with all that boldness and confidence with which nature had so eminently endowed him. He asserted that he had always spoken respectfully of the revolution, of king William, of the protestant succession, and of the queen and her government. He, however, strenuously asserted the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, as being the doctrine of the church in which he was brought up, and at whose altars he had the honour to officiate: and he concluded with many pathetic expressions, designed to move the audience to compassion, and with the most solemn asseverations of his innocence, in the sight of that God who searcheth the hearts of the children of men. This, say the contemporary writers of the whig party, while it excited the multitude to pity, filled with inexpressible horror those who knew the man, and his ordinary conversation. Many, who took no part in the business were astonished at solemn declarations so contrary to the doctor's avowed sentiments, and were beyond measure shocked at his hypocrisy. After a full investigation of the business by the lords, for the space of three weeks, he was found guilty of the charges brought against him, by a majority of seventeen voices: and their sentence was, that his sermons, at Derby and St. Paul's, should be publicly burnt by the hands of the hangman, and along with them the decree of the university of Oxford, in the year one thousand six hundred and eighty-three; and he himself was prohibited from preaching for the space of three years.

During the time of the trial, the doctor, who had two of the chief men of Oxford for his bail, ledged in the temple, and went every day to Westminster in a

* Burnet, vol. II. Tindal, vol, XXIII. p. 341.

coach, attended by an immense assemblage of people, who strove to kiss his hand, and paid him the lowliest obeisance. Those of a superior rank, from their windows and balconies, gave him demonstrations of attachment and respect, So zealous were his adherents for the glory of their idol, that they compelled every passenger to do him honour, and to shout the watch-word of the party," the church and Sacheverell." Members of parliament were reduced to the same necessity. They surrounded the queen's sedan, in her way to the house of lords; and to impress her with their sentiments, they cried, " God bless your majesty, and the church; we hope your majesty is for Dr. Sacheverell"."

The next step was to vent their fury against those whom they considered as enemies of that church of which Dr. Sacheverell was the champion. The houses of the managers, of the bishop of Salisbury, and of some of the most zealous of the peers, were threatened with destruction. They vowed vengeance against the house and church of Dr. Hoadley, a celebrated low-church man, who, in several discourses on public occasions, and in other writings had strenuously defended the principles of whiggism and the revolution.

But their heaviest wrath fell on the dissenters, who had taken no active part in the matter. These heroes for high church, like their brethren in other ages, united zeal and robbery together; for they plundered the houses of several private members of that body;

h The speeches delivered in the course of the trial, and indeed the whole proceedings, are contained in a duodecimo volume, entitled, "A complete History of the Affair of Dr. Sacheverell." Printed in London, 1711.

and though they abhorred their faith, had no objection to a share of their goods. But their places of worship felt the heaviest weight of the vengeance of the mob. They began with Daniel Burgess's meeting-house, in Cary-street, and having torn down the pulpit and the pews, committed them to the flames, in Lincoln'sinn-fields, crying out after the example of their brethren at Ephesus," high church and Sacheverell." Mr. Earle's meeting-house, in Long-acre; Mr. Taylor's, in Leather-lane; Mr. Bradbury's, in the neighbourhood of Fleet-street; Mr. Wright's, in Blackfriars; and Mr. Hamilton's, in Clerkenwell, shared the same fate. Threatenings were uttered against many others, which would, no doubt, have been put into execution, but for the stop which was soon put to their lawless violence. Nor was it the rabble alone which was concerned in such excesses: according to whig testimony, they acted under the influence of men of elevated rank, who were seen directing their operations, and encouraging them by approbation and reward. But they were checked in the midst of their labours. By the spirited exertions of the queen's guards, the mob was dispersed, and quiet restored; and such precautions were taken, as insured tranquillity during the remainder of the trial 1.

In the course of this remarkable business, Sacheverell was surrounded by the clergy, most of whom espoused his cause; and the queen's own chaplains stood about him as his friends. The heads of the tory party appeared as his patrons; caressed those of his brethren who were the warmest in his cause; and

i

Calamy, p. 721. Burnet, vol. II. p. 542. Tindal, vol. XXIII. p. 343, 4.

by their elegant hospitalities animated them to still greater exertions in his favour. The doctor himself displayed his appropriate character. Not an inch of the self-sufficiency and arrogance which had hitherto accompanied him in his progress, did he lose in Westminster-hall. He scowled on his accusers with contempt and disdain. In consulting with his friends, he betrayed that arrogance of conceit, and assurance of petulant infallibility, which rendered it difficult for them to conceal their disgust and chagrin. The acclamations of the multitude he received with an air of haughtiness, blended with self-complacency, as an honour scarcely adequate to his merits. It is said too, and may be easily believed, that he set himself up all companies as an oracle on every subject, whether relating to church or state; whose decisions must neither be contradicted nor called in question. The man little thought, that, instead of being the head of the party, as he conceived, he was but its tool.

in

The decision of the lords certainly furnished just matter of triumph to Sacheverell and the tories: for supposing him to be really guilty, how small must the offence be, which three years abstinence from preaching was sufficient to expiate. He was every where received by his friends with extasies of joy: bonfires and illuminations testified the exultations of his adherents; and those who would not join in their demonstrations of gladness, suffered for their firmness. The flame spread through every part of the country, and the dissenters unhappily found ridicule and reproach to be the lowest kinds of suffering. Their personal safety was in many places endangered, their k Burnet, vol. II. Tindal.

houses injured, and their places of worship threatened, mutilated, and destroyed'.

Sacheverell's journey into Wales, which happened some months after the trial, in order to take possession of a living, while it displayed the height to which party spirit was raised, proved an additional source of uneasiness to the dissenters. In the places through which he passed, he was received with little less than regal splendour. Hundreds and, in some parts of the country, thousands of men in arms attended him from town to town. The clergy paid their homage to him with the most endearing cordiality, as the champion of the church, and of their order. Magistrates appeared in all the insignia of office to receive him into their precincts while the tory nobility and gentry welcomed him to their seats, and treated their guest with the most distinguished honours. Wherever these demonstrations of attachment were displayed, there appeared at the same time a spirit of hatred and revenge against his and the church's enemies, for they were conceived to be one. In this unhappy predicament, the dissenters were always considered; and their persons, their families, their habitations, and above all their meeting-houses were exposed to the most serious injuries, and felt the wanton fury of unfeeling men, who were intoxicated with drinking, to the very dregs, the full cup of high church fanaticism. The

1 At Exeter, Sherbourne, Cirencester, Oxford, Gloucester, and Pomfret, and other places, the meeting-houses and the habitations of the dissenters felt the effects of their wrath. One of their places of worship at Bristol was pulled down, and the materials cast into the river. Zealous church people had their children christened by the name of Sacheverell, and some of them on their death bed, said to their ministers, "you can do us no good, but if Dr. Sacheverell was here he could save us." History of Sacheverell. p. 380.