Disposition of Great Seal when taken from Lord Bacon, 434. John Williams,
Dean of Westminster, Lord Keeper, 434. His Genealogy, 434. His School
Education, 435. He is sent to Cambridge, 435. His extraordinary Industry,
435. Takes his Bachelor's Degree, 436. Master of Arts, 436. Parish Priest,
Chaplain to Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, 436. His Favour with the Lord
Chancellor, 437. Picks up a Smattering of Law, 437. Employed by Chan-
cellor to read for him, 438. Is allowed to dispose of Lord Chancellor's ecclesi-
astical Patronage, 438. Gains Favour of King James, 438. Patronised by
Prince Henry, 438. Receives Lord Ellesmere's MS. Law Tracts as a Legacy,
439. On Death of Lord Ellesmere, declines being Chaplain to Lord Bacon,
440. Resides at his Living in the Country, 440. Employed to convert Lady
Catherine Manners from Popery, 440. Prevails upon her to marry Buckingham,
441. Made Dean of Westminster, 441. Meeting of Parliament by which Lord
Bacon was impeached, 442. Bacon deprived of Great Seal, 443. Competitors
for the Great Seal, 443. Williams's Estimate of Profits of Great Seal, 444.
Dialogue between King and Buckingham, when Williams was appointed Lord
Keeper, 445. Impropriety of this Appointment, 446. James's Declaration
against the Lawyers, 447. Great Seal in commission while Lord Keeper elect
begins his Studies, 447. Lord Keeper Pupil to an Equity Lawyer, 448. Great
Seal delivered to him, 448. Lord Keeper's Speech to the King, 448. King's
Answer, 449. Lord Keeper retains all his Church Preferment, 449. Rule,
that no one to hold the Great Seal above three Years, 450. Installation of Lord
Keeper in Westminster Hall, 450. His inaugural Address, 451.
Waggish Motion made before him to turn him into Ridicule, 455.
dous Industry, 456. His Success as a Judge, 457. His Self-satisfaction, 457.
Miraculous Power imputed to him, 457. A Parliament, 457. Lord Keeper's
Speech, 458. Attack in the House of Lords on the Bishops, 458. Motion of
Earl of Essex, 458. Sir John Bouchier's Petition against the Lord Keeper,
459. Sentence on the Petitioner, 459. Dissolution of Parliament, 459. Wil-
liams active in Promotion of Laud, his future Enemy, 460. Prosecution of
Archbishop Abbot for shooting a Game-keeper, 460. Williams's Letter to King
on this Occasion, 460. Commissioners appointed to decide Case of Archbishop,
461. In spite of Williams, Archbishop assoiled, 461. Williams's Spleen, 461.
Lord Keeper's Letter to the Prince in Spain, 462. Call of Serjeants, 462.
Lord Keeper's Speech on this Occasion, 462. Buckingham's Resentment against
Lord Keeper, 463. Meeting of Parliament, 463. Death of Duke of Lennox,
463. Lord Keeper's Speech, 464. Allowance of Speaker, 465. Lord Keeper's
Address to Speaker, 465. Reconciliation between Buckingham and Lord
Keeper, 465. Impeachment of Earl of Middlesex, 466. Resolution of Lords that
Counsel be allowed to Defendants on Impeachments, 466. Lord Keeper detects
Plot for incensing the King against Buckingham, 467. Dialogue between the
Lord Keeper and the Prince, 467. The Heifer with which the Lord Keeper
Lord Keeper's Praise of Absolutism, 468.
liams under Displeasure of Buckingham, 472.
other Courtiers, 472. A new Parliament, 473. Parliament adjourned to Oxford
against Advice of Lord Keeper, 473. Parliament dissolved, 473. Lord Keeper
Buckingham resolved to turn
charged with intriguing against the Court, 474.
out Lord Keeper, 474. Lord Conway sent to demand Great Seal from Wil-
liams, 474. Williams writes farewell Letter to the King, 475. Interview
between them, 475. Warrant for demanding Great Seal from Williams, 475.
Williams delivers up the Great Seal, 475. Williams's Conduct as Lord Keeper,
476. Unjust Charge of Corruption against him, 476. Orders made by him in
private, 476. His Irascibility, 476. He gave no Dinners, 476. His Decrees,
477. Subsequent Career of Williams, 477. He settles at Buckden, 477. Gives
Offence to the Court, 477. Forbidden to appear at the Coronation, 478. Re-
fused a Writ of Summons to Parliament, 478. Takes his Seat in the House of
Lords, 478. Supports the Petition of Right, 479. Private Conference with
the King respecting the Puritans, 480. Ascendency of Laud on Death of Buck-
ingham, 480. Puseyism, or the Laudean Controversy, 480. Prosecution
against Williams in the Star Chamber, 481. Second Prosecution, 481. Trial
and Sentence, 482. Williams is committed to Tower, 482. Third Prosecution
against him in Star Chamber, 482. Sentence, 483. His Firmness, 483. Meet-
ing of Long Parliament, 483. Williams is liberated and takes his Seat in House
of Lords, 484. His Moderation, 484. Records of all Proceedings against him
cancelled, 484. His Resentment against an Agent in his Prosecution, 485.
Dissuades King from assenting to Bill to prevent a Dissolution, 485. His Mis-
conduct on Trial of Strafford, 485. Visits his Diocese, 486. He is questioned
by the House of Commons, 486. Made Archbishop of York, 486.
Bill to exclude the Bishops from sitting in Parliament, 487. Opposed by Wil-
liams, 487. Williams defends Westminster Abbey against Mob, 487. Protest
against violent Exclusion of Bishops, 487. Ten Bishops sent to the Tower, 488.
Bill for excluding Bishops passes, and receives Royal Assent, 488. Williams dis-
charged from Tower, 489. Ballads and Caricatures on the Bishops, 489. Wil-
liams at Cawood Castle, 489. Obliged to fly for his Life, 490. Interview with
the King, 490. Return to his native Town, 490. His Defence of North Wales
against the Parliament, 490. Commission to him as Governor of Conway
Castle, 491. He attends the King at Oxford, 491. His advice about Cromwell,
492. Bishops excluded from sitting in Royal Parliament at Oxford, 492.
Address to the King, 492. His return to Conway, 492. Conway Castle taken
by Sir John Owen, 492.
Williams for a Time inactive, 493. He joins a Par-
liamentary General and retakes Conway Castle, 493. He retires to a Country
House, 494.
His Horror at hearing that Charles had trusted himself to the
Scots, 494.
Faints away on hearing of the King's Death, 494. His midnight
Prayers, 495.
His Munificence, 496. Plays acted in his Episcopal Palace on Sundays, 496.
Sincerely attached to the Church of England, 497. Unfounded Scandal re-
specting him, 497. Accident which befell him when a Boy, 497. His Person,
498. His Melancholy after the King's Death, 498. Sons of Noblemen in his
Family, 498. His Buildings, 498. His Writings, 498. Archbishop Laud, 499.
Williams's Speeches, 499. His Opportunities of Usefulness, 499. His Defects,
499. Attachment of Hacket, 499. Williams's Funeral, 500. His Epitaph, 500.
Sir Thomas Coventry, Lord Keeper, 501. His Family, 501. His Birth and
Education, 502. Called to the Bar, 502. Proposed for Office of Chief Justice
of King's Bench, 502. His domestic Habits, 503. Coventry made Solicitor
General, and knighted, 504. He is made Attorney General, 504. His Beha-
viour to Lord Keeper Williams, 504. Floyde's Case explained, 504. Impeach-
ment of Floyde by Commons before Lords, 505. Coventry made Lord Keeper
by Buckingham, 506. His Letter to Lord Bacon, 507. His Patent, 507.
Good Equity Judge, 507. A Parliament, 508. Lord Keeper's Speech, 508.
Expedient of making Sir E. Coke a Sheriff, 509. Earl of Bristol refused a
Writ of Summons, 509. Sent to the Tower, 509. The two Houses admonished,
510. Question, Whether the Sovereign can be examined as a Witness? 510.
Earl of Arundel committed to the Tower, 511. Dissolution of Parliament, 511.
A new Parliament, 512. King's Speech, 512. Parliamentary Leaders, 513.
Declaration to the two Houses, 513. Petition of Right, 513. Tonnage and
Poundage, 514. Abrupt Dissolution, 514. Assassination of Buckingham, 515.
Circulation of mutilated Copies of Petition of Right, 515. Illegal Decision
respecting Tonnage and Poundage, 515. Declaration that Ministers not to be
questioned for acting under King's Orders, 515. Resolution proposed against
Tonnage and Poundage, 515. Speaker Finch refuses to put Question, 515.
Tumultuous Dissolution, 516. Disuse of Parliaments, 516. Plan of intro-
ducing Despotism into England, 516. Lord Keeper Coventry the most cul-
pable, 517. Commitment of Members of Parliament, 517. Dismissal of Chief
Justice Crew, and Appointment of Chief Justice Hyde, 518. Resolutions of the
Judges respecting Privilege of Parliament, 518. Members of House of Com-
mons convicted and punished for Words spoken in Parliament, 518. Leniency
of Lord Keeper in Chambers's Case, 519. Sentence on Leighton, 519. Book in
support of Scheme of Despotism, 519. Sham Prosecution, 520. Arbitrary
Proclamations, 521. Cromwell, Pym, Hambden, and Hazelrig, prevented from
emigrating, 521. Illegal Grants of Monopoly, 522. Trial of Lord Audley, 522.
King's Journey to Scotland to introduce Episcopacy, 523. Laud made Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, 523. Puseyism, 524. Sentence on Prynne, 524. Pro-
secutions against Ex-Lord Keeper Williams, 524. Prosecution of Lilburn, 525.
Other oppressive Proceedings of the Lord Keeper, 526.
Ship Money, 527. Death of Noy, 527. Address of the Lord Keeper to the
Judges, 527. Questions to the Judges, 529. Their Opinions, 529. Fraud of
the Lord Keeper, 529. Pusillanimity of Judges, 530. Heroic Conduct of
Hampden, 531. Decision in favour of Ship Money, 531. Reflections of Lord
Clarendon, 532. Troubles in Scotland, 533. "The Tables," 533. The King's
"Fool" prosecuted for Defamation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 533.
Charles prepares to invade Scotland, 533. He is obliged to yield to Abolition
of Episcopacy in that Country, 534. Threatened Invasion from Scotland to
introduce Presbytery, 534. A Parliament summoned, 534. Apprehensions of the
Lord Keeper, 535. His opportune Death, 535. His Character, by Lloyd, 535.
By Weldon, 536. By L'Estrange, 536. By Fuller, 536. By Clarendon, 536.
Coventry responsible for the Misgovernment of Charles I., and for the Civil
War, 538. Anecdote of his opposing a Grant to Buckingham of the Honour
of Prince of Tipperary, &c., 539. Coventry a good Equity Judge, 539. His
Orders," 540. A Jest of the Lord Keeper Coventry, 540. His Funeral,
His Descendants, 541.
Infamy of new Lord Keeper, 542. Reasons for selecting him, 542. Family of
Finch, 542. Birth of Lord Keeper Finch, 543. His Habits at Gray's Inn,
His Career at the Bar, 544. Returned to Parliament, 544. Chairman
of Committee on Sir E. Coke's Case, 544. Elected Speaker of House of Com-
mons, 545.
His inaugural Speech, 545. His Subserviency to the Court, 547.
Brings Message from the King, 548. Indignation of the House, 548. Com-
mittee of whole House. Leave of Absence to the Speaker, 548. He intrigues
with the King against the House, 549. Firmness of the popular Leaders, 549.
Petition of Right passed, 549. Tonnage and Poundage, 549. Meeting after
Recess, 550. Finch refuses to put the Question, 550. Tumultuous Proceed-
ings in the House, 550. Dissolution, 551. Masque by the Four Inns of Court,
551. Procession to Whitehall, 551. Finch returns Thanks to the King and
Queen, 553. He is made a Judge, 553. His Misconduct, 553. He is made
Chief Justice, 553. His Judgment in Hampden's Case in favour of Ship Money,
553. His Conduct in the Star Chamber, 555. His Amendment to Sentence
on an old Friend, 556. His Reason for altering his Conduct to Bishop Williams,
556. Gross Impropriety of his Appointment as Lord Keeper, 556. His Prin-
ciples as an Equity Judge, 556. Preparations for Meeting of Parliament, 557.
Parliament meets, 557. Lord Keeper's Speech to the two Houses, 557. Com-
mons proceed on Grievances, 559. Lecture to the two Houses at Whitehall,
559. Conference between the two Houses, 560. Resolution of Commons, 560.
Dissolution, 560. Commitment of Members of House of Commons, 561. Illegal
Proceedings of Convocation, 561. Flight of Army at Newburn, 562.
Council of Peers summoned, 562. Proceedings of Grand Council of Peers, 562.
Writs for a new Parliament, 563.
Meeting of the Long Parliament, 564. Artful Address of the Lord Keeper against
the Scots, 564. Sympathy with the Scots, 565. Commitment of Lord Strafford,
565. Finch intrigues with the popular Leaders, 565. Proceedings in the
House of Lords, 566. Prosecution of Lord Keeper Finch, 566. Speech of
Bagshaw against him, 567. Lord Falkland moves his Impeachment, 567.
Motion of Hyde, 568. Information from Judges, 568. Lord Keeper desires
to be heard in House of Commons, 568. Leave given to him by Lords, 568.
Plans of opposite Parties with respect to Finch, 569. The Lord Keeper in the
House of Commons, 569. His Speech, 569. Effect produced by it, 570. Ana-
lysis of this Speech, 570.
He returns to House of Lords, 571. Speech of
Rigby for Impeachment, 571. Motion for Impeachment, 572. Scheme to
Finch flies the Country, 573. Lord Falkland brings
Difficulty in selecting a Lord Keeper, 576. Sir Edward Littleton appointed, 576.
Sketch of his Character, 576. His Family, 577. His Education, 577. At the
Inner Temple, 577. Returned to Parliament, 578. Takes popular Side, 578.
Assists in carrying Petition of Right, 579. Goes over to the Court, 579. Is
made Recorder of London, 579. His great Eminence at the Bar, 580. Is
made Solicitor General, 580. His famous Argument in support of Ship Money,
581. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 583. Excellent Common-law Judge,
583. A Privy Councillor, 583. His high Contentment with his present Po-
sition, 584. Speaker of House of Lords, 584. He is forced to accept the Great
Seal, 584. He is installed, 585. Made a Peer, 585. Triennial Bill, 585.
Cowardice, 586. Arraignment of Strafford, 586. Lord Keeper pretends Illness
to avoid presiding at the Trial, 587. Fate of Strafford, 587. Inefficiency of
Lord Keeper in House of Lords, 588. He encourages Prosecution of Lord
Kimbolton and the Five Members, 589. Charles's Attempt to seize the Five
Members, 590. Unavailing Concession, 591. Bill for regulating the Militia,
591.
Preparations for Civil War, 592. King's Resolution to dismiss Littleton, 592.
Littleton's support of the Ordinance of the two Houses for regulating the
Militia, 593. Littleton's Conference with Hyde, 593. Littleton's Pledge, 594.
Order from the King to take the Seal from Littleton, 595. Difficulty about a
Successor, 595. Consultations respecting Littleton between Lord Falkland and
Hyde, 595. Arrangement for Littleton to be ordered with the Great Seal to
York, 596. Littleton prepares for his Escape, 596. Arrival of a Messenger from
the King, 596. Scene between Littleton and the Messenger, 597. Littleton's
Communication to his Purse-bearer, 597. Littleton escapes from London, 598.
His Journey to York, 598. Proceedings of the Parliament, 598. Lyttleton's
mysterious Conduct at York, 599. Exposure of Littleton's Duplicity, 601. His
subsequent Career, 601. Parliament or Convocation at Oxford, 602. Letters to
raise Loans for the King, 602. Lord Keeper raises a volunteer Corps at Oxford,
604. His military Zeal, for which he is made a Doctor of Civil Law, 604. His
Death, 605. His Character, 605. Inefficiency as Equity Judge, 605. His
Character by Lloyd and by Clarendon, 606. His "Reports," 606. His Mar-
riages, 607.
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