house was settled, and at the close of June, his Grace, and the rest of the trustees, took possession of that place, pursuant to the will of Mr. Sutton.

Towards the close of the next year, the famous Antonio de Dominis, archbishop of Spalato, took shelter here, from the persecution with which he was threatened by the pope, for discovering his dislike both of the doctrine and discipline of the church of Rome, and was very kindly received by his majesty, who was pleased to order the archbishop to entertain him, which he did with generous hospitality, till he was otherwise provided for by the king. His Grace however thought himself sufficiently recompensed for the trouble given him in this affair, by this stranger's procuring for him the manuscript of Father Paul's excellent History of the Council of Trent. March 2, 1617, our good archbishop lost his brother Robert, the bishop of Salisbury; and before his grief was well over for so near a relation, he met with fresh disturbance from the king's declaration for permitting sports and pastimes on the Lord's day, which was dated at Greenwich, May 4, 1618. This declaration was ordered to be read in churches; and the archbishop, being at Croydon in Surry when it came thither, had the courage to forbid its being read, which the king took no notice of, although there were some about him, who let no opportunity pass of irritating him against this prelate.

At the close of 1618, the archbishop beginning to grow infirm, and finding himself less fit for the affairs of the world than he had been, resolved, while he had still strength to enter upon a great and good design, which he had long meditated, as a testimony of affection to his native town of Guilford, where, on April 5, 1619, he was present when sir Nicholas Kempe laid the first stone of his hospital, which the archbishop afterwards were nobly endowed. By the statute it appears, that the archbishop endowed this hospital with lands to the value of 3007. per annum; one hundred of which was to be employed in setting the poor to work, and the remainder for the maintenance of a master, twelve brothers, and eight sisters, who have blue cloaths, and gowns of the same colour, and half a crown a week each. Oct. 29, being the anniversary of the archbishop's birth, is commemorated here, and the archbishop for the time being is the visitor of the hospital *.

It

Archbishop Abbot's almshouse is called Trinity Hospital. It is a quadrangular building, of brick, with a noble tower at its entrance,

It was towards the end of this year, that the elector Palatine accepted of the crown of Bohemia, which occasioned great disputes in king James's councils, some desiring that his majesty should not interfere in this matter at all, from foresight that it would produce a war in Germany; others again, that both natural affection to his son and daughter, and a just concern for the Protestant interest, ought to have engaged his majesty warmly to support the new election. The archbishop agreed in sentiment with the last mentioned party, and not being able at that time to attend the privy council, he wrote with great plainness and freedom to the secretary of state. The next year was in a great measure spent in debates and negociations upon this subject, in which the king took a great deal of pains with little effect.

The archbishop's declining state of health, making exercise a thing not only convenient but necessary for him, he was accustomed in the summer to make a tour into Hampshire for the sake of recreation, and being invited by the lord Zouch to hunt in his park at Bramshill upon the edge of Berkshire, and not far from Dartford Bridge, his Grace met there with the greatest misfortune that befel him during his life; for, hunting in this park on July 24, he let fly a barbed arrow from a cross-bow at one of the deer, which unfortunately struck Peter Hawkins, lord Zouch's keeper, (who was quite out of the bishop's sight, and had been warned more than once to keep out of the way,) in the left arm, by which wound a large blood-vessel being pierced; he bled to death in an hour's time. This unforeseen accident threw the archbishop into a deep melancholy, though he was not conscious to himself of the least inadvertency or indiscretion; neither did this wear off in time, but throughout the remainer of his life he observed a monthly fast on Tuesday, the day on which this accident happened, and settled an annuity of twenty pounds on the widow. This affair made a very great noise, and there were not wanting some to represent it in a sinister light to the king, but his majesty gave his judgment of the matter in a short and clear. sentence, "An angel (said he) might have miscarried in this sort." When he was afterwards informed of the legal penalties which his Grace had incurred by this accident, he wrote him a consolatory letter with his own hand, in which amongst

having four small turrets over its gate; it has a chapel with a lofty roof, and two good windows of painted glass, being the figures of Jacob and his children, and three angels. There is a fair dining-room, with the founder's picture at the upper end of it.

amongst other things he told him, that "he would not add affliction to his sorrow, or take one farthing from his chattels or moveables which were forfeited by law." It does not appear, that his Grace was at all lessened, by the suggestions of his enemies, in the king's favour, or his courage in any degree abated by the troubles he had met with. On the contrary, we find him, in 1622, opposing the Spanish match, which was a thing the king had set his heart upon, with the greatest firmness and spirit, and even venturing, under his hand, to give his sentiments on that subject in terms so vigorous and pathetic, that no pen can properly represent them but his own*. The king however remained fixed

This letter from the archbishop to king James is without date, but the subject points out plainly enough the time when it was written; and it is inserted here to shew the archbishop's principles in religion, in regard to which there cannot be a fuller testimony:

"May it please your Majesty,

I HAVE been too long silent, and am afraid, by my silence, I have neglected the duty of the place it hath pleased God to call me unto, and your majesty to place me in: but now I humbly crave leave I may discharge my conscience towards God, and my duty to your majesty'; and therefore I beseech you freely to give me leave to deliver myself, and then let your majesty do with me as you please. Your majesty hath propounded a toleration of religion, I beseech you to take into your consideration what your act is, what the consequence may be; by your act, you labour to set up the most damnable and heretical doctrine of the church of Rome, the whore of Babylon. How hateful it it will be to God, and grievous to your good subjects, the professors of the gospel, that your majesty, who hath often disputed, and learnedly written against those heresies, should now shew yourself a patron of those wicked doctrines, which your pen hath told the world, and your conscience tells yourself, are superstitious, idolatrous, and detestable. And hereunto I add what you have done, in sending the prince into Spain, without consent of your council, or privity and approbation of your people; and although you have a charge and interest in the prince, as son of your flesh, yet have the people a greater, as son of this kingdom, upon whom (next after your majesty) are their eyes fixed, and welfare depends; and so tenderly is his going apprehended, as (believe it) however his return may be safe, yet the drawers of him into this acă tion, so dangerous to himself, so desperate to the kingdom, will not pass away unquestioned, unpunished. Besides, this toleration which you endeavour to set up by your proclamation, cannot be done without a parliament; unless your majesty will let your subjects see, that you will take unto youself ability to throw down the laws of your land at your pleasure. What dreadful consequences these things may draw afterward, 1 beseech your majesty to consider, and above all, lest by this toleration, and discountenancing of the true profession of the gos pel, wherewith God hath blessed us, and this kingdom hath so long flourished under it, your majesty do not draw upon this kingdom in general, and yourself in particular, God's heavy wrath and indignation. "Thus in discharge of my duty towards God, to your majesty, and the place of my calling, I have taken humble leave to deliver my conscience. Now, Sir, do what you please with me.”

fixed in his resolution, and the articles agreed on for the said marriage were sworn to, in the presence of the archbishop, and other great officers of state; notwithstanding which they never took effect. The archbishop thenceforward assisted but seldom at council, being hindered chiefly by his infirmities; but in the king's last sickness he was called for, and attended with great constancy, and received the highest marks of the king's confidence, to the end of his life, and was near him when he expired, March 27, 1625.

At the coronation of Charles I. the archbishop, as his office required, set the crown upon his majesty's head, though he was extremely weak, and much troubled with the gout; but thenceforward he visibly declined in the king's favour, and the duke of Buckingham, who was his declared enemy, watched for an opportunity to make the archbishop feel the weight of his displeasure. This was at last taken, for his refusing to license a sermon preached by Dr. Sibthorpe, vicar of Brackley in Northamptonshire, to justify and promote a loan, which the king had demanded. This sermon was preached at Northampton, in the Lent assizes, 1627, before the judges at Northampton, and was transmitted to the archbishop, with the king's direction to license it, which he refused to do, and gave his reasons for it; notwithstanding which, the sermon was licensed by the bishop of London, Dr. Mountaigne, after many things had been corrected therein, from the lights given by the archbishop's objections; for which, however, it was resolved that he should suffer.

Discourses of this nature were so loud at court, that some of his Grace's friends overheard and reported them to him; upon which he thought fit to retire to his palace at Croydon, a month before his usual time. On July 5, lord Conway, then secretary of state, made him a visit, and intimated to him, that the king expected he should withdraw to Canterbury, which the archbishop declined, because he had a law-suit at that time with that city, and desired he might rather have leave to go to his house at Ford, five miles beyond Canterbury, which was yielded to; and, on October 9 following, the king granted a commission to the bishops of London, Durham, Rochester, Oxford, and Bath and Wells, to execute archiepiscopal authority, the cause assigned being, "that the archbishop could not, at that time, in his own person, attend those services, which were otherwise proper for his cognizance and jurisdiction." But the archbishop did not remain long in this situation, for the necessities of the times rendering

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rendering a parliament necessary, his Grace was sent for about Christmas, and not only restored to his authority. and jurisdiction, but, on his coming to court from his palace at Lambeth, was received, when he quitted his barge, by the archbishop of York and the earl of Dorset, who conducted him to his majesty, where, having kissed the king's hand, he was desired not to fail the council table twice a week. His Grace sat in that parliament, which began March 17 following, and continued in the full exercise of his office ever after, in which it may not be amiss to take notice of this singular instance. August 24, 1628, he consecrated Richard Montagu to the see of Chichester, a man who had been remarkably busy in supporting the pretence of his irregularity; and at this consecration Dr. Laud, then bishop of London, assisted, which is the clearest proof that can be, that no doubts remained longer as to his irregularity, even with those who loved nim least. In parliament, the archbishop maintained his credit in as high a degree as any of his predecessors; and it is more than probable, that' the knowledge of this procured him such marks of respect, as were at this time afforded him by the court. When the Petition of Right," that great pillar of the English liberty, was under consideration, the archbishop of Canterbury delivered the sense of the house of lords upon it, at a conference with the house of commons, and at the same time laid before them such propositions as their lordships had agreed upon, for which thanks were returned, in a set speech, by sir Dudley Diggs.

Bishop Laud's interest was now so great at court, that he drew up a scheme of instructions, which, having the king's name at the head of them, were, in December, 1629, transmitted to his Grace, under this pompous title, "His majesty's instructions to the most reverend father in God, George, lord archbishop of Canterbury, containing certain orders to be observed and put in execution, by the several bishops in his province." These instructions his Grace communicated to his suffragan bishops, in which, as Heylin observes, he acted ministerially; but to shew that he still meant to exercise his own authority in his own diocese,, be restored Mr. Palmer and Mr. Udnay to their lectureships, after the dean and archdeacon of Canterbury had suspended them, and, in other respects, softened the rigour of those instructions, which were contrived to enforce the peculiar notion of a particular party in the church, which the archbishop thought a burden too hard to be borne by the VOL. I. No. 1. tender

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