Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/423

 lending money, or for any other cause contrary to Magna Carta and the other statutes insisted upon, and the true intention of the same, to be declared by your Majesty's judges in any such matter as is before mentioned—imprisoned or detained (Harl. MS. 6800, fol. 274). The intention of such a clause is easily to be discerned, but it was lacking in clearness of expression, probably because neither Williams nor any one else could, without giving offence to one side or the other, express clearly what was in the minds of many—namely, that the king should retain the power of imprisoning offenders actually dangerous to the state, while abandoning the power of imprisoning those whom he only fancied to be dangerous. The House of Lords itself, in spite of its sympathy with Williams's effort, passed his clause over in favour of one proposed by Richard Weston (afterwards first Earl of Portland) [q. v.], in which the intention of parliament to leave sovereign power to the king was indicated without ambiguity. This clause, in turn, was criticised by Williams, who, after it had been rejected by the commons, refused to support it unless he could be convinced that it ‘did not reflect nor any way operate upon the petition.’ Later on when, on the instance of the commons, the petition had been presented to the king without amendment and had received an unsatisfactory answer, Williams on 7 June supported a proposal for a better reply. In 1628, as in 1625, he ranged himself on the side of the commons, but not till he had exhausted all the resources of diplomacy to avert a rupture.

The stress of conflict had convinced Buckingham that it was worth his while to win back the man whom he had discarded. Before the end of May there had been an interview between Williams and the mother of the duke, followed by one with the favourite himself, in which the dismissed lord keeper urged the adoption of a more conciliatory policy towards the puritans. At some later date he appears to have suggested a reconciliation with Eliot, and a compromise on the dispute which had sprung up (after the king's assent had been given to the ‘petition of right’) on the question of tonnage and poundage. Williams also, with that love of intrigue which dogged the steps of his statesmanship, recommended that his own restoration to favour should be kept secret in order that in the next session of parliament he might advocate this compromise with more authority as an independent member (, ii. 80, 83). Buckingham's murder, however, put an end to Williams's chance of rehabilitation at court.

In his episcopal character Williams showed the hatred of extremes which marked his politics. In 1627 one of the vicars of Grantham attempting to remove the communion table to the east end of the church, the parishioners appealed to Williams as their bishop. Williams decided that, according to the rule of the injunctions and canons referring to such matters, the table ought to stand at the east end, but should be moved further down when the communion was administered, reminding the young vicar that when he had gained more experience he would ‘find no such ceremony equal to Christian charity.’ If Williams had had his way, one of the chief stumbling-blocks to an understanding between the crown and the puritans would have been averted (see, in addition to the references given in Hist. of England, vii. 16–18, the certificate in State Papers, Dom. cccclxx. 83). In 1633 the question of the position of the communion table came up again. By Williams's advice the chancel of a church in Leicester which had been used as a library was restored to its proper use, and in a letter to the mayor (Williams to the mayor of Leicester, 18 Sept., State Papers, Dom. ccxlvi. 42) the bishop gave his reasons at length for following the precedent he had established at Grantham respecting the position of the communion table. It was, however, Laud and not Williams who had influence with the king, and on 3 Nov. Charles issued his decision in the case of St. Gregory's, that the communion table should be permanently fixed at the east end.

Williams's chance of rallying the moderate section of Laud's opponents was reduced to nothing by his own fault. Ever since 1628 a Star-chamber prosecution, in which he was charged with betraying secrets as a privy councillor, had been pending against him. In 1633 the morality of one of his witnesses was assailed, and, in his eagerness to defend him, Williams actually stooped to suborn false evidence in favour of a man whose testimony he needed (State Papers, Dom. ccclvii. 104, ccclxi. 99, ccclxii. 34; see, Hist. of England, viii. 252, n. 1). In 1635 a fresh prosecution against him was opened in the Star-chamber for subornation of perjury, but Williams had friends at court who had a quarrel with Laud, and in November he had hopes of a pardon on his consenting to surrender the deanery of Westminster and to give 8,000l. Finding Charles irresolute, Williams offered in 1636 to bribe more courtiers, but in the