Laud, the principal author of the evils which induced the revolution,
remained a prisoner. He had become a helpless old man; and it would
have been better for the Puritans had they checked their resentment,
and suffered their vanquished enemy to linger out his days as a captive
or an exile; but unfortunately they determined otherwise. The Scotch
Commissioners had presented Articles against him in the House of Lords
on December the 17th, 1640; and on the following day the Commons
had resolved to accuse him of high treason.[491] In the following
February, articles of accusation had been exhibited by the Commons,
after which his case had been kept in abeyance for more than two years
and a half. Though the idea of bringing him to trial had never been
abandoned, mild views of his punishment had been entertained; for, in
a newspaper published in May, 1643, it is stated that "the sending of
the Archbishop of Canterbury and of Bishop Wren to New England had
been agitated in the House, and that Parliament would not banish them
without a trial."[492] In the opening of the year 1644, it was resolved
that Laud should take his trial.
[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._]
The trial lasted from March to July. The accused prelate received
three or four days' notice of the time of his appearance, and of the
particular articles which were to be alleged against him. From ten
until one o'clock the managers of the prosecution stated their case and
produced their evidence, when an adjournment followed till four o'clock
in the afternoon. Then the prisoner made his defence, and one of the
managers replied. The proceedings terminated between the hours of seven
and eight, when the fatal boat moored at Westminster,--which had so
often glided backwards and forwards on errands of vengeance,--returned
with its grey-haired passenger to the archway of the Traitors'
Gate.[493]
[Sidenote: 1644.]
The principal managers for the Commons were Serjeant Wylde, Mr.
Maynard, and Mr. Nicolas. Prynne acted as solicitor, and arranged the
whole proceedings. He had suffered so much at the Archbishop's hands,
that, however watchful he might be over himself, he could scarcely
suppress feelings which were incompatible with a just discharge of his
legal responsibilities. With all his learning and great ability, we
must admit that he was not remarkable for self-control; and the utmost
stretch of candour cannot prevent our receiving, from his conduct on
this occasion, the unpleasant impression that, in preparing materials
for the conviction of his old enemy, he was swayed, to some extent at
least, by personal resentment.[494]
The accusations brought against Laud may be reduced to three: first,
that he had aimed at subverting the rights of Parliament; secondly,
that he had attempted to subvert the laws of the land by his conduct
in reference to ship-money, by his illegal commitments, and by his
support of the Canons of 1640; thirdly, that he had endeavoured to
alter and subvert God's true religion established in this realm, to set
up instead of it Popish superstition and idolatry, and to reconcile
the Church of England to the Church of Rome. In support of this grave
indictment relating to religion, much stress was laid on such facts
as these: his introducing innovations, using images and crucifixes,
consecrating churches and altars by superstitious rites and ceremonies,
commanding the Book of Sports to be read, upholding doctrinal errors,
persecuting Puritans, corresponding with Roman Catholic priests, and
discouraging foreign Protestants.[495]
[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._]
Laud, in his defence, when speaking of his ecclesiastical career, did
not profess that he had sought, as the highest objects of his life,
the gathering of souls into Christ's fold, and the promotion of truth
and charity; but he plainly said that his main endeavour had been to
secure an outward conformity. Nor did he, as most men would have done
under the same circumstances, qualify his avowal of ritualistic zeal by
expressing large and noble Christian sentiments. On the contrary, he
simply declared: "Ever since I came in place I laboured nothing more
than that the external worship of God (too much slighted in most parts
of this kingdom) might be preserved, and that with as much decency and
uniformity as might be; being still of opinion that unity cannot long
continue in the Church, where uniformity is shut out at the Church
door; and I evidently saw that the public neglect of God's service in
the outward face of it, and the nasty lying of many places dedicated to
that service, had almost cast a damp upon the true and inward worship
of God, which, while we live in the body, needs external helps, and all
little enough to keep it in any vigour."[496] Yet we must confess that
for Laud to adopt this strain was honest; and certainly, amongst his
many faults, hypocrisy is not to be reckoned. Indeed, he made it his
boast, and he had ground for so doing, that he did not shift from one
opinion to another for worldly ends; and that he had never attempted to
slide through the difficulties of the times by trimming his religious
opinions.
[Sidenote: 1644.]
In dealing with the evidence against him, the Archbishop maintained
that personal resentment influenced the witnesses in the statements
which they made; and in that opinion probably he was to a considerable
extent correct. Certain of their allegations had, no doubt, a spiteful
appearance; but then it is impossible to forget how this merciless
man had provoked such conduct towards himself by his own inexcusable
demeanour towards others; and that by a law of Providence, righteous
in itself, though executed by instruments not free from blame, such
delinquents as Laud, after having sown the wind, are sure, sooner
or later, to reap the whirlwind. Prynne, of course, tried to make
everything tell against his enemy; yet even he could not help allowing
that the prisoner at the bar "made as full, as gallant, and pithy a
defence, and spake as much for himself as was possible for the wit
of man to invent." This special pleader proceeds however to say, the
very moment after making this admission, that Laud spoke "with so much
art, sophistry, vivacity, oratory, audacity, and confidence, without
the least blush, or acknowledgment of guilt in anything, as argued
him rather obstinate than innocent, impudent than penitent, and a far
better orator and sophister than Protestant or Christian."[497] Prynne
attributed the Primate's boldness to the King's pardon which he carried
in his pocket.
[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._]
When the whole evidence had been presented, a question arose whether
the facts which had been adduced legally proved him to be guilty of the
crime of treason. The Peers were not satisfied that such was the case;
and in the present day, there are few, if any, constitutional lawyers
who would admit that the proofs alleged brought the Archbishop within
the scope of the Statute of Treasons. Owing to legal difficulties, the
prosecution, in its original form, was dropped, and a Bill of Attainder
was brought in. The Bill, after having been read a third time in the
House of Commons, was sent up to the House of Lords. They admitted, as
they had done before, that the accused was guilty of endeavouring to
subvert the law, to destroy the rights of Parliament, and to overthrow
the Protestant religion; but still, they asked, can all this prove him
to be traitor to the King?[498] The old points were debated over and
over again. But what did that avail? Popular feeling against him had
become intense; the London citizens were now more earnest than ever
in petitioning for speedy justice against all delinquents; and some
individuals went so far as to shut up their shops, declaring they would
not open them until righteous vengeance fell upon the head of this
arch-enemy of the people of God.[499] Influenced by such clamour, if
not convinced by the arguments of the Commons, the Lords present in
the House on the 4th of January, 1645, passed the fatal Bill;[500] and
afterwards it was in vain that the condemned produced a pardon, under
the great seal, in arrest of execution.
[Sidenote: 1645, January.]
The fatal proceedings against Laud are easily accounted for. The
causes are found in the growing power of the anti-Episcopal party;
the ascendancy of the Presbyterians, who for a long time had felt the
deepest horror at Laud's career; the influence of the Scotch, who had a
special hatred to the Primate for his designs on their country; and the
activity of Prynne, who certainly had sufficient cause for detesting
the mutilator of his ears. But the sentence of death executed upon him
cannot be justified. Lord Campbell pronounces it "illegal, barbarous,
and unprovoked," "as little to be palliated as defended." Hallam speaks
of the whole business as "most unjustifiable," and "one of the greatest
reproaches of the Long Parliament." Even Godwin admits that the
prelate "fell a victim to the Scots, to the Presbyterians, and to the
resentment of an individual who had formerly been the subject of his
barbarity."[501] We may add that the same legal objections apply to the
Bill of Attainder against him which are urged in the case of Strafford;
and further, that in one respect the treatment of the prelate was worse
than the treatment of the statesman; inasmuch as, whilst some persons
may defend the putting of the Earl to death as a political necessity,
no one can regard in the same light the execution of the Archbishop.
[Sidenote: _Laud's Execution._]
[Sidenote: 1645, January.]
Many men who have committed great errors have afterwards, in the midst
of suffering, behaved in such a manner as somewhat to redeem their evil
reputation. To a considerable extent it proved so in this instance. On
its being proposed to him by the renowned Hugo Grotius that he should
escape--a step which he believed his enemies were not averse to his
taking--Laud replied: "They shall not be gratified by me in what they
appear to long for; I am almost seventy years old, and shall I now go
about to prolong a miserable life by the trouble and shame of flying?"
"I am resolved not to think of flight, but continuing where I am,
patiently to expect and bear what a good and a wise Providence hath
provided for me, of what kind soever it shall be."[502] He delivered
on the scaffold a speech which was prefaced by the first verse of the
twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews,[503] as if it had been
a sermon; though, after the exordium, it forsook a homiletic form. He
referred to himself as a martyr, declared that he forgave his enemies,
and endeavoured to clear himself from the charge of favouring Popery
and disliking Parliaments. Then, after praying, and pulling off his
doublet, he said that no man could be more willing to send him out
of the world than he himself was to go. Upon being asked by Sir John
Clotworthy what special text of scripture he found most comfortable,
he replied, "_Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo_." "A good desire,"
answered the knight, who added, "there must be a foundation for that
desire and assurance." Laud had no notion of Puritan "evidences," and
simply rejoined, "No man can express it, it is to be found within."
"It is founded," the Presbyterian went on to say, "upon a word though."
Laud closed the conversation by adding, "That word is the knowledge of
Jesus Christ, and that alone."[504] The Archbishop's last prayer is
the most beautiful thing connected with his history, and reminds us of
Shakespeare's words--
"Nothing in life
Became him like the leaving it."
"Lord, I am coming as fast as I can; I know I must pass through the
Shadow of Death before I can come to see Thee, but it is but _umbra
mortis_, a mere shadow of death, a little darkness upon Nature, but
Thou, by Thy merits and passion, hast broke through the jaws of death;
so, Lord, receive my soul, and have mercy upon me, and bless this
kingdom with peace and plenty, and with brotherly love and charity,
that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them,
for Jesus Christ's sake, if it be Thy will."[505]
[Sidenote: _Laud's Character._]
So perished William Laud, a man who has been magnified by one party
into a martyr, and degraded by another into a monster. He was neither,
but a narrow-minded individual, with little or no sensibility, fond
of arbitrary power, a thorough bigot, and a ceremonialist to such
an extent, that he acted as if salvation depended on adjusting the
position of altars, presenting obeisances, regulating clerical attire,
and "adding to it some of the frippery of the Romish ecclesiastical
wardrobe, which had lain neglected ever since the Reformation."[506]
His religious weaknesses were not tempered with the smallest degree of
Christian charity. Contemptible trifles he pressed upon the consciences
of people with an iron hand. Yet Laud's reputation does not come down
to us tainted with the vulgarities of avarice or sensuality. He was
liberal and chaste; and, though proud, he was not addicted to luxury
or ostentation. Possessed of considerable learning, and remarkable for
activity and acuteness of mind; he patronized such studies as accorded
with his tastes; and it should not be forgotten that, at Windsor,
Reading, and Oxford, there still remain noble and lasting monuments of
his beneficence.[507]
As one of England's most conspicuous Churchmen, he may be ranked with
Dunstan, Becket, and Wolsey;[508] but he had not the princely bearing,
the knowledge of mankind, and the skilful statesmanship of Wolsey--nor
did he evince the high-minded spiritual ambition and independence of
Becket--nor do we discover in him the mystic tone and artistic taste of
Dunstan. But he had the pride, the intolerance, and the superstition of
all three. In the middle ages he would have made as to ritualism a good
monk, and if severity of discipline be a proof of excellence, by no
means a bad abbot.
[Sidenote: 1645, January.]
It was on the very day of Laud's attainder that Parliament established
the Presbyterian Directory, and prohibited the Anglican Prayer
Book.[509] That book, profoundly reverenced by all Anglo-Catholics, and
held in scarcely less honour by some doctrinal Puritans, excited only
the opposition of the Presbyterians and the other sects. Tracts of the
period irreverently represent the liturgy as being the very _lethargy_
of worship; the litany, as not merely "a stump, or a limb of Dagon,
but the head of the Mass Book;" and the surplice, as "a Babylonish
garment, spotted with the flesh," and as worse than the "plague-sore
clout," which had been sent "to infect Master Pym, and the rest of the
House."[510] For this coarse abuse, the whole Presbyterian party must
not be held responsible; but such abuse indicates the existence of
feelings with which leading Presbyterians had to deal on their own side.
Many persons disliked all prescribed forms, and represented them as
muzzling the mouths of the saints, and stopping the course of the
Spirit of God. "True prayer," they said, "is first in the heart, then
in the mouth, but this sort of prayer is in the mouth before it can
come into the heart at all: it is an abortive birth which never had
a right conception."[511] Yet the chief oracles both of Parliament
and the Assembly, though advocates for _extempore_ devotion, were
not disposed to leave ministers altogether to their own impulses in
conducting public devotion. They adopted a middle course, and whilst
abandoning particular forms of prayer they provided a General Directory
of worship.
Parliament issued an order for that purpose to the Assembly, sometime
in October, 1643, but the business stood in abeyance until the
following May, when the subject came up for discussion in the Jerusalem
Chamber. Minor questions arose, such as whether laymen might assist
clergymen by reading the Scriptures--a question determined in favour
of probationers; and whether the Lord's Supper might be received by
communicants sitting in pews--a question negatived by a resolution of
adherence to Presbyterian usage. But the grand debate of the Assembly
at that time related to the suspension of improper communicants. This
matter involved principles of Church discipline, which could not be
settled without much controversy, and which long perplexed statesmen
and divines.
[Sidenote: _The Directory._]
The preface to the Directory, which is a very important part of the
book, adverts to the liturgy used in the Church of England, as an
offence both to many of the godly at home, and to many of the reformed
abroad. The imposition of it had heightened past grievances, and its
unprofitable ceremonies had been a burden to the consciences of not a
few. By it people had been kept from the Lord's table, and ministers
had been driven into poverty and exile. While esteemed by Prelates as
if it set forth the only way in which God could be worshipped, Papists
had counted its use a concession to themselves, and a compliance with
their Church. Moreover, a liturgy, it is said, encouraged an idle
ministry. Therefore, it was now to be set aside, not from affectation
of novelty, or to the disparagement of the first reformers, but as
a further reformation of the Church of Christ, the easing of tender
consciences, and the promotion of uniformity in the worship of God.
The Directory contains no forms of prayer, but only suggestions as to
topics of public supplication.
[Sidenote: 1645, May.]
[Sidenote: _The Directory._]
The Directory, upon being dispatched to Scotland,[512] obtained there
the sanction of the General Assembly; and on its return, after the
book had been endorsed by the English Commons, it was presented to the
House of Lords, who gave it their sanction. Presbyterian statesmen are
sometimes charged with a rash abolition of old ecclesiastical laws,
without the previous or immediate institution of others to occupy their
room. It is alleged that these men short-sightedly pulled down the
ancient buildings and left them in ruins, and that they were for some
time not prepared to raise a new structure on the ancient site. This is
an incorrect representation. Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, it is very
true, fell into desuetude from the opening of the Long Parliament; also
many Puritans in the Establishment laid aside the Liturgy, and even
reviled it. Notwithstanding, no specific law appears against it, until
the Directory had been sanctioned by Parliament. The same ordinance
which forbids the Liturgy enforces the Directory. In the first place
that authority rehearses and repeals the statutes of uniformity, and
at the same time declares that the Book of Common Prayer should not
remain in any place of worship within the kingdom of England or the
dominion of Wales. The same ordinance then goes on to declare that
the Directory should be observed in all public religious exercises
throughout the realm, and that fair register books of vellum for
births, marriages, and burials should be kept by the minister and other
officers of the Church. It is remarkable that no penalty whatever is
mentioned for a breach of this ordinance. So far as the terms of it
are concerned, it looks as if it might be broken with impunity; and
it was so broken. In country parishes where Royalism was predominant,
and such parishes were very numerous, parsons and churchwardens set at
nought the enactment of the two Houses, and would not acknowledge as
law that which had not received the Royal sanction. The Prayer Book was
dear to them from associations with the past in their own lives and
those of their fathers; and they were resolved still to read its litany
and collects. Finding that simple advice and exhortation produced no
effect in many quarters, Parliament adopted more stringent measures.
It would appear that, as early as the month of May, 1645, penalties
for contempt of the new enactment were under consideration,[513] but
an explicit threatening for disobedience was not uttered until the
month of August. Then came an ordinance[514] which--after providing for
the supply of printed books of the Directory, and commanding that it
should be read the Sunday after it was received--proceeded to declare
that any person using the Book of Common Prayer in church or chapel
should, for the first offence, pay the sum of five pounds, for the
second offence the sum of ten pounds, and for the third offence suffer
one year's imprisonment. Every minister was to pay forty shillings each
time he offended. Those who preached or wrote against the Directory
fell under additional liabilities to pay not less than five, and
not more than fifty pounds. Thus a new Act of Uniformity succeeded
the old one. The High Commission Court had been abolished, but its
spirit had migrated into another body. Happily it is no easy thing to
change a people's religion by Act of Parliament. Wherever the exercise
of reason, and the study of Scripture are neglected, there remain
sentiments, perhaps prejudices, which are too deeply sown to be raked
out by any legal instrument, however sharp and close-set its teeth may
be. Human conscience, whether rude and ill-informed, or disciplined
and wise, always hates all tools of state husbandry employed for such
ends. Accordingly, a good many people in England, when its rulers would
force them into a new form of worship, deliberately and resolutely
rebelled, some having to endure a considerable amount of suffering for
conscience' sake.[515]
[Sidenote: 1645, August.]
[Sidenote: _The Directory._]
The Scotch soon began to lament the inefficacy of the new enactment.
They complained that the Prayer Book was still used in some parts of
England, where Parliament had undisputed authority; and, of course,
in a kingdom which was cut up into two hostile camps, where Royalism
remained in the ascendancy, the Liturgy would continue to be honoured,
and the Directory would be disused. Errors, heresies, and schism were
also deplored as still prevalent, by the brethren from the north,
who watched with pious zeal all that was going forward on this side
the Tweed, and were greatly distressed at the tardy progress of
ecclesiastical reform, and at the little enthusiasm which was enkindled
by the Covenant. In Ireland, the Directory met with an adverse fate.
The bishops and clergy of Dublin in particular remained loyal to
the Prayer Book. They pleaded their ordination vows, the oath of
supremacy, the Act of Uniformity, the communion of the two Churches
of England and Ireland in the bond of Common Prayer, the legality of
its use, the freedom of the Church, and the attachment to the Liturgy
cherished by the people. The Bishop of Killaloe, and several other
dignitaries, signed a protest, and whatever opinions may be formed of
their arguments, posterity will do honour to their conscientiousness.
This was in 1647. Some persons continued, in spite of Parliamentary
orders, to use the Prayer Book. The last instance of its being publicly
read in Dublin occurred when the aged and venerable Archbishop Bulkeley
delivered to his clergy a valedictory discourse in St. Patrick's
Cathedral.[516]
[Sidenote: 1645 August]
In connection with the Directory, notice should be taken of certain
forms of devotion which were published for the use of seamen. A book
of that period exists, without date, entitled "A Supply of Prayer for
the Ships, that want Ministers to pray with them." The preface states
that there were thousands of ships without any ministers, and that the
crews, therefore, either neglected religion altogether or used the Book
of Common Prayer. What is glanced at as a matter of necessity might
perhaps in some cases be matter of preference. Alderman Garroway, in
his speech at Guildhall, it will be remembered, spoke of sailors as
being fond of the old liturgy; and such sailors must have remained in
the fleet even after the Presbyterian Earl of Warwick had become Lord
High Admiral. Though the navy, as far as rulers were concerned, might
be called Presbyterian, numbers of the men would feel no attachments
in that direction. At all events, to avoid inconvenience, it was
thought fit to frame prayers for the navy, "agreeing with the Directory
established by Parliament." By whom the work was done we do not know,
but clearly the spirit of it is Presbyterian. "Heal our rents and
divisions," and "preserve us from breach of our solemn Covenant," are
expressions found amongst its petitions. Eschewing the Apocrypha, it
prescribes psalms and chapters from the Old and New Testament. Forms of
devotion are given, rather as specimens and guides than anything else.
"The company being assembled, they may thus begin with prayer," are the
cautious words employed by the sturdy opponents of ritualism.[517]
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