nningly
trepanned them, that the cause had been suffered to sink without even
a struggle.' The apostate had gained his object, however, and become
'His Grace the Lord Primate.' There were great rejoicings. 'The new
bishops were magnificklie received;' they were feasted by the Lord
Commissioner's lady on one night, by the Chancellor on another; and in
especial, 'the Archbishop had bought a new coach at London, at the
sides whereof two lakqueys in purple did run.'

The vanity of Sharpe is well brought out on another occasion by
Burnet. The main object of one of his journeys to London, undertaken a
little more than a twelvemonth after the death of Baillie, was to urge
on the King that, as Primate of Scotland, he should of right take
precedence of the Scottish Lord Chancellor, and to crave His Majesty's
letter to that effect. In this trait, as in several others, he seems
to have resembled Robespierre. His cruelty to his old friends the
Presbyterians is well illustrated by the fact that he could make the
comparative leniency of Lauderdale, apostate and persecutor as
Lauderdale was, the subject of an accusation against him to Charles.
But there is no lack of still directer instances in the biographies of
the worthies whom his malice pursued. His meanness, too, seems to have
been equal to his malice and pride. When Lauderdale on one occasion
turned fiercely upon him, and threatened to impeach him for
_leasing-making_, he 'straightway fell a-trembling and weeping,' and,
to avoid the danger, submitted to appear in the royal presence; and
there, in the coarsest terms, to confess himself a liar. It is a
bishop who tells the story, and it is only one of a series. Truly the
Primate of all Scotland was fortunate in the death he died. 'The
dismal end of this unhappy man,' says Burnet, 'struck all people with
horror, and softened his enemies into some tenderness; so that his
memory was treated with decency by those who had very little respect
for him during his life.'

In almost every page in this instructive volume the reader picks up
pieces of curious information, or finds matters suggestive of
interesting thought. There start up ever and anon valuable hints that
germinate and bear fruit in the mind. We would instance, by way of
illustration, a hint which occurs in a letter to Lauderdale, written
shortly after the Restoration, and which, though apparently slight,
leads legitimately into a not unimportant train of thinking. Scotchme