5 ^ 3 *' 4&ar< f « : UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 01 m NOTICE: Return or renew alt Library Materials! The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book is $50.00. The person charging this material is responsiole for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for discipli¬ nary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 L161—0-1096 4 * ' OrScjobacti) SUaitfUug. A HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF ST. ASAPH. BY D. R. THOMAS, M.A., RECTOR OF ST. MART’S, CEFN. LONDON: JAMES PARKER & CO., 377, STRAND. St. Asaph : CHARLES HUGHES. MDCCCLXX. . I . ' < •• . ■ ZZ3 T3£> e CONTENTS. V, Chap. Page 1.—Tiie Origin of the See. Legendary character of the accounts; substratum of truth . 1 Kentigern founds a Monastery . •. . . .2 Is succeeded by Asaph ; the Diocese formed . . .5 Its limits ; relative antiquity of its different classes of parishes 6 Style of its earliest Churches . . . . .9 II.— T ’he British Church. Its early foundation . . . . . .11 Connexion with that of Gaul . . . . .12 Its constitution,—Bishops, Clergy, Endowments . . 13 Connexion of Church and State . . . .15 Distinctive customs . . . . . .16 Mode of administering Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and Observance of Easter . . . . .17 Tonsure and other personal characteristics . . .18 Non-celibacy . . . . . . .19 Monasteries and Nunneries . . . . .20 Liturgy ........ 20 Cymmorthau and customs at wells . . . .22 III. —Landmarks in its early History. The Conference at Augustine’s Oak . . . .24 Massacre of Bangor-is-Coed, and death of Oswald . .26 Invasion of Off a ; the Northmen . . . .27 Laws of Hywel Dda . . . . . .28 Domesday notices . . . . . .29 The Lord-Marchers and their ecclesiastical policy . . 30 Appropriations . . . . . . .31 Elements in the suppression of the National Church . . 33 IV. — History to the Annexation. Process of bringing the Welsh Church into subjection to Can¬ terbury . . . . . . .35 b IV CONTENTS. Chap. Pahe Gilbert, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Godfrey . . . 86 Adam and his controversy about Kerry . . .87 Archbishop Baldwin’s Visitation; Owen Cyfeiliog . . 89 Appropriations of Reiner and his successors . . .40 Anian II, Controversy as to the privileges of the see . .41 ,, Grants of lands at St. Martin’s and Llandegla . 42 ,, Controversies as to the patronage and limits of the see 43 ,, In disfavour with Edward I ; reconciled . . 46 ,, Annexation of Wales . . . .43 Archbishop Beckham’s Visitation and Injunctions . . 48 V.—After the Annexation. Early assumption of the Royal Prerogative . . .51 Transfer of the advowson of the Cathedral . . .52 Disregard of its ancient liberties . . . .53 Taxatio of Pope Nicholas, a.d. 1291 . . . .54 Edward I exacts further supplies from the Clergy . . 57 Excommunication of Madoc ap Llewelyn . . .58 Bishop Llewelyn ap Ynyr’s Statutes . . . .59 Controversies relating to the goods of Intestates . . 59 ,, ,, advowson of Northop . . 60 ,, ,, certain auxilia or supplies . . 60 Bishop David ap Bleddyn’s episcopate; Llyfr Cocli . . 61 Papal provision . . . . . .61 Dispute as to custody of the Temporalities; appointment to the Deanery . . . . . . .63 Bishops Llewelyn ap Madoc and Spridlington . . 63 Dispute about the advowson of Llanasa . . .64 The Spiritualities of the See a.d. 1389 . . .64 VI. —The Pre-Deformation Period. Bishop John Trevor II and Owen Glyndwr . . .65 Bishops Knight and Redman . . . . .68 Church restoration . . . . , .69 Tendencies towards the Reformation . . . .69 Mutual jealousies of the Religious Orders . . .69 Their riches, and proposal to confiscate them . . .70 Translation of the Holy Scriptures; printing . . . 71 Bishops Pecock and Standish . . . . .70 Transfer of the Supremacy from the Pope to the King . 72 Declaration of the Dean and Chapter . . . .73 Religious literature of the period . . . .75 Character of the popular religion . . . .76 CONTENTS. V CnAP. Page VII. —The Reformation. Valor Ecclesiasticus, 26 Henry VIII . . .78 Dissolution of Monasteries . . . . .81 The Reformation under Edward VI. William Salesbury . 88 ,, ,, Mary . . . .83 ,, ,, Elizabeth . . . .84 Diocesan Return a.d. 1560 . . . . .85 Diocesan Synod at St. Asaph a.d. 1561 . . . 86 Translation of the New Testament into Welsh . . 87 „ ,, Old Testament by Dr. William Morgan 88 Case of Bishop Hughes . . . . .91 Bishop Morgan’s episcopate . . . . .93 Synod at St. Asaph a.d. 1601 ; Church services . . 93 VT II. —The Commonwealth. Origin of Puritanism; John Pcnry . . . .95 State of the Diocese a.d. 1633 ; Archbishop Laud . . 98 Abolition of Episcopacy and sale of episcopal lands . 99 Committees for Propagation of the Gospel in Wales and Sequestration . . . . . .101 Deprivation of the Episcopal Clergy and their hardships . 103 Rise of Quakerism ...... 105 The Act of Uniformity, its effects . . . .106 Analysis of the ejected Ministers .... 108 The Five Mile Act ...... 109 IX.—From the Restoration to the Revolution. Bishop George Griffith ..... 110 ,, Barrow; Union of sinecure rectories to vicarages . 112 ,, Lloyd ...... 114 ,, ,, Conference at Llanfyllin with the Quakers . 115 ,, ,, ,, Oswestry with the Presbyterians 117 ,, ,, Diocesan Returns . . . .118 ,, ,, Lawsuits concerning the advowson of Llanu- wchlyn . . . . .119 ,, ,, Letters to Archbishop Sancroft on the state of the diocese ..... 119 ,, ,, Synod at St. Asaph a.d. 1683 . . 122 ,, ,, Committal to the Tower as one of the seven Bishops . . . . .124 Accession of William III and Mary . . . .124 CONTENTS. vi Chap. Page X. —Effects of the Revolution. The Non-Jurors; the policy of William . . . 126 Bishop Jones, his offences and deprivation . . . 127 Bishop Beveridge, Queen Anne’s Bounty founded . . 129 Bishop Fleetwood; abolition of mortuaries . . . 130 ,, ,, Charge, a.d. 1710 . . . 131 Dissatisfaction of the Welsh Clergy; Dr. Sacheverell . 132 Summary of Rural Deans’ Reports, a.d. 1729 . . 133 Ditto, a.d. 1749 . . . . . .135 XI.— Dissent and Methodism. Distinction between the two .... 137 Dissent, or the earlier Nonconformity . . . 138 Its statistics for a.d. 1715 and 1742 .... 139 Methodism, its rise and progress .... 140 Griffith Jones, Harries, Rowlands, Charles, Lloyd . . 141 Ordination of Lay-Preachers in 1811, and separation from the Church . . . . . .145 Attitude of the Clergy ..... 146 Religious Census of a.d. 1851 analysed . . . 147 The strength and weakness of Dissent . . . 149 XII.—Present State of the Diocese. Improvement during the present century . . . 152 Nepotism and sinecures ..... 153 Episcopal, Plurality, and Cathedral Bills . . . 153 Commutation of Tithes ..... 154 Proposed union of the two North Wales Sees . . 154 The St. Asaph Petition ..... 154 The proposal annulled . . . . .156 The Ecclesiastical Commissioners .... 156 Transfer of patronage ..... 157 Territorial changes . . . . . .158 Redistribution of Endowments . . . .159 Formation of new Parishes . . . . .159 Building of new Churches, Schools, and Parsonages . 159 Spiritual condition and prospects . . . .162 Statistics for a.d. 1869 ..... 164 THE DIOCESE OF ST. ASAPH. CHAPTEK I. THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. Legendary character of the accounts; substratum of truth.—Kentigern founds a monastery; is succeeded by Asaph.—The diocese formed; its limits; relative antiquity of its different classes of parishes; style of its earliest churches. The story of the foundation of this see has been clothed by the biographers of the Saints of the Middle Ages in a motley dress of tradition and legend, of fact and fiction. This arose partly from ignorance, partly from design. When the invocation of saints and a veneration for relics began to be introduced, chiefly through the influence of the foreign religious orders that crept into the country about the end of the eleventh century, it became their common custom to appropriate into their own calendar the founders and saints of the native British Church, and to recast their histories in accordance with their own views. In doing this they sometimes fell into curious mistakes, that alike fed, and fed upon, the credulity of the age. Words which in their original use were simple and appropriate, became, through a misappre¬ hension of their meaning, the groundwork of strange and mira¬ culous legends which betray their Latin origin. Thus “aper,” the old form of “ aber,” which means “ the confluence” of two rivers, and describes very suitably the situation of St. Asaph, near the junction of the Clwyd and Elwy, was mistaken for the similar Latin word, and made out to be a “ boar ” that led Kentigern to choose that site ; and so too the “ tanwydd,” i.e. fire- B 2 THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. wood, which Asaph is said to have once borne to his shivering master, by being mistranslated into “vivi” and “ardentes car- bones,” was held to establish the saintly character of the disciple, becanse it left no mark or smell of fire upon his clothes. 1 Mis¬ takes like these, and others where figurative expressions were taken literally, have overlaid the simple facts of the history with much that is fabulous, but a little gentle criticism may help us to pierce through this outer crust to the underlying substratum of truth. 2 The first founder of a religious establishment at Llanelwy, “the Church on the Elwy,” by which name St. Asaph was known until about the beginning of the twelfth century, is uni¬ versally admitted to have been one Cyndeyrn (Latinised into Kentigernus, whence the English form Kentigern), the exiled bishop of the Northern Britons inhabiting Strath Clyde. Forced by the dissensions of his countrymen to quit his northern see about a.d. 560, he is stated to have bent his steps southwards to Menevia (Mynyw), a place just then become famous as the epis¬ copal seat of St. David (Dewi). Such a visit accords well with the probability of circumstances, and is readily accounted for by the great reputation of St. David, and by the oneness in race and creed of the Britons in the North and West. The next step was to head a mission into Ystrad Clwyd; a name which, from its exact 1 Acta Sanctorum, Maii, tom. i, p. 82; Antverpise, 1680. De S. Asapho. 2 Thus, for instance, in the legendary life of St. Winifred, composed by Robert of Salop about the middle of the twelfth century, when her body was translated from Gwytherin to the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrews¬ bury, we find two distinct elements combined,—the history of the saint, and the myth of the well. In the one we see Gwen frewi (Guenvrea, Wenefreda, or Winifred) represented as the daughter of Thewith, the lord of those parts, and building a church under the auspices of her uncle Beuno, first at Holy- well, and afterwards a similar one at Gwytherin; in which we may recognise the connexion of Holywell with Whitford as a daughter church. (“ Ecclesia S. Wenifrede fil. Thewith = Chwith-freti.”) In the other, Gwen ffrwd (the foaming stream) appears as the daughter of GwenZo (wlaw), the pouring rain, and as owing its origin to the pursuit of a son of the neighbouring Alyn ; thus crystallising the early belief that it was but the outlet of an under¬ ground current from the river Alyn, which partially disappears for a portion of its course at Hesp Alyn, near Mold ; and that it reappeared here, convert¬ ing the dry dingle ( Sychnant ) into a well-watered valley. TIIE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. 3 correspondence with that of the region whence he had come, would, if of earlier date, supply a special reason for his choice, and which, if subsequently given, may serve in its degree to corroborate that event. It was in the northern end of the vale that Kentigern pro¬ ceeded to establish his collegium or monastery; and it may be regarded as a mark of the substantial accuracy of the main facts, that he is said to have done this under the protection of a king of Powys; for whilst the rest of the Yale of Clwyd belonged, according to the earliest known divisions of the country, to the province of Gwynedd, this portion formed part of that of Powys, and sharing its subsequent disintegration, was included, in the “ Domesday Survey,” in the earldom of Chester, and was reckoned in the “Valor Ecclesiasticus” of Henry VIII, as falling within the lordship of Chirk. Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, whose prin¬ cipal residence was the neighbouring castle of Dyganwy on the eastern bank of the Conway, took great offence at Kentigern, for having given sanctuary to one of his retainers and refusing to deliver him up, and threatened to take vengeance upon him; instead, however, of carrying out his threat, he appears to have been won over to a better mind, 1 and to have confirmed Kenti¬ gern in his privileges, and afterwards, when he had become Sove¬ reign of the whole country, to have endowed his institution with a generous hand. The district lying between Dyganwy and Llanelwy has formed, from the earliest historical period, a main source of income to the bishop and chapter, and in an old book, existing in London in 1256, and relating to the privileges of the see and the grants made to Kentigern and his successors, although the names of the places were probably quoted as they were then known, still they very consistently lie within that dis¬ trict, where we should under the circumstances expect them to have been assigned. 2 This Maelgwn was a great warrior, and is described in the Welsh Chronicles as sagacious, bold, and vigor¬ ous, and the subduer of many kings; but he appears to have been cruel withal and somewhat superstitious. In his later 1 Such is apparently the true meaning* of the story of his blindness and miraculous cure. (Llyfr Coch.) 2 LlyJ'r Cocli, p. 117; Browne Willis, Appendix I. 4 THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. years, in remorse for the sins of his past life, he is said to have formed a resolution of retiring from the world, and though he did not carry it out, he became a great patron and promoter of Christianity among his subjects, as is testified not only by his conduct towards Kentigern, but also by his founding the sister see of Bangor, and the religious houses of Penmon and Caergybi; besides which, many mother churches in different districts of the country, such as Horthop, Hawarden, Llanymawddwy, &c., date back their foundation to this era. We are not, indeed, to impute to this period the introduction of Christianity; the history of the British Church, and especially the story of the Pelagian heresy, the mission of Germanus and Lupus, the grateful remem¬ brance of Cadvan, Mael, and other Armorican missionaries, the dedication of Maelgwn’s own church at Llanrhos in the name of Hilary, and the Legend of St. Winifred, in some of its aspects, all bespeak an earlier evangelization; but a more systematic attempt was now made to revive it, and make it more completely a national faith. Under its new auspices, the institution founded by Kentigern soon attained a high repute. Partaking of the nature of a missionary colony, something like the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa, and combining in its scheme not only the offices of religion, but also the several duties of education, husbandry, and handicraft, it drew together a large number of members. The privilege of sanctuary too, which extended a mile each way in length and breadth, was an additional attraction. To all of which must be added the much dreaded advance of the pagan Anglo- Saxons, bearing, as they did, fire and sword in their train, and ever driving the Britons before them to seek for safety among the mountains of the West. Those of the members who had to con¬ duct Divine Worship are said, as at Bangor-is-coed,to have had the twenty-four hours so allotted among them that some were always engaged in the performance of religious service; after the model of King David’s distribution of the priests into four-and-twenty courses for the worship of the Tabernacle. Besides this they would follow the common practice of the Church at the time, and extend their missionary labours over the surrounding district, either setting up a cross to mark their stations, or else taking THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. 5 advantage of the periodical gatherings of the people at the Wells, which they gradually appropriated to Christian uses ; until the liberality of individuals or the increasing wealth of the Church, enabled them to erect capellse near the spots, the prototypes in character and purpose of the chapels of ease, and of the school and mission churches of our own day. The ablest and most popular of Kentigern’s disciples was one Asaph or Asa, already mentioned, a native of North Wales, and a man of eminent virtue and piety, who, on the recall of his master to resume the charge of his old flock in Strath Clyde, where peace was now restored, was appointed to succeed him. The many places in Tegengl that bear his name, such as Llan- asa (his church), Ffynnon Asa (his well), Onen Asa (his ash), Pantasa (his hollow), all combine to point out that region as his native place; and the old legend that pointed out, until late years, a spot in the High Street at St. Asaph as the impression of the hoof of the saint’s horse, when he leapt thither from Onen Asa, seems but another version of the same idea. He was appa¬ rently a great benefactor of the see, and judging from the reve¬ rence in which his memory came to be held, must be regarded as one of its greatest ornaments, if not its first prelate. Indeed, I am strongly inclined to think that it was in his time that the monastery was elevated into a cathedral foundation; for it could not have been without some strong reason of the kind that his name, to the exclusion of that of Kentigern, was afterwards given to the cathedral city; and that the bishops, who for a long period were styled “ Elvenses,” came subsequently to be entitled “Asaphenses.” His being a native, too, would naturally incline Maelgwn Gwynedd to grant this privilege to him rather than to a stranger; whilst the fact of Kentigern being a bishop by virtue of his previous consecration, and therefore a bishop in Llanelwy, would sufficiently account for his being commonly regarded as the first bishop of Llanelwy. This change, whenever it took place, was a simple and natural one. The abbot of the monastery would become the bishop of the diocese; the other members, or canons, would still perform the same duties, as precentor, treasurer, chancellor, sacristan, etc., respectively; to whom woidd then be added the archdeacon and 6 THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. the chancellor of the diocese, as representing the new or diocesan element. The office of dean was added afterwards. The surround¬ ing and dependent capellce would he served as before, only that as converts multiplied, vicarii or resident substitutes would be put in charge of them ; whilst the original personce, parsons or rectors, would continue in residence in the collegium, and be denominated respectively, according to their connexion with the capellce or the cathedral, ccipellani or canons, as living by canon or rule. The limits of the diocese seem to have been originally com¬ mensurate with those of Powys. Maelgwn having, when king of Gwynedd, erected Bangor into an episcopal see, and assigned to its jurisdiction the province then under his sway, appears, after his elevation to the sovereignty of the whole country, to have assigned to the new see of Llanelwy the rest of his dominions in North Wales ; that is to say, the province of Powys, the extent of which was at that time much greater than after the incursions of the Lords Marchers. “ Peaching as far as Pulford Bridge, near Chester, and then stretching in a straight line from the Broxton Hills southerly to Pengwern Powys or Shrewsbury, Powysland, says Pennant, 1 included a large tract of both these counties (Cheshire and Shropshire); and from thence, again, through the eastern limits of Montgomeryshire, comprehended all that county, a part of Radnorshire and Brecknockshire.” This explains many difficulties in the after history of the see, such as Bishop Adam’s claim of jurisdiction over Kerry in 1175; Bishop Anian’s con¬ troversy with the Bishop of Hereford concerning the jurisdiction of Gorddwr, c. 1282; the early dependence of Llanfihangel-yn- Nghentyn (Alberbmy) upon Meifod; and the interlacing of this diocese with that of Chester, or, as it was occasionally called, Lichfield or Coventry; of each of which matters we shall have to speak more fully hereafter. Professor Rees, in his Essay on the Welsh Saints, 2 has well pointed out “ that the churches were at first few, and the parishes” (if we may apply the term to the surrounding districts which 1 Tour in Wales, 1778, p. 206. 2 Section 1, “ On the comparative Antiquity of the Foundation of Churches and Chapels in Wales.” THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. 7 tlie clergy took under their charge, as we have already observed in the case of Llanelwy) “very extensive”; co-extensive, probably, with the existing civil divisions or lordships ; and that the in¬ equalities, which sometimes marked the formation of new parishes out of them, were the results of the feuds that so often arose out of the distribution of the patrimony according to the law of gavelkind;—a law which ordained that the sons should inherit the father’s property in equal proportions. By pursuing the sub¬ ject a little further, we shall find many interesting particulars naturally suggesting themselves, and throwing much light on the Church growth of the period, and the mode and character of its subsequent extension. We will take as specimens a few of the oldest mother churches in the diocese, Meifod, Llanrhaiadr- yn-Mochnant, Oswestry, Dinerth (Llandrillo-yn-Rhos). First we find that very wide districts were originally included under their charge ; and that long after capellce had been built in their distant parts, and constituted into distinct cures with parishes of their own, they still acknowledged, by some kind of service or due, their former connexion with the mother church. Thus, in the grant made by Bishop Hugh, in 1239, of tithes in Llan- fair Caereinion to the Nuns of Llanllugan, a reservation was made of those which were due to himself as rector of Meifod and in an agreement, made in 1265, between Adam ap Meuric, rector of Meifod, and the rector of Llanfihangel (Alberbury), a consider¬ able portion at least of the latter parish, as well as of Guilsfield, are shewn to have been subject to the same mother church. 3 Llanrliaiadr embraced a very wide tract of country, and in the Taxatio of 1291 has Llangedwyn, Llanarmon, Bettws (Llanwddyn), and Llangadwaladr, included as chapelries under it. Oswestry, according to Eyton, 3 was the mother church of the whole district extending from the Severn to the Ceiriog. Dinerth long pre¬ served a proof of its early jurisdiction, inasmuch as its rector and vicar received a portion of the tithes of the surrounding parishes of Llanelian, Llansaintffraid, Llanrhos, and Llysfaen; in each of which it was the custom, until about the end of the last century, 1 Llyfr Coch, p. 29; B. Willis, App. iii. 2 Ibid., p. 27. 3 Antiquities of Shropshire , vol. x, Oswestry. 8 THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. for the vicar to preach two or four sermons annually ; instead of which a money acknowledgment has since been substituted. These churches, consecrated with prayer and fasting, adopted the existing name of the place where they were built,—a name evi¬ dently derived from some local circumstance,—either with or without the prefix “ Llan,” as Llanrhaiadr, Corwen, Llangwm. 1 The cctgiellce, on the other hand, received the name either of the founder by whose munificence they were erected, or of the mis¬ sionary by whose influence the district was evangelized; e. g., Llandrillo, Llangedwyn, Llandrinio, etc. Under this class also, though of later foundation, and bespeaking a period when canon¬ ization had become the rule, may be enumerated those which were dedicated in the names of favourite saints historically or locally connected with them, such as Garmon, Hilary, Asaph, Tysilio, Beuno, Winifred, Efraid or Bridget. Of those dedicated in the name of Scripture saints, some are probably coeval with, or possibly even earlier than, the last series; but the majority are only re-dedications of earlier foundations, as Llan-Eurgain to St. Peter, Abergele to St. Michael, Meifod, Oswestry, Welshpool, and others, to St. Mary. Churches dedicated in the name of St. Mary are most numerous in those parts which, like Tegengl, fell early under the English sway; and wherever the Cistercians had influence, it was their common practice to introduce her name. In some instances the earlier names have been handed down side by side with these, in connexion with the “ gwyl mab- sant” ( vigilice ) or wake, and the fair or other gathering that con¬ tinued to be held upon it. In others they have survived in con¬ nexion with the holy well where the first missionary baptised his converts, and whence succeeding ages religiously bore the water for baptism in the church. Occasionally, too, a cell or oratory has kept alive, through many vicissitudes, the remembrance of an early, if not the earliest, evangelist of the place, as those of Gwyddfarch at Meifod, and of Trillo in Bhos. The latter is speci¬ ally interesting from being, as far at least as this diocese is con¬ cerned, a unique specimen of those primitive oratories which 1 This term, which signifies primarily a yard or enclosure, is common as a suffix, e. g, “corlan,” “ gwinllan,” “perllan,” “ydlan”; but when applied to a church is always prefixed. THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. 9 formed the type of the earliest British churches. It is situated on the shore, to the north-east of Llandrillo Church, and is in form a parallelogram, about fifteen feet long by eight wide, the east end and both sides being pierced with small loopholes or lancets. The roof is vaulted, and consists of small stones. Its entrance is at the west end, and at the east there is a perennial spring. The whole has at one time been surrounded with a wall. 1 The following brief extracts from the Lectures of the most eminent of living architects 2 cannot fail to be interesting in con¬ nexion with the present subject, and will serve as an appropriate conclusion to this chapter. In tracing out the early styles of architecture in this country, he “looks mainly to Ireland for relics of the early modes of building among the British races, for there may still be found remains two centuries earlier than any left by the Anglo-Saxons....These remains are mainly of three classes : the cells and other domestic buildings of the monks, the oratories and churches, and the round towers. The former class are of the rudest and most ascetic description, and seem to be founded on the customary dwellings of the pagan inhabitants. The monks evidently eschewed all pretensions to personal com¬ fort, and took up at once with the scale of dwelling common among their flocks. They lived in stone huts built without mor¬ tar, and vaulted over; more like ovens than human habitations, and so small as only to be sufficient for one person. The cells of the monks differed but little from this, excepting in being quadrangular within, though round or oval without. The earlier oratories seem frequently to have been a development of the con¬ struction of these cells, ‘built of uncemented stones admirably fitted to each other, and their lateral walls converging from the base to their apex in curved lines.’ The early Irish churches are of two very simple types, being either oblong, with a door at the west, and a window at the east end,—a mere development, with upright walls, of the oratories just described; or a double oblong forming a nave and chancel, and united by a chancel-arch,—the distinct prototypes of the simplest forms of an English church. 1 For Cornish oratories, compare Blight on The Churches of West Cornwall, and Collins Trelawny on Perranzabuloe. 2 G. Gilbert Scott, Royal Academy Lectures for 1868. C 10 THE ORIGIN OF THE SEE. The one doorway is always west, and one of the windows to the east, though side-windows are also introduced,—all apparently without glass...In the smaller churches the roofs were frequently formed of stone, hut in the larger ones were always of wood. The apsidal termination is, I believe, wholly unknown in these churches; and it would appear from this fact, that the square end of the majority of English chancels is a tradition from the ancient British churches; the apse, which so frequently made its appearance, and was again so frequently removed, being a foreign importation, against which the national feeling rebelled, as op¬ posed to the local tradition.” 11 CHAPTEB II. THE BRITISH CHURCH. Its early foundation.—Connexion with that of Gaul.—Its constitution; Bishops, Clergy, endowments.—Connexion of Church and State.—Dis¬ tinctive customs.— Mode of administering Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.—Observance of Easter.—Tonsure and other personal character¬ istics.—Non-celibacy. — Monasteries.— Nunneries.— Liturgy. —“ Cym- morthau.”—Customs at wells. In order to give an account of the native Church as it existed at and from the period with which this history commences, there is happily no need to enter into the vexed questions as to when and by whom Christianity was first introduced into Great Britain. Whether it was by St. James or Simon Zelotes, Joseph of Arima- thea or Aristobulus, St. Paul or St. Peter, or even whether it was by any or by none of these, need not now affect us. It is enough that at the end of the second century, as Tertullian testifies, “ regions of Britain, inaccessible to the Romans, were subdued to Christ”; 1 that fromA.D. 386-400 we have abundant evidence from St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, and Sozomen, that there was here “ a settled Church, with churches, altars, Scriptures, discipline, holding the Catholic faith, and having intercourse with Rome and Palestine”; 2 and that a.d. 602 or 603, during the lifetime of Kentigern, the British Bishops, in their conference with Augus¬ tine, asserted the independence of their Church, resisting his assumed supremacy on national rather than doctrinal grounds. Indeed, their faith was one, for the Roman terminology had not 1 “ Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita.”— Tertull. adv. Judceos , c. 7. 2 Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. i, p. 10. 12 THE BRITISH CHURCH. then developed into its later signification ; x but they were resolved not to surrender at his dictation their own rites and customs, which they held to be as truly apostolical as those with which he wished to supplant them. The direct intercourse which existed between the Churches of Britain and Rome during the early and middle portions of the Roman occupation, seems to have almost died out before the close of that period, and to have been succeeded by a more close and intimate connexion between the Churches of Britain and Gaul. Thus, for instance, British bishops attended the Council of Arles, summoned in 314 to suppress the Donatist heresy: when Hilary, at the request of a Gallican synod, ’wrote his History of Synods, in 358, for their information as to the faith of the Eastern Churches, he dedicated it to the bishops of Britain, whom among others he congratulated on their steadfastness: on the occasion of the great Pelagian controversy, Germanus (Gar¬ mon), bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus (Bleiddyn), bishop of Troyes, were deputed by the Gallican Church to come over to the aid of the orthodox Britons: whilst the frequent occurrence of the names Germanus, Hilary, and Martin, in connexion with the dedication of churches, bears witness to their great influence and the honour in which their Church continued to be held. And here, perhaps, we may add, as a sort of appended link, that band of Armorican Britons who, like Cadvan,Tydecho,Mael, and Sulien, being hard pressed at home by the advancing hosts of Clovis, c. 1 E. g. Gregory the Great refused to be called “ Universal Bishop ,” and denounced the notion it conveyed as antichristian. The title of “Pope” was at this time, and according to some writers continued to be as late as the tenth century, common to all bishops. The title of “Saint” was in early times given to mark a man’s orthodoxy, or the acceptance of his writings by the Church, in contradistinction to those of heretics, and had quite a diffe¬ rent significance from what it acquired after the adoption of the system of canonisation in the tenth century. The term “ Mass,” which originally meant the dismission of a Church assembly, came by degrees to be used for an assembly and for Church service. Then, from signifying Church service in general, it came to denote the Communion Service in particular; and when applied to this, it assumed a very different meaning after the adoption of the doctrine of transubstantiation, c. 1000 a.d., from that which pertained to it in earlier times.—Hook’s Archbishops, i, 25. THE BRITISH CHURCH. 13 A.D. 510, sought refuge here, and became the founders of not a few of the churches in this diocese. It has been said, indeed, that the British Church was not episcopal hut presbyterian in form; hut this is opposed to the whole tenor of historical evidence, and is to he attributed partly to the unwillingness of a later age to acknowledge it as a branch of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and partly to a desire to find in it the type of a system of Church government that is not known to have had any actual existence before the sixteenth century. The mistake seems to have arisen from the fact of a difference having prevailed in the mode of ordaining bishops in the Boman and British Churches, the refusal of the former to acknowledge the validity of the British orders, and the conduct of Wilfrid in the matter. But surely, to take no higher ground, a point of such primary importance as the orders of the Christian ministry would never, if faulty, have been passed over unnoticed by such a man as Augustine; nor would he have failed to require conformity in this respect less than in those far simpler ones, such as the particular mode of administering baptism, and the exact time of keeping Easter. There were, in fact, several bishops in Wales during this period; some of sees that have long since become extinct, such as Llanbadarn, Llanafan Fawr, and Margam; some also without sees, but presiding over monastic or educa¬ tional institutions ; l and, judging from the analogy of the Supe¬ riors of Iona and the Presbyter Abbots of Fulda in the Scotch Church, there may have been (though in the absence of direct evidence this has been doubted) bishops occupying a subordinate position in the greater monasteries, discharging episcopal func¬ tions, such as confirmation and ordination, but without episcopal jurisdiction. The bishops were at first freely elected by their own clergy and laity, and were consecrated by one of their own order; but that there was any metropolitanship or archiepiscopate, by which one see enjoyed authority over the rest, seems more than doubtful. Indeed, the claim of St. David’s to that dignity, advanced in the twelfth century with so much force by Bishop Bernard and by 1 Councils ancl Ecclcs. Documents, vol. i, p. 112. 14 THE BRITISH CHURCH. Giraldus Cambrensis, is stated, on very high authority, to have been put forward in the hope of gaining freedom from Canter¬ bury, and from English nominees to Welsh bishoprics. 1 As the parishes were at first of great extent, and sparsely inhabited, the clergy lived together, in a simple and homely manner, in a collegium or monasterium 2 near the principal church ; and as the rule of celibacy was never admitted in the British Church, their wives lived with them. Their support was derived, in the first instance, from the free-will offerings of the people; and these took a more systematic form as converts became more numerous, and the obligations of religion, as well as its benefits, better understood. Particular kinds of produce, varying in dif¬ ferent localities, were after a time voluntarily taxed or tithed, either for the parish in general or for some particular portion of it. The lords of the soil, again, and especially the founders of new or district churches, would settle some special portion as an endowment, to secure in perpetuity the services of religion for those places in which they felt so deep an interest. Besides which it became a not unusual practice to make a gift or rent- charge, by way of perpetual provision, for some member of the donor’s family; in fact, of securing a sort of advowson ( advocci - tionem ) for their heirs. Hence we have Ciraldus complaining that in his day “ their churches have almost as many parsons and parties as there are principal men in the parish: the sons, after the decease of their fathers, succeed to the eccle¬ siastical benefices, not by election, but by hereditary right, 3 pos¬ sessing and polluting the sanctuary of Cod; and if a prelate should by chance presume to appoint or institute any other per¬ son, the people would certainly revenge the injury upon the institutor and the instituted.” These different kinds of endow¬ ments appear in the Taxatio of 1291 as portiones. Many of them being very small were afterwards united, and in the late Act for the Commutation of Tithes they were finally lost sight of; but 1 Councils and Eccles. Documents, i, p. 149. 2 A collection, at first, of the rude and simple cells or huts described at p. 9. 3 A similar custom prevailed in Armorica (Britany), and until the present year something very like it in Russia. TIIE BRITISH CHURCH. 15 in the old terriers we find abundant traces of their original nature and purpose. Thus we meet with “ moduses” of endless variety, and such significant expressions as “ blith y ddafad,” for the par¬ son’s lactuals ; “ ceirch march y person,” oats for the parson’s horse ; “ ysgub y gloch,” the clerk’s, or literally the bellringer’s sheaf, etc. 1 2 It is only by bearing in mind this private endowment of the early Church, and the various conditions under which the parishes were formed, that we are able to account for the many anomalies which are quite inexplicable on the theory that it was endowed by the State. To protect endowments privately made, or even to add to them, is a very different thing from having been the original donor, as is acknowledged in the case of all modern endowments. This distinction is further exemplified in the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction of the bishops. As the extent of the sees generally coincided with existing civil divi¬ sions, so for the enjoyment of the temporalities attached to them, whether in the form of lands or of civil immunities and privi¬ leges, it was necessary to obtain the king’s sanction or confirma¬ tion. “ In Hywel Dda’s Laws the great principle of the union between Church and State is declared in the duty of the sword to protect the pastoral staff.” 3 It appears, moreover, that the bishop and abbot, as well as the king, had their own independent tribunals, called ‘ Prerogative Courts,’ where they were enabled to guard against encroachments upon the rights and honours with which their respective establishments were invested. 3 Never¬ theless the special supremacy of the king is distinctly acknow¬ ledged. To the king belongs the land of all the kingdom.” 4 All holders of Church property were accordingly required, on the accession of a new king, to prove before him their privileges and immunities in order to have them confirmed. 5 If they did not 1 Pennant Melangell Register. 2 “Gladius pediun pastorale protegere debet.”—Wotton's Leges Wallicce , ii, 28. 3 “ Tres sunt curiae prerogativae, curia regis, curia episcopi, et curia abba- tis. Unusquisque enim horum trium curiam auctoritate propria tenere po¬ test.”— Ibid, iv, 141. 4 Ibid, iv, 126. 5 Ibid, ii, 8, 16 THE BRITISH CHURCH. .fulfil the conditions of their tenure the sovereign had power to dispossess them. Those conditions consisted, for the most part, either of rents, services, duties, mulcts, or attendances, of various degrees. 1 There were some dignitaries, however, who were totally exempt from all save that ordinary homage which they owed in common with every other subject. Thus the Church of Menevia (St. David’s) is declared in Hywel’s code to he entirely free. 2 But though the king could deprive bishops and abbots of their temporalities, in case they fell short in their due allegiance, he might not alienate those rights from the institutions to which they had been originally granted, without incurring the awful censures of the Church ; 3 and whilst the Church was protected in her rights by the civil ruler, his authority was conferred upon him, through the representatives of Christ, in his consecration. The affairs of the nation were hallowed by the Church, and trans¬ acted under her guidance and sanction. Hywel Dda would not revise the laws without the aid of a proportion of the clergy, “ lest the laity should enact anything that was contrary to the Holy Scripture”; 4 and in complete accord with this we have, on the part of the clergy, their traditional reply to the proposals of Augustine: “ Noluerunt Monaclii Bangorenses” (as Whelock puts it in his edition of Bede, p. 114) “absque suorum consensu ac licentia, imo ut rex Aluredus prseclare insinuavit, absque siue gentis et senatorum imprimis suffragio, ab antiquis Ecclesise Bri- tannicse ritibus discedere.” What those ancient rites and customs were must be our next inquiry. When Augustine came to this country, he found the same rites used here, as he had observed in Gaul, and remarked upon them as differing in many respects from those of his own Church. Thus, in writing to Gregory for instructions, he asks, 1 One of the most universal tokens of subjection appears to have been the obediw, which was a sum of money, or portion of goods, paid to the lord upon the death of a tenant. “ Bona mortui episcopi omnia regi addicentur, excep- tis vestimentis et jocalibus, cseterisque ad ecclesiam pertinentibus.”— Ibid. ii, 13, and iv, 141. 2 “ Menevia libera est ab otnni servitio.”—Lib. ii, ch. 9. 3 Liber Landavensis, passim ; also Llyfr Cuch. 4 Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Cymry, pp. 179, 180. THE BRITISH CHURCH. 17 “ Why is one manner of celebrating the Holy Communion used in the holy Boman Church, and another in that of the Gauls ? ” and in his conference with the British bishops, he alludes to many other diversities, and specifies two. “ You act in many particulars contrary to our customs, or rather to the customs of the Universal Church, and yet if you will comply with me in these three points, viz., to keep Easter at the due time ; to per¬ form the administration of baptism, by which we are born again to God, according to the custom of the Holy Boman and Apos¬ tolic Church ; and jointly with us to preach the Word of God to the nation of the Angles, we will readily tolerate all your other customs though contrary to our own.” What the exact differ¬ ences were in the mode of administering baptism, 1 2 and the Lord’s Supper, 3 we are not told; but the Easter dispute arose, curiously enough, from a too close following of an earlier Boman cycle. The Britons were not, as some persons have supposed, Quartodecimans. 3 We have the authority of the Emperor Con¬ stantine himself for saying that they, as well as other nations, observed Easter as the Council of Mce directed. 4 Erorn this Council, to which they gave express assent, down to the middle of the fifth century, they followed the Western Church, and the Western Church followed Borne, in its gradual, practical diverg¬ ence from that of Alexandria and the East, arising mainly from the use of different cycles. The Britons, in fact, adhered to the 1 “ Single as opposed to trine immersion seems to be the most probable solution ; that it was the omission of Chrism (true of the later Irish Church) or of Confirmation, is negatived by the mention of both in St. Patrick’s Epist. ad Coroticum.” —Haddan and Stubbs’ Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents , vol. i, p. 153. 2 “ A multiplicity of Collects is the only point specified (viz. by Agrestius against Eustasius at the Council of Macon, a.d. 624 or 627); and this refers directly to the Scottish or Columban liturgy, which, however, was probably the British, or one closely akin to it. That it was the use of azyms (accord¬ ing to Dollinger), the Church of Rome using at the time leavened bread, appears to be a mere conjecture founded on the undoubted prevalence of that custom in the West, including England, at a later time.”— Councils and Eccles. Doc., i, 154, and note. 3 The Quartodecimans, in the second century, kept Easter according to the Jewish Passover, whether falling on Sunday or not. 4 Euseb. de Vita Constant., lib. iii, c. 19. D 18 THE BRITISH CHURCH. eighty-four years cycle, attributed to Sulpicius Severn s ; but which had been supplanted successively at Rome itself by the five hundred and thirty-two years cycle of Victor Aquitan, a.d. 457, and by that of nineteen years of Dionysius Exiguus, a.d. 525. These changes had been adopted in order to bring the Roman reckoning into harmony with the correcter Alexandrian, and were now rejected by the Britons, who clung to that which had been Roman, but which Rome herself had learned to give up.” 1 Elvod, styled Archbishop of Bangor, a title assumed, according to some authorities, by virtue of the titular sovereignty of Aberffraw, within his diocese over the other provinces of Wales, but accord¬ ing to others, given to him by the Pope for his endeavours to settle the Easter question, tried in the latter part of the eighth century to introduce the Roman cycle, but the other bishops did not con¬ cur therein, and “ on his death in 809 there was a great tumult among the ecclesiastics on account of the same question; for the bishops of Llandaff and Menevia would not succumb to the Arch¬ bishop of Gwynedd, being themselves archbishops of older privi¬ lege.” 2 3 How soon after this the Roman computation was adopted does not appear, but it was probably during the century. Of the other customs above alluded to, some, no doubt, referred to the dress and personal bearing of the clergy, and were such as we find speci¬ fied by Archbishop Peckham in his Letter of Injunctions* to Bishop Anian in 1284, in which he requires the latter to bring his clergy to conformity with their brethren in other churches : “ Ordinantes ut de cetero clerici vestrse diocesis in habitu et ornatu, in gestu et affatu ceteris per orbem clericis se conforment; ut unius cum aliis appareant honestatis; ut nec coma prolixior, nec strictior corona, nec locutionis impetus nec linguae literalis inopia, nec radiatae chlamydis aut vestis insolentia, nec capitis aut pedum aut tibi- arum nuditas, ipsos signac ulo vel not a derisibili faciat ab aliis discrepare.” From which we see that even in those simple and primitive days, clerical attire, the cutting of the hair and the shape and colour of the coat, were as much an object of contro¬ versy as in our own times. The “ tonsure,” we know, was a 1 Councils and Eccles. Doc., i, 152, 153. 2 Brut y Tywysoyion, sub aim. 755 et 809. 3 Browne Willis, ii, p. 39. Append. XV. T1IE BRITISH CHURCH. 19 notable party-emblem. “ The Eastern clergy were accustomed to shave the entire front of the head, leaving the hair on the hinder part untouched; and this, or a very similar custom, the British clergy followed whereas the Italians shaved their heads according to what they called the tonsure of St. Peter, which consisted of a circle of hair round the shorn head, supposed to represent the crown of thorns, and called therefore the coronal tonsure. So completely was this considered a party badge, that when Wilfrid left the Celtic party for the Italian, the first thing he did was to submit his head to the scissors of a Roman barber. 1 2 To such an extent could party feeling be carried in that age, as in our own, that the Italians accused their opponents of wearing the mark of Simon Magus.” 3 A later mark of diffe¬ rence, and one that led, in the course of time, to much bitter¬ ness of feeling and expression, was the celibacy of the clergy. Its obligation was never acknowledged by the British clergy, who, like those of the Greek, Armenian, and other branches, were allowed to marry. 4 Even in England it was not en¬ joined till the reign of Edgar, c. 975 A.D., when Dunstan intro¬ duced his modification of the Rule of St. Benedict. From this time, however, it became the fashion to call those who wished to retain their wives and parochial cures “ Seculars,” and those who cpiitted both to live after the constitution of the new order, “ Regulars.” Still it was long before the rule was generally accepted even there; for so late as 1108 a.d. we find Pope Pas¬ chal granting to Archbishop Anselm a dispensing power to admit the sons of clergymen to orders, on the remarkable ground that “ almost the greater and the better part of the English clergy” belonged to this class. 5 In the course of the controversy on the subject, the Regulars took to calling the wives of their opponents their “ concubines;” a circumstance it is most neces¬ sary to bear in mind as the key to such calumnies as that alleged 1 Cf. Gildce Epistola and “Coma prolixior, strictior corona.” Supra. 2 Eddi, c. 6. 3 Hook’s Archbishops, p. 15. 4 When an attempt was made ab extra to enforce it upon the clergy of Llandaff in 961, we are told that it resulted in a great disturbance; so that it was considered best to allow the matrimony of the priests .—Brut y Tyivyso - gion, 5 Robertson’s Church History, ii, p. 679. 20 THE BRITISH CHURCH. in the Injunctions of Archbishop Peckham, “ incontinentia^ vitium clerum yestrum ah antiquo macnlasse enormiter ultra modum,” as a ground for enforcing the celibate rule. A similar caution is necessary for a right estimate of the charge of “ incest ” else¬ where brought against the laics; as it was one that turned upon a list of prohibited degrees, accepted indeed by those who made the charge, but never acknowledged by those against whom it was brought. They marry, writes Giraldus Cambrensis, “in quarto gradu et quinto passim, in tertio quoque plerumque, quod non est honor Dei ante oculos.” We have already stated that it was the common practice of the clergy to live together near the mother church of their ■parish. In addition, however, to the collegium or monasterium of the regularly ordained clergy, there were also religious houses in which laymen who had received the tonsure, 1 lived together under special privileges 2 for the purposes of education and wor¬ ship, as well as for the cultivation of the useful and ornamental arts; such were Cor-Eurgain, Bangor-is-coed, Ty-Gwyn ar Daf, and many others described in Williams’s Ecclesiastical Antiqui¬ ties? There appear also to have been similar institutions for women; such, for instance, as the one founded by Winifred at Gwytlierin; and as the seventh century was the period during which female saints were said to be most numerous, we may con¬ clude that this was the time when nunneries 4 were most in repute. The British Liturgy, or mode of conducting Divine Worship, was one peculiar to Britain, and has already been stated to have differed from that in use in the Eoman Church, but to have been similar to that of Gaul, on the two important points of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; and as the latter Church has 1 The “ tonsure, down to the sixth century, took place at the time of enter¬ ing into holy orders ; but from that time was conferred without any admis¬ sion to orders, and instead of being “signum ordinis” was called “signurn destinationis ad ordinem.” 2 Wotton’s Leges Wallicce. Ssepe. 3 Chapter xiii. 4 The nunneries were not limited to single women, any more than the monasteries to single men. In 721 a Eoman council anathematised married nuns. The regular conventual life for women does not date earlier than the institution of St. Dominic, in the thirteenth century.—Walcot’s Sacred Archae¬ ology. THE BRITISH CHURCH. 21 been asserted to have derived its Liturgy primarily from the Exarchate of Ephesus, or of the Churches of Asia and Phrygia, 1 it may explain the prominence given to the Gospel of St. John in the British form of oath. A further illustration of the same connection is suggested by the title of the famous copy of the Gospels, 2 that once belonged to the Cathedral of Llanelwy and was held in the greatest veneration throughout this and the neighbouring dioceses down to the Eeformation, when it was lost; that title, under its many aspects, bearing a Greek rather than a Latin stamp. 3 The wise counsel given by Gregory to Augus¬ tine, “ to select from each church those things that were pious, religious, and correct, and to instil these when combined into a system, into the minds of the English for their use,” 4 accounts for the native element in the common substratum that underlies the uses of York, Bangor, Sarum and Hereford, and also supplies a clue to such peculiarities as the observance of the Festival of Trinity Sunday and the computation of the Sundays to Advent from it, and not, as in all offices of the Boman type, from Pen¬ tecost. 5 The Communion Service was distinguished for a multiplicity of Collects ; and that of Ordination, for the custom of anointing the hands of deacons, and anointing the hands and heads of bishops and priests. The Lessons of Scripture also used in the service were taken from a version distinct from any of the known ante- Hieronymian versions, and peculiar to the British Church. The bishops were consecrated by a single bishop, and they had a pecu¬ liar mode of consecrating churches and monasteries. 6 1 Palmer’s Origines Liturgicce, i, sect. 9. 2 Llyfr Coch. Perssepe. 8 Evengulthen,—Euaggulthen,—Evenegyllthen,—Ereuegilthes. 4 Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, i, p. 27. 5 Annotated Prayer Book, i, p. 114. “ It seems probable that this dis¬ tinctive ritual mark is a relic of the independent origin of the Church of England, similar to those peculiarities which were noticed by St. Augustine, and which were attributed by the ancient British bishops to some connexion with St. John. In this case it is at least significant that it was St. John through whom the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was most clearly revealed ; and also that the early Church of England appears never to have been infested by the heresies on this subject which troubled other portions of the Christian world.” 6 Councils and Eccles. Documents of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. i. App. D. 22 THE BRITISH CHURCH. One memorable trait lias been noted by Giraldns as eminently distinguishing the Britons, and deserves to be mentioned,—their great care for their poor: “ Nemo in hac gente mendicus, omnium enim liospitia omnibus sunt communia”; and again, “ De quolibet pane apposito primum fractionis angulum pauperibus donant”; 1 2 a characteristic which has its representative in the “ Cymmor- thau,” or gatherings to help one another in harvest time, at funerals and weddings, and on many other occasions. It is, however, in connexion with “ Wells” that the earliest customs of all have been handed down; for we have here traces of many heathenish and pre-Christian rites that have survived, it may be said, to our day the endless vicissitudes of civil and ecclesiastical change. The earliest Celtic inhabitants of the island brought over with them the patriarchal habits of a country and a climate in which “ wells of water” were esteemed among the most valuable of possessions ; and retained the customs of their fatherland under the altered aspects of their new home, just as our own friends still keep our Christmas in Australia and New Zealand. It was around these that the elders met to discuss the fortunes of their race, or to gossip about the news of the day. It was here the young men engaged with friendly rivalry in their national Olympics, “ Ypedwar Camp ar hugain.” It was here that old and young assembled periodically to “ drink sugar and water,” or join in some other emblematic act in token of a com¬ mon bond. It was here, too, that the Christian missionary often met the assembled multitudes, and preached to them the Word of Life. Here their first converts were baptised; and hence, after a church had been built, the water for holy Baptism long continued to be taken ; and when the parishioners wished to “ walk their bounds” on the Bogation days, it was at these that for many generations they first met for a special service f thus, in theory at least, hallowing by religion their union of the pre¬ sent with the past. Around these, too, it must be added, have lingered longest the traces of a heathen mythology. The Boman cus.tonr of sacrificing a cock to Aesculapius, for restoration to 1 Canihrice Dcscripiio, c. x, pp. 257, 274. 2 As at Knoekin, at least down to 1710, and Bodfari to 1735. THE BRITISH CHURCH. 23 health,—itself it may he a dim shadow of the great doctrine of Atonement,—may he easily traced in the rites performed, even during the last century, at Ffynnon Diar or Deifr, in Bodfari, and at Ffynnon Tecla in Ial. The ill fame of Ffynnon Elian, again, continues even to this day, though in a less degree, to possess a terrorising influence, such as I can only compare to the awe with which I have found a notorious conjurer in the Black Country regarded hy some in England. The assigning to certain wells a special healing property, whatever its real origin, owes its general acceptance and power, there can he little doubt, to the miracu¬ lous cure at the Pool of Bethesda; 1 the five porches of which were reproduced in the beautiful structure that encloses St. Wini¬ fred’s Well at Holywell, the ruined remains of St. Mary’s Well at Wigfair, and the remaining outlines of Ffynnon Asa near Cwm. 2 1 St. John, v, 2. 2 Having treated the subject of this chapter with special reference to the needs of the present work, I would recommend to those who wish to study the history of the British Church more fully, the very learned and valuable work on Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, edited after Spelman and Wilkins, by A. W. Haddan, B.D., and W. Stubbs, M.A. Oxford, 1869. 24 CHAPTER III. LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. The Conference at Augustine’s Oak.—Massacre of Bangor.—Death of Oswald. —Invasion of Offa.—Laws of Howel Dda.—Domesday notices.—The Lord-Marchers and their ecclesiastical policy.—Appropriations.— Ele¬ ments in the suppression of the British Church. Haying described the origin of the see, and the system and order of its Churcli government, we now proceed to a consideration of some of those notable events which may be regarded as the land¬ marks of its early history. The first and most important of these, both from the light it has thrown upon the character of the native Church, and from its bearings on its after history, is the Conference of the British bishops with Augustine in 602 A.D. This Conference has already been treated of in its relation to the rites and customs of the British Church; but it requires a fuller notice here in its relation to the Anglo-Saxons. At the first meeting “ Augustine called upon them to unite with him in the conversion of the heathen. This was a duty admitted by all; and then assuming, without proof that he was right, and that they were wrong, he demanded, as the condition of such fellowship, the surrender of certain prin¬ ciples, and the renunciation of certain practices, which were the peculiarities of the British Church; and which, as marks of their independence, were peculiarly dear to them.” This condition having been rejected, Augustine, at a second Conference, offered them the following ultimatum as the minimum requirement on which he would accept them as his suffragans, viz., that they should observe Easter according to the Roman computation, adopt the Roman form of Baptism, and unite with him in evangelizing the Saxons. “ This last term of agreement,” continues Dean Hook, LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. 25 “ was evidently adopted to insinuate a charge against them, if they rejected the proposals, of preferring ceremonies compara¬ tively unimportant to an evident Christian duty. 1 Among the seven British bishops who were present at the Conference may probably have been the Bishop of Llanelwy, St. Asaph, or his successor, Tyssilio, the son of Brochwel Ysgythrog, a valiant champion of the independence of the British Church. The ad¬ vice of the anchorite whom they consulted on their way, and the intemperate conduct of Augustine on their arrival, and during the interview; their final rejection of the terms, and the angry retort of Augustine, that “ since they would not have peace with brothers, they should have war with enemies; and since they were unwilling to preach to the nation of the Angles the way of life, they should suffer death at their hands, as the ministers of divine vengeance;—these matters have been minutely related by Bede, 2 and are well known ; but so related as to obscure, in a great degree, the real points at issue, and to leave on the mind an impression alike unfavourable to the bishops, and unjust to their Church. Saxon chroniclers have taken occasion from it to censure the British Church over harshly for not having attempted the conversion of the heathen Saxons, and modern writers have too often followed in their track without making due allowance, on the one hand, for the special conditions attached to Augus¬ tine’s offer; and on the other, for the relative attitude of the Britons and the Saxons. The former were still smarting under a bitter sense of the wrongs and cruelties inflicted by their con¬ querors, and so ill disposed to join in the offices of Christian love towards them ; and they, on their side, still clinging to their heathen notions of a Walhalla of carnage and sensuality, were but little inclined to lessons of purity and peace and self-denial from the despised Britons; but after a time the gentle influence of a settled home, and possibly, we may add, of the British wives they married, disposed them to accept the Gospel Message, and accounts for the apparently sudden conversion of entire provinces to the Christian faith. The angry threat with which Augustine closed the Conference, 1 Lives of the Archbishops, clia.pt. ii. - Book ii, cli. 2. E 26 LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. and which was probably but a hasty ebullition of temper, came soon to be regarded as a prophecy ; and its fulfilment recognised in the massacre of the monks of Bangor, and the destruction of their monastery, by Ethelfrid of Northumbria, a few years later, a.d. 613. 1 In the events by which this sad episode was followed, portions of this diocese bore a melancholy part. The massacre of Bangor was speedily avenged by the combined forces of Cad- van, King of Gwynedd, Broclrwel Ysgythrog, Prince of Pengwern (the then capital of Powys), and others, who signally defeated Etlielfrid on the banks of the Dee. A few years after this, a.d. 620, Edwin of Northumbria advanced against Cadwallawn, the son and successor of Cadvan, and defeating him in the bloody battle of Caer-Digoll (recorded in the Triads as one of “ the three cliscolourings of the Severn”) forced him to flee for safety into Ireland. Some twelve years later, having returned thence, and married the sister of Penda, King of Mercia, Cadwallawn pro¬ ceeded to take vengeance on his enemy, defeated and slew Edwin, and ravaged his country; but was himself vanquished and slain by Oswald, the following year, at Denisbourne. In an expedition undertaken by Oswald not long after this (c. 642), probably to avenge the injuries inflicted by Cadwallawn, we find him engaged with Penda, the brother-in-law, and ally of the latter, in a deadly struggle at Maserfeld. In this struggle Oswald’s army was routed, and himself slain; and according to the commonly received legend, his mangled remains were exposed in derision on a cross, thence called “ Croes Oswallt,” or Oswald’s cross. 2 1 “ Sicque completum est prsesagium sancti pontificis Augustini, quamvis ipso jam multo ante tempore ad coelestia regna sublato, ut etiam temporalis interitus ultione sentirent perfidi, quod oblata sibi perpetuse salutis consilia spreverant.”—Beda, H. E., ii. 2 It may however, I think, be fairly questioned whether this last piece of savagery be not an afterthought, invented, as was so often the case (see M. Alfred Maury’s Essay, Sur les L6gendes pieuses du Moyen Age, Paris, 1843), to account for the British form of the name; a form differing slightly, be it observed, from its Saxon representative, " Oswald’s treow,” i. e., Oswald’s tree; and dating, most likely, from the time when the present town of Oswes¬ try began to supersede the earlier Meresberie or Maesbury. (Eyton’s Anti¬ quities of Shropshire, vol. x.) The village of Woolston (Oswald’s-stane, or Oswald’s tun) and Oswald’s Well attest his close connexion with the place. LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. 27 The invasion of Offa, a later king of Mercia (c. 790 a.d.), his advance into the very parish of the cathedral city, and his fatal victory on Ehuddlan Marsh hard by, next demand a passing notice; not so much for any authentic details we possess of the event, as for the havoc and devastation that must have attended it. The same remark will also apply to the construction of the dyke that still bears his name, “ Clawdd Offa”; and which, hem¬ ming in the Britons within stricter limits, served as a formidable barrier to freebooting expeditions from either side. The extent of the Saxon encroachment is still further testified by the nomen¬ clature of places all along the border-land, such as Haor dine (Hawarden), Saleur<7me (Selattyn), WrexAam, Buck/ey, Erbi stock, etc. The deep impression made, and the bitter sense of injury provoked by the Saxons, may be recognised in the simple fact that down to this day their name, “ Saeson,” has stood as the one representative in Welsh of the successive Saxon, English, Danish, and Norman invaders. And when we bear in mind that one of the epithets often applied to them about this period, was that of “ unbelievers” (“ Y Saeson cligred”), we may be quite certain that ecclesiastical persons and places were among the first and surest to feel their vengeance. The influence of the Northmen was much more transitory, perhaps hardly felt at all. The old Vikings, who gave names to some of the prominent points of the sea-coast, such as Priest- holme, Orm’s- Head, and probably Gwaun-y-$cor, appear to have had a settlement at Gwespyr, or else to have held it as an out¬ post to their colony in Wirral; and to have named the estuary of the Dee, which they crossed in going from the one place to the other, the “ Hvit-fiord” (Whitford) or Sandy Creek. The passing of the Laws of Hywel Dda in the early part of the But then we have a Ffynnon Oswallt, again, in the parish of Whitford; and close to it Bryn y Groes, which, as likely as not, may have been named after the same saint. Crosses, moreover, were set up to mark the mission-stations as well as the graves of Christian saints; so that we have Ci'oes Wylan, Croes Ati, Croes Engan, and many others, representing sometimes the one idea, and sometimes the other. The English form, Oswald’s Tree, finds its counterpart in that of Onen Asa, Maen Beuno, and similar ways of perpetu¬ ating the memory of popular saints and heroes. 28 LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. tenth century, between 914 and 928 a.d., requires a passing notice here ; not so much, indeed, for any special connexion with this see, as for their general importance in connexion with the Church. They are very explicit on all ecclesiastical matters, and not only bear witness to the complete organisation of the Church at that time; but also, inasmuch as many of their regulations are apparently but a re-enactment or digest of an earlier code of Welsh canons, dating from about the seventh century, 1 2 they carry back that system and organisation to a much earlier period than some writers have been willing to believe. Chebur, Bishop of St. Asaph, is mentioned in the preface as one of those who, after the Law had been made, and completely written, accompanied Howel “ to Rome, to Pope Anastasius, to read the Law, and to see if there were anything contrary to the law of God in it.” This journey has been altogether doubted by some as savouring too much of the propensity, so common from about this time, to make everything and every person of any eminence or virtue, to derive those qualities from some connexion with the Roman see f but as there is, in addition to its own assertion and the external testi¬ mony of Brut y Tywysogion in its favour, some internal evidence in the Code itself, which “ mentions twice or thrice (sometimes for the purpose of asserting a contrary law) the law of Rome, both canon and civil,” 3 4 we may take it for granted that the journey was a fact. Indeed, it is most natural that a good and enlightened prince like Hywel, who had shewn so much care in the original compilation of the Code, “ that nothing should be introduced that might be contrary to the Holy Scripture,” should, on its completion, go to the ecclesiastical metropolis of the West “ to ascertain,” as the Brut records, “ that it was also in accordance 1 Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents , i, App. A, p. 127 and p. 211. 2 “ Fabulam sapit (qnod et in Kentigerno supra observavimus) iter Eoma- num.”—Wharton De Episc. Assav., p. 303. 3 Councils and Eccl. Doc., p. 211, note A. 4 Perhaps, too, the custom of swearing on relics (creiriau ) may be taken as another evidence. The explanation of the term in a later portion of the Code represents the custom followed in this country : “ There are three relics to swear by, the staff of a priest, the Name of God, and hand in hand with the one sworn to.” LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. 29 with the laws of countries and cities in the receipt of faith and baptism.” 1 The Domesday Survey of William the Conqueror, compiled in the year 1086, introduces a new element on the scene, that of the Lords-Marchers, and is highly interesting from the notices it contains of churches and clergy; only that where such notices are omitted, we must bear in mind that the omission is no proof of their non-existence. 2 Of the ten Churches enumerated in this diocese, no less than eight were in the hundred of Atiscros, which formed a part of the grant made to Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and corresponds to the modern county of Flint; not including that portion which lies beyond the Dee, and which was at that time in the hundred of Exestan and the diocese of Cestria (Ches¬ ter or Lichfield). As the survey was essentially a civil measure, intended to supply a register of lands and their tenures, parochial divisions, as such, did not fall within its scope; indeed, there is sometimes no little difficulty in identifying the actual locality of the church among the several places grouped together in con¬ nexion with it. Even the cathedral is not mentioned; but, consistently with the object of the measure, there is a notice of the episcopal lands, which are specially exempted from the grant made to Robert of Rhuddlan, the Yice-comes, or Lieutenant, of Earl Hugh. “Rotpert de Roelent ten’ de Rege Nort Wales, ad firma pro xl lib. preter ilia terra qua rex ei dederat in feudo, et preter terras episcopat’.” The subjoined table will shew at a glance the Domesday groups, their modern representatives, and the ecclesiastical notices re¬ corded in the Survey, so far as relates to this diocese: “ In Atiscros Hund. : 1. Haordine ( Hawarden ).—Ibi ecclesia ad quam pertinet, 2. Widford ( Whit ford ).—Ecclesia. 3. Dissard ( Disserth ); Boteuuaril ( Bodvari ); Ruargor.—Ibi in dominio ecclesia cum presbitero. 1 In Councils and Ecc. Doc., i, p. 210. “ Bod y cyfreithiau hynny yn gyd- gerddedigion a chyfraith Daw ac a clxyfreitliiau gwledydd a dinasoedd tiroedd cred a bedydd.” 2 Eyton’s Antiquities of Shropshire. 30 LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. 4. Inglecroft; Brunfor (Brynford) ; Alchene (Halkin). —Ibi in dominio ecclesia cum presbitero. 5. Danfrond; Calston (Kelston inLlanasa); Wesbrie (Givespyr). —Una ecclesia. 6. Presteton (. Prestatyn ); Puestock (. Meliden ).—Ibi est ecclesia. 7. Eoelent ( Bhuddlan ).—Ecclesia in two medieties. 8. Cancarnacan (Gamychan) ; Wenescol ( Gwaunysgor ).—Una ecclesia. 9. Quisnan ( Gwysancy ).—Ipsa (terra) ibi cum presbitero. In Mersete Hund. : Meresberie ( Maesbury ).—Ibi ecclesia. In Terra de Gal (Ial). —ii presbiteri. In Chenlei ( Cynllaeth ) and Derniou ( Edeirnion ).—No notice of eccles. or presb. In Exestan Hund. : Gretford ( Gresford ).—Ecclesia et presbiter ibi.” Odeslei (Hoseley in Gresford) belonged at this time to St. Wer- burgh’s; and Eitune (JEyton in Bangor) to the see of Lichfield (S’tus Cedde), upon wbicb it bad been bestowed by Edward the Confessor on its forfeiture by Prince Gruffydd, upon whom it had been previously conferred: “ Rex E. ded regi Grifino tota terra cpie iacebat trans aqua que de (Dee) vocatur. Sed postqu ipse Grifin forisfecit ei abstulit ab eo hanc tra & reddid epo de Cestre, et omib’ suis lioib’ qui antea ipsa tenebant.” Under the manor of Bedesfeld (Betisfield), on the other hand, we find the bishop complaining that Robert, one of the sons of Earl Hugh, had unjustly taken possession of two hides of land which had belonged to the see in the time of King Canute. 1 These notices lead not inaptly to the consideration of the atti¬ tude assumed by the Lords-Marchers towards the native Church, and the influence they brought to bear upon its interests. The worldly wise policy of William in constituting along the borders or marches a body of practically irresponsible chieftains with a commission to acquire whatever they could get, and to keep whatever they could hold, led, as might have been expected, to 1 Domesday, under “ Cestrescire.” I have introduced these notices of Eyton and Betisfield, though not forming part of the then diocese of St. Asaph, on account of their transfer into it in 1861. LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. 31 the most iniquitous robbery and oppression; and we are not sur¬ prised that the same spirit which marked their temporal trans¬ actions affected also their ecclesiastical policy. The strongly national sympathies of the native Church would naturally be an offence to them, and the difference of language an additional obstacle; for both these reasons, therefore, they would be anxious to weaken its hold upon their new vassals. Then, besides all this, there were the obligations under which they lay to their own Church, which had sent them forth on their venture with its favour and blessing. Their success enabled them to reward with a cheap generosity its fidelity to their cause, and to gratify at once their sense of religion and their schemes of policy, by transferring into its hands a portion of what they took by violence from the proper owners. 1 This will apply, indeed, to the whole character of the Norman conquest, and to the treatment of the Saxon Church as well as the British; but it fell on the latter with a heavier weight and with more fatal consequences. It is to the Normans we owe the grossly abused custom which, under the several forms of “ appropriation,” “ impropriation,” and “ sine- curism,” has been a very bane of the Church from their time downwards. “ The greater prelates, being Normans, did trample upon the inferior clergy, who were generally English,” writes Dr. Burn, 2 “ increased the pensions which the clergy were to pay them, or else withdrew their stipends ; and yet loaded them with new services, and every way oppressed them without mercy. And to complete the servile dependence an artifice was contrived to obtain indulgence from the Pope, that whatever churches they held in advowson, they should commit them to be served by 1 Thus a.d. 1093 we find Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, granting to the monks of St. Werburgh’s, at Chester, the tithes of Haurdina, of Colesull, of Bissopestred, and of the fisheries of Bueland; to which were added, by his nobles, e. g. by Adaliza (his danghter-in-law F), the church of Holiwell and its mill; by William de Punterleya, Batavari, the church and manor, and the wood of Leston for beacons and domestic fuel; by William Meschinus, the church of Dessart; and by William Malburch, a third part of Wepres and the tithe of Yradoc (Hiraddug ?). In like manner Sheriff Warm gave the church of St. Oswald (Oswestry), with the tithes of the vill, to the monks of St. Peter’s at Shrewsbury. - Ecclesiastical Law, i, p. 64. 32 LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. clerks, who, as to the cure of souls, should be responsible to the bishop; but as to the profits, should be accountable to the abbot or prior and his brethren.” The great and abiding evils which this practice has entailed, will be best illustrated by shewing the fate of the great tithes thus appropriated within this single diocese (the last to fall under the Norman influence), at three several intervals of about three hundred years, namely, at the time of the taxation of Pope Nicho¬ las, A.D. 1291; at the dissolution of the monasteries, in the six¬ teenth century; and at the Commutation of Tithes as given in the Parliamentary Eeport of 1836. Thus— Taxatio of 1201. Granted to Commut. to Lay Tmp. Holywell Basingwerk Abbey Henri ap Harri - <£959 19 3 Wrexham Yalle Crucis - Edw. Wotton - 2374 4 2 Llangollen - Ditto - Ditto - - 1051 6 9 Rhuabon Ditto - Ditto - - 1086 0 0 Chirk - Ditto - Ditto - - 0) Llansaintffraid Ditto - Ditto - - Llandysilio - Ditto - - Ditto - - 389 0 0 Bryn Eglwys Ditto - Ditto - - 288 10 0 Bettws, Caedewen Strata Marcella - Rowland Hayward 230 5 0 Berriew - Ditto - and Thos. Dixon 793 0 0 Llanfair-Caer-Einion Llanllugan - Sir Arthur D’Arcy 550 0 0 Llanllwchaiarn - Ditto - - Ditto - - 220 0 0 Eglwys Rhos - Aberconway - Eliseus Wynne - 489 19 0 Eglwys Fach - Ditto - Ditto - - 717 0 0 1 2 Oswestry - Shrewsbury Abbey - - 2057 12 0 St. Martin’s - Ditto - - - 862 0 0 Kinnerley - Halston - William Horne - 650 4 0 Tregynon - Ditto - - 90 0 0 Dolingenwal - Ditto - - 70 0 0 Mold - - Bisham - - 1645 8 11 Welshpool - - - Ch. Ch. Oxford - 476 0 o 3 Meifod - - - - Ditto - - 597 17 8 Guilsfield - - - Ditto - - 1130 0 0 Gres ford - - - St. Stephen’s, - 2193 15 o 4 Westminster 157 10 o 5 To these appropriations, granted originally to religious houses for religious purposes, but conferred at the dissolution, for the most part, upon courtiers, and ever since perverted to private 1 Previously transferred to the vicar by Sir W. Myddelton. 2 Llanrwst School and Almshouse. 3 Ch. Ch. Oxford. 4 Dean and Chapter of Winchester. 5 Lay imp. LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. uses; when we add others, made at different times, in augment¬ ation of the episcopal and capitular revenues ; and the sinecures, which until the Act of 1678 in some instances, and that of 1836 in others, were allowed to drain the parochial endowments,—we see of how long standing, and of what wide extent, has been the grievance of the parochial clergy, who had to bear the double onus of duties for which others received the chief pay; and of complaints to which, not unnaturally, aggrieved parishioners gave vent; and who, moreover, for one long period (from 1750 to 1830) were not supposed to have any just claim to the higher dignities or to the richer prizes of their profession. The Order which obtained the largest number of these appro¬ priations was the Cistercian, a branch of the Benedictines, founded at Citeaux in Burgundy, and first introduced into Wales in a.d. 1143. Being celibates, inspired with foreign sympathies as op¬ posed to the nationalism of the native Church, and possessed with a strong esprit de corps , they were well adapted to promote the designs of the Norman marchers ; and so we soon find them, under their protection, establishing or else appropriating houses at Basingwerk, Strata Marcella, Valle Crucis, and elsewhere; monopolising by degrees the chief ecclesiastical appointments, and gradually supplanting the parochial clergy in the more im¬ portant cures; and so steadily assimilating the British Church to that of Canterbury, and drawing it into its obedience long before it actually lost its independence. The Crusades, too, bore a share in the process, as well from the spirit they gave rise to as from the needs they created, and the influence they continued to exercise after the establishment of the order of Knights Hos¬ pitallers at Halston, with its dependent institution at Doly- gynwal, i. e., Yspytty Ifan. In the forefront of all, however, must be placed “ the fearful abuse of spiritual powers and the exceeding worldliness of the Church, exhibited in all the rela¬ tions of England to Wales, and especially in the monstrous wick¬ edness with which excommunications and interdicts were scat¬ tered about at random,” to back up the political designs of the crown. 1 Of particular instances we shall have to speak hereafter; 1 Councils and Eccles. Doc., pref., p. xix. F 34 LANDMARKS IN ITS EARLY HISTORY. but the general character and inequality of the struggle may be summed up not inaptly (mutatis mutandis , and taking in the wider field of Church and State) in the language in which Giral- dus describes his contest for the freedom of St. David’s from the supremacy of Canterbury: “ On the one side you will see royal favour, affluence of riches, numerous and affluent suffragan bishops, a great abundance of learned men, and well skilled in the laws; on the other a deficiency of all these things, and a total privation of justice. On which account the recovery of its ancient rights will not easily be effected but by means of those great changes and vicissitudes which kingdoms experience from various and unexpected events.” 1 1 Hoare’s Giraldus, ii, 6. 35 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. Process of bringing the Welsh Church into subjection to Canterbury.—Gil¬ bert.— Geoffrey of Monmouth.— Godfrey.—Adam and his controversy about Kerry.—Archbishop Baldwin’s visitation.— Owen Cyfeiliog—Ap¬ propriations of Reiner and his successors.—Anian II.—Controversy as to the privileges of the see.—Grants of lands at St. Martin’s and at Llandegla.—Controversies as to the patronage and limits of the see.— Disfavour with Edward I.—Reconciliation.—Annexation of Wales.— Visitation of Archbishop Peckham. The twelfth century ushers in a series of persistent and finally successful efforts on the part of the English king to subject the Welsh Church to the jurisdiction of Canterbury, by forcing his nominees into its bishoprics, and requiring their consecration by the English metropolitan. To this treatment the Welsh princes and people offered a long, but owing to their divided and weak¬ ened condition, an ineffectual resistance,—a resistance sometimes confined to a protest against the proceedings being considered as done of right, sometimes embodied in the election of another bishop according to their own customs, and sometimes breaking out into violence and bloodshed. Thus in a.d. 1109, Hervaeus, a Breton, a favourite of William Rufus, and by him forced into the see of Bangor a.d. 1092, was compelled to quit his diocese, which he had governed with haughtiness and severity, and to seek safety in England. 1 In a.d. 1115, Bernard, a Norman, and con¬ fessor to Henry Ps queen, was thrust upon St. David’s; but the clergy refusing to acknowledge him, elected in his stead one Daniel ap Sulien, Archdeacon of Powys, eminent for his exertions to effect a reconciliation between North and South Wales. 2 Upon 1 Councils and Ecclcs. Doc., i, p. 303. 2 lbul , p. 308, note a. 36 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. whose death, in a.d. 1124 or 1127, they appear willingly or un¬ willingly to have accepted Bernard, the first Norman prelate in Wales; who, however, instead of carrying out obediently the designs of the king, became henceforward a sturdy champion of the rights of his see against the assumptions of Canterbury. 1 In a.d. 1125 a proposal was made by the king (Henry I) and others, in the first year of Pope Honorius, to transfer St. Asaph and Bangor, with Chester, from the province of Canterbury to that of York, in order to end the strife between the two arch¬ bishops. 2 The description there given of St. Asaph, lying midway between Chester and Bangor, as “ pro vastitate et barbarie epis- copo vocantem,” will account for its omission in the list of Welsh sees given by Henry of Huntingdon, who wrote about ten years later, and who remarks of the three bishops whom he does name (e. g ., St. David’s, Bangor, and Glamorgan), that they were “ nul- larum urbium episcopi propter desolationem Wallise.” 3 The “ altum silentium,” as Wharton calls it, which had so long brooded over this diocese, was at length broken when Gilbert, Bishop- elect, received consecration from the Archbishop of Canterbury, being the first bishop of this see consecrated out of Wales. From this time we have, at least, the names of the successive bishops, and in some instances details of their life and episcopate. The most eminent of the earlier ones was his immediate succes¬ sor, the celebrated Geoffrey of Monmouth (Galffrai ab Arthur), a.d. 1152-1154; who, however, for some reason or other, never came to his see, but died at Llandaff, apparently during divine service (“ at Mass”), and was buried there in the cathedral, in which he held the dignity of archdeacon of Monmouth. Godfrey, who succeeded a.d. 1158, appears to have been more of a courtier than an ecclesiastic, and in greater favour with the English king than with the clergy and laity of his diocese. The successes of Owen Gwynedd, who, after defeating the forces of Henry II at 1 Jones and Freeman’s St. David’s, and Wynne’s edition of Caradoc’s His¬ tory of Wales, sub ann. 1124 a.d. 2 Councils and Eccles. Hoc., p. 316, and note. “ The strife” was probably as to precedence, as to which of the two was primate, and had a right to conse¬ crate the other. 3 Brut y Tywysogion, in anno 1154. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 37 Ewloe and at Colesliill, remained for some time master of the country, seem to have made the see too hot for its Norman occu¬ pant, who about a.d. 1165, “ paupertate et infestatione Wallen- sium compulsus, sedem suam deseruit,” 1 and fled into England. There he received from the king the abbacy of Abingdon, to hold in commmdam with his bishopric ; but he soon rendered himself obnoxious to the Archbishop (Becket) by presuming to exercise his episcopal functions in another’s diocese, and against his will; and especially by absolving certain persons whom the Archbishop had laid under excommunication. The latter thereupon calls upon him to return to his see, or resign it, and not to trespass upon another’s pasture. Finally, being complained of by the Canons of St. Asaph in a Council held at Westminster, a.d. 1175, for non-residence, he was compelled to elect between his bishopric and his abbacy; and choosing the latter, either for its greater security or for its greater wealth (“utpote qusestuosius”), he resigned the see, and was succeeded therein by Adam, a Canon of Paris, but a Welshman by birth. 2 The famous controversy relating to the jurisdiction of Kerry, in which he became involved with his old fellow-student, Giral- dus Cambrensis, is highly important for the light it throws upon the ecclesiastical history and customs of the day. The occasion was the dedication, or rather the re-dedication, of the parish church during a vacancy in the see of St. David’s, a.d. 1175. Kerry being in the lordship or march of Montgomery, Adam was invited by two of the local chieftains, Einion Glyd and Cad- wallawn, and some of the clergy, to come and dedicate the church ; but on proceeding to do so was confronted by Giraldus, who, as Archdeacon of Brecon, and representative of the see of St. David, solemnly inhibited him “ex parte Dei, Dominique Papse et Archiepiscopi necnon et Eegis Anglise, in cujus manu et custodia tunc erat Ecclesia S. Davidis, paulo ante orbata pas- tore, ne falcem mitteret in messem alienam.” To this the Bishop rejoined by quoting the letters of the Archbishop confirming to 1 Wharton De Episcopis Assavens, p. 310. 2 Ibid., p. 310; and Councils and Eccles. Doc., i, 362-4, 378 Godfrey was also deprived of his abbey. “ Sic deceptus amisit utrumque.” (Iloveden.) 38 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. him the see of Llanelwy, “ with all its appurtenances”; and by producing, in further support of his claim, an ancient book which declared that not Kerry only, but all the churches between the Wye and the Severn, “ ad ecclesiam Laneluensem jure parocliiali pertinere.” This was in complete accord with the ancient arrangement which assigned to this diocese the province of Powys, of which Kerry formed a part; but it was not allowed to stand against the practice of three hundred years, during which it was alleged by Giraldus that Kerry had belonged to St. David’s. Judging from the retinue that attended the Bishop from Powys- land and Caedewen, and the armed body which on the shortest notice answered the summons of the Archdeacon, it would appear that the dispute had been one of some standing, and had now come to its expected crisis. The whole account is curious. On the morning of the dedication two of the clergy (for the church was a collegiate foundation), after first hiding the keys, set out to meet the Bishop. Meanwhile Giraldus, the archdeacon, sud¬ denly appears at the gates, and having with some difficulty obtained admission, has the bells rung in token of possession. 1 Learning definitely, through his rural dean, that the Bishop was coming in his official capacity, he warns him not to enter into another’s field; and to the Bishop’s threat of excommunication he replies that it did not signify to him as he was not his bishop, and hints that he, too, could and would try that experiment. And when at length the Bishop, wearing his mitre, and holding his pastoral staff, solemnly advanced to put his threat into exe¬ cution, Giraldus had the church door thrown open, and issued forth with a train of priests and clergy robed in surplices and stoles, with the other sacerdotal vestments, and preceded by lighted candles and a processional cross. The two parties stood face to face ; and when the Bishop began in a loud voice to ex¬ communicate the Archdeacon, the latter, in still louder tones, began to excommunicate him : and to add solemnity to the sen¬ tence, he ordered all the bells to be tolled in the slow and pecu¬ liar manner (“ simul omnes trino intervallo”) usual on such like occasions. The issue was that the Bishop turned on his heel, 1 “ Tanquam in investiturse signum et possession^.” HISTORY TO T1IE ANNEXATION. 39 and galloped off, pursued "by tlie sticks and stones and yells of the multitude, as was always the case whenever those ominous sounds were heard. Be it added, however, to the honour of both the disputants, that the Archdeacon’s steadfast maintenance of the rights of his see secured to him ever afterwards the respect and esteem of his old fellow pupil, the defeated Bishop. Some twelve years later this same Giraldus accompanied Arch¬ bishop Baldwin in his Visitation tour of the Welsh dioceses, of which he has given us an account in his Itinerarium Cambrice. This tour was undertaken with the twofold object of preaching the Crusades, and of bringing the Welsh clergy into conformity with those of England. When they reached the poor little city of Llanelwy (“ paupercula sedes Lanelvensis”), the Archbishop celebrated Mass “ in pontificalibus,” as it had never before been seen there, as Higden remarks in his Polychronicon . Soon after passing Oswestry, they took the opportunity of launching that spiritual thunderbolt which, powerful as it may have been for good where rightly directed, we find so often and so grossly abused. “ We excommunicated Owen de Cyfeiliog,” writes Giral¬ dus, “ because he alone amongst the Welsh princes did not come to meet the Archbishop with his people.” So it was not for any act of wickedness unworthy of a Christian man, nor for any deed of injustice or cruelty as a neighbour, nor even for any rebellion against the state, that this extreme measure was adopted towards him; for he was acknowledged by Giraldus himself to have been a man preeminently distinguished for “justice, wisdom, and moderation”; but because he would not pay court to a prelate whose proceedings were very distasteful to him as one jealous for the ecclesiastical independence of his country. It was the same feeling of aversion to the policy by which his country was being swallowed up politically, that prompted the symbolic act which is recorded of him at a banquet given by Henry II at Shrews¬ bury. The king having sent him one of his own loaves as a mark of special honour, Owen broke it into small pieces, like bread given away in charity; and then having, like an almoner, put them at a distance from him, he took them up and ate them one by one; following therein, as he declared, the example of his Lord. 1 1 Giraldus and Powysland Club; Princes of Upper Powys> 10. 40 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. That Owen was justified in his opposition to Baldwin is pain¬ fully evident from the petition of the Welsh princes presented a few years later, a.d. 1203, by Giraldus to the Pope (Innocent III). Keferring more directly to St. David’s and Llandaff, they com¬ plained in language soon applicable to the other sees, that ever since the Welsh Church had been forcibly subjected to the crown and Church of England, English bishops had been thrust upon them totally ignorant of the character and language of their people, and quite unable either to preach or hear their confes¬ sions save through an interpreter: men who, looking more to their own temporal profit than to the people’s spiritual welfare, despoiled and weakened the Church by the gift, sale, and aliena¬ tion of its property, which they transferred to England, where the king gave them abbeys and lands, from whence they excom¬ municated the Welsh at his bidding. And more especially was this the case during the time of war, for whenever the English attacked Wales, they laid the country forthwith under an inter¬ dict ; and whenever the Welsh rose in defence of their land and liberty, they were put individually and nationally under the bann of the Church; so that every Welshman that fell in battle, fell of necessity under a malediction. 1 Keiner, who was Bishop of St. Asaph at the time of Archbishop Baldwin’s visitation, lived for the most part near Oswestry, at which place he founded a hospital dedicated to St. John, and bestowed it on the Knights Hospitallers of Halston, but with a reservation of its spiritual oversight to the canons of Haugh- mond. 2 He was also the first of a succession of bishops who, being themselves members of religious orders, are chiefly notable for the appropriations they made. Besides confirming Eitz Alan’s grant of the advowson of Oswestry and its chapel, St. Martin’s, to Shrewsbury Abbey, Keiner conceded to it also the tithes which had previously belonged to the portionarii or prebendaries of the church. He also appropriated to Yalle Crucis half the tithes of Wrexham, to which his successor, Abraham, added the remainder. Hugh, the next bishop, conferred on the same house the tithes 1 Councils and Eccles. Doc., i, 431. 2 Eyton’s Shropshire, vol. x. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 41 of Llangollen, with its capcllce of Rhuabon, Y Waun (Chirk), Llan- saintffraid (Glyn Ceiriog), and Llandegla; and granted those of Llanfair Caereinion to the mins of Llanllugan. Howel assigned Llanasa to the snstentation of the fabric of the cathedral. Anian I appropriated to the same nuns the tithes of Llanllwcliaiarn, and bestowed those of Berriew on the monks of Pool (Strata Mar¬ cella). Another Anian (II) added to Yalle Crucis two-thirds of the tithes of Bryneglwys, and gave Rhuddlan and Llansilin towards the augmentation of the stipend of liis canons. But this Anian (II) is best known for his bold assertion of the rights of the Church, and for his resolute maintenance of the privileges of his see. Belonging to the order of Dominicans (“ y brawd du o Nannau”), he had been confessor to Edward in the Holy Land; and bringing to bear upon his episcopal office the zeal of a Crusader, he earned the title assigned to him by an early writer, 1 of being “ longe fortissimus privilegiorum sedis sme vin- dex et assertor.” Consecrated a.d. 1268, he obtained the follow¬ ing year, from Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, prince of Wales, a confirm¬ ation of the privileges of the see ; 2 but as he assumed therein a right to much that the prince denied, there followed a long and painful controversy, ending in appeals to the Archbishop and the Pope. The prince, indeed, at the outset expressed his readiness to abide by the verdict of twelve honest men; but the proposi¬ tion does not appear to have been accepted; for at an Inquisition held in the cathedral in a.d. 1276, sundry articles of complaint against him were drawn up to be presented to the Archbishop. 3 The complaints specified such points as “ the denial to the Bishop of the right to make a will, and the cession of his goods to the crown, which seems to have been intended as a counterpoise to the privileges enjoyed by him of taking the goods of all persons dying intestate within his diocese ; the injury done to episcopal manors during the vacancy of the see, by the prince’s officers in charge; refusal to allow the canons to elect into the vacancy without the prince’s license as to the time; the holding of courts by the prince’s bailiffs, on Sundays and festivals, in the churcli- 1 In Annales Lingua; Wallicce. 2 Llyfr Cocli, 66b, p. 29 ; 67a, p. 30. Llyfr Cbch., 98, 99a, p. 39, and Councils and Lccles. Doc., i, 511-516. G 42 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. yard, and even in tlie church ; and their refusal to allow to the bishop and chapter their proper share of the fines ; that vassals of the Church, if they transferred their allegiance to the English, were deprived of their property, and no respect paid to the plea that it was a feoff of the Church; that the prince had demanded certain ‘ procurations’ from religious houses, and that his officers had maltreated those who opposed the exaction ; that he had denied the parochial clergy a share in the commons, pastures, woods, etc.; and that in the case of Llanrwst, he had defrauded the church of property, for which he allowed only an inadequate payment.” There is an acknowledgment, indeed, that he had abated somewhat of these practices ; but as he did it ‘ of grace and not of right/ the question was carried before the Archbishop. The Cistercians, indeed, with the exception of the abbot of Basingwerk, who took an active part in promoting the case, sided with Llewelyn, and sent to the Pope (Gregory X) a circular let¬ ter 1 signed by the abbots of Alba Domus, Strata Elorida, Cwmhir, Strata Marcella, Aberconway, Cymmer, and Valle Crucis, in which they not only denied the truth of the charges advanced against him by the Bishop, but positively affirmed “ that he had, on the contrary, always proved a steady friend and patron not only of their own, but of every religious order, and a steadfast guardian of the Church in Wales.” The issue, however, could not be doubtful. Excommunication was a powerful weapon, and freely handled; and under the pressure, or anticipation thereof, Llewelyn conceded the points in dispute. Bishop Anian, in A.D. 1271, obtained from John Eitz Alan, lord of the manor of Oswestry, certain lands in “ Martin’s Church” on condition that he should pay annually, by way of acknow¬ ledgment for them, a pair of gilt spurs. They appear to have belonged previously to the Abbot and Convent of Shrewsbury, but to have been taken from them by Fitz Alan, who was a violent opponent of theirs, and given to the Bishop for his conduct in instituting one Walter de Engmere, a presentee of Fitz Alan’s, to the mother church of Oswestry, the advowson of which had been 1 J.lyfr Coch, 49 b, 27 p. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 43 hitherto enjoyed by the Abbey, but was now claimed by the said Fitz Alan. By a compromise effected a.d. 1272, the Abbey recovered its rights in Oswestry, but gave up to the Bishop the lands at St. Martin’s; to which, a few years later, Richard Fitz Alan, the son of John, added forty-four acres, the site of the manor and the house thereto belonging. 1 In 1278 Anian further obtained from Gruffydd Vychan, son of Gruffydd ap Madoc, lord of Ial, a grant of the manor of Llandegla for his see in perpe¬ tuity. 2 The temporalities of his see were not, however, the only, nor by any means the main, object of Bishop Anian’s care. About the year 1273 there commenced between him and the abbot of Valle Crucis an important controversy relative to the patronage of those churches the great tithes of which had been granted by his predecessors to that foundation. 3 The abbot held that, having become canonically possessed, from early times, of the church of Llangollen, with its cwpellcc of Wrexham, Ruabon, YWaun (Chirk), Llansaintffraid, and Llandegla, one vicar in the mother church was sufficient for the whole. The Bishop, on the other hand, insisted upon appointing a vicar in each of the capellce also. From this the abbot appealed to the Pope, whose delegate, the abbot of Talyllecliau, or Talley, in Carmarthenshire, gave sentence against the Bishop, condemning him to pay £5, and the vicars £60, by way of restitution to the abbot; and on Anian’s appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, he excommunicated him. The abbot of Talyllecliau is hereupon admonished by the Archbishop to revoke the sentence of excommunication, and the Archdeacon of Anglesea is appointed his substitute in the case. Finally Anian concedes the sequestrated benefices to the abbot and con¬ vent at a visitation holden by him at Album Monasterium (Os¬ westry). About this same time, or immediately afterwards, Anian became involved in another controversy, with the Bishop of Hereford (Thomas Cantilupe), as to the boundaries of their respective sees. The ground of dispute was the territory called Gorddwr, lying Llyfr Coch, 25 b, 42 b. 2 Ibid., p. 35, and Willis, Appendix viii. 3 Ibid., p. 20, 30a, 69a, 71a, 715,-.72a. 44 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. on tlie eastern bank of tlie Severn, and embracing portions at least of Bnttington and Alberbury (Llanfiliangel yng Ghentyn, i. e., St. Michael’s in the low lands), the jurisdiction of which Anian claimed for his own see. According to the theory that the diocese of St. Asaph embraced the whole of ancient Powys, this part would necessarily fall within its limits; and it appears from an inquisition held in 1265, before Gruffydd ap Wenynwyn, that many of its vills or townships paid a moiety of their eccle¬ siastical dues to the mother church of Meifod. 1 The Bishop of Hereford appealed against Anian to the Pope, who appointed the Bishop of London arbitrator in the case. Before it was settled, however, Cantilupe died, and was succeeded by Bichard Swin- field, in whose time a jury of Welsh and English decided the question in favour of the Bishop of Hereford; but under a pro¬ test from Anian against their decision being converted into a precedent that might be prejudicial to his see in any future trial of the cause. The true and ancient boundary of the dioceses was now determined to be the filum, or mid-stream, of the Severn, from the ford called Bhydwymma, 2 where the river divided the lands of Sir Beginald de Montgomery from those of Peter Corbet, to the ford of Slirawarden. The day after this award was made, Swinfield came to Chrrbury; and on the 25th, St. Catherine’s Day, he entered on horseback the ford of Bhydwymma, to the middle of the river, and thus took possession of all places and vills within the bank assigned to him, with all the episcopal offices pertaining thereto. The clergy of the different parishes thereupon tendered their obedience; and on the 27tli Nov. 1288, the principal chaplain of Hawyse, Lady of La Pole, attended in the choir of the conventual church of Alberbury, and for himself and the other chaplains celebrating at Botynton swore canonical obedience to the Bishop of Hereford. 3 Another of his disputes was with Isabella de Mortimer, widow of John Eitz Alan, and related to the patronage of Llanymyn- ach. 4 In the feodary of 1272, John Eitz Alan, lately deceased, 1 Llyfr Coch, 48 b, p. 27. 2 Marked on the Ordnance Map as Rhycl Whimman, near Montgomery. 3 Swinfield’s “ Household Boll,” pp. 76-79, quoted in Eyton’s Antiquities of Shropshire , vols. vii and xii. i Llyfr Coch , 58 a, b. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 45 was the reputed patron of the church; its value, ten marks yearly; and the advowson of it assigned to his widow, the above- named Isabella. Anian, however (having regard probably, as was his wont, to the earlier foundation, which had been super¬ seded by the later custom of the Marchers), deeming the advow¬ son to belong to his see, contested the same with Isabella de Mortimer; and though a suit in the Curia Regis was decided against him, he appealed to the Pope, and refused to institute Isabella’s presentee. King Edward I, in a writ of 1281-2, met the Bishop’s refusal by an order on the sheriff of Shropshire to distrain upon his goods. 1 Anian was, it would appear, obliged now to give way; for in the Taxatio of 1291 it was returned as both a rectory and a vicarage ; and in 1305 the Bishop having obtained the former from the rector, let it to the vicar to farm. In 1282, moreover, the same year that the above writ was issued in the case of Llanymynach, the King, as guardian of John Fitz Alan’s heir, presented one William, son of Nicholas Zouch, to the vacant church of Blodwas, Llanyblodwel. Richard Eitz Alan, the son and heir of the above John, made, as we have already seen, a very liberal grant of land in St. Martin’s to the Bishop a few years afterwards. But there were other troubles, not of his own seeking, fast gathering round the energetic Bishop. The enormities committed by the English soldiers called from Anian a threat of excommu¬ nication, and from the Archbishop (Kilwardby) a letter of urgent remonstrance addressed to the Earl of Warwick, their com¬ mander. They are charged with desecrating churches and church¬ yards, damaging church property, burning one of the Bishop’s houses, and slaying some of his servants, as well as other acts of sacrilege,—some of the very crimes alleged by Llewelyn in his dignified reply to Archbishop Peckham, a.d. 1282, as having forced him and his people to take up arms in self-defence, and therefore requiring to be considered and redressed before the threat “ militiam ampliorem convocare, vel contra nos moveri sa- cerdotium,” was put into execution.” * 3 Indeed, Anian is hereupon 1 Ey ton's Shropshire, x, 353. 3 Councils, i, 512. 2 Llfyr Coch, 32. 46 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. calumniated to tlie King as favouring the Welsh cause; and, being forced to flee from his post, is reduced to the greatest straits. In a plaintive letter addressed about this time to the Provincial of his Order, he records his melancholy plight: “ Nos- tram naviculam more fluctuantis pelagi undis tegentibus tempes- tatum, et ventis persecutionum invalescentibus agitatam,” 1 2 etc., and earnestly implores the brethren’s prayers in his behalf. Matters grew still worse when a little while afterwards the Eng¬ lish soldiers, in a sally from Eliuddlan, sacked St. Asaph and burnt the cathedral, a.d. 1282. Anian tried hard to induce the Archbishop to support him in putting them under excommuni¬ cation; but Peckliam found reasons for avoiding the awkward dilemma, and warned Anian not to be too hasty in the matter. The men pleaded that it was an accident, and had occurred in lawful warfare, during an act of retaliation for injuries previously received; and had it been intentional, it was urged that they would not have been admitted to the Sacraments by the Eriars Preachers, as they had been after it. Moreover, it would have been much more consistent in Anian, the Archbishop adds, to have remained firmly at his post, to teach his simple people their duty, and guide them through their troubles. 3 During his absence Eobert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was put in charge of the diocese. The following year, however, the Archbishop shews more consideration; and purposing to hold an official visitation, he applies to the King for permission for Anian to attend him at St. Asaph, and soon afterwards interposes his good offices to work a reconciliation between them. It was some time, however, before this was effected. Edward had long been anxious for the removal of the episcopal see from St. Asaph to Eliuddlan, and with this view had written a letter to the Pope offering a site and a liberal sum of money. 3 The Bishop and canons were also favour¬ able to the design, both from the greater security of the latter place, with its newly rebuilt castle, its larger population, and other advantages ; 4 but the design came to nothing, owing either to the death of the Pope, as Godwin supposes, or to the jealousy 1 Llyfr Coch, 33. 2 Browne Willis, Append, xii. 3 Ibid., xxi. 4 Ibid., xx. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 47 of tlie Archbishop, who, however ready to subject the Welsh Church to that of Canterbury, was little inclined to subject Can¬ terbury to the dictation of the crown; and feared, justly enough, that in case of a conflict between the Church and the State, the independence of the former would be weakened if the new cathe¬ dral were built under the shadow of the royal castle ; for we find the Archbishop, a.d. 1284, issuing his letters of recommendation to the bishops of the Welsh and border dioceses, 1 commending to their favour and hospitality certain clergy of St. Asaph who were about to travel through the country with the famous copy of the Gospels belonging to their cathedral, for the purpose of procuring subscriptions for its rebuilding. Edward, too, had carried out another transfer during this interval. He had removed the Abbey of Aberconway to Maenan, and his reconciliation with Anian was now sealed by an act of mutual courtesy brought about through the mediation of Peckham. Anian granted for its better endowment the advowson of “Eglwys-y-Vach”; and Edward, in requital, conceded to the Bishop that of Rhuddlan. 2 The crisis had, meanwhile, come upon the Welsh Church and State. Edward had summoned together all his power to crush the Welsh once for all, and Llewelyn had been laid under excom¬ munication throughout the provinces of Canterbury and York. From this miserable state there was little chance of deliverance except on the condition of total submission. Even an appeal to Rome, which in earlier times had often proved a protection to the weak against the strong, would have been of little avail now against the power of England and the interests of Canterbury, for “ Regnum Anglie,” writes Archbishop Peckham to Llewelyn, “est sub speciali protectione sedis apostolice, et Romana curia plus inter regna cetera diligere consuevit.” And again: “ Eadem curia nullo modo volet permittere statum regni Anglie vacillare, quod sibi specialibus obsequiis est devotum.” And that Llewelyn had no expectation of justice or redress, either for himself or his people, is evident from the firm and dignified reply he sent to the Archbishop thanking him for his well intended offers of mediation, but reminding him of the unredressed injuries which 1 Browne Willis, Appendix xxn. 2 Ibid., xix. 48 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. his countrymen had first inflicted upon the Welsh: “Et licet regnum Anglie sit curie Romane specialiter subjectum et dilec- tum, tamen cum dominus Papa necnon et curia Romana audie- rint, quanta nobis per Anglicos mala sunt illata,—videlicet, quod pax prius formata non fuit nobis servata nec pacta; deinde, eccle- siarum devastations, combustiones, et ecclesiasticarum persona- rum interfectiones, sacerdotum videlicet et inclusorum et inclu- sarum et aliarmn religiosarum personarum passim, mulierum et infantium suggerentium ubera et in utero positarum; combusti¬ ones etiam hospitalium, et aliarum domorum religiosarum; homicidiorum in cimiteriis, ecclesiis et super altaria et aliorum sacrilegiorum, et flagitiorum auditu etiam horribilium auditui paganorum, sicut expressius eadem in aliis rotulis conscripta vo- bis transmittimus inspicienda.... Anglici liactenus nulli sexui vel etati vel langori pepercerunt; nulli ecclesie vel loco sacro detu- lerunt qualia vel consimilia Walenses, non fecerunt.” 1 Llewelyn’s betrayal and death were followed quickly by the complete conquest of the country; and those of the clergy who had adhered steadfastly to him, and were taken prisoners, were put to death by Edward “ inter prsedones et malefactores alios.” The famous “Statute of Rlniddlan,” annexing Wales to England, and introducing the system of English jurisprudence, was passed in A.D. 1283 ; and the following year, in order to consolidate the union ecclesiastically as well as politically, John Peckham, Arch¬ bishop of Canterbury, made an official Visitation of the Welsh dioceses, the first ever held by an English metropolitan. It was begun at Oswestry about the beginning of May, and, as far as this diocese was concerned, finished bv the middle of June, for on the 28th of that month he issued from Bangor his celebrated letter of “ Consilia, Injunctiones et Ordinationes.” This letter touches upon many points of great importance towards a right estimate of the condition and character of the Church in the diocese both before and at the time; for besides the matters of clerical dress and behaviour already alluded to, 2 it requires all beneficed clergy to observe the canonical hours, and all priests with cure of souls to perform divine service 1 Councils, i, 544. - Pages IS, 20. HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. 49 (“ missam ordinariam”) reverently each day; neglect therein to be visited with punishment corporal or pecuniary, as might he deemed most effectual; and in the latter case, the money to be entirely expended upon the poor of the parish. The Host is to be reserved “ in accordance with the recent Statute of Lambeth,” and to be carried in a pyx to the sick by the priest, preceded by bell and lighted candle. The portiones 1 being so small as to ren¬ der it impossible for the portionists to reside, or for the vicars to sustain the parochial burthens, and being therefore deemed an obstacle to the proper performance of public worship and the offices of the Church, as well as to the teaching of the young in grammar, and the instruction of the laity in faith and morals, are to be abolished, or rather united ; and wherever the rectors do not reside continually in person, vicars are to be provided with such a competent share of the tithes as to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the parish, of hospitality, and of divine worship on a worthy scale (“ condigna ministrorum assistentia”). The ancient customs of tithing dowers and of mortuaries are to be continued. Rural deans are to receive “ procurations” from rectors and vicars, except under certain circumstances. The bishop’s official is not to demand procurations in the same year as the bishop, nor the archdeacon’s official in the same year as the arch¬ deacon. The cathedral being intended as an exemplar for the whole diocese, is to have daily service conducted “tarn in missa quam in horis canonicis,” with suitable dignity. The dean’s and canons’ houses are to be built as nearly as possible to it; and when the latter walk in the cloisters or the cathedral, they are to wear their hoods and amices (“ capas et almutia”). They are enjoined to solicit from the king the continuance of the ancient liberties of their church, in behalf of which Peckham himself writes to Edward a few days after this. At the same time they are adjured in the most solemn manner to bring their people into union with England, by inducing them to lay aside all rancour, and to resign the hope of ever regaining their ancient power; for he adds with characteristic candour, that even should the king and nobles of England fail of completing their subjugation, there 1 P. 14. II 50 HISTORY TO THE ANNEXATION. were other kings and other nobles that would take up the task; and if these, too, should fail, then the Church of Rome would summon a new crusade to make the result sure. Two national characteristics likely to retard this process are to he summarily repressed: one, the giving heed to dreams and auguries and old traditions of Troy, and the ancient grandeur of their race; the other, the want of definite active employment by which to earn their daily bread,—a need they could hardly have felt before, when charity to the poor was the rule, and no beggar was found throughout the country. Lastly, bewailing the sad ignorance of the priests and clergy, he exhorts them to give more heed to the Friars Preachers and Minors, who were almost the sole reposi¬ tories of true doctrine in these parts, and yet received but little welcome or support on their missions through the country. These injunctions were to be published annually throughout the dio¬ cese, and certification thereof to be made to the archbishop. It is to this period most probably that the prohibition of the ordi¬ nation of Welshmen to any but the lowest order is due. “ Jul¬ ius Wallensis aliquem filium suum ad aliquos ordines promovebit nisi unum ; et lios ad primam tonsuram tantum.” 1 1 Kecord, North. Wall, in Book of Carnarvon, p. 131, from Bari. MS. 696, in Councils, i, 583. CHAPTER V. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. Early assumption of royal prerogative.—Transfer of the advowson of the Cathedral.—Disregard of its ancient liberties.—Pope Nicholas’s Taxatio. —Edward I exacts further supplies from the Clergy.—Dispute there¬ upon.—Excommunication of Prince Madoc.—Bishop Llewelyn ap Ynyr’s Statutes.—Controversies relating to the goods of intestates, the advow¬ son of Northop and certain auxilia.— Bishop David ap Bleddyn’s episco¬ pate.—Llyfr Coch.—Papal provision.—Dispute as to custody of the tem¬ poralities and appointment to the deanery.—Bishop Llewelyn ap Madoc. —Bishop Spridlington.—Dispute about the advowson of Llanasa.—The spiritualities of the see in a.d. 1389. The annexation, sealed by the Statute of Rhuddlan, had been partially anticipated in ecclesiastical matters at a much earlier period. From the consecration of Gilbert by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a.d. 1143, the profession of obedience made by his successors bound them, to a certain extent, to regard the English Primate as their ecclesiastical head. Politically, too, the situation of St. Asaph on the confines of the most hotly contested portion of the border-land, its proximity to the garrison fortress of Rhuddlan, and its site on the line of march of the English armies, all combined to place the occupant of the see too often at the mercy of the English king. In the middle of the thirteenth century this part of the diocese was reduced to a state of great misery. The whole of Perfedd- wlad, from the Dee to the Conway, was surrendered to Henry III in a.d. 1247; and the Bishop, Howel ap Ednyfed, like his brother of Bangor, “ destructis episcopatibus csede et incendio, mendicare ut de alieno viverent cogebantur”; the former at Osney Abbey, near Oxford, and the latter at St. Alban’s. 1 Henry now claimed, 1 Matt. Paris in Councils, p. 474, and Br. Willis, i, 13, 14. UNIVERSITY 0£ ILLINOIS LIBRARY 52 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. by right of conquest, the aclvowsons which had previously be¬ longed to the princes of Wales; presented, by virtue thereof, one Henricus de Bretun to the church of St. Michael at Kerry ; and in the election of the next bishop to this see, a.d. 1249, assumed the same prerogative that he had previously enjoyed in England, that of requiring the dean and chapter to recognise (which they did under protest) the right of the English crown to license, and to consent to the election. 1 On the death of Simon de Montfort, a.d. 1265, the earldom of Chester was annexed to the crown of England; and in after reigns the eldest son of the reigning monarch received, as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, “the advowson of the cathedral church of St. Asaph, and the avoid¬ ance, issues, and profits, of the temporalities of the bishoprics of Chester and St. Asaph, together with all advowsons, pensions, portions, corrodies, offices, etc.; to the said earldom belonging.” 2 To the total disregard here shewn for the ancient rights and liberties of the see on one hand, and of certain customs and pri¬ vileges of the border chieftains on another; and to the uncer¬ tainty that so often resulted as to their relative rights and those of the crown, are to be attributed the endless disputes about advowsons and temporalities that henceforth, for a long period, marked each interval of vacancy in the see. The first of them occurred on the death of Anian II in A.D. 1293, when Earl War¬ ren, lord of Bromesfeld, claimed the custody of certain “ terre et tenementa” within his lordship, just as it had been enjoyed by his predecessors therein before the conquest of the country. But it was ruled by the King in council that the custody of all lands, etc., anywhere situate, belonging to vacant sees, belonged to the crown ; and that he had, by his recent conquest, re-acquired the lands of Bromesfeld, and annexed them to his crown: “ Adeo integre et plenarie cum omnibus suis juribus et libertatibus, sicut terre et tenementa ilia corone Anglie annexa fuerunt antequam in manus principum Wallie devenerunt”; 3 in manifest allusion to the above grant. It was probably a like uncertainty that deterred Robert de 1 Br. Willis, Append, v; Councils, 475. 2 “ Flintshire” in Lewis’s Topographical Diet. 3 Byley, Placita, 21 Edw. I, pp. 119, 120, in Councils, i, 59S, 599. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. 53 Staundon, justiciary of North Wales, on the same occasion, from taking possession of the temporalities of the see within the lord- ship of Denbigh and elsewhere, and which called forth from the King a strict mandate that he should proceed to do so at once. 1 The ancient liberties of the Welsh Church were roughly handled at the annexation, and treated too much as it happened to suit the convenience, advantage, or caprice of the subordinates to whom the government of the country was committed. “ Idcirco scribimus regie Maiestati,” writes Archbishop Peckham to Ed¬ ward I, A.D. 1284, “quia tarn dornini novelli, quam baiuli, quibus gubernacula Wallie commisistis, prudentes carnaliter, et spiritu- aliter imprudentes, sic premissam dividunt libertatem, ut quic- quid pro ipsorum videtur esse commodo contra consuetudinem Anglicanam, illud sibi arrogent toto posse; quicquid vero ad relevationem ecclesie discrepat ab usibus Anglicanis, illud de- struunt et evertunt, non sine animarum suarum periculis et ana- thematis vinculo quo ipso facto irretiunt semetipsos.” And he closes his appeal for the preservation of those liberties with a warning,—“ Tan turn igitur dignetur in hac parte facere pietas regalis, ne sui honoris incrementa, que Deus adaugeat, in ecclesi- astica suspiria convertantur; pro certo scitura, quantum amari- tatus clerus posset faciliter processu temporis populum (quod avertat Altissimus) in amaritudinem concitare ” 2 The appeal and warning, however, appear to have been of little avail, for in the thirteenth of the Articles of the Bishops against Edward I, pre¬ sented in the following year, it is urged by them, “ quod Ecclesise Walliae suae libertati pristinae dimittantur”; to which it is replied, “ Rex intelligit quod sunt plus liberae quam fuerint ab initio,”—a reply that calls forth the regretful comment, “ Utinam ita esset, ut responsum est; sed praelati earum partium aliud asseverant.” 3 The information supplied by Peckham’s famous letter, a.d. 1284, as to the condition, character, and duties of the clergy, is aptly supplemented by an important record of almost the same date, describing the nature and value of all the livings and other 1 Prynne, Records, iii, 571, in Councils, i, 601. 2 Reg. Pcckh., fo. 446, in Councils, i, 569. 3 Councils, i, 583. 54 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. ecclesiastical property within the diocese. It is entitled “Annu- alis Valor omnium et singularum Possessionum et Reventionum, tam Spiritualium. quam Temporalium, omnium et singulorum Arcliiepiscoporum et Episcoporum, Ahhatum et Priorum; anno 18 Edw. I” (commonly called the “ Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV”), and was published from the original MS. by the Record Com¬ mission, in 1802, under the title, “Taxatio Ecclesiastica Anglise et Wallise, auctoritate P. Nicholai IV, c. a.d. 1291”; the portion relating to this diocese being given pp. 285-290. From the pre¬ face we learn that “ Pope Innocent XXII, to whose predecessors in the see of Rome the first fruits and tenths of all ecclesiastical benefices had for a long time been paid, gave the same, A.D. 1253, to King Henry III for three years; which occasioned a taxation in the following year, sometimes called the “ Norwich Taxation,” and sometimes a Pope Innocent’s Valor.” This is inferred, from the contents of Llyfr Coch, to have included this diocese ; but no further particulars remain. “ In the year 1288 Pope Nicholas IV granted the tenths to King Edward I for six years, towards de¬ fraying the expense of an expedition to the Holy Land j 1 and that they might be collected to their full value, a taxation by the King’s precept was begun in that year, and finished as to the province of Canterbury in 1291, and as to that of York in the following year; the whole being under the direction of John Bishop of Winton and Oliver Bishop of Lincoln. This Taxatio is a most important record, because all the taxes, as well to our kings as the popes, were regulated by it until the survey made in the twenty-sixth year of Henry VIII; and because the statutes of the colleges which were founded before the Reformation are also interpreted by this criterion; according to which their bene¬ fices, under a certain value, are exempted from the restriction in the statute 21 Henry VIII concerning pluralities.” As the de¬ tails of the chapter, parochial, and monastic incomes will be given when treating of each of them severally, where the juxta¬ position of this Valor to others of later date will supply mate- 1 A new feature, resulting from the Crusades, is henceforth not infre¬ quently met with in the diocesan records, viz. the introduction of leprosy into the country : e. g., “ duodecim leprosarii” receive clothing from Bishop Llew¬ elyn, a.d. 1311, and there was a “ terra leproson!!!!” at Wrexham. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. 55 rials for useful comparisons, it will suffice here to give the respective summaries. The orthography is curious from an anti¬ quarian point of view; and by the confusion of / and the longy^ and of n and v, bespeaks a scribe not well acquainted with the origin and meaning of some of the names. SPIRITTJ ALIA. Decanatus Ecclesie de T. S’ma taxacio’s. D. S'ma decime. il larchia . . . Oswal, 1 Sco. Martino,. 2 Hilatwon, 3 Lanemeneyth, T. <£85 : 0 : 0 . 4 Knwkyn, . 5 D. £7:4:8 Pola .... Pola, Beygidia, 6 Landrimeaw Landislylian. 7 T. £36 : 13 : 4. D. £3 :13 : 4. Kedeweyn . T. £61 :13: 11 D. £4 : 6 : 0 Kereynon . T. £40 : 13 : 4 D. £3 : 8 : 0 Metheyn T. £46:8: 4 9 * D £4:4:10 Aberyw, Bethus, Manaon, Lanwydean, Trefkeno, Lanwoyr, 8 Lanlwchacarn, Lamewily, Landissul, Haberhafefest. Lanveyr, Castell’, Langenvyk, Lanurvyl, Langadvan. S’ma tax’ Decan’ p’d’ci post subt’ com’ Rector’ de Lanweyr, £22 : 0 : 0 ; inde dec’ £2:4:0. Meynot, Lansanfreit, Lannetbeyn, Lanvyllyn, Lan- nyhagel. Mochnant . T. £37 : 13 : 4’° D. £2:17:0 Kenlleyth . Rauraeadr 11 (cum capellis suis, sc. Wangedwyn, Lan- armavn, Bettws Kadwalardyr), Penant Mellagel, Hyrnant, Langenauk. Lansylyn, Lanarmaior in Diffryn Keyrianc. £24 :13 : 4. Mahelaur . £97:13 : 4 Nandhendwe 12 £1:18:8 . Eston, Grefford, Gwregsam, Martbwyel, Rywnabon, Erbystok. . Langollen, Ewevn, 13 Lansanfreit. £47:16 : 8 Edermyawn £56:6 : 8 Dymnael £15:0:0 Penllyn £44:16:8 £3 : 14 : 4 Corvaen, Lansanffreyd, Gwydelwern, Langar, Lan- derillo, Lanbebacarn. 14 Langvm, Lanvibagel, Kerrye Edrudeon Bettus guer- vyl. Landervael, Lanvaur, Lanekyl, Lanutbllyn, Lan- gewoyr. Manowe fyKefeyllyanc. Lanemadwe (cum capellis suis de Malewyt et Gartb- £50 : 0 : 0 beybyan), Dareweyn, Capella de Brynmeyr, Kemeys, Lanwryn, Capella de Penegos, Capella de Macbyleytb. 1 Oswaltra. 2 Cbwytunton. 3 Sulatwn. 4 Blodnol. 5 (R. O.) Kynardynllef. 6 (R. O.) Keygidia. 7 Landiscy. 8 Newtown, originally called Llanfair yn Gbedewen. 9 £42 :8 :4. 10 £28:10:0. 11 Llanrliaiadr. ;2 Nanbeudwy 13 Y Waun, i.e. Chirk. 14 Llanaelhaearn, united to Gwyddelwern in the sixteenth century. 56 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. Ros fy Revoveauc 1 <£152 :10: 5 Yall Sf Stratalwen £78:5:0 . Lanwrvst, Eglewys Ewach, Dyserth, Egluwys Ros, Dynerth, 2 Bodwellennyn, 3 Lisnaen, Laxxdwlas, Bettws, Abergelen (cum capella sua, Langusten- yn), Kegydanc, 4 Landwarchell, 5 Nanclyn, Helan, Laundid, Lansaman, Gwytheryn, Langernyw, Doligenwal, 6 Lanveyrdalhaern. . Lanverreys, Lanarmavn, Landegla, Landesylian, Bryn Eglwys, de Monte Alto (cum capella sua de Nerghwys). S’ma taxationis p’d’ci Decanat’ post moderac’o’em Eccl’ie de Monte alto, <£70 :15 :0; inde dec. <£7:1:2. . Lanewrgayn 7 (cu’ capella sua de Flynd), Heliwa, Helen g,Chwytford, Lanafsaph, Aldmeliden, Dym- neyrcbyvan, Deyserch (cu’ capella de Rywlyfu- wyd), Ewin, 8 Baerwys, Bottervarrn, Skeynyanc, Nanverch Kylleyn, Rodlan. Ecclesia Catbedralis cu’ capellis suis et canonie in ead’m et portiones alise .£287 :10: 0 omnes (including those of the bishop, dean, and archdeacon). Summa taxacionis omnium bonorum spiritualium Assavensis diocesis, ^£1332 :18 : 9; inde decime, d£133 : 5 : 10|. Englefild <£158 11 :8 TEMPORALIA. S’ma bonorum D’ni Affavens’ Ep’i 9 £ . 22 s. 2 d. 10 £ 2 Bee. s. d. 4 Si » 9) Canonicorum Affavens . 11 2 1 1 2 2f 99 99 Abbath. de Basyngberde 10 . 46 11 0 4 13 u 99 99 ,, Conwey . 26 2 4 2 12 3 99 99 ,, Strata Marcelle . . 18 10 10 1 17 H 99 99 „ Valle Crucis . 14 14 8 1 9 6 99 99 ,, Lanlugan 1 9 0 0 2 11 99 99 „ Strata Florida, Menev. dioc. 2 9 0 0 4 11 99 99 „ Harmon, 11 Cestrie dioc. . 8 0 4 0 16 Of 99 99 D’ni Ep’i Bangorens’ . . 3 7 6 0 6 9 99 99 Canonicor’ Eccl’ie Bangorens’ . 3 7 6 0 6 9 S’ma s’mar’ om’iu’ bonor’ temporal’ . 157 17 1 15 15 8i Summa totorum bonorum spiritualium et tempo- ralium Assaven’ dioc’ . 1490 15 10 149 1 7 1 Rhyfoniog. 2 Llandrillo-yn-Rhos. 3 Llanelian. 4 St George. 5 Whitchurch, Denbigh. 6 Yspytty. 7 Northop. 8 Cwm. 9 Issuing from the manors of St. Asaph with Altmoledyn and Dymcolyn (in Disserth), of Llandegla, and of St. Martin and St. Leonard’s; also from Botnoc, Llanrusty, Bremman, Bodgenen (Bodeugan), Cocryadok Meyradok (Meriadog), Warymel, Wayno (Vaenol), Insula Pengnen, Cansyman (Llan- sannan), Langner (Llangernyw), Trathlan (Trellan in Llansantffraid Glan- Conwy), Renant (in Conway par.), Henlau, Bodingenau, Lanhudith, Kyll- awen, Bregnen (Bryngwyn in Temeirchion), Tardys (Caerwys), ISTantvenen. 10 Basyngberke (Basingwei’k). 11 Haughmond, near Shrewsbury. AFTER TIIE ANNEXATION. 57 The discrepancy in the proportion of the taxation and the tenths in some of the deaneries, is due to the circumstance that vicars, resident rectors, and portionists, whose income did not exceed six meres, or four pounds, were exempt from tenths. The sum of the taxation, too, is not to be taken as representing the complete valor of the respective deaneries, inasmuch as the appro¬ priate livings were taxed, not with the deaneries in which they were situate, but under the cathedral or other religious founda¬ tion to which they were attached ; whilst those which were appropriate to the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, as being devoted to a kindred object, were exempted from the measure. 1 The joortiones ordered by Peckliam to be abolished are well illus¬ trated in the case of Meifod, Corwen, Northop, Llanrhaiadr-yn- Mochnant, and other parishes, as will be shewn more fully when treating of them individually. The list of churches is the same as it was at the beginning of the present century, with the ex¬ ception of Gwaunysgor omitted, and Llanaelhaearn united to Gwyddelwern, the change of some few of the capellce into parish churches, and the addition of some ten or twelve chapels of ease, such as Yoelas, Capel Garmon, St. Hilary’s (Denbigh), Treyddin, Minera, Trevor, Ehug, Aston, Moreton, Melverley, and Penrhos. Edward found this method of procuring supplies, by demand¬ ing sums of money from the clergy, so convenient, and adopted it so often, and to such an exorbitant extent, that they were com¬ pelled at last to resist the imposition as unconstitutional. The Pope, too, issued a bull forbidding them to pay any levy, tribute, or contribution to the state, and putting under excommunication all who dared either to levy or receive such payment without the papal permission being first obtained. 2 Edward, however, would brook no interference; but seized their goods, and ulti¬ mately forced them to acquiesce in his extortions. 3 Llewelyn ap Ynyr, commonly called Leoline de Bromfield, of St. Asaph, and John of Llandaff, are said to have been the only two Bishops 1 The appropriations to religious houses are given on p. 32. Those belong¬ ing to the cathedral included Henllan to the dean, Abergele to the arch¬ deacon, Tremeirchion, Llangernyw, Llannefydd, Llanfairtalhaiarn, Meliden, and St. Asaph (in part) to the canons, and Gwyddelwern to the vicars. 2 Llyfr Coch, fo. 36b. 3 Cf. Hallam, Mid. Ages, ii, 224. I 58 AFTElt THE ANNEXATION. in the province of Canterbury that supported the Archbishop in his resistance to the King in this matter. 1 A list of the defaulters in the diocese, and of the respective sums demanded of them, is preserved in Llyfr Coch f from whence it appears that on their refusal to pay the demand, notwithstanding the repeated injunc¬ tion of the King to the Bishop to enforce it, Edward at last com¬ manded him to put their goods under sequestration, and appear before him in person at Westminster, within a certain date, with the whole amount, on pain of having his own temporalities seized in discharge of the demand. The goods of the Dean and other defaulters were hereupon offered for sale; but owing to the shortness of the notice, the lateness of the season, the badness of the roads, the difficulties of transit, and, above all, the fear of ecclesiastical censures, no buyers could be found. The money, however, had to be paid, as appears from sundry receipts in Llyfr Coch to that effect. To Bishop Llewelyn’s lot fell also the unpleasant office of having to put into force the sentence of excommunication pro¬ nounced by Archbishop Winchelsey against Prince Madoc ap Llewelyn and his adherents, who had risen against the new taxes levied through Sir Koger de Puleston, whom they seized and put to death. Madoc was to be excommunicated by name, and his adherents en masse ; and the whole of the country that supported him to be put under an interdict, the baptism of infants and the penances of the dying being alone permitted. The execution of the sentence was, however, not so easy, as neither the Bishop nor his officers dared approach the Prince, or be seen in any of the parts that adhered to him; so that he had to content himself with making a proclamation of it in the presence of the people assembled together, on holy days, in the neighbouring towns of Oswestry, Pool, Wrexham, Mold, and Caerwys. 3 This was in a.d. 1295, and the sentence was again repeated by him a.d. 1305, when Madoc was a prisoner in the Tower of London. The cathedral having been now rebuilt, after its destruction by the English soldiers, the services were rearranged, in accord¬ ance with the injunctions of Peckham, by Bishop Llewelyn. In 1 Wharton. 2 10b, pp. 83-88. 3 Br. Willis, App. xxiv. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. 59 full chapter held on the 6tli of March, a.d. 1296, the duties of those members who were beneficed in Gwyddelwern were defined ; and the obligations of the several prebendaries laid down, assign¬ ing to each his share in the support of the choir. 1 For their better maintenance Bhuddlan and Llansilin were, on the lltli of the following April, made appropriate; and on the same day the ancient grant of Llanasa by Bishop Howel was confirmed, for the support of the fabric and the supply of lights in the cathedral. 2 The statutes of the Bishop and his council, “ tarn super regi- mine suo quam sue familie,” drawn up about this time, are inte¬ resting as shewing the composition and domestic arrangements of the episcopal household. The Bishop himself is first enjoined to attend constantly to the divine offices and to the study of the sacred canons and Scriptures; next, the duties of his council (“ socii sui circa regimen ecclesie”) are enumerated, and principles laid down for their guidance. Then follow the duties of the several members of the household (“ officiales curie”), e. g., the “ senescallus” (house-steward), “janitor seu marescallus aule,” “ pincerna” (baker), “ panetarius” (who had to provide and dis¬ tribute the bread), “ marescallus equorum” (head groom), “ co- quus,” “ elemosynarins,” “ capellanus,” “ camerarius” (chamber- lain), “hostiarius camere” (groom of the chambers ?), “ garcionum pallestr” (in charge of the stable-boys), “ portarius,” “ nuncius,” and those of the land-steward and the “ judex.” In the appoint¬ ment, a.d. 1304, to certain canonries, to which “capelke” were annexed, it is stipulated that the new canons shall build suitable houses on their glebes, and reside in person therein. Such were Llannefydd, Abergele, and Llanfair-talhaiarn. 3 From whence it appears that the canons had adhered to the original system of collegiate residence near the cathedral, until the destruction of their houses in the late war. We have already alluded to a dispute relating to the tempo¬ ralities of the see during the interval before the election of Llew¬ elyn. We will now touch briefly upon one or two others that took place during his episcopate. The first of these related to the goods and chattels of persons dying intestate within the 1 Br. Willis, App. xxvi. 3 Llyfr Cock, 137b. 3 Ibid., pp. 91, 92, 60 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. demesnes of the bishop; the same point we have already seen disputed between Bishop Anian II and Llewelyn Prince of Wales. One Madoc ap Philip had died intestate in the cantred of Engle- field, possessed of goods worth £4, which Bishop Llewelyn took possession of in accordance with the privileges of the see. The King, however, disputed his right, and claimed them for himself, either on the general plea that the goods of all intestates belonged to the crown; or possibly, in this case, on the particular ground that they were “ ad valentiam iiii librarian”; a sum we have already seen to have been the limit of certain exemptions in the Valor of A.D. 1291. But the jury found for the Bishop, and his title to all such goods was now confirmed. 1 Another had reference to the advowson of Northop, claimed by Edward II, a.d. 1310, on the plea that it had at one time belonged to David Prince of Wales, and had therefore devolved to himself by virtue of that title. Edward presented to it one of his chaplains, Elias de.; but the Bishop refused to institute him, on the ground that the presentation belonged, and always had done so, to the see. The question was tried by jury at Flint, before Robert de Holland, justiciary of Chester, a.d. 1310; and here also the verdict was given in favour of the Bishop. 2 The following year the Bishop and his chapter were again suc¬ cessful in resisting a contribution of two hundred meres imposed, without their consent, by the Earl of Lancaster, lord of Denbigh, upon their tenants in Isaled, Uwclialed, and Isdulas; it being one of the immemorial privileges of their Church that no such contribution should be demanded without their previous assent and concurrence. 3 Llewelyn ap Ynyr was succeeded in a.d. 1314 by David ap Bleddyn, who, like himself, was a canon of the cathedral. On this occasion a curious prerogative of the crown was exercised. Edward nominated one Nicholas de Huyate (Wyatt ?) “ ad ob- tinendam gratiam uni de clericis ratione novee consecrationis debitam whereupon the Bishop granted him an annual pension of five meres, until he should be otherwise provided for with an ecclesiastical benefice. 4 1 Br. Willis, Append, xxviii. 2 Llyfr Coch, pp. 89, 90. 3 Ibid., p. 37. 4 Br. Willis, App. xxix. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. 61 Tliis Bishop obtained from Edward II, A.D. 1321, for the benefit of himself and chapter, a grant of the tolls taken at the three days’ fair annually held at St. Asaph on May 1st and the pre¬ ceding and following days, being the Festival of St. Philip and St. James and the anniversary or Wake of St. Asaph. 1 He fur¬ ther obtained from Edward III a confirmation of Edward’s grant, A.D. 1281, of £20 worth of land, amounting to forty-nine acres, situate in the vills of Disserth, Dincolyn, Nannerch, Coedymyn- ydd, and Rhywlyfnwyd; and made originally “ propter incendia et diversa enormia ecclesise predicts per homines ipsius tempore guerrse facta.” 2 He also appropriated Nantglyn to the cathedral, for the better maintenance of the ten vicars and the support of .its other duties, and for the celebration of two masses daily (“ una de Beata Virgine Maria, et alia pro defunctis et benefacto- ribus”) in the newly built chapel on the south side of the cathe¬ dral,—the present Consistory Court. 3 It was during the time of Bishop David ap Bleddyn that the famous MS., Llyfr Cock, or Liber Ruber Assavensis, was compiled, containing the acts of the bishops and the records and charters of the see. 4 In the appointment of this bishop’s successor, John Trevor I, we find a new feature introduced, that became henceforth of frequent occurrence, viz. that of papal provision; that is, the destination of an ecclesiastic by the Pope for promotion to a see, living, or stall, not yet vacant. This practice is said to have arisen out of the custom of referring disputed elections to Rome for settlement; and to have been adopted there for the twofold reason of bestowing the see on a favourite candidate, under pre¬ text of avoiding contests, and of preventing the crown from keeping sees long vacant for the sake of their temporalities. But it soon became perverted into an abuse far greater than any it 1 Br. Willis, App. xxx. 2 Ibid., App. xxxi. 3 Ibid., App. xxxn. 4 The original has long been lost; but there exist two copies of portions of it, the one at Peniarth, Merionethshire, and the other in the Bishop’s Library at St. Asaph. An index, taken from the former, has been published in Nichols’s Collectanea Topographica; and many of its early records printed in Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, 1869. Another index, taken from the latter copy, was printed, with notes, in the Archceologia Cambrensis for 1868. This is the copy referred to in the present work as Llyfr Coch. 62 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. was intended to remedy; and the richly endowed Church of England came to he looked upon as “ the free pasture of Italian priests, who were placed by the mandatory letters of Gregory IX and Innocent IY in all the best benefices.” 1 The first instance at all in this diocese appears to have been the appointment by Pope Clement V, a.d. 1306, of Dr. John Toppan to a canonry in the cathedral and to the rectory of Llan Wyllin. 2 The next case was that of John Trevor, who, whilst at Pome, was nominated by Clement YI, first in A.D. 1344, to the next vacant canonry or sinecure ; 3 and subsequently to the bishopric itself, to which, as soon as it became vacant, he was also consecrated “in curia Pomana”; though he was not allowed to take possession of his see until he had first made his profession of obedience at Canterbury. 4 Upon his death, a.d. 1357, the old dispute was again revived as to the custody of the temporalities during the vacancy. The spiritualities, including the collation to benefices, were always enjoyed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as metropolitan; and so continued until the 32nd of Henry YIII, when they were transferred to the crown. But there were certain other privileges (“jura et prsedia”), not distinctly spiritual, which were also enjoyed by him on the death of his suffragans. Such were, a moiety of the “ sacerdotia”, and a third of the small tithes, of all the vacant benefices; a tenth of the “ valor” of all other bene¬ fices, payable on All Saints’ Day; fourpence out of every mere to defray the expenses of visitation; “ decima bonorum dota- lium”, being a commutation on the “ animalia” belonging to per¬ sons getting married during the interval; and mortuaries of the deceased bishop, including in this diocese his best horse, saddle and bridle, his hooded cloak, and his best seal and signet ring. 5 These, Edward the Black Prince now claimed, as guardian of the temporalities. The dispute was not finally settled tiP A.D. 1362 ; and then, after a long and careful inquiry, it was decided, “omnium pene tarn laicorum quam clericorum in ilia diocese testimonio”; 6 that they belonged “ ad Cantuariensem metropolim longa consuetudine acquisita.” 1 Hallam’s Mid Ages, ii, 209. 3 Rymer, v, p. 403. 2 MS. Bull in Wharton, p. 397. 4 Wharton, p. 336. 5 Ilarpsficld in Br. Willis, Append, ii, p. 107. 6 Wharton, p. 337. AFTER THE ANNEXATION. 63 Another dispute had arisen in the interval, on the promotion of Llewelyn ap Madoc, the dean, to the bishopric. Provided to the see by Innocent at Avignon, July 19tli, 1357, and abont the same time elected thereto by the chapter, in ignorance of the papal reservation, he was consecrated by the Pope at Avignon, and received the spiritualities from the Archbishop on the 13th of October. The question then arose, whether he as bishop, con¬ secrated, but not yet having received his temporalities, or the Prince of Wales, as custos of them until restored, was to present to the vacant deanery. The Archbishop issued a commission, on the 20tli of October, to inquire into the matter; and on the com¬ missioners reporting that they could not decide to whom, in this particular instance, the patronage belonged, Edward assumed the right, and nominated to it Eobert de Walsliam but it would appear that the matter was compromised by the Bishop appoint¬ ing another friend of the Prince ; for the deanery was conferred in the autumn of the same year, a.d. 1357, upon William de Spridlington, who in due time succeeded Llewelyn ap Madoc in the bishopric also, and was afterwards named by the Black Prince as one of the executors to his will. Bishop Spridlington obtained from Eichard II a confirmation of the grant of the advowson of Blodwell, the original grant by Eichard Eitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, to his predecessor, Bishop Llewelyn ap Madoc, having been made “without the royal license,” and therefore become forfeit. 2 The same Bishop pro¬ cured also the appropriation of Llanrhaiadr and its chapelries to the cathedral chapter, a.d. 1380, “tarn ad incrementum sustenta- tionis quatuor vicariorum, et sex aliorum capellanorum quam ad sustentationem sex minorum vicariorum choristarum et ad alia onera in ecclesia predicta invenienda juxta ordinationem ipsius Episcopi et capituli sui in hac parte faciendam.” 3 The same year he also obtained the royal license to unite and annex the chapelries of Welshpool and Guilsfield (“ capellas de la Pole et Kegitva”) to the mother church of Meifod, and to appropriate them to himself “ in proprios usus.” A weekly market on Mon¬ days, and a three days’ fair in October (“ in vigilia in die et in 1 Br. Willis, App. xxxiii. 2 Hid., App. xxxiv. 3 Ibid., App. xxxvi. 64 AFTER THE ANNEXATION. crastino Sancti Dionysii”), were conceded at tlie same time to the bishop, dean, and chapter, who were to receive the tolls and other customs, 1 as we have already seen in the similar grant to Bishop David ap Bleddyn in a.d. 1321. The labour-service, too, at the Red Rock, which had been rendered from time immemo¬ rial by the free tenants of the dean and chapter (“ pro operatio- nibus ecclesiae cathedralis”), was now commuted into a money- payment, 2 known as “ Ardreth y Garreg Gocli.” Bishop Spridling- ton, after having done so much during his lifetime to improve the condition of the cathedral and its members, left many legacies at his death for the same and other similar purposes. Before the appointment of his successor, the ever-recurring dispute about patronage again cropped up. This time Llanasa became vacant, and Richard II, assuming the right of advowson, presented to it Hugh Leversegge; and on the Archbishop’s refusal to institute, issued a writ of “ Quare imjpedit ” to compel him to do so. The verdict, given at Flint, was in the King’s favour ; hut at the instance of the Earl of Arundel, whose family had often proved great benefactors to the diocese, the King gave up his right, and confirmed the appropriation to its ancient uses, “ad inveniendum luminaria et sustentandum alia onera eidem ecclesiae (catliedrali) necessaria.” 3 On the death of Bishop Child, a.d, 1389, the spiritualities of the see were entrusted by the Archbishop to Howel Kyffin, the dean, whose account gives the following items: £ s. cl. “ DeZactualibus, viz. cle tertia parte agnorum, lanae et albarum decimarum liberalium . .160 0 0 De procurationibus annualibus . . . 50 0 0 De procurationibus triennalibus . . . 50 0 0 De capellis Ecclesiae Assavensis, sextam partem garbarum quae valet p’ ann’ . . . 12 0 0 De Ecclesia de Blodwell mensae suae appropriate 8 0 0 Medietatem oblationum ad magnum altare Medietatem beneficiorum vacantium 1 Bi\ "Willis, App. xxxvii. 2 Ibid., App. xxxix. 3 Ibid., App. xli, and see p. 59. 65 CHAPTER VI. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. Bishop Trevor II and Owen Glyndwr.—Bishops Knight and Redman.— Church restoration.—Tendencies to the Reformation.—Mutual jealousies of the Religious Orders; their riches, and proposals to confiscate them. —Translation of the Holy Scriptures.—Printing.—Revival of Greek learning.— Bishops Pecock and Standish.—Transfer of the Supremacy from the Pope to the King.—Declaration of the Dean and Chapter.— Religious literature of the period.—Character of the popular religion. The episcopate of John Trevor II brings ns to a stirring and eventful period in the history of the diocese. Having been appointed, as was now the custom, by papal provision, the Crown shewed its jealousy of the practice in the condition it attached to the grant of the temporalities, “quod idem Johannes omnibus verbis nobis et coronse nostrse prejudicialibus contentis in litteris apostolicis sibi in hac parte confectis renunciet.” 1 Whatever this may have done to secure the loyalty, it seems to have effected but little towards winning the affection of the Bishop; for it was he who soon afterwards, in Flint Castle, pro¬ nounced the sentence of deposition on Richard, and also went as ambassador to Spain to justify to that court the proceedings of his rival, Henry Bolingbroke. His conduct in this matter aroused the indignation of Owen Glyndwr, who, having been partly brought up at the court of Richard, had adhered faithfully to him to the last, and been taken prisoner with him in the Castle of Flint. On his release he retired to his estate on the banks of the Dee, to brood over his liege’s sufferings, and to smart under wrongs of his own. His neighbour, Reginald de Grey, the Nor¬ man baron of Ruthin, sided with Henry; and between their two 1 Br. Willis, Append, xlvi. K 66 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. estates lay an extensive common, called Croesan, to which both parties laid claim. During the reign of Richard, Glyndwr had recovered it from Reginald de Grey; but now that Henry was king, his neighbour took forcible possession of it, and Glyndwr’s appeal to Parliament for redress was rejected. This was soon aggravated by another injury. De Grey detained the writ that had been issued by Henry summoning Glyndwr and the other barons to join the expedition against the Scots, and then, misrepresenting his absence as an act of wilful disobe¬ dience, took possession of his lands on plea of forfeiture. This drove Glyndwr to desperation, and summoning his retainers he retaliated fiercely on his enemy. His successes gained him fresh adherents; and as his countrymen were smarting under a bitter sense of the indignities to which they were subjected, they thought this a favourable opportunity for freeing themselves from the yoke, and chose Glyndwr to be their leader, both for his own merits, and as being descended from their last native prince. Pusliop Trevor warned the English Parliament not to make light of the movement; but his counsel was somewhat disdainfully rejected,—they cared not for such barefooted rabble. During the struggle much injury was done by both sides to ecclesiastical buildings and property, according to the sympathies of the respective parties. The Franciscans, being adherents of Richard, and favourable to Glyndwr, were among the first to suffer. Their monastery at Llanfaes was plundered by Henry a.d. 1400 ; some of the monks put to death, and others expelled, their places being supplied by supporters of the king. Glyndwr retaliated the following year by destroying the Cistercian Abbey of Cwmhir; and Henry, in revenge, burnt down Strata Florida the year after. The confirmation of the Pope’s bull, providing the bishop to Meifod, with its cajpellce of Pole and Kegitva, “ ea consideratione quod Ecclesia Assavensis, occasione guerrarum et tribulationum quae nuper in partibus illis fuerunt, multipliciter damnificata ex- istit,” attests the troubles of the diocese at this time, a.d. 1401; troubles vastly increased the following year, when Glyndwr, 1 Bymer, viii, p. 222. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 67 having got rid of his English enemies, proceeded to punish those of his countrymen who had sided with them. Marching to St. Asaph to avenge himself upon the Bishop, he burns down the cathedral, the palace, and the canons’ houses, and about the same time destroys the Bishop’s houses at Meliden, Bodidris, and St. Martin’s. Whether the Bishop had actually returned from his Spanish embassy at this time does not seem clear; but it was not long afterwards that he transferred his allegiance to Glyn- dwr, either because, as his enemies assert, Glyndwr’s fortunes were now in the ascendant; or, as others maintain with more probability, because he would not be a party to the oppressive and impolitic laws which had been passed against his country¬ men during his absence, and of which, after his return, he had utterly failed to obtain any mitigation. Trevor, from this time, remained a faithful supporter of Glyndwr until his death, in 1410, at Paris, whither he had been sent as ambassador to obtain the aid of the French king. Henry was greatly incensed at his defection, and forthwith deprived him of his temporalities; as far, that is to say, as it was possible for him, considering that they were actually in Glyndwr’s power; who, moreover, had seen fit to confirm them to Trevor. Archbishop Arundel at the same time, assuming the spiritualities, issued a writ to William Mem- borougli, archdeacon of Chester, to certify the names of all those in the diocese who preached up rebellion. From an Inspexirnus charter of Henry Y, dated 4 Feb. 1415, Wharton argues that one David was nominated by the King for the vacancy intended to be created; but the Registers of Canter¬ bury make no mention of him, and there were two insuperable difficulties in the way of his succeeding : as Trevor had not been canonically deposed, no second bishop could be recognised during his lifetime; and the temporalities were not at the time Henry’s to give. Moreover, in the Act of Succession to the throne, 22 Dec. 1406, the Bishop of St. Asaph’s name does not occur, his and Bangor’s being the only two signatures wanting. In 1407 and 1408 the custody of the spiritualities was entrusted to Thomas Presbury, Abbot of Shrewsbury, “ ratione vacationis episcopatus Assavensis”; and in a letter addressed by Henry IY to Edward de Charlton, Lord Powys, dated 19 March, 1409, Trevor is de- 68 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. scribed as “Johannes qui se prctenclit Episcopmn Assavensem, proditor et rebellis.” 1 In a charter granted by the above Charlton to the monks of Strata Marcella, a.d. 1420, allusion is made to the havoc and ruin committed during the war, by demolishing and setting on tire as well of churches as monasteries f and the impoverish¬ ment of the see, on the same occasion, is made by Henry VI the ground of his continuing to Bishop Lowe the church of Meifod with its capellce of Pool and Guilsfield, a.d. 1439. 3 Another bishop who became obnoxious to the Crown by reason of his politics, in the days when the whole nation was split into two factions, and ecclesiastics filled the chief offices of the State, was Thomas Knight, a strong Lancastrian, whom Edward IV, on his accession, deprived of his see, the temporalities of which he committed, “ ratione rebellionis Thomse nuper Episcopi”, first, to Eobert, Bishop of Bocliester; and on his death, a.d. 1465, to Dr. Caunton ; 4 and he dying the same year, to James Stanley, clerk. During the brief interval that witnessed the re-establish¬ ment of Henry VI, through the influence of Warwick and Clarence, a.d. 1469, Bishop Knight recovered his rights ; but on the restoration of Edward, in the following year, he was again deprived, and charged with treason, but was allowed to compound for his crime by the resignation of his see. His successor, Bed- man, the rebuilder of the ruined cathedral, being a staunch Yorkist, and finding himself, on the accession of Henry VII, in disfavour with that monarch, entered the more readily into the design to set up Lambert Symnel. The Archbishop of Canter¬ bury and the Bishops of Winchester, Ely, and Exeter, were appointed by the Pope to inquire into the case, a.d. 1487, and reported him guilty; 5 whereupon, the fraud too having been detected, he submitted himself, and was pardoned. He subse¬ quently rose high in the favour of Henry, and was employed by him on an important mission into Scotland, and also promoted to the richer sees of Exeter and Ely. The latter part of this century, especially after the cessation 1 Br. Willis, i, 73-76. 2 Powysland, i, 324. 3 Br Willis, App. i. 4 Eymer, p. 539. 5 “Bailee Papales,” copied in MS. in Wharton. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 69 of the Wars of the Boses, and the establishment of the Tudors on the throne, was marked by a spirit of church building and restoration that endeavoured vigorously to repair the damages of the past; for not only was the cathedral rebuilt, but many churches throughout the diocese bear witness to the exertions made to improve them during this period. Notably so the Stanley series, as they are sometimes called, at Mold, Holywell (St. Winifred’s Chapel), and Nortliop; to which may be added Gresford, Llangollen, and many others. But meanwhile another restoration, of far wider scope and more abiding consequence than that of material fabrics, had been slowly but steadily growing into form and consistency,—the restoration of the primitive Catholic faith. To this end many and varied elements had long been contributing; sometimes in mutual accord, sometimes in direct antagonism, according as the means or the end formed the chief point of vision. For many who were anxious for a Eeformation, for theological reasons, were totally opposed to the selfish and sacrilegious measures by which it was proposed to bring it about; whilst others, whose main concern was for a share in the plunder, had no sympathy for its higher and truer aspect. A prime element in the disintegration of the existing system was supplied by the Beligious Orders, who, by their mutual jealousies and recriminations, first estranged the laity from one another, and finally alienated them from themselves. The Domi¬ nican and Franciscan Friars, whose progress the Historian of the Middle Ages aptly compares to that of the English Methodists, notably contributed to this result. “ Not deviating from the faith of the Church, but professing rather to teach it in greater purity, and to observe her ordinances with greater regularity, while they imputed supineness and corruption to the secular clergy, they drew round their sermons a multitude of such list¬ eners as in all ages are attracted by similar means. They prac¬ tised all the stratagems of itinerancy, preaching in public streets and administering the communion on a portable altar. Thirty years after their institution an historian 1 complains that the 1 Matthew Paris. 70 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. parish churches were deserted; that none confessed, except to these friars : in short, that the regular discipline was subverted. This uncontrolled privilege of performing sacerdotal functions, which their modern antitypes assume for themselves, was con¬ ceded to the Mendicant Orders by the favour of Pome. Aware of the powerful support they might receive in return, the Pontiffs of the thirteenth century accumulated benefits upon the disciples of Francis and Dominic. They were exempted from episcopal authority, and they were permitted to hear confessions without leave of the ordinary, to accept legacies, and to inter in their churches.” 1 These very privileges, and the rich gifts that followed on them, soon undermined their character for poverty and supe¬ rior sanctity, so that the very contrast between their practice and their profession added intensity to the reaction that at last set in. “ All writers of the thirteenth and following centuries,” says the same historian, “ complain in terms of unmeasured indig¬ nation, and seem almost ready to reform the general abuses of the Church; hut they distinguish clearly enough between the abuses which oppressed them, and those which it was their inte¬ rest to preserve, and had not the least intention of waiving their own immunities and authority.” 2 Others, however, were not slow to use the weapons they supplied. Their great wealth, too, sup¬ plied an additional incentive. The gifts originally bestowed upon them in charity were so vastly improved by their economy (for they were the best of husbandmen), and so often increased by collusion,—for it became not uncommon for laymen to enrol their lands as abbey lands, for the sake of the immunities enjoyed by such property from the burdens of the State,—that they ex¬ cited alike the jealousy of the Crown and the cujridity of indi¬ viduals. Propositions were often made in Parliament for the confiscation of their property, and its application to public uses; and calculations put forth that appealed at once to the pocket and the ambition of the people,—as in the Bill of 1410, where it was stated that, “ by the seizure of their (the clergy’s) estates the King would be enabled to create and provide for 15 earls, 1,500 knights, 6,200 esquires, and to found 100 new hospitals.” The 1 Hallam, Middle Ages, ii, 204. 2 Ibid., ii, 215. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 71 practice of endowing alien priories, or cells belonging to foreign religious houses, the appropriation of parochial endowments to religious houses at home, and the suppression of some of these in favour of others, or for the endowment of new colleges, all done with the sanction of the Pope, were quoted as precedents for a new application of the funds, and prepared the way for what was afterwards done, when the King took the Pope’s place as Protector and Supreme Head of the Church of England. To these elements, which would have produced but a revolu¬ tion, must be added those others which, under God, made it a Eeformation. First of these must be named the work of John Wycliffe, whose translation of the Bible not only supplied “ a treasure from which multitudes, in defiance both of civil laws and of Church censures, continued to derive consolation in their sorrows and instruction in their ignorance”, but enabled them also to judge for themselves of what they had only received before at second hand. The introduction of printing, a.d. 1471, multiplied the material for the newly awakened appetite to feed upon; and the revival of Greek learning, at the end of the cen¬ tury, opened up resources of priceless value, both for ascertaining the mind of the Hew Testament writers, and for the correction of many erroneous developments in doctrine and ceremonial which had resulted inevitably from the sole use of the Latin lan¬ guage, the structure of which was too stiff and inadequate to represent fully the meaning of the original. Two of the bishops of St. Asaph, Eeginald Pecock and Henry Standish, helped on unintentionally, and each in a different way, the great movement of the period. Pecock was a man of great intellectual power and a keenly logical mind, who, though “a strong opponent of Lollardism, and a vigorous supporter of the papal claims in their strongest form,” 1 held distinctly Protestant views on some particular points. Eelying on the protection of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, uncle and protector to Llenry YI, whose chaplain he had been, and by whose influence lie was promoted to this see a.d. 1444, and translated to Chichester a.d. 1449, he not only held that the clergy might marry, but also 1 Hook’s Archbishops of Canterbury, v, “ Life of Bourckier.” 72 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. openly maintained that it was “not necessary for salvation to believe and approve all that was affirmed and determined by a general council, and that the Universal Church may err in mat¬ ters of faith.” On the death of his patron he was called to account for these and other opinions relating to the descent into Hell, and the communion of saints, framed out of his writings, and deemed heretical; and his strength of mind not being equal to that of his intellect, nor his moral courage sufficient to make him stand to his logical deductions in the face of the statute “ De Heretico comburendo”, he consented to abjure them. This was done at St. Paul’s cross, where he had to submit to seeing his books burnt before his face; and he was himself sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in Tliorney Abbey, where “ he was to have no book to look on, but only a Portuos and a Masse Book, a Saulter or Legend, and a Bible; and to have nothing to write with, no stuff to write upon.” 1 Though Pecock was thus silenced, the influence of his works remained and spread. Standisli distinguished himself when still a Franciscan friar, a.d. 1515, by taking the anti-clerical side, against the Abbot of Winclielcomb, in the great controversy as to the exemption of ecclesiastics from the civil courts. He incurred thereby the odium of the Bishops, who preferred charges against him as a “ promoter of evils”; but through the influence of the King he was acquitted, and in 1518 promoted to this see. Standish was a vehement opponent of Erasmus, and wrote a treatise against his translation of the Hew Testament, in which he styled him “ Give cuius iste”, a term that afterwards became synonymous with heretic. In a.d. 1530 he was one of the bishops who assisted Queen Catherine in the memorable suit concerning her divorce from Henry, which may be looked upon as the crisis of the movement; for when the political difficulties of the Pope forced him to decide against the King, for fear of offending the Emperor, the former threw off the supremacy, and claimed for himself to be the protector and supreme head of the Church of England, as far as may be permitted by the laws of Christ,— “ quantum per Christi leges liceat.” This reservation, and the fact 1 Br. Willis, i, 83. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 73 that Henry had, for his orthodoxy, received from the Pope him¬ self the title of “ Defender of the Faith”, require to he borne in mind in order to understand how, on theological grounds, the new title was accepted,—a title, be it remembered, acquiesced in by Mary, but indignantly disclaimed by Elizabeth, and only accepted by her in a very modified form. The transfer of the supremacy to the King was quickly followed by the prohibition to pay first-fruits to the Pope, the forbidding of appeals to Rome, and a declaration that the canonical oath of obedience to the Supreme Pontiff' taken by the Bishops, was incompatible with the duty of subjects to the crown. The “Letters Missive” which Henry now added to the cony4 d'elire were but the engrafting on the ancient “licentia eligendi” of the modern “jus provisionis”, by which the Popes had claimed to nominate to sees. The form in which the Dean and Chapter abjured the supre¬ macy of the Pope for that of the King, being the same as that used by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s, illustrates very aptly the nature and extent of the change, a.d. 1534. 1 Acknow¬ ledging in the preface their obligation to render to the King (“cui uni et soli post Christum Jesum Servatorem nostrum debe- mus universa”) entire allegiance and fealty as Christian subjects (“ omnimodam in Christo fidem”, etc.), they engage, both person¬ ally and officially, to regard him as head of the Church of Eng¬ land (“ caput Eccleske Anglicanae”); that as the Roman Bishop who usurps the title of Pope and the sovereignty of Supreme Pontiff, has no higher authority conferred upon him by God, within this realm, than any other foreign bishop, they will not speak of or pray for him under those titles, but only as Bishop of Rome; that, renouncing such laws, decrees, and canons of the Bishop of Rome as are found to be contrary to the divine law and Holy Scripture, or the laws of the realm, they will adhere to the King, and maintain his laws ; that in their addresses, both public and private, they will not pervert passages of Holy Writ to a non-natural meaning (“ ad alienum sensum”); but in a Catholic and orthodox sense will preach Christ, His words and deeds, simply and purely, after the rule of Holy Scripture and of 1 Br. Willis, Appendix lxv. L 74 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. truly Catholic and orthodox doctors. In the “ Bidding Prayer” the Pope’s name was to he omitted, and the King’s put first, followed by those of the two Archbishops and the other orders of the clergy. This memorable Declaration bears date the 21st August, 1534, and is signed by “ Pulco Salusbury, Decanus ; Johannes Breiton, Canonicus; Galfridus Buthin, Prebendarius; David Owayn, Prebendarius”; and another, “ cujus nomen vix legi potest.” The bishopric was at this time vacant, Standish having died July 9tli, and his successor, William Barlow, not having been appointed till the beginning of the following year. Barlow was a strenuous advocate of the Deformation, and having been trans¬ lated in 1536 to St. David’s, and thence to Bath and Wells, was deprived of his see on the accession of Queen Mary. On the accession of Elizabeth, however, he was appointed to Chichester; and was the chief consecrator of Matthew Parker, the first Arch¬ bishop of Canterbury under the reformed faith. 1 In the rule laid down in the above Declaration for interpreting Holy Scripture, we have the true principle of the Deformation; that which made it what its name really imports, and prevented it from becoming, as elsewhere, a merely ecclesiastical revolu¬ tion. The movement as yet, indeed, was only in the germ. Its full development was the work of much time, and the result of many a hard struggle of conflicting interests and principles. Its progress, too, was much slower here than in England ; for no 1 Much importance has hence been attached to the consecration of Bishop Barlow, because the records of it have been lost, and Roman Catholics have taken occasion therefrom to assert that the orders in the Church of England are of doubtful validity. But the same thing might be said of many bishops before the Reformation, and notably so of Parker’s predecessor. Cardinal Pole, who, nevertheless, was recognised as canonical Primate of all England by the Pope and bishops of England. Indeed, according to the modern Roman theory, there is no proof that Pole was ever validly consecrated, for not one of his seven consecrators can be proved, according to that theory, to have been canonical bishops. But Parker stands in a much better position; for though the records of the consecration of Barlow cannot be found, yet the names of his consecrators are known (see Haddan on Bramhall, iii, 138- 143, and preface), and the validity of the orders of the three other bishops who joined with Barlow in consecrating Parker is indisputable. See Stubbs’s Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum, and also Mr. Haddan’s new work on Avostol- a ical Succession in the Church of England, 1860. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 75 one had hitherto been found to do for his countrymen in Wales what Wycliffe had done so long ago for England. Only portions of the Holy Scriptures appear to have been translated into Welsh, and not a single book of any kind to have been printed in the language, before the Reformation. The Welsh Bible was in every sense a Reformation gift. In the preface to W. Salesbury’s translation of the New Testament, published a.d. 1567, Bishop Richard Davies states that the only portion he had ever seen in Welsh was an old MS. of the Pentateuch, which no one seemed to value or understand. The Gospel of St. John, with a Com¬ mentary, is also mentioned in a recent catalogue of Welsh MSS. j 1 and as this catalogue relates to one of the best collections, it may supply no unfair illustration of the character of the Welsh religious literature of the pre-Reformation period. The list includes a few scriptural subjects and many legendary ones, and some devotional and some theological. Thus we have among the former, “ Stories of Adam and Eve, and of their Children, till the time of Noah,” “Part of the History of St. Mark,” “Pedigree of the Blessed Virgin,” her “ Life,” “ History of her Return from Egypt,” “ History of Pilate,” “ Account of Christ and Pilate, and of the Jews,” “Story of Judas Iscariot,” “Vision of St. Paul.” Of legendary and apocryphral we have “ The Gospel according to Nicodemus,” “ Story of St. Catherine,” “Account of the Manner in which Mary Magdalene and others came to Marseilles,” “ Miracles of various Saints,” “ Letter of Pilate to Claudius con¬ cerning Christ,” “Letter of Melitus, Bishop of Sardinia, to the Laodiceans,” “ Miracles of St. Edmund, Archbishop of Canter¬ bury,” “ Story of Owein going to Purgatory.” In devotion and theology we find “ The Mass for Good Eriday,” Athanasius’ Creed, “ Llyfr Difinyddiaeth ar y Pader a’r Credo;” “ The Master and Scholar,” by Archbishop Anselm; “ The third Book of a holy Life, and the Poeniteas ;” “ The Sinner’s Confession, and Questions on the Catholic Faith and the Ten Commandments.” There may have been other books of the Bible translated, as there certainly were other legends and treatises; but the above will shew their general character and tendency. Such were the writings of the 1 The Hengwrt MSS. at Peniarth, No. 1-66, in Arch. Carrib., July, I860. 76 THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. more learned; the people generally had to he affected by other means. As the Church services were rendered in Latin, the ritual was made as symbolical and the ceremonial as impressive as possible, in order to teach the heart through the eye. This was further aimed at in the “ Miracle Plays,” of which the “ Interludes” of the last century were the poor representatives. All this, with the marked preponderance of legendary and apocryphal lore, will account for the superstitious character of much of the common religion. “ The people naturally are very devout”, says a writer 1 so late as 1575, “ having in heart doubtless engrafted as great fear, regard, and reverence of a supernall power as any people in the world elsewhere have ; but more than the name of God they know nothing at all, and therefore, as utterly ignorant of Him or of their salvation, do still in heaps go on pilgrimage to the wonted wells and places of superstition; and in the nights after the feasts, when the old offerings were wont to be kept at any idol’s chapel, albeit the church be pulled down, yet do they come to the place where the church or chapel was by great journeys, barefoot, very superstitiously”, etc. Of these pilgrimages we have further evidence. In a lease of Gresford vicarage house, 2 dated 34 Henry VIII, it is stated “that many offerings had been brought to this church from divers parts of the country; by reason of which the said church was strongly and beautifully made, erected, and builded; and also all manner of ornaments were bought and provided, and not a little aid obtained this way for the better sustentation of the living; but that these had lately, for certain abuses, been by a law abrogated and taken away, and had left the parishioners badly off both for the offer¬ ings and the advantage accruing from the concourse of persons that used to frequent it.” The average offerings “ coram imagine Sti. Garmon”, at Llanarmon-yn-Ial, are returned in the Valor Eccles. of 26 Henry VIII at “xxx.s.”; those “ad reliquias” at Pen¬ nant Melangell, at “lvi.s. viii.^.”; those “ad S’cam Crucem” in Strata Marcella, at “ vs.”; and those “ ad S’cam Wenefredam” at 1 MS. Lansdowne, iii, art. 4, in Original Letters, iii, 49. 3 MS. in Bishop’s library. THE PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD. 77 Holywell, at the large sum of “ xi.” Ellis Price, in one of his letters to Cromwell, who had appointed him “ Commissarie Gene¬ ral of the diocese of Saynte Asaph.for the expulsinge and takynge awaye of certen abusions, supesticions, and ipocryses usid within the saide diocese”, states that “ there ys an image of Darvell Gadarn within the saide diosece, in whome the people have so greate confidence, hope and truste, that they cumme daylye a pillgramage unto hym; somme with kyne, other with oxen or horsis, and the reste withe money ; insomuche that there was fyve or syxe hundretlie pillgrames to a man’s estimacion that offered to the saide image the fifte daye of this presente monethe of Aprill. The innocente people hathe ben sore aluryd and entisid to worshipe the saide image, insomuche that there ys a commyn sayinge as yet amongst them, that whosoever will offer anie thinge to the saide image of Darvell Gadarn, he hath power to fatche hym or them that so offers oute of hell when they be dampned.” 1 Naturally enough, with all this, the second commandment was altogether omitted from the Decalogue, which was thus taught in Bishop Richard Davies’s youth: “ Unum crede Deum, ne jures vana per ipsum, Sabbatha sanctifices, habeas in honore parentes, Ne sis occisor, fur, moechus, testis iniquus, Alterius nuptam, non rem cupies alienam.” 2 1 Suppression of Monasteries, p. 190, in Camden Series. 9 Preface to William Salesbury’s New Testament, 1567. 78 CHAPTER VII. THE REFORMATION. Valor Ecclesiasticus, 26 Henry VIII.—Dissolution of Monasteries.—Reforma¬ tion under Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth.—Diocesan Return, a.d. 1560.— Synod, a.d. 1561.—Translation of the New Testament and Prayer Book. —William Salesbury and Bishop Richard Davies.—Dr. Morgan’s trans¬ lation of the Old Testament.—Case of Bishop Hughes.—Bishop Morgan’s episcopate—Synod at St. Asaph, a.d. 1601. The transfer of the “ annates”, or first-fruits, and the tenths, from the Pope to the King, was followed by the issue of a commission in the twenty-sixth year of Henry VIII, a.d. 1535, to inquire into their true value. Since the Taxcitio of Pope Nicholas, a.d. 1291, a great improvement had taken place in the value of all ecclesiastical property, and henceforth the new Valor became the standard, to which reference had to he made in all points touch¬ ing the revenue of the Church, and the contributions it should make to the State. The subsequent suppression of monasteries, and the discharge from the payment of first-fruits and tenths of parsonages under the value of ten meres, and of vicarages under the value of ten pounds, in some measure lowered the import¬ ance of the Valor as a public document; yet as an historical document its value remains undiminished, which is apparent when it is recollected that we have here presented to us, in one view, the whole ecclesiastical establishment of England and Wales. Eor importance it has been well compared with the Domesday Book ; for “ as in the latter we are presented with a view of the feudal distributions of England as they were settled at the Conquest, so here we have the ecclesiastical distributions as they existed not only at the time this survey was made, but as they had existed, scarcely altered, from the close of the reign of King Henry I; and as in Domesday Book we are presented THE REFORMATION. 79 with the value of the tenures, and of the particular species of property attached to them, so here we have the valuation of the various dignities and benefices, and of the particular species of property with which they were endowed.” The return was required to be made of all the fixed property belonging to any benefice; of all the tithe property, and of all the customary obla¬ tions, estimated communibiis annis. From the gross amount of these, certain deductions were to be made before the value was ascertained on which the first-fruits and tenths were levied. These deductions consisted of—1, the rents resolute to the chief lords, and all other annual and perpetual rents and charges; 2, the alms which were due to the poor, according to any foun¬ dation or ordinance; 3, fees to stewards, receivers, bailiffs, and auditors; and 4, synodals and procurations, 1 with which most benefices were charged. Thus, in the account of the possessions of the monasteries we have, first, the annual value of the pre¬ cincts ; next, of the lands which were situated in the county in which the house stood; the lands in other counties; and last, the impropriate rectories: and, on the other hand, the rents resolute, the alms, the fees, and the synodals. So in the accounts of the benefices we have, in the unimpropriate parishes, an account of the value of the parsonage house, glebe, and tithe (the value of each particular tithe being often set forth), with the oblations; and in the impropriate, the sources of the vicar’s income; while the other portions of the profits are accounted for by the religious houses to which the benefices were appropriated. 2 The return was published by the Eecord Commission in 1821, under the title,“Valor Ecclesiasticus Henr. VIII, A.D. 1535”; the portion relating to the diocese of St. Asaph being given in vol. iv, pp. 433-456, under the heading, “Valor om’i’ et sing’lor’ D’nior’ Maner’ Terr’ Ten’tor’ et alior’ Possessionu’ quor’cu’q’ t a m Ep’atus Assaven’ p’dict’ q a m om’i et sin’glor’ Dignitatuu’ Colleg’ Hospital’ Monast’ior’ Priorat’ et aliar’ Domuu’ Keligios’ Eector’ Vicar’ Can- tar’ et aliar’ P’mocionu’ Sp’ualiu’ quar’cu’q’ ib’m capt’ et fact’ 1 Procurations were payments made for the entertainment of the arch¬ deacon at his visitations. Synodals were procurations to the bishop, who formerly held his visitation and synod together. 2 Introduction to Val. Eccl. Henry VIII. 80 THE REFORMATION. juxta eff’c’m cujusd a m Com’ission’ d’ni Eegis Beve’ndo in X’p’o Patri Ep’o Assaven’ Eic’o Bulkeley Militi 1 et aliis direct’.” The other commissioners were the same as those for Bangor, 2 viz. William ap William, John Arnold, John Pules ton, 3 John Bulke¬ ley, William Griffith Conwey, Eeginald Conwey, Hugh Conwey, John Wynn ap Meredydd, 4 Griffith ap Eobert Vychan, Eliseus ap Morys, Hugh Lewis, Eichard ap David, Eichard ap Howell ap Evan Vychan, 5 and John ap Howell Vychan, 6 with Henry Parker and Eichard Hawkyn as auditors. Besides the general information so valuable for the history of individual places, the Valor contains many noteworthy particu¬ lars of wider interest. The deaneries and parishes differ but slightly from the return of a.d. 1291; but there appears a new class of churches described as “liberse capellse”, 7 e. g., “Beatse Marise de Penrhyn”, “ Infra Ecclesiam de Oswestre”, and “ Infra Castrum de Dynbighe ex fundacione Domini Eegis”. Besides these there were also in the towns and country parishes numerous other capellce, cells, and oratories, belonging to the different religious orders or denominations of Pre-Beformation Nonconformists. Leland enumerates several as existing in his time at Oswestry, whilst parochial history and tradition supply ample evidence of similar cases through the length and breadth of the diocese; but not being specially endowed, and therefore yielding no tenths, they were not taken into account in the present Valor. From the particulars of tithe we find that hemp and flax were at that time cultivated to a considerable extent in Ysgeiviog, and possibly in other parishes also; and that the offerings presented at different shrines, e. g., St. Winifred’s, St. Garmon’s, St. George’s, St. Martin’s, Pennant Melangell, and at Holy Cross in Strata Marcella, proved no inconsiderable sources of income. The following table will shew, by comparison with that on p. 56, 1 Tenant of the (Bangor) episcopal manor of Treffos. 2 Val. Eccl., iv, 415. 3 Steward of the Abbey of Bardsey, and receiver for the diocese of St. Asaph. 4 Steward of Aberconway or Maenan Abbey. 5 Lessee of Llanasa tithes. 6 Tenant of the grange of Talerddig under Strata Marcella. 7 Exempt from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary. THE REFORMATION. 81 that whilst the income of the Bishop and Chapter had not quite doubled itself during the two hundred and fifty years since the Taxatio of a.d. 1291, that of the religious houses had vastly increased; even with the qualification attached, that whilst in the earlier Valor such property only as lay within the diocese was taken into the account, in the present one all property, wherever situate, is included: Tcmporalia. Spiritualia. Nett (dare). £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Bishop and Chapter - - 25 10 0 ... 431 19 6 441 16 4 Basingwerk Abbey - 12G 8 10 ... 157 15 2 ... 150 7 3 Conway v. Maenan - 123 2 0 ... 56 8 10 ... 162 15 0 Valle Crucis • 61 7 0 ... 152 16 5 ... 188 8 0 Strata Marcella - 51 2 6 ... 22 5 0 ... 64 14 2 Halston Commaundry - 69 14 10 ... 91 0 0 ... 160 14 0 Llanllugan Nunnery - 9 6 0 ... 13 8 8 1 ... 25 8 0 2 13 4 1 } The extent and value of the monastic property, for the monks were easy landlords and good farmers, were such as to excite the cupidity of many a needy neighbour, whose designs were mate¬ rially furthered by “the Committee of Visitors” appointed to examine into the condition of the religious houses. These reported the existence of gross and shameful abuses; truly, no doubt, as far as related to some of the smaller foundations. 2 But in the preamble to the Act of 27 Henry VIII it is distinctly asserted that “ in the greater monasteries, thanks be to God, religion is right well preserved and kept up.” The current, however, against them was irresistible, and they were quickly seized by the King; for we have a decree of the Court of Augmentation, 31 Henry VIII, restoring to the Bishop and his successors “ the several pensions, annuals, lactuals, etc., paid to him by the monasteries of Basing- werk, Conway, Valle Crucis, Strata Marcella, and Llanllugan, before their dissolution ; and ordering the said sums, with their arrears, to be paid thenceforth by the receivers of the several manors, lands, tenements, and possessions.” In one or two instances the receivers, being also commissioners, managed to 1 “ Lib’a porcio in Villa de Cletharth in P’ochia de Eglos in dioc’ Assa- ven’.” Qu. Gloddaeth in Eglwys Bhos? ? Letters on “ Dissolution of Monasteries” in the Camden Series. M 82 THE REFORMATION. secure for themselves the manors of which they had previously been stewards; in others, the properties, temporal and spiritual alike, were granted to courtiers and favourites, 1 from whom they have passed, like common property, by inheritance and purchase, to their present holders. In the indiscriminate condemnation of monasteries for the evils that some of them were guilty of, and for the good they failed to accomplish, it has been too much the fashion to overlook the good they actually did; and though there may have been many abuses, still upon the whole there need be no hesitation in affirming that, with all their faults, they did incomparably more for the public good than those who, under the new and baneful name of impropriators, obtained their incomes. They at least endeavoured, more or less, to supply schools for the young, hos¬ pitals for the sick, almshouses for the poor, and inns for the wayfarers; and in the larger ones there were generally some engaged in copying MSS., sacred, devotional, or historical; and one whose special duty it was to chronicle events of national and local history. In the abbey chapel the voice of prayer and praise was seldom silent; in the appropriated livings they some¬ times supported a collegiate establishment for the performance of divine service on a worthy scale; and in their outlying pro¬ perty they had often their own cell or chapel for the benefit of their tenants. But under the new system of impropriators all these things were put a stop to without, as far as the impropria¬ tors were concerned, anything better being supplied in their stead; whereas the places which have ever since continued to suffer from the evil, are some of the most important and popu¬ lous in the whole diocese, such as Wrexham, Mold, Holywell, Llangollen, Oswestry, Rhuabon, Welshpool, Berriew, etc. The general acquiescence in such a change, and the compara¬ tive insignificance of the opposition made to it, notwithstanding the vast and varied interests at stake, must be accounted for by the fact that the measure was so far a political rather than a religious one, brought about by the whole state (partly, indeed, against the remonstrances of the Church, for some of the leading 1 For names, see p. 32. TIIE REFORMATION. 83 Reformers were opposed to the indiscriminate dissolution of the monasteries, and wished them to be reformed rather than de¬ stroyed) ; and that prior to the Reformation proper, by a King and Parliament of the Roman Catholic communion in all points save that of the supremacy. It was not until the reign of Edward VI that the principles of the Reformation proper began to take root and spread in the Principality. Many learned and eminent men began then to work in the new cause; foremost among whom must be named the venerated William Salesbury, who published in 1546 the first book ever printed in the Welsh language. This book con¬ tained the Alphabet, Calendar, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Ten Com¬ mandments, and other matter, as we are told by its comprehensi ve title-page, “ Yn y Llyfyr hwn y traethyr Gwyddor Cymraeg. Kalendyr, Y Credo neu bynkeu yr ffydd Gatliolig. Y Pader neu Weddi yr Arglwydd. Y Deng Air Deddyf. Saith rinwedd yr Eglwys. Y Kampay arveradwy a’r gweddieu gocheladwy ac Keingeu.” This was followed, in 1551, by his translation of the Epistles and Gospels for the year, entitled “ Kynniver Llith a ban o’r Ysgrytliur Lan ac a ddarlleir yn yr Eccleis pryd Com- mun; y sulieu a’r gwilieu trwy’r vlwyddyn.” The accession of Mary, A.D. 1553, gave the movement a check ; for though the Queen promised at first not to interfere with its professors, still those who had been most prominent in the cause, knowing her strong bias, preferred to consult their safety by retirement or exile. Salesbury withdrew to Caedu, a small farm¬ house among the hills in the parish of Llansannan; in which, until it was pulled down a few years ago, a curiously constructed chamber with a small loophole-window, and accessible only by a passage through the chimney, was pointed out as the tradition¬ ally received place of his refuge and study during this troublous period. Richard Davies, who afterwards became Bishop of St. Asaph, and a fellow-worker with Salesbury, fled to Geneva; others betook themselves to Frankfort; and some few, who thought to keep their posts, were deprived, not, indeed, on the ground of their Protestantism, but professedly at least for having broken the law of celibacy, by having taken advantage of the permission to marry recently granted to the clergy. Such were 84 THE REFORMATION Bishop Barlow, formerly of this see, hut now of Bath and Wells; the first, if not the only one as yet, of English bishops to take to himself a wife ; Archdeacons Pollard and Thomas Davies, the latter of whom was subsequently promoted to the bishopric; John ap Madoc, vicar of Guilsfield; Lancelot Pydleston, rector of Corwen ; and Griffith ap Ienn, rector of Llandegla. In the injunctions issued to his clergy by Bishop Goldwell in a.d. 1536, besides the prohibition of married clergy from cele¬ brating (or, as it is there put, “ no priest having a woman at his commandement” to celebrate), we find two other marks of retro¬ gression,—the schools which had begun to be held in churches, for the benefit of the poor, w T ere forbidden; and obedience was required to all Church laws and constitutions, “ as well synodalls as provincialls or legantines”. The other points enjoined related to matters of order and discipline, the fines for disobedience to which were to be applied to the church fabrics or the diocesan grammar school. 1 2 A renewal of indulgences was also obtained by him from the Pope, in behalf of the pilgrims to St. Winifred’s Well. 8 The death of the Queen, however, was a great blow to the party, who felt that they had little to expect from Elizabeth, whose sympathies were known to lie with the Reformers, and who was not likely now to forget the treatment she had received at their hands. Goldwell, nominated for translation from this see to Oxford; Wood, elected to succeed him here; and Maurice Clynnog, rector of Corwen, Bishop-Elect of Bangor, all missed their promotion; and with them John Lloyd, dean; Humphrey Edwards, archdeacon; Maurice ap Thomas, canon; Dr. Harrison, rector of Whitford; and William Myddelton, rector of Llansan- nan, a layman; were either deprived of their preferments or voluntarily resigned them. The accession of Elizabeth was a happy event for the Church in Wales, and her reign proved the bright spot in its Reforma¬ tion. One of her first cares was to have the Welsh sees filled by natives who could understand the language and feelings of the people as well as discharge the special duties of their office; and 1 Wilkins, Concilia , iv, 145.. 2 Dr. Powell’s notes to Giraklus, p. 149. THE REFORMATION. 85 the learned exile, Richard Davies, who had now been restored to his preferments, was consecrated Bishop of St. Asaph on Jan. 31, 1560. A return 1 made by him the same year, to Archbishop Parker, furnishes valuable information relating to this important period. “For certain considerations conducent to the general reformation of the clergie of the province of Canterbury”, the Archbishop had required his suffragans to certify “the names and surnames of all and singular deanes, archdeacons, chaunce- lers, chaunters, and others having dignitie in the cathedral church, with all prebendaries of the same; and also of all and singular parsones and vicars within the diocese, and how many of them, as well of the cathedral church as of other benefices in the diocese, be neither prestes nor deacons; notinge also the names of all such as be learned, and able to preache; and which of them, being already licensed, do preach accordingly; and fynallie, liowe many of them do keape hospitalitie”. From the Bishop’s return, which gives a complete list of all the clergy with their degrees, preferments, and such other points as are above specified, we gather that there were among them three under age (“ adhuc pueri”),—two being prebendaries of the cathedral, and the third the rector of Caerwys, “ grammaticam discens”; two un¬ ordained (“ nondum in sacris ordinibus initiati”), the rectors of Llandrillo yn Rhos, and of Whitford; and three pursuing their studies at Oxford , the rectors of Corwen, Llandrillo yn Edeirnion, and Marchwiel. These rectors, however, it must be added, were all sinecures, with the exception of the last, who had special leave of absence, “ studet Oxon’ ad tempus ex licentia Episcopi”; and in each case there was a resident vicar, so that there appears to have been no parish left without a clergyman. The compe¬ tent preachers, however (“ concionatores evangelici”), were very few, only five,—Hugh Evans, M.A., dean; John Price, LL.B., rector of Whittington and vicar of Oswestry, chancellor of the diocese; Thomas Jenkins, M.A., rector of Newtown; Griffith Lloyd, LL.B., rector of Llanvyllin; and David Lloyd, B.A., rector of Llangwm-dinmael and Bettws Gwervyll (Goch). “ Hi concio- nantur utcunque ad aliquam utilitatem et sedificationem inter 1 Br. Willis, App. lix. 86 THE REFORMATION. indoctos et imperitos quales habet nostra diocesis; prseterea nulli sunt.” Taking tliis to refer more especially to Welsh preaching, I conceive the explanation thereof to he that pointed out by Dr. Morgan in his dedication to Queen Elizabeth some thirty years later, where he accounts for the continued paucity of Welsh preachers by the long disuse of the language in the Church and the absence of a complete translation of the Bible; the proper terms having become either forgotten or so obscured “ ut nec docentes quse vellent satis experte explicare, nec audi- entes quae explicabantur satis feliciter intelligere valerent.” The fact, however, still remained that the preachers were “ paucis- simi” and the people “indocti et imperiti ”, ignorant and un¬ learned ; so much so, that in the preamble to the Act passed in 1563, for the translation of the Bible into Welsh, it is stated “that Her Majesty’s loving and obedient subjects inhabiting within Her Highness’s dominion and principality of Wales are entirely destitute of God’s Holy Word, and do remain in the like or rather the more darkness and ignorance than they were in the time of Papistry.” On the translation of Bichard Davies to St. David’s, he was succeeded at St. Asaph by Thomas Davies, who at once set to work to carry out the work of reformation. In a diocesan council, held at St. Asaph Nov. 12tli, a.d. 1561, 1 we find the following important orders among others agreed upon by the clergy: “ That every of them have the Catechisme yn the mother tonge in Welshe, red and declared yn ther severall churches every Sonday, with the answer made therunto accordingly, and yn the Englyshe tonge at -on Sondays and holydays. “ That every of them shall forthwith avoyd, remove and put away, or cause to be put away, all and every fayned relyques and other superstycyons had withyn ther severall churches, and abolyshe ther auters yn the same, within eight days. “ That every parson, vycar or curate, and stypendary prest, being under the degre of a Master of Arte, shall have and provyde to have yn his use and occupation the New Testament yn Latin and Englyshe, with the paraphrase of Erasmus upon the same, and to learn two ' chapters of the same yn memorie withoute the boke, vizt. the fyrst to the Bomans and the sixth of John. “ The Litany to be sung or seyd on Wenesdays and Frydays. 1 Wilkins, Concilia, iv, 228. THE REFORMATION. 87 “ After the pistyll and gospell yn Englyshe, the same to be red also yn Welshe.” The office of “ Lady-prest”, which had existed “ yn sondrie churches yn my dyocs’,” having been abolished, the stipend was assigned to “ a scolemaster” for the teaching of children, “whereby idelness of yowth may be avoyded, and the same kept to learn¬ ing, and browght upp in love and fear of God and knowledge of ther dewties towerd the worlde.” In the Convocation records of the following year, a.d. 1562, in which the Thirty-Nine Articles were agreed upon, there appeared, in addition to the Bishop’s, the following signatures as representative of this diocese: “ Hugo Evans, decanus; Richardus Rogers, 1 archid.; Robert Hues, 2 proc. capit; Johannes Price 3 and Thomas Powell, procur. cleri”; and among the other representa¬ tives two of its beneficed clergy, “ Nicolaus Robinson, 4 archid. Meirion, and Edmund Merick, 5 arch. Bangor.” In the Act of 1563 the duty of translating the Bible was assigned to the Bishops of St. Asaph, Bangor, St. David’s, Llandaff, and Hereford; one at least of whom, Richard Davies (of St. David’s) was well known as an eminent Biblical scholar and critic, and was engaged on the new English translation known as Parker’s Bible, published in 1568; in which he revised and compared with the original Hebrew the Books of Joshua, Ruth, and I and II Samuel. For assisting in the Welsh translation and the general superin¬ tendence of the work, the talents, learning, and patriotism of William Salesbury, as well as his zeal for the Protestant religion, pointed him out as preeminently qualified ; 6 and this duty of general editor he consented, at their request, to perform. The New Testament was completed and printed in 1567, by far the chief part of it being his work; Bishop Davies having translated I Timothy, Hebrews, St. James, I and II St. Peter; and Thomas 1 Suffragan Bishop of Dover, 1583; Dean of Canterbury, 1584. 2 Canon; rector of Llannefydd. 8 Vicar of Oswestry; chancellor of the diocese. 4 Rector of Northop; Bishop of Bangor, 1566. 5 Rector of Corwen. 6 He was well acquainted with nine languages besides Welsh and English, namely Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish; and had written well upon philology and rhetoric. (See Williams’s Eminent Welshmen.) 88 THE REFORMATION. Huet, precentor of St. David’s (“ cantor Menevensis”), tlie Reve¬ lation. The same year there appeared also a translation of the Prayer Book by the Bishop and W. Salesbury, the expenses of printing being shared between them. In his “ Eliagymadrodd” (preface) to the Hew Testament, the Bishop further holds out a promise of the speedy appearance of the Old; and according to Sir John Wynn, of Gwydir, 1 “ they were very onward with it, and had gone through with it, if variance had not happened between them, after they had spent nearly two years in that business, concerning the general sense and etymology of one word, 2 which the Bishop would have to be one way, and William Salesbury another, to the great loss of the old British and mother tongue; for being together they drew homilies, books, and divers other tracts in the British tongue, and had done far more if that un¬ lucky division had not happened; for the Bishop lived five or six years after, and William Salesbury about twenty-four, but gave over writing (more was the pity), for he was a rare scholar, and especially a Hebrician, whereof there was not many in those days.” The good work, thus unhappily interrupted, was delayed for twenty years, until Dr. William Morgan, vicar of Llanrhaiadr- yn-Mochnant, consented to undertake it, and published his, the first, edition of the whole Bible in 1588. In this Dr. Morgan made use of the previous translation of the Hew Testament, and had the benefit of Davies and Salesbury’s labours upon the Old (for they had done a great part of it during the two years); but this must not diminish our admiration for his vast learning and zeal, or our gratitude for his invaluable service. The difficulty of the task, the expense of printing, and the opposition he encoun¬ tered, would have deterred him, he tells us in his dedication, from proceeding further than the Pentateuch, had it not been for the influence, counsel, and pecuniary assistance of Archbishop 1 Memoirs, p. 106. 2 What that unfortunate word was, or even whether it was Welsh or He¬ brew, we have now no means of knowing; but we must not attribute to any unworthy personal or jealous feeling that which was, no doubt, a matter of vital truth or error to them; for we know that there have been in every age, and & fortiori in that, crucial teiuns that have divided men of the highest intellect and purest character into opposing camps; and in no subject so frequently as in theology. TIIE REFORMATION. 89 Whitgift. A dispute with liis parishioners (it is said that when they found he was engaged upon the work of translation they complained to the Archbishop of his incompetency for the task) rendered it necessary for him to appear before Whitgift, who formed so high an opinion of his abilities that he appointed him his chaplain, and persuaded him to go on with the translation of the whole. Another difficulty lie had to contend against was the opposi¬ tion of those who objected to his undertaking as an obstacle to the complete union of the two peoples, and maintained that the best way of preserving concord between them was to compel the Welsh to learn the English language. To these the translator o o o replies in wise and weighty words,—words which, fully acknow¬ ledging the great desirability of having all the inhabitants of the same island speaking the same language, yet point out with sin¬ gular force and perspicuity the serious practical danger attending such a course in a matter of such vital importance,—words that, for their continued applicability to our bilingual state, deserve not only to be repeated here, but to be engraven in the consci¬ ences of every occupant of our bilingual sees and every incum¬ bent of our bilingual parishes: “ Si qui consensus retinendi gratia nostrates ut Anglicum sermonem ediscant adigendos esse, potius quam Scripturas in nostrum sermonem vertendas esse volunt,— dum unitati student ne veritati obsint cautiores esse velim, et dum concordiam promovent ne religionem amoveant rnagis esse sollicitos opto. Quamvis enim ejusdem insulae incolas ejusdem sermonis et loquelae esse magnopere optandum sit; seque tarnen perpendendum est, istud ut perficiatur, tantiun temporis et nego- tii peti ut interea Dei populum miserrima illius Yerbi fame interire velle aut pati, nimis sit saevum atque crudele. Deinde non dubium est quin religionis quam sermonis ad unitatem plus valeat similitudo et consensus. Unitatem prseterea pietati, utili- tatem religioni et externam quandam inter homines concordiam eximiae illi paci quam Dei verbuin humanis animis imprimit praeferre non satis pium est. Postremo quam non sapiunt, si verbi divini in materna lingua liabendi prohibitionem aliena ut ediscatur quicquam movere opinantur ! Religio enim nisi vul- gari lingua edoceatur ignota latitabit: Ejus vero rei quam quis 90 THE REFORMATION. ignorat, usum dulcedinem et precium etiam nescit, nec ejus ac- quirendse gratia quicquam laboris subibit.” 1 Happily the good Doctor persevered through all, and the whole Bible appeared in Welsh a.d. 1588. Well had it been for the sister Church in Ireland had similar wise counsels been allowed to prevail for her good; and had Salesburies and Davieses and Morgans been per¬ mitted to translate into the native Erse, in which alone so many of her children could think and speak, the words of life and worship contained in the Bible and the Prayer Book ; but, alas! “ quam non sapierunt”. Among those who in different ways assisted Dr. Morgan in his work, and to whom he expresses his special obligations, were, the Bishops of St. Asaph (William Hughes) and Bangor (Hugh Bellot), 2 both of whom helped with the loan of books (no small boon in those days), and by examining and correcting his work; Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster (the founder of Buthin school), who aided with the gift and loan of books, with personal assistance in criticism and counsel, and with generous hospitality during the year the work was passing through the press. Besides whom, Dr. David Powel, 3 Archdeacon Price, 4 and Mr. Eichard Vaughan, 5 contributed no inconsiderable amount of assistance (“opem tulerunt non contemnendam”). This translation, revised by Bishop Parry, aided by his chaplain the learned Dr. Davies, and in some places so altered and amended, he tells us in his preface, as to render it doubtful whether it should be called a revised or a new version (“ vetus an nova, Morgani an mea”), is still accepted as the standard,—no slight testimony to the excel¬ lence of their work. And it is no small commendation to the 1 In Ms dedication to Q. Elizabeth. 2 Vicar of Gresford and rector of Caerwys, 1584 ; Bishop of Bangor, 1585 ; translated to Chester, 1595. He had been one of the translators of the English Bible. 3 Vicar of Rhuabon and prebendary of St. Asaph, editor and in part trans¬ lator of Caradawg’s History of Wales, annotator upon Giraldus’s Itinerary and Description of Wales, etc .—Eminent Welshmen. 4 Edmund Price, archdeacon of Merioneth, author of the well known Welsh metrical version of the Psalms. 5 President of St. John’s Hospital, Literurthae (?); promoted to the see of Bangor, 1595; Chester, 1597; London, 1604. THE REFORMATION. 91 authorities of those days that two such distinguished men should in succession have been promoted to the thrones of this diocese ; and a matter of no slight congratulation to the diocese itself, that so many of its members, from William Salesbury and Bishop Davies to Sir Thomas Myddelton and Mr. Kowland Heylin (who went to the chief expense of the first portable edition of the Bible and Prayer Book, a small 8vo, published a.d. 1630), should have borne so conspicuous and honourable a part in so worthy and beneficial a work. One name, however, mentioned with respect above, has come down to us loaded with an evil reputation, that of Bishop Hughes. “ He was accused of misgoverning his diocese, and of tolerating the most disgraceful abuses. When the case was inquired into, it was found that the Bishop held sixteen rich livings in com- rnendom ; that most of the great livings were in the possession of persons who lived out of the country; that one person, that had two of the greatest livings in the diocese, boarded in an ale¬ house ; and that only three preachers resided upon their livings, viz. Dr. David Powel of Ehuabon, Dr. William Morgan of Llan- rhaiadr-yn-Mochnant, and the parson of Llanvechan, an aged man about eighty years old.” 1 Now, without wishing for a moment to uphold any known abuse, one cannot help thinking that in this case there has been a considerable misapprehension of facts, and a harder sentence passed than the circumstances really warrant. Upon his pro¬ motion to the see, a.d. 1573, he obtained from Archbishop Parker a faculty to hold the archdeaconry, the rectory of Llysfaen, and other benefices to the value of £150 per ann. in commendam . 2 On what particular ground this faculty was sought and granted we know not; but it must have been such as, under the circum¬ stances of the case, was deemed sufficient. The sixteen livings are evidently made up of all those which 1 Rees’s History of Nonconformity in Wales, pp. 4, 5, quoted from Strype’s Annals of the Reformation, iv, 293, 294; and Appendix to vol. iv, p. 63; ed. 1725. 2 “ Facultas concessa Doctori Hughes, Episcopo Assavensi, ut cum episco- patu suo archidiac. Assavens. et rectoriam de Llysfaen et alia beneficia ad valorem .£130 tenere possit.”—Register of the Faculty Office, Lambeth. 92 THE REFORMATION. at any time he had held by virtue of it; but which it is clear, from a comparison of the registers as given in Browne Willis, he could not have held together, and some of which he appears only to have kept for a few months. 1 To the livings so held (taken from Br. Willis, i, 106), have been added below the dates at which another succeeded to them, prefixing an asterisk to such as were sinecures, and italicising those which were at different periods resigned. There appears, indeed, to have been an excessive amount of exchanging; but the result is very different from what the accusation would imply. Of the livings with cure of souls, Llysfaen, in his native county, enjoyed by him since 1567, before his promotion to the bishopric, and Castle Caereinion were the only two held by him throughout his episcopate, except those which all his successors, as archdeacons, felt no compunction in retaining. Of the rest, we must bear in mind that whilst the rectorial or great tithes were not held to be liable to the same obligations of residence and duty as those of the vicar (hence appropriations, impropriations, and sinecures, “et id genus omne”), in the present case the sum total was further limited by the amount stated in the faculty. The same remark as to the dis¬ tinction between the rectorial and vicarial obligations will apply to the statement as to non-residence on “most of the great livings”. Of the paucity of preachers and its cause we have already had occasion to speak, as well as of some share borne by Bishop Hughes in supplying the defect by furthering the trans¬ lation of the Old Testament Scriptures. There is a later occasion, too, on which the Bishop’s name occurs, which would imply that he was not unmindful of the spiritual interests of his diocese. From the case of Albany v. the Bishop of St. Asaph, 2 we learn that he refused to institute a Llysfaen 1567.. ..1601 Castle-Caereinion - 1574.. ..1601 *Cwm - 1574.. ..1592 Llanycil ? ..1583 Llandrinio 1577!! .1594 Meifod - 1578.. .1579 Gresford 1579.. .1584 % Llcindrillo-yn-Rhos 1582.. .1589 *Llangwm - - 1584... 1592 Mallwyd - - 1587... 1587 *Llanfor - - 1588... 1601 *Llanrwst - - 1592... 1596 *Whitford - - 1587... 1587 * Abergele, Bettws, and Disserth, attached to the archdeaconry. From the 2 Reported in 1st Leonard, 39, and Crooke, Elizabeth, 119. Whittington Registers. THE REFORMATION. 93 Mr. Bagshaw to the living of Whittington, vacant through the death of Rector Kyffin in 1585, on the plea that he did not understand Welsh sufficiently well to minister therein to the parishioners. This was not, indeed, the plea alleged in the first instance ; and so the verdict was given against him. But as a plea it was allowed to he sufficient for not instituting. His successor, Bishop Morgan, however, was a man of whom the diocese and the country may he justly proud. His name has already become familiar as one of the very few resident preachers in the diocese, and as the translator of the Old Testament into Welsh. Promoted by Queen Elizabeth to the see of Llandaff, a.d. 1595, he was translated to St. Asaph in September 1601; and we have an interesting insight into his independence and uprightness as bishop, in a correspondence published in Yorke’s Royal Tribes of Wales , between him and Sir John Wynn of Gwydir. The latter presuming upon some kind offices he had rendered to the Bishop, applied to him for a lease of the rectory of Llanrwst. This the Bishop refused to grant on the plea of conscience, “ which” (he writes) “ assuretli me that your request is such, that in granting it I should prove myself an unhonest, unconscionable, and irreligious man; you a sacrilegious robber of my church, a perfidious spoiler of my diocese, and an unnatu¬ ral hinderer of preachers and good scholars,—the consideration of which would be a continual terror and torment to my con¬ science.” From the records of a synod held at St. Asaph on the 20tli October, 1601, within a month of his translation, we learn what the services usually were on Sundays and week-days at this period, and that it was the custom of the clergy to tax themselves for the support of the proctors in Convocation,—a custom that probably continued so long as Convocation was a reality and an authoritative power in the Church. On this occasion a grant was made, “ according to immemorial usage”, 1 of a sum of 3 d. in the pound on all ecclesiastical incomes, rated according to the Book of First Fruits, towards defraying their expenses; and it 1 “ Secundum antiquam et laudabilem consuetudinem in consimilibus ante hac a tempore immemorato usitatam et observatam.” 94 THE REFORMATION. was also enacted tliat those who failed to attend the election, if not over fifty years of age, should he required to perform the duties of those elected, viz., to preach in their parish churches once at least every three months, and to perform divine service at matins and vespers on Sundays, at matins on Wednesdays and Fridays, and at vespers on Saturdays. The proctors now elected no doubt represented the diocese in the Convocation of 1603-4, in which the “Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical” were drawn up and agreed upon. 95 CHAETEE VIII. THE COMMONWEALTH. Origin of Puritanism.—John Penry.—State of the diocese in 1633.—Arch¬ bishop Laud—Bishop Owen.—Abolition of Episcopacy.—Sale of episco¬ pal lands.—Committees of Sequestration and for Propagation of the Gospel in Wales.—Deprivation of the episcopal clergy.—Hardships of their case.—Rise of Quakerism.—The Restoration.—Act of Uniformity. —Its effects.—Analysis of the ejected ministers.—The Five-Mile Act. The great politico-religious struggle which in England disturbed the earlier half of the seventeenth century, cannot be said to have materially affected Wales before the middle of its second quarter, though its origin may be traced back to the preceding- century. The great object of the English Eeformers had been to correct the errors in doctrine and the abuses in discipline which had crept into the Church during the papal ascendency of the middle ages, and to restore it, as nearly as possible, to the primitive model. It was not their purpose to found a new Church, but to “ strip the old of that meretricious gear in which superstition had arrayed her, and to leave her in that plain and decorous attire with which, in the simple dignity of a matron, she had been adorned by apostolic hands.” But another school sprang up, of foreign growth, and with more radical aims. Some of the Eeformers who, during the Marian persecution, had fled for safety to the Continent, came in contact there with opinions and practices adverse alike to the civil and ecclesiastical systems of their own country. Geneva presented her rigid Calvinism, and Germany offered not only the kindred movement of Luther, but also the unchristian and lawless tenets of the early Anabap¬ tists. The influence of Luther and Calvin may best be seen in the revisions which gradually shaped the character of our Liturgy; but whilst the more sober of their followers were con- 96 THE COMMONWEALTH. ciliated thereby, there remained a considerable number who, deeming that what had been so much abused had best be swept away, and the whole system of the Church be reconstructed de novo , coalesced with those whose views of doctrine and polity were opposed to all ideas of Catholicity, and whose natural fruits appeared in the fanaticism of the next century. The first Welshman, perhaps the only one during the sixteenth century, to imbibe these extreme notions was one John Penry, a young man of Breconshire, who, after giving good promise at the Universities, “did upon some discontent change the course of his life, and became a most notorious Anabaptist (of which party he was in his time the Coryphaeus), and in some sort a Brownist, and most bitter enemy to the Church of England of any that appeared in the long reign of Queen Elizabeth/’ 1 As the animat¬ ing spirit of a club of writers who issued from a private press a number of libellous tracts, and as the suspected author of the scurrilous Martin Mctrpr elate, a warrant was issued by the Privy Council for his apprehension as an enemy to the state; and he was at last executed on a charge of treason-felony, for implied denial of the Queen’s authority. Whilst his execution has been almost universally condemned as an unjust straining of the law, men have formed very different estimates of his character. By some he was looked upon as an author of libels and sedition; but by his friends he has been extolled as a martyr. Of his sincerity, indeed, there can be no doubt. He was evidently deeply persuaded of the truth of his own views, and very earnest in the propagation of them ; but unfortunately his views were narrow and bigoted, and he had no consideration for those who differed from him, and occupied a different stand-point. In his denunciation of the clergy he was particularly bitter; and were it not that experience has taught us to apply to the language of heated controversy, especially in the mouth of young reformers, a colour of its own, we should conclude that they were hopelessly depraved. They were called “ ungodly” because, forsooth, they did not hold what came unfor¬ tunately to be called, and deemed equivalent to, Evangelical, but 1 Wood’s Athcnce Oxoniens. THE COMMONWEALTH. 97 really meant strong Calvinistic, doctrines ; l “ murderers of men’s souls”, as not teaching the truth with the desired Shibboleth; “ thieves”, for taking the tithes that should go to those who would so teach it; “ dumb dogs” on account of the rarity of ser¬ mons, the special difficulties of preaching at that time being ignored, and the frequent performance of the divine offices made by him of little account in the great want of fuller and more direct instruction. Indeed, the faults they were guilty of, were in no slight danger of being overlooked in the revulsion that followed from the wholesale abuse thus heaped upon them; and it was owing, perhaps, as much to the extravagance of such libels as to the severity with which they were repressed in Penry’s case, that we hear little more of the kind for many years. As to England, at least, we are told that “at the death of James I, the condition of the Church was, to all outward appear¬ ance, flourishing as its truest friends could have desired. It was looked upon as the head of the Eeformed Churches, honoured by foreign Protestants, and dreaded by the enemies of the Reforma¬ tion. The world did not contain men of stronger talents, sounder learning, and more exemplary lives, than were to be found among its ministers. Their worth was soon to be tried and proved in the furnace of adversity; and their works have stood, and will continue to stand, the test of time. They had maintained their cause with consummate ability against the Papists on one hand, and the Puritans on the other, and their triumph was as com¬ plete as their cause was good. But it is not by reason that such struggles are terminated. A fatal crisis both for the Church and State was drawing on. The danger, from the time when the Puritans commenced their systematic opposition to the Establish¬ ment, had been distinctly foreseen and foretold; but the circum¬ stances which brought on the catastrophe were not to be averted by human foresight.” 2 The antagonistic elements which combined to produce this crisis were of many different kinds, political and religious. In 1 “Having adopted the extreme opinions of Puritanism, he travelled into Wales, and was the first, as he said, who preached the Gospel publicly to the Welsh, and sowed good seed among his countrymen .”—Eminent Welshmen. 2 Southey’s Iioolc of the Church, 7th ed., p. 370. 0 98 THE COMMONWEALTH. tlie State there was the struggle between absolutism, constitu¬ tionalism, and republicanism; and in religion there were the rival interests of Romanism, Presbyterianism, and Independency, all eager for the overthrow of the Established Church, and calling upon her to exercise a vigilant eye, and to be prompt in action. A return made by Bishop Owen to the Archbishop of Canter¬ bury, a.d. 1633, says of this diocese, that “ all is exceedingly well, save only that the number and boldness of Romish recu¬ sants increased much in many places, and was much encouraged by the superstition and frequent concourse of some of that party to Holywell, otherwise called St. Winifred’s Well.” And again, in the following year, the Bishop writes that they were “ not any¬ where troubled with Inconformity, but that he heartily wished that they might be as well acquitted from superstition and pro¬ faneness”; 1 that is to say, the difficulties he had to contend with arose from without, and not from within. “Inconformity”, or neglect of the rubrics and order of the Church by the clergy, did not trouble him ; for the Bishop had exercised a watchful care over his diocese, and had shewn by his orders for Welsh sermons in the parish church of St. Asaph, that he was himself ready to take his share of work ; 2 but he was much grieved with the growth of the Romish superstition on the one hand, and with the spread of that profaneness or irreverence, on the other, with which the more violent of the Puritans treated the Word of' God, and caricatured religion in the language and nomenclature of their every day life. The definite and active churchmanship that distinguished the primacy of Laud from that of his predecessor, Abbot, had pro¬ bably much to do with hastening on the course of events. “ By steadily enforcing discipline he corrected many of the disorders at which his predecessor had connived; the churches were placed in decent repair, the service was regularly performed, the Lord’s Supper reverently administered; they who would not follow the rubric were silenced; and by refusing to ordain any person, except to a cure of souls, the number of Calvinistic lec- 1 Lambeth MSS. 943, quoted in Rees’ Nonconformity in Wales , p. 9. 2 Br. Willis, Appendix lxi. THE COMMONWEALTH. 99 turers was diminished, and of those who, being retained as chaplains in the families of private gentlemen, disgraced the Church by conforming to the humours and fancies of their patrons, by their incapacity, or by the irregularity of their lives.” 1 By these jnoceedings he provoked a large amount of opposition, and was charged by his opponents with a desire to reintroduce Popery,—a charge which, under the circumstances, had an appear¬ ance of probability, and was eagerly disseminated; but was in reality very unjust, and had no foundation in fact. His unpopu¬ larity was further increased by the harsh and cruel punishment inflicted by the Star Chamber upon Bastwick, Prynne, and Bur¬ ton, for their atrocious libels upon him; and the whole odium of which lie had to bear. And when at last he procured the pro¬ mulgation of new canons, by which the clergy bound themselves to maintain the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England inviolate against the superstitions of Eome on the one hand, and the machinations of the Puritans on the other, and declared that “ monarchy was of divine right”, all the antagonistic elements in Church and State rose together in opposition, and began the attack by impeaching the Bishops for high treason. This was followed up by a Bill for excluding them altogether from the Upper House; and when they protested against the illegality of the proceeding, they were impeached a second time, confined in the Tower, and forced to pay a fine; and lastly, their estates were sequestered and sold. Bishop Owen, who had deserved so well of this see, was one of the prelates who had to suffer these hardships. He was twice impeached, was imprisoned in the Tower, had to pay a fine of <£500, and after seeing the episcopal property sold, 2 and the 1 Boole of the Church, Southey, p. 381. 2 The following schedule of the sale of the lands of the see is taken from Br. Willis, Appendix lx : May 23rd, 1648.—The manor and lordship of Istervyn, co. Flint and Denbigh, sold to Humphrey Jones and Henry Jones for - <£1254 12 9J May 9, 1649.—Two messuages in St. Martin’s, co. Salop, sold to Will. Fell and Jonathan Tilcot for - 195 10 0 Aug. 22, 1649.—Part of the manour of Wrexham, co. Den¬ bigh, sold to James Lloyd for - 50 0 0 100 THE COMMONWEALTH. cathedral which he had done much to improve desecrated, died at Perthkinsey, in the midst of the troubles, in a.d. 1651. The capitular clergy were the next to suffer ; deans and chapters were abolished, their property confiscated, and the venerable cathedrals grossly profaned. At St. Asaph one Miller, a postmaster, who lived in the Bishop’s palace, and sold wine and liquors there, stalled his horses and oxen in the cathedral, fed his calves in the throne, and removed the font to his yard, where it was used as a liorse-trough. The parish churches fared hut little better in the general confusion; some of them being occupied as fortresses, and few escaping some damage or disfigurement. Some of the orders of Parliament relating to them, which were issued at this period, are important, not only as shewing the root-and-branch temper of the authorities, but also as witnessing that many articles of church furniture and ritual, commonly supposed to have been abolished at the Reformation, had still continued in common use, or else been retained as ornaments; and these are further illustrated by many local traditions, and by occasional entries in the parochial registers and account books of the time. In 1641 an order was issued "to deface, demolish, and quite take away, all images, altars and tables turned altarwise, crucifixes, superstitious pictures, monuments, and relics of idolatry, out of all churches and chapels”; a second, that the churchwardens should forthwith remove the Communion Tables from the east end of the church, where they stood altarwise; and take away the rails, and leave the church as before the late innovations. * 1 A third followed, "that all crucifixes, pictures of the Trinity, and images of the Virgin Mary, be taken away; that tapers, basins, and candlesticks, be removed from the Communion Tables; and that all bowing at the name of Jesus, or towards the east end, be Mar. 25, 1650 —The manours of Llandegla, Witherwyn (Uwch-terfyn ?), and Meliden, with other lordships, man¬ ours, and lands, sold to John Jones and George Twistle- ton. Esq., for - 3797 0 0 <£5297 2 9J 1 The Communion Table in Mallwyd, removed on this occasion into the centre of the church, remained in that position until the church was restored a few years ago. TIIE COMMONWEALTH. 101 forborne”. An order of 1643, for the sale of copes, surplices, etc., in all cathedrals, collegiate and parish churches, was supple¬ mented the next year by an ordinance of Parliament to “ remove all images and pictures from all open places whatsoever, and for¬ bidding the use of surplices, superstitious vestments, etc. The cross was not permitted to continue upon any plate or other thing used about the worship of Grod ; and copes, surplices, super¬ stitious vestments, roods, fonts, and organs, were not only to be taken away, but utterly defaced”. Whatever palliation there might be for some of these orders, there can be none for the pro¬ fanity which too often attended their execution,—a specimen of which we have already noticed in this cathedral, but which was trifling compared to the blasphemous impiety exhibited at such places as Yaxley and Lichfield Cathedral. The Prayer Book next came in for its share of obloquy and suppression. In a.d. 1645 its use was forbidden not only in all places of public worship, but, with strange inconsistency for men who had been so clamorous for toleration, “ in any private place or family”; and every one offending herein, for the first offence was to pay £5, for the second £10, and for the third to “ suffer a whole year’s imprisonment without bail or mainprise”. The same ordinance, however, which thus prohibited the Prayer Book, con¬ sistently enough enjoined the Directory, the use of which was afterwards enforced by “ a fine of forty shillings for every omis¬ sion”; and a penalty of not less than £5 upon any one who should “ deprave it by preaching, writing, or printing”. The reform of the clergy was entrusted to the Assembly of Divines, the great majority of whom were Presbyterians with a few Independents. One of their first measures was to draw up the “ Solemn League and Covenant”, a Presbyterian oath directed especially against the episcopal clergy, and binding all persons to endeavour, among other things, the extirpation of prelacy; that is, “ Church government by archbishops, bishops, their chan¬ cellors and commissaries, deans, deans and chapters, archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical officers depending on that hierarchy”; and that the country clergy everywhere might be reached, Com¬ mittees of Sequestration were appointed for the different counties. From the “Act for the better Propagation and Preaching of 102 THE COMMONWEALTH. tlie Gospel in Wales”, 1 we learn tlie following particulars as to tlie powers of the Welsh commissioners. A committee of seventy- two persons was appointed for the thirteen counties (Monmouth included), with power (1) to receive all charges that should he exhibited against any parson, vicar, curate, and schoolmaster, or any other having, or to have, ecclesiastical benefit or promotion; to grant warrants for their attendance, to examine witnesses on oath; and either on the admission of the accused, or the oath of two credible witnesses, to eject the said parson, etc.; allowing, if they saw fit, for his wife and children a sum not exceeding one fifth of the living, etc., out of which he had been ejected; all parish charges, public taxes, and other duties, being first deducted out of the whole”. (2.) To grant certificates to such as should be approved by a body of twenty-five ministers of the Gospel, nomi¬ nated for the purpose, “ for preaching as well in settled congre¬ gations and parochial charges as in an itinerary course”, and for the keeping of schools; and for their support to receive and dis¬ pose of all rectories, vicarages, and other ecclesiastical livings, provided that the yearly maintenance of a minister does not exceed £100, and that of a schoolmaster £40. (3.) That no per¬ son be henceforth vested in any rectory, vicarage, or ecclesiastical promotion, unless recommended and approved of according to the tenor of this Act, which was to be in force for three years from the 25th of March, 1650. Its operation may be judged from the fact, that among the committee were men who took care not only to sequester, but to secure for themselves a share in, the episcopal lands,—such as Twistleton, the republican governor of Denbigh Castle ; and apparently Colonel Jones, the regicide; and that the approvers consisted of Presbyterians, Independents, Antipaedobaptists, and three or four episcopally ordained clergy¬ men who had adopted the opinions of one or other of these sects. Heavy charges of immorality and incapacity were, indeed, alleged against the clergy; but without pretending that there may not have been bad cases among them, or assuming that all their opponents were actuated by equally hostile motives, we must ’ Preserved in tlie British Museum, and printed in History of Nonconform ity in Wales, Note D. THE COMMONWEALTH. 103 bear in mind the antagonism of the principles at issue, and the wide range covered by these accusations. Thus White, in his First Century of Scandalous, Malignant Priests, includes such charges as “bowing at the name of Jesus”, “railing in the Com¬ munion Table to prevent the profanation of it”, “ assisting his Majesty”, “refusing to contribute to the rebellion”, “saying that to alienate the lands of cathedral churches to maintain preaching ministers, is to pervert the will of the dead that gave them”; “preaching against the doctrine that the greatest part of the world should be damned”, “asserting the doctrine of universal grace”, “ refusing to read the Burial Service over children dying unbaptised”, “ singing the xliii Psalm, ‘ Then shall I to the altar go’,” etc. With such judges and such accusations it is no wonder that a vast number were deprived of their benefices; indeed, it is more strange that any should have been left. “ In Montgomeryshire, the county where I lived,” writes Vavasor Powel, one of the Com¬ mittee, and therefore a fair representative of their proceedings, “there were eleven or twelve never ejected: so in all other counties,—some more, some less.” Let us then take this county as an example. Now as there were in it about forty-five livings, even if we allow as many as ten of them to pluralists, there must have been twice as many ejected as were left in; “some, how¬ ever, of whom, though deprived of their income, did also some¬ times preach, to please some of their old parishioners, who would hear none else preach.” 1 The parish registers corroborate this estimate, and even imply a larger one in an indirect way; for however regularly kept before and after the interregnum, but few have that period filled up ; whilst a few others, like Llanfair- talhaiarn, have entries kept privately during that interval, in¬ serted at a date subsequent to the Restoration; and on whatever theory we attempt to account for the fact, it clearly betrays a very general interruption of the old parochial system. Among those deprived in this diocese, in addition to the Bishop, Dean, and all the cathedral clergy, we find the names of Humphrey Lloyd, afterwards Dean of St. Asaph and Bishop of 1 Bird in the Cage, by Vavasor Powell, 1662. 104 THE COMMONWEALTH. Bangor; John Lloyd, subsequently Archdeacon of Merioneth; J. Meredith, afterwards Warden of All Souls and Provost of Eton, and connected with it by sinecures; Dr. Godfrey Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; and his successor in that see, the learned William Nicholson; Dr. Morley, Bishop of Winches¬ ter ; Dr. Du Moulin, son of the eminent Protestant writer of that name, and himself an author of some note ; and others. The provisions of the act for the relief of the deprived clergy appear to have been one thing on paper, another in practice, and to have depended more upon the will of the committees than upon the merits of the case. Thus Mr. Davies, the rector of Garthbeibio, was not allowed even to make any defence; Mr. Evans, vicar of Llanasa, though for fourteen years under seques¬ tration, was not able to recover any fifths; and Mr. Langford, vicar of Welshpool, forced to withdraw, with his wife and family, to Merionethshire, and thence to Anglesea, though promised the house and glebe for a year, never received it. Pour, however, all in Montgomeryshire, the vicars of Llanbrynmair, Berriew, and Llanrhaiadr, and the rector of Castle Caereinion, appear to have been more fortunate, or less scrupulous, and to have recovered the livings after intervals of from three to ten years. An illustration of the change, so far as the parishioners in some instances at least were concerned, is furnished to us in “ an humble petition of the inhabitants of Guilsfield to the Committee for settling ministers of the Gospel in Wales.” 1 It is datedA.D.1652, and is in painful contrast to the highly coloured pictures paraded about during the bicentenary agitation of 1862. The petitioners complain that since “ Mr. Ellis, an able divine, had been seques¬ tered for supposed delinquencies, they had been without Com¬ munion, without baptism, visitinge of the sick, or form of a church; the church door being commonly shut on the Lord’s Day, as particularly on Easter Day last, and the Sunday following; that the service of God was much decayed, and religion scan¬ dalised ; and that their sacred rights are not only withheld, but invectives published against such as shall minister them to us,— by ambulatory preachers, who tell us tlieyr sermons are sufficient 1 A certified copy in the Bishop’s library. THE COMMONWEALTH. 105 for salvation, and recompense enough for the tithes we pay, which are exacted of us with all rigour.” And this comes from the immediate neighbourhood of Vavasor Powel, the presiding genius in the proceedings against the episcopal clergy; a man of intense devotion to his cause, indefatigable in the spread of his opinions not only in the pulpit, but also by the press (though he tells us that “ he would not neglect, for the printing of a thousand books, the preaching of one sermon”), and described by his admirers as “ the apostolic”; but to judge from his principles, religious and political, and from his public acts (for I pass over the personal charges brought against him by his opponents, Presbyterian as well as Episcopal, as tending to shew the virulence rather than the merits of the controversy), uncompromising and self-willed. Having begun in theology as an Independent, he afterwards adopted Antipiedobaptist views, and so incurred the odium of his former co-religionists; and being in politics a staunch Repub¬ lican, he drew up a spirited protest against Oliver Cromwell on his assuming the title of Lord Protector; for which he was rewarded with present imprisonment, and the permanent sus¬ picion of that party. About this time there sprang up, either directly in opposition to, or indirectly in reaction from, the extravagances of the Anti- paedo- or Ana-baptists, the new sect of Quakers. “ Amongst the Anabaptists”, writes the Presbyterian Baxter, 1 “ was an abund¬ ance of young, transported zealots, and a medley of opinionists, who all hasted directly to enthusiasm and subdivisions, and brought forth the horrid sects of Ranters, Seekers, and Quakers, in the land.” Curiously but consistently enough they appear to have been most flourishing in the neighbourhood of Welshpool, where Vavasor Powel’s interest may be supposed to have been greatest. The most eminent among them were Richard Davies 2 of that town, and Charles and Thomas Lloyd of Dolobran, near 1 See Orme’s Life of Baxter, p. 82. 2 His autobiography, published under the title, “An Account of the Com¬ mencement, Exercises, Services, and Travels, of that ancient Servant of the Lord, Richard Davies ; with some Relation of ancient Friends, and of the spreading of Truth in North Wales”, has passed through six editions. ( Emi¬ nent Welshmen.) P 106 THE COMMONWEALTH. Meifod. The Quakers were particularly obnoxious to the Puritan ministers not only for their outspoken utterance of their con¬ tempt, for they did not hesitate to call them blind guides, hire¬ lings, deceivers, and so forth, but also for their troublesome interference in their religious services, where they would some¬ times stand up in the midst of the sermon, and contradict the preacher, and at others would rise up one after another to speak. Besides which they would often refuse to pay their tithes; and for this last offence they w r ere made not seldom to pay the penalty of imprisonment. The deprived clergy, meanwhile, had to support themselves and their families as best they could: some few were permitted to keep school, others acted as tutors in private families, and others had to turn to manual occupations. Such of them as sur¬ vived the interregnum were restored to their livings, in cases where the then holders chose to resign rather than subscribe to the Act of Uniformity. This Act has been much abused, as having driven great numbers of ministers (two thousand is the generally asserted number) from their homes and livings because they would not submit to its conditions. Now whether all its provisions were, or were not, such as need, or would have been, enacted in less troublous times (some of them, indeed, w r ere even then opposed by the Bishops, but insisted on by the laity rather as a preservative for the future than by way of retaliation for the past), it deserves to be judged according to the actual cir¬ cumstances under which, and the temper of the times when, it was passed, rather than by our own abstract ideal, formed under different circumstances, of what it should have been. That some common standard of doctrine and order is necessary, to which the ministers at least of a Church should conform, is manifest from the simple idea of it as a visible body, and is exemplified by the practice of almost every Christian denomination. The strictness with which such a standard may need to be enforced must depend upon the special conditions of time, place, parties, and other circumstances. What, then, were the chief provisions of this Act ? They were—(1), to exclude from the ministry of the Established Church those who had not been, or were not willing to be, episcopally ordained; (2), to require assent and THE COMMONWEALTH. 107 consent to the Book of Common Prayer; and (3), to renounce the Solemn League and Covenant. Now as to the first of these requirements, it must be borne in mind, that many of those whom it affected had never been ordained at all; and most of them, as we Churchmen are bound to believe, 1 defectively, after the Presbyterian, Independent, or Baptist systems; that the second was but a restoration of the Prayer Book to its old position, in which it had been superseded by the Directory, which had itself been imposed under penalty of fine and imprisonment; and that the third was insisted on by the Commons in order to secure the realm from a recurrence of those evils to which its principles as to Church and State were believed directly to tend. That something of retaliation did enter into the measure is very likely true; and that many good and estimable men had to suffer more or less may also be con¬ ceded, and conceded with regret. Still the large proportion of those who conformed shews that its conditions were not gene¬ rally deemed unreasonable; whilst a comparison of numbers between those now ejected, and those who had previously been deprived, speaks highly for the comparative leniency of the pre¬ sent treatment. Moreover, not only is comparison favourable, but the composition of the ejected is still more so; for among them are found a large number who either as Committeemen or Approvers had taken an active part in depriving the episcopal clergy, or else had borne arms against the King, and so could hardly, as honest men, wish to remain where they were, or as reasonable ones complain of their own ejection. Moreover, it had not been a matter of religious scruple whether there should be an Established Church or no, but rather a question as to who should enjoy that vantage-ground; whilst the principles of toleration, as now accepted equally for all, were so little under¬ stood in those days, that the extreme Puritans, who had clamoured loudly for it for themselves, had no wish that it should be con¬ ceded to the Eomanists, nor when in power were they willing to grant it to others ; and even the Pilgrim Lathers, those champions of the liberty of conscience, for the sake of which they left home 1 Preface to the Ordination Services in the Book of Common Prayer. 108 THE COMMONWEALTH. and kindred, and gained for themselves, in their new home across the Atlantic, an honourable name for Christian heroism, yet forced those of their body who desired to retain the rites of their old Church to return to England, and punished with branding and mutilation the unhappy Quakers who in their way insisted upon that same liberty for themselves. 1 So much of the matter in general. We will now descend to particulars. “A list, as complete as it could he made, of the ministers and itinerant preachers in the Principality, who were either silenced after the Restoration, or ejected by the Act of Uniformity”, was given in the History of Protestant Noncon¬ formity in Wales, 2 published in 1861, and apparently in view of the bicentenary celebration of the following year. It cannot, therefore, be unfair to take this list, and analyse its composition, so far as concerns this diocese. Into the personal merits of the ejected we have no wish to enter. The favourite epithets for them are “ saintly”, “ martyred”, “ apostolic’ 1 , “ seraphic”. We con¬ fine ourselves to the principles at issue; and the result we arrive at is this. In that portion of the diocese which lies within the counties of Denbigh, Montgomery, and Salop (the parts of Flint and Merioneth supplying no instance), there were fifteen ejected from ten different places,—four of them being from Denbigh, and two from Wrexham,—and five Itinerants 3 silenced, who were Independents or Baptists, and traversed over some portion or other of it without any fixed charge. Of the fifteen only ten can be regarded as ministers settled in charge of a parish; the remaining five being made up of two schoolmasters, both Inde¬ pendents, the one 4 at Oswestry, and the other at Denbigh “ not in orders”; 5 and three 6 at Wrexham, described respectively as “ a candidate for the ministry”, “ a strict Congregationalist and high Dissenter”, and “ an eminent saint and famous preacher”. Of the 1 The United States of America, by Hugh Murray, F.E. S.E., vol. i, pp. 199, 226. 2 Page 140, etc. 3 Vavasor Powel, Henry Williams of Ysgafell, James Quarrel, Thomas Quarrel, and John Williams. 4 John Evans. 0 Ambrose Lewis, John Evans, David ap Hugh. 5 Richard Jones. THE COMMONWEALTH. 109 ten, again, three 1 had been active as Approvers; another 2 after¬ wards conformed; whilst of the remaining six little more is known than the names and the places whence they were ejected, and that two of them were Independents or Congregationalists, as they were called, and a third supposed to be a Baptist. The vexatious and harassing proceedings which followed on the Five-Mile Act we would gladly pass over in silence, with a sincere regret that some gentler course was not adopted, by which the old wounds might have been healed up; but we are, at the same time, bound in fairness to acknowledge the difficulties of the position. On the one hand a Bomanist faction was intriguing for the re-establishment of Popery, and on the other “ the rem¬ nants of the Republican party were seeking to take advantage of the Dutch war, and throw the kingdom into confusion and anarchy, that they might once more try the experiment of their beloved Commonwealth”; 3 and as, rightly or wrongly, the con¬ venticles were suspected of favouring these respective views, the Acts themselves must be regarded as directed at least as much against politics as religion; and they claim as much indulgence, in the case of their victims, as was demanded for the ejection of the malignant (i. e. loyal) clergy in behalf of the Propagation Committee. “ That while they had not the wisdom to be silent on political questions, the commissioners could hardly be blamed for ejecting them, as the interference of the ministers of religion with politics, in those unsettled times, tended greatly to endanger the peace of the community.” 4 1 Rowland Nevett, A.M., of Oswestry; Ambrose Mostyn of Wrexbam, and William Jones of Denbigh, chaplain to Governor Twistleton. 2 Jenkins of Gresford. 3 Southey’s Book of the Church, pp. 439, 441. 4 History of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales, p. 89. 110 CHAPTER IX. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. Bishops Griffith, Glemham, Barrow.—Union of sinecure rectories to their vicarages.— Bishop Lloyd.—Conferences at Llanfyllin and Oswestry.— Diocesan returns.—Lawsuit concerning the advowson of Llanuwchlyn — Letters to Archbishop Sancroft illustrative of the state of the diocese.— Synod at St. Asaph a.d. 1683.—Success of his administration.—Petition of the seven Bishops, and their committal to the Tower.—Accession of William and Mary. The first bishop after the Restoration was Dr. George Griffith, who appears to have been one of those already alluded to, 1 as, although deprived, still remaining in their parishes and minis¬ tering to their old parishioners, for he continued the whole of the time at Llanynrynach. Before the wars he had been chaplain to Bishop Owen, and as proctor for the clergy in the Convocation of 1640 he had moved for a new edition of the Welsh Bible. During the ensuing troubles he engaged in controversy, both oral and written, with the leader of the Puritan party. In 1652 he wrote “A modest Answer to a bold Challenge of an itinerant Preacher, Vavasor Powell,” and receiving a scurrilous reply, he published a rejoinder entitled “ Animadversions on an imperfect Relation in the ( Perfect Diurnall ,’ containing a Narration of a Disputation between Dr. Griffith and Vavasor Powell, near New Chapel in Mont¬ gomeryshire.” After his promotion to the bishopric he took an active part in the last revision of the Prayer Book, and according to Wood, in his Athence Oxonienses, had “the chief hand in com¬ posing the form for “ The Public Baptism of such as are of riper years”, the necessity of such a service having been rendered imperative by the tenets and practice of the Baptists and Quakers. 1 Page 103. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. Ill Besides the Bishop’s name, that of Humphrey Lloyd, 1 as proctor for the clergy, is attached to the Sealed Booh ; 2 in the Act of Uniformity prefixed to which it is provided that the Bishops of Hereford, St. David’s, St. Asaph, Bangor, and Llandaff, shall take order that it he truly and exactly translated into the British or Welsh tongue; and that the same being by them, or any three of them at least, viewed, perused, and allowed, be imprinted to such number, at least, so that one of the said books may be had for every cathedral, collegiate, and parish church, and chapel of ease, in the said respective dioceses and places in Wales, where the Welsh is commonly spoken or used, before the 1st May, 1665 ; and that meanwhile the “ Form of Common Prayer”, esta¬ blished by Parliament before the making of this Act, shall be used as formerly in such parts where the English tongue is not commonly understood. It was ordered at the same time “ that an English copy should also be provided in every such church, to remain in such convenient place that such as understood them might resort at all convenient times to read and peruse the same; and also that such as do not understand the said language may, by comparing both tongues together, the sooner attain to the knowledge of the English tongue.” In the work of this trans¬ lation the Bishop is believed to have had a leading hand, and his Short Sermons on the Lord's Prayer prove that he was not only imbued with the spirit of his subject, but well qualified for the task by the plainness and perspicuity of his language. The main work of his episcopate, however, was to restore order and disci¬ pline in the diocese, and to restore the church fabrics,—a work rendered imperative by the disorganisation of the late troubles. His successor, Glemliam, the first Englishman appointed since the Reformation, appears to have received his promotion more in consideration of his family connexions, and his losses during the civil wars, than for any fitness or love for his office. He does not appear to have ever resided in the diocese; and after a brief tenure of the dignity he was succeeded by another countryman, 1 Restored vicar of Rhuabon and canon of St. Asaph, 1661 ; dean, 1663; Bishop of Bangor, 1673. 2 See copy in the Cathedral library. 112 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. Dr. Isaac Barrow, Bishop, and for some time Governor, of the Isle of Man,—a worthy prelate, who continued to exhibit in the charge of this see the same zeal and liberality that had distin¬ guished his former episcopate. That for which he more especi¬ ally deserved well of this diocese was the union of certain sine¬ cure rectories in his patronage, with their vicarages (where the latter were insufficient for the support of the incumbent), and constituting them thenceforth rectories with cure of souls. The following table of “ the common and reputed value of all the rectories sine curd, and their respective vicarages, within the dio¬ cese”, 1 was evidently drawn up in view of the Act, and is inserted here as.a useful record on the subject: Decan. de Ros: *Llanrwst . Llansannan Llandrillo . ^Denbigh . Llangwm . Dec. de Moulde et Northop Cilcen Nannerch . Ysceiviog . # Caerwys Cffm W hitford . Dec. de Marchia: Llanrhaiadr E. Y. . 80 ... 30 . 70f... 25 . . 90 ... 55 . . 50 ... 25 . 40 ... 28 ! geingle: . 50 ... 90 . . 50 ... 30 . 30 ... 30 ; . 60 ... 35 . 30 ... 30 . 40 ... 40 . 40 ... 40 . 150 ...100 Dec. de Pola: E. V. Llansantffraid . . 80 ... 70 Pennant . 60 ... 25 Dec. de Caedewen: Llandyssil . 50 ... 25 Dec. de Cyfeiliog et Mawddwy : ^Machynlleth . 60 ... 20 Llanbrynmair . . 40 ... 40 Darowen . . 30 ... 30 Dec. de Bromfield: Llanarmon . 90 ... 40 Estyn or Hope . . 60 ... 45 Dec. de Penllyn: Llanfor . 80 ... 40 Llandrillo . . 45 ... 30 Corwen . 80 ... 60 Of these sinecures, special regard being had to income, popu¬ lation, and other circumstances, those of the town parishes of Denbigh, Llanrwst, Caerwys, and Machynlleth, and of the rural parishes of Nannerch and Llandyssil, were consolidated with the vicarages. The same thing was done with one of the compor- tions of Llansannan; and the vicarage of Llanarmon in Yale was at the same time improved by the addition of the parsonage house and all the glebe lands. By the same Act 2 it was provided that Llanrhaiadr should, from the next vacancy, be appropriated to the dean and chapter for the repairs of the cathedral, in the first instance, and the augmentation of the revenue of the choir; and that meanwhile, until that should be available, the Bishop # Market towns. 1 MS. in the Bishop’s library. f In two comportions. 2 Br. Willis, Append, lxii. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. 113 should resign, for that purpose, his commendam of Ysceiviog. This Act was passed in 1678, and was the more commendable and disinterested as the Bishop not only resigned some of his own emoluments, but improved the poor livings in the face of much importunity to bestow the sinecures otherwise, and that, too, on no unworthy objects: for there exist letters both from the King and the Archbishop pleading urgently for one of them for “ Joli. Theobaldus Fabricius, a man of very good learning, humble and modest; one that doves our Church well, and hath written a defence of it, and thereby created himself enemies both among our Dissenters here and his own countrymen, who have thereupon divested him of the livelihood he had there before”. 1 As the name does not occur anywhere among the rectors, it is probable that no vacancy occurred among those which were not affected by the above Act; whereas the name of Lewis Herault, pastor of the French Church in London, which does occur among his promotions, implies that the Bishop would have helped Fabricius also, if he could have done it without injury to his own diocese. Among the instances of his liberality was the refusal to enrich himself at the expense of his successors by renewing the lease of the manor of Meliden,—a proceeding which called forth from the King a letter of commendation, and a promise that it should thereafter not be in the power of any bishop to make any lease thereof that should continue any longer than his own time”. 2 Other instances were, his improvement of the fabric of the cathedral and the palace, the erection of an almshouse for eight poor widows, and its endowment with £8 per annum, and also a legacy of £200 towards a free school, which he had intended, if spared, himself to have built. His epitaph, 3 drawn up by him¬ self, and inscribed upon his tomb, near the west door of the cathedral, has been a subject of much comment on account of a clause which seemed to imply his belief in the efficacy of prayers for the dead ; in consequence of which the brass plate containing 1 Br. Willis, Append, lxiii. 2 Ibid., Part II. 3 “ Exuviae Isaaci Assaphensis Episcopi, in manum Domini depositae in spem letae Besurrectionis per sola Christi merita. O vos transeuntes in Domum Domini, domum orationis, orate pro conservo vestro, ut inveniat misericordiam in Die Domini.”—Br. Willis, i, 121. Q 114 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. it was removed a few years ago, during some alterations in tlie cathedral. A well meant but unsuccessful attempt was made by his suc¬ cessor, Bishop Lloyd, to heal the divisions that separated Non¬ conformists from the Church, and to win them back to its fold by conciliation and argument. The associations of his early and the experiences of his middle life eminently qualified him for the attempt; and if learning, moderation, national sympathy, an appreciation of the religious difficulties, and a jealousy for their common Protestantism, could have availed, the wound might then have been healed. Born in England, but belonging to the old Welsh family of Henblas in Anglesea, he was distinguished, even as a child, for his knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Having matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1639, when he was only eleven years of age, he gained a scholarship at Jesus the following year, and graduated at the early age of fourteen, as the boy-baclielor, in 1642. During the troubles of the Commonwealth he appears to have been absorbed in his favourite study of the Oriental languages, through which he was brought into intimate friendship with Elias Ashmole, the antiquary and founder of the Museum which bears his name. By Ashmole he was induced to accept, during the interregnum, the family living of Bradfield; which, however, he quickly resigned, and betaking himself to the more congenial work of the pen, he wrote voluminously as well in elucidation of ancient philosophy as in the explanation of the Holy Scriptures, and especially on the application of the prophetical writings; “ endeavouring”, as Macaulay writes with no little sarcasm, “ to extract from Daniel and the Revelations some information about the Pope and the King of France”. At the Restoration “ commenced an extraordinary shower of prefer¬ ments, which continued to fall on him for forty years”. 1 Some remarkable tracts against Popery, published by him in 1667, led to his promotion to the deanery of Bangor, the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and a chaplaincy to the King. His next book in defence of the Church of England Catholic, the design of which was to distinguish between English Church Catholics (or, as we 1 Lives of the Seven Bishops, p. 324. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. 115 should now say, Anglicans) and Boman Catholics, brought him into still greater prominence and favour; and in 1677 he was appointed principal chaplain to the Princess of Orange, a post of great importance and delicacy, from the probability of her suc¬ cession to the throne, and from “ the open and undisguised hosti¬ lity of her husband to the Church of England,—a hostility which induced him to do violence to her conscience, by compelling her to desert her own chapel and the English liturgy, to attend the Dutch schismatic service with him”. 1 It is to this cause, surely, rather than to her chaplain’s persuasion, as Miss Strickland's prejudice against him has induced her elsewhere 2 to suggest, that the attendance of the Princess at a place of worship “ where the tenets of the fanatic fatalists called Brownists were prevalent”, must be attributed; otherwise he would hardly have been “ wel¬ comed, on his return to England, as one of the warmest champions of the Church”. His innate dislike of Popery was much increased by the intrigues of that party, at this period, for its restoration as the established religion, and caused him to look with favour upon the Nonconformists as natural allies in the looming struggle between it and Protestantism: hence, on his promotion to this see in 1680, one of his first cares was to try and recover them to the communion of the Church. With this in view he invited to a friendly conference, first, the Quakers at Llanfyllin, and then the Presbyterians at Oswestry; and would have done more had the movement been more successful. An account of the former, written by an ear-witness, 3 was printed, a few years ago, in a provincial paper, which, as it describes an interesting occurrence but little known, deserves the following summary: “ The Bp. haveing desired Mr. Ch. Lloyd and his brother, Mr. Tho. Lloyd , 4 to appear in the Publick Hall at Llanfyllin, and to bring along with him as many more as they thought fitt, to give an account of the reason of theire separation from y e Church ; accordingly they both, and severall others of theire friends and party, appeared on Thursday, 1 Lives of the Seven Bishops , p. 245. 2 P. 326. 3 Mr. Robert Davies, the eminent antiquary, of Llannerch, from whose MSS. it was furnished to Aris’s Birmingham Gazette of Sept. 13, 1858, by Miss Lloyd of Ty-yn-y-Rhyl, to whom I am indebted for the information. 4 Of Dolobran, near Meifod. See above, p. 105. 116 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. September the 22nd. And y e Bishop haveing desired to know y e rea¬ sons wdiy they separated from y e Church, not onely from y e Church of England, but also from y e universal Church of Christ, Mr. Charles Lloyd stood up, and made a long speech of his former sufferings, and readiness to suffer again, and some other things. Then Mr. Tho. Lloyd desired the audience to take notice they were not called there for any wicked lewdnesse, but to give an account of theire faith towards God ; and then told the Bishop that the reason of theire separation from us was because they did not approve of severall things in our worship and ceremonyes ; named our Baptisme, Marriage, etc. The Bishop told him he was willing in due time to speak to these things. But first he desired them to give an account why they separated not only from us but from all Christians that are or have been in the world, and indeed from y* institution of Christ, by laying aside y e use of Sacraments. Upon this began a discourse about Baptisme, which con¬ tinued a long time : after which followed another about the Lord’s Supper, which was broke off by the night, and the conference was adjourned to y e next day. “Friday, Sept. 23, 1681.—The Bishop being come into y e Hall, Mr. Charles Lloyd and his company presently appeared, and being seated, the Bishop told them he found great inconvenience in y e dis¬ course y e day before, by y e severall digressions and sallyes y* were made from the maine discourse, by which y e thread of it was often broke, and it could not be easily reassumed ; so y* y e same things were often said over again, and nothing concluded. To remedy this he told them he desired all that was said that day might be put in write- ing, and gave them pen, ink and paper. After some hesitation they accepted of it, and ordered a young man of theire party to sit downe and write for them. Then the discourse began. Mr. Lloyd offered to speak against Peedo-Baptisme, and the manner of baptising in our Church. To this the Bishop answered, and desired them and the w T hole auditory to take notice of it, that he did not declyne to speak to those things, but was ready to defend them ag st the Anabaptists and the other sects concerned in them. But for them that denyed Baptism in generall it was necessary to discourse of Baptisme itselfe. It was to as little purpose to satisfy e them aboute y e ceremonyes of Baptisme, while they denyed the substance of it, as it would have been to be diligent in pulling out a thorne out of a man’s foote who had a mortall wound in his head. Upon this they offered something ag st Baptisme itself, and would have proposed some theses. But after some tyme had been spent ab* these things, and the matter could not be brought to a regular conference, at last this question was proposed to them, viz., Whether is it possible to become members of Christ without water Baptisme ? “ Tho. Lloyd holds this question in y e affirmative, and being offered his choice of being opponent or respondent, he chose y e opponent’s part.” The discussion is then carried on in a series of syllogisms FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. 117 formed after the dry but crucial model of scholastic disputation, at the close of which— “ Then Mr. Dean of Bangor 1 told Mr. Thos. Lloyd, you have hitherto acted the part of the opponent, and have binn patiently heard, and yett could not, as we conceive, by any of those arguments you used, prove that it is possible to become members of Christ without water Baptisme. You have tried 3 topicks, and did not bring either of them to the conclusion yon designed. And now, if you please, I will also take upon me the opponent’s part, and prove to you that Bap¬ tisme is ordinarily necessary to salvation. Then Tho. Lloyd, haveing admitted the Dean as opponent, and made himselfe respondent”, the argumentation proceeds on the same method as before, turning more directly on the interpretation of St. John iii, 5. When this was done, “ the Dean desired he might read to them what the Bp. had writt of the conference, and did so. Tho. Lloyd acknowledged y* it was can¬ didly done. And so ended y t day’s conference on that subject.” Though the balance of argument was much in favour of the episcopal party, conviction was not produced in the minds of the Quakers, and the conference does not appear to have been renewed; but on the following Tuesday, Sept. 27, another con¬ ference was held in the Town Hall at Oswestry with the Presby¬ terians, the details of which are more generally known. 2 The Bishop was attended, on both occasions,by “ the pious and learned Mr. Henry Dodwel”; 3 the Presbyterians were represented by Air. James Owen of Oswestry (one of the most considerable Non¬ conformist ministers in the diocese), Mr. Philip Henry, 4 and Air. Jonathan Eoberts of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd: “ The discourse began about two o’clock in the afternoon, and con¬ tinued till between eight and nine at night. Much was said pro and con , touching the identity of bishops and presbyters, the bishoping and unbishoping of Timothy and Titus, the validity of Presbyterian 1 Humphrey Humphreys, B.D., promoted to the bishopric of Bangor in 1689, and translated to Hereford in 1701; an able Welsh antiquary, and author of some memoirs of eminent Welshmen, in addition to those contained in Wood’s Athence Oxonienses (last edition) and the first volume of the Cam¬ brian Register for 1795. 2 See Philip Henry’s Life by Sir J. B. Williams. 3 To whom, in conjunction with Dr. Stillingfleet, Dean of St. Paul’s, he dedicated his Historical Account of Church Government as it was in Great Britain and Ireland when they first received the Christian Religion. London, 1684. i Of Worthenbury, father of the eminent Matthew Henry. 118 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. ordination, etc. It was managed with a great deal of liberty, and not under the strict laws of disputation, which made it hard to give any tolerable account of the particulars of it. The arguments on both the sides may better be fetched from books written on the subject 1 than from such a discourse. The Bishop managed his part of the confer¬ ence with a great deal of gravity, calmness, and evenness of spirit, and therein gave an excellent pattern to all that are in such stations.” 2 It is added that,— “Although he did not succeed in convincing his nonconforming brethren, he ever after held them in the highest estimation, often cor¬ responding with the amiable Philip Henry; and imparting to Mr. Owen, in 1689, the secret of the Prince of Orange’s invitation to Eng¬ land, and his hope that the Protestant Dissenters would concur in promoting the common interest.” In the administration of the diocese Bishop Lloyd displayed the same watchful care, the same zeal for its spiritual and tempo¬ ral interests, that prompted the above attempts to win back the Nonconformists to its fold. He appears to have set himself at once to procure full and accurate information about the parishes in his diocese ; and the earliest statistics of any importance relat¬ ing to them, date from the second year of his episcopate. The manuscript book labelled Z, 3 begun by Bishop Tanner, but incor¬ rectly entitled “ Bishop Maddox’s Book”, is based upon returns made in 1681, to which additions have periodically been made to the year 1745. These give, more or less fully, the names of the townships, with the number of families, and sometimes of souls in them ; the value and appropriation of the tithes, with memoranda of moduses and dues; an abstract of terriers ; the dedication of the church, with notices of the services and the charities; of all of which it is proposed to make a large use, and 1 Mr. Owen published, in 1694, the arguments in favour of his view, under the title of A Plea for Scripture Ordination, or Ten Arguments from Scripture and Antiquity, proving Ordination by Presbyters, rvithout Bishops, to be valid ; to which, in the same year, an able and learned Answer was written by the Rev. John Thomas, A.M., rector of Penegoes ; but it was not published until after the appearance of a second edition of The Plea, with an Epistle prefixed by the Rev. Daniel Williams, in 1707; the Answer being edited by the Rev. Dr. George Hickes, 1711. 2 From P. Henry’s Life, by Sir J. B. Williams. 3 In the Bishop’s library. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. 119 to embody the substance, when giving the history of the several parishes. In 1683 he engaged in a troublesome and expensive lawsuit, with a view to recover to the see the advowson of Llanuwchlyn, which the Prices of Gilar claimed as having been granted, on the dissolution of Cymmer Abbey, to their ancestor, Ellis Price, chan¬ cellor of the diocese, and commissary-general under Lord Crom¬ well. 1 Bishop Lloyd, on the other hand, pleaded that it never had belonged to Cymmer or any other foundation, and attributed its impropriation to an act of collusion. In the trial, held at Shrewsbury, and transferred by consent to the Exchequer, a ver¬ dict as to right was given for the Bishop; but possession being pleaded, another trial was held, also at Shrewsbury; and there, too, the verdict was in his favour. But the impropriator still disputing the issue, had it tried again at Bala, at a time when the Bishop was precluded from attending in person, and had entered a protest against it; and this time the former decisions were reversed, and the verdict given against him. Deterred, pro¬ bably, by the great expense attending it, or perhaps owing to his translation to another diocese, the Bishop did not reopen the question, and so the rectory continued impropriate; but its reco¬ very, as we shall see, was the favourite plea of his successor for his iniquitous proceedings in appropriating to himself the profits of vacant livings. Some letters 2 written by him to Archbishop Sancroft throw much light upon the history of the diocese during this time, the difficulties he had to encounter, and the way he overcame them. May 4, 1683, he writes : “ There is a nephew of my predecessor, one Mr. Thomas Clopton, 3 whom his uncle preferred as well as he could in this diocese, from the time of his entering into orders, which was but three or four years before his uncle’s death ; that is, he gave him a prebend of about <£20 per annum ; two sinecures, worth each of them about <£60 per annum ; and a rectory, with cure of souls, of about <£100 per annum. “ This rectory is called Castle, which lies in Montgomeryshire, not 1 Sup. 77. 2 In Lives of the Seven Bishops, by Miss Strickland, from the Tanner MSS. 3 r< Schoolmaster of Oswestry, 1672 ; rector of Kilken, 1673; canon, 1675; rector of Llanrwst, 1677; prebendary of Myfod, 1678.”—Br. Willis, i, 266. 120 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. far out of England, and yet not a third part of the people understands any English ; and though Mr. Clopton, to qualify himself for it, made his uncle believe he had learned Welsh (and he did indeed learn so far as to read a Welsh sermon once in a parish church, that he might be able to say he had preached in Welsh ; but he read it so that none that heard him could understand anything in it no more than him¬ self), he came thither, and still continues unable to perform any church office in the Welsh language. The people were very much discon¬ tented at this, as they had cause; and they sent me their complaint of it at my first coming into the diocese. Thereupon I desired him, as soon as I saw him, to learn their language, and to make himself useful in his cure. He promised he would do what he could ; but said he found it so difficult that he would take it for a very great favour if I would save him the trouble by finding him a living of <£200 a year or better in England ; for which, with many thanks, he would resign all he had in this diocese. I promised him I would endeavour to do it; and lately it has pleased God to give me an opportunity beyond his or my expectation. “ Dr. Pell, the mathematician, had the next advowson of Malpas given him by the Lord Brereton, who was the patron of it ; and hear¬ ing of the death of Mr. Bridge, the last incumbent, the Doctor sent me an earnest request that I would find him a sinecure of £100 a year or better, that he might have in exchange for the living of Mal¬ pas, which is worth above £300. I presently acquainted Mr. Clopton with it, who gladly embraced the condition, and desired me to bring it to effect. I told him that when he parted with his sinecures to Dr. Pell, he must not think to make a sinecure of Castle. He was content to part with that also, and desired to keep nothing but his prebend, which I willingly allowed. Thereupon I got him Dr. Pell’s presentation, which he has now in his hands. But since I hear, and have reason to suspect, that he intends privately to get a dispensation, and so to hold Castle with Malpas. Such would be a great dishonesty in him, and a defeating of my design, which is truly for the service of the Church. I therefore write this to prevent him, and make it my humble suit to your Grace that he may have no dispensation. If your Grace will be pleased to lay aside this letter for him, in case he should come for a dispensation, I humbly desire that this may be given him for his answer.” 1 Dec. 27, 1685, he writes of other difficulties : “ I have here enclosed sent your Grace an account of my ordinations at the last of the four times. You will see all things else according to your Grace’s injunctions, except the ordination of one Mr. Maes- more, an undergraduate, whom I ordained deacon about three years ago, and now priest. He is exceedingly improved in learning and 1 Clopton remained at Castle till 1688, when he resigned it and his prebend in exchange for the rectory of Christleton in Chester diocese. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. 121 knowledge within this time, and a pious, sober man, but so poor that he had not wherewith to pay his ordinary fees. I preferred him from Mwyn-Glawdd 1 2 Chapel, in Wrexham parish, where he had £7 ill paid, to Meliden, where now he will have =£10 a year. But he must do half a year’s service before he will receive anything. And there has not been a Sacrament there since Whitsuntide last, for want of a priest in that cure ; nor would have been now at Christmas, if I had not ordained him. But I was fain to ordain him without your Grace’s dispensation ; for though I would have been at the charge of sending for it, I had not time. The poor man did not offer himself to be ordained because he could not be at the charge. But when I heard that that church wanted Sacraments, and I knew that there was not a priest to spare in the diocese, I sent for him to be examined when it was too late to send for a dispensation. I beg your Grace’s pardon for this ; for though what I did was not against any law, it was against an article 3 which, upon your Grace’s proposal, I agreed to, though I had before objected to it as being likely to perplex the Welsh bishops and those others that are far distant from London, and have very poor cures to provide for. I humbly propose, for their sakes, that your Grace would be pleased to interpret the word dispensation, that it may be in writing under your hand, without the affixing of any seal, that it may be the sooner dispatched, and without charge to the per¬ sons concerned in it.” 3 Again, at a later period of his episcopate, he writes on the same subject: “ I must crave leave to remind your Grace that I excepted against the restraint from ordaining them that are not graduates in the uni¬ versity, as being not practicable in our Welsh dioceses. 4 We have a great many more cures of souls than we have graduates in this country; and as most of the people understand nothing but Welsh, we cannot supply the cures with any other but Welshmen. But yet of those whom I have ordained, the graduates have not been always the best scholars. I have more than once seen them shamefully outdone by men that never saw the university. And I never ordained any but them that could perform the exercise required by the thirty-fourth canon of the Synod in 1603. “For the state of the Church in North Wales,” he adds, “I bless God I do not know any reason we have to complain. I am well assured 1 Minera. 2 The third of the “Articles for the Regulation of Admissions to Holy Orders”, agreed upon in the Convocation of Canterbury, 20th May, 1685.— Wilkins’ Concilia, iv, 612. 3 Tanner, xxxi, 242; Strickland, 340. 4 In the signatures attached to the above articles (Wilkins’ Concilia, iv, 614), “W. Asaph” is not in a column with the rest, but stands apart by itself. R 122 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. that in these six counties there are not six persons fewer in the com¬ munion of our Church than there were in the beginning of his Majesty’s reign. And for them that are in the Church communion, who are the generality of our people, I thank God I do not find that they grow worse. I hope they rather grow better ; and that which is my greatest comfort, I do not know of one scandalous churchman in this diocese.” 1 This high character of the diocese, which we shall presently find more than corroborated by other testimony, is mainly due to his watchful administration, a patent evidence of which is supplied by “ certain orders treated and agreed upon by the Eight Reverend Father in God, Willi am Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, and the whole clergy of his diocese, at a synod begun at St. Asaph the fourth day of July anno Domini mdclxxxiii.” 2 These orders “for the more decent and orderly administration of the holy offices,” and for the due performance of other ecclesiastical duties, are ranged under nine heads, and are both valuable and interest¬ ing for the full and admirable directions they give. They relate to—i, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; II, Baptism; ill, Burial; iv, Excommunication and Absolution; v, the Observa¬ tion of the Lord’s Day; Vi, the admitting and swearing of Ward¬ ens ; vii, the Residence of the clergy ; vm, Terriers; ix, Gifts to charitable uses. The following extract from “ iv, Of Excommunication and Ab¬ solution”, shews the strictness of the discipline enjoined and the mode of its exercise. When private means have failed, and the case be such as to necessitate extreme measures, it is ordered that “ When any person is decreed to be excommunicate for any criminal cause, there shall be three Sundays allowed for his denunciation, as follows: “ On the first Sunday there shall be read by the minister of the parish, after the Nicene Creed, the first form prescribed, to desire the prayers of the congregation for that person, to implore the grace and mercy of God to bring him to repentance. “ On the second Sunday there shall be read by the minister of the parish the second form prescribed, w r hich shall also be read in the parish church of every parish adjoining to that in which the said per¬ son liveth. Then the minister shall ask if there be any present who 1 Tanner, xxx, 124; Strickland, 333. 2 Wilkins* Concilia, iv, 608, “ Ex MS. penes Tlio. Episc. Assaven.,” which latter has the signatures attached. FROM THE RESTORATION TO T1IE REVOLUTION. 12o can show any reasonable cause why the denunciation ought to be fur¬ ther delayed than the next Lord’s Day ? If any person answers and says he hath such cause, the minister shall admonish him to shew it to the bishop within that week. “ On the third Sunday, if there be no cause alleged to the contrary, there shall be read by the said minister, and also in every neighbour¬ ing parish, as aforesaid, and the church of the next market town, the third form which is prescribed for denunciation; and then also there shall be a sermon preached in the said parish church by the minister whom the bishop shall appoint for that purpose. “ Whosoever is thus excommunicate, is to be denounced again once every quarter in his parish church, and the church of the next market town, and the neighbouring parish, and the cathedral. “ When any clergyman is excommunicated, and does not submit within one month, he shall be denounced excommunicate in every church in the diocese ; and a roll of the name of such, if any be, shall be published once a year in the cathedral and every parish church and chapel within the diocese. “ The minister of every parish is to keep a book by him both of excommunications and absolution, that he may know w ho are, and v T ho are not, in church communion among his parishioners. If one under excommunication remove out of the parish, notice must be given by the minister to the bishop if he go into another diocese, or to the minister if into another parish in the diocese.” The minister of the parish was to perform all absolutions in criminal causes, except where the bishop reserved them to him¬ self ; and in cases of penance, to give a certificate of its perform¬ ance. “ That as often as it shall appear to the minister that any penitent hath any eminent change wrought in him, especially if it be such as may be of great and useful example to others in the like case, he shall immediately after the Nicene Creed stir up the people to render due thanks to Almighty God in a form prescribed for that purpose, to be read after the Nicene Creed, as aforesaid.” These orders were agreed to by representatives of the clergy from every part of the diocese, and appear to have received the approval of no less a man than Philip Henry among the Non¬ conformists. 1 The best commentary, however, upon them as well as upon his whole episcopate, is furnished by an account of the diocese at the accession of Bishop Jones, written by one well competent to judge ; 2 1 Life, by Sir J. B. Williams. 2 Robert Wynne, B.D., chancellor of the diocese and vicar of Gresford. 124 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. “ Perhaps no bishop ever took possession of his see with more advantage than his Lordship, for the diocese had undergone, in all respects, the strictest regulation under the care and government of the present Bishop of Worcester 1 for the space of twelve years ; the clergy were under exact discipline, the several parishes furnished with pain¬ ful and deserving pastors, the revenues of the bishopric increased, and the rights of the Church everywhere recovered and settled.” 2 Bishop Lloyd’s name, as one of the Seven Bishops whom James II committed to the Tower in 1688, is a household word; his companions were Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lake Bishop of Chichester, WTiite of Peterborough, Turner of Ely, Ken of Bath and Wells, and Trelawney of Bristol. Their conscien¬ tious and patriotic resistance to the unconstitutional attempt of the King to abrogate the penal laws by his personal authority, forms a memorable epoch in the history of our national liberties. In the famous Petition in which they prayed to be excused from reading or causing the “ Act for liberty of conscience” to be read in their respective dioceses, he had a chief hand, and acted as the substitute of the aged Primate in presenting it to the King. The story of their trial and acquittal, and of the universal joy with which it was hailed, has been told too often and too elo¬ quently to need repeating here. His innate dread of Popery, increased by his experience of the intrigues of James and the Jesuits for its re-establishment,—a dread intensified in his later years to such a degree as to become a kind of craze or mono¬ mania, 3 led him subsequently to welcome, and it would seem to help in bringing about, the accession of William and Mary. At the same time his respect for some of the Nonconformists, dating from his early days at Oxford, and displayed consistently through¬ out his life,—a respect that made him sympathise to a consider¬ able extent with their difficulties, and ever anxious to recover them to the Church; but which never led him to sacrifice, for 1 Bishop Lloyd was translated to Lichfield and Coventry in 1692, and in 1699 to Worcester. 2 A short Narrative of the Proceedings against the Bishop of St. Asaph. Lon¬ don, 1702, p. 1. 3 Cf. Macaulay, Hist, of England, ii, 346; Parnell, in Faction Displayed; and Swift in his Journal to Stella ,- Strickland’s Seven Bishops. 125 FROM the RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION. tlie sake of union, those principles of which he was so loyal and steadfast a champion,—this sympathy and respect enabled him to acquiesce in measures that the majority of his protesting col¬ leagues, and not a few of his clergy, refused to accept. Ilis translation to Lichfield and Coventry in 1699 removed from this diocese one of the most learned, laborious, and successful bishops that ever occupied the see of St. Asaph. 12 6 CHAPTER X. EFFECTS OF THE EE VOLUTION. Tlie Non-Jurors. — Ecclesiastical policy of William.—Bishop Jones, his offences and deprivation.—Bishop Beveridge.—Queen Anne’s Bounty.— Bishop Eleetwood.—Abolition of mortuaries.—Dissatisfaction of the Welsh clergy.—Dr. Sacheverell.—Summary of the Reports of Rural Deans for 1729 and 1749. The refusal of the Non-Jurors to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and transfer to them the fealty they had sworn to James, was met by William in a very summary way,— a way that estranged the clergy widely from him, and proved highly injurious to the best interests of the Church. He deprived them of their sees 1 and livings, which he filled with his own friends and political sympathisers. The Toleration Act, too, had been distasteful to them, because it ignored, and called upon them also to ignore, those points of doctrine and ecclesiastical order by which they were distinguished from Independents, Baptists, and Presbyterians; and they gave vent to their dissatisfaction, not obscurely, in the Lower House of Convocation, which was much more independent and outspoken than the Upper House ; and to silence which William adopted the course of repeatedly proroguing it. Indeed, it is to this process of schooling the clergy, and making henceforth political support a condition of promotion, that we must attribute, I think, more than to any- 1 Among these was another William Lloyd, Bishop of Norwich, a native of Llangower, and some time rector of Efenechtyd in this diocese. Among the laity who suffered for adhesion to James was the Marquis of Powis, who was outlawed for high treason ; and an unexpired lease of a portion of the tithes of Meifod, Pool, G-uilsfield, and Buttington, which he enjoyed, was transferred to Edward (Jones) Bishop of St. Asaph, and William (Lloyd) Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 127 tiling else, that lowering of the spiritual life of the Church into a sort of moral engine of the State, and the comparative lifeless¬ ness and spiritual apathy which marked so painfully the last century. In its immediate effect on our own diocese this process proved very disastrous ; for one to whom the clergy looked as best fitted, both by his own merits and by their confidence, to succeed Bishop Lloyd on his promotion to Lichfield and Coventry in 1692, was passed over because he had opposed the measures of Dr., now Archbishop Tennison in the Convocation of 1689 ; and Dr. Edward Jones, a native of Montgomeryshire, was translated hither from Cloyne in Ireland. It has been recorded on the best authority that “ perhaps no bishop ever took possession of his see with more advantage than he did; for the diocese had under¬ gone, in all respects, the strictest regulation under the care and government of Bishop Lloyd for the space of twelve years; the clergy were under exact discipline, the several parishes furnished with painful and deserving pastors, the revenues of the bishopric increased, and the rights of the Church everywhere recovered and settled. Nay, Bishop Lloyd had been so communicative to his successor that he informed him of the whole state of the dio¬ cese, and gave him the exact character of every clergyman in it, and how every person was qualified for his Lordship’s future favours, so that he had a perfect view of his diocese before ever he saw it.” 1 The contrast, however, between the two administrations was sad and painful in the extreme. That of Bishop Jones was marked by so much corruption, negligence, and oppression, that in 1697 an address, signed by thirty-eight of the principal bene- ficed clergy, was sent to the Archbishop representing their com¬ plaints under no less than thirty-four heads, and praying for an inquiry. These charges the Bishop was summoned to answer on the 20tli July, 1698. By his own confession he had been guilty of gross neglect of ecclesiastical discipline, not only in not punishing a case of known drunkenness, but even in promoting 1 A short Narrative of the Proceedings against the Bishop of St. Asaph. See above, pp. 123, 124. 128 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. to a canonry one wlio had been accused to him of crimes and excesses; he had permitted laymen to perform the office of curates at Abergele and Llandrillo; he had been guilty of a simoniacal contract in the disposal of some of his preferments, and had allowed his wife to receive money, by way of earnest, for certain promotions. Besides which, he had been in the habit of appropriating to himself a year’s profits of vacant livings, on the plea of carrying on the lawsuit for the recovery of the advow- son of Llanuwchlyn,—a plea, it is almost needless to add, never put into practice. The Archbishop’s sentence, pronounced in June 1701, after much procrastination, was that the Bishop be suspended from His episcopal office, administration, and emolu¬ ments, for the space of six months, “ et ultra donee satisfecerit”. 1 We may remark that this punishment appears very slight com¬ pared with the number and heinousness of his offences; and it remains only to add, in justice to the clergy in general, that those who fell in with his iniquitous proceedings were some of the Literates whom he had himself ordained, being much more lax on that point than his predecessors had been; and in very favourable contrast to whom stands out the conduct of those who discharged the painful and humiliating duty of demanding the inquiry, and thus relieving the diocese of so sad a scandal. A brief period of restitution intervened between the expiration of his sentence and his death, which occurred soon after the accession of Queen Anne. The next bishop was Dr. George Hooper, Dean of Canterbury, who had formerly succeeded Bishop (then Dr.) Lloyd as chaplain to the Princess of Orange at the Hague. Hooper being offered the see of Bath and Wells within six months after his consecra¬ tion, declined it at first out of regard for his old and dear friend, Dr. Ken, who had been deprived as a Non-Juror; but he was afterwards induced to accept it at the urgent request of Ken himself, who looked upon him as one that would “zealously contend for ‘ the faith once delivered to the saints’, which in those latitudinarian times was in great danger to be lost; and who had also another wish, for the good of this diocese, that 1 A short Narrative, etc., Appendix in. EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 129 Dr. Edwards 1 might succeed him here.” 2 Good Bishop Ken’s wish, however, was not gratified; and the vacant bishopric was again conferred upon a royal chaplain, the pious and learned Beveridge, who, like his predecessor, had refused the see of Bath and Wells, because, as he declared, he would not eat the bread of Dr. Ken. He inaugurated his episcopate by reviving the custom of public catechising, which had of late fallen into neglect; and with a view to promoting its efficiency, he drew up and pub¬ lished, for the use of his clergy, his Plain and Easy Exposition of the Church Catechism. It was at this time that, in consideration of the insufficient maintenance of the poor clergy, the Queen granted the first- fruits for their better support, and established the fund thence known as “ Queen Anne’s Bounty.” These first-fruits or “ an¬ nates” 3 were the profits of one year of every vacant bishopric in England, claimed at first by the Pope upon a pretence of defend¬ ing the Christians from the Infidels, and paid by every bishop at his succession, before he could receive his investiture from Pome. Afterwards the Pope prevailed on all those who were spiritual patrons to oblige their clerks to pay these “ annates”, and so by degrees they became payable by the clergy in general. In the 26th Henry VIII a statute was passed that these pay¬ ments should be made to the King; and since then, except during the reign of Queen Mary, they had been paid into the exchequer. Vicarages, however, not exceeding £10 per ann., and parsonages not exceeding ten meres, according to the valuation in the First-Fruits Office, were exempted from this payment, for the reason that when this valuation was made vicarages had a large revenue arising from voluntary oblations, which ceased upon the Dissolution. The Act constituting this new fund, and the corporation for its management, ordered “that writs of in- 1 No doubt this was Dr. Jonathan Edwards, Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, author of A Preservative against Socinianism; showing the direct and plain Opposition between it and the Religion revealed by God in the Holy Scrip¬ ture. 4to, Oxon, in two Parts, 1693. 2 Ken’s letter of congratulation to Bishop Hooper in Strickland’s Lives of the Seven Bishops, p. 305. 3 Hook’s Church Dictionary. S 130 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. quiry should be directed to three or more persons to inquire upon oath into the value of the maintenance of poor parsons who have not £80 per ann., and the distance of their churches from London, and which of them are in market or corporate towns or not, and how the churches are supplied, and if the incumbents have more than one living; that care may be taken to increase their maintenance”. A valuation was accordingly made for this diocese, in 1707, “of ecclesiastical benefices with cure of souls, not exceeding the yearly value of £50”; from which it would appear either that the poor livings were so numerous that the Bounty could only be applied in aid of those which did not exceed that sum; or else that £80 being fixed as the standard for the towns, it was only possible to attain the lower standard for the country parishes ; and even here it was available only at intervals, the grants being distributed by the simple but indis- criminating process of casting lots. Still, the aggregate of the grants so made amounts to a very considerable sum, and has been of very material benefit to our poorer mountainous parishes. Another measure that proved of great relief to the clergy was the Act for the Abolition of Mortuaries, procured by Bishop Fleet- wood and Dean Stanley in 1712. “Mortuary”, 1 in ecclesiastical law, is a gift left by a man at his death to his parish church, in recompense of personal tithes omitted to be paid in his lifetime; or that beast or other cattle which, after the death of the owner, by the custom of the place, is due to the parson or vicar in lieu of tithes or offerings forgotten, or not well and truly paid by him that is dead. This mortuary was usually brought with the corpse when it came to be buried, and offered as a satisfaction for the supposed negligence or omission. 2 By the 26th Henry YTII it was commuted into a money payment. In the Welsh dioceses and one archdeaconry of Chester it was further customary for the bishops to receive mortuaries of priests, and these were ex¬ empted from the above Act”. From an account exhibited in 1 Hook’s Church Dictionary. 2 This I conceive to be the real origin of our funeral offerings, viz. to make restitution for the past rather than to provide prayers for the repose of the departed soul, as is sometimes asserted; though, of course, after the intro¬ duction of the belief in Purgatory, both reasons would be equally applicable. EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 131 Queen Elizabeth’s time 1 it appears that the mortuaries due to the Bishop of St. Asaph on the death of every beneficed clergy¬ man in his diocese included “ his best gelding, horse or mare, his best gown, his best cloak, his best coat, jerkin, doublet and breeches, his hose or nether stockings, shoes and garters, his waistcoat, hat and cap, his faulchion, his best book and surplice, his purse and girdell, his knife and gloves, and his signet or ring of gold”. So long as celibacy was the rule these dues were reasonable enough ; but after the clergy were allowed to marry, they some¬ times proved a vexatious burden to the widows and families; and were, after all, of very inconsiderable value. Indeed, Bishop Eleetwood never above once or twice took them in kind, forgiv¬ ing the poor widows, and compounding with the rich, and apply¬ ing the money he took of them towards buying books for the new library he caused to be made over the school”. 2 The Act, therefore, for their abolition, and for the appropriation, in their stead, of the first sinecure rectory in the Bishop’s patronage that should fall vacant, was welcomed by the clergy as a general boon; and as the first sinecure so available happened to be Northop, the exchange proved to be of very material advantage also to the Bishop. His Charge for 1710, which was very explicit on the duties of the clergy, wardens, and people, and has been de¬ scribed as “ an admirable epitome of the discipline of the Church”, was, contrary to the usual custom, printed and sent round to the clergy some time before his visitation. From it we further learn that there were two abuses which he set himself resolutely to correct, viz. the non-residence of "some rectors who thought themselves at liberty to absent themselves because not tied by oath to canonical residence as vicars were”, but which he declared to be contrary to the Act of 21 Henry VIII; and the disuse, in some places, of a weekly sermon for one every fortnight or three weeks”. Insisting that “there must be a sermon every Lord’s Day throughout”, he left it to the discretion of the minister 1 Br. Willis, Appendix lxiv. 2 This building was on the north wall of the chancel of the cathedral, and was taken down in 1780. 132 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. whether it should he in English or Welsh; hut added his disap¬ proval of the conduct of those who gave an English one to favour one or two families in the parish, when the rest were Welsh”. With his Charge he also sent a request to the clergy that they would supply him at his visitation with a short account of their parish and church, its dedication, wakes, monuments, supersti¬ tious usages, townships, tithes, and tithe-liolders. He was him¬ self a zealous antiquary, and did much to elucidate the history of the diocese. Many pages of the transcript of Llyfr Cdch Asaph, in the episcopal library, are in his handwriting; so also are numerous notes and transcripts in an interleaved copy of Whar¬ ton’s Historia de Episcopis Assavensibus in the cathedral library, and Browne AVillis, to whom we are so much indebted for his valuable Survey, records that “ he was very communicative in imparting to him many collections”. As a bishop, however, though much respected for his learning and zeal, he was never popular with his clergy, whose sympathies lay rather with the High Cliurchmanship of the earlier than with the Latitudinarianism of the last and present Stuart reigns; and whose national feelings chafed under a sense of wrong in the most sacred of associations, in being systematically ignored for the highest preferments in their Church, and subjected to pre¬ lates who, however personally amiable and good and learned, yet were opposed to them in sentiment, and altogether unable to perform the oidy part of their episcopal office in which they were brought into direct contact with their people, in the only language understanded of them. A striking illustration of the state of the public feeling on ecclesiastical questions was supplied about this time by the inte¬ rest with which the famous trial of Dr. Saclieverell was watched, and by the ovation with which he was greeted on his journey from London in 1709, at the expiration of his sentence, to take possession of Selattyn, to which he had been presented by his old pupil, Mr. Bobert Lloyd, the patron. Sacheverell, who was an ardent Jacobite, had, in a sermon preached before the lord mayor, “maintained the doctrine of passive obedience, spoken slightingly of the ministry of the day, condemned, not obscurely, the events of the revolution of 1688, and declared the Church to EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. i oo 10.0 be in danger. For tliis he was impeached by the Commons, con¬ demned to two years suspension from his office, and his sermon burnt by the common hangman. The result of all this was a wide diffusion of sympathy with his cause, and a prodigious increase of popularity for himself; for he came to be looked upon as a martyr for the Church and monarchy, as against the demo¬ cratic sentiments that then began to prevail. So high, indeed, did this feeling run, that when George I, who had been taught to regard all High Churchmen as Tories, and all Tories as Jaco¬ bites, had in the first year of his reign to appoint a successor to Bishop Fleetwood, translated to Ely, he saw the policy of no longer ignoring the Welsh clergy; and so, in order to reconcile them to his family, he selected Dr. John Wynne, Principal of Jesus College and Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford, to fill the vacant see. The principle to which Bishop Wynne owed his own appointment continued to influence him throughout his episcopate; and his promotion of the working clergy of his dio¬ cese to its dignities, stands out in favourable contrast to the cus¬ tom of his successors. The vigilance exercised by the state to secure the loyalty of the clergy,—a subject which was for some time made a regular point of inquiry at Visitations,—received a curious illustration in the embarrassment of the authorities on a question submitted to counsel in 1716, and the conflicting opinions thereon, namely, whether a beneficed clergyman who had the misfortune to be a lunatic, could retain his living; not because he was incapacitated by his affliction, but because he had not taken the oath of supre¬ macy to the king! The reports of rural deans in 1729 supply many interesting particulars as to the character of the Church services and the condition of the fabrics at that time. On Sundays the custom was to have matins, or morning prayer, and a sermon ; and in the afternoon, evening prayer and catechising; though in some places the catechising was limited to Lent; the holy days were generally observed; the Holy Communion was administered monthly, though in some churches in Tegeingl it was less fre¬ quent,—in private administration it was the custom to wear a surplice; the offertory was collected for the support of the poor 134 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. every Sunday throughout tlie diocese, except in the deanery of Bromfield, which followed the English custom of levying a tax for that purpose, according to the Act of 43 Elizabeth. Another Welsh peculiarity, noticed as finding its bounds in the mountain region between Ruthin and Wrexham, was that of offerings at funerals. The fabrics of the churches were just beginning to lose some¬ thing of that original character which they appear to have hitherto retained ; and the narrow lancets, with their “ dim, reli¬ gious light”, were making way for larger windows with round or square heads. The rood-lofts, however, were still retained, as the people would not let them be removed, even on the plea of con¬ verting the materials into seats for young people and servants. Some seats, it appears, had already been set up at intervals, and in an irregular manner, and were even now becoming a source of trouble and injury. “The benches and sitting places in our churches, which are thought to have been formerly common”, writes one rural dean (“ commons” is the very name applied to them by another), “ are now, by time and usage, become apperti- nent to houses and messuages; and the proprietors are very tenacious of old rights, things, and customs, and will not admit of any alterations in their sitting places, though for the better”. The permission to erect them seems however, in the first instance, to have been granted by the vestry either out of special favour to individuals, or else in consideration for certain repairs and benefactions to the church. The floors of the nave were gene¬ rally carpeted with rushes, and only in some instances flagged, though the chancel was generally so. The nave itself was often used as the parish school, and the churchyard as a playground, not only on week-days, but on Sundays also, as we may infer from the strict injunctions to the wardens in the deanery of Mechain to “ break off that evil custom”. A still worse abuse, however, was the holding of markets and fairs in them, “ buying and selling in the very porches”; as was complained of, for in¬ stance, at Llangernyw and Bettws G-wervyl-Goch. The origin of this abuse is, no doubt, to be found in the License occasionally granted in early times, as we have seen in the case of St. Asaph, to hold a fair on some Saint’s day, generally the wake or vigil of EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 135 the founder, the tolls of which should go to eke out the scanty maintenance of the priest; and which, at first closely connected with a religious service, gradually lost its holier associations under a weight of busy, worldly, unhallowed traffic and enjoy¬ ment ; and, being finally dissociated from the sanctions of reli¬ gion, left its own impress of barter, noise, and revelry stamped upon the festival. From some of the parishes of Montgomeryshire there came a complaint that the Church-levy could not be collected; for not being recoverable, like poor’s rate, people sometimes refused to pay, and declared that if turned out of the Church they would be welcome in the meeting houses Another gravamen from the same county had reference to clandestine marriages. “An evil custom has been growing up”, writes the rural dean of Cyfeiliog, “ for laymen of all trades and occupations to take upon them to join persons together in matrimony. In the diocese of Bangor, on each side of us, were several; but the chief of them now dead. In the county of Cardigan and diocese of St. David’s, within six or seven miles of Machynlleth, there dwells a layman that fre¬ quents the town on fairs and great markets, and marries several couples in public alehouses by day or night; besides many others that go to his house to be married, from this and the neighbouring counties, in great and public companies. He gives the persons so married certificates attested by some of the com¬ pany then and there present, and signed by himself,-clerk”. As the culprit lived beyond the limits of the diocese, he was able, perhaps, to continue the practice with impunity; but a similar proceeding in Merionethshire was very summarily dis¬ posed of, both in the case of a layman and in that of an eccentric rector of Llansantffraid-Glyn-Dyfrdwy. The reports for 1749, twenty years later, contain many com¬ plaints about the bad state of the glebe-houses and the non¬ residence of some of the clergy. These houses, and there were many parishes in which none existed, were often but mud-floored cottages of a single story; and as there was then no Queen Anne’s Bounty available for their improvement, and the clergy, in those cases even oftener than in others, too poor to meet the necessary outlay, they gradually fell into decay by being sublet 136 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. to cottagers; the incumbents being permitted to occupy some other house in the parish, and in some cases to hold a curacy elsewhere, or another living with a better residence. Too much in character with this unsatisfactory state of the glebe-houses was that of the fabrics of the churches, whilst the difficulty and cost of procuring briefs for their repair rendered that a much less available resource than it otherwise ought to have been . 1 The services, indeed, appear to have been performed with regularity and frequency, not only on Sundays and holy days, but also on the Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent; and daily in the towns of Wrexham, Denbigh, and Oswestry; catechising frequent; the Holy Communion administered monthly, and a very large num¬ ber returned as communicants at the Easter celebration. Still, with all this outward regularity, much of the inner life of the Church seems to have been growing slack and dull, when a new current set in that ruffled for a time its calm surface, and might have requickened it to its pristine life and power if well and wisely guided; for Methodism in Wales, although unhappily allowed to develop into Nonconformity, yet in its origin, prin¬ ciples, and aim, differed widely from the existing forms of Dissent, and must be regarded, for a time at least, as an internal move¬ ment from within the Church rather than one external or hostile to it. To estimate its character properly, in its relation both to the Church and to the then existing phases of Nonconformity, requires a brief review of the latter, and will fall more appropri¬ ately under a separate chapter. 1 The following extract from the Register at Llancldulas will shew the exorbitant expense of this method of collecting money : 1732.—For Llanddulas Church, collected on 9,902 briefs - £649 13 8 Paid for Lord Chancellor’s fiat and signing y e brief - - <£38 13 0 yy printing the briefs - - 14 17 0 yy the patent - - 25 18 2 yy incidental charges .... 4 10 0 y> salary for collecting 9,725 briefs at 8 cl. each - 324 3 4 yy ditto 177 briefs in London at 16d. - 11 6 0 yy stamping the briefs - - 13 10 0 Total expenses £432 17 6 Balance available for building the church <£216 16 2 137 CHAPTER XI. DISSENT AND METHODISM. Distinction between the two.—The earlier Nonconformity.—Its Statistics for 1715 and 1742.— Rise and spread of Methodism.—Griffith Jones of Llan- ddowror.—Howel Harries, Daniel Rowlands, Thomas Charles, Simon Lloyd.—Ordination of Lay-Preachers in 1811, and separation from the Church.—Attitude of the Clergy.—The religious Census of 1851 ana¬ lysed.—The strength and weakness of Dissent. The title of this chapter is intended to mark the distinction between the earlier Nonconformity and that movement which had its origin in the eighteenth century. The old Nonconformist bodies, the Independents, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Quakers, differed essentially from the Church in points of order and dis¬ cipline as well as in peculiarities of doctrine, and were separated from her by a wide gulf ecclesiastical and political. The new movement, on the other hand, owed its origin mainly to some clergymen of Calvinistic leanings, whose aim it was to requicken the inner spiritual life of the people, which seemed to them to have become dulled and weakened under a garb of outward form¬ ality. And this they sought to do by enforcing more distinctly the personal and subjective aspect of religion, and by supple¬ menting the ordinary public ministrations of the Church with more frequent and less formal pastoral intercourse . 1 1 “I must do justice to the Dissenters in Wales,” writes the Rev. Griffith Jones, vicar of Llanddowror, in 1741, “and shall appeal for the truth of it to all competent witnesses, and to all those themselves who separate from us, that it was not any scruple of conscience about the principles or orders of the Established Church that gave occasion to scarce one in ten of the Dis¬ senters in this country to separate from us at first, whatever objections they may have afterwards imbibed against conforming. No. They generally dis¬ sent at first, for no other reason than for want of plain, practical, pressing, T 138 DISSENT AND METHODISM. “ Until the beginning of the eighteenth century the Welsh Nonconformists, with the exception of the Quakers and perhaps one Anabaptist Church in Radnorshire, were all Calvinists in doctrine and Congregationalists in Church polity. About that time a part of the Church at Wrexham, sympathising with the views of their former fellow-townsman, Dr. Daniel Williams, separated from the Congregational Church, and set up a Presby¬ terian interest there. Dr. Williams’s views, which scarcely dif¬ fered in anything from moderate Calvinism, were then branded by High Calvinists as Baxterianism, Neominianism, etc.; and Mr. Thomas Edwards, a member of the Congregational Church there, published in 1699 a huge quarto volume entitled Baxteri¬ anism Barefaced , in which he abused Mr. Baxter, Dr. Williams, and all other authors whom he regarded as unsound, in the most intemperate style.” * 1 This controversy, in which the Low Cal¬ vinists or Baxterians, whose leanings were to Presbyterianism, were ranged on the one side, and the High Calvinists or Inde¬ pendents, who upheld the more rigid Congregationalism, on the other, was taken up warmly at Henllan in Carmarthenshire, and may be regarded as the commencement of a series of disputes which gradually led to the division of the Nonconformist body into the Calvinistic and Arminian parties, and the latter again into the Trinitarian and Anti-Trinitarian subdivisions. To this agitation Independency and Calvinism are said to be indebted for their very existence in the Principality. The state of things at Henllan which caused this disturbance, ignoring the cardinal doctrines of the Gospel, preaching mere morality, lax discipline, and a leaning towards the Presbyterian form of Church govern¬ ment, seems to have more or less affected other neighbouring congregations at that time, and would most probably have per¬ vaded all the Nonconforming bodies throughout Wales unnoticed, had it not been for this storm, to which an important feature in their system owes its origin. “ Ever after the Welsh Churches have not been without vigilant persons to watch and report the and zealous preaching in a language and dialect they are able to understand, and freedom of friendly access to advice about their spiritual state .”—Welsh Piety, p. 12 (1741). 1 History of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales, p. 282 et seq. DISSENT AND METHODISM. 139 least deviation from orthodoxy. That this class of persons have done incalculable good, and in many instances prevented a world of evil, is undeniable; but, on the other hand, it must be con¬ fessed that there have been found among them, from time to time, individuals whose characters, violent tempers, and want of pru¬ dence, often disgraced the cause which they professed to defend.” 1 South Wales was at this period the home and nursery of Non¬ conformity. In the North it had but few adherents before the second half of the century. Statistics collected in 171 5 2 shew only ten congregations in the whole of the six counties; and that portion relating to this diocese is both pertinent and interest¬ ing, as shewing their distribution as well as the social and poli¬ tical standing of their members: Place. Denbigh P. Wrexham P. >9 A. DENBIGHSHIRE. Ministers. Average Social and political Standing, attendance. ... Thos. Baddy, ... 60...One member worth between<£4000 and scholar <£5000, and three worth £500, the rest tradesmen and farmers; no beggars; 8 votes for the county, and 12 for the borough. ...John Kenrick ...230...Twenty tradesmen; 29 votes for the county, and 3 for the borough. ...John Williams... 150...Fourteen tradesmen; 23 votes for the scholar county, and 6 for the borough. FLINTSHIRE. Newmarket P....Richard Hum-... 30...One member worth between £14,000 phreys and £15,000; 1 vote for the county, and 3 borough. MERIONETHSHIRE. Bronycludwr, ... Edward Ken-...150...One esquire; 12 votes for the county. Dolgelley, & Bala I. rick MONTGOMERYSHIRE. Newtown P. ...Peter Seddon, ) f Two gentlemen, four freeholders; 5 (in and near)... David Richard 120 ( votes for the county, 1 for the borough. Llanfyllin and...Willm. Jervis,...110...Ten gentlemen,one freeholder; 5votes Pant Mawr I. scholar for the county, and 1 for the borough. Llanbrynmair...Willm. Jervis,... 90...One freeholder; 1 vote for the county, & Trefeglwys I. scholar 1 for the borough. Llanllugan I. ...Ditto - - ...100...All poor people. 1 History of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales, p. 285. 2 By Dr. John Evans, and given in the History, p. 289. 140 DISSENT AND METHODISM. Adding to these a few Roman Catholics and Quakers, we have the statistics of Dissent for this diocese in 1715. Another return, 1 dated 1742, shews that here at least their numbers had not much increased during the interval. “ In Denbighshire there are three congregations of Dissenters, viz. a small one in the town of Denbigh, and two in Wrexham; and I might add one in Oswestry, which, though in Shropshire, the people are Welsh, and border on Denbighshire. In Flintshire is a small one ; in Merionethshire there is but one, not far from Bala; in Mont¬ gomeryshire there are five congregations, two of which were lately gathered by that excellent minister of Christ, Mr. Lewis Rees, who preaches at five places in this county and two places in Merionethshire, between twenty and thirty miles from his own habitation/’ This comparative stagnation, not to say retrogression, has been in part accounted for by the fact that hitherto no Welsh speak¬ ing natives of North Wales had been trained for the Dissenting ministry; and that its advocates, coming from the South, were under peculiar disadvantages owing to the difference of idiom between the two divisions of the Principality,—a difference now vastly diminished by more general intercourse and a common literature. Another reason, too, requires to be borne in mind, that, in the North, Church principles had, upon the whole, been more fully and faithfully carried out. Nor does the subsequent spread of Methodism at all militate against this view. Tracing back its origin to Griffith Jones, vicar of Llanddowror in Car¬ marthenshire, a man of great eloquence and piety, and full of zeal for the spiritual amelioration of his countrymen, its primary object was to awaken among the people a more vivid personal sense of religion. Being a man of uncommon power in the pulpit he was often invited by the neighbouring clergy, and sometimes by the wardens against the will of their clergy, to preach in other parishes; and this he used to do at stated times of the year, such as Easter and Whitsuntide. In the course of these preaching tours he formed his admirable plan for establishing 1 Said to Lave been written by Mr. Edmund Jones of Pontypool, and first published in the Glasgow Weekly History. —Rees, p. 385. DISSENT AND METHODISM. 141 circulating schools. Several of these schools were to he in charge of an itinerating master, who should take them in turns within a given circuit; and after they had been in operation for some time in one place, they were then to be transferred to another, but to be revisited and repeated again after a certain interval. By this means he was able to spread the teaching over a wide area, and to take in poor and scattered districts. The munifi¬ cence of Madame Bevan enabled him to perpetuate the system; and it is one which in times past conferred a great boon upon many of our Welsh parishes, though utterly inadequate to the educational requirements of the present day. For the better carrying out of his plan he established in his own parish a school for the training of more efficient masters ; and as he belonged to that school which favoured the views of Calvin, he naturally enough preferred those candidates who held, or were likely to imbibe, congenial views, drawing his recruits from the Noncon¬ formists as well as from Churchmen. The Catechism, which by this means he disseminated by thousands, and the Bible Com¬ mentary, which he generally kept by him for sale, were those of Matthew Henry, a learned and attractive expositor, but a Presby¬ terian in principles. This bias shook the confidence of some of the clergy; and they were not a little justified in their distrust of the measure by its after-development into an actual schism, of which these very schoolmasters were among the leading pro¬ moters ; others, again, were annoyed at his intrusion into their parishes; whilst others, no doubt, opposed him from feelings of jealousy, because his energy reflected upon their oivn want of zeal. It was to his preaching that Howel Harries, the actual founder of Welsh Methodism, the friend and companion of Whitefield, attributed his first vivid impressions of religion; and the conversion of Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho, one of its earliest and most eloquent advocates, was due to the same source. Their preaching was, in its earlier stages, of a very fervid and sensational character; and they drew such awful pictures of death, judgment, and hell, as to obscure in no slight degree the character of God as a merciful and loving Father. Still, by so holding up “ the terrors of the Lord”, they wrought with a strange power on the feelings of their hearers,—a power which has been 142 DISSENT AND METHODISM. proved, by the experience of more recent revivals, to spread by contagion, and produce states of uncontrollable excitement; some¬ times developed in convulsions of agony, sometimes in ecstacies of joy. When, therefore, “they began to creep up from the South into the Merionethshire parts” of the diocese, they were regarded as something like fanatics, and looked upon with no little aversion ; for they not only launched out terrible denunci¬ ations against the prevailing vices, but they also included in the category some things that were harmless. The “ Wakes” with their abuses, for instance, were especial objects of their animad¬ version ; but they themselves went so far in the opposite direc¬ tion, and took such a gloomy view of the nature of the Christian life, that they concluded all mirth to partake of sin; and have given to the national character a tinge of gloom, not to say Pharisaism. Other reasons that suggest a modification of the dark colouring given to the character of the times when they began their mission, may be found in the tendency to exaggerate their own labours for good at the expense of others,—a tendency for which they have been much censured by the earlier Dis¬ senters ; and in the natural desire of their denomination to sup¬ ply therein a justification for their proceedings. Notwithstanding all this, and in spite of many eccentricities which find their parallel in the Ritualistic movement of our own day,—a parallel of much importance for a right estimate of the former difficulty, and a wiser action in the latter,—we cannot reflect on the service that Methodism as it is has done, or con¬ template the far greater good it might have wrought as an acknowledged and well guided handmaid of the Church, without feeling the most sincere regret that more of wisdom and of ten¬ derness were not shewn towards it; and that the authorities of the Church did not utilise the materials so presented by appro¬ priating them to her service whilst the opportunity lay open to them. But unhappily, instead of bracing to her opportunity, the Church was clogged by the treatment to which she had been for some time systematically subjected. With the exception of Bishop Thomas, nominated in 1743, but promoted to Bath and Wells before his consecration, no Welshman—no one even con¬ versant with the language, or acquainted with the peculiarities DISSENT AND METHODISM. 143 and sympathies of the people—has been promoted to this see since the translation of Bishop Wynne to Bath and Wells in 1727; and from about the year 1750 until Bishop Bagot rebuilt the Palace in 1795, none of those who were appointed resided within the diocese for more than a month or two in the summer of each year, and not always so long; so that at the very time when of all others our Church stood most in need of sympathetic and conciliatory chief pastors,—men who could moderate and harmonise the new elements, and by the influence of their per¬ sonal experience and examples attract that which was good in the movement,—she had to suffer doubly, from a painful absence of these qualities, and from an ever-growing nepotism that dis¬ heartened the native clergy, and helped in no slight degree to estrange and embitter the laity. All the highest dignities and the most valuable sinecures were bestowed upon their relations and personal friends, and the Church’s trust has been treated very much as a family perquisite; and the result has been that in this diocese more especially the gentry have almost ceased to bring up their sons to holy orders. There have been, indeed, among our English bishops men distinguished for piety and elo¬ quence and learning. Such were the apostolic Beveridge, the silver-tongued Fleetwood, and the learned Tanner; men who might have made, and some of whom did make, excellent bishops in an English diocese, but who were not fitted for the charge they undertook in a AVelsh one; nor were they able so to repre¬ sent their episcopal office as, I will not say to disarm the oppo¬ sition of those who argued from its abuse to its non-importance, but they even weakened the hands of their clergy by their mani¬ fest contradiction of one of the Articles of the Church, on the only occasion wherein they were brought into direct contact with the people entrusted to their oversight. It is no wonder, there¬ fore, that under such circumstances many of the clergy were non-resident, and some of the resident worldly and indifferent; and some, too, it must be added, openly immoral; and these last were a very grievous scandal and injury to the Church, not only from the publicity and exaggeration given to their misdeeds by her enemies, who would represent them as specimens of all, but also from the fact that, having once disqualified themselves for 144 DISSENT AND METHODISM. higher preferment, they were still left, owing to the difficulty and expense of the legal process for their deprivation, as sores to fester in the Church’s side, and crush out the spiritual life of their parish. It was something like this when Mr. Charles (of Bala), setting himself, whilst curate of Llanymawddwy, about the year 1783, to put down some had practices that prevailed in that parish, began to renew the old custom of catechising ; but being looked upon as an innovator, he was complained of by his parishioners to their non-resident rector, and by him dismissed the curacy. Being suspected of Methodism, at that time very unpopular in those parts, he was unable to obtain any other curacy; and find¬ ing himself at length precluded from all hopes of preferment, and almost all opportunity of usefulness in the Church, he yielded to the solicitations of the Methodists, and joined that body, though in heart he still clung to the Church, as he shewed by his practice in regard to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. On a similar suspicion of favouring Methodism, Mr. Simon Lloyd, after serving many curacies, was refused institution by Bishop Horsley to the cure of Llanuwchlyn, to which he had been presented by the patron in 1803; and he, too, joined the Methodists. The exclusion of these two men in this diocese, like that of Peter Williams, the eminent Bible commentator, in St. David’s, was a serious blow and injury to the Church; but a tower of strength to the denomination with which they became thenceforth identi¬ fied, for they laboured with great talent and unwearied zeal in spreading through the country a fuller knowledge of the Scrip¬ tures in their own tongue, and their names are now as “ house¬ hold words.” 1 We cannot, therefore, but repeat our regret that more tender¬ ness and sympathy were not exhibited towards them; and we 1 Mr. Charles was the originator of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and prepared two editions of the Welsh Bible for the press, in 1804 and 1814. He was also the author of Y Geiriadur Ysgrythyrol (the Scripture Dictionary) in 4 vols. 8vo; and published new editions of Bishop Jewel’s Apology in Welsh, Walter Cradock’s works, and a Vindication of the Welsh Methodists. Mr. Lloyd was the author of Amseryddiaeth Ysgrythyrol, a useful work on Scripture chronology, and of Esboniad byr ar y Datguddiad. DISSENT AND METHODISM. 145 do this without being misled by the word-painting which would represent all that was done by their party as single-minded, enlightened, and evangelical; and all that lay on the other side as worldly, bigoted, and ignorant; for, thank God! there were many good and faithful churchmen, botli of the clergy and the laity, who, loving their Church’s apostolic order, and her truer evangelical, because more comprehensive, system of doctrine, continued steadfastly doing their duty within her fold ; but were less noted because they were content to forego any special plans of their own, and do the Church’s work in the Church’s ordinary way. We regret it still more because we feel bound to disap¬ prove most strongly of that fatal step which altered the whole attitude of the Methodists towards the Church, viz. the ordina¬ tion of their lay-preachers in 1811. But even here we need to speak with tenderness mingled with self-reproach; for one can¬ not help feeling that had we had bishops 1 conversant with the people, and alive to the requirements of the case and its oppor¬ tunity, that step need not and would not have been taken. Up to that time “ the Methodists had been considered a part of the Established Church; none but episcopally ordained clergy had administered the Lord’s Supper among them, and their children were baptised by the minister of the parish in which they lived.” By that step, however, urged indeed often before by the lay- preachers, but strenuously opposed by the clergy who had hitherto favoured the cause, and had hoped that such measures might be taken as would secure its services to the Church, its relation towards the Church was most materially changed; and the Epis¬ copal clergy, for the most part, broke off their connexion with it rather than be partakers in the schism. Thenceforth adopting its own orders and sacraments, and acquiring vested interests of its own, it assumed by degrees an antagonism proportioned to its increasing power. Doctrinally, too, it advanced to such an extreme as to lay it open at one time to the charge of Antinomi- 1 This is not said so much with reference to the individual as to the official influence of the order ; for the bishop being the centre point of the Church’s system, /j.7)Sb &vev rov imaKiwov, not only gives a certain tone and character to the diocese, but is especially responsible for the results of his system of administration, on which its general welfare so much depends. U 146 DISSENT AND METHODISM. anism. “ The propagation of Wesleyanism in the Principality”, 1 writes the historian of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales, 2 “ to a great extent changed the style of preaching in the three lead¬ ing denominations, the Independent, the Calvinistic Methodist, and the Antipaedobaptist. In order to keep at a safe distance from Anninianism such a high Calvinistic strain of preaching was adopted as tended to lead the people direct to the whirlpool of Antinomianism.” This was attended with endless controversy, in which many disputants engaged, each from his own stand¬ point contending earnestly for his favourite view, and tending at the same time to multiply the divisions into which they have been ever falling. The clergy, meanwhile, to whom controversy was not so essen¬ tial an element, stood for the most part quietly aloof, as they saw from the Church’s wider platform that the points at issue had each a place in the Christian scheme, though pressed alter¬ nately far beyond its right proportion. The misrepresentations of themselves and their Church they resolved to live through, in the trust that all would right itself in the end. But this quiet was too often misconstrued into indifference; and from its con¬ trast to the apparent life by which it was surrounded, was looked upon as a sign of weakness; and, indeed, in so far as we have omitted to supply the people, in their own language, with an answer to those misrepresentations, and an exposure of the fal¬ lacies of fact and argument employed against us, we must be written culpable ; and if we would recover the ground that has been lost, we must learn to make a fuller and a wiser use of the native press. The religious statistics, taken on the Census Sunday in 1851, 3 shew, indeed, a large increase in the number of Dissenters of all denominations; but from them some very unwarranted and falla¬ cious deductions have been drawn to the disparagement of the 1 This, as far as the Welsh language is concerned, began at Buthin about the year 1800. 2 P. 464. 3 I take this census because it is the last general one, not because I think it altogether trustworthy. On this latter point I would refer to Mr. Pughe’s paper on the religious statistics of Wales. (Douglas, Bangor, 1867.) DISSENT AND METHODISM. 147 Church. The three points which have been made, most of in this respect, as shewing the comparative strength of Church and Dissent, are the number of places of worship, of sittings, and of worshipping population, belonging to the two sides respectively. 1 First as to the places of worship. The number furnished in Wales and Monmouthshire by the Church was 1,180; by the Nonconformists (including Independents, Baptists, Methodists Calvinistic and Wesleyan, Quakers, Brethren, Latter Day Saints, and Boman Catholics), 2,826; that is, about twice and a half as many; which is not very surprising when we consider the num¬ ber of the Sects, the facility with which they subdivide, and the manner in which they provide for the erection of their chapels, as much sometimes for the hopes as for the wants of their several denominations. Whence we find that, secondly, the number of sittings provided by them exceeded by 200,000, the number of worshippers present at the most numerously attended service even on the Census day. Thirdly, the worshipping population the same day was returned at 138,719 Churchmen, and 473,102 Nonconformists; that is, as 1 to 3.5 ; or even to take the most favourable view for the Nonconformists, the returns for the most numerously attended services were—Churchmen, 134,940 ; Non¬ conformists, 490,543 ; or about 1 to 3.7. Again, if we narrow the ground on this last point, the one least favourable to the Church, to the comities included in this diocese, we have the following figures: Church. Nonconf. Total worship- Total Pop. Balance. ping Pop. Denbigh - - 9,138 ... 29,153 ... 38,291 ... 92,583 ... 54,092 Flint - - - 4,931 ... 13,046 ... 17,977 ... 68,156 ... 50,179 Montgomery - 8,370 ... 22,441 ... 30,811 ... 67,335 ... 36,524 Merioneth - 2,360 ... 20,168 ... 22,528 ... 38,843 ... 16,315 Now in this list of worshippers at the most numerously attended service, we have, for the counties of Flint and Montgomery, one Churchman to rather less than three Nonconformists; in Den¬ bigh, one to rather more than three; and in Merioneth, the most Dissenting county in the whole of Wales, one to rather less than nine. But here Dissent appears to the best advantage ; for its 1 Letters on the Social and Political Condition of Wales, by IT. Richard, p. 16. 148 DISSENT AND METHODISM. most attractive services are in the evening, much the most favourable time for the attendance of the people; whereas in the parish churches, the service at that time of the year, namely the end of March, being generally held in the afternoon, the best attendance there would he the less favourable morning. More¬ over, as in that calculation no account could he taken of pastoral care, such as the visitation of the sick, the care of the poor, and the education of the young,—points in which Dissent is compa¬ ratively weak and the Church strong, I have appended to it the large residue or balance there left unaccounted for; hut which, for this reason, must he regarded as giving a much more favourable proportion to the Church than to Dissent.. Still these statistics do shew a large growth in Dissent under its various forms, more especially during the last fifty years,—a growth, moreover, not limited simply to numbers, but also applying to social position, education, and taste; for not only are the new chapels generally built after a much improved style, so as to bear about them an ecclesiastical look, but some are, externally at least, built on the plan of churches, with chancel, nave, transepts, apse, tower, spire, crosses, and everything else, save perhaps the orientation; whilst internally organs and harmoniums, the gown and even the surplice (as at Abercarn) have been adopted, and there is now, too, a move for a settled Liturgy. So that matters which were looked upon as abominations by their fathers, are being gradually introduced by their more aesthetic sons. Are they however, it may be asked, with these developments and adoptions, really drawing nearer to the Church ? Eeaily I think they are ; for however much they may differ as to method, they are hereby recognising the goodness of 'principles which they formerly rejected; and it must be borne in mind that many of their objections were after-thoughts adopted to support or justify their schism on personal grounds, and that these things were not by any means the original causes of it. At the same time it must be confessed that there is apparently very little sign of any¬ thing like a general return; for though individual instances are very numerous among the better educated of their younger mem¬ bers, yet as bodies they have not only acquired corporate interests of their own, but they are alive to the wisdom of adapting their DISSENT AND METHODISM. 149 systems to the wants of the age, even though it he at the partial sacrifice of the generations gone by. Here, then, it may be asked, wherein do the strength and attractiveness of Dissent lie ? And what may he considered its weak points ? The three main elements to which they them¬ selves are wont to attribute their success are, the Pulpit, the “ Seiat”, and the Sunday School. Of these, the Pulpit combines, in a great degree, plainness, novelty, and economy of power; for the sermons being delivered “ memoriter”, go home to the people’s hearts with a familiarity and force seldom attained in the more staid delivery of written compositions; and being available for many successive places, they last a long while, and admit each time of being rendered more complete. The preachers, at the same time, are relieved from the labour of always having to prepare fresh sermons. Who may be coming is a matter of some curiosity; and be he who he may, there is generally some variety. The “ Seiat Breivat” consolidates the work of the pulpit by binding together, in the closer union of a private society, the professing members or communicants, who thenceforth look upon one another as “ yn pertliyn i grefydd”, and marked off by a wide distinction from the irreligious world outside (“ extra ecclesiam”), much as was the case with the religious brotherhoods in inedi- a3val times. The Sunday School, again, gives occupation and interest to a large number of their members; and from the importance they attach to it, as well as from the advantage to be derived by way of direct instruction, it proves a very attractive power. There are, however, other elements, besides these, deserving of notice as contributing very materially to their success. Their whole system is popular, in the sense that each member has a voice in the election of the officers; and these, again, have the entire control of the meetings as well as the choice of the preacher, who is practically under them; and this gives them a quiet and speedy means of removing scandals. Their services, too, are much more simple than those of the Church, as they do not require the same exertion of thought, or involve the same turning over of the leaves of the Prayer Book to search for their places. They have little to do but to sit and listen. By limiting 150 • DISSENT AND METHODISM. themselves, moreover, almost entirely to the Welsh language, they escape that which is one of the great difficulties to the Church in Wales, viz. the duoglott or bilingual difficulty. There are also other elements of a more mixed and doubtful character, such as the profitable turn they give to their principle of brother¬ hood (“ teulu y ffydd”) in its social bearings ; for they are much more exclusive in their dealings than Churchmen, and make it more a point of duty to promote the interests of their own . mem¬ bers : hence a shop kept by a Dissenter will often thrive, which, if kept by a Churchman, would fail of support; and it generally happens that the shopkeeper is a leading officer in the chapel. Politics, too, are more mixed up with religion in their case. It may be from the necessity or from the natural tendency of the two; for the tendency of both with them is democratic : hence their chapels are not limited, like the consecrated churches, to sacred uses, but are also used occasionally for political and social meetings. Then, again, there is the religio-commercial system on which so many chapels have been built; for whilst I am anxious to do justice to the very large sums that have been con¬ tributed for this object, I cannot forget that these moneys have not, for the most part been given, as has been the rule in church¬ building ; but have been lent, with or without interest, to be repaid in instalments; so that the very necessity of this repay¬ ment has involved a certain amount of pressure to keep up the interest of the cause. There is one other matter of very prime importance; and that is the Welsh press, which is almost entirely, to our shame be it said, in their hands; and this engine they work well and abundantly. A few words as to their weak points may aptly close this chapter. The admixture of politics and finance, already alluded to, must be more or less sources of weakness in what assumes for itself to have been so much a spiritual and voluntary movement. But there are other defects which seem more inherent in its system. The idea of worship, as such, is quite overlaid by the more selfish notion of getting good. Their very name for religious assembly is “ Oedfa”, i. e., “ a set time”, “ a meeting”: hence the Sunday School occupies such an important place; hardly, if at all, second to their regular service. The very popularity of the DISSENT AND METHODISM. ’ 151 system, again, has a tendency to foster division; and the term “ Capel split” is hut too true an index to the history of many a congregation. Lastly, their ministers are too often at the mercy of men who at best have only looked at religious questions from one favourite point of view, and are therefore more concerned for the success of the achos (that is, of their own particular aspect of the truth) than for “ the whole counsel of God” to be declared according to the proportion of faith; men who find many ways, and scruple not to use them, of bringing to submission, or else driving away, unacceptable teachers. 1 1 See above, p. 139, and the Autobiography of the Eev. Brewin Grant. 152 CHAPTER XII. PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. Improvement during the present century.—Nepotism and Sinecures.—Epis¬ copal, Plurality, and Cathedral Bills.— Proposed union of the two North Wales sees.—The St. Asaph Petition.—The proposal annulled.—The Ecclesiastical Commissioners. — Transfer of patronage. — Territorial changes.—Redistribution of endowments.—Formation of new parishes. Building of new churches, schools, and parsonages.—Spiritual condition and prospects.—Statistics for 1869. The condition of the Church in this diocese, both in its spiritual and material aspects, was perhaps never so low as about the end of the last and the beginning of the present century. Since then, however, a greatly improved tone of public opinion from without, and a deeply increased sense of responsibility from within, have combined to produce a very notable improvement in both these aspects; and to Bishop Cleaver (1806-1815) may be assigned the first of many steps which have tended to this happy result. Two points especially serve to distinguish his episcopate from that of his predecessors, namely his refusal to give livings with cure of souls in plurality, and his constant residence within his see. A new impulse was thus given to the residence of the paro¬ chial clergy, and the foundation relaid for all those other improve¬ ments which may be said to have flowed directly and indirectly therefrom, the establishment of week-day schools, and the more general adoption of Sunday ones; more frequent and better ordered services; the restoration and rebuilding of old churches which had been allowed to fall into a sad state of unrepair, and the erection of new ones, and of mission- and school-chapels; and the subdivision and partial rearrangement of populous and widely spread parishes, with more regard to their existing wants. The last thirty years have seen a wonderful development of this PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 153 spirit of Church life and work ; hut the beginning of it is due, in great measure, to Bishop Cleaver, in whose time fifteen par¬ sonage houses were built; and the National Society, established in 1811, began to help on the work of school building. His refusal to grant livings with cure of souls was a great step in the right direction ; but unfortunately it did not deter either himself or others from heaping sinecures on their relatives and friends. Indeed, the lamentable extent to which this abuse was carried may best be shewn by a calculation made in 1831, and by the comments in which a learned layman in this diocese gave expres¬ sion to a widely spread feeling on the subject. Mr. A. J. Johnes, in his Essay on the Causes of Dissent in Wales, 1 calculated at a high estimate indeed, but with a painful degree of truth, that during the lifetime of Bishop Luxmoore his family enjoyed as much as £27,000 per annum from the Church; and that after his decease his relations enjoyed, in this diocese alone, £7,226 per ann.; that the relatives and connexions of Bishop Horseley received £2,690, those of Bishop Cleaver £2,126, and those of Bishop Bagot £1,100. All the sinecure rectories were at the same time divided between three classes of persons,—(1), indivi¬ duals resident in remote parts of England; (2), clergymen resi¬ dent in Wales, but performing no clerical duty; (3), persons indebted to their connexion with the Bishops for a most unjust share of the Church’s revenues. 2 One effect of this system, the same writer points out to have .been that “ the gentry, in very few instances, devoted their sons to the profession; and that the vacancy thus left was supplied by clergymen brought up in the grammar schools of South Wales, who being, for the most part, men of a more humble rank in life, were prepared by previous habits to rest satisfied with the inferior preferments to which the native clergy were generally confined.” 3 Some measures that were passed soon after this, such as the Episcopal, Plurality, and Cathedral Bills, and that for the Com¬ mutation of Tithes, helped very materially to remedy some of these abuses. The last of these, by substituting a tithe rent- 1 Second edition, 1832, p. 218. 2 Essay on the Causes of Dissent, p. 68. 3 Ibid., p. 195. 154 PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. charge for what had been previously paid in kind, obscured indeed, to a certain extent, the original character of the endow¬ ment ; but it removed a source of irritation and occasional dis¬ pute between the clergy and their parishioners; and this was much aggravated in those cases where the tithes were gathered by the lessees of non-residents, who were generally much more exacting and unsympathetic than the resident clergy. The other measures, respectively, by equalising the incomes, and reappor¬ tioning the patronage of the bishops, did away with that occasion for translation which had so often marred their efficiency, and at the same time set free, for the benefit of the rest of the clergy, dignities and benefices which had been held by them in commen- clam ,—by abolishing sinecures and plurality, cut at the root of non-residence,—and as also in the case of the cathedral chapters, which were now remodelled, made a large amount of hitherto appropriated funds available for the spiritual wants of those places from which they were derived. Provision was also made by the Act 6tli and 7th William IY for uniting the two sees of St. Asaph and Bangor on the first vacancy; and it was further proposed to appropriate the income of the one to be suppressed to the endowment of the new see of Manchester. This scheme was regarded by the clergy concerned as cruelly impolitic and unjust, and was opposed by them in frequent remonstrances and petitions. They were ridiculed, however, as sentimentalists when they laid stress on the primitive descent and peculiar antiquity of their see, and were accused of looking to the loaves and fishes when they exposed the crying injustice of the plan for transfer- ing their revenues to wealthy Manchester. But the righteous¬ ness of their cause and the force of their arguments were well summarised in a “ Petition from the Archdeacons, Rural Deans, and parochial Clergy, in the diocese of St. Asaph”, 1 addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury : “ The question”, they plead, “ is, not whether our Church drag on an enfeebled existence under one bishop, because the united sees may not be greater in extent than some English dioceses ; but whether an act of spoliation and injustice shall debar the Church of North Wales from all hope of winning back, by apostolic zeal, a population 1 Printed in Lays from the Cimbric Lyre, Appendix, p. 2G5. PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 155 whose estrangement is already ripening into enmity; whether what is now weak shall be still further enfeebled; whether, of what is now barely sufficient for our exigencies, one half shall be swept away ; whether labours already sufficiently onerous for the strength of two prelates shall overwhelm the energies and destroy the efficiency of one. “ We need scarcely remind your Grace of the peculiar difficulties attending the execution of the episcopal functions in North Wales as compared with the generality of English dioceses. Not only is our population diverse in language, and divided in religion, but the patronage which assigns to each of our flocks a pastor, and to each of our clergy a maintenance, is almost universally in the Bishop’s hands. To exercise rightly so important a power would require a knowledge of character which could be gained only from personal intercourse ; and whether we consider the character of the country, or the means of its inhabitants, we cannot expect any communication sufficiently frequent for the above purpose to subsist between the bishop and the clergy of a see which would comprehend the whole of North Wales. “ From the facilities given by recent Acts of Parliament, induce¬ ments are afforded for arrangements only to be carried out under the sanction of the diocesan, in subdividing our enormous parishes, and building new churches and schools, to connect the increasing and scattered population with the Established Church. These good works, however partially commenced, can neither be general nor adequate to the exigencies of our Church without greater efforts and more personal superintendence than it will ever be in the power of one prelate to bestow.We cannot but refer also to an argument forced upon us by the extent and situation of North Wales. It is with dismay that we glance at the possibility that age or infirmity should incapacitate the diocesan of such a district from rightly distributing his enormous patronage, and exercising his episcopal functions. Where, in our half- insular position, could we look for assistance] Chester, Hereford, *St. David’s, the nearest in proximity, are very far removed from us, and each is overwhelmed with its peculiar burthens. Which of these Bishops would have the leisure of a day to contribute to the pressing- exigencies of our increasing population ] A population at this day more numerous in one diocese than that of both, when two Bishops were thought necessary for our superintendence. What human encou¬ ragement, in their parochial labours, will remain to the clergy when the whole cycle of preferment is arranged, and the social prospects of their body are decided without the aid of personal and immediate supervision, and with no adequate reference to their learning or length of service, to their zeal or fitness for their charge ]” These just and cogent reasons for the preservation of the two sees found a noble champion in the Earl of Powis; and the result was that, when on July 26th, 1846, he proposed, in the House of Lords, the second reading of the Bill for their preservation intact, 156 PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. being supported by the Bishops of London, Bangor, Salisbury, and Oxford, and the Earl of Eldon, it was carried by a majority of ten (there being thirty-eight for and twenty-eight against it); and the leader of the opposition declared that though personally averse to it, he would take no further steps in the matter. The legend inscribed upon Lord Powis’s tomb in St. Mary’s Church, Welshpool, “ Conservator Episcopatus Assavensis”, bears just wit¬ ness to his exertions in the cause; whilst the foundation of the scholarship that bears his name attests the gratitude and the deep satisfaction with which the success was hailed. A Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners was appointed by Parliament to carry out the other provisions of the Act of 6th and 7th William IY, in the 40th Clause of which it was enacted “ That such alterations be made in the apportionment or exchange of ecclesiastical patronage among the several Bishops as should be consistent with the relative magnitude and importance of their dioceses when newly arranged, and as should afford an ade¬ quate quantity of patronage to the new sees.” As the patronage of a large number of livings was transferred in consequence from this diocese to those of St. David’s and Llandaff, it will be import¬ ant to see the principles and method of their selection. For this we are indebted to the Charge of Bishop Short to his clergy in 1862, from which we gather the following summary: When the question was before the Board, as to the transfer in the English sees, it was decided that the livings so transferred should not be confined to such as were situated in the diocese of the Bishop to whose patronage they were to belong; and the same rule was neces¬ sarily adopted as far as the Principality is concerned. The task of carrying out the details was undertaken by Sir John Lefevre, and he was requested to draw up an outline of the scheme which he would propose to his brother commissioners. As the equalising of the patron¬ age of the dioceses would involve the transfer of nearly half the livings in this diocese, and something of the same sort in some of the English ones, the Board could not agree, and it was left to Sir John Lefevre to propose whatever he thought best; the Bishop abstaining from taking part in the discussion, lest he should be deemed an interested party. When, however, the general principles of the transfer had been settled by the Board, Sir John directed him to select so many livings of such an aggregate value. There were to be a certain num¬ ber of livings, and altogether they were to amount to a certain annual income. “ The principles on which I made my selection were as follow. PRESENT STATE OF TIIE DIOCESE. 157 I retained all the livings of small value ; for they would add but little to the aggregate sum required, and a bishop is far the best patron of small livings in his own diocese. I retained also all the town livings which from their population or circumstances seem important to the good of the diocese ; for I concluded that a future Bishop of St. Asaph would be more likely to select well for their spiritual benefit than any other.” The patronage of the following livings was accordingly trans¬ ferred, viz. that of those in— Table I from the Bishop of St. Asaph to the Bishop of Llandaff. Table II „ Bishop of St. David’s. Table III „ Bishop of Bangor. Table IV from the Bishop of Bangor to the Bishop of St. Asaph. TABLE I. Name of Benefice. Quality. County situated. Value. Bettws Caedewen - - Vicarage Montgomery ... <£211 Bettws yn Bhos - - yy Denbigh - ... 333 Bodfari - - Bectory Flint - - ... 296 Oaerwys - - yy yy * • • 425 Castle Caereinion - - yy Montgomery ... 575 Cwm - - - Vicarage Flint - - ... 273 Eglwys Bhos - - Bectory Carnarvon - ... 167 EgTwys Fach - - Vicarage Denbigh - ... 220 Erbistock - - - Bectory Den. & Flint ... 254 Halkin - - yy Flint - - ... 312 Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceirio yy • •• 176 St. Martin’s - - Vicarage Salop - - ... 320 Moreton - - P. C. - yy • • • 669 Ysceifiog - - Bectory Flint - - ... 700 Dylife - - P. C. - Montgomery ... 113 Llanbrynmair - - Vicarage yy • • • 330 Penegoes - - - Bectory yy 250 TABLE II. Name of Benefice. Quality. County, Value. Llanerfyl - - - • • • Bectory • • • Montgomery ,£435 Llandysilio - - • • • P. C. - • •• yy • • • 430 Llansannan - - • • • Vicarage • • . Denbigh - ... 376 158 PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. Name of Benefice. TABLE III. Quality. County. Value. Cemmaes - ... Rectory ... Montgomery ... <£288 Darowen - ... Vicarage • • • >> ... 155 Llanwrin - ... Rectory • • • yy ... 272 Llan y Mawddwy • • • yy ... Merioneth - ... 218 Mallwyd - • • • » ... Mont. &Mer. ... 255 Machynlleth - • • • yy ... Montgomery ... 230 Name of Benefice. TABLE IV. Quality. County. Value. Efenechtyd - ... Rectory ... Denbigh ... £200 Llanbedr Dylfryn Clwyd - «• • « • •• yy ... 340 Llanelidan - • • • yy • • • yy ... 252 Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd ... Vicarage • •• y% ... 261 Llanrhaiadr in Kimmeirch • • • yy • • ♦ yy *"j 609 cum Prion - ... P. c. • • • yy Llanychan - ... Rectory ••• yy ... 170 Llanynys with Cyffylliog - ... V. &C. - • • • yy ... 415 In addition to these, the patronage of the vicarage of Cilcain, in the county of Flint, was transferred to the Bishop of Glouces¬ ter and Bristol; and that of the vicarage (qy. rectory) of Llan- fechain), in the county of Montgomery, to the Bishop of Llandaff'. 1 The following territorial alterations were made at the same time. The deanery of Machynlleth was given to Bangor in ex¬ change for that of Ruthin; and there were added to this diocese, (1.) The Peculiar of Hawarden, with its Cliapelries of St. Mat¬ thew’s, Buckley; St. Mary’s, Broughton; and St. John’s, Pen- mynydd. (2.) From Chester.—Bangor, R. cum Overton; Hanmer, V.; Holt, P.C.; Isycoed, P. C.; Bronington, P. C.; Threapwood,P.C.; and Wortlienbury, R. (3.) From Hereford.—Buttington, P. C. (4.) From St. David’s.—Kerry, V., with Dolfor and Sarn; and Moughtre, Y. By these arrangements the diocese has been enlarged consider- 1 Since the above transfer the following livings have passed into the patron¬ age of the Lord Chancellor, in exchange for others situated within the dio¬ ceses of those Bishops to whom they had been respectively transferred,— Bettws Caedewen, Castle Caereinion, Llanfihangel-yn-Ghwnfa, Llangynyw, St. Martin’s Moreton, Dylife, and Cilcain. PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 159 ably in extent; but there has been a loss to the bishopric of the patronage of twenty-eight livings of the annual value of some £8,500. The scheme having only come into operation in 1861, it is of course too soon to see what benefits, if any, will result from it to compensate for so serious a loss; but if their increased patronage should have the hoped-for effect of enabling the South Wales Bishops to retain in their populous and important parishes a better class of men, and these be the ones selected for promo¬ tion to the new preferments, then it can hardly fail to prove beneficial to the general interests of the Church, and this diocese may be well content. Of the redistribution of the funds placed at the disposal of the Commissioners through the operation of the Episcopal and Plu¬ rality Bills, we can speak more positively and with much satis¬ faction. Those abuses of sinecurism and non-residence which had been for so long a hindrance to the Church’s work, and a scandal to her administration, have been gradually removed; and of the income thus available, no less a sum than £5,589 : 8 : 9 per ann. has been assigned either in tithe rent-charge, or in money payments, towards the endowment of forty-two new parishes ; and £2,250:19 :6 towards the augmentation of the income of old parishes ; making a total of £7,840 : 8 : 3. But this large rearrangement of the old parishes and their endow¬ ments implies a still larger preparatory work in the building of so many new churches with their almost invariable accompani¬ ment, new schools and parsonage-houses. Some idea of the vast amount thus effected may be gathered from the fact that within the last thirty years fifty-two new churches have been built; forty-two of which are the centres of new parishes separately endowed with an annual average income of £262 ; seventeen old parish churches rebuilt; and forty-three ditto restored or enlarged. Of the new churches, four have been built by the liberality of individuals,—the beautiful church at Bodelwyddan, and those at Trefnant, Pool Quay, and Llwydiartli; and of the old parish churches, five are the result of similar munificence, Pentrevoelas, Erbistock, Llanbedr, Llandegla, and Llanddulas. Of the large sum expended upon the rest, in building and restoration, some 160 PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. estimate may be formed from the fact that, small as is the pro¬ portion of the grants made by the Church Building Societies to the estimated cost, there have been contributed as much as £13,157 in aid of 99 places by the C. B. S. established in 1818 ; £17,277 „ 106 „ by the Diocesan C. B. S. „ 1834; grants which infer a further sum, otherwise provided in order to be so met, of a quarter of a million at the least for this one object alone. But to the churches there must be added a large ’number of schools 1 and teachers’ houses, towards which and their fittings, in one hundred and nine places, the grants of the National Society alone have amounted to £7,147. And yet, again, there has been the cost of parsonage-houses, as well of those built for the new parishes as of those which had in so many instances, in the old ones, fallen into such a state of dila¬ pidation as in no few cases to need entire rebuilding. Indeed, it is no less gratifying than it is encouraging to think of the large sums of money spent by Churchmen on Church work in this our own diocese; and it is hardly fair, in the face of such facts as these, to say that endowments are a hindrance and a check to the spirit of almsgiving and charity. Still less is it fair when it be taken into consideration what a large sum is annually spent by Churchmen in the support of schools, hospitals, dispen¬ saries, clothing clubs, and other means of ameliorating the con¬ dition of the poor. 2 Of the new churches embraced within the present diocese, the first to be built were those of St. Matthew’s, Buckley (1822), 1 The total number of schools in 1866 was 228. 2 I say this in justice to Churchmen, and because it has become a habit in some places to speak of Dissenters as if they had not only to maintain their own forms of worship, but also to support the Established Church; forget¬ ting that the only payment they are required to make is the rent-charge of an endowment so old that its first bestowal is hidden in the mist of early history; an endowment, moreover, in consideration of which, if they happen to be owners of property, they have purchased it, and if tenants have rented it, at so much less than its full value ; and which, if done away with tomor¬ row, would no more go into their pockets than it does now in the case of lands tithe free, or than it is proposed to do with the surplus funds of the Irish Church. Nay, I venture to say further, that if the proposal recently laid before Parliament for the disestablishment and disendowment of the PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 161 and St. Mary’s, Broughton (1824), in the then Peculiar of Ha- warden ; but these stood long by themselves, until the institution of the “ St. Asaph Diocesan Society for promoting the Building, Enlargement, and Endowment, of Churches and Chapels,” on the 30tli July, 1834, gave a new and general impulse to the move¬ ment. One of the chief promoters of this excellent and useful Society was the late Dean Clough, who also inaugurated its work by the subdivision of his own huge parish of Mold,—a parish in which he raised, during the course of his vicariate, about £20,000 for Church purposes. Another name to be recorded here is that of Bishop Carey, under whose auspices the Society was started, and whose large bequest 1 is now available as a sepa¬ rate fund not only for such objects as churches, schools, and par¬ sonage-houses, but also for the assistance of poor clergy, their widows, and orphans. And last, but not least, must be added that of our present venerable Bishop, who has been a very liberal supporter of all such works, and whose episcopate will probably be distinguished hereafter as that of the church and school build¬ ing period. Among the laity of the diocese there are so many names deserving of record, that to enumerate all would be tedi¬ ous ; and to single out a few would be alike invidious and unjust, where many have contributed with equal liberality, as well out of their narrower means as out of their abundance, for the promo¬ tion of the common work. Their names, however, will be found recorded in the parochial portion of this history, in connexion with those objects which they have more especially supported. Turning from the material to the living Church, from the fabric to the worshippers, the result, it must be confessed, is not so satisfactory. The external work of building and restoration has "Welsh Church, and the appropriation of its income, were to be carried, it would entail an actual hardship on the very persons whom it is presumed to help; for the establishment of so-called unsectarian schools to bo sup¬ ported by them, apart from the paradox of such schools being in effect the most sectarian of all, would necessitate religious Dissenters as much as Churchmen to support denominational schools of their own, where religion and the Bible should not be dissociated from the teaching, in addition to those others where the two could not be combined consistently with the principle of their foundation. 1 Amounting to <£13,500 in the 3 per cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities. Y 162 PRESENT STATE OF TIIE DIOCESE. not been accompanied, in all cases, by a corresponding inner growth, nor does her progress appear commensurate with the exertions she has been making. Still it must be remembered what an accumulation of difficulties she has to overcome, what a burden she has had to bear. A Welsh diocese, with a large pro¬ portion of the population not even yet able to speak, and a still larger proportion not able to think in any other than their native language, it has nevertheless been subject, for more than a hun¬ dred and forty years, to the oversight of an unbroken succession of Bishops unacquainted with that language; whose efficiency, at the best, has necessarily been greatly marred by this defect, and whose administration has been too often stained by much misuse of patronage; one consequence of which has been a sad discouragement to the native clergy, and a great scandal to the laity, resulting in much apathy and worldliness, and not less in material neglect. And to these evils of administration must be added the ever present bilingual difficulty which prevails on every side. Still, with all this, there has long been a yearning and a move for the better, and there is a growing spirit of Church-life and co¬ operation throughout the diocese. Not only are the churches, with very few exceptions, renovated and in good order, but the services also are more numerous and more reverently performed; and that not only on Sundays and the great festivals, but often, too, on other occasions. Advent and Lent services are more general; Saints’ days more often observed; and in most parishes there is a weekly lecture either in the church, or the school, or a cottage in some outlying hamlet. 1 More attention, too, is paid to the Sun¬ day Schools and the singing classes; and parochial visitation is more systematically carried out. There is hardly a parish, be it never so small, without a school of its own, and none but what is within an easy distance of one; whilst the system of diocesan inspection aims at securing a certain standard of religious instruc¬ tion, independently of the Government requirements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Other means adopted for the improve¬ ment and increase of these several parts of the Church’s work in 1 There have been above twenty School Chapels built at a distance from their parish Churches, and divine service is regularly performed in them. 163 PRESENT STATE OF THE DIOCESE. the diocese are,—for the Clergy, clerical meetings for mutual dis¬ cussion and counsel, and retreats for individual retrospect and prayer;—for the communicant laity, special services and classes for edification, and associations and guilds for more systematic cooperation in parish work. On a larger scale, too, there has been the Association of Lay Consultees, initiated by the late Mr. Henry Hoare; and there is now being organised a scheme for rurideca- nal conferences of clergy and laity combined. With such a will to help, the way will surely be found; and with these various appliances at work, there need be no fear for the Church’s future. She has still a great work to do. There are many thousands of the population of the diocese who are practically neither Churchmen nor Dissenters; and notably is this the case in the towns. Let her do her duty by these first; not in recrimination, not in controversy, not in unavailing regrets, but in an earnest, faithful, loving spirit compelling them to come in from the fields and the byways, the narrow lanes and the crowded streets. Mindful of the differences in origin and principles, by which the various Nonconformist bodies are distinguished, let us, whilst freely granting that much good has been effected by many of them, be thankful for the requickening life of our own Church, and be for the future more true to her than we have been during the past; more true to her principles and her theory as a Re¬ formed branch of the Church Catholic, distinguished alike from Nonconformity and from Romanism; more true to her and more united among ourselves in the great work before us, for there unhappily still remains a large population to be reclaimed. For these, short and simple services are desirable; and, as far as con¬ sistently may be done, a more elastic use of our Book of Common Prayer, in order to supplement its beautiful but elaborate services. Whilst developing, however, and adapting the Church’s system, do not let us compromise the truth committed to her charge, nor loosen her hold upon her own children, in the hope of winning back those who, after all, may not be willing to accept her offers. It is by good will, indeed, towards others, but fidelity to herself, that she will most effectually fulfil her duty. By attaching her members to herself and one another, in the closer bond of common 164 PRESENT STxVTE OF TIIE DIOCESE. work, she will be able, by tlieir cooperation, best to gather back the wanderers and recover the lost; and thus, too, by a more consistent and vigorous life, will she most surely attract to her communion multitudes of those who already acknowledge the purity of her faith and the apostolicity of her orders. Some statistics collected during the spring of the present year (1869) will form a serviceable conclusion to this history. They were supplied in response to a series of questions issued by a Committee appointed for that purpose by the Bishop at the peti¬ tion of the clergy of several of the deaneries, asking him to take measures for ascertaining more exactly the condition of the dio¬ cese as to its work and its wants. They are not, indeed, com¬ plete, for nine parishes sent no returns; nor are they sufficiently accurate, for in some instances, instead of the aggregate number of worshippers and communicants, the average was given by mis¬ take ; and in others the school-returns were imperfect. Still they are sufficiently approximate to indicate pretty fairly the state of the Church, and to suggest abundant material for future work. 1 With these remarks we may accept the summary drawn up by the Secretary of the Committee, and which gives the fol¬ lowing proportions, viz. : Church worshippers to population . . 1 in 6 Communicants . . . . . . 1 in 22 Children under Church instruction . . 1 in 10 Thirty-nine of the parishes are described as Welsh, ninety- seven bilingual, forty-eight English. GENERAL SUMMARY. Archdeaconry. No. of Parishes. Popu¬ lation. Sunday Ser¬ vices. Aggregate No. of Aggregate No.under Ch. instruction Attendants at Places where more Ser¬ vices wanted 05 S® ■ Xj rrj g 3 Eng¬ lish. Welsh Wor¬ ship¬ pers. Com¬ muni¬ cants. Day Sch. Sun¬ day. St. Asaph 143 194,951 166 155 30,527 7,687 19,712 12,003 8,842 55 44 Montgomery .57 52,172 66J 63£ 11,094 3,210 4.593 2,843 2,253 15 10 Totals 200 247,123 232i 218J 41,621 10,897 21,305 14,846 11,095 70 54 1 Another series of Questions has since been issued by a Committee of Con¬ vocation appointed to inquire into the condition of the Welsh Church gene¬ rally, but its results are not yet known. * ' ••