was instituted to the first prebend in Peterborough Cathedral (Beedham, p. 12).
Not only this accumulation of ecclesiastical benefices but the names of his patrons show that Williams was anything but a puritan. His patrons were sufficiently numerous and powerful to enable him, when Ellesmere died on 17 March 1617, to refuse to continue in the household of the lord keeper as chaplain to his successor. Having taken the degree of D.D. in 1617, he retired for a time to Walgrave, but, having been named chaplain to the king, he was bound to reside at court during part of the year, and accompanied James to Scotland in 1618. His wide reading and readiness of speech soon made him a favourite with a king who was a lover of discursive conversation. On 10 Sept. 1619 he was rewarded with the deanery of Salisbury, retaining, nevertheless, his other preferments.
Williams was aware that if he wished to keep the footing he had gained at court the favour of Buckingham was indispensable. He accordingly took the opportunity in 1620 of assisting the favourite to gain the hand of Lady Catherine Manners, the king having refused to allow the marriage to take place unless she renounced the Roman catholic religion. The lady gave way under the dean's persuasions, though she resumed her earlier creed after her marriage. To Williams himself this progress in court favour brought the deanery of Westminster, to which he was collated on 10 July 1620. He had already asked Buckingham for it on 12 March, when he explained that he preferred Westminster as more suitable, not as more profitable, than Salisbury.
The chief advantage of Westminster to Williams was its proximity to Whitehall. In 1621 he took advantage of this to give political counsel to Buckingham, advising him to throw over the monopolists, who were assailed by parliament, and to divert attention from his own part in the monopolies by putting himself at the head of the movement for their revocation (Hacket, p. 50; see Gardiner, Hist. of Engl. iv. 52). Such advice reveals the worldly wisdom of the man who gave it. It pointed to a career of influence in the government of the state, and James selected him for the lord-keepership after Bacon's fall. In times when the court of chancery demanded the shrewdness which would qualify a judge to administer equity upon general principles, it would probably have been difficult to make a better choice; and though it was nearly seventy years since a clergyman had held the office, the feeling of the day did not rebel against the appointment. One difficulty, indeed, presented itself. After Bacon's disgrace [see Bacon, Francis] there must be no more taking of bribes, or even of fees which would bear the appearance of bribes, and the profits of the place would therefore be considerably curtailed. James made up the deficiency by appointing Williams to the bishopric of Lincoln, to which he was elected on 3 Aug. 1621. On 16 July, after the congé d'élire had been issued, the great seal was placed in his hands. To avoid critical remarks, especially from the lawyers, it was given out, on his own request, that he held the post only on probation, and that some of the common-law judges would sit with him as assistants (Cabala, p. 260). As no charge was ever brought against him in connection with his proceedings in chancery, it is to be presumed that he acquitted himself well on the bench.
There is a story which may have a kernel of truth in it, that Williams gave his support to Laud's appointment to the bishopric of St. David's against the king's wish, and it has been suggested by Dr. Bliss, in his notes to Laud's ‘Diary,’ that Williams was interested in the matter, because he wanted to keep the deanery of Westminster in commendam, and feared lest Laud should receive the appointment (the story is discussed in Gardiner's Hist. of England, iv. 138). However this may have been, Williams was allowed to keep the deanery and also his prebend at Lincoln. He was not consecrated as bishop till 11 Nov., having refused to be consecrated by Archbishop Abbot, who had accidentally killed a keeper when shooting [see Abbot, George 1562–1633]. Williams based his refusal on the objection which might be taken to his own position if he had been consecrated by one tainted with blood.
On 21 Nov. the new bishop was employed to open the proceedings of parliament which had met after the summer adjournment. In the subsequent dispute his voice was given on the side of moderation. James having claimed that parliamentary privileges were held by grant from his ancestors, Williams recommended him to add that they were now inherent in the persons of the members (Cabala, p. 263). In 1623 he showed the same anxiety to avoid risk in a letter in which he warned Prince Charles against the dangers attending his projected journey to Madrid, at the same time pointing out to Buckingham the loss of popularity to which he would be exposed if any harm happened to the prince (Hacket, p. 116). When Charles had been driven, after his arrival in Spain, into an engagement to
