THE TRIAL OF THE SEVEN BISHOPS. (Agnes Strickland's Lives of the Seven Bishops.) A.D. 1688. THE petition was drawn up and written by Sancroft himself, and signed by him; Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph; Turner, Bishop of Ely; Lake, Bishop of Chichester; Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells; White, Bishop of Peterborough; and Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol. Late as it was, the last-named six prelates passed over to Whitehall, but without the archbishop, who was in ill health. The object of the six prelates was to obtain a preliminary conference with the Earl of Sunderland, to acquaint him with their intention of petitioning the king to excuse them from reading the declaration, and to get him to ask his majesty to appoint the time and place for them to have the honour of presenting it. They earnestly entreated Sunderland to read the petition himself, that he might explain its purport to the king beforehand, to avoid taking his majesty by surprise. This, if Sunderland had been a faithful minister, he would gladly have done, in the hope of softening matters so as to avert a collision between the king and his hierarchy; but, being a secret-service man of the Prince of Orange, he did his utmost to precipitate the rupture, refused to look at the petition, and induced the king to see the prelates the same evening, though it was ten o'clock. Thus it was that the petition was presented by Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, instead of Archbishop Sancroft. On being introduced into the royal closet, the six bishops knelt and presented the petition. The king received it with a gracious countenance, and looking upon it, observed, "This is my Lord of Canterbury's handwriting." of our blood," replied the presenter of the petition, Bishop Lloyd, of St. Asaph, "rather than lift up a finger against your Majesty," and this sentiment was echoed by the rest. "I tell you this is a standard of rebellion," repeated the king. Down fell Trelawny, the Bishop of Bristol, on his knees, exclaiming, "Rebellion, sir! I beseech your Majesty not to say so hard a thing of us. For God's sake do not believe we are, or can be, guilty of rebellion. It is impossible that I, or any of my family, should be so." "We rebel, sir!" exclaimed Turner, Bishop of Ely. "We are ready to die at your feet." "Do you question my dispensing power?" demanded the king angrily. "Some of you here have printed and preached for it, when it was for your purpose." "Sir," replied White, Bishop of Peterborough, "what we say of the dispensing power refers only to what was declared in parliament." "The dispensing power," observed the king, 66 was never questioned by the men of the Church of England." "We are bound," said the Bishop of Bath and Wells, "to fear God and honour the king. We desire to do both. We will honour you; we must fear God." James, with increasing wrath, exclaimed, "Is this what I have deserved, who have supported the Church of England, and will support it? I will remember you I who have signed this paper. did not expect this from you, especially from some of you. I will be obeyed in publishing my de claration." He dismissed them in anger, with this haughty speech: "God hath given me this dispensing power, and I will maintain it." The same night the petition of the bishops, protesting against the dispensing power assumed by the sovereign as illegal, was vociferated by hawkers through the streets of the startled metropolis, in the same way as is now done by the vendors of the evening papers when any remarkable public event has occurred, a practice which was then without precedent. The king, who was exceedingly offended at this undesirable publicity being given to what had passed in the privacy of his closet, regarded it as an outrage on the part of the prelates. He sent a stern intimation of his displeasure to Sancroft, complaining of it as a treasonable misdemeanour. Sancroft replied with an expression of deep regret and surprise at what had occurred, protesting, at the same time, "ignorance of the matter, and great perplexity as to how the petition could have got abroad, since he had written it out with his own hand to prevent any treachery on the part of a secretary, so that there was no copy, only the original document, and that was in his Majesty's own possession." It was, however, certain that the petition was sent to press immediately the bishops left the royal presence; their audience did not | the interim, the petition was approved by five other bishops, who had not arrived in time to subscribe with the other prelates, but now added their signatures. commence till ten, and before twelve their petition was bawled about the streets. There were three persons whose after conduct leads to the conclusion that the copy was supplied by one of them —Lloyd, Trelawny, or Sunderland, probably the last, to whom the king, though he pocketed the petition, would naturally submit it for consideration on the departure of the bishops. The publication of this document rendered the breach between the king and the bishops irreconcilable, and was in the end the means of depriving him of the throne. Nine days were suffered by the king to elapse before he took any decided step tending to demonstrate his displeasure with the bishops. At one time, as he has himself recorded, he had determined to pass the matter over in silence; but his ill-conditioned | Lord Chancellor, Jefferys, persuaded him that it was incumbent on him to punish them for disobedience and contempt of his royal authority. The minds of the people were so greatly inflamed by the publication of the petition, that the king, regarding the manner in which this had been done as a most unjustifiable breach of confidence, was, in an evil hour, induced to summon the archbishop and the other subscribing prelates to appear before the council on the 8th of June, to answer to such matters of misdemeanour as should be objected against them, then and there. In On Friday, June 8th, at five in the afternoon, the appointed time, his Majesty came into the Council Chamber, and the archbishop and the six bishops were called in. "The king received them graciously," says Sancroft in his MS. narrative of the eventful scene, and the lord chancellor took a paper then lying on the table, and showing it to the archbishop, demanded of him, "Is this the petition that was written and signed by your grace, and which these bishops presented to his Majesty ?" The archbishop received the paper, but without taking any notice of the lord chancellor's query, addressed himself to the king in these words: "Sir, I am called hither as a criminal, which I never was before in my life, and little thought I ever should be, especially before your Majesty; but since it is my unhappiness to be so at this time, I hope your Majesty will not be offended that I am cautious of answering questions. No man is obliged to answer questions that may tend to the accusing of himself." Provoked by this implied distrust, James so far departed from his wonted courtesy as to exclaim, "Why, this is downright chicanery! I hope you do not deny your own hand?" "Sir," said the archbishop, "though we are not obliged to give any answer to this question, | the other prelates to enter into "No," said James, "I will not command you. If you will deny your own hands, I know not what to say to you." The lord chancellor then desired them to withdraw. In a few minutes they were called in again, and after they had acknowledged their respective signatures, the lord chancellor informed them that it was his Majesty's pleasure to have them proceeded against for writing and publishing a seditious libel, but that it should be with all fairness, in Westminster Hall, and required them to enter into recognisances for their appearance. Sancroft refused to do so, claiming their privileges as members of the House of Peers. The king told them it was offered as a favour, and to save them from any imprisonment, for they might return peacefully to their respective places of abode if they would enter into recognisances, and he would accept the very smallest amount, making them merely nominal. They were, however, firm in refusing to give them, and were again ordered to retire. They were presently joined by the Earl of Berkeley from the Council Chamber, who endeavoured to persuade Sancroft and | the recognisances; but, finding them immovable, he returned to the Council, and in about half-anhour the sergeant-at-arms came out with a warrant to arrest them, and take them to the Tower; and with another warrant addressed to the lieutenant of the Tower, commanding him to receive their persons into safe custody, till they should be delivered by due course of law. When the populace, who were in a most excited state, thronging the purlieus of Whitehall to await | the event of the summons of the seven bishops before the Privy Council, saw them led out as prisoners under a guard of soldiers, and embarked at Whitehall stairs to be lodged in the Tower, they exhibited the most passionate demonstrations of sympathy and affection. Even the soldiers appointed to guard them knelt and implored their benediction. The venerable archbishop, whose boundless charities and hospitality during upwards of ten years' residence at Lambeth had endeared him to the hearts of the poor, and won the affection and respect of all sorts and conditions of people, endeavoured to calm their passionate indignation at seeing him injuriously treated. He and his companions in durance entreated them "to preserve their loyalty to their sovereign, for they were bound not only to fear God, but to honour the king." When they entered the barge that was to convey them to the Tower, scarcely could the people be restrained from rushing into | best chance in their favour that the rashness of the king had given them. Such treatment they naturally concluded would excite a desire of revenge in the primate's bosom. Dr. Stanley addressed a Prince and Princess of Orange, expressive of their admiration of the conduct of himself and his fellow-prisoners. Sancroft made no response to it. the water after them in their enthusiasm. They were cheered from the banks as they proceeded down the river, and when they reached the tower, and landed at the Traitors' Gate, they were re-letter to him by command of the ceived with more than royal honours, for all the garrison, officers as well as privates, with a simultaneous burst of feeling, knelt and begged their blessing. Such a scene was never witnessed there before, and probably never will again. Love for the Church of England was the prevailing sentiment, and these seven bishops were regarded as its champions. It was the hour of evening service, and the captive prelates were permitted by the lieutenant of the Tower the solace of entering the chapel. What a sensation it must have created when these words in the second lesson were read, "I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." The right reverend prisoners were treated with the utmost respect by the lieutenant, and allowed the liberty of the Tower, and to see any one they pleased. They were visited the next day by a concourse of the nobility and persons of distinction, who had free access to them. Twice had the Princess of Orange and Dr. Stanley laid siege in good earnest to the loyalty of Sancroft. The Tower imprisonment was hailed by them as the "All men," wrote Dr. Stanley, "that love the Reformation do rejoice in it and thank God for it, as an act most resolute and every way becoming your places (bishoprics we suppose he means). But especially our excellent prince and princess were well pleased with it (notwithstanding all the king's envoy here could say); they have both vindicated it before him, and given me command in their names to return your Grace their hearty thanks for it, and at the same time to express their real concern for your Grace and all your brethren, and for the good cause in which your Grace is engaged. And your refusing to comply with King James II. is by no means looked upon by them as tending to disparage the monarchy, for they reckon the monarchy to be undervalued by illegal actions. Indeed, we have great reason to bless and thank God for their highnesses' steadiness in so good a cause." No response did all these notes of exaltation elicit from the venerable patriarch of the Anglican Church. Bowed down with sorrow, mourning over the wounds |