appointed one of the Commissioners of the Exchequer, his friend Juxon, Bishop of London, by his re

The Jesuit began highly to praise the Arch-prelate for his moderate carriage toward Papists and Priests; boasting of the free access which one Simons, alias Flood, a Jesuit, had unto him at all hours and in all occasions: and to extol him the more, he brought in the Archbishop Abbot, whom he cried down as much for a cruel enemy and persecutor of the Church of Rome, and of all Papists and Priests. But "the now Archbishop," said he, “is not only favourable to us there, but here desireth to make daily demonstrations of his great affection to this our court and church, which he showed not long since in sending a Common PrayerBook (which he had composed for the church of Scotland) to be first viewed and approved of by our Pope and Cardinals; who, perusing it, liked it very well for Protestants to be trained in a form of prayer and service: yet considering the state of Scotland, and the temper and tenets of the people, the Cardinals (first giving him thanks for his respect, and dutiful compliance with them) sent him word, that they thought that Form of Prayer was not fitting for Scotland, but would breed some stir and unquietness there: for that they understood the Scots were averse from all set forms, and would not be tied and limited to the invention of man's spirit, having (as they thought) the true and unerring spirit of God in them, which could better teach and direct them to pray.' All this (saith Father Fitzherbert) I was witness of, who was then sent for by the Cardinals, as in all like occasions and affairs concerning England, to give them my opinion concerning the said Common Prayer-Book and the temper of the Scots. But the good Archbishop (quoth he) hearing the censure of the Cardinals concerning his intention and Form of Prayer, to ingratiate himself the more in their favour, corrected some things in it, and made it more harsh and unreasonable for that nation, which we already hear they have stomached at, and will not suffer it in many parts to be read; and we justly fear that this his Common Prayer-Book, and his great compliance with this court, will at last bring strife and division between the two kingdoms of Scotland and England.” And this most true relation of William Laud, late Archbishop of Canterbury (though I have often spoken of it in private discourse and publicly preached it at the lecture of Wingham in Kent) I could not in my conscience omit it here, both to vindi

commendation succeeding to the Treasury; as 'that Prelate (he artfully insinuated to his Majesty) having no family or dependents, would manage the revenue more to his advantage than those noblemen, who sought only to create vast estates for themselves and their craving connexions.'

In the course of this year, he caused the revival of the Book of Sports, which was published with his Majesty's direction that it should be read in all parish-churches; actively prosecuting such clergymen, as refused to comply with the royal injunction. It gave so much disgust, however, even to moderate churchmen, that some historians have not scrupled to date from this epoch the secret machinations of the Puritans against their Sovereign's authority.

His metropolitan visitation employed the greatest part of his time during the remainder of this and the following year; and in the course of it he attempted to compel foreigners settled in England, in direct violation of the indulgences granted by former princes, and notwithstanding the commercial benefits accruing from their residence, to conform to the usages of the English Church. This act of religious despotism was violently opposed by the Walloon, the French, and the Dutch Protestants, who were joined by all the English Puritans; and a vehement contest ensued: but in the end Laud so far prevailed,

cate the just censure of death, which the now sitting parliament have formally given against him for such like practices and compliances with Rome; and, secondly, to reprove the ungrounded opinion and error of some ignorant and malignant spirits, who to my knowledge have since his death highly exalted him, and cried him up for a martyr.'

that though foreigners of the first descent were allowed to worship God in their own way, their descendents born in England were ordered by the King to repair to their several parish-churches, under the penalty of being proceeded against by the ecclesiastical laws. In like manner, he endeavoured to oblige the English factories abroad to conform themselves to the ceremonies of the mother-church; and, many of the merchants neglecting such conformity, he obtained a royal order for it's enforcement. We must not, however, omit to mention his interference, toward the close of this year, in favour of the poorer Irish clergy, for whom he obtained from the King a grant of all the impropriations then remaining in the

crown.

Unhappily for Laud, after he became one of the Commissioners of the Exchequer, he was almost constantly engaged in warm disputes with Lord Cottington, it's Chancellor, who availing himself of the Primate's rash and choleric temper, frequently betrayed him into gross errors. Of this, a remarkable instance is detailed, in Clarendon's History of the Rebellion.'* The nobility at large, likewise, resented the appointment of Juxon; a man so unknown, says Clarendon, that his name had scarcely been heard of in the kingdom† before his promotion to the see of London: naturally apprehending, as the high function of Treasurer had not been held by a churchman since the reign of Henry VII.,

* At the end of the first book, relative to "a park, which the King had a great desire to make for red as well as fallow deer, between Richmond and Hampton Court."

+ He had been, "but two years before, only a private chaplain to the King, and the president of a poor college in Oxford."

that from the interest taken by his Majesty in the honour and prosperity of the Church, the priesthood would engross all the great offices of state. This paved the way to the ruin of the Archbishop, who from his defectiveness in political knowledge, it may be truly said, fabricated the destruction both of himself and of his royal benefactor.

His influence in the North being considerably increased since he had become one of the favourites of the Sovereign, he resolved again to attempt the introduction of the English service into the Kirk of Scotland. Some Canons were published in 1635, but the Liturgy was not produced till the following year. On the day however, upon which

it was first read at St. Giles' Church in Edinburgh, it occasioned a violent tumult among the common people, who were countenanced by the nobility. While this affair rendered his name more odious than ever in that kingdom, at home, as his last effort of religious despotism, he attacked the liberty of the press. To him had been ascribed the prosecution carried on, in 1633, in the Court of Star-Chamber against Mr. Prynne, barrister at law (who had already become obnoxious by his writings against Arminianism and Prelacy) for his 'Histrio-Mastix,'* a tedious tract written generally against plays, masques, dancing, and similar entertainments, in which among other things he had asserted, that actresses were notorious prostitutes, and maintained his argument by instances of it. Unfortunately,

* For an account of this voluminous quarto of eleven hundred pages, with it's incalculable quotations and references foaming over the margins, which was first published in 1632, see Hume's History of England,' VI. 52.

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the Queen had acted a part in a pastoral at Somerset House, not long after the publication of this piece; and of this circumstance Laud availed himself to punish the author, who in some former writings had been extremely severe upon the hierarchy. Prynne's piece, it was falsely contended, was published subsequently to her Majesty's performance, and the reflexion above-mentioned was pronounced a meditated affront to royalty. In that light the King himself was persuaded to regard it. The writer was tried, and sentenced to pay a fine of 5000l., to be expelled the University of Oxford, and the Society of Lincoln's-Inn; to be degraded, and for ever disabled from following his profession of the law; to stand in the pillory at Westminster and Cheapside, and to lose one of his ears at each place; to have his book burnt before his face by the common hangman; and to suffer perpetual imprisonment.' This sentence was carried into execution, with great rigour, in 1634. During his confinement, he wrote several books; in one of which, entitled News from Ipswich,' he severely reflected upon Laud and some other prelates. For this, he was again prosecuted in the Star-Chamber in 1637, and sentenced to pay an additional fine of 50007., to lose the remainder of his ears in the pillory, to be branded in both cheeks with the letters S. L. for a 'Schismatical Libeller,' and to be confined for life in Caernarvon Castle.

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About the same time, likewise, took place the prosecution of Dr. Bastwick a physician, who had caused to be printed in Holland his Elenchus Religionis Papistica,' with an Appendix entitled Flagellum Pontificis et Episcoporum Latialium; A Confutation of Popery,' and 'A Scourge for the Pope

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