" As

most solemn grand inquest of the whole kingdom." for acts of Parliament to attaint particular persons of treason or felony, or to inflict pains and penalties beyond, or contrary to the common law, to serve a special purpose, I speak not of them; being to all intents and purposes new laws, made pro re nata, and by no means an execution of such as are already in being."

Mr. Brodie is not less hostile to Archbishop Laud, than he has proved himself to be towards the Earl of Strafford; whilst, owing to the particular channel through which he has derived his information concerning the ecclesiastical proceedings of Charles's reign, he falls into greater errors in point of fact, and more glaring mistakes in point of principle. No man has had less justice done to him than the prelate now named; for by a rare inconsistency of abuse he was pronounced a Papist, after having appeared as the author of one of the ablest works against Popery that have been pub. lished in England, and after having converted from the errors of that system a number of eminent persons, among whom were the famous Chillingworth and Dr. Hales: and he was accused of imposing on the Scottish nation a liturgy, which, it is said, he took pains to frame on principles more nearly allied to the Romish ritual, than to those which distinguish the Prayer-Book of England; whereas, in fact, he recommended to the Scots to adopt at once the liturgical service of our Church, that there might be but one book for the whole island; and had, in the end, no farther concern in the compilation of the Scottish Prayer-Book than is comprised in the friendly aid of advice and revision. Maxwell, the Bishop of Ross, assured him that "the Scottish prelates would be better pleased to have a Liturgy made by themselves, and in some things different from the English service, as what would best please their countrymen, whom they found very jealous of the least dependence upon the Church of England." He was charged with the desire of innovation, when, in reality, all bis endeavours were directed to a partial restoration of usages which had been only lately neglected; chiefly through the culpable indifference of Abbot, who courted the puritans, and purposely relaxed the discipline of the Church. He was accused of foisting into the twentieth article the first clause, importing that "the Church hath power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith; whereas the said clause is found in the English editions of the Prayer-Books printed in 1593, 1605, 1612, and in the Latin edition of 1563; and what is more, in the original manuscript copy, preserved in the record

office. He has been represented as attending the trial of Leighton in the Court of High Commission, and when sentence was given, which he is himself said to have dictated, as having uncovered his head and thanked God for so severe a judgment being passed against the refractory divine; whereas there is not the slightest evidence that Laud was present at the trial to praise his Maker for awarding a punishment, which he himself had decreed, but on the contrary, it is almost certain that the whole story is a slanderous fiction. In the first place, Neal refers to Rushworth's Collections, where not a single word is said about it: the authors of the "History of Dissenters" again quote from Laud's Diary, which is equally silent on the subject: and thirdly, no mention is made of that proceeding at the trial of Laud when such a topic would have been particularly available to his accusers, (who laboured under a marvellous destitution of facts,) and an excellent fund of excitement to the populace, whose blind zeal was a powerful auxiliary in the hands of the puritan party.

In justice to Mr. Brodie, we must mention that he does not give implicit credit to the scandalous report which has now been stated, though he refrains from purifying the mind of his reader by specifying the grounds on which he himself calls it in question. "We are told," says he, "though for the honour of human nature, one feels disposed to disbe lieve it, that, when the horrible sentence was pronounced, Laud-that patriarch of a Christian Church-that grand minister of a religion which teaches charity and good-will to men, with fiend-like triumph over his prostrate victim, pulled; off his cap and gave thanks aloud to God, the Father of mercies." As to the merits of Leighton, again, there can be but one opinion. His pamphlet was an atrocious libel, inciting to the most furious intolerance in religion, and to actual rebellion in the state; and as fines, the pillory, slitting of noses, and branding, had now become the substitutes for Elizabeth's martial law, as an instrument for regulating the press, he could hardly hope to escape; and our author himself candidly remarks, that in the horrible treatment he suffered, he only experienced the ills that, on his own principles, he would have inflicted upon others.

In regard to the Cardinal's hat which was offered to Laud, it is extremely difficult to discover the motives which could induce the governors of the Romish Church to extend such. a mark of their respect to such a divine. He had already signalized himself as a champion of Protestantism, and withdrawn more than one person of note from the Popish communion; whilst, as to actual preferment, the primacy of the.

English Establishment could receive neither lustre nor power from the College of Cardinals, resident in the diminished capital of Italy. The same spirit of intrigue, perhaps, which suggested the sending of Romish priests to act the part of puritan ministers, with the view of bringing the Reformation into contempt among the better informed classes of society, might dictate the mischievous policy of commencing a negociation with the Archbishop, which, in whatever way the proposal might be received, could have no other effect than that of exposing him to the rage of his enemies, and of exciting suspicions of his sincerity even among his friends. The mere offer of preferment in another Church implied, on the part of those who made it, such an unfavourable idea of Laud's integrity or steadiness, that, as they knew well, the very rumour of their intention to invite him to accept of it would be regarded, either as an insult, and would thereby gratify their revenge, or as a token of their affection and confidence, and would thereby inflame the opponents of the hierarchy. On this topic Mr. Brodie recurs to his minute logomachy. "Laud," says he, informs us in his Diary, "that when the offer was made to him, he acquainted the King both with the thing and the person: and adds, that my answer again was, that something dwelt within me which would not suffer that, till Rome were other than it is." "It is beyond all question," continues the historian, "from this that Land suffered a struggle in his own bosom; and from his haste to acquaint the King of the circumstance, it is evident that his own answer was in some measure to depend upon his Majesty's pleasure. It will be remarked that in mentioning the second offer, he, after stating that he had apprized the King of it, adds, that his answer again was that something dwelt within him, and yet that he does not think it necessary to state what answer he returned, speaking of the first: and that which is most important, it does not appear to whom the answer was made, whether to the King, or to the person who proposed the Cardinalship."

We cannot see the object of this microscopic view of a case, which as it was altogether private, and exhibits nothing more than the current of secret thought that passed through the mind of the Archbishop, cannot possibly prove against him any thing more atrocious than that, if the Church of Rome had been somewhat reformed, he would have had no objection to become a Cardinal. We admit, at the same time, that had Laud acted with proper firmness, he would have given such an answer to the first proposal, as would have precluded all' attempt at farther negociation.

Whatever may be said of the imprudence of Laud, and his want of tact in the management of delicate affairs, he must be allowed the merit of consistency and steadiness in his religious principles and views of discipline. The government of the Church in the hands of his predecessor had not only permitted, but positively encouraged many innovations, and a total disregard of ancient usage as well as of recent statutes. The house of Abbot was the rendezvous of those schismatical puritans, who, whilst they accepted the livings, and bound themselves to observe the ritual of the Church, sought, on all occasions, an opportunity to bring her ceremonies and her authority into contempt. Gliding into the palace under the shades of night, to concert with the primate new means for promoting their cause, these unworthy sons of our holy Mother, acquired the appellation of Nicodemites, founded, it is hardly necessary to add, not on a reference to their desire for knowledge, but on their very suspicions and contemptible love of concealment. In opposing this treacherous system, Laud had to meet the hostility not only of the avowed enemies of the Church, but also of that more dangerous and malignant class of professional men who lurk in her bosom, only to betray her confidence, or to invite and second the assault of her more deadly foes. The unhappy spirit of the age too, was against him. Concession was demanded; and he knew not how to concede, without submiting to sacrifices which neither principle nor expediency would warrant. He fell a victim to the times in which his lot was cast; and died because he would neither truckle nor trim. Whenever we find a man standing boldly up against the current of popular opinion, and labouring to consolidate and establish what all others are labouring to undermine and destroy, we are ready to give him credit for strength of nerve and firmness of principle: and how low soever may be our estimate of his practical skill in human nature, or of his worldly wisdom in reference to his own interests, we must admit that he follows a clear and strong light in his own particular path, and enjoys unalloyed the approbation of his own conscience. Such a man was Laud: and such is the opinion of his character which a fair review of his actions has impressed on our minds.

As a proof of the ignorant calumny which continues to darken the fame of this celebrated metropolitan, we are induced to mention a rare piece of blundering illiberality which has just appeared in the Edinburgh Review. The author of an article in that Journal on the affairs of our Church, selects for condemnation " Laud's Lambeth Articles," which the said author, himself a reputed member of the English Establish

ment, describes as rank Arminianism!!! Most profound historian!! That a writer in the northern Periodical should have mistaken Laud for Whitgift is not surprising, considering the general character and object of the work; but that the Lambeth Articles should have been pronounced Arminian, when every novice in theology knows that they contain the very quintessence of Calvinism, expressed too in the most direct and revolting language, was a blunder which we were not sanguine enough to have expected. Not satisfied, however with this double blunder, the enlightened ecclesiastic goes on to mention that the said Lambeth Articles, written by Laud and stuffed with Arminian heresy, were afterwards incorporated with the Irish Articles, drawn up under the direction of Archbishop Usher; upon which, as if by magic, the Arminian positions are all at once converted into pure Calvinistic tenets!! Hereafter who will dare to question the infallibility of the Edinburgh Review; a journal which, by dint of a few delicate figures of speech, can change the reign of Elizabeth into that of Charles the First; the Archbishop Whitgift into the primate Laud; and, above all, the Lambeth Articles into rank Arminianism!

We have already hinted, that Mr. Brodie's estimate of the character of Charles is not very flattering to the memory of that unfortunate Prince, Opposing his views to the encomiastic representations of Hume, he allows himself to be carried too far in his hostility to a sovereign, who was placed in the most difficult circumstances that can easily be imagined, and which, even at the present day, when we have the advantage of a better knowledge and a more extensive expience in political questions, would seem to set at defiance. the wisdom and genius of the ablest statesmen. Be it remembered, in the first place, that innovation did not begin on the part of the crown, but on that of the people. Charles was willing to conduct his government on the principles recognized in his own age, and acted upon in that of his imme diate predecessors; but the Commons of England, now become a powerful and ambitious body, were not contented with the share of freedom and influence formerly allowed to their order; and finding that, from the dilapidated condition of the hereditary revenue, the king was entirely at their mercy, they were determined that he should purchase all their grants of money, by a successive relinquishment of the main attributes of his prerogative. It will be allowed, in the second place, that the steps which Charles was induced to take, in order to compensate for the reluctant and niggardly sup plies of parliament, were such as had been rendered familiar the constitution by the practice of former sovereigns; and

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