3Ij£ Htbrary nf tljr Imttrrsttij nf SJnrtlj (SJaroltna Enfoouttb bg 3Ij* Staleritr atib pjUanifyrojm J|0rait?0 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL ENDOWED BY THE DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES BR755 1879 Kmi| V K TY0FN - C - AT CHAPEL I 10001279206 This book is due at the WALTER R. DAVIS LIBRARY on the last date stamped under "Date Due" If not on hold, it may be renewed by bringing it to the library. DATE APn D i E 5 21 ~j RETURNED ^JJI RETURNED At K x ** fcl zzzz: .A »R 3 mil > Form No 513, Rev. 1/84 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/innerlifeofreligbarc THE INNER LIFE RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES COMMONWEALTH. J THE INNER LIFE RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES COMMONWEALTH CONSIDERED PRINCIPALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE INFLUENCE OF CHURCH ORGANIZATION ON THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. ,65 16T\ By ROBERT BARCLAY. THIRD EDITION. i O LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGI 27, PATEBNOSTEK EOW. MDCCCLXXIX. f All -Rights reserved.'] Mourr Libiary, Univ of North Carolina <0 o PKEFATOKY NOTE. A glance at the end of this Work will shew the Eeader that it is not quite completed, the Author having been removed by death after a short illness, when a few sentences only remained to be written. He had not seen the proof-sheets of the last Chapter, nor of Chapter XXVIII. , which must be pleaded in excuse for any slight inaccuracies ; with these exceptions, the whole has received his careful revision. No attempt has been made to write any Conclusion. Just as the Author left it, and with the earnest desire (often expressed by him) that it miglit prove of real value and interest to the Eeligious Society to which he belonged, and which he loved so much, as well as to the members of other Eeligious Societies, it is now published by his Widow, Eeigate, December, 1876. PKEFACE TO THE THIKD EDITION. In presenting to the public the Third Edition of this "Work, we have only to say that it is printed from the original stereotyped plates. One verbal alteration only has been made : in a foot-note, page 163, for " Christ Church/' Christ's College has been substituted. S. M. Barclay. Eeigate, January 1879. PEEFACE. Foe the last eight years the leisure of a busy life has been devoted to the collection and arrangement of the materials for this Work. Some of the Eeligious Societies of the Commonwealth have not hitherto been deemed worthy of an accurate and pains-taking study, others have had the history of the theological opinions or sufferings of their members in the cause of Eeligious Liberty fully told; and all have been described rather in their political and external, than in their internal relations. It has been my aim, in the historical portions of this volume, to enable the people who are described, to tell us in their own words, what was the origin, the object, and structure of the Societies to which they belonged, and also to give a practical turn to the enquiry — how far the schemes of Church organ- ization described in this volume have attained their real objects. The present is irrevocably linked with the past — what we see — is the result of what has preceded it, to a greater extent than we are always willing to admit. The reli- gious forces which were developed at this interesting period of our history are far from being fully spent. The harvest of good or evil is not yet fully reaped. The stand-point from which the subject has been treated, differs essentially from that of many other writers. The reader will, however, agree, that it is desirable to contemplate the religious history of our country from all the points of view which may tend to elucidate it. Some aspects of the history of the period may have their importance, and yet have escaped the notice they deserve, while others may be obscured by the mist of a prejudice which is merely the result of imperfect information. "Whatever treatment the history of the Christian Eeli- gion may receive from historians, and whatever may be the fate of Eeligious Societies, we may be sure (to use the words of one who suffered martyrdom * for his opinions respecting the constitution of a visible Church), that the smallest portion of "Divine truth is immortal; it may perhaps long be bound, scourged, crowned, cruci- fied, and be laid for a season in the grave, yet the third day it shall rise again victorious, and rule and triumph for ever." Keferences have been clearly and copiously given to the sources of information which have been used in the pre- paration of the Work. Some of these are special and * Balthasar Hubmier, born 1480, at Friedsburg, near Augsburg, burnt 1528, at Vienna. XI original, and others have not hitherto (as far as I am aware) been drawn upon by any English writer. To acknowledge the obligations I am under to those who have most kindly and heartily assisted me, is not only a duty, but also a pleasure, and their names are placed below. To the Heads of the departments at the British Museum. ,, George Bullen, Keeper of the Printed Books in British Museum. „ Librarians of Lambeth Library. „ Librarians of Sion College Library. „ Henry Bradshaw, University Library, Cambridge. „ John E. B. Mayor, M.A., of St. John's Cambridge. „ E. B. Underhill, LL.D., Editor of the Hansard Knollys Society's publica- tions, for the use of his Library and MSS. „ Francis Fry, Esq., F.S.A., Cotham, Bristol, for the use of his valuable collection of Early "Friends' " tracts, &c. „ Thomas Goadby, B.A., Chilwell Col- lege, near Northampton. „ Fielden Thorp, M.A., York. „ Bobert Barclay, Esq., Bury Hill, near Dorking. „ The Authorities at the Kecord Office. To H. 0. Coxe, Librarian of the Bodleian. ,, Librarians at the Guildhall Library. ,, Librarian of Dr. Williams' Library. ,, Dr. F. Nippold, of Berne. ,, Dr. C. A. Cornelius, of Munich. ,, P. A. Tiele, of the University Library of Leyden. ,, John Waddington, D.D. „ F. W. Gotch, LL.D., Baptist College, Bristol. ,, Herbert S. Skeats. „ J. H. Millard, Secretary of Baptist Union, Huntingdon. " The Executors of the late W. Thistle- thwaite, for the use of MS. Notes of Minute Books inspected by him. ,, Stafford Allen, Esq., Stoke Newington, who joined me in arranging a special search for documents in the locali- ties where the Society of Friends had its rise. „ J. Angus, D.D., Kegent's Park Col- lege. ,, A. Gordon, M.A., Norwich. I am greatly indebted to Dr. J. G. de Hoop Scheffer, for his valuable information and help, and for the loan of books from the Library of the Mennonite College, and transcripts and translations from the archives of the Mennonite Church, &c, at Amsterdam. Those who have kindly assisted me, who are not mentioned, and also the following Bepresentative Bodies, will equally accept my thanks. The Bepresentative Committee of the Society of Friends, for the use of their un- equalled collection of original tracts and other works, and for placing at my disposal their ancient and valuable collection of Becords and Letters, particularly the Swarthmore MSS., a collection made under George Fox's direction, and most of them endorsed with his own handwriting. An addition to this collection has lately come into their hands. Xll These MSS., with two thick foolscap volumes of the same original collection of papers belonging to myself, added to the vast number of original Minute Books of the Society of Friends noted below, have placed in my hands. advantages which have not been made use of to the same extent by any historical writers except Sewel and John Barclay (the author of "The Life and Times of Jaffray"), and A. B. Barclay, who published the " Letters of Early Friends " (the Author's father and uncle). The Minute Books of the following County Meetings, comprising a mass of church records existing in an unbroken series through all their gradations, and linked with those of the Yearly Meetings at Devonshire House from the year 1669 to the present time, have been more or less thoroughly searched, and the results extracted systematically : — The Meetings of London and the environs, Bristol and Somerset Monthly and Quarterly Meeting Becords and Letters, with those of Dublin and Ireland, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Sussex, Surrey, Devon and Cornwall, Beading, &c. A portion of the collection of the somewhat rare works of Caspar Schwenkfeld, dispersed in consequence of the death of Dr. Frederick Schneider of Berlin, opportunely fell into my hands. This placed within my reach im- portant and accurate information respecting the life and teaching of this most estimable and extraordinary man — who, it will be seen, exercised a deep and powerful influence upon the development of the principles of the Reformation. RoBEBT BABCLAY. Reigate, 1876. ILLUSTRATIONS. Meeting for Worship of the Old Flemish Mennonites Frontispiece. The Head Costume of Women between 1648 and 1750 page 440 Chronological Table of Important Religious Events, from the Rise of the Society of Friends to the present time . . . page 549 CONTENTS. PAOE Introduction • s xxi CHAPTER I. The Nature and Objects of a Visible Church .,,..». 1 CHAPTEB H. The Course of Eeligious Opinion in England prior to 1640. The Eise of the Baptists, the Presbyterian and Anglican Parties in the Church of England, the Familists, and Brownista 10 CHAPTER HI. The Course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Rise of the Barrowists, Johnsonists, Separatists or Early Independents . 39 CHAPTER IV. The Course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Ancient Church of Amsterdam. Henry Ains worth, Francis Johnson, John Robinson, and John Smyth. The Rise at Amsterdam and Leyden of the English Congregational, or Independent Churches, Johnson's Presbyterio- Independent Church, and the English General Baptist or Mennonite Church 61 CHAPTER V. A short History of Menno, the Founder of the Continental Mennonite Baptists. His Religious Principles, Testimony against War, Oaths, and Frivolity in Dress, etc. Strict Church Discipline. Practice of Silent Prayer in the Religious Worship of the Mennonites. Rise of the Collegianten of Rynsburg. The resemblance of their Views and Practices to those of the "Plymouth Brethren " of the present day 78 CHAPTER VI. The Course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Return of Helwys to England. He founds the first General Baptist Church. He is followed by Henry Jacob. He founds the first Independent Church, on the Principles of John Robinson. The Principles and Practice of the English Separatist Churches at Amsterdam and Leyden .... 93 Appendix to Chapter VI. Reprint of " The last Book of John Smyth, called the Retraction of his Errors and the Confirmation of the Truth ;" also "The Life and Death of John Smyth," XVI Appendix to Chapter VI. — Continued. PA3E by Thomas Piggott ; also the English version of "John Smyth's Confession of Faith," in one hundred Propositions, replied to in 1614, by John Robinson, of Ley den. CHAPTER VII. The Course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The increase of the Puritans, Baptists, and Brownists. The Virginia Company found a Colony in America. The Company is a pecuniary failure. They at last invite the Separatists in Holland to emigrate. John Robinson's Church at Leyden accept the invitation, and found the Church of the "Pilgrim Fathers " at Plymouth. Laud persecutes the Puritan Party, and supports the High Church Party. Accession of Charles I. Religious agitation . . 118 CHAPTER VHL Meeting of the Long Parliament. Ejection of the Royalist Clergy. The West- minster Assembly. The Puritans endeavour to force the Geneva Model of Church Government on the Country. "Lay" Preaching. Women preach. The Independents and Baptists oppose the Presbyterian Scheme. Denne, Lamb, and others, preach the Gospel to the common people . • . 132 CHAPTER IX. The Origin, Opinions, and rapid Spread of the " Seekers " or " Waiters. " Milton's Views respecting " Sects" and " Schisms." The State of the Country. The Puritans. " The Scruple Shop." True Causes of the Opposition of the "Sectaries" to the Presbyterian Party. Prophecy is held to be a Minis- terial Gift. The "Letter" and the "Spirit." Both Parties proceed to extremes. An Anglican Prophet. "Miracles" and "Gifts of Healing." Religious Excitement produces Religious Insanity ..... 173 CHAPTER X. On the Origin and History of the Doctrine of the " Inward Light, Life, Seed,"&c, promulgated in England by George Fox. Controversy in Amsterdam be- tween Nittert Obbes and Hans de Rys. Hans de Rys advocates the Views of Caspar Schwenkfeld, of Silesia. Some Account of Schwenkfeld, his Opinions and his Followers. Connection between the Friends and the Mennonites 221 CHAPTER XI. On the Internal History and Development of the Society of Friends. George Fox is converted. He Preaches at Baptist Meetings. Commences in 1648 to form a Society. Has an Interview with Oates, the celebrated General Baptist Preacher. He collects a Band of Preachers. Is invited to Swarth- more Hall. The Substance of the Preaching of the " Children of Light." Margaret Fell. Fox's Opposition to a Ministry supported by the State. His approval of a Ministry freely supported by Congregations .... 253 XV11 CHAPTEE XII PAGE The Custom of Preaching in the Churches "after the Priest had clone," when the Church was " Eemodelled after the Fashion of Scotland." The Early Friends, by doing so, did not intentionally disturb Public Worship. Fox requested to preach in the Churches. Not indicted for disturbing Congrega- tions* " Prophesying " of Laymen approved by " First Book of Discipline " of the Church of Scotland. Churches treated as Public Buildings. The right of Laymen to preach in Churches. Prophesying usual among the Indepen- dents and Baptists. Featly and the Baptists. The character of the Preach- ing of the Friends, and the Reasons of their Opposition to the Presbyterian Clergy 274 CHAPTER XIII. Evangelistic Work of the Preachers in connection with Fox, at Bristol. Physical Effects produced by their Preaching similar to those produced since among the Wesleyans and Independents. Another Account of the Rise of "Quakerism" at Bristol. The success of the Preachers in influencing "prophane" people. The "Upstart Locust Doctrine" is found to produce faithfulness, honesty, and truthfulness. "Public" and "Retired" Meetings. Records of the Church at Bristol. 308 CHAPTER XIV. Richard Baxter meets the Itinerant Preachers. His dislike of Lay-preaching. Questions addressed to the new Ministry, by Baptists and Friends. The Preachers under the control of Fox. Care taken in the employment of Women Preachers. Evangelistic Work in London 328 CHAPTER XV. The organization of the Society of Friends by Fox, coeval with its rise. The General Baptist Churches; their "Apostles," "Elders," "Deacons," " Over- seers," or " Visitors." The Co-operative Independency of these Churches, and their Membership. Similarity of the Constitution of the Ancient Society of Friends, their Church Officers, then- Membership. Originally an Adult Membership. The Bishop summonses the Quakers to go to " Church" as " by Law appointed," and their reply. Strictness of their Discipline. Their Views on Baptism and the Lord's-supper. One of the Early Preachers baptizes a Convert. They keep a "Love Feast," as " the early Christians " did, at Aberdeen .......... 351 Appendix to Chapter XV. MS. Paper by Edward Burrough, entitled " Some few Reasons why we Deny the Church of England, and are of this way, and such who are scornfully called Quakers." A XV111 CHAPTEE XVI. PAGB The position of the Travelling Ministry in the Society. The method of their " orderly dispersion " according to the necessities of the Churches. Their control transferred by Fox from himself to the Standing Committee of Ministers in London. Women Preachers allowed to supplement the work of the " Brethren," but not to direct affairs relating to the Ministry. The •'Ministers' Meetings," their Spiritual life and energy. The establishment of Church Officers simultaneous with the rise of the Society. The gradual change from an "Independent" to a " Connexional " Church System; " Canons of George Fox." The Meetings for Worship. Silent Prayer. Disuse of the Bible in Worship, and its origin. The establishment of the Central Yearly Meeting in London. The action of Fox respecting Marriage 379 Appendix to Chapteb XVI. Petition from " Friends " to the Council of the Lord Protector, 1658, hitherto unpublished. Paper by Naylor, illustrating the Controversy between the "Friends " and the Calvinists, respecting " Sin for a term of Life," entitled ♦'Several Queries to be answered, by Thomas Ledgard," &c. CHAPTER XVII. The Influence of the Seekers and Ranters upon the Internal Development of the Society of Friends. The rise and prevalence of the Views of the Ranters. The successful promulgation of their Views among the Seekers. The " Spiri- tuels " of Calvin's time. The Opinions and Practices of the Ranters. The Muggletonians. The Influence of Religious Excitement, Persecution, and War, in producing Religious Madness. Naylor 409 Appendix to Chapter XVII. Reprint of portions of " Heights in Depths and Depths in Heights," &c, by John Salmon. London, 1651. " The Light and Dark side of God," by Jacob Bauthumley. London, 1650. CHAPTER XVIII. Influence of the line of thought of the Ranters and Seekers upon the Society of Friends. Perrott. Opposition to Fox, and the Ministry as a distinct Office in the Church. "The Spirit of the Hat" — Penn On "The Liberty of the Spirit." The conduct of Fox under petty opposition. Story and Wilkinson lead the dissatisfied Party. They advocate the " Independency of Churches." Barclay enters the lists with his " Anarchy of the Ranters." The Principles of Church Government advocated in this Work. Pennington and Livingstone pronounce against them. The Separatists denounce "Outward Teachers," and plead the sufficiency of " the Inward Teacher " . . . . . 429 CHAPTER XIX. The Story and Wikinson Party oppose Singing, while Fox and Barclay acknow- ledge it to be a part of Divine Worship. The Singing of the "General Baptists." The rise of " Congregational Singing" at Geneva. Its intro- XIX Chapter XIX. — Continued. PAGE duction into England. Organs and Cathedral Singing. Sternhold and Hopkins' Psalms. Congregational Singing in New England. Its rise among the Independents and Baptists. Their objections to the Singing of the Church of England. Hymn Tune published by Sewel. Margaret Fell encourages Singing. The Separation takes place. Attempts at reconciliation at Drawell and Bristol. Meeting-houses seized by the Separatists. The Controversy turned over to Ellwood. The " Bhyming Scourge " and "Bogero-Mastix." Missionary Effort and a Teaching Ministry condemned by the Separatists. The " Banter" and " Seeker" Congregations disappear ■ 451 CHAPTEB XX. The Persecutions of the Bestoration. Disorganization of the Machinery of the Free Churches for Beligious and Secular Teaching. Internal History of the Society of Friends resumed. Their Spiritual prosperity and increase in numbers. Difficulties as to Beligious Instruction and the Membership of children. The Theocratic Church Government carried out by the Friends, the Baptists, and to some extent by the Independents. Vanity in Dress repressed. The Theocracy embraces the whole outward life of man . . 474 Appendix to Chapter XX. A Declaration of some of those people in or near London, called Anabaptists, that own and believe God's love in the death of His Son is extended to all men ; and that are in the belief and practice of the doctrine of Christ, contained in Hebrews v. 1, 2. CHAPTEB XXI. The Fear of " Human Learning " among the Baptists and Early Friends. Its origin. Defective Education causes a difficulty in the employment of " Lay" Preachers. The Baptists commence to Educate their Ministers. The Inde- pendents instruct their " Lay " Preachers, at the charge of the Churches. Decrease of the Standard of Education in the Society of Friends. Their Ministers decrease in Influence. Quietism. The support of the Poor by the Church exerts an influence unfavourable to Church Extension. New Poor Law established in the Society of Friends. Birthright Membership and its results 502 CHAPTEB XXH. Introduction of " Buling Elders " in the Society of Friends. Baxter's " private" opinion respecting ' ' Lay Elders " of the Presbyterian System. He would not call them " Dumbe Doggs." New " Overseers " appointed in the Society of Friends. Testimony of certain Members of the Church of England to the value of the Travelling Ministry of the Society of Friends. Letter of John Fry to the Morning Meeting. The Position now occupied by the Ministers. John Wesley's observations on " Lay Elders "...... 522 Appendix to Chapter XXII. Bishop Hall, on " Lay Elders." A 2 XX CHAPTEE XXIII. PAGE The Effects of the omission, by the Society of Friends, of the systematic reading of the New Testament in Public Worship. Secularization of the New England Theocracy by the admission of " Nominal " or " Political " Mem- bers, similar in its effects to the introduction of " Birthright Membership " among the " Friends." Eecapitulation of the effect of their Internal Legis- lation. Ackworth School founded. Whitefield's relations with the Society of Friends. Their part in the Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery. Their advocacy of the Lancasterian School System, Prison Eeformation, the Amelioration of the Criminal Code, and the Bible Society. The Society decreases rapidly in numbers during this period .«•••• 540 Appendix to Chapter XXIII. Extracts from an Address to the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, on their excommunicating such of their members as marry those of other Eeligious Professions. London, 1804. CHAPTEE XXIV. The " Hicksite," or Pantheistic Secession in the American Society of Friends. The Irish Secession. Eeligious condition of the Society of Friends in America. Eeporfc of the "Friends' Bible Society" of Philadelphia. The Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia pronounce that the origin of the difficulty was the want of Christian Teaching for the young, and the admission of un- taught persons to Membership. The Nature of Hicks' Teaching. Want of Eeligious Teaching traced to the old distrust of " Human(e) Learning." . 557 CHAPTEE XXV. The " Beacon " Controversy in the Society of Friends. Object of the "Beacon." The " Manchester Committee." The suggestions of Crewdson, Boulton, and others, for the benefit of the Society of Friends. Crewdson is suspended from the Office of a Minister. He and his followers secede. Effects of the system of Governing " Elders" during the Controversy. Beneficial effect of the establishment of Sunday Schools and Home Mission efforts in the Society of Friends. The " Friends' Foreign Mission Society " . . . 571 CHAPTEE XXVI. The General Position of the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist Societies, prior to the Preaching of the Wesleys and Whitefield. The Extinction of the old Presbyterian Churches. Ancient Independency at Eothwell, &c. Organic changes in the Independent Churches, the Calvinistic, Baptist, and General Baptist Churches. The Preaching of the Wesleys and Whitefield. The iremployment of Lay Preaching. The Decline of the " Dissenting Interest" arrested by Wesleyan Methodism. Dr. Doddridge, and his advice to the " Dissenting Interest " • 5S7 XXI CHAPTEK XXVII. PAGS History of the Modern Mennonites, particularly in relation to their Christian testimony against War. The Dutch Mennonites. The Mennonites of the Vosges. Their Customs. The Prussian and the Eussian Mennonites. Be- marks on the Modern Principle of Universal Military Training, and the incom- patibility of War with the Principles of Christianity. The history of the Eise of the French " Friends " GOG CHAPTEE XXVIII. On the relative Position and Power of Increase shown by various Ancient and Modern Eeligious Societies in the Propagation of the Gospel. Evidence furnished by the Census of 1851. Mr. Mian's Statistics and the American Government Census. The Position of the Society of " Friends." The " Church of England." The Independent and Baptist Churches. The Methodists. The " Primitive " Methodists. The power of Lay Preaching. The experience of the Welsh Free Churches. The New Connexion of General Baptists 629 Appendix to Chapter XXVIII. Government Statistics. Statistics of Eeligious Societies, &c. Table 1 — Showing proportion per cent, of Attenders on Public Worship, both to Population and Sittings, according to the Census of 1851. Table 2 — Statistics of Churches (United States of America) showing Number of Sittings. Table 3 — Statistics of the Society of Friends in England. Table 4 — Statistics of the Progress of the Western Yearly Meetings of the American Society of Friends. Table 5 — Statistics of Meetings and Meeting-houses belonging to the Society of Friends in England. Table 6 — Details from the United States Census, showing the Increase and Decrease of Seat Accommodation in the Orthodox and Hicksite branches of the Society of Friends, for every State in the Union, with the Eatio of Increase of the Population for every State. Table 7 — Statistics of the New Connexion of General Baptists. Table 8 — Annual In- crease of certain Metropolitan Baptist Churches. Table 9 — Annual In- crease and Decrease of certain Baptist Churches in Great Britain. Eemarks on Table 9. Table 10 — Summary of Statistics of Methodism in England and America. Table 11 — Statistics of the Sunday Schools connected with the Methodist Societies in Great Britain. Table 12 — Statistics of the Methodist New Connexion. Table 13— Satistics of the Progress of the Bible Christian Society. Table 14 — Statistics of the Progress of the Methodist Society. Table 15 — Primitive Methodist Society. Statistics of Sunday Schools and Teachers. Table 16 — Statistics of the United Methodist Free Churches. Table 17 — United Methodist Sunday Schools. CHAPTEE XXIX. Recapitulation. The Structure of the Eeligious Societies of the Past. The Sur- vival of certain Principles of Church Structure ; their Object and Effect. The Introduction of New Principles of Action. Conclusion 674 INTEODUOTION. A few years ago the writer was much impressed by some statements which came under his notice respecting the religious needs of London. He endeavoured by personal inspection to make himself acquainted with many of the various Christian Missions carried on in London. He also engaged in the work as far as his opportunities allowed.* While thus occupied he was deeply impressed by the fact that Home Missions not in connection with any Church, and without any system of membership, had few of those elements of success, vitality, and stability, which the direct efforts of Christian Churches to extend their borders and church system, seemed to him to possess. London contains, according to the best statistical infor- mation we possess, about 850,000 to 1,000,000 persons who attend no place of worship. It may help us to form some idea of the want of success on the part of every section of the Christian Church in grappling with such a state of things, if we recollect that by comparing the seat accommo- dation already provided with the persons fit and able to attend *He has pleasant recollections of Field Lane Eefuge, and would commend thia excellent institution to those who have personal service to offer. XXIV worship in London, we find that if all the churches, chapels, and buildings devoted to public worship were filled to their last seat, there would be still left outside the buildings as many people as the whole population — men, women and children — in the cities of Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, and Birmingham. As the writer walked at night through the narrow streets teeming with a labouring popu- lation, the question how this great city is to be evangelized, seemed to him to be worthy of something more than a moment's thoughtfulness or a passing sigh. It is difficult for any person who has not been engaged in the work to grasp the sad reality, of the utter inadequacy of the means now in existence to accomplish the end which is sought. The increase of the population is constantly outrunning the attempts which are made to bring the poor under the direct influence of Christianity, while the sum total of the irre- ligion caused by the neglect of the various sections of the Christian Church in times past, remains and increases. The hearty co-operation of Christians of all denominations during last year in enabling two American Lay Preachers to address large masses of the London population, seems to shew that the desire, on the part of the Christian public, of influencing the irreligious classes exists, if the means of effectually doing so are to be found. The importance of the subject will be seen when it is stated that more than one-third of all the crime in England is committed in London. In this city 73,000 persons are taken into XXV custody every year, and 100,000 paupers are relieved by the poor law authorities every week. The means at present in existence for the evangelization of London consist, first, of certain Societies employing paid agency, which are not churches, but which are in- tended to supplement the deficiencies of all churches; secondly, the Missions of individual Christians, who are often left to cope with difficulties which can only be over- come by united action ; thirdly, the Home Mission agency of particular churches, the object of which is to remove the obstacles which exist to the direct action of these churches ; and lastly, the work of Christian Churches in forming offshoots from the original body. This last method is seldom employed, except for the purpose of obtaining religious ordinances for those portions of the middle classes and the labouring population who already appreciate and are willing to bear the pecuniary burden requisite to obtain them. It is comparatively seldom that the degraded and depraved, or even the sceptical well-to-do artizan classes, are sought for as church members. We honour those Christians who go forth alone, sacrificing their time, their health, and the pleasures of their own fire-side, to preach the Gospel. Like John the Baptist, they are preparing the way of the Church of the Future. But there is about this isolated action a want of permanence. No organization exists fitted to supply the description of labourers they need to supple- ment their efforts, and to obtain and judiciously to apply XXVI the needful funds. The zeal which commenced the work is not communicated to others ; it is like a plant which does not succeed in propagating its species. This isolated action is most aptly compared by an eloquent writer to the "Bed Cross Knight/' "pricking forth alone in quest of adven- tures ; " and he draws a contrast between this antique and picturesque method of seeking the foe, and the scientific organization of modern armies. He very justly remarks that the necessities of Christ's Church in the present day require that the warfare should be waged on somewhat different principles. With regard to those societies which employ paid agency, they are worthy of the most hearty support, but their warmest supporters would themselves acknowledge that the necessity for them arises mainly from the imperfect manner in which Christian Churches have performed their duty. A vast army of voluntary labourers is needed, and these can only be supplied, in the case of London, by the zeal and earnestness of the members of the various churches in the environs. It is constantly asserted that the only thing which is lacking is this zeal and earnestness. The writer, on the other hand, believes that in every religious denomination, and probably in every congregation in the suburbs of London, there are a considerable number of truly Christian men and women who are fully capable of the self-sacrifice which such a service in the cause of their Lord and Master requires, but that, from a variety of circum- XXY11 stances, they are perfectly unable to create a sphere of action for themselves ; and that such is the nature of our religious organizations that they are found, when fairly tested, unable to a ford a place for every one who is willing to work in the service of Christ. Enthusiasm and self-sacrifice soon die out when an adequate object, and the right means of accomplishing that object, do not present themselves. It is a mistake to believe that those who possess right feeling and right principle will always find a position of usefulness in the Home Mission field, and one in which they are fitted to excel. Men are impelled to make great sacrifices when they see the necessities of the work in which they are engaged, and their enthusiasm rises in proportion to the difficulties which surround them, if only they are in a position which holds out the possibility of accomplishing their object. Where there is one man capable of com- mencing home missionary operations alone in the Metro- polis, or any of our large towns, there are a thousand who would work as patiently, and with equal success in pro- portion to their varied gifts, if they were kindly taken by the hand and shewn a congenial sphere of labour for their common Lord. On further consideration of the subject, the author thought he saw a great difference between the various churches, in respect of their evangelizing power. It seemed to him that an examination of the question as to what tends to help and what tends to hinder, the exercise of the converting XXY111 and assimilating power which is inherent in the Christian religion, might be of advantage to other Eeligious Societies as well as to the Society of Friends, of which he found himself a member — positively without thought or choice, and simply by the accident of birth. The internal history of this Christian Church, and certain other Eeligious Societies, seemed to him calculated to illustrate the subject. The Society of Friends exhibited in the early stages of its existence, an amount of energv and vitality which form an extraordinary contrast with its sub- sequent history. In the year 1700 it was a strongly organized and increasing church. It was probably as numerous, compared with the population, as the Wesleyan Society fifty years after the Wesleys had commenced preaching. The internal history of the Society of Friends possesses a special interest, because it is unquestionably the history of a great experiment in church organiza- tion. It advocated many great principles which, when first promulgated, were held up to the scorn of the religious as well as the irreligious world. The larger number of these have been insensibly adopted by other churches, because they were found to be in accordance with both the letter and the spirit of the Gospel. The extraor- dinary amount of misrepresentation and persecution which the Society of Friends received was borne with a patience and Christian fortitude which was equally extraordinary, and won for it the respect of its bitterest enemies. The part XXIX which this church took at the period of the Kestoration is now admitted to have had no inconsiderable influence in deciding the issue of the struggle which won for England " the priceless jewel of religious liberty/ ' In the fearful sufferings of those times, the testimony of the Society of Friends to the great principles which were at stake partook of the character ascribed to its founder. " It was as sound as a bell, and as stiff as a tree." The history of the Christian Church hardly presents a more striking picture than the stand made by this Society, for the right of Englishmen to worship God according to their conscientious convictions. In later times, it is not too much to say that the religious character of many of the members of this society, and their labours for the good of their fellow men, have commanded the respect of all the churches, and sincere regret has been expressed by prominent members of other denominations at their decline in numbers. In tracing the causes which led to this decline, the writer will endeavour to y shew that the principles which led to the sudden rise and increase of this Society, are those which have governed and must govern every vigorous and increasing church ; and' that the prin- ciples of church government which led to its rapid and almost unexampled decline in numbers, are such as offer a lesson of warning to other Christian Churches. The present position of the Society of Friends is that of just maintaining its numbers, and there are grounds for believing that a revival of religion is taking place within its borders, which, XXX if not overcome by the almost insuperable obstacles to church extension it has accumulated during the last 150 years of its existence, may eventually place it in the foremost rank of those churches who honestly add to their numbers by christianizing the masses of the irreligious population. The original design of the founders of the Society of Friends — its position and stand point in relation to the Eeligious Societies of the times, its elements of strength and weakness, and the very reasons of its existence — have been, in the author's view, very inadequately understood. One of his objects has been to exhibit this Society as one of the links in the chain of experiments in church organization which were made at the period of its rise. He trusts, that however inadequately he may have treated the subject, he has succeeded in rescuing it from the narrow views; — of those, on the one hand, who regard the rise of the Eeligious Societies of the Commonwealth as the mere outbreak of the wildest fanaticism, and of those, on the other hand, who have regarded the Early Friends as the apostles of a faith and of a church too nearly approaching a perfect form of Christianity, for continued existence in this evil world. The intelligent public will, the author believes, see grounds for believing that an intelligent adaptation of the ideas of George Fox to the religious needs of after times, might have more fully realized his idea of a Working Church, and might have been more richly blessed in supplying the reli- gious needs of our labouring population. XXXI The author trusts that he has succeeded in throwing some light, however small, on the mutual relations, the origin, and the religious practices of the Free Churches which sprung into existence during the period of the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth. Great pains have also been taken to present to the reader reliable religious statistics, which will furnish him with a general idea of the success and vitality of some of the principal systems of church government in England and America. CHAPTER I. The Nature and Objects of a Visible Church. It is needful for us in this enquiry to have a clear view of the nature and objects of a church society. We are not here speaking of the Invisible Church to which all belong who are united by faith to Christ, the great Head of the Church. The oneness of the Church of Christ consists in our having ' one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.' We shall not discuss the question whether it was intended by our Lord that Christians should form one vast and far-reaching Society, because not only has experience shewn that such an attempt to produce an outward uni- formity is a failure, but every year tends to shew that the oneness of which our Lord spoke, was a oneness which is in perfect harmony with " diversities of administration,"* which gives free scope to a variety of means of effecting the one great object, and consists in our having One Spirit. The whole analogy of the supply of the common wants of man- * 1. Cor. xii. 5. "And there are variety of ministries," — appointed services in the Church in which, as their channels of manifestation the y^apicr fxara would work — "but the same Lord" (Christ the Lord of the Church whose it is to appoint all ministrations in it). These SuxKoviai must not be narrowed to the Ecclesiastical Orders, but understood again commensurately in extent with the gifts which are to find scope by their means." — Alford's Greek Testament (in loc.) /T- B kind shews that the gifts and talents of men are best exercised on this principle. When Christianity appeared in the world, those who viewed it in its external development called it a " Sect." The Apostle Paul was called by Tertullus " a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarines;" and the Jews at Koine spoke of the Christian Church as a " sect which is everywhere spoken against." Precisely on the principles upon which we may feel sure the Apostle Paul would have defended the church at Kome — as a society whose origin was the result of an effort to follow more fully what they believed to be the whole revealed will of God — so any particular society of Christians in the present day may shew that they are no " Sect," for where the " Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." Surely history has shewn us sufficiently clearly that the attempt to form churches on the principle of securing, at all cost, uniformity, has been the source of endless bitterness and divisions ; while a liberty, which is the result of Christ's spirit, has tended to produce unity, harmony, and a co-operation in the same object, which is a substantial pledge of the oneness of the true church. It is (as Archbishop Whately remarks) a striking proof of the superhuman wisdom which guided the writers of the New Testament, to find that they give us no directions for any special form of outward church government, or worship, or society. Still, the principles which must govern the societies called churches are not obscurely dealt with in the New Testament. Men were gathered by the Apostles into outward societies, often very small in number, e.g. the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, in the house of Philemon, of Nymphas. These too were organized societies — even before the Day of Pentecost an organized 8 society had been formed whose names were enrolled to the number of 120, and who exercised the functions of a society, may be seen from Acts i. 15-26; and as they increased in numbers they required a larger amount of organization. That they considered themselves as members of an organized society is evident from Acts vii. 1-6. The Apostles ordained elders in every city ; there were to be those who bore " rule/' and those who " submitted " themselves. Christ was the " chief shepherd," but still there were to be under shepherds, who were to act in His loving authority. Keligious differences between brethren were to be told (in case they could not settle them privately) to "the church," and if a man neglected "to hear the church " he was to be to the Christian as "a heathen man and a publican/' The church was to be built of living stones, mutually supporting each other on the foundation Christ Jesus ; and there could be no Christian communion, although there might be the most friendly intercourse in all the relations of daily life between the believer and the "infidel." But what the church should be is summed un in the great principle that " The Church " is His body. The relation of the members of the human body to the head, and the mutual relations of the members of every part of the highly organized whole, shews the dependence of the church upon Christ, and the diversity, yet perfect harmony, which exists among the members, if they are all aiming to carry out the great purpose of that head. Every member has an office; every part, larger or smaller, is one with the body ; and every individual member is a representative of the body, precisely as any one member of a plant or animal belongs to that species of plant or animal and no other, and has, so to speak, an identity of its own, just as a single B2 feather from trie tail of a humming bird, is sufficient, we are told, to mark the species from which it has fallen. Again, every member of the body has a freedom of action peculiar to its own sphere, but it is nevertheless beneficially governed by certain other members. The Church is compared to a flock, an army, a kingdom. There are no flocks without shepherds; no armies where men are indiscriminately privates and officers ; no kingdoms where rulers and subjects are convertible terms. No worldly society could be regulated on such a principle. The analogy which the human body would seem to suggest, is that of a freedom of the various members — a government which is felt to rest its authority upon the supply of certain needs of the subordinate members, and these again minister to the needs of those exercising higher functions, both re- ceiving benefits which are perfectly reciprocal. A Christian may be really united to the Church universal, in a desert, or a prison; but who will venture to say, that because Christ there supplies all His need without human means — religious isolation is Christ's ordinary method of doing this ? If a Christian voluntarily forsakes the appoint- ed channels of Divine grace and help, which are described in the New Testament as only existing in connection with a Christian Society, will he remain a member of Christ's mystical body? Who will venture to say that a Christian is performing all his duties, as described in the New Testament, if he does not seek the communion of the saints; if the establishment and comfort of the Church members is a matter of indifference to him; and if he does not do his part, however small, in assisting in the propagation of the Gospel ? It remains to be shewn how these ends can be effec- tively accomplished without outward means and organized societies.* We shall endeavour to exhibit, in the historical part of this volume, the practical results of a Church virtually abrogating this function of a Christian Society. We cannot doubt that this constant allusion in the New Testament to general principles, and not to details, was intentional, and that the object was to prevent Christians from attaching to outward institutions any inherent sanctity, and to lead them to be willing to adapt their plans of working to the needs of human nature, and the times in which they live, by continually asking how far any institu- tions they may adopt conduce to the outward development of those holy desires and good purposes which the Great Head of the Church is continually raising in the hearts of the true followers of Christ, but which can be effectually thwarted by the arrangements of a Church Society in such a way as to prevent their practical application. Man has been created with a faculty for combining in societies, and * This has been attempted by Mr. Henry Dunn, in a book entitled " Organized Christianity," Simpkin, London, 1866. Mr. Dunn considers that the propagation of the Gospel is not within the province of a Church, and he has maintained, we think, with more ingenuity than success, that the "entire absence of any organization for aggressive purposes was the great peculiarity of the primitive Church." Mr. Dunn seems to us to prove too much. His application of Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, as a command applying to the Apostles only, shows how nearly "extremes meet," and strengthens the Eomanist theory of an "Apostolical succession." In a subsequent work he feels bound to show how Christianity is to be perpetuated, and suggests a plan which would speedily assume the aspect of a gigantic organization for the evan- gelization of our large towns. Mr. Dunn appears to us to take for granted that because certain Church organizations have done their work very imperfectly, and great evils have been found to exist in connection with them, that no other plans will succeed more perfectly. Considering how little change has been effected in the organization of Christian Churches, and how little the philosophy of Lord Bacon is thought to be applicable to these matters, it seems unreasonable to suppose that no change for the better will be effected. Because men once rode in stage coaches, it was no reason for thinking railway travelling an impossibility; and because no "flying machine" has, as yet, been successfully constructed, it would be very rash to assume that either the prin- ciples or the materials are lacking in nature for its construction. 6 is able, by the exercise of a purely human intelligence, to contrive special applications of the general principles we find in the New Testament which relate to the constitution of a Christian Society, precisely as he adjusts from time to time the machinery of a Society having secular objects. Therefore, although the Church may be called a Divine Institution, any of its particular arrangements cannot be called so except so far as they actually accomplish the revealed will of its Founder, and serve the purposes for which Christianity exists, and for which Christ died. The great leading principle expressed in the New Testa- ment, is that the Church is " His Body." All the members of the Church have some office. True it is that " the Body without the Spirit is dead," but it is equally true that the Spirit without the Body cannot effect its desires and aims. We are " workers together with God," and when we refuse to be so, we frustrate those loving purposes which God has towards our race — purposes which He designs to accomplish by human instrumentality. The elaborate machinery of a steam-engine is useless without the motive power; but without this machinery the steam will not accomplish the object which is designed. There seems in the present day to be a growing spirit of impatience of the avoidable and unavoidable defects of Church Government. It seems, too, to exist side by side with a strange indisposition to make the needful effort to correct and remove those things which are obviously at variance with the great general principles laid down in the New Testament. It must be admitted that this indisposition does no honour to Christianity, and causes the purity of the motives of its professors to be suspected by the irreligious world. There is also, in some instances, a curious objection to adopt measures in harmony with those fundamental principles of human nature which men very carefully consider in the structure of any Society intended to carry out a purely secular object. Is it not, therefore, possible to conceive that there are defects in the machinery made use of in Church Societies which injure the cause of Christ ? May it not be antiquated, cumbrous, and ill-adapted for its work ? May not this reasonably account for the fact that the proper amount of work is not got out of it ? To carry out the illustration still farther, is there not a disposition among Christian men to cry out for more "steam" than is given to us, without inquiring whether, in our application of the supply which is furnished, we are obtaining the full amount of its power ? It seems obvious that the object of every Society is not mere existence, but to secure certain ends. The object of the Church has been denned by a most able modern writer in these words : " The Christian Church is that Divine Institution for the Salvation of man which Jesus Christ has founded upon earth. The object and end of the Church is that the salvation wrought out by Christ should be com- municated to, and appropriated by, every nation and every individual. Outwardly the Church manifests itself in the religious fellowship of those who, having become partakers of this salvation, co-operate in their own places and ac- cording to the measure of their gifts and callings towards the extension and development of the Kingdom of God. Christ; the God-Man, who is exalted to the right hand of power, is the sole Head of the Church ; the Holy Spirit who is sent by Christ in order to guide the Church to its goal and perfection, is its Divine Teacher.' ' * The preaching of the Word, the study of the Holy Scriptures, the reception * See Kurtz's Church History, Introduction. 8 of the believer, baptized by the Holy Ghost, into the household of God — the visible Communion of the Saints, — are some of the outward means by which the Holy Spirit works in and by it. If this definition of the visible Christian Church be a correct one, the objects and ends of a Christian Church (a society linked or not with other societies) must be, first, to promote the growth of grace in its members ; secondly, to carry forward the work of the Gospel on a plan in which all, as members of Christ's Body, can lovingly unite. Surely various outward Church Societies may exist, all having the same objects. The Church is His Body, and the differences of constitution, and organization of various religious Church Societies, is no proof of schism or sectarianism. They, too, may be all members of His Body. These differences of organization are an unmixed good, so far as they are efforts to attain in this way, a unity and agreement in practical working, which, as the world is constituted, could not be otherwise obtained. If, on the other hand, it can be affirmed truly that this is not their object, but that it is to separate Christian Brethren who are one in Spirit, and to incite them to attack and despise each other, such Societies are an unmixed evil, and, although they may be called Christian Churches, they have no claim to be called so. The Army of Christ may have different battalions, but as long as they act under the orders of their one great Head — if there be subordination to Him in the several divisions — real and substantial unity may exist. It may only be our ignorance of the military art which induces us to long that they may be formed into one vast phalanx. If they are animated by one great object — to fight against the common foe — we may be sure that they will all be made use of by their great Captain. 9 In discussing the organization of individual Churches, and the various relations between distinct Church organizations, the great fundamental principle which must govern us is that "the Church is His Body." As in the human body, the relations between the groups of members is more distant, while the relations between the various parts of the smaller members is more close and intimate. All that the various existing Churches require to bind them more closely together is greater earnestness in the two great objects of the Church of Christ, viz., the evangelization of the world, and the development of a nearer approximation to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in their individual members. They must both go together, for the first aids in the development of the second, and this reacts on the first. Active effort in the evangelization of the world, is to the Church what exercise is to the human body, the members cannot enjoy health • without it, they will disagree and not work harmoniously. If the health of the individual members is maintained by exercise, if all are aiming at the same great object in sympathy and in unison, an intelligent subordination and harmony will .enable the body to perform miracles of strength and endurance, and thus carry out far more fully the object of Christ its Holy Head. "We shall now proceed to inquire what were the reasons which induced Christian men to establish in England a variety of religious organizations. CHAPTER H. The Course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640. The Rise of the Baptists, the Pres- byterian and Anglican Parties in the Church of England, the Familists, and Brownists. It is impossible to take a correct and reasonable view of the opinions and practices of any of the Religions Societies of the Commonwealth, unless we endeavour clearly to under- stand the causes which led, first, to the temporary abolition of Episcopacy and the overthrow of the Established Church, and, in the second place, how certain religious opinions yere gradually formed; which produced, as their practical result, the English Presbyterian party, the Independent and Baptist Churches, and the Society of Friends. George Fox commenced his ministry in the year 1648, and therefore our subject will lead us to look both back- wards and forwards from this historical standpoint. We shall endeavour to trace how, under the excitement of the stirring events of the time, certain phases of religious truth were preached in every part of the United Kingdom, principally by " lay " or private persons, and produced an outburst of religious activity and energy which has always been regarded with some degree of astonishment. The Society of Friends was the last religious society formed during the extraordinary period we are about to 11 contemplate, and those facts which explain its relation to other religious societies, will be found to throw considerable light on their internal history and mutual relations. Con- siderable obscurity rests upon the history of the religious societies of Commonwealth times, from the fact that each Church was " independent/ ' The internal history of the Society of Friends is more clear and connected, from the fact that it was the first free Church formed in England which was not " independent/' but connexional in its character. In subsequent chapters we shall shew the structure of this Church, the difficulties experienced by its founders, the changes which took place in its constitution, and its consequent decline in numbers. It is, however, of the utmost importance to have a clear view of the origin and the distinct character of the religious opinions of the persons who are termed " Puritans,"* and to distinguish them from those of the people called Separatists, Brownists, Barrowists, Johnsonists, and afterwards Indepen- dents and Congregationalists ; and those again who are termed Anabaptists or Baptists. This is the more needfu^J because most of these names were invented in order to hold up to public ridicule three important and distinct lines- of religious thought, and to some extent, of religious practice ; and they have thus been, too successfully, confused under the common idea of a factious opposition to the reformed Church of England. As we shall afterwards shew, the rise of the "Anabaptists" took place long prior to the formation of the Church of England, and there are also reasons for believing that on * The word "Puritan " is used throughout this volume in its original meaning, viz. , of a person who desired the reform of the Church of England in a Presbyterian sense. The application of the word (since the ejection of the 2000 Puritan ministers from the Established Church in 1662) to any Nonconformist, has led to serious misconception. 12 the continent of Europe small hidden christian societies, who have held many of the opinions of the " Anabaptists," have existed from the times of the Apostles. In the sense of the direct transmission of Divine Truth, and the true nature of spiritual religion, it seems probable that these Churches have a lineage or succession more ancient than that of the Eoman Church.* The question is, how- ever, rather interesting as an obscure historical problem, than important in a Christian point of view. It must also be borne in mind that the continental Baptist f societies which sprang into vigorous life in the time of Luther, were " Independent " churches. But in England, although traces * In the year 1140, one Enervinus, "the humble minister of Steinfield" in the diocese of Cologne, addressed St. Bernard for instruction as to the manner in which certain heretics were to be treated. " They also confess that besides the baptism of water they have been baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire." He mentions some among them who denied the dogma of transubstantiation, made void the priest- hood of the Church, denounced the Sacraments, baptism only excepted, which is administered to adults. They claimed antiquity for their doctrine, and that "it had been hidden from the time of the Martyrs." I am indebted for this interesting quota- tion to a MS. sketch of the. History and Literature of the Baptist Denomination previous to the year 1700, by Dr. Underhill. These were the Catharists, and Neander says they abstained from swearing, their yea and nay being a substitute for the strongest attestations. They had a membership of " audit ores " and " perfects," and cared for their own poor. The rise of the Waldenses, according to Dr. Pius Melia, took place at Lyons in 1170, certainly not earlier than 1160 (see pp. 2 and 5, " Origin of the Waldenses," London, 1870), and it is obvious from Dr. Melia's own authorities that the Waldenses asserted that their Church had its origin prior to Peter Waldo, and that Father Moneta, in the year 1244, challenged them to prove the fact, and Brother Keinerius, also writing in the year 1250, distinctly states that " some people say that it (the sect of the Leonists) has endured from the time of Silvester, and some say from the time of the Apostles," although he does not give any approval to the assertion. The refutation of Jean Legers' misrepresentations, Dr. Melia furnishes, and other evidence from Waldensian MSS., &c, is most valuable and important. f These Baptist Societies, the readers must bear in mind, were not immersionist. The Unitarian Baptists at St. Gall, in Switzerland, about 1527, seem to have been the first who used baptism by immersion. They afterwards took refuge in Poland. See p. 75 of this work; also, J. Kessler's Sabbata, a MS. reprinted by the Historical Society of St. Gall, with Cornelius' Geschichte von Munsters Aufruhr II., pp. 32, 33, 36, 37, 64. 13 are found in our history of the existence of the opinions of the " Anabaptists " from the earliest times, and particularly subsequent to the time of the Keformation, it is doubtful whether any churches or societies of purely English Baptists had a distinct consecutive existence prior to 1611. In 1536, however, certain Baptist Societies in England sent a depu- tation to a great gathering of the Anabaptists near Buckholt, in Westphalia. As remarked by Bishop Burnet, the " Ana- baptists " between the period of the Keformation and this date were principally Germans, who were driven by the troubles on the Continent to find refuge in England.* It is stated by Governor Bradford, of New England, thatf the first Separatist or Independent church in England was that of which " Mr. Bough was pastor, andCuthbert Symson a deacon, in the time of Queen Mary," when they were burnt by Bonner. The church book containing the names of the congregation was left with Simpson's wife, and, although Mr. Bough was three times placed on the rack, he would not discover either the book or the names. Prior to 1571 a Separatist Congregational Church was formed of which Bichard Fitz was pastor, and Thomas Bowland deacon. A Mr. Bolton was one of the " elders " of this church. The Puritan party also had its rise in the reign of Queen Mary, and consequently prior to the final sanction of the t New England Memorial, p. 347. * [Strype's Parker, p. 287.] Many natives of the Low Countries, however, exiled by religious persecution, had settled in Norfolk and Suffolk as early as 1560. A sect arose in the diocese of Ely, many of whose tenets were incompatible with any (then established) form of church government, and resembled those of the Anabaptists and the "Friends." Fuller, in describing a congregation of Dutch Anabaptists, says that the " English were as yet free from that infection." But it is worthy of notice that the abjuration of certain members of a congregation of Dutch Anti-psedobaptists, shews that some of the distinguishing views of George Fox relative to oaths, &c, were held in England in 1575, viz.; "that it is not lawful for a christian man to take an oath; and of the 14 constitution of the Church of England by Parliament. The Eeformation of the Church was confessedly not completed in the reign of Edward VI, , and the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. When the sanction of Parliament was asked in 1571 to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England (which were in January, 1562-3, only agreed upon unlawfulness of all war."(a) [Crosby Vol. L, p. 68.] Even prior to this a public instru- ment made in 1530, May 24th, in an assembly of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Durham, and others, by order of King Henry VHL, containing divers heret- ical erroneous opinions, &c, we find the view stated of the unlawfulness of all war, by a people who held that Jesus Christ " hath not ordeyned in his spirituall kingdom — which is all trewe cristen people — any sworde, for He Himself is the King and gover- nour without sworde and without any outward law. Cristen men among themself have nought to do with the sworde, nor with the lawe, for that is to them nether nede- ful nor profitable. The secular sworde belongeth not to Crist's kingdom for in it is noon but good and justice. Criste saith that noo cristen shall resist evil nor sue any man at the lawe." " Concilia Magnae Britannia et Hibemiae " a, Wilkins, 1738. [I have been favoured with this quotation by the kindness of E. B. Underhill, L.L.D.] Henry VHL, in 1539, mentions the foreign Anabaptists in a proclamation. These views and the provision for their own poor may be taken to prove the connexion of this class of Christian people from 1530 to 1600, with the Dutch or German Anabaptists. (a) I annex the form of recantation, which has heen furnished me by the kindness of Mr. T. V. Bayne, of Ch. Ch. Library, Oxford :— QUEEN ELIZABETH. 1575. The Form of Kecantation prescribed to Certain Anabaptists. Whereas I, N. N., being seduced by the spirit of Error, and by false teachers, his ministers, have fallen into many damnable and detestable Heresies, viz., first— That Christ took not flesh of the substance of the blessed Virgin Mary.* 2. That infants bor.i of faithful parents ought to be rebaptized. 3. That no christian man ought to be a magistrate, or bear the sword, or office of authority. 4. And, That it is not lawful for a christian man to take an oath. Now by the grace of God, and through conference with good and learned ministers of Christ His Church, I do understand and acknowledge the same to be most damnable and detestable heresies, and do ask God, here before His Church, mercy for my said former errors ; and do forsake thein, recant, and renounce them from the very bottom of my heart. And, further, I confess that the whole doctrine and religion established in this Realm of England, as also that which is received and practised in the Dutch Church here in this city, is sound, true, and according to the Word of God, whereunto in all things I submit myself, and will most gladly be a member of the said Dutch Church from henceforth, utterly abandoning and forsaking all and every Anabaptistical Error. Copied from MS. in library of Ch. Ch. Oxford, Arch. W. Misc., 21, p. 349. * This shews that these Anabaptists were tbe followers of Melchior Hofmann. See B. N. Krohn's Geschichte, Leipsic, 1758, pp. 320 to 322. He says that the celebrated David Joris had travelled from Strasburgto Vliesziugen in Seeland, with the purpose of proceeding to England, and met three Anabaptists who bad escaped. He therefore decided to remain in the Netherlands.— See note, page 38. 15 by convocation without alteration in a Puritan sense by a majority of one vote), the House of Commons declined to adopt the thirty- sixth and the other articles relating to the hierarchy and ritual of the Church.* This shews the purely political character of the Puritan movement. It concerned the things of religion, but it remained from this period to the accession of Charles II., true to the one idea of sub- stituting by constitutional means, a Presbyterian form of State Church for the Anglican. The division of the Church of England into the Puritan, and what may perhaps be termed the Anglican party, took place at Frankfort in 1554. f The reforming party were driven into exile during the reign of Queen Mary. Some went to Geneva, others Basle, Embden, Wesel, Strasburg, and Zurich. At Frank- fort they were most numerous. A congregation was formed which was allowed to meet in the French church ; it was agreed that they should not quarrel about ceremonies, but, at the desire of the magistrates at Frankfort, subscribe the confession of faith, and establish the discipline of the French Protestant Church, which was virtually the same as that afterwards called Presbyterian. The celebrated John Knox was sent for from Geneva, and two other clergymen from Strasburg and Zurich, and were elected their ministers. They used King Edward's prayer-book in part only, omit- ting certain ceremonies, the litany, and responses. John Calvin supported them in this course. The English divines at Strasburg sent Grindal and Chambers with a pressing letter exhorting them to full conformity. Dr. Cox, who had been tutor to King Edward VI., coming to Frankfort, * Dr. Toulmin's Edition of Neal, 1837, vol. i., p. 123, and " Waddington's Congrega- tional History," p. 4. f A brief discourse of the troubles begun at Frankfort in tbe year 1554, about the Book of Common Prayer and Ceremonies. 1575. 16 broke the agreement previously entered into, interrupted the service, and eventually persuaded the majority of the church to follow the same course, and to forbid John Knox to preach, and, by shewing to the magistrates certain passages in a book of his, reflecting on the Emperor of Germany, compelled him to flee to Geneva. This party was reinforced by considerable additions from England, on which the old congregation went to Geneva, where they were welcomed, chose Knox and Goodman as pastors, and set up what was called the Geneva Discipline. The struggle, in which the Puritans were defeated in Queen Elizabeth's time, and in which they were partially successful in the time of the Commonwealth, was substantially the establishment in England, by the authority of Parliament, of the Geneva Discipline as carried out in Scotland under John Knox.* The English Puritan party, throughout their history, bore the character and stamp of men trained in the school of John Calvin, who may be considered as the originator of the Presbyterian Church. According to Calvin the whole body of the people were the Church ; where two or three were gathered together there was a Church ; but the system of Calvin eliminated the voluntary consent of the two or the three thus gathering, and forced, under heavy penalties, the ungodly and the unbeliever into the Church. The officers of the Church were Ministers, Doctors, or Teachers, Lay- Elders, and Deacons who formed the Consistory or Church government. The people were admitted to the right of exercising a veto upon the appointment of officers. The Church was co-extensive with the State because it embodied every citizen, and every citizen was subject to the discipline * For the influence exerted on the English Church by John Knox, see Dr. Lorimer's John Knox and the Church of England." H. S. King, London, 1875. 17 of the Consistory. The censures of the Church were carried out by the sword of the State. The constitution of the theocracy established by Calvin, embodied in its most perfect form, the union of the Church and State, and it is one of the most curious studies in history. Calvin's object was to found a state resembling that of the Israelites under Moses, and the result was one of the most fearful ecclesias- tical tyrannies to which mankind has been subjected. The discipline of the Church was carried out with a severity in which the gentle influences of Christianity can hardly be traced. Spies or watchmen were appointed to report even the conversation of the citizens, and the Consistory had power to examine all the citizens, without respect of persons, on the tenderest point of conscience. To impugn Calvin's doctrine or the proceedings of the consistory, sub- jected persons to banishment on pain of death. The well- known case of Servetus, a learned physician of Unitarian views, simply illustrates the ordinary features of the theocratic government founded by Calvin, carried out to their extreme results. He escaped from the prison of the Inquisition only to be burnt alive at Geneva. The influence of Calvin upon the Protestant Churches of Europe was very great. Geneva sent forth into all parts of Europe apostles of a new school. It united the stern principles of the Mosaic economy with a purely intellectual view of the Christian religion. It substituted for a priesthood, Minis- ters, Lay Elders, and Deacons, giving to them the semblance of popular approval, and the most crushing oligarchical power. The school of Calvin grasped clearly certain important points of Christian teaching, but it cannot be contended that Christian love, without which the Apostle Paul declares all other Christian gifts are nothing worth, was the principle which governed Geneva c 18 when Calvin exercised an influence in Church and State more powerful than that of the greatest of the popes. The power of Calvin's system over that of any previous Protes- tant reformer's, consisted in a greater logical consistency. It freed protestantism from all dependence upon human tradition. It sought to bring every sphere of life under the rigid rule of a church which claimed exclusive possession of the truth, and was prepared to maintain its position in the field of argument. It therefore suggested to Protestant princes a speedy and powerful method of reform. The use of Christianity as a means of strengthening the secular power seemed to be illustrated by the example of Geneva. Calvin's system, while it secured outward conformity, con- tained within itself the seeds of its own destruction. At first it appeared to be fully successful, but the history of Geneva and of New England tell us how lamentably this system of Church government failed in promoting the true religious interests of the people. At the commencement of the reign of Elizabeth the clergy of the Church of England were principally Eoman Catholics. They passed resolutions in convocation that authority in things ecclesiastical belonged only to pastors in the Church and not to laymen.* The Act of Supremacy,! entitled, " An Act for restoring to * See Articles agreed upon in Convocation in 155g, referring to Strype's Annals. Oxford Edition, L, 41, 81 ; Fuller, ix., 55. f The Act of Supremacy of Henry Vffl., constituting the King's Majesty " Supreme Head of the Church of England," and giving the Crown "full authority to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, restrain, and amend all errors, heresies, abuses, contempts, and enormities which, by any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction, ought to be reformed, repressed," &c, was forced on the whole body of the clergy under the penalty of outlawry. To acknowledge a layman to be the head of an eccle- siastical body was, in their opinion, such an absurdity that they could not yield to it in the first instance without the clause "as far as is agreeable to the laws of Christ." The King accepted this for the moment but obtained the consent of Parliament and eonvocation shortly after to its omission. 19 the Crown the ancient jurisdiction over the State, Eccle- siastical and Spiritual, and abolishing Foreign Power," passed in 1559, controverted this declaration of the inde- pendence of the Church, and made Elizabeth supreme governor in all spiritual and ecclesiastical things and causes. The Act of uniformity passed at the same time re-established King Edward's prayer book, and the Queen was empowered by it to ordain and publish such further ceremonies " and rites as may be for the advancement of God's glory, and the edifying of his Church, and the reverence of Christ's holy mysteries and sacraments." Elizabeth was in favour of the old popish rites and cere- monies, and restored the Komish clerical vestments, which were allowed by King Edward's first liturgy to remain in use. It was with great difficulty that her bishops dissuaded her from retaining the use of images. By the Act of Supremacy the Church was linked with the State. This Act of Queen Elizabeth's reign has entailed on our country greater evils than either tongue or pen will ever be able adequately to tell. But it was a thing done in opposition to Koman Catholicism, and was considered as -absolutely essential to the maintenance of the Protestant religion. We can well account for the attachment of Elizabeth and the Stuarts to Episcopacy. All the instincts of a hierarchy are on the side of arbitrary power. This single Act has more or less swayed the politics of England from that day to this. "Whenever the fate of political parties has hung in the balance, the under current of opposition to this disas- trous union, has turned the scale or materially affected the course of events. By the Act of uniformity, " he who ventured to address his Maker publicly in other language than that of the Book of Common Prayer, was liable to the loss of goods and chattels for the first offence, to twelve C 2 20 months' imprisonment for the second offence, and confine- ment for life for the third offence." * The State was made protestant by Act of Parliament. The clergy (under the degree of M.A.) were compelled to buy a New Testament for their own use, in Latin and English, with paraphrases. Two or three discreet persons were to be appointed in every parish to see that all the parishioners went to church on Sundays and holy days, and bowed at the name of Jesus, under heavy penalties. Every parish was to provide a Bible and one of Erasmus's paraphrases upon the Gospels in English,! and to set them up in every church. There was at first great dearth of education among the clergy, and many had but little ability beyond that of reading well. In the year 1562 the Queen printed the Homilies " anew," on the ground that all which be appointed ministers have not the gift of preaching sufficiently to instruct the people which is committed unto them. I The clergy and people had the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Homilies again placed before them, and thus found themselves, by this summary process, members of the Keformed Church of England. To use the words of the martyr Barrow, " All this people with all these manners were in one day, with the blast of Queen Elizabeth's trumpet — of ignorant papists and gross idolators — made faithful christians and true pro- fessors." The ranks of the clergy were rapidly filled by * Price's History Noncon., vol. i., p. 138. t "Item, payd for a boke callyd the 'Parraphras of Erassmus,' vs.," p. 67. See Church Wardens' Accounts, St. Michael, Cornhill, printed for private circulation by A. J. Waterlow, Esq., from 1563 to 1607 ; also p. 176, date 1587, " Paid unto Mr. Sadlor for avoidinge of an excomunicaco for not having in the church a ' Paraphrase of Erasmus.' " The book is then bought and paid for in the next entry. [This is a most interesting reprint. — Ed.] I The Homilies were published by Edward VI. in 1547. 21 able and learned protestants, many of whom had fled from the persecutions under Mary. It was impossible under these circumstances for the clergy to read their Testaments, and to have any knowledge of the principles and practices of the continental Protestant Churches, without coming to the conclusion that if England was to be a Protestant country in the face of so large a portion of the old Koman Catholic element in both clergy and people, the Eeformation must go farther than Elizabeth was inclined it should go. Hence the spread of the great Puritan movement; and it is important to notice the points which were at first objected to by the Puritan party. The copes, surplice, caps, and gowns worn by the Komish clergy were objected to. Absolute conformity to the ceremonies prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, saints' days and holydays bearing the name of a creature ; the sign of the cross in baptism ; kneeling at holy communion (which was associated with the worship of the Host) ; the introduction of organs in churches, and the singing of psalms by a choir, or by a part only of the congregation, instead of the whole and distinctly ; the introduction of the cathedral mode of wor- ship, of singing their prayers, and of the antiphon or chanting of the psalms by the two sides of the choir in turns. All these were matters objected to. The great struggle in Elizabeth's reign was between that party among the clergy who objected to these things, and the bishops nominated by the Queen for the purpose of maintaining them. Elizabeth was determined to have uniformity of practice and discipline in the church, and her resolve to enforce the ceremonies was seconded by a succession of archbishops with a rigour and cruelty worthy of the Eomish Inquisition, and by a variety of enactments enforced by this Queen's almost despotic power. The 22 Puritan movement in the reign of Elizabeth was one in which the clergy were chiefly concerned, although it had a large number of supporters and sympathisers among the nobility and gentry. Knox had visited Scotland in 1555, and took his final departure from Geneva in 1559. Eliza- beth supported the reformation in Scotland by force of arms, and, from the year 1560 the jurisdiction of the Court of Kome was renounced, and the Church was remodelled by a commission of which John Knox was a member. They adopted the Geneva plan, but appointed superintendents, instead of bishops, to plant and erect churches, and appoint and oversee ministers. The superintendents were to be chosen, or deprived by the ministers and elders of the several provinces. The assemblies of the Kirk were divided into classical, provincial, and national — the national assembly being the last court of appeal. The result of the severities of Elizabeth in England, seconded by her prelates (who soon made ample use of the power with which she invested them), was to leave large numbers of the most learned and able of the clergy without means of support. They there- fore travelled up and down the kingdom, preaching where they could obtain hearers, taking for their support what was given them. They received both temporary and permanent shelter among the nobility and gentry. Pro- testant principles continued thus to spread, and also the objection to the ceremonies. The setting up of the Presby- terian form of Church government in Scotland, and the constant communication between the most learned of the Puritan clergy and the celebrated Protestant divines on the Continent, combined with the relentless persecution carried on by the prelates, had the effect of emboldening the Puritan party, and some of their leaders petitioned Parlia- ment, and met secretly at Wandsworth in conference, to 23 frame a model of Presbyterian Church government on paper,* to elucidate their object with a view to submitting it to Parliament. The question was mooted, " May the ministers proceed to the work of Church reformation without the assistance of, or tarrying for, a magistrate ? " f and it appears that the question was distinctly answered in the negative. They now objected not only to the ceremonies and the matters above mentioned, but generally to the ecclesiastical constitution of the newly established church. They objected to the arbitrary power of the bishops in the spiritual courts, to the want of a godly discipline, and to the promiscuous access of all persons to the Lord's table. The Church was described in the articles as a " congregation of faithful per sons/ ' and they thought that power should be lodged somewhere to inquire into the qualification of such as desired to be of her communion. They objected to the responses in the church service — to the words, "with my body I thee worship " in the marriage service ; to the words in the burial service, " in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life ; " to the use of the apocryphal books; to the appointment of "dumb," or non-preaching ministers ; to the fact that the presentations to the livings were in the hands of the Queen, the bishops, and lay- patrons, instead of the people ; to the use of " godfathers and godmothers " in baptism ; to the custom of confirming children as soon as they could repeat the Lord's prayer, thus entitling them to receive the Lord's supper before they came to years of understanding ; to the practice of the bishop laying his hands on the children in confirmation, and the idea of its sacramental efficacy. All these which may be termed practical objections, were additional points * Waddington's Congregational History, p. 6. f Ibid., p. 11. CM beyond those first raised. There was, at first, no difference in doctrine betweeen the conformists and the Puritan reforming party. The principle of coercion in religious matters by the State was admitted by both parties : the objection to it was, that it was exercised excessively or upon the wrong side. The principle of the endowment of religion by the State was admitted by both parties — this was not a matter which troubled the most uneasy Puritan conscience.* The leader of this section of the Puritans was Thomas Cartwright, Fellow of Trinity • College, Cambridge, and Lady Margaret professor of that university. Cartwright was expelled from the university and went to Geneva. After his expulsion he wrote a defence of the address of the Puritan party to the Parliament, and maintained that the subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles " had no founda- tion in law, but was an act of sovereignty fraught with the utmost peril." f He maintained a controversy with Whitgift, from Geneva, and this greatly tended to diffuse the Puritan views, which now came to be identical with those of the Presbyterian Church established in Scotland. In the year 1571 the ministers of the town of Northampton, with the consent of the bishop, the mayor, and the justices, instituted the celebrated " prophesyings." J These " prophesyings " were exercises framed on the pattern of the assemblies of Corinthian Christians, accord- ing to the apostolic rule, that " all may prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all be comforted " — 1 Cor. xiv. 1-3. * Neal 1, chap. 5, p. 159. Marsden, Early Puritans, p. 239. t Dr. Waddington's History, p. 7. I These were not novel religious exercises to the Puritan section of the Church — at Frankfort, according to the " olde discipline in the citie of Franckford," "prophesie" was to be *' used every fortnight in the English tongue for the exercise of the said students, and the edifying of the congregation." — See " History of the Troubles," &c. 25 Crowds of laity attended them. At first laymen were per- mitted to take a part in these exercises, but after a time, in consequence of some irregularities, the clergy alone exercised their gifts. A president was chosen. The first minister began and ended with prayer, and explained a text of Scripture previously chosen. He was followed by another minister, who added what he thought deficient, or explained what seemed to him obscure, and was followed by a third — the first not occupying longer than three quarters of an hour. The whole was conducted with the greatest solemnity. These exercises increased the number of able preachers, and fostered in the people a spirit of inquiry and of Biblical research. They spread through the kingdom with great rapidity, but, in spite of the earnest support of the venerable Archbishop Grindal, who remon- strated with Elizabeth in a letter full of earnestness and christian feeling, they were ordered in 1577 to be sup- pressed. Grindal never afterwards regained the favour of the Queen, and death removed him from the scene with a conscience void of offence toward God in the matter. Elizabeth shewed that she possessed the spirit of her sister Mary, by burning alive, in 1575, two Dutch Ana- baptists, John Wielmacker and Hendrick Ter Woort, out of a congregation of thirty who had assembled for worship in a private house in Alder sgate, and, although Fox the martyrologist interceded for them, she was immovable. The " Family of Love," or Familists, came into notice about this time. The name of their founder was Henry Nicholas or Mclaes.* He was born at Minister, in West- * The first preacher sent by Niclaes we have notice of, was Christopher Vitells, a joiner, who came from Delph to Colchester in the reign of Queen Mary, in 1555. Ha ultimately recanted. — " Strype's Annals," vol. ii., part ii., pp. 284 to 286. 26 phalia, in 1502, and founded this extraordinary secret religious Society between the years 1541 and 1590. It has been for many years a puzzle to English historians. The researches of Dr. Nippold, of Emmerich,* have however thrown much light upon the history of its founder, its character and organization. The title assumed of the "Family," or "House of Love," afforded a ready topic of abuse. Mr. Marsden says, and we think justly, that " the insinuation of immorality is utterly without support." We will first mention those facts respecting this Society which are generally known to English historians. In 1580 a proclamation was issued by Queen Elizabeth against them, in the strongest terms. She resolved not only to have their heresies severely punished, but to " root them out from further infecting of her realm." They have been supposed hitherto to have been a Protestant sect, and one of their peculiarities was that they attended the religious services either of the Church of England, or in foreign countries, of the Koman Catholic Church, without scruple. They refused to criminate themselves by oath, and escaped punishment except when taken at their private meetings. They pre- sented a supplication to James I. which was published at Cambridge, 1606, in which they complain that many of them have been cast into prison, and beg the king to judge of them by the christian rule, " Ye shall know a tree by its fruits." They say they utterly disclaim and detest all the disobedient and erroneous sects of the Anabaptists, the Brownists, the followers of Penrie, the Puritans, &c, and that his Majesty is under a great misapprehension of them. With the Puritans they say they " have nothing in common." * In his monograph on H. N. and the House of Love, published in the Zeitschrift fur die historische Theologie, 1862. 27 "They," the Puritans, "are for pharisaical, self-chosen, out- ward traditions, rather than for the performing of judgment, mercy, and faith, and such like true and inward righteous- ness." They agree with all the Holy Scriptures as we do understand them. The end of all Henry Nicholas's writings, say they, is " that all people, when they hear, read, and do perceive their sins estranging from God and Christ, might bring forth fruits of repentance and newness of life, according as the Holy Scriptures require of every one, and that they might in that sort become saved through Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world." Their books are of a very mystical character, and all bear the same stamp of a belief in a prophetic inspiration which supple- ments or supersedes the Scriptures; and in the new revelation granted to Henry Niclaes. The reader of the works of the Familists has to seek their doctrines in a wilderness of vague and high-sounding words. He gropes his way like a traveller in the mist, and is only here and there rewarded by a gleam of something which seems like sunlight. He soon finds it to be a delusion, and again and again he plunges into the darkness. The result of our examination has however been, that they maintain the doctrine of the fall and the satisfaction for sins made by Christ,* but add that " our recovery from the fall and the repentance or satisfaction for our sins, must have another performance and fulfilling than many men suppose." " Now if all (as you say) should be fulfilled or satisfied, then I conceive nothing should be wanting in God's work, * The first exhortation of H. N. to his children, and to the Family of Love. London, 1665, p. 11. " They love not God, but are such as hate him and contemn his law and word, account the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleanseth and saveth our souls, for impure, and disdain his salvation." 28 and all things must be restored to his right form." " And, seeing that there is yet defect therein, therefore I ask where doth the fault lie (in God or in us) that the work of God and his will is not performed in all, on us, and in us, and that not the righteous and the good life of Jesus Christ, hut the sin and the death reigneth and hath dominion over us. For methinks that the right ground of this is not yet by any entered into or understood, and that the most necessary part of our godliness in Christ Jesus, and the obedience thereto which God requireth of us through His Son Jesus Christ, is still to be 'performed by us and in us." * They taught that Christ came to reinstate man in the state he was in before the fall, and that man came by means of the Spirit of God into unity with God, and not merely when he was dead, but that man was called while on this earth to shew forth his glory, and that the end and fulfilment of what is written respecting Christ was love.f We shall recognize in this passage the teaching of something resembling the doctrines of " sanctification and perfection " as taught by Fox, and later by John Wesley, and which were becoming greatly obscured or wholly lost sight of in the teaching of the Puritan or Presbyterian party. The teaching of the Familists is described in a list of the opinions said to be expressed in 1579 " by them in conference, by those who talked with them, J although some of these articles are denied by Theophilus, one of them." Article 3. — " That those preachers which do take in hand to preach the word of God before man be regenerate (i.e., before they are them- * Mirabilia Opera Dei. Brit. Museum — no title — probably 1574. f " Grundliche Berichtungen," 1549. See pp. 482 and 484 of Nippold's Paper. J A confutation of certain articles delivered unto the "Family of Love," by W t Wilkinson, M.A. Dedicated to the Bishop of Ely. Dated 1379. Brit. Museum. 29 selves regenerate) do take the office of the Holy Ghost out of his hands." Article 4. — " That those that be doctors or learned, cannot preach the word truly because Christ sayeth it is hidden from the wise and prudent." Article 16. — " When there is contention there is not the Spirit of God/' Article 20.— " That the Bible is not the Word of God, but a signification thereof, and the Bible is but ink and paper, but the Word of God is spirit and life." Article 22. — " That there are some which are now living which do fulfil the law in all points." It is important to notice* that the Familists held that the law of God, in the Ten Command- ments and the New Testament, was binding on Christians. It has now been found that the Familists cannot be termed a Protestant sect. Henry Nicholas had no sympathy with Luther and the Eeformation. He had, he said, "read Luther's writings, but they had not pleased him, both on account of their reviling the priestly office of the Church, and also because the ground of true righteousness, and the fulfilment of godliness in Jesus Christ, was not taught in them, and also that the common people were not reined in with a good and godly discipline." "People," he said, " who were outside the Family of Love, threw away the Komish services and ceremonies much too soon." These were the figures and symbols of true Christianity. " The Eeformers brought in other services, but got little love and righteousness by it, and did not understand the value of the figurative services of the Eomish Church ! " These cere- monies were only practised in right form by those in whom Christ dwelt. The " House of Love " and the " Service of * Dr. Nippold considers the tendency of their views to be Antinomian, but we do not find in their writing any such Mas, and he does not furnish us with evidence sufficient to show that this was the practical effect of their teaching. 30 Love" was the reinstatement of the Kingdom of God, and was the " fulfilment of all forms and figures." The whole of the movements of the Society which Nicholas founded, were conducted with the utmost secrecy. They have, however, received a full elucidation in two manuscripts discovered at Ley den,* and the revelation which they furnish of the elaborate hierarchy which this enthusiast attempted to perpetuate, proves that his sympathies lay with Eoman Catholics, and that, on the belief in an extraordinary revelation made to himself, he attempted to spiritualize and to fulfil what he deemed to be the hidden meaning of the Eoman Catholic church, and to found a new society. His idea being, that the last and final dispensation was the perfect union of humanity with God, expressed by " Love," as the highest state of Christian perfection. The services and ritual of both the Koman Catholic and the Anglican churches were approved for all those persons who had not come into the new and higher dispensation which had been revealed to the prophet, and were indifferent for his disciples, who were free to use or disuse them. The admission of members was thus ordered : No person younger than thirteen years of age could be a member. If desirous to become members, they were first to " confess " their " walk in life " and " the inclinations of their hearts," to one of the Elders. He then pronounced them Members, desired for them the power of the Lord, with a solemn "Amen." He then warned them to be true to the " Service of Love " and to further the word of grace and true righteousness before God and men. In the Order of the Priesthood there is an interesting * The " Cronica des Husgesinnes der Lieften," and "Acta H. N.," in the Library der Maatschappy van Nederlandsche Letterknnde at Loyden. 31 parallel between the " House of Love " and the Eonian Catholic hierarchy. At the head of the whole community stood the " Highest Bishop." Next to him the " Twenty- four Elders." Then the " Seraphims or Archbishops." Then three orders of priests, viz., " the Priests of the Stool of the Majesty of God, or the Bishops ; " then " the Priests of the Kule of God," and lastly, the lowest grade, the " Priests of the Paradise of the Lord." They were con- secrated with no fewer than eight distinct holy " waters," and eight distinct holy " unguents," the seventh and eighth for the highest bishop, the sixth and fifth for the arch- bishops, bishops, and twenty-four elders," and the others for the lower orders of the priesthood. The priests were to be able to read and write, and to be well practised in the German language, which was the " holy language." The priests were to give up all property except " themselves, their mind and knowledge." They were to be supported by tythes from the members, which were strictly required from all kinds of property, which was carefully specified. The tytlie of the tythe belonged to the higher orders of the priesthood. Two of the Elders of the Rule brought, the " free will offerings " of the society to a meeting, at which the "Archbishop " received and " brought it to the Throne of the Divine Majesty." In the consecration of the Priests, the Seraphims " first got rid of the corruption of earthly marriage." After being separated from all their friends and blood relations, and " giving themselves to reading and prayer," they were consecrated, the archbishop kissing them on the cheek and blessing them. In this way they were deemed spirit- ually celibates, while marriage was in no way interfered with. A man and his wife might both be priests, but the female sex could not enter any but the lowest grade. 32 Saturday and Sunday were both holy days. No wine was to be drunk, and no work done. They met on Sunday for divine worship. The Elders of the Eule of God showed out of the writings of Henry Nicholas " what the Service of Love was, and the obedience of the faith of Jesus Christ and his priestly office in his Catholic church." Complete obedience to the priest was strictly enjoined. Nicholas made a new Calendar, and a variety of holy days, in addition to the usual festivals of the Church. The day of the birth of John the Baptist and the Virgin, and Christmas day, were mentioned as specially holy. The seeds of the downfall of this extraordinary religious society were contained in the belief it enjoined in the great revelations made to Nicholas, and generally in the opinion that new revelations were to be looked for to guide the whole Christian Church, without the test of sensible miracles. The Prophet ordered everything to the minutest particular, even as to the succession of the property of the members, &c, as if the society were to last for ever. It lasted not much more than half a century on the Con- tinent, and lingered in England, where they were the most numerous, till the times of the Commonwealth, when they preached in the open air in 1645. This strange religious society, which had defied the power of Elizabeth to uproot, then silently disappeared in the fierce and open struggle of the time between truth and error.* We add at the foot of the next page a short history of the life of Nicholas, (q.v.) * The Familists preached publicly in 1645. We find a Mr. Kandell preached " that a man baptised with the Holy Ghost knew all things." He taught that " there was a resurrection here and perfection," and appears to have quoted 1 Cor. xv. 57, in proof of it. " This," says the author of the pamphlet, " is not to be allowed at the present time." "A Brief Discovery of the Blasphemous Doctrine of Familism." London. 1G45. 33 We have sufficiently shewn that the Puritan party did not attempt a separation from the Church of England.* We have shewn also that a regularly constituted church was formed in Queen Mary's days, and another about 1571, of which Eichard Fitz was pastor, "who professed and A SHOET HISTORY OF HENRY NICHOLAS, OR NICLAES. Founder op the " Family op Love." Henry Nicholas's father was an upright man, very zealous in the performance and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic church. He took little Henry every day to the mass and preaching, and explained to him that everything in the mass must be ful- filled in the inner life of every man through Jesus Christ. At family prayer, when eight years old, he asked his father "why he thanked God? " The father explained to him the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ, and the foundation thus laid for the true life of godliness. But the boy replied that " he could not notice that sin was lessened and man brought to true righteousness." His father said he must not doubt the grace of God, but simply believe it. Little Henry replied that " he did not in the slightest degree doubt that through the death of Christ an entrance was made for us into the kingdom of God, if we followed Him in his path of suffering." But what troubled his mind was this, that there must be a reinstatement of man into his primeval state of per- fection, and thus the rent made by sin would be taken away. Now this had not yet happened to man, and so that God must have willed to fulfil the reinstatement of man to his perfect righteousness which was destroyed by sin, in another way than that in which most men suppose. The father was at his wits' end, and so the question was propounded to his father Confessor, a Franciscan friar, but he and his brethren could give no answer, and the child was told not to trouble his mind about such questions, which would only procure him a whipping. But he answered his Confessor^that he knew he was quite young to investigate the deep and hidden things of God, and that all he wanted was to be taught. The friar, seeing the boy ready to doubt respecting the satisfaction of Christ for our sins, allowed him to speak, and he again assured him that this was not what he doubted about. The question in his mind was how we are to be brought into the state of Adam before he fell, and into the true righteousness of Christ, and the power taken from death, and the true godliness in Christ fulfilled in us. He asked, were we still indebted for the fruits of repentance or not ? The child's intellect was not satisfied by the answers he received. In his ninth year this was explained to little Henry in a vision. " Suddenly a great light and clearness of God in the form of a mountain approached him and penetrated his whole being. This * Field and Wilcocks, who prescribed the Puritan address to Parliament, after explaining their objects to the archbishop's chaplain in their prison, said, " We are not for an unspotted church on earth, and therefore, though the Church of England has many faults, we would not willingly leave it." " Dr. Waddington's History," p. 7. D 34 practised that cause before Mr. Browne wrote for it." * The views of the Separatists were now advocated by Eobert Browne. He was first cousin to Lord Burghley and chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk. He was a young man of great ability and clearness of expression, and a good Short history of Henry Nicholas, continued. answered his questions, how we are to attain to the perfection of God. He himself was now penetrated by the divine Spirit, and now he is become " a divine man." This "unity of being with God " was " the true fulfilment of godliness in Christ, and was the great day of judgment upon earth." When the vision was over he found himself awake, but so wearied that he slept again. In this sleep the further step was reached that he was directly called to be a Prophet to enlighten others. Then followed a vision of " tearing wolves " and other wild beasts. He was terribly frightened, and woke, crying, " Ah, ah, what will be the sentence passed upon my soul? " His parents came to his bed with the question, " What was the matter ? " but he merely said that he felt unwell, and imparted his revelations to no one. These wild beasts described the third period of his life and figured the wicked who were unavailingly to persecute him. When he was twenty his parents gave him a virtuous young lady for wife, and he took a mercantile business. God blessed his trade. In his 27th year he was put in prison on the suspicion of Lutheranism, but after a severe examination they found him a sound Catholic. Later he went to Amsterdam. In his 30th year, in Amsterdam, he associated with some who had " fallen away from the Catholic Church, but exercised themselves with righteousness." He became, Arnold says in his Kirchen and Ketzer Historie (Th. ii. B. xvi. C 21, p. 36), " a good friend of David Joris," the celobrated Anabaptist, " who wrote to him confidentially." He was again thrown into prison, but •'nothing uncatholic " was found in him. He kept aloof, he says, from all Anabaptist Beets. In his 39th year he received another revelation. As in his youth, God appeared to him and penetrated his whole being. The Holy Ghost poured the true love of Jesus Christ over him. He said to him, " Fear not, I am He who is All in All." " I will reinstate everything, as I have spoken through my prophets, and set up the house of Israel again in its glory." * ' Now in the full maturity of my holy understanding I will reveal myself more fully, and what thou could'st not bear in thy youth, so that thou makest known everything to the children of men which I impart to thee. For, for this purpose I have borne thee from thy youth on my heart, for a house for me to dwell in, and up to this time I have preserved thee from all destruction in which the evil and ungodly shall inherit eternal death, and the good and obedient eternal life." He was then made more entirely one with the will and word of God, and God commanded him to put his revelations in print and publish them, and gave him as companions in the service of the word, "Daniel," " Elidad," and "Tobias." He lived nine years in Amsterdam, and then received a revelation to go to Emden in his 39th year. From *See Dialogue printed in 1593, quoted by Dr.Waddington, "Congregational Martyrs, "p.15. 35 preacher. His object was to form separate congregations in each parish. He visited various parts of the country, in conjunction with Kobert Harrison, forming churches. In Norfolk and Suffolk the Separatist Churches met in such a close and secret manner, that Dr. Freke, the Bishop of Short history of Henry Nicholas, continued. this time he stood forth as a Prophet and founder of a sect. He seems to imply that he was imprisoned (? tortured and released) at Embden. He remained there, busied him- self with his writings. He and his followers appear to have used these in obtaining proselytes. They did not teach in public. All his steps were in secret, and he sought to win disciples by personal influence. He received at Emden another revelation, and this time it enabled him to take in "the whole host of heaven and the perfection of God." He carried on his mercantile business, taking business journies from Embden all over Holland and Brabant, from 1540 to 1560.* His wealth was not insignificant. His wife died shortly after 1560. He had three daughters and two sons. In his 59th year the council of Embden concluded on his imprisonment, but he was not to be found. His goods were confiscated, and a warrant for his apprehension was issued to the magistrates of other towns and lands. It is probable that in this year he went to England, afterwards to Kampen, and some years later to Cologne. In his 64th year the word of the Lord came again to him ; only the twenty-four Elders and the four Seraphs of the House of Love were to travel with him, and a' new and better organization of the Society was resolved on. This led to disputes, the subject of which was, that he was desirous of enacting a stricter obedience than some of his followers desired, and his inspiration was questioned. He appears to have died about 1570. One of his earliest and principal adherents was Henry Jansen from Barneveldt in Gelderland. He is called in the Familist Tracts " Hiel." The British Museum is very rich in these tracts. Mr. J. H. Hessels (Librarian fit Trinity College Library Dublin), in December, 1869, published in " Notes and Queries," a list of Familist Tracts. The following are in the British Museum: "Mirabilia Opera Dei," 852, g 1, 5; "Evangeliam Kegni," 4408, o 1656 ; " The First Epistle," 697, b 31 ; " A Publishing of the Peace upon Earth," 697, a 26, 1574 ; " Evangelium Kegni," 697, A 26 ; " The Prophetie of the Spirit of Love," 697, a 26, 1574; " Coma3dia, Gren Coll.," 11,158; "Dicta," H. N., 697, a 26; "Proverbia," H. N., 697, a 26; "Second Exhortation of H. N.," 4408, g 448, g, 2nd Tract; "Epistle unto Two Daughters of Warwick," 4106, b 1608; "Fidelitas," 697, A 26; "A Good and Fruitful Exhortation," 697, a 26 ; "An Apology," &c, e 1610, date 1656; Against the Familists— " A Displaying," c 21, a, 1579; "An Answer," 3932, -^ 1579; " A Confutation," &c, 852, g 1, 1579; "A Supplication," 852, g 1, 1606; "J. Ethrington," e Ytj 7 5 " An Exposition of the Ten Commandments," year 1586., MS. ; Henry Ainsworth's " A Befutation," &c, Amstd., 1608, 4106 b ; " A Description of the Sect," &c, 1641, 1326, g 4. • This entirely disposes of the theory of Krohn in his history of Melchior Hoffman, p. 327, that the Englishman " Henry " who paid the expenses of the delegates at the great meeting of Anabaptists at Buckholt, in 153C, was Henry Nicolaes. D 2 36 Norwich, found it impossible to suppress them. Browne was soon apprehended, but was set at liberty and became pastor of the English Church at Middleburgh in Zealand in 1581, where he formed a church on his own plan, having for his colleague Kobert Harrison, who succeeded him. He published a book in 1582 — " A book which sheweth the life and manners of all true christians/ ' He maintained that Christ is the Head of the Church ; that every congregation of christians is a church free from all external control ; that the government of the Church by civil power is " the kingdom of anti-christ ; " that the office of " teaching or guiding "is a " charge or message committed by God to those who have gifts for the same ; " and that the people of the congregation were the proper judges of their gifts, and should have the election of their minister. In 1584 he is found in Scotland. He returned to England in 1585, and itinerated, diffusing his views wherever he came — he was a man of fiery temperament and a popular preacher. His success was therefore greater than that of a mere writer. Browne was at last induced by his relative Lord Burghley, to desert the cause he had espoused, and in 1586 a post was found for him as schoolmaster in St. Olave's Grammar School in Southwark, and finally he received preferment to a church in Northamptonshire. The opinions held by the " Separatists," as may be seen from a tract published in 1582, entitled, " A true description, out of the Word of God, of the Visible Church," * were " that the Church universal containeth in it all the elect of God that have been, are, or shall be ; that the Church visible consists of a company and fellowship of faithful and holy people gathered in the name * This corresponds in some parts verbally with a paper found by Dr. Waddington in the State Papers endorsed " Jerome Studley," one of the Separatist prisoners. 37 of Christ Jesus, their only king, priest, and prophet, being personally and quietly governed by His offices and laws, keeping the unity of the faith in the bond of peace, and in love unfeigned." Every stone hath His beauty, His burden, and His order, all bound to edify one another, exhort, re- prove and comfort one another. In this church they have holy laws to direct them in the choice of every officer what kind of men the Lord will have. The pastor must be apt to teach, no young scholar, able to divide the word aright ; he must be a man that loveth goodness, wise, righteous, holy, temperate, modest, humble, meek, gentle, and loving ; a man of great patience, compassion, labour, and diligence - — he must always be careful and watchful over the flock whereof the Lord hath made him overseer, with all willing- ness and cheerfulness. Their doctor or teacher must be a man apt to teach — he must be mighty in the Scriptures, able to convince the gainsay ers. Their elders must be of wisdom and judgment, endued with the Spirit of God, able to discern between cause and cause, between plea and plea ; always vigilant and superintending to see the statutes, ordinances, and laws of God kept in the Church, not only by the people, but to see the officers do their duties, but not to intrude into their offices. Their deacons must be men of honest report. Their relievers or widows must be women of 60 years of age at the least, given to every good work, to minister to the Sick.* Such were the views and aims of the men who were loaded with reproaches by all parties, and deemed to be aiming at the overthrow of both the christian religion and the State. * But the existence of these regular church officers was not to debar other members of the Church from the exercise of prophecy which was manifested according to their gifts and abilities. All the saints were exhorted to the exercise of their gifts as " most needful at all times, especially when the teacher or pastor were imprisoned or exiled." 38 In 1589 and 1590 were written the celebrated " Martin Marprelate " tracts. They were dispersed all over the kingdom, and contained a scurrilous attack of the most satirical kind upon the prelates. They show that the tyranny of the bishops was becoming most unpopular. Their language appealed not to truly Christian men, but to the people, and they doubtless tended to widen the struggle and give it a popular as well as a religious aspect. The authors were never discovered. The expression "dumb dogs" (as applied to the bishops' creation of that period, of ignorant, non-preaching ministers) occurs in them, although its use may doubtless be traced farther back. Brownism now spread rapidly, and in 1591 an Act was framed which affected the laity as severely as the clergy. It was levelled against those who in any way impugned " Her Majesty's power and authority in causes ecclesias- tical," against those who in any way dissuaded any from coming to church, or receiving the communion, under penalty of perpetual banishment, and a felon's death if they returned from banishment. Sir Walter Kaleigh de- clared, on the passing of this Act, that there were above 20,000 Brownists in England, and asked, if they were banished, who was to maintain their wives and children ? Note. — See page 14 (continued). — Joan Bocher was burnt 2nd May, 1550, for maintaining that Christ assumed nothing of the Virgin Mary, but passed through her as a conduit pipe. — See Fuller's Cimrch Hist., iv., 42 (Brewer); Andrewes' Sermons, p. lib (Ed. 1632) "Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum," ch. v.; Fleury Hist. Eccl., book xviii., ch. 24. Ann Askew also held this opinion of Melchior Hofmann, no doubt handed down from a much earlier time. The following quotation has been kindly given me by J. E. B. Mayor, M.A.— Greg. Naz. Ep., 101 (ii.,85b, ed. Bened.) CHAPTEE III. The Coukse of Eeligious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Eise of the Barrowists, Johnsonists, Separatists, or Early Independents. In the year 1586, John Greenwood and Henry Barrow, who were fellow students at Cambridge, joined the Separa- tists. Greenwood was domestic chaplain at Eochford Hall. Henry Barrow, B.A., was the son of Thomas Barrow of Shipdham, in Norfolk, and, after leaving Corpus Christi College, he studied the law at Gray's Inn. He was a frequenter of the Court, and of dissipated habits. Walking on Sunday in London, he heard a Puritan preacher preach- ing very loudly, and turned into the church. The preacher " sharply reproved sin, and sharply applied the judgments of God against the same." The result was an entire change of life in Henry Barrow, and he became a noble witness for the truth of God. Greenwood was arrested for reading the Scriptures to twenty-one persons, at the house of Henry Martin, in the parish of St. Andrew, by the Wardrobe, in the year 1586. Barrow visited his friend in the Clink prison. He was then arrested without warrant, placed in a boat and taken to the Palace of Lambeth, and was imprisoned in the Gate-house by Archbishop Whitgift. For six years 40 Barrow and Greenwood occupied themselves in prison in writing tracts, explanatory of their views, on~ scraps of paper, which were conveyed, by those who had access to them, with great secrecy to Holland, where they were printed and again conveyed to England, and circulated by the Separatists. This led, by the providence of God, to the accession to the ranks of the Separatists, of a leader of great eminence, Francis Johnson. He was the son of the Mayor of Kichmond, in Yorkshire. He was a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and defended the views of the Puritans in a sermon at St. Mary's Church, for which he was imprisoned. Francis Johnson was a preacher to the company of English, of the Staple at Middleburg, in Zealand. He was highly respected, and in receipt of " a considerable maintenance," and was " so zealous against this way," that when " Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood's refutation of GifTord was privately printing in this city, he not only was a means to discover it, but was made the ambassador's instrument to intercept them at the press and see them burnt, which charge he did so well perform, as he let them go on until they were wholly finished, and then surprised the whole impression," and by the magistrates' authority he had the whole burnt, reserving two copies — " one to keep in his own study, and the other to bestow upon a special friend." He sat down to read it superficially, but was ' ' so taken, and his conscience was troubled so that he could have no rest in himself, until he crossed the sea and came to London to confer with the authors who were in prison and shortly after executed." He did not return to Middleburg, but joined himself to the society of Separa- tists in London,* and when he again reached Amsterdam, * Governor Bradford's Dialogue, printed in " New England Memorial," p. 334. 41 at his own cost, reprinted the books he had burned. About the same time John Penry came to London. He was a young Puritan preacher, and his object was to obtain the aid of the Queen and Parliament for the speedy evangeliza- tion of Wales. He visited Barrow, who told him that he was seeking " to bring in Christ by the arm of flesh, and not by the power of His Word, and virtue of His Spirit, into the hearts and consciences of men," and so reasoned with him that Penry cast in his lot with the despised Separatists. The prison authorities now relaxed the close confinement in which Greenwood had been placed at the Fleet Prison, and he was transferred to the house of Koger Kippon. This opened the way for the formation of a regular Congregational Church. Francis Johnson was chosen pastor, John Greenwood teacher, and Daniel Studley and George Knyveton elders. They baptized the children of believers and administered the Lord's Supper with extreme simplicity. The place of meeting of the Church was changed every time they met. Their meetings excited great alarm, and on December 5th, 1592, Francis Johnson and John Greenwood were seized at the house of Edward Boyes on Ludgate Hill, and committed to prison. On the 23rd of March, 1593, Barrow, Greenwood, Studley and others, were fined for publishing and dispersing " seditious books," asserting the independence of the Church of Christ from all external interference. On the following day Barrow and Greenwood were brought to Tyburn, and " tyed by our neck to the tree, were permitted to speak a few words." * They were then reprieved, and then, with a refinement of cruelty, because they would not promise in future " to come to church," were again conveyed to Tyburn Letter, dated " 4th or 5th of 4th Month, 1593." 42 and suffered death as felons ; their wives and children wer£ cast out of the city, and their goods confiscated. The reason of this proceeding was, that the House of Commons had at first refused to pass a Bill against the Barrowists and Brownists, making it a felony to maintain any opinion against the ecclesiastical government; and the day after this " dislike " had been shewn by the House, Barrow and Greenwood "were early in the morning hanged." This blow of the Queen and bishops was followed up on the 5th of April, 1593, by another. They surprised the Separatist Church at Islington, and 56 were taken prisoners and brought up with others also for examination. John Penry and Francis Johnson were taken at this meeting. On the 29th May, Penry was hung, and one of his friends was actually brought into the High Commissioner's Court, and charged with having " received and entertained the said Penry," and before his arraignment, " did then promise to pray for him ! " Penry addressed a touching " protestation " before his death, to the Lord Treasurer Burghley. Hard, indeed, must have been the hearts which were not touched with the simple eloquence of a young man who had lived for the good of others. " I am a poor young man," said he, " born and bred in the mountains of Wales. I am the first, since the last springing up of the Gospel in this latter age, that laboured to have the blessed seed thereof sown in those barren mountains. I have often rejoiced before God (as He knoweth) that I had the favour to be born under Her Majesty, for the promoting of this work. . . . And being now to end my days, before I am come to one half of my years in the likely course of nature, I leave the success of my labours unto such of my countrymen 'as the Lord will raise up after me, for the accomplishing of that work, which in the calling of my country unto the knowledge of 43 Christ's blessed gospel, I began Whatever I wrote in religion, the same I did simply for no other end than for the bringing of God's truth to light. I never did anything in this cause (Lord, thou art witness) for con- tention, vain-glory, or to draw disciples after me." He wrote to his wife, " 6th of the 4th month, of April, 1593 — I am ready, pray for me, and desire the Church to pray for me, much and earnestly. The Lord comfort thee, good Helen, and strengthen thee; be not dis- mayed, I know not how thou doest for outward things, but my God will provide. My love be with thee, now and ever, in Jesus Christ." He besought the Church to " take my poor and desolate widow, and my mess of fatherless and friendless orphans with you into exile, withersoever you go," and commended them to "Him who will hear their cry, for he is merciful." He died, " looking for that blessed crown of glory, which of the great mercy of my God is ready for me in heaven." In accordance with Penry's advice, the Separatist Church, as far as they were able, went to Amsterdam in 1593. Francis Johnson petitioned Lord Burghley, the Lord Treasurer, who appears to have had some feeling for the persecuted Separatists, or some desire to thwart the " prelate of Canterbury." Henry Jacob, a Puritan minister in Kent, was, during Johnson's imprisonment in the Clink, induced to discuss the questions between the Puritans and Separatists, with the view of convincing Johnson, but the result was that he joined the Separatists. The operations of the Church of the Separa- tists in Southwark, were not merely confined to the metropolis; they had a staff of preachers, among whom was John Smyth (who, we shall shew, occupied an im- portant position in the movement, and was destined to be the leader of a new school of opinion) and four others. 44 John Smyth and others preached in Somersetshire. Barrow, before he died, left a stock for the relief of the poor of the church, which materially assisted them in their exile. We now pause in the thread of this history of the Separatist Church, to define their position with reference to the Puritan party in the Church. Henry Barrow was a layman. He saw clearly that the substitution of the Puritan or Presbyterian system of Church government for the Episcopal or Anglican system, would not give that freedom from external control, which was an essential condition of the growth of the Christian religion as taught in the New Testament. It was the sacerdotal system which was the root of the evil. A mere change from prelacy to Presbyterianism would not rid England from the govern- ment of priests. If the language of Barrow and Greenwood was at times uncompromising, and even bitter, let us remember the treatment to which the whole body of this little church was subjected. The Puritan party were against them. They stood alone, without sympathy from those who had suffered with them for the testimony of a good con- science. Forty-two ministers were employed by the bishops as detectives, and instructed to visit the Separatist prisoners twice a week, to entrap them into some expressions which could be used against them at their trial. Six Puritan ministers were told off for the purpose of conferring with Barrow and Greenwood. In a petition to the Lords of the Privy Council, they complain that the " Komish prelacy and priesthood left in this land," had, by " the great power and high authority they have gotten into their hands . . . above all, the public courts, judges, laws and charters of this land," persecuted, imprisoned, detained at their pleasure their " poor bodies without any trial, release, or bail per- mitted." They were thrown into Newgate, " laden with as 45 many irons as they could bear/' they were " beaten with cudgels in the prison . . . cast into Little Ease," * where they ended their lives. " Many aged widows, aged men, and young maidens have perished,' ' they say, in prison, " within these five years." The bishops' pursuivants " break into their houses at all hours of the night . . . break up, ransack, rifle, and make havoc at their pleasure." The " two special points on which we dislike them," writes Bancroft, were " their departing from our churches, and the framing to themselves a church of their own." Barrow and Greenwood were greatly grieved by the tendency to unfaith- fulness, in the whole Puritan party, to their conscientious convictions. " All the precise Puritans," he says, " who refuse the ceremonies of the church, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." He deems them " close hypocrites ; " he thinks " they walk in a left handed policy, as Master Cartwright, Wigginton, &c. . . . These your great learned preachers, your good men that sigh and groan for a further reformation, but their hands (with the sluggard) deny to work : these would raise up a second error by so much the more dangerous, by how much it hath more show of truth. . . . Thus the Puritans would still have the whole land to be ' the church/ " Their reformation was not to be effected by " the word preached," but they " would have all redressed in one day," by a political change of the outward form of the so-called church,! in which they would include the whole commonwealth, instead of calling men * The technical term for an awful hole into which their bodies were crushed, and so constructed as to render sleep almost impossible. The early Friends were also thus treated. In one case the prisoner died simply from the pressure. t Barrow's " Brief Discovery of the False Churches," chap, xxiii., pp. 274, 275. Ed. 1707. 46 "into the right practice of the gospel ... by the power of his own word and spirit, as it hath wrought in their hearts true repentance and conversion/ ' Barrow maintains the essential distinction of Church and State, and reproves Calvin's proceedings at Geneva as " rash and disorderly . . . where he at the first dash made no scruple to receive the whole state, and consequently all the profane, ignorant people, into the bosom of the Church, and to administer the sacrament to them. . . . Whereby the Church became a just reproach, even to the wicked hereticks, &c, nay, that which is worse and more to be lamented, is that it became a precedent and example to the greatest part of Europe to fall into like transgression." * They set the clergy above the people, who are not to have a free voice in their Synods and select Classes of ministers. These synods are to have " absolute power over all churches, doctrines, and ministers ; to elect, ratify, or abrogate ; to excommunicate or depose at their pleasure. Their decrees are most holy." The Presbyterian party simply substituted pastors and elders for parsons and questmen, synods for commissionary courts, high councils instead of high com- missions. " As for these new officers, these elders," he says, with much sagacity, that it is an injurious device for keeping the people from the knowledge and performance of their duties in the Church of Christ ; they will be " the wealthiest, honest, simple men in the parish, that shall sit for cyphers by their pastor, and meddle with nothing," and the people will get nothing but " the smoaky, windy, title of election" of their pastors only.f The "pontificals," he says, refute the scriptural right of the people in a christian * Barrow's "False Churches," pp. 59 and 60. Ed. 1707. t Ihid, pp. 278, 279. 47 church to govern their own affairs, " by Machiavel's con- siderations and Aristotle's politics, instead of the New Testament/' Barrow complained that the Book of Common Prayer was set above the Bible. " This book, in their churches, must have the sovereignty ; it may not be gain- said or controlled ; or, if it be, the "Word of God must give place." * He says that prayer is a spiritual sacrifice, that the Holy Spirit is given to teach us to pray. " Shall we think that God hath at any time left his children so singly furnished, and so destitute of his grace, that they cannot find words according to their necessities, and faith to express their wants and desires, but need to be taught, line upon line, as children new weaned from the breasts, what and when to say, how much to say, and when to make an end. ... Is not this presumptuous," he asks, respect- ing the liturgy, " to undertake to teach the Spirit of God, and to take away his office, which instructeth all the children of God to pray with gifts and groans inexpressible. . . . Yea, the Apostle John saith we need no other teacher to these things, than the ' anointing ' which we have received, and dwelleth in us." Barrow was strongly opposed to ritualism. " How like children, or rather masking fools, are these great clerks dressed ! " If the false church of the prelates was the " first beast " in the Kevelations, then surely the Presby- terian system would prove, if it were established, the " second beast." Barrow objected strongly to pulpits,! which he complains would " receive no more than one person — except it be a * " A Brief Discovery of the False Churches." See quotation from this edition in Hanbury, vol. i., p. 43. 1590. f Barrow's " False Churches," p. 263. Ed. 1707. 48 suggcstor or prompter as is practised in some particular places," which gives us curious insight into the customs of the times in the Church. " Neither," says he, " ordinarily does," any " more than one " preacher " at a time " speak in the church, and " for the most part disputes by the hour-glass, which being run out, his sermonication must also be at an end." Whatever doctrine he may preach, whether he handles the subject "unsufficiently" or " un- savorily," no " supplies of others " can be had, and the congregation has no power and must put up with it. The preachers, too, " have a prescribed time when to begin," and a " prescript place called a pulpit." The prophesying of the Puritans was also not the prophesying described in the New Testament. " The members of the Church being divers, and having received divers gifts, are (according to the grace given to every one) to serve the Church ;" if they have the gift of prophecy, then are they to exercise it according to the proportion of faith, keeping to the Word of God always. " It belongeth," he says, " to the whole church, and none of them ought to be shut out." Dr. Some merely " traduces the ordinances of Christ," when he calls this practice " anabaptistical." * Barrow held that the universities were a complete failure, in their mission of training christian ministers. "If the tree be known by the fruit, and the nest by the birds, then let the present state of the most general part of the clergy shew what kind of seminaries and colleges these universities are." Doctors of " divinity " are a remnant of popery. He desires that the " whole Church might be trained in schools, to teach the tongues, or in any laudable or necesssary art," and that " the Protestant nobility, as well as the common people, * Barrow's " False Churches," pp. 247—253. Ed. 1707. 49 were prophets ;" but these things should not be taught in 81 monkish, confused, idle, profane colleges and fellow- ships/' but in a holy, sanctified, reverend, grave manner." The colleges are "the very hives and nurseries of these armed locusts, and venomous scorpions and teaching priests, as popes, cardinals, archbishops, &c," and they have " fought under the pope their captain general/' The very names of the month and the week are heathenish, and christian men should say " first month, first day of the week," &c* The practice of wearing mourning " for set and stated months," and "black attire outwardly," he disapproves as a heathen, not a christian custom, t Greenwood gives a lamentable account of the state of religion among the Puritan party in the Church of England. Their " preachers run for hire and wages," instead of protesting against the state of the ministry in the church ; they do not withdraw the people from "dumb and plurified pastors." They "make a show as though they sought a sincere reformation of all things according to the gospel of Christ, and yet support "the bishops, their courts and accomplices, and all those detest- able enormities which they should have utterly removed and not reformed." " Long were it to relate their arts and engines whereby they hunt and entangle poor souls — their counterfeit shows of holiness, gravity, austereness of manners, preciseness in trifles, large conscience in matters of greatest weight, especially of any danger; straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, hatred and thundering against some sin, tolerating, yea, colouring some other in special persons; cunning, insinuating into and witholding the known truth of God in respect of times, and places, and persons — dissembling, hiding, and witholding * Barrow's " False Churches," p. 204, &c. f Ibid, p. 197. E 50 it in their public ministry and doctrines, when it may draw them into any trouble and trial, yea, baulking, if not perverting the evident scriptures, as they arise against any public enormity of the time, under colour of ' peace, christian policy, and wisdom/ whereby these scorpions so poison and sting every good conscience, so leaven them with hypocrisy, &c, that their 'whole auditory' are so ' entangled with their snares,' that * scarce any of them, without the special mercy of God, are ever recovered or brought to any soundness, stability, or upright walking, to any conscience, true faith, or fear of God.' " "We cannot expect to find men in the position of Barrow and Greenwood weakly sparing the great Puritan party. If Christianity requires us to carry out in practice our con- scientious convictions, we must agree, that while Barrow, Greenwood, and Penry exhibited the same description of courage as that of the early christian martyrs, the course of the Puritan party in the reign of Elizabeth was not altogether worthy of themselves and their cause. The cause of the Separatists was that of spiritual religion, while that of the Puritans was a compromise. Their private religious convictions had to be sacrificed to their political aims. Although Greenwood says that he " never conversed with the ' Brownists ' or their writings," and that the Brownists attended church while his followers did not, there can be no question that the opinions of the followers of Barrow and Greenwood, and those of Eobert Browne, were nearly identical. But we must remember that the Separatist Church at Southwark, formed by Barrow, Greenwood, and Penry, and of which Francis Johnson, Henry Jacob, and John Smyth were members, has a history distinct from that party of " Brownists " who may be considered as persons holding the 51 same opinions, but who had merely commenced to hold reli- gious meetings; while the " Barrowists," or " Johnsonists," had the courage to separate entirely from the Established Church, and to form a distinct society or Church of their own. In the year 1597 there was a project for forming a settle- ment in America, and the imprisoned Separatist Church appear to have heard of it and petitioned her Majesty " that as means are now offered of our being in a foreign and far country, which lieth to the west from hence in the province of Canada," they might be allowed " to do her Majesty and our country good service " and " in time greatly annoy the bloody and persecuting Spaniard about the Bay of Mexico/' On the 25th May, 1597, it appears that " Abraham Yan Hardwick and Stephen Van Hardwick, merchant strangers, and Charles Leigh, merchant of London, trading," under- take a voyage of fishing and discovery unto " the Bay of Canada, and to plant themselves in the Island of Bainea (an Island near Newfoundland)," simultaneously made " humble suit to her Majesty to transport out of this realm divers artificers and others, persons that are noted to be sectaries, whose minds are continually in an ecclesiastical ferment, whereof four shall at this present sail thither in those ships that go this present voyage." * These four prisoners were Francis Johnson, pastor of the Separatist church at Southwark, Daniel Studley, one of their elders, with George Johnson (the brother of Francis Johnson, and of whom we shall hear again) and John Clark. The voyage proved disastrous, but it had finally released them from prison, and they found their way to Amsterdam, where the remainder of the exiled Church, who had preceded them,f elected Francis Johnson * Eegister of the Privy Council, found by Dr. Waddington and quoted in his " Con- gregational History," p 114. t In 1593. Johnson's reply to White, p. 63. Ainsworth's reply to Paget, p. 45. E 2 52 as their Pastor, and the celebrated Henry Ainsworth as Teacher, and Daniel Studley and others as Elders. Here we leave them and return to John Smyth, who remained in the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark, and was liberated, probably in consideration of his having been " sick nigh unto death," and having " doubted of the separation nine months/ ' * After conferring with certain Puritan ministers f at the house of Sir W. Bowes at Coventry, he received no satisfaction, but never repudiated the Separation ; he tells us he then formed, and became pastor to a Separatist Church at Gainsborough in the year 1602, where Bradford informs us " by the travell and diligence of some godly and zealous preachers, and God's blessing on their labours, as in other places of their land, so in the north parts many became enlightened by the word of God, and had their ignorance and sins discovered unto them, and began, by His grace to reform their lives and make conscience of their ways/' At a later period another Separatist Church was formed at Scrooby, of which Bichard Clyfton was pastor, and to him succeeded the celebrated John Bobinson, William Brewster being Elder. These churches were therefore on the borders of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire, and main- tained a close connection. The church at Scrooby was held in a manor house of the bishop's, which was in the occupa- tion of William Brewster, who held the position of postmaster between 1594 and 1607,1 and this doubtless secured this church from disturbance for a longer period. The date of John Smyth and "his company" leaving England for Amsterdam is not known, but it is probable that this took place between 1604 and 1606, and the formation of the * "Parallel Answers, Observations," &c, by John Smyth, pp. 1 and 128-9. t These were Dod, Hildersham, and Barbon — " Brook's Puritans," p. 196. I Hunter's " Founders of New Plymouth," pp. 66, 68. 53 Scrooby Church took place about 1606.* Smyth addressed a letter "to certain brethren in S.," which may doubtless be taken to have been written to the Scrooby church, from Amsterdam at this date, and in which he expressed the utmost confidence of the ultimate success of the movement, " although you are but few in number, yet, considering that the kingdom of Heaven is as a grain of mustard seed, small at the beginning, I do not doubt but you may in time grow up to be a multitude, and be, as it were, a great tree full of fruitful branches." t Smyth, after a certain period, supported himself at Amsterdam by practising physic. " He usually took nothing of the poorer sort, and, if they were rich, he took half as much as other doctors did, excepting some who were well able and well minded, urged more upon him." He lived "sparingly" rather than "that any should be in extremity." On one occasion, " seeing one slenderly apparalled, he sent them his gowne to make them clothes." He was "well beloved of most men and hated of none." He did " good both for soul and body." J This eminent man, while honoured by those who opposed him in England for his great talents, and on all hands admitted to have been one of the most able of the Separatists, has been charged by his brethren with the inconstancy of his opinions, and the charge has been repeated by modern writers. For this there appears not to have been the slightest ground, excepting that, in his desire to possess the whole truth, he carried out the principles of the Separation to their logical issue. He was the first enunciator in England of the great principles of complete and perfect religious freedom as opposed to a partial toleration by the state of certain * Hunter's "Founders of New Plymouth," p. 89. t " Paralles, Censures, Observations," by John Smyth. 1609, last four pages, X See " Life of John Smyth," recently found in York Minster Library. 54 " tolerable " opinions. His life and death do honour to his christian character, while the General Baptist Churches, of whose religious principles he was enunciator, were the consistent and uniform advocates of religious liberty. The records of the Ecclesiastical Court at York show that information was given against "William Brewster, of Scrooby, on December 1st, 1607, and about this period many of the Church appear to have attempted to reach Holland. In the spring of 1608 another attempt was made by a larger number, and a secret arrangement was made with a Dutchman to take them on board his ship between Grimsby and Hull, but by the time the first boatful had been taken to the ship, " the country was raised to take them ... a great company, both horse and foot, with bills and guns, and other weapons/' The Dutchman thereupon " swore his country's oath, ' sacremente/ and having the wind fair, waiyed his ancor, hoysed sayles and away." Thus the men were separated from their wives and children, who were thus left without " a cloath to shift them with more than they had upon their baks, and some scarce a peney about them . . . pitiful it was to see the heavy case of these poor women in their distress, what weeping and crying on every side; their poore little ones hanging about them, crying for fear and quaking with cold." Being thus appre- hended, they were hurried from one place to another, and from one justice to another, till in the end they knew not what to do with them, for to imprison so many women and children for no other cause than that they must go with their husbands, seemed to be unreasonable. " To be shorte, after they had been thus turmoyled a good while, and conveyed from one constable to another, they were glad to be rid of them in the end upon any terms, and notwithstanding these storms of opposition, they all 55 gat over at length ""* to Amsterdam, where they found their husbands, who had encountered a fearful storm. John Eobinson and William Brewster remained in England till they had helped the weakest members of the flock to join their brethren, and after they had lived at Amsterdam about a year, in communion with the exiled Separatist Church from Southwark, Eobinson advocated their removing to Leyden, where he founded the celebrated Church from whom the Church at New Plymouth, commonly called that of the Pilgrim Fathers, was an offset. The Church in Southwark was not, it appears, entirely suppressed, for in October, 1608, mention is made of a nest of Brownists, * 'whereof five or six and thirty were apprehended/ ' Before following the Separatists to Amsterdam, we must turn again to England. The publication of " Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity/' (of which the first four books were published in 1594, the fifth in 1597, and the remaining three, after his death in the year 1600) marks the rise of another party in the Church of England which was destined to play an important part in the great events which took place later, and were taking place when Fox appeared on the scene in 1648. This party was conscientiously opposed to Puritan principles both in discipline and theology. James Arminius began to teach his system of theology, when Pastor at Amsterdam, in opposition to that of John Calvin, as early as 1591, f and the Church of the Separatists (in which Ainsworth was Pastor) contended with Arminius at an early period. Whether from this source, or whether the progress * Bradford's " History of Plymouth Plantation," pp. 10 to 16, printed by the Mass. Historical Society, Boston, 1856. t "Mosheim." 17th Century. Sect, ii., chap. 3 ; Part ii., note &, p. 459, Maclaine's Translat. 56 of thought had led many minds to the same conclusion, it is certain that Arminian doctrines took rapid hold of the party in the Church of England represented by Hooker, and that a similar division took place in the Separatist Church at Amsterdam, which, as we shall show, led to the formation of a new Church by John Smyth, of whom we have already spoken. Arminius taught, in opposition to Calvin, "that Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular, but that none but those who believe in Him can be partakers of this divine benefit ; that it is necessary to man's conversion and salva- tion that he be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ ; that this divine grace or energy of the Holy Ghost, which heals the disorders of a corrupt nature, begins, advances, and brings to perfection everything which can be called good in man, and that this grace does not force the man to act against his inclination, but may be resisted and rendered ineffectual by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner/' and eventually his followers taught that " the saints might fall from grace," although Arminius taught that this was a matter which required a further and atten- tive examination of the Holy Scriptures.* Above all, he rejected the doctrine of Calvin respecting predestination and the Divine decrees, &c. "Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity" is the most able defence of Episcopacy and the principles of the Established Church of England, which has ever issued from the press, and Pope Clement VIII. said concerning it, " There is no learning that this man hath not reached into, nothing too hard for his understanding. His books * " Mosheim." 17th Century. Chap. 3, parts iv. and v., pp. 461, 462. 57 will get reverence by age, for there are in them such seeds of eternity, that if the rest be like this, they shall last till the last fire shall consume all learning." Hooker* maintains against the Puritans, that though the Holy Scriptures are a perfect standard of doctrine, they are not a rule of discipline or government, nor is the practice of the Apostles an invariable rule or law to the Church in succeeding ages ; that the Church is a Society like others, capable of making laws for her well being and government provided they do not interfere with, or contradict the laws and commandments of Holy Scripture — where Scripture is silent, human authority may interpose — the Church is therefore at liberty to appoint ceremonies and establish order within its limits, and that all who are born within the confines of an Established Church and are baptised into it, are bound to submit to its ecclesiastical laivs, and he vindicates the ceremonies and orders of the Church from the objections of the Puritans. But the splendid genius of Hooker, how- ever great its influence in forming a clearly defined party in the Church of England, was unequal to the task of con- vincing those who were relentlessly persecuted, and their reply was practically the same as that of young William Penn, who, when Charles II. sent Stillingfleet to him in the Tower to convince him by arguments, replied, " The Tower is to me the worst argument in the world." The actions of Whitgift, and the existence of the Court of High Commission, were more eloquent and convincing than the arguments of Hooker. " The sufferings of the Puritans, says Price, " during the primacy of Whitgift, are not to be parallelled in the history of Protestant intolerance, unless * " Walton's Life of Hooker," p. 61 in Hooker's Works. Dobson's Edit. 1825. Cowie & Co., London. 58 perhaps, exception may be made of the times of the Second Charles." We venture to think that the sufferings of the Eestoration far exceeded those of Elizabeth's reign, but whether this was the case or not, Elizabeth carried out a policy which she conceived necessary to consolidate a newly Established Church, and which nearly all of those who suffered under it, agreed was in principle correct, viz., the principle of coercion by the state in matters of • religious opinion. Even the Separatist Church, whose history we have been tracing, presided over by Henry Ainsworth at Amsterdam, held (see Article 39th of their confession) that it was " the duty of princes and magistrates to suppress and root out by their authority all false ministries, voluntary religions, and counterfeit worship of God, yea, to enforce all their subjects, whether ecclesiastical or civil, to do their duties to God and men." * We cannot, in justice to the Church of England in Elizabeth's time, avoid the conclusion that the whole question in the mind of a Puritan, or even Separatist, or Brownist, of this period, respecting the iniquity of all persecution, turned on the conclusion that he was right, and the advocates of Episcopacy were wrong. The heartless cruelty which the bishops under Elizabeth displayed to their unfortunate victims, cannot however be excused on this ground. In 1603 " the Brownists, Barrowists, Johnsonists," &c, petitioned the King's Most Excellent Majesty. They state that some of them are " constrained to live as exiles in * So Greenwood (when pressed in his conference with Sperin and Cooper) said, " Both the magistrates ought to compel the infidels to hear the doctrine of the Church, and also with the approbation of the church, to send forth men with gifts and graces to instruct the infidels, being as yet no ministers or officers unto them." Dr. Waddington's Historical Papers, p. 186. Second Edition. foreign lands," and that "others" are " still in our country." They refer to the " confession of our faith already exhibited to your Majesty," * and shortly state the points of difference between themselves and the Church of England. The first Article asserts that the officers of the Church of Christ should be only those which He has appointed "in his last will and testament." Second — Churches are "particular churches." Third — They are companies of people " separated from the world by the word of God, and joined in a voluntary profession of the faith of Christ : no atheist, misbeliever, heretic, or wicked liar is to be received or retained." Fourth — Laymen, " discreet, faithful, and able men, though not in the office of the ministry," may be appointed to preach the Gospel, and that those " who are converted to the Lord " may be joined " in holy communion with Christ our Head." Fifth — Each Church has power to appoint five sorts of officers, as before described, and that no " antichristian hierarchy " is to be " set over, or retained in the Church of Christ." Sixth — Such officers' duties are " to feed the Church of Christ," and ought not " to be burdened with the execution of civil affairs, such as marriages, burying the dead," &c. Seventh — They are to be supported by the purely voluntary contributions of the Church, and not by "popish livings," or Jewish tithes, and that therefore the land, or like revenues of the prelates and clergy yet remaining, being still also baits to allure the Jesuits and seminaries into the land, and to introduct to them to plot and execute their wonted evil courses in hope to enjoy them in time to come, may now by your Highness be taken away and converted to better uses, as those of the abbeys and nunneries, which * Additional MSS. Brit. Museum, 8978 (138c) p. 238. 60 have heretofore by your Majesty's worthy predecessors, to the honour of God and great good of the realm. Eighth — Each particular Church has the power of admonishing or excommunicating their members. Ninth — That the Church be not governed by popish canons, &c, but by the New Testament. " That the Lord be worshipped in Spirit and in truth." The Lord's prayer and " the liturgy of his own Testament " might be used, but no other, such as the " Book of Common Prayer" " translated from the popish liturgy/' Tenth — The Churches not to observe " days and times, rites or ceremonies ... but that Christian liberty be retained." Eleventh — All "monuments of idolatry in garments ;" all " temples, altars, chapels, and other places dedicated heretofore by the heathens or antichristians to their false worship ... by lawful authority," are to be razed and abolished, not suffered to remain to the nourishing of superstition, much less employed for the true service of God. Twelfth — Popish degrees in Theology, &c, to be abolished, that the colleges may become " well-springs of true learning and godliness." Thirteenth — The sacrament only to be administered to the " faithful," and " baptism to their seed or those under their government," according to the simplicity of the Gospel." Fourteenth — Finally, that " all churches and people (without exception) are only to be bound to submit to the order which Christ as Lord and King hath appointed." They pray the King that " the ancient and only true way of Christ being revived," they may be protected, and express the conviction that Christ will make all things concur to- free his Church from, and destroy the " mummery of that anti- christian defection and iniquity," for " strong is the Lord of Hosts, and He will perform it." CHAPTER IV. The course of Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Ancient Church of Amsterdam. Henry Ainsworth, Francis Johnson, John Robinson, and John Smyth. The Rise at Amsterdam and Leyden of the English Congregational or Indepen- dent Churches, Johnson's Presbyterio-Independent Church, and the English General Baptist or Men- nonite Church. We now return to the Separatist Church at Amsterdam. The first portion of the exiles, as before stated, reached this city in 1593. Henry Ainsworth joined them about this period, and occupied a prominent position prior to his formal election to the office of " teacher " to the Church, conjointly with Francis Johnson, who was elected " Pastor/' This took place on the arrival of Johnson. The history of Ainsworth, prior to his settlement in Amsterdam, is still involved in obscurity. He came " out of Ireland with other poor," Governor Bradford tells us. He concealed his wants from his fellow refugees ; he was " a single young man and very studious," and Roger "Williams speaks of him as living on ninepence a week, and upon boiled roots.* On Reply to Cotton's Letter," by Roger Williams, p. 39. 62 settling at Amsterdam he became porter to a bookseller there, who discovered his skill in Hebrew and made it known to his countrymen. " He was a man of a thousand/' says his contemporary, Governor Bradford. In the opinion of some learned members of the University of Leyden, Ainsworth "had not his better for the Hebrew tongue in the University, nor scarce in Europe." He was "of an innocent and unblamable life and conversation, of a meek spirit and calm temper." He wrote annotations on the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Song of Solomon, which are even now held in high esteem. The influence which Ainsworth and Johnson's church, and the Church at Leyden exerted upon the course of religious opinion in England was unquestionably large. The Churches of Amsterdam and Leyden not only calmly thought out, but carried out for themselves in exile, all that is comprehended in the principles of the Congregational or Independent Churches of our times. Every particular Church was a distinct society, having Christ as its prophet, priest, and king ; it was a " company of people called and separated from the world by the Word of God, and bound together by voluntary profession of the faith." The congregation had power to elect their own officers, " pastors, teachers, elders, deacons, and helpers, whose maintenance should be of the free and voluntary contributions of the Church." No one was to be a member but on a public confession of his faith, neither any infants, but such as are " the seed of the faithful " by one of their parents, or under their educational government. A certificate was required if a member removed from one congregation to another. In 1596 this Church, to correct the misstatements of their enemies, and promote the cause of true religion, issued " The confession of faith of certain English people 63 living in exile in the Low Countries," in English.* It was translated into Latin in 1598, and was reprinted in 1607, t dedicated to the " students of Holy Scripture in the christian Universities of Leyden, in Holland, of St. Andrew in Scotland, of Heidelburg, Geneva, and the other like famous schools of learning in the Low Oountreyes, Scotland, Germany and France," and was sent to the pro- fessors of these universities. This Church consisted, after the accession of the last band of fugitives who came out with Eobinson and Brewster in 1608, " of about 300 communicants, { before their division and breach, and " had you seen them in their beauty and order as we have done, you would have been much affected therewith." For a short period, therefore, we find the following eminent men worshipping together in this church. Henry Ainsworth, Francis Johnson, Kichard Clifton, John Eobinson, John Smyth, Thomas Helwisse, William Brewster, and William Bradford, who was afterwards the Governor of the New Ply- mouth Colony, who had been born in the village of Auster- field, and had been a member of the third Separatist Church formed at Scrooby under Bichard Clifton and John Bobinson's ministry. At this period Francis Johnson and Henry Ainsworth were respectively their " pastor " and teacher ; they had four Elders — Daniel Studeley, Stanshall Mercer, George Knyveton and Christopher Bowman — and three Deacons, and one " ancient widow for a deaconess" who was above sixty years old; she visited "the sick * A copy of this is in the British Museum, 4to. 22 pp., with preface dated 1596, another in the Lambeth Library. f A copy of this second edition, 12mo. 55 pp., is in York Minster Library ; a third edition was published. X " Governor Bradford's Dialogue, New England Memorial," p. 355. 64 and weak, especially women, and as there was need, called out maids and young women to watch and do them other helps as their necessity did require ; and if they were poor, she would gather relief for them of those that were able, or acquaint the deacons, and she was obeyed as a mother in Israel, and an officer of Christ She honoured her place, and was an ornament to the congregation; she usually sat in a convenient place in the congregation, with a little birchen rod in her hand, and kept little children in great awe from disturbing the congregation/' Eobinson, with Brewster, Bradford, and the rest of the Scrooby Church, seeing that some contention had arisen between John Smyth and the Church,* and finding that their good offices were not likely to be of any service, after remaining at Amsterdam for about a year,f thought it best to remove, before they were involved in any controversy, to Leyden, the end of 1608, or early in 1609, where "they continued for many years in a comfortable condition, enjoying much sweet and delightful society and spiritual comfort together in the ways of God, under the able and prudent government of Mr. John Bobinson and Mr. William Brewster, grew in knowledge and other gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, and lived together in peace, and love, and holiness. . . . And many came unto them from divers parts of England, * Bradford's " History of Plymouth Plantation," p. 16. See also Helwy's Letter, quoted in "Evans' Baptists," Vol. I., p. 210; the correct date of the original is 12th March, 1609, the date printed in Evans is erroneous. Dr. Scheffer has kindly examined this for me. This difference of opinion was respecting the Scriptures, probably respecting the distinction between the Old and New Testament dispensations ; but Smyth was convinced by the arguments of Johnson and Ainsworth, and " revoked them." t Bradford's " History of Now England Plantation," p. 16. 65 so as they grew a great congregation . . . not much fewer in number " than the " ancient Church " at Amsterdam. Elder Brewster was occupied in printing books to send to England. Henry Jacob had also become convinced of the scriptural character of the principles of the Separatists, and also sought refuge at Middleburg, from whence he corre- sponded with Kobinson at Leyden. The proceedings of the Separatist Church excited a lively interest in England, and, as we have seen, their principles were actively disseminated by their tracts printed in Holland and secretly circulated. To christians in the present day, who have an intelligent knowledge of church history and of human nature, it will not appear extraordinary that differences of opinion should arise among a little band of men who were bent upon work- ing out into a practical form a change in the principles of Church government so vast and momentous. Smaller matters of difference in State Churches have produced far greater dissensions and bitterness of feeling, even in times when courtesy of language and demeanour in religious controversy is the rule and not the exception. It soon became obvious that the principles of church structure which they had discovered by the careful and conscientious study of Holy Scripture, involved the necessity, for the sake of unity in the essentials of Christianity and peace in each particular association of Christians, of their dividing into distinct Churches. Their first dissension is humourously described by Bishop Hall to have been respecting the lace in Mrs. Francis Johnson's sleeve. Bradford tells us that she had been a merchant's wife and had a competent fortune, and that, although a godly woman, " she wore such apparel as she had formerly been used to " and " suitable to her rank;" yet, that such was the strictness and rigidness in dress of some in those times, that whalebone in the dress F 66 or sleeves, or even starch in a collar offended them. The father and brother-in-law, because Mrs. Johnson would not cut her garments to the precise degree of plainness which they deemed christian simplicity, kept up a pertinacious opposition. The controversy raged for eleven years, and after four years' contention, the Church excommunicated George Johnson and his father, whom no reasonable " reformation in apparel " would satisfy. Owing to these and other dissensions in the church, Francis Johnson altered his views upon the important point of the government of the church. He now considered the government should be vested in Elders chosen by the congregation, and that these should be both " Euling Elders " and " Teaching Elders," while Ainsworth con- sidered it should be vested in the Church of which the Elders are a part. Kobinson concurred with Ainsworth. They deemed the Bishops or Elders to be the only ordinary governors, but they were not to be " lords over God's heritage " as if " the church could not be without them." The importance of the question was not measured in their minds by the present issue. A hierarchy in the Church of Christ originated in this very thing, viz., that the people did not maintain their right of voting on equal terms with their officers. "If we should let the true practice of the Gospel go, posterity after us being brought into bondage, might justly blame and curse us, that would not stand up for the right of the people."* * "An Animadversion to Mr. E. Clifton," &c, by Henry Ainsworth, Amsterdam, 1613, p. 125, U.L.C. " Touching the ministry, it is said, ' A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven,' John iii. 27. Now. to the ministers it is given to feed, guide, and govern the Church, but not themselves to be the Church, and to challenge the power of the same in things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. . . . Such giving place to the usurpation of the ministers was the means of Antichrist's 67 The advice of the Church at Leyden was sought, and Eobinson suggested a wise and salutary middle course, viz., that all business of the Church should be first considered and resolved on by the Pastors and Elders privately, and then submitted ultimately to the church. This controversy took place during the year 1609, and in the year 1610, on December 15th and 16th, Ainsworth and those who agreed with him quietly withdrew, and Francis Johnson and Eichard Clifton, who agreed upon the subject of the deci- sion of all matters by the Elders, formed a distinct Church. The system of government which they advocated did not seem to work well, for differences again arose in this Church. Some years after, Johnson removed to Embden with a portion of his Church. It seems probable that Ainsworth' s Church was strengthened by this proceeding, and by Clyfton's death. Ainsworth died the end of 1622, or early in 1623. The celebrated John Canne, who after- wards became Pastor of the Baptist Church in Bristol, was Pastor of Johnson's Church in 1632 and 1634.* Ainsworth is described by Bradford as having " an excellent gift of teaching and opening the Scriptures," as "very modest and amiable . . . of an innocent and unblameable life and conversation, of a meek spirit, and a calm temper, void of passion, and not easily provoked ; " while one who had lived with him at Amsterdam, says " he lived and died unblameably, and I am thoroughly persuaded that his soul beginning and climbing to his pre-eminence, which, had the people resisted at first, and practised the Gospel in the order set by Christ, he could not have prevailed . . . . if the holding otherwise in judgment should let the true practice of the Gospel go, posterity after us being brought into bondage, might justly blame and curse us, that would not stand for the right of the people in that which we acknowledge to be their due." * For these dates my authority is " The Life of Ainsworth." Edinburgh, 1709. p. 34. F 2 68 rests with his Saviour." In 1608 (that is about two years previously to the division of the ancient Church of Amsterdam) differences arose between John Smyth and Francis Johnson, Ainsworth, Clifton, and John Eobinson, which placed him at issue with both " the ancient Church " at Amsterdam and the Church at Leyden. Smyth and Thomas Helwys, John Morton and some thirty-six other persons, separated from the Church. Helwys* and Smyth had associated in England. Smyth mentions that he ministered to his necessities when he was sick at Bashforthf (probably Babworth, a village in the neighbourhood of Scrooby, and of which Clifton was then rector). John Smyth had associated with Hans de Eys and Lubbert Gerrits, celebrated ministers among the Mennonite churches in Amsterdam, and the ground on which he retired from the " Ancient Church" was, first, the importance of baptism being administered, as a sign of admission into the Church, to adults or persons of competent age to understand its meaning, and not to infants who happened to be " the seed of the faithful." Secondly, of the entire distinction between the Old and New Testament. Both portions of the Sacred Eecords had hitherto, by all the Puritans and the Separatist and Brownist Churches, been considered as equally binding upon Christians. There were some other matters of differ- ence, but he went even beyond this; he renounced the opinions of Calvin and espoused those of Arminius. These opinions were then considered to be heresy of the deepest dye, and they raised for him a host of enemies. * It seems probable that Thomas Helwys belonged to either the Scrooby or the Gainsborough Church. "Joan Elwisse, the wife of Thomas Helwys," being prosecuted before the Ecclesiastical Court at York on July 26th, 160J. — " Waddington's Congre- gational History," p. 163. t * 4 Smyth's Confession and Life," York Minster Library. 69 We have here the commencement of another important religious movement in England. A tendency was now manifesting itself for Independent and Brownist Churches to become Baptist Churches. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys having adopted the opinions of the Mennonites, propagated their views and practices, and thus became the founders of the English General, or Arminian Baptist Churches. Bishop Hall, in his controversy with John Bobinson, pastor of the Leyden branch of the Separatist Church, says to his opponent, " There is no remedy, you must go forward into Anabaptism, or come back to us " (i.e., the Church of England); " all your Babbins cannot answer the charge of your re-baptized brother John Smyth — ' If we be a true church you must retain us ; if not, you must re-baptize. If our baptism is good, then is our con- stitution good.' He tells you true, your station is unsafe, either you must forward to him or back to us." * " Where- upon," we are told, " this so alarmed those with which Mr. Smyth held communion that they cast him out of the Church." The force and piquancy of this turned upon the point, that Bobinson and Ainsworth held "that such as be of the seed of the faithful, or under the government of any of the Church, were, even in their infancy, to be received to baptism, and made partakers of the sign of God's covenant made with the faithful and their seed through all genera- tions." t Where, argued Bishop Hall, will be the difference between the Church of England and the Church of the Separation, in the course of a few years ? You will have as many unfaithful members as we have. After Smyth, Helwys, and their company had separated * Bishop Hall's Works, Vol. ix., pp. 400, 385. Ed. J. Eatt, London, 1808. f Article XXXV. of the " Confession of the Church of Amsterdam." 70 from the communion of the ancient Separatist Church, the first action, which they took in forming themselves into a Church state, has excited much interest and com- ment. The materials for a clear and connected history of Smyth's conduct have only lately come to light. It is important to mark the features of the rise of by far the largest section of the English (originally non-immersionist) Baptist Churches. Eobinson states * that Smyth baptized himself and afterwards Mr. Helwisse, and thus qualified themselves for the administration of baptism to their church. This has been doubted by many writers, because of its intrinsic improbability, and because, from their point of view, there seemed to be something irrational or extravagant in a man baptizing himself. \ It had, however, a rigid logical consistency from the point of view which Smyth occupied. The subject has, however, been set at rest by a manuscript document, discovered by Dr. Scheffer in Amsterdam, by which it appears that Smyth and thirty-two persons, wishing to unite themselves to the Waterlander Mennonite Church in Amsterdam, of which Lubbert Gerritts was Pastor, pro- bably in the early part of the year 1609, confessed their error, ft that they undertook to baptize themselves contrary to the order appointed by Christ.' ' Thomas Helwys, John Morton, and two others still defended the propriety of such * " Of Eeligious Communion, Public and Private, with silencing of the clamour raised by Mr. Thomas Helwisse against our retaining the baptism received in England, and administering of Baptism to infants. As also a Survey of the Confession of Faith published in certain conclusions by the remainders of Mr. Smyth's company." By John Eobinson, 1614. Keprint by B. Ashton, London, 1851, p. 168. f See "Discovery of the Errors of the English Anabaptists," by E. Jessop, "who some time walked in the same errors with them," p. 65, margin, London, 1623. " Mr. Smith baptized himself first and then Mr. Helwis, and John Morton with the rest. . . . . I would now demand of you your warrant for a man to baptize himself." This work is in U. L. Cant. 71 a course, viz., that " whosoever shall now be stirred up by the same spirit, to preach the same word, and men thereby being converted, may, according to John, his example, wash them with water, and who can forbid ? " The question of the manner of baptism does not come up, and there can hardly be a doubt that the practice of immersion had not then arisen, and was not deemed important. Helwys and Morton take the view, that if elders must ordain elders, and if elders are alone able to baptize, this is to go back to the idea of an " apostolic succession," and he asks, " Hath the Lord thus restrained His Spirit, His Word, and ordinances, as to make particular men lords over them, or the keepers of them ? God forbid." It is contrary to the " liberty of the Gospel, which is free for all men, at all times and in all places ; yea, so our Saviour Christ doth testify, wheresoever, whosoever, and whensoever two or three are gathered together in his name, there is He in the midst of them." * Smyth, on the other hand, held that it was because he then thought that there was "no Church to whom we could join with a good conscience," that " there- fore we might baptize ourselves ; " but when he and Helwys admitted that the Mennonite Churches were " true Churches," and had true ministers, " from which baptism may orderly be had," it was not proper for " two or three private persons " to baptize " and set up churches, without first joining themselves to " true Churches " already existing. " I deny," he says, " all succession, except in the Truth, and I hold that we are not to violate the order of the primitive Church except necessity urge a dispensation." * See letter signed Thomas Helwys, William Pigott, Thomas Seamer, John Murton, dated Amsterdam, 12th March, 1609, in the archives of the Mennonite Church and pub- lished by Evans. [Dr. Scheffer kindly re-copied this for me.] 72 It " was not lawful for every one that seeketh the Truth to baptize, for then there might be as many Churches as couples in the world/ ' * John Smyth and forty- one persons signed a confession of faith, drawn up by Hans de Eys, and approved by Lubbert Grerritts, the Pastor of the Waterlander Mennonite Church. This was found by Dr. Scheffer in the Mennonite archives at Amsterdam, and is published.! This is nearly a verbatim translation of Hans de Eys and Lubbert Gerritt's confession of faith, J and Hans de Kys says, con- cerning it, " This short confession I first wrote on entreaty, and on behalf of several Englishmen fled from England for conscience sake." § Some questions, however, arose among the Mennonites, and eleven of the forty-two English signatures are oblite- rated, which tends to show that some members of the English Church were dissatisfied, and the records of the Mennonite Church mention no other union with the English than the union of the 18th of January, 1615. The first Baptist (non-immersionist) Church formed in London by Helwys, Smyth's co-pastor, was therefore formed prior to the union of the parent Baptist Church in Amsterdam with the Mennonite Church. This does not, however, alter the fact, first, that they coincided in all the views of the Waterlander Mennonites,|| and signed the confession of the * " Smyth's Confession of his Errors," recently discovered in York Minster Library. f " Evans' Baptists," vol. i. f p. 245. X " Schyn's History of the Mennonites," p. 172, published at Amsterdam in 1723, in Latin. § " Schyn's History," Vol. ii. p. 157, line 35, Dutch edition. Amsterdam, 1744. || This is confirmed by the tract recently found in York Minster Library, " Smyth's Life." The Confession consists of 100 prepositions. This is stated by Eobinson ("Eeligious Communion," 1614, Ashton's reprint, p. 236) to be Smyth's, and p. 237, to be published by the " remainders of Mr. Smyth's company after his death," i.e., August, 1612. It was found in MS. in the Mennonite Library, and a translation published in Evans, vol. i., p. 257. 73 celebrated Hans de Rys, and joined the Church of Lubbert Gerritts. Secondly — That those who were members of the congregations founded by Helwys's Church in England, were accepted as members by the Mennonites as soon as they resided in Holland, without baptism or any ceremony what- soever ; and, thirdly, that these Churches corresponded one with another, and that the English Churches agreed to refer their differences to the decision of the Mennonite Church; and that in 1626 there were Churches corresponding with the Waterlander Mennonites of Amsterdam, in London, Lincoln, Sarum, Coventry and Tiverton.* It appears from this correspondence, that a slight difference of opinion respecting war and the use of arms had, even then, com- menced, although " some of us," it is said " are of the same with you " with regard to war. We may therefore conclude that the first Arminian Baptist Churches in England were really Mennonite, and that at least, in some of these Churches, the doctrines, practices, and discipline of the Mennonites were practised. This link in the evidence, at once explains the origin of many of the new and strange reli- gious opinions and practices which seem at once to have burst into vigorous life, when the civil war in England had fairly commenced. There does not seem to be any evidence that the method of baptism introduced into England by Smyth and Helwys, differed in its method of administration from the baptism generally adopted by the ancient Mennonites, viz., by pouring a little water upon the head of the person baptized. The practice of immersion appears to have been introduced in England, on the 12th September, 1633. f * Evans, vol. ii., p. 26. t It is termed in the original documents quoted by Crosby, Vol. i., p. 149, a " new baptism;" and also by Featly in tlie "Dippers Dipt," in 1645, "a new leaven" (see 74 In tlie Independent Church, established by Henry Jacob in 1616, to which we shall afterwards, allude, several persons being convinced of the necessity of entirely setting aside infant baptism, even to the " seed of the faithful " (as administered in Ainsworth's church), and administering it to such only who professed faith in Christ, desired to be dismissed from that congregation, and it was agreed that they should be considered as a distinct Church.* This new Church then conferred upon the proper method of adminis- tering this ordinance in its primitive purity, and decided p. 182), and says that none of the ancient Anabaptists practised it. In 1642 Edward Barber wrote " The Vanity of Childish Baptism," in which it is proved that baptism is dipping, and that those who have baptism without dipping have not a New Testament baptism. Pagitt also, in his " Heresiography," London, 1648, p. 33, says, "yea, at this day they have a new crochet come into their heads, that all that have not been plunged nor dipt under water are not truly baptised, and these also they re-baptize ; " also 669 f 22, No. 59, folio sheets B.M. "Anti- Quakerism, or, a Character of the Quakers from its Original and First Cause," writen by a pious gentleman who hath been thirteen years amongst the Separatists, &c. Verse 13. Then did you muse and cast your care All for an administrator, But here in England none icas seen That used aught but sprinkling. Verse 14. At length you heard men say That there were saints in Silesia, Who, ever since the Apostles' time, Had kept this ordinance pure, divine ; Hither, alas ! you sent in haste, And thus you did some treasure waste, But when your messengers came there, You were deceived as we are here, " But this they told you in good deed, That they of baptism had need," &c. This seems to indicate that the English Baptist Church first applied to a Church in Silesia. It is believed the only " Saints " in Silesia were the followers of Caspar Schwenckfeld, who disused baptism with water, and received only those who they considered had received spiritual baptism. * " Crosby," vol. i., pp. 148, 149. 75 that this was to immerse or plunge the entire person of the recipient, hearing that it had been practised in the Nether- lands from the year 1619 by the Collegianten, who had, it is thought, received this method of baptism from the Polish Baptists, who in their turn had received it from the Swiss Baptists, by whom it was practised as early as 1525.* The Collegianten were a body of christians closely connected with the Waterlander Mennonites, although holding some peculiar views which will be hereafter explained. This English Church, after sending in the first instance to the " Saints " in Silesia, commissioned Eichard Blount, who understood Dutch, to act for them; and John Batten, a well-known Collegiant, the teacher of a congregation of Collegiants at Leyden, baptized him by immersion. They thus overcame the difficulty of finding a proper adminis- trator,! because, as Crosby quotes, " though some in this nation rejected the baptism of infants, yet they had not that they knew of, revived the ancient custom of immersion," i.e., in England. After this period baptism is not only defined in the Baptist confessions of faith as proper to be administered to persons professing faith in Christ, but it is also stated that the proper method is by immersion. \ * The Collegianten were the first persons who practised immersion in the Netherlands. John Geesteranus was the first person who was dipt at Eynsburg. (Van Nimwegen, pp. 39, 48 ; Oudaen, pp. 36, 37. I give these quotations on the anthority of Dr. Scheffer of Amsterdam.) The Unitarian Baptists of Poland had offered this man a professorship at Eakow. J. Kessler's " Sabbata," a MS. printed by the Historical Society at St. Gallen, Switzerland, it appears that Uliman, afterwards a teacher in the Church of Anabaptists at St. Gallen, was dipt. Cornelius Geschichte der Munster «' Aufruhrs," ii. pp. 32, 33, 36, 37, 64. John Denk, the friend of Ludwig Hetzer, and his co-operator in the version of the prophetical books of the Old Testament, 1527, was a member of this congregation. The Swiss Unitarian Baptists sought a refuge in Poland, and in 1550 the rite of immersion was practised in Poland. t " Crosby," vol. i., pp. 101, 102. I See the Confession of Faith of 1646, Articles 39 and 40. This was the confession of faith of this Church, and is the earliest in which the method of baptism is defined. 76 Considerable light may, we feel sure, be yet thrown upon the early history of the churches of the Commonwealth, by a minute and accurate study of the state of religion in Holland during the half century prior to the struggle be- tween the King and Parliament. "We shall therefore notice the tenets, mode of worship, and church discipline of the Mennonites, and the Collegianten, who were closely allied to them, and we shall thus be able to account for some of the peculiar opinions and practices of the General or Arminian Baptists, and the Society of Friends of that day. It has often been remarked, by those who have studied the early history of the Society of Friends, that there were religionists in England who held views similar to those of " the Friends," prior to the preaching of George Fox. These were the General or Arminian Baptist (originally non-immersionist) Churches, which were founded by Thomas Helwys, John Morton, and their companions.* * It is certain that there existed in England, prior to this, "Anabaptist" Churches. In August, 1536, there was a great gathering of the Anabaptists near Buckholt, in Westphalia, after the fall of Munster, to compose their differences upon the subject of the bearing of arms in order to further the interests of the kingdom of Christ, and respecting some other matters. The violent party were represented by Battenburg, who approved the views of the Munster faction, and it is well to note that this man regarded the tenet of adult baptism as quite unimportant compared with the extirpation by the sword of the enemies of the "Kingdom of God," and had abolished it among his followers previously to this meeting. The party in direct antagonism were repre- sented by Ubbo Phillips (although he was not present), who opposed all war and revenge as antichristian, and maintained the purely spiritual character of Christ's Kingdom. The third party represented was that of Melchior Hofman. David Joris, the originator of a fourth party, acted the part of mediator, and subtilely maintained that if the Battenburgers were right, the time was not come to set up the " Kingdom of the Elect," and that for the present, therefore, the power must be left in the hands of the hostile and unbelieving magistracy. There can be little doubt that the Con- tinental Baptist movement, beginning prior to or simultaneously with the Reformation, was used for purely political purposes by the revolutionary party, and that this meeting 77 We have shown that these Churches were substantially Mennonite. That some of these Churches gradually altered their views cannot be doubted, but that many of them substantially held to the Mennonite faith and practice, will be shown in the course of the history. So closely do these views correspond with those of George Fox, that we are compelled to view him as the unconscious exponent of the doctrine, practice, and discipline of the ancient and stricter party of the Dutch Mennonites, at a period when, under the pressure of the times, some deviation took place among the General Baptists from their original principles.* at Buckholt was the commencement, not only of the disentanglement of the Baptist Churches from these, political aims, but of the active propagation of the great idea concerning the entire distinction between the province of the Church and that of the State, (a) This was afterwards developed by Menno, who was a follower of Ubbo Phillips. A certain Englishman of the name of "Henry" was very active in promoting this meeting, and himself paid the travelling expenses of the deputies. England was represented by John Mathias, of Middleburg (who was afterwards burnt at London for his adhesion to the tenets of Melchior Hofman). It is interesting to notice that the representatives of England were very indignant at the loose views of the Munster party. [See Dr. Nippold's " Life of D. Joris," in the Zeitschrift fiir die Historische Theologie," vol. 1863, pp. 52 to 55.] The result of this conference was, that the power of the unruly Anabaptists was completely destroyed. See Boosen's "Life of Menno," Leipsic ; also Krohn's " History of Fanatischen Wiedertaiifer," and of " Melchior Hofman," Leipsic, 1758, pp. 327, 333. Krohn's supposition, that this "Henry "was Henrick Niclaes, is quite beside the mark, as may be seen by comparing the dates. (a) In 1572, Strype in his " Ecclesiastical Memorials " informs us, Whitgift found that the Anabaptists who had fled in 1568 from Alva's persecution, taught " that the civil magistrate had no authority in ecclesias- tical matters." * Several ministers of the Society of Friends, who have travelled in Bussia and else- where in modern times, have been struck by the striking resemblance between tho Mennonite Churches and the Society of Friends. CHAPTEK V. A short History of Menno, the founder of the Conti- nental Mennonite Baptists. His religious principles, testimony against war, oaths, and frivolity in dress, etc. Strict Church Discipline. Practice of silent prayer in the religious worship of the mennonites ; KlSE OF THE COLLEGIANTEN OF KyNSBURG. The RESEM- blance of their views and practices to those of the " Plymouth Brethren " of the present day. It must be borne in mind that the great principles of reli- gious liberty, and those views of Church government which led to the formation of the Independent and Baptist Churches, (and, as we shall subsequently show, the Society of Friends) new and strange as they were in England, and leading to important changes, had been practically worked out in Holland for many years. At this period Holland was in the enjoyment of a large measure of religious liberty, which had been purchased by the blood and awful sufferings of the martyrs of the ancient Mennonite and other Eeformed Churches.* * The 13th Article of the Act of Union of Utrecht, 1579, the Magna Charta of the Dutch Republic, stipulated that the provinces of Holland and Zealand were competent to grant so much religious liberty as they thought fit, and the other provinces could restrict it according to what the quietness and prosperity of the country, the right of the clergy, and the judicature of the magistrate should require, provided that everyone privately enjoyed full liberty of religion, and for religion's sake, neither should be troubled or examined. The Calvinistic Reformed Church was the State Church, and all other religions were tolerated. 79 Menno Simons, was bom in the year 1492, at Witmarsum, a village half-way between Bolsward and Harlingen, and was ordained a priest of the Eomish Church at Pinningen in West Friesland, in Frisia, a province of Holland, in 1516, and died in 1559.* He had witnessed the constancy of the Baptists under persecution. He conferred with Luther, Bucer, and Bullinger, on the subject of infant baptism, but they all differed one from another in the grounds on which they supported the practice. It was, however, as he tells us, " alone by the reading and medita- tion on Holy Scripture," and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, that he came to the knowledge of the " true baptism and supper of the Lord," and he began " publicly to teach from the pulpit the doctrine of true repentance;" and on the 11th January, 1536, he left the Bomish Church, joined himself to a Baptist community of which Obbe Phillips (who ordained Menno a teacher and Elder) was a member, f In 1537 or 1538 he published his third work — " The Beautiful and Fundamental Doctrine of the Word of God : admonishing all who call themselves christians to the heavenly regeneration and new birth, without which no * These dates are from those given "by Menno's own daughter to Peter Jan Twisck (see his Chronicle, vol. ii., pp. 1075 and 1201), and are incorrectly given in B. K. Roosen's "Life of Menno." Leipsic, 1848. t Obbe Phillips had been admitted a member by the messengers sent by Jan Mathys Backer, and he was sent out by Melchior Hoffman, who again, was a disciple of the Baptist congregation at Strasburg which originated from the dissenting members of Zwingle's Church in Switzerland, (a) and we are thus carried back to the rise of the Baptists in Switzerland. There is not the slightest proof of any connection between the Waldenses and the Mennonites, although asserted by a long list of Dutch historians, e.g., Galenus Abrahams and H. Schyn. The statement originated with Jacob Mehring in 1647. (a) See Jehring's "Griindliche Historie of the Controversies of the Baptists and Mennonites,' 1720, p. 232, &c. 80 one can be a true christian." In this work he speaks of the new birth " which is begun by God, the Word " and Holy Spirit, of which the most certain fruit is " a new life, and a walking in true repentance and all " the christian virtues, according to the example of our " Lord. . . . These regenerate persons constitute the " true Christian Church, who worship Christ as their only " and true king, who fight not with swords and carnal " weapons, but only with spiritual, i.e., with the Word of " God and Holy Spirit. They seek no kingdom but that of " grace. They conduct themselves as citizens of heaven. " Their doctrine is the word of the Lord, and everything " not taught therein they reject. They exercise, after the " example and institution of Christ, the sacred supper in " commemoration of the death and benefits of Christ. " Their Church discipline is extended to all who are " impenitent sinners, without distinction, and they with- " draw from perverse apostates according to the Word of " God. They lament every day their daily sins and carnal " infirmities, and by this course are always profiting. They " have no other justification than that which is by faith of " Christ, and which is of God by faith. They leave the " things that are behind, and press towards the mark of " their high calling," &c. His sixth work is entitled, " The Evident Doctrine of the Word of the Lord, concerning the spiritual resurrection, and the new heavenly birth." The substance is stated to be, " Awake out of sleep and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Dirk Philips, a Mennonite minister coeval with Simon Menno, in a tract called, " Brevis Confessio de Incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi," also expresses himself much in the language in which Fox expressed his views. He says, "it is not sufficient to confess and know all these things, 81 but we must accept this Jesus Christ as the Eternal Word and Incorruptible Seed of the Eternal God the Father, by the Holy Spirit in ourselves to preserve and retain Him, for in Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. " Menno denies also (as Fox afterwards) that his followers are a " sect/' He taught the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, but objected to the words " Trinity" and " Person," which he held to be unscriptural. He held that God created no creature to condemnation, nor desired the death of a sinner, but sought his repentance and eternal salvation. Menno held that no christian could swear or carry arms, or wage war, or revenge himself in any way whatever, and that magistrates should be obeyed in all things not contrary to the Word of God. Since the office of a magistrate compelled men to use the sword, to take an oath, and other matters con- trary to the duty of Christians, it was impossible for a Christian man rightly to fulfil it. Prior to the meeting of the Continental Anabaptists at Buckholt in Westphalia * in August, 1536, the differences between them did not take a definite form, but after that period there was no fellowship between the rebellious Anabaptists of Luther's time, and the followers of Menno. Menno, in January, 1537, placed himself at the head of those who entirely protested against the violent and fanatical party. The Mennonites had therefore no relations with the followers of Nicholas Stork, Mark Stubner, Martin Cellerarius and Thomas Munzer. The tenets of the followers of these men, and their manner of life, were wholly different from those of the Mennonites, for the former indulged in enthusiastic revelations which superseded Holy Scripture, rejected the liberal arts, abolished * See Note, p. 76 of this work. G 82 all books but sacred books, contended for a community of goods, and maintained that their mission was " to build the kingdom of Zion," and to destroy the office of the magi- strate, and by armed force to set up the kingdom of Christ, for they allowed the use of the sword, and waged war. It does not appear that the Church discipline of the Mennonites was commenced by Menno ; it was received from the Swiss Baptists, but was doubtless improved and rendered more efficient by him. He was very active in enforcing the importance of Church discipline upon his followers by his writings, and held that the outward and visible " church vanished, where Church discipline is not exercised," and that " the words and works of the members of a Church should agree." He was very successful in his ministry, which he exercised not only in his own church, but in the neighbouring ones, and the result of this was that a number of compact and vigorous churches were founded. He laboured in Embden, in Cologne, in Wismar and Holstein, as well as in Frisland. His works show him to have been a man of learning and ability. He gave up all for Christ, and lived a life of incessant labour and suffering, from the persecution to which he was subjected. The unsparing opposition he received from the clergy, supported by the State, naturally caused him to take an unfavourable view of their motives. " I fear," he wrote, " that all who so serve for pay, are priests of the high places," 2 Kings xii., " False prophets," Mat. vii., " thieves and murderers." We have now seen, that some of the principal points both of doctrine and practice, which occupied the mind of Fox, were advocated by Menno. The work of Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit ; the Word and the Light, as a real, personal, active agent in the conversion of sinners, and conferring on the christian the power to exhibit a holy 83 life and walk before the world, and the absolute denial of the title of " christian " to persons who evidently do not so live, were characteristic of the teaching of the two men. The Mennonites strongly condemned infant baptism, and made use of adult baptism. It was administered by pour- ing water on the head of the person received into the visible church, who was believed, on credible evidence of a change of life, to be washed, cleansed, and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, — not as conferring the slightest grace, but as emblematical of the state of the believer. The Lord's Supper they received in the same sense, as a thing which Christ has ordered to be done, not claiming for the outward act any ritual efficacy. It was kept twice or thrice a year among the Waterlander Mennonites. The washing of the saints' feet they also considered as a command of the Lord.* The Waterlander Mennonites, however, at the period when their views were promulgated in England, did not practise this cere- mony. The agreement of their membership did not rest upon a purely doctrinal basis in the shape of any creed, but on the general sense of the Church, or Churches, of the plain meaning of the New Testament Scripture. The Mennonite Confessions of Faith were, as in. the case of the early Baptist Churches in this country, generally used for the purpose of avoiding misapprehension, and to prevent the ignorant abuse with which they were loaded from misleading the public, t They denied any oath * This practice of the Mennonites is mentioned in " Barclay's Apology," in connection with the Lord's Supper. f In 1676 an ancient member made a declaration before the notary, that the Water- lander Mennonites never had a confession of faith, and that Hans de Eys' confession was merely a private action of his, and that sixty or seventy English people wished to join themselves, but did not like to do so till they knew what the Waterlanders believed. L. F. Rues' "Aufrichtige Nachrichten der Mennoniten," Jena, 1743, p. 93. G 2 84 to be lawful to a Christian. They considered all war, or bearing of arms, or the resisting an unrighteous power, to be unlawful, and that all revenge is forbidden to the Christian. No merchant was allowed to arm his ship. No appeal to the Courts of Law was allowed among the Brethren, and all disputes were referred to the Church, or to arbitrators chosen by the Church, excepting when a brother was acting as a guardian, &c. They were bound to submit to human government as an ordinance of God, but Christ was the sole head ot the Church. No office in the Church conferred headship. " We are brethren in the Church, not masters, or servants." They excommunicated all who married unregenerate persons, and at one time, those who belonged to other religious societies, and put them out of the Church.* All unnecessary ornaments in dress, even buttons and buckles not absolutely useful, were disused, and they were generally precise and simple in their dress and the furniture of their houses. They believed that Elders (exercising the varied gifts of " prophets, pastors, teachers, helps, and bishops"), and Deacons were the only two classes of divinely established officers of a Church. The deacons had charge of the Church collections, and were often teachers, generally remaining in the office for three or four years, and sometimes for life. They sat with the Elders in the ministers' meeting. They considered that human learning does not qualify for the ministry, and they did not allow their children to go to universities, lest they should be injured in their spiritual life. Their ministers wore the same dress as other members. They held that the calling of ministers must be either " immediately " from * This is now abolished among the modern Mennonites. 85 God, or through the members of the church.* No hire should be given to ministers ; if they were poor and had no fortune, the congregations assisted them with the means of living — special help was however given them ; in some instances a house or shop was hired for them.f Their meeting houses were very plain, and had galleries or plat- forms where the ministers sat. In their worship they first sang a hymn. J The practice of regularly singing the psalms was not followed. They then, both ministers and people, engaged in silent prayer, the men kneeling and the women sitting, till one of the preachers rose. After he had finished, they again engaged in silent prayer, and they ended by singing a hymn. Prior to 1663 there was a " liberty of prophesying "■ or preaching in the congregation, irrespect- ively of the preaching of those in office. § Silent prayer in worship was practised from the rise of the Mennonite congregations ; there is no historical notice of its introduction. It was falling into disuse among the Waterlander, the Flemish and old Frisian Mennonites, in 1723. || The practice of the ministers regularly praying * "Von Gott unmittelbar," p. 35, "Life of Menno Symons," or "Eoosen," p. 35, Leipsic, 1848. f Merino says, " The true Teachers and Pastors must live by the labour of their hands, and God will care for them in their necessity ; " " they are distinguished from the preachers of the world who run of themselves — who seek sure incomes, benefices, &c." I This practice can be traced as early as 1574. Eeitze Aitzes, burnt at Leeuwarden in Frisia, in 1574, speaks of a dispute wth a minister of the Eeformed Church, who reproached Eeitze Aitzes that " the Eeformed sung the Psalms of David ; the Menno- nites, on the other hand, Hymns, composed not by God but by men." There are other indications in their martyrologies, that in ancient times the singing of Hymns was the common rule in their worship. § L. Klinckhaenar, "Liberty of Speaking in the Congregations of Believers," 1655. " The Custom of Liberty of Speaking among the Mennonites," 1663. || " Schyn's History of the Mennonites," Ed. Lat., 1723, p. 40. 86 aloud was first introduced among the Waterlander Menno- nites by Hans de Eys. They all, however, approved vocal prayer in the congregation, but they did not approve it as " a law and constant rule whereof nothing is to be found in Holy Scripture."* Silent prayer was, however, practised by many congregations of the Waterlander Mennonites in 1661, and appears to have been the rule. The custom of silent prayer gradually declined, and was finally abolished about twenty years ago. The use of the Bible in the Mennonite congregations, by the ministers, existed from the earliest times, and in some instances three or four brethren were chosen for the express purpose of reading a chapter of the Bible before the time of silent prayer. They objected to the practice of commencing a sermon by reading a text.f At a burial any of the preachers were free to speak or not. Instead of a spoken " grace " before meals, they made a long solemn pause for silent thanksgiving. J Their members were composed of those only who professed faith in Christ, and application was made either verbally or in writing; sometimes they were examined before the meeting of Elders and Deacons; afterwards " they were presented to the Meeting for Discipline or Church-Meeting " by the Elders, and every brother in the meeting was asked if he had any objection to this person as a member. They were then baptised before the congregation, being previously * See tract by Jacob Jansen, in reply to a tract by F. Lansberger, Pastor of the Reformed Church., attacking the Flemish Mennonites at Rotterdam, in 1596, for their " strange and anti- scriptural method of silent prayer." t This was objected to in the same manner by the followers of Fox and the Early Independents. J. Lydius mentions it in " Historie der Beoerten van Engeland," 1649, 2nd Ed., p. 78. \ This custom has been practised in Holland from time immemorial, not onlv fcmong the Mennonites, but among the Calvinists and Lutherans. 87 asked if they confessed their sins, and looked to God for deliverance, through Christ, from the punishment and the defilement of sin, and if they have taken the resolution to serve God all their life long. They were next asked if they believed according to the Scriptures, in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, and His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and coming again to judgment ; and lastly, whether they approved the teaching of the congregation to be according to God's Word. Menno held that Christian parents were bound to "lead their children to Christ/' and "not to spare any trouble to bring them to the worship of God;" that "by teaching, exhortation, discipline, and example," they were bound, " continuing steadfastly in prayer for them," to train them up in a Christian life and conversation, and that the Church was bound to take charge of orphans. Children, however, were not to be baptised, or admitted to the visible Church until they were of sufficient age to comprehend the duties of a Church member. There were two Church meet- ings; the meeting of Elders, Teachers, and Deacons, and that of the Members. At the former, subjects eventually brought before the congregation were discussed, although the power of determination lay entirely with the members. At this meeting, the doctrine and conduct of the preachers were discussed, and an appeal made to the congregation if need- ful; the conduct and behaviour of the flock came under notice, they were warned and encouraged, and the supply was arranged of teachers, ministers, or elders to help congregations needing their ministrations. At the meet- ing of Church members was transacted their discipline. The women were not admitted to it.* Each of their • Originally women were not admitted by Fox to Church Meetings. See p. 88 churches was independent of other churches in the exercise of the discipline. The elders were chosen with the unani- mous consent of the congregation, but teachers exercised their gifts with a general consent. There were often from four to six ministers in each church. The subjects which came under the notice of the church meeting for discipline were, first, those members " who having once been illumi- nated and confessed the doctrine of Christ," fall away and become heretics. Secondly — " those who manifest the works of the flesh. " Thirdly — " those who marry those who are without." * Although the independency oi each congregation was strictly maintained, the tie of mutual love and brotherhood between these congregations was very strong, and they sent delegates to a yearly meeting of the Churches, where they decided upon measures concerning the support of the poor,f the maintenance of public worship, and the distribution of the ministers to congregations which needed them ; and any causes of dissension which could not be settled in the particular congregations were brought here for settle- ment by way of appeal. The Yearly Meeting could not, however, constrain the independent congregations, but only advise, beseech, and press their duty in the matter upon them. These Yearly Meetings were not always held in the same place, but circulated. This may have given rise to the " Circulating Yearly Meetings " amongst the Early Friends, which existed prior to the central or London Yearly Meeting. The travelling expenses of the teachers * Article XVUI of " Confession of the Frisian and German Confession of 1626." See pp. 79, 87, 105 to 107. " Schyn's History," 1723. f Menno expressed himself on the subject of the poor almost in the words used by Fox a century later — that the churches were to "allow no beggar to exist among them." Koosen's " Life of Menno," p. 68. 89 who were engaged in supplying the needs of the congrega- tions who were imperfectly supplied with ministers, were contributed by the Yearly Meeting of the united Churches. They also supplied the pecuniary necessities of the poorer congregations. Although the different Mennonite churches do not all unite in one Yearly Synod, they so unite for common purposes in case of persecution or other suffering, and summon delegates from all the churches to a meeting in Amsterdam. In 1743 there were about 197 congrega- tions of Mennonites in Holland and Belgium, and 400 teachers. The old Flemish, the Frisian, the united Water- lander and Flemish, appear always to have been on friendly terms. There were some in Menno's days (probably the followers of Caspar Schwenkfeld) who " urged the inward baptism and rejected the outward." Dirk Philip exhorts his fellow believers to beware of those who contemn all external worship of God and institutions as " trifles or toys," and he says they quoted Gal. vi. 15, in support of their views, " by which they thought to weaken and reject' baptism and other divine rites."* We shall, in a future chapter, show the connection between the followers of Caspar Schwenkfeld and the Mennonites. In 1619 a new sect arose at Kynsburg, among the Menno- nites, called Collegianten (they were called so from their meetings, which were termed Collegia). Four brothers, John, Adrian, William and Gisbrecht Van der Kodde, who lived in the villages of Ugstgeist, Keinsburg, and Warmund, were its founders. William left behind him various learned works. His name as an author is well known as Gulielmus Coddaeus. Like the other Mennonites they were Arminian in doctrine They agreed in most points with other Schyn's History," part ii., pp. 207, 208. Ed. 1723. 90 Mennonites. They maintained the testimonies respecting war and oaths, and they revived the ancient practice (among the Mennonites) of a Ml liberty of preaching or prophesy- ing, i.e., it was not restricted to elders or teachers chosen from the congregation, and they administered baptism by immersion. Their views closely approximated in some respects to those of the " Plymouth Brethren " of our days. They insisted upon the suspension of all controversies, and a toleration of all opinions which are not condemned in the Bible. They acknowledged all spiritually minded Christians, admitted them to the table of the Lord, and allowed them to sing and speak in their meetings. All were at liberty to pass judgment upon, or to dissent from, the preaching of another. They required no conformity of religious opinions. They were persons who loved Christ and accepted the Holy Scriptures, who met together for the worship of God. They extended the right hand of fellowship to all Protestants who confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of the living God. They acknowledged them all as members of the same body of Christ, and therefore assemble round one table of the Lord, and sought in this way the unity of the spirit, the bond of peace. They considered that the office of teacher hath ceased in the church, and that now Christians " needed not that any man should teach them/' because the New Testa- ment now exists, &c. Their baptism simply involved the admission of the person, by the ceremony of immersion, into the Church universal, not into their particular section of it. They had no membership strictly speaking, unless the possession of the fruits of the Spirit, on which they laid great stress, and the attendance of their meetings, could be so called, although they had the same principle of organiza- tion as the other Mennonites, and a simple method of collecting and distributing alms. They had no communion 91 with wicked persons. They had a yearly gathering, at which they kept a free table for those persons not able to afford it, to which the various meetings sent delegates. Precisely as they admitted an attender of their meetings to preach or pray, they admitted his singing of a hymn. They also sang together as a congregation, and gave special atten- tion to the selection of the most beautiful hymns for use in their meetings. In 1743 they still had eighteen places of worship. Their largest meeting was at Amsterdam, and they originally held it in the Meeting House of the United Waterlander and Flemish Mennonites. The facility with which their ideas were propagated, and their influence upon religious opinion in England, was doubtless greatly assisted by the fact of their friendly relations with the Waterlander Mennonite church in Amsterdam. A large number of their attenders were members of other Mennonite Churches, and. in some instances a minister of a Mennonite church was at the same time a preacher among the Collegianten ; and the Waterlander used their meetings as a means of exercising the gifts of their younger ministers. In their worship there was a time of silence between the various discourses preached, and they prayed standing. They were called by their neighbours in Keinsburg (the place where they origi- nated) " the sect of the prophets." In 1743 they were called " Quakers " by the common people.* Their great characteristic was the repudiation of the office of teacher in the church, and the stress they laid upon the description of preaching which they termed prophesying, which they held should be open to all spiritually minded christians. As long as other branches of the Mennonites maintained their * " Rues Aufriclitige Nackrickten der Collegianten oder Reinsburger," p. 244, Jena, 1743. 92 extreme rigidity and intolerance of differences of opinion among themselves, the Collegianten maintained their posi- tion, but on the introduction of more liberal and enlightened christian views among them, they lost their raison d'etre. In 1787 their last general assembly at Kynsburg was held, and in 1791 their meetings at Amsterdam and Kotterdam ceased, and the last became extinct at Sardam in 1810. Thus passed away this interesting attempt to form a Church without a distinct membership, and without church officers having positive duties as pastors. Their works, Orphan House and Hospital, still remain to attest their christian love. Many tracts were published in Holland on the sub- ject, and the views of the Collegianten occupied a consider- able amount of attention among the Mennonites.* * The whole of this chapter has been carefully corrected by my friend Dr. Scheffer, the Principal of the Mennonite College in Amsterdam. CHAPTEE YL The Course of Eeligious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The Eeturn of Helwys to England. He founds the first General Baptist Church. He is followed by Henry Jacob. He founds the first Independent Church on the Principles of John Eobinson. The Principles and Practice of the English Separatist Churches at Amsterdam and Leyden. We now return to our narrative, and proceed to give an account of the views of Ainsworth, Johnson, Eobinson, and Smyth. Thomas Helwys, as we have before shown, agreed substantially with Smyth in his religious opinions. The slight difference between them was followed* by Helwys returning to England in 1611, or the early part of 1612, and founding a Church in London.! A portion of Smyth's Church returned with him. Helwys is supposed to have published " A Declaration of Faith, of English People remaining in Amsterdam, in Holland," printed in 1611 in English, since he refers to it in a subsequent work. J * See "Reply to Helwys, of Might in Persecution," by John Robinson, 1614. Ashton's Reprint, vol. iii. p. 159. f Ibid, p. 160. \ See Dr. Underbill's preface to the reprint, " Persecution for Religion," &c. 94 It is stated by some writers,' that Helwys was Pastor of Smyth's Church at Amsterdam after his death.* This is inconsistent with the facts we give.f His work, dated 1611, and dedicated to Hans de Kies J and the various Mennonite churches, shows that there was at that moment a division of feeling between them, and that Smyth and the majority of his Church were one in sentiment with Hans de Kies, and this tract appears to be the act of a person about to leave them. Helwys, although he had misunderstood Smyth, was actuated by the highest motives, and feeling that " the salvation of thousands of ignorant souls in our own country," who, from lack of instruction were perishing, might depend upon his braving persecution, left for England. Smyth was greatly pained at the " Separation/' and the harsh terms in which he was condemned by his former friends in this work. He was not hasty in replying, but before his death (in August, 1612), in his last work, with touching christian gentleness * Crosby states, that " a little after Smyth's death, Helwys and his people published a confession of their faith," at the end of which there was an appendix giving some account of Mr. Smyth's last sickness and death, which he says he was unable to meet with. This nearly corresponds with the tract to which we have referred, and shall refer again (without title, but) called " Smyth's Confession and Life," lately found in York Minster Library. The work speaks of Smyth writing this tract "not long before his death;" this gives its correct date 1612 or 1613. This is signed "T. P.," probably Thomas Piggott [see signatures at end of Short Confession, "Evans' Baptists," vol. i., p. 252], and the scope of the work is to vindicate John Smyth's memory, and to explain the difference between him and Helwys, and renders it probable that it was published by another offset from Smyth's Church, after his death, and not by Helwys. It is this tract which is replied to by Eobinson in 1614, in "A Survey of the Confession of Faith," published in certain conclusions by the remainders of Mr. Smyth's company after his death. We print this tract as an appendix to this chapter. f Helwys defends himself in " A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity," 1612, " against the reproaches cast upon them after their return from exile." Dr. Underbill's preface, Tracts on Liberty of Conscience, p. 88. I An advertisement to "The New Fryclers (Freewillers) in the Low Countries," 1611. 95 and humility, after withdrawing all harsh expressions to his opponents by name in his various works, he tells Helwys that difference " in judgment for matters of circumstance (as are all things of the outward church) shall not cause me to refuse the brotherhood of any penitent and faithful christian whatsoever. " Helwys, he says, had condemned him merely for a slight difference of opinion. " What shall I say for my apology ? Shall I say that my heart yet appertaineth to the Lord, that I daily seek mercy and ask forgiveness, that I labour to reform myself wherein I see my error, that I continually search after the truth, and endeavour myself to keep a good conscience in all things." John Smyth died in August, 1612, and was buried in the New Church at Amsterdam.* The whole tenor of this work, and the short account of his life and death, tend to show that Helwys returned to England p-wioudy to Smyth's death. Morton was associated with Helwys, and about 1615 was a teacher in a Separatist church in Newgate. t In 1626 we find that Morton's Church numbered 150 members, and that prior to 1624, eighteen persons had seceded under a Pastor of the name of Elias Tookey, and formed a new church. \ At this period, in communion with Morton's Church, there were five General, or Arminian Baptist Churches in intimate communication with the Mennonite Church of Hans de Eies * Smyth's burial is registered in the register of the New Church of Amsterdam, on the 1st of September, 1612, where he was buried, and at the time of his decease he lodged in the hinder part of the " great bakehouse," then belonging to John Munter where religious meetings were held by the English who joined the Mennonites. I am indebted for this to Dr. Scheffer, who has, by searching these registers, established a date of great importance in the history of the English Separatist Churches in Holland. The date of the death of Smyth has been variously stated, and no authority has hitherto been given for the date. t "Evans' Baptists," vol. ii., p. 33, quotation from "Truth's Victory," London, 1545, p. 19. J " Evans' History," vol. ii., pp. 25, 40, & 2G. 96 at Amsterdam, viz., London, Lincoln, Sarum, Coventry, and Tiverton. In 1612, Helwys published "A Short Declara- tion of the Mystery of Iniquity," in which he condemned flight in persecution. This was replied to by Eobinson, in 1614, in his work on " Eeligious Communion, private and public, with the silencing of the clamour raised by Mr. Thomas Helwisse against our retaining the baptism received in England, and administering of baptism unto infants; as also a Survey of the Confession of Faith, published in certain conclusions by the remainders of Mr. Smyth's company after his death/' * This led to the famous work by Morton (?) and his associates, published in 1615, " Persecution forEeligion Judged and Condemned." t On the side of Eobinson, the permission by our Saviour was pleaded, to fly from persecu- tion, and he contends for our liberty either to fly or to abide as seems best for the cause of God's truth. On the side of Helwys and Morton, it was contended that it had "been the overthrow of religion " in England, " the best, able, and greater part being gone, and leaving behind them some few" who had been brought into greater affliction and contempt. Many had " fallen back," and the enemies of christian truth had exulted. The saints, they said, " overcame " (not by flying away), but " by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony," and they " loved not their lives unto the death." This treatise of the eminent members of the Church founded by Helwys, accurately discriminates between the * This is treated by Eobinson as expressing equally the sentiments of Helwys and Ms Church. It seems probable that there were three "remainders" of "Smyth's company," Helwys' Church in London, the Church in Amsterdam which united with the Mennonites, and another English offset, who published " Smyth's Life," &c, in English. f See Dr. Underbill's preface to the " Hansard Knollys' Society's Eeprint, " p. 89, 07 office of the magistrate in civil matters, and the claim to interfere in Christ's Church. " Earthly authority belongeth to earthly kings, but spiritual authority belongeth to that one spiritual King who is King of kings/' * Kobinson on the other hand, contended that magistrates have "no power against the laws, doctrine, and religion of Christ," but they could use the civil sword " against the contrary," and also that the godly magistrate might " use his lawful power lawfully for the furtherance of Christ's kingdom and laws." t We have therefore a distinct line drawn between the clear and full principles of religious liberty advocated by Helwys, and the associated churches of the General, Arminian, or Mennonite Baptists, and the modified principles of Kobinson and the churches of the " Moderate Independents." J As we shall hereafter show, the Plymouth Church, com- monly called the Church of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the Assembly Independents, strictly followed the principles of Kobinson. These Churches were advocates of a limited toleration of " tolerable " opinions, and their principles appear to have strictly governed their actions, and led them at last to the point of accepting State aid, and of using the sword of the magistrate to repress the Churches opposed to them in opinion. The tendency to fusion with the Presbyterians, which this section of the Independent Churches showed, is thus readily explained. * See " Hansard Knollys' Society's Eeprint," p. 134. f " Keligious Communion," Ashton's reprint, p. 277. I Peter John Zwisck of West Frisia, a Mennonite, published in the year 1609, " The 7jiberty of Keligion." The object of this work was to show that many and differing Beets brought no injury to states, and that heretics so called should not be converted by the sword or the civil power, but by the Word of God. Christ's kingdom, he says, is not of this world, and therefore the Gospel- should not be preached by force of arms. H 98 In 1614, Leonard Busher, who is believed to have been a member of Helwys' and Morton's church, presented to King James and the Parliament, his petition for liberty of conscience, which was published in 1614, under the title of " Keligion's Place, or a Plea for Liberty of Conscience ; " and in 1620 was published " A Most Humble Supplication of many of the King's Loyal Subjects . . . who are per- secuted only for differing in religion." In these treatises we have the great principles of religious liberty so clearly laid down, and supported by arguments so able and con- clusive, as to leave little unsaid upon the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of Christ. In 1609, Henry Jacob, M.A., to whom we have before alluded, was at Leyden in close conference with Kobinson. He published in that year "A Humble Supplication for Toleration, and Liberty to enjoy and observe the Ordinances of Jesus Christ, in the Administration of His Churches, in lieu of Human Con- stitutions. " Jacob, in his work, "did not argue for religious liberty in the entire breadth of it."* He appears to have held nearly all the principles of Church government advocated by Eobinson, but acknowledged in this work "no other power and authority for the overseeing, ruling, and censuring of particular Churches, in case of their misgovernment, than that which is originally invested in your royal person/' or to lay persons deputed by the King. In 1616, Jacob returned to Southwark, influenced, it is thought, by the arguments of Helwys. He collected the scattered members of the ancient Separatist Church there, and was appointed their Pastor. This may be considered the first Independent Church established in England, after the exile of the three ancient churches. Jacob emigrated * M Hanbury," in note on p. 225, vol. i. 99 to America in 1624. His successor was John Lothrop. In 1632, Lothrop and forty-two of his Church were dis- covered by Laud, seized, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. In 1634, with thirty-two of his congrega- tion, he also emigrated, and settled at Scituate, Plymouth county. Their next Pastor was the celebrated John Canne, who had been Pastor of Johnson's Church at Amsterdam,* and was subsequently Pastor of the Baptist Church at Broadmead, Bristol. The next Pastor was Samuel How, celebrated as the " learned cobbler," who also became a Baptist. This enables us to trace the ancient Separatist Church in London to the Commonwealth times, when we shall again meet with them. We now propose to give a short account of the principles of Church government elaborated by the exiled Churches. The first we shall deal with was the Ancient Church of Amsterdam, which divided, as we ■ have seen, into four branches. First, that under Henry Ainsworth's guidance ; secondly, that of John Kobinson of Leyden ; thirdly, Francis Johnson's Church; fourthly, that of John. Smyth. The Ancient Church of Amsterdam existed for about one hundred years. All the exiled Churches agreed that each congregation was independent of all others in respect of self-government, but not in respect of mutual counsel and help. They had power " to elect and ordain their own ministry according to the rules in God's Word prescribed." No members were to be received but " such as do make profession of their faith, desiring to be received as members, and promising to walk in the obedience of Christ." In the three first mentioned Churches no infants were to be * In 1634 he calls himself " Pastor of the Ancient Church at Amsterdam;" see his Necessity of Separation," &c. H 2 100 baptised and received, but such as were " the seed of the faithful by one of the parents, or under their education and government." These infants were favoured as having a covenant relation to God through their elect parents, and were presumedly elect also. No members were to be received from another congregation without "a certificate of their former estate and present purpose." . . . " Such as see not the truth, may, notwithstanding, hear the public doctrine and prayers of the Church. " The Church was " a community of the saints called and separated from the world." All the adult members communicated in the Lord's Supper.* Christ was " their prophet, priest, and king." They had no head to the Church but Him. The officers of the Church were of five kinds — pastors, teachers, rulers, deacons, widows or deaconesses. The Church had the power of excommunicating any of its members. Every member of each christian congregation, " how excellent, great, or learned whatsoever^ ought to be subject to the censure and judgment of Christ." All the Churches held that those " to whom God had given gifts to interpret the Scriptures, tried in the exercise of prophecy, may, and ought, by the appointment of the congregation, to pro- phesy, and so to teach publicly the Word of God for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of the Church, until such time as the people be meet for, and God manifest, men with able gifts and fitness to such office or offices Christ hath appointed to the public ministry of his Church." f The fullest liberty of prophesying or preaching * The Independent Churches in Holland partook of the Lord's Supper every Sunday evening, admitting " Baptists and Brownists " to communion. Sometimes they sat at table, sometimes it was brought to the communicant sitting. — J. Lydius, " Historie der Beroerten van England," pp. 81, 82, 1649. t Article XXXIV. of the Confession of 1598. 101 was conceded in all these churches,* to members not in office, and there was a period set apart after the pastor and teacher had both exercised their ministry. In the middle of the week also, there was a meeting for this purpose, when even persons not belonging to the Church might prophesy or preach, f We have already described the difference between Ainsworth and Johnson. In Johnson's Church the people elected the officers, and the officers transacted the business of the church, the people having no voice. Ainsworth and Kobinson held that the elders, or whole staff of officers, " are a part of the church, and are not ' lords over God's heritage ; ' " and in fact were not essential to the Church, because it could exist without elders, whether pastors, teachers, &C.J Johnson held that there should be one pastor only in the church, and ruling and teaching elders as distinct officers. In Kobinson's Church it was absolutely essential that a " governing elder " should be " apt to teach." § This formed a vital distinction between the Presbyterianism and Independency of the day, which led to important practical results. John Smyth, on the other hand, held in opposition to Presbyterianism, that " where the popish prelacy was suppressed, and the triformed presbytery of pastors, teachers, and lay elders substituted, one antichrist was put down and another substituted in its place." The Independent Churches held that five kinds of * "A Christian Plea," p. 266, by F. Johnson, 1617. Johnson died in 1618— see " Waddington's Congregational History," p. 192, quotation from State papers, Holland, Slade's Letter. f " The Flyers permit infidelious Marchantes to come on the Thursday unto their exercise of prophesying." — Henoch Clapham's Error on the Bight Hand," &c, London, 1608. 4th Dialogue. J " Life of Ainsworth." § " We choose none for governing elders but those that be apt to teach." "Ashton's Reprint of Robinson's Works," Vol. iii., p. 488. 102 officers were mentioned in Scripture, and that their offices in Christ's Church were distinct and definite. Smyth's view is worthy of special notice. He held that there was only one order of elders mentioned in Scripture, for one person might " teach," "exhort," "rule." "Lay elders" were absolutely " Antichristian," there being no mention in the New Testament of any such officers, as purely ruling elders. Their "rule" was the influence derived from the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The difference between Eobinson and Smyth was this; that what the Independent Churches took to be distinct offices in the Church of Christ, Smyth took to be different functions of the same kind of officers, which avoided many difficulties in the interpretation of the New Testament. Eobinson held that the gift of prophesying or. preaching did not come by means of the office, but was " a calling from the Lord." He denied all prophecy which was " extraordinary by immediate revelation," holding that this had ceased, and that it was now " mediate " and was by the ordinary revelation of the Spirit. All the members of the Church who " have a gift, must prophesy according to their proportion," &c. Eobinson considered the exercise of pro- phecy by such members most important for its well being. He wrote a treatise in 1618, called " The People's Plea for the exercise of Prophecy against Mr. John Yates, his Monopoly." Yates was a preacher in Norwich, and he wrote to prove " ordinary prophecy out of office unlawful." Eobinson, in answer to Yates, contends that all " spiritual men," though " out of office," who have " a gift, must prophesy according to their proportion," that so far (as Yates thinks it) from being " a disgrace " to the officers of the Church for another Church member to prophesy after them, such an idea was only " the effect of evil customs 103 infecting the minds of godly men/' It was only since those who ought to be " the servants of the Church " have " become her masters/' that " one alone in the Church must be heard all his life long, others better able than he sitting at his feet continually, " and that it should be thought " a disgrace " for one to prophesy after him. He states that in the Church at Leyden, of which he was pastor, "after the exercise of the public ministry is ended, (that is, the office of teacher) the rulers in the Church do publicly exhort and require that such of their own, or other churches, as have a gift to speak to the edification of the hearers, should use the same " according to the precedent in Acts xiii. 14. Paul and Barnabas were exhorted by the rulers of the synagogue, if they had " any word of exhortation to the people," they should " say on." He prays that the " Lord may give unto his people courage to stand for this liberty," and to "us who enjoy it, grace to use it to his glory in our mutual edification." Not only was the practice in use, Kobinson tells us, in "each" of the exiled Independent Churches, but it was in use in the congregations of the Belgic Churches, " and the Synod at Embden, 1571, de- creed that it was to be observed in all churches." * He advocates the practice as conducing to " familiarity and goodwill " between the order of ministers and people. It fitted men for the ministry. It tended to the conversion of * See also the " Acta of the Synod of Wesel," 3rd November, 1568, chap. ii. " We call those prophets, who in the meetings of the Church explain a text as Paul has ordained, and herein we distinguish them from the ministers, that to them is enjoined the explanation of the Holy Scriptures, and the teaching, whilst the office of ministers of God is more extended." "We judge that this order of prophets ought to be main- tained in every thriving church." — Par. 16 and 17. "In this college of prophets shall be admitted, not only the Elders, but also the Ministers and Deacons, yea, all particular members who desire to receive the gift of prophecy from the Lord, and to employ it for the benefit of the Church."— Par. 191. 104 others. There is therefore great reason to believe, that this was in principle and practice maintained at this time in all Independent churches, both Paedo-baptist and Baptist. The only church among the English Separatists in Holland which did not allow this practice, was Mr. Simpson's church ; Mr. Bridge's church separating from Mr. Simp- son on this question of the liberty of prophecy.* It is also most important to notice, that through Bobinson and Smyth, this principle of lay-preaching found not only admission in theory, but actual practice, in the first Con- gregational and Baptist Churches subsequently established in England.! The controversial tracts which the practices of the Pasdo-baptist and Baptist sections of the English Churches, exiled in Holland, poured forth in such profu- sion, were extensively read in England, and doubtless formed the religious literature of the English churches. They were written with profound ability, and their authors were men of sound learning. Ainsworth united with Smyth * Baillie's " Dissuasive," &c, p. 175. f E. Baylie, in his "Dissuasive from the Errors of the Times," &c, p. 15, London, 1645, says, "Kobinson was the most learned, polished and modest spirit among the Brownists," and that he was the author of Independency, and that those in England "whose humour carried them out of the bosom of their mother-church, have turned either to Smyth's Anabaptism, or to Bobinson's Semi-separating Independency." There is a copy of a work by John Bobinson, published as a small tract in the British Musuem : "A Brief Catechism concerning Church Government," 1642, which embodies all the principles of Independent Churches, and probably exercised a most important influence. He says that "the preaching of the word and administration of the sacraments are not marks of the true Church. The fellowship of the Church consists in the gifts of the Spirit of Christ, and in the offices of the ministry given to the Church, and in the works done by those gifts and offices .... apostles, prophets, and evangelists have ceased. The pastor is given the gift of wisdom for exhortation; the teacher receives the gift of knowledge for doctrine." Next. come the elders, the deacons, and the widows or deaconesses, who are " to attend the sick and impotent with compassion and cheerfulness;" in fact, Protestant "nursing sisters" attached to every Independent church. This institution might be revived. 105 in some of his views respecting the treatment the Scriptures received at the hands of the -Puritans. The following passage expresses a view of the Scriptures, which may be found in substance set forth in Fox's Life and other works,* and indeed embodied one of the peculiarities of his teaching as opposed to that of the Presbyterians of his day. It occurs in " A reply to a pretended ' Christian Plea ' by Francis Johnson," by Henry Ainsworth, 1618, printed in the year 1620. Ainsworth quotes from Johnson — " The Word of God is not the bare letter, or out- ward syllables, but the intendment and meaning of the Holy Ghost by whom it was given, which should carefully be observed by the due consideration of the Scriptures with the circumstances thereof; " Ainsworth adds, " These words of his are true, and the more it is to be lamented he should 6 press the letter' against me.f Ainsworth held that it was unlawful to hold the worship of God in " Idol " temples, or buildings in which mass had formerly been said. Barrow held the same view.]: The early Congregationalists and Baptists, held that Independent Churches ought to be small in number, because " in huge and vast flocks the governors cannot take knowledge of the manners of the people ;§ . . . what damage cometh unto true piety " by this practice, " miserable experience " showed. " There is, too," he says, " the most full and perfect communion of the Body " in such Churches. Kobinson held, that as marriage was common to Gentiles as well as Christians, the pastor's office had nothing to do with marriage ; that the pastor ought not, as in the reformed Churches, to celebrate marriage. || * See G. Fox's Journal, 1652, the Lancashire Sessions. Judge Fell and Colonel West take the same view as Fox. t Hanbury, p. 321. + Ibid, pp. 348, 349. § Ibid, p. 373. || Ibid, p. 381. ■" A Just and Necessary Apology," p. 41, by John Robinson, 1625. This is in the Bodleian. 106 In the book of Smyth * called the " Differences of the Church of the Separation," he lays down six positions which throw a striking light upon the principles and practices of the General Baptists, and we venture to think upon the origin of a leading idea of Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends. " First — We hold that the New Testament, properly so called, is spiritual, proceeding originally from the heart, and that reading out of a book (though a lawful ecclesiastical action) is no part of spiritual worship, but rather the invention of the man of sin, it being substituted for a part of spiritual worship. Second — We hold that, seeing prophe- sying is a part of spiritual worship, therefore in the time of prophesying it is unlawful to have the book, as a help, before the eye. Third — We hold, that seeing singing a psalm is a part of spiritual worship, it is unlawful to have the book before the eye in time of singing a psalm. Fourth — We hold that the presbytery of the Church is uniform, and that tri-formed presbytery, consisting of three kinds of elders or pastors, and teachers, is none of God's ordinance, but man's device. Fifth — We hold, that all the * Copy in the Bodleian : " The Differences of the Church of the Separation : contain- ing a description of the Leitourgie and Ministrie of the visible church, annexed as a correction and supplement to a little treatise lately published, bearing title, ' Principles and Inferences respecting the Visible Church.' " First, for the satisfaction of every true lover of the truth, especially the brethren of the separation that are doubtful. Secondly, as also for the removing of an unjust calomnie cast upon the brethren of the separation of the second English Church of Amsterdam. Finally for the clearing of the truth, and the discovering of the mystery of iniquity yet in the worship and offices of the Church, divided into two parts ; first concerning the Litourgie of the Church, second, concerning the Ministrie of the Church, which hath two sections, one of the eldership, another of the deacons' office whereto appertaineth the treasury ; by John Smyth, 1608. " Search the Scriptures," John v. 39 ; "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good," 1 Thes. v. 21 ; " Beloved, believe not every spirit," John i. 41, &c. — pp. 1 and 2. This was replied to by Ainsworthin his "Defence of the Holy Scriptures, worship, and ministry, used by the Church separated from antichrist," 4to, 1609. 107 elders of the Church are pastors, and that " lay elders " (so called) are antichristian. Sixth — We hold, that in con- tributing to the church-treasury there ought to be both a separation from them that are without, and a sanctification of the whole action by prayer and thanksgiving/ ' We have already seen the practice of the Mennonite Churches with respect to silent prayer or worship in the congregation. We may infer that silence prevailed in Smyth's church both prior to, and during the time of prophesying, because he remarks (p. 3.) that "the Spirit is " quenched by silence when fit matter is revealed to one that " sitteth by, and he withholdeth it in time of prophesying. " The Spirit is quenched by set forms of worship ' because ' " the Spirit is then not at liberty to utter itself, but is " bounded in. The New Testament Churches used no books " in time of spiritual worship, but prayed, prophesy ed, and sung out of their hearts " — (p. 34). In the " Last book of John Smyth " (York Minster Library), he says, " Although " it be lawful to pray, preach, and sing out of a book for " all penitent persons, yet a man regenerate is above all " books and scriptures whatsoever, seeing he hath the " Spirit of God within him, which teacheth him the true " meaning of the Scriptures, without which Spirit the " Scriptures are but a dead letter which is perverted and " misconstrued, as we see this day, to contrary ends and " senses, and that to bind a regenerate man to a book in " prayer, preaching, or singing, is to set the Holy Ghost to " school in the one as well as the other.' ' Ainsworth tells us, in a reply to Smyth,* that the * "A Defence of the Holy Scripture, worship, and ministry used in the christian Churches separated from antichrist, against the challenges, cavils, and contradictions of Mr. Smyth, in his book entitled, * The Differences of the Churches of the Separation,' M Amsterdam, 1609. 108 commencement of the separation between the "Ancient Church " and Smyth, was that Smyth, impressed with the importance of " spiritual worship/' " charged us with sin for using our English bibles in the worship of God, and he thought that the teachers should bring the originals, the Hebrew and Greek, and out of them translate by voice. A written translation," he alleged, was as much a " human writing, as a homily or prayer written or read/' Smyth admitted " singing by the Spirit," or portions of scripture to be sung, but " his disciples, used neither of these in their assemblies." Ainsworth approved all that had Bibles bringing them to the church and searching. Not only had Christ given gifts to men to open the Scriptures, but they were sufficient to make " wise unto salvation, through the faith which is in Christ," 2 Tim. hi. 15. Smyth asserted that it " never could be proved by Scripture that there was but one pastor in a church." * We shall enter more fully into Smyth's doctrinal opinions. He was a learned man, and Bishop Hall considers him to have ranked higher than Kobinson. Baillie speaks of him as " a man of right eminent parts." All his opponents speak of him in similar terms,! but his Arminian and Baptist opinions were regarded by every branch of the Separatists as calculated to bring the Separation into still greater contempt. From this period they cannot speak of him with calmness. His happy and triumphant assurance of salvation, on his death- bed, is characterized as " sad and woeful," \ and he is * " Differences," &c, J. Smyth, 1608, p. 26. t &.g. " Master Smyth is a scholar of no small reading, and well seen and experienced in arts." "A Description of the Church of Christ, &c, with some oppositions against anabaptistical erroneous opinions, very hurtful and dangerous to weak christians, maintained by Master John Smyth," &c, London, 1610. \ Mr. Cotton's Letter, lately printed, examined by Eoger Williams, p. 14, London, 1644, " it is set as a seal to his gross and damnable Arminianism." 109 treated as a brother who is lost ; and even to the present day he is blamed for being more anxious than his brethren to obtain the whole truth, and for continuing the process by which the other Separatists had arrived at their religious opinions. "I have/' says Smyth, " in all my writings hitherto, received instruction of others, and professed my readiness to be taught by others, and therefore have I so oftentimes been accused of inconstancy. Well, let them think of me as they please. I profess I have changed, and shall be ready still to change for the better, and if it be their glory to be peremptory and immutable in their articles of religion, they may enjoy that glory without my envy, though not without the grief of my heart for them*" There are none of the eminent members of the ancient Separatist Church with whose opinions we are more fully acquainted than those of Smyth, and there are none who have expressed them with more precision. We do not profess to give a systematic summary of his creed, but merely such portions of it as will account for the strange outburst of new religious opinions, from 1641 to 1645, in England, which is described in Edward's " Gangrcena," and this work furnishes a strong proof of the activity of Smyth's disciples. We place the doctrinal portions selected in a foot-note, and the practical portions in the text.* The 69th DOCTKINAL EXTKACTS FKOM SMYTH'S LONG CONFESSION. N.B. — This is given in the reprint of Smyth's Life and Confession, placed as an appendix to this chapter. Those portions are here selected which have an immediate bearing on our subject. * 59 — " That God the Father, of his own good will, doth beget us by the word of truth (James i. 18), which is an immortal seed (1 Peter, i. 23), not the doctrine of repentance and faith which may be lost (Luke viii. 13). And that God the Father in our regeneration, neither needeth nor useth the help of any creature, but that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, immediately worksth that work in the soul when the free will of men can do nothing" (John ii. 13). 60 — "That such as have not attained the new creation have need of the Scriptures, creatures, and ordinances of the Church to instruct them, to comfort them, to stir them up the better to perform the 110 proposition of the Long Confession, completely vindicates the leaders of this most important branch of the dissenting churches, from narrow or uncharitable views. It is this — " That all penitent, faithful christians are brethren in the communion of the outward Church, wheresoever they live, by what name soever they are known, which in truth and zeal follow repentance and faith, though compassed with never so many ignorances and infirmities; and we salute them all with an holy kiss, being heartily grieved that we which follow one faith and one Spirit, and one God, Doctrinal Extracts from Smyth's "Long Confession," continued. condition of repentance to the remission of sins " (2 Pet. i. 19, 1 Cor. xi. 26, Eph. iv. 12, 23). 61 — " That the new creature which is begotten of God needeth not the out- ward Scriptures, creatures, or ordinances of the Church to support them (2 Cor. xiii. 10, 12; 1 John ii. 27; 1 Cor. i. 15, 16; Eom. xxi. 23), seeing that he hath three witnesses in himself, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, which are better than all Scriptures, or creatures whatsoever." 62 — " The outward Church and ordinances are always necessary for all sorts of persons whatsoever" (Matt. iii. 15, and xxviii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. viii. 9). 63 — " That the new creature, although he be above the law and Scriptures, yet can he do nothing against the law or Scriptures, but rather all his doings shall serve to the confirming and establishing of the law (Horn. iii. 31), therefore he can neither lie, nor steal," &c. He was charged with teaching in these propositions the doctrine of perfection in this life, but he appears only to have taught (<55) that " The visible Church is a mystical figure out- wardly of the true spiritual, invisible Church, which consisteth of the spirits of just and perfect men, that is, of the regenerate," and he admitted (67) " that when we have done all that we can, we are unprofitable servants, and all our righteousness as a stained cloth," and " that we can only suppress and loppe off the branches of sins, but the root of sin we cannot pluck up out of our hearts ; " Jer. iv. 4, compared with Deut. xxx. 6, 8. The 14th and 18th propositions state that God created Adam with *' Freedom of will " and " liberty to choose the good and refuse the evil," ox vice versa, and that he was not " moved or inclined " to sin " by God or any decree of God," and that "original sin is an idle term" (Ezek. xviii. 20) "because God threateneth death only to Adam (Gen. ii. 17), not to his posterity, and because God created the soul" (Heb. xi. 9, 19). " That if original sin might have passed from Adam to his posterity, Christ's death, which was effectual before Cain and Abel's birth, he being the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, stopped the issue and passage " (Apoc. xiii. 8). Ill one Body, and one Baptism, should be rent into so many sects and schisms, and that only for matters of less moment." With regard to the principle of religious liberty and the entire separation of church ancT state, Smyth held (Prop. 84) * " That the magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion or matters of conscience, to force or compel men to this or that form of religion or doctrine, but to leave (the) christian v religion free to every man's conscience and to handle only civil transgressions, (Kom. 13) injuries, and wrongs of man against man, in Doctrinal Extracts from Smyth's "Long Confession," continued. young ones to do them good, so there is in the Lord towards man, for every spark of goodness in the creation is infinitely good in God " (Rom. i. 20 ; Psalm xix. 4 ; Eom. xx. 18) and that (25) "as no man begetteth his child to the gallows, nor no potter maketh a pot to break it, so God doth not create or predestinate any man to destruc- tion" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11; Gen. i. 27 ; 1 Cor. xv. 49; Gen. v. 3). 27— " God in his redemption hath not swerved from his mercy which he manifested in his creation " (John i. 3, 16, 2 Cor. v. 19, 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6, Ezek. xxxiii. 11). 32—" That although the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood offered up unto God his Father, upon the cross, be a sacrifice of sweet smelling savour, and though God in him is well pleased, yet it doth not reconcile God unto us who did never hate us, nor was our enemy, but reconcileth us unto God, and slayeth the enmity and hatred which is in us against God" (2 Oor. v. 19 ; Ephes. ii. 14-17 ; Eom. i. 30). 57— " Repentance and faith in the Messiah are the conditions to be performed on our behalf for the obtaining of the promise" (Acts ii. 38; John i. 12). 58 — That they "are wrought in the hearts of men by the preaching of the word outwardly in the scriptures and creatures, the grace of God preventing us by the motions and instinct of the Spirit which a man hath power to receive or reject" (Mat. xxiii. 37; Acts vii. 5, vi. 10; Rom. x. 14, 18: that our justification before God consisteth not in the performance of the conditions which God requireth of us, but in the partaking of the promises, the possessing of Christ's remission of sins, and the new creature." " Without repentance, faith, and the new creature, there is no salvation," and that " the new creature cometh after repentance." Article 7. — That to understand or conceive of God in the mind is not the saving know- ledge of God, but to be like God in his effects and properties, to be made conformable to his divine and heavenly attributes ; this is the true saving knowledge of God where- unto we ought to give all diligence." * " Smyth's Confession," York Minster Library, in 100 propositions. 112 murder, adultery, theft, &c. for Christ only is the king and lawgiver of the church and conscience. — Jas. iv. 12." With regard to the constitution of particular or independent churches, he held (64) " That the outward church visible consists of penitent persons, only such as believing in Christ, bring forth fruits worthy (of) amendment of life " (1 Tim. vi. 3, 5; 2 Tim. hi. 15; Acts xix. 4). 70— " That the outward Baptism of water was only to be administered upon such penitent and faithful persons and not upon innocent infants or wicked persons " (Mat. hi. 2, 3, com- pared with Mat. xxviii. 19, 20, and John iv. 1). 71 — " In baptism to the penitent person and believer, is presented and figured the spiritual baptism of Christ — that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire — the baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ." 54 — " That John the Baptist and Christ are two persons, their ministries are two ministries several, and their baptisms are two baptisms distinct, the one from the other " (John i. 20 ; Acts xiii. 25, xiv. 5 ; Matt. iii. 11). 56 — But that Christ "hath a more excellent office and ministry than John (Mat. iii. 11) ; that He baptiseth with the Holy Ghost and with fire." So also in the " outward supper of which only baptised persons partake," is figured Christ's " spiritual supper." It is only to be eaten by those " who are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, in the communion of the same spirit." No grace is " conferred" or " conveyed " to communicants except in the same way as by preaching. Its use is to " stir up the repentance and faith of the communicant till Christ come, till the day dawn and the day star arise in their hearts." 77 — The church has the power of " separat- ing the impenitent " and this is a figure of " the eternal rejection" of those who persist in sin. 78— None are to be rejected for " ignorance, errors, or infirmities," so long 113 as they " retain repentance and faith in Christ/' but they are to be " instructed with meekness." 80 — If they fall, great efforts are to be used for their reclamation : their separation from the society is only, "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." 76 — Christ has set in his outward church " two sorts of ministers : 1st pastors, teachers, or elders. 2nd those - who are called deacons, men and women." 89 — "That if the Lord shall give a man a special calling, as Simon and Andrew, James and John, then they must leave all, father, ship, nets, wife, children, yea, and life also, to follow Christ." 86 — The members of the outward church " are to judge all their causes of difference among themselves, and they are not to go to law before the magistrates, 1 Cor. vL 1, 7. All differences are to be ended by yea and nay without an oath." (87) They are not to marry "the profane and wicked godless people of the world," but only "in the Lord." (88) "Christian parents are bound to bring up their children in instruction and in information of the Lord." 90 — "Inthenecessiti.es of the Church and poor brethren, all things are to be in common, and that one Church is to administer to another in time of need." 7 and 9. [Short Confession.] Christ is " God and man, the Son of the living God." He came " into the world to save sinners," to reconcile the sinful world to God the Father. He is the " only mediator, king, priest, and prophet, lawgiver and teacher." 10. [S.C.] — " In Him is fulfilled and by Him taken away, an intolerable burden of the law of Moses, even all the shadows and figures; as namely the priesthood, temple, altar, sacrifice," &c. 18. [S.C.] — "They that are the redeemed of the Lord, do change their fleshly weapons, namely, their swords into shares, and their spears into sythes, do lift up no sword, neither hath nor consent to battle." 35. [S.C.] — "Yea I 114 rather they are called of Him (whom they are commanded to obey by a voice heard from heaven) to the following of his unarmed and unweaponed life and of his cross-bearing footsteps. " 36 — "It is not permitted that the faithful of the New Testament should swear at all." In Kobert BayhVs " Dissuasive from the Errors of the Times, wherein the tenets of the principal sects, especially of the Independents, are drawn together in one mass, for the most part in the words of their authors," &c. (London, 1645), we have additional and valuable information. This work clearly shows the principles and practices of the Separatist Churches in Holland to be those of the Inde- pendent Churches of his time. Baylie was the Commissioner of the Kirk of Scotland to the Westminster Assembly, and he gives details respecting their practices (p. 28.) " Saint Andrew, Monday, Tuesday, January, &c. fee, are words to them prophane and unlawful." " There must be no limitation of preaching either to time or place." " Pulpits they scorn, they laugh at preaching to an hour-glass" (p. 29). " The singing of psalms in metre, not being formal scripture, but a paraphrase, is unlawful. They permit to sing psalms in prose, but herein Mr. Smyth is wiser than his fellows. All singing out of a book is idolatry, but he admits of singing such psalms as the spirit declares to any person immediately, without book ; " preaching the word to them is no particular act, but is common not only to all the officers, but to every gifted brother of the flock. The Lord's Supper they celebrated every Lord's-day. They count it lawful to join with the Lord's table, love-feasts. When the exercise of reading, expounding, singing of psalms, praying and preaching by the pastor is ended, they will have one, two, three, or four, to prophesy in order, and all to have free liberty of continuing as long as they may think meet. 115 After this is done they have yet another exercise, wherein by way of conference, questioning and disputation, every one of the congregation may propound publicly and press their scruples, doubts, and objections against anything they may have heard; and as if all these exercises were not enough to tire out a spirit of iron, the most of them being repeated in the afternoon, for a conclusion of all they bring in the laborious and long work of their discipline, for which the whole flock must stay till they have heard debated and discussed every cause that concerns either the officers or any of the people, either in doctrine or manners." This closely agrees with the account given by two of the members of Smyth's Church, of their worship. It seems probable, however (see p. 107) that between the rising of the persons prophesying, the practice of silent prayer observed by the Mennonites prevailed. "We begin by a prayer, after read one or two chapters of the Bible, give the sense thereof and confer on the same. That done, we lay aside our books, — and, after a solemn prayer made by the first speaker, he propoundeth some text out of the scripture and prophesieth out of the same by the space of one hour, or three quarters of an hour. After him standeth up a second speaker, and prophesieth out of the same text. After him the third, the fourth, the fifth, or as many as the time will give leave. Then the first speaker concludeth with prayer, with an exhortation to contribution to the poor. This morning exercise begins at eight of the clock and continueth till twelve of the clock. The like courses and exercises are observed in the afternoon, from two of the clock unto five or six of the clock. Last of all the execution of the government of the church is handled." * • Letter from Hugh Bromhead to William Hamerton, of London. Harleian MS. 360 fo!. 12 116 This shows the earnestness and pious delight of these excellent men, in being able at last to worship God in peace and safety. Eight hours of worship and disciplinary business, seems however to justify BailhVs criticism, and to have been an unwise disregard of the fact that we have bodies as well as souls, which can be paralleled in modern times. It will be a point of great interest to the Society of Friends, to note, that while in these meetings for discipline all the members "had free liberty of voting decisively, and of debate, " yet " nothing must go by number or plurality of voices, and there must be no moderator, or prolocutor, for the order of their action/ ' We believe the Society of Friends is the only Church, now existing, who have main- tained this rule up to the present day, and this shows us again the close connection between their practices and those of the Amsterdam Churches. Baylie states (p. 61) that " the new English Independent" {i.e. in 1645) held "the abominable heresy" of "avowing openly the personal inhabitation of the Spirit in all the godly, and his imme- diate revelation without the word, and these as infallible as scripture itself." * Baylie describes the London Indepen- dents of his time as following closely these Separatist Churches of Holland in their practices, and we think that the source of the leading ideas which Fox com- menced propagating in 1648, and upon which he consti- tuted the churches he founded, can now be readily seen. The connection between the views of Smyth on war and * This is the current misrepresentation of the doctrine in question by the Presby- terian party of that age, and is couched in the same words in which they attacked Fox's teaching. In the Swarthmore papers there are frequent complaints of misrepre sentation. 117 those of George Fox, may be traced in the fact, that in 1646 there were some of the English General Baptists who held "that it is unlawful to take up arms for laws and civil liberties."* In 1626 we find them discussing this very question with a Mennonite Church in Holland and taking advice, t It is obvious that their original prin- ciples on the unlawfulness of war had begun to be questioned. Owing to the extensive trade carried on between London and Holland, it was a common practice for those engaged in it to attend the exiled English churches in the large cities. This facilitated the spread of the tracts of Sepa- ratists in England. Later on, Baxter tells us that " five or six ministers who came from Holland and the Brownist relicts, did drive on others according to their dividing principles and sowed the seeds which afterwards spread over all the land." J He tells us that the leaders of the Separatists in the army, "the men that bore the bell, that did all the hurt amongst them," were "men who had been in London, hatcht up among the old Separatists, and made it all their matter of study and religion to rail against ministers and parish churches and Presbyterians." § * " A relation of several heresies," &c, p. 11, 1646. ^Errors in the Commonwealth of the Anabaptists (" who teach freewill in spiritual things "). f " Evans' Early Baptists," vol. ii. pp. 29 and 39. J "Baxter's Life," from his manuscript, by Sylvester, p. 39. % "Baxter's Life," p. 53. APPENDIX TO CHAPTEE VI. Eeprint of Tract lately found in York Minster Library (without title), and believed to be unique, containing " The last book of John Smith (Smyth), called the Eetrac- tion of his Errors, and the Confirmation of the Truth;" also " The Life and Death of John Smith (Smyth)," by Thomas Piggott ; also John Smyth's " Confession of Faith" in One Hundred Propositions, which was replied to by John Eobinson, of Leyden, in his " Survey of the Confessions of Faith," published in certain conclu- sions by the remainders of Mr. Smyth's Company after his death (published 1614). There is no date, but as Smyth died, August, 1612, it may be inferred with cer- tainty to have been printed between 1613 and 1614. The whole of this reprint has been carefully corrected by S. Walter Stott, Minor Canon and Assistant Librarian of York Minster Library. The importance of this work to the student of the history of the English Baptists is very great. The Epistle to the Eeader. Considering that all means and helps are necessary for men, to provoke them to the practice of religion, and obedience of the truth, especially in this latter age of the world, when our Saviour Christ witnesseth, that because of the abounding of iniquity, the love of many shall wax cold, which appeareth too manifest in these days. There- fore we have thought good to manifest unto thee (good reader) the manner of the life of (John Smith), remaining for a time at Amsterdam in Holland, and how he carried himself in his sickness, even unto his death. Whereunto we have annexed a small confession of faith : with a little treatise which he writ not long before his death, desiring that it should be published unto the world ; in the reading whereof, we beseech thee to cast away prejudice; and be not forestalled with the supposed errors held by him, or us, nor with the censure of other, which have thrust themselves too far into the room of God, to judge things before the time ; but try all things, and take that which is good: and in trying, put on love, which will teach thee to interpret all things in the best part, and the rather, because that to take things in the evil partis the property of an evil mind. Even as the bee and spider coming both to one flower, the one taketh honey and the other poison, according to their nature, so it is with men : for he that is full despiseth an honeycomb, and the sick stomach abhorreth most pleasant meat, but to the sound and hungry all good things have a good taste ; even so it is in spiritual matters : and therefore we direct these things especially unto two sorts of men, the one is the careless professor, who placeth all his religion in knowledge, in speaking, and in out- ward profession ; that such may know that true religion consisteth not in knowledge, 11 but in practice, not in word but in power: and that such as have the form of godliness, and do deny the power thereof, are to be separated from : the other is the hungry soul, and the upright in heart, which seek the Lord, to let them see and know that there is in the Lord all sufficience, and such a measure of grace to be attained unto, as that they may be made partakers of the Divine nature, and may come to the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ (Eph. iv. 13), and to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ. The which, who so well considereth, it will cause them not to be careless and negligent, but careful and diligent, to use all means which may further them in this great work of the Lord. And know also, that the intent of the author is not to teach any man either to despise or neglect the holy ordinances, appointed by Jesus Christ, for the help of His Church, nor to attribute unto them more than is meet, but to use them as means to bring us to the end; that is, that the Lord hath not given His word, sacra- ments, and the discipline of the Chureh, unto His people, to the end that they should satisfy themselves with the outward obedience thereof, nor to think that all is well when they walk therein ; but also to be translated into the obedience of that which the word teacheth, and the sacraments signify unto them : that is, to be made like to Jesus Christ, in His life, sufferings, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, by being partakers with Him of one and the same spirit; consider what we say, and the Lord give thee under- standing in all things. (Signed T. P. (Thomas Piggott). " I have not concealed Thy mercy and Thy truth from the great congregation." (Psal. 3d. 16). " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth man confesseth to salvation." (Rom. x. 10). The Last Book of John Smith, Called the Retraction of His Errors, and the Confirmation of the Truth. " If any man be in Christ, let him be a new creature." (2 Cor. v. 17.) " For they that are Christ's have crucified the fie sh with the affections and the lusts." (Gal. v. 24.) I am not of the number of those men which assume unto themselves such plenary knowledge and assurance of their ways, and of the perfection and sufficiency thereof, as that they peremptorily censure all men except those of their own understanding, and require that all men upon pain of damnation become subject and captivate in their judgment and walking to their line and level : of which sort are those of our English nation, who publish in print their proclamation against all Churches except those of their own society and fellowship — I mean the double separation, Master Hainsworth and Master Helwys— although the one more near the truth than the other; neither is my purpose, in this my writing, to accuse and condemn other men, but to censure and reform myself. If I should walk with either of the double separation, I must, from the per- suasion of mine own alone perfect reformation, reprove all other, and reject them as short of that mark whereto I come : and I must shut my ears from hearing any instruction which others may afford me ; for this is the quintessence of the separation, to assume unto themselves a prerogative to teach all men, and to be taught of no man. Ill Now I have in all my writings hitherto received instruction of others, and professed my readiness to be taught by others, and therefore have I so oftentimes been accused of inconstancy ; well, let them think of me as they please, I profess I have changed, and shall be ready still to change for the better : and if it be their glory to be peremptory and immutable in their articles of religion, they may enjoy that glory without my envy, though not without the grief of my heart for them. The Articles of Eeligion which are the ground of my salvation are these, wherein I differ from no good Christian : That Jesus Christ, the son of God and the son of Mary, is the anointed King, Priest, and Prophet of the Church, the only mediator of the New Testament, and that through true repentance and faith in Him, who alone is our Saviour, we receive remission of sins and the Holy Ghost in this life, and therewith all the redemption of our bodies, and everlasting life in the resurrection of the body; and whosoever walketh according to this rule, I must needs acknowledge him my brother ; yea, although he differ from me in divers other particulars. And howsoever in the days of my blind zeal and preposterous imitation of Christ, I was somewhat lavish in censuring and judging others ; and namely, in the way of separation called Brownism, yet since having been instructed in the way of the Lord more perfectly, and finding my error therein, I pro- test against that my former course of censuring other persons, and especially for all those hard phrases wherewith I have in any of my writings inveighed against either England or the separation : for England, although I cannot with any good conscience acknowledge the wicked ones mingled with the zealous professors in one congregation to be the true outward visible Church which Christ and His Apostles at the first instituted, which consisted only of penitent persons and believers ; yet therefore to say that the zealous professors themselves are antichristian, is a censure such as I cannot justify before the Lord, who is my judge in my conscience. And therefore I utterly revoke and renounce it. Again, howsoever I doubt not but it is an error of the forward professors of the English churches to be mingled with the open wicked in the supper of the Lord, as they daily are, seeing therein they do transgress the first institution of Christ, who ate His supper only with the eleven (for Judas departed soon as he had received the sop of the Passover), yet I cannot therefore conclude the said forward pro- fessors under the same' judgment, or fellowship of sin, with the wicked ones with whom they partake the supper. Yea, rather I do also renounce that evil and perverse judg- ment which I have pronounced in my writings, in this particular acknowledging my error therein ; further I must needs avouch that the Bishops of the land grievously sin against God : and the forward professors in ruling them so rigorously, urging their subscription, canons, and ceremonies upon men's consciences upon pain of excommunication, deposi- tion, silence, imprisonment, banishment, and the like penalties : and that therein they sit as Antichrist in the temple of God, which is the conscience. Yet, therefore, to say that all the professors of the land, whether preachers or others that remain under their jurisdiction, do submit unto the beast and receive his mark, that I dare not avouch and justify as I have done, for I doubt not but many touch none of their unclean things, but only submit to Christ so far as they are enlightened ; and if a sin of ignorance make a man an anti- christian, then I demand where shall we find a Christian. In these three particulars, especially have I transgressed against the professors of the English nation. Generally, all those biting and bitter words, phrases, and speeches, used against the professors of the land I utterly retract and revoke, as not being of the IV spirit of Christ, but of the Disciples, who would have called for fire and brimstone from heaven, which Christ rebuketh. Particularly that book against Master Bernard, wherein Master Marbury, Master White, and others are mentioned and cruelly taxed, I retract not for that it is wholly false, but for that it is wholly censorious and critical: and for that therein the contention for outward matters, which are of inferior note, hath broken the rules of love and charity, which is the superior law. Now for the separation, I cannot, nor dare not, in my conscience before the Judge of the whole world justify my writings and dealings against them. For the truth of the matter I doubt not but it is on my side, but the manner of writing is that alone wherein I have failed : for I should have with the spirit of meekness instructed them that are contrary minded, but my words have been stout and mingled with gall, and therefore hath the Lord repayed me home full measure into my bosom, for according to that measure wherewith I measured hath it been measured again unto me, by Master Clifton, especially by Master Hainsworth and Master Bernard. The Lord lay none of our sins to the charge of any of us all, but He of His mercy pass by them : for my part the Lord hath taught me thereby, for hereafter shall I set a watch before my mouth, that I sin not again in that kind and degree. For Master Hainsworth's book, I acknowledge that I erred in the place of the candlestick and altar, but that of the altar is not Master Fenner's error with me, but mine rather with him ; for other things, namely, the chief matter in controversy I hold as I did. Yea, which is more, I say that although it be lawful to pray, preach, and sing out of a book for all penitent persons, yet a man regenerate is above all books and scriptures whatsover, seeing he hath the spirit of God within him, which teacheth him the true meaning of the scriptures, without the which spirit the scriptures are but a dead letter, which is perverted and misconstrued as we see at this day to contrary ends and senses ; and that to bind a regenerate man to a book in praying, preaching or singing, is to set the Holy Ghost to school in the one as well as in the other : for the other question of elders with Master Hainsworth, and of Baptism with Master Clifton, and the two Testaments, I hold as I did, and therein I am persuaded I have the truth. If any man say, why then do you not answer the books written in opposition, my answer is, my desire is to end controversies among Christians rather than to make and maintain them, especially in matters of the outward Church and ceremonies ; and it is the grief of my heart that I have so long cumbered myself and spent my time therein, and I profess that difference in judgment for matter of circumstance, as are all things of the outward Church, shall not cause me to refuse the brotherhood of any penitent and faithful Christian whatsoever. And now from this day forward do I put an end to all controversies and questions about the outward Church and ceremonies with all men, and resolve to spend my time in the main matters wherein consisteth salvation. Without repentance, faith, remission of sin, and the new creature, there is no salvation — but there is salvation without the truth of all the outward ceremonies of the outward Church. If any man say you answer not because you cannot, I say to him, that I am accounted one that cannot answer is not my fame, but to spend my time in a full answer of those things of the outward Church which I am bound to employ better (necessity calling upon me) would be my sin, and so I had rather be accounted unable to answer, than to be found in sin against my conscience. Again, if I should answer, it would breed further strife among Christians — further, we have no means to publish our writings. But my first answer satisfieth my conscience, and so I rest, having peace at home in this point. But now to come to Master Helwys, his separation, against which I have done nothing in writing hitherto, notwithstanding I am now bound in conscience to publish an apology of certain imputations cast upon me by him in his writings. As first, the sin against the Holy Ghost, because I have denied some truth which once I acknowledged, and wherewith I was enlightened. Than this can there be no more grievous imputation cast upon any man ; than this can there be no higher degree of censuring. What shall I say here for my apology ? ShaU I say that my heart yet appertaineth to the Lord, that I daily seek mercy and ask forgiveness, that I labour to reform myself wherein I see my error, that I con- tinually search after the truth and endeavour myself to keep a good conscience in all things? But this, haply, will not satisfy Master Helwys. Well, let us examine the points wherein I have forsaken the truth : Succession is the matter wherein I hold as I have written to Master Bernard, that succession is abolished by the Church of Borne, and that there is no true ministry derived from the Apostles through the Church of Borne to England, but that the succession is interrupted and broken off. Secondly, I hold, as I did hold then, succession being broken off and interrupted, it may by two or three gathered together in the name of Christ be renewed and assumed again ; and herein there is no difference between Master Helwys and me. Thirdly, Master Helwys said that although there be churches already established, ministers ordained, and sacraments administered orderly, yet men are not bound to join those former churches established, but may, being as yet unbaptized, baptize themselves (as we did) and pro- ceed to build churches of themselves, disorderly (as I take it). Herein I differ from Master Helwys, and therefore he saith I have sinned against the Holy Ghost because I once acknowledged the truth (as Master Helwys calleth it). Here I answer three things : — " 1. I did never acknowledge it. 2. It is not the truth. 3. Though I had acknowledged it, and it were a truth, yet in denying it I have not sinned against the Holy Ghost. First, I did never acknowledge it, that it was lawful for private persons to baptize when there were true churches and ministers from whence we might have our baptism without sin, as there are forty witnesses that can testify : only this is it which I held, that seeing there was no church to whom we could join with a good conscience, to have baptism from them, therefore we might baptize ourselves. That this is so the Lord knoweth, my conscience witnesseth, and Master Helwys him- self will not deny it. Secondly, it is not the truth that two or three private persons may baptize, when there is a true church and ministers established whence baptism may orderly be had : for if Christ himself did fetch His baptism from John, and the Gentiles from the Jews baptized, and if God be the God of order and not of confusion, then surely we must observe this order now, or else disorder is order, and God alloweth disorder ; for if Master Helwys' position be true, that every two or three that see the truth of baptism may begin to baptize, and need not join to former true churches where they may have their baptism orderly from ordained ministers, then the order of the primitive church was order for them and those times only, and this dis- order will establish baptism of private persons. Yea of women from henceforth to the world's end, as Master Helwys his ground doth evidently afford to him that will scan it. Thirdly, though I had acknowledged that assertion of Master Helwys, and it were the truth, and I now forsake it, it doth not thereupon follow that a man sinneth against the Holy Ghost : for I demand, may not a man forsake a truth upon a temptation, TO and obtain remission upon repentance? Did not Peter so in denying Christ? Did not David so, and continued impenitent till the child was born after adultery with Bethshabe? A man therefore that upon a temptation forsaketh a known truth, may repent and receive mercies — further, may not a man (as he supposeth) upon force of argument, yield from the known truth to error for conscience sake? Have all those sinned against the Holy Ghost that have separated from England and are returned again? Certainly Master Helwys herein erreth not a little, and breaketh the bond of charity above all men that I ever read or heard, in uttering so sharp a censure upon so weak a ground. Besides, the sin against the Holy Ghost is not in outward ceremonies, but in matter of substance, which is the knowledge of the truth (Heb. vi. 1 — 10), namely a forsaking of repentance and faith in Christ, and falling to profaneness and Paganism : for I hold no part of saving righteousness to consist in outward ceremonies, for they are only as a crutch for the lame and weak to walk withal till they be cured. Concerning succession, briefly thus much : I deny all succession except in the truth ; and I hold we are not to violate the order of the primitive church, except necessity urge a dispensation ; and therefore it is not lawful for every one that seeth the truth to baptize, for then there might be as many churches as couples in the world, and none have anything to do with other, which breaketh the bond of love and brotherhood in churches ; but, in these outward matters, I dare not any more contend with any man, but desire that we may follow the truth of repentance, faith, and regeneration, and lay aside dissension for mint, comine, and annis seed. Another imputation of Master Helwys is concerning the flesh of Christ. Whereto I say, that he that knoweth not that the first and second flesh of an infant in the mother's womb are to be distin- guished, knoweth not yet the grounds of nature and natural reason. I affirmed con- cerning Christ that His second flesh, that is His nourishment, He had from His mother, and that the Scriptures are plain for it; but, concerning the first matter of Christ's flesh, whence it was, I said thus much: That, although I yield it to be a truth in nature that He had it of His mother Mary, yet I dare not make it such an Article of faith as that if any man will not consent unto it, I should therefore refuse brother- hood with him : and that the Scriptures do not lead us (as far as I conceive) to the searching of that point, whereof Christ's natural flesh was made ; but that we should search into Christ's spiritual flesh, to be made flesh of that His flesh, and bone of His bone, in the communion and fellowship of the same spirit. That this was my speech and the sum of my assertion concerning this point, I call the Lord and all that heard as witnesses : whereby appeareth Master Hdwys his partiality in reporting this particular. Concerning a secret imputation which Master Helwys, by way of intima- tion, suggesteth, as though I had received much help of maintenance from his company, or from that company of English people that came over together out of the north parts with me, I affirm thus much :. That I never received of them all put together the value of forty shillings to my knowledge, since I came out of England, and of Master Helwys, not the value of a penny; but it is well known to Master Helwys and to all the company, that I have spent as much in helping the poor as Master Helwys hath done, and it is not known that Master Helwys hath spent one penny but I have spent another in any common burthen for the relieving of the poor. All that ever Master Helwys can say is that, when I was sick in England, at Bashforth, I was troublesome and chargeable to him ; wherein I confess his kindness, but I would have given Vll him satisfaction, and he refused it, and in my sickness there was as much brought in as I spent. Another imputation is of some moment, that I should affirm Christ in the flesh to be a figure of Himself in the spirit, and that men are not so much to strive about the natural flesh of Christ as about His spiritual flesh ; and that the contention concerning the natural flesh of Christ is like the contention of the soldiers for Christ's coat. True, this I did affirm, and this I defend as the most excellent and comfortable truth in the Scriptures : for who knoweth not, that to know and be made conformable to the s imilit ude of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection in the mortification of sin and the new creature, to be made flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, spiritually in' the fellowship of one holy anointing, which is Christ's sphitual flesh ; who knoweth not, I say, that this is better than the knowledge of Christ's natural flesh. That Christ's natural flesh is a figure of Christ's spiritual flesh, is plain by Eom. vi. where the Apostle saith that we must be grafted to the similitude of His death, burial, and resurrection ; if His death, burial, and resurrection be a similitude or figure, so is His body that died, was buried, and rose again. The like saith the Apostle, Heb. iv. 15, that Christ was tempted in all things in a figure or si mil itude ; but this point is also plain enough, that all Christ's miracles and doings in the flesh, with His sufferings, are figures of those heavenly things which He in the spirit worketh in the regenerate; He cleanseth then leprosy, casteth out the devil, drieth up the bloody issue, rideth to Jerusalem on an ass, stilleth the winds and sea, feedeth the multitude : for Jesus Christ is yesterday and to-day, and the same also for ever. If this be a truth, then, the contention about Christ's natural flesh is in com- parison like to the soldiers' contention for His coat. It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, saith Christ, and so I rest satisfied in this particular. Propositions and Conclusions concerning true Christian Eeligion, containing A Confession of Faith of certain English people, living at Amsterdam. 1. We believe that there is a God (Heb. xi. 6) against all Epicures and Atheists, -which either say in their hearts or utter -with their mouths, that there is no God (Psal. xiv. 1 ; Isaiah xxii. 13). 2. That this God is one in number (1 Cor. viii. 4, 6) against the Pagans or any other that hold a plurality of gods. 3. That God is incomprehensible and ineffable, in regard of His substance or essence that is God's essence can neither be comprehended in the mind, nor uttered by the words of men or angels (Exod. iii. 13-15, and xxxiii. 18-21). 4. That the creatures and Holy Scriptures do not intend to teach us what God is in substance or essence, but what He is in effect and property (Eom. i. 19, 22 ; Exod. xxxiii. 23). 5. That these terms, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, do not teach God's substance, but only the hinder parts of God : that which may be known of God (Eom. i., Exod. xxxiii). 6. That God may be known by His titles, properties, effects, imprinted, and expressed in the creatures, and Scriptures (John xvh. 3). 7. That to understand and conceive of God in the mind is not the saving knowledge of God, but to be like to God in His effects and properties ; to be made conformable to His divine and heavenly attributes. That is the true saving knowledge of God (2 Cor. hi. 18 ; Matt. v. 48 ; 2 Peter i. 4), whereunto we ought to give all diligence. 8. That this God manifested in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matt. iii. 16, 17) is most merciful, most mighty most holy, most just, most wise, most true, most glorious, eternal and infinite (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Psalm xc. 2 and cii. 27). Vlll 9. That God before the foundation of the world did foresee, and determine the issue and event of all His works (Acts xv. 18), and that actually in time He workethatl things by His providence, according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. i. 11), and therefore we abhor the opinion of them, that avouch, that all things happen by fortune or chance (Acts. iv. 27, 28 ; Matt. x. 29, 30). 10. That God is not the Author or worker of sin (Psal. v. 4 ; James i. 13), but that God only did foresee and determine what evil the free will of men and angels would do; but He gave no influence, instinct, motion or inclination to the least sin. 11. That God in the beginning created the world viz., the heavens, and the earth and all things that are therein (Gen. i. ; Acts xvii. 24). So that the things that are seen, were not of things which did appear (Heb. xi. 3). 12. That God created man to blessedness, according to His image, in an estate of innocency, free without corruption of sin (Gen. i. 27, ii. 17, 25) ; He created them male and female (to wit) one man and one woman (Gen. i. 27); He framed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into him the breath of life, so the man was a living Soul (Gen. ii. 7 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45). But the woman He made of a rib, taken out of the side of the man (Gen. ii. 21, 22). That God blessed them, and commanded them to increase, and multiply, and to fill the earth, and to rule over it and all creatures therein (Gen. i. 28, ix. 1, 2 ; Psal. viii. 6). 13. That therefore 'marriage is an estate honourable amongst all men, and the bed undefiled : viz. betwixt one man and one woman (Heb. xiii. 4 ; 1 Cor. vii. 2), but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 14. That God created man with freedom of will, so that he had ability to choose the good, and eschew the evil, or to choose the evil, and refuse the good, and that this freedom of will was a natural faculty or power, created by God in the soul of man (Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; hi. 6, 7 ; Eccles. vii. 29). 15. That Adam sinning was not moved or inclined thereto by God, or by any decree of God but that he fell from his innocency, and died the death alone, by the temptation of Satan, his free will assenting there- unto freely (Gen. hi. 6). 16. That the same day that Adam sinned, he died the death (Gen. ii. 17), for the reward of sin is death (Kom. vi. 23), and this is that which the Apostle saith, dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. ii. 1), which is loss of innocency, of the peace of conscience and comfortable presence of God (Gen. hi. 7, 11). 17. That Adam being f alien did not lose any natural power or faculty, which God created in his soul, for the work of the devil, which is (sin), cannot abolish God's works or creatures : and therefore being fallen he still retained freedom of will (Gen. hi. 23, 24). 18. That original sin is an idle term, and that there is no such thing as men intend by the word (Ezek. xviii. 20), because God threatened death only to Adam (Gen. ii. 17) not to his posterity, and because God created the soul (Heb. xii. 9). 19. That if original sin might have passed from Adam to his posterity, Christ's death, which was effectual before Cain and Abel's birth, He being the lamb slain from the beginning of the world, stopped the issue and passage thereof (Eev. xiii. 8). 20. That infants are conceived and born in innocency without sin, and that so dying are undoubtedly saved, and that this is to be understood of all infants, under heaven (Gen. v. 2, i. 27 compared with 1 Cor. xv. 49) for where there is no law there is no transgression, sin is not imputed while there is no law (Eom. iv. 15 and v. 13), but the law was not given to infants, but to them that could understand (Eom. v. 13 ; Matt. xiii. 9 ; Neh. viii. 3). 21. That all actual sinners bear the image of the first Adam, in his innocency, fall, and restitution in the offer of grace (1 Cor. xv. 49), and so pass under these three conditions, or threefold estate. 22. That Adam being fallen God did not hate him, but loved him still, and sought his good (Gen. hi. 8—15), neither doth he hate any man that falleth with Adam ; but that He loveth mankind, and from His love sent His only begotten Son into the world, to save that which was lost, and to seek the sheep that went astray (John hi. 16). 23. That God never forsaketh the creature till there be no remedy, neither doth He cast away His innocent creature from all eternity ; but casteth away men irrecoverable in sin (Isa. v. 4; Ezek. xviii. 23, 32, and xxxiii. 11 ; Luke xiii. 6, 9). 24. That as there is in all the creatures a natural inclination to their young ones, to do them good, so there is in the Lord toward man ; for every spark of goodness in the creature is infinitely good in God (Eom. i. 20 ; Psal. xix 4 ; Eom. x. 18). 25. That as no man begetteth bis child to the gallows, nor no potter maketh a pot to break it ; so God doth not create or predestinate any man to destruction (Ezek. xxxiii. 11; Gen. i. 27; 1 Cor. xv. 49; Gen. v. 3). 26. That God before the foundation of the world hath dete rmin ed the way of life and salvation to consist in Christ, and that He hath foreseen who would follow it (Eph. i. 5 ; 2 Tim. i. 9), and on the contrary hath determined the way of perdition to consist in infidelity, and in impenitency, and that he hath foreseen who would follow after it ( Jude, 4th verse.) 27. That as God created all men according to His image, so hath He redeemed all that fall by actual IX sin, to the same end ; and that God in His redemption hath not swerved from His mercy, which Be manifested in His creation (John i. 3, 16; 2 Cor. v. 19 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 11). 28. That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that Cod in His love to His enemies did send Him (John hi. 16) ; that Christ died for His enemies (Eom. v. 10) ; that He bought them that deny Him (2 Peter ii. 1), thereby teaching us to love our enemies (Matt. v. 44, 45). 29. That Christ Jesus after His baptism by a voice out of heaven from the Father, and by the anointing of the Holy Ghost, which appeared upon His head in the form of a dove, is appointed the prophet of the church, whom all men must hear (Matt. hi. ; Heb. hi. 1, 2) ; and that both by His doctrine and life, which He led here in the earth, by all His doings and sufferings, He hath declared and published, as the only prophet and lawgiver of His Church, the way of peace and life, the glad tidings of the gospel (Acts hi. 23, 24). 30. That Christ Jesus is the brightness of the glory and the engraven form of the Father's substance, supporting aU things by His mighty power (Heb. i. 3) ; and that He is become the mediator of the New Testament (to wit) the King, Priest, and Prophet of the Church, and that the faithful through Him are thus made spiritual "Kings, Priests, and Prophets (Eev. i. 6 ; 1 John ii. 20 ; Eev. xix. 10). 31. That Jesus Christ is He which in the beginning did lay the foundation of the heavens and earth which shah perish (Heb. i. 10 ; Psalm cii. 26) ; that He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, He is the wisdom of G-od, which was begotten from everlasting before aU creatures (Micah v. 2 ; Prov. viii. 24 ; Luke xi. 49) ; He was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God ; yet He took to Him the shape of a servant, the Word became flesh (John i. 14), wonderfully by the power of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary : He was of the seed of David according to the flesh, (Phil. h. 7 ; Heb. 10 ; Kom. i. 3) ; and that He made Himself of no reputation, humbled Himself, and became obedient unto the death of the cross, redeeming us from our vain conversation, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Himself, as of a lamb without spot and undefiled (1 Pet. i. 18, 19). 32. That although the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood offered up unto God His Father upon the cross, be a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour, and that God in Him is well pleased, yet it doth not reconcile God unto us, which did never hate us, nor was our enemy, but reconcileth us unto God (2 Cor. 5, 19), and slayeth the enmity and hatred, which is in us against God (Ephes. i. 14, 17 ; Eom. i. 30). 33. That Christ was dehvered to death for our sins (Eom. iv. 25), and that by His death we have the remission of our sins (Eph. ii. 7), for He cancelled the hand-writing of ordinances, the hatred, the law of commandments in ordinances (Eph. ii. 15 ; Colos. ii. 14) which was against us (Deut. xxxi. 26) ; He spoiled principalities and powers, made a shew of them openly, and triumphed over them on the cross (Colos. ii. 15); by death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil (Heb. ii. 14). 34. That the enemies of our salvation, which Christ vanquished on His cross, are the gates of hell, the power of darkness, Satan, sin, death, the grave, the curse or condemnation, wicked men, and persecutors (Eph. vi. 12 ; 1 Cor. xv. 26, 54, 57 ; Matt. xvi. 18 ; Eev. xx. 10, 14, 15), which enemies we must overcome no otherwise than Christ hath done (John xxi. 22 ; 1 Pet. ii. 21 ; Eev. xiv. 4). 35. That the efficacy of Christ's death is only derived to them, which do mortify then sins, which are grafted with Him to the similitude of His death (Eom. vi. 3-6), which are circumcised with circumcision made without hands, by putting off the sinful body of the flesh, through the circumcision which Christ worketh (Colos. ii. 11) who is the minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers (Eom. xv. 8 compared with Deut. xxx. 6). 36. That there are three which bear witness in the earth, the spirit, water and blood, and these three are one in testimony, witnessing that Christ truly died (1 John v. 8) for He gave up the ghost (John xix. 30) ; and out of His side pierced with a spear came water and blood (verse 34, 35), the cover of the heart being pierced, where there is water contained. 37. That every mortified person hath this witness in himself (1 John v. 10), for the spirit blood, and water of sin is gone, that is the life of sin with the nourishment and cherishment thereof (1 Pet. iv. 1 ; Eom. vi. 7 ; 1 John hi. 6). 38. That Christ Jesus being truly dead was also buried (John xix. 39, 42), and that He lay in the grave the whole Sabbath of the Jews ; but in the grave He saw no corruption (Psal. xvi. 10 ; Acts ii. 31). 39. That all mortified persons are also buried with Christ, by the baptism, which is into His death (Eom. Ti. 4 ; Colos. ii. 12) ; keeping then Sabbath with Christ in the grave (that is) resting from then own works as God did from His (Heb. iv. 10), waiting there in hope for a resurrection (Psal. xvi. 9). 40. That Christ Jesus early in the morning, the first day of the week, rose again after His death and burial (Matt, xxviii. 6) for our justification (Eom. iv. 25), being mightily declared to be the Son of God, by the Sphit of sanctification, in the resurrection from the dead (Eom. i. 4). 41. That these that are grafted with Christ to the similitude of His death and burial shall also be to the similitude of His resurrection (Eom. vi. 4, 5) ; for He doth quicken or give life unto them, together with Himself (Colos. ii. 13 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6) ; for that is then salvation, and it is by grace (Eph. ii. 5 ; 1 John v. 11, 12, 13 ; Titus hi. 5, 6, 7). 42. That this quickening or reviving of Christ, this laver of regeneration, this renewing of the Holy Ghost, is our justification and salvation (Titus iii. 6, 7). Tins is that pure river of water of life clear as crystal, which proceedeth onfc of the throne of God, and of the Lamh (Rev. xxii. 1) ; which also floweth out of the helly of him that hclicveth in Christ (John vii. 38) ; this is those precious promises wherchy we are made partakers of the divine nature, hy flying the corruptions that are in the world through lust (2 Pet. i. 4) ; this is the fruit of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God ; this is the white stone wherein there is a name written, which no man knoweth, save he that receiveth it. This is the morning star, this is the new name, the name of God, the name of the City of God ; the new Jerusalem which descendcth from God out of heaven ; this is the hidden manna, that white clothing, eye salve and gold, and that heavenly supper which Christ promiseth to them, that overcome (Rev. ii. 7, 17, 18, and iii. 5, 12, 18, 20). 43. That there are three which hear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit ; and that these three are one in testimony, witnessing the resurrection of Christ. The Father saith thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (Acts xiii. 33-35). The Son testifieth of his own resurrection being forty days with His disciples (Act. i. 3). The Holy Ghost testifieth the same whom Christ sent to His disciples upon the day of Penticost (Act. ii.). 44. That every person that is regenerate and risen again with Christ hath these three aforesaid witnesses in himself (1 Joh. v. 10) ; for Christ doth dwell in his heart by faith (Eph. iii. 17) ; and the Father dwelleth with the Son (Joh. xiv. 23) ; and the Holy Ghost likewise (1 Cor. iii. 16) ; and that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost is with them (2 Cor. xiii. 13). 45. That Christ having forty days after His resurrection conversed with His disciples (Acts i. 3), ascended locally into the heavens (Acts i. 9), which must contain Him unto the time that all things be restored (A.cts iii. 21). That they which are risen with Christ, ascend up spiritually with Him, seeking those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, and that they set their affections on heavenly things, and not on earthly things (Col. iii. 1-5). 46. That Christ now being received into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God (Mark xvi. 9), having led captivity captive, and given gifts unto men (Eph. iv. 8) ; that God hath now highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, in earth and under the earth (Phil. ii. 9, 10), that He hath obtained all power both in heaven and in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18), and hath made all things subject under His feet, and hath appointed Him over all things to be the head to the church, that is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all things (Eph. i, 2-23). 47. That the regenerate do sit together with Christ Jesus in heavenly places (Eph. ii. 6), that they sit with Him in His throne as He sitteth with the Father in His throne (Rev. iii. 21), that they have power over nations, and rule them with a rod of iron, and as a potter's vessel they are broken in pieces (Rev. ii. 26, 27) ; and that sitting on twelve thrones, they do judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. xix. 28), which spiritually is to put all their enemies in subjection under their feet, so that the evil one doth not touch them (1 John v. 18), nor the gates of hell prevail against them (Matt. xvi. 28), and that they are become pillars in the house of God, and go no more out (Rev. iii. 12). 48. That Christ Jesus being exalted at the right hand of God the Father, far above all principalities and powers, might, and domination, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in the world to come (Eph. i. 21), hath received of His Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, which He also shed forth upon His disciples on the Day of Pentecost (Act ii. 33). 49. That Christ Jesus, in His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation, is more and rather Lord and Christ, Saviour, anointed, and King, than in His humiliation, sufferings and death (Acts ii. 36 ; Phil. ii. 7, 11), for the end is more excellent than the means, and His sufferings were the way by the which He entered into His glory (Luke xxiv. 16), and so by consequent the efficacy of His resurrection in the new creature, is more noble and excellent, than the efficacy of His death in the mortification and remission of sins. 50. That the knowledge of Christ according to the flesh is of small profit (2 Cor. v. 16, 17), and the knowledge of Christ's genealogy and history, is no other but that which the Devil hath as well if not better than any man living ; but the knowledge of Christ according to the spirit is effectual to salvation, which is spiritually to be grafted to the similitude of Christ's birth, life, miracles, doings, sufferings, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation (Rom. vi. 3, 6). 51. That Christ Jesus, according to the flesh and history in His doings and suffering, is a great mystery, and divine sacrament of Himself, and of His ministry in the spirit, and of those spiritual things which He worketh in those which are to be heirs of salvation (Rom. vi. 3, 6 ; Eph. Ii. 5, 6), and that spiritually Ho performeth all those miracles in the regenerate which He wrought in His flesh ; He healeth their leprosy, bloody issue, blindness, dumbness, deafness, lameness, palsy, fever, He casteth out the devils and unclean spirits, He raiseth the dead, rebuketh the winds and the sea, and it is calm ; He feedeth thousands with the barley loaves and fishes (Matt. viii. 16, 17, compared with Isaiah liii. 4, John vi. 26, 27). 52. That the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son (John xiv. 26, and xvi. 7); that He is the eternal spirit, whereby Christ offered himself withoufspot to God (Heb. ix. 14); that He is that other comforter, which Christ asketh, obtaineth, and sendeth from the Father (John xiv. 16), which dwelleth in the regenerate (1 Cor. iii. 16), which leadeth them into all truth (John xvi. 13), He is that anointing which teacheth them all things, and that they have no need that any man teach them, but as the same anointing teacheth (1 John ii. 20, 27). XI 63. That although there be divers gifts of the Spirit yet there is but one Spirit, which distributeth to every one as He will (2 Cor. xii. 4, 11; Eph. iv. 4), that the outward gifts of the spirit which the Holy Ghost poureth forth, upon the Day of Pentecost upon the disciples, in tongues and prophecy, and gifts, and healing, and miracles, which is called the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire (Acts. i. 5) were only a figure of and an hand leading to better things, even the most proper gifts of the spirit of sanctification, which is the new creature ; which is the one baptism (Eph. iv. 4, compared with Act ii. 33, 38, and with Luke x. 17, 20). 54. That John Baptist and Christ are two persons, their ministries are two ministries several, and their bap- tisms are two baptisms, distinct the one from the other (John i. 20 ; Acts xiii. 25 ; Acts i. 4, 5 ; Matt. iii. 11. 55. That John taught the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, baptizing with water to amendment of life (Matt. iii. 11), thus preparing a way for Christ and His baptism (Luke iii. 3, 6), by bring- ing men to repentance and faith in the Messias, whom he pointed out with the finger (saying), behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world (John i. 31, 29 ; Act xix. 4). 56. That Christ is stronger, and hath a more excellent office and ministry than John (Matt. iii. 11) ; that He baptiseth with the Holy Ghost and fire ; that He cometh and walketh in the way which John hath pre- pared : and that the new creature followeth repentance (Luke iii. 6). 57. That repentance and faith in the Messias, are the conditions to be performed on our behalf, for the obtaining of the promises (Acts ii. 38 ; John i. 12) ; that the circumcision of the heart, mortification and the promise of the spirit, that is, the new creature, are the promises which are made to the aforesaid conditions (Deut, xxx. 6; Acts ii. 38; Gal. iii. 14; 2 Pet. i. 4, 5), which promises are all yea and Amen in Christ Jesua (2 Cor. i. 20), and that in the regenerate (Gal. iii. 16). 58. That repentance and faith are wrought in the hearts of men, by the preaching of the word, outwardly in the Scriptures, and creatures, the grace of God preventing us by the motions and instinct of the spirit, which a man hath power to receive or reject (Matt, xxiii. 37; Acts vii. 51; Acts vi. 10; Rom. x. 14, 18), that our justification before God consisteth not in the performance of the conditions which God requireth of us, but in the partaking of the promises, the possessing of Christ, remission of sins, and the new creature. 59. That God the Father, of His own good will doth beget us, by the word of truth (James i. 18), which is an immortal seed (1 Pet. i. 23), not the doctrine of repentance and faith which may be lost (Luke viii. 13) ; and that God the Father, in our regeneration, neither needeth nor useth the help of any creature, but that the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, immediately worketh that work in the soul, where the free will of men can do nothing (John ii. 13). 60. That such as have not attained the new creature, have need of the scriptures, creatures and ordinances of the Church, to instruct them, to comfort them, to stir thorn up the better to perform the condition of repentance to the remission of sins (2 Pet. i. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 26 ; Eph. iv. 12 — 23). 61. That the new creature which is begotten of God, needeth not the outward scriptures, creatures, or ordinances of the church, to support or help them (2 Cor. xiii. 10, 12; 1 Joh. ii. 27; 1 Cor. i. 15, 16; Bev. xxi. 23), seeing he hath three witnesses in himself, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost : which are better than all scriptures, or creatures whatsoever. 62. That as Christ who was above the law notwithstanding was made under the law, for our cause : so the regenerate in love to others, can and will do no other, than use the outward things of the church, for the gaining and supporting of others : and so the outward church and ordinances are always necessary, for all sorts of persons whatsoever (Matt. iii. 15, xxviii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. viii. 9). 63. That the new creature although he be above the law and scriptures, yet he can do nothing against the law or scriptures, but rather all his doings shall serve to the confirming and establishing of the law (Bom. iii 31). Therefore he can neither lie, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor Mil, nor hate any man, or do any other fleshly action, and therefore all fleshly libertinism is contrary to regeneration, detestable, and damnable (John viii. 34, Bom. vi. 15, 16, 18; 2 Pet. ii. 18, 19; 1 John v. 18). 64. That the outward church visible, consists of penitent persons only, and of such as believing in Christ, bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life (1 Tim. vi. 3, 5 ; 2 Tim. iii. 1, 5 ; Acts xix. 4). 65. That the visible church is a mystical figure outwardly, of the true, spiritual invisible church ; which consisteth of the spirits of just and perfect men only, that is of the regenerate (Bev. i. 20, compared with Bev. xxi. 2, 23, 27). 66. That repentance is the change of the mind from evil to that which is good (Matt. iii. 2), a sorrow for sin committed, with a humble heart for the same; and a resolution to amend for the time to come; with an unfeigned endeavour therein (2 Cor. vii. 8, 11 ; Isaiah i. 16, 17 ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19). 67. That when we have done all that we can we are unprofitable servants, and all our righteousness is as a stained cloth (Luke xvii. 20), and that we ean only suppi-ess and lop off the branches 1 of sins, but the root of sin we cannot pluck up out of our hearts (Jer. iv. 4, compared with Deut. xxx. 6, 8). 68. That faith is a knowledge in the mind of the doctrine of the law and gospel contained in the pro- phetical, and apostolical scriptures of the Old and New Testament : accompanying repentance with an assurance that God, through Christ, will perform unto us His promises of remission of sins, and mortification, upon the condition of our unfeigned repentance, and amendment of life (Bom. x. 13, 14, 15 ; Acts v. 30-32, and Act ii. 38, 39; Heb. xi. 1 ; Mark i. 15.) Xll 69. That all penitent and faithful Christians are brethren in the oommunion of the outward church, whereso- ever they live, by what name soever they are known, which in truth and zeal, follow repentance and faith, though compassed with never so many ignorances and infirmities ; and we salute them all with a holy kiss, being heartily grieved that we which follow after one faith, and one spirit, one Lord, and one God, one body, and one baptism, should be rent into so many sects and schisms : and that only for matters of less moment. 70. That the outward baptism of water, is to be administered only upon such penitent and faithful persons as are (aforesaid), and not upon innocent infants, or wicked persons (Matt. hi. 2, 3, compared with Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, and John iv. 1). 71. That in Baptism to the penitent person, and believer, there is presented, and figured, the spiritual baptism of Christ, (that is) the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and fire : the baptism into the death and resurrec- tion of Christ : even the promise of the Spirit, which he shall assuredly be made partaker of, if he continue to the end (Gal. hi. 14; Matt. hi. 11; 1 Cor. xii. 13; Eom. vi. 3, 6; Col. ii. 10). • 72. That in the outward supper which only baptised persons must partake, there is presented and figured before the eyes of the penitent and faithful, that spiritual supper, which Christ maketh of His flesh and blood : which is crucified and shed for the remission of sins (as the bread is broken and the wine poured forth), and which is eaten and drunken (as is the bread and wine bodily) only by those which are flesh, of His flesh, and bone of His bone : in the communion of the same spirit (1 Cor. xii. 13 ; Eev. hi. 20, compared with 1 Cor. xi. 23, 26; John vi. 53,58. 73. That the outward baptism and supper do not confer, and convey grace and regeneration to the parti- cipants or communicants : but as the word preached, they serve only to support and stir up the repentance and faith of the communicants till Christ come, till the day dawn, and the day-star arise in their heart3 (1 Cor. xi. 26; 2 Peter, i. 19; 1 Cor. i. 5-8). 74. That the sacraments have the same use that the word hath ; that they are a visible word, and that they teach to the eye of them that understand as the word teacheth the ears of them that have ears to hear (Prov. x. 12), and therefore as the word appertaineth not to infants, no more do the sacraments. 75. That the preaching of the word, and ministry of the sacraments, representeth the ministry of Christ in the spirit ; who teacheth, baptiseth, and f eedeth the regenerate, by the Holy Spirit inwardly and invisibly. 76. That Christ hath set in his outward church two sorts of ministers : viz., some who are called pastors, teachers or elders, who administer in the word and sacraments, and others who are called Deacons, men and women : whose ministry is, to serve tables and wash the saints' feet (Acts vi. 2-4; Phil. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3, 8, 11, and chap. v). 77. That the separating of the impenitent, from the outward communion of the Church, is a figure of the eternal rejection, and reprobation of them that persist impenitent in sin (Eev. xxi. 27, and xxii. 14-15, Matt, xvi. 18 and xviii. 18 ; John xx. 23, compared with Eev. iii. 12). 78. That none are to be separated from the outward communion of the Church but such as forsake repent- ance, which deny the power of Godliness (2 Tim. hi. 5), and namely that sufficient admonition go before, according to the rule (Matt, xviii. 15-18), and that none are to be rejected for ignorance or errors, or infir- mities so long as they retain repentance and faith in Christ (Eom. xiv., and 1 Thess. v. 14 ; Eom. xvi. 17, 18), but they are to be instructed with meekness ; and the strong are to bear the infirmities of the weak ; and that we are to support one another through love. 79. That a man may speak a word against the Son, and be pardoned (that is), a man may err in the know- ledge of Christ's History, and in matters of the outward church, and be forgiven, doing it in an ignorant zeal; but he that speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost (that is) that after illumination forsaketh repent- ance and faith in Christ, persecuting them, trampling under foot the blood of the covenant : returning with the dog to the vomit ; that such shah never be pardoned, neither in this world, nor in the world to come (Matt. xii. 31, 32, compared with Hebrews vi. 4, and chap. x. 26-29 ; 2 Pet. ii. 20, 22). 80. That persons separated from the communion of the church, are to be accounted as heathens and publi- cans (Matt, xviii.), and that they are so far to be shunned, as they may pollute : notwithstanding being ready to instruct them, and to relieve them in their wants : seeking by ah lawful means to win them : considering that excommunication is only for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord (1 Cor. v. 5, 11 ; Matt. xi. 19 ; Luke xv. 1, 2). 81. That there is no succession in the outward church, but that all the succession is from heaven, and that the new creature only, hath the thing signified, and substance, whereof the outward church and ordi- nances are shadows (Col. h. 16, 17), and therefore he alone hath power, and knoweth aright, how to administer in the outward church, for the benefit of others (John vi. 45) : yet God is not the God of confusion but of order, and therefore we are in the outward church, to draw as near the first institution as may be, in all things (1 Cor. xiv. 33) ; therefore it is not lawful for every brother to administer the word and sacrament? (Eph. iv. 11, 12, compared with 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6, 28, 29). 82. That Christ hath set in his outward church the vocation of master and servant, parents and children, husband and wife (Eph. v. 22-25, chap. vi. 1, 4, 5, 9), and hath commanded every soul to be subject to the higher powers (Eom. xiii. 1), not because of wrath only, but for conscience sake (verse 5) that we are to give them then- duty, as tribute, and custom, honour, and fear, not speaking evil of them that are in authority Xlll (Jnde, verse 8), but praying and giving thanks for them (1 Tim. 11. 1, 2), for that Is acceptable in the sight of God, even our Saviour. 83. That the office of the magistrate, is a disposition or permissive ordinance of God for the good of mankind : that one man like the brute beasts devour not another (Eom. xiii.), and that justice and civility, may be preserved among men : and that a magistrate may so please God in his calling, in doing that which is righteous and just in the eyes of the Lord, that he may bring an outward blessing upon himself, his posterity and subjects (2 Kings, x. 30, 31). 84. That the magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience, to force and compel men to this or that form of religion, or doctrine : but to leave Christian religion free, to every man's conscience, and to handle only civil transgressions (Eom. xiii.), injuries and wrongs of man against man, in murder, adultery, theft, etc., for Christ only is the king, and lawgiver of the church and conscience (James iv. 12). 85. That if the magistrate will follow Christ, and be His disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ : he must love his enemies and not kill them, he must pray for them, and not punish them, he must feed them and give them drink, not imprison them, banish them, dismember them, and spoil their goods ; he must suffer persecution and affliction with Christ, and be slandered, reviled, blasphemed, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, imprisoned and killed with Christ ; and that by the authority of magistrates, which things he cannot possibly do, and retain the revenge of the sword. ■ 86. That the Disciples of Christ, the members of the outward church, are to judge all their causes of differ- ence, among themselves, and they are not to go to law, before the magistrates (1 Cor. vi. 1, 7), and that all their differences must be ended by (yea) and (nay) without an oath (Matt. v. 33-37 ; James v. 12). 87. That the Disciples of Christ, the members of the outward church, may not marry any of the profane, or wicked, godless people of the world, but that every one is to marry in the Lord (1 Cor. vii. 39), every man one only wife, and every woman one only husband (1 Cor. vii. 2). 88. That parents are bound to bring up their children in instruction and information of the Lord (Eph. vi. 4), and that they are to provide for their family : otherwise they deny the faith, and are worse than infidels (1 Tim. v. 8). 89. That notwithstanding if the Lord shall give a man any special calling, as Simon, and Andrew, James, and John, then they must leave all, father, ship, nets, wife, children, yea, and life also to follow Christ (Luke xiv. 26; Matt. iv. 18-20). 90. That in the necessities of the church, and poor brethren, all things are to be common (Acts iv. 32), yea and that one church is to administer to another in time of need (Gal. ii. 10 ; Acts xi. 30 ; 1 Cor. iv. 8, and chap. ix). 91. That all the bodies of all men that are dead, shall by the power of Christ, be raised up, out of his own proper seed, as corn out of the seed rotting in the earth (1 Cor. xv.). 92. That these which live in the last day shall not die, but shall be changed in a moment : in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet (1 Cor. xv. 52), for the trump shall blow, and the dead shall be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed, not in substance but in qualities ; for the bodies shall rise in honour, in power, in incorruption, and spiritual : being sown in dishonour, in weakness, in corruption, and natural (1 Cor. xv. 42, 44). 93. That the bodies being raised up, shall be joined to the souls, whereto formerly they were united ; which till that time were preserved in the hands of the Lord (Eev. vi. 9, Job xix. 25-27). 94. That it is appointed to all men that they shall once die, and then cometh the judgment (Heb. ix. 27), and that the change of them that live on the earth at the last day, shall be as it were a death unto them (1 Cor. xv. 52; 1 Thes. iv. 15-17). 95. That there shall be a general, and universal day of judgment, when everyone shall receive according to the things that are done in the flesh, whether they be good or evil (1 Cor. v. 10, Acts xvii. 31). 96. That of that day and hour knoweth no man ; no, not the Angels in heaven, neither the Son Himself, but the Father only. (Mark xiii. 32). 97. That Christ Jesus that man, shall be judge in that day (Acts xvii. 31), that he shall come in the clouds with glory : and all His holy angels with Him (Matt, xxv), with a shout, and with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God (1 Thes. iv. 16), and He shall sit upon the throne of His glory ; and all nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats, setting the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left (Matt. xxv.). 98. That the king shall say to the sheep, the regenerate, which are on His right hand, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared lor you before the foundation of the world ;" and it shall be per- formed accordingly (Matt, xxv). 99. That the king shall say to them on His left hand, the goats, the wicked ones, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels," and it shall be accomplished accordingly (Matt. xxv). 100. That after the judgment ended and accomplished, and the last enemy that is death being put under the feet of Christ, then the Son himself shall deliver up the kingdom into the hands of the Father, and Bhall be subject unto Him, that subdued all things unto Him, that God may be all in all (1 Cor. xv. 24-28). XIV The Life and Death of John Smith. " The righteous perisheth and no man considereth it in heart, and merciful men are taken away, and no man understandeth that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." — Isaiah lvii. 1, 2. "Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, write the dead which die in the Lord are fully blessed: even so saith the spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works follow them. — Kev. xiv. 13. After a certain time (living at Amsterdam) he began to practise physic (knowing that a man was bound to use the gifts that the Lord had bestowed upon him for the good of others), in administering whereof he usually took nothing of the poorer sort; and if they were rich he took but half so much as other doctors did : excepting some, who being well able and well minded, urged more upon him ; some demanding of him why he took no more, alleging that he must pay his house-rent, maintain his wife and children. He answered, you must give me leave herein to use my conscience. Moreover he was so mindful and so careful for the poor, that he would rather live sparingly in his house (or as we say) neglect himself, his wife, and children, than that any should be in extremity. Upon a time, seeing one slenderly apparelled, he sent them his gown, to make them clothes. It being refused (saying that their wants was not so great as he supposed) , he answered, that if they did refuse it the fault should be upon themselves, for he was willing to give it, and that it was but his duty, according to that speech in the gospel, " He that hath two coats, let him part with him that hath none." So that he was well beloved of most men, and hated of none save a few of our English nation, who had nothing against him but that he differed from them in some points of religion ; not- withstanding he would beseech the Lord to open their eyes to see better, and to forgive them their sins : and he was ready to help any of them as occasion was offered him. Thus living uprightly in the sight of all men, being both painful and careful to do good to all, for soul and body, according to his ability : It pleased the Lord at the length to visit him with sickness, and with a disease whereby he perceived that his life should not long continue, yet remaining about seven weeks, during the which space he behaved himself Christian-like, examining his life, confessing his sins, praying for patience, having always confidence in the mercy and favour of the Lord towards him in the end. A day or two before his death the brethren having recourse unto him, and some of them remaining by him, he uttered these speeches : — Concerning the Church of England, the Separation, and Mr. Helwis, saith he, I do confess my grievous sins and corruptions in the manner of my carriage towards them in words and writings ; but as for the points of controversy betwixt us, I am persuaded I had the better of them ; and as for my faith, saith he, as I have taught and written, so I now hold — that the Gospel hath two parts : the promise on God's behalf, and the condition on our behalf. The promise is forgiveness of sins and the spirit of regeneration, wherein we can do nothing, but must be mere patients ; the condition, wherein we must be co-workers with the Lord, is to turn from our sins, and to believe his promises, He preventing us with His grace : the which if we faithfully do, then, saith he, the Lord will perform His promise unto us, wherein in some measure I have done my endeavour unfeignedly, yet I confess I have been and am too short therein, but for my weakness and wants I fly to the abundant mercy of the Lord, who will help those which seek unto Him, and if you know K 2 XV any better, I beseech you instruct me before my death ; and if I live (saith he) I will walk with no other people but you all my days. He desired his wife also so to do, being persuaded that she would: and wished that his children should remain with us, praying us to inform them wherein we saw them do amiss. And as for himself, he did now desire nothing but that the Lord would take away his sins and purge his heart, and then he were fit for Him. And being desired that if the Lord did let him feel it while he were able to speak, that he would manifest it unto us for our comfort, which he promised to do, saying that if the Lord would vouchsafe that mercy it might be a testi- mony to the whole world, so resting under the hand of God waiting his good pleasure, one coming unto him, and asking how he did, "I wait for death" (saith he), "for death." " But," saith she, " I hope you look for another comfort first." " I mean," saith he, "the death of my sins." After complaining of his sins, one of the brethren alleging unto him the words of the prophet, where he saith that the Lord will not despise the broken in heart, " No," said he, " for I know He is a merciful God, and I seeking unto Him I know He will seek me with the prodigal child." Another saying unto him, " I hope you shall do well; I trust you appertain to the Lord," "Yes," said he, "I do appertain unto Him, for I seek Him and I run not from Him," alleging the words of the prophet where he saith, " Seek my face : my heart answered, I will seek thy face." Another coming unto him, said, " We must part from you," " No," said he, " we shall never part, for we are all of one spirit ;" " But," she said, "I mean with your body." He answered " Let that go, let that go," shaking his hand. The same person having a sad and heavy countenance, he said, " Why do you weep, and break my heart ?" " But," saith she, " I weep not." He answered her, " But some .come unto me weeping. I pray you let us depart comfortably, and weep not as those that are without hope." Afterward, calling his children to him, as Jacob did his sons a little before his death, he began to instruct them in the principles of religion, teaching them that there is one God, creator of all things, one Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone salvation consisteth, one Holy Spirit, one faith, one baptism, manifesting that the baptism of infants was unlawful. And demanding of his children whether they had rather that he should die or live, they weeping said that he might five. " If I live," saith he, " I must correct you, and beat you, but you must know that I do it not because I hate you, but because I love you, even as now the Lord chasteneth me, not because He hateth me, but for that He loveth me." The brethren then speaking privately among themselves, he said, "I pray you, brethren, speak up, that I may learn also." And one asking him a question, being a stranger, which tended to strife, he would not permit an answer, " Because," said he, "I desire to hear no contention now," being desirous to end strife and contention in whomsoever he perceived it to be, whereby he shewed himself to be of the number of those which are the blessed children of God, as Christ pronounceth the peacemakers to be (Matt. v.). In the night before his death, some waking with him, he desired them to raise up some speech of comfort unto him. It being answered that he knew all things which we could say unto him, he answered, " That is not it ; for when the Lord offereth me anything I speak, and when he doth not I am silent." And, speaking of the fruit of the country that it was some cause of diseases, correcting himself, " I think," saith he, "it is but an. idle speech," so careful was he not to speak vainly. Afterwards, awaking out of a slumber, he asked, " Where are the brethren ?" We coming unto him, he said, " Come, let us praise the Lord, let us praise the Lord ; He is so gracious and XV] good unto ine ; yea, He dealeth wonderfully mercifully with me." His wife then asking him. saying, " Have you obtained your desire? " " No," said he, " but He maketh me able to bear all that He layeth upon me, and to pass through it." Being answered that it was the performance of God's promise, who will lay no more upon His than they are able to bear, " It is true," saith he, "for I find the scriptures so true by experience as can be." In the morning, being asked if we should praise God for that He had given him strength and ability to pass that night, " Yes," saith he, " let us praise His name, and though I cannot be the mouth, yet I will be the ear ; and let us come before the Lord with an upright heart, for that is well pleasing unto Him." So, drawing nearer unto his end, at length he, lifting up his hands, said, " The Lord hath holpen me ; the Lord hath holpen me." His wife asking him if he had received his desire, "Yes," said he, " I praise the Lord, He hath now holpen me, and hath taken away my sins," and not long after, stretching forth his hands and his feet, he yielded up the ghost, whereby his life and death being both correspondent to his doctrine, it is a great means both to comfort us, and to confirm us in the truth. The eye and ear witnesses of these things are the brethren. CHAPTEE VII. The Couese op Religious Opinion in England prior to 1640 (continued). The increase of the Puritans, Baptists, and Brownists. The Virginia Company found a Colony in America. The Company is a PECUNIARY FAILURE. THEY AT LAST INVITE THE SEPARA- TISTS in Holland to emigrate. John Robinson's church at leyden accept the invitation, and found the church of the " pllgrim fathers " at plymouth. Laud persecutes the Puritan party, and supports the High Church party. Accession of Charles I. Religious agitation. We now return to the course of religious affairs in England. James the first came to the throne in 1603. Great hopes were entertained that from his Presbyterian education he would side with the Puritan party. He disap- pointed all their hopes. His sympathies were in favour of the Romish church. His reign was signalized by the publication of our present version of the Scriptures, in 1611. The position of the Puritans and the prelatical party in the Church was not materially altered, except that the Puritans, Baptists, and Brownists were continually increasing. In 1618, John Selden, one of the most learned men in England,* published his celebrated " History of Tythes/ 5 * " Price," vol. i., p. 530. 119 " Never a fiercer storm, " says Fuller " fell on all parsonage barns, since the Keformation, than what this treatise raised up." The rage of his enemies knew no bounds, and with the fear of the Court of High Commission before his eyes, he " humbly acknowledged his error in publishing the * History of Tythes/ " but, as in the case of Galileo, men deemed in spite of the recantation of his " error," that he had absolutely destroyed the ground of the supposed " divine right " of the clergy to tythes. In the year 1618, the "Book of Sports" was published, and the clergy of Lancashire were commanded to read it from their pulpits. It was withdrawn in consequence of the opposition of Archbishop Abbot. The experiments in colonial Church Government in the reign of James I. and Charles I. present a most curious picture. It appears to have been the will of the Head of the Church to allow the human mind to exhaust every expedient in forming religious societies contrary to the principles laid down in the New Testament, and that the practical results of these experiments should eventually turn to the instruction and blessing of His Church. The Church of England, in 1610, contemplated the formation of a colony in Virginia, and the following extracts * of " the articles, laws, orders divine and politic, for the colony first established by Sir Thomas Gates," give an idea of the methods, then deemed to be highly christian, of spreading the Gospel of Christ. The view was, that the perfection of the christian religion, required that " no Brownists or factious Separatists " should be suffered. The orders in reference to religious observances in the colony embraced the following items: — To " speak maliciously " against the "holy and blessed Trinity," or the Articles of the Christian * Waddington's " Congregational History," pp. 170 to 173. 120 faith — the punishment of death. " Blasphemy " or "un- lawful oaths," — first punishment to be " severe/' — for the second offence "to have a bodkin thrust through his tongue," — the third offence, " death." No man was to " speak a word " or " do any act " to the " derision " or' " despite " of God's holy word, " on pain of death." If he " unworthily demeaned himself unto any preacher or min- ister," — to be openly whipt three times and ask "public forgiveness " in church on Sunday. Every man and woman, " on the first tolling of the bell, shall on working days repair unto the church to hear divine service, upon pain of losing his or her day's allowance for the first omission, — for the second to be whipt, — for the third offence, the galleys for six months." Sabbath breaking was punished in the second offence by whipping, and the third, death!" Not a man or woman who should arrive in the colony, was to omit to " give an account of his or their faith and religion, and repair to .the minister." If the minister, seeing his ignorance of the principles of the christian religion, advises him "in love and charity to repair to him " for further instruction, — and the man refuses, he is to be "whipt," — for the second, "to be whipt twice," — and for the third to be "whipt every day" until he professes his sorrow in the church and repairs to the minister for further instruction. The laudable intentions of the founders of the colony, were in their opinion to be fully accomplished by thus " displaying the banner of Christ Jesus " and " fighting with the Dragon." They believed that their names would be " eternized," — and that their attempt would serve as " a pattern " and " mirror " to the church universal. This was accomplished, not by the success of their scheme of church government, but by its failure. 121 This Virginia Company, which had been formed in 1606, having spent more than .£100,000, in this and other experiments in colonization, now had suggested to it by Sir Ferdinand Gorges, that " means might be used to draw into those enterprizes some of those families that had retired to Holland for scruple of conscience, giving them such freedom as might stand with their liking." * After some hesitation, finding that the interest of the Company would be used to secure them " freedom of religion," John Kobinson's Church at Leyden resolved to form a colony in America. The landing of the " Pilgrim Fathers " at Cape Cod, where the two great seaport towns of Plymouth and Boston were shortly founded, is an event of vast importance in the religious history of England and the world. They ■ embarked at Delf-haven. The farewell words of John Kobinson, to the portion of his Church who embarked in the May-flower, will for ever hallow the memory of the Church at Leyden. " I charge you before God and his blessed angels, that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveal anything to you by other instruments of his, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry, for I am verily persuaded, I am very confident, the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Eeformed Churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans can't be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw. Whatever part of his will our good God has revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than embrace . it, — and the * Dr. Waddington's " Congregational History," p. 204. 122 Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. This is an evil much to be lamented, for though they were burning and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God, — but, were they living, would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first received. I beseech you to remember it ; — 'tis an article of your church covenant; — that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God." These are words never to be forgotten. The unwillingness of Christians to receive truth from unwelcome quarters, has been the stumbling block of every Church. It is worthy of note, that in the covenants of the Independent Churches in England to walk in Gospel ordinances, they inserted the clause " till God should give them ' new light ' " or " further light." * James I. died in 1625. His despotic principles roused the spirit of the constitutional or patriotic party, while his conduct of public and foreign affairs disgusted the whole nation. The result of his reign was to array the virtue, the public spirit, and the intellect of the country on the side of the Puritans, t The state of England in a religious point of view was deplorable. The Puritans were Calvinists. The doctrines of Arminius made rapid progress among the High Church party, and were considered by the Puritans to tend to Komanism. The pulpits rang with controversy which tended little to the progress of religion. The bishops were unable to obtain preachers of ability, and * See "Account of the Church at Kothwell, founded in 1656, by Norman Glass," London, 1871. f It will be noticed that, as before specially noted, we use the word " Puritan " to describe the Presbyterian party. 123 the ranks of the clergy were filled up with men who excited the pity of the educated. " Pious churchmen/' says Mr. Marsden, in his " History of the Early Puritans," " who had never concerned themselves with the surplice controversy, and were perfectly indifferent as to the cross in baptism and the ring in marriage, found themselves compelled in self- defence to associate with the only party by whom they were not insulted/' Mrs. Hutchinson and Mr. Baxter agree in their testimony, that in these times, the rabble, encouraged by the Court and Prelatical party, indifferently harassed and persecuted any person of real piety (what- ever his sentiments might be) as a "puritan," because if so, he was deemed a disloyal person who could obtain no redress. The inevitable reaction from Puritan doctrine, had now created a party in the Church, who undervalued the work of the Keformers. Their rule was " Catholic antiquity." Laud, though not yet archbishop, had commenced to exert the influence which now causes him to be hailed, by the school he represents, as the true Eeformer of the Church of England. The Papists were countenanced by the Court, popish recusants were released from prison, while the laws were enforced against the Puritans with the utmost severity, and the increase of popery alarmed the protestant feeling of the country, an alarm which the incidents of the Spanish marriage negotiation did not tend to allay. " Puritans," says Carlyle, " in the better ranks, and in every rank, abounded. Already in conscious act, or in clear tendency, the far greater part of the serious thought and manhood of England had declared itself Puritan." " There needs no prophetical spirit," said Bishop Hall in 1622, " to discern by a small cloud that there is a storm coming towards our church, such an one which shall not only drench our 124 plumes, but shake our peace."* Already the fearful vision appeared to that excellent man, of " that anarchical fashion of Independent congregations, which I see and lament to see, affected by too many not without woful success. We are gone, we are lost in a most miserable confusion ! " The Puritan party were disheartened and cast down by the severities of Laud ; and encouraged by the success of the little band of the Pilgrim Fathers, they sent out six ships to found the Massachusetts colony. They landed on the 24th of June, 1629 and founded the towns of Salem and Newton, afterwards called Cambridge. They applied to the followers of Eobinson, at . New Plymouth, for information respecting their church order and discipline, and while they resolved to carry out the Puritan model of a Keligious Commonwealth, they agreed to found their churches upon the principle of independency advocated by Eobinson. They did not go to New England as " Separatists from the Church of England," "but we go to practise. the positive part of church reformation, and to propagate the gospel in America." Although Eobinson had been induced to concede more than his original principles entirely justified, with reference to the power of the state over churches, it is important to recognize the distinction between pure Independency on the principles of Ainsworth and Eobinson, and what is termed the New England model of Independency, which was a compromise between Independency and Presbyterianism. The legitimate influence of the little church of the Pilgrim Fathers, was nearly lost in consequence of the vast Puritan emigration which took place. It was at Boston that the celebrated law, which embodied the principles of * " Via Media, the Way of Peace," by J. H. of Worcester. Dedication to the King. 125 New England theocracy, was enacted. On May 18th, 1631, it was resolved by the General Court at Boston, that " for the future no one shall be admitted to the freedom of this body politic, unless he be a member of some church within the limits of the same/' It is important to notice, that in this enactment we have a Theocratic State Church erected by the Puritan party. It is an error to confound the New England theocracy with the followers of Eobinson and the ancient Separatist Church.* We have before alluded to Kobinson's controversy with Smyth, in which he was led into some dangerous ad- missions with regard to the right of civil rulers to interfere with religious matters for the good of the churches. These principles were reiterated in the articles sent from the Church of Leyden for the satisfaction of the Virginia company,! and they now bore their fruits in the acquies- cence of the Plymouth church with the principles of the New England theocracy. This may be seen by their enact- ment that the ministers were not to be supported by the voluntary contributions of the members, but by " all who are instructed in the word," and also in "ruling elders" being acknowledged by the Boston and Salem churches, while in the Plymouth only " teaching elders" were acknow- ledged. It was not lawful for the magistrates " to compel their subjects to become church members," but if they were not so, they had no vote in the government of the State. The State was thus to become a community of believers. * See "Cambridge Platform," 1648. "The term ' Independent ' we approve not," although they admitted that the state of the members of the visible church was "con- gregational," their churches were not in several respects purely "independent'* churches. This is reprinted in " Uhden's New England Theocracy." t See " Waddingtons Congregational History," p. 207. 126 The State was the executioner of the Church. Heresy, if combined with the seduction of others, was punishable with death; while those who " refused to submit to the will of the well grounded churches, and to their christian reproof and discipline," were to be " cut off by banishment." Owing to the troubles in the early part of the reign of Charles I., and the disinclination of the Parliament and of Cromwell to interfere with it, this extraordinary experiment was carried out without interruption sufficiently long to manifest its necessary results. The policy of Elizabeth and the folly of James I. had begun the ^Revolution. Charles I. reaped the harvest which had been sown by his predecessors. Still, had the object of Charles been to precipitate the catastrophe, the course which he took with reference to both civil and religious matters, in the existing state of public feeling, could hardly have been more accurately adapted to his purpose. This is indeed admitted by his apologist, Clarendon. It is beyond our province to enter into the de- tails of the religious, much less those of the civil history of the time. We shall however strive to realize the inevitable effect of the great events of the time upon the development of the ideas, the rise of which we have been endeavour- ing to trace. One of the first acts of the Parliament shows the alarm felt in reference to the increase of Popery. The Queen had brought with her from France a long train of Komish priests. "Her conscience was directed by her confessor, assisted by the Pope's nuncio and a secret cabal of priests and Jesuits."* The Parliament petitioned for the execution of the laws against Papists. The King promised to comply with their wishes, and secretly connived * " Neal," vol. i. p. 496, Toulmin's Ed. 1837. 127 at the laws being rendered inoperative. The English fleet was placed in the hands of the French admiral for the purpose of blockading the harbour of Rochelle, the strong- hold of the Protestants. Cardinal Richelieu had formed the design of extirpating the Protestants of France, and was besieging Rochelle. The English sailors had refused to serve, declaring that they would rather be hanged upon the top of the masts than fight against the Protestants.* Laud succeeded to the archbishopric on the 4th August, 1633, but he had virtually the direction of affairs from a very early period. It is difficult for the general reader to understand how the Puritan preachers obtained a hearing, and maintained their hold on the public mind, through these ages of per- secution. This had been up to this time accomplished by their becoming chaplains in wealthy families, and some of the most able and popular preachers of the day were thus employed. They catechised the children. They were employed as tutors in families; and thus the high, religious and intellectual character of some of these families was maintained. This also accounts for the influence which the Presbyterian party had among the nobility and gentry at a later period. It was also a common plan to provide lectureships, and the idle and incompetent clergy of the day allowed the Puritans to preach as lecturers, in the Geneva cloak, without hindrance. Laud saw that the strength of the Puritan party lay in the existence of these irregular preachers, and issued instructions for the suppression of them, and forbade all under the rank of noblemen to keep a chaplain. The invocation of saints, prayers for the dead, auricular * "Neal," vol. L, pp. 502, 503. 128 confession, the doctrine of the real presence, were now advocated by Land's party. Vast sums were spent in the adornment of churches. The parishioners were obliged to repair to their parish churches, and what were deemed popish decorations and alterations were introduced. Cruci- fixes were set up over the altar. The communion table was placed altar-wise, and fenced. Pictures and statues, new rites and gaudy vestments rapidly came in upon the astonished country. The opinion which the Pope held of Laud's Protestantism, is sufficient to excuse a protestant writer from entering into the question of Laud's real object, since, on the very day of Archbishop Abbot's death, a cardinal's hat was offered him, which, after consulting with the King, he refused. The question of the pro- priety of Laud's conduct, is one which a member of the Church of England will answer precisely in accordance with his own views. If Scripture, and the practice of the Apostles were to be the rule, the Puritans and Separatists were right; if Catholic antiquity, Laud. No one can reasonably doubt the inexpediency and folly of his church action, but he consistently carried out his views, and at last fell a victim to his principles. In 1633, the " Book of Sports " was again printed with the King's sanction, and clergymen were silenced for not reading it. Some clergymen read it, and immediately afterwards the 4th commandment, calling on the people to compare the two and judge accord- ingly.* The feelings of the nation were outraged, and when a parliament was called, the book was ordered to be burnt by the common hangman. In 1630, Dr. Alexander Leighton, a Scotch divine, and father of the celebrated Archbishop Leighton, received the sentence of the Star * " Marsden's Early Puritans," p. 398. 129 Chamber, for writing a book called " Sion's Plea against the Prelacy/' to prove " that the Lord Bishops and their appurtenances " were intruders upon " the privileges of Christ, and the King and Commonwealth." Ludlow says, " His ears were cut, his nose slit, his face branded with burning irons with the letters S. S. signifying sower of sedition. He was tied to a post and whipped with a treble cord, so that every lash brought away the flesh.' When this sentence was pronounced on Leighton, " Laud pulled off his cap, and holding up his hands, gave thanks to God who had given him victory over all his enemies." The Church now not only grasped at all spiritual jurisdiction, but the Bishop of London, Dr. Juxon, was declared Lord High Treasurer of England, the highest office of profit and power in the kingdom. While these things were being transacted, it is well for us to recollect, that on the Continent the struggle of the great leader of the Protestants, Gustavus Adolphus, with Wallenstein, the champion of the Catholic party, was proceeding ; and that the death of Gustavus on the field of Lutzen, in 1632, must have added to the excited feelings of the Protestants in England. In 1633, Prynne, Burton and Bastwick, had been imprisoned, and they rendered them- selves obnoxious to the hierarchy by writing pamphlets in their imprisonment. They were tried together in the Star Chamber, in 1637, and were sentenced to be degraded from their profession of Law, Divinity and Physic ; — Burton and Bastwick to lose their ears, each to be fined £5, 000, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment ; — Prynne, who had already lost his ears, to have the stumps cut off, and to be branded with irons, S. L. for seditious libeller ; and all to stand in the pillory. The scene of the execution of their sentence was made an ovation by the people; their path to the 130 pillory was strewn with sweet herbs, the crowd saluted them with enthusiasm, and in their progress through the country to their prison, they were received as martyrs to the cause of religious liberty. In 1637, Laud stirred up Charles to the attempt to impose on the Scots a liturgy. They had been previously exasperated by the introduction of a Court of High Commission. Bishops, and some ceremonies very distasteful to the Scots, had been imposed. Some years prior to this, in 1617, James I., accompanied by Laud, had visited Scotland in order to carry out his intention of imposing episcopacy on the Scotch. Carlyle, in his "Life of Cromwell, " introduces this characteristic sketch of the impressions which Laud received in Scotland. "In Scot- land, Dr. Laud, much to his regret, found no religion at all; no surplices, no altars in the east end, or anywhere, no bowing, no responding, not the smallest regularity of fuglemanship, or devotional drill exercise ; in short, 8 no religion at all that I could see/ "* On Sunday, the 23rd of July, 1637, the new Scotch Liturgy was read for the first time, and the well-known anecdote of Jenny Geddes, who hurled a stool at the Bishop in St. Giles* Church, Edinburgh, illustrates in a lively manner the difference between the feelings of Dr. Laud, as above quoted, with reference to a liturgical worship, and those of the ex- treme Presbyterian party. We may, from this incident, gather an idea of the intense earnestness of the times, and when we recollect, that, to use the words of Hume, "the whole tyranny of the Inquisition was introduced by the bishops in England,'* we shall believe that the feelings of the Puritans, Separatists and Baptists in England, were not less fervent against Prelacy. In 1638, the whole * Carlyle, "Life of Cromwell," p. 76. 181 Scotch nation took the Solemn League and Covenant, and prepared to resist the King by force of arms. In England, the Puritans emigrated to Holland and New England in large numbers, to escape from the hands of Laud and the Star Chamber. Scotland was now at open war, and in April, 1640, a parliament was summoned. Queen Henrietta issued a proclamation in her own name, inviting Eoman Catholics in the North to contribute money in aid of the war against Scotland. No wonder then that the Commons refused the King subsidies for a war, which they deemed the cause of Popery against Presbyterianism. The Convocation, notwithstanding the temper of the nation, continued to sit, and besides framing new Canons, imposed on the clergy what is called " the Etcetera Oath/' con- taining the clause "Nor will I ever give my consent to alter the government of this Church by archbishops, deans, and archdeacons, etcetera." An armed force was needed to protect its sittings, and an attack was made upon Laud's palace at Lambeth, by above 500 persons. Two thousand "sectaries" entered St. Paul's, where the High Commission sat, and tore down the benches and cried " No Bishops, no High Commission. " * * A curious scene occurred in Norwich, on 22nd February, 1641 : " The cathedral blades " put themselves into a posture of defence, because they imagined that the apprentices of Norwich would have pulled down their organ." They had musqueteers, " 500 persons armed with swords and pistols, to be upon the bratts if any should come against their pipes." It turned out to be a false alarm. ... " Thus, good reader, thou mayest see how these men are rocked and lulled asleep by this musick ! " The writer admits that one of the " constant hearers of this musical masse saith he finds comfort from it ; how will he do when it be put down? " — " True News from Norwich," London, 1641. 47, k p 17, Brit. Museum. L 2 CHAPTEK VIII. Meeting of the Long Parliament. Ejection of the Eoyalist Clergy. The Westminster Assembly. The * Puritans endeavour to force the Geneva model of Church Government on the country. " Lay "preach- ing. Women preach. The Independents and Baptists oppose the Presbyterian scheme. Denne, Lamb, and others, preach .the gospel to the common people. On November 3rd, 1640, the Long Parliament met. Three days had not passed before they resolved themselves into a Committee on Eeligion. " Almost every parish had a grievance, and within a few days the table of the House was loaded with petitions."* One, called the " Eoot and Branch petition," was signed by 15,000 citizens of London, and prayed that the government of Bishops, " with all its dependencies, roots and branches, may be abolished, and all in their behalf made void, and the government according to God's word rightly placed." There were besides petitions for the abolition of Episcopacy, — counter petitions in favor of it, but qualified by admission of the corruption of the Church, and thanking parliament for the check which had been given to innovations and abuses. The Parliament devised two measures, which were to be carried out by this committee. First, an enquiry into the fitness and morals of the clergy. Second, an Assembly of Divines to advise * " Marsden's Later Puritans," p. 44. 133 upon the future constitution of the Church. During the whole of the war, the Committee on Eeligion continued sit- ting. At length few adherents of the Koyal cause, and very few of the Laudian clergy remained. " The Committee of Scandalous Ministers/' one of the sub-divisions of the Com- mittee, ejected 1,000 of the clergy before the war was over. The number of 2,000 to 2,500 of the clergy has been men- tioned as a fair and moderate estimate, but we cannot but believe that there has been a tendency among non- conformist writers to under- estimate the number of the ejected Episco- palian clergy, and perhaps their sufferings. (The quotation we give at the foot of this page, appears to us to throw con- siderable light on this disputed question.)* One fifth of the incomes of the sequestered livings was reserved for the ejected ministers. " The benefices of England were now * Attached to a proclamation of Ms excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax (King's Pamph., B.M. 325, 42 o cat.) in 1647, it is stated that, " whereas it appears, upon sufficient proof, that many violent tumults and outrages are committed by several persons (these were Anglican clergymen) against divers ministers placed by order, or ordi- nance of Parliament, in sequestered livings, and for such their violent carriage tc and detaining from the said ministers thsir profits, there is pretended by the said parties, power and authority from the general and the army, &c. They be brought to condign punishment." At p. 5 we have " the petition of many thousands of the poore sequestered clergie of England and Wales." They state that they have been "for divers years outed of their livelihood and freeholds, contrary to Magna Charta, and other fundamental laws of the land, by the arbitrary power of committees. . . . The most of your petitioners outed for refusing the covenant, or adhering to the King and their religion, established according to their judgment and consciences. Your petitioners, who have lived heretofore in good esteem accord- ing to their calling, degree, birth, and education, are reduced to extreme misery and want, with their wives and children ; that they must either starve or begge, if Borne speedy course be not taken for their relief. And whereas those who are put into our places, labour by all means to stir up the people, and to involve this kingdom in a new war, and are generally men ignorant and unable to instruct the people, and many of them are scandalous in their practices, if impartially examined ; and divers of them hold three or four of the best benefices, whilst divers other churches are void and without any constant preachers." . . . They ask that Sir Thomas 134 in the hands of the Puritans."* This has been pleaded by writers on behalf of the Church of England, as a justification of the measures taken by the Episcopalians at the accession of Charles II., by which, on St. Barthol- omew's day, 2,000 Non- conforming ministers were again ejected. But must we not, in justice, admit that the two cases cannot be compared, since on the outbreak of the war it would have been the height of folly on the part of the Parliament to leave men so completely in the interests of the King and Bishops scattered throughout England ? t The King had used the pulpits to preach up Fairfax will " stay the profits of this harvest ; that they have nothing to live upon till next year; many if they could receive this " would presently be gone." At the same period we find this Ordinance of the House of Commons : "It is lastly ordered and ordained, that if any scandalous or delinquent minister, put out as aforesaid, their aiders or abettors, shall at any time hereafter disturb, molest, or hinder such minister as is put into such church or chapel as aforesaid " — " the penalty to be imprisonment for a month." In Penn's letter to Baxter [see Appendix xv. to Penn's Life, vol. i. of works, folio 1726, p. 175,] there is a passage of some importance, showing that Penn con- sidered, at the accession of Charles II., the whole 9000 ministers as the greater part of them Presbyterian. Penn reminds Baxter that he had cried up the Presby- terian ministry of 1655 as " the best in the world," " and when put close to it, runs off and quits the field, of above 9000 preachers with 1800." " Were the 1800 the ministry, and not the 9000? and did not these call Oliver ' Moses,' " &c, asks Penn, and says he is "grieved to mention it," but is driven to it by Baxter's extravagant praise of the Presbyterian ministry. The 1800 or 2000 ejected ministers were, it is clear, only a very small portion of the ministry of the Commonwealth. These were undoubtedly the best men among the Presbyterian clergy, and their example a noble one, but they were not, strictly speaking, "Dissenters," since they approved a State Church, and only differed on doctrinal and ceremonial grounds. In the providence of God the 2000 ejected Presbyterian clergymen were thrown among the Independent and Baptist Churches, whom a year previously they would have been ready to imprison or exile, and they were taught by persecution the lesson of religious liberty which they had been so slow to learn. * " Marsden's Later Puritans," p. 45. f On the other side we find, October 14th, 1642, York, " The Cavaliers threaten our best ministers, that if they preach not as they xoill have them, they will kill them." — "Nehemiah Wallington's Journal," from special passages, No. 10. 135 the divine right of kings, and they were now turned against him. But the Presbyterian clergy who were ejected on St. Bartholomew's day were men of the very party by whom the Kestoration was effected, and justice and good faith on the part of the Boyalists demanded their comprehension. The Long Parliament instantly ordered Prynne, Burton, Bastwick, Leighton, Lilburn and Brewer to be released from their prison, and the bells rang as they passed, and the people strewed their path with flowers. The parliament abolished the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission. On the 4th December, the canons of Archbishop Laud were condemned. On the 5th July, 1640, Lord Strafford was impeached, and within a week the tide of public affairs had turned. On the 26th February, 1641, Laud was voted guilty of high treason by the House of Commons and committed to the Tower. But an event now occurred which roused the apprehen- sions of the English people to an extent which may be related, but which can hardly be conceived. On October 23rd, 1641, the Irish Insurrection broke out. The Protes- tants were remorselessly massacred. From forty to fifty thousand men were consigned to deaths, in many cases, accompanied by circumstances too horrible to relate. * * See the tract of G. Fox, "The Arraignment of Popery," 1669, chap, xxvii. — An abstract of the bloody massacre in Ireland. We give the following title as a specimen of the pamphlets dispersed over the kingdom, and this is far less harrowing in its details and more temperate than the generality: " The Eebels' Turkish tyranny in their march, December 24th, 1641, as it was taken out of a letter sent from Mr. Whitcome, a merchant in Kinsale, to a brother of his here ; showing how cruelly they ' put them (the Protestants) to the sword, ravished religious women, and put their children upon red-hot spits before their parents' eyes ; throw them into the fire and burn them to ashes, cut off their ears and noses, put out their eyes, cut off their arms and legges, broyle them at the fire, cut out their tongues, and thrust hot iron down their throats, drown them, dash out their brains, and such other cruelty not heard of among Christians."— K. P., 4to (gold No. 37), tract 26. London, 1641. 136 ''When the express that brought the news was read in the House it produced a general silence for a time, all men being struck with horror. When it was told without doorf it flew like flashes of lightning, and spread universal terror over the whole kingdom. Every day and almost every hour new messengers arrived, who brought further intelli- gence of the merciless cruelty of the Papists towards the poor Protestants, whose very name they have threatened to extirpate from the kingdom/'* " The Kebels called them- selves the Queen's Army, and declared they acted by the King's commission under the Great Seal of Scotland." Baxter tells us that " though the better part of the nation could not believe, yet the credulous, timorous vulgar were many of them ready to believe it." f " Accustomed," says Hume]: " in all insurrections, to join the Prelatical party with the Papists, the people immediately supposed this insurrection to be the result of their united counsels." " This filled all England with a fear both of the Irish and of the Papists at home," for they supposed that the priests and the ministers of their religion were the cause. " And when they saw the English Papists join with the King against the Parliament, it was the greatest thing that ever alienated them from the King." § The taking of the Naseby papers appeared to justify the suspicions of the country. It was found that the King had strictly forbidden the printer to strike off more than forty copies of his proclamation against the Irish Eebels. That in another paper he had erased the word " Kebels " and written with his own hand the word " Irish." All this * " Neal," ii., p. 95. f "Baxter's Life," part i., p. 29, Ed. 1\596, published by Sylvester. X Hist. vol. vi. 323. § " Baxter's Life," part i., p. 29. 137 appeared to show that he felt but little sympathy with the Irish Protestants.* A letter of Charles I. to the Pope has been lately found in the Yatican, dated October 20th, 1645, which, if not a forgery, justifies the impression pro- duced upon the country, particularly upon strict Protestants such as Puritans and Separatists, that his whole course of conduct contemplated a return to " that state in which he might openly avow himself" a member of the Holy, Catholic Church, f The news of the Irish insurrection was inten- sified a year later, in 1642, by the massacre of the Protes- tants in France, and Englishmen were not slow in arguing that their turn would shortly come.]: We believe the depth of the excitement produced throughout England cannot now be adequately conceived, and that the under- current of a fear of everything savouring of popery must be presupposed by the reader, if he would understand the results of the religious excitement which existed during the period, some features of which we are endeavouring to describe. The extreme feeling respecting the actions of the Church of Koine, even up to so late a period as 1659, is vividly illustrated, when we find George Fox telling the council of officers of the army that they had done well, if instead of allowing their power to be used for the purpose of persecution, they had gone to " Spain " and abolished the Inquisition, and to " Kome " and "broke up the bars and gates where all the just blood hath been shed/' " You * " Marsden's Later Puritans," p. 188. t Ibid. p. 190. X " A Warning Piece for London. The Bloody Massacre of the Protestants in Paris," London, 1642. For "thirty days together " throughout France there was no end of killing, slaying, robbing, and abominable cruelties. " The Butcher's Blessing; or, The Bloody Intentions of Komish Cavaliers against the City of London," by J. Goodwin, London, 1642. Goodwin was an eminent Independent, holding free grace or Arininian views. 138 had gone," he tells them, "in the cause of God and His truth."* The complete incompatibility of war with the Gospel is so completely set forth by Fox, that it is difficult to reconcile this passage except by the horror felt by him at the cruelties of the Inquisition, and that he contemplated it in the light of a judicial use of the sword. The celebrated Assembly of Divines commenced its sittings on the 1st July, 1643. This assembly was convened by the Parliament in order to settle a Church Government, " as may be agreeable to God's Holy Word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace of the Church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other reformed Churches abroad, and the better effecting thereof; and for the vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of the Church of England from all false calumnies and aspersions, it was thought fit to call an assembly of learned, godly, and judicious Divines " to consult and advise with the Parlia- ment, and give their counsel concerning such things as might be submitted to them. There were about 170 members, 30 were laymen, members of the two Houses of Parliament. The majority of these divines espoused the opinions which Cartwright represented ; they either favoured the Presby- terian discipline, or in process of time were brought over to embrace it. It is most important for us, in the point of view from which we propose to consider the rise of the Free Churches and the Society of Friends, to observe with Baxter " that almost all those afterwards called Presby- terians were before Conformists." " Yery few of all that learned and pious synod at Westminster were Noncon- formists before/' f The Assembly continued to sit till * Vol. of Tracts, No. 1 — 57, Devonshire House Library. f "Life of Baxter," by himself, Sylvester, part i., p. 33. 139 1649. It was then changed into a committee, which sat weekly for the trial and examination of ministers. One of its first acts was to take the Covenant, and the Parliament enforced it on all persons above the age of eighteen years. This amounted to a pledge of the acceptance of a Presby- terian Church. The Presbyterians, or Puritans, were only a powerful party in the church, and the country was totally unprepared to accept this form of Church government ; and although some reform was admitted to be absolutely neces- sary, this was most unpopular.* There were five Indepen- dents in the Assembly — Nye, Simpson, Bridges, Burroughs and Thomas Goodwin. They were styled the dissenting brethren. They had previously tasted of Laud's severities, and had taken refuge in Holland. There can be little doubt that the Assembly Independents were not only " a long way behind many of their party," t but that their object was to gain a share of the benefices at the disposal * " Plain Truth without Fear or Flattery ; or, A Discovery of the Unlawfulness of the Presbyterian Government, it being inconsistent with the People's Liberties," &c, also, " A Vindication of Sir Thomas Fairfax," by Amon Willber, 1647. " Printed and published for the information, advice, and benefit of the poor, oppressed, betrayed, and almost destroyed Commons of England." Page 3. " First they do in the protes- tation, promise, vow, and protest in the presence of the almighty God (whom sure they think is like the God of Baal's priests, that could neither hear nor see), to maintain and defend with their lives, power, and estates, the true reformed Protestant religion, expressed in the doctrines of the Church of England, against all popery and popish innovations within this realm contrary to the same, &c. Yet they are now setting up, and have set up, as far as in them lyeth, a religion never before heard of within this realm, and quite contrary to the professed doctrine of the Church of England, it being wholly opposite to Christ, and a mere popish innovation brought .out of Scotland and violently imposed upon us. And thus it comes to pass, by the confederacy of a haughty trayterous party in the Houses of Parliament, of which are the Earls of Manchester and Stamford, Sir Philip Stapleton, Mr. Hollis and others, and with the proud covetous priests, for the advancement of their design of usurpation and lordliness over his Majesty and us." .... f "Fletcher's History of Independency," vol. iv., p. 35. 140 of the Committee of the House of Commons for their party, and thus to give up one of the fundamental principles of the exiled Separatist Churches. The means by which this was to be effected, was the construction of a Church system on the scheme of the New England Churches, where, as we have before shown, a fusion had been effected between the Puritan or Presbyterian party in the Church of England, and the Independents, who looked up to John Eobinson of Ley den as their guide. This was effected, at a later period, to a very large extent in Lancashire.* The policy of the Assembly Independents was to gain time, and with great address and ability they engaged the Assembly in tedious discussions, while every day their party was gaining strength. On the other hand it is instructive to notice how the Presby- terian divines, men professedly of the highest christian character, called together to advise the Parliament, were really engaged (if Kobert Baillie, principal of the University of Glasgow, and one of the commissioners of the Scottish Kirk, is to be trusted) in an attempt to outwit their brethren till their respective partisans in the army — to use Baillie's words — should " much assist our arguments " by crushing the men who differed from them, on such questions too as the scriptural sanction of Independency as compared with Presbyterianism ! f It is certain, notwithstanding the high praise which * See " Halley's Lancashire Puritanism," passim. t See Baillie's "39th Letter to Mr. William Spang." "Letters," Ed. 1775. " This (i.e., the question of lay elders) is a point of high consequence, and upon no others we expect so great difficulty, except alone on Independency, wherewith we purpose not to meddle in haste till it please God to advance our army which we expect will much assist our arguments." Letter 40. " It was my advice, which Mr. Henderson presently applauded and gave me thanks for it, to eschew a public rupture with the Independents till we are more able for them. As yet a presbytery to this people (the English) is conceived to be a strange monster." 141 Baxter gives the Assembly, that the country became weary of its endless discussions, and it became every day more un- popular. It soon became evident that the Assembly aimed at setting up a spiritual tyranny, as Barrowe had long before prophesied, more intolerant and crushing than even , Episcopacy. To see men who had so narrowly escaped from the hand of Laud determined to enact a ruthless uniformity, and mete out to others the same pains and penalties, could not fail to disgust the candid and intelligent of all parties. It has been said that the possession of power was the ruin of the moral strength of the Puritan or Presbyterian party, but this does not adequately describe the case. They appear to have aimed, during the whole of their history, at the religious system of Geneva, and it was this which led to their downfall. They closed the argument with the Assembly Independents, by reminding them that their brethren in New England allowed no such " toleration, 5 ' * as that which they pleaded for.f If they desired a fusion they must sacrifice their cherished principles. It is wonder- ful to observe the unmeasured terms in which the Presby- terian or Puritan party spoke of " toleration/' It was * It must be borne in mind that this ' ' toleration " was not synonymous with " religious liberty." See an able pamphlet by E. B. Underbill, Esq. — The " Independents not the first assertors of the principle of full liberty of conscience, with special reference to the views of the five dissenting brethren in the Westminster Assembly of Divines. " Leeds and London, 1849. It is quite true that "the Independents" as represented by the " five dissenting brethren" were not "the advocates of full liberty of conscience," p. 6. ; but it must be borne in mind that the Brownists at that period, though a more obscure portion of the Independent party were not only more numerous, but also the representatives of a purer school of Independency. The Brownist petition to the House of Commons in 1641, quoted at p. 476, shows that this section of the Independents did advocate "full liberty of conscience." The Independent historians, have hitherto been very shy of claiming historical relationship with any but the more respectable Inde- pendent churches, and it is curious that this party who went the farthest from the original and present principle of Independency, should receive the most praise. f " Marsden's Later Puritans," 164. 142 denounced by the Synod of Divines at Sion College, in 1645, "asa root of gall and bitterness both in present and future ages." The ministers of Lancashire declared that it was the " taking away of all conscience ; " " it was the appointing a city of refuge in men's consciences for the devil to fly to."* , Calamy (October, 1644) told the House of Commons in his sermon, "If you do not labour according to your duty and power, to suppress the errors and heresies that are spread in the kingdom, all those errors are your errors, and those heresies are your heresies; they are your sins, and God calls for a parliamentary repentance from you for them this day." t Baxter's "judgment" was that unlimited toleration " was to be abhorred." Edwards, the author of " Gangrcena," whom we shall presently quote, writes with unmeasured language. His book bears internal evidence of the approval of many of his Presbyterian brethren. " A toleration is the grand design of the devil — it is the most transcendant catholic and fundamental evil for this kingdom, — as original sin is the most fundamental sin ; " so a toleration hath all errors in it, and all evils — it is against the whole stream and current of scripture, both in the Old and New Testament, — this is Abaddon, Apollyon, the destroyer of all religion, the abomination of desolation and astonishment, the liberty of perdition— all the devils in hell, and their instruments, being at work to promote a toleration." He gives us valu- able information on this point, that in 1645, " there have been more books written, sermons preached, words spoken, besides plottings and actings for a toleration, within these four last years, than for all other things. Every day now brings forth books for a toleration. The devil for some thousands of years has not found out this engine, nor made " Neal," ii- , p. 382. f " Crosby," i., p. 176. 143 use of it to support his kingdom !"* Milton tells usf that the most part "of the Assembly were such as had preached and cried down with great show of zeal, the avarice and plural- ities of bishops and prelates. That one cure of souls was a full employment for one spiritual pastor, how able soever, if not a charge rather above human strength. Yet these conscientious men (ere any part of the work done for which they came together, and that on the public salary), wanted not boldness to the ignominy and scandal of their pastor- like profession, and especially of their boasted reformation, to seize into their hands, or not unwillingly to accept (besides one, sometimes two or more of the best livings),]: collegiate masterships in the. universities, rich lectures in the city, setting sail to all winds that might blow gain into their covetous bosoms. And yet the main doctrine for which they took such pay, and insisted upon, with more vehemence than gospel, was but to tell us in effect that their doctrine was worth nothing, and the spiritual power of their ministry less available than bodily compulsion. " He says that they were found " under subtle hypocrisy to have preached their own follies, most of them not the gospel" (being) time servers, covetous, illiterate persecutors, not lovers of truth, like in most things whereof they accused their predecessors. The people being kept warm awhile by their counterfeit zeal, being * " Gangrcena," Book I., part iii., pp. 121, 122, Ed. 1646. t "History of Britain," pp. 238, 239, Bonn's Ed., 1670. J "An Inspection for Spiritual Improvement," being presented to a Presbyterian Pluralist and Formalist, by Thomas Tookey, M.A., Substitute-Pastor at Tbornhaw in Northamptonshire. London, 1646. Mr. Tookey declares that Mr. John Yaxley exacted " the worldly sweet of two distinct congregations." " The sun in its meridian altitude of rigid episcopacy never saw the like." Mr. Yaxley had " peeped into much logic ... so that tho' once he could not", now "he can account both non-residency and sacred thievery dearly lawful, gainful, hopeful, and needful." 144 " foully scandalized/' " became cold," " some turning to lewdness, some to flat atheism." Baxter says, " the divines thus congregated were men of eminent learning, godliness, ministerial abilities and fidelity." "The christian world, since the days of the Apostles, never had a synod of more excellent divines than this and the synod of Dort." Milton's testimony lias been rejected by some writers of the highest character for impartiality, e.g., Orme* and Marsden,f that he wrote under the influence of personal pique, because \he Assembly censured his " Doctrine of Divorce," and it is said that in that pamphlet he addressed them as " select assembly," &c. Fletcher clearly points out that the quotations relied upon by these writers do not, when considered in their proper connexion, imply " Milton's approval " of the Assembly of Divines."]: There were those then living who could have amply refuted Milton's state- ments, and Baxter cannot be deemed an impartial witness. He says, " When the Quakers and others did openly reproach the ministry, and the souldiers favored them, I drew up a petition for the ministry, and got many thousand names to it." § Baxter was therefore a thorough-going sup- porter of the Assembly and the Presbyterian ministry, and yet, even he remarked || of the Assembly men, that " they frightened the sectaries into this fury by the unpeaceableness * " Orme's Life of Baxter," chap, iv., p. 69. t "Marsden's Later Puritans," pp. 92, 93. I It was written in 1643, soon after the Assembly met, and we have in this harsh judgment upon Milton's motives, an instance of the exceedingly slender grounds on which the testimony of a man who had the best opportunities of forming an opinion, is challenged. It seems impossible to conceive a man like Milton, harbouring a private pique to the extent of traducing the character of the Assembly, 25 years after- wards. (The "History of Britain" being written in 1670.) "Fletcher's History oi Independency," vol. iv., p. 21. § " Baxter's Life/' Sylvester, p. 70. \\ Autobiography, p. 103. 145 and impatiency of their minds, and they were so little sensible of their own infirmity, that they would not have those tolerated who were not only tolerable but worthy instru- ments and members in the churches" that those who " pleaded for charity" could never be heard. The Assembly of Divines, and the Presbyterian clergy must be tried by their fruits. Some of these were good, but there is another and darker side to the picture which we conceive has hardly been sufficiently dwelt upon.* On the 3rd of January, 1645, the Parliament issued an ordinance to abolish the Common Prayer Book in public worship, and for the imposition of the Directory, f The clergy * " The Clergy in their Colors, or, The Pride and Avarice of the Presbyterian Clergy hindering Eeformation ; showing how from time to time they have been the fomentors of this first and second war ; but, also by their horrid fallacies, have to this present deluded the Commonwealth — discovered in a plain and familiar dialogue between Philalethes and Presbyter." London, 1651. (The MSS. of this was written some years before.) Page 41. " Take but a view of their practices, and let that speak how well they have carried themselves within five years past, since they got their preferments. I could instance in many places where superstitious and blind bussards were put out of their livings, and some of there orthodox men put in their roomes, and when they had got good livings, were they, or are they contented? Some hold livings in the country, and some in London, hardly ever coming to the flock but to take the fleece. Some hold two or three livings apiece ; some leave one and run to another when they can find a greater, nay, they will fight for a better living rather than lose it ; and yet falsely bewitch the silly people to believe that it is the call of God so to do, when it is nothing else but the delusion of Satan, and of their own wicked hearts to satisfy their ambition and avarice. See but how these men press the committee for plundered ministers, for augmentations and removals from day to day, and how they engage Parliament men to act for them, calling themselves in their certificates and petitions 'godly,' 'learned,' and 'orthodox divines.' And it is observed in the county that many of those who are thus put in, prove more proud, covetous, and contentious, than those that were put out." .... t There is a pamphlet in the British Museum (" King's Pamphlets," e 183, Tract 10, 1644) entitled, " MSS. Proposition by the Committee for the County of Kent, to the Hon ble - House of Commons, in behalf of said County." They recommend that " Such .... as forsake their own parish churches where a pious and pahiful (Presby terian) ministry is settled by a parliamentary authority, and do usually repair to other M 146 were commanded to conform to it under heavy fines. It forbade the use of the Book of Common Prayer, even in the domestic circle, under a penalty of five pounds for the first, and one hundred pounds for the third offence.* The frame of the proposed Presbyterian State Church was this : " Wherever there was an established congre- gation with a Pastor, whether in a Church to which tythe of common right belonged, or one in which a vicar was established, or a mere Chapel to which no tythe belonged, persons called " Kuling Elders " were to be chosen by the votes of the congregations, whose duty it was to assist the pastor or minister by their information, advice, and service, and to exercise a superintendence over all the other persons composing the congregation. These formed the congrega- tional Eldership. The minister, and some of the more dis- creet of the Kuling Elders, in districts containing some twenty or thirty congregations, were to meet once a month as a " Classical Presbytery." The number of elders sent by parish churches not far distant, where these other lazy, superstitious usages are con- tinued, that the said committee, or any twelve or more of them, may be authorized by ordinance of Parliament, or by order of this honourable House, to punish by way of fine, all such persons whose estates are not sequestered," and in case of non-payment their estates to be sequestered. Note in MSS. : " All was received with much thank- fulness, but Mr. Dashwood durst not license it in print ! " * " Since it has pleased our wise and newborn state, The Common Prayer Book to excommunicate ; To turn it out of act, as if it were Some grand malignant, or some cavalier ; Since in our churches 'tis by them forbid To say such prayers as our fathers did, So that God's house must now be called no more The house of prayer so ever called before." " To a vertuous and judicious lady who (for the exercise of her devotion) built a closet wherein to secure the most sacred book of prayer, from the view and violence of the enemies thereof," &c. Brit. Museum, fol. sheets, King's Pamphlets. 147 each congregation not to be more than four, or less than two. One of the ministers was to act as a moderator or chairman. They might redress any abuse of any kind that could be construed into an offence against ecclesiastical discipline. They were the examiners of persons who were candidates for the ministry, and with them it lay to give or refuse ordination. An appeal however lay from them to the " Provincial Assembly," which was to meet twice a year, and to consist of two ministers and four ruling elders, sent from each " Classical Presbytery " in the province. Above all, there was to be a " National Assembly," com- posed of two ministers and four ruling elders, sent from each " Provincial Assembly," together with five learned and godly persons from each of the Universities. This was to be the Court of Final ilppeal, but it could only meet when summoned by Parliament. It was part of the duty of the congregational or Kuling Eldership, to enquire into the religious knowledge and spiritual estate of any member of the congregation, and to admonish, suspend from the Lord's table, and even to excommunicate those whom they deemed ignorant or scandalous." * On the 26th of April, 1645, an ordinance of Parliament was issued for the " silencing of all such preachers as were not ordained or allowed " by those who shall be appointed thereunto by both Houses of Parliament. A still more stringent ordinance was passed to the same effect, on December 26th, 1646. All preaching or exposition of Scripture was forbidden, and all who "spoke aught in derogation of the Church government then established." England, which had broken in pieces the yoke of Prelacy, was now expected meekly to place her neck in this new Hunter's Life of Oliver Heywood," p. 55. M 2 ■ 148 yoke of the Puritan clergy ; but there were some of her stout hearted children who were determined not to lose that liberty of conscience, which they valued more than life. That excellent man, Kichard Baxter and his friends, had in the end to feel that after all, the despised " sectaries " were men of clearer vision than himself and his party. We will now quote a Baptist view of the Assembly. A work came out in 1647, by Samuel Bichardson.* Its title is, the " Neces- sity of Toleration in matters of Beligion," addressed to the Aassembly of Divines, with the significant text "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ," &c. " Ye suffer fools gladly." " When Bomish tyranny hath the upper hand, Darkness of mind and superstition stand." He gives to the Assembly, " The Nonconformists' answer why they cannot submit to the' aforesaid Faith," p. 279. " It was not studied out of the "Word of God, but they had borrowed us a religion out of Scotland." Third — " We have had very much experience of you to be the greatest time- servers among men, and even to turn with the wind, for when the cross, surplice, and mass-book were urged, you yielded to them, and swore canonical obedience to the bishops, your fathers," &c. Because the tide is turned, ye are turned. Fourth — " If you had truth on your side, and the Spirit of God to direct you, you might have, with ease and speed, given sufficient answer to the questions the Parliament gave you to answer." Ninth. — "Neither are they any of the true ministers of Jesus Christ unless the Pope be a true minister of Christ, because their ministry * Beprinted in " Tracts on Liberty of Conscience " — Hansard Knolly's Society. He was probably a pastor of the Baptist branch of that Church in connection with Mr. Spilsby (and his name is attached to a confession of faith put forth in 1643, 1G44, and 1646. 149 came from him, as appears by ; Mason's Book of Ordination,' and ' Yates' Model of Divinity, and yourselves confess/ " He tells them that their priesthood is false and antichristian ; that the church of which they are ministers is no church of Christ. He ends: " Mr. Presbyter, your principles are large and dangerous. Who can tell what you will judge tolerable ? Such as cannot dance after your pipe, and rule in your way, you judge heretics, and they must appear before your dread- ful tribunal to receive your reproof, which is sharp and terrible, and strikes at our liberties, estates and lives — you still want to use a sword ; who sees not that, if you had it, you would have wounded yourselves and others — and we had as good be under the Pope as under your Presbyterian check." The battle of Marston Moor, on July 2nd, 1644, and the battle of Naseby, on June 14th, 1645, struck the last blow in the struggle between Charles and the Parliament, and all fear of the return of Episcopacy was at an end. Laud had fallen a victim to the Puritan party, on January 10th, 1644. A purely religious movement had been steadily progressing amid the stirring events of the time. The Independents and Baptists were rapidly forming Churches. Nothing was more common than for an Independent to get into a living, and while conforming to the Directory, he set up an Independent Church. The Cathedral of Exeter was divided into two parts — for Presbyterian and Independent worship.* The Baptists appear in 1653 to have set up a church in St. Paul's.! * " Pope's Life of Ward," pp. 55, 56. f "The Madman's Plea; or, A Sober Defence of Captain Chillington's Church:" showing the destruction and derision ready to fall on all the baptized Churches not baptized with fire. London, 1653. Page 6. " Is it not ridiculous for Anabaptists to build a Church at Paul's (in the highest place of the city) when Paul never owned a church of Anabaptists or Dippers." 150 There were a class of Independents, and at a later period, during Cromwell's protectorate, a class of Baptists, who did not scruple to receive the State pay. On the other hand, there was another class who entirely rejected it. These men were engaged in preaching the Gospel to the masses, and forming Churches. Their aims were purely religious, they had no selfish ends to gain, and they are therefore entitled to credit for sincerity. Not only did they denounce the State main- tenance, but the Separatists objected to " ministers receiving maintenance from all sorts of people in their parishes, with- out difference," and it was called in one of their pamphlets, " an execrable sacrilege, and covetous making merchan- dise of the things of God — a letting of themselves out to hire to the profane, for filthy lucre."* Christians alone should support their pastors, and it manifestly tended to the corruption of the Christian religion, if its ministers are made to depend for support upon even the free contributions of wicked men. Dr. Stoughton remarks! that " two classes of Independents are distinctly visible," at a period earlier than that of which we are speaking.]: The character of their preaching was entirely different from the elaborate, * " Hanbuiy," vol ii. p. 279. t " Church of Civil Wars," vol. i., pp. 366, 367. Jin" The Anabaptists' Catechism, with all their practices, meetings, and exercises, the names of their pastors, their doctrines, disciples ; a catalogue of such dishes they usually make choice of at their feasts (i.e., love feasts usually held at an inn) how and by whom they are dipped, &c, published according to the order of their conven- ticles," printed for E. A. 1645," we have curious evidence of the less political character of certain Baptists, and that certain Independents were not deemed " Independents " at all, because they had apostatized from their original principles. " Question — What is the main thing that you and the Independents differ in ? Answer — We differ very much from them, for though you call them Independents (a name too honourable for them yet), they are none, for they allow of black coats (i.e., state ministers), and prophane learning and superstitious preaching in pulpits, and many such things the Independents approve of, but we do not allow of these things." They are made to say, *• We are free from blood, and will not kill." 151 doctrinal treatises of the Presbyterian clergy. To rise the words of Edwards, the author of " Gangroena," it was " in a kind of strain which takes with the people much." This movement was characterized by a purely lay ministry, and its rapid progress may be clearly traced in the satirical pamphlets of the time. A great controversy arose on the propriety of such a ministry ; * a controversy in which the opponents of the practice used as their best weapons, bitter and unsparing satire, and we gain from them many im- portant facts which might otherwise have escaped notice. We will take a peep at what is called " the Brownist Synagogue/' found in a tract entitled " The Brownist Synagogue, or a late discovery of their conventicles, assem- blies, and places of meeting ; when they preach, and their manner, with a relation of the names, places and doctrines of those who do commonly preach, the chief of which are Green, the feltmaker, Marlin, the buttonmaker, Spencer, the coachman (see note at foot), Eodgers, the glover, which sect is much increased of late in the city — a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand." Page 2. — " Let me, gentle reader, not be prolixious, and I shall relate unto thee the names and places where these illiterate preachers live, and make their assemblies, and the unlearned doc- trines they hold. The first man that I begin with shall be an irreverend glover whose name is Kichard Eodgers ; he ofttimes doth call a congregation, and at his own house tells them what they shall do. The Spirit, he tells them, moves him, and so proceeding, he tells them what * This is commenced in 1640 or 1641, when the operation of Sectaries attracted notice, e.g., "A short treatise concerning lawfulness of every man exercising his gift as God shall call him unto," by John Spencer. We conclude this was " Spencer, the coachman," mentioned farther on. This was published in 1641. 152 first comes into Iris mind ; his apologie is that he speaks nothing but that which the Spirit gives him utterance for. John Bennet, he disalloweth of human learning, his reason is that some of Christ's apostles were fishermen when he called them. Charles Thomas, a Welchman, doth teach in "Warwick Lane once a fortnight, as he holds none lawful to be amongst the prophets, but those who were inspired by the Spirit, so no man is fit for their holy service but devout men, and who is familiar with the Spirit. Alexander Smith, whose opinion is that no man ought to teach but as the Spirit moves, and for this one reason we may set ourselves against those scholars, as bishops, deans, and deacons, which strive to construe the Scripture accord- ing to the translation of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, which last language stinkes (i.e., because of its association with popery) like a piece of biefe a twelvemonth old, yet unsalted." This amusing caricature from the pen of an adversary, enables us still further to trace some of the opinions of the Amsterdam churches up to the time of George Fox. The account of the way in which these persecuted, despised christian people held their worship, may well touch our best feelings as christian men. " They do not all come together, but come two or three in a com- pany. Any man may be admitted thither, and, all being gathered, the man appointed to teach stands up in the midst of the room, and his audience gather about him. He prays about the space of half-an-hour, and part of his prayer is that ' those who come hither to scoff and laugh, God would be pleased to turn their hearts ; ' ' by which means/ says the hard-hearted narrator/ they think to escape undiscovered/ His sermon is about the space of an hour, and then another stands up to make the text more plain. " On September 8th, 1641, it was ordered by the House of 153 Commons, " that it shall be lawful for the parishioners of any parish within the kingdom of England and Wales, to set up a lecture, and to maintain an orthodox minister at their own charge, to preach every Lord's- day when there is no preaching, and to preach one day a week when there is no lecture."* This led to the Independents and Baptists availing themselves of any opportunity which might occur to supply a deficiency.! We meet again with " Marlin, the buttonmaker," at St. Ann's Church, Aldersgate, on the Sabbath-day, August 8th, 1641. The minister being absent, "many desired their friends to go into the pulpit," and a contest arose whether a stranger who was " once a Jesuit," should preach, or Mr. Marlin. It appears that Mr. Marlin obtained the consent and ear of the people, and preached a lengthy, sound, protestant sermon. At last, however, the churchwardens interrupted him, and pulled him down from the pulpit. | In the same year, "prophet Hunt preached in St. Sepulchre's Church, " making another combustion." § The connection between this movement and the Amsterdam Churches can be clearly traced. || The ancient Church in Southwark, formed in 1616 by Henry Jacob, was still in * Brit. Museum, " King's Pamphlets," e 28, 172. f " The Mystical Wolfe," London, Feb. 3rd, 1644, p. 6, " with illuminated Anabaptists who blaspheme the baptism of children, and these heretics, who in times past we burned, we may hear now in our pulpits seducing the people." + " A True Narrative of a Combustion happening in St. Anne's Church, Aldersgate," &c. 1641, Brit. Museum. § Probably "James Hunt, the farmer" (see "A Curb for Sectaries," London, 1641). || See " The Anatomy of the Separatists, alias Brownists, with the strange hubbub, and formerly unheard of hurly-burly which those phanatick and fantastic Separatists made on Sunday afternoon, 8th May, in the Parish of St. Olave's, in the Old Jewry, at the sermon of the Bt. Bev. Father in God, Henry, Bishop Chichester," London, 1642. " Many places in England and London are too much Amster damnified. Beligion is become common table-talk. Papists, Atheists, Brownists, Anabaptists, FamiHsts, and the Sisters of the Fraternity, all will have their way. Page 2 — The Fraternity at 154 vigorous operation; John Lothorp succeeded Jacob, lie emigrated to America, and the celebrated John Canne was pastor for a short time ; Henry Jessey, his successor in 1637, was sent by his congregation to preach in Wales, in 1639. Samuel How succeeded, or was co-pastor with him, and was joined in the pastorate by Stephen More. This congregation, which had subsisted for over twenty years, shifting from place to place to avoid persecution, opened their doors to the public on January 18th, 1640-41. We find a description in verse, of the celebrated Samuel How, the learned cobbler's preaching, probably, on this occasion : " And at the ' Nag's Head,' near to Coleman Street, A most pure crew of Brethren there did meet, When their devotion was so strong and ample To turn a sinful Tavern to a Temple. ******* A worthy brother gave the text, and then The Cobbler How his preachment strait began, Extem'ry, without any meditation, But only by the Spirit's revelation; He went through stitch, now hither and now thither, And took great pains to draw both ends together ; For (like a man inspired from Amsterdam), He scorned ne sutor ultra crepidam; His text he clouted, and his sermon welted; His audience with devotion nearly melted." * Amsterdam, and the Brownists in town, are brethren of the same tribe. They hold that religion ought to be guided by the motion of the Spirit, not reason. They despise all learning. Page 4 — They hold it lawful for artificers and laymen to preach in public, as cobblers, weavers, leathersellers, boxmakers, ironmongers, feltmakers, and such like mechanick fellows. They make no reckoning of a church more than a stable. Page 6 — They cried, 100 or more, ' A pope ! a pope 1 ' when the Bight Beverend Bishop came into the pulpit." — Brit. Museum, large 4to 1 — 14. * Stated to be about 100. A swarme of Sectaries and Schismatiques, wherein is discovered the strange preaching (or prating) of such as are by their trades cobblers, tinkers, pedlars," &c. , with portrait of Samuel How in his tub, preaching to a conven- ticle, date probably 1641, p. 9. 155 Ellwood quotes Howe's " Sufficiency of the Spirit's Teaching," in " Forgery no Christianity." The kind of treatment to which these good men were subjected, may be illustrated by a quotation from " A Discovery of a Swarme of Separatists, or A Leather Seller's Sermon, describing how Burboon (or Barbon), a Leatherseller, had a Conventicle of Brownists, &c, with another relation," &c* — " Many of the Brownists crawled over the tiles and houses, escaping some one way, and some another. But at length they catched one of them alone. But they kicked him so vehemently as if they meant to beat him into a jelly. It is ambiguous if they have killed him or no, but certainly they did knock him as if they meant to pull him to pieces. I confess it had been no matter if they had beaten their whole tribe in the like manner." This Mr. Barbon was pastor of one section of this Ancient Separatist Church, when they divided equally in May, 1640, and one part remained with Mr. Henry Jessy, and the other with Mr. Praise God Barbon. f Barbon, as "an elder, governed the Church in Leyden, which held communion with Bobin- son's Church at that place." J The preaching of women appears to have commenced among some of the Independent Churches about this period (1641) in England. § It seems probable that this * Brit. Museum, e No. 36.180.25. f Hahbury's " Historical Kesearch concerning the most Ancient Congregational Church in England," pp. 10 and 16, London, 1820. I " The Way of Congregational Churches Cleared," by John Cotton, of Boston, p. 16, London, 1648. § In America it. appears to have existed among the Baptists about 1636. "The third dividing tenet by which these persons propagated their errors, was between the Word of God and the Spirit of God. And here these sectaries (i.e., the Baptists) had many pretty knacks to delude with all, and especially to please the female sex. They told of rare revelations of the things to come from the Spirit, as they say, ' Come 156 practice originated in certain Baptist churches in Holland.* Baillie, in his " Anabaptism the True Foundation of Inde- pendency, Brownism, Familism, Antinomy," &c, London, 1646, p. 30, says, " the continental Baptists allowed women's preaching,! and every one of their members the power of along with me,' says one, ' I will bring you a woman that preaches better Gospel than any of your black coats that have been at the University,' a woman of another kind of spirit who hath many revelations of things to come, and for my part, saith he, I had rather hear such an one that speaks from the mere motion of the Spirit, than any of your learned scholars, although they may be fuller of the Scripture, and admit they speak by the help of the Spirit, yet the other goes far beyond them." — "Johnson's History," pp. 67 to 99, quoted in " Backus' History of New England." — Keith says, that "these called Presbyterians (in England) may remember how they have both allowed" and countenanced women both to pray and speak of their experiences in their private meetings, and yet they cannot deny but their private meetings are a Church." — " The Woman Preacher of Samaria," 1674. * " The Brownists' Conventicle," &c, 1641, p. 13. — "And in this our thanksgiving let us remember all the blessed pastors and professors, whether at Amsterdam or elsewhere ; as also for our s/ie-fellow labourers, our holy and good blessed women who are not only able to talk on any text, but search into the deep sense of the Scripture, and preach both in their families and elsewhere." Also " Lucifer's Lackey, or, The Devil's New Creation," London, 1641, speaks of a congregation in the malt-house of one Job, a brewer, the numbers being about seven score persons, and says, " When women preach and cobblers pray, The fiends in Hell make holiday." We have also notices of this practice in " Idolater's Euin and England's Triumph, or the Meditations of a Maimed Soldier," January 17th, 1644, London, p. 1. — " Where- fore let Priscilla and Aquilla be Paul's helpers, and let every one as he-hath received the gift, minister the same one to another, and let us prophesie one by one," &c. In " Tub Preachers Overturned, or, Independency to be Abandoned and Abhorred," a reply to a letter to Thomas Edwards, London, 1647, we have a description of a woman preacher in rhyme : — •' And that her zeal, piety, and knowledge, Surpassed the gravest student in the college Who strive their human learning to advance ; She with her Bible and a concordance Could preach nine times a week morning and night, Such revelation had she from New Light ! " In Cotton's church in New England, Mrs. Hutchinson, a woman of great parts, preached, although not in the public assembly. t Women preached among the Baptists at Strasburg. 157 public preaching, and also the power of questioning the preacher on doctrine ''before the Church," and that in England it was the same, but that "many more of their women do venture to preach among the Baptists than among the Brownists, in England." Mrs. Attaway, "the mistress of all the she-preachers in Coleman Street," was a disciple in Lamb's congregation. He states that he believes the " feminine preachers in Kent, Norfolk, and the rest of the shires " had " their breeding in the same school," which appears to show that they were dispersed as travelling preachers. This seems to identify the preaching of women with the principal General Baptist Church in London, but it does not appear to have been confined to the General Baptists.* As late as 1653 we find a lady preaching in the " Queen's Mass Chapel at Somerset House," and who preached elsewhere.! The ordinance of Parliament to silence every preacher who was "not ordained a minister in this or some other * " The Schismatics Sifted, or The Picture of the Independants." London, 1646. Page 34. — "Is it a miracle or wonder to see saucie boyes, bold botching taylors, and other most audacious, illiterate mechanicks to run out of their shops into a pulpit ? To see bold, impudent, huswifes to take upon them to prate an hour or more ; but when I say is the extraordinary spirit poured upon them?" — "A Fresh Discovery of some Prodigious New Wandering Blazing Stars and Firebrands styling themselves ' New Lights,' " by William Prynne, Esq. London, 1645. Page 47.—" Whether Indepen- dents admitting women not only to vote as members, but sometimes to preach, expound, speak publicly as predicants in their conventicles, be not directly contrary to the Apostles' doctrine and practice, and a mere politick invention to engage that sex to their party? He says also in preface, that the Independents give women not only ' deci- sive votes, but liberty of preaching and prophesying,' speaking in their congregations." t " State Papers Uncalendered," 813 a, paper No. 77. 25th July, 1653. "Theodoras," to the Eight Hon. Lord Conway. " Here is start [i.e., started] up an audacious virago (or feminine tub preacher) who last Sunday held forth about two hours together within our late Queen's mass chapel at Somerset House, in the Strand, and has done so there and elsewhere, divers Sabbath-days of late, who claps her Bible and thumps the pulpit cushion with almost as much confidence (I should have said impudence) as honest Hugh Peters himself ! " 158 Eeformed Church, except such as intending the ministry were allowed for the trial of their gifts by those who shall be appointed thereto by both Houses of Parliament," was enacted on 26th April, 1645. It was intended by the , extreme Presbyterian party to arrest the progress of Inde- ,. pendency. Not only throughout the whole army, but throughout the whole country, the practice of lay preaching was spreading. The Independents argued that there were " a large number of persons not ordained, who had scrupled ordination under the former bishops," and also scrupled " the present form of ordination, and they forbore until church matters should be fully settled; " and that Parliament never intended to silence them, and they contended that such persons may preach," provided that they do it at such seasons as hinders not the public preaching, and in such a manner as disturbs not the public peace." * This ordin- ance was " sent to Sir Thomas Fairfax to be observed by the army," and all military personages, and this tract is addressed to " gentlemen of the soldiery in the field." It appears that in the army little attention was paid to the ordinance. They " sent out everywhere captains and soldiers " to preach, and gave " tickets of the time and place" in true military fashion. f It was declared by the *" " The Clear Sense, or a Vindication of the late Ordinance of Parliament," &e., pp. 1, 2, 3. f William Prynne, Esq. — "Fresh Discovery of some Prodigious New Wandering Blazing Stare and Firebrands, styling themselves New Lights." London, 1645. Preface. Prynne tells a story which illustrates a general feeling of Englishmen about the soldiers' preaching — " Quoth the Scotchmen, ' Man, is it fit that Colonel Cromwell's souldiers should preach in their quarters to take away the ministers' function ? ' Quoth the Englishman, ' Truly I remember they made a gallant sermon at Marston Moor near York. That was one of the best sermons that hath been preached in the kingdom.' " — We find also that Oliver Cromwell's porter preached on a grass-plot opposite his house. Women were observed turning to their Bibles, and " did sigh and groan, and showed as strong motions of devotion as could be seen in any Quakers' meeting ! " 159 Independents, &c, to be a " monopoly of the Spirit worse than the monopoly of soap!" "About the beginning of the year 1653, " we find that " the opinions that were rampant in the army infected also the country."* The great point of difference between the Independent and Presby- terian parties in Lancashire, was on the question of the preaching of " gifted brethren," i.e., lay preachers. Even in this part of the country, where the fusion f was more complete between the Independents and Presbyterians, the Presbyterians were compelled to allow (if they did not approve) the occasional preaching of " gifted brethren " in the pulpits of the churches. J Baxter informs us that the Separatists said "let the * "Martindale's Life," p. 110. t On Mr. Eaton's New England scheme of accommodation. I Two or three " ruling elders " of Mr. Eaton's Independent Church " preached frequently at Tabley Chapell in my parish," Martindale tells us. In 1659, this question between the Independents and Presbyterians was set at rest, by the concession of the point of the liberty of unordained persons, not intending the ministry, to preach, with this proviso, that no persons should preach in the churches except they were approved by the ministers or preaching officers, and that the congregations were not to be "disturbed" by having unordained preachers "imposed upon them," and also that every effort was to be used, that " no offence be given by the preaching of mere gifted brethren." Martindale's Life," p. 12, Cheetham Society, 1815. See also " Newcome's Autobiography," Cheetham Society, vol. xxv., p. 36.* Mr. Stringer, the regular Presby- terian minister at Macclesfield, invites Mr. Eaton to preach and bring some one with him to supply for both parts of the day. Mr. Eaton then writes stating that some of the people of Macclesfield had solicited their ruling elder, Mr. Barret, to preach there. To this Mr. Stringer consents, and invites the said lay preacher to occupy his pulpit in conjunction with Eaton, the Independent minister. Newcome "declares his dislike," but not a word is said about its legality, or being contrary to church regulation. Barret was a sequestrator, and some of the aldermen " took it so ill that he should preach in their pulpit." It is certain, however, that the connection between the Pres- byterians and the Independents tended to reduce or stifle lay preaching. Saltmarsh says, in 1649, " Stop not the breathings of God in mean private christians ; the counsels of God flow there, and when the greater persons sometimes for His glory are left naked without a word of advice from Him." " I found this desolating evil begin- ning in your (i.e., the Independents) meetings." — "England's Friend," London, 1649* 160 Lord be glorified, let the gospel be propagated," and that " there were few of the Anabaptists who had not been the. opposers and troublers of the faithful ministers of the land (i.e., those of the Presbyterian party).* In Edwards' " Gangrcena," published in 1645, abundant evidence is given of the vigorous operation of these Independent and Baptist churches. He states (part i.) that the sectaries are " much stunned " with the vote passed in Parliament against lay preaching. He is furious at the idea " of mechanics, as smiths, taylors, shoemakers, pedlars, weavers, taking upon themselves to preach. By this ordinance it was said that " Sir John Presbyter's gums " were " to be rubbed with a parliament coral (baby's coral), and that now he was mad to put his boarish tusks, his huge iron fangs, in execution, to devour, rend, and crush these hereticks ! " t In a word, this vote excited a strong opposition, and became a dead letter. Mr. Henry DenneJ was a graduate of the University of Cambridge, and ordained in 1630, but having denounced the vices of the clergy in a visitation sermon in 1641, he is found in 1643 a member of Lamb's church in Coleman Street. He was a most excellent christian man, and being sent forth by Lamb's Church into Bedfordshire and Cam- bridgeshire, and those parts, comes in as a celebrated General Baptist, for Edwards' reprobation. He is de- nounced as a great antinomian (which is untrue) and a desperate Arminian. He preaches much against tythes, whereby he draws the people after him. He hath put * " Baxter's Life," p. 102. Autobiography. f W. Prynne, Esq., "Fresh Discovery," &c, London, 1645, preface. I Denne fell into the snare which was laid for George Fox, and became a captain in Cromwell's army. He was implicated in the revolt of the " Levellers," condemned to death, but pardoned by Cromwell, who knew his excellent character. 161 down all singing of psalms in his Church. He preacheth and prays, and after he hath done he calls to know if any be not satisfied, and then they stand up that will, and object, and he answers them. Others of the brethren that will, with mechanicks one or two more, sometimes do exer- cise after him. There is also one Tandy, or Dandy,* who comes sometimes to Elsby and preaches there and about that country, who tells them of revelations and miracles, and saith revelations are ordinary to him. A large amount of mis-representation must be allowed for by the reader, and if he charitably supposes that there were some of these men whose heads were turned by the fervid religious excitement of the times, we must at the same time admit the existence of the same excitement in the narrator; each party looking at the deeds of the other through coloured glasses. There are touches of nature and truth about some of Edwards' descriptions, which may well reach our hearts, as we view, unwarped by prejudice, the earnest christian labours of the truly godly men who preached the gospel to the masses of the people, not for pay or worldly honour, but in obedience to their Master's command. " This Mr. Penne hath some kind of strain in his preaching which affects and takes the people much, as for instance he will say, " Oh, Lord Christ, if thou wert now on earth and didst reveal the gospel to men, they would call Thee, ' Anabaptist, Antinomian, Inde^ pendent/ who now call us so." " He would have preached about spring last on a lecture day at St. Ive's, but the committee gave orders against it, and not being suffered, he went to a churchyard not far off that place, and under * Philip Tandy, a minister of the Church of England, who became a Baptist (seventh day) " a person of great abilities and piety." " Brook's Puritans," vol. iii., p. 30. N 162 a yew tree he preached, many following him, pronouncing many fearful woes against them for not receiving the gospel. " Mr. Disbrough* says of him, that he is the ablest man in England for prayer, expounding and preaching. The usual theme he is upon is Christ's dying for all men, Judas as well as Peter." " He often preached this doctrine/' " This is the everlasting gospel, to believe that Jesus Christ died for all men." " Men were only damned for not believing Christ and nothing else." This Mr. Denne delivered his opinions in such a manner as if he had been an apostle sent from heaven." Here we trace the operation of the General Baptists, and in clear connection with a Church in London formed by Thomas Lamb, and meeting at Bell Alley, Coleman Street, f Lamb was seized prior to this at Colchester for preaching in a Separatist congregation, and dragged before the Star Chamber. He was undaunted in the work of the gospel, till he had made the acquaintance of nearly every * Mr. James Disbrowe was Lord of the Manor of Eltisby and an elder of the Fenstan- ton Church. His brother was a major-general in Cromwell's army, belonged to Cromwell's council, one of his generals at sea, also one of the lords of the Cinque- ports; his salary was £3,236 per annum. "Narrative of the late Parliament," 1658. In the Swarthmore papers we find what is probably a notice of the same person. "A. Parker to George Pox," 1657. " Went to a place beyond Cambridge, where never a meeting had been ; the man's name that did desire the meeting was one Disborrow, an ancient professor. He is uncle to Major-General Disborrow. There was a very large meeting both of Priends and others, and we both had a large time to declare the trutL without interruption. When we had done a Baptist teacher stood up and spoke some words, but was soon silent. There was also another of their teachers, and some other3 that we had some words with, but they had very little to say against what was declared." Probably Parker was mistaken, or Noble, in his History of the Protectorate House of Commons, is wrong. If they are two distinct persons, this would be the father of Mr. James Disborrow, the friend and patron of Denne, and the elder in the Fenstanton General Baptist Church ; but this is improbable, and we have here another instance of the friendly relations between the General Baptists and the foUowers of Fox. f Taylor, "History General Baptists," p. 99. 163 prison in London. He frequently observed " that a man was not fit to preach who would not preach for God's sake, though he was sure to die for it as soon as he had finished.' ' We can clearly see here the stamp of men, who, although every- where spoken against, had the spirit of the Apostles and Martyrs, and were doing the real evangelistic work of the times. Henry Denne wrote a tract in 1646, entitled, " The Drag Net of the Kingdom of Heaven, or Christ Drawing all Men."* This tract contains (p. 91) a passage which places the doctrine of the Holy Ghost dwelling in the heart of the believer in precisely the same point of view, and in the same words, as Fox did in commencing his preaching two years later. He quotes John i. 9 — " Now God is light, and God is a spirit. If then Christ lighteth every man, God lighteth every man. The Spirit lighteth every man that cometh into the world. What is it for man to be lighted, but for the light of the glory of God, shining forth in the face of Jesus Christ, to shine in darkness? For every man to be lighted is (as I conceive) for the manifestation of the glory of God to be showed forth in some measure to them/' It is a curious fact, that Denne wrote to defend the Quakers from the foolish imputation of being Papists in disguise, t " George Whitehead is not a Papist, according to that Bedlam fancy which Baxter is daily sowing/' It appears that not only Whitehead, but the " Bedfordshire Tinker," Bunyan, had an encounter with Thomas Smith, Bachelor of Divinity, and lecturer at Christ Church, Cambridge, who appears to have excused himself * Brit. Museum. t " The Quakers no Papists," &c, a reply to Mr. Thomas Smith, B.D., lecturer in Christ's College, Cambridge ; his frivolous relation of a dispute between himself and certain Quakers at Cambridge, 1659. N 2 164 for coming off with little credit, by his being taken at unawares, while " he was turning over some Arabic MSS.," which Denne thinks a very curious excuse for so learned a man in an encounter with " a tinker and a Quaker." " While," says Denne, "he labours to prove the poor Quakers to be introducers of heresies, he himself introduces a most damnable one, denying the ubiquity of the three Persons of the Trinity ! You seem to be arguing with the tinker (Bunyan) because he strives to mend souls as well as kettles ! " In reply, it was suggested that Bunyan mended souls just as he mended kettles — " stopping one hole and making many ! " Henry Denne's " friends the Quakers, did not only challenge Mr. Smith and all the Presbyterian clergy in England in print,"* "but set up bills in defiance at the commencement, upon the school (college) doors !" They hoped Denne would " stable none of his troop horses in heaven, though they come into (St.) Paul's ! " The Quakers were asked " if they did not esteem Jieir speakings to be of as great authority as any chapter in the Bible ? " and some one answered wittily (if not wisely), " Yes, of greater ! " t This was sufficient to supply the material for a wonderful amount of misrepresentation, although Whitehead distinctly denies that it was spoken by a Quaker. Whitehead, on that occasion, defined the "im- mediate inspiration" needful for a Christian minister, not as anything equivalent to, or superseding the New Testament Scriptures, but merely that it was " that inspiration which giveth the understanding in things which are spiritual." J * This alludes to " Fox's Mystery," fol., p. 19, preface. t "A Gagg for Quakers, with an Answer to Mr. Denne's 'Quaker no Papist,'" London, 1659, pp. 1, 3.— The Bible was divided into Chapters in the 13th century, by Cardinal Hugo de S. Caro. Coverdale followed this division. The Geneva version 1560 was the first English Bible with our present verses. I " The Key of Knowledge, not found in the University Library, Cambridge." 2nd Ed., 1660. 165 The dispute between Whitehead and Smith took place in "the Quakers' common meeting house," and one of the people drew his sword in the course of the discussion, to add weight to his argument.* The parliamentary army had in its ranks the most godly among the Sectaries and Puritans. Wherever the King's army bent its course, private houses were plundered. Excellent and pious men, whatever sentiments they hap- pened to profess, were abused by the King's soldiery, and found refuge in the army of the Commonwealth. Chillingworth says, "'I observed a great deal of piety in the commander and soldiers of the Parliament's army. I confess their discourse and behaviour do speak them Christians, but I can find little of God or godliness in our men." Lord Clarendon says, the Commonwealth army was an " army whose sobriety and manner, whose courage and success, made it famous and terrible all over the world; " while the King's army was " a dissolute, undisciplined, wicked, beaten army, whose horse their friends feared, being terrible only in plunder, and resolute only in running away." The leisure hours of the soldiery were spent in reading their Bibles, in singing psalms, and in religious * It is asserted that Smith obtained the living at Caldicut under very disgraceful circumstances. The parishioners were greatly opposed to Smith, but Smith's friend, Mr. Bayly, of Barnwell, pretended that Smith had some other living in view, and then got them to give Smith a general testimonial of " ability," &c. This was used against the parishioners. It secured Smith the living against the wishes of the parish. We mention this as an instance of the stanp of "learned divines " who were denounced by the early Friends. Smith charged the Quakers with having been instigated by the devil, to " torment, bewitch, and destroy, as his, and their greatest enemy, Mr. Tyford, late ministsr of Sherborne, a learned, pious, and orthodox divine, being tormented with a painful sharp disease, of which he died," and even his successor was forced to desert the town by their witchcraft ! (Preface to " A Gagg for the Quakers.") 166 meetings, conferences, public disputes, &c* "Wherever they came, property and virtue were secure. Their zeal, how- ever, went beyond all bounds in the destruction of church property, and the " idol temples" fared ill at their hands, * A curious specimen of the spirit of the camp is preserved in the British Museum, "King's Pamphlets," folio sheets, entitled, " A Spiritual Song of Comfort, or Encourage- ment to the Souldiers that are gone forth in the Cause of Christ," headed with engraved busts of the Earls of Essex and Warwick, Sir W. Waller and Mr. Pym. To every line of this hymn there is a text of Scripture quoted. We have only room for the following specimen : — Come along my valiant souldiers, Let us goe into the field ; let us march after our captains, Unto our foes let us not yield. Although our enemies be many, And though they do us sore anoy, 2 Chron. xiv. 11 Hosts of men they are as nothing, Deut. xxxi. 3 Jehovah can them all destroy. Ezek. xviii. 35 We have a cause that's just and equal, ,, xxxi. 20 Our adversaries' is not right ; Deut. xxxii. 30 Therefore one shall chase a thousand, Joshua xxiii. 10 We shall put them all to flight. Psalm cxvii. 5 Though we be hungry, cold and weary, And almost ready for to starve, We have an all sufficient Captain, Prom them all can us preserve. Cant. iii. 8, 7 Gen. xxxv. 3 Heb. ii. 10 Phil. i. 28 Deut. xx. 1 Judg. ii. 34 2 Cor. iv. 16 Gen. xvii. 1 2 Col. i. 10, 11 Joel ii. 1 1 Cor. xiv. 8 Isai. xxix. 9 Rev. xviii. 4 „ xix. 11 ,, xix. 14 „ xix. 19 Psalm xxvii. Eev. xix. 20 xix. 21 xix. 3 xix. 4 vi. 10 xix. 2 10 Therefore strike up the drum's alarm ; Let not the trumpet cease to sound ; Behold how Babel it doth stagger, Methinks it doth begin to fall ; The white horse rider and his army Will dash their bones against the wall. Though here the beast and the false prophefe [probably Episcopacy and Presbyterianisru] A little while do seem to thrive, Yet shortly shall they both be taken, And into the lake be cast alive ; Therefore let us all sing Hallelujah Both now and also evermore ; Because he hath our blood avenged, And judged the scarlet- coloured whore. Printed in the year antichrist is falling. 167 many monuments of religion and antiquity being ruthlessly destroyed.* This, however, was sanctioned by Act of Parliament. Baxter lived for some time in the army, and gives a testimony to the general soundness of their christian character, and even of their doctrinal views, f The more spiritually minded christian men among the Puritans, were now rapidly passing over to the Independents and Baptists, and the formation of Independent Churches, is one of the great features of this period. To give an idea of the astonishment, as well as alarm, which this movement excited, first among the old fashioned Church party, and next among the Presbyterians, we will give a few extracts in illustration. An anonymous Church-writer says, " they (the sects — Independents, Baptists, &c.,) take the liberty to separate themselves from the clergie, and by mutual call of one another, to jugge themselves, like partridges, into small coveys , which they call ' bodies ' or l churches/ even before they have any minister, whom they resolve to have of their own choosing and ordering, that they may be sure to have him after their humour ! " " The better to set off their opinions and practices, their retreat is (as foxes when eagerly hunted) to earth themselves in this — the Spirit hath * The injuries done to Churches was not entirely the work of the Eoundheads, e.g., " The malicious and malignant party, the Cavaliers, in Cornwall," " doth hourly mischief in those parts without remorse or pity .... nay, the very churches they make stables of. Is not this barbarous?" "Nehemiah Wallington's Historical Notices," vol ii., London, 1870, p. 124. The whole of this work abounds with proof of the spoiling of " Books of Law, Eecords and Monuments," 130, and the wanton destruction of books and every description of property by the cavalier soldiery. f As a specimen of the style of a soldier's sermon, we venture to insert the text of one in the British Museum, thus — " Orders given out, the Word, ' Stand Fast,'" as it was lately delivered in a farewell sermon by Major- General Samuel Kem, to the officers and soldiers of his regiment in Bristol, Nov. 8th, 1646. Page 4. — " Stand fast ! that's the word. Faith in the heart, not the head, is the signal. Labour to have a stubborn and stout will in relation to what is known to be the truth of God," &c. 168 taught and dictated those things to them, or interpreted or revealed the Scripture to them in this manner ; or impulsed or driven them to such ways as are uncomely or unwonted." * Edwards writes, " Independents and Brownists were formerly against Anabaptists and Arminians, Familists, Antinomians; but now, all the Independents in England say not a word against them, but side with them and stand up for them." In his celebrated " Gangroena," he is almost furious in his denunciations of the sects now starting up on every side. In his first treatise he gives a catalogue of what he calls 176 errors, heresies, and blasphemies. In the second he gives us twenty-three new ones, and we have additional heresies presented to our view in the third part of this work published in 1646. It must be remembered that this extraordinary work of this Presbyterian minister, must have been written in 1644 and 1645 — that is, four years before G. Fox began to preach. Although Edwards' " Gangroena " is one of the most intemperate books ever written, yet we must recollect he was furnished with material by such men as Baxter, and his book gives a vivid picture of the mind of the nation breaking loose from its fetters, and daring to think for itself on religious matters. It is curious to notice how many of the errors, heresies, and blasphemies catalogued by Edwards, are now accepted by all as profound and unquestionable truths. There is abundance of evidence that many of the ideas which have been too often tacitly assumed to be solely the offspring of " Quakerism, " were held at this period (before George Eox commenced his public career as a preacher) among the Independents and Baptists. * "A Brief Description of the Eeligion and Manners of Phanatiques in General," p. 10. London, 1660. Brit. Museum. 169 We have already traced the origin of the doctrinal and practical principles with which the first Independent and Baptist Churches commenced their religious career, and we shall therefore readily understand that a great variety, both of opinions and practices, prevailed amongst them at this period. Edwards says that " there are some Independent preachers who will neither baptize children, nor administer the Lord's Supper."* " It was maintained/' he tells us, "that singing David's psalms is blasphemy and telling lies ; that all set times of private prayers are unlawful and super stitious." A lieutenant in the army, and a great sectary, affirmed to Edwards' informant, respecting the means of God's revealing his mind and will to his ser- vants in reference to their salvation, that " God did it immediately by himself without Scripture, without ordi- nances, ministers, or any other means." t Many notices of persons are given who affirmed that the Scriptures were " not the Word of God," and quoted John i. 1, and " told us he knew no 'Word but that.' " " One Kendal preached against human learning, as being ' flesh,' and that universities were of the devil." " Mr. Baseley * " Gangrcena," part iii., p. 89. See also " A Discovery of the most Dangerous and Damnable Tenets that have been spread within these few years, by many Erroneous and Heretical and Mechanic Spirits." Prop. 29. — " That John's baptism, which was of water, did end at the coming of Christ." Also in New England about 1636, there were Separatists (Baptists) who entirely disused baptism and the Lord's Supper. " And here they played their game to purpose — even casting down all ordinances as carnal, and that because they were polluted by the ordinance of man, as some of these sectaries have said to the ministers of Christ — you have cast off the cross in baptism, and you would do well to cast off baptism itself. As also for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, for to make use of bread, or the juice of a silly grape to represent the body and blood of Christ, they accounted it as bad a necromancy in ministers of Christ to perform it." "Johnson's History, pp. 67 to 99, quoted in " Backus' History of New England," p. 79. t " Gangrcena," part ii. p. 6. 170 opposed his doctrine in the afternoon, and this Kendall stood up in the church and opposed him, but was hindered by a justice of the peace." * " A quartermaster belonging to a regiment of horse, said, he ' had a command from the Spirit to preach, — the Spirit without learning enables a man to the work/ There were some women-preachers who kept constant lectures, preaching weekly to many men and women." \ A young woman sixteen years of age is men- tioned, " who preached to many young men and maidens." " Mr. Walwin (what religion he is of no one can tell) asserts Marshall, Calamy, Sedgwick, to be a company of mountebanks ; he knew no scripture for them to be preachers more than other men, as shoemakers, cobblers, weavers, sope-boylers, and the like. If these tythes were taken from them, they (i.e., the Presbyterian ministers) would leave their trade." Then we have a great sectary preaching against tythes. J There are abundant evidences of the rising tide of feeling against the Presbyterian minis- ters. "A soldier laid his hand on his sword and said, 1 This sword shall never be laid down while there is a priest in England/ " But Edwards' work shows plainly the nature of the movement, in his hue and cry about the lay preachers of the Independent and Baptist churches. Edwards preached in church against mechanic preachers, and one stamped with his foot and said, " this rascally rogue deserves to be pulled out of the pulpit ; " and half- a-dozen men said, " let us go and pull him out of the pulpit." § " A young man in scarlet spoke to Edwards as he came out of the pulpit at Christ Church, and told him that if the soldiers may not have leave to preach, they * " Gangroena," part iii., p. 80. f Ibid, part i., p. 84. \ Ibid, part iii., p. 98. § Ibid, part i., p. 108. 171 will not fight," as these men, both commanders and troopers, are the men God has blessed so within these few months, to ront the enemy in the field, &c* On the 1st November, 1646, Colonel Hewson came into Aston Church with his soldiers, contemned the ordinance of Parliament read that day against lay preaching, and did preach, whether the minister would or no.f The spiritual evils which afflicted the country were not the result of this outburst of lay-preaching. Errors and heresies only assumed an importance, because the forcible suppression of the utterances of the human mind had left it utterly untrained, and a prey to the violent passions which the attempt to subjugate it had engendered. The words of the poet seem written in characters which he that runs may read, on the stormy history of the period— " Tyrants, in vain ye trace the magic ring ; In vain ye limit minds unwearied spring." To curb the elements is not to apply them to their proper uses. An honest soldier of the period tells us truly, when he says, " Many thousand souls besides me, can testify that Christ hath been preached, and that effectually, and to the comfort of many hearts; and I bid defiance to the devil and all his black-mouthed instruments to produce, that even those who they call sectaries, in the preaching of the Lord Jesus, did by that, even open. a gap to profaneness." | We find abundant evidence that the troubles of the civil war now gave an opportunity for thousands of christian laymen to go about doing good, and to strive to save souls. * " Gangrcena," part i., p. 111. f Baillie mentions a soldier preaching in two churches on" Anabaptism,"&c, p. 297, in 1646. " Anabaptism the True Fountain of Independency," &c. London, 1646. X " Preaching Without Ordination," &c, by Edward Chillenden, Lieutenant of Horse, 1857. 172 The head and front of their offending was, that they did it in an " irregular manner," and without sufficiently consulting the opinions and feelings of the " learned, pious, and orthodox Divines " who then happened to be in power. Saltmarsh,* in his " Sparkles of Glory, or some Beams of the Morning Star, to the Establishment and great Enlargement of a christian in Spirit and in Truth," 1647, explains the views then current, in his dedication to the Parliament, and attacks the Presbyterian party for their part in the enacting of the before-mentioned law for the suppression of "unordained" ministry, or " public or private " expounding of the Scriptures. According to their view, "God," he tells them, "must not speak till man give him leave, not teach, nor preach, but when man allows, and approves, and ordains." " The infinitely abounding Spirit of God, which blows when and where it listeth, and ministers in Christians according to the gift, and prophesies according to the will of Almighty God, is made subject to the laws and ordinances of men," as ordination, &c. He presents to the Parliament " some things that I may not be dis- obedient to the heavenly vision, or Light of God revealed in me." He explains the mystery of the "First Adam and the Second Adam" very much in the same way as Fox at a later period. . * Saltmarsh refused tithes, and restored to the State all the tithes that he had taken See " Light for Smoak," &o. CHAPTEK IX. The Origin, Opinions, and rapid Spread of the " Seekers " or " Waiters." Milton's views respect- ing " Sects " and " Schisms." The State of the Country. The Puritans. " The Scruple Shop." True Causes of the Opposition of the " Sectaries " to the Presbyterian Party. Prophecy is held to be a Ministerial Gift. The " Letter " and " the Spirit." Both Parties proceed to Extremes. An Anglican Prophet. " Miracles " and " Gifts of Healing." Religious Excitement produces Beligious Insanity. Edwards tells us that the sect of " Seekers greatly in- creased at this period, Independents Baptists leaving their congregations; not only the people, but the ministers." It has sometimes been considered that the Seekers con- sisted merely of those who were unsettled in their religious views, but it is unquestionable that in the times of the Commonwealth, they had their regular assemblies, consti- tuted according to their peculiar views. The origin of the views of the Seekers, must be sought far earlier than the period of which we are treating. Bartholomew Legate, whom James I. on February 10th, 1611, " adventured with a good conscience to burn,"* for holding thirteen heretical opinions against the divinity * Notwithstanding that " some lawyers " were of opinion, that " whatsoever was done in Queen Elizabeth's reign, was done de facto and not dejure." 174 of our Lord,* was a man of great ability, and prior to 1608, was a preacher in a congregation, holding the views of the " Seekers " of the Commonwealth, in Zealand in Holland, f . We shall hereafter find the celebrated Galenus Abrahams, of Amsterdam, holding the opinions of the Seekers. It is not impossible that the origin of the Seekers may be traced to the little hidden societies of the " Friends of God," who will remind us of Tauler and Nicholas of Basle, and carry us to a period prior to the Eeformation. Ubbo Philipps, a cotemporary and fellow labourer of Menno, distinctly states that there were societies " who served God in quiet simplicity — after the manner of the patriarchs, &c, and who sought God from the heart ; served and clave to Him without preachers, teachers, or an outward gathering " — but that some of these " were not satisfied to serve God with such a quiet clean heart," and, like the Israelites, desired visible gods, and set up a congregation, office, and order, and giving themselves out as sent of God, com- menced to baptise, preach, teach, and set up a new church. The names of these seceders, according to Ubbo Philipps, were, viz., Thomas Muntzer, Hubmaier, Einck, Hut, Denk, Hetzer, who afterwards became Baptists. While it is ob- vious that the earlier religionists he speaks of, held that the original Church of Christ and His Apostles had been so corrupted and laid waste by Antichrist, that the Apostolic " order," " mission," and " teaching," no longer existed in its original purity, and while having relations with one * See " Letter from John Chamberlain, Esq., to Sir Dudley Carleton " — Birch's MSS., 4173. The thirteen heretical opinions may be found in " Truth brought to Light on History of the first Fourteen Years of James n.," 1692. f See "Henoch Clapham's Error on the Eight Hand," &c, 1608. Third, fourth, and fifth dialogues between " Anabaptist," " Flyer," " Familist," ana " Legatine Arrian." There can be no doubt that under this name Clapham intends Legate himself, and the writer admits that the characters represented are real persons. 175 another as simple and spiritually minded Christians, they maintained the attitude of seeking or waiting on God, hold- ing the opinion that no scriptural warrant existed for setting up a visible church.* Whether we have here the origin of the ideas of the " Seekers/' or ''Waiters" of Commonwealth times, is a question which may be determined by future inves- tigations, but it is certain that the " Seekers" are mentioned by name, as a religious body or party, by Morton, one of the first English Mennonite or General Baptist writers, as early as the year 1617. t Baillie tells us that Spilsby, (one of the same school of Baptists) " acknowledges, that many Bap- tists become Seekers." He states also that the Seekers did not celebrate Baptism and the Lord's Supper. J Saltmarsh gives a clear account of the views of the " Seekers." He says that they " find that the christians of the first or Apostles' time . . • were men visibly and spiritually endowed with power from on high, or with the gifts of the Spirit, and so were able to make clear and evident demonstration of God amongst them, as in the churches of all the christians then in Corinth, Ephesus," &c; and "that all who administered in any outward office as to spiritual things were visibly gifted." There was then an " apostle, evangelist, prophet," &c, &c, and " all administered in the anointing or unction of Spirit, clearly, certainly, infallibly ; they ministered as the oracles of God. But now, in this time of the apostacy of the churches, they find no such gifts, and so dare not * " Ubbo Phillipps Bekentnitz," &c, written before his death in 1568, and reprinted in " Jehring's Griindliche Historie," &c, p. 29. Jena, 1720. t See pp. 410, 411. Note pp. 412, 413. X Saltmarsh, whose views were closely connected with those of the Seekers, denies that under the Gospel there is any outward baptism, and that any administrators of the ordinances were provided for in the Gospel. — " The Shining of a Flaming Fire in Zion," p. 15 and 3, by Hansard Knollys, London, 1645. 176 preach, baptise, or teach, &c, or have any church fellow- ship, because they find no attainment yet in any churches, or church ways, or administration of ordinances, according to the pattern of the New Testament, &c, &c. Therefore they wait in this time of the apostacy of the church ; they icait, only in prayer and conference." They wait for an apostle, or angel, able in the Spirit to give some visible demonstration of their sending, &c* This was thought by them to be an " upper room," a higher administration "than Presbytery, Independency, Baptism;" that gathering into that way was saying, " Lo ! Christ is here," and going after the lo ! heres and lo ! theres. It is obvious that among the " Seekers " there was a strong mystical ten- dency. Cromwell, in his letter to his daughter, Bridget Ireton, written in 1646, tells her that her sister Claypole is " exercised with some perplexed thoughts .... to be a Seeker is to be of the best sect next to a finder." William Penn, in his preface to Fox's Journal, tells us * They held that " God would shortly raise up apostles with visible infallible gifts to preach the Gospel," and that it is "the will of God that miracles should attend the ministry as in primitive times" — "A Eelation of Several Heresies," &c, p. 15, 1646. Both the General Baptists and the Friends argued with the Seekers, that there was "the presence of an apostolical power now among us directing and authorising men in the gathering of churches," &c. " The ministry of the apostles is now among us to direct and authorize what is to be done in the christian life in matters of worship, ordinances, and the like." — See " A Doubt Kesolved, or Satisfaction for the Seekers," &c, by William Allen, pp. 23 and 28 (he was a General Baptist, see p. 327 " Hansard Knollys Society Confessions of Faith), This throws considerable light on Fox's statement that he and his helpers were in the spirit and power of the Apostles. We therefore see that this is not a claiming of Apostolic inspiration, but speaks of a vital distinc- tion of church officers. The Independents (see note, p. 104) denied that apostles and evangelists now existed, but had ceased, and therefore no such church officers could be maintained in church government. The General Baptists and the Society of Friends maintained that the necessity for such officers had not ceased, and asked for proof of such a general evangelizing mission to all Churches having ceased, which was not easy to give. The question of the authority of scripture did not enter into the discussion. 177 that the Seekers, " or the Family of Love/' as they "were called by some,* sometimes met together, not formally to pray or preach, at appointed times and places, not in their own wills as in times past they were accustomed to do, but waited together in silence, and as anything arose in one of their minds that they thought favoured with a divine spring, so they sometimes spoke." John Jackson, one of the Seekers, gives the following explanation of the views and practices of the middle or more moderate class of Seekers, t Firstly, they seek the mind of God in the Scriptures. Secondly, they judge that prayer and alms are to be attended to, and for this purpose they come together " into some place on the First-days as their hearts are drawn forth and opportunity offers." They then seek " firstly, that they may be instruments in the hand of the Lord to stir up the grace of God in one another, by mutual conference and communication of experience." Secondly, to wait for a further revelation. Thirdly, to hold out their " testimony against the false, and for the pure ordinance of ministry and worship." They behave themselves as per- sons who have neither " the power nor the gift to go before one another by way of eminency, or authority, but as sheep unfolded, and as souldiers unrallied, waiting for a time of gathering," &c. They acknowledge " no other visible teacher but the Word and works of God, on whom they wait, for the grace which is to be brought at the revelation * Penn must have "been greatly misinformed here, not only because the principles of the Seekers are not found in the tracts of the Familists, but, as we have seen, the Familists were those who had found genuine prophets of a most exalted description. f "Hosannah to the Son of David," London, 1657. He states (p. 3) that " Satan, on purpose to deceive as much as in him lies the remnant of the seed, has sent abroad certain instruments under great disguises of purity and piety, clothing them with tho titles of the apostles and messengers sent abroad to preach the everlasting Gospel, whose designation among men is that they go under the name of Quakers." O 178 of Jesus Christ." He gives it as his present opinion (which shows that he is diverging from the opinion of the " Seekers "), that people, after they are " espoused by Christ, have a right to choose their own minister, but not before. The power then rests in a travelling, Apostolic Ministry. An Apostolic Ministry for begetting a Pastoral Ministry, for feeding" a congregation. "We shall hereafter describe another class of " Seekers " whose views were closely connected with the " Banters." The opinions of the Seekers and Eanters seem to have been propagated in the lines of the connection we have been tracing between the Continental and English Baptists. It will be readily seen that the objection of the " Seekers" to Baptism and the Lord's Supper, simply rested upon the idea that no properly authorized administrators of these ordinances now existed, and that they were waiting for the gathering of a new christian Church by a divine and miraculous power, and persons properly sent and qualified to administer these ordinances. Edwards informs us, that among the errors, heresies, and blasphemies of the times, were the following, which appear to be closely connected with the spread of the " Seeker" congregations : — " That to read Scripture to a mixed con- gregation is dangerous.* That we did look for great matters from One crucified at Jerusalem 1600 years ago; but that does no good, it must be a Christ formed in us, — the Deity united to our humanity, f That men ought to preach and exercise their gifts without study and pre- meditation, and not to think of what they are to say till they speak, because it shall be given them in that hour, and the Spirit shall teach them.]; That there is no need * Error 10. t Ibid. 29. X Ibid. 127. 179 of human learning or reading of authors for preachers, but all books and learning must go down. It comes from want of the Spirit that men twite such great volumes ! * That only- persons who have an infallible spirit, as the Apostles, should pray.f That christians are not bound to pray constantly every day at set times, as morning and evening, but only at such time that the Spirit moves them to it, and if they find not themselves to be moved in many days and weeks together, they ought not to pray. J That parents are not to catechize their little children, nor to set them to read Scripture, or to teach them to pray, but to let them alone for God to teach them. § Pamphlets and books upon religious subjects, came forth from the press at this time by thousands. The unsettled state of the country, and the contest which was raging between the King and the Parliament, and the advancing power of the Independents in the army and elsewhere, gave a practical freedom of the press, such as had never before existed in England. Milton's greatest prose production, " Areopagatica," a speech for the liberty of unlicensed printing, was published in 1644. He understood the crisis, and saw in it " a noble and puissant nation rousing herself, like a strong man after a sleep, and shaking her invincible locks. Me- thinks I see her, as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam, purging and unsealing her long abused sight at the foun- tain itself of heavenly radiance, while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and * Error 128. t Ibid. 135. J Ibid. 137. § Ibid. 157. O 2 180 schisms." Was not ' the Christian faith once a schism ? ' " Under these fantastic terms of sect and schism, we wrong the earnest and zealous thirst after knowledge and under- standing which God hath stirred up in this city." A rigid external formality leads to a ' gross, conforming stupidity.' Men's ' mouths ' were to he stopped, ' because we fear they come with new and dangerous opinions, as we commonly forejudge them ere we understand them/ These are not only words of wisdom, but are also words which men even now do not understand. Milton believed " that truth teas strong, next to the Almighty; she needs no policies, nor strata- gems, nor licencings, to make her victorious." Milton's poem " on the Forcers of Conscience," shows us the views of the early Independents, Baptists, and the founders of the Society of Friends, and of tens of thousands of their fellow- countrymen at this period, respecting the Presbyterians and the Assembly of Divines : — *' Because you have thrown off your prelate lord» And with stiff voivs renounced his liturgy To seize the widdowed whore Plurality ; Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword To force our consciences that Christ set free, And ride us with a * classic ' hierarchy ; Taught ye by mere A. S.* and Eutherford, — Men whose life, learning, faith, and pure intent, Would have been held in high esteem with Paul, Must now be named and printed ' heretics ' By shallow Edwards and Scotch What-d'ye-call ; f But we do hope to find out all your tricks, Your plots, and packing worse than those of Trent, That so the Parliament May with their wholesome and preventive shears Clip your phylacteries, though baulk your ears, And succour our just fears, When they shall read this clearly in your charge ; New presbyter is but old priest writ large." Describing the state of the country one writer says, — * Dr. Adam Steuart. | Kobert Baillie. 181 " Honest industry is quite discouraged, being almost use- less; most men that have estates are betrayed by one side or another, plundered, sequestered. Trading (the life and subsistence of thousands) decaying, eaten up with taxes; your poor quite ready to famish, or to rise to pull relief from rich men's hands by violence. Squeezed by taxes; wracked with war ; the anvil indeed of misery, upon which all the strokes of vengeance fall. A woeful nation ! once the finest people in the world, now the veriest slaves — slaves not to one, but many masters."* Many were brought by affliction, by the loss of friends, of relatives, of children, by the loss of their property, and all the chances and changes of a civil war, to seek " a better country." " Content is not here," it was said, " where can we find it ? Like the dove of the deluge, that flew to the ark because nowhere else could it fold its wings to rest, many were taught by trouble to seek rest in Christ." f We smile when we read of " Seekers," but the very name expresses a great fact in the spiritual history of this nation. In those days men's hearts were stirred to their very depths. Thousands felt that they needed something more than the empty show of religion. They wished to grasp the reality. It is fancied by some, that the mere fashion of the times will account for sermons of two or three hours, and prayers of an hour long being listened to with rapt attention, but it was not so. There is every evidence that the strongest heads believed, and the stoutest hearts were bowed under the conviction, that an offended God was pleading with a nation who had deeply transgressed His holy laws. The splendid imagery of the Jewish prophets and the Book of * " The Leaves of the Tree of Life," &e., p. 31. W. Sedgwick, 1648. t "Joseph Alleine : His Companions and Times," by Charles Stanford. 182 Revelations was applied to the state of the nation, and there were few who did not expect that some extraordinary era was about to commence.* This is not the language of a sect, or party; it pervades the religious utterances of all truly pious souls, from Bishop Hall to George Fox. What a vivid picture does Bishop Hall give of these times, when he says, " ' Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people/ — Isaiah ix. 1. Was there ever a more fearful example of Divine vengeance against any nation, than to be armed against each other to their mutual destruction, that christian, compatriot brethren should pour out each other's blood like water in our streets, and leave their mangled carcases for compost in our fields, — that fathers and sons should so put off all natural affection as to think it no violation of piety to cut the throats of each other. Oh, that we have lived to see the woful havoc that the hellish fury of war hath made everywhere in this flourishing and populous island, — the flames of hostile fury rising up in our towns and cities, the devastation of our fruitful and pleasant villages, the demolition of our magnificent struc- tures, the spoile and ruine of those fabrics which should be sacred; in a word, this goodly land for a great part of it turned to a very Golgotha and Aceldama. These, these, my brethren, if our eyes be not made of pumices, must needs fetch tears from us, and put us into a constant habit of mourning. Of whom do you think Isaiah speaks when he saith ' They have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way, the priest and the prophet * The idea of the near approach of a "Fifth Monarchy" was most widely spread, and this must not be identified with the opinions of the few crazy enthusiasts called ' Fifth Monarchv Men." 183 have erred through strong drink/ (Indian smoak was not then known) &c. — Isaiah xxviii. 7. Of whom do you think the same Hosea speaks when he says, * They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant.'— -Hosea x. 4. Yet once more do we think of the hold intrusion of pre- sumptuous persons into the sacred calling without any commission from God. Of whom do we think the prophet Jeremy speaks, ' The prophets prophesy lies in my name, I sent them not, neither have I commanded them/ — Jeremiah xiv. 14." * The very same quotations are made for opposite objects, and it is instructive to see both Bishop Hall and Fox applying the very same texts to the circumstances of the times, and to denounce the drunken parish priest, the Covenanter, and the Puritan intruder into the ministry. The alarm of the country, respecting the designs of the Komish church, had a depth and reality of which we cannot form the faintest conception. It is not too much to say that this alarm was justified by the events of the time. The Thirty Years War, which had desolated Germany, was now coming to an end from the mutual exhaustion of the combatants. The cause of Protestantism was in no way advanced. Protestants, as well as Catholics, had violated every principle of true religion in the contest. Places, which were once the scenes of civilization and prosperity, were now the haunts of wolves and robbers. The popula- tion in South and West Germany was diminished by twenty, and in some cases fifty per cent. It may be reason- ably doubted how far the interests of Protestantism (if by this term is meant real religion) were forwarded by the * "Kemaining Works of Bishop Hall," London, 1659. " The Mourner in Zion" — a sermon on Ecclesiastes hi. 4 — pp. 158, 348, 160. 184 tenet of the lawfulness of the use of arms to support its cause. It directly associated the Christian Eeligion with the idea of worldly power, and by linking the cause of Chris- tianity with the fortunes of political parties, it has furnished directly or indirectly the greatest obstacles to its reception. The aspect of Europe filled every Protestant with appre- hension, and this continued over the whole period of which we are treating. The Pope issued a Bull, pro- mising canonization to those Catholics who fell on the side of the King, which was intercepted and sent up to Parliament.* The power of the Papacy as a purely worldly organization was greater than that of a purely political Protestantism. Kobbed of its spirituality and earnestness, the power of Protestantism was now greatly diminished. We may recollect that the massacre of the Yaudois, by the Duke of Savoy and the French, took place on the 25th January, 1655. In England there were among the Puritan or Presby- terian party many enlightened, christian men, whose learning and piety will ever be held in reverence. There were among them many pious and earnest preachers of the Gospel. But we may well doubt whether real religion flourished among them in the hour of their triumph, as it did when they were a down-trodden and persecuted people. There was great need in their religion of that which is "from above, " which is not only "first, pure," but also " peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy/' To use Baxter's words, "the pulpit, instead of being made a means of preaching the Gospel to ignorant, miserable people, they rather disputed with them of formalities and * Commons' Journals, vol. iii., pr>. 257, 264, noted " in Alleine's Life," by C. Stanford. 185 niceties, when the question presently to be determined is whether they are to live in heaven or hell." Their sermons were doctrinal rather than practical. What an extraordinary view does it give us of the religious ideas of the seven Puritan divines who were sent by the Par- liament, in the beginning of September, 1646, to Oxford, to reconcile the University to the Presbyterian cause, when we contemplate the fact that they set up a Conference, every Thursday, where they undertook to solve " Cases of Con- science." The case was to be propounded a week before, in order that it might be well considered. Can we avoid the conclusion that the religion of these men had something in it of a mechanical kind, when matters, which lay between men and their God, were solved just as we should now lay a case before an eminent barrister ? It was called " the scruple shop," by the Oxford scholars, and, as might be readily conceived, it was not very successful business.* * To give a practical illustration of the operation of " the Scruple Shop," shortly after it was instituted, we annex the following account : — " A Public Conference between the six Presbyterian Ministers and some Independent Commanders, held at Oxford, on Thursday, November 12th, 1646. " Sir, — Though you be never so serious, I must break in upon you. I am in pain till I have propagated our laughter to you, which hath held us ever since last Scruple Thursday. You know the Scruple Office, where the Doubting Sisters are carried with zeal, to join in a reformation with the Eesolving Brethren, and burdened consciences come to lay down their loads, and go away with others — where the Besolvers take away their doubts, and gain the Doubters. The six Presbyterian divines have been so much worsted by the Independent commanders, that in a late' public disputation they asserted 'that they had no commission from God to be ministers,' in the presence of 200 or 300 schollars and others, which much blanked those worthies who were sent thither to reform that University, and to resolve queries, doubts, and scruples. Next Thursday, November 19th, they were concerned utterly to waive any more conscience-resolving disputes." — King's Pamph., Brit. Museum, 287-4. Another account : " A True Kelation of the Late Conference," published November 26th, 1616, says "You hear how the late apostles, Mr. Beynolds, &c, have set up a Scruple House, where they sit each Thursday to resolve the doubts of the perverse weak consciences. This place, the Independents (a stout generation of tender consciences/) have found out, and after 180 They were oftentimes, doubtless, sincere men, but surely their views of the nature of the Christian religion were very defective. The pulpit was made a means of preaching war and bloodshed, and exciting those passions of our nature, which are not less earthly and devilish because arrayed in the garb of high sounding and scriptural language. Marshall thus preached before the Commons, February 23rd, 1641. " He is a cursed man that withholds his hands from shedding of blood, or that shall do it fraudu- lently, i.e., kill some and save some. If he go not through with the work, he is a cursed man, when this is to be done on Moab, the enemy of God's church." Again, Case on Daniel xi., 32, to the Commons. " Cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood, that spares when God saith strike, that suffers those to escape whom God hath appointed to destruction." He also thus preaches to the Commons, November 5th, 1644. "Do justice to the greatest. Saul's sons are not to be spared; no, nor may Agag, nor Benhadad, tho' themselves kings : Timri and Cosbi, though princes of the people, must be pursued unto their tents. This is the way to consecrate yourselves to God." On January 15th, 1643, the same preacher says, " In vain are the high praises of God in your mouths, unless a two-edged sword in your hand." A Eoyalist writer says, " the pulpit sounded as much as the drum, and the preacher spit as much flame as the cannon." ' Curse ye Meroz,' was the text, and blood and plunder, three weeks' solicitation, gained that on Thursday last they might he heard." Lieu- tenant-Colonel Huson set forth the syllogism, " They who hinder the consciences of the Saints, and inflicted corporal punishment for spiritual weaknesses were "strikers ! " hut the esteemed ministers are such, ergo, &c Dr. Keynolds then answered. The captain then proceeds : " They who take unto themselves the goods of others, restor- ing nothing of value or recompense, are covetous. But the esteemed ministers were bucIi," ergo, &c. 187 the comment and the use/'* " A grievous error," says Marsden, " had long infected the Puritan theology." "The examples of the Old Testament in all political affairs, were asserted to be those which christian men and christian communities were bound to follow." The enemies of Christ and his Church were to be treated like the enemies of the Jewish Church of old. "This was the worst error of the Puritans. Eventually it destroyed their piety, their reputation, and their cause." We have seen that the principles of the Independent Churches in Holland, and especially those of Smyth of Amsterdam, the father of the General Baptists, struck at the root of this and other errors which lent so repulsive an aspect to Presbyterian theology. Dr. Stoughton saysf that the Puritans were not only champions of predestination, but that they " identified it with the doctrine of salvation by grace." It may be said of them, that while they grasped firmly, and set forth faithfully, the great doctrine of justifi- cation by faith only, in opposition to the Komish doctrine of justification by the merit of works, there was, both in their case and in that of the Anglican divines of that day, " a lack of that teaching which exalts the regenerating and sanctifying agency of the Holy Spirit." There can hardly be a doubt that, in the words of Sanderson, J the celebrated Anglican churchman, a truly pious and excellent man, there were many among the extreme Puritan or Presbyterian party, who " thought that they might be religious first, and then just and merciful; that they might sell their con- sciences and yet have something left that was worth keeping ; that they might be sure they were elected, though * "A Loyal Tear," a sermon on sin, p. 30. 1GG7. f " Ecclesiastical History of England." \ Quoted by Dr. Stoughton in his " Church of the Commonwealth," vol. ii., p. 328 188 their lives were visibly scandalous ; that to be cunning was to be wise ; that to be rich was to be happy, though their wealth was got without justice or mercy." Let us, for a moment, contemplate, not the views of the extreme section of the Puritan or Presbyterian party, but those of the pious Eichard Baxter. In his "Humble Advice of the Heads of those things which were offered to many Honourable Members of Parliament/' December 24th, 1655, in order " to make the name of this Parliament honourable to all generations, and bring many thousand souls to heaven (!) " this good man actually advises the appointment of public catechisers to teach some creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and then the "Assembly's Shorter Catechism," and that " all persons submit to be catechised by these ministers under some Jit penalty every month they shall refuse to be catechised/' He also advises that the laws already in force respecting the observance of the Lord's-day be put in operation, and that the officers be authorized " to whip those that cannot pay. . . . For the custom of setting in stocks doth make them contemn it. The like I move for swearers, drunkards, and prohibited ale sellers." Baxter set forth, in 1659, a scheme of government embodying the ideas of Geneva and New England, en- titled, "A Holy Commonwealth, or Political Aphorisms opening the True Principles of the Government;" and from this we may glean the practical measures which the Puritan or Presbyterian party had in store for us, had their triumph been complete. He discussed "how a Commonwealth may be reduced to this theocratical tem- per " (p. 241). In the first place " the ministers of Christ are . . . . to * be generally able, judicious, godly, faithful, diligent men/ " Secondly, " no persons to be elector s 9 none 189 as Cives (or free subjects commonly called burgesses or enfranchised persons" — p. 219), but "those who have publicly owned the Baptismal Covenant, personally, delibe- rately and seriously" (p. 217). And further, " that ordinary despisers of God's public worship, or neglecters of it, and of the guidance of God's ministers " (p. 249) not to have a vote ! Not only so, but since the " ordering of the churches " required the " exercise of holy discipline," they would, in conjunction with their minister, have the power to disfranchise any person by excommunicating them. These powers seemed to Baxter himself to require some check on the minister s' power of admission or rejection of Church members, and he suggested that " the Government should appoint a new class of functionaries as ' church justices/ or 'censors,' who were to be ' the wisest' that the Government could select, and who were to meet with the Church officers, and form a barrier to an improper use by the ministers, of their power" (p. 252). He very justly remarks, that in order to set up this " Holy Commonwealth — to make the Commonwealth more divine — our Parliament must be more divine! " (p. 257). Let us conceive the practical operation of such methods of government as these upon the population, rich and poor, and we may thank God that this country escaped the inflic- tion, even for a feiv short years, of the legislative enactments contemplated by the Presbyterian party, and those who participated with them in their thorough-going ideas of a fusion of Church and State. We may see, also, that the despised " Sectaries" — the section of the Independents and Baptists who did not forsake their principles, and the Society of Friends — promulgated views of the spiritual nature of the Christian religion, and of religious liberty, which saved this nation from a course calculated to bring 190 all religion into discredit, and make infidelity to take root and flourish. Dr. Stoughton's view of Fox's character, and the effects of his teaching, are well worthy of perusal; with a courage and breadth of view shared by few writers on the subject, he has done justice to the important bearing of the doctrinal and practical views of the nature of Chris- tianity which were propagated by George Fox, upon the condition of religious thought and feeling which we have endeavoured to describe. He says,* " by Fox's public teaching he became more widely known, and exerted an influence which has lasted from that day to this/' " Believing in the fundamental doctrines of Chris- tianity, f and regarding them in an anti-calvinistic light — ■ strong in a simple, evangelical faith, but without any theological discipline of thought, preferring the words of Scripture to the words of men — he added to all this, as the first fruits of his mystical tendencies, a belief in the " in- ward light," even the revelationof Christ in the soul ; not as superseding Holy Scripture, but as its necessary witness and gracious supplement. He dwelt largely upon redemp- tion through Christ, as consisting in a deliverance from sin, not simply from its guilt, but from its power — a vieiv of salvation of the very last importance — and one which had been, at least partially, obscured through the prominence given by some theologians of the day to the doctrine of pardon, and the change effected in our legal relationship by the work of Christ, without a due exhibition of the moral change in the heart and life, which forms so important an aspect of the one * "Church of the Commonwealth," vol. ii. p. 354. See also the whole of his remarks, pp. 348 to 359. f " Perm states the doctrine of Quakerism, in his preface to the " Life of Fox," xiii., and seq." 191 salvation of the Gospel of God." Mr. C. H. Spuigeon, In his lecture on the character of George Fox, seems to have seized by a kind of personal sympathy, the salient points of his character, and the religious movement of which he was the originator, when he says, " Now it happened that the Puritans, who had been like the spring buds and blossoms, were getting into the sere and yellow leaf, and the Inde- pendents, and Baptists, and other sects, who were at times thoroughly and even remarkably spiritual, were growing worldly, political, and vain glorious. They had an opportunity of grasping the carnal sword, and they embraced that opportunity ; and from that very moment very many of them lost the spirituality for which they had been eminent. The danger was, lest the Evangelical sects should quietly settle down into one State Church, make a scramble for the good things of the ecclesiastical establishment, and preach each one after its own fashion^ in the numbness of death rather than in the power of life. At that very moment God sent into the world George Fox, who must have been the most troublesome man in the world to those good easy souls who counted upon a quiet season of sleep. They had said, * soul, take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up for many years/ It was by the mouth of George Fox that God said to each one of them, ' thou fool.' George Fox, it seems to me, was a blessing, not to you alone, but to the whole of Christendom. He stood up in the face of the Christian Church, and said to it, ' No, thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt not conform thyself to the world. Thou shalt not go into an unholy alliance with the State, there shall still be in the midst of thee a spiritual people, who shall bear their protest that Christ's kingdom is not of this world, and that religion standeth not in forms and 192 " ceremonies, but is a matter connected with the inner man, " and is the work of God's Spirit in the heart/ I look upon " George Fox rather as a, practical, than a doctrinal man." Lord Macaulay has used his talents to caricature Fox. The simplicity and earnestness of Fox's character would not admit of the method of treatment adopted in the case of "William Penn, and since he was unable to represent George Fox as a knave or a villain, he draws his portrait as that of a fool, "with an intellect too much disordered for liberty, and not sufficiently disordered for Bedlam." Macaulay has been ably and temperately answered by J. S. Kowntree, in " An Enquiry into the Truthfulness of Lord Macaulay 's Portraiture of George Fox."* Marsden says, t respecting Fox, " A young man of one-and- " twenty, aroused to the contemplation of his future being, " and withdrawn by the instant presence of a world unseen " from the opening charms of life and its joyous prospects, " presents a scene of moral grandeur, with which, the man " who is unaffected, must rank amongst the most depraved " and brutish of his kind. His mission rested upon one " idea, the greatest that can penetrate the mind of man — " ' God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must u worship Him in Spirit and in truth/ He saw the best "men of his time pursuing two separate objects, which " appeared, indeed, to them to be the same, but betwixt " which his penetrating intellect was at no loss to discover " a mighty chasm. The one was the glory of God, the " other the setting up of some idol of their own — some " model of immaculate Church government." Mr. Marsden might have added, that their object was to enlist the strong- arm of the State on their side, and to cause all to bow * Kitto, London. f " Later Puritans," pp. 236, 336, 338. 193 down to that form which they considered essential to the existence of Christianity, and to force men to violate their conscience in contributing to the support of this " idol." Men had therefore the choice of becoming either Atheists, hypocrites, or Separatists, and the result was, greater and greater disunion in the Church of Christ. There is no feature of Fox's character more striking, than his absolute separation from all the political aims and objects of the men of his time. It is the more important to notice this, since a view has been taken by several writers of ability, that a covert intention existed in the Society to interfere with matters of State. While the Early Baptists and Independents started in the movement, in which Fox bore his part, with the same purely religious views, and a large number of their Churches steadily adhered to them, there cannot be a doubt that their religious influence was gradually lessened by their meddling with politics. This feature he succeeded in impressing on his followers ; and the almost entire absence of political allusions in the great mass of the religious literature of the Society, and even in the most private correspondence of Fox and the early preachers, proves beyond a doubt the entirely religious character of the movement. There was, however, no morbid shrinking from political life on the part of Fox's followers, nor did Fox teach the incompatibility of the duties of a christian, and of a magistrate. They were, however, fully occupied with the salvation of men's souls, an object which absorbed all their energies. One great exception must however be made as to the in- fluence of Fox and his Society upon the politics of the time.* * The perusal of the following extract from a political tract, written in 1645, will explain the state of feeling existing when Fox commenced preaching. The statement that if the "King placed the Episcopal clergy, and the Parliament the Presbyterian P 194 Fox was the most persevering and consistent opponent of the principle of the support of religion by the State. In the present day we shall be fully prepared to give him clergy, in the fore front of the battle, a * reconciliation' would have been effected; because they would have ' preached as zealously for peace as they do now for war,' and the exclamation that ' a priest must not forsooth be meddled with,' and that he was free from all taxes," are worthy of notice. The whole extract enables us vividly to conceive the character of the times in which he lived, and explains his position — see page 16 of "Martin's Eccho, or a Eemonstrance from His Holinesse reverend Young Martin Mar-Priest, responsorie to the late Sacred Synoddicall Decretall, in all humility presented to the reverend, pious, and grave consideration of the Eight Eeverend Father in God, the Universall Bishop of our soules, his superlative Holinesse Sir Simon Synod." 1645 "Bejoice! rejoice, good people, for this blessed reformation, which is ready, like an evening wolfe, to cease upon you, and your loving friends and neighbours ; stand still gaping with your mouths, and quietly bow down your backs, whilst you are bridled and sadled, and let the holy, humble, and gentle Presbyters get up and ride ; they will doubtlesse deal very meekly with you, and not put you out of your pace, though the Proverbe be, set a beggar a hors-back, and hee'l ride to the Devill, though they have spurs, yet they will not use them. You remember how the bishops poasted you furiously too and fro like Jehu, the son of Nimshy, untill with soundring and surbates they had even wearied you of your lives ; the gentle Presbyters will in no wise ride you so hard, though some malignants would make you believe that Sir John will never be off your backs, because it is intended hee shall have his holy spiritual! courts in every parish in the kingdome, but this benefit you are like to have, that if by his continuall riding, he so gawle your backs and shoulders, that you can no longer endure, but cry out by reason of your soare oppression, you shall have liberty graunted you, to leap out of the frying-pan into the fire, by making your appeal to the Common Councill of Presbyters forsooth, where, when you shall come with this complaint, ' Your fathers, the bishops, made our work grievous, and our parochial Presbyters (those Lyons whelps) doe add thereto, now doe you ease somewhat the grievous servitude, and heavy yoak put upon us ; ' you may expect from this Honourable Court an answer like unto that of Eehoboam's, to those distressed people that cryed unto him, ' Our father made your yoaks heavy, but wee will adde thereto ; our fathers chastised you with whips, but wee will chastise you with scorpions ; and mend yourselves as you can, for we are the divine power, and consequently the lawgivers both of Church and State, and there- fore you are to be content, and submit yourselves to your superiors, your severall Pres- byters in your severall parishes that have the rule over you must in no wise be resisted ; but, as it is meet, be humbly obeyed in all things that they shall command you, and their power is not to be questioned, for the same power which lately was resident and confin'cl to the breast of one man, to wit, an archbishop, is inherent and of divine right in the body of the Presbytery, aud convey'd equally to every particular Presbyter ; therefore, if their Episcopall power be offensive and obnoxious to you, never expect to 195 credit for his clear view of the innumerable evils which have been entailed upon the cause of true religion by the principle of a State Church, and to admire the amazing have it otherwise, for your Parliaments themselves cannot lawfully help you.' Now have you not cause to rejoice for this jubilee, this yeere of deliverance from your antichristian servitude to Egyptian bondage? Yes, sure, therefore, I say, rejoice and be glad, and again rejoice, lift up your heads, for doubtlesse your redemption draweth nigh, the righteous shall be delivered out of trouble, and the wicked shall come into his stead, — Prov. xi. 8. But in plain termes (loving friends, neighbours and countreymen), let us a little reason together seriously. Have not you borne the brunt and heat of this unnaturall warre? Is it not you who pay all the taxes, cessments, and oppressions whatsoever ? Is not the whole burthen laid upon your backs ; burthen after bur- then, even till your backs breake ? How many thousands of you, who were of great estate, are even reduced yourselves, your dear wives and children, to misery and extream poverty? How many thousands and millions have you exhausted; yea, hath not your hands been liberall beyond your abilities? How freely have you brought in your gold, your silver, your Jewells, rings, &c, which in London, Middlesex, and Essex, amounted to eleven millions, besides threescore millions extracted out of the countries, with the innumerable summes otherwise raised, and spent in this service ? Hath not your blood, the blood of your deare children and friends, being only engaged and spilt ; and is it not daily shed in this quarrell, while the Presbyters clap you on the backs, animate, encourage and preach out your very lives and estates, and involve you in all these miseries, and themselves touch it not with the tip of their little finger. You have your husbands, your sonnes, and servants impress'd from you, and forsooth, a priest must not be meddled withal under sacralidge, blasphemy, or profannesse at least ; they are freed from all charges and taxations, and all is laid upon you ; and notwithstanding your insufferable misery, your insupportable charge and oppression under which you groane, and are fit to expire ; those greedy wretches are not ashamed to exact their tythes, though they pluck it out of your children's mouths ; there had been more need for an ordinance to have ceas'd the priests, and impress'd them to the warres, for that would have been more conducent to the kingdome's good, for should but the King set his Episcopall clergy, and the Parliament their Presbyterian clergy, in the fore front of their battell's forlorne hope, and put them, instead of other honest, innocent, harmlesse soules, upon all their desperate attempts, without doubt, they would as zealously preach for peace, as they now do for warre, they would quickly agree and turne as they were, rather than loose all. I am confident this would prove the most effectuall meanes of our reconciliation than any that hath yet been at- tempted ; consider this I beseech you, call to mind all your former expences, ventures, cessements for this present war, and the miserable condition you and the whole kingdome strugleth in, as it were for life, and are now all ready to be devoured ; your. estates are wasted, your men slayne, your hands weakened, and the kingdome is fit to be overrunne ; your strength decayeth, and your enemie encreaseth, and all your assistance hath been convey'd through the hands of the Presbyterian party, they have P 2 196 energy with which he pursued his object. Fox had strong hopes of Cromwell putting an end to tithes. He did not scruple to tell Cromwell that God had raised him up for borne all offices, and have had all in their owne disposing, but what is become of it ? Wise men say that the treasures and wealth that hath been spent for the managing of this warre, would have maintained a greater warre seven yeeres longer ; somebody have feathered their nests, though yours are bare ; now, how think you it is otherwise possible, tut the kingdome must be ruin'd, if this course be continued, and to adde more cer- taintie of destruction to it, these men, now in this our greatest extremity, labour to divide the Parliament partie in twaine. Before the Synod was assembled, the cryes of the people were heard, their petitions answered, miseries redress'd, monopolies removed, oppression eased, tender consciences respected, the servants of God delivered out of prisons, courts of tyranny and oppression suppress'd, &c. But since their session the case is quite altered ; nothing but Jesuiticall and Machiavellian policy hath been on foot ; thousands of petitions of poor widdows, orphans, and all manner of distressed oppressed persons, who cry daily, and cannot be heard, and these fatt priests can have ordinance upon ordinance for their ends ; they can have the sweat of other men's browes confirm'd upon them by an ordinance, whiles others cannot have their just requests for their owne rights answered ; though their wives and children perish, our Presbyters' wives must goe like ladies, with their silkes and tafferty, some with their fans, and silver watches, forsooth, hang by their girdles, to please the pretty sweet fac'd lovelie mopphets withall ; prittie things, 'tis pittie there's not an ordinance all this while for them to weare rattles ; consider this with yourselves, and for what your estates and blood hath been engag'd. The liberties of the subject, and the Protestant religion, now how much, after this vast expence, this sea of blood, of the subjects' liberties have you attain'd ? Even thus much, hee that shall open his mouth freely for the vindication of your native liberties, cannot doe it without the hazard of his owne, yea, of his life. I know that the priests thirst after my blood, but I call the GOD of Heaven to witness, would it quench their thirst, and be a ransome for our posterity ; I would freely offer it to the common good, and as for the Protestant religion, hath it not been lock'd up in the breasts of the Assembly ? hath not your faith been pin'd upon their sleeve ? your estates spent, and your blood shed for the result of their minds, right or wrong, and so have fought for you know not what ? But it may be you'l say, you have engag'd for the suppression of prelacy, high commission, &c, you have indeed beat the bush, but the Presbyters have caught the hare ; instead of one high commission in the whole kingdome, you shall have one in every parish under the name of a Parochiall Sessions, besides the generall high commission call'd the Common Councill of Presbyters, now have you not to shun the smoak, skipt into the fire ? is the matter anything amended ; sure you have got a worthy reformation, but it may be you have a better esteem of these new courts, then of the old high commisson ; let me aske you, doe you thinke that they'l be better than their patterne ? Let me give you a glance of the proceedings of our Scotch brethren in Ireland, and I think you may discerne a bear by his paw " 197 that very end, and that his government would never be permanent, unless he swept away what Fox regarded as the source of nearly all the ecclesiastical evils of the time, and the only " Godly reformation of the Church according to the Word/' which would he effectual. Fox obtained the signature of fourteen thousand men and seven thousand women (whose names were printed) to a petition for the abolition of tithes. That this was Fox's work, is pretty clearly shown by a paper from him, in the Swarthmore collection, dated 1659, exhorting " all women Friends to set their names to a paper against tythes." * This agitation against tithes was increasing every day when Fox was preaching in 1648. f Cromwell was well known to be against tithes, J and in July, 1653, progress was so far made towards their abolition, that the question was put to the House of Commons. The Presbyterian clergy were alarmed, and it was postponed, but this great question hung * Swarthmore Collection. " And so if all the women in England send up their names against tythes, I shall send them by women to the Parliament, for many women have sent up their names, and some have not, but have stopped. Therefore that all may send their names that be free, with all speed to London;" dated 1659 (or 1657). Also a letter from a Scotch lady, Margaret Hamilton, by which it appears that he had asked her to procure the names of " all Friends in Scotland." This is dated 20th 4th month, 1659. t " Tythe Gatherers no Gospel Officers, " London, 1645, shows the state of public feeling. It is addressed to the Eeverend Assembly of Divines. " I understand like- wise of several petitions by multitudes of the most conscientious, freeborn subjects of England demonstrating how unjust it is that a small number who in compliment call themselves our ministers, should at their own pleasure become our masters, and so contrary to the subjects' liberty force from us the fifth part of the whole kingdom in valuation without either articles of consent, and that which is worst of all, they lay claim to it by Divine right, for such services as seem to many little less than anti- christian or idolatrous." Written probably by an Independent. I Cromwell told Mr. Jersey and others, " Call me Jugler, if tythes are not taken away by September the third, last." Yet he hath ratified a former statute and order which is for " compelling those who refuse, to pay them, and to pay treble damages." — " The Protector so called, in part Unvailed ;" London, 1655, by a late member of the army who was an eye and ear witness of these things. 198 in the balance till 1659. In a letter quoted by Mrs. Webb, in her lively and interesting work, " The Fells of Swarth- more hall," dated 9th month, 1659, it is said, " the Parlia- ment have declared that the priests' maintenance shall be by way of tythes. Till now they have pretended at the least to regulate the law, and that the priest should have his tythe (only) till another maintenance be found." In another it says, that " the officers of the army bring little good to per- fection," and that " they talked of reducing the parishes from 9000 to 3000, so as to have certain ministers who shall be the State's." It must not be supposed that this part of Fox's mission was altogether unwelcome — but the Presby- terian clergy naturally regarded him as their bitterest enemy, and stirred up the ungodly rabble to persecute him. The new Presbyterian clergy were now far from popular. Men will bear evils, to which they are accustomed, with patience. If an abuse is only sufficiently ancient, it is com- paratively easy to bear. A clergyman who did not trouble the consciences of men by his preaching, who lived on easy terms with his parishioners, spending much of his time chat- ting with them pleasantly at the village inn,* sitting on the ale-benches and drinking with them, was an agreeable addi- tion to the society of the place. The Puritan lecturer who preached and went his way, was a more popular man than he was when he ejected the old incumbent. f It was neces- sary to stimulate the process of ejection which was rapidly * Henry Denne in (1642) his sermon to the clergy — The Doctrine and Conversion of John the Baptist— told his clerical auditors, " Thus do you dissolve in the tavern that which you confirmed in the pulpit, making a mock at the ordinances of God." f " The Ministers' Hue and Cry, or A True Discovery of the Unsufferahle Injuries, Bobberies, Cozenages, and Oppressions now acted against Ministers" — a dialogue between four men — Paul Shepherd, a minister of the gospel (Presbyterian), Barnaby Sheap, an impropriator or lay parson, Bobin Bob-minister, or one that robs and defrauds the minister of his maintenance, Tom Tythe-short, one that pays his tythea 199 going on. In the instructions to the Earl of Manchester, to appoint the Essex Committee for Scandalous Ministers, Section 5, we find, " Because of the backwardness of parishioners to complain of ministers (i.e., of the Anglican clergy), although they be very scandalous, too many being enemies to that blessed reformation, and loath to come under a powerful ministry, and some sparing their minis- ters, because such ministers, to gain the good opinion of their people, spare them in their tythes, you are willed to call unto some well- affected men in every hundred, who, having no private engagement, to give you information both what can be deposed and who can depose to it."* The judgment we form of the state of the ministry in England, during the time of Gr. Fox's preaching, which and duties short of what is due. By Kichard Culmer, London, 1657. Addressed to the Honourable Committee of Parliament for plundered ministers. Page 1. Tom (loq.) — " Neighbour Kobin, well met ; I hear the priests and impropria- tors shall have no more tythes." Kobin — " Then He sing, ' Hey down go they ' — I mean those called ' Able Orthodox Divines.' " Then follows an amusing account of the way in which the unfortunate new ministers were robbed of their tythes. Page 13. Eobin to Paul Shepherd (the minister who pleads his "Divine right " to tythes) — " But we don't take you for our minister, because you were not chosen by our parish. You were put upon our parish to serve us against our wills, and if the Parliament, or Committee, or any other, provide us servants, let them pay them their wages. If we had our wills in keeping our old priest, or in choosing a new one, we would have paid them to a farthing. And therefore you may preach, but you shall get no tythes of us but what you can recover by law." Bobin ends. — "Farewell, and be hanged. He say no amen to the prayer of any priest of you all. Tom (addresses Tom Ty the-short) , hear none of them all ; come not near their steeple-house. If the Parliament settle any certain maintenance for the ministers, I am as much against this as against tythes ; but, Tom, howsoever, look you to your tythes, He look to mine." Page 21 — " They are all Baal's priests, there is no such calling. There is no office of the ministry. Every one that will may be, and is a minister, a preacher, ' if he can speak giftedly.'" This is evidently a Presbyterian pamphlet, and Paul Shepherd sets forth with equal force and distinctness, the woeful position of the Presbyterian minister, and the increasing depravity of the human heart as manifested in a general indisposition to pay the tythes to the new Presbyterian ministers. * Quoted p. 211, " David's Annals of Evangelical Nonconformity in Essex." 200 we are about to describe, will greatly influence our opinion with reference to his language and conduct. In the time of Fox, we have to remember, that however zealous the Parliament and the Assembly of Divines were to provide the country with " learned, painful, and godly ministers," the supply was not equal to the demand. Baillie declares, that even after Scotland should have sent all the " good youths " she could afford, southwards, it was thought that some thousands of Churches would be without ministers.* Baxter very justly says,f " The Parliament could not make men learned, or godly, but only put in the learnedest and ablest that they could have" They drew largely from the ranks of the Puritan lecturers, who had become under the former persecutions of the bishops, to some extent a distinct class, while many of the ejected clergy were unquestionably " scandalous ministers. " A few of them were men of the greatest eminence, such as Hall, Brownrigg, Morton, Prideaux, Davenant, Hammond, Sanderson, and Fuller. It has been debated whether these ejections were, or were not, to a large extent political ejections, under cover of the unquestionable necessity for the displacement of the " scandalous." Baxter says, " The power of selecting at first lay with a committee of the Parliament," and it appears to us, that the fact that the one-fifth of the livings which was secured to the ejected was only paid to them on removing out of the parish, shows us clearly that these ejections were made quite as much from political, as from religious motives.]: * Letter 78, vol. ii., p. 55. t " Baxter's Life," by Silvester, p. 74. I In "David's Annals of Evangelical Nonconformity in Essex," p. 571, is an in- stance of a purely political ejection. After stating the political bias of the clergyman, the document says , — " Therefore the Lords and Commons, taking into consideration for the supply of an able, godly man, sequestered," &c, &c. 201 The benefices of England were suddenly placed in the hands of the Presbyterian party, and although many scan- dalous ministers were ejected, we can readily conceive that the result was rather the rinding of places for men, than men for places. Mr. Lathbury* informs us that Pierce told Baxter, that " worse men were put into livings than the worst that were put out."t This is probably an extreme statement, but on the other hand Baxter's statements have been too readily accepted by historians without considering, that however trustworthy Baxter is in the bare facts he re- lates, in matters which relate to men's characters and aims he is often very greatly mistaken. Later on, under the Com- mittee of Tryers, the selection was probably in some points of view more satisfactory, and in some less, than that made under lay influence. "When we learn that the divines of the Assembly were ordered by Parliament to go down into the country to stir up the people to espouse their cause and summon them to arms, can we doubt that the Presbyterian ministers, selected to fill the places of the ejected Anglican clergy, were generally speaking thorough going political parti- sans? I and, if so, we can readily see that such a ministry, even where it was learned and respectable, did not commend itself to those who sympathized with the views of Fox. But we have distinct evidence of the character of the clergy who conformed to the Directory and who took the Covenant, and also of the lecturers, in the evidence which exists of the state of the Church prior to 1634. There are strong • In his " History of the Book of Common Prayer," p. 201, note. f Saltmarsh writes in 1645, — see "A New Quere," — "We have not yet any experi- ment of our new clergy, who are many of them branches of the old stock ; " p. 5. { British Museum Collection of Ordinances and Declarations, " Die Jovis, 10 Augusti, 1643, ordered by the Lords and Commons, &c that the Divines of the Assembly are hereby desired to go down into their several counties to stir up the people in their several counties to rise in their defence, p. 288. 202 reasons for supposing that matters had not materially- altered when the Long Parliament began to sit in 1640. John Canne, a pastor of the "Ancient English Church, in Amsterdam/' and first pastor of the Broadmead Church, Bristol, a man of great ability and irreproachable character, wrote in 1634, his " Necessity of Separation. " * In this work he quotes a number of Puritan writers in such a way as to give us considerable insight into the state of the ministry, in England, at that period. The work throws a striking light on the expressions used by Fox and the early preachers in connection with him. Canne says, "It may be that some will expect that I should write something of their lecturers, and the rather because they, in the judgment of many, are thought to be the best ministers ; — of their life and doctrine I say nothing," but he says that when the character of the ministry they had taken up was questioned, " they have not been able to agree among themselves what kind of ministry it is they have taken up." He objects to their covenanting for a given time with people to lecture, and then leaving them, and adds, *' a true pastor may not do so, for if he should he were worse than an hireling, which leaves not the sheep till he sees the wolf coming, but many of them (leave the sheep) when they see a richer lectureship coming towards them ! " With reference to the inferior clergy, he says, "we now come to the inferior ministers, and will begin first with their bare Headers, — these poor creatures the Non-conformists (i.e. the Puri- tans as distinguished from the Separatists) do call 'idle idols/ yea, ' bastardly idols/ ' greedy curs/ ' dumb dogs/ ' slayers of the people/ ' wolves/ ' ignorant asses/ ' filthy swine/ 'such as are not worthy to live in a well ordered * Republished by the Hansard Knollys Society. 203 commonwealth/ * foolish shepherds/ ' unsavory salt, good for nothing but to be cast to the dunghill/ ' cankers of the church/ ' a swarm of caterpillars, the trash and rifraff of the nation .... like the frogs of Egypt, leading many thousands into the ditch.'" "Nay," says Canne, "they say more," (page 19) and he quotes from "A Dialogue concerning the Strife in the Church," — "If the devil did make and send forth ministers he would not find worse men upon earth, and if he would have worse, he must bring them out of hell." We must bear in mind that these are quotations from writers of the Puritan party when out of power, describing the state of the church fifteen years only before Fox commenced preaching. It cannot be contended that in 1648, the Parliament had succeeded in purging the church from such men, and it will be seen that the language of the Puritan party goes far beyond that used by Fox and the early preachers of the Society, in de- nouncing the state of the Church. The very expressions used by them were current terms among the Puritan writers many years prior, — e.g. Fox preached to the same class of persons " who will fly to a bigger maintenance because he is an hireling, the sheep are none of his, who will go to bowles or pleasures with the peoples' lightness and wanton- ness that are given to wine and covetousness." * The expressions "idol shepherds," "dumb dogs," "shepherds which seek after the fleece," " greedy dogs which can never have enough," &c, were used freely in discussions on church matters long prior to his time. The 34th chapter of Ezekiel is constantly quoted, not only by Fox, but by all those who objected on either side to either Presbyterian or • "The Professor's Catechism, &c.," by G.F., 1657, p. 10. 204 Episcopalian ministers, and we have before found that the same texts were applied to the Presbyterian ministry by Bishop Hall and by George Fox. The expression " dumb dogs," applied to non-preaching ministers, and, in some cases, to the Presbyterian lay elders. " Idol shepherds " was originally applied to those who wore what were deemed Popish vestments, who were associated with " idol temples," where the sacrifice of the Mass, or its equivalent, was offered. These expressions can be traced fifty years before Fox used them.* We meet later on with a third class of ministers with whom Fox and his friends came into violent collision. These were the Independents and Baptists who had slipped into good livings. These men, feeling that their hold on the tithes might be shorter than they could desire, were very exacting. Such men were not spared by Fox. They were traitors to their principles, and it was found by the Friends, that " when the Presbyterians and Baptists got into the Common-prayer parsonages, then they made fearful havock of us, by spoyling our goods and casting us into prison because we declared against their tithes. The Baptist sued us for the very tythe eggs. It can hardly be declared the cruel havock and spoyle the Presbyterians and Independents made. Their priests made poor people come up two hundred miles because they could not give fourpence for a hemplock, and thus they served many for very small things. They took the cow that gave them milk ; their corne to make them bread, and the very beds they ley on ; their cloathes and their children's cloathes ; their oxen and horses they should plow withall, and their * Neal, quoting from A. Wood, states that the seven Puritan divines appointed in September, 1C46, to preach at Oxford, called " some of the heads of the University *dumb dogs,' those were of the King's party and Church of England clergy. 205 kettles, pots and spoons, that they had not a pott to boyle their victuals with/' * This appears to be written by a person who had been in the midst of the scenes he relates, and it gives clear testimony that the Independents and Baptists, who took the places of the Common-prayer men and accepted State pay, did not manifest a whit better spirit than the Presbyterians. It must however be borne in mind that a very large section of the Inde- pendents and Baptists entirely repudiated State mainte- nance, t and held views either absolutely identical with, or closely approximating to, those of Fox, as we shall presently show. There were in these times a large number of persons who thought they saw two causes of the bitter fruits of Episco- pacy and Presbyterianism. The first was the connection of the Church with the State. The second was the existence, in both these Churches, of a priesthood. It was a principle of Presbyterianism, "that ministers of the Gospel have as ample a charge and commission to dispense the Word, as well as other ordinances, as the priests and Levites under the Law/' J Hence they had a divine right to tithes, and claimed, while using the strong arm of the law, to * MSS. at Devonshire House Library, " How the Lord by his power and Spirit did raise up Friends." f An instance of an interruption of an Independent State minister, by a Baptist, while baptizing a child before a congregation, occurred at Newport Pagnell. The Baptist, suddenly rapted with a vertiginous motion, " summoned " him by a challenge, in the face of the congregation, to give him and his Brethren of the Separation a meeting there in public. This gave rise to the account of the public dispute, viz., " The Anabaptists Washt and Washt and Shrunk in the Washing ," occasioned by a public disputation before a great Assembly of Ministers and other persons of worth, in the church of Newport Pagnell, betwixt Mr. Gibs, minister there, and the author, Bichard Carpenter, Independent, London, 1653. J " The form of Presbyterian Church Government, and of the Ordination of Ministers, agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines, at Westminister, 1645." 206 be above the interference of the Government in matters of religion. In a pamphlet issued by the Independent party, to which is attached a letter from Cromwell to the House of Commons, dated October 10th, 1645, after repeating (page 4) the lamentation of the Presbyterians respecting " strange sects, horrid blasphemous opinions, separated assemblies, illit- erate pastors, faithful ministers deprived and discouraged in their ministry, public assemblies forsaken, the pretended preachers of new gospels cried up, universal toleration of all opinions pleaded for," then says, " believe it, and here's matter enough indeed, for if there be once granted a freedom of speech, an opening of the presses, and a tolera- tion of all opinions, immediately goes down the glory of the clergy. Men who are in no more relation to God than other men, but men, errable men like others, assume to themselves a power of judging and censuring of opinions, doctrines, and practices in religion ; and then down also falls their profit, for none will henceforth think himself bound by any law of God to pay tythes any longer. Why do you think they (the Presbyterian Clergy) are such enemies to the Independents and all sorts of Separatists ? You imagine it is because they run into errors and damnable opinions, to their souls' destruction. No such thing ; it is only because the true Independents and Separatists do all the very pastor s offices themselves, and renounce and disclaim all glory and distinction, from the greatest to the meanest of their flock, and all usurped dominations, being but as any other men in judging of doctrines or practices, and but as the mouth and speaker of the congregation. Also they renounce all right or claim to any pay, and if they want not, their judgment is*that they ought rather to give than to receive ; the differ- ence is visible enough." Cromwell's letter says, "From 207 brethren we look for no compulsion. In other things God hath put the sword into the Parliament's hands for the punishment of evil doers." * The principle of lay preaching broke down this analogy between the priest of the Old Testament and the pro- phet, pastor, or teacher of the New Testament. The lay preacher was as much an elder or bishop, if sent out by a Church, as the man educated for the priest's office in the Church of England, and consecrated, or ordained, by the imposition of the hands of either the bishop or the presbytery. Every christian might become a preacher of the Gospel. If the words, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," applied only to a consecrated order of men like the priests of the Old Testament, concerned about holy things, into whose pro- vince no one was to invade, here was the very essence of Popery. This was, we conceive, the origin of the out- burst of lay preaching, which was a feature of the times in which George Fox's lot was cast. This heresy is denounced and satirized in unmeasured language by the Presbyterians, t There was also another peculiar feature of the times, and this was the association of the Old Testament idea * " Strong Motives, or a lovely and modest Advice unto the Petitioners for Presby- terian Government, that they endeavour not the compulsion of any in matters of religion more than they wish others to compel them," &c, &c, whereto is annexed the conclusion of Lieutenant General Cromwell, and Letter to the House of Commons to the same purport, October 10th, 1645. f One of the staunchest opponents of Independency thus breaks out, "Unhappy Independents, who opened at first, and kept open to this day, the door of the church to these satyrs and vultures, this I-im and Zi-im, the great Owles and Shriek Owles, the wild beasts of the desert and the island, the dragons and all the doleful creatures, to come in, and defile, and make havock of all that is most precious in the house of God!" Preface to " Anabaptism, the True Foundation of Independency, and Anti- nomy, Brownism, Familism," &c, by Kobt. Baillie, London, 1646. 208 of prophecy, with the preaching of gifted ministers. This was not an idea peculiar to those who are called Sectaries. Whether it originated in the ideas suggested by the "prophesyings" of Archbishop Grindal, or not, it is impossible to say. In " Baxter's Life," we have an incident related which illustrates the kind of feeling which existed, and the anxiety of Baxter to disclaim any such gift. Baxter preached a funeral sermon at Bridgnorth, on the text, Ezekiel xxxiii., 34. " And when this cometh to pass (lo, it will come) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them." In this sermon he could not " forbear to tell them his fears of some heavy judgment to come on that place, in a sense of the misery of that un- profitable people, and the deep groans I have heard from their faithful pastor for their obdurateness." After the town was burnt down to the ground, he went there and preached from the same text. " But they and I," he says, "were so much interrupted with tears, that (with some pauses) I had much ado to proceed on to the end. I had never before, (nor ever did I since), presume upon such prediction, (nor did I speak that with any pretence of prophecy), but the expression of my fear I could not suppress." In the "Life of Archbishop Usher," by Bichard Pain, * we read, that in his sermon preached after ordination, in 1601, he quoted Ezekiel iv., 6, — " And thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Judah forty days, I have appointed each day for a year." He made then his conjecture respecting Ireland, viz., " From this year I reckon forty years, and then those whom you embrace shall be your ruin, and you shall bear their iniquity " forty years. In 1641, the Irish rebellion broke out, " then those who * Polio edition, 1686. 209 lived to see that day began to think he was a young prophet " (page 9). In "David's Annals of Evangelical Noncon- formity in Essex/' (page 617) we find the same idea in an epitaph in Heveningham Church on Samuel Fairclough, one of the Ejected Ministers, who died in 1691,— ' ' Behold this shrine, See here a prophet and complete divine, One who the thankless world too late will know, And by his absence find him to be so ; When prophets die, the worst of ills we fear, When envoys are recalled, some war is near." In "Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress," " Evangelist," we all recollect, "was also a prophet," and foretold FaithfuH's martyrdom at Vanity Fair. There can be little doubt that when Fox affirmed that the professors of his day " could not bear to hear that any one should come, whilst upon earth, into the same power and spirit that the Apostles were in," he was endeavouring to show that an important Christian doctrine was grievously over- looked by the professing christians of his times ; but it is also evident, that at the earlier period of the Society's existence, the great success of the early preacher's ministry, the won- derful physical manifestations, the providences attending them, the great change wrought in the souls of some of their converts, and some cures apparently effected on those diseased in mind or body, produced the same effect upon the mind of Fox and his friends, which they did at one period upon the clear, logical, trained intellect of Wesley; and precisely as with Wesley, so with Fox and others, at a later period these views were somewhat modified. The same may be said of the doctrine apparently set forth in the hasty interruption (for this was an interruption) of the preacher at Nottingham, who said that " all doctrines, religions, and opinions were to be tried by the written 210 Word, the sure word of prophecy " (Pet. i. 19). Fox cried out, " Oh, no, it is not the Scripture, it is the Holy Spirit, by which holy men of old gave forth the Scriptures, whereby opinions, religions, and judgments are to be tried/'* On this Mr. Marsden very justly remarks " This was a dan- gerous error — for if this doctrine were correct, our last appeal on doubtful questions would be, not to the Bible, but to ourselves; " t but he has overlooked that the meaning of the whole utterances was, that the spiritually minded, true christian could alone use the Scriptures so as to try all doctrines, &c. "We cannot suppose him here to have said what was entirely in opposition to his uniform teaching in his writings, &c." Even in such works as Fox's " Grreat Mystery," we find the same view. J These quotations might be multiplied indefinitely; and where at first sight, as in the passage in " Fox's Journal," the meaning may seem to be otherwise, a further examination will always prove that this was the real judgment of Fox and the early Friends. Barclay says,§ " We do look upon them as the only fit outward judge of controversies among christians, and that * Sewell, vol. i., 1649, p. 27. f See remarks in " Later Puritans," p. 241. I See preface. — "And also this is an invitation to all sects and professors, and of people, to come forth and try if what they hold is according to the Scriptures of Truth, and to do this by evident and sound arguments, and by the best spiritual weapons they have, and to lay aside all this persecution, and unrighteous dealing, and stocking, and whipping, and imprisoning of us for speaking against their religion, and that they come forth in fair disputes to contend in the spirit of meekness for what they profess and practise, and to prove, according to Scripture, their ministry, church, and whole religion, that it is in and by the Spirit and power of God." So Penn, hi his works, folio vol. ii. — " We believe the Scripture to be a declaration of the mind of the Holy Ghost, and therefore not superior to the Holy Ghost, but credited, confirmed, and expounded by the Holy Ghost, so that without the illumination of it the Scripture cannot be understood by them that read it. The grammatical and critical sense of the words and allusions therein may be understood, but not the ' spiritual signification.' * p. 912. § "Apology." — Scriptures. 211 whatsoever doctrine is contrary unto their testimony may therefore justly be rejected as false. And for our parts, we are willing that all our doctrines and practices be tried by them, which we never refused, nor ever shall, in all our controversies with our adversaries, as the judge and test. We shall also be very willing to admit it as a positive, certain maxim — that whatsoever any do pretending to the Spirit, which is contrary to the Scriptures, be accounted and reckoned a delusion of the devil." The true meaning of Fox was, not that our own individual impressions were to be the sole test of divine truth, but that the Spirit of Christ must dwell in those who are seeking to test the truth of religious opinions by the Scriptures.* " They did not do it aright/' he says, " because they did it without the Holy Ghost." We cannot but regard the following sentence from Stillingfieet, as a sentence moulded by the experience obtained during the times of Fox, and it so beautifully reconciles the views of Fox with the conclusions of sound evidential reasoning, that we venture to quote it. " Now what conviction there can be to any sober mind conceiving divine authority in any person, without such a power of miracles going along with him, when he is to deliver some new doctrine to the world, I confess I cannot understand. For although I doubt not that wherever God doth reveal anything to any person immediately, He gives demon- strable evidence, to the inward senses of the soul s that it * This will become more clear as we proceed. In the Appendix to " Penn's Life," No. xiv. Letter to Baxter, Penn explains to Baxter, that by saying " the Spirit being the rule, I understand what the Apostle did, when he said that ' as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God.' I did not mean that all instruments and means are always excluded, only that under the Gospel especially, the Spirit by the holy inspiring of it in a more immediate manner than formerly, was pre-eminently the rule of the saints; as under the Law, the Law writ on stone ; under the Gospel, the Law writ in the Heart." Q 2 212 comes from Himself, yet this inward sense can be no ground to another person to believe his doctrine divine, because no man can be a competent judge of the actings of another's inward senses; and it is impossible to another person to distinguish the actings of the divine Spirit from strong impressions of fancy." The following quotation from Arch- bishop Leighton, fully sets forth the views of Fox. It is most important in dealing with the literature of the " Sectaries," to have a correct view of the position maintained by their ad- versaries, and of the current ideas of the times, and a number of crude and ill-founded conclusions have been drawn, from the doctrinal positions taken by the early Friends, which a larger amount of acquaintance with the controversial history of the times would have avoided.* Archbishop Leighton comments on 1 Cor. ii. 11, thus — which will explain the standpoint from which Fox viewed the subject : " ' No man knows the things of a man, but the spirit of man. ' But who holds that here ? For if a man speak but the things that are in his spirit, then others may know them; but the Apostle's aim there, is to conclude that the things of God, even such as were revealed in his word, could not be known but by his own spirit, so that though revealed yet, they remain still unrevealed till the Spirit teach within as well as without, because they are intel- ligible by none but by those who are the private scholars and hearers of the Holy Ghost, the author of them, and because there are so few of these, therefore is so little real believing amidst all the noise and profession that we make of it.t" * See quotation from Whitehead, p. 164. f " Leighton's Commentaries," i., p. 167. I am indebted to my friend J. S. Eovrn- tree for this quotation. 213 It has been constantly assumed, we think, upon a very slender basis, that when Fox and the early Friends said " the Lord showed me," this or that, and when he used a variety of other expressions which form in them- selves almost a peculiar language, that a direct revelation from Heaven is meant, as distinct as that which the Apostles received in writing the Scriptures. We do not however believe that by Fox's ordinary expressions he intended to convey more than an ordinary conclusion — that he had appropriated, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, an idea originally received through ordinary sources ; an idea war- ranted by Scripture, the mind of the Spirit, the analogy of the faith, and by common sense. To take an extreme instance of this, in which many will be inclined to differ from us, let us take this passage in his journal : " At another time (in 1646), as I was walking in a field on a First- day morning, the Lord opened unto me, that being bred at Oxford and Cambridge, was not enough to fit and qualify men to be ministers of Christ/ ' Now to contend that Fox intends to tell us that this was a new truth to his mind, and not, as we believe, the clear perception and appropriation of an old truth which he had (to go no farther) read in the Book of Common Prayer, would be, we think, an absurdity. How could Fox have come in contact with any of the religious people of this period, e.g., the Baptists, without hearing this matter debated, which must have been a subject, at this period, of common conversation among Fox's associates ? Fox appears to us to have had a thorough knowledge of the ideas current in his times, and the mere perusal of the titles of his tracts will show that he kept himself abreast of the great questions which agitated the public mind, and which are expressed in the controversial and other religious literature of the 214 day.* The peculiar language of Fox's Journal, and some early Friends, must be looked upon as the ordinary lan- guage of the religionists of the period, particularly in the middle class of society. In 1647, an intelligent writer finds fault with the " In- dependent, Congregational, and other Church ways," for asking that the " erroneous, doubtful, uncertain conceptions * The annexed passage from Fox's Journal has been pointed out as strikingly like the writings of Jacob Boehmen (the celebrated mystic). I am indebted to Mr. Chris- topher Walton (whose valuable library of mystical writings is well known) for searching for, at my request, and pointing out to me, a passage which appears to show that not only was Fox conversant with Bcehmen's writings, but appears in his journal to pre- suppose a knowledge of Bcehmen's method of stating spiritual experience. I think it will be admitted that the passage in Fox's Journal is perfectly obscure and unintelli- gible to a reader of the present day, but in placing by it a similar passage in the translation of Behmen's work, published in 1648, which is the date in Fox's Journal, in which the experience is described, its meaning is rendered perfectly clear : — FOX. JOUENAL. 1648. "Now I was come up in spirit through the Flaming Sword* into the paradise of God, all things were new ; and all the Creation gave another smell unto me than before beyond what words can utter. I knew nothing but pureness, innocency, and righteousness, being renewed up into the image of God by Jesus Christ, so that I was come up to the state of Adam before he fell. * Fox sealed his letters with an engraved uoal of a flaming sword. BCEHMEN. " The Second Book concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence — of the Eternal Dark, Light, and Temporary World, showing what the Soul, the Image, and the Spirit of the Soul, are; also what Angels, Heaven, and Paradise are ; how Adam was before the Fall, in the Fall, and after the Fall," &c, by Jacob Behmen, alias Teutonicus Philosophus, London, 1641. " . . . . then he let them out of the garden, and set the cherubim with a naked (or warn- ing flaming sword) .... before it to keep the way to the Tree of Life But the understanding of us poor children of Adam and Eve is sunk so much, that at our last old age we scarce reach the understanding of any- thing concerning the Fall of Adam and Eve, seeing we must seek very deep for it in the Light of Life, for it is very wonderful which Moses saith, ' God set the Cherubim before the Garden to keep and guard the way to the 215 contained in their sermons shall be heard and received as the word of the ever-living God," and proceeds to add a sentence which throws a very considerable light upon the language of the Early Friends, and tends to correct the error of attaching a literal meaning to such expressions. " Hence it is," he says, " that some men will neither stir nor undertake anything of any nature, civil or natural, but as they are prompted thereunto (as they Tree of Life,' who could understand it ? If God did not open our eyes, we should speak simply of a Keeper with a Sword, and Eeason seeth nothing else, but the Noble Virgin showeth us the Door, and how we must enter into paradise through the sharpness of the sword, yet the sword cutteth the Earthly body clean away from the Holy Element, and then the new man may enter into paradise by the way of life Now if anybody would come into the Garden, he must press in through the Sword of Death — though Christ hath broken the Sword, so that now we can much easier enter in with our Souls, yet there is a Sword before it stilV Xni. "After this, about the year 1600, in the 25th year of his age, he was again sur- rounded with the Divine Life, and replenished with the Heavenly knowledge, in so much as going abroad into the fields, into a green before Neysgate, at Gorlitz, he then sat down, and viewing the Herbs and Grass of the Field in his Inward Light, he saw into their essences, use, and properties, which were discovered to him by their linaments, figures, and signatures." Behmen's " Signatura Kerum" was published in English, 1649. — " Life of Jacob Behmen," by W. Law, London, 1764. It can hardly be contended that this, which is one of the most curious and unintel- ligible passages in Fox's Journal, was written by a person who had never read Behmen's works, which had at that period a considerable circulation. There are evidences of a* intelligent appreciation of books at Swarthmore Hall. Newcastle is ransacked for a Hebrew grammar and lexicon, and a Greek lexicon is obtained from London, &c. •' The Creation was opened to me — how all things had their names given them, according to their nature and virtue. I was at a stand in my mind whether I should practise physic for the good of mankind, seeing the nature and virtues of the creatures were opened to me by the Lord." 216 imagine) by the Spirit, or, as some phrase it, 'by the drawings forth of the Father;' taking all their inclinations, likings, or dislikings, to be immediately from God, whereby gross neglects and failings (to say no more) come to be excused, and not only so, but expressly put God's score."* But this does not sufficiently exhibit the atmosphere of religious excitement in which the men of these times lived. The air was thick with reports of prophecies and miracles, and there were men of all parties who lived on the border land between sanity and insanity. A most curious instance of this is that of Arise Evans, a Welchman, who was born at Bearmouth in the county Merioneth. He claimed the prophetical gift, and was a stout supporter of the King and the Church of England, and the Book of Common Prayer, and in 1653 he informs us that " multitudes of people " enquired day after day of him concerning his " hopes of their redemption from these troublous times." He informs us, that in 1633, he troubled King Charles by foretelling that both he and his kingdom were to be destroyed, and to the Earl of Essex that he was to be general of all England. In 1635, he prophesied again, that since the King would not regard his prophecies, he would suffer and be put to death, and his kingdom be destroyed and turned upside down ; and Evans was put in prison for three years. He sought and obtained an interview with Cromwell, with the same desire to give true prophetical advice. Cromwell took him into his dining room at his house in Drury Lane, and he and Ireton talked with him till midnight. He advised Cromwell to use the King well, and to reconcile * " The Vanity of the present Churches, and the Uncertainty of their Preaching Discovered," pp. 14 and 15, London, 1647. 217 their mutual interests. On September 1st, 1652, he peti- tioned the Parliament to receive his prophetical message, because " he only was appointed of God, and none but he on the earth can show the like; " but he was not listened to, and therefore addressed to them his " Voice from Heaven to the Commonwealth of England/' 1652, proving that " King Charles and his seed, whose seed by the works of God shall appear to have an unquenchable sovereignty over all the earth, that can never be shaken again." All this was clearly demonstrated out of the Scriptures, and the declaration of Isaiah that the " wayfaring man, though a fool, should not err " in the way of holiness, was declared to be the coming back again of the way of the " common prayer ! " In 1643, he states he received a revelation to maintain the true " Apostolical succession" of the ministers of the Church of England, and Infant Baptism. Whereupon Arise Evans boldly asserted his divine commission at the head quarters of the " Anabaptists, in Coleman street, Bell Alley," and afterwards when " they removed to the Spittle." He disputed with them against " their unruly and ungodly practice, and many times reproved Lamb, the chief father of all the Anabaptists." He maintained " the true church to be the Church of England, and God did confirm my words (he affirms) with signs following." The Baptists however answered, if you have such a call " you are a prophet, but how shall we know this ? We have but your bare word for what you say, give us a sign here present and we will believe." A woman rails upon him, and he prophesied that she should not be there "that day seven nights " to do so. Her child dies and his words become true, and thus in his view his prophetical office was triumphantly asserted among these opponents of the Baptism, as well as the 218 Apostolical Succession, and the Prayer Book of the Church of England.* A woman, who was a member of Kiffen's Church, went before Cromwell and his Council to give them prophetical advice; she was not only patiently listened to, but was enquired of how such advice could be carried out. For this action however, she came under the disciplinary dealing of the Church, f Cromwell must have had some trouble by the prophetical advice he received. One man advised him to supply the place of the Bishops by twelve Apostles and seventy travelling ministers : he wrote a pamphlet on the subject, which can only be detected to be the production ol an insane person, by his admission in it that his family had to restrain him as a violent lunatic.]: Many persons declared themselves to be " God " and " Christ," " the Spouse of Christ," " the Lamb's wife," &c. Pamphlets were written upon the subject, with titles purporting to be a " true and faithful narrative " of these " grand impostures, abominable practices, horrid blasphemies," &c, even after a surgeon's certificate had been obtained that they were " distracted ! " As early as 1645 there were some who not only main- tained that the gift of working miracles had not ceased in the Church, but asserted that they had wrought miracles, and anticipated that this power would be shortly conferred more abundantly. § Keports of the actual working of miracles were * " An Eccho to the Voice from Heaven, or a Narrative of the Life and Manner of the Special Calling and Visions of Arise Evans. By him published in discharge of his duty to God, and for the satisfaction of those who doubt," pp. 53, 54, 55. Long Alley, Blackfriars, 1G52. U. L. Camb. There axe fifteen prophetical writings of Arise Evans in the B. M. t Elizabeth Poole. — See " Alarum of War given to the Army and High Court of Justice," &c, 1649, pp. 3 and 6, &c. I "An Iron Bod put into the Lord Protector's Hands to Break all An ti- Christian Power to Pieces." By John Sanders, of Harben. London, 1G55. § Edwards' " Gangrocna," Error No. 145, Part i. 219 widely spread. One of the most notable instances of this power being claimed, was that of Mathew Coker, who wrote tracts in which he stated that he cleansed a leper, caused the lame to walk, restored defective sight. * His claims were accepted by Eobert Gill, D.D., Eector of St. Mary, Alder Mary. He wrote to Lady Conway, expressing his belief that miracles were not ceased in the Church, and that Mr. Coker had that power. The Earl of Pembroke, he tells her, was entirely convinced of this, and indeed had been greatly benefited by the laying on of his hands, and that he had witnessed the cure of a mad person.! The accounts given by Edwards in his "Gangrcena," speaking of the " practice of anointing the sick with oil, in Kifiin's | and Hansard Knollys Churches," are confirmed by Knollys himself. § This practice was frequently observed among the Baptists during the early period of last century, although their faith in its efficacy does not appear to have induced them to dispense with the assistance of a physician. * " A short and plain Narrative of Mathew Coker, touching some mistakes and mis- recitals in reference to his gift of Healing," &c. London, 1654. He wrote also "A Whip of small Cords to scourge Anabaptists out of the Kingdom of God, &c, &c, to clear up the way for the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ in his glorious power, now exercised in the working of miracles, &c," 1654. Also " A prophetical Eevelation," 1654. Just published in Latin. t See Letter by Dr. Gill to Lady Conway. Domestic State Papers, 1654, January to May, No. 352, dated " Bowham, May 26th, 1654." I Kiffin, it appears, in one instance anointed with oil a woman who was ~sick, and not finding her recover, remembered that he had not in this instance followed the Apostle's advice, to send for the Elders of the Church, and the next time he took his worthy co-Elder Patience, and the cure followed. " Knowls Jesse and others anointed an old blind woman at a great meeting at Aldgate, for the restoring of her sight, with the words, * The Lord Jesus give thee sight.' " Edwards' ' ' Gangrcena," part iii., p. 19. § " I resolved to take no more physic, but would apply to that holy ordinance of God, &c, James v., 14, 15 and I sent for Mr. Kiffin and Mr. Vavasor Powell, who prayed over me and anointed me with oil in the name of the Lord, and as an answer to their prayers I was perfectly healed," p. 48 of his Autobiography. 220 The same claims of the " gift of healing" are made in our own age;* but the calmer atmosphere in which we live causes us to regard these and similar matters as delusions, harmless if allowed to pass unnoticed. To look down with contempt, because of these things, upon the noblest era of English History, and one in. which we see the rise of ideas which were destined immeasurably to bless our own age, cannot surely be wise. "We shall not prove ourselves to be more enlightened than the men of these times, by ridiculing their weaknesses, and overlooking the strength and nobility of their characters. It seems a strange world to us, but this was the world in which Fox, and those who had similar aims, moved; and if we would endeavour to understand their real character, and the real bearing of their actions, we must, by an effort of the imagination, throw ourselves into the spirit of the times. * See " The Healing of Sickness by Scriptural Means," London, 1875. CHAPTEK X. On the Origin and History of the Doctrine of the " Inward Light, Life, Seed," etc., promulgated in England, by George Fox. Controversy in Amsterdam between Nittert Obbes and Hans de Kys. Hans de Kys advocates the Views of Caspar Schwenkfeld, of Silesia. Some account of Schwenkfeld, his Opinions and his Followers. Connection between the Friends and the mennonites. " Komt einer her und sagt von geist, Der wird sehr ubel abgeweist, Und als ein katzer hart verklaget, Incarcirirt oder verjaget. ******* Welche nicht mit dem grosten hauffen, Den breiten weg wollen lauffen, Sondern nach Christi lehr sich halten, Die sind verhaszt bey jung iind alten." Anna Ovena Hoyerin, of Holstein. Geistliche Poem, p. 165. It may be asked whether the preaching of Fox did not embody doctrines which were new among the Baptist and Independent Churches in 1648. The whole phraseology of the early tract literature of Fox and his followers, is cast in a mould which is clearly different from the style of most of the religionists of the day. The emphasis which was placed upon the words "Light," "Life," "Seed," "Word," as applied in the New Testament to the Holy Spirit, was peculiar. A consciousness that their Society had a doctrine to preach which placed the whole of the theological conceptions of their contemporaries in a new 222 and a clearer light, and which involved in their view the very essence of the christian religion, marks their utter- ances, and supports them under the bitterest persecution. We have already seen in the views of John Smith, the in- troduction into England of the germ of many of the views of Fox. We now proceed to show the common origin of these views. The tracts of the General Baptists are exceedingly rare. There were points of close resemblance between the General Baptists and the Friends, but there were points in which they differed. In some of the tracts of the General Baptists there is a striking similarity in style to that of Friends, while in others there is an equally striking differ- ence. How are we to account for this peculiarity of title and of style in the tract literature of the early Friends ? How, if there was a close connection between the two religious movements, are we to account for the peculiar form in which Fox promulgated the doctrine of " Universal and Saving Light ? " How are we to account for the views of Fox on baptism and the Lord's supper, which if not absolutely new in England, had certainly obtained but little acceptance ? The General Baptists all held strongly to outward baptism, and the outward Lord's supper, supple- menting it often by " a love-feast." They often washed each other's feet, used " the kiss of charity," as well as the imposition of hands in receiving a member; and along with their views of the purely spiritual nature of the christian religion, there was a certain leaning to the visible and out- ward. * They held, in opposition to the Calvinists, the doctrine of General Bedemption : that Christ died for all, and not for the elect only. But, while they represented in England one school of thought which existed among the Mennonites of Amsterdam, George Fox represented another school, and one which gave a completeness and logical force * See note at p. 252. 223 to their views of " general redemption." The General Baptists and the Friends were, as we have already seen, to a very large extent united in matters of doctrine, practice, and discipline. Even in minute particulars the correspondence is very striking. While there were un- questionably differences of opinion between the General Baptists and the Friends, we shall proceed to show that even these, may be traced to a controversy among the Waterlander Mennonites of Amsterdam, which commenced, about the year 1624, between the celebrated Hans de Kies and one of the teachers of the same church, Nittert Obbes, which gave rise to about thirty tracts and treatises. Nittert Obbes wrote a pamphlet, and the editor, contrary to his wishes, gave it the following title, which greatly scandalized the brethren, and a severe controversy com- menced in the church. — " A Spider Hunter very fit to brush away from some Mennonite Barns the Cobwebs, — the Silly Follies and Trifling Frivolities of Several Fanatics, Swenk- feldians, and their followers; relying upon their peculiar pretensions and inspirations and lessening the power of the written Word of God."* The result of this publication was, that Obbes was forbidden the Lord's supper, and this roused the indignation of his friends and embittered the strife. Nittert Obbes maintained that "the written Word of God, or the Gospel, wheresoever it is read or preached, is the ordinary medium, or instrument, whereby repentance, faith, and regeneration are effected,"! and that " only by way of the Holy Scriptures, God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost, reveals and imparts to us everything which we ought to know, to do, to hope, to believe for our salvation, so that * Amsterdam, 1625, 4to., 86 pages, not paginated, so that our quotations refer to the printer's catchwords. f "Spider Hunter," b 4, 224 we do not obtain our conversion or our regeneration all at once, by an almighty, miraculous power, — immediately, without our co-operation, merely by a magical infusion of faith, — but by working out our salvation with fear and trembling."* "In the same way as our corporeal life proceeds from natural means and subsists on them, the spiritual life of our souls proceeds and endures by natural means too, viz., by the Written Word, or the preaching of the Gospel, therefore we ought not to expect now-a-days another Word, Inspiration, or Gospel, either from heaven or from men, to build and rely upon beside the use of the written Word of God."f " No one receives an inspiration or a revelation concerning the will of God in Christ, as far as concerns his salvation. Whoever holds the contrary, will give rise to the error, that men should consider their own fancies, dreams, and visions to be inspirations of God, as the fanatic Anabaptists did in former times."]: Hans de Kies, . and the three oldest teachers of the congregation, maintained the opposite opinion. § They asserted that "there is a divine inspiration, whereby the Lord Jesus, the governor and teacher of his holy church, instructs, teaches, addresses, and inspires the faithful, viz., through the Holy * " Spider Hunter," g 2 and g 4. f "A plain information concerning the controversy between Hans de Bies and Nittert Obbes, 1628, 4to., p. 8. \ " Spider Hunter," g 1. § In the following treatises : — 1st. "Apology or justification, wherein, together with a brief and sincere account of the state of affairs between the teachers and ministers of the United Congregation, at Amsterdam, and Nittert Obbes, is pointed out how unreasonably, untruly, and slanderously those teachers are calumniated, — composed by Kenier Wybrands, Peter Andries, and Cornelis Claas, teachers of the Word of God, in the above-named congregation." Hoorn, 1626, 4to., 59 pages. 2nd. " Dialogue or conversation between a Neutralist and a Waterlander brother, wherein the contro- versy concerning the Word of God, arisen between the teachers of the United Congre- gation and Nittert Obbes, is pointed out succinctly and nakedly. Serving as a 225 Ghost from whom they have the anointing or unction. God summons them to repentance and conversion by the written word, but besides by His Holy Spirit and this Power in Christ, and several other means, " e.g. his handy- work in the whole creation, the law of nature written in the hearts of mankind, the light of conscience, the punishment of sinners, principally by good and fervent suggestions, inspirations, and incitements, by which the Holy Spirit impels the hearts of men to everything that is true, honest, and just.* He knocks at the door of our hearts, — there He testifies, preaches, and teaches : — (that) his Spirit abides also in the hearts of the faithful, and speaks and works in them whatsoever things are good, and comforts, leads and compels them, being indeed " the earnest of their inheri- tance, "f He allowed that " we ought not to rely on dreams and inspirations, if contrary to the written word," but asserted that revelations in addition, besides, and above the written word frequently occur, and that our sanctification is pro- duced "in the twinkling of an eye;" and thus these inspirations proved themselves to be "trustworthy and divine, yea, if compared with the dead and barren letter of Scripture, vivid, energetic, and all sufficient."! To prove his assertions, he dwelt on the distinction between "the forerunner to descry the contents of the book called ' Spider Hunter.'' " Hoorn, 1626, 4to., 15 pages. 3rd. "Dialogue on the controversy concerning the Word of God, arisen in the Waterlander Congregation at Amsterdam, published for the instruction of the simple brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ." Hoorn, 1626, £«.«., 18 pages. 4th. " Discovery of the errors, misrepresentations of Holy Scripture, and various blunders contained in the book called ' Spider Hunter,'' which treats of the Word of God, -written by Nittert Obbes, together with a refutation of those errors for the glory of God, the defence of truth, the warning and edifying of all simple-hearted, published by Hans de Eies." Hoorn, 1627, 8vo., 338 pages. * " Discovery," p. 256 to 258. f " Apology," p. 52. \ "Dialogue or Conversation, p. 12. "Apology," p. 46. 226 Word of God," denoting Holy Scripture, and the "Word of God" (Logos), as the title of Christ. "The Word of the Father, the true Light, which has life in itself, and is an Inward Light to blind souls, which the letter or written light is not able to do, because it is not life; this is only to be found in Christ, the Word of the Father.* This Word, called by Peter the Seed of regeneration, is no other than the Word described by Paul as quick and powerful, f This Word, which has life in itself, is the Word and the Seed.\ The written word is corruptible. It is likewise a servant of corruption, and, consequently, not the incorruptible Seed of regeneration. That Seed is the Son of God, the Word of the Father, the true Life.% His adversaries," he says, consider " the written word to be the seed, the medium, or instrument whereby regeneration is performed. We say, that Christ, with this Spirit and Power, is the true Seed of promise, the Mediator and Medium by which we are born again (2 Cor. v., 17, and Pet. i., 2, 3)."|| We shall see that this was the great controversy between the Puritans, who took the precise position of Nittert Obbes, and the followers of Fox, who occupied the position of Hans de Kies. The party of Nittert Obbes replied,1T and it was not denied by Hans de Eies, that this was the teaching of Caspar Schwenkfeld, of Silesia. To show the exact correspondence between the views of Hans de Eies and Schwenkfeld, the party among the Mennonites represented by Nittert Obbes gave the following as a quotation from Schwenkfeld's confession : — " God begets us of his own will with the Word of Truth, (James i., 18.) and that Word is an incorruptible Seed. In performing our regeneration, God * " Discovery," p. 59. f Ibid. p. 83. J Ibid. p. 84. § Ibid. p. 86. || Ibid. p. 269. ^T " Spider Hunter," a 4. " Some questions for inquiry concerning the nature and power of Holy Scripture, or the written Word of God," p. 7. 227 neither needs nor employs the aid or the means of any creature; but the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit brings this work about in the soul immediately. The new creature that is born of God wants no outward scripture, neither creature, nor ordinance of the outward Church, to rely on or to deal with, for he has three witnesses in himself, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. Consequently there is a double Word of God, the one external, the other internal. The internal is the Eternal Word of the Spirit ; but the external is a perishable ' word,' and the letter both as to power and nature ; and they differ more than soul and body, death and life, Creator and creature. The former consists of a divine nature and essence, and heavenly things, but the latter, viz., the Scripture or written word, is essentially an earthly, perishable thing, and though it is used in spiritual matters, it has nevertheless from its own nature, neither spirit, nor life, but is merely a writing, a sound, or a voice, — yea, a dead, perishable creature, without any power, or gift of grace."* Nittert Obbes died in 1630, and the controversy ended. Schwenkfeld is termed by Dr. Dorner, in his " History of Protestant Theology," "the noblest representative of the theoretical mysticism of the age of the Beformation." " He maintained," Dr. Dornersays, " the unity and com- pleteness of Christ, as distinctly as the true humanity, * " Spider Hunter," from c 4 to d 4. — I have not succeeded in identifying these passages in " Schwenkf eld's Confession," in the connection in which they are here placed, and my impression is that they are quotations taken out of their natural sequence for controversial purposes. I have, however, identified the latter part of the quotation in Schwenkfeld's "Catechismus vom wort des Creiitzes vom Wort Gottes," p. 566,— 1st part of Schwenkfeld's Works, Edition, 1st Title, 1564; 2nd Title, 1562 — which I translate thus: — "Now in short, there is (in the sense in which it is commonly spoken of) a double Word of God, namely, an inward, eternal, and spiritual Word, and an outward and perishable word of the Scriptures -or letter. These two, although they often come into a spiritual relation among believers, and in R2 228 and objected to the scholastic view of the person of Christ, as separating his person too much from the person of God. His views of the divinity of Christ and of the glory of his person, were set forth with great power and eloquence. His spiritual views of the christian religion are free from any trace of pantheistic teaching. He does not detract in the smallest degree from the inspiration or authority of Holy Scripture, but he maintained against the Apostolic Office or Service were united, yet they are, according to their substance, power, and nature, more completely separated than body and soul, death and life, Creator and creature, yes, they are farther apart than heaven and earth. For the former Word stands in the order of the heavenly and spiritual things, of that Divine, Eternal Existence, and is of divine quality, omnipotent, active, and powerful, yes, as I have before said, it is the heart of God himself, Spirit, and Life. But the latter word stands in the order of earthly things of this transient existence, and it testifies even from the first, that although it is used in spiritual and divine matters for the service of Christ, yet it is according to its nature and substance neither Spirit nor Life, but writing, sound, and voice ; indeed it is in itself flesh, without grace, dead, and outwardly a perishable creature." It will be seen that this is quoted in the controversy so as to make Schwenkfeld as unorthodox as possible, and as if he denied the inspiration of the Apostolic writers; while in the quotation and elsewhere, it will be seen that he fully admits this Apostolic inspiration as entirely distinct. Schwenkfeld is contending against the Lutherans, who used the expression the "Word of God" as equivalent to the Holy Scriptures, and did not fully recognize that the Holy Spirit is termed in Scripture " the Word of God," and that the expression as applied to the Scriptures (if convenient) is a source of confusion, and strictly speaking, incorrect. Bishop Thirlwall, in a charge given in 1864, says, " ' The Word of God' cannot in any passage of the New Testament be substituted for the Bible, without manifest absurdity. And what Scripture nowhere enjoins and hardly allows, a Church or an individual must be very bold to assert without reserve or qualification. The Word of God is the Divine effluence which visited the patriarchs ; which inspired the prophets ; which spake by the evangelists and apostles ; which is uttered and expressed in all forms of revelation and of reason ; which in its highest sense is applied by St. John to the Eternal S