cording to the fentence against her. The next day he had the good hap to apprehend both her and Sir Robert; and, by order of the High-commiffion court, imprisoned her in the Gatehoufe, and him in the Fleet. But Sir Robert, bribing the turnkey of the prifon, conveyed the Lady away to France in man's apparel. Thereupon, in the next fitting of the High-commiffion, the Archbifhop ordered him to be clofe prifoner till he brought the Lady forth. So he continued clofe prifoner about two or three months. For this the fine above-mentioned was im pofed upon the Archbishop, as being a moft unjuft and illegal imprisonment. Whereas the Parliament, had they any fenfe of justice and morality, ought to have approved of the Archbishop's proceedings, and feverely punifhed the vile adulterefs and fornicator.

The 25th of June, 1641, he fent down to Oxford his refignation of the Chancellorthip of that Univerfity, to be publifhed in Convocation. In order to take from him the difpofal of all his benefices, the Houfe of Lords fequeftered, the 23d of October following, his jurifdiction, putting it into the hands of his inferior Officers; and injoined, that he fhould give no benefice that was in his difpofal, without first presenting to the Houfe the names of fuch perfons as he nominated to it, to be approved by the Houfe before collation or inftitution. The 20th of Jan. 1641-2, the Lords ordered his arms at Lambeth-palace, which had cost him above 300l. to be taken away by the Sheriffs of London. Before the conclusion of that year, in purfuance of a refolution of Parliament, all the rents and profits of his Archbishopric were fequeftered for the ufe of the Commonwealth; and his houfe was plundered of what money it afforded, by two Members of the Houfe of Commons. What was very hard, when he petitioned the Parliament afterwards for a maintenance, he could not obtain any; nor even the leaft part of above zoo 1. worth of his own wood and coal at Lambeth, for his neceffary use in the Tower. On the 25th of April, 1643, a motion was made in the Houfe of Commons, at the inftance of Hugh Peters and others of that stamp, to fend or transport him to New-England; but that motion was rejected. And, on the 9th of May, his goods and books in Lambeth-house were feized; and the goods fold fcarce for the third part of their value. All this before he had been brought to any trial; which was condemning him unheard. Seven days after, there came out an ordinance of Parliament, injoining him to give no benefice, void or to be void, without leave and order of both Houses. The 31ft of the fame month,

W. Prynne, by a warrant from the elofe Committee, came and fearched his room, and even rifled his pockets; taking away his diary, private devotions, and twenty-one bundles of paper which he had prepared for his own defence. Prynne promifed a faiths ful reftitution of them within three or four days, but he never returned quite three of the bundles of papers. In the mean time, the Archbishop not complying exactly with the ordinance abovementioned, all the tem poralities of his Archbishopric were fequef tered to the Parliament, June 1o; and he was fufpended from his office and benefice, and from all jurisdiction whatsoever. After he had continued above three years a clofe prifoner, he was at length brought to his trial, which commenced March 12, 1643-4, and lafted twenty days, ending the 29th of July, 1644.

In October 1643, the Commons added ten other articles to the fourteen of accufa tion against him, carried up by Sir Henry Vane from them to the Lords. The fubftance of them was: 1. That he had trai teroufly endeavoured to fubvert the fundamental laws and government of the king dom of England, and inftead thereof to introduce an arbitrary and tyrannical government against law; and to that end had ad vifed his Majefty that he might at his own will and pleasure levy and take money of his fubjects, without their confent in Parliament, 2. That he had advised and procured fermons and other difcourfes to be preached, printed, and published; in which the authority of Parliaments and the force of the laws of this kingdom were denied, and an abfoluté and unlimited power over the perfons and eftates of his Majefty's fubjects was main taimed and defended, not only in the King, but alfo in himself and other Bishops, above and against the law; and that he had, in like manner, endeavoured to advance the power of the Council-table, the canons of the church, and the King's prerogative, a bove the laws and ftatutes of the realm. 3. That he had, by letters, ineffages, &c. to Judges and other minifters of justice, interrupted and perverted the courte of jufticé in the Courts at Weftminster and elsewhere. And, to advance the canons of the church and power ecclefiaftical, had oppofed and ftopped the granting writs of prohibition, 4. That he had fold juftice to thofe that had caufes depending before him, and had taken unlawful gifts and bribes. 5. That he had traiteroufly caused a book of canons to be compofed and published, and to be put in execution, in which were many matters contrary to the King's prerogative, to the fun

dainental

9.

damental laws and ftatutes of the realm, to the right of Parliament, to the propriety and liberty of the fubject, &c. and had caufed a most dangerous and illegal oath to be therein made and contrived. 6.That he had affumed to himself a papal and tyrannical power, both in ecclefiaftical and temporal matters; and claimed the King's ecclefiaftical jurifdiction, as incident to his epifcopal and archiepifcopal office in this kingdom, denying the fame to be derived from the Crown of England. 7. That he had endeavoured to alter and fubvert God's true religion by law eftablished in this realm, and, inftead thereof, to fet up Popish fuperftition and idolatry; and to that end had declared and maintained divers Popifh doctrines and opinions, and urged and injoined divers Popish and fuperftitious ceremonies; and cruelly perfecuted those who opposed the fame, and vexed others who refused to conform thereunto. 8. That he had intruded upon the places of divers great Officers and others; whereby he procured to himself the nomination of fundry perfons to ecclefiaftical dignities, and the recommendation of Chaplains to the King who were popifhly affected, or otherwife unfound and corrupt both in doctrine and manners. That his own Chaplains were fuch, and, he having committed the licensing of books to them, by that means, divers falfe and fuperftitious books had been published. 10. That he had endeavoured to reconcile the Church of England with the Church of Rome; and for that purpose had conforted and confederated with divers Popish priests and Jefuits, (particularly one Santa Clara, alias Damport, or Davenport, and one Monfieur St. Giles ;) and kept fecret intelligence with the Pope, and had permitted and countenanced a Popith hierarchy to be eftablished in this kingdom. 11. That he had caufed divers learned, pious, and orthodox preachers to be filenced, fufpended, deprived, &c. without any juft or lawful caufe; whereby he had hindered the preaching of God's word, caufed divers of his Majesty's loyal subjects to forfake the kingdom, &c. And that he had caufed the feoffment for buying of impropriations, for the maintenance of preaching in feveral churches, to be overthrown. 12. That he had fuppreffed and abrogated the privileges and immunities granted to the French and Dutch churches in this kingdom. 13. That he had plotted and endeavoured to ftir up war and enmity between the kingdoms of England and Scotland, and to that purpose had laboured to introduce into Scotland divers innovations both in religion and government, all or the most part tending to popery and fuperftition: And for their [i. e. the

Scots] refufing to fubmit to fuch innovations, he advifed his Majefty to fubdue them by force of arms; and, by his own authority, did procure feveral perfons, and inforced the clergy to contribute towards the maintenance of that war, and, when his Majefty had made a pacification betwixt the two kingdoms, the faid Archbishop did cenfure that pacification as difhonourable to his Majefty, and fo incenfe his Majefty againft his fubjects of Scotland, that he did thereupon, by the advice of the faid Archbishop, enter into an offenfive war against them. 14. That, to preferve himfelf from being queftioned for thefe and other his traiterous courfes, he had laboured to fubvert the rights of Parliaments, and the ancient course of parliamentary proceedings, and, by falfe and malicious flanders, to incenfe his Majefty against Parlia

ments.

The Archbishop, even by the confeffion of his enemies, made as full, as gallant, as pithy a defence, and spoke as much for himfelf as was poffible for the wit of man to invent; and that with fo much art, vivacity, oratory, and confidence, without the leaft acknowledgment of guilt in any thing.He complains of the bad ufage he received from W. Prynne, with regard to the management of the evidence against him.-' It is well known, fays the Archbishop, that he kept a kind of school of instruction for fuch of the witneffes as he durft truft, that they might be sure to speak home to the purpofe he would have them. And this an utter Barrifter, a man of good credit, knows, who, in the hearing of men beyond exception, faid, The Archbishop is a ftranger to me, but Mr. Prynne's tampering about the witneffes is fo palpable and foul, that I cannot but pity him and cry fhame of it.' He obferves alfo what fort of witneffes were in general employed against him: Many of the witneffes, faith he, brought againft me in this bufinefs are more than fufpected fectaries and feparatists from the 'Church, which, by' my place, I was to punish, and that exalperated them against me; whereas, by law,

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no fchifmatic ought to be received against his Bishop." And many of these are witnes fes in their own caufes, and pre-examined hefore they came in Court. At which preexamination I was not prefent, nor any for me to crofs-int rrogate.-A pack of fuch witnefles were never produced against any man of my place and calling; messengers and purfuivants, and fuch as have shifted their religion to and again; pillory-men and bawds, &c.'-It plainly appears that he fell a facrifice to the revenge of the Scottish nation; for his trial was haftened or retarded,

according

according to the motions of their army in England; and Mr. Ludlow frankly owns, that he was beheaded for the encouragement of the Scots.

Every unprejudiced perfon, after a cool and ferious perufal of the whole proceedings against him, muft own that he had not common juftice. And, notwithstanding all the endeavours of his enemies, it plainly appears, that nothing he had either faid or done was reafon, by any known established law of this kingdom.

The trial being over, it remained now that he fhould be left to the verdict of the House of Peers, or of a Middlefex Jury; but, to all appearance, his profecutors durft not venture is upon that iffue. Therefore they proceeded to what must be called a cruel, if not an illegal, method; that is, an ordinance for his attainder; which was firft read in the House of Commons, November 13, paffed the 16th, and was immediately fent up to the Lords. There it stuck till the beginning of January, 1644-5, when, by the violence of the Earl of Pembroke, and the threatenings of the mob's coming down. to force them, it was paffed the 4th of that month, in a very thin Houfe, only fix Lords having concurred in it. And indeed, after the exclufion of the Bishops, and the willing or forced abfence of the loyal royalifts, the attending Peers were feldom twenty, and oftener did not exceed twelve or fourteen; and frequently did not come up to that finall number. Of this hardship the Archbishop complains in the following words: Tho' my hopes under God were upon the Lords, yet, when my trial came on, it did fomewhat trouble me to fee fo few Lords in that great House. For, at the greatest prefence that was any day of my hearing, there were not above fourteen, and ufually not above eleven or twelve. Of thefe one third part, at least, each day, took or had occafion to be gone, before the charge of the day was half given. I never had any one day the fame Lords all prefent at my defence in the afternoon, that were at my charge in the morning: Some leading Lords fcarce prefent at my charge four days of all my long trial, nor three at my defence; and, which is moft, no one Lord prefent at my whole trial, but the Lord Gray of Wark, the Speaker, without whofe prefence it could not be a Houfe.'

By the just-mentioned ordinance, he was to fuffer death as in cafes of high treafon; But, upon his repeated petition, the fentence was altered to beheading, which he fuffered with great copofure, January the 10th, on a scaffold erected upon Tower-hill, being #ged 71 yeus, 4 months, and 3 days. He

was buried in the church of Allhallows Bar king, London; but his remains, being af terwards taken up, were depofited in the chapel of St. John's College in Oxford, July 24, 1663.

Such was the tragical end of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury! As to his perfon, he was low of ftature, but welk and ftrongly made; and of a ruddy and chearful countenance. In his temper and natural disposition, he was full of fire and vivacity, which too often degenerated into choler and paffion, and made him not to have fo ftrict a guard over his words and actions, as he ought to have had. He was a man of strict integrity, fincere and zealous; regular in his life, chafte, fober, and temperate, and humble in his private deportment. But, in fome refpects, he was indifcreet and obftinate, eagerly purfuing matters that were either inconfiderable or mischievous. The rigorous profecutions in the Star-chamber and High-commiffion Courts are generally imputed to him, though every unprejudiced perfon will think they ought. not to be imputed to him alone. As he heartily hated the Puritans, f he was as heartily hated by them. He formed the airy preject of bringing all the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland to an exact uniformity in religion and worship. An impracticable project, often attempted without fuccefs. An impracticable project especially among the free people of England, whom either confcience or education, or perverfenefs and obitinacy, caule and induce to have different fentiments and opinions in moft points, efpecially in religious matters. The preffing of fome ceremonies and other like things, which he imagined to be the only means for this uniformity, brought him under the odious imputation of Popery and of being popishly affected; but that feems to be an ill-grounded imputation. He was more bufy in temporal affairs and matters of State, than his predeceffors in the fee of Canterbury of later times had been; and even thought he could manage the place and office of Prime Minifter, without the leaft condescension to the arts and itratagems of the Court, and without any friendship, or fupport, than what a pious life and his unpolished integrity would reconcile to him: Which was an unskilful meafure in a licentious age, and ill-judged in him, who was unfit for a Court, having never learned to diffemble. The Lord Cla rendon concludes his character with this candid obfervation, That his learning, piety, and virtue have been attained by very few, and the greatest of his infirmities are common to all, even to the best of men.' His benefactions and writings were many.

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child. The man, whether through grief or refentment, proved deaf to both; and, after feveral hearings, carried his point. The idol was condemned to perpetual banishment as ufelefs to the nation; the temple from which it was brought to be demolished; and the bonzes that attended it to be feverely chaftifed, though not degraded from officiating at fome other pagod. Thefe ftories are not indeed fo confonant with what these authors elfewhere tell us of the Chinese learning and politeness, and would induce one to believe them to be told by thofe reverend authors with a design to palliate the fuperftitions of their own church, by exaggerating thofe of the Chinese: But, whether fo or not, it is allowed on all hands, that these extravagancies are despised and condemned by the wifer fort.

under which the Chinese worship their principal Gods in their temples, they have an innumerable variety of others of all fizes and forms, which they fet up in their houfes, treets, fhips, fields, burying-places, and fuch-like, to whom they burn incenfe and other perfumes, and offer up their prayers and other parts of the fame worship that is performed by them in their temples. They are ftyled, by their votaries, their houthold deities, and are to be found among the poorelt as well as among the richest, and are often treated in the fame contemptuous and vindictive manner as the Portuguefe are faid to afe fome of their favourite faints; that is, after having prayed to them a good while, and with fome importunity, if they do not anfwer their petitions, they firft upbraid them for their neglect and ingratitude, and then proceed to chaftife them. 1 his laft is commonly done by bastonading, dragging them along the streets through dirt and mire, dunghills, &c. which done, they throw them by, as ufelefs, into fome obfcure corner of their houfes: But, if they happen to obtain the effect of their prayers, they then fetch the poor dol out with great ceremony and respect, and reftore him to his place with a promife to have him new painted or gilt. They then fall down and adore him; confefs that they have been as much too hafty towards him as he hath been remifs and negligent towards them; beg of him to forget and forgive what is paft, which cannot now be recalled; and that he will be more diligent and kind to them, and they will be more careful of their duty, and more lavifh of their incenfe and perfumes to him.

No doubt, religious cheats are the growth and practice of most countries, and, on this account, though not on the above subject of the ignominious treatment of unpropitious gods, it will not be amifs to produce another inftance of Chinese folly, credulity, and fuperftition.

Some might be naturally inclined to believe these to be fables, were they not conveyed to us by fome eminent Jefuit Mifficnaries, one of which, viz. Le Compte, tells us a long, and still more furprifing, itory, which happened at Nan-king, during his ftay there, the fubftance of which is: That a man who had loft his only daughter, notwithstanding his moft fervent prayers, facrifices, offerings, &c. to a god brought to him from a pagod, and the promifes of the bonze that the would recover, refolved to fue the idol before a Magiftrate, either as a faithlefs or impotent, and therefore an unworthy or infignificant deity. The caufe was dragged from one tribunal to another, and the Judges, bribed by the bonzes, still advised him to drop his profecution; whilft the priest endeavoured to perfuade him that, if he did, the god would

The doctrine of the tranfmigration of the foul is a never-failing fource of gain to the Chinese bonzes or priefts. They pretend to know precifely the prefent ftate of the dead, and the future one of the living; that is, into what kind of bodies the former are tranfmigrated, and even to know the very identical creature or perfon into which they have paffed; and into what kind of one the living will fhortly go. In the firft cafe, which they feldom fail of representing to the furviving friends as either dreadful, miferable, or uncomfortable, they extort money from them to procure the deceased a speedy releafe and paffage into a better ftate; as out of a dog, fnke, or infect, into an elephant, a philofopher, mandarin, and the like. In the other, by threatening the living with an unhappy tranfimigration, they either get money to procure them a happier one, or leave them to live in dread of the fatal change.

Le Compte tells us a ftory of an old man, whom thefe bonzes had made to believe that his foul fhould, in her next migration, pass into the body of one of the Emperor's posthorfes. They had likewife advifed him to eat fparingly, and bear it patiently, that fo they might the fooner fend him into a better habitation. The poor man, unable to reconcile hnfelf to fuch a change, could neither fleep day nor night, through the dread

of it, but grieved at fuch a rate as would foon have ended his days. Happily for him, he learned that the fouls of the Chriftians had a particular exemption from these kinds of metamorphofes; upon which he applied himself to one of the jefuit miffionaries, and earneftly begged of him, that he would make him a Chriftian; affuring him, that he would rather be of that, or any religion, than be turned into a post-horfe. The good father, who could not but pity his fimplicity, took care to infpire him first with better motives for becoming a Chriftian, and then readily granted his request.

He relates another inftance of the knavery of the bonzes, to the following effect: A

young Prince of the blood, being inconfo lable for the lofs of one of his molt amiable companions, applied himself to them, to know into what ftate his foul had pafed. To which they answered, that he was now turned into a Tartar boy, whom, they told him, they could procure, for a fum of money, to be brought to him. The Prince readily agreed, and a Tartar boy was accordingly prefented to him, as the perfon into whofe body the foul of his favourite was tranfmigrated; and he was accordingly received into favour as formerly, to the no fmall comfort and fatisfaction of the Prince, who failed not to give those jugglers fome tokens of his generolity.

S

OME Pilgrims, of a more illustrious birth than they appeared to be by their garb, had fet out from Badajoz, to repair to our Lady's of Guadaloupe. They walked on fo flow, that they had not performed above five leagues of their journey at the end of the third day. Night furprised them on the road, as they were paffing over a mountain covered with oaks, and other trees of different kinds. The time of the autumnal equinox then approached. The heat was temperate, and the cold fcarce felt. They could, in cafe of neceffity, pafs the night in the open air, as well as in a village. That, which they intended to lodge at, appearing too far diftant, the whole company were unanimous in not proceeding farther, and, efpying a fhepherd's cot near them, they deputed one of their number to go and requeft admittance for them into it.

Soon after fo thick a mift arose, that our pilgrims did not know where to ftep along. A din light they faw near the shepherd's habitation ferved to guide them towards it. But, the darkness growing ftill greater, and fome noise being heard, they stopped fhort to put themselves on their guard against a furprife.

Their uneafinefs did not last long. They perceived a man on horfeback, who riding up to them, afked if they were of that country. No, answered they, we are of a diftant province, and are making a pilgrimage to Rome, intending to pass through Guadaloupe in our route. It matters not, continued the man on horseback. Generofity is of all countries. There may be fome honeft soul amongst you capable of an act of humanity. All having affured him they were ready to ferve him: Take then, faid he, this gold chain; it is worth more than two hundred

Tranflated from the Spanish.

crowns. Take, added he, in delivering to them a bundle, take this pledge which I cannot fet a value upon, and, when you arrive at Truxillo, you will give it into the hands of one of the two cavaliers I shall name to you, who are both equally rich, generous, men of honour, and well known; the one is Don Francis Pizaro, and the other Don John d' Orellana. Tell them that they are intreated to take care of that innocent creature, (for it was a new-born child he had delivered to them) and that they will foon learn the name of thofe who gave life to it. Pardon me if I leave you fo haftily. My enemies are in clofe purfuit of me. If they meet, and queftion you, be fo good as to anfwer them, that the darkness hindering your feeing any thing, you had only heard three or four cavaliers, one of which cried to the reft, Let us, friends, take the route of Portugal, let us fave ourselves in Portugal. I have only one thing to add: The child has not been yet baptifed, and fo you will inform the perfons it is addreffed to. With these words he departed, and disappeared as a flash of lightning.

Behold then thefe pilgrims having charge of a depofit which they judged to be precious by the prefent it was accompanied with. A woman of the company took the child, which feemed to be juft born; and endeavoured, by her indearments, to appease its cries. They continued walking on through the darkness and fog, and at laft reached the fhepherd's habitation. They had fearce entered, when they faw another perfon arrive. She wiped away her tears, checked her fighs, and ftrove to hide the forrow of her diftrefs. Though almost naked, it was obferved that the few cloaths she had on were of value. Fain would he have hidden her

face