BAN 



treated by Bancroft as#fcditious, and he purfued their aittliors 

 as enemies to the ftnte. His zeal recommended him to ec- 

 clefiaflical preferment ; and in 1597, he was advanced to the 

 fee of London, and the management of the ecckfiaftical 

 affairs of the kingdom devolved upon him. In the celebrated 

 conference between the bi(hops and the Prefljyteriau mini- 

 fters, held at Hampton couit in 1603, Bancroft took an 

 aftive part ; and when the king required fatisfadion in the 

 three points of confirmation, abl'olntion, and piivate baptifm, 

 he undertook to explain and vindicate thcfc branches of 

 ecclefiaftical difcipline, as they were exercifed in the church 

 of England. In the profecution of this conference, and 

 with a view to its fpccdy termination by an acl of authority, 

 he moved the king, that an ancient canon, that " Schifmatics 

 are not to be heard againfl Bifhop?," fiiould be revived ; 

 and tJiat, accorduig to a decree of an ancient council, which 

 prohibited any man to plead againft his own fubfcription, 

 thofe of the opponents, who had fubfcribed the communion- 

 book, (hould be fet afide. Thefe abfurd and unjull propo- 

 fals were rejected by the king. When Dr. RcYnolds, on 

 the part of the non-confonni!ls, moved for feveral alterations 

 in doflrine and difcipline, the bifhop fell upon his knees 

 before the king, praying that care might be taken to pro- 

 vide a praying clergy, as the fervices' of the deilc were too 

 much neglefteJ, and the duty of a pirill\ pricil wholly re- 

 ftricled to the pulpit ; that till men of learning could be 

 procured for every congregation, homilies fliould be read, 

 and their number increafcd ; and that pulpits might not 

 be turned into batteries, from which every malecontent 

 might be allowed to vent his fpleen aga.nft his fuperiors. 

 Thefe requefts, whether well or ill-founded, were evidently 

 pointed againil the non-conformifts. Upon the lord chan- 

 cellor's taking occafion to argue againft pluralities, and ex- 

 prelling a willi that fome clergymen might have fmg'.e coats 

 before others had doublets, adding alfo, that he had be- 

 llowed benefices in the king's gift upon this principle, the 

 bifliop of London replied, " I commend your honourable 

 care that way ; but a doublet is neceilary in cold weather." 

 The good bifhop, it is faid, fpoke feelingly, for he had 

 himfelf experienced the comfort of warm cloahing. In 

 1604, bifhop Bancroft was defied andconfecratcd to fucceed 

 archbifhop Whitgift in the fee of Canterbury ; and in this 

 bitrh ilation he retained his intolerant principles, and pur- 

 fued the fame meafures againX the non-conformi!fs. To 

 tills purpofe lord Clarendon (Hill. vol. i. p. 88.), in his 

 eulogy, tellifies, that " if he had livtd, he would quickly 

 have extinguiHicd all that tire in England, which had been 

 kindled at Geneva, and would eafily h.avc kept out that 

 infedion which could not afterwards be fo eafily expelled." 

 For the ri;;hts of the church, the archbifliop manifefled a 

 jealoufv, which involved him in a coutefl with the judges ; 

 againft' whom he exhibited to the lords of the council, com- 

 plaints of their encroachments' on the ecclefiaftical courts in 

 granting prohibitions ; but thefe complaints were over-ruled 

 by the unanimous opinion of the judges, which Coke juflly 

 calls the higheft authority of the law. In the interior dif- 

 cipline of the church, the archbifhop was rigoroully exait, 

 uro-ing a ftritt conformity to the rubric and canons, and 

 making no allowance for divcrfity of opinion. He en- 

 forced fubfcription to the articles in the moft unevafive terms ; 

 and it appears, that, not long before his death, forty-nine 

 clero-ymen were deprived of their benefices for not comply- 

 ing with his rigid requifitions. In 1610, he propofed to 

 parhament a plan for increafing the revenues of the church, 

 by improving the tithes, redeeming lay impropriations, and 

 reftoring the praftice of mortuaries by repealing the ftatute 

 of mortmain. Parliament wifely refifted this projeft, wliich 

 feems to have been the laft public ad of the archbilhop's life ; 



BAN 



for he died of the ftone, at h's palace at Limbeth, in No- 

 vember 1610, aged 67. His library was bequeathed to his 

 fucceflbrs in the metropolitan fee of Cantcrbur)-. Bcfidci 

 his fermon againft the Puritans, we have only two trads, 

 written by him before his advancement te the epifcopal 

 dignity, in defence of the church againft the non-conformills, 

 intitled " Dangerous Pofitions," and " Survey of the pre- 

 tended holy Difcipline." The prominent features in the 

 charader of this prelate were intemperate zeal and intolerant 

 feverity ; and if he rendered any fervices to cpifc. pacy, the 

 general caufe of Proteftantifm owed him little obligation ; for 

 nothing could be more inconfiftent with the fundamental 

 principle of the refonnation, than the reftraint and prohibi- 

 tion of that freedom of judgment and choice in the pro- 

 vince of religion, which had been aflcrted and maintained 

 by the predominant party on their feparation from the 

 church of Rome. Bancroft, however, though his principles 

 were narrow and temper rugged, polftfTcd a degree of 

 underftanding and of adivity of fpirit, which fitted him 

 for public bufinefs, and which enabled him to occupy im- 

 portant ftations in the church with a confiderablc degree of 

 reputation. A letter written by this prelate to king James I., 

 in vindication of pluralities, is preferved in the advocate's 

 library at Edinburgh, and may be read in the firft volume 

 of fir David Dalrymplc's Memorials. Biog. Brit. Gen. Biog. 



BAND, in a general fenfe, fome fmall, narrow ligament, 

 wherewith a thing is tied or faftened. 



^Ve fay, zjlay-band, a brow-band, a hat-hand, Zlc. 



Band, in Arch'tttSur:, denotes any flat, low member, or 

 moulding. This amounts to the fame with what is other- 

 wife called yici', from the \s3X\x\ fafc'ia, which Vitruvius ufes 

 for the fame thing, and {amcUmaJtlUt, plinth. Sec. 



Bands of Columns, properly denote a kind of embolT- 

 ments furrounding fhafts of ruftic columns, at certain di- 

 ftances, by way of decoration. 



Thefe are fometimes plain, foraetimes picked or vermicu- 

 lated, and fometimes carved with decorations of low relievo, 

 whicli are different in every different band. 



Columns enriched with thefe bands, are fometimes called 

 banrkd columns. 



Band, in matters of Art'illery, denotes a hoop of iron afcd 

 about the caniage of a gun. 



Such are the nave bands, which are iron hoops binding the 

 nave at both ends. 



Band, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the province of 

 Mekran, 400 miles S.S.W. of Candahar. 



Band, Bandum, is ufed, in Middle Age Writers, for a 

 flag or banner. 



Band ofSolditrs, in Military Language, fo many as light 

 under the fame flag or enfign. Thus Romulus called thofe 

 who fought under the fame manipule (a handful of hay 

 being then ufed for a flag) manipulus miliiurn. 



Formerly bands cfpccialiy denoted bodies of foot; and the 

 French formerly called their infantiy bandes Frangoifes. 



Band of Penjwners, is flill retained, to denote a company 

 of gentlemen, who receive a yearly allowance of icol. for 

 attending theking on iolemn occafions. See Pessio.ners. 



Bands, Trained. See Trained Biinds. 



Band, gives the denomination to a military order in 

 Spain, inllituted by AlphonfusXI. king of Caftile, in the 

 year 1332- It takes its name from landa, band, or red 

 rib"t>and, which comes acrofs over the right fhoulder, and 

 under the left arm of tiie knight. This order is for none 

 but the younger fons of nobles'; the eldeft fons of grandees 

 are excluded; and, before admittance, it is rcquifite to have 

 fprved at leaft ten years, cither in the army or at court. 

 I'hey arc bound to take up aims for the Catholic faith 

 againft the infidels. 



3 Z t The 



