e year of this king's reign, than in both their signs; yet both were expelled and lost their lives, their subjects not drawing a sword in their defence."-Coke, Detec. p. 135.

The King weak in Religious Matters and much inclined to Superstition.

THE nature of the king's future government was but too manifestly shewn in that extraordinary admonition which Laud had the confidence to give, and the king the weakness to receive, at his coronation, never before used at that ceremony." The king seated upon his throne, and ready to receive the homages of the lords, Laud came up to him, and said, 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 vs, and of all the BISHOPS and servants of GOD. And as you see the CLERGY to come nearer to his 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 the Lord of Lords."-Rapin, Vol. x. p. 35."That part of the ancient coronation oath, That the king should consent to such laws as the people should chuse, was struck out; and the words saving the king's royal prerogative inserted; which Whitelock affirms to be done by the management

of Laud."-Hist. Stu. p. 82.-Whitelock's Mem. p. 84.

"Lord Clarendon was wont to say, that when Charles came to the crown he expressed himself very willing to restore the revenues to the ecclesiastics which the king Henry VIII. had disposed of amongst the nobility. He made a solemn vow, that if God should restore him to his kingly rights, he would give back to the church all those impropriations, which are now held by the crown: and what lands soever I do now or should enjoy, which have been taken away from any episcopal see, or any cathedral or collegiate church, or from any abbey or religious house."-Crit. Hist. Eng. p. 73.-Echard, p. 624.

"The high office of lord treasurer being vacant, the eyes of all men were at a gaze who should have it, and the greatest of the nobility, who were in the chiefest employments, looked upon it as the price of one of them; when on a sudden it was put into the hands of (Dr. Juxon) the bishop of London; a man so unknown, that his name was scarce heard of in the kingdom; who had been, within two years before, but a private chaplain to the king, and the president of a poor college in Oxford. This inflamed more men than were angry before-and indisposed many towards the church itself; which they looked upon as the gulph ready to swallow all the great offices; there being others in view of that robe, who were ambitious enough to expect the rest.”—Clarend. Vol. I. p. 99. "In the levying of ship-money great care was taken to favour the clergy."Whitelock, Mem. p. 22.

"His majesty concerned himself very particu larly by an order in council to remove the communion tables from the middle of the church, where they usually stood, and to place them at the east

end in form of an altar, all the king's chaplains, and even the common people, were enjoined bowing at the altar; not only in time of divine service, but at their going in and out of the church: by a new body of statutes, confirmed by the great seal, the dean and prebendaries of Canterbury were obliged by oath to observe this ceremony: and to make the adoration more significant, the altars in cathedrals were adorned with the most pompous furniture, and all the vessels had a solemn consecration. That of Canterbury was furnished according to a model taken from the Roman missal, with two candlesticks and tapers, a basin for oblations, a cushion for the service book, a silver-gilt canister for the wafers, lined with cambrick lace, the tonne on a cradle, a chalice with the image of Christ, two patins or plates, the tricanale, a round ball, out of which issued three pipes for the water of mixture, a credentia, a basin and ewer on napkins, a towel for washing before consecration, &c. Upon some altars there was a pot, called the incense pot, and a knife to cut the sacramental bread; all of which were consecrated with a great deal of pomp and ridiculous solemnity."--Neal, Vol. 11. p. 255, 258.

"Images of God the Father, the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary, with angels lifting her up to heaven with this inscription, Hail Mary, Spouse of GOD, were carefully kept up: copes of mass priests were bought, with crucifixes and images of the Trinity embroidered upon them: consecrated knives and great numbers of lighted candles upon the altars on Sundays and Saint's days. On Candlemas day there were no less than 200 in the cathedral of Durham, of which 60 were upon or about the altar. These were reckoned amongst the beauties of the sanctuary,"-Neal, Vol. 11. p. 224, 225. "New images and ornaments, says

Lord Commissioner Whitelock, others than formerly were set up; to the discontent of many persons."-Whitelock, p. 17. "These fopperies," Bishop Kennet observes, "lost both the king and the bishops the hearts and affections of the protestant part of the nation."-Nelson, Collect. Vol. 1. p. 768. "The prelates," says Lord Falkland, a zealous loyalist, "brought in superstition and scandal under the titles of reverence and decency; and defiled our church by adorning our churches." -Apud Withers.

Laud indeed was the chief actor in these superstitious extravagancies; but as he acted by the power, and was supported by the authority, so be well knew the sentiments and pleasure, of the king. Archdeacon Echard therefore assures us, That in all Laud's attempts for the advancement and grandeur of the church of England; and for the bringing it to a kind of rivalship with the church of Rome, he had the hearty concurrence of the king. Which Lord Clarendon also asserts. Echard, p. 454.-Clarend. Vol. 1. p. 92.

"Kneeling at the sacrament, wearing the surplice, confirmation, keeping of saint's days, processions, bowings to the altar, &c. were pressed by the bishops with the same eagerness as if religion must have fallen with them, and as if they were absolutely necessary to salvation. Now as the king never failed to approve of what was enjoined by the bishops, many suspected the king's authority was made use of to support these seemingly inconsiderable innovations, with a design to take advantage of the same authority to justify alterations of much greater consequence."-Rapin, Vol. x. p. 276, 277.

Hence, Lord Clarendon observes, proceeded a schism amongst the bishops themselves, and a great deal of uncharitableness in the learned and

moderate clergy, towards one another. For many who loved the established government of the church, yet liked not any novelties, and so were liable to entertain jealousies that more was intended than was hitherto proposed; especially when those insinuations came from men unsuspected of any inclinations to change, and known assertors of the government both in church and state. They observed also that the inferior clergy took more upon them than they were wont; and did not live towards their neighbours of quality, or their patrons themselves, with that civility and condescension they had used to do."-Clarend. Vol. 1.p. 97.

"In the censure of Bastwick, all the bishops then present, denied openly that they held their jurisdiction, as bishops, from the king; for which they might, perhaps, have been censured themselves in Henry II's or Edward III's. They affirmed, that they had jurisdiction from GOD only, which denial of the supremacy of the king under God, Henry VIII, would have taken ill: but these bishops publicly disavowed their dependance on the king." Whitelock's Mem. p. 22.

A great many learned and excellent clergymen for venturing to preach against the superstitions and innovations then introduced, were silenced and otherwise severely punished. "In the university of Oxford several were proceeded against; divers censured, and some expelled the university for preaching against arminianism and other points of religion then in controversy.-Henry Shorfield, Esq. recorder of Sarum, was tried in the Star Chamber for profanely taking down some painted glass out of one of the windows of St. Edmund's church in Salisbury, in which were seven pictures of GOD the Father, in form of a little old man, in a blue and red coat, with a pouch by his side, and a pair of compasses creating the