, had driven him from the Council Board. He
had a right to expect that in the repeal of those laws all who loved
and reverenced him would concur. When he found his hearers obdurate
to exhortation, he resorted to intimidation and corruption. Those who
refused to pleasure him in this matter were plainly told that they must
not expect any mark of his favour. Penurious as he was, he opened and
distributed his hoards. Several of those who had been invited to confer
with him left his bedchamber carrying with them money received from the
royal hand. The Judges, who were at this time on their spring circuits,
were directed by the King to see those members who remained in the
country, and to ascertain the intentions of each. The result of this
investigation was, that a great majority of the House of Commons seemed
fully determined to oppose the measures of the court. [236] Among those
whose firmness excited general admiration was Arthur Herbert, brother
of the Chief Justice, member for Dover, Master of the Robes, and Rear
Admiral of England. Arthur Herbert was much loved by the sailors,
and was reputed one of the best of the aristocratical class of naval
officers. It had been generally supposed that he would readily comply
with the royal wishes: for he was heedless of religion; he was fond of
pleasure and expense; he had no private estate; his places brought him
in four thousand pounds a year; and he had long been reckoned among
the most devoted personal adherents of James. When, however, the Rear
Admiral was closeted, and required to promise that he would vote for the
repeal of the Test Act, his answer was, that his honour and conscience
would not permit him to give any such pledge. "Nobody doubts your
honour," said the King; "but a man who lives as you do ought not to talk
about his conscience." To this reproach, a reproach which came with a
bad grace from the lover of Catharine Sedley, Herbert manfully replied,
"I have my faults, sir: but I could name people who talk much more about
conscience than I am in the habit of doing, and yet lead lives as loose
as mine." He was dismissed from all his places; and the account of what
he had disbursed and received as Master of the Robes was scrutinised
with great and, as he complained, with unjust severity. [237]

It was now evident that all hope of an alliance between the Churches of
England and of Rome, for the purpose of sharing offices and emoluments,
and of crushing the Puritan sect