USHER. 



and his oriental treafures were finally centred, for the mod 

 part, in the Bodleian library. The pnmatc, being with re- 

 fpeft to doiSrine Calviniftical, was alarmed by the progrcfs 

 of Arminianifm in the Englirti churcli at the commencement 

 of king Charles's reign, and took part in the predeftinarian 

 controverfy of that period. Accordingly he piiblifhed, in 

 1 63 1, a hiftory of the Benedictine monk Gottefchalc, who, 

 in the ninth century, llrenuoully vindicated the doftrine of 

 predeftination. This hiilory, the firft Latin produftion of 

 the Irifh prefs, is entitled " Gottefchalci et Prjedeitinari.-e 

 Controverfiae ab eo moti Hiftoria." Neverthelefs he fer- 

 ▼ilely fubmittcd to royal inilrudlions, communicated to him 

 under the influence of Laud, a zealous partifan of Armini- 

 anifm, for feizing all remaining copies of a work, publilhed 

 in Ireland by Dr. Downham, bifhop of Derry, againft the 

 Arminians, avowing his purpofe " that nothing (hould be 

 hereafter publifhed contrary to his majefty's facrcd direc- 

 tion." In conformity to a circular letter from his majefty 

 to the Irifli archbifhops, Ulher was aftive in refilling the 

 fpread and prevalence of Popery. With this view he 

 adopted a much better mechod than that of enforcing penal 

 laws ; which was that of cultivating an acquaintance with 

 Catholics of different ranks, and treating them with hofpi- 

 tality and kindnefs. 



In 1632 Urtier appeared before the public as editor of an 

 antiquarian work entitled " Veterum Epiflolarum Hiberni- 

 carum Sylloge, qus partim ab Hibernis, partim ad Hibernos, 

 partim de Hibernis vel rebus Hibernicis funt confcriptz." 

 Under the adminiflration of lord-deputy Wentworth, who 

 wifhed to render tiie government of Ireland in every refpeft 

 dependent on the crown of England, the independency of 

 the Irifh church, which had articles and canons of its own, 

 became a fubjeft of litigation. When it was propofed in 

 convocation, that the whole body of the Englilh canons 

 (hould be adopted by the Irifh church, the primate at firft 

 refifted ; but after much difcufTion, a compromife took 

 place, by admitting a certain number of the Englifli canons, 

 and retaining fiich of the Irifh as had a particular reference 

 to the circum (lances of that church and kingdom. It was 

 afterwards ilipulated that the candidates for ordination in the 

 Irifh church fhould fubfcribe both fets of articles, tliofe of 

 the Englifh, and thofe of the Inih church ; but this double 

 fubfcription was found to be the caufe of great confufion : 

 and therefore, after the Relloration, the Englilh articles 

 alone were fubfcribed, as they have ever finee been. In 

 1638 Ufher publilhed at Dublin a fhort treatife, entitled 

 " Immanuel, or theMyllery of the Incarnation of the Sou 

 of God ;" and in the following year, his great work " Dc 

 Ecclefiarum Britannicarnni Primordiis," of which an edition, 

 correAcd and improved by the author, was publilhed at 

 London in 1677. In the year 1640, the primate vifited 

 England ; and in a parliamentary debate concerning cliurcli- 

 governmcnt, lie offered (fays Whitelock) an expedient for 

 conjundion, in point of difcipline, tliat cpifcopal and pref- 

 byterial government might not be at a far diltance, re- 

 ducing epifcopac) to the form of a fynodical government in 

 the ancient church. The parliament was fpeedily dilfolved, 

 and nothing refulted from t!iis propofal. In 1641, a col- 

 leftion of trails in defence of epifcopacy was publirtied at 

 Oxford : and in this collection were two pieces of Ulher's, 

 viz, " A Difcourfe on the Origin of Bifhops and Metro- 

 politans," and " A Geographical and Hillorical Dif(]uili- 

 tion on the Lydian or Proconfiilar Afia ;" which lall was 

 reprinted with additions at Oxford in 1643. By thefe tratti, 

 it appears that Ufli r adhered to his early opinion, that 

 bifhops and prefbyters diltercd not in order, but in tU^ree, 

 though he afferted the apodolical origin and authority of 



Vol. XXXVII. 



epifcopacy. In defence of the caufe of monarchy, he com- 

 pofed, by the king's command, a treatife concerning " The 

 Power of the Prince, and Obedience of the Subjeft," 

 which remained in MS. till after the Reftoration, and was 

 then publifhed by the primate's grandfon, James Tyrrel, 

 efq., with a preface by bifhop Sanderfon. 



On occafion of the impeachment of lord Strafford, Ufher's 

 conduft has been much cenfured. It was generally confi- 

 dered that the bifhops were inftrumental in perfuading the 

 king to confent to Strafford's death ; and Ufher not only 

 fhared in this imputation, but was charged with having taken 

 this part in revenge for having been obhged by Strafford to 

 concur in abrogating the articles of the Irifh church. But 

 the moral character of Ufher raifed him far above the fufpi- 

 cion of fuch malignity. Dr. Parr has produced the king's 

 own atteftation to the primate's innocence as to the charge 

 of contributing to Strafford's fate. The Irifh rebellion, 

 which broke out in 164 1, was very detrimental to the pre- 

 late ill a variety of refpeCis ; fo that for his fupport at the 

 interval, he was obliged to fell his plate and jewels. His 

 library, however, on which he fet the principal value, 

 in the midtl of the wreck of all his other property, 

 was preferved, having been conveyed to Chcfter, and 

 thence to London. Soon after this difaftrous event, he 

 had a grant from the king of the temporalities of the fee 

 of Carlifle, then vacant, which fupplied his moderate wants 

 till the feizure of the epifcopal lands by the Long parliament. 

 It has been faid by fome, but doubted or denied by others, 

 that in this time of his dillrefs he was offered the place of ho- 

 norary ])rofeffor in the univerfity of Leyden, with an in- 

 creafe of falary ; and that cardinal Richelieu invited him to 

 France, where he fhould enjoy an ample penfion, and free- 

 dom of religion. After the commencement of the civil 

 war, Ufher refided at Oxford, where he purfued his literary 

 ftudies, occafionally preached, and had frequent conferences 

 with the king, who, it is faid, affured him of his attache- 

 ment to the Proteftant religion. Such, at this time, was his 

 attachment to the royal caufe, that he declined being a mem- 

 ber of the affembly of divines at Wellminfler in 1643, and 

 controverted their authority ; and this conduct gave great 

 offence to the parliament, fo that his library was confifcated ; 

 but by the interpofition of Selden, it was redeemed by Dr. 

 Featly, a member of tiie affembly, for a fmall fum, and 

 afterwards returned to the original owner. 



In if>44 Ulher finilhed liis concfted edition of the cpif- 

 tlesof Ignatius, whicii was printed at Oxford, and entitled 

 " Polycarpi et Ignatii Epillola- ; una cum vctere interpre- 

 tatione Latina, ex trium Manufcriplorum codicum CoUa- 

 tione integritati fua: reftituta, &c. &c." 



He had alfo prepared for the prefs the Epiftle of Barna- 

 bas, but the copy being dellroyed by fire at the printer's, 

 the author's " Premonition," concerning the age, author, 

 and purpofe of the epilUe, which alone was preferved, was 

 afterwards inferted, in a mutilated Hate, in bilhop Fell's 

 edition of the fame cpillle, Oxford, 16S5. In 1645, the 

 royal caufe being on the decline, Ufher obtained the king's 

 leave to quit Oxfo.d ; and from thence he went to Car- 

 diff, to Ins fon-in-law, fir Timothy Tyrrel, who was then 

 governor of the place. When Tyrrel was obliged to quit 

 liis command at Cardiff, Ulher was under a nccelfity of 

 feeking anollier refuge. Whilll he was in a llate of fnf- 

 penfe, he received an nivitatioii from llie dowager lady Strad- 

 ling, t(» take up his abode at lur relidence 111 the cadlc of 

 St. Donat's, Glamorganfliire. On his way thither, in com. 

 pany with his daughter, he was met by a party of llrag.'crs, 

 wlio condndted him and his train to the main body of the 

 army, who, though nominally raifed for the king's fcrvice, 

 4 D confidcrcd 



