were to be adopted into the ritual of the Scottish Church.

Such was the result of an Assembly, memorable as the last in James' reign, in which an act was passed for the admission of Articles which the king had been negotiating for two years, and which, perhaps, would not have been assented to by many of the Calvinists, had not the king withheld the payment of their stipends. It is doubtless true, that the Presbyterians afterwards denied the validity of its proceedings, and their adherents have laboured to prove that it was informal; but it appears, notwithstanding, that the Assembly was lawfully convened, and was composed of the representatives of the nation'. The Articles were rigidly enforced, but without effect. On Christmas day, divine worship was disregarded; and rather than receive the Eucharist kneeling, the zealots either refrained from it altogether, or associated with the rabble. They followed their daily avocations on the days enjoined by the Church for public worship; and in Edinburgh, it is hinted by Spottiswoode, the magistrates secretly encouraged the populace in their opposition. The rebellious ministers were of course deprived, some were punished by imprisonment, others by fines, for inflaming their adherents. Let us hear what a Scottish historian remarks on this subject. "The ceremonies were imposed," says Laing," by

1

1 Vindication by Lindsay, apud Lord Hailes, vol. i. p. Spottiswoode, p. 540.

the prelates as things in themselves indifferent, in which obedience is due to the supreme power; without recollecting, that whatever is indifferent in religion, should belong to the votary's discretion or choice. A nation whose prayers to the Deity are uttered on foot, in an erect posture, was not disposed to obey the requisition of the sovereign, and to bend the knee to the sacramental symbols'." But such opinions are founded on fallacious principles, which would lead to tumult and confusion; they contain an apology for that irreverence and rashness in the presence of the Deity, which too much prevails among the sectarians of every description, by which the sacred duty of prayer is often profaned, or its language is used as a vehicle for the expression of private prejudice, and as a vindication of that seeming carelessness and recklessness in Presbyterian congregations, on the pernicious effects of which it is needless to expatiate.

Thus ended, for the remainder of James' reign, all attempts to carry into effect the scheme for uniting the English and Scottish Churches; a scheme judicious in itself, and worthy of James' characteristic wisdom, but which the fanaticism of the original Scottish reformers first rendered abortive, and which the Calvinism of Geneva, with the Puritanism in England, and the unhappy primacy of Abbot, finally made hopeless, by a bold and daring opposition. It was left to James' successor to continue

1

Laing's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 79, 80. Lond. 1800.

his father's design, but with worse success; and it was reserved for Laud to take a more active part in the business at a subsequent period. James returned to England, discontented with his journey. He proceeded through Lancashire, and, while in that county, Laud obtained his permission to visit Oxford, and was inducted into the rectory of Ibstock, in Leicestershire, in the gift of the Bishop of Rochester, which he had exchanged for Norton. At Oxford he was received by his friends with the greatest affection, after his long absence; and here he received the pleasing information, that by his exertions he had restrained the Puritan enthusiasm at Gloucester, and that the service of the Church was performed with devotion and solemnity. Nor had any thing remarkable happened during his absence, except some domestic afflictions to Archbishop Abbot. This year died his brother, Dr. Robert Abbot, Bishop of Salisbury, who, we are informed by Heylin, having married when near sixty years of age, incurred the resentment of his brother to such a degree, that it affected him " even unto death,"

CHAPTER VI.

1619-1622.

Political errors of James-Clamours against Laud—His promotion-Made prebend of Westminster-Selfish conduct of Bishop Williams-Promotion of Laud to the See of St. David's-Fruitless opposition of Archbishop Abbot-Aspect of the times-Archbishop Abbot's misfortunes-He kills a gamekeeper by accident-History of the affair-He is pardoned by the King-Consecration of the new Bishops-Their unfounded scruples-Diligence of Laud-His primary Visitation-Advantages of it-His return to London-The Parliament-Distressing situation of the King-Vindication of James-The Parliament is dissolved-Intrigues of the Puritans-Calvinism-Remarks on Predestination-Its effects -Instructions of the King to the Clergy-Critical situation of the Church of England-Intrigues of the Papists-The famous Conference between Laud and Fisher the Jesuit-Extracts from the Relation of it—His sentiments on error.

Or the many historical transactions which took place at this period, I shall at present notice only the most important: these were, the death of Henry Prince of Wales, the meeting of the famous Synod of Dort, in which James, by countenancing its proceedings, committed the most unfortunate error into which he was betrayed during the whole course of his reign, and the death of the Queen, Archbishop Abbot's chief supporter,—an intriguing and artful princess, who had but little regard for

the honour and dignity of her husband, or for the welfare of his subjects. The king's greatest misfortune, I have said, was his ratifying the Synod of Dort; and bitterly did his family feel it in an after period. Nor would he, indeed, have countenanced that Synod, so replete in its effects with disasters to himself and to the Church of England, had he not been stimulated by political motives, that he might support the party of the Prince of Orange, and further the interests of the Elector Palatine, who had married his daughter, the Princess Elizabeth.

Laud had now surmounted the various persecutions he had encountered; yet his enemies resolved still to oppose him, on every favourable opportunity. In proportion as he rose in the King's favour, Archbishop Abbot declined; for James saw the malevolence of those who had studiously endeavoured to ruin the reputation of a man so resolute in his defence of the Church against the innovations of the sectarian members. Yet one of Laud's actions had given them occasion to renew their scandal: he had placed an organ in St. John's Chapel, and this was held by his fanatical enemies to be a decisive proof of his popish inclinations. The Presbyterians, who looked with contempt on every harmless decoration, delighted in the nearest approximation possible to rudeness in the churches, and preached a crusade against every thing which tended to promote devotional feeling, apart from their own absurd and clownish taste. And yet it