nequissimus.* I shall fine him ten thousand pounds, which is more than he is worth, yet less than he deserveth: I will not set him at liberty, no more than a plagued man or a mad dog, who, though he cannot bite, he will foam. He is so far from being a sociable soul, that he is not a rational soul; he is fit to live in dens with such beasts of prey as wolves and tigers, like himself: therefore I do condemn him to perpetual imprisonment, as those monsters that are no longer fit to live among men, nor to see light. I should burn him in the forehead, and slit him in the nose; for I find that it is confessed of all, that Doctor Leighton's offence was less than Mr. Prynne's: then why should Mr. Prynne have a less punishment? He that was guilty of murder was marked in a place where he might be seen, as Cain was. I should be loath he should escape with his ears, for he may get a periwig, which he now so much inveighs against, and so hide them, or force his conscience to use his unlovely love-lock on both sides. Therefore I would have him branded on the forehead, slit in the nose, and his ears cropped, too." † Such was the judgment of "the most brutal and servile of these courtiers." The other members of the council, however, coincided with him, and Prynne suffered all the indignities recommended. Besides this, he was excluded from the bar and from the Society of Lincoln's Inn, degraded at Oxford, forbidden to follow his profession, and his book publicly burned by the hands of the common hangman. *Of all wicked men the most wicked. Rushworth, ii. 240. Hallam's Constitutional History, ii. 51. The author adds, "though Clarendon speaks well of him." Such, however, was the spirit of the man, that he occupied himself in prison, after all these barbarities had been inflicted upon him, in inquiries respecting the power and authority of the prelates, the results of which he afterwards published. Shortly after this, two other persons incurred the displeasure of the prelatical party, and suffered accordingly. The one was Dr. Bastwick, a physician of Colchester; the other, Mr. Burton, B.D., a clergyman of the church of England, afterwards celebrated as an advocate of Independency. * Dr. Bastwick had published a work in which he denied the divine right of episcopacy. For this he was cited before the High Commission, excommunicated, degraded from his profession, fined a thousand pounds, and imprisoned until he should recant. Henry Burton had preached two sermons, already referred to, full of bitter complaints against the innovations upon the doctrine and worship of the church, and charging the prelates with undermining the constitutional government of the country. The resistance offered by Burton to the tyranny of the day has been overlooked by most of the historians. No man of that age, not even Hampden, took a more enlightened view of the unconstitutional and perilous manner in which the affairs of the kingdom were conducted; and no man was more earnest in prosecuting his object as a patriot and as a martyr. He was a most fearless soul. His appeal to the king in his own defence, and in opposition to the illegal acts * Even at this time, there is reason to believe, he was a Congregationalist. See his "Law and the Gospel Reconciled," (1631) P. 3. † See back, p. 148, note. of the bishops, is one of the most affecting and yet manly statements we remember to have read; while the fact that it was ineffectual, is one of the most convincing illustrations of the complete revolution which Laud and Wentworth had brought about in the affairs both of the state and of the church.* In his sermon, he had reminded the king of his royal declaration in the subscription to the Petition of Right— "The king willeth, that right be done, according to the laws and customs of the realm: and that the statutes be put in due execution, and his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just rights and liberties." Now, that he is summoned to appear before one of the High Commission, he proceeds as a subject to act in accordance with that declaration. Instead of appearing, he appeals to the king. He had suffered already at the hands of the High Commission, and had been released from their grasp only by a prohibition from the civil court. Such, however, was the influence brought to bear upon that court, that a prohibition could no longer be obtained. therefore compelled to appeal to the monarch against the illegal proceedings of the Commission; and fearing lest his appeal might not reach his majesty, published it to the world, in hope that some well-minded man" might bring it under his notice. In this document he says, "I except against the competency of those judges who plainly appear to be both parties in the cause, and adversaries to my person for the cause's sake; and therefore, by the common, civil, and canon law, yea, by the very laws of God and nature, which 66 He was *Ever since Leighton's case, Laud and Wentworth had acted in concert. prohibit any man to be a judge in his own cause, especially when the party is an enemy to him that is to be judged by him." He further objects, on constitutional and legal grounds, to the proceedings of the High Commission court, as violating the statute of Elizabeth which requires that all ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatsoever shall be exercised in the name and under the control of the crown. * By this time, the Commission was accustomed to act without the formal sanction of the king; which was, in fact, an usurpation of sovereignty. If for this reason only, Burton had a right to be heard; but his voice was too feeble, and his foes knew too well the kind of ruler they had over them, to be moved by his remonstrances. was at present in vain. The prelates were too powerful, and the king connived at their misdeeds. He was seized in his own house, after violent means had been used to obtain entrance; committed to prison; and detained there, in close confinement, until his trial.† All Prynne and Bastwick, who had again rendered themselves obnoxious by publishing pamphlets against the hierarchy during their imprisonment, were now associated with Burton, and all three were tried in the Star Chamber together. Before the cause came on, they prepared their defence, and endeavoured to obtain the signature of counsel to the pleas which they put in. Such, however, was the state of the bar, that no two could be found courageous enough to discharge their duty. Burton, alone, was able to procure the signature of one; and he was reviled for his presump* 1 Elizabeth, cap. 1. † A Narrative of the Life of Mr. Henry Burton, p. 12; Hanbury, i. 563. tion by the justices Brampston and Finch, and informed that he "deserved to have his gown pulled over his ears. In consequence of the "informality" arising from this want of counsel's signatures, Prynne and Bastwick were "summarily dealt with."+ Burton alone was permitted to defend his cause, and this only in appearance. The judges took the precaution of cutting the ground from under his feet, by expunging from his answer "the body and substance of it," so that if he had been heard by counsel, his defence would have been incomplete and worthless. He therefore determined to reject such aid altogether. On the 14th of June, 1637, the mock trial came off. Prynne and Bastwick spoke first. When Burton's turn arrived, he proved his honesty and fearlessness before the court in the following words : "My Lords, I perceive how I am brought into a great strait, either to desert my cause and my conscience, or to expose my person to the censure of this honourable court: and seeing the necessity of the one of these two, I have and do, without any further deliberation, resolve rather to expose my person to the censure of this honourable court, than to desert my cause and my conscience." These were the words of an enlightened, conscientious, and daring man, who knew the consequences involved in such a declaration, but emboldened by a sense of innocency and wrong was prepared to act nobly. As he spoke, a suppressed expression of sympathy and approval prevailed amongst the hearers, * St. John, the celebrated counsel in Hampden's case, is said to have rendered some assistance, for which he endured a petty persecution. "Pro confesso;" that is, as if upon confession. |