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PERRANZABULOE 
 
 OR, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND NOT A NEW CHURCH, BUT 
 ANCIENT, APOSTOLICAL, AND INDEPENDENT, AND 
 A PROTESTING CHURCH NINE HUNDRED 
 YEARS BEFORE THE REFORMATION 
 
 BY THE 
 
 y 
 
 REV. C. T. COLLINS TRELAWNY, M.A. 
 
 I ATF. RECTOR OF TI MSUURY, SOMERSET ' 
 AND I-OK.MIiRLY FELLOW OF liALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFOKL) 
 
 " -Vrt re ys gar a anvor gotJi, ragan vor iioivvth" 
 Do not leave the old way, for the ueiv ivay 
 
 Old Cornish Proverb 
 
 RIVINGTONS 
 |),ontion, ©ifort), ani) (JTambriiigc 
 
 iS68 
 
 \Sijcth Edition\ 
 
Ill rill'; :\tE.Miiuv of the 
 
 lUGlIT RHV. (IMUllGE HENRY LA^Y, LORD BISHOP OP 
 
 THIS NEW EDITION 
 IS ACAIN IXSCRIBED 
 [X TOKEN OF 
 
 THE AUTUOIl's (illATEFUL KECOLLECTION OF THE KINDNESS 
 AND SINCERE EESI'ECT FOK THE 
 TALENTS AND VIRTUES 
 OF 
 
 HIS VENERATED DIOCESAN. 
 
|3rcfacc to the Sixtli 
 
 In ]ilacing a New Edition of "The Lost Cluircli Found" 
 before tlie public, tlie writer would liave felt some ap<doj^y 
 to he due, and more especiall}' so at tlio present time, 
 wlicn the Churuh of England requires far abler advocates 
 tlian himself fir repelling the encroachments of Rome, 
 were it not that repeated calls have reached him, from 
 good and earnest men, for the republication of this little 
 book i]i a cheaper form. At the same time he cannot but 
 own tliat he has received great enciniragement to obey the 
 call from the favourable reception tlie former Editions of 
 tlie Work have received — leading him to believe tliat it 
 has contributed in some measure at least to a\vaken a 
 deeper inrpiiry into the History and Claims of this Branch 
 of the lieformed Church — to kindle a warmer attachment 
 in her sons and daughters — and to encourage them in this 
 
viii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 liour of lier peril to make a more iletermined staml against 
 tlie machinatious of lier open enemies, and the treachery 
 of pretended friends. 
 
 Shoidd tliis little Yolmne contrilmte in anj- degree to 
 sncli a result, the Avriter Avill not regret that he has 
 yielded to the advice and wishes of others, both friends 
 and strangers, in consenting to its repnl^lication. 
 
|3i*cfitcc to the 
 
 JiV5t 
 
 ^btttott 
 
 The great master^ of Eoman eloquence informs us, that 
 once on a time tlie Athenians were mider great difficulty 
 and distraction on the choice of their religion, inasmuch 
 as the law directed that the people should worship accord- 
 ing to the best forms of their country's rites ; in their 
 perplexity they consulted the Pythian Oracle, and de- 
 manded what religious rites tliey should specially follow. 
 The Oracle replied, "Those Avhich were after the more 
 ancient form of tlielr forefatliers." This answer not 
 sufiiciently satisfying their doubts, they sent a second time 
 to the Oracle, saying, that as for the form of their fore- 
 fathers it Avas frequently changed, that they were anxious 
 therefore to knoAy what form, out of the many, they 
 ought principally to follow. The Oracle answered — " The 
 best." 
 
 From this reply the lioman orator concluded, tliat tlicd 
 must he ever rechoncJ the he-<t which is the most ancient, 
 and the nearest to God himsctf. 
 
 1 Cicero de Legibus, lib. ii. c. 16. 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Tlie Orae'lc ausAvered correctly, ami tlie lieatlieii moralist 
 was right in his conchisioii ; for assuredlj' truth must be 
 as much ohler than error as God is older than the author 
 of evil. This is a maxim that holds good in all things, 
 especially in religion, "which, if it he true, must proceed 
 from the God of truth, and therefore he acceptable to 
 Him ; and then by how much it is the more ancient, 
 by so much must it be the nearer to the fountain of 
 truth. 
 
 Eut the God whom the Scriptures have revealed to us 
 placed this matter beyond doubt, when He counselled the 
 sons of men, in the unerring oracles of divine truth, to 
 " stand in the ways and see, aiid ask for the old puih, 
 where is ilie good wcuj, and to Avalk therein, and they 
 should hud rest for their souls."' Where it is evident 
 that the old icay, and the good van, '^^^ convertilile terms, 
 and are one and the same Avith that wherein God's people 
 may " find rest for their soids." 
 
 On this command of God the Church of England may 
 well take her stand, and claim the love and veneration of 
 her children on the \Q:vy ground of her antiquity, draAving 
 her doctrine from the Fountain of divine rcA'elation, -as 
 exporraded by the first four General Councils, and the 
 most ancient of the Fatliers, deriving her rituals from the 
 practice of the purest churches in the oldest times, and 
 framing her gOA^ernment on the model of those churches 
 which Avere planted and Avatered by the Apostles them- 
 
 2 Jereui. vi. IC. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 selves.^ So that notliing is Avanting to complete the 
 evi(len('(! of aiiti([uity, or to satisfy tlic most scrupulous of 
 lier cliildren, that she is verily a true branch of that piu-e 
 and ai)ostolieal Church, against Avhich the gates of hell 
 shall never prcA ail. 
 
 It is true that time, and the wickedness of man, com- 
 bined to rob her of her purity, and to s2')oil her of her 
 privileges, and she sank for a Avhile under the accnmulated 
 "weight of gross superstition and foreign oppression. For 
 centuries slie lay buried beneath her cruel burden, during 
 ■which season of her humiliation she exhibited scarcely a 
 token of visible existence. This temporary obscurity lias 
 been made an argument against her by her opponents, but 
 it is most unreasonable ; for as, according to the maxim 
 of philosophers, " the objects of sight remain still discern- 
 ible, even vhen they ai-e not discerned" — so it is vitli the 
 Church ; in her obscurest condition a degree of Aasibility 
 is still apparent, and it is onlj^ adding mockerj^ to pillage 
 to ask the (piestidu, vhere our Churcli Avas before the 
 Reformation ? The higlnvayman Avho steals your purse, 
 might just as Avell ask you Avhere it Avas before he stole it 
 from you. But the question is as absurd as it is insulting, 
 for it assumes that the orthodox Church must be A'isible 
 in all ages. Whereas the Scriptures foreAvarn us of great 
 
 3 Tertullian, in liis treatise against Marcion the heretic, adopts the same 
 argument. "If it be certahi," he says, "tliat (Tiis is nio.st genuine wliieh is 
 most ancient, tlmt most ancient wliicli is from the beginning, and 0ml from tlie 
 Ijeginning vvliicli is from tlie Apostles : in like manner it will also be certain, 
 ihiil has l>icn delivered from the AposUes whicli is lield sacred in the Churches 
 of tlic Apostles." 
 
xii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 revolts, and of false teacliers "wlio sliall deceive raanj', 
 jjcrsuadiiig tlicm to refrain froui marriage, and from meats 
 ■which God has created to be received with thanlcfulness. ■* 
 They foretell that all the Avorld shonld wonder and go 
 after the heast:^ they speak to us of tiie man of sin, the 
 son of perdition they declare to us that Avings are given 
 to the Church to flee aAvay into the desert, and io remain 
 liid for a time.'' Accordingly, for a time the man of sin 
 23revailed, and the Church of England remained hid under 
 the iupenetrahle covering of ignorance and error. But 
 though clouds and darkness were round about her, the day- 
 spring from on high was shortly to visit her, when the 
 glorious light of the Eeformation should disjjel the dark- 
 ness, and give liberty to the victim of an odious oi^pression. 
 Then did she awake from her long slumber — tlien came 
 she forth, galled and scathed indeed by the scveritj^ of her 
 wrongs, but still possessing all the lineaments of her pure 
 and holy origin. 
 
 It was not to bo expected that so great a transformation 
 could be the work of a moment. The captive, long 
 habituated to the weight and torture of lus chains, cannot, 
 on the first recovery of his hberty, walk \ni\i the ease and 
 firmness of the freeman. Tims Avas it with the Church of 
 England, in the first days of her deliverance ; she still felt 
 the effects of her long captivity. Slie had thrown off her 
 chains, but she continued for manj' years crijipled by their 
 
 * 1 Tim. iv. 3. 
 « 2 Thess. ii. 
 
 5 Rev. xiii. 3. 
 ' Kev. xii. 14. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 past infliction. Tliis was lier misfortune, and by no means 
 the fault of lior deliverers, and could with no more justice be 
 imimted to them as a crime, than the indistinct vision of 
 the blind man of Bethsaida could be charged as a sign of 
 unskilfulness and imposture on the wonder-working 
 Saviour ; and as to the charge of novelty, of bringing in a 
 ncAV faith, of setting up a new church, it convicts our 
 opponents of either the most deplorable ignorance, or the 
 most culpable want of veracity ; for nothing short of the 
 blindest credulity can any longer believe the oft-repeated 
 calumnj', and nothing but the most unblushing indifterence 
 to the truth could any further persist in so distorting facts 
 as to represent the work of the Eeformation as the in- 
 vention of a new system of religion. And yet such is the 
 case — Eomanists to this day reiterate the libellous calumny, 
 and weak and ignorant men are ready, as formerly, to be- 
 lieve and circulate it, and without taking the slightest 
 trouble to inquire whether these things are so or not, are 
 easily led to surrender their religious faith, and liberty of 
 conscience, to the fascinating delusions of a pompous ritual, 
 and the flattering sanctions of an imscrij)tural, carnal, and 
 enslaving creed. Oh ! that Protestants would but examine 
 for themselves the grounds of their belief as members of 
 the Eeformcd Cliurcli ! Oh ! that they would but employ 
 that reason and liberty with which God has blessed them 
 in proving and holding fast tlie profession of their faith 
 without Avavering ! Then would they learn to distinguish 
 between the false doctrines of Eomanism and the Chui'ch 
 
xiv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of Eonie herself — then Avouhl thej- understand that liow- 
 ever ancient that Chiu'ch may he, her errors are compara- 
 tively modern — that she has dejjarted from herself in those 
 very essentials wherein the Church of England dififers from 
 her — that she at this day no more resembles the Church 
 of Eome of the first four centuries, than the Church of 
 England resembles her in the nineteenth centmy ; for it 
 would be evident that her boasted suj^remacy was but a 
 fiction — that there was no such title as "universal bishop" 
 till the time of Bonitace, GOO years after Christ — that the 
 doctrine of transubstantiation had no existence till the 
 Lateran Council, a.d. 1215 — that the cup was not denied 
 to the peo])le in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper till the 
 Council of Constance, a.d. 1414 — that the doctrine of 
 piirgatory, and many other similar novelties in their 
 religion, had no admission as articles of belief till the 
 council of Trent, a.d. 1545, which, together vA'Ca. the 
 creed of Pope Pius lY., are in fact the real sources of that 
 religion, "whose fooleries," says Bishop Hall, " the very 
 boys may shout and laugh at." 
 
 Xow all these, and numberless other points, are questions 
 of history, and are to be decided, not by empty assertion, 
 not by unmeaning declamation, not by imcertain tradition, 
 Avhich, " like a common sewer brings duA\n, for the most 
 part, the trash and rubbish of former times, very often 
 letting the most weighty things sink and jierish in the 
 passage,"^ but bj- an appeal to the accredited testimony of 
 
 s Gi<odmau's Six Sermons. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 ancient records. These are fortunately in our hands, are 
 l}eyond tlic reach of contradiction or suspicion, and as such 
 are the title-deeds of our ecclesiastical inheritance. Of 
 this our oiiponents are fully aware, and therefore most 
 disingenuously endeavour to draw off attention from them- 
 selves, hy retortjiig ujion Protestantism the charge of 
 novelty, and upon the Keformed Church of England in 
 particular the stigma of a " religion by Act of Parliament." 
 
 The writer of the folhiwing jjages, in the fullest con- 
 viction that the danger of such misrepresentation is by no 
 means so insignilicant as some supjjose, ventures, Avith 
 much confidence, at once to meet the objection by a direct 
 appeal to history, believing he cannot better defend the 
 Church against the increasing malice of her enemies, than 
 by maintaining, in the first place, the strong ground of her 
 higher antiquity and long-asserted independence ; and 
 then by showing, tliat in proportion as Popery gained a 
 footing here, the purity of the Church of England de- 
 clined, and that she further and further receded from her 
 high and holy character, until by degrees the leaven of 
 Komanism pervaded the whole mass, and she sank down 
 under the overwhelming jiressure of external aggression 
 and internal decay. To the bright and palmy period of 
 her ancient renowii succeeded a long, dark, chilly night of 
 ignorance and corru])tion, during which she slumbered on 
 in blind and listless security. Signs of animation were 
 occasionally shown, and a voice was heard at intervals, 
 faint at first, but louthir as time advanced, bidding her to 
 
xvi 
 
 PREFA CE. 
 
 awake from licr .slumber and reassume her ancient rights, 
 when at last shone forth the blessed day of her emanci- 
 pation, and her intrepid deUverers set themselves resolutely 
 to the great and difficult work of her reformation. As for 
 building up a new Church, it never entered then- thoughts : 
 they " onely endeavoured (not without happy successe), to 
 cleanse, scoure, restore, reforme her I'rom that filthj' soyle, 
 both of disorder and errors, wherewith she was shamefully 
 blemished." 9 
 
 These things, it must be repeated, are matters of history, 
 and are to be answered by sometliing more solid than the 
 mere repetition of ancient calumny. 
 
 In lajdng the result of his researches before the public, 
 the autlior feels he is but a very humble follower in the 
 steps of many who have gone before him ; and though he 
 does not pretend to offer much new matter, or to advance 
 any new arguments in support of the j^oints he has ven- 
 tured to handle, he yet hopes he may be the means of 
 encouraging in others a closer examination of the whole 
 subject; being convinced, from his ovn\. experience, that 
 such an examination, if pursued with a single eye to the 
 attainment of the truth, though it may fail to bring con- 
 \action to tlie mind of the Eoman Catholic, will lead the 
 Protestant to a more deep, thankful, and abiding attach- 
 ment to that Church, of which he may have been hitherto 
 a member, rather from the circumstances of bii'th or 
 education, than from being able to give a satisfactory 
 
 3 Bishop Hall's " No Peace witli Rome." 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xvii 
 
 ansAver to any one who might ask liim for the reason of 
 the liope tliat is in him ; and wlio thus furnished Avith the 
 power, -ttdll have the boklness also to confess before all 
 men, that "after the way which they call heresy, so 
 worships he the God of Ms fathers, believing all things 
 which are icritten in the law and the prophets," and not 
 resting so serious a matter as the salvation of his soul on 
 such a rotten foundation as the unwritten tcord, the 
 traditions of fallible men, which depend upon no higher 
 authority than that of some wicked Pope perhaps, who 
 has been constituted by the Church of Eonie, with 
 singular adroitness, a judge in his own cause ! 
 
 If it sliould thus be the happy effect of this little 
 volume, to increase the already growing attachment of her 
 children to that Church ichose service is reasonahle, and 
 worsliip S2)iritual, then will its main intention be answered, 
 and the author will submit to bear whatever taunts it may 
 call forth on the part of Eoman Catholics. Truth, how- 
 ever, and the good of all men, being the objects nearest 
 to his heart, he begs to declare, that in dealing Avith the 
 errors of the Church of Eome, ho has been actuated by no 
 unkind feelings towards the members of that Church ; on 
 the contrary, as it lias been with the utmost pain that he 
 has at any time spoken harshly of the corruptions of 
 Romanism, so has it been with all good-will, and the 
 sincerest desire of restoring liis Roman Catliolic brethren 
 to " the fold from whence they have straj'ed," that he has 
 engaged at all in this work; and so ardently dees he 
 
 b 
 
xviii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 desire this Lappy consummation, that he might well em^y 
 the affectionate zeal, the superhuman love and devotion 
 of the warm-hearted apostle, that led him to declare on 
 behalf of his erring countrymen — " I say the truth in 
 Christ, I lie not, my conscience also hearing me witness in 
 the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness, and continual 
 sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were 
 accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen accord- 
 ing to fJieflesh."^ 
 
 AVith the errors of Romanism, therefore, the WTriter has 
 alone endeavoured to combat, and even in combating them, 
 he has had no desire himself, nor Avould he on any account 
 persuade others, to measure the Protestant religion by any 
 uucandid opposition to the Eoman Catholic ; and in the 
 like spirit of fairness towards that Church, he disclaims 
 for himself the supposition that he would account every 
 thing popery that is found in her. !Xo ; he thankfully 
 acknowledges in her whatever she has retained of primitive 
 truth and piety, and readily admits, that with all her 
 dead forms, and cold and corrupt doctruies, there is yet to 
 be found some of the devotional sjnrit of early piety circul- 
 ating in her veins ; she yet retains, though hidden from 
 the peoj^le in an unknown tongue, many of those truly 
 scriptural prayers, which in the service of the Church of 
 England are, in their translated form, found to be so 
 exquisitely adapted to the purposes of devotion. These 
 prayers, however, are not to be mistaken for the compo- 
 
 1 Rom. ix. 1-3. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xix 
 
 sition of Popery, but are the revered and sacred remnants 
 of pure antiquity, most of them having been extant in tlie 
 "Western Church above 1000 years before the name of 
 Popery, at least long before the present mass-book, had a 
 being." Had the Roman Church adliered in everything 
 to the form and practice of antiquity, there would have 
 been no need of the Reformation, and nothing Tvould have 
 been heard of those violent disputes whicli have so rent 
 the Church of Clirist, in consequence of her departure from 
 the primitive faith and practice. But the Reformers had 
 no alternative ; the Roman Churcli would not tlirow off 
 her corruptions — they were compelled, therefore, to under- 
 take tlie reformation for themselves. " Tliose wortliy 
 husbandmen," " in plucking up those pernicious weeds out 
 of the Lord's field, and severing the chaff from his grain, 
 cannot be rightly said, in doing this, either to have brought 
 in another fieldj or to have changed the ancient grain. 
 The field is the same, but weeded now, unweeded then : 
 the grain is the same, but winnowed now, unwinnowed 
 then."' 
 
 This is the plain state of the case, and in its further de- 
 velopment, in the following pages, it will be observed 
 with what caution the restorers of our Church either re- 
 jected what was contrary to Scripture and the practice of 
 antiquity, or else retained " with reverence, whatever did 
 
 2 Veneer's Introduction to his Exposition of the Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 3 Archbishop Usher's Sermon on the Universality of the Church of Christ, 
 pubUshed A.o. 1024. 
 
XX 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 not endamage the Cliurch. of God, nor offend the minds of 
 sober men." 
 
 The author has only further to observe, that with re- 
 ference to the introductory chapter, having been greatly 
 interested in the recent discovery and restoration of the 
 very ancient Church of Perranzabiiloe — associated as it is 
 with the early history of a county, whose simple-minded 
 inhabitants were the last to surrender, as they were the 
 first to assert, the independence of their church — he con- 
 siders it to be so happily illustrative of the subject before 
 him, that he hopes no apology is necessary for giving it a 
 conspicuous place in this work : and without wishing to 
 press the analogy too closely, he cannot doubt but that in 
 the main features there will be discovered such a resem- 
 blance as will help materially to answer the old objection 
 dra'wn from the Church's temporary obscurity and conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 The writer throughout has consulted the best authorities 
 within his reach, and has only presumed in two cases to 
 give any latitude to invention — in the parting address of 
 St. Piran, alhided to by several historians, he lias ventured 
 to imagine what might have been the words of the dying 
 saint — and in the sUence of history respecting the identical 
 Cornish shrine that the pious AKred visited in his sickness, 
 he has not hesitated to assign the honour to a tomb so 
 celebrated as was that at Perranzabuloe.'' 
 
 ■i Some fiu ther notices respecting tlie Cliurch of Perranzabuloe, and its an- 
 cient place of sepultiu-e, are added in the Appendix. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXI 
 
 The Author cannot but believe that the favourable 
 notice which the Public have taken of the former Editions 
 of this little Volume, and the call that has been made on 
 him at this time in particular, for the issue of a new Edition, 
 is indicative of something better than the mere indulgence 
 of an useless curiosity respecting an interesting relic of an- 
 tiquity — he feels assured that it is the homage paid to 
 Truth — the assent of unprejudiced minds, not to any 
 " strange doctrines," but to a plain narration of facts — 
 establishing by an unbroken chain of historical evidence 
 the points to be proved, and beating down tlie vain and 
 unfounded pretensions of the Church of Eome. He com- 
 mits therefore, with increased confidence, this new Edition 
 of his work to the same indulgent Public — he commends 
 it again to the Blessing of Him ^yho has promised to be 
 with His Church even unto the end of the world ! 
 
Cxrntcttts. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Approach to Perran'o Bay. — Desolate aspect of the surrounding 
 country. — Saiulhills of Perranzabiiloe. — Traditionary notice of 
 its ancient Church. — State of Cornwall on the first introduction 
 of Christianity. — Druids. — Their religion and remains. — Causes 
 of the slow progress of Christianity at first. — First propagated 
 in the third century. — Corantiuus, the first Cornish apostle. — 
 Piranus, his history. — Lands in Cornwall. — A great benefactor 
 to the miners. — His death. — A Church built over his remains. 
 — His shrine held in great repute. — Christianity now makes a 
 rapid stride. — Coniish independent of Rome. — After the Saxon 
 conquest the British bishojis retire into Cornwall. — The Cornish 
 gradually yieM to Roman influence. — The first Comisli bishopric 
 when founded. — Wliy removed. — St. Piran's Cliurch in high re- 
 pute. — Visited by Alfred the Great. — Its subsequent obscurity. 
 — Causes of its decline. — And final submersion. — Destnictive 
 effects of the san<l. — Unsuccessful efforts to uncover the C'luirch. 
 ■ — By whom at length effected. — Its interesting appearance. — 
 How unlike modern Roman Catholic churches. — Tlie subject 
 api)lied to illustrate the condition and restoration of the Church 
 of England at the Reformation 1 — 27 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Perranzabuloe, an answer to the taunting question of Roman 
 Catholics. — The Chu:ch of England's latency no objection to its 
 former existence. — Modem objections of novelty answered. — ■ 
 Antiquity of the British Church asserted. — Its foundation the 
 Bible. — So that the Reformation did not create a new, but 
 
xxiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 found the old religion. — History of the British Church. — Authors 
 not agreed as to its first founder. — Reasons for attributing the 
 honour to St. Paul. — Authorities of tlie six first centuries. — 
 Later testimonies. — Further reasons why St. Paul first preached 
 the gospel in Britain. — Conversion of British captives. — Pom- 
 ponia Graecina's interesting history. — Why St. Peter could not 
 have been the first and sole founder of the Church of Rome. — 
 Reasons drawn from the conduct and writings of St. Paul and 
 St. Luke. — St. Peter's supremacy sho^ra to have no foundation. 
 — The New Testament silent respecting it. — Christ's conduct 
 and language directly opposed to it. — Equality and independence 
 of the first Churches. — Title of "Papa Benedictus" and "Epis- 
 copus episcoporum" when and how first used. — Leo I. adopts 
 the title of "Universal." — Examination of the text of Scripture 
 on which the Romanists foimd their claim of supremacy. — The 
 text exjilained, and proved to be falsely translated by them. — 
 Argument from St. Peter's silence, and especially from his con- 
 duct. — St. Peter never bishop of Rome. — Linus the first bishop. 
 — Extraordinary consequence if Linus possessed this su- 
 premacy. — Testimony of Tertullian and Cyprian against the 
 Roman claim. — Perfect equality of all Churches. — Address to 
 Protestants on the subject ..... 28 — 54 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Independence of the British Church. — Reasons for its slow 
 growth. — Lucius, the first British king who embraces Chris- 
 tianity and protects the Church. — His mission to Rome. — Letter 
 of Pope Eleutherius declaratory of the independence of the 
 Church of England, and of the King's supremacy. — Lucius's 
 zeal for the Church. — It continues to flourish after his death. — 
 Diocletian persecution. — Beaches Britain.— St. Alban, the first 
 
 ■ British martyr. — The persecution ceases. — Constantine protects 
 the Church. — Flourishing state of the Church early in the fourth 
 century. — Remarkable proof of independence exhibited by the 
 Council of Aries, at which British bishops were present. — Fur- 
 ther proofs of the independence of the British Church to the 
 end of the fourth century. — From the death of Constantine the 
 history of the British Church very obscure. — Pelagian heresy, 
 when and by whom introduced. — Missionaries from Brittany 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 preach against it successfully. — They found schools in Wales. 
 — Monastery at Bangor established. — The Romans abandon 
 Britain. — The Scots and Picts harass the North of England. — 
 Petition to the Romans unheeded. — The Saxons invited over, 
 who from allies soon became conquerors of the island. — Cliris- 
 tiauity nearly rooted out by them. — Establishment of the Saxon 
 heptarchy. — M arriage of Ethelbert paves the way for the conver- 
 sion of the Saxons. — Gregory the Great, his first notice of the 
 Britons. — Determines to send a mission to Britain. — Augustine 
 chosen for that purpose. — Lands in -Kent. — His success in con- 
 verting the Saxons. — The British also very active in the same 
 work. — Romish assertion on this point disproved by the exer- 
 tions and increase of the British Church . . 55 — 71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mission of Augustine the first popish aggression. — Gradual growth 
 of the papal power. — Pre-eminence, why claimed by the bishops 
 of Rome. — How checked by Constantine. — Tlie patriarchates 
 established. — Also, the four other orders. — Jealousy of the 
 bishop of Rome. — Restrained by the Byzantine Patriarch. — 
 Separation of the Greek and Latin Churches. — Bad eff'ect of 
 these rivalries. — Corruption of Christianity in the fourth and 
 fifth centuries. — Gregory's ambitious conduct. — His pretended 
 humility. — Is imposed on by Augustine, to whom he sends the 
 pall. — Augustine attempts to reduce the British Church. — He 
 mistakes the British character. — The means he employs for 
 executing his purpose. — Has recourse to pretended miracles. — • 
 Gregory's joy on hearing of his success. — His letter to Ethelbert 
 the first symptom of Rome's persecuting spirit. — State of Chris- 
 tianity among the Saxons on the death of Ethelbert. — The 
 Britons resolutely refuse all submission. — Failure of the SjTiod 
 convened by Augustine. — A Second Synod held at St. Augus- 
 tine's Oak. The British bishops consult a Hermit. — His sage 
 ailvice. — Augiistine's arrogance. — Dinoth. — His intrepid reply. 
 — Augustine's revenge. — The massacre at Caerleon. — The 
 Britims more than ever averse to the Romish missionaries. — 
 Death of Augustine. — Arrival of Laurentius. — His inefl'ectual 
 effort to reduce the British Church.— Also the Scottish clergy. 
 — Conduct of Daganus and the Scotch clergy.-— Romish mission- 
 
xxvi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 aries disheartened, and determine to withdraw from Britain. — 
 Laurentius' pious fraud. — Edwin, King of Northunibria, em- 
 braces Christianity. — Northunibria and Midland Britain evan- 
 gelized by means of the British clergy. — Essex and East Anglia, 
 and nearly all England, christianized by the same means. — 
 South Britain partly converted by Romish missionaries. — 
 Theodorus appointed to the See of Canterbury. — His imperious 
 conduct. — Sad state of religion among the Saxons. — Synod of 
 Clovcshoo. — Efforts to reform the Church abortive. — Oifa, King 
 of Mercia. — Eeasons for his hostility to the Church. — Engages 
 to pay Peter pence to the Pope. — Continued independence of 
 the British Church. — Wilfrid. — Disputes respecting Easter. — 
 Corrupt state of the Church of Rome. — Especially of the Popes. 
 Increase of superstitious practices. — Council of Celychyth. — 
 The subject of Monachism there first debated. — Ethelwulf, his 
 zeal for the Church and the Pope. — Endows the Church with 
 tithes. — Is deposed. — Alfred opposed to the Pope's pretensions. 
 ■ — Reforms the Church. — Patronises Letters. — Athelstan intro- 
 duces Church shot. — Dunstan. — Enforces the celibacy of the 
 clergy. — Founds the Abbey of Glastonbury. — Maintains the in- 
 dependence of the British Church.— Elf ric, his Homilies. — 
 State of religion in England. — Also at Rome. — Many popes at 
 the same moment. — The clergy ignorant and debased. — William 
 the Conqueror. — Firmly resists the Pope. — Right of investiture, 
 what. — William Rufus defies the Pope's threats. — Traffics in 
 bishoprics and abbeys. — Henry I. maintains his right as head 
 of the Church. — Stephen, his subserviency to the Pope. — 
 Henry II. at first resists the Pope. — Convenes the Council of 
 Clarendon. — The Constitutions of that Council, what. — Alex- 
 ander III. protests against them. — Thomas a Becket, his con- 
 duct thereon. — Treats the King with contempt. — Is adjudged 
 guilty of treason. — Appeals to Rome. — His insolence to the 
 King. — Is slain at Canterbury. — Henry submits to humiliating 
 conditions. — Does penance at the shrine of Becket. — Pope's 
 power supreme in England. — Innocent III., his arrogant con- 
 duct towards King John, in the case of Stephen Langton. — 
 Places England under an Interdict. — Excommunicates the 
 King. — Offers the Crown to Philip. — Randolph arrives in 
 England. — Prophecy of Peter the Hermit. — John's degradation 
 and submission. — Struggle between John and his Barons. — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 Magna Charta. — Langton refuses to excommunicate the Barons. 
 — Extreme arrogance of Innocent III. — Forbids the laity the 
 reading of tlie Scriptures in English. — The Church of Eugland 
 falls beneath the power of Rome .... 72 — 114 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The power of Rome begins to decline throughout Europe. — Causes 
 for this decline. — Boniface VTII. surpasses all his predecessors 
 in arrogance. — His quarrel with Philip the Fair. — His miser- 
 able end. — The papal residence transferred to Avignon. — Con- 
 tinues there for seventy years. — Clement, his haxighty conduct. 
 — Struggle between rival popes. — Its consequence. — How fatal 
 to Popery, and beneficial to true , religion. — Monachisra, its 
 system undermines the power of the Pope. — The mendicants 
 ih-aw on them the hatred of all classes. — Oxford first opposes 
 them. — John Wiclilfe.— Scholastic tlieolog)% what. — Is openly 
 resisted by Wicliffe.— Edward III. opposes the Pope's pre- 
 tended rights in England. — Wicliffe writes in defence of the 
 King. — Has a strong party to support him. — Is accused of 
 heresy.— Appears before a Council at St. Paul's. — And at Lam- 
 beth. — No decision against him, and why. — He -ivi-ites do\TO 
 the doctrine of the Pope's infallibility. — Translates the Bible. 
 — The people's eagerness to possess and read the Scriptures. — 
 Testimony of a Roman Catholic writer. — Wicliffe attacks the 
 doctrine of Transubstantiation. — Lollards, why so called. — Are 
 persecuted in England. — Articles exhibited against Wicliffe. — 
 His expulsion from Oxford. — Retires to Lutterworth. — His 
 death. — Effects of his writings on the Continent. — Henry IV., 
 his severity against the teachers of the "New Doctrines." — 
 Archbishop Arundel, his cruelty towards them. — Oxford visited 
 by twelve inquisitors. — Libraries pillaged. — Lord Cobliam ar- 
 raigned for heresy. — Convicted and burnt. — Council held at 
 Constance. — Condemns John Huss. — And Jerome of Prague. — 
 Witluliaws the cup from the laity. — Infamous order respecting 
 the bones of Wicliffe. — How this Council disappointed public 
 expectation. — Council of Basle denies the Pope's supremacy. — 
 The Reformation advances. — Art of" printing ; its providential 
 iliscovery. — Immorality of the Popes. — Leo X. ; how infamous. 
 — Publishes his license for the sale of indulgences. — John Tctzel. 
 
xxvili 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 — Martin Luther opposes this iniquitous sale. — Burns the Papal 
 bull. — Diet of Worms comlemus him. — Mclanchthon and 
 Zui;igle carry forward the Reformation. — Protestants, where 
 and why so first called: — Present tlieir Confession of Faith at 
 tlie Diet of Augsburg. — Diflereuces between them and Roman 
 Catholics irreconcilable. — League of Sinalcald, what. — Peace 
 concluded with the Protestants at Kuremburg . . 115 — 135 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Reformation in Germany anxiously regai-ded by England. — 
 Books and Tracts wiilely spread. — Tindall's Tran.slatiou of the 
 New Testament circulated. — Henry VIII. unexpectedly for- 
 wards tlie Reformation. — His scruples respecting liis marriage. 
 — Employs Craumcr in the matter of the divorce. — Refers it to 
 the Pope. — Clement VII., his cautious cunning. — Henry re- 
 solves to act independently. — Proclaims his divorce, and marries 
 Ann Boleyn. — Advances Cranraer to the primacy.— Declares 
 himself head of the Church. — Tlie Parliament asserts the inde- 
 peudeuee of England. — Payment of Peter-pence forbidden. — 
 The King's letter to the clergy, what. — His resumption of the 
 ancient prerogative of British monarchs. — Suppresses many 
 religious houses. — How disposes of their lands. — Origin and 
 evil effects of lay impropriations. — Cranmerand Latimer, how 
 opposed to them. — Miles Coverdale publishes the Bible in Eng- 
 lish. — Injunctions to the clergy, wliat. — Cranmer's Bible. — His 
 Ten Articles, liow imperfect. — Tlie King's waywardness. — 
 Bishop Gardiner and the Six Articles. — Cranmer opposed to 
 them. — Popery triumphs for a time. — Henry's mind is poisoned 
 against tlie Protestants. — Cromwell's disgrace and execution. — 
 Effect of this persecution on Cranmer. — Utterly rejects the 
 doctrine of Transubstantiation. — His summary of Doctrine. — 
 How in accordance with the ancient faith. — The King again 
 supports the Reformers. — His proclamation for the circulation 
 of tlie Scriptures. — Bishop Bonner endeavours to counteract it. 
 — The Reformation, how ailvanced by the King's marriage with 
 Catherine Parr. — Gardiner's Jesuitical proposal respecting the 
 English Bible. — How negatived by Cranmer. — I mage- worship 
 prohibited by Convocation. — The Pope's name is expunged from 
 the Liturgy. — Bishop Bonner forced to forbid dramatic exhibi- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xxix 
 
 tions in churches. — Henry still shows himself but lialf a Pro- 
 testant. — Restricts the free reading of the Scriptures. — The 
 King's Book, what attempts made to ruin Cranmer. — Severity 
 of the Six Articles mitigated. — Romanists succeed in altering 
 the law of succession in favour of Mary. — A fresh conspiracy 
 against Cranmer. — Is protected by Henry's favour. — Who now 
 forwards the Reformation to the utmost of his power. — Gardiner 
 falls into disgrace. — The Duke of Norfolk is imprisoned. — Earl 
 of Surrey is beheaded. — Death of King Henry. — His friendship 
 for Cranmer. — Miserable state of the Church . . 13G — 15-1 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Henry's death, why not lamented by the Reformers.— Political con- 
 siderations the moving spring of his conduct. — Edward VI., 
 his youtliful piety. — Calls for a Bible at his coronation. — Com- 
 missioners conduct the Government. — Their difficult duties. — 
 Their prudence. — Council of Trent — Disappoints the hopes of 
 all parties. — Reformers of the Church of England act diflerently. 
 — Attack at once the idolatry of the Church of Rome. — 
 Injunctions against image worship and sln inrs. — Costliness of 
 Becket's shrine. — Pulpits ordered to be iiro\ ided. — Ten Com- 
 mandments put up in Churches. — Indignation of Gardiner and 
 the Papists. — Cranmer publishes Twelve Homilies. — On what 
 subjects. — Every parish ordered to provide a Bible and Eras- 
 mus's Paraphrase. — Cranmer's Catechism. — Ha]ipy consequence 
 of the knowledge thus imparted. — Subject of the mass inquired 
 into. — A commission issued for preparing a new form of admin- 
 istering the sacrament. — Prudent conduct of the Commissioners. 
 — Condemn "solitary" and "satisfactory masses. " — The sacra- 
 ment no longer to be administered in the Latin tongue. — Otiice of 
 the communion arranged. — The Roman Missal, what. — How di- 
 vided.— Mass of the Catechumens. —Mass of the Faithful.— A 
 prayer from the Jlass and Breviary. — The Decalogue revised, 
 and the Second Commandment restored.- The Liturgy next 
 examined. — Ancient British Liturgy, whence derived.— How- 
 corresponding with the present Church Liturgy.— Bidding 
 prayers, what. — Scripture selections restored to the service. — 
 Variety of sendees.— How Corrupted.— The two sacramental 
 offices especially.— Absolving power of the priests, and con- 
 
XXX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 fession, how abused. — The Reformers commence with the recon- 
 struction of the daily services. — Their ground-worl;, what.— The 
 foreign divines help in this work. — To what e.^tent. — The 
 absolution whence borrowed. — The morning service, of what 
 composed. — The burial service arranged. — How opposed to the 
 doctrine of Purgatory. — Book of Common Prayer and Offices 
 completed. — Act of Uniformity passed for his adoption. — 
 Singing Psalms authorized in Churches. — ^Vyatt's and Steru- 
 hold's Collection. — The new Liturgy is first brought into use. — 
 How evaded by some of the clergy. — A royal visitation com- 
 manded in consequence. — Several abuses and coi-ruptions cor- 
 rected.— Markets held in churchyards. — The Princess Mary 
 refuses to conform. — Appeals to the Emperor against the order 
 of council. — Is left unmolested. — Romish emissaries stir up the 
 peasantry to resist. — Especially in Devon and Cornwall.— 
 Humiilirey Arundel beads the rebels. — Lord Russell sent against 
 them. — Negotiation entered into. — Arundel proposes eight arti- 
 cles. — Insists on the re-enactment of "the Bloody Act." — 
 Negotiation broken off. — Insurgents are attacked and defeated. 
 — Bonner, Bi.shop of London, his character. — Is commanded 
 to preach at Paul's Cross. — Is denounced by Hooper and 
 Latimer. — Brought before a commission. — His insolence and 
 obstinacy. — Is deprived of his bi.shopric and imprisoned. — A 
 great blow to the Romanists. — How counterbalanced. — Down- 
 fall of the Protector Somerset. — Earl of Warwick, his successor, 
 sides with the Reformers. — The Reformation is nearly over- 
 thrown in Germany. — Artifice of the Emperor Charles. — The 
 " Interim," what. — Is rejected by the Elector of Saxony. — The 
 German Reformers are invited to England. — Bucer and Peter 
 Martyr made professors at O.xford and Cambridge. — Contro- 
 versy at O.xford respecting Transubstantiation. — Dr. Tres- 
 liani is baffled by Peter Martyr.— Bucer also at Cambridge 
 disputes successfully with the Romanists. — A fresh order in 
 council issued against the Papists. — Office of the ordinal drawn 
 up. — Minor orders are rejected. — What retained. — Various 
 superstitious practices discontinued. — The interrogatory part of 
 the ordination service, how altered. — Objections against the 
 question put to deacons, answered. — Absolving power of the 
 priests, how limited m the ordination service. — Also in the 
 visitation service for the sick. — Power of "binding" and 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xxxi 
 
 "loosing" explained. — Liturgical Commissioners complete 
 their labours. — State of public feeling. — Cranmer's wise policy. 
 — Determines to cnib the discordant opinions of the day. — 
 Reasons for establishing a public Confession of Faith. — Defects 
 of tlie German Confessions. — Unsuccessful attempts to unite 
 the British and German Reformers. — Cranmer limits his plan 
 to the former. — Proceeds to draw up articles of faith. — By 
 whom assisted. — Inquiry as to their Calvinistic tendency. — • 
 Subsequent alterations, what. — Forty-two articles are approved 
 by Convocation. — Subscription required of the clergy. — Wlien 
 revised. — Paley's opinion of their usefulness. — Commendation 
 of the Reformers. — God's special blessing on their labours.— 
 Character and stability of the Cliurch of England . 155 — 195 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Recapitulation of the whole subject.— Points already proved. — The 
 pure faith triuniplis. — The Reformers adhere to the Scriptures. 
 — The rule adopted by them in reforming the Clmrch, what. — 
 Preface to the Boole of Common Prayer directs to the ancient 
 Fathers as the standard of Protestant faith and wor.«hip. — 
 Charge of novelty no longer of any force against the Church of 
 England. — Addi'ess to Roman Catholics and Protestants. — Con- 
 clusion 196—203 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. Letter from the Earl of Manchester to his son, Mr. Montague, 
 
 on changing his religion 205 
 
 No. II. Ancient Churches of the Vaudois, and Syro-Christians in 
 
 India 222 
 
 No. III. The ancient universities of England shown to be not of 
 
 Roman Catliolic foundation 226 
 
 No. IV. A Protestant's Reasons for the independence and Pro- 
 testantism of the ancient British Church .... 233 
 No. V. Differences between the Churches of England and of Rome 238 
 No. VI. St. Jerome on Matt. xvi. 19 . . . - . . 239 
 No. VII. B. Gi-egory on the Pope's Supremacy . . . 241 
 No. VIII. Protest of the British Bishops in the ancient Cornish 
 
 language . 241 
 
 No. IX. Additional notices respecting the present state of Perran- 
 zabuloe 242 
 
DOORWAY OF PERRANZABULOE CHCRCH AS IT APPEARFD IN 1S35. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 "Regarded as a building, what is there to engage our attention] You 
 would not find a house perhaps in the neighbourhood which would not, 
 as a mere building, be more attractive. What then is it, which in this 
 building inspires the veneration and affection it commands ? We have 
 mused upon it, when its grey walls dully reflected the glory of the noon- 
 tide sun. We have looked upon it from a neighbouring hill, when bathed 
 in the pure light of a summer's moon, — its lowly walls and tiny tower 
 seemed to stand only as the shell of a large and ruder monument, amidst 
 the memorials of the dead. Look upon it when and where we will, we 
 find our affections yearn towards it ; and we contemplate the little parisli 
 church with a delight and reverence that palaces cannot command. 
 Whence then arises this] It arises not from the beauties and ornaments 
 of the building, but from the thoughts and recollections associated vnth 
 Molesworth's Sunday Reader, No. 1. 
 
 The stranger, wlio, in that joyous season, wlion all nature 
 is bursting into life, traverses the lovely scenes of southern 
 
 A 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 Devon, and with thouglits still glowing with the recollection 
 of her soft and verdant valleys, her deeply-embowered 
 lanes, her meadows enamelled with a thousand flowers, 
 crosses the dark waters of the Tamar, and from its wooded 
 and high-towering hanks, hears with him the further re- 
 membrance of her more romantic and sterner beauties — Oh ! 
 let him say, in the warmth of his recollections, as he 
 approaches the north-western coast of Cornwall, how wild 
 and cheerless is that long, bleak, barren belt of sand that 
 girds the shore of Perran's Bay ! The intervening moors, 
 through which he has reached that desolate district, are, 
 of themselves, sufficiently uninviting to any admirer of 
 nature's more attractive scenery — and yet are they not 
 altogether destitute of interest — the purple heather, and the 
 gorse's saffron blossoms, and the busy hum of bees, as they 
 collect their golden treasure from the fragrant thyme, give 
 life and animation to the scene, — and many a relic of olden 
 times, which still tells of Cornish prowess, or Cornish 
 superstition, emploj's the thoughts, and serves to invest 
 with a peculiar interest those uncultivated moorlands 
 which on every side terminate the prospect, and almost 
 without the aid of poetic fiction — • 
 
 " immeasurably spread. 
 
 Seem leng^thening as you go." 
 
 Yet these moors, wild and interminable as they appear, 
 stand out in striking rehef to the sea-girt tract that now 
 hounds the way. What is there here to gladden the heart 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 3 
 
 of the passing stranger? Not a tuft of verJure refreshes 
 his wearied sight — not a tree lifts up its branches to offer 
 him its friendly shade — even the gorse and the heather, 
 those children of the desert, refuse any longer to bear him 
 company ; he pursues his solitary way — waste after waste 
 of undulating sand meets him at every step — and the 
 hollow moan of the Atlantic waves, as they lash the dis- 
 tant Cligga,^ or sullenly retire from the adjacent shore, 
 falls upon his ear in sounds responsive to the wildness of 
 the place. All nature is here in a garment of sadness. 
 The very birds of heaven avoid the spot, and the sea-mews, 
 soaring on high, scream piteously over this region of 
 desolation, and with hasty wing betake themselves to the 
 rocks and the waves, as less wild and less unfriendly. 
 The stranger passes on — he quickens his step — and with 
 anxious gaze looks forward to the termination of this 
 tedious way. But a tract, if possible still more forbidding, 
 rises before him with increasing barrenness. A succession 
 of sand hills, varying in their elevation, enclose him in on 
 every side, and by intercepting his view of the sea iu some 
 parts, casting their dark shadows on it in others, stamp on 
 every quarter the character of more than ordinary lone- 
 liness and melancholy. Yet it is a spot full of the deepest 
 interest — a solitude of the most heart-stirring recollections ! 
 Oh, stranger, whoever thoii art, " put off thy shoes from 
 thy feet — thou treadest on holy ground !" — thou standest 
 over a sacred memorial of bygone days ! Dear to every 
 
 1 A rocky point in Pui ran's Bay. 
 
4 
 
 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 faithful son of England's Church, are the very stones that 
 moxilder here. Surely they ■w'ould lift up their voices, 
 though History's page were silent — they would cry out of 
 the dust, though their story had not been emhalmed in the 
 memories of Cornishmen, who have handed down from 
 generation to generation the imperishable record of their 
 ancient glory. Eut history is not silent, and popular 
 tradition, confirmed hy antiquarian research, has long 
 pointed to Perranzabuloe, as the site and sepulchre of an 
 ancient British Church, founded at a very remote period, 
 flourishing for a succession of ages in the midst of a very- 
 fertile district, and dispensing to a rude but rehgious people 
 the blessings of Christianity, in its simplest form of primi- 
 tive puiity. At that distant day, the northern boundary 
 of the extensive Hundred of Pj-dar yielded to none other 
 in Cornwall, either in the fertility of its soU, or the 
 abundance of its produce. Alas ! how has " the fruitful 
 place become a wilderness," and " the pleasant portion a 
 a desolation !" 
 
 At the time when Cliristianity was first introduced into 
 Cornwall, the people, like all the other inhabitants of the 
 British islands, were devoted to the strange religion of the 
 Druids, a religion that seems to have been a singular com- 
 bination of the worship of many gods, with a belief in one 
 God. They beheved in some great universal Intelligence, 
 and at the same time worshipped the Host of Heaven. 
 Yet the sun, the moon, and the stars, were not the only 
 objects of their veneration — the sublimest and wildest 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 5 
 
 objects of nature were transformed into so many deities. 
 Rocks and cataracts, and torrents, and stately oak trees, 
 were all the abode of some supernatural intelligence. Tlieii' 
 priests, combining in themselves all political as well as 
 religious authority, offered human sacrifices on every altar. 
 Cornwall, from the natural boldness and wildness of its 
 scenery, seems to have been more than any other portion 
 of Britain the favourite seat of Druidism. Hence the 
 numerous altars, circles, basins, and cromlechs, which still 
 abound in that interesting country, — -and which, through 
 its length and its breadth, from Tintagel to Castle Treryn, 
 — from the frowning rocks of Carn-bre " to Duloe's dark 
 stream," proclaim, by their number and their magnitude, 
 "there were giants in those days." 
 
 The people, no doubt, partook of the savage wildness of 
 their rugged mountains, and the barbarous character of 
 their inhuman creed; and though their intercourse with 
 the Phoenician merchants must have largely contributed 
 to their civilization, and have rendered them more easily 
 accessible to those early missionaries, who offered them a 
 merchandise better than of silver or gold, still they did not 
 readily relinquish a religion that was so blended with their 
 national feelings and institutions, and so closely associated 
 with their wild and romantic scenery, and therefore were 
 slower than the other inhabitants of Britain in embracing 
 the humbling doctrines of a meek and crucified Saviour. 
 At what moment Christianity was first planted in Corn- 
 wall, historians are by no means agreed. It is, however, 
 
6 
 
 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 probable tliat it •A'as introduced early rii the third century, 
 for we find that soon after the Saxons landed in Britain, 
 and spread their conquest from east to Avest, " the Cornish 
 purchased, by an annual tribute, from Cerdocius, permis- 
 sion still to exercise the rites of the Christian religion.^ 
 We also know that, about the middle of the fourth century, 
 Solomon, Duke of Cornwall, openly professed Christianity ; 
 and there is little doubt but that the true faith must have 
 made great progress there, even at that early day, inasmuch 
 as the nobles, clergy, and people were, at the end of this 
 century, " living happily together in the bonds of Christian 
 unity." 3 
 
 The first Cornish Apostle, of any note, was Corantinus 
 (now called Cury), born in Brittany, who fir^ preached 
 to his own countrymen, and then to the Irish, tQl being 
 violently expelled from that island, he passed over into 
 Cornwall, and settled at last at the foot of a mciuntain, 
 called Menehont,'' was consecrated bishop by St. IMartin, 
 Bishop of Tours, and had the satisfaction of converting 
 almost the whole of CornAvall before his death, a.d. 401.^ 
 Scarcely was Corantinus gathered to his fathers, when a 
 more celebrated man than himself landed in Cornwall, and, 
 from his extraordinary sanctity, acquired the highest repu- 
 tation amongst the people. 
 
 This illustrious man was Piranus, born of noble parents, 
 
 'i Riulbnrnc's Cliron, lib. ii. ch. i. Hist. Maj. Wintou. Augl. Sac. i. 187. 
 3 Whitaker, sect. 1. p. 32. 
 
 Supposed to be Menlienniot, near Liskear'L 
 6 Borlase, Antiq. p. 369. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 7 
 
 iu tlie county of Ossory in Ireland, a.d. 352, where he 
 passed the first thirty years of his age, leading a life of 
 strict morality, though not yet converted to the Christian 
 faith. About the year 382, his conversion having been 
 effected by the conversation of a Christian laic,® he deter- 
 mined to visit liome, where he heard that that faith into 
 which he had long desired to be baptized was sincerely 
 taught and faithfully practised. He accordingly went to 
 the imjDcrial city, was fiu'ther instructed in the Christian 
 religion, and then baptized. He devoted some years 
 afterwards to the diligent study of the Scriptures, the 
 collecting of books, and the practice of Christian virtues, 
 when, according to the Irish historians, he was ordained 
 bishop, and sent back to Ireland, in company with five 
 other holy priests, who were all afterwards bishops ; viz. 
 Lugacius, Coluniban, Meldanus, Lugad, and Cassan. 
 
 His first residence was in the heart of Ireland, in a 
 place encompassed Avith woods and morasses, close to a 
 lake called Fuaran : here he built himself a ceU for his 
 habitation, to which his sanctity attracted such multitudes, 
 that a town Avas at last built there, called Saiger, "now, 
 from the name of the saint, commonly called Sierkeran.'' 
 Here, he showed all concord, and subjection, and disciple- 
 ship to St. Patrick, present or absent," and Avas very 
 successful in conA^erting that savage peojjle ; and, among 
 
 6 \'id. Usher, John of Tinmouth, and Britan. Sancta, 
 
 ' " St. Kieian is called by the Britons I'iran, by a change of letters usual ia 
 their language ; some Latins call him Queranus." Brit. Sanct. p. 154. 
 
8 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 others, his mother, called, according to Usher, Liadan ; 
 or, with greater probability, according to Leland,8 "Win- 
 gela, and all his family, who constituted the clan of the 
 Osraigi. 
 
 In confirmation of his doctrine, and in testimony of 
 his sanctity, his chroniclers assert that God was pleased 
 to work great miracles by his hands ; and so great was his 
 renown, that his cell was daily thronged with visitors 
 from all parts of Ireland, whose numbers and of&ciousness 
 became at last so intolerable to the saint, that giving out 
 that he had received a divine call, and was desirous of 
 preparing himself for his latter end by a more perfect re- 
 tirement from all worldly distractions, he passed over into 
 Cornwall," taking with him his mother, and Breaca, Sin- 
 ninus, Germochus, la, and many others, who, landing at 
 St. Ives, dispersed themselves over the country, and 
 acquired such veneration among the people, on account 
 of their piety, that the Cornish have consecrated almost 
 all their towns to the memory of Irish saints : " witness," 
 says Camden, " St. Burian, St. Ives, St. Columb, St. 
 Mewan, St. Erben, St. Eval, St. "Wenn, and St. Enedor."^ 
 
 These holy missionaries, who accompanied Piranus, took 
 different directions ; some went to the north, and others 
 to the south, " while la remained at Pendinas on the 
 
 9 Lel.ind, Itin. III. 195. 
 
 ' There is an absurd tradition current in the country, that says he was 
 obliged to float over to Cornwall upon a millstone, as St. Petroc floated to 
 Padstow upon an altar. 
 
 1 John of Tinmouth. 
 
PERRA NZA D UL OE. 
 
 9 
 
 west, and Piranus went to tlio east, and settled himself in 
 a district near the sea, that is now known by the name 
 ^ Perranzabuloe," or St. Pieran in the Sand. ^ 
 
 Here the holy man fixed his abode close to a spring of 
 water, that still bears his name, but which was anciently 
 called Fenton Berran. Wliile " from this well he drew 
 his beverage,"' he daily refreshed the multitudes who 
 thronged around him with the living waters of eternal life, 
 — instructed the ignorant, confirmed the weak, and earnestly 
 exhorted them to turn from their dumb idols and worship 
 their spiritual God in spirit and in truth. But it was 
 not only iliat " knowledge which maketh wise unto sal- 
 vation" that Piranus imparted to them from the pure 
 word of God — from the abundant stores of a highly culti- 
 vated mind he instructed them in many of those elements 
 of knowledge that are adapted to the purposes of common 
 life — more especially communicating to them the art and 
 mystery of working and reducing from their oxides the 
 metals which abound in that neighbourhood. So that, 
 with good reason, the Cornish miners have always regarded 
 with peculiar veneration the name of Piranus, as their 
 tutelary saint and benefactor. Even at this day his 
 memory is cherished throughout Cornwall, Avhere, on the 
 5 th of March, the " tinners keep his feast, and hold a fair 
 
 2 Perranzatuloe takes its name from 'Tiranus in sahiilo," Piran in the fine 
 sand (aabulum). In the ancient Cornish language it is " Pier.an in Treth." In 
 tlie Lib. Val. ot Hen. VIII. it is called Piran in Zabulo ; while in Tanner's Not. 
 Men. it is called Piran-Sanz. 
 
 S Tonkins' MS. as quoted by Borlase. 
 
lO 
 
 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 on the same day near his Church," ^ " being allowed money 
 to make merry withal, in honour of St. Piranus,"^ their 
 benefactor. 
 
 A benefactor he was in truth to the souls and bodies 
 of thousands whose ignorance he enlightened, whose faith 
 he strengthened, and among whom he left a pure, simple, 
 unadulterated form of Christian worship, such as became 
 a Church as yet uiapolluted by human invention and 
 unscriptural tradition. 
 
 The venerable saint could now, in the decline of years, 
 triumphantly point to the success of his missionary labours ; 
 and having finished his course, and kept the faith, he was 
 ready to depart. Sensible of his approaching end, he 
 called his disciples around him, and, like one of the faith- 
 ful patriarchs of old, calmly but earnestly discoursed to 
 them concerning the kingdom of God — exhorted them to 
 strive earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints — 
 to remember they were members of Christ's mystical body, 
 and therefore " in the liberty where'with Christ had made 
 them fi-ee," were no longer in bondage to any man, to serve 
 any human creature, but Clu'ist their Lord and Head. 
 He entreated them to " search the Scriptures daily," and 
 to consider them their only infallible rule of faith, as being 
 amply sufficient, with the teaching of God's Spirit, to 
 " make them wise unto salvation." He forewarned them 
 of evil days that should arise to the Church of Christ, 
 when, according to the sure word of prophecy, there should 
 
 ■1 Tonkins' ilS 5 Dr. Borlasc 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 II 
 
 come " a falling away first, and tliat man of sin should be 
 revealed, tlie son of perdition, avIio sliould opjjose and 
 exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is 
 "worshipped ; so that he, as God, should sit in the temple 
 of God, showing himself that he is God"^ — when, "the 
 mystery of iniquity should work," " sitting on the seven 
 hills" (of Rome), and " drunk with the blood of the saints, 
 and with the blood of prophets, and of the martyrs of 
 Jesus," " should reign over the kings of the earth," " with 
 all power, and signs, and lying wonders."'' ""And now,"^ 
 con:.duded the dying saint, "'I am going the way of all 
 desh,' and after my departure ' I fear lest by any means, 
 as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your 
 minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
 Christ.' ' Stand fast therefore in the profession of your 
 faith without wavering;' 'and beware lest any man spoil 
 you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition 
 of men, and not after Christ.'^ And be not 'ignorant 
 concerning them Avhich sleep, that ye sorrow not, even as 
 others which have no hope. For if ye believe that Jesus 
 died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in 
 Jesus uiJl God hrinrj witli him.'^ 'Precious in the sight 
 of the Lord is the death of his saints.' 
 
 Such were the Scriptural words of Avarning, comfort, 
 and exhortation, which we may presume flowed from the 
 lips of the holy man, as he poured foj'th. his soul uni.o 
 
 « 2 Thess. ii. 3. ' Rev. xvii. <!: 2 Tliess. ii. 0. 
 
 8 Col. ii. 8. !> 1 Thess. iv. 13. 1 PmI. cx\i. 16. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 death ; then, -^-ith the triumphant composure of one 
 rejoicing in the near prospect of his crown of righteousness. 
 Piran calmly commanded his grave to be dug,* and with a 
 resolute step descending into it, he kneeled down ; there, 
 with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, he meekly sur- 
 rendered his soul into the hands of his Creator. His 
 sorrowing friends re-echoed his dying words, and the 
 vallej's rung with the loud response, — " Blossed are the 
 dead which die in the Lord : yea, saith the Spirit, that 
 they may rest from their labours."^ 
 
 On a spot so dear to memory, as enshrining the mortal 
 remains of the beloved bishop and pastor of their souls, 
 his affectionate flock immediately erected, with their 
 own hands, a church inscribed with his name, and 
 dedicated to the ser\ace of that pure rehgion which he 
 so faithfully taught ; — there the unadulterated word of 
 God was intelligibly read and faithfully expounded ; — 
 there the two sacraments, ordained by Christ himself as 
 generally necessary to salvation, were rightly and duly 
 administered; — there "the incense" of prayer, and "the 
 pure offering" of praise, were daily lifted to that Jfame 
 which already was great among the heathen ; — and there 
 the flame which Piran had kindled in the hearts of 
 Comishmen, burnt brightly and steadily for many succes- 
 sive generations. 
 
 The church of St. Piran, thus erected over the body of 
 so good and great a man became the resort of Cliristian 
 
 - John of Tinmouth, Usher, iiK. ? Rev. xiv. 1?. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 13 
 
 worshippers from all parts of the world, and took a con- 
 spicuous lead in diffusing the light of pure religion 
 throughout the country. The Britons had already become 
 as highly distinguished for the purity 9.nd simplicity of 
 their faith as they had been before for their blind super- 
 stition and barbarous idolatry. " How often in Britain," 
 says Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth century, " did men 
 eat the flesh of their own kind ! iN'ow they refresh their 
 souls with fastings."'* And St. Jerome, writing about the 
 same time, says, with a more direct reference to Cornwall, 
 " the Britons Avho live apart from our world, if they go in 
 pilgrimage, will leave the xcestern "parts, and seek Jerusalem, 
 known to them by fame only, and by the Scripfures." ^ 
 The Scriptures, therefore, were, without doubt, freely 
 circulated, and as freely read at this early period; and 
 proved, in after times, when the national Church of Britain 
 became overwhelmed with the corruptions of an anti- 
 christian and foreign domination, the two-edged sword 
 with which they repelled the sorceries of the " beast." 
 Armed with this weapon of heavenly temper, long did the 
 Cornish people resist the repeated encroachments of Rome, 
 and refused to surrender their independence, or even to 
 hold any'communion whatever with so corrupt and apos- 
 tate a Church. 
 
 This determined resistance — this spirited assertion of 
 iheir independence, was remarkably exhibited on a question 
 that had already called forth the spirit of defiance from 
 
 * Sorm. on Pentecost. •'^ Epist. ad Marcell.iin. 
 
PERRANZABUL OE. 
 
 the British. Church in general ; namely, the time for keep- 
 ing Easter. The Saxons, who had been conrerted by 
 St. Augustin, following the practice of the Church of 
 Eome, celebrated it on the Sunday next after the Jewish 
 Passover ; while the Cornish, in conformity with all the 
 Asiatic churches, and the' practice of the Apostles them- 
 selves, kept it on the same day as the Jewish Passover 
 was held. Their resolute refusal to comply with the 
 Eomish practice drew upon them, and the British Church 
 in general, the bitterest invectives of their enemies. One 
 historian of the day, in consequence of their refusal, calls 
 them, in common with all the British, " a perfidious nation, 
 a detestable army;"* another denounces them as "a 
 polluted people" (contaminata gens) ; ' and a third declares 
 that the Britons are a wicked and cursed nation, for thus 
 rejecting the practice of Eome.^ Another old writer, 
 in rather milder terms, speaking of the firm adherence 
 of the Cornish, and the people of "West and Xorth 
 TVales (Demecia et Yenedocia), to their ancient faith, 
 says, "Yet are they thought only reprehensible on this 
 account, that always even to this day, they mortally hate 
 the English (Saxons), as if they were by them pro- 
 scribed from their own territories, nor will ttey hold 
 any communion with them more than if they were so 
 many dogs."^ 
 
 After the death of king Arthur, in the fatal battle that 
 
 s Hnntington, p. 187. 
 8 Bcde, Ecel. Hist 
 
 ■ jralmestnrj-, p. 2S. 
 
 9 ilatt. Pans, p. 104. Edit. Frar.cot 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 15 
 
 was fought in Cornwall, a.d. 542, the Saxons prevailed in 
 nearly every part of England, and strove as far as tliey 
 could to extirpate Christianity from the land. The poor 
 Britons, and Christianity together, retreated before their 
 idolatrous invaders, and sought refuge at last in the ex- 
 tremities of the island; so that, in 597, Theonus, arch- 
 bishop of London, and Thadiocus, archbishop of York, 
 seeing all their churches destroyed, their clergy fled into 
 Wales and Armorica, and the Christians everywhere 
 expelled from the country, "retired with other bishops 
 into CornAvall and Wales, where by their labours they so 
 plentifully propagated the Gospel, that they made those 
 parts, especially above all others, glorious by the multitude 
 of their holy saints and learned teachers." ^ 
 
 In the following century, the Saxons being at length 
 converted to Christianity, though the country appears 
 to have been much overrun with monks, the Cornish 
 successfully maintained their ground, and even managed 
 such religious societies as had been founded among them 
 hy rules of their own. This is evident from the reprimand 
 that Geruntius, king of the Cornish Britons, received 
 about this time from Aldhelm, bishop of Sherburn, in 
 consequence of his permitting the monks of Cornwall to 
 use a different tonsure from that of the Eomisli Church. 
 What effect this ecclesiastical censure produced on the 
 king and clergy does not appear ; but, without doubt, it 
 was treated with the contempt it merited; for, "though 
 
 1 Usher, Brit. Eccl, Antiq. 
 
i6 
 
 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 the Saxon bishops pretended a right to direct and rule the 
 Cornish in matters of religion, yet in reality the Cornish 
 were as averse to receive orders from them as from the 
 Saxon princes, Mi-ith ■whom being almost constantly at war, 
 they surrendered neither their civil nor religious rights — 
 coniinuing Christians, hut on the first plan, independent, 
 though persecuted; and esteeming the religion of the 
 English (Saxons) as nothing, the Cornish would no more 
 communicate -with them than with Pagans, accoimting 
 that of the Welsh and iheynselves the otdy true Chris- 
 tianity/'^ 
 
 This noble independence the Cornish maintained with 
 unshaken constancy, till the synod convened by Edward 
 on the death of his father Alfred, a.d. 905, whereat sun- 
 dry provisions were made expressly with the view of re- 
 covering them from what the Saxons called " their errors." 
 By these errors, however, we are to understand, " their 
 re fusing to acknowledge the papal authority."^ 
 
 Tlius it is evident that the Britons in Cornwall resisted 
 the usurpations of Home much longer than the rest of 
 their countrymen, and it was not till the above-named 
 year, 905, that they surrendered any portion of their in- 
 dependence. At that fatal period "Edward the Elder, 
 with the Pope's consent, settled a Bishop's see among 
 them, which, by the Pope's power, then greatly prevailing, 
 in a sliort time reduced them, much against their will to 
 
 2 Usher, Hist Brit. Antiq. p. 1152. 
 
 3 Kapin's Hist. voL L p. 112. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 17 
 
 submit their ancient faith'' to the conduct of papal dis- 
 cipline."^ 
 
 " This bishopric was founded principally for the reduction 
 of the rebellious Cornish to the Eomish rites, who, as they 
 used the language, so they imitated the lives and doctrine 
 of the ancient Britons, neither hitherto, nor long after, 
 submitting themselves to the see apostolic."" 
 
 The see Avas originally fixed at Bodmin, Adelstan heing 
 the first hishop. There it continued till the year 981, 
 \vlien that town being sacked and burnt by the Danes, 
 the bishop removed the see to St. Germans, where it re- 
 mained till 1019, in which year Livingus, abbot of Tavis- 
 tock, and bisliop of Crediton, by his interest with King 
 Canute, prevailed so far as to unite the two bishoprics ; 
 and Leofricus, his successor, alarmed at the ravages com- 
 mitted by the pirates on the open towns of Crediton and 
 St. Germans, removed them hoth to Exeter, in the reign 
 of Edward the Confessor. 
 
 During these dark and troubled times, little is kuov/n 
 of the history of St. Piran's Church, beyond the fact that 
 time did not diminish the reputation of the saint. On the 
 
 * Gibson informs us, in his edition of Camden's Britannia, that' only 
 "three books are known to exist in the ancient Cornish tongue, one of which 
 contains the liistory of our Saviour's passion. Italwayshas 'Chrest'for 'Clirist,' 
 according to tlie ancient Roman way cjf writing ' Chrestus' for ' Cliristus.' By 
 the characters and pictures of this ancient book, it looks like the time of 
 Richard III., or tliereabouts, and positively ddcnniius against the Roman 
 doctrine of Transubstantiation." This fact would induce us to believe that the 
 Cornish rejected the main errors of Popery for a longer jieriod than is generally 
 thought. 
 
 5 Rowland. 
 
 c Fuller's Ch. Hist. Cent. x. b. ii. p. i. 
 
 U 
 
1 8 PERRANZABULOE. 
 
 contrary, liis slu'ine became the resort of devout wor- 
 shippers without number, and princes and nobles did not 
 disdain to kneel at the tomb of the Cornish apostle. 
 Alfred the Great had ever viewed such spots as hallowed 
 ground, and there is little doubt but that it was before the 
 shrine of Piran this pious prince tlirew himself, in fervent 
 adoration, at the time when he visited Cornwall. " Long 
 was he prostrate, offering urgently humble suit to heaven, 
 that an unha23py constitution might not realize his most 
 insupportable apprehensions. On his homeward journey 
 he thought himself relieved."'' Certain it is, tliat in after 
 ages, as the Eomish superstitions increased, and the merit 
 of pilgrimages and of sin-offerings became at once an article 
 of faith and a source of revenue to a corrupt priesthood — 
 so Avere multiplied to an extraordinary extent the rich 
 oblations that were laid on St. Piran's tomb." And it is 
 no insignificant proof of the wealth that was thus accu- 
 mulated even as early as the reign of Edward the Confessor, 
 that at that time a Dean and Canons were established there, 
 and the Chui-ch was endowed with estates and the privi- 
 leges of a sanctuary. It was afterwards considered by 
 Henry I. sufficiently valuable to be made by him a royal 
 gift to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. 
 
 From that distant day, what hand shall lift the veil 
 that for 700 years has concealed St. Piran's Church from 
 
 ' Asserius Menevensis de Vita Alfredi, 40, 
 
 8 Vide a deed in tlie Registi-}' at Exeter, dated liHh. 
 
 > Tanner's Not. Slonast. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 19 
 
 the gaze of adoring crowds % Who shall declare the mys- 
 terious truth that stamps a character of almost incredible 
 fiction on the history of Perranzabuloe % That a church so 
 celebrated in Cornish annals should have disappeared at 
 the very moment when a flood of corruption and supersti- 
 tion was rolling into England from papal Eome — that the 
 very aspect of the adjoining country should have totally 
 changed — that over the face of Nature herself should have 
 ]>assed the withering hand of some mighty catastrophe — 
 these are facts so evident, yet so perplexing, that who shall 
 declare them ? Happily for posterity, history is not en- 
 t irely silent ; and seven centuries have not sufficed to blot 
 out the record of events which religions tradition ("at no 
 time," as it has been well remarked, " so easily lost as that 
 which is purely liistorical has carefully preserved among 
 the inhabitants of Perranzabuloe. While it points with 
 undoubted certainty to the past distinction of the ancient 
 Church — its purity — its stability — its independence — it 
 tells moreover of aggression — repeated, insidious, long- 
 resisted aggression. It speaks of the ruinous effects of 
 natiiral causes — of the overwhelming weight of the great 
 Western Sea, advancing, invading, year after year, this 
 once fruitful district, and gradually breaking down all the 
 ancient barriers that liad for many ages successfully re- 
 .sisted the inroads of the restless Atlantic. It tells of 
 the strenuous exertions of the inhabitants in stemming the 
 i'lvading waters — of the gradual submersion of this devoted 
 
 1 Chntcn.uliriainl's Travels to tlie Holy Land. Iiitrixl. to vol. i. 
 
PERRANZABUL OE. 
 
 portion of Cornwall — it points to the hillocks of sand, as 
 the collected offscouring of the turbulent ocean, Tvhich the 
 north-Avest •n-ind,- " the tyrant of this coast," as Camden 
 calls it,^ sweeping along Tvitli unceasing and accamulating 
 rapidity, has spread over to a great depth the once verdant 
 meadows of this iU-fated parish. Vesuvius has not more 
 effectually thrown its sable mantle of volcanic dust over 
 the city and gardens of Pompeii. Like that unhappy city, 
 the Church of St. Piran was buried, hut not overthrown, 
 — its foundation being on a rock, and its walls compactly 
 though rudely built, it yielded not to the outward pressure, 
 — the fine sand insinuating itself through every aperture, 
 like drifting snow,^ rapidly accumulated around its passive 
 victim, — deeper and deeper yet it thickened on every side, 
 and rising at last above its highest pinnacle, accomplished 
 the total enshrinement of the sacred edifice. The sandy 
 submersion was complete — the overflowing scourge had so 
 effectually done its Avork, that not a trace remained to 
 mark the place of entombment, save a swelling mound 
 that lifted itself unaccountably high in this waste of sand, 
 and seemed to throw an air of probability on those strange 
 tales of the neighbourhood, which, though rife on every 
 Cornish tongue, savoured only of legendary fiction. Tet 
 the neighbouring tinner, as he passed the spot, with rever- 
 
 2 Tills is the ancient Cuurus, a wind which Mr. Sumner, in his Treatise " De 
 Portu Iccio," has shown to be a particular enemy to all such ports as are ex- 
 posed to it. 
 
 3 " Caurus hujus littoris tyrannus. " 
 
 * " Oecursabaut trepidantibus adliuc oculis mutata omnia, altoque cinere 
 tanquam nive obducta." — Plik. Ep. xx. 
 
PERRANZA B UL OE. 
 
 21 
 
 ence trod the holy ground, and seemed to feel, he knew 
 not wherefore, a religious awe as he hastened by.° The 
 very children bowed their uncovered heads, and with 
 quickened pace and suspicious look ran past on the other 
 side ! 
 
 Centuries have rolled away, and the sands have deepened, 
 and the winds and the waves have further encroached ; so 
 that this persecuted "parish but too well brooketh his 
 surname ' in Sabulo for the light sand, carried up by the 
 north vnnd from the seashore, daily continueth his cover- 
 ing and marring the lands adjoinant, so as the distresse of 
 this deluge drave the inhabitants (circiter 1433) to remove 
 their church. "« And we find from another ancient historian, 
 that more than 300 years ago, the parish was " almost 
 drowned with the sea sande that the N". W. Avinde whirleth 
 and driveth to the lande in such force as the inhabitantes 
 have been once already forced to remove their church, and 
 yet they are so annoyde, as they dayly loose their lande." ^ 
 
 Such lias been the melancholy condition of Perranzabuloe, 
 nearly from the time of the Norman invasion, though 
 there is reason to believe that the Church itself was not 
 entirely buried till the twelfth century, — simultaneously, 
 be it remarked, with that far deeper and darker entomb- 
 ment of the more ancient Church of England in the silt 
 and sand of Popish corruption. 
 
 ' " Jam turn Reliijio pavidos terrebat agrcstes 
 
 Dira loei."— Viro. Mil. lib. viii. 349. 
 • Carew's Survey of Cornwall. 
 ' Noraen's Ki^t. of Cornwall, p. 08. 
 
22 
 
 PERRA NZA D UL OE. 
 
 Many have been the attempts made, from time to time, 
 by enterprisiag individiials, to clear aTvay the superincum- 
 bent mass, and to restore to the light of day so interesting 
 a relic of the piety of their forefathers. At times the 
 ■work seemed to prosper in their hands, and at the moment 
 when success had almost crowned their labour, their old 
 enemies, the wares and the winds, would mar the enter- 
 prise — and the Church slept on in her sandy bed. 
 
 At length approached the year 1835, the glorious 
 Tercentenary of the unlocking of the Bible from the 
 tongue in which it had been hidden from the people. It 
 is a curious and memorable coincidence, that, in this same 
 year another treasure, precious to every Cornish Protestant, 
 has also been unlocked, by the single eflforts of a spirited 
 individual — Perranzabuloe, the lost, has been found — the 
 .^^."^d has been set free. A gentleman* of singular 
 enterprise and perseverance, neither deterred by difficulties, 
 nor intimidated by former failures, resolutely put his hand 
 to the work ; and, though the waves foamed on the 
 neighbouring shore, and the winds, with more than 
 accustomed fury " drave and whirled" around Mm the 
 densest clouds of suffocating sand, yet, nothing dismayed, 
 the work advanced — every obstacle was overcome — tQl at 
 la.?t he had the unspeakable honour and happiness of 
 laying open to admiring crowds the ancient British 
 
 ' William Micliell, Esq. of Compregney, near Truro, to whom the author is 
 largely iadehted fur i;i2uy of the particulars Iiere related, euid also for th',- 
 drawings which accompacy the voluice. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 23 
 
 Church, and of jiresenting it, in all its unpretending 
 simplicity, its rude but solid workmanship, to the wonder 
 of antiquarians, and the gratitude of Cornishmen. 
 
 The sand that centuries had been accumulating was 
 carefully removed, and every part of the sacred building, 
 though deeply encrusted with the penetrating dust, was 
 easily restored to its original state ; so that, with the 
 exception of its roof and doors, it was found to be as 
 perfect as when first erected. The masonry of the walls 
 is remarkably rude, but as remarkably solid and compact ; 
 and, Avithout doubt, is one of the earliest specimens of 
 stone building that superseded the mud-wattled walls of 
 the first British Churches.' It appears never to have 
 contained more than two small windows, and probably, 
 like the earliest Irish Churches, a stone roof, admitting it 
 might be some light, or otherwise the service at that early 
 time might have been performed by the light of tapers ; 
 for we learn, from an early historian, that in Achaia, in 
 I'hessaly, and Jerxisalcm, it was the custom to go to 
 prayers when the candles were lighted ; and likewise that 
 in Cappadocia, Cyprus, and Cffisarea, the bishops and 
 presbyters did not expound the Scriptures till after the 
 candles were lighted. This early practice was afterwards 
 converted into two distinct offices in the Greek and Latin 
 Churches : in the former it was called XvyjiKhv, in the 
 latter " lucernarium."^ It is possible, therefore, that this 
 
 ' " Ecclesia Vir{;';a." Spelman Cone. I. p. 71. 
 1 Sod-atcs, Sehul. Hist. Notes to lib. v. \\. 347. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 custom of some of tlie Eastern Chnrclies might have been 
 introduced at Perranzahuloe, and may thus account for the 
 absence of more and larger windows. 
 
 The doorway was found to be in high preservation, 
 neatly ornamented with the Egyptian zigzag, or arrow, 
 having on the keystone of its round-headed arch a tiger's 
 head sculptured, and two human heads on the corbels of 
 the arch. On entering the interior, it was found to con- 
 tain none of the modern accompaniments of a Eoman 
 Catholic place of Avorship. Here Avas no rood-loft for the 
 hanging up of the host, nor the vain display of fabricated 
 relics — no latticed confessional — no sa'cring bell," no 
 daubed and decorated images of the Virgin IMary, or of 
 saints, to sanction the idolatroiis transgression of the 
 second commandment. Here was found nothing that 
 indicated the unscriptural adoration of the wafer, or the 
 no less unscriptural masses for the dead. The most 
 diligent search was made for beads and rosaries, pyxes 
 and agnus deis, censers and crucifixes — not one — not the 
 remnant of one, could be discovered. Strange, that this 
 ancient Church should so belie the Papists' constant appeal 
 to antiquUij — to the faith of their forefatliers — to the old 
 religion ! Strange, that it should, on the contrary, so 
 closely harmonize with that novelty which Cranmer and 
 the Reformers introduced into the doctrine and ritual of 
 the Church of England ! For, in the absence of aU these 
 inventions and wonder-workings of popery, what does this 
 
 2 .\ bell rang before the host. 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 25 
 
 little Cliurcli contain'? At the eastern end, in a plain, un- 
 ornamented chancel, stands a very neat but simple altar 
 tomb ; and in the nave of the Church are stone seats, of 
 the like simple construction, attached to the western, 
 northern, and soiithern walls : with such humble accom- 
 modations were our fathers content, who worshipped God 
 in spirit and in truth ! The Church, originally, contained 
 also a very curious stone font,3 which fortunately has been 
 preserved ; having been removed before the building was 
 irretrieval)Iy buried in the sand. This font was transferred 
 to the second Church, mentioned by Carew and ISTorden, 
 and now stands in the third or present parish church at 
 Lambourne.'' On removing the altar, three skeletons s 
 
 3 Vid. the vignette at flie end of the chapter. 
 When tlie inlinhitants were deprived of their ancient Church, they erected 
 another on tlie otlier side of the valley, about half a mile furtlier otl', close to a 
 brook, which, according to Carew, was considered a protection agaiust the 
 sand. " Howboit," lie observes, " wlien he meeteth with any crossing brooke, 
 the same, by a secret antipathy, restrainetli and barreth bis further encroach- 
 ment tliat way." Unfortunately, this brook was in process of time dried up 
 by the adits made for draining tlie tin mines : and consequently the accustomed 
 protection was taken away. Borlase, in a MS. account of an excursion made 
 in 1755 to this spot, speaks of the second Church as "being then in no little 
 danger, the sands being spread all around it." It stood among the sand-hills, 
 with only a solitary cottage near it, half-buried in the sand, and tho porcli fre- 
 quently so blocked up, that it was with great difliculty admittance could be 
 obtained. It was tlierefore determined, about 63 years ago, to abandon also 
 the second Church, and to build a third, tliree miles off, more in tlie centre of 
 the parisli, at Lambourne, taking for the purpose the pillars, &c. of the second 
 Church. This v/as accordingly done, and the new Church was consecrated by 
 T)r. Fisher, Bishop of Exeter, in 1S05. It consists of a neat tliough low tower, 
 tv/o aisles, and two transepts. The tower of the second Church, according to 
 a sketch of it that is still in existence, was a very fine one. It contained one 
 aisle, and a south transept, with pointed windows, neatly decorated. 
 
 5 The ground around the Clmrcli, when the autlior visited it for the first 
 time in 1835, was strewed with hiuiiau bones, which from time to time had been 
 uncovered by the wind."!, and were bleaching on the sand. Vide Appendix. 
 
26 
 
 PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 were discovered ; one of gigantic dimensions, the second of 
 moderate size, and the third apparently of a female. Xo 
 doubt the former is that of the old saint Piranus^ himself, 
 and the latter his aged mother Wingela. They were care- 
 fully replaced in their narro'w cell ; there, let us hope, to 
 remain undisturbed till that day when " the trumpet shall 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible !"^ 
 
 Such are the particulars attending the discovery and 
 restoration of Perranzabuloe — a discovery most interesting 
 to the lover of antiquarian lore — a restoration invaluable 
 to those who are happily within the pale of the Established 
 Church. Legibly can we read in its history, now that it 
 is scoured and cleared of what so long had defaced its an- 
 cient characters, the image and superscription of our pure 
 and reformed Church — it illustrates, in a manner most 
 literally and strikingly true, the actual condition of the 
 long-lost Church of England at the time of the Eeform- 
 ation — when it was not rebuilt but restored, imrrjed, ami 
 cleansed, from those monstrous errors and incrustations 
 which the Church of Eome, the great Western tyrant, had 
 spread over the walls of our Zion, and by her repeated en- 
 croacliments had at last entombed in the very dust and 
 depth of her own abominations. 
 
 To our Protestant and Eoman Catholic brethren, we 
 
 « "In sabulo positum S. Pirano Sacellum, qui sanctns etiam Hibernicus hie 
 roquicscit." Camden, p. ISO. 
 
 ' The will of Sir Jolm Arundel of Trerice, dated 1431?, contiins this singular 
 bequest : — " Item, lego ad usura Parochiae S'ei Pyerani iu ZabiUu adclaudeu- 
 i... ui caiiud S. Pierani honorifici et meliori niodo quo sciunt." 
 
PERRA NZA B UL OE. 
 
 27 
 
 wtnilil say, in the spirit of congratulation to tlie one, ami 
 of solemn warning to the other — " Behold hpre the pattern 
 of the (dtar of the Lord, Avhich our fathers made, not for 
 Iiiirnt-offeriiir/s nor for sacrifces ; but it is <i. u-itnc><s he- 
 iccen us and you. God forbid that %ve should rebe 
 against the Lord." Joshua xxii. 28, 29. 
 
 AHOIENT srONE FONT IX PERRA NZABULOE CHVRCII, 
 
28 777^ CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 "Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they 
 may be ashamed of their iniquities : and let them measure the pattern. 
 
 "And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the 
 form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out there- 
 of, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the 
 ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof : 
 and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, 
 and all the ordinances thereof, and do them." — Ezek. xliii. 10, 11. 
 
 By tliat pattern, then, wliich our fathers have left us, as a 
 lasting testimony between Protestants and Roman Catho- 
 lics, Ave desire to have our Church measured, and " show- 
 ing " our erring Roman Catholic brethren, in the following 
 pages, " the form of our house," and " the goings out 
 thereof, and the comings in thereof," we will fearlessly 
 answer that old and threadbare question, which, from the 
 days of Cardinal Bellarmine to the present moment, has 
 ever been tauntingly asked, " "Where was your religion 
 before Luther^" by pointing to Perranzabuloe, and by now 
 putting ourselves the question, " Where was that Church 
 before its restoration?" A "latent Church," it is true — • 
 deeply " latent " in the sands of the sea — but not less on 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 29 
 
 that account a Christian Church. Therefore, the stress 
 that Roman Catholics formerly laid on the necessity of a 
 \'isibility for proving the existence of a true Church, is 
 worth nothing— the pattern before us at once settles the 
 question — it is better than a thousand arguments — it 
 demonstrates, beyond all controversy, that a " Church's 
 obscurity is never repugnant to its visibility — nor its visi- 
 bility such as excludes all latency."^ Therefore, though 
 the Church of England may have been " latent " for a time 
 — nay, for 400 years buried in deeper sands than Perran- 
 zabuloe — still she was a Church, still she had the "re- 
 (piisite lineaments of an unaccountable visibility." But it 
 seems that our opponents have all but yielded the argu- 
 ment of visihiUfy, and have broken fresh ground ; and, 
 whilst Luther and the German Eeformers are still anathe- 
 matized as the inventors of a new religion, and Cranmer 
 and the members of the united Church of England and 
 Ireland are branded with the name of schismatics, and the 
 Reformation itself is artfully held up to the Protestant 
 Dissenters as a precedent for that selfsame sin of schism 
 with which they are charged by ourselves ; they arrogate 
 
 1 Tlie reader is particularly requested to peruse with attention a liighly in- 
 teresting letter at the end of tliis volume, from the Earl of Manchester to his 
 son Walter Montague, who had embraced the Romish faith, wherein he most 
 ably confutes this and other arguments used by the Roman Catholics of his day. 
 The author, possessing a manuscript copy of this letter, purjiorting to have 
 been communicated by the said Walter to the Earl of Leicester, had believed 
 it to be the unpublished original ; but since he finds it was printed by Dr.. 
 Hammond, in his second vol. p. 700. He has, however, republished it, from a 
 persuasion that it will not be unacceptable to tlie reader : being an able refuta- 
 tion, from a laymen's pen, of soue of the most plausible argument.s in favour 
 of Roman Catholicism. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 to themselves the credit of antiquity, and fain would per- 
 suade the ■world that Ecmanism is our elder sister by 1500 
 years." Xow antiquity, being justly considered " the voice 
 and practice of men," is an argument of considerable force, 
 and has been made, we are paijif ally conscious, but a too 
 successful claptrap for enmeshing within its folds the 
 young and ardent imaginations of such as are of a high- 
 wrought and romantic turn of mind. Yes, "The old reli- 
 gion, the old religion !" is now the constant cry. " The 
 temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!" was the 
 senseless shout of the apostate Jews of old ; but the prophet 
 pronounced them to be "lying words." ^ "\Ye Protestants 
 re-echo the prophet, and shall " cry aloud, and spare not," 
 so long as we hold in our hands the Bible, the Charter of 
 our liberty. For anji;hing, under the name of Christian- 
 ity, which that blessed book does not recognise, we reject 
 — if not to be found in the book of the law and the 
 testimony, it must be an invention of later date than the 
 book itself The additions accumulated by the Church of 
 Eome are certainly very old, but the foundation against 
 which she has heaped her sandy system mttst he older still. 
 Tliat foundation is the Bible — a*id the Bible is our religion. 
 There our religion was before the days of Cranmer, of 
 
 2 The Roman Catholics generally assume to themselves /our marks of being 
 the true Church : — 1. Unity. 2. Holiness 3. Catholicity. 4. Apostolicity. Bellar- 
 mine records thirteen more, viz. — Antiquity—Duration — Amplitude — Succession 
 of Bishops — agreement in doctrine with the primitive Church — Sanctity of 
 doctrine — Efficacy of Doctrine — Holiness of life — MiracUs — Prophecy — Confession 
 of adversaries — Unhappy end ofenemiei — Temporal felicity. 
 
 3 Jerem. vii. 4. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 31 
 
 Luther, of Wickliffe ! We desire not to prove our religion 
 older than the Bible. And this is "a free challenge be- 
 twixt us. Let the elder have us both : if there be any 
 point of our religion younger than patriarchs and prophets, 
 Clirist and his apostles, the fathers and doctors of the 
 primitive Church, let it be accursed and condemned for an 
 upstart : show us evidence of more credit and age, and 
 carry it."^ 
 
 But in every appeal to the Holy Scriptures, whicli Pro- 
 testants are disposed to make, we are Avell aware how slight 
 is the effect likely to be produced on men who ground 
 their helief of i\iQ Bible itself on their heJief in an infalliljle 
 Church. It is vain to argue thus with Eoraanists, who 
 liave so strangely inverted the whole edifice of religion, as 
 to make the " original foundations of the Church stand 
 upon the spires and pinnacles of the Christian super- 
 structure."* We shall not therefore stop to prove, what 
 has been proved again and again, that the established 
 Church of England claims the love and veneration of her 
 children on the very ground of their belief in the Bible, 
 as a sufficient rule of faith ; but -we will rather endeavour 
 to show, by the evidence of history, that if antiquity is of 
 any value in determining the question (and the Eomanist.s 
 certainly do lay the greatest stress upon it), then tlie 
 Church of England has nothing to fear; she has all the 
 argument in her favour, and may safely challenge a prece- 
 
 ■4 Bishop Hall's Sfrirms Dissuasive from Popery, fol. p. 544. 
 ^ Bl.ancu White's "Pour Man's Preservative." 
 
32 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 dence in tliese realms, if not in Eome itself, on that simple 
 ground alone. And if the higher antiquity of the British 
 Church be established, it mil consequently follow that the 
 Eeformation did not create a new, but found the old reli- 
 gion, and therefore that the assertion of the Romanists, re- 
 peated with so much industry-, that the Church of England 
 sprung out of popery, is a vain imagination, invented for 
 the wicked purpose of " hunting the souls " of God's people, 
 and " causing them to err " from the safe way. 
 
 We deny, therefore, once and again, that the united 
 Church of England and Ireland, either sprung out of 
 popery, or sejmraied, or seceded, dissented, or divided from 
 that Church; and with equal confidence we assert, that 
 she was an established branch of the Catholic Church, 
 apostolical in her foundation, and independent of every 
 other Church, 500 years and more, before popery had any 
 existence whatever in this country — that she was a national 
 Church recognised by the ruling power of the country 136 
 years before the Church of Eome was, and that the supre- 
 macy which the Popes of Home gradually claimed over 
 her, began, continued, and ended in one of the most unjust 
 and presumptuous usurpations to be found in the records 
 of the world. We are also prepared to show, that Protest- 
 antism is so far from being a novelty, that our national 
 ChiKch was a protesting Church 927 years before the Diet 
 of Spire, held a.d. 1529.* These points we wOl now 
 
 6 At this Diet the n.ime of " Protestants" was first given to those Reformers, 
 who there prolesied against the errors and corniptions of the Church of Kome. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 33 
 
 proceed to prove ; and we fearlessly challenge our oppo- 
 nents to "show us evidence of more credit or age." 
 
 At the time when Christianity was first planted in the 
 world, the state of Britain very closely resembled that of 
 Cornwall, as described in the former chapter ; the people 
 were idolaters in the grossest sense of the word, for they 
 seem to have already engrafted on the system of Druidism 
 the most revolting features of Eoman Paganism. Inas- 
 much, however, as the priests never committed any of their 
 mysteries to writing, little is known of the nature of that 
 religion, as celebrated in the rude circles of Stonehenge 
 and Stanton Drewe, or tlie more polished temple of An- 
 date, at Camelodunum, except that it was accompanied 
 with human sacrifices, and the most grotesque rites. 
 
 However historians may differ as to the precise moment 
 of Christianity being introduced into Britain, they are 
 unanimous in stating that the Gospel was first preached 
 here in the very infancy of the Church. Eusebius posi- 
 tively asserts that the apostles themselves first introduced 
 it. Baronius, the Eoman annalist, declares, on the authority 
 <jf an ancient MS. in the Vatican, that the Gospel was 
 iLrst propagated here by Simon Zelotes, the ap>ostle, and 
 Joseph of Arimathea, and that the latter came over a.d. 
 o5, and died here. Callistus makes the same assertion ; 
 and Dorotheus, Bishop of Tjtc, in his " Synopsis of the 
 Apostles," records the landing in Britain of Simon, and 
 states it as a fact that ho was slain and buried here ; and 
 moreover, that Aristobulus, who is mentioned by St. Paul 
 
 c 
 
THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD 
 
 in his Epistle to the Romans, was ordained the first bishop 
 of Britain. 
 
 "William of Malmesbiiry agrees Avith the Vatican MS. in 
 assigning this honour to Joseph of Arimathea, but fixes 
 liis arrival at a later period ; for he declares that he vras 
 sent to Britain by St. Philip, a.d. 61. Lippomanus as- 
 serts, and Xicephorus repeats the assertion, that St. Peter 
 preached also to the Britons ; " for he carried," says the 
 latter, " the same doctrine to the Western Ocean and to 
 the British Isles." 
 
 "Without, however, relying implicitly on any one of 
 these authorities, we are content, on less doubtful testimony, 
 to refer the foundation of our Church to rather a later 
 period, though certainly to apostolic times ; and it is not 
 the fault of the best historical e-\-idence, if we do not succeed 
 in assigning so distinguished an honour to him, who was 
 emphatically the great Apostle of the Gentiles. In the 
 tracts published by the late pious and learned Bishop of 
 Sarum,^ it is most satisfactorily shown, from credible testi- 
 mony, that whilst to the apostles generaUj^, to St. PaiU 
 most especially are we indebted for the foundation of our 
 national Church. The authorities of the first six centuries 
 appear to be so conclusive, the wonder is there can be any 
 longer a doubt on the subject. 
 
 Thus in the first century. Clemens Eomanus, the "in- 
 timate friend and feUow-labourer of St. Paul," declares, in 
 his Epistle to the Corinthians, that he preached the Gospel 
 
 " Er. Burge.ss. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 35 
 
 " oven to the utmost bounds of the west," an expression, 
 ns it is well known to every scholar, that always design- 
 nated, or at least included the British islands. 
 
 In the second century, Irenaeus speaks of Christianity as 
 having been propagated to the utmost hounds of the earth 
 by the apostles ; and specifies the Churches they planted 
 in " Spain, and among the Celtic nations."^ The Celts 
 included the Germans, Gauls, and Britons. TertuUian, 
 who lived in the end of this and the beginning of the third 
 century, says that " the most distant regions had received 
 through the apostles the faith of Christ. He reigns among 
 people whom the Eoman arms have never yet subdued : 
 among the different tribes of Getulia and INIaiuitania, in 
 the farthest extremities of Spain, and Gaul, and Britain.^'s 
 
 In the fourth century, Eusebius says tliat some of the 
 apostles, "passed over the ocean to the British isles 
 and Jerome, in the same century, declares of St. Paul, that 
 " after his imprisonment, having been in Spain, he went 
 from ocean to ocean, and that he preached the Gospel in 
 the western parts."''' In "the western parts" he included 
 Britain, as is evident from a passage in his Epistle to 
 Marcella. 
 
 In the fifth century Tlieodoret mentions the Britons 
 amongst the nations converted by the apostles, and says 
 that St. Paul, after his imprisonment, visited Spain, " and 
 from thence carried the light of the Gospel to other na- 
 
 f Iren. lib. i. ii. 2, 3. 
 
 1 Euaeb. Demonst. Evang. lib. iii. c. 5. 
 
 9 Tert. Apol. c. 7. 
 - De Script. Eecles. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 tions."? He says, moreover, that St. Paul "brouglit sal- 
 vation (oipsXs/av) to the islands that lie in the ocean 
 and that these islands meant the British islands is evident 
 from the description given of them by Chrysostom. " For 
 the British islands which lie beyond the sea, and are in 
 the very midst of the ocean, have felt the power of the 
 word."° 
 
 Our own historian, Gildas the Wise, who lived in this 
 century, also informs us that Cliristianity was introduced 
 into Britain before the defeat of the British Queen Boa- 
 dicea by Suetonius. JSTow as that event took place in the 
 year 61, and the martj-rdom of St. Paul did not ha2:)2-)en 
 before the year 68, it is by no means improbable that the 
 Gospel was introduced by that apostle, between the year 
 58, when he was released from his imprisonment at Eome, 
 and the year 61, when Boadicea was defeated by the 
 Eomans. 
 
 In the sixth century, we have the further evidence of 
 Venantius Portunatus, who in his well-known couplet as- 
 serts that St. Paul sailed across the ocean to the island 
 which the Briton inhabits. 
 
 To these authorities of the first six centuries may be 
 added the later, but very high testimonj' of Archbishop 
 Parker,^ who states his persuasion that St. Paul preaclied 
 the Gospel to the Britons, in the interval between his first 
 and second imprisonment at Rome : and with him agree 
 
 3 In Aunot. 2 Epist. .id Tim. iv. 17. 
 5 Orat. torn. i. 
 
 ■1 Tc'iii. 1. In Ps-ilm ori. 
 c Do Votn.st. Eccl. Brit. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 37 
 
 also tlie opinions of Camden, Uslier, Stillingfleet, Cave, 
 Gibson, Godwin, Rapin, and many others who have closely 
 examined the question, and who are all decided in their 
 belief that 8t. Paul was the founder of the British Church. 
 
 We further learn, from Archbishop Usher, who cites 
 many authorities for his assertion, that St. Paul did not 
 leave the island before he had appointed the first bishop " 
 or bishops, and the other ministers of the Church— that 
 Aristobulus, whose name is to be found in the Epistlj to 
 the Eomans, was the bishop he first appointed — and tliat 
 the three orders of bishop, priest, and deacon, were ar- 
 ranged by St. Paul for the future government of the Church. 
 
 ISTor is it contrary to probability that St. Paul shoidd 
 liave thus visited the remotest peojale in the then known 
 world. His active mind was continually urging him to 
 fresh conquests among the Gentiles. For the space of 
 thirty-five years after his conversion, he seldom tarried 
 long in one place — from Jerusalem, through Arabia, Greece, 
 round about to lUyricum, to Rome, he fully preached the 
 Gospel of Christ, — -"running," says St. Jerome, "from 
 ocean to ocean, like the sun in the heavens, of which it is 
 said, his going forth is from the end of the heaven, and 
 his circuit rmto the ends of it ;" " sooner waniing ground 
 to tread on, than a desire to jjropagate the faith of Christ." 
 
 Nicephorus* compares him to a bird in the air, that in 
 a few years flew round the world ; Isidore,^ the Pelusiot, 
 
 7 Uslior, Brit. Eccks. Antiq. p. 0. 
 8 Lib. iii. c. i. 9 Lib. iii. Eiiist. 170. 
 
38 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 lilcens liim to a " winged husbandman, that flew from place 
 to place to cultivate the world with the most excellent 
 rules aud institutions of life." " And wliile the other 
 apostles did, as it were, choose this or that particular 
 province, as the main sphere of their ministry, St. Paul 
 overran the whole world to its utmost bounds and corners, 
 planting all places where he came with the divine doctrines 
 of the GospeL" ^ Thus the active disposition of the apostle 
 would alone be sufficient to warrant the conclusion, that in 
 his long and various journeys, he would not faU to visit so 
 important a Eoman conquest and colony as Britain. 
 
 But there is one other circumstance that tends to 
 strengthen this probabiHty. It happened that Bran, the 
 father of Caractacus, who was a captive at Eome, went 
 with others of his family to that city as hostages for Hs 
 noble son, a.d. 51. He remained there seven years — be- 
 came a convert to Christianity — and, on his return to 
 Britain, carried the knowledge of the true faith to his 
 savage countrjTuen. St. Paul was sent to Rome, a.d. 56, 
 and remained there a prisoner at large for two years. 
 They were all released at the same time. Here was a 
 singular coincidence between the detention of the British 
 hostages, and the residence of St. Paul at Eome, as a 
 prisoner, who, in all lilcelihood, was the very person through 
 whom the British captive had embraced the Christian 
 faith. But among other reasons for this supposition is the 
 further curious fact, that at this same time were residing 
 
 1 J'l'iff Dr. Cave's Lives of tlic Apostles. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 39 
 
 at Rome two illustrious British ladies, Claudia Eufina, the 
 wife of Rufus Pudens, (celebrated by the poet Martial,^ 
 and of whom also St. Paul makes mention iu the latter 
 part of his Epistle to Timothy,) and Pomponia Grsecina, 
 wife of Aulus Plautius, the lieutenant of Claudius at the 
 time of Boadicea's defeat. The latter of these two ladies, 
 according to Tacitus,^ " was accused of embracing the rites 
 of a foreign superstition, and ever after led her life in deep 
 sadness, and continual melancholy:" " for forty years she 
 made use of no habit but what was mournful, and expressed 
 no sentiment but what was sorrowful." " jSTothing could 
 alleviate her affliction." These being the well-known char- 
 acteristics of a primitive Christian, there is no doubt that 
 " the foreign superstition " of these two ladies was Chris- 
 tianity — and as Pomponia took extraordinary pains for in- 
 troducing the Roman literature among her countrymen, 
 there is great reason for believing that one so seriously 
 impressed would be not less anxious to carry the Scriptures 
 among them, and perhaps in persuading St. Paul to under- 
 take the journey to her country. 
 
 Joining then these several facts and probabihties to- 
 gether, there is abundant testimony for asserting that St. 
 Paul preached the Gospel in Britain, or if not, that the 
 British Church was planted by some one of the apostles, 
 though whether by Simon Zelotes, or St. Peter, or St. 
 Paul, does not in the least affect the question of its apos- 
 
 " "Claudia, Rufo, ineo imbit peregrin i PuJenti." 
 3 Vide Tacit. Annal. lib. xiii. c. S2. 
 
40 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 tolical foundation. And if it be true that St. Paul ar- 
 ranged the government of the British Church, by the settle- 
 ment of the three orders of the priesthood, and by ordaining 
 to the Episcopate of Britain, Aristobulus, it follows as a 
 matter of well-proved Mstory, that the Church of Britain 
 was fully settled and established before the Church of 
 Rome ; for Linus, as will be presently shown, being the 
 first Bishop of Eome, was appointed by the joint authority 
 of St. Paul and St. Peter, in the year of their martyrdom ; 
 and therefore certainly after St. Paul's return from Britain. 
 
 But the Eomanists affirm that St. Peter was Bishop oi' 
 Eome for twenty-five years : this is mere assumption. By 
 St. Paul's account, while " the Gospel of the uncircumcision 
 was committed to himself;" "the Gospel of the circum- 
 cision" was committed to St. Peter. Agreeable to this 
 divine arrangement, and in accordance with the histoiy of 
 the New Testament, we find that his services were chiefly 
 confined to Judea and Samaria. Antioch was his peculiar 
 charge — there it was that St. Peter, " who seemed to be a 
 pillar," thougli he had learnt by the vision of tlie vessel, 
 that the partition wall between Jew o,nd Gentile was broken 
 down, yet on a sudden most unaccountably withdrew from 
 all converse with the uncircumcised — for which he brought 
 down on himself the severe animadversion of St. Paul. 
 wliQ " withstood him to the face, because he Avas to be 
 blamed," and publicly reproved him. 
 
 St. Luke, wlio wrote the Acts of the Apostles, relates 
 
 •1 Ejiist. to Galat. ii. 11 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 several transactions of St. Peter in Judea and Palestine 
 (Acts X. xi. xii.) wliich happened at the very time when, 
 according to the Romanists, lie was sitting bishop at E.ome, 
 in the second year of Claudius. Now Luke himself was 
 a witness of the tilings done at Eonie — and yet nowhere 
 connects St. Peter with any of them. It is therefore clear, 
 that from the clay of our Lord's ascension, to the time 
 when he received the apostle's rebuke at Antioch, a.d. 50. 
 Peter had not visited , Rome ; for if he had, surely St. 
 Luke would not have omitted so important an event in 
 the Acts of an Apostle, having therein recorded other 
 journeyiiigs of the same apostle of far less moment. 
 
 About the year 53, towards the end of Claudius' reign, 
 St. Paul is thought to have addressed liis Epistle to the 
 Church at Pome, wherein he devotes almost one Avhole 
 chapter to saluting different persons, — amongst whom it 
 might reasonably have been expected St. Peter would 
 have occupied the first place ; and even supposing that St. 
 Peter was at this time absent from Pome, preaching in 
 some other parts of the west, yet we are not sure that St. 
 Paul was acquainted with this fact — and if he Avas, it is 
 still more strange that in so large an epistle he should 
 neither directly nor indirectly have alluded to their bishop. 
 Nay, St. Paul intimates his earnest desire to visit them, 
 that " he might impart unto them some spiritual gift, to 
 the end that they might be established in the faith ;" for 
 which, there surely could have been no necessity, if St, 
 5 Rom, i. n. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Peter was already over them and witli them. It would 
 have been an undue interference Avith another man's bish- 
 opric, that St. Paul, the great advocate of Church order 
 and discipline, would have been the last to countenance. 
 
 Three years after this, St. Paul is sent a prisoner to 
 Rome. Does he go to sojoiirn with his brother apostle, 
 St. Peter % ISTo. He dwelt by himself in his own hired 
 house — and no sooner was he arrived, than he called to- 
 gether the chief of the Jews, to whom he explained the 
 doctrines of Christianity ; which when they rejected, he 
 tells them that "henceforth the salvation of God was sent 
 unto the Gentiles," who would hear it, and to whom he 
 .should now address himself. This certainly implies, that 
 though a few Gentiles might have been previously brought 
 over to the Christian foith, yet that no such great numbers 
 had been yet converted, as might have been expected under 
 the powerful preaching of that apostle, who on the day of 
 Pentecost, by one single sermon, added to the church 
 three thousand persons. 
 
 Within the two years of St. Paul's abode at Pome, he 
 wrote several Epistles, wherein not one Avord is said re- 
 specting St. Peter. In his Epistle to the Colossians, he 
 tells them that of the Jews at Eome he had " no other 
 fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, Avhicli had been 
 a comfort unto him," save only " Aristarchus, jNIarcus, and 
 Jssus, who was called Justus which evidently excludes 
 St. Peter. In liis second Epistle to Timothy, iv. 16, 
 
 6 Coloss. iv. 10, 11. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 43 
 
 which Baronius, the great advocate of St. Peter's founding 
 the Eoman See, confesses to have been written only a 
 short time hefore liis martyrdom, he tells him, that " at 
 his first answer (at Eome) no man stood with him, hut all 
 men forsook " him ; wliich would be incredible, had St. 
 Peter, the boldest of all the apostles, been there. He fur- 
 ther informs Timothy that "only Luke was with him," 
 that Crescens was gone here, and Titus there, and Tychi- 
 cus he had sent to Ephesus. It is incredible that if Peter 
 was at this time at Eome, he slinuld not have mentioned 
 it ; and still more so, that if he had left it, he should not 
 have noticed his departure, when he records the move- 
 ments of other persons, so very much inferior to him. 
 One only explanation can be given for all his sdence — - 
 that St. Peter as yet had not been at Eome ; and therefore 
 the assertion of Baronius, on the mere authority of Jerome, 
 of his having filled the see of Eome for twenty-five years, 
 cannot possibly be true. If St. Peter was ever at Eome 
 at all (and we do not deny its probability), it must have 
 been, as Origen declares, towards the clovse of his life 
 (hv riXsi), and at the latter end of Nero's reign ; and no * 
 doubt, during his sojourn in the imperial city, he zealously 
 preached the Gospel to its wicked inhabitants ; and on 
 this account he is spoken of by some ancient writers, as 
 partnliinrj with St. Paul (who returned to Eome about the 
 eighth or ninth year of Nero's reign) in the honour of 
 founding the Church of Eome, and especially as at last he 
 sealed with his blood his testimony to the Gospel, in con- 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 janctioii with his fellow apostle and martyr, St. Paiil. 
 r.bout the year 68-9/ 
 
 Eiit, after all, granting, for argument's sake, that St. 
 Peter was both founder and Bishop of Eome, what then % 
 How does the admission affect the question of the supre- 
 macy of the bishop of that Church ? The term is nowhere 
 even hinted at in the Xew Testament. From the time 
 when Christ made choice of his apostles, to the day when he 
 washed their feet, and blessed the bread and the cup, and 
 distributed the Eucharistic elements without distinction 
 among all his disciples — ^we can trace neither in act nor 
 expression of the One only Sujireme Spiritual Head the 
 slightest allusion to this assumed supremacy. On the 
 contrary, our Saviour, in the most marked manner (wit- 
 ness his answer to the mother of Zebedee's children), re- 
 probated such a notion of superiority. It is moreover dis- 
 tinctly stated in the Xew Testament history, that all the 
 Churches planted by the apostles were not only indepen- 
 dent, but equal in rank and authority. Even Jerusalem, 
 the mother of aU Churches, with St. James, the first of all 
 bishops, neverassumedany jurisdiction over otherChurches ; 
 which she might haA^e done with some shoAv of reason, 
 considering not only her priority- of foundation, but that to 
 
 "The storj- of St. Peter encountering Simon Magns at Rome, irho, as asserted 
 liy Jnstin Martyr, had a temple and staiue t 'ler*, \rith the inscription " Simoni 
 Ueo Sancto" — cf his l>aft!ing the sorcerer in the instance of raising a yonng man 
 to life, as related by Hegesippus — and of the vain and fawl attempt by the same 
 Simon of flying to heaven, as gravely related by Sulpicius — part-'ikes so much of 
 the fabulous character of monkish invention as to merit no serious attention 
 and therefore could not have been the reason that induced the emperor to 
 fmcify the apostle. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 45 
 
 her arbitration and counsel tlie Cliurclies of Antioch, Syria, 
 and Cilicia, did once appeal, at the time they were sc 
 troubled by tlie Judaizing Christians. 
 
 But tlie Church of Jerusalem never set up any sucli 
 pretension, — nor was it for the space of 5008 years, that 
 anything was heard of this arrogant claim to be the mother 
 and mistress of all Churches, as now made an article of 
 faith by tlie Eomish Church. It is true, according to 
 TertuUian, that the title of " Papa Benedictus " Avas in use 
 in his time, and that some Bishop of Eome adopted the 
 names of Pontifex Maximus and Episcopus Episcoporum ; 
 yet it is well known to the readers of ecclesiastical 
 history, that the former title was given to all bishops in 
 general, and that even the ordinary bishops Avere called 
 " Summi Pontifices," as has been abundantly proved by a 
 very acute writer." 
 
 In the two first centuries we can find no vestige of an 
 universal bishop ; — Victor, it is true, towards the close of 
 the second century, began to arrogate to himself, according 
 to Eusebius, some superiority, but the churches of Asia, 
 Ephesus, and France, rebuked the Eoman Pontiff, and 
 dissented from him. 
 
 In the fifth century, when the pride and luxury of the 
 Eoman bishops had risen to an extraordinary height, Leo 
 I. was the first to call the seat of St. Peter " universal." 
 But notwithstanding the claim was put forth, it iloes not 
 appear to have been admitted ; for we fird even Augustine, 
 
 fl Tempore Leo. I. 9 Bingham's Atitiq. lib ii. c. 2. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Bishop of Hii)po, iu this century, when writing to Boniface, 
 Bishop of Eome, using these remarkable words : " The 
 pastoral care is common to all icho hold the office of 
 bishop, although you are placed on a higher pinnacle of 
 the watchtower."^ 
 
 But the Eomanists care little for the authority of 
 ancient history, when it happens to he against them — and 
 gladly take refuge in a solitary text of Scripture, from 
 whence they direct the thunders of the Vatican. We will 
 meet them on their own ground, and Avill try their preten- 
 sion hy the test of Scripture. It is well known that the 
 text on which they build their claim of supremacy is that 
 expression of our Saviour in the Gospel of St. Matthew, 
 xvi. 18 : " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
 my church." We Protestants gladly accept the divine 
 declaration, but deny the Komish inference. 
 
 The Saviour had just asked all his disciples, " Whom 
 say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said, 
 Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Hving God. And 
 Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, 
 Simon Bar-jona : for fiesli and blood hath not revealed it 
 unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." And 
 then He adds as follows : " And I say also unto thee. 
 That thou art Peter (ffi u Tlsr^og), and upon this rock (sV; 
 -avT-zj Tff rrer^a) I will build my church." Now to what 
 does this rock refer? Not surely to Peter, but to "it" — 
 
 1 Aug;. Cont. Epist. Pelag. Vide also a remarkable; passage from ouo of 
 Pope Gregory's Ejiistlcs, in the Apperrlix, No. VII. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH, 
 
 that confession^ wliicli St. Peter had just made of the 
 Saviour being tlie Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 
 On this very confession the Christian Church is halt — 
 on this confession the first converts were baptized — on 
 this confession the Church of Ephesus was founded. Ye 
 " are built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner 
 stone." 3 
 
 Thus it is most clear that the Church was founded on 
 the prophets and apostles, not on St. Peter alone. St. 
 Peter was a part of this foundation, but not the Avhole and 
 sole foundation. Christ, it must be remarked, addressed 
 His question to all the apostles : " Whom say ye that I 
 am?" St. Peter, always the most forward of them, took 
 upon himself to answer in the name of all. The com- 
 mission of " the keys" was addressed to him, not exclu- 
 sively, but conjointly with his feUow-apostles. " I ^oill 
 give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Christ 
 does not say, " I no^o give thee," but " I will give ;" and 
 what His future intention was is explained by what He 
 afterwards commissioned them to do — to preach the doctrine 
 of Clinsfs Messiah shi J) (the very doctrine that Peter had 
 confessed), and on that doctrine to admit converts into the 
 Church by Baptism. And when Christ gave this final 
 commission, to whom did He give it 1 To St. Peter alone ? 
 
 2 Jiy the XV. Resolution of tlie Counsel of Troselium, held a.d. 909, this in- 
 terpretation of tlie passage is expressly given.— Firf. Spanheim's Eccl. Annals, 
 cent. X. c. 5. 
 
 3 Ephes. ii. 20. 
 
48 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 2s^o, to all — to all equally — witliout tlie slightest reference 
 to pre-emiuence iii the order or degree of any one of 
 them. 
 
 But in order to understand tliis remarkable passage, it 
 must he carefidly remarked, that in the terms of this 
 address of our Saviour to Peter, He uses two words, which, 
 in the Greek, are " IIst-^o;," and " Ilsr^a," Petrus a 
 stone, and Petra, a roch. " Thou art Petrus" (Peter, 
 a Stone), " and on this Petra" (a Eock) " I will build 
 my Church." 
 
 " If Christ had meant," well remarks the Bishop of St. 
 David's, " that St. Peter should be the Rock on which He 
 would build His Church, the same term might have been 
 repeated : thou art Petrus, and on this Petrus I will build 
 my Church ; but the word is changed ; our Saviour does 
 not say, on this Petrus I will build my Church, but on 
 this Petra : and, therefore, we may conclude that the first 
 term was not meant to convey the same meaning as the 
 second. It has a relative meaning, no doubt."* And 
 this distinction in the terms used the Romanists know full 
 well — though they have not the ingenuousness to confess 
 it, and yield the argument — but endeavour to conceal the 
 plain distinction of the origuial terms, by frequently 
 translating the passage as follows : — " Thou art (Petrus) 
 ' a rock' — and on this rock I Avill build my Church," — 
 a false translation, as must be evident to the youngest 
 schoolboy. 
 
 * Bp. of St. D.ivid's First Tract, p. K. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 49 
 
 That St. Peter, therefore, was not tlie rock of the 
 Church, is most clear. Had he been so, he must have 
 robbed the Saviour of that honour which St. Paul gives 
 Him, when he declares that " other foundation can no 
 man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,"^ who is 
 emphatically pronounced by the same apostle to be our 
 "Spiritual Eock" {itvixj'j.a.Tr/.r^ IIsT-ga.). 1 Cor. x. 4. 
 
 But let us suppose for a moment that these words of 
 Chi'ist do contain the meaning attributed to them by the 
 Romanists ; yet who will say that iliut meaning is not 
 conveyed in a most obscure and doubtfid manner ; and 
 that, if the Church of Eome does really possess those 
 superhuman powers which she arrogates to herself, the 
 Founder of Christianity has involved an essential truth in 
 the greatest and most unnecessary obscurity % And if so, 
 then surely St. Peter, clothed as he was with a Spirit of 
 infallibility, would, in his Epistles, or in his sermons to 
 liis new converts, as recorded in the Acts, have cleared up 
 every difficulty, and have explained the secret sense of 
 Christ's commission to him, for the satisfaction of his 
 successors, who were not named in the commission. But 
 no ! not one word does he write or preach in reference to 
 his own supremacy, or his Church's infallibility ; and not 
 one liint does he most unkindly give to his successors, that 
 his mantle of infallibility and supremacy should fall also 
 on their shoulders. 
 
 St. Peter, however, knew his own position in the 
 
 5 1 Cor. iii. 11. 
 D 
 
50 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Cliurch better than his pretended successors liave since 
 done — lie assumed no pre-eminence — he claimed no share 
 ■whatever in the original foundation of the Church of 
 Eome — that honour can belong only to St. Paul, who 
 certainly was the first apostle that visited the Koman 
 Church, as his own words seem to imply : " Yea, so have I 
 strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, 
 lest I should build upon another man's foundation."^ No 
 mention whatever is made in the Acts of the Apostles, nor 
 in the Epistles of St. Peter, of his ever having been at 
 Home — and in all probability, as has been already shown, 
 if he ever visited that city, it was not long before his 
 martyrdom — and there is no sufficient authority for sup- 
 posing that he was at any time bishop of that see, or any 
 further connected with it, than as acting conjointly with 
 St. Paul in settling sundry matters there, and appointing 
 Linus as the first bishop over it. Ireuaeus, the disciple of 
 Polycarp, Avho was a contemporary of the apostles, and 
 therefore of all men the most likely to know, affirms that 
 such was the fact. And be it specially remarked, that if 
 the bishops of Eome were superior to all other bishops, 
 then it follows that this Linus and his successors, Ana- 
 cletus and Clemens, were all superior to Christ's beloved 
 apostle St. John himself, for they all succeeded to the see 
 of Rome during that apostle's lifetime! — a subordina- 
 tion that Eomanists themselves wiU scarcely venture to 
 maintain. 
 
 c Horn. XV. CO. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 51 
 
 It might easily be shown from many of the early 
 Fathers, that for the first four centuries aU Churches 
 enjoyed an equal share of authority, and that no claim to 
 unlimited supremacy was ever put forth hy the bishops of 
 Eome. It will be sufficient for our present purpose to call 
 to our aid the authority of two of the Fathers only, taken 
 i'rom the second and third centuries. Thus, Tertullian 
 assures us that by whatever name the bishops of Eome or 
 flsewhere chose to be designated, all the apostolic Churches 
 <if his time were independent of each other, and equal in 
 rank and authority. He professes, it is true, a pecuhar 
 love and veneration for the Churcli of Eome : not, 
 however, because it was founded by St. Peter, but be- 
 cause it was the scene of St. Paul's martyi'doni and 
 St. John's persecution.'^ From a passage in his Tract 
 de Pudicitia, it appears that the words of our Saviour 
 to Peter, " On this rock I will build my church," and 
 "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven," were not supposed at that time to refer exchi- 
 sively to the Church of Eome, but generally to all the 
 Churches of which St. Peter was the founder — Antioch 
 and others. 
 
 Cyprian also, in the third century, asserts the perfect 
 equality of all bisliops, and uses the following remarkable 
 i^xpressions : — " Neither hath any one of our bishops con- 
 stituted himself Episcopus Episcoporum, nor driven hit- 
 
 7 ViJ. Eccl. nist. of Second and Third Cent. By tliu Bishoji of Bristol, c. iv. 
 p. 230. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 colleagues to the necessity of obedience through servile 
 fear." ^ 
 
 The same Father also elsewhere says, that " the corps of 
 bishops formed one body, united by mutual concord and 
 unity, that if any of the body taught heresy, and began to 
 lay waste and scatter the flock of Christ, the rest im- 
 mediately came to its rescue. For although there were 
 many pastors, they fed but one flock, and every one was 
 boimd to take care of the sheep of Christ, which he had 
 pui'chased with his blood." ^ Thus it appears that a per- 
 fect equality was maintained among all bishops during the 
 purest times of Christianity ; and that until pride and 
 luxury crept into the Church, and the imperial power of 
 Home began to decline, and the Byzantine empire, exciting 
 jealousies between rival cities and rival patriarchs, brought 
 about the great Western schism, scarcely was the notion of 
 the Bishop of Eome's supremacy even whispered, — or if it 
 was, it was immediately met with the indignant reproof 
 of other independent Churches. With all this mass of 
 evidence then against them — with history and the Scrip- 
 tures directly opposed to them, in letter and in spirit — 
 what shall we say to a claim that rests on such hollow 
 foimdation? What shall we thinlc of a "religion that 
 depends wholly upon nice and poore uncertainties, and 
 unprovable supposals?" " Oh, the lamentable hazard of 
 so many millions of poore soules that stand upon these 
 slipperie termes, whereof if any be probable, some are 
 
 8 Vid. as quoted by Bishop of Bristol, c. iv. p. 239. 9 Cypr. Ep. 68. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 53 
 
 impossible ! Oh, miserable grounds of Popish faith, 
 "vvhereof the best can have but this praise, that perhaps it 
 may be true."i 
 
 Whenever, therefore, my protestant countrymen, you 
 hear of the novelty of your religion, remember that it is 
 just as new as the Bible itself; whenever you hear of the 
 antiquity of Popery, recollect that it had no existence for 
 several centuries after your Church was established. 
 " Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn," — look unto 
 St. Paul, "not a whit behind the very chiefest of the 
 apostles," by Avhom " rooted and grounded in the faith," 
 " ye are built up a spiritual House, to oifer up spiritual 
 sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ." And as 
 often as you shall hear the repeated tale of St. Peter and 
 his primacy, you have only to recal to mind how utterly 
 unsupported it is by either Scripture, history, or reason, — 
 and should you require to be further confirmed in your 
 reprobation of its untruth, remember the tyrannous doc- 
 trines and conduct of Popes which have originated in this 
 empty fiction,- — and compare the government of the pre- 
 tended successors of St. Peter with that model of a 
 Christian bishop which St. Peter has liimself left us, in 
 his 1 Epist. V. 2, 3 : " Feed the flock of God which is 
 among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint 
 but wlUingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; 
 neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being en- 
 samples to the flock." 
 
 1 Bishop Ilall's Dissuasive from Popery. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 The following pages will show how grievously the 
 Church of Eome has departed from this apostolic rule ; 
 and in her arrogant pretension to " lord it over that part of 
 God's heritage" established in these realms, how grossly 
 she has usurped a power ihat never belonged to her — ex- 
 hibiting in every instance of encroachment and usurpation 
 the restlessness of that troubled Atlantic, " whose waters 
 cast up mire and dirt." 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 55 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 " If antiquity must evidence the trutli of our religion, we are safe and 
 secure that ive have right on our side." 
 
 Hascard's Discourse about the Charge of Novelty. 
 
 Having established the ancient locality of the Britisli 
 Church, and shown, on the testimony of the Fathers and 
 other old writers, that it was with the greatest probability 
 planted here by some one of the apostles at least, if not 
 by St. Paul himself, we will proceed to prove, that as the 
 British Church was apostolical in her foundation, so also 
 she continued for 1200 years to be independent of all 
 foreign jurisdiction ; owing allegiance to no other Church, 
 but resisting continually every encroachment on her rights 
 and liberty. It could scarcely be expected that a people 
 so savage as the Britons, so devoted to their superstitions, 
 and so oppressed by their fierce invaders, could speedily 
 be converted to the Christian faith. The branch, there- 
 fore, of the spiritual vine so early planted in the soil of 
 Britain, was, from the very nature of things, slow in its 
 growth, and during the first century had made but little 
 progress. By the middle of the following century, how- 
 
56 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ever, she had " sent out her houghs unto the sea, and her 
 branches unto the river ;" for it appears that, by that time, 
 a vast number of the inhabitants, of all ranks, had aban- 
 doned idolatry, and had embraced Christianity. But an 
 event of the highest moment contributed materially to 
 forward the progress of the true faith at that period. 
 About the year 167^ we find the first British king not 
 only professing the Christian religion, but becoming " a 
 nursing father" to the infant Church. This illustrious 
 prince was Lucius, Son of Coilus, who, in his zeal for the 
 entire conversion of his subjects, sent tAvo of his most 
 learned men to Eome, Elvanus and Medvinus, for the pur- 
 pose of consulting Eleutherius, the then Bishop of Eome, 
 as to what measures he should adopt for that purpose. 
 Eleutherius received the messengers gladly, instructed 
 them more perfectly in the Christian faith, consecrated 
 them Bishops, and sent them back together with two 
 ambassadors of his own, Eaganus and Dunianus, to king 
 Lucius, with a present of " bothe the Ould and Newe 
 Testaments,"^ and a letter to that monarch, containing 
 these remarkable words : — " You have received in the 
 kingdom of Britain, by God's mercy, both the law and faith 
 of Christ. You have both the Old and New Testament. 
 Out of the same, through God's grace, by the advice of 
 of your realme take a law, and by the same, through God's 
 
 1 Bede snys a.d. 156. According to Usher, p. 20, the date is fixed hy somo 
 even as early as a.d. 137. 
 
 2 Sir W. Dethicke— vid. Collect, of Curious Disc. vol. ii. p. 165. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 57 
 
 sufferance, rule you your kingdom of Britain, for in that 
 kingdom you arc God's vicar. 
 
 In this remarkable and valuable document we have four 
 things most distinctly admitted by a Bishop of Kome — the 
 existence and nationality of the British Church- — her right 
 to administer her own affairs — her independence of the 
 Roman see — and the supremacy of the King of England 
 over all persons, and in all things, ecclesiastical as well as 
 civil, within all his dominions. ISTow this is surely a 
 most important admission, and when coupled Avith the fact 
 that Christianity was thus in Britain publicly professed 
 by the ruling power 146 years^ before it was so acknow- 
 ledged at Eome, it places at an immeasurable distance the 
 Pope's presumed right to supreme authority over the 
 Church and kingdom of England. 
 
 Lucius was worthy of his crown. In the full sj^irit of 
 independence he commenced his holy undertaking. 
 
 He converted the three Pagan Arch-Flamins and twenty- les. 
 eight Elamins into so many archbishops and bishops.^ 
 The archbishops were of London, York, and Caer-leon in 
 Wales. The idol temples were destroyed — churches were 
 
 3 Prideaux's Introduct. to Hist. 
 
 * Constantine did not embrace Christianity till a.d. 313. 
 
 ^ Mr. Agarde, a.d. 1604, quotes from "a large booke of St. Augustine's of 
 Canterbury," written about the year 140G, as follows: — "Lucius, jirimus rex 
 Cbristianus regni istius, sub anno Dora. 167, qui fuit annus 438 ante adventum 
 Augustini. Qui Lucius divisit regnum in tres Arcliiepiscopatus, scilicet, Lon- 
 don, Ebor, et Civitatem Legionum, id est, Westcestre." — Collect of Ourious Disc. 
 vol. ii. p. 160. 
 
 Agarde assert.1 also, that with this account agree an ancient Register of Elye, 
 an old Catalogue of the Archbishops of York, and an old Register of Glaston- 
 bury. Pollidore Virgil. 
 
58 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 erected in several parts of the island, and varions privi- 
 leges and estates were granted for their support and 
 honour.* 
 
 On the death of Lucius, a.d. 208, Severus, the Eoman, 
 succeeded to the British crown; and there is abundant 
 proof that, through the patronage of princes, especially of 
 ColU, whose daughter Helena married Constantius Chlorus. 
 Christianity made so great progress in the island, as to call 
 forth the observation of Origen, that " the di^dne good- 
 ness of our God and Saviour is equally diffused amongst the 
 Britons, the Africans, and other nations of the world."' 
 
 The reign of Diocletian was unfortunately a check to 
 this growing prosperity of the Church; for the persecution 
 that commenced under him in Isicomedia, on as vain a 
 pretext as that of Xero,8 exceeded all that had gone before 
 it. Its rage was directed against the Christian temples, 
 the Bible, and persons of every age, sex, and rank. It 
 vented its fury over every part of the Eoman empire, and 
 extended itself at last to Britain, where the number who 
 were cruelly put to torture and death aifords no insignifi- 
 cant proof of the progress that Christianity had made there 
 by that time. St. Alban, at Yerulam, was the proto- 
 
 Sir Wm. Dethicke confirms this account of Luciiis. 
 
 Sir H. Saville varies a little in the date. He says, in his Fasti, that " about 
 this time (a.d. 173) Lucius, king of the Britons, at the instance of Eleutherius 
 the Pope, together with the whole nation of the Britons, received the Christian 
 Faith." 
 
 6 Pridoaux's Introduct. to Hist. 
 
 7 Grig. Horn, vi 
 
 8 The hiirning of his palace at Nicomedia. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 59 
 
 martyr of Britain ; and, among other victims, were Julius, 
 of Caer-leon ; Aaron, of Exeter ; and Angulius, Bishop of 
 London. 
 
 After ten years' duration, this persecution ceased, under 
 the reign of Constantius Chlorus, and the British Christians 
 came forth from the caves and woods where they had con- 
 cealed themselves, and rebuilt their churches, and renewed 
 tlie rites of Christian Avorship, unmolested ;^ so that under 
 the special protection of Constantine, the successor of 
 Chlorus, and who was supposed to have been born in 
 Britain, the Church flourished beyond all former times, 
 and a vast numl:)cr of additional churches were erected. 
 
 The importance to which tlie Churcli had arrived at the 3ii 
 early part of the fourtli century, is demonstrated by the fact 
 that some of her bishops were present at the council held at 
 Aries, in 314; again, at the council of Xice, in 326; at 
 Sardica, in 347 ; and at Ariminum, in 359. And it is 
 a remarkable fact, connected with the former council, 
 which, as bearing on the question of Eome's supremacy, 
 must never bo lost sight of by the Protestant Church of 
 England, that the decrees of that council, where the British 
 Church was represented by three of her bishops, were sent 
 by them to the bishop of Rome, to be i:)romuhjuted, and 
 not, as the Eomanists pretend, to be confirmed. In their 
 letter to the Bishop of Eonie, they give him Pone of those 
 pompous titles which the Popes have since assumed, but 
 simply call him their "dear brother;" they say they were 
 
 S C.amdtn'3 Brit. 
 
6o THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 all knit together in one common bond of charity and 
 nnity — that they were met at Aries, in obedience to their 
 most pious emperor^ — that they should have been glad of 
 their brother, the Bishop of Rome's company — ^but as that 
 could not be, they had sent him an abstract of their 
 canons, that he might publish it throughout all his diocese.^ 
 Such were the sentiments expressed by this important 
 council — sentiments "worthy of the purity and independ- 
 ence of the British Church, and such as strike down all 
 the arrogant claims of the Eoman see to any control over 
 her at that time. 
 
 "We have further testimony to the gro^h and purity of 
 the Eritish Church, furnished us by the ■writings of some 
 of the Fathers in this centurj'. Thus St. Clm sostom tells 
 \is, that " the Eritish isles, -which are beyond this sea (the 
 Mediterranean), and are situated in the midst of the ocean, 
 felt the force of the -word, for even there churches are 
 built and altars erected : of that word, I say, which is now 
 in the hearts, and on the lips of aU men."s Jerome, 
 writing to Paulinus, says, " The court of heaven is now as 
 ass. open in Britain as in Jerusalem."* And St. Hilary, 
 Bishop of Poictiers, being banished into Phrygia by Con- 
 
 1 Constantine seems to hare formed a very correct notion of the relative 
 authority of himself and the bishops in all matters connected with the internal 
 and external government of the Church. — "You," said he, in addressing the 
 bishops, "yon are bishops in those matters transacted within the Church ; but 
 in them done without(the Church). / am a bishop constUuUd by God." Eusebiiit? 
 Life ofConcl. p. 618. 
 
 2 Guthrie's Hist of Engl. toL i. p. 75. 
 
 3 Chrys. in ApoL 
 
 ■i Hieron. in Paulin. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 6i 
 
 stantius, published his work de Syuodis, wherein, after 
 sending greeting to the British in common witli all other 
 Christian bishops, " he laments that his banishment de- 
 barred him from the satisfaction of hearing from them, as 
 he had been accustomed; but, though he was labouring 
 under that inconvenience, he had the liighest gratification 
 in learning that the British loere remarhxhJe for their 
 strict adherence to the genuine doctrines of Christianity, 
 and that they were not yet infected with any of those heresies 
 (Arian) which distracted the peace of other kingdoms." 
 
 In the third year of Theodosius the Great, at the council sgj. 
 assembled at Constantinople, by order of that emperor, 
 and not by the Bishop of Rome, as asserted by Baronius, 
 for the principal purpose of defining the limits of bishoprics, 
 it Avas ordered that the several provincial bishops should 
 have their ancient privileges of independence confirmed to 
 them ; which confirmation was grounded on the sixth 
 canon of the council of Mce. In that canon it is enjoined, 
 that " in the provinces everywhere, none of the most 
 religious bishops shall invade another province, which has 
 not been for many years before, and from the beginning, 
 under Ids, or his predecessor's hand." ifow in applying 
 the acts of this TruUan' council to the state of the British 
 Church at this time, we are assisted by a very ancient 
 Greek MS. in the Bodleian Library, purporting to be " the 
 Order of the Presidency of the most Holy Patriarchs" on 
 
 •■^ " T ruUan," from Trullus, a jvirt of tlie jialace at Cuiistaiitinuplc, wliure the 
 cuuiicil assembled. 
 
62 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 this occasion, wliereiu neither Enghmd, Scotland, nor 
 Ireland, are reckoned dependents on the Eoman patri- 
 archate." So that we have very satisfactory evidence of 
 the independence of the British Church down to the con- 
 clusion of the fourth century. 
 44S, The history of the Church is involved in some ohscurity, 
 from the deatli of Constantine to the final abandonment 
 of Britain by the Eomans in 448. All tliat is distinctly 
 known of it is, that she Avas outwardly heavily afflicted by 
 the sanguinary incursions of the Picts and the Scots, and 
 inwardly harassed by the Pelagian heresy, which was 
 unfortunately introduced into Britain by Agricola, son of 
 Severianus, a Gallic Bishop. The author of tliis heresy 
 was Pclagius, by birth a Briton, and usually called 
 Morgan, who, during a residence at Rome, by associating 
 with Eufinus, a man deeply imbued with the principles 
 of Origen, began to doubt the doctrine of original sin. 
 Pelagianism soon spread itself through the island. The 
 leading divines, yet sound in the faith, for some time 
 resisted the pernicious doctrine, but at length, despairing 
 of tlieir own efforts, they addressed themselves to the 
 Bishops of Brittany. The request was answered in the 
 persons of Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, 
 Bishop of Troyes, who, by public jsreaching, and the argu- 
 ments they advanced before a council held at Verulam, 
 succeeded in suppressing the heresy for a time ; but it 
 again broke out with greater violence after their departure, 
 
 Vid. Dr. ricveridge'.s notes on the sixtli Can. Council. Trullau. p. 135. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 63 
 
 and Germamis was once more induced, in association with 
 Severus, Bishop of Treves, to revisit Eritain, when by the 
 means that had been before so successful, they extu-pated 
 Pelagianisni, and took effectual steps for securing their 
 triumph, by causing schools to be erected ; one at LlandafF, 
 under Dubricius ; and another at Lantuit, in Glamorgan- 
 shire, under lUutus, where most of the English nobility 
 Avere afterwards educated. The celebrated monastery at 
 Bangor was also at the same time founded, through the 
 exertions of Germanus. But these measures were only 
 j)alliatives ; for whilst 'the Chm-ch was rescued from the 
 plague of heresy, she had more formidable enemies to con- 
 tend with. N"© longer protected by the powerful counte- 
 nance of the Roman emperors, she was grievously oppressed 
 by the frequent incursions of those predatory tribes who 
 occupied the northern frontier of Britain. In this extremity, 
 the South Britons sent a letter to Eome, inscribed " The 
 Groans of the Britons." But the Eomans had enough on 
 their hands at this juncture, in defending themselves 
 against Attila and his barbarian followers ; their petition 
 therefore was unnoticed. 
 
 In this extremity of desertion on one side, and suffering 
 on the other, at the suggestion of Vortigern, prince of 
 Damnonium, the Britons, in an evil hour, st-nt deputies to 
 tlie Saxons, who were, of all the German tribes, the most 
 warlike, as well as the most savage, requesting their 
 assistance. The Saxons readily acceded to their request ; * 
 and, under their leaders Hengist and Horsa, landed ia 
 
64 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Britain, and soon expelled the Scots and Picts. This first 
 success speedily brought over more of their adventurous 
 coimtrymen, who became so charmed with the fertility of 
 the soil, and the mildness of the climate, that they soon 
 assmned the attitude of conquerors — ^joined the Picts and 
 Scots against the poor Britons, and, by force of arms, 
 maintained their possession of the country. Britain, from 
 east to west, became involved in rapine and slaughter — her 
 cruel masters turned their ruthless hands against every 
 thing and person that had a religious character — destroyed 
 every church they could reach, and slew the Christians at 
 the A-ery altars ; — the bishops and clergy were hunted 
 down Like wild beasts, and either perished miserably, or 
 sought refuge in expatriation. 
 
 The plunder that fell into the hands of these Saxon 
 spoilers attracted the cupidity of other piratical tribes. 
 The Jutse, from the Cimbric Chersonese, and the Angles, 
 from Sleswick, rushed to the quarry, and Avith murderous 
 rapidity, carried fire and sword to every quarter of the 
 island. The Britons long maintained the unequal strife ; 
 but after a struggle of 150 years, were compelled to receive 
 the yoke of their heartless and pagan conquerors. The 
 whole of South Britain became established under the sway 
 of seven Saxon kings, and was known by the name of the 
 Heptarchy. 
 
 During these successive con\Tilsions in Britain, it 
 necessarily followed that Christianity found but little 
 encouragement in the midst of such uncongenial elements. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 65 
 
 The Saxons themselves were jDagans, and it is not likely 
 that the British clergy, during the desperate struggle, 
 would dare to undertake the conTersion of their masters. 
 Indeed, according to Bede and Gildas, and other chroniclers 
 of these sad times, it was not likely that the Saxons, on 
 their part, would be more disposed to accept the Gospel 
 from the hands of enemies they so much despised. 
 
 This deplorable indisposition on both sides to approxi- 
 mate might have long continued, had not the fortunate 
 marriage of Ethelbert, king of Kent, witli Bertha, daughter 
 of Cherebert, or Caribert, king of Paris, paved the waj' 
 for that monarch's conversion to the Cliristiau faith. This 
 Ethelbert, " under the designation of Bretwalda, enjoyed 
 an admitted precedence over aU the Anglo-Saxon poten- 
 tates," ' and extended his kingdom to the Humber. Cari- 
 bert would not consent to his daughter's marriage until 
 the free exercise of her religion was guaranteed by the 
 Saxon, and the attendance of a Christian bishop, Luidhard, 
 permitted. On these conditions Bertha came to Canter- 
 bury, where a ruined British Church** was repaired, and 
 devoted to her use. Here a Christian congregation, in the 
 very head-quarters of Saxon dominion, assembled ; and 
 here the young queen acquired such an ascendency over 
 Ethelbert, that he was easUy reconciled to the efforts she 
 made to draw over her adopted countrymen to the Chris- 
 tian faith, and was equally disposed to receive favourably 
 a mission from Gregory the Great, then bishop of Eome, 
 
 ' Soames's Angl. Sax. Cli. p. 23. « St. Martin. 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ■who had for some time cherished the hope of converting 
 the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. This prelate, before 
 he ■«'as advanced to the pontificate, had by chance observed 
 in the Roman slave market some fair complexioned light- 
 haired youths. Their fresh and beautiful countenances 
 instantly attracted his notice. On inquiring whence they 
 came, and who they vrere, he was informed they were 
 Angles from Britain. "Ah!" replied Gregory, "they 
 rather deserve the name of Angels." " From what pro- 
 vince do they come?" He was told from Deira, a district 
 of Northumbria. " Deira," he answered, " that is well — 
 they are called to the mercy of God from his wrath (de 
 ira)." *' But what is the name of the king of that pro- 
 vince ?" He was informed it was AJla, or " Alle- 
 
 lujah !" he exclaimed, " Allelujah must be sung in their 
 country." 
 
 Influenced by these coincidences, Gregory resolved on 
 undertaking a mission into Britain, — and would at once 
 have proceeded on it, had he not been compelled to abandon 
 the holy enterprise, from the unwillingness of the Eomans 
 to part with him. On his being raised to the pontificate, 
 the noble resolution of converting the Saxons did not 
 abandon him; for immediately after his elevation, he 
 ordered a Gallic priest, by name Candidus, to buy some 
 British youths, to be educated as missionaries for their 
 native land. ® 
 
 Gregory's ardent mind, however, could but ill brook the 
 
 9 Gi eg. Epist. V. 10. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 67 
 
 delay of educating missionaries for so pressing and darling 
 an object. He resolved, therefore, on speedier measures 
 — he looked about him for a man of zeal, talent, and resolu- 
 tion. Such an one he found, already formed to his hand, 
 in Augustine, the prior of St. ]\Iartin. This enterprising 
 ecclesiastic, having engaged in the same service a body of 
 forty monks, directed his course towards Britain ; but, on 
 his way through Gaul, his heart failed him, and he would 
 have relinquished the undertaking, had not the rebuke of 
 Gregory compelled him to proceed. 
 
 The missionaries landed at Eetesburgh, in the isle of 397 
 Thanet, and advanced to meet the king of Kent, in formal 
 procession; — one monk carried on high a silver cross, 
 another a picture of our Saviour, while the remamder 
 chanted litanies as they came into the royal presence. 
 Augustine explained the object of their mission; and 
 however Ethelbert might have been favourably disposed 
 towards Christianity, he dared not openly declare his 
 sentiments ; he therefore simply granted him permission 
 to preach his doctrines throughout his kingdom. This 
 permission was instantly acted on, and with such extra- 
 ordinary success were their first labours crowned, that 
 Augustine and his associates are reported to have baptized 
 on one Christmas-day, in the river Swale, which he first 
 consecrated, upwards of 10,000 Saxons,^ besides women 
 and children. The king himself soon after declared him- 
 self a convert, and was baptized ; and one of the pagan 
 
 1 Bede relates this of Pau'.inus. 
 
68 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 temples was converted into a cliurcli, and dedicated to St. 
 Pancras.' 
 
 "We have here cliiefly been considering the successful 
 mission of the Roman emissaries, and the happy combina- 
 tion of events that led to their favourable reception by the 
 Saxons. It must not, ho^vever, be supposed, that ■while 
 Augustine and liis colleagues were occupied in evangelizing 
 the Saxon portion of the community, the British Chris- 
 tians took no part in this Christian work. It is true that 
 their Church was heavily oppressed — yet was it not de- 
 stroyed — the flame of pure Christianity burnt in many an 
 obscm-e corner of the island, and many a British preacher 
 emerged from the deep glens and woods of the island, and, 
 like St. John in the wilderness, with no better fare than 
 locusts and Avild honey, proclaimed the joyful tidings of 
 the Gospel, in that dark day of misery and oppression. 
 Among the most celebrated of these bold confessors were 
 Kentigern, St. Asaph, and St. Columba, men who hazarded 
 their lives in those perilous times ; and through their 
 means vast numbers of the Saxons abandoned their idola- 
 trous worship, and embraced Christianity. So that the 
 gross delusion wliich the Eomanists would palm upon the 
 world, that to Augustine and his associates belongs the 
 entire glory of Britain's conversion, is not only absolutely 
 false Avith regard to the Britons, but not true even with 
 respect to the Saxons. Tliis is a point that desei-ves well 
 
 2 It is not a little extraordinary tliat the last churcli in England that refused 
 to throw aside the Romish usages was St Pancras in London. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 69 
 
 to be borne in miud, because it not only shows that the 
 British Chnrch existed as a distinct and independent 
 Church, at the time of Augustine's arrival, but that she 
 possessed sufficient strength and vitality to extend the 
 curtains of her tent, even in the hour of her heaviest 
 oppression ; — and with all the influence that Augustine 
 could command, by wealth, by power, and by intrigue, 
 to establish a paramount authority over her, she yet 
 maintained a dignified position, and from the mountains 
 of Wales and Cornwall, the fens of Somersetshire, and 
 the forests of IS'orthumbria, " set up her banners for 
 tokens" of uncompromising independence. 
 
 From the use that was made by Augustine of his intru- 
 sion into the territory of the British Church, commences a 
 new and important era in her history, and will therefore 
 form the subject of another chapter. 
 
 In concluding the present, it will bo sufficient to ob- 
 serve, that thus far the proof is complete, that the British 
 is an ancient apostolical Church, independent of all foreign 
 jurisdiction, and totally distinct from that wliich Augus- 
 tine planted among the Saxons. By a reference to dates also, 
 it will appear that she was planted here at least 400 years 
 before the Saxon invasion, and nearly 550 years before the 
 arrival of St. Augustine, — that she was publicly recognised 
 by the government of the country 146 years before the 
 Church at Eome was, — and that from the first moment of 
 her existence here, to the days of Pope Gregory the Great, 
 the bishops of Eome neither claimed nor received her sub 
 
70 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 mission. Popery, as a tyrannical power, urging its preten- 
 sions to supremacy or infallibility, was as yet unknown, 
 and continued so till the pontificate of Boniface ; so that, 
 for the first six hundred years of the Christian era, in vain 
 shall we look for any resemblance to that Church, which, 
 in after ages, filled the earth with her sorceries, and " lorded 
 it over Christ's heritage" as " universal bishop," and " as 
 God." 
 
 Surely, " to know that the Church of Britain was coeval 
 with the age of the Apostles, is to build our faith on 
 grounds most solid and interesting. But to extend that 
 proof to the individual labours of one of the Apostles, and 
 to find ourselves indebted for the first knowledge of the 
 greatest blessing ever conferred on mankind, to the per- 
 sonal zeal of the great Apostle of the Gentiles ; and in this 
 search after truth to find further, that the father of a 
 British prince was instrumental in the first introduction of 
 the Gospel into Britain — that it was publicly professed 
 and protected by a British king, before the end of the 
 second century — that a British king Avas the first Cliristian 
 prince — that Christianity was established throughout the 
 Eoman empire by a native of Britain ;" — " these consider- 
 tions, while they greatly increase our interest in the belief 
 and service of Christianity, and augment our rcsponsibihty, 
 may justly lead us, as Protestants, to adopt the language 
 of Moses, ' What nation is there so great, wliich hath God 
 so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things 
 that we call upon him for ; and what nation is there so 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 71 
 
 great, that liatli statutes and judgments so righteous,' — 
 a religion so pure, a Church so apostolical, a polity so wise 
 and equitable, and blessings so ample, so various, as God 
 hath bestoAved upon this our favoured country 
 
 Let us see how far our forefathers valued and maintained 
 these exalted privileges. 
 
 3 Bishop c f St. David's Tracts, p. H I. 
 
72 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 " Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in 
 the balances together ! for now it would be heavier than the sand of 
 the sea.— JcB vi. '2, 3. 
 
 We are now approaching a most important epoch in the 
 history of not only the British Church in particular, but 
 of the Christian Church in general, when the Eoman 
 pontiffs began to unfurl the banner of universal dominion, 
 and to set at nought even the power and rights of princes. 
 
 The mission of St. Augustine, by whatever motive 
 undertaken, was the point of the Papal wedge, which, first 
 insinuated into the body ecclesiastical of England by 
 Gregory the Great, was by his successors driven deeper 
 and deeper, until at length, by the means of Pope Inno- 
 cent III., in the thirteenth century, it so effectually 
 destroyed the independence of the British Church, as to 
 lay lier prostrate at the feet of her merciless task-master. 
 
 But before we proceed to the detail of this aggression, a 
 brief account of the gradual growth of the usurping power 
 of Eome vdll be necessary for the due development of its 
 slow but baneful effects on the British Church. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 73 
 
 It has already been shown that, as early as the second 
 century, the title of " episcopus episcopornm," " bishop of 
 bishops," was assumed by the Roman pontiff, but as no 
 superior power accompanied the title, it was looked at as 
 a harmless piece of vanity. In the following century, as 
 the imperial city increased in luxury and splendour, a cer- 
 tain degree of pre-eminence was claimed by, and yielded 
 to, the bishop of the first city in the world ; yet this pre- 
 eminence was denied by many, even by Cyprian, bishop 
 of Carthage, as was unequivocally shown by his contro- 
 versy with Stephen, respecting the baptism of heretics.^ 
 
 But this pre-eminence, even by such as yielded it, was 
 only allowed to be that of order and association, and not 
 of potoer and autliority ; which was precisely the kind of 
 superiority that Cyprian himself enjoyed over the African 
 Churches. 
 
 This state, however, of doubtful acquiescence did not 
 long continue ; for before the conclusion of this century, 
 the Eoman Church began to show signs of serious change. 
 Bishops now lorded it over the presbyters, and presbyters 
 in their turn over the deacons ; and the pontiffs assumed 
 a degree of power and splendour that rather belonged to 
 princes than priests. Constantino the Great, by birth a 
 Briton, and the first Christian emperor, checked for a time 
 this growing innovation, by giving a new form to Church 
 government. He constituted himself the supreme head of 
 the Church, in all matters connected with its external 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 73. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 government.2 This assumption was readily acquiesced in 
 by all the bishops, as the price of the emperor's protection. 
 In process of time, he remodelled in other respects the 
 ecclesiastical form of government ; — he made the bishop of 
 Constantinople equal in power to the three bishops of 
 Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. These four prelates were 
 called Patriarchs, and to them the second in rank were the 
 Exarchs, or inspectors of provinces. The Metropolitans 
 followed the next in order, holding the government of one 
 province ; under whom were the Archbishops, who pre- 
 sided over certain districts. The Bishops were the lowest 
 of this order, and included the Chorepiscopi, or bishops of 
 country churches. 
 
 This equality in rank and power was intolerable to the 
 proud prelate of Eome ; dissatisfaction soon ripened into 
 aversion, and, in spite of imperial edicts, and sj^nodal 
 remonstrances, he broke through all restraint, and resumed 
 a greater degree of pre-eminence than ever over all the 
 other patriarchs, — a position he foimd no difficulty in 
 maintaining, by reason of his greater wealth, and more 
 favourable situation. 
 
 Thus were already laid those steps by which the future 
 bishops of Eome mounted to the summit of ecclesiastical 
 despotism. The increasing pretensions of the Eoman pon- 
 tiffs were, however, in some degree checked by the rival am- 
 bition of the Byzantine patriarch, which terminated at last 
 in the total separation of the Greek and Latin Churches. 
 
 2 Euseb. Life of Const, p. 569 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 75 
 
 These divisions among the heads of tlic Church were very 
 detrimental to rehgion, for they -were accompanied with 
 the increase of the grossest superstition among the people ; 
 so that, during the fourth and fifth centuries, in all coun- 
 tries connected Avith Eome, the most lamentahle corrup- 
 tions prevailed in the Church. The pagan rites hecame 
 closely interwoven with the Christian — pious frauds were 
 everywhere practised on the deluded multitude — the wor- 
 ship of relics, adoration of saints, prayers for tlie dead, 
 pilgrimages, and other like extravagances, began to prevail 
 — and the Church assumed a pompous and splendid 
 ritual, differing in no respect from that of the heathen 
 temples.' 
 
 In the fifth century there was no abatement of usurpa- 
 tion or pride on the part of the Eoman pontiffs ; and in 
 the following it was no matter of surprise to see so ambi- 
 tious a man as Gregory, under the mask of the greatest 
 humility, maintaining a constant struggle for universal 
 dominion. He seemed to be peculiarly jealous of the rival 
 power of the patriarch of Constantinople, and it is not a 
 little curious to observe his singular bearing towards him. 
 One instance shall suffice, and let Protestants bear it in 
 remembrance. The patriarchate of Constantinople was 
 filled by John, surnamed the " Faster," a prelate held in 
 high veneration on account of his austerities. He had not 
 however, it appears, yet starved himself into a meek and 
 humble spirit, for he assumed, under the sanction of the 
 
 8 Yi4. Spanlicim's Eccle. Annals, p. 356. 
 
76 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 emperor, the lofty title of " CEcumenical Bishojx" Gregory 
 was highly offended at his presumption, and immediately 
 styled himself " Servus Servorum Dei"— "The Servant of 
 God's Servants." He reminded also the emperor Maurice 
 of Sfc. Peter's high prerogatives, " and yet," he added, 
 " that pillar of our faith is never called ' Oecumenical 
 Apostle.'" The Faster's assumption accordingly he repre- 
 sents as an insult to the priesthood, and a scandal to the 
 Church." 
 
 Gregory's pretended humility, however, appears to have 
 heen limited to the atmosphere of the East. In the "West 
 it had entirely evaporated ; for we find him but in one case 
 repudiating the title by which he was now acknowledged 
 b}^ some churches, of Universal Head of the Western 
 Church. 
 
 His views with regard to Britain were certainly of an 
 ambitious character. The success that had already attended 
 Augustine's mission, excited in him an ardent hope of 
 bringing the British Church under liis jurisdiction. The 
 cunning moidc was AveU aware of his master's love of the 
 marvellous ; he therefore indulged him with a full account 
 of the miracles he had wrought. Gregory implicitly be- 
 lieved his marvellous narrations, and, in return for his 
 exertions, sent him a load of relics, vestments, and a few 
 volumes of books. He shortly afterwards transmitted to 
 him the pall,^ and authorized him to select an archbishop 
 
 * Soames's Angl. Sax. Ch. p. 20. 
 
 6 The pall, or pallium, was a part of the nrchhi.shop's dress, made of the 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 77 
 
 for the see of York, and to have jurisdiction over him and 
 all other bishops. Augustine speedily resjionded to the 
 wishes of Gregory, and began seriously to apply himself to 
 the reduction of the whole British Church to the power 
 of Rome. But he had strangely miscalculated the pliancy 
 of the British character, and was totally ignorant of the 
 state of religion among that people. Our Church liis- 
 torian, Fuller, assures us that Augustine on his arrival, 
 " found here a plain religion (simplicity is the badge of 
 antiquity), practised by the Britons ; living, some of them, 
 in the contempt, and many more in the ignorance, of 
 worldly vanities. He brought in a religion, spun with a 
 coarser thread, though guarded with a finer trimming ; 
 made luscious to the senses with pleasing ceremonies, so 
 that many who coiild net judge of the goodness were 
 courted "with the gaudiness thereof." And again, the 
 .same author testifies, that the poor " Christian bishops, 
 living peaceably at home, there enjoyed God, the Gospell, 
 and their mountains ; little skilful in, and lusse caring for, 
 the ceremonies a la mode, brought over by Augustine : 
 and, indeed, their poverty could not go to the cost of 
 Augustine's silver crosse, Avliich made them worship the 
 God of their fathers, after their o^^vn homely but hearty 
 fashion ; not wilhng to disturb Augustine and his fol- 
 lowers in their new rites, but that he had a mind to dis- 
 
 I'eece of white lambs, consecrated to and offered at the shrine of St. Agnes, bj 
 the Pope. Before receiving it, tlie archbishop could not call a council, bless 
 the chrism, ordain a priest, &c. On its receipt he was obliged to swear fealty 
 lo the Roman pontiff. 
 
78 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 quiet tliem in their old service, as in the sequele of the 
 history will appear." ^ 
 
 "What a beautiful picture has the historian here drawn 
 of the simple, unpretending, and tolerant religion of our 
 ancient Church ! How finely contrasted with the osten- 
 tatious and heartless pageantry of those "new rites" which 
 were now to he forced upon her ! 
 
 It was Augustine's policy to undermine this simplicity 
 of religious worship among the Britons, and to work upon 
 the imaginations of the wonder-loving Saxons, by the 
 means of that gaudy ritual, and those enticing doctrines, 
 which he had imported from Italy. The worship of 
 images, the flames of purgatory, the efficacy of good 
 works towards the attainment of salvation, the virtue of 
 relics, were all his ready instruments. The " institution 
 of the canon of the mass" also, which had been invented 
 by Gregory, was another useful auxiliary. The wily 
 monk, moreover, assumed such austerity of manner, and 
 sanctity of deportment, that he efl"ectually secured the 
 veneration of the deluded multitude, and by his pretended 
 miracles, which no juggler of the present day could sur- 
 pass, very easily imposed on their credulity. Gregory was 
 transported with joy, on hearing the continued prosperity 
 of the mission, and in a letter to Ethelbert, exhorted him 
 to assist Augustine in the good work by all the expedients 
 of exhortation, terror, and correction 
 
 Thus early did the Church of Eome exliibit her tender 
 
 « FuUcr's Ch. Hist. b. ii. p. 17. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 79 
 
 mercies of "terror and correciio7i" towards the inliabitants 
 of Britain ! It was no matter of wonder, therefore, that 
 although during the lifetime of Ethelbert, Christianity 
 nominally prevailed among a large hody of his Saxon suh- 
 jects, yet, on his death, nearly the whole of them relapsed 
 into idolatry, from which they were only brought hack 
 again to the Christian faith by the unwarrantable fraud of 
 Augustine's successor. 
 
 Augustine's views were chiefly directed to the consolida- 
 tion of his own authority, and the aggrandizement of that 
 of Gregory. But, notwithstanding all his efforts to bow 
 the necks of the British Christians to the power of Eome, 
 the Britons, who, amidst all their wrongs and sufferings, 
 had rigidly adhered to the rules and customs they had 
 received from their forefathers, showed no disposition 
 to surrender their independence to the lordly prelate. 
 So far from acknowledging the Pope's authority over 
 them, it was the first time they had even heard that 
 he claimed any ; and therefore they were now resolved 
 to maintain their hberty. This resolution Augustine 
 determined to counteract ; and though he did not pre- 
 tend to have received any authority from the Pope 
 for his acts, he resolved, if possible, to reduce them to 
 submission. 
 
 For this purpose he convened a synod of British bishops, cq.j 
 proposed to them a scheme for conforming to the Church 
 of Eome, and, in order to make sure of his aim, was not 
 sparing of promises or threats. On the testimony, how- • 
 
So THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ever, of tlio "Venerable Bede/ whose authority as a Saxon 
 cannot be questioned on this point, the demands of Augus- 
 tine were at once rejected, and all foreign jurisdiction over 
 their Church was repelled hy the unanimous voice of the 
 assembled bishops. 
 
 Saxon oppression and tyranny had driven the prelacy of 
 the British Church into Cornwall, Wales, and other moun- 
 tainous districts of the island. There, in greater security, 
 tliey directed their ecclesiastical affairs, educated their 
 ministers, and watched with jjainful solicitude the progress 
 of the Popish missionaries. The metropolitan church, for 
 greater security, had already been removed from Caerleon 
 to Llandaif, and thence to Mynyw, afterwards called St. 
 David's, from the holy and venerable man who first pre- 
 sided over it. 
 
 To the Cambrian confines, therefore, Augustine now 
 directed his steps, and convened a second synod, at a place 
 called Augustine's Ac, or Oak, in Worcestersliire, at which 
 were present seven British bishops, and Dinoth, the 
 learned and spirited abbot of Bangor. 
 
 These pious representatives of the ancient Church con- 
 sulted, on tlieir way to the conference, a hermit renowned 
 for his piety and wisdom. " If," said the recluse, "Augus- 
 tine be a man of God, take his advice.'-' The bishops 
 stated the difficulty of ascertaining his character. The 
 hermit denied the difficulty, and directed them to this 
 easy test — " Contrive to be the last at the conference, — If 
 
 7 Bi'Ak Eccl. Hist. lib. ii. c. 2. Edit. Cint. fol. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 8i 
 
 Augustine shall rise at your approacli, be sure he is a true 
 servant of the humble-minded Jesus, — if he shall receive 
 you sitting, he is not a man of God : maintain your 
 ancient usages." This was an unfortunate test for the 
 haughty monk, whose pride had but just been gratified by 
 the popular admiration that had followed a successful 
 juggle in restoring a blind man to sight. The Britons 
 advanced, — their dignified and venerable appearance 
 claimed the respect of the assembled multitude. Augus- 
 tine condescended not to rise from his chair ! but, with a 
 haughty look and a repulsive tone, he called upon them to 
 yield — " I demand of you three things, — that you keep 
 Easter as we do — that you baptize according to the Eoman 
 ritual — and that you unite with us in preaching to the 
 Angles." 
 
 Dinoth, the intrepid Dinoth, unmoved by the haughty 
 missionary, arose, and made him the following reply : — - 
 
 " Be it known, and without doubt, unto you, that we 
 all are, and every one of us, obedient subjects to the 
 Church of God, and to the Pope of Eome, and to every 
 godly Christian, to love every one in his degree in perfect 
 charity, and to help every one of them, by word and deed, 
 to bo the children of God : and other obedience than this 
 I do not know to be due to him whom you name to be 
 Pope, nor to be the Father of Fathers, to be claimed and 
 to be demanded ; and this obedience we are ready to give, 
 and to pay to him, and to every Christian continually. 
 Besides, wc are under the government of the bishop of 
 
 p 
 
82 
 
 THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD 
 
 Kaer-leon-upon-Uske, wlio is to oversee under God over us; 
 to cause us to keep the way spiritual."* 
 
 A protest^ so bold, direct, and uncompromising, but 
 little suited the fiery temper of Augustine, who, choking 
 with rage, and despairing of success, cried out, " Since, 
 then, you refuse peace from your brethren, you shall have 
 war from your enemies." These words were but too pre- 
 dictive of impending slaughter ; for Augustine, after so 
 signal a failure in his attempt to draw over the British 
 bishops, at once addressed himself to the Saxons, and, by 
 working upon their superstitious attachment to himself 
 and the Roman see, he prevailed upon them to attempt the 
 subjection of the British Church. lu Ethelfrid, king of 
 Xorthumbria, he found a willing instrument for his 
 bloody purpose, who, at his instigation, attacked the 
 Britons at Caer-leon (Chester). On the field of battle were 
 2000 of the British clergy, totally unarmed, for the pur- 
 pose of encouraging, by their prayers and exhortations, the 
 spirits of their brave defenders.^ Ethelfrid, on observing so 
 strange a sight, fearing no doubt the efficacy of this un- 
 usual mode of encouragement, told his soldiers, that whilst 
 
 8 Copied from an ancient British MS. bv Sir H. Spelman. Vide Append. Ifo. 
 VIII. 
 
 9 " See Tve here," says Fuller, in remarking on this passage, "the pedigree of 
 the British Church, which the shorter the ancienter, tlie fewer steps it had the 
 higher it reached. They were subject in spiritual matters to the bishop of 
 Caer-leon, and above him unto God, -without any subordination to the Pope, 
 so that it was more than a presumption that religion came into Britain, not by 
 the semicircle of Rome, but in a direct line from the Asiatic Churches." — Church 
 Xlist. b. ii. p. 61. 
 
 1 Eedse Hist. Eccl. Angl. lib. i. c. 27. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 83 
 
 " those men fought with prayers, they fought with the 
 sword;" and therefore he bid them fall on, which they 
 did, and killed all those priests in a field near Chester.^ 
 
 Whether or not Augustine was the instigator of this 
 cold-blooded murder of helpless jjriests, he certainly bore 
 the blame of it, and entailed on himself and the Eomish 
 party the execration of every Briton. Had he possessed 
 more humility, and greater suavity of disposition, his 
 name might have gone down to posterity with, honour ; 
 but whatever share of glory might be his due for evangel- 
 izing the Saxons, the British Church could only regard 
 him with fear and hate ; and we, on considering the cir- 
 cumstances of the times, and looking back at his character 
 tltrough the vista of 1200 years, while we admit that some 
 credit is due to him for his talents and zeal, and unwearied 
 labour in converting the Saxons, yet cannot acquit him of 
 that haughty intolerance, and reckless persecution, Avith 
 which he vainly attempted to annihilate the British Chris- 
 tians. — ""We commend his paines, condemne his pride, 
 allow his life, approve his learning, admire his miracles (?), 
 admit the foundation of his doctrines — Jesun Christ — but 
 refuse the ]iay and stubhle he built thereupon."^ 
 
 Disappointment and vexation at his failure in securing 005 
 the submission of the British, seem to have so greatly 
 ])rcyed upon Augustine's mind, that it was not long after 
 this that death withdrew him from the scene of his labours 
 
 2 ScMen on Polyolb. 186. 
 
 3 Fuller's CIi. Hist. I., ii, p. G8. 
 
84 THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD 
 
 and his troubles, and left the field open for other Eoinish 
 adventurers. His place "was quickly supplied by the 
 arrival of Laurentius and Justus, and by the elevation of 
 MeUitus to the see of London, aU of whom exerted their 
 utmost efforts to reduce the British Church to conformity 
 to that of Eome. Their failure, however, in this attempt 
 was as signal as that of their predecessors ; and it appears 
 that with the Saxons themselves they were not much more 
 successful. Gregory seems to have attributed their failure 
 in the latter case to the prejudices they had excited against 
 them, by their indiscriminate destruction of the Saxon 
 heathen temples. He therefore directed !Mellitus, for the 
 future, not to destroy those temples, but simply to cast out 
 the idols, and then to purify them with holy water, to 
 buUd altars within them, and to place relics under the 
 altars. Yet even this indulgence to the prejudices of the 
 people had not the desired effect — the mission languished 
 daily, and Laurentius, who had succeeded Augustine in 
 the see of Canterbury, began to turn his attention to other 
 quarters. He accordingly addressed letters to the Scot- 
 tish* clergy, and earnestly invited them to a conformity 
 with Eome. But the Scots, as also the Picts, had, like 
 the British, still retained their primitive plainness and 
 simplicity of worship, and were " so shocked at the many 
 pagan superstitions and ceremonies introduced by Augus- 
 
 * These Scots were originally inhabitants of Ireland, who settled in North 
 Britain, and were converted by Celestine and Palladius. They continned in- 
 dependent of Rome for an hundred years after this attack on them by Lau- 
 rentius. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 85 
 
 tine into the Saxon worship, that they looked upon it as 
 no better than paganism, and avoided the communion of 
 those who came from Eome to establish it, as they avoided 
 the communion of pagans ; nay, so great was the aversion 
 that the Scots in particular bore to all the Roman mission- 
 aries, that Daganus, a bishop of that nation, not only de- 
 clined sitting with them at the same table, but would not 
 even lodge with them under the same roof.''^ 
 
 In the south of Britain there continued the same aver- 
 sion towards the Saxons as from the beginning — no ap- 
 proximation had yet taken place between them and the 
 British — so far from it, that, according to an ancient 
 chronicle, " after that by the means of Austen, the Saxons 
 became Christianes, in sucli sort as Austen had taught 
 them, the Bryttayns would not after that nether eate nor 
 drynke with them, nor yet salute them, bycause they cor- 
 rupted with superstition, ymages and ydolatrie, the true 
 religion of Christe."^ In this state of afiliirs in Britain, the 
 Saxons on the point of entirely relapsing into idolatry, — • 
 the British as hostile to the Roman priests as they were to 
 the Saxons themselves — no wonder that the missionaries 
 became disheartened, and at last determined to abandon a 
 cause that seemed so utterly hopeless. jNIellitus and Justus 
 accordingly removed from Britain. Laurentius, on the eve 
 
 5 Bower's Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. This is confirmed by Betle, who says 
 that " Bishop Daganus, when he came to us, refused not only to eat with us at 
 the same table, but in the same house."— Lib. ii. c. 4. 
 
 6 Quoted by Bp. Davis, a.d. ISCS, from an ancient chronicle in Ben. CulL 
 Lib. Camb. 
 
86 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 of his departure, ordered liis bed to be laid in the uhurcli 
 at Canterbury, where he passeil the night in religious exer- 
 cises. On the following morning he jjretended that St. 
 Peter had visited him, and, chiding him for his intention 
 of abandoning the mission, had flagellated him severely. 
 The lacerated state of his shoulders seemed to prove the 
 truth of his assertion. In this pitiable condition he ap- 
 jjeared before Eadbald, Ethelbert's son and successor, who 
 (iJ7. had, on the death of his father, ajjostatized from the faith. 
 So terrific a sight powerfully affected the royal apostate, — 
 he immediately consented to be rebaptized, recalled Justus 
 and Mellitus, and did all he could to repair the ruinous 
 state of religion in his dominions. He soon after gave his 
 Christian sister Ethelburga in marriage to Edwin, the 
 pagan king of JSTorthumbria, stipulating for the free enjoy- 
 ment of her religion, as in the case of Bertha her mother. 
 Edwin, in consequence of his marriage, and by the per- 
 suasion of Paulinus, a Koman missionary, afterwards arch- 
 bishop of York, embraced Christianity, and most of his 
 subjects followed his example ; but on his death, the 
 Avhole of Northumbria relapsed into idolatry, and his qi;een 
 and Paulinus were compelled to fly the country. Disas- 
 trous as was this state of things, Edwin's conversion, not- 
 withstanding, eventually proved, indirectly, highly advan- 
 tageous to his country. It paved the way for a ready and 
 permanent reception of our holy faith, tlwugh not througli 
 Roman instrumentality. "When Edwin prevailed over his 
 rival Ethelfrid, the sons of that priest-slaying prince took 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 87 
 
 refuge in Scotland, where they were converted to Chris- 
 tianity. Oswald, the elder of them, on the death of 
 Edwin, returned to Northumbria, recovered the tlirone, 
 and determined on Christianizing all his subjects. Hap- 
 pily, his exile had taught him that this could be accom- 
 plished without Roman intervention : he sent therefore for 635. 
 missionaries to his friends in Scotland, who at once des- 
 patched to liira Aidan, a bishop of great reputation. In 
 settling a see for this exemplary prelate, no regard was 
 paid to papal arrangements. Aidan fixed himself at 
 Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, as did also his successors, 
 Finan and Colman, Scots like himself, " unconnected with 
 Kome, repudiating her usages, and despising her assump- 
 tions."'' " It Avas under these prelates of British origin, it 
 was under a religious system of native growth, that the 
 north of England was evangelized."* 
 
 A large portion of midland Britain was even still 
 more indebted than ^forthumbria for the same blessing to 
 the British clergy. The marriage of Peada, king of INIercia, 
 to a ISTorthumbrian princess, on the condition of his em- 
 bracing Christianity, led to the conver.sion of his subjects, 
 through the preaching of Diuma, a Scot by birth, whom he 656. 
 received as his bishop. Diuma's three immediate suc- 
 cessors were also members of the British Church ; and 
 under these four prelates all the midland counties cf 
 England were converted. 
 
 The National Church exhibited the same zeal, attended 
 
 7 Soames's Anglo-Saxnn Clir. p. 57. 8 ptid. 
 
88 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 M'ith the same success, in her endeavours to Christianize 
 664. the kingdom of Essex. Tlirough the conversion of Sige- 
 bert, a prince of that kingdom, during his visit at the 
 Northumbrian Court, Chad, a member of the British 
 Church, receiving episcopal consecration from Finan, 
 bishop of Nortliumbria, passed over into Essex, and by 
 his exertions reclaimed from idolatry vi^hat is novf the 
 diocese of London. 
 
 . East Anglia was also greatly indebted to the ancient 
 British Church for the conversion of its Saxon inhabitants. 
 " Only two counties therefore north of the Thames, viz. 
 Norfolk and Suffolk, can be said to have been subjected 
 to Eoman direction during the transition from Paganism 
 to Christianity, and those two were largely indebted to 
 domestic zeal for their conversion. Every other county, 
 from London to Edinburgh, has the full gratification of 
 pointing to the ancient Church of Britain as its imrsing 
 mother in Christ's holy faith.'"" 
 
 The soutliern counties of England cannot thus boast ; 
 they were chiefly brought to profess the Gospel by the 
 preaching of Eomisli missionaries. Birinus, a monk, was 
 sent over by Pope Honorius, a.d. 634, and succeeded in 
 converting the West Saxons. But even here again we 
 trace the influence of the British Church, as participating 
 considerably in his glory ; for Oswald, king of Northumbria, 
 who at this time was a suitor at the court of the West 
 Saxon for his daugliter, did not return to liis kingdom 
 
 9 Soames's Anglo-Saxon dir. r- 59. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 89 
 
 until he liad firmly established Birinus in the ncAv epis- 
 copal see at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. 
 
 Thus, by degrees, were the Saxons in all parts of Britain 
 brought, at last, under a profession of the Gospel ; and if 
 to the British Church does not exclusively belong the 
 honour of their conversion, she at least can claim a larger 
 share than the emissaries of Eome, who appear to have 
 been more earnest in their endeavours to destroy the inde- 
 pendence of that Church, than to root out the idolatry of 
 the Saxons. But notwithstanding their repeated failures 
 in this respect, the popes of Rome were still intent on sub- 
 jecting the British to their power : with this view, on tlie 
 see of Canterbury becoming vacant, Vitalian immediately 
 despatched Theodoras, a learned monk, born at Tarsus, cos. 
 to fill that see, who was, contrary to his expectation, well 
 received by the insular princes. Being a man of imperious 
 disposition, he quickly, on his arrival, seized every oppor- 
 tunity of extending the power of Eome throughout England, 
 and of bringing aU the churches of his province to con- 
 formity with the usages of the Eoman Church. He ven- 
 tured, moreover, to encroach upon the rights of the see of 
 York, though Gregory had ordered that those two sees 
 should be independent of each other after the death of 
 Augustine. This encroachment led to violent disputes, in 
 after-times, between the archbishops of the respective sees ; 
 throughout which, it is worthy of notice, that even the 
 Saxon princes insisted on, and maintained their indepen- 
 dence of the see of Eome. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 During tliis disturbed state of tilings, both in the civil 
 and ecclesiastical government of England, it was impossible 
 that Christianity could flourish, or exhibit any of the 
 fruits of a sound and rational religion. As practised by 
 the Saxons it was as corrupt as it well could be. The 
 adoration of the one true God was superseded by that of 
 saints, images, and relics. " Bounty to the Church atoned 
 for every violence towards society," and the most infamous 
 crimes were easily atoned for by penances, and servility to 
 the priests. These scandals in the Church continued 
 unabated to the time Avhen the see of Canterbury was 
 fdled by Cuthbert, who, partly with the view of correcting 
 abuses, and partly of drawing closer the Eomish connexion, 
 " convened a synod at Cloveshoo, near Rochester, a.d. 747, 
 at which a body of canons, for the future government of 
 the Church, was drawn up and promulgated. Contrary 
 to Cuthbert's expectation, the encroachments of the see of 
 Rome Avere brought forward, and formed a principal sub- 
 ject of discussion, as appears by the second canon of 
 Cloveshoo, which was particularly levelled against the 
 Pope's supremacy, by enacting that " there should be a 
 perpetual concord through the whole ecclesiastical system, 
 in preaching, in living, in judging, Avithout a servile obedi- 
 ence to any one ; since they," i.e. the clergy " are the 
 servants of one Lord, and mutually engaged in the same 
 service." 
 
 Unfortunately, this praiseworthy endeavour to correct 
 abuses proved abortive ; and, under the increasing corrup- 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 91 
 
 tion of the times, the Saxon Church was readily preparing 
 her neck for the Eoman yoke. Easy was the progress 
 from a superstitious veneration I'or everything that ema- 
 nated from Eome, the head-quarters of corruption, to 
 submission to the papal tyranny there established, ifsor 
 were the Eoman pontiff's slack in taking advantage of every 
 opening for pushing their pretensions, as was exhibited 
 in the time-serving policy of Offa, king of Mercia. This 
 weak and vindictive prince, having slain the king of Kent, 
 determined on avenging himself of Lambert, archbishop of 
 (,"anterbury, because of his having espoused his adversary's 
 cause. With the view, therefore, of lessening that prelate's 
 jurisdiction, he resolved on establishing an archbishop's 
 see at Lichfield, and easily obtained from Eome the con- 
 firmation of his wishes, by the ready acquiescence of the 
 Pope. But Offa was a man ready enough to degrade the 
 Church still farther for the base purpose of forwarding his 
 ulterior views. He therefore not only gladly admitted two 
 popish legates into his kingdom, allowing them at the 787. 
 council held at Calcuith to interpose their advice and 
 authority, but very shortly afterwards, out of a pretended 
 zeal for the Church, he engaged to pay a yearly tax, called 
 Peter Pence, for the support of the English college at 
 Eome. This tax, though at first received as a free gift 
 by the Eoman pontiffs, was very soon claimed as a 
 right. And to this trifling circumstance may be attributed 
 the origin of those bold pretensions, which, in after- 
 times, this usurping Church advanced to the submission 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 of the British Church as a tributary branch of the Catholic 
 body. 
 
 The British Church, in the meantime, continued yet 
 clear of every corruption, and stoutly maintained her inde- 
 pendence. Distinct in all respects from the Saxon, she 
 equally resisted the encroacliments of Romanists, and the 
 corruptions of her Saxon oppressors. She regarded both 
 one and the other as " heathen men and idolaters," and 
 Avould hold no manner of communion with them. As for 
 submission, even at this dark period of English history, 
 she rejected the very idea, and continued to conduct the 
 government of her affairs by her own independent councils 
 and synods — a right she asserted from the beginning to 
 that mortifying period, when, bowed beneath the iron yoke 
 of her Saxon and iforman masters, she was compelled at 
 last to yield herself an involuntary victim to the Eoman 
 power. 
 
 The Popes, those " lords over God's heritage," were too 
 conscious, as well as too jealous of her independence, not 
 to take advantage of any opportunity favourable for her 
 enslavement. Accordingly, when, by decision of an Eng- 
 lish spaod held at Hertford, the jurisdiction of "Wilfrid, 
 sole prelate of the Xorthumbrian kingdom, was consider- 
 ably abridged, that ambitious bishop appealed to the 
 lioman Pontiff. Agatho, the Pope, most readily admitted 
 the appeal ; but it was with the artful view of recording 
 it as a precedent for the future subjection of England. 
 Wilfiid was, therefore, one of the principal instruments in 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 93 
 
 efFecting this long-clierislied object of Eome, and took an 
 active part in those theological controversies which raged 
 in the north of Britain, between the Romanists and 
 British divines, on the subject of the tonsure, and the 
 time for keeping Easter. The Britisli Churches followed 
 the practice of the Asiatic, in celebrating the Easter Fes- 
 tival on the first Sunday after the thirteenth of the first 
 moon following the vernal equinox ; — whereas the Eo- 
 manists held it on the first Sunday after the fourteenth of 
 the same moon. At a synod held at Whitby, for deter- 
 mining this dispute, " the British pleaded the antiquity of 
 their peculiar usages — the Saxons insisted on the univer- 
 sality of theirs." After a century of contention, the 
 British Church was compelled to yield to the dictum of 
 Eome ; and tliis was the first effectual blow to her inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 The ninth and tenth centuries are chiefly memorable for 
 the degraded state of Christianity in Britain, and through- 
 out the whole of Europe. The ignorance and comiption 
 of the clergy were unparalleled in any former age — the 
 history of the Popes is the hi-story of monsters throughout. 
 Baronius their apologist, admits that at Eome " things 
 sacred and profane were at the mercy of factions." "With 
 such words he closes his annals of the ninth century ; and 
 yet, according to his own statement, these " monsters of 
 Popes" were " legitimate Pontiffs, Christ's Yicars, and In- 
 fallible Successors of St. Peter 1"^ The same Baronius 
 
 I Xotc to Siianheim's Eccl. .\nn. p. 440. 
 
94 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 declares, moreover, that " the most vile harlots, tlie mis- 
 tresses of the bishops of Eome, domineered in the papal 
 see" — that " at their pleasure they changed sees, appointed 
 bishops, and (which is horrible to mention) did thrust 
 into St. Peter's see their own gallants, false Popes !" 
 "The abomination of desolation was now truly seen in the 
 temple ; Christ was asleep in the ship, and there was no 
 one to awake him."^ 
 
 No wonder, then, that the people partook largely of this 
 ignorance and corruption of their teachers, and easily ad- 
 mitted the superstitions additions made to the rites and 
 ceremonies of the Church. " Behold," exclaims Baronius, 
 " a new age commences its course, which for its asperity 
 and sterility is called the iron age ; for its defonnity of 
 overflowing evil, the leaden ; and for its dearth of writers, 
 the darlc age." Indeed, the ignorance, wickedness, and 
 depravity of this time cannot be overdra^\^l. " The world 
 seemed to be declining apace towards its evening, and the 
 second connng of the Son of Man to draw near ; for love 
 was grown cold, and faith was not found upon the earth."-" 
 Now all this flood cf evil and ignorance is traced, by the 
 historians of these times, to the flagitious character of the 
 Roman Pontifi"s, who, for the space of 150 years, were, to 
 the numher of fifty, wicked and apostate men.^ 
 
 2 Spanheira's Eccl. Ann. p. 440. 
 
 3 Bellarraine de Sacram. lib. i. c. 8. 
 
 4 It is notorious that one Pope, John XII., was only twelve years old when 
 he was elevated to the Pontificate. A cliild of only five years old was elected 
 archbishop of Rheims. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 95 
 
 This dcploralDle state of the whole body ecclesiastic, 
 when " from the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there 
 was no soundness in it ; hut Abounds, and hruises, and 
 putrifying sores," — was attended, as before observed, with 
 an extraordinary addition of superstitious practices : — the 
 multiplication of reliques — the canonization of saints — 
 lying miracles — and other gross and infamous novelties, 
 were admitted without scruple. The public service of 
 God consisted chiefly of the mass, consecrations, oblations, 
 prayers to images, pictures, and saints, observance of feasts, 
 itc. Tlie worship of the A^irgin Mary, which in the ninth 
 century had been carried to a high degree of idolatry, re- 
 ceived in the tenth century a further superstitious addition, 
 by the institution of the rosary and crown of the Virgin. 
 The former consists of fifteen repetitions of the Lord's 
 Prayer, and 150 salutations of the Virgin; v/hile the latter 
 is made up of six or seven Pater Nosters, and six or seven 
 times ten salutations, or Ave Marias.^ 
 
 The clergy willingly encouraged these absurd devices ; 
 and, instead of urging the people to search and obey the 
 Scriptures, they directed them to the canons of the Ivoman 
 Church, the decrees of the Popes, which were only so 
 many helps and props of the vilest and most profane 
 system ever invented by man. This general corruption of 
 the Western Church extended itself to England, though 
 by no means to the extent it had done in other countries. 
 The doctrine of image worship, as authorized by the second 
 
 . 5 Moslicim's Ewl. Hist. vol. ii. p. 429. 
 
96 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Council of Xice, and proposed ineffectually by king Ofi'a 
 to the Anglo-Saxon clergy towards tlie end of the eighth 
 
 ¥10. century, gained a little ground here early in the ninth 
 century ; ■when at the council held at Celychyth, under 
 "Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbiiry, it was ordered that on 
 the consecration of any church, the saint in whose honour 
 it was built, should be " commemorated on its walls."® 
 
 At this council was also agitated the question respecting 
 mouachism, which in after ages so long distracted the 
 Church and nation. 
 
 8S6. Ethelwulf, Avho succeeded his father Egbert on the 
 throne of England, about twenty years after the council of 
 Celychyth, had been educated for the ministry by S\vithin, 
 bishop of Winchester, under whose tuition he imbibed a 
 violent partiality for monachism and poperj' ; and during 
 the troubles by which his reign was agitated from the 
 invasion of the Danes, courted the favour of Heaven by 
 his extraordinary patronage of the Church. Thus he con- 
 ceded the tenth part of the royal domains for the perpetual 
 
 8S4. use of the clergy, settled a pension on the Pope, and 
 would, no doubt, have surrendered himself, his Church, 
 and people, to the entire control of that Pontiff, had he 
 not been fortunately deposed by his indignant subjects. 
 
 This was a great blow to the ambitious designs of his 
 holiness, and was the means of checking, for some time 
 longer, the encroachments of the see of Rome. For Alfred 
 
 ^ "Depictum in pariete" — whether this meant 1iy means of a pictvTe or .\ 
 inscription may i>erhaps be doubtful. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 97 
 
 the Great, notwithstaiidiug his early Eoman predilections, 
 on liis obtaining unexpectedly the crown of England, 871. 
 showed little disposition to yield to any of the papal pre- 
 tensions ; on the contrary, he was always most cautious in 
 guarding against any acknowledgment of Roman supre- 
 macy ; and though he was confirmed in his regal rights by 
 one Pope, and received several value hie presents from 
 another, yet those marks of personal attention seem to have 
 called forth little or no correspondent feehng of friendship. 
 Unlike his predecessors, Offa and Ina, he procured no bulls 
 of privilege for the abbeys he founded at Athelney and 
 Winchester, or his nunnery at Shaftesbury. In his 
 anxiety to establish the University of Oxford, and other 
 public schools, he invited none of the learned men from 
 the see of Eome,' he received no legates, permitted no 
 interference in his synods, and even ventured to take up 
 the cause of Johannes Scotus Erigena, who had fallen 
 under the censure of the Eoman Pontiff. 
 
 By the ecclesiastical ordinances, moreover, which he 
 promulgated in 877, he effected a vast deal in restoring the SV7. 
 Church to her former piuity ; and by his patronage of 
 learned men, his numerous literary works, and above all 
 by his translation of the Bible into the vernacular tongue, 
 he not only diffused a taste for letters generally, but par- 
 ticularly a spirit of religious inquiry throughout the land. 
 
 His son and successor, Edward the Elder, was of a far 904. 
 more pliable disposition, and tamely submitted to many 
 
 " Vide Appendix, p. 203. 
 G 
 
98 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 indignities Avhicli the Eonian Pontiffs were beginning 
 indiscriminately to heap on the princes of Europe. Athel- 
 
 925. stan, his eldest son, was a religious and high-minded 
 prince, who, by his strict enforcement of the law of tithes, 
 and his introduction of Churcli-sliot, and sundry provisions 
 for the building of village churches, merits the lasting 
 gratitude of the Cliurch of England. 
 
 943 His brother Edmund was equally zealous for the 
 Church, and was a liberal patron of sundry religious 
 establishments. Under his protection, Dunstan, the cele- 
 brated abbot of Glastonbury, established for the first time 
 in Enghmd a monastery of the Benedictine order : and 
 after his elevation to the see of Canterbury, in Edgar's 
 
 959 reign, effected an entire revolution in the government and 
 discij)line of religious establishments." "With aU his 
 faults, Dunstan claims our admiration, for his steady and 
 undaunted assertion of the Church's independence of 
 Rome, and for the firmness with which he ever insisted 
 on the royal supremacy — a fact deserving of special notice 
 at this dark period of English history, as marking, in the 
 deartli of more important events, the yet unbroken inde- 
 pendence of the Anglo-Saxon Church. 
 
 And with respect to the doctrines of tlie Church, it is 
 equally certain that, gross as were many of the errors and 
 corruptions which had already tainted the orthodoxy of 
 
 8 St. Dunstan was the first ecclesiastic wlio compelle't tlie Englisli clergyto 
 jint away tlieir wives. Several canons were afterwards formed for enforcing 
 their celibacy, but they failed to produce the intended ellect — for the clergy 
 resolutely resisted every law made for that purpose. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 99 
 
 the national religion, yet in some essential points she still 
 repudiated all communion with Eonie. From such mate- 
 rials as are scantily afforded us in the writings of the 
 Anglo-Saxon divines, it is most satisfactory to find the 
 amplest testimony to one important truth — that to the 
 latest period of their religious history they never admitted loeo. 
 the doctrine of Transubstantiation. The writings of Elfric, 
 especially his Paschal Homily and his two Epistles, 
 abundantly prove how directly he was opposed to the Eu- 
 charistic belief of modern Eomanists ; and there is equally 
 strong testimony in his other homiletical writings against 
 the further novelties of the Pope's supremacy, infallibility, 
 and absolving power. The Homilies of Elfric are thus 
 invaluable evidence, as beating down that fond conceit 
 which would identify modem Eomanism with the ancient 
 religious system of the Anglo-Saxon Church in some of 
 the cardinal points of belief. It is true that the Saxon 
 homilies countenanced certain opinions which the Re- 
 formed Chi;rch of England has since rejected — " but their 
 voice upon other distinctive points is Protestant,"* and 
 loudly lifted up against those numerous superstitions 
 which every day were more and more openly distinguish- 
 ing the Eomish Church from the ancient faith. ^ 
 
 » Soames's Hist, of the Anglo-Sax. Chr. p. 246. 
 
 1 Wlic'li}fkalso, in liis edition of Hcile, proiUices evidence from various other 
 Saxon homilies, to prove that the British and Anglo-Saxons, tefore the Con- 
 (|uest, did not helieve in Transubstantiation, nor in Indulgences, nor in the 
 Invocation of Saints, nor in Purgatory, nor in the propriety of restraining the 
 Heading of the Scriptures : and as to the Popish supremacy, the same writer 
 shows, from the same homilies, that the Saxons understood those words of 
 
lOO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 The whole of continenta] Europe was fast approaching 
 to a state of the most deplorable ignorance that can be 
 imagined. The Church was everywhere so debased, that 
 it was supposed by those who yet maintained their integ- 
 rity, that Satan was now loosed for a time, and that Anti- 
 christ foretold in the New Testament had appeared pre- 
 viously to the destruction of the world ; and by the 
 unnatural and unscriptural law of cehbacy, and the indo- 
 lent insolence of monachism, was exhibiting the distin- 
 guisliing characters of the arch-apostate. 
 
 The encroacliing power of the Popes kept pace with the 
 growth of corruption, and received considerable augmenta- 
 tion in the eleventh century from the crusades, or holy 
 wars, which Sylvester II., Urban II., and other ambitious 
 Popes, purposely fomented under the sanction of religion, 
 for the mere purpose of consolidating their usurped power. 
 These wars gave them extraordinary influence in the poli- 
 tical world, and led to their assumption of the titles of 
 "Lords of the \miverse" — " Ai-biters of tlie fate of king- 
 doms" — " Universal Fathers" — " Supreme Eulers over the 
 kings and princes of the earth." Supreme rulers they 
 certainly were, and the influence they acquired over the 
 most powerful armies that Europe had ever beheld can 
 scarcely be believed ; were it not that plenary indulgence, 
 or pardon fur every sin, tlie reward of a crusader, ioas 
 
 Christ, " Thou art Peter," &c., merely in a figurative senje, as indeed meaning 
 no more than " I will build mj- Cliutch upon the faitli which you have nuw 
 confessed." The power of the keys is explained by the Saxon homilist as 
 having been given to all the other Apostles as well as to St. Peter. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. loi 
 
 and is a talisman of irresistible power. The Christian 
 princes in time tecame exhausted by wars that swept 
 away of the flower of their forces upwards of 6,000,000 
 persons ; while the Popes grew rich, daring, and omni- 
 potent. Leo IX. and Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) were, 
 without dispute, the most daring of all these daring men. 
 
 Wliat effect this growing power of the Popes had on 
 the state of religion in Europe was easily discernible in the 
 retrograde course of Christianity. " A miserable super- 
 stition enslaved the minds of all Christendom." "As 
 were the people, so were the priests," from the lowest to 
 the highest rank. The lives of the Popes abundantly 
 confirm this statement. Sylvester II., Benedict IX. ,^ and 
 Gregory VI., are described by various writers as "monsters 
 of men, infamous Antichrists, flagitious in their lives, 
 tyrants in their rule, and diabolical in their arts."^ Platina 
 calls the three above-mentioned Popes " three most dread- 
 ful monsters" — and most of these "monsters," who were 
 raised to the pontificate during these dark ages, are repre- 
 sented as being " indolent, adulterous, proud, ignorant, 
 simoniacal, covetous, and bloody."^ Of such there were 
 sometimes three, and even five, infallible Heads of the 
 Church at the same time. 
 
 Sucb was the state of religion throughout the papal 
 dominions, as exhibited in the characters of her teachers ! 
 Ko wonder " the soul of Gregory was" so extremely 
 
 2 Benedict was only Un years old when lie was elevated to the Popedom. 
 
 3 Spanlieim's Eccl. Ann. Cent. XI. * Idem. 
 
I02 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 "grieved," 5 as described by the credulous Baronius. Less 
 candid historians hare been equally unsparing of these 
 sad times, and have unanimously represented the state of 
 the whole clerical order as more degraded, by ignorance 
 and depra-vity, than at any former period. " The clergy 
 were not distinguished from the people by any purity of 
 life. The bishops were become careless, dumb dogs, 
 simoniacal and covetous."" 
 
 In England, so fiir removed from the headquarters of 
 apostacy, it would seem that the Pope's increasing influ- 
 ence was not so direct. Eeligion had yet to contend, in 
 some parts of the country, -with Saxon and Danish 
 1030. idolatry, which, in the reign even of Canute, was of suffi- 
 cient magnitude to require the enactment of the following 
 special law for its suppression: — ""We strictly discharge 
 and forbid all our subjects to worship the gods of the 
 Gentiles ; that is to say, the sun, moon, fires, rivers, foun- 
 tains, hills, or trees and woods of any kind."^ 
 
 So that whUe the Church had to contend on the one 
 hand Avith the encroachments of Eomanism, and on the 
 other with the superstitions of Paganism, it appears as if 
 she was the more resolute, on those very accounts, in keep- 
 ing hei-self pure from the contact of either. Under the 
 heptarchy, and at the moment when England was passing 
 under a monarchical form of government, there are not 
 
 5 Baronius in Gregorio VII., a.d. 1075. 
 
 6 WOliam of Tyre, lib. L 8. 
 
 ' Heurj "s Hist, of England, b. L c. ii. sect. 2. 
 
NOT A NE W CHURCH. 
 
 103 
 
 wanting proofs of tlie yet uncorrupted state of Christianity ; 
 and maii}^ of the presbyters of the British Church stand 
 forth pre-eminent for their piety and learning, even at that 
 dark day. During the subsequent iron sway of the Nor- 
 man conquerors, the Church of England still maintained, 
 as -will be shown in the sequel, her ancient independence, 
 Avhich, at the restoration of the Saxon hne, in the person 
 of Henry II., was eventually lost. 
 
 "WUliani, surnamed the Conqueror, on the deposition of 1066. 
 Harold, and before his invasion of England, pretended the 
 utmost deference to the Eoman see ; but no sooner had he 
 gained liis point, and under the auspices of the Pope, 
 established, by force of arms, his sovereignty over Eng- 
 land, tlian he began to assert his independence of the 
 papal power; and in spite of the menaces of Gregory VII., 
 when that arrogant pontiff summoned him to do homage 
 for his kingdom, as a fief of the apostolic see, sternly 
 refused, declaring that he held his kingdom of God only, 
 and his own sword, — a mortifying declaration, truly, to the 
 pride of him whose power was omnipotent that, according 
 to his bold panegyrist, he "ruled in heaven."* 
 
 Fortunately for the English Church, tliis "impious, 
 perjured, perfidious, cruel, proud, superstitious, and hypo- 
 critical nian,"° was too busily occupied by his wars with 
 Henry IV. to pay much heed to the rebeUious Norman ; 
 
 s Baroniiis. 
 
 9 Tliese epithets were apijlied to Gregory by Cardinal Beuno. Vide Span- 
 heim, Cent. XI. 
 
I04 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 for while he was hurling the thunders of the A^atican 
 against the German emperor, on the long-disputed ques- 
 tion of the Eight of Investitures,^ William peaceably 
 enjoyed and maintained Ms riglit, and allowed nothing to 
 he transacted in Church affairs without his sanction. He 
 even forbad his subjects to receive their orders from, or to 
 acknowledge the authority of the Pope in any way. The 
 English clergy, on their part, as stoutly opposed many of 
 Gregory's decrees, and especially the one he issued enjoin- 
 ing their celibacy. The doctrine of Transubstantiation 
 Avas also generally rejected by the great body of the Eng- 
 lish clergy. 
 
 1087. "William Eufus was not of a more yielding disposition. 
 In defiance of papal menace, he kept in his own hands the 
 
 1100. vacant bishojmcs and abbeys, and sold them at times to 
 the highest bidder. We know also that his successor, 
 Henry I., successfully maintained his right to the homage 
 of all bishops and abbots within his realm, though he 
 yielded the point of investiture, in the long-disputed case 
 of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury.^ 
 
 1135. Stephen proved himself to be a mere tool of the Pope, 
 in return for the support he received from him in defend- 
 ing his bad title to the British throne. His reign, more- 
 
 1 Tlie right of investing the bisliops and abbot.s with tlie ring and crosier was 
 long claimed by tlie sovereign princes, and led, as migiit be expected, to con- 
 tinual acts of simony. Tliis right Gregory insisted on recovering, and issued 
 an anatliema against any one who ventured to receive investiture from the 
 hands of a layman. 
 
 2 He prohibited all appeal to the court of Rome, which was declared to be 
 "unlieard of in tliis kingdom, and altogether contrary to its usages." 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 105 
 
 over, was so full of trouble, that undue advantage was 
 talcen of that circumstance by the Pope, to encroach on 
 the king's prerogative of appointing to the legateship. 
 This encroachment seemed at first of little moment, but it 
 afterwards led to very serious consequences, inasmuch as it 
 was through the legates that Eome at length trod on the 
 necks of both kings and clergy.' 
 
 Henry II., in whom the Saxon line was restored, was ii63. 
 neither blind to the encroachments of Rome, nor to the 
 evils resulting from the pretended immunities of the clergy. 
 His resolutions, therefore, in the earlier days of his reign, 
 were in strict accordance with the conduct of his Norman 
 predecessors. He determined to check the grasping power 
 of the Pope, and to lessen the privileges of the clergy. 
 For this purpose he summoned the famous Council of ii64. 
 Clarendon, near Salisbury, at which were produced, 
 debatexl, and ratified, the sixteen celebrated constitutions, 
 by which Henry established his jurisdiction over the 
 clergy, and his independence of the Pope, and curbed the 
 pretensions of bishops and priests, by bringing them under 
 the cognizance of the civil courts. Against these consti- 
 tutions Pope Alexander III. entered his indignant protest, 
 and severely reproved Thomas \ Becket, archbishop of 
 Canterbury, for daring to sign them, and the bishops and 
 clergy of England for following- his example. The Pope's 
 remonstrance proved successful with the archbishop, who 
 speedily recanted, and most violently opposed the king. 
 
 3 Vide Rapin's Hist. 
 
io6 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 His opposition Avas at first meekly endured by Henry ; 
 but at length became so pertinacious, that he was sum- 
 moned to appear before the king. This summons the 
 haughty prelate treated with contempt ; whereupon the 
 bishops, "by joint consent, adjudged him of perjury, for 
 not yielding temporal allegiance to his temjDoral sovereign, 
 and by tlie mouth of the bishop of Chichester, disclaimed 
 thenceforward all obedience to him as their archbishop. 
 The next day, whilst the bishops and peers were consulting 
 of some further course with him, Becket, not as yet 
 daunted, caused to be sung before him at the altar the 
 23d verse of the 119th Psalm, ' Princes did sit and speak 
 against me,' &c. ; and forthwith, taking his silver cross in 
 his own hands (a thing strange and unheard of before), 
 enters armed therewitli into the king's presence, though 
 earnestly dissuaded by all that wished him well. Where- 
 ■\\dth the king, enraged, commanded his peers to. sit in 
 judgment on him, as on a traitor and perjured person. 
 The Earls of Cornwall and Leicester, who sat as judges, 
 cited him to hear his sentence pronounced. He imme- 
 diately appealed to the see of Rome, as holding no judges 
 competent. Whereupon, all reviling him with the name 
 of traitor, and the like, he replied, that, were it not for 
 his function, he would enter the duel or combat with 
 them in the field, to acquit himself both of treason and 
 perjury."* 
 
 Such being his insolent pertinacity, Henry was com- 
 
 < Speed. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 107 
 
 pelled to depose liim ; and the degraded prelate at once 
 directed his steps to liome, where, on reaching the Pope's 
 presence, he took off his ring, and presented it to his holi- 
 ness, whereby he formally resigned his see into the Pope's 
 hands. 
 
 " This submission on his part to the Pope highly 
 offended the clergy of England, which they considered as 
 a precedent of a very dangerous import.'" lie afterwards 
 retired into France, where he continued to reside, tUl, 
 through the mediation of the French king, his restoration 
 was at last effected. Eecket, however, had profited little 
 by experience ; he returned the same bold, daring man as 
 before, and obstinately persisted in his opposition to the 
 king. His insolent career was soon after cut short by the 
 hands of four assassins, who, regardless of his expostlda- 
 tions and threats, slew him, after an ineffectual resistance, 
 at the very altar of his cathedral, at the hour of vespers. 
 The miserable man had only time to utter the following 
 words : — " Unto God, and to Sainte IVIarye, and to the 
 saintes that are patrons of this church, and to Sainte 
 Denise, I commend myself and the Church's cause."® 
 
 This tragical end of tlie unbending prelate led, as might 
 be expected, to warm discussions between the Pope and 
 the King, which ended at length in the complete triumph 
 of Alexander. Henry was compelled to submit to the 
 following humihating conditions as the price of the Pope's 
 absolution : — 1. Never to oppose his holiness' will. 2. 
 
 5 Strutt's Antiq. 6 Hollingshed. 
 
io8 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Not to hinder appeals to the Eoman see. 3. To lead his 
 troops to the Holy Land. 4. To make restitution of all 
 property he had taken from the clergy. 5. To abolish 
 the constitutions of Clarendon, and all other obnoxious 
 laws. 
 
 Henry, however, had not yet filled iip the measure of 
 his humiliation — he agreed to walk barefoot to the tomb 
 of Becket, and submitted to receive, on his bare shoulders, 
 five stripes from each of the five prelates, and three from 
 each of the eighty monks of Canterburj^ who scourged him 
 with knotted cords. He then clothed his bleeding body 
 in sackcloths, and continued kneeling on the cold stones 
 all that day, until the midnight bell tolled for matins, and 
 thus remained in prayer before the shrine till break of 
 day. He then drank some Avatcr, mixed with some of 
 Becket's blood, and returned to London. 
 1172. Thus, after centuries of conflict and struggle, was the 
 Pope's supremacy established over the realm of England, 
 and the extraordinary power of the Eoman see exhibited 
 in the humiliating submission of one of the most potent 
 princes in Europe. The long-cherished scheme of uni- 
 versal dominion was consummated by this successful 
 fi.ssault ou the rights of the British monarchy ; and with 
 the independence of Henry fell also the liberty of the 
 British Church. 
 
 But if Alexander had reason to triumph in the submis- 
 sion of so powerful a British sovereign, Innocent III. had 
 no less cause to exult in the degradation of a prince but 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 109 
 
 little inferior to Henry in spirit or in power. The 
 i:)rimacy of England falling vacant, contrary to all law and 
 rule, the Pope at once appointed to it one Stephen Lang- 1211. 
 ton, a mere creature of his o^v^l, in defiance of King John's 
 pre^dous appointment of J ohn de Gray, bishop of Norwich. 
 Innocent at first adopted conciliatory measures, hut John 
 was not thus to be won over to his views. He signified to 
 the Pope, that if his holiness persisted in thus invading 
 his just prerogative, he should at once break off all in- 
 tercourse with Eome. The indignant Pontiff, nothing 
 daunted, immediately laid England under an interdict. 
 " The nation was of a sudden deprived of all exterior 
 exercises of worship — no bell was heard — no taper was 
 Lighted — no service performed — no Church open — 
 " the dead were not interred in consecrated groimd — they 
 were thrown into ditches, or buried in the lields — the 
 people were forbidden to salute each other, or to shave 
 their beards. Every circumstance carried symptoms of 
 the deepest distress, aud of the most immediate appre- 
 hension of Divine vengeance and indignation."^ 
 
 This severe interdict having failed to produce the least 
 submission in King John, was followed by a formal act of 1213. 
 excommunication. By this act, his subjects were absolved 
 from their allegiance — the throne declared vacant — the 
 crown offered to Philip of France — and that monarch 
 exhorted to invade England. The invasion was deter- 
 mined upon — the fleet and army prepared to act — and 
 
 ? Soutliey's Book of the Churcli. s riume's Hist. 
 
no THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 inevitable destruction seemed to aAvait the excommuni- 
 cated monarch}^ of England. At tMs crisis the wily Pope 
 despatched Pandolph, his legate, "v\dth the offer of terms to 
 John, Avho so Avorked upon the fears of that pusillanimous 
 sovereign, increased no doubt by a prophecy of Peter the 
 Hermit, that the crown of England should be given to 
 another before Ascension-day, that he speedily brought 
 him to submission. King John, in fear and trembling, 
 affixed his seal to tlie act of liis humiliation, and swore to 
 observe what he had thus subscribed. But his degrada- 
 tion was not yet complete — terrified by the hermit's pro- 
 phecy, and alarmed at the threatening aspect of everything 
 and person around him — on the day before Ascension-da}'', 
 he laid his crown at Pandolph's feet, and signed an instru- 
 ment, by which, for the remission of his sins, and those of 
 his family, he surrendered the kingdom of England and 
 Ireland to the Pope, to hold them thenceforth under 
 /nwi— for himself, his heirs, and successors, he swore 
 liege homage to that see, bound his kingdom to the 
 annual payment of 1000 marks, to be paid for ever 
 in token of vassalage, and renounced for himself and 
 his heirs all right to the throne, if the agreement on 
 their part should at any time be broken. A sum of 
 money was then laid down in earnest of this tribute, 
 which Pandolph, acting his part with consummate skill, 
 trampled imder foot, and moreover kept the crown in his 
 possession for five days. John, in the shame and indig- 
 nation of the moment, had tlie meanness to vent his 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Avrath on tlie poor hernnt, wliom, together witli liis son, 
 he caused to be put to death. 
 
 Langton now came forth from his retreat — met the king 
 at "Winchester, and falling down at liis feet, asked liis for- 
 giveness. The primate made him swear to defend the 
 Church, and to make full satisfaction for all the damages 
 that had been brought on individuals by the Pope's inter- 
 dict. John's abject spirit yielded every jDoint, and while 
 liis disgTaceful submission did not bring him even the 
 respect of the Eoman party, it lost him the confidence 
 of all his subjects. Fi-om this moment commenced 
 that memorable struggle between John and his barons 
 — a weak and temporizing king, and a firm but tui'bu- 
 lent nobility — which, after a violent struggle, was at 
 last happily terminated, by the king's signing, at Eim- 
 nymede, June 19, 1215, the famous deed, called Magna 1215. 
 Charta, Avhich Avas the groundwork of British liberty, 
 and the corner-stone of that noble fabric wliich in 
 time resulted from it — the unrivalled Constitution of 
 England. 
 
 John, however, though he saved his crown by this con- 
 cession to his subjects, felt that his signature had really 
 been extorted by compulsion, and that his barons, not 
 liimself, were now the rulers of England. He therefore, as a 
 fief of the Eoman see, complained to the Pope, and entreated 
 his interference. Innocent, but too willing to oblige so 
 faithful a servant, immediately issued a bull of excommuni- 
 cation against his rebellious subjects, annulled the v,-hole 
 
112 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 charter, and forbad the king to consider liimself bound 
 by it.9 
 
 The barons, on their part, paid no attention to the bull. 
 Langton received orders to pronounce their excommunica- 
 tion , but this he refused to do, and was, in consequence, 
 suspended by the Pope's legate. Under this suspension 
 that courageous and high-minded prelate continued till 
 after the death of both the Pope and the King, when he 
 i2i(j. was reii'.stated in the primacy, and afterwards became the 
 principal agent in obtaining for the barons, from Henry 
 III., the full confirmation of ilagna Charta. 
 
 Nothing was now wanting to render the Pope's power 
 supreme in England ; though successfully resisted till the 
 end of the i^ormau conquest,^ and the restoration of the 
 Saxon line, yet the weakness of one monarch, and the 
 worthlessness of another, at length brought the Church 
 and kingdom of England prostrate at the feet of St. Peter, 
 Great dissatisfaction was expressed at this her degraded 
 state of subjection; but it was in vaiir to ojipose a power 
 that wielded all the wealth of Europe, and which held 
 an irresistible sway over the minds of the great mass of 
 the people. Each successive Pope seemed to be advancing 
 to greater degrees of arrogance and aggression, — so that 
 what appeared impossible to Gregory VII., in the eleventh 
 century, was a matter of no difficulty to Innocent III., in 
 the thirteenth. As temporal lord, the Pope now acknow- 
 ledged no superior, and no equal — he was the fountain of 
 
 " Matthew Paris. 1 Vide Blaekstone's Com. b. iv. c. 8. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 113 
 
 all honour, power, and rule — king of kings, and lord of 
 lords. " As a spiritual character, he sat in the temple of 
 God, asserting himself to be God, immaculate, infallible, 
 uncontrollable." He declared himself to be the " bride- 
 groom of the Church, which was his bride ; and that, for 
 a do^v^y, the fuhiess of spiritual and a large extent of 
 temporal things were given him : and he even permitted 
 others to say of him, that they had received from his ful- 
 ness — that he was a mediafor hetween God and man — and 
 that the pontifical dignity Avas before and superior to the 
 imperial authority.'"' Pride and tyranny had never before 
 so powerful a representative as Innocent, under whose pon- 
 tificate the gross errors of transubstantiation, auricular 
 confession, purgatory, the sacrifice of the mass, merit of 
 works, necessity of celibacy, intercession and invocation of 
 saints, <fec., became more and more interwoven with the 
 Eomish system of theology. And that these monstrous 
 departures from the truth might neither be detected nor 
 exposed, this same Pope, in his decretal epistles, prohibited 
 the reading of the Gospels, Epistles, and Psalms, by the 
 laity, in their vernacular tongue. 
 
 Such was the man under whose jurisdiction the Church 
 of England had at last fallen — such were the means by 
 which that Church, after a successful struggle against the 
 encroachments of Rome from the days of Augustine, 
 became overwhelmed and buried in the flood of popish cor- 
 ruption ; for with her independence departed also her 
 
 2 Spanlieim's Eoi-l. Ann. Cent. xiii. 
 U 
 
114 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 purity of worship and doctrine ; and the Cliurcli of Eng- 
 land, once the glory of Christendom, and the bulwark of 
 that sound " faith once delivered to the saints," became 
 identified in the main points of doctrine and discipline 
 Avith the Church of Rome. No longer was she to be re- 
 cognised as the plain, pure, and simple fabric, which an 
 Apostle had erected, and saints and martyrs had beautified. 
 She lay buried under the overwhelming weight of Popery ! 
 Perranzabuloe — St. Piran in the sand ! ! 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 115 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Tlie course of Christianity and the Christian Church may not unaptly 
 be likened to a mighty river, which filled a wide channel, and bore 
 along with its waters mud, and gravel, and weeds, till it met a great 
 rock in the middle of its stream. By some means or other, the 
 water flows purely, and separated from the filth, in a deeper and nar- 
 rower course on one side of the rock, and the refuse of the dirt and 
 troubled water goes off on the other side in a broader current, and 
 then cries out, We are the n-vev."— Coleridge's Tabic Talk, voli. 
 
 The tyranny of Papal Eome, under whicli the most 
 powerful states of Europe had so long groaned, was fast 
 approaching a crisis — the measure of iniquity was nearly 
 filled up, and it was evident that clouds were gathering in 
 the West, portentous of the coming storm. " Surely the 
 wrath of man shall praise Thee, 0 Lord ! the remainder of 
 wrath shalt Thou restrain ! " 
 
 The long career of wickedness by which Popery had 
 advanced to its present power was drawing to a close, and 
 the political troubles and animosities it had stirred up 
 among its obsequious subjects in many of the more power- 
 
ii6 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ful states, were beginning to show signs of a reaction, 
 which tlie increasing corruption and despotism of tlie Pope 
 were tending rapidly to augment. 
 
 1204. Pope Boniface VIII., who succeeded to the pontificate 
 A.D. 1294, was disposed to outstrip all his predecessors in 
 priestly arrogance and depravity. " He was born to be 
 the plague both of Church and State, a disturber of the 
 repose of nations, and his attempts to extend and confirm 
 the despotism of the Eoman Pontiffs were carried to a 
 length that approached to frenzy. From the moment that 
 he entered upon his new dignity, he laid claim to a 
 supreme and irresistible dominion over all the powers of 
 tlie earth, both spiritual and temporal, terrified kingdoms 
 and empires with the thunder of his bulls, called princes 
 and sovereign states before his tribunal to decide their 
 quarrels," and, in a word, " exhibited to the Church and 
 to Europe a lively image of the tyrannical administration 
 of Gregory VII., whom he perhaps surpassed in arro- 
 gance."^ This was seen in one of his earliest acts ; for he 
 first showed himself in public, " girt with a sword, and 
 sustaining an imperial crown, and exclaimed, ' I am Ctesar, 
 and also Pope ; behold here are two swords !' alluding to 
 Ills spiritual and temporal authority." 
 
 1300 The throne of France was about the same period occu- 
 pied by Philip the Fair, a man of bold and enterpri.sing 
 spirit, and in every way qualified to curb the madness of 
 the Eoman Pontiff. Of this Boniface was so sensible, that 
 
 1 Mosheim's Eecl. Hist. vol. iii. p. 1S6. 
 
NOT A NEW CHUR CH. 117 
 
 lie detennined on striking the first blow, and accordingly 
 at once addressed a letter to that high-minded prince, in 
 ".vhich he insisted on his divine right to the submission of 
 all temporal kings. Philip's only reply was, "We give 
 your fool's head to know, that in temporals we are subject 
 to no person." The Pope rejoined by publishing the cele- 
 brated bull, " Unam Sanctam," in which he declared the 
 king an heretic, and, as such, the servant of perdition. 
 Philip, in the council held at Paris, a.d. 1303, caused the 
 folloM'ing articles to be decreed against him : — That he was 
 guilty of simony, that he was a homicide, usurer, heretic, 
 epicure, a despiser of religion, and guilty of incest ; that 
 lie had bribed the Saracens to invade Sicily out of hatred 
 to Prance.'^ The Pope, on his part, answers the accusa- 
 tion by pronouncing the sentence of excommunication 
 against Philip and all his adherents : he also absolved his 
 subjects from their allegiance, and gave the kingdom to 
 Albert of Austria. 
 
 The king could not quietly brook so great an insult ; 
 tilled with indignation, and regardless of all consequences, 
 he at once sent AVilliam de Nogaret, a bold and able 
 lawyer, to Italy, with directions to seize the Pope, and 
 carry him forcibly to Lyons, where he determined to hold 
 a council in judgment upon him. Nogaret dexterously 
 performed his part — seized his holiness at Anagni, and 
 would have taken him to France, had he not been rescued 
 and carried back to Eome, where, partly from mortiti- 
 
 ^ Siianlieim's Eccl. Ann. Cent. xiv. 
 
ii8 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 cation, and partly from a blow inflicted by l^ogaret, he 
 died a miserable death. 
 
 This event was quickly followed by another that proved 
 equally fatal to the power of Eome. Philip, strong in his 
 power, and quick in following up his advantage, succeeded 
 in appointing Clement V., a Frenchman, to the pontificate ; 
 who transferred the papal residence to Avignon in France. 
 Avhere it continued for seventy years. Clement proved 
 himself but little inferior to Boniface, either in audacity 
 or tyranny. He compelled Henry, emperor of Germany, 
 to travel to Eome, and receive the imperial crown from 
 the hands of cardinals. He afterwards gave all the em- 
 peror's dominions to Eobert king of Sicily : and Henry 
 himself was deprived of life by a 'poisoned wafer admin- 
 istered to Mm at the Sacrament by a Dominican friar. 
 The ambassador also of the doge of Venice was compelled 
 to prostrate himself, with a chain round his neck, under 
 the table of this haughty Pope while he was at supper. 
 
 The removal of the headquarters of Popery contributed 
 more than any other event at this time to shake the papal 
 throne to its foundation. It led to many a struggle for 
 tlie restoration of St. Peter's chair ; but the issue of each 
 fresh attempt only the rather accelerated that schism in 
 137S. the popedom, which took place a.d. 1378. This great 
 Western schism, as it was called, continued for fifty years, 
 during which period the Eoman Church had frequently 
 two or three infallible heads at the same moment. In its 
 consequences, however, it proved highly beneficial to the 
 
I 
 
 NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 119 
 
 civil and religious interests of the world. The head of the 
 dragon was smitten asunder — kings and princes once more 
 began to recover their ancient independence, and the 
 people, no longer blinded by the glare of a false lustre, be- 
 gan to find out that the " interests of true religion might 
 be seciired and promoted without a visible head, crowned 
 with a spiritual supremacy." 
 
 But other diseases were preying on the vitals of Popery 
 — the scandalous corruptions of the whole system of mona- 
 chism were unparalleled in any former age. The mendi- 
 cants, especially the Dominicans and Franciscans^ were at 
 the head of tlie monastic orders, and by their rapacity, in- 
 solence, and j^rofligacy, their mutual contentions and med- 
 (.Uing interference in religious instruction, drew down xipon 
 them the bitter hatred of aU classes of the people. So 
 universal indeed was this hatred, that in almost every 
 district and university in Europe these sturdy beggars were 
 warmly opposed by the bishops and clergy. 
 
 The university of Oxford was the first to rise in arms 
 against the Dominicans,^ who had presumed to interfere 
 with the system of education then pursued. Their conduct 
 was so generally condemned that parents were afraid to 
 send their sons there, and the number of students in con- 
 sequence had dwindled down from the number of 30,000 
 to 6000. 
 
 Fortunately, at this time, there was a man raised up by 
 Divine Providence, who had the courage to attack these 
 
 3 Ant. WooiVs Oxon. Ant. torn. i. 
 
I20 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 friars, and skill enough to baiBe them with their own Avea- 
 pons. This great man was Joliu AVicliffe — a name to be 
 venerated and had in remembrance by the Protestant 
 Church " as long as there is any virtue, and while there is 
 any praise" on earth. 
 
 Wicliffe was first known as Professor of Divinity, and 
 Master of Baliol College, and soon acquired considerable 
 reputation by his successful disputations with the friars on 
 theological and scholastic subtilties. The scholastic the- 
 ology, as it was called, which took its rise in the tweKth 
 century, was a sj'stem that substituted logical rules and 
 definitions for Scripture ; and, at this time, for the sole 
 purpose of confirming the errors of Popery, exceeded all 
 bounds in its sophistry, barbarism, and imijudence. It 
 was now generally employed about idle and useless ques- 
 tions respecting purgatory, transubstantiation, the power 
 of the Pope, &c., and " continued to darken the glimmer- 
 ings of truth that were struggling for existence, till the 
 glorious dawn of the Eefprmation."'' 
 
 Against the " unintelligible gibberish" of this system, 
 Wiclifife openly protested. The monks of every order 
 Diade common cause against him, and endeavoured to effect 
 his ruin. But Wiclilfe, nothing daunted, manfully main- 
 tained his ground, and very shortly after came forward 
 again as an opponent of the papal power. 
 
 It happened that, about this time, Edward III. of 
 England had formed a league with Louis, king of Bavaria, 
 
 * Sp.inheim's Eccl. Ann. Cent. xiv. Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. I2I 
 
 to resist tlie Pope in his claim of presenting to vacant 
 benefices, and of imposing taxes on the clergy of their 
 respective kingdoms. A very spirited remonstrance was 
 sent to his holiness, declaring that " wild beasts rioted in 
 the Lord's vineyard by the impositions of the Church, the 
 cure of souls Avas neglected, and mercenary men sought 
 only temporary advantage ;" and the parliament of England 
 simultaneously passed an act, that the treasure of the 
 kingdom should not be carried beyond the sea, and that 
 no one should be admitted to a benefice by a bull from 
 the Pope. 
 
 WicliCfe openly, by his writings, espoused the cause of 
 Edward in these matters, and especially opposed the en- 
 croachments of Pope Url)an V., at the time that he 
 insisted upon that monarch's doing him Iiomage, as John 
 had done before — a demand that the king, supported by 
 his parliament, positively rejected. 
 
 The reputation that Wicliffe acquired by his writings in 
 defence of the king's prerogative, was the occasion of his 
 being commissioned to go to Bruges, to meet the Pope's 
 representative, and there personally to resist the papal 
 pretension to the presentation of benefices in England. 
 On his return to England he attacked the Pope's supremacy 
 in the boldest manner — held him up to public scorn as the 
 "man of sin," the "son of 2)crdition" whom St. Paul 
 prophetically describes "sitting as God in the temple of 
 God, showing himself that he is God;" and openly de- 
 nounced him as the " Antichrist." 
 
122 ■ THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 These opinions Wicliffe boldly preached and published, 
 and they were quickly propagated by his disciples, who 
 attacked the friars in their own manner, preaching to the 
 people, and going about, as he himself did, barefooted, and 
 in plain frieze gowns. 
 
 It was not long before Wicliffe was accused of heresy ; 
 but already his party mustered so strong in England, that 
 according to a contemporary writer, Henry de Knyghton, 
 who from being a violent opponent of Wiclitfe, had become 
 a convert to the true faith by his preaching, " you could 
 not meet two people in the waj' but one of them was a 
 disciple of Wicliffe." He was also firmly supported by 
 John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, at that time admin- 
 istering the affairs of England ; and the University of 
 Oxford, where he was so extremely popular, had the 
 courage to refuse obedience to a mandate from the Pope's 
 nuncio for giving him up. 
 
 "Wicliffe was not, however, a man to cower before his 
 enemies — he did not hesitate to obej' a precept from the 
 primate, and to appear before the council convened at St. 
 Paul's. Here the demeanour of the Duke of Lancaster, 
 and of Lord Percy, the Earl [Marshall, was so violent, the 
 council was hastily concluded, and the accused was sum- 
 moned before another at Lambeth, which also was abmptly 
 dissolved, and no sentence pronounced, " because they 
 feared the people — for all men counted John that he was 
 a prophet indeed."^ 
 
 5 FuUer's Ch. Hist. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 123 
 
 The time was most propitious for the spread of Wic- 
 lifle's opinions ; the great Western schism had just begun, 
 and " the spectacle of two infallible heads anathematizing 
 one another, could not fail to open the eyes of Christendom 
 to the unwarranted pretensions of both."'' 
 
 Of this happy combination of circumstances, so providen- 
 tially overruled by the Almighty for the good of his Church, 
 Wicliffe took instant advantage, and published a Tract, in 
 Avhich he effectually exposed the absurdity of ascribing 
 in fallibility to a divided Church. In order, also, that the 
 people might be able to judge for themselves of the truth of 
 his doctrines, lie translated the Bible from the Vulgate into 
 English, with a careful collation of other verses subjoined. 
 He completed this wonderful work without any assistance, 
 and therefore, as it must be considered, with superhuman 
 labour and learning. " By tliis great and good work the 
 pleasure of the Most High prospered in his hand. An 
 eager appetite for scriptural knowledge was excited among 
 the people, which they would make any sacrifice, and risk 
 any danger, to gratify. Entire copies of the Bible, when 
 they could only be multiplied by means of amanuenses,^ 
 were too costly to be within the reach of very many readers ; 
 but thoss who could not procure the volume of tlie book, 
 would give a load of hay for a few flivourite chapters, and 
 
 6 Blunt on the Reformat, p. 85. 
 
 1 As proof of the costly price of MS. copies of the sacred Scriptures, it is 
 recorded of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, tliat he offered the tovm 0/ Stranbingcn 
 to the Abbey of St. Emeran, for the purchase of a copy of the Gospels, which 
 liad been presented to it by the emperor Henry IV. — Martme's Second Voyage 
 Litteraire. 
 
124 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 many such scraps were consnined upon tlie persons of the 
 martyrs at the stake." They would hide the forbidden 
 treasure under the floor of their houses, and put their lives 
 in peril, rather than forego the book they desired ; they 
 would sit up all night, their doors being shut for fear of 
 surprise, reading, or hearing others read the word of God ; 
 they would bury themselves in the woods, and there con- 
 verse with it in solitude; they would tend their herds in 
 the fields, and still steal an hour for drinking in the good 
 tidings of great joy. Thus was the Angel come down to 
 trouble the water, and there was only Avanted some provi- 
 dential crisis to put the nation into it, that he might be 
 made whole."* 
 
 This is further attested by an historian of high repute 
 among the Eoman Catholics, who confesses that by the 
 publication of the Bible " a spirit of inquiry was generated, 
 and the seeds were sown of that religious revolution, 
 which in little more than a century astonished and co7i- 
 vulsed the nations of Europe."' 
 
 Wicliffe shortly after published his "Conclusions" 
 against the doctrine of transubstantiation, which had been 
 first made an article of belief by Innocent III. In tliis 
 work he admirably exposed the unscriptural absurdities and 
 numerous contradictions of the doctrine. His opinions on 
 this point rapidly gained ground — his followers speedily 
 
 8 Attested by Foxe and others. 
 
 9 Blunt's Sketch of the Reformation, p. 95. 
 1 Dr. Lingard's Hist. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 125 
 
 multiplied, and received the appellation of Lollards, a name 
 that certain persecuted enthusiasts had already obtained in 
 the Low Countries, from their practice of singing hymns — 
 " lollen" or " luUen," in one of the old German dialects, 
 signifying to sing.'^ 
 
 Wicliffe having thus attacked pojjery in its strongest 
 hold, proceeded to demolish the mummery of penances, 
 satisfactions, auricular confession, extreme unction, relics, 
 (fee, and earnestly recalled the people from the adoration 
 of the Virgin IMary and of saints and images, to the wor- 
 ship of that God who Avill not give his honour to a mere 
 creature. 
 
 This bold, uncompromising opposition raised up a host 
 of adversaries against Wicliffe, the most bitter of whom 
 were the clergy and monks, Avho succeeded in obtaining an 
 order from Gregory XI. for his imprisonment; but so 1377. 
 great was his popularity at this time, that through the 
 importunity of the people he was immediately liberated. 
 About five years afterwards, on the elevation of the bigoted 
 W. Courtenay to the see of Canterbury, he was summoned 
 before the Primate, but refused to appear. Articles were 
 exhibited against him, drawn up from his written and 
 published opinions ; and though the council was well-nigh 
 abruptly dissolved by a great earthquake, which was inter- 
 preted by many as a divine token in "VVicliife's favour, yet 
 by Courtcnay's dexterity a different inference was drawn, 
 liis opinions were condemned, and himself ordered to be 
 
 Wh(jU"e (iiir iiurscrv " Lt.lhvhy." 
 
126 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 1382. expelled from the University of Oxford. But tliis part of 
 the sentence Avas never carried into execution, and Wicliffe 
 was permitted to retire to his rectory at Lutterworth, 
 where he still persevered in his doctrine, faith, and piety. 
 
 1384. Here he continued till the day of his death, unmolested, 
 and almost unheard of. 
 
 His writings, however, lifted up their voice from Eng- 
 land, and were rapidly circulated throughout Europe, 
 where they excited the most searching inquiry into the 
 truth of his statements, and became the principal instru- 
 ment on the Continent for calling forth many a champion 
 and witness of the truth ; among whom were John Huss 
 of Bohemia, Jerome of Prague,'' and Mallcesius, of the 
 same city — men most highly distinguished for their resolute 
 opposition to the papal power. 
 
 In England, " the New Doctrines," as the Eomanists 
 then miscalled them, daily gained additional advocates. 
 
 1399. Henry TV., who succeeded in deposing Richard II., and 
 usurping the British throne, principally through the aid of 
 the clergy — the only instance on record of the disloyalty 
 of that body — to mark his gratitude for their interference, 
 issued a severe statute against all who should, by preach- 
 ing, writing, or teaching, propagate the growing opinions : 
 and he further ordered all heretical writings to be delivered 
 up by those who possessed them, and due submission to 
 
 3 These two martyrs, according to the testimnny of TEneas Sylvius, after- 
 ward Pope Pius 11., " suffered death with a constant mind, went readily to the 
 stake, as though invited to a /cast, and even in the midst of the flames sung 
 psalms and hymus." 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 127 
 
 be made, on pain of hcing burnt alive. Transubstantiation 
 was made the test of a man's orthodoxy, and so rigidly 
 Avas it appHed, that great numbers perished in the flames 
 under the brutal direction of Archbishop Arundel. 
 
 Twelve inquisitors of lieresy were despatched to Oxford, 
 the headquarters of the New Doctrines, to search out and 
 destroy all heretical persons and books. These inquisitors 
 executed their commission with unsparing fidehty — they 
 weeded the College and University libraries of a vast 
 number of condemned books, and presented as heretical, 
 no fewer than 246 Conclusions drawn from Wicliffe's writ- 
 ings ; and not content with this sweeping condemnation, 
 they proceeded to condemn Lord Cobham's oj^inions re- 
 specting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Adora- 
 tion of Images, and Authority of the Church of Rome. 
 Cobham maintained his opinions boldly; but throiigh 
 Arundel's influence was at last committed to the Tower, 
 from whence he was brought before the Consistory in St. 
 Paul's, where in writing he delivered his opinions wpon all 
 the controverted points. He was afterwards more strictly 
 examined by commissioners ; and after a defence worthy 
 of his great name, and the glorious cause in whicli he was 
 engaged, he was most unjustly condemned as an heretic;'' 
 and though for a time he escaped from the hands of his 
 
 * Lord Cobham was charged by his enemies with having likewise conspired 
 .igainst tlie King's life and government; and that was made a pretext for the 
 extreme rancour with which his enemies followed up tl>eir persecution of him. 
 The historian Hume repeats this base fabrication ; but be it remembered that 
 Hume was an infidel, and therefore very readily credited every story that re- 
 flected upon Christianity. 
 
128 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 enemies, he was eventually hiirnt alire in the most cruel 
 1417. and atrocious manner, as were many other Gospel witnesses 
 about the same time. 
 
 But these shocking barbarities against the Lollards, so 
 far from suppressing, only the rather awakened that spirit 
 of free inquiry which was now shaking Popery to its 
 centre. Other means were also working out the same 
 great end. The Council of Constance, which was held 
 about this period, for the double purpose of healing the 
 schism in the Papacy, and for putting doAvn tlie Lollards, 
 greatly accelerated the approach of the Eeformation of the 
 Cliurch by the very severity of its proceedings. The 
 infamous condemnation of John Huss, in breach of tlio 
 Emperor's promise of a safe conduct, and the no less 
 unjust sentence passed on Jerome of Prague, were among 
 the least pardonable of its acts. This council also pre- 
 sumed to order the withdraAval of the cup from the laity 
 in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, a novelty in 
 ancient practice that gave the greatest offence. 
 
 But nothing more strongly marked the rancorous and 
 bitter spirit that directed this council, than its persecution 
 of the dead. Its members did not content themselves 
 with condemning the opinions of the English Reformer, 
 but they coiuraanded that his bones should be dragged 
 from the grave where they had reposed forty years, and 
 should be committed with all his A\Titings to the flames. 
 The Bishop of Lincoln, a heartless bigot, carried the order 
 into execution ; opened his grave — reduced his bones to 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 129 
 
 ashes — and cast the ashes into the river Swift. " This 
 brook conveyed his ashes into Avon — Avon into 
 Severn — Severn into the narrow seas — they into the 
 main ocean : and thus the ashes of Wicliffe are the 
 emblem of his doctriiae, which now is dispersed all over 
 the world." 5 
 
 But this attempt to quench the light that "Wicliffe had 
 kindled was as pitiful as it was unavailing. In vain did 
 they violate the sanctity of the tomb. "As there is no 
 counsel," says Fox, " against the Lord, so there is no keep- 
 ing down of verity ; it will spring and come out of dust 
 and ashes, as appeared right well in this man. For though 
 they digged up his body, burnt his bones, and drowned 
 his ashes, yet the word of God, and truth of his doctrines, 
 with the fruit and success thereof, they could not burn. 
 These to this day remain." 
 
 The eyes of aU Europe had been fixed on this council, 
 in the earnest expectation that it would have reformed 
 those abuses in the Church Avliich were now too flagrant 
 not to be universally condemned ; unhappily the intrigues 
 of cardinals and bishops prevailed over the wishes of 
 honester and better men ; and the council broke up with- 
 out effecting the wished-for end. 
 
 The coimcil of Basle, which was convened for a like h31. 
 purpose by jMartin V., and continued its sittings for nearly 
 twenty years, made no further advance in the object of its 
 meeting than in estabhshing a principle which to this day 
 
 5 Fuller's Clmrcli. Hist. 
 1 
 
I30 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 di^'ides the Eomisli Churcli,^ viz. : that " a General Council 
 was ahove the Pope." The assertion of this principle led 
 to -^nolent disputes, which only terminated by the deposi- 
 tion of the Pope, and the elevation of Felix V. to the 
 
 1439 pontificate, a.d. 1439. Thus the question as to icliere the 
 infallibility of the Church of Eome really exists, was 
 rendered more doubtful than ever, and never can be satis- 
 factorily answered by Eomanists. 
 
 But the Reformation, though delayed for a season, was 
 still progressing. In England, the blood of the Wicliffites, 
 that " seed of the Church," was beginning to bear its fruit 
 — the cruelty and corruption of Eome had already alienated 
 the attachment of the people — the diffusion of Wicliffe's 
 version of the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue, aided 
 as it was by the providential discovery of the art of print- 
 
 1440. ing, A.D. 1440, was opening men's eyes to reUgious know- 
 ledge and truth. A spirit of scriptural inquiry was abroad 
 
 6 Vide Downside Discussion, p. 152 and 102. T)ie English bishops at this 
 council claimed precedency hefore those of Castile, in Spain, on the ground of 
 " Britaine's conversion by Joseph of Arimatliea." — Fuller's Hist. 
 
 ' Before Wicliffe's translation of the Scriptures no entire version of them 
 had ever been received by the British Church. Ca;dmon in the seventh century 
 had paraphrased, in verse, detached portions of them only. Bede translated 
 the Gospel of St. John ; and all the Gospels had been translated into Anglo- 
 Saxon, between the reigns of Alfred and Harold. Elfric, the S.ixon homiliast, 
 had also translated several portions of both the Old and Xew Testaments ; but 
 the art of printing not being known, the expense and labour of transcribing 
 were so great, that comjiaratively but few copies could be dispersed abroad be- 
 yond the precincts of the monasteries where they were transcribed ; and so 
 slow was the process of transcrijition, that 100 Bibles could not be procured 
 under the expense of "000 days, or of nearly twenty years' labour. What has 
 not the art of printing since achieved ! Tlie Society for Promoting Clu-istian 
 Knowledge issued, in the year euding April 1867, the following astonishing 
 number of Bibles, kc. : — 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 131 
 
 tliat could now be no longer suppressed, either by the 
 decrees of councils or the bulls and anathemas of Popes. 
 The abominations of Popery were now so glaring, that 
 even Roman Catholic writers, so far from attempting to 
 palliate or deny, opeidy and deliberately exposed them. 
 But the Popes themselves hastened forward the crisis. 
 Paul II., Sixtus lY., Innocent A^III., and Alexander VI., 
 the last Popes of the fifteenth century, were all depraved 
 and profligate beyond belief. Paul, according to Platina, 
 was infamous for avarice, luxury, gluttony, pride, and 
 oppression. Sixtus was not quite so vicious, but more 
 avaricious and rapacious. Innocent was devoted to luxury, 
 pomp, and pleasures of the most sensual kind. He publicly 
 boasted of the number of Ids illegitimate children.^ 
 
 Alexander, however, exceeded them all in wickedness, i^s^ 
 tjT?anny, and impiety, and even carried liis rapacity to such 
 a height that he did not hesitate to issue dispensation 
 for crimes that cannot be uttered. 
 
 Julius II., with whose pontificate opened the sixteenth i503 
 century, was a man in no degree inferior to his predecessors 
 in tyranny, arrogance, or craftiness : he is commonly re- 
 
 BiWes 
 
 Testaments, 
 
 Common Prayer-Books, . . 
 Psalters and other Books, 
 Tracts, 
 
 191,661 
 123,997 
 467,650 
 3,506,547 
 3,962,145 
 
 Total issue, 8,252,000 
 
 s This gave occasion for the following Epigram : — 
 
 " Octo nocens pueros genuit, totidemque puellas, 
 Ilunc merito poterit dicere Roma Patrem." 
 
132 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 presented by even papal Avriters as a turbulent, cruel, si- 
 1512. moniacal and designing person ; and his immediate succes- 
 sor, Leo X., of the family of the Medicis, so famous for his 
 patronage of learning, was infamous for his debaucheries, 
 pride, and perfidy. His ignorance of religion was extreme, 
 and he had, as it is supposed, no belief in the truth of 
 Christianity. 
 
 It has already been shown, that as early as the twelfth 
 century, the sale of indulgences, which commenced "with 
 the bishojDS, soon became monopolized by the popes, who, 
 making the crusades a pretence for this abominable traffic, 
 constituted Eome the grand treasure-house, from whence 
 they were issued at certain prices. 
 
 The crusades being no longer an available excuse for 
 their sale, other reasons Avere put forth from time to time 
 for tills exaction. But as the depravity of the people was 
 the grand support of their storehouse, it became the in- 
 terest of the Eomish clergy to aUow the torrent of wicked- 
 ness and corruption to flow on unresisted. The unbound- 
 1517. ed prodigality of Leo had nearly drained the papal coff'ers — 
 they must be replenished. Under the pretext, therefore, 
 of expediting the building of St. Peter's, this arrogant 
 pontiif caused to be published throughout Christendom his 
 licence for the sale of indulgences, wliereby the remission 
 of all sins, past, present, and to come, hoicever enormous their 
 nature, was guaranteed to all who were rich enough to pur- 
 chase them. These indulgences were regularly farmed — 
 " they were sold in gross to the best bidders, and -^vere by 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 133 
 
 tliem dispersed amongst the retail pedlars of pardons, "who 
 resorted to tlie public-houses, exhibited tlieir wares, and 
 picked the pockets of tlie credulous." ^ The management of 
 this wicked traffic in Germany was entrusted to Albert, arch- 
 bishop of Mentz, who commissioned John Tetzel, a Do- 
 minican, to carry the sale into effect : this infamous agent, 
 in selling these indulgences, declared that " the souls of 
 deceased persons would fly from p)urgatory to heaven, as 
 soon as the jingling of the money, paid for the indulgences, 
 was heard in his box. " ' 
 
 But while the Eoman pontiff was slumbering on in St 
 Peter's chair, and dreamt least of all of anytliing to dis- 
 turb his repose, or to lessen his omnipotence, it pleased God 
 to raise up a man, at this very time, most eminently 
 qualified by his firmness and talents to stem the torrent of 
 papal corruption. Martin Luther, a native of Saxony, 
 and professor of Wittemburg, who had long asserted 
 the doctrines of the free grace of God, and the necessity of 
 righteousness of life, stood forth, the undaunted, uncom- 
 promising foe of the sale of indulgences, and in ninety-five 
 propositions maintained the imposture of the whole system, 
 which he sent to the Archbishop of INIentz, with a respect- 
 ful remonstrance to Leo himself. Had the Pope but lis- 
 tened to liis remonstrance, and perhaps restricted only the 
 profane traffic, Luther would scarcely have been heard of be- 
 yond the walls of Wittemburg; for that he continued faith- 
 
 9 Rlunt on the Reformation, p. 93. 
 1 Spanheim's Eocl. Ann, Cent. XVI. 
 
134 THE CHURCH OF EXGLAKD 
 
 fill in liis attachment to the Church of Eome, even after his 
 Eemonstrance, and Theses against the errors of Popery, 
 there can be no doubt ; but providentially, the impolitic 
 rashness of Leo, and the frantic violence of Tetzel, droA'^e 
 him to a more determined resistance, and afterwards led 
 him to examine more severely all the other questionable 
 points of Eomish faith and discipline. Accordinglj- he pub- 
 lished, in 1520, his "Tract against the Popedom," in 
 ■which, it has been well obsen^ed, he draws the sword ; 
 and then his " Babjionish Captivity," in which he throws 
 away the scabbard. An open rupture was the consequence, 
 which the violent and imperious conduct of Cardinal 
 Cajetan was little calculated to heal. The thumlers of 
 Eome were already heard in the distance — a bull was issued 
 condemnatory of his doctrines, consigning his books to the 
 flames, and denouncing the severest punishments against 
 himself and followers. This bull Luther publicly burnt, 
 and appealed to a general council. A diet was held at 
 "Worms the following year, before which the Eeformer 
 pleaded his cause against the Pope's nuncio. He was, 
 however, condemned, and would have suffered as a heretic, 
 but for the powerful support he received from Frederic, the 
 Elector of Saxony. The Eeformation, however, still ad- 
 vanced, and Luther and Melanchthon in Germany, and 
 ITlric Zuinglius in Switzerland, continued to fan the flame 
 which all the power of Eome was unable to extinguish. 
 In 1529, at the famous Diet of Spire, the Eeformers and 
 their followers acquired the name of " Protestants," by 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 135 
 
 their proiestinri against a violent decree which declared un- 
 lawful all changes in doctrine or worship which should be 
 introduced previous to the decision of a general council. 
 And in the year following, at the Diet of Augsburg, they 1530. 
 presented their celebrated Confession of Faith, drawn up 
 by the learned Melanchthon, in which it was made to 
 appear that the differences between Protestants and the 
 Church of Eome were so many, and of such vital import- 
 ance, that all hopes of reconciliation were at an end. 
 Decrees, as usual, were passed at tliis diet against the Pro- 
 testants, which had no other effect than that of uniting them 
 more closely together for the purpose of mutual defence. 
 
 The year, therefore, had not closed ivhen they assembled 
 at Smalcald, and entered into a solemn league for the 
 maintenance of their religious liberties, hence kno%vn by 
 the name of the league of Smalcald. The Emperor, 
 influenced by their determined carriage, concluded shortly 
 after a treaty of peace with them at [Jsuremburg, revoked 
 the decrees of Worms and Augsburg, and left them to the 1532. 
 full enjoyment of their religious emancipation. Thus the 
 seed which our own "VVicliffe sowed 150 years before, found 
 a kindred soil in the fairest realms of Popery. Let us see 
 liow it returned in ample measure to bear an abundant 
 crop on British sod. 
 
136 . THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 "Christianity, that pearl of great prioe, was hid with trash and filth, 
 which the Romish Church had heaped upon it : our Reformers re- 
 moved only what loaded and obscured it, and restored it to its first 
 beauty and lustre." 
 
 The proceedings of the German Eeformers were watched 
 ■with the most anxious attention by that portion of the 
 people of England whose minds were imbued -with the like 
 spirit, and who only waited for an opportunity to throw 
 off that yoke which neither " they nor their fathers could 
 bear." The bold and heroic stand made by Luther and 
 Ids followers against the tyranny of Eome was not there- 
 fore thrown away — his name was on every tongue — his 
 writings, together with those of Huss, Zuingle, Melanch- 
 thon, and others, were eagerly sought after, and as eagerly 
 read. Tracts, with popular titles, such as " A Booke of 
 the Old God and New," "The Burjing of the Masse," 
 &c., were industriously dispersed among the people. Tin- 
 dall's Translation of the New Testament also was now 
 widely circulated : and tliough it was condemned by Lord 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 137 
 
 Chancellor ]Morc, a Litter enemy of the Eeformers, and 
 many copies of it were burnt at Pauls-cross by Bishop 
 Tonstall, it was nevertheless multiplied by foreign reprint, 
 everywhere circulated and greedily read. In vain were 
 proclamations issued, and laws enacted against heretical 
 books — in vain was the sharpest espionage resorted to — 
 in vain were the fires kindled at Smithfield and the 
 Lollards' Pit, and tlio utmost refinement in cruelty prac- 
 tised in the burnings that there took place. It was now 
 beyond the power of man to curb the spirit of resistance 
 that was rising in the majesty of its omnipotence against 
 the whole system of Eomanism — a higher hand was direct- 
 ing the destinies of England, and was " turning the fierce- 
 ness of man to its own praise." 
 
 Little could it have been exj^ected that Henry VIIT., a 
 proud tyrant, a gross profligate, and a zealous Papist, was 
 to be the instrument for effecting the mighty work — little 
 could it have been anticipated that the very man who 
 acquired the title of " Defender of the Faith " for his 
 spirited attack on Luther, should become the champion of 
 the Church of England — and still less credible was it that 
 the very method adopted by the Pope for confirming his 
 power in England, by legalizing the king's marriage mth 
 his brother's betrothed wife, Catharine of Arragon, should 
 be overruled by an Allwise Providence, for the final sub- 
 version of it in this kingdom ! Yet such was the fact. 
 Henry, after an union of twenty years with his wife, began 
 to entertain scruples, whether conscientious or not cannot 
 
138 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 be determined, respecting the la^vfulness of his marriage. 
 9. An accidental expression of his opinion concerning the 
 Pope's authority in these matters, became the means of 
 introducing the illustrious Cranmer to the King's notice. 
 Henry commanded him to draw up the substance of his 
 opinions on the divorce, for his own guidance, and in the 
 mean time awaited the Pope's answer to the appeal which 
 had already been sent to him. Clement VII., full of em- 
 barrassment, equally fearful of offending the King of 
 England by an unfavourable answer, as he was the Emperor 
 of Germany, Catharine's nephew, by a favourable one, 
 showed extraordinary dexterity in his management of the 
 appeal. Being a profound dissembler, a subtle, cautious, 
 and evasive politician, he contrived to spin out, most 
 adroitlj", six years in fruitless negotiation. The king, on 
 liis part, had not been idle : through Cranmer's influence 
 he procured a favourable opinion from almost all the 
 Universities, at home and abroad ; armed with which 
 authority, and brooking no longer the Pope's procrasti- 
 nation, he took the law into his own hands — caused the 
 divorce to be proclaimed in his o\\tl court, and in open 
 defiance of papal authority, espoused Anne BolejTi, daugh- 
 ter of the Earl of Wiltsliire. 
 
 Thus was the Eubicon passed, and every subsequent 
 step tended still further to widen the breach between the 
 Pope and the King of England. The death of Warham, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, afforded Henry the first oppor- 
 tunity of rewarding the ser^'ices of Cranmer by an act of 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 139 
 
 the royal prerogative. Ho at once nominated him to the i533. 
 primacy, an appointment that Cranmer declined at first, 
 and accepted most reluctantly at last. Tlu-ee months after 
 his consecration the primate pronounced the sentence of 
 separation between Henry and Catharine, and confirmed 
 the royal union with Anne BolejTi. 
 
 Thus the question at issue between the Pope and the 
 King was summarily decided ; and Henry, de fado, pro- 
 claimed himself head of the Church in his own dominion. 
 
 The English Parliament, which met on the 15th of i^s-i. 
 January in the following year, proceeded to pass a series 
 of acts which formally emancipated the English nation 
 from its further dependence upon the Eoman see. 
 
 AH pecuniary exactions of the Pope, esjiecially Peter 
 Pence, were wholly abolished, and the rigour of those laws 
 which had been enacted against the Lollards was con- 
 siderably abated. Cranmer, moreover, with the design of 
 more completely crushing the papal supremacy in England, 
 succeeded in obtaining from the Convocation and the two 
 Universities an all Init unanimous denial of any right in the 
 Roman Pontiff to claim a higher jurisdiction in this king- 
 don than any other foreign bishop. * 
 
 The King also sent circular letters to the several bishops, 
 enjoining them to take care that the clergy throughout their 
 dioceses explained the propriety and necessity of the changes 
 which had just taken place; and that henceforth, " the true, 
 mere, and sincere word of God,"^ should alone be preached in 
 
 1 Collier's Hist, of the Church, vol. ii. 2 Foxe, 004. 
 
I40 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 the churches. And by another mandate the Pope's name 
 was ordered to be erased from all devotional books, and 
 "never come to be remembered, except to his contumely 
 and reproach. " ^ 
 
 1534. The Parliament, which met towards the close of the 
 year, confirmed the decree of Convocation, and by a public 
 act declared that the supreme authority over the Church of 
 England should henceforth be vested in the Crown. 
 
 Henry readily accepted, and re-entered on this ancient 
 right of British monarclis, and during the remainder of his 
 reign fully exercised the recovered prerogative. 
 
 1536. But, to maintain this right, it was necessary to crush an 
 influence that the bishop of Eome still possessed, in the 
 wealth and numbers of the monastic orders. He began, 
 therefore, ^^^th the friars, and at once suppressed 376 of 
 the smaller monasteries, appropriating their estates to 
 himself. The larger monasteries took the alarm, and many 
 of them began to make the best terms for their surrender 
 that the times would allow. The dissolution of so many 
 religious houses proved a serious shock to society generally ; 
 for, with all their faults, they had been, to the nation at 
 large, of essential benefit. They had universally occupied the 
 place of almshouses, hospitals, hotels, public libraries, and 
 schools ; so that their suppression, as public institutions, 
 convulsed the nation in every quarter, and added a fearful 
 amount of crime to the annual list of delinquency — rapine 
 and murder filled the land — the natural con-sequence of so 
 
 3 Foxe, 980. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 141 
 
 many tliousand outcasts being thrown destitute and 
 desperate on society. Cromwell, who had been the king's 
 political adviser in this extreme measure, was frightened 
 at the storm he had liimself raised, and therefore advised 
 the immediate sale or gift of the abbey lands and tithes to the 
 nobility and gentry, in order to secure their acquiescence 
 and sujiport. " Thus Popish lands, as it was said, made 
 Protestant landlords ; and thus the latj impropriator, a 
 character hitherto almost or altogether unknown, took his 
 beginning." That this spoliation of the Church proved, 
 at the time, and again in the disastrous reign of Queen 
 Mary, a main support to the Protestant Church, is un- 
 questionable ; but at the present day, the evil resulting 
 from the inadequate provision for the spritual wants of an 
 increased population, in numberless instances notoriously 
 traceable to this act of plunder, more than counterbalances 
 the good policy of the original measure. 
 
 Cranmer, though a friend to the dissolution of the mon- 
 asteries, was an enemy to the secular appropriation of the 
 Chiirch endowments and tithes, and, in conjunction with 
 Bishop Latimer, urged the council to applj^ them strictly 
 to ecclesiastical purposes ; but Cromwell's political views 
 little accorded with the religious principles of the primate, 
 ■who, on this, as well as on many other occasions, Avas 
 compelled to submit, Avlien resistance Avas Avorse than 
 useless. 
 
 But Avhile Henry's council Avas thus intent on strij^ping 
 the Church of its outAvard splend(jur, the real friends of 
 
142 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 the Eeformation were directing their labours to far more 
 disinterested and important ends. "With the wealth of the 
 Church they little concerned themselves; there ■were 
 abuses and corruptions in the very vitals of the ecclesias- 
 tical system, which required a radical and immediate cor- 
 rection. The religion of the Eoman Catholic Church, in 
 all its essential j^oints, was still established by law, and it 
 still possessed many zealous advocates in all parts of the 
 country. Cranmer felt that obstacles so serious in their 
 nature must be removed, and that no method was so likely 
 to succeed in doing so, as enabling the people, by an 
 appeal to an authorized standard of faith, accessible to 
 every one, to judge for themselves of the truth of the argu- 
 ments submitted to them. The Holy Scriptures had 
 hitherto been a sealed book to the great mass of the people. 
 Wicliffe's translation was far too scarce and too costly to 
 meet the public demand. Accordingly the primate turned 
 his first attention to the publication of a new version in 
 the English tongue, and urged the Convocation to solicit 
 the royal authority for that purpose. The King's sanction 
 was easily obtained ; and in the following year came forth, 
 most opportunely, an English version, from the pen of 
 Miles Coverdale, afterwards Bishop of Exeter. This work, 
 in wliich Coverdale had been assisted by many of the Lu- 
 theran di'idnes, was printed at Zurich, a.d. 1535, and was 
 dedicated to Henry VIII. The King at first submitted it 
 to some of the bishops, who after a careful examination 
 declared, that though it had some faidts, it contained no 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 143 
 
 heresies. " Tlien," replied the King, " if there be no here- 
 sies, let it go abroad among the people. " 
 
 The publication of this version was accompanied with 
 injunctions to the clergy, to the effect that " every person 
 (parson) or proprietary of any parish churche within this 
 realme, shall on this side the feast of St. Peter ad vincula 
 (August 1) nexte comming, prouide a boke of the whole 
 Bible, both in Laten and also in English, and lay the same 
 in the quire for everye man tliat will to loke and reade 
 thereon. And shall discourage no man from the reading 
 any parte of the Bible, either in Laten or English, but 
 rather comfort, exhort, and admonish every man to reade 
 the same as the very word of God, and the spirituale foode 
 of marine's soul, whereby they may the better knowe their 
 duties to God, to their sovereign lord the King, and their 
 neighbour ; ever gentilly and charitably exhorting them, 
 that, using a sober and a modest behavioure in the reading 
 and inquisition of the true sense of the same, they doo in 
 no wise stifiy or eagerly contend or stryve one with another 
 aboute the same, but referre the declaration of those places 
 that be in controversie to the judgniente of them that be 
 better learned." 
 
 The indefatigable Coverdale undertook another edition 
 of this work in the year 1538, at Paris; but through the 153s. 
 influence of the Papists, all this edition was seized and 
 burnt, excepting a few copies. The tj'pes and workmen 
 were then removed to London, and in the fallowing year 1539. 
 came forth Craimier's, or " the Great Bible," corrected by 
 
144 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Coverclale, ^vhich was also ordered to be set up in the 
 cliurclies. This event was the subject of so much rejoicing 
 to the archbishop, that he declared it gave him more 
 pleasure than the gift of £1000 Avould have done/ The 
 people equally rejoiced ; whoever could, purchased a 
 Bible, otherwise many individuals united, and bought it 
 together. And it was a common thing in churches to see 
 a man reading it aloud, and a crowd of persons around 
 him, listening to the words of life. These Bibles were 
 generally chained to the desk, to prevent their being 
 stolen by the Papists.^ 
 
 In the meanwhile the zealous archbishop set himself 
 ddigently to the task of restoring to the people those 
 sound doctrines of faith, which had so long been overlaid 
 by the unscriptural tenets of Eomanism. Accordingly he 
 drew up and proposed to the consideration of Convocation, 
 ten articles of fliith. These articles were far from beuig 
 perfect representations of Protestant or Primitive doctrine ; 
 for in order to meet the prejudices of the Popish party, 
 they tolerate the use of images in a limited sense — sanction 
 prayers to the saints under some restriction — admit the 
 doctrine of purgatory, penance, and am-icular confession — 
 and acknowledge the actual presence in the elements of the 
 Eucharist. They reject, however, the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion on the ground of personal merit, and insist on the 
 faith of a Christian being comprehended in the canonical 
 
 * Stiypp, J). 5S. 
 
 ' These chained Bibles are still to lie met with in some country churches. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 145 
 
 Scriptures alone. These articles, as might have been 
 expected, satisfied neither party. They contained too 
 much Eomanism for the Protestants, and too mucli 
 Lutheranism for the Papists. It could not well be other- 
 wise — it was impossible to restore the Catholic faith at 
 once to its original purity ; a debased and pernicious system 
 of belief had so long, like a baneful mist, darkened the re- 
 ligious horizon of Europe, that the eyes of men were scarcely 
 able to endure at once the bright effulgence of divine truth. 
 
 Cranmer was a wise and cautious man, and therefore 
 proceeded discreetly in carrying out the Eeformation to 
 the full length he intended. His plans, however, were 
 continually crossed by the capriciousness of his royal 
 master, who suffered himself to be swayed in the moments 
 of his waywardness by the Pomish party, at whose head 
 was Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, a bitter enemy of the 
 Reformers. Cranmer had soon reason to lament this fatal 
 influence, for it effected the enactment of that "bloody 
 statute," as it was called, the Six Articles, whereby, 
 1. The doctrine of transubstantiation was by law estab- 
 lished; 2. The communion in both kinds denied to the 
 laity ; 3. The marriage of the clergy forbidden ; 4. Vows 
 of celibacy declared obligatory; 5. Private masses for souls 
 in purgatory uplield ; 6. Auricular confession declared to 
 be necessary. Fire and fagot was the punishment for the 
 transgressors of the first article, and to be hung as a felon 
 for such as should be guilty of the rest. 
 
 Cranmer manfully opposed the passing of this infamous 
 E 
 
146 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 act ; Taut in vain. His voice was oyerborne by Gardiner 
 and tlie Ho'wards ; and thus did Popery once more, as far 
 as tlie most pernicious of its doctrines Avere concerned, lift 
 up its hydra head in England. 
 
 This deplorable reaction is attributed by many writers 
 to the rash and hasty dissolution of the monasteries, of 
 ■which between the years 1537 and 1539 no less than 645 
 were destroyed, besides ninety colleges, and more than 
 2000 chantries endowed for the performance of masses 
 for the dead. By the suppression of so many religious 
 establishments, as we have said before, an immense number 
 of dissolute and desperate men were turned adrift on 
 society, whose very existence depended on the re-establish- 
 ment of the papal supremacy. "Whether such was the 
 cause or not, the consequences were most lamentable, anJ 
 the exultation of the Eomish party great indeed. Tlie 
 penal parts of tliis execrable statute were immediately 
 carried into execution : the prisons of London, according 
 to Fox, were crowded with culprits — Latimer and Shax- 
 ton were sent to the Tower — and great niimbers for con- 
 science' sake fled for safety to foreign lands. 
 
 By the " ill-assorted marriage," moreover, of Henry with 
 Ann of Cleves, occasion was taken to poison the King's 
 mind against the Protestant party, both at home and on 
 the Continent ; and so well did the Eomish faction push 
 their opportunity, that even Cromwell, the King's favourite 
 minister, fell under Ms master's heaviest displeasure — was 
 impeached for high treason by the Duke of JS'orfolk, who 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 was with Gardiner at the head of the Popish party, — and 
 soon afterwards was condemned and executed for heresy as 
 well as treason. A hitter persecution of other Protest- 
 ants followed, and fire and sword Avere once more in 
 active operation throughout England. Thus were the Six 
 Articles as fully effective as the enemies of the Eeformaticn 
 could desire. 
 
 The mind of Cranmer, in the meantime, though heavily 
 afflicted, was not subdued ; it came out of this fiery trial 
 purified of much of that dross which at this early stage of 
 the Reformation yet debased tlie sterling metal of his 
 judgment. Such had been the case with Luther and 
 other leaders of this great religious movement : the canker 
 of Eomanism had fixed itself so deeply, it could not be at 
 once eradicated. 
 
 The effect of the Six Articles on Cranmer was to produce 
 a reconsideration of his religious belief. The doctrine of 
 transubstantiation, that stumbhng-block in tlie Eoman 
 Catholic Church, was one on Avhich he had hitherto not 
 made up his mind : he now, therefore, reconsidered the 
 point in all its bearings — tried it by the test of Scripture, 
 of history, and of reason, and at last came to the conclusion, 
 that it is ivnscriptural, unreasonable, contradictory, and 
 totally unknown to the primitive Ciiurch. He, therefore, 
 now totally renounced it. Moreover, when the ICing 
 commanded certain commissioners to draw uj) a Summary 
 of Doctrine for the settling of the public mind on matters 
 of faith, Cranmer took special care, in the leading part he 
 
148 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 had in drawing it up, to adhere to the Augsburg Con- 
 fession, in which he was supported by the King. This 
 Summary of Doctrine is Protestant throughout, strictly 
 accordant with the. ancient faith, and was the basis on 
 which the Thirty-nine Articles were afterwards founded. 
 
 Though this Summary was not at the time acted on, its 
 very existence was a severe mortification to the Eomish 
 party, and a signal triumph to the Eeformers. The 
 Romanists were doomed to experience a further mortifica- 
 tion, by a proclamation which was issued at this time for 
 the more general circulation of the Holy Scriptures. 
 Bonner, Bishop of London, a furious papist, was compelled 
 to swallow this bitter pill, and making a virtue of neces- 
 sity, he raised six Bibles on desks in St. Paul's cathedral, 
 but took special care to counteract this apparent liberality, 
 hj affixing over each an admonition against any one's 
 daring to make any comment on passages as they were 
 read : he also prohibited the peojjle from thronging around 
 the desks in "inconvenient numbers." But the people, 
 in utter disregard of the prohibition, crowded the cathedral 
 for the purpose of reading, or hearing the Bibles read, and 
 freely commented upon all jiassages that condemned the 
 Romish system. 
 
 From this time to the death of Henry the current of 
 the Reformation alternately ebbed and flowed. The dis- 
 covery of Queen Catherine Howard's infiimy led to her 
 own execution, and the disgrace of her powerful family ; 
 while the Protestant interest, on the contrary, was further 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 149 
 
 advanced by the King's marriage "witli Catherine Parr, 
 widow of Lord Latimer, a staunch Protestant. Cranmer's 
 influence also again prevailed against the machinations of 
 Gardiner, who, when he found he could not suppress the 
 new edition of the English Bible, artfully proposed that 
 about one hundred terms, which he pretended the English 
 language could not express, should be given in Latin." 
 The Convocation, however, would not for a moment en- 
 tertain so extravagant a proposition, but conceded at once 
 to Cranmer's suggestion, that the revision of the Scriptures 
 should be left to the Universities. 
 
 The archbishop next directed the Convocation's attention 
 to the profane honours which were still bestowed on 
 images, and prevailed on them to issue an order to the 
 clergy to clear their churches of the "silken vests and 
 glimmering tapers,"'' and other unscriptural appendages of 
 these images of wood and stone. Cranmer's suggestion 
 respecting a revision of the ritual was not so readily em- 
 braced, except in the expunging the Pope's name, and 
 that of a few popish saints ; so that the liturgical books of 
 the former reign continued, with but small alteration, to 
 be stiU. in common use. 
 
 But the temple was yet further to be cleansed from 
 Romish pollution, and Bonner — the infamous Bonner — 
 was himself to bear witness to the extent to which at 
 
 l> Such, for instance, as ecclesia, pontifex, elementa, adorare, sacramentum, 
 mysteria, simulaclirum, sacrificium, satisfactio, peccatum, idolum, idolnl.itria, 
 liostia, ifec. — Vide Fuller's Ch. Hist. 
 
 7 Soames's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 505 
 
ISO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 this time corruption had pervaded the whole body ecclesi- 
 astical. In tlie directions issued to the London clergy, 
 among other things, he forhids the exhibition of dramatic 
 representations in the churches and chapels. It appears 
 that these heathenish practices were at the time very 
 prevalent, and under the name of " Mysteries," ^ the 
 fictions and legendary tales of saints and monks were 
 commonly exhibited, and became at last the readiest way 
 that could be devised for turning the whole system of 
 Popery into ridicule and contempt. 
 
 Encouraging as were present appearances to the hopes 
 of the Eeformers, there was much to fill them with 
 anxiety. It was but too evident that their capricious 
 monarch was but half a Protestant— some lingering at- 
 tachment still clung to him in favour of the errors of 
 Popery. Hence he most inconsistently gave Iris consent 
 to tlie restriction that was now imposed on the free 
 perusal of the Scriptures, and to a new exposition of 
 1643. faith and duty, called " The Necessary Doctrine," com- 
 piled from a work called the Bishops' Book, published 
 under the approbation of Convocation in the year 1537. 
 
 That Cranmer could ever have permitted the jiromul- 
 gation of tliis " King's Book," as it was called, can only 
 be accounted for on tlie ground of state expediency or 
 stern necessity ; for besides the restriction on the reading 
 
 8 Hence mnny churches were furnished with cr>-pts {Kpvirra or places of 
 concealment), where these mysteries were partly exhibited, and where :nany of 
 those jugglinE; tricks with which the priests were wont to impose upon the 
 people were performed without the fear of detection. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 151 
 
 ths Scriptures, it imposed the seven sacraments — prayers 
 for departed souls — the sahitation of the Virgin ]\Iary — 
 and gave the folloAving version of the second command- 
 ment : — " Thon shalt not have any graven image, nor 
 any likeness of any thing that is in lieaven above, or in 
 the earth beneath, or in the water under the eartli, io the 
 intent to do any godly honour and ivorship xinto them." 
 
 Let Protestants remember that it is thus, to tliis day, 
 that Eoman Catholics, ashamed of the idolatrous nature 
 of their religion, shrink from the second comnuxndment, 
 and cither omit it altogether, or profanely garble and 
 pervert it as stated above. 
 
 Gardiner and his party thus triumphed for a little 
 time, in the King's apparent indifference, if not support ; 
 and it was but too evident that the moment was seized 
 as a favourable one for destroying the influence of the 
 illustrious primate. A conspiracy, which Gardiner evi- 
 dently fostered, if he was not the author of it, was basely 
 got up in Kent, for the purpose of inculpating Crannier ; 
 but the honest, straightforward conduct of that innocent 
 man, seconded by the confidence of the King in his 
 unshaken integrity, baffled all the machinations of his 
 enemies, and exposed the infamous part that the Eishop 
 of "Winchester had taken in the plot. The result of this 
 failure was, that the archbisliop rose higher than ever in 
 his prince's favour and confidence, while Gardiner, in the 
 same proportion, fell into general disgrace. 
 
 The exposure of so much unmerited malice towards 
 
152 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 him on the part of persons Avlioni he had before favoured, 
 respected, and in some cases loved, weighed heavily on 
 Cranmer's spirits,^ and determined him to counteract the 
 severity of the Six Articles hy some legislative protection. 
 This he accordingly procured without much difficulty from 
 Parliament. 
 
 He could not, however, prevent the Romish faction 
 from obtaining an act, wherein an alteration was made in 
 the law of succession in favour of the Princess jMary ; 
 and tiieir success in this matter emboldened them to malce 
 another 'attack ou the archbishop in Parliament. Por- 
 tunately, the King was now quite awake to their wicked 
 intentions, and therefore crushed the conspiracy in the 
 outset. 
 
 liis. But it was Cranmer's misfortune, or rather his glory, 
 tliat no sooner was one Popish intrigue against him 
 crushed, than another was presently concocted. Thus, 
 in the very next year, charges of a serious character were 
 laid before Henry, whereby the primate was accused of 
 having " infected the whole realm with unsavoury doc- 
 trine, so as to iill all places Avith abominable heretics, 
 and that this course was likel}^ to shake the throne 
 itself."! The King's friendship, however, and the pri- 
 mate's undaunted firmness, once more extricated him 
 from the clutches of his enemies, and determined him to 
 devote his abilities with even greater energy to the full 
 
 9 Strj-pe's Mem. of Cranmer, p. 173. 
 
 1 Soames's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 579. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 153 
 
 development of liis plans. Retiring to the peace and 
 quiet of his seat at Bekesburne, he there applied himself 
 to tlie compilation of English Litanies, and the translation 
 of Latin Hymns for the service of the Church. He also 
 directed his attention to the suppression of many ridi- 
 culous superstitions which yet were retained in the Church i540 
 — such as the veiling of the Cross in Lent — kneeling and 
 creeping to the same, ^'c., in all which he enjoyed the 
 King's co-operation,2 who, as his reign drcAv nearer to its 
 close, seemed anxioiTS to make some atonement for his 
 past neglect, by now forwarding the Reformation by 
 every means in his poAver. Having once taken his resolu- 
 tion, he made it evident that lienceforward his part would 
 not be a doubtful one. He began to put down the Popish 
 party witli a firm, if not a cruel hand. Gardiner, bishop 
 of Winchester, became exceedingly odious to him, and 
 was the first to feel his resentment; he was discarded 
 from court, and his name erased from the list of executors 
 to the royal will. The Duke of Norfolk, and his son the 
 Earl of Surrey, were arrested, arraigned on a charge of 
 high treason, and the latter suffered execution on Tower- 
 hill. This was felt by the Romanists to be so fatal a 
 blow to their power, that, bereft of their principal stay 
 in Church and State, they were never, at any time during 
 the remainder of this reign, able to rally their disheartened 
 forces. 
 
 Henry was thus permitted by Providence to live long 
 2 Collier's Hist., vol. ii. p. 203. 
 
154 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 enougli to remove out of the -way some of the bitterest 
 enemies the Protestant Church possessed. Having at 
 last accomplished as much of the glorious work of refor- 
 mation as was then needful, he breathed his last, a.d. 1547, 
 " pressing in his last moments the hand of Cranmer, to 
 whom, and whom only, through evil report and through 
 good report, he had ever been faithful and true. To him 
 he bequeathed a church, which was little but a ruinous 
 heap ; its revenues dissipated, its ministers divided, its 
 doctrines unsettled, its laws obsolete, impracticable, and 
 unadapted to the great change it had sustained."^ 
 
 Let us follow the Eeformers in their mighty undertaking, 
 and let us Avatch tlie consummate skill, the cautious dis- 
 crimination Avith which the master mind of Cranmer 
 extricated the Church from this labyrinth of confusion 
 and difficulty, removed all her remaining corruptions and 
 deformities, as far as it was prudent to do so, and presented 
 her to the admiration of the Protestant world in that 
 beauty of holiness, simplicity, and independence, which 
 the weakness of princes and the tyranny of Pome had de- 
 faced, polhited and destroyed. The Church of England 
 was about to re-enter on her ancient and indisputable 
 bii'thright. 
 
 3 Bhiut on the Reformation, p. 19-1. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " Our religion has neither novelty nor singularity in it. It is an old 
 religion — it is of age, and can speak for itself. It has been handed 
 down to us through many suiferings and persecutions, and here it is 
 preserved. It contracted, indeed, in tlie coming down, a great deal 
 of rust, by the falseness and carelessness of its keepers, particularly 
 by the Church of Rome. We scowered off the rust, and kept the 
 metal ; that is the Komish Religion, this is the English. They added 
 false doctrines to the Cliristian faith ; we left the one, and kept to the 
 other : this is ancient, those are new." — Dr. Ilascard's Discourse 
 about the Charge of Novelty. 
 
 Ix all the transactions of that great crisis we have just 
 been considering — through all the turns and phases of the 
 Church's history in which we have accompanied her durmg 
 the last reign, so extremely questionable was the sincerity 
 cf Henry, that his death was rather hailed as a blessing 
 than felt as au evil to the Church. The friends and con- 
 ductors of the Eeformation, as they had placed no confidence 
 in him, so could they feel no gratitude towards him for 
 any one of those half measures of reform he introduced, 
 by the very tardiness of which he satisfied neither party, 
 whilst he disgusted both. Had the Eeformation depended 
 
156 THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD 
 
 I 
 
 upon his support alone, we should in all prohahility at this 
 moment have heen groping our way in the gross darkness 
 of popish error, or the light of Gospel truth might only 
 now he hursting on our henighted land. Protestantism, 
 therefore, owes hut little thanks to Henry, who, in heart 
 a papist, and in conduct a despot worthy of the Church 
 in wliich he had heen nurtured, rather delayed than 
 accelerated that mighty movement which, fiwm the days 
 of "Wicliffe, had, hy virtue of its own principles, and not 
 by any external assistance, been working its way slowly 
 but steadily among the great mass of the people. 
 
 The King, as weU as the Pope, appears to have been 
 swayed throughout the struggle that was so long maintained 
 between them, by political rather than religious motives ; 
 and if the latter lost his supremacy over England by an 
 obstinate adherence to state considerations, the former 
 certainly can claim from Protestants no higher praise for 
 legalizing their resistance of papal aggression, than that 
 which was due to a fearless appeal to the rising spirit of 
 the times — a spirit that accorded so exactly with the 
 mind and temper of a capricious tyrant, that he could not 
 avoid taking advantage of it, for it admirably seconded 
 the fierce determination of the monarch to reign over the 
 whole Church and State as the supreme head of both, and 
 independent of any foreign jurisdiction whatsoever. Had 
 Henry imbibed the scriptural doctrines of our pure re- 
 ligion, he would have eminentiy deserved the title of 
 "Defender of the Faith," for he must have carried the 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 157 
 
 Reformation far beyond tlie point at ■\vliicli it was taken 
 up by his successor ; but caring little for the purity of a 
 religion whose doctrines convicted him of sin, he was 
 content, not from any love for Protestantism, but hatred 
 of the Pope, to strike down the papal arm that threatened 
 him, and to rid himself of a subjection that he felt to be 
 both degrading and inconvenient. Thanks be to God, 
 therefore, for thus mercifully overruling tlu; angry passions 
 of a cruel and godless prince, to the good of his Church, 
 and the glory of his name ! and for raising up, at this 
 critical juncture, a second Josiah for liis Church and 
 peojjle in the person of the youthful Edward. 
 
 Born and educated with the utnaost care in the Protes- 
 tant faith, and called to tlie throne of these realms at the 
 early age of nine years, this young and interesting child 
 gave early proof of " the excellent spirit" he was of. 
 Observing the swords that were to be carried before liim at 
 his coronation, he remarked to his attendants that one 
 was wanting, and immediately called for a Bible. " That," 
 he exclaimed, " is the sword of the Spirit ; without that 
 sword we are nothing — we can do nothing ; by tliat we 
 are what Ave are this day ; under that we ought to live, to 
 fight, to govern the people, and to perform all our affairs 
 — from that we obtain all power, virtue, grace, salvation, 
 and whatsoever we have of divine strength.'" 
 
 During Edward's minority the government of the country 
 was vested in certain commissioners, who took on them- 
 
 1 SouUiey's Book of the Cliurcli, vol. ii. p. 102. 
 
158 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 selves a difficult duty when they assumed tlie direction of 
 the pul)lic affairs, which, as relating both to the civil and 
 ecclesiastical administration of them, were of the most 
 complicated and discordant character. The Church, at 
 Henry's death, was as has already been shown, in the 
 utmost disorder; all her members were out of joint, and 
 truly might it be said " there was no whole part in her." 
 It required, therefore, the most consummate skill and judg- 
 ment to reduce so deranged a mass to order, uniformity, 
 and agreement. 
 
 The Eeformation, as far as it had yet proceeded, had 
 removeil but little of that gross Aveight of error and 
 superstition which still pressed heavily on her doctrine 
 and discipline. An overwhelming load of corruption, the 
 accumulation of 600 years, was yet to be cleared away, and 
 much labour and care were necessary in proceeding Avith 
 the work of arrangement and restoration. The workmen 
 were wortliy of the work, and equal to the labour ; they 
 " proceeded with exemplary prudence, precipitating no- 
 thing, but gradually unfolding their well-digested plans in 
 such a manner as to afford them a reasonable hope of 
 satisfying their own consciences, and the just expectation 
 of posterity." ■•^ 
 
 The eyes of all Eurojie Avere at this time fixed on the 
 proceedings of the Council of Trent, Avhich had noAv been 
 sitting for tAvo years, Avitli the avoAved intention of re- 
 forming the Church. Great expectations Avere raised 
 
 2 Soames's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. iii. p- •'>1- 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 159 
 
 among the Roman Catliolics, tliat the measures adopted 
 by the Tridentiiie fathers would bring back the Pro- 
 testants to the bosom of the Church ; but the feelings and 
 designs of the Eoman pontiff were quite in opposition to 
 this expectation. He was resolved to malce no concessions, 
 to suffer no innovation, to consent to no change — the 
 Protestants were doomed to be duped — and the advocates 
 for reform in the Church of Rome to be disappointed. 
 
 Tlie Church of England having no representatives at this 
 Council, was little affected by the tardiness of its pro- 
 ceedings. The directors of her restoration were not to be 
 diverted from the course they had marked out for them- 
 selves, by the impotent denunciations of frantic men — 
 rather were they the more resolved that their om u reform- 
 ation should be no mockery, and that the leaven of Popery 
 should no longer work in the body ecclesiastic of England. 
 
 They began, with the head and front of offence — the 
 idolatry of the Romish Church. For the effectual rooting 
 out of this corruption, injunctions were issued by the 
 King's command, enjoining the clergj^ in every quarter to 
 preach against pilgrimages and image worship ; and at the 
 same time ordering that " all shrines,^ with their coverings, 
 
 3 The offerings made at tlic shrines of saints were of tlie most extravagant 
 kind, and grossly idolatrous. At Becket's shrine, in Canterbury Cathedral, was 
 offered in one year £000 ; while on the altar of Christ the sum did not exceed 
 £2 Ss. ! Becket's shrine also yearly drew togctlier thousands of ]iilgrims. "It 
 was built, about a man's height, all of stone, then upwards of timber, plain : 
 within which was a chest of iron, containing the saint's bones, skull and all, 
 with the wound of his death, and the piece of his skull laid in the same wound. 
 The timber work of this shrine on the outside was covered with plates of gold, 
 
r6o THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 tables, candlesticks, trindills, (or rolls of wax,) pictures, 
 and other monuments of feigned miracles, were to Le taken 
 away and destroyed," and tlie images tliemselves to be 
 treated in the same way. Pulpits were also to be pro- 
 vided, and the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and Ten Com- 
 mandments, Avere to be publicly read aloud by the priest. 
 
 The people in many parts of England had anticipated 
 this public order : they had already commenced the work 
 of demolition; so that before even the injunctions Avere 
 issued many churches had delivered themselves from the 
 temptation to idolatry, by casting out theu- " carved 
 images. " 
 
 The leaders of the Roman Catholic party, and especially 
 Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, were worked up to a state 
 of anger bordering on madness, by a measure that Avas to 
 prove so fatal to their poAver. That bigoted prelate in 
 A'ain endeavoured to stifle the spreading flame, and by 
 threats on the one hand, poured forth on the "image- 
 damasked and emliossed with wires of gold, gamislied -m.t\\ brooches, images, 
 angels, chains, precious stones, and great orient pearls." — Dart's Hist, of Cant. 
 Caih. 
 
 " They drew up with cords a chest or case of wood, and then there was seen 
 a chest or coffin of gold, and inestimable riches. Gold was the meanest tiling 
 that was there. It shone all over, and sparkled and glittered witli jewels, 
 which were very precious and rare and of an extraordinary size : some of them 
 were bigger than a goose's egg. The prior took a white wand, and touched 
 every jewel, telling what it was, the French name, the value, and the donor of 
 it ; for the chief of them were gifts of monarchs." — Erasmus. 
 
 Any one would imagine he was here reading a description of a tomb in 
 some Hindoo temple ; yet such was in fact a Cliristiau's shrine in a Christian 
 church, where the creature monojiolized all the honour, to the exclusion of tlie 
 Creator ! ! ! and where more miracles were pretended to be performed by the 
 saint's bones than ever had been by the Son of God Himself ! ! ! 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. i6i 
 
 breakers" iii liis own diocese, and Ly arguments on the 
 other, addressed in more cautious terms to Dr. Eidley, and 
 the Protector Somerset, he hoped to persuade men that 
 pictures and images were as serviceable as books, and that 
 there was no more harm in retaining them in the churches, 
 than there was in any man's " wearing a cross about his 
 neck," or " the knights of the garter wearing the George. " 
 And true enough, there would not be, excej^t for one plain 
 reason — that the former are uhjects of worsliip, the latter 
 of mere ornament or distinction. "Yea," exclaims Foxe, 
 " but what knight of that order kneeleth or prayeth to 
 that George that hangeth about his neck f 
 
 Such was tlie state of the public feeling at this time 
 upon this darkest point of liomish superstition. The 
 people were panting for better information ; and had it 
 not been for the ignorance of some of the clergy, and the 
 obstinate bigotry of others, they must have long before 
 burst from that spiritual tlu:aldom in which they had for so 
 many centuries been held. The wise and sagacious Cran- 
 mer, with the design of meeting the difficulties and remedy- 
 ing the defects of tlie times, charged himself with the 
 composing of twelve homilies, which he soon afterwards 
 pubhshed, to the great comfort and help of every sincere 
 Protestant, but to the evident vexation and chagrin of 
 Gardiner and the papists ; for the subjects (jf these homilies 
 were just such as were required for tlie advancement of 
 scriptural truth. We may particularly mention the 
 
 * Foxe, 1227. 
 L 
 
i62 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 homilies on human depravity, on justification by faith, on 
 good worlis, and on the great 2^'>'cxtical duties of Christi- 
 anity. But the most important of them all ■was that on 
 the necessity of reading the Scriptures, being the great 
 " stone of stumbling and rock of offence," on M'hich the 
 Church of Eome has alwaj's foundered. In this admirable 
 discourse is pointed out, in plain but forcible language, 
 the danger of giving heed to the pretended traditions of 
 men, rather than to the unadulterated word of God. Yes, 
 " let us diligently search for the weU of life in the books of 
 the Old and New Testament, and not run to the stinking 
 puddles of men's traditions, devised by men's imaginations, 
 for our justification and salvation. For in Holy Scriptiire 
 is fully contained what we ought to do, and wliat to 
 eschew, what to believe, what to love, and what to look 
 for at God's hands at length."^ 
 
 For the further enlightening of the public mind, an 
 injunction Avas issued that every parish should forthwith 
 provide itself with a Bible, and a copy of so mucli of 
 Erasmus's Paraphrase of the New Testament as had at 
 that time been translated into English ; and in the follow- 
 ing year the archbishop authorized the publication of a 
 German Catechism, or rather an Exposition of the Creed, 
 Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, which under 
 his direction had noAV assumed an English dress, and was 
 industriously circijated throughout the land. 
 
 The necessary conseqiience of the light that was now 
 
 5 HomUy I. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 imparted was a growing spirit of inquiry. Men were no 
 longer disposed to submit their judgment in spiritual 
 matters to blind and crafty guides. Tliey began to think 
 and to act for themselves, and to examine, with unsparing 
 diligence, all the several essential points of Eoman Catholic 
 belief. But to no point was the public attention more 
 closely directed than to the subject of tlia Muss"^ 
 
 King Henry had directed, by his will, that perpetual 
 masses for his soul should be celebrated ; but what Avas at 
 one time considered by the people to be a religious obliga- 
 tion as an article of faith, was no longer so esteemed. The 
 question was now in every one's mouth, " Are masses for 
 ilie dead authorized by Scripture?" The very inquiry led 
 to great practical good ; for towards the close of the year 
 a royal commission was issued to certain prelates and 
 learned divines, commanding them, agreeably to a recent 
 Act of Parliament, to examine the subject of the Mass, 
 and to prepare a new and uniform mode of administering 
 the Holy Communion in hoili kinds. 
 
 Tlie commissioners commenced tlieir labours Avitli the 
 most praiseworthy caution and discretion. They first 
 established the scriptural principle, that the sacrament 
 
 STIie "Mass" is the Communion Service, or Consecration and Ailministration 
 of the Sacvanient. "High Mass" is the same service, accompanied by all the 
 ceremonies which custom and autliority have annexed to its celebration. In 
 the early ages of the Church the Congregation was dismissed before the celebra- 
 tion of the Lord's Supper, none but the communicants being suffered to remain, 
 according to the discip ine of the secret. " Ita missa est," said the officiating 
 minister, and immediately the people withdrew. The term thus cmjiloyed was 
 used in process of time to designate the solemn service about to be performed. 
 It. was called " Missa," the Mass.— Cramp's Text Book, \<. 252. 
 
1 64 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 was ordained of Christ to be received, " not of one man 
 for another, hut of every man for himseK;" that in the 
 mass there is properly no oblation of Christ, he having 
 been once only offered on the cross ; and that the rite is 
 simply representative and commemorative, not propitiatory 
 — that it consists wholly in such things as are mentioned 
 in those passages of Scripture which relate to the Eucharist, 
 such as we read ia Matthew xxvi. ]\Iark xiv. Luke xxii. 
 1 Cor. X. xi. and Acts of Apostles ii. — that "solitary 
 masses" are contrary to Scripture and primitive practice 
 - — that the people, therefore, should receive the sacrament 
 with the priest — that " masses satisfactory" for departed 
 souls are equally opposed to Scripture, because Christ is 
 the only satisfaction for all sin. (Vide Heb. ix. 1 2, and 
 X. 10.) It was likewise ordered that the Mass shoidd no 
 longer be celebrated in the Latin tongue, and the reserva- 
 tion and hanging up of the Host was to be considered an 
 invention of comparatively modern date. 
 
 These points having been establislied on scriptural 
 grounds, the commissioners next proceeded to arrange the 
 of&ce of the communion. 
 
 The groundwork of this office was the Eoman missal, a 
 form that is generally believed to have been compiled by 
 Gregory the Great, in the sixth century, though subse- 
 quently, like every other office in the Eomish Church, 
 adulterated and debased by interpolations and rubrics, 
 enjoining those " bowings, crossings, kissings, finger- 
 washings, and other pantomunic grimaces, which to the 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 165 
 
 I'rotestant are so truly frivolous, superstitious, and re- 
 volting." 
 
 Yet in this service are still to be traced some remnants 
 of primitive and wbolesome practice. The ancient Church, 
 in her purer day, divided her mass into two parts — ^the 
 Mass of the Catechumens, and the Mass of the Faithful. 
 The Catechumens, who were persons under instruction 
 previous to baptism, Avere not permitted to be present at the 
 Communion. Accordingly, when that part of the Church 
 service was finished, preparatory to the faithful i:)artakiug 
 of the Holy Sacrament, a deacon proclaimed aloud, " Those 
 who are Catechumens, go out!" Then commenced the 
 Communion of the Faithful. In the Roman mass all that 
 part which reaches to the offertory corresponds with the 
 primitive ilass of the Catechumens ; the rest of the service 
 to the Mass of the Faithful. 
 
 The first part of the Eoman Mass contains, amongst 
 other matters, a general confession of his own sins, made 
 by the priest, not to God alone, but to the archangel 
 Michael, to the Virgin Mary, to St. John the Baptist, the 
 Apostles, to all the other dead persons indiscriuiinately, 
 who have been canonized at Rome, and to the congregation 
 present. He, the priest, then concludes this service, by 
 desiring the prayers of the above persons. There is also a 
 prayer for the priest's own pardon through the merits of 
 the saints.'' The Mass for the Faithful, commencing at 
 
 ' This prayer is omitted in the Breviary which was published in Queen Mary's 
 reign, as being too offensive to the Protestants.— Vide Soanus's Hist. Ref. vol. ii. 
 p. 253. 
 
i66 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 the offertory, contains sundry very exceptionaLlc prayers, 
 which are comparatively of modern introduction ; also some 
 short devotional pieces, one of which is truly shocking to 
 the pious ■worshippers of the incarnate God : it is as fol- 
 lows : — " May the Lord receive this sacrifice from tliy 
 hands to the praise and glory of his own name, for our 
 benefit, and that of all his holy Church !" 
 
 Eut in the Breviary itself there is a prayer that strikes 
 at the very root of Christ's mediatorial office, — " May the 
 intercession, we beseech Thee, 0 Lord, oi Bishop Peter, thy 
 apostle, render the prayers and offerings of tliy Church 
 acceptable to Thee ; that the mysteries we celebrate in Ms 
 honour may obtain for us tlie pardon of our sins!" 
 
 The next part of the service of the Mass is the preface, 
 which is still retained in the English Communion office, 
 beginning with "Lift up your hearts," and ending at 
 " Glory be to Thee, 0 Lord, most high." Tlien follows 
 the Canon of tlie Mass, or prayers of consecration, Avhich 
 are always read by the priest in a very low voice. These 
 prayers are of considerable antiquity, a circum.stance that 
 greatly militates against the Eomish doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation ; as it is most Avorthy of remark, that they do 
 not, in direct terms, acknowledge that doctrine more than 
 they do those other innovations of the Eoman Catholic 
 Church — the invocation of saints, purgatory, solitary 
 masses, &c., which have been grafted upon that Church 
 by the second council of Nice, and the fourth Lateran 
 Council, as well as by those of Florence and Trent. So 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 167 
 
 tliat the Eomisli Cliurcli stands condemned by her o^vn 
 ancient testimony — a testimony too, be it remembered, 
 which, with relation to tlie Canon of the Mass, was pro- 
 nounced by the Tridentine Fathers to be " without any 
 error. 
 
 Such, then, were tlie materials out of which the Ee- 
 formers constructed their first communion ofiice in substi- 
 tution for the mass, retaining all that was good and 
 unexceptionable, but rejecting much that was grossly 
 profane and idolatrous. In the arrangement of the deca- 
 logue, moreover, the second commandment, which the 
 Roman Catholics find so troublesome, Avas now given in 
 its entire and unmutUated form, as it was first written by 
 the linger of God. 
 
 This ofiice being at last arranged, was publicly set forth 154S. 
 on the 8 th March 15i8, by a royal proclamation, wherein 
 the people were required to " receive it with due reverence, 
 and with such uniformity as might encourage the King to 
 go on in the setting forth godly orders for reformation, 
 which he intended now earnestly to bring to effect, by the 
 help of God."" 
 
 This ofiice, three years afterwards, underwent a minute 
 revision at the hands of Bucer, who expurgated some 
 Romish leaven that still offended the friends of the Refor- 
 mation, and reproduced it in nearly the very form in 
 which we now receive it. 
 
 8 " Ab omni errore purum." Vide cap. iv. de Canone Missse. 
 
 9 Buinett's Hist, of the Ilcfomation, p. 131. fol. edit. 
 
1 68 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 The Ecfomicrs, however, by thus heginning witli the 
 communion office, were by no means insensible to the still 
 farther need of revising and correcting all the offices of the 
 Church. Having, therefore, disposed of this important 
 part, they now turned their attention to the liturgies of 
 the Church. " In order to this, they brought together," 
 says Burnett, " all the offices used in England." These 
 were of great variety, and of high antiquity, derived partly 
 from apostolic use, and partly from the times of the early 
 fathers. The ancient British Church received her first 
 liturgy from the Gallican Churcli in tlie fifth century, by 
 the hands of Germanus and Lupus, when they came over, 
 as has been already shown, to deliver the British nation 
 from the errors of Pelagianism. This liturgy closely 
 resembled that of the Church of England of the present 
 day, for it prescribed for the morning service lessons taken 
 from the Scriptures, psalms, and hymns, each concluding 
 with the Gloria Patri, and an interval of silence, during 
 which the congregation were to offer up in secret their 
 particular prayers, and a collect, or general prayer.^ The 
 silent prayers of ancient times were retained l)y our Eefor- 
 niers, by means of the bidding, or enumeration of persons 
 and things to be prayed for, enjoined before sermons, as 
 still used in our universities. Under the Romish system, 
 hymns consisting of the most despicable monkish rhymes, 
 and short anthems, termed resjwnds, Avere sung after read- 
 ing only a few verses from Scripture, whereby the spirit 
 
 l Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. p. 223. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 169 
 
 of devotion -was continually interrupted. All tins trash 
 Avas now rejected, and a prominent place Avas given to 
 Scripture selections — a most important restoration of the 
 ancient usaga, whicli Augustine found already established 
 among the British Christians, when he came over to con- 
 vert the Saxons, and which, by the command of Gregory, 
 he did not venture to supersede by the introduction of the 
 Roman oiSice. In process of time, hoAvever, when the 
 Saxon became the ascendant party in the State, the 
 Roman form gradually became the groundwork of the 
 British. Still, uniformity, in the several offices, was out 
 of the question, and appears to have been little regarded, 
 if we may judge by their variety — for there Avere the offices 
 of Sarum, of York, of Lincoln, Bangor, and Hereford. 
 
 In examining these several offices, the Reformers dis- 
 coA'^ered a vast accumulation of superstition in them all. 
 The forms for the celebration of baptism and the eucharist 
 were the most corrupted of any. " The consecrations of 
 Avater, salt, bread, incense, candles, fire, bells, churches, 
 images, altars, crosses, vessels, garments, palms, and 
 floAvers, all looked like the rites of heathenism, and seemed 
 to spring from the same fountain."^ 
 
 Great also AA'as the corruption of the Roman offices in 
 the poAver pretended by the priest, of granting absolution 
 to the living and the dead, Avhereby the common people 
 were necessarily persuaded that " there Avas a trick for 
 saving souls, besides that plain method Avhicli Christ had 
 
 2 Eurnett's Hist, of the Reformation, fol. p. 136. 
 
170 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 tauglit."^ On tlie subject of confession, likewise, the 
 Romish practice "W'as ■widely different from primitive usage 
 — for in tlie ancient Galilean office there was a general 
 confession of sin made to God alane — ^but of confession to 
 saints and angels, there was not a trace to be found. 
 
 AYith the full knowledge of these and similar corrup- 
 tions in the offices then in use, the Reformers set their 
 hands heartily to the work of compilation and restoration, 
 resolved to " retain such things as the primitive church 
 had practised, but cutting off such abuses as the latter 
 ages had grafted on them." 
 
 They began with the morning and evening service, and 
 took for their groundwork the ancient liturgies of which 
 we have already spoken, the Roman Catholic breviary, and 
 the liturgy that Eucer and jMelanchthon drew up for the 
 archbishop of Cologne. Out of these tliey compiled the 
 two services in the form in which we now find them, 
 excepting that they contained neither tlie introductory 
 sentences, the exhortation, confession, nor absolution. 
 They commenced at once with the Lord's praj'er. In 
 these services, as well as in ecich of the others, the rule 
 was rigidly adliered to, of discarding everything that 
 savoured of superstition, and of admitting nothing that 
 had not the warranty of Scripture. " Prayers to the 
 saints were expunged, and all their lying legends."'' And 
 to " the new work were transferred those features only of 
 
 3 Burnett's Hist, of the Reformation, p. 137. 
 •* Southcy's Book of the Church, vol ii. p. 109. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. i-ji 
 
 its immediate iDredecessors, -wliicli are among the venerable 
 remains of the ancient Latin Church." ^ 
 
 As in the instance of the communion service, so also in 
 tlie other offices of the Church, the revising and correcting 
 hand of those foreign divines who were at the time in 
 England, was afterwards employed in rendering the work 
 still more complete — for by their suggestion the introduc- 
 tory sentences, the exhortation and confession, were 
 added — and the absolution, borroAved ii'om Calvin's Li- 
 turgy, but reall}' composed by its editor Valerandus Pol- 
 lanus, was for the first time subjoined, some of its harsher 
 expressions being suppressed or qualified. 
 
 It is the opinion of those who are the most conversant 
 ■ndth the subject, that the morning service consists of two 
 others now united : — viz., the morning prayer, as one — the 
 litany and communion, as the other — the former taking 
 the place of the Eomish matins, the latter of high mass. 
 The litany, as Ave now find it, subsequently underwent but 
 little change : it, however, contained one suffrage which 
 was afterwards omitted, as harsh and superfluous ! " From 
 the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome, and all liis detestable 
 enormities, good Lord deliver us !" 
 
 The burial service, as then arranged, was nearly the 
 same as it is at present. The spirit of tlic departed was, 
 indeed, commended to God's mercy ; but then the minis- 
 ter was directed to say in another place, " "We trust thou 
 hast brought his soul, which he committed into thy holy 
 
 5 Soames's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. iii. i'. 309. 
 
172 THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD 
 
 hands, into sure consolation and rest," — words -whicli most 
 pointedlj' are opposed to tie doctrine of purgatory. 
 
 The Latcurs of the liturgical commissioners were now 
 completed, and thus was at length produced that " excel- 
 lent form of sound words," " the Book of Common Prayer, 
 and of&ces of the Church of England," gathered with the 
 greatest caution from the ancient liturgies, and from the 
 Eomish formularies as well, in which the Eeformers 
 retained the " solid gold" of antiquity, and discarded only 
 " the vile tinsel" with which they had been overlaid iu 
 modern times, " of ridiculous and idolatrous rubrics, 
 appeals to the dead, the mention of himian merit, and 
 Ij-ing legends." 6 And thus also was restored to England 
 a form of divine worship, as nearly resembling that which 
 was enjoyed by the British Church of old, as was thought 
 to be compatible with the taste, and feeling, and prejudice 
 of the age. 
 
 ii49. On the loth January, 1549, this Book of Common 
 Prayer was, by an act of the Legislature, for the uniformity 
 of the church service, publicly enjoined on the clergy and 
 people, to be used by them throughout England in their 
 own language. The two universities were permitted to 
 use it, the communion sersdce being alone excepted, in 
 Latin or Greek. This act also contained a clause, legahz- 
 ing the use of psalms and prayers taken out of the Bible, 
 provided none iu this book were omitted. This proviso 
 " was for the singing psalms, which were translated into 
 
 s Soaraes's Hist of the Reformation, vol. iii. p. 369. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 173 
 
 verse, and, much sung by all who loved the Eeformation, 
 were in many places used in churches."' No English 
 version of singing psalms appears to have heen in use 
 before the end of Henry's reign — but in 1549 we find two 
 attempts made to reduce them to something like English 
 rhythm — the first by Sir Thomas Wyatt, and the next by 
 Sternliold, Avhose original collection of fifty-one psalms 
 forms the basis of that which is still in use under the 
 name of the Old Version. 
 
 Tlie new liturgy, though its adoption was not compul- 
 sory before "Whitsunday, was yet in general use on Easter- 
 day, when the people heard, for the first time in their O'mi 
 tongue, the intelligible language of prayer and praise. 
 
 There were among the clergy, however, many who could 
 not or would not give up their old practices ; they contrived 
 to evade the law, by chanting or muttering the service — 
 by innumerable crossings, hissings of the altar, breathing 
 on the bread, and other like absurdities. They even con- 
 verted the new communion service into a soid mass, and 
 thus continued to make a base profit of the purgatorial 
 doctrine. 
 
 To counteract these shameful evasions and abuses, a 
 royal visitation was commanded, and very strict regulations 
 promulgated against even the very name of the mass ; it 
 was also ordered that the muttering of prayers over beads 
 should no longer be tolerated — that the doctrine of pur- 
 gatory and of the invocation of saints, should no more bo 
 
 ' Burnett's Hist, of the Reformation, fol. p. 152. 
 
174 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAXD 
 
 admitted — that bead-rolls, relics, images, lights, holy bells, 
 palms, ashes, candles, creeping to the cross, oil, chrism, 
 altars, agnus dei,* and other such vain superstitions, sliould 
 be for ever abolished — and that the clergy should no 
 longer reserve and cany the sacrament to sick persons with 
 candles and bells. The %-isitors appointed for the suppres- 
 sion of these " fooleries " were likewise specially command- 
 ed to put do^vn aU. those gross abuses which at this time 
 prevailed in churches and church-yards, wherein, even 
 during di^•ine service, markets were held, and bargains 
 openly made.' 
 
 The visitors, on concluding their mission, made a favour- 
 able report with respect to the progress of the Eeformation 
 among the people, having occasion to present but one case 
 of open defiance, which was that of the Princess Mary, 
 who persisted in her practice of having the mass said in 
 her own house. Tlie council commanded her to conform to 
 the established order of public worship ; but this com- 
 mand she refused to obey, and indignant!}^ appealed to 
 the Emperor, her cousin, for protection. The council, 
 rather than bring matters to an estremitj-, left her un- 
 molested. 
 
 1540. Her emissaries, however, and the popish faction gene- 
 rally, stiU exerted a powerful and baneful influence in 
 many parts of the country, and succeeded in dri^ong the 
 
 8 An A^ns Dei is made of wa:s, 'balsam, and chrism, and ha.s stamped on it 
 The image of the Lamt of God. It is consecrated bv the popes in the first and 
 everr seventh year of their pontilicate, and worn as a i-nxX of amnlet. 
 
 s Burnett, p. loS. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 175 
 
 peasantrjr, in many of tlie sontliern and western counties, 
 into open revolt. In Devonshire, where the people were 
 " generally inclined to the former superstition,"^" as also in 
 Cornwall, the revolt of these deluded persons hegan to 
 assume a formidable character. The struggle for which 
 they began to arm themselves was looked upon as a reli- 
 gious crusade, in which they were called upon to maintain 
 their fiiith against the " accursed heretics." Accordingly, 
 " crosses and candlesticks, bread and salted water," " the 
 pix, Avith its included wafer, under a canopy in a cart, 
 attended the movements of these infatuated insurgents,"' 
 who were led from the western parts by Humphrey Arun- 
 del, a Cornish gentleman of good family, but of a rash and 
 obstinate disposition. Lord John Eussel was despatched 
 against them, and on arriving at Honiton, and finding the 
 rebels too strong for him to attack, entered into a negotia- 
 tion. Arundel, however, refused to lay down his arms 
 unless his demands, consisting of eight articles, were first 
 conceded. These articles embraced all those leading cor- 
 ruptions of the Eomish Church which the Reformers had 
 been taking so mucli pains to remove ; and moreover em- 
 braced the re-enactment of the Six Articles, commonly 
 called "the Bloody Act." On the rejection of these 
 terms the insurgents laid siege to Exeter, and from the 
 supineness of their enemies, now rose in their demands, 
 insisting on the acceptance of seven additional articles. 
 Lord Eussel having obtained reinforcements, attacked 
 
 !0 Burnett's Hist, of tlie Reformation, p. ICS. 1 Foxe. 1190. 
 
176 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Ihem at Feuiiington Bridge, defeated tliem, and on tlieir 
 rallying again on Clyst Heath, routed them with great 
 slaughter.^ Arundel, and nine rebellious priests, were 
 taken and executed, and the insurrection generally put 
 down throughout the west and north of England.^ 
 
 These rebellious movements were without doubt fo- 
 mented, if not effected by the popish faction, whose leading 
 men were now universally become objects of the greatest 
 mistrust. But no one gave greater cause for suspicion than 
 Bonner, Bishop of London, one of the most cruel, crafty, 
 and bigoted prelates that ever disgraced the name of 
 Christianity. Outwardly he pretended to conform to the 
 new order of things, while all the time he was secretly 
 encouraging, by every means in his power, those very cor- 
 ruptions and abominations which the Reformers had 
 swept from the Church. The council were not to be de- 
 ceived by appearances : they summoned the mitred hypo- 
 crite before them — ordered him to preach at Paul's Cross — 
 to administer the communion at all such times as mass was 
 wont to be celebrated — to inculcate submission to his 
 sovereign, though a minor — and to l)e very careful of 
 maintaining the due observance of order and discipline 
 among the clergy of his diocese. 
 
 With regard to the subject-matter of his sermon, he was 
 commanded to set forth the wickedness of rebellion, and 
 the superiority of practical holiness to the vain rites and 
 ridiculous ceremonies of religion. Bonner accordingly 
 
 2 Fuller's Ch. Hist. 397. 3 Strj-pc's Eccl. Mem. ii. 2S1. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 177 
 
 addressed the people, but in a very vague manuer, on the 
 subject of rebellion, most craftily avoided the other subject 
 altogether, and introduced a vehement defence of the ex- 
 ploded doctrine of transubstantiation. Among his hearers 
 were Hooper and Latimer — the former afterwards Bishop 
 of Gloucester — the latter Bishop of "Worcester. On hear- 
 ing the sermon, these illustrious divines at once denounced 
 the preacher to the king in council. The bishop was 
 summoned before a commission, composed of the primate 
 (Cranmer), Bisliojj Ridley, and live others. On appearing 
 before them, the insolence and levity of Bonner were 
 almost incredible, and exhibited him in a character so 
 truly contemptible, that we should have been disposed to 
 have pitied the man, had not his subsequent brutality, 
 during the Marian persecution, compelled us to abhor the 
 prelate. The contempt he at first showed for the court 
 obliged them to commit him for some time to the Mar- 
 shalsea prison ; but so far was he from being subdued by 
 this correction, that as the inquiry proceeded, he the more 
 increased in insolence and vulgarity. 
 
 After a most patient investigation, and a defence on his 
 part which savoured more of invective than argument, the 
 commissioners deprived him of his bishopric, and recom- 
 mitted him to prison, where his behaviour discovered no 
 one trait that was worthy either of a subject or of a Chi'is- 
 tian bishop.* 
 
 The fall of Bonner was a heavy blow to the EomanistSj 
 
 * Uurnett calls him a " irutish and hloody" "fierce and crud man." 
 M 
 
178 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 but "was shortly after more than coimterbalanced hy the 
 successful intrigue that led to the disgrace and ruin of the 
 Protector Somerset — a man who, with all his faults, was 
 ever a firm and devoted friend of the Eeformation. But 
 his crimes, if they could be so called, (for the most his 
 enemies could allege against him was an undue " greediness 
 of popularity," that led him occasionally to exceed the 
 law,) were eagerty caught at and magnified by his oppon- 
 ents, and his downfall was hailed by them with the utmost 
 exultation, as the forerunner of the immediate restoration 
 of the popish religion. 
 
 The Earl of Warwick, his successor, was supposed to be 
 friendly to their cause, and was immediately addressed by 
 Bonner and Gardiner, the two deposed bishops, with the 
 full persuasion that they might reckon on his support. 
 But Warwick was too wary a politician to take a single 
 step that Avould be displeasing to the young king, whose 
 whole heart he knew was engaged in the cause of the 
 Eeformation. He therefore, Avithout hesitation, rejected 
 their appeal, renounced the popish party, and entered 
 warmly into the further progress of the Church's renova- 
 tion. 
 
 It was about this time that the cause of the Eeformation 
 was nearly overpowered in Germany. By the artifice of 
 the Emperor Charles, the Diet held at Augsbv;rg had 
 sanctioned a plan of his, called the " Interim," for allaying 
 the religious heats of the empire, until such time as they 
 could be settled by a General Council. This plan, which 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 179 
 
 ■was notliing less than tlie restoration of Popery in all its 
 deformity, was nobly rejected by the Elector of Saxony; 
 but unliappily, so great was the power and severity of the 
 Emperor, that he bore down for a time all opposition. 
 
 The leaders of the Protestant party, despairing of their 
 cause, naturally turned towards England, and on her 
 friendly shore sought that protection which was denied 
 them in Germany. Accordingly, at the invitation of 
 Cranmer, Martin Bucer, and Paul Fagius, Peter Alexander, 
 Beruardin Ochin, Peter Martyr, and others, found an 
 asylum under the hospitable roof of the Primate. Soon 
 after their arrival, Bucer was advanced to the divinity 
 chair at Cambridge, and Peter Martyr to that of 
 Oxford. 
 
 The latter appointment occasioned warm and violent 
 disputations in that university, on the subject of transub- 
 stantiation, the corner-stone of the papal system, in which 
 the Florentine Professor maintained most triumphantly, 
 against Dr. Wm. Tresham, the three following proposi- 
 tions : — 
 
 I. That the Eucharist is no Transubstantiation. 
 
 II. That the body and l>lood of Christ are not present 
 under the species of bread and wine. 
 
 III. That the body and blood are united to the elements 
 sacramentally. 
 
 Dr. Tresham was undoubtedly an erudite scholar, and 
 able disputant ; but he did not acquit himself on this 
 occasion to the satisfaction of either himself or his party, 
 
i8o 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 as may be gathered from tlie scurrilous abuse' tliat lie 
 poiired out on. the professor, after the discussion was con- 
 cluded, and more particularly by the mean attempt he 
 made to bolster up his weak and inconclusive arguments 
 by the publication of additional matter. " He confesses 
 he has added some supplemental passages which slipped 
 his memory in the disputation, and he Itopes it is defensible 
 enough to make use of recollection, and fortify the argu- 
 ment."^ 
 
 Martin Bucer also, from his divinity chair, was not 
 behindhand in stoutly maintaining the Protestant cause 
 against the Romanists, and argued, with equal success, the 
 following points, viz. : — tlie sufficiency of the canonical 
 hooJcs of Scripture for teaching all things necessary to 
 salvation — the liability of every Church to err in matters 
 of faith and practice — and the efficacy of faith alone for 
 man's justification. 
 
 While the public attention was thus drawn to these dis- 
 cussions, and the light of scriptural Christianity was 
 abeady dissipating the yet lingering clouds of popish 
 superstition, the Eeformation was still progressive, and 
 many important points continued to engage the anxious 
 consideration of its English friends. The fall of the pro- 
 tector Somerset, who had been so instrumental in settling 
 the restored service, gave currency to the most sinister 
 
 5 " Senex qiiidam delinis est, subversus, irapudens, errorutn magister in 
 signis, Petras Martyr Vermilius," (fee. Epist. Tresliam, 
 
 6 Collier's Hist, of the Church, ii. 275. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. i8i 
 
 reports, and au ojiiiiioii very generally prevailed that the 
 discarded service would be restored. The Council, Avitli- 
 out loss of time, put an effectual stop to these vain hopes, 
 by writing, on Christmas-day, to all the bishops, to this 
 effect : that inasmuch as the English service was drawn 
 np by learned men, according to Scripture, and the use of 
 jhe primitive Church, that all clergymen therefore should 
 deliver up such " Autiphonales, Missals, Grayles, Proces- 
 sionals, Manuals, Legends, Portuasses, Ordinals," &c., as 
 were in their hands, according to the several uses of dio- 
 ceses — tliat they should observe the one uniform order of 
 service as by law established — and that they should be 
 particular in providing bread and wine for the communion 
 on Sunday. An act soon afterwards was passed, confirm- 
 ing this order, and directing tlie destruction of all such 
 Eomish books, and the total demolition of aU images of 
 saints yet standing in churches and chapels. 
 
 But a far more serious subject engaged the close attention 
 of the Eeformers at this time, and was conducted -with the 
 same caution and judgment that had hitherto marked the 
 progress of the Eeformation. By a recent Act tlie King 
 was empowered to authorise the compilation of a new 
 Ordinal ; and for tliat purpose he directed the same 
 commissioners^ as had compiled the Book of Common 
 Prayer, to undertake this important charge. Tlie commis- 
 sioners cheerfully imdertook the task, and commenced and 
 carried through the work with a careful but unsparing hand. 
 
 ' Six prelatf s, and an equal number of inferior divines. 
 
l82 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 On examining the Romish Ordinal, it was found to be 
 cumbered with an undue number of minor orders equally 
 unknown to Scripture and to the primitive Church, con- 
 sisting of subdeacons, acolyths, exorcists, readers, and 
 porters. Such offices were, therefore, at once cut off as 
 unscriptural innovations, and the orders alone retained of 
 archbishop and bishop, priest and deacon. "With the 
 minor offices were also rejected those various superstitious 
 usages which in later ages had been added, for the mere 
 pomp of the ceremony and exaltation of the priesthood. 
 
 Following closely the rules of the primitive Church, as 
 they stand recorded by the fourth Council of Carthage, 
 A.D. 398, the commissioners proceeded on this plain and 
 scriptural principle, — that prayer, and the im.positiun of 
 hands, are the essentials of ordination. Hence, in the 
 service for the consecration of bishops, the rubrics were 
 struck out which directed the use of gloves, sandals, mitre, 
 ring, or crosier. In that office, and in the one for the 
 ordination of priests, were omitted also the anointing with 
 the chrism, the delivery of consecrated vestments, and of 
 the chalice and paten, with the power of offering sacrifice 
 to God, and of celebrating masses for the living and the 
 dead, — all of which were innovations of the tenth century, 
 when the doctrine of transubstantiation was first introduced. 
 
 In the place of these unwarranted innovations, it was 
 directed that a Bible alone should be delivered into the 
 hand of every one ordained to the office of priest, as 
 significantly admonishing him of the nature of his high 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 183 
 
 connnission, viz. : to dispense the ivord of God freely 
 among the people^ and duly to administer those two only 
 sacraments which that word enjoins, as being generally 
 necessai-y to salvation. According to tlie Eomish Ordinal 
 the bishop alone laid his hand upon the head of the priest ; 
 in this the Reformers, taking for their model the ordina- 
 tion of Timothy (1 Tim. iv. 14), and the common practice 
 of the ancient Western Church, made an important alteration, 
 by enjoining all priests who may be present to nnite with 
 the bishop in laying on of hands. 
 
 In that part of our ordination service which is interro- 
 gative, there is likewise an essential departure from the 
 Eomish form. In that, the deacon is asked no question— 
 the priest notliing but what relates to canonical obedience 
 — and the bishop only what refers to his belief in the 
 Trinity, and in the divine origin of Scrijjture. In the 
 reformed ordinal, on the contrary, a series of most grave 
 and weighty questions are applied to each order of the 
 ministry, in which their belief in the canonical Scriptures, 
 as the only and sufficient rule of faith, forms a promineni 
 feature. The only question that has excited any scruple 
 in the minds of conscientious churclimen, is the first that 
 is put to the deacon — " Do you trust that you are 
 inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you 
 this office and ministration, to serve God for the promoting 
 of his glory, and the edifying of his people?" To which 
 he answers — "I trust so." But surely no seriously-dis- 
 posed person, who acts by his own deliberate choice and 
 
1 84 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 freewill, and witli the honest intention of doing his dnty, 
 God helping hira both to will and to do, need be afraid of 
 expressing his simple " trust" that he is guided by God's 
 Spirit in what he is doing ! and no more does he express 
 — it is a hope that his deliberate act, approved and sng 
 gested by his own conscience and judgment, and confirmed 
 by the direction of his studies and manner of life, is an 
 evidence to him that God is willing to accept his services 
 on trial in the sacred vineyard. Whoever presumes to lay 
 his hand on the holy ark, with other feelings and other 
 intentions, has " neither part nor lot in the matter." He 
 must look to the fearful consequences, and be prepared to 
 sustain the awful responsibility in his OAvn person, and not 
 to impugn the character of the service. 
 
 But one more important part of the ordination service 
 remains to be noticed — namely, the adoption from the 
 Romish ordinal of very nearly the same words with which 
 the apostles were commissioned by the Great Bishop of 
 our souls*: — " Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost — whose sins 
 thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou 
 dost retain, they are retained." 
 
 In adopting these Avords of Christ Himself, the Re- 
 formers disclaimed the arrogant pretensions of the Church 
 of Rome, in the power claimed by the priesthood of 
 irrespectively absolving the people from their sins. The 
 Protestant "candidate for sacerdotal ordination" is in effect 
 admonished, that unless the imposition of hands be attended 
 
 8 St. John XX. 22, 23. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 185 
 
 l)y faitli, repentance, and prayer on his own part, assuredly 
 no spiritnal gift is communicated to him. He is also 
 taught, by the principles of his Church, and he is bound 
 to teach others, that his " absolving voice is only minis- 
 terial, and that all who desire to hear from his lips the 
 assurance of pardon, must come with the preparation of a 
 truly contrite heart."" 
 
 This limitation draws a wide distinction between the 
 respective commissions of the Romish and Protestant 
 Priest — for that such is really the sole authority claimed 
 by the latter, is evidenced by the very terms adopted in 
 the Absolution that follows the Confession in the daily 
 ser^aces of the Church of England, where the priest's words 
 are simply declaratory of God's pardon to every 2->enitent 
 believer, and nothing more — and in the same sense, and 
 with precisely the same limitations, must be understood 
 the form of absolution contained in the Office for the 
 Visitation of the Sick, which is derived from the words of 
 Clirist, when He conferred on St. Peter, and the rest of 
 the apostles, the power of the keys : " Whatsoever thou 
 shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven : and what- 
 soever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."^ 
 The Romanist, in assuming to his Church the power he 
 has done, from these words of Christ, has strangely erred 
 in this point, as he has in a multitude of others, from not 
 knowing the Scriptures — for Avhat is this power that has 
 
 s Sonmes's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. iii. p. 533. 
 1 Matt. xvi. 19. 
 
1 86 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 been conferred on the Christian iiriesthood of binding and 
 loosing men on earth ? The expression has strictly a refer- 
 ence to the same power conferred on the Jewish priesthood 
 under the Levitical law, and no more. "What was that 
 power? By the Levitical law^ the priest was to be the 
 judge, as to whether a man was a leper or not. If he Avas, 
 then the priest bound him, and, pronouncing him to be 
 unclean, locked him up. But if, after seven days, on ex- 
 hibiting himself to the priest, the priest judged the leprosy 
 to be healed, he (the priest) then pronounced the leprosy 
 to be clean, and loosed him from the bonds wherewith he 
 was bound, unlocking, it might he, tlie doors of his prison. 
 Thus Christ's expression, of giving to the Church " the 
 keys of the kingdom of heaven," becomes intelligible, and 
 simply figurative ; and thus the power of the priest with 
 respect to the leper was only declaratory — he " iincleaned" 
 the man, as the word in the original might be translated, 
 by pronouncing him "unclean" — he "cleaned" him, by 
 pronouncing him "clean." So likewise the commission 
 given by Christ to his apostles, of binding and loosing, 
 was of the same declaratory and ministerial nature. The 
 sinner, as long as he continues in his sins, is to be pro- 
 nounced by the priest unclean, bound under the chain of 
 siu,'' and in the bondage of corruption, and therefore 
 
 2 Levit. xiii. 3. inx x)2£:i ;n3n insn' 
 
 3 Tlie following beautiful prayer of our Church is in exact accordance with 
 the figure here used by Christ : — " O God, whose nature and property is ever to 
 have mercy and to forgive, receive our humble petitions ; and though tre 6e tied 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 187 
 
 judicially shut out from the liberty, and light, and privi- 
 leges of the children of God. While, on the other hand, 
 he who confesses his sins, and, hy a sincere repentance and 
 lively faith, exhibits a true conversion of heart, may be 
 pronounced by the priest as clean every whit — loosed from 
 sin, delivered from the condemnation of sin, and once more 
 restored to the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 This is the legitimate use of the "keys" — this is truly to 
 proclaim " deliverance to the captives, the opening of the 
 prison doors to them that are bound" — this is the most 
 blessed and delightfid of all the duties of the Christian 
 minister !^ 
 
 Is it not, tlien, plain, that the absolving power of the 
 Christian priesthood is strictly limited to a dedaratian of 
 God's forgiveness on certain conditions — and is it not 
 blasphemy of the deepest dye, in the Eomish priest, to 
 pronounce a sinner's iiardon ahsolidely from himself, 
 whereby he arrogates to himself the honour that belongs 
 to God alone, " opposeth and exalteth himself above all 
 that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as 
 God sitteth in the temple of God, sliowing himself that 
 he is God" (2 Thess. ii. 4); whereas God has declared " he 
 will not give his glory to another." (Isa. xlii. 8, also 
 xlviii. 11.=) 
 
 and hmmd with the chain of cur sins, yet let tlie pitifulness of thy great 
 mercy loose vs, for the honour of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advou.ite. 
 Amen." 
 
 * Vide Appendix, No. VI. 
 
 5 In no respect has the commission of tlie keys licen more abused by tlie 
 
i88 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 "With the completion of the ordinal terminated the 
 labours of tlie liturgical commissioners ; to whose wisdom, 
 prudence, and perseverance, the Church of England stands 
 indebted for that system of public worship which, as based 
 on the word of God exclusively, may safely challenge 
 every other form in the Cluistian world. So scriptural is 
 its language, and so devotional its spirit throughout, tliat, 
 while it secures the admiration and attachment of its 
 friends, it powerfully commands the respect of its enemies ; 
 and, by the tone of moderation that pervades every portion, 
 the two extreme parties in religion can all unite in ap- 
 pealing to its peculiar adaptation to their several wants. 
 
 Thus far, then, have we accompanied those illustrious 
 pioneers of our Church, the Eeformers, in their great and 
 godlike work of cleansing the temple of God, and of pre- 
 senting to their people their national Church restored to 
 its original simplicity and purity, and purged of that gross 
 corruption and idolatry under which it had so long been 
 oppressed. 
 
 It was not to be expected, that a transition so great in 
 the religious institutions of the country could be effected 
 witliout a corresponding change in public opinion ; or that 
 so complete a revolution in the national system of religion 
 
 Cliurch of Rome than by the power assumed "by the Pope of being able to change 
 the commandments of God, and of absolving from oaths and vows made to 
 God, whereby he exalts himself above God, and thus takes to himself the un- 
 doubted ch.iracter of "that man of sin" (2 Thess. ii. 4), who was to be "re- 
 vealed." For whosoever jiretends to the power of absohing men from lidelity 
 and obedience to God, must, in his own estimation, be greater than God That 
 man is Antichrist. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 189 
 
 could be consummated, without the growtli of a plentiful 
 crop of polemical agitation. A spirit of religious inquiry 
 succeeded to a spirit of slumber ; and men's minds, so long 
 entranced by the fatal enchantments of the Romish priest- 
 hood, Avere now broad awake, and in full and active operu 
 tion, earnestly seeking, by such helps as were at hand, 
 after being tossed to and fro on a sea of doubt and per- 
 plexity, to find repose at last on some fixed and certain 
 basis. Cranmer had long watclied, M'ith anxious solicitude, 
 the feverish excitement, and, like a prudent i:)iIot, was de- 
 termined to put his vessel in tlie best trim for meeting, on 
 the one hand, the storms already blowing from Eome, and, 
 on the otlier, the impetuous current of private judgment, 
 Avliich the lieformation had at length emancipated. He saw 
 that it was not enough to have cleansed and renovated the 
 Church, unless she could be furnished with the means of 
 proclaiming her doctrines clearly, definitely, and with 
 authority, and at the same time of securing an uniform 
 system of public instruction for her members, avIio would 
 otherwise be confounded and perplexed by tlie discordant 
 sentiments that would everywhere flow from the pulpits. 
 
 From the earliest foundation of the Christian religion, 
 a standard of faith for the government of the Church was 
 ever considered most necessary, and " a Form of doctrine "® 
 was as freely received and " obeyed from the heart " by tlie 
 Roman converts, as "the Form of sound Words''^ was 
 earnestly pressed by St. Paid on the acceptance of Timothy. 
 
 <•■ Rom. vi. 17. 7 2 Tim. i. 13 
 
190 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 These " Forms," whatever they were, appear to have heen 
 received hy all the Apostolic Churches, but prohahlj' were 
 not all expressed in the same words. In process of time, 
 when the Cliureh extended herself on all quarters, it was 
 found necessary to provide a settled standard of Christian 
 doctrine. Accordingly, we find that at the first council 
 held at Xice by Constantine, a.d. 32.5, a Confession of 
 Faith was agreed upon. Subsequent councils followed the 
 same course ; and the celebrated Council of Trent, which 
 was now sitting, were engaged in the same work, though 
 witli a very different A'iew. 
 
 The German Eeformers felt the like necessity, and had 
 their separate Confessions ; such were those of ^Virtemberg, 
 Augsburg, &c. But these Confessions were, after all, not 
 sufficiently comprehensive for universal use. The Con- 
 tinental and British Eeformers, therefore, were extremely 
 desirous that a Congress might be assembled, consisting of 
 delegates from all the Protestant states, who should draw 
 up a general creed, that should unite conflicting opinions, 
 and bind the whole Reformed Church under one uniform 
 sj'stem of religious belief. Cranmer and his royal master 
 were no less earnest in this matter than Calvin and Me- 
 lanchthon, and a correspondence was opened on the subject 
 between the latter and the former ; but whether from the 
 impracticability of uniting discordant opinions, or from 
 the intrigues fomented bj' the Council of Trent,' the nego- 
 tiation failed altogether. The archbishop, therefore, des- 
 
 8 Vide Strype's Mem. of Cranmer, p. 207. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 191 
 
 pairing of success on so wide a plan, contracted his views 
 considerably, and proceeded with the preparation of Articles 155], 
 for the Church of England alone. 
 
 Acting on the liberal plan of framing such a formulary 
 as should not be too exclusive, he wisely designed the first 
 articles which he drew up to be of so general a nature, as 
 to be admissible by even extreme parties in the Church. 
 As neither the Calvinist nor the Arminian could arrogate 
 to himself an exclusive interest in them, so neither of them 
 could justly take offence at any doctrine which they 
 established. 
 
 Whether Eidley, Bishop of London, had any share in 
 their compilation, is uncertain, though it is generally sup- 
 posed that he was consulted by Cranmer on the occasion. 
 
 Melanchthon, the principal representative of the Luther- 
 ans, and the gi'eat opposer of Calvin, no doubt advised and 
 influenced the archbishop in their construction, Avhich 
 alone sufficiently refutes the idea of their having a Calvin- 
 istic tendency ; and if Cranmer was the chief compiler, his 
 Avell-known principles are ample proof of their anti-Cal- 
 vinistic character — for all liis writings exhibit him as " the 
 advocate oi universal redemption, and an ehclion Virotigk 
 baptism, to the privileges of the Christian covenant."" 
 
 9 " If the Compilers of tlie Articles," observes Mr. Le Bas, "intended them 
 to be Calviuistic, they must liave purposely intended to throw cijntera])t on 
 their own liturgy. A collection of offices like ours, followed up by a decidedly 
 predestinariiin confession, would have been a perfect monster. Any one who 
 knows the cautious character of Cranmer never could believe tliis. His mantle 
 fell at length upon a Protestant successor, animated by a spirit similar to his 
 own. Early in the reign of Elizabeth the Articles were revised, imder the 
 
192 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 However, wliether Cranmer "was llioir sole or joint author, 
 and -wlietlier he purposely or not meant them to speak 
 equivocally on controverted jjoints of faith, he seems to 
 have succeeded admirably in his design, and to have 
 secured the entire approbation of his sovereign and most 
 of the bishops. Yet excellent as was the work, it was by 
 no means perfect. 
 
 1562. ToAvards the end of the year 1552, the archbishop was 
 directed to recast it on a larger scale — which was accord- 
 ingly done — fresh matter was added — certain amendments 
 made — and titles were now appended to the several 
 divisions. In this form, before the conclusion of the year, 
 Cranmer returned to the Council forty-two articles for the 
 inspection of Convocation, and accomjjanied them with a 
 letter, in which he recommended that subscription to them 
 should be made obligatory upon the Avhole clerical body. 
 
 1553. To these articles Convocation gave their consent, and 
 in the spring of the following year the clergy Avere called 
 
 superintendence of Arolibisliop Parker ; but even tlien no infusion of Calvinism 
 was admitted. Tlie source oftlie corrections was, manifestly, the Confession 
 of Wirteniberg, (a compendium of tlie Lutheran Confession of Augsburg,) 
 drawn up in 1551, for the purpose of being exliibited to the Council of Trent, 
 and not impressed with a single lineament of Calvinism. In the course of time, 
 however, nii n of a different spirit succeeded. The Calvinistic fever became, for 
 awhile, almost ejiidemic ; and towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, certain of 
 our leading divines (tlie Patrons of the Lambeth Articles), with our truly 
 Catholic liturgy before their eyes, laboured to perfect our Articles by an ample 
 introduction of tlie Genevan doctrine. A subsequent testimony to the liberal 
 spirit of this confession was borne at a later jierioil, by the Westminster 
 Divines, whose first attempt at remodelling the Church was a reriew of the 
 Articles, and this too, with the avowed design of making them more deter- 
 minatcly in favour of Calvinism ; a design which was still cherished by the same 
 party at the celebrated Savoy Conference after tlic Restoration."— Li/e 0/ Cran- 
 mer, vol. ii. p. 94. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 193 
 
 upon by a royal mandate to subscribe them. These forty- 
 two articles underwent little or no alteration till their 
 revision by Archbishop Parker, when, by the wise omission 
 of the four last, and some slight alterations in the wording 
 of others, they were republished under the authority of 
 Queen Elizabeth, in nearly the form in which we now re- 
 ceive them. 
 
 Thus was the last great work accomplished that was to 
 give adhesion, unity, and stability to the Eeformed Church 
 of England, and to sever for ever that heavy chain of 
 bondage and delusion by which she had been bound to 
 the papal car. " Had those excellent persons" (the Ee- 
 formers), remarks Paley, " done nothing more by their 
 discovery than abolished an innocent superstition, or 
 changed some directions in the ceremonial of public 
 \vorship, they had merited little of that veneration with 
 which the gratitude of Protestant churches remembers 
 their services. "What they did for mankind was this — 
 ilmj exonerated Chriatitmiiij of a iceight that sunk it."^ 
 The Church, disencumbered of that gorgeous apparel 
 which the vanity of an ambitious priesthood liad throAvn 
 around her, and stript of tliose meretricious blandishments 
 which but ill concealed her faded beauty, now shone forth 
 like the orb of day after a long night of storm and dark- 
 ness — renovated in her disciphne — reformed in her doctrine 
 — and simplified in her ritual. " Holiness unto the Lord" 
 was once more inscribed upon her walls— once more could 
 
 1 Address to the Bishop of Carlisle, m his Trin. of Mor. Phil. 
 N 
 
194 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 she cliallenge the respect and love of her children, and 
 claim a name and a place the most distinguished among 
 the purest branches of the Protestant Church. 
 
 That so fair a fabric should have arisen out of the rude 
 and disorderly materials that offered themselves to its wise 
 master-builders — that they should have so quickly and 
 skilfully reunited in one harmonious "whole, parts so dis- 
 jointed, and elements so discordant, — to what can we 
 ascribe a Avork so mighty — a reproduction so wonderful, 
 but unto the counsel of Him " who spake, and it was done 
 — who commanded, and it stood fast?" How shall we 
 account for the miglity victory of truth over error, accom- 
 plished by means so apparently inadequate to overcome 
 long established prejudices and deep-rooted attachments, 
 but by referring all to Him, " wlio frustrateth the tokens of 
 liars — who turneth wise men backward, and maketh their 
 knowledge foolish?" For " walk about our Zion, and go 
 round about her, mark well her bulwarks, consider her 
 towers" and you will behold an edifice (0 how unlike what 
 Popery had made it ! ) now restored to the measure of that 
 "Pattern" after whicli it was originally founded. "Alike 
 removed from ostentation and meanness, from admiration 
 of ornament, and disdain of it," you M'ill behold her 
 "foundations built upon apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Clirist himself being the chief corner stone," — you will see 
 her walls cemented with the blood of martyrs, and en- 
 graven with the names of saints and confessors — j'ou will 
 behold a Church " retaining so much reverence for ancient 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 195 
 
 customs and ancient forms, as not rashly to abolish them, 
 and only as much as not to adopt them blindly."^ Three 
 centuries have rolled away since God thus visited his people 
 — and though convulsions have rent the civil polity of 
 England, and the ark of God fell for a time into the 
 sacrilegious hands of ungodly men, yet has the Church 
 remained unshaken by the storms without, and by the 
 treachery of false brethren within. She still continues to 
 lift her head among the nations, and as the depository of 
 the pure M'ord of God stands prominently forward in these 
 stirring times of religious and political excitement, the 
 great bid\\'ark of Protestantism — the hoi^e and glory of 
 Chi'istendom. 
 
 2 Blunt's Hist, of the Reformation. 
 
196 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTETl YIII. 
 
 " Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the 
 good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." 
 — Jerem. vi. 16. 
 
 In bringing this sketch of the rise, fall, and restoration of 
 the British Church to a conclusion, the author believes he 
 has most fully established all the points that he proposed 
 to prove — that the Church of England is a primitive, 
 apostolical, and independent branch of Christ's Holy 
 Catholic Church — that her antiquity is unquestionable — ■ 
 her priority to the Church of Rome as an established 
 national church, recognised by the State, undoubted — that 
 she was a protestant Church more than 900 years before 
 the Eeformation — that her independence as such was 
 maintained till after the Norman Conquest^ — that -her sub- 
 mission to the See of Eome Avas effected by the force of 
 error, of anns, of intimidation, and of priestcraft. He has 
 shown that the Popish claim, through the power of " the 
 Keys," to be the mother and mistress of all Churches, is a 
 vain and arrogant pretence, warranted neither by Scripture 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 197 
 
 nor by liistory — that tlie papal usurpation and tyranny 
 was effected and maintained by means the most infamous 
 that can be conceived — tliat the Church of Eome riveted 
 her yoke on the necks of the people, by keeping them in 
 the grossest ignorance — by locking up the Scriptures in an 
 unknown tongue — by perverting the truth — by denying 
 the right of private judgment — by forcing on them 
 doctrines, rites, and ceremonies such as Christ, his apostles, 
 and their immediate successors never taught — by invading 
 the heritage of their forefathers, and burning and blotting 
 out, tearing or interpolating their sacred title-deeds to 
 eternal life, the Holy Scriptures — and by substituting for 
 the Scriptures the vain traditions of men. 
 
 These several points the author confidently believes 
 have been proved by the fairest and most incontrovertible 
 testimony that history affords — and consequently that 
 tlie Reformation was not the invention of a new religion, 
 hut the restoration of tlie old — the recovery of that heritage 
 of our fathers Avliich was surreptitiously stolen from them. 
 So that the question with which the Romanists are con- 
 tinually taunting Protestants, — "Where their religion was 
 before the Eeformation 1 — adds mockery to theft. Thanks 
 be to God, the popish plunderers coidd neither totally de- 
 face the seals, nor utterly destroy the parchments of 
 Protestantism. They might, and they did, mar and 
 mutilate them by the legends and fables of an infalliljle 
 Church ; but the God of truth " laughed at their devices 
 — the Lord had them in derision." The restorers of the 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Cliiircli of England were too "wise in their generation, -n-lien 
 tliey discovered tlie theft, to abandon the strong ground of 
 scriptural light. The Cranmers and Latimers, the Eid- 
 leys and Jewells — the giants of those days, — men "who, 
 " hy God's grace, lighted up such a candle in England as 
 shall never he put out" — " stood in the "ways, and sa"n', 
 and asked for the old paths, "where "was the good "way, and 
 they "wallced therein." Yes, these mighty men had been 
 e}'e"witnesses of the scandalous corruptions and gross 
 idolatry of the Church of Eome — they had seen "the 
 churches full of images "wonderfuUy decked and adorned 
 "with precious stones ; their dead and siill bodies clothed 
 "with garments stiff "with gold," to "which the stupid people 
 bo"wed down and worshipped — they had seen " the priests 
 themselves, "with a solemn pace, pass forth before these 
 golden puppets, and fall do"wn to the ground on their 
 knees before these idols, and then rising up again, offer up 
 odours and incense unto them,"^ — they had seen the 
 bo"wings, and gesticulations, the cross-creepings, and altar- 
 kissings, and bread-breathings, and all the himdred other 
 acts of mummery and pantomime, "which so disgraced the 
 Eoman ritual — they had heard the prayers mumbled in a 
 strange tongue, unintelligible to the people — they had 
 "witnessed the famine of the Word, the withholding the 
 Scriptures from the people — they had seen and heard, and 
 felt these unwarrantable innoA^ations and novelties — they 
 brought them to the test of Scripture — of primitive practice 
 
 1 Horn, of the Church of EnglaBd. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 199 
 
 — thoy weighed them in the balance of tlie sanctuary — 
 they " measured them by tlie Pattern" they had survived 
 the Church's ruin — and without casting all away because 
 iu the assay they discovered a great admixture of alloy, 
 they carefully cherished whatever remained pure — " that 
 only in which the Church of Eome had prevaricated against 
 the word of God, or innovated against apostolic tradition, 
 was pared aAvay." Of the truth of this remark of the ven- 
 erable Taylor, the Liturgy that we have seen them 
 compile so cautiously and scripturally is an everlasting 
 witness. A strict " regard for ancient faith and piety is 
 manifest in every page, and almost every paragraph, of 
 that incomparable work ; derived as it is, for the most 
 part, from the actual forms, and accordant as it is, in all 
 parts, with the spirit and feeling of Christian antiquity. 
 Nor was this derivation and accordance the mere growth 
 of circumstances : it was, as we haye seen, the deliberate 
 result of free choice and discriminate wisdom." 
 
 In the Preface to the Common Prayer, concerning the 
 service of the Church, we are directed " to search out by 
 the ancient Fathers for the original and ground of Divine 
 Grace." And in the same Preface, " the godly and decent 
 order of the ancient Fathers is referred to as the standard 
 of our worship." But the standard of our worship is, in 
 truth, the standard of our faith. For Ave may " boldly 
 challenge our adversaries to produce any one article of our 
 faith which is not contained in the formularies of our wor- 
 ship ; or any one sentence in the formularies of our Avor- 
 
200 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ship -wliicli is not, in letter or in spu'it, contained in tlie 
 writings of the ancient Church."^ Away then for ever 
 ■with the charge, the unfounded, untenable charge of novelty 
 against the Church of England — away with the plea of 
 antiquity so arrogantly vaunted by the Church of Eome ! 
 The foregoing facts demonstrate, in the plainest possible 
 way, that the Eeforniers are no more to be charged witli 
 the bringing in of a " new religion" than our Saviour 
 could be said to destroy the law or the prophets, because 
 He purged them of the corrupt glosses of the Scribes ami 
 Pharisees, or to have erected a new temple, because He 
 cast the money-changers out of the old one. As well 
 might it be said, that the finding and disentombing the 
 church of Perranzabuloe, the relieving its walls from the 
 weight and pressure of the sand, and the restoration of it 
 to its original form, condition, and use, has been the laying 
 of new foundations, the uprearing of a new church — the one 
 is not less absurd than the other. Yet such is the sUly 
 outcry that has been, and is to this day, raised against 
 " the new system of religion," as it is called,' which the 
 Reformation introduced. 
 
 It is a proof of tlie grossest fraud, or the greatest ignor- 
 ance, on the part of the Eomanists, in tlie face of the facts 
 Avliich are here brought together, still to persist in their 
 unfounded pretensions. The candid inquirer after the 
 truth, be he Eoman Catholic or Protestant, will be able to 
 
 2 Append, to Bp. Jebb'.s Serin., p. 357. 
 
 3 Vide Repor' of the Downside Discussion, p. 3S4. 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 201 
 
 say to Avliich side tlie charge of novelty is now the most 
 apjilicable, and how far " the Church Service of England" 
 is "now and pretended" — is in "schism and heresy" — 
 and not only "unprofitable," but "damnable."^ 
 
 The power of truth is great, and shall pre^'ail ; and the 
 followers of Gospel truth, in particular, might well leave 
 the unhappy dupes of error to grope their way through the 
 dark and chilly regions of an unscriptural religion, in the 
 persuasion that the time cannot be far distant when the 
 God of truth shall rise, in the majesty of his power, and 
 vindicate his cause, and shall " send out his light and his 
 truth" into the darkest corners of the earth. Then shall 
 " the man of sin"' be destroj-ed — then sliall Antichrist no 
 longer "exalt himself above all that is called God, or that 
 is worshipped," but shall be consumed " with the Spirit of 
 God's mouth, and shall be destroyed with the brightness 
 of his coming." (2 Thess. ii. 8.) Yet let the iinited 
 
 < Vide Notes on Acts x, 9 in the Pojiish Bible published in 1S16, under the 
 sanction of Dr. Troy. 
 
 5 It was to be one of the marks of the " man of sin," that " as God he should 
 sit ill the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. xi. 4.) 
 Who can mistuke the application ? In the ceremony at Rome called the adora- 
 lioaofihe Pope! which takes place soon after his election, his Holiness "is 
 placed in a chair on, the altar of the Sixtine Chapel, and there receives the 
 homage of the cardinals ; tliis ceremony is again repeated on the hUjh altar of 
 St. Peter's." — The reader is referred to the 2nd vol. of the Rev. J. C. Eustace's 
 Class. Tour, p. 577, for an account of this ceremony, a writer of no mean author- 
 ity, behig himself a Priest of the Church of Rome, who, whilst lie apologizes for 
 the custom severely condemns the act in these words, " Wliy shoulil the altar 
 be made his footstool? the altar, tlie beauty ofhollneas, the tlirone of the rictivi 
 lamb, the mercy seat of the Temple of Christianity ; wliy should the altar be 
 converted into the footstool of a mortal ? " 
 
 Oh, blind indeed are all the members of that Church, who will not read in 
 this profane practice of their infallible head the literal fulfilment of the apos- 
 tolical prediction ! 
 
202 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 praj'ers of the faithful be offered up continually to the 
 Lord, that He Avill be pleased to remove the veil from the 
 understandings of our Eoman Catholic brethren, and will 
 lead them to renounce their vain superstitions, and their 
 many transgressions of the commandment of God " by 
 their traditions." "We vrould entreat them, -with all 
 brotherly affection, to be " more noble than those of 
 Thessalonica, and to search the Scriptures " for themselves, 
 and not to take their religion from the feeble testimony of 
 such poor fallible guides as popes, councils, and human 
 traditions. "\Ve pray them in sadness, but in sincerity, 
 not to resist conviction, lest haply they may be found to 
 fight against God. "We say, in the spirit of most urgent 
 entreaty, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not 
 partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
 plagues," " for in her -svas found the blood of prophets, and 
 of saints." (Rev. xviii. 4. 24.) We offer them the un- 
 doubted heritage of their fathers — a reasonable service, and 
 a spiritual icorsliip, which they have so unwisely cast 
 away for a blind obedience, an implicit faith, and a worship 
 that is made up of bodily drudgeries, and forms, and rites, 
 and ceremonies, which have their antitj-pes in the idola- 
 trous religion of ancient and modern heathens, not in the 
 practice of tlie primitive Christian Church. 
 
 The Lord gTant that the Church of Rome, once " beloved 
 of God," may " remember from whence she has fallen, and 
 may repent, and do the first -^vorks " — God grant that the 
 Church of England may be spared to accomplish those 
 
NOT A NEW CHURCH. 203 
 
 liigli destinies which seem to be awaiting her — may she be 
 "a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing " — may she be a united Church in these troubled 
 times — and may such of her children as have " thought- 
 lessly and ungratefully lifted up their heel against her," 
 know and see that it is an evil thing and bitter to forsake 
 and betray her by whom they have been " nourished and 
 brought up ! " 
 
 "For my brethren and companions' sake, I will wish 
 her prosperity. Yea, because of the house of the Lord our 
 God, T will seek to do her good." • 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No I. 
 
 The letter of the Earl of Mancliester to liis son, Mr. "Walter 
 Montague (referred to at page 29), was \Yritten under the 
 following circumstances : — 
 
 Having given his son an excellent education, he sent 
 him on his travels into France and Italy, where he imbibed 
 such an opinion of the Eomish religion, from the many 
 Roman Catliolics with whom he associated, that he was 
 induced to give up his religion and his country, and retire 
 into a monastery in France. He soon after addressed a 
 letter to his father from Paris, a.d. 1()3.5, in which he 
 attempted to justify his change of religion ; and anion;.; 
 other grounds for so doing, declared that the Church of 
 England being defective in one essential mark of a true 
 Church, namely, her visihility at all times, she was, on 
 that account, a false Church, and that he was therefore 
 justified in quitting her communion. 
 
 Mr. W. Montague appears to liave been led astray on 
 
2o6 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tliis point, by an assertion of St. Augustine, in liis book 
 Contra Petil. c. 104, that "the true Cliurcli has tliis 
 certain sign, that it cannot be hid;" on which he (Mr. 
 W. M.) thus argued — "Therefore it" (a true Church) 
 " must be known to all nations ; but that part of the 
 (Protestant) Donatists is u^kno^vn to many, therefore 
 cannot be the true ; no inference can be stronger than from 
 hence, that the concealment of a Church disproves the 
 truth of it." 
 
 That such wretched sophistry could ever have misled a 
 mind so acute as that of !Mr. Montague, is almost in- 
 credible ; for if " the concealment of a Church reaUy dis- 
 proves its truth," then is the Church of Eome not a true 
 Church, for concealed she certainly was for a much longer 
 period than the Protestant Church, having no identity 
 whatever in the most essential of her doctrines with the 
 primitive Church — purgatory, indulgences, transubstantia- 
 tion, the sacrifice of the mass, and many other distinguish- 
 ing doctrines, being absolutely unl^nown for several hundred 
 years after the establishment of Christianity. Thus the 
 two Churches, as far as this argument goes, would be 
 nearly on a level, were there not this difference — that we, 
 Protestants, ai-e " troubled to show our Church in the 
 latter and more corrupt ages, and tlie Eoman Catholics 
 tlieirs in the first axidL purest — that we can least find ours 
 at night, and they theirs at noo7i."^ On which side, then, 
 
 1 Lord Faulkland's Answer to Mr. Montague's Letter, also published by 
 Dr. Hammond. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 207 
 
 even by IMr. INIontague's own rule, docs truth the most 
 preponderate ? 
 
 Let the admirable letter of the Earl of Manchester 
 answer the inquiry. 
 
 Henry Montague Earl of Manchester's Atmcer to Ids son 
 Walter Montague's Letter to Mm, on changing his 
 religion, and hecoming a Papist. Communicated from 
 the original, hi/ the said Walter, to the Eight Hon. 
 Rohcrt Sidney, Earl of Leicester, when lie was am- 
 bassador in France. 
 
 " Walter, — Your letter sent from Paris tells me how 
 much debate you had with yourself, whether with silence 
 to suspend my helief, or hy a clear i^rofession to assure me 
 ivhat you feared to present me ; but what was most satis- 
 factory to tjour first duty to God, that you thought most 
 Justifiahle to your derivative duty to nature, therefore re- 
 solved to give me an ingenuous account of the declaration 
 you had made then. Had you asked my counsel before 
 you signified the resolution, it would have showed more 
 duty in you, and bred less discontent in me ; but think 
 how welcome that letter could be, that at once tells of the 
 intention, and signifies the resolution. 
 
 " Sf^y you. could not expect from me so much theological 
 learning as to satisfie your scruples, yet it had been a fair 
 address, of a son to a father, in a matter of that import- 
 ance ; nor are you ignorant of my care, I dare say know- 
 
2o8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ledge studied, for the settlement of my children in that 
 true faith -which their father professed, and the Churcli of 
 England hath established : Therefore, it would have been 
 your greater justification, and my less sorrow, [so] to have 
 lost yourself with love, if I could not have held you in 
 with religious reason. Haply you will return upon me the 
 misconstruction of that speech, If any man come to me, 
 and liate not his father, he cannot he my disciple. But I 
 must tell you that by this post-dated duty, you have 
 trespassed both upon love and duty ; for you have robbed 
 me of the means of helping you with mine advice ; which, 
 as it is the best part of a father's portion to give, so it is 
 not the least testimony of filial duty to ask. 
 
 " Ifow, to lay such a blemish upon all the cares of your 
 former education, as not to think me worthy to see your 
 aim, until you have set up your rest, is such a neglect, 
 that without over-much fatherly candour, cannot be forced 
 into an excusable interpretation. It makes me suspect 
 that some politick respects, or private seducements, if not 
 discontentments, have wrought upon y^ou. Policy and 
 religion, as tliey do well together, so do they as ill asunder, 
 the one being too cunning to be good, the other being too 
 simple to be safe. But upon policy to change religion, 
 there is no warrant for that, less for discontentments, or 
 upon seducements. 
 
 " "UTien I look upon your letter, wliich you termed an 
 ingenuous account of yourself, it seems to me not an 
 account of your new professed religion, but rather an 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 209 
 
 exprobration of mine, and so of ours of the Church of 
 England. 
 
 " Had I known the doubts before, I might have been an 
 adviser; but objecting them after you liad resolved, you 
 call me up now to be a disputer. Altliougli I be of his 
 opinion who thought tliat truth did oftentimes suffer by 
 too much altercation, it being a common errour amongst 
 great clerks to contend more for victory than for verity ; 
 yet since you have so punctually led me into it, though it 
 be contrary to my first resolution of silence (else you had 
 heard from me sooner), and finding that the letter you sent 
 nie had a farther reach than to give me satisfaction (else 
 the co])ies of it Avould not have been divulged before I 
 came to receive it, and uses made of it to my discomfort), 
 I therefore thought myself tied to give you an answer, lest 
 those of your new profession should think (as some of them 
 say) that a new lapsarian Avas more able by a fe^v days' 
 discipline to oppose our religion, than an old father and 
 long professour was able to defend it. 
 
 " Having this tie upon me, I hope, on the one side, our 
 learned divines will pardon me, if for my son's sake I dip 
 my pen in their ink ; and you on the other side will lay 
 mine arguments more to heart, as proceeding from the 
 bowels of a father, than if they had been framed by the 
 brains of a learned divine. 
 
 " In this case also I have some advantage of other men, 
 who though th.ey might write more learnedly, yet cannot 
 doe it so feelingly; for mine interest is not only tu the 
 
 o 
 
2IO 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 cause, but in tlie person, for whom I must give an account, 
 if there be failing in mj' part to reduce him to truth. A 
 person whose letter I take into mine hands, as he did the 
 \irn of his son's ashes, to shed over it veras lachrijmas, as 
 arguments of the truth ; both which I hope shall perswade 
 forceably, if there be any of that bloud left in you that I 
 gave you. It is tine, affection is not to rule religion ; yet 
 in this way nature may co-operate Avith grace. 
 
 "Your letter says truly, tlie greatest jpci^t of your life 
 capahle of distinction of reunions, hath been in places, 
 and conversant with jmsons ojpposite to the faith I bred 
 you in ; tlierefore, j'ou say, it had been strange, if natural 
 curiosity, icithout any spiritual provocation, had not in- 
 vited you xcith desire of looking upon the foundation you 
 trode on, rather than holding fast blindfold by your educa- 
 tion, to be always earned away after it. 
 
 " In your education, God knows, my first care was to 
 season you with true religion, wherein from a boy you 
 attained unto such knowledge, as Spain will witness (when 
 you were but a youth), how strong a champion you were 
 for the Protestant profession. The coiirt of France, nor 
 yet all the Princes' courts of Christendom (most of which 
 you have visited), could never till now taint your faith, 
 but always rendered you sound in the reHgion which you 
 carried with you hence. 
 
 " But now Italy hath turned you, because England hath 
 discontented you. 
 
 " In your last journey into Italy, as you said, you ap- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 211 
 
 iMed all your leisure to covfirm your judgment in the 
 doctrine introduced by your education ; whicli if you had 
 done seriously, you could not so soon, nor would not at 
 all, upon so weak motives, have let go your hold ; for of 
 all other their tenets the two you mentioned are the 
 weakest, and have received clearest satisfection ; whereby 
 it appears that you were resolved to give up the cause, 
 before you came at it ; and what you would not hold blind- 
 fold, to give up blind-fold, which is worse. 
 
 " Could that be a motive to your desertion of our 
 Church, as perswaded that Luther was the father of our 
 faith '? yourself cannot forget, how that we build our fiiith 
 upon Christ, not upon Luther, upon the doctrine of the 
 Scriptures, not upon the inventions of men. Could it be 
 proved against us, that Luther or any other man, how 
 grey-headed soever, were the inventor of our faith, there 
 needed no more to be said, we could contend no longer. 
 But we renounce all men alike as inventors of religion, or 
 any part of it ; but hold onely the apostolical doctrine of 
 the ancient Primitive and Catholick Church, and presume 
 not to coin any new creed. 
 
 " Yet we are not unwilling to grant that Luther was 
 one, hwt not the first of many, that restored the purity of 
 the doctrine, which had been long smothered by the 
 papacy ; our faith, if you take in the whole, is no other 
 but what is exiconized in the Apostles' Creed, included in 
 the Scriptures. If you take it in a lower and straiter way, 
 for so much of it as is opposed to the corruption of Popery; 
 
212 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 you must rememLer that these points are neither the whole 
 nor greatest points of faith ; there are not any points of 
 our faith hut we are able to show they had maintainors, 
 few or many, in all ages since the apostles' time ; and 
 every of these ages, those substructures of Popery opposed, 
 some by one man, some by another. 
 
 " I wonder therefore to see you carried away with that 
 common and trivial calumny, that Luther was the inventor 
 of our faith ; and why say you, that for the intervall of 
 800 years before there was no apparent profession of faith 
 different from Eome? and this you collect by historical 
 search of all the stories and records ecclesiastical and civil. 
 It seems, Italy affords you no copies of our writers, else 
 might you see in them a list which thej' carry out througli 
 all these spaces, and show you, that most of our tenets 
 have had the suffrage of the learnedest of Rome's side, 
 and how many men in the decursion of time from the 
 ancientest of fathers, have declared themselves, and some 
 of them apparently, yea earnestly contended for the truth 
 of our doctrine. 
 
 " And where you object that "Waldo, WicklilTe, and 
 Huss, had scarce any relation to the noiv-professed Protes- 
 tancy ; if you mean, because we disclaim those horrid 
 opinions which are put upon them [liow true God knows], 
 therein you say truly, neither they to us, nor we to them 
 have any relation ; but in the main points of doctrine 
 touching faith, and opposition of the superstitions and 
 usurpation of the Papacy, we have a joynt consent of all 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 213 
 
 the best writers, historians, and divines of both sides, that 
 they and we consent in one. 
 
 " It is strange, tlierefore, to say, that these [and we] had 
 no relation to the Protestant profession, who for substance 
 of religion held as we do, their errours onely we own not : 
 and the consent of times do all agree, that the Waldenses 
 flew out against their corruptions 400 years before Luther 
 was born ; nay, saith Eeynerius, quidam dicunt quod seda 
 ilia duraverit a tempore Sylvestri, alii qiibd a tempore 
 apostolorum, deriving their fundamental doctrine from the 
 time of the apostles : nor were they few, sed multiplicati 
 super arenas maris ; nor plebeians onely, sed i:irincip)um 
 favore armati, as the kings of Arragon, the earls of 
 Tholouse, and many more. So that there are witnesses 
 more than sufficient, that there were many who opposed 
 themselves to the Papacy in the Protestant tenets, long 
 before Luther. This [is the] first supposition failing, I 
 will now let you see the mistakes in the subsequent 
 passages, and open to you my sense, hoping yet that I 
 may draw you again to me. 
 
 " You, as you conceive, having shown a defect of visi- 
 hilitij in our Church till Luther's time, labour to prove a 
 necessity of visibility to every true Church. If it were 
 granted, that it were simply necessary to the essentiating 
 of a Church, to be able to demonstrate in all times, both 
 the visible number of professours of the truth, as also a 
 visible succession of pastours, we are able to demonstrate 
 both tbcse, for our defence, to be as unquestionable in our 
 
214 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Church as in the Church of Eome ; they that are otlier- 
 wise n^inded will account this a bold undertaking, but it is 
 no hard matter to doe. Wherefore the vanity of that 
 r[uestion, to ask where our Church was before Luther, 
 becomes not any man that hath read anytliing of our 
 Church monuments. 
 
 " But you would seem to me to prove it two ways : first, 
 by the testimony of our own divines ; secondly, by argu- 
 ment. 
 
 " By testimonies of our divines you would have Doctour 
 Field, Doctour Wliite, and Master Hooker, to confess 
 needfulness of visihilitij ; and yet, for their own Church, 
 fly to latency. For this second you instance Doctour 
 Whitaker, and Doctour "White, one of them, to confess 
 our Church for many ages to have been in a secret solitude: 
 and the other to let go his defence of visible succession by 
 flying to an invisible subterfuge of non-apparency. If you 
 had better perused the tracts of tliose writers, they would 
 have given you fuU satisfaction ; but you mistake both 
 the persons and the points. These made a demonstration 
 of those three points ; first, that neither tlie Church's 
 obscurity is repugnant to tlie visibility of it : secondly, nor 
 the visibility of it such as excludes all latency. jS^or yet 
 the latency of orthodox Christians in the swaying time of 
 Popery, such as had not requisite lineaments of an account- 
 able visibility. 
 
 " But you must know, that visibility doth not always 
 carry the same heiglit, but aduuts of degrees, so that we 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 215 
 
 cannot say that tliat Avants visibility "which hath in it a 
 lower degree. The sun, compared with itself, is in a 
 degree visible, though in a mist, yet not so clearly visible 
 as when it shines out : so is it with the state of the Church, 
 because her splendour is not in termino, but such as receives 
 degrees by augmentation or diminution ; like as the sun is 
 as truly visible under a cloud as in his brightness, though 
 not so clearly visible ; so not to admit the Church to be 
 visible, except she be glorious, is an errour ; for there's a 
 variation of the Church's visibility in respect of her object ; 
 the want of which consideration, I believe, is one cause 
 Avliy so many deceive themselves in this point. Secondly, 
 there is another diversity which arises from the visive 
 organs ; some may see, and will not ; there the fault is 
 not in the object, but in the beholders. Philosophers say, 
 VisihUia 7ion sunt minus visililia cum non videntur, quam 
 quando videntur, the objects of sight remain still discern- 
 ible, when they are not discerned : so it is with the 
 Chui'ch, there are strictures of visibility discernible 
 in her obscure condition ; but it is as visible non visum, 
 which falls out when men will not open their eyes, or they 
 shut them on purpose, which hapned in the prevaihng 
 times of Popery, when this notwithstanding, yet there 
 were lights which appeared for the defence of the truth, 
 and the discovery of errour, in every age of the intervall. 
 
 " But sure our men labour in vain to demonstrate that 
 visibility, whilst they of the Papacy are so disaffected as 
 not to acknowledge it upon any terms ; otherwise this 
 
2l6 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 controversie had long since been ended, if tliey had been 
 as well disposed to see, as we ready to shew our visibility. 
 
 " In tliis question men arc to consider that there is a 
 double splendour of the Church, which makes way for the 
 visibility of it. 
 
 " The proper s^Dlendour of a Chm-ch consists in purity 
 of doctrine. 
 
 " The common splendour of a Church consists in the 
 outward accomniodaticms, which appertain not to the being, 
 but the Avell-being of the Church, as temporal peace, 
 multitude of profcssours, local succession of pastours ; yet 
 persecution may interrupt this succession of pastours, it 
 may cut off the multitude of professours, heresie may so 
 far prevail as to make the orthodox Church pull in her 
 head, witness the time of Arianism, when few but godly 
 Athanasius, and some with him, were fain to keep it in 
 corners. And of this our divines are to be understood, 
 when they speak of our latency, that for this outward 
 splendour it suffered a great obscurity for divers hundred 
 years ; yet when it was at the lowest, the doctrine was 
 visible, and some professours still in the ej^e of the world, 
 I would wish you Avell to consider things which I shall 
 tell you. 
 
 "1. The state of the Church is so ordered by our great 
 master Christ, that she is to expect her times of obscurity, 
 as Avell as her times of splendour, he liath made her estate 
 militant, and appointed her to a passive condition, as well 
 as an active : designed her to vicissitudes of obscurity as 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 217 
 
 •well as lustre, and shews her no less glorious in her oV 
 scurity than in her triumph, as Tertulli;ni saitli of vertue, 
 Extruitur diiritia ; dcstruitur molUtta. 
 
 " 2. Tliis visibility represented hy an innnnievous mul- 
 titude, local succession, secular estate, these ■were not 
 considered in the first times, ■when tlio Church stood sound, 
 nor in the latter times, wlien she got some recovery ; onely 
 in the intermediate, when she lay under tlie cross. And 
 were these the j^^'ohafs of faith, it had been ill with the 
 Israelites' Church in the time of Elias ; worse with the 
 Apostolical Church, when the scribes and Pharisees sate 
 in ]\Ioses' chair ; worse in the time of Arianism, and in 
 times of Anticliristianism, Avhich shall come, as most 
 OTiters say. 
 
 " 3. This glorious succession, which liome so much 
 brags of, is a deceitful medium Avhereby to measure tlie 
 truth of a Church ; because a Church may be a true 
 Church Avithout it ; and be also a false Church with it. 
 Non coIJiffifur ihi vcccssariii esse ecdesiam, uhicst successio, 
 saith Bellarmine ; though Stapleton be of another mind. 
 Alexandria challengeth succession as well as Rome ; the 
 Church of Constantinople takes lier pedigree from St. 
 Andrew the apostle, and brings it down to our times. A 
 fialse church may have succession, and a true church may 
 want it ; otherwise you will grant that Rome is nc true 
 church ; the chair at Rome hath sometimes lain empty, 
 sometimes it hath carried double, and both of them have 
 been deposed ; these broken links mar the chain of that 
 
2l8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 succession. Eut because this rather concerns tlie persons, 
 not the tiling, it is otherwise to be clearly shewed, that it 
 may be a true church that liath not this uninterrupted 
 succession : for else no church at all could be true in her 
 first plantation. For successions are by descent, descents 
 have no place in first originals, whereas the orthodox faith 
 dotli the very first day put her in possession of apostolical 
 succession, as Tertullian well saith, that churches which 
 have not their original descent from the apostles are apos- 
 tolical, propter consungiunitatem doctrinoe. The place 
 which you cite out of the fourth to the Ephesians, proves 
 clearly the necessity of orthodox pastours, not of local suc- 
 cession ; yon may hereby see, how in the informing of 
 yourself in this particular, you are overtaken. 
 
 " This thing also much troubles me, that your letters said, 
 that when you last came back out of Itnly, you sought 
 nothing so attentively as satisfaction in these points of 
 controversie, especially that touching the visibility of our 
 Church in all ages, but could receive none. Could you 
 never, in all tlie while of your last being in England, find 
 the time to acquaint me with your desire 1 doubtless, I 
 must say, you did in this time stxidy the dissimilation of 
 your intention, otherwise I must have known it. 
 
 " I was heretofore more indulgent towards you, for God 
 knows it, "Walter, the son of my body was never so dear 
 unto me, as the salvation of my son Walter's soul ; your 
 younger years can witness, how I shewed you the way 
 which I myself took to settle mine own salvation : for 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 219 
 
 though it was my liappiuess to bo derived from virtuous 
 and religious parents, yet I took not niy religion merely 
 by descent, but studied and examined the ground on which 
 I was to found my faith ; I read both Papists and Protes- 
 tants, I found both confident, and contradictory — Et 
 guotics paJjyitavit mihi tremuhim cor, before I settled 
 either way ] sometimes thinking safest to mean well, and 
 to keep unsettled either way ; yet I saw a necessity laid 
 on nie, to be of one of the two Churches ; but hoAv to find 
 out which of them was the true Church, whereof I must 
 be a member if I would secure my salvation, hie labor, 
 hoc o^jus est : I easily resolved, there was not two Churches 
 Avhereof a man might choose which to be of; and after 
 long study I found clearly that to be the true Clnirch, 
 which constantly held the common faith, which faith had 
 the scripture for the rule ; this known and resolved, which 
 is undoubted, then I was not scared with that fearful cen- 
 sure of the Eoman Church, which pronounced all damned 
 that are not of that Church. 
 
 " But how much am I distasted to find several arguments 
 made in the letter, all to insinuate that the Scriptures are 
 not a competent rule of faitli ? and first, variety of inter- 
 pretation ; secondly, obscurity of some places ; thirdly, 
 inauthentickness of themselves ; fourthly, their authority 
 dependent on the Church ; fifthly, the purity of them 
 warranted by the visibility of the Church ; sixthly, made 
 authentick by the Church's authority : strange assertions ; 
 as if the true Church were not to be tried by the true 
 
220 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 faith, but the true faith by the Church. I know myself 
 bound to believe the authority of that Church which 
 makes scripture the rule of faith ; but as for the act of any 
 Church, though it be a ht ministry to show me the way, 
 yet it is not of authority sufficient to itself to secure me of 
 my salvation ; from true faith the true Church is inferred, 
 and which is the true Church, when all is done, must be 
 tried by the scripture. But it is now with us, as it was in 
 the time of Clirysostom, wlien there was so much question 
 which was the true Church, and men Avere of so many 
 different opinions about it, as none could tell what Church 
 to be of, or what religion was safest to trust to ; so saith 
 the father of the scriptures, wliich in matters of faith 
 necessary to salvation speak so trulj', so fully, so plainly, 
 as it is but a shift for a man to say he understands them 
 not ; and good St. Austine finding, that from controversies 
 in religion there came no other fruit but indderminata 
 ludatio, said with sorrow, why do we strive about our 
 father's will 1 Nos sumus fratrcs, and our fixtlier is not 
 dead intestate, but hath left his will and testament in 
 wi'iting : let it be followed, and all controversies will soon 
 be ended. 
 
 " Flatter not yourself, Walter ; the remonstrance you 
 make sliows tliat the rvsignafion you made of yourself to 
 the Church of Rome Avas precipitafe, and then the reso- 
 lution to live and die there, desperate; yet you give some 
 hopes when you say, nor do you now so despercdelij profess, 
 as if it were your fortune's legacy, for you do not believe it 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Z2\ 
 
 SO dangerous hat it may recover. The king's benignity 
 and goodness is always to interpret tlie best ; but know, 
 that his Lfajesty hath a better opinion of those -who are 
 bred such, than of those who become such by relapse. iNor 
 am I willing to apprehend any change of your duty ; yet 
 take tliis for a caveat that commonly all changes follow 
 change of faith. I never travelled of you till now, and it 
 is with a great deal of pain. I thought you should have 
 wej^t over me, when nature had called for her due ; but 
 you have prevented me. Arid yet my son, you may yet 
 return to me ; but I shall never go to you in tliis way, 
 nor had I ever gone so far into this questiou, but to fetch 
 you again, my sou, otherwise a lost child. 
 
 " Thus, as your letter began, so do I end ; after much 
 debate concerning a fit expression of myself, whether was 
 better, by not writing, to show my dislike, or by long 
 writing, to labour your recovery ; this last was most satis- 
 factory to my conscience, though the other more agreeable 
 to nature displeased. I have therefore resolved, as you 
 see, to give you this answer ; and I pray God that he may 
 bless you and me so in it, that my pen may have the fruit 
 my heart wishes. 
 
 " Your loving Father, 
 
 " Manchester." 
 
222 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ^0. II. 
 
 ANCIEXT CHURCHES OF THE VAUDOIS, AND STRO-CHRISTIANS 
 IN INDIA. 
 
 The Eoman Catholics insist on visibility, as one of the 
 proofs of a true Church, and therefore object against Pro- 
 testants the concealment of their Church for so many 
 hundred years, defying them to produce anything like a 
 visible Church beyond the days of Peter Waldo, who 
 commenced his opposition to the errors of Popery about 
 A.D. 1160, and according to Popish writers founded the 
 sect of the AValdenses, or Vaudois. Tlie Eev. W. S. Gilly, 
 in his interesting researches among these Protestants of the 
 Cottian Alps, has shown most satisfactorily that so far 
 from Waldo being the founder of their Church, they 
 existed, as a distinct body, certainly as far back as the year 
 828, or according to some writers even from the days of the 
 Apostles, and have ever since continued to profess a pure 
 faith, and to resist every attempt made upon their Church 
 by the emissaries of Rome. Here then we find a large 
 body of Christians, the pure light of whose faith shone 
 in the darkest times of Popish corruption, and has been 
 preserved ever since without the slightest admixture of any 
 one of the novel introductions of Popery. But we have a 
 still more striking and interesting proof of the successive 
 visibilifij of the Protestant Church, from the earliest age 
 of Christianity, in the discovery of the SjTO-Christian 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 223 
 
 Church in tlie South of India, whose history, couph-d with 
 that of the Vaudois, most fully assures us that there has 
 never been a time when some branch of the true vine, in- 
 dependent of Rome, has not flourished on the earth ; so 
 that let Eomanists insist as much as they please on the 
 argument of visibility, it recoils on their own head, and 
 leaves Protestants in the clear possession of the ancient 
 and true faith. Tlie existence of these Syro-Christians, as 
 an ancient and pure Church, is a fact so much to our 
 purpose, that we shall be pardoned for introducing the 
 notice of their discovery and history, as recorded in the 
 interesting Christian Researches of Dr. Buchanan. 
 
 " The Syrian Christians inhabit the interior of Travan- 
 core and Malabar, in the Soutli of India, and have been 
 settled there from the early ages of Christianity. The first 
 notices of this ancient people in recent times, are to be 
 found in the Portuguese histories. When Vasco de Gama 
 arrived at Cochin, on the coast of Malabar, in 1503, he 
 saw the sceptre of the Christian king ; for the Syrian 
 Christians had formerly regal power in Malayala. 
 
 " "When the Portuguese arrived, they Avere agreeably 
 surprised to find upwards of 100 Christian churches on the 
 coast of Malabar. But when they became acquainted with 
 the piiritii and simplicify of their worship, they Avcre 
 offended. ' These churches,' said the Portuguese, ' belong 
 to the Pope.' ' AVho is the Pojje V said the natives ; ' we 
 never heard ofliim.^ 
 
 "The European priests Avere yet more alarmed, when 
 
224 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the}- found that these Hindoo Christians maintained the 
 order and discipline of a regular Church, under episcopal 
 jiu'isdiction : and that for 1300 years past, they had en- 
 joyed a succession of bishops appointed by the Patriarchs 
 of Antioch. ' TFe,' said they, ' are of the true faith 
 whatever you from the West may be ; for we come from 
 the place where the followers of Christ were first called 
 Christians.' 
 
 " When the power of the Portuguese became sufficient 
 for their purpose, they invaded these tranquil churches, 
 seized some of the clergy, and devoted them to the death 
 of heretics. Then the inhabitants heard, for thojimt time, 
 that there was a place called the Inquisition, and that its 
 fires had been lighted at Goa, near their own land. But 
 the Portuguese finding that the people were resolute in 
 defending their ancient faith, began to try more con- 
 ciliatory measures. Iv^evertlieless they seized the Syrian 
 bishop. Mar Joseph, and sent liim prisoner to Lisbon, 
 and then convened a synod at one of the Syrian churches, 
 called Diamper, near Cochin, at Avhich the Eoman Catholic 
 Archbishop INIenezes presided. At this compidsory synod 
 150 of the Syrian clergy appeared. They were accused of 
 the following practices and opinions : — that the]/ had mar- 
 ried wives, that tliey owned hut two Sacraments, Baptism 
 mid the Lord's Supper; that theij neither involied saints, 
 nor worshipped images, nor believed in purgatoi'Tj ; and 
 that they had no other orders or names of dignity in the 
 Church than priest and deacon. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 225 
 
 " Tlieso tenets they were called on to abjure, or to suffer 
 suspension from all church benefices. It Avas also agreed 
 that all the Syrian books, on ecclesiastical subjects, that 
 could be found, should be burnt; in order, said the 
 inquisitors, that no pretended apostolical monuments may 
 remain. 
 
 " The churches on these coasts were thus compelled to 
 acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope ; but tlrey refused 
 to pray in Latin, and insisted on retaining their own 
 language and Liturgy. This point, they said, theij would 
 only give up icitli their lives. The Pope compromised the 
 matter with them. 
 
 " The churches in the interior would not yield to Rome. 
 After a show of submission for a little M'hile, they pro- 
 claimed eternal war against the inquisition ; they hid their 
 books, and lied to the mountains." 
 
 Here, then, from distant quarters of the globe are wit- 
 nesses of unquestionable authority to the fact, that Pro- 
 testantism is no novelty, but the only representative of the 
 true and ancient faith in the world. 
 
 These Syro-Christians agree so entirely with the Church 
 of England in fundamental doctrines, there is every reason 
 to hope that a imion between the two Churches will be 
 effected before long. 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 THE ANCIENT UNIVERSITIES OF ENGLAND NOT OF ROMAN 
 CATHOLIC FOUNDATION. 
 
 The antiquity, apostolicity, and independence of tlie 
 Church of England having, it is hoped on sufficient 
 ground, heen fully established, it will not he considered as 
 irrelevant to the subject, if a further point of history, very 
 closely connected with the Protestantism of the British 
 Church, and on that account greatly misrepresented by 
 Romanists, is cleared of the error witli which it has been 
 invested. This may be done in a few words. 
 
 It is gravely asserted by Eoman Catholics, and liastily 
 credited b}' thoughtless Protestants, that our English 
 universities owe their foundation to members of the 
 Church of Rome ; and it is urged against those venerable 
 bodies, as instances of most unpardonable intolerance, and 
 cruellest injustice, that they should now close their doors 
 against Papists and Dissenters, considering that these 
 seats of learning have been unjustly wrested from the 
 hands of their original popish founders. This, however, 
 is one other of those miserable fallacies, Avhich is, witli 
 such mischievous industry, circulated through the land, 
 and from tlie higli quarter whence it has been propagated 
 of late,^ is likely to effect the destructive object in view, 
 if suffered to remain uncontradicted. 
 
 2 Virle Dr. B.iines's Circular, addressed to Protestants, a few years ago, 
 soliciting subseriptions towards rebuilding the mansion of Prior Park. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 227 
 
 The liistory of oiir universities is the history of our 
 ancient Catholic Church, witli which the connexion has 
 ever been so close and indissoluble, that the one has almost 
 invariably flourished or decayed with the growth or the 
 decline of the other. 
 
 To limit their foundation to Eoman Catholic times, 
 would be to blot out many brilliant pages of their ancient 
 history ; fur, like the British Church herself, these vener- 
 able seats of the muses can trace their origin to very 
 remote periods, and were even celebrated as schools of 
 science at times far removed from the firtst edahl isJunent 
 of Po pert] in England. 
 
 We will take the university of Oxford, whose records 
 have been better preserved than those of Cambridge, in 
 proof of what we now assert. "Without pretending to 
 claim for her the honour of having been founded, as some 
 authors declare, immediately after the siege of Troy, there 
 is ground for believing that her foundation was first laid 
 by Arviragus, a British king about a.d. 70, and therefore 
 very soon after the Gospel was planted in Britain. Cam- 
 den, a writer of the best authority, asserts on the testimony 
 of the most ancient and credible records, that " the wisdom 
 of our ancestors, as appears in our history, consecrated, 
 even in the British times, this city to the muses, translat- 
 ing them from Greeklade (now Cricklade) hither, as to a 
 more fruitful nursery." 
 
 Alexander Xecham also, referring to times long ante- 
 cedent to the arrival of St. Augustin, says that " agreeably 
 
228 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 also to jMerliu's propliecj^, tcisdom also and learninc] have 
 long flourished at the Ford of Oxen (Oxford), and ■will in 
 due time pass over into Ireland." 
 
 The Saxons who invaded England, a.d. 449, in their 
 blind zeal for destroying every trace of Christianity, with 
 the churches burnt and pillaged also the universities ; so 
 that on Alfred's succeeding to the throne, and witnessing 
 the deplorable state of learning in the land, he undertook 
 the laudable work of rebuilding and restoring the university 
 of Oxford, which had, during the troubled times preceding, 
 fallen into great decay. 
 
 John Rous, of 'Warwick, another famous historian, says, 
 that "he (Alfred) established mthin this city, at his own 
 expense, three teachers of grammar, arts, and divinity ;" 
 and Camden, Avhom we have before quoted, more particu- 
 larly informs us, that " when the storm of the Danish Avar 
 was over," he restored their retreats to the long-exiled 
 muses ; and founded three colleges, one for grammarians, 
 another for philosophy, and a third for divinity.* Up to 
 this period the Romish party in England appear to have 
 in no way interfered Avith this celebrated university. Iln- 
 fortunatel)'', in his zeal for learning, Alfred about this time 
 induced many learned Roman Catholics to come over to 
 England and settle themselves at Oxford — and among 
 others was St. Grymbald. The consequence of this intro- 
 duction of foreign scholars Avas fatal to the peace and quiet 
 of the university ; and yet by its issue proves most satis- 
 
 3 A'ide Camden, Bishop Gibson's Translation, vol. ii. p. 303, fol. ed. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 229 
 
 fiictorily to us, that down to the beginning of the ninth 
 century, the university of Oxford Avas clear of all con- 
 nexion with and submission to the Church of Eome. 
 Tliis will appear more clearly from the following curious 
 event, that happened at no long time after the arrival of 
 the learned foreigners. The particulars are related by 
 Camden, and were derived by him from the ancient 
 annals of the monastery of Winchester. 
 
 " In the year of oiu" Lord 806, in the second year of St. 
 Grimbald's coming over into England, the university of 
 Oxford Avas founded (restored) ; the first regents there, 
 and readers in divinity, were St. Neot, an abbot and 
 eminent professor of theology, and St. Grimbald, an 
 eloquent and most excellent interpreter of the H. Scriptures. 
 Grammar and rhetorick were taught by Asserius, a monk, 
 a man of extraordinary learning ; logick, musick and arith- 
 metick, were read by John, a monk of St. David's ; geome- 
 try and astronomy were professed by John, a monk and 
 colleague of St. Grimbald, a man of a sharp wit and 
 immense knowledge. These lectures were often honoured 
 with the presence of the most illustrious and invincible 
 monarch King Alfred, whose memory to every judicious 
 taste shall be always sweeter than honey." 
 
 " Soon after this," according to Asser, " there arose a 
 sharp and grievous dissention between GrymboLl and those 
 learned men whom he brought hither with him, and the 
 old scholars whom he found here at his coming ; for these 
 ahsolufclij refused to comply v-Uli the sttdntcs, i/istitutions, 
 
230 
 
 APPEXDIX. 
 
 and forms o f reading, prescribed by Grymbnld. The dil- 
 ference proceeded to no great height for the space of three 
 years, vet there was always a private grudge and enmity 
 between them, which soon after broke out with the greatest 
 violence imaginable. To appease these tumults, the most 
 invincible King .lElfred, being informed of the faction by 
 a message and complaint from Grymbold, came to Oxford 
 yn\\\ design to accommodate matters, and submitted to a 
 great deal of pains and patience to hear the cause and com- 
 plaint of both parties. The controversie depended upon 
 this : the old scholars maintained that before the coming 
 of Grymbdld to Oxford, learning did here fnurish, though 
 the students were then less in number than they had 
 formerly been, by reason that very many of them had 
 been expelled by the cruel tyranny of Pagans. They 
 further declared and proved, and this by the undoubted 
 testimony of their ancient annals, that good orders and 
 constitutions for the government of that place had been 
 made before by men of great pietj' and learning, such as 
 Gildas, ^lelkin, Ninnius, Kentigem, and othei-s, who had 
 there prosecuted their studies even to old age, and managed 
 all things happily with peace and quiet : and that St. 
 German coming to Oxford, and residing there half a year, 
 what time he went through all England to preach down 
 the Pelagian heresy, did exceedinglij approve of their rules 
 and orders. The King, with incredible humility, and 
 great attention, heard out both parties, earnestly exhorting 
 them, with pious and healing entreaties, to preserve love 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 231 
 
 and amity with one another. Upon tliis lie left them, in 
 hopes that both parties would follow his advice, and obey 
 his instructions. But Gryrabold, resenting these proceed- 
 ings, retired immediately to the monastery at Winchester, 
 which King ^Mfred had lately founded : and soon after he 
 got his tomb to be removed thither to him, in which he 
 had designed his bones should be put after his decease. 
 This was in a vault under the chancel of the church of St. 
 Peter's in Oxford ; which church the said Grymbold had 
 raised from the ground, of stones hewn and carved with 
 great art and beauty." 
 
 An excellent writer, under the signature of Britannicus, 
 in a pampldet entitled "The Church of England its own 
 "Witness," has brought forward the same account of the 
 matter from Camden, and has drawn his conclusions from 
 the narrative in a manner so much to the present purpose, 
 that we cannot do better than quote his own words. 
 
 " We have thus," he says, " the most undoubted evidence, 
 that the origin of our universities is independent of the 
 Church of Eome ; that they are clearly identified with the 
 ancient British and Apostolical Church, and that they 
 must have existed at least 500 years before the Church of 
 Eome visited our shores % 
 
 " From Alfred's decision, it is evident that the three 
 colleges he founded were given to the eurJn proprietors — 
 the representatives Gildas, Melkinnus, and Kentigern, who 
 were Church of England men, in the fullest sense of the 
 designation. And it is manifest, that wliatever power the 
 
232 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Cliurch of E()me afterwards exercised in the universities, 
 was not an original riglit, but acquired by artifice, or 
 usurped by violence. At the Eeformation, the universities 
 and the revenue reverted back to their proper OAvners— to 
 men who Avere the legitimate representatives of the ancient 
 British Church, and the true successors of those primitive 
 men, Gildas and Kentigerii, by whom they were founded 
 and instituted. 
 
 " Should it be urged, notwithstanding, that some of the 
 colleges were founded under the dominion of the Church »f 
 Eome, it does not form any solid objection to the arguraent."^ 
 They were founded on the ancient hasis, and without a 
 legal title ; and what is more, during a time of usurpation. 
 Under such circumstances, restitution can neither be de- 
 manded nor given. It would be just as rational to insist, 
 that whatever wealth or accession of territory accrued to 
 the Crown, during the usurpation of Cromwell, belonged 
 and should have been restored to the usurping party. 
 jSTo. Usurpation itself is a crime ; and the least punish- 
 ment that can be a^varded is, that it should be mulcted to 
 the extent of its unjustly acquired booty. 
 
 " The present Church of England, and the universities 
 of Oxford and Cambridge, are clearly identified for at 
 least fifteen hundred years ! Their league is ancient — 
 their union is complete — their interests inseparable. And 
 does it now require a debate in the British Parliament to 
 decide, whether these ancient institutions shall remain in 
 the same relation to each other, and descend to our pos- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 233 
 
 terity in tlie same -wliolesome integrity in whicli they Lave 
 been handed do\ra to ourselves % It is disgraceful enough 
 that it should have formed the subject of dispute ; but it 
 must proceed no further, if reason and justice are yet to 
 reign in tlie councils of Britam ! " 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 A Protestant's reasons for the independence and pro- 
 testantism OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH CHURCH. 
 
 r 
 
 '^l. St. Peter possessed no supremacy over the rest of the 
 apostles ; therefore the Church of Britain, establislied 
 by St. Paul, was independent of St. Peter, 
 
 2. St. Paul says of himself, that he had the care of all the 
 Churches of his own foundation ; and therefore the 
 Church of Britain was dependent on him, and not on 
 Peter. 
 
 3. The bishopric of Eome was established jointly by St. 
 Paul and St. Peter, after St. Paul's return from Britain ; 
 and therefore the Church of Britain was prior to, and 
 independent of the Chui'ch of Eome. 
 
 4. The Church of Britain was establislied before the bishop 
 of Eome had any authority beyond his own diocese, and 
 therefore was independent of the Church of Eome. 
 
 5. In the fourth century Jerome declared the Church of 
 Eome and Britain to' be " ejusdein meriti et sacerdotii," 
 of the same condition, and merit, and pastoral authority. 
 
 6. The Church of Britain was subsisting in the fifth and 
 
234 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 siKth century, when Britain ceased to be a part of the 
 Roman empire ; and therefore was independent of the 
 Church of Eome. 
 
 7. The bishop of- Rome derived the title and power of 
 universal bishop from an emperor in the seventh century ; 
 and therefore the Church of Britain was independent of 
 the Church of Rome prior to the existence of such 
 power. 
 
 8. The bishop of Rome attempted to establish a spiritual 
 jurisdiction over the Church of Britain in the seventh 
 century, which the British bishops indignantly rejected ; 
 and therefore the Church of Britain Avas independent of 
 the Church of Rome. 
 
 A ROMAN CATHOLIC'S REASONS WHY HE CANNOT 
 CONFORM TO THE PROTESTANT RELIGION. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC REASONS. 
 
 . Because the Protestant religion 
 is a new religion, which had no 
 being in the world till 1.500 years 
 after Christ; and therefore it 
 comes 1500 years too late to be 
 the true Church of Christ. Mar- 
 tin Luther laid the first founda- 
 tion of the Protestant religion, 
 A.D. 1517. 
 
 II. Because the Protestant religion 
 cannot be true, except the whole 
 Scripture, both of the Old and 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC REASONS 
 ANSWERED. 
 
 I. The religion of Protestants in 
 this United Kingdom is not a 
 new religion, but is as old as the 
 daj's of St. Paul, who preached 
 it and established it in Britain. 
 The Church oi' Britain was fully 
 establi.shed before the Church of 
 Eome. M. Luther did not lay 
 the first founiUition of the Pro- 
 testant religion. The Church of 
 Britain pr^itested against the su- 
 perstition and idolatry of the 
 Cliureli of Rome, and would 
 hold no communion with it, as 
 early as the beginning of the 
 seventli century. 
 
 II. The Protestant religion does 
 not pretend to be a Reformation 
 of the Church of Christ, but of 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 235 
 
 New Testament, from the be- 
 ginning to the end, be false, 
 ivliich in so many places assures 
 us that the Church of Christ 
 shall never go astray. For every 
 one knows, that the Protestant 
 religion pretemls to be a Refor- 
 mation of the Church of Christ. 
 
 III. Because the first foundations 
 of the Protestant religion were 
 laid by an insupportable pride 
 in one man, viz. Luther. 
 
 IV. Because Luther ami the fir.?t 
 Protestants, when tliey began 
 to set up their new religion 
 and disclaimed the authority 
 and doctrine of all churches 
 then upon earth, could ivt say 
 the Creed v-ithoid t'!liit<i n lie, 
 when they came to tliat article, 
 "I believe in the Holy Catho- 
 lic Church, the Comnnmion of 
 Saints." 
 
 V. Because the Protestant Church 
 has not those marks by which 
 the Nicene Creed directs us to 
 the true Church of Christ. It 
 is not one holy Catholic and 
 Apostolical. 
 
 1. It is not 011c, because the differ- 
 ent branches of the pretended 
 Reformation are divided from 
 one another in faith and com- 
 munion. 
 
 2. Their Church is not holy ; 
 neither in her doctrine, nor in 
 the lives either of h.er first 
 teachers or of their followers. 
 
 3. Their Church is not Catholic — 
 they are sensible this name be- 
 longs, not to them, and therefore 
 they have taken to themselves 
 another name ; viz. that of 
 
 the Church of Rome. The Scrip- 
 tures nowhere say that the 
 Church of Rome shall not go 
 astray. The Church of Rome 
 has undoubtedly greatly gone 
 astray by idolatry, in the in- 
 vocation of saints, and liy the 
 suppression of half of the eu- 
 charist in refusing the cup to 
 the laity, &c. 
 
 III. The 'religion of Protestants 
 in this United Kingdom, as was 
 observed before, is coeval with 
 St. Paul. But the first Protest 
 against the Church of Rome was 
 made by the British Bishops of 
 the seventh century. 
 
 IV. Protestants believe in the 
 Holy Catholic Church, by be- 
 lievingtliat the Universal Chui-ch 
 of Christ is one Holy Catholic 
 Church. They believe in this 
 Holy Catholic Church, though 
 they fl'o not believe the Church 
 of Rome to be the leholc Church 
 of Christ. Tliey believe in the 
 Communion of Saints, though 
 they do not ascribe to them the 
 attribute of Omnipresence by 
 prayinrj to them. 
 
 V. There is no Church called the 
 Protestant Church. There are 
 different branches of the Church 
 of Christ protesting against the 
 errors of the Church of Rome, 
 such as the Lutheran Church and 
 the Church of England. The 
 Universal Church of Christ is 
 one holy, Calliolic, and Apostoli- 
 cal ; but the before-mentioned 
 branches of this Church do not 
 pretend to be the whole Church of 
 Christ. Yet they are one with 
 the Unvecrsal Church, as the 
 disciples of Christ are one with 
 Christ-rz-they are holy, as being 
 part of'that which is holy — they 
 are Catholic, as being parts of the 
 Church Universal— auii*they are 
 Apostolical, because they are 
 
236 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Protestants — and indeed, how 
 should tlieir Church be Catholic 
 or Universal, which implies be- 
 ing in all ages, and in all nations ; 
 since it had no being for fifteen 
 ages, and is unknown in most 
 nations. 
 
 4. Their Church is not Apostnlicnl, 
 since it neither was founded by 
 any of the apostles, nor has any 
 succession of doctrine, commirn- 
 iou, or lawful mission. 
 
 VI. Because Luther was the first 
 preacher of the Protestant re- 
 ligion. 
 
 Vn. Because the first steps to- 
 wards introducing the Protest- 
 ant religion into England were 
 male by Henry VIII. 
 
 VIII. Because Protestancy was 
 settled upon its present bottom 
 in this kingdom by Act of Par- 
 liament, in the first year of 
 Queen Elizabeth. How then 
 can it be called the Church of 
 Ent/land, or any Church at all, 
 seeing it was introduced and 
 established by the authority of 
 mne laymen in opposition to 
 tiie Church I 
 
 IX. Because there is not so much 
 religion among Protestants as 
 among Catholics ; no extraordi- 
 nary sanctity, no renunciation 
 of worldly goods, no houses 
 consecrated to retirement, &c. 
 
 founded on the doctrine and dis- 
 cipline of the Apostles. The 
 Church of Britain is eminenlly 
 Apostolical, having been founded 
 and established by St. Paul. 
 Protestants are Catholic, as be- 
 ing members of the Church Uni- 
 versal. They do not cease to be 
 Catholic, because they protest 
 against the errors of the Church 
 of Rome, however improperly 
 the term Catholic may be used 
 by Papists, and even by some 
 Protestants, as opposed to the 
 term Protestant. 
 
 VI. Luther lived 900 years after 
 the first Protest of the British 
 Church against the Church of 
 Rome. 
 
 VII. Ajiswered in No.s. 1, 3, 6. 
 
 VIII. Protestantism was restored 
 and re-established in the reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth. But the 
 British Church protested more 
 than 900 years before that time. 
 Popish writers have a very im- 
 perfect notion of the Church of 
 Christ. The Church does not 
 consist merely of bishops and 
 clergy, but of the whole body of 
 believers in Christ, who observe 
 the ordinances of Christ and his 
 apostles. The Parliament of 
 Elizabeth did not at all interfere 
 with the Church, but only with 
 the Church Establishment. It 
 restored to the Crown " the an- 
 cient jurisdiction over the state 
 ecclesiastical, and abolished all 
 foreign powers repugnant to the 
 same." 
 
 IX. Protestants believe that there 
 is more real sanctity in an inno- 
 cent, virtuous, charitable, and 
 useful life, spent in the busiest 
 society of oi^r fellow-creatures, 
 than in the most I'igid and jjain- 
 ful austerities of solitude. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 237 
 
 X. Because we alone inlierit the 
 name of Catliolic. 
 
 XI. Because even in the judgment 
 of Protestauts, we must be on 
 the safer side. 
 
 XII. Because the Protestant re- 
 ligion encourages Protestants, by 
 the doctrine of Justification by 
 faith alone, to be noways solici- 
 tous for redeeming their past 
 sins, by good works and peni- 
 tential austerities. 
 
 XIII. Because the Protestant re- 
 ligion can aiford no certainty 
 in matters of faith. — Abridged 
 from a Tract by Bishop Vhal- 
 loner. 
 
 X. The Church of Rome is not 
 the Catholic Church, but only a 
 part of it. All Christians are 
 Catholics, who adhere to the 
 faith once delivered to the saints, 
 having one Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism. 
 
 XI. Protestants do not allow the 
 Church of Rome to be on the 
 safer side. They consider the 
 Invocation of Saints, and bo70- 
 ing down before ima'jes, to be 
 acts of idolatry ; and they be- 
 lieve that persons guilty of idol- 
 atry are in a very dangerous 
 state. 
 
 XII. Protestants believe that in 
 the blood of Christ alone is re- 
 demption from past sins ; that 
 good works are necessary to sal- 
 vation ; but that our best works 
 are only sufficient for our duties, 
 and cannot do away a single sin 
 that is past. 
 
 XIII. Protestants believe that 
 nothing can be more certain 
 than the truths contained in the 
 tliree creeds, and that in those 
 plain words of Scripture, — "If 
 thou wilt enter into life, keep 
 the Commandments," — "this do 
 and thou .shalt live," — "believe 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved," — "forgive, 
 and thou shalt be forgiven," — 
 " whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do unto you, even so do 
 unto them," — we have infallible 
 directions for our faith ami con- 
 duct, which require no confirma- 
 tion, and can receive no light 
 from popes or councils. 
 
238 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND 
 AND ROME. 
 
 ROMAS CATHOLICS. 
 
 I. Papists acknowleclse the Pope 
 to be the Supreme Head of the 
 whole Christian Church, and 
 witli the Church to be infallible. 
 
 II. Papists bow down to the host 
 and to images. 
 
 III. Papists pray to departed 
 saints for their protection, and 
 intercession with God. 
 
 IV. Papists believe that the ele- 
 ments of bread an.l wine in the 
 eucharist are converted into the 
 real body and hlood of Christ. 
 
 V. Papists believe this conversion 
 of the elements to be effected 
 by the priest in the act of con- 
 secration. 
 
 VI. Papists refuse the cup to the 
 laity, in the eucharist. 
 
 VII. Papists believe that Christ 
 is daily offered up by the priest 
 at the mass. 
 
 PROTESTANTS. 
 
 I. Protestants believe no human 
 creature to be infallible, and ac- 
 knowledge Christ alone to be the 
 universal bishop of his Church. 
 
 II. Protestants believe the act of 
 bowing down to the host and 
 to images to be contrary to the 
 second commandment, and to 
 be idolatry. 
 
 III. Protestants hold that Christ 
 is our only Mediator and Inter- 
 cessor ; and that Prayer to saints 
 is idolatrj'. 
 
 IV. Protestants believe such con- 
 version of the elements, com- 
 monly called Transubstantia- 
 tion, to be unscrijJiural and im- 
 2Mssible. 
 
 V. Protestants affim that there 
 is no authority whatever in 
 Scripture for supposing the 
 priest to be possessed of such 
 miraculous powers ; and that the 
 mere repetition of the eucharistic 
 form of consecration has no more 
 power of iratisubstantiaiinr/ the 
 elements than the utterance 
 of the words " Lazarus, come 
 forth," has of raising the dead. 
 
 VI. Protestants coi;sider tfie re- 
 fusal n f tlie cup to be a mutila- 
 tion of the sacrament, and a 
 violation of Christ's most solemn 
 command. 
 
 VII. Protestant' believe that 
 Christ offered himself once for 
 all, on the cross ; and that the 
 Popish doctrine of the Mass de- 
 tracts from the sufficiency of 
 Christ's own atonement. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 239 
 
 VIII. Papists believe there is a 
 place called Pui'gatory, in which 
 the souls of men are purged of 
 sins committed in this life. 
 
 IX. The ceremonies of the Church 
 of Rome are many and complex, 
 and sometimes contrary to the 
 scriptural sense of the rite per- 
 formed, as in the baptismal cere- 
 mouies. 
 
 VIII. Protestants believe that the 
 hlood of Christ alone clean-seih 
 from all siii, and that Clirist 
 died in vain, if the pains of a 
 Purgatory are necessary to our 
 salvation. 
 
 IX. The ceremonies of the Pro- 
 testant Church are few and 
 simple, and conducive only to 
 the decency and order of public 
 worship. 
 
 The foregoing "Reasons" and "Differences" are taken 
 from a series of Tracts published by the late pious and 
 learned Bi.shop of Sarum, whilst he presided over the See 
 of St. David's. The whole volume is higlily deserving the 
 close attention of every Protestant in England. 
 
 Ko. VI. 
 
 The absolving power of the priest in the Church of England 
 is not judicial but ministerial. The view taken of it by 
 the Author, at page 215, in reference to the case of leprosy 
 under the Levitical law, accords most fully with the 
 opinion of St. Jerome, as appears by his remark on St. 
 Matthew, xvi. 19. " Istum locum Episcopi et Presbyteri 
 non intelligentes, aliquid sibi de Pharisajorum assumunt 
 supercilio : ut vel damnent innocentes, vel solvere se 
 noxios arbitrentur : cum apnd Deum non sententia sucer- 
 dotum, sed reorum vita quajratur. Legimus in Levitico 
 de leprosis ; ubi jubentur, ut ostendant se sacerdotibus ; et 
 si lepram halnierint, tunc a sacerdote iramundi fiant ; non 
 
240 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 quo sacerdotes leprosos faciant et immundos, sed quo 
 hahcant nofitiam leprosi, et non leprosi : et possint discer- 
 nere qui mundus quive immundus sit. Quomodo ergo ihi 
 leprosuin sacerdos mundum vel immundum faeit ; sic et 
 hie alligat, vel solvit Episcopus et Preshyter ; non eos qui 
 insontes sunt vel noxii, sed pro officio suo, cum peccatorum 
 audierit varietates, scit qui ligundus sit, qui solvendus." 
 
 "TheLishops and priests, totally niistaking that pass- 
 age, (viz. Matt. xvi. 19,) assume to themselves so much of 
 Pharisaical arrogance, as either to condemn the innocent, 
 or to imagine that they can acquit the • guilty ; whereas 
 witli God the inquiry will he not as to the opinion of the 
 priests, but the conduct of the criminals. "We read in the 
 Book of Leviticus respecting Lepers ; where they are 
 commanded to show themselves to the priests ; and if they 
 should have the leprosy, then they should be made clean 
 by the priest ; not so that the priests could make them 
 leprous and unclean, but that they might have a clear 
 knowledge of who was leprous, and who not so — and 
 should be able to distinguish between the clean and un- 
 clean. In the same manner, therefore, as in that case the 
 priest made the leper clean or unclean, so in this the 
 bishop or priest binds or looses ; not indiscriminately those 
 who are innocent or guilty, but as far as his ofSce allows, 
 when he shall have inquired into theii" severals offences, 
 he judges who is to be bound and who loosed." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 241 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 " I TOLD you that you were not to write to me or to any 
 other person in that style, and behokl, in the Preface to 
 that Epistle directed to me Avho thus prohibited, you have 
 set this proud appellation, calling me ' Universal Pope or 
 Father,' which I desire you Avill do no more, for it is a 
 derogating from yourself to bestow on another more than 
 reason requires ; I count it on my honour, wherein I know 
 my brethren lose their honour ; my honoiu- is tlie honour 
 of the Universal Church, my honour is that my brethren 
 should enjoy what fully belongs to them — then am I truly 
 honoured, wTien the honour which is due to all is denied to 
 none ; for if you call me Universal Pope, you deny that to 
 yourself which you attribute all to me." 
 
 B. Gregor. Ex Eegist. 1. 7. 
 Indict. I. C. 30. 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 Appended to a poem (referred to at page 19) in the ancient 
 Cornish language, entitled " Mount Calvary" or the 
 " Passion of Christ," and translated into Englisli by John 
 Keigwin towards the end of the 17th century, is tlie follow- 
 ing ancient Cornish version of the Protest addressed by 
 Dinoth in the name of the British Bishops to Augustine, 
 as given at p. 94. It is copied from a MS. in the Bodleian 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 librarj', and has been kindly communicated to the ^mter 
 by the Eev. E,. S. Ha-\vker, vicar of Momensto^v, Corn- 
 wall, the talented author of "Eecords of the "Western 
 Shore." This copy is evidently a part only of the Protest 
 as given by Sir H. Spelman, perhaps its title, but is 
 valuable as confirming his testimony to a great historical 
 fact. The translation accompanying it is probably from 
 the pen of Keigwin. 
 
 " A Protestacon of the Bipps in Briten to Augustine the 
 Monke, the Pope's Legate, iii the year 600, p* Dm 
 Chrum. 
 
 Comlsli — Bidispis a Diogoll choi y bos 
 
 Eiujlish — Be it known to all X'an people that wee are 
 
 yn un att arall yn uwidd y jiim ystengedig yn 
 in one and other in observance and are helplul to 
 
 Eglawis Duis. 
 the Church of God. 
 
 Or, Englished thus : 
 
 " Bee it known to all Xfan people, that we are fellow 
 servants and ministers of one Church of God." 
 
 Xo. IX. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTICES RESPECTING THE PRESENT STATE OF 
 PERRAXZABULOE. 
 
 On visiting the ancient church of Perrauzabuloe, soon after 
 the fii'st edition was sent to the press, the writer was 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 243 
 
 grieved to find that tlie old enemy liad been again most 
 actively at work, liaving accum.ulated the sand so deeply 
 around the building, as once more to threaten its speedy 
 and entire entombment ; added to which, the spoiler's 
 hand has mischievously thrown down or removed the 
 whole of the beautiful doorway, as represented by the 
 vignette in the first page, and has moreover shown so little 
 reverence for this interesting remnant of ancient pietj% 
 that the interior of the sanctuary itself has been desecrated 
 by many acts of wanton profanation. 
 
 To the reader who may have felt a pleasing interest in 
 the several matters relating to the disentombment of the 
 old church, it will not be less interesting to hear, that 
 within a few yards of its southern side, has been discover- 
 ed a building, whicli in aU probability was the very " cell" 
 in which the pilgrim saint resided. The walls are of the 
 same thickness and construction as those of the church, 
 and are evidently of the same age. They form but one 
 small apartment, having neither window nor chimney, and 
 but one doorway. It may have been the humble dwell- 
 ing of the priest attached to the Church. The ground, to 
 a considerable extent around the Church, especially on its 
 southern and western side, is covered with human bones, 
 which the winds, or the hands of the curious, have torn 
 from their narrow cells. The quantity of these human re- 
 mains is so great, as plainly to show that this spot must 
 have been the cemetery of a dense j^opulation, or of a large 
 district ; and the mode of interment indicates a very re- 
 
244 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 mote period of British history ; for tlie tones are here 
 found placed with much care, in what is called, in the 
 ancient Cornish language, kist-vaen, or a chest of stone. 
 These kist-vaens are composed of several pieces of slate 
 stone, placed on their edges, so as to form a kist or cell, 
 and differ from the cromlech in having no horizontal or 
 covering-stone. The kist-vaens are believed to he the 
 most ancient British sepulchres in England, and have been 
 found in various parts of the country. They are some- 
 times covered over with stones, when they are called 
 cairns, instances of which we have at Lanyon and MoLfra, 
 ill the parish of Maderne in Cornwall, and in Berkshire, 
 near the track of the ancient ridgCAvay, in the vicinity of 
 the "White Horse Hill ; and sometimes, instead of stones, 
 they are covered by a heap or mound of earth, when they 
 are called harrows, a singular instance of which is to be 
 seen in what is called the Long Barrow, at Stony Little- 
 ton, in Somersetshire. 
 
 In the case of Perranzabuloe the kist-vaens are immersed 
 in the sand, which has had the effect of preserving their 
 contents in a singularly perfect manner ; for the bones, 
 and especially the teeth, are as entire as when they were 
 first interred- — possibly many hundred years before the 
 arrival of Pirauus. 
 
 Close to the site of the second Church stands erect a 
 most venerable, perforated granite Cross. The Cross is 
 formed, after the rudest mode, by tlu-ee holes which per- 
 forate, and a fourth cut only a little Avay into the rounded 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 245 
 
 head of what was commonly by the Cornish denominated 
 " Men Skryfd," or an inscribed stone ; for it evidently has 
 borne an inscription, but in what character it is now im- 
 
 possible to decipher. It measures about thirteen feet in 
 height, four of which are buried in the sand. 
 
 Tliis rude memorial of early Christian piety, in all like- 
 lihood, is as ancient as the time of Pu-anus himself, and 
 
246 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 inaj' have originally been erected near the first Church, 
 and removed to its present situation, when the second 
 Church was built, about a.d. 1100. Its form would lead 
 lis to suppose that it was once a heathen monument, 
 British or Roman, afterwards converted to a Christian 
 purpose. 
 
 It may further interest the reader of these pages to be in- 
 formed that, when the sand was first cleared out of and 
 around the foundations of the old Church, the external 
 dimensions were as follows : — 
 
 Length 29 feet 6 inches. 
 
 Breadth, .... 16ifeet 
 
 Height of Gables, . . 19 feet. 
 
 Do. of Xorth and South walls, 13 feet. 
 Thickness of the Walls, . 2 feet. 
 
 The walls are of the rudest build, the materials consisting 
 of granite, porphjT}-, slate and quartz throMTi together 
 ■witliout cement of any kind, excepting a coarse clay, and 
 altogether indicate the greatest antiquity. The reader is 
 referred for fuj-ther particulars to a very interesting little 
 work on the same subject by the Eev. W. Haslam, published 
 eight or nine years after its discover^', who, the better to 
 mark the spot where the altar-tomb stood, placed a solid 
 block of gi-anite in the place where tlie remains of St. Piran 
 were discovered, with the saint's name deeply cut in the 
 stone. This is now (1868) again deeply buried in the 
 sand, and the author is further informed by the present 
 worthy Yicar of Perranzabuloe, the Eev. J. Perry, that the 
 walls of the old Church are in a most crumbling and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 247 
 
 shattered condition, the doorway destroyed, and from the 
 drawings he has kindly sent, the whole building apparently 
 reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins. 
 
 As it may assist the reader the better to understand 
 the form of this ancient little Church, a ground plan is 
 herewith annexed, whereby the peculiar position of the 
 
 29 feet outer length. 
 
 Gables, .... 19 feet. 
 
 Walls 2 feet thick. 
 
 Dimensions of the Altar-Tomb :— 
 
 Length 5 feet 3 inches. 
 
 Breailth, .... 2 feet 3 inches. 
 
 Height, .... 4 feet. 
 
 The dotted linos mark the ])osition of the chancel rail, which from a groovo 
 in the southern wall must have been about six feet high. 
 
 altar-tomb is shown, as standing east and west, with 
 square pieces cut from the north and south angles. 
 
 It has abeady been mentioned in the introductory 
 chapter, that \inder the altar were discovered three skele- 
 
248 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tons, having their feet turned toxvards the east ; but -what 
 is very remarkable, the skidls of all three were found 
 deposited between the legs of the female. 
 
 In describing the sterility of the surrounding sandhills, 
 the author has represented them as totally destitute of 
 verdure ; he begs to qualify, in some respects, this state- 
 ment, as they are here and there covered with a very 
 stunted and coarse herbage, which affords a scanty food 
 for the rabbits which have burrowed in great numbers 
 among the sandhills. The general barrenness, however, 
 of the whole district, is very striking, as wiU appear from 
 the following list of the only plants which the writer 
 could discover on the Towans or sandliills. 
 
 Geranium ]\raritimum {Sea CraneshiU), in abundance. 
 
 Hyoscyamus ZSTiger {Common Henbane), a solitary 
 plant. 
 
 CjTioglossum Ofiicinale {Great Houmlstongup), in abun- 
 dance. 
 
 Euphorbia Parahos {Sea Spurge), a single plant. 
 
 Calamagrostis arenaria {Sea Matweed). 
 
 This last-mentioned plant is the most abundant of all, 
 and proves of essential service in checking the roving dis- 
 position of the sand. It possesses the singidar property 
 of accommodating its growth to the depth of sand in 
 which it grows, by which means its tough and tortuous 
 roots and stems serve the useful purpose of binding the 
 sandhills together. The Dutch have long profited by their 
 knowledge of this property, and therefore encourage the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 249 
 
 growth of it with great success on their sea Avails, and the 
 banks of their canals. According to "Woodward, it is 
 applied to the same purpose on the flat coast of Jforfolk, 
 where as soon as it takes root a sandhill gathers around it. 
 
 The inhabitants of Newborough, in Anglesea, maintain 
 themselves chiefly by manufacturing it into mats and 
 ropes, to which use it is also applied by the people of 
 Perranzabuloe, who Avould do well were they more generally 
 to attend to its cidtivation, as the most efi"ectual barrier 
 yet known against the further " spoiling and marring of 
 their lands," by the drifting sand. 
 
 So higldy was the Calamagrostis prized on this very 
 account, as long ago as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that 
 her Majesty, under very severe penalties, prohibited its 
 extirpation; and by the stat. 15 Geo. II. c. 33, the like 
 prohibition was extended to the cutting of it on the sand- 
 hills, on the north-western coasts of England. 
 
Inbcx. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 AtsoMng ]iower of the Church, 
 
 what 1S5 
 
 Adelstan, first Bishop of Bodmin 17 
 Agi-icola introduces Pelagianism 
 
 into England ... 62 
 Aidan a.ssists in converting the 
 
 Northumbrians . • . 87 
 Alfred, king, visits Piranus' 
 
 shrine IS 
 
 opposes the Pope's su- 
 premacy .... 97 
 
 reforms the Church, and 
 
 encourages Letters . . id. 
 Alhan, St., lirst British martyr 68 
 Angles invade Britain . . 64 
 Andate, Temple of . . . 33 
 Anselm, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury 104 
 
 Alexander III., Pope, protests 
 against the Council of Claren- 
 don 105 
 
 his insolent conduct 
 
 to Henry II. ... 106 
 .JriMiiHioii, Council of . . 59 
 Aries, Council of, when held . id. 
 Arthur, king, death of . . 14 
 Aristobulus, tti'st Bishop of 
 
 Britain .... 33 
 Arundel, Archbishop, his severity 127 
 
 Humphrey, raises the 
 
 standard of revolt in Devon 175 
 Athelstan introduces the tax of 
 
 Church-shot ... 98 
 Asaph, St., preaches the Gospel 
 
 in Britain .... 6S 
 Attila harasses the Britons . 63 
 Augsburg, Diet of, when called 135 
 Augiistin, Bishop of Hipjio, his 
 opinion of iiapal supremacy 46 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Augustine, the Monk, sent to con- 
 vert the Saxims ... 67 
 
 lands at Retesburgh, 
 
 id. — his interview with Ethel- 
 bert id. 
 
 endeavours to destroy 
 
 the simiilicity of the British 
 Church, 78. — Convenes the Brit- 
 ish Bishops . . . . 80 
 
 holds a second CouncQ 
 
 at Augiistine's Ac . . id. 
 
 ■ his arrogant and cold- 
 blooded conduc't . . 83 
 
 his death . . id. 
 
 Baronius, his testimony respect- 
 ing the British Church . 33 
 
 Bnsh, Council of, establislies a 
 new principle . . . 129 
 
 Becket, Thomas a, opposes Henry 
 II 105 
 
 his intolerable insolence, 
 
 id. — is deposed . . 106 
 
 • his tragical end, %07. — 
 
 account of his shrine . . 159 
 
 Bertha, her marriage witli Etlicl- 
 bert 65 
 
 her efforts to convert the 
 
 people of Kent ... id. 
 
 Birinus made Bishop of Dor- 
 chester .... 89 
 
 Bolevn, Ann, marries Henry 
 VIII 139 
 
 Boadicea, her defeat . . £6 
 
 Bodmin, first Bishopric settled at 17 
 
 is burnt by the Danes id. 
 
 Boniface VIII., Pope, his im- 
 pious character . . . 116 
 
INDEX. 
 
 251 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Boniface VIII. excommunicates 
 Pliilip tlie Fair ... 117 
 
 Bonner, Bishoj), is compelled to 
 place Bibles in St. Paul's . 148 
 
 his Sermon at St. Paul's 
 
 Cross 176 
 
 is deprived of his 
 
 Bi.shoiiric .... 177 
 
 Book, Bishops', what so called 150 
 
 Bretwalda, who so called . 65 
 
 Bran, a captive at Rome, when 38 
 
 Britain, its early condition 33 
 
 Bishops of, retire into 
 
 Cornwall .... 15 
 
 — ■ Church of, its rapid pro- 
 gress 56 
 
 flourishes under Cou- 
 
 stantius .... 59 
 
 is persecuted by Dio- 
 cletian ..... 58 
 
 is involved in much ob- 
 scurity in the 5th century . 61 
 
 is overrun by Pelagianism 62 
 
 is cruelly treated by the 
 
 Saxons 65 
 
 Britons, Cornish, maintain their 
 independence, 16 — submit at 
 last to Romish influence . 17 
 
 Bucer, Martin, revises the Com- 
 munion Office . . . 167 
 
 is kindly received by the 
 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, 179. 
 — advanced to the Cambridge 
 Divinity Chair ... 179 
 
 Cae.r-leon converted into an Arch- 
 bishopric. .... 57 
 
 is transferred to Llan- 
 
 daff, 92 — scene of the slaughter 
 of the Biitisli Clergy . . 82 
 
 Calcnilh, Council of, when held 91 
 
 C'allistus, his testimony respect- 
 ing tlie British Church . 33 
 
 Candleliglit, early custom of pray- 
 ing by 23 
 
 Canute, curious edict of, respect- 
 ing Idolatry ... 102 
 
 f'nrn-hre, Uriiidical remains at 5 
 
 C.itlicunc, Queen, is repudiated 
 by Henry VIII. ... 137 
 
 Catechumens, how distinguished 
 from tlie Faithful . 165 
 
 Castle Treryn, a seat of the Druids 5 
 
 Caurus, how fatal on the Cornish 
 Coast 20 
 
 Celts, whom they included . 35 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cerdoeius tolerates Christianity 
 in Cornwall .... 6 
 
 Charles, Emperor, his plan of the 
 Interim .... 178 
 
 Cliaribert, king of Paris, gives his 
 daugliter to Ethelbert . 05 
 
 Cln-istianity, wlien first intro- 
 duced into Britain . . 33 
 
 when first intro- 
 duced into Coniwall . . 4 
 
 Church, argument of its obscui ity 
 answered .... 29 
 
 causes of its corruption 
 
 in IVth and Vtli centru-ies . 75 
 
 shot, by whom intro- 
 duced 98 
 
 Clarendon, Coimcil of, by whom 
 called 105 
 
 Claudia Rufma, a British lady 39 
 
 Clemens Romanus, his testimony 
 respecting Britain . . 34 
 
 Clement V., Pope, removes to 
 Avignon . , . . 118 
 
 VII., Pope, his dexterity 138 
 
 Chrysostom, St., his testimony 
 respecting the Briti.sh Church 60 
 
 Cloreshoo, Synod of, when held 90 
 
 Cobham, Lord, is condemned to 
 death 127 
 
 Columban, St., preaches the Gos- 
 ]H'l in Britain ... 68 
 
 Common Prayer, Book of, made 
 public 172 
 
 Commission, a])iiointcd for exam- 
 ining the Popish Ma.ss . 163 
 
 Constantine, Em]>cror, favours 
 the British Church . . 59 
 
 gives a new form to 
 
 Church Government . . 73 
 
 Constance, Council of, withdraws 
 the cup from the Laity, con- 
 demns John Huss . . 128 
 
 Constantinople, Council of, con- 
 firms the privileges of Provin- 
 cial Bishops ... 61 
 
 Con vocatio)! decrees the independ- 
 ence of the Clnirch of England 139 
 Corantinus, first Cornish Apostle 6 
 Cornish resist the encroachments 
 
 of Rome .... 13 
 Cornwall, early state of . . 4 
 Conrtcnay, Archbisliop, cites Wic- 
 
 liffe before him . . . 125 
 Co\prdale, Miles, translates the 
 
 Bible 142 
 
 Cranmer, how first known t) 
 
 Henry VIII. ... 138 
 
2^2 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cranmer is advanced to the Pri- 
 macy, 139 — ofiposed to the si>o- 
 liarion of the Church, 141 — his 
 Great Bible .... 143 
 
 opposes the Six Articles, 
 
 145 — changes some of his opin- 
 ions, 147 — publishes 12 Homi- 
 lies 101 
 
 draws up the Article': 191 
 
 Cross, curious one at Perranza- 
 buloe 245 
 
 Crusades why and by whom en- 
 couraged . . ' . . 100 
 
 Cuthbert endearouis to reform 
 the Church .... 90 
 
 Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, as- 
 serts the equality of all Bishops 51 
 
 denies the pope's su- 
 premacy .... 73 
 
 Differences between the Chnrches 
 of England and Rome . 238 
 
 Dinoth, Abbot of Bangor, his in- 
 trepid reply to Acgustin . 81 
 
 Diocletian persecutes the Church 58 
 
 Diuma assists in converting the 
 Hidland Counties . . 87 
 
 Doctrines, the new — ^what . 127 
 
 DomiKioans, their character; are 
 opposed at Oxford . 119 
 
 Dorotheus. his testimony respect- 
 ing the British Church . 33 
 
 Dramatic fetes in Churches are 
 suppressed .... 150 
 
 Druids, character of their religion 5 
 
 Dunstan establishes the first 
 monasteri,- at Glastonbury . 9S 
 
 insists on the celibacy of 
 
 the Clergy . ... id. 
 
 Dvloe, a seat of the Druids . 5 
 
 Eadbald, how deceived by Laur- 
 
 entitis . . .' . 86 
 
 Easter, disputes respecting the 
 
 time for keeping, 15. do. . 93 
 Edmund, Alfred's brother, his zeal 
 
 for his Church ... 98 
 Edward the Elder founds a 
 
 Bishopric in Cornwall . 16 
 tamelv vields to the 
 
 Pope 17 
 TI., King, mounts tiie 
 
 English Throne ... 157 
 
 his early piety . . id. 
 
 Edwin embraces Christianity 86 
 Bleutheiius, his letter to Lucius 56 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I Elfric, some account of his Homi- 
 lies 99 
 
 j England, when first declared by 
 Parliament independent of 
 
 ' Borne 139 
 
 1 " Episcopus Episcopomm," when 
 I assumed as a title by the Pope 73 
 Erasmus, his Paraphrase ordered 
 
 to be placed in aU Churcties 162 
 £s,««r, when first converted to 
 
 Christianity .... 88 
 Elhelbert, king of Kent, becomes 
 I a Christian .... 65 
 
 ■ receives favourably a 
 
 ' Mission from Gregory the Great 65 
 I Ethclfrid slaughters the British 
 
 I Clergy 95 
 
 ; Eusebius, his testimonv concern- 
 ing the British Church . 33 
 
 respect' 
 
 ing the arrival of some of the 
 Ajiostles in Britain . . 35 
 Exarchs, their authority what 74 
 
 ' Fagius, Paul, arrives in England 179 
 I /"en n i n^ton £ri<fje, battle of 176 
 /"rnnfiscaii*, their corrupt char- 
 acter 119 
 
 Frederic, Elector of Saxony, sup- 
 ports Luther . 134 
 Fuaran, Lake of, in Ireland . 7 
 
 Gama, Vasco de, his discovery of 
 the S>TO-ChrisUau Churches 222 
 
 Gardiner, Bisliop, effects the en- , 
 actment of the Six Articles 145 
 
 endeavours to ruin 
 
 Cranmer .... 151 
 
 falls into disgrace, id., 
 
 vainly attempts to uphold 
 Image worship .and Pictures 160 
 
 Germanus. Bishop of Auserre, at- 
 tacks Pclagianism in Britain 63 
 
 Germans, St., Bishopric of Bod- 
 min is transferred to , . 17 ' 
 
 Gildas the Wise, his testimony 
 respecting the British Church " 36 
 
 Gliistotihun, the first monastery 
 erected at ... . 98 
 
 Grcddade, first English Cniversity 
 established at ... 227 
 
 Gregory the Great desires to con- 
 vert the Saxons ... 66 
 
 , educates some youths for 
 
 that purpose ... 66 
 
 sends Augustine to Eng- 
 land, 67 — ^his pretended hnmi- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 253 
 
 PAGE 
 
 lity, 75 — rewards Augustine 
 witli the ]iall ... 76 
 
 Gregory XI., Pope, issues an 
 Order for the imprisouinent of 
 Wieliffe .... 125 
 
 GrynilioUi, St., is invited to Ox- 
 ford, 'i'iS — oecasions violent dis- 
 putes there .... 229 
 
 Helena marries Constantius . 58 
 
 Hengist is invited to England — 
 turns his arms against the 
 British .... 64 
 
 Henry II. opposes the power of 
 the Pope .... 105 
 
 convenes the Council of 
 
 Clarendon . ... id. 
 
 di.sgracefullv submits to 
 
 the Pope . ■. . . 108 
 
 , Emperor, is poisoned by a 
 
 papist 118 
 
 IV. usurps the British 
 
 Crown 126 
 
 , his severity towards the 
 
 followers of Wicliffe . . id. 
 
 VIII., king, repudiates his 
 
 wife 138 
 
 determines on the dissolu- 
 tion of the Monasteries . 140 
 
 jiuts Catherine Howard to 
 
 death, and why . . . 148 
 
 , his marriage with Ca- 
 therine Parr, in what respect 
 beneficial to the Protestant 
 Church .... id. 
 
 , his death, 154 — his char- 
 acter 150 
 
 Hejjtarchy, Saxon, when esta- 
 blished .... 64 
 
 Hermit, advice of the, to the 
 British Bishops ... 80 
 
 Hilary, St., his testimony in fa- 
 vour of the British Church . 60 
 
 Homilies, Elfric's, of what com- 
 posed 99 
 
 , Cranmer's, 12, what 161 
 
 Horsa is invited to land in Eng- 
 land 63 
 
 — turns his arms against the 
 
 British id. 
 
 Huss, John, is condemned by the 
 Council of Constance . . 126 
 
 Imprnjyriations, Lay, their origin 141 
 Indulgences, when publicly sold 132 
 Innocent III., Pope, acts in defi- 
 ance of King John . . 109 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Innocent III., Pope, lays England 
 
 under an intenlict . . 109 
 Inquisitors endeavour to extir- 
 pate the new doctrines . 147 
 Investitures, right of, what . 104 
 John, the Faster, assumes the title 
 
 of " QScunienical Bishop" . 75 
 , King, is excommunicated 
 
 by the Pope, and why . 109 
 , his abject submission, 127, 
 
 his contest with his Barons 110 
 Irenseus, his testimony respecting 
 
 the first Bislioji of Rome . 50 
 , his testimony respecting 
 
 Britain 35 
 
 Jerome, St., refers to the British 
 
 Church .... 60 
 , his testimony resiiecting 
 
 St, Paul .... 37 
 Joseph of Arimathea, by whom 
 
 said to have evangelized Britain 32 
 Julius II., Pope, his character 131 
 Justus, for what purpose sent 
 
 from Rome .... 84 
 Jutce invade Britain for plunder 64 
 
 Kentigem preaches the Gosjjel in 
 
 Britain .... 68 
 King's Book, what so called . 150 
 Kist-vaens, curious remains of, in 
 Cornwall .... 244 
 
 Lamionrne, removal of Church to 25 
 Lancaster, Duke of, supports Wi- 
 cliffe 122 
 
 Langton, Stephen, is appointed 
 to the Primacy . . . 109 
 
 — reduces King John to 
 
 most abject terms . . Ill 
 
 • , his conduct with resiiect 
 
 to Magna Charta . . 112 
 Lantuit, celebrated School of 63 
 Laurentius succeeds Augustine 84 
 
 , attempts to control 
 
 the Scots .... 84 
 Laurentius, his pious fraud . • 86 
 Leo I., Pope, his great arrogancy 53 
 
 X., Pojie, his character . 132 
 
 sells Indulgences, and why 133 
 
 Liturgy, Cliurch of England, is 
 
 drawn uj) by the Refornu-rs 170 
 ■ nearly resembles the an- 
 cient Galilean Liturgy . id. 
 Livingus, Abbot of Tavistock, 
 effects the union of the Bishop- 
 rics of Crediton and St. Ger- 
 mains 17 
 
254 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PACE 
 
 IJandciff, famous School of . li:! 
 
 Lollariis, who, and why so called 125 
 
 London, constituted an Arch- 
 bishopric .... 57 
 
 Lucius, King, hi.s zeal for the 
 Cluirch .... 50 
 
 , appoints Archbishops and 
 
 Bislio])S . . .57 
 
 Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, assists 
 in rciotiug out Pelagianism . 26 
 
 Luther, Martin, lirst opposes the 
 iniquitous sale of Indulgences 133 
 
 -, burns tlie Pope's 
 
 Bull, 134 — is condemned by the 
 Diet of Worms ... 134 
 
 Magna Charta is extorted from 
 King John .... Ill 
 
 is ainralled by the 
 
 Pope 112 
 
 Magus, Simon, strange story re- 
 specting .... 44 
 
 Malabar, Christian Chur('hes of 223 
 
 Manchester, Earl of, his letter to 
 his son .... 205 
 
 Mary, Princess, Act passed in 
 favour of her succession . 152 
 
 ,'her contumacy . . 174 
 
 Mass, its derivation and division 11)3 
 
 for the dead found to be un- 
 
 scriptural .... 164 
 
 , Canon of the, what . 167 
 
 Jlelanchthon supports the Reform- 
 ation 134 
 
 draws up the famous 
 
 Confession .... 135 
 
 assists in drawing up 
 
 the 42 Articles of the Churcli 192 
 
 Melitus is advanced to the See of 
 London .... 84 
 
 Mendicants become universally 
 reprobated .... 119 
 
 Menezes, R . C. Archbishop, con- 
 venes a Synod of the Syrian 
 Clergy 224 
 
 T.Ientz, Arclibishop of, traffics in 
 Indulgences . . . 133 
 
 Metropolitans, their authority, 
 what 74 
 
 Missal, Roman, groundwork of 
 the Communion Service . 1C4 
 
 Monachism, question respecting 90 
 
 Monasteries, their Dissolution, 
 how prejudicial to England 146 
 
 Montague, Walter, Letter to, from 
 his leather .... 207 
 
 PAGE 
 
 More, Lord Chancellor, opposes 
 
 the Reformation . . . 137 
 Mysteries, what so called . 150 
 
 Necham, Alexander, his testimony 
 
 res]iecting Oxford . . " 227 
 Neot, St., settles at Oxford . 229 
 Nice, Council of . . . 59 
 Nicephorus, his testimony respect- 
 ing St. Peter ... 34 
 Nogaret, William de, is sent to 
 
 seize the Pope . . . 117 
 Nuremberg, peace concluded with 
 tlic Protestants at . . 135 
 
 Offa, king of Mercia, his endea- 
 vours to degi'ade the Church 91 
 
 estabUshes the Tax called 
 
 Peter Pen-.;e . . . id. 
 
 Ordinal, New, by whom drawn up 181 
 
 • , in what respects dilferent 
 
 from the Romish . . 182 
 
 Oswald endeavours to convert his 
 subjects .... 87 
 
 appoints Birinus to the 
 
 See of Dondiester . . 89 
 
 Oxford, University of, when first 
 founded .... 227 
 
 , proved not to be of Romish 
 
 origin 226 
 
 supports Wicliffe in reform- 
 ing the Church ... 122 
 
 Pandoljih receives the submission 
 of King John . . 110 
 
 Papa Benedictus, wlien first used 
 as a papal title ... 45 
 
 Parker, Archbishop, revises the 
 42 Articles .... 193 
 
 Patriarclis, their authority, what 74 
 
 Paul, St., wlieu sent a prisoner to 
 Rome 38 
 
 , when liberated, 36-- 
 
 preaches the Gosi)el in Britain, 
 37 — appoints the first Bishop 37 
 
 Peada, king of Mercia, his mar- 
 riag:e 87 
 
 Pelagius, his history and heresy 62 
 
 I'erranzabuloc, origin of the name 10 
 
 , its wild and deso- 
 late character ... 3 
 
 . , cdebrity of the 
 
 Shrine, IS — is endowed by Ed- 
 wartl tlie Confessor, 18 — Causes 
 of its decline, 19 — is totally 
 buried in tlie sand . . 20 
 
INDEX. 
 
 255 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Peter, St., in what respect the 
 Founder of the Church of Rome, 
 43 — his Commission from Christ, 
 what 47 
 
 — , his confession how to be 
 
 understood .... 48 
 
 Martyr visits Enghmd . 179 
 
 is r.Tised to tlie Divinity 
 
 Chair at Oxford . . . id. 
 
 Penile, when first establi- 
 shed, 91 — when totally aboli- 
 shed . . . . . 139 
 
 Petrus and Petra, how distin- 
 guished .... 48 
 
 Philip tlie Pair opposes the Pope 117 
 
 sets up a rival Pope, 118 — 
 
 removes the papal residence to 
 Avignon .... id. 
 
 Piranus, his singular history, 7 — 
 lands in Cornwall, 9 — how a 
 benefactor to the miners . 10 
 
 Piranus, his death, 12 — his shrine 
 becomes famous ... 18 
 
 PoUanus Valerandus, his Form of 
 Absolution . . . . 171 
 
 Pomponia Gra?cina, some account 
 of her 39 
 
 Popes, their extreme con-uption 93 
 
 , tlieir character in the 11th 
 
 Century .... 101 
 
 , the Reformation how has- 
 tened by them . . . 131 
 
 Popisli marks of a true Churcli, 
 what 30 
 
 Prayers, Bidding, what . . 168 
 
 Printing, Art of, assists the Re- 
 formers .... 130 
 
 Protest of the British Bishops, 
 what 82 
 
 Protestants' reasons for the in- 
 dependence of the British 
 Church ..... 233 
 
 , where so first called 
 
 134 — are severely persecuted in 
 England .... 147 
 
 Protestantism, why no novelty 32 
 
 Reformation, by what means ac- 
 celerated .... 130 
 
 Reformers, English, attack the 
 errors of the Church of Rome 162 
 
 commence with the 
 
 Office of the Mass . . 104 
 
 proceed with the 
 
 Liturgies . . . 170-122 
 
 Reteslurgh, the place where 
 Augustine first landed . 67 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Roman Catholic Reasons for re- 
 maining in Si liism . . 234 
 
 Rous, .Inhii, liis testimony re- 
 specting the foundation of Ox- 
 ford 228 
 
 Russell, Lord .Tohn, defeats the 
 Cornish Rebels . . . 176 
 
 Sardica, Council of, when held 59 
 Saxons, their cruel treatment of 
 
 the Britons .... 64 
 , wlicn and by whom con- 
 verted tu Cln-istiaiiity . 88 
 . endeavour to suppress 
 
 Clirisli.iiiity in England . 15 
 Saxoiiv. Elector of, rejects the 
 
 It,l,,i,u .... 179 
 .Si iitiis. .Icihannes Erigene . 97 
 blioi, Cliurch, by whom intro- 
 duced flS 
 Services, Morning and Evening, 
 
 whence derived . . . 170 
 , Biu-ial, how opposed to 
 
 Purgatory . ... id. 
 Sigebert assists ill the conversion 
 
 of Essex .... 88 
 Smalcald, League of, what so 
 
 called 135 
 
 8oliiinnn, Pnki- lif CMi iiwall . 6 
 boniersrt, P] i-i' i Inr, Ills fall . 178 
 Si.iri:, Dietiri; uiij enlivened 134 
 Statute, Bloody, when and by 
 
 whom enacted . . . 145 
 is resolutely opposed by 
 
 Craniner .... id. 
 Steplien, King, reasons for his 
 
 submission to the Pope . 104 
 Stoiiehenge, Druidical Circle of 33 
 Supremacy of the Cliurch of 
 
 Rome how uusupijorted by 
 
 Scripture .... 52 
 . is contradicted by 
 
 Christ's example . . . id. 
 Surrey, Km 1 or, why put to death 153 
 Sylvestir II., Pope, encourages 
 
 the Ciiisailcs ... 101 
 Sii-ulr I i\ 1 r, wljy rendered famous 67 
 Sy M i ( hi istians, their interesting 
 
 lii story .... 222 
 
 Tertullian, his testimony concern- 
 ing the IBritish Church . 51 
 
 asserts the equality of 
 
 all Bishops .... 51 
 
 , his reasons for pecii- 
 
 liar attachment to the Bishop of 
 Rome id. 
 
256 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tetzel, John, publicly sells Indul- 
 gences ..... 133 
 
 Theodorus is appointed to the 
 Primacy of Euyland . . 89 
 
 encroaches on the See 
 
 of York .... id. 
 
 Theodoret, his testimony con- 
 cerning St. Paul ... 35 
 
 Tindal, his New Testament is 
 widely circulated . . 136 
 
 Ttntwjel, on the coast of Cornwall 5 
 
 Tonstall, Bishop, opposes the Re- 
 formation .... 137 
 
 Tonsui'e, di.sputes respecting it 93 
 
 Transubstantiation, doctrine of, 
 not admitted by the Anglo- 
 Saxon Divines ... 99 
 
 is rejected by 
 
 the English Clergy . . 104 
 
 is opposed by 
 
 by Wicliffe .... 125 
 
 Tramnmre, Christian Churches of 223 
 
 Trent, Ct)Uncil of, raises great 
 hopes aniiing the Protestants 15S 
 
 Tresham, Dr., his controversy 
 with Peter Martyr . . 179 
 
 Trullan Council, why so called 61 
 
 Urban II. encourages the Crusades 100 
 
 V. is oiipiiscd by WicliIIe 121 
 
 "Universal Bisliop," a title un- 
 known in the tii sttwo centuries 45 
 University of Oxford, not of 
 Roman Catholic foundation 226 
 
 Vaudois, ancient Churches of 222 
 Venantius Fortunatus, a Writer 
 
 of the 6tli ceutury . . 36 
 Verukmi, abode of the first Brit- 
 ish Martyr .... 58 
 
 Council of. when held 62 
 
 Victor, Bishop of Rome, begins to 
 claim superiority over other 
 Bishops .... 45 
 Virgin Mary, worship of, when in- 
 creased .... 95 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Visitors a]ipointed to purge the 
 Cliurch of gross abuses . 173 
 
 Vortigern, his evil advice to the 
 Britons .... 63 
 
 Warwick, Earl of, leaves the 
 
 Romish party . . . 178 
 
 Wheloi k, liis testimony respect- 
 ing Transubstantiation . 99 
 
 Whitbii, Synod of . . . 93 
 
 WicUfle, John, opposes the Men- 
 dicants .... 119 
 
 , attacks the Pope's 
 
 Supremacy, 121 — accused of 
 heresy 122 
 
 , his Tract against 
 
 the Pope's Infallibility . 123 
 
 . , publishes his Con- 
 clusions, 124 — refuses to appear 
 before tlie Primate, 125 — re- 
 turns to Lutterworth, 126 — in- 
 famous order of the Council of 
 Constance respecting his de.id 
 body 128 
 
 Wilfrid appeals to the Pope, and 
 why 92 
 
 William the Conqueror, asserts his 
 indei-iendenee of Rome . 103 
 
 . maintains tlie right of 
 
 Investitures . . . 104 
 
 Rufus, acts independ- 
 ently of tlie Pope . . id. 
 
 Wingela, Mother of Piranus, ac- 
 companies her Son to Cornwall 9 
 
 Worms, Diet of, why held . 134 
 
 , its deci'ees by whom re- 
 voked 135 
 
 YorT:, when formed into an Arch- 
 bishopric .... 57 
 
 Zuinglius, Ulric, how supports 
 the Reformation in Switzer- 
 land 134 
 
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