Dr. Hall, in 1624, refused the bishopric of Gloucester, but in 1627 he accepted that of Exeter, holding with it _in commendam_ the rectory of St. Breock in Cornwall. At this time he seems to have been suspected of a leaning to the Puritans, and it must be allowed that his religious views were more consonant with theirs than with the lax Arminianism of Laud. But at the same time, Dr. Hall was a zealous supporter of the church. On November 15th, 1641, he was translated, by the little power left to the king, to be Bishop of Norwich, but having joined with the Archbishop of York and eleven other prelates, in a protest against the validity of such laws as should be made during their compulsory absence from parliament, he was ordered to be sent to the tower, with his brethren, on the 30th of January following. Shortly afterwards they were impeached by the Commons for high treason, and on their appearance in parliament were treated with the utmost rudeness and contempt. The Commons, however, did not think fit to prosecute the charge of high treason, having gained their purpose by driving them from the House of Lords, and Hall and his brethren were ordered to be dismissed; but upon another pretext they were again sent to the tower. In June following, Hall was finally released on giving bail for £5000! He returned to Norwich, and being received with rather more respect than he hoped for, in the then state of public opinion, he resumed his duties, frequently preaching to large congregations, and enjoying the forbearance of the predominant Puritan party till April, 1643, when the destruction of the church was contemplated. About this time, the ordinance for sequestrating notorious delinquents having passed, and our prelate being included by name, all his rents were stopped, his palace was entered, and all his property was seized. A friend, however, gave bond for the whole amount of the valuation, and the bishop was allowed to remain a short time in his palace. While he remained there, he was continually exposed to the insolence of the soldiery and mob, who demolished the windows and monuments of the cathedral. At length he was ordered to leave his palace, and would have been exposed to the utmost extremity, if a neighbour had not offered him the shelter of his humble roof. Some time afterwards, but by what interest we are not told, the sequestration was taken off a small estate which he rented at Heigham, to which he retired. The house in which he lived, now called the Dolphin Inn, is still standing, and should be carefully preserved as a memorial of a great and good man. Bishop Hall, in his tract _Hard Measure_, has given a most touching account of the treatment he experienced. He says in his tract “The Shaking of the Olive Tree:”—