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wherever he might have been made a friend; and as much to be apprehended where he was so, as any man could deserve to be. And therefore his death was no less pleasing to the one party, than it was condoled in the other. In a word, what was said of Cinna might well be applied to him: he had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute any mischief,' or (as the noble historian elsewhere observes) any good.'

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This character, as Mrs. Macaulay observes, though marked with it's great writer's natural partiality, is the testimony of an enemy to virtues possessed only by the foremost rank of men. With all the talents and virtues which render private life useful, amiable, and respectable were united in Hampden in the highest degree those excellences, which guide the jarring opinions of popular counsels to determined points; and, while he penetrated into the most secret designs of other men, he never discovered more of his own inclinations than was necessary to the purpose in hand. In debate he was so much a master, that joining the art of Socrates with the graces of Cicero, he fixed his own opinion under the modest guise of desiring to improve by that of others; and contrary to the nature of disputes left a pleasing impression, which prejudiced his antagonist in his favour, even when he had not convinced or altered his judgement. His carriage was so generally, uniformly, and unaffectedly affable, his conversation so enlivened by his vivacity, so seasoned by his knowledge and understanding, and so well applied to the genius, humour, and prejudices of those he conversed with, that his talents to gain popularity were absolute. With qualities of this high nature,

he possessed in council penetration and discernment, with a sagacity on which no one could impose, an industry and vigilance which were indefatigable, with the entire mastery of his passions and affections; an advantage, which gave him infinite superiority over less regulated minds.-It was him the party relied on, to animate the cold counsels of their general; it was his example and influence they trusted to keep him honest to the interest of the public, and to preserve to the parliament the affections of the army. Had he been at first appointed to the supreme military command, the civil war, under all the horrors of which the country languished more than three years, would have been but of a short continuance.'

"That he had any intentions properly mischievous," remarks Chalmers," is rendered incredible, as well by the acknowledged excellence of his moral character, as by the large stake he possessed in his country. It is true, he was one of those, whose ideas of reform went beyond the moderate restriction of the royal authority, which might have been the justest and safest course; and he is, politically, chargeable with contributing to the overthrow of the existing constitution. But there were, confessedly, good men in the extremes of both parties; and the judgement of his country has placed Hampden in that list of genuine patriots, which is it's highest boast."

80

WILLIAM LAUD,

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.*

[1573-1645.]

WILLIAM LAUD, son of William Laud, a clothier of Reading in Berkshire, by Lucia his wife (widow of Mr. John Robinson of Reading, and sister to Sir William Webb, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1591) was born at Reading in 1573, and educated in the free school of that place. In July, 1589, he removed to Oxford; and in the June following became scholar of St. John's College, under the tuition of Dr. John Buckeridge. In 1593, he was elected Fellow; the year ensuing, he took the degree of B. A., and in 1598 that of M. A., being also chosen Grammar Lecturer for that year. this time, as Wood informs us," he was esteemed by all those that knew him, a very forward, confident, and zealous person." In 1600 he was ordained Deacon, and Priest in 1601, by Dr. Young, Bishop of Rochester.

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In 1602, he read in his College the Divinity Lecture, which was supported by the benefaction

* AUTHORITIES. Heylin's Life of Laud, Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, and British Biography.

of Mrs. Maye. In this and other academical exercises, he discovered his talents for controversy, by maintaining the constant visibility of the Church of Christ, derived from the Apostles to the Church of Rome, and continued in that Church till the Reformation.' This opinion involved him in a dispute with Dr. Abbot, at that time Master of University College, and Vice-Chancellor,* which led to their mutual dislike of each other throughout the rest of their lives.

In 1603, he was chosen Proctor of the University, and became Chaplain to Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire; and, in 1604, he took the degree of B.D. In his exercise performed upon this occasion, he maintained two points: 1. That baptism was necessary; and, 2. That there could be no true church without diocesan bishops. These tenets, like that of the constant visibility of the church,' were levelled at the Puritans; and he was in consequence of them attacked by Dr. Holland, at that time Divi

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* Abbot traced it, on the contrary, from the Berengarians through the Albigenses, the Wickliffites, and the Hussites to Luther and Calvin. (See Specimens subjoined to the Life of Abbot.)

His collegue in office, Mr. Christopher Dale of Merton College (as stated in a Collection of Anecdotes and Jests,' printed in 1751 from Antony Wood's own MSS. papers) was a very severe man in his office, and thereby got hatred of many: Laud was a very little person in body, but civil and moderate. Whereupon Dale, when he made a speech in convocation at the giving up of his office, was hissed and hooted at by the under-graduates not only there, but in his way home; and it was said by one of Merton College, that "he was proctor cum parvá Laude.”

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Upon this subject, it was alleged, that the greatest part of what he had said was borrowed, or stolen, from the works of Cardinal Bellarmine.'

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nity Professor, as aiming to sow division between the Church of England and the Reformed Churches abroad. Henceforward, his opinions rendered him obnoxious to moderate men; and Abbot without hesitation proclaimed him, if not actually a Papist, so popishly inclined, that (as Heylin affirms) it was made almost a heresy for any one to be seen in his company, and a misprision of heresy to give him a civil salutation as he passed the streets."

In 1605, he imprudently married his patron the Earl of Devonshire to Penelope, wife of Robert Lord Rich, who had been divorced from her husband for adultery; and the match naturally turning out unfortunate, he incurred severe censures: the King himself for some years, notwithstanding the intercession of Williams (Bishop of Lincoln, and afterward Archbishop of York and Lord Keeper) refusing to promote him in the church. He sincerely repented, however, of his conduct in this transaction, and kept a fast on the anniversary of the wedding-day ever afterward.

A discourse delivered by Laud before the heads of the University at St. Mary's, in 1606, increased the number of his enemies: and his treatment of the public lecturers, who did not hold the same highchurch sentiments with himself, made him at once hated and feared; as he conveyed reports through the Bishop of Durham to the King, against all who favoured the doctrines or the discipline of the Puritans. But his learning and address, notwithstanding these obstacles, procured him many powerful friends. In 1607, he obtained the vicarage of Stanford, in Northamptonshire; and the year following he was appointed Chaplain to Dr. Neale, then Bishop of

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