1639 LAUD AND THE SECTS. 81 even Montague was deceived by the external signs of quiet. "This diocese," wrote Laud in his report, "my lord the Bishop assures me is as quiet, uniform, and conformable as any in the kingdom, if not more; and doth avow it that all which stood out in Suffolk as well as Norfolk at his coming to that see, are come over, and have now legally subscribed and professed all conformity, and, for aught he can learn, observe it accordingly. Yet his lordship confesses that some of the vulgar sort in Suffolk are not conformable enough, especially in coming up to receive at the steps of the chancel where the rails are set ; but he hopes by fair means he shall be able to work upon them in time." Indictment Some, indeed, whether of the vulgar sort or not does not appear, attempted a counter-stroke. They indicted at the assizes a minister who had declined to administer of a minister. the Communion to them in their seats. The judges, as might have been expected, refused to interfere in a matter purely ecclesiastical, but the attempt was significant of the spreading feeling that the institutions of the Church ought to be brought into closer harmony with the religion of the laity. August. Spread of the sects. The sullen ill-feeling of the gentry and middle class gave encouragement to the wilder and more vehement Puritanism of those whom Laud contemptuously styled the vulgar sort. The excitement amongst these men was evidently rising. The Archbishop was forced to confess that even in his own diocese the Church courts were unable to keep down the Separatists and the Anabaptists, and that, if they were to be got rid of, it would be necessary to force them to abjure the realm. In London one of these men died in prison. His corpse was followed by two hundred members of his own sect. To questioners who inquired the name of the deceased, they answered fiercely, that he was 'one of the Bishop's prisoners.' When they reached the burial-ground 'they, like so many Bedlams, cast the corpse in, and, with their feet instead of spades, cast and thrust in the mould till the grave was almost full; then they paid the grave-maker for his pains, who told them that he must fetch a minister; but they said he might spare his labour.' 1 case. The feeling engendered by such manifestations in the minds of the supporters of established order was one of angry vexation at the presence of an unpalatable evil against which it was impossible to guard. Even the Privy Council was at one moment carried away so far as to meditate an act of abnormal cruelty. In July information was brought to Laud that a cerTrendall's tain stonemason of Dover, named John Trendall, had refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, and had expounded the Scriptures in his own house. Further, he had denied that the Lord's Prayer ought to be used, had expressed disapproval of the Creed, and had kept away.from church on the ground that it was against his conscience to worship under the authority of the bishops. Laud referred the matter to the Council, and, after consultation with the Attorney and SolicitorGeneral, the Council actually applied to Archbishop Neile, who had been Bishop of Lichfield at the time sulted. when Wightman and Legate were burnt in his diocese in 1611, to certify the nature of the proceedings in their case.2 Neile was not content to give a simple answer to the question put to him. He not only gave a full narrative of the circumstances attending the execution of the two heretics, for burning but he declared his conviction that the punishment of the two men 'did a great deal of good in this Church.' "I fear me," added the Archbishop, "the present times do require like exemplary punishment." 3 Aug. 3. Neile con Precedents heretics. By the time that Neile's report arrived, the Council had returned to a better frame of mind. Trendall was ordered to take the Oath of Supremacy, and this time he did not refuse. Subsequently he was sent to give an account of himself before the High Commission. At first he refused to acknow 1 Memorandum to Dr. Alsop, Aug. 31, S. P. Dom. ccccxxvii. 107. 2 The Mayor and Jurats of Dover to Laud, July 27. Examination of Trendall, July 27, S. P. Dom. ccccxxxii. 27 i. 27 I. i. Council Register, July 31, Aug. 2. 3 Neile to Laud, Aug. 23. Becher to Mottershed, Nov. 9, S. P. Dom. ccccxxvii. 78, ccccxxxii. 27. 1639 Subsequent history of TRENDALL'S CASE. 83 ledge the jurisdiction of the court; but, as its records are silent on his subsequent fate, it is probable that he gave way and was released.1 At all events, there Trendall. was no longer any thought of sending him to the stake, and there is reason to believe that he became a Puritan minister under the Long Parliament, and lived on into the reign of Charles II.2 Little did Charles imagine that such men as Trendall would be a power in England before many years were over. If he felt any apprehension of the coming Parliament, it was of a different kind. Whatever that apprehension may have been, he looked with confidence to Wentworth to overcome opposition in England as he had formerly overcome opposition in Ireland. At last he was prepared to confer upon his faithful Minister that token of his confidence which he had twice refused before. On January 12 Wentworth to be Eari of received the Earldom of Strafford, and a week later he exchanged the title of Lord-Deputy of Ireland for the higher one of Lord-Lieutenant, which had last been borne by Devonshire, when he lived in England and governed Ireland by a deputy. 1640. Jan. 12. Wentworth Strafford. 1 Council Register, Aug. 18. Day to Coke, Aug. 25, S. P. Dom. ccccxxvii. 80. The extracts from the High Commission Book are in Mr. Hamilton's Preface. 2 A petition from a John Trendall to Charles II., asking not to be turned out of his cure, has recently been discovered by Mrs. Everett Green. 84 1640. Jan. 10. An army to be raised. Appoint. CHAPTER XCI. THE SHORT PARLIAMENT. BEFORE the new earl left England arrangements were made for levying the army which was to march against Scotland in the summer. According to the scheme adopted by the Council of War, it was to consist of 23,000 men. This time there was to be no attempt to save a few thousand pounds by calling upon the peers to serve at their own expense. Neither Arundel nor Essex nor Holland was to receive a command. The Lord-General was to ment of com- be the Earl of Northumberland, in whom Strafford manders. placed his confidence. Another of Strafford's friends, Lord Conway, the son of the secretary of Charles's earlier days, was to command the Horse. Strafford himself was to serve as Lieutenant-General under Northumberland, and to take the field with a force of 1,000 men, which were to follow him from Ireland. Sir John Conyers, a military man of reputation in the Dutch service, was to take the command of the garrison at Berwick.2 With such appointments there was likely to be less personal rivalry between the superior officers than in the preceding year. Jan. 14. Death of Coventry. Civil offices which fell vacant about this time were less wisely filled. On January 14 the death of Lord Keeper Coventry deprived Charles of the services of the most prudent amongst his counsellors. As a lawyer of the old school, Coventry had been on the side of the prerogative against the new ideas of Parliamentary supremacy, but Resolutions at the Council of War, Jan. 10, S. P. Dom. ccccxli. 83. 2 Cave to Roe, Jan. 10; Northumberland to Conyers, Jan. 12, S. P. Dom. ccccxli. 92, 110 i. $640 OFFICIAL CHANGES. 85 he had always shrunk from the extravagant applications of his own theory which were urged upon him by men of observation inferior to his own. Only a few months had passed since he had opposed in Council the wild projects suggested for the support of the army; and, if a not improbable report is to be trusted, he conjured the King on his death-bed to endure patiently any opposition which might arise in the coming Parliament, and to 'suffer it to sit without any unkind dissolution.' Charles showed how little he appreciated his advice Finch, Lord by appointing Finch as his successor, who, as Speaker, Keeper. had been held down in the chair in 1629, and who, as judge, had passionately advocated the King's claim to shipmoney in its most extreme form. Jan. 23. Coke with dismissal. Leicester proposed as his suc cessor. Another vacancy had to be filled up about the same time. Sir John Coke's tenure of the Secretaryship had long been regarded as uncertain. He was growing too old for threatened his work. Other causes besides his age affected his position. Many counted him a Puritan, or, in other words, an opponent of the existing ecclesiastical system. He was suspected of drawing a pension from the Dutch Government, and since the attack in the Downs all friends of the Dutch Government were in ill odour at Whitehall.2 In November Strafford had been favourable to his removal, and had supported the claims of Leicester, the ambassador at Paris, to the vacancy which would be created. Leicester was married to Northumberland's sister, and, like Northumberland, he belonged to that section of the nobility which was distinctly Protestant without being Puritan, and which was disposed to support the King against rebellion, without favouring an arbitrary exertion of the prerogative. Strafford was well aware of the importance of conciliating this class of men, and he had special reasons for favouring Leicester, whose cause was pleaded by his wife's sister, Lady Carlisle. Lady Carlisle had now been for many years a widow. She had long been the reigning beauty at Court, and she loved to mingle political intrigue with social Advocacy of Lady 1 Hacket, ii. 137. 17 2 Salvetti's News-Letter, Jan. 27 |