war which would evidently be one of great magnitude, he was content to say, concerning them, "providebit Deus.' СНАР. George James, however, saw the matter in the light of one Abbot. upon whom the whole responsibility of the affair would 1611-33. fall. He refused to interfere; and he neither acknowledged his son-in-law as King of Bohemia, nor suffered him to be prayed for in the churches under that title. Many reasons have been assigned for the conduct of James in this matter; and while his enemies have attributed it to mere pusillanimity of nature, his admirers have discovered in it much political sagacity. In the following year Abbot had the mortification of hearing of the complete defeat of his royal friend. The prince lost, not only all hope of the crown of Bohemia, to which he had aspired, but also the Palatinate, his inheritance. From his too powerful foes he was driven to seek shelter in Holland. A circumstance, however, now occurred which drove all foreign affairs from the mind of the primate, and centred his thoughts upon himself and his position in the Church of England; but of this I shall treat in another chapter. CHAPTER XXXII. ABBOT'S PRIMACY FROM THE INCIDENT OF BRAMZIL PARK Vacancy of four bishoprics.--Abbot opposes Laud's nomination.-Incident of Bramzil Park.-Question as to Abbot's consequent irregularity. Commission appointed for full enquiry.- Restitution of the archbishop.-Abbot opposes the proposed Spanish match.-Marriage articles drawn up.-Marriage treaty broken off.-Moket's “Politia Ecclesiæ Anglicana."-Death of Robert Abbot, Bishop of Salisbury.Abbot attempts university reforms.-Doctrines of Paræus condemned. James's "Directions concerning Preachers.”—The Archbishop of Spalato.-Marriage treaty between Charles and Henrietta Maria Illness and death of the king, 1625.-Laud's influence with Charles.-Help sent to the Elector Palatine.-Arrival of the queen.-Plague in London.-Coronation of Charles.-Abbot's unpopularity at court. He censures Montague and Sibthorpe.— Suspended for a time.-Restored to favour.-Character and death.Munificence. CHAP. EARLY in the summer of 1621 four bishoprics were XXXII. vacant, and the king, guided by the advice of Lord George Abbot. Keeper Williams, soon made choice of the divines fitted to fill them. 1611-33. Vacancy of four Williams chose for himself the bishopric of Lincoln, bishoprics. while at his suggestion Dr. Carew and Dr. Davenant were appointed respectively, to the sees of Exeter and Salisbury. About the see of St. David's, to which Laud was nominated, there was more difficulty. The archbishop was opposed to the nomination of one whose prejudiced opponent he had been throughout his life. Abbot opposes Laud's nomination. XXXII. George Abbot. That Abbot's influence with the king was not lost by CHAP. his recent opposition to his Majesty's policy, is evidenced by the fact of the difficulty experienced by Williams in procuring the appointment of Laud. But the mind 1611-33. of the primate was soon directed to a subject of a more personal character. While the four bishops elect were looking forward to the day of their consecration, an event occurred which not only delayed their advancement, but which seemed, at first, to promise to the more ambitious, a still higher step in ecclesiastical preferment. Bramzil The archbishop having been invited by Lord Zouch Incident of to his house in Bramzil Park, joined his noble host in Park. that which was then the favourite relaxation of clergy and gentry alike, a stag-hunt in the park. With a caution which was customary to him, Abbot had warned the keepers that they should not advance too far when urging the game towards the sportsmen. Notwithstanding this injunction, one Peter Hawkins had twice during the day exposed himself to some danger, in his eagerness to give the archbishop good sport, and had been rebuked for so doing. It is probable, that his Grace was not a skilled marksman, for his earlier days had been spent, rightly, amid theological studies, and he had not possessed the opportunity of practising that art of shooting which then, as now, formed the favourite amusement, or toil, of the aristocracy. At all events, a buck rose in front of the archbishop. He quickly discharged an arrow at the game, when, to the horror and consternation of all, it was perceived that his The archGrace's arrow had missed its mark, and had pierced the bishop acarm of the over zealous keeper. An artery had been severed, and in a short time the unfortunate man bled to death. The agony of Abbot's mind was deep and lasting : upon the widow of Peter Hawkins he immediately settled cidentally kills a keeper. CHAP. XXXII. George Abbot. 1611-33. an annuity of 207., tantamount in those days to 2007., and during the rest of his life he observed Tuesday, the day of the fatal occurrence, as a weekly fast. That Abbot committed no wrong, according to the laws and customs of the day, in actually following the chase, appears certain, though, according to our ideas in the nineteenth century, it seems incongruous that an archbishop should be a huntsman.* The question for the canonists. * In the "Apologie for Archbishop Abbot" in the “Reliquiæ Spelmannianæ," which is supposed to have been written at the suggestion of the archbishop himself, and is published with an answer by Spelman, written in an acrimonious style, it is clearly shown that there was no canon of the English Church prohibiting the bishops of the several dioceses from engaging in field sports; on the contrary, it was a portion of the episcopal privilege. The readers of the preceding volumes have seen, that the establishment of several of the bishops as well as of other great lords, were supported by the game which the thinly-populated country produced in abundance. In the "Charta de Foresta," archbishops and bishops have liberty to hunt. In the 13th of Richard II. cap. 13, a clergyman who had 107. by the year might keep greyhounds to hunt; and Linwood, who lived soon after that period, and was of all men best versed in the ecclesiastical constitutions and laws of England, in treating of hunting, severely censures clergymen, who used that exercise unlawfully, as for instance, in places "restrained or forbidden," but not one word does he utter simply against hunting. The Archbishops of Canterbury had formerly more than twenty parks and chases to use at their own pleasure, and by charter they had free warren on all their lands. Down to the time of Abbot the bishops continued to hunt in their own parks, and in those of the neighbouring nobility. Of Archbishop Whitgift we read that, hunting in the park of Lord Cobham, near Canterbury, he there, by the favour of that lord, killed twenty bucks in one journey, using hounds, greyhounds, or his bow at his pleasure, although he never shot well. The same is reported of Archbishop Sandys. The deans and members of the Chapter of Winchester made use of their estates to the same purpose. Some of the archbishops claimed a not undisputed right to hunt within any forest of England. Archbishop Cranmer was himself an adept at field sports; his father had permitted him to employ hawk and hound, and he was always known CHAP. XXXII. George 1611-33. Question Abbot's "irregu was, whether the archbishop, by having blood on his hands, had become "irregular;" incapable, that is to say, by common law, of discharging the duties of his high Abbot. office. Although no blame could attach to the archbishop in the matter, nevertheless the general gloom of his charac- as to ter had prevented his conciliating many private friendships, consequent and the selfish feelings of the Puritans were directed larity." rather to the disgrace brought upon their party, than to the sufferings of the poor man himself who, without going all their lengths, had nevertheless from early life been their supporter, if not their patron. But amid the cruelty of some of his opponents and the coolness of almost all Abbot's former friends, we regard with pleasure the generosity of the king, whose character always shone brighter when an appeal was made to his kindly feelings. The remark of the king on hearing of the archbishop's Generosity mishap was, "An angel might have miscarried in this the king sort:" and on being informed that, by law, the arch- to Abbot. bishop's personal estate was forfeited to the crown, James immediately took that opportunity of writing an autograph letter to Abbot to inform him, that "the king would not add affliction to his sorrow or take one farthing from his chattels and moveables." Abbot sorrowfully retired to his native town and took refuge in the almshouse, which his own munificence had built; to sit well upon a horse. In field sports Cranmer sought relaxation from the heavy affairs of state, and he was known in his family to manage a restive horse better than any of his household; in hawking and hunting he was particularly skilful, and although short-sighted, when he took a bow in hand he was almost sure to hit the object of his pursuit with his arrow. From all which the apologist for Abbot concludes that, whatsoever canons beyond the seas affected the hunting of foreign prelates, no such canon existed in England, where by the favour of princes and of the State, the diocesans had baronies annexed to their sees. shown by |