THE LAWYER BAFFLED. Enter LADY SOMERFIELD and JUSTICE TUTCHIN. Lady S. To what extremes doth this licentious time Hurry unstayed youth! Nor gods nor laws, Of all her ancestors? fear they, or gods or laws? Justice T. I say as you say, sister; but for the laws, There are so many that men do stand in awe Enter SERVING-MAN. Your cherry-ripe sweet daughter (so renown'd Lady S. How? you espouse my daughter? Throat. Noverint universi, the laws of heaven, Of nature, church, and chance, have made her mine; Therefore deliver her by these presents. Justice T. How's this? made her yours, sir? per quam regulam? Nay, we are letter'd, sir, as well as you. Throat. By that same rule these lips have taken seizin: Tut, I do all by statute law and reason. Lady S. Hence, you base knave! you petti fogging groom! Clad in old ends, and piec'd with brokery: You, sir Ambo-dexter; A summer's son, and learn'd in Norfolk wiles, Serving-M. Here's a gentleman much desirous Some common bail or Counter lawyer, to see you, madam. Serving-M. Nothing for a man, but much for a beast; I think him lunatic, for he demands Justice T. Then he's a gentleman, for 'tis a true note of a gentleman to make much of other men's wives. Bring him up at once, sirrah. Makes he much of your coachman's wife? a man may make much more of another man's wife than he can do of's own. Enter SERVING-MAN and THROAT. Marry my niece! your half sleeves shall not carry her. Throat. These storms will be dissolved in tears of joy, Mother, I doubt it not: justice to you, Throat. Short tale to make, I fingered have your daughter: I have ta'en livery and seizin of the wench. Throat. For that thou first hast brought me to Come, come, restore. her sight I here create thee clerk of the kitchen; No man shall beg it from thee. Lady S. The fellow's mad, I think. Throat. I was not mad before I married; But, ipso facto, what the act may make me, Lady S. What would you, sir? I guess your That know I not. long profession By your scant suit. Throat. Law is my living, And on that ancient mould I wear this outside: Suit upon suit wastes some, yet makes me thrive; First law, then gold, then love, and then we wive. Lady S. Be brief, good sir, what makes this bold intrusion? Throat. Intrude I do not, for I know the law. It is the rule that squares out all our actions, Those actions bring in coin, coin gets me friends: Your son-in-law hath law at's fingers' ends. Lady S. My son-in-law! Throat. Madame, your son-in-law Mother, I come (be glad I call you so) To make a gentle breach into your favour, And win your approbation of my choice. JAMES USHER. BORN 1580-DIED 1656. sermons, he preached one which has since been claimed as prophetical, and which contained the words, "From this year I reckon forty years; and then those whom you now embrace shall be your ruin, and you shall bear their iniquity." In the rebellion of 1641 came the supposed fulfilment of the prophecy. [Unlike too many of the prelates of the Pro- | ordained deacon and priest by his uncle, then testant Episcopal Church in Ireland, Arch- | Archbishop of Armagh. In 1601, among other bishop Usher, or Ussher as he is sometimes called, was not only of Irish birth but of longcontinued Irish descent. The originator of the family was one Nevil, who came over to Ireland in the train of King John, and who, from his office, received the name of Usher, which he transmitted to his descendants. James Usher, known as one of the most eminent scholars of modern times, was born on the 4th January, 1580, in the city of Dublin. His earlier education was attended to by two aunts, who, although blind from their youth, were inwardly full of intellectual and religious light. By these he was encouraged in his passion for books. While only eight years old he was sent to school to two young Scotchmen, who, in the disguise of schoolmasters, had been placed in Dublin to further the interests of James I., before he became king of England. The Scotchmen are said to have been excellent masters, and under their care he progressed rapidly. In 1593, when the college of the University of Dublin was opened, he was, though only thirteen years of age, admitted one of the first three students, in which position his name may to this day be seen in the first line of the roll. In 1596, while only in his seventeenth year, he took his degree of bachelor. Even before this he had already drawn up the plan and collected much of the materials for his Annals of the Old and New Testament. While in his nineteenth year he had a controversy with the learned Jesuit Henry Fitz-Symonds, then a prisoner in Dublin Castle, and acquitted himself so well that the Jesuit, who at first despised him as a boy, afterwards acknowledged the ripeness of his wit and his skill in disputation. Usher himself says, in answer to the foolish yet constantly repeated taunt of youth, "If I am a boy (as it hath pleased you very contemptuously to name me) I give thanks to the Lord that my carriage towards you hath been such as could minister unto you no occasion to despise my youth." In 1600 he acquired the degree of Master of Arts, and was appointed proctor and lecturer of the university, and soon after, though under canonical age, he was, on account of his great abilities, In 1603 Usher was appointed to proceed to London in company with Dr. Luke Challoner, in order to purchase books for the library of the university. In 1607 he took the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, and was soon after made Chancellor of St. Patrick's. In the same year Camden visited Dublin to collect materials for his description of that city, which may be found in the last edition of his Britannia. In this he concludes his description thus:"Most of which I acknowledge to owe to the diligence and labour of James Usher, chancellor of the church of St. Patric, who in various learning and judgment far exceeds his years." In this year also, while yet only twenty-six years of age, he was chosen divinity professor in the university, the duties connected with which he performed diligently for thirteen years. After In 1609 Usher visited London for the third time, and on this occasion he became acquainted with the most able and learned men then there. These comprised Camden, whom he had already met, Selden, Sir Robert Cotton, Lydiat, Dr. Davenant, by all of whom he was treated with the utmost respect and consideration. this he made it a rule to visit England once every three years for a stay of about three months, one of which he spent at each of the universities, the other in London. In 1610 he was elected provost of Trinity College, Dublin, which office he refused, fearful of its duties interfering with his literary designs, and in 1612 he took his degree of Doctor of Divinity. Next year, while in London, he published his first real work, De Ecclesiarum Christianarum Successione et Statu, which in its best shape in the edition of 1687 is printed with his Antiquities of the British Churches. On his return to Ireland in 1613 he married the only daughter of Dr. Luke Challoner. The marriage was a happy one, and in no way interfered with the studies or habits of Usher, who we find in London in 1619, when he so satisfied James I. that he was next year made Bishop of Meath. In 1623 he was again in England collecting materials for a work which the king had employed him to write on the antiquities of the churches of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Just before the king's death he visited England, and was advanced to the archbishopric of Armagh, which he failed to enter upon for some months in consequence of an attack of ague. His appointment was on the 21st; the death of James occurred six days later, on the 27th March, 1625. Before returning to Ireland Usher made the acquaintance of Charles I., by whom he was highly favoured, and who ordered him for his expenses £400 out of the Irish treasury. On entering upon the labours of his diocese he found matters, religious and political, in an excited condition, but though he took part in them vigorously he was not to be prevented from following his beloved studies. Aided by his increased income he employed a British merchant residing at Aleppo to purchase oriental writings, and through this person he soon obtained several rare and curious, as well as valuable and important, manuscripts. One of these was a copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch, another a copy of the Old Testament in Syriac. All these treasures he liberally placed at the disposal of other scholars, and many of them are now to be found in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. In 1634 there arose again the ever-recurring dispute as to precedence between the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin. This time the prelate of Armagh asserted his right to first place with such clearness and vigour that it was decided in his favour, a decision which forty years later was confirmed at a full meeting of cardinals in Rome. In sion and remodelling of the Church which the Assembly contemplated. For this refusal and for some expressions in his sermons parliament ordered his library to be seized. Dr. Featly, however, obtained it for his own use, and so preserved it to its rightful owner. the midst of the political and religious turmoil and rancour of the age he lived quietly at Oxford for some time, and there he published his tracts On the Lawfulness of Levying War against the King; Historical Disquisition touching Lesser Asia; and The Epistles of Saint Ignatius. Just before the siege he left Oxford and retired to Cardiff Castle, commanded by Sir T. Tyrrel, who had married his daughter. Here he continued in quietness for some months, still engaged in study, and here he was visited by the king shortly after the fatal fight of Naseby. From Cardiff he presently moved to the castle of St. Donats, to which he was invited by the Dowager Lady Stradling. On his way thither he and his party were set upon, and the chests containing the most dearly beloved of his books and manuscripts were broken open, and their contents flung about. A few gentlemen of the country, however, appeared on the scene, and prevented further outrage. At St. Donats he was attacked with a dangerous illness, the first premonitions of the end. From St. Donats he moved to London to the house of Lady Peterborough in 1646, and in 1647 he was chosen preacher of Lincoln's Inn. In 1648 he was sent for by the king, who was confined in Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight, to give his advice in several important matters; and in 1649, from the roof of Lady Peterborough's house, he saw with horror the execution of the unfortunate Charles. In 1650 he published the first part of his Annals of the Old Testament, and the second in 1654. In In 1640, just before the outbreak of the this last year, in answer to an invitation, he troubles in Ireland, Usher and his family-paid Cromwell a visit, and again in 1655 he he had only one child, a daughter-came over to England. Prevented returning to Ireland by the rebellion of 1641, he was appointed to the bishopric of Carlisle; but from this, owing to the successes of the Parliamentarians, he derived no benefit, though afterwards parliament voted him a pension of £400 a year, which he received once or twice. Shortly before King Charles came to Oxford he removed there, and in 1643 he was appointed one of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, but refused to sit, his principles leading him not only to preach against, but refuse to be present at the revi appeared before him to plead the cause of the Church of England clergy, when he received a promise that they should not be molested if they kept clear of politics. This promise Cromwell afterwards refused to ratify—a refusal which greatly pained the prelate. On March 20th, 1656, while at the house of Lady Peterborough at Reigate, he was taken ill, and died on the next day. While preparations were being made to bury him privately, Cromwell ordered him to be interred in Westminster Abbey, which was done accordingly with great pomp on the 17th of April. His |