During the commonwealth, Milton made a feeble
attempt to disprove the king's claim to the composition of the book: after
the restoration, Dr. Gauden, a clergyman of Bocking, in Essex, came forward
and declared himself the real author. But he advanced his pretensions with
secrecy, and received as the price of his silence, first the bishopric of
Exeter, and afterwards, when he complained of the poverty of that see, the
richer bishopric of Worcester.
After the death of Gauden his pretensions began to transpire, and became
the subject of an interesting controversy between his friends and the
admirers of Charles. But many documents have been published since, which
were then unknown, particularly the letters of
Gauden to the earl of Clarendon (Clarendon Papers, iii. App. xxvi.-xxxi.,
xcv.), and others from him to the earl of Bristol (Maty's Review, ii. 253.
Clarendon Papers, iii. App. xcvi.; and Mr. Todd, Memoirs of Bishop Walton,
i. 138). These have so firmly established Gauden's claim, that, whoever
denies it must be prepared to pronounce that prelate an impostor, to
believe that the bishops Morley and Duppa gave false evidence in his
favour, and, to explain how it happened, that those, the most interested to
maintain the right of the king, namely Charles II.
Pages:
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908