ers. He appears to have flattered himself that they would not dare to
eject him. The news, therefore, that his see had been filled threw him
into a passion which lasted as long as his life, and which hurried him
into many foolish and unseemly actions. Tillotson, as soon as he
was appointed, went to Lambeth in the hope that he might be able, by
courtesy and kindness, to soothe the irritation of which he was the
innocent cause. He stayed long in the antechamber, and sent in his name
by several servants; but Sancroft would not even return an answer.
[50] Three weeks passed; and still the deprived Archbishop showed no
disposition to move. At length he received an order intimating to him
the royal pleasure that he should quit the dwelling which had long
ceased to be his own, and in which he was only a guest. He resented this
order bitterly, and declared that he would not obey it. He would stay
till he was pulled out by the Sheriff's officers. He would defend
himself at law as long as he could do so without putting in any plea
acknowledging the authority of the usurpers. [51] The case was so clear
that he could not, by any artifice of chicanery, obtain more than a
short delay. When judgment had been given against him, he left the
palace, but directed his steward to retain possession. The consequence
was that the steward was taken into custody and heavily fined. Tillotson
sent a kind message to assure his predecessor that the fine should not
be exacted. But Sancroft was determined to have a grievance, and would
pay the money. [52]

From that time the great object of the narrowminded and peevish old
man was to tear in pieces the Church of which he had been the chief
minister. It was in vain that some of those nonjurors, whose virtue,
ability and learning were the glory of their party, remonstrated against
his design. "Our deprivation,"--such was the reasoning of Ken,--"is,
in the sight of God, a nullity. We are, and shall be, till we die or
resign, the true Bishops of our sees. Those who assume our titles and
functions will incur the guilt of schism. But with us, if we act as
becomes us, the schism will die; and in the next generation the unity of
the Church will be restored. On the other hand, if we consecrate Bishops
to succeed us, the breach may last through ages, and we shall be justly
held accountable, not indeed for its origin, but for its continuance."
These considerations ought, on Sancroft's own principles, to have had