protestants. Further, they began to intimate the church of Rome in her gaudy ceremonies, in the rich furniture of their chapels, and the pomp of their worship. They complimented the Roman catholic priests with their dignitary titles, and spent all their zeal in studying how to compromise matters with Rome, while they turned their backs upon the old protestant doctrines of the reformation, and were remarkably negligent in preaching or instructing the people in christian knowledge. Things were come to such a pass, that Gondamar the Spanish ambassador wrote to Spain, that there never was more hopes of England's conversion, for there are more prayers (says he) offered to the Mother than the Son [of God."*] The priests and jesuits challenged the established clergy to public disputations; the duke of Buckingham's mother being a papist, a conference was held in her presence between Fisher, a jesuit on one part, and Dr. White, Williams, and Laud, on the other. Each of them disputed with the jesuit a day before a great concourse of people, but not to the countess's conversion, which was not at all strange,upon their principles. Amongst other popish books that were published, one was entitled, A new Gag for the old Gospel; which Dr. Montague, rector of Stamford-Rivers, answered in such a manner, as gave great offence to the old clergy, yielding up all the points abovementioned, and not only declaring for Arminianism, but making dangerous advances toward popery itself. The book occasioning a great noise, Mr. Ward and Yates, two ministers at Ipswich, made a collection of the

*This is not a just or accurate representation of the words. As Rapin relates it; Gondamar, perceiving most addresses for preferment were made first to the mother of the marquis of Buckingham, and by her conveyed to her son, who could deny her nothing, amongst his other witty pranks, wrote merrily in his dispatches to Spain, that never was there more hope of ENGLAND's conversion to Rome than now; for there are more prayers offered here to the mother than the son. The words of God, as bishop Warburton and Dr. Grey observe, should be erased. It was a mere joke of the Spanish ambassador, speaking of court corruption under the terms of religion. Mr. Neal by not referring to his authority, appears to quote it by recollection, and indeed to have misTaken the matter. Bishop Warburton is, however, very severe in his reflections on him, calling his statement of it "a vile perversion of 'facts." The reader will decide on his lordship's candor here.

Ed.

popish and Arminian tenets it contained, in order to lay them before the next parliament; but the author with the king's leave, took shelter under the royal wing, and prepared for the press his Apello Cesarem, or a just appeal from two unjust informers; which White, bishop of Carlisle, licensed in these words, that there was nothing contained in the same but was agreeable to the public faith, doctrine, and discipline established in the church of England. But before the book was published, the king died. These advances of the court divines towards popery, made most of the people fall in with the puritans, who, being constant preachers, and of exemplary lives, wrought them up by their awakening sermons to an abhorrence of every thing that looked that way.* Many of the nobility and gentry favored them. Lady Bowes, afterwards Lady Darcy, gave a thousand pounds per annum, to maintain preachers in the north, where there were none, and all her preachers were silenced non-conformists. Almost all the famous practical writers of this reign except bishop Andrews, were puritans, and sufferers for non-conformity, as Dr. Willet, Mr. Jer. Dyke, Dr. Preston, Sibbs, Byfield, Bolton, Hildersham, Dod, Ball, Whately, and others, whose works have done great service to religion. The character of these divines was the reverse of what the learned Selden† gives of the clergy‡ * Rothwell, p. 69, annexed to his GENERAL MARTYROLOGY. + In preface, p. 1, 2d edit. 1618.

Bishop Warburton severely censures Mr. Neal for applying the words of Selden as if spoken of the episcopal clergy. "Here (says he) is another of the historian's arts; Selden speaks of the puritan clergy." Not to urge in reply, that Selden can be understood as speaking of those. elergy only, to whom his doctrine of tithes would be offensive, who could not be the puritan clergy; it is fortunate for our author, that his interpretation of Selden's words is sanctioned by Heylin; who represents Selden's work as the execution of "a plot set on foot to subvert the church, in the undoing of the clergy The author," he adds, "was highly magnified, the book held unanswerable, and all the clergy looked on but as pigmies to that great Goliah." And then to shew, that the reproach cast on the clergy was not well founded, he appeals to the answers given to Selden by Nettles, fellow of Queen's-college, Cambridge, Dr. Montague, and archdeacon Tillesly. By which," says Heylin, 'he found that some of the ignorant and lazy clergy were of as retired 'studies as himself; and could not only match, but overmatch him too, in his philology." If Mr. Neal misrepresented Selden, so did Heylin. Heylin's Hist. of Presh. p. 391. Ed.

of these times, in his History of Tithes, where he taxes them with ignorance and laziness; and adds, "That they had nothing to support their credit but beard, title, and habit; and that their learning reached no further than the 'postils and the polyanthia." Upon the whole, if we may believe Mr. Coke, the puritan party had gathered so much strength, and was in such reputation with the people, that they were more in number than all the other parties in the kingdom put together.

With regard to King James himself, it is hard to draw his just character, for no prince was ever so much flattered who so little deserved it. He was of a middle stature, not very corpulent, but stuffed out with clothes, which hung so loose, and being quilted, were so thick as to resist a dagger. His countenance was homely, and his tongue too big for his mouth, so that he could not speak with decency. While he was in Scotland he appeared sober and chaste, and acquired a good degree of learning, but upon his accession to the English crown he threw off the mask, and by degrees gave himself up to luxury and ease, and all kinds of licentiousness. His language was obscene, and his actions very often lewd and indecent. He was a profane swearer, and would often be drunk, and when he came to himself would weep like a child, and say, he hoped God would not impute his infirmities to him. He valued himself upon what he called king-craft, which was else nothing but deep hypocrisy and dissimulation in every character of life, resulting from the excessive timorousness of his nature. If we consider him as a king, he never did a great or generous action throughout the course of his reign,† but prostituted the

*"His learning," observes Dr. Warner, "was not that of & prince but a pedant; and made him more fit to take the chair in public schools than to sit on the throne of kings." He was one of those princes, who,' as bishop Shiply expresses it, were so unwise as to write books.' The only thing that does him honor as an author is, that Mr. Pope pronounced his version of the psalms the very best in the English language. Warner's Eccles. Hist. v. ii. p. 508. Ed.

To this, Dr. Grey opposes his bounty to the church of Ripon in Yorkshire, in which he founded a dean and chapter of seven prebendaries; and settled 2471. per annum of crown lands for their maintenance. The doctor also quotes from Fuller, Wilson, and Laud, warm encomi

sors.

honor of the English nation beyond any of his predeces He stood still while the protestant religion was suppressed in France, in Bohemia, in the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany. He surrendered up the cautionary towns* to the Dutch for less than a fourth part of the value, and suffered them to dispossess us of our factories in the East-Indies. At home he committed the direction of all affairs in church and state to two or three favorites, and eared not what they did if they gave him no trouble. He broke through all the laws of the land, and was as absolute a tyrant as his want of courage would admit.† He revived the projects of monopolies, loans, benevolences, &c. to supply his exchequer, which was exhausted by his profuseness towards his favorites, and laid the foundation of all the ums of his liberality. But it ought to be considered, whether a liberality, which did not, as Dr. Warner says, "flow from reason or judgment, 'but from whim, or mere benignity of humors," deserved such praises. Besides, Mr. Neal evidently refers to "such great and generous actions," as advance the interest and prosperity of a kingdom, and add to the national honor. This cannot be said of favors bestowed on parasites and jovial companions; or on a provision made that a few clerical gentlemen may loll in stalls. Ed.

These were the Brill and Flushing, with some other places of less note; and Dr Grey, to screen the reputation of James from Mr. Neal's implied reflection, observes, that the Dutch had pawned these towns to Queen Elizabeth for sums of money which she fent them, when they were distressed by the Spaniards. The sum borrowed on this security was eight millions of florins; and they were discharged for 2,728,000 Borins, though 18 years interest was due. In equity and by stipulation the Dutch had a right, on repaying the money, to reclaim the towns they had mortgaged. This Dr. Grey must be understood as insinuating, by setting up the fact of the mortgage in defence of James's character. Yet,in all just estimation,his character must ever suffer by his surrender of these towns. He restored them without an equivalent, and without the advice or consent of parliament, to raise money to lavish on his favorites. And by this step he lost the dependence those provinces before had on the English crown.

See this matter fully stated in Rapin's History, vol. ii. p. 122 and 1912; and by Dr. Harris in his Life of James I. p. 162-167. ED.

+ In his book, entitled "The true Law of Free Monarchy," he asserted, that "the parliament is nothing else but the head-court of the king and his vassals; that the laws are but craved by his subjects; and that, in short, he is above the law." This is a proof that his specalative notions of regal power were, as Mr. Granger expresses it, 'absolute as those of an eastern monarch."

66

as

Secret History of Charles II. vol. i. Introd. p. 20, the note. ED.

calamities of his son's reign. Upon the whole, though he was flattered by hungry courtiers as the Solomon and Phonix of his age, he was, in the opinion of bishop Burnet, the scorn of his age, a mere pedant, without true judg 'ment, courage or steadiness, his reign being a continued 'course of mean practices."

It is hard to make any judgment of his religion, for one while he was a puritan, and then a zealous churchman; at first a Calvinist and Presbyterian, afterwards a Remonstrant or Arminian, and at last a half, if not an entire doctrinal papist. Sir Ralph Winwood, in his memoirs, says, that as long ago as the year 1596, he sent Mr. Ogilby, a Scots baron, to Spain, to assure his catholic majesty he was then ready to turn papist, and to propose an alliance with that king and the pope against the queen of England; but for reasons of state the affair was hushed. Rapin says, he was neither a sound protestant, nor a good catholic, but had formed a plan of uniting both churches, which must effectually have ruined the protestant interest. for which indeed he never expressed any real concern. But I am rather of opinion that all his religion was his boasted king-craft. He was certainly the meanest prince that ever sat on the British throne:* England never sunk in its reputation, nor was so much exposed to the scorn and ridicule of its neighbors, as in his reign. How willing his majesty was to unite with the papists, the foregoing history has discovered; and yet in the presence of many lords, and in a very remarkable manner, he made a solemn protestation, That he would spend the last drop of blood in his body before he would do it; and prayed, that before any of his issue should maintain any other religion than his own [the protestant]

To Mr. Neal's character of James, Dr. Grey particularly opposes that drawn of him by the pen of Spotswood, who was preferred by him to the archbishopric of St. Andrews. "In this Dr. Harris." says Grey, did not quite so right. For court bishops, by some fate or other, from the time of Constantine, down at least to the death of James, and a little after, have had the characters of flatterers, panegyrists, and others of like import; and therefore are always to have great abate'ments made in the accounts of their benefactors; it being well known 'that such they endeavor to hand down to posterity under the notion 'of saints, as they always blacken and deface their adversaries.”

Life of James I. p. 246-7. ED.