williams
accused Laud of ingratitude, while Laud, on the
other hand, charged him with duplicity and selfish-
ness. A rooted enmity took place between them l .
Leaving these contentions, however, for a more
lengthened detail and examination under another
form, while Buckingham was in Spain, Archbishop
Abbot, still farther to oppose Laud as long as he
was able, left him out of the High Commission, nor
was Bishop Williams now forward to get his name
inserted. Of this insult, rendered doubly so from
the quarter whence it came, Laud complained
afterwards to Buckingham, whose influence soon
got him nominated. Various altercations passed
between him and Williams, who, says Laud, was
jealous of Buckingham's favour towards him 2 . So
great indeed was their enmity, that we find Laud
making the following entry in his Diary, dated
Jan. 25, 1623-4, " It was Sunday, I was alone,
and languishing with I know not what sadness. I
was much concerned at the envy and undeserved
hatred borne to me by the Lord Keeper. I took
1 Ambrose Philips' Life of Archbishop Williams. Cambridge,
1703, p. 150, 151.
2 Diary, p. 7, 8.
246 LIFE AND TIMES [1623-4.
into my hands the Greek New Testament., that I
might read the portion of the day. I lighted upon
the 13th chapter to the Hebrews, wherein that of
David, Psal. Ivi. occurred to me then, grieving
and fearing. ' The Lord is my helper, I will not
fear what man can do unto me.' I thought an ex-
ample was set to me ; and who is not safe under
that shield ? Protect me, O Lord my God V
These pious notices cannot fail to appear honour-
able to Laud, more especially when we recollect
that they were written without the slightest antici-
pation that they were ever to be perused by any
one but himself. Two other praiseworthy memo-
rials ought not to be forgotten. On Feb. 1, he
informs us, that he was at dinner with the, Prince,
' ' who was then very merry, and talked occasionally
with many of his attendants, and, among other
things, he said, that if he were necessitated to take
any particular profession in life, he could not be a
lawyer, adding his reasons. ' I cannot,' said he,
f defend a bad cause, nor yield in a good one.' ''
Two days after this, Laud informs us, that his
Controversy with Fisher was put to press, being
1 This unhappy difference seems to have had great effect on
Laud. On December 14th we find him thus recording, " Sun-
day night I did dream that the Lord Keeper was dead, that I
passed by one of his men, who was about a monument for him ;
that I heard him say, his lower lip was infinitely swollen and
fallen, and he rotten already. This dream did trouble me."
Diary, p. 7. On various other occasions he has recorded this
dispute, from which his uneasiness is remarkably evident.
1623-4.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 247
licensed by the Bishop of London. " I am no con-
troversialist," says he, on this occasion ; " may God
so love and bless my soul, as I desire and endeavour
that all the never to be enough deplored distrac-
tions of the Church may be composed happily, to
the glory of his holy name."
On the 19th of Feb. 1623-4, the Parliament
assembled, in which all the treaties with Spain
were dissolved, to the great joy of the people, with
whom Buckingham was at this time remarkably
popular, on account of his opposition. On the fol-
lowing day the Convocation met, in which we find
Laud pursuing his great designs for the welfare
of the Church. The subsidies which the King
demanded falling heavily on the poorer clergy,
Laud devised a plan to relieve them from this
burden, which he communicated to the Duke of
Buckingham, and that favourite promised to pro-
cure the sanction of the King and the Prince. He
was commended for it by Williams and the Bishop
of Durham ; but when he consulted Abbot, he ex-
perienced different treatment. The Primate enter-
tained too much private resentment against Laud,
to restrain his temper, and he accordingly asked
Laud, what business,, it was of his to concern him-
self for the Church ? and he also told him, that no
Bishop at any time had done the like, nor would
any one but himself, that he had wounded the
Church in speaking to a layman about it in
such a manner as could never be healed ; and that,
if the Duke properly understood him, he would
248 LIFE AND TIMES [1623-4.
never again permit him to enter his presence.
These sentiments, so ridiculous and uncourteous,
Laud heard with his accustomed dignity. " I
thought," replied he, " I had done a very good
office for the Church, and so did my betters think.
If your Grace thinks otherwise, I am sorry I have
offended you. And I hope, being done out of a
good mind, for the support of so many poor vicars
abroad in the country, who must needs sink under
three subsidies in a year, my error, if it is one, is
pardonable." Laud had been in the situation of a
poor clergyman himself, and knew well the hard-
ships such would have to encounter : but Abbot,
who had been promoted from the University to a
Bishopric, knew little of their necessitous circum-
stances. Abbot's conduct compelled him to acquaint
the Duke with his reception, lest his enemies should
take advantage of it, and he thus expresses himself
on the occasion : " Sic Deus beet me servum suum,
laborantem sub pressura eorum, qui semper volue-
runt mala mihi V
Laud, notwithstanding his connexion with the
Duke, opposed his design of appropriating the funds
of the Charter-house for the maintenance of an
army. Buckingham maintained, that it would be
for the advantage of the King and the ease of the
subject; but the Bishop's generous nature made him
vigorously oppose the scheme, for he rightly thought,
that all these foundations should be held sacred and
1 Diary, p. 11, 12.
1624.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 249
inviolable. And he clearly saw, that were such
appropriations once to take place, there could be
no security for the rest, inasmuch as all these en-
dowments, venerable on account of the pious inten-
tions of the founders, might be seized on the slight-
est emergency, and thus become solely under the
controul of the monarch or his favourites. James
had endeavoured, some years before, to make a
similar appropriation of another endowment, and
he would have been successful, had not Sir Edward
Coke, the Lord Chief Justice, opposed him, at the
price of disgrace at Court. But that celebrated
lawyer preserved his reputation, and Laud, with
such an example before him, though he certainly
did not wish to incur the King's resentment, never-
theless resolved to give a decided negative to a
proposition of which he could not conscientiously
approve.
From these proceedings, however, Laud was
called to theological subjects. The Duke requested
him to detail the tenets of what is called Doctrinal
Puritanism, as held by the Calvinists. Laud com-
plied, and presented him with them, divided into
ten heads, 'fhese divisions were, a definition of
the ideas of the Puritans about the observance of
the Sabbath, the polity of the Church, the power of
the King in ecclesiastical matters, confession and
absolution, and the five points on predestination 1 .
1 " The Duke had a desire to know them, and he served him
in it. I must needs say, the name of Doctrinal Puritanism is
not very ancient, but whether first taken up by the Archbishop
250 LIFE AND TIMES
On these subjects, Laud dilated to the Duke's
satisfaction, shewing the fallacy of their positions,
and the dangerous tendency of their doctrines, if
carried to an extreme. The Calvinistic notions,
which had long raged on the Continent among the
Reformed Churches, were now assuming a new aspect
in the Church of England ; and the Papists, who
were continually on the watch, took the opportu-
nity to blend Calvinism and the doctrines of the
Church of England, and to make them both bear
against the truths of the Reformation. And it
was not till Dr. Richard Montague, Prebendary of
Windsor, severely attacked the Jesuits, in reply to
one of their lucubrations, that the Recusants were
silenced, and the individual theories of Calvin ex-
posed with success l .
of Spalato, at his being here, I am not able to say. Nor am I
of opinion that Puritanism and Calvinism are convertible terms ;
for, though all Puritans are Calvinists, both in doctrine and prac-
tice, yet all Calvinists are not also to be reckoned Puritans, whose
practices many of them abhor, and whose unconformities they
detest ; though, by the error of their education, or ill direction in
the course of their studies, they may and do agree with them in
some points of doctrine." Heylin, p. 1 1 9.
1 " The priests and Jesuits," says Heylin, " having been very
busy of late in gaining proselytes, and sowing their erroneous
doctrines, had got a haunt in a village of the county of Essex,
called Stamford Rivers. The rector of that church was Richard
Montague, Bachelor in Divinity, Prebendary of Windsor, and
one of the Fellows of Eton College, a man exceedingly well
versed in the Fathers, &c. Desirous to free his parish from this
haunt, he left some propositions at the house of one of his neigh-
bours, who had been frequently visited by these night spirits,
1624.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 251
The clamour which was raised by the Calvinists
against these proceedings, accorded with their pre-
vious conduct. The old cry of Popery and Armi-
nianism was sounded abroad, as if indeed the doc-
trines of universal redemption to all men, if they
truly repent, were never heard of until they were
taught by the Dutch professor. But while these
disputes were agitated, in which Laud fought man-
fully for truth, the Parliament, having gained their
purposes, were celebrating their triumphs for the
dissolution of the Spanish treaties, while the auda-
city of the Jesuits and priests was somewhat abated
by the result. After the prorogation of Parliament
preparations were made for war with Spain, which,
however, were happily suspended. The Prince re-
collected the beauty of the accomplished Henrietta
Maria, and proposals were made to Lewis XIII. for
the marriage. The proposals were accepted, and a
treaty entered into with the French monarch, to the
renewed mortification of the Puritans, who de-
claimed as violently against this alliance as they had
done against that with Spain. But while these ne-
gotiations were in progress, which Laud is charged
with this declaration thereunto, that if any of those who ranged
that walk would convince him in any of the same, he would
immediately be a Papist." It appears that the Jesuits accepted
the challenge, and produced a pamphlet, entitled, " A New Gag
for the Old Gospel," in which it was pretended that the doctrines
of the Protestants could be confuted out of the very words of
their own English Bibles. Montague found it a compound of
errors and absurdities, which required little pains to refute.
252 LIFE AND TIMES [1625,
by Prynne with promoting l , an unexpected event
occurred, which engrossed for a time the attention
of the nation.
On the 24th of March, 1624-5, King James de-
parted this life at Theobalds, in Hertfordshire. He
was seized with a tertian ague, which baffled the
skill of his physicians, and brought his life to a close.
Laud was preaching at Whitehall when the sorrow-
ful tidings were conveyed to him, which being whis-
pered to him, he stopped in the middle of his dis-
course 2 . The King bore his last illness with pa-
tience and Christian resignation: having recited
the Creed, and received the Holy Eucharist, he
assured his attendants that he felt tranquil and
happy, and, declaring that he died in peace with
all men, calmly expired in the 59th year of his
age.
No monarch, perhaps, has been more abused than
James I. ; nor shall I, after the numerous contra-
dictory delineations of character, enlarge very much
in his vindication. It seems to have been the de-
termination of every writer to heap additional insult
on the memory of this traduced monarch, and those
who have defended him have been no less subjected
to censure. His hatred of persecution, his desire
of granting a toleration to the Papists, and his op-
position to the Puritan faction, have been magnified
as the greatest crimes ; and he has been calumniated
by fanatics as the weakest and the worst of kings.
1 Hidden Works of Darkness, p, 73. 2 Diary, p. 15.
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 253
He has been called a traitor to religion, though he
was never a Calvinist ; an enemy to liberty, though
he maintained no more than his rightful ascendancy
over hot-headed and seditious enthusiasts : because
he was a scholar, the most learned Prince of his age,
or, perhaps, of those who ever sat on the English
throne, he has been held up to ridicule and con-
tempt as a weak-minded pedant ; and because he
was a resolute defender of the Church of England,
he has been vilified as a doctrinal Papist, and an
ecclesiastical tyrant. Yet surely justice will be
done to the memory of a prince whose only failing
was his love of peace ; who had adopted as his motto,
Beati pacifici ; whom the worst censure can only
accuse of pushing to an extreme his favourite object,
the eternal interests of his factious subjects J .
The reign of James was not one pregnant with
disasters, but it was the prelude to calamities which
his son was destined to encounter. He had found
England at peace, and at peace he left it, but about
to be rent by a faction, which had been struggling
1 The observations of James at the Hampton Court Conference
discovered a strong intellect, and he easily perceived the Puri-
tanical hypocrisy in the pretended zeal for his prerogative. He
was invariably jealous of Popish interference, and we find, that
in all foreign negotiations, he preserved his independence. The
real truth seems to be this : it is because the annals of James'
reign are not connected with battles and bloodshed, with war
and military armaments ; it is because there is no record of the
intrigues of ministers and the craftiness of cabinets, that the
monarch has been called pusillanimous and contemptible.
254 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
for the mastery nearly half a century. We are
told by the Puritan historian, that " both Popery
and Puritanism increased during his reign, while
the friends of the hierarchy sunk into contempt ;"
and this, first, by " their (the Puritans) standing
firm by the constitution and laws of the country ;
secondly, by their steady adherence to the doctrines
of Calvin, and the Synod of Dort, on the points of
predestination and grace, against the modern inter-
pretations of Arminius and his followers ;" thirdly,
" by their pibus and severe manner of life, which
was at this time very extraordinary." Such are the
profound reasons of Neal for the protection of Bri-
tish liberty, which have been echoed by his admirers
to the present time. But the history of the Puri-
tan faction furnishes abundant proofs, that what they
called " standing firm to the constitution and laws,"
was the merest pretext, inasmuch as it consisted in
continually annoying their sovereign on subjects
which they themselves admitted to be of trifling or
secondary import, in opposing him, inflaming the
people, and preaching fanatical and seditious ser-
mons. And we well know that the doctrines of
Calvin engendered strife and conspiracy, and seeing
that it is folly to assert that these doctrines pre-
served the constitution, it is no difficult matter to
pronounce on the subject. Who requires to be
told, that from the first dawn of Puritanism, in-
trigue and faction shewed their hateful influences
that Elizabeth's reign was one of plots and dis-
turbances between them and the Papists, -that
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 255
James' life was embittered by their hostile conten-
tions, and that the novelties of Geneva hurried
them into excesses which constantly gathered
strength, and finally overthrew the constitution ?
Calvinism and British liberty are not, and cannot be,
identified ; the one is the offspring of a foreign soil,
and frequently introducing intolerance and tyranny,
as it did in Scotland ; while British liberty was esta-
blished long before Calvin's notions were known.
The turbulence of Scotland has been charged on
James as the effect of his apostasy from Calvinism.
But if that monarch's motives be taken into account,
we shall soon see that his conduct was highly lauda-
ble, though he was unsuccessful in all his endea-
vours. A union of the two kingdoms was his great
object, but in that age of enthusiasm it was not likely
that such a union could have been effected without
a uniformity of religion. He had the welfare of his
Scottish subjects at heart ; he thought on Scotland
/ as the land of his birth, where his ancestors had
long swayed the sceptre, where his mother, the
most beautiful Princess in Europe, kept her court.
. He wished to see the two kingdoms consolidated
into one powerful monarchy, which evidently arose
from his Scottish partialities. He saw that Scotland
could not benefit England by such a union ; that
the latter was the more powerful, and that sooner
or later the former must lose its independence ; but
the advantage would be on the side of Scotland, the
inhabitants of the two kingdoms would forget their
mutual animosities, and they would be formed into
256 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
one brotherhood ; the arts and sciences of England
would rescue the Scottish people from their igno-
rance, English agriculture would render the barren
soil of the north more fruitful, its inhabitants indus-
trious, its future prosperity certain. But in that
age of enthusiasm, uniformity of religion seemed to
James to be indispensable ; he recollected the into-
lerance of the Calvinistic ministers, and the tyranny
of the Presbytery which they had established :
hence, when the Church became united, one reli-
gious bond connected the two nations ; their cause
was one ; they were friends and brothers.
Sectarian curiosity has pried into the private life
of James ; it has discovered that he was indolent,
and prone to vices ; that his conversation was unbe-
coming, indecent, and profane : it has delighted in
recording his imprudences, and his failings have
been magnified into heinous transgressions. While
I need not stop to notice the wickedness and fana-
ticism of such mean retaliations, it is to be ob-
served, that when he was sensible of his errors, his
repentance was sincere ; his failings were those of
the head, not of the heart, and they were, moreover,
trivial in themselves. Politeness is a relative term,
which has different gradations in every age and
place ; nor can we injustice estimate the language
of our fathers according to our own ideas of moral
feeling. Nor is it true, as his enemies have alleged,
that he was versatile and insincere in religion.
Throughout life he preserved his affection towards
the Reformation ; the welfare of the Church was his
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 257
highest aim, he wished to be a Christian, not a
worldly monarch. He was a munificent patron of
learning and of learned men ; and the celebrated
Bacon, whose testimony alone might suffice, has
said, that he had " a right to the character of the
celebrated Hermes Trismegistus ;" that he united
" the sovereignty of a prince, the illumination of a
priest, and the learning of a philosopher, in the
same person." One dangerous expedient adopted
by James was his publication of the Book of Sports,
in which he asserted the lawfulness of recreations
on the Sabbath-day. While we must make allow-
ances for the age ; while we must recollect that he
did it from a very fallacious principle to counteract
and restrain that gloomy fanaticism which the Puri-
tan theology had engendered, by which religion
became an intolerable burden, instead of a pleasing
and edifying duty; while it was designed, also, to
allure the Papists to the Church, and was limited in
its operations ; it must not be denied that all such
proclamations are dangerous to morality, and incon-
sistent with religious truth. None, except religious
zealots, will deny that the Christian Sabbath should
be a day of cheerful relaxation, in which the lower
classes may enjoy, after their six days of anxious toil
and labour, the sweets of innocent recreation, nor in
the command, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep
it holy," are we to understand that inherent holiness
which is the essential attribute of Heaven, and to
which, in this state of imperfection, we can never
attain. The austerity and gloom of those who
VOL. i. s
258 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
would deny to the labourer and the mechanic, con-
fined for six days in unhealthy abodes, and dodmed
to unclean employments, the salubrious walk and
the recreation from toil and care, are to be con-
demned ; but thus far can we go, and no farther.
The Sabbath ought to be a day of rest as it is
a day of solemn observance ; and they who forget
and wilfully neglect " the assembling of themselves
together," may certainly be considered as careless
and reckless of their future welfare. While inno-
cent conversation may be allowed, and, indeed, is
necessary to divert the mind from the more solemn
and severe meditations on religion, no sounds of bois-
terous mirth ought to be heard on that hallowed
day ; no display of worldly-mindedness ; no rude
jests should be uttered, nor " the loud laugh, which
speaks the vacant mind." Among the higher classes
the abuse of the Christian Sabbath is to be positively
condemned. Six days they have for their fashion-
able pursuits, and enjoyments ; cannot they rest for
one day in seven ? Cannot they shew that they are
not dead to every religious feeling ? And they ought
to reflect, that example is contagious ; that it is a
powerful authority ; and that their conduct is ob-
served by their humble brethren, who imitate their
vices without having the prudence to restrain them-
selves within proper bounds. The observance of the
Sabbath is imperative on all men, and it is not
difficult to estimate the morality of a people who
disregard its holy institutions.
The two great errors of James' life, connected
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 259
with the Church, was the promotion of Abbot to
the primacy, and his countenancing the Synod of
Dort. The administration of the former issued in
disasters : discipline was neglected, enthusiasm was
patronised : and the Calvinists whom he admitted
into the Church at last accomplished its overthrow.
On the Synod of Dort, little need be said. The
dogmas of Calvin were introduced into the Church,
and had most lamentable effects; and advantage
was taken of this act of James, (which he did merely
from political motives, and chiefly from his personal
friendship towards Prince Maurice,) to traduce him
for his conduct, and still further to prove his hypo-
crisy and irreligion. Nothing was evidently far-
ther from James' thoughts than to patronise Cal-
vinism, which he had never thoroughly believed,
and which, since the period of his Accession, he had
steadily opposed l .
1 I confess that I am far from being satisfied with the obser-
vations of many writers, that James was at this time disposed to
favour Calvinism from principle, for, though he certainly com-
mitted a grievous error in sending deputies, yet his share of the
transaction was altogether political. The Calvinists, with Maurice
at their head, were not actuated by zeal for purity of doctrine,
but were determined to crush the Arminians, who were supplant-
ing them. Bangny's Life of Grotius, edit. 1754. Wilson's King
James, in Hist, of England, vol. ii. p. 716-724. Camden's An-
nals of King James, p. 649. Grotius, Apolog. c. ix. Le Vassor's
Histoire de Louis XIII. lib. iv. It was suspected that James was
unfavourable to Calvinism, and hence the anxiety to make him
a party against the Arminians. Causabon's Epistles, No. 933.
James wrote against Arminius, it is true, but it was only when
s 2
260 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
And what can be said on James* alleged pedan-
try ? It is well for men to declaim, when they are
blinded by prejudice, and stimulated by hatred;
these baneful passions preclude them from seeing
" any good thing in Nazareth." The mind of
James was neither sordid nor ambitious, and he
delighted more in intellectual pleasures than in the
vain and ephemeral pageantries of state. His lite-
rary talents are entitled to the greatest respect, and
his version of the Psalms has been characterised
by Pope as the best in the English language. But
it was in theological learning that he excelled.
This enabled him to judge of the disputes of the
age, and prevented him from becoming a dupe to
the fanaticism of the Puritans 1 .
he took the doctrines which are called Arminian on the shewing
of the Calvinists. The proceedings of this Synod, far more into-
lerant than any Popish Council, as I have stated in the text,
will make it be remembered with the liveliest indignation by
every good man. We may discover in it the uniform spirit of
Calvinistic intolerance. The persecution of the Arminians, the.
deposition of Episcopius and other great men, the execution of
Barnevelt, Grand Pensioner of Holland, the imprisonment of
Hoogerbetz, and also of the celebrated Grotius, from which,
however, he escaped by the stratagem of his wife, were all the
fruits of Dutch Presbyterianism.
1 In these remarks on tlje literary character of James, I am
glad to find an author with whom I completely agree. I refer
to Mr, I. D'Israeli, who, in his excellent work entitled " Calami-
ties of Authors," 12mo. London, 1812, vol. ii. p. 245, has these
remarks, honourable at once to the memory of the monarch, and
to the liberal feeling of the writer. " From a late examination
of his works, let me also protest against the echoed opinions of
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 261
Let these remarks, however, suffice at present
on the character of this calumniated monarch.
Whatever were his failings, they were far out-num-
bered by his many virtues, by his sincere regard
for religion, by his mildness, his clemency, affa-
bility, and generous nature. Future generations,
I am persuaded, will yet do justice to the memory
of James, and his political motives and actions will
be properly estimated when enthusiasm has sub-
sided, and when men shall reason with candour
and soberness on the memories of the illustrious
dead. " He was the Solomon of this age," says
the venerable primate of Scotland, " admired for
his wise government, and for his knowledge of all
manner of learning. For his wisdom, moderation,
love of justice, for his patience and piety, which
shined above all his other virtues, and is witnessed
in the learned works which he left to posterity, his
name shall never be forgotten, but remain in honour
so long as the world endureth." Bishop Williams,
so many critics ; I would plead for the talents of this literary mo-
narch. James was no more a pedant than the ablest of his cotem-
poraries ; nor abhorred more the taste of tobacco, nor feared old
witches, than they did : he was a great wit, a most acute dispu-
tant; and he discovers a genius far above mediocrity in his
excellent Basilicon Doron. He would have been a sage for a
prince, for his genius went beyond pedantry ; Marcus Antoninus
was not a greater philosopher, though he was a feebler sovereign.
James had formed the most elevated conceptions of the virtues
and duties of a monarch, and had his son Henry survived,
that nobler genius had embodied the ideal of his father and his
preceptor."
262 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
the Lord Keeper, preached his funeral sermon, and
Laud lamented his death with the utmost sorrow,
grieved for the loss of a Prince whom he loved,
whose kindness he had experienced, whose worth
those only who were about his person could justly
appreciate.
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 263
CHAPTER VIII.
16251627.
Accession of Charles I. State of the nation Character of the
King the Duke of Buckingham Bishop Laud Proceed-
ings of the King Intrigues of Laud's enemies Marriage of
Charles I. Meeting of the First Parliament Its proceedings
Remarks on it Dr. Richard Montague Bishop Williams
'Proclamations of the King Conduct of Archbishop Abbot
Exertions of Laud His appointment at the Coronation to
officiate as Dean of Westminster The Regalia He regulates
Westminster Abbey Coronation of Charles I. The Corona-
tion oath False charges against Laud The Second Parlia-
ment Intended impeachment of Buckingham He is vindi-
cated by the King Conclusion of the Second Parliament
Practices against Laud Dr. Goodman Proclamation of
the King.
WE now enter on a new era, the reign of Charles I.
a reign pregnant with disasters, and fatal in its
termination. The spirit of sedition, which had
been restrained, but not subdued, by Elizabeth and
James, was destined to break out with overwhelm-
ing violence, and to involve both Church and State
in one mighty and melancholy ruin.
I have repeatedly declared my conviction, that a
time will yet come when justice will be done to the
memory of the Stuarts, especially to James and
264 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
Charles I. While it can be proved, from unde-
niable facts, that in many cases they could not act
otherwise than they did, it can also be proved that
the excesses of the Puritans were the great cause
of that licentiousness and irreligion which charac-
terised the Court after the monarchy was restored.
Too great pretensions to religion in one party of
the state generally produce laxity in the other ;
and hence it was that Puritanism exhibited religion,
not as indeed it is, lovely and attractive, admira-
bly adapted to the wants of man, and elevating his
soul above the sublunary enjoyments of time and
sense, but as gloomy, austere, and forbidding, im-
posing unwarrantable restraints on the heart, and
subjecting it to a tyranny of fallible men, most re-
volting to human nature. And driven to despera-
tion by the outrageous fanaticism of the Puritans in
this reign, what could those do who were at the
helm of power ? It was no longer a reluctant obe-
dience, and a mere verborum prtelium, but it was
a struggle which should obtain the mastery ; it was
a determination by the Puritans to unsheath the
sword ; they openly declared against toleration, they
dogmatically said they would not submit. I need
not enumerate the consequences. It is enough to
know that the sacred name of religion was abused
to serve the ambition and hypocrisy of a faction ;
that murder and bloodshed stalked abroad in the
nation ; that the reign of enthusiasm was drawing
nigh ; and that the beautiful and spiritual ritual of
the Church was to be supplanted by the fearful
1625.'] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 265
revelries of disordered imaginations, by canting
phraseology, hypocrisy, and tyrannical ambition.
In the twenty-fifth year of his age, Charles I.
ascended the throne of England. Educated in the
doctrines of the Church of England, he justly reck-
oned that Church the bulwark of the Protestant
Reformation, and felt for it that attachment which
he was destined to seal with his blood. A lover of
his country and of its sacred institutions, he gave
an example by his virtue, his integrity, and his
generous valour.
The commencement of a new reign is generally
of great importance, according to the state of par-
ties, and the hopes in which they choose to indulge.
Had Charles gone over to the Puritans, he might,
by uniting with those dark and gloomy religion-
ists, have perhaps averted many of his future cala-
mities ; but he was bound by the constitution and
the laws to adhere to Church and State, nor could
any alterations be effected without the unanimous
consent of the nation. If, at the first, he had made
concessions to the Puritans, no limits would have
been set to their extravagant demands ; and, like the
Papists, the more favours they received, the greater
would have been their insolence. It was necessary
for Charles, therefore, to adhere vigorously to the
constitution as he found it, and not, by a too facile
compliance with the demands of faction, jafford dan-
gerous precedents for future actions. Perhaps,
after all, in whatever way he acted, his fall was in-
evitable : the designs of the Calvinists had been in
266 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
part premeditated ; and it was better, it was nobler,
for the King to remain by the constitution, and to
be buried in its ruins, than to become the sport of
a faction, who would not reason, who would have
established a system of religion, in which there
was no safeguard from fanaticism, in which every
man would have done that which was right in his
own eyes, and who would have set up a Calvinistic
pope in every parish in England.
Of the ministers of Charles, his state favourite was
the Duke of Buckingham. This nobleman was pos-
sessed of considerable talents, but he was generally
unpopular, because he did not patronise those dis-
ordered dreams on religion, which prevailed during
that period. Yet it must be admitted, that he was
too often arrogant and haughty ; that he overlooked
or despised the measures of conciliation with the
nobles, whom he had disgusted ; and his passions
frequently hurried him into excesses, which were
not becoming in his exalted situation : otherwise,
however, Buckingham, though a favourite, was an
able minister, and though he has been slandered by
his opponents for his private life, he has never been
charged as an enemy to his country.
But the King was more fortunate in Laud, who
was his principal adviser in the affairs of the Church.
Through the interest and friendship of Bucking-
ham, Laud had acquired the favour of Charles, who
in him possessed an upright and conscientious mi-
nister. This great prelate preserved the same uni-
form integrity, unmoved by faction, undaunted by
7
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 267
opposition ; and it was his wish that the institutions
of religion should be preserved inviolate, apart from
the absurdities of error, and the extravagance of the
Puritan zealots.
On the first day of March, after the death of
James, Laud received his appointment to preach
before Charles at Westminster, at the opening of
the first Parliament. Three days afterwards, the
King, who wished to regulate the number of his
chaplains, required Laud to draw out a list for him
of the most celebrated preachers and divines, with
a notice of the principles and qualifications of each,
more especially as their number was to be restricted,
and their time of officiating more plainly stated.
Laud, from his intimate knowledge of the Church,
readily complied with this injunction. " The King,"
says Lord Clarendon, " looked upon the Puritans
as a very dangerous and seditious people., who
would, under pretence of conscience, which kept
them from submitting to the spiritual jurisdiction,
take the first opportunity they could find or make,
to withdraw themselves from his temporal jurisdic-
tion, and therefore his Majesty caused these people
to be watched, and provided against with the ut-
most vigilance V The Bishop accordingly drew out
a list, which he transmitted to the King, in which
he clearly distinguished the enemies of the Church
from its friends : and thus secured none about the
King's person but those who were devoted to the
1 Clarendon's Hist, of Rebel, vol. i. p. 81.
268 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
Reformed Church of England in doctrine and
practice l .
But at this time Laud's enemies were busily at
work, in their endeavour to undermine his reputa-
tion. The old scandal of his inclination to Popery
had either become stale or was disregarded, and his
enemies therefore attempted to revive his unfor-
tunate share in the marriage of the Earl of Devon-
shire 2 . He says, in his Diary, that " a certain
person, moved with I know not what envy, black-
ened my name with King Charles," but who this
person was he does not say, and it would be idle to
conjecture. He must either have been an emissary
of the Primate or of the Lord Keeper, the latter
having rapidly declined in Buckingham's favour,
and on both of whom the King looked with indiffer-
ence. The Duke informed Laud of this act of
malice, and from the Bishop's expressions of gra-
titude towards that nobleman, it appears that he
completely vindicated him to the King. His enemies
had the mortification to witness the failure of their
calumnies ; for on that very day, the 9th of April,
Laud was directed by the King to consult Bishop
Andrews about the Convocation which was to meet
at the same time with Parliament, and to receive
the advice of that learned Prelate respecting the
five predestinarian articles which the Synod of Dort
1 We are told that he distinguished them on the list by the
letters O (Orthodox) and P (Puritan). Heyljn, p. 127. Col-
lier, vol. ii. p. 733. Neal's Hist. p. 160.
2 Diary, p. 16.
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 269
had declared to be orthodox 1 . The answer of the
Bishop was delivered by Laud on the 13th of April,
from which it appears that the two Prelates had
resolved to prevent the discussion of those dogmas
in the Convocation, on account of the number of
Calvinists admitted under Abbot's auspices into the
Lower House.
On the first of May, the marriage of Charles
with the beautiful Henrietta Maria of France,
which had been sanctioned in the last reign, was
celebrated by proxy in the Church of Notre Dame
at Paris. After the funeral of James, at which the
King attended as chief mourner, Buckingham de-
parted for France, to conduct the Queen to Eng-
land. Laud corresponded with that nobleman
while he was absent on this important occasion 2 .
The King, in the mean time, employed himself in
inspecting his navy, and drawing together his army,
expecting a war with Spain ; but on Trinity Sun-
1 Laud wished to debate the points of the quinquarticular
controversy in this Convocation, and at once shew that they were
never at any time the received doctrines of the Church. But
Bishop Andrews deprecated the renewal of that disputation
which had already done too much mischief, and he successfully
prevailed with Laud to relinquish his intentions of bringing for-
ward the subject. It has been asserted, that Arminianism was
agitated in this Parliament, which is not the case, nor did it pro-
perly become a public question till 1628. Laud was anxious
to have it brought before the Convocation, but he was overruled
by Bishop Andrews. The conduct of the Commons in con-
demning Montague's Book was their own act.
2 Diary, p. 17, 18.
270 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
day, June 12, he arrived at Canterbury, where he
rested, and that night he received notice that the
Queen had arrived at Dover. He departed thither,
and the next morning he welcomed Henrietta to
England. He brought her thence to Canterbury,
and from that city to Gravesend, where, entering
the royal barge, they proceeded by water to West-
minster, and were there received with every demon-
stration of affection and joy.
The Parliament, which had been thrice pro-
rogued from the 17th of May, assembled on Satur-
day, the 18th of June; and on the following day,
being the first Sunday after Trinity, Laud preached
before the King and the House of Lords at White-
hall, from the second and third verses of the seventh
Psalm. On Monday, the 20th, the Convocation
met, and an order was sent from the King to the
Upper House, commanding the Archbishop of Can-
terbury, and six other bishops, of whom Laud was
one, to advise together, and to appoint a day for a
solemn fast and form of prayer, " to implore the di-
vine mercy, now that the pestilence began to spread,
and the extraordinary wet weather threatened a
famine, and also to beseech the divine blessing upon
the fleet, now ready to put to sea 1 ." This was done,
and the fast was kept by both Houses on the 2d of
July, as an example to the whole kingdom.
Charles opened his first Parliament with a short
speech, in which he declared those principles by
1 Diary, p. 19,20.
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 271
which he was guided in after life. He alluded to
the aspersion which had been cast upon him, on
account of his supposed insincerity to the Protestant
Church, and observed, " Because some malicious
men may, and, as I hear, have given out, that I am
not so true a keeper and maintainer of the true
religion that I profess, I assure you that I may
with St. Paul say, that I have been trained at
Gamaliel's feet ; and, although I shall never be so
arrogant as to assume unto myself the rest, I shall
so far shew the end of it, that all the world may
see that none hath been, or ever shall be, more de-
sirous to maintain the truth than I shall." The
zealots, in the House of Commons, nevertheless,
were not satisfied with these declarations, although
they well knew that the King, even were he so in-
clined, could make no alterations in the Church
without the consent of the people. They accord-
ingly presented petitions to Charles, proposing
certain articles to restrain the Papists ; yet these,
though many of them breathing the very spirit of
intolerance, received the royal sanction l .
The Puritan historian remarks, that " it is sur-
prising the King should make these promises to his
Parliament within six months after he had signed
his marriage articles, in which he had engaged to
set all Roman Catholics at liberty, and to suffer
1 Rushworth's Col. vol. i. p. 172. Clarendon's History of
Rebel, vol. i. p. 21. Whitelocke's Memorials, p. 1. Rapin,
vol. ii. p. 140. Collier, vol. ii. p. 733, et seq. Neal, vol. ii.
p. 161, 162, 163. Diary, p. 20. Heylin, p. 129.
272 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
no search or molestation to be given them on
account of their religion ; but," observes he, " as
a judicious writer (Rapin) says, it seems to have
been a maxim in this and the last reign, that no
faith was to be kept with Parliament." Now, had
this miserable politician, when he thought proper
to descant on political subjects in his puritanical
lucubrations, taken into account the marriage treaty,
the " promises to the Parliament," and the King's
motives, he might have seen the absurdity of his
speculations. For, in conformity with the Church
of England, which is, and ever has been, the most
tolerant Church in the world towards sectaries,
the King promised no more than what he was ad-
vised by those very churchmen whom the Puritans
reviled as tyrannical and intolerant. But if the
Church was intolerant, how, then, could it be the
reverse, as the language of these men is -evidently
contradictory ? They had a toleration, and why
not the Papists ? they were both sectarians and
schismatics, there was no difference between them,
except that the Papists went to the one extreme of
absurdity, and they to the other ; nor, in truth, were
there greater errors uttered at the Romish masses,
than in their own conventicles. A toleration is widely
different from an emancipation : it is one thing not
to molest a man for his religion, and another thing
to admit him into power. But what says the King's
letter to the Pope, as reported by Neal himself?
" Charles declared that he would not marry any
mortal whose religion he hated, he (the Pope) might
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 273
therefore depend upon it, that he would always
abstain from such actions as might testify an hatred
to the Roman Catholic religion, and would endea-
vour that all sinister opinions might be taken away,
that, as we all profess one individual Trinity, we may
unanimously grow up in one faith." It is evident
that the King here speaks as an individual, not as
the head of the English nation ; and, besides, it does
not follow, that since he was not to hate the Popish
faith, he was therefore to love it. The most shallow
logician must have seen, that the sentiments of the
King, and the articles of the treaty, refer merely to
private matters, and, in conformity to that proposed
treaty, he bound himself not to make his kingdom
a scene of persecution and bloodshed, which would
have been highly gratifying to the Puritans, who
would have rejoiced, notwithstanding their clamours
about liberty, to have seen the soil of England
drenched with the blood of Papists, who were gene-
rally as conscientiously sincere in their religion as
themselves. But, then, had those zealots not in-
dulged such opinions, they could not have set
forth their assertions about Popery, and the people
would not have been alarmed by their own visionary
fears. They knew well that the King was too de-
voted to the Protestant Church, and surrounded by
too many who were its zealous defenders, to yield
to the persuasions of the Queen, even allowing that
" she was f a very great bigot to her religion," go-
verned by her confessor, and assisted by the Pope's
nuncio.
VOL. i. , T
274 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
But the Puritan historian makes the most extra-
ordinary assertion of all, when he says, that, on
account of the Queen's influence, " the nation was
governed by Popish councils till the Long Parlia-
ment," known by its classical name of the Rump.
And this assertion is the more extraordinary, inas-
much as he admits that Charles was sincere in his
religion, " had good natural abilities," and, " with
regard to the Church, he was a punctual observer
of the ceremonies, and had the highest dislike and
prejudice to that part of his subjects that were
against the ecclesiastical constitution." I will, how-
ever, endeavour to shew, in answer to this falsehood
of the Puritan historian, that the King invariably
opposed the Papists ; that during his reign they
were treated with neglect ; and, as Neal well knew,
the unhappy disputes in which Charles was subse-
quently engaged, could not, from their very nature,
induce him to listen to Popish insinuations, far less
to place himself under their control. As to the
Queen, indeed, we find by a singular change of feel-
ing, that Buckingham invariably opposed her ; and,
towards the end of his life, publicly encouraged
those who belonged to the Hugonot faction in
France. It was his principal design, as Lord Cla-
rendon expressly informs us, to estrange Charles
from the Queen ; and though he did not succeed,
his influence at court was sufficient to counteract
the intrigues of her Popish friends. His ambitious
love towards Anne of Austria was the cause, and as
the French opposed him in his intentions, " he took
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 275
all the ways he could," says Clarendon, " to under-
value and exasperate that court and nation, by
causing all those that fled from the justice and dis-
pleasure of that King to be received and entertained
here, not only with ceremony and security, but with
bounty and magnificence : and the more extraordi-
nary the persons were, and the more notorious their
King's displeasure was towards them, (as in that
time there were many lords and ladies in that situ-
ation), the more respectfully they were received and
entertained. He omitted no opportunity," conti-
nues the noble writer, and here are the most re-
markable facts, " to incense the King against
France, and to dispose him to assist the Hugonots,
whom he likewise encouraged to give their King
some trouble. He also took great pains to lessen
the King's affection towards his Queen, being ex-
ceedingly jealous lest her interest might be of force
enough to cross his other designs, and had even
brought himself, against his nature, to a habit of
neglect, and even of rudeness, towards the Queen.
And it was universally known, that during his life,
the Queen never had any credit with the King, in
reference to any public affairs." Now, in quoting,
as Neal has done, from Lord Clarendon, it did not
become him, as a candid writer, to suppress those
facts as related by the very authority to whom he
refers, and to set down his own sectarian notions,
as the real state of the case.
But let us turn our attention to the proceedings
of this Parliament. It will be remqmbered that
T'2
276 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
Montague, who had signalized himself by his oppo-
sition to the Papists, had written and published
a book, entitled, " A new Gag for an old Goose,"
in answer to the effusion of the Papists, entitled,
" A Gag for the new Gospel." Montague had
given great offence to the Puritans by his Arminian
tenets, as they were called, though, to use the
language of Dr. Heylin, " the entitling of these
doctrines to the name of Arminius, seems to be
like the nominating of the great Western Conti-
nent by the name of America, of which first Chris-
topher Columbus, and afterwards the two Cabots,
father and son, had made many notable and great
discoveries, before Americus Vespusius ever** saw
those shores." But be this as it may, so cunning
were the Puritans, that Arminianism w r as invariably
coupled with Popery, although, as I shall imme-
diately shew, it has actually much less connexion
with the Romish Church than Calvinism. Mon-
tague was, however, cited by the Commons to ap-
pear before them, being more especially enraged
against him, because he had still farther exposed
the Puritan fanaticism in a work entitled "Appello
Caesarem," intended to have been dedicated to King
James, but, on account of that monarch's death,
inscribed to Charles l . Holding Calvin's doctrines
1 Various writers entered the lists against Montague, some
of them connected with the Doctrinal Puritans in the Church.
Although the three Bishops petitioned Buckingham in his be-
half, it is not improbable that the King would have taken no
notice of the affair, but left the polemics to settle it as they
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 277
in greater reverence than the Scriptures, and the
decrees of the Synod of Dort as far transcending the
decisions of the First General Councils, and of the
Church of England ; the Puritans so far effected
their purpose against Montague, that he was con-
demned to find sureties for the sum of two thousand
pounds till the next meeting of Parliament.
Here, indeed, was a'most edifying procedure;
A Committee of the House of Commons sitting as
theological judges, and visiting a man with that
heavy penalty, merely because he had not vindi-
pleased, had not the intolerable conduct of the Calvinists ren-
dered it necessary to restrain their zeal. On this occasion Laud
has remarked, " I seem to see a cloud threatening the Church
of England. God in his mercy dissipate it." The fears of this
wise prelate were but too well founded. " In this and the next
year," says Fuller, the Church historian, lib. xi. p. 108, 109,
" many books, from persons of several abilities and professions,
were written against Mr. Montague, by Dr. SutclifFe, Dean of
Exeter, one who was miles emeritus, age giving him a supersc-
deasj save that his zeal would employ itself; and some con-
eeived that his choler became his old age. Mr. Henry Bur-
ton, Rector of St. Matthew's, Friday-street, London, who then
began to be well (as afterwards too well) known to the world.
Mr. Francis Rouse, a layman by profession. Mr. Yates, a
minister of Norfolk, formerly a Fellow of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge ; he entitles his book Ibis ad Caesar em. Dr. Carleton,
Bishop of Chichester. Antony Wotton, Professor of Divinity
in Gresham College. In this array of writers, the strength is
conceived to consist in the rear, and that the last wrote the
solidest compositions. Of these six, Dean SutclifFe is said to
have chid heartily, Mr. Rouse meant honestly, Mr. Burton
wrote plainly, Bishop Carleton very piously, Mr. Yates learn-
edly, and Mr. Wotton most solidly."
278 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
cated the extravagances of Puritanism, and set
forth the tenets of Calvin. Fortunately, Laud was
keeping a watchful eye on their conduct, and, after
the sentence, knowing well that such intolerable
conduct would prove destructive to the influence and
office of the clergy, he, with the Bishops of Ro-
chester and Oxford, dispatched a letter to the Duke
of Buckingham, entreating him to engage the King
to take the subject into his own hands. " The
opinions/' they allege, " that at this time trouble
many men in the late book of Mr. Montague's,
are some of them such as are expressly the resolved
doctrine of the Church of England, and those he
is bound to maintain. Some of them are such as
are fit only for schools, and to be left at more
liberty for learned men to expound in their own
sense, so they keep themselves peaceable, and dis-
tract not the Church. And, therefore, to make any
man subscribe to school opinions, may seem justly
hard on the Church of Christ, and was one great
fault of the Council of Trent." They then declare
that these matters should duly be decided in the
Convocation, with the King's licence, not in the
Parliament ; for, " if any other judge be allowed
in matters of doctrine, we shall depart from the
ordinance of Christ, and the continual course and
practice of the Church."
This remonstrance, through the influence of the
Duke, had the desired effect ; the King revoked the
proceedings of the Parliament, and declared that
he himself would adopt measures to investigate
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 279
the conduct of his own chaplain. This information
was given on the 9th of July l , and on the llth the
Parliament was prorogued to meet at Oxford, on
the first day of August ; it being thought safer to
convene it in that city than in Westminster, on
account of the prevalence of a pestilential disease.
The Parliament assembled at Oxford, but it was
dissolved after sitting twelve days, and Charles had
a bitter experience of the folly of depending upon
enthusiasts. It is impossible to reflect on the conduct
of this first parliament of Charles, the majority of
which was Puritanical, without viewing it with feel-
ings of indignation. In fact, it too plainly indicated
its daring intentions. The King wanted money,
he had broken with Spain, and entered into a war
to please those religious zealots ; but how could he
support it, far less preserve his 'own dignity in the
eyes of continental Europe, without the most
liberal subsidies ? And they were by no means so
ignorant of public affairs as not to know, that
James had left an exhausted treasury, that indeed
throughout his reign that monarch had been kept in
continual poverty, and that, as good and loyal
subjects, it was their duty to rally round the person
of their young sovereign, and enable him to rescue
the name of Britain from that degradation into
which they alleged it had sunk by the peaceful
administration of his father. But they had con-
trived to get the King into their power, and, like
1 Laud's Diary, p 20.
280 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
skilful hunters, they were resolved he should not
escape from their toils. The ancient revenues of
the English crown, which had filled the coffers of
Henry VII. and his successor, had, by this time,
become either completely alienated, or were un-
productive, and were unable, as James well knew,
to support the necessary splendour of the Court,
to defray the expences of the government, or to
preserve that dignity which it was necessary to main-
tain in the eyes of foreign nations. And preced-
ing parliaments had done this. They had by de-
grees encroached upon the crown, and at length
had bereft it of almost all its feudal emoluments ;
and now, when subsidies were demanded, instead of
affording them, they commenced upon their usual
theme, the royal prerogative ; and, notwithstanding
all Charles' concessions, continually demanded from
him some new compensation. The leaven of repub-
licanism, derived from its great sources, Holland
and Geneva, had gradually spread among the peo-
ple : the Puritans in the Church, and the Puritans
out of the Church, had contemplated it with rap-
turous enthusiasm ; and as they had long secretly
aimed at the fall of the Church, they rejoiced that
they had successfully placed those models before
the eyes of the people. The Calvinists, with that
thirst for novelty which is the natural offspring of
their tenets, were incessantly employing themselves
about changes in religion, and as they held a pecu-
liar tenet respecting what they called the kingship
of Christ in his Church, they connected this dogma
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 281
with their political notions, and consequently be-
came insolent and contemptuous towards the civil
government. They had taught their adherents,
especially those among the populace, that whatever
they could wrest from the authority of the King
was a glorious achievement ; if some paused before
they credited their opinions, a hint about the royal
prerogative excited their fanaticism ; and what was
it to those zealots, though they laid prostrate the
monarchy, if, under the pretence of religion, their
enthusiasm acquired the ascendancy ? They knew
that Charles wished to aid his brother-in-law, the
Elector, who had been deprived of his dominions,
and driven into exile ; natural affection prompted
the King to this measure, and, above all, a regard
for the Protestant interest in Germany, which might
in its ruin overwhelm Europe with calamities. And
yet, such was the inconsistency of the Calvinistic
faction, that though they had violently condemned
James for not at once supporting the Elector, never-
theless, when the political state of Europe assumed
a new aspect, they would not enable his successor
to take a single step towards his own security.
But it was the grand feature of the Calvinistic
faction, and of all those who opposed the Church,
to undermine the royal power by pretended suspi-
cions of the King's sincerity in religion ; by complain-
ing of grievances which were alleged to have re-
sulted from the abuse of the royal prerogative ; and
by refusing the necessary supplies, till the most
extravagant and unconstitutional demands were
282 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
granted. Buckingham was indeed the minister, but
of what avail was his impeachment, since it was evi-
dent, that, obnoxious as he was to them, his removal
could not in the least affect Charles' situation ? The
King, therefore, acted in the issue as he was com-
pelled to do, and nothing saved him from being
overwhelmed by the difficulties those zealots were
industriously creating, but the sudden dissolution of
the Parliament. And the conduct of its members
evidently proves, that they were not disinterested
patriots, sober, and enlightened, but factious mal-
contents, who, under the pretence of religion, re-
solved to disturb the commonwealth. Not a single
excuse can be assigned for their baseness. They well
knew that they were secure in themselves ; that the
existing laws completely protected them from any
arbitrary encroachments ; that they had the sole
power of relieving and controling the King's pecu-
niary necessities ; that they had a legislative autho-
rity, and consequently had sufficient influence to
procure redress. But the King had a voice in the
legislation as well as they, and if his power was not
to be exercised, what necessity was there for a mo-
narchy at all ? Charles, by his eagerness to call a
Parliament, had given a most convincing proof of
his desire for a parliamentary government; and
nothing but their own base malice could encourage
the insinuation, that, like his father, he disliked the
business of the Lower House. He met his first Par-
liament, not doubting that the members would
supply his necessities, though their conduct in the
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 283
latter years of his father's reign might have made
his expectations less sanguine. But the ignorance,
malice, bitter selfishness, factious ambition, and
wretched enthusiasm of the Calvinists in this Parlia-
ment disappointed his hopes, and frustrated his
generous intentions ; and they are to be charged with
all the guilt, and misery, and bloodshed, which cha-
racterise this most disastrous reign. Nor could
Charles be condemned, although the allegation
against him were true, that he was, in after life,
averse to parliamentary government. He saw the
Puritan faction in every succeeding Parliament in-
crease, and he recollected their conduct when first
he met them. He beheld them determined to adopt
the republicanism of Holland, and it was his duty
to defeat their treachery ; he was not ignorant of
the dark practices of the Scottish Presbyterians,
who, in their desire to secure to themselves a power
as tyrannical as that of Rome, trampled on the
laws of the nation, and spurned with fanatical dis-
dain the calmness of prudent investigation l .
After the dissolution of Parliament, we find Laud
employing himself in making a visitation of his
1 I have formerly animadverted on the phrase, " No bishop,
no king." It is proper to observe, however, that the episcopal
government is more agreeable to the spirit of monarchy than any
other ; and James can be justified in his remark, although there
were no arguments adduced as to the jus divinum of Episcopacy.
Presbyterianism is irreverent and republican in its form ; and
it must be recollected, that it was, in that age, like civil republi-
canism, a new invention.
281 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
diocese of St. David's, on which occasion he con-
secrated the chapel which he had built at Aber-
guilly, on his promotion to the See l . About the mid-
dle of winter the Bishop returned to London, and
on his arrival at Court he found no slight alteration.
Bishop Williams had, by the intrigues of Buck-
ingham, been deprived of the Great Seal, which
was given to the Attorney General, Sir Thomas
Coventry 2 . Williams, thus deprived of this im-
portant office, speedily declined in the favour of the
King, while he found his rival, towards whom he
most unjustly cherished a secret e,nmity, as rapidly
rising in the royal confidence.
At this time,, too, and this is a fact which still
farther proves the falsity of the Puritan historian,
the King issued a proclamation, rigidly enforcing
all laws against the Popish recusants, which he com-
manded to be published at Reading, where the
assizes were then held ; and he also caused two let-
ters to be addressed to the Archbishops of Canter-
bury and York, signifying to them, " that no good
means be neglected on their part for discovering,
finding out, and apprehending of mercenary priests
and Jesuits, and other seducers of the people to the
Romish religion;" and also, on the other hand, he
enjoined the two Primates to observe " that a vigi-
lant care be taken with the rest of the clergy, for
the repressing of those who, being ill-affected to the
true religion here established, keep more close and
1 Diary, p. 22, 23. * Ibid, p. 24.
1625.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 285
secret their ill and dangerous affections that way,
and, as well by their example, as by their secret and
underhand contrivances, do much encourage and
increase the growth of Popery and superstition in
different parts of this kingdom V
The Archbishop of York, in obedience to the
royal proclamation, sent letters to the suffragans
of his province, making known to them the senti-
ments of the King, and commanding them to in-
struct their clergy diligently, to restrain and coun-
teract the designs of the Jesuits and their emis-
saries, and also to be no less watchful of the Puri-
tans, who were as indefatigable as the Papists in
their endeavours to subvert the Reformed Church,
or, at least, to model it according to their own
notions in polity and doctrine. But Abbot, who
had more than once presumed to dispute the royal
mandate, acted according to his usual custom. He
had no objection to persecute the Papists, on the
contrary, he would have heartily rejoiced to have
beheld them extirpated with fire and sword ; and
such, indeed, was the very spirit of the zealots
whom he patronised, who, in their unsufferable pre-
tensions to purity, their arrogant pretensions to
exclusive supremacy, and their firm devotion to
the doctrines of Geneva, did not yield in the
slightest degree to the Papal power. He accord-
ingly issued letters to the suffragans of his pro-
vince, of whom Laud was one, in which he rigidly
] Heylin,p. 134.
286 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
enforced the King's command, so far as the re-
cusants were concerned, but he" took no notice of
the other part of the royal proclamation, which bore
against the Puritan extravagances. The motives
of his conduct in this respect were sufficiently ob-
vious, for, if he had done his duty, and enforced a
vigilant cognizance of men who were as dogmatical
and superstitious in their own way as the Papists, he
would have acted contrary to that policy which he
had unfortunately adopted during a primacy so dis-
astrous to the Church. Moreover, he knew well
that Laud, whom he still regarded with enmity,
would be mortified that he could have no authority
to proceed against those whom he had invariably
opposed, inasmuch as he was his suffragan, and
amenable to him, if he disputed his commands. But
Laud, though he would have been justified in acting
upon the King's proclamation to the very letter,
resolved to fulfil Abbot's injunctions, and accord-
ingly, on receiving them, he directed the ecclesi-
astical officers of his diocese to make diligent
search after all Popish recusants, and those who
were ill-affected towards the Protestant religion,
that proceedings might be instituted against, them
to excommunication, according to law, " and that
there be a true list and catalogue of all such as
have been presented and proceeded against, sent to
him yearly after Easter, to be by him presented to
the Archbishop of Canterbury, as had been required."
No commands, however, were given about the Pu-
ritans, which can easily be accounted for when we
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 287
consider the nature of Abbot's letter; The Chan-
cellor of St. David's was diligent in the duty im-
posed on him, and in the month of June a list of
Popish recusants in the diocese was transmitted to
the Bishop. The same was done in all the other
dioceses l .
About this time we find Laud indefatigable in his
episcopal exertions, preaching in various places,
and giving the most ample demonstrations of his
regard for religion and the Church, by refusing to
ordain any one whom he found to be unqualified for
the sacred office 2 . But the day of Charles' coro-
nation was now approaching, and the necessary
preparations were made, in which Laud assisted, for
the celebration of that splendid and solemn cere-
mony. On the 4th of January, 1625-6, he was
appointed by the King to preach the sermon at the
opening of the Parliament on the 6th of February
ensuing; but a much greater mark of the royal
favour was in reserve for him, as a reward of his
faithful services. Bishop Williams, on account of
his disgrace, had retired from Court, and the King,
who seems to have been greatly displeased with
him, intimated to Laud, by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, that he was to supply his place at the
coronation, as Dean of Westminster 3 . This was
a sufficient indication to Williams that his influence
was at an end, more especially as the attendance
of the Deans of Westminster is indispensable at
1 Heylin, p. 135, 2 Diary, p. 23, 24. 3 Ibid. p. 2.
7
288 LIFE AND TIMES [1625.
that solemnity. As successors of the ancient ab-
bots of that venerable and magnificent foundation,
as keepers of the regalia and guardians of those
sacred relics connected with the ancient monarchy
of Britain, it belongs to them, in right of their
exalted dignity, to officiate with the Primate in his
solemn and important duties. The Dean, on re-
ceiving the King's commands, was at a loss how to
act. He could not dispute them, because Charles
had signified that he was to appoint one of the
prebends to supply his place, which, had the King
not done so, but appointed another ecclesiastic, un-
connected with the Abbey, would have been an en-
croachment on the privileges of the Chapter. Of
course, the Bishop had no inclination to nominate
Laud, whom he unjustly considered as his enemy
and his rival, and to whom he more unjustly as-
cribed his disgrace at Court; but, unfortunately
for him, Laud was the only one of the prebends who
had been raised to the episcopate, and, conse-
quently, he could not, from his situation, be sup-
planted by those of inferior degree. The Dean,
therefore, declined nominating any one in particu-
lar, but transmitted a list of all the prebends, with
their respective stations, to the Court, and left it
to the King to choose whom he pleased. Laud
was at once appointed, without any efforts of his
own, and, on the 17th of January, Bishop Williams
ratified the appointment, by formally deputing him
to supply his place as Dean of Westminster.
As it was Laud's duty to superintend the regalia,
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 289
there is one thing here which must not be passed
over in silence, more especially as his enemies after-
wards improved it to their own advantage. While
he was giving directions respecting the crown,
sword, sceptre, &c. previous to the solemnity, he
discovered an old silver crucifix, which formed part
of the regalia, and he ordered it to be placed, as
is wont, upon the altar. The cry of Popery was in-
stantly raised, and his enemies magnified this simple
act as if it would inevitably call down the judgment
of Heaven upon the whole nation. The clamour
has been repeated in more recent times ; and be-
cause the Bishop placed this appendage of the
regalia upon the altar, it has been held as conclusive
to prove the badness of his heart 1 . Now, I need
scarcely stop to mention, that with respect to a mere
crucifix, there can be no harm, though there were
one in every church in the kingdom. For what is a
1 This fact is on the authority of Heylin, p. 1 44, and I have
adopted it, as it is a matter of very little consequence, whether or
not Laud found the crucifix and ordered it to be set up, though
his enemies made the most of it at his trial. It is proper, however,
to mention, that the Bishop denies the affair, or at least treats
it with indifference. I give his own words. " They say, there
was a crucifix among the regalia, and that it stood upon the altar
at the coronation, and that I did not except against it. My
predecessor (Abbot) executed at that time, and I believe would
have excepted against the crucifix had it stood there. But I re-
member not any there. Yet if there were, if my predecessor
approved the standing of it, or were content to connive at it, it
would have been made but a scorn had I quarrelled at it."
History of Troubles and Trials r p. 318.
VOL. I. U
290 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
crucifix but a mere cross, and who in those days, as
in our own, Papists always excepted, believed that
there was any virtue in the materials of which it
might have been constructed ? The Church of
England permits this sign over many of the com-
munion tables, not that its members believe, any
more than the sturdiest sectarian, that it is of essen-
tial consequence, or that it can in any way add to
the sanctity of the Christian temple, but merely as
an emblem, in which every man ought to glory, as
significant of, and fit at all times to call to his
remembrance the price paid for, his redemption.
There must, from the very nature of the human
mind, be some external means to awaken mental
association ; and the error consists not in the adop-
tion or the practice of any ceremony or sign in reli-
gion, but in superstitiously assigning a virtue to it,
which it cannot possess. If, in worldly practice, men
depict their family treasures with their armorial
bearings, their crests, and their peculiar distinctions,
ought a Christian to be indignant when he beholds
the badge of his salvation, which, above all things, is
so calculated to remind him of the sufferings of Him
who endured a shameful and a painful death, that
all men, if they repent, might be made partakers of
the life immortal ? Let it be observed, too, that I
am talking of religious rites, of those solemn occa-
sions when men of every degree bow before the
throne of grace, and confess that they are miserable
sinners, and present their prayers not to the ina-
nimate objects around them, but to Him who is
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 291
every where present, and more peculiarly so in his
holy temples. Concerning the Papists, their super-
stitious delusions in the homage which they render
to the sign of the cross, are to be avoided' as fear-
fully dangerous ; nor need I remind the reader of
the impostures they practised on men during the
prevalence of their superstition. But it is one thing
to admit the sign of the cross, and another thing to
worship it, or to address to it prayers and supplica-
tions. And here let us pause, and see whether the
extravagances of the Puritans, as to this harmless
sign, proceeded not too far. While the more ra-
tional and the more learned of the Reformers rightly
imagined, that they were to carry on the warfare
not so much against the Church, as against the
gross doctrines and the scandalous lives of the
clergy, the more violent, and especially those who
had departed from Rome to the other extreme
at Geneva, embarked in a crusade against every
thing which seemed an encroachment on their
strange ideas of simplicity and spirituality. Accord-
ingly, in some places on the continent, and more
especially in Scotland, the zealots of which country
were afterwards faithfully imitated by the sectarian
fanatics who overturned the constitution to gratify
Cromwell's hypocritical ambition, they made the
most wanton attacks on the churches and the pro-
perty of ecclesiastics, burning and destroying books,
pictures, and other ancient remains ; with fanatical
fury pulling down buildings, and stalking with
gloomy pride and savage exultation over the vene-
u2
292 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
rable ruins, merely because they had this inoffensive
sign, as if the very stone walls had been contami-
nated. Nothing could stop the "pitiful devasta-
tion 1 " of those phrenzied assailants, until they prac-
tised to the very letter the deplorable language of
one of their most ferocious leaders, " Down with
the nests, and the rooks will fly away 2 ." What,
then, can be said of such deplorable enthusiasm, but
this, that when men break loose from the salutary
restraints of civil society, and contend not for a re-
formation only, but for the mastery, they mistake
the impulses of their passions for the dictates of re-
ligion, and they glory in the gratification of prin-
ciples which are not less dangerously superstitious
than those against which they contend ? And hence
it is, that because some men act not so outrageously
as themselves, they feed their disappointment and
revenge by false insinuations, which they are con-
scious are not only false, but the mere dictates of
their own imaginations.
On the 2d of February, 1625-6, Charles I. was
crowned. Archbishop Abbot, in virtue of his office,
placed the crown upon the King's head, though
the Primate was hardly able to officiate, from the
state of his health. Laud performed his duty as
Dean of Westminster on this solemn occasion. Dr.
Senhouse, who had been the King's chaplain when
Prince of Wales, and now Bishop of Carlisle,
1 Spottiswoode's Church of Scotland, p. 175.
3 John Knox, Bishop Keith's History, folio.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 293
preached the coronation sermon, from Rev. xi. 10.
" I will give thee a crown of life," a remarkable
text, when we consider the death of this Monarch,
and the sermon being chiefly on the vanity of all
earthly things, it was subsequently recollected by
many as strangely presaging the melancholy disas-
ters of this reign. The coronation oath was de-
manded by the Primate, and, after the solemnity
was ended, the ensigns of royalty were delivered to
Laud, as pro tempore Dean of the Abbey 1 .
Laud, however, has not escaped censure on ac-
count of the share he sustained in the solemnities
of the coronation. His Puritan enemies, because
he was at this time in favour with the King, have
charged him with altering the coronation oath, and
making it very different from that which ought to
have been taken. Now, when we reflect on the
impossibility of this, even admitting that Laud en-
tertained such a design, we shall at once see the
falseness of this charge. Abbot was Primate, the
acknowledged head of the Calvinists, and the pa-
tron of the Puritans ; it was his duty to attend to
this important affair, and, in fact, he was alone
accountable for it, if there had been any alteration.
He and Laud had no intercourse with each other,
they had been at decided variance from the very
first, and it is not to be imagined for a moment,
that Abbot was so ignorant or so careless as to
permit such an alteration. And had it been so>
1 Fuller's Church History, lib. xi. p. 121
294 LIFE AND TIMES [1620.
was he the man to keep silence on the subject ?
We have seen him exerting himself on other occa-
sions of less importance, and when, by his conduct,
he was actually undermining the Church, was it
at all likely that he would be listless on an occasion
which involved the safety of the Protestant reli-
gion ? He was too furious against the Papists in
his own way, not to render any encouragement
to them hopeless ; and besides, from the opinion
which he chose to entertain of Laud, he would be
more cautious of him than of any other, though he
well knew that Laud was not more friendly to the
Papists than himself. It seems clear, were there
no other proof, from the very circumstance of Ab-
bot being Primate at the time, that the coronation
oath was not altered in a single phrase.
But, without commenting on Charles' known
hostility to the Papists, which he especially mani-
fested in his Instructions to the Archbishops, Dec.
15, on the rashness of the subject who would pre-
sume to alter an oath, which, had he done so, might
have brought him to the block on the fact, that the
Puritans, ever endeavouring to pry into these sub-
jects, said nothing about it at the time, and on the
notorious truth, that it was a mere calumny, in-
vented afterwards by Laud's enemies, to promote
their own designs, and as a pretence for covering
their atrocities, we shall form a correct estimate of
the nature, of this invidious charge from the facts of
the case. First, then, let us observe the oath said to
have been taken by Charles, with the ancient form
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 295
of the coronation oath in the reign of Edward II.
which is the most ancient in print ; and, secondly,
let us observe the charges against Laud, and by
whom they are advanced.
" Sir, (said the Archbishop to Charles) will you
grant and keep, and by your oath confirm, to the
people of England, the laws and customs to them
granted by the Kings of England, your lawful and
religious predecessors, and namely, the laws, cus-
toms, and practices, granted to the clergy by the
glorious King St. Edward, your predecessor, ac-
cording to the laws of God, the true profession of
the gospel established in this kingdom, agreeable
to the prerogative of the Kings thereof, and the
ancient customs of this realm ? Will you keep
peace and godly agreement, according to your
power, both to God, the holy Church, the clergy,
and the people ? Will you, to your power, cause
law, justice, and discretion, to mercy and truth, to
be executed to your judgment ? Will you grant
to hold and keep the laws and rightful customs
which the commonalty of this your kingdom have,
and will you defend and uphold them to the honour
of God, so much as in you lieth ' ?"
Such is the oath sworn by Charles I. to every
clause of which he expressed his solemn affirmative.
Now, the oath of Edward II. the most ancient, as
I have stated, on record, is exactly the same, with
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 200, 201. Heylin,
p. 146, 147.
296 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
this difference only, that the first article ends at
the words " St. Edward your predecessor," where-
as in the oath of Charles, those clauses were added
beginning with " according to the laws of God,"
to " the ancient customs of this realm V After
the end of the fourth article of Charles' oath, one
of the Bishops read this passage to the King :
" Our Lord and King, we beseech you to pardon
and to grant, and to preserve unto us, and to the
churches committed to your charge, all canonical
privileges, and do law and justice, and that you
would protect and defend us, as every good King in
his kingdoms ought to be the protector and defender
of the Bishops and churches under their govern-
ment." The King then declared and promised
that he would do so " with a willing and devout
heart," after which, being led to the communion
table, he took the oath in presence of the people,
by laying his hand upon the Bible, and saying,
" The things which I have here promised, I shall
perform and keep, So help me God, and the con-
tents of this book." After which, when conducted
back to the throne, the following passage was read
to him, " Stand and hold fast from henceforth the
place to which you have been heir by the succession
of your forefathers, being now delivered to you by
the authority of Almighty God, and by the hands
of us, and all the Bishops and servants of God.
1 Rymer's Acta Regia, vol. iii. p. 63. Rapin, edit.
folio, vol. i. p. 389.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 297
And as you see the clergy to come nearer to the
altar than others, so remember that (in all places
convenient) you give them greater honour, that
the Mediator of God and man may establish you in
the kingly throne, to be a mediator betwixt the
clergy and the laity, and that you may reign for
ever with Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords 1 ."
But when we reflect that this calumny against
Charles and Laud was circulated seventeen years
after the coronation, by those enthusiasts to whom
the King pleaded his coronation oath for not yield-
ing to their extravagances, we at once perceive the
real source, and the occasion of the charge. In
Charles' Answer, cited in the note 2 , he thus expresses
himself: " We say, with a clear and upright con-
science to Almighty God, whosoever harbours the
least thought in his heart of ruining or violating the
public liberty or religion of this kingdom, or the
just freedom and privilege of Parliament, let him
be accursed; and he shall be no counsellor of ours
who will not say, Amen." But those zealots, find-
ing that they could not justify themselves, unless
they could establish a case, scrupled not to declare,
in the face of truth and honesty, that the coronation
1 Rushworth, ut sup. " His Majestie's Answer to a printed
book, entituled a Remonstrance, or, the Declaration of the Lords
and Commons now assembled in Parliament, May 26, 1642.
London, printed by Robert Barker, printer to the King's most
excellent Majestic, 1642, p. 16, 17.
2 Ibid. p. 5.
298 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
oath had been violated, and that it had been inten-
tionally done by the King, to justify what they
called his arbitrary power. It may be here neces-
sary to remark, that in the Parliament of 1642,
when this charge was first made, the factious mem-
bers of it were .endeavouring to compel the King to
give his assent to whatever bills they thought pro-
per ; and because they met with a refusal, they
asserted that he was bound by the coronation oath
to act as they requested. Such was the conduct of
men, who, we are told repeatedly, were the defend-
ers of the constitution. But is it not most evident,
that the absurd argument um of those fanatical po-
liticians was just the very reverse, and that the King
was labouring to uphold that constitution which
they were assiduously endeavouring to overthrow ?
For if Charles, or any English monarch, had so
acted, where would have been his share in the legis-
lature ? He became at once a tool in the hands of
Parliament ; his authority was less than nominal ;
and, in effect, the monarchy was sapped at its very
foundations. Those sages, moreover, champions
of liberty as the modern liberals pretend they were,
arrogated to themselves, and exercised a power,
which they denied to the King, who, in his own
person, was the third of the legislating estates of
the kingdom. Their conduct would not be tole-
rated at the present moment ; for it is an essential
part of the British constitution, that the King can
*&**> r . 1-1, ~i
refuse to sign any bill which may be presented to
,. . , . . : ,
him, putting his negative upon it, in the same
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 299
manner as the two Houses of Parliament ; and if
the King has not this power, which he can exercise
when he pleases, then he is divested of his share in
the government, and his authority is merely nomi-
nal ; he becomes a tool in the hands of Parliament,
and the independence of the monarchy is annihi-
lated.
It is to be observed, too, that the alteration, if
it may be called so, was not made in the reign of
Charles, but in that of James, and could not be
charged on Bishop Laud *. And it is, therefore, evi-
dent, from the preceding references, that there was
no alteration of the oath, and that it was only al-
leged by a faction, who were eventually too suc-
cessful in their machinations; but who, at that pe-
riod, could not prevail on the King to act as uncon-
stitutionally as themselves.
Let us now notice the second particular, namely,
what is alleged against Laud on this subject, and
by whom. At a subsequent period of the Bishop's
life, his enemies those who constituted themselves
his judges asserted that he had altered the oath.
The individuals who made this charge were his old
antagonists the Puritans, and hence their assertion
must be received with caution, for, as has been al-
ready said, Abbot, who had on former occasions
shewn himself sufficiently officious in minor con-
1 Husband's Collections, 4to. London edit. vol. i. p. 263.
706. Rapin's History of England, vol. ii. folio edit. Heylin's
Life of Laud, p. 14-6, 147. Laud's Troubles and Trials, p. 318,
319, 320. 354, &c,
7
LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
cerns, would not be inclined to allow what most
materially affected the constitution to pass unno-
ticed 1 . Laud is charged by one, with having "altered
the old coronation oath,, and framed another new
one 2 ;" by a second, with having " purposely emas-
culated it 3 ;" by a third, the fanatical Prynne, who
was, let it be noted, his most inveterate enemy,
with having inserted the phrase, " agreeable to the
King's prerogative," and caused the other phrase
to be omitted, " which the people have chosen, or
shall choose V And, many years after his death,
another individual alleged that the Bishop had de-
lated from the ancient coronation oath the phrases,
" that the King should consent to such laws as the
people should choose? and had inserted instead
thereof, te saving the King's prerogative royal 5 ."
This individual takes Prynne as his authority. Such
are the jarring assertions of Laud's enemies.
Now, it may be here remarked, that there is no
evidence that the words which Laud is accused of
having struck out were at any time a part of the
1 In the Narrative, drawn up by Abbot himself, in which he
bitterly declaims against Laud, there is not a single insinuation
respecting the coronation oath. If it had been altered by Laud,
Abbot would gladly have availed himself of the fact. Rush-
worth, Abbot's Narrative, vol. i.
2 William Lilly's True History of Charles I. 12mo. London,
1715, p. 21.
3 Life of King Charles, by an anonymous writer, p. 30.
4 Canterburie's Doome, p. 318, 319. Wharton's Diary.
5 Lord Chief Baron Atkins' Speech to the Lord Mayor of
London, October, 1693.
1636.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 301
ancient oath ; but it is indisputable, that the origi-
nal could not possibly infer the same meaning which
was extracted from them by the Puritan politicians.
For if the King was " to consent to such laws as
the people should choose" how could he be said to
govern the kingdom, seeing that he was virtually
under the control of men who could compel him to
do what they pleased ? Who were the people ? Un-
questionably those who sat in the House of Com-
mons were not elected by public opinion, but by
popular clamour ; and as the majority of them were
religious enthusiasts, it was impossible that they
could legislate with justice and moderation. This
fact, therefore, must be kept in view ; for it is one
thing to act according to the constitution, and ano-
ther thing to be misled by outrageous enthusiasm.
The Puritans had taken especial care to inflame the
minds of the people, whom they contrived to render
subservient to their designs, by filling them with
visionary fears about Popery, and by studiously mis-
representing the actions of the Court. But grant-
ing that the oath was altered as alleged, though the
coronation oath can only be altered by the Parlia-
ment, still the alteration was not unconstitutional,
because it is the grand prerogative of the British
monarch to refuse assent to any laws passed by the
people, represented by the Commons; and much
more can he refuse assent to any laws, which the
people, from their mere caprice, may desire. There
could be no greater absurdity than to assert that
the King must yield to every demand ; that he must
302 LIFE AND TIMES [1626,
consent to every proposed law, whether wise or not ;
that he must become completely under the control
of circumstances. Should the people be mode-
rate and enlightened, so far well ; but if they should
be fanatical and seditious, must he still submit ?
There is something worse than ridiculous even in
the very idea, that the King must consent to what-
ever laws the people shall choose ; and were it
practised, there would be no longer a well-regulated
state, but one of confusion and rebellion. It con-
duces to the very safety and dignity of a free na-
tion, that the King should be independent in his
own person, otherwise he cannot administer the
laws, act as the protector of his subjects, and
as the head of the state. But to say that a Prince
is to be subject to the people, to consent to what-
ever they please, however absurd and extravagant,
and to be denied the exercise of the royal prero-
gative, is to exalt to power the worst of all factions,
and to place the public administration in the hands
of the populace, which is the very worst species of
tyranny. The absurdity of those zealots is appa-
rent ; and the reader has only to recollect the con-
duct of those pretended champions of liberty, when,
by their successful hypocrisy and rebellion, they had
succeeded in overthrowing the constitution both in
Church and State. The spirit of Puritanism is
always the same ; it is actuated by mean and selfish
jealousies ; it wishes to prevail, and spurns the re-
straints of law and justice. In its conventicle sys-
tem, it openly vindicates sedition. The spirit which
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 303
operated at this time was the very same as that
which, when first imported from Geneva, stimulated
John Knox and his adherents to subscribe a solemn
covenant, shortly after the Scottish Parliament of
1560, that they would take up arms against the
government, and make common cause, if even one
of their brethren chose to think himself aggrieved l .
But the truth is, that Laud's Puritan enemies
wilfully misrepresented him, and determined to
make this charge against him, in addition to their
other falsehoods, to vindicate their own treason
and dark practices 2 . Laud himself completely
1 Knox's History. Spottiswoode's History.
2 Husband's (Edward) Collections, 4to. p. 706. In one of tjie
Remonstrances which passed between the King and the Parlia-
ment concerning the coronation oath, there is this passage.
" That the oath hath been ordinarily so taken appears by a
memorandum upon record at the coronation of Richard II.
wherein the heads of the oath being set down, that clause
of the oath concerning the King's strengthening such laws
as the people have chosen or shall choose, (the matter is not
great whether way it be rendered, so it bee understood al-
wayes that the lawes refer in that clause to the royall assent,
as a thing future, and not past, as they doe,) is rendered
thus : ' Ac de faciendo per ipsum Dominum Regem eos csse
protegendos, et ad honorem Dei, corroborandum quos vulgus
juste et rationabiliter eligerit,' which expression, with that
qualification, which the people should justly and reasonably
choose, clearly relates to new lams that should be chosen by the
people ; and in all the alterations in the forme of the oath that
we can find, excepting that it was taken by his Majesty, and
his father, King James, (wherein the word choose is wholly left
out, as well hath chosen, as will choose) that clause is under-
stood of new laws to be made, as in that oath which Henry VIII.
304 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
refutes the charge, and it is fair that his remarks
should be here inserted. When he was charged with
the two alterations in the coronation oath, " one
added," says he, " namely, these words, ' agreeable
to the King's prerogative/ The other omitted
these words, QUCB populus elegerit, which the
people have chosen or shall choose. For this
latter, the clause omitted, that suddenly vanished,
for it was omitted in the oath of King James, as
is confessed by themselves in the printed votes of
this present Parliament, (p. 706). But the other
insisted on, as taking off the total assurance
corrected and interlined with his own hand, (whereof there is a
copy among the Memorials of the Archbishop of Canterbury at
Lambeth,) the clause in question, that is, * and affirm them
which the folk and people hath made and chosen,' is interlined
by him thus, instead of folk, he puts nobles and people, and
after the words made and chosen, he added with my consent.
And in the oath of Edward VI., which is to be seen at Lambeth
also, the Lords Prptectors and the other co-executors holding
it necessary to correct the ceremonies and observances used at
the coronation of the King of this realme, in respect of the
tedious length of the same, and also because they conceived,
that many points of the same were such as, by the laws of this
realm at that present, were not allowable (as is there expressed),
they altered several clauses in the oath, and the clause in ques-
tion they changed into this following, * Do you grant to make
no new laws, but such as shall be to the honour and glory of
God, and to the good of the commonwealth, and that the same
shall be made by the consent of your people, as hath been accus-
tomed ?' By all which it clearly appears, that in that clause of
the oath, Et ad honorem Dei corroborandum quos vulgus eligerit,
his Majesty's royal assent to new laws was generally understood
to be meant." Husband,, ut supr.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 305
which the subjects have by the oath of their prince,
for the performance of his laws. First, I hum-
bly conceive, that this clause takes off none of the
people's assurance ; none at all. For the King's
just and regal prerogative, and the subjects' assur-
ance for liberty and property, may stand well toge-
ther, and have stood so for hundreds of years.
Secondly, that alteration, whatever it may be, was
not made by me, nor is there any interlining or
alteration so much as of a letter found in that book.
Thirdly, if any thing be amiss therein, my prede-
cessor gave that oath to the King, and not I. I
was merely ministerial, both in the preparation and
at the coronation itself, supplying the place of the
Dean of Westminster V s i
1 Troubles and Trials, &c. p. 318, 319, 320, 324, 354, 355.
The proceedings of the Puritan politicians are remarkable in
this affair. Their allegations against the Bishop are the merest
quibbles, and though they had the most certain evidence that
the charge was false, they betook themselves to miserable sub-
terfuges in straining the meaning of words. For example, they
rested an argument on finding the word perform, instead of con-
firm ; and in another part, where the King answered / will, in-
stead of / do. Laud's remarks on the arguments of his enemies
are admirable, and evince the generous indignation which he
must have felt when the Puritans, by their sophistry, endea-
voured to represent him as being the enemy of his country. It
is no less surprising, too, that they themselves admitted that the
oath had not been altered from the same taken by James, and it
was evident that, if there had been any alteration, Abbot, the
Primate, was the guilty person, inasmuch as he proposed the
oath to the King, in virtue of his office. The accusation,
VOL. I. X
306 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
Four days after Charles' coronation the second
Parliament assembled ; and on Monday, the 6th of
February, Laud preached the opening ^sermon be-
fore the King and the House of Lords 1 9 from the
3d, 4th, and 5th verses of the 112th Psalm. In his
discourse he took a masterly view of the Jewish hie-
rarchy, considering it, in its political order, concord,
and unity, as the great type of the Christian Church >
with this difference, that the Church of the Jews
was political and ecclesiastical, whereas the Chris-
tian Church is solely a spiritual kingdom. He
then strikingly pcoirtrayed the danger of faction
to the well-being of the state, whether political or
ecclesiastical. Unity, he declared, was the strength
of both. " Would you keep the state in unity ?"
he asks, " in any case take heed of breaking the
peace of the Church. The peace of the state depends
much upon it : for, divide Christ in the minds of
men, or divide the minds of men about their hopes
of salvation in Christ, and then tell me where will
be the unity 2 ?" The' wisdom of these sentiments is
indisputable, and they are worthy of the great man
by whom they were inculcated.
indeed, is most invidious, and proves the dispositions of those
men of whom we are told so much about their defence of the
constitution, their struggle for liberty, &c.
1 It is the third of his printed Sermons. Diary, p. 28.
2 Sermons, 4to. p. 107. "Feb. 26. First Sunday in Lent. I
presented to his Majesty my sermon which I had preached at
the opening of the Parliament before, now printed by his
Majesty's command." . Diary, p. 29.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 307
But the Commons in this Parliament were as
little disposed as in the former to profit by advice,
and they had no sooner proceeded to business, than
Montague was again called to account by them for
what they called Arminianism. But, with the ex-
ception of a conference held at the Duke of Buck-
ingham's house, by the desire of the Earl of Wor-
cester, between Dr. Buckeridge, Bishop of Roches-
ter, and Dr. White, Dean of Carlisle, on the one
side, and Dr. Morton, Bishop of Litchfield, and
Dr. Preston, on the other ; and another conference
held a few days after, in which Montague ably
defended himself, he was permitted to pass unmo-
lested ! . He might probably, however, have expe-
rienced a different fate " if the Commons," as Dr
Heylin observes, " had not been diverted by a pur-
suit after the Duke of Buckingham, who, being
more noble game, they laid Montague's case aside,
having done nothing in it but raised a great desire
in several members of both Houses to give them-
selves some satisfaction in these doubtful points."
The usual contentions arose between the King and
1 Committees on religion were now invariably appointed by
the Parliament, and were held to be as indispensable as the bag-
gage to an army. I imagine it will be a difficult matter to de-
fend the conduct of those sages in this respect. It is a singular
thing, too, that those committees thought themselves sufficiently
qualified to decide on the most abstruse points of theology,
though they were composed of men who, for the most part, knew
little save their mother tongue. This, however, is quite in
accordance with the Genevan polity, and no doubt was suffi-
ciently gratifying to their enthusiasm.
x2
308 LIFE AND TIMES [16261
the Commons on the subject of the supplies, and
Buckingham's conduct was taken into their consi-
deration. The King was at this time engaged in
a war with Spain, and as he saw no symptoms of
their co-operation, he wished to know what sup-
plies they intended to grant him. He pressed upon
them the fact, that unless those supplies were
granted, his army would mutiny, and he himself be
compelled to adopt measures unworthy of his
crown 1 . But the Puritan faction were not to be
convinced, or at least they had determined not to
be so ; for, having their own purposes in view, in-
stead of uniting with the King in legislating for the
welfare and honour of the kingdom, they re-
sumed the conduct which they not unlikely had
intended to adopt in the preceding Parliament,
and accused Buckingham of high crimes and mis-
demeanors.
This affair chiefly originated in the Duke's ge-
neral policy, and it must be admitted that there
was some cause for the popular discontentment.
Yet every one will allow, that this Parliament might
1 On this occasion Clement Coke, a younger son to the famous
Sir Edward Coke, is said to have remarked in the Parliament,
" that it was better to die by a foreign enemy than to be de-
stroyed at home ;" and Heylin assures us, that for his conduct
in this Parliament, young Coke was " severely reprimanded by
his father, who could not be persuaded to look upon him for a
long time after." The King's reply to this observation of Coke
is worthy of notice. " I think it more honourable," said Charles,
4* for a king to be invaded, and almost despised by a common
enemy, than to be despised at home."
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 309
have been much better employed than in first
appointing a committee about religion, and that
committee appointing a sub-committee, thus taking
the executive government out of the hands of the
King, and assuming the entire power themselves.
The Duke's case was only a very small part of the
business of Parliament, and yet we find every thing
suspended on that account. Now, granting for a
moment, which is not the fact, that, according to
the shewing of one of the members, the King had
lost the regality of the narrow seas since the Duke
became Admiral that he did not diligently per-
form the duties of his office that he had abused
the King's liberality, and squandered the revenues
that he had engrossed all the public offices, and
preferred his own relations that he had sold places
of importance, and that his mother and father-in-
law patronised Papists, still there was no cause
why the business of Parliament should be stopped,
the government, as it were, suspended, as if they
were glad of an opportunity to annoy the King. It
is evident, that had they not alighted on the Duke,
they would have found sufficient excuses in Mon-
tague's business, and in assuming the office of theo-
logical dictators, in which they were as intolerant
as any Popish Councils. On the whole, it appears,
that this Parliament had resolved to adopt the same
policy as the former one, which is justly chargeable,
by its dark practices, as the origin of all the dis-
asters of Charles' reign.
It is evident that the Duke was in this instance
310 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
treated unjustly, and that the faction who opposed
him were not actuated by patriotic motives l . For,
whatever truth there might have been in the arti-
cles exhibited against him, it cannot be denied that
he was marked out as a victim to popular clamour.
The Earl of Bristol's charges against him resulted
from private hatred, and though the Commons had
resolved to impeach him themselves, from a doubt
of the validity of Bristol's assertion, still they cor-
dially united in endeavouring to effect the Duke's
ruin. It was in vain that the King, in his message
to the House of Lords, assured those factious mem-
bers of the Commons, that the Duke had acted in
no capacity without his knowledge; that he had
discharged his duty with zeal ; and, therefore, that
they should desist from their unconstitutional pro-
ceedings. The House of Commons saw, that if
1 In confirmation of this, I add the testimony of Lord Claren-
don. The noble author, in his History of the Rebellion, informs
us, that " they who flattered him (the Duke) most before, men-
tioned him now with the greatest acrimony and bitterness : and
the same men who had called him our saviour, for bringing the
Prince safe out of Spain, called him now the corrupter of the
King, and the betrayer of the liberties of the people, without the
least crime imputed to him, to have been committed since the time
of that exalted adulation, or that it was not then as much known
to them as it could be now, so fluctuating and unsteady a testi-
mony is the applause of popular councils." I confess, however,
that though the Duke was harshly treated, and though he had
good reason to be disgusted with this Parliament, yet his subse-
quent conduct was impolitic and imprudent. Clarendon's Hist.
of the Rebellion, folio edit.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. . 311
they did not act with boldness, while the King's
necessities were urgent, there would be little or no
prospect of success to their schemes. The King,
however, was aware of them, and was resolved not to
abandon a nobleman whose chief crime was, that he
did not encourage the Calvinistic faction 1 . " I
must put you in remembrance," said Charles to the
Parliament, " of times that are past. You may
remember that my father, moved by your counsel,
and gained by your persuasions, broke the treaties.
In these persuasions I was your instrument towards
him, and I rejoiced to be instrumental in any thing
conducive to the welfare of this realm. Nor was
there any one in greater favour with you than this
man, whom you so traduce. And now, when you
find me involved in war, and having no honourable
1 The disputes between Buckingham and his enemies, more
especially the Earl of Bristol, threatened the most serious conse-
quences. " It was very sharp," says Laud, (Diary, p. 32, April
19,) "and such as threatens ruin to one of the parties." The
following annotation deserves to be inserted, as equally proving
Charles' regard for religion, and his 'love of justice, which has
endeared his memory to the Church of England. " April 22,
Sunday. The King sent for all the bishops to come to him at
four o'clock in the afternoon. We waited upon him, fourteen in
number. Then his Majesty chid us, that at this time of Parlia-
ment we were silent on the cause of the Church, and did not
make known to him what might be useful or was prejudicial to
the Church, professing himself ready to promote the cause of the
Church, He then commanded us, that in the causes of the Earl
of Bristol and the Duke of Buckingham, me should follow the
direction of our own consciences, being led by proofs, not by
reports"
312 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.,
and safe retreat, you make my necessity your pri-
vilege, and set what rate you please upon your
supplies."
Sir Dudley Digges, and Sir John Elliot, two
members of the House of Commons, who were
chosen to carry up the articles of impeachment to
the House of Lords, were committed to the Tower,
on account of some expressions which they used
on that occasion l ; and, in answer to the Earl of
Bristol's charge, that the Duke had endeavoured to
convert the King to the Popish Church while he
was in Spain, Charles, in his message to the Lords,
positively asserted that it was a falsehood, and that
the Duke, to his own certain knowledge, had made
no such attempt. Buckingham, in his answer to
the several articles of the impeachment, defended
himself with great modesty and ability ; but the
Commons had resolved on his ruin, and the King,
finding them determined to oppose him in every
measure, was at length compelled to dissolve the
Parliament on the 15th of June, 1626 2 .
1 They were both released, however, soorr afterwards, 'on
explaining themselves.
2 I quote the following from Heylin, who has inserted it from
the Cabala, as an extract from a letter written to the King by a
person unknown. " These men," says the writer, " either can-
not or will not remember, that no nobleman in favour with his
sovereign was ever questioned in Parliament, except by the King
himself, in case of treason, or unless it were in the non-age and
tumultuary times of Richard II. Henry VI. or Edward VI. which
happened to the destruction both of king and kingdom. And
not to exceed our own and our father's memory, in Henry VIII.'s
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 313
Such was the conclusion of Charles' second Par-
liament, and it is impossible to reflect on the con-
duct of its members without indignation. We per-
ceive them, instead of taking " counsel together,"
that they might preserve the kingdom in unity, and
thereby increase its strength, busily engaged in fos-
tering the spirit of faction, thwarting the measures
of their Sovereign, employing themselves in ap-
pointing committees of religion, and absolutely
restraining the exercise of government, to gratify
their own personal prejudices. There can, I am
persuaded, be only one opinion on this subject, and
that is, that these men were strengthening them-
selves more and more to ensure the success of their
faction, and to accomplish their grand design of
overturning the throne, and making the Monarch a
mere tool in the hands of outrageous fanatics.
It is now time to notice the part which Laud is
time, Wolsey's exorbitant power and pride, and Cromwell!s
contempt of the nobility and laws, were not permitted to be
discussed in Parliament, though they were most odious and
grievous to the kingdom. And that Leicester's undeserved fa-
vour and faults, Hatton's insufficiency, and Raleigh's insolence,
far exceeded what hath yet been objected against the Duke, yet
no lawyer durst abet, nor any man else begin invectives against
them in Parliament." The writer then advises the King to sup-
port the Duke, " for if they prevail with this, they have hatched
a thousand other demands, to pull the feathers off royalty ; they
will appoint him counsellors, servants, alliances, limits of his ex-
pences, accounts of his revenue, chiefly, if they can (as they
mainly desire), they will now dazzle him in the beginning of his
reign." Heylin, p. 144, 145.
314 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
alleged to have taken in those proceedings, as his
enemies invariably thrust his name forward on every
subject which they chose to oppose, and gave him
the credit of their bad success. While this admis-
sion of theirs is an unconscious testimony to Laud's
talents, it must not be passed over without animad-
version, as we shall soon find them practising against
him as industriously as they were against his patron,
Buckingham. It was reported, that Laud was most
active in managing the Duke's cause against the
Puritan faction ; and Prynne asserts, that the King's
speech to the two Houses of Parliament was written
by Laud : " This speech of his," (the King's), says
Prynne, " was penned for him by this pragmatical
bishop, the original copy whereof was given in evi-
dence against him, under his own hand 1 ." And
again, concerning Buckingham's reply to the im-
peachment : " The, Bishop, though then a member
of the Upper House, and a judge of this cause, was
yet such a sworn vassal to the Duke, that he penned
his speech which he made to the Lords in the Upper
House, against the Commons' impeachment, and
corrected and amended his answer to his impeach-
ment, as his tried advocate in sundry particulars
given against him in evidence under his own hand :
and likewise penne'd the King's speech in the House
of Peers, touching the Duke, and the commitment
of the Earl of Arundel, as appears by the origi-
nal draught 2 ." But these assertions are entirely
1 Breviat, p. 7. * Ibid. p. 8.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 315
gratuitous, and rest solely on the circumstance, that
when, at a future time, Laud's papers were ran-
sacked, in order that the malice of his enemies might
find some gratification, written copies of both
speeches, which Prynne chooses to call original,
were found. On the shewing of this enthusiast,
therefore, when a written copy of any document is
found in a man's possession, especially if he has had
any concern in the transactions mentioned therein,
he must be held as the author, an assertion quite
in unison with his absurd modes of reasoning. But,
granting that Laud did actually write those speeches,
what charge can be made against him ? He was
indeed a member of the Upper House, but it did
not follow that he was to coincide with all the mo-
tions of that House ; and though Prynne takes care
to inform us, that he was, from his situation, " a
judge in this cause," thereby casting imputations
upon Laud's integrity, yet he might have known,
that it never was the intention of Charles' Parlia-
ments to submit their proceedings to a candid inves-
tigation, inasmuch as they wished to be judges in their
own persons. And even if Laud had written those
speeches, his integrity still remains unimpeached;
for he well knew, and made no secret, of the wicked
designs of those men. But if Prynne meant, as he
undoubtedly intended, to impugn Charles' capacity,
and more deeply involve Laud in this, among other
visionary and false charges brought against him, he
is at once refuted by the King's well known literary
acquirements, which, notwithstanding the impotent
316 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
attempts of his enemies, are happily indisputable :
and, in the second place, whatever may have been
the Duke's failings, and whatever his attainments,
certain it is, that he was not destitute of mental
accomplishments. For, when he was in the Nether-
lands, shortly after this period, negotiating a loan
for the King's jewels, hearing that some curious
Arabic Manuscripts, which had been left by Erpe-
nius, the original collector, to his widow, and by her
exposed to sale, were about to be purchased by
some Jesuits, he disappointed the learned fathers,
and gave for them 500/. ; " a mixed act," says Sir
Henry Wotton, " both of bounty and chanty, and
the more laudable, being much out of his natural
element 1 ." He spared no cost in the purchasing
of curious coins , and his collection of pictures
at York House was the admiration of the age*.
He regarded them with all the enthusiasm of an
1 After Buckingham's death, the Manuscripts were presented
to the University of Cambridge, of which University he had been
Chancellor, by the Duchess, in fulfilment of her husband's origi-
nal intentions. " He had a purpose likewise," says Wotton,
" as I am well informed, to place in the University, where he was
Chancellor, a fair case for them, and to furnish it with other
choice collections from all parts at his own charge." Sir
H. Wotton's Life of the Duke of Buckingham, p. 18.
2 Laud to Archbishop Usher. Parr's Collect. No. CLXVI.
3 In the Queen's Staircase at Hampton Court he is introduced
into a picture painted by Tintoret, one of those who had expe-
rienced the Duke's liberality, in the character of Mercury, pre-
senting the Arts and Sciences to the King and Queen, sitting on
a cloud, and some boys are represented driving away Envy and
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 317
amateur l . These facts do not, indeed, prove Buck-
ingham to have been a political orator, still they are
Malice. Sir Henry Wotton remarks, concerning the Duke, that
he was in his natural element when among pictures and other
productions of the fine arts.
1 It may not be improper here to introduce a brief account of
the Duke of Buckingham's collection of pictures, part of which
were, during the Usurpation, sold at Antwerp by his son, to re-
lieve his necessities. That we may form an idea of this splendid
collection, the Duke at one time gave 1 0,OOOZ. for the collection
of the famous Rubens ; and Sir Henry Wotton, his biographer,
while ambassador at Venice, made extensive purchases for him
of many admirable pictures by the first masters. In this collection
there were no less than seventeen by Tintoret, twenty-one by
Bassan, nineteen by Titian, thirteen by Paul Veronese, thirteen
by Rubens, two by Georgioni, eight by Palma, three by Guido,
three by Leonardo da Vinci, two by Correggio, and three by Ra-
phael D'Urbino ; besides others by celebrated masters, whose
works are now extremely rare. After the Duke's death, some
were purchased by the King, the Earl of Northumberland, and
Abbot Montague ; but the greater part was purchased by the
Archduke Leopold of Austria, and added to the splendid collec-
tion in the Castle of Prague. The famous picture, the Ecce
Homo of Titian, was one of those which the Archduke purchased,
in which are introduced portraits of the Pope, Charles V. of
Spain, and Solyman the Magnificent. This picture, eight feet
in length, and twelve in breadth, was valued at 50001. ; but from
an authentic note of the engraver, it appears that the Earl of
Arundel offered the Duke in his lifetime 7000/. in money or
land, for this single piece. There is a painting of it in Nor-
thumberland House, Strand. See the Inventory of the Duke of
Buckingham's Collection, in 1635.
The famous window of stained glass in St. Margaret's Church,
Westminster, also belonged to Buckingham, and was sold by his
son. Its history is somewhat remarkable. It was made by
order of the magistrates of Dort, as a complimentary present for
318 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
not without weight, and there are few men, espe-
cially men of rank, who are unable, on important
Henry VII. who was then building his Chapel, and was five years
in progress. But Henry died before the completion of his Cha-
pel, and the Abbot of Waltham Abbey got possession of the
window, and set it up in his church. After the death of that
ecclesiastic, it was removed by the last Abbot of the Abbey, at
the period of the dissolution of the monasteries, to Newhall, in
Wiltshire, belonging to the Earl of Ormond, where it was depo-
sited in a private chapel ; after which it passed into the posses-
sion of Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of the famous queen, Anne
Boleyn. It then came into the hands of Ratcliff, Earl of Sussex,
in Elizabeth's reign ; from whose family it was purchased by
Buckingham. His son sold it to the celebrated General Monk.
In order that it might be preserved from the violence of
the sectaries during the Usurpation, Monk caused it to be con-
cealed under ground, otherwise it would have been certainly
destroyed by the Puritanical fanatics ; for they were stimulated
by a worse than Gothic fury against every thing which was not
in accordance with their clownish and fanatical taste ; their sacri-
legious and caitiff hands having demolished, it is said, more than
eight hundred windows of stained glass. After the Restoration,
Monk placed it in his chapel at Newhall. His son and heir, the
second Duke of Albemarle, died in 1686, and it devolved to the
Duchess ; but as she did not reside at Newhall, this famous win-
dow was exposed to injury and damage. Monk's family having
sold Newhall, it came into the possession of the new purchaser,
who destroyed part of the ancient mansion, and pulled down the
chapel, with the exception of the window, which he left standing,
hoping, it is said, that it would be purchased for some church.
It lay some time cased in boxes, till a gentleman, named Conyers,
purchased it ; and having employed an artist, named Price, to
repair it at great expense, he set it up in his chapel at Copthall,
near Epping Forest. It remained there till his son built a new
mansion, and having no use for it, he sold it, in 1758, for four
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 319
occasions,, to defend themselves in language which
is far more impressive than the most polished rhe-
torical effusions.
A few things remain to be noticed,, connected
more immediately with Bishop Laud, before I close
this chapter. On the sixth of March, we find him
resigning his parsonage of Ibstock, which he had
held in commendam, but for what reason he does
not assign *. On the 16th of that month, he re^
cords in his Diary, of " a certain Dutchman, named
John Oventrout," who said, that he had discovered
a mode by which the King of England might ob-
tain possession of the Spanish colonies, and .as he
pretended that it depended much on religion, Laud
was appointed to converse with him, along with
the principal Secretary of State. He appears, how-*
ever, to have been a visionary Calvinistic fanatic,
hundred guineas, to the committee appointed by Parliament for
the repairing of St. Margaret's, Westminster, where it now re-
mains. Judging from the historical figures introduced into it, its
antiquity cannot be much less than two hundred and fifty years.
There is an account of it in a pamphlet, published in 1 761, enti-
tled, Ornaments of Churches considered ; written by an anony-
mous writer in defence of the churchwardens of St. Margaret's,
against whom articles were exhibited in the Commissary Court,
for setting up what was called " a piece of painting there, wherein
were delineated several superstitious pictures and images," with-
out the consent of the Dean of Westminster : in Biog.Brit. (from
which I have compiled some parts of this note), vol. vi. p. 4051,
4052, note ; and in Horace Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting,
&c. in England.
1 This fact is maliciously omitted by Prynne. Diary, p. 29,
30. compared with Breviat, p. 7.
320 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
for, says Laud, " he shewed not to us any method,
how it might be taken, unless it were that he would
have the minds of the inhabitants to be divided in
the cause of religion, by sending in among them
the Heidelberg Catechism V
But, in the Convocation, other business was agi-
tated. On the 5th Sunday in Lent, Dr. Goodman
preached a sermon before the King, which made
an uproar at Court, especially among the Puritan
zealots, because it was conceived to teach covertly
the doctrine of the real presence in the Communion,
or at least something which had a leaning that way.
It excited a dispute in the Convocation, without
calling forth any decision. The King took the
matter into consideration, and commanded Arch-
bishop Abbot, the Bishops of Durham, Winchester,
and Bishop Laud, to meet and consult about the
matter. Their decision was, (and it ought to be
recollected that Abbot was one of the commission,)
" that some things were spoken less cautiously,
but nothing falsely : that nothing was innovated by
the preacher against the doctrine of the Church of
England; and that the best way to remove any im-
pression was, that the sermon should be again
preached, and Bishop Goodman would then shew
in what particulars he was misunderstood by his
audience." This was accordingly done ; and here
the matter terminated.
It is a well known fact, that at this period there
[ Diary, p. 30.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 321
existed much error among the Puritans respect-
ing the holy communion, and they had unhappily
adopted the same opinions as many of the modern
Dissenters, of reducing both it and the holy sacra-
ment of baptism into mere rites or symbols. For,
though the real corporeal presence of Christ in the
communion is an error of the Papists to be rejected,
inasmuch as it is contrary to the general sense of
Scripture, and renders the one great atonement of
Christ inefficacious, yet even in the Missal, the
construction, not the language, is objectionable.
It is there stated, that the bread and wine may be
to us, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ *, which language justly implies a worthy
communicating : and hence, in opposition to the re-
ceived Popish doctrine, and the irreverent notions
of Dissenters, those elements are not mere signs,
but holy mysteries, which, to those who worthily and
reverently receive them, become by faith the body
and blood of Christ, (not, however, transubstan-
tiated,) as St. Paul himself teaches, 1 Cor. x. ; and
hence, moreover, in the language of the Church,
we " feed on Christ by faith," and we receive as
" spiritual food the body and blood of Christ." It
is indeed a modern tenet, that the sacrament is
a bare sign, taken in remembrance of Christ's
1 The words of the Canon of the Mass are, " Ut nobis corpus
et sanguis^awJdilectissimi filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi."
In the language of Laud, " nothing can be more opposite to the
doctrine of the present Church of Rome, than its own service"
VOL. I. Y
322 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
passion J ; but this tenet is lamentable and dan-
gerous, and tends to undermine that reverence with
which those holy mysteries ought to be received 2 .
1 Troubles and Trials of Archbishop Laud, p. 123.
3 Even the followers of Calvin, in the sixteenth century,
and Calvin himself, if rightly understood, maintain a true and
real presence, though they deny transubstantiation. Hence Bel-
larmine's remark : " Sacramentarii saepe dicunt reale corpus
Christ! in Coena adesse, sed realiter adesse nunquam dicunt,
quod legerim, nisi forte loquuntur de Coena in ccelo." De Euch-
aristo, lib. i. c. 2. 5. And here he talks about the Sacra-
mentarians, as he calls them, who, he says, believe in a Cal-
vinistic figment, as it is termed by the Council of Trent. In
fact, the doctrine of a spiritual consubstantiated presence was
believed by the fathers and martyrs of the Church of England,
and by Calvin, at Geneva. John Frith, one of the English
Martyrs, declares, that " the inward man doth as verily receive
Christ's body as the outward man receives the sacraments with
his mouth ;" (Fox's Mart. London edit. 1597, vol. ii. p. 943.)
and I need not quote Cranmer, from the same work, pp. 1311
and 1598, or Bishop Ridley, whom Cranmer confesses to
have convinced on the subject, he before being inclined to the
Zuinglian notion. Fox, ut sup. p. 1703. As for Calvin, his
own words are vere et realiter, (Calvin in 1 Cor. x. 3. vere, and
in 1 Cor. xi. 24, realiter,) and those who follow him do actually
believe the truth, that the real and true body of Christ is spiri-
tually received in the Eucharist. Bellarmine, moreover, quotes
Calvin four times, where he expressly says, (Bel. De Euchar.
lib. i.) that " we receive in the Sacrament the body and blood
of Christ vere or truly." Now, let us hear Calvin himself.
" Caeterum his absurditatibus sublatis, quicquid ad exprimendam
veram substantialemque corporis ac sanguinis Domini commu-
nicationem, quae sub sacris coenae symbolis, fidelibus exhibetur,
facere potest, libenter accipio," Institut. lib. iv. c. 17. 19. :
and again, " In ccenae mysterio, per symbola panis et vini,
'
1626,] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 323
Whatever were Goodman's arguments, however,
on this subject, they seem to have been correct,
and offence had been taken at them only by those
zealots who were stimulated by the enthusiasm' of
the times. It is well known that the Puritans dis-
cussed the subject in their usual manner, and re-
presented it to their adherents very differently from
the real state of the case *.
Christus vere nobis exhibetur. Et nos participes substantiae
ejus facti sumus," 11. Here the meaning of Calvin is ob-
vious ; and the error of the Papists and the sectaries rests in
this, that the former believe in the real corporeal presence,
(Thomas Aquinas, p. 3. q. 76. Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae
et Supremae Latinitatis, auctore Carblo Dufresne, tomus tertius,
Paris, 1733, cols. 176 183.) ; and the latter, in opposition to
the received doctrines of the Church, assert that the communion
is nothing more than a mere memorial of Christ's dying love, or,
as they call it, a commemoration.
1 Bishop Goodman seems latterly to have gone too far, as will
appear from the following anecdote. In 1640, the new Canons
were set forth, which he refused to subscribe, " and it appeared
afterwards," says Fuller, " that he scrupled about some passages
on the corporeal presence, but whether upon Popish or Lutheran
principles he best knoweth." Laud, then Archbishop, after
the clergy had subscribed, advised him " to avoid obstinacy
and irregularity therein, but he refused." It was in Henry VII.'s
Chapel, and being greatly offended, Laud said to him, " My
Lord of Gloucester, I admonish you to subscribe." Goodman
remained silent, and Laud again said, "My Lord of Gloucester,
I do admonish you a second time to subscribe," and immediately
after, " I do admonish you a third time to subscribe." Good-
man " pleaded conscience," and was in consequence suspended.
He was committed to the Gatehouse, " where," says Fuller, " he
got by this restraint what he could never have got by his liberty,
Y 2
324 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
Nothing remarkable happened at this period,
except the King's proclamation, issued on the 14th
of June, concerning Montague's affair, which the
Convocation had wisely declined to discuss. In this
proclamation the King declared his determined re-
solution to guard the Church of England from all
innovations. He observed, that " in all ages great
disturbances, both in Church and State, have issued
out of small beginnings, when the seeds of con
tention were not timely prevented ; and finding that
of late some questions and opinions had been
broached in matters of doctrine and tenets of our
religion, by which the professors of our religion
may be drawn first into schism, and then into
Popery, he hereby published to all the world his
utter dislike of all those who, to shew the subtlety
of their wits, or to please their own humours, or
vent their own passions, shall adventure to start
any new opinions not only contrary to, but differ-
ing from, the sound and orthodox grounds of the
religion, established in the Church of England ;"
and he thereby enjoined his reverend archbishops
and bishops in their several dioceses, et speedily to
reclaim and repress all such spirits as shall in the
least degree attempt to violate this bond of peace :"
threatening exemplary punishment to those who
disobeyed ! .
namely, of one reputed a Papist, to become for a short time
popular, as the only consequent suffering for not subscribing
to the new canons." Puller's Church History, book xi. p. 170.
J Kushworth's Collections, vol. i. part 1. p, 412, 413.
;
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 325
It is observed by Rushworth, that " the effects
of this proclamation, how equally soever intended,
became the stopping of the Puritan's mouths, and
an uncontrolled liberty to the tongues and pens of
the Arminian party V But when we recollect the
conduct of the Parliament in Montague's case, we
at once see the wisdom of the King's resolutions.
For, as the House of Commons had referred their
considerations on Montague's book to what they
called their Committee for Religion, on the 18th of
April, the sages of that Committee transmitted
their report, through Pym their chairman, on which
they passed a vote in condemnation of the book.
Ludicrous as it was to see the Commons sitting as
theological doctors, and reckoning no points of
divinity too abstruse for their comprehensions, this
conduct was excelled by their subsequent proceed-
ings, more especially as they imagined that they
had effectually silenced Montague, gained a signal
triumph to their party, and completely condemned
what they termed Arminianism. Immediately, in
addition to the writers already mentioned against
Montague, numbers of the seditious enthusiasts
began a discussion, among whom were Prynne,
Wotton, and Burton, so that, as Heylin well re-
marks, " the encounter seemed to be betwixt a
whole army and a single person." But the King's
proclamation operated as a powerful restraint.
Laud and others we find busy in fulfilling the King's
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. part i. p. 413.
326 LIFE AND TIMES [1626,
injunctions : seditious pamphlets were stopped at
the press, and the sale of others was prohibited ;
while cognizance was taken of the authors and
printers. Burton and Prynne, in particular, were
cited before the High Commission Court, and they
would have been punished, had not their friends in
the Parliament procured an order to withhold the
prosecution. It would appear that they behaved
themselves with so great insolence, that Laud had
almost resolved to make them more peaceable by
some x salutary discipline. The second Parliament
was now dissolved *, but the Puritans cherished
against the government their accustomed hatred,
which was not a little augmented by the above pro-
ceedings. The observation of Heylin is here re-
markably in point, that " from this time hence-
forth we must look for nothing from both those
Hotspurs (Burton and Prynne) but desire of re-
venge, a violent opposition to all persons whatso-
ever, who did not coincide with them, or who were
not stimulated by the same outrageous zeal V
1 Vide the King's Declaration in Rushworth, ut sup. p. 406
411.
! Cyprianus Anglicus, p. 148.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 327
CHAPTER IX.
16261629.
Removal of Laud to the Bishopric of Bath and Wells His ap-
pointment to manage the subsidies by loan Remarks on his
instructions Apology for the King's conduct His hazard-
ous situation Death of Bishop Andrews Laud's appoint-
ment Bishop Williams His conduct Comment on it
Dr. Sibthorpe and Sir John Lamb Sermons by Dr. Sibthorpe
and Dr. Manwaring Their fallacious positions Passive
obedience Sentiments of the two preachers Remarks on the
doctrine of non-resistance Definition of it The opinions of
the Classic writers and the Primitive Christians Of modern
writers Publication of the sermons Conduct of Archbishop
Abbot His sequestration Received again into favour 'Pub-
lic affairs Transactions of Buckingham Promotion of Laud
The bishopric of London Its importance Dr. Montaigne
Death of Archbishop Matthews of York The third Par-
liament Impolitic measures of the King Meeting of the
Parliament Conduct of the Commons Their proceedings
Specimens of their injustice Their practices Arminianism
Subtle tenets of Calvin Remarks on Arminianism Defini-
tion of it Observations on the Synod ofDort Remonstrance
of the Commons against Laud and Neile Pretended Letter
of a Jesuit Remarks on it Practices of the Jesuits Their
union with the Puritans Prorogation of the Parliament
Laud removed to the Bishopric of London General observa-
tions.
As it is not my intention to go minutely into detail
on the general connected history of this momentous
328 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
period, except where it illustrates the conduct and
actions of this great prelate, the candid reader
will perhaps pardon whatever may seem to have
been passed over hastily in the former chapter,
since it is impossible in these limits to do justice to
the events recorded. It is now necessary to follow
minutely the order of those times.
Laud had been five years in the See of St.
David's, during which period he had been engaged
in state affairs, though not unmindful of the welfare
of the Church. His fidelity had secured for him
the favour of the King, and it was just that his
services should be rewarded. On the 4th of May,
1626, Dr. Arthur Lake 1 , Bishop of Bath and
Wells, died at London, and on the 20th of June
Laud was nominated by the King to the vacant
see. After his nomination, we find him preaching
before the King and Court at Whitehall, on the
5th of July, a day appointed as a solemn fast,
" partly on account of the pestilence yet raging in
many parts of the kingdom, and partly on account
of the danger of enemies threatening us 2 ." This
sermon was afterwards published by command of
the King, and is the fourth of those preached on
1 This prelate was at first Warden of New College, Oxford,
then Master of the Hospital of St. Cross, Dean of Worcester,
and, finally, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was brother to Sir
Thomas Lake, Secretary to King James. He was a man of
most exemplary piety and great learning. Heylin, p. 151.
Fuller, book xi. p. 126. Wood, Athen, Oxon. vol. iii.
* Diary, p. 34.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 329
public occasions 1 . On the 16th of August he
was translated to Bath and Wells, and on the
19th of September he had restitution of the tem-
poralities 2 .
About this period Laud was appointed by Charles
to draw out certain instructions for the Arch-
bishops, Bishops, and Clergy of the kingdom. The
two Parliaments had refused to grant the King the
usual subsidies, and taking an ungenerous advan-
tage of his necessities, they had acted in a man-
ner which warranted their immediate dissolution.
As nothing could be got from the Parliament,
the "King's only resource was by way of loan,
since, though bills for three subsidies had passed,
the Parliament had been dissolved before they
had become acts of statute. The sum of 173,41 11.
was deemed equal to three subsidies, which was
the sum required to be raised, and as the King
had already pledged the crown plate and jewels,
and sold property to the city of London to the
amount of 120,000/. he had no other resource than
this expedient. Had the Parliament been actuated
less by the outrageous enthusiasm of Puritanism ;
had they, instead of appointing committees on reli-
1 They were all published in 4to. in the respective years they
were preached, viz. 1621, 1622, 1625, 1626, and 1628.
2 Diary, p. 35, 36. Under August 25, we find the following
entry. " Friday, two robin-redbreasts flew together through
the door into my study, as if one pursued the other. That
sudden motion almost startled me. I was then preparing a
sermon on Ephes. iv. 30, and studying."
330 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
gion, transacted the business of the nation, and left
the concerns of religion to those whose duty it was,
as well from their education as from their responsi-
bility, to superintend them, Charles would never
have been compelled to have had recourse to such
expedients to preserve his own dignity, and his ho-
nour towards his allies. But the public encourage-
ment of schismatics, whose hatred towards the
Church even exceeded that of the Papists, fomented
the sectarian fanaticism of the times, and cherished
that dangerous spirit which was destined to run to
fearful extremes. The King, actuated by his regard
for the Protestant Reformation, and bound by his
political relations, wished to aid his uncle, the King
of Denmark, who was as much involved as him-
self with the Kings of France and Spain, their com-
mon enemies ; but his Parliament had disappointed
him, his subsidies were denied, and he himself, who,
from his situation, was held as the grand supporter
of the Reformed Faith, was rendered ridiculous in
the eyes both of the Protestant and Popish states of
Europe.
The King's instructions were communicated to
Laud through the Duke of Buckingham, by whom
he was given to understand, that he was to prepare
letters to be issued to the two archbishops, and their
suffragans, the contents of which were to be com-
municated by the latter to the inferior clergy, and
by them to the people, persuading them to pay
cheerfully the taxations necessary to be imposed
upon them, since it was for the general peace of
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 331
Christendom, and the welfare of the Protestant re-
ligion. The instructions, as Laud informs us, were
" partly political, and partly ecclesiastical, in the
cause of the King of Denmark," and were to be
published in every parish of the kingdom. The
Bishop engaged in this confidential duty with his
wonted alacrity, more especially as he saw the
King's peculiar situation, and knew well the pro-
ceedings of the Puritans in the two dissolved Par-
liaments. A few days after he received the royal
commands, he had his instructions prepared ; they
were first read to the Duke, and then to the King,
who expressed his approbation, and they finally re-
ceived the full assent of the Lords of the Privy
Council. They were issued in the form of a letter
from the King to the two Archbishops, and were
by them communicated to their suffragans, who in
turn published them in their respective dioceses.
It is, perhaps, a difficult matter to justify these
instructions : not that Laud, as the author or writer
of them, is to blame, because he only acted as a faith-
ful servant to the King ; but because they afford
a dangerous precedent, which, were it followed,
would be attended with the worst consequences.
It appears from these instructions 1 9 that the people
were to be taxed without the consent of Parliament,
or without an investigation of its necessity by their
representatives in the Lower House. It is, indeed,
true, that the nation had never been represented in
1 Heylin, p, 154, 155, 156.
332 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
the two former Parliaments, or, if the Puritan
members spoke the language of their constituents,
Charles had little chance of success with the people,
v/ho were more inflamed by those schismatics, after
the dissolution. But, to tax the nation at all,
without the consent of the two Houses, which form
most essential parts in the constitution, was, un-
questionably, though n9t without precedent, against
the principles of the monarchy, and was, besides,
calculated to render the King more unpopular. It
was not to be expected that the members of the
late Parliaments, especially those who had com-
posed the Lower House, would look with indiffer-
ence on this measure ; and as they absurdly wished
to lodge the whole executive government with
themselves, and make the King a mere instrument
in their hands, with these arbitrary notions of par-
liamentary power, they would at once take the
alarm, and influence the people by their false re-
presentations. And it would have been an easy
thing to effect their purposes, and oppose the King,
for it might be fully expected, from their previous
conduct, that they would be the last persons to
criminate themselves, which they must have done,
had they explained the King's situation.
But while it appears to me, from these instruc-
tions drawn up by Laud, that the people were to
be taxed without the consent of Parliament, and,
therefore, so far as I understand the subject, if it
was not without precedents in former reigns, it was
at least unconstitutional, and against the essential
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 333
principles of a free monarchy such as that of Bri-
tain, where the King, Lords, and Commons, equally
legislate, I do not say that Charles cannot be justi-
fied. It must be recollected, that no monarch was
ever placed in more hazardous or trying circum-
stances. Annoyed by turbulent schismatics on the
one hand, and by Papists on the other; disap-
pointed by the proceedings of his Parliaments, who
neglected the chief business of the state for matters
with which they had little concern, and which only
gratified their enthusiasm ; and finding that they
represented him in the worst possible manner to the
people, this was, perhaps, the only expedient which
Charles could adopt, inasmuch as he had found
the summoning of Parliaments of no utility. And,
though it must be admitted, that the pulpit ought
not to be the place for enforcing political measures,
yet, from the fact, that the Church of England is
an essential part of the British Constitution, and
also, because the clergy, in the exercise of their
daily ministrations, are more immediately brought
into contact with the people, they were the only
persons by whom the King's conduct could be
fairly and justly represented. And, moreover, as,
notwithstanding the objections of schismatics and
visionary zealots, the alliance between Church and
State, in other words, a church % law established,
is not only necessary, but highly imperative, both
from Scripture and antiquity, for the welfare and
advancement of true religion ; it is just that the
State should call in the aid of the Church in mat-
334 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
ters partly ecclesiastical and partly political, be-
cause, generally speaking, the Church is part of
the State, the one is connected with, and dependent
on, the other. And it is to be farther observed, that
these instructions were not designed as a law, but
merely as a resource upon a trying emergency : the
taxation, if it may be called so, for it rather appears
to have been a kind of voluntary subsidy, was to
be recommended, not enforced; the clergy were
commanded to " instruct and exhort the people,"
by explaining to them the peculiar aspect of affairs
abroad ; they were " rightly to inform the people
committed to their care, that this war, which now
was so pregnant with danger, was not undertaken
rashly, or without advice :" and, as if to explain the
dark practices of the two Parliaments, they were re-
minded that all treaties between Spain and France
had been dissolved by their advice, and that they
alone stimulated the war with Spain. " To effect
this," said the King, speaking in the language of
Laud, " they desired our aid and assistance, and
urged us to work our dear father to entertain this
course. This, upon their persuasions and promises
of supply, we readily undertook and effected, and
cannot now be left in the business without the sin
and shame of all men : sin, because aid a*nd sup-
ply for the defence of the kingdom, and the like
affairs of state, especially such as are advised and
assumed by parliamentary counsel, are due to the
King from his people, by all law both of God and
man : and shame, if they forsake the King, while
i
1626.] OP-ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 335
he pursues their own counsel, just and honourable,
and which could not, under God, but have been as
successful, if it had been followed and supplied in
time, as we desired and laboured to effect." The
King declares that he trusts to the loyal hearts of
his people to aid him in his emergencies, he re-
commends to the clergy a diligent discharge of
their sacred duties, and to " direct and encourage
his loving people, in this and all other necessary
services, both of God, the Church, and the throne."
Now, when we bear in memory, that the measure
in question was not to be enforced by law, as in-
deed it could not, wanting the sanction of Parlia-
ment, it will appear evident that, though the mea-
sure was in itself impolitic, and eventually fruitless,
yet, when we take into account the King's situa-
tion, and the previous conduct of the Puritans, he
cannot be said to have encroached on the liberties
of the people, by any undue exercise of the royal
prerogative *.
1 It is necessary here to mention, in vindication of the above
remarks, that a distinction must be kept in view between the
instructions to the Clergy, to which of course I peculiarly refer
in the text, and the King's Declaration to the people concerning
the loan, and its conditions. The King's uncle, the King of
Denmark, had been brought into trouble chiefly for his espous-
ing the cause of the Elector Palatine, the King's brother-in-
law. In the King's private instructions to the Commissioners,
they were commanded to enforce it from every individual, if
they would not otherwise assent. Rushworth, vol. i. part. i.
p. 418422. Whitelock's Memorials, Collier's Eccles. Hist,
vol. ii. Hume, Rapin, &c.
7
336 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
But, whatever opinions may be entertained on this
subject, one thing is clear, that Laud acted as a
faithful servant to a prince, who was every where
surrounded by difficulties, from which his Parlia-
ments would not relieve him. The advancement of
religion, and the welfare of the Church, were
Charles' great objects, and Laud was well qualified
.to judge on these important matters. By his wise
and prudent management of this affair, he was still
farther advanced in the good opinion of the King ;
nor were his services allowed to pass unrewarded.
At this very time died Dr. Launcelot Andrews,
Bishop of Winchester, and Dean of the Chapel
Royal ; a prelate whose name is recorded among
the illustrious worthies of the Church of England.
Grave without affectation, profoundly learned with-
out pedantry, religious without any of the Puritan
fanaticism, this distinguished prelate and great man
ought never to be mentioned without reverence and
admiration l . His dignified and serious deportment
is said to have restrained Charles from any inclina-
tion to merriment in his presence. His publica-
tions are not very numerous, but such as remain
are sufficient indications of his profound acquire-
ments 2 . After his decease, the See of Winchester
x i Fuller, book xi. p. 126. Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. iii.
Collier, Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 739.
2 The Works which Bishop Andrews published during his life-
time were two volumes in Latin, written in defence of King
James against the attacks of the learned Cardinal Bellarmine,
already mentioned. In 1609, when Bishop Andrews was in
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 337
was vacant for nearly two years, the King appro-
priating its revenues to supply his necessities 1 ; but
Laud was appointed, on the 3d of October, Dean of
the Chapel Royal ; and on the 6th he was admitted,
the See of Chichester, appeared a quarto volume, entitled,
" Tortura Torti, sive, ad Matthaei Torti Librum Resppnsio, qui
nuper editus contra Apologiam serenissimi potentissimique prin-
cipis Jacobi, Dei Gratia Magnae Britanniae, Franciae, et Hiber-
niae Regis, pro juramento fidelitatis." In 1610, Bellarmine
published, " Pro Responsione sua ad Librum Jacobi, Magnae
Britanniae Regis, cui titulus est;, triplici modo triplex cuneus,
Apologia." Bishop Andrews, now in the See of Ely, replied to
Bellarmine the same year, in a quarto volume published at
London, entitled, " Responsio ad Apologiam Cardinalis Bellar-
mini, quam nuper edidit contra Praefationem Monitoriam sere-
nissimi ac potentissimi principis Jacobi, &c. omnibus Christianis
Monarchis, Principibus, atque Ordinibus inscriptam." He also
wrote a small tract, entitled, " Determinatio Theologica, de jure-
jurando exigendo," 4to. London, 1593. (Heylin, p. 157. Brittan.
Scriptores,) and a small volume of sermons. But after his death,
Laud, and Buckeridge, Bishop of Ely, the latter having been re-
moved to that See from Rochester the year before, collected and
published ninety-six of his sermons in 1628, and dedicated them
to the King. Some other productions were also published in 1 628.
Bishop Buckeridge preached his funeral sermon, which is printed
at the end of the large volume of sermons, in which his charac-
ter is admirably drawn. A small book appeared as his during his
life-time, entitled Catechetical Doctrines, which he would never
acknowledge, it being published, he said, without his consent,
and containing imperfect extracts from his lectures, when he
read the Catechism Lecture at Pembroke Hall, Oxford.
1 This expedient of Charles cannot be justified, nevertheless
it is not without precedent, as will be found in the History of
Winchester, in Hume's History, vol. ii. Carte's History, Rapin,
Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. Le Neve's Fasti.
VOL. I. 7.
338 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
by the Earl of Montgomery, Lord Chamberlain,
after taking the usual oaths. This promotion was
an act of especial favour on the part of the King,
although Charles had another eminence in reserve
for him ; for on the 2d of October, two days after
his nomination to this office, we find him recording
in his Diary, that the Duke of Buckingham had
signified to him the King's resolution, that, in the
event of Archbishop Abbot's decease, who was at
this time very infirm, he should be removed to the
See of Canterbury l .
We are now to observe the effects of these in*
structions on the people, as connected with the
clergy. Many of the inferior clergy were zeal-
ous in opposing the enemies of the Church ; among
whom was Dr. Robert Sibthorpe, vicar of Brackley,
Northamptonshire. But among those who resisted
1 Diary, p. 36. Breviat, by Prynne, p. 9. It appears from
the Diary, p. 36, 37, and Heylin, p. 158, that from the begin-
ning of James' reign, the sovereign never attended prayers in
the chapel-royal, but whenever he appeared, the anthem was
begun, and the preacher entered the pulpit. , Laud, how-
ever, who rightly thought, that the sermon, being a mere human
composition and no part of public worship, was of the very
least consequence, as it really is, recommended to his Majesty
to attend prayers, or, at least, whenever he entered the chapel,;
that the officiating priest might proceed to the end of the service
without interruption. " The most religious King," says he, in
his pious notation, " not only assented to this request, but also
gave me thanks. This had not been hitherto done, from the
beginning of James' reign to this day. Now, thanks be to
God, it obtaineth." Collier's Eccles. History, voL ii. p. 740.
1026.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 339
the loan was Dr. Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, who,
since his disgrace at Court, had been indefatigable
in thwarting his former friends, and seemed to
avenge himself by openly patronising the Puritans.
Sibthorpe and Sir John Lamb anticipating the dan-
ger which would arise from the laxity of that prelate,
represented to him the seditious state of the coun-
try in his diocese, that it was overrun by factious
persons, who would not conform to the Church, but
who held unlawful fasts and meetings upon the pre-
tence of religious worship ; that, in particular, they
held one fast from nine in the morning till eight at
night ; that they collected money without autho-
rity, and, therefore, they desired permission to take
cognizance of them. Williams, however, who had
not forgotten Laud's opposition to him, and the
decline of the King's favour, was determined to take
his own way, and to gratify his revenge against the
Court, by encouraging the faction. " I will not
proceed," said he, " against the Puritans, for / ex-
pect not another bishopric. You may complain of
them, if you please, at the Council ; but I am under
a cloud already, and have the Duke of Buckingham
for my enemy. I wish not to excite the Puritans
against myself, as I am certain they will eventually
prevail. Besides, the King, in the first year of his
reign, gave a declaration in favour of the Puritans,
in reply to a petition from the Lower House."
When Bishop Williams uttered this deplorable
language, in which there was so much of the am-
bitious ecclesiastic, and so little of the Christian
z 2
340 i LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
Bishop, and, above all, so little regard for the Church
of which he was a dignitary, he forgot, or pretended
to forget, in the advantage which he took of the
King's Declaration at Oxford, that it chiefly bore
against the Popish recusants, while, at the same
time, the Puritans, being at the opposite extreme,
were not permitted to pass without animadversion.
But his conduct was unbecoming his rank and situa-
tion, and we evidently discover the language of the
discontented and disappointed courtier, who, if he
had been otherwise situated, would have willingly
aided the* Church to repress the faction, had he
conceived that his own interest would have been ad-
vanced. He expected, he said, no other bishopric;
he saw that the Puritans would prevail; and,
therefore, if he did not proceed against them, he
might perhaps be permitted to enjoy his temporali-
ties. Such was doubtless his inference ; but he
would have been much more consistent had he done
his duty, and nobly resolved to fall with the Church,
if it. was destined to fall. Dr. Sibthorpe and Sir
John Lamb, however, still pressed him to take
cognizance of the schismatics ; upon which he asked
them, what manner of people they were, and of
what condition. " They seem to the world," re-
plied Sir John Lamb, "to be such as would not
sw6ar, whore, nor drink ; yet can they lie, cozen,
and deceive 1 . They frequently hear two sermons
1 I do not insert this language as if it were literally true,
and, although there were many instances of licentiousness, it must
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 341
a day, repeat the same again, fast all clay long, and
pray/' The Bishop then demanded, if they com-
plied with the loan ; and being answered in the
affirmative, he denied that they were Puritans, and,
therefore, would not proceed against them 1 . Sib-
thorpe then told him, that he was sorry the Church
was so ill governed ; and transmitting these facts
to the Court, an information was laid against the
Bishop in the Star-Chamber, for which he was after-
wards brought into trouble 2 .
be received with caution. Generally speaking, little can be said
against the Puritans on that subject, yet there were many in-
stances of hypocrisy, hot in the people only, but in the leaders,
and their extraordinary pretensions to religion tended very much
to make them feel nothing of its influence. Religion, as I have
elsewhere stated, for I profess myself to be no zealot for evange-
lism in the present use of the word evangelical, does not consist
in any peculiar phraseology, in superior pretensions to sanctity,
or in noisy parade and ostentation, such as to be seen in too
many meetings of the day, in (alas !) and out of the Church,
but it consists in the quiet and unobstrusive devotions of the
heart, it is modest and retiring, doing good as there is opportu-
nity. Whatever might be the practice of the Puritans, it is not
my business to inquire ; our present concern is with their prin-
ciples.
1 This reasoning of the Bishop was absurd. He concluded
that because a man complied with the loan he mas no Puritan.
On the same principle, if the Papists complied, and many of
them did so, they were not Papists. Some of the Puritans, or
Calvinists, were well affected towards the King, and Sibthorpe
wanted the Bishop to proceed against them, not in a civil, but
in an ecclesiastical manner, as enemies to the Church, which
they undoubtedly were.
2 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 420, 421. About this time Laud has
342 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
The clergy who were well affected towards the
Church acted according to the instructions of the
Court, and explained to the people the King's pecu-
liar situation, for which they have been ignorantly
charged with preaching the famous doctrine of pas-
sive obedience. But the two preachers whose ser-
mons excited the greatest interest, were Dr. Robert
Sibthorpe, the vicar of Brackley, as aforesaid, arid
Dr. Roger Manwaring, one of the King's Chaplains,
and Rector of St. Giles' in the Fields. At the Lent
Assizes, held at Northampton, Feb. 22, 1626, Dr.
Sibthorpe preached a discourse from Rom. xiii. 7.
" Render therefore to all their dues ;" and the pur-
port of that sermon was, " to justify the lawfulness
of the general loan, and of the King's imposing taxes
by his own royal power, without consent of Parlia-
entered in his Diary a dream. " Sunday, January 14, towards
morning, I dreamed that the Bishop of Lincoln came, I knew not
whither, with iron chains, but returning loosed from them, leaped
on horseback, went away, neither could I overtake him." Rush-
worth interprets this dream as signifying the release of the Bishop
from his confinement, his advancement to the See of York, and
Laud's own confinement and subsequent trials. It is an easy
thing to interpret a dream after the person's death, and to
fasten it on any action of the person which may be con-
venient. Certainly, Laud's dispute with Williams made a con-
siderable impression upon his mind, as appears from various
parts of his Diary. Mr. Hallam chooses to look upon these
notations of dreams, &c. as weaknesses, (Constitutional His-
tory of England, 4to. vol. ii.) but, with all due respect for Mr.
H.'s authority, I am inclined to look upon them in a very dif-
ferent light.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 343
ment ; and to prove that the people, in point of
conscience and of religion, ought cheerfully to sub-
mit to such loans and taxes without any opposi-
tion V These singular, and it must not be denied,
unconstitutional propositions, which in their princi-
ples are dangerous to the liberty of the subject, he
endeavoured to illustrate by a variety of scriptural
arguments. Referring to the aspect of the times,
he thus addressed his auditors : " Seriously consi-
der how, as Jeroboam took the opportunity of the
breach between Rehoboam and his subjects to
bring idolatry into Israel, so the Papists lie in wait
if they could find a breach between our sovereign
and his subjects, which the Lord forbid, to intro-
duce their superstition into England. I speak no
more than what I have heard from themselves,
whilst I have observed their frowardness to offer
double according to an act of Parliament, so pro-
viding, yea, to profess, that they would depart with
the half of their goods. And how or why can this
frowardness be on them, but in the hope to cast the
imputation of frowardness upon us, and so to them
(that which the Jesuit will not suffer them to be)
loving and loyal subjects ?"
These remarks are ambiguous enough, yet, so far
as they bear on the general argument, they are in-
disputable. The Papists were on the watch, and
not without hope, that if any dispute should arise,
they would be able to re-establish their pdwer. The
1 Heylin, p. 158.
344 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
insolence of the French domestics who composed the
Queen's household was well known ; and though
they enjoyed not the royal favour, nay, though
Charles, while he was disputing with his own sub-
jects, was secretly encouraging the French Hugo-
nots, the Puritans of France, they still conducted
themselves as if secure of protection. But we must
observe another part of Dr. Sibthorpe's sermon. In
one place he asserts, that because the Prince, who
is the head, chooses his court and council, it is
therefore his duty to enact and to direct laws.
This he endeavoured to prove from the Jewish
Scriptures, Eccles. viii. 3, 4. In another place he
observes, " If Princes command any thing which
subjects may not perform, because it is against the
laws of God, or nature, or impossible, yet subjects
are bound to undergo the punishment, without
either resisting, railing, or reviling, and so yield a
passive obedience where they cannot exhibit an
active one. I know of no other case but one of
those three, wherein a subject can excuse himself
with passive obedience : but in all other he is bound
to active obedience V
Dr. Manwaring, however, went farther than Dr.
Sibthorpe. In two sermons which he preached,
one before the King at Oatlands, and another to his
own parishioners, he insisted, " that the King is
not bound to observe the laws of the realm concern-
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i, p. 422, 423. Collier's
Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 740.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 345
ing the subject's rights and liberties, but that his
royal will and command in imposing loans and
taxes, though without the consent of Parliament,
ought to be obeyed, at the hazard of eternal salva-
tion ; that those who refused to comply with this
loan, transgressed against the law of God, the
King's supreme authority, and were guilty of im-
piety, disloyalty, and rebellion ; that the authority
of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of such
supplies, and that the slow proceedings of such
great assemblies were not adapted to the exigencies
of a state, but would rather produce impediments
to the great designs of Princes V
While I verily believe those preachers did not in-
tend what they said to the full extent, while it may
be doubted whether they were aware of the ten-
dency of the opinions they set forth, as subversive
of part of the constitution of this kingdom, and
while I am convinced that they so preached from
the best of motives, namely, out of respect to, and
regard for, their sovereign, and as mainly endea-
vouring to counteract the seditious, principles which
had been disseminated throughout the nation ; it
must be admitted, without all doubt, that this was
" extravagant divinity," as Collier justly terms it,
" subversive of the constitution, and preaching
directly against the statute-book ;" and " were it
pursued through all its consequences, would make
1 Rushworth, ut sup. p. 424. Collier, ut sup. p. 743. Neal,
vol. ii. p. 174 t 175.
346 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
Magna Charta, and the other laws for securing
property, signify little." These were themes, as
Lord Clarendon well remarks, very unfit for the
place, and scandalous for the persons who set them
forth, seeing that they " presumed to determine
matters unconnected with their profession, and, in
online ad spiritualia, gave unto Caesar that which
did not belong to him." It is extremely dangerous
to define with exactness the royal power, inasmuch
as a King without power, and entirely under the
control of popular laws and popular assemblies, is
no King, and without any prerogative at all, in
which situation were he placed, as undoubtedly
Charles I. was, there would be no barrier to the
insolence of subjects. I mean not to comprehend
under this remark the nobles of the land, who with
the private men of rank and fortune, are the
strength of a populous nation, inasmuch as the in-
ferior orders are dependent on them for support.
And it is difficult, if not impossible, to say when
subjects may rise in rebellion against their Sove-
reign, and yet preserve their virtue and integrity ;
for such is the constitution of the human mind, and
more especially among those who, the general po-
pulation of a nation, seldom or never reason from
cause to effect, that were such opinions to be disse-
minated, or, in their dissemination, were they not to
be restrained by the salutary arm of power, a
tyranny would be established as intolerant as ever
was exercised by the most despotic sovereign. But
while those men ought most especially to beware
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 347
who allure the wrong-thinking, and deceive the
unthinking, by the pleasing theme of liberty, there-
by filling them with turgid and fallacious hopes, and
exalting every mechanic and village politician into
a judge over his superiors, it must unquestionably
be admitted, that if, when men are required by their
rulers to do things which are against " the laws of
God or nature/' they must " undergo punishment
for not doing them, without either resisting, railing,
or reviling, and so yield a passive obedience where
they cannot yield an active one," and that, too,
under the " penalty of eternal damnation ;" and if
the King is not bound, according to Dr. Manwaring,
" to preserve the subjects in their legal rights and
liberties," where is the security of the subject, where
the sacredness, if I may so speak of his property
of property which he may have truly acquired by
the " sweat of his brow," where, in short, is there
protection for any of those endearing relations which
exist between man and man ; where is there prbtec-
tion for life itself ? It was so, certainly, in a degree,
though not to the extent of the notions of those two
clergymen, in the earlier period of the English
monarchy, before the pusillanimous John of Anjou
ascended the throne ; and Doomsday Book is a suffi-
cient attestation of the iron sway of the sceptre by
William the Conqueror. But the irrevocable char-
ter of English liberty, which John was compelled to
sign by the illustrious nobles of England, who dis-
dained to resign the land of their fathers to abject-
ness, and who spurned at the idea of selling their
348 LIFE AND TIMES
birthright, established English liberty on a sure and
certain vantage-ground, from which it cannot be
dislodged unless a second Puritan rebellion, the re-
sult of crafty sedition, discontentment, and religious
fanaticism, overthrow the monarchy, and bury the
charter of liberty beneath its mighty ruins, which
will support the tyranny of a second usurpation.
And I would here assert my conviction, in thus
commenting on the dangerous and imprudent opi-
nions of those clergymen,, that it is not among the
populace of the nation, or the people, if it will make
me better understood, that we are to look for the
defenders and the champions of liberty ; but if that
period should arrive, when the reigning monarch shall
attempt to crush the charter of our rights, it is first
to England's peers and barons that we must look,
who will not hesitate to imitate their illustrious an-
cestors ; and, secondly, to tkeJBishops of the Church,
who will not fail to follow the example of those their
venerable predecessors, whose conduct was more
beneficial than all the pretended preservation of
rights and liberties by the Puritan faction ; those
noble prelates, for whom were offered the united
prayers of England, who received the deserved con-
gratulations of their countrymen, and taught the
ill-advised son of Charles I. that Popery in England
had fallen, never, we trust, to rise again.
Dr. Sibthorpe's attempt to illustrate the chief
magistrate's unlimited power from the Old Testa-
ment, must not be admitted ; because the Jewish
government was widely different from the English ;
162G.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 349
in the language of the Church historian, " to argue
from Palestine to England, and make the Jewish
constitution a standard for all other governments,
is slender reasoning, and shews that the preacher
was very defective either in his honesty or his under-
standing." By this illustration he, in fact, fell into
the great error of the Scottish Presbyterians and
the English Puritans, who made the examples of
Old Testament history their models ; who were ac-
customed to preach from those portions of it, which,
they well knew, would inflame the zeal of the people
by their scriptural allusions, and who were suffi-
ciently active in finding authority for all that they
said and did, in the historical characters of the Jew-
ish Scriptures l . Whereas, the Old Testament poli-
tical economy has no bearing on us at all ; many of
the actions of the persons recorded therein we dare
not imitate or adduce as authorities ; its constitu-
tion cannot with equal facility be appreciated by us,
who live in another age, and under another dispen-
sation ; and, in short, many of the facts of the Old
Testament, like some of those of the New, espe-
cially in so far as the practice of the holy apostles
is concerned, in their intercourse with heathen na-
tions while planting the Christian Church, are not
applicable to us at all, and are delivered not for our
example, but for our instruction and edification.
1 GoodalTs Queen Mary, 12mo. vol. i. p. 247250, where
the reader will find a remarkable illustration in the conduct of
the Scottish Reformers.
350 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
It was, in short, this very spirit of private interpre-
tation of the Scriptures, which ought at all times to
be avoided, that set no limits to the religious no-
tions of the Puritans, and prompted the fanatics of
the Commonwealth, as it is called, to change that
petition of the Lord's Prayer, " Thy kingdom come,"
to a phraseology more agreeable to their enthu-
siasm, and, therefore, they rendered it, "Thy com-
monwealth come V
1 The above is a true anecdote of English Puritanism, and
luckily there is one of Scotch Presbyterianism on the same sub-
ject. Many English Bibles were printed in 1640, at Amsterdam
and. Edinburgh, (Holland and Scotland were the same, then, in
religion) imported into England, printed on wretched paper, and
sold at low prices, " little margin," says Fuller, most happily,
" yet greater than the care of the corrector, many most abomi-
nable errata being passed therein." He gives one instance, in
the Scotch new version, Jer. iv. 17. Speaking of the whole
commonwealth of Judah, instead of " because she hath been
rebellious against me, saith the Lord," in the Bible printed at
Edinburgh, 1637, the Scots thought proper to render it, " be-
cause she hath been religious against me, saith the Lord."
This was during the monarchy, but they could not endure the
idea of a rebellious commonwealth, that glorious consummation
they had in prospect. " Many complaints," says Fuller, " were
made, especially by the Company of Stationers, against these
false printed Bibles, arguing great advantage to the Papists,
but nothing was therein effected. For at this juncture of time
came in the Scotch army, and invaded the northern parts of
England. What secret solicitations invited them hither, it ig
not my province to inquire. Many beheld them as the only
physicians of the distempered state, and believed that they gave
not their patient a visit on pure charity, but having either re-
ceived or being well promised their fee hither." Fuller's Church
History, book xi. p. 171, 172.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 351
To discuss Dr. Manwaring's assertions, after say-
ing so much, would be needless, as the perusal of
them is their own refutation. But let us see what
can be said in justification of the motives of those
clergymen ; that being the only certain standard. I
have already dwelt on the necessities of the King, on
the conduct of the two Parliaments, and the King's
peculiar situation with foreign powers. Now, though
the Puritan historian calls Dr. Sibthorpe " a man of
mean parts, but of sordid ambition," and though
Manwaring was in his opinion little better, might
not their assertions arise from the nature of their
education, arid from the fact of their not being po-
liticians ? For, in every case, the domination of the
multitude ought to be restrained ; but, if we are to
have a tyrant, (I use the word in its 'original sense,
not in its present acceptation) rather let us have
one than hundreds : let us have one whose princely
birth and education will command respect, and to
whom there is even a satisfaction in yielding, than
a number of daring and upstart demagogues, who,
using the word liberty, and yet, unable to define it,
choose to scoff at noble birth, because they them-
selves are too basely born. Severe* indeed, is the
rule of such political philosophers. But, if even
the appearance of grandeur, not to say royalty, in
distress and misfortune will at times move the heart
of the sturdiest republican, much more will it ope-
rate on those who love their Sovereign, even though
they may be inclined to assign him a greater power
than the constitution warrants. The loyal mem-
7
352 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
bers of the Church of England, in that age of en-
thusiasm, dreaded the predominance of the rabble,
as will, indeed, every well-wisher to his country at
any period ; it was, therefore, their wish to restrain
this dangerous fermentation of sedition, and if those
two clergymen went to extremes on the one hand,
the Puritans were not one whit behind them on the
other. They were, moreover, scholars, and they
needed not to be informed of the nature of the
popular governments of Greece and Rome, or of
those tumultary mobs who often besieged the senate-
house of Rome, silenced the most eloquent orators,
dismayed the bravest warriors, and made the mo-
mentary expression of their excited passions the
rule and decision of the law l . But this was not
all ; much higher authority could they quote for the
doctrine of non-resistance, even in Christian times,
and by Christian men. For, setting aside the doc-
trine of forbearance, which the divine Saviour in-
culcated, and those maxims of civil obedience even
to Pagan princes, and in reality tyrants, which his
holy apostle St. Paul enforced, the primitive Chris*
tians practised passive obedience to the very letter,
and were of opinion, as the Canon of our Church
expresses it, that subjects ought not to take arms
against their Kings, offensive or defensive, under
any pretence whatsoever, not even for religion,
which, of all things, is the most important and mo-
1 Livy, lib. xxiii. Cicero, Oratio pro Milone. i. Tacit. Vita
Agric. Sallust. Cat. Bell, xlviii.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 353
mentous to man. It would be needless to mention
here the persecutions and martyrdoms they en-
dured ; that they became the ridicule of the Greeks,
renowned for their worldly wisdom ; that they became
the prey of wild beasts, and the impious sport of
men whose natures were riot far removed from that
of beasts, in the Roman amphitheatres ; that they
endured deaths which make humanity shudder, with
the most magnanimous fortitude and devotion. I
need not refer to the often-repeated testimony, that
they were the best soldiers in the Roman armies,
serving under Pagan commanders, and that an in-
stance of rebellion by them is utterly unknown. The
Christian Fathers are clear upon the subject of non-
resistance, and religiously inculcated it, though, if
any circumstances could warrant the contrary, their
own were not the most favourable. So are the
ancient philosophers. Tacitus declares, that good
Emperors are to be wished for ; but that, whatever
they be, they are to receive submission 1 . Seneca
was of the same opinion 2 ; and Cicero, who was
himself no mean patriot, expressly asserts, that no
force is to be offered against a man's parents, or his
country, and therefore, as has been well remarked,
not against his Prince, who is pater patrice, the
father of his country 3 . Aristotle, as quoted by the
1 Tacit. Hist. Lib. iv.
2 Seneca, Epist. Ixxxiii. " Boni expetendi, qualescunque
tolerandi."
3 " Nee patri, nee patriae vim offerri oportere." Epist.
Fam. 9. lib. i.
VOL. I. A a
354 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
learned Grotius ! , laid it down as an axiom, that
though the magistrate offered violence, no violence
was to be used in return, in other words, that it
was unlawful to resist ; and Plutarch denounces
those who dare to offer violence to the person of a
King 2 . Sallust says, that what the people cannot
do with impunity, the King can do, as belonging
to his office. To the same purpose, also, many
more of the Roman and Greek writers 3 , among
1 " Apud Sallustium est," says the learned Grotius, " Im-
pune quid visfacere, id est regem esse. Hinc, ubique majestas
id est dignitas, sive populi, sive unius qui summo fungitur im-
perio, tot legibus, tot pcenis defenditur quae constare non potest
si maneat resistendi licentia. Miles qui castigare volenti se
centurioni resisteret, si vitam tenuit, militiam mutat; si ex
industria fregit, vel manum centurioni intulit, capite punitur.
Et apud Aristotelem est, Ei dp^rjv exwv Eirdra^ev ov del O.VTL-
irXrjyfjvai, Si magistratum gerens aliquem verberavit, ipse rever-
berandus non est." Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, lib. i. cap.
iv. n. 2. Amsterdam edit. 1651.
2 " Nee fas nee licitum Regis corpori manus inferre." Plut.
in Vita Agidis et Cleomenis.
3 Many other passages might be quoted, both from the
same writers and from others, namely, Livy, Virgil, Terence,
&c. ; and among the Greeks, Thucydides, Xenophon (Memo-
rabilia), Plato, &c. Tacitus has a yet stronger remark
" Principi summum rerum arbitrium Dii dederunt, subditis
obsequii gloria relicta est ;" and also, " Indigna digna habenda
suntrex quae facit." And Seneca, moreover, " JEquum atque
iniquum regis imperium feras," which two lines, says Grotius,
(ut sup.) are taken from the verse of Sophocles :
. 'AXV ov TroXiQ ffrfjffeie, TOV fie ^p>) K\VE iv,
Kcu crfjuKpd KCU SiKaia KOL ravavrta.
He who wishes to obtain a correct and complete knowledge of
this subject, will do well to consult and to study Grotius De Jure
Belli et Pacis.
J626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 355
whom, let it be observed, and especially the latter,
existed that popular form of government, which the
modern advocates of liberalism, who dogmatically
set forth the fallacious adage, that the voice of the
people is the voice of God, so much admire, but
which they most assuredly do not understand ; other-
wise the republicanism of Greece and Rome would
never have been cited as affording examples of
liberty and public opinion, because they afford no
specimens of these at all, and because the people
were actually more fettered by the predominance of
the rabble, than they would have been under the
most complete despotism 1 .
1 I may refer to a justly popular and learned work, recently
published, respecting the state of public opinion among the an-
cients. In the treatise " On the Rise, Progress, and Present
State of Public Opinion," by W. A. Mackinnon, Esq. the prin-
ciple that the Greek and Roman republics afford specimens of
free and unrestrained public opinion, is refuted by some very
convincing propositions. " The resolves of the ancients in these
republics," observes Mr. M., " seem often to have been deter-
mined by popular clamour, 'which was more likely to be found
among them than public opinion," (p. 19, 20.) I go farther,
however, than Mr. M. ; for the reader must not suppose that I
presume to identify my own opinions with his in these pages, as
that, perhaps, might be deemed by the admirers of his excellent
treatise no compliment : and I am disposed to question, whether
there was any thing ever " resembling public opinion," at any
time in existence in those republics, always excepting the philo-
sophers, who, as I have stated in the text, were too often awed
into submission. For a few proofs of this, see Xenoph. Mem. 1 .
Laertius, ii. 98 102. Anton, et Maxim. Serm. 37. Athen.
lib. x. p. 422. Mr. M. has himself, stated the cause they
wanted " proper religious feeling :" in other words, their theo-
logy was wretched.
A a 2
356 LIFE AND TIMES [1626'.
And here I would remark, for it appears to me
that this important subject ought not to be passed
over lightly, that though the defenders of the royal
power, as independent in itself, are often abused by
their opponents for holding an alleged maxim, that
" the King can do no wrong," which maxim the libe-
ralists do most grievously pervert and misunder-
stand ; yet they ought to be silent altogether on the
subject, because, even granting for a moment that the
maxim is absurd, they themselves hold one much
more ridiculous, namely, the one above quoted, that
" the voice of the people is the voice of God." This
dogma, so unphilosophical and untrue, not to say,
subversive of civil government, and unworthy of
him who pretends to the dignity of a statesman, is
continually brought forth to public view by the ad-
vocates of what is termed moderation, or, as they
term themselves, the defenders of the people ; and
no one who knows any thing of the history of the
present day can be ignorant of the absurdities to
which it has given rise. If we are to believe them,
the people, the profanum vulgus, are everything;
the King and the nobles of the nation are dependent
on them for support, and therefore, in their own rank,
nothing. Instruct the people, they continually ex-
claim, that is, in their language, do not make them
religious or good men ; do not initiate them in the
principles of Christianity, (the most momentous of
all human concerns), these are too paltry, and pue-
rile, and unserviceable ; but make them philoso-
phers, write treatises of useful knowledge for them,
explain to them the principles of science, and then
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 357
they will be happy : we shall have a nation of phi-
losophers and legislators. Now, who does not see
the folly and absurdity, not to say, impiety, of this
bombast ? Who does not see that it will be at-
tended with the very worst consequences ; that it
will engender a spirit of discontent among the lower
classes at their condition, and that the merest fool
will think himself perfectly qualified to sit in judg-
ment on his superiors ? I admire not the bliss of
ignorance, but ne sutor ultra crepidam ought not
to be forgotten. Have not the wisest of men, men
of the greatest genius and profound research, spent
long and laborious lives in the pursuit of one single
branch of science, and yet left it comparatively im-
perfect, and at last have been compelled to exclaim,
with the great master of antiquity, that at best they
knew nothing ?
It is clear, then, that x the clergy of the seven-
teenth century who defended the government have
the general authority of antiquity in their favour,
and we shall soon see, that they were not without
the authority of Scripture and the primitive Church.
By the law of nature, indeed, as Grotius has ob-
served, men, as individuals, have a right to resist
injuries inflicted by their neighbours ; but that dif-
fers widely from resisting the commands of govern-
ment ] And, therefore, I here observe, that had
1 " Et naturaliter quidem," says Grotius, " omnes ad arcendam
a se injuriam jus habent resistendi, ut supra diximus. Sed
civili societate ad tuendam tranquillitatem instituta, statim
civitati jus quoddam majus in nos et nostra nascitur, quatenus
358 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
there been no Magna Charta in this country, the
doctrine of passive obedience, when preached, was
not an outrage on the subject's natural rights. That
very doctrine, which excites the wrath of those who
affect to sneer at legitimacy, is laid down in the
Jewish Scriptures, if it be allowable to refer to them ;
but, more particularly, it is laid down by the wisest
men of antiquity, even by those who were them-
selves no mean patriots 1 . To come, then, to the
primitive Church, the members of which endured
hardships of every kind, and were, in very truth,
the sport of their pagan rulers, we have the doc-
ad finem ilium id necessarium est. Potest igitur civitas jus
illud resistendi promiscuum publicse pacis et ordinis causa
prohibere. Et quin voluerit, dubitandum non est, cum aliter
non posset finem suum consequi. Nam si maneat promiscuum
illud resistendi jus, non jam civitas erit, sed dissociata multi-
tude." Grotius, De Jure, ut sup.
1 Let us only observe the conduct of the Romans, for
example, in their government. It is said that Romulus was
a despot, but arbitrary measures were necessary in the infant
state of Rome, when the inhabitants were a band of adventurers,
who had no ties of country or of kindred to unite them toge-
ther. The age, moreover, was early in the history of improve-
ment. But no sooner had the Romans overthrown the royal
power, than they were doomed to the tyranny of republicanism,
and hence they continually changed their government, till Au-
gustus assumed the imperial purple. Before that illustrious
statesman, treading in the steps of his no less illustrious rela-
tive, Julius Caesar, firmly united the empire in his own person
as its head, and deprived the Senate of all opportunities for
faction, what a melancholy history have we of Roman turbu-
lence and avidity for new governments !
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 359
trine of non-resistance clearly set forth by Tertul-
lian 1 : and, in another place, speaking of certain
insurrections incited by Cassius, Niger, and Albi-
nus, he denies that any Christians were concerned in
them, because resistance was against the spirit of the
Christian religion 2 . Constantine the Great, although
he established Christianity, was at last an Arian,
and was by no means favourable to the orthodox
Catholics, as is proved by his treatment of St.
Athanasius. An insurrection was stimulated by
one Magnentius, not on religious but on political
grounds, with which St. Athanasius was charged.
But the Father refuted the calumny, and shewed
that it was against the practice of the Christian
Church \ The armies of Julian the Apostate were
almost entirely composed of Christians, but they
rebelled not, nor refused him obedience, except
when he commanded them to worship idols : yet
they 'obeyed Julian not from want of power, for at
his death those soldiers exclaimed, that they were all
Christians : and when we recollect that the army in
those days was the great strength of the monarch,
we shall at once see, that, had Julian's soldiers
been inclined, they could easily and successfully have
1 Apol. c. 87. 2 Tert. ad Scap. c. ii. 2.
3 Kparei'rw ^ a'XijS'eia irapd ctol, KOI p,f) d<f>rjg VTTOVOICIV icard
irdffrig tKK\r]ffiag yevto-fooc, we rotavra fiovXevofj-ewv KCLI ypa-
<f>6vTO)v Tutv Xpioriavwj', Kal juaXiora r&v eTnffKOTCbjv. St. Athan.
Apolog. ad Constant. Opera studiosius quam antea fuerunt,
a situ vindicata, &c. Gr. et Lat. Accessit praeterea Operi Erasmi
Roterodami Paraclesis. fol. Argent. 1522.
360 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
rebelled l . In like manner, St. Ambrose declared
to Valentinian, on one occasion, that the Christians
present nothing against his forces but their prayers
and tears ; " These/' said that holy father, " are my
weapons :" and yet we know well, that, had he been
inclined, he was in a favourable situation to excite
an insurrection. " We pray/' said he, " O Au-
gustus, we do not fight ." With respect to defen-
sive arms, the opinions of the primitive Fathers are
equally clear 3 . Bodinus, of the sixteenth century,
affirms, that resistance must not be offered to, nor
arms taken against, a Prince, even if he were
impious and wicked 4 ; and the illustrious Grotius
1 St. Aug. in Psal. 124, Opera Omnia, fol. 10 torn. Basle.
1540-3. Desid. Erasmi. Historia Ecclesiastica, a Socrate, lib. iii.
cap. xxii.
2 St. Ambros. in Orat. Colloc. inter Epistolas xxxii. et xxxiii.
Basle edit. 1538.
3 St. Cyprian. Epist. ad Demet. " Inde est enim, quod
nemo nostrum, quando apprehenditur, reluctatur, nee adversus
jnjustam violentiam vestram, quamvis nimius et copiosus
noster fit populus, ulciscitur." Lactantius, De Divinis Insti-
tutionibus, lib. v. c. xxii. St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, lib.
xxii. c. 6. edit, per Joan. Ludov. Viven. fol. Bas. 1522, atque,
fait Francois par Gent. Hervet, et enrichy de plusieurs Anno-
tations, par Franc, de Belle-Forest, fol. Par. 1570.
4 Vide Jean Bodin. Les Six Livres de la Republique, fol.
Lyon. 1580, etLat. " Nee singulis civibus, nee universis fas est
summi principis vitam famam aut fortunas in discrimen vocare, et
si omnium scelerum, &c. De Repub. ab autore redditi, fol. Lug.
1586, c. v. p. 210, 211, 212. Selecta de Vita et Scriptis Jo.
Bodini, a Jo. Hen. Schlegel, 4to. 1715. et Dissertatio de Jure
suffragandi Principurn Imperil, &c, ab eodem.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 361
goes still farther, for he declares that those who
hold contrary opinions are factious men, seeking
for and courting popularity, time-servers more than
defenders of liberty 1 . And, in fine, we are told by
another writer, that he is truly a rebel who resists
the King or his officers in things appertaining to
the state 2 . This is an important admission, so far
as Charles I. is concerned, for it must be recol-
lected, that the measures which he was compelled
to adopt by his fanatical Parliaments, and those, in
particular, on which I am now commenting, were
not for his own advantage, but for the honour and
service of the kingdom. And if the above facts,
which seem to have been the general opinion of
men in every age, are true, it will not be difficult
1 " Inventi sunt nostro saeculo viri eruditi quidem illi, sed
temporibus et locis nimium servientes, qui sibi primum (ita
enim credo) deinde aliis persuaderent, ea quae jam dicta sunt,
locum habere in privatis, non etiam in magistratibus inferioribus,
quibusjus esse putant resistendi injuriis ejus, cujus summum
est imperium, imo et peccare eos, ni id faciant, quce opinio
admittenda non est. Nam omnis facultas gubernandi quae est in
magistratibus, summae potestati ita subjicitur, ut quicquid
contra voluntatem summi imperantis faciant, id defectum sit
ea facultate, ac proinde pro actu privato habendum. Ac mihi
videntur qui contra sentiunt, talem statum rerum inducere,
qualem antiqui fabulantur, in coelo fuisse antequ'am Majestas
oriretur, quo tempore aiunt minores Deos Jovi non concessisse."
Grotius, ut sup. n. 6. etiam n. 8 14.
2 Conradus, Imperat. de Praestantia et Potestate, lib. i. 12.
Hence, St. Augustine, in explaining the apostolic injunction,
says, " Necesse est propter hanc vitam nos subditos esse opor-
tere, non resistentes si quid illi auferre voluerint."
362 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
to form an opinion of those factious men, who op-
posed their Sovereign, and fatally succeeded in over-
throwing the altar and the throne.
And here it may be remarked, that these doctrines
are not only built on the universal consent of all
wise men of old, who may, perhaps, be charged by
some as having imperfect notions of political rela-
tionship, yet who, nevertheless, had nothing to
gain by such arguments, but they are, if we are to
restrict ourselves to Christian times, founded on
the plain and obvious interpretation of Scripture.
For though I do not go so far as to say, that St.
Paul and the other apostles inculcated political
axioms, yet there is no warrant for the doctrine of
resistance in the New Testament. For, first, our
blessed Saviour himself set the example, by rigidly
conforming in all things to the political govern-
ment, as well as to the ecclesiastical; nor, when
he was arraigned before the judgment-seat of
Pilate, conscious as he was of innocence, because
he was without sin, did he offer violence even to his
persecutors, whose infamy is the more flagrant in
proportion as the Saviour's conduct is considered.
In his discourses to his apostles, he enjoined due
submission in all things to authority l ; and secondly,
ptffc 1 *^* - ' .*-': . . <" : .''-
1 " In Novo Fcedere, Christus praecipiens dari Csesari quae
Caesaris sunt, intelligi voluit a suae disciplines sectatoribus non
minor em, si non majorem, obedientiam cum patientia (si opus sit)
conjunctam summis potestatibus deberi, quam ab Hebraeis re-
gibus Hebraeis debebatur : quod latius exsequens optimus ejus
interpres Paulus Apostolus, officia subditorum late describens :
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 363
those apostles, especially St. Paul, enforced the in-
junctions of their Divine Master in still stronger
and more decisive language l .
I have thus entered a little into the merits of the
famous doctrine of non-resistance, which the House
of Stuart is infamously branded with enforcing, and
which the Clergy of the Church of England, in the
seventeenth century, are ignorantly and maliciously
charged by sectaries with having inculcated from
sinister motives ; to shew those who delight in
mere assertions, and who are deluded by a pre-
tended liberality and patriotism, that the Clergy of
the Church had the united voice of antiquity and
of the primitive Church in their favour, as well as
the authority of the great continental writers who
flourished in that and the preceding centuries. I
do not say that some of the positions of Sibthorpe
inter alia, ' Qui obsistit,' inquit * potestati, Dei ordinationi
obsistit : turn vero, qui obsistunt, sibi ipsis condemnationem
accipient.' Addit mox, ' Dei enim minister est qui potestate
fungitur tuo bono.' Deinde, * Quapropter necesse est subjici,
non istam propter iram, sed et propter conscientiam.' In sub-
jectione includit resistendi necessitatem, neque earn solum quae
ex formidine majoris mali oritur, sed quae ex ipso sensu officii
nostri manat, neque hominibus tantum, sed et Deo nos obligat.
Rationes addit duas, &c." Grotius, ut sup. n. 4.
1 " Nam Apostolorum princeps subjectos nos esse vult aliter
regi, aliter magistratibus : regi, ut supereminenti, id est, sine ulla
exceptione, praeter ea quae Deus directe imperat, qui injuriae
patientiam probat, non interdicit : magistratibus, tanquam mis-
sis a rege, id est, potestatem suam a rege ducentibus. Et cum
Paulus omnem animam supremis potestatibus esse subjectam
vult, etiam magistratus inferiores inclusit." Grotius, ut sup. n. 6.
364 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
and Man waring are generally true, and I have
already admitted that they are against the princi-
ples of the British constitution ; nevertheless, they
are agreeable, in the abstract, to all the high autho-
rities before referred to ; but, were not even one of
them true, still they are justifiable, inasmuch as it
was policy to restrain the wild republicanism of the
age, which was threatening so much danger to the
state. There are many cases on which our modern
liberalists expatiate eloquently, in which there is
necessity for passive obedience ; because, if the state
rightly demands part of a man's property, he is re-
munerated by protection from foreign and domestic
enemies : if the Church rightly demands it, in re-
turn he receives instruction, and, through the
medium of the clergy, he is made a partaker of all
the benefits of the Christian dispensation. So that,
if passive obedience be an extreme, it is a much
safer one than resistance : for the advocates of the
latter have always proceeded to something, if not
rebellious, at least seditious, as has been often exem-
plified in England, and particularly in Scotland,
where, at an earlier period than this, John Knox and
his adherents, stimulated by their personal hatred
towards Mary, first engendered that wild enthu-
siasm, which afterwards desolated the kingdom,
presumed to subscribe bonds, otherwise termed by
them " covenants," in which was set forth, that, if
even one of their number thought himself aggrieved,
no matter what cause he had given, or the extent
of his fault, the rest were to take up arms, and rebel
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 365
against the government ; and this John Knox and
his adherents termed zeal in defence of the true
religion, and a care for their " oppressed brethren V
The authorities which I have adduced will not be
thought lightly of, except by those sectarian enthu-
siasts who obstinately look with contempt on all
human authority whatsoever, and who, acting on
the pernicious principle which they have adopted in
their lucubrations on the Scriptures, namely, private
interpretation, against which principle a protest
cannot be too often made in these pages, choose
rather to trust to the impulses of their own con-
ceited imaginations, than to pay homage and reve-
rence to the names of those men, in comparison of
whom the greatest men among them are the veriest
pigmies, and whom, in fact, a secret jealousy, and a
despair of successful rivalry, with an utter hopeless-
ness of refutation, stimulate to treat the illustrious
dead with opprobrium and contempt. While, how-
ever, it is admitted, that the preachers of whom I
have lately spoken ought not to have introduced
those themes into the pulpit ; while, perhaps, the
preaching of those doctrines at this time was impo-
litic ; these concessions do not bear against the gene-
1 Vide these bonds, disgraceful to the subscribers, in Knox's
Historic, as they were subscribed at Ayr, Sept. 4, 1562, also
Archbishop Spottiswoode's History. Bishop Keith's History,
folio. Dr. Gilbert Stuart's History of Scotland, vol. 1. and
the enlightened remarks upon it by Dr. George Cook, (Minister
of Laurence kirk,) in his History of the Scottish Reformation,
vol. ii.
366 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
ral facts advocated in every age. And because
Charles was resolved not to be a mere nominal King,
but to be King in reality, he has been branded by
enthusiasts as guilty of crimes, as being a tyrant,
indulging in violent notions respecting his royal
prerogative. Private hatred and malevolence have
indeed assailed the character of this injured Mo-
narch ; they have misinterpreted his motives, and
traduced his venerated name ; but sound sense and
true piety will spurn the calumnies of a faction,
and will yet bear testimony to his many virtues,
his gentleness, clemency, religion, and grateful
affection towards his servants. It is not denied
that Charles had his faults ; that at times he was
imprudent ; and a superficial knowledge of his cha-
racter may induce us to think him versatile and
equivocating : but it will be found that his motives
were laudable even when mistaken, and that in his
actions he was under the control of circumstances,
which, placed as he was, it was impossible for him
to foresee. It was not his wish to become a tyrant
over his people, he rather wished to secure their
affection ; but the opposition of a faction disturbed
his peace, the violence of enthusiasm drove him to
despair. The day, I trust, is not far distant when
justice will be done to the memory of this injured
Prince, and his unfortunate House.
Dr\ Sibthorpe resolved to print his sermon, and
having dedicated it to the King, he applied to
Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to license its
publication. This the Primate very unceremo-
7
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 367
niously refused to do, and his refusal at this par-
ticular period gave great offence to the Court. For,
though he cannot be condemned for refusing to
license a production which undeniably was against
the spirit of the constitution, yet the peculiar situ-
ation of the King, and the intrigues of the opposing
faction, ought to have induced him, if Sibthorpe
was resolved on its publication, to license it after
suggesting a few alterations. Abbot, however, was
the patron of the faction, and it was not to be ex-
pected that he would sanction the sermon of a man
who was no friend to the Puritan cause. The ser-
mon was submitted to Laud's inspection, and after
a number of alterations by him, it was licensed by
Dr. George Montaigne, Bishop of London, dedicated
to the King by its author, and published under the
title of " Apostolical Obedience." Dr. Manwaring's
two sermons were also published, under the title of
" Allegiance and Religion," and we shall afterwards
observe the persecution which their author encoun-
tered on that account ! .
1 Dr. Heylin, (p. 158, 159.) obviously misled by Prynne,
(Canterburie's Doome, p. 245.) to whom he indeed refers, seems
to think that Laud had the principal share in the publication of
this discourse. But this is not the case ; for, though Laud cer-
tainly revised it, he had no concern in the publication, the prin-
cipal alterations being made by the Bishop of London, which
that Prelate adopted from the reasons assigned by Archbishop
Abbot for refusing his licence, and which are to be found in the
Primate's own narrative, Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. part i.
p. 436445, where his reasons are detailed at length ; but, it
must be admitted, that in this instance Abbot was unjustly
368 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
Archbishop Abbot had long declined in the
King's favour. The infirmities of age precluded
him from attending the meetings of the privy coun-
cil, and his leaning towards Puritanism also pro-
duced in him a dislike to associate with those whom
he had always opposed. His refusal, however, to
license Sibthorpe's sermon prompted the Court to
take decisive measures, and it was injudiciously re-
solved to punish him for his contumacy. A commission
of sequestration was accordingly issued against him,
and the administration of his metropolitan functions
was put into the hands of Laud, in conjunction with
treated, because those reasons are, on the whole, not only pru-
dent, but even unobjectionable. Prynne declares that Laud
licensed the sermon, which he knew very well was false, for Dr.
Montaigne's imprimatur is affixed to it, (Rushworth, vol. i.
p. 444.) and he declares also, that Sibthorpe had "sweetened
his sour theme," by " cunningly inserting some popular pas-
sages into this sermon against evil counsellors, the toleration of
Papists, Popery, and the profanation of the Sabbath, which the
Bishop, who procured this sermon of his to be printed, expunged
with his own hand, as was evidenced by the original written copy
found in his study, produced at the Lords' bar, and attested by
Master Prynne." He then enumerates the passages which he says
were expunged, in his usual ill-arranged and verbose manner.
But it was easy for " Master Prynne" to mutilate Laud's papers
as he pleased, and we know that he did do so, after he had most
illegally taken possession of them, as I shall shew in the sequel ;
and to produce whatever evidence he pleased at the "Lords' bar."
Laud himself, Diary, p. 41, merely says, that he had seen the
Archbishop's exceptions; but it is undeniable, that whatever
passages were expunged, were not done by Laud ; nor are we
to take " Master Prynne's" ipse dixit for the fact.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 369
the Bishops of London, Durham, Rochester, and
Oxford l .
There have been various opinions entertained
respecting the true cause of the Archbishop's dis-
grace. His conduct had made him unacceptable to
the King, though it had secured to him the favour
of the Puritans. The Church historian asserts, that
the charge of irregularity, which the Primate had
incurred by the death of Lord Zouch's game-keeper
was revived, and that the proceedings against him
were generally condemned as too rigid and severe 2 .
Heylin, on the other hand, asserts, that Abbot was
suspended on account of his laxity of discipline.
"The King," says he, "could not but see by the
practices and proceedings of the former Parliament,
to what a prevalency the Puritans had attained in all
parts of the kingdom, and how incompatible that
humour was with the regal interest. There was no
need to tell him from what fountain the mischief
came, how much the popularity and remiss govern-
ment of Abbot did contribute towards it ; therefore
1 Diary, p. 41. The names of the other Bishops were Dr.
Montaigne, Dr. Neile, Dr. Buckeridge, and Dr. Houson. The
Commission is inserted in Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 740,
Rush worth's Collections, vol. i. p. 431, 432, 433. Prynne's
Breviat, p. 1 1 , 12. Frankland's Annals, p. 21 1 .
3 Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 127, 128. Prynne's
Breviat, p. 11. who maliciously says, that the commission was
" Laud's own procurement, in malice and envy against Arch-
bishop Abbot, for his casual homicide of the keeper, in shooting
at a buck, many years after the fact was done."
VOL. I. B b.
370 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
he sequestered him from his metropolitan jurisdic-
tion V While others again have held, with perhaps
greater truth, that the real cause was his refusal to
license Sibthorpe's sermon 2 .
The Archbishop himself was of the last opinion.
Indeed, the irregularity occasioned by the death of
the game-keeper was never afterwards remembered,
and, therefore, the reasons assigned by the Church
historian fall to the ground, more particularly as
in the commission of sequestration there is no no-
tice taken of the casual homicide, which could not
have been mentioned, because Abbot had since that
event, a period of seven years, (besides being com-
pletely cleared of the charge, both by the judgment
of Laud and the other persons appointed to inquire
into it, and by a dispensation issued under the
Great Seal 3 ), all along exercised his archiepiscopal
functions 4 . The commission merely sets forth, that
1 Heylin's Life of Laud, p. 161.
3 L'Estrange's Reign of Charles I. p. 70. 72. Collier, vol. ii.
p. 741, 742. Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 178.
3 Collier's Ecclesiastical Hist. vol. ii. p. 721.
4 Another error of the Puritan historian must here be cor-
rected. In animadverting on Abbot's sequestration, he says,
" his Grace had a royal dispensation to shelter him from the
canons, and had ever since exercised his jurisdiction without
interruption, even to the consecration of Laud himself to a
bishopric." Now, if Neal had examined, he would have found,
that, in his haste to give Abbot's jurisdiction greater effect, he
overshot the mark ; for Laud was not consecrated by Abbot, as
I have already shewn, but in the Bishop of London's chapel,
along with the bishops-elect of Salisbury and Exeter, by the
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 371
" the Archbishop cannot at this present, in his own
person, attend to the services which are otherwise
proper for his cognizance and jurisdiction V There
is no specific reason assigned, but Abbot knew well
the cause ; for he says in his own narrative, " Hi-
therto I have declared at length all passages con-
cerning the sermon, and I have not, to my remem-
brance, quitted any thing worth knowing. I am
now, in the second place, to shew, what was the
issue of thus not allowing the worthy and learned
treatise 2 . In the height of this question, I privately
Bishops of London, Worcester, Ely, Oxford, and Llandaff, be-
cause the bishops-elect, though they cleared Abbot of the irre-
gularity, still scrupled to receive consecration from him, and those
five prelates were appointed as a commission by James to pro-
ceed with the duty. Bishop Racket's Life of Archbishop
Williams, p. 68. v^-;
1 Collier asks, and justly, " Why could he not attend them ?
Because his Majesty was displeased, and would not permit him."
So, forsooth, does Neal. " But why should he not attend
them?" asks the Puritan historian. " Because his Majesty had
commanded him to retire, for refusing to license Sibthorpe's
sermon."
2 The Archbishop here talks ironically, for in one place he
calls it " highly improper and absurd, worthy of none but Dr.
Sibthorpe," to whom, by the way, he bore a mortal hatred ; and
in another place he calls it " a contemptible treatise." It may
not be improper here to notice, what the Archbishop says of Sib-
thorpe. * There was one Sibthorpe, who, not being so much as
Bachelor of Arts, as hath been credibly reported unto me, by
means of Dr. Pierce, Dean of Peterborough, Vice-chancellor of
Oxford, did get to be conferred upon him the title of Doctor.
This man is Vicar of Brackley, in Northamptonshire, and hath
another benefice not far from it in Bucks. But the lustre of his
B b 2
372 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
understood from a friend in the court, that, for a
punishment upon me, it was resolved that I should
be sent away to Canterbury, and confined there V
It cannot be denied that the offence did not merit
any punishment; but, as Collier wisely remarks,
" the good King was misdirected into these rigours,
and believed himself in the right."
Many complaints, however, had been made against
the Archbishop at court, some of them too well
founded, and he was made aware of them by his
friends. He retired to Croydon before his usual
time, and now old and infirm, anticipating the
effects of the King's displeasure. On the 5th of
July he was visited by Lord Conway, the Secretary
of State, who informed him that it was the King's
pleasure he should retire to Canterbury. To this
he objected, because he said that he had at that
time a law-suit 'depending in that city, and desired
rather that he should be allowed to retire to Ford,
five miles from Canterbury, which was granted ;
and on the 9th of October the commission to exer-
cise his episcopal functions was issued to Laud and
the other bishops before mentioned. He did not,
however, remain long in his seclusion, for the King
being compelled soon afterwards to summon a Par-
honours did accrue from his being the son-in-law of Sir John.
Lamb, Chancellor of Peterborough. He being a man of low
fortune, conceived that the putting his sermon in print might
gain favour at court, and raise his fortune higher." Rushworth,
vol. i. p. 436.
1 Hushworth, ut sup. p. 445.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 373
liament, he was invited to Court about the ensuing
Christmas, and was not only restored to his metro-
politan jurisdiction, but was received by the Arch-
bishop of York and the Earl of Dorset at Whitehall
stairs, as he quitted his barge from Lambeth palace,
by whom he was led to the King, and having kissed
hands, he was requested to attend the council twice
*a week. He sat in the ensuing Parliament, and
was not interrupted in the exercise of his authority
till his death. And that there were no farther ex-
ceptions taken as to his regularity, is evident from
the circumstance, that he consecrated Dr. Richard
Montague, (the author of the famous book already
noticed, who had shewn him no slight opposition,)
Bishop of Chichester, and at this consecration he
was assisted by Laud l .
In these transactions, however, Laud by no means
escaped the insinuations of his enemies, and there
were not a few who asserted, that he was impatient
for the death of the aged Primate, that he might
succeed in the metropolitan see. Fuller, while at
the same time he confesses that the Archbishop's
own contumacy in opposing the court measures,
made him the more obnoxious to his enemies, men-
tions the opinion, first sent abroad, doubtless, by
the Puritan faction, that " the blame did most alight
on Bishop Laud, even accounting this a kind of
Filius ante diem, &c. ; as if not content to succeed,
1 Life of Archbishop Williams, p. 68, Archbishop Abbot's
own Narrative, apud Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. rj. 445, &c.
374 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
he endeavoured to supplant him, who might well
have suffered his decayed old age to have died in
honour." To the same effect Neal asserts, that
" Laud was desirous to step into the archiepiscopal
chair, while Abbot was yet alive V But there is
not the slightest ground for the insinuation ; for
though Laud saw and lamented Abbot's unhappy
primacy, and though he might naturally wish, now
that he was certain of succeeding, that a man should
be removed who was rendering his own administra-
tion more difficult, yet it is undeniable that Laud did
no more than the other bishops in the case ; and the
fact on which his enemies insist is merely the slight
notice in his Diary, that Buckingham had intimated
to him the King's intentions on Abbot's decease.
Abbot himself had not the slightest belief in this
report, otherwise he would not have failed to gra-
tify his resentment against Laud, by recording it.
He imputes his disgrace solely to the Duke of Buck-
1 4 I here correct another falsehood of Neal. He says,
(p. 176.) that " Abbot's jurisdiction was put into the hands of
five bishops, by commission, of whom Laud was the chief." I
must confess that the original document is more worthy of credit
than Keal, and it is there stated, thrice by the King, that he
" nominates, authorizes, and appoints" the said " George, Lord
Bishop of London ; Richard, Lord Bishop of Durham ; John,
Lord Bishop of Rochester ; John, Lord Bishop of Oxford ; and
William, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, or any four, three, or
two of them, to do, execute, and appoint," &c. Collier, vol. ii.
p. 741. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 432, 433. Even Prynne, Breviat,
p. 12, has honesty enough for once not to mutilate that docu-
ment.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 375
ingham, who laid hold of this opportunity to mor-
tify him, because he had not evinced towards him
due respect : " it being brought unto the Duke/'
says he, " it cometh into his head, or was suggested
to him by some malicious person, that thereby the
Archbishop might be put to some remarkable
strait 1 :" and though he has indulged in an invec-
tive against Laud, and even notices his intimacy
with Buckingham, calling him his " inward coun-
sellor," yet he clearly shews that it was not till after
offence had been taken by the court, till after he
had refused his licence, that Laud took any active
share ; and his part consisted only in replies to some
of Abbot's exceptions, in which he was assisted by
the Bishops of Durham, Rochester, and Oxford 2 .
And here I may observe, that Abbot's testimony
sufficiently exposes the malice of Prynne's falsehood;
for whereas that enthusiast asserts, that Laud struck
out the only pious passages in the whole sermon,
it is clear, that if any passages were omitted, the
Bishop of London has the merit of them, for Abbot
himself declares, that "when the approbation of
the sermon was by me refused, it was carried to the
Bishop of London, who gave a grave and stately
allowance for it, the good man being not willing
that any thing should stick, which was sent unto
him from the court, as appears by the book which
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 436. Collier, vol. ii.
p. 742.
* Rushworth, ut sup. p. 440.
376 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
is commonly called the Seven Sacraments l , which
was allowed by his Lordship, with all the errors
which, since that time, have been expunged." How
far this agrees with the following passage from
Prynne, will be easily seen : " These being (Prynne
enumerates them) the only pious, orthodox passages
in all this sermon, against Popery, Papists, Sabbath-
breaking, and evil counsellors, were quite crossed out
with the Bishop's (Laud's) own hand, who altered
and added many things in it for the worse, and all
for this very purpose, that the people might not take
1 The Archbishop here refers to a book written by Dr. Co-
zens, one of the Prebendaries of Durham, entitled " A Collection
of Private Devotions, or, the House of Prayer," which, it is suppos-
ed, was written chiefly for the benefit of the Countess of Denbigh,
sister to the Duke of Buckingham,who was beginning to waver
in her attachment to the Protestant religion. It professed to be
framed agreeably to the private prayers authorized in 1560, by
Queen Elizabeth. It retained several Popish titles to the dif-
ferent divisions, which startled the enthusiasts of those days,
who imagined that there was nothing good at Rome, but that
Papists were utterly to be abhorred, and every thing which be-
longs to them. Dr. Montaigne licensed it, and its very appear-
ance excited the Puritan fanaticism, because it bore resemblance
to some of the Popish effusions, having on the top of the frontis-
piece the well-known abbreviation J. H.- S. with a cross upon
it, irradiated by the sun, and supported by two angels. It
was attacked by Prynne, and Henry Burton, the former of
whom wrote what he called " A Brief Survey and Censure of
Cozens his cozening Devotions, anno 1628," in which he charged
it with being entirely Popish. The book, however, we are
informed by Heylin, got exceedingly popular, notwithstanding
all the Puritan clamour. Heylin, p. 164, 165.
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 377
notice of any design in foreign parts to extirpate
the Protestant religion, or to tolerate, set up Po-
pery, or suspend the laws against it, or Papists,
Priests, and Sabbath-breakers at home, whereof
these clauses gave them notice ; which this Doctor
(Sibthorpe) bad as he was, foresaw would produce
that division in our kingdom, under which we now
experimentally suffer, threatening utter desolation
to us. All these purgations in one sermon were
made by this pragmatical prelate, before he had any
legal power to license books for the press V
In the midst of these disputes between the royal-
ists and the factious enthusiasts, affairs of state
occupied the attention of the court. The intentions
of the King were most maliciously misrepresented,
and it was said, as Prynne asserts in the above ex-
tract, that there was an intention to establish the
Popish interest in Europe; whereas it was well
known, that while the King was striving to restrain
the Puritan faction at home, he was openly encou-
raging the Hugonots, the French Puritans, abroad ;
nay, it was notorious, that the loan which the King
was forced to raise, was for the defence of Protest-
antism, to assist the King of Denmark, who had
1 Canterburie's Doom, p. 246. In another place, this chari-
table champion of conventicles says, " But since Providence
hath brought it to public light, we conceive it will be a very good
precedent to direct your Lordships' judgment in the sentence of
this Haman, this arch-malefactor against our state and re-
ligion" It is at times amusing to perceive the fierceness with
which this enthusiast maintains his notion that Laud was a
Papist.
378 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
brought himself into trouble by opposing the King
of Spain, and defending the Palatinate l . At
the instigation of Buckingham, as Lord Clarendon
alleges, within a month after the dissolution of
the last Parliament, Charles found himself en-
gaged in a war with France, and the Duke went
in person to conduct the expedition to Rochelle,
which proved unsuccessful, more from the conduct
of the Parliament, who had not granted the King
his necessary supplies, than from any deficiency of
courage in the Duke 2 . The spirit of discontent was
1 The Puritan historian denies this in his usual magisterial
manner. " When one considers the characters of this King and
his ministry, we can hardly believe that this could be the real
motive for the war, for his Majesty and his whole court had a
mortal aversion to the French Hugonots." This, however, is
not the fact, and though it was, it does not involve the King's
sincerity. The Grand Seignior has been frequently the defender
of Christianity, the Pope has been the promoter of Protes-
tantism, and so, at certain times, have been the French and
Spanish monarchs. He then goes on to state, " Buckingham
had no religion at all, Weston and Conway were Catholics, Laud
and Neile thought there was no salvation out of the Church of
England. How then can it be supposed that they should make
war for the support of a religion for which they had the utmost
contempt?" (vol. ii. p. 178.) Neal would have done well to
have perused Laud's own words, before he penned the last
clause. " The Catholic Church of Christ," says that great
Prelate, " is neither Rome nor a conventicle. Out of that there
is no salvation, I candidly confess it ; but out of Rome there is,
and out of a conventicle too. Salvation is not shut up into such
a narrow conclave."
2 Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. i. fpl. edit.
7
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 379
excited in the nation by the exertions of the Puritan
leaders, who were the avowed enemies of Bucking-
ham. Nor were the Duke's endeavours at the Isle of
Rhe, of which, being situated over against Rochelle,
he was anxious to obtain possession, as thereby he
would be enabled to relieve the inhabitants of Ro-
chelle from their blockade, attended with better
success. Five thousand men were lost in that dis-
astrous attempt, the English forces were beaten,
and the Duke was forced to retreat to his vessels.
The murmurs of the nation were now louder and
more significant, and Charles himself was secretly
convinced that they were just ; for it was evident,
that though the Duke's personal courage was well
known, he was more adapted for the court than the
camp. He was possessed of resources sufficient,
both at land and sea, to have rendered his success
certain, had he followed up the slight advantage he
gained at his first landing, by instantly attacking
the fort, and not suffering himself to be amused by
the enemy. It is no doubt true, as the Duke urged
in his own defence, that he had acted not on his own
responsibility, but by the advice of a council of war,
and that he depended on the Earl of Holland ad-
vancing with a supply of shipping and provisions,
which, had he obtained, he would have forced the
garrison to capitulate by a blockade. But Holland
excused himself by declaring, that when he was
ready to embark, the vessels had not arrived at
Portsmouth, and that the winds were so adverse
when he was ready to sail, as to restrain him from
380 LIFE AND TIMES [1620.
putting out to sea. It was evident, however, that
the misfortune was great, and the murmurs of the
people daily increased. " The mariners," says
the noble historian, " came in crowds to Whitehall
in great disorder and confusion, crying out for pay,
and hardly to be appeased ;" and it was the univer-
sal demand of the nation, that a Parliament should
be called l . Even before the affair was determined,
the most seditious rumours were in circulation. It
was declared by many, that matters were not well
conducted at the Isle of Rhe ; that there must be
a Parliament ; that some must be sacrificed, and
Bishop Laud was as likely as any, his offence, in the
1 Clarendon's Hist. vol. i. fol. edit. Rushworth's Collections,
vol. i. p. 426, 462467. Heylin, p. 159, 160. Laud's Diary,
p. 42. Breviat, p. 13. Sir H. Wotton's Life of Buckingham,
p. 20. Stafford's Letters and State Papers, vol. i. p. 510. It
is remarkable, however, that the inhabitants of Rochelle, who
were then in the greatest difficulties, do not allege any misma-
nagement on the part of the Duke. After his arrival in England,
they thanked the King, by their deputies, for the great assist-
ance the Duke had rendered to them, (Rush worth, vol. i.
p. 467.) which, they said, would have been greater, had the
season of the year been in their favour, and had the Duke re-
ceived his supply of ammunition and provisions. After beseech-
ing the King and the Privy Council to take their circumstances
into consideration, they " declare that they are still resolved to/
hold out, hoping that a relief would yet come that might be of
advantage to them, and they were assured thereof by the Duke
of Buckingham at his departure, that he would once more come
in person to their assistance." Rushworth, ut sup. p. 467.
Lansdowne MSS. Plut. Harleian MSS. Collection of State
Papers, ut sup.
16S6.J OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 381
opinion of those enthusiasts, being unpardonable,
namely, his intimacy with the Duke. These ac-
cusations were reported to Laud, who told them to
the King ; but the Monarch nobly replied, " Let
me desire you not to trouble yourself with any
reports, till you see me forsake my friends V
Laud, in the meanwhile, had acted with his accus-
tomed dignity and diligence in the discharge of
his episcopal duties, sedulously labouring for the
welfare of the Church. On the 29th of April he had
been made a privy counsellor, along with his great
friend and patron, Bishop Neile. Here Laud's
conduct reflects on him distinguished honour. He
was not ungrateful to that excellent prelate for the
patronage he had bestowed on him in early life. It
was through him that he had been recommended
to James I. Neile's interest with the King had
defeated the calumnies of Laud's enemies, and now,
when Neile had not a few in array against himself,
and when, had Laud been a worldly prelate, he
might have been troubled at the thoughts of a
jealous rivalry ; he displayed his gratitude by his
attention to his venerable patron, who had always
been to him as a father and a friend. But the sta-
bility of the Church was the object of Laud's con-
stant solicitude ; he saw it to be the bulwark of the
Protestant Reformation, and he was not disposed to
indulge the petty jealousies of self-interest, or to be
1 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 462. Diary, p. 42. Breviat, p. 1 3.
Well would it have been for Charles had he remembered this
in Strafford's case.
382 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
forgetful of obligations previously conferred. On
the 7th of June he attended the King at Ports-
mouth, and on the 17th he received the promise of
the bishopric of London.
The removal of Bishop Laud from Bath and
Wells to London was what Charles had long con-
templated; for though much wealthier Sees than that
of London had become, or were likely soon to be-
come vacant, there was none which required a
greater degree of vigilance and efficient govern-
ment. The See of London, by far more impor-
tant, perhaps, than any other, demanded the ex-
ercise of the greatest wisdom and prudence in
its management; and more especially because its
duties are more laborious, for, besides the City
parishes, and those without the Walls, its jurisdic-
tion extends over the counties of Middlesex and
Essex, part of Herefordshire, comprehending the
Archdeaconry of St. Alban's. No sinecure, indeed,
is the diocese of London, and no diocese in the
kingdom has greater claims to be divided. In the
reign of Henry VIII. that measure was adopted; a
Bishop of Westminster had been appointed in the
thirty-second year of that monarch's reign ; and by
letters patent, bearing date Dec. 17, 1540, the
church of St. Peter was erected into a cathedral,
Westminster became a city, the county of Middle-
sex, with the exception of Fulham, where is the
Bishop of London's palace, was allotted for the dio-
cese, and Dr. Thomas Thirlby, the first and only
bishop, was consecrated on the 19th of December.
That prelate occupied the new diocese, erected^ by
1626.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 383
the dissolution of the Abbey, for ten years, when he
was translated to Norwich, April 1, 1550 ; and
Edward VI. that very day, in the fourth year of his
reign, again annexed the new diocese to that of
London, and an Act of Parliament was not long
after passed, appointing the church of St. Peter
" a corporation and body politic," to consist of a
dean and twelve prebendaries, under the name of
the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of
St. Peter, Westminster \ It had been the wish
of Cranmer, that venerable father of the Church of
England, to appropriate a great part of the reve-
nues of the dissolved abbeys and monasteries for the
foundation of new bishoprics, as well as of schools,
and other endowments ; but the zeal of the dis-
senters in gratifying the rapacity of Henry VIII.
frustrated the intentions of the Church, and allowed
him to fill his coffers with that wealth, which, had
it passed into the hands of the Reformers, as the
legitimate successors of the Popish dignitaries, would
have been of advantage to the nation, and beneficial
to the promotion of learning. The dioceses, there-
fore, continued, excepting some new foundations,
as they were ; and few can estimate the severe du-
ties which the bishops were often called to perform.
But in the nomination of Laud to the See of Lon-
don, Charles had a great object in view, more espe-
cially in his contemplated translations. Dr. Mon-
1 Le Neve's Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, folio, London, 1716.
p. 363.
384 LIFE AND TIMES [1626.
taigne was not dead, but he, though otherwise a
good man, was inactive in the administration of his
diocese. As Heylin well remarks, the King natu-
rally reckoned London to be " the retreat and recep-
tacle of the grandees of the Puritan faction : the
influence which it had, by reason of its wealth and
trading in all parts of the kingdom ; and that, upon
the correspondence and conformity thereof, the wel-
fare of the whole depended : no better way, then,
to make them an example of obedience to the rest
of the kingdom, than by placing over them a bishop
of such talents and power as they should not be
able to withstand, or anxious to offend."
In his contemplated changes the King was actu-
ated solely by his regard for the Church. Win-
chester, then vacant by the death of that excellent
prelate, Dr. Launcelot Andrews, was intended for
Dr. Neile, who was in the See of Durham ; but the
Court necessities, as has been remarked, urged a
delay in the appointment, which gave rise to reports
injurious to the King 1 . But in the December of
1 The calumny circulated was, that the King intended the See
for a younger son of the Queen of Bohemia, who was to possess
it by the title of Administrator, as was sometimes done on the
Continent. Heylin, p. 166. Yet Winchester was little more
than a year and a half vacant, which was but half the time of two
former periods : for it was vacant three years after the death of
Bishop Walkelyne, in 1097, who had no successor till Bishop
William Gifford was appointed in 1100: and again, after the
death of Henry de Blois, brother to King Stephen, who died in
1171, it was vacant for the like period. Le Neve's Fasti,
p. 284.
1627.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 385
this year the vacant diocese was filled up by Bishop
Neile's translation. It was intended to remove Dr.
Montaigne to Durham, but that prelate himself op-
posed it, not liking the great distance from court,
at which he had been long accustomed to reside l .
He was, however, translated, though only nomi-
nally ; for, in the midst of these delays, Dr. Toby
Matthews, Archbishop of York, died on the 29th
of May, 1627, at Cawood Castle, in which archi-
episcopal see he had sat with no small reputation
since the year 1606 2 . This dignity was of more
1 " In Montaigne's hands," says Heylin, in a tone of exqui-
site satire, " the business received a stop. He had spent a great
part of his life in the air of a court, as Chaplain to Robert Earl
of Salisbury, Dean of Westminster, (Le Neve, p. 364.) and
Bishop Almoner, and had lived for many years past in the warm
city of London. To remove him so far from Court, and send
him into those cold regions of the north, he looked upon as the
worst kind of banishment, next neighbour to a civil death. But
having a long while strived in vain, and understanding that his
Majesty was not well pleased with his delays, he began to set
forward on that journey, with this proviso notwithstanding, that
the utmost term of his removal should be from London House
in the City to Durham House in the Strand."
2 This distinguished Prelate, whose eldest son, Sir Toby
Matthews, made a very distinguished figure in this reign, was
descended from an ancient Welsh family named Williams. He
was born at Bristol, in 1546, educated at the school of Wells,
sent to Oxford at thirteen years of age, and entered student of
Christ Church. After taking his degrees, he was admitted into
holy orders by the famous Dr. Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, and,
in 1569, when only twenty-three years of age, he was chosen
public orator in the University. He became famous for his
uncommon eloquence as a preacher. He was very soon pre-
VOL. I. C C
386 LIFE AND TIMES [1627.
consequence to Dr. Montaigne than the diocese of
Durham, and he now evinced as much anxiety for
ferred. In 1570, he was made Canon of Christ Church, and
Archdeacon of Bath. In 1572, Prehend of Sarum, President
of St. John's College, and Queen's Chaplain, and, in 1576, Dean
of Christ Church. In 1579, he became Vice-chancellor of Ox-
ford, and, in 1583, Precentor of Salisbury; but in the year
following, being appointed Dean of Durham, he resigned the
Precentorship and the Deanery of Christ Church. He left the
University, though he had powerful friends at court, and pro-
ceeded to the Diocese of Durham, where he was so diligent in the
discharge of his duties, that it is said of him that he preached
from the pulpit of almost every town in the county, in some
places repeatedly, while he was Dean, nor did he relax in his
duties when he became Bishop of that see in 1595. He became
Archbishop of York in 1606, and from that time till his death
he was universally respected. His monument is still to be seen
at the east end of York Minster. He preached with indefati-
gable diligence to the very last, whence the remark of Cook,
vicar of Leeds, in Yorkshire, in his " Popish Brags Abated,"
that " Tobye Matthewes, the Most Rev. Archbishop of York,
though almost 80 years of age, preacheth more sermons in
a year, than you can prove has been preached by all your
Popes from Gregory the Great his days." Campian, the Jesuit,
(Rationes Decem, &c. printed in 1581, and 1583, and translated
into English in 1687,) says of him, " He that now rules in your
pulpits, qui nunc dommatus in concionibus, adding, " quern
propter bonas artes et virtutis semina dileximus." Notwith-
standing his frequent public preaching, he neglected not his
other episcopal duties, frequently confirming 500 and 1000 per-
sons at a time, besides his visitations, ordinations, &c. Camden
says of him, " Theologus prcestantissimus, in quo doctrina cum
pietate, ars cum natura, certant" and Wood observes of him,
" Infinitae propemodum lectionis vir librum pene nullum, quern
vel scriptoris fama vel ipsum operis argumentum cornmendaret,
mtactum praetermisit, memonam quoque tarn tenacem habuit, ut
16*8.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 387
his translation thither, as he had before shewn reluc-
tance to quit the See of London. He was suc-
cessful in attaining his wish, though, in the mean
time, some small delay was occasioned in Laud's
translation from Bath and Wells. Notwithstanding
the anxiety which Dr. Montaigne displayed to gain
his object, it appears that he did not long survive
his translation to York. Such is the vanity of
human ambition 1 1
These arrangements, however, were not com-
pleted for some time, and the King's necessities at
length compelled him to call a Parliament. On
the 29th of January, 1627*8, a resolution was passed
by the Privy Council to that effect, and the third
Parliament was summoned to meet on the 17th of
March, 1627-8. Preparatory to that meeting, the
King ordered all those persons to be set at liberty
who had been confined for non-compliance with the
loan, expecting that by this clemency he would allay
legend sese paucissima obtulerint, quae vir, si quando usus
flagitaret, confestim proferret." None of his sermons have ap-
peared in print, except his " Concio Apologetica contra Cam-
pianum in Deut. xxii. 7," printed in 1581, and again at Oxford
in 1628. Wood, Athen. vol. i. col. 105. 109, 110. 428. 730,
731. Vicaria Leodiensis, p. 165. 167. 169, 170. Camden's Brit,
in Brig, folio, vol. ii. Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 133.
1 Dr. Mountaigne died Oct. 24, 1628. He was at first Bishop
of Lincoln, and then translated to London, and when in the
latter see, he was wont to remark, " Lincoln was, London is,
and York shall be," which was verified ; " through which sees,"
says Fuller, " never any prelate passed so methodically as him-
self" Worthies of Yorkshire, p. 199. Peck's Desiderata
Curiosa, lib. xiv. p. 523.
C C 2
388 LIFE AND TIMES [1627.
the murmurs of the Puritan faction. Whatever
were the expectations of the King, however, he was
disappointed, and the measure at this juncture was
impolitic, the clemency misplaced ; for, had Charles
kept those zealots still in confinement, it is not im-
probable that the Parliament, freed from their
inflammatory insinuations, would have adopted such
measures as might have conciliated the court. For
these men, it must be observed, were confined not
merely for refusing compliance with the loan, but
for the outrageous insolence which they had exhi-
bited, and the seditious rumours which they had
industriously circulated. To grant them their
liberty, while in prison they had been fortifying
themselves in their dogmatic and republican oppo-
sition, was, in effect, to give them permission to
renew their practices. They were looked upon by
the faction as the noblest champions of liberty, and
they were not slow to increase their popularity
among the people, by recounting the sufferings
which they pretended to have endured. So that
those who desired it were returned as members of
the Lower House, being preferred above all others ;
and, actuated by revenge, they were determined to
increase their opposition to the King.
But before I proceed to notice the affairs of this
Parliament, perhaps I shall be pardoned for intro-
ducing the following extract from Dr. Heylin, which
is interesting, inasmuch as we obtain from it a com-
plete insight into Laud's private conduct. The
Bishop has recorded in his Diary, that on the 5th
1627.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 389
of February before the meeting of the Parliament,
as he went with the King to Hampton Court, he
strained the back sinew of his right leg, which con-
fined him till the opening of the Parliament. Hey-
lin, as has been already observed, was contemporary
with Laud, and was intimately acquainted with him,
having been born in the year 1600 ; and he survived
the Restoration, dying on the 8th of May, 1662 l .
" During the time of the Bishop's confinement,"
says that learned writer, " I had both the happiness
of being taken into his special knowledge of me,
and the opportunity of a longer conference with him
than I could otherwise have expeqted. I went to
present my service to him as he was preparing for
this journey (to attend the King), and was appointed
to attend him on the same day seven-night, when I
might presume on his return. Coming precisely
at that time, I heard of his misfortune, and that he
kept himself to his chamber ; but orders had been
given to the servants, that if I came, he should be
made acquainted with it ; which being done accord-
ingly, I was brought into his chamber, where I found
him sitting in a chair, with his lame leg resting on
a pillow. Commanding that no person should come
to interrupt him till he called, he caused me to sit
down by him, inquired first into the course of my
studies, which he well approved of, exhorting me to
continue in that moderate course in which he found
me. He afterwards discoursed on some affairs at
1 Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, lib. xiv. p. 542.
390 LIFE AND TIMES [1658.
Oxford, in which I was specially concerned, and told
me thereupon the story of such oppositions as he
had experienced in that University from Archbishop
Abbot and some others ; encouraged me not to
shrink, if I had already, or should hereafter, expe-
rience the same. I was with him thus, remotis
arbitris, almost two hours. It passed towards
twelve o'clock, and then he knocked for his servants
to come unto him. He caused me to stay dinner
with him, and used me with no small respect, which
was remarked by some gentlemen ; Elphinston, one
of his Majesty's cup-bearers, being one of the com-
pany who dined with him V This incident is in-
deed trivial in itself, but every relick of a great man
is valuable, and ought to be preserved with pious
care.
On the 17th of March, 1627-8, the third Parlia-
ment of Charles assembled. Oliver Cromwell, then
a person of no distinction, was one of its members,
and took an active part in its proceedings. Laud
preached the opening sermon, (the sixth in his
printed volume,) from Ephes. iv. 3. " Endeavouring
to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace."
This sermon, which is an admirable specimen of his
impassioned eloquence and solid reasoning, and
which abounds in advices and exhortations truly
apostolic, was commanded by the King to be printed ;
and had the faction in the House of Commons
studied it as well as they did the effusions of their own
1 Heylin, p. 167.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 391
fanatical teachers, they would have received from it
important lessons of duty. But they had a deeply
cherished hatred towards the man, and, therefore,
they concluded that " no good thing could come
out of Nazareth." After the conclusion of the ser-
mon, Charles opened the Parliament in a speech
from the throne, addressed to both Houses, to the
following effect :
" My Lords and Gentlemen. These times are
for action; wherefore, for example's sake, I mean
not to spend much time in words ; expecting accord-
ingly, that your, as I hope, good resolutions will be
speedy, not spending time unnecessarily, or, as I
may better say, dangerously ; for tedious consulta-
tions at this time are as hurtful as ill regulations.
" I am sure you expect from me to know both
the cause of your meeting, and what to resolve on.
Yet I think there is none here, but knows that
common danger is the cause of this Parliament, and
that supply at this time is the chief end of it ; so
that I need but point out to you what to do. I will
use but few persuasions. For if to maintain your
own advice, and (as now the case standeth by the
following thereof,) the true religion, laws, liberties
of the state, and the just defence of our true friends
and allies, be not sufficient, no eloquence of man or
angel will persuade.
" Only let me remind you, that my duty most of
all, and every one of yours, according to his degree,
is to seek the maintenance of this Church and Conv
mon wealth, and certainly there was never a time in
392 LIFE AND TIMES [1627-
which this duty was more necessarily required than
now. 0*fi
" I, therefore, judging a Parliament to be the
most ancient, speediest, and best way in this time
of common danger, to give such supply as to secure
ourselves, and to save our friends from imminent
ruin, have called you together. Every man must
do according to his conscience. Wherefore if you,
(which God forbid) should not do your duty, which
the state at this time needs, I must in discharge of
my conscience use those other means which God
hath put into my hands, to save that which the folly
of particular men may otherwise hazard to lose.
Take not this as a threatening, (for I scorn to
threaten any but my equals), but as an admonition
from him, that both out of nature and duty hath
most care of your preservations and prosperities.
And I hope, though I thus speak, that your demea-
nour at this time will be such as shall not only ap-
prove your former counsels, but lay on me such
obligations as shall tie me by way of thankfulness
to meet often with you. For be assured, that no-
thing can be more pleasing to me than to keep a
good correspondence with you.
" I will only add one thing more, and then leave
the Keeper to make a short paraphrase upon the
text I have delivered unto you, which is, to remem-
ber a thing, to the end you may forget it. You
may imagine I come here with a doubt of good suc-
cess of what I desire, remembering the distractions
at the last meeting. But I assure you, that I shall
1627.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 393
very easily and gladly forget and forgive what is
past, so that you will at this time leave the former
ways of distraction, and follow the counsel lately
given you, to maintain the unity of the spirit in
the bond of peace V
Such is the speech which Charles delivered at the
opening of this Parliament, at the end of which he
refers to Laud's masterly sermon, and I have thought
it worthy of a place here, as it is a comment on the
proceedings of the two former Parliaments, and as
it pourtrays that noble independence and manly
eloquence for which that Prince was distinguished.
The Lord Keeper, then, in turn, addressed the two
Houses, and brought before them the state of affairs
both at home and abroad, directed their attention
to the political intrigues of their continental enemies,
and concluded by advising them to assist the King
with due alacrity in the present emergency.
But, as formerly, this was of little use. A few of
the leading enthusiasts had succeeded in securing
partisans, some of them factious like themselves,
others well affected indeed towards the King, but
misled by their false representations. They, there-
fore, resolved to manage their own business first,
that is, to have their own way, and take the King
into their own hands. It first moved them to ap-
point a fast day 2 , which being done, (for nothing
could be done without making such a display of
1 Lansdowne MSS. Parl. Col, 16201628. 498. Rush-
worth's Collections, vol. i. p. 476 477.
2 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 498, 499.
394 LIFE AND TIMES [162$.
their zeal,) they forthwith entreated the House of
Lords,, after debating concerning their liberties,
(in which Sibthorpe and M anwaring were duly no-
ticed as two prating sycophants,,) to unite with them
in a petition against the toleration of Papists. This
was agreed to, and on the 31st of March it was pre-
sented to the King, who, while he commended them
for their zeal in religion, still pressed upon their
consideration the affairs of state l . It behoved them,
however, to take various things into consideration
before they thought fit to agree : they were first to
ascertain whether they were able to vote any sup-
plies, and then it was their business to inquire whe-
ther they were to be considered as slaves or free-
men, of which they pretended to have doubts, on
account of the late imprisonment of their members.
But, after a variety of altercations, they resolved to
leave the King's business for the present, that is,
those state affairs on which they were professedly
called to legislate, and to proceed in their own
way.
The Commons first attacked their old enemy the
Duke of Buckingham, whom, on the 1 1th of June,
they voted to be the principal cause of all the cala-
mities brought on the King and kingdom, and they
accordingly presented a remonstrance of grievances
against him 2 . But, on the 16th of June, the King
1 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 515.
2 Rushworth, vol. i.p. 617. 619 62G,
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 395
issued an order, that the process preferred against
the Duke in the Star- Chamber should be discharged,
being conscious of his innocence, and the subsequent
prorogation of the Parliament delayed the effect of
the remonstrance. Having thus noticed the Duke,
Dr. Manwaring was not forgotten, and it was deter-
mined to punish him for his two sermons, in which
hey implicated Laud, who had licensed them for
the press. After various harangues from the mem-
bers of the House, among whom the enthusiast
Prynne particularly distinguished himself, Manwar-
ing was called before them ; and after extorting from
him an humble submission and " acknowledgment
of the many errors and indiscretions he had com-
mitted," and compelling him to " beg pardon of
God, the King, the Honourable House, the Church,
and the Commonwealth in general, and those wor-
thy persons adjudged to be reflected on by him in
particular, for these great errors and offences," they
sentenced him to be imprisoned during their plea-
sure, to pay 1000/. to the King, to be suspended
from preaching for three years, to be disabled from
holding any ecclesiastical dignity, to be prohibited
ever afterwards from preaching at court ; and ordered
that his sermons, being worthy to be burnt, should
be called in by proclamation, committed to the
flames, and never again printed under a great
penalty l .
From this sentence it will be seen that tine friends
1 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 605. Collier, vol. ii. p. 744. Heylin,
p. 170.
396 LIFE AND TIMES [1627.
of liberty were by no means lenient in their deci-
sions. But the sentence is liable to the severest
reprobation, for Manwaring had committed no
crime against the State ; and, although his positions
were absurd, they were rather errors of judgment
than deliberate faults. His offence .did not eyen
amount to petty treason, or misprision of treason,
seeing that these are only to be understood when
committed against the King's per son and autho<>
rity : hence, therefore, the House of Commons
had no right to sit as judges in this case, any more
than to inflict the fine after his impeachment. The
fine and imprisonment, if found guilty of crimes
against the state, were all that they had a right to
inflict as a civil court of legislature : but Manwar-
ing was amenable first to the King, as supreme
ecclesiastical ruler, and secondly to his superiors in
the Church, if he had taught any thing contrary to
the doctrine of that Church, whose duty and right
it was to decide whether he ought to be suspended
and disabled from holding any ecclesiastical prefer-
ment. The House decided on more than they
were warranted, or had a right to do, and, there-
fore, this sentence, as well as the compulsory recan-
tation, was most severe and unjust. And it was,
probably, in this view that the King subsequently
acted ; for though he said nothing at the time, he
doubtless judged Manwaring to have suffered inno-
cently in his cause, and, accordingly, that grateful
Prince not only remitted his chaplain's fine, but he
afterwards promoted him to the living of Stamford
1627.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 397
Rivers, in Essex, with a dispensation to hold St.
Giles's in the Fields, (vacant by the promotion of
the Commons' old enemy, Montague, to the see of
Chichester,) then to the Deanery of Worcester,
and some time after to the Bishopric of St. David's *.
On the following day Laud's conduct was exa-
mined, and, after deliberation, " by God's good-
ness towards me," says he, " I was fully cleared."
He was not, however, ignorant of the intentions of
his enemies, for he declared that this Parliament
sought his destruction, which was prevented by its
sudden dissolution 2 . Nevertheless, though they
failed to involve Laud in Manwaring's affairs, they
had still another resource. In the remonstrance
which they presented to the King against Bucking-
ham, one part of it concerned religion, in which they
alleged that " Dr. Neile, Bishop of Winchester,
and Dr. Laud, Bishop of Bath and Wells, are
justly suspected to be unsound in their opinions in
that way." They were, in short, voted to be fa-
vourers of Arminianism 3 .
1 Dr. Sibthorpe, the other incendiary, according to the cha-
ritable idea of the Puritan historian (vol. ii. p. 1 80.) was made
prebendary of Peterborough, and rector of Burton Latimer, in
Wiltshire.
2 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 462.
3 Diary, p. 42, 43. Heylin, p. 170, 171. Rushworth, vol.
i. p. 621. Whitelock's Memorials, edit. 1732. p. 10. On this
occasion, Laud has made the following entry. " The same day
the House of Commons were making their remonstrance to
the King. One head was innovation of religion. Therein they
named my lord the Bishop of Winchester and myself. One in
398 LIFE AND TIMES [16*8.
It would, indeed, have been desirable, had the
English House of Commons, when they thus exalted
themselves into theological doctors, defined what
they meant by Arminianism, or, at least, examined
the principles and opinions of those whom they
called Arminians, before they condemned them.
Now, by their own admission, were there no other
evidence, they did not ; and what are we to think
of the impeachments preferred against the royalists
of that period, when their enemies, on their own
shewing, either did not, or could not, tell why
they had impeached them ? It is easy to make an
assertion ; but assertions are not proofs : hence, if a
man is alleged to be guilty, it must first be ascer-
tained what he has done, to substantiate the charge.
They admitted that Buckingham was impeached
without a cause, that is, they had alleged none ; and
what should we have thought of Charles, if he
had dismissed his minister to gratify the whim of a
faction ? That Buckingham was imprudent cannot
be denied ; still, his enemies knew well that he was
not destitute of talents, and his imprudence is no
warrant for them to calumniate him. If they made
out no case against the Duke, he could not be
guilty, because the law presumes a man innocent
till it condemns him ; and if there had been a cause,
why not impeach for high crimes and misdemea-
the House stood up and said : now we have named these persons,
let us think of some causes why we did it. Sir Edward Coke
answered, Have we not named my lord of Buckingham without
shewing a cause, and may we not be as bold with them ?"
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 399
nours in the House, rather than remonstrate with
the King ? On the very same principle they pro-
ceeded with Laud and Neile ; they charged them
with something which they could not define, that
is, they thought, as a matter of course, as they
were about the business, that it would serve their
purpose to insert the names of the two Bishops.
And yet, when a member of the House stood up
and said, that now, when they had named Laud
and Neile, they ought to think of the cause why
they had been named, he was silenced by Sir
Edward Coke, who sagaciously observed, that
" since my Lord of Buckingham had been im-
peached without alleging any reason, could not the
same thing be done in the case of the two Bishops ?"
It is not difficult to form an opinion of the wisdom
of those senators.
Convinced that this folly, to say the least, re-
quires only to be named that it may be exposed, I
here introduce a few observations respecting the
Puritans and the Arminians. I have already stated
that a profound ignorance existed among the
former, whether wilful or casual I shall not in-
quire, on what they called Arminianism. This,
indeed, was studiously cherished by the leading
Calvinists, who, being all believers in Calvin's in-
spiration, imagined that it was necessary to carry
their researches much farther than the " Institu-
tions," and were well content to give implicit credit
to all his notions. That daring and abstruse opinion
which Calvin had published respecting Christ's
400 LIFE AND TIMES [1627.
bodily descent into hell, and his suffering the pains
of the damned in his soul, was firmly believed by
his adherents : but several divines, at the head of
whom was Laud, having attacked this, and other
parts of the Genevan Bible, their opinions were
not forgotten. In fact, the notion which Vorstius
broached, that God had a body, and was subject to
accidents and limitations, was hardly worse than
this opinion of Calvin respecting Christ's descent
into hell ; and though King James overstepped
the boundary of moderation, when he styled Vors-
tius " an arch-heretic, a pest, and monster of
blasphemies 1 ," yet it certainly deserved the severest
reprehension. It is a feature of the Calvinists to
believe all others in error ; and it matters not whe-
ther it be in church-government or in doctrine ;
although, respecting the former, they received their
share of opprobrium from their sectarian friends, the
Independents, who not long after this alleged, that
if Papists worshipped the beast, and Episcopalians
the image of the beast, Presbyterians worshipped its
shadow. Martin Bocanus went too far when he im-
prudently maintained, that the fruits of Calvinism
are more pernicious than atheism ; though Vitellius,
a Calvinist, was not behind when he falsely asserted,
1 Works of King James, p. 350. 352, 353. 356. It is wor-
thy of remark, that James was actually incited to persecute
Vorstius by Archbishop Abbot, whom the Puritans call a " mild
and tolerant prelate." Abridgement of Brand's Hist, of the Re-
formation of the Low Countries, 8vo. London, 1725, vol. ii.
p. 318. Sir Ralph Winwood's Memorials, vol.iii. p. 296.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 401
that the purpose of Arminianism was to introduce a
subtle atheism into the Church. So dogmatic, how-
ever, was Calvin in his notions on election and other
subtleties, that he undertook to reform the Luther-
ans, for which officiousness he was bitterly attacked
by Giles Hunnius, a famous Lutheran divine, and
Professor of Divinity at Marpurg, who charged him
with Nestorianism, Judaism, Mahometanism, and
Atheism. It is clear, however, that Calvin's opinions
on polity were unknown in the Church before his day ;
and his notions concerning election and reprobation
have a precedent only in the works of St. Augus-
tine, who in some of his writings has advanced posi-
tions not dissimilar, though it must not be forgotten
that the Father was then engaged in a hot dispute
with the Manicheans, whom he violently opposed,
for in other parts of his writings he expresses the
unanimous belief of the Catholic Church.
Though I am perfectly justified in making a
digression on this subject at present, because I am
commenting on the life of a man whose only crime
consisted in his being an Anti-Calvinist, that is, a
believer in the old and scriptural doctrine of a full
and free salvation to every individual of the human
race who chooses to accept of it, in opposition to
Calvin's notions of predestination and unconditional
election, yet I shall refrain from entering minutely
into a theological discussion, reserving that for ano-
ther occasion. I stated that a deplorable ignorance
existed on Arminianism, as they chose to call it,
among all the Puritans, and more especially in the
VOL. i. D d
402 LIFE AND TIMES [1628;.
House of Commons, among the members of which
fanaticism was making rapid progress. Nor are
there wanting specimens of this folly, which I shall
adduce in another place, when I come to detail the
future proceedings of the Parliament. But the con-
duct of the Parliament ought not to be passed over
in silence. By crafty artifice they invariably coupled
Arminianism with Popery ; and though they must
have known, before they delivered their opinions,
that the former was just as irreconcilable to Popery
as their own Calvinism, yet it furnished them with
a convenient occasion to rail against the Church,
and against Laud and others, its resolute defenders.
Moreover, as the populace seldom reason, it was no
difficult matter for those zealots to inflame their
passions by misrepresentations of what they them-
selves did not understand, and secure partisans by
their delusive speeches about liberty and the alleged
tyranny of the court.
The Church of England, as I have before ob-
served, is neither Calvinistic nor Arminian, so far
as these are human systems ; nor did that Church,
in the persons of its venerable Reformers, first
attach itself to the great name of any individual, and
then endeavour to reconcile his opinions with the
holy canon of Scripture. This was the case with
certain other communions, but it was not so with
the Church of England. Had it done so, what cause
has it not for boasting, and where is the vantage
ground of any other religious body ? What illus-
trious names adorn the annals of the Church of
J628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 403
England ! names which will bear a comparison with
the most eminent Fathers of the primitive Church ;
men who were as much superior to Calvin, learned
though he was, as he in turn was superior to his Scot-
tish disciples. Where is there any church or sect,
not even excepting the Church of Rome, which can
rival the Church of England in the literary reputa-
tion of its sons ? There is something, indeed, in
its very constitution which encourages this nohle
emulation, and to this hour it sustains its celebrity.
And those men were not " straitened in their bowels
as to the extent of Christ's redemption." Great as
they unquestionably were, they had too humble an
opinion of themselves, as at best but unprofitable
servants, to entertain a single harsh and limited
thought of the love of God. If, as the Puritans
pretended, the Articles of the Church, especially
the Seventeenth, are Calvinistic, why did they evince
such factious restlessness to make them appear so ?
The confession of no Church has given rise to so
many disputes as that of the Church of England; its
Articles have been wrested from their literal and
grammatical sense, to support the opinions of a
party. Now, who thinks of asserting that the Scot-
tish Confession of Faith is Arminian ? Who ever
alleged, that the Larger and Shorter Catechisms,
received by the Presbyterian Church, and originally
put forth by the Westminster Calvinistic Assembly,
are not Calvinistic ? The attempt has never been
made, because the melancholy doctrine is there
elicited in terms too plain, (I say melancholy, indeed,
Dd2
404- LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
if true), that " God hath from eternity elected some
to everlasting life," and doomed others to everlast-
ing death, not from any good or bad works of
theirs, but merely "for the praise of his glorious
grace" Is this a reason agreeable to our notions
as rational beings of God and his heavenly revela-
tion ? and yet religion, or rather Christianity, is
addressed to man's reason, not to his imagination or
his senses ; it is not a mere speculative or visionary
subject, but it must be reduced to practice, and
practice is just the effect of which the exercise
of our faculties is the cause. Religion without
works is a contradiction in terms ; its very existence
is impossible. Is a man doomed to everlasting
damnation before he is born, nay, from all eternity ?
And is such a man born in a Christian country, and
called on to repent as a miserable sinner ? How
can he accept the call, since he is restrained by a
religious necessity ? Is he able to contend with God,
or is God a man, that he should change his eternal
decree ? Or, if Calvinism be true, is it not a mere
mockery of a rational being and the possessor of an
immortal soul (I speak it with awe) to pass a decree
that he cannot be saved, yet to call him to repent-
ance, and to condemn him for what he could not
help ? What can man do ? The decree of God
must take effect, and, therefore, he must take his
chance of being either elected or reprobated. But
how different is the real state of the case ? Where
would be the efficacy of the holy sacrament of Bap-
tism, that sign and seal of regeneration, a new life,
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 405
and an engrafting into Christ's body, without which
sacrament I will not, indeed, say no human being
can be saved, whether infant or adult ; but by which
holy sacrament all baptized infants are saved, and
all adults who fulfil, in the years of reason, their
baptismal vows ? or are we to entertain that most
degrading thought, that this holy sacrament is no-
thing more than a mere rite, a formal ceremony ?
The thought, I confess, appears to me to border
on profaneness. And then, when we come to the
Scriptures, how discordant are they with the limita-
tions of Calvinism ! There we are indeed told the
important truth, that believers may finally fall ;
there we are told in every page, that Christ, as the
venerable Latimer expresses it, shed as much blood
for Judas as he did for St. Paul ; there we have
revelations of the boundless mercy of God ; there
we are commanded to address God as our Father ;
there, in short, we are commanded to believe and
obey the gospel, being assured that they who come
unto God wilr not come in vain.
In these observations I have not adduced argu-
ments from the Holy Scriptures, because the subject
has been often discussed, and because I wish to
avoid a theological disputation, making my remarks
to bear principally on the system, and the conduct
of the Puritans, in violently condemning Bishops
Laud and Neile. Now, it is well known, that
Calvinism was never imagined to be the religion of
England before the return of those exiles whom the
Marian persecution had forced from their country ;
406 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
and it is a singular fact, that almost all those who
afterwards held situations in the Church, and in-
troduced the Calvinistic doctrines, were those who
had resided during that persecution at Geneva, and
returned with a warm admiration of Calvin's sys-
tem. But had the Articles been Calvinistic, why
make vigorous attempts to make them appear so,
since they speak for themselves ? and yet I need not
remind the reader of the Lambeth Articles, of Cart-
wright's turbulence, and of the insidious mal-prac-
tices of the Puritan faction in the Universities,
during the latter years of Elizabeth, and the whole
of James' reign, as the Puritans themselves evinced
at the Hampton Court Conference. These discus-
sions, indeed, I must at present avoid. The Church
of England, I again maintain, rejects the system of
Arminius as a human system ; it rests on the holy
canon of inspiration, it appeals to the Law and the
Gospel, and its Articles and Homilies were estab-
Ished before any thing was known either of Calvin
or Arminius l . But, since it is clear that Calvin-
ism is not the doctrine of the Church, since it is
evident and undeniable, that the venerable fathers
of the Church were guided solely by the Scriptures
and primitive antiquity, if the opinions of Armi-
nius and the Dutch Remonstrants coincide with
the Articles, the Church rather rejoices that a com-
munion should be found in unison with itself, which
1 Articles of tlie Church, and Eccles. Canons, Can. xxxvi.
and Stat. ISEliz. c. xii. 1 and 3.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 407
holds apostolical truth : but the Church cannot be
called Arminian, otherwise it was so before Armi-
nius was known ; and if such be the case, the Scrip-
tures are Arminian, so were the holy Apostles, the
Fathers, and the primitive Church \ *
James Van Harmen, or Arminius, was as far re-
moved from Popery as Calvin, Gomarus, or any
other of his violent opposers. So also were the
illustrious Limborch, Episcopius, Grotius, and
others, as well as those immortal men of the
Church of England in the seventeenth century,
who had the courage to employ their reasoning
faculties respecting predestination and grace. But
the true cause why the Puritans condemned Armi-
nianism, (for I shall still call it so, because lan-
guage is arbitrary,) was, that Laud and his friends
were unpopular, on account of their connexion with
the court. Whoever adhered to the unfortunate
Charles was certain of condemnation. The coup-
ling of Arminianism and Popery was the common
cant and knavery of the times* Popery, Armini-
anism, Atheism, Heresy, were all classed together,
as well by the English Puritans as by the Scottish
Covenanters, the latter of whom entered into their
impious League and Covenant, which they called
Solemn, to put to the sword all those who differed
from themselves. It need not be again stated, that
Arminianism and Popery have as little connexion
1 Laurence's (Archbishop) Bampton Lectures, Lect.I. Heylin,
Quinquart. Controv. p.
408 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
as the latter has with Calvinism : and if in some
things the Arminians agreed with the Papists,
does that unite them in a common cause ? But it
is too true, that among zealots every thing is bad
and damnable which agrees not with their notions.
The man who does not fall in with the extrava-
gancies of the day is denounced as irreligious ; if
he does not adopt the peculiar phraseology of
pietism, he need not expect to escape persecution ;
and men who, stimulated by that dangerous enthu-
siasm which must ever retard the progress of pure
and rational religion, set all reason and authority
at defiance, have invariably made it their custom
to calumniate their opponents. What right, as it
has been well demanded, had Calvin and his fol-
lowers to give laws to the whole Christian Church ?
Did the Puritans conceive that they were the only
conscientious persons in the nation ? or rather,
ought not those religionists to have known that
other opinions had as good a right to allowance and
toleration ? But such was not their system. They
thought it perfectly right to be intolerant to others ;
but, if there was the slightest severity towards them-
selves, they commenced their clamour about liberty,
tyranny, Popery, Arminianism, and Atheism.
I am not, let it be observed, defending Arminian-
ism as a system, but am stating what seems to me to
be undeniable truth. Laud has been condemned 'as
the violent defender of Arminianism; the charge
has been again and again repeated, and there
needs no other proof of his infamy, his " Infamous
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 409
memory? with some sectarian writers, than this as-
sumed fact ; and in his patronage of Arminianism
they have easily accounted for his alleged persecu-
tion of the Puritans. Now, I will admit that Laud
held the opinions of the Dutch Remonstrants, which
admission will make evident the absurdity of the
Puritan inference. For it is a notorious fact, that
of all sects the Calvinists, when in power, were the
most intolerant ; as the conduct of their leader at
Geneva, and of his adherents in England and Scot-
land, abundantly proves ; to such a degree, indeed,
that England felt the yoke of Calvinism intolerable ;
and, had it been established finally in Scotland,
according to the fanatical notions of the Covenant-
ing zealots, it would have been equally unsmTerable.
In the latter country, at and before this period, the
same spirit pervaded the heart of every Presbyte-
rian preacher, which had doomed the mild and vir-
tuous, though mistaken, Servetus to the stake ;
which had secured the banishment of Bolsee, which
had endeavoured to take the life and ruin the cha-
racter of the wise and learned Castellio, and which
had induced Calvin, the grand author of these atro-
cities, to write a cool and deliberate defence of
them, especially of the murder of Servetus, in the
French and Latin languages. " Popery fell for
ever," says an author l , remarking on the effects of
Calvinism, " but its ministers were succeeded by a
1 Cursory Remarks, prefixed to Scottish Poems of the 16th
Century, by J. G. Dalyell, Esq. vol. i. p. 43, 44, Edinburgh,
12mo. 1801.
410 / LIFE AND TIMES [I628 f
class of men not more liberal or more tolerant.
Proud and imperious, no opportunity of displaying
their authority was spared, and that in the most
grating manner. Very soon after their establish-
ment they condemned the Countess of Argyle to
humiliations in the Church of Stirling, for assisting
at the baptism of King James, and the High Trea-
surer of Scotland to public penance in the Church
of Edinburgh. To be placid and humble formed
no part of their constitution. All were deep poli-
ticians. If one preached sedition, he quoted autho-
rities in Scripture : if he intermeddled iri the pri-
vacy of families, he maintained his privilege of
checking vice. Causes too trifling for repetition,
they debated as earnestly as matters of the highest
importance. Punishment, and the mode of inflict-
ing it, occupied more attention than the manner of
repressing crime. Imaginary Puritans, they thought
by a decree to effect that refined improvement
which can only be accomplished by the slow and
imperceptible hand of time. Mercy and compas-
sion for those whom they had supplanted were ba-
nished. If their hands were not imbrued with blood,
it was from inability, not the want of desire. Such
were the authors, and such the rudiments of a sys-
tem which sense, caution, and moderation, have
now rendered it UNSAFE TO IMPROVE."
These sentiments equally apply to the Puritans
of England as to those of Scotland, and they gave
ample demonstration, before a century elapsed after
the Reformation, that they were not slow to im-
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD, 411
brue their hands in blood, thus completing their
long-devised schemes of treason and rebellion. But
as to Arminianism, the Remonstrants, as the Dutch
followers of Arminius were called, and whose opi-
nions Laud is condemned for maintaining, were
actually those who were the real patriots to their
country, whereas the Calvinists ruled it with no
gentle hand. For the famous Synod of Dort,
which, under the pretence of a fair discussion, (every
member of it being compelled to take an oath to
that effect l ,) was called by the professed enemies of
the Remonstrants for the very purpose of con-
demning them, arrived at more absurd and into-
lerant conclusions than any Popish council. It was
composed of their professed enemies, and the oath
was no guarantee ; for the Calvinists had previously
resolved how to act, and had determined to con-
demn every thing as false and heretical which
agreed not with their preconceived opinions. Few
persons need be told, that Arminianism is more
favourable to liberty than Calvinism, because the
very nature of the latter is against any spirit of
free enquiry, and makes man beyond dispute a
religious necessitarian ; and hence, if Laud patro-
nised Arminianism merely from love to Arminius,
it will be difficult to reconcile his opinions with his
pretended practice. Nor can the proceedings of
that Synod, which James unhappily countenanced,
afford the least argument against Laud's conduct.
1 Abridgement of Brandt, vol. ii. p. 1 7. 51 1.
412 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
It has indeed established its reputation among the
prejudiced and the vulgar; its members had an
opportunity of gratifying their ambition, and they
endeavoured to avenge themselves on those who
had excelled them in celebrity : but, instead of
tending to promote unity and concord, it was a
firebrand in the Church, the Remonstrants were
condemned, and the Synod readily assisted in those
calamities which they afterwards experienced *<
The answer of the King to this Remonstrance
against Bishops Laud and Neile, declared that
great wrong was done to two great prelates with-
out any proof. " For should they or any others,"
said the King, " attempt innovation of religion, we
shall quickly take order with them, without staying
for the remonstrance." And the assertion, that
Arminianism was a cunning way to introduce Po-
pery, was met by the King with this decisive
answer, that " it was a mere dream," and that at-
tention to it " would make our people believe we
were asleep."
The Puritan historian, however, thinks other-
wise; and as proof he has inserted from Rushworth's
Collections an abstract of a letter alleged to have
been written by a Jesuit in England to the Rector
of their College at Brussels 2 , which, says that
sectarian writer, in his usual manner, " will suffi-
1 Hale's Golden Remains, p. 454. London edit. 8vo. 1687.
2 Vol. i. p. 414. Neal, vol. ii. p. 182, 183, 184. and he
refers to the effusion entitled " Foxes and Firebrands."
W28.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 413
ciently support the Parliament's charge, and shew
how Arminianism and Popery, which have no na-
tural connexion \ came to be united at this time
against the Protestant religion and the liberties
of England V
I shall not stop here to enquire whether this letter
be genuine or not, but shall assume it as such, and
by that means meet Neal's arguments. This let-
ter states, after glancing at the political connexions
of James with Spain, " that none but the Puritan
faction, which plotted nothing but anarchy, and
James' confusion, were averse to the Spanish
treaty ;" that the Papists " have made great use of
this anarchical election preferring to the assembled
parliament^ and have prejudicated and anticipated
the great one, that none but the King's enemies,
and his, are chosen of this Parliament." " When
King James lived," says the writer, " he was very
violent against Arminianism, and interrupted with
his pestilent art, and deep learning, our strong
designs in Holland, and was a great friend to that
old rebel and heretic, the Prince of Orange. Now,
we have planted that sovereign drug Arminianism,
which we hope will purge the Protestants from
their heresy, and it bears fruit in due season. Our
foundation is Arminianism : the Arminians and pro-
1 This is a remarkable admission, and yet he contradicts
himself, as usual, in the next sentence.
3 Neal, ut sup.
414 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
jectors, as it appears on the premises, affect imi-
tation 1 ."
This is a mere extract from the said letter, which
Neal has garbled in his history ; but it is worthy
of a few remarks. In the first instance, that writer
presumes to say, " It appears, from this letter,
that Puritanism was the only bulwark of the Con-
stitution, and of the Protestant religion, against
the inroads of Popery and arbitrary power." But
it certainly does not appear so, even from Neal's
version of it ; and what will the reader say,
when he is told, that this very letter talks of the
Puritans with the utmost contempt, says that " they
plotted nothing but anarchy and confusion," and
actually bears witness that the Jesuits were follow-
ing the Puritan practices. " I cannot but laugh,"
says the writer, " to see how some of our coat have
accoutred themselves. You would scarce know them
if you saw them. And it is admirable how in
speech and gesture they act the Puritans 2 ." Yet
those passages are all suppressed by this sectarian,
as will be seen by a comparison between his version
of the letter and the complete one in Rushworth ;
and, though conscious of this chicanery, he has the
assurance to tell his reader that " it appears from
1 Rushworth, ut sup.
2 That is, snuffle, cant, and whine, like the mad fanatics at
conventicles, who would frequently (as they do yet) hear two
or more sermons a-day, and repeat the same again, and after-
wards pray, and fast all day long.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 415
this letter that Puritanism was the only bulwark of
the Constitution!"
Let it be again noted, that as the Jesuits, above
all the other Orders of the Romish Church, agreed
with the Arminians respecting the theological doc-
trine of free grace, it was not, surely, to be sup-
posed that they would treat it with contempt.
But, on the other hand, the Dominicans and the
vapouring Jansenists were as rigid Predestinarians
as Calvin himself. Arminianism is indeed called a
" sovereign drug," but it was so only to the " Puri-
tan faction, which plotted nothing but anarchy,"
and it mattered not though the Jesuit declared
that " his foundation was Arminianism," (as it in
reality was, in reference to the acknowledged doc-
trines of the Order,) since by his own testimony he
acted with the Puritans "both in speech and ges-
ture." Now, even granting NeaFs view of the
case, is it not evident that a Jansenist would have
written very differently ; and how absurd is it to
produce, as a decisive authority, the individual
letter of an unknown Jesuit, (always presuming
that it is genuine,) when every one knows that the
Romish orders entertained a more bitter rivalry and
jealousy towards each other, than perhaps towards
the Protestants ; that they were in open hostility,
as is proved by the proceedings of the Calvinistic
Dominicans against the Franciscans, and that,
in all probability, we should have heard of none
of the tricks of monks at all, had they not fallen
out among themselves, and exposed the knavery
4-16 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
of the whole by their endeavours to spoil each
other's trade.
It is a well-known fact, that the Romanists
treated the Puritans with sovereign contempt, fo-
mented the discords among them, knowing well
that they were utterly unable to combat the follies
of Rome. The Puritan extravagances were not
only encouraged, but adopted, by the Romish mis-
sionaries, that they might weaken and ultimately
overthrow the Church. But as an antidote to the
Puritan historian's view of the matter, as well as to
refute the opinions of all those who agree with him,
the following extract from a letter, written to Laud
at a later period, and by a more unexceptionable
person than this pretended Jesuit, will exhibit the
matter in a different light. " Be you assured,"
says Sir William Boswell, the English resident at
the Hague, " the Romish clergy have gulled (de-
ceived) the misled party of our English nation, and
that under a Puritanical dress : for which the seve-
ral fraternities of that Church have lately received
indulgence from the See of Rome and Council of
Cardinals, to educate some of the young fry of the
Church of Rome, who be natives of his Majesty's
realms and dominions, and instruct them in all
manner of principles and tenets contrary to the
Episcopacy of the Church of England. There be
in the town of the Hague, to my certain knowledge,
two dangerous impostors, who have large indul-
gences granted to them, and known to be of the
Church of Rome, although they seem to be Puri-
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 417
tans. The main drift of their intention is to pull
down the English Episcopacy ; for which purpose,
above sixty Romish clergymen are gone within these
two years out of the monasteries of the French
King's dominions, to preach up the Scot's Covenant,
and Mr. Knox's prescriptions and rules within that
Kirk, and to spread the same about the northern
coasts of England. There be great preparations
making already against the Liturgy and Ceremonies
of the Church of England, and all evil contrivances
here and in France, and in the other Protestant
holdings, to make your Grace and the Episcopacy
odious to the Reformed Protestants abroad. It
has wrought so much on divers of the foreign minis-
ters of the Protestants, that they esteem our clergy
little better than Popish. The main things that
they hit in our teeth are, our bishops to be called
lords, the service of the Church, the cross in bap-
tism, confirmation, bowing at the name of Jesus,
the communion-table placed altar-ways, our manner
of consecrations V
The same facts are farther corroborated at a sub-
sequent period by Bishop Bramhall in 1646, who,
when in exile from his See of Derry, in Ireland, in-
formed Archbishop Usher, that by an order from
Rome, above an hundred of the Popish clergy were
sent into England, consisting of English, Scots, and
Irish, who had been educated in the Popish conti-
1 Sir W. Boswell to Archbishop Laud, dated the Hague, 10th
of June, 1640, Cotton Papers, Cal. and also Scottish Episcopal
Magazine, vol. iii. No. XI. p. 334.
VOL. I. EC
418 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
nental kingdoms, and who were prepared to assume
any disguise which would tend to the overthrow of
the Church of England, by pretending to advocate
Presbytery, Independency, Anabaptism, Atheism,
or any thing, in short, which would be advanced by
the sectarians. The same prelate also substantiates
the fact, that it was universally understood by these
incendiaries, " that there was no better design to
confound the Church of England, than by pre-
tending liberty of conscience ;" and " that it was
lawful for Roman Catholics to work changes
in governments (this is actually the policy of the
doctors of the Sorbonne) for mother church's ad-
vancement, and chiefly in an heretical kingdom,
and so lawfully may make away with the king! 9
Now, let the reader bear in mind the conduct of
the Puritan faction in Parliament ; let him calmly,
and without prejudice, weigh this evidence with the
representations of the Puritan historian, and then
he will see how far that writer's assertion is true,
" that Puritanism was the only bulwark of the
constitution, and of the Protestant religion, against
the inroads of Popery and arbitrary power"
The very reverse was the case. The follies and ab-
surdities of those affected religionists were the grand
medium by which the Papists intended to overthrow
the Church of this " heretical kingdom ;" and we
see that they actually had instructions and dispen-
sations to imitate " the speech and gesture of
the Puritans," towards whom they cherished not
hatred, truly, for they reckoned them altogether un-
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 419
worthy antagonists, but a profound contempt. And
what are we to think of a faction, whicli divided in
itself, into Presbyterians, Brownists or Independ-
ents, Anabaptists, &c. could by its extravagances
entice the Papists to unite with it ; men who held,
and who do still hold, that it was lawful for Roman
Catholics to work changes in governments for mo-
ther church's advancement, and chiefly in an here-
tical kingdom ; but, above all, that it was lawful to
make away with the Mng ? Where, then, is this
Puritanism, this boasted bulwark of English liberty,
this preservative of the Protestant religion ? If the
secret intentions of both Papists and Puritans to
destroy the King be liberty, it is indeed a species
of it heretofore unknown. If the cant of the times
against Popery and Arminianism be an indication of
liberty, I maintain that there was a despotism con-
cealed under those remonstrances more intolerable
than that of the Roman Emperors. And the reign of
hypocrisy and fanaticism, which was hastening on,
and which Laud and his great coadjutors strove to
avert, but strove in vain, is proof of these remarks.
" Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits," says a learned
writer, one of the present distinguished ornaments
of the Scottish Episcopal Church, "could then unite
and symbolize with Covenanters, Independents,
Anabaptists, and Atheists ; and perhaps their lead-
ers, and many of their agents and abettors, had
universally the same motive, the promotion of their
own temporal influence, honour, and interest, and
the gratification of those peculiar passions and pre-
E e 2
420 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
judices, which they cherished. Religion and liberty
were equally the pretext of all ; both excellent and
worthy, the former of all reverence, and the latter
of all respect ; but each utterly incompatible with
those vices, with that turbulence, with that malig-
nity, with that hypocrisy, aye, and with that into-
lerance, of which those pretenders, Papists and
Puritans, Monks and Covenanters, were almost
universally and habitually guilty V
On the 26th of June the Parliament was pro-
rogued till the 20th of October, and the proceedings
against Buckingham in the mean time ceased. The
favourites of Princes are generally unpopular with
the rabble, who, envying a grandeur which is not
their birth-right, and which they have not the capa-
city to attain, display their jealousy and hatred by
dastardly intrigues and by resolute opposition. Yet
no monarch is so utterly blind as to bestow his favours
on men who cannot appreciate them, or who cannot
render him suitable services in return : at all events,
the rabble are not those who are to judge their
Sovereign, not even in an age famed for the "march
of intellect." The promotion of minions without
capacity is indeed to be deprecated ; but certainly a
Prince has a right to bestow his favour at will. It
is the elevation of plebeian ignorance and pride,
without talents for affairs, which ought to be scru-
tinized ; and the nobles of the land will not be
1 Scottish Episcopal Magazine, ut sup. In the admirable
sketch of the Life of Archbishop Laud.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 421
forgetful of their birth-right. But want of illus-
trious descent is no disgrace to the man who is
worthy of high promotion ; the nobility of his
mind in some degree compensates for his obscure
origin.
On the llth of July, Laud's conge d'elire was
signed by the King ; and on the 15th of that month,
1629, being St. Swithin's day, he was translated
from Bath and Wells to London. He had been
nominated on the 17th of June, 1628; but from the
causes already mentioned, he was restrained from
the possession of his new diocese till this year. He
was succeeded in Bath and Wells by Dr. Leonard
Mawe \
Thus have we seen this great prelate already fill-
ing two dioceses with distinguished reputation,
fearless in the discharge of his duty, disdaining to
become a time-server, firm in his fidelity to his Sove-
reign, and devoted to the Church of which he was
the ornament. In the midst of opposition, intrigue,
faction, and foul reproach, he was undaunted, and
his animating virtue rose superior to the extrava-
gances of religious enthusiasm : we observe him
pursuing his course with uniform consistency, re-
solved to establish the Protestant Church of Eng-
land on a secure foundation, or to perish in his
noble undertaking. Who, then, will deny him the
praise of being a man truly great, if integrity,
probity, religion, profound learning, modesty, are
1 Le Neve's Fasti Anglicanae Ecclesise, p. 34.
422 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
worthy of praise l ? Of course, he will be condemned
for his bigotry, but, to say the least, he was as tole-
rant as any of his contemporaries. Nor let it be
said, as has been often done by sectarian writers,
that Laud in any way frustrated the fair prospects
of the seventeenth century. " Human society,"
says the learned writer just quoted, (and the follow-
ing language cannot be too attentively weighed by
the affected liberalists of the present day,) " is not
a fit field for the rash experiments of any set of
men, whatever character they assume, and what-
ever pretensions they exhibit : whether they wear
the garb of religious fanaticism, or whether, under
the mask of hypocrisy, they lean to superstition
and sectarianism, or whether, rejecting religion alto-
gether, they wear the mask of mild philosophy.
The mask is different, and the mode is various.
The motives are generally the same. Even when
the intentions are sound and sincere, the execution
is doubtful. We cannot, in any society, great or
small, calculate the consequences of essential change
with absolute certainty ; and, therefore, he who
seriously, and of set purpose, undermines the esta-
blished principles by which any society is held toge-
ther, whether his pretext be religion or liberty, a
reformed system of faith, or a philosophical improve-
ment of policy and manners, is justly to be sus-
pected of views beyond what he avows, and may be
1 " Vir vere magnus, si quid habent probitas, pietas, fides,
summa eruditio, par modestia, mores sanctissimi."
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 423
justly resisted, even when he is sincere ; because he
cannot with any certainty say, even if he obtain his
avowed object, ' Hitherto shalt thou come, and no
farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed/
He cannot even assure us, as experience universally
proves, that when his avowed object is attained, he
will be satisfied himself. The reformer, whether
religious, political, or philosophical, who addresses
reason to the public reason of mankind is always
respectable, and will generally produce a salutary
though a gradual influence on the public mind.
But he who addresses the mob, and who labours to
enlist the populace in his service, aims evidently at
revolution ; and if salutary consequences ultimately
result, it will generally be through scenes of crime
and suffering, and by a Providence over which the
original agitator has no control. There is a limi-
tation of intellect and of vision in such men, with all
their high pretensions, which is truly pitiable. With
pretensions which have no limit, they seem chained
to earth and fixed to time, as if society were a mass
of matter on which they may repeat experiments
ad infinitum, without regarding the misery which
they occasion, or the risk to which they expose the
individuals whom they influence, when time with
them shall give place to eternity."
424 LIFE AND TIMES [1628
'*!*
CHAPTER X.
16281629.
Insinuations against Laud His conduct Preparations for the
war with France The Duke of Buckingham assumes the
commandHe proceeds to Portsmouth Is there assassinated
'Account of the murder Public expressions of detestation
Character of Buckingham Laud's conduct Consecration
of Dr. Montague The exceptions against it over-ruled
Examination of Felton, the Duke's murderer His trial and
execution the University of Oxford Laud's care and munifi-
cence His patronage of learning The King's Declaration
Its nature and tendency Remarks on it The King's
inclination to a reconciliation Advancement of Sir Thomas
Wentworth The Third Parliament Notice of the Speeches
in it Censure of the King's Declaration Intolerance of the
Puritanical party Proceedings of Laud Theological dis-
putes Conduct of the Parliament Disorders in the Commons
Their contempt of the royal authority Uproar at their
adjournment Dissolution of the Third Parliament Libels
against Laud.
IT will be readily supposed, that Laud's enemies
did not behold his advancement to tha see of Lon-
don with unconcern. The favour of the King, and
the vigorous discharge of his duty, were reasons
sufficient, in the eyes of the Puritans, to make him
the object of their hatred ; and they dreaded the
effects of his vigilance in the administration of the
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 425
important diocese over which he was called to pre-
side. The metropolis being the grand resort of their
leaders, they felt that the security they had enjoyed
under Montaigne was at an end. Archbishop Ab-
bot was now aged and infirm, otherwise he might
have renewed his opposition ; but as he lived in re-
tirement, his house resembled more a conventicle
than the residence of a Protestant Bishop. Never-
theless, those whom he patronised wre not idle :
they practised with the parliamentary zealots, and
it was industriously circulated that Laud wrote all
the King's and Buckingham's speeches. This re-
port excited the indignation of the rabble, who
gave the utmost credence to the insinuations of their
leaders. But Laud endured these calumnies with
his accustomed fortitude, conscious of his own in-
tegrity, and of the singleness of his motives.
About this period we find the Bishop named one
of a commission of a very disagreeable nature,
namely, one for raising money, by impositions,
taxes, or otherwise, which the Commons called Ex-
cises. This commission is directed to twenty- three
lords and others of the council, but it does not ap-
pear to have been executed *.
After the prorogation of Parliament, Bucking-
ham, in the interval, endeavoured to regain that
popularity which he had lately lost by the charges
made against him in the House of Commons. For
this purpose, he resolved to make a second expedi-
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 614, 615, 616.
426 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
tion to Rochelle, which was then closely besieged
by the French, by which he might accede to the
wishes of the inhabitants, who had requested, by
their deputies, that he would again take the com-
mand in person 1 . On the 12th of August, 1628,
he left London for Portsmouth, to put himself at
the head of the expedition, and to superintend the
preparations.
This journey proved fatal to him, nor was he
destined ever again to return to the court of his
sovereign. It is not my intention to narrate the
famous story of the apparition which he is alleged
to have seen before his departure, to warn him of
his death, which, notwithstanding the discussion it
has occasioned, and the credulity of Lord Claren-
don, is a mere idle tale. Yet the Duke, before his
departure, seems to have had some melancholy
prepossessions, originating, probably, from his know-
ledge of the popular discontent. In parting with
Laud, his friend and confident, he said that he was
well aware of the King's unalterable affection to-
wards him, and he therefore besought his Lordship
to recommend his poor wife and children to his
Majesty's notice. Laud, alarmed at the Duke's
manner and language, asked him, if he had never
any forebodings, to which the Duke replied, " No,
but I think I may chance to be killed as well as any
other man V
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 467.
2 Sir Henry Wotton's Life of the Duke of Buckingham,
edit.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 427
John Felton was an obscure person, but of a
good family, in the county of Suffolk. He had
served under Sir John Ramsay, but having been
refused the command of a company by the Duke,
when his captain was killed at the Isle of Rhe, he re-
signed his commission, and retired from the army at
the time that the faction in the House of Commons
declared Buckingham to be " the principal cause of
all the evils the kingdom suffered l ." This remon-
strance, and a fanatical libel written against the
unfortunate nobleman, instigated this gloomy en-
thusiast to contrive his assassination. He accord-
ingly loitered about Portsmouth, and, for the purpose
of securing an opportunity, watched narrowly the
Duke's proceedings, who lodged in the house of one
Captain Mason. On this morning, he mingled with
the crowd attending in the room where Buckingham
was dressing, and preparing for breakfast. The
public discourse was on the relief of Rochelle, and
several French officers were urging him to a speedy
departure. A domestic having announced that
breakfast was ready, the Duke prepared to leave
the room, when, turning to address Sir Thomas
Fryar, one of his colonels, he was struck over that
officer's shoulder by the assassin, and pierced to
the heart. The unfortunate nobleman exclaimed,
" The villain has killed me ;" and pulling out the
1 History of England by Laurence Echard, M.A. Archdeacon
of Stowe, folio, London, 1788, vol. i, p. 68. Peck's Desiderata
Curiosa, p. 523.
428 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
knife with his own hand, he sunk on the floor, and
soon after expired, on Saturday, the 23d day of
August, 1628, in the 36th year of his age *.
1 The following letter, which gives a very minute account
of this unfortunate nobleman's assassination, will not be deemed
uninteresting. It was written by Lord Carleton to the Queen,
dated Southwick, on Saturday, " at afternoon, August 23d,
1628, touching the tragicall end of my Lord Duke of Bucking-
ham." (Lansdowne MSS. Miscellan. Collect. 213.)
" Maddam, I am to trouble your Grace with a most lament-
able relation. This day, betwixt nine and ten of the clocke in
the morning, the Duke of Buckingham, then comming out of a
parlor into a hall, to goe to his coach, and ride to the King,
(who was four miles off,) having about him diverse lords, collo-
nells, and captaines, and many of his owne servants, was by
one Felton (once a lieutenant of his own army) slaine at one
blow with a dagger knife. In his staggering he turned about,
uttering only this word villaine, and never spake word more,
but presently plucking out the knife from himselfe, before he
fell to the ground, hee made towards the traytor two or three
paces, and then fell against a table, altho' he were upheld by
diverse that were neere him, that, through the villain's close car-
riage in the act could not perceive him hurt at all, but guessed
him to be suddenly oversway'd with some apoplexie, till they
saw the blood come gushing from his mouth and the wound soe
fast, that life and breath at once left his begored body.
" Maddam, you may easily guesse what outcryes were then
made by us that were commaunders and officers there present,
when wee saw him thus dead in a moment, and slaine by an
unknowne hand, for it seems that the Duke himselfe only knew
who it was that had murdered him, and by meanes of the con-
fined presse at the instant about his person, wee neither did
nor could. The souldiers feare his losse will be their utter
ruine, wherefore att that instant the house, and the court about
it were full, every man present with the Duke's body, endea-
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 429
In the midst of the great and general consterna-
tion, the assassin was for some moments unnoticed.
vouring a care of itt. In the meane time Felton pass'd the
throng, which was confusedly great, not soe much as mark'd or
followed, insoemuch that not knowing where, nor who he was
that had done the fact, some came to keepe guard at the gates,
and others went to the ramparts of the towne : in all which
time the villaine was standing in the kitchen of the same house,
and after the inquiry made by a multitude of captaines and
gentlemen, then pressing into the same house and court, and
crying out amaine, " Where is the villain ? where is the
butcher ?" he most audaciously, and resolutely drawing forth his
sword, came out, and went amongst them, saying boldly, " I am
the man, heere I am," upon which diverse drew upon him,
with an intent to have then dispatched him, but Sir Thomas
Morton, my selfe, and some others, used such meanes, (tho*
with much trouble and difficulty) that wee drew him out of
their hands, and by order of my Lord High Chamberlaine, wee
had the charge of keeping him from any coming to him, until
a guard of musketeers were brought to convey him to the
governor's house, when we were discharged.
" My Lord High Chamberlane and Mr. Secretary Cooke who
were then at the governor's house, did there take his examination,
of which as yet there is nothing knowne, only whilst he was in our
custody I asked him several questions, to which he answered,
viz. Hee sayed, he was a Protestant in religion; hee also
expressed himself, that hee was partly discontented for want of
government pay, which was due unto him, and for that he being
lieutenant of a company of foot, the company was given over his
head unto another, and yet hee sayd, that that did not move him
to this resolution, but that hee reading the remonstrance of the
House of Parliament, it came into his mind, that in committing
the act of killing the Duke, he should doe his country great and
good service. And hee sayd, that tomorrow he mas to be prayed
for in London. I then asked him, att wfcat church, and to what
430 LIFE AND TIMES [1628,
But at length, on the Duke's attendants turning to
discover the murderer, a hat was found, with a
writing concealed in it, containing some remarks on
the remonstrance of the Commons, a few ejacula-
tory expressions in the form of a prayer, and the
reasons which moved him to commit the act l .
purpose ; hee told me at a church by Fleet Street conduit, and
as for a man much discontented in mind. Now, wee seeing
things to fall from him in this manner, suffered him not to bee
further questioned by any, thinking it much fitter for the Lords
to examine him, and to find it out, and know from him, whether
hee was encouraged, and sett on by any to performe this wicked
deed.
" But to returne to the screeches made att the fatall blow
given, the Duchesse of Buckingham and the Countess of Angle-
sey came forth into a gallery, which looked into the hall, where
they might behold the blood of their deerest lord gushing from
him. Ah ! poor ladies ! such were their screeching, teares, and
distractions, that I never in my life heard the like before, and
hope never to heare the like againe. His Majesties griefe for
the losse of him was expressed to bee more than great, by the
many teares hee hath shed for him, with which I will conclude
this sad and untimely news.
* * ******
" Maddam, this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, yet all too much too, if it had soe pleased God. I
thought it my bounden duty, howsoever, to let your Majestic
have the first intelligence of it, by the hand of, Maddam, your
sorrowful servant, DUDLEY CARLETON."
1 Felton probably thought he would be immediately put to
death, and therefore he had prepared this writing. His reasons
were, 1 . " That man is cowardly, and deserveth neither the name
of a gentleman or a soldier, in my opinion, that will not sacrifice
his life for the good of his country." This is evidently a com-
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 431
Some persons immediately demanded, who was the
murderer? when Felton, instead of making the
least attempt to escape, which he could easily have
effected, calmly stepped forward, and confessed the
fact l . Being in danger of immediate death from
the rage of the attendants, he was secured. As if
to induce him to make a discovery of the motives
to commit the crime, one of the Duke's friends said,
that the Duke was only much wounded, but not
without hopes of recovery : but Felton replied with
a smile, that he knew well he had struck a mortal
blow. When further questioned as to his motives,
or who had incited him, he firmly replied, " That
all their inquiries were of little avail ; no man had
interest enough with him to dispose him to such an
action ; it proceeded merely from the impulse of his
own conscience, and he had placed a writing in his
hat in explanation, because he thought he might
probably perish in the attempt 2 ."
ment on the Remonstrance of the Commons. 2. " If I bee slaine,
let no man discommend me for what I have done, but rather dis-
commend himself who is the cause of it. It is for our sins that
our hearts are hardened, and become senseless, else he (the
Duke) had not gone soe long unpunished. J. FELTON." Har-
leian MSS. 1327. Lansdowne MSS. 213.
1 It is alleged, that " a man was seen walking very composedly
before the door without a hat ; and upon one crying out, here is
the man that killed the Duke, and others demanding, which is he,
he calmly answered, I am he." Echard, ut sup.
2 It is to be remarked, that had Felton not confessed, there
was no evidence to condemn him, and he might have made his
escape unobserved. No one had seen him commit the crime.
7
432 LIFE AND TIMES [162S.
Charles was at Southwick, four miles distant,
with his court, when the Duke met his fate. When
intelligence of the murder was communicated to
him, he was at divine service, and Sir Thomas Hip-
pesley whispered it to him while he was at his devo-
tions. But that excellent Prince knew too well the
nature of the duties in which he was engaged, to
express himself at the moment, and restraining his
feelings, he continued during prayers unmoved.
But no sooner was the service ended, than retiring
to his apartment, he threw himself on his couch,
and wept at the unhappy fate of his minister.
In this disconsolate condition he continued several
days. These facts refute the assertions which have
been made, that Charles secretly rejoiced at Buck-
ingham's death, as setting him free from a noble-
man who was a restraint to him, and unpopular
with his subjects. It ought to be remembered,
that the seeming apathy which the King mani-
fested was a victory over his natural disposition,
and that it was solely a real regard for religion
which induced him to avoid an interruption of the
sacred duties in which he was engaged. And from
the attachment which the King displayed towards the
family and friends of his unfortunate minister, from
the scrupulous exactness with which he discharged
the Duke's numerous debts, contracted, indeed,
Strong religious phrensy, a curiosity to know whether his re-
venge had been gratified, or a perturbed mind, probably induced
him to loiter about the door.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 433
for his service, though there was no direct evidence
of the fact, it may be easily conceived how far the
memory of this great man was esteemed by his
grateful master.
Thus fell, by the hand of an assassin, the Duke
of Buckingham, prime minister to Charles I. and
the favourite of two monarchs. Had this great man
lived in a more auspicious age, his name might
have been recorded by historians with no inconsi-
derable praise, but, unfortunately, he was calum-
niated by a faction, who hated the King and those
whom he favoured. He did not want a sure friend
in Laud, but the opposition of the Puritan zealots
made him unguarded and passionate; and while
he frequently consulted that prelate, he had not
sufficient firmness to act according to his counsels.
With the people he had become casually popular
by promoting the war with Spain and France ; but
the Puritans, who swayed the mob, and who pre-
tended at first the utmost eagerness for that war,
turned against him, as they did against Charles,
and blamed him for much which they themselves
might have averted. The promoting of those two
wars occasioned his ruin, nor did his enemies cease
to pursue him till the moment he was deprived of
his life. And their hatred towards this great man
arose from the evil spirit of the times, the venom of
which increased from day to day, till at length the
faction corrupted the nation, and made it disgusted
with the royal government, which undeniably was
VOL. i. F f
434 LIFE AND TIMES [1628,
administered with greater mildness than in any
former reign. His generosity was great, his muni-
ficence worthy of a noble disposition, amounting in
many cases to prodigality : he was sincere in his
friendships and attachments, implacable in his enmi-
ties, yet in the latter he behaved with those princi-
ples of honour which he had adopted, inasmuch as
he disdained the littleness of intriguing hostility,
but rather made no secret of his hatred, candidly
informing those who had fallen under his displea-
sure that he was their enemy. His personal
courage was also undoubted, and Sir Henry Wotton
assures us, that in the Duke's unfortunate expedi-
tion to Rhe, which he undertook solely to recover
his popularity, his conduct has been less censured
by the French writers than by our own. " His car-
riage," says that writer, " was noble throughout ;
respectful to the gentlemen, bountiful to the soldiers,
as he found any distinguished worth in them ; ten-
der and careful of the wounded ; his personal cou-
rage unquestionable, and rather fearful of fame than
danger." These are qualities which abundantly
counterbalance the failings of this unfortunate no-
bleman, whose greatest faults in the eyes of certain
writers are, that he was prime minister to Charles I.
and the favourite of two monarchs.
Yet, however unpopular the Duke of Bucking-
ham was during his life, the manner of his death
was universally detested, and many sincerely la-
mented him who were most violently opposed to
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 435
him l . The people recollected his greatness and his
splendour, that, in the midst of his errors, he evinced
a nature noble and generous, and they detested the
barbarous phrensy which had generated the crimi-
nal act. These feelings resulted from that conduct
which he generally displayed as recorded by the
noble historian, that " he was of a most flowing
courtesy and affability to all men who made any
address to him ; and so desirous to oblige them,
that he did not consider enough the value of the
obligation, or the merit of the person he chose to
oblige, from which much of his misfortunes re-
sulted." His bowels were interred at Portsmouth,
by his favourite sister, the Countess of Denbigh,
who there erected a handsome tablet to his me-
mory: but his body was brought to London, and
1 All the seditious poets among the Puritans set to work on
the occasion of the Duke's death, and endeavoured to display
their wit in the way of satire. The following stanzas, though
by no means despicable, written by a person unknown, seem
to be of this description. They are transcribed from Parlia-
ment. Collect. 16201628. Lansdowne MSS. 198.
" Some say the Duke was gracious, virtuous, good,
And basely Felton did to spill his blood ;
If that be true, what did he then amisse
In sending him the sooner to his blisse ?
Pale death is pleasing to a good man's eye,
And nolle but bad men are afraid to die.
Left he this kingdom to a passage better ?
Why, then, Felton hath made the Duke his debtor."
Also, the Sloane MSS. Collect. Pier. Histor. 826, where there
are some very amusing effusions.
F f 2
43G LIFE AND TIMES [1628,
having lain in state for some days, it was publicly
conveyed to Westminster Abbey, and sumptuously
interred on the north side of Henry the Seventh's
Chapel, where a noble monument is erected to his
memory l .
The news of Buckingham's death reached Lon-
don on the following day after his assassination.
Dn Richard Montague, whom the Parliamentary
faction had persecuted on account of his alleged
Popery and Arminianism, had been presented by
the King to the See of Chichester, and preparations
were accordingly making at this very time for his
consecration, at which Laud was to assist the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, with some other prelates.
At the Court of Arches in Bow Church, Cheapside,
during the confirmation of the Bishops elect, pub-
1 Sir Henry Wotton's Life of Buckingham, ed. 1642. Echard's
History of England, vol. i. p. 69. Peck's Desiderata Curiosa,
p. 523. The following is part of the monumental inscription.
" Siste, viator, et, quod ipsa invidia sugillare nequit, audi. Hie
est ille, quern reges adamarunt, optimates honorarunt, ecclesia
deflevit, vulgus oderunt. Quern Jacobus et Carolus regum per-
spicacissimi intimum habuerunt ; a quibus honoribus auctus et
negotiis onustus, fato succubuit antequam par animo periculum
invenit. Quid jam peregrine ? Enigma mundo moritur ; omnia
fuit, necquidquam habuit. Patriae parens et hostis audit. De-
liciae idem et querela parliaments Qui, dum Papistis bellum
infert, insimulatur Papista. Dum Protestantum partibus con-
sulit, occiditur a Protestante. Tessaram specta rerum huma-
narum. At non est quod serio triumphet malitia : interimere
potuit, laedere non potuit, scil. has preces fundens expiravit,-
Tuo ego sanguine potior, mi Jesu, dum mali pascuntur meo."
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 137
lie notice is given concerning those who are to be
consecrated in the province of Canterbury, that if
any objections can be urged against the election,
these must be intimated on a certain day. This
intimation being duly given in the case of Dr. Mon-
tague, an enthusiast, named Jones, a bookseller,
appeared at the head of a rabble on the confirma-
tion day, and tendered his objections against the
consecration of the new bishop. He declared that
Montague was unqualified and unfit to become a
Bishop because he defended Popery, Arminianism,
and on account of some other visionary points which
he alleged against him. These would have necessarily
caused some delay, but it fortunately happened
that Brent, the vicar-general of the province, had
devolved his office for that day on Dr. Thomas
Reeves, whose management disappointed the Puri-
tan enthusiasm. Jones, in his zeal to oppose Dr.
Montague, had neglected to prefer his charges in
the manner prescribed by law, and the writing being
therefore as illegal as the charges were unfounded
and fallacious, it was not received by the court.
Two days after Montague was consecrated at Croy-
don ; Abbot himself officiating in conjunction with
Laud, and the Bishops of Winchester, Ely, and Car-
lisle. It may reasonably be supposed that Abbot
did not assist at this consecration without reluctance,
as he knew well that Montague's opinions were by
no means favourable to the dogmas of Calvin. But
the fact of his assisting at the consecration of a man
who had been one of his great opponents, and in
438 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
conjunction with Laud, whom he heartily hated, is
a sufficient proof that no farther objections were
ever afterwards urged against his regularity 1 .
Laud was at Croydon, as he himself informs us,
when he heard of Buckingham's melancholy fate.
On the 30th of August he proceeded to London,
" to meet the corpse of the Duke, which that night
was brought to London/' and on this occasion he
received a friendly letter from the King, written, he
says, with his Majesty's own hand. The grief which
he felt at the fate of his noble friend is pathetically
and sensibly expressed in the pious prayers which
he composed on that occasion, as inserted in his
Manual of Private Prayers and Devotions ; and,
perhaps, the enthusiast Prynne could not have paid
a better compliment to Laud, than when he tells us
that the prayers composed for the Duke of Bucking-
ham, which he had the insolence to seize among
the Bishop's other private papers, " were much
used, as is evident by the fouling of the leaves with
his fingers ;" and that, " when the Duke was slaine,
he made a special prayer on that occasion, much
daubed through frequent use with his fingers 2 ;"
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 745, 746. Heylin, p. 175,
176. Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. part i. p. 634, 635.
Laud's Diary, p. 43. Neal, vol. ii. p. 180.
2 Breviat, p. 14. The following is the Prayer which excites
Prynne's indignation. " O merciful God, thy judgments are
often secret, always just. At this time they were temporally
heavy upon the poor Duke of Buckingham, upon me, upon all
that had the honour to be near him. Lord, thou hast, I doubt
not, given him rest, and light, and blessedness in thee, give also,
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 439
even when the same Prynne adduces these facts as
proofs that he was a " professed votary and crea-
ture to. the Duke." But that enthusiast, while he
was thus unconsciously bearing testimony to Laud's
private worth, had not penetration enough to dis-
cover that he could riot be " a creature to the Duke"
after the death of that nobleman ; and the candid
mind will admire that fervent piety, which the
Bishop's private life more and more unfolds, which
induced him to retire to his closet, while surrounded
with worldly splendour, humble himself before God,
and record those events, that they might enable
him never to forget his dependence on the Divine
Being.
On the 9th of September Laud went to court,
his first visit after the death of his friend. The King
received him with more than his wonted affection ;
and as we find him recording in his Diary a notice
of the " gracious speech which the King that night
was pleased to address to him," it is highly probable
I beseech thee, the comfort to his lady, bless his children,
uphold his friends, forget not his servants, lay open the bottom
of all that irreligious and graceless plot that spilt his blood.
Bless and preserve the King from danger, and in security in
these dangerous times. And for myself, O Lord, though the
sorrows of my heart are enlarged in that thou gavest this most
honoured friend unto my bosom, and hast taken him again from
me, yet blessed be thy name. O Lord, thou hast given me
patience. I shall now see him no more till we meet at the re-
surrection. O make that joyful to us, and all thy faithful ser-
vants. Even for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen."
440 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
that Charles confirmed what he had already ex-
pressed by letter, that he intended to entrust him
with his confidence in the room of Buckingham *.
His firm attachment to the crown, and his zeal for
the Church, were sufficient recommendations ; while
at the same time his uniform conduct in good and
evil report evinced that conscious integrity of prin-
ciple which even his enemies could not deny 2 .
On the first day of October, the Parliament, which
was to meet on the 20th of that month, was farther
prorogued to the 20th of January following. Fel-
ton, in the mean time, remained a prisoner in the
Tower of London, whither he had been brought
from Portsmouth, the scene of the tragedy he had
acted. His residence there excited a considerable
sensation, and many went to behold the man who
had been so resolute as to dispatch the most power-
ful nobleman in the nation. As it was generally
reported that he was suborned by the faction who
opposed the Duke, many persuasions were used to
induce him to confess ; but he persisted in declaring
that the act was his own, and that he had been
solely stimulated to it by perusing the Remon-
strance of the Commons 3 .
1 Heylin, p. 177. Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 637.
2 Sir Edward Bering, his bitter enemy, testified, " that he
was always one and the same man, that beginning with him at
Oxford, and so going on to Canterbury, he was unmoved and
unchanged that he never complied with the times, but kept
his own stand till the times came up to him."
8 Laud has been most unjustly charged by Prynne, with
1628.] ' OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 441
The assassin was examined by the Council, and
many solicitations were employed to draw from him
a confession, whether the Puritan faction, through
the medium of their leaders, had suborned him to
commit the crime ; but Felton resolutely denied that
they had any knowledge of his intentions. He was
threatened by Laud, who was a member of the
Council, with the rack, if he would not confess ; but
he calmly replied, that if it must be so, he could not
tell whom he might mention in the extremity of
torture ; and if what he said then was to be held as
truth, he might perhaps name his lordship, or some
other of their lordships then present.
But Laud has not escaped censure on this sub-
ject. It has been insinuated, that he prevailed on
the King to ask the judges, whether, by law, Felton
could not be put on the rack ; to which they re-
turned an answer, that, by the laws of England,
Felton could not be racked. Now, while this fact
is true in itself, there is not the slightest evidence
that Laud had any thing to do with this advice more
writing the answer of the King to this seditious remonstrance,
as if he had been the original writer. If Laud wrote it at all,
which, as there is no authority save Prynne, may be doubted,
though that enthusiast pretends he found a transcript of it in
the Archbishop's study, he is not to be charged with the odium
which even modern Puritans would attach to him on that account.
But the candid reader of that seditious and fanatical remon-
strance will at once perceive the absurdity of the positions it
assumes, and he will not blame Laud, though he might have
written the few mutilated sentences which Prynne has inserted
in his Breviat.
442 LIFE AND TIMES [162&.
than the other members of the Privy Council.
Though there is no proof that the Puritan faction
had any concern in the Duke's assassination, yet it
must be confessed that it did look a little suspici-
ous ; especially because Felton himself admitted, that
the Commons' Remonstrance had stimulated him to
the crime, and this, too, after the King's answer
had been known, which Prynne, speaking in the
language of the faction, calls Laud's " saucy and
scandalous false answer/' as written by him : and
we know well, that the Puritan zealots were loud
in their murmurs, inasmuch as they had just charged
the Duke with being the cause of the national mis-
fortunes ; and then, secondly, because he was to
be prayed for in London on the following day,
which was Sunday, as one discontented in mind.
Felton persisted in declaring that the act was his
own; and, from the gloomy religious phrensy of
Puritanism which he seems to have cherished at
the time, there is every reason to believe that he
spoke the truth. But Laud might very naturally
(for indeed the notion was general) indulge at first
the belief or conviction, that some of the seditious
members of the Parliament, or leaders of the Puri-
tans, were privy to the murder, if not accomplices.
Nor is he to be charged with offering an advice of
that nature to the King, even when his own mind
was overwhelmed with grief at the fate of a noble-
man who was his friend, since there is no evidence
of the fact, and since there is not the slightest notice
taken of the particulars, save of the Duke's death,
7
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 443
and by whom it was committed, in the Diary ;
though in that work, which he never supposed would
be published, he has inserted observations on which
his enemies have put worse constructions.
Yet, that there seems to have been some plot
in contemplation against the Duke is evident, from
the expressions of the people, before the assassina-
tion, though I admit that Felton's act was his own,
and though these very people pitied the Duke, and
detested the murderer, who would have rejoiced to
have seen the former led to the scaffold, or at least
doomed to disgrace. For, after the sanction of the
famous Petition of Right, it was generally wished
that the Duke should be sent to the Tower, and
some were even ready to pull down the old scaffold
on Tower-hill, declaring that his Grace should have
a new one. Not long after, a retainer of the
Duke's, Dr. Lamb, was attacked in the streets of
London, and so barbarously treated, that he died
the next day, while the rioters declared, that were
his master the Duke there, they would give him as
much l . For this riot, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen
were fined 6000/. and threatened with the loss of
their charter, if they did not bring the rioters to
punishment 2 .
1 Collect. Pier. Hist. Sloane MSS. 826.
a Echard's History of England, vol. i. p. 65. " The Duke's
picture fell down in the High Commission Chamber at Lambeth,
which being related to Lady Davis, as foreboding some fatality
to the Duke, she replied, No, his time is not come till August."
Echard, ut sup.
444 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
But the truth of the matter is, that the Council
debated on Felton's punishment generally, whether,
by the law of the land, the prisoner could be
racked : and the King being present, commanded
the opinion of the judges to be taken on the sub-
ject, who, of course, denied that the rack could be
employed. Nor in this debate was there any seve-
rity, for it must be remembered, that every circum-
stance had hitherto tended to confirm the suspicion
that the Duke's parliamentary enemies were privy
to it, and the Council had only Felton's pledge,
who, perhaps, might have persisted in his denial
from obstinacy. But to have allowed a faction,
already too powerful, to exult in secret at the as-
sassination of a minister of the crown, while only
one individual appeared as the murderer, was in-
deed to encourage that daring spirit which had
been too often manifested : and, therefore, in in-
quiring whether there were any law against it, " if
it might be done by law," the King himself ob-
served, " he would not use his prerogative on that
point." Nevertheless, Laud cannot be blamed for
giving advice, as an individual, though there is no
evidence that he gave any advice at all. The matter
was publicly debated : there were able lawyers in
the Council : the answer was as publicly returned :
and hence the folly of that remark, that, on this
occasion, " crown law was more favourable than
crown divinity."
On the 27th of November, Felton was removed
from the Tower to the Gatehouse Prison, and on
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 445
the same day he was brought by the sheriffs of Lon-
don to the King's Bench for his trial. He admitted
the crime, expressed great penitence, and even
tendered his right hand to be cut off, which had
struck the fatal blow. This request was refused as
illegal. This unfortunate gentleman was executed
at Tyburn, on the 29th of November, and his body
thereafter sent to Portsmouth, where it was " hung
up in chains," says Rushworth, " in manner as is
usual upon notorious murderers."
But while Laud was thus sedulously employed
in affairs of state, he did not forget Oxford, the
place of his education. That venerable and splen-
did seat of learning, from the classic retreats of
which have issued men whose names are immortal,
and which, with Cambridge, is at once the boast and
the glory of England, experienced in an ample man-
ner the fostering care of one of the greatest of her
sons. His intentions towards his University were
most liberal and munificent, but it was necessary that
he should be in a more exalted situation before he
could put them in execution. At present, however,
Laud did a signal service to the University. At the
annual election of the Proctors, the most factious
and tumultuary conduct was frequently exhibited,
it being generally carried by a combination of the
Colleges, while the weaker parties were in the habit
of seeking votes from strangers and non-resident
members. The Earl of Pembroke was at this time
Chancellor, and he had issued instructions to the
University, prohibiting any, save resident members,
446 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
to vote in the election to the proctorship. But the
proctors for 1627 delivered a formal protest against
the letter of their Chancellor ; and thus, at the elec-
tion of 1628, the usual turbulence and rivalry were
exhibited. But Laud, with the advice of the King,
determined to stop such proceedings in future. For
this purpose he drew up statutes, which fixed the elec-
tion of the several colleges according to their rotation,
each college having votes in proportion to the number
of members, and extent of the foundation. These
statutes were passed in a Convocation at Oxford
without a single dissenting voice l . He also caused
the ancient but mutilated and imperfect statutes of
the University, which had lain neglected for some cen-
turies, to be collected and arranged, in order, as he
himself says, that a large charter might be procured
for Oxford, " to confirm the ancient privileges, and
obtain new ones for them, as extensive as those of
Cambridge, which they had got since Henry VIII.,
which Oxford had not 2 ." These statutes were
printed, and published in Convocation on the 22d
of June, 1636 3 . This zeal for the advancement of
learning, and for the welfare of his own University,
cannot be too highly commended, more especially
when we recollect that this was done amidst his
numerous other avocations ; when, in fact, he lite-
rally had the care of the Church of England on his
shoulders. Yet such was the fanatical malevolence
1 Diary, p. 43, 44. Heylin's Life of Laud, p. 183,
2 Diary, p. 68, 69. * Ibid. p. 53.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 417
of the enemies of this truly great, man, that at his
illegal and disgraceful trial, the above conduct was
actually charged against him as one of the enormous
crimes for which he was impeached, inasmuch as
he took upon himself the office of " universal law-
giver." But Laud replied to this allegation with
his accustomed dignity. " No, my Lords," said he,
" the great necessities of the University called upon
me for it. These statutes lay in a miserably con-
fused heap : when any difficulty arose, they knew
not where to look for remedy or direction. Then
into the convocation-house, and make a new sta-
tute ; and that many times proved contrary to an
old one concerning the same business. Men, in the
mean time, were sworn to both, which could not pos-
sibly be kept together. By this means perjury was
unavoidable ; and themselves confess in their regis-
ter, (which is now in court,) that till this was clone,
they did in a sort swear that they might be for-
sworn V
Nor was this all that Laud did for the University
of Oxford. In 1628, he procured two hundred and
forty Greek Manuscripts for the Public Library,
which he induced the Earl of Pembroke to pur-
chase and present to the University, and Sir
Thomas Roe, the celebrated ambassador of King
James to the Great Mogul, generously sent him
twenty-eight manuscripts in Greek, for the same
University, which that statesman had collected
1 Troubles and Trials, p. 304.
448 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
at a great expence during his residence in the
East '.
But while Laud was thus employed in advancing
the interests of learning in the University of which
he was the distinguished ornament, he was no less
sedulously attentive to the Church. His situation
as Bishop of London gave him an influence which
perhaps he would not otherwise have possessed,
while his being a member of the Privy Council, and
in favour with his Sovereign, enabled him to employ
that influence for the best purposes. In order that
he might at once put a stop to the disturbances
which arose from the preaching of the abstruse and
mystical doctrines of predestination, in the preach-
ing of which, as the Church historian well remarks,
" many both lost themselves, and bewildered their
hearers ;" he procured a royal declaration to be
prefixed to the Articles, prohibiting all persons who
were under the degree of a bishop, and who were
priests of the Church of England, administering the
holy sacraments, to misconstrue these Articles, or
pervert them from their literal and grammatical
sense to support the doctrines of Calvin, or of any
individual whatever 2 .
This Declaration, highly necessary at every period
when men are resolved to strain language to sup-
port their individual theories, but more especially so
in this age of sectarian enthusiasm, is termed by the
1 Diary, p. 44. Heylin,p. 183. Regist. Cancel. Laud.
2 Heylin, p. 178, 179. as referring to Bib. Reg. 4. No. III.
Neat's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. ii. p, 188, 189.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 419
Puritan historian, the most " confused, unintelligi-
ble declaration ever printed ;" which does not say
much in favour of that writer's common sense and
perception if he did not understand it, though, by
the way, he has so miserably garbled it in his Puri-
tan history, that he has contributed his share to
make it unintelligible. But yet he contradicts him-
self, as usual, in the very next sentence ; for he says,
that " the Calvinistic divines understood the King's
intention," which they could not have done, though
they were endowed with extraordinary powers, if
the said declaration had been " confused and unin-
telligible." It, of course, alarmed the Calvinistic
enthusiasts. They declaimed against it as contain-
ing the " depths of Satan," as being a " Jesuitical
plot to subvert the gospel," an " encouragement
and opportunity for Arminians here to sow their
tares, and propagate their erroneous doctrines," as
tending to suppress all " orthodox books," and to
discourage " all godly and painful ministers :" in
other words, books full of sedition, which pretended
to discuss predestination and reprobation, though in
reality their authors made those dogmas much worse
than they were before ; and " godly painful minis-
ters," that is, enthusiasts who edified their hearers
by those very tenets, who, hurried away by their
visionary notions of faith, and implicitly believing
in Calvin's inspiration, preached openly against and
denounced every one who did not agree with them.
Moreover, they presented a petition against this
declaration to the King, in which they complained
.?n* ^u t&OT *
VOL. I. G
450 LIFE AND TIMES [L628.
that they were deterred by this restraint from
preaching " those SAVING doctrines of God's free
grace in election and predestination, which greatly
confirm our faith of eternal salvation, and fer-
vently kindle our love to God;" and/ consequently,
that " it will of necessity bring utter ruin to the
state by the too bold and frequent disciples and fol-
lowers of that enemy of God, Arminius 1 /"
It may readily be questioned, whether craftiness,
ignorance, or folly, preponderated among those who
set forth this petition. The King, however, never
saw it, as it was suppressed on account of its lan-
guage by the ministers of state 2 ; but it was not
forgotten when the Parliament assembled. In the
interval between the sessions, Dr. Montague's work,
entitled, " Appello ad CaBsarem," and Dr. Man-
waring's sermons, were suppressed by proclama-
tion 3 ; but this instance of sincerity and candour
on the part of the King, the Puritan historian, with
his usual charity, declares " was only a feint to
cover a more deadly blow to be reached at the
Puritans *."
It is surprising that the date of this Declaration
has been made the subject of misrepresentation and
1 Prynne's Canterburie's Doome, p. 164, 165. Neal, vol. ii.
p. 189, 190.
2 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 746, 747. Heylin, p. 180.
Neal, vol. ii. p. 190.
3 Collier, vol. ii. p. 747. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 633, 634,
Prynne's Cant. Doome, p. 101. The King's Proclamation,
Sloane MSS. 826.
4 Neal, ut sup.
1628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 451
dispute. One writer informs us, that " the Articles
were again ratified by King James II. in these
words, (the Declaration prefixed in 1628,) which
are commonly prefixed to them 1 ;" and another
maintains that the distress of James is exhibited in
the " quibbling and equivocal terms in which the
Declaration was drawn, thus divided between his
principles and his interest 2 ." The fact is, that the
champions for the Calvinistic interpretation of the
Articles maintain that this Declaration was issued
not by Charles but by James, for a very natural
reason, because they well knew that Calvinism,
during James's reign, was prevalent in the Church.
Bishop Burnet expressly ascribes the Declaration of
1628 to Charles 3 , and so does Dr. Henry Ham-
mond, who in his letter to Dr. Sanderson concern-
ing God's grace and decrees, assigns a reason
" both of our Church's moderation in. framing the
Article of Predestination, and of our late King's
Declaration in silencing the debate of the ques-
tion. For if by these methods/' says this truly
learned theologian, " the Church could but have
prevailed to have the dissensions of the several pre-
tenders forgotten, all men contenting themselves,
as our Article prescribes, with the promises of
God as they are declared in Scripture, (which
surely are universal and conditionate, not absolute
and particular,) the turmoil and heat, and imper-
1 Dr. Burn. 2 Confessional.
3 Bishop Bin-net's Hist. vol. i. fol. edit.
G g2
452 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
tinences of disputes had been prevented, which
now goes for an engagement in God's cause, the
hare fervour and zeal in which is taken in commu-
tation for much other piety, by many the most
eager contenders. The doctrines being deemed
doctrines of God, are counted evidences of sanctified
men, and fix the censure of carnality on opposers,
and from hence come bitter envyings, railings, and
at least evil surmising s, and these are most con-
trary to the outward peace of a church and nation ! ."
The enthusiast Prynne, bears testimony that this
Declaration was affixed by Charles, for he ascribes
it to Laud as a crime, alleging that the Declara-
tion " was made by this Bishop's instigation and
procurement, and so generally reputed not only
at home, but abroad? and he refers to a letter
from Dr. Barron of Aberdeen to Laud, which, he
says, was found in Laud's " own study, endorsed
with his own hand, dated the 20th of April,
1634 V' And that this Declaration belongs to 1628,
is farther proved by Dr. Winchester, and Dr. Glou-
cester Ridley 3 . Nor is Heylin's evidence to be
disregarded, for he lived at the very period. Neal,
1 Works of Dr. Hammond, folio, London, 1684, vol. i.
p. 670, 671. Xapte *cm 'Etprjj/rj, or, A Pacific Discourse of God's
Grace and Decrees, written to the Rev. and most learned Dr.
Robert Sanderson.
8 Prynne's Canterburie's Doome, p. 160.
3 Dissert, on the 17th Article, and the " Papers ascertaining
the time and reign in which the Declaration before the Thirty-
nine Articles was first published." London, 1803.
J628.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 453
moreover, who frequently perverts truth, held the
same opinion, and directly charges it on Laud, say-
ing, " One of the bishop's first attempts, after his
translation to London, was to stifle the Predestina-
rian controversy, for which purpose he procured the
Thirty-nine Articles to be reprinted, with the fol-
lowing Declaration at the head of them V In short,
it is indisputable, that this Declaration was passed
in the reign of Charles I. and the doubts which
have been started only prove to us the fact, that
men, even in later times, will frequently attempt to
forget facts arid dates, to serve the purposes of a
party, and to foster their individual prejudices 2 .
On the 20th of January, the Parliament re-as-
sembled, " which died issueless," says Fuller, in his
own happy manner, " the March following, leaving
no acts (abortions are no children) completed be-
hind it 3 ." Before the meeting, the King had en-
dftavoured to reconcile the contending parties. A
Priest, named Richard Smith, who styled himself
Bishop of Chalcedon, and who had presumed to
exercise Episcopal functions in the kingdom, was
prosecuted, and a proclamation issued against
priests and recusants. Archbishop Abbot was re-
stored to favour. Dr. Potter, Provost of Queen's
College, Oxford, " a thorough-paced Calvinian,"
says Heylin, was promoted to the Bishopric of
* Neal's History of tlie Puritans, vol. ii. p. 188.
* Vide also Collier, vol. ii. p. 746, 747. Fuller's Church
History, book xi. p. 141.
3 Fuller, ut sup. p. 132.
454 LIFE AND TIMES [1628.
Carlisle, vacant by the translation of Dr. White to
Norwich, and proclamations had been issued against
Bishop Montague's " Appello" and Dr. Manwaring's
Sermons l . These measures, it might have been
expected, would have conciliated the people, and
allayed their enthusiasm ; but the spirit of faction
had been busily at work, and every action of the
King was interpreted to the monarch's disad-
vantage 2 .
But while the King was thus studiously endea-
vouring to pursue conciliatory measures, he knew
1 Several distinguished men died in the interval before the
meeting of the second session of Parliament. Besides Dr.
Toby Matthews, Archbishop of York, already mentioned, died
Dr. George Carleton, Bishop of Chichester, whom Dr. Mon-
tague succeeded, (Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 131.);
Dr. John Preston, one of the heads of the Puritan faction,
(Neal, vol. ii. p. 200 203.) a crafty and deep-preaching poli-
tician ; Sir Thomas Ridley, vicar-general to Archbishop Abbot,
(Echard, vol. i. p. 72.) ; Samuel Purchas, so celebrated for -his
collections of voyages and travels that he has been called the
English Ptolemy, (Wood, Fasti, vol. i. col. 200, edit. 1721.);
Sir John Dodderidge, a celebrated lawyer and judge, ancestor
of the famous Nonconformist, Dr. Dodderidge, (Wood, Athen.
Oxon. vol. i. col. 519, 520. Beatson's Political Index, vol. i.
p. 409. Parliamentary History, vol. viii. 408.); Sir Fulk Gre-
ville, Lord Brooke, (Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, p. 523,) who
was assassinated by his servant ; and Sir John Ley, who, for his
abilities, and by his own merit, was created Earl of Marlborough,
Lord High Treasurer, and Lord President of the Council.
1 Echard's History, vol. i. p. 71. Heylin, p. 184, 185.
Collier, vol. ii. p. 747. Fuller, book xi. p. 133. Neal, vol.
ii. p. 190. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 154, 155. 645. Whitelock's
Memorials.
OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 455
well the danger of allowing the faction to obtain the
mastery, nor was he forgetful of his own faithful
friends. Sir Richard Weston, who had long served
the King, was made Lord Treasurer, he being a mi-
nister acute and active, and able to serve the court
on emergence, with much greater ability than the
Earl of Marlborough, whom he succeeded. Weston,
whom the Puritan historian designates a " noto-
rious Papist," was created Earl of Portland, and
after the death of Buckingham had possessed con-
siderable influence. In order to strengthen the
royal interest, he gained over to the King's party
the celebrated Sir Thomas W'entworth, who had
co-operated with the Puritans, and was even impri-
soned, for not complying with the loan. This great
man, better known by his title of Earl of Strafford,
distinguished alike for his talents and for his future
attachment both to Church and State, was created
Viscount Wentworth, and Lord President of the
Northern Circuits, by which he was enabled to con-
tend with success against the Saville family, whose
interest was considerable in Yorkshire, and also to
silence Sir John Elliott, with whom he had been
long at variance, in the House of Commons. The
attachment of Lord Wentworth to the King is
well known. It was about this time that he and
Laud commenced a friendship, which remained in-
violate until death 1 .
When the Commons met, it was expected, since
1 Echard, vol. i. p. 71. Heylin, p. 184.
7
\ .
456 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
the old cause of all their pretended grievances, the
Duke of Buckingham, had been removed, that the
former jealousies and animosities of the House would
be forgotten, and that they would proceed to busi-
ness as became the representatives of the people.
But it was soon found, that they resolved to com-
mence where they ended before the prorogation,
and accordingly they occupied themselves for a
week in remonstrating with the King about the
famous Petition of Right, before they could apply
themselves to their favourite subject of religion.
After receiving a speech from the King on that sub-
ject, they resolved to postpone the consideration of
the question, though not without expressing their
disapprobation. Conceiving themselves as well qua-
lified to decide on theology as on law, they now
turned their thoughts to religion 1 .
Their virulence was first directed towards Armi-
nianism, being more than ordinarily exasperated by
the King's Declaration prefixed to the Articles. It
is lamentable to behold men in a summary manner
condemning doctrines of which they were utterly
ignorant. An idea may be easily formed of the theo-
logical notions of the House of Commons from the
speeches of the leading enthusiasts on the occasion.
On Monday, the 26th of January, 1628-9, the de-
bate commenced, for it was not the fault of the fac-
tion that it had not begun on the first day the
House met. Francis Rouse, afterwards Provost of
2 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 645.
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 457
Eton, author of a work entitled Mella Patrum 1 ,
and Speaker of Oliver Cromwell's Parliament, thus
delivered himself, after speaking in no very mea-
sured language of the Church of Rome. " I desire
that we may consider the increase of Arminianism,
an error that makes the grace of God lackey it
after the will of man ; that makes the sheep to keep
the shepherd ; and makes a mortal seed of an
immortal God. Yea, I desire that we may look
into the very belly and bowels of this Trojan horse,
to see if there be not men in it ready to open the
gates to Romish tyranny and Spanish monarchy,
for an Arminian is the spawn of a Papist ; and
if there come the warmth of favour upon him, you
shall see him turn into one of those frogs that rise
out of the bottomless pit. And if you mark it well,
you shall see an Arminian reaching out his hand to
a Papist, a Papist to the Jesuit, a Jesuit gives one
hand to the Pope, and another to the King of Spain,
and these men have kindled a fire in our neighbour's
country, now they have brought over some of it
hither, to set on flame this kingdom also : yea, let
J Besides " Mella Patrum" which Rouse published in 1650,
he wrote " Archaeologia Attica, or Attic Antiquities," 4to. Oxf.
1637. " Speech before the Lords against Dr. Cosins, Dr.
Manwaring, and Dr. Beale," 4to. London, 1641. " Speech in
opposition to making Dr. Wisniff, Dr. Holsworth, and Dr. King,
Bishops," 4to. London, 1642. " The Balme of Love to heal
Divisions," 4to. London, 1648. " The Mystical Marriage be-
tween Christ and his Church," 12mo. London, 1653. " To all
the Faithful Servants of Christ," 4to. London, 1654. " Inte-
riora Reghi Dei," 12mo. London, 1655.
458 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
us search further, and consider whether these be not
the men who break in upon the goods and liberties
of this Commonwealth ; for by this means they pre-
pare to deprive us of our religion V The gross
and ignorant falsehoods of this fanatical orator were
fortified next day by the opinions of various other
sages, especially Sir Robert Philips, Sir Francis
Seymour, and Pym, the last of whom declared,
when the report of their committee on religion was
made to the House, that there were two diseases,
" the one old, the other new : the old Popery, the
new Arminianism :" while Philips averred, that
" two sects are damnably crept in to undermine the
King and kingdom ; the one ancient Popery, the
other new Arminianism." It is indeed strange
that such notorious falsehoods should have been
seriously uttered in the English House of Com-
mons. Sir John Elliott, Lord Wentworth's political
opponent, was no less furious than his other friends.
" In the Declaration," said he, " we see what is said
of Popery and Arminianism ; our faith and religion
are in danger by them, for, like an inundation, they
break in upon us at once. We see there are some
among our bishops who are not orthodox, nor sound
in religion, as they should be ; witness the two
bishops (Laud and Neile) complained of at the
last meeting of Parliament. I apprehend much fear,
that, should we be in their power, we may be in
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. p. 645, 646. Neal, vol. ii.
p. 191.
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 459
danger to have our religion overthrown. Some
of these are masters of ceremonies, and they labour
to introduce new ceremonies into the Church V
The enthusiasm of these men was quickly com-
municated to the whole House 2 , and they proceeded
to pass a vote against the King's Declaration.
" We, the Commons in Parliament assembled, do
claim, protest, and avow for truth, the sense of the
Articles of religion which were established by Par-
liament in the thirteenth year of our late Queen
Elizabeth, which, by the public act of the Church
of England, and by the general and current expo-
sitions of the Articles of our Church, have been
delivered unto us. And we reject the sense of the
Jesuits and Arminians, and all others, wherein they
differ from us 3 ."
1 He made, however, a remarkable admission. "Yet some
ceremonies," says he, " are useful. Give me leave to join, that
I hold it necessary and commendable, that at the repetition of
the Creed we should stand up, to testify the resolution of our
hearts that we will defend the religion we profess ; and in some
churches it is added, that they did not only stand upright with
their bodies, but with their swords drawn."
2 A person named Lewis was complained against, for saying
in common conversation, " The devil take the Parliament"
which was immediately held to be a serious offence, and he
was accordingly cited before them. What punishment those
sage legislators thought proper to inflict for this criminal remark,
I have not been able to discover.
3 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 649, 650. Heylin, p. 180. Echard,
vol. i. p. 75. Prynne's Canterburie's Doome, p. 163. Collier's
Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 747. Ncal's History of the Puritans,
vol. ii. p. 193.
460 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9:
Such was the intolerance of the Puritan faction,
and indeed it is hardly possible to give them credit
even for sincerity. They were at best a company
of secular persons, met together for other purposes,
and had no right to interfere with what properly
belonged to the Convocation ; but since they did
assume to themselves the office of " learned clerks,"
ought they not, instead of endeavouring to recon-
cile the Articles to Calvinism alone, and in parti-
cular, to that absurd and unscriptural jargon, the
Lambeth Articles, happily exploded from the Church,
to have first examined the Arminian interpretation
of the divine decrees, and considered whether it
was not more agreeable to Holy Scripture, than
the tenets of John Calvin, as founded on the mys-
tical positions of St. Augustine ? Had they done
this, instead of displaying their fiery zeal for Cal-
vinism, they would have acted in a manner praise-
worthy and commendable, without first arrogating
to themselves a power to which they were not enti-
tled, and then forcing a construction on language
which it would not bear l .
1 On this subject the Puritan historian comments in the most
absurd manner. He denies that the Commons made a new in-
terpretation of the Articles, whereas the fact of determining
them to be Calvinistic proves that they did. In reply to Laud's
question, If a sense or interpretation be declared, what autho-
rity have laymen to make it ? Neal says, " The same that they
had in the 1 3th of Elizabeth, to establish them as the doctrine
of the Church." Now, though he refers to Collier, and dissents,
of course, from that learned historian, he has not refuted what
that writer has advanced, that neither the sense of the Articles
1628-9. J OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 461
It must be remembered, that this " vow" was no
act of Parliament. Nay, they unconsciously admit
that they had no authority to settle the contro-
versy, for they say, " We vow for truth the sense
of the Articles which were established by Parlia-
ment, in the 13th of the reign of Queen Elizabeth."
Now, in their haste " to do the work of the Lord
diligently," as they described this conduct, by neg-
lecting other duties, they completely lost them-
selves, for the expression of individual opinion only
in a legislative body in reality implies a want of
power. But it is no less remarkable, that amid
the general joy manifested by the Calvinistic party
on this occasion, the protest being reckoned by
them a kind of prodigy, it was thought to be more
doubtful and sophistical, and an excuse for greater
latitude of interpretation, than had been ever ex-
hibited by any previous expounder.
There can be nothing of greater importance in
religion than truth, nor should the seeker of it be
restrained by any dicta, however great, or powerful.
nor the Articles themselves, were established either by that Par-
liament, or in any other that there was no committee of reli-
gion "appointed to examine the orthodoxy of these credenda,
or any resolution of the House upon this report," and that
" the design of the statute was only to provide against non-con-
formity, for which purpose the clergy are obliged to subscribe
the Articles, and read them in their parish Churches." Our
Puritan writer, on the contrary, embraces the opportunity to
display his reasoning powers against Bishop Laud ; and what do
his absurd queries amount to ? Parturiunt monies, ridiculus
mus nctscitttr.
462 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
Laud saw the error of those enthusiasts, and he
alone had courage to comment on this extraordinary
protest. He saw that their protest was virtually a
challenge, as Prynne himself calls it, to the King,
nor did he allow it to pass unnoticed. " This prag-
matical Bishop," says Prynne, " returned this bold
peremptory answer, written with his own hand."
" 1. The public acts of the Church," says Laud, " in
matters of doctrine are canons and acts of councils,
as well for expounding as determining ; the acts of
the High Commission are not in this sense public acts
of the Church ; nor the meeting of few or more bishops
extra concilium, unless they be of lawful authority
called to that work, and their decision approved by
the Church. 2. The current exposition of writers
is a strong probable argument, de censu canonis
Ecclesice velArticuli,yet but probable : the current
exposition of the fathers themselves hath sometimes
missed Sensum Ecclesice. 3. Will you reject all
sense of Jesuits and Arminians ? May not some be
true ? May not some be agreeable to our writers,
and yet in a way that is stronger than ours to con-
firm the Article ? 4. Is there by this Act any inter-
pretation made or declared of the Articles, or not ?
If none, to what end the act ? If a sense or inter-
pretation be declared, what authority have laymen
to make it ? for interpretation of an article belongs
to them only that have power to make it. 5. It is
manifest there is a sense declared by the House of
Commons. The act says, We avow the Article,
and in that sense, and all others that agree not with
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 4-63
us in the aforesaid sense we reject, (these and these
go about misinterpretation of a sense ; ergo, there
is a declaration of a sense, yea, but it is not a new
sense declared by them, but they avow the old sense
declared by the Church, the public authentic acts
of the Church, &c.) yea, but if there be no such
public authentic acts of the Church, then here is a
sense of their own declared under the pretexts of it.
6. It seems against the King's Declaration; that says
first, we shall take the general meaning of the Arti-
cle : this act restrains them to consent of writers ;
that says second, the Article shall not be drawn
aside any way, but that we shall take it in the lite-
ral and grammatical sense : this act ties us to con-
sent of writers, which may, and perhaps do, go
against the literal sense ; for here is no exception,
so we shall be perplexed, and our consent required
to things contrary. 7. All consent- in all ages, as
far as I have observed, to an article or canon, is to
itself as it is laid down in the body of it, and if it
bear more senses than one, it is lawful for any man
to choose what sense his judgment directs him to,
so that it be a sense secundum analogiam fidei,
and that he hold it peaceably, without distracting
the Church, and this till the Church that made the
article determine a sense : and the wisdom of the
Church hath been in all ages, or in most, to re-
quire consent to articles in general, as much as
may be, because that is the way of unity ; and the
Church, in high points, requiring assent to parti-
464 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
culars, hath been rent, as, De Transubstantiatione,"
fcc 1 .
These remarks by Laud on the protest of the
Commons, which are well worthy the considera-
tion of those who cavil at subscription, were of
course treated with contempt by those fiery zealots
of Calvinism, and were actually produced against
him on his trial as crimes by " Master Prynne."
The Puritan historian, says, " Bishop Laud thinks
that if the words will bear more senses than one, a
man may choose what sense his judgment directs
him to, provided it be a sense, according to the
analogy of faith, and all this to avoid diversity of
opinions. But I am afraid this reasoning is too
wonderful for the reader." Yet, before Neal chose
to entertain such fears, he should first have ascer-
tained in what respect. Truth, I again remark, is
important on every subject, but especially in mat-
ters of religion. Truth, however, though immu-
table, arid confined neither to Popish conclaves,
nor fanatical parliamentary committees on religion,
nor religious partisanship, nor to the boast of sec-
tarian hostility, nor to Calvinistic decrees, nor to
mistaken and hypocritical evangelism, is nevertheless
subject to the variability of human understanding,
and, if not controled, is at least affected by local
circumstances, by education, connexions, and by
association. The gospel, with respect to its funda-
1 Canterburie's Doome, p. 163, 164. Heylin, p. 181, 182.
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 465
mental principles, must be admitted by all, there
being only one saving faith, one hope, one baptism;
but it is not necessary or imperative, simply because
it is impossible, that the same opinions should be held
by every man, even respecting some of those great
truths which compose the fundamental principles of
Christianity, which, in themselves, are essential to
salvation, and the men who teach otherwise are
of necessity bigots, whether they be Papists or
Sectarians. On these points, indeed, the Papists
and the Puritans, agreed, and their intolerance was
in unison ; for if the one asserted that there was no
salvation out of the Church of Rome, the other
asserted every opinion as damnable which was anti-
Calvinistic, and those who held them were declared
"enemies to God" "spawns of Papists," "frogs that
rise out of the bottomless pit. J> It was their grand
object, that every man should hold the same opi-
nions on religion as themselves, and this they were
determined to enforce. But Laud utterly con-
demned such absurdity, and in this respect he was
liberal, even in the most general acceptation of the
word. The patron of liberality, in opposition to
the worse than Popish intolerance of Puritanism, he
permitted every man to exercise his own opinions
to the utmost latitude, consistent with a true belief
in that faith which is apostolical and catholic, not
individual, heterodox, and sectarian. And who will
deny, that he is the only wise and prudent theolo-
gian, the most judicious and the most enlightened,
(even though it should excite the fears and the
VOL. i. H h
466 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
reprobation of such oracles as the Puritan histo-
rian, that " this reasoning is too wonderful for the
reader/') " who allows," says a reverend and learned
writer on this very subject, " the largest latitude of
interpretation consistent with the analogy of the
faith, and who enforces mutual forbearance on all,
who may yet cordially unite in the public worship
of God, in the government and discipline of the
Church, and in all the practical obligations of Chris-
tian duty, though they may differ very widely in
their apprehension of the various truths which they
all equally believe, and by which they may be all
equally actuated. Such a theologian was Laud,
though he has been almost universally represented
as the reverse V
I observe farther, on this important subject im-
portant, undoubtedly, as connected with that oppro-
brium which this great prelate has received, not
only from sectarians, but even from that portion of
the clergy of the Church who affect to be thought
liberal, and who call themselves evangelical, that
Laud's enemies who held him to be a bigot were
only the Puritans, who having persuaded them-
selves that their principles were the sole marks of
genuine truth, were resolved to establish them in
the kingdom. If the royal Declaration, which, let
it be remembered, did not at all affect private opi-
nions, had been published against those whom they
1 Life of Laud, apud Scottish Episcopal Magazine, vol. iii.
No. XII. p. 485.
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 467
called Arminians and Pelagians, and whom, with
the most consummate craftiness, they hesitated not
to identify with Jesuits and Atheists, no murmur
would have escaped them, they would have rejoiced
even if they had beheld the blood of their oppo-
nents ; but, because this very Declaration was ge-
neral in its language, and impartial in its applica-
tion, they declared that they were persecuted,
that their religion was about to be overthrown,
that they were prevented from preaching the
" SAVING doctrines of God's free grace in election,
and predestination unto life eternal," and other
absurd dogmas and tenets of Calvinism. But
Laud had more of the Christian disposition than his
enemies. He knew well that he, as a man, was at
best but a frail and erring mortal, subject to human
infirmities and prejudices, and he wished not to
make his own theological opinions imperative on
the conscience of any man, unless from conviction.
Peace and unity were his grand objects, and these,
he saw, might be obtained, without compelling all
men to think alike, or to become believers in Cal-
vin's dogmas ; without these, he saw there was no
security for religion and the Church, no safeguard
against the ebullitions of partisanship, and the ex-
travagances of heated imaginations. Such was the
uniform conduct of the man who has been universally
maligned as a bigot, and the encourager of bigotry,
whose memory has been called " infamous," by
self-righteous sectarians of modern times ; while, if
H h 2
468 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
the truth were known, it would be undeniable that
he was a century beyond his age in toleration ; that
he had adopted liberal principles to the full extent :
but that unfortunately he was opposed by bigots,
every one of whom was an inquisitor in spirit to
those who differed from him, and would have been
so in reality, had he possessed the power. Not so
was Laud, although, as an impartial member of
the Church of England, he was no Calvinist, and
consequently could not uphold or defend Calvin's
" platform." He the Arminian Bishop Laud,
excluded not Calvinists from the Church, if they
conformed to its ritual and practice ; and he bore
willing testimony to their merits, their learning,
and their conscientious piety. But the bigotted
Puritans of that age thought otherwise. With them
an Arminian, one who could not believe that God
had from all eternity elected some men to life
eternal, and doomed others to eternal death before
they were born, or had committed any thing to
merit such punishment, such a one was declared
to be an " enemy to his God, and to his country."
Because he believed that all men may be saved
on repentance, who embrace the gospel through
the merits of their Saviour, he was declared to be
a " subverter of religion," and, in the elegant phra-
seology of Puritanism, " the spawn of a Papist,"
" one of those frogs that rise from the bottomless
pit ;" that Arminianism " was planted here by the
Jesuits/' and was " a cunning way to bring in
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 469
Popery," and, therefore, all those who inclined to
it were in the way of damnation l . But we ought
not to forget that persecution is the same, whether
caused by Popish or sectarian intolerance that the
Calvinistic pyre at Geneva, which consumed Ser-
vetus, was as atrocious as the inquisitorial acts of
faith in Spain or Portugal and that persecution,
in short, is " equally detestable, whether exercised
by Popes and their partisans, by Parliamentary
Committees aided by preaching zealots, or by Ge-
neral Assemblies led by passionate declaimers V
After having passed their vote, or vow, against
the King's Declaration, the Commons bethought
themselves of their accustomed fast, without which,
it appears, they could transact no business. They
professed, that this day of fasting and prayer was
in consideration of " the miseries of the Reformed
Churches abroad ;" yet, though they had been assem-
bled for a week, they did not send their petition to
the King until the 30th of January. The famous bill
concerning certain duties to be levied on " tonnage
and poundage," was then depending in the House,
against which a remonstrance had been made when
the Parliament was prorogued ; nor did the grant-
ing of the Petition of Right, which amply guaran-
teed to the Commons all that they could desire,
induce them to consult on the affairs of state, in
1 Prynne's " Hidden Works of Darkness brought to Light,"
p. 93, 94, &c. and Canterburie's Doome, p. 159, &c.
* Scottish Episcopal Magazine, ut sup.
470 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
preference to visionary declamations on religion.
The King, finding them inclined to delay, answered
their fasting petition to this effect, and with no
small disgust : " That the deplorable condition of
the Reformed Churches was too true, and their duty
was, as much as in them lay, to give them all pos-
sible help ; but fighting would do them more good
than fasting." " I do not wholly," said Charles,
" disapprove of the latter, yet I must tell you that
this custom of fasting every session is but lately
begun, and I confess I am not fully satisfied with
the necessity of it at this time ; yet, to shew you
how smoothly I desire your business to go on,
eschewing as much as I can questions or jealousies,
I do willingly grant your request herein ; but with
this provision, that this shall not be hereafter made
a precedent for frequent fasts ; and for form and
time, I will advise with my lords the bishops."
But when the King pressed for the passing of the
bill to levy the duties on tonnage and poundage,
he was told that they could not " without impiety
to God, disloyalty to his Majesty, and unthankful-
ness to those who sent them, proceed therein, with-
out giving precedency to religion, which was in
great danger from Popery and Arminianism." It
was in vain that the King assured them, that none
could have a greater care of religion than himself.
The spirit of dissatisfaction was raised, and it was
the endeavour of the Puritan party to increase and
extend that spirit as much as possible.
Nothing could now be more evident than that the
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 471
Puritans made religion a mere pretext for their
designs ; and every remonstrance of the King was
ineffectual to induce them, as members of the Par-
liament, to turn their attention to affairs of state.
Pursuing this conduct, they proceeded, on the 10th
of February, to take the cases of Montague, Man-
waring, Cosins, and Sibthorpe, into consideration,
to all of whom the King had been pleased to grant
pardons. This act of his Majesty was ordered to
be discussed, and those ecclesiastics were summoned
to appear. Montague was peculiarly obnoxious to
them, as it was alleged that he had acted with Laud
in advising the King to publish the Declaration.
Jones, the individual whose reasons for opposing
Bishop Montague's confirmation at Bow Church
had been rejected as illegal and irrelevant, preferred
an information against that prelate concerning his
consecration to the See of Chichester, which of
course was received, and, after some debate, was
referred to a Committee. Laud and Neile, in fine,
were their grand objects of attack ; they charged
them with procuring those pardons ; Sir John Elliott
averred in the House, " In Laud and Neile is cen-
tered all the danger we fear ; for he that procured
those pardons may be the author of those new opi-
nions ;" and proposed that a motion might be made
to petition the King to leave those bishops to the
justice of the House. It was not without reason
that Laud asserted, that this Parliament sought
his ruin ! .
1 Laud's Diary, p. 44.
472 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
They did not, however, stop here. Bishop Neile
was made the subject of their more particular no-
tice. The reporter of their Committee asserted,
that after examination, Drs. Montague, Man waring,
Cosins, and Sibthorpe, had solicited their own par-
dons through the influence of Bishop Neile, who
had promised to obtain the King's consent ; and at
this time Oliver Cromwell distinguished himself in
this fanatical feud. Being a member of this com-
mittee, and deeply imbued with the hypocrisy of
the age, he asserted that Neile had openly counte-
nanced Popery, by alleging a pretended remark of
that prelate addressed to some of his clergy, that
there was not so much occasion now, as formerly,
to preach against Popery ; and two clergymen, his
personal enemies, were summoned to prove the fact.
The preferment of Dr. Manwaring especially ex-
cited Cromwell's wrath. " If these be the steps to
church preferment," said the future Protector,
" what may we expect ?"
Various other matters were discussed ; the Lam-
beth Articles were declared by those zealots for the
saving doctrines of predestination to be the doc-
trines of the Church of England : warm debates
took place concerning the licensing of books, which,
however, with numerous other matters, were all
referred to the religious committee, so that " by
these embarrassments," as Dr. Heylin well remarks,
" the Committee for Religion had work enough,
more than they knew well how to manage."
Matters were now hastening to a crisis, and the
1658-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 473
King was exasperated that this seditious enthusiasm
was made to supplant the weightier matters of
state. On the same day that the Commons were
animadverting on Bishop Neile, their discontent-
ment was farther excited, in consequence of the
warehouse of one of their members, named Rolls,
being sequestrated by a pursuivant, and he himself
served with a subpoena. This person had been most
active in opposing the bill for " tonnage and pound-
age,'* and had stimulated in a great measure their
vigorous proceedings against the officers of the cus-
toms. It was in vain that Sir Humphrey May, a
member of the privy-council, informed them, that
this order proceeded not from the King in council ;
and although the Attorney-General wrote to Rolls,
assuring him that it was accidental, and ought to
be overlooked, the ferment was excited, and the
Sheriff of London was sent to the Tower. The affair
was debated a few days after, and several officers of
thfe Custom-house were examined, and charged with
breach of privilege, in violently arresting the goods
of a member of the House. But their discussions
about reparation to Rolls, and punishment of the
offenders, so provoked the King, that to terminate
an affair which he foresaw would otherwise be end-
less, he sent a message, on Monday, the 23d, de-
claring, " that what the Custom-house officers did,
was by his own direct order and command at the
council-board." Another debate followed, more
severe than the former, in which Laud, Neile, Mon-
tague, and the Lord Treasurer Weston > were plainly
474 LIFE AND TIMES [1G28-9.
hinted at, some of the faction affirming, " that these
interruptions proceeded from some prelates and
others, abettors of the Popish party, who fear to
be discovered, and wish to provoke the breach/'
They then represented to the King, that they were
willing to make a distinction between his Majesty's
commands and the individual acts of the officers ;
in other words, they wished him to retract his ad-
mission that Rolls had been sequestrated at his
instance, by which they would be enabled to punish
the offenders. But the King understood the arti-
fice : he thanked them for this shew of respect, but
he would not deny what he said were his own orders.
This was the signal for a general tumult. Excla-
mations to adjourn were heard from all sides of the
House, and the tumultuous assembly adjourned
accordingly until Wednesday.
The breach between the King and the Commons
was now irreparable ; Charles no longer struggled
for supplies, but for the preservation of his power.
The Commons met on the Wednesday, but they
were adjourned by the King to the 2d of March,
not, however, before they found time to read over
certain particulars respecting Popery and Armi-
nianism. On the 2d of March they again met,
when the Speaker, (after Sir John Elliott had
taken the opportunity to deliver a violent declama-
tion,) informed them that he was commanded by
the King to adjourn the House for another week.
This excited a considerable clamour. They denied
that the Speaker had a right to deliver any such
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 475
command to them that they only had a right to
adjourn themselves and that, after they had settled
their own affairs, they would attend to the King's
business. A general disturbance now took place.
One member made fast the door of the House, and
secured the key, while another was assaulted with
personal violence. The Speaker was ordered to
put the question at his peril; but he told them
that he was commanded by the King to rise after
delivering the royal message. He did so, but some
members who were in readiness kept him in the
chair by force ; and, notwithstanding an attempt
made to free him from this violence, a member,
the famous Denzil Holies, swore he should sit there
till it pleased them to let him rise. No persuasions
or entreaties, however, could prevail upon him to re-
linquish his fidelity to the King, and accordingly
Holies was required to read three separate protests ;
the first declaring that whoever should endeavour
to extend Popery and Arminianism > or other opi-
nions contrary to what they conceived to be " the
true and orthodox Church," should be declared " a
capital enemy to the King and Commonwealth l ;"
1 I am afraid that at the present day there are many such
enemies to the state. If I mistake not, among the sectaries, the
Wesleyan Methodists profess Arminianism, ergo, according to
the Puritan wiseacres, the Wesleyan Methodists must be ene-
mies to the state. Yet, if any were to be so foolish as assert so,
if it would not be reckoned downright insanity, I am convinced
he would justly get the old-fashioned summary retort, " Tu
mtntiris, impudentissime"
476 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
the second and third setting forth the same denun-
ciation to those who favoured the subsidies of
" tonnage and poundage."
These disorders were reported to the King, who,
astonished that the House should defy the royal
power, and presume to sit after his order for ad-
journment, sent a messenger for the sergeant-at-
arms ; but the faction having cunningly secured
the door, there was no admittance till the protest
was read. The Usher of the Black Rod was then
sent to dissolve the House, but he was treated with
similar contempt. Exasperated at this pert insult,
the captain of the guards was sent with a party to
force the door. The faction, however, anticipated
this, by tumultuously adjourning till the 10th of
March, the day appointed by the King. But the
King resolved that they should not renew their
disgraceful turbulence, and, accordingly, on the 2d
of March, a proclamation was prepared to dissolve
the Parliament.
In the mean time warrants were issued against
the leaders of this disorder, who had so zealously
distinguished themselves, and Holies, Selden, and
Sir John Elliott, were committed to the Tower,
for refusing to answer for what had been remarked
out of the House. They were all sentenced, shortly
after, in the King's Bench, to be imprisoned during
the King's pleasure. Elliott being the most dis-
tinguished delinquent, was fined 2000/., and con-
fined in prison, where he died, in the judgment of
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 477
the Puritan historian, " a martyr for the liberties
of his country." Holies was fined 1000 marks,
and others in proportion to their misconduct.
On the 10th of March the King went in state to
the House, where, in a wise and eloquent speech,
in which he reprobated in strong language the con-
duct of the Commons, he dissolved the Parliament,
and on the following day appeared the proclama-
tion. And to justify himself in the eyes of the
nation, his Majesty prepared a Declaration " to all
his loving subjects of the causes which moved him
to dissolve the last Parliament," which was followed
by a proclamation, declaring that the late proceed-
ings of the Commons having " driven his Majesty
unwillingly from calling another Parliament, he
shall account it presumption for any one to pre-
scribe time for the calling of Parliaments, the call-
ing, continuing, and dissolving of which, being
always invested in the King's own person V
Such were the conduct and conclusion of Charles'
third Parliament, and with it closed the year 1628.
It was during this period that Bishop Williams of
Lincoln contrived to commence a friendship with
the Lord Treasurer, by endeavouring to heal the
divisions of the state : and from this time the King
beheld him more favourably, though that prelate
did not reside at Court. Laud, however, justly
considering himself aggrieved, did not renew his
1 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 658 662. Appendix, p. 17. vol. ii.
p. 3, &-c.
478 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-?.
intimacy with the Bishop, and Wentworth was by
no means satisfied with the Lord Treasurer's con-
duct, in attempting to bring a powerful rival into
favour. Bishop Williams' hopes of reconciling the
King and Parliament were disappointed : from this
time the breach was irreparable. The King's mi-
nisters escaped not the censures of the populace :
and Laud and the Lord Treasurer in particular,
were singled out as objects of public hatred. The
factious religionists of the Parliament secretly ex-
ulted in this fermentation, and strove to fan the
flame of discontentment. Laud and Weston, since
the old object of hatred, Buckingham, was re-
moved, were charged with being the causes of the
alleged violent measures of government, and their
lives were threatened. On the 29th of March,
1628-9, two anonymous papers were found before
the house of the Dean of St. Paul's, which had
been privately conveyed there by the Puritan
emissaries, the one against Laud, the other threat-
ening the Lord Treasurer. " The one was to this
effect," says the Bishop, " concerning myself: Laud,
look to thyself; be assured thy life is sought. As
thou art the fountain of all wickedness, repent of
thy monstrous sins, before thou be taken out of the
world. And assure thyself, neither God nor the
world can endure such a vile counsellor to live, or
such a whisperer." The threats against the Lord
Treasurer were to the same purpose. And yet,
even here does this great Prelate evince his humi-
lity and pious disposition. Instead of endeavouring
7
1628-9.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 479
to discover the author of this abuse, and bring him
to merited punishment, we find him mildly noting
in his Diary, which he never imagined would meet
the public eye, " Lord, I am a grievous sinner,
but, I beseech thee, deliver my soul from them that
hate me without a cause."
But it was altogether impossible, in that age of
strong religious fervour, for the advocate of mode-
ration to escape the popular .resentment. Being
completely under the control of their crafty leaders,
who had signalized themselves by their turbulence
in the Parliament, and led. by enthusiasts, who,
assuming the ecclesiastical function, studiously pro-
moted their seditious schemes, the people forgot
their duty to their sovereign, and justified their ex-
cesses by indulging their religious and political
prejudices. That Laud was most unjustly libelled,
and that his enemies in this Parliament were not
actuated by conscientious motives, but by a mean
and dastardly hatred, cannot be questioned. He
was, indeed, a member of the Council, and was the
confidant of the King, but there is no evidence that
he took any share in the contentions of this sedi-
tious meeting, when the members of the English
Senate forgot themselves, their Sovereign, and their
country. It is easy to excite the clamour of libe-
rality, and nothing is more grateful to the ignorant
and obscure, than to be made judges and umpires
over the actions of their superiors : but liberality is
a term extremely vague and indefinite, nor does it
follow that the bursts of popular clamour are the
480 LIFE AND TIMES [1628-9.
certain indications of freedom of opinion. In like
manner, the gratification of the prejudices of the
rabble, which have too often been singularly mis-
named the rights of the people, is only a prepara-
tion to overthrow the salutary administration of a
well-constituted government, by sowing the seeds
of sedition, and stimulating the fierceness of hatred.
Men are in one sense only born free. They are the
subjects of government from the very moment of
their birth ; they yield a tacit assent to the existing
laws ; and who will dare to say, that even indivi-
dual oppression on the part of the state is to be
the watchword for a general revolt ? In almost
every case, the administration of one has advan-
tages superior to that of many : hence, a well-con-
stituted monarchy, the head of which is firm and
decisive, terrified neither by the censures of those
who affect to be leaders in representative assem-
blies, nor by the violent bursts of popular clamour,
as excited by those leaders under an alleged re-
gard for liberality, is infinitely to be preferred to
any species of republicanism. In the one there are
unity, freedom, and security; in the other there
have been too often manifested distractions and
impatience of control, the insolence of sudden ele-
vation, and a gratification of the worst passions at
the expence of the natural rights of man. In the
former there is order induced by subordination ; in
the latter there must of necessity be an imperium
in imperio, the inevitable result of uncontrouled
popular assemblies.
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 481
CHAPTER XI.
16291631.
The Court of Charles I. Character of the King The Queen
Laud The expediency of ecclesiastics interfering with state
affairs discussed Character of the Marquis of Hamilton
Notice of his life Character of Sir Thomas Wentworth,
Lord Wentrvorth Notice of his life Consequence of Abbot 's
primacy The lecturers Their practices Cognizance taken
of them by the court Instructions concerning them Preach-
ing Its nature and uses Popular errors on it Conduct of
Archbishop Abbot Proceedings of Laud Specimens of the
devotions of the lecturers Prosecutions against them for
sedition Death of the Earl of Pembroke, Chancellor of
Oxford Election of Laud as Chancellor of that University
His munificence and patronage of literature Birth of Charles
II. Laud officiates at the baptism Revival of the Predes-
tinarian Controversy Dr. Davenant, Bishop of Salisbury
Libels against Laud Story of Dr. Alexander. Leighton
His book termed " Z ion's Plea" His degradation and punish-
ment Defence of Laud Examination of the Star- Chamber
proceedings The consecration of the Church of St. Cathe-
rine Cree The nature of Religious Ceremonies The Pa-
pists and Puritans Remarks on Laud's conduct Farther
instances of his munificence.
I HAVE detailed, with perhaps too great a prolixity,
the storms and contentions of the first four years
of this disastrous reign, and yet, I regret, after all,
that my limits preclude me from entering more
VOL. i. i i
482 LIFE AND TIMES [1C29.
fully into this important subject. For to me it
appears, that much yet remains to be elucidated of
the history of this age, when reason shall triumph
over prejudice, and moderation over the yet too
visible remains of religious fanaticism. After the
dispersion of this Parliament, a comparative tran-
quillity ensued, which lasted for more than eight
years, when the Covenanting zealots of Scotland
again excited tumults and distractions, the most
fatal and lamentable in their termination.
Here it may not be improper to introduce a few
remarks on the Court, which, during the greater
part of this reign, was worthy of England for its
dignity and splendor. Charles possessed all the
characteristics of a great and wise monarch, digni-
fied in his deportment, mild in his appearance, and
graceful in his manners. Knowing well that if
princes preserve not their dignity they are liable
to disrespect, he acted as the monarch of a power-
ful nation, nor was he inclined to seek an ephe-
meral popularity by a mere affectation of humi-
lity. In conversation he was easy and affable,
in argument calm and collected ; granting audi-
ences according to the nature of the business;
otherwise, as was necessary, making his ministers
the channel of communication. He was not rash
or hasty in his choice of servants ; he observed men
long before he admitted them into confidence ; and
he restrained, by his manner, every appearance of
abusing his condescension by forwardness or un-
warrantable assumption of power. While he was
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 483
not remarkably profuse in his generosity, he failed
not to reward those who were attached to his per-
son, and that, too, at an expence which his circum-
stances frequently rendered difficult. Little need
be said of his regard for religion, and its solemn
duties, in the practice of which, as has been well
remarked, he was more consistent than any other
Protestant prince in Europe.
The beautiful Henrietta Maria, on the other
hand, did not possess much of her husband's gra-
vity. Educated in a court long famous for its
refinement and splendor, and the member of a
Church, the solemn services of which, to say the
least, are imposing to the imagination, though
many of its doctrines are unhappily too liable to be
abused by indulgences, the queen was partial to
magnificent appearances, delighting to move in that
splendid ostentation which attracts and allures the
beholder. In her manner, indeed, she was digni-
fied and stately, and even Charles' serious deport-
ment was ascribed to her influence : but she was
fond of complimentary effusions, especially in her
taste for masquerades and other diversions, which
she frequently promoted in the Court. But she
had no talents for political intrigue, nor does she
appear, unless when under the dominion of priests,
before the King dismissed her French attendants,
at any time to have taken much concern in public
affairs. Hence, French interest did not much
prevail in England during the reign of Charles,
nor does there appear to have been more than
484 .<: LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
a mere superficial friendship between the two
Courts.
After Buckingham's death, Laud received farther
instances of the King's regard, and at last attained
the hazardous elevation of prime minister, an ele-
vation by no means enviable in that turbulent age.
He at this time had the chief management of Eng-
lish affairs, for which his firmness, integrity, and
knowledge of business eminently qualified him. It
has been doubted whether it is reasonable and de-
cent to advance ecclesiastics to the administration of
civil affairs : it has been asserted that it is incom-
patible with their spiritual office : it has been
denied that it is conformable to the injunctions of
the divine Author of Christianity : and Charles has
been blamed and traduced for submitting the public
administration to a man whom some enthusiasts
have called a bigot, and of " infamous memory."
As to Laud's bigotry, or his " infamous memory,"
it is needless at present to turn the arguments
against his contemporary and modern enemies. Yet,
while I admit that there is some reason in the pre-
vious exceptions, it does not appear that they uni-
versally hold. For it is evident that Christianity
is an inherent part of the constitution, that all
treaties are conducted on its broad and solid basis :
and he who has made its doctrines and duties the
study of his life, connected with natural talent and
capacity for affairs, is by no means ill qualified to
superintend, with the same facility as a layman, a
government, the public acts of which have, or ought
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 485
to have, in a civilized country,, one great and ulti-
mate end in view, the advancement of religion,
and, consequently, of the national happiness. Nor
am I sure that the civil administration by an eccle-
siastic is altogether incompatible with his spiritual
office, if it be found that his superintendence con-
duces to the public good ; for such a man is as
much a civil member of society, and as much con-
cerned in the public acts of government, as the
man who has not the ordination of the Church.
As it is the duty of the public minister to pro-
mote those measures which tend to the stability of
government, and the welfare of his fellow-subjects ;
these are clearly objects which are not in them-
selves at variance with his station as an ecclesiastic,
but are rather strictly imperative on him as a spi-
ritual pastor. And as to the injunctions concerning
Church and State, which some pretend to find in the
Christian Scriptures, no analogy can be traced be-
tween the days of the Apostles, when Judaism or
Paganism was established, and the present times,
when Christianity is the law of the land ; and, there-
fore no precedents or arguments for Independency
can be thence adduced. The amount of all which
the Christian Scriptures contain on this subject is
the declaration of our Saviour, that his kingdom is
not of this world, but that does not militate against
the establishment of Christianity by law : for the
Church, although connected with the state, is purely
a spiritual kingdom, inasmuch as it is governed by
its own laws, which do not interfere with the civil
486 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
administration : and hence its members are subject
to two jurisdictions the law ecclesiastical, for spi-
ritual matters, and the law civil, because they are
members of society, which law is distinct by itself.
In truth, there are no injunctions delivered on this
subject in the New Testament : but the future events
of government were left to their natural course, ex-
cept what is contained in that remarkable declara-
tion of prophecy, that, in the last days, kings shall
be nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers to
the Church. If Christianity be a public good, it
cannot be wrong to establish it : if it involves man's
happiness, its establishment is imperative : if its
ministers are to promote this in every respect, their
duties are at once understood : so that, although I
admit that the objections are not wholly gratuitous,
I maintain that those ecclesiastics who may be called
to administer in civil as well as spiritual matters, do
not perform duties inconsistent with their situation,
or act contrary to the doctrines of Christianity.
Laud, as has been remarked, presided over the
affairs of England. The second great personage,
distinguished alike for his influence and his mis-
fortunes, was James, Marquis of Hamilton, who
administered the government of Scotland. This
nobleman, the representative of his ancient and
noble family, and nearly allied to the House of
Stuart, being, in fact, the next in succession to the
throne had the royal family become extinct, was
the son of James, Marquis of Hamilton, descended
lineally from the famous Duke of Chatelherault
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 487
and Earl of Arran, who was regent of Scotland
during the minority of Mary, his niece, and was
distinguished for his subsequent conduct in the
defence of that queen, and in opposing her brother,
the Earl of Moray. The Marquis was born at
Hamilton Palace, in 1606, and educated at Oxford,
but he left the University in 1625, the year of his
father's death. He had married in his youth Lady
Mary Fielding, niece of the Duke of Buckingham 1 ,
but he did not reside at Court, notwithstanding
the pressing invitations of the King, till the Duke's
death; after which melancholy event, he yielded
to the solicitations of the King, repaired to London
from the Palace in Lanarkshire, was made Master
of the Horse, Gentleman of the Bed-chamber,
and a Privy Councillor in both kingdoms. The
King's affection towards him, being his relation in
no very remote degree, did not elate his mind, or
make him forget his illustrious descent. Prudent,
wise, and moderate, his influence was great in the
royal councils, and though he was thought by
1 In his youth, for he was at this time eighteen, that is, when
he was only fourteen years of age, and the lady seven. This
was an expedient of Buckingham's, who was desirous to
strengthen his family by great alliances, and who persuaded
the Marquis' father to the match. As is usually the case in
those political alliances, he did not live happily at first with his
lady, but his love to her increased afterwards so much, that
she was accustomed to observe, that " she had the greatest
reason to bless God for having given her such a husband, whom,
as she loved perfectly, she was not ashamed to obey." She
died in 163S.
488 LIFE AND TIMES [1029.
some to be inclined to Presbyterianism, yet he was
devotedly attached to the King, and to the Church
of England, and he only sanctioned the Solemn
League and Covenant in 1641, in obedience to the
King, who had been induced to assent to that
fanatical bond of the Scots. His favour with
the King exposed him to private enmity, " he
missed not his share of it," says Bishop Burnet,
" from those who were looking on him as the
rising favourite ; though he bore that character
worthily, he managed it prudently, for he neither
studied to engross things to himself nor his kin-
dred 1 ; he grew not insolent upon favour, nor im-
patient of competitors : neither did he obtrude
himself upon the management of particular affairs,
but did rest satisfied with the royal marks of his
master's favours, which, upon all occasions, were
poured on him liberally." Such was the nobleman
to whom the affairs of Scotland were to be en-
trusted, cautious and politic, of undoubted valour,
which he evinced while he served under the famous
Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, before he
entered upon an administration turbulent in itself
1 Compare this with Archdeacon Echard's assertions, that
" he had a mighty influence upon the greatest affairs at court,
especially when they related to his own countrymen," and that,
" by his influence, and the King's fondness towards his native
country, the court became filled with Scotchmen, who obtained
places and revenues to a proportion that was thought against
all the rules of reason and policy." I believe the Archdeacon
has followed Clarendon and Heylin in these assertions.
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 489
and fatal to him in its consequences, during which
foreign service he acquired a greater degree of wis-
dom and valour, which made him to be reckoned a
more dangerous enemy than he really was *.
The third great personage at the court, and to
whom were to be committed the affairs of Ireland,
was the famous Wentworth, afterwards the ill-fated
Earl of StrafFord, the intimate friend of Laud, who
was destined, like that great Prelate, and the Mar-
quis of Hamilton, to die the victim of oppression,
rebellion, and cruelty. This great and extraordi-
nary man, whose abilities were so eminent, as to
make Cardinal Richelieu, in a transport of indigna-
tion against the English, declare him the wisest
head in the nation, was descended from an ancient
and honourable family in Yorkshire, which had been
settled in that county since the time of the Con-
queror, in whose Doomsday Book the name of Regi-
nald de Wintwade occurs 2 . He was the eldest son
of Sir Thomas Wentworth, of Wentworth Wod-
house, Yorkshire, and of a daughter of Robert
Atkinson, of Stowell, Gloucestershire, a Bencher
of Lincoln's Inn, at whose house, in Chancery-lane,
London, he was born on GoodrFriday, April 13,
1593. He was educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge, the foundress of which noble college
was one of his ancestors. Upon the death of his
father, in 1614, he succeeded to an estate in those
1 Bishop Burnet's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton, &c.
folio, London, 1678, p. 1, 2. 4>. 406, 407, 408.
3 Collins' Peerage, vol. ii. p. 20, 21.
490 LIFE AND TIMES
days of 6000/. per annum, with the title of Ba-
ronet, conferred by James I. on his father, who had
been the twenty-second since the institution of that
order l . In 1615, he was Gustos Rotulorum for
Yorkshire, and in 1621, one of the representatives
for the county. In 1622, his lady, a daughter of
the Earl of Clare, died, and, in 1624-5, he mar-
ried Lady Arabella Holies, a lady of great personal
and mental accomplishments. On the accession of
Charles to the crown, he represented Yorkshire in
the first Parliament, in which he advocated the
enthusiastic measures of the Puritan faction, though
he still preserved his respect for the King, which
those religionists had unfortunately forgotten; and
that Charles did not view him in the light of an
enemy, is evident from his nominating him one of the
seven who were appointed to serve as sheriffs in 1625.
He was removed, however, by the interest of the Duke
of Buckingham, while discharging the duties of his
office, which increased his opposition to the Court,
and prompted him to aid in impeaching the Duke 2 .
In 1627 he was imprisoned in the Marshalsea, and
then confined to a circle of two miles round Dartford
in Kent, for refusing to comply with the loan. After
six months' restraint, he was elected to represent
Yorkshire in the King's third Parliament, in which
he distinguished himself by promoting the famous
1 Dedication of Stafford's Letters, &c., by Dr. Knowles, and
Sir G. Radcliffe's Essay, apud Appendix.
2 Collection, vol. i. p. 2, 3. Letters, 34, 35, 36.
, .. ~
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 491
Petition of Right, which being granted by the
King, he ceased his opposition, perceiving that the
faction whom he had aided were not actuated by
their pretended motives of disinterestedness : and he
took every occasion of expressing his disapprobation
of their proceedings *. Being reconciled soon after to
the Duke, he was offered a peerage, which he at
once accepted, and was created Baron Wentworth,
on the 22d of July, 1628 2 . This excited a consider-
able speculation among the people, and especially
amongst the Puritan faction, one of the chiefs of
which, Pym, with whom he had formerly acted,
said to him, on a certain occasion, " You are go-
ing to be undone, but remember, that though you
leave us now, I will never leave you while your
head is upon your shoulders." The surprise caused
by his elevation was farther increased by his being
created a few months afterwards a Viscount, made
a member . of the Privy Council, and Lord Presi-
dent J of the North, on the resignation of Lord
Scroope 3 . In this latter situation he endeavoured to
repair the mischievous effects of the negligence of
his predecessor, and he now devoted himself entirely
to the King. The wisdom, fidelity, and activity of
this great statesman, farther recommended him to
1 Letters of Lord Strafford to his brother-in-law, Denzil
Holies, Collection, vol. i. p. 40, 41 .
3 Stafford's Letters, vol. i. p. 47, vol. ii. p. 430.
3 Letters, ut sup.
7
492 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
Charles, who, at the death of Buckingham, made
him one of his chief confidants and advisers. At
this time, too, his extraordinary friendship with
Laud commenced, which continued unabated till
his death. No two men were ever brought into
contact with each other whose principles and feel-
ings were so much in unison. The same integrity,
the same devotedness to church and state, the same
firmness and decision, the same affection for their
royal master, the same opposition to the extrava-
gances of Puritans and Recusants, distinguished
each. In short, their tempers, inclinations, and
principles, as well as the modes of public adminis-
tration, were in unison ; they possessed every thing
which Cicero so eloquently enumerated as essential
to a lasting friendship. No part, perhaps, of the
history of this momentous period is more inte-
resting than the correspondence between these illus-
trious men. The character of Wentworth, al-
though it has been calumniated and vilified by his
enemies, requires little delineation. Temperate and
frugal, affectionate and kind, in his public and
domestic concerns, he was profoundly skilled in
the laws of England, and he died a martyr for the
altar and the throne. His prudence was well
known, few excelled him in eloquence of speech.
Though naturally choleric, he endeavoured to re-
press his temper, and he loved those who reminded
him of his weaknesses. " He was a man," says Sir
George Radcliffe, " and not an angel, yet such a man
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 493
as made a conscience of his ways, and did endeavour
to grow in virtue and victory over himself, and made
good progress accordingly 1 ."
Such were the tliree personages who were most
distinguished at the court in that turbulent age ;
and the latter it is not, perhaps, improper to
introduce as connected with Laud, inasmuch as
they were all involved in the general catastrophe
of this disastrous reign, sealing with their blood
their loyalty to the King the victims of daring re-
bellion and ambition. On the characters of the
other ministers of Charles I. it would be out of
place to expatiate. Laud, Hamilton, and Went-
worth, though not accountable for the imprudences
of the inferiors, were at the helm f affairs.
The year 1629 passed away, with little of im-
portance in the life of this great prelate. Diligent
in the discharge of his episcopal jurisdiction, and
adorning by his firmness and piety that high station
which the See of London secures, Laud was not the
man to be deceived by the intolerant pretensions of
the popular leaders, men of narrow views and vio-
lent enthusiasm. On the 13th of May, the Queen
was delivered of a son, who survived only a few
hours, and Laud presided at the funeral the next
day in Westminster Abbey. The remainder of the
year was to him a season of personal affliction. On
the 14th of August, on his way to Woodstock, he
1 Sir G. Radcliffe's Essay, apud Appendix to Stafford's
Letters, vol. ii. p. 433436.
494 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
fell into a fever at the house of one of his friends
named Windebank, where he lay till the 20th of
October, in an almost hopeless condition. On the
29th, he was enabled to return to London House,
but; still continuing weak, he again relapsed, nor
did he completely recover till the end of the ensu-
ing March.
But while Laud was thus confined by sickness,
his active mind was constantly employed. The ad-
vancement of religion he rightly conceived to be
identified with the stability of the Church, and if
the Church fell, there was no barrier against fana-
ticism and every species of sectarianism. Abbot,
who, notwithstanding the Puritan testimonies to
his mildness and liberality, was undoubtedly pos-
sessed with a spirit of sectarian intolerance, had
contributed much to weaken the Church by his
government. " No friend was he to the Church of
England, whereof he was the head," says Aubrey,
" but scandalously permitted that poisonous spirit
of Puritanism to spread all over the/ whole nation,
by his indolence, at least, if not by his connivance
and encouragement, which some years after broke
out, and laid a flourishing Church and State in
the most miserable ruins, and which gave birth to
those principles which, unless rooted out, will ever
make the nation unhappy V At this time his age
had increased his remissness : his house, as has been
already observed, resembled a conventicle rather
1 Antiquities of Surrey, vol. iii. p. 287.
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 495
than the house of a Protestant Bishop ; a puritani-
cal silence reigned within its walls, and he was
himself rendered gloomy and austere by the spirit
of Calvinism, which induced in that age a kind of
religious stoicism. The Bishops were permitted to
live at their ease apart from their dioceses : but
chiefly was danger apparent from the host of itiner-
ating lecturers, and others who had been ordained,
harbouring in the houses of private individuals as
chaplains, who made it their business to undermine
the Church, proceed from place to place inflaming
the zeal of the people, and were in a manner re-
moved from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, by not having
regular benefices. Against these men, generally
ignorant and violent enthusiasts, it was necessary
to be specially guarded, because they endeavoured
by every means to revive the predestinarian con-
troversy, which had been already productive of so
much mischief. Even the testimony of the Puritan
historian, though designed to serve a different pur-
pose, is conclusive that their suppression was abso-
lutely necessary. They inveighed in their sermons
against every thing which did not meet their fancy,
" they were strict Calvinists," says Neal ; and then
he adds, as if the exclusive consequence of Cal-
vinism, they were " warm and affectionate preachers,
and distinguished themselves by a religious observ-
ance of the Lord's Day, by a bold opposition to
Popery and the new ceremonies, and by an uncom-
mon severity of life. This affectation of piety and
austerity excited the applause of the ignorant mul-
496 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
titude, who were delighted to hear the regular
clergy reviled by those itinerating preachers ; and,
to crown all, they were openly patronised by Ab-
bot, who, whether from conviction, or some other
cause, thought that they, and they only, had the
Protestant religion at heart, and would fortify their
hearers against the return of Popery V In other
words, they fell into the opposite extreme of fana-
tical extravagance, and justified Laud's observation,
that they were dangerous enemies to the state, be-
cause by their extempore prayers and sermons,
which they amply mixed with their private preju-
dices, they awakened the dissatisfaction of the
people, and excited the popular clamour.
In order that the evils resulting from this vagrant
preaching might be timely averted, in the month
of December, 1629, after a correspondence between
Laud and Dr. Harsnet, Archbishop of York, who had
succeeded Montaigne, before the latter, to adopt
the phrase of Heylin, had half-warmed his chair,
certain articles were drawn out, and submitted to
the King, who, sensible of their importance, imme-
diately signed them when they were presented by
Laud. These were immediately dispatched to
Archbishop Abbot, under the title of "His Ma-
jesty's Instructions to the Most Reverend Father in
God, George, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, con-
taining certain orders to be observed and put in
1 Heylin, p. 188, 189. Parliamentary Hist. vol. viii. p. 209,
210. Rush worth, part ii. p. 30, 31.
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 497
execution by the several Bishops in his Province."
The sum of these instructions was simply the
ordination of proper persons, and nine particulars
were submitted to the attention of the Bishops
that there should be a diligent catechizing on the
Sunday afternoons by the clergy that the lecturers
conduct divine service according to the Liturgy of
the Church, and in the proper canonicals that the
lectures in market towns be preached by orthodox
-divines of the diocese that every lecturer main-
tained by a corporation be not suffered to preach
till he profess his willingness to take upon himself
a cure of souls that the bishops should use every
means to obtain a personal knowledge of the lec-
turers that none but persons qualified by law en-
tertain private chaplains that public prayers and
catechisings be diligently performed, and notice
taken of absentees and recusants that the bishops
.shall not dispose of the Church lands by leases, in
prejudice to their successors and that an account
of these instructions be rendered on the 2d day of
January every year. These instructions, it will be
admitted by every impartial mind, were not only
salutary in that age of religious knavery, but highly
beneficial to the advancement of rational piety,
apart from the extravagances of enthusiasm and
private interpretation. It is a trite remark, first
made, I believe, by the illustrious Bishop Bull, that
a mere preaching church cannot stand : and where-
ever there is too much respect awarded to human
effusions, in preference to the more solemn duties
VOL. i- K k
498 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
* * *
of prayer and praise, and catechising the young
and ignorant, there are infallible indications of some-
thing wrong. On this point, too, the Romish Regu-
lars and the Puritan enthusiasts, like the modern
Methodists, remarkably agreed 1 . Preaching was
the grand resort of the Puritans, as it was of the
Regulars ; in many cases the worship of God was
sacrificed to a gratification of their rhetorical pro-
pensities ; and stimulated as they were by a violent
opposition towards the Church, their effusions
abounded with their individual opinions. They
forgot that the sermon is no part of public wor-
ship, that it is the least of all the other important
duties of a faithful minister ; and they excited in
the populace that desire for hunting after novelties
which is one great feature of schismatical separa-
tions. Hence, their votaries disregarded the very
essentials of Christianity, and placed their sole de-
pendence on the compositions of the orator. With
them it was not he who was the most moderate, dili-
gent, and pious, but he who made the greatest
noise, who displayed the greatest apparent fervor
and gesticulation, whose pedestris copia was most
agreeable to their enthusiasm, and who declaimed
against and denounced the regular clergy, that was
certain of popular applause 2 . In this there is a
1 Bishop Lavington's Enthusiasm of the Methodists and
Papists considered, 8vo.
2 A similar class of rhetoricians obtained both at Athens and
Rome in ancient times. In the former city were the Sophists, who
eventually accomplished the death of the virtuous Socrates, who
penetrated their designs, and exposed them to ridicule a class
1629,] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 499
striking resemblance to the religionists of the pre-
sent day,, who are continually on the search after
novelty, who seem to place their faith on the sen-
timents of their favorite orator, and who delight in
gaudy parade, fulsome compliment, and vain osten-
tation in certain public assemblies.
I would indeed regret were I to say any thing
against the ordinance of preaching, for I believe it in
itself a most important duty, but the opinion of the
great and good Bishop Bull on this subject, with
whose sentiments every clergyman ought to be
familiar, is to me quite conclusive. It was a most
dangerous principle which obtained in the days of
Puritanism, as it does now, to call the composi-
tion or the sentiments of any frail and erring
mortal the Gospel, to despise every other minister
who does not indulge in the same style of phraseo-
logy, and who does not delight to appear in certain
public assemblies to receive the greetings of reli-
gious partisans. For true religion consists neither
in a fancied evangelism, nor in extravagant gesti-
culation, nor in an impassioned delivery, nor in a
of men concerning whom Plato remarked, " Let us give them
crowns, only to turn them the more honourably out of our do-
minions." Had Quintilian heard the oratorical displays of the.
Puritans, he could not have described them with better effect
than in the language he has employed, Inst. lib. ii. cap. 12.
" Clamant ubique, et omnia levata (ut ipsi dicunt) manu emu-
giunt, multo discursu, anhelitu, jactatione, gestu, motuque ca-
pitis furentes mire ad pullatum circulum facit cum ille eru*
<litus modestus et esse, et videri malit at illi hanc vim appel-
lant, quae est potius violentia."
Kk2
500 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
peculiar religious phraseology, nor in the parade
and bustle of missionary assemblies ; and still less
does it consist in merely popular discourses, to
which the religionists repair, not for the purpose
of worshipping God, that is, for prayer and praise,
for if there were nothing else they would not go
at all, but to hear their favourite orator, to be de-
lighted by his eloquence, manifesting the utmost
impatience till he makes his appearance. What!
shall the public service of God be prostituted for
the gratification of human passions ? Shall men and
women, possessed of immortal souls, proceed to
the Christian temple as they would do to the arena
of florid declamation, compliments, and religious
partisanship ? Shall they dare to be impatient
during that holy service of praise, prayer, and
reading of the inspired canon, which the wisdom
of the Church has enjoined, until the idol of popu-
lar applause appear and commence his rhetorical
harangue ? And shall they hang on the words of a
sinful man, and place them above the reading of
the gospel message ? It is sickening and deplora-
ble. How different is true religion from such lament-
able fanaticism and daring contempt of Heaven,
both in the preacher and his adherents ! Quiet and
unobtrusive, true religion takes up its abode in the
heart, shunning all ostentation and popular ap-
plause, disdaining the ephemeral celebrity of dan-
gerous and misguided zeal, and teaching its pos-
sessor to direct his humble aspirations towards
Heaven, to reverence the sacred and venerable
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 501
institutions of the Church, and to guard against
that hollow liberality which is as superficial and
evanescent as the morning dew.
The King, as well as Laud, was extremely sus-
picious of those itinerating lecturers, and not with-
out reason, as will immediately appear. Lecturers
were of three classes those who were obtruded
into the cures of the regular ministry, and endea-
voured to engross the popularity of the people,
those who held combination lectureships, who
preached in rotation in a market-town, and run-
ning or itinerating lecturers, who preached first at
church, then at private houses, then in the adjoin-
ing parishes, and so on, the preacher, after abusing
the institutions of the Church, and declaiming
against its doctrine and discipline, always announc-
ing to his satellites where he was next to be found.
Such irregularities deserved especially to be sup-
pressed ; yet Archbishop Abbot thought otherwise,
for though he was obliged to communicate the in-
structions to his suffragan Bishops, he did so only in
an official manner, but in private he acted in direct
contrariety, determined to patronise his friends,
and thus affording another instance of his disregard
for the Church. Dr. Kingsly, Archdeacon of
Canterbury, conformably to the official instruc-^
tions he had received from the Metropolitan, sus-
pended two preachers, named Palmer and Udney,
for refusing to conform to the King's directions.
The one was lecturer of St. Alphage, Canterbury,
the other of Ashford, in the same diocese. They
502 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
were both charged with having no licence to preach,
officiating against the inclinations of the incum-
bents,, catechising against the terms of the canon,
misinterpreting the King's instructions, refusing to
read prayers, or to wear the surplice ; and Palmer,
in particular, had preached a seditious sermon in
the Cathedral, had spoken in contempt of the ser-
vice of the Church, and had all the seditious per-
sons in the neighbourhood for his auditors. Yet
Abbot, to shew his authority, and his favour for the
zealots, not only authorized them both to resume
their lectureships, but prohibited the Archdeacon to
take cognisance of them, and frowned on those who
presumed to animadvert on his conduct. No step
could have been more impolitic, even admitting
that the lecturers were harshly treated. It could
not fail to increase the boldness of the faction, and
when the above-mentioned seditious behaviour was
thus openly patronised, it was not to be thought
that they would confine themselves to general de-
clamations.
" If a house be divided against itself/' saith the
Divine Founder of Christianity, " it cannot stand,"
and of the truth of this, the Church of England at
this period afforded a melancholy example. The
vigour of its friends was counteracted by such pro-
ceedings, and the Church sapped at its foundation.
Abbot's conduct was reported at Court, and, of
course, it was duly censured : but it was thought
most expedient to pass it over in silence, on ac-
count of his infirmities, and the moroseness of his
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 503
disposition. But Laud determined to investigate
the state of his own diocese, more especially as in the
metropolis numbers could conceal themselves for a
time, and carry on their designs. The clamours of
the Puritans against these instructions were great :
they declared that they were intended to suppress
preaching altogether ; and with them every thing
depended on sermons. The diminishing of the
number of private chaplains offended as well those
who entertained them as the chaplains themselves ;
while even the poorer bishops were by no means
satisfied at being obliged to betake themselves to
their remote dioceses, where they were subject to an
expence which their revenues could not bear. As to
the Puritanlecturers, nothing could annoy themmore
than to be compelled to catechise ; they had always
derided and neglected this most important duty, or
treated it with contempt, thinking that sermons on
their favourite topics of election and predestination
were admirably adapted for persons who, in truth,
required to be instructed in the first principles of
religion. To wear gown and surplice was a dread-
ful punishment to them, while they equally depre-
cated being restricted to a cure of souls, as by that
means they would be deprived of their popularity.
1 Heylin, p. 191. "Nor were the chaplains better pleased
than their masters. For having lived upon hard commons, and
perhaps under some smart discipline also in their halls and col-
leges, they thought they had spent their studies to good purpose,
by finding ease and a full belly in those gentlemen's houses from
whom there was some possibility of preferment, which better
scholars than themselves might have otherwise hoped for."
504 LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
But Laud summoned them before him, pressed
upon them the necessity of these instructions, in-
formed them that he was determined to put them
in execution, and directed letters to all his Arch-
deacons to the same effect, as did all the other
bishops, " but slackening by degrees, when the
heat was over," says Heylin, " possibly in a short
time they had not been looked into at all, if Abbot
had continued much longer in the See of Canter-
bury, or if his Majesty had not enjoined the
bishops to give him an exact account of their pro-
ceedings in the said particulars, not once for all,
but annually, on the second of January."
The conduct of those lecturers made this cogni-
zance absolutely necessary, as will appear from the
following specimens of their devotions and instruc-
tions. One Nathaniel Barnard, lecturer of St.
Sepulchre's, London, prayed thus before his ser-
mon, " Lord, open the eyes of the Queen's Ma-
jesty, that she may see Jesus Christ, whom she
hath pierced with her infidelity, superstition, and
idolatry V For this he was of course called to ac-
1 This same preacher, however, abused Laud's leniency, who
had merely dismissed him on his expression of sorrow. Three
years afterwards, he preached a sermon before the University
of Cambridge, from 1 Sam. iv. 21, in which he declared that
Romish superstitions were introduced into the Church. Being
called into the commission court for introducing subjects foreign
to his purpose, and for making assertions which he could not
prove, he dogmatically refused to retract, and was accordingly
suspended, fined 1000L, and committed to prison. Rushworth,
vol. ii. Part ii. p. 140, 141, 142. Hume's History, vol. vi.
1629.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 505
count. Charles Chaucey, vicar of Ware, declared
in his sermon, that " idolatry was admitted into
the Church, that the preaching of the gospel
would be suppressed that there is much Atheism,
Popery, Arminianism, and heresy crept into the
Church." His case was remitted to Laud, and all
that the Bishop required of him was to make a
submission in Latin l . Sharpe, one of the preben-
daries of Durham, preached a fiery sermon from
the passage of Scripture, " I hate all those that
love superstitious vanities, but thy law do I love :"
which harangue was occasioned by some paintings
in the Cathedral of Durham. This occasioned his
committal to prison, deprivation of his prebend,
excommunication, and fine of 500/. One declared in
his sermon, that the gospel stood on tip-toe, and was
departing to New England : while others indulged in
metaphorical language, and affected to speak in para-
bles and prophecies. Some preached long sermons
against windows of stained glass, which they reckoned
an awful innovation ; and a Bencher of Lincoln's
Inn, who will be more particularly noticed, was pro-
secuted for imitating the actions of his violent friends,
and, by a daring and sacrilegious outrage, demolish-
ing a painted window in St. Edmund's Church,
1 Rushworth, ut sup. p. 34. This preacher, also, six years
afterwards, thought proper to distinguish himself by opposing
the railing of the communion-table in the parish church, " as a
snare and innovation to men's consciences." He was also fined,
and imprisoned, but again dismissed, on promising submission.
Rushworth, ut sup. p. 316.
506 ^LIFE AND TIMES [1629.
Salisbury, though he and his confederates had been
warned by the Bishop. He was fined 500/. and
removed from his office of Recorder of Salisbury.
In short, their insolence and outrages were so in-
decent, as to become intolerable ; the regular
clergy, who, in the faithful discharge of their duty,
confined themselves to the Liturgy and Homilies,
were called Dumb Dogs ; and the bishops, Men of
blood, Followers of Antichrist.
Perhaps, in some cases, the punishments exceeded
the offence, abstractedly considered ; but, it must
be recollected, that the offence was rendered more
heinous by the obstinacy of the offenders, and that
it was necessary to restrain the seditious enthu-^
siasm which was studiously excited among the
people. In that age of religious zeal, those disaf-
fected preachers made it their constant practice to
lecture from the Jewish Scriptures, and they chose
all those passages which at once informed their
auditors of the opinions they were to advance. It
is, indeed, difficult to prove that the Puritans had
any extraordinary regard for religion, or were ac-
tuated otherwise than by determined opposition ;
for who will justify men who made the pulpit, from
which ought to be proclaimed the solemn truths of
man's salvation, the place for uttering their poli-
tical and religious prejudices, courting partisans,
and gratifying the vulgar notions of the rabble ?
And yet this was invariably their practice, which
they were enabled to do with great facility, by in-
dulging in extemporaneous effusions. Hence it is,
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 507
that while all the productions of the Church at that
period, with the exceptions before specified l , have
no bearing at all on the public distractions, save
the general inculcation of peace and unity, the
Puritan performances are, to a greater or less de-
gree, the monuments of that determined hatred
which they continually evinced. And if men will
so far forget themselves as to blend political pre-
judices with the great truths of Christianity, and
endeavour to find precedents in the history of Pa-
lestine for exciting the fanaticism of the multitude on
the passing events of the day, thereby encouraging
disaffection and inflaming the popular discontent,
surely no visionary declamation concerning liberty
can restrain a civil government from taking cogni-
zance of such malcontents, nor is it inconsistent
with the spirit of freedom to make examples of them
to others. At least, it ought not to be forgotten, that
the leaders of a faction are the most dangerous
enemies of good government, which ought to pro-
mote and maintain respect for established institu-
tions, and riot to sacrifice these by a pretended
liberal remissness, for the purpose of gratifying the
whims and the prejudices of disaffected religionists.
The year 1630 was introduced by an event which
procured for Laud new honours, and enabled him
to display his generous disposition by fresh acts of
munificence and splendor. On the 10th of April,
the Earl of Pembroke, Chancellor of the Univer-
1 Doctors Sibthorpe and Manwaring.
508 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
sity of Oxford, died suddenly of apoplexy, and Laud
was elected to succeed him, though not without
some opposition. The faction opposed to him, in-
significant, indeed, at the head of whom was the
Bishop of Lincoln, his old enemy, proposed to elect
the Earl of Montgomery, Pembroke's brother, and
the four Colleges in the visitation of that bishop,
namely, Baliol, Oriel, Lincoln, and Brazennose,
accordingly endeavoured to promote an opposition.
But, on the 12th, a Convocation was held, and
Laud was chosen Chancellor of the University *.
On the 28th, in solemn Convocation at London-
house, he was invested with the authority of his
high office, with the applause of the King,, who
testified that he knew none more worthy of that
office than the Bishop of London. Laud well de-
served this mark of respect, both from his eminence,
and from his activity and diligence in discharging
the important duties, the University being "ex-
1 In the election of Laud to the Chancellorship, the party
against him was thought to be more numerous (Wood, Antiq.
Oxon. vol. ii. p. 368) : and Prynne, therefore, asserts, (Canter-
burie's Doome, p. 71,) " that by indirect means he procured
himself to be elected Chancellor, and that the noble brother to
the Earl of Pembroke, was then really elected by most voices,
though miscalculated by practice in the scrutiny by this prelate's
creatures." But this is not the case, for Pembroke's death
was sudden and unexpected, and Laud could not possibly have
time to employ " indirect means," because Pembroke died on
10th of November, and he was chosen Chancellor on the 12th,
nor did he know that he was chosen till it was formally notified
to him. (Diary, p. 45.)
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 509
tremely sunk from all discipline, and fallen into
licentiousness/' The great patron of learning and
religion, the promoter of salutary government and
discipline, and the munificent benefactor to all in-
stitutions of piety and charity, it was right that he
should be placed in a situation where the beneficent
activity of his great mind would be unrestrained.
From this time forward, it was his study to adorn
that splendid seat of learning .with sumptuous build-
ings, to enrich it with most valuable manuscripts,
which he spared no expence to procure, and with
books of the greatest value. These are actions
which ought to atone for many imperfections. Un-
fortunately, this great man lived in an age when
his genius and his worth were appreciated only by a
few : but, had his lot been cast in an age when reason
and genuine religion prevailed over enthusiasm
and affected purity of doctrine, who would have
dared to impeach his illustrious character, or have
exposed himself to contempt and indignation, by
pronouncing his memory " infamous ?"
Religious bigotry and a love of learning and liter-
ature are very rarely combined in the same person.
Bigotry depends on ignorance for support; it is
identified with intolerance, and intolerance exists
chiefly where ignorance prevails. But the man
who pretends to establish bigotry, which, however,
like the term liberality, is extremely vague and
capable of various definitions, must unquestionably
be disappointed in his speculations, at least if he
510 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
attempt to introduce that species of bigotry to which
I allude, which was practised to the very letter by
the Church of Rome, the English Puritans, and the
Scottish Covenanters. For that is only bigotry, I
conceive, which induces us to imagine that there is
no salvation out of the communion to which we are
attached ; but that cannot be bigotry which asserts
that there is salvation both out of Rome and out of
a Conventicle, and which induces us to adhere to
the Church, and to oppose the arts of designing
men, who, in their endeavours for power, would
overthrow and trample under foot the most sacred
institutions. When men are stimulated by bad
passions, or by the bitterness of disappointment,
they forget the respect due to antiquity in their
attachment to ideal novelties ; they forget that a
venerable structure may remain while its interior is
purged from the grosser corruptions ; they forget
that antiquity has a voice above modern innovations,
yea, even tradition above fanciful modern notions.
Laud, by his patronage of learning, could not, in
the nature of things, be a bigot, and consequently
he was not intolerant, otherwise his actions betrayed
an erroneous calculation. " But his princely mag-
nificence," says Ockley, " in being tit prodigious
expence to restore Oriental learning in these nor-
thern climates, both by purchasing such an excel-
lent collection of authors in the East, and encou-
raging men of abilities to apply themselves that
way, cannot, without the greatest ingratitude, be
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 511
passed over in silence, by any one that has clue
regard to Oriental learning V His munificence in
this and other respects, from the year he obtained the
Chancellorship of Oxford, till the day that he sent
his pious and affecting resignation of that high
office from the Tower, will be hereafter particularly
mentioned. No fewer than thirteen hundred MS S.
did this great man present to the University of
Oxford, in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, Egyptian,
Ethiopian, Armenian, Persian, Arabic, Russian,
Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Latin, Italian,
French, Saxon, English, and Irish languages, as
the inscription in the Bodleian Library sets forth.
Who can calculate the expence of this collection, or
the means by which it was acquired ! It would
seem to require a lifetime to be employed in a work
so praiseworthy to himself, so honourable to the
English nation and to the University of which he
was the head and ornament.
Being thus installed Chancellor of his own Uni-
versity, Laud's activity and noble works were soon
conspicuous. Some weeks afterwards, he was
called to discharge another duty, the appointment
to which was honourable to himself. On the 29th
of May, 1630, a day subsequently ever-memorable
in the annals of England, the Queen was delivered
of a prince at St. James's, afterwards Charles IT.
Laud was in the palace at the time, and within an
1 Simon Ockley's Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by
the Saracens, 8vo. London, 1708, vol. i. pref. p. xviii. xi-x.
7
512 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
hour after the birth of the future heir of the House
of Stuart, whose youthful years were destined to be
clouded by adversity and exile, he held the infant
prince in his arms. On June 27, he officiated as
Dean of the Chapel Royal, and baptized the Prince,
though that office belongs exclusively to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the sovereign and his family
being reckoned parishioners of the metropolitan,
who, in virtue of his office, ought to attend in the
royal household on these important occasions. But
Charles had not been an inattentive observer of
Abbot's conduct, and the patronage which he had
awarded to Palmer and Udney was by no means
agreeable to the monarch. Avowed personal hos-
tility between Abbot and Laud had ceased. The
former had seen all his opposition to ruin the latter
unavailing, and the gloominess of his disposition
operated with the infirmities of age to make him
live in retirement. Laud modestly excuses him by
saying that he was then " very infirm," which was
the fact ; but perhaps Heylin's observation is cor-
rect, that at court <e his company was not very
desirable." It was an evident disregard of the
Archbishop, and a sufficient indication of especial
favour towards the man whom he had persecuted,
but whose life was a practical demonstration of the
truth, that integrity and virtue will eventually
triumph over falsehood and reproach ] .
1 At the birth of Charles, the Puritan faction partook not of
the general joy. The ringleaders were zealously affected to-
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 513
But while Laud was thus diligently discharging
his important duties, the fatal predestinarian con-
troversy was again revived, notwithstanding the
injunctions of the Church to bury that dogma in
oblivion, and the recommendation to the clergy to
confine themselves exclusively to the doctrines ^f
Scripture. Dr. John Davenant, Bishop of Salisbury,
one of those who had been sent by King James
to the Synod of Dort, and who had declared for
universal redemption there, in a sermon preached
before the Court during Lent, from Rom. vi. 23.,
discoursed on this subject, in open violation of the
King's instructions to the Bishops. As it would
wards James' daughter, the Queen of Bohemia, and wished that
the succession might end with Charles in her favour. At a
public feast, held in Friday Street, London, one of their chiefs
declared that " he could see no cause of rejoicing, because God
had already better provided for them, in giving such a hopeful
progeny to the Queen of Bohemia, brought up in the Reformed
Religion, while it was uncertain what religion the King's chil-
dren would follow, being to be brought up by a mother de-
voted to the Church of Rome." Dr. Heylin, who lived at the
time, relates a fact in his own experience, which shews the
disposition of the whole party. " I remember," says he, " be-
ing at a town in Gloucestershire, when the news came of the
prince's birth. There was a great joy evinced by all the parish,
in causing bonfires to be made, the bells to be rung, and send-
ing victuals unto those of the younger sort, who were most
busily employed in the public joy. But from the rest of the
houses, being of the Presbyterian or Puritan faction, there came
neither man, nor child, nor wood, nor victuals, their doors being
shut all the evening, as in a time of general mourning and dis-
consolation."
VOL. I. L 1
514 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
have afforded matter of triumph to the Predestina-
rians, had Davenant been suffered to pass unnoticed,
and the silence would either have been interpreted
by them as a virtual acknowledgment of the tenet, or
as inability to deny or refute it, the Bishop was sum-
moned two days afterwards before the Privy Coun-
cil. Harsnet, Archbishop of York, conducted the
business against him. " Bishop Laud," says Fuller,
" walking by all the while in silence, spake not one
word." After some severe remarks by Harsnet,
the Bishop, on proffering his submission and ac-
knowledgment that he had misunderstood the
King's Declaration, was dismissed 1 . This is ano-
ther instance of the impartiality of the King and
Laud, who did not wish the doctrine to be handled
at all. Various others of lesser note were also
called to account for their behaviour, and some of
them prohibited to preach within the Diocese of
London, unless they refrained from touching on a
dogma which, as the King well remarked, was far
above the comprehension of the people.
Laud's vigorous measures to preserve the peace
and unity of the Church, amidst these religious dis-
tractions, had raised against him a number of ene-
mies, who attacked him both from the pulpit and
the press, who were privately suborned by their
faction. The case of one of these, by far the most
violent of the party, was now to occupy the atten-
1 Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 138141. Prynne's
Canterburie's Doome, p. 155, 156. 173, 174.
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 515
tion of the public, and as Laud has incurred the
odium of his punishment, the case must be fairly
and impartially stated.
During the sitting of the Parliament, Alexander
Leighton, a Scotch Presbyterian minister, and a
doctor of divinity, had published a volume, dedi-
cated to the Puritan faction, which he dignified
with the title of " An Appeal to the Parliament, or
Zion's Plea against Prelacy ;" and he had studiously
stationed himself at the door of the House of Com-
mons, and presented it to various of the members
of the House, by the way of inflaming their zeal
concerning the national turbulence. This man,
whom Heylin deservedly calls a " fiery Puritan
zealot V and whom, says Fuller, in his usual face-
tious manner, " had he been an Englishman, we
durst call him B, furious, but now we will term him
a fiery (whence kindled let others guess) member 2 "
had endeavoured to excite tumult and rebellion,
his book consisting of a "continual railing from
beginning to end." His other book, entitled, " A
Looking-Glass for the Holy War," was written in
the same spirit.
This zealot was father to the famous Dr. Robert
Leighton, successively Principal of the University
of Edinburgh, Bishop of Dunblane, and Archbishop
1 Heylin, p. 187.
a Fuller, ut sup. p. 136. He is termed by Rushworth, vol. iii.
Append, p. 29, and by Whitelock, p. 15, a Roman Catholic.
This is a mistake : for the rectifying of which, see Fuller, as
quoted.
Ll2
516 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-
of Glasgow, a prelate who, though unquestionably
pious and sincere, would not have received so much
of the sectarian applause, had he been active and
vigorous in the cause of the unfortunate and now
too humble Church of which he was a dignitary.
He was born at Edinburgh, in 1587, and imbibed
largely that fanaticism and desire for spiritual novel-
ties which Andrew Melville had imported from
Geneva. He was educated at the College of King
James VI. and University there, in which he became,
it is said, Professor of Moral Philosophy. Towards
the latter part of James' reign, he came to London,
probably in the exercise of his profession, being
also a Doctor of Physic ; but nothing is known of
him, nor would he, perhaps, have emerged from his
obscurity, had he not excited public notoriety by
his treasonable book. So dangerous was it in that
factious age, and so violent were some of the ex-
pressions, that when the information was laid against
him in the Star-Chamber, on the 4th of June 1630,
the two Chief Justices gave it as their opinion,
that "if the case had come before them, they would
have proceeded against him for treason," and some
of the Lords declared, that " it was from his Ma-
jesty's great mercy and goodness that he was
brought to receive the sentence of that Court, and
not arraigned as a traitor at another bar." That
the book was intended to bear against Laud and
the Lord Treasurer Weston, is unquestionable ; for
it appeared at the very time when the popular
odium was excited against them, when the two
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 517
libellous threats were found in the Dean of St.
Paul's yard ; nor is it at all improbable that Leigh-
ton knew who were the writers. In " Ziori's Plea "
as he impiously termed it, this enthusiast libelled
the King, Peers, and Bishops ; he says, that " we
do not read of greater persecution and higher in-
dignity done upon God's people, in any nation pro-
fessing the gospel, than in this our island, especially
since the death of Queen Elizabeth ;" he terms the
prelates " men of blood, enemies to God and the
state," and that their establishment and mainte-
nance within this realm is a " snare and master-sin
established by law." He declared the Church " to
be Antichristian and Satanical," the Bishops " ra-
vens and magpies that prey upon the state." The
canons of the Church are termed by this fanatical
dabbler, " nonsense canons." He abused the act
of kneeling at the Communion, declaring that the
Bishops " brought forth that received spawn of the
Beast, kneeling at the sacrament." The Queen he
styled " a Canaanite, a daughter of hell, an idola-
tress." He commended the murder of the Duke of
Buckingham, and advised others to do the like.
In every page he abused the King and Queen, the
Government and the Constitution : he incites the
rabble to smite the Bishops under the fifth rib ; he
quotes passages from the Jewish Scriptures to
strengthen his advice ; and then, by a crafty device,
he thought to escape the censure of the King, by
throwing all the odium on his advisers 1 .
1 Rushworth's Collections, vol. i. Part 2. p. 55, 56. and vol.
iii. App. p. 29.
518 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
Leighton did not deny that he wrote the book,
but he maintained that he did it from no ill design,
and that his design was merely to draw the at-
tention of Parliament to the national grievances, and
thereby induce them to adopt such measures as
might tend to the welfare of the Church and State,
and the honour of the King. This lame defence
was, in effect, a justification of his printed assertions,
otherwise he must have thought that his judges
were destitute of common sense. He was accord-
ingly sentenced to be imprisoned in the Fleet Prison
during his life, and to pay a fine of 10,000 to the
King. He was then, in respect to his ecclesiastical
functions, referred to the High Commission, because
the other Court could not inflict any corporal
punishment on persons while in holy orders ; where
being degraded from his ministry, he was brought
back, and sentenced to be placed in the pillory at
Westminster during the sitting of the Court, and
there whipped : after his whipping to have one of
his ears cut off, his nose slit, his forehead branded
with S. S. for seditious slanderer, and then con-
ducted to prison. At another time, he was to be
placed in the pillory at Cheapside, his other ear cut
off, again whipped, and then conducted to prison, till
his Majesty should be pleased to set him at liberty.
Such was the sentence passed against this unfor-
tunate man, and it must be admitted that it was
severe ; that it excites the shudder of humanity ;
and that the punishment of this man, who was a
fitter inmate for a madhouse than a prison, far ex-
ceeded his offence. It is not my intention to ani-
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 519
madvert on this sentence, only severe with respect
to the cutting off the ears, the slitting of the nose,
and the* branding of the forehead, which, however,
were the modes of punishment in that age; but
yet it was not without aggravation. Even Neal, the
champion of Puritanism, says that he was guilty of
very great rudeness and indecency ;" arid declares
that " the warmth of his expressions is not to be
justified." It is my object to investigate how far it
is chargeable on Laud, or if he had any concern in
it at all ; though I must here observe, that circum-
stances must be taken into account, which will at least
palliate the sentence, and the conduct of Leighton's
judges. The man who willingly and deliberately
publishes sedition to the world, and excites his fellow-
subjects to rebellion and blood, is a much greater
criminal than another man, who may have given ut-
terance to such sentiments in the momentary excite-
ment of passion. On this same principle, the man
who advises to commit murder, as Leighton did, is
hardly less criminal than the man who follows his
advice. In times of peace and moderation, such
guilty recommendations have no effect, because the
people are inclined to reason calmly on the subject,
and, therefore, a timely interference of the Govern-
ment, and a punishment proportionable to the evil
which is likely to arise from the state of the public
mind, are all that are requisite. Hence, in the pre-
sent day the fanatic who could utter such sentiments
would not meri't the severity of punishment necessary
in the reign of Charles L, because enthusiasm is
520 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
restrained, and the laws can be put in speedy opera-
tion. But the man who, in an age of fermentation
and religious extravagance, instead of acting the
part of a good subject, and endeavouring to allay
those unhappy commotions, still farther excites the
wanderings of that daring spirit which runs to fear-
ful extremes ; who reviles the Government before
he has proved it to be bad, merely because he and
his faction think it so ; who can write with all the
fierceness of hate and individual prejudice against
religious institutions, which, their divine authority
apart, had as conscientious supporters as, perad-
venture, they might have had opposers ; who abuses
his sovereign, and holds up to ridicule the members
of the royal House ; who condemns the royal mea-
sures because his party opposes them ; who can
coolly commend a deliberate murder, and advise
others to re-act the like tragedy, and who addresses
himself to factious men, already phrenzied by religi-
ous fanaticism ; who, in short, a Christian minister,
adventuring into the arena of politics without any
necessity, inculcates, under a puritanical form, the
most daring treason and rebellion ; such a man is
deserving of no slight punishment, as being a pub-
lic enemy, an incendiary in the State, whose freedom
is dangerous, and of whom an example ought to be
made. I do not vindicate the sentence, much less do
I either affirm or deny that Leighton's punishment
was commensurate with the offence; but ' I^hold,
that if he was insane, his insanity under any circum-
stances was dangerous ; if not, who will hesitate to
7
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 521
say that he was not a rebel, and consequently a
traitor to his sovereign ? Every man, at his birth,
gives a tacit consent to the established government,
nor is he bound to seek redress even for grievances,
except at the instance of the laws, or from the
public representatives of the nation, if these act
according to the constitution. But he who takes
upon himself, as an individual, the office of judge,
and advises, through the medium of the press, to
measures of violence, is entitled to the same cere-
mony he has employed, as to the punishment he
deserves. And had Leighton's book passed unno-
ticed, or its author unpunished, the Government,
and not he, would have been highly culpable.
It may be doubted, whether the sentence was
intended to be executed on this unfortunate man,
for, though it was given towards the end of Trinity
Term, yet five months were suffered to elapse, in
order to give some opportunity to the offender for
penitence : it was not till the 4th of November that
Leighton was actually degraded. Rushworth in-
deed asserts, that "it required some time in the
ecclesiastical court, in order to the degradation of
the defendant ;" but this formality was utterly gra-
tuitous, for Leighton was not ordained by the
English Church, but was of presbyterian ordination,
and, therefore, could not be expected to derive any
favour from the Church of which he was not a
member. This proceeding, however, might have
been instituted in order to give him the benefit of
delay, that he might tender his submission, while,
522 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
at the same time, it deprived him of entertaining
the notion that the sentence could not be immedi-
ately enforced. But penitence was no feature of
Leighton's party. On Wednesday, the 10th, being
a court day, he was to have undergone the sen-
tence, but on the previous night he effected, by
some means or other, with the contrivance of his
friends, his escape. A proclamation was issued to
apprehend him, and he was taken in Bedfordshire,
within two weeks, and returned to the Fleet. On
the 16th of November, the first part of the cruel
sentence was carried into effect before the New
Palace at Westminster, and he suffered it to the
full extent, with the exception of the fine and the
imprisonment for life, being released after an im-
prisonment of ten years by the Long Parliament,
in 1640. As a remuneration for his sufferings, he
was made Keeper of Lambeth Palace, at that time
converted into a prison, and he died insane in
1644-5.
Such were the severe sufferings of the unfortu-
nate Leighton, a man of considerable learning and
abilities, and otherwise worthy of the University
where he was educated, but whose " untempered
zeal, as his countrymen gave it out," says Rush-
worth, " prompted him to that mistake for which
the necessity of affairs at that time required this
severity from the hand of the magistrate, more,
perhaps, than the crime would do in a following
juncture/' This is a remarkable admission from an
author who has been charged with being partial to
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 523
the Puritans. Laud's concern in the punishment
of this individual now claims investigation, more
especially as this is one of the cases which his ene-
mies adduce to establish his cruelty.
And here it is lamentable to find not only a
clergyman of that Church, but a graduate of that
University, of which Laud was the ornament, and
for his attachment to which he at last died a mar-
tyr, uniting with the sectarian testimonies to cri-
minate this great prelate. Dr. Charles Symmons,
of Jesus College, Oxford, in his Life of Milton *,
after informing us, that he dislikes " the principles
and the temper of the unfortunate Laud," and yet
endeavouring to account for his political conduct
from the " effects of education, or from the natural
and of course venal corruption of office in its
influence on the understanding and the heart,"
and for his " bigotted observance of ceremonies"
from " the example of some of his most eminent
predecessors," and which at any other period
" would have been an innocent if not an inoffensive
display of littleness ;" thus, in the same style of
affected liberality, proceeds, " But when I see him
confounding the cause of Christ with that of the
prelate, when I observe him persecuting with mer-
ciless rigour men of exemplary lives, united with
him in every point of Christian faith, and whose
sole crime was a conscientious opposition to the
1 Life of John Milton, by Charles Symmons, D.D. of Jesus
College, Oxford. Second edit. p. 219221.
524 . LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
hierarchical dignity, and a regard to what they
deemed to be the simplicity of the gospel ; when I
contemplate him on the judgment-seat *, uncover-
ing his head, and thanking God on the passing of
a cruel sentence, WHICH HE HIMSELF HAD DICTATED;
when I see him afterwards in his closet, recording,
with calm rancour and cold-blooded exultation, the
execution of these judicial barbarities ; when I be-
hold him insulting the age of the mild and liberal
Abbot, and spurning him from his throne to obtain
premature possession of the metropolitan power ;
when I remark him ruining with vengeance, a
ungrateful as it was unrelenting, the first patron
of his fortunes, Bishop Williams, whose hand had
placed the mitre on his head, my charity must
necessarily falter, and I cannot immediately decide
that he stands accountable for nothing more than
erroneous judgment. By that prelate's conduct
his party was covered with odium, and it was
detested BY THE WISE, who foresaw its approaching
ruin, and by the moderate, who were disgusted
with its tyranny."
These are the sentiments of Dr. Symmons, a
minister of the Church of England, which he im-
proves by informing us, that the " Puritans might
1 He refers in the note to Leighton's case, " When an inhu-
man sentence was passed upon Dr. Leighton, Laud pulled off
his cap in the court, and thanked God for it. The prelate
noted in his Diary the execution of these butchering sentences
of the Star-Chamber and High Council, with the cool malignity
of a fiend."
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 525
have exulted over their prostrate persecutor, in nearly
the same strains of triumph which Isaiah, in his
twofold character of prophet and of poet, so nobly
ascribes to the exiles of Israel on the fall of the
king of Babylon. ' How hath the oppressor
ceased ! He who smote the people in wrath with a
continual stroke ; he that ruled the nations in anger
is persecuted, and none hindereth,' &c."
Had Laud really been the man here represented
by Dr. Symmons, had he really pursued a course
so criminal and guilty, I know no language which
could have been too severe to express his infamy
and disgrace. But, if it be true that this is not
the case, if it can be proved that this is the lan-
guage of enthusiasm and false representation, I
greatly fear that it may be turned against his ac-
cuser, who in his closet has betrayed a bigotry and
a malignity worse than what he charges on Laud,
when recording the "barbarities" of the Star-
Chamber. It is exceedingly unfair to assert that
the notification of the passing events of the day in a
private journal, is a complete proof of a man's bad-
ness of heart, it is ridiculous to take such a jour-
nal, which does not contain a single comment on
the times, and draw inferences from it on a man's
talent and capacity, as Mr. Hallam has done in his
Constitutional History ; and it denotes a species of
malignity of no common order, to charge a man
with having been personally concerned in every
thing which he has privately recorded. But for
such a man as Dr. Symmons to charge Laud with
526 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
weakness; for him, a member of the Church of
England, to say that Laud's party was deserted by
the wise ; for him to say that the " sole crime" of
the Puritans was a " conscientious opposition to
the hierarchy;" for him to aver, that because a
man is in " office" he must necessarily become
" venal and corrupt," appears to me to be most sin-
gular and unaccountable. Was that weakness, or
littleness, which induced this truly noble prelate
to continue, through life, the unwearied benefactor
of his University, the patron of learning and reli-
gion ? And every time that this writer walked
through the streets of that venerable seat of learn-
ing, did he not behold the monuments of Laud's
munificence when St. John's College met his eye,
or when his princely benefactions to the Library
came under his notice ? Had other writers, and
those who think with him in the Church, lived in
those days of peril, it cannot be doubted that they
would have been among those wise and moderate,
who would rather become time-servers to the enemy,
than defend to the utmost our venerable ecclesias-
tical establishment. And miserably ignorant must
he be of mankind, and a gloomy misanthrope must
he be in principle, who can be so absurd as to
assert, that political conduct which is not approved
by the mob, must arise either from the effects of
education, or " from the natural, and, of course,
venal corruption of office on the heart and under-
standing." The man ought to blush who can vin-
dicate these sentiments, not only because they are
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 527
false, but even if they were probable, they are not
established ; since not a solitary instance is on re-
cord to prove Laud guilty of venality and corrup-
tion, or of enriching himself at the expence of his
country : and since, to make out a case, it is neces-
sary to substantiate an inclination to bribery and
subserviency, with which he has never been charged
even by his most virulent enemies.
It is dastardly and base in the extreme to dis-
turb the ashes of the illustrious dead, and to cover
with obloquy the memory of a man who, by his
munificence and generosity, atoned for a thousand
imperfections. It is clear, however, that in all this
disgusting affectation of liberality there is greater
bigotry than in any case of what is termed high-
church intolerance, the same dislike to principles
characterizes each, with this difference, that the
" mild and liberal low -churchman" scowls bit-
terly on those who oppose him, and takes every
opportunity to calumniate and traduce, under the
convenient garb of affected piety and zeal. I have
already proved that the " sole crimes of the Puritan
faction," whom this writer extols at the expence of
the Church, whose sacred orders he had received,
were something more than " a conscientious oppo-
sition to the hierarchy," that Laud at no time
insulted " the age of the mild and liberal Abbot,
to obtain premature possession of his power," and
it is distinctly denied that Williams was "the
patron of Laud's fortunes," or aided to place the
mitre on his brow, except to preserve for himself
528 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
the Deanery of Westminster, which otherwise Laud
would have obtained. The reader need not be re-
minded of Abbot's cruel persecution of Laud, of
the opposition which the latter invariably expe-
rienced of the contemptuous insults which the
high-churchman Laud, received from the " mild
and liberal" low-churchman Abbot, when he went
to procure his sanction for a scheme he had pro-
posed to improve the condition of the poor clergy,
and which Bishop Williams himself had pronounced
to be the " best office done for the Church these
seven years" so " mild and liberal," truly that
virtue became vice in any act in which Laud was
concerned * : nor need he be reminded of Williams'
craftiness in sending Laud to St. David's, that his
own self-interest might be gratified. And if Dr.
Symmons chose to insert in a note, that the " good
bishop" Williams would not proceed against the
Puritans, because he knew that they would finally
prevail, which is a lamentable display of selfishness
on Williams' part, he ought not to have neglected
to inform his readers, seeing that he has referred
to the very passage in Rushworth, which states that
Williams was then in disgrace; and that he added
as his reason, that " he had no hope of ano-
ther bishopric."" Whatever," ^says the learned
Henry Wharton, " may be in this matter against Dr.
Laud, I am sure no art or colour can defend that
bitter revenge of Archbishop Williams, which
1 Diary, p. 11.
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 529
prompted him to move, earnestly, in the House of
Lords, that the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, then a prisoner in the Tower, might
be sequestrated, and put into the hands of his in-
ferior officers, which by his importunity he obtained,
to the great prejudice of the Church, and no small
infamy of himself V
To assert that Laud persecuted men who were
united with him in every point of Christian faith,
is, to say the least, an evidence of very superficial
knowledge, as no opinions can be more opposite
than those of the liberal man wfro believes that sal-
vation is within the reach of every human being to
whom it is preached, if he choose to accept it ; and
those of the gloomy Calvinist, who plunges into
the secret things of God, presumptuously brings
forward his dogma of predestination, and sets limits
to the grace of God, which God himself never set.
In this instance, Dr. Symmons' bigotry and little-
ness are farther evident. Nor is his assertion, that
" the Prelate noted in his Diary the execution of
the butchering sentences of the Star- Chamber and
High Commission with the cool malignity of a
fiend," in any respect more veracious. From this
a reader would infer, that there are many such
sentences recorded, whereas Leighton's is the soli-
tary instance : even the sentence of Burton, Prynne,
and Bastwick, in 1637, in many respects merited,
which the frenzied authors of the History of
1 Wharton's Preface to the Diary, p. iii.
VOL. I. Mm
530 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
Dissenters designate " a most infamous tragedy,"
is not recorded by Laud, though he delivered a
speech on the occasion. And I greatly fear that
Dr. Symmons' bigotry and inveterate prejudice
precluded him from perusing the Diary, or the
account of any of those transactions in which
Laud was concerned. Ignorance is indeed in some
measure an excuse ; but if the above sentiments
were written after such a perusal, the writer is un-
pardonable.
With respect to Leighton's case, there is not
the slightest evidence that Laud was present at the
trial. In all the accounts of the Star-Chamber
which I have been able to examine, I do not find
him mentioned in this case. Archdeacon Echard
informs us, that " though the nature of the crime,
the obstinacy of the offender, and the necessity of
suppressing such a furious spirit, sufficiently re-
quired this or the like punishment, yet it had the
natural effect of moving pity in the people, and of
raising new prejudices against the court and go-
vernment." But if this sentence had been of Laud's
dictation, as Symmons asserts, and in this he goes
farther than Neal or Messrs. Bogue and Bennet ;
had he actually " pulled off his cap in the court,
and thanked God for it," is it at all probable that
these facts could have been concealed from the
people, and would they not gladly have caught at
them, to renew their clamours against a man whom
their factious leaders hated, and whose life had a
few days before been threatened ? Yet not one of
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 531
the writers of that age, in opposition to Laud,
Peirce excepted, asserts that in this he had any con-
cern, nor has he ever been upbraided for the fact,
except by the enthusiasts of modern times ; it beino-
thought more likely, according to modern libera-
lity, that a prelate, who was a minister of state in a
turbulent age, should be venal, cruel, and corrupt,
than that a faction, whose intentions were blood,
whose religion was enthusiasm, and in the leaders
hypocrisy, should be in the slightest degree doubted
as to their " conscientious opposition to the hier-
archical dignity."
Denying, therefore, that there is any evidence
that Laud was present at the trial of Leighton,
what remains as to the fact of his noting Leighton's
censure in his Diary ? Does that amount to a proof
that he was actually present ? Assuredly not. He
records many things in that private journal in
which he had no concern; for instance, on the 1st
of May, 1625, he has recorded the marriage of
Charles and Henrietta Maria at Paris, which excited
the clamour of the Puritan faction, and additional
enmity towards the unfortunate Buckingham ; and
yet Laud, besides having no concern in the treaty,
was not at that time in Paris, but in London.
Again, he has recorded the dissolution of the first
Parliament at Oxford for not complying with the
King's measures, and yet he was confined in his
lodgings at St. John's College. The mere notifi-
cation of any fact in the Diary is no proof at all
that he was present at its occurrence
M m 2
532 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
I now examine the authorities on which this calum-
ny against Laud rests. In his Diary, he has simply
noted the facts thus : " November 4, Thursday,
Leighton was degraded at the High Commission.
Nov. 9, Tuesday, that night Leighton broke out of
the Fleet. The warden says, he got or was helped
over the wall : the warden professes he knew it not
then till Wednesday noon. He told it not to me till
Thursday night. He was taken again in Bedford*
shire, and brought back within a fortnight to the
Fleet. Nov. 26, Friday, part of his sentence was
executed upon him at Westminster." This is all
which is said on the subject ; and even Prynne,
who has altered and mutilated the Diary, has
really had the honesty not to make any alteration,
though in numerous other instances he has inserted
or omitted passages to suit his convenience. Keep-
ing, therefore, Laud's own authentic record in
view, let us see how it has been distorted by certain
writers. Dr. Charles Symmons has already " con-
templated Laud on the judgment-seat, uncovering
his head, and thanking God on the passing of a
cruel sentence, which he himself had dictated,"
and afterwards this same Dr. Symmons, by a
wonderful transition, saw him " in his closet re-
cording, with calm rancour and cold-blooded ex-
ultation, the execution of these judicial barbarities ;"
that is, he imagined this dictated sentence, and
thought he saw the prelate in his closet ; and then
he actually refers to the above passage from the
Diary, where he says the prelate has recorded the
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 533
sentence " with the cool malignity of a fiend ;"
whereas, if we could not ascertain from other
sources than Laud's Diary what that sentence was,
Dr. Symmons, fertile as he was in imagination,
would have conjectured a considerable time. So
much, then, for the authenticity of this writer's nar-
rative, who has chosen to take the authority of the
Puritans, and embellish the tale accordingly. Neal,
the great oracle, in the same spirit, after relating
the falsehood that Laud pulled off his cap and gave
thanks to God, thus proceeds : " On Friday, Nov.
6, part of the sentence was executed upon him,
(says Bishop Laud, in his Diary,} after this man-
ner : 1. He was severely whipt before he was put
in the pillory. 2. Being set in the pilory, he had one
of his ears cut off," &c. But not a single word of
all this description is to be found in the Diary. A
reference is made by Neal, in the margin, to
Priestworth's Collections, and, strange to say, un-
luckily for Puritan veracity, not a single word of
this story is to be found in Priestworth. He refers,
moreover, to Pierce's History of the Dissenters, but
here, though he is more at home, he is again un-
fortunate. Pierce's authority was the regicide Ed-
mund Ludlow, that noted republican fanatic, who
voted the House of Peers dangerous ; whom Crom-
well himself was forced to place under restraint,
and for whose apprehension a large reward was
offered at the Restoration. It is set forth in his
Memoirs, published in 1698. Let us now take
Messrs. Bogue and Bennet's account. After re-
534 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
peating the Puritan tale of Laud pulling off his
cap, they have the assurance to observe, " That
we may justly appreciate his Lordship's devotion,
he has recorded in his Diary, the sentence which
raised his gratitude to heaven ! his ears were cut
off," (our authors proceed, as if quoting from the
Diary,) " his nose slit, his face branded with burn-
ing irons ; he was tied to a post, and whipped with
a treble cord, of which every lash brought away
the flesh. He was kept in the pillory near two
hours, in frost and snow."
It will scarcely be credited that the language of
any man should be so distorted and falsely repre-
sented by writers who pledge themselves to the public
that they relate facts as they find them ; but still
less will it be credited, that any writer could have
the boldness to refer to a document, wherein he is
conscious that no such language is to be found as
he sets forth. Such, however, is the fact ; so that
we have here three modern writers, the oracles of
their different parties, whose want of candour is
most palpable and glaring. But there is still
better evidence that Laud had no connexion with
Leighton's sentence, and that it was not of his dic-
tation, from one very important circumstance. At
his trial there was no charge made against him on
this subject, and yet every transaction, even the
most trivial, of his whole life, was on that occasion
remembered, and magnified into a crime. Prynne,
the most virulent of all his enemies, who was the
principal conductor of the prosecution, who had
1630.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. . 535
himself, with Burton and Bartwick, been served in
the same manner, entirely omits it ; and at a trial
> where there was such a lack of facts to make out a
case, it is not to be supposed that this, a material
one, would have been forgotten, more especially as
the revival of it would the more inflame the public
mind. Leighton himself was alive at the time ; he
was then residing in Lambeth Palace, in the capa-
city of a jailor, that venerable edifice having been
converted into a prison by the republicans, and
from him every information could have been pro-
cured. Prynne was not likely to have neglected this
circumstance, as he saw Leighton daily, and the affair
was too recent to have escaped Leighton's memory, if
the sentence inflicted on him had been of Laud's own
dictation. It is asked, then, Why was it not produced
as evidence against Laud ? It may be replied, there
were sufficient charges without it : but this is not the
fact; and it is therefore asked again, Whether the re-
pairing of St. Paul's cathedral and the consecration
of a church, or the depriving Leighton of his ears
and the slitting of his nose for writing a book which
the Puritans highly commended, was more worthy
of investigation on their part. Yet the two former
were actually imputed to him as crimes *, while the
latter, which so much favoured and gratified the
Puritan faction, was forgotten. And Prynne,
Laud's arch-enemy, who was conspicuous during
that age of turbulence for his opposition, who ran-
1 Hist, of Troubles and Trials, p. 339, 340. Heylin, p. 204.
208. Riishworth, vol. ii. p. 76, 77. 410. 462. 719.
536 LIFE AND TIMES [1630.
sacked all his papers, mutilated, destroyed, and
inserted what he pleased ; who continually abused
him for his alleged cruelty, tyranny, and oppression,
has not in any of his productions, neither in the
" Hidden Works of Darkness brought to Light,"
" Canterburie's Doom," nor any of his minor effu-
sions, made a single reference to the affair. When
Prynne was punished, though Laud on that occa-
sion acted in no other capacity than as a member
of the Court, he was unjustly charged with the
whole procedure 1 ; yet here is a case exactly paral-
lel, in which Laud is not mentioned at all. It
is evident, therefore, from the above facts, viz. that
no mention is made of Laud's presence at this trial ;
that the writers who have testified against Laud,
have been proved to be guilty of distorting and mis-
representing language, and of making false asser-
tions ; that, though Leighton's sentence excited the
public commiseration, nothing was said against
Laud at the time, who was then so unpopular as
to have had his life threatened, and the rabble were
by no means ignorant , of the Star-Chamber pro-
ceedings ; that though Leighton himself was
alive at the time of Laud's trial, and survived
him, and though he was then in Laud's own palace,
he neither charged the prelate with dictating the
sentence, nor was applied to in proof ; that it was
entirely omitted at the trial, while at the same time
his enemies were so miserably pushed for articles of
1 Prynne's New Discovery of the Prelates' Tyranny, 4to.
1641.
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 537
impeachment, that one of his alleged crimes was
that of repairing St. Paul's, and another, and, in-
deed, the great one, that of being what they termed
an Arminian ; and that Prynne, his chief opposer,
who had himself undergone the same sentence, and
who otherwise raked together every thing which he
could against the prelate, takes not the slightest no-
tice of it ; it is evident, I maintain, and undeniable,
that Laud has been most unjustly reproached for
this affair, with which he had not the least concern,
either as a judge, or as a member of the S tar-
Chamber.
The prolixity of these remarks, and the interrup-
tion of the history, will be pardoned, since it is my
duty to lay the actions of this calumniated prelate
fairly and impartially before the reader. Having,
therefore, proved that Laud has been unjustly re-
proached for this transaction, I proceed to follow
him in his other important concerns. On Sunday,
the 16th of January 1630-1, we find him conse-
crating the church of St. Catharine Cree, London,
and on the Sunday after, the church of St. Giles-in-
the-Fields, with all the solemnity which that solemn
and ancient service requires. This important duty,
for which so many analogies are found in the his-
tory of the Jewish, and so many precedents in that
of the primitive Christian Church, of publicly con-
secrating and setting apart edifices for divine wor-
ship, was regarded by Laud with pious care, and
we find him, in various parts of his life, sedulously
watchful and minute in its observance. In opposi-
538 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1.
tion to the notions of the sectarian, whose conven-
ticle was devoted one day to the worship of his
Maker, according to the manner in which he
thought proper to conduct it, and the next day
might be turned into a place for the exhibition of
worldly and even sensual gratifications at least
adapted for any purposes whether religious or
worldly, it was the conviction of Laud, as it had
been of the Church in all ages, that in buildings
which were reared for the specific design of becom-
ing Christian temples, a certain form should be
observed to mark the object of their erection, and
to distinguish between sacred and profane founda-
tions. He did not require to be told that the pre-
sence of God was not confined to temples made with
hands ; but man, while in this state of imperfection,
subject to human passions and infirmities, must be
impressed by outward objects, the source whence
he derives his mental knowledge. Religion, indeed,
is addressed neither to the senses nor to the imagi-
nation, but to the heart, and man is required to
exercise his reasoning faculties upon it, to under-
stand its doctrines, so far as his nature is capable,
and to practise its sacred injunctions, Neverthe-
less, an affected spirituality is by no means a crite-
rion of purity, nor a total divestment of ceremonies
a safeguard against the introduction of error. The
man who is an advocate for rude simplicity, and for
a form which he calls spiritual, fit only for philoso-
phers, and who revels at will amid the wild and
visionary speculations of a heated imagination, is
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 539
liable to fanaticism, and to opinions as dangerous as
the notions of the Popish devotee, who reckons the
ceremonial of the mass of no avail, if his priest
commit the slightest blunder in its celebration, and
who conceives that no prayers are acceptable to
Heaven, unless he prefaces them in his devotions by
the sign of the cross. Both are evidently mistaken,
and both have totally misconceived the nature of
man in this state of imperfection. Ceremonies, so
far as their mere mechanism or nature is concerned,
are not necessary to salvation, nor is an excess of
ceremonies at all desirable, as thereby religion be-
comes burdensome in its observances ; but they
may be, and they are, the means of impressing the
mind with devotional feelings, and of fostering that
regard for religion, which, even when grounded on
superstition, is a thousand times more beneficial
than the violent extravagancies of fanaticism, too
often mistaken for genuine religion by the advocates
and the devotees of spirituality.
I confess that the investigation of this part of
Bishop Laud's life is a task of extreme difficulty
and delicacy, both from the odium which he has
received from his attention to forms and observances,
and from the circumstances in which any individual
is placed who reasons on them in an age like the
present. But in maintaining that the Papists and
the Puritans were alike in their notions of cere-
monies, I conceive that I assert a remarkable fact,
however paradoxical it may appear ; for if the Pa-
pists made a merit of their ceremonies, the Puritans
7
540 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1.
also made a merit, as they conceived, of observing
none. Here, then, was a collision of two extremes ;
the one devotee imagining that he made himself
acceptable to Heaven by many and varied acts of
outward devotion, and the other that he did so by
rejecting them altogether, and clamouring for what
he called the worship of the spirit. The error of
the Papists consisted, as it does yet, in believing too
much, in other words, taking too much for granted,
without due investigation, on the authority of others ;
the error of the Puritans in believing too little,
that IF^ in rejecting altogether every human autho-
rity, and trusting solely to the vapourings of their
enthusiastic minds. If the Papist groaned from
bodily mortifications, and placed his salvation on
the dicta of his priest; the Puritan groaned in
spirit, and reckoned the value of his services, not
in the substance, but in the length of time during
which he was occupied. His spiritual mortifications,
therefore, by listening for hours to the declamations
of his teacher, were as severe as the bodily penances
of the Papist, and both placed merit on their
performances, with this difference that the Papist
performed an act of the body, the Puritan of the
mind. If the one was superstitious, the other was
unquestionably enthusiastic ; and it is my conviction
that, supposing for a moment there was any merit
in these observances, the Puritan would gain heaven
more easily than the Papist ; for nothing is more
evident than that man is more naturally inclined to
gratify his prejudices, and to land at last in the
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 541
marsh of fanaticism, than to subject himself to
bodily mortifications, which are frequently severe,
and in some cases intolerable.
To maintain that ceremonial observances in the
Christian Church are matters of expediency, as some
writers have done, appears to me a species of sophis-
try which ought to be now laid aside : for though,
in certain cases, the argument may generally hold,
yet it is open to serious objections, and, therefore, I
maintain, that ceremonies without the authority of
the Holy Catholic Church, as sanctioned by the pri-
mitive Christians, though sometimes they may be
expedient, are of little general utility. Nor do I be-
lieve that the primitive Fathers degraded themselves
so far as to submit to the heathen prejudices of the
vulgar in their age, and thus blend together the
objects of faith and sense, the rites of Christianity
with those of Paganism, that they might allure
converts to the Christian Church. The ceremo-
nies which the Church of England enjoins are those
of the apostolic age, and I believe, for my own part,
were practised by the Apostles themselves, who had
more correct ideas on form and order than the
self-styled evangelists of modern times. The ac-
commodation of religious worship to national cus-
toms, for the purpose of extending Christianity, is
a feature of Popery, which has thereby the most
convenient ritual and policy of any religious com-
munion, and Gregory afforded a specimen of this
in his remarkable instructions concerning the con-
version of the English. In like manner, the Romish
542 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1.
missionaries act at the present day, who, for their
part, would not scruple to blend the ritual of Con-
fucius or Brahma with that of Christ, with a
convenient share of the religion, too, if by that
means they could extend the nominal jurisdiction
of his Holiness. Nevertheless I agree with Mr.
Hume on this subject, (whose sincerity it is not my
province here to discuss,) even in the matter of ex-
pediency. (( Whatever ridicule, to a philosophical
mind, may be thrown on pious ceremonies, it must
be confessed, that during a very religious age, no
institutions can be more advantageous to the rude
multitude, and tend more to mollify that fierce
and gloomy spirit of devotion to which they are
subjected. Even the English Church, though it had
retained a share of Popish ceremonies, may justly
be thought too naked and unadorned, and still to
approach too near the abstract and spiritual reli-
gion of the Puritans. Laud and his associates, by
reviving a few primitive institutions of this nature,
corrected the error of the first reformers, and pre-
sented to the affrightened and astonished mind
some sensible exterior observances, which might
occupy it during its religious exercises, and abate
the violence of its disappointed efforts 1 ."
An opportunity will again occur of fully discuss-
ing this very important subject. In Laud's scru-
pulous attention to this part of religious duty, for
which his mistaken enemies honoured him with the
1 Hume's History of England, vol. vii. 8vo. London, 1788,
p. 41, 42.
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 513
title of Master of Ceremonies, he was actuated by
the best motives, by the example of the primitive
Christians, by the analogy of the Jewish Church,
by his respect for antiquity, and his anxiety at
once to separate the Church from the extravagan-
ces of Puritan enthusiasm. The consecration of
St. Catherine Cree was imputed to him as one of
his crimes, but it must be observed that he vindi-
cated himself from the aspersions of his calumnia-
tors. The account of it, as given by Rushworth,
Hume, and Neal l , was denied by the Bishop, and
with every appearance of truth. It is reported by
these writers, that Laud went both to St. Cathe-
rine Cree and St. Giles' with a great company, and
proceeding to the west door, he exclaimed, " Open,
ye everlasting doors," &c. : and having entered, he
knelt down, and exclaimed, " This place is holy,
the ground is holy, in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, I pronounce it holy." But, as
Laud himself remarked, there is a derivative and
a relative holiness both in places and in vessels,
nor ought either of these set apart for divine wor-
ship to be adapted at will to common purposes.
No notion is more absurd than that of certain reli-
gionists, who conceive that a building is no longer
a church, than when the congregation is assembled
within its walls. What is this but asserting, that
persons do actually communicate virtue to the
1 Rushworth, vol. ii. p. 7174. Hume, ut sup. vol. vi.
Neal, vol. ii. p. 219222.
544 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1.
sanctuary ? and if so, it must be followed up according
to their various characters : for if there be a congre-
gation of avowed sinners, then there is no church ;
and if they be saints, they, it would appear, carry this
holiness with them when they depart. But conse-
cration is a solemn and a primitive service ; it tends
to promote the spirit of reverence and devotion ; it
teaches us to look with respect on the Christian tem-
ple, because we know that the Almighty has in a spe-
cial manner declared that he will be present in the
public assemblies of his people : our Saviour himself
set us an example, by honouring a Feast of Dedica-
tion with his presence *, which was undeniably an
anniversary of the Dedication celebrated by Ezra 2 :
and that religious philosophy is worthy of contempt
which can talk with disdain of those duties prac-
tised by the Church in all ages. More especially
was a due regard to the edifices of devotion neces-
sary in that age, when the negligence of Abbot
had permitted them either to fall into decay, or to
be prostituted to every ignoble purpose, to become,
in fact, in too many instances, mere conventicles,
where the prejudices were gratified at the expence
of religious instruction. Religion is a serious con-
cern, and he who spurns at the edifices erected for
the celebration of its services is little under its
genuine influence. On the same principle, those
enthusiasts who attend its public ministrations,
hunting after the novelties of human eloquence,
1 St. John x. 22. 2 Ezra vi. 16, 17.
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 545
and forgetting the specific purposes of all religious
homage, praise, prayer, and the reading of the
canon of inspiration, give sufficient indications that
their religious philosophy is the result of obstinacy,
and of a fondness for their own peculiar forms and
fancies, which places them on the same level with
the Romish devotee.
With these transactions ended the year 1630,
as connected with Laud : and it is now necessary
to notice the magnificent projects which our great
prelate formed this year, and which sufficiently de-
note his munificent and generous spirit. These
were found written, with his own hand, on the last
leaf of his Diary, " at what time, or what year,"
says the learned Wharton, "is uncertain;" but
Rushworth places them in 1630, which appears to
be the case, from his noticing the impropriations
and the repairs of St. Paul's, in which he was en-
gaged the next year. No less than twenty-three
are enumerated by him, which are the following.
The first is blotted out, and, therefore, it is im-
possible to conjecture its nature. " 2. To build at
St. John's, in Oxford, where I was educated, for
the good and safety of that College. 3. To over-
throw the feoffments, dangerous both to Church and
State, going under the specious pretence of buying
in impropriations. 4. To procure from King
Charles all the impropriations yet remaining in the
crown, within the realm of Ireland, for that poor
Church. 5. To set upon the repair of St. Paul's
Church in London. 6. To collect and perfect the
VOL. i. N n
546 LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1.
broken, crossing, and imperfect statutes of the
University of Oxford, which had lain in a confused
heap some hundreds of years. 7. Blotted out. 8.
To settle the statutes of all the Cathedral Churches
of the new foundations, whose statutes are imper-
fect, and not confirmed. 9. To annex for ever some
settled commendams, and those, if it may be, sine
cur a, to all the small bishoprics. 10. To find a way
to increase the stipends of poor vicars. 11. To
see the tithes of London settled between the clergy
and the city. 12. To set up a Greek press in Lon-
don and Oxford, for printing of the Library MSS.
and to get both letters (types) and matrices. 13.
To settle 80/. a year, for ever, out of Dr. Fryar's
lands, (after the death of Dr. John Fryar, the son,)
upon the brick of St. Paul's, to the repair, till that
be finished, and to keep it in good condition after-
wards. 14. To procure a large charter for Oxford,
to confirm the ancient privileges, and obtain new
for them, as large as those of Cambridge, which
they had gotten since Henry VIII.'s reign, and
which Oxford had not. 15. To open the great
square at Oxford, between St. Mary's and the
schools, Brazen-nose and All Souls. 16. To settle
an Hospital of land in Reading, of 100/. per an-
num, in a new way. 17. To erect an Arabic lec-
ture at Oxford, at least for my life-time, my estate
not being sufficent for any longer period. 18. To
settle the impropriation of the vicarage of Cudsden
on the Bishop of Oxford. 19. To get a book in
vellum fairly written, containing the Records which
1630-1.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 547
are in the Tower, and which concern the clergy.
20. To procure a new charter for the College of
Dublin from his Majesty, and a body of new sta-
tutes made, to rectify that government, and a mort-
main. 21. A charter for the town of Reading.
22. If I live to see the repair of St. Paul's near an
end, to move his Majesty for the like grant from
the High Commission, for the bringing in of impro-
priations, and then I hope to buy two in a year at
least. 23. To procure for St. John's College, in
Oxford, the perpetual inheritance and patronage of
St. Lawrence, Reading V
Such were the " things which," says Laud, " I
have projected to do, if God bless me in them ;"
and it will be subsequently shewn how far he was
able to carry them into effect. They require no
comment, and the very mention of those magni-
ficent plans is conclusive as to his noble integrity,
his care for religion, learning, and piety. Much as
he regarded his own University, his benefactions
were not exclusive, and Ireland equally experienced
his generous care. His mind disdained every ap-
pearance of self-aggrandizement, and he was re-
solved to spend his episcopal revenues in benefiting
his country. The monuments of his munificence
still remain, proofs of his unwearied industry, acti-
vity, and perseverance ; but what other things his
enlarged mind might have projected, it is impos-
1 Diary, p. 68, 69. Rushworth's Collections, vol. ii. p. 74,
75.
N n 2
LIFE AND TIMES [1630-1
sible to say : it is enough to know the melancholy
fact, that, to adopt the expression of the Church
Historian, " one stroke of the cruel axe spoiled the
work of many hammers."
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 549
CHAPTER XII.
16311633.
The Impropriations Conduct of Laud Dr. Peter Heylin's
Sermon at St. Mary's, Oxford Laud restrains the Im-
propriations His proceedings at Oxford He enlarges
St. John's College Promotes the repairs of St. Paul's
Cathedral Clamours of the Puritans His government of
the University Enforces the statutes Remarkable Enthu-
siasm of a graduate Combination of the Puritan faction at
Oxford Cognizance of three of the leaders Their punish-
ments Impartiality of Laud New revival of the Predesti-
narian Controversy Archbishop Usher of Ireland Calum-
nies against Laud Lord Wentworth proceeds to Ireland
Ecclesiastical affairs Prosecution of the King' s printers
Henry Sherjield William Prynne Notice of him and his
writings His seditious libels His imprisonment Proceed-
ings relative to chaplains and foreign service The English
congregation at Hamburgh Salutary regulations by Laud
General remarks.
IN pursuance of the designs which Laud had formed
for the advancement of learning and religion, we
find him at this period engaged in the affair of the
impropriations which had heen purchased by that
contrivance of the Puritan faction, the feoffments,
for the support of lectureships. The feoffments for
purchasing these impropriations had been projected
in 1626, by one of the Puritan leaders, Dr. John
Preston, of King's and Queen's Colleges, Cambridge,
who managed their affairs. It was the design of
550 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
the faction to establish lectureships in the market
towns, where there was a greater intercourse of
people than in the country parts, and where they
were always certain of adherents from among the
idle and the wavering ; and thus, by retaining the
patronage in their own hands, they would be ena-
bled to gratify their taste by what they called a
preaching ministry. For this purpose they had
erected themselves into a body corporate, though
they had no sanction from the Government, con-
sisting of twelve persons, viz. four ministers, four
lawyers, and four citizens, who with their own and
the money of others, were to purchase all the im-
propriations in the hands of laymen l .
The design being formed under the appearance
of piety and zeal for religion, succeeded to the ut-
most extent. " Here," says Fuller, " were four
divines to persuade men's consciences, four lawyers
to draw all conveyances, and four citizens, who
commanded rich coffers, wanting nothing save some
swordsmen to defend all the rest." This specious
pretence of religious zeal operated on the people,
and the self-elected corporation received immense
sums from various parts of the country to support
their seemingly pious intentions. Indeed, this con-
trivance of the Puritan faction was so dexterous and
successful, that it was reported, that within half a
century, they would not be able to find any more
purchases of impropriations.
1 Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 136.
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 551
But in the act sermon, preached in St. Mary's,
Oxford, 1630, they were attacked by Dr. Heylin,then
Fellow of Magdalen College, who having been at a
town in Gloucestershire, where one of the lecture-
ships had been established, had witnessed the crafti-
ness and iniquity of the whole affair l . He preached
from Matt. xiii. 25. " But while men slept, the
enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat,
and went his way ;" and towards the end of his ser-
mon he enlarged with great severity on the charac-
ters and designs of the feoffment corporation.
Great was the indignation of the Puritan faction,
who meditated revenge towards this enemy ; and
the clamour was so violent, that Heylin was com-
pelled at last to send his discourse to Laud, and
signify his willingness to defend his positions. Laud
had already reported to the King on the subject,
and his Majesty had declared that " he would not
have the clergy fettered with lay dependencies 2 ;"
and viewing the whole project as a design to un-
dermine the Church and oppose the State, he caused
1 Heylin, p. 198, 199. Wood's Athen. Oxon. by Bliss, vol.
iii. col. 554. Prynne's Canterburie's Doome, p. 386. By the
latter writer, Heylin is termed Laud's great minion, and he says
that Laud " set on this prosecution with more edge, by suborn-
ing his flattering creatures to declaim against these feoffees,
and their design in the pulpit, both at Court and elsewhere."
But Prynne was also Heylin's violent enemy, and afterwards
brought him into trouble for some remarks which he made on
one of Prynne's Works. (Wood, ut sup. col. 556.)
2 Diary, p. 31.
552 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
an information to be laid against the self- elected
corporation in the Court of Exchequer, at the in-
stance of Noy, the attorney-general, because it was
an illegal association : and the result was, that in
1632, when this confederacy was broken up, only
thirteen impropriations had been purchased for
five or six thousand pounds, and these were confis-
cated to the King's use.
The impropriations were generally bought at
twelve years' purchase, and had the feoffees been
actuated by other motives than the advancement of
their faction, of which that renowned Puritan Dr.
Preston was a leader, the feoffment, as a charity,
would not have been unworthy, perhaps, of support.
But the truth is, that the design was too evident to
be concealed. There were then in England 9284
benefices, and of these 3845 were either attached to
colleges and cathedrals, or in the hands of laymen.
The feoffees, in endeavouring to obtain possession
of the lay impropriations, merely made a transfer-
rence of the patronage, from one individual, perhaps,
into their own hands. They had not the slightest
intention to increase the revenues of the poorer
livings to which the impropriations belonged, but
setting up their lectureships in towns to which fac-
tious individuals chiefly resorted, they attached
salaries to these lectureships, in prejudice to the
poorer clergy. The religion of the Puritans con-
sisted in preaching, and the furtherance of this was
their grand object. It was their intention to make
these lectureships serve as schools for the training
1631.] . OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 553
of their novices, to strengthen the sectarian interest,
and to prepare the way silently but surely for the
introduction of the Presbyterianism of Geneva.
The feoffees were all Nonconformists, men well
known for their disaffection to the Government ;
and Puritans were only presented to the lecture-
ships, who had been interdicted by the Bishop or
the Commission ; and who, of course, would do their
utmost to foster the prejudice against the regular
clergy. The lecturers, moreover, were entirely
dependent on this self-elected corporation, being
annually liable to removal, if they offended their
patrons. It is evident, therefore, that the cause
was extremely liable to suspicion ; the regular
clergy were deprived of their incomes ; their situa-
tions would have been miserable from the intrusion
of factious zealots, stimulated by their extravagant
enthusiasm : and, as these preachers were entirely
dependent on the humours of their patrons, who
served their own purpose by not fixing them for
life, it was natural that they should preach as their
patrons pleased. The worst consequences were
most likely to ensue from these measures : in
market towns the parliamentary elections would be
swayed by those zealots who had left the Church,
and thus the return of well-known malcontents
to the House of Commons would be secured. On
the whole, Laud rightly alleged, that " the feoffees
were the main instruments for the Puritan faction
to undo the Church." " I was," says Laud,
" clearly of opinion, that this was a cunning way,
554 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
under a glorious pretence, to overthrow the church
government, by getting into their power more de-
pendency of the clergy than the King, the Peers,
and all the Bishops in the kingdom had. And I did
conceive that the plot was more dangerous for the
fairness of the pretence, and that to the State as
well as the Church." He adds his reasons for pro-
ceeding against this self-elected body, which are the
following. " 1. Because little or nothing was given
by them to the present incumbent, to whom the
tythes were due, if to any, that the parishioners
who payed them might have the more cheerful in-
struction, the better hospitality, and greater relief
for the poor. 2. Most of the men they put in were
persons disaffected to the discipline, if not the doc-
trine too, of the Church of England. 3. Because
no small sum was given to schoolmasters, to season
youth ab ovo for their party, and to young students
in the University, to purchase them over to their
party, when they came abroad into the Church.
4. Because all this power to nourish and maintain
a faction was in the hands of twelve men, who,
though never so honest and free from thoughts of
abusing this power to fill the Church with schism,
yet who should be successors, and whatever should
be made of this power, was not of human reach to
know. 5. Because this power was assumed by, and
to themselves, without any legal authority V
1 Diary, p. 47. Troubles and Trials, p. 372, 373. Heylin,
p. 200. Rushworth's Collections, vol. ii. p. 151, 152. Collier's
Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 754.
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 555
These are arguments not easily refuted, and it
must be admitted that the proceedings against
those feoffees were highly expedient and necessary.
Their corporation was not finally overthrown till
1632, when it was found that the association was
illegal, and it was reserved for farther consideration
whether a criminal process should not be exhibited
against them, and, if so, whether in the Court of
Exchequer or the Star Chamber. As the indivi-
duals, however, were found to have been consider-
able losers, and to have acted honourably, all farther
prosecution was suspended. The capital belonging
to them in this affair was confiscated to the King ;
a measure, however, which, I confess, can hardly be
justified.
In the latter part of these remarks I have antici-
pated a year, but I wished to finish the subject,
more especially as it forms the third article of the
" things which Laud had projected to do," already
quoted, namely, " to overthrow the feoffment, dan-
gerous both to Church and State, going under the
specious pretence of buying up impropriations."
We follow him now in various transactions in which
he was engaged ; and this year he began to adorn
St. John's College, Oxford, with elegant buildings.
This distinguished College, which owes its foun-
dation to the munificence of Sir Thomas White,
consists at present of two large quadrangular
courts. The original buildings formed part of St.
Bernard's College, on the site of which St. John's
is founded; Sir T. White having purchased that
556 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
property from the prior at the Dissolution. At that
time the college consisted of only one quadrangle,
but Sir William Paddy, who founded and endowed
the choir, built that side of the new or inner quad-
rangle on the south, which contains the Library.
Laud resolved to extend the buildings of the So-
ciety; on the 23d of July, 1631, he laid the first
stone of the inner quadrangle, and the three sides
he built at' his own expence, without interruption,
till the work was completed, from a design by Inigo
Jones, who was indebted to Laud for his first em-
ployment at Oxford. These three sides cost him
5000/. and were completed in 1635. The King,
acquainted with his munificent design, which he
intended to carry on at his sole expence, presented
him with two hundred tons of timber from the
royal woods of Shotover and Stow, against which
the Lord Treasurer Weston fruitlessly remonstrated.
The inner quadrangle of St. John's is a splendid
monument of the taste and munificence of Laud,
and is worthy of the great prelate. On the east side
of the outer quadrangle, is a passage leading to that
built by Laud, and on the east and west sides are
splendid piazzas, or cloisters, in the Grecian style,
each column consisting of a single stone, dug from
a quarry near Fifield, in Berkshire, on an estate
which belongs to the Society. In the centre of
these sides is a magnificent gateway, of the Doric
order, corresponding with the piazzas, surmounted
by a semi-circular pediment of the Ionic and Corin-
thian orders, having a statue on either side between
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 557
the columns, in brass, that on the right, of Charles I.
and that on the left, of his Queen, Henrietta Maria,
both designed and cast by Fanelli, of Florence.
These two statues cost Laud 400/. exclusive of the
sum for building the quadrangle. On the east
side, above the cloisters, supported by eight round
arches, beautifully ornamented with busts of the
four Cardinal and Christian virtues, and Religion,
above each pillar, besides other apartments, is a
magnificent gallery, stored with book-cases and
MSS. opening on the south from the Library, part
of which is in the upper story of this side, for the
purposes of study and meditation. The north and
west sides contain suitable apartments for the mem-
bers of the Society, supported by similar cloisters.
The Library is enriched by valuable manuscripts,
many of which were presented by Laud ; and, be-
sides his other benefactions, he bestowed a yearly
sum on the College of 500/. In the Hall, on the
right of the full length portrait of the munificent
founder of St. John's, is the portrait of Laud, and
on the left the portrait of Bishop Juxon, who pre-
sented the Society with a benefaction of 70QO/.
Besides erecting the inner quadrangle of St.
John's, which was not finished till 1635, Laud also
erected a structure towards the west of the Bod-
leian Library and Divinity School, in order that St.
Mary's Church might be kept exclusively for divine
worship, and that there might be a suitable build-
ing for the Public Congregations and Convocations
of the University. The lower part of this structure
558 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
he designed for the accommodation of the Uni-
versity public meetings ; arid the upper part was
for the reception of books, having an opening to-
wards the left wing, and here were deposited his
own MSS. &c. Some of his other plans, however,
were frustrated by the reluctance of the owners of
certain houses to sell their property ; for he had
projected to clear a great square between St.
Mary's and the Schools, whereon the Radcliffe Li-
brary now stands, and to have raised there a lofty
room, supported by noble pillars ; the upper part
to accommodate Convocations, the lower to serve
as a place of general resort for the students when
attending the Schools, the Library, or on any public
occasion l .
Nor was Laud less active in his other employ-
ments at this period, for, besides the punctual visita-
tion of his diocese, he was also engaged in consi-
dering the repairs of his own cathedral, St. Paul's,
afterwards imputed to him as a crime. This work
he rightly thought ought to be defrayed by the
nation, and a tax was accordingly levied, which
occasioned the remark to be made, that " St. Paul's
was repaired by the sins of the people." Nothing
could be more necessary than the repair of this
ancient structure ; from various causes it had been
suffered to fall into decay, and though James had
issued a commission in 1620-1, to enquire into its
state, and to report what money would be neces-
.
1 Wood, Hist, and Antiq. Univ. Oxon, lib. ii. p. 310, 311.
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 559
sary for its repair, yet, from the necessities of that
monarch, his death, the inactivity of Montaigne,
Bishop of the See, and the turbulence of the times,
the burden devolved on Laud, who was resolved,
by repairing this magnificent and ancient pile, to
advance religion, and to rescue from dilapidation
an edifice rendered venerable by the lapse of many
ages. A commission was accordingly issued, bear-
ing date the 10th of April, 1631, appointing the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Lon-
don, Winchester, Ely, the Lord Mayor, &c. Lord
Coventry, Keeper of the Great Seal, and vari-
ous Aldermen and other officers of the metropolis,
to superintend all contributions, legacies, and taxes,
for aiding this great work. The next year the
work was begun, Laud himself contributing libe-
rally from the revenues of his bishopric, nor did he
cease throughout his life, while in the days of his
prosperity, even after his removal from the See, to
use his utmost exertions to forward this great de-
sign.
These proceedings, however, were not allowed
to pass unnoticed by the Puritans. Their clownish
taste, rendered more barbarous by their notions
about spiritual worship, urged them to declaim
most violently against the repair of this cathedral,
terming it, says Dr. Heylin, " the repairing and
adorning of a rotten relic, insinuating to the peo-
ple, as they found occasion, that it was more agree-
able to rules of piety to demolish such old monu-
ments of superstition and idolatry, than to retain
7
560 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
them." To them it appeared utterly useless to
bestow any attention upon the venerable cathe-
drals, and, besides the clamours which they raised
against it, some of their leaders insinuated, that it
was a mere contrivance of the court to extort money
from the people without the aid of Parliament.
The preaching zealots artfully introduced it into
their sermons, and, with all that craftiness for which
they were remarkable, endeavoured to restrain the
contributors by rousing their fears as to Popery
and Arminianism. But, notwithstanding this op-
position, the work went on with considerable spirit :
upwards of 100,000/. were collected through Laud's
exertions, the sum of 10,295/. 4s. 8d. being con-
tributed by the King alone, besides various sums
by private individuals. Before the year 1640, the
work was almost finished, but in the following year
misfortunes overtook Laud, the great promoter of
the work, and at length the violence of the times
caused it altogether to be suspended. In the ever-
memorable Fire of London, 1666, this ancient and
venerable edifice was destroyed, otherwise it also
would have been an additional monument of Laud's
piety and munificence ; but the record of his exer-
tions yet remains, in which it is at once seen, that,
like the ancient Jewish King, he was not guided by
selfishness in his ideas regarding the public edifices
of religion. Yet his atrocious enemies, on a future
occasion, alleged his disinterested conduct in this
affair as a mortal crime, " so easy a thing it is," as
the learned Heylin remarks, " to disgrace the man
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 561
whom the weight of his afflictions has once made
incapable of bearing up against such reproaches as
the tongue and pens of his revilers shall accumu-
late upon him." Nevertheless, the conscious ho-
mage to truth was, after all, extorted from them,
as in the case of Deering, who declared of Laud,
that, die when he would, " St. Paul's would be
his perpetual monument."
While thus engaged, however, in designs which
sufficiently indicated his greatness of soul, his piety,
and munificence, and which, connected as they all
were with religion and learning, may not unjustly
entitle him to be called the Mecaenas of his age,
Laud was not forgetful of the duties he was called
to perform as Chancellor of one of the most ancient
and splendid seats of learning in Europe. It
has already been said, that he was no sooner elected
Chancellor of Oxford, than, determined to make his
office no nominal dignity, he thought it his duty, to
use his own words, " to reform the University, which
was extremely sunk from all discipline, and fallen into
licentiousness," so much indeed, that various com-
plaints were made to him, that if remedies were
not applied in {ime, " there would scarce any face
be left of an University." This lamentable de-
parture from all good order had been chiefly in-
duced by the enthusiasm of the Puritans, who, de-
termined to oppose every measure which was not
sanctioned by the leaders of their party, had con-
tributed their influence to improve the statutes
which had been suffered to fall into decay. Having
VOL. I. 00
562 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
been successful in prohibiting for the future those
disorders which attended the election of the Proc-
tors, Laud, in the very year in which he was elected
Chancellor, by various regulations, began the work
of reformation. He had been attacked by one
preacher that year, on the 2d of May, who, from
the pulpit of St. Mary's, preached against every
outward sign of devotion, and endeavoured to set
forth the puritanical notions about spiritual holi-
ness. Another, on the contrary, attacked the
Synod of Dort, and reprobated the Calvinistic
dogmas of election and reprobation. In this he
went directly against the King's proclamation, which
expressly prohibited any man from reviving these
unhappy disputes. Both were censured with the
utmost impartiality. It extended, however, only to
an admonition, " for I am not willing," says Laud,
in reply to Dr. John Tolson, the Pro-Vice-Chan-
cellor, who had written to him on the subject,
" that they should be punished, because I would
pot be too severe at my first coming into office ;
as I know that those sermons were written before
I was Chancellor i."
But the Bishop saw enough to convince him
that there were factious individuals in the Uni-
versity, whose silence would not be enjoined by any
lenient procedure. He held a weekly correspondence
with the Vice-Chancellor ; he had already enforced
a more diligent attention to the study of the Hebrew
1 Gestis CanceHarii Laud, P. 8.
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 563
language, and procured a prebend of Christ Church
to be annexed to that Professorship for ever ; and he
revived that respect due to the degree of Master of
Arts, which had fallen into disesteem. For these, and
other measures, which it is impossible in this place
to enumerate, Laud received the thanks of the Uni-
versity, the Hebrew Professor, and the Proctors ! .
Yet this year was characterised by farther disturb-
ances, in which Laud's conduct and impartiality
were conspicuous in his decisions.
It gave great offence to the Puritan enthusiasts
in the University, that the statutes should be put
in order and discipline enforced ; and, therefore,
they had resolved on all public occasions to disturb
the government, and to incite the Proctors to a
variance with the Chancellor. At the head of this
factious cabal was suspected to be the Regius Pro-
fessor of Divinity, " whose name," says Laud, " I
shall spare, rather for his coat than himself." Ac-
cordingly, on the 24th of May 1631, one Thomas
Hill, of Hart Hall, in a sermon preached in St.
Mary's, indulged himself in a most eloquent in-
vective against the Church. " And here, were my
time and learning parallel to my zeal," said he,
" what a tempting doth present itself, to shew how
rashly (that I say not cruelly) our Pelagian votaries
have handled the decrees and statutes of the King.
But they are to be mischieved into honour, (but no
matter how) which tempts them to disrelish sound
1 Gestis, ut sup. p. 1117, c. MSS. Reg. R. fol. 241
o o 2
564 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
doctrine on no other ground than did David, be-
cause the lords do not favour it. Scripture they
use worse than the Turks do Christians at Tunis,
enslave it to the vassalage of the foulest error, and,
according to their most current garb, employ it to
defend Popery, or, as bad, Pelagianism. Popish
darts, whet afresh on a Dutch grindstone, have
pierced deep, and without speedy succour will prove
mortal. I am persuaded these transmarine tenets
had not been so fully and brief among us, nor the
opposite truth so diametrically condemned by many,
had they first made proof of their points in their
own retired and curious contemplation."
For these expressions Hill was compelled to make
a recantation on the 16th of July, in a public Con-
vocation, and to express his penitence in an ample
manner ; and Prynne has, therefore, taken occasion
to observe, that the punishment of this .prating
preacher afforded triumph to the Arminian faction,
" who grew very bold," says he, " having both the
Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor on their side V
The Puritans, however, were resolved to continue
their opposition, and " some young divines," as
Prynne designates them, " moved with a pious zeal
and indignation," commenced a new attack, in open
defiance of the King's Proclamation prohibiting any
discussions in public concerning predestination,
about which these religionists were absolutely
phrensied.
1 Canterbury's Doome, p. 174.
1631.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 565
That there was a secret plot or understanding
among the zealots, is not improbable, and three of
them brought themselves into very prominent notice,
Thomas Ford of Magdalen Hall, Giles Thome of
Balliol College, and William Hodges of Exeter
College ; each of whom preached seditious sermons,
in which they attacked the Church, and those whom
they termed Arminians, but on whom they now
bestowed the names of Pelagians and Demi-Pela-
gians, reflecting also, in an invidious manner on
the royal instructions. The text of Hodges was
well chosen for an inflammatory harangue, being
taken from Numbers iv. " Let us make a captain,
and return into Egypt." The Vice-Chancellor,
Dr. Smith, of Wadham College, immediately
called them to account for their conduct, and re-
quired them to deliver their sermons ; but they dis-
puted his authority in these matters, and appealed
from him to the Convocation. Their appeal was
received by the Proctors, whose duty it was to have
obeyed the instructions of the Vice-Chancellor, and
named delegates to take the matter into considera-
tion. The Vice-Chancellor had no other resource
left than an appeal to the King.
Dr. Brian Duppa, Dean of Christ Church, in the
mean time wrote an account of these proceedings
to Laud, who, as Chancellor, was more immediately
concerned. In his letter, dated August 1, 1632,
he asserts, " I have not hitherto troubled your Lord-
ship with letters of information, concerning any of
our University affairs, knowing into, what sufficient
566 LIFE AND TIMES [1631.
hands you have committed the trust of them, whence,
I imagine, you receive a weekly account. But such
hath been the height of our late disorders, both
within and without the pulpit, that, were I not to
express in some way my trouble at it, I might be
reckoned a very insensible member of the body
which you govern. The late uproars strike at the
very root of government. The Vice- Chancellor's
power is questioned ; the Proctors that should assist
him receive the appeals of the delinquents, and the
delegates, such as are, are rather parties than
judges. I could wish this were all, but this gan-
grene will spread further, for the University, by
these means, is likely to become the seedplot of
mutinies, to harass both Church and commonwealth.
But my comfort is, that the way of their own choos-
ing, the way of appeals (which, it may be, at first
they did not think of) must at least end before his
sacred Majesty, for there is nothing left but the
voice of such a power to allay the storm l "
The insolence of the Puritan preachers, and the
injudicious conduct of the Proctors and Delegates,
attracted the notice of the whole University, and
Laud was resolved that this contumacy should re-
ceive its due reward. Accordingly, on his applica-
tion to the King, the monarch informed him that he
would hear the cause at Woodstock, when he came
thither during a short progress of the Court. On
4 Gestis Cancellarii, p. 35. Wood, by Gutdi, vol. ii, Part i.
p. 375, 376.
1632.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 567
Tuesday, the 23d of August, the cause was heard
in presence of the King, the Chancellor, and the
Lords of the Council, when it was commanded, that
Ford, Thome, and Hodges be expelled the Univer-
sity ; that the two Proctors be deprived of their
places, and the Delegates, Prideaux, Rector of Exe-
ter College, and Wilkinson, Principal of Magdalene
Hall, be publicly censured and reproved, for patro-
nising the enthusiasm of the faction l .
Having thus silenced the Calvinistic disorders, it
must not be forgotten that the impartiality of Laud
in these transactions was manifest, and that he acted
thus, not because he was opposed to the dogmas
of Calvin, but because he was resolved that these
subjects should not be publicly discussed. In the
following year, Robert Rainsford, in a sermon at
St. Mary's, publicly defended the doctrine of uni-
versal grace, and w r as accordingly charged by Dr.
Prideaux, who seems to have forgotten the leniency
which he had himself experienced. A summons
was immediately issued to Rainsford, and he was
most magisterially compelled to make a public
acknowledgment of his fault in discussing themes
which had been proscribed by the royal instruc-
tions. Yet this, and other instances of impar-
tiality which might be adduced to shew, that the
Calvinistic faction was not the only party opposed,
did not satisfy the preaching zealots. In the month
1 Gestis Cancellarii, p. 3650, &c. Reg. R. fql. 37, 38, &c.
Hist, and Antiq. of Oxford, by Wood, edited by Gutch, vol. ii.
p. 376381.
568 LIFE AND TIMES [1632.
of September some satirical verses were dispersed
at Oxford, entitled, " The Academicall Army of
Epidemicall Arminians, to the Tune of the Soul-
dier," in which the Vice-Chancellor and others were
severely mentioned, with Laud, the Chancellor, who
was styled their general. One Rogers, of Jesus
College, was suspected to be the author, and he
was accordingly expelled the University, but he was
restored by Laud in the following year l .
It is evident from these instances, that Laud's
situation as Chancellor was not one of mere honour,
and that it required a man of his vigorous and active
mind to govern with firmness and decision. The
leaven of Puritanism was still cherished in the Uni-
versity, and frequently its votaries exhibited their
dangerous enthusiasm. Absolutely phrensied with
zeal for the diffusion of the doctrine of election,
those factious spirits, as they have not been inaptly
termed, resolved to bid defiance to all order and
government. The zealots of those days forgot that
the main design of preaching is to call sinners to
repentance ; nor do they seem to have been aware,
that they might retain their Calvinistic notions, and
yet abstain from them in the pulpit. But their faith
consisted exclusively in holding certain doctrines
which they conceived to be the sufficient test of
orthodoxy, and, like the modern evangelicals, in
adopting a certain phraseology, which they believed
1 Wood's Hist, and Antiq. ut supra, p. 381 385. Heylin,
p. 203. Diary, 46. Fuller's Church History, book xi. p. 141,
142.
1632.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 569
to possess a talismanic charm. With the Puritans
there was no religion unless it was grounded on Cal-
vin, and there was equally no religion if unaccompa-
nied by their bewildering expositions of predestina-
tion. Laud, however, thought otherwise. He had no
wish to keep Calvinists out of the Church, because
he knew there were many such who despised the
Puritan follies, and who would adorn the Church
by their piety and learning. But it was his earnest
wish, as it must be the wish of every sincere friend
of religion, to avoid public disputations ; and he
rightly conceived, that, as religious matters must
appear in a different light to various individuals,
men, while they agreed on fundamental doc-
trines, might hold their own opinions on minor
points, and yet preserve peace and order in the
Church. And who, then, was in reality the liberal
man ? Laud, who insisted that men might preach,
and yet avoid the absurdities of predestination,
whether they believed these or not ; or the Puritan
zealot, who thought that there was no religion un-
less it maintained the notions of Calvin ?
The disorders excited by predestination, however,
were not confined exclusively to England. In the
Irish Church, concerning which more in another
place, Usher, the celebrated primate, and the first
scholar on the foundation of Trinity College, Dublin,
who, though a Calvinist, was indebted for his ad-
vancement to Laud, had published a work in the
Latin tongue this year, in which he opposed Armi-
nianism, which he viewed as a dangerous doctrine.
570 LIFE AND TIMES [1632.
He had employed himself for some time in endea-
vouring to ascertain the origin of the predestina-
rian controversy ; and meeting with a remarkable
tract on the subject, he published it in Dublin,
1631. This tract, which appeared in quarto, was
the first book printed in Ireland in the Latin lan-
guage. It is entitled, " Goteschalci et Predestina-
rianae Controversial ab eo motae Historia," and is
dedicated to Vossius, " a right learned man," says
Heylin, " who had written a book which had been
much cried up by the Remonstrants," and to whom
Usher would have presented the deanery of Armagh l .
The Irish primate, in his haste to oppose what he
called Arminianism, (and yet he changed his opinions
of it in after life,) had employed himself for twelve
years in making collections for a history of predes-
tination, but when he had produced the history by
Vossius, he chose rather to give up the intention,
and published only the tract by Goteschalc, which
had never been printed, and which he had procured
from France 2 . The book, however, being in Latin,
1 Parr's Collection, Letter 144, dated February 3, 1629.
2 Parr's Collection, Letter 149, dated December 10, 1630.
It is remarkable, that so much time and labour should have
been expended on the elucidation of this absurd doctrine by
men of the greatest talents, and who might have employed
themselves to much better purpose. From the letters referred
to written to Dr. Ward, it would appear that the Calvinists
were termed by the Arminians, Predestinarians, and they in turn
by their opponents Semi-Pelagians. But Arminianism has no
more connexion with Pelagianism than it has with Popery,
though it is difficult for Calvinists to deny that Predestination
is not another word for religious necessity.
1632.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 571
and the mass of the Irish people of that age not
being remarkable for the extent of their knowledge,
it was less likely to produce the same effects as
another which Dr. Downham, Bishop of Derry, had
set forth on the perseverance of the saints. The
primate's book, therefore, gave little offence, and
perhaps the government was reluctant to proceed
against him ; but the Bishop of Derry's book was
suppressed by royal proclamation, addressed to
Archbishop Usher himself, bearing date August 24,
1631, the very day after the three Oxford Puritans
had received their sentence of expulsion. This,
moreover, would operate by the way of a hint to
himself, that the agitating of this controversy would
offend the King. Many copies, however, of Down-
ham's treatise had been circulated, before the order
was duly published, but instructions were at the
same time forwarded to Dr. William Bedell, the
pious Bishop of Kilmore, and translator of the Irish
Bible, to observe the publications of the Calvinists,
that nothing should be printed contrary to the
royal Declaration 1 .
It was while at Woodstock, too, as Heylin informs
us, that Laud, whose enemies were continually on
the watch, suffered some expressions to escape him,
which were immediately interpreted to. indicate his
opinions on the marriage of the clergy. Being
himself unmarried, and, withal, often vilified for his
alleged Popish inclinations, it was immediately con-
1 Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 750.
7
572 LIFE AND TIMES [1632.
eluded, that he advocated the doctrine of ecclesias-
tical celibacy, and disapproved of the conduct of
those who had acted contrary to his own example.
No report could be more malevolent or unfounded ;
for, though perhaps he might be guided in his dis-
posal of ecclesiastical preferments by those private
opinions which induced him rather to promote those
who were unmarried than those who were encum-
bered, yet the doctrine of celibacy was never for a
moment conceived by him as justifiable or expedient.
And accordingly, to shew that this report was the
gratuitous invention of his Puritan enemies, he nego-
tiated a marriage between one of his own chaplains
and a daughter of his old and tried friend, Sir
Francis Windebank; "officiating," says Heylin,
" in the whole service of their marriage in his own
chapel at London House, joining their hands, giving
the nuptial benediction, and performing all other
ecclesiastical rites, which belong to the solemniza-
tion of matrimony -by the rules of this Church V
The year 1632 is remarkable for nothing more
than the changes which took place at Court, in the
administration, and in the Church. Wentworth
was sent to Ireland, as Lord Deputy, where he dis-
played, in an eminent degree, his remarkable ability
for government. The interest of Laud procured
for his friend, Windebank, the office of Secre-
tary of State, to which office he was sworn on
the 15th of June 1632, in the room of Dudley
1 Heylin, p. 212.
1632.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 573
Carleton, Viscount Dorchester, deceased. Sir Francis
Cottington had succeeded the Lord Treasurer
Weston in the office of Chancellor, and also Sir
Robert Nanton as Master of the Wards and Liveries,
an appointment which induced a dispute between
him and the Lord Keeper Coventry, concerning the
disposal of the King's benefices. But the greatest
changes were in the Church ; and here Laud dis-
tinguished himself as a wise governor. Deter-
mined to oppose both Popery and Puritanism, he
promoted the grandeur of the ecclesiastical estab-
lishment with unwearied industry, displaying his
accustomed integrity, and recommending those only
to the King whom he reckoned of the greatest con-
scientiousness and public spirit. The previous year,
three great prelates had died. Dr. Samuel Hars-
net, Archbishop of York, a pious and learned theo-
logian, who has received his share of odium from
the Puritans for his alleged attention to ceremonies,
and the first who distinguished those zealots who
conformed rather from policy than principle by the
epithet of Conformable Puritans: Dr. John Buck-
eridge, the pious and venerable Bishop of Ely, who
had been Laud's tutor, and with whom he had ever
preserved the most uninterrupted friendship : and
Dr. John Howson, Bishop of Durham, a prelate
alike distinguished for his learning, and the diligent
discharge of his episcopal functions.
These vacancies, from the peculiar situation of
the Church, and the state of the times, required to
be filled with peculiar care ; and, as the responsi-
574 LIFE AND TIMES [1632.
bility rested on Laud, great caution was necessary
on his part. But he well understood the Church,
and he as well knew those who had its welfare at
heart. His old friend, Bishop Neile, who had de-
fended him on every emergency, was accordingly
translated from Winchester to the Archiepiscopal
See of York, though that good prelate would have
preferred remaining in the See of Winchester. This
removal occasioned a vacancy of two offices, the
clerkship of the closet at Court, and a vacancy in
the Cathedral of Winchester, belonging to the
Bishop. But, that " he might have some one whom
he could trust, near his Majesty, were he to grow
weak or infirm," as he remarks in the Diary 1 ,
Laud's influence promoted Dr. William Juxon, Dean
of Worcester, and President of St. John's, both of
which offices he had previously procured for that
excellent ecclesiastic. Winchester being vacant, Dr.
Walter Curie, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who had
been translated thence from Rochester, 1629, was
removed to that See, and Dr. William Pierce,
Bishop of Peterborough, succeeded him in Bath
and Wells 2 . Dr. Francis White, who had signalized
himself by his opposition to the Papists, was re-
moved from Norwich to Ely, in the room of Bishop
Buckeridge, this prelate having been promoted
from Carlisle, his first Diocese, to Norwich, in
1628 3 . Dr. William Corbet was promoted from
1 Diary, p. 47.
2 Le Neve's Fasti Anglicanae Ecclesiae, p. 34.
3 Le Neve, p. 212.
1632.'] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 575
Oxford to Norwich l , and Dr. John Bancroft was
consecrated to the See of Oxford 2 . Dr. Thomas
Morton, who had been promoted to the episcopal
dignity in 1616, by being raised to the Bishopric of
Chester, and in 1618, to Lichfield and Coventry 3 ,
was removed to Durham ; " a man he was," says
Heylin, " who for the greatest part of his time had
exercised his pen against the Papists," and no less
opposed to the Puritans, as appears by his book
entitled, " A Defence of the three harmless Cere-
monies 4 of the Church of England," published at
London, 1619, which gave great satisfaction to
King James. Dr. Robert Wright was removed
from Bristol to Lichfield and Coventry 5 , and Dr.
Augustine Linsell was elected to the vacant See of
Peterborough 6 .
Having thus endeavoured to secure the peace and
prosperity of the Church, by aiding in the promo-
tion of men who had its interest at heart, Laud,
whose vigilance was unremitting, at this time com-
menced a prosecution against the King's Printers,
for omitting the word not in the Seventh Com-
mandment of the Decalogue. This prosecution,
which could be liable to no just objection, was, never-
theless, recollected at a future period by his fana-
tical enemies. Laud had informed Charles of the
fact, and the printers were cited before the High
Commission, to which court the press was entrusted.
1 Le Neve's Fasti Anglicanae Ecclesiae, p. 228.
2 Ibid. p. 229. 3 Ibid. p. 126. 4 Ibid. p. 48.
* Ibid. p. 239. Heylin, p. 215.
576 LIFE AND TIMES [1632.
The whole impression of the edition was called in,
the printers severely fined, and, with part of that
fine, he purchased various manuscripts, with the
intention of publishing them. ff Of which sort,"
says Heylin, " were the Catena and Theophylact
of Linsell," the bishop-elect of Peterborough ; " a
solid divine," says that author in another place,
" and a learned linguist, to whom the Christian
world remains indebted for Theophylact's Comment
on the Epistles, and the Catena upon Job, pub-
lished by him in Greek and Latin." It appears,
however, that this was not the only blunder in this
edition. " Among them (the printers and correc-
tors,)" says Laud, " their negligence was such, as
that there were found above a thousand faults in
two editions of the Bible and Common Prayer
Book, and one which caused this search was, that
in Exodus xx. where they had shamefully printed,
Thou shalt commit adultery. For this the Masters
of the printing-house were called into the High
Commission, and censured, as they well deserved V
It was this year that Henry Sherfield, the Re-
corder of Salisbury, was fined for his sacrilegious
attacks on Salisbury Cathedral, in 1629, in which,
as has been already mentioned, stimulated by his
fanatical zeal, he destroyed a window of stained
glass, of great antiquity. He was prosecuted at
the instance of Dr. Davenant, the Bishop, and,
besides being fined, and deprived of his Recorder-
1 Troubles and Trials, &c.
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 577
ship, he was compelled to make a public acknow-
ledgment of the outrage he had committed. But
another individual was this year called in question,
of greater consequence, and one of the most violent
fanatics of that age, who afterwards made himself
notorious by his conduct in the infamous prosecu-
tion against Laud.
William Prynne, already frequently introduced to
the notice of the reader in his capacity of author,
and an incendiary of no ordinary description, was
born at Swansicke near Bath, in the year 1600,
and was admitted Commoner of Oriel College, Ox-
ford, in 1616, where he took his degree of Bachelor
in 1620. He afterwards removed to Lincoln's Inn,
and, in the profession of law, he was successively
barrister, bencher, and reader. Becoming an ardent
admirer of that noted Puritan enthusiast, Dr. John
Preston, who, Neal informs us, " affected the very
language of Calvin," he determined to exert himself
in defence of the Calvinistic tenets, and to lift up
his voice against what he conceived to be the gross
vices of the age. His zeal for the predestinarian
doctrines amounted to a phrenzy; he entertained
a mortal hatred towards the Church, and to every
thing which did not emanate from the metropolis of
Calvinism, Geneva. With the view of inculcating
his notions, he commenced author in 1627, and he
made no secret of his antipathy towards Church
and State. The first essay of this abnormous genius,
as he has been not unaptly termed, was, " The
Perpetuity of a Regenerate Man's Estate, against
VOL. i. P p
578 LIFE AND TIMES [1633.
the Saint's Total and Final Apostacy," in which he
sets forth the Calvinistic notion of the perseverance
of the saints. Having, in this first effusion, with
all the zeal of an apostle, done his utmost to prove
his favourite dogma, he next commenced Puritan
reformer of life and manners, and, in 1628, he gave
to the world other two productions : " Health's
Sicknesse, or a Compendious and Brief Discourse
of the Sinfulnesse of Drinking and Pledging
Healths," and " The Unloveliness of Love-Lockes."
In the same year, he published his animadversions
on Dr. Cosin's book, entitled the '" Collection of
Private Devotions, or Hours of Prayer," in a tract,
" Brief Censure of Mr. Cosin's cozening Devotions,"
which was answered by Giles Widdows, M.A. his
former tutor at Oriel College, in a tract entitled,
" The Lawless, Kneeless, Schismatical Puritan,"
published at Oxford, in 1631, and whom Prynne
abused in a most shameful manner in one of his
subsequent effusions. In 1629, appeared another
of Prynne's works, " The Church of England's old
Antithesis to Arminianism," and, in the same year,
besides this piece, to which he prefixed the general
title of " Anti-Arminianism," appeared another,
" God no Impostor or Deluder, or an Answer to a
Popish and Arminian Cavil in Defence of Free-
Will and Universal Grace." Having entered with
much zeal into the controversies of the age, and
conducted himself with the utmost insolence to-
wards the civil authorities, he of necessity be-
came bolder in disseminating his notions, and it
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 579
was suspected, not, perhaps, without reason, that
he had the countenance of Abhot, the Primate,
with whom he was at that time intimate. This
Mastyx, therefore, published a pamphlet, entitled,
" Lame Giles his Haultings, or a brief Survey of
Giles Widdowes, his Confutation of an Appendix
concerning Bowing at the Name of Jesus," &c.
1631, in which, as the title indicates, this fanatical
zealot, losing all respect for his former tutor, abused
him in the most virulent and unjustifiable manner,
quoting for his mottoes, which were then much in
fashion, Prov. xxvi. 3, 5. and the passage from
Horace, Sermon, lib. ii. Sat. 3. " O major tandem
parcus infane minori V
1 As a specimen of Prynne's manner in this pamphlet, and
of the gross abuse which he bestowed on a learned man, in his
address to the University of Oxford, whom he calls " his much
honoured mother," he says " This son of yours which I meane,
one Giles Widdowes, a poore haulting widow in troth, for
traine, and learning, of which hee never had two mites, of whom
I cannot say, as Festus did of Paul, that too much learning did
make him mad, but want of wit. These errors and oversights
of his, with which I here acquaint you, are contained in a new
divulged booke, much like the Authour, intituled, ' The Law-
lesse, Kneelesse, Schismatical Puritan,' &c. In confutation of
which I need say no more to such as know him, but that Giles
Widdowes, Rectour of St. Martin's Church in Oxford, was
the authour." In another place, addressing Widdowes, he says,
" Mistake me not, as though I wrote this to you to suppresse
your answer. Alas ! it is so illiterate, so absurdly impertinent
in most things, that I rather pitty than feare it. My only
meaning is, to forestall your printed oversights, which are so
many, so absurd, that most will deem you crack-brained when
P p 2
580 LIFE AND TIMES [1G33_
This enthusiast, however, had he merely con-
fined himself to polemical disputation, would most
likely have remained unnoticed, but in Christmas,
1632 *, appeared his famous work, entitled, " His-
trio Mastyx, the Player's Scourge, or Actor's
Tragedie, divided into Two Parts 2 ." In the pam-
phlet formerly noticed, he had embraced several
opportunities of declaring his sentiments on the
subject, and he makes use of the argument, which,
he says, " Tertullian writes of stage plays, which
had the very devill hirnselfe for their originall au-
thour, as he, with others, largely proves." This
volume gave great offence to the court, as it was
written insidiously to abuse the Queen, who de-
lighted in the gaieties of masquerades, dancings,
and theatrical exhibitions, and who, in fact, is
coupled with the opprobrious epithets which he
bestows on " Play haunters," especially women, all
of whom, without exception, he styles " notorious
you penned, if not the receiver hare-brained, when he autho-
rized them." And, addressing the University, he talks about
'* the brazen-faced impudency of her sonne Giles," and his
" franticke oversights," whose " foolish scribbling goosequills,"
he hopes, will be consigned to " everlasting peace." This,
and much more, too, for presuming to write against such a man
as William Prynne.
1 In the title-page it bears date 1633, because the year then
began at Michaelmas.
2 Prynne's book was answered in 1662, in a work entitled,
" Theatrum Redivivum, or the Theatre vindicated, by Sir
Richard Baker, in answer to Mr. Prynne's Histrio-Mastyx,"
8vo. London.
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 581
whores," "known or suspected harlots 1 ." Danc-
ing is " the devil's procession and invention," and
the " devil danceth in dancing women 2 ;" love-
locks are the " wishes of vanity, whereby the devil
holds and leads men captive." The book, in short,
as Heylin well remarks, " breathed nothing but dis-
grace to the nation, infamy to the Church (as he had
thought proper to condemn all music) reproaches
to the court, dishonour to the Queen, and some
things which were thought to be tending to the
destruction of his Majesty's person 3 ." Even the
most innocent amusements were censured by this
fanatical incendiary, damnation was threatened to all
who opposed him, abundance of quotations he pro-
duced, which he imagined supported his positions.
The Histrio Mastyx was, however, universally
condemned, both on account of its language, and
the total want of respect shewn to the King ; and
the lawyers testified their dissent from the absurd
arguments of a member of their body, by publicly
presenting to the King and Queen a mask at
Whitehall, the managers of which consisted of
members of the Temple, Gray's, and Lincoln's
Inns 4 . The gloomy Calvinistic Puritans alone re-
joiced in their misanthropy, in their scurrilous
abuse, and in their mistaken notions concerning
the exhortations and commands of Christianity.
But in this age such effusions could not be ex-
1 Histrio Mastyx, p. H4, 145, &c. 2 Ibid. p. 228, 229.
3 Heylin, p. 217. 4 Whitelocke's Memorials, p. 19".
582 LIFE AND TIMES [1633.
pected to pass unnoticed, for although Prynne had
overloaded his book by his learned quotations,
there was enough in it to inflame the zealots in
those days of religious excitement. His other per-
formances, which were in themselves highly ob-
jectionable, had not been censured, and this leniency
had only served to make him the more resolute in
his opposition. Reflecting as it did on the court,
holding up the King's family to ridicule, fulmina-
ting abuse and threats against the clergy, and revil-
ing every rite and ceremony of the Church, a copy
of his work was laid before the Privy-Council, and
Dr. Heylin, who was a prebend of Westminster, was
commanded to analyze those passages which breathed
contempt and sedition. Noy, the attorney-gene-
ral, was instructed to prefer an information against
him, and Prynne himself, on the 1st of February,
1632-3, was apprehended, and committed to the
Tower.
In the Tower, therefore, we shall leave this en-
thusiast, no doubt exulting in his achievements,
boasting that he was suffering " for conscience
sake," and meditating deep and dark revenge
against Laud, whom he looked upon as his great
opposer, until the trial, which shortly took place.
On the 13th of February, the feoffees for impropria-
tions, which have already been noticed, were con-
demned, a measure highly expedient and salutary
for the Church. At this time, too, Laud engaged
in various concerns relative to the Church of Eng-
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 583
land, an abstract of which Sir Francis Winde-
banke, the Secretary of State, presented to the
Privy Council. This abstract contained two pro-
posals, one concerning the state of religion in Bri-
tish factories and regiments abroad, the other pro-
fessed to take into consideration the French and
Dutch Churches in London, and in the various
counties of England.
The members of the Factory at Hamburgh, though
they were permitted the exercise of the worship of
the Church, at length deserted to Calvinism and
the discipline of Geneva, while the English who
traded to, or settled in, Holland, were compelled to
conform to the established religion. King James
had resolved to rectify the disorders which existed
among them, and, accordingly, he intimated to the
members of the English factory that " he would set
over them a moderator, to be inspector of their
affairs ;" but this, being directly opposed to their
regard for the Genevan polity, produced a petition
which was presented to the King in 1624 l .
The death of the King soon after, diverted the
attention of the government to other affairs, and
the English, in the mean time, were allowed to
proceed with their Genevan discipline at Hamburgh.
While the French and the Dutch churches in Lon-
don and elsewhere adhered most tenaciously to the
forms prescribed by the churches of their respective
Countries, the members of the Church of England
1 Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 751, 752.
584 LIFE AND TIMES [1633.
on the Continent disregarded all order and subordi-
nation, and eagerly attached themselves to every
novelty which might gratify their individual desires
of government. The Genevan ritual was observed
to the fullest extent ; the Book of Common Prayer
was set aside ; and while all the privileges of a
Church connected with the Church of England were
granted to the Factories by the law, they employed
those privileges to encourage sectarianism, and to
declaim against what Calvin was pleased to term the
tolerabiles inepti<e of the Common Prayer. In this
state of things, Leicester and Anstruther, two am-
bassadors from England, the one to the court of
Denmark, the other to the Emperor of Germany,
were appointed to repair to Hamburgh, to wait the
arrival of Admiral Pennington, who was to convey
them home. The vessels under the command of the
admiral had not arrived, and an invitation was forth-
with dispatched to the two ambassadors to attend
at the English Church, and to permit their chaplains
to do the public duty. Here, however, I shall lay
Heylin's narration of the results before the reader,
who was alive at the time, and had his information
from the best authority. " This invitation was
cheerfully accepted by both ; the Earl of Leicester's
chaplain first mounted the pulpit, and after a short
psalm, according to the Genevan fashion, betakes
himself to his sermon. The same was done by John-
son, (for I remember not," says Heylin, " the
name of the other,) when it came to his turn. The
vessels having arrived, and remaining for a change
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 585
of wind, the like courtesy was requested of Pen-
nington, admiral of that little fleet for the present
service. Pennington told them he had no chaplain,
but there was in the ship one Dr. Ambrose, his
friend and kinsman, who had been with him during
the voyage, and he doubted not but he would readily
accede to them if they made a request. An invita-
tion having accordingly been given to Ambrose,
and accepted, he attended the admiral to the place
of worship, where he took his station very near the
pulpit. The congregation being assembled, and
the psalm half done, an elder was sent to remind
him to go into the pulpit. Ambrose asked him to be
accommodated with a Bible and Book of Common
Prayer. The elder offered him a Bible, but told
him that he had no Book of Common Prayer, and
that those prayers were not used by them. ' Why
then,' replied Dr. Ambrose, ' I have one of my own/
and forthwith he pulled a small Prayer Book from
his pocket, and commenced the usual service of the
Church. He had not, however, ended the general
confession, when the chapel was in an uproar.
The Elders, in great consternation, sent their former
messenger to insist on Ambrose going into the
pulpit, and not to trouble them with Common
Prayer ! Ambrose replied, that if they belonged to
the Church of England, as they pretended, it was
necessary that they should use the Liturgy ; and if
they would have no prayers, they should have no
sermon. He proceeded with the service, when the
messenger came to him a third time, telling him
586 LIFE AND TIMES [1633.
that he must desist from a service which was alto-
gether unnecessary. He immediately put the book
in his pocket, and went out of the chapel, followed
by the two ambassadors and the admiral, to the
great honour of himself, arid the confusion of John-
son (from whose mouth," adds Heylin, " I received
the story) who, with the other chaplain, was thus
shewn his error V
I have transcribed this anecdote from Heylin, be-
cause it is not generally known, and because, being
undeniably authentic, it is a sufficient argument to
prove the necessity of Laud's plans for regulating
the foreign churches in connexion with the Church
of England. Under the primacy of Abbot, indeed,
they were allowed to go on as they pleased, and
hence the greatest danger was evident as long as
they were subject to no control. Christianity, as I
have remarked, is a religion of authority ; but if
men are permitted to reject that authority at will,
there is no barrier to heresy or schism. Forms in
public worship are indispensable ; and, in reality,
there is no service or ritual, however simple, desti-
tute of them ; uniformity is also necessary, other-
wise there is no way of preventing religious feuds.
The conduct of Ambrose will, doubtless, be con-
demned by the modern Dissenters, but it is manifest
that their censure is utterly unfounded ; for he did no
more than what they would have done, in their own
way, and which he had a right to do from conscien-
1 Heylin, p. 218, 219.
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 587
tious motives. The Presbyterians, for example, will
not allow any foreign society to be in connexion with
them unless their practice is adopted ; and in like
manner, they denounce its members if they make
use of any other forms than those which they pre-
scribe. The same remark applies to the foreign
churches in connexion with the Church of England,
the dignitaries of which would ill discharge their
duty, were they to be aware of the encroachments
of sectarianism, fostered, it may be, by an enthu-
siastic desire for novelty, and yet not administer to
their salutary discipline. Without discipline, in
truth, there is no Church, and hence it is that the
notions of Independency are with some persons de-
voutly cherished, because there are in many cases a
gratification of the passions, of the individual desire
for government, and because many are exalted into
an ephemeral consequence which suits their own
inclinations.
The reader, however, cannot fail to observe the
striking resemblance there is between this trans-
action at Hamburgh, and that which took place
at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in 1555. During the
Marian persecution, several English exiles betook
themselves to that city, and among them was Dr.
Cox, who had been preceptor to Edward VI. Cal-
vinism was then in its zenith, and the opinions of
Calvin were duly inculcated in the English church
in that city, by John Knox, the violent reformer of
Scotland, who officiated there as minister. Of course,
the Liturgy was treated with contempt by Knox,
588
LIFE AND TIMES
[1633.
it had been characterized by Calvin, his master, as
abounding with tolerable fooleries 1 ; and there
are few persons acquainted with Knox's temper and
actions, who need to be informed of the manner in
which he frequently conducted public service, or
the subjects which he sometimes discussed. Cox
and his friends beheld with regret the enthusiasm
of those English Protestants, excited by the Scotch
preacher ; but determined not to be restrained by
the harangues of Knox, or the epistles of Calvin,
they, in accordance with the practice of the Church,
made the responses in a loud and audible voice,
the first day they attended divine service, and on
the next Sunday the Litany was read. This, which
Dr. M'Crie is pleased to term " an insult upon the
whole body," and " an outrage upon all order
and decency V was resented by Knox, who, in a
sermon, took occasion to abuse Cox and his friends,
and declared that in the Book of Common Prayer
" he would undertake to prove publicly, that there
were things imperfect, impure, and superstitious."
As the exciter of an uproar, however, Knox's offen-
sive rhetoric was resented, and at length primitive
simplicity triumphed over Calvinistic novelties 3 .
Laud saw the mischief which would arise from
the laxity of discipline which prevailed in the Eng-
1 Calvini Epist. p. 28, apud Opera, torn. ix. edit. 1667, fol.
Amst.
2 Life of John Knox, by Thomas M'Crie, D.D. of Edin-
burgh, 1813, 2d edit. vol. i. p. 148, 149, &c.
3 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 393, 394, 395.
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 589
lish Church at Hamburgh, more especially as an
example to other foreign chaplaincies, and accord-
ingly he submitted to the Privy Council certain
regulations, both with respect to foreign relations
and also in reference to the French and Dutch
churches in England. The sum of these regula-
tions, ten in number, as it respects the former, was,
that every chaplain intended for foreign service
should conform in all things to the Church of Eng-
land that none should be admitted who had not
so conformed that those who had been admitted
in an unqualified manner should be dismissed, if
they did not conform within three months that
every minister and chaplain shall perform the
ministerial duties according to the rules and
rubrics of the Church of England that cogni-
zance shall be taken of every chaplain who pre-
sumes to defame the Church of England, and
to preach against -its doctrine and discipline that
no person be admitted to supply the place of a
preacher, pro tempore, who has not conformed
that the governors of the factories and colonies be
members of the Church, by which means they would
be induced to bestow attention on those whom they
employed as chaplains that at every renewal by the
merchants of their patents, a clause be inserted for
the due observance of these instructions that a
yearly report be made of the progress of these re-
gulations and " that the English ministers in
Holland, being his Majesty's born subjects, be not
suffered to hold any classical meetings, and, at all
590 LIFE AND TIMES [1633.
events, not to assume the power of ordination, from
which, if they should not be restrained, there would
be a perpetual seminary for schism and faction to
the disturbance of this kingdom."
The regulations respecting the foreign churches
in England were equally wise and salutary. Having
represented the dangers and inconveniences which
would arise from a want of sufficient regulations,
Laud advises, " 1. That the number of these fo-
reigners in this kingdom be exactly computed, in
order to judge of the practicability of bringing
them to conform. 2. That for this purpose an
order be issued by the government to take an exact
list of them in their respective abodes : and that a
certificate be returned of those of greatest interest
and influence amongst them. 3. If they resolve to
continue separate from Church and State, that they
should then be under the common disadvantage of
strangers, have all duties doubled upon them, and
be unqualified for the privileges of natives. 4. That
when it shall be thought necessary to bring them
to the same condition with other subjects, they be
warned in an ecclesiastical way to frequent their
parish church, and conform themselves to the ser-
vice and worship established : and, in case of non-
compliance, to proceed against them by excommu-
nication, and to serve the writ de excommunicato
capiendo upon them V
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 753. Heylin, p. 220, 221,
222. Neal, vol. ii. p. 237, 238.
7
1633.] OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 591
These regulations we find Laud partly enforcing
on a future occasion in his own province l , and, be-
sides being justifiable from the necessity of the times,
they are undoubtedly founded on the very measures
recommended by Elizabeth in the second year of her
reign, in her letter to the Lord Treasurer Paulet,
as quoted by Laud himself 2 . Prynne, indeed,
asserts, that this was a stratagem of Laud " to
subvert the Protestant religion," because those
" Dutch and French churches planted among us,"
had " enjoyed their own government, privileges,
and discipline, without any interruption by his pre-
decessors or other English prelates, in all our Pro-
testant princes' reigns, from King Edward VI. till
this arch-prelate's molestation of, and attempts
against, them V But how far this man could be a
judge, who reckoned that there was no religion
apart from the dogmas of predestination, may be
easily conceived. No one will deny, that the re-
gulation of foreign churches in England is of
essential consequence, otherwise themes might be
discussed by the preachers, which would, in their
practice, be destructive of the constitution. Nor
does it follow that a foreign communion in this
country, however pure and primitive it might have
been in its discipline, should have been exempted
from ecclesiastical cognizance, for the very circum-
stances of the times rendered it necessary that
1 Collier's Eccles. Hist, ut sup. p. 753.
2 Troubles and Trials, p. 166, 167.
3 Canterburie's Doome, p. 388, 389.
592 LIFE AND TIMES, &c. [1033.
enthusiasm should be checked without imposing a
tyrannical restraint on the liberty of the individual.
And it is unnecessary to remark, that the Church
of England, above every other communion, has
been the most tolerant in these matters, that it
has permitted, and does permit, to foreigners
every liberty which they require ; and while its own
members have not unfrequently been restrained in
foreign countries, has presented an illustrious ex-
ample of liberality and forbearance.
The principles upon which Laud acted in these
matters are not only justifiable, but highly expe-
dient ; and in requiring conformity, he did no more
than his sectarian opponents. It is exceedingly
easy to make a noise about liberty of conscience,
but it is another thing to define it, or to ascertain
how far it may extend. The peace and welfare of
a state are to be preferred to the scrupulous fasti-
diousness of a few individuals, and faction is re-
strained with more facility when it is in its early
progress. Laud unquestionably acted as a wise
governor, in providing against the very appearance
of schism, not by compelling men to adhere to the
Church, but by observing those who still adhered,
and who were, notwithstanding, undermining its
constitution.
END OF VOL. I.
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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
DA Lawson, John Parker
396 The life and times of
L3L38 William Laud
1829
v.l
