Note 261 — Chapter VIII

Parl. Hist., iv. 219. We may here mention, as an illustration of the spirit for dishonouring the dead—and that too on the anti-Episcopal as well as the anti-Puritan side—that there are repeated references in the Journals of the Lords during this Session, to accusations brought against Matthew Hardy, for taking up the body of Archbishop Parker, for selling the lead wherein he was wrapped, for defacing his monument, for turning his tombstone into a table, and for burying "the bones of that worthy person under a dunghill." The delinquent was ordered to put the bones again in their old place, and to restore the monument, but he neglected "the doing of these things." At last Matthew Hardy "acknowledged his hearty sorrow," obeyed the order of the House, and was discharged on payment of fees. (Lords' Journals, 1661, July 24, Dec. 9, 13, Jan. 14, 28.