on this I tendered him one pair of the gloves,
which he refusing, I told him he might take them, and fear no
bribe, for he had already done me all the mischief he could,
and I asked no favour of him; so he thanked me, took the
gloves, and bound up my papers, and went his way."--Prynne
had a good deal of _cunning_ in his character, as well as
fortitude. He had all the subterfuges and quirks which,
perhaps, form too strong a feature in the character of "an
utter Barrister of Lincoln's Inn." His great artifice was
secretly printing extracts from the diary of Laud, and
placing a copy in the hands of every member of the House,
which was a sudden stroke on the Archbishop, when at the
bar, that at the moment overcame him. Once when Prynne was
printing one of his libels, he attempted to deny being the
author, and ran to the printing-house to distribute the forms,
but it was proved he had corrected the proof and the
revise. Another time, when he had written a libellous
letter to the Archbishop, Noy, the Attorney-General, sent
for Prynne from his prison, and demanded of him whether the
letter was of his own handwriting. Prynne said he must see
and read the letter before he could determine; and when Noy
gave it to him, Prynne tore it to pieces, and threw the
fragments out of the window, that it might not be brought in
evidence against him. Noy had preserved a copy, but that
did not avail him, as Prynne well knew that the misdemeanour
was in the letter itself; and Noy gave up the prosecution,
as there was now no remedy.

[105] Breviate of the Bishop's intolerable usurpations, p. 35.

[106] While Keeper of the Records, he set all the great energies of
his nature to work upon the national archives. The result
appeared in three folio volumes of the greatest value to the
historian. They were published irregularly, and at intervals
of time--thus the second volume was issued in 1665; the first
in 1666; and the third in 1670. The first two volumes are of
the utmost rarity, nearly all the copies having been destroyed
in the great fire of London.--ED.

[107] Hume, in his History, has given some account of this enormous
quarto; to which I refer the reader, vol. vi.