"Let us give great Praise to God, and little Laud to the Devil." (Grace said by the Court Jester, Archie Armstrong, when he had begged to act as chaplain, in the absence of that official, at the dinner-table of Charles I. Archbishop Laud was little in stature.) The following account of the trial of Lady Purbeck in 1627 is given by Archbishop Laud:--[79] "Now the Cause of _Sir Robert Howard_ was this: He fell in _League_ with the _Lady Viscountess Purbeck_. The _Lord Viscount Purbeck_ being in some weakness and distemper, the Lady used him at her pleasure, and betook her self in a manner, wholly to Sir Robert Howard, and had a Son by him. She was delivered of this Child in a Clandestine way, under the Name of _Mistress Wright_. These things came to be known, and she was brought into the _High-Commission_, and there, after a Legal Proceeding, was found guilty of _Adultery_, and sentenced to do _Pennance_: Many of the great Lords of the Kingdom being present in Court, and agreeing to the Sentence." A marginal note states that there were present Sir Thomas Coventry, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, the Earls of Manchester, Pembroke, Montgomery and Dorset, Viscount Grandison, five Bishops, two Deans and several other dignitaries, clerical and legal. Laud continues: "Upon this Sentence she withdrew her-self, to avoid the Penance. This Sentence passed at _London-House,_ in Bishop _Mountains_ time, _Novemb. 19. An. Dom. 1627_. I was then present, as Bishop of _Bath_ and _Wells_." The sentence in question was that Lady Purbeck was to be separated from her husband, and that she should do penance, bare-footed, and clad in a white sheet, in the chapel of the Savoy; but a decree of divorce was not given. No attempt shall be made here to excuse or palliate the sins of Lady Purbeck; but it may be observed in relation to Laud's mention of her having been found guilty of adultery by the Court, that, although she might be guilty of that offence according to the civil law, she was not guilty of it morally; because her so-called marriage was no marriage at all, since she was forced into it against her will.