CHAP. V.

Abstract of the Trial of Archbishop LAUD; and, of the Treaty of Uxbridge.

NEXT day after the establishment of the directory, Dr. William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, received sentence of death. He had been a prisoner in the Tower almost three years, upon an impeachment of high treason by the house of commons, without once petitioning for a trial, or so much as putting in his answer to the articles; however as soon as the parliament had united with the Scots, it was resolved to gratify that nation by bringing him to the bar; accordingly serjeant Wild was sent up to the house of lords, October 23, with ten additional articles of high treason, and other crimes and misdemeanors; and to pray, that his grace might be brought to a speedy trial. We have already recited the fourteen original articles under the year 1640. The additional ones were to the following purpose:

1. "That the archbishop had endeavored to destroy the use of parliaments, and to introduce an arbitrary govern

'ment.

2. That for ten years before the present parliament, he had endeavored to advance the council-table, the canons ' of the church, and the king's prerogative above law.

3. That he had stopt writs of prohibition to stay pro'ceedings in the ecclesiastical courts, when the same ought to have been granted.

4. That he had caused Sir John Corbet to be committed to the Fleet for six months, only for causing the pe'tition of right to be read at the sessions.

5. That judgment having been given in the court of King's-Bench against Mr. Burley, a clergyman of a bad 'character, for non-residence, he had caused the judgment

to be strayed, saying he would never suffer judgment to pass upon any clergyman by nihil dicit.

6. "That large sums of money having been contributed for buying in impropriations, the archbishop had caused the feofments to be overthrown into his majesty's Exchequer, and by that means suppressed the design.

7. "That he had harbored and relieved divers popish 'priests, contrary to law.

8. "That he had said at Westminster, there must be a 'blow given to the church, such as had not been given, before it could be brought to conformity, declaring thereby his intention to alter the true protestant religion established in it.

9.

That after the dissolution of the last parliament, he had caused a convocation to be held, in which sundry 'canons were made contrary to the rights and privileges of 'parliament, and an illegal oath imposed upon the clergy, 'with certain penalties, commonly known by the et cætera • oath.

10. "That upon the abrupt dissolving of the short parliament 1610, he had told the king, he was now absolved from all rules of government, and at liberty to make use of extraordinary methods for supply."

I omit the charge of the Scots commissioners, because the archbishop pleaded the act of oblivion.

The lords ordered the archbishop to deliver in his answer in writing to the above-mentioned articles in three weeks, which he did, taking no notice of the original ones.* The trial was put off from time to time, at the request of the prisoner, till Sept. 16, when the archbishop appearing at the bar, and having kneeled some time, was ordered to stand, and one of the managers for the commons moved, the lords, that their articles of impeachment, with the archbishop's answer, might be read; but when the clerk of the house had read the articles, there was no answer to the original ones. Upon which serjeant Maynard rose up and observed, "how unjust the archbishop's complaints of Prynne's Complete History of the Trial of Archbishop Laud, p. 38. * Prynne, p. 45.

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his long imprisonment, and of the delay of his hearing, must be, when in all this time he had not put in his an'swer to their original articles, though he had long since 'council assigned him for that purpose. That it would be absurd in them to proceed on the additional articles, when there was no issue joined on the original ones; he therefore prayed, that the archbishop might forthwith put in his answer to all their articles, and then they should be ready to confirm their charge whenever their lordships 'should appoint."

The archbishop says, the lords looked hard one upon another, as if they would ask where the mistake was, he himself saying nothing, but that his answer had not been called for. His grace would have embarrassed them further, by desiring them to hear his council, whether the ar ticles were certain and particular enough to receive an answer. He moved likewise, that if he must put in a new answer, his former might be taken off the file; and that they would please to distinguish which articles were treason, and which misdemeanor. But the lords rejected all his motions, and ordered him to put in his peremptory answer to the original articles of the commons by the 22d instant, which he did accordingly, to this effect:

"As to the 18th article, concerning the troubles in Scot? land, and all actions, attempts, assistance, counsel, or de'vice relating thereto, this defendant pleadeth the late act ' of oblivion, he being none of the persons excepted by the 'said act, nor are any of the offences charged upon this <defendant excepted by the said act.

"And as to all the other articles, both original and additional, this defendant saving to himself all advantages ' of exception to the said articles, humbly saith, that he is not guilty of all or any the matters, by the said articles charged in such manner and form as the same are by the said articles charged against him."

The trial was deferred all the month of February, as the archbishop insinuates, because Mr. Prynne was not ready with his witnesses. When it came on, lord Grey of

* Wharton's History of Archbishop Laud's Troubles, p. 214, 215.

Werk speaker of the house of lords, was appointed president; but the archbishop complains, that there were seldom more than sixteen or eighteen peers at a time. The managers for the commons were Mr. Serjeant Wild, and Mr. Maynard, Mr. Brown, Mr. Nicolas, and Mr. Hill, whom the archbishop calls consul bibulus, because he said nothing; their solicitor was Mr. Prynne, the archbishop's grand enemy. His grace's counsel were Mr. Herne, Mr. Hales, Mr. Chute, Mr. Gerard; and his solicitor was his own secretary, Mr. Dell. The trial was depending almost five months, in which time the archbishop was heard twenty days, with as much liberty and freedom of speech as could be reasonably desired. When he complained of the seizure of his papers, the lords ordered him a copy of all such as were necessary for his defence; and when he acquainted them, that by reason of the sequestration of his estate, he was incapable of feeing his counsel, they moved the committee of sequestrations in his favor, who ordered him two hundred pounds. His counsel had free access to him at all times, and stood by to advise him during the whole of his trial.

The method of proceeding was this; the archbishop had three or four days notice of the day of his appearance, and of the articles they designed to proceed on; he was brought to the bar about ten in the morning, and the managers were till one making good their charge; the house then adjourned till four, when the archbishop made his defence, after which one of the managers replied, and the archbishop returned to the Tower between seven and eight of the clock in the evening.

It is unhappy that this remarkable trial, which contains the chief heads of controversy between the puritans and the hierarchy, was not published by order of the house of peers, that the world might have seen the arguments on both sides in their full strength. Mr. Prynne, by order of the house of commons, has given us their evidence to that branch of the charge which relates to religion, and the archbishop has left behind him his own defence on every day's hearing, mixed with keen and satyrical reflections on his adversaries; but these being detached performances, I have endeavored to reduce the most material pas

sages into a proper method, without confining myself to the exact order of time in which the articles were debated. All the articles may be reduced to these three general heads.

First, "That the archbishop had traiterously attempted. • and endeavored to subvert the rights of parliament, and 'to exalt the king's power above law.

Secondly, "That he had traiterously endeavored to subvert the fundamental temporal laws and government of the realm of England, and to introduce an arbitrary 'government against law and the liberties of the subject.

Thirdly, "That he had traiterously endeavored, and practised, to alter and subvert God's true religion by law 'established in this realm, and instead thereof to set up 'popish superstition and idolatry, and to reconcile us to the church of Rome."

The trial began March 12, 1643-4 when Mr. Serjeant Wild, one of the managers of the house of commons, opened the impeachment with a smart speech, in which he stated and aggravated the several crimes charged upon the archbishop, and concluded with comparing him to Naaman the Syrian, who was a great man, but a leper.

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The archbishop, in his reply, endeavors to wipe off the aspersions that were cast upon him, in a labored speech which he held in his hand. He says, "It was no less than 'a torment to him to appear in that place, and plead for ' himself on that occasion, because he was not only a christian but a clergyman, and by God's grace advanced to the greatest place this church affords. He blessed God that he was neither ashamed to live, nor afraid to die ; 'that he had been as strict an observer of the laws of his 'country, both in public and private, as any man whatsoever; and as for religion, that he had been a steady mem"ber of the church of England as established by law, which he had endeavored to reduce to decency, uniformity, and beauty, in the outward face of it; but he had been 6 as far from attempting any alterations in favor of popery, as when his mother first bore him into the world; and let nothing be spoken but truth, (says he) and I do