SPENSER.

Against fowle feendes to ayd us militant. They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward,

And their bright squadrons round about us plant; And all for love, and nothing for reward;

O why should heavenly God to men have such regard!"

The Seven Good Beadmen.

"Eftsoones unto an holy hospitall,

That was foreby the way she did him bring,
In which seven beadmen that had vowed all
Their life to service of high heaven's King,
Did spend their daies in doing godly thing.
Their gates to all were open evermore,

That by the wearie way were traveiling ;
And one sat wayting ever them before,
To call in commers-by that needy were and pore.

The first of them, that eldest was and best,

Of all the house had charge and government,

A guardian and steward of the rest.

His office was to give entertainment
And lodging unto all that came and went;

Not unto such as could him feast againe,

And double quite for that he on them spent ;

But such as want of harbour did constraine,

Those for God's sake his dewty was to entertaine.

The second was an almner of the place;

His office was the hungry for to feed,

And thirsty give to drinke, a worke of grace;

He feared not once himselfe to be in need,
Ne cared to hoord for those whom he did breede;
The grace of God he layd up still in store,

Which as a stocke he left unto his seede;

He had enough, what need him care for more?

And had he lesse, yet some he would give to the pore.

The third had of their wardrobe custodye,

In which were not rich tyres nor garments gay,

(The plumes of pride and winges of vanity), But clothes meet to keep keene cold away,

And naked nature seemly to array;

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With which bare wretched wights he dayly clad,
The images of God in earthly clay;

And if that no spare clothes to give he had,

His owne cote he would cut, and it distribute glad.

The fourth appointed by his office was

Poore prisoners to relieve with gratious ayd,
And captives to redeeme with price of bras,

From Turkes and Sarazins, which them had stayd;
And though they faulty were, yet well he wayd,

That God to us forgiveth every howre

Much more than that, why they in bands were layd; And he that harrow'd well with heavie stowre,

The faulty soules from thence brought to his heavenly bowre.

The fift had charge sick persons to attend,

And comfort those in point of death which lay;

For them most needeth comfort in the end,

When sin, and hell, and death doe most dismay
The feeble soule departing hence away.
All is but lost that living we bestow,

If not well ended at our dying day.

O man! have mind of that last bitter throw-
For as the tree does fall, so lyes it ever low.
The sixt had charge of them that now being dead,
In seemly sort their corses to engrave,
And deck with dainty flowers their brydall bed,

That to their heavenly Spouse both sweet and brave
They might appeare, when He their soules shall save.
The wondrous workmanship of God's owne mould,
Whose face he made all beastes to feare, and gave
All in his hand, even dead we honour should.
Ah, dearest God, we graunt I dead be not defould!
The seventh, now after death and buriall done,
Had charge the tender orphans of the dead,
And wydowes ayd, lest they should be undone;
In face of judgment he their right would plead,
Ne ought the powre of mighty men did dread
In their defence, nor would for gold or fee
Be wonne their rightfull causes down to tread ;
And when they stood in most necessitee,

He did supply their want, and gave them ever free."

PERIOD OF JAMES I. AND CHARLES I.

JAMES THE FIRST was brought up a Presbyterian, and at one time seemed really attached to the ecclesiastical system of his native country. When an English divine expressed his wonder why the Church of Scotland was so seldom troubled with heresy, he answered, "I'll tell you how, man. If it spring up in a parish, there is an eldership to take notice of it; if it be too strong for them, the Presbytery is ready to crush it; if the heretic prove too obstinate for them, he shall find more witty heads in the Synod; and if he cannot be convinced there, the General Assembly, I'll warrant you, will not spare him." And at a memorable Assembly held in 1590, in the fulness of his heart he pronounced an eulogy on the Church of Scotland, which was anything but complimentary to the sister churches. He "praised God that he was born in such a place as to be king in such a kirk, the sincerest kirk in the world. The Kirk of Geneva keepeth Pasch and Yule.* What had they for them? They had no institution. As for our neighbour kirk in England, their service is an evil-said mass in English, wanting nothing but the liftings.+ I charge you, my good people, ministers, doctors, elders, noblemen, gentlemen, and barons, to stand to your purity, and to exhort the people to do the same; and I, forsooth, as long as I brook my life and crown, shall maintain the same against all deadly."‡

When, therefore, in March 1603, this lover of "sincerity" became king of England, it was natural that the Puritans, many of whom were Presbyterians like himself, should expect some relief to those scruples for which the imperious and

*Easter and Christmas.

+ The elevation of the host. Calderwood's History, vol. v. p. 106.

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worldly-minded Elizabeth had shewn such a haughty disregard. Accordingly, on his arrival he was met by a petition from eight hundred ministers, entreating to be exempted from the use of the square cap and surplice, the cross in baptism, and the ring in marriage; praying that the service should be abridged, that the Lord's day should be better observed, that the people should not be charged to bow at the name of Jesus, that the Apocrypha should not be read in public worship, and that some change should be made in the practice of putting questions to and requiring promises from infants through their sponsors at baptism. To discuss these and other matters, it was agreed that a conference should be held at Hampton Court on the 4th of January 1604, to which four ministers were summoned on behalf of the Puritans, and on the opposite side the Archbishop of Canterbury, eight bishops, seven deans, and two other divines. The king, who delighted in polemics, undertook to preside in person.

Whatever were the hopes of the Puritans, they were doomed to disappointment. James was very vain, and self-esteem is a plant to which the keen air of Scotland has never been propitious. The rough warriors by whom he was surrounded laughed at his awkward horsemanship and dagger-proof doublet, and good men were as grieved at his hypocrisy as clever men were amused at his pedantry. To a prince who would fain pass for the second Solomon, it was distressing to feel himself surrounded by sharp eyes which penetrated every motive, and irreverent tongues which harshly told him foibles that he had almost hidden from himself. But southern air was softer. Not only were English manners more refined, but, through her matchless tact in selecting and controlling her servants, Elizabeth had left to her successor a staff of ministers whose homage was enough to make any monarch proud, and who knew their place too well to give their sovereign pain. More especially as regarded matters ecclesiastical was the transition

DR JAMES STEWART.

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intoxicating to such a mind. Instead of being a mere worshipper in a parish church, he was the head of an august hierarchy; and instead of being confronted by preachers who could speak of him as "Christ's silly vassal," he was met by prelates who bowed the knee, and acknowledged him as "the breath of their nostrils," and "in some sort their earthly creator." No wonder that his head began to swim, and that, 'affecting the god," he began to "nod," and soon dropped over, in a state of helpless fascination, into the arms of worshippers who could offer incense so potent and adulation so delicious.

On the first day appointed for the conference, the king's bias was plainly indicated. By his Majesty's command, the four Puritans were left sitting on a bench in the ante-chamber, whilst, with the privy councillors and prelates, the king talked over the questions in debate, and got rid of his own remaining scruples as touching that "evil-said mass"-book, the Liturgy. During this preliminary interview, the king waxed confidential, and assured his auditors, that although brought up amongst Puritans from the time that he was ten years old, he ever disliked their opinions. "As the Saviour of the world said, 'Though he lived among them, he was not of them." And, on the other hand, the clergy were dazzled and overwhelmed with James's divinity. As the Dean of Chester records, "Three hours were soon gone, so admirably did his Majesty handle all those points, sending us away not with contentment only, but astonishment; and, which is pitiful, you will say, with shame to us all, that a king brought up among Puritans,—not the learnedest men in the world,—and schooled by them, swaying a kingdom full of business and troubles, naturally given to much exercise and repast, should, in points of divinity, shew himself as expedite and perfect as the greatest scholars and most industrious students there present might not outstrip him."*

"The Sum and Substance of the Conference at Hampton Court," by W. Barlow, Dean of Chester, 1604, page 20.