. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . glo-Britamiicon, a summary of Englishhistory down to the Norman Conquest. Being a member of BenJonsons literary circle, he also wrote notes to the first eighteencantos of Draytons Polyolbioii. Yet in spite of these numerouspublications, he found time to make himself an Oriental scholar, andto compile a work on Syrian mythology, which appeared in 1617under the title oiDe Diis Syris. None of these works had awakenedmuch interest; but his Hiskvy of Tyfhes, published in the same year,at once involved him in theological controversy. In th
. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . glo-Britamiicon, a summary of Englishhistory down to the Norman Conquest. Being a member of BenJonsons literary circle, he also wrote notes to the first eighteencantos of Draytons Polyolbioii. Yet in spite of these numerouspublications, he found time to make himself an Oriental scholar, andto compile a work on Syrian mythology, which appeared in 1617under the title oiDe Diis Syris. None of these works had awakenedmuch interest; but his Hiskvy of Tyfhes, published in the same year,at once involved him in theological controversy. In this work hetraced the development of tithes with elaborate erudition from thetime of Abraham to his own daj-, and incidentally discussed whethertheir sanction rested on human or divine law. His inclination to theformer view evoked a storm of criticism and abuse. Selden wassummoned before the Court of High Commission, the book wassuppressed and he was forbidden to print any reply to his when he entered Parliament in 1621, his erudition in con-. JOHN From the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery Iaintcr unknown Faul>. rjS JOHN SELDEN 139 stitutional law at once gave his opinion great weight in thedebates on Parliamentary rights, which turned for the most parton precedent, and he soon became one of the leaders of thepopular part}. In Buckinghams impeachment he played an activepart, and in 1627 he made a powerful defence of Sir EdmundHampden, who had been wrongfully imprisoned for refusing to paya forced loan. Seldens prominence in the debates on the Petition ofRight and on Tonnage and Poundage, added to his vigorous oppo-sition to the Court party in other directions, resulted in his beingimprisoned with Eliot in the Tower on March 4, 1629. There heremained for two years, often the subject of harsh treatment, but heseems to have borne little malice against the King. In 1636 hepublished at rojal command his famous tract. Mare Clausum, inwhich he refuted
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