s were all subordinate
actors in the great piece he was performing; he too had his part in the
scene. When not taken by surprise, on his table usually lay open a great
Bible, with Bishop Andrews's folio Sermons, which often gave him an
opportunity of railing at the covetousness of the clergy; declaring
their religion was "a mere preach," and that "the time would never be
well till we had Queen Elizabeth's Protestants again in fashion." He was
aware of all the evils arising out of a population beyond the means of
subsistence, and dreaded an inundation of men, spreading like the spawn
of cod. Hence he considered marriage, with a modern political economist,
as very dangerous; bitterly censuring the clergy, whose children, he
said, never thrived, and whose widows were left destitute. An
apostolical life, according to Audley, required only books, meat, and
drink, to be had for fifty pounds a year! Celibacy, voluntary poverty,
and all the mortifications of a primitive Christian, were the virtues
practised by this puritan among his money bags.

Yet Audley's was that worldly wisdom which derives all its strength from
the weaknesses of mankind. Everything was to be obtained by stratagem;
and it was his maxim, that to grasp our object the faster, we must go a
little round about it. His life is said to have been one of intricacies
and mysteries, using indirect means in all things; but if he walked in a
labyrinth, it was to bewilder others; for the clue was still in his own
hand; all he sought was that his designs should not be discovered by his
actions. His word, we are told, was his bond; his hour was punctual; and
his opinions were compressed and weighty: but if he was true to his
bond-word, it was only a part of the system to give facility to the
carrying on of his trade, for he was not strict to his honour; the pride
of victory, as well as the passion for acquisition, combined in the
character of Audley, as in more tremendous conquerors. His partners
dreaded the effects of his law-library, and usually relinquished a claim
rather than stand a latent suit against a quibble. When one menaced him
by showing some money-bags, which he had resolved to empty in law
against him, Audley then in office in the court of wards, with a
sarcastic grin, asked "Whether the bags had any bottom?" "Ay!" replied
the exulting possessor, striking them. "In that case, I care not,"
retorted the cynical officer of the court of wards; "for in this court I