314 



XOTES AND QUEETES. 



[No. 127. 



ment he fiuh-ted-Lord W.'and passed alHhe ladies' 

 addressini^ Mrs. Greathead only, thouojh the Du- 

 chess of Gordon and her daughter, Lady Georgina, 

 were present. After speaking to several officers 

 in the centre of the room, which was crowded, he 

 returned to Lord VV. and asked why Malta was 

 not given up. Lord W. then looked more serious, 

 and said he had no doubt that I^Ialta would be 

 given up when the otlier articles of the treaty were 

 complied with. General B. then left the room, 

 and Madame B. immediately entered. As soon as 

 the drawing-room was over, I observed to Lord W. 

 that it was the first cabinet council I had ever 

 witnessed ; he laughingly answered, by far the 

 most numerously attended. Lord W. then ad- 

 dressed the American Minister, who was very 

 deaf, and repeated what had passed, and I per- 

 ceived that he was very much offended at wiiat 

 had occurred. In justix'ie to tlie First Consul, I 

 must say that the impropriety consisted in the un- 

 fitness of the place for such a subject ; the tone of 

 his voice was not raised, as was said at the time. 

 He spoke in the same tone as when he enquired 

 for the Duchess of Dorset." 



NOTES ON PRYNNE S BREVIATE, BY ARCHBISHOP 

 LAUD. 



I have two Queries to propose ; but before I can 

 do so effectually, it is necessary to enter into an 

 explanation and statement of facts, which may be 

 considered as Notes conveying information which 

 will, I anticipate, prove new and interesting to 

 many readers of " N. & Q." 



On the 2nd of September, 1644, Archbishop 

 Laud, then a man of more than threescore years 

 and ten, but still with intellect vigorous, active, and 

 unimpaired by age or trouble, appeared at the bar 

 of the House of Lords, to recapitulate in one ad- 

 dress the various points of his defence, which had 

 been made at intervals during the six months 

 previous, as the trial had gone on, from time to 

 time, since the 12th of the preceding March. On 

 coming to the bar, he was for the moment stag- 

 gered by seeing, in the hands of each of his judges, 

 a blue book, containing, as he had just learnt, 

 great part of his own most secret memoranda and 

 most private thoughts, extracted by the bitterest 

 of his opponents out of his Diary and MS. book 

 of devotions. This was Prynne's Breviate of the 

 Life of William Laud, Ai-chhishop of Canterbury ; 

 extracted {for the most part) verbatim out of his 

 own Diary, and other writings, under his own hand. 



" So soon as I came to the bar," (tliis is his own 

 account,) " I saw every Lord present with a new thin 

 book in folio, in a blue coat. I heard that mornin."- 

 that Mr. Pryn liad printed my Diary, and published it 

 to the world, to disgrace me. Some notes of his own 

 are made upon it. Tlie first and the last are two 

 :iesperate untruths, beside some others. This was the 



i 



book theft in the Lords' han^s, arid 'T assure myself, 

 that time picked for it, that the sight of it might damp 

 me, and disinable me to speak. 1 confess I was a little 

 troubled at it. But after I had gathered up myself, 

 and looked up to God, I went on to the business of the 

 day, and thus I spake." — History of Troubles and Trial, 

 c. xlii. pp. 411, 412. 



In his defence he turned this circumstance, and 

 the use previously made of his Diary and Devo- 

 tions during the course of his trial, very happily to 

 account. After speaking of the means which had 

 been used to frame the charges against him, how 

 he had been " sifted to the vei-y bran," he says : 



" My very pockets searched ; and my Diary, nay, my 

 very Prayer Book taken from me, and after used 

 against me ; and that, in some cases, not to prove, but 

 to make a charge. Yet I am thus far glad, even for 

 this sad accident. For by my Diary your Lordships 

 have seen the passages of my life ; and by my Prayer 

 Book, the greatest secrets between God and my soul: 

 so that you may be sure you have me at the very 

 bottom. Yet, blessed be God, no disloyalty is found 

 in the one; no Popery in the other." — Ibid. c. xliii. 

 p. 413. 



The recapitulation over, the Archbishop was 

 remanded to the Tower, and prosecuted the work 

 on which he had been long engaged, The History 

 of his Troubles and Tryal: intending, when that 

 was finished, to publish a reply to this Breviate. 

 His words are : 



" For this Breviate of his, if God lend me life and 

 strength to end this (the History) first, I shall discover 

 to the world the base and malitious slanders with 

 which it is fraught." — Ibid. c. xx. p. 254. 



His life was not spared to do more than carry 

 on that History to the day preceding the passing of 

 the bill of attainder by the Lords, three months 

 after the publication of the Breviate. Thus it 

 ends : 



" And thus far had I proceeded in this sad history 

 by Jan. 3, 1644-45. The rtst shall follow as it comes 

 to my knowledge." — Ibid. c. xlvi. p. 443. 



Wharton adds this note : 



" Next day the Archbishop, receiving the news that 

 the bill of attainder had passed the House of Lords, 

 broke off his history, and prepared himself for death." 



He was beheaded the 10th day of the same 

 month, January 1645. 



The information I have to communicate, after 

 this long preface, is, that a copy of this book of 

 Prynne's, with marginal notes by the Archbishop, 

 made apparently in preparation for the answer 

 whicli he contemplated, is still extant ; and I shall 

 be thankful to any of your readers who can give 

 any further information on the subject. 



In this copy the notes are only a transcript from 

 those made by the Archbishop ; and partly, per- 

 haps, owing to the narrow margin of Prynne's 

 book, we have to regret that they are not more 



