670 and had a magnificent funeral on the 30th
of April. See _Hist. MSS. Com., Duke of Portland's Papers_, vol. iii. p.
314. His laundress-Duchess did not long survive him.

[141:1] Afterwards Lord Dartmouth, a great friend of James the Second,
but one who played a dubious part at the Revolution.

[145:1] The poet Waller was one of the wittiest speakers the House of
Commons has ever known.

[148:1] For a full account of this remarkable case, see Clarendon's
_Life_, iii. 733-9.

[149:1] "Provided, etc., that neither this Act nor anything therein
contained shall extend to invalidate or avoid his Majesty's supremacy in
ecclesiastical affairs [or to destroy any of his Majesty's rights powers
or prerogatives belonging to the Imperial Crown of this realm or at any
time exercised by himself or any of his predecessors Kings or Queens of
England] but that his Majesty his heirs and successors may from time to
time and at all times hereafter exercise and enjoy all such powers and
authorities aforesaid as fully and amply as himself or any of his
predecessors have or might have done the same anything in this Act (or
any other law statute or usage to the contrary) notwithstanding." The
words in brackets were rejected by the Commons. See _Parliamentary
History_, iv. 446-7.

[150:1] Madame's business is now well known. The secret Treaty of Dover
was the result of this visit.

CHAPTER V

"THE REHEARSAL TRANSPROSED"

It is never easy for ecclesiastical controversy to force its way into
literature. The importance of the theme will be questioned by few. The
ability displayed in its illumination can be denied by none. It is the
temper that usually spoils all. A collection in any way approaching
completeness, of the pamphlets this contention has produced in England,
would contain tens of thousands of volumes; full of curious learning and
anecdotes, of wide reading and conjecture, of shrewdness and wit; yet
these books are certainly the last we would seek to save from fire or
water. Could they be piled into scales of moral measurement a single
copy of the _Imitatio_, of the _Holy Dying_, of the _Saint's Rest_,
would outweigh them all. Man may not be a religious animal, but he
recognises and venerates the spirit of religion whenever he perceives
it, and it is a spirit which is apt to evaporate amidst the strife of
rival wits. Who can doubt the sincerity of Milton, when he exclaimed
with the sad prophet Jeremy, "Woe is me my Mo