He contended for the absolute monarchy of the King of England. His
writings are especially valuable as illustrating our national customs. The
author says: "My true end is the advancement of knowledge, and therefore I
have published this poor work, not only to impart the good thereof to
those young ones who want it, but also to draw from the learned the supply
of my defects.... What a man saith well is not however to be rejected
because he hath many errors; reprehend who will, in God's name, that is
with sweetness and without reproach. So shall he reap hearty thanks at my
hands, and thus more soundly help in a few months, than I, by tossing and
tumbling my books at home, could possibly have done in many years." The
Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, was the determined foe of the unhappy
doctor, endeavouring to ridicule him by calling him Dr. Cowheel; then,
telling the King that the book limited the supreme power of the royal
prerogative; and when that failed, he accused our author to the Parliament
of the opposite charge of betraying the liberties of the people. At length
Cowell was condemned by the House to imprisonment; James issued a
proclamation against the book, but saved its author from the hangman.
However, Fuller states that Dr. Cowell's death, which occurred soon after
the condemnation of his book, was hastened by the troubles in which it
involved him.
A Scottish divine, Dr.
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