in 1629, he retired to his house at Stoke Pogges in Bucks; where he closed a long life in 1634, expiring with these words in his mouth: "Thy kingdom come! thy will be done!" Such was the resentment of the court against him, that while he lay on his death bed, sir Francis Windebank, by an order of council, searched his house for seditious and dangerous papers; and by virtue of this authority, carried off his commentary upon Littelton, the history of his own life, and numerous manuscripts, together with his will and testament. At the request of his son and very heir, seven years afterwards, such of his papers as could be found were delivered up; but many of them were irrecoverably lost, and among the rest his will. Sir Edward Coke was well-proportioned, and regular in his features. In his dress he was neat rather than effe minate; and it was one of his sentiments, "that the cleanness of a man's clothes ought to put him in mind of keeping all clean within." He possessed great quickness of parts, a retentive memory, and a solid judgment. In his profession he was unrivalled; he had studied it entirely, and he was master of all its parts. He used to say, "that matter lay in little room," and therefore was concise in his pleadings; but he was diffuse and elaborate in his set speeches and writings. He prided himself on deriving his fortune, his reputation, and preferments, not from solicitations, flattery, or intrigue, but from his profound knowledge in the law. By the gentlemen of his profession he was greatly ho noured and beloved; and his reputation as a law-writer is so firmly established in the courts, that his works are considered as indisputable authorities. With unexampled diligence he committed every thing to writing; for law was his element, and he loved it with enthusiastic ardour. Amidst various vicissitudes of fortune, he never seems to have desponded; and king James used to compare him to a cat, that always falls upon its feet. No sooner had he suffered a disgrace, than he began to project the means of effacing it, and of rising superior to his enemies. The steps which he took, the line of conduct which he pursued, were not always the most dignified, but they seem always to have been the most effectual to answer the intended purpose. : He was partial to men of merit, though not an obsolute Mecenas and having many benefices in his own patronage, he was careful to bestow them gratuitously on the most deserving clergymen; declaring, in the technical language of his profession, that he would have church preferment pass by livery and seisin, not by bargain and sale. THOMAS WENTWORTH, Born 1593.-Beheaded 1641. From 35th Elizabeth, to 16th Charles I. Ir is one unhappy consequence of factious and perturbed times, that the characters of the principal performers in the drama are seen through a false medium. By their partisans they are exhibited as immaculate; by their enemies, as devoid of every virtue. The unfortunate ear of Strafford is among the number of those whom the fatal contest between prerogative and constitutional liberty consigned to a premature grave; and so variously have his qualities been estimated, that they must be inferred from impartially reviewing the tenor of his conduct, not from the colours in which they have been dressed by either his favourers or opponents. Thomas Wentworth was descended from a very ancient family, seated at Wentworth in Yorkshire. His father was a baronet; and his mother, daughter and heiress of sir Robert Atkins, of the county of Gloucester. He was born in London: and after a proper grammatical education was entered of St. John's college, Cambridge, where his diligence and application to literature and science soon rendered him conspicuous. Being born, however, to a great fortune, his studies were directed with no view to any particular profession; and as it was his principal object to complete the character of a gentleman, after quitting the university he set out on foreign travels. By the time when he had reached the age of twentyone his father died; and the baronetage, and family estate of about six thousand pounds a year, devolved on him. From his property and influence, he was appointed custos rotulorum of Yorkshire, and was early elected a representative for that county in parliament. On his first essays in the grand theatre of public life history is silent but in the new parliament on the accession of Charles the First, he enlisted under the banners of opposition; and became so formidable by his eloquence, that to prevent its display, he was nominated high sheriff of Yorkshire in 1626, and the same year put under an arrest for refusing his contribution to an arbitrary loan. In the parliament of 1628, however, he strenuously exerted himself to obtain a redress of grievances; and with great severity blaming the conduct of ministers while he exonerated the king, his immediate object was not suspected by the party with which he had connected himself. His talents and influence were now so universally acknowledged, that it was worth some sacrifices to secure them. It was found by administration that he had his price; and a peerage, with the presidentship of the north, were the terms of his surrender into the arms of the court. At first, however, he affected some reluctance, and seemed ashamed to avow his apostacy; but wishing to magnify his services, he at last threw off his disguise to the popular leader Pym, and endeavoured to gain him as an associate in his new character. Pym was not so easily won; and replied in bitter but prophetic terms; "You have left us, but I will not leave you while your head is on your shoulders!" Being shunned by his former friends, he sought consolation in acquiring new ones; particularly archbishop Laud, with whom he formed a close intimacy, and whose measures he vigorously supported. As president of the north he behaved with great severity, and in some cases with puerile insolence; for he committed the son of lord Falconberg for no offence but neglecting to move his hat to him, though it appeared that the young nobleman was actually looking another way when the president expected this compliment. He was afterwards promoted to the high office of lord deputy of Ireland, with very ample powers, which were still too limited for his ambition. In this situation he distinguished himself by his arbitrary measures, and his fondness for pomp ; but his government on the whole, was so prudent and decisive, that he improved the finances in a wonderful degree, and brought the Irish church to a perfect uniformity with that of England. Regarding Ireland as a conquered country, he did not hesitate to enforce his authority by exertions beyond the law, and treated some of the most illustrious peers of that kingdom with an arrogance which admits of no excuse. He imprisoned the earl of Kildare for opposing his propositions to parliament; and on a private misunderstand ing, provoked by his own insolence, brought lord Mountmorres to trial by a court-martial, which condemned him to die. The sentence was indeed mitigated; but this · nobleman was stript of an estate, and of all his employments civil and military, obliged to acknowledge the justice of his doom, and to suffer three years imprisonment. Such conduct must have alienated the affections of the most submissive people; nor was it politically neces sary. The exercise of duty sometimes requires and jus tifies prompt and severe measures, but private resentment should never appear in the dispensation of justice. Not withstanding those notorious defects in his administration, he succeeded so far in awing, the turbulent, and.replenishing the treasury, that his majesty, as a further proof of approbation, created him earl of Strafford, and knight of the garter. By the same means by which he gained the favour of his sovereign, he lost all confidence with the people; who singled him out as the first victim of their ven: geance. Immediately after the opening of the Long Parliament in 1640, his implacable enemy, Pym, having harangued the house in a long and eloquent speech on the grievances of the nation, and finding that he had inflamed his auditors to a proper pitch, concluded by branding the earl of Strafford with the most odious appellations; representing him as the most inveterate foe to the liberties of his country, and the greatest promoter of tyranny that any age had produced. The house being thus fired with the most indignant emotions, a motion was suddenly made and carried, " that the earl of Strafford be immediately impeached of high treason; and that Mr Pym do carry up the said impeachment to the lords, Accordingly Pym appeared at the bar of the house of lords; and, having impeached him in the name of all the commons of England, requested that he might be sequestered from all councils, and put into safe custody. The earl, being then in England, had that very day taken his seat in the house. Some friends had given him warning that it was in contemplation to attack him, and advised him to absent himself: but Strafford, spurning a conduct which might expose him to the imputation pusillanimity, or perhaps thinking himself secure in royal of |