Neal - Houston-Packer Collection BX9333 .N4 1754

Chap. V. The HISTORY of thePuRITANS. «this kingdom, for the fiatute of 1 Ed~vardVI. cap. 12. makes it butK.Charlesi· " felony to attempt an alteration of religion by force, which is the wodl: ~ " kind of attempt. · ' " As to the ·third charge, of endeavouring to {ztbvert tbe rights of par- " liament. We inftfl: on the fame reply that was made under the firfl: " head. We allow that by the fiatute of 5 Jac. cap. 4· 'tis provided " that if any man fhall put in praCtice to reconcile any of his majefl:y's '' fubject>to the pope or fee of Rome, it fhall be deemed treafon; but we " conceive this does not reach the archbilhop, becaufe (I.) He is charged lb. p. 430. " only with an endeavour, whereas in the fiatute it is putting in praflice. " ( z.) Bwiufe the archbi!hop is charged with reconciling the church of " Englandwith the church of Rome, whereas in the fiatute it is reconciling . '' any of his majefl:y's fubjeCl:s to the fee of Rome; now reconcilingwith, " may a~ well be confirued a reducing Rome to England, as England to "Rome. " Thus, fays Mr. Hearn, we have endeavoured to make it appear, that " none of the matters in any of the articles charged, are treafon within " the letter of the law; indeed the crimes, as they are laid in the "charge, are many and great, but their number cannot make them ex– " ceed their nature; and if they be but crimes and mifdemeanors apart. " below treafon, they cannot be made treafon by putting them ta– u gether." Thefe arguments of the archbilhop's council fiaggered the houfe of lords, nor could the managers for the commons fatisfy them in their reply ; they had no doubts about the truth of the faCts, but whether any of them were trea.fon by the laws of the land- this the judges very much quef– tioned, and therefore the lords deferred giving judgment, till the com– mons thought fit to take another method to obtain it. Various are the accounts of the archbifhop's behaviour on his trial; his Cenfum of friends and admirers fL1ttered him beyond meafure, and fa id that he per- tbe archbi– feCl:ly t1iumphed over his accufers; and his grace feems to be of the [arnefh~p'sbcbamind, when he tells us, that all men magnified his anfwer to the houfe of'L:::~;s Hilt. commons, but-he forbore tofet do1vn in what language, becazife it was high. p. 441. Mr. Prynne allows, that "he made as full as gallant and pithy a defence, Prynne, p. " and fpake as much for himfelf as was poffible for the wit of man to in- 462. "vent; and that with fomuch art, fophifiry, vivacity, oratory, audacity " and confidence, without the leafc blufh, or acknowledgment of guilt in "any thing, as argued him rather obllinate than innocent, impudent than " penitent, and a far better orator and fophifl:er than protefl:ant or chrif- " tian." But then he imputes his boldneis to the king's pardon, which he had in his pock_et. Y 2 BiG1op

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