A B n 



,- ■ r f>)r pniilincc aiul moderation, wliicli luiJ 



,',, ,: all Ills future [jriicniicnU. From this time 



he ilouU u. Iiigii ill the kinjj's favour, tliat lie was confccrated 

 bilhop of the unit, d fei-; ..t Lilchfuld and CoventiT in i6og, 

 and 111 the hcpnuiiig of the next year he was trandated to Lon- 

 don ; and in 1611 lie was preferred hy liis majcfty to the archi- 

 ei>.lVupal fee of Canterbur)-. Thus, before he had arrived at 

 the a-e of fifty, lie w as exalted to the hi^hell difrnity in the 

 chun.^i,andcerebratedl)y GoiKvin, (dePreful. Anglia;,p. 225, ) 

 o:ie of his contemporaries, for his learning, eloquence, nnd 

 indefatigable diligence in preaching and writing, notwith- 

 ftanding the various duti-.sof his high ofiice, of tlie high com- 

 mifiion court, over which he prefided,and of his regular attend- 

 ance on the privy-council. He was at this time in t)ic higheil 

 favour both with prince and people, and chiefly concerned 

 in all the great tr^nfaAions of church and Hate. His great 

 folicilude for the proteilant religion induced him zealoully to 

 promote the match between the Elector Palatine and the 

 Princefs tli^abeth, which was folemni/.cd on tlie 14th of 

 Fcbruan- l6lj, the archbifhop performing the ceremony in 

 the royal chapel. During the agitation of the divorce be- 

 tween the Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of 

 Suffolk, and Robert Earl of Eflex, which has been confi- 

 dcred as one of the grtatcfl blemilhes of King James's reign, 

 tlie archbifliop added much to the reputation he had 

 acquired for inflexible integrity. He refiftcd tlie divorce, 

 though the king was vtr)- delirous of its taking place, and 

 he publifhed his reafons for perillUng in his opinion, to which 

 the king himf«lf thought fit to reply. Sentence was given 

 in the lady's favour. In 1618 the king's declaration for 

 permitting fports and pailimes on the Lord's day gave the 

 archbifhop great uniafinefs ; and happening to be at Croy- 

 don on the day when it was ordered to be read, he had the 

 courage to forbid its being read. This year he did great 

 fcrvice to the protcftant religion, by employing Mr. N. 

 Brent to procure the MS. of Father Paul's excellent Hiilory 

 of the Council of Trent. In 1619, when his health began 

 to decline, he prepared to execute the benevolent defign in 

 favour of his native town of Guildford, which he had long 

 meditated ; he attended when Sir Nicholas Kempe laid the 

 firft (lone of his hofpital, and afterwards nobly endowed it. 

 Towards the clofe of this year, when the Elector Palatine 

 accepted the crown of Bohemia, he took part with thofe 

 who thought, that natural affeftion for his fon and daugh- 

 ter, and a juft concern for the protcftant intereft, ought to 

 have engaged his majefty warmly to fupport the new elec- 

 tion. Being under a nereffity of ufing exercife, he made a 

 tour into Hamplhire ; and v^-hen he \\'as hunting in the park of 

 Lord Zouch at Bramzil, he had the misfortune of killing his 

 lordlhip's keeper by an arrow from a crofs-bow, which he 

 fhot at one of the deer. This accident threw him into a 

 deep melancholy. The day on which it happened he kept 

 as a monthly fail ever afterwards, and he fettled an annuity 

 of 20I. on the widow. This accident excited prejudices 

 againil him in the minds of many perfons, though his majefty 

 declared, that " an angel might have mifcarried in this fort," 

 and WTOte him with his own hand a confolator)^ letter. A 

 commidion of ten porfons was appointed to inquire into this 

 matter, and the refult of the whole was, that a pardon and 

 difpenfation pafled the Great Seal, and he was declared 

 capable of all metropolitical authority, as if this affair had 

 cot happened. In the parliament tliat met on the 19th Feb. 

 172 V4> the archbifhop took an a&ive part in the meafures 

 which were then purfued for perfuading the king to difTolve 

 his treaties with Spain, relating to the marriage and the palati- 

 nate. Though, on account of his increafinginnrmitieshefeldom 

 alTiftc-d at council, yet in tiic king's laft ficknefs he conttantly 

 ittended, and was near him when be expired 00 the 27th of 



ABB 



March 1625. He performed the duty of his rank in putting 

 the crown on the head of king Charles I. ; but he vifibly 

 declined in the king's favour, and the Duke of Buckingham 

 watched for an opportunity of teiliiying the feverity of his 

 difpleafure againll him. An occalion foon prefented itfelf 

 in confequcnce of his refufing to licenfe a fcrnion,- preached 

 by Dr. Sibthorpe, to juflify and promote a loan, which the 

 king had demanded. Accordingly he was fufpcnded from ;iil 

 his funftions as primate, and they were exercilld by com- 

 mifTion appointed by the king. But a parliament being 

 neceffary, he was again refloied to his authority and juril- 

 diclion. His prefence at court, however, was unwelcome 1 

 and Laud, who direfled the rigorous ineafures of the church 

 party, which the archbilhop difapproved, had the honour, 

 as dean of the chapel, of baptizing the yoi;ng prince, after- 

 wards Charles II. The archbifliop, being worn out with 

 cares and infirmities, died at Croydon on the 4th of Auguft 

 in 1633, at the age of ftventy-one. He was buried at 

 Guildford, where a (lately monument was eretted over Ilia 

 grave, with his effigy in his robes. He was diftinguiflied 

 by his natural talents, and by a conlidei-able portion of ac- 

 quired literature, as the various works which were written 

 by him tedify. He manifefted, in many circumllances, a 

 great degree of moderation to all- parties ; and he was de- 

 firous that the clergy fhould engage the rcfpeft of the laity 

 by the fanftity of their manners and the uprightnefs of their 

 behaviour, rather than claim it as neceftarily attached to 

 their funftion. But his fentiments and conduct have not 

 efcaped reflections ; nor has even Lord Clarendon donejuftice 

 to his memory. Dr. Welwood has more truly appretiated 

 his abilities and merit. There was another writer of the 

 fame name, who publifhed a Paraphrafe on Job, a Vindica- 

 tion of tlie Sabbath, and a Paraphrafe on the Pfalms. He 

 died about the year l6jo, and had been a member of the 

 parliament that was then fitting. Biog. Brit. 



ABBOT, Robert, was brother to the former, bom at 

 Guildford in 1560, and completed his iludies at Baliol col- 

 lege in Oxford. He took his degree of Matter of Arts in 

 1582, and became a dillinguiftied preacher, to which his 

 prefenuent was owing. In 1594 he became no lefs eminent 

 for his writings. In 1597 he took his degree of Doftor in 

 Divinity ; and in the beginning of the reign of king James 

 he was appointed chaplain in ordinai-y to his majelty, who 

 ordered the doctor's book, De Ant'ichr'ijio, to be printed with 

 his own commentaiy on the Apocalypfe. He was elected 

 tnafler of Baliol college in 1609, and in 1612 his majefty ap- 

 pointed him regius profcflTor of divinity at Oxford. The re- 

 putation which he acquired by his lectures induced his ma- 

 jefty to name him for the fee of Salifbuiy, and he was con- 

 fecrated by his brother at Lambeth, Dec. 3, 161 5. He 

 found the cathedral falling into decay, and applied the fum 

 of 500I., which he obtained from the prebendaries, towards 

 repairing it. Here he devoted himfelf with exemplaiy affi- 

 duity to the duties of his function ; but his clofe application 

 to ftudy brought upon him the gravel and Itone, which ter- 

 minated his life on the 2d of March 1617, in the 58th year 

 of his age. He was buried over-againil the biihop's feat in 

 the cathedral. Dr. Fuller (in his Worthies of England) 

 fays, fpeaking of the two brothers, " that George was the 

 " more plaufible preacher, Robert the greater fcholar ; 

 " George the abler ftatefman, Robert the deeper divine ; 

 " gi'avity did frown in George, and fmile in Robert." His 

 writings were nuincrous, and many of his MSS. were given 

 by Dr. Corbet, who mairied his grand-daughter, to the 

 Bodleian library. 



There was another Robert Abhot, a minifter, and author 

 of feveral devout pieces, who was fcarcely a writer before 

 the bifhop died. 



ABBOTS- 



