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YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE HISTORY

OF THE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

TO

THE REVOLUTION, 1688.

BY THOMAS VOWLER SHORT, D- D.

LORD BISHOP OP ST. ASAPHS.

THIRD AMERICAN FROM THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION.

NEW-YORK.
STANFORD AND SWORDS, 137, BROADWAY.
1849.

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PREFACE.

The best excuse which can be made for the publication of a work such
as that which is now offered to the world, is the plain statement of the reasons
which originally led to its composition, and of the objects which the author had
in view when he commenced the task. And if, when the undertaking is
accomplished, the same reasons still exist either in part or whole ; if his labours
be calculated to supply a want which in any measure continues to be felt, he
must trust that the kindness of the public will excuse that vanity which induces
him to hope that his exertions may in some degree contribute to supply a
desideratum among the elementary works of our country.
The author of the present sketch discovered, after he had been admitted into
orders, that the knowledge of English ecclesiastical history which he possessed
was very deficient. It was a point concerning which information was not to be
readily obtained, but in which he felt that he ought to have made diligent search
during the professional preparation of himself, on which every educated man,
who is engaged in the instruction of others, is peculiarly bound to enter ; he was
distressed, that his knowledge of the sects among the philosophers of Athens
was greater than his information on questions which affect the Church of
England ; and he determined to devote a considerable portion of those few hours
which a laborious employment left at his disposal to the study of the history of
our own church.
His pursuits were chiefly directed to those particulars which at the same time
might supply him with real knowledge in his own profession ; and he was
disposed to hasten over periods which could furnish little but an acquaintance
with facts, and an insight into ecclesiastical abuses. The circumstances in
which he was placed furnished him with an abundance of books ; but, this very
fact made him more sensible of the need of some guide to direct him in the
selection of them ; and notwithstanding the kind assistance provided by a largo
number of clerical friends, he found a diversity of advice, which perplexed
rather than facilitated his progress. He sought in vain for a general history of
the Church of England, which might furnish him with a map of his intended

iv PREFACE.
journey ; for those which exist are rather large surveys than maps ; in which
the general features are laid down on so extensive a scale, that they never
exhibit a commodious view of the whole.
He determined, therefore, to draw up a sketch for himself, to lay down the
great landmarks as distinctly as he could, and to fill up the details in such a
manner as circumstances would allow. And conceiving that his own niap, with
all its imperfections, might be useful to others, he constantly framed it as he
proceeded, thinking that, when his task was accomplished, it might either remain .
as a private memorial of his own studies, or be given to the public when the
academical labours of the author were at an end, in case no work of the same
description should previously supply the wants of individuals situated as he had
been. When this period had arrived, and he hardly felt satisfied with the
publications which had appeared, he ventured to print the present volumes.
Mr. Southey's Book of the Church hardly satisfied him.' Mr. Carwithen has
given a very faithful description of the country through which he has passed,
but he has not sufficiently pointed out the more striking features to which the
attention of the traveller must he directed, if he wishes to obtain an idea of the
whole territory. Many of the other writers who might here be mentioned have
examined only a part of the Jiistory of our church, and are perhaps liable to
other objections.
A larger work than the present would probably have been better suited to a
greater variety of readers ; a small one, if it be wisely composed, will seek the
immediate benefit of one class only, and trust to the chance, that whatever is
useful to one description of persons can hardly prove uninteresting to others.
The professed object of these pages is to facilitate the studies of youno- men who
are preparing themselves for the offices of the Church, through their academical
pursuits. The careful perusal of two small volumes' may prevent them from being
ignorant on those points on which general information is ordinarily expected :
and prepare the way for more extensive studies, by furnishing them with the
means of arranging systematically the knowledge which they shall otherwise
acquire. If such a book had fallen into the hands of the author twenty years agone, his
labours might have been more profitably directed in the same course ; for there
is a certain quantity of knowledge necessary on every subject, before we shall
proceed effectually to the acquisition of more ; and it often happens that the
want of this is not supplied, till the more active duties of life prevent the

' Dr. Short begs leave in this edition to apologise to Mr. Southey for expressions used in the first,.
which ought never to have been printed, and which are!, for that reason, now omitted ; especially as
(he new edition of Mr. Southey's work has obviated the want of references, to which allusion is
there made.
"^ The first edition was printed in two volumes.

PREFACE. T
clergyman from taking advantage of those channels of information which would
otherwise have been open to him.
In the execution of this work, there is hardly enough of detail to satisfy the
inquisitive ; but wliile it assists him in his pursuits, it may prevent the idle from
being totally ignorant on ecclesiastical history; it is with this view that the
author has directed his particular attention to those points which constitute the
history of the Church of England as it is at present established, to the Thirty-nine
Articles, for instance, the translations of the Bible, and the Prayer Book,
It is probable that feelings of personal kindness may induce some individuals,
who are possessed of a greater knowledge on ecclesiastical history, to favour
these volumes with a reading ; and they may wonder that the studies in which
he has been engaged have not convinced the writer of the imperfections of his
work, and the objections which may be raised against the attempt to crowd the '
whole history of our church into two small volumes. In extenuation of his
defects, he would only plead the difficulty of the task, and beg them to examine
the question on its right grounds. The work was composed when the author
had an abundance of books, and but little time to use them ; and has been
prepared for the press in a small country village, where he has the command of
his time, but of no library save his own private one. If, therefore, he had
extended the limits of his work, the attempt must have been made under many
disadvantages, of which they only can be fully aware who have once possessed
a free admission into large libraries, of which they have been subsequently
deprived. An occasional access to libraries is extremely useful for purposes of
. . reference and collation ; but he who collects materials for history must search
among a variety of books which the hand of time has consigned to oblivion, and
which are frequently unworthy of the attention of the general reader ; and no
one can do this who is not resident among public libraries ; nor can it be
reo-arded,in any light less serious than a national calamity, that the necessary
labours of those who reside in the universities almost preclude the possibility of
their deriving any extensive advantages from the treasures which are preserved
.around them.
In despair, therefore, of accomplishing any thing more worthy ofthe subject,
yet hoping that his present labours may not have been totally thrown away, he
commits himself to the kindness of his friends and readers, with a full conviction
that none of them are more fully aware of the deficiencies of these volumes than
himself. With regard to actual mistakes, he presumes that many may be
discovered, arising partly from the extensive range of history which he has been
forced to embrace, while the reader will criticise that portion with which he is
best acquainted ; he will ask, therefore, for a fair indulgence from those who
have never engaged in such a task, nothing doubting that he who knows the
difficulty of avoiding sucli errors, from experience, wUl use that forbearance
which the case requires. (2) 6

Ti PREFACE.
Some persons may object that the opponents of the Establishment are
occasionally depicted in too favourable colours, and the defects of our common
parent held up to view with less cautious respect than becomes a dutiful son of the
Church of England. Let such remember, in the spirit of meekness, that there
is a higher body to which we belong, and that the Church of England is no
further our mother than as she proves herself a church of Christ. If such a
charge be reasonably substantiated, no one will be more ready to find that he
has been deceived than the writer of these pages ; he has always endeavoured
to search for the truth, and he hopes that in this pursuit he may never grow
weary. To say that the Church of England is imperfect in constitution and
practice, is only to say that she was partly framed by human beings, and is
administered by men : but to pray that her maladministrations may be corrected
by her friends, and her deficiencies supplied by those who understand her
constitution, is the petition of one who, while he admires the Church of
England, believes that neither communities nor individuals are infallible.
And if the perusal of these volumes shall be accompanied with a portion of
that amusement which their composition has afforded the author; if they shall
contribute to excite in the breast of others that love and admiration for our
church which their preparation has confirmed in the heart of the writer, their
publication will fully answer the desires of one who believes that the best
reformation of the Church of England would be to reduce her in practice to what
she is in theory; who believes that her doctrines are such, that he who ventures
his eternal safety to her guidance is taking a secure path; and that the
framework of her establishment is that which, under God's providence, is best
suited, in the present state of the Christian world, to preserve and disseminate
our holy faith among the various branches of society.
Kings Worthy,
,april, 1832.

An)VERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The circumstances of the Author of this Sketch are so changed since he
wrote it, that they will sufficiently account for his reprinting the work with little
or no alteration. The Rector of Bloomsbury ought to be engaged in other
tasks than that of writing ecclesiastical history. The public have taken off the
first edition, as rapidly as could have been expected, considering its extent and
the nature of the work ; and in offering a second in a cheaper form, the Author
has consulted the convenience of those for whose use it was originally designed ;
in this edition he has corrected such errors as his friends have kindly pointed out
to him, and he places it before students in Theology, with the hope that it may
assist them in becoming acquainted with the history of the Church of England ;
and that they may derive as much practical advantage from this pursuit, as he
has obtained from it, in all the different circumstances to which his clerical duties
have called him.
Rectort, St. George's, Bloohsbtist,
April, 1838.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

11 2.

11.

II.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Genehal outline of the history of the Bri
tish church before the Saxon invasion.
England early converted to Christianity ;
possibly by St. Paul: other traditions
without any foundation.
King Lucius, Early persecutions; the Dio
clesian. St, Alban. Constantius Chlorus.
Constantine puts an end to persecution.
British bishops at early councils ; Aries,
Nice, Sardica, Ariminum.
Pelagian heresy. Germanus, Lupus, and
Severus. Schools established. Illutus and
Dubritius; Banchor; GalUcan liturgy.
Saxons converted by St, Augustin; Etbel
bert, Britha. Gregory I. instrumental in
this event.
Augustin, archbishop of England. Chris
tian festivals accommodated to the hea
then feasts. Ecclesiastical establishment.
Union with the British church attempted.
Easter ; Roman method of keeping it
adopted by Oswi.
Theodore made archbishop. Adrian. Pa
rish churches established. Bishoprics
divided. Wilfred appeals to the pope.
Sussex converted.
Wilfred's appeal to Rome ; superiority of
Rome over Saxon England. Council of
Cloveshoo.
Union of the heptarchy. The Danes at
tack monasteries. Ethelwulph's grant to
the church : tithes had been previously
mentioned: they are sometimes spoken
of as due by divine right.
Alfred educates England; he translates
many books into Saxon ; his general in
formation ; establishes a school for his
son ; foreign kings educated in England ;
sends an embassy to the Syrian Indians.
Odo and Dunstan. The Danes incorpo;
rated with the English. Wealth of the
church.
Imperfection of this sketch ; materials de
fective; the subject one of curiosity rather
than utility. Errors of the church of
Rome generally those of human nature.
Debt due to Rome ; probable date of the
perversions of doctrine, and their intro
duction into England.
Prayers for the dead ; in early use ; his
tory of the doctrine of purgatory; com
mon to many religions; prayers for the
dead not necessarily connected with it.
Traces of the doctrine among the Anglo-
Saxons. Popular notions of it in the time
of Bede and Alcuin.
Transubstantiation. Waterland's account I

17.

of the history of it ; probably not received
by the Anglo-Saxons. Elfric's homjly.
Bertram.
Mass ; believed to be a sacrifice for the
living and dead.
18, Pictures and images. The decrees of the
second council of Nice rejected by the
British church. Image worship esta
blished in England before Alfred's time.
Prayers addressed to saints about the
same period. The doctrine of the Saxon
church.
19. Relics; natural respect for them; sent by
Gregory to Augustin. The devotions paid
at the tombs of the archbishops of Can
terbury produce disputes about the bodies
of the primates.
20. Pilgrimages ; early made by the English
to Jerusalem and Rome. Many Saxon
kings visit Rome. Abuses arising from
pilgrimages; the Penitential Canons en
join them.
21. Confession; penance. Difference between
the churches of Rome and England with
regard to auricular confession. Penances
ordinarily imposed. Commutation of pe
nance.
22. Celibacy of the clergy. The council of
Nice endeavoured to impose it. Custom
of the Greek church. Early established
in England; but generally evaded. Evils
arising from it.
33. Early ecclesiastical establishments. Mo
nastic establishments useful at first; fa
vourable to civilization ; attacked by the
Danes. Most of the clergy married dur
ing these times of disturbance; depend
ence on the apostolic see arising from
celibacy. Holy water. Service in Latin.
Lights in churches. Lord's Prayer, Creed,
and Gospel, explained to the people.
24. Progress of errors in the church of Eng
land. Purgatory and transubstantiation
flrst believed, and then made profitable to
the priesthood. Errors introduced into
the Anglo-Saxon church by degrees from
Rome.
How far the errors of the church destroyed
Christianity. When errors in doctrine
destroy the hopes of salvation. Evil ten
dency of errors in faith.
Inadequate view of the atonement. Cor
rect faith in the Trinity. Expressions
marking false notions of good works.
The Anglo-Saxon church much corrupted
in doctrines, and the way prepared for
greater errors.
62 ix

25,

26.

CONTENTS.

61.

62.

53.

54.
55.
56.
57. 58. 59. 60. 61.62. 63.

64. 65. 66,

CHAPTER IL p. 17.
tween the church and state. We must
regard churchmen as advocating the
rights of their order.
William I. was possessed of full power
over the church. Ecclesiastical property
subjected to civil .service. Most of Ihe
EngUsh clergy ejected. Papal legates
introduced into England. The ecclesi
astical courts separated from the civil.
The influence of Rome arose from the
vices of our kings. The clergy a balance
between the crown and aristocracy, and
beneficial lo the lower^rders. Rome in
terfered to support the just rights of ihe
church, and so gained power. Anselm
and William II.
Anselm appeals to Rome illegally. Wil
liam admits the authority of the pope, and
the legate confirms Anselm, who never
theless flifes from England. InvesUlures.
Henry recalls Anselm; the dispute be
tween them compromised. Celibacy of
the clergy insisted on in vain.
Stepheh increases the power of the pope
by his injustice. The bishop of Win
chester summons the king before him.
Perjury promoted by dispensations. The
miseries of England.
Henry II. accepts a grant of Ireland from
the pope. Becket. E.xemption of eccle
siastics from civil jurisdiction. Constitu
tions of Clarendon. Becket is persecuted,
and flies.
He is received by the court of France and
the pope; Henry very violent; Becket
equally so ; an outward reconciliation- is
made in vain.
Becket murdered ; miracles at his tomb.
Henry submissive to the church. Beck
et's character.
Heresy fir.'Jt punished, 1160. Gerhard and
his followers, their opinions uncertain.
Interference of Rome. Convent at Hack
ington; at Lambeth. Tax imposed on
the clergy by Ihe pope.
John. Dispute about the election of an
archbishop of Canterbury ; Siephen Lang
ton appointed bythe pope. England laid
under an interdict, and John excommuni
cated.
PhiUp of France proceeds to depose John ;
the barons discontented; John submits to
the pope. The pope adverse to Magna
Charta. The council of the Lateran de
clares transubstantiation to be a tenet of
the church,
Papal power. Further exactions from the
clergy refused.
Greathead opposes the papal usurpations ;
esteems the pope antichrist.
Edward I. Increased power of the clergy.
Statutes for trying clerks by a jury, and
of mortmain. Heavy taxes imposed on
the clergy. The bull to free ecclesiastical
property from taxation was inefficacious.

67. Growth of the papal power.
68. Disputes between the crown and the
church on temporal rights drove the
church into the arms of Ronie, and then
induced the crown to submit to the au
thority of the pope.
69. The church taxes itself; the oppression
of the crown induces churchmen to ac
quire temporal power, which could alone
defend their property.
70. Source of the power of Rome ; a centre
of combination for churchmen, and. of
defence against the oppression of the
crown. The vices of Rome its only
weakness. CHAPTER III. p. 26.
101. Abuses must become galling to the peo
ple before they create any great anxiety
to remove them.
102. Political abuses connected with the
church of Rome; attempts to Umit the
papal power, not to destroy it; injustice
of the exclusive jurisdiction of the
clergy.
103. Wealth taken out of the kingdom ; papal
provisions. Foreigners holding prefer
ments. Annates; clergy taxed by the
pope. Peter's pence ; bribes for aiding
suitors ; papal officers spies. The right
of sanctuarj' injurious to Ihe country.
T04. Statutes to restraia the papal power.
Mortmain ; impolicy of the enactment,
Provisors. Prsemunire.
105. Moral abuses; corruptions of the court
ofRome. Pride and luxury of the clergy;
celibacy ; worldly employments ; igno
rance ; mendicant orders.
106. Doclrinal errors of the church of Rome.
Idolatry ; pilgrimages ; pardons ; tran
substantiation.
107. Small hopes of reformation from Rome
itself; inadequacy of canons; dispensa
tions profitable to Rome.
108. WicUf distinguished at Oxford ; writes
against the covetousness of the court of
Rome.
109. Expelled from the wardenship of Can
terbury Hall; an enemy to the friars;
disputes on the arrears claimed by the
pope ; takes the degree of D. D. ; reads
jectures.
110. Compromise with the pope about provi
sions. Peter's pence redemanded; Wic
lif declares them not to be due; offends
the pope and clergy.
111. WicUf brought before S. Sudbury, in St,
Paul's ; his doctrines approved in Ox
ford ; WicUf brought before the archbi
shop at Lambeth ; sends in a declaration
of faith on certain points.
112. He labours under a severe fever; the
friars visit him; translates the Scrip
tures ; opposes transubstantiation ; sum
moned before commissioners in Oxford;
leaves the university; reported to have
recanted.

CONTENTS.

1 13. Prepares his mind for martyrdom. Sta
tute against heretics; dies ofthe palsy.
114. His great learning and good qualities;
opposes the temporal power and the doc
trines of Rome ; both these are endan
gered by his preaching.
1 15. Opinions of Wiclif adverse to the papal
supremacy.
116. He asserts the duty of the laity to take
away church property which is misused.
Celibacy ; vows taken early in life a
great snare. The Scriptures his ultimate
standard.
117. He differs from the church of England
with regard to purgatory; and deems
episcopacy not a distinct order.
118. Seven Sacraments. Baptism. Confirma
tion not confined to bishops. Absolution
and confession. Matrimony. Pilgrim
ages. Images.
119. Transubstantiation. The first formal de
termination on it in England. He held
sound doctrines with regard to the atone
ment and sanctification.
120. The Lollards numerous. Poor priests.
His doctrines promote disturbances. Ox
ford friendly to his doctrines, gives him
letters testimonial.
121. Proclamation against the Lollards; their
petition. Henry IV. grants power to the
church. Statute i)« haretim comburendo.
122. William Sawtrey burnt ; succession of
martyrs ; their examinations, chiefly on
transubstantiation, and submission to the
church.
123. Lord Cobham had joined Henry IV. In
the reign of Henry V. he diffuses the doc
trines of Wiclif. Henry tries to convince
him of his error.
124. He is brought to trial ; his examination
resembles that of Thorpe ; iheir answers
correspond with the opinions of Wiclif.
Lord Cobham escapes; he denies a ficti
tious recantation which had been pub
Ushed; he is hung in St. Giles's field.
125. A previous disturbance had taken place
there ; with which Lord Cobham had
probably no connection.
126. Pecock promotes the Reformation by ex
cusing Romish errors, and analyzing
what was innocent in them ; he is made
bishop of St. Asaph and Chichester; and
deprived of his preferments.
127. He offended by supporting Ihe papal power
on sound principles, and thus actually be
traying its weakness. Images. Pilgrim
ages.
128. Defends the supremacy, and a variety
of reUgious -orders, but blames the abuses
into which they had run.
129. The Bible the standard of his failh ; his
opinions not far from those of Wiclif;
possessed of no great talents.
130 A continued succession of martyrs. De
pravity ofthe religious orders.
131. Summary of the history. Reasons why
power is given to the ministers of the
gospel. Misused by the church of Rome.

132. The establishment still useful as a poU
tical engine. The papacv a check to the
crown. Importance of ecciesiasiical ap
pointments; the right to them is disputed
between the lower clergy, the pope, and
the king, '
133. This competition arose from Ihe value
of preferments. Bishoprics at first elec
tive ; when they became valuable, they
were sought by Ihe king, and ine court
of Rome stepped in to defend the clergy,
and to take the appointment into her own
hands.
134. The wrong appointments of each party
destroyed the benefit of tne establish
ment; and as this arose from the wealth
ofthe preferment, Ihe reformers inveighed
against this.
135. Real difficulty ofthe question : consider
able power then necessary to defend the
property ofthe church, which was useful
in promoting peace and civilization; this
power abused, and a reformation abso
lutely necessary. Bishoprics appointed
to by the crown. Wiclif and his followers
inveigh against any temporal power in
the hands of churchmen.
136. Offices of state in the hands of church
men. Exclusive jurisdiction. Papal
power dependent on false doctrines, and
these attacked by Wiclif. His transla
tion of the Bible showed Ihe people the
truth, and persecution directed their at
tention to it.
137. Steps towards a reformation. Wealth
of the clergy observed and reprobated.
The existence of an English translation,
of tracts, and preachers who were ready
to suffer. Many persons of rank con
vinced. Wiclif foresaw the final effect
of truth. We must look up through the
instruments to the great Artificer.
CHAPTER IV. p. 42.
151. Causes of the Reformation : discussion,
extension of knowledge. Bill subjecting
all robbers lo the civil power. A preacher
inveighs against it.
152. Hunne dies in prison. Coroner's ver
dict of murder against the chancellor.
Hunne's body burnt. The king supports
the civil power.
153. Compromise about Horsey, the chancel
lor, irritation of the people. Imprudence
of the clergy.
154. Vices ofthe clergy. Wolsey.
155. Wolsey, history of. Fox iniroduces him
to Henry VIII. His rise. Influence over
Henry. His honesty unnecessarily ques
tioned.
156. Wolsey spoils Henry ; his good qualities
and faults.
157. Henry's book against Luther. Greek
literature ; patronized by Henry and Wol
sey. The study cf the Scriptures. Tho
cardinal's college. Colet leaus lectures
in St. Paul's ; accused of heresy. Igao-

ni

CONTENTS.

ranee of the clergy. Gospel of Nicode
mus set up at Canterbury. Printing.
158. The divorce; causes of it. Henry VIII.
protests against the marriage. He fears
the curse of dying childless. Wolsey ac
cused of insinuating scruples into the
king's mind by means of Longland.
Henry probably entertained them before
his love for Anne Boleyn.
!59. Proposals made to Clement VII. Cam
pegio sent to England ; he brings a bull
with him, which he afterwards burns ; he
causes delays, and at last postpones the
decision.
160. The cause transferred to Rome. Wol
sey's fall; he is unjustly treated.
•161. Wolsey submits, goes to York, and dies ;
his character; a good minister; weak
after his fall.
162. The decision of the question of the di
vorce referred to the Universities ; those
of England and France declare the mar
riage illegal.
163. Decisions against the marri.ige. Cle
ment still deceitful. The clergy in Eng
land comply with Ihe wishes of the king,
through fear, and with difficulty acknow
ledge his supremacy.
164. The parliament object to the power of
the clergy. First-fruits laken from the
pope. Cranmer, archbishop of Canter
bury; his objection to the oalhs to the
pope.
165. Divorce declared. The king had refused
to appear by proxy. Difficulty of arguing
against the papal dispensation before the
pope. The delay of a messenger hastens
the decision.
166. Laws against the pope. Supremacy of
the king. The power of bishops' courts
curtailed. Succession. Oath of supre
macy.
167. More and Fisher sent to the Tower. The
Maid of Kent.
168. Character of Sir Thomas More ; and his
death.
169. Character of Fisher ; his death. Marga-
. ret professorships.
170. The clergy are haled ; the causes of this.
Persecutions : Bilney, Byfield, Tewksbu
ry, Bainham, Tracy, Harding, Hewett,
Frith. Purgatory attacked.
171. Supplication of Beggars. Practice of
prelates.
172. The papal supremacy not more arbitrary
Ihan ihatofHenry. The Scriptures, and
the discussion of religious questions.
173. The effects of persecuUon ; of burning
the Scriptures. Story of Tonstal.
174. Review of the Reformation. Character
of Ihose who were chiefly instrumental in
producing it; Henry, Wolsey, Sir Tho
mas More, Clernent.
CHAPTER V. p. 54.
SOI. The church of Bngland must be dated
from the divorce. The clergy irritate the

202,
203.204.
^05! 206.
207.208.
209.
210.211.212.213.
214.2115.216.217.218.

219.

220.221,

king. Franciscans executed. Visitation
of the church. Inhibition sent to the
bishops ; their ecclesiastical, authority
restored to them by a commission from
the king. The bishops raise no opposi
tion.
. The king's object in dissolving monaste
ries. Cranmer's instructions given to the
visitors. Voluntary surrenders. All mo
nasteries under 200^ per annum given to
Ihe king. Number of these foundations ;
they bring little profit to Ihe crown.
Execution of Anne Boleyn ; her inno
cence. Divorce. Cranmer. Henry re
conciled to Mary.
Henry marries Jane Seymour. Act of
Succession. Acts of parliament against
Ihe pope's authority.
Convocation. Alesse argues against the
five sacraments. Parlies now formed in
thechurch. Articles put forth.
Abstract of the Articles.
Proclamation of the clergy in favour of
real reform.
General council assembled at Mantua.
Henry is summoned to appear. The
convocaUon and king reject the sum
mons. Cardinal Pole writes again.st the
kmg. Surrender of monasteries ; distress occa
sioned thereby. Some religious houses
re-founded. Pilgrimage of grace. King's
letter to the bishops.
Northern rebellion suppressed. Many
executed. The suppression of monasteries hastened
by this; a new visitation appointed; dis--
orders discovered in many of them ; ex
ceptions. Surrenders ; small benefit derived to the
crown. Shrines, &c., destroyed.
Bishops' book and king's book.
New line of poUcy adopted by Gardiner.
Corporal presence in the sacrament. Dif
ficulty with regard lo the Lutheran states
The sacramentaries.
Lambert; brought before Cranmer; ap
peals to the king; his trial; the event of
it; he is burnt, with very great suffering.
Proclamation against the marriage of the
clergy. Cranmer screened.
The king angry with the Protestants
because they refused to grant him all
the ehurch properly. The Six Articles ;
Craiimer argues against them ; the penal
ties imposed by them severe.
Act for the suppression of monasteries ;
for the erection of new bishoprics ; to
sancUon the king's proclamations. Cran
mer little affected by the law of the Six
Articles. Latimer and Shaxton resign
their sees. Proclamation foi printing
the Bible.
Henry marries Anne of Cleves. Fall of
Cromwell; Cranmer spealcs for him; he
is condemned by an act of attainder.
CromweU's character.
Henry divorced from Anne of Cleves ; she

CONTENTS.

resides in England. He marries Catha-
rineHoward. Powerof Ihe Roman Catho
lics. Martyrdom of Barnes. Observation
of Lord Herbert on persecution.
222. Proclamation in favour of the Bible. Ex
ecution of the queen; an attempt to sup
press the Bible; the examination of the
translation referred lo the universities.
223. Injunctions put forth by Bishop Bonner;
preaching forbidden. Homilies published.
Writing sermons. An act of parliament
for and against the reformers as lo burn
ing heretics and reading the Bible; great
power granted by it to the king. "The
Necessary Doctrine'' pubUshed.
224. Catharine Parr. Persecution at Wind
sor. Plot against Cranmer; his forgiving
temper. Litany put forth in English;
with other prayers.
225. Reformers advanced to the bench. Cha
pels and chantries given lo the king;
alarm of ihe universities. The king's
judicious speech about religion ; his per
secuting conduct. Shaxton. Anne As
kew burnt; her supposed connection with
the court.
226. Cranmer's danger; the ill conduct of the
council towards him. Danger of the
queen ; she becomes acquainted with it,
and parries the blow.
327. Lord Surrey's execuUon. Danger of
attainders. Number of persons executed
during the reign. Henry's character; he
was ungrateful lo his servants, but well
served; he was selfish.
228. He was possessed of considerable natu
ral talents and virtues, but these were all
spoilt by want of restraint over himself;
cruel ; liberal-minded when not irritated;
with all his vices a great instrument in
the hands of Providence, which worked
good out of evil.
239. 'I'he papal power thrown down by opi
nion as well as law. The people taught
to think for themselves. The clergy
plundered, and deprived of the means of
acquiring wealth by the attack which
had been made on the doctrine of purga
tory. The Bible dispersed, and children
instructed.
230. Corpora! presence still held. Celibacy.
The service in Latin. Ecclesiastical
courts. Auricular confession ; evils of it.
231. The influence of the Reformation in Ger
many not considerable during this reign.
232. The Protestants write to England and
France. Henry answers them. He sends
ambassadors lo Smalcalde and Bruns
wick. Agents sent to London. The
points to whic?i they object. The act of
the Six Articles puts an end to the whole
discussion.
APPENDIX A. TO CHAPTER V. p. 70.
ON THE DISSOLUTION OF MOH"ASTERIKS.
241. The question to be examined. Whether
the transfer of property aided the Refor
mation, and whether it was beneficial.
(3)

242. Monasteries originaUy rich, and useful
as places where the arts of peace wer»
securely exercised.
243. The Danes restore monasteries. Penefit
ofthe right of asylum.
344. Lay fiefs a premium on war; ecclesia.s-
tical foundations on peace, and therefore
practically beneficial.
245. Architecture, literature, and trade pro
moted by them.
246. By degrees they become less useful.
247. Monasteries favoured by the people,
because they supported the younger
branches ofthe nobility and gentry; and
were good landlords and charitable lo
the poor. Celibacy directed the exer
tions of every churchman lo the exten
sion of his order.
243. The monastic establishments would hard
ly have been thrown down without some
external force; this was provided in the
rapacity of Henry. The doctrine of pur
gatory examined. Many plans for the
appUcation ofthe wealth ofthe dissolved
foundaUons.
249. Henry's plans ; construction of harbours.
Bacon's ; a seminary for diplomacy.
250. Impropriations continued, a great evil.
251. Question as to the application of the
church revenues. Education promoted
by assisting those who are already po.s-
sessed of ihe means of instruction. Uni
versity wanted in the north of England.
253. Lands of corporate bodies are compar,i-
tively unproductive. Activity in educa
tion promoted by competition.
253. Evils and hardships immediately arising
from the dissolution of monasteries.
254. Il is wonderful how easily the property
was taken away from the monasteries-
it ultimately fell into the hands of the
industrious.
255. At the time the transfer was most inju
rious.
256. Destruction of property and libraries
loss to history.
257. Many persons thrown out of employ
ment; there were then too many agricul
tural labourers.
25S. Amount ofthe transfer of properly; tho
effects of it injurious at the lime.
259. The ultimate results beneficial. Benefi'=
of a church establishmenl. The laity
chiefly instrumental in bad appointments.
APPENDIX B. TO CHAPTER V. p. 79.
nOCTRINES PRETiLUNT AT THE END Or TUS
nEIGN OF HENBT VHI.
371. Three treatises put forth by authority.
The doctrines contained in these retro-
grflde.
273. The articles inserted in the Institution.
Points in ivhich the Erudition had ad
vanced towards the doctrines of our
church. The order of the Thirty-nine
Articles convenient for examining these
doctrines. Arrangement of the tracts
themselves.

XIT273.274,275,
276.277.
278.

CONTENTS.

279.

280.281.282.283.

301.

303.

303.

304,

, Wiin regard to the Trinity, the church
of England agrees with that of Rome.
, With regard to the standard of failh, the
difference is greater in appearance than
in'reality. The Decalogue admitted; ex
ception ofthe fourth commandment.
, Original sin. Freewill. Justification by
failh. Good works. Works done before
justification; and of supererogation.
Christ alone without sin. Repentance.
Predestination. Universality of redemp
tion. Salvation through Christ alone.
These doctrines not so distinctly laid
down as in the Thirly-nine Articles.
Article.s relating to the church. Errors
of Rome not staled. Diversity of rites
does not destroy unity. Purgatory, mass
es, and exequies. Images. Invocation
of saints.
Seven sacraments; difference with re
gard lo different sacraments. Baptism ;
penance; and the Lord's supper. The
other four not equally necessary. The
difference as to the manner in which the
church of England holds these is merely
concerning the name. In baptism the
chrism retained.
Penance or repentance ; the sacramental
partof itconsists in absolution. Doctrines
of the churches of England and Rome;
that of the Erudition nearer thechurch of
Rome; danger of this doctrine. Orders;
two only mentioned in Scripture, different
from either the church of England or
Rome. Confirmation. Extreme unction.
Transubstantiation. Matrimony. Celi
bacy of the clergy.
Traditions and ceremonies. The king's
supremacy. In doctrinal points the ErudiUon made
small progress. Differences between ihe
two churches. Papal infallibility the
curse of Rome.
Points of difference between the InsUtu-
tion and Erudition. Transubstantiation;
ceremonies : justWicalion by failh ; in
¦vhich the latter had gone back as to its
doctrines. CHAPTER VL p. 85.
Lord Hartford made Protector. Cranmer
retiring in his disposition. Wriothesley
injudicious; this circumstance favour
able to the Reformation.
The common people hasty in reforming;
some persons reprimanded for it. Cran-
rper anxious to destroy images. Gardi
ner writes in favour of them.
Henry VIII. left money for masses and
obits; the progress of opinion not rapid;
delayed by giving preferments to monks
who had been turned out from monaste
ries. Poverty of benefices a hinderance
to Ihe gospel.
Opponents to reforpiation strong. Cran
mer uses civil authority against them.
Visitation for ecclesiastical matters.

306.

Images which had been tibused to false
devotion, to be taken down.
305. First book of Homilies published. Eras
mus' Paraphrase to be set up in every
church. Peuiion for the dead altered.
Injunctions sent forth.
The reformers strengthened by the suc
cess in Scotland. Severity used towards
opponents. Bonner and Gardiner sent to
prison. Mary remonstrates, and objects
to any alterations during her brother's
minority.
307. The parliament repeal the severe laws.
Communion in both kinds granted the
laity. Private masses forbidden. Laws
about bishops and their courts. Chan
tries given to the crown ; alarm about
colleges.
308. Images removed. Proclamation against
innovating. Communion examined; ques
tions proposed; many superstitious no
tions still retained.
309. Communion Service published. Auri
cular confession left optional ; the evils
arising from confession have made Pro
testants neglect it. These arose from the
corruption of the early customs of the
church. The church of England recom
mends it, but neglects it.
Gardiner imprisoned for refusing to
preach according lo notes given him
from court. Cranmer's Calechism.
Bill for Ihe marriage of the clergy. The
law of God does not enjoin celibacy, and
the imposing it is injurious to morals.
The secular clergy boan.l by no oath.
Psalm singing. Fish enjoined lo be eaten
on fast days, to support the fisheries. Sir
Thomas Seymour, the admiral, executed.
313. Ecclesiastical visitation. Examination of
points of faith. Transubstantiation. Con-
substantiation. Doctrine ofthe church of
England.
314. Disputations in Oxford and Cambridge
on Iransubstantiation.
315. Anabaptists, confusion about them ; a
commission appointed against them.
Joan Bocher burnt. Edward unwilling
to sign the warrant; Cranmer urges him.
George Van Pare burnt.
316. The new Liturgy drawn up M'ith great
moderation. Wisdom of having the old
prayers in Latin; an odd argumenl in its
favour.
317. Infant bapUsm and predestination the
causes of differences in thechurch. Di.-?-
solute morals prevalent. Labourers out
of employment. Risings in Norfolk and
Devonshire. The demands of the rebels.
318. Bonner deprived of his bishopric for not
preaching as he was directed.
319. The fall of Protector Somerset. Tht. earl
of Warwick (duke of Norlhumberiand)
joins the reformers. Old service books
destroyed. Ordination service prepared.
Heath sent to prison.
320. Gardiner detained in prison, and deprived
of his bishopric.

310.

311.

312.

CONTENTS,

321. Hooper entertains scruples about the
dresses; Cranmer, Ridley, and Bucer
argue against him. The quesUon of con
form it}'.
323. Common prayer reviewed. Prayers for
the dead, e-xorcisms, &c., objected to by
Bucer; his book given to Edward VL
Edward's own book.
323. Ridley made bishop of London; his visit-
aUon. .\llars changed into communion
tables. Preaching on week-days stopped.
324. Many foreign Protestants fly into Eng
land. John a Lasco the superintendent
of ihechurches inLondon. Manylearned
men received by Cranmer; his plan of a
Protestant vinion.
325. The Forty-two Articles prepared ; no
grounds for deeming them a compromise
of opinions.
326. Common Prayer altered. Six king's
preachers appointed and sent through
the country.
327. Mary's chaplain imprisoned for saying
mass ; she will listen to no arguments on
the subject.
328. Execuiion of the Protector. His death
attributed to the duke of Northumberland.
Means taken to injure him in the opinion
of his nephew.
329. Acts of parliament. Liturgy; holidays;
fasting ; eating fish ; marriage of the
clergy. The parliament dissolved.
330. Commission for reforming ecclesiastical
courts. Poverty of thechurch. Degrad
ing employments of the clergy. See
of Gloucester suppressed from poverty.
Spoliation still carried on.
331, See of Durham divided by act of parlia
ment. The palatinate given to the duke
of Norlhumberiand, and Tonstal deprived
for misprision of treason. The larger
Catechism (Ponet's) authorized.
332. Edward's foundaUon : St. Bartholomew's
hospital, Christ's hospital, and Bridewell.
333. 'I'he duke of Northumberland persuades
Edward VI. to leave the crown lo Lady
Jane Grey; the crown lawyers unwilling
to draw the deed ; Cranmer unwilling to
sign il ; Judge Hales refuses.
334. Edward near his death; his character, by
Cardan. Cranmer's and Ridley's speech
to Cheke.
335. Stale of the church of England. The
lower orders not generally fond of the
Reformation ; the upper orders bribed to
approve of it; the clergy adverse to il.
Morals depraved by the transfer of pro
perty, and the destruction of the power
of the ecclesiastical courts.
Erastianism of the church of England.
The question discussed, whether the re
ligion of, our church be a parliamentary
one. Too great temporal power of the
church of Rome produced a reaction.
The power opposed to reformation con
siderable; danger of delay from the state
of the king. Opinions of Cranmer very
Erastian.

336

337,

338. Churchmen drew up the reforms; the
parliament or king sanctioned them. The
alterations must depend on their own
merits.
339. The commissions granted to the bishops
deslro3'ed the nature of a ministry. The
bishops generally entertained opinions at
variance with ihem, and their acts must
be valid. This does not decide whether
Cranmer were wise in his proceedings.
340. There was not only need of reformation,
but of restraining innovators; and the
exertion of the temporal power was pro
bably alone adequate lo both these ends.
It cast out superstition and preserved
episcopacy, and the decent ceremonies
of religion.
341. Our standards drawn from Lutheran
sources. Melancthon invited to Eng
land, and consulted with regard to the
ArUcIes of 1530; many of Ihe Forty-two
Articles borrowed from him; article on
consubstautiaUon. Services formed from
Lutheran sources.
342. The documents of our church not origi
nal ; wisely borrowed from other sources.
She altered as little as she could; and
where she was forced to alter, borrowed
from previous reformers. This the wisest
plan of proceeding.
CHAPTER VII. p. 106.
351. The religious opinions of Mary unfavour
able to her cause. Some persons doubt
as to Edward's power of leaving the
crown by will. Lady Jane Grey.
353. Mary proclaimed queen ; her error in
promising more ihan she could perform,
or perhaps meant to do.
353. Gardiner chancellor; his prudence in
wishing to bring matters connected with
religion to the state in which Henry VIII.
left them; afraid of Pole. Precipitancy
of the Roman Catholics. Bonner rein
stated in his see.
354. Prohibition of preaching. Restoration
of the deprived bishops. Mary hostile to
her Protestant friends ; many Protestants
fly beyond sea. The bishops prepare for
persecution.
355. The parliament repeals the acts of Ed
ward. Lady Jane Grey attainted; Gran
mer comprehended in the bill.
356. Cardinal Pole legate ; his arrival delayed
by the advice of Gardiner. The idea of
any personal attachment on the part of
Mary unfounded. The parliament unfa
vourable to Ihe Spanish alliance and tu
the papal supremacy.
357. The convocation attacks the Common
Prayer and Catechism. Six Protestants
advocate the cause of the Reformation;
their arguments borne down by clamour.
358. Public disputations useless; a remark
of Weston. The supposed infallibility
of Rome incompatible with free discus
sion.

CONTENTS.

,S59. Dislike to the Spanish match. Wyat's
rebellion. Mary strengthened by it. Lady
Jane Grey executed. Severity in the other
execuUons.
360. Anti-reformation. The married clergy
are ejected. Bishoprics void. Haste in
these proceedings.
361. Abrogation of oaths. Disputation at Ox
ford. Patience of the sufferers.
362. The prisoners at Oxford appeal to hea
ven; those in London decline a disputa
tion ; declaration of faith pubUshed by
them.
363. The marriage of the queen produced no
respite lo the reformers. Revenge mixed
with persecution. The evil temper on
both sides.
364. ReconciliaUon with Rome. Attainder of
cardinal Pole reversed ; his arrival in
England ; he inveighs against those who
detained church property; bull of Paul
IV. against them. Gardiner's policy.
."65. Discussion with regard lo persecution.
Gardiner's sufferings; his book on the
divorce republished. A sort of inquisi-
lion established.
366. Persecution; little effect produced by it;
general feeling against il. Philip and
Alphonsus oppose it. Mary soured by
Philip's neglect.
.307. Sieps for delecting heretics ; torture em
ployed. Thanks given to those who
sanctioned persecution. Many fly or
apostatize. DisputesJn Germany. Trou
bles at Frankfort.
368. Pale adverse to persecution ; overruled
hy Gardiner. Gardiner's death and cha
racter.
r>S9. FoundaUons of Mary; her sincerity in
this. Reforms passed in convocation,
Pole intends to publish the remodelled
Institution of a Christian Man, and a New
Teslament.
370. Cranmer burnt; his degradation by Bon
ner and Thirlby ; his fall ; reflections on
it; his condemnation after recanting for
tunate for him ; his character; what our
church owes to him.
371. More persecutions. Ministers every
where found to carry on their task.
Housekeepers ordered to keep their ap
prentices from burnings. Books brought
from abroad ; dissensions there.
372, Cardinal Pole consecrated archbishop
of Canterbury. Mary establishes reli
gious houses; destroys documents unfa-
, vourable lo her friends.
373. Visitation of the universities; they dis
turb the bones of reformers. Commis
sion granted to Bonner. Pole unable to
restrain persecuUon.
374. Paul IV. enraged at Pole; takes away
his legatine powers. Peto refused ad
mission into England. Loss of Calais.
Money granted by parliament. More per
secutions ; numbers who suffered during
the reign ; people forbidden to pray for
the sufferers.

375. Death of Mary; her character; sincerej
morose. Death of Pole ; his character.

401,

402.

403,

404.

405.

406.

407.

408,

409.

410.

411

112

413,

CHAPTER VIIL p. 118.
The varied prospects of Elizabeth on
ascending the ihrone. Fears from the
Roman Catholics. Errors of the late
reign. Prudence of her conduct. She sends to
Philip, to Rome. Paul IV. refuses to ac
knowledge her as queen ; a step injurious
to the Roman Catholics of England. She
strives lo unite all her subjects. A com
mittee appointed to examine the church
services ; some prayers allowed in Eng
lish. Preaching forbidden. Her personal
deportment conciliating.
Coronation performed by Oglethorp; the
other bishops refuse to assist. Parlia
ment. The supremacy is restored to the
queen without the name. Oath of supre
macy imposed, with severe penalties in
case of refusal.
Tenths and first-fruits restored to the
crown. Power of exchanging property
between vacant bishoprics and the crown:
the evil of this.
Act of Uniformity. Disputation held in
Westminster Abbey ; the confusion which
ended it is due to the Roman Catholic
bishops ; points disputed. Objections of
the bishops to any discussion before the
laity. The convocaUon is adverse to reform. In
junctions set forth. Declaration concern
ing the supremacy. High commission
established. Ejection of the Roman Catholic clergy.
Appearance of combination among the
bishops ; they were treated generally with
moderaUon. Heath. Bonner dies in
prison. One hundred and eighty-nine
clergymen ejected, many of them holding
high preferments ; the conciliatory mea
sures of the queen.
Abuse of images inquired into ; opinions
of the queen on this point. She regains
a crucifix in her chapel. Wrong in her
temporizing. Bishoprics filled up. Difiiculty of con
secrating the new bishops. Parker, arch
bishop of Canterbury, consecrated. The
story of the Nag's Head consecraUon.
Defecuve slate of the clergy. Inade
quate persons ordained. Poverty of the
church. Its causes.
The bishops employed in their dioceses,
and in preparing reforms. Jewel's apo
logy published.
Act concerning the oath of supremacy ;
injurious tendency of it. The Thirty-
eight arUcles published. Noel's Cate
chism. Second book of Homilies.
Reviewof the Reformation. Fundament
als of Christianity more clearly esta
blished. The rejection of transubstan
tiation enforces the personal responsi

CONTENTS.

xvu

bility of each individual Christian. The
clergy the guide.s, not the judges of their
brethren. Fallibility of the church. Po
litical state of the clergy altered by their
marriages, and their diminished wealth.
Poverty of the bishops. Evils arising
from the Reformation. Spoliation ; sub
jection of the church lo the stale; want
of ecclesiastical discipline; neglect of
the means of religious improvement; con
fession; fasting; want of restraint over
the flock in the clergy.
CHAPTER IX. p. 128.
414. The peace of the church disturbed by
disputes about trifles. The church of
Rome used too many ceremonies; the
foreign reformers loo few; their opinions
adopted by the exiled English.
415. The question of dresses. When may
the subject refuse to obey 1 When should
the government press uniformity 1 What
is the duty of an ecclesiastical officer!
May it not be his duty lo obey himself,
without pressing others?
416. Theactof uniformity enjoined the dresses
of the first Prayer Book of Edward VI.
Elizabeth presses uniformity; objections
to the cap and surplice; most of the cler
gy comply; Sampson and Humphrey re
fuse ; they are deprived.
417. Difficulty of judging on such questions.
Greater indulgence might probably have
been used with advantage.
418. Opinion of Jewel, who disliked the
dresses, yet conformed. Sandys averse
lo them. Grindal complied against his
good-will. Parker had entertained doubts.
Whitgift had petitioned against them.
419. Foreigners advis^ submission. The
Scotch church wrote in favour of the
nonconformists.
420. Elizabeth very peremptory. Parker irri
tated, and not well supported bythe court;
the difficulties of his situation.
421. Vhe puritans resisted the civil power
vested in the hands of the bishops : and
the struggle by degrees became partly po
litical.
122. Both parUes in the wrong. Parker not
suited to concession, which was at first
easy. He was harsh in comparison with
Grindal, and unconciliating towards the
London clergy.
423. Objections of the puritans. Book of
Common Prayer. Church music. Disci
pline of the church. Bishops, and the
non-election of ministers. Scarcity of
ministers. Non-residence.
424. Baptismal service ; sign of the cross ;
answers made by the sponsors. Lay bap
tism. Churching of women. Cathedral
service.
425. Discipline. Episcopacy, either totally
objected to, or disliked, from the wealth
and power of the bishops. The presby
tery possessed of no spiritual power.

Civil liberty connected with the ques
tion.
430, Ordination without election. Want of
parochial discipline. The church had
neither the power possessed by the church
of Rome, nor the influence which was in
the hands of the presbytery. Principles
of spiritual jurisdiction. The want of
power in the inferior clergy the real cause
of complaint.
427. Prophesyings; manner of carrying them
on; the queeti adverse lo them; useful
in themselves, but liable la abuse. She
pillaged the church by means of an act
which enabled her to exchange lands
with bishops.
428. Ecclesiastical commission; its power
indefinite and oppressive. Commission
ers of concealments. The church of
Norwich in danger.
429. Impolicy of Elizabeth in this. Insecu
rity of properly. The queen wasteful of
the property of the church and crown.
The clergy improvident. She paid her
courtiers h}- this means, because she
would not apply to parliament.
430. Poverty of the church. The crown pil
laged the higher clergy, and they the
lower. Lay patrons were often guilty of
simoniacal contracts. Loss of fees and
personal tithes. (") Question of church
property.
431. The church in need of quiet. The peo
ple ignorant. The low church wished to
innovate ; the high church were negUgent
and covetous.
433. Open rupture caused by a proclamation
sanctioning the advertisements. Thirty-
seven London clergy ejected ; they form
separate congregations, and adopt the
service of Geneva. Many conform, though
they dislike the English service.
433. Many nonconformists at Cambridge.
Cartwright opposed by Whitgift; he is
silenced and vacates his fellowship. The
admonition to parliament.
434. Convocation. Ecclesiastical law dis
cussed. Canons made, but not raUfied.
435. This quesUon before the commons. Re
formatio Le^um Ecdesiaslicanmi printed;
the discussion concerning church mat
ters suppressed by the queen ; her skill
in restraining the growing power of the
House ; a second attempt of the House.
I.iw requiring subscription to the Thirty-
nine ArUcles. Concerning the age of
priests and deacons. That no lease of
church property be good for more than
twenty-one years, and about lelUng Uthes.
436. The universities incorporated. Poor
laws established.
437. Roman Catholics ; they generally con
formed tiU the buU of Pius V. Felton
affixes it to the palace of the bishop of
London. Severe acts against the Roman
Catholics.
438. Maine executed. Foreign seminaries.
Persons and Campian. C

CONTENTS.

439. The unjustifiable treatment of Roman
Catholics arose from the injudicious zeal
of themselves and their leaders. Asso
ciation formed to revenge the queen's
death. Elizabeth lo blame in not mar
rying.
440. 'i'realment of th<; Roman Catholics ; the
abstract justice of i. discussed. The
principles on which Pius excommuni-
caied Elizabeth iucompaUble with civil
society.
441. How far a missionary priest was impli
cated in this. Persons and Campian.
The modificaUon of the bull a fallacy.
442. Foreign Roman Catholic courts rendered
conciliation almost impossible; the case
• a pitiable one on both sides ; causes of it.
Political character of the Reformation.
443. The political tyranny of Rome aided the
Reformation. The infallibility of the
church leads to persecution.
444. Comparison of the execuUons under
Mary and Elizabeth.
445. Injustice of legal proceedings during this
reign. All parties were ready to perse
cute. Sampson. Bacon. Puritans.
446. Presbytery established al Wandsworth.
Mutual animosity. Birchet. Prophe.^y-
ings put down in the diocese of Norwich.
The queen the real cause of severe mea
sures. Death and character of Parker.
447. Grindal offends the queen by patronizing
prophesyings; writes to her. The bish
ops ordered to suppress prophesyings.
Grindal is confined to his palace, and ten
ders his resignaUon ; the convocation pe
tition in his favour.
448. Character of Grindal; he conformed,
though opposed to the dresses, but would
not compel oihers lo conform. Eliza
beth's conduct unwise. Discipline over
turned, 'i'he puritans are increased. Pe
tition of the parliament to diminish the
power of the bishops.
449. What the treatment of the puritans should
have been. Dissent was then totally pro
hibited. If they had been borne with for
a time, many would have come over,
and the feeling of opposition to the civil
government would have been avoided.
Elizabeth tried to suppress sermons.
Conformity should have been required
of those who were entering into orders,
and education promoted; the growth of
civil liberty would not then have endan
gered the church.
CHAPTER X. p. 151.
450. Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury, strict
in enforcing uniformity and requiring
subscripdon to the three Articles ; the
ministers of Kent and Suffolk apply to
the council ; the archbishop proceeds
with vigour.
451. Inquisitorial Articles, ex officio mero; dis
pute as to their legality; Lord Burleigh
dislikes them. Discussions carried on

iri presence of some of the court. Many
considerable persons hosUle to the pro
ceedings of the church. Lord Leicester,
Beal, and Sir F. Knowles. Jiriiculi pro
clero.
452. Objectsof the puritans; a preaching mi
nistry ; they would attack choirs and
impropriaUons. The introduction of the
presbytery; of new ecclesiasUcal laws.
The whole stopped by the queen.
453. Parliament. Aclsforsecuringlhequeen's
person, and against Jesuits and seminary
priests; the first levelled against Mary
queen of Scots. Forces sent into Hol
land.
454. Travers and Hooker, dispute between
them. Hooker writes his Ecclesiastical
Polity. Travers silenced. (') Presbyte
rian orders.
455. Babington's conspiracy. Mary q 'en of
Scots tried and executed. The inj .slice
of this proceeding.
456. A bill brought in to alter Ihe whole ec
clesiastical laws. Some members sent
lo the Tower. Firmness of the queen.
Judicious acts of convocation.
457. Spanish Armada. The good conduct of
the Roman Catholics. Much blame due
lo Allen and Persons. Wryght and others
maintain loyal opinions.
458. Martin Marprelate. The press taken.
Many puritans in trouble ; they refuse to
take ihe oath ex officio mero. A party
formed lo change the constitution of the
church. Cartwright hardly dealt with.
(') The nature of the oath ex officiomcro.
459. No government could safely aUow the
proceedings of the puritans; but unne
cessary severity was used towards them.
Eusebius Pagit. Bishops much hated;
mismanagement on their part.
460. Argument in favour of episcopacy. The
question of episcopacy not settled in the
New Testament; settled early in eccle
siastical history. A very strong moral
proof in favour of it.
461. Treatment of the libellers. The oufrages
of enthusiasts not property chargeable on
the puritans. The saUres of Tom Nash
useful.
462. Severe laws against puritans and Roman
Catholics; some executions of priests;
the Roman Catholics themselves the
cause of these persecutions. Dispute
between the Jesuits and seculars. De
claration of loyally from the seculars.
(°) The number of Roman Catholics who
suffered.
463. Disputes at Cambridge on Predestina
tion. Barret recants. The question dis
cussed at Lambeth.
464. The Lambeth Articles; the dogmatical
language of them failed to produce peace
or convicUon in Cambridge or elsewhere,
Baro opposes them. (») Whether they
were forbidden by authority.
465. Greater peace in the church caused by
the growing age of the queen and arch-

CONTENTS.

bishop. The moderation of the House of
Commons.
166. The puritans became more moderate.
Browro Cartwright repents of his vip-
^~ — . fhe writings of Hooker and Ban
croft. Character of Cartwright. Good
effects of moderation.
•467. Character of Elizabeth; her selfishness;
love of money and of power; treatment
of Roman CathoUcs and puritans.
468. In herself she was disposed to favour the
Roman Catholics ; their conduct offended
and alarmed Protestants; she haled the
puritans ; was friendly lo education ; but
very peremptory about church maUers,
in consequence of which Grindal remon
strated with her. Her own disinclination
to marriage made her dislike il in oihers,
and particularly in the clergy. (3) Mar
riage ofthe clergy.
169. Elizabeth was very religious, but an ene
my to free and impartial discussion ; she
proved herself a great monarch.
470. Death of Elizabeth; the earliest account
of it; her melancholy; partakes of the
offices o.f religion ; dies quietly.
!7I. Little progress had been made in essen
tials in the church ; the puritans most to
blame, though they had not been treated
wisely. DiiiicuUies against which the
bishops had to strive. Many of the
bishops very unfit men. Sad stale of the
universities.
APPENDIX C. TO CHAPTER X. p. 167.
HISTOIIT OF THE THIUTY-N'INE ARTICLES.
481. The Forty-two first published in 1543;
their lille; appended lo a short cate
chism ; the history of their composition
uncertain.
482. The committee for reforming ecclesiasti
cal laws appointed, 1549. Cranmer di
rected to frame the Articles ; they were
submitted to Cecil and Cheke, as well as
to oihers; Ridley is supposed to have as-
ijisted him.
483. Whence did Cranmer draw the Articles?
The Augsburg Confession ; papers of
the committee of doctrines, 1540; from
his own researches; and from Luther
and Melancthon.
484. The Forty-two Articles not sanctioned
by convocation; few of the clergy sub
scribed them.
435. Articles examined in 1563. Parker pre
pares them for the convocation : they
alter them; the Thirty-eight printed. A
bill concerning subscription lo the Arti
cles brought into the commons; slopped
bv the queen in the lords ; in 1571 Eli
zabeth allows the bill to pass. The sub
scription limited to, the articles of faith
and the sacraments. The Thirty-nine
reviewed by the convocation; Subscribed,
and printed.
486, Controverted clause in the twentieth arti
cle ; testimonies concerning it ; the ques

tion agitated in the examinaUon of Laud,
1637.
487. Idea of the author with regard to the con
troverted clause. Jewel publishes the
Articles.
488. Laud not to blame about the twentieth
article. The subscription at present dates
from the canons of 1604. Parker and the
bishops did not authorize this clause.
CHAPTER XL p. 172.
INTJlonuCTOUT OBSERVATIO.VS.
491. Necessity of examining the Reformation
in Scotland. Benefit of gradual reform.
The Reformation had been long preparing
in England, and advanced very slowly.
493. A combination of circumstances contri
buted to the Reformation in England, and
tended lo moderate its proceedings.
493. The light of the Reformation was much
later before it broke in on Scotland.
Deaths of Hamilton and Campbell. Fur
ther persecutions. Avarice of the nobi
lity. Combination between the crown
and the clergy. Cardinal Beaton. Po
litical circumstances of England and
Scotland. Wishart burnt.
494. Murder of Bealon. The castle of St.
Andrew's reduced hy the French. The
English interest connected with the re
formers ; interests of these two countries.
Hostilily of the reformers to the govern
ment. The Congregation formed. Use
ofthe Common Prayer.
495. Mill burnt. Arrival of Knox; his natu
ral impetuosity. Destruction of rnona.s-
teries. The Reformation eslablisheil.
Political difference between the churches
of England and Scotland.
'496. Faults of Knox; his sternness did not
convince Ihose whom he reproved, aud
was dangerous to the minister himself.
Adv.anlages of mildness.
497. Political tendencies of the Reformation
in Scotland ; founded on resistance ; dan
ger of this ground; moderation might
have produced the same effect.
498. Its moderation an argument in favour
of the church of England. The prefer
ence to be given lo this church over that
of Scotland. The feelings which arose
from ihe difference in the constitution of
the two churches, productive of consider
able effect in the subsequent history.
CHAPTER Xn. p. 178.
501. Tranquil succession of James. Dr. Ne
ville congratulates the king from the
church of England. A favourable im
pression produced by James.
503. The puritans eager for reform. The
Millenary petition ; the contents of it.
The difficulties in reform. The bishops
directed to make inquiries. James anx
ious for information.
503. The summons to the conference held out

CONTENTS.

no prospect of a free discussion. Alarms
ofthe hierarchy. Divines consulted.
504. Conference al Hampton-court. Confirm
ation. Absolution. Baptism.
505. ObjecUons of the puritans to the Thirty-
nine ArUcles; 16lh, 17lh; it is desired
that the Lambeth articles may be intro
duced.
506. Confirmation ; always performed by bish
ops. More objections to some of the Ar
ticles.
507. Calechism. Sabbath, New translation
ofthe Bible. Popish books. Petition for
a preaching and praying ministry. Les
sons from the Apocrypha.
.508. Cro.ss in baptism. Questions proposed
to the children. Surplice. Marriage ser
vice. Churchjng of women. Ecclesias
tical censures. Prophesyings.
509. The bishops return their answers. The
king speaks in favour of oaths ex officio.
Adulation offered to his foolish vanity.
The scruples ofthe nonconformists those
of weak men. They request indulgence
for certain ministers, and offend the king.
The superior wisdom of the king himself.
510. Barlow's account of the conference ; so
favourable to the episcopal party, that it
has been attacked without reason.
511. Galloway's account in reality confirma
tory of Barlow's. (') Bancroft's and
Galloway's accounts.
512. Convocation. Canons; they are binding
on the clergy. Translation of the Bible.
Prayer Book.
513. James deprives himself of the power of
alienating church lands. The puritans
and Roman Catholics offended at the fa
vour shown to the church.
514. The powder-plot; discovered by means
of a letter; Roman CathoUcs implicated;
Oldcorn and Garnett executed ; the mira
cle of the straw; the church of Rome by
its unwise conduct implicated its own
members.
515. Penal laws. Penalties for not receiving
the sacrament; for refusing the oath of
allegiance ; for reconciling persons to the
church of Rome. Disqualifications im
posed on the Roman Catholics; obliged
lo conform lo the services of the church
of England.
3*6. The oath .of allegiance, not wisely drawn
up ; Paul V. forbids Roman Catholics to
take il ; BlackweU takes it, and is excom
municated for so doing. Laws put in
force against papists ; impolicy of so
doing.
517. James's plan of a college at Chelsea for
controversial divinity ; not much required,
and soon dissolved.
518. James interferes about theological ques
tions ; about Conradus Vorstius at Ley
den. Burns Legate and Wightman. Il
was determined that there should be no
more public executions. The wisdom of
concealing intolerance.
519. Growing respect for the Sabbath; the

point made a party question. James pub
lishes the Book of Sports ; many clergy
men offended at it.
530. Synod of Dort ; delegates sent from Eng
land ; inj uslice towards the remonstrants ;
the five points. ModeraUon of the church
of England.
531. The king favours the Roman CathoUcs,
on account of the Spanish match. Recu
sants released. Abbot inveighs against
toleration. Violent sermons. James pub
lishes a letter concerning preaching, re
straining the subjects of discourses, and
limiting the Ucenses ; it produced no good
effect.
533. Necessity of discussing politics, from
their connection with the church; this
will be done by examining the character
of James.
533. James too weak a man to make a good
king; he possessed intellect, but no firm
ness, and was not true to his word.
524. His ideas in church and state govern
ment were very extravagant, and his
want of wisdom in talking about them
created suspicions in his subjects. The
puritan party was esteemed hostile to the
government in both.
525. The Reformation made men think for
themselves, and they began lo do so in
slate as well as church matters.
526. Elizabeth was arbitrary but powerful,
and consulted the good of the country,
James, who was a weak man, and knew
not how lo govern, was guided by favour
ites ; he hated the presbytery ; but had
abused the church of England till he
came to this country.
527. He disliked the temporal supremacy of
Rome, but was otherwise favourable to
the Roman Catholics, and yet he perse
cuted them ; indistinctness on the ques
tion of the Roman Catholics; ill U"eat-
ment of them; their own ill conduct.
Impolicy ofthe court in combining under
the name of puritans all who in any way
opposed the court. James a bad and
weak man. *
APPENDIX D. TO CHAPTER XH. p. 194.
niSTORT OF THE TRASSLATIOS OF THE BIBLE.
531. Four periods to be examined. The va
riety of readin*;s and alterations in the
same version.
532. All the English versions are taken from
each other.
533. Early Saxon versions ; Hampole's; Wic-
Uf's ; his method of translating ; (*) the
idea of a previous translation incorrect.
534. Tyndale's translation of the New Testa
ment, Pentateuch, and Jonas. Joye makes
alterations in the text.
535. Coverdale's Bible dedicated to Henry
VIII.;-he was not well suited to the task.
Matthew's Bible formed from the two
former.
536, Cranmer's Bible the same as Matthew's.

CONTENTS.

Taverner s. An attempt at correcting
the translation, which failed.
537. Geneva Bible; persons engaged in il;
. notes objected to by James I.
538. Bishops' Bible, or Parker's Bible ; tables
aflSxed to it ; marriage table.
539. Rhemes and Douay Bible taken from the
Vulgate.
540. Authorized version ; undertaken in con
sequence of some observations at Hamp
ton-court; the persons engaged; rules
laid down for them ; great care used.
Question about a new translation. Arch
bishop Newcome.
CHAPTER XIIL p. 199.
651. The government of the state influenced
the affairs of the church, from the sta
tions which many churchmen held in the
administration.
553. Montague attacked by the commons.
Mainwairing fined by them. Both of
them made bishops.
553. Laud urges the clefgy to promote forced
loans; the clergy Ihus invested with an
office little suited to their character, and
made parties to arbitrary proceedings, in
the ideas of the people.
554. Churchmen ad milled into the privy-coun
cil. Star Chamber, and High Commission
Courts. The foundation and proceedings
of the Star Chamber; its illegal extension;
severity of its punishments.
555. Court of High Commission. The people
angry at the dissolution of so many par
liaments. Williams and Abbot treated
severely ; Abbot's real fault.
556. Feoffees of impropriations ; they act
without any legal authoritj-; accused of
perverting the charily to wrong purposes ;
exchequered, and the property forfeited
to the crown. Laud ought to have ma
naged the charity himself.
557. Arminianism generally prevails ; parti
cularly among those in authority in the
church. Declaration prefixed to the
Thirty-nine Articles. Bishop Davenant
censured. Preachers al Oxford expelled.
These acts create a hostility against the
court and church.
558. The Sabbatarian controversy. The laxity
prevalent in Roman Catholic countries
had been continued in the reigns of James
and Elizabeth. Disputes as lo the name,
the time of its continuance, the day of
celebrating it, and the manner of observ
ing it ; faults on both sides. (^) Austeri
ties of some preachers.
559. Richardson suppresses wakes, &o., in
Somersetshire ; he is brought before the
privy council. The Book of Sports re
published ; enjoined to be read. The
conduct of different clergymen.
660. Sabbatarian question discussed; difli-
' culty of the ¦ question ; folly of the
court; and the ill effect of this on the
church. (4)

561. The proclamation might have done much
good, if judiciously drawn up.
562. Severity against Prynne, Bastwick, and
Burton: irritation produced by it; they
are brought back in triumph. Odium
thrown on the bishops.
563. Severity used towards WiUiams. Injus
tice towards Osbolston ; his libel against
Laud. These circumstances prove the
insecurity of the government.
564. Scotch Liturgy. Hostility lo bishops in
Scotiand. Alienation of church properly;
Elizabeth fostered this. James had gra
dually obtained some power for the bish
ops, and when he came to England en
deavoured lo unite the two churches.
565. The steps by which James endeavoured
lo establish episcopacy. Assembly of
St. Andrew's, and of Perth ; articles of
Perth.
566. The presbyterians petition Charles I.
Lord Balmiranoch condemned to death.
The causes which contributed to render
episcopacy unpopular. Imprudence of
Charles. Bad state of the government.
567. Charles prepares to senddown the Scotch
Liturgy; drawn up by Weederburn. Ca
nons sent down under a proclamation;
the impolicy of this. The advisers of
these measures quite inadequate to the
task.
568. Tumults arising from the use of the Li
turgy ; no one was anxious lo suppress
them. Hamilton the king's commissioner
at Glasgow. The general assembly re
scind all that had been done. The cove
nant signed in Edinburgh, and a civil
war begun, in which the king was unsuc
cessful.
569. The same process was going on in Eng
land. Laud and the bishops were alien
ating the minds of the people by severity,
and by enforcing ceremonies ; the ab
surdity of this conduct.
570. Canons framed; the quesiic nable nature
of their authority; the absutuity of them
at such a moment ; their enactments ; the
et ctelera oath ; the clergy directed to en
force them ; their injurious effects with
regard to the clergy. They would have
made the clergy promoters of the illegal
acts of the crown.
571. An outline of the state of the country;
necessity of reform. The power of the
king ill defined. The court of ecclesias
tical commission prejudiced the natior.
against bishops. Laud attempted to de
fend corruptions, and his opponents were
forced to attack the whole of the existing
state of things. The impolicy of Laud
consisted in alienating the moderate party.
The struggle was in the state, and epis
copacy was disliked as an engine of state,
572. Long Parliament. Committees on church
matters. The crimes objected to clergy
men. The injustice of these proceedings.
573. Attacks on the civil power ofthe church.
Property cannot be retained without pow-
c2

xxii

CONTENTS.

er. Attacks made against the votes of
the bishops. They sign a protest, and
are unjustly sent to the Tower. Bishop
Hall's Hard Measure. The Star Cham
ber and Ecclesiastical Commission sup
pressed.
574. The first steps tended to curlaU the power
of the bishops. When the war broke out,
the loyalty of the clergy forced the par
liament lo destroy them as individuals ;
but it was on account of the aid from
ScoUand that the House favoured the
presbytery.
675. Causes of the war; the existence of real
abuses, and the unwillingness of the
court to reform them tiU il was too late.
576. OutUne of the war. Edgehill. The
king gains possession of Oxford. Battie
of Brentford.
577. The pariiament take Reading. Sir R.
Hopton takes Bristol. The king loses
time in besieging Gloucester. The siege
raised, and the first battle of Newbury
fought.
578. Advance of the Scotch army. The co
venant forced upon England. Battle of
Marston Moor; York surrenders. The
army of Essex surrenders at Fowey. Se
cond battle of Newbury.
579. Faults and advantages of either party.
The royalists were gallant and vicious.
The puritans were outwardly religious,
regular, and covetous of plunder.
.580. Essex anxious to become the arbitrator
of the war. The self-denying ordinance.
Cromwell continued in his command.
Fairfax, general ; his merits. Cromwell
the secret contriver of these plans ; his
talents in forming his army. (') The
classes of persons who composed the two
armies.
581. Campaign of Fairfax. Battle of Naseby.
Reduction of the west. Charles surren
ders lo the Scotch. Oxford surrenders.
The royalists destroyed by their own dis
sensions, arising from want of firmness
in the king.
582. Misery of England. The injustice of
the parliament towards Laud and Lord
Strafford. Charles much to blame in giv
ing up the lattei-. Difficulty of drawing
Laud's character.
683. Character of Laud. His objects good ;
his method of pursuing them unsound ;
difficulty of the times. Laud advanced
ehurbhmen to defend the church ; and in-
Creased the hatred of the people towards
him ; he so favoured Arminianism as to
ihake the Calvinists his enemies ; he en
forced ceremonies, and engaged the reU
gious feelings of the country against him.
As a minister he made the law bend to
his wishes.
584. Many chatges brought against him were
groundless; he was guilty, but not of
treason ; he was not a. htefo ; his defence
pusillaiiimous ; his greatness in his afflic
tions.

685. The church and state were now thrown
down, and it was necessary to reconstruct
some form of government. Archbishop
Usher's plan of combining episcopacy
with the presbytery. The assembly of
divines called. Their constitution, and
numbers.
586. Epipcopalians, presbyterians, and inde
pendents. The presbyterians soon be
came the predominating faction, chiefly
through the introduction of the covenant.
587. Principles of the presbyterians. Repub
lican tendency of this form of govern
ment. Much more tyrannical over the
laity than the episcopal.
588. Independents. Their principles subver
sive of all church government. Friends
of religious liberty, supported by the po
litics of Cromwell. Erastians ; they made
the church entirely political.
589. Alteration of the Thirty-nine Articles.
The principles of church government
discussed. The divine right of presby
tery not established. Erastianism pre
vails. Ordination placed in the hands
ofthe assembly.
590. Works of the assembly. Directory;
points in which it essentially differs from
the church of England. Indefinite rules
about ordination. The doctrine of pre
destination brought forward prominently.
591. Constitution of the presbyterian church.
The ministers and elders have the judi
cial power vested in them. The differ
ence in this respect in the episcopal
church. Deacons. (') Cause of the
power in the presbytery.
592. The presbytery established in London
and Lancashire only, and always unde.-
control of parliament; objections raised
to this restraint. The claim of the jus
divinum for the presbytery ; it was super
seded by independency.
593. Independency destroys aU church disci
pline ; the army friendly to it. The chief
officers, who were also preachers, dis
dained spiritual control; and the politics
of the army disliked the republican ten
dency of the presbytery. Independency
e.stablished in Wales.
594. The object of the independents was
liberty of conscience; the army joined
them, and the presbyterians joined the
republicans. Escape of the king; the
object of allowing this. All tended to
destroy the king.
595. The presbyterians might have saved
Charles, if he would have joined them.
His disputation with Henderson, and firm
adherence to episcopacy. The soundness
of his arguments. At Newport the king
was assisted by several divines ; but
his reasoning at Newcastle was safer.
C) Episcopal power.
596. Character of Charies. The people of
England had determined to pay no taxes
save those which they had imposed on
themselves, and the court would not

CONTENTS.

concede this. Laud tried to induce the
church lo maintain the government, but
he had offended many of the lower
clergy.
697. Great want of confidence in the court.
The concessions, when granted to force,
were lo be supported by further demands :
and these were necessarily grounded on
the insincerity of Charles. Evidence
against him as to this point. The real
difficulty consisted in his weakness of
mind; when he had lost his crown, he
became dignified in his misfortunes; his
virtues.
598. Sufferings ofthe clergy. Many puritans
driven to join the parliament. The royal
ists ejected on very small grounds, and
without any formal proceedings. Accu
sations made against them ; ejected for
refusing to take the covenant. The par
liament most unjust in ihis proceeding.
One-fifth of the value of their prefer
ments granted lo their families. Number
ejected.
599. Cambridge. .\n order for respecting the
properly of the university disregarded.
The earl of Manchester reforms it, and
ejects many members.
600. Oxford ; of great assistance to the king
during the war. Commissioners sent
there lo reform il. Their authority de
spised till supported by soldiers. "Rea
sons why the university could not assent
to the covenant." The suffering royal-
Lsts aided ihe Restoration. The uni
versity filled up. The value of such es
tablishments. CHAPTER XIV. p. 33.
601. Thehistory of all popular revolutions the
same. Reform only safe in the hands of
the upper orders. The power at the end
ofthe war was in the hands ofthe army,
and they chose lo retain il.
603. Cromwell conquers Ireland; goes to
Scotland, gains ihe battle of Dunbar.
Charles crowned at Scone. BatUe of
Worcester.
603. Cromwell, by threatening the country
with the prospect of anarchy, from the
insufficiency of his parliaments, assumes
the protectorship. (') Instrument of go
vernment.
604. The principle of his government; he
attaches eminent persons to him ; seeks
for fit men for all situations. Justice.
The protector of Protestants.
1505. Character of Cromwell; honest and
patriotic at first. His own interest led
him to wish for the death of the king ; he
becara^entangled in political plans, and
lost his honesty ; lie was severe, but
never bloodthirsty ; his treatment of the
royalists.
606. The presbyterians had generally estab
lished themselves in livings; but they
eould not control the power which they

had rai;>ed. The government found them
ill suited to its views, and ejected them
by means of the Engagement. The
presbyterian ministry fond of temporal
power.
607. The independents raised the standard of
religious liberty against the presbyte
rians; and when some of the presby
terians communicated with the Scotch,
Mr. Love was executed; their power as
a church was never established.
608. Propagation of the gospel in Wales, the
work of the independents; the ministers
were here invested with no ministerial
authority, and were mere licensed and
paid teachers.
609. The assembly formed the first bond of
church government, and afterwards the
Triers ; they were vested with great
power, and used it very arbitrarily, and
as a political engine. Oliver Cromwell's
declaration against the royalist clergy.
610. Cromwell was a friend to toleration,
which was granted to those who held
"the fundamentals of Christianity ;" ques
tion as to the meaning of this expression.
He would have tolerated Roman Catho
Ucs and Jews, but objections arose from
different quarters.
611. The effects ofthe usurpation on morals;
the accounts are very various.
613. Baxter's ministry al Kidderminster; he
was elected lecturer, and afterwards took
the sequestration of the living ; he gather
ed a church in his own parish, and ex
ercised discipline there. Associations
formed among ministers, and not con
fined to any party.
613. Objections to Baxter's plans. Separation
between the godly and ungodly. Meetings
ofthe clergy ; then more wanted perhaps
than at present.
614. Strictness of the independents as lo ad
mission into church union ; they composed
a confession of faith nearly resembling
that of the Assembly; their internal
government democratic. The presby
terians publish directions about cate
chising.
615. Walton and Clarendon give a sad ac
count of the state of moraUty. Some
ministers of the church of England con
tinued their ministr)-. Sanderson and
Bull. Skinner, bishop of Oxford, ordained
many.
616. The episcopalians spent their time in
sufferings and patient study, and thus as
sisted the Restoration. Cromwell was
practically not cruel. Many resided with
their friends. Oriental literature flou
rished.
617. The features of religious fanaticism are
generally the same everywhere. Forms
had been regarded too much, and they
were now laid aside altogether.
618. Fox. The comlv-ct of the quakers ex
posed them lo paaishment, which was
often cruelly inflicted, but the fault was

CONTENTS.

chiefly their own: these quakers unlike
those of the present day.
619. Anabaptists. Antinomians. Familists.
Fifth-monarchy men. Confusion pro
duced by these differences and a want of
toleration. Morality injured by it.
620. Laws against immorality very severe;
concerning the Sabbath, uncleanness, and
plays.
621. Laws against heretics. James Naylor
punished. Fry expelled the House. Bid
dle tried for Socinianism. Corruptions
produced by the war.
622. Marriage made a civil contract; the
wisdom of this.
623. Difficulty about the succession of bish
ops ; many methods of obviating it con
trived, but rendered unnecessary by the
Restoration.
634. Causes of the Restoration.
CHAPTER XV. p. 346.
650. The presbyterians instrumental in re
storing the king; they provided no safe
guards for their own form of govern
ment, thinking themselves too strong to
be in danger.
651. The term pre^yterian explained; they
were not anti-episcopalians, but wished
to confine the power of the bishop within
narrow limits.
653. Charles II. was very civil to the presby
terians. He refuses to omit the cere
monies of the church. There was no
real coalition between the puritans and
the court.
663. The convention parliament contained
many presbyterians ; its acts prudent,
which, however, were liable to be ques
tioned, and several of the membefs were
not chosen according to the writs ; it is
dissolved.
664. Difficulties attending the Restoration ;
the army is unwilling to be disbanded;
some officers suspect that they had been
made the tools of Monk; little money.
655, The old and new royalists, each de
spising the other, and each importunate
to obtain preferment from the king.
656. State of the church. The presbyterians
were unfriendly to the government of the
bishops, who were now restored. The
reversion of all church lands and livings
created a vast transfer of property. Fel
lowships restored; some innocent per
sons ejected.
657. Episcopacy objected to. The presby
tery sought the jurisdiction over their
parishes; this the real point at issue.
658. The bishops feared that their power
would be taken away, and they tried to
show that no alterations were necessary,
and would make no concessions to the
presbytery.
659. The presbyterians wanted to show the
necessity of changes, but were afraid to
ask to_ 'Jiuch, frr fear of offending their

own party, and dividing among them
selves; and equally unwilling to ask too
little, lest the bishops should say, that
there was no cause for separation from
the church.
660. Origin of the Savoy conference. The
king's declaration from Breda had raised
the hopes of the presbyterians, who pre
sented a petition objecting to
661. The discipline of the church, the Liturgy,
and ceremonies; and prayed for altera
tions.
663. The bishops answered, that many ofthe
evils complained of with regard to dis
cipline were remedied by law. That ob
jectionable points in the Liturgy might
be altered, and that the ceremonies were
innocent.
663. The nonconformists were induced to
proceed, by a promise from the king that
he would put forth a declaration lo mo
derate between the contending parties.
When this was shown to the noncon
formists, Baxter drew up a violent paper,
which was never presented.
664. Many alterations are introduced into the
declaration by the nonconformists. A
discussion at Worcester House. The
Presbyterians unwilling to tolerate others.
665. The king's declaration ; it contains
ample concessions as lo the power of
presbyters, the Liturgy, and ceremonies ;
and prays all to conform as far as they
can.
666. Sir Matthew Hale attempts to convert
the declaration into a law, which is
thrown out. Bishoprics offered to some
of the nonconformists ; Baxter refuses
one; his reasons.
667. The commission for the Savoy confer
ence; they were to review the Liturgy,
and draw up additional forms.
663. The bishops demanded at once all the
objections of the nonconformists. A com
mittee formed for all the alterations.
Baxter undertakes the additional forms.
669. Baxter's liturgy. The imprudence of
drawing it up ; his object and plan. The
faults of Ihe work.
670. The objections to the Liturgy presented.
Baxter's petition for peace ; the want of
moderation in it.
671. They object lo the Common Prayer ge
nerally, to the ceremonies, and discipline;
particulars in which they requested altera
tion.
673, The answer of the bishops was moderate
and sound ; but not conciliatory. Three
of the promised concessions were never
really made.
673. Answer of the nonconformists. They
agree to carry on a disputation. Bishop
Cosins desires the nonconformists to dis
tinguish between what was sinful and
what was inexpedient in the Common
Prayer. Baxter's answer.
674, Inutility of the disputation. The time of
the commission elapses through delays

CONTENTS.

XXT

created perhaps on purpose. No good
results from the conference.
675. The nonconformists present an address
to the king. Baxter was much to blame
in the whole transaction.
676. The concessions might have been more
numerous, but the great question turned
on discipline.
677. The question of discipline is one of great
difficulty. The difference between dis
cipline and government. Church govern
ment a mixtnre of the two.
678. DiscipUne over the laity. A conscien-
tiotis minister may now admonish; it is
doubtful whether further power would
increase his opiritual utility.
679. The nonconformists present a petition,
and stale their readiness lo suffer pa
tiently the penalties affixed to noncon
formity.

CHAPTER XVL p. 261.
701. Little good to be expected from confer
ences. The best method of attempting
alterations. Convocation. Review of the
Liturgy. Alteration of thecanons. Articles
of visitation. Consecration of churches.
Grammar. Subsidy, the last raised by
the clergy; how this change was effectetl,
and its consequences.
702. Act of uniformity. Its object different
from ihat of Elizabeth. The practical
tendency of the latter was, lo make all
conform; of the act now made, lo eject
as many nonconformists as possible.
703. A church must exclude from the mi
nistry those who will not conform lo its
rules; but on this occasion moderation
might have been used, for so great a
change of properly was an evil; and
much good might have been done by
augmenting small livings. (^) Augmenta
tion of small livings.
704. Ejection of the nonconforming clergy
discussed. The country generally un-
_ favourable lo them, which gave a full
' power to the church of treating them as
they pleased.
705. Moderate measures would probably have
retained many nonconformists in the
church ; but this was not the object ofthe
superior clergy. A saying of Sheldon.
706. The injustice of ejecting those who had
obeyed a government de faclo, and of
making no provision for them.
707. If they had proceeded on the act of Eli
zabeth, they would have divided Ihe
party. The Prayer Book published very
near St. Bartholomew's day; and that
day selected in order lo deprive the
ejected clergy ofthe tithes ofthe year.
708. Political feelings mixed up with these
measures. The governing party were
uncertain as to the continuance of their
power. The papists promoted these dis
sensions.

709.710.

711.

713.713.714.

71.5,

716. 717,

718,

719,

730,

721.

733. 723.

724.

725.

Charles not unfriendly to toleration ; he
tries to soften matters ; his declaration.
Two thousand ministers ejected; who^
thus evinced their sincerity. Reordina
tion the chief difficulty. The delicacy of
the question. Bramhall's and Overall's
conduct about this: it is unfortunate that
nothing of this sort was adopted. (') On
reordination. Severities exercised on the nonconform
ists. The Church of England tries to
defend herself by exclusive laws.
Corporation act. Select vestry act.
First conventicle act. Second.
Five-mile act; passed while the noncon
formists were particularly exerting them
selves during the plague.
Attempts at a comprehension. Lord
Keeper Bridgman. The king's declara
tion for toleration. Repeal of a law
against nonconformists; omitted by the
clerk of the crown. Unconstitutional
vote of Ihe commons.
The severity againsl dissenters prepared
the minds of the people for toleration.
The conduct of the nonconformists un
justifiable ; they destroyed the unity of the
church for their own prejudices ; the laws
were impolitic in comprehendirfg them
all under one class.
Letters of foreign reformers. The non
conformists wished for certain alterations,
and because these were not granted, they
caused a schism in the church. Both
parties became guilty, and taught other
people moderation.
Latitudinarians. The name first given
at Cambridge. Men whose moderation
displeased everybody. The term applied
indistinctly. Laws against Roman Catholics. They
are excluded from all offices, and from
sitting in Parliament. The duke of York
excepted. The inutility of all enactments
with regard to Charles II.
Plots ; Gates'. The evidence question
able. There was probably a general
attempt to bring in the Roman Catholic
religion, but no design lo murder the
king. The severity against Oates in the
next reign proves nothing.
Dangerfield's plot. There was no safety
from the law, which was converted into
a means of oppressing the subject.
The danger which threatened the church
was that to which the slate was likewise
exposed: viz., the introduction of the
Roman Catholic religion by means of
arbitrary power. The high and low
church parly joined in repelling this.
The court regarded the question as one
of politics. The country looked upon it
generally as a religious one.
Attempts of Charles to establish the dis
pensing power. The country adverse to
toleration ; and justly alanned at the con
duct ofthe crown.
The nonconformists not worthy of praise

XXVI

CONTENTS.

for refusing toleration, which must have
been extended to Roman Catholics. The
exclusion of the Roman Catholics from
civil offices not inconsistent with tolera
tion, but can only be defended on the plea
of necessity.
726. The civil history of the reign disgraceful.
727. The plague. Many of the clergy fly;
their places were quickly filled hy the
nonconforming divines. Reformation of
morals promoted by it. Athens and
London.
728. Fire of London. The nonconforming
ministers deprived of the charity which
they had obtained froth the city. The
mutual' criminations. The nonconform
ists establish meetings. Several influen
tial members of the establishment parti
cularly useful. Violence of the noncon
formists.
729. Dissent and hostility to the government
creates a reaction among churchmen,
who adopt extravagant notions of govern
ment. The Oxford decree framed by Dr.
Jane.
730. Lord Clarendon friendly to the republi
cans ; hostile to the church. Why ? Bur
net's reason. In reality the presbyterians
were unfit to govern. The chancellor
trusted lo severity, and the adoption of it
convinced men ofthe necessity of tolera
tion.
731. Lord Clarendon supported measures of
which he did not approve; his own opi
nions therefore are uncertain. The feel
ings of the country fostered persecuUon.
The nonconformists would have perse
cuted in their turn. The church certainly
lo blame.
733. Profligacy of Charles II. ; he sought
ease ; and arbitrary power was no further
dear to him than as it procured him free
dom. His talents considerable ; infamous
for being willing to enslave England to
France.
733. Profligacy fostered by religious dissen
sions. F.-inaticism was followed by hy
pocrisy, by profligacy, by religious dis
cord; but God raised up deliverance from
our very misfortunes.

APPENDIX E. p. 278.
HISTORY OF THE COMPILATION OF THE COM
MON PRArEIl aooK.
741. The Common Prayer Book was compiled
from the services of the Roman church.
The King's Primer published 1545, con
taining the litany and prayers; republish
ed by Edward, and Elizabeth.
742. The service for the communion after the
mass ; the first part in Latin, the second
in English, 1548. Great moderation with
regard lo auricular confession.
743. The whole service in English, 1549;
this differs much from the present Liturgy,
and may be deemed a connecting link

between the missal and the Prayer Book.
(^) Differences from the present Liturgy.
744. The prudence wilh which it was drawn
up. An ordination service composed and
published, 1550.
745. Review ofthe Liturgy, 1552. Second of
Edward VL Bucer and Peter Martyr
consulted. It differs little from ihe pre
sent. ( ) Alterations between the Li
turgy of 1549— 1552.
746. Liturgy of Elizabeth, 1560; a few altera
tions from that of the second uf Edward
VL (») Alterations, 1552—1560.
747. .^Iterations introduced by proclamation,
1604. (') Alterations, 1560—1604.
748. Changes made while Laud whs arch
bishop. (^)Changes then made. (')Scotch
Liturgy.
749. Alterations made by the convocation,
1661. The work had been prepared, and
was quickly carried through the house.
This is the present Liturgy. (-) Altera
tions now made.
750. Service for the consecration of churches;
often aliempted, but never authorized;
drawn up by Bishop Andrews. Four
political services, for Nov. 5, Jan. 30,
May 29, and the .Accession.
CHAPTER XVIL p. 385.
751. The contest decided in 1688 was apoli
tical one. James's arbitrary notions ; his
very conversion lo Romanism, politica,.
753. He .limed al arbitrary power, and pre
ferred the principles of Romanism, be
cause ihey are better suited to it than
those of the church of England. His
sentiments about the bill of exclusion.
753. The Protestants had driven ihe Roman
Catholics into his arms ; al his accession
he promised to support the church of
England ; and he fancied thai a party in
the church would support his plan<.
754. The first acts of James were arbitrary.
A large revenue was settled upon him ;
he was blinded as to the real slate of
things, partly by the success with which
his arms were crowned. His cruelly.*
755. James's cruelty was his own. No one
can entertain any great respect for the
religious principles of so vicious a man.
750. Inorder to check the opposition of church
men, James forbade preaching on contro
versial subjects, and threatened lo make
a new valor for tenths and first-fruils.
The church active in ihe popish contro
versy. James appoints an ecclesiastical
commission.
757. The commission furnished with ample
powers for reforming ecclesiastical bo
dies, schools, and universities. Compton
suspended for not suspending Sharp.
758. James, wishing lo curb the church, issues
a declaration for liberty of conscience,
which totally repealed all the penal laws.
In Ihis he in vaded private properly, though
he disclaimed the right of doing so.

CONTENTS.

769. He attempts to form a parliament favour
able to his views, by unwise means. He
atiempls to influence the judges most ille
gally. The dispensing power tried in the
case of Sir Edward Hales.
760. The sufferings of the dissenters ; the
court tried lo divide them from the
church, but their moderation prevented
thi.s.
761. James begins by attacking the universi
ties. Stale of Oxford. Roman Catholic
heads of houses. He commands Magda
len college lo elect Farmer for their pre
sident; and upon their continued refusal.
Hough and twenty-five fellows were eject
ed. S. Parker and B. Giffard successive
presidents.
762. James's view of the question. The uni
versity of Cambridge refuses a degree to
a Roman Catholic. The vice-chancellor
ejected. A similarly illegal attempt is
made at the Charter-house.
763. James makes Petre a privy-counsellor,
and sends Lord Castiemain lo Rome.
These acts allributed to Lord Sunder
land. (*) Vicars apostolic.
764. James not friendly to the power of Rome.
The pope and his other friends recom-
men I caution. The pope's nuncio re
ceived at Windsor, and consecrated at
St. James's.
765. James sees Ihe growing spirit of opposi
tion, and tries to gain a parliament favour
able to his views, and to abolish the test;
he converses wilh many persons on his
progress,- and u.*es violent methods to
wards corporations ; but became more
and more mistrusted.
766. He relies on his army, and introduces
Roman Catholics inio it. Mr. Johnson
punished severely for an address to Ihe
army.
767. When every one was offended at him,
James republishes his declaration for
liberty of conscience. The clergy are
directed to read it in their churches.
768. The difficulty in which the clergy were
placed. The bishops come fcirward and
, present a petition. Few clergymen read
the declaration. Four bis-hops enjoin if.
769. The bishop? sent to the Tower. The ex
citement among Ihe people.
770. Trialof Ihe bishops. Question of the dis
pensing power. Opinion of the judges.
They are acquitted. Joy of the people
and army.
771. James hopes to remedy his folly by firm
ness. Dismisses the two judges who had
favoured the bishops. The ecclesiastical
commission exerled. The good conduct
of the dissenters. Sancroft attempts a
comprehension. His plan.
772. Progress of the revolution. The alarm
of James made him retrace his steps
when it was too late.
773. He consults the bishops, and follows their
advice lo no purpose.
774. The bishops refused to .sign a declaration

of abhorrence wilh regard to the conduct
of the prince of Orange. This refusal
probably saved episcopacy in England.
775. The bishops advise him'lo call a free
parliament. He determines lo try the
army ; discovers his mistake, and at
tempts a flight into France ; he is de
tained, returns lo London, and again flies.
776. Character of James; his talents; want
ing in honesty ; an excellent man of busi
ness ; his views wilh regard to trade and
liberty of conscience; his false notions
of government.
777. His great object was lo establish arbi
trary power, and for this purpose he
wished lo introduce the Roman Catholic
religion; he always esteemed all persons
who differed from his opinions as hostile
to him, and fell into the hands of fooUsh
and dishonest advisers.
778. He posses.sed no r£al religion while he was
king, and opposed the church of Rome;
received the banished Protestants. He
was very deceitful in his promises about
the church of England. Dishonest and
unwise.
779. The birth ofthe prince made the country
look to itself for deliverance. No ground
for the supposed illegitijnacy of the child.
780. The present struggle of a mixed nature.
It was mostly political, but the people re
garded it as a religious one.
781. Conduct of the clergy. Accused by the
Roman Catholics and noncrmformists of
preaching passive obedience, till they
had deceived the king. Thi.-; might have
been the case with some, but innny of
Ihem exhihiled their opinions openly.
Glorious conduct of the distinguiahed
churchmen. CHAPTER XVIIL p. 300.
801. The oaths of supremacy and allegiance
altered and imposed. The nonjuring
bishops. The impolicy of imposing the
oath.
803. Inutility of many oaths. General oaths
sometimes useful. Frequency of oaths
disgraceful to us.
803. The friends and supporters of the Revo-
lulion suffered by il. Power given to
William lo grant incomes to some of
the clergy; never used. The deprived
bishops continue Ihe succession of^ bish
ops among themselves.
804. 'i'he principles upon which Ihey did this.
They possessed a power which the civil
auihority could not lake away, and which
therefore they continued to exercise. Dif
ference between their case and that of the
Scotch bishops. Difficulty of praying for
William and Mary.
805. The question ofthe propriety of the con
duct of these bishops. The Revolution
is not to be justified on permanent prin
ciples, but is one of those cases which
are not provided for in the B ible. The non-

CONTENTS.

ju ring bishops are not to be blamed; their
subsequent conduct created a schism, and
is unjustifiable.
806. Toleration act passes. A commission
granted for preparing alterations in the
Liturgy, and reforming the discipline of
the church ; some of the members refuse
to act. (^) The names of the commis
sioners.
807. Intended alterations in the Liturgy.
808. Prideaux's expectations from Ihis con
vocation. Z)csirf«Yi/a in the Liturgy. Form
of family prayer; disuse of it arising
from the circumstances of the limes.
(^) The American Prayer Book, 1790.
809. The temper of the lower house of Con
vocation. Dr. Jane elected prolocutor;
the causes of this; his speech. The dis
pute about the address. The session dis
continued. The clergy blamed.
810. If alterations had been made, the non
jurors would have had more apparent
reason for calling themselves the old
church, and of charging the others wilh
creating divisions. No good to be ex
pected from a comprehension ; yet all
reasonable objections might as well be
obviated.
811. The church of England was now esta
blished by law, as it stands at present; a
summary of its history; it ceased to be
Roman Catholic under Henry VIII. ; it
became Protestant by law under Ed
ward VL; but hardly fixed in the hearts
of the people.
813. Under Mary Romanism was restored,
but by no means with full power; she
persecuted from principle, and her per
secutions convinced the people of the
evils of popery.
813. Elizabeth loved ceremonies, and'hated
puritanism ; and by her severities united
those who op]Tosed either the government
of the church or slate.
814. Theseevils were augmentedunder James,

and his weakness and impolicy strength
ened his enemies.
815. Laud increased Ihe lyranny of, and the
opposition to, the Star Chamber and Ec
clesiastical Commission. The canons
contributed to make the ruling part of the
clergy disliked, and the exclusive con
duct of Laud drove many more into the
ranks of the enemies ofthe church.
816. Al the Restoration some power was given
back lo the bishops' courts; but the per
secution which was exercised arose from
ihe House of Commons, and at last con
vinced the country of the necessity of
toleration.
817. The church of England is an authorized
and paid establishment, but not an exclu
sive one; and is bound to endeavour to
benefit the country. Such an ecclesia.s-
tical society was instituted by Christiani
ty, but has been modified by the law of
the land.
818. Evils arising from the connection be
tween the church and slate. Wrong
appointments in the church. Worldly-
mindedness in the clergy. Destruction
of spiritual government; and of ecclesi
astical discipline.
819. The blessings of the church as amoral
police,' and a teacher of Christianity.
APPENDIX F. p. 310.
Bainham's conference with Latimer. The
death of Cranmer. L. Saunders, his
conduct wilh regard to his child and
wife; his letter about his shirt. Tyn
dale's letter lo Frith, relating the firmnes.s
of his wife.
CuRONOLOCICAL TaBLES, p. 317.
Genealogical Tables, p. 339.
Index, p. 333.

SKETCH OP THE HISTORY

THE CHURCH OF ENGLx\ND,

CHAPTER I.
TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
. Outline of the history of the British church. 2. Evidence in favour of St. Paul's having preached
in Britain. Other traditions without foundation. 3. King Lucius. St. Alban. Constantine puts
an end to persecution. 4. British bishops at various councils. 5. Pelagianism. Schools. GaUi
can liturgy. 6. Conversion of the Saxons. 7. Augusiin ; his proceedings. 8. Progress of the
conversion of the Saxons. Wilfrid. 9. Roman supremacy. 10. Danes. Tithes. 11. Alfred.
12. Udo. Dunstan. Wealth of the church. 13. Imperfection of this sketch. 14. Origin of the
errors of the church of Rome. 15. Prayer for the dead. Purgaiory. 16. Transubstantiation.
17. Mass. 18. Image worship. 19. Relics. 20. Pilgrimages. 21. Confession and penance.
22. Celibacy of ihe Clergy. 23. History of ecciesiasiical establishments. 24. Progress of error.
25. Real danger of erroneous opinions. 26. Inadequate views of Christianity among the Sa.xons.

The early history of the British
church, if it be regarded as a question
of curiosity, may well 'claim the atten
tion of those who delight in such re
searches ; but to him who seeks only
for truths which may prove useful in
the formation of his own opinions, any
considerable investigation into the re
cords which are left us, can offer little
beyond labour, accompanied with very
trifling hopes of reward. The particu
lars which are to be gleaned from our
uncertain and unsupported histories,
may be briefly comprehended under
the following heads. The island was
early blessed by the dissemination
of Christianity, possibly through the
preaching of St. Paul ; and before the
end of the second century the country
TIa3 generally "TecerveHthe gospel.
Episcopacy was from the first esta
blished' among us, and the British
church partook in the persecutions and
heresies which agitated the rest of the
Christian community, and appears to
have had much connectioii with^Gaul;
but neither of these churclies paid any
1

further deference to Rome than that
which the youn,ger sister ought to con
cede to her elder. The flourishing
condition of this church was first de
stroyed by heresy and vice, and then
oppressed and overwhelmed by the
arrival of the heathen Saxon, who in
his turn became the civilized convert of
the faith which he had once persecuted.
§ 2. With regard to the details of
these events, it will perhaps be deemed
sufficient if the reader be referred to
those authorities where he will find all
the satisfaction which can be obtained,
while only such particulars are men
tioned as seem from their importance
to merit our further attention. Euse
bius asserts,' that some of the apo.'jtles
preached the g'ospel in the British isles. "^
Theodoret confirms this ;¦' and else
where, after having mentioned Spain,
' Slillingfleet's Orig. Brit. 36.
2  Tii.iii 51 nirj Kai err' airu rns o'lKO'iizurj.; i^OzZu ra
axpa, hii n T'T.. 'lyiJ'Ji' (pOjaai x'pav, Kal Ertpong vjrlp Toif
'iZwayoy TTapz\Oi.Li> im ri; Ka\o>^zjag UpErra-jixii^ vm^t^S,
&c. &c. Euseb. Dem. Evang. lib. iii. c. 7, p.J,l"2.
Paris, 1628.
3 Oi il iininpoi h\itXs kol o\ Ts\'2i^dc, tcai o cKvm6ji9s
A 1

2

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I.

says that St. Paul brought salvation to
the isles which lie in the ocean.' These
testimonies of the fourth and fifth cen
turies are supported by an expression
of Clement of Rome, who wrote before
the end of the first, and who relates
that St. Paul preached righteousness
through the whole world,' and in so
doing went to the utmost bounds of the
West.'' If these words are to be taken
in their literal sense, little doubt can
remain th.^t this kingdom was converted
to Christianity by the apostle to the
Gentiles; yet such deductions must al
ways be regarded with suspicion : and,
though we may not hesitate in believ
ing that our holy faith was planted in
these islands at a period not far distant
from the first preaching of Christianity,*
we shall hardly assign to this event a
date so early as the reign of Tiberius,
as some authors have done,' from mis
understanding a passage in Gildas.
The several traditions about St.
•Tames, Sirnon Zelotes," and Philip,^ are
uTTOCTij' arOp.Vois TOVS E¦«ayy£^'^'OUJ Jrpoytvrjtioxayt f6^o-'s.
Kid oi> jihot/ ^Pw^atou;, Kill tov; vtjo Tovroig reXoyi/ra; dWa
Kill ra Sf SiKit, &,c. — Kai "BpZTaytroVi Kai UTrafaTAcS; ~a.'
D'o; Kai ytjo; duQpi^Tzoif , oe^airOai tov tTrpaiiptiiOkirTO; tov;
t.i'.yj"g dusKEivai.. 'rheodorefiSerm. i.\. De Legibus,
p. tilO, tom. iv. Paris, 1642.
' "Yarcpni' ixEi'TOi Kai -rj; 'lTa\ia; Eiitlir}, Kai ci; ra;
Z~a"ia; liliiKETO, Kal rai; EC no JreXayEi SiaKEtjiEyai; vfijoi;
ri> iii,E\Etay Tipoafii'EyKE, &,c. In Psalm, cxvi. torn.
i, |i. 871.
' XTToXoyiuc.piE'^o; iii; a^iio; dipEiOri, Kai Ta; ^iravia;
KarESn^E, Kal ei; ETEpa e^jti Spa^hv rfjii rii; 5i5aiTKa\ia;
XiiuiTii^a nfocn'ii'EyKE. In 'fim. iv. 17, lom. iii. p. 506.
'2 Cave's Life of St. Paul, £0.
^ n^OXo;  KTipvl yEll6jXEV0; if TE TTj AvaToX^ Kai EU TTJ
HuEi — SiKaioav^riv iidd?a; oXou ~dy KOGftoi', Kai cm to
r'rpiin Tijj ivoEi'i; EXOjyf. &c. Clemens Rom. ad Cor.
p. 8. 0,xr, 1633.
¦^ TertuUian, who wrote about A. D. 200, and
Origen, 240, both speak of Christianity as fully
rstablifehed in Britain.
In quem enim alium universEe gentes credide
runt. tiisi in Christum qui jam venit ? Cui enim
ct aline genles crediderunt ; Parlhi, cfcc.  His-
pania.um omnes termini et Galliarum diverstE
ria'iones. et Brilannorum inaccessa Romanis loca,
Chrislo vero subdita, &c. Terlullianus adv.
Judasos, p. 212. Paris, 1634.
Virtns Domini Salvatoris et cum his est qui ab
orbe nostro in Britannia dividunlur, &c. Ori^e-
nia Hom. vi. in Lucam. p. 939, iii. Paris, 1740.
Quando enim terra Brilannias ante adventum
Chrisii in unius Dei conssnsit religionem ? Quan
do terra Mauroruin ? Quando lotus semel orbis?
Nunc vero propler ecclesias, quae mundi limiles
icnent, universa terra cum ItEtitia clamat ad Domi
num Israel, cl capax est bonorum secundum fines
SIMS. P. 370. H. in Ezech. iv.
<> Stillingfleet, 4.
^ According to the Greek menologies, Simon
Zelotes Buffered martyrdom in Britain. See
Cave's Apost. p. 151.
' Stillingfleet, 45.

destitute of any ancient testimony ; and
that in favour of St. Peter is of a very
late date.. The fable about Joseph of Ari
mathea," and his having founded Glas
tonbury Abbey," would have been un
worthy of notice, had not Glueen Eliza
beth and Archbishop Parker'" ventured
to claim him as the first preacher of
Christianity in England ; but the ab
surdity of the whole story is fully esta
blished by Stillingfleet."
§ 3. Many English writers refer the
conversion of this country to the reign
of King Lucius,"* of whom the old
book "or Llandaff^ says, that he sent
Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius,
the twelfth bishop of Rome, requesting
that he might be made a Christian
through his instruction ; and that, on
the return of these messengers, Lucius
and the chief of the Britons were bap
tized, and bishops consecrated for the
dissemination of Christianity. So many
improbabilities have been engrafted on
this relation, that the very existence of
such a king, and the whole tale, has,
without much reason, been questioned.
The circumstance of his sending am
bassadors to request instruction corre
sponds with the supposition already
made, that the country had before re
ceived the truths of Christianity ; and
the disagreement between the two rela
tions is the less important, as it amounts
only to this, whether we suppose that
the Christian religion was now first
established, or that, having made but
little progress, since its first foundation,
it was now reformed and renewed ; and
the want of any sufficient testimony
must preclude the idea of deciding this
question. We may nevertheless as
sume, as an undoubted fact, that Chris
tianity was established here very gene
rally before the end of the second cen
tury :" for TertuUian says,'-' that the
kingdom of Christ was advanced in
Gaul and Britain, and that Christ was
solemnly worshipped by the inhabitants.
From this time we meet with little con
cerning the British churches till we
learn that England was not free from

It is curious that, at the council of Basil, the
English bishops chimed precedenf-e oil I'.ic ground
of Ihe conversion of Britain by Joseph Fuller
IV. 180.
' Strype's An. i. 218. '» Parker, i. 139
" Orig. Brit. 6, &.i. a Orig. Brit. 66.
" Orig. Brit. 50. 14 Tertull. c.Jud. ch 7

Vrw. I.]

CHURCH 01-' ENGLAND.

the trials to which Christianity was sub
jected during the third century, and the
fate of Julius, Aarojij, and_St^Alban,^
who has transferred his name to Veru
lamium, '¦' where he suffered, proves that
the Diocletian persecution extended
thus far into the provinces which were
subject to the Roraun power.
Constantius Chlorus, when he was
declared emperor, put an end to these
persecutions ; and upon his death,
which took place at York in the year
following, his son Constantine the Great
began his reign, in which it pleased God
that most of the outward miseries of
his Christian servants should terminate.
(a. d. 307.)
§ 4. The British church seems to
have flourished at this period ;'' for, at
the council of Aries,' there were three
English bishops present ; and it may be
observed, that the manner in which that
council communicated its canons to the
bishop of Rome, proves that the repre
sentatives of the churches there assem-
Med esteemed themselves quite inde
pendent of his authority.'*
It seems probable that there were
English bishops at the council of Nice"
in Bithynia,' but the subscriptions pre
served are so imperfect, that no names
of British bishops can be distinguished.
Their presence, however, at Sardica"

' St. Alban, the first British martyr, had served
in tho Roman army, and, on his return, having
been converted to Chrisiianily, was put to deaih.
A monastery was afierwards raised to his honour
by Offa, king of Mercia.
2 Siillingfleet, 70. » Ibid. 74.
'' The council of Aries was assembleti by Con-
Btantine againsl the Donatists, who had taFleri fnio
schism on AOCOflM ot the election of a bishop of
Carihage. The canons of it may be found in
Collier, i. 26.
5 Siillingfleet, 84.
^ The council of Nice was assembled by Con-
sianline against the Arians, 325. 'I'he anathema
of It is, "The catholic and aposrolic church ana-
ihiimatizes all who say, thatihere was a lime when
the Son did not exist, that he had no existence
previous to his birth, and ihat he was created out
of nothing; or who say that he was formed or
changed from another substance or essence, or
that he is capable of change:" see Pearson on
tho Creed, p. 134. This council did not make
the Nicene Creed as it now stands, which was
published at the first council of Constantinople,
381 ; it settled that Easter should be held the first
Sunday after the tburteenth day of the ecclesias
tical new moon, 'i he doctrines wf Arius seem to
have made some progress in England.
' Siillingfleet, 89.
8 T'nis council was assembled at Sardica in
Thrace, 347, to judge between the Arians and
Athanasius; see Collier, i. 30, &c., where more

and Ariminum," is more clearly esta
blished ;'" and it is related, with regard
to this latter council, that the British
bishops generally refused to receive the
allowance made to them from the empe
ror, while three of them only accepted
it ; a proof at once of the number and
wealth of the British bishops who- were
there. -
§ 5. The introduction of Pelagian
ism,'* which took place about the same
time,"' filled the church with tumult and
distraction. The opinions connected
with this heresy were generally diffused
in England ; and so strongly were its
advocates fortified with arguments, or
so w'eakly were they opposed, that the
British divines, finding themselves un
equal to the task of convincing their
heretical adversaries, were twice forced
to call'^ in the assistance of Germanus,
a GaUican bishop." He was accompa
nied in his first visit by Lupus, and in
his second by Severus, and on each oc-
ca.sion successfully refuted the errors
of his opponents. As the best means
of putting an eflectual stop to these
heresies, St. German seems to have at
tempted to introduce into the island the
study of sound learning and theology ;'=•
and his disciples, Illutus and Dubritius,
established schools famous ii» their gene
ration. The monastery of Banchor,'"
near Cbester, was probably a seminary
arguments against the right of appeals to ihe pope
may be found.
8 Siillingfleet, 135. 'i Fuller, 24.
" 'The Pelagian heresy had its origin froni Mor
gan, whd^3~gerlerally called' a 'Welchman, bvit
prob'ably was Scotus, i. e. a nalive Iri.^hman.
(.Siillingfleet, p. 181.) His name in ihe old British
language signifies sea-tK)rn, alfd froTiliicuce'rs de-
. rivedTiTs^classical apgellanon. He was of con
siderable Tanlr,''aiid possessed much learning and
natural genius; his life was exemplary. He tra
velled to Rome, and from thence to Africa, and
died somev,'here in the E-JSt. (See Collier, i. 41.1
He denied the doctrine of original _sin, and lh«
necessiiy ot gntceTahtriisseri'ed that man could
attain to perfe'ctioh. His opinions were opposed
by St. Augustin, bishop of Hippo, and condemned
in the person of Co3les:iiis, his disciple, at coun
cils held at Carihage and Milevum in the year
416 : no less than ihirly councils aro said tc have
been held concerning them. As the docirines of
Pelagius are of such a characler that every man's
own heart will naturally suggest them, unless he
be guided by the grace of liod, we need not won
der at their general recepiion. Pelagius taught
and gave a name lo that to which all of us are of
ourselves disposed — " self-rehance in spiritual
things."
• 12 Stillingfleel, 187.
w Ibid. 194. » Ibid. 189.
15 Ibid. 204.- '^ Ibid. 205.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I

of this description, rather than one
formed after the model introduced from
Egypt,' in which the monks were bred
up to labour, and in ignorance ; for Bede,
who is not generally favourable to Bri
tish establishments, confesses that it was
furnished with learned men at the com
ing of Augustin into England.
, These bishops are said to have brought
with them into the British phurches^
the use of the GaUican liturgy,'' which
was derived probably from St. John,
through Polycarp and Irenceus. The
principal differences'* between this and
the Roman liturgy* are stated to be fol
lowed in the Common Prayer Book of
our church ; so that the reformers, when
they translated and made selections from
the services of the church of Rome,
really reduced back the form of prayers
to a nearer conformity to our more an
cient liturgies.
§ 6. The arrival of the heathen Sax-
_ons overturned the ecclesiastical as well
as civil government, and their barbarity
spread such devastation through the
land, that Christianity was confined to
those mountainous districts where the
Britons stilf retained their liberty. But
the records of these times furnish little
more than the mere detail of uninterest
ing events.
Christianity was again inti-oduced into
England, now become Saxon, by the
arrival of St. Augustin, in 596. The
comparative tranquillity which had for
1 The first monks were persons who, in soHiude,
and afierwards in private Iiouses of their own, led
more pious and retired lives than their neitrhbours.
The wild fancies of certain visionaries who esta
blished themselves in Egypt can hardly be ac-
countc-d the origin of the later institutions of this
eort. Such instances of fanaticism and ignorance,
often combined wilh some portion of knavery,
are common to all periods and religions, and
among Christians might have tended lo pervert
the minds of those who aspired after the highest
degrees of sanclity. Individuals first dedicated
themselves to the service of God in this manner :
societies were afterwards formed, who lived under
a head or abbot, and conformed lo certain rules.
They were originally mere laymen, but subse
quently many of them were adopted among the
clergy, and rose to the highest offices in the church.
2 Stillingfleet, 216.
' Johnson's Can., Pref .xv., who doubts of this.
* These consisted in a confession of sins, where
with the service began ; in proper prefaces, which
were introduced for certain days before the conse
cration of Ihe elements j in several expressions
which mark Ihat the doctrine of transubstantiation
had not then been received ; and in the attention
to singing paid in the Roman church.
^ Stillingfleet, 232.

some time prevailed throughout the
island, and the marriage of Ethelber^
king of Kent, with Britha, daughter, of
CharTB?rt,"'king of Paris- had prepared
the coiintry for its reception. She w^
allowed the free exercise of her religion ;
and her chaplain, a French bishop, had
openly performed the ceremonies of the
church, thus softening down that ani
mosity towards Christianity, which a
bloody struggle against its professor.?
had excited in the minds of the Saxons.
Nor, in speaking of their conversion,
must we neglect to take into account
the growing dissatisfaction -n'hich hea
thens, as they advance in civilization,
must alwaj's feel towards their former
superstitions, even when they continue
to observe them ; a disgust which the
Saxons seem frequently to have dis
played." Gregor}^ I. came to the pa
pacy in 590, and soon put into execuiion
a determination which he had formed
while in a private station. He had been
struck with the personal beauty of some
English slaves wTiom he happened lo
see at Rome, and made the resolution
of trying to convert their fellow-coun
trymen ; an attempt which he would
have begun in his own person, if cir
cumstances had not prevented him. Ii
was in order to fulfil this henevoleni
design, that he afterw^ards despatched
St. Augustin with forty monks, who,
having obtained interpreters in France,
landed in Kent, and was p-ermitted to
settle in Canterbury, and to undertake
the conversion of the inhabitants.
§ 7. The success of these mission
aries Avas so great that Augustin was
consecrated archbishop oF England, by
the archbishop of Aries, and more ec
clesiastics were sent to his assistance,
accompanied with presents of books,'
« Turner, i. 231.
'' "Wanley has given a catalogue of the hooks
sent by Gregory. These were— 1. A Bible,
adorned with some leaves of a purple and rose
colour, in two volumes. 2. I'he Psalter of St.
Augustin, wilh the Creed, Paicr Nosier, and
several Latin hymns. 3 Two copies of the Gos
pels, with ihe Ten Canons of Eusebius prefixed ;
one of which Elstob believed to be in ihe Bod
leian hbrary, and the other al Cambridge, p. 42.
4. Another Psalter, wilh hymns. 5. A volume
containing legends on the sufferings of the apos
tles, with a picture of our Saviour in silver, in a
posture of blessing. 6. Another volume on the
martyrs, which had on the outside a glory, silver
gilt, set round with crystals and beryls. 7. An
ExposHion of the Epistles and Gospels, which
had on the cover a large beryl surrounded with

I.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

and other articles of which they mio;ht used the Roman method of computing."
stand in need ; and among these, relics (a. d. 6G-i.)
were not forgotten. They received at § 8. In 668, _Th_eoclore, a native of
the same time orders from .Rome, which Tarsus in Cilicia,^vas consecrated arch-
directed them to accommodate, as much bishop of Canterbury, on the nomma-
vas possible, the 'festivals of the church tlon^oTViraTTan the then Pope ; a step
to the seasons of heathen amusement' -'-¦'- ' ' ' ^ . . .
and feasting.' The scheme of an ec
clesiastical establishment, which was to
consist of two archbishops, each having
under him twelve suffragans, was also
transmitted to them, but seems never to
have been adopted. '¦'
Augustin before his death,^ which
took place about 605, tried to bring the
churches of the British into unity with
that over v.'hich he presided, and insist
ed on three concessions only.* That
they should keep Easter at the Roman
time, should use the forms of that
ctiurcU in baptizing, and preach to the
Saxons. Mis efforts, however, were
unavailirg, and he was rejected for a
supposed want of apostolical humility,
though he is said to have performed a
miracle in attestation of his ministry.
The point at issue seems really to have
been, whether the British prelate's should
submit to Augustin and Rome. The
question about the time of observing
_Easter was also discussed in the council
of Whitby,^ where Oswi decided it in
favour of the Roman method, because
both parties agreed that St. Peter kept
the kevs of heaven, and that he had

crystals. Augusiin also brought Gregory's Pas
toral Care, whieh Alfred translated. See Elslob,
p. 3'J — 13 1 and VVanley, p. 17i^, whose description
is taken from I'homas lie Elmham, a monk of
Augusiin's .Abbey, in tho lime of Henry V. See
also Cave, Hist. Lit. p. 431. Turner's Ang.-Sax.
I. 332. 1 This circumstance may account for the reten
tion of many Saxon names in matters connected
with religion. Thus Yule, the old name for
Christmas, is derived from Jule, a Saxon feast at
the winter solstice ; and fjaster from the goddess
Eo.stre, who was worshipped with peculiar honours
in April. Lent signifies spring. From the deities
Tiw, Woden, Thunre, Friga, and Saterne, are
derived the names of the days of the week. See
Turner's A.-S. i. 213. Superstition has probably
borrowed from the same source. Luck probably
comes from a Saxon deiiy. Lake; (Turner, i. 226,
216, 13; Deucehom certain demons called Diicii
by the GaiiTsr' OcZti^s 'Bochus, a magician and de-
"mon, and Neccus, a malign deity who frequented
waters, may be the origin of the names Hocus
Ppcua and Old Nick. The common derivation
of Hocus Pocus, from a rapid pronouncing of hoc
est corpus, is hardly admissible.
2 Lingard, Ang.-Sax. Church, 14 ; Henry, Hist.
Eng. iii. 194.
3 Collier, i. 75. * Bede, ii. 2.
5 Collier, i. 95.

which he was induced to take on the
death of Wighart, who, with most of
his companions, was destroyed by the
plague at Rome, where he had been
sent in order to be consecrated. Theo
dore was very serviceable to the British
church by the learning which he, and
his friend Adrian, introduced, and is
said to have advanced the establishment
of parish churches, by allowing founders
to become the pastors of them. He di
vided also some of the larger bishop
rics, which, as they were then generally
co-extensive with the kingdoms to which
they belonged, were frequently enor
mous in point of size. Wilfrid, arch
bishop of York, v.'hose diocese compre-
^ The question of the lime of keeping Easter
long agitated the Chrisiian commuiTiry.^'" The
Easiern church kept it ai-cordirig lo ihe Jewish
'fiTTial," on "Tlfe luurreeiilh nioun of ihat luiuuiort
which oicurred alier the vtriial equinox, whether
it were .'-^-.iiiday or no: in 197, 'Vii;tor, bishop of
Rome, excomuiiinicalcd (hem for so doing. '1 hey
were in consequence called quarln decimani. In
order lo avoid any coincidence with Ibe Jews a.s
to the d.iy ol keeping this least, most of thi- West
ern churches ran into the oppo.^iie extreme, and
in those years in which ihe jiassovcr occurred on
a Sdiiday, ihey kept the Easier-day tm its octave.
'I'hj council of Nice (3'J5) decidccLlhat it was to
.13e kept on a Sunday, but as the Briiish church
which received its canons kept Ea.steron ihe lour-
teenlh, when it happened to be a Sunday, it seems
probable ibat tho expression of ibe Nicene canon
was originally so general as not lo decide ihis
point, and that the great nicety in avoiding the day
of the Jewish passover originaled widi Rome.
The Church, at the same period, generally adopied
ihe Metonic cycle of nineieen years, by which
Easier was newly calculated in the fables of Eu
sebius of CBEsarca, and rejected the cycle of
eighty-four years, which was very faulty, and de
rived from the Jews. The quesiion in England
was the general one of keeping Easter as the
Roman church did. The difference consisied in
two points : the British churches seem not to have
used the same cycle, probably that of eighty-four
years, and to have kept Easier on the foiirieenth,
if that day happened lo he a Sunday. (Fuller, p.
68.) This had arisen from ihe separation of the
British church from the rest of the world, during
ihe troubles in England, which succeeded the
council of Nice, of Which they had adopted, in all
jirobability, merely ihe general rules. 'I he
churches of Northumbria having been converted
by Scotch missionaries, retained the Briiish fo.nns.
See a note in Johnson's Canons, 673, i. d. The
Syrians on the coast of Malabar have another
methiid of finding Easier, which is given in Le
Bas' Life of Middleton, i -291, i;o'e 1. See also
Newman's History of Arianism, p. 14,
' Collier, 100. * 9.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I

handed all Northumbria, or that part of
England which lies north of the Hum
ber, opposed the division of his see, and
appealed to the pope. The decision of
Agatho was in his favour, but it profited
him little, for Egfred imprisoned him
upon his return, and about a year after,
upon his release, which was obtained
through the intercession of iEbbe, ab
bess of Coldingham, he preached in the
kingdom of Sussex, which had not be
fore .received Christianity.' This so
restored him to the favour of Theodore,
and Alfred, king o Northumberland,
that he recovered the sees of Hexham
and York, but was again expelled, and
^again gained a favourable decision from
tTie pope : Alfred, however, would not
allow him to enter his dominions, and
it was not till after the death of that
prince, and of his immediate successor,
that Wilfrid v.'as in his old age reinstated
in a part of his preferments.
§ 9. The history of Wilfrid has at
tracted much more notice than it seems
intrinsically to merit, on account of the
discussions which it involves with re
gard to the appeal to Rome. But the
question is one of curiosity, and really
of very little importance.^ That the
• The conversion of ihe Heptarchy was now
completed. The order in which the several king
doms had embraced Christianity was as follows:
Kent, 596. Essex, 604. Northumbria, 627. East
Angles, 631. Wessex. 634. Mercia, about 650.
Sussex, 678. The Isle of "Wight was the dis
trict which last received the doctrines of Chris
tianity. The whole period occupied by these successive
conversions consisted of less than ninety years.
There is one particular feature which has been
adduced as marking a want of simplicity in the
individual missionaries, to whom we owe the bless
ings of Christianity. It may be observed, that
the conversions generally took place among the
court before any progress had been made wiih the
people, a circumstance so contrary to the tenour
of the early history of the Gospel, that it has been
presumed that the missionaries themselves were
actuated by worldly rather than spiritual modves.
The solution of this apparent dilference is, per
haps, to be sought rather in the slate of civilization
of those to whom they went, than in Ihe temper
of the teachers. The apostles were themselves
uneducated men, and addressed their arguments
10 more educated nations ; these missionaries had j
probably themselves received superior educations,
and were going into a country of semi-barbarians ;
of men possessed of little or no education; and
they naturally direct ed their instructions to the most
exalted and iiiest educated members of the coun
try. "Would not prudence dictate this conduct?
and is not the wisdom of its adoption borne out hy
the conduct of recent missionaries ?
' The whole quesiion of the authority exercised
by Rome over Saxon England is one of great dif-

church of Rome did, at an early period,
try to extend its power where it could,
is beyond all doubt ; that it did in aftei
times obtain a spiritual supremacy in
England is equally unquestionable. The
Roman Catholic, by proving the early
date of these encroachments, touches
not the broad principles which guided
our church in throwing off all foreign
authority ; and the Protestant can never
prove, by denying these points, that the
pope did not afterwards possess the su
preme power over the English church :
while both incur the danger of neglect
ing the pursuit of truth, in endeavour
ing to establish their own opinions.
These observations' ^pply with no
less strength to the discussions about
the council of Cloveshoo, in 747, in
which, though there seems no direct
acknowledgment of the papal supre
macy, yet since it was called in conse
quence of the letters of Zachary, there
is every appearance of at least a great
deference to the bishop of Rome. Inetf
and Henry* try to proye the indepen
dence of our church by a comparison
of one of the canons wilh that of a sy
nod held at Mentz, and transmitted to
Cuthbert by Boniface : but were the
proof as good as they esteem it, what
purpose would it answer? We shall
not be able to prove that our forefathers
were Proiestants, even if they had not
then fully admitted the authority of the
see of Rome. We shall not allow of
the other canons there established, or
suffer our prayers and psalms to be said
in Latin, though "a man may devoutly

ficulty, and on the difi"erent sides of which con
clusions diametrically opposite may be drawn.
The primacy conceded from SaxoYi England to
Rome, extended to the admission of its established
precedency, and a respectful deference to its au
thorities. Theodore was made archbishop of Can
terbury, by Pope Vitalian, and the Canons of
Cealchythe were drawn up under the influence of
a Roman legate ; (Johnson's Canons, 785, pisef )
but there is abundant evidence that the judicial
authority of the see of Rome was not admitted,
and that the n-ionarchs of Britain exercised an eccle
siasUcal power wii hin their dominions. That is, the
independence of Saxon England amounted not to
°"j T^n"' separation from the church of Rome.
and the Roman influence was infinitely less thati
what It afterwards became. A proposition which
rnight probably be asserted of most other Chris
tian churches of the same period. See Lingard's
Anglo-Saxon Church, 157; Soames, Bamptoi
Lect, Serm. iii. and the illustrations; Henry's
Hist. England, iii..
3 Lingard, note, i. 484. - Inett, i. 177.
* Henry, lii. 225.

Chap. I.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

apply the intentions of his own heart to
the things which are at present to be
asked of God, and fix them there to the
best of his power."'
§ 10. The union of the several king
doms of the Heptarchy would probably
have been beneficial to the interests of
Christianity, had not the succeeding
inroads of the Danes more than coun
terbalanced this advantage. These
heathen invaders joined a considerable
.portion of "animosity against the Chris
tian clergy to their love of plunder; and,
as much of the wealth of the country
was generally contained, in the monas
teries, their savage attacks were chiefly
directed against these establishments,
which possessed most of the learning,
and much of the civilization which was
left in England.
(a.d. 855.) Ethelwulf,^ the father of
Alfred,beforehis journey to Rome, made
a grant of a tenth of ail his possessions,'
or liberated the tenth part of his pos
sessions from every royal service and
contribution. It is not at all clear what
the nature of 'this grant was ; it has
generally been interpreted as relating
to tithes, but. as tithes'' are spoken of
long before, there must either have now
been a regranting of them, or perhaps
they were now liberated from burdens
to which they were before exposed.
One of the supposed canons of King
Edward the Confessor, which were pro
bably drawn up after the days of Wil
liam Rufus,* states that tithes were in
troduced with Christianity, by Augustin,
and there is no time in which they are
mentioned, without being spoken of as
due. When the first notice of them
occurs in the excerptions of Ecgbright
in 740, directions are given as to the
disposal of them ; and almost all the
collections of canons which follow in
troduce the mention of them in the
same manner.
Some ofthe early fathers ofthe church
spoke of them as due by divine right. ^
This point, however, must always be
questionable ; and as the right could not
exist till the country was converted to
Christianity, it will be quite sufficient
to state that they appear to have been
I Johnson's Can. 747, 27. 2 Turner, i. 480.
3 Johnson's Can. 1064, 8. e.
4 Ibid. 740, sect. 4,5. ^ ibid. 1064, 9.
•Bingham's Ant. ii. 276, 281.

collected elsewhere, before the end of
the fourth century. And the numerous
laws with regard to their payment, while
they establish the right, prove that there
was even then a difficulty of coUectino-
them. § II. The great benefit which Alfred
conferred on his country, beyond the
military talent which he displayed in
his wars with the Dane.s, consisted in
the introduction of literature and the
establishment of laws. The inroads of
these northern hordes had overturned
all institutions which might educate the
inhabitants, and directed the attention
of the English to warlike, rather than
peaceful studies ;' and even churchmen
had become so ignorant, that few under
stood the services which they used, or
could translate a Lalin.letter. The diffi
culties against which Alfred had' to
struggle were enormous; he had to dis
cover the advantages of literature, and
his own want of it, and to teach himself
even to read, and that at a time when
books were scarce, and when most of
the libraries which had been formerly
collected were destroyed. When he
came to the throne, he assembled around
him, by great munificence, all the lite
rary men whom he could find, and his
first steps showed him how much his
countrymen had gone back in know-
ledg'e, since they were now unable to
read those books which their own ances
tors had written. The Latin tongue
was now generally unknown; and to
obviate this difficulty, Alfred translated
many books into the language of his
country. In presenting Boethius to the
Saxons, he introduced many moral les
sons and sentiments of his own, for our
knowledge of which we are indebted to
Mr. Turner;'' he published, too, in the
same manner, Orosius and Bede ; and
that he might better instruct his higher
clergy, he, put forth a translation of the
Pastoral of Gregory. Besides these, he
appears to have been employed on dif
ferent works and translations, and his
g-eneral knowledo-e seems to have ex-
tended to many other subjects, as archi
tecture, ship-building, and jewelry."
For the education of his son Ethel weard,
he established a public school, in which
the young nobility were brought up,

'Turner, ii. 8, &c.
s Ibid. ii. 146.

«Ibid. ii. 22.

8

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I.

together with the heir of the crown ; and
so greatly did this and his other institu
tions raise the character of England for
civilization, that Athelstan had the credit
of educating in our island three kings of
foreign countries, Alan of Bretagne,
Louis of France, and llaco of Norway.'
Nor must it be forgotten that Alfred
sent an embassy to the Syrian Chris
tians of India, ^ whose very existence
has only been re-ascertained by modern
communications. § 12. The darkness which followed
the reign of Athelstan was broken by two
men who succeeded each other in the
see of Canterbury. Odo and Dunstan,
with their real zeal for Christianity,
joined a great desire of extending the
influence of the church with which their
own poAver was intimately blended.
Their histories, however, have been
written by such over-zealous advocates,
that they have rendered even the good
they did suspected, through the multi
tude of miracles attributed to them.
Modern historians have taken an oppo
site direction; and the conduct of Dun
stan, with regard to Edwi and Elgiva,
has, without much foundation, been
worked up into a pathetic tale ; Avhile,
on the other hand, the monks, who were
the only historians, had good reason for
praising one who everywhere ejected
the canons,-' and placed the more newl)^
established orders in their monasteries.
The Danes were, according to the policy
of Alfred, gradually incorporated into
the religion as well as civil government
of the country; and the kings of that
nation appear not to have been behind
hand in enriching the church; so that
at th:; death oC Ed\vard the Confessor,
one-third of the land in England is sup
posed to have been in the hands of
ecclesia.stical bodir.s.''
§ 13. The sketch hero given will pro
bably to most readers appear exceed
ingly defective,'^ and the only fair apo
logy which can be offered, must be
sought for by regarding the writer, or
the subject-matter of his writings. With
respect to the first of these two, he is
fully aware of his own inadequacy to
'Turner, 200. ^lyd, j^g. 3 See 4 23.
'Henry, iii. 297; Spelman's Gloss. 396.
^ A much more full one may be found in Hen
ry's History of England ; Lingard's Anglo-Saxon
Church ; or Turner's History of the Anglo-Sax
ons.

enter on the earlier part of the history
of the English church, and confesses
most readily that all his acquaintance
with it is derived from secondary sources.
Should any one think that this portion
ofthe work ought rather to have been
omitted altogether, than to have been
thus treated, the writer, while he per
fectly agrees with the better informed
reader, begs him to consider, that this
book is intended for those who do not
possess much knowledge of these sub-.
jects, and to remember, in his excuse,
that few men are able to cope with anti
quarian difficulties, and to enter on the
discussion of subjects which are inte
resting in the present day. With regard
to the subject-matter, it must be acknow
ledged that we possess little or no ac
quaintance with British history, and that
the true history of our Saxon church is
still, in great measure, a desideratum in
the catalogue of English authors. No
Roman Catholic writer can hope to satis
fy a Protestant, when the real question
is as to the introduction of those errors
which the member of the church of Eng
land imputes to the other ; and the requi
sites for forming an author suited to the
task are so numerous, that we must
wish, rather than hope, that such an in
dividual may be found. The whole of
the history of th'e British church has
been exhausted by Stillingfleet in his
Origines Britannicm; and to any one
who will examine that work, it will be
apparent how little is known, and how
unimportant that little is ; that is, unim
portant as far as the present state of the
world is concerned. The man who is
fully acquainted with the history of the
Reformation may see more clearly what
is taking place, or may happen, among
Roman Catholic nations of our own
days ; he who has studied the events
which occurred in the reign of Charles
L will be able to estimate more fully
the present state of England and of
those countries with which she is con
nected ; but he who successfully wades
through the whole church history of
England, and its ecclesiastical affairs,
to the middle of the thirteenth century,
will find little more than a continued
chain of contrivances, by which man
kind have set aside the law of heaven
through their own traditions, and sub
stituted the commandments of men for

Chap. I.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

those of God. There are indeed some
bright exceptions ; and the lesson to be
learnt even from such ^perversions is a
useful one ; for this fault is by no means
confined to the church of Rome ; it ex
ists in human nature ; and the blame
which properly attaches to the church
of Rome is, that in the dark periods she
fostered this evil propensity; and when
knowledge had dispelled the mist, for
the sake of upholding her own infalli
bility, she refused to reject those cus
toms and tenets, which, however under
stood and received by the well-informed
part of society, can hardly be free from
evil among the mass of the community.
§ 14. The aboriginal Briton may
question the amount of the debt of gra
titude which he owes to the church of
Rome for his conversion ; the English
man, who derives his blood from Saxon
veins, will be ungrateful if he be not
ready to confess the debt which Chris
tian Europe owes to Rome ; and to pro
fess, that whenever she shall cast off
those inventions of men, which now
cause a separation between us, we shall
gladly pay her such honours as are due
to the country which was instrumental
in bringing us within the pale of the
universal church of Jesus Christ. In
the mean season, it may be instructive
to point out the probable periods at
which each of these differences were
introduced among the Saxons, and to
give' some short historical notice with
regard to the origin of some of them, a
subject which may be omitted by the
general reader if he find it uninteresting.
The errors of the church of Rome
generally originated from feelings in
themselves innocent, if not laudable,
but perverted by the admixture of hu
man passions and inventions.
'^ § 15. To pray for the dead was the
dictate of human nature, and the prac
tice of the early church ;' and no rea
sonable Christian will blame Dr. John
son' for the cautious manner in which
"he* mentions his mother in his prayers;
but in the hands of the churph of Rome
this feeling was soon directed to the
unscriptural object of delivering the
souls cf departed friends from purgi-
tory, and the practice converted into a
source of profit to the priesthood. The

' Bingham's Ant. vi. 671. 2

2 Works, xii. 445.

history of this doctrine of purgatory is
as follows:' — ^" About the middle ofthe
third century, Origen, among other Pla
tonic conceits, vented this : That the
faithful (the apostles themselves not ex
cepted) would, at the day of judgment,
pass through a purgatorial fire," to en
dure a longer or a shorter time, accord
ing to their imperfections. "In this con
ceit, directly contrary to many express
texts of Scripture," he was followed by
some great men in the church; — and
"St. Augustin began to doubt whether
this imagined purgation were not to be
made in the interval between death and
the resurrection, at least as to the souls
ofthe more imperfect Christians. To-
Avards the end of the fifth century Pope
Gregory undertook to 'assert this pro
blem; — four hundred years after. Pope
John the Eighteenth, or, as some say,
the Nineteenth, instituted a holyday,
wherein he required all men to pray for
the souls in purgatory; at length the
cabal at Florence, 1439, turned the
dream into an article of faith." The
doctrine of a purgatory, of some sort,
has been entertained by heathens, Mo
hammedans, and Jews, but there is no
necessary connection between praying
for the dead, and the belief in purga
tory.'' The Greek church, for instance,
jirays for the dead, without admitting
any idea of purgatory. Prayers and
oblations for the dead were probably
established in England from the first, ^
and a short form of prayer to that effect
is inserted in the canons of Cloveshoo ;^
with regard to the latter doctrine, the
Saxon homilists generally refer to the
awards of a final judgment,' though
traditional notices exist, in which there
appears to be at first an indistinct, but
afterwards more clear reference to pur
gatory.^ Bede seems to htive enter
tained an idea of the same sort: and

2 Bull's Serm. iii. 'Works, i. 76.
* Bingham, vi. 688.
^ Johnson's Can. pref xix.
^ Lord, according to the greatness of thy mercy,
grant rest to his soul, and for thine infinite pily
vouchsafe to him the joys of eternal light with thy
saints. Johnson's Can. 747, 37.
' Soames, 349, 16, 324.
^ There are also many places of punishment,
Lingai-d. Ang.-Sax. Church, 255, (21,) in which
souls suffer in proportion to their guilt, before the
general judgment, and in which some are so far
purified, as not to be hurt by the fire of the last
day. See also Soamea, Bamp. p. 344. 10, 12.

10

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I.

Alcuin, in common 'with many others,
supposed that the general conflagration
of the world would form a purgatorial
fire, through which the souls Avhich
escaped unsinged would pass into the
abodes of bliss. But later writers, and
among- the rest Alfred, adopted the po
pular notions of purgatory," which were
still very different from the opinions on
that subject, established as articles of
faith by the councils of Florence and
Trent. ^ Departed souls between death
and their final judgment were divided
into four distinct places; the perfect
were conveyed to heaven ; the less pure
to paradise; the impure, who died in
pet-iitence, were consigned to purgjito-
rial flames ; and the impenitent to hell.''
§ 10. With regard to the doctrine of
transubstantiation, the opinions of the
early fathers concerning it maybe seen
in Waterland;^ and his account of the
history of this tenet is thus given in a
note :" "In the year 787, the second coun
cil of Nice began with a rash determi
nation, that the sacred symbols are not
figures or images at all, but the very body
and blood. About 831, Paschasius Rad
bertus carried it further, even to transub
stantiation, or somewhat very like to it.
The name of transubstantiation is sup
posed to have come in about a.d. 1100,
first mentioned by Hildebertus Ceno
manensis of that time. (p. 689, edit.
Benedict.) a.d. 1215, the doctrine was
made an article of faith by the Lateran
_^council, under Innocent the Third."
How far this doctrine was admitted by
the Anglo-Saxon church is discussed by
Jjingard,'' who shows that the canons,
Bede, and Egbert, use expressions
which a member of the church of
England would not use ; but these pro
bably a Protestant might have adopted,
if the question had never been contro
verted. Bede, however, introduces
language which no one who believed
the doctrine of transubstantiation^ could
have admitted, particularly the words
of St. Augustin, quoted in our twenty-
ninth article ; and the testimonies of
Rabanus Maurus, and Joannes Scotus
Erigena, whose tenets were proba
bly derived from the English school
1 Soames, 325. 2 Ibid. 362. " Ibid. 328.
* On all these questions see also Usher's An
swer to a Jesuit's Challenge.
' 'Works, viii. 235. « Ibid. vii. 182.
'Note N; 492. Bgoames, 399, 4, and 406, 5.

of theology, give us every reason for
concluding that this doctrine never
gained a footing in England before the
conquest. Lingard maintains that the
language of Elfric* is borrowed from
Bertrarri,'" to which a Roman Catholic
would not object, but which Archbishop
Parker deemed so favourable to the
opinion entertained by Protestants, that
he published it as conveying a meaning
corresponding nearly with the doctrines
of the church of England.
§ 17. Private or solitary mass" was
unknown in the early church,'^ and for
the first nine hundred years there is no
form of ordaining priests, to offer mass
for the living and the dead ;'" but Bede
and Alcuin appear to have esteemed
the sacrifice beneficial for the living,'''
Bede even for the dead. The same
opinion is expressed by Elfric in his
sermon ;"* and in the canons of Edgar,
9C0, the practice of saying mass, as an
opus operatum,"' seems clearly to have
been established." As the custom of
paying adoration to the host, and the
denial of the cup to the laity,'" did not

5 Elfric says, (Johnson's Canons, 957, i 37, j
" Housel is Christ's body rot corporally, but spi
ritually, not the body in which he suffered, but
ihat body of which he spake, when he blessed
bread and wine for housel, one night before hia
passion, and said of the bread blessed. This is my
body ; and again of the wine blessed. This is my
hlood, that is shed for many for ihe forgiveness
of sins," &.c. See also a sermon of his printed by
the order of Archbishop Parker, underihe title of a
" Testimony of Antiquity;" (Fox's Marlyra, vii.
3S0;) reprinled in part.
'"Bi riram, or Ratram, was a monk of Corbey
in France, about the middle of the ninth century ;
he wrote a tract, De Corpore et Sanguine Domini,
published in English, 3d edit. Lond. 1686, see
^313,b. 11*17. The word missa, or mass, was originally
a general name for every part of the divine service.'
(Bingham, Ant. v. 9, &c.) Its signification is the
same as the word missio, and it was the form used
m ihe Lalin church. " lie missa est," at the dis
mission of the catechumens first, and then of the
whole assembly afterwards. Baronius (sub anno
34, § 59) derives it from the Hebrew. It row
denotes the consecrating the bread and wine inio
Ihe botly and blood of Christ, and offering that aa
an expiatory sacrifice for the quick and dead
!' Bingham, vi. 721. is Jbid. i. 255.
"Lingard, 193, 348. 15 p 29
IS Johnson's Can. 960, i 35.
"U7. It is there ordered, " that the priest never
celebrate .mass alone, (sect. 35,) without some one
to make responses for him," (sect. 37.) "That
he, never celebrate more than thrice in one day "
(sect. 40,) or " without eating the housel, or con
secrated elements.'-'
18 In Peckham's Constitutions, 1281, it is order
ed that the laity (Johnson's Can. sect. 1) be told
that the wine which ia given to them ia not the
sacrament, but mere wme, to be drunk fgr tha

CUAP. I.-]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

11

begin till the twelfth century,' it would
be unnecessary to search for the usage
of the Anglo-Saxons with regard to
these points.
§ l>i. No pictures or images" were al
lowed in Christian churches for the first
Three hundred years, and there is a posi
tive decree against them iu the council of
JElvira, 303. " Pictures \vere introduced
during the fourth century, but there
were no representations 9f the Trinity,
nor statues. ¦* It is probable, however,
that the worship of them began before
692, since at that time it was forbidden
to exhibit^ the Saviour under the sjmibol
of a lamb, or in any other form than the
human. When, in opposition to the
council of Constantinople, (754,) at
which 338 bishops were present, the
second council of Nice (787) sanctioned
the -rt'orship of images, councils held at
Frankfort, Paris,^ and in Britain, agreed
unanimously in condemning the de
cree,^ though it "was received at Rome.
There is good reason to believe that
image worship did not prevail in Eng
land till the middle of the ninth century ;
but from the omission of the second
commandment* in the laws of Al-

more easy swallowing of the sacrament. In a
MS. called Liber Regalis, giving am account of
the coronation of Richard II., a. d. 1378, in the
keeping of the Dean of Westminster, there is a
curious direction with reference to this point.
" Osculo' autem pacis a rege et regina accepto,
descendentes rex et regina de soliis suis el atice-
dentes humillier ad altare percipient corpus et
sanguinem Domini de manu archiepiscopi vel
episcopi missam celebrantis, corpore vero Domini
a rege recepto, ministrabit ei vinum ad utendum
(I presume the wine in question,) post percep
tionem sacramenti Abbas 'Westmonasteriensis,
vel is qui vicem ejus pro tempore gerit, prout dic
tum est, de calice lapideo de regalibus,'' &c. &c.
This appeara to have been an intermediate step
in the progress of withdrawing the cup ; the de
nial waa canonicaUy aanctioned at the council of
Constance. 1 Bingham's Ant. vi. 813, 772. 2 Ibid. iii. 249.
3 IbicT 250. " Ibid. 257. ^ ibid. 260.
« Ibid. 257. '' Johnson's Can. pref 18.
^Bede gives a copy ofthe Decalogue, in which
the Second Commandment ia left out, (Soamea,
Bampton Lectures, 249,) and the Tenth divided;
BO ihat the Ninth is, ""Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife," the Tenth, " Nor his houae,"
&c. 1'here are other inatances to the same effect.
Alfred's version is as follows; it stands prefixed
to his lawa : —
"I. The Lord was speaking theae words to
Moyses, and thus aayth; (248) I am- the Lord
thy God. I led thee out from jEgipts' land, and
from their alavery. Love thou not other strange
Gods over me.
" II. Utter thou not my name in vain : for thou
heeat not guiltless with me, if thou in vairi utter
est my name.

fred," we may presume that it was esta
blished before that time, though there
does not appear to have been much zeal
for it till after the Conquest. As the
figures ofthe Virgin Mary'" and the saints
were among the first which were intro
duced, the history of the intercesslonal
worship paid to them is probably closely
connected with the former, and contem
poraneous with it. In 678, Bene'dict
imported a picture of the Virgin Mary
from Rome, and the Saxon services for
the dedication of churches imply a be
lief in a local superintendence of the
saint over those who applied to him,
while, by the Canons of Cealchythe,
relics are ordered to be used in the con
secration of places of worship." The
Canons of Theodulf place the doctrine
of the Saxon church of that time in the
clearest light. '° The layman is there
directed, that " having worshipped his
Creator only, let him call upon the
saints, and pray that they would in
tercede for him to God ; first to Saint
Mary, and afterwards to all God's
saints."'^

"III. Mind that thou hallow the resting day.
Work- thou six days, and on the seventh, rest
you ; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and
thy slave, and thy maidservant, and ihy working
cattle, and the comer who is wiihin thy doora:
for in six days Chriat wrought the heavena and
the earth, aeaa, and all creatures that in them
are, and rested himself on the seventh day ; and
therefore the Lord hallowed it.
"IV. Honor thy father and thy mother whom
the Lord gave thee, thai thou be a long liver on
the earth.
" v. Slay not thou.
" "VI. Steal not thou.
" VII. Lie not thou aecretly.
" VIIL Say not thou false witness against thy
neighbour. " IX. Desire thou not thy neighbour's inherit
ance with unright.
" X. Work thou not golden goda, or ailveren."
— Exod. XX. 23.
These are also printed in Johnson's Canons,
877, and in Archbishop Parker's Testimony of
Antiquity, in which laat the order of the com
mandments against stealing and adultery is not
transpoaed as it ia here.
sjohnson'a Can. 877, 48, a.
'"For the history of the origin ofthe worship of
the Virgin Mary, see Fr. Paul's History of the
Council of Trent, p. 170.
11 Johnson'a Can. 816,2. "Ibid. 994,23.
" This doctrine of the church of Rome ia, I be
lieve, aa much misunderatood by Proteatanta as
perverted by Roman Catholics. Roman Catho
lics would aasert that they prayed before the
image, and not to it; and that they requested the
prayer of the aaint in heaven as St. Paul did that
ofthe faithful on earth : but the Protestant, while
he beheves that to pay any religious respect to a>n
image is a breach of the Second Commandment,
(Exod. XX. 4 — 6,) even if it do not amount to ido-

IS

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I.

§ 19. Closely connected with this
subject is the religious veneration which
was paid to relics. Respect for every
thing which has belonged to those whom
we admire, is so consistent with right
feeling, that, from the very earliest pe
riod, great regard and attention must
naturally have been paid by Christians
to the mortal remains of such persons
as Kad gone before them in the Lord ;
but nothing resembling worship was
used towards such relics,' till after the
time of St. Augustin. The line be
tween religious veneration and worship
is so nice, that from the earliest days
perhaps some individuals offended in
this particular; and we find that our
Saxon forefathers Avere early led to re
gard such remains with more than due
reverence, through the attention which
was paid to them by their first teachers.
Greo-ory, among the presents which he
sent to Augustin, soon after his arrival
in Englancl, transmitted certain relics.
And in the eighth century, the number
of persons who were anxious to pay
their devotions^ near the bodies of the
previous archbishops of Canterbury,
deposited in the church of St. Peter and
St. Paul, induced Cuthbert, before 759,
to direct that his own remains should
be buried in the cathedral church. This
question produced a vehement alterca-

latry, may feel convinced in his own mind that
many uneducated persons are guilty of the actual
sin in ihe worship which is paid to the brass image
of .St. Peter, in St. Peter's, Rome. Nor is it ea.^y
to comprehend how reference can be made to
any thing but the image, when a rivalry is sup
posed to exist between different images of the
Virgin or of the same saint ; or how a college can
be dedicated to St. Mary of Winton, unless some
peculiar sanctity be attached to the image, which
can alone possess a local existence. God must
judge of the question ; but it is a heavy charge to
have caused even one weak brother to offend. — It
may be remarked, too, that to requeat the inter
cession of the dead, ia founded on no authority of
Scripture, and contrary to the cuatom of the pri
mitive church. Bingham's Ant. v. p. 75. The
first form in which the adoration of saints (Soames,
tSamprLect.'216, liTwaa introduced into the An-
glo-Sax,on church seems to have been a prayer lo
-i&Qj^'tTi'af his servants on earth might be benefited
T)y the intercession of his saints in heaven, (e. g.)
"Da nobis Domine quajsumus, beati Stephani
protomarlyria intercessione adjuvari, ut qui pro
aula exoravit lapidatoribus, pro suis intercedere
dignetur veneratoribua, per Jes. Xt. D. N." A
trace of this ia lo be found in Ihe subsequent form
of " Oret pro nobis," but before the Conquest it
had got to the equivocal "Or," and to the dia-
tinct (220) "Ora" and " Orate," in which the
prayer was addreased to the saint. (221.)
' Bingham's Ant. x. 113. 2 Lmgard, 262.

tion between the monks, who claimed
the body, and the clergy of the cathe
dral who detained it.
§ 20. Under the same head must be
ranked the abuse of pilgrimages; for
while kept within the bounds of reason,
and referred only to the effect upon the
mind of the person visiting the scenes
of Christian history, little objection can
be raised against them. It appears that
pilgrimages to Jerusalem had become
common among the English in the
fourth century, and, from the objections
which St. Jerom makes with regard to
them,-'' that a superstitious value ' had
been attached to such journeys under
taken with a religious view; but in
after-times Rome became an object of
easier approacTfTand afforded more nu
merous attractions. Ethelwulf" went
^here in 855 with great magnificence
and splendid presents, and in his jour
ney was accompanied by his son Alfred,
then a boy. It is not perhaps too much
to presume, that the future greatness
of this monarch was promoted by this
early visit to a more polished state of
society, nor need we refer the journeys
of ^seven other British kings, who each
sought the metropolis of Christian Eu
rope, to mere blind superstition, or view
their conduct in a very different light
from that in which we should regard
the coming4(to London of some heathen
monarch, who had derived his know
ledge of Christianity from an English -
missionary. The frequency, however,
of these pilgrimages was a great evil.
Boniface, in his letter to Cuthbert, 747,=
speaks of English women, who, having
set out on a religious errand, had dis
graced the character of pilgrims by
their licentious conduct in almost every
city in Europe. Pilgrimages are often
OTdered in the penitential canons," and
in extreme cases the penance is im
posed of a perpetual wandering from one
place of religious resort to another, in
which the penitent was never to remain
two nights in the same residence."
§ 21. With regard to confession and
peaancc, the tenets of the'churches of
England and Rome differ in these re
spects. Both hold that, without con
fession to God, and sincere repentance,

' Usher, Ant. Brit. 109, p. 4 Lingard, 159
I Johnson'a Can. pref. 747. 6 Ibid. 740, 963.
' Ibid. 963, i 64.

Chap. L]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

13

there is no forgiveness of sins ; but they
differ as to the necessity of confessing
to a priest, and of obtaining absolution
from him. The church of England, in
cases of gross sins, where the conscience
is tioubled, advises its members to con
fess their sins to a priest, and has en
joined a form of absolution. The
church of Rome denies that there is
any hope of pardon from God, except
through confession, and the absolution
of a priest. The Protestant minister is
the adviser of his penitent, the Roman
Caiholic assumes too tlie character of
his judge ; and in this, the rule of our
church corresponds with the practice
of the primitive Christians during the
four first centuries.' The directions
given in Theodulf 's capitula^ resemble
much more the custom of the church
of England than that of Rome, enjoin
ing confession to God, and recommend
ing confession to a priest, on the ground
of the advice to be received from him;
nor would there remain any doubt of
the agreement of the Anglo-Saxon
church with that of England, Avere it
not for the rules laid down among the
directions given concerning discipline,
in which the penance^ is spoken of as a
satisfaction for sin.* The penances
generally imposed are fasting, wander
ing, laying aside arms and external

1 Bingham's Ant. vi. 871, viii. 117, 130; Bur
ton, ii, and iii. cent. 338.
2 Johnson, 994, 30.
3 One dilhculty with regard to this question be
tween the Protestant and Roman Cathohc arises
from ihe word pa!)ii'c'«(ia, whichaRormu Catho
lic would translate " penance," in ils secondary
Jor theological sense ; whereas the Greek is p-.T.i-
vom. or lepentance. "Repent ye, for the king
dom of heaven ia at hand," hy being translaied
ihrou^h the Latin, ia rendered "Do penance, for
the." &c. The fruit of repentance, for which a
Proiestaut miniater would look, is a proof of ihe
sorrow of heart in the penitent, expressing itself in
his outward conduct. A severe penan<'e, voUin-
tatily submlited to, may strongly testify Ruch
godiv contrition ; still he will never esteem this a
saliNlactlon for sin. But wherever a regular sys
tem of penances ia enjoined, it is difficult to un-
der.^tand how they can be enforced, unless the
cusiom of auricular confession he at the sime
time established. If then the Peniienlial of Theo
dore were in uae in England, as probably it was,
it seems fTir alao to conclude that confession was
nece='sarilv joined with it. Those civil laws which
confirm the penances imposed by ihe church
prove nothing to the point ; (Johnson, 877. 1 ;
9-35. 7;) for it each case the offence is of such a
nature aa might be known without any priv.Te
confeaaion. See, on the whole of this question,
Soames, Bamp. Lect. V. and the illustraiions.
4 Johnson, 963, s. 57, 53.

pomp, a change of clothes,-'* not allow
ing iron to come near the nails or hair.
" Much of the satisfaction of sin," says
the Canon," "may be redeemed by
alms-deeds ;" an observation which is
followed by a long account of the com
mutation of penance, Avhereby a rich
man may buy oJTthe penances imposed
on him by finding other persons who
will join with him in his fasting, and
thus lighten the severity of the disci
pline by dividing it among a greater
number. It should be observed, how
ever, that this is strictly forbidden in
747;' and Dunstan imposed, and Edgar
submitted to, a seven years' penance,
of not wearing his crown, as a punish
ment for deflouring a nun.
§ 22. The question of the celibacy of
the clergy is one which involves this
difficulty, that it is not clear, even now,
whether the church of Rome esteem it
an apostolical tradition or an ecclesias
tical law ;^ i, e, whether it cannot, or
can, be dispensed with by the authority
of the church. A Protestant would say,
that no church can possess the right of
depriving a priest of his orders, in con
sequence of his marrying, bscause such
a step would not be sanctioned by Scrip
ture ; but the laws of a Koman Catho
lic country must have the same author
ity to deprive hitn of his preferment, as
the law of England has to say that a
married priest shall not continue to hold
his fellowship. The early practice of
the Christian church was clearly in fa
vour of the marriage of the clergy.^
No vow of celibacy was required of
them at their ordination, for the three
first centuries, and many were married.
At the council of Nice, 325,"' it was in
vain endeavoured to impose this re
straint upon churchmen ; but it seems
to have been unusual for clergymen to
marry after ordination." The custom
of the Greek church" was settled at the
council of Trullo, 693, in which it Avas
ordained, that bishops only should sepa
rate themselves from their wives, while
all other orders were allowed to dwell
with them ; and the church of Rome
was rebuked for the contrary law. The
5 Johnson. 9.^3. 64. ^ Ibid. 67.
' Ibid. 747, 97; 963, pnsi, 77.
' Jm-ieu's Council of Trent, 487.
9 Binirham, ii. 152. i" Ibid. 1.55.
11 Ibid. 156. "Ibid. 158.
B

14

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. I.

answers of Gregory to Augustin imply,
thatthe regulations ofthe Roman church
had been made in England from the
very first.'^ The Canons of Ecgbright,
of Elfric ; the Penitential Canons of
Edgar, Theodulf 's Capitula ; the Canons
of Eanham, and the laws of Canute, all
imply that this was the law of the
church ; and the only testimony which
seems to favour the contrary side of the
argument appetirs to be founded on a
misinterpretation.^ But whatever might
have been the law, the practice seems
to have been diametrically opposite, at
least after the Danish invasion; and the
severity threatened, in all the later ca
nons proves the difficulty of enforcing
this unscriptural regulation. The tem
per of mind generated by it is pretty
clearly marked by other canons, which
ordain that no woman should approach
the altar while mass was saying;' and
that no woman, not even a mother,
should live in the house with a priest, •''
lest the visits of other women should
tempt him to sin. The struggle as to
this point forms the chief feature in the
later history of the Anglo-Saxon church ;
but the question is far too extensive to
be fully discussed within our limits,
though a brief outline of it may be
useful. § '3 5. The earliest ecclesiastical esta
blishments consisted of the bishop and
his clerks, who lived together on a pro
perty common tothem all, and managed
bj' llie bishoj). These were governed
by a rule or canon, and were called cu-
nonici, or canons. As the diffusion of
1 Johnson's Can. COl, 1 ; 740, 15, 28, 31, 32.
159; 957, 1, 5,7,8; 963,40, 994, 12; 1009, 1, 2;
1017, 6.
2 The words in Johnson are loosely translnicd
"any of the Inferior clergy ;" clerici extra macros
ordiueK eonstiluti. 'I'he orders in the Roman
church are, osllary, lector, exorcist, acolylh, sub-
deacon, deacon, priest. (Johnson, 957, 10 — 17.)
Elfric allows of no disiinclion between a bishop
and a priest, but the power of ordaining, confirm
ing, consecrating churches, and taking care of
God's rights. This, too, is the law of Ecgbright.
I'he four first orders were not sacred, and those
in them might marry. (740, 159.)
3 'I'he thirty-fifth section of the laws of the
Northumbrian pricsta ordains: " If a priest dis-
misa one wife, and take anoiher. let hira be ana
thema." (9.50, >!5.) The probable meaning of
which is, " If a priest, with a view to ordination,
has given up one wife, and then taken anoiher
afterwards;" which is the very sin spoken of in
the canons of Eanham. and the Penitential Ca
nona. (1009. 2; 963. 40.)
* Johnson's Can. 960, 44.
6 Ibid. 994, 12.

Christianity into the district surround
ing the cathedral church called for the
erection of more places of worship,
parish churches were gradually esta
blished, the services in which were sup
plied by some member of the general
society ; and when benefices distinct
also in their property were founded, the
secular clergy, under the direction of
the bishop, rose by degrees into exist
ence. But besides these, there was a
class of persons, originally not strictly
speaking ecclesiastics, but who after a
time generally became so, living to
gether under more strict regulations
than the canons, and guided by some
peculiar rule, in England generally that
of St. Benedict. There can be little
doubt that, in the earlier slag-es of soci
ety, monastic institutions were of very
great utility. They formed an inde
pendent landlord, anxious for peace,
and able and willing to introduce im
provements. They contained and fos
tered the little learning which existed
in the country. They encouraged the
arts of architecture and its adjuncts,^
and established manufactures ; thus
form.ing a middle class of men, whose
combination might aflbrd a salutary
check to the power of the crown or the
aristocracy. No person suffered so
much by the irruption of the Danes as
the inhabitants of monasteries. They
were possessed of wealth, without any
means of defending it, and their destruc
tion became general. During these pe
riods of confusion, the mass of the
clergy appear to have become married ;
and when peace was re-established, the
higher clergy, who were friendly to the
Roman see, as Dunstan and his col
leagues Oswald and Ethelwold, pro
ceeded with all activity to eject the
married clergy, and re-establish the
monies. For it should not be forgotten,
that il was justly argued, at the council
of Trent,' that the principal reason why
priests are forbidden to marry i^. that it
is plain that married priests will, through
their affection to their wives and fami
lies, and the ties thus formed with their
countries, lose that dependence on tht

1 The Illuminators of :\ISS. in this country
weir, in the end of the tenlh century, surpassed
by none but those of the Greek school. Archae
ologia, vol. xxiv. p. 26.
' Fr. Paul, C35.

HAP. I.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

la

apostolic see which constituted the
strength of tlie ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Jt may be observed, that the use of
holy water' is enjoined, and the burn
ing^ of lights''_ in churches, and that the
service Avas performed in the Latin lan-
^oiage ; that priests are directed to
preach every Sunday, and to explain
the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the
(srospel, to the people.'
§ 21. If, then, it be asked, whether
the doctrines ofthe Anglo-Saxon church
corresponded more nearly to those of
the church of Rome or of England, it
will be impossible to return an answer,
without inquiring how far the tenets of
the Roman Cailiolic of that period
agreed with the decisions of the coun
cil of Trent ; and in all probability it
would be found that the difference be
tween the doctrines of the church of
Tilome, at different periods, was much
greater than that which existed between
the Anglo-Saxon church and the church
of Rome of the same date. The pro
gress of error can never be very rapid,
and the conclusions of the council of
Trent must have required a growth of
many years. Fancies are first converted
into opinions by the authority of those
who have entertained them, and inte
rest adopts opinions which have been
once admitted, to sanction unwarrant
able demands. It was thus that a belief
in purgatory was first received, and then
became the origin of many ecclesiasti
cal foundations : it was thus that the
priesthood first persuaded men to be
lieve in transubstantiation, and then con
verted it into a means of augmenting
their own personal dignity, as confer
ring a distinctive pre-eminence on those
to whom this power of working a per
petual miracle was committed. With
this view of the subject,-''it is probable
that we should find the church of Rome
of that day nearer to the present doc
trines of the church of England than
the decrees ofthe council of Trent are.
And as the Anglo-Saxon church was,
from itS' situation and distance from
Rome, not likely to receive every new
invention as it was framed, we might
expect that her tenets would be nearer
our own, not only than those entertained
by Rome now, but than those which
' Johnson's Can. 816, 5 2 ; 960, ? 43.
2 Ibid. 9S0, 42.

were then maintained in Italy. And
this is precisely the conclusion to which
the previous examination has arrived,
as far as it has gone.
j $ 25. But if it be asked, how far these
erroneous views had drawn our fore
fathers from the vital principles of
'. Christianity, the question must require
the greatest caution, even in one who
was thoroughly versed in the subject;
must be answered as a matter of opinion,
rather than as a point of history; and
ought only to be discussed, because the
great use of history is to teach us,
through the example of others, the dan
gers to which we are ourselves exposed.
And first it may be premised, that it is
not the abstract belief in erroneous doc
trines which perverts tbe faith of the
Christian, but the tendency which such
errors have to undermine the e.ssentials
of our religion. He who believes in
the existence of a purgatory, may still
seek for salvation, and an escape from
every future punishment, through his
Saviour's blood ; it is only when he
learns to confide in some other means
of safety, that the idea of. purgatory
will practically destroy his faith in
Christ. The Christian may believe in
transubstantiation, and still receive the
elements with humble reliance on the
great sacrifice made once for all ; but
when he believes that the providino- of
masses can benefit his own soul, or that
of others, he begins to lose sight of the
atonement, and to seek for a new means
ijf reconciliation. There is, perhaps, no
reason wliy an individual holding wrong
opinions of this sort may not trust in
the same Rock on which our faith is
built, but the tendency of such opinions
is to lead those who entertain them from
relying on God, who is the Giver, to
relying on the means which God has
appointed whereby we partake of his
gifts. § 26. And this probably we shall find
to have been the case among the Anglo-
Saxons ; for a very inadequate view of
the atonement seems to pervade many
of the documents of their faith which
have come down to us. When the
great features of Christianity are di
rectly brought forward, they are per
fectly correct; some ofthe prayers, for
instance, given by Turner,^ mark great

= iii. 490, 491.

16

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap.I.

piety and most correct views of the Tri
nity, the atonement, and sanctification.
So in the homily on the Catholic faith
it is said,' "The holy Father created
and made mankind through his Son,
and he desires through the same to re
deem us from hell punishment, when
we were utterly undone;" but then the
same homily adds, towards the end,'
"Come then, let us earn that eternal
life with God, through this belief, and
through good deservings ;" expressions
which a believer in the eleventh article
would never have used. In another,
the writer speaks of redeeming trans
gressions by almsgiving:' upon the
death of a bishop, alms are directed to
be given out of his property, and his
slaves to be set free, " that by this means
he may deserve to receive the fruit of
retribution for his labours, and also for
giveness of sins."* Alwyn, founder of
Ramsay, desired the monks to pray for
him,'' " and to place their merits in ba
lance against his defects ;" and a monk
prays for Edgar,^ "that his good deeds
1 Soamea, Bamp. Lect. 63. " Ibid. 65.
= Turner, iii. 476. ¦! Johnson'a Can. 816, 10.
6 Lingard, 251. e jbid. 278.

may overbalance his evil deeds, and
shield his soul at the last day." More
examples of the same sort might be
found, if the Penitential Canons were
consulted; but these are quite sufficient
to prove that the fruit of unorthodox
doctrines had grown up with the admis
sion of those opinions; and though we
may bring forward the Anglo-Saxon
church as not having admitted all the
errors of Rome, yet when we would de
fend ourselves from the attacks of our
enemies, we must at once fall back upon
the Bible, and profess ourselves ready
to amend whatever part of our faith or
practice does not correspond with the
lively oracles of God. They possessed
the Bible in their native language, yet
they admitted the traditions of men, and
were perverted so far as not to place
their faith and confidence entirely in
their Redeemer's blood. They buried
their faith under a mass of unauthorized
observances, and partially lost sight of
that which is chiefly valuable in the
Gospel. There were many errors which
had not yet been introduced, but the
way was fully prepared for their ad
mission.

Chap. II.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

17

CHAPTER II.

FROM THE CONIJUEST, 1066, TO THE PREACHING OF -WICLIF, 1J56.
51. View to be taken ofthe Church history of this period. 52, William T. 53. Growih ofthe power
of Rome. 54. William Rulus and Anselm. 55. Henry; celibacy of the clergy. 56. Stephen.
57. Henry II. 58. Becket. 59. Death and characler ot Becket. 60. 'the livst heretics punished
in England. 61. Inlerfeience of Rome vviih England. 62. John. 63. Deposed by the Pope.
64. Henry III. 65. Robert Greathead, Bishop ol Lincoln, 66. Edward I. 67. Growth of the
papal power. 68. The coniest was a temporal one. 69. Tho Church taxes itself. 70. Sirength
and weakness ofthe Roman power.

§ 51. TuE church history of this pe
riod can be viewed in no other light than
as a continual struggle between the ec
clesiastical and civil power; and there
will be little else to record than the
methods by which the mitre triumphed
over the crown, and the crown invaded
the rights and property of the church.
It will not perhaps be necessary to
say much of the steps by which the er
roneous doctrines of the church of Rome
gradually overspread that of England;
for the seeds of these innovations were
abundantly sown before the Conquest,
and the introduction of foreign ecclesi
astics, connected closely with papal po
licy, would effectually tend to foster
their growth. The history of the papal
errors in England would not differ from
that of the s_ame errors in Italy, and we
shall hereafter have to regard them as
the causes of the Reformation.
In estimating the character of such
events, or of the individuals engaged in
them, we shall hardly arrive at a correct
view of the subject, if we form our ideas
on the standard of present opinions. If
Anselm and Becket be regarded as
champions in the cause of ecclesiastical
prerogative, as advocating the privileges
of the church against the arbitrary pro
ceedings ofthe crown, we shall perhaps
form a different judgment of their con
duct from that which must result from
viewing' them as ministers ofthe Gospel.
Their cause unfortunately was little con
nected with that of Christianity; yet
their firmness, and the manner in which
they conducted that cause, may excite
our admiration of them as men.
§ 52. William the Conqueror, though
he invaded England under the sanction
of a papal grant, nevertheless main
tained the authority belonging to the
crown, and proved that he was the head
of ecclesiastical as well as civil power
3

in his kingdom, by subjecting all church
¦property to the services which were de
manded from other lands. This had
become absolutely necessary ; for it is
said, that according to Doomsdpy book,
seven-fifteenths of the kingdom were ii-i
the hands of spiritual persons, who had
heretofore furnished scarcely any thing
for the support of the state. As a fur
ther proof of his stipremacy, he forbade
churchmen, unless they had previously
obtained his permission, to lea /e the
kingdom — to acknowledge any one as
pope — to publish letters from Rome —
to excommunicate any persons con
nected with himself — to hold councils,
or make canons.
Most of the larger preferments were
now transferred into the hands of Nor
mans, who had accompanied the inva
sion, and much tyranny seems to have
been used towards the chief members
of the English church, many of whom
were expelled from their benefices, or
frightened into involuntary resignations.
William ejected them by means of le
gates from Pope Alexander II. , whose
admission introduced an authority into
the kingdom, of which he himself was
little afraid, however dangerous it might
prove to a successor; for he rejected
the demands of homage made by Gre
gory VIL, and would allow that Peter's
pence should be sent to Rome on no
other ground than as a benefaction. In
separating, too, the ecclesiastical and
civil courts, he made an alteration of
which he did foresee the extent, for this
step greatly assisted the clergy in esta
blishing their claim to a separate juris
diction.' 1 In Saxon times, the sheriff or earl had pro
perly the government of the county; but the
bishop was always associated with hira injudicial
matters, and they together went a circuit twice
a-year, holding in every hundred a court called
the Tourn. In ecclesiastical mattera, the biahop
b2

la

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IL

§ 53. William had little reason to
dread the power of the Vatican, first,
because that formidable authority was
not yet fully established ; but, second
ly, because he made himself strong at
home, and confined his tyranny' to
those whom he had conquered ; where
as the injustice of his successors being
directed against men who ought to have
furnished them with support, rendered
the interference of the pope a benefit to
a portion of their subjects. For it must
never be forgotten that the influence of
Rome generally owed its origin and ex
tent to the vices and oppressions of the
kings who were in their turn the victims
of it. The property of the bishopric
was a benefit to society. The church
in those days formed a balance between
the crown and aristocracy, of which the
weight would, under ordinary circum
stances, be generally thrown into the
scale of peace, and on the side of the
middle and lower orders. The election
to the see was rested in the chapter or
monastery, and the appointment of a
bishop furnished the church, and all
who held under it or were connected
with its interests, with a person of such
a station in society as might be able to
defend their cause against the aggres
sion of the military baron or his de
pendents. When therefore the cro-wn
appropriated to itself the temporalities
of the bishopric, by keeping it void for
a season, a vast number of persons were
deprived of the advantages which they
naturally looked for from their ecclesi-

.«at as judge, and the sheriff assiated hira by in-
flicing temporal punishments; when eivil offences
w;ere tried, the sheriff was judge, and the bishop
his coadjutor. This joint juriadiclion was now
di.«Polved ; for William ordained that no biahop or
archdeacon should submit to the judgment of any
secular person a cause which related to the cure
of soula, but that auch caaes should be brought
before the bishop, at such places as he should ap
point, and be there decided according to the can
ons and the episcopal law : that those who refused
to obey the summons of the bishop should be ex-
commuiticated, and the aaslstance of the kino- or
the sheriff called in: and that no layman whatever
should intromit any matter which properly be
longed to the bishop's court. Abridged from
Reeve's History of English Law, p. 6 and 64.
1 There is one instance of tyranny with which
the memory of 'William I. is generally loaded,
which it may be allowed an inhabitant of Hamp
shire to refute. He is ordinarily accuaed of de
populating a large tract of country for the purpose
of forming the New Foreat. The soil, however,
in thia district is such, that it could never have
been much inhabited, and the act, however arbi
trary, could not have produced any real distress.

astical superior. No ecclesiastical au
thority in England was adequate to-
cope with this evil, for the power of
the crown was more than sufficient to
oppress any individual bishop ; but in
times of difficulty, the discontent of a
large body of the native subjects gave-
great strength to any foreign authority
which advocated the cause of the suf
ferers. A patriotic churchman, with
the full conviction of the evils arising
from such oppression, exercised over
the body to which he belonged, might
fly to any tribunal which could furnish
him with assistance ; and most certainly
the court of Rome would never have
acquired that power which was after
wards so misused, if the commence
ment of its exercise had not been really
useful to many persons labouring un
der oppression. William Rufus kept
the see of Canterbury vacant above
four years, and when, through com
punction of conscience, arisino- from
sickness, he had nominated Anselm to
the primacy, the warm yet just remon
strances of the archbishop created at
first an unpleasantness, and at last an
open rupture, between himself and the
king. Anselm properly exhorted him
to fill up all vacant preferments, and
admonished his sovereign, that though
God had made him the protector of the
church, he had not constituted him^ the
proprietor of it.=
§ 54. By a law of William I., every
churchman was forbidden to leave the
kingdom, or to acknowledge any one
as pope without the permission of the
king ; and he had prevented Lancfranc
and Thomas from going to Rome to
receive the pall. Yet Anselm (1095)
sought to do so while at variance with
William II., and even consulted the
bishops at the council of Rockingham
whether his obedience to Urban, whom
Rufus had not recognised as pope, were
compatible with his obedience to the
king; declaring at the same time the
reluctance which he had felt 'towards

Before the Conquest, the lemporahtiea during
a vacancy had been placed in the handa of the
diocesan or archbishop of the province. Under
the Conqiieror, they had been sequestered in the
hands of churchmen, who were forced to account
tor the proeeeda ; but Rufus kept them in Ms
own, or let ihem out to farm for his profit. At
his d?ath he waa enjoying the income of one arch
bishopric, four bishoprics, and eleven abbeys.
Ling. Hist. u. 134.

3hap. n.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

19,

accepting the station which he now
held, and his determination to obey the
successor of St. Peter.
William, with that folly which often
marks the conduct of those who are de
termined to gratify their own wishes
without regarding the consequences,
agreed to acknowledge Urban as pope,
provided he on his part would depose
Anselm. A legate was accordingly
sent from Rome, who, when he had
been received and procured the ac
knowledgment of his master, confirmed
Anselm in' his see, as a dutiful son of
the church. Considering the circum
stances under which he was placed, we
cannot wonder at the attachment of the
primate to Rome ; but at the moment
it proved but of little- benefit to him;
for he was forced to avoid the immedi
ate anger of his sovereign by flying
into France, from whence he proceed
ed into Italy ; and when the pope made
an application for his return, William
answered, that Anselm, in leaving the
kingdom, had justly incurred those pe
nalties under which he was suffering,
and that the pope was wrong in advo
cating his cause. During his stay at
Rome* he gained himself great credit at
two councils which were held by Urban,
[n the last of which the canon against
lay investitures was established.*
1 Investiture was a ceremony performed by
giving a staff and ring to the bishop elect, which
put him Into possession of the spiritualiiies, as
homage did of the temporalities. Gregory VIL,
who began to pave the way to that univeraal
monarchy v/hich in aubsequent timea the popes
nearly obtained (a. d. 1074), forbade princes,
under pain of excommunication, to make uae of
investiiure, the object of which canon waa to
break off as much as possible all connection be
tween ecelesiasiics and the civil authorities. The
importance of the ceremony consisted in the real
power it gave with reaped to the nomination,
aince it conferred, on the party possessed of the
right, a sort of power of annuUing the election.
In the frequent instances which we have of dis
puted elections to the see of Canterbury, the
monks claimed to themselves the sole choice, and
the court of Rome supported them against the
suffragan bishops of the diocese, who demanded
a aharo in the election. But the crown also
claimed its influence, which in the 12th article of
the Cimstitutions of Clarendon is thus expressed.
Having declared that vacant preferments shall be
in the king's hands, it proeeeda. " Et cum ven
tum fuerit ad conaulendum ecclesiam, debet Do
minus rex mandare potiorea peraonaa ecclesiae,"
(eend his mandate to the chief parsona of the
church. Johnson'a Canons. 1164, 12,) "et in
capella ipaius regis debet fieri electio, assenau
ipaiua regia et consilio personaruin regni, quaa ad
hoc faciendum advocaverit." The person elect

§ 55. The difficulties inseparable froni
the beginning of a reign, founded on an
unjust title, made Henry I. seek for
popularity by the recall of Anselm; but
one of the first acts of the archbishop
was the refusal of homage founded on
the before-named canon. The necessi
ties of the king produced a truce, but
the absurd demands of Pascal II. joon
put an end to every appearance of
peace ; Henry declaring that no sub
ject should remain in England who
refused to do homage, while Anselm
withdrew to his province, and defied all
earthly power. In a council held at
Winchester, it was determined to refer
the matter to the pope ; but the con
duct of Pascal was so deceitful, that the
accounts brought back by the envoys
of the king and archbishop were at total
variance with each other. Anselm him
self soon after went to Rome at the
request of Henry, when a decree of the
papal chair seemed to put an end to
all hopes of reconciliation. At length.
however, Henry was induced by the
threat of excommunication to submit to
a compromise, and to give up the right
of investiture, the church at the same
time allowing its members to do homage
for the temporalities.
In endeavouring to promote the liber
ty of ecclesiastical elections, Anselm
might have been acting on sound prin
ciples ; but the earnestness with which
he insisted that the archbishop of York
should acknowledge the superiority of
the see of Canterbury, was so closely
connected with his own prerogative,
that it suggests the idea that much of
his conduct owed its origin to spiritual
pride. As an advocate for the papal
authority, he of course insisted on the
celibacy of tho clergy, which was one
of the most powerful engines by which
this foreign jurisdiction was supported.
The repeated canons against the mar
riage of the clergy prove how difficult
it was to enforce this restraint ; and
there is a letter sent from the pope to
Anselm, in 1107, allowing him to or
dain and advance the sons of clerg)''-

ahall then do homage, &c. If this custom then
had been established, and the king had possessed
the power of inveadture as well aa right of ho
mage, the real nomination would practically have
been in hia handa ; and unfortunately many royal
appointmenta -were little better than sales of the
preferments.

so

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap.II.

men, "because the greatest and best
part of the priesthood in England con
sisted of such persons."
§ 5(3. The papal power continued to
extend itself by making use of every ad
vantage which the weakness and vices
of our sovereigns afforded. Thus after
the usurpation of Stephen, which was
sanctioned by Rome, AlberiCus, bishop
of Ostia, held a synod at Westminster,
where he promulgated canons on the
sole authority of the pope, and inter
fered in the election of Theobald to the
see of Canterbury. So again Stephen,
by faithlessly seizing the persons of
Roger, bishop of Sarum, and his ne
phew the bishop of Lincoln, at Oxford,
paved the way to an act of unjustifiable
audacity on the part of his own brother,
the bishop of Winchester, who sum
moned him to answer for his conduct,
(a. n. 118!),) and then arrogating to the
clergy the right of appointing kings,
declared in favour pf iVIatilda and her
son. The facility with which oaths and
declarations were then made and bro
ken, while perjury was almost sanc
tioned by the dispensations of Romg
and her emissaries, is one of the many
proofs which might be produced, that
the cause of the church was far from
being that of God.' The papal power
was the only one which was advanced
by the miseries of England during this
period. Her king was deprived of his
patronage, and of the fidelity of his
subjects, while the clergy Avere sub
jected to a foreign legate, celibacy was
more strongly insisted on, and most of
their causes were ultimately carried to
Rome ; by degrees, too, many abbeys
were freed from episcopal jurisdiction,
holding directly from the see of Rome,
and forming ecclesiastical garrisons
prepared for its defence.
§ 57. Henry II. found the power of
the church greatly augmented during
the reign of Stephen, and though a
wise prince, he contributed to extend
that jurisdiction over the whole world
which was arrogated by the court of
Rome, when he accepted a grant of
Ireland from the pope. Few monarehs,
however, have more severely felt the

'Fuller Bays, "Dealing with oalha aa seamen
do with the points ofthe compaaa, (iii. p. 25, ^ 29,)
Baying them forwards and backwarda."

ill effects of exalting- the hierarchy, and
that at the hands of a favourite, whose
aid he had expected in repressing them,
Thomas Becket was born in London,
educated at Oxford, Paris, and Bologna,
and by the influence of Theobald was
made chancellor of England, (1158.)
Upon the death of that prelate he was
appointed his successor in the see of
Canterbury, though only in deacon's
orders, and notwithstanding the remon
strances of many of the king's friends,
who endeavoured to dissuade him from
putting so much power into the hands
of one who, with ambitiolis views, pos
sessed talents which would render him
formidable. The courtier, now con
verted into an ecclesiastic, assumed a
severity of conduct corresponding with
his station, and discarded that levity for
which he had been before conspicuous.
The point on which the interests of the
archbishop and the king fii-st ca;me into
competition, regarded the punishment
of ecclesiast-ical persons guilty of noto
rious crimes, of which unfortunately,
at that time, there were too many ex
amples. This question was discussed in a
council at Westminster, (1163,) and
Becket and the other bishops agreed to
observe the customs of the realm such
as they existed in the time of Henry
I., but added the clause of " saving their
order," a reservation which virtually
maintained that no clerk, though de
graded, shonld be subjected to the civil
power, for the same offence for which
he had been deprived of his orders;-
and this upon the principle that a man
shall not be twice punished for the same
crime. When the Constitutions of Cla-
rendoni were drawn up, Becket at first.

2 They were eatabhshed at Clarendon, near Sa
lisbury, andare in numbersixiccn. (Johnson'a Ca
nons, 1164.) Theirobject is to preserve ihe rights
of the crown. (2, 14.) To prevent appeals from he-
iiig made to any foreign court. (4, 8.) To restrain
the carrying of causes into ecclesiastical oouils,
(1, 15,) and the exercise of an undue (5? or Inqui
sitorial power (C)in those courts, while their just
rights were preserved by the aid of temporal au
thority. (10, 13.) To regulate ecciesiasiical elec-
tiona, so that the appointment might not fall into
the hauda of the pope. (12.) To subject eccle-
Biastical properly to civil service, (11,) and church
men to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of
law, so far that it might be known what cogni
sance was claimed by the ecclesiastical power,
?o" „ °Z offending parties were punished.
(3. 9.) To screen persona connected with the kin"

Chap. II.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

31

(1164,) with much reluctance, promised
to observe them, and to submit to what
ever else was the law in time of Henry
L ; but he subsequently obtained a dis
pensation from his oath. When he had
attempted to leave the kingdom, and
was driven back by contrary winds, a
violent persecution was begun against
him in a parliament held at Northamp
ton. He had violated those laws which
lie had before sworn to observe, and
was justly liable to punishment ; but it
was not of this that they accused him ;
he was sued under frivolous, if not
false pretences, and at last ordered to
give in an account of the moneys re
ceived by him while chancellor. The
day after this unreasonable demand, he
entered the hall in his pontificals, ob
served a dignified conduct towards his
opponents, and when threatened by the
Earl of Leicester, declared that all
claims on him had been discharged
when he was made archbishop, and ap
pealed to God and the pope. The next
night he set off in disguise, and retired
to France.
§ 59. The reception of Becket at the
French court was much more favoura
ble than that which the ambassadors of
the king of England experienced ; and
the same difference was observable at
Sens, where the pontiff then resided.
The Constitutions of Clarendon were
immediately condemned by the pope,
and the cause of Becket was taken up
as his own. The violence of Henry
now broke out in an unjustifiable per
secution of the friends of the archbishop,
whom he stripped of all their property,
sending them over to their patron, with
the view of increasing his misery by
the sufferings of those connected with
him. In this, as well as the former
persecution, the passions of the king
made him lose the advantage which his
cause possessed, and he must have been
regarded as a tyrant, even while assert
ing his own legitimate rights.
Becket's anger would have inclined
him to proceed immediately to the ex
communication of Henry ; but, through
the interfererce of the king of France,
the thunder.3 of the church were hurled

from the immediate influence of eccleaiaatical cen-
surea, (7,) and to prevent the ordination of alaves,
unleaa with the consent of then: maaters. (16.)

against his ministers alone. Several
attempts at reconciliation proved abor
tive ; and, in 1170, when the court of
Rome seemed to be more favourable
towards Henry, the rage of the pri
mate became excessive. These circum
stances, however, appear to have expe
dited the cause of peace, for terms
were soon after agreed on. The meet
ing which took place at Fretville dis
plays the gentlemanly feeling of the
king, and the revengeful pride of
Becket : he refused to forgive his op
ponents in any but general terms ; and
the intention of these salvos was soon
apparent ; for before he landed in Eng
land, he excommunicated those bishops
who had taken any leading part against
him, and thus declared war at the mo
ment Avhen he should have been the
messenger of peace.
§ 59. Some angry expressions which
dropped from Henry when the excom
municated bishops came to implore his
protection, produced the murder of the
primate. The tide of opinion now ran
against the supposed author of this hor
rid deed; but the king made his peace
with Rome by solemnly disavowing any
knowledge of, or participation in the
murder. St. Thomas became a most
powerful advocate Avith Heaven ; and
the miracles performed at his shrine
would be incredible, if the force of ima
gination, in curing the most inveterate
disorders, had not been proved by the
quackery of modern times. Henry
himself paid honour to him when dead,
and subjected his own person to great
severities at his tomb. Louis too, with
more consistency, visited his bones, and
sought to obtain the heavenly aid of him
whom he had protected on earth. Of
the cleverness and decision of Becket's
character there can be no doubt ; but it
seems equally unquestionable that his
object was personal ambition; he died
a martyr to the cause of the advance
ment of his own ecclesiastical power.
The violence of his letters to the court
of Rome, and the vindictive persecution
of his enemies, show most forcibly how
far he was from that serenity which the
disinterestedness of a good cause can
alone inspire.
§ 60. It was during this period (1160)
that the first punishment for heresy took
place ia England. About thirty Ger-

SS

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. II.

mans, unoeT a teacher named Gerhard,
appeared in this country. They were
examined before a synod at Oxford,
burnt in the forehead, and turned out
to perish in the fields. They made no
proselytes, excepting one woman ; and,
as the only account of their tenets
which remains to us is derived from
those who punished them, no fair jtidg-
ment can be passed on the opinions
which they entertained. They are said
to have rejected the use of the sacra
ments of baptism and the Lord's sup
per, to have been adverse to marriage,
and to have gloried in their suffer
ings.' § 61. The manner in which the court
of Rome interfered with the concerns
of this kingdom cannot be more strongly
illustrated than by a quarrel which hap
pened in 1186, when Archbishop Bald
win attempted tp build a convent at
Hackington, near Canterbury. The
monks of the metropolitan church saw
that any other archieplscopal establish
ment -was likely to interfere with their
right of electing to the see ; and indeed
the object in the erection of this reli
gious house seems to have been to dimi
nish their power. They appealed there
fore to Rome, and the pope insisted on
the destruction of the intended esta
blishment, which was accomplished in
1189; and so far did this jealousy ex
tend, that when Hubert, in 1196, at
tempted to found a society of canons
at Lambeth, and offered every safeguard
which oaths could give, that they should
not interfere with the election, the
monks of Canterbury still resisted ; and
the see of Rome too well knew her own
interest, not to advocate the cause of
those who were always ready to fight
her battles against any other authority.
In 1200, Innocent III. took the bold
step of imposing a tax of one-fortieth
on all ecclesiastical revenues, for the
purpose of a crusade ; to which it was
never fully applied, says Diceto, unless
the church of Rome has renounced her
innate rapacity.
§ 62. It was, however, in the reign
of John that the papal authority rose
to its greatest height : the first act of
encroachment was the appointment of
Stephen Langton to the see of Canter-
' Collier's Ecc. Hist. i. 347.

bury. On the death of Hubert, the
monks, .to make sure of their privilege,
hastily elected Reginald, and dismissed
him secretly to Rome, to obtain his in
vestiture ; but, contrary to a promise
which he had given them, he disclosed
the news of his election in Flanders,
and brought the anger of the king on
those who had been instrumental to it.
Upon this the monks, out of revenge,
elected another primate, and the ques
tion was referred to Rome. The suf
fragan bishops of the diocese, too, sent
in their claim ; but this was immediately
rejected ; and the pope, having annulled
both the elections of the monks, com
pelled such of their members as were
then at Rome to proceed to a fresh elec
tion, absolving them from all the pro
mises to the contrary which they had
made in England. Stephen Langton,
in whose favour these steps were taken,
was by birth an Englishman, had re
ceived his education at Paris, and had
subsequently been made a cardinal.
The intemperate warmth of the British
monarch was met by the haughty firm
ness of Innocent, who first laid the coun
try under an interdict, and then excom
municated John. But so little real effect
had these spiritual weapons, that the
only two successful expeditions which
John made, against Wales and Ireland,
took place during this very period.
§ 63. In 1212, the pope proceeded to
depose John, and to free his subjects
from their oaths of allegiance ; and in
1213, committed the execution pf this
act to Philip of France. The secret
cabals of his discontented barons, whose
defection rendered all his prospects of
defence uncertain, coupled with the
threat of a foreign invasion, forced the
pusillanimous John to surrender his
kingdom ; and- on May 15, 1213, at
Dover, Pandulf restored the crown,
which was laid at his feet ; a tribute of
a thousand marks was imposed, and the
legate, having obtained the object of'
his church, forbade Philip to proceed
in the invasion, and neglected the inte
rest of even those English churchmen
who had suffered in the cause. So much
did the pope now consider England as
his own, that when, in 1215, the barons
compelled John to sign the charter, the
pope espoused the cause of the king
with such earnestness, that he snspendea

Chap. H.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

23

Langton for the part which he had taken
in favour of liberty.
In this year the council of St. John
Lateran was held, which authoritatively
declared transubstantiation to be a tenet
of the church.
§ 64. The papal power had probably
reached its greatest height by the sur
render which John made of his crown;
but its exactions and practical effects
were by no means diminished under the
weak reign of Henry III. A vast num
ber of the benefices in England were
filled by Italian's, who resided out of the
kingdom, and impoverished it by the
sums which were thus withdrawn. But
to what source could the oppressed in
habitants look for relief? They were
iittle likely to obtain it from Rome itself,
and the inadequacy of any such attempt
they themselves experienced when the
barons made a remonstrance to the coun
cil of Lyoi-is, (1245;) for the pontiff
amused them with delays, till their pa
tience was exhausted, and their return
to England was the next year followed
by a further exaction of one-half of the
revenues of the non-resident clergy, and
a third of the rest. But this demand
was too great to be complied with, and
the prudence of the court of Rome per
ceived the danger of pressing it.
§ 65. It was not, however, from the
barons alone that the opposition to the
court of Rome arose,' for Robert Gross
teste, or Greathead, '-^ bishop of Lincoln,
ventured to lift his feeble voice against
corruptions which he justly designated
as antichristian. Innocent IV. had
named his nephew, Frederic de Lava
nia, then a child, to a canonry in the
church of Lincoln ; but the remon
strances of the bishop were so strong,
that though they drew from the pope a
torrent of abuse, he wisely gave way
to the more prudent advice of some of
his cardinals, and did not follow up the
question. The good bishop died soon

1 Fox'a Mar. i. 364.
2 See a life of Groaateste by Pegge, 4to. He
was born 1175. In the early part of hia hfe he
reaided in Oxford, and lectured there to the black
friars. 'When elected bishop of Lincoln, 1235, he
waa much assisted by the friars in hia episcopal
duties, strongly enforced discipline, and endea
voured to reform abuses, defended the rights of
the church and kingdom against papal encroach
ments, though he always aubmitted to fhe author
ity of Rome ; about 1252, he put forth a aermon
at Lyons, inveighing bitterly against the corrup
tions of the court of Rome.

after, and on his deathbed endeavoured
to convince bis friend, John of St. Giles,
that the pope .was antichrist; and it
should be remembered, that he was one
of the most learned men of his day.
§ 66. The chief points in which the
English clergy had encroached on the
civil power consisted in their growing
wealth, and the freedom from temporal
jurisdiction which they claimed. A
partial remedy was provided first by a
statute which passed in 1275, allowing
a clerk to be tried by a jury before he
was delivered over to his ordinary, and
the Statute of Mortmain, 1279, made
the king's consent necessary for anjr
transfer of property to an ecclesiastical
body; but when Edward I. had esta
blished his power, he soon exerted it
over the ecclesiastical portion of hia
subjects. In 1292, he demanded one-half of the
revenues of the church, in addition to
many other exactions which he had
already made, and frightened the clergy
into submission. Robert Winchelsey,
then archbishop of Canterbury, in hopes
of putting a stop to these proceedings,
which seem in truth to have been very
tyrannical, obtained a bull from the
pope, which prohibited princes from
taxing church property; but the ineffi
cacy of this was soon proved ; for Ed
ward excluded from the protection of
the laws those ecclesiastics who refused
obedience to his demands, and directed
his civil officers to seize all the actual
property of clergymen. This soon
brought the question to a close, and
obliged the churchmen to submit.
The ecclesiastical history which lies
between this period and the first preach
ing of Wiclif is marked by little pecu
liarity; and the civil power, as might
be expected, during the active reigns of
the two Edwards, seems to have been
gaining ground. But the immediate
vices of the clergy, and the fundamen
tal errors existing in the ecclesiastical
system, which formed the real cause of
the attacks of Wiclif, and which are
indeed the only church history of this
period, shall be detailed by way of pre
face to the account given of this great
author of the Reformation. There are,
however, some few general observa
tions, which may be introduced with
aid vantage into this part of our history.

S4

HISTORY OF THE

§ 67. In tracing the extension of the
papal dominion in this kingdom, much
more must be attributed to the vices of
the British kings than to any other
cause. The comparative weakness of
the popes before the Conquest had pre
vented them from interfering so much
with the affairs of Britadn ; but as Rome
became strong, she advanced her claims,
and established them, whenever her in
terests could be mixed up with the cor
rection of the real grievances existing
in church or state. The unjust usurpa
tion of William I. was sanctioned by
the pope, and this same king introduced
legates to execute his tyranny; but his
injustice consisted in favouring the Nor
man clergy, and not in robbing the
church as a body; and William Rufus
might have kept himself as independent
as his father, had not his invasion of
church property compelled Anselm to
fly to Rome for protection. The quar
rel about investiture was really one as
to the power which it gave the king of
selling his preferments. Had not Henry
so disposed of the benefices which be
came vacant, the interest of the clergy
of England would have coincided with
that of the king ; his own avarice cre
ated the opposition which was raised
against him ; and in this vice he was so
shameless, that when he had been in
vested with authority to restrain the
marriage of the clergy, he used it by
selling them licenses which dispensed
with the restraint. It was not till Ste
phen had most unjustly seized on the
castles of Roger, bishop of Sarum, and
his nephews, that his own brother Hen
ry, the papal legate, ventured to sum
mon the king before an ecclesiastical tri
bunal; andStephen, himself an usurper,
appealed to the pope against his own
bishops. John was incapable of con
tending with Rome, because he had first
lost the confidence and love of his sub
jects. And the same thing occurred
during the reigns of more powerful
monarehs. Edward I. imposed a tax
of one-tenth on ecclesiastical property,
through Pope Nicholas IV., and after
Avards exacted larger sums from the
clergy, till they in their turn obtained
a bull which forbade the tran,sfer of any
ecclesiastical revenues to lay purposes,
without the concurrence of the holy see.
§ 68. Most of the contests which

[Chap. U,
took place concerned the property of
the church, and might more justly be
viewed as questions of- civil right than
as belonging to ecclesiastical matters.
The church is a body corporate, with
spiritual functions, but possessed of
temporal rights ; the injustice gene
rally arose with regard to the tempo
ralities, ordinarily with respect to the
appointments ; and as the ecclesiastical
body had no other means of defeniiing
its own rights, than by spiritual thun
ders, the invasion of a right purely
temporal in its nature became a ques
tion of spiritual power, from the way
in which the contest was carried on.'
The king kept a bishopric or abbey
vacant, and let the temporalities out to
farm. The church was injured by the
want of a head, but the injustice was
such as might have been remedied
without any appeal to a foreign power,
if the barons had maintained the rights
of the church; but when the church
found no other remedy, her members
were forced to seek for aid from any
source which could afford it to them,
and so put themselves under the pro
tection of Rome. And that see usu
ally showed itself eager to support the
weaker party, till the stronger submit
ted to acknowledge the authority of its
decisions, but exhibited no objection to
subject the church to the crown, pro
vided the crown was subservient to
Rome. § 69. So again with regard to the right
of taxation, the church had always pos
sessed the privilege of imposing taxes
upon her members, but the necessities
of Edward I. induced him to demand a
contribution of one-fifth of their mova
bles from the clergy; and Winchelsey,
then archbishop of Canterbury, (1296,)
obtained a bull prohibiting princes to
levy, and churchmen to pay, any taxes
imposed without the permission of the
Roman see. Edward reduced the clergy
to submission by putting them out of the
protection of the law, as they would
contribute nothing to the support of the
government ; but his conduct was cer
tamly very tyrannical. The papal bull

'See the Conslituliona of Boniface, in John
son a Canona, 1261, which, though they were
never estabhshed as law, yet mark strongly the
violence and folly of those who then wished to
legislate as friends of the chm-ch.

Chap. II.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

2f>

claimed a power over the crown, to
which there could be no just preten
sion, but such a claim could hardly
deprive the clergy of the right of tax
ing themselves. The question was not
whether or no they should pay taxes,
but as to the authority which should
impose such taxes. 'This proceeding
of the king was an infringement of
their civil rights ; and had in its nature
a tendency to weaken the dependence
of the church on the crown, and to
transfer the allegiance of the heart of
the churchman from his king to the
pope ; and the frequency of political
disturbances aud personal insecurity
induced the wealthy members of the
church to prepare every means of de
fence within their power ; so that if
we regard the higher clergy in their
manner of life, and their proceedings
against the crown, they resembled lay
men rather than ministers of the gos
pel. There were many instances when
they engaged personally in war, and
their castles were often as strong, their
retainers as numerous and warlike, as
those of any temporal lord ; and the
history of the churchmen of this period
can hardly be reckoned as belonging
to ecclesiastical history, any further
than as it records the temporal wealth
and power with which they were then
invested.

§ 70. In order to discover the source
of that political influence which was
possessed by Rome, we must look at
the elements of which society was
then composed. The king was the
monarch of a military oligarchy, whose
power mainly depended on the mili
tary strength which he possessed ; and,
therefore, chiefly on his own personal
character, and the manner iu which he
used the resources of the crown. The
church was a confederacy of corpora
tions, sole and aggregate, whose very
existence depentied on opinion, and
whose real strength consisted in com
bination, and in cultivating the arts of
peace and civilization. Rome, pos
sessed of many advantages in other
respects, formed a centre of combina
tion for the church, and the folly and
injustice of the crown and of the ba
rons would have rendered Rome and
the church invincible, had not those
vices, which are, humanly speaking,
inseparable from power and wealth,
destroyed the illusion of public opinion,
and prevented churchmen from being
able to trust in each other. The vices
of monarehs and of nations first made
the pope a king of kings ; and the vices
of Rome and her servants destroyed a
power which no other human force
could have subdued.

C

S6

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. HI.

CHAPTER III.

FROM WICLIF, 1356, TO HENRY VIII., 1509.
101. Men wish to remedy abuses when they affect themselves. 102. Political abuses; separate
jurisdiction of the clergy. 103. Money drained out of the kingdom. 104. La-«'s to restrain the
papal power. 105. Moral abuses ; the mendicant orders. 106. Doctrinal abuses ; pardons ; tran
substantiation. 107. Little prospect of redress ; inuiihiy of canona. 108. Wiclif a leader in the
Reformation. 109. His enmity to the friars. 110. He defends the crown against the papal power.
111. Attacked by the papal authority, but defended. 112. Driven from Oxiord. 113. Summoned
to Rome, but dies. 114. Hia talents and opposition lo Rome. 115. Opinions of "Wiclif; papal
aupremacy. 116. Church property; celibacy. 117. Purgatory; episcopacy. 118. Seven sacra
ments. 119. Transubstantiation ; on justification and sanctification. 120. 'Wiclif's followers.
121. Enactments of Henry I'V. in favour of persecution. 122. William Sawtrey, martyr. 123.
Lord Cobham. 124. His execution. 125. Pretended rebellion of Lord Cobham. 126. Pecock.
127. His excuse for images and pilgrimagea. 128. Papal supremacy and monasiic ordera. 129.
The Bible; celibacy; fasting.. 130. Continued persecution. 131. Summary of the history ; origin
of ecclesiastical power. 132. Competitors for the nomination to preferments. 133. Origin of the
claim of each. 134. Each seek their own advantage, in consequence of the wealth of the prefer
ment. 135. Advantages and disadvantages of wealth to the church. 136. Civil ofiices in the hands
of churchmen; these evils were destroyed when they came to be examined. 137. Many steps
made towards reformation, but an Almighty hand was still wanting.

§ 101. The period which we are about
to examine is often regarded with less
attention perhaps than it deserves, since
it must contain traces of those steps
which eventually led to the Reforma
tion. The opinions of a people like
ourselves are not changed in a mo
ment, or at the mere mandate of a
court ; parties must have been long
nearly balanced, or the party weakest
in political influence must really be the
favourite of the natiori, before a rapid
transition can alter the religion of a
country. The prejudices of the multi
tude generally coincide with whatever
they have found established, till cir
cumstances induce them to suppose
that some pressure under which thej'
are labouring may be removed. The
discovery of an abuse by no means dis
poses the generality of mankind to seek
a remedy ; but they are easily e.xcited
to desire the reform of abuses which
affect themselves, or when any other
causes of suffering dispose them to wish
for a change.
Before, therefore, we enter on the
history of Wiclif and his followers, it
may be useful to devote a few pages to
a short account of the abuses which
existed in the church about this time.
We will begin with those of a political
nature. § 102. The general extension of the
papal authority had so blinded the eyes
of mankind, with regard to that species
of anomaly in civil government which
has since been designated under the

name of imperium in imperio, that
though there were frequent complaints
of the pope's interfering too much with
the affairs of this country, yet no one
seems to have claimed that total exclu
sion of foreign jurisdiction, which is
now generally admitted as necessary
to constitute an independent kingdom.
There were many attempts to limit the
exclusive jurisdiction which the church
exercised over its own members, and
which was in reality subversive of the
equitable administration of justice. If
a priest were guilty of the most heinous
offences, he could only be punished by
ecclesiastical censures ; and the com
mission of rape, murder, or robbery,
was visited by confinement in a bishop's
prison, in which the appearance of ca
nonical severity was rendered ineffect
ual by the ease with which a dispensa
tion from any canon miglit be obtained.
§ 103. These evils, however, did not
affect the mass of the people, and though
injurious to society, were confined with
in a compass comparatively small ; while
the quantity of money' taken out ofthe
kingdom by means of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy was felt by all, and could not
fail to attract the notice of the most un
informed political economist. The great
source of this abuse was the power
exercised by the pope of granting pre
ferments by means of provisions or ex
pective graces, by which he appointed

' In 1376, the sum paid to the pope was five
timea as much aa that paid to the king. Cotton's
Abridgment, 128 ; Lewis's 'Wichf, 34.

Chap. III.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

a successor' to any benefice, whether in
his own gift or no, before it became va
cant, and thus took the patronage of all
countries into his hands. This opened
a door to a variety of other abuses ;
hungry foreigners were introduced into
the richest offices,^ who, while they en
joyed their incomes abroad, thought little
of the spiritual care of their flocks, or
the temporal hardships to which the ex
actions of greedy stewards necessarily
exposed them. At the same time an
additional revenue was produced to the
papal throne by means of bribery, and
the exactment of annates or first-fruits,
which were a tax of one year's income
levied on preferments when they be
came vacant. It was originally paid on
those benefices only which were in the
gift of the pope ; as therefore his pa
tronage was extended, he enlarged at
the same time this branch of his income,
and the indefinite power thus exerted
enabled him, as circumstances arose, to
advance his prerogative.' The pope
claimed to himself the right of taxing
beneficed churchmen according to the
value of their preferments, and the tal
lage amounted generally to a twentieth,
sometimes to a tenth, or larger propor
tion. This method of raising money
was introduced at the time of the cru
sades, but subsequently extended to
other wars, in which the interests of the
church of Rome were concerned. This
revenue was occasionally granted to the
king, though ultimately appropriated to
the pope. The sum, too, collected as
Peter's-pence* was considerable, and the

* Lewia'a Pecock, 21.
2 Fox, A. & M. i. 489. Lewis'a 'Wiclif, 35.
^ The annates were by the reformers consi
dered as bribes, (see § 201, a,) and it is probable
that at first they very much resenibled them. I;
is uncertain when the custoin originaled, but their
date seems earlier than that generally assigned ;
they were objected to as illegal and oppressive
before 1250, and at the councd of "Vieniie, 1315,
proposals were made for their diacontinuance,
which were opposed by Clement V. It ia not ex
traordinary that uncertainty ahould prevail with
respect to them, for they were an irregular de
mand, settled by the pope'a chamber, and often
exceeded two or three years' income. Lewis'a
Pecock, p. 40. They were declared illegal by the
council of Constance. The pope did not obtain
them for himself in England, till after the reign
of Edward I.
^ Peter'a-pence waa an annual tribute of one
penny paid at Rome out of every family, at the
feast of St. Peter. It waa granted by Ina, (740,)
partly aa alms, and partly in recompenae for a
house erected in Rome for English pilgrims. It

fees paid to the pope's officers for aid
ing suitors in their causes, or expediting
ecclesiastical business with the church
of Rome, tended to swell the total amount
which was drained from the pockets of
our ancestors, and rendered the minds
of all men alive to every argument tend
ing to show the unsoundness of a system
of which they personally feh the galling
effects. The officers who thus impo
verished the kingdom were injurious in
another point of view ; they not only
formed, as it were, a papal army within
the country, but furnished information
to Rome' of every thing vvfiich was trans
acted, thus providing that court with the
means of continuing the slavery to
which England was reduced. ° The
prerogative of sanctuary' had become
exceedingly injurious to morality and
the police ; for the perpetrators of every
species of crime, who could reach one
of these places of refuge, were free from
immediate danger, and reserved for the
commission of fresh enormities, when
ever their pursuers relaxed in their ex
ertions to bring them to punishment.
Wealth, then, and authority, as well as
almost every species of knowledge, were
in the hands of those most interested in
the continuance of abuses, so that all
external influence seemed combined to
perpetuate these evils.
§ 104. There are, however, three
laws, by which it was attempted to re
strain the power of the church, passed
not far from this period.
(a. d. 1279.) The Statute of Mort
main^ tried to prevent bodies corporate
from acquiring any lands or tenements,
since the services and other profits due
from them to the superior lord were
thereby taken away, because escheats,
&c., could never accrue, as the body
never died. But this enactment wasr
variously eluded ; and the number of

waa paid generally till the 25th of Henry 'VIII.
Burn's Eccl. Law.
5 Lewis's "Wiclif, 35.
^ It is perhaps worthy of remark, that as the
popes, from Clement "v., 1305, to (Jregory XI^
1378, (Vaughan's Wieliffe, i. 281,) were aU
Frenchmen, and reaided at Avignon, as well aa
Clement VII. and Benedict XIII. to 1409, this
wealth and power waa thrown into the handa of a
nation engaged in political rivalry with England,
and that therefore the eyea of the people of thiis
country must have been pectiharly open to tnM
abuae during the life of Wiclif.
' Lewia'a Wiclif, 38.
8 Burn's Justice ; Tomlin's Law Diet.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. HI.

subsequent laws on the subject prove
how inadequate human institutions are
to counteract the interests of those who
are possessed of power. Some persons
may question the justice of such an en
actment, some persons its wisdom ; but
the tendency which all bodies corporate
have to accumulate property clearly
points out the necessity of some species
of restraint, though it appears very
doubtful whether this be the wisest me
thod of imposing it. Strict justice and
sound policy seem always to go hand in
hand ; and as it is hard to prevent any
individual who has acquired wealth
from applying his property as he pleases,
it would perhaps be wiser to allow bo
dies corporate to alienate, under certain
restrictions, than to endeavour to pre
vent them from acquiring. The laws
which obstruct the alienation and trans
fer of property are those which are most
injurious in England.
(a. d. 1343.) The statute against pro
visions forbade any one, under the pain
of forfeiture, to receive or execute any
letters of provisions for preferments ;
but as this law practically carried all
questions dependent on it before the
tribunals of the court of Rome, to which
the party aggrieved naturally applied
for redress, it was enacted by the sta
tute of prasmunire,' (a. d. 1352,) that
whoever drew out ofthe country a plea
which belonged to the king's court''
should be outlawed, after a warning of
two months. Of the justice and wis
dom of these laws there can be little
doubt. § 105. Had the members of the esta
blishment .which was thus privileged,
and for whose support these large sums
were expended, been themselves irre
proachable in their conduct, it would
have obviated one great source of scan
dal ; but so far was this from being the
case, that, during part of this time, no
thing could be more corrupt than the
' The exact derivation of the word ia uncertain.
Some take it to proceed from the defence it gives
the crown against the encroachments of foreign
powers : others from prwmonere, which has been
barbaroualy turned into prcemunire; in which
aense it is certainly aomeUmes uaed. The term
prtEmunire is either taken for the writ, or the
offence for which the writ is granted. It waa
twice renewed by Edward III. 27, 28 ; by Rich
ard II. 12, 13, 16; Henry IV. 2. Abridged from
Blount's Law Dictionary.
. 2 Edward III. 25.

papal court;' while its emissaries in
England did all they could to irritate
those whom they pillaged. The pride
and luxury of the higher ecclesiastics
were excessive ; they vied with tempo
ral lords in all the vanities of life, and
men who had forsworn the world were
on their journeys often seen accompa
nied by fourscore richly mounted at
tendants. Celibacy, which was strictly
imposed by the ordinances of the
church, led the clergy into divers snares
and temptations ; and the canons against
incontlnency are so numerous, that their
very number proves their inefficacy.
Those who had the cure of souls not
only neglected their duty with regard
to preaching and instructing the com
mon people, but most of the higher sta
tions in the state were held by church
men ;* many filled menial offices in the
establishments of their patrons ; and
their ignorance was frequently so ex
cessive, that numbers of them were un
acquainted with the Ten Command
ments, and could hardlj- pronounce
correctly the words for the performance
of the sacraments. These causes gave
rise to the mendicant orders, who in
fested the church chiefly in the thir
teenth century. They pretended to an
extraordinary call from God to reform
the world, and correct the faults of the
secular clergy. To this end they put
on a mighty show of zeal for the good
of men's souls, and of contempt of
the world: accused the secular clergy
of famishing-^ the souls of men, calling
them dumb dogs and cursed hirelings ;
maintained that evangelical poverty
became the ministers of the gospel ;
that it was unlawful for them to possess
any thing, or to retain propriety in any
worldly goods. As for the public or
ders of the church, they would not be
tied to them, alleging that themselves
being wholly spiritual, could not be
obliged to any carnal ordinances. They
broke in everywhere upon the paro
chial clergy ; usurped their office ; in
all populous and rich places, set up
altars of their own ; withdrew the peo
ple from communion with their parish
priest ; would scarce allow the hopes
of salvation to any but their own disci-

' F. Petrarchae Epiat. sme tit. hb. p. 797, 807.
¦• Vaughan i. 298.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Chap. HI.]
pies, whom they bewitched with great '
pretences of sanctity, and assiduity in
preaching. These artifices had raised
their reputation and interest so high in
a few years, that they wanted very lit
tle to ruin the secular clergy, and there
with the church. But in less than an
age the cheat of these impostors became
manifest to all men. They procured
to their societies incredible riches ; built
to themselves stately palaces ; infinitely
surpassed the viciousness of which they
had themselves (perhaps unjustly) ac
cused the secular clergy ; and long be
fore the Reformation became the most
infamous and contemptible part of the
church of Rome.'
§ 108. Nor were the doctrines of this
period less exceptionable than the po
litical or private characters of the
churchmen. Idolatry had become ex
cessive, the people neglected the weight
ier matters of the law, and placed their
hopes of acceptance with God on pil
grimages,'' which were esteemed the
more meritorious in proportion to the
difficulties which were to be encoun
tered on the way. Another method by
which the beguiled multitude hoped to
obtain for themselves the favour of
Heaven, consisted in their purchasing
an ab.solution for their sins from the
chief minister of the church, who
claimed to himself the power of bind
ing and loosing, without reference to
the conduct of those who made them
selves the objects of these papal remis
sions ; not that the infallible head of
the Christian community could act con
trary to the ordinances of God, but that
the Almighty would ratify his servant's
.decree, whatever might be its nature
The doctrine of transubstantiation must
not here be omitted, which subsequently
formed so ordinary a subject of perse
cution. It Avas asserted that, under the
form of the bread and wine, the very
same body of Christ was presented
which had been born of Mary, and had
suffered on the cross, and that the ele
ments, after consecration, no longer re
tained their material substance ; while
it was added, that he who would not
believe this, would have disbelieved
Christ to be the Son of God, had he

29

' Henry Wharton's Defence of Pluralities, 9,
10, A. D. 1692.
, 2 Wordaworth, E. B. i. 165.

seen him in the form of a crucified ser
vant. § 107. These numerous abuses,"
much as they must have injured the
commonalty, and offended those who
from their situation were most capable
of judging of their destructive tendency,
seemed to admit of no remedy, since
the interests of the parties concerned
appeared to be so much at variance
with each other. Whatever might be
the wish of her conscientious members,
the church of Rome was little likely to
reform abuses productive of so many
temporal advantages to herself. If any
thing were conceded to the remon
strances of the prince or people, it was
as readily withdrawn when occasion
admitted of its resumption. Severity
in the canon law becomes nugatory,
whenever the pojver of dispensing with
it is lodged in the hands of the same
body against whose irregularities it was
framed ; and that balance of mutual
advantage, which mixed establishments
enjoy, cannot exist in conjunction with
such an anomaly ; in fact, the profit on
the dispensation seems sometimes to
have been one object in framing par
ticular canons.''

' As an abstract of the more offensive abuses
(Fox, Acts and Mon. i. 453) about this time, the
Complaint of the Ploughman may be consulted;
ita aulhor is not known. It begins with a brief
account of the Old Testament history, and a
statement of ihe doctrines of the New Testa
ment ; it complains that men have taken away
the honour due to God ; that auricular confession
is not of divine insiiiution, and leads to much evil.
Il objects to the spite, enmity, pride, and worldly-
mlndedness of the priests ; their pharisaical pray
ers, singing and offering mass, instead of teaching ;
10 their unmarried state, as the cause of much
evil in the church ; to their splendid buildings, im
ages, &c., and not feeding the flock, and to their
preventing others who would do so ; to their in
justice, in not punishing the clergy as other per
sons; to their setting up the canon law and pope's
decrees above the law of God ; to their inquisito
rial manner of taking evidence. He blames ihe
pope's unwillingness to forgive ; his commanding
people to fight for him, and to swear even falsely,
and to break God's commandments; he repro
bates the sins of pride and covetousness ; calls
Christ the good Shepherd, the clergy evil ones ;
asferia that the pope is antichrist, and has no
power over purgatory ; declares marriage to be
honourable to all, and compensations for whore
dom in ihe clergy abominable ; and ends wilh a
prayer for deliverance from such teachers.
1 Clement V., by wav of favour to Archbishop
Reynolds, 1313, gave him power to grant the fol
lowing dispensations. To dispense with his own
visitations, which might be performed by proxy ;
to absolve one hundred excommunicated persons ;
to grant one hundred days' absolution, for hearing
0 2

30

HISTORY OF THE

§ 108. Against these abuses did
Wiclif stand forward as the champion
of Christianity.' We must not indeed
esteem him to have been first in the
glorious path ; for in his writings he
often refers to Greathead and Fitz
ralph ;'¦> but he took so conspicuous a
lead in the contest, that he may well
be deemed one of the grandsires of
the Reformation. His first work was
against the covetousness of the court
of Rome ; it was published in 1356,
and denominated " The last Age of the
Church."^ He was at this time about
thirty-two years of age, and had ren
dered himself conspicuous in the uni
versity of Oxford by his learning, and
the freedom of discussion in which he
indulged. He had originally belonged
to dueen's college, but was subse
quently elected to a fellowship of Mer
ton, which then enjoyed considerable
celebrity as a college. The subject
was well chosen ; covetousness is a
vice so open to observation, and so
palpably contrary to the precepts of the
gospel, that though its existence proved
nothing in reality against the doctrines
of the church, the discussion prepared
men's minds to doubt whether infalli
bility of belief belonged to a body
which was obviously deficient in prac
tice. Had the church of Rome herself
undertaken the reformation of those
abuses, which her members must have
deplored as strongly as the Protestant,
it is far from impossible that our sepa
ration from her might never have taken
place ; but the providence of God, who
ordains all things for the best, made the
examination of her conduct the means
of detecting the errors of her creed.
In 1365, Wiclif" was appointed warden
of Canterbury-hall, by Simon de Islip,
archbishop of Canterbury, but was the
him preach ; to ordain one hundred bastards ; to
allow twelve minors to hold preferments ; and
forty pilesis to hold plurahties. The severity of a
canon thus became a bank from which the pope
mig'it draw. Wilk. Cons. Ii. 433 — 444.
' Lewis, Life.
" For Greaihead, see ? 65 2. Richard Fitz
ralph was educated in Oxford, and afterwards be
came in succession archdeacon of Litchfield, com
missary or chancellor of Oxford, and archbishop
of Armagh, from whence he is often called Ar
machanus. About 1359 he maintained nine con
clusions against the begging friava before Inno
cent VI.; he died in banistiment. Fox's Acts
and Mon. i. 464, &c.
3 Lewis's Wiclif, 3. ¦'Ibid. 13.

[Chap. IIL
next year expelled by Langham, who
had succeeded to the archiepiscopal
chair. § 109. This expulsion arose from the
enmity of the ecclesiastics regular, who
formed a part of that society, and who
were favoured by the new archbishop.
Wiclif indeed had long shown himself
a great enemy^ to the friars, who were
then very numerous in and about Ox
ford, and who had rendered themselves
obnoxious to the university by their
endeavours to draw away the students
from the colleges into their own esta-
lishments ; and an additional stimulus
was. now given to this general dislike
by the political circumstances of the
kingdom ; for though his immediate
opponent was a monk, and not a friar,
yet, as the resistance was against the
court of Rome, to which both orders
were equally allied, the animosity may
be esteemed to have been common to
both. In 1365, a demand was made
by Urban V. of the arrears of the tri
bute conferred by John on the papacy,
and which had not been paid for many
years. The question had been referred
by Edward to the parliament ; but, as
the opinions of the hierarchy were dif
ferent from those of the rest of the
kingdom, the refusal which this demand
had there met with was questioned by
many ecclesiastics, and among the rest,
by some of the regular clergy resident
in Oxford ; and against one of these
Wiclif publicly advocated the cause of
the king, and maintained the-soundness
of the answer returned by the parlia
ment : viz., "that as neither John nor
any other king had power to dispose of
his kingdom, without the consent of ,
parliament, no subsequent monarch
could be bound by any such transfer,
in itself originally illegal."'^ Although
his labours were not confined to the
university, yet Oxford appears to ha-ve
been the chief seat of his residence
and exertions, where, in 1372, he pro
fessed divinity; i. e., took his degree
of D. D., giving lectures and holding
disputations;'' in these he frequently
5 Lewis's Wiclif, 22, &c.
^ Ibid. App. No. 30, p. 349.
'' Wiclif is frequently called professor of divini
ty, which arises, I believe, from a mistake con
cerning university customs. In theory, every
D. D. IS S. T. P. " sanctse iheolo^ias professor "
and all the divinity exercises consist ih teaching

Chap. III.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

31

inveighed against the errors of the
church of Rome ; and his diligence
and zeal were crowned with ample suc
cess ; for his audiences were most nu
merous, and his opinions received with
marked approbation.
§ 1 10. In 1374, Edward issued a com
mission to his bishops,' in order to as
certain what preferments were in the
hands of foreigners ; and in consequence
of their report, a meeting took place at
Bruges between the pope's nuncios
and certain ambassadors from England,
of whom Wiclif was one : this honour
he probably obtained in consequence
of his having before advocated the spi
ritual liberty of the kingdom. It was
here after a time settled, that the pope
should not in future use provisions, nor
the king present to benefices, by Quare
impedit.'' On his return, in 1376, Wic
lif obtained the rectory of Lutterworth,
and the prebend of Aust, in the colle
giate church of Westbury. During the
reign of Edward III. the payment of
Peter's-pence appears to have been dis
continued ; but when Richard II. came
to the throne, it was re-demanded ; and
the question, having been debated in
the first parliament of that reign,' was
referred to Wiclif, who maintained, that
as an alms, or charitable donation, it
might be lawful for the kingdom to sus
pend the payment which had been ori
ginally made as a free gift. For it was
one of Wiclif's favourite maxims, on
which he often reasoned in public, as
well as exercised his pen, that the civil
power, the original donor of ecclesias
tical property, might, when the wealth
so bestowed was uselessly or injuriously
lavished, rescind its donation, and re
sume its rights. This doctrine, together
with his opposition to the power of bind
ing and loosing, rendered him obnox
ious -to the papal displeasure, while his
continual strictures upon the infamous

theology. At ihia time, doctors were really
teachers. ' Lewis'a Wichf, App. No. 30, p. 33. ,
2 Quare impedit ia a writ that Hea for him who
has purchased an advowson, against him who dis
turbs him in ihe right of his advowson, by pre
senting a clerk thereto when the church ia void.
Blount's Law Diet, in voc. The king in this ease
must have placed himself in the situation of one
claiming the right of advowaon, and have issued
a corresponding writ, and by his superior power
have enforced the admission of hia clerk.
' Lewis's Wiclif, 55.

lives of ecclesiastical dignitaries ex
posed him to the personal hatred of
many powerful churchmen.
§ 111. In 1377, Gregory XL* issued
several bulls, by which Simon Sudbury,
archbishop of Canterbury, and William
Courtney, then bishop of London, were
appointed papal commissioners to try
Wiclif on certain points brought against
him. A bull to the same effect had
previously been sent to the university
of Oxford ; but his tenets had taken
such deep root in that place, that it pro
duced little effect.* Before these com
missioners he appeared in St. Paul's ;
but the presence of John of Gaunt, duke
of Lancaster, and H. Percy, earl mar
shal, caused so great a tumult in the
assembly, that no proceedings were en
tered into ; and a similar confusion
arising from the presence of the mob,
together with a message from the queen-
mother, (Jane, daughter of Edmond,
earl of Kent,) produced the same con
clusion to a subsequent session held at
Lambeth. About this time Wiclif sent
in a declaration of his faith on certain
points, contained in eighteen articles,"
of which the substance will be given
under the head of his opinions.
§ 112. (a.' d. 1378.) The death of
Gregory put an end to the commission,
and no formal decree was issued against
Wiclif; but his health suffered much
from anxiety and fatigue ; and during
the next year he was nearly brought to
the grave by a severe fever under which
he laboured in Oxford.' On this occa
sion his old enemies, the friars, in com
pany with the aldermen of the city, paid
him a visit, and, after professions of
kindness, exhorted him to do them such
justice as remained within the power
of a dying man, for the many injuries
which their society had experienced
from him. Upon this, he ordered him
self to be raised in his bed, and ex
claimed aloud, "I shall not die, but live,
and declare the evil deeds of the friars !"
On his recovery, he continued to preach
against the same opinions which he had
before attacked, and began his transla
tion of the Scriptures into English ; and
though this excited considerable oppo
sition, yet his controverting the favour
ite doctrine of transubstantiation^ raised

* Lewis's Wiclif, 56.
6 Ibid. 59. '' Ibid. 82.

5 Ibid. 54.
8 Ibid. 90.

32

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IH.

a much more formidable storm against
him, which, in the following year, 1382,
ended in his being forced to remove
from Oxford to Lutterworth. The par
ticulars of this persecution are reported
in so contradictory a manner by differ
ent authors, that it is difficult to deter
mine what portion of credit should be
attached to each. It appears that his
friend, the duke of Lancaster,' however
he might approve of his arguments
against the papal supremacy, was un
willing that any innovations should be
made in the received opinion about the
sacrament ; so that Wiclif, on this occa
sion, must have stood alone. '^ He is
reported to have recanted all his hereti
cal tenets, which were certainly con
demned, and the students of the univer
sity forbidden to attend lectures where
the objectionable doctrines about the
sacraments were professed.
It is manifest, at the same time, that
there was no great readiness on the part
of the university to obey this archiepis
copal mandate, though Wiclif and some
of his more immediate followers were
ultimately silenced and expelled.
§ 1 13. Some of the errors which are
imputed to him are so obviously absurd,''
that he must have given his testimony
against them as readily as his persecu
tors, Avhile the recantations which are
preserved are merely qualifications of
his own opinions, and professed for the
purpose of obviating false reports con
cerning his faith; and Mr. Vaughart''
has clearly shown that he had prepared
his own mind for extremities, even at
the time that he proceeded with all out
ward moderation.
This became noAV every day the more
necessary ; for the number of his fol
lowers was daily drawing the attention
of the church, and the bishops were
arming themselves with the civil power
to repress innovations. In 1382,* the
statute was enacted which directed she
riffs to imprison itinerant preachers till
they should justify themselves to the
church ; a law which would have af
forded every facility to persecution, had
not the complaint which Wiclif pre-

' Lewis's Wiclif, 99.
^ Knyghton, x. Scrip, col. 2647.
^ One of these is. Item, that God ought to obey
the devil. Lewis, 107, art. 7.
* ii. 129. 6 Fox, i. 502.

sented to the commons induced them
to disclaim the authority of the enact
ment altogether." His rest, however,
in this world was of short continuance ;
he experienced a fit of the palsy before
he got to Lutterworth. When cited by
Urban to appear before him, he was
obliged to plead his infirmity, and a re
turn of his disease carried him off in
1384.' The disorder attacked him dur
ing the time of divine service in his
parish ; he fell down, and became
speechless ; and this circumstance has
not failed to attract the notice of his
enemies, who have recorded the event."*
§ 114. In estimating the value ofthe
labours of Wiclif, we should not forget
that he was distinguished in his own
day, as much for his learning and elo
quence as for his opposition to the court
of Rome ; and that his enemies, among
the calumnies with which they have
loaded his memory, confess that thej?
could not help admiring the various
talents which he possessed." The tem
poral question of the papal supremacy
furnished him with ready hearers among
the powerful in the nation ; and oppo
sition to the encroachments of the
church of Rome enabled those who
called its spiritual opinions in question
to enter on a more impartial investiga
tion. At the same time we must remem
ber, thatthe persecutors and adversaries
of Wiclif were not induced to exert
themselves merely for the sake of up-

^ Vaughan, ii. 126. It has been questioned
whether it were ever enacted by parhament, (Fox,
i. 502.) or only inserted in the rolls by Braibrook,
bishop of London, (CoUier, i. 616 ;) but it stands
in the aiatute book, and ia not repealed the next
year. Burning waa probably the punishment for
heresy by common law. This law was to author
ize ihe sherifT to detain the heretic ; and the sta
tute, 2d Hen. IV. c. 15, gave the bishop the
power of sending to the sheriff a heretic who
would not abjure, or who had relapsed, wilhout
any appUcation to the crown. Il ia probable that
the actual burning was authorized long before this.
¦' Lewis's W. 122.
* Os nempe quod contra Deum et sanctos ejus,
sive sanctam ecclesiam, ingentia locutum fuerat,
a loco suo miserabiliter distortum horrendum cer
nentibus spectaculum exhibebat. Lingua effecta
mula confitendi vel lestandi copiam deneg-dbat,
&c. &,c. Walsingham, Hist. Ang. 312.
'In philosophia nuUi reputabaiur secundus, In
scholasiicis disciplinis incomparabllis. Hie max-
ime nilebotur aliorum ingenia subtilllaie scienlJEe
et profunditate ingenii sui i ran see nd ere et ab opl-
nlonibus eorum variare. — Potena erat et validns
in disputationibus super caeteros, et In argumeutis
nulli credebatur secundus. Henrieus de Knygh
ton, 2661. Lewis, xxiii.

Chap. HI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

33

holding the doctrines which gave so
much offence, but that the political
.power which they possessed virtually
depended on the submission which was
paid to their decisions. He who con
troverted the one, was of course ready
to free himself from the other, and was
punished when in their power as an
enemy to the papal throne.
§ 115. It becomes our neXt business
to consider the opinions which Wiclif
entertained ; and in so doing, it will be
desirable to follow the same division as
has been already adopted, with refer
ence to the abuses in the church : with
regard to those which are obvious, it
will be unnecessary to state his senti
ments ; customs which promoted the
cause of vice and immorality were of
course his aversion ; and we will con
fine ourselves, therefore, to those points,
about which different ideas might con
scientiously be entertained.
He denied entirely the supremacy of
the pope,' maintaining the authority of
the king and the civil power, and at
tacked the clergy for refusing to pay
taxes, unless authorized by the church
of Rome, as if they were subject to a
distinct jurisdiction only; thus proving
his correct notion of the subjection of
all orders to the political head of their
country ; while at the same time his
answer about Peter's-pence as strongly
proves his firm conviction, that the state
was independent of any external power.
§ 116. He was a constant and vehe
ment opponent to the begging friafs,'^
reproving their vices and wealthy po
verty ; and so far in this particular did
he go, that he has been stated to have
denied to the church the right of pos
sessing any temporal property ; where
as his opinion seems to have been this,
that if the church did not use the wealth
committed to her care, discreetly, and
to the purposes for which it was given,
the laity, as original donors, might re
sume their grants ; nay, that it became
the duty of temporal lords to deprive
the clergy of possessions which were
not rightly applied."

1 Lewia'a WicUf, 153, 154. " Ibid. 22, &o.
3 Lewis, 387, art. 16. " Licet regibus in casibus
limitatis a jure, auferre temporalia a viris ecclesi
asticis, ipsis habitualiter abutentibus ;" see also p.
66, 73, 145. Vaughan's Wic. ii. 4. This ques
tion is frequently confused, because the limitations
are neglected. Civil society ia established for the

He did not approve ofthe constrained
celibacy of the clergy, by which they
fell into divers temptations and sins ;
especially when, by the influence of
parents, their vows were made at an
early period of life, while the parties so
promising were not aware of their own
weakness, and were subsequently re
newed, through fear of poverty, or of
disobliging their superiors. " For mar
riage," says he, "is expressly allowed
to priests under the old covenant, and
not forbidden under the new :"* thus
grounding his ideas on the word of God
alone, which he seems to have admitted
as the only ultimate standard.'
§ 117. His doctrines, therefore, found
ed on the same principle, correspond in
most points with those of our church,
though in some very material particu
lars he man-'festly differs from us.
He admitted, for instance, the belief
in purgatory, and seems to have es
teemed the praying for souls in it to be
useful, though sometimes accompanied
with such errors as made it less de
sirable.'' He rejected episcopacy'' as a distinct
order in the church, affirming, that in
the apostles' time the two orders of
priests and deacons were sufficient, and
that the numerous distinctions which

preaervation of property : when, therefore, any
regulations with regard to property really inter
fere with the preaervation of it, the body politic
must have the right of changing the tenure. The
right ia tbe same, whether lodged in a body cor
porate, as the church, or an individual landholder ;
but the regulations which pertain' to the posses
sions of such a body as the church are much more
likely to require modifications than those which
refer to the property of an individual. The laity
have a joint interest in the property of the. church,
having as much right to the spiritual services o(
churchmen as the churchmen have to the tempo
ralities of their preferments. And a wise govern
ment, while it providesthat the claims of all parties
shall be satisfied, will interfere as little as possible
with regard to the tenure itself Yet cases may
occur in which it may become necessary to legis
late for both.
"Lewis, 163. ^Ibid. 380, 18. /Ibid. 161.
¦^See ^ 460, b. Great confusion is apt to arise,
as to the distinction between the difl'erent ordera
in the church, and the difference of ecclesiastical
rank in the same or different ordera. In the
church of England there are three ordt 's. bishops,
priests, and (Teacons. In the church of Scotland
there are only two, priests and deacons. In the
church of Rome, with which we agree as to epis
copacy, there are four degrees of bishops. The
pope, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops ; all of
whom are biahopa. The church of England ad-
mita of only the two latter of these. Deans, arch
deacons, chancellors, &.C., are all priesta holding
different offices. The moderator of the church

54

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IIL

existed were the inventions of men, and
served but to augment their worldly
pride.* § 118. These two points have been
inentioned, as those alone in which he
differed very materially from the ehurch
of England ; for though he upheld the
seven sacraments,^ he did so in such a
sense as to render the dispute about
them almost a matter of words. He
esteemed baptism' as absolutely ne
cessary, but presumed not to say that
a child dying without it might not be
saved ; in cases of necessity, he seems
to have aUowed that the rite might be
performed by a lay person. The views
which he entertained with regard to the
hierarchy, rendered it impossible that
confirmation-* shonld be essentially or
necessarily confined to the bishops, and
he considered many of the ceremonies
then used as nugatory and useless. He
thought that absolution was of no use,
unless the penitent were contrite in the
sight of God, and pardoned by him.
He rejected the efficacy of indulgences,
and ironically declared that the pope
was very uncharitable, if he allowed
one soul to remain in purgatory when
he might so easily deliver them.
Though he admitted the utility of con
fession^ to a godly and discreet priest,
yet he argued very strongly against the
absolute necessity' of it, and affirmed
that it was never enjoined as a sacra
ment till the time of Innocent III. (about
1200.) Pie conceived that matrimony^
and extreme unction" were sacraments
in a certain sense ; but in the former he
o-verlooked the restrictions of the Levi-
tical law with reference to affinity," as
not binding on Christians. He object
ed to prayers addressed to saints," to
pilgrimages" and images," which he
allowed of only as books for the un
learned.

of Scotland is a priest holding an office. The
deacon ia common to all. In the church of Rome
there are, besides these, subdeacons, and four
other inferior orders ; acolylh, exorcist, lector,
ostiary. A cardinal is a member of the body cor
porate of the college of cardinals. He may be a
biahop, prieat, or deacon.
' Lewis's WicUf, 155,
2 The five commonly called sacraments, that is
to say. Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matri
mony, Extreme Unction, xxv. art.
'Lewis, 165. " Ibid. 167. s ibid. no.
« Ibid. 171. 'Dialog.iv. ch. 23, p. 139.
'Lewis, 171. 9Ibid.379,14. '"Ibid. 173.
"Ibid. 12 Ibid. 176. i^Ibid. 175.

§ 119. But the great offence for
which, as we have seen, he was visited
with considerable persecution in his lat
ter days, was the opposition which he
showed to the received doctrine of tranr
substantiation. In this he asserted that
the elements did after consecration con
tinue to possess their original natures
of bread and wine ; and the decree with
which this delivery of his opinion was
followed in Oxford," is probably the first
formal determination of the church of
England in the case, " so that this
opinion of transubstantiation, which
brought so many to the stake, had not
with us a 140 years' prescription before
Martin Luther.""
In consequence of an expression used
by Melancthon, ^^ an idea has prevailed
that Wiclif was unsound'' as to his be
lief in the doctrines of justification by
faith, and sanctification by the Holy
Spirit, the very fundamentals of Chris
tianity. And this notion has been in
troduced into the Church History of
Mr. Milner. But the continuance of
this mistake itself partly arises from the
ignorance with regard to the doctrines
of the church of Rome, which is so com
mon among Protestants. That church
has overlaid these fundamentals with
various superstitions, among which the
simple may easily be bewildered ; but
the humble Roman Catholic will tell
his Protestant friend, that he has no
hopes but in the mercy of God through
Cly-ist Jesus, and the assistance of the
Holy Ghost ; although he may occa
sionally expect to be made partaker of
these blessings by means not derived
through the Holy Scriptures, and to
which the Protestant would object.
Wiclif, however, is most distinct in his
declarations with regard to both these
doctrines. He directs his hearers to
look up to Christ and be saved," and
to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit, to
raise up even good thoughts in their
hearts.'" §120. The opposition which had been
'^Lewia, 319 ; Wilk. Cona. iii. 170.
15 Wordsworth's E. B. i. 49, n. ; Sir R. Twis
den's Hial. Vind. 193, 4.
'S Lewia, 140. " Vaughan, ii. 359.
'8 Vaughan, ii. 356, 7.
" There is an abstract of the opinions of WicUf
in AlUx's History of the Albigenses, p. 252, ch.
xxiv., and a much longer one in Vaughan, ii. ch.
viii,, besides that in Lewis, ch. viii.

ghap. in.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

raised against Wiclif was calculated
rather to give notoriety to his doctrines,
than to silence those who advocated the
cause of refortnation ; and the effect of
his preaching was so widely spread,
that Knyghton affirms that above one-
half of the people of England were Lol
lards ;' a declaration which must be re
ceived under limitations, as the term
might be applied to any one who did
not assent to all the decisions of the
Roman Catholic clergy; and it is pro
bable that the inhabitants of this country
had so far attended to the arguments of
the reformer, as to begin to exercise
their own thoughts on religious subjects.
Many of the ecclesiastical followers of
Wiclif refused to accept of benefices,^
on account of the unscriptural com
pliances to their patrons which the ac
ceptance of such preferments entailed
upon them, and travelled through the
country diffusing the doctrines of Chris
tianity. They were known under the
name of poor priests, and preached in
markets and other places where they
could attract the largest audiences. Their
exertions were often supposed to create
a licentious freedom among the com
monalty, which was probably, in some
measure, the case, as there is a much
closer connection between civil and re
ligious liberty than is generally sup
posed ; nor is it to be questioned that
many of those who received the spirit
ual tenets of Wiclif,' and who possessed
considerable power, were ready to de
fend him with the arm of flesh. The
University of Oxford became so tinged
with his opinions, that, in 1396, it was
subjected to the visitation of Archbishop
Arundel, notwithstanding the opposition
shown to the admission of any external
jurisdiction. Upon this occasion the
commissioners selected 298 conclu
sions,* which were declared erroneous.

1 The name ia probably not derived from Wal
ter Lolhart, nor from Lolium, cockle, but from a
German word lullen, (to sin^ with a low voice,)
and the well known termination hard, (we say in
English to lull asleep.) As therefore a beghard
ia one who prays, ao a Lollard ia one who fre
quently praiaea God with a aong. Lay-brethren,
among the monka, were formerly called LoUard-
brethren ; and the terms beghard and lollard are
freguently used indiscriminately. See Mosheim's
Eccl. Hist. iii. 355, (n). The modern word "cant
ing" may illustrate the same idea.
2 Vaughan, U. 196.
' Lewis, "620.
* The works of Wiclif, from which theae were

and deserving of censure, and trans
mitted them to the convocation then as
sembled in St. Paul's; but these coer
cive measures seem not to have pro
duced much effect, or to have eradi
cated the regard justly borne to Wiclif
by those who had imbibed his senti
ments ; for letters testimonial of his
general good character and propriety
A behaviour, were subsequently given,
and sealed with the university seal, m
1406.= §121. The storm of persecution which
Wiclif had escaped by death, and which
some of his followers avoided by recan
tations, still continued to lower, though
its violence was not felt till the next
reign. In 1388" an inquisitorial com
mission was issued, enjoining strict
search to be made after those who held
heretical opinions ; but the exertions of
the Lollards do not appear to have
abated, or to have been confined to
preaching, and the gradual dissemina
tion of their tenets ; for, beginning to
feel their own strength in the country,
they not only satirized the clergy, (a. d.
1395,) but presented a petition to the
parliament,' in which many severe ani
madversions were passed on evils exist
ing in the church. The circumstances
under which Henry IV. came to the
throne rendered it necessary for him to
strengthen his interests with every spe
cies of ally, and there was no method
by which the support of the church could
be gained so easily, as by assisting the
bishops in their severities against the
Lollards, to which cause we may pro
bably trace the enactment of the sta
tute against them.* (a. d. 1400.) This
law, after forbidding all unlicensed
preaching,^ authorizes the bishop to
arrest, and detain in prison, any one sus
pected of preaching or spreading un
sound doctrines, with regard to the sa
craments, or the authority ofthe church,
till they shall proceed to their purga-

taken, are very numerous, amounting, tracts and
all, to nearly 300. Lewis gives a catalogue of
them, with observations, in ch. ix. p. 179 ; a list
of them may be found also in Vaughan.
5 The authenticity of these letters has been
doubted ; the question is fairly discussed, and the
document given in Lewis, 228, and App. No. 28,
p. 343 ; see alao Collier'a Eccl. Hist. 624, i. The
opinionsof Wiclif were condemned in convocation,
in 1410. Collier, 629, &c.
' Collier, i. 590. '' Lewis App. No. 27, 337.
' See ^ 113 «. ' ColUer, i. 614.

36

HISTORY OF THE

tion, or abjure their errors; in default
of which he is allowed to hand them
over immediately to the secular power,
which shall forthwith "do them to be
burnt." If what has been before said
be correct, this act merely took away
from the crown the power of refusing
the writ de hxretico comburendo, which it
had previously exercised, and thus gave
the church the full privilege of inflict
ing death on those who differed from
her, or who refused to pay submission
to the supremacy which she claimed.
§ 122. William Sawtrey,* a London
clergyman, was the first among the fol
lowers of Wiclif who suffered martyr
dom ; he was brought to the stake by
Archbishop Arundel, because he refused
to worship the cross, and denied that
the bread in the sacrament was transub
stantiated. There is an almost uninterrupted suc
cession of martyrs and confessors from
this time to the period of the Reforma
tion, excepting when the ineffectual
struggles of the English in France, or
domestic convulsions, produced a fe
verish tranquillity to the professors of
the true faith. In the examination of
these persons, of which several remain
to us in their original forms, written
when they took place, or sooi. after, a
considerable similarity prevails. The
questions on which condemnation was
pronounced, though they vary, ordina
rily turn upon transubstantiation, or sub
mission to the authority of the church.
§ 123. The most illustrious of these
sufferers, whose private virtues as well
as public character rendered his punish
ment a great object with the upholders
of the papacy, was Sir John Oldcastle,
Lord Cobham f he had acquired his
rank by marrying the daughter and
heiress of that nobleman, and seems to
have shown himself, at all times, a firm
opponent to the usurpations and power
of Rome. When the ill conduct of
Richard II. had paved the way to the
throne for Henry IV., Lord Cobham
early joined a standard which was at
first ostensibly unfurled in the cause of
justice. Henry rewarded his services
with his confidence, and, in 1407, he
was appointed to a command in an army

' Fox's A. and M. i. 586.
' Gilpin's Lives ofthe Reformers, Lond. 1819.
Christian Knowledge edit.

[Chap. HI.
destined for France, whichj jn conjunc
tion with the Duke of Burgundy, raised
the siege of Paris.
Immediately after the coronation of
Henry V., Archbishop Arundel pre
pared to exterminate heresy, which was
every day becoming more prevalent
throughout the kingdom ; and Lord
Cobham was universally marked out
as its upholder, as not only counte
nancing it in his own person, by enter
taining unsound opinions on fundament
al doctrines,^ but by sending preachers
into the dioceses of London, Rochester,
and Hereford. When application .was
made to Henry, to allow of the prose
cution of this nobleman, he desired that
the process might be delayed till he had
himself laboured at his conversion ; but
the firmness of Lord Cobham so ex
asperated the monarch, that he deli
vered him over to the ecclesiastical tri
bunal. § 124. Of this trial we have a parti
cular account written by John Bale,''
afterwards bishop of Ossory, and first
published in 1544. The points of exa
mination coincide very much with those
of William Thorpe^ in 1407, of which,
too, we have a history, probably written
by himself; and it is impossible not to
admire the Christian spirit of the author
exhibited in this work, so little imitated
by Bale, who is far too acrimonious
against the errors which he combats.
They were both required to give their
opinions concerning confession to a
priest, the use of images, pilgrimages,
and oaths; but transubstantiation was
the great rock of offence, and submis
sion to holy ehurch the touchstone of
their sincerity.^ The answers in both
these cases differ so little from the opi
nions of Wiclif, that it is hardly neces
sary to state them at length ; upon their
refusal to abide by the decisions of thp
church, both were remanded to prison.
It is not l^nown' what ultimately became
of Thorpe, but he probably died in con
finement. Lord Cobham made hia

' Bale, 22.
'' A Brefe Chronycle concernynge the Examy
nacyon and Death of the Blessed Martyr of
Christ, Syr Johan Oldeoaatell, the Lorde Cob
ham. By Johan Bale. Printed, 1544. Re
printed, 1729.
* Wordaworlh's Ecc. Biog. Ill, vol. i. from
Fox, i. 602.
« Bale, 71. Word3>*orth, 203. '' Wordew, 211.

Chap. HI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

37

escape from the Tower, and fled into
Wales,' where he remained concealed
four years ; during his confinement, a
pretended recantation was published, in
which it was declared that he submitted
to the authority of the church ; but his
friends, who informed him of this pro
ceeding, affixed in many conspicuous
places a letter addressed to them for this
purpose, in which he expresses his con
tinuance in the same opinions which he
had maintained before his judges. He
was at length discovered, and sent back
by Lord Powis ; and on his arrival in
London was burnt in St. Giles's Fields,^
hanging on a gallows, to which he was
fastened by chains.
§ 125. This spot was chosen for his
execution on account of an affair which
had taken place there about Christmas,
1413, immediately after his escape from
the Tower. Henry V. was at Eltham'
when news was brought him at supper
that a body of Lollards were assembled,
to the number of twenty thousand, in
St. Giles's Fields, under the command
of Lord Cobham. Following the dic
tates of his own courage, tho king col
lected such forces as his household
would supply, and hastened to disperse
the rioters, whom he easily overthrew,
and took many prisoners, most of whom
were afterwards executed, by being
hanged and burnt ; and a statute was
soon after made, in a parliament held at
Leicester, granting every aid from the
temporal arm to the persecutors of Lol
lardy. This tale is so variously repre
sented that it is difficult to arrive at the
truth. That an assembly of Lollards
took place seems unquestionable ; but
there is no probability that it was very
numerous, or headed by Lord Cobham,
or that its objects were such as are at
tributed to it ; and the evident tendency
which such a story must have had, to
inflame the mind of the king against
these unfortunate men, furnishes us
with a sufficient reason why this colour
ing should have been given to the cir
cumstances ; while the admission of the
correctness of the tale involves an in
consistency and folly in the sufferers,
for which no adequate cause can be
assigned.

1 Gilpin, 80.
' Gilpin, 81, &c.

2 Bale, 96.

§ 126. Another promoter of the Re
formation,* who, though not a martyr,
was a confessor in its cause, was Regi
nald Pecock, By tranquil opposition
to the more zealous followers of Wiclif,
and by grounding his arguments on
sound reason in the interpretation of
the word of God, he contributed much
to the furtherance of the Reformation.
He was born about 1390, became fellow
of Oriel, Oxford, 1417 ; about 1425, he
left the university, and went to court,
under the protection of Humphrey,
duke of Gloucester, and in 1444 became
bishop of St. Asaph, which preferment
he probably obtained through bribery,'
by means of a papal provision ; for he
defends such a method of becoming
possessed of a benefice, on the plea
that all ecclesiastical property belong
ing originally to the head of the
church," the pope may at his option re
sume any part of it for his own use. In
1449, he published his " Repressor of
overmuch blaming the Clergy,"' and
the year afterwards was translated to
Chichester, where he published his
treatise on Faith. His moderation, and
the low authority which he allowed to
the church, together with some expres
sions against the French war, which
might be unpleasant to the court, seem
to have raised him up enemies among
all orders in the state. In 1457, he was
expelled from the House of Lords,^ and
the next jj-ear deprived of his bishopric,
though he abjured his errors at Lam
beth and Paul's Cross. He subse
quently obtained a bull of restitution
from the pope, which proved prejudi
cial to his interests ; for by so doing he
became liable to a proemunire, and sub
jected himself to the anger of the
throne : he retired to Thorney Abbey,
in Cambridgeshire ; but of the exact
date of his death nothing is known.

* Lewia'a Life of Pecock.
5 This bribery might have been nothing but the
payment of annatea or first-fruita ; see i 103 ^.
A conscientious man, who admitted the pope's
right of patronage, might as safely pay his first-
fruits to him aa we do the crown ; and yet a zeal
ous reformer would call this simony. The ques
tion would really turn on the influence which such
payment had in procuring the grant of the bene
fice; and, in order to judge of the quesiion cor
rectly, we must go back to the iridlvidual case of
Pecock, of which we know nothing.
^ Lewis's Life of Pecock, 42.
' Ibid. 44. * Ibid. 143.

D

38

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. III.

§ 127. His real offence was the me
thod in which he defended the doctrines
of the church ; for when he had ad
vanced what might be fairly said in fa
vour of its tenets, he acknowledged its
accidental defects, and betrayed the
weakness of a cause which could not be
supported, unless other authority were
admitted than such as can be derived
from the Scriptures. 'He denied not
the errors which the use of images pro
duced, but esteemed them remediable
evils, while he thought that the figures
themselves were useful in instructing
the unlearned, and reminding all Chris
tians of the events which they de
scribed ; he wished therefore that such
false representations of the Deity as
existed should be removed, and more
correct ones substituted in their place.
It was on the same principle that he
advocated the cause of pilgrimages.*
To visit a spot where some martyr had
suffered, or some event connected with
religion had occurred, could not fail to
excite a lively remembrance ; while, for
the convenience of those who frequented
such places, the erection of a church or
convent was judicious and praisewor
thy. He argued that the prayers offered
at such shrines or images were ad
dressed to the person represented, while
the lively impression, excited in the
mind of the devotee, served to render
these acts of adoration more strong and
availing ; but it should be remarked,^
that he says nothing of indulgences
granted in consequence of pilgrimages,
and advises people not to spend their
time in them,* but rather to read and
to hear the word of God.
§ 123. In defending the papal supre
macy, he used the well-known text,'
" Thou art Peter," &c., and allowed
that the pope was possessed of author
ity equal to that of an apostle, though
he would not admit that he might alter
any institution of Christ. With regard
to the religious orders," his opinion was,
that their variety promoted activity ;
that, if these men had not been friars,
they might have been something worse ;
that their dresses were to remind them
of their vows ; that' their possessions
were dedicated to God's service, and.

' Lewia,61,77. ^ Ibid. 69.
< Ibid. 78. 6 Ibid. 94.

3 Ibid. 70.
" Ibid. 95, &c.

I like the wealth of churches, might have
been employed to less profitable uses ;
while such institutions formed a retreat
for the sons of noble families, and were
at least a fault less offensive to the Al
mighty than negligence of his honour.
He freely expresses his disapprobation
of many abuses which had been intro
duced, but argues on the general ground
that they were at liberty to impose on
themselves any laws they chose, in ex
tenuation of some absurd regulations
which had been adopted among certain
of the religious orders.'
§ 129. He considered the Bible' as
the foundation of his faith, and advised
the laity to study it, conceiving that
no man should be punished for heresy,
till the error of his opinions had been
clearly shown him ; and in this respect
he deemed the power of the church to be
declaratory, rather than to consist in de
fining and decreeing points of faith ;
he allowed of the marriage of the cler
gy,^ and disapproved of the ecclesias
tical laws about fasting.'" Thus little
did many of his opinions differ from
those of Wiclif, while the milder rea
soning which he used, together with
the advantage possessed by him, in ad
vocating the established order of things,
contributed much to spread his senti
ments, and to induce his countrymen
to examine the grounds of their reli
gion. Under these circumstances, it is
no wonder that he became an object of
hatred to a body which he endeavoured
to reform ; but it is not easy to per
ceive the source of the dislike which
was shown him by the temporal lords,
unless indeed we take into considera
tion the general infiuence ofthe clergy,"
and the facility with which prejudice is
conveyed. He does not appear to have
possessed any very superior talents, or
to have been calculated for a martyr :
yet God can work by weak instruments
as surely as by those which appear to
be strong, and to Him be the glory.
§ 130. The troublous times which
succeeded this period, furnish but little
matter for the ecclesiastical historian,
'' Lewia, 100. s ibid. 198.
9 Ibid. 208. 10 Ibid. 209.
" In the first parliament of Edward IV., th»
temporal lords amounted to thirty-five, the spirit
ual to forty-eight. This is probably the real solu
tion of the difficulty. Henry's Hist. Eng. x. 280,
and 65. s >

Chap. HI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

39

to whom the ground is barren till
¦we begin to approach the era of the
Reformation. The advocates of perse
cution ceased not to endeavour to era
dicate all opinions contrary to their own,
and the sufferings of their victims be
came more and more efficacious in the
propagation of the reformed tenets,while
the vices of the clergy were calculated
to substantiate and confirm the accusa
tions of their enemies. In 1490, Inno
cent VIII. sent an epistle to Archbishop
Morton, directing him to reform the
religious orders ; and the pastoral let
ter addressed by the metropolitan to the
abbot of St. Alban's,' furnishes a sad
picture of the depravity which reigned
within their walls. They are accused
of many crimes, and charged with turn
ing out the modest women from two
nunneries under their jurisdiction, and
of substituting in their room females of
the worst characters. In one case, a
married woman, whose husband was still
alive, had been made prioress of Pray,
for the purpose of keeping up an adul
terous connection with one of the
monks of St. Alban's. * Fox gives a
detailed account of nearly twenty in
dividuals who were burnt for heresy,
between the death of Lord Cobham and
1509, when Henry VIII. ascended the
throne ; and this fact will greatly ac
count for the facility with which the
doctrines of the Reformation, when
published, gained a rapid admission
into this country.
§ 131. In taking a summary view of
the history of the church up to the pe
riod at which we have arrived, we must
regard the ecclesiastical establishment
both as a civil engine and as a spiritual
body. The reason why the state has
allowed any temporal wealth or author
ity to be granted to the church, beyond
the mere support of those who are en
gaged in the offices of religion, depends
on the well-grounded presumption, that
educated men, acting under the sanc
tions of religion, are peculiarly likely
to exert, the influence which they thus
possess, in the promotion of civil order
and sound morality, and by this means
to benefit the body politic ; and we may-
presume that God has ordained that it

I Wilk. Cons. iii. 632.
2 Acts and Mon. 586, &c., vol. L

shall be so, in order that, as the preach
ing of the first followers of Christ was
supported by a Divine authority, which
enabled them occasionally to work mira
cles, so the instructions imparted by the
minister of God's word, in the present
day, should be aided and facilitated by
the support of earthly power. This
position is so sound in itself, that the
only question on which a reasonable
doubt can remain is, as to whether this
power should be lodged in the hands of
the ecclesiastic himself, or only fur
nished in his aid by the civil magistrate.
But in the periods of which we have
been examining the history, the power
in question was vested in the ecclesias
tic ; and by degrees he was found to
exert it for the aggrandizement of his
own order, and to become a rival of the
crown and aristocracy. There can be
no doubt, therefore, that the power ori
ginally granted for spiritual objects had
been utterly misused, and converted to
an end for which it was not at first des
tined. § 132. It does not, however, follow,
that the authority thus created was use
less as a civil engine ; and the very
acquisition of such an influence, de
pendent solely on opinion, must lead to
the presumption that much benefit
accrued from its existence. We have
before seen that the power of the pa
pacy arose from the injustice of the
crown ; and that as the interference of
a foreign power, exerted in the cause
of justice, made the people at first look
up to its support, so the policy of the
crown afterwards induced the king fre
quently to join with the pope, in op
pressing the church and plundering its
property. Each party sought its own
immediate advantage, without consult
ing the interests, spiritual or temporal,
of those committed to its care. In this
state of things, the right of appointing
to ecclesiastical benefices was of the
utmost importance ; and for this privi
lege there were in fact three competi
tors. The lower clergy sought to elect
those who were destined to govern
them ; the pope, or higher clergy, de
sired to appoint them ; and the king
was anxious that the nomination should
be vested in himself. The same com
petitors must exist in every church esta
blishment, and disputes will necessarily

40

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. III.

arise, whenever the situations in the
church are invested with such temporal
advantages as render the acquisition of
them an object of solicitude.
§ 133. When the higher stations con
ferred nothing but spiritual superiority,
attended with temporal difficulties and
danger, the appointiii' nt was safely
lodged in the hands of the lower clergy,
who had no inducements to elect any
but the fittest governors ; while the
subordinate places were filled by men
who derived their authority from their
ecclesiastical superior, or the election
of the people, with the charge of whom
they were intrusted. Bishoprics, there
fore, were filled by the election of the
clergy belonging to the see ; and as the
establishment of parish priests rendered
the number of electors too large, they
were chosen by the members ofthe ca
thedral church alone. But when the
bishopric was endowed with a temporal
estate, and men might wish to become
bishops without desiring a spiritual of
fice, the king was anxious to promote
his own friends ; and sound policy in
duced him to place this newly esta
blished temporal power in hands which
might render it serviceable to his govern
ment. This created a dispute between
the crown and the chapter ; and the
king very freijuently deprived the chap
ter of its just rights, and turned the
revenues of the church into the pockets
of his favourites or himself. If the
church establishment were of any bene
fit to the nation, the nation was injured
by this injustice; and the churchman,
oppressed by the king, and unable to
obtain redress from the aristocracy,
sought it from the pope. Here, then,
the see of Rome claimed a right to con
sult the general benefit of Christendom,
by appointing proper persons to the
more exalted situations, and pretended
to manage the temporal wealth of the
church, for the advantage of the whole
Christian body politic.
§ 134. The appointment might safely
have been committed to any one of the
three parties, if they had acted up to
the pretensions on which they claimed
it; but as each in their practice deemed
the ecclesiastical office a mere temporal
property, the persons so appointed, and
the rest of the community, regarded
the matter in no other light ; and when

they looked for spiritual guides, they
could find nothing but lordly governors.
The clergy, when they elected, sought
their own immediate interests ; and the
prospect of future elections made the
community, to whom the church be-
i longed, subject to eternal cabals. The
king neglected the interests of the
church, and made the preferment a
reward for a courtier, or a means of en
riching himself; and the pope generally
nominated a foreigner, who utterly dis
regarded the cure of souls. It was the
wealth and importance ofthe situations
which induced each of these three par
ties to overlook the good ofthe people,
and against this, therefore, the attacks
of the first reformers were naturally
directed ; and the grossness of the
abuse, which was everywhere exposed
to their view, induced them to run into
the extreme of denying that any tem
poral wealth should be assigned perma
nently for the support of the ministers
of religion.
§ 135. No question can be attended
with greater real difficulty than the as
certaining the proper quantity of tem
poral wealth which ought to be assigned
to an ecclesiastical body, in order to
make it as efficient as possible ; for as
any quantity, however great, may be
used to the advantage of the state, so
poverty will hardly insure the existence
of those virtues which render the church
man beneficial to society, in a political
point of view. A small quantity of
wealth and power would only have ex
posed the churchman of this period to
the rapacity of the court aud nobles ;
and the very safety of civilized society
depended, in some measure, on the
ability of the church to maintain its
rights ; for, however barbarous the
church was at that time, the king and
his lords were generally worse ; but
there can be no doubt that the height
to which the church power had now
risen rendered the members of that body
totally unfit for spiritual duties, and
made a reformation absolutely neces
sary. The time was come, when either
their wealth and power must be taken
from the clergy, or Christianity would
be destroyed by those who were her
appointed guardians. And the attacks
of the poor priests were formidable to
the priesthood, because they were

Chap. HI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

41

backed by truth. The bishoprics had
now become places of such vast im
portance, in a political point of view,
that the appointment could only be
safely lodged in the crown; and by de
grees this arrangement took place ; the
chapter generally elected by the advice
of the court, and the pope sanctioned
the election by nominating the same
man ; but Wiclif and his followers, who
saw the spiritual evils of such an order
of things, without regarding the diffi
culties which attended any other system,
prevented, perhaps, moderate people
from listening to their advice, when
they beheld their doctrines coupled with
such extreme measures of reform.
§ 136. Another abuse of the same
sort existed in this circumstance, that
most of the important situations in the
state were monopolized by churchmen.
From their superior education, they
were probably better suited to the per
formance of many civil duties than any
of their contemporaries, and there are
frequent complaints of their engrossing
offices of every description. This aug
mented the evil before complained of,
and tended to withdraw the clergy from
their peculiar duties ; but in this case,
the jarring interests of the laity would
generally provide a remedy, as well as
counteract the injustice of that exclu
sive jurisdiction which the church
claimed over her own members. Both
these abuses might tend, perhaps, to
delay the progress of civilization, but
in the end they were sure to be over
come by it. With regard to the other,
the temporal wealth of the clergy, while
the corruption of the doctrines of Chris
tianity prevailed, there seemed no limit
to its extent; for there is no reason why
an ecclesiastical dominion might not
have been established in any or all the
kingdoms of Europe, as well as in the
papal-states. Every event, therefore,
which drew the attention of the people,
and led them to examine the doctrines
of Christianity, or the conduct of the
clergy, assisted in loosening the fetters
by which the minds of the nation were
held captive. And it is in this point
that our gratitude is peculiarly due to
Wiclif and his poor priests. The trans
lation of the Scriptures, and the tracts
which he wrote, dwelling on the vices
of the clergy, and enforcing the lead-
6

ing features of Christianity, instructed
many, who in their turn became teach
ers, and excited inquiry. While the
barbarous severities, with which the
clergy punished those who differed
from them, must have attracted the no
tice of every one, and disposed them to
regard the church with no very friendly
feeling. § 137. The steps then towards a re
formation which had been made were
many, though they were little observed,
perhaps, by the majority of the most in
telligent among the clergy. The wealth
of the clergy and the secular nature of
their pursuits were observed, and called
forth the animadversions of those who
wished to remedy existing abuses, and
who were not friendly to the established
hierarchy. The Scriptures had been
translated, and were read, not to any
great extent indeed, but they were read,
and might be procured in English.
There were many individuals ready to
propagate the truths of the gospel, and
to undergo the greatest sufferings in the
cause which they had espoused, and
these not only men of education, but
many of them possessed of power and
rank. The dawn of reformation was still,
as far as human eye could distinguish,
far distant ; there was still much to be
encountered and borne ; but the eye of
faith in Wiclif clearly foresaw, that
Christianity must be restored to its just
authority. Perhaps, in' examining the
steps which led to the Reformation, too
much stress is sometimes laid on the
individuals who stood forward in- the
cause ; and their succession, and the
connexion between those who succeeded
each other, is traced with a minuteness
which tends rather to cloud the truth
than to place it in the clearest light.
Let any one study the word of God while
he beholds the systems of error and
knavery which have been pretended to
be built upon it, and the necessity of
reformation will need no other light
than that which Providence has furnish
ed. Greathead and Fitzralph, Wiclif
and Pecock, Sawtrey and Lord Cob
ham, may have advanced the Reforma
tion among us ; but he who will behold
the truth must look beyond these instru
ments to their great Artificer. Tho
flame which was kindled among the
Albigenses, and in the valleys of Pied-
d2

43

HISTORY OF THE

mont, may have lent its brightness to
dispel the thick darkness which enve
loped us ; but we shall fail to derive its
greatest advantage from the study of
ecclesiastical history, if we turn not our

[Cbap. ly
eyes to that brightness which no human
device can extinguish, and look not up
to the true church of Christ, built upon
the Rock of truth, against which the
gates of hell shall never prevail.

CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRV VHI., 1509, TO THE END OF THE DIVORCE OF
THE QUEEN, AND THE SEPARATION FROM ROME, 1534.
151. Ecclesiastical exemptions. 152. Hunne murdered. 153. Impolicy of the clergy with regard
to the immuraties. 154. Faults of the clergy. 155. Wolsey, his rise. 156. He spoils Henry VIII.
157. The progress of Uterature favourable to the Reforntjition. 158. Origin of the divorce. 159.
Progress of it. Campegio. 160. Wolsey's fall. 161.*Conduct after it. 162. The divorce re
ferred to the universities. 163. The opinions of the universities. 164. Cranmer made archbishop
of Canterbury. 165. Cranmer dissolves the marriage. Final rupture with Rome. 166. The par
liament join in the rupture. 167. More and Fisher. 168. Character of More. 169. Character
ofFisher. 170. Persecutions. 171. Supplication of beggars. Practice of prelates. 172. Efi"ect8
of discussion. 173. Effects of persecution. 174. Review of the Reformation.

§ 151. The events which were most
instrumental in producing the Refor
mation in England belong rather to the
civil than the ecclesiastical historian :
for though the spirit of reform was
amply spread throughout the people,
yet, unless other circumstances had tend
ed to promote a change, and to weaken
the power of the church, it is probable
that this body might still have been
able to suppress those innovations which
sapped the foundations on which the
superstructure of its wealth and author
ity was raised. • Whatever contributed
to weaken the influence of the eccle
siastical body, gave at the same time a
greater freedom of discussion to the
laity ; and the extension of knowledge
at once paved the way to truth, and de
prived the clergy of that branch of
power which consisted in their being
almost the only depositories of every
species of information.'
The first event which bears on these
points was a bill which passed the com
mons in 1513, subjecting all robbers and
murderers to the civil power, and which,
in order that it might get through the
lords, had two provisos attached to it ;
first, that bishops, priests, and deacons'
1 Burnet, i.
' It is hardly perhaps necessary to observe, that
sub-deacons and the four inferior ordera were sub
jected to the effects of it. As the greater part of
thia and the following chapter are abridged from
Burnet's History of the Reformation, of which
there are many editions, and to which reference

should be exempted from it ; and, se
condly, that it should remain in force
during this parliament only. At the
termination of that period, the clergy
were not satisfied that the bill should
expire with the authority frorn which it
sprung ; but some little time afterwards,
a preacher, at Paul's Cross, vehemently
reprobated the idea of subjecting any
ecclesiastics to the jurisdiction of the
common courts of law ; and this question
was afterwards discussed before the
king, who ultimately determined to sup
port his own authority over all his sub
jects. § 152. While this point was in agita
tion, an event occurred which not only
tended to irritate the minds of the peo
ple generally on this subject, but to
throw the balance very much against
the clergy in the opinion of the nation.
Hunne, a respectable citizen of London,
(a. d. 1514,) was put into the ecclesiasti
cal court, for not paying certain fees to
the priest of his parish, and was sub
sequently impolitic enough to sue th%
priest in a praemunire. Such indiscre
tion naturally suggested the idea to his
spiritual opponents, that he must be
tinged with heretical pravity, and he
was consequently confined in the Lol
lards' Tower, where he was soon after
rnay be made without anjt difficulty, I shall omit
the mention of the page in which the event oc
curs, and merely quote the book in which it ia to
be found.

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

found hanging. The coroner's jury
which sat on the body brought in a ver
dict of wilful murder against Horsey
the chancellor, and other ecclesiastical
officers ; who, on the other hand, de
clared that he had put an end to him
self. The persecution of this unfortu
nate man did not terminate here ; for
after having been tried for his hetero
dox opinions, and condemned, the mur
dered body was exposed to the flames.
The convocation, too, vehemently at
tacked Dr. Standish, who, though a
churchman, had ventured to advocate
the cause of the civil power, and to de
clare that a breach of the common law,
perpetrated by an ecclesiastic, should
be punished by the civil authority : in
this case, however, their malice was ob
viated by the support of the king, who
had been convinced by Dr. Veysey,
that the immunities claimed by the
clergy had no more foundation in Scrip
ture than in reason.
§ 153. After a considerable struggle
the parties came to a sort of compro
mise ; Horsey was brought before the
Court of King's Bench, and the attor
ney-general did not proceed against him;
the question, indeed, seemed brought
to a quiet termination ; but nothing
could tranquillize the minds of the peo
ple of London, whose hatred to the
clergy became so excessive, that one
of the arguments by which the bishops
tried to prevail on the king not to suffer
Horsey to be brought before a jury
was, that they could expect no justice
from men who were so vehemently
prejudiced against them. The clergy
themselves must have lost much in the
good opinion of the people in general,
by the obstinate manner in which they
advocated so odious a cause. They
seemed determined to join themselves
to crimes of which they must have
disapproved in their hearts ; and in
coupling their own immunities with
the outrages of some of their members,
they extended to the whole body that
general detestation which would other
wise have justly fallen on the indivi
duals in fault. This proceeding of the
clergy, in withdrawing the cause of
Horsey into their own courts from be
fore a lay tribunal, might have arisen
from mistaken principles ; but the ec
clesiastical power should then have

proceeded to punish his enormitj©?,
with due severity ; whereas Horsey
seems not only to have escaped, but tO:
have been rewarded for his crime.'
§ 154. Such conduct could not fail
to make the people entertain a low
opinion of the justice of the plea itself,
when the exercise of it, in the present
instance, was so palpably iniquitous,
and naturally inclined them to listen to
arguments in opposition to a claim
wixich they had already learned to dis
like. Nor were the political power or
the ordinary lives of the ecclesiastical
body likely to counteract among the
nobility the injurious influence of those
feelings which pervaded the common
alty. We have an authentic account
of the domestic economy of the greatest
churchman of this period,^ whose esta
blishment vied with, and even sur
passed, that of most of the princes of
Europe, and whose sole administration
of public affairs must have been very
grating to men who deemed themselves
entitled to a share, at least, if not to the
whole of the concerns of government.
§ 155. Cardinal Wolsey was the son
of poor but honest parents, and owed
his extraordinary rise to his talents as
much as to fortune. He was chaplain
to Henry VIL, and employed by him
in some important transactions, much
to the satisfaction of that monarch.
When he was first introduced to Hen
ry VIIL, by Fox, bishop of Winchester,
he was one of the king's chaplains, and
about forty years of age. The imme
diate object of that prelate was proba
bly to raise up a rival to Lord Surrey;
and the choice was so well made, that
it soon became evident to all, that the
new favourite would rapidly surpass
his patron in the affections of the king.
He was successively made bishop of
Lincoln, archbishop of York, and held,
besides these, the see of Tourney in
France. He was soon afterwards cre
ated cardinal, and legate a latere by
Leo X., and his own sovereign ad
vanced him to the chancellorship of
England, and allowed him successively
to hold the sees of Durham and Wiht
Chester. The influence which he pos^
sessed over Henry was founded on 4

' Supplication of Beggars. Fox, ii. 232.
2 Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. Wordsworth's
Eccl. Biog. vol. i.

44

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IV.

profound knowledge of the character
of the king, and the determination of
making every thing give way to the
one object of pleasing his master.
Henry was naturally fond of amuse
ment, and Wolsey easily persuaded
him to devote himself to its pursuit ;
well aware that the administration of
business must thus fall into the hands
of the favourite. In these two objects,
the cardinal seems to have been inde
fatigable : he led the monarch on from
one pageant to another, and exerted
himself so actively in managing the
affairs of the country, that no transac
tions of importance should seem to be
neglected. Of his talents as a states
man there can be no doubt ; but his
honesty has been questioned ; and he
has been accused of having consulted
his own interests and pique against
Charles V. in the later affairs of his ad
ministration. He had indeed no great
reason to be pleased with the emperor,
who had probably promised assistance,
and held out hopes, which he never
intended to realize ; but we need not
seek for secret reasons in a matter
which admits of an easier solution ;
the personal anger of Catharine, and
of her family, will sufficiently account
for the existence of such reports, with
out taking into account that degree of
odium which an exalted station gene
rally draws upon itself; while the true
policy of England' will satisfactorily
answer any arguments which may be
drawn from the proceedings of the
court of Henry, when under the im
mediate direction of the cardinal.
§ 156. The anxiety with which Wol
sey sought the popedom was excessive ;
and in his eagerness to obtain it, ho was
perhaps betrayed into some steps which
were hardly consistent with the inte
rests of his country ; but it should be
remembered, that Henry was scarci ly
less anxious than himself, and no one
can greatly blame a minister who dili
gently promotes the earnest desires of
his master, even when his own advance
ment is the object of their pursuit. The
readiness with which Wolsey complied
with all the wishes of the king, and the
pains which he took to please him, pro
duced a very injurious effect on the

' Burnet, part iii. 14.

mind of that monarch himself. Henry
possessed by nature considerable abili
ties, and his education had been care
fully attended to, so that no young
prince ever came to the throne with
greater prospects of fulfilling the fond
expectations of his people. These flat
tering appearances, however, were in
a great degree destroyed by that want
of restraint^ of which he was the con
tinual victim. Henry, for instance^ was
by temper and education inclined to
show the most profound reverence for
the church of Rome ; yet even in this,
his self-will hurried him to contribute
to the overthrow of an authority which
he had himself defended.**
§ 157? The literary character of the
monarch, as well as of the favourite,
considerably promoted the advance
ment of sound learning in the king
dom;* both were munificent patrons,
but the cardinal in particular, if his
plans had been brought to perfection,
would have left a standing and splen
did monument of his greatness and his
wisdom.' Greek literature" was now
beginning to flourish, and the study of
the Scriptures became a favourite pur
suit with those who engaged in it; the
first patrons, therefore, of these learned
2 Cavend. Wola. 543.
'In 1521, Henry pubUshed a work against Lu
ther, of which the title is, " Assertio Septem Sa
cramentorum, adversus IVTarlin. Lutherum, aedita
ab inyictissimo AngUae et Franciae Rege et Domi
no Hiberniee Henrico ejus Nominis Octavo." 4to.
It was printed by Pynson, Lond. 1521 ; it exists
in MS. in the 'Vatican, and has been reprinled.
Antwerp, 1522; Rome, 1543. The reprint, Lug
duni, 1561, contains Henry's answer to Luther,
and a preface. (See Strype's Mem. i. 51.) When
presented to Leo X., it obtained for the king of
England the title of Defender of the Faith, which
had been previously borne by several of the kings
of England. — Burnet, i.
* Strype's Mem. i. 52.
*Hia plan for the foundation of Cardinal's Col
lege, now Christ Church, Oxford, was as follows.
—Lord Herbert's Life of Henry 'VIII. p. 146.
A dean and subdean.
60 superior canons, ? ,, . , ,. ,
40 inferior canona, 5 ^" '° °^ engaged in study.
13 chaplains, -s
12 singing men, (-for the aervice ofthe chapel.
16 choriatera, J
Public professors of the coUege and of the uni
versity ; of divinity, canon law, civil law, me-
dicine, liberal arts, and Utertp. humaniores.
Private lecturers or tutors, to read lectures m
philoscjphy, logic, sophistry, (rhetoric,) and
literae humaniores.
4 censores morum et eruditionis,
3 buraara, together with inferior officers, in to
tal numbers 186.
« Knight's Life of Colet, 13.

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

45

bodies, who promoted its advancement,
though the firm friends of the papacy,
were, in fact, preparing the public mind
for the reception of the Reformation.'
Thus Colet, too, who was a liberal pro
moter of the study of the Greek lan
guage, when he became dean of St.
Paul's, read public lectures'* in that
cathedral on the epistles." In this work
he was frequently assisted by many of
his learned friends, and carefully pro
vided that the church should never be
¦without a sermon on the Sunday.
These innovations quickly brought him
under the suspicion of heresy ; but
Archbishop Warham dismissed the
charges brought against him ; and he
continued to preside over that body
which he so richly benefited and
adorned. The enemies of innovation
thus quickly perceived the tendency
of these proceedings, but the more en
lightened members of the establishment
could not overlook the necessity of
endeavouring to introduce some im
provements ; for such was the general
ignorance of the Scriptures at this pe
riod, that, as Erasmus tells us, the spu
rious gospel of Nicodemus* was set up
in the cathedral of Canterbury ; and it
was a rare thing to find a New Testa
ment in any church. The re-establish
ment of sound learning was the only
human remedy to such evils ; and the
art of printing, while it promoted most
effectually this object, produced per
haps in this country its most beneficial
effects in disseminating the opinions of
the more enlightened among the mass
of society.' The kingdom was thus
prepared to take advantage of those
external events which Providence was

' It ia worthy of remark, (Fuller, v. 170,) that
the chief of those who for their talents or attain
ments were invited from Cambridge to become
members of the cardinal's college in Oxford, were
subsequently cast into prison on the suspicion of
heresy. Frith suffered martyrdom; Cox was tu
tor to Edward VI. and was an exile; Tyndale,
Taverner, and Goodman, promoted the transla
tion of the Bible. The offer was made to Cran
mer, but he refused it. (Strype's Cranmer, p. 3.)
2 Stafford read lectures on the Scriptures in
Cambridge, 1524, (Strype's Mem. i. 74,) being
the first who substituted the text for the sen
tences. Latimer was one of his hearers.
3 Knight's Life of Colet, 59, &c.
* Ibid! 64., Erasm. Perigrinat. Rel. ergo.
5 It ia observed by Henry, (in Hist. Eng. xii.
286,) that the early growth of English Uterature,
and the perfection of our language, is greatly
owing to the popular nature of the first produc-

about to bring forward, andjn which
the instruments were blindly working
to produce an end the most opposite to
their individual wishes." Henry VIIL,
the public advocate of the papacy, and
who had been honoured with the title
of Defender of the Faith, was to be
come the chief means of humbling the
papal power ; while Wolsey, and the
other patrons of learning, were opening
the eyes of the world to those abuses,
of which no one exhibited a stronger
instance than the cardinal himself.' It
may, perhaps, be asserted with truth,
that no one of these causes would by
itself have brought about so important
a change, but each contributed par
tially to this end, and their combination
produced it.
§ 158. The event which put all these
springs in motion was the divorce.^
Catharine of Spain had been previously
married to Arthur, the elder brother of
Henry, and the marriage had in all
probability been consummated; yet,
on the death of the young prince of
Wales, Henry VIL, unwilling to send
back the infanta and her dowry, had
betrothed her to his second son. In
order to accomplish this object, he had
obtained a bull from Rome ; but it ap
pears that he had himself afterwards
repented of the transaction, and that
Henry VIIL, when he became fourteen
years of age, made a protestation against
the connection, though when he ascend
ed the throne he was nevertheless per
suaded by some of the council to marry
his brother's widow.
(a.d. 1527.) The king and queen
had now lived together for eighteen
years ; she had borne him several child
ren, all of whom, except Mary, had
been taken off by early deaths ; and
the mind of Henry became scrupulous
as to the legality of the connection, and

lions of the Briiish press; ao that while foreign
printers were advancing the study of the classics,
our own were rendering their narive tongue pure
and classical.
* There were at this time many persons brought
before the ecclesiastical courts for heresy, parti
cularly in Essex and London. (Strype's Mem. i.
113, &c.)
¦» No man perceived the necessity of reforming
abuses more strongly than Wolsey; (Sirype'a
Mem. i. 72;) he instituted a general legantine
visitation for that purpose in 1523-24, in which he
was supported by Fox ; but his purposes came
to nothing.
8 Burnet, book ii.

46

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IV.

alarmed lest the threatenings of the
Jewish law should be accomplished in
his dying childless.^ Wolsey, on the
other hand, was accused by the friends
of Catharine of having suggested these
doubts to the mind of his sovereign,
and it was said that he did so by means
of Longland, the king's confessor : nor
did his enemies scruple to assert, that
it, was through his secret influence that
the French ambassadors questioned the
legitimacy of Mary, when her marriage
with the duke of Orleans was in agita
tion.'' These charges, however, appear
to be unfounded ; and it is even pro
bable that the scruple about the mar
riage had strongly affected the mind of
Henry before his affections were fixed
on Anne Boleyn ; but neither of these
points is of much real importance at
present, though they have been dis
cussed as if the character of the Refor
mation depended on the principles
which actuated those with whom it
originated. Of the sincerity of Hen
ry's religious scruples, and the real ten
derness of his conscience, there can
now remain no great difference of opi
nion ; if all these particulars were esta
blished in his favour, it would probably
produce no great change in our senti
ments concerning him.
§ 159. The first proposals for the di
vorce were made to the court of Rome
while Clement VII. was a close prisoner
in the hands of the imperialists, so that
though his ears were open to the re
quests of the English messengers, yet,
till his escape, nothing was done in fur
therance of the king's desire ; and be
fore this time the matter had certainly
so far advanced, that the dissolution of
the marriage had become the great
object of Henry's wishes.
In 1528, Campegio was sent to Eng
land finally to decide the question in
conjunction with Cardinal Wolsey, and
he brought with him a bull which was
to confirm the sentence of the legates.
This document, however, he was di
rected not to show to any one but the
king ; for Clement had still the greatest
reason to dread a new rupture with the
emperor, which any appearance of
readiness on his part in forwarding
' Lev. XX. 21.
2 Burnet, i. Cavend. Wols. 428.

the divorce, might have produced ; and
he seems to have been in the greatest
alarm till this bull was committed to the
flames,since the policy which he adopted
was of that intricate nature which such
a disclosure would have considerably
disconcerted. Campegio made no haste
in a journey from which he expected
to reap little profit and much unplea
santness, and after many delays arrived
in this country, where, notwithstanding
the urgent solicitations of Wolsey, he
strictly adhered to his instructions con
cerning the bull. These causes so re-'
tarded all proceedings, that the court
was not opened till May 31, 1529 ; and
after some other delays, arising from
the refusal of the queen to appear a
second time before the legates, and her
appeal to Rome, Campegio, at the mo
ment when every one expected the sen
tence to be pronounced, adjourned the
court from July 23 to October 1, as
being vacation time in the Roman
courts. § 160. In so doing he was probably
aware of an avocation of the cause to
Rome, which had taken place a few
days before the adjournment. The
king, it may be supposed, was much
irritated at this double dealing on the
part of Clement, but he exhibited no
outiVard marks of his displeasure, and
even received the cardinals with appa
rent cordiality ;= but the interview at
Grantham was the last which Wolsey
enjoyed. He was soon after deprived
of his chancellorship, and subjected to
a preemunire. The treatment which he
now experienced was most cruel and
unjust ; for the legantine office, which
was the pretended ground of this at
tack, had been exercised with the con
sent and approbation of the king ; and
if in compliance with the wishes of his
master he had been guilty of some un
justifiable conduct, yet surely no act of
which he was ever accused could be
more unjustifiable than the condemna
tion to which he was exposed ; and
even in point of compliance he seems
often to have tried to check* the mad
ness of Henry's proceedings ; nor could
it be expected that the minister of such
a tyrant could be very independent in
his conduct.
' Cavend. Wols^ 442, el passim. < Ibid. 543

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

47

§ 161. Wolsey quietly submitted to
every severity, hoping by such compli
ance to soften down the feelings of his
master, whose favour he expected to
have regained, could he once have been
readmitted into his presence. This,
however, was prevented by the watch
ful zeal of his enemies at court, who
from his long prosperity had become
very numerous, and at the head of
whom we must not forget to mention
the lady who had now possession of
the monarch's affections : he was sent,
therefore, to his diocese of York, where
he appears to have given universal
satisfaction ;• but he was subsequently
removed on the charge of high treason,
and died at Leicester Abbey in his way
to London. His pride and ambition
were neither apostolical nor Christian ;
but they are the vices of human nature,
and were peculiarly those to which he
was most exposed. For them he is
amenable to the tribunal of God, and
not to that earthly power which had
led him into them, and to which power
he was in all appearance faithful to the
last ; and there must have been some
thing fundamentally good in a man
who could so attach his servants to his
person.' The latter interviews between
them and their master are quite pathe
tic ; and the respect shown to him in
the north, during the whole of his dis
grace, speaks more highly of his gene
ral conduct^ than volumes of pane
gyric, while the testimony of an iniqui
tous bill, which was brought in soon
after, for cancelling the king's private
debts,* proves most strongly the good
ness of a minister who could raise the
country into such a state of prosperity
as is described in the preamble. After
his fall, he showed the greatest signs
of weakness and childish clinging to
the hopes of reobtaining' the royal fa
vour;^ but on this object alone he had
placed his affections ; so that in review
ing his life one cannot help mournfully
regretting that he never served his God
with half the zeal he served his king ;
but while we leave the sinner to the
mercy of the Almighty, we must not
overlook the human greatness and su
periority of the man.
' Burnet, p. iii. ^ Cavend. Wols. 456.
' Cavend. Wols. 495, &o. i Burnet, i.
5 Cavend. Wols. 450, &c.

§ 162. All progress in the divorce
was now rendered nearly hopeless ; th'e
cause had been removed by a papal
avocation into Italy, and notwithstand
ing the promises which were continu
ally given to the English ambassadors,
little expectation could be entertained
that justice would be obtained in a place
where so many conflicting interests must
delay the final decision. The question
was freed from this dilemma^ by the
sagacity of Cranmer,'' who, when his
opinion was accidentally asked in pri
vate, suggested the idea of settling the
dispute by reference to the opinions
received from the several universities ;
and Henry no sooner heard of the plan,
than he adopted it. The means taken
in order to procure a favourable answer
must probably forever remain a secret;
but there appears to have been little or
no bribery used, in comparison with
what is generally represented. In Ox
ford and Cambridge, it is likely that
favour and influence were exerted, and
the whole discussion seems to have been
considered as a party question ; but the
interested prejudices of the ecclesias
tical members of those societies were
as capable of Avarping the opinions of
the judges against the cause, as any
court interest could have tended to pro
mote it.
In the Sorbonne, though the royal
influence was doubtless exerted in fa
vour of the divorce,* yet the conduct of
that body was certainly open to the
charge of favouring the other side,
through the force of party feeling : nor
must it be forgotten, that truth is as
much obscured by prejudice as by any
other cause ; and we cannot doubt, that
the blindest churchman must have seen
the tendency of such an appeal from
the authority of the pope to the opinions
of the learned. In England, it could
be no secret that Anne would probably
favour the reformers ; and Avhat cir
cumstance could have conduced more
strongly to dispose the mass of the
^ Burnet, i.
' See Wordsworth'a Eccl. Biog. iii. 437, 3,
where it ia with aome appearance of reason attri
buted rather to Wolaey ; but after all, the car
dinal may previoualy have consulted the universi
ties, and Cranmer have merely said, We shall
never receive any decision, except through tha
universities. 8 Burnet, p. iii.

48

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IV.

clergy to prottiote the interests of Ca
tharine ?
§ 163. There is no reason to suppose
that the influence exercised in France
or England preponderated much on
either side ; in both, there was the in
terest of the court balanced against that
of the church ; yet in each of these
countries it was decided, that a mar
riage with a brother's widow was con
trary to the law of God, and therefore
null from the beginning.* The same
and corresponding answers were ob
tained from many other universities and
learned individuals. The Protestant
divines generally coincided in main
taining the illegality of the former mar
riage, but were some of them doubtful
as to the propriety of a new connection.
In order to enforce these decisions with
their full weight on the mind of Cle
ment, a letter was addressed to him
from England, which was signed by
those chiefly who were immediately
connected with the king; yet the fears
by which the mind of the pope was
biassed,' made him continue that system
of deceit which he had carried on from
the beginning. The ready compliance
of ihe clergy in this country may partly
be accounted for, in consequence of
their then lying under an unjust prm-
munire, for having acknowledged the
legantine power of Wolsey, which Hen
ry had personally authorized. In order
to buy off this, (1530,) the convocation
consented to a considerable subsidy;
and in the bill which granted it, the
king's supremacy was asserted : it was,
however, with much difficulty that this
clause was passed, and so little with the
good-will of the Lower House, that after
the acknowledgment a proviso was in
serted, quantum per Christi legem licet.
§ 164. The parliament at the same
time objected to the constitutions framed
by the clergy,' which fell heavily on
the laity, with regard to mortuaries,
probate of wills, &c. ; and in a later

' The reader will find a difl^erent account of the
matter given in Lingard, vi. 224. The discussion
is important as far as the characters of the indivi
duals concerned are at issue, but of little conse
quence aa to the question generally. Henry may
appear more or less guilty ; but his guilt afl3;cts
not the Reformaiion. The Roman Caiholic may
reject him, but Protestants will hardly claim him
as their own.
2 Strype's Mem. i. 198.

session, (1532,) made complaints against
the manner in which the ecclesiastical
courts examined and tried delinquents ;
for when brought before them on no
definite charges, and without accusers,
they had no alternative but to abjure
opinions which possibly they had never
held, or to be proceeded against as here
tics. But in consequence of some of
fence which the king conceived against
the House, for rejecting a bill about
wards, this motion was not carried into
a law till 1534. This session was also
marked by the enactment of a law
against annates, by which all persons
were forbidden to pay their first-fruits
to the see of Rome. 'These steps were
probably taken merely to alarm that
court ; for though Henry was deter
mined to proceed, whatever might be
the consequence, yet at this time he had
probably no wish to produce _ an open
rupture. In this autumn, (1632,) his
marriage was solemnized with Anne Bo
leyn, and upon the death of Warham,
(August,) the archbishopric was offered
to Cranmer, whose modesty, as well as
unwillingness to take the oaths to the
pope, delayed for some time his conse
cration. These obstacles, however, were
both overcome, (March 30, 1.533,) and
he was contented to swear true obe
dience to the pope, with the salvo of a
protestation that his so doing should
not affect the duty which he owed to
his God, his king, or country.
§ 165. The first act of his primacy
was the declaration of the sentence of
divorce, in conformity to the decision
of convocation -.^ which act at this mo
ment seemed rather misplaced ; for the

' The texts of Scripture which bear on this
question are Gen. xxxviii. 8, Deut. xxv. 5, which
direct the brother of a man who died without an
heir to raise up children to his brother: Levit.
xviii. 16, which forbids, a man to marry his bro
ther's wife; 18, or two sisters; and Levii. xx.21,
which threatens, that in that case they shall die
childless; from whence it would appear, that llie
marriage was illegal, except for the purpose of
preventing the extinction of a Jewish family. By
the present law of England, the marriage might
be set aside during the lives of both parties, "ad
reformandos mores," but if not so set aside, it
would be afterwards good in law. and the children
legitimate. Calvin atiempted to reconcile the dif
ference between Deut. xxv. 5, and Levit. xviii. 16.
by interpreting the word brother as a pear kinsman,
aa extension of which it will undoubtedly admit,
as in Ihe instance of Boaz and Ruth ; bui to which
it cannot be confined, when (3en. .xxxvii'. 8, and
the case of the seven brethren mentioned in the

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

49

marriage with Catharine must have
either been from the beginning illegal,
and a formal divorce therefore unneces
sary,, or the connection with Anne was
nothing less than bigamy. The king
himself continued, to the very last,
anxious to preserve terms with Rome,
and even sent messengers to justify his
conduct. One great source of delay
in the process in Italy had arisen frorn
the refusal of Henry to appear in per
son, or by proxy, when summoned be
fore the pope ; aa act of submission
which he declared to be contrary to the
rights of an independent prince, and
esteemed a species of personal indig-
aity. At the same time the discussion
was involved in greater difficulty, be
cause the strength of the argument in
favour of the illegality of the marriage
depended on tho total inadequacy of
any papal dispensation to set aside the
law of marriage established from the
word of God, and this argument the
pope would not allow to be brought
forward in his presence. Yet all this
might have been overlooked, and peace
have been preserved by mutual con
cessions, had not the imperial faction
hurried on the pope to give a decision
on the case, when he found that a mes
senger who was expected from England
did not arrive. The French and Eng
lish, authorities who were in Rome
(1534) had made strong remonstrances
against such precipitation, and urged
the possibility of the messenger's hav
ing been accidentally delayed ; but this
prudent advice was offered in vain; and
the messenger who brought the neces
sary concessions (March 23) was met
on his arrival by the rejoicings of the
imperialists, who were exulting in the
victory which their cause had gained.'
Reconciliation was now too late, and
the apparent indignity with which his

gospels, are considered. 5'"^<""I edition. This
has been since changed, and the marriage is now,
ipso facto, void.
' The correctness of this account, which ia taken
from Burnet, is controverted by Lingard, (vi. 267,
n. 153,) on the ground that the royal assent was
grantsil March 30th to the bill which set aside the
authority of the pope, when nothing could pos
sibly have been known of the decision given on
the 23d. Henry had probably made up his mind
to reject the authority ofthe pope before this, yet
he might wish for the sanction of the court'of
Rome, with regard to his marriage, and have
thought that the intimidation produced by these
bills brought into parliament might not have been

sincere endeavours after peace had been
treated, rendered Henry more deter
mined than ever to do away with the
papal authority within the precincts of
his dominions.
§ 166. The parliament was in every
way willing to promote the views of
Henry in opposition to the church of
Rome, for it had already abrogated the
papal supremacy, and established thai
of the king.^ (a. d. 1534.) Its other
acts were, one concerning the punish
ment of heretics, in which the inquisi
torial power of the bishops' courts wa.s
destroyed, inasmuch as they could now
only proceed in open court, and by wit
nesses; and it was- ordained that none
were to be troubled for any ofthe pope's
laws or canons :' another, relating to the
succession, in which the children of the
uninfluential in promoting a favourable issue. We
can hardly expect consistency of conduct from
such a man as Henry.
^ The nature of the supremacy which Hen
ry "VIII. claimed lo himself is distinctly marked
in Tonstal's Letter to Pole. (Burnet, p. iii. Re
cords, No. 52.) He states. That no man knew
better than the king the difference between the
duties of a Christian prince and spiritual persona.
That he pretended not to the cure of aoula, but to
that authority which, while it vindicated his king
dom from a foreign and usurped power, would
compel all persons within his doniinipns to con
form to the laws of God.
^ The canoii and civil law are by Blackstone
(Introduct. ^ 3, iu.) ranked among the leges non
scripliE, because they are received in England
from custom, and not from any intrinsic author
ity of their own : a point expressly declared in
the statute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 21.
By the term civil law is generally understood
the municipal law of the Roman empire, as ar
ranged from the confused mass of laws, edicts, and
imperial decrees ; first, by private lawyers, then
by Theodosius, A. n. 438; and, lastly, by Justi
nian, about 533. The Corpus Juria Civilla, as
compiled under his auspiofes, consists of, 
1. The Institutes, which contain the elements
or first principles of the Roman law, in four books.
2. The DIgeata, or Pandects, in fifty books;
containing the opinions and writings of eminent
lawyers, digested in. a systematic method.
3. A new Code, br CoUection of Imperial Con
stitutions, in twelve books ; the lapse of a whole
century having rendered the former code of Theo
dosius imperfect.
4. The Novels, or New Constitutions, posterior
in time to the other books, and amounting to a
Supplement to the Code ; containing new decree.'*
of successive emperors, as new questions hap
pened to arise.
It was these which were found about 1130, at
Amalfi, in Italy.
The canon law is a body of Roman ecclesiasti
cal Iaw,relative to such matters as that church
either has, or pretends to have, the proper juris
diction over. The Corpus Juris Canonici was
compiled from the opinions of the Latin fathers,.
the decrees of general councils, and the decretal
epistles and bulls of the holy see, by Gratian^^u-
E -''^

50

HISTORY OF THE

king, by Anne Boleyn, were declared
heirs to the throne ; at the same time,
those who oppugned this bill were ad
judged traitors to the king ; and an
oath was framed for its observance, in
which a clause was inserted, that the
party swearing would bear true faith to
no foreign authority or potentate, and
deem any oath, previously sworn to that
effect, as of no avail.
§ 167. This law was passed in a ses
sion during the spring, (a,, d. 1534,) and
though the oath was readily taken by
the majority of the nation. Sir Thomas
More and Fisher, bishop of Rochester,
refused to do so, and were in conse
quence committed to the Tower. Fisher
seems to have been a good man, and a
sincere papist, and was at this time very
old and infirm ; but he had not conducted
himself with any great wisdom or pru
dence with respect to the maid of Kent.
Elizabeth Barton had pretended to re
velations concerning the king's death,
and, like many impostors, half-deceiv
ing, half-deceived, had become the tool
of some designing priests, who preach
ed her up as a prophetess, and foretold
the destruction of Henry. She and
some of her accomplices were afterwards
hanged, and then made a confession of
the cheat ; for which she justly blamed
her spiritual guides, who fostered the
imposition. Fisher had to a certain de
gree promoted these proceedings by his
countenance, and probably believed in
her inspiration. Sir Thomas More,
however, had placed no confidence in
her predictions.
It had originally been in contempla-
Italian monk, about 1151, and has received aub
sequent additions ; it consists of,
1. Decreta Graliani.
2. Decretalia Gregorii IX.
3. Liber Sextus DecretaUum, and the Cle
mentine Constitulions.
4. The Extravagants of John XXII. and his
succeasors. Besides these pontifical laws, there are national
canons established in synods held under the author
ity of a Roman legate, and provincial canons
estabUshed by synods held in the provinces of
Canterbury or York.
By the statute 25 Hen. 'VIII. c. xix. and 2 EUz.
c. i., it was enacted that a review should be had of
the canon law; and till such review should be
made, all canons, constitutions, ordinances, and
synodals provincial, being then already made, and
not repugnant to the law of the land, or the king's
prerogauve,' should still be used and executed.
And aa no such review has yet been perfected,
upon this statute now depends the authority of the
canon law in England.

[Chap. IV.
tion to comprehend both these -distin^
guished individuals in the bill of attain
der by which the other persons suffered;
but the declarations of Sir Thomas
More,' and the fear of bringing the ques
tion before the House of Lords, saved him
from this unmerited imputation," while
Fisher's name was inserted in the bill,-
though no proceedings were instituted
against him. Both these men were
therefore the objects of the displeasure
ofthe court when the affair of the oath
took place ; and More, seeing from the
first that he could expect no mercy,
made up his mind to suffer ; for he was
well aware of the importance which
would be attached to the refusal of a
man of his own high character, and of
the effect which such an example must
have in discrediting the party of his op
ponents. He is justly considered by
the church of Rome as a martyr to her
cause, and every one must allow him
the credit of having laid down his life in
firmly maintaining his sincere opinions.
§ 168. His character is singularly
splendid. He had raised himself by his
honest exertions as a lawyer, and in
1523 was elected Speaker ofthe House
of Commons, where he was distinguish
ed for his opposition to the illegal
attempts of the king's ministers. On
one occasion, upon the demand of a
supply. Cardinal Wolsey wished to have
received an answer before he left the
house, but the members preserved an
obstinate silence, till at last their speak
er, on his knees, with many compli
ments,^ so urged the privilege of the
body, that the cardinal hastily retired in
great anger. Upon the disgrace of
Wolsey, More was made lord chancel
lor, being the first layman who ever
arriv€d at that honour, and in this exalted
station retained the same unblemished
fame which had raised him to it. It is
extraordinary that one who had in his
writings expressed such liberal notions*

' Wordsworth's E. B. ii. 174. « Burnet, i.
' 'VVordswovth's E. B. ii. 77.
''. T''^ Utopians allowed of no persecution for
rehgious leneis, 264, and their priesis had no tem
poral power, but merely animadverted upon tho
evU doers, and, if necessary, excommunicated
them, 275. Sir T. More's Utopia, Han. 1613.
12mo. He denies ever having caused heretics to
be beaten or ill treated, beyond being con^ned.
(Works, p. 901.) But this must be taken in a
very qualified sense. See Fox and Strype's Mem
i. 310, &c.

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

SI

should have been himSelf a persecutor ;
but he gloried in withstanding heretics
by his pen and power, and the blindness
of the times prevented him from seeing
the practical advantage of that liberty
of which he understood the theory. He
was tried on the act passed November,
1534, which made those who refused to
take the oath relative to the succession
liable to the penalties of treason, con
tained in the former bill. When con
demned, he received his sentence with
that placid serenity which^ had always
marked his life. He prayed that as St.
Stephen and St. Paul were now blessed
saints, though one had been present, and
consented to the death of the other, so
he in like manner, and his judges, might
hereafter meet in heaven, to their ever
lasting salvation.' His playful disposi
tion attended him to the scaffold, and he
died in full hopes of a blessed eternity,
with a pleasantry upon his lips. (1535.)
The death of this wise and good man
leaves an indelible stain on the charac
ter of Henry, who, out of self-will and
pique, suffered his faithful servant to be
murdered bythe hands of an execution
er. Had the writer of Utopia acted
up to his professions and opinions, he
must have proved a merciful and un-
persecuting papist, if he had not become
a Protestant ; and this was certainly the
character of More after he ceased to be
chancellor ; for though so fixed in his
sentiments, that he was ready to die for
them, yet he never blamed those who
acted on different principles. His ap
parent obstinacy might possibly have
arisen from his not rightly understand
ing the nature ofthe king's supremacy.
He had viewed the pope as his spiritual
father, and when the title of supreme
head of the church was transferred to
Henry, he felt that this species of author
ity could not be vested in a temporal
prince. He would have been willing

¦ This account is taken froth a Life of Sir T.
More, published in Wordsworth's Ecc. Biog. u.
213, in which many interesting particulars of this
food man are recorded. He is there stated to
ave been tried in Westminster-hall, and con
demned on the testimony of Rich, the king's so-
Ucitor. If these anecdotes be correct, which I
much doubt, they add much to the injustice of his
death. But under the second biU there was np
neceaaity for any witnessea at all. It was by that
act treason not to take the oath, which he refused
to do. He was beheaded July 6th, 1535.

to swear to the succession,^ had the pre
amble which restricted the papal author
ity been separated from it ; and Cran
mer' was anxious that this concession
should have been made to the senti
ments of More, (as well as to those of
Fisher, who denied not that the king
and parliament had a right to nominate
a successor to the throne ;) but he had
to deal with a monarch who ill brooked
opposition,* and who, after the death of
the chancellor, acknowledged the ex
cellence of a servant whom his cruelty
had destroyed.
§ 169. Fisher was detained in prison
above a twelvemonth, and treated with
a severity which nothing can excuse ;
for at the age of fourscore he was actu
ally in want of both clothes and fire.'
The same act of parliament under which
More suffered, terminated his misery,
in consequence of his speaking against
the supremacy. The execution took
place June 22, 1535.° He was a learn
ed and devout man ; and it is more than
probable that to him the two universi
ties owe the foundation of the Margaret
professorships of divinity, which were
established by the king's grandmother,
Margaret, countess of Richmond, to
whom he was confessor ; the colleges
of St. John's and Christ's Cambridge
are of the same foundation. The coun
tenance which he gave to the maid of
Kent may render the soundness of his
judgment very dubious ; and even the
severities used by him towards those
who differed from him in opinion may
be attributed to sincere, though mis
taken motives ; nor can we fail to
respect the man who would never ex
change his small bishopric of Rochester
for more valuable preferment, or, to use
his own expression, desert his first wife
because she was poor.
§ 170. The clergy at this time seem
to have become the objects ofthe hatred
of their fellow-citizens ; nor can this
surprise us, if we consider, not only the
cruelty which was exercised towards
heretics, but the liability under which
every one lay of being called before
the bishops' courts, a tribunal of which
the authority was almost unlimited, till

* Wordaworlh's Eccl. Biog. ii. 177.
3 Strype's Cranmer, i. 39. * Worda. ii. 223.
5 Fuller, 192, i 12. « Ibid. 203, &;c.

HISTORY OF THE

ICanviW.

the passing of the bill for punishing
heretics.' The limits of the work will hardly
allow us to enter on any detailed ac
count of those who suffered in the
cause ; and as an abridgment of the
history of their deaths must destroy all
those minute traits which peculiarly
interest and improve us in the history
of martyrs, we must content ourselves
with a mere notice of some of them.
Bilney, a clergyman of Cambridge ;
Byfield, a monk ; and Tewkesbury, a
citizen of London, were severally burnt
as relapsed heretics." Bainham, a law
yer, was first whipped and tortured, and
afterwards consigned to the flames.'''
The body of William Tracy was dug up
and burnt, because in making his will he
had consigned his soul to Christ, with
out mentioning the saints or purgato
ry. Harding, Hewett. and Frith were
subsequently also burnt. Frith was a
young man of considerable note, who,
from his character for learning and
piety, was removed from Cambridge
to fhe cardinal's college in Oxford.
He wrote a book against the corporal
presence, which was answered by Sir
Thomas More ; and while in confine
ment, and without books, he replied
to his opponent. He had, moreover,
impugned the doctrine of purgatory,
against which the attacks had of late
become frequent; for it is obvious that
they who controverted the papal su
premacy must either be prepared to
destroy this appalling weapon of super
stition, or have been contented to find
themselves deserted by the mass of so
ciety, who would hardly bear patiently
the thunders of the Vatican, while they
were labouring under the dread of those
penal fires from which the pope could
free them.
§ 171. *In the Supplication of the
Beggars,' a witty production by Simon
Fish, of Gray's Inn, the source of the
Romish superstitions is stated to be the
belief in piTrgatory ; and the remedy

' See ^ 166.
2 Fox, ii. 211, &c. &c. Burnet, i.
'There are some interesting particulars record
ed of a visit paid by Latimer to Bainham, the
night before the execution, his anxiety about hia
wife, and Latimer's consolation. Sirype'a Eccl.
Mem. v. 372.
* Fox, ii. 229, fcc. Burnet, i.
' This work ia printed at length in Fox. •

which the author recomiiiends is not
the enactment of new laws, but the dis
closing of the hypocrisy of its votaries-.
The church, he argues, has been able
by power or policy to obviate the effects
of\ all laws, but that, by going to the
root of the error, the evil might be
easily eradicated. The other attacks
are directed against the obvious vices
of the clergy, which are very fully de
scribed. "This work, by some accident,
found its way into the hands of the king
himself; but the wit which it contained
saved the author from any harm. An
other work, of nearly the same date,
but which is a very superior produc
tion, is denominated the Practice of
Prelates.^ In it the tyranny of the
clergy is strongly painted. They are
described as possessing in all their es
tablishments jails and instruments of
torture. He who was once within their
keeping was never allowed to escape,
lest he should convey to the world un
seasonable reports of what he had there
seen. The papal supremacy is attacked
on the same grounds of Scripture as
would now be employed, and with much
perspicuity ; the existence of purgatory
is denied. It is stated, that in the 'uni
versities they were net permitted to
study the word of God, till their minds
had been perverted with some years'
previous study, with which they -were
"clere shutt out of the understandinge
of Scripture ;" that auricular confession
was made the tool of political intrigue ;
and that Wolsey used Longland as a
spy and instrument about the king.
The reasoning is generally cori;ect and
sound, though there are some points
in which we should hardly now agree
with the writer ; but the spirit of the
book is excellent, and the address, to
wards the end of the preface, to the
true servants of Christ, not to resist, but
to endure persecution, is quite aposto
lical. § 172. Such writings, when viewed
in combination with the condition of
public affairs, prove that the seeds of
the Reformation were now securely
sown. But there was still the utmost
need of the fostering hand of God* to

^ The Practice of Papistical Prelates, made bv
WiUiam Tyndale, 1530, edited by Fox in Tyn
dale's Works, fol. 1573, reprinted in the works n
the reformers.

Chap. IV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

68

secure what he had planted, against
the rude assaults of superstition, and
the vices incident to human nature.
The papal supremacy was indeed sup
pressed, so that men might safely ex
ercise their powers of reasoning, in
disproving the grounds on which that
authority was built. But the supre
macy of Henry was little better, in
point of freedom of discussion ; for he
by no means allowed to others that
liberty of seeking the truth, which cir
cumstances had induced him personally
to adopt ; but these great events, by
exciting an universal sensation, had
taught the people to reason for them
selves, and to ground their own belief
on the dictates of holy writ ;' and the
discussions arising from the attacks of
their enemies made it necessary for the
church of Rome to argue, as well as to
punish ; and in this species of encoun
ter, the superior abilities of even Sir
Thomas More could not conceal the
weakness of the cause.
§ 173. Many of the remedies, too, to
which the friends of the established re
ligion had recourse, convinced men
that their spiritual guides were not the
ministers of good-will and peace ; and
the very necessity of rigorous persecu
tion, while it proves the unsoundness
of the cause, Jias always the tendency
of more widely diffusing the tenets
against which it is directed. How,
moreover, can the world imagine, that
the doctrines of Christ form the belief
of men who were ever anxious to de
stroy copies of the Scriptures ? A
very ludicrous instance of the inutility
of such attempts is related of Tonstal,
bishop of London, who, when in Flan
ders, took some pains to procure for
the flames as many of Tyndale's New
Testaments as he could. Tyndale was
aware of some errors in the first edi
tion, and gladly therefore allowed the
bishop to purchase all the copies which
vvere left, for the purpose of finding the
necessary means for publishing a se
cond, and more correct one. These,

1 It was an observation of Robert Whitgift, ab
bot of the black canons, at W«llow, near Grims
by, in Lincolnshire, aud uncle to the archbishop,
that they and their religion could never continue ;
for that he had read the whole Scriptures over and
over, but could never find therein that their reli-
rioB was founded by God. Wordsworth'a Eccl.
Biog. iv. 318. Whitgift's Life, by Sir G. Paule.

which were thus bought, were carried
into England, and burnt in Cheapside ;
and when Constantine, who had assist
ed Tyndale, had brought over a large
supply of the new edition, he was seized
and examined before Sir Thomas More,
who was particularly eager to discover
those who had enabled them to under
take so expensive a work, and promised
to show kindness in case this informa
tion were readily communicated. The
discovery that Tonstal had most effect
ually befriended the publication, natu
rally excited a great laugh.
§ 174. In revie\ving the Reformation
at this point of its history, the English
Protestant cannot withhold the tribute
of thanksgiving to the Author of all
good, from whom this deliverance
sprung, nor fail to remark its progress,
so contrary to the expectations of hu
man foresight. He will observe, that
the chief mover of the Reformaiion, in
this country, was a king brought up
with a high respect and admiration for
those doctrines which were combated
by the reformers ; who had personally
embarked in their defence, and ac
quired the title of Defender of the
Faith ; which,'' if the vicar of Croydon
may be believed, he valued more than
London, and twenty miles about it, and
who retained his predilection for most
of his opinions even to the end of his
life : that one of the greatest patrons of
literature from which the Reformation
gained very important assistance, by
enabling men to examine the basis on
which the papal fabric was constructed,
with his dying breath urged the king
to beware of, and to reduce the Luther
ans ;' and that he again, who by his
writings and severe activity fanned the
flame of discussion which ultimately
convinced the nation, laid down his life
an honoured victim to that cause, which
he had greatly, though unwillingly,
contributed to overthrow : that the cha
racter of the pope who, by his intem
perate and illegal haste in pronouncing
the decision, had made the breach in
curable, was marked by caution rather
than heat, so that he had before been
particularly careful to avoid coming to

2 Practyce of Prelates, fol. K. 4. Strype's
Mem. i. 62.
3 Cav. Wolsey, 543.
e2

54

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

extremities ; and that the separation
ultimately took place in consequence
of the accidental delay of a messenger :
who can observe all this, and not ac
knowledge the shortsighted policy of
earthly designs and prospects ; and, if
he rejoice in the Reformation which

these events produced, can fail to thank
that almighty Power which setteth
at naught the wisdom and prudence
of man, and governeth the world ac
cording to those laws which most
surely promote the interests of his
creatures !

CHAPTER V.

FROM THE niVOECE OF HENEY VIII. TO THE END OF HIS REIGN, 1534  1547.
201. The commencement of the church of England; the authority of it vested in the crown; eccle
siastical commission. 202. Visitation of monasteries ; causes of the dissolution of them. 203.
Death of Anne Boleyn. 204. Bill of succession. 205. Convocation. Parties. 206. First docu
ment of the church of England. 207. Proclamation for reformation. 208. Henry summoned to
Mantua by the pope. 209. Pilgrimage of grace. 210. Reduced. 211. Dissolution of monaste
ries. 212. Surrenders of monasteries. 213. The Institution published. 214. The sacramentaries
persecuted. 215. John Lambert tried and burnt. 216. Proclamation against the marriage of
priests. 217. Law of the Six Articles. 218. Acts of parliament. 219. Anne of Cleves ; Crom
weU's fall. 220. His character. 221. Divorce, and marriage with Catharine Howard ; persecu
tions. 222. Execution of Catharine Howard. 223. Bonner's injunctions; acts of parhament.
224. Persecution at Windsor ; English litany. 225. Anne Askew burnt. 226. Cranmer and the
queen in danger. 227. Cruelty of Henry. 228. His character. 229. Points gained in the Refor
mation. 230. Evils still requiring reform. 231. Effect of the Reformation m Germany very
small. 232. Intercourse between Henry and the German reformers.

§ 201. The existence of the church
of England as a distinct body, and her
final separation from Rome,^ may be
dated from the period of the divorce.
In the remaining part of this reign,
we shall trace her progress towards her
present matured state, and observe the
numerous difficulties which she en
countered on the way.
I The act which immediately caused the sepa
ration was the bull of Paul HI. published in
1538; (Burnet, p. i. b. iii. Rec. No. 9 0 but the
authority of the pope in England had been before
done away with by the act (25 Henry 'VIIL c.
20) which forbade the procuring bulls or breves
from Rome, or the payment of first-fruits or
tenths. (See 5 103. and 3.) These payments had
gradually grown up with the encroachments of
the papal see. (See Lingard, iv. 198.) The ori
gin of first-fruits has been referred to the presents
which were made at consecration or ordination ;
and which, as they were regulated by the value
of the benefice, insensibly grew to be rated at
one year's income. On this supposition they
would have been paid by the inferior clergy ofthe
diocese to the bishop, and by the bishop himself
to the pope, which seems generally to have been
the case. In England, Pandulph. when bishop
of Norwich, (1222—1220,) is said to have ex
acted, or to have obtained through the pope this
tax from his clergy, on the plea of the encum
brances with which he found himself burdened.
The amount of the sums paid for first-fruits was
often uncertain. Tenths were a tenth part of the
yearly value of all benefices exacted by the pope
from the clergy, a tithe of the tithe, in imitation
of the eame proportion paid by the Levites to the
high-priest. These were in England sanctioned

In looking back at the events recorded
in the last chapter, it is impossible to
suppose that the steps towards reforma
tion should have been acceptable to the
great mass of the clergy, whose privi
leges were directly attacked ; and the
opposition of some of them, and secret
practices of others, irritated Henry to
by law, (20 Edw. 1,) when Pope Nicholas IV-
granted them for six years to Edward I., under
the pretence of hia undertaking a crusade ; but
they had been long before paid, and intleed granted
by Innoceent IV. to Henry IIL, in 1253, for
three years. The auras so due had been le-vied
first by a valuation made in 1254, under the direc
tion of Walter, bishop of Norwich, and therefore
called sometimes the Norwich "Taxation, and
sometimes Pope Innocent's valor ; but upon the
fresh grant made to Edward I. a new valuation
took place, (12S8— 1292,) which is generally deno
minated Pope Nicholas's valuation, and is still
used in estimating the value of livings in some
colleges ; a third valuation of a part of the pro
vince of York took place in 1318, in consequence
of the invasion of the Scotch, entitled Nova Tax
atio. By the 26th Henry VIII. c. 3, the first-
fruits and tenths were both transfetred to the
crown, and a new valuation was made by com-
inissions issued by the king under an act of par
liament. It has been questioned whether from
tho words of this act the crown has a right to
frame a new valuation. See § 756 «. The words
are, " that the chancellor for the time being shaU
tfave power to direct commissions" for making
the valuation ; but the meaning of the act itseff
does not appear to look forward to above one" va
luation. This is called the valuation of the libeT
regis or king's book.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

55

exercise a severity which nothing can
excuse. The bishops and universities
readily took the oath of the king's su
premacy, (1535,) which met with little
resistance, except from the Franciscan
friars. 1 It was this refusal, or the dis
covery of the secret proceedings of the
monks, which produced the general
visitation of monasteries ; for the car
rying on of which, as well as of other
reforms, Cromwell was created first
vicar-general, and afterwards lord vice
gerent. One of the first points which
fell under the cognisance of this newly
created power, was with regard to the
authority from which the bishops de
rived their right of ecclesiastical juris
diction. The Roman church esteemed
this as communicated from Christ
through his vicar the pope, an idea
which must give the bishops of Rome
an influence over all the countries in
Christendom, for which there is not the
slightest foundation in Scripture ; and
Henry, therefore, wishing to put an
end to this error, now suspended all the
bishops from the use of their episcopal
authority, during the visitation which
he purposed to institute ; and after a
time the power of exercising it was re
stored by a commission to the following
effect, which was granted to each of
them on their petitioning for it : " Since
all authority, civil and ecclesiastical,
flows from the crown, and since Crom
well, to whom the ecclesiastical part
has been committed, is so occupied that
he cannot fully exercise it, we commit
to- you the license of ordaining, proving
wills, and using other ecclesiastical ju
risdiction, besides those things which
are committed to you by God in holy
Scripture ; and we allow you to hold
this authority during our pleasure, as
you must answer to God and to us."
It must be confessed that this commis
sion seems rather to outstep the limits
of that authority which God has com
mitted to the civil magistrate i^ but in

' See an account of the cruel execution of seve
ral of these in Strype's Mem. i. 302, &c.
2 'The original documents may be seen in Col
lier, vol. ii. R.eo. No. 31, 41, and Burnet, vol. i.
Rec. iii. No. 14, and voL ii. Rec. No. 2, Strype's
Cranmer, 1050. The discussion is one of much
difficulty. The authority in question must have^fqu. 9, &c.
flowed either from the pope, the king, or thej ^ S(rype'g Mem. i. 331
word of God ; and as there is no direct injunction | * Burnet, P. i. Rec. B. iu. No. 1

this case there was no opposition raised
on the part of the bishops, excepting
by Gardiner,' and when the suspension
was taken off, they continued to per
form the usual duties of their office ;
for the visitation was really directed
against the monasteries.
§ 202. The king was probably in
fluenced in this measure by the prospect
of plundering these wealthy bodies, de
signing, perhaps, to have expended the
money so raised in the construction of
harbours, and the erection of new bishop
rics ; while Cranmer was equally eager
for their dissolution, being fully aware
that these establishments formed the
great bulwarks of the church of Rome,
and hoping that their property, turned
into a new channel, would substantially
advance the cause of learning and reli
gion. The instructions* given to the
commissioners directed them to examine
into the statutes of the several religious
houses, and the manner in which they

on the subject in the Scriptures, aa the authority
of ihe pope was Ijald aside, the bishop could claim
his right of jurladiotion from the crown only. The
difficuliy, however, conalsts in confusing things in
themselves distinct ;, the minisiers of God's word
must derive from him auch authority aa ahall ena
ble them to carry on a Chrisiian church, inde
pendent of the civil magistrate; for there Is no
reason why such a body may not exist in a hea
then country ; but it does not necessarily follow
that the same entire power must belong to ihem
when the government shall have become Chris
tian. The right of ordination, for instance, must
belong to the church independently of the civil
power ; but a Chrisiian government may stiU
assign limits to the exercise of it. It is no in
fringement of the right of ordaining, to prevent a
bishop from admitting candidates unless they pos
sess certain qualifications. The law cannot say
that the person so ordained shall not be a priest,
but that he shall not hold church preferment, and
at the same time it may punish the bishop for
breaking the law of the land. The proving wills,
&.C., must belong to the civil maglstrale alone ;
and a court of conscience, or ecclesiastical court,
seems to be founded partly on the law of God,
and partly on that of man. If all ecclesiastical
power were confined to ecclesiastical matters,
the difficulty would cease to exist. But this can
hardly be the case ; the magistrate ought, per
haps, to govern the temporal concerns of the
church entirely ; but for his own convenience,
and for the benefit of society, he has committed
some portion of this power lo churchmen, who
exercise a mi.xed authority, derived from (3od, in
part directly, in part through the oivil magistrate.
Much information on this subject may be found
in the opinions delivered by the commissioners,
1540. See Burnet, Hist. Ref. i. B. iii. Rec. xxi.

56

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. Y.

were observed ; to inquire into the lives
of the members ; to enjoin the observ
ance of certain general rules ; and to
see that the king's supremacy was duly
admitted. Great abominations seem to ha-ve been
discovered in some societies, which, to
gether with the prospect of avoiding a
storm now ready to fall on their heads,
induced several convents to resign their
charters ; and in the session of parlia
ment at the beginning of the next year,
an act was passed which dissolved all
monasteries of which the annual income
was under 200Z. (a. d. 1536.)
It is possible that greater abuses might
have prevailed in these less extensive
establishments, and that such laxity was
produced by the freedom which a small
number of persons must enjoy, when
placed under their own superintendence;
but it was easy to perceive that this
alienation was-but a step to the total dis
solution of the monastic orders, and that
the same avarice which had swallowed
up the weaker bodies was only restrain
ed from destroying the stronger by the
want of power. The whole nuriiber of
monasteries which was included under
this bill was much increased by the
manner in which their estates were let ;
for from the system of fines,' the annual
income was generally reduced far be-

' When an estate is let in this manner, it is done
by the following process. The property is sold for
a certain number of years, (ot present, according
to the laws regulating church property generally,
for tweniy-one years,) and the fine or purchase-
money so paid belongs lo tbe owner for the time
being. But when seven years have elapsed, ihe
purchaser of the property is allowed to renew his
lease, or to, repurchase the property for seven
fresh years, to be reckoned' at the end of the
fourteen years for which he is now possessed of it.
This, by calculation, is worth from one and a
quarter to one and a half year's income ; and the
original lessor, or the owner for the time being, is
induced to grant such a fresh lease, from the im
mediate want O'f money, or from the uncertainly
of his own life ; since, if he were himself to die
during the fourteen years, he would get nothing,
and the whole benefit would acrj-ue to his succes
sor. Thus an estate worth lOOJ. per annum might
originally have been sold lor its then value, and
when seven years were expired the lease might be
renewed for 1251. or 150Z., making an average an
nual income of from iSl, to 221, instead of lOOZ.
The same process takes place when tbe property
is let on Uves. The estate is then originally sold
for so long a time as three particular persons,
whose names are inserted in the lease, ahall either
of them live ; and when one of these dies, the
holder of the property pays a fine, to be allowed

low the real value pf their property.
These foundations are said to have
amounted to the number of 375,^ and to
have yielded an income of 30,000/. per
annum, besides a large sum arising from
plate and jewels ; but the mass of this
wealth was quickly dissipated. And
notwithstanding the erection of a court
for the express p-arpose of augmenting
the king's revenue,' comparatively little
advantage arose to the crown from these
attacks on the property ofthe subject.
§ 203. The cause ofthe Reformation*
met wilh a serious blow in the death of
Anne Boleyn, who had uniformly exert
ed her influence in its favour, and was
probably very instrumental in promot
ing the translation of the Bible now
going forward. She had undoubtedly
been guilty of indiscretion in the inti
macy which she had used towards some
of her male attendants ; but her real
crime consisted in her no longer pos
sessing the love of Henry, who had
transferred his affections to Lady J. Sey-

to renew the bargain, and to substitute some fresh
life in lieu of the one deceased. In former limes
much of the property of the kingdom was held on
this tenure ; but in modern days most private
land-owners have allowed these leases to run out,
and have relet their estates at annual rents ; but
almost all the property of corporate bodies ia still
so leased. From which circumstance it is easy
to see why the real income is much less than the
nominal property. The original sale generally
took place beyond the memory of man ; and the
bishop, the chapter, or the college cannot afford to
run the risk of the toss of the immediate fine, in
the hopes of an advantage which their successors
may probably reap ; so that virtually most church
property is mortgaged for fourteen years, in Eng
land; and in Ireland, (from the custom of renew
ing every year, instead of every seven years,) for
twenty years. In most of such leases, however,
there is also an annual rent reserved : — Thus, if
an estate be worth 1501, per annum, the fine ahaU
be set as if it were worth 100/. and the tenant be
bound to pay 501. annually for the support of the
establishment. In eatimatirig, therefore, the va-
luea of the properly of these mobaateriea, the re
served rents may probably have alone entered into
the calculation, and the fine have been overlooked,
as not forming a part of the income.
2 Fuller, vi. 312.
* The court of angmentations waa eatabliahcd
27th Henry VIII. (Fuller, vi. 348,) by act of par
liament, consisting of a chancellor, and many othei
officers wilh high salaries, amounting to 7,249/.
10s. id. They were appointed to survey and go
vern the property which fell into the, hands ofthe
crown, by the dissolution of monasteries; buta9
many of the estates were soon sold through the
necessities of the kin^, the court was found to be,
Ikinnecessarily expensive, was discontinued, and
finally dissolved, 1° Mariae, 1553.
* Burnet, i.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

57

mour ; and one of the strongest argu
ments in favour of her innocence con
sists in the nature of the court before
which she was arraigned, and of the
charges which were separately brought
against her. She was first condemned
for adultery, and then divorced on ac
count of a pre-contract of marriage,
which proved her never to have been
the wife of the king. The evidence of
her guilt would not have admitted of
being brought forward openly, and she
was tried in secret, condemned, and
executed in the Tower, May 19.
Her marriage with the king was dis
solved by a decision in the archbishop's
court, and is said by Burnet to have
been annulled in consequence of a pre
contract between her and Lord Percy,
which the queen acknowledged. The
effect of this proceeding was to render
the princess Elizabeth illegitimate ; but
it is supposed that Anne was induced to
admit the existence of such a bar to the
marriage, in hopes of conciliating the
favour of the ro}'-al father towards her
child ; and it is probable, that her con
duct in her last moments was influenced
by the same views.' Blame has been
attached to Cranmer for his compliance
in this instance ; but upon the admission
of the pre-contract, he had only to pro
nounce the sentence of the canon law ;
while the Reformation has been loaded
with the obloquy attending the presumed
guilt of its patrons — as if the cause
must be bad which had been promoted
by such unworthy instruments. For
Henry, little can be said in excuse ; yet
he always treated Elizabeth with kind
ness ; and Mary was now reconciled to
him upon acknowledging the king's su
premacy, renouncing the papal usurpa
tions, and giving up all advantage which
might personally arise to her from the
jurisdiction of Rome.
' Lingard, who wishes to establisn the guilt of
the queen, supposes that the previous criminal con
nection of Henry with Mary, the elder sister of
Anne, formed the ground of the separation. No
reason is aaaigned for the divorce in the original re-
. cord of it; see Wilkins, Con. iii. 801 ; but the letter
of the earl of Northumberland, May 13, in which
he denies the existence of any pre-contract, at least
proves that there was an idea of proceeding against
her on this ground, and so strengthens the account
given by Burnet. See also Cavendish's Life of f,
Wolsey ; Wordsw. Ecc. Biog. i. 363 ; Lord Her
bert's Life, p. 195, comp. hist.
, 8

§ 204. On the day after the execution
of Anne, Henry married Jane, the
daughter of Sir John Seymour ; and in
the parliament which met on the 8th
of June, the act of succession passed,
which, after conferring the inheritance
of the crown on the children of the pre
sent marriage, left the king, in case there
were none, at liberty to bestow the
throne on whomsoever he pleased,
either by letters patent or by his will.
Nothing can more strongly mark the
absolute sway which this monarch main
tained over the parliament, than a power
so vested in an individual; while the
policy of the transaction equally de
mands our notice, for he kept both his
daughters entirely dependent upon him
self ; and by enabling Mary to succeed
to the kingdom, paved the way towards
a reconciliation with the emperor, and
through him, with the court of Rome, if
any future circumstances should dispose
him to entertain the wish of doing so.
It seems, indeed, that some overtures
were about this time made by the pope ;
but two acts of parliament rendered the
attempt perfectly nugatory ; for the first
subjected to a praemunire all emissaries
of the papacy ; the second destroyed all
grants held under bulls, which were
declared null and void ; and those whose
property was on this tenure were di
rected to bring the grants into Chancery,
in order that they might be renewed by
the archbishop of Canterbury, acting for
the king.
§ 205. Whatever importance may be
attached to the acts of this session of par
liament, those ofthe convocation demand
at least an equal portion of our attention.
AlexanderAlesse,aScotch reformer, had
fled his country not long after the per
secution of Patrick Hamilton ; and hay
ing been kindly received into Crom
well's house, was here introduced to
the English clergy by the lord vicegerent
himself. When his opinion was re
quested, he argued strongly in favour
of rejecting the five sacraments, and
was answered by Stokesley, bishop
of London, who exhibited much learn
ing in the canon law; but Cranmer
gave a satisfactory reply tp his argii-
iments, by adducing the authority of
the word of God, and enforcing its
superiority.

S8

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap,V

The parties into which the church I archbishops, and may be ranged in thft
was now divided were led by the two | following order : —

Cranmee, archbp. of Canterbury.
GooDBicH, biahop of Ely.
Shaxtow, bishop of Sarum.
Latimek, bishop of Worcester.
Fox, bishop of Hereford.
Hilsey, bishop of Rochester.
Baelow, bishop of St. David's.
After much discussion, certain arti
cles, which had been submitted to them
by the king, were agreed upon, and
published by the royal authority ; and
as they may be deemed the first docu
ment of the faith of the church of Eng
land, they cannot be esteemed unworthy
of peculiar notice ; their general outline
is as follows :' —
§ 206. The Bible and the three creeds
are laid down as the basis of our faith.
Baptism is declared to be absolutely
necessary ; that is, that children dying
unbaptized cannot be saved.
Penance, that is, repentance, is a sa
crament, and necessary.
Confession to a priest is necessary
and effectual.
The corporal presence is necessary
to be believed.
Though justification depend on the
merits of Christ, yet good works are
necessary in order to obtain eternal life.
With regard to ceremonies, it was
ordered, that images should be retained
as examples to the people, but idolatry,
and the abuse of them, was to be guard
ed against. Saints were to be honoured
as examples of life and advancers of
our prayers ; and they were to be ad
dressed with this view, but not wor
shipped. Many ceremonies, such as
the use of holy water, ashes, palms,
&c., were to be retained as typical
signs ; and praying for the dead was
enjoined, though the existence of pur
gatory is questioned. It should be ob
served, too, that no mention is here
made of the other four sacraments.

1 They are printed in the Formularies of Faith,
Oxford, 1825, ? 271, a, and in Burnet and Fuller
They must be considered as a compromise of
opinions between the two parlies, rather than as
expressing the entire sentiments of euhei'. It is
indeed obvious, that the doctrines of the Refor
mation had not at this time made any great pro
gress; for in a protestation of the Lower House,
conaiating of 67 articles, (Fuller, v. 208, 5.28,)
there ia hardly a point in which the churches of
Rome and England differ, in which the tenets of
the latter are not reprobated.

Lee, arahbiahop of York.
Stokesley, bishop of London.
Tonstal, bishop of Durham.
Gardinek, bishop of 'Winchester.
Longland, bishop of Lincoln.
Sherbukn, bishop of Chichester.
Kite, bishop of Carlisle.
though the use" of them is inculcated
in several of the doctrinal works which
were subsequently published during this
reign. A royal proclamation was issued
immediately after the publication of
these articles, of which the following is
an abstract.
§ 207. Thomas Cromwell, lord vice
gerent, directs the clergy^ to observe
all the laws which have been made
against the papal supremacy, and to
instruct their flocks, at least four times
in the year, that the king under God is
the supreme head of the church. To
explain to the people the articles con
cerning faith and ceremonies, which
had been lately put forth ; and to per
suade their parishioners to observe the
ordinance for abolishing many of the
holydays during harvest. To discoun
tenance superstition, and preach that
obedience to God's commandments, and
works of charity, were more acceptable
than pilgrimages and the worshipping
of relics. They were to set up Bibles
in Latin and English in their churches,
and encourage the people to read them;
to see that the children within their cures
were brought up honestly and religious
ly, and to teach them the Lord's Prayer,
the Ten Commandments, and the Creed,
in the mother-tongue. Wherever the
incumbent was non-resident, he was to
appoint a proper curate ; and all the
clergy are direc*ed to lead decent and
sober lives. Non-residents, on prefer
ments worth twenty pounds, are to give
one-fortieth of their stipend to the poor
of the parish. Incumbents of prefer
ments worth a hundred pounds per
annum are to keep a scholar at the
university ; and so on for every hun
dred pounds : and in case of dilapi
dated buildings, one-fifth of the income
was to be expended on repairs. We
cannot help observing the sound sense
tend propriety of these injunctions.

2 Burnet, P. i. B. iii. Rec. No. 7.

Chap. V.]
§ 208. During the progress ofthe Re
formation, many appeals had been made
to a general council ; and Paul III.,
wishing to sanction his proceedings un
der the appearance of such an authori
ty, yet having no desire that it should
be independent of the influence of the
papal throne, assembled one at Mantua.
Before this tribunal, Henry was cited
to appear; but when information of this
was brought to the convocation by Fox,
bishop of Hereford, that assembly pro
tested against the measure, as more
likely to gratify ambition and malice
than to satisfy the ends of justice and
truth. • The king ' also published his
reasons agaiust it, showing the absurdi
ty of expecting a fair trial, when the
pope, one of the parties, was to sit as
judge, and the court itself was so situ
ated, that no Englishman could safely
make his appearance at it. Reginald
Pole, who was now resident at Padua,
attacked the king in his writings ; and
his book De Unione Ecclesiastica, ends
by comparing Henry to Nebuchadnez
zar, and praying the emperor to direct
his arms against so heretical a Chris
tian, rather than against the Turks.
§ 209. Some progress was made dur
ing this summer in the dissolution of
monasteries ; for, besides those founda
tions which the liberality of parliament
had already bestowed on the king, many
abbots maile voluntary surrenders of the
establishments under their charge, to the
commissioners of the augmentation of
fice, in hopes of obtaining better terms
and larger allowances for themselves;
entertaining little doubts, that the ra
pacity which had swallowed up the
smaller, would soon extend itself over
all such ecclesiastical bodies. Many
persons were thus deprived of all
means of subsistence ; for, besides their
actual retainers, monasteries were in
the habit of feuding a large portion of
the neighbouring poor, while the num
ber of actual members ejected must have
been considerable. It is not wonderful,
then, that peisons influenced by passion,
as well as urged by necessity, should
endeavour to raise disquiet against a
government with which they had so lit
tle reason to be contented. The court
had indeed used some methods for

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

9»'

' Sleidan's Hist. Ref. 231.

obviating these causes of complaint;
thirty-one religious houses had beea
refounded,. and much of the forfeited
lands had been sold at very easy rates
to the neighbouring gentry ; but these
innovations had produced a general dis
content, and their effects were quickly
manifested by a rebellion in Lincoln
shire, which was, however, soon quiet
ed by the conciliatory measures of the
duke of Suffolk. This was followed
by a much more formidable rising in
the north ; and the insurrection, from
the religious turn which was given to
it, and from their standards, consisting
of representations of the five wounds
of Christ, and of the cross, was deno
minated the pilgrimage of grace. As
this event had been produced in great
measure by the clergy, the king issued
a strong letter to his bishops,^ enjoining
the use of zeal and discretion in their
own preaching, and ordering them to
publish the articles already set forth;
they were also directed to take care
that the inferior clergy did the same,
and were not to allow any one within
their dioceses to preach out of his own
church, for whose honesty and judg
ment they could not answer.
§ 210. The direction of the military
operations was committed to the duke
of Norfolk, who, when he joined the
earl of Shrewsbury, found the rebels
so strong and desperate that it was ne
cessary to adopt the greatest caution.
They were under the command of a
gentleman of the name of Aske, who
was well calculated for his office, and
numbered among their ranks the arch
bishop of York, and Lord Darcy, who
having been made prisoners at the cap
ture of Pomfret Castle, had taken the
oath of the party, viz., that their object
was to preserve the king from low-born
and pernicious counsellors, and to re
establish true religion. The rebels had
already taken Hull and York, and ad
vanced as far as Doncaster ; but their
further progress was stopped by the
prudence of the duke of Norfolk, who,
after many delays and much inter
course, obtained for them a general
pardon, (a. d. 1537.) Yet discontent
soon manifested itself again, and breaik-
ing out in a fresh northern rebellion, i6'

2 Addenda, ix. 360, vol. i. Burnet.

60

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

was easily put down by the forces still
under the command of the duke of
Norfolk and Lord Shrewsbury, and
the chief offenders were executed ;
amongst which number were com
prehended Lords Darcy and Hussey,
Aske, many gentlemen of considera
tion, and six abbots.*
§ 211. The suspicion that this rebel
lion had owed its origin and support
chiefly to the encouragement of the
clergy, undoubtedly hastened the sup
pression of religious houses ; but their
general dissolution arose from other
causes, and would probably have taken
place, had these events never occurred.
In order to prepare the way for this
fresh attack on church property, a neAv
visitation was set on foot, and the dis
orders discovered in these establish
ments were thrown open to the world ;
for, as the visitors were charged with
receiving bribes,^ they found it neces
sary to quiet unpleasant reports con
cerning their own ill conduct,^ by pub
lishing such scandalous stories of the
parties visited as fell within their obser
vation. The vicious lives and conversations
of " the religious," as they were deno
minated,' were too notorious not to call
forth the indignant animadversions of
their enemies ; and, as might have been
expected, the guilt of individuals en
tailed a great degree of infamy on the
body in general. We have, however,
so many authentic documents of their
gross profligacy and superstitious kna
very, that little doubt can be enter
tained of either their guilt or the benefit
which morals have received by the sup
pression of monasteries.* But there
were several exceptions to this exten-
' Fuller, 313. ^
2 There seems to be good grounds for this accu
sation ; we have several ofliers of bribes to Croin-
wpU himself; when Latimer wrote to him to pray
that the priory of Malvern might be sparetf, he
ofTered five hundred marks for the king's favour,
aiid two hundred for that of the vicegerent.
(Strype's Mpm. i. 399.) So Sir Thomas Eliot
offers him the first-fruits of such lands as should
be granted. (Ibid. 405.) See also Burnet, vol
i. 224, fol.,8vo. 407.
3 Strype's Ecc. Mem. i. ch. 35. Fuller,316,&c.
* The Roman Catholics, on the other hand,
accuse the visitors of great iniquity in their pro
ceedings; of having first corrujited and then pu
nished the nuns whom they had debapched, and
of having brought untrue accusations against those
who haH resisted their solicitations, (Fuller,
315.)

sive condemnation ;' and in many of
the convents visited by the commission
ers, not only were real devotion and
sound morality found to exist, but the
liberal hospitality and charitable mu
nificence of the members merited for
them that love which was felt towards
the monastic orders by a large portion
of the community, particularly by the
common people.
§ 212. Many abbots now tendered
their resignations, influenced by various
motives, as either their fears of the king
predominated, or as they entertaineti
views favourable to the Reformation ;
while others hoped, by conciliating the
good-will of the ruling powers, to ob
tain for their societies new and more
useful foundations. The benefit de
rived to the crown by these resignations
fell infinitely below the amount at
which it might probably have been
calculated ; for in many cases the esta
blishments were found to be in a very
dilapidated state. The several mem
bers of such foundations, foreseeing
what was likely to happen, had been
providing for the storm ; and while
they consulted their own personal in
terests, had neglected the common pro
perty of which they expected so soon
to be deprived. Several abbots were
attainted of treason, for having con
verted the plate of their convents to the
use of the rebels in the north, and on
their conviction their abbeys were de
clared forfeited to the king. To most
ofthe ecclesiastical persons now ejected
annuities were assigned out of the reve
nues, which varied according to the
nature of the foundations and the me
rits of the individuals. Religious frauds
were in many places destroyed, shrines
defaced, and relics taken away ; so that
the most effectual methods were adopted
in order to wean the minds of the peo
ple from such superstitions.
§213. "The Bishops' Book," or
" The Godly and Pious Institution of a
Christian Man," was now first pub
lished f it was afterwards printed in a
more perfect form in 1543, when it was
denominated "The Necessary Doctrine
and Erudition for any Christian Man,"
and, as put forth by royal authority,
was called "The King's Book," an(i

^ Strype's Ecc. Mem. 393.
= Strype's Ecc. Mem. i. 485.

Chap, v.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

61

since the two together form the chief
documents from which the authorized
opinions of the church of England dur
ing this reign can be derived, it will be
necessary to examine them in detail ;
and the subject will more conveniently
be deferred to the end of the chapter.'
§ 214. Thus far every thing seems
to have favoured the Reformation ; but
a new line of policy, which was adopted
by Gardiner and the other friends of
popery, appears to have created an al
teration in the sentiments of the king,
and thus to have given a considerable
advantage to the cause which they ad
vocated. This party had generally ex
hibited great outward compliance with
the opinions and wishes of Henry; and
by enlisting his vanity on their side,
they now worked the ruin of many of
their opponents, and provoked him to
exercise much cruelty towards them.
Among the reformers generally, there
was no point on which the minds of
many were so little settled as concern
ing the nature of "presence," by which
our Saviour's body is said to be present
in the elements. Henry, in his book
against Luther, of which he was par
ticularly proud, had maintained the
doctrine of the "corporal presence,"
and all the public acts of tbe church of
England had declared for the same
opinion. The subject itself is one of
extreme delicacy, and the political re
lations of the kingdom rendered addi
tional caution necessary ; for if any
person had been persecuted for tenets
which they held in common with the
Lutherans, this circumstance might
have subjected the king to the remon
strances and anger of the princes of
Germany ; but towards the sacrament
aries' he was fettered by none of these
scruples ; and they might be attacked
under the vain expectation of reducing
' It may not be amiss to remark, that there
were two books known by each of these names.
A declaration against the papal supremacy in
1536. in consequence of Pole's Book on Ecclesi
astical Union, is called also the Bishdp's Book,
aiid one published in 1533, De Differentia Regias
el EcclesiaaticEE Poteatatia, the King's. (Strype's
Cranmer, 75, vol. i.)
'I'here is, too, conaiderable confuaion about thia
book in Burnet, who is, generally ignoraiit coti-
cerning printed books, and makes a confusion be
tween the Institution and Erudition.
See Appendix, B.
2 The sacramentaries denied the corporal pre-
leftceof Christ in the eucharist. (See ^ 313.)

all men to the same opinions in religion,
or in order to vindicate the infallibility
of that supremacy of which he de
prived the pope, by assuming it as his
own prerogative.
§ 216. (a. d. 1538.) John Lambert,'
while chaplain to the English company
at Antwerp, had, by his acquaintance
with Frith and Tyndale, advanced in
those religious opinions which he had
originally derived from Bilney. Sir
Thomas More had directed the Ant
werp nierchants to dismiss him from
their service ; and, on his return to
England, he escaped persecution only
by the death of Archbishop Warham.
He now kept a school in London, and
having advanced some opinions con
cerning the corporal presence, in con
sequence of a sermon preached by Dr.
Taylor, afterwards bishop of Lincoln,
he was brought before Cranmer, and
unfortunately appealed to the king.
Gardiner seized the opportunity, which
was thus afforded him, of exasperating
the royal theologian against heterodox
opinions, and a public trial was ap
pointed to take place in Westminster
Hall. It requires but little sagacity to
determine how a disputation carried on
between persons so differently circum
stanced was likely to, terminate. On
the one side sat the king, surrounded
with his bishops, at once disputants and
judges ; on the other, an heretical
schoolmaster, supported only by a con
viction of the truth, and reasoning on a
topic wherein the learned have differed,
and concerning which pious Christians
have disagreed. The poor man was
after a time silenced, and on this con
viction sentenced to be burnt.'' At the

' His real name was Nicholson ; he adopted
this for the sake of concealment, in consequence
of having been before in trouble about religion.
(Strype's Cranmer, i. 92.)
^ Cranmer, unfortunately, on thia occasion ar
gued against Lambert in favour of the corporal,
presence. He waa at this time a believer in tran
substantiation, an error which he did not reject
till 1546, in consequence of a conference with
Ridley. (Strype's Cranmer, i. 96) It has been
asserted that Cranmer successively held the doc
trines of the Romanist, the Lutheran, and the
Calvinist, on this point. (Laurence, Bampt.
Led. 16 and 202, 10.) But this he positively
denied in hia examination before Martin, (Fox.)
The miatake probably arose from hia publlahing
the Catechiam of Justus Jonas in EngUsh, in
1548, which might be supposed to contain the
opinions of the Lutherans. (Oxford edit. 208.)
But the point is there treated of so generally, that
F

IHSTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

execution, m Smithfield, after his legs
were consumed, his body remained
alive, and was at length put into
the fire by the halberts of the civil
officers, while his last words were,
"None but Christ, none but Christ."
The king was as much pleased with
the affair as the party who duly mag
nified it ; and they now began to obtain
a considerable influence at court.
§ 216. One of the first effects of their
success' was the issuing a proclamation
which reprobated the marriage of priests
without "a common consent of his high
ness and the realm," and prohibited
those who ventured to marry, or retain
their wives openly, from the perform
ance of any sacred office, under pain of
losing all their ecclesiastical privileges ;
but we may observe that the document
was so worded as to screen Cranmer
from any danger, whose wife was at this
time living secretly with him ; while it
held out the prospect of a change in the
law respecting the celibacy ofthe clergy ;
and Bishop Ponet, or whoever else was
the author of the Defence of Priests'
Marriage, assures us, that the king in
tended to grant this liberty, but was hin
dered by the advice of certain counsel
lors, who pretended that his sanction to
such an innovation would occasion
offence among the people.
§ 217. It is not improbable that the
unwillingness exhibited by the Protes
tant party^ to allow the king to dispose
of all the church property, might have
contributed to increase his inclination in
favour of their opponents ; for, in a com
mittee ofthe parliament'' which now sat,
(a. d. 1539,) the parties were so ba
lanced, that neither side could hope to
carry matters entirely according to their
wishes ; and after eleven days' useless
discussion, the duke of Norfolk, the great
patron of the papal opinions, proposed
for their consideration Six Articles, to
the following effect : —
Ist, *That in the sacrament of the
altar, after the consecration, there re-

though the Lutheran doctrine appears to be main
tained, yet neither of the other parties need be
much offended at it. (See also i 280, ^.)
' Strype's Cranmer, i. 98. = Ibid. i. 103.
' In this parliament, writs were issued to the
mitred abbots ; it met April 28th. Strype says
(Mem. i. 542) that the same queationa were agitated
in convocation, and decided in the same manner.
4 Speed, 780, 31 Henry VIIL c. 4.

maineth no substance of bread and wine,
but under these forms the natural body
and blood of Christ are present.
2d, That communion, in both kinds.
is not necessary to salvation to all per
sons, by the law of God ; but that both
the flesh and blood of Christ are together
in each of the kinds.
3d, That priests, after the order of
priesthood, may not marry by the law
of God.
4th, That vows of cTiastity ought to
be observed by the law of God.
5th, That the use of private masses
ought to be continued, which, as it is
agreeable to God's law, so men receive
great benefit thereby.
6th, That auricular confession is ex
pedient and necessary, and ought to be
retained in the church.
Cranmer argued against the admis
sion of them with all the eloquence and
force of which he was possessed; but
the king, himself publicly advocated
their adoption, and spoke in their favour,*
so that the enemies of the Reformation
were finally successful, and the law of
the Six Articles passed. The penalties
affixed by this bill were cruel and
severe. He who wrote or spoke against
the first of these articles was to be pu
nished by being burnt: if he contro
verted any of the others, by perpetual
imprisonment ; but if the opposition
w^ere wilful, and he preached against
them, he was liable to be condemried
to death. The punishment affixed to
the non-observance of religious chastity
was, for the first offence, the loss of
benefice, as well as goods and chattels;
for the second, death. This clause was
said to have been inserted by Cromwell,
that the severity of the act might be felt
by both parties.
§ 218. Another act ptissed for the
suppression of all monasteries ; and
though, in this session, eighteen abbots
were present in the House of Lords, yet
no protestation was recorded. The
object of this bill was, in reality, to
legalize the previous surrenders, and no
additional steps were taken in conse
quence of it. This was followed by
one for the erection of more bishoprics,'

* Sirype'a Cranmer, i. 104.
° N. B. Westminster waa erected, 1540; Ches
ter, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough, 1541
Bristol in 1542. Henry had many plans for erect

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

and another, which gave to the king's
proclamations, under certain limitations,
the force of law.
It is extraordinary that the proceed
ings which followed the passing the act
of the Six Articles affected Cranmer in
a very trifling degree, though he had
openly opposed them, and at the king's
desire had written a treatise against
them : yet such was the love and confi
dence which Henry entertained towards
the archbishop, that he would never
even receive an accusation against him.
The archbishop sent his wife into Ger
many privately, and continued in the
performance of his ecclesiastical duties.
He disliked several of the articles, and
abhorred the severity of the act ; but his
opinions were not now diametrically
contrary to the first article, and he com
plied. Latimer and Shaxton, on the
other hand, esteemed it contradictory to
the word of God, and conscientiously
resigned their sees.
One point, howev,er, was gained to
the cause of the Reformation : a pro
clamation was issued for the printing
of the Bible, which at the same time
allowed the free use of it to individuals.
§ 219. The death of Jane Seymour
had left the king a widower in October
14, 1537 ; and though the birth of Ed
ward had provided him with an heir to
the crown, it was not probable that a
man of his temperament should remain
long in this solitary condition. He had
heard much of the beauty of Anne of
Cleves ; and Cromwell was well pleased
to promote a match which was so
likely to prove beneficial to the cause
of the Reformation. When the king
and the minister were both in favour of
the marriage, it is natural that advan
tageous reports concerning every thing
connected with it should predominate,
and that the charms of a future queen
should be described in favourable co
lours. The disappointment, therefore,
of Henry was the greater, when he be
held his destined bride ; and though he
was married to her, (Jan. 6th, 1540,)
yet this consort seems never to have
possessed the slightest portion of his
affection. The fall of Cromwell was
probably owing to this circumstance ;
ing more. (Mem. ii. No. 106.) One scheme is
given in Strype, wherein the number amounts to
twenty.

for though the outward appearance of
favour was continued, and though 'he
sat in this parliament as lord vicegerent,
yet on June 13th he was arrested by
the duke of Norfolk, and sent to the
Tower. His fate was instantly decided ;
for few wished to save him ; and no
one, excepting Cranmer, ventured to
plead his cause. He was condemned
by an attainder, on some very extraor
dinary evidence of having threatened
the king's life, and the sentence was put
ill execution on July 28.
§ 220. Thus fell one great instrument
of the Reformation,' whose talents had
raised him to the highest station attain
able by a subject, and whose fall was
more owing to the changeful disposition
of his master, than to any fault of his
own. His exaltation from the lowest
rank of life had exposed him to the envy
and hatred of the noble and powerful,
while the papal party looked on him as
the great enemy of their cause. De
prived, therefore, through this unfor
tunate marriage, of the favour of the
king, on which alone he could depend
for support, and particularly obnoxious
to those towards whom the affections of
Henry were at this moment directed, he
felt the unjust force of an attainder,
where he was unable to answer for him
self, and of which unfortunately he had
introduced the precedent.'' Nothing of
any serious nature was laid to his
charge ; from whence it may fairly be
inferred that no such evidence could be
adduced ; for had it existed, there was
nothing to hinder its production. His
great merit, independent of his own
industry and abilities, consisted in bring
ing forward men on account of their
talent rather than interest.^
§ 221. This was the first step towards
the dissolution ofthe objectionable mar
riage, which was afterwards brought
before the convocation, and annulled
on the plea, that the king's consent to
it had not been inward and full, a circum
stance which was absolutely required
to make the sacrament complete, and
upon the further ground that the mar
riage had never been consummated.
This decision, however absurd in itself,
seems to have perfectly satisfied the
princess, who was contented to be treated
1 Burnet, i. "See * 227.
3 Strype, Ecc. Mem. i. 562.

64

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

as a sister, and to reside in England
on a pension of three thousand pounds
a year. She wrote to her brother, the
dlike of Cleves, signifying her full con
currence in all these proceedings.
The king was married immediately
after to Catharine Howard ; an event
which gave additional power to the
papal cause, for she was niece to the
duke of Norfolk, whom every one re
garded as the chief patron of that party.
Add to which, that those Protestants,
who had previously shared the favour
of this variable monarch, were now in
too much danger for themselves to come
forward in the defence of others, so that
the attainder of Barnes for heresy passed
without any opposition, and he was
burnt in Smithfield, without even know
ing the grounds on which he was con
demned. He had indeed preached at
St. Paul's Cross against Gardiner; but
this offence had apparently been for
given ; and Barnes, as well as Jerome
and Gerard, who suffered with him, had,
after a conference with the king, re
nounced errors which they probably
never entertained. But this could not
save them ; the spirit of persecution was
now let loose, and its effects were felt
by many of the advocates of the gospel.
It is the observation of Lord Her
bert,' that "these punishments did but
advance their religion ;" and " it was
thought they had some assistance from
above, it being impossible, otherwise,
that they should so rejoice in the midst
of their torments, and triumph over the
most cruel death." The cruelty of the
king, however, was not confined to the
reformers ; on the same day an equal
number of Roman Catholics were exe
cuted for denying the supremacy.
§ 222. (a. d. 1541.) No one had now
any very material infiuence over the
mind of Henry ; and the cause of the
Reformation met with different success,
according to accidental circumstances,
and the changing opinions of the king.
In May the Bible was printed, and or
dered to be set up in all churches.
This was not in itself any very import
ant step, for the same injunction had
been before made ; but every procla
mation of this sort increased the facility
of access to the word of God : and

' Tiife of King Henry, p. 226.

wherever the Bible is in the hands of
the mass of the people, their teachers
cannot long impose on them tl)e doc
trines of men instead of the command
ments of God.
(a. d. 1542.) The discovery of the
former ill life of the -queen led to the
attainder of herself and her accom
plices ; and an enacjtment was made,=
not more remarkable for its severity
than folly; as if laws could provide for
female chastity, while the conduct of
the other sex tended to overthrow the
bulwarks of the sacred institution of
marriage. An attempt was made in convoca
tion to suppress the English Bible,
against which great objections were
raised, on the grounds of its incorrect
ness ; and Gardiner presented a list of
words which did not admit of transla
tion.^ But Cranmer, knowing that the
correction of inaccuracies would pro
ceed but slowly, in the hands of those
who were adverse to the general distri
bution of any translation at all, used his
influence with the king ; and, to the
great displeasure of the clergy, the
examination of the Bible was referred
to the universities.
§ 223. In the injunctions which were
now set forth by Bonner for the diocese
of London,-* and which probably corre
spond with those of other bishops at
the same period, there are many good
directions given to the clergy, with re
spect to their own lives, and the per
formance of the pastoral duties ; and
they are particularly forbidden to allow
any one to preach in their cures, who
had not been licensed by the bishop or
the king." The evil which might thus
have arisen to their flocks from the
want of preachers was obviated, as far

^ It was enacted, that if the king were about li)
marry a woman whom be esteemed a maid, and
she, not being so, did not reveal it, that she should ^
be adjudged guilty of tieason ; and thai any other
persons, who were conscious of the same, and
concealed it, should be esteemed guilty of mispri
sion of ireason.
' 1'hey consist of about one hundred, of which
the great mass are perfectly capable of being
translated without any loss'of meaning. In some
few cases, ihe original words are retained in out
present translation; as 'f'elrarch, Synagogue,
Gentile, Pagan, Parable, &c. See Fuller, Ch
Hist. p. 238; Lewis, 145, &o.
¦• Burnet, P. i. B. iii. Coll. No. 25.
''Ibid. i. 317, fol., 575, Tvo.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

UO

as possible, by a set of homilies now
published.; a useful step in a period
of so much irritation, and calculated to
calm the angry passions, which so
greatly injured the cause of true reli
gion.' During these troublous times,
such of the clergy as were licensed to
preach were so frequently attacked on
account of their expressions, that many
adopted the custom of writing their ser
mons, which has since generally pre
vailed. (a. d. 1543.) An act was passed dur
ing the earl}' part of this year, of a
very mixed and heterogeneous charac
ter, which is said by Burnet^ to have
been framed by Cranmer, and yet had
a tendency to suppress the use of the
Bible. It contains internal evidence
of the conflicting interests and divided
power which belonged to the two par
ties in the kingdom, and strongly marks
the distracted state of religion at this
period. It favoured the Protestant, by
ordaining that spiritual persons should
not be burnt for heresy till after the third
conviction ; that lay persons should in
that case be subjected only to the loss
of their goods and chattels, and to per
petual imprisonment ; and that all par
ties, when accused, should possess the
privilege of vindicating themselves by
witnesses. On the other hand, Tyn
dale's translation of the Old and New
Testament^ was prohibited, and as
there was no Bible printed which did
not contain some part of this version,
it was almost impossible for any one to
be free" from danger, if he possessed a
printed copy of the Scriptures. At the
same time, the free use of the Bible
itself was confined to persons of a cer
tain rank, while others were restricted
to the Primer, and such other books as
had been or should be set forth by his
majesty since 1540. Two provisoes,
however, did in reality confer on the
king the power of doing what he

' Of these there is aa imperfect copy in the
Bodleian; the title is, "The Epistles and Gos
pels, with a brief postel upon the same, &c." It
is recognised by Richard Taverner, and printed,
cum privilegio, by Richard Bankes. The copy
in Lord Spencer's library has the date of 1540,
but the title appears not to be exactly the eame.
2 It should, however, be observed, that Burnet
is, with regard to thia act, more than ordinarily
inaccurate. Burnet, i. 321, fol., 583, 8vo. Lewia,
148. ' Lewis, 148.

pleased ; for the Act of the Six Articles
was declared to be still in force, and
the king was permitted to alter any
part of this act. Subsequent events
soon proved how insufficient these en
actments were, as a safeguard against
the bigotry of the bishops, and the re
ligious tyranny of the throne.
This was followed by another more
important step," the revision and re
publication of t,he Institution of a Chris
tian Man, which now appeared under
the title of The Necessary Doclrine and
Erudition of any Christian Man, and
was denominated the King's^ Book, as
being put forth by royal authority.
§ 224. Catharine Parr, whom the
king married in July, was a secret
friend of the new doctrines ; but her
influence was not sufficient to guard
some unfortunate men against a perse
cution which took place at Windsor,"
where there existed a small society of
favourers of the Reformation. Four
of them were brought before a jury,
composed of tenants of the church, and
being convicted of heresy, on frivolous
pretences, three of them were burnt.
In consequence of some evidence which
transpired at this trial, a plot was formed
against certain members of the royal
household ; but the framers of it were
convicted of perjury, and suffered for
that crime. 'These accusations did not
end here ; for Cranmer himself was se
cretly attacked ;'' and Henry, who bore
him a sincere love, suffered the project
to be carried so far as to discover the
authors of this accusation against the
archbishop : and they were many of
them persons to whom his grace had
shown much kindness ; yet he took no
further notice of their ingratitude than
to require of them repentance and a
confession of their fault ;^ for no one
was ever better acquainted with the
precepts or practice of forgiving inju
ries than Cranmer.
(a. d. 1544.) Before the expedition
against France in which Boulogne was
taken, a litany in English had been
published, which corresponds with our
present one in almost every particular,
except that the invocation of saints and

¦t Strype's Ecc. Mem. i. 584.
s See Appendix B. 5 271, &c.
^ Fox, ii. 468. ' Strype's Cranmer, i. c. xxvi,
* Strype, 174.
f2

66

HISTORY OF THE

angels was still retained, and there was
a petition against the tyranny of the
pope. To this work, psalms and pri
vate devotions were added ; and in the
preface the utility of private prayer in the
mother-tongue is particularly insisted
on. The correct notion also of Christ's
presence in the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, seems to be delivered, in an
explanatioti of the Lord's Prayer, as a
paraphrase to the fourth petition.^ In
the following year, (1545,) a collection
of prayers was published, which was
formed by the new queen herself.
§ 225. Several reformers were about
this time advanced to the bench, so that
the party among the heads of the
church, which was more immediately
connected with Cranmer, acquired con
siderable strength. Holgate was made
archbishop of York, Kitching supplied
his place at Llandaff Heath was trans
lated to Worcester, Holbeach became
bishop of Rochester, Sampson went to
Litchfield and Coventry, and Day suc
ceeded him at Chichester.
In the parliament of this year, all
chapels, chantries, and fraternities were
given to the king, under which titles
the universities conceived that they
might possibly be comprehended ; but
on a representation made to the king,
he confirmed them in their privileges.
The answer which the king made to
the speaker, when he presented these
bills, breathes nothing but good sense
and moderation ; advising the people to
lay aside that virulence which had been
shown on religious subjects, exhorting
them to live peaceably, to further and
advance all useful instruction, to have
chari y one towards another, and to
love and serve God. After such ex
pressions as these, it is wonderful that,
in the next year, (1546,) the same man
should exercise a violent and unjust
persecution against fellow-creatures,
1 The words are," The lively bread ofthe bless
ed bociy of our Saviour Jesu Christ, and the sacred
cup of the precious and bleaaed blootl which was
shed for iia on the cross ;" not as he is in heaven,
but as he was on the cross, and therefore as a type
or memorial of a past event. (Burnet, i. 331, fol.,
8vo. 600 ; iii. 118, fol, 8vo. 283.) Strype says he
never saw the book; and Burnet's account of
books must always be laken with great caution.
I do not know whence the words are taken.
They do not occur in Marshall's or any other
Primer that I am acquainted with ; nor in the
Bishop's or King's Book.

[Chap. V.
who were at least harmless, however
erroneous in their opinions -he might
esteem them. Shaxton had been for
some time a prisoner in the counter in
Bread street, and was accused of hav
ing denied the corporal presence ; for
this he was condemned to the stake ;
but he confessed his error, recanted,
and preached a sermon at the execu
tion of Anne Askew, who was soon
after burnt in Smithfield. It was sus
pected that this gentlewoman was fa
voured by certain ladies at court, with
many of whom she was acquainted ;
so that Chancellor Wriothesly, who was
a vehement persecutor of the reform
ers, hoped to have obtained some infor
mation from her with reference to this
point ; but having endured the rack,'
which the chancellor is said to have
inflicted on her himself, she confessed
nothing, and suffered with three oth»rs,
under the act of the Six Articles.
§ 226. On this occasion, too, the same
attack was directed against Cranmer ;°
and Henry, to try how far the malice
of his enemies would go, allowed him
to be summoned before the council,
having beforehand provided him with
his own signet, in order that he might
appeal to the royal judgment. When
he was about to be brought before this
prejudiced tribunal, he was treated
with so muck disrespect, that though
a member of the council which was to
examine him, he was suffered to remain
some time standing in the lobby among
the footmen and messengers. For this
disgraceful piece of neglect, Henry
very severely rebuked his council, and
strongly testified the affection which he
bore towards his most faithful servant.
The queen also was in very immi
nent peril from a conspiracy formed
against her; her prudence, and a for
tunate discovery with respect to the
plot, enabled her to preserve herself.
Gardiner had spoken to her prejudice,
in consequence of her frequently dis
puting on religious topics with the
king ; and when he had excited the
suspicions of his majesty, Henry agreed
that she should be apprehended" and
examined ; which were but other names
under which total ruin was concealed.

^ Fox. ii. 488.
^ N. B.— Strype, xxviii. places this two years
earlier. See 5 224.

Ghap. V.'J

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

67

By the carelessness of the chancellor,
the queen became possessed of a paper
containing an account of these projected
steps. She soon after introduced the
subject of divinity, while in conversa
tion with her husband ; and when he
hinted at her having opinions of her own,
she parried the blow, and said that if,
in conversation, she had assumed more
upon herself than became her sex and
station, it was but to entice him to a
subject on which she obtained so much
information. § 227. The execution of the earl of
Surrey (Jan. 19, 1547) may be con
sidered as the last act of this reign ; for
though the attainder of the duke of
Norfolk was subsequent, yet the death
of the king (Jan. 27) himself prevented
the execution of the sentence. It was
remarkable at once for cruelty and in
justice, and affords another instance of
the danger of admitting a trial, where
the parties are not suffered to confront
the witnesses who are brought against
them. This evil example was set in
the case of those who were attainted
with the marchioness of Exeter and
countess of Salisbury ; in which case
Cromwell consulted the judges, who
answered. That it was a dangerous
question : that the parliament, which
should be an example to other courts,
ought carefully to observe the strictest
justice; but that as it was itself su
preme, whatever it decided must be the
law : the precedent was followed in
many other cases, and Cromwell him
self fell by it. The number of persons
who were executed in this reign was
very considerable ;' for, independent
of those who fell in the cause of reli
gion, the king himself was sanguinary
towards those who were about him ;
iind, excepting in the case of Cranmer,
he seems to have instantly forgotten the
services of men on whom he had be
stowed his confidence ; and no sooner

' And for testimonies in this kind, some urge
two queens, one cardinal (m procinctu, at least)
or two; (for Pole was condemned, though ab
sent ;) dukea, marquiaes, earls, and ^rls' sons,
twelve ; barons and knights, eighteen ; abbots,
priora, monka, and priests, seventy-seven ; of the
more common sort, between one religion and an
other, huge multitudes. (Lord Herbert's Life of
Henry 'VIII. 267.) The countesa of Saliabury
waa mother to Cardinal Pole ; and her execution,
two years after her attainder, has left an indelible
tain on the character of Henry.

did they become the objects of suspi
cion, than they experienced the selfish
severity of their master. He appears
indeed to have been sensible of the
merits of his ministers, and few kings
have been more fortunate in this par
ticular ; but the good opinion which he
entertained of them was no securitjr
against a change in his affections, and
this was generally followed by perse
cution from their political opponents,
and ended in a tragical fall.
§ 228. Henry possessed considerable
natural abilities, and these had been
improved by study ; so that, in point of
understanding, few monarehs seem to
have been better calculated for the per
formance of an important part ; the
sentiments of his heart appear to have
been originally noble and generous, yet
all these qualities were destroyed or
rendered pernicious, by the want of
self-restraint, of which he was the vic
tim. Possessed of power at an early
age, and unfettered by any constitu
tional restrictions, he soon found that
his own will was law ; and where this
point was or might be questioned, he
bore down all semblance of opposition
by the severity of his measures.'' Wol
sey was the early minister of his plea
sures, as well as the guide of his po
litical conduct ; and the secret by which
he ruled his self-willed pupil was hj
making him unable to govern himself.
The flattery of applauding churchmen
prevented him from being contented
with the character of a learned theolo
gian, to which he had much claim, and
transformed him into a bigoted dog
matist. And yet to the last he pos
sessed great liberality of sentiment,
where he was not irritated by having
his vanity offended; but whenever he
was contradicted in matters of religion,
or when his own desires were thwarted.
he became ungovernable and cruel ; on
such occasions he overruled justice, and
proved himself a capricious tyrant, in
spite of all the estimable qualities with
which nature had 'bountifully supplied
him. But even his very vices were by
the providence of God made the instru-
2 If it be asked how Henry became poaaesaed
of power to do this, it must be remembered that
the crown and the church had destroyed the
power of the aristocracy, so that when the church
was humbled, the king stood alone.

6S

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap.'T

ments of beneficial results : his desire
to divorce Catharine destroyed the pa
pal power in England : his tyranny and
the influence which he exercised over
his subjects, enabled him to dissolve
the monastic establishments ; a power
which must have impeded every step
towards reformation, had they been
continued in existence; and with re
gard to their destruction, if he had been
troubled with a very scrupulous con
science, he would never have resorted
to the means by which he accomplished
this stupendous work. Had all the
property thus taken from the patrimony
ofthe church been vested in the crown,
it would have rendered it independent
of parliamentary grants, and have fur
nished the means of continuing a ty
ranny as injurious, perhaps, to the
country as that of a foreign power,
balanced by the royal authority ; but
the profusion of the king, and the ra
pacity of his court, entirely freed the
country from any danger on this head,
and ultimately threw the wealth which
their forefathers had so grossly misap
plied, into the hands of individuals,
who are the safest guardians of the
public property.
§ 229. It may be convenient, in this
part of the history, to mark the points
which had been gained in the Reforma
tion, as well as to enumerate such par
ticulars as still wanted alteration.
The power of the papacy in England
was for the time annihilated, not merely
by legislative enactments — for acts of
parliament had always proved inade
quate to curb an authority which set
law at defiance — not merely by taking
away the wealth of the supporters of so
nionstrous a scheme of oppression, but
bey breaking the charm which had given
energy to the whole, by weakening the
force on which this machine depended
for its motion. The superstitions ofthe
church of Rome had been attacked in
their very origin, and many of the more
gross of her idolatries had been put
down by the civil power; but the me
thod which had been most successfully
adopted, was that of allowing the people
to think and judge for themselves. The
Bible and the three Creeds had been
declared to be the rule of faith ; the use
of the Bible had been granted to the
people, and they were directed to read

the word of God,, and to learn from ii
their duty towards Him and their neigh
bour. The wealth of the monastic or
ders was taken from the former posses
sors most unjustly ; but they vvere legii-
timately deprived of the real source of
their riches, when the notion of purga
tory was discountenanced, and when in
the instructions delivered to the people
no mention was made of this doctrine,
from whence the influence ofthe church
of Rome is derived. The translation
of the Bible was authorized by the go
vernment ; copies of it were distributed
throughout the kingdom ;"¦ and the lita
ny was published in the mother-tongue.
The people had now, then, the means
of instruction ; and to the rising gene
ration these blessings were insured by
the injunction, that the children in every
parish should be instructed in the Ten
Commandments, the Lord's Prayer,
and the Belief, and that these element
ary subjects should be fully explained
to them by their spiritual guides. '
§ 230. But the act of the Six Articles
was still in force. Still was it a capital
offence to deny the corporal presence
of Christ in the Lord's Supper : the cup
was still denied to the laity ; an uniie-
cessary and compulsatory restraint was
imposed on the marriage ofthe clergy;
and those who had taken vows of chas
tity were still obliged by law to con
tinue in their single state. To this, per
haps, as individuals, they had no right
to object ; but to the body politic, a
forced celibacy is apt to become a state
of real licentiousness.' The use of
private masses was continued, the ne
cessity of auricular confession was still
sanctioned, and the Latin language still
used in the mass. The power of the
ecclesiastical courts was still continued,
and the nature of such tribunals was
most oppressive to the subject. It was
not that they armed themselves against
vice and immorality, or were formidable

' As a confirmation of this assertion, the reader
may not be displeased at seeing an answer of Mr.
T. Lawney, to the duke of Norfolk, upon the
passing of the act of the Six Articles : " 0, my
Lawney, (said his grace to his old chaplain, know
ing him of old much to favour pijests' matrimony,)
whether may priests now have wives or no? If
It please your grace, (replied he,) I cannot well tell
whether priesis may have wives or no : but well
I wot, and am sure of it, for all your act, that
wives will have priests." (Strype'a Cranmer, c.
vin. p. 49.) '

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

69

to the evil-doer; but their processes
were so indefinite, that no one could
esteem himself secure against the sen
tence of such a court : and those church
men who possessed any authority under
these jurisdictions were enabled to exer
cise oppression to an unlimited amount,
since they could enforce by civil penal
ties the spiritual decisions of the church.
Confession put the clergy in possession
of the secrets of society, and continued
an influence, injurious even if exercised
on Christian principles ; which makes
one man the keeper, and not the adviser
of another's conscience; which deprives
the laity of that sense of personal re
sponsibility to God which a future judg
ment will require ; which makes the
priesthood, in their desire to guide the
actions of their flock, convert religion
into an opus operatum, and change
Christianity into a system, in which the
unirinportant devices of men are more
regarded than the love and the fear of
God — that love, which gives obedience
its charm, and renders our imperfect
performances acceptable at the throne
of grace.
§ 231. It it be asked what effect the
Reformation in Germany had on that in
England, aiid why so little notice has
been taken of the events which were
passing there, it must be answered in
excuse, that the limits of the work ne
cessarily confine our researches to those
topics which affected our own church,
and that the history of the foreign
churches scarcely came under this de
nomination during the reign of Henry
VIII. If we except that secret influence
which the alterations in religion, which
then took place, must have had on the
minds of any people, who were at all
connected with them, these foreign
changes probably little retarded or ad
vanced the corresponding steps, with
the details of which we have been en
gaged. The dispute between Henry
and Luther had alienated the good-will
of the monarch from those proceedings
which he himself was about so soon to
imitate ; and the opinions concerning
the divorce expressed by many of the
German divines (viz., that though the
marriage were unlawful, they did not
approve ofthe divorce) had not tended
to conciliate him. Yet when he was
embarked in an opposition to the author

ity and power of Rome the common
interests of both parties naturally dis
posed each of them to connect them
selves with the other.
§ 232. After the publication of the
confession of Augsburg in 1530,' the
Protestant princes assembled at Smal
calde wrote in 1531 to the kings of
France and England,' with the view of
obviating the ill effects which false
reports, concerning what had been done
in Germany, might have produced in
the good opinions of these sovereigns.
Henry sent them a very civil and cha
racteristic answer, in which he acknow
ledges the necessity of some reforma
tion, expresses his anxiety for it, and
his wish that a general council might be
assembled, but points out the danger of
admitting such violent remedies as some
levellers had desired to iritroduce.
In 1535, Fox, Heath, and Barnes,
were sent ambassadors to Smalcalde,'
where proposals were made to them by
the Protestant princes, that the king
should approve the confession of Augs
burg, anti become the patron or defender
of a league established for its support ;
that they should endeavour to promote
the calling of a council, which might be
really free, and there advocate their
doctrines ; that they should oppose the
authority of the pope ; should engage
in certain conditions of mutual defence ;
and when matters were more advanced,
should send a learned embassy to Eng
land. Henry agreed to most of these
terms, (1536,) but was probably rather
disposed to receive an embassy of di
vines, in order that they might alter their
own confession according to his ad
vice, than inclined to model his own
faith in unison with their decisions.
He was, however, particularly anxious
that Melancthon might visit him in
England. In March, 1538, the Protestants met
at Brunswick,* and Henry sent C.
Mount there, to learn their object in
meeting, and to discover whether they
were likely to send -the embassy and
Melancthon. They on their part wished
to learn his objections to the Augsburg
confession, but gave a commission to
their agents now sent, to discuss these

¦ See it in the Sylloge Confessionum.
2 Sleidan, 145. ^ Strype's Mem. i. 348.
4 Lord Herbert's Life, 213.

TO

HISTORY OF THE

[Ce

topics with the English divines. Burgrat
and his colleagues had much communi
cation on the subject, and probably
agreed better with Cromwell and Cran
mer than with the sentiments of the
king himself. The discussion was
ended by a letter' addressed by them to
Henry, in which they object to three
points — the denial of the cup to the laity
— the continuance of private masses —
and the celibacy of the clergy. An
answer was sent them in the name of
the king, drawn up by Tonstal, bishop

of Durham, who defends each of these
particulars. Melancthon wrote to Henry
early the next year in remonstrance,
and the German orators were again sent
to renew the conference" (1539) ; but
the act of the Six Articles was passed
soon after, and subsequently no real
progress was made in the Reformation
during the reign. Whatever effect,
therefore, might be produced by this
connection, in the next reign, we can
hardly trace any benefit arising from it
in the present.

DATES RELATIVE TO THE DISSOLUTION OF MONASTERIES.
1535. The visitation of monasteries began in October. — Burnet, 184, fol.
Nov. 13. The first resignations are dated this day. — Burnet, Rec. iii. No. 3.
1536. Before April 14, the act for the dissolution of the smaller monasteries
passed. — Burnet, 194, fol.
1537. A new visitation of monasteries. — Burnet, 235, fol.
1539. An act legalizing the dissolution of monasteries and granting them to the
king. — Burnet, 260, fol.
1540. .Mpril 22. The knights of St. John of Jerusalem suppressed. — Burne
275, fol.
1545. Colleges and chantries given to the king. The universities are confirmed.
—Burnet, 338, fol.

APPENDIX A. TO CHAP. V.

ON THE DISSOLUTION Or MONASTERIES.
241. Questions to be discussed. 242. Monasteries, originally beneficial to society. 243. Benefits of
sanctuary. 244. Monasteries practically beneficial. 245. Archhecture. Books. Trades. 246.
Monasteries, by degrees, become less useful. 247. Are favoured by the people. The effect of,
celibacy with respect to them. 248. Monaateriea overturned by Henry'a rapacity. Plana for
employing thia wealth. 249. Education for diplomacy. 250. Improprialiona. 251. General
education. 252. Property more valuable by diatribution. 253. Evils felt at the dissolution of
monasteries. 254. The transfer of property ultimately produced good. 255. Much evil was pro
duced at the titne. 256. Libraries were destroyed. 257. Labourers unemploved. 258. Amount
and effects of thia transfer of property. 259. The ultimate result, beneficial. Benefits of a church
establishment.

§ 241. The dissolution of the monas
tic establishments in this country forms
so striking a feature in the reformation
ofthe church, that the subject seems to
claim a more full and distinct discussion
than has been already given to it.
' Burnet, i. Addenda. No. vii.

The whole question, perhaps, belongs
to the civil, rather than the ecclesiasti
cal historian, as affecting in a greater
degree the temporal than the spiritual
concerns of the country ; but in our
happy constitution the interests of the
2 Strype's Mem. i. 526.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

71

church and the state are so vitally
blended, that any event which con
siderably affects the one, cannot fail to
be of great importance to the other.
In this case, it is indeed possible that
the monasteries might have been re
tained, and the original objects of the
foundations have been complied with,
under such modifications as were ad
mitted into our colleges ; the Reforma
tion might, on this supposition, have
proceeded as it did ; and the same
preponderance of property have been
retained in the hands of ecclesiasti
cal persons, without preventing those
changes which took jDlace in the doc
trine and discipline of the church. But
it may be useful to inquire what por
tion of these alterations is in any way
due to the transfer of property itself,
and whether, without it, these changes
would have taken place at all. And,
again, whether, if the property had
been retained in mortmain, and appro
priated to other general purposes, the
body politic would, or would not, have
been benefited ; in short, to see the
effect which monasteries had on Eng
land, and to trace the political alteration^
which their dissolution has produced.
§ 242. In reviewing the earlier pe
riods of our history, we shall probably
be compelled to admit the utility of
monastic societies. While the country
was a prey to barbarism, and the ra
vages of war were continually over
turning every approach to security,
the veneration paid to religious houses
must have tended to soften and human
ize the mind, as well as to form a bar
rier against the actual destruction of
property. Among the Saxons, the introduction
of Christianity was accompanied by
these establishments, which polished
the rude institutions of the inhabitants
of England, while the religion itself
contributed more effectually to the same
end, by working on the hearts of the
individual converts. When, then, the
Danes commenced their system of
plunder, the monasteries, which had
become numerous, formed the chief
points against which their attacks were
directed. Superstitious hatred might,
it is true, have guided the invaders to
the places dedicated to the worship of
a God whom they despised; but the

frequent recurrence of the same sa
crilege arose, more probably, from
avarice ; and these pirates learnt, by
experience, that the habitations of the
monks contained the riches, as well as
the rehgion of the country ; while the
feeble efforts which were generally
made in their defence promoted the
recurrence ofthe same aggressions.
§ 243. The conversion of the Danes
to Christianity restored, in some de
gree, the dilapidated monasteries, and
re-established them in their ancient
rights and privileges ; a step which
would hardly have been taken, unless
the idea of utility had been connected
with such foundations ; for the very
privileges, which afterwards became so
injurious to society, were then of mate
rial advantage to it ; and when the want
of law and civilization armed the hand
of every man against all who offended
him, the reverence which was paid to
the rights of sanctuary provided a pow
erful remedy against the violence of
passion.' In all this we may trace a
strong resemblance to the institutions
of the early Greeks, among whom the
same evils were guarded against, by
provisions corresponding in many re
spects. The Conquest was so far from
rendering these safeguards unnecessa
ry, that the power of the clergy, par
ticularly ofthe monastic orders, formed
a most salutary check on the ferocious
tyranny of the barons ; and the terrors
with which the church was armed by
its property, as well as the influence of
the court of Rome, not only prevented
acts of aggression, but proved a con
tinual restraint on men who needed
every check which might retain them
within the bounds of civilized inter
course, and the humanities of life.
§ 244. Every lay fief, held upon the
tenure of military service, was, in real
ity, a premium upon war. In invasion,
it formed the prize towards which the
soldier looked : in seasons of tranquilli
ty, it provided the soil on which fresh
troops might be raised, either for the
defence of the kingdom or the extension
of conquest. All ecclesiastical proper-

' By Alfred's laws, it appears that asylum was
only afforded in the sanctuary for a time appoint
ed by law, and varying, according to the circum-
ataneea, from three to more nighta. See Johnaon's
Canons, A. D. 877, 5 2, &c.

-¦z

HISTORY OF THE

[Ch-ap. V.

ty, on the other hand, tended to promote
the cultivation of peace : it was the price
paid by the public to those who fostered
the arts, and who possessed the only
learning of which the nation could boast.
The object for which such donations
were made, was, it is true, supersti
tious, but their ordinary effects must
have been, in some degree, beneficial ;
for mankind would otherwise have
more quickly seen through the delu
sion on which such foundations rest ;
and would never have continued to
promote establishments, which not only
emplo)'-ed a large portion of the wealth
of the kingdom, but of which the prac
tical tendency must have been daily
brought before their eyes.
§ 545. English architecture may be
said to owe its origin to ecclesiastical
bodies, not only because they required
extensive places of worship for their
use, and were possessed of wealth ade
quate to their construction, but the de
signs and execution of the work itself
were frequently furnished by the mem
bers of monastic fraternities. The whole
of the book learning of the country was
in their hands ; and to this they added
those arts which are connected with or
namenting MSS., artificial penmanship,
and minute painting and gilding for
illuminations. Their talents were also
often directed to objects of more obvi
ous and immediate use ; for they fre
quently superintended certain species
of manufactures within their Avails, and
converted the raw materials with which
their lands furnished them into articles
ready for the market. In all this, the
sanctity which was attached to the reli
gious bodjf answered the great end of
all political institutions, the security of
property ; and at a period when every
other tenure was uncertain, religion,
deformed as it was in many respects,
provided a safeguard against violence,
which enabled the monastic orders to
cultivate the substantial good of the
country. § 246. Society, in the different stages
through which it passes, requires
changes of institutions corresponding
with the advancement of civilization,
or the progress of the arts. Chartered
companitjs, for instance, may have ena
bled a number of persons to engage in
trades, and tp enter into speculations.

to which individually they might have
been unequal; but when the commerce
has long been in existence, the regula
tions of such a company may become
injurious to the further improvement of
it. The same observations will apply,
probably, to establishments calculated
to foster civilization ; and thus the pre
valence of the monastic orders may
have prevented those improvements in
manufactures and moral habits, which
their existence originally promoted.
As the law became strong enough to
protect the innocent, sanctuaries, which
had previously answered this purpose,
furnished an asylum for the guilty only,
and counteracted the force of legal au
thority, in aid of which they had been
established. For a time, the arts flou
rished within such foundations ; but the
very nature of them precluded that
healthful activity which constitutes the
wealth of a nation, and can alone con
tinue to diffuse throughout a country
the advantages of real information. In
these bodies, on the contrary, the road
to honour and preferment was so con-
§ned by the prejudices of the ruling
powers, that they contributed little to
the dissemination of general know
ledge. The countless multitudes who,
by the increasing superstition of the
times, were admitted into the religious
orders, became a burden to the state,
inasmuch as their pursuitswere directed
to objects little beneficial to mankind.
The number of teachers who can be
employed to advantage must soon be
limiteti by the population of a country;
the services of religion are supplied by
a comparatively small number of func
tionaries ; and learning, if confined to
the walls of a convent, and not brought
forward' by competition, or applied to
the purposes of general life, will soon
degenerate into trifling and superficial
pedantry, and be sought no further
than as it may deceive the vulgar. In
the very manufactures which were ex
ercised under the superintendence of
the monks, the accidental advantages
which they possessed enabled them to
create monopolies ; and their power
and influence in procuring a market
stood in the way of that freedom of
trade which is the only sure basis at
internal prosperity.
§ 247. These establishments, theii,

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

73

had in their origin been most useful
to the nation ; but, as the aheration of
circumstances made them less necessary,
the influence of superstition produced a
continued increase to their numbers,'
while their augmented power still added
in an alarming degree to the extent of
the evil. It was in vain to expect a
remedy from new laws ; for the effect
of every enactment will invariably
become paralyzed, whenever it acts
against the immediate interests of the
ruling part of society. The nobility
could not be restrained from contribut
ing to the support of foundations, where
their children received their education,
and where the younger branches of the
family found a ready asylum, when the
resources of the paterrial estate were
inadequate to their support. To the
rest of the kingdom, the power of the
church formed as it were a barrier
against the tyranny of the -great; and
the lands of monasteries were generally
let on terms so advantageous, that the
tenant found his duty and interest com
bined in the defence of his ecclesiasti
cal lord. The policy of the church of
Rome kept this enormous body as dis
tinct as possible from the rest of the
nation ; and celibacy, by which this
end was principally effected, though it
exposed the clergy to various tempta
tions, and lowered them in general
esteem, could not fail to direct all their
energies to the glory and augmenta-

' The following Table will give some general
idea of the number of religious houses founded
in each reign. (Tanner's Notitia, p. viii.)

William L .
William II. .
Henry I.
Stephen . .
Henry II.
Richard I. .
John . . .
Henry IH. .
Edward I. .
Edward II. .
BMward III.
Richard II. .
Henry IV. .
Henry V. .
Henry VL .
Edward IV.
Edward V.
Richard III.
Henry VII. .
Henry VIII .

Collesen

Reigned

Mooast,

in theeni.

Years.

Founded.

p. a.

vereities.

20

45

2,25

13
29
2,41
. 35
143
4,08
. 18
146
8,11
. 34
163
4,79
. 9
52
5,77
. 17
81
4,76
. 56,
211
4,78
3
. 34
107
3,01
1
. 19
42
2,21
3
. 50
74
1,48
5
. 22
21
1,
1
. 13
12
0,92
. 9
i
0,44
. 38
33
0,86
5
. 22
15
0,68
1
. 2
. 23
few
2
. 37
6
10
1178
27
tion of that society to which they be
longed. § 248. The ostensible plea on which
this property had been acquired, chiefly
depended on a false idea of a state of
purgatory ; and if the majority of iho
clergy were sincere in such a belief, (a
point which we can hardly doubt,) these
innovations,^ which must have at once
alarmed the consciences and the worldly
interests of so large a number of per
sons, could hardly have been intro
duced without the application of much
external force. It seems probable, then,
that unless the rapacity of Henry and
his couijtiers had previously scattered
the wealth, and thus destroyed much of
the worldly power of the church, the
Reformation would hardly have taken
place at this time. It was avarice
which led them to make this attack on
the property ; but, in attempting to de
fend their conduct, they examined the
grounds on which these foundations
were laid, and soon found the instability
of a building which had neither sound
reason in its favour, nor the revealed
word of God for its support. Had this
step never taken place, we might still
have been blessed with the Reforma
tion ; but it would probably have been
delayed, or have been effected with a
violence which might have swept away
with it many of our most valuable insti
tutions. It was the wish of many of the re
formers, that the wealth of the sup
pressed monasteries might have been
applied to some useful endowments ;
and the scheme is in itself so plausible,
that few can have thought much on the
history of the Reformation without hav
ing sketched out some ideal plan which
might have employed a portion at least
of these large revenues, ^yhat was
done in this way, viz., the erection of
six bishoprics, and the foundation of
fifteen chapters,' several hospitals, and
'' It may be observed, that the transfer of pro
perty from one religious purpose to another was
not now introduced. (ColUer, i. 650.) In 1414,
all ahen priories not conventual were dissolved by
an act of parhament ; many colleges owe much
of their wealth to this source, before the time of
Wolsey, (Tanner, Notitia, xxxiii. &c.,) whose
hberality' of foundation chiefly consisted iii sup
pressing monasteries to found a college to his own
honour. » Bristol, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Dur
ham, Ely, Gloucester, Norwich, Peterborough,
G
HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

the two colleges' which are the glory
of our sister universities, so strongly
plead in favour of such an application,
that to maintain a contrary hypothesis
may seem to be an affectation of para
dox, if indeed it be not chargeable with
ingratitude, in one who has passed the
best years of his life within one of these
establishments, and derived from that
connection the means of performing
the greater part of that little good which
he has been able to do in his generation.
§ 249. Henry certainly intended to
have supplied many of the wants of the
nation from this fund ; but through the
facility with which he granted it away,
he defeated his own designs." Some
of it was employed in the construction
and improvement of harbours; but I
have not been able to ascertain what
portion of it was thus expended. It
was the wish of Sir Nicholas Bacon,'
that some provision should have been
made for the education of youth for the
purposes of diplomacy, and that they
should thus have been prepared for
serving their country among foreign
nations. But it may well be doubted
whether liberal instruction on general
principlesjDe not the most useful prepa
ration for every line of life : and whe
ther the early direction to a peculiar
branch of study has not the tendency
of confining the views of the student.
Be this as it may, the sum thus expended
would have been small, and the diffi
culty of the question at issue depends
on the extent of the wealth so to have
been applied.
§ 250. There is, however, one point
which every well-wisher to the church
must deplore : I mean the continuance
of those impropriations which had trans
ferred much of the property of the se
cular clergy into the hands of the mo
nastic orders. While the society so
endowed furnished the parish with a
spiritual pastor, there was some plea for
the transfer of the income from the in-

Rochester, Westminster, Winchester, WiiTdsor,
Worcester, Wolverhampton ; the annual value
of these was rated al leaa than ^16000. (Speed.)
' Trinity College, Cambridge, and Chriat
Church, Oxford.
2 Henry, with all the wealth which passed
through his handa, waa so improvident, that, be
fore the end of his reign, he had recourse to that
dishonest and most impoUtic measure of debasing
his coin. (Camden's EUzabeth, p. 49.)
3 Bumet, i 269.

dividual to the body of which he was
the representative ; but when the whole
establishment was granted to a layman,
the impropriation ought to have been
restored to the person who had the cure
of souls. The want of this arrangement,
so obviously just, has been of infinite
injury to the country, by rendering
many pieces of preferment inadequate-'
to support a clergyman in that rank of
life in which he has been placed by so
ciety. This evil is now very sensibly
diminished bythe liberality of the crown,
and by grants from parliament ; but its
existence has been one cause of the
prevalence of pluralities, while for a
long time it contributed to make the
body less respected in the eyes of the
world ; for it must never be forgotten
that mankind will judge by external
circumstances, that a poor establishment
will naturally be subject to contempt;
and that men who are despised will.
often, by ceasing to respect themselves,
become really despicable.
§ 251. But to recur to the question
at issue. If it be asked, whether the
property so seized might have been
employed in a way more beneficial to
the nation ? it must be confessed, that
in some points it most certainly might ;
but as a whole, it has probably fallen
into hands, in which the greatest ad
vantage has been derived from it. We
are not speaking of the justice of its
application, but of its ultimate utility.
Some of it might have been applied to
promote education, particularly if we
look to the northern parts of England;
but real education is more truly pro
moted by exciting general activity
through the division of property than by
any other means ; by assisting those
who are otherwise destined for learned
professions, and thus enabling them to
receive an education superior to that
which their own pecuniary resources
would supply. Where the expense of
a classical education is wholly provided
for the indigent, the youth whose lot
was cast in a lower sphere of life is
^ It may not be amiss here to observe, that the
stipend of the secular clergy was itself lessened
by the Reformation, as much of the pay pf the
curate depeiided on what he obtained by saying
masses for the poor, and on different small fees
which the various offices of the church of Rome
greatly multiplied. AU personal tithes gradually
ceased to be naid after the Reformation.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

75

forced up into an unnatural competition
with his superiors. For the aid of talent
and genius, when found among the
lowest ranks of life, charitable founda
tions are a national blessing ; but surely
in this point we abound ; and though
some of the wealth in question might
have been advantageously turned into
this channel, yet we are speaking of the
enormous revenues of the church which
were then dissipated, and which vvere
much larger than these objects could
require. In academical establishments
much was accomplished by Henry, so
that as far as the universities are con
cerned, the south of England has rather
reason to be thankful for what has been
done, than to repine that this branch
was less extensive. This observation,
however, cannot be extended to the
northern counties ; and in these, a place
of o.cademical education seems a great
desideratum, particularly for the clergy,
as the general poverty of the benefices
will not allow those ^a ho are candidates
for them to incur the ordinary expenses
of either of the present universities.'
§ 252. The blessings which have
flowed from the London hospitals seem
clearly to prove, that much might have
been usefully applied to similar pur
poses in other parts of the kingdom ;
but public munificence has amply sup
plied this want, and no one can doubt
that where such places of relief owe
their origin and support to subscriptions,
they possess a greater likelihood of pro
moting the end for which they are des
tined. The question does not simply
resolve itself into the discussion, whether
such and such sums might not have
been beneficially employed in education
and charity ; but whether the conse
quences of the distribution of property
have not converted a larger sum to these
very purposes, and provided that all the
money thus employed should be more
properly applied. Landed property be
longing to bodies corporate is generally
much less really productive than the
same quantity in the hands of an indi
vidual. The temporary nature of the
tenure on both sides prevents any very
strenuous exertions towards improve
ment ; neither are willing to forego pre-
' This was written some time before the splen
did plan of the church of Durham was pubUshed
to the world. "

sent advantage for the sake of future
gain ; so that the property itself becomes
more valuable by the change of masters,
while the growing wants of increasing
prosperity will turn as much wealth into
the course of education and charity as
would have been employed in it upon
the other scheme ; add to which, that
the supply of an open competition is not
only more sure to be adequate to the
demand, but the very freedom of it pre
vents that lethargy of repletion, un^er
which wealthy bodies are but, too apt to
suffer. § 253. The estates, of which the
church was deprived, were thrown into
the hands of those who could not be
entitled to them upon any plea ; and
while at the moment the nation was the
loser, the court favourite alone derived
advantage from the spoil. The poor
were robbed of the rude hospitality with
which the monasteries abounded ; they
were no longer provided with the same
number of spiritual guides, who, with
all their imperfections, must at least
have equalled in point of information
their lay contemporaries, and who, by
being scattered through the country,
must have furnished employment, to a
large portion of the lower orders. The
farmer lost a kind and indulgent land
lord, whose place was frequently sup
plied by a griping spendthrift ; at the
hospitable board which his own farm
supplied, he was always a welcome
guest, whenever he chose to partake of
the liberality of the convent : the new
proprietor, under whom he held, was
occupied with the affairs of the nation
and the court ; and was scarcely known
to him, but as the receiver of his hard-
earned rents. The higher orders, who
were not directly benefited by the plun
der, felt the want of corrodies for their
old servants,*" and were often distressed
in providing for younger children, who
would have been otherwise destined for
the church.
§ 254. With all this in their favour,
it seems wonderful that monasteries
could have been overthrown with so
much ease and rapidity; and for this
difficulty we shall hardly find a solution,
unless we consider the arbitrary power

2 The founder, or his representative, had ge
nerally a reserved right of quartering a certain
number of persons on the convent.

76

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

of Hehry, and how much the clergy had
rriade themselves the objects of hatred
among the people by their vices, their
superstition, and their tyrannical per
secutions. As it was, the change pro
duced a most formidable rebellion ; and
if the people could have foreseen the
extent of the evil which this transfer of
property was likely to produce, they
would have resisted any such alteration ;
but fortunately they did not : for, had
their resistance been effectual, the coun-
tiy would in all probability have been
injured as to its true interests. Those
who had become thus easily possessed
of property were in the course of time
forced to part with their ill-acquired
wealth; and it is an observation worthy
of attention, that few families really
profited by church lands.' This effect
need not be attributed to the immediate
vengeance of Heaven, (for the land of
laymen may be as truly dedicated to
God as that of the church,) but arose
fi-om this principle, that the rapacious
are generally prodigal ; and that however
property may be divided for a time, the
industrious and virtuous will sooner or
later become its possessors. And thus,
before the expiration of many years,
the spoils of the church were thrown
into those hands in which they would
produce the greatest good to the body
politic. § 255. But the immediate effect was
not at all that of promoting the welfare
of this land. It was not the quiet trans
fer of wealth, accompanied by activity
and prudence; but the forced dissolution
of the right of property, and attended
vvith waste ahd destruction. The tenants
of the monastery were in many cases
deprived of their leases, and the rents
forced up to an unprecedented height.
Those persons who possessed reserved
rents on the lands of religious houses
found such difficulty in obtaining their
rights, when the property fell into the
hands of the king, or a powerful subject,
that they were often obliged to relinquish
the claim ; and where, as was frequently
the case, the family of the founder had
retained legally, or by tacit consent, the
right of presentation to the preferments,
the new owners of the soil deprived
them of their privilege. Attempts were
¦ See Spelman on Sacrilege.

indeed made to obviate these evils ; but
who shall be bold enough to presume
to set limits to violence, when the first
principles of justice are destroyed? Or
who shall check the rapacity of plunder,
Avhen the rights of property are systema
tically disregarded ?
§256. Barbarismseemstohavejoined
hand in hand with avarice in the work
of destruction ; the movable parts of
religious houses were quickly carried
off and sold, and the dismantled build
ing left to the pitiless ravages of time,
a lasting monument of how much the
Reformation cost us ! The contents,
as well as the fabric, suffered in the
storm ; the libraries were left to the
ignorant possessor of the soil, or pil
laged for the sake of the parchment
and paper which they contained ; so
that the loss to English history is be
yond conception ; for the monks were
the only historians of the times," and in
almost every monastery a record was
kept, not only of the transactions of the
society, but the political events of the
period were regularly inserted'; and
when we have passed beyond, com
paratively speaking, modern times, the
monastic chronicles form the only docu
ments for history.
§ 257. The improvements in agricul
ture did not of course keep pace with
the alteration in the state of property,
and the holders of large estates, in or
der to obtain the highest rents, found it
necessary to convert much of their land
into pasture. This circumstance re
duced the ancient cultivators of the soil
to a miserable state of precarious exist
ence, and greatly promoted vagrancy
and disorders, for which succeeding
legislators in vain sought a remedy, till
the establishment of the poor laws, in
the reign of Glueen Elizabeth, connect
ed the prosperity of the lower orders
with the interests of the landlord. By
the dispersion of so much property,
many individuals were forced to earn
their bread by labour, who would other
wise have wasted their lives in sloth
and inactivity ; but the mass of persons
who were thus driven to exertion were
not provided by education for cultivat
ing any higher branches of even manual
labour, and the nation found itself over-

2 Fuller, 334.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

77

burdened with agricultural workmen at
a time when the population did not
amount to one-half its present num
bers. § 2,58. We may easily conceive that
this must have been the case, when we
consider the amount of the sum trans
ferred, which, according to Speed, was
not less than an income of one hundred
and fifty thousand pounds, scarcely if
at all below that of all the other church
property.' In our own days we have
experienced the stagnation and distress
produced by the change from a state
of war to peace, and an alteration in

the value of money, together with the
want of employment which such causes
have occasioned, and this accompanied
with no violence, and taking place at a
moment when the diffusion of know
ledge had opened every avenue for
adventure. We may conceive, then,
a forcible transfer of property, not re
latively less than what the church at
present possess in this kingdom, at a
period when the employment of re
sources was little understood, and when
the religion, with the rites of which
these establishments were connected,
was one which occupied many indi-

' There is much difficulty in forming an accu
rate estimate of the value of the property so
transferred; but in the absence of suljstantial in
formation, some readers may be pleased with
having even an approximation to the real sum

placed before them, and will excuse the author
for presenting such data as are within his reach,
defective as they are. Speed saya Henry trans
ferred 161,109^. 9s. 7id. to temporal uses.

£
171,312

s. d.
4 3|

'}

13,826 8 7J

According to his abstract of dissolved monasteries, they amounted to
1,100 in number, and their value was, per annum
Among these, I believe that seven cathedrals are enumerated, (Canter
bury, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, Westminster, Winchester, Wor
cester,) the income of which amounted to
Reducing the sum total of the suppressed monasteries to
Subsequent foundations :
Five bishoprics: Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, ">
Peterborough, at ihe value fn the king's book, 3
Westminster, at the same average . . . -
Sixteen chapters (the stalls) including Christ Church
Oxford, (Speed)

Leaving, independent of Trinity Cambridge, and the London hospitals - 149,311 1 8
The approximation to the value ofthe other church preferment, at the same date, is as follows :-
8331 benefices (in Speed) - - - £108,182 6 3
Bishoprics and stalls (at one-eighth of this) 13,522 15 0

157,483 15 7J

£1,8,58 11 6

371 14 3J

5,942 8 2

8,172 13 114
£121,705
(The one-eighth is taken as an approximation to the present proportion.)
1 ^
Mr. Nasmith, in this edition of Tanner's No
titia, has given us from the Liber Regis, a-nd other
sources, (Lingard, vi. Note E. p. 503,) as accurate
an account as can be expected of the annual reve
nue of aU the monastic houses. The result is the
following. (N. B. This must regard the larger
monasteries only.)
No. of houses.
Order,.
186
Benedictines,
20
Cluniaes,
9
Carthusians,
101
Cistercians,
173
Austins,
32
Premonstratenaiana,
25
Gilbertina,
3
Fontevraud nuns,
3
Minoresses,
1
Bridgettines,
2
Bonhommes,
Knights hospitallers,
Friars,
Recenne.
£65,877 14
0
4,972 9
2*
2,947 15
4|
18,691 12
6
33,027 1
11
4,807 14
1
2,421 13
9
825 8
6A
548 10
(i
1,731 8
9f
859 5
n#
5,394 6
5+
809 11
8i
142,914 12
H
30,000 0
0
172,914 12
91-
Larger M. 555
Smaller 375 with a clear revenue of - - .
930
(Fuller, p. 312.)
This result, drawn from sources totally different 1 no very considerable error has been committed in
from the former, is sufficiently near to show that | the investigation.
g2
78

HISTORY OF THE

[ClIAP. V.

viduals in its services, and those of
every different rank in society, and we
shall be able to form some idea of the
evils and difficulties with which this
change was for the time attended.
The acts by which it was brought
about were undoubtedly legal, for they
were sanctioned by the parliament ;
and the supreme body in a kingdom
must have the right' to dispose of the
property of any of its members ; but
the dissolution was carried on in opposi
tion to every principle of sound policy,
with a spirit which nothing can justify,
and produced effects at the moment
highly prejudicial to society.
§ 259. The ultimate result was un
questionably beneficial ; for it turned
all this wealth from a channel in which
it was giving birth to little activity, either
of mind or body, into the hands of pri
vate possessors, who are of all people
the most likely to promote the pros
perity of the community. It is indeed
probable that a larger portion might
have been employed with advantage
on hospitals and places of education,
but that this sum ought not to have
been considerable ; and there can be
little doubt that England would have
been richer, had the impropriations
been restored.^ I mention this, be
cause I believe that the value of a pro
per provision for the parochial clergy
is often not understood, and often mis
represented. Had we never heard of
such an establishment, and did we first
meet in some Utopian scheme with
1 The word right Is .used in Its extreme sense.
They have a power which no authority in Eng
land can contradict. The law does, under certain
circumstances, deprive an individual of hia pro
perly, (as in cases of Ireason ;) it occasionally
forces him to sell it. The quesiion in reality Is
one of policy ; but sound policy and justice are
the same thing. It is in this sense that the par
liament have the disposal of the revenues of the
church. 2 ,See some good observationa on the ill effects
of impropriations in Speaker William's speech,
January 15th, 1.563; (Strype's Ann. i. 437;) and
in the rough draft of a refoimatlon in ecclesiastical
law, under the head of Better Providing for the
Poorer Clergy, impropriations are said to be radix
omnium malorum, (Strype's Ann. i. 479.)

such a project as the following, we
should probably hardly imagine any
thing more perfect : that in every
small district of the country a certain
quantity of property was set apart, in
order that some individual of the com
munity, selected from any class, might
be educated in a superior manner, and
appointed to the superintendence ofthe
spiritual and temporal wants of this lit
tle community ; that he was furnished
Avith a residence among them, and with
the means of relieving the poor ; and
that all this was provided by a grant
from the landed property of the coun
try, made so long ago that it existed
before any tenure at present on record.
I imagine that if this plan were thus
offered to our notice, no one would
doubt of its utility or wisdom; and if
in practice it be found less pur« than it
seems in theory, if the least promising
of his sons be selected by the lay pro
prietor to hold the family living, if large
preferments be given to unworthy per
sons, it should not be forgotten, that
directly Or indirectly the laity are the
patrons of the great mass of preferment
in this country. Nor ought we to over
look this fact also, that a large portion
of the livings of England are inade
quate to repay the actual expenses of
such a liberal education as is gene
rally bestowed on the clergy of this
land. It would be absurd to expect that a
body possessed of such power and
wealth as ha's been granted to ecclesi
astical persons should be free from
numerous assaults, in a country where
free discussion on every subject is al
lowed ; but it cannot be inconsistent
with toleration, which is ihe glory of
our church, or with charity, which cha
racterizes our religion, to jjray, that the
attacks of our enemies may induce the
church to remedy the evils which exist
among us ; and that those who are
ignorant enough to revile our establish
ment, may be convinced of their error
by the benSfits which they shall receive
from their spiritual guides.

Ch-ip. v.]

CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

79

APPENDIX B. TO CHAP. V.

STATE OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS IN THE CHURCH AT THE END OF THE REIGN OF
HENRY VIII.
271. Three worka pubUahed by authority. 272. The arrangement of the Thirty-nine Articlea fol
lowed 273. Ihe Trinity. 274. Standard of faith. 275, 276. Points of faith referring to indivi-
dual Ohnatiana. 277. Points referring to the church. 278. The Seven Sacraments. 279. Pe
nance ; Orders; Confirmation; Extreme Unction. 280. Lord's Supper; Matrimony. 281
1 radmons ; supremacy of the king. 282. Observations. 283. Points atill wanting reformation.

§ 271. This abstract is made from
works put forth by authority, which
are in number three :
I. Articles devised by the Kinges
Highnes Majestic, to stablyshe Christen
quietnes and unitie amonge us — 1.5'36.
II. The Institution of a Christian
Man, &c., 1537. This was dedicated
by the bishops to the king, and is there
fore called the Bishops' Book.
III. A Necessary Doctrine and Eru
dition for any Christian Man, set forth
by the King's Majesty of England, &c.,
1543. This was addressed by the king
to his people, and is therefore called
the King's Book.'
It seems to be the generally received
opinion," that the doctrines of the

' The three have been of late printed in one
volume, under the direction of the late biahop of
Oxford, (Dr. Lloyd,) at the university ^reaa, and
are thus placed within the reach of every student
in theology. They are entitled. Formularies of
Faith, put forth by authority during the reign of
Henry VIII. 8vo. Oxford, 1825. In these ob
servations. No. II. is called the Instituuon, III.
the Erudition. In the preface t(»the Three Pri
mers, printed 1834, by my late friend Dr. Burton,
Reg. Prof, of Div. Oxf, he shows that many
parts of WiUiam Marshall's Primer, 1535, have
been introduced into the Institution, No. II.
2 Probably, among those who had access to
the Scriptures, the opinions of the reformed
church were gaining ground. The king had
made a great and hasty political step, which was
likely to introduce doctrinal changes, to which he
had no inchnation, and therefore retraced those
steps which he had apparently taken. (Burnet, i.
¦274, 286, and Rec. No. 21, fol.) In 1540, be
tween the dates of these pubhcations, two com
missions had been appointed, one for the exami
nation of the doctrines ; the other, of the cere
monies of the church. The firat sent in nume-
roua anawera concerning the sacraments, their
number, nature, and efficacy ; Confirmation, and
the use of Chrism therein ; the nature of Ordina
tion, and the difference between Bishops and
Priests ; Confession and Excommunication, and
Extreme Unction. These contain a fund of in
formation. The other committee drew up a Ra
tionale of the Church Service, (Strype, E. M. u.
Rec. No. 109.) a sort of Explanation of the mean
ing of the Ceremonies used in the church of
Rome, (Collier, ii. 191 ;) but it does not appear

church of England were retrograde
during the period in which these trea
tises were written ; so that we might ex
pect to find the last of the three the least
distant from the tenets of the Roman
church ; and these expectations upon
examination are in some degree real
ized. With regard to the two latter
works, which in all material points are
the same, it will be useful to specify
the most marked differences as we pro
ceed in discussing the general contents
of the latter, which was the standard
of faith when Henry died.
§ 272. The Articles themselves are
in a great measure inserted verbatim,
or nearly so, into the Institution, and
from thence copied into the Erudition ;
but in one case, in which a material
alteration is observable, it consists of
the introduction of opinions which are
less at variance with the doctrines of
our church. In the exposition of the
honour to be paid to saints, the Chris
tian is, in the Articles, 1536, directed to
address them, as advancers of our pray
ers to Christ, the only Mediator ; where
as what is said in the latter tracts^ places
the intercession of the saints in heaven''
on the same ground as that of the mi
nisters of Christ's church on earth.'

that any use was ever made of this, (Strype in
deed supposes, i. 546, that it was quashed by
Cranmer,) unless it served to direct those who
made aome alteration in the service book, " Por
tiforium secundum usum Sarum noviter impres-
sum, et a plurimis purgatum mendis. In quo
nomen Romano, Pontifici ascriptum omittitur,
una cum aliis, quae christianissimo nostri Regis
Statuto repugnant. Excussum Londini per Ed
vardum Whytchurch, 1541."
= Formularies, 14. " Ibid. 70, 237.
5 With regard to Good Works, there is perhaps
a slight alteration, (99, 372,) in which the Erudi
tion is nearer to the church of England; and an
expression ofthe "merits" of the saints being
conveyed to the whole body of Christians, in the
Institution, (53 and 58,) which is left out in the
Erudition. The power of priestly absolution is
more strongly marked in the Institution, (98,

@o

HISTORY OF THE

[Ghap. V.

The very dates, indeed, would lead
us to expect no great difference between
the two first works, though the change
of opinion indicated by the passing of
the act of the Six Articles, in 15.39,
might direct us to look for it between
the Institution and the Erudition.
The order which it will be desirable
to adopt in the following investigation
is probably that of the Thirty-nine Ar
ticles of our own church ; for the stu
dent in divinity will thus more readily
discover the points in which we disa
gree. The tract itself is arranged on
a totally different principle. It explains
successively the Creed, the Seven Sa
craments, the Ten Commandments, the
Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria, and
finishes with the exposition of certain
articles on Freewill, Justification, Good
Works, and the praying for souls de
parted. The elementary nature of the
subject-matter explained prevents, on
many points, any great difference of
opinion ; and the difficulty which ne
cessarily exists in marking the shades
of progressive alterations must be
pleaded in excuse, if in any particulars
these distinctions should appear to be
incorrectly laid down in the following
pages.' § 273. I.— V. In the first division of
the Thirty-nine Articles, there is of
course no material difference, as the
church of Rome holds the doctrine of
the Trinity in common with the church
of England.
§ 274. VL— VIII. In the second divi
sion, wherein the basis or groundwork
of our faith is marked out, the Erudi
tion coincides, in fact, to a great degree,
' with the church of England, though in
principle it differs from it most widely."
As a standard of faith, it admits the
whole body and canon of the Bible,^
(i. e., the Apocrypha and all,) the three
Creeds, the decisions of the four first
260,) and the unlearned are in the Erudition di
rected to say the Pater-noster in their mother
tongue, (335.) 'I'here is also an excellent tract
on Freewill in the Erudition, (359,) which does
not exist in the other; as lo the particulars
wherein the Erudition had gone back towards the
see of Rome, aee 4 283.
1 'fhe doctrines of the church of England are
not here stated, since they may be found by con
sulting the Thirly-nine Articles, which, as ihey
are printed in the Prayer Book, must be within
the reach of every reader.
2 Form. 5, 61, 227.
' Ibid. 324, 160, 210, 375.

councils, and directs that the interpreta
tion of the word of God shall take
place according to the meaning of the
words of Scripture, and as the holy
and approved doctors of the church do
agreeably entreat and defend.* The
church of England neglects not the
assistance of the holy fathers in the in
terpretation of Scripture: it merely re
jects the authority of such interpreta
tion, and receives the Creeds, not upon
tradition, but because they do agree
with the Bible.
The authority of the moral law is
established in the adoption ofthe Deca
logue as a rule of conduct; and in the
rejection of the ceremonial ritual, all
christian churches agree. There is,
however, one observation which is
worthy of attention, in which it is asserted
that the fourth commandment does not
now pertain to Christians, though Chris
tians are bound by it to the observance
of the Sunday, and other holydays
appointed by the church.^ It is not in
deed very clear what is meant to be
conveyed by this exposition ; for if it
only refers to the change in the day of
the week, the alteration has been ad
mitted since the times of the apostles,
but as it now stands, it might certainly
be extended to a length which few
Christians would be willing to admit.
§275. IX.— XVIII. In the third
class of articles, in which points of faith
referring to individual Christians are
treated of, it will be necessary to examine
each separajte article.
IX. The doctrine of original sin is
fully admitted,* though the expositiqn
of it, in the Institution, is much more
precise and copious,' in declaring the
corruption of man's heart ahvays abid
ing in him.
X. Freewill' is fully explained in an
excellent little tract at the end of the
Erudition, in which the positions cor
respond with our present article : I can
not help recommending it to the atten
tion of my readers, particularly the con
cluding paragraph : " All men be also
to be monished, and chiefly preachers,"
that in this high matter, they, looking
on both sides, so attemper and moderate
themselves, that neither they so preach

* Form. 227, 61.
Mbid. 331, 363, 169.
s Ibid. 359.

5 Ibid. 306, 142.
'Ihid. 171.
3 Ibid. 362.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

81

the grace of God, that they take away
thereby freewill, nor, on the other side,
so extol freewill that injury be done to
the grace of God."
XI. Justification is attributed to the
free mercy and grace of God, through
Jesus Christ, as its final and efficient
cause ;' and repentance, or penance, and
a lively faith, are declared to be neces
sary to our receiving of the same : but
on this point the Institution is more
clear.'^ It asserts, that the justification
of mankind* could not be brought to
pass by any works of our own, but by
faith in the name and power of Jesu
Christ, and by the gifts and graces of
his Holy Spirit. That our acceptance
hereafter will take place,'' not through
works of righteousness which we shall
have done, but by the only grace, good
ness, and mercy of God, and by and for
the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
XII. Although rather more efficacy
may be attributed to good works than
in our Article,* yet the total inability of
man to do any thing pleasing to God of
his own power is distinctly and clearly
declared." XIIL, XIV. Of works before justifi
cation, and of supererogation,'' nothing
is said; for though it be asserted in the
Institution,^ that the graces and merits
of the church shall be applied to every
member, yet the words do not necessa
rily imply any idea of supererogation.
In these articles, XII. — XIV., the Eru
dition is the nearest to the opinions of
our church.
§ 276. XV. The universal sinfulness
of man is frequently implied; the effi
cacy of Christ's offering, as it were,
assumes his freedom from sin ; and the
doctrine itself is distinctly asserted.^
XVI. The general efficacy of repent
ance, through Christ, pervades the whole
of what is said on penance ; and that
the justified may fall, and rise again to
newness of life, is asserted."*
XVII. In the doctrine of predestina
tion, there is a difference between the
two tracts ; neither of them asserts it in
that distinct manner in which it is con-

' Form. 368. 2 See * 283. » Form. 36.
" Ibid. 60. ^ Ibid. 99. « Ibid. 372.
' They are indirectly rejected, when il is said.
By good works we mean not the superstitious
works of men's own invention," (F. 370,) wherein
many called religious have trusted.
* Form. 53. " Ibid. 65, 67, 232: '<> Ibid. 367.
11

tained in this article," but the Institution
admits the principle ; the Erudition
teaches it not, because it is not clearly
taught in Scripture and the doctors."'
The universality of the offer of grace
and redemption is stated,"* so that it is
the fault of men themselves,'that they
reject and resist grace.
XVIII. The article of obtaining sal
vation only through Christ is implied,
though not asserted totidem verbis.''^
On this class of articles, then, we
may observe, that the doctrines here
established nearly resemble those of
our own church, though in some parti
culars the propositions are not advanced
with that uncompromising distinctness
of attributing all to God's mercy, with
out the intervention of man's works,
which a further study of the subject
dictated. Whatever was vitally im
portant on these subjects is asserted;
but the writer often seems to attribute
an importance to man's own co-opera
tion in his justification, which he sub
sequently modifies, so as to give the
whole glory to God ;" yet the fear of
admitting Antinomian laxity, in estab
lishing Christian faith, must plead a
substantial excuse for those who had
not yet practically learnt that good
works do spring out, necessarily, of a
true and lively faith.
§ 277. In the fourth division of the
Articles, it will probably be advisable
to continue the same method of examin
ing them.
XIX. — XXI. The doctrines contained
in the nineteenth article'" are, to a cer
tain degree, in accordance with those ex
pressed in the Erudition, excepting that
the breach with the church of Rome is,
in the Thirty-nine Articles, distinctly
brought forward ; whereas the framer
of the Erudition wished, if possible, to
have preserved a communion with her,
as far as was consistent with his ideas
of the truth. There is, therefore, no
mention of the errors of the church of
Rome in matters of faith;" and while
the independence ofeach national church
is asserted, it is added, that a diversity
of rites does not destroy the unity of the
whole. The remaining positions of

"Form. 53, 52.
13 Ibid. 360, 365.
'5 Ibid. 368, 371 :
" Ibid. 247.

i2 Ibid. 221.
1 Ibid. 36, 363.
16 Ibid. - 45, 55.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. V.

these Articles are not touched upon ;
for at this time no doubt was entertained
of the authority of the church (i. e. the
king^ to ordain what she pleased, and
nothing is said of general councils.
XXII. The people are directed to
abstain frbm reasoning on purgatory,'
inasmuch as the state of the dead is un
certain, and pardons from Rome are
called abuses, and unequivocally re
jected; butprayersforthe dead, masses
and exequies for the whole Christian
community of the quick and dead, are
denominated charitable works, and
approved of. In the remaining part of
the Article, the Erudition speaks a lan
guage at total variance with our church.
Images are allowed of as books for the
unlearned,^ and no objection is made
to adoration or prayer made before
images, provided it be addressed to God.
The invocation of saints,' that is, the
asking for their prayers, is approved of,
as corresponding with a request of a
similar nature, addressed to the minis
ters of God's word,* or a faithful Chris
tian brother who was still on earth.
XXIII., XXIV. Concerning minister
ing in the congregation, there was, at
that time, no difference of opinion ; and
excepting in the translation of the litany
in the king's Primer, the use ofthe La
tin service had not been altered.
§ 278. XXV. The Erudition still re
tains the use of the seven sacraments ;^
but it must not be forgotten, that this
question is, in a great degree, merely
concerning the name, for, at the same
time, it makes a distinction as to the
necessity of the sacraments, and quali
fies what it says about them,.so as- to be
much less distant from the church of
England than might be supposed at
first sight. ^ The three necessary sacra
ments are. Baptism, Penance, and the
Lord's Supper. The other four are, as
divina institutions, called sacraments,
but are not binding, of necessity, on
' Form. 375, 211. 2 Ibid. 299, 137.
' Ibid. 237, 70. " See % 272.
5 Thia part of the Erudition differs considerably
i ' point of form and arrangement from the Insti
tution, but the doctrines do not seem to be ma
terially altered. According to Burnet, (Rec.
No. 21, book iii.) the whole subject had been
examined with great care by a committee of di
vines, whose answers upon each betid are severally
recorded, and strongly mark the judicious caution
with which this work was carried on.
6 Form. 293, 129.

every one. The minister of the church
of England would say, that baptism,
repentance, and the Lord's supper, were
necessary for all men, though he would
esteem repentance merely as a Christian
state of mind, and totally different from
the other two ; and he would acknow
ledge that the other four were, when
divested of some superstitious non
essentials, religious observances, which
the church of England has done well in
retaining among her services. Whether
we denominate any or all of them sacra
ments, must be allowed to be a question
of human prudence. The term, pro
perly speaking, is not used in Scripture,
and if y.vatrifioi/'' be applied in an eccle
siastical sense, as equivalent to sacra
ment, it is given to matrimony alone.
The question really is, whether the dif
ference of being instituted by Christ
himself, personally, constitutes such a
distinction as to warrant the church in
affixing a separate name. In this, the
Erudition differs from the church of
England. In baptism, the only difference which
exists* consists in retaining- the use of
the chrism.
§ 279. It should be observed concern
ing penance, or its almost equivalent
term, repentance,^ that the sacramental
part consists in the absolution given by
the priest ; and that absolution pro
nounced authoritatively to an inilivi-
dual, unless it be accompanied by
confession, or at least a declaration of
the grounds of confidence in the peni
tent, is but a mockery of religion.
When, therefore, I have stated what
my own idea of the doctrine of the
church of England is on this point, (for
I believe that many men, equally good
judges of the subject, might differ from
me herein,) I shall proceed to point out
the differences which the Erudition ex
hibits. In order that sinners may be made
partakers of the only rem,edy for sin,
the death and merits of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ,'" the conviction
of sin within ourselves, and the humble
acknowledgment of it to Gpd, is .abso
lutely necessary; for which purpose.

' £phes. V. 32.
8 Form. 292, 127. 9 ''bid. 2.57.
'" Service of the "Visitation ofthe Sick ; and Ex
hortation to the Lord's Supper.

Chap. V.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

S3

the confessing our transgressions to
our brethren, particularly to the minis
ters of God's word, is frequently use
ful ; and in cases where the mind is
troubled, the special declaration of
God's merciful pardon to the individual
rnay beneficially be made by those to
whom "the word of God" (i. e. "the
keys of the kingdom of heaven") has
authoritatively been intrusted.
The church of Rome would, I believe,
say, that the confession and absolution
were, humanly'speaking, absolutely ne
cessary for salvation. The medium
which the Erudition observes is this ;
contrition would send the penitent to
the priest,' he would confess his sins,
submit himself to discipline, as a part
of the satisfaction for them, in order to
show his willingness to return to God ;
always understanding that the real and
whole satisfaction depended on the me
rits of Christ, while what he did himself
was but the fruit of a contrite heart;
and that upon this he would receive
absolution authoritatively pronounced.
At the same time the confession to the
priest is said to be commanded by the
church from its utility;'* and the uni
versal efficacy of repentance, even
without absolution, (in the absence of
a priest,) or of good works, (provided
there be no time for the sinner to per
form them,) is fully declared.
On this view of the subject, it is evi
dent that the Erudition is much nearer
to the church of Rome than to ourselves,
and the point is of much more import
ance than it appears at first sight ; for
though in practice our church may too
much neglect confession, and the con
sequent exercise of the priestly author
ity, yet the opposite extreme is far
more dangerous, as it converts the
priesthood into the judges, not the
guides, of the people ; since the undue
influence of the Roman Catholic clergy
over their flocks does in reality hinge
on the necessity of absolution in ortli-
nary cases.
The qtiestion concerning Orders, be
tween the church of England and the
tjhurch of Rome, regards chiefly the
name, whether or no they shall be
called a sacrament ; but on this subject
there is a point which requires observa

tion, as the Institution and Erudition
differ from both,= in declaring that
there are only two orders mentioned
in Scripture, those of deacons or minis
ters, and of priests or bishops ; and the
Institution'' seems to speak of bishops
as a human appointment, in the same
manner as the jurisdiction of archbi
shops, metropolitans, &c., over bishops,
is declared to be an arrangement made
by men : the papal supremacy is totally
rejected, and kings are exhorted to re
duce it.
InConfirmation, which was still called
a sacrament, the use of the chrism was
retained.^ Extreme unction was so called, as
being the last unction used by the
church; the others are given at Bap
tism and Confirmation ; but if we ex
cept the anointing, nothing is said of
this sacrament which a Protestant might
not adopt with regard to our correspond
ing service, the Visitation ofthe Sick.
§ 280. XXVIII.— XXXI. The Eru
dition retains the whole of the doctrine
of transubstantiation," and the denial
of the cup to the laity. It allows, too,
of the utility of masses' performed for
the universal congregation of Christian
people, quick and dead.
With regard to matrimony, the dif
ference between the churches of Rome
and England is merely as to the name.
We call it a religious rite, confirming
the civil contract; they, a sacrament.
XXXII. Of the celibacy of the clergy
nothing is said in the Institution, and it
is only indirectly mentioned in the Eru
dition :* but we must remember, that
in the mean time it had become a part
of the law of the land, by the enactment
of the act of the Six Articles.
§281. XXXIV. The doctrine con
cerning traditions and ceremonies is
nearly the same as ours, viz., that it is

' Form. 259.

' Ibid. 261.

'Form. 281, 105. , " Ihy. nj|i.
5 Ibid. 290, 95.
* In the Articles and Institution, the corporal
presence is spoken of in such general terms aa
might be used by a Lutheran aa well aa a Roman
Catholic. (Form. p. 100.) This, however, could
hardly have arisen from any change of opinion,
but must be attributed to the obscurity of the
subject, or at most to a desire to draw as near as
possible to the Lutherans ; while the distinct as-.
serlion of this doctrine in the Erudition may have
arisen from the persecution againal the aacrament.
aries which had since taken place. Form. 263, 5.
'Form. 376. s ibjd. 293. . - -

84

HISTORY OF THE

[Ch.ip. V

not necessary that they should be the
same in every place, and that they can
not be correct, if contrary to the word
of God.' Of the two next articles of
course nothing could be said, as 'the
Homilies and Ordination Service were
not then put forth.
XXXVII. The king's supremacy is
frequently and strongly enforced," and
it is curious to remark how much more
this is attended to in the King's Book
than it is in the Bishops' ; at the same
time the authority of the see of Rome
is frequently declared to be usurped.
In the remaining articles we do not dif
fer from the church of Rome. And on
those subjects on which nothing is said
in the formularies, the mention of the
Articles referring to them has been
omitted. § 282. In estimating the steps, then,
which our church had advanced at this
period, we cannot but observe that in
point of doctrine very little had been
effected. In that class of our Articles
which pertain to the salvation of the in
dividual, there is a very marked agree
ment with the tenets of our church.
But it must not be forgotten, that the
Roman Catholic differs more from the
Protestant, as to the means whereby
the convert may be made partaker of
the blessings of God's grace, than as to
the source from which that grace and
mercy flow ; so that the general posi
tions of both correspond much more
nearly than is commonly supposed.
The acknowledgment of the helpless
ness of man, without the aid of God, is
common to us both ; nor do either deny
that there is no remission of sins, or
salvation, but through Jesus Christ.
As to the ordinary means of obtaining
this grace, the Erudition coincides more
with the church of Rome than with our
selves ; and the only real point gained
is the denial ofthe papal infallibility, a
dpctrine which prevents investigation,
and hangs like a dead weight on every
improvement or reform which religion
or prudence would desire to introduce.
It forms a barrier without an outlet,
but- which God enabled his servants to
break down, through the ambition and
evil passions of Henry VIII. ; and when
this was once done, even in those points

¦Form. 246, 56. 2 Ibid. 286, 120, 304, 310, 311.

in which the tenets of popery were
concerned, and in which Cranmer was
prevented from expressing his genuine
opinions, the principle is often in fact
surrendered, while the name is retained,
and many portions of those doctrines,
which had been found by experience to
be productive of evil, are mitigated and
explained away.
§ 283. At the end of the fifth chapter
a brief account was given of those points
wherein the church still needed reform,
and it may be useful here to state some
of the particulars in which the Reform
ation bad gone backward between the
periods at which these two tracts were
published. The advances which had
been made may be seen § 272, and
note =.
With regard to transubstantiation,
the point introduced was the statement,
that "the substance of the bread and
wine do not remain after consecra
tion ;"^ a question of fact, which, like
the miracles performed by our Saviour,
must be judged by the senses.
The cup, too, was denied to the
laity." The expression of praying for the
"quick and the dead"^ is introduced;
there was no change, e.xcepting in the
use of the words.
Many ceremonies are specified, about
which nothing is said in the Institution."
"As the hallowing of the font, of the
chalice, of the corporace, of the altar,
and other like exorcisms and benedic
tions." In speaking of justification by
faith, the Erudition calls God " the
principal cause and chief worker of this
justification in us,"' but "it pleaseth
the high wisdom of God that man"
shall be also "a worker by his free
consent and obedience to the same."
Expressions which are indeed after
wards qualified.
To these we must add the compul
satory celibacy of the clergy.
Upon the whole, then, we must con
clude, that in doctrinal points the
church had gone backward, and that
the discussions which had taken place,
and the examinations of the several sub
jects, had been outbalanced by the in
fluence of the Roman Catholic party, and
the passions and prejudices of the king.

3 Form. 263.
" Ibid. 310.

" Ibid. 265.
' Ibid. 364.

5 Ibid. 375.

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

85

CHAPTER VI.

THE EEIGN OF EDWARD VI., FROM 1547 TO 1553.
SOI. Lord Hartford protector. 302. Images pulled down. 303. Causes which retarded the Refor
mation. 304. Royal visitation. 305. HomiUes. 306. Gardiner and Bonner. 307. Acta of par.
liament. 308. Communion service. 309. Confession. 310. Gardiner imprisoned ; Cranmer's
Catechism 311. CeUbacy of the clergy. 31-2. Acts of parliament; the attainder of the admiral.
313. Transubstantiation; consubstantiation; doctrine of the ehurch of England. 314. Disputation
on transubstantiation. 315. Anabaptists. 316. New liiurgy. 317. Risings among the people.
31S. Bonner deprived. 319. Fall of the protector ; Ordination service. 320. Gardiner deprived.
321. Hooper ; non-conformity. 322. Review of the Common Prayer. 323. Ridley's visua'ion.
324. Foreign churches, and foreigners in England. 325. Thelorty-two ariicles. 326. King's preach
ers. 327. Mary refused the use of the mass. 328. Characler of the protector. 329. Acts of par
liament. 330. Poverty of the church. 331. See of Durhnn-i dissolved. 332. Edward's three
foundations in London. 333. Lady Jane Grey. 334. Character of Edward. 335. State of the
church. 336. Erastianism of the church of England. 337. Opinions of Cranmer. 338. His plan
of reforming; the civil power finally established the alterations. 339. The commlasiona of the
bishops, and conduct of Cranmer. 340. He saved episcopacy. 341. Documents of the church of
England of Lutheran origin. 342. Wisdom with which the documents of our church were
drawii up.

§ 301.' Edward VI., who was in his
tenth year, (Jan. 28, 1547,) when the
death of Henry VIII. called him to the
throne, was by his father's will placed
under the guidance of a council, the
several members of which were in
vested with equal powers ; but the pre
ponderating influence of Edward Sey
mour, earl of Hartford, and maternal
uncle to the king, who was created
duke of Somerset, soon enabled that
nobleman to acquire a decided supe
riority over his colleagues, and to obtain
for himself the chief authority in the
kingdom, under the title of protector.
The retiring disposition of Cranmer
made him less inclined to interfere in
temporal affairs, and Wriothesley, by
putting the Court of Chancery in com
mission, in order that he might attend
to the concerns of the state, gave such
an advantage to his political opponents,
that they deprived him of the seals,
and granted the protector letters-patent,
by which he afterwards held his office.
This circumstance was favourable to
the cause of the Reformation, for the
political connections and interests of his
family, as well as his own inclinations,
led him to favour this side of the ques
tion, and to co-operate with Cranmer in
promoting its advancement.
§ 302. The advocates of reform at
this moment, not only had to contend
1 Burnet ia, throughout thia chapter and the
next, the chief authority ; but it ia unnecessary to
mark every reference.

against their open enemies, the friends
of the old superstition, but were equally
endangered by the injudicious zeal of
their own hasty and unthinking allies ;
who, without waiting for authority, be
gan to remove images, and make other
alterations, which caused an unneces
sary irritation among the Roman Catho
lics, and were calculated to raise up a
spirit of innovation in the reforming
multitude. Some persons, therefore,
who had been engaged»in these transac
tions, were brought before the council
and severely reprimanded ; but no pu
nishment was inflicted on them, through
the interference of such members of
that board as were convinced of the
¦impropriety of retaining images in
places where religious worship was
carried on. Cranmer, indeed, was so
thoroughly sensible of the injurious
tendency of this practice, that he was
anxious at once to remove them entire
ly ; and the populace, probably aware
of the wishes of those in authority,
ventured to commence the work of de
struction. But Gardiner, on the con
trary, still continued to maintain their
utility, and wrote for this purpose to
the duke of Somerset and Ridley, so
that the question was brought under
discussion ; and whenever this is the
case, it may always be hoped that truth
will ultimately prevail.
§ 303. Another circumstance led tc
the examination of masses for the dead,
in which the result coincided with that
H

96

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VL

in the present case. Henry VIII.
had left considerable property to the
church of Windsor, for the purpose
of obtaining annually for his soul a
certain number of masses and obits,
acting, in this case, as many a sinner
had done before him ; he practically
denied, by the whole tenor of his con
duct, his belief in purgatory ; yet, at
his death, his last will testified that he
still retained it ; he destroyed the insti
tutions which had been erected solely
in consequence of this superstition, and
so tried to persuade others that the
idea of it was groundless; yet proved,
by his bequest, that he still entertained
a hope that it was true.
The progress of the Reformation,
however, was by no means so rapid as
might have been expected. The peo
ple in the larger towns, indeed, began
by degrees to open their eyes to the
corruptions of the church of Rome ;
but when, at the dissolution of the mo
nasteries, provision was made for each
of the monks, payable till such time as
they were furnished with benefices, the
surest step was taken to continue the dif
fusion of the old opinions. By this enact
ment, it became the interest ofthe Court
of Augmentations, and of those who had
purchased monastic property subject to
the payment of«an income to the old
members of the previous establishment,
to take every means that these persons
might be introduced into fresh prefer
ments. Men, therefore, whose preju
dices almost necessarily led them to
dislike the Reformation, were thus
scattered everywhere as instructors of
the people, and ever}"- vacant benefice,
to which a cure of souls was attached,
and which therefore was not tenable by
a layman,' was given to some ejected
monk, and the guidanpe of the parish
commitlied to one who was most likely
to mislead them with regard to the Re
formation. Add to which, that the
poverty of the church not only pre
vented men of liberal education from

' Burnet, ii. 7, says, that il was ordinary, at
that time, for laymen to hold preferments without
cure of souls. Protector Somerset had six good
prebends promised to him, two of these being
afterwarda converted into a tjeanery and ireasu-
rershlp. Lord Cromwell had been dean of Wells.
Sir Thomaa Smith, who was in deacon's orders,
though living as a layman, was dean of Carlisle.
Strype's Llie, p. 31.

entering into holy orders, and thus cur
tailed the number of ministers, but ren
dered such as served the poorer pa
rishes of necessity friendly to doctrines*
frorn which they had derived their chief
support : while the stock of informa
tion possessed by the clergy was gene
rally insufficient to direct them to the
truth, or point out the superstitious and
injurious tendency of the religious opi
nions which they professed.
§ 304. In this posture of affairs, it
would have been impolitic to leave the
cause of the Reformation to the tran
quil effects of increasing light and
knowledge ; its adversaries were widely
spread, and invested with much power
to oppose the progress of any such
principles of amendment ; and Cran
mer, therefore, wisely determined to
use the authority and influence which
he possessed, in order to advance the
cause which he had so much at heart.
(September Ist.) The act of parlia
ment which had given the force of laws
to the proclamations of Henry VIII. had
continued the same prerogative to the
counsellors of his son, while under age,
and on this authority a royal visitation
for ecclesiastical matters was appointed.
In addition to the injunctions given to
the late visitors, curates were directed,
in those now published," to take down
all images which had been abused by
false devotion, and to avoid such customs
as tended to superstition ; but the people
were forbidden to interfere in any such
matter. A greater strictness in the ob
servance of the Sabbath was enjoined,
and the ministry were ordered to renew
and increase their zeal and activity, in
preaching within their own churches, in
reading the portions of Scripture* ap
pointed for the service, and in perform
ing their other sacred duties.
§ 305. In order to supply the defi
ciency of preachers, the first book of

2 A large portion of the income of a curate de
pends, in Roman Catholic countries, on the fees
which are paid him for the performance of masses
and other riles connected with the service of the
church. ' Sparrow's Collection of Articlea, &c.
¦• In 1542 it had been ordered that a chapter out
of the New Testament should be read al morning
and evening service, on Sundays and holydays,
and that, when the New Testament was finished,
they ahould go through the Old. (Strype's Mem. ¦
i. 580.)

Chap. VI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

87

homilies was published in July,' and
began to fix the standard of the faith of
the church of England as it is now
established. To assist the unlearned in
the interpretation of Scripture, it was
ordained that the Paraphrase of Eras
mus'* should be set up in every parish
church: at the same time the petition
for the dead in the bidding prayer'' was
altered to nearly its present form, and
-severe penalties imposed on simoniacal
presentations. In the injunctions trans
mitted to the bishops, they were directed
not only to preacii themselves, but to
take care that their chaplains also did
so, and to admit none into orders who
were not qualified for the office, and
willing and able to perform their clerical
duties, particularly that of preaching.
§ 308. The success which attended
the arms of the protector in Scotland
gave his party, and the friends of the
Reformation, such a superiority as en
abled them to proceed with vigour in
putting these injunctions in force. We
can hardly now be aware of the political
necessity which might then have ex
isted for using severity towards those
who did not assent to these alterations
and injunctions, though of the general
impropriety of such an attempt there
can be little doubt. The mass of the
clergy had been admitted to their bene
fices as members of the church of Rome,
and their unwillingness, therefore, to
change their creed, could never form a
just ground for temporal punishment.
Bonner and Gardiner were the chief
objects of this persecution, the former
of whom was committed to the Fleet
prison for a short time, notwithstanding
the submission which was forced upon
him ; but Gardiner remained there for
a longer period ; and his whole con
duct on this occasion exhibits him in
more favourable colours than at any

1 See §412".
2 The Paraphraae of Erasmus on the Gospels
and Acts waa tranalated into Engliah chiefly by
Nicholas Udal, under the patronage ofthe queen-
dowager, and published in 1547 ; the translation
ofthe rest waa printed in 1549, and again in 1552.
jStrype's Mem. H. i. 45.)
' The bidding prayer is that used before sermon,
wherein the preacher directs his hearers to pray.
The term comes from bede, a Saxon word, signi
fying a prayer, which is retained in the English
word, " bid." Old fornts of this prayer may be
found in Strype's Eccl. Mem. i. Coll. No. 37 ;
Burnet, ii. No. 8, iii. No. 29; Collier, u. No. 54.
The one in present use is m the 55th Canon, 1603.

other period of his history ; h'ls letter to
Sir J. Godsave is very much what the
remonstrance of a bishop should be on
such an occasion. He professes himself
ready to suffer rather than to admit any
thing contrary to his conscience, and
signifies his determination not to sur-
i render the liberties of the subject, with
out petitioning against a proceeding
sanctioned by the regal authority alone :
his chief objection was directed against
the third homily, on the Salvation of
Mankind, because it excluded charity
from the work of justification ; nor was
he satisfied with the Paraphrase of Eras
mus, of which he said, that the English
translation contained many additional
errors beyond those exhibited in the
Latin. A letter which he addressed to
the protector on his return from Scot
land breathed the same strain, and com
plained that he had now been detained
seven weeks in the Fleet prison without
servants or attendants, and contrary to
law and justice. But this was as in-.
effectual as the last, and he remained a
prisoner while the parliament sat, a
severity which must probably be attri
buted to Cranmer, and can hardly be
justified. It appears indeed to have
produced some sort of remonstrance
from the Lady Mary, -\vho always ex
pressed it as her opinion, that the affairs
of religion should remain in the condi
tion in which her father left them, till
her brother was of age to judge for him
self; a position generally advanced and
maintained by the friends of that party.
§ 307. However tyrannical these pro
ceedings of the council may appear,
there seems no reason for accusing that
body of any design of establishing an
undue authority ; for the first acts which
were passed in the parliament assembled
in the autumn revoked most of the
severe laws enacted towards the end of
the last reign. In this number were
comprehended those concerning treason
and LoUardies ; that of the Six Articles,
as wellas the particular one under which
they had been acting, and which gave
the force of law to the royal proclama
tion. This was followed by another act
on the Communion, in which severe
censures were imposed on those ^vho
ridiculed the mass ; but it was ordained
that the laity should receive in both
kinds, and that no private masses should

88

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VI.

be celebrated ; a most important step in
the cause of reformation ; for it cut at
the root of most ofthe superetitions, and
made the people view religion as a con
cern of their own, and not as an opius
opera/urn, which might be left to the
priest without any co-operation on the
part of the congregation. Some acts
were also passed relating to the tem
poral affairs of the church. By one
law which now passed, it was ordained
that bishops should in future be ap
pointed by letters patent, and not by a
conge d'elire,' and that all processes
relating to matters not purely spiritual
should be carried on in the name of the
king ; an enactment which took away
all controlling power from the eccle
siastical courts themselves, and com
pelled them to punish any negl,ect of
their orders by excommunication ; so
that this sacred and awful process is
frequently degraded by being used
without any adequate reason, and in
cases where there may be no moral
offence. The nomination of the bishops
virtually made little difference, as to
ecclesiastical appointments ; but with
respect to the other part of the bill,
either too little or too much was done.
No causes, not purely spiritual, should
have been left to the cognisance of these
courts, unless some temporal power had
at the same time been conceded to them ;
and this mistake has created an odium
against these tribunals, which the church
cannot remedy, and which originates in
the heterogeneous nature of their com
position. The lands belonging to chan
tries were now given to the crown,
much against the wishes of Cranmer,
who hoped, by continuing them till the
king became of age, to have preserved

' The dlfferenee of these two forms is -as follows :
Bishoprics are in theory elective by the several
chapters of the cathedral churches. I'he covgi
d'ilire signifies the vacancy to llie chapter, enjoins
them to elect a bishop, and names a given person
whose election would be agreeable to ihe king.
If the chapter were to refuse the person so nomi
nated, they would incur a prtemunire, as trying to
curtail the royal prerogative. Letters patent no
minated the bishop to the performance of all epis
copal offices, which he was to perform in the
king's name. In both these cases the spiritual
dignity was conferred by the consecration which
took place subsequently; so that in neither does
the aovereign interfere with the prieatly officea,
any more than the lay-patron of a hving doea with
the ordination of a candidate whom he nominates
loit.

a large fund for the future benefit of the
poorerclergy. In the first draught of this
bill the words ran, "chantries, hospitals,
fraternities, and colleges ;" and as these
expressions might have been so inter
preted as to take in the universities,
much exertion was made by those who
understood the value of establishments
for education,' and a clause inserted to
p"revent their being comprehended un
der these general terms.
§ 308. (a. d. 1548.) The new year
commenced with several very important
steps in the reformation of religious
matters. Directions were issued for'the
removal of all images, as well as the
suppression of many superstitious cere
monies; -a proclamation was made
against " the abuse of churches,"^ which
were exposed to many indignities, and
made the scenes of riot and confusion ;
and severe threats held out against those
who ventured to run before the civil
authority in the abolition of such pointa
as were still sanctioned by the law of
the land. In order to prepare the way
for the formation of the Book of Com
mon Prayer, a committee was ap
pointed to examine the services, who,
on account of the pressing need of some
alteration in the mass, commenced with
the Communion Service, by proposing
questions on the nature of the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper, to which the
several members were required to send
in their respective answers ; and though
many documents of this description were
destroyed in the days of Glueen Mary,
yet this is preserved, and is curious, as
marking the care and anxiety used in
drawing up this necessary and inva
luable Avork. It is printed in the CoUgc-
tion of Records of the History of the Re
formation, No. 25. The points in which
their sentiments differ from the church
of England are, that most of them still
retained a belief in transubstantiation,
that they approved of masses satisfac
tory, and of praying for the dead, and
that many of them objected to the use
of the vulgar tongue for the whole of
the ceremony, though they consented
to the reading and explaining the gos
pel in English,
§ 309. The Communion Service,

2 Strype's Life of Smith, 29. Cheke.
' Strype's Cranmer, 251.

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

89.

which was published on March the
8th,' does not essentially differ from
the one now in use, and in its compo
sition Cranmer appears to have made
no unnecessary alterations, but to have
retained whatever was innocent in the
service of the mass : the work itself
indeed appears to be an intermediate
step between the old and the new
offices ; for such parts of it only were
in English as more particularly related
to the general communicant ; while the
rest, even the consecration of the ele
ments, was not translated.
In the Exhortation, read the day be
fore the celebration ofthe communion,"
the people are allowed to use or to ab
stain from auricular confession, and
warned against entertaining uncharita
ble opinions with regard to those who
differed from themselves in this parti
cular. The evils and abuses arising
from this custom had so alienated the
minds of most men from it, that it
was readily dispensed with ; but it has
proved a misfortune to our church, that
the tide of opinion has carried us too
far towards the opposite extreme. The
Scriptures never speak of confession as
obligatory in such a sense as the in
junctions of the church of Rome had
ordained. Confession to a priest is no
where mentioned as absolutely neces
sary ; but reason, as well as the word
of God, strongly points out, that to ac
knowledge our faults, especially to one
vested with spiritual authority over us,
must be a most effectual means of re
straining us from the commission of
sin ; and wherever the congregation
has been scandalized by our transgres
sions, surely a public avowal of our
errors must prove an obvious method
of making all the retribution which we
can, not to God, but to offended society ;
nor can we (Joubt that the Almighty
will accept such an outward act of hu
miliation. This was in all probability
the whole extent of the penance of the
early church ; but the power with which
private confession invested the priest,
together with the profit to the ecclesias
tical body with which absolution was
gradually accompanied, transformed
that which was instituted for the glory
of God, and the salvation of mankind.

' Sparrow's Coll. 13.

13

2 Ibid. 18.

into an engine of papal authority. The
indulgences offered in the "Hours after
the Use of Sarum," the book of devo
tions then gradually adopted in Eng
land, would move at once our derision
and pity for an age which could admit
such absurdities, did not the proffered
pardons now hanging in foreign Roman
Catholic churches convince us, that the
spiritual safety ofthe people can never
be insured by any state of civilization,
whenever the Holy Scriptures are prac
tically not the standard by which men
measure their duties, and the ground
work on which they found their reli
ance. In the church of England the confes
sion of particular sins is recommended
in the Exhortation to the Sacrament,
and the Visitation of the Sick ; but so
little are we accustomed to this most
scriptural duty, that these recommenda
tions are frequently unknown and gene
rally neglected, while scarcely a vestige
remains of ecclesiastical law for the re
straint of vice ; and though the punish
ment of many offences has been wisely
transferred to the courts of common
law, yet the laxity which prevails with
regard to numerous breaches of the law
of God may be well esteemed a defi
ciency in our national duty.
§ 310. About the middle of this year
Gardiner fell into fresh troubles. The
point in which he probably offended the
ruling powers was by denying, as far
as he dared, the supremacy of the coun
cil. But the friends ofthe Reformation
do not seem to have acted with that spi
rit of forbearance which befitted so good
a cause, and the want of which contri
buted to excite the spirit of personal
hostility with which the reign of Mary
was disgraced, and which fell with ten
fold severity on the heads of the reform
ers. The protector appointed Gardiner
to preach before the king, and wished
to have compelled him to adopt in his
sermon certain notes written with the
king's own hand ; but with a proper spi
rit of independence, the bishop of Win
chester declined taking notice of this
interference, and upon this he was im
prisoned. About the same time Cran
mer put forth his Catechism. This work
was translated from a German Cate
chism, used in Nuremburg, through the
medium of a Latin version made by
h3

90

HISTORY OF THE

[Ch4P. VI.

Justus Jonas, and is probably due to the
labours of some of the chaplains of the
archbishop. It is not improbable that
the Latin version was brought into Eng
land by Justus Jonas the younger, when
he was driven from his own country
through the severity with which the
Interim was imposed, and hospitably
received, among other confessors, by
Cranmer. On this supposition we
may attribute the Latin version to Jus
tus Jonas the father, a man of much
celebrity among the German reform
ers. The English translation is gene
rally made with much closeness, but in
some instances new matter has been
introduced into the text.'
§ 311. (Nov. 24.) In the parliament
which was assembled during the au
tumn, a bill was brought in to enable
the clergy to marry ; it passed through
the Commons without any great oppo
sition, but in the Lords met with such
delays, that it did not receive the royal
assent till the spring of the next year.
The question at issue was really divisi
ble into two heads : first, whether any
law of God enjoin celibacy in the
clergy ; and, secondly, whether the
clergy were themselves bound by any
oath voluntarily taken, and which could
not be dispensed with. With regard to
the first of these, there is no difficulty;
for I believe that the church of Rome
pretends to no higher authority than
that of ancient custom, sanctioned by
the enactments of the church ; and
against this, the examples of the apos
tles and the primitive church are so
strong, that the ecclesiastical advan
tages to be derived from the celibacy
of the clergy must form its only tenable
ground of support : and here the evils
of forcing human beings in this particu
lar have been so strongly experienced
as to overbalance, in the opinions of
moderate reasoners, all the benefits
which may result from a single life
among the priesthood when undertaken
m a voluntary manner. With respect
to the second particular, it appears that
the secular clergy were under no vow
of living single ; for oven the vow of
chastity, which existed in the Ordina-
' See Burton's preface to Cranmer's Catechism,
which has been printed together with the Latin of
Juatua Jonas, Oxford, 1829. The date in the pre
face of Justus Jonas's dedication ia Feb. 11 1539.

tion Service of the foreign churches,
formed no part of that used in England;
and had it been so, chastity is probably
more safely guarded by marriage than
by abstinence.' At the same time, there
is so great a semblance of self-devotion
in abstaining from the innocent plea
sures of life, for the sake of religion,
that it is no wonder if the abolition of
celibacy among the ministers of reli
gion were frequently objected to the
reformers. But, on the other hand, its
practical results, and the judgment of
such men as Ponet, Parker, Ridley,
and Redmayne, who argued in favour
of the marriage of the clergy, though
some of them abstained from it them
selves, serve strongly to convince us of
the superior wisdom of Almighty God.
who has so formed the laws by which
the universe is directed, that we exer
cise the soundest human policy when
our institutions approach the nearest to
the dictates of his revealed word.
§ 312. (Jan. 15, 1549.) In the act
which passed confirming the use of the
Liturgy,'* a, clause was inserted which
allowed the use of psalms or hymns
taken out of the Bible, and the singing
of psalms became a marked characteris
tic of the favourers of the Reformation :
many, therefore, were now translated
and composed ; and it is no small re
flection on the poetical talent or piety
of our church, that the collection of
psalms made soon after this period has
been allowed to continue the best which
we possess in an authorized form.'

2 Strype'a E.M. II. i. 136.
' The authority possessed by the old version
depends on a clause in an act of which the words
are, " Provided always that it shall be lawful for
all men, aa well in churchea, chapels, oratories,
or other places, to use openly any psalm or prayer
taken out of the Bible at any due time, not letting
or omitting thereby the service or any part thereof
mentioned in the said book:" (2, 3 Edward 'VI.
c. i. vii.) expressions which equally apply to any
other version. But it may atill be doubted, whe
ther even this is not repealed by the laat clauae of
the act of uniformity of EUzabeth. The custom
of introducing psalmody into the church service
had been for some time established among Pro-,
testants abroad, and was early brought into Eng
land, and this act seems merely to have given
a legal sanction to the custom. Th. Sternhold
translated fifty-one psalms into metre, which were
published in 1549, and the remainder of them were
completed, during the reign of Mary, by John
Hopkins and other e-xiles, whose initials are gene
rally affixed to them. W. W., William Whit
tingham, afterwards dean of Durham ; W. K.
William Kethe; N., Norton; M., Markant; R

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

91

Another .ict enjoined the eating of
fish on those days of fasting which had
been appointed "by the Roman Catholic
chuich. The object of this enactment
was declared to be the support of the
fisheries, and not any religious differ
ence which existed as. to the species of
food used ; and though we may laugh
at the framers of an absurd law, we
Cannot but deplore one practical evil
arising from such injudicious inter
ference ; for mankind have of course
seen through the folly of the ordinance,
and with its neglect have neglected also
the sacred duty of real fasting, which
is placed in so ridiculous a light.
The attainder of Sir Thomas Sey
mour produced little effect on the Re
formation, except by bringing some
degree of obloquy on two of its friends:
on Cranmer, for signing a death-war
rant, from which it was thought that his
office might have screened him ; and
on the protector, who was unjustly said
to have given up his brother too easily,
though it appears that he had long used
all the means in his power to prevent
the tatastrophe towards which the am
bition of the admiral was unceasingly
hurrying him.
§ 313. An ecclesiastical visitation was
appointed early in this year, in order to
suppress many superstitious observ
ances which still continued to be used.
No difficulty was found in gaining out
ward compliance with the commands
of the government ; but it was impos
sible to eradicate instantaneously preju
dices and customs which had long been
prevalent in the country, and to which
the vulgar, from their ignorance, had
attached the notion of religion. The
exertions of the reformers, however,
were not confined to these minor objects
alone ; steps were taken for the esta
blishment of the doctrine, as well as
discipline ofthe church, which rendered
it necessary that the chief articles of
faith should be gradually examined.
No opinion was entertained with so
much earnestness, on the part of the
common people and the priesthood, as

W., Robert Wisdom ; D. (qu. Dr.) Cox trans
lated the Lord's Prayer. There are several other
initials, with the authors' namea of which I am
unacquainted; T. C, T. B., E. G., T. N., J. P.;
several of these are affixed to the early editions
only.

that of transubstantiation ; its friends
regarded the suppression of it as depriv
ing them of their chief spiritual hope,
and the clergy foresaw in its destruc
tion the overthrow of much of their
authority. Without entering into a dis
cussion of the question, it may perhaps
lead to clearness, if the several opinions
entertained on this subject be briefly
stated. The church of Rome holds the doc
trine of transubstantiation ; that is, that
after consecration the elements of bread
and wine no longer remain, but that a
perfect body of our Saviour is given to
each individual receiving the conse
crated wafer, and that the same body
which was offered on the cross ; so that
a miracle is constantly repeated, of
which the senses of the party receiving
are not a test.
The Lutheran church holds the doc
trine of consubstantiation ;' that is, that
the body of Christ is so with the bread,
or in the bread,'' that it is actually eaten
with the bread ; and whatsoever motion
or action the bread hath, the body of
Christ has the same ; so that the body
of Christ may truly be said to be borne,
given, received, eaten, when the bread
is borne, given, received, or eaten ; that
is. This is my body.
The doctrine of the church of Eng
land' is, that the bread and wine are
outward and visible signs of the body
and blood of Christ, which body and
blood are received and eaten in a hea
venly or spiritual manner by the faith
ful in the Lord's Supper.'
§ 314. Cranmer wrote on the subject,
and was answered by Gardiner ; and
disputations were this year held in Ox-

' The Lutherans are also called Ubiquitarians,
from maintaining the ubiquity of Christ's body.
Brentius is said to have first brought the doctrine
into especial notice, and a formulary of faith, of
which It forms a leading article, was composed at
Berg in 1577. See Broughton's Diet, of all Re
ligions. 2 Burnet, p. iii. b, IV. No. 1.
3 It is highly probable, that soon after the con
sultation of Cranmer and Ridley on the aubjecl
of tranaubstantiation, (Todd, Intr. vii. to Cran
mer on the Sacrament,) the archbiahop caused an
Engliah translation of the book of Bertram the
priest, concerning the body and blood of Christ,
to be pubUshed. Two editions were printed in
1548 and 1549 ; reprints of this work are com
mon. See ^ 16, 6. It is highly satisfactory to
observe how entirely this author agrees with the
doctrines of the church of England.

93

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VL

ford and Cambridge, and again in the
next at Cainbridge. In the former. Dr.
Smith challenged his successor in the
divinity chair, Peter Martyr, to a public
disputation ; but, as they were not pre
pared to argue on the same grounds —
the one wishing to confine the discus
sion to Scripture terms, while the other
trusted to his school divinity — the mat
ter was deferred till the arrival of cer
tain commissioners from London ; and
in the mean season. Smith having fallen
into trouble, either on account of a
tumult now raised, or on some other
grounds, made concessions to Cranmer,
and fled the kingdom. But the dispu
tation subsequently took place on the
following heads :
In the eucharist there is no transub
stantiation. In the bread and wine Christ is not
corporally present.
The body and blood of Christ are
united to the bread and wine sacra
mentally. At Cambridge, the theses which
were summed up by Ridley were,
Transubstantiation cannot be proved
from the direct words of Scripture, nor
be necessarily collected from it ; nor is
it confirmed from the early fathers.
In the eucharist, no other sacrifice is
made than the remembrance of Christ's
death and thanksgiving.
And here it must not be forgotten,
that the cause of the Reformation was
greatly promoted by the exertions of
certain learned foreigners,' who were
encouraged to visit England by the
friends and promoters of true religion ;
and who repaid the debt of gratitude,
which they incurred, by being ex
tremely useful in the advancement of
sound learning and Christian truth.
Peter Alexander was first received into
the family of Cranmer, and then ob
tained preferment from him. Fagius
was placed at Cambridge, where he
soon died, and was succeeded by Tre
mellius ; and Bucer taught Divinity,
and Cavelarius, Hebrew, at the same
university. Peter Martyr was esta
blished at Oxford, as we have just seen ;
and the disputations which have been
mentioned were in each university
maintained by these alien teachers.
1 Strype's Mem. II. i. 321, &c.

§ 315. These discussions appear to
have been carried on with great pro
priety ; and it is much to be lamented
that the other proceedings of this period
were not marked with the same mode
ration. Complaints had been brought
to the council ofthe prevalence of ana
baptists, who propagated most perni
cious doctrines, and who frequently
combined much criminality of life with
their erroneous opinions ; but with this
sect, unfortunately, other persons were
often confounded, whose only fault con-
, . . . . *'
sisted 111 entertaining sentiments con
cerning the efficacy of infant baptism
at variance with the received practice
of the Christian church. To check the
progress of these opinions, a commis
sion was appointed ; and though the
members of it generally used kindness
and persuasion, yet, in the case of Joan
Bocher of Kent, a woman apparently
more fit for a mad-house than the crown
of martyrdom, they delivered her over
to the secular power, and she was burnt
during the next year.'' There was
considerable difficulty in persuading
Edward to consent to this severity, and
it was only on the strong remonstrances
of Cranmer that he was induced to sign
the warrant. The act was performed
by him with tears in his eyes, and with
an appeal to the archbishop, that at
the day of judgment he must answer
for having procured the signature. This
proceeding gave great and just offence
to the world, and was used as an argu
ment to justify the necessity of capital
punishments, in matters of faith, by the
persecutors of the next reign ; who, in
the sufferings of the father of our Re
formation, have often traced the retri
bution of Divine justice on one who,
in these instances, as well as those dur
ing the life of Henry, cannot be ex
cused even by his friends. The same
severity was used in 1551 towards
George Van Pare, a Dutch anabaptist.
§ 316. The event which must princi
pally attract the notice of the friends of
the Reformation during this year is the
introduction of the English Liturgy.
The book now published differed in
some respects from that which is in use
at present, and the differences may be
^ She was burnt for denying that our Saviour
took the flesh of the Virgin Mary. (Strype's
Mom. IL i. 335.)

Chap. VI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

93

found in another part of this work.' In
the execution of the whole production
much forbearance was exhibited; no
thing was changed excepting where
necessity dictated it; anil in matters
indifferent, the previous misapplication
of an innocent ceremony was not admit
ted as a sufficient reason for rejecting
it altogether. One great point gained
by the adoption of this work consisted
in the rejection of a multitude of saints,
to whom, by degrees, all the merits of
our Redeemer had been transferred,^
and petitions addressed, which to the
eye of a Protestant appear almost blas
phemous, when directed to a creature.
The translation of the public services,
too, was a most important step ; for the
use of the Latin language had probably
been closely connected with the con
tinuance of those errors which it con
cealed from the notice of the vulgar.
It had been originally a natural process,
from the admiration of the saint or mar
tyr, to pray that the supplicant might
be enabled to imitate his virtues, and
from thence, in an age of darkness, to
address the prayer to the beatified being
himself; but in the sixteenth century it
was an act of interest and prejudice to
continue the pious fraud, and of wisdom
to conceal the grossness of the error,
under the mystery of a dead language.
One argument used in its favour is curi
ous.^ The inscription on our Saviour's
cross had been limited to three lan
guages, and to these, therefore, the
service of the church ought to be con
fined ; a method of arguing at present
not very intelligible. The book was
framed in 1548 ; the act which sanc
tioned it was passed early in the spring,
and ordained that it should be used
after Whitsuntide.
§ 317. The questions of infant bap
tism apd predestination caused no small
inconvenience tg the church, by the di
versity of opinion which they excited
among the friends of religion, and the
scandal, which the mistaken adoption
of the latter produced in the lives of
some who imagined themselves to be
long to the number of the elect. In
deed, a general dissoluteness of morals
seems to have prevailed ; for the people

• ^ 743, 2. 2 Burnet, P. ii. No. 29.
' Burnet, ii. 58, foL, 139, 8vo.

were at once freed from the restrictions
imposed by the authority of the eccle
siastical courts, and had not yet reaped
the advantages of the moral restraint
of religious education, of which the
fruits must necessarily be slow. The
oppression, too, which the transfer of
so large a portion of property had oc
casioned, began to be severely felt.
The new possessors of the soil fre
quently turned out the old cultivators,
and converted the land into pasture,
which was found to be much more pro
fitable, from the increasing trade of the
kingdom in avooI. The ejected labour
ers, in their own minds, connected these
proceedings with the change in religion,
and risings among the people were very
general during the summer. Most of
these were easily suppressed ; but in
the west, and in Norfolk, they became
formidable. The men of Devonshire
and Cornwall besieged Exeter,-" which
was with difficulty relieved by Lord
Russell, who completely dispersed their
forces, and put an end to the rebellion
by the execution of the ringleaders.
During the height of their prosperity,
they ventured to propose terms, to the
government, and demanded the virtual
restitution of popery. To each article
of this document distinct answers were
sent by Cranmer, which are printed at
length by Strype, and the tenth is too
curious to be omitted ;* they insisted in
it, that the Bible should be called in,
since the clergy could not otherwise
easily confute heretics.
The rebels in Norfolk were dispersed,
after some bloodshed, by the earl of
Warwick; and the protector, who had
from the first favoured the cause of the
Commons, and in so doing incurred
considerable odium among the nobility,
proclaimed a general pardon with very
[ew exceptions, though contrary to the
wishes of many members ofthe council.
§318. (Oct. 1st.) During the autumn
Bonner was .deprived of his bishopric :
he had uniformly complied with the in
junctions which were sent him ; but as
he was, with good reason, suspected
of favouring the opposite side of the
¦I The raising of the siege of Exeter is still cele
brated in that city on the 6th of August, which is
denominated the Jesuits' day, from the leaders
who guided the besiegers.
* Life of Cranmer, Ap. 40.

94

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VL

question, he was summoned before the
council, and ordered to preach at St.
Paul's Cross. The topic on which he
was particularly directed to dwell, was,
the power of the king while a minor ;
and he was ordered to declare that the
acts of the council were nowise less
binding than those of a monarch of
age. When the time of his preaching
had arrived, he omitted this subject en
tirely, and turned his discourse to the
question of the corporal presence ; and
upon this he was cited before a com
mission appointed by the king ; and
after much useless altercation, in which
he was needlessly insolent to the court,
he was imprisoned and deprived. The
excuse which he made for himself was,
that in consequence of his notes having
fallen down, he had forgotten that part
of his sermon in which he meant to have
touched on this head ; and though this
excuse was probably false, yet the treat
ment of him cannot but appear severe,
even supposing the deprivation to have
been legal in itself. It is sometimes
maintained that the deprivation took
place in virtue of his holding his bi
shopric during the king's pleasure, in
consequence of a commission which all
the bishops took out at the beginning
of the reign,' and in which the clause
durante beneplacito exists. This docu
ment, however, seems merely to regard
the exercise of his episcopal functions,
and in which, certainly, he is limited to
the pleasure of the king ; but the words
can hardly extend to the bishopric it
self. The sentence of deprivation, too,
is passed on the plea of the omission
in the sermon.
§ 319. (Oct. 14.) The fall and impri
sonment of the protector was hailed by
the Roman Catholic party as the tri
umph of their cause ; yet their exulta
tion was of short duration ; for the earl
of Warwick, (afterward duke of Nor
thumberland,) who had been the chief
instrument in bringing it about, finding
the young king entirely disposed to
wards the Reformation, immediately
joined that party ; and Wriothesley,
earl of Southampton, baffled in all his
projects, retired from court, and soon
aifter died.
(a. d. 1550.) With the view of coun-
' Burnet, P. ii. No. 2.

teracting an opinion which generally
prevailed, that the old service was now
to be renewed, all the books connected
with it were ordered to be delivered to
persons appointed by the king, for the
purpose of being destroyed ; and strict
injunctions were given for the regular
use of the Common Prayer.
A committee'^ of twelve persons vyas
also appointed to prepare a new Ordi
nation Service, one of whom was Heath,
bishop of Worcester ; and upon his re
fusal to consent to the proposed altera
tions, he was committed to the Fleet
prison : so little were the principles of
liberty, of either conscience or person,
then understood. The form then adopt
ed is, with very little alteration, the one
at present in use. In its formation, the
ceremonies which had by degrees been
introduced into the church of Rome
were omitted, while an addition was
made of certain questions addressed to
the candidates themselves, forming alto
gether one of the most beautiful and
impressive services of our church.
§ 320. The continuance of Gardi
ner's imprisonment had for two years
deprived the see of Winchester of its
bishop, and after the fall of the protec
tor, when in the fulness of his joy he
expected a speedy release, he found
himself exposed to increased severity.
Two sets of articles were proposed to
him for subscription, the latter of which
he refused to sign, as he did not ap
prove of their contents; maintaining
that his signature could not be fairly
required while his person was not at
liberty ; and upon this, permission was
refused him to walk in certain galleries
in the Tower, with which he had been
previously indulged. In this state he
remained till the next year, when he
was deprived of his bishopric by a com
mission issued by the king, (April 18,)
nominally, for his obstinacy in refusing
to acknowledge his fault about preach
ing,^ but really on account of his attach
ment to the old superstitions ; for his
whole conduct, like that of the great
est part of the friends of the church of
Rome, consisted in opposing the mea
sures of the Reformation, till they were
passed into laws, and then entirely
complying with them ; and whatever

2 See 4 744.

s See % 310.

Chap. VI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

9S

we may think of the sincerity of such
proceedings, no one can doubt that the
punishment inflicted on men so acting
was contrary to common justice, and
therefore to sound and Christian policy.
§ 321. A difficulty now occurred,
arising from an opposite party in the
church ; for when Hooper was appointed
to the see of Gloucester, he refused to
be consecrated in the episcopal habits;'
and though Cranmer and Ritiley argued
against the soundness of such scruples,
and consulted Bucer on the subject, who,
as well as P. Martyr, expressed his opi
nion in favour of conformity, yet Hooper
could not till the next spring be pre
vailed on to give way; and even then
he did so with a reservation that he
should not be obliged to wear these sup
posed relics of popery, except on public
occasions. The dispute was an unfor
tunate one, being the first of a series
which for many years agitated our
church ; but on a calm examination of
the subject, at a period when it is to be
hoped that such indifferent matters may
be viewed without prejudice, it must be
granted that, though the distinction of
ecclesiastical dress appears in itself to
be useful, yet it may seem, too, that the
policy of the government would have
been vviser had they left Hooper to his
own conscientious scruples, and found
some other divine, who, without pos
sessing less sincerity, was not so strongly
bent on following his own opinion in
trifles. Obedience to general rules, in
points in themselves indifferent, is of
more consequence, and the neglect of it
ought to be considered as a matter of
conscience far more important, than the
disinclination of an individual to the use
of any dress which the authority of the
church has established. Whether it
were judicious in those who regulated
these particulars to adopt this or that
vestment, is a question which admits of
fair discussion ; but whether an indivi
dual minister is to conform to the orders
of the church, is one on which a differ-
rence of sentiment cannot for a moment
be entertained. It may be prudent on
some occasions to overlook minutiae of
this sort ; but if the question be brought
to a point, the governors and governed
' It should be remembered that the chimere was
then generally made of some coloured material,
and that the cope was still used.

should remember that obedience to con
stituted authority, provided that what is
commanded be in no wise contrary to
the revealed law of God, is a funda
mental article of the Christian code.
§ 332. About the end of this year, or
the beginning of the next, a review was
made of the Common Prayer, in which
Bucer was much consulted. The ob
jections which he made were numerous,
and applied especially to the praying
for the dead, exorcising the devil, to
some of the expressions in the sacra
mental service, and of the ceremonies
at baptisms, to the anointing the sick,
together with many minor points ; and
it is curious to observe that most of the
particulars which he mentioned are
altered in our present service. At the
same time he wished that a change
should be made in the ecclesiastical
habits, and many obvious deficiencies
supplied, as the want of frequent com
munion and more active ministers. As
a new year's gift, he sent Edward a
book written by himself, entitled, "De
Regno Christi Constituendo;" in which
he points out many evils which stood in
need of reformation, and in consequence
of which Germany was then suffering.
He chiefly complains of the want of
ecclesiastical discipline, and urges the
young monarch to exert himself with
the clergy. This work appears to have
had considerable effect on the king; for
he began a treatise of his own, on the
reform of abuses," which, though in all
appearance the performance of a boy,
abounds with many just observations.
§ 323. Upon the deprivation of Bon
ner, the see had continued vacant about
five months,' till Ridley, a man in every
respect suited to so great a charge, was
made bishop of London and Westmin
ster; the sees being now consolidated,
and Thirlby removed to Norwich. In
the visitation of his diocese, the chief
care of Ridley* was directed against the
remnants of superstition, which were
still retained by the clergy and the
people, and in which they had been

2 Remains of Edward VI. No. 2, 54, fol., 98. 8vo.
3 Bonner was deprived, Oct. 1, 1549. Ridley
appointed bishop of London and Westminster,
Feb. 24, 1550. The visitation before June 26,
See ^ 318.
* See his injunctions in Sparrow's Collections,
p. 33. They contain many questions relative to
the general life and conversation of the clergy.

96

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VI.

fostered, if not supported, by Bonner ;
as well as against unauthorized preach
ing and expounding of holy writ. At
the same time the altars were every
where converted into communion tables,
since the name and form probably con
tributed to the continuance of the idea
of an expiatory sacrifice offered by the
priest. This order of the bishop's was
during the autumn confirmed by a letter
from the council, and, by the same
authority, a slop put to the custom of
preaching on week-days, which had
been established in many parishes ; and
was found to be inconvenient, in conse
quence of leading the people away from
their accustomed places of worship, and
excited a spirit of rivalry among the
preachers, which was at this moment
especially productive of confusion in the
church. § 324. The difficulties against which
the Reformation had to contend on the
Continent' created a great influx of
strangers into England, and by the
friendly interference of Cranmer and
others, congregations were established
in London, under the general super
intendence of John a Lasco, a Polish
nobleman, who had been driven from
his country for the sake of his religion,
and become a preacher of the gospel.
Much favour was shown them by the
council, and a church assigned for their
use, where, during this reign, they
greatly flourished, nothwithstanding the
internal feuds into which they fell.
A'Lasco preached before the Germans ;
but there was also an Italian, as well as
a French congregation, to which several
immunities were granted. There was
a church of strangers, too, from Stras
burg,'' under Valerandus Pollanus, esta
blished at Glastonbury, who made use
of a liturgy of their own, not very
different from that of the reformed
churches of France.
England also furnished an asylum to
many learned men, whose labours were
transferred to this country in conse
quence of the misfortunes of their own,
and the liberal reception which was
here afforded them. This praise is
chiefly due to Cranmer,^ who on all
occasions proved a most kind patron to

' Sirype'a Cranmer, II. xxu. 335.
2 Sirype'a Mem. II. i. 378.
" Strype's Cranmer, II. -xxii. 335, &c.

those who were persecuted for religion,
and endeavoured to induce well edu
cated friends of the Reformation to take
up their abode in England, by the pen
sions and employments bestowed on
them. To this source we owe the
assistance which our church derived
from Bucer, Fagius, Peter Martyr, and
Ochin, who, among many others, par
took of the bounty of the archbishop,
and became the ornaments and instruc
tors of the two universities.-' Cranmer
seems also to have entertained the hope
of bringing all the Protestant churches
to a community of faith, by forming a
council in England, to which deputies
should be sent from the rest, and who
might publish such articles of belief as
we're received by all ; and for this pur
pose he had some communication with
Melancthon and Calvin ; but the trou
bles with which he was himself soon
after oppressed put an entire stop to
the project.'
§ 325. (a. d. 1551.) It was in all pro
bability during this year that the Re
formers were employed in drawing up
tbe Forty-two articles which were pub
lished the next ; and though Ridley
might have assisted the archbishop, as
vi'ell as some others, yet there is every
reason to believe that they are really
the work of Cranmer, and this indeed
he seems to have acknowledged in an
examination in the reign of Mary." They
resemble so closely the Thirty-nine Ar
ticles of our church, that it will hardly
be worth while to state the minor differ
ences which have been subsequently
introduced, as the subject itself must be
resumed in the history of the reign of
Elizabeth.^ One thing, however, should

¦• Strype's Cran. III. .\-.\-iII. 573, xxiv. xxv. &c.
^ The project of estabUshing an auihorilalive
standard of faith, by ageueral congress of reiormed
divines, (Laurence's Bamp. Lect. 219,) hfd long
been a favouri'e idea with Melanclhon. We find
him thus alluding to it in the year 1542: " Qiiod
aulem so2pe opiavi. ut aliquando aiilhoviiaie seu
regum, seu aliorum piorum principum, convocati
viri docti de controversiis omnibus libere coUoque-
rentur. et reUnquerent posteris firninm et perspi-
cuam doctrinam. idem adhuc opto." Preface lo
his Works. Epistolte, Londin. p. 147.
The project, iherelore, probably did not begin
wilh Cranmer; he corresponded with Melancthou
on Ibe subject in 1548. and wilh Calvin in 1551 ;
but the dltficultles were so great that il was aban
doned, and Ihe archbishop I eean to prepare a
formulary for the u.^e of the church of England.
^ Sirype'a Cranmer, II. xxvti.
¦> See § 481.

Chap. VI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

9';

be observed, that there is no historical
evidence to confirm an idea not unfre
quently entertained, viz., that they Were
drawn up for the sake of promoting
peace and tranquillity, and as a com
promise of opinion rather than a stand
ard of faith. We shall perceive in them
a desire to avoid curious and unprofit
able questions, as well as to leave dis
puted points to the judgment ofthe in
dividual; and undoubtedly several of
the articles are so framed, that conscien
tious persons, holding different senti
ments, may safely subscribe to them ;'
but latitude of interpretation, which is
suited to the weak and doubtful, cannot
be granted to those whose decided sen
timents are at variance with the plain
and grammatical sense ofthe formularies
of our church.
§ 328. Among the next objects which
engaged the attention of the governors
of the church, were certain alterations
in the Common Prayer Book, the de
tails of which are given in their proper
place. ^ They consisted chiefly in the
omission of superstitious rites which
had been continued in the first Liturgy.
The Ordination Service, too, was now
added, and the whole, thus amended,
differs very little from the one at pre
sent in use.
In order that the Reformation might
be introduced into the hearts of the
people, as well as the institutions of the
church, six eminent preachers were
appointed among his majesty's chap
lains in ordinary, two of whom were
to reside at court, while the other four
made a progress through the country,
and as far as possible supplied the want
of preaching clergymen, a deficiency
which was then strongly felt.
§ 327. The use of the mass within
her own house had, during the whole
of this period, been allowed to the
princess Mary, through the connivance
of the government and the anxious in
terference of the emperor, but it was
now determined by the council to with
draw this indulgence. Edward indeed
h?.d always shown a great dislike to its
continuance, and had at one time as
sented to it, at the request of Cranmer

more fixed, the influence of the smpe-
ror had less weight, and they proceeded
against one of her chaplains for saying
the mass, and confined him in the
Tower. The chancellor, with certain
others, was sent to try to convince her
royal highness of her errors ; and she
appears to have been rather obstinate
in her unwillingness to listen to any
arguments on the Protestant side of the
question, and in refusing to hear Rid
ley preach. But who can wonder that
a continuance of unkind treatment
should have confirmed the prejudices
and closed the ears of one who, in her
own person and that of her mother, had
suffered so much from the friends of
the Reformation ? Who can wonder
that human feelings of resentment
should have been mingled with a mis
taken notion of her duty, and exercised
when power was placed in her hands ?
§ 328. The fall of the duke of So
merset and his execution, (a. d. 1552,)
produced no great effect on the Refor
mation ; he had proved, during his
power, a firm and zealous patron of
ihose who promoted it, and his advice
and example had co-operated to fix the
love of pure and simple Christianity so
strongly in his nephew's mind, that his
loss was in this particular scarcely felt.
There can be little doubt of the injus
tice of his condemnation, and less with
regard to the severity of its execution.
His dying speech was full of Christian
fortitude and resignation, and casts re
flections on no one ; but the opinions
of the world long attributed his death
to the duke of Northumberland ; and
when in the beginning of the next
reign that nobleman was led to the scaf
fold, he was reproached as having been
the author of this cruel measure. The
virtues of the protector, however con
spicuous, weie not unmingled with
faults. In his greatness, he was kind
and affable; in his misfortunes, always
dignified. His military undertakings
were generally successful ; and while
he exhibited himself the undaunted
advocate of the oppressed, he ever
proved that he was faithful and upright
in his transactions. His love for the

and Ridley, with tears in his eyes ; but Reformation had been constant and sin-
the government having now become , cere ; but he gained far too great a por-
 ,  ' tion of church property to be deemed
' Burnet U 129 2 Se« * 745. ' disinterested in the share which he had
¦ 13 I

96

HISTORY OF THE

[Cnip. VL

in the destruction of ecclesiastical bo
dies ; nor has the severity which he
used towards his brother escaped the
censure of historians. In order to
alienate the mind of his nephew, many
false representations of his criminality
seem to have been made, and during
the period after his condemnation, g-reat
pains were taken to keep the attention
of the young king engaged in such
amusements as should prevent his
thinking on the fate of his uncle.
§ 329. Several bills passed during
this session of parliament which were
important to the church.' One con
firmed the alterations which had been
made in the Common Prayer Book,
and directed ecclesiastical persons to
enforce, by severe censures, the attend
ance on the new service. A second
enjoined the observance of such holy-
days as were retained in the calendar,
and ordained that the people should
abstain from flesh on fast days, and the
Fridays and Saturdays in Lent, but
allowance was made for a greater laxity
with regard to particular cases, and it
was soon found that the exception be
came the general rule. A third declared
the marriage of the clergy to be legal
to all intents and purposes ; for though
this liberty had been conceded by the
act passed in 1549,'^ yet the prejudices
ofthe people had set sO decided a mark
on such of the clergy as took advantage
of this allowance, that the children had
been considered illegitimate : they were
enabled by this act to inherit according
to law. Another bill was brought in
against simoniacal contracts, but it
never received the royal assent ; and
an attempt made to attaint Tonstal,
bishop of Durham, was thrown out in
the commons, as they would not hear
of it, unless his accusers might be heard
face to face. The duke of Northum
berland found this parliament so little
suited to his views, that he determined
to dissolve it, and call another.
§ 330. The plan of reform for eccle
siastical courts was this year renewed.
It had at first been put into the hands
of thirty-two persons, but this number
was now diminished to eight, who were
to prepare the matter for the larger
committee. The chief part of what

j was done seems to have been the work
] of Cranmer : it was translated into
Latin by Dr. Haddon and Sir John
Cheke ; but, during this reign, it was
never given to the public ; nor were
any Steps taken towards establishing it
as law. In the reign of Glueen Eliza
beth it was printed, but has remained
to the present day in the same unau
thorized condition : the consideration
of it during the history of that period
will for many reasons be most conve
nient." The church had been so profusely
robbed of its temporalities, under the
idea that its former wealth had jDro-
duced the greatest part of its previous
corruptions, or more probably to gratify
the cravings of a corrupt court, that
its members were reduced to the great
est misery, and forced to support them
selves by the most degrading employ
ments. They not only became tailors
and carpenters, but some of them kept
even alehouses ; and under these cir
cumstances it was impossible that many
persons should be educated for the mi
nistry.'' The church of England pro
bably stands alone, in later times, as
exhibiting instances of ecclesiastica]
offices unprovided with any temporal
support: some of our livings have no
endowments, and owe all their emolu
ments to periods subsequent to the Re
formation. Nor were these spoliations
confined to the lower offices in the esta
blishment ; the bishopric of Gloucester
was entirely suppressed, and Hooper,
who had been first consecrated bishop
of that see, and subsequently held the
see of Worcester together with it, was
now called bishop of Worcester alone ;
and in other cases, during the vacancies
ofthe bishoprics, their manors and pro
perty were frequently taken from them ;
so that to the present day nearly one-
half of our bishoprics are left with in
comes scarcely adequate to the situa
tion in the world which is attached to
the episcopal dignity.^
§ 331. (a.d. 1553.) In the new par
iiament, two-tenths and two-fifteenths,
with one subsidy" for two years, were

' Burnet, ii. 145.

2 See 4 311.

' See i 435, ''. i Burnet, ii. 154.
^ "I'hls evil hna been remedied since the first
publication of this work.
^ Tenths and fifteenths were temporary aids
issuing out of personal property, and granted to

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

granted to the king ; and the clergy
taxed themselves six shillings in the
pound on their benefices. The bishop
ric of Durham was at the same time
suppressed, and converted into two
sees, one of which was to have been
established at Newcastle, where a ca
thedral chapter was also to have been
erected ; but none of these changes
really took place, on account of the
death of the king, Avhich prevented
also the accomplishment of another
plan, by Avhich the temporalities of that
see were converted into a county pala
tine, and given to the duke of Northum
berland. Tonstal had previously been
deprived for misprision of treason, and
was detained in confinement till the
succession of Mary restored him to
liberty. The last act of this reign connected
with the Reformation Avas one by which
the use of the larger Catechism was
authorized, and schoolmasters directed
to teach it. This work was supposed
to have been compiled by Ponet,' bishop
of Winchester, and is printed in the
Enchiridion Theologicum. It was ori-

the king by parliament. They were formerly
the real tenth or fifteenth part of all tbe movables
belonging to the subject. In later times they be
came a fixed sum. A lay subsidy was usually'
raised by commissioners appointed by the crown,
and was to all intents and purposes a land tax.
Blackstone, i. 309, 312.
' Bale, do Scriptoribus Britannicis, mentions
Ponet as the author ; see the question discussed
in Todd's Historical and Critical Introduction to
the Groundwork of the Thirty- nine Articles.
This work corresponds in some degree in its
general plan with the Church Catechism which
had been published four years before, and is fol
lowed almost entirely by Noel in his Catechism
of 1570. With regard to the History of the Com
position ofthe Church Catechiam, probably Cran
mer, Ridley, or whoever waa the a-ulhor, merely
introduced a few explanatory questions and an
swers before, and intermixed with, the Creed, the
Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer,
which had previoualy been published by authority,
in English, in the King's Primer, printed 1545-6.
(The questions and answers relating to the sacra
ments were drawn up by Dr. John Overall, and
inserted after the conference at Hampton Court.'
1604.) It might naturally have been supposed
that it was taken from Luther's Catechism, 1529,
and Cranmer's, 1548; (which in all probability is
derived indirectly from Luther's;) but these are
not only much larger works, but make a different
division ofthe Ten Commandments. In the In
stitution, 1537, King's Primer, 1545-6, Catechism,
1549, the Second Commandment is inserted in its
right place ; whereas in the Primer, 1535, in Lu
ther's and in Cranmer's, the Second Command
ment is omitted, and the Tenth divided into two.
See 4 412.

ginally put forth both in English and
Latin, and the Forty-two articles were
appended to it ;" it Avas sanctioned by
an injunction of the king's, dated May
20th, 1553.
§ 332. In consequence of a sermon
preached by Ridley before the king, in
Avhich the bishop insisted on the duty
of relieving the poor, Edward sent for
him, and desired his aid in forming-
such institutions as Avould be most be
neficial to the poorer branches of socie
ty. Upon a consultation Avich the lord
mayor, three establishments were found
ed, which are still the glory of our me
tropolis. St. Bartholomew's hospital
Avas assigned for the sick, the royal
house of BrideAA'ell for the correction
of the profligate, and the Gray Friar's
church in Newgate Avas assigned to the
education of orphans, under the name
of Christ's Hospital. Donations were
also made to St. Thomas' in South-
Avark. § 333. The commendations which are
deservedl}"- bestowed on these munifi
cent grants are not, unfortunately, due
to the later acts of this hopeful prince.
Lady Jane Gray was granddaughter to
Mary the sister of Henry VIIL, Avho,
after the death of her first husband,
Louis XII. of France, married the duke
of Suffolk. This family had been placed
in the bill of succession of Henry VIII.
before that of Scotland, though sprung
from the younger sister ; and the duke
of Northumberland now persuaded Ed
Avard to set aside Mary and Elizabeth,
and leave the crown to Lady Jane, to
Avhom her own mother had demised her
right, and who had lately been married
to Guildford Dudley, the fourth son of
the duke. Although the love he bore
his cousin might have influenced him,
yet the fears which Edward entertained
as to the bigotry of Mary were the chief
instrument by Avhich this step was pro
moted ; but it does not appear Avhat
induced him to set aside Elizabeth.
It was necessary to use the greatest
threats and persuasions, in order to in
duce the crown lawyers to draw up
any instrument for this purpose, as they
declared that such a transaction Avould
amount to nothing short of treason ; but
they at last complied, upon the promise
2M81, &o.

100

HISTORY OF THE'

[Chap. VT.

of a pardon under the great seal, and
the council set their hands to the deed.
Some others seem to have had great
scruples as to subscribing it ; but Judge
Hales positively refused, and Cranmer
only consented upon The earnest en
treaty of the king. It is unfortunate
that he here Avanted firmness to abide
by his own better judgment, which
might have assured him that the Al
mighty is able to provide means ade
quate to the accomplishment of his OAvn
ends, without our adopting such mea
sures as are in themselves unjustifiable.
§ 334. The king's health had long
been declining, and on the sixth of
July he breathed forth his pious soul
in ejaculations for the religious Avelfare
of his poor country. The early age at
AA'hich it pleased God to take him away
contributed in itself to raise his charac
ter in the eyes of the world ; and the
various commendations Avhich are be
stowed upon him might appear exag
gerated, Avere they not supported by
such circumstantial evidence as pre
vents us from doubting their cor
rectness. The Avarmest panegyric of
EdAvard is derived from the pen of
Cardan, Avho, on his return from Scot
land, in 1552, was introduced to that
monarch Avhen he was under fifteen
years of age. He wrote from Italy
after the death of the king, and could
have had no object for expressing such
sentiments, unless he had really enter
tained them. He describes Edward as
a miracle of prudence and Avisdom, and
possessed of every qualification Avhich
could adorn a young prince ; and re
lates a conversation Avhich he held Avith
him on the subject of comets, in which
the king certainly had the advantage
over the philosopher. He spoke Eng
lish, Latin,, and French, fluently ; and
was acquainted Avith the Greek, Spanish,
and Italian languages. He possessed
much information on most subjects,
particularly on foreign and domestic
policy ; he kept a journal of all which
passed about him, and seems to have
been able to transact business Avith am
bassadors, so as to fill them with the
greatest admiration for his abilities.
He was affable and courteous to all,
nor was his kindness confined to words ;
and in the severity which he Avas through
others compelled to adopt toAvards here

tics, he exhibited the greatest reluctance
to proceed to extremities. He has been
blamed for the facility with which he
assented to the execution of his uncle,
yet in all probability he Avas in this
actuated by tbe love of justice, as his
mind had been totally alienated from
the protector, through the malicious re
presentations which were industriously
poured into his ears, and Avhich insinu
ated that the duke of Somerset had en
tertained designs against the lives of
the other members of the council. The
character, indeed, of this king was
founded on the only sure basis, a reli
gious education, which he had the hap
piness of receiving under the tuition of
Cox and Cheke, to whose care he was
intrusted from the age of six years.
The real and sincere piety Avhich he
ahvays exhibited appears in almost
every action of his life ; it rendered
him obedient and docile as a child, just
ahd exact in all his transactions; anS,
as he groAV up to govern others as well
as himself, rendered him tender to the
wants and consciences of his fellow-
creatures. The only exception per
haps to this consisted in the zeal which
he shoAved in trying to prevent his sis
ter Mary from attending mass.' He
deemed the celebration of this sup
posed sacrifice an act of idolatry, and
considered himself, therefore, bound by
the law of God to preA'-ent the continu
ance of it : Avht"" urged by Cranmer
and Ridley to consent to its being tole
rated in compliance Avith the Avishes of
the emperor, he burst into tears, and
declared his Avillingness to lose his
croAvn and dignities in endeavouring
to obey the commandments of the Most
High, These good men left him with
their eyes full of tears, and as they
passed, the archbishop took Cheke by
the hand, and said, "'Ah! master
Cheke, ^ you may be glad all the days
of your life, that you have such a scho
lar.' Adding, that 'he had more divi
nity in his little finger than we have
in our Avhole bodies.' More divinity,
both in the theory and the practice too ;
and this was OAving in a great measure
to Cheke's instructions."
§ 335. The church of England had
now in its doctrines arrived at nearly

' Burnet, ii, 171. ' Strype's Cheke, 178.

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

101

its present state ; for the changes which
have subsequently taken place have cor
rected some points Avhich Avere amiss,
but scarcely deserve the name of alter
ations. The real state, however, of its
members Avas far from being settled.
The great mass of the common people
were still ignorant and vicious, and had
¦received the new ordinances inasmuch
as they came from authority, and took
off restraints under Avhich they had pre
viously laboured, but they neither un
derstood nor rejoiced in the doctrines
of the Reformation, against Avhich their
prejudices Avere e.xcited.^ The upper
classes had been bribed into acquies
cence in these changes by the robbe
ries committed on church property, in
Avhich they had been alloAved to share ;
and though there doubtless existed
man}' sincere friends of the truth, yet
society in general can never be expect
ed to lake any very active qoncern in
religion, beyond those interests Avhich
are politically combined Avith it. Most
of the clergy had complied Avith what
had been done, from fear rather than
from any approbation of it, and Avere
ready to turn Avhenever an opportunity
should occur. The measures which had
been ordinarily adopted by the reform
ers, however necessary they may have
appeared — and of this, in the present
day, we are not fully adequate to pass
a judgment — were much more calcu
lated to procure compliance than to
produce conviction ; add to all Avhich,
that oppression and depravity of mo
rals seem to have been exceedingly
prevalent. This, indeed, Avas the na
tural conserj^uence of the forced transfer
of property, and the depression of the
ecclesiastical courts, Avhich in an age
of barbarous ignorance Avere indispensa
ble to preserve the tone of morality in
the country. Had it pleased Goi to
have continued the reign of EdAvard,
these evils would probably have gra
dually vanished ; or had he been suc
ceeded by a monarch indifferent about
religion, England might quickly have
relapsed into its former state, and a re
conciliation with the church of Rome
might have brought back many of the
grievances from Avhich the kingdom
had been freed ; but the Avays of the

' Strype's E. M. IIL i. 167, 17, 194, 309.

Almighty are inscrutable, and He pro
duced the ultimate establishment of the
Reformation by other means than hu
man prudence could foresee.
§ 33(3. It is frequently objected to the
church of England, that all her institu
tions, as established in this reign, de
pended much more on the civil magis
trate than on any ecclesiastical author
ity. The standard of her faith, and
the formularies by Avhich her public
services are conducted, Avere so far
settled at this time, that though they
have often been reviewed, they have
never received any material alterations.
If, therefore, the religion, then admitted,
were, as it is sometimes called, a par
liamentary religion, this stigma must
still be attached to our church ; and it
may be useful to inquire how far the
appellation is correct, and how far the
existence of this fact may be deemed in
jurious to us as a spiritual body. Many
ofthe principles on Avhich this question
must be decided are detailed in a note
on a former chapter;' and perhaps it
may be assumed, that matters purely
temporal should be directed by the civil
mag-istrate alone ; that those Avhich are
purely spiritual should be left, as far as
possible, to the management of the
clergy alone, as the ministers of God,
and responsible to his tribunal; and
that all mixed matters should depend on
a combination of these two species of
authority. Now, as almost all practical
questions are of a mixed nature, and as
Ave can hardly conceive any case purely
spiritual, except between an individual
and his Maker, Ave shall only have
learnt the nature of the difficulty in
question, by laying down these general
principles. When Ave look at the out
ward circumstances of the case, there
can be little doubt that, before the com
mencement of the Reformation, far too
much power existed in the hands of the
church, and that the priesthood had
assumed an inordinate degree of civil
jurisdiction, under the plea of spiritual
government. ItAvas natural, therefore,
for those Avho endeavoured to overthrow
this anomaly, to fall into the opposite
extreme, and Avhile they combated the
misuse of such a power, to deny the
e.xistence of it altoo-ether. It Avere to

2See« 201.
T "

103

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VL

be wished, perhaps, that all bodies cor
porate should correct themselves ; but
it must require much external pressure,
and much internal wisdom, which shall
enable the better members of such a
society to effect a general amendment.
There was in this case an abundance
of external pressure ; and though there
was much of internal Avisdom, yet that
Avisdom had rather been opened to a
hw by the perusal of the Scriptures,
and the examination of the question,
than diffused through the mass by the
gradual extension of knowledge.
§ 337. On one side therefore was the
truth, supported by the strength which
it must always possess, and favoured
by.those Avho were placed in the highest
stations, both in state and church, and
supported by a party formidable from
their number, and respectable from their
attainments. On the other, were the
ignorance of the people, and their pre
judices ; but this Avas aided by the in
terested views of the clergy, who AA^ere
scattered through every village, and
possessed a force Avhich was by no
means balanced by the selfishness of a
feAV courtiers, who had profited by the
spoliation of the church. The courtier
cared little for the establishment of one
religion or another, provided he could
secure his Avealth ; but the village
pastor and his partisans were led to
esteem the cause Avhich they advocated
as the cause of God, and formed a tre
mendous phalanx, which might be di
rected to the most dangerous under-
ta*kinQ-s. Whoever, therefore, attempted
to guide the cause of the Reformation,
during the reign of Edward VI. , must
either have Availed for the slow deve
lopement of Christian education, and
the falling off by death of those AA'ho
opposed his plans, or he must have
exerted an external force, which might
overthrow the immediate power of his
opponents ; and the question of em
ploying the one or the other of these
means could hardly have admitted of
debate, when the health of the king and
the opinions of his successor Avere taken
into the account ; nor can we fail to
examine with interest the opinions of
Cranmer himself, as far as they bear
on this point. What is here stated is
derived from the ansAvers Avhich he gave
to such questions as Avere proposed to

certain divines in 1540,^ and in which
the offices and authority of the priest-
hoodare examined: fromhence itwould
appear, that his own sentiments w^ere
nearly Erastian: he seems to esteem
the Avhole of the clerical office as de
pendent entirely on the civil magis
trate ;'' that there Avas originally no dif
ference between a bishop and a priest ;'
thatthe prince or the people might make
a priest for themselves,* for whom no
consecration was necessary ;^ and that
the power of excommunication depends
entirely on the civil authority committed
to a bishop. ° It may be remarked that
these opinions are not discoverable in
the formation of our church services,
Avhich are almost entirely taken from
those of the Roman ritual, yet a trace
of them remains in those articles which
refer to the church, and among which
Art. XIX., XXL, and XXIII. might be
subscribed by any one who held opi
nions" purely Erastian.
§ 838. With these views, therefore,
and placed under these circumstances,
we can hardly be surprised if in his pro
ceedings he leaned tOAvards the civil
authority, which Avas in great "measure
under his own direction. His plan of
proceeding generally Avas to intrust the
task of reforming any particular branch
of church matters to a committee of di
vines appointed by the crown, some
times on the ground of the ecclesiastical
supremacy, and sometimes under an
act of parliament, and then to sanction
the result by a fresh bill, or by publish
ing it under the royal authority. This
method of proceeding may be esteemed
very unconstitutional Avith regard to the
convocation ; but if the supreme author
ity be lodged in the civil magistrate, in
him too must be vested the power of
finally approving or rejecting all regu
lations Avith regard to the service ofthe
church. The Prayer Book Avas framed
by clergymeh, and the act of uniformity
enjoined, that in those churches where
the ministry Avas supported by the
church property this service should be
used ; and the only real hardship seems
to consist in this, that those individuals
who disapproved of it were not allowed
any Christian liberty of absenting them-

' Burnet, I. in. Rec. No. 21.
= Qu. 9. 3 Qu. 10. 1 Qu. 11.
5 Qu. 12. 6 Qu. 16.

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

103

selves from the churches, and of seek
ing elsewhere a service better suited to
their OAvn opinions. To say that the
country Avould have become Moham
medan,' if the court had enjoined it, is
to assert what can neither be proved
or disproved. The alterations Avere im
posed by the civil authority, and many
persons received them Avith great un
willingness ; but this might have been
equally the case, had they been im
posed by some ecclesiastical power
alone, and if the support of the crown
had been required merely to enforce the
mandates of the spiritual tribunal. The
exertion, therefore, of a temporal poAver
cannot vitiate the enactment itself, and
•he propriety or impropriety of it must
depend on its intrinsic merits. It must
be acknowledged that great severity
and injustice were used tOAvards some
churchmen, particularly towards Gar
diner and Bonner; but this cannot in
validate the orthodoxy of those changes
in doctrine or discipline to which they
as individuals objected. It is as absurd
for a Roman Catholic to reject the tenets
ofthe church of England because they
were imposed by act of parliament, as
it would be for a Protestant to discard
the truths of Christianity because they
have been derived to us, accompanied
with errors, through the churchof Rome.
Every change introduced into the church
of England rhust receive its final sanc
tion in precisely the same Avay : nor
does there appear to be any solid reason
why the laity, who possess a strong
interest in every thing connected Avith
the service of the church, should not
exercise an influence in its being adopt
ed or rejected.
§ 339. 'These observations, however,
will hardly apply to the commissions
which were granted to the bishops. If
the existence of ^ Christian priesthood
be derived from God, surely the civil
magistrate cannot have any other power
over it than that of preventing spiritual
authority from being applied to tempo
ral purposes. It may limit the use of
it with regard to public ministrations ;
but if the authority of Cranmer were
entirely human ; if, when he ordained
to the ministry, the act depended solely
on the commission from the king, it

' Strype's Annals, III. ii. 368, No. 54.

seems unnecessary to reason about dif
ferent forms of church government, or
to contend for the sacred character of
the ministers of the gospel, there is
really no such thing as a priesthood.
Many parts of the episcopal authority
are essentially derived from the crown ;
but there is something beyond this
Avhich is derived from God ; and this
measure can by no means be approved
of, if any of the principles on Avhich
Ave have been reasoning be admitted.
Granting, however, that the commis
sions Avere totally false in the principle
on Avhich they depended, this fact can
not invalidate the acts of those Avho
held a real episcopal character under a
false idea; and it is evident that the
chief part of the bishops of that period,
however they might be forced to act
under these commissions, entertained
opinions on the ecclesiastical functions,
corresponding Avith those Avhich have
been here laid doAvn. Nor, on the
other hand, supposing that the correct
ness of all Avhich was done jvere clearly
established, does it follow that ihe so
doing it was either politic or judicious ;
and Cranmer may not only have used
severity towards those who opposed
him, but have adopted steps which can
not be justified — may have virtually
forced the consciences of the Aveak, in
hastily imposing on them those changes
which Avould have been adopted quietly,
or gradually modified, had he allowed
the progress of opinion to follow its
natural course.
§ 340. In order to judge of the
foundation on Avhich this charge is
raised, Ave may inquire Avhat Avould
have been the result of such a proceed
ing ? Were there no hasty spirits who
Avould have borne doAA'n, not only the
errors of Romish superstitions, but the
decencies, too, of public Avorship, Avhich
AA'e have derived from Rome ? Was
there no necessity of issuing proclama
tion after proclamation against those
who were eager to innovate and to
destroy every vestige of whatever had
been once misused? Compare what
took place in Scotland with the events
in England. Do we owe no gratitude
to those who, when the tide of reforma
tion seemed likely to overbear the liniits
of moderation, endeavoured to guido
and direct its course by the force of legal

104

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VL

enactments ? The active friends of
reformation restrained their own zeal
Avhen the work was carried on by those
in authority ; but could fJranmer, or
anyone else, have successfully opposed
this torrent? and can we imagine ihat
hi; himself Avould have been able to
introduce these more quiet alterations,
had he failed lo exert his temporal in
fluence ? The friends of the church of ;
Scotland may rejoice that no moderate
reformer stepyied forward from among
their bishops to modify the violence of
those who overthrew the whole of what
had been long established ; but the ad
mirer of our episcopal church must,
under God, than Iv Cranmer that his par
liamentary interference saved our apos
tolic establishment from the rude hands
of ignorant reformers, Avho, in their zeal
for re-establishing the religion of the
Bible, cast off the innocence of the
dove and the prudence of the serpent.
Nothing but these rapid proceedings,
founded on the temporal power which
he possessecl„ and which he exerted in
reforming v.'h.it was ^miss, could have
prevented others from withstanding all
attempts at amendment, till the force
of the multitude had, as in Scotland,
thrown doAvn Avhat the episcopalian Avill
consider as almost the church itself.
So far, then, from blaming the arch
bishop for his manner of reforming by
legislative enactments, Ave must con
sider that the existence of our establish
ment, in 'its present apostolical form, is
owing to this very circumstance.
§ 341. In examining hoAV much the
Reformation in England Avas affected
by the opinions entertained by the di
vines of the Lutheran or Calvinistic
schools, it should be remembered that
the fame and notoriety of the reformer
of Geneva was little spread at the pe
riod Avhen the authoritative documents
of the church of England Avere pub
lished, and that these productions were
directed against the errors of the Ro
man church, rather than intended to
mark the differences which might exist
among Protestants. At a later period,
the sentiments of Calvin undoubtedly
affected in a great degree the opinions
of individual divines of our church ;
but the formularies Avhich distinguish
us as a Christian community had no
reference to the theology of Geneva,

and are derived, in a great degree, from
the Lutherans.'
We have before seen that Henry
VIII. Avas particularly anxious that Me
lancthon should visit England ; and the
same proposal was made to that re
former from Cranmer in the reign of
Edward VI. ; but this object was never
accomplished. He appears to have
been consulted in 1535 concerning the
Articles Avhich Avere published during
the next year; and the definition of
justification there given is probably
derived from the loci communes of this
author ; in the Avhole of these articles
the ideas and language of the Lutheran
divines have been closely followed.
Many of the Forty-tAvo Articles owe
their origin to the same source ;' and
even those which cannot be traced with
certainly exhibit a correspondence Avith
the general opinions of the German
divines. An exception, hoAvever, must
be made Avith regard to one article, in
which Cranmer differed totally from
them, and Avhich is strongly marked by
the clause against consubstantiation, or
ubiquitarianism, Avhich existed in the
Article on the Lord's Supper in the
Forty-tAvo Articles, but Avhich Avas omit
ted in the reign of Elizabeth ;' it may,
however, be Avorth remarking, that
Cranmer Avas called a Zuinglian, and
not a Calvinist, by Fox, as entertaining
this opinion. Some of the points in
Avhichthe Common Prayer Book differs
from the services of the Roman church
are derived from tbe reformed ser
vice of Herman, archbishop of Co-

' This quesiion, as for as relates to those arti
cles of our church which are sometimes deemed
Calvinlsilc, Is most ably handled by Archbishop
Laurence, in his Bampton Lectures^ who proves
clearly that they are drawn from Lutheran
sources. Indeed, the controversy on the predes
tinarian quesiion only began in Oct. 1551; Cal
vin's Hist tract was published in 1552, and the
dispute was continued for many years. Lau
rence's Bamp. Lect. 237.
2 See §481, fcc.
' " F'or as much as the truth of man's nature
requireih, that the body of one and the self-same
man cannot be at one time in divers places, but
must needs be in some one certain place; there
fore ihe body of Christ cannot be present, at one
lime, in many and divers places. And because (as
Iloly Scripture doth teach) Christ was taken up
inio heaven, and there shall continue unto the end
of the world, a faithful man onghl not either to
believe, or openly to confess, the real and bodily
pressenoe (as they term il) of Christ's flesh and
blood, in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper."
Art. 29 of the XLII. ; and 28 of the XXXIX.

Chap. VL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

105

logne,| and others OAVe their origin to
the Liturgy of Strasburg, which was
framed by Calvin,'^ but had been modi
fied before it was published in England.
§342. If this examination of the ques
tion shall surprise those who generally
esteem the authoritative documents of
the church of England original composi
tions, if it shall seem to detract from the
value Avhich is generally attached to the
labours of Archbishop Cranmer and his
colleagues, let it be remembered that
the sacred subject on which these
works were drawn up is the only one
in which originality is the Avorst of
faults. If the heathen philosopher
Avisely grounds the truth of his conclu
sions on the fact, that they do not mate
rially differ from the opinions of pre
vious investigators, surely the Chris
tian, who is employed in framing
articles of faith, may reasonably de
clare that he has only quitted the tenets
of his predecessors where he found
them inconsistent Avith the revealed
word of God.
At the commencement of the Refor
mation in England, our reformers natu
rally cast their eyes on tAvo standards
of faith — on that of the church of Rome,
and that of the Lutheran churches —
Avhich had already discarded the errors
of the papal court. The rule, then,
which sound reason would seem to dic
tate, is, that in those points Avherein the
church of England found it necessary
to differ from that of Rome, it should
refer to the opinions of the newly esta
blished churches, and foUoAv them as
far as they were consistent with Scrip
ture ; and where that Avhich was taught
by the Lutherans appeared to be ques
tionable, the church of England should
either borrow the expression of its opi
nions from some other reformed church,
or construct its own articles directly
from the word of God. And this ap
pears to be the plan on which these
documents in our own church were
framed. In our Articles are contained
the great truths of Christianity, which
we hold in common with the church of
Rome ; there are many more which
are derived from the Lutheran church ;
there are some in which we differ from

' See ^ 744, i.

14

2 See i 745, '.

both. In our public services, the greater
part of the Common Prayer Book is
taken from the Roman ritual, and some
portions are borroAved from the Luthe
ran churches, or rather drawn "P ii
imitation of them.
It may indeed be asked, Avhy our re
formers did not at once leave the works
of others, Avhich had been so generally
mixed up with errors ? Avhy they did not
seek at once for the standard of their
faith, and the formularies which Avere
to guide them in their prayers, from the
unerring rule of the word of God? But
such a question Avill be asked by those
only Avho are little aware of the difficul
ties which attend such an undertaking.
Standards of faith are only necessary
on account of the heresies into Avliich
mankind have run, and must be drawn
up Avith reference to such heresies. To
modify, therefore, the previous labours
of those Avho have gone before us in
detecting and restraining error, is not
only an easier and safer plan, but it is
one Avhich is much more consistent Avith
Christian modesty. The word of God,
in this case, does not immediately fur
nish the adequate means of preventing
errors ; for both parties often assume
the word of God to be Avith them; and
the only question is as to the interpre
tation which Ave ought to assign to it.
The form in which we address the
throne of grace is of less importance ;
the real question is, as to that for Avhich
we ask. When, therefore, the country
has been used to one form, it Avould be
injudicious to change it further than the
errors contained in such a composition
absolutely demand ; and in those points
Avhere alteration Avas necessary, true
Avisdom would lead us to imitate what
has already been adopted by our Chris
tian brethren, and of Avhich they have
testified their approval by continuing
its use.
With this view of the, subject, there
is every reason for applauding the con
duct of Archbishop Cranmer, and ad
miring our own standards, because they
so nearly resemble the works of the
same sort which preceded them ; and
to rejoice that the documents of our
church are not new, but amended tran
scripts of those Avhich our forerunners
have established.

106

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VH.

CHAPTER VII.

THE REIGN OF MARY I., FROM JULY 6, 1553, TO NOVEMBER 17, 1558.
351. Lady Jane Grey. 352. Mary seated on the throne; her promises. 353. Gardiner's plans.
3.54. IVlary prepares to restore popery. 355. Parliament. 356. Cardinal Pole, legate, delaj'ed on
his journey towards England. 357. Convocation. 358. Disputaiion held ui it. 359. 'Wyatt's
rebellion; executions. 360. Ejection of the married clergy. 361. Disputations at Oxford. 362.
Confession of faith of the Reformers published. 363. Marriage of the queen. 364. Reconciliation
wilh Rome. 365. Preparations for persecution. 366. Persecutions. 367. Disputes among the
Reformers in England and abroad. 368. Death of Gardiner. 369. Steps in favour of ihe church.
370. Death and character of Cranmer. 371. Many oihers suffer. 372. Pole, archbishop of Can
terbury ; documents destroyed. 373. 'VisUation of the universities. 374. Paul I'V. enraged with
Pole; disasters of the nation; persecutions. 375. Deaths and characters of Mary and Pole.

§ 351. The sentiments Avhich Mary
was known to entertain Avith regard to
religion induced some persons to ques
tion for a short time her title to the suc
cession, of the justice of which there
could be no real doubt. These same
fears had formerly induced many of the
council to assent to the measure adopt
ed in the will of Edward, and now co
operated in making them try to promote
this illegal settlement, and to advance
the ambitious plans of him Avho had de
vised it. The absurd poAvcr granted
by parliament to Henry VIIL, of naming
his successors in his will, had rendered
the order of inheritance less clearly de
fined in the minds of those about the
court, and many of them imagined that
the bequest of Edward was equally
binding in law with that of his father.
Of Lady Jane Grey,* to whom the
crown Avas now offered by her father
and father-in-law, the dukes of Suffolk
and Northumberland, the brightest ex
pectations were entertained ; and her
only fault seems to have been, that she
allowed ber own better judgment to be
influenced by the solicitations of her
friends. She had received a classical
education under the care of Dr. Ayl
mer, afterAvards bishop of London, and
taken such advantage of his instruc
tions, and the philosophy of our holy
faith, that she was prepared for either
the crown or the scaffold.
§ 352. The good sense and loyalty
of the nation quickly rendered her case
desperate, while the unpopularity of the
duke of Northumberland contributed
greatly to strengthen the party of

Mary : the friends, therefore, of the
queen became daily more poAverful,
were joined by the council, and she
was proclaimed throughout London on
the 19th of July. Within a feAv days,
the chief of her enemies AA'ere sent to
the ToAver, and she remained in quiet
possession of the throne. The only
point in Avhich she seems at this period
of her reign to have acted culpably was,
in an assurance given by her that she
would force no one's religion.
This promise Avas made to the Suf
folk m^n, Avho, being friendly to the re
formed doctrines, joined her standard
from a sense of duty ; Avhereas her
knoAvn love to the papacy renders it pro
bable, that from the first she AA'as de
termined to pursue steps Avhich could
not be carried on without breaking the
pledge given to those Avho supported
her. The promise Avas repeatetl pub
licly on the 12th of August before the
council," and on the 18th by a procla
mation ; but in both these cases a tacit
reservation seems to be made in the
prospect of some alteration in the law
of the land. Frajn. her general con
duct, we can hardly conceive her to
have been insincere when she made it;
but she must have been very Aveak and
ignorant, to suppose that the Avishes of
her heart could be accomplished withr
out falsifying such a declaration.
§ 353. The government was noAv un
der the direction of Gardiner, who was>
in many respects a politic man, and un
derstood the temper of the country."
His plan was to have restored every

I Burnet, ii. 174.

2 Strype's Eccl. Mem. v. 38. Fox,iii. 14.
3 Burnet, ii. 180.

Chap. VIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

107'

thing connected with religion to the
state in which it had been left by Hen
ry VIIL, and thus by degrees to have
brought back the kingdom to a recon
ciliation Avith the court of Rome. This
scheme favoured his own private views,
as well as the public objects towards
which it Avas directed ; and had it been
temperately pursued, might have led to
the* re-establishment of the papacy in
England, by sloAver, yet surer steps,
than those which Avere adopted ; Avhile
it would have freed the chancellor from
some alarm, which he could not but feel,
at the prospect ofthe speedy arrival of
Cardinal Pole, Avho never trusted him,
and Avho Av-as from many circumstances
likely to gain an influence over the
queen, inconsistent Avith the interests of
Gardiner. These prospects, hoAvever,
of moderation, and the hopes which
her declarations had infused into the
reformers, were soon dissipated ; for
the early acts of the reign were strong
ly marked Avith precipitancy as Avell as
severity." Bonner'' proceeded to take
possession of his see (August 5th) Avith
out any legal revocation of the sentence
by Avhich he had been deprived ; and
the intemperance of Bourn, his chap
lain, who preached soon after at St.
Paul's Cross, produced such a tumult,
that the life of the preacher was en
dangered, and only preserved by the
interference of some of the Protestant
divines. § 354. In consequence of this, all ser
mons were prohibited till licenses had
been given under the great seal to such
persons only as Avere likely to spread
the doctrines of the church of Rome ;
and a commission was issued for the
purpose of setting aside the depriva
tions of those bishops who had been
ejected : so that every measure seemed
rapidly tending to the re-establishment
of the ancient order of things. It be
came apparent, too, that the church Avas
the object which predominated in the
mind of the queen, who, in promoting
the interests of Rome, forgot those ties
by which human beings are most close-

' Mass was said in London at St. Nicholas',
August 21. (Strype's Eccl. Mem. v. 34.1 Moun
tain was persecuted by Gardiner for celebrating
the communion before the service had been
changed, p. 104. Mass was celebrated at the
opening of parliament, 57.
2 Strype's Eccl. Mem. v. 27.

ly connected. She used cruelty towards
one of the Suffolk men, vho intempe-
rately reminded her of her promise
Avith regard to religion, and imprisoned
Judge Hales, who had strongly advo
cated her cause against the pretensions
of Lady Jane Grey, because he urged
the magistrates in Kent to put in force
the laws of EdAvard Avhich were still
unrepealed. These Avere but sad pros
pects for the friends of the Reformation,
and they began to prepare themselves
for the struggle. The foreigners Avho
had been established in this country
were now dismissed ; and many of the
English clergy gradually fled beyond
sea, to preserve their lives for better
times, and to enjoy that liberty of con
science in a distant land which they
could no longer hope for at home. But
the more exalted members of the church,
Avhose situations held them up as exam
ples to their flocks, notAvithstanding that
they were advised to fly, remained at
their posts, ready to serve God by suf
fering in his cause, as Avell as to wor
ship him in safety, and in the sunshine
which the favour of the court shed
around their pious exertions. Hooper
and Coverdale repaired before the coun
cil when summoned ; and Cranmer,
since it was maliciously reported that
he was ready to concede every \thing,
drew up a protest' against the mass,
which Avas unfortunately circulated be
fore it was finished for publication ; and
when he could not deny that he was
the author of it, he was by the council
committed to the Tower, on the charge
of high treason.
§ 355. In the parliament which was
assembled October 5, the marriage of
Henry and Catharine was confirmed, an
object which the queen had much at
heart, and which Gardiner had promised
to procure ; but he of all men Avas the
least fit to be the agent in such a trans
action, who had been most active in pro
curing the divorce, and had been joined
in the commission by which the marriage
had been declared void. The acts of
the last reign relating to religion were
at once annulled, and severe penalties
imposed on those who interfered Avith
the performance of any sacred functios.
8 This letter is printed at length in Strype's
Cranmer, 437.

108

HISTORY OF THE

In the act of attainder against the Lady
J. Grey and her husband, Cranmer was
comprehended, and though his see was
noAV legally void, yet was he still re
garded as archbishop, by those Avho
Avished to uphold the ecclesiastical ex
emptions, and to proceed against him
on other grounds.
§ 355. In consequence of some pri
vate communications betAveen Mary and
the court of Rome, Cardinal Pole was
appointed legate, Avith full powers for
the reconciliation of the kingdom, and
immediately commenced his journey
towards England; but he Avas stopped
on the way, through the interference of
Gardiner, who represented to the em
peror the danger of so precipitate a step,
which might probably prevent the mar
riage between Philip and Mary, (an
object to which the attention of Charles
Avas noAV directed,) and create a fermen
tation in the country, very prejudicial
to the interests of the queen. A suspi
cion is suggested by Burnet, that she
herself was influenced by more tender
motives, in requesting that the legantine
commission might be intrusted to the
cardinal, hoping that he might obtain a
dispensation to marry her, as he was
only a deacon ; but the tale rests on
very slight foundation ; and had Gar
diner been aware of such a wish on the
part of Mary, he would probably have
fostered an arrangement which must
have left the prospect of the see of Can
terbury open to his OAvn ambitious views.
The queen sent a messenger to the
legate Avhile he remained in Germany,
to state the progress which she had made
in the cause of the church of Rome, and
desired him not to proceed to England
till further notice. The wisdom of this
delay was very apparent ; for the na
tion was generally adverse to the two
measures in which the court was noAv
engaged. The parliament had conceded
every point with regard to religion, as
far as it was unconnected with politics,
but they were anxious that the crown
of England should not be deprived of
the spiritual supremacy which it had
acquired, and abominated the idea of
becoming an appendage to the Spanish
monarchy. So strong indeed was the
general feeling against the match with
Spain, that a deputation of the speaker
and twenty members of the House of

[Ch.4p. vu.
Commons waited on the queen to depre
cate any thoughts of a marriage with a
foreigner : but instead of producing the
desired effect, the parliament itself was
dissolved, and the enormous sum of
twelve hundred thousand crowns Avas
said to have been intrusted to Gardiner
by Philip, in hopes that the enemies of
the marriage might be bought off from
their opposition.
§ 357. In order to give freedom of
discussion to the convocation which Avas
noAv called," an act of parliament was
previously passed, repealing the sta
tutes of Henry VIII. Avhich rendered
all persons Avho joined in framing ca
nons without the royal permission liable
to a prsmunire ; a penalty which must
have subjected the ecclesiastical author
ity to the civil power, and not only have
offended the prejudices of a Roman
Catholic, but have tended, too, to limit
the privileges of the church. Weston,
dean of Westminster, Avas appointed
prolocutor, a man much looked up to
on account of the firmness Avhich he had
exhibited in the former reign. Its first
act was directed against the Common
Prayer, which it denominated an abo
minable book, and declared to be here
tical, on account of the denial of tran
substantiation Avhich it contained. The
same stigma Avas also afllxed to the
Catechism," said to be set forth by order
of convocation. These steps produced
a warm discussion in the Lower House ;
but of the proceedings of the bishops no
record remains. Care had been taken
that among the proctors elected by the
clergy such men alone should be found
as favoured the prevailing cause, but
of those who sat in right of the situa
tions Avhich they held in the church,'
six were found "bold enough to contro
vert the sentiments of the ruling party,
and to enter into a disputation against
the poAver and numbers with Avhich they
found themselves surrounded. At this
disputation many of the council Avere
present, from Avhom, during the heat of
the discussion, Avhen the arguments of
the Protestants Avere borne down by the
clamour of the majority, they received
more liberty of expressing their senti
ments than their ecclesiastical opponents

¦ Strype's Ecc. Mem. v. 59.
3 Fox's Acts and Mon. iii. 16.

2 See ^ 331.

Chap. VIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

109

would have allowed ; but from the com
mencement, for it lasted three days, it
was apparent that this bold minority
could entertain little hope of obtaining
a fair hearing ; Weston indeed declared
that they Avere assembled, not to call in
question the undoubted truth of tran
substantiation, but to answer the ob
jections of those Avho refused to sub
scribe to this undeniable proposition.
And so manifest Avere the difficulties
against which the friends of the refor
mation had to contend, that Avhen they
Avere refused the assistance of Rogers
and Ridley, most of the six declined
entering on the question, and were only
draAvn into the debate by degrees, in
supporting Cheyney, AA'ho Avould not
avoid the contest under every disad
vantage. § 358. Discussions of this public na
ture have but little effect, except per
haps the evil one of warming the pas
sions by connecting human vanity Avith
sacred truth ; but Ave cannot fail to ad
mire the bold zeal of men Avho ventured
to stem the torrent of virulence and
persecution, merely to convince the by
standers of the goodness of their cause ;
and in this point of vieAA' their exertions
probably even now produced some good
effect ; for at the close, Avhen the House
was asked Avhether sufficient answers
had not been given to the objections of
the reformers, and the clergy were
ready in the affirmative, the multitude
who stood around instantly vociferated.
No ! no ! The reformers had found
therasel ves treated Avith so little fairness,
that they refused to become the respond
ents ; and the whole argument Avas
summed up by a remark of Weston's,
which briefly stated the merits of the
controversy, "You have the Avord,"
said he, "but Ave have the SAvord." An
observation calculated to shoAv the
erroneous principles assumed by the
church of Rome, as Avell as to display
the cruelty of the individual. Men
vested Avith unlimited poAver are ge
nerally the same in all communions;
and the friends of the papacy cannot
hope to be more fortunate in this respect
than other Christian bodies ; and Avher-
ever the infallibility of the church is
asserted, then farcAvell to truth and to
every hope of obtaining it, since it be
comes the duty of those vested Avith

authority not to enter into any dis
cussions by Avhich reformation may be
promoted or truth elicited, but to curb
with the severe mandates of autocracy
the idea of calling in question any of its
tenets ; and these words of the prolo
cutor, harsh as they may appear to a
Protestant ear, become the language of
sincerity, when proceeding from the
mouth of a consistent Roman Catholic,
who allows not the possibility of salva
tion beyond the limits of his own church.
§359. (a.d. 1554.) The Spanish con
nection Avas so much disliked by the
nation in general, that though the court
of Madrid granted terms absurdly bene
ficial to the English crown, it was fol
lowed by a rebellion. The ramifica
tions of this plot Avere numerous, but
the discovery of one branch, Avhich in
the west of England Avas conducted by
Sir Peter CareAV, proved destructive to
the rest. He himself fled ; but the un
wise duke of Suffolk just did so much
as to incur the crime of treason, Avithout
benefiting the cause Avhich he espoused;
and the only one of the leaders Avho
made any movement in the affair Avas
Sir Thomas Wyat in Kent, Avhose rebel
lious forces, after some trifling successes,
Avere dispersed, and he himself taken
prisoner at Temple Bar. The practical
effect of this injudicious and unwarrant
able proceeding Avas to strengthen the
hands of the queen, and to give her an
opportunity of using severity on the
unfortunate Lady Jane Grey and her
husband. Mary behaved with great
courage and propriety throughout the
whole period of danger, and never re
moved from Whitehall; nor can Ave
venture to blame her for the execution
of these young persons Avho had been
guilty of treason, notAvithstanding the
palliations Avhich may be urged in their
favour. And though we cannot help
pitying the early fate of one so young
and lovely, yet the Christian spirit Avith
Avhich she died is much more calculated
to raise our admiration, and to excite us
to the imitation of such studies and pur
suits as enabled a Avoman about seven
teen years of age to meet death Avith
tranquillity and resignation. We may
remember, too, that she suffered for a
crime into Avhich the ambition of her
relations had hurried her against her
wishes and her conscience. The duke
K

110

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VJI.

of Suffolk, Wyat, and fifty-four others
• were executed, and a large number^ of
the common people Avere forced to beg
their lives with halters about their necks.
Elizabeth Avas confined, and the pro
ceedings were generally severe, parti
cularly in fining the jury which had
. acquitted Sir Nicholas Throgmorton.
§ 300. Strengthened by the discom
fiture of this rebellion, Mary com
menced the Avork of anti-reformation.
The first act Avas to publish articles of
directions for the bishops in their pro
ceedings against the friends of the op
posite party ; and the chief object of
attack was the marriage of the clergy,
of which the parliamentary sanction
had been annulled in the general re
peal of King EdAvard's laws. But
even those Avho quitted their Avives
were ejected from their preferments,
and the Avhole Avas carried on under a
commission from the queen as supreme
head of the church, a title Avhich she
did not care to assume, except to expel
the reformed clergy from their bene
fices. The bishoprics of York, St. Da
vid, Chester, and Bristol, Avere declared
void on account of the marriage of
those Avho held them ; and Lincoln,
Hereford, and Gloucester, on the plea
that they Avere held by royal patent,
upon the good behaviour of the pos
sessors, a condition Avhich it Avas alleged
these bishops had manifestly not ful
filled. Accidental circumstances produced
many other vacancies, so that, Avith the
restoration of deprived bishops, there
Avas at this period an alteration of six
teen out of the bench. The number of
priests Avho were now ejected, though
variously stated and perhaps exagge
rated, was in all probability considera
ble. The Avhole proceeding must be
regarded as arbitrary, and more tyran
nical and illegal than what had been
done with regard to Bonner and Gar
diner ; for these married priests had
for'med the connection under the au
thority of the law of the land, and
Avithout violating any promise to the

' This number is variously stated. Burnet
makes it 600; Holinshed, 400 ; Slow, 240. Gar
diner is said to have preached before the queen on
thellth, the day before Lady Jane's execution,
and to have urged her not to show mercy.
Strype's Ecc. Mem. v. 140, 145.

' contrary made at ordination ; since il
appears that the oath used in England,
in that service, Avas conceived in such
terms as did not interfere with the
chastity of the marriage-bed ; yet when
[he new act abrogated the previous
concession, the alternative of compli
ance was not offered, but they were at
once deprived of their preferments :
many indeed were subsequently admit
ted to other benefices ; but this, though
it diminished the hardship, did not ob
viate the evils inseparable from con
siderable changes ;" and the rapidity
with Avhich this Avas effected unsettled
the minds of the people in general as
to the distinctions of right and Avrong ;
an observation Avhich applies to the
Avhole of the present alterations in
religion. § 361. Every one had, during the
late reign, sAvorn to the supremacy of
the king. When, therefore, they now
found themselves obliged to renounce
this oath, and Avere absolved from it,
they learnt to despise the sanctity of
promises ; and the clergy, who should
have been the firmest in the observance
of so sacred a bond, were the first to
take advantage of any means by Avhich
they might escape from it : and, in
order to conceal the baseness of their
conduct, introduced abundance of hy
pocrisy, frequently adapting their pro
fessions to the sentiments of the indi
viduals Avhose approbation they sought.
But the council confined not itself to
these less conspicuous victims ; and
steps Avere taken to prepare the way
for more important proceedings. A
public disputation was held at Oxford
on April 16, in Avhich, on three suc
cessive days, Cranmer, Ridley, and
Latimer Avere exposed to the argu
ments and insults of certain opponents,
Avho Avere armed Avith full authority
from convocation, and backed by the
applauding clamours of the ignorant
and prejudiced clergy ;'* and in their
conduct on this occasion these martyrs
perhaps shoAved as much patient en-

2 Strype's Cranmer, III. ix. 476.
^ The previous steps laken by Gardiner, at
Magdalen College, (Fuller, viii. p. 7,) may enable
us to account in some measure for the httle favour
which was extended to these eminent martyrs by
members of the university. All the frienilsof the
Reformation had probably been driven away,
(Strype's Ecc. Mem. v. 81.)

Chap. VIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Ill

durance, as in the torments to which
they were subsequently exposed ; for
it may fairly be questioned whether the
overbearing dogmatism of such a tri
bunal Avere not more difficult to be en
countered Avith Christian meekness
than any bodily pains which could be
inflicted, and Avhich Avere to be borne
as inevitable sufferings in a righteous
cause. § 382. To enter into the details of
such a transaction would exceed the
limits of this Avork, and the force of the
whole Avould be lost by such abridg
ment as Avould be necessary. They
may be found at length in Fox, from
Avhence they are copied into Words-
Avorth's Ecclesiastical Biography : suf
fice it to say, that the triumph of the
Roman Catholic party Avas, as might
have been anticipated, complete, and
that the three prisoners, when con
demned by their earthly judges, ap
pealed to the righteous decision of the
tribunal of heaven ; upon Avhich Wes
ton declared that, if they Avent to heaven,
he Avas persuaded that he should never
come there. The treatment Avhich had
been experienced by the bishops at
Oxford induced the prisoners in Lon
don to decline any public disputations.
In this they were probably wrong ; for
however little fairness' they could ex
pect, still the example and effect of
bearing patiently, for the cause of
truth, insults, as Avell as death, must
alAvays prove the sincerity of that faith
on which their reliance AA'as placed. In
order that -their real belief might be
known, the reformers who Avere in
prison published a confession of faith
consisting of eight articles,^ in which
they declared that they received the
Scriptures as the word of God, that
they admitted the Catholic creeds of
the four first centuries, believed in jus
tification by faith, and rejected the use
of the Latin tongue in the, church ser
vice, the invocation of saints, purgatory,
the mutilation of the Lord's Supper,
transubstantiation, and the adoration of
the elements, and asserted the lawful-

t One of the strongest evidences against the
sincerity of the opponenis to tbe Protestant dispu
tants is, thjt they deprived the champions of the
reformers of all booJis, or the means of preparing
themselves by writing or study. (Protestalio
Ridleii, 53, 55. Ench. Theol.)
2 Strype's Ecc. Mem. vi. 224, No. 17.

ness of marriage to every order of men :
on these points tncy offered to dispute,
if called on by proper authority.
§ 363. The marriage of the queen,
though it produced a short calm for
those who had offended against the civil
power, does not appear to have ob
tained the same favour for any who
Avere persecuted for religion ; and Phi
lip, though he probably saved the life
of Elizabeth from the suspicious seve
rity of her sister, and obtained the par
don of several Avho were condemned,
procured for himself little kindness from
the English, Avho were justly offended
at the proceedings of the court, the
changes Avhich were daily making in
religion, and the political and personal
connection into Avhich the queen had
herself entered. These feelings Avere
not at all diminished by the vindictive
spirit with Avhich Mary punished those
Avho had spread malicious reports con
cerning herself ; nor did the violent
conduct of Bonner, during his visita
tion, tend to diminish the general indig
nation and disgust of the nation. The
Protestants vented their ill-humour in
deriding and ridiculing the superstitions
ofthe Romish church; the Roman
Catholics exerted themselves in esta
blishing the most objectionable parts
of their rites, regardless of the feelings
of men who Avere already exasperated,
and every step served but to add viru
lence to the persecutions Avhich soon
began to be exercised.
§ 384. The autumn was chiefly occu
pied by the steps towards a reconcilia
tion with the church of Rome. One of
the first acts ofthe parliament which Avas
assembled in November was to repeal
the attainder of Cardinal Pole,-Avho in
the mean time had been allowed to
proceed to England ; and Avithin a few
days after his arrival the nation Avas
absolved upon the request of the Iaa'o
Houses, and once more received into
the bosom of the papal church ; the
acts vA'hich had of late years passed
against the authority and jurisdiction
of the papacy were repealed ; and
every thing but the church lands re
stored to their former condition. The
convocation had made a petition that
this point might not be pressed, con
vinced that the spoilers would never
surrender their prey, and, to use their

il3

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VII.

own words, preferring the salvation of
souls to their own private interests. But
the ansAver of the cardinal excited the
most lively fears among the "detain
ers" of ecclesiastical lands, by inveigh
ing strongly against such sacrilege,'
Avhile from necessity he sanctioned the
adoption of the law. As an intermedi
ate step, the Statute of Mortmain Avas
repealed for tAventy years, so that the
church Avas enablecl to receive the do
nations which the fears or piety of the
nation might be induced to bestoAV upon
it. But the bull published by Paul IV.
in the next year, Avhich virtually an
nulled all these acts of the legate, proved
how little faith can be placed in the
promises of a power which arrogates
to itself the right of absolving the sa
cred tie AA'hich is established by an oath.
This parliament had in all probability
been greatly bribed, so that little oppo
sition Avas made to the Avishes of the
queen and clergy ; and Gardiner, VfJaaX'-
ever may be our opinion of him as a
man, showed considerable talents as
a politician. The severe acts against
heresy Avere reneAved, and others passed,
which tended to strengthen the hands in
which the administration of affairs was
placed. § 365. (a. d. 1555.) Before the com
mencement of the terrible persecution
with Avhich this year Avas disgraced, a
question Avas agitated, as to the manner
in which the government should pro
ceed against heretics : nor should it
ever be forgotten, that the side of rea
son and mercy found its advocate in
Cardinal Pole. Gardiner, Avhose opi
nions Avere at variance with these milder
plans, had suffered much under the reign
of EdAvard, and his politic mind showed
him that nothing short of the severest
measures could then have reduced the
nation to its former dependence on the
authority of the pope : add to AA'hich,
that there existed a strong feeling of
personal antipathy belAveen the chan
cellor and those who Avere now subject
ed to his poAver ; and these evil passions
Avere strongly excited by the republica
tion at Strasburg of his own book, in
which he had advocated the cause of the
' He bade them consider the judgments of God,
which fell on Belshazzar, for his profanely using
the holy vessels, though they had not been taken
away by himself, but by his father.

divorce, and heaped many reproachful
expressions on the mother of the queen;
a very delicate piece of vengeance, of
which he could not but be very sensible.
The feast of reconciliation Avith the
church of Rome, AA'hich was established
by the cardinal, (Jan. 25,) was followed
by the persecution of men Avhose only
crime consisted in their refusing to sub
scribe to doctrines which they had pre-
I viously rejected, and from Avhich they
had been zealously trying to turn aAvay
their brethren. In order to give effect
to this step, and that the state of the re
formed part of the population might be
correctly ascertained, it was ordered, in
the instructions given by Cardinal Pole,
that books should be kept b};- the bishops
and their officials, in Avhich the names
of those Avho had been reconciled to
the church of Rome might be inserted,
and that processes might be instituted
against the rest ;'' a measure Avhich, had
it been carried into effect AA'ith any ac-.
tivity, must have constituted an inquisi
tion the most formidable that Avas ever
established, inasmuch %s the previous
state of the kingdom had induced men
to declare their real sentiments, and to
throw aside that caution Avhich is the only
safeguard against inquisitorial tyranny.
§ 366. It will be useless to record
more than the names of the chief re
formers Avho perished in the flames,
(some particulars shall be added in
Appendix F,) for records of this de
scription lose their Avhole force and
beauty by being abridged ; and if they
are to benefit us by iheir perusal, they
must be examined in all the details of
the original historians. Rogers Avas
burnt in Smithfield, Hooper at Glouces
ter, Saunders at Coventry, and Taylor
at Hadley. Gardiner was disappointed
Avith the effect of these executions ; for
judging of the influence of fear from
himself, he had miscalculated on the
poAver of terror in the cause of religion.
Nothing but extreme severity could pos
sibly have put doAvn the flame Avhich
was now kindled ; but the public exhi
bition of those Avho so patiently suffered,
animated others to the struggle, and led
the friends of the papacy to mistrust the
doctrines of a church Avhich used for its
support means so diabolical.

2 Strype's Cranmer, 498.

Chap. VIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

113

The general feeling of disgust which
was excited by these severities,' was
fostered by a book in the form of a
petition against persecution, published
abroad, and sent over into this country
by the reformers ; and though the king-
disclaimed any share in these proceed
ings, and Alphonsus,'* a Spanish friar,
ventured to preach against them before
the court, yet no effectual stop was put
to them, and they Avere carried on
throughout the whole year ; during
which, four bishops, thirteen priests,
and fifty others, suffered at the stake.
The disappointment Avith regard to
Mary's expected delivery' did not tend
to lessen the number of these execu
tions; for it is reported that she had
conceived an idea that she should never
be brought to bed till all the heretics
in prison Avere burnt. Their deaths,
hoAvever, did not procure for her the
relief for which she looked ; and bfefore
the enirbf the year Philip began to neb^-
lect l^r,'"having given up all hopes of
a family,''the only circumstance Avhich
could have proilured for him an influ
ence iri the country, and fulfilled the
ambitious vieAvs Avith Avhich he had
formed the connexion.
§ 367. The steps Avhich Avere taken
to detect and convict heretics had gone
very^ near the establishment of an in
quisition ; for the justices of the peace
Avere directed to look out some Avell-
affected persons in every parish, Avho
might give secret information concern
ing their neighbours ; and the lieute
nant of the ToAver Avas ordered to alloAv
the use of torture for the discovery of
the truth ; and though these instru
ments Avere probably applied to the
detection of civil as well as ecclesiasti
cal offences, yet where, under a govern
ment so earnest in the interests of the
church, their introduction had been
sanctioned, little could be Avanting but
the organization of a chamber of in
quisitors. The numerous letters of di
rections and thanks for attending the

• Strype's Ann. i. 261.
2 As the subsequent conduct of Philip, and the
general character of Alphonsus de Castro, (see
White's Evidence against Cathohcism, note G,
p. 251, 2d edit.) prevent us from attributing this
measure to Chrisiian charity, their opinion with
regard to the impolicy of these severities is at least
strongly marked. Strype's Ecc. Mem. v-. 333.
" Burnet, vol. iii. 174, fol. 419, 8vo.
15

execution of heretics, which were ad
dressed to the gentry, prove that the
civil poAver, when it became the hand
maid of superstitions intolerance, stood
in need of every support, lest the unre
strained feelings of the common people
should have tempted them to commit
acts of violence against a government
which Avas turning the power intrusted
to it for the preservation of its subjects
to their destruction, both of body and
soul. The prisons Avere filled Avith the
friends ofthe Reformation, numbers of
Avhom were found ready to undergo any
sufferings in the cause on Avhich their
hopes were fixed.* Many fled beyond
sea, and many more temporized Avith
the civil authority, by publicly attend
ing mass, or entirely renouncing their
faith. But the apostasy of these members is
not more painful than the disputes by
which these persecuted believers added
to ,their oVn sufferings. They quar
relled on the subject of frecAvill and
predestination ;= and in the discussion,
unfortunately, some of them fell into
Pelagianism : nor Avas the evil confined
to this country," but arose also among
the English Avho were scattered on the
Continent, and broke out Avith disgrace
ful warmth at Frankforf and other

¦• Strype's Cranmer, 501, ii. III. xiv.
5 See an account of this dispute in a pamphlet
published by Archbishop Laurence. Great offence
was taken at some of the prisoners in the King's
Bench, for gaming, (1554, 5,) and they, in defend
ing themselves, maintained strongly the doctrines
of election and reprobation, running into Antino
mianism s compromises were made, but no solid
reconciliation was effected. Bradford wrote a trea
tise on predestination, which he sent to Oxford, for
the approbation of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer.
The bishop of London alone answered him, but
did not approve of the work. The conduct of
some of the parties appears to have been disgrace
ful. Authentic Documents relative to the Pre
destinarian Controversy, 8vo. O.xford, 1819.
'' Strype's Cranmer, 507, ii. III. xv.
' There is a full but prejudiced account of the
troubles at Frankfort, printed 1575 ; it was re
printed in 1642, and is contained in the PhiDenix,
vol. ii. Fuller gives a large abstract of it, viii.
p. 25, &c. It is highly favourable to the non
conforming party. (1554) The magistrates of
Frankfort had granted the use of a church to
some English fugitives, provided ihey would com
ply with a French congregation which had fled
there from Glastonbury. These persons altered
some portion ofthe Common Prayer, to adapt the
service to that of the other church, and invited the
English fugitives to come and join them ; this,
however, was refused by many, (e. g. the churches
at Strasburg and Zurick,) in consequence of the
alteration oi the Common Prayer. This dispute
k2

114

HISTORY OF THE

places. Great objections were raised
against the Common Prayer Book' and
the Communion Service, and in this
part of the quarrel Knox rendered him
self conspicuous.
§ 368. Pole had ahvays been averse
to violent persecution, but was unable
to show any opposition to it sufficiently
strong even to mitigate its severity ; for,
independently of the suspicions which
were entertained concerning his OAvn
opinions, Gardiner had sent unfavour
able reports of his conduct to the apos
tolic chamber. The end of the latter
Avas now drawing near, and served, but
too late, to teach him the vanity of pur
suits unconnected with our duty. He
had seen the religion which he upheld
triumph over its opponents; he had
himself been restored, and raised to
eminence and power; he had beheld
his personal enemies at his feet ; and
contributed probably to the condemna
tion of men with whom he had before
been connected as a brother bishop ;
continued for some time to distract the church, and
Knox and Whittingham, in order to assist 'their
cause, submitted a platform of the Prayer Book
10 Calvin, who animadverted on it, as containing
many points which were childish and trifling; but
I heir account of the book is obviously unfair ; and
Calvin could hardly have judged of the question
from this imperfect document. (He might, how
ever, have seen the book before this time, though
the sending the platform seems to imply the con
trary.) A part of the Geneva service was now in
troduced, and in consequence ofthe offence taken
at this, another form was composed to be used for
a time. In the mean season Cox came to Frank-
tori, and after some difficulty estabhshed the use
'il the Common Prayer. There were probably
faulis on both sides. (1557.) There was a se-
rond dispute about church discipline. Mr. Ash
ley having been brought before the ecclesiastical
authorities for censuring some of the ministers,
rejected their authority, as being parties in the
dispute. The' congregation generally took his
part-, and attempted to frame new laws for disci
pline. Robert Horne, dean of Durham, and after
wards bishop of Winchester, was then pastor, and
afier fruitless attempts at reconciliation on both
sides, he ultimately quilted the place.
This church was, in its constitution, under both
ihe old and new discipline, perfectly "indepen
dent." It con.sisled of a pastor, assistant elders.
'A'ho performed in turn the clerical duties, and
deacons. They laid down their offices annually,
and an election took place, accompanied by impo-
.Mlion of hands. Ordinary members were admit
ted into communion upon making a declaration
of faith, and subscribing to the form of discipline ;
and questions, if any objections were raised against
the ministers, were nUimately referred to the con
gregation. (Phoenix, ii. 125, &c.) In the details
of the discipline of ihis church, we may see the
platform of what was often attempted, and ulti
mately established during the usurpation.
' Strype's Eccl. Mem. v. 406, &c.

[Chap. VD.
and having scarcely learnt the inutility
of those measures to which he had been
instrumental, he, too, was called away
to ansAver before the Judge eternal,
(Nov. 12.) He was a shrewd, clever
m^n, and probably much more of a
politician than a churchman. The
treatment Avhich he had himself re
ceived maj" account for some of his
virulence, if it cannot excuse it : nor
does he appear to have been totally de
void of kindness towards Proiestants :
for during his prosperity he screened
Sir Thomas Smith and R. Aseham from
persecution :' and it must never be for
gotten, that he effectually prevented this
country from falling under the Spanish
yoke at a moment AA'hen his personal
interests Avould have induced him to
promote a connexion Avith that court.*
The circumstance Avhich Aveighs most
strongly against his character is the ill
opinion which Cranmer always enter
tained of him, and which Avould hardly
have been the case Avith one so kind-
hearted andiorgiving as the archbishop,
had he not knoAvn him to have been a
bad man.
§ 369j In tibe earlier part of the sum
mer, the queen had been engaged in
rebuilding the convent of Franciscans
at Greenwich;' and for the purpose of
endowing as many religious houses as
she could, gave up all the church lands
vested in the crown, and in the end of
the year discharged the clergy from the
payment of first-fruits and tenths; anx
ious, no doubt, that the church should
be provided for in temporalities, as well
as reformed in its discipline : for in the
convocation Avhich Avas held by Cardi
nal Pole, (November 2d,) many con
stitutions Avere made, highly beneficial
to the ecclesiastical body, in preventing
abuses and reforming its m.enibers, and
Avhich, had they been carried into full
execution, must have gone far to esta
blish the Roman Catholic religion, for
a time at least, on a firm basis. For
errors and faults in practice are so
much more obvious to mankind in
general than any other species of evil,
that whenever strict clerical duty is ob
served, the mass of the people Avill be
little likely to examine, Avith any seve
rity, the tenets of their instructors, and

' Strype's Life of Smith, 48, 50.
' Burnet, ii. 208.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Chap. VIL]
-will take for granted the soundness of
the speculative opinions of men who
live with propriety. Nor Avere the
plans of reformation adopted by the
cardinal confined to mere discipline,
for he purposed to have reformed the
Necessary Doctrine and Erudition of
any Christian Man,' and to have pub
lished it, as Avell as a translation of the
NeAv Testament, and to have established
cathedral schools.
_ § 370. (a. d. 1558.) One of the ear
liest acts of this year was the degrada
tion and burning of Cranmer. He had
been condemned on the 12th of Sep
tember preceding, and afterwards sum
moned to appear before the pope while
he Avas detained a prisoner in Oxford ;
and when a sufficient period had elapsed
to procure an ansAver from this fictitious
tribunal, where his condemnation took
place in consequence of his supposed
contumacious absence, he Avas publicly
degraded by Bonner and Thirlby, the
former of whom added the bitterness of
personal malice and reprqijachful Avords
to an office in itself sufficiently distress
ing. It was indeed peculiarly embarrass
ing to Thirlby, who had ttfways"retained
for the archbishop that love and reve
rence which a long acqtiaintance with
his virtues had justly procured him:
but the power of inflicting such wounds
gratified the bishop of London, that most
loAV of persecutors. Th.e fall of Avhich
this good man Avas subsequently guilty,
in signing the recantation, takes off from

115

' This was done by Bonner. The title of the
work is, A Profitable and Necessary Doctrine,
with certain Homilies adjoined thereto, set forth
by the Rev. Father in God Edinonde bishop of
London, &c. &c. for the diocese of London, 1555.
The first part is the same work as the Erudi
tion, mutatis mutandis: e. g. the article on con
firmation is changed ; it lays greater stress on the
necessity of being confirmed. In the explanation
of the (Dreed, allAvhich opposes the papal supre
macy is left out, and that doctrine di.stinctly stated.
In the Sacrament ofthe Altar, the doctrine ofthe
real presence and transubstantiation is taught ; but
the 'Ten Commandments are still divided in the
Protestant manner. The volume next contains
injunctions sent to his clergy. Then follow thir
teen homilies, said to be done by the bishop and
his chaplains ; but one or Ivio of them agree al
most entirely wilh Ihose published by Cranmer;
the names of Harpsfield and Pendleton are affixed
to some of them. There was another set of homi-
-ies published by Bonner in 1558, in number thir
ty, which are totally different from these, applying
pceuharly lo the sacraments and the doctrines of
the church of Rome ; they are sometimes bound
up, instead of the former, with the copies of the
Profitable and Necessary Doctrine.

the Avhole of the glorious dignity with
Avhich the closing scene of the other
martyrs was enlightened ; but it cannot
but afford a useful and consolatory les
son to the Christian of the present day.
If one so gifted as Cranmer was inade
quate to Avithstand the influence of kind
ness and attention when used to mislead
him, though he had been before able to
view with tranquillity the prospects of
death ; how careful should we be against
the temptations of prosperity ! If one
Avho had so fallen was subsequently en
abled to meet death with such pious re
signation and firmness, AA'hat confidence
may Ave place in the grace of God,Avhose
strength is perfected in Aveakness ! The
condemnation of this good man to the
flames, notwithstanding his recantation,
was to him a most fortunate occurrence ;
for it brought him back lo that Chrisiian
condition Avhich his concession had lost ;
but it is peculiarly unfavourable to the
character of Mary ; for Avith Avhatever
view Ave examine it, we can hardly help
suspecting that a vindictive spirit was
exercised, even if she be acquitted of
any personal animosity against one Avho
had played so conspicuous a part in the
divorce of her mother. Cranmer ex
hibited most decidedly the influence of
religion on a mind naturally sensible
and strong. There Avas little brilliant in
his talents, or commanding in his under
standing,' yet the sound sense which he
possessed made him produce more effect
in the Reformation in this country than
any othe r person . Much of this, during
the reign of EdAvard, Avas OAving to the
situation Avhich he filled ; but few oihers,
unless they had possessed his judgment,
his Christian feelings, and simplicity,
would have been able to Aveather the
storms to Avhich his bark was exposed
during the tumultuous period of the
reign of Henry VIII." To him Ave
chiefly owe the Articles of our church,
2 Dr. Laurence (archbishop of Cashel) gives
much higher commendations to the talents of
(Cranmer, and even prefers him to Ridley; the
opinion expressed in the text is taken from Bur
net. Bamplon Lect. p. 205, (11, 12, 13.)
3 Fuller's view of this part of his history is far
less favourable, (p. 371.) Cranmer " had done no
ill, and privately many good offices for the Pro
testants, yet his cowardly compliance hitherto
with popery, against his conscience, cannot be ex
cuseil; serving the times present in his practice,
and waiting on a future alteration in his hopes and
desires."

116

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VH.

the first J)ook of Homilies, as well as
much of the compilation of the Com
mon Prayer. To him we owe one of
the brightest examples of a primitive
and apostolic bishop ; and if in his early
days Ave cannot admire the zeal Avith
which he advocated the divorce, if in
his latter end Ave deplore his fall,' let
us remember that he Avas but a human
being like ourselves, and that the bless
ings of Avhich he Avas the instrument,
all proceed from a heavenly Source, to
which our gratitude is chiefly due.
§ 371. These victims, hoAvever, did
not satisfy the friends of religious in
tolerance, for the fires of persecution
were lighted throughout the country,
and the persons Avho suffered in them
were chiefly taken from the lower ranks
of life. Neither age nor infirmity,
ignorance or learning, could free those
who refused to submit to the dogmati
cal dicta of a corrupted church from
the most cruel of deaths. During the
year, eighty-five persons of different
descriptions Avere burnt, and by their
constancy animated their brethren to
be equally firm in the same cause.
Notwithstanding the danger, ministers
were everywhere found to instruct their
flocks, and ready to expose themselves
to death for their religious opinions.
Nay, the very terrors of persecution
most strongly pleaded in favour of a
faith which could enable men to endure
them patiently ; and the government
was at last obliged to prevent the peo
ple from expressing any signs of appro
bation tOAvards the martyrs, and to order
housekeepers to keep away their ap
prentices from a sight Avhich might urge
them to violence against the execution
ers, or admiration of the victims. The
country Avas supplied with books and
religious tracts from the reformers Avho
were beyond sea, and out of the reach
of personal risk, but to whose spiritual
welfare the calm Avhich they enjoyed
was far more dangerous than the storm
which Avas raging in England ; for in
stead of passing their time in mortifica-
' The six confessions or recantations made by
Cranmer are curious in pointing out the irhper-
ceplible steps by which hewas led on from one
point to another, till he gave up and renounced
almost all that he bad ever taught, and assented
directly lo the errorsof the churchof Rome. Five
of these are in Strype's Ecc. Mem. v. 392, &c.,
tbe other in Fox, iii. 559.

tion and prayer, to whic!i the sufferings
of the reformed at home might surely
have directed them, they commenced
those disputes about the liturgy and
ceremonies, Avhich have ended in di
viding the Protestant church, and hum
bling us in the sight of our opponents.^
§ 372. Cardinal Pole Avas now raised
to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury,
to Avhich his consecration took place
the day after the martyrdom of Cran
mer ; for it seems that he had some
scruples about entering into the bishop
ric during the life of its former occupier.
His pall and bull of consecration had
long been in England ; for though the
pope bore no good-will toAvards him,
Avhich indeed he soon manifested, yet
he had now no grounds for refusing a
favour which tbe queen so earnestly
desired ; since she on her part was ex
erting herself in promoting the tempo
ral interests of the church. She re
established several religious houses,
particularly those which had suffered
for their adherence to her mother ; con
verted the chapter at Westminster inte
a monastic foundation ; and took every
means to destroy the documents of the
former reign, which either favoured the
Reformation or cast disgrace on hei
present coadjutors, by testifying theii
former compliance ; an act which in
itself is hardly justifiable, and Avhich
has had the effect of obscuring the his
tory of the period, and leaving on the
minds of those who study an impres
sion as injurious to the cause which it
Avas meant to benefit, as any positive
testimony could have afforded.
§373. (a.d. 1557.) The next year
commenced Avith the visitation of the
tAvo universities, in which the commis
sioners seem to have reformed such
real abuses as they met Avith ; though
one of their chief employments Avas to
dig up the bones of Bucer and Fagius
at Cambridge, Avhich were burnt on
account of the heresy of their former
owners ; and those of the wife of Peter
Martyr at Oxford, Avhich were buried
in a dung-heap, because she had died
excommunicated. This absurd brutum
fulmen Avas but the prelude to more
serious persecutions, which were car
ried on Avith unabated vigour over the

= See * 367, '.

Chap. VH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

117

kingdom. The sufferers amounted in
this year to seventy-nine, which num
ber was probably increased by a com
mission given to Bonner and twenty
others for the discovery of heresy and the
punishment of certain offences, in which
" they were invested with all the author
ity Avhich the infliction of fine and impri
sonment could afford them. This, though
far different from the establishment
ofthe inquisition, was a very important
step towards its introduction. In all
these transactions, the cardinal Avas pro
bably not guilty of any of the severest
or most cruel measures. He seems to
have tried, in a quiet manner, to check
the vehemence of the bishop of Lon
don ; but he possessed neither firmness
of character nor influence sufficient to
arrest these tyrannical proceedings : he
had indeed dismissed several persons
on very equivocal submission; but by
so doing exposed himself to the malice
of the pope, which broke out on the
following occasion.
§ 374. Paul IV. had persuaded Hen
ry II. of France to break the truce
with Spain, contrary to -all good faith ;
and when, after the battle of St. Gluin-
tin, in which the English had assisted
the forces of Philip, the pope found
himself exposed to the poAver of the
Spaniards by the removal of the army
of the duke of Guise from Italy, he
vented his rage on Pole, for not having
prevented this step of the English cabi
net, withdrew his legantine powers,
and summoned him to Rome to answer
the charges Avhich Avere brought against
him of favouring heresy. Peto, the
queen's confessor, was invested Avith
the authority of which the archbishop
was deprived; but Mary, justly offended
at these hasty decisions, refused to ad
mit him into the kingdom. These
disturbances, however, were quickly
brought to a conclusion, for the advance
of the duke of Alva on Rome reduced
the pope to the necessity of a peace,
one of the secret articles of AA'hich Avas
the restoration of Pole.
(a. d. 1558.) The loss of Calais and
Guisnes, which seems to have been
chiefly owing to the defective manner
in which they were supplied, brought
the dissatisfaction- of the English na
tion to its summit ; nor did the difficul
ties, chiefly financial, with which the

'council were surrounded, suffer them
I to adopt a rapid attack on the former
' fortress, a step strenuously recom
mended by the king. A parliament
Avas now assembled, and relieved them
from a part of their difficulties by a
grant of money, Avhich came too late
to retrieve the errors that had been
committed, and on the prorogation of it
the bishops rencAved their persecutions.
Thirty-nine suffered this year, making
the total of the victims during this reign
amount to Iavo hundred and seventy.
Some authors' give a much larger
number; but humanity shudders at
this ; and in a proclamation now put
forth, the people are forbidden even to
pray for the sufferers, a step in perse
cution much more unchristian than
could have been conceived, had not
experience taught us hoAV far the evil
passions may carry human beings,
Avhen unrestrained by a sense of reli
gion. Bonner himself seems to have
been glutted with murder, and to have
confined his exertions to the personal
castigation of his ill-fated prisoners.
§ 375. At length, however, it pleased
Almighty God to put an end to these
cruelties by the death of Mary, vA'ho,
after a protracted state of declining
health and suffering, ended her inglo
rious career on the seventeenth of No
vember. With all her faults, she must
be alloAved the praise of sincerity : for
•the love she bore to the Roman Catho
lic religion and the papacy, induced
her to advance its supposed interests at
her own expense,'' as aa'oII as that of
her persecuted subjects ; and her chief ^
misfortune seems to have been this,
that a genius Avhich would have shone
in a nunnery was exalted to a throne.
Her temper, naturally sour, had been

' Lord- Burleigh reckons it at 400. (Burnet,
p. iii. 189, fob. 454, 8vo.) The writer to Ridley,
De Cixna Domini, at 800 in the two first years of
the persecution. (Burnet, vol. ii. 272, fol., 658.
8vo.) This was probably Grindal. Strype makes
it 288, vi. 556. Ecc. Mem. The numbers as
given annually by Burnet amount to 270.
2 Her foundations were made out of the reve
nues of the crown, and instead of makln,i; a gain
of^ godhness, as was the general plan of ihe Re
formation, she offered not up unto the Lord, of
t.hat which cost her noihing. Among other do.
nations, she gave some rectories, which were in
the hands of the crown, to Oxford, to repair the
schopls; and restored the temporahiies to Dur
ham, which had been taken away as a prey for
the duke of Northumberland.

118

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VIII.

rendered morose by the sufferings
which she underwent ; and her per
sonal animosity was so wrapped up
under the garb of religion, that she
probably did not distinguish between
the two. Had she met Avith more Avise
and liberal counsellors, she might have
escaped much of the obloquy with
which her name Avas then and is still
loaded ; and had she followed the ad
vice of Cardinal Pole, she would pro
bably have avoided many of those
enormities which disgrace human na
ture, and are an everlasting stigma on
the Christian religion. The legate
himself breathed his last within sixteen
hours of his mistress ; a man very dif
ferent from those with Avhom he was
politically connected, and who sought
to establish the religion he professed.

by reforming obvious abuses, and by
gentleness of treatment. It does not
appear that he always wished to ab
stain from severe measures against
heretics ; but, as it has been before
observed, he could not follow the bent
of his own mind ; and it is not un
worthy of remark, that the only par
don' issued for a heretic in this reign
Avas granted at his intercession. Many
Protestants had formed a very different
opinion concerning him, ami believed
that he Avas in fact the friend of the
Reformation ;'' but this false idea^ was
soon taken off; and on finding their
mistake, it is not Avonderful that they
should feel exasperated against him,
though his conduct throughout seems
to have been that of a reasonable and
sincere Roman Catholic.

CHAPTER VIII.

DURING PART OF THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH, NOV. 17, 1558—1563.
401. Varied prospects of Elizabeth. 402. Prudence of her conduct. 403. Coronation; parliament.
404. Bishoprics pillaged by the crown. 405. Conference in Westminster Abbey. 406. (!^onvo-
cation; injunctions. 407. Ejection of the recusant clergy. 408. Court of high commission;
images. 409. Consecration of bishops. 410. Defective ministry arising partly from the poverty
of the church. 411. Reforms; Jewel's Apology. 412. Parliament ; convocation. 413. Benefiis
of the Reformation. Evils arising from the Reformation.

§ 401. The prospects of Elizabeth
upon her succession to the throne Avere
of that varied nature Avhich give birth
to, as well as require, superior abilities ;
nor Avould it have been easy to decide
Avhether or no the dangers which threat
ened her from Avithout Avere balanced
by the domestic advantages Avith Avhich
her reign Avas commenced. Against
France and Scotland, her nearest neigh
bours, she Avas engaged in open hostilf-
ties, and the loss of Calais had so dispi
rited the nation, that they were unable
to exert themselves for its recovery, dis
satisfied as they were at the idea of
losing it. The army and navy Avhich
she possessed Avere scarcely adequate
to the defence of her shores, and the
pecuniary resources of the kingdom too
loAv to afford her the means of recruit
ing them with effect. The plans of
relormation in religion, Avhich she had
determined to adopt, were likely to
alienate her only ally, and it Avas pro

bable that no small number of the people
of England who adhered to the Roman
Catholic persuasion Avould entertain
sentiments little different from those of
Philip. These disadvantages Avere coun
terpoised by the unanimity of the na
tion ; for no monarch ever ascended the
throne Avith stronger expressions of
public opinion in their favour, or Avhose
character stood higher in the estimation
of all orders. The cruelties of the late
reign had gone far beyond the Avishes
of most of the more violent Roman Ca
tholics ; and the disgraces Avhich had
attended the arms of England had ren
dered the people generally dissatisfied
with the government : to which it may
be added, that Elizabeth had been the
victim of much personal vexation, and
the good conduct which she had exhi
bited under very trying circumstances.
I Strype's Ecc. Mem. vi. 29.
2 Cranmer, 498, App. Ixxxu.
s Ecc. Mem. v. 542.

Chap. VIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

119

had given her a just title to the popular
ity which usually attends the oppressed.
§ 402. The first acts of her reign were
dictated by great prudence, and she
seems to have been peculiary fortunate
as well as judicious in the selection of
the persons by Avhom these transactions
were chiefly directed. In the commu
nications which she made to foreign
courts, to inform them of her succession,
she gratefully acknowledged the per
sonal debt Avhich she owed to Philip,
nor did she neglect to send a despatch
to the court of Rome ; but Paul IV.
refused to acknowledge her legitimacy,
and threatened to show her no favour,
since she had assumed without his con
currence a croAvn Avhich was held in fee
of the apostolic see ; a haughtiness of
proceeding which must be deemed the
first step to that animosity between the
¦'wo courts, of which the effects Avere so
severely felt by the Roman Catholics
of England. She seems indeed at this
time to have desired as much union
betAveen her subjects of different per
suasions as Avas compatible with her
own religious opinions and those which
they severally professed ; for though
she had always been bred up a Pro
testant, and decidedly favoured that side
of the question, yet, in retaining twelve
of those who had belonged to the coun
cil of Glueen Mary as. her own privy
counsellors, she gave the surest pledge
that she had no intention of introducing
any very violent innovations. No one
could have doubted her inclination to
promote the cause of the Reformation,
since one of the first cares which occu
pied her attention Avas the appointment
of a committee to examine into the ser
vice of Edward VI. , and to alter what
ever was amiss ; yet its consultations
were accompanied with a marked atten
tion to prudence, rather than by zeal for
alteration ; and the same feature be
longed to the other proceedings of this
period. The only innovation' in the
church service which she sanctioned on
her own authority consisted in allowing
the Ten Commandments, as well as the
Gospel and Epistle, to be read in the
vulgar tongue ; and the same procla
mation which enjoined this, forbade both
parties to preach or expound them,'' di-

' Strype's Annals, i. 77.

= Ibid.

reeling that the adoption of the English
language in the public prayers should
be confined to the Litany, the Lord's
Prayer, and the Creed. This step was
perhaps rendered necessary by the
eagerness to reform Avhich was exhi
bited by certain persons desirous of en
tering on controversial subjects, and
anxious to get rid of every thing which
offended them, without Availing for the
dilatory process of legal enactments.
The queen, however, possessed far too
much sense to permit such tumultuary
alterations, and her own conduct was
characterized by firmness as well as
prudence. She began her political
career by trying to gain the good opi
nion and affection of all her subjects ;
and the condescending propriety of her
personal manner contributed greatly to
produced this desired effect. She readily
presented herself to the eyes of all or
ders, and assumed a demeanour which,
though rather theatric-al, was very tak
ing with the multitude. When, for
instance, she was proceeding on her
way to the coronation,^ (a. d. 1559,) a
character in one of the city pageants,
representing Truth, presented her with
an English Bible, she kissed it, and
with both her hands held it up, and then
laid it upon her breast, and greatly
thanking the city for that present, said
she Avould often read over that book.
§ 403. (Jan. 15.) She Avas crowned
by Oglethorp, bishop of Carlisle, as
none of the other Roman Catholic bi
shops would consent to take part in the
ceremony.-' They foresaAV the influence
which her reign must probably have on
religion ; and being most of them un
willing to make new changes in their
faith, they determined not to contribute
in any degree to her establishment on
the throne ; a species of policy as un
sound in principle as it was injurious to
themselves in its effects ; for unless
they pretended to alter the line of legal
succession by their noncompliance, it
could hardly have any other tendency
than that of alienating the mind of the
queen from their cause, and certainly
conveyed an idea that they Avished to
frighten her into compliance Avith their
views : a step in itself unAvarrantable,
and which argued great ignorance of

' Strype's Annals, i. 43.

< Ibid. i. 73.

120

HISTORY OF THE

[CiiAP. VHI

her temper and disposition. Fully con
scious ofthe difficulties with which the
kintdora was encompassed, she hasten
ed to compose her differences Avith
foreign ];owers, in order that every faci-
lit}' might be given to the internal settie-
mt nt of the government ; and quickly
assembled a parliament, to frame such
laws as rnight bring back the state of
religion to nearly the same condition as
had been established in the days of her
brother. The first act of this session
restored to the crown the fullest author
ity over all persons within the realm,
without conferring the appellation Avhich
had been previously borne with it; for
Elizabeth seems to have entertained
some scruples as to the laAvfulness of
assuming the title of supreme head of
the church, as belonging to Him only
who is head over all. The poAvers,
hoAvever, Avhich were conveyed by it
Avere fully ample to answer every pur
pose of reform,' and she Avas em-
poAvered to appoint commissioners,
Avhose jurisdiction had bounds as inde
finite as the supremacy itself. An oath,
too, Avas imposed on all persons holding
or taking any office, and most severe
and unreasonable penalties affixed to
the refusal of it. During the -?vhole of
the debate on this act, the strongest
opposition Avas shown on the part of the
Roman Caiholic bishops, who advocated
the cause of civil liberty ; being na
turally adverse to opinions so much at
variance Avith Avhat they had lately pro
fessed, and Avhich Avere at the same
time likely to eject them from their pre
ferments. § 404. Nor Avere the temporal inte
rests ofthe queen forgotten; for besides
having the tenths and first-fruits restored
to her, she was allowed to take posses
sion of any ecclesiastical lands or pro
perty belonging to vacant sees, and to
transfer an equivalent from such impro-
prialipns as Avere vested in the croAvn,
a law Avhich gave occasion to many ex
changes seriously detrimental to the
bishoprics ; and it is hardly to be doubl
ed, that the intention of those who
passed the bill corresponded Avith the
effects produced by itj" for who Avas
likely to examine scrupulously into the
fairness of the exchange while the pre-

' Statutes ofthe Realm.

2 Ibid.

ferment was vacant, and the appoint
ment ofthe successor vested in the hands
of the very authority Avhich pillaged the
benefice ?^
§ 405. The act of uniformity, too,
passed during this session, which, by
restoring the use ofthe Common Prayer
Book, gave back to the laity the full
enjoyment of the sacrament of the
Eucharist under both kinds. These in
novations, however, were not made
without keeping up at least the appear
ance of free discussion ; for a disputa
tion was appointed to be held in West
minster Abbey, in Avhich the advocates
of either faith might advance the argu
ments in favour of their own opinions,
and endeavour to refute the positions
of their adversaries : but though this
conference Avas commenced with all due
formality, yet it ended in tumult and
confusion, and served only to Aviden the
breach between the contending parties.
The failure on this occasion seems to
have been entirely OAving to the Roman
Catholics ; for they refused to comply
with the conditions on Avhich the debate
was to take place. It had been agreed
that each party should read their argu
ments on the questions, and then give the
written documents to their opponents,
Avho on the next day were reciprocally
to answer each other, and to transfer
their papers. The points of discussion
were, I. Whether it were contrary to
the word of God and the custom of the
primitive church, to use an unknoAvn
tongue in the public service, and admi
nistration ofthe sacraments. 2. Whether
every church has power to appoint rites
and ceremonies, or to alter them, pro
vided it be done to edification. 3. Whe
ther tl-re mass could be proved by the
word of God to be a propitiatory sacri
fice for the dead and the living. But
on the first day, though Cole delivered
a long oration on the first question, the
Roman Catholics refused to give in a
copy of their arguments, and on the
second day the conference Avas broken
up, through a dispute about the order
of proceeding, and in consequence of

' So well aware ofthe evil tendency of this law
were the bishops who were first consecrated, that
they ofl^ered ihe queen to raise for her an income
of a thousand marks, if she would stop these ex,
changes; but their application was ineffectuaL
Strype's Grindal, 49.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Chap VIIL]
some applause which had been given
to the Protestant advocates on the former
occasion. Thus ended the disputation,
of which the result was such as might
naturally have been expected from this
sort of exhibition, in which all the pas
sions are excited by its publicity, and
no room left for quiet discussion; and
yet it was not without its use.' The ill
conduct of the Roman Catholic advo
cates turned the general opinion against
them, and the Reformation made much
progress in the sentiments of the nume
rous hearers, and through them in the
country at large ; for all men readily
exclaimed, that the present issue was
produced by those who knew that their
opinions could not stand the test of sober
reason ; and who, therefore, preferred
the dissolution of the conference, to ex
hibiting their own Aveakness ; which
observation Af as much favoured by what
was said by the bishops of Lincoln and
Worcester, who objected, in toto, to
thus allowing the laity to become judges
in ecclesiastical affairs, and concerning
doctrines which had been before settled
by the Catholic church, and were not
now therefore to be called in question
by any but an assembly of divines ; a
method ,of solving the difficulty which
must appear reasonable to those Avho
believe in an infallible church, but
which is unfortunately equally conclu
sive against every species of amendment
or reformation, wherein the interests of
such a church are concerned.
§ 406. The convocation had been as
sembled at the same time as the parlia
ment,'' and certain articles which were
exhibited in the Lower House, and sent
up to the bishops, showed the decided
spirit of popery by which this body
was actuated, as well as the favour
Avhich was shown to such opinions
in the universities, where these ar
ticles had received many subscriptions.

121

' There is a document in Bumet, IL iii. No. 5,
signed by several ofthe privy council, attributing
the whole blame to the bishops who refused to
produce their opinions on paper. The bishops of
Lincoln and Winchester were the next day com
mitted to the Tower, and the rest of the Roman
Catholic disputants obliged to find bail for their
personal appearance before the council as often as
It sat. A step which, though it may possibly be
defended., on the plea of their disorderly conduct,
cannot but appear severe and vexatious. See
Strype's Ann. i. 139.
' Strype'a Ann. i. 80. 16

These exertions, however, produced no
effect. The queen's Injunctions were pub
lished during this spring,-' AVhich cor
respond in most respects with those set
forth in the beginning of the reign of
EdAvard VI. The chief additions to
them consist in regulations concerning
the marriage of the clergy ,'' their ha
bits, &c., together with an open decla
ration ofthe supremacy, Avhich the queen
claimed to herself, and to which allusion
is made in the thirty-second article of
our church.* It is here declared that
the queen neither does nor will challenge
any other authority than that Avhich was
used by her father and brother ; viz.,
the sovereignty over all persons born
Avithin the realm, and the exclusion of
all foreign jurisdiction. These Injunc
tions, as Avell as certain Articles of Visi
tation" Avith respect to parishes, were
but preparatory steps to the establish
ment of the Court of High Commission,
which Avas constituted tOAvards the end
of June, and by means of which a ge
neral visitation with regard to eccle
siastical matters took place throughout
the Avhole kingdom.
§ 407. The ninth section in the act
of Parliament' had enjoined all spiritual
persons holding preferments to take
the oath of supremacy under pain of
deprivation ; and this Avas now tendered
by these commissioners. All the bi
shops, with the exception of one only,
Kitchin of Llandaff, refused so to do,
and were ejected from their sees, to the
number of fourteen. Whether they
now acted from conscientious motives.

3 Sparrow's Coll. 65.
1 C3reat scandal seems to have arisen in the
church, in consequence ofthe indiscreet marriage
of its ministers. (Sparrow's Coll. p. 76, ^ 29.) It
was therefore ordered, that no priest or deacon
should marry without the approbation first obtained
ofthe bishop and two justices ofthe peace for the
county, nor without the consent of the parents or
relatives of the woman, or of the master or mis
tress wilh whom she was at service, in case she
had no relatives, (a proof of the low rank held by
the clergy.) The marriage of bishops was to be
sanctioned by the metropolitan and commissioners
appointed by the queen, and that of deans and
heads of houses by their visitors i and in case of
neglecting these orders, they became incapable
of holding ecclesiastical benefices. I know not
whether these were ever acted on, but they formed
one of the heads of examination with the conceal
ers. Strype's Ann. V. 163. See « 428
5 Sparrow's Coll. 81. ' Ibid. 175.
¦> Stat. Realm, 1 Ehz. q. 1.

122

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VHI.

or hoped by their numbers to force the
queen into compliance, must, in this
world, at least, remain a secret ; but as
several' of them had previously assented
to the doctrine of the pre-eminence of
the civil power, their combination looks
very much like a conspiracy to .support
each other in their refusal. The treat-
ment^ which they experienced after their
deprivation AA'as generally moderate,
and in several instances most kind and
considerate.^ Heath resided on his own
property in Surrey, and was several
times visited by the queen herself; and
even Bonner, notwithstanding all the
enormities of Avhich he had been guilty,
died a natural death ; in prison, indeed,
for the resentment of the populace ren
dered it dangerous for him to leave
what became a place of safety rather
than of confinement. The rest of the
clergy generally complied Avith the
changes which were established by laAv,
as, indeed, they had frequently done
before ; for of 9,400 beneficed men in
England, there Averc but 14 bishops,
6 abbots, 12 deans, 12 archdeacons, 15
heads of colleges, 50 prebendaries, and
80 rectors, making a total of 189, A\'ho
refused to take the oath of supremacy ;
a number Avhich Avould appear very in
considerable, amounting to little more
than one in fifty, did we not consider
the conciliatory steps Avhich the queen
had taken to satisfy all parties, and the
modification of the meaning of the oath
which the declaration in the Injunctions
implied.*

> Strype's Ann. i. 216. 2 Ibid. 211.
3 See note fl. in Lingard's Hist, of Eng. vol. vii.
where the same treatment is represented differ
ently. As it is difficult to defend the justice of
these ejectments, so it is impossible to deny the
necessity of them. See a considerable account
of them in Fuller, (ix. 58.) Nine sees were now
vacant, and three bishops fled beyond sea.
¦* The publication of a form of communion to be
used at funerals, and the rubric and absolution in
the service for the "Visitation of the Sick, (Spar
row's Coll. 201,) may be adduced as instances of
the general wish to concihate exhibited by our
church. The Roman Caiholic population had
been accustomed to connect the idea of a funeral
with a mafis for the dead, and when the supersti
tious part ofthe custom was abrogated, whatever
was not unscriptural was retained ; and at the
moment after that in which the body of a relation
has been committed lo the earth, the surviving re
latives are likely to remember Him through whom
we all hope to rise again. So again the customs
of the church of Rome had in the minds of the
people rendered absolution by the priest, as it
Avere, necessary to salvation; and if any dying

§ 408. Another point into which the
commissioners inquired was the abuse
of images ;* and, during this summer,
many appear to have been destroyed.
When Elizabeth^ first carne to the
throne, the zeal of the reformers had
induced them to outstep the limits of
the law with regard to these objects of
national abomination ; but the procla
mation of the queen had checked the
spirit of unauthorized destruction. Her
OAvn sentiments on this subject were, it
it must be owned, not very equivocally
displayed ; it was not in her a toleration
of Avhat might be deemed innocent by
some, but the approval of such repre
sentations as seem forbidden in Scrip
ture. She alloAved the rood to remain
in her own chapel for some time ;' and
though there was something said about
images, in the Injunctions and Articles
of Visitation, yet the clergy were rather
ordered not to extol them, than to cast
them entirely out of places of Christian
worship, unless they had been super
stitiously misused. In the next year,*
indeed, some of the new bishops, with
a laudable anxiety for God's service,
endeavoured to carry this point, by ad
dressing themselves to her majesty,
and stating at length the arguments
against the continuance of this abuse ;
and their exertions seem to have been
crowned with the success which they
so well deserved. In this case, the
temporizing spirit of the queen strongl}'
showed itself. She was perfectly right
in trying to conciliate all her subjects ;
but as the principles of real toleration
Avere not then at all understood, she
rather compromised the opinions of

brother humbly and heartily desired this office, if
his scruples made him wish for such a declaratory
consolation as a fellow-sinner could authoritatively
give him , a form of absolution was adjoinetl for
the purpose.
5 Strype's Ann. i. 254. 6 Hjjd. 290.
' This crucifix was offensive to many of the
bishops; and in 1561 a disputation was held, ir
which Parker and Cox supported its remaining —
Grindal and Jewel argued against it. (Burn. Ref.
vi. 381, No. 60, 8vo.) This seems to have had
little effect ; for in 1565 R. Tracy wrote to Secre
tary Cecil, urging him to use his influence for its
removal, (Strype's Ann. ii. 198.) Between this
time and 1570, it appears to have been put out of
the chapel, and restored again, to the great dislike
of the people, (Strype's Parker, ii. 35,) and to
have been there when the Admonition to Pariia
ment was published, 1572. (Strype's Ann. iL
200.) * Strype's Ann. i. 330.

Chap. VIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

123

Protestants than favoured the senti
ments of her other subjects ; and, in
endeavouring to induce the Roman
Catholics to become members of the
church of England, she ran the risk of
driving from our communion the sound
est friends and ablest supporters of the
Reformation. § 409. The ne.xt step, Avhich, from its
importance to the church, greatly oc
cupied the attention of the court, Avas
the filling up of the vacant bishoprics. '
It so happened that, from deaths and
deprivations, almost all the sees were
at this moment unoccupied ; nor could
those bishops Avho retained their prefer
ments for the present, be induced to
assist in the consecration of men of
whose opinions they did not approve.
But against this evil a remedy had been
provided by the providence of God ;
for there still existed several members
of the episcopal order, who, having fled
beyond sea, and escaped the persecu
tions of Mary, became the instruments
of continuing to our church the apos
tolical succession of bishops. As much
evil had been produced during the reign
of Edward VI. by the favour which
some individuals holding high situations
in the church had shown the Roman
Catholic religion, it was now determined
to employ great caution in the selection
of those Avho were to discharge this
most important duty.
The character of Matthew Parker,
as well as the personal favour of
Elizabeth, marked him out as the
future metropolitan ; but his own un
willingness to accept so responsible
and arduous an office delayed his con
secration for nearly a twelvemonth ;
the ceremony was at last performed,
on the 17th of December, in the chapel
at Lambeth, by Scory, who had formerly
held the see of Chichester, and was
now elected to that of Hereford ; Bar
low, formerly of Wells, noAv bishop
elect of Chichester ; Coverdale, bishop
of Exeter, Avho was never reappointed
to any see ; and Hodgkin, suffragan of
Bedford.* Strype has been very par-

1 The legality of the English consecrations was
in 1568 very nearly tried before a common jury,
in a court of law. Horne, bishop of Winchester,
tendered the oath of supremacy to Bonner while
u prisoner in the Marshalsea, and tnerefore
within his diOcese ; and Bonner, among other
leas, put in one which denied that Horne was a

ticular in recording every thing which
was done on this occasion from the
most authentic documents," in order to
refute the fable of the Nag's Head con
secration which Avas promulgated by
the Roman Catholics about forty years
after the event had taken place ;' Avhen
it might have been supposed that all
direct testimony Avould have been lost.
The story is, that the bishops elect met
at a tavern Avhich bore that sign, and
that Avhen Oglethorp refused to conse
crate them, Scory laid a Bible on each
of their heads, and bade them rise up
bishops. The tale has been refuted as
often as brought forAvard, and bears on
its face this difficulty : that, had this
account been known to the enemies of
the church of England, it is not likely
that any delicacy on their part should
have delayed its publication for so long
a period. § 410. The other sees were most of
them filled up during the next year,
and the church began to employ itself
on those points in which amendment
Avas chiefiy required. The state of the
ministry formed one of the most pro
minent cares towards which the atten
tion of the guardians of the establish
ment were directed ; for the ignorance
Avhich generally prevailed in the uni
versities,* together with the superstition
Avhich reigned there, made it very diffi
cult to obtain men suited to the task, or
capable of performing the duties to
which they were called ; so that the
necessity of the case induced many
bishops to ordain persons of whom they
entertained a good opinion'Avith regard
to their religious sentiments, but who

bishop at all. He had been consecrated accord
ing to the service established by Edward 'VI. and
abolished by Mary, and which had never since
been distinctly authorized by act of parliament.
The point was argued, and would have been
brought before a jury, had not an act been passed
which declared all bishops, priests and deacons,
consecrated according to the form established, to
be bishops, priests, and deacons. (Fuller, ix. 80.
Strype's Ann. I. ii. 2.)
2 Parker, i. 101. ' See i 623.
^ Jewel, writing to Peter Martyr in 1559, says,
"Academia utraque, et ea praesertim, quam tu
non ita pridem doctissime atque optirne coluisti,
miserrime nunc disjecta jacet, sine pietate, sine
rehgione, sine doctore, sine spe ulla hterarum."
(Burnet, p. iii. No. 58.) To BuUinger, " Acade-
mias nostras ita afflictiie sunt, ut Oxoniae vix duo
sunt, qui nobiscum sentiant ; et illi ipsi ita abjecti
et fracti ut nihil possint." (Strype's Ann. No. 20,
vol. ii. 490.)

134

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VHI.

were inadequate, in point of attain
ments, to so important a charge. The
ill effects, however, of this system Avas
soon discovered,' and in August Parker
wrote to Grindal," desiring him not to
ordain any more mechanics.^
The difficulty of finding persons who
might be willing to enter into the minis
try, and able to fulfil the duties of it,
had been greatly augmented by the
extreme poverty to which the clergy
were generally reduced. This evil
arose chiefly from impropriations and
alienations, which had been carried on
to a dreadful extent, and Avhich Avere
noAv by no means effectually prevented ;
but the loss of those offerings customa
rily made at shrines, and of the fees
paid for the performance of ecclesiasti
cal duties in the parish, had in no small
degree contributed to the same end.
This latter cause was particularly inju
rious, since the benefices in large towns
chiefly depended on this source of re
venue ; and those places, Avhere the
efficiency of the clergyman was of the
most importance, had no means of sup
porting the incumbent. St. Mary Ax,
for instance, had for some time been
without any minister, as its revenues
did not amount to five pounds,* till it
was united by Grindal to another pa
rish. To all these causes must be
added the simoniacal contracts of cor
rupt patrons, who sought not for those
who could "preach learnedly, but pay
largely."* §411. The bishops seem at first to
have been so fully employed about the

1 Strype's Parker, i. 180. 2 Ibid. Grindal, 60.
' Gibson (afterwards bishop of London) writes
to Mr. Pepys, 1696, Diary, ii. 153: " The other
day I met with a catalogue of the clergy of the
archdeaconry of Middlesex, taken in 1563, with
an account of each man's learning and abihties ;
in short, observing the strangeness of the charac
ters, I ran over the whole, and, as I went along,
branched them under different heads, whereby
their several abilities in learning are there ex-

3
12 2 9
3342 13 4

' Docti Latine et Greece
Docti Mediocriter docti i -
Latine docti
Latine mediocriter
Latine parum aliquid, &c.
Latine non docti
Indocti
" If the London clergy were thus ignorant, what
must we imagine the country divines were?"
* Strype's Grindal, 78.
' Strype's Ann. iv. 146. See also i 430.

concerns of their several dioceses, that
little progress was made in the public
and outward concerns of the church,
though its leading members were in all
probability secretly preparing what was
required, and deliberating on those par
ticulars in which reform was principally
wanted. (a. d. 1562.) These points consisted
in the publication of certain articles of
failh, Avhich might set forth, in an au
thoritative manner, the belief of the
church of England ; in a new transla
tion or revisal of the Bible ; and the
establishment of a code of ecclesiastical
laws. While these things Avere preparing,
Bishop Jewel put forth his Apology for
the Church of England, a Avork as re
markable for the elegance of the Latin
in which it is written, as for the sound
ness of the positions which it maintains."
He there states, in a brief and oratorical
style, the grounds of the separation of
our church from that of Rome ; show
ing that, in what she had done, England
had rather returned to the state of the
primitive church, than occasioned a
schism in the Christian family, and that
the innovation with Avhich we Avere
charged, was merely the rejection of
the errors introduced by the community
from Avhich we had separated. ?
§ 412. (January 12, a. d. 1563.) In
January of the next year the parliament
and convocation were assembled ; by
the former, a very severe laAv^ was
passed for enforcing the supremacy ;
and to refuse the oath, Avhen tendered
a second time, was declared to be trea
son ; a step which, though it might in
some measure seem to be defensible, in
consequence of the treasonable conspi
racy carried on by the Poles and others,
with the design of bringing in Mary
queen of Scots, appears to be as re
markable for the unsoundness of its
political principles, as for the cruelty
of its enactments." The Avords of the

^ Strype's Ann. i. 424.
' It is printed in the Enchiridion Theologicum,
and has been lately reprinted by the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge. It may be
deemed a book authorized by the church of Eng
land. It was published at the command of the
queen, and ordered to be set up in churchea.
Strype's Ann. III. i. 738.)
^ Statutes ofthe Realm, c. i. 5 EUz.
9 See i 453.

Chap. VHI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

125

oath of supremacy even during this
reign, were such, that a Roman Catho
lic, whatever his views in politics might
be, could hardly take it; so that if the
law Avere acted upon, it might bring
some of the most faithful of her sub
jects into jeopardy of their lives ; Avhile
it is evident that no laAvs can guard
against the attacks of men who are
urged by religious frenzy, and willing
to make themselves martyrs in the cause
of their own opinions ; a truth which
was fully verified throughout the AA'hole
of this reign.
In the Lower House of Convocation
many of those questions Avere now agi
tated which formed the groundwork of
the subsequent objections of the puri
tans ; but as the motions founded on
them Avere never passed, the discussion
of the points themselves may be re
served to the beginning of the next
chapter. The acts of this convocation are much
more important. The Articles of our
church, then consisting of thirty-eight,'
were published, as containing the con
fession of the church of England, but
they do in reality differ very little from
the forty-two Avhich were put forth by
the authority of Cranmer, in the reign
of EdAvard VI.
(March 3.) The larger catechism,"
too, revised and enlarged by Alexander
Noel, dean of St. Paul's,' was approved
by the Lower House of Convocation ;
a tribute of respect which confers on it
a species of semi-authority, though not
officially promulgated by the church of
England. ¦The second book of Homilies'* was

' See 4 485.
2 It is printed in the Enchiridion Theologicum,
and is chiefly taken ffom Ponet's Calechism,
5 331, a.
3 Strype's Ann. i. 525 and 3-23.
* See i 305. The history of the composition of
the Homilies is buried in so much obscurity, that
a short note will convey to the reader all that is
known concerning them. The first volume is
generally attributed to Cranmer, Ridley', Latimer,
Hopkins, and Becon. Burnet (Pref to the Thirty-
nine Articles, p. iii.) says that Jewel was particu
larly engaged in compiling the second. Archbishop
Parker, however, in 1563, speaks of them as being
"revised and finished, with a second part, by him
and the other bishops," (Strype's Parker, i. 253,)
an expression indicating, perhaps, that they were
drawn up in the reign of Edward VI. , though not
pubhshed, but by no means deciding the question.
The language of the two books is different, and
there is much internal evidence of the several ho-

printed about this period,' though it
took some time to distribute it gene
rally throughout the country.
§ 413. As these documents together
form the standard and basis of our
present church, we may deem the Re
formation to have noAv received its ac
complishment; the changes which have
been since made are in their nature
comparatively insignificant ; so that be
fore we proceed to the continuation of
the history, it may be useful, for a mo
ment, briefly to inquire Avhat we have
gained or lost by the Reformation in
religion. We have learnt the fundamental truth
on which the whole of Christianity rests,
nay, which is itself Christianity ; That
" we are accounted righteous before God
only for the merit of our Lord and Sa
viour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not of
our own Avorks or deservings." That
good works, however pleasing to God,

milies having been composed by difl'erent authors.
'I'he first book is probably ihe most valuable, and
the expressions used in the thiriy-fitih Arlicle,
"Non minus quam prior tomus homiliarum quts
edItiE sunt tempore Edvardi Sexti," &-,c., seem
rather to indicate that ihe latter work was not
composed hy the same authors. The homilies on
Salvation, Faith, and Good "Works, are wuh rea
son attributed to Cranmer. (Todd, on the Thirty-
nine Art. pref p. xi.) That on Adultery is by
Becon, and printed in the second vol. of his works.
The most important editions of the Homilies are
as follows :
First book, first edit. 1547, last of July.
1 Edw. VI.
Second, divided as at present, 1.549, August.
Second book, 1st, 1563, that on 'Wilful Rebel
lion was added 1571.
Last, by authority, 1623.
"Fortunately, the variations in the different
editions, numerous as they are, are almost uni
versally verbal or grammatical; and it is remark
able, that a book which has passed through the
hanclsof so many editors, and has been altered in
almost every edition, should have received so few
alterations of any importance as to doctrine. One
use of such collations, is to prove that the Homi
lies have not been tampered with by any sect or
party among us, for the purpose of making them
express sentiments difl^erent from those of the ori
ginal compilers." Dr. Elmsley's Preface to the
Homilies, with various readings, Oxf. 1822.
When Dr. Elmsley was engaged in preparing
this edition, he kindly promised the use of his
Collections for the present work, but added, that
there was no real information on the subject. His
death deprived the author of this advaniage, and
of the advice of a friend who, to a mass of real
knowledge on almost every subject, joined a faci-
hty of communicating it, which endeared hinri-to
those who were acquainted with him, and whioh
would not have disdained to render this sketch
less unworthy of perusal, by correcting its errors
and supplying its deficiencies.
5 Strype's Ann. ii. 104. 1,2

12G

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. VIIL

are only accepted as proofs of the faith
which we entertain in the mercy of
Heaven, and as proceeding from love
tOAvards Him Avho hath redeemed us.
That acts of penitence, hoAvever sin
cere, can in no sense be deemed a
compensation for our sin, although they
may prove useful to ourselves in pre
venting a repetition of our crimes ; and
that there is no sacrifice for sin, but the
atonement Avhich was once offered on
the cross.
The establishment of these truths vir
tually got rid of the greater part of the
superstitious rites wilh Avhich religion
had been overwhelmed, and she Avas
again enthroned in the heart of the true
believer, instead of being identified with
ceremonious observances. A commu
nion had been substituted in lieu of the
mass ; and Avith the rejection of, the
doctrine of transubstantiation, the laity
were taught that the body and blood of
Christ are verily and indeed taken by
the faithful alone in the Lord's supper;
the efficacy of Avhich consists in the in
stitution of Christ, and the state of their
OAvn consciences, and not in the magic
virtue of priestly offices. The personal
responsibility ofthe individual Christian
Avas clearly insisted on ; and though the
lail)' Avere not deprived of the comfort
and aid of spiritual guidance, yet that
inquisitorial power Avhich the clergy
had exercised by means of auricular
confession Avas removed, and the priest
hood became' the directors of their flocks,
and not the self-constituted judges ofthe
terms on Avhich pardon might be ob
tained from the Almighty. They were
still the keepers of the keys of the king
dom of heaven ; but by the dissemina
tion of the Scriptures, and the progress
of education, the rest of their brethren
were permitted to guide their OAvn foot
steps towards the gates of paradise.
The Bible Avas indeed committed to
their peculiar care, but it was not Avith-
held from the hands of the people ; so
that though it Avas their especial duty
to lead on their felloAV-servants in the
right path, yet they could no longer,
like the laAvyers of old, take aAvay the
key from others, or prevent those from
entering in who Avould gladly do so.
All were taught to examine for them
selves ; and though little toleration Avas
subsequently granted to any Avho ven

tured to differ from the queen, yet the
first great step towards religious liberty
Avas irrevocably made when it was au
thoritatively stated,' that every assem
bly of human beings was liable to err,
even in things pertaining to God. .At
the same time a very material diminu
tion was made in the poAver of the
church, considered as a body distinct
from the laity, Avhen its members Avere
alloAved to connect themselves to the
rest of society, by those ties of matri
mony Avhich the law of God has left
open to all : for these bands Avhich at
tach the individual churchman to the
nearer concerns of private life, cannot
fail to Aveaken the interest he feels in
the political Avelfare of the ecclesiastical
body, to Avhich alone the earthly affec
tions of the unmarried must be Avedded.
The property of the church, and that
influence which is ever connected with
its possession, had undoubtedly in for
mer times been too great for the Avelfare
of the kingdom ; but the Protestant mo-
n.^.rchs had taken good care to prevent
the recurrence of this evil : nor can it
be denied, that the poverty Avhich suc
ceeded its too Avealthy state Avas in
many respects injurious to the cause
of vital religion, as it neither afforded
the ministers of God's word such faci
lities for education as their profession
required, nor gave them the means of
keeping up their outward respectability
before their flocks. This Avas peculiar
ly felt by many of the newly appointed
bishops, Avho, returning penniless from
their foreign hiding-places, found them
selves on a sudden exalted into situa
tions from AA'hich much Avorldly pomp
had always been expected, and for the
supply of Avhich the revenues of their
preferments Avere totally inadequate.
They Avere forced, therefore, in their
prosperity, to exorcise that patience
Avhich they had long practised in the
hour of misfortune ; and by the sacri
fices Avhich they were called on to
make, the momentous truth Avas daily
impressed on them, a truth Avhich it
would be Avell if none of us forgot, that
the church establishment is intended to
promote the cause of religion, and not
religion to adA^ance the interests of the
church.

' Art. xxi.

Chap. VIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

127

Among the abuses Avhich had been
remedied, many Avere as offensive to
the religious members of the Roman
Catholic communion as to Protestants ;
nor can it be denied that other evils
were introduced, from Avhich they had
been comparatively free, and which
cannot fail to prejudice them against
the measures Avhich were adopted.
Enough has been already said of the
spoliation of church property, Avhich
accompanied this part of our history :
but on the Avhole, probably, the present
revenues of the church are adequate to
her real interests, if they were reason
ably divided and properly distributed;
and poverty is a much more safe state
for the churchof Christ than Avealth:
" HoAV hardly shall a rich man enter
into the kingdom of heaven !"
The subjection of the ecclesiastical
body to the state, in the manner in
Avhich it takes place in the church of
England, must be very offensive to
those Avhose views in this respect have
been differently directed; and though
perhaps such a constitution may be as
beneficial to society as any human ap
pointment can be expected to prove,
yet we must be blind not to perceive
many evils resulting from it. It may
perhaps be questionable, whether much
power over his lay brethren may be
safely intrusted to the minister of the
Gospel; yet it cannot but appear sin
gular, that of all the different denomi
nations of Christians Avhich exist in
England, probably no one body has
committed so little spiritual authority
into the hands of those who preside
over its concerns as the established
church. This is probably right, as far
as the laity are concerned ; but it can
not be right when we look at that disci
pline which the church ought to exercise
over its official members. All the power
Avhich Avas exercised in ecclesiastical
matters, during this and the folloAving
reigns, was in reality a civil power, and
was often exerted unfortunately for civil
purposes. So that the church frequent
ly formed a rallying point in political
differences ; and as the spirit of civil
liberty by degrees emancipated the
church from the tyranny to which it
had been reduced, it left us without
effectual ecclesiastical discipline.
Tn matters of faith, too, many evils

of the same description took place
The people had been taught to believe
that religion consisted in the perform
ance of religious duties, and not in the
religious state of the heart, of which
religious actions are the natural and
necessary fruit ; and when the princi
ples of the Reformation had pointed
out the inadequacy of the acts them
selves to obtain the favour of God, men
were ready to forget that the act gene
rally produces the temper, and that the
temper cannot really exist, unless ac
companied by the act. Confession, for
instance, had been abused ; and when
men were told that it was not necessary
for salvation, ihey assumed that it did
not contribute to produce a humble
frame of mind. They Avere told that
stated fasts were an invention of men,
and they forgot that fasting is an insti
tution sanctioned by Christ.' They
learnt that in many cases the Roman
Catholics had mistaken and neglected
the end of religious performances, and
they themselves, AA'hile keeping the eye
fixed on the end, neglected the means
Avhereby that end might be obtained.
The Roman Catholic clergy had often
exercised an authority over their flocks,
which tended to destroy the moral and
religious energies of the people ; do no
conscientious Protestants, while they
deplore the Avant of restraint which
arises from actual discipline over those
who are placed under our spiritual care,
and Avhich we are not allowed to use,
nevertheless neglect to introduce those
moral restraints AA'hich nothing but re
ligious education and sound information
can impart ?
The extent of this subject renders it
' There can be little doubt that the abuse of
fasting among the Roman Catholics has produced
an injurious counteraction among Protestants with
regard to this duty ; but undoubtedly many mem
bers ofthe church of Rome submit to a very rigo
rous and conscientious abstinence during Lent.
The error consists in imposing such rules as ne
cessarily binding on Christians, and in substituting
one species of food for another. As early as 1541,
Gardiner reproved some Cambridge students for
neglecting the observance of Lent ; but in the be
ginning ofthe reign of Ehzabeth, it seems to have
been very strictly kept. (Parker, i. 133.) Pro
clamations were issued concerning fasting in 1563,
1572, 1576, 1601. And Elizabeth herself would
not eat flesh during Lent, till she had obtained a
dispensation to that eff"ect from the archbishop,
1587 ; and there are instances of other dispensa-
tionslo the same effect. (Fuller, ix. 182. Strype's
Vi'hitgift, ii. 456.)

128

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

impossible that it should be fully de
veloped ; and it must be left to the me
ditations of the thoughtful reader of
ecclesiastical history, with the brief ex
pression of a hope that Roman Catholics
may draw nearer to Protestants in those
points Avhere we surpass them, and that
Ave may draw nearer to them in those
particulars Avherein we have been losers
in receding from them.
If any religious Roman Catholic be
unAvilling to allow, that in the advan
tages before enumerated we at all sur
pass him, if his Avhole hopes of salvation

be built on that foundation in which we
as Protestants trust, let us pray God
that neither of us may as individuals
be cast out through our OAvn faults ;
and Avhile we acknowledge the advan
tages derived to us through the church
of Rome, let him thank God that he, as
a member of that communion, has ob
tained in spiritual things many benefits,
which he OAves to the existence of the
Reformation ; and let us hope and
pray, that the dissemination of religious
knowledge may by God's mercy prove
a blessing to all Christians.

CHAPTER IX.

DURING PART OF THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH, FROM 1563 TO 1583.
414. Disputes about ecclesiastical dresses. 415. The question resolved into ils elements. 416. Uni
formity in dress enforced ; Sampson and Humphrey. 417. Opinions concerning these points.
418. Of Jewel ; Sandys ; Grindal ; Parker ; Whitgift. 419. Of foreign divines. 420. Conduct
of Elizabeth and Parker. 421. Of the Puritans. 422. Parker's treatment of the Nonconformists.
423. Objeclions of the Nonconformists. 424. Baptismal service ; churching of women ; music.
425. Church disciphne. 426. Ordination; parochial discipline. 427. Prophesyings; alienation of
church property. 428. Ecclesiastical commission ; commissions of concealment, 429. Conduct
of Elizabeth about church property. 430. Poverty of the church ; (a) quesiion of church properly.
431. Early history ofthe reign. 432. The London clergy. 433. Cainbridge; Cartwright.
434. Convocation. 435. Ecclesiastical laws; acts of parhament. 436. Poor laws. 437. Against
Roman Caiholics. 438. Roman Catholic seminaries abroad ; Persons and Campian. 439. The
treatment of ihe Roman Catholics, due in part to themselves. 440. Principles on which the ques
tion of the treatment of them rests. 441 Blame due to the Roman Catholics. 442. Their con
duct ; thereat causes of the evil. 443. Temporal character of the Reformation. 444. Persecu
tions under Mary and Elizabeth compared. 445. Injustice and intolerance of the reign. 446. Se
verity towards the Nonconformists ; Archbishop Parker. 447. Grindal, Archbishop ; prophesyings
stopped ; the archbishop suspended. 448. Examination of the conduct of Grindal. 449. Of the
treaiment of the Puritans.

§ 414. No sooner had the external
enemies of Protestantism lost their
power to persecute in England, than
the^ spirit of discord arose within the
bosom of our own church ; and Avhen
all essential points of reformation had
been established, the trifling articles of
dress and ceremonies produced a flame,
AA'hich finally ended in the temporary
destruction of our church and constitu
tion. In any great change of opinion,
among the mass of society, it is natural
for men to run into extremes ; and
wherever party spirit has been preva
lent, the passions are so called into
action, that some time is required before
reason can assume her command ; and,
during such a period, the externals of
religion, or of party distinction, natu
rally produce the greatest effect, and
excite the warmest animosity.
The church of Rome had abounded

in cermonies so numerous, as to become
burdensome to its members ; and the
foreign reformers, in avoiding this ex
treme, had perhaps rendered the out
Avard offices of religion too simple, and
therefore less calculated ^-to excite all
those feelings among the people, which
may beneficially be enlisted in the cause
of devotion. Many of the English di
vines had adopted their ideas on these
points from the school of Geneva, and
the disputes Avhich had thence arisen,
and Avhich had previously disturbed
the peace of the exiles in Frankfort,
Avere unfortunately now introduced into
England. We cannot but deplore such
an event; but it forms a melancholy
comment on the Avords of St. Paul, and
clearly proves how little all other gifts
profit, if not accompanied Avith Chris
tian charity.
§ 415. In order to get a clear view

CffXp. IX,]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

129

of the merits of the question, it may
not be amiss to resolve it' into its ele
mentary principles ; for the point at
issue is very complicated. It seems
to divide itself into the following heads.
There are csrruptions concerning
Avhich the Christian, and particularly
the Christian minister, must undergo
any extremity, rather than admit of
them. But it may be questioned Avhe
ther the use of an ecclesiastical dress,
or of ceremonies, be one of this nature ;
if it be, the individual is right in not
complying ; but if it be not, then he
who resists incurs the Avrath of God
in Avithstanding the commands of his
prince, and opposing the laAV of the
land. In these, however, and other points,
in Avhich the civil magistrate has a full
right to command, he may exert that
power so as to do great injury to the
cause of Christianity ; and, as the sub
ject is clearly directed to obey in mat
ters indifferent, so the magistrate is
bound not to be peremptory in his com
mands, unless there be some sound
reason for exerting his authority.
The first of these queries must re
ceive its answer from the conscience of
the subject; the latter, from the judg
ment of the government ; and both
ouo-ht to rest upon the decisions of the
word of God.
But th'e difficulty of this discussion
is much increased by the complicated
nature of the duty of ecclesiastical
officers, who as churchmen are bound
to obey the established laws, and as
governors of the church, ought to deal
charitably with Aveak brethren, and to
soften down as much as possible the
severity of those laws which they are
called upon to execute. In case, then,
the laws are such as are in the opinion
of the individual injurious to edification,
though he may himself comply Avith
them, yet he can hardly enforce con
formity on others ; and the spiritual
safety of a man so situated will be best
consulted by resigning the office Avith
Avhich he was intrusted,' for the Chris
tian benefit of those under his control.
In estimating, therefore, the conduct
and treatment of the. puritans, these
several bearings must ahvay be kept
in view ; and when the matter is duly
appreciated, we shall have every cause
, 17

to be thankful that Ave live in times in
Avhich toleration has nearly put a stop
to such discussions.
§ 416. In the first year of Elizabeth,
the act of uniformity was passed, Avhich
gave full powers to the queen Avith re
gard to ecclesiastical concerns ; and in
the last clause but one it is enacted,
that all ornaments for churches, and
the ministers thereof, shall remain as
they Avere in the second year of Ed
ward VI. ' Proceedings, however, Avere
not commenced for some time against
those ministers Avho did not comply
Avith this part of the law, and a suffi
cient period Avas granted to the doubt
ful, had they been ready to avail them
selves of it. But the evil of noncon
formity seemed to gain ground by
delay ; and in the beginning of 1565,
Elizabeth sent a pressing letter to Par
ker, and through him to the rest of the
bishops, in which she enjoined them to
begin the work of enforcing uniformity."
It can hardly be necessary in the pre
sent day to prove, that outAvard habits
are to be ranked among things indiffer
ent, and that the clergy, therefore,
ought to comply AA"ith such injunctions
as are given by the legal enactments
of the country ; but the general antipa
thy exhibited in London and elsewhere
to the cap and surplice, prove that the
consciences of brethren Avere then
easily offended ; while the methods
used to remedy the disorder, show that
such scruples Avere not always treated
Avith becoming tenderness.* The ma
jority of the London clergy complied
Avith the order concerning the unity of
apparel; but a considerable nurnber
refused to do so, and Avere subsequently
deprived of their preferments. This
species of tacit resistance to the author
ity of the crown was not confined to
the loAver orders of the clergy, or to
those Avhose situation in life, or Avant
of education, might lead us to doubt
the probability of their estimating the
question fairly; but men of considera
ble weight entertained scruples on the
subject, and some of them Avere even
exposed to the penalties of the laAV.*
' That is, according to the rubric of 1549 ; see
i 743. 3, 9.
2 Sirype's Parker, i. 309.
" Sirype's Grindal, 144.
-> Strype's Parker, i. 322.

130

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

Sampson, dean of Christ Church, and
Humphrey, president of Magdalen Col
lege, Oxford, were cited before the
ecclesiastical commission, and required
to conform in the use of the cap and
surplice ; and though they wrote a
most submissive petition,* declaring
iheir scruples and unwillingness to com
ply, because the law concerning the
restoration of the ceremonies of the
Roman church is joined with the ha
zard of slavery, necessity, and supersti
tion, yet no alternative was left them
but that of surrendering their scruples
or their places.''
§ 417. Their conduct throughout
seems to have been that of men of ten
der consciences, not of persons obsti
nately bent on following their OAvn de
vices ; yet Sampson was imprisoned
and deprived,' and Humphrey, after
having been connived at for ten or
eleven years, ultimately complied with
the ordinances of the church. Such
Christian and dignified submission as
Avas exhibited by these men could not
be expected from all ; nor, indeed, did
all others display it ; but that species
of insolent opposition to all church dis
cipline, of which instances subsequently
occur, was of later groAvth, and may
possibly owe its origin to the severities
noAv practised. In estimating the fault
or the punishment of these men, our
judgments are liable to err, from not
knowing what opinions were generally
entertained about the dresses them
selves.'' In the present day, it seems
absurd to talk of the necessary connec
tion between popery and a square cap
and surplice ; yet, where knowledge
was scarce, and prejudice strong, such
11 connection existing in the minds of
the people might have produced, infinite
harm. At all events, these disputes
among churchmen must have been very
injurious to the cause of real piety. It
may now appear probable, that greater
concessions to the weakness of sincere
brethren might have been made with
¦advantage by the stronger and the
sounder members of our distracted

1 Strype's Parker, iii. No. 30, i. 323,
2 Ibid.i. 327. ' Ibid. i. 368.
¦• These opinions are expressed at length in a
letter from "Whittingham, dean of Durham, to
Lord Leicester. (Strvpe's Parker, iii. 76, No. 27,
and i. 329, ch. xxiii.)

church. They would have imitated
the true mother in the judgment of
Solomon, and have been ready to con
cede their rights, to relinquish even the
justice of their cause, sooner than suf
fer the object of their affections to bo
torn asunder in the struggle ; and this
idea rests on the opinions expressed by
many individuals who were neither so
much implicated as to become parties
in the discussion, nor so far removed in
point of time from tbe events, as to be
unable to understand the prejudices
Avhich influenced the sincere noncon
formist. § 418. Jewel, though he conformed
himself, and blames those who laid too
great a stress on the matter, never seems
to have been pleased with the dresses,
and uses very strong expressions in dis
approbation of them.'*
Sandys," in his Avill of the date of
1588, says, Avhen speaking of the rites
and ceremonies of the church, " So have
I everbeen and presently am persuaded,
that some of them be not so expedient
for this church now ; but that in the
church reformed, and in all this time
of the Gospel, Avherein the seed of the
Gospel hath so long been soAvn, they
may better be disused by little and little
than more and more urged." In a pri
vate letter to Peter Martyr in 1560, ho
expresses himself much more adverse
to the dresses.''
Grindal had great scruples about the
habits,^ and wrote to" Peter Martyr on
the subject, Avho advised that in his
private dress the bishop should cer
tainly comply, but that if the public
ministration in it would promote the

5 "De religione quod scribis, et vepte scenica,
0 utinam id impetrari potuisset. (Burnet, iii vi.
No. 57.) , Nos quidem tam bonce causiE non de
fuimus, Sed illi, quibus ista tantopere placuerunt,
credo, sequuti sunt inscitiam presbyterorum : quos,
quoniam nihil aliud videbant esse, quam stipites,
sine ingenio, sine doctrina, sine moribus, A'este.
saltem comica volebant populo commendari. Nam
ut alantur bonee literae, et surrogetur seges aliqua
doctorum hominum, nulla, o Deus bone, nulla
hoc tempore cura suscipitur. Itaque quoniam
vera via non possunt, istis ludicris ineptiis teneri
volunt oculos multhudinis." Letter to Peter
Martyr, 1559. So in the next of the same date,
" Omnia docentur ubique purissime. In ceremo
niis et larvis passim plusculum ineptitur." No. 58.
^ Strype's 'Whiigirt, i. 548.
'"Tantum manent in ecclesia nostra vesti
menta ilia papistica, Capas intellige, quas diu non
duraturas spevamus." Burnet, iii. vi. No. 61.
* Strype's Grindal, 42.

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

131

idea of the mass, he had better not
sanction Avhat was Avrong by his ex
ample : and that at all events he should
continue to speak and teach against the
use of the habits.' In a letter to Bul
linger, 15f56, he adds, that when the
bishops who had been exiles in Ger
many could not persuade the queen and
parliament to remove these habits out
of the church, though they had long
endeavoured it, by common consent
they thought it best not to leave the
church for some rites, Avhich Avere not
many, nor in themselves Avicked ; espe
cially since the purity of the Gospel
remained safe and free to them.
It may fairly be presumed, that Par
ker himself entertained some doubts
concerning the points Avhich Avere after
wards disputed between the puritans
and the high church party ; for in the
questions prepared to be submitted to
convocation in 1533," probably under
his OAvn direction, and certainly exa
mined by himself, there are several
Avhich manifestly imply that such a
difference of opinion might prevail.
They refer to the abolition of the use
of the vestments, of private baptism ad
ministered by lay persons, of organs
and curious singing, of the answers of
sponsors, &c.^ And Whitgift was one
of a number of heads of houses in Cam
bridge Avho petitioned for a greater li
cense about the dresses.
§ 419. The sentiments of foreign di
vines may seem to deserve less atten
tion,-' inasmuch as they derived the great
mass of their information from persons
who were suffering in the cause of non
conformity; yet surely, whatever may
have been the bias of the accounts
which they received, they were less
likely to be prejudiced on this side than
the bishops were on that in Avhich their
personal authority Avas concerned, Avhich
seemed to be resisted by all Avho re
fused to comply Avith jhe injunctions of
the court. These foreigners, in conjunc
tion with the judicious advice Avhich
they invariably give, viz., that any thing
was better than that the church should
be left destitute of pastors, in conse--
quence of their scruples, frequently

' Strype's Grindal, 45.
2 Strype's Ann. i. 475.
s Strype's Parker, i. 386, No. 39.
*lbid.iL 110.

press upon the bishops the propriety of
charitable concession, as far as it would
be admitted by the government. The
church of Scotland went so far as to
address an epistle to their brethren in
England,* in which, perhaps, they press
the matter more strongly than it de
serves ; but these concurrent testimonies
demonstrate one thing at least, that a
great stress Avas laid upon the question,
while the event proA'ed that many mi
nisters of God's Avord AA'ere silenced in
consequence of the dresses enjoined ;
and it may be remarked, that England
never became convinced of the pro
priety of her ecclesiastical habits, till
the opponents of her decent forms had
power enough to cast them out of the
church, and to substitute their own more
superstitious simplicity.^
§ 420. Elizabeth herself Avas very
peremptory on the question.' She could
little brook resistance on any point ; but
AVhen the scruple seemed so trifling, as
on this subject it must have appeared "
to any one who was not under the in
fluence of prejudice or passion, resist
ance to her mandates assumed the sem
blance of personal opposition. And
when Parker and the other bishops had
begun to execute the laws against non
conformists, they must have been more
than men, if they could divest their
own minds of that personality which
every one must feel Avhen engaged in a
controversy, in which the question really
is, Avhether he shall be able to succeed
in carrying his plans into execution.
The archbishop, indeed, who was first
employed in this Unpleasant task,^seems
to have experienced more of this feeling
than perhaps beseemed his high station ;
yet the situation in which he was placed
renders him an object of our pity rather
than our blame. He probably foresaw
the ill effects which nonconformity
would bring upon the church, and pre
pared to resist the torrent with the bui--
warks of severity and laAv. In this he

s Strype's Parker, iii. 150, No. 51.
8 Clerk, writing on the question of the habits,
speaks, " de fanaticis nostris Superpellicianis et
CJalerianls," and adds, " ut quod temporis antehac
artibus et scientiis solet attribui, id nunc futilissi
mis de lana caprina altercationibus fallitur et con-
sumUur." "Strype's Parker, iii. 133, No. 43. See
some excellent observations about religious pre
judice by Buchanan. Pearson's Life of, i. 115,
' See ^ 446, K
8 Strype's Parker, i. 317, 389.

132

HISTORY OF THE

found himself hardly supported as he
could wish by the court, where there
existed a strong party favourable to the
puritans. He perceived, perhaps, that
the odium of the measures Avhich he
was forced to adopt Avas throAvn on the
bishops, Avho Avere becoming more and
more the objects of general dislike ;'
and lamenteti, Avith prophetic boding,
the conduct of some of the nobility,
whose favour was raising up a parly
against the hierarchy, Avhich would ulti
mately destroy every distinction of rank.
§ 421. Little can be said in favour of
the puritans, and those Avho rejected the
ceremonies ofthe church, but that they
were sincere in the objections Avhich
they raised against the use of rites cor
rupted in the church of Rome. Their
scruples will in these days appear tri
vial, but they were not then esteemed
so ; as party feeling began to operate
on both sides, each became an.xious to
enforce their own opinions, and in the
"Avarmth of controversy the nonconfor
mists seem to have forgotten that they
were disobeying the civil magistrate,
and not to have considered that the
bishops Avere only enforcing that Avhich
by law they Avere bound to enforce.
The authority Avhich the puritans Avilh-
stood was not the mere spiritual author
ity Avhich the episcopal function had
bestOAved on their judges ; it was an
indefinite and ample poAver conferred
on the ecclesiastical commissioners,
from the supremacy vested by the par
liament in the queen. It was a power
which the puritans may have deemed
unnecessary, oppressive, and little suit
ed to the character of Christian bishops ;
but they must have known that it Avas
one Avhich had been conferred on the
hierarchy by the law of the land, and by
the persons in Avhose hands the exe
cutive was placed. But there are many
considerations which should prevent us
from passing any severe censure on
either party: the neAv standard of opi
nion to which the disputants referred,
was one to which they had never been
accustomed ; the Nbav Testament itaelf
is very indistinct in settling such points,
and to reason by analogy is a task which
requires much temper and exp'erience.
The people, too, had been long trained

I Strype's Parker, ii. 323.

[oiTAP. m.
to attach importance to ceremonies, and
though ignorant of principles, were
overjoyed in exercising the privilege
of thinking for themselves, which they
had just acquired. This exercise of
their neiv right was highly unaccept
able to the queen, and the government
in some points tried to restrain it so
much, that the struggle by degrees
became one for civil as Avell as for reli
gious liberty.
§ 422. It appears, then, that neither
the government in enforcing conformity
as it did, nor the puritans in resisting it,
can Avell be justified by any sound prin
ciples of Christian charity ; the one
imposed a yoke'' Avhen it v^sls hardlj'
necessary, the other rejected it Avhen it
might and ought to have been borne.
Nothing, therefore, could be more dis
tressing than the situation of a con
scientious bishop at such a period. It
must have required a patience truly
Christian not to have been irritated at
the conduct of the nonconformists, and
perhaps still more of Christian courage
to enforce laAvs, AA'hen hinderances were
throAvn in the Avay by the poAvers above,
and insults heaped on those in authority
by the party against Avhom the seA'erily
Avas directed. Parker, the first metropo
litan of this reign, Avas in many respects
calculated to shine Avilh splendour in the
situation in which he was placed : he
Avas liberal, and ever ready to advance
the interests of learning or of talent ; he
Avas himself learned and studious, but
his peculiar qualification seems to have
been a desire and faculty of systematiz
ing and improving every establishment
to Avhich he belonged, a talent Avhich
Avas extremely required at this period ;
but perhaps he was not Avell calculated
to hold that even balance betAveen con
tending errors, Avhich the difficulties of
the times placed more immediately in

^It should be remembered, that most of the le-
gulaiions with regard tb the distinctive dress of
the clergy have gradually been given up, except
ing, indeed, ihc surplice, and the square cap in
the universities. Copes and tunicles are almost
forgotten; albes are confounded with surplices;
and the gown and cassock, with the square cap
and hood, are used according to the discretion of
the clergyman himself It may indeed be ques
tioned whether this has not gone too far. Perhaps
the Interests of the church would be best consult
ed, if, without adopting any distinctive habits, we
all dressed so that the world might from our ap
pearance presume that we belonged to the minis
try.

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

138

his hands. Before the heat of contro
versy had begun, concession was com
paratively easy ; without giving up the
ordinances of the church, a latitude of
practice might have been tolerated
which became inadmissible Avhen the
question Avas brought to an issue. The
remonstrances too of Parker might have
had more influence on the queen than
those of any other person, and it was
her majesly who Avas most strenuous in
insisting on conformity ; but he seems
hardly to have Avished that his Aveak
brethren should be dealt AA'ith more
gently, for he was very peremptory in
his proceedings Avith Sampson,' though
he afterwards kindly Avrote in his favour
vA'hen ejected from the deanery; and in
this conduct Avas strikingly opposed to
Grindal, who entreated the dean, even
Avith tears in his eyes, to comply in
the use ofthe habits.'' So again, when
thirty-seven of the London clergy re
fused compliance with the ecclesiastical
dresses, and of these some of the best
ministers, by the acknowledgment of
the archbishop himself, he does not
appear to have adopted any conciliatory
steps, or to have treated them as breth
ren in Christ. There is no reason to
question the sincerity of his motives,
and his judgment was approved by
naany persons, (especially by Cox, bi
shop of Ely,) who hoped that, by re
ducing the clergy of the metropolis,
all difficulty Avould be obviated else-
Avhere.-'' But where severity is used in
cases of conscience. Christian charity is
often lost sight of, and the omission ne
ver takes place but at the certain loss
of the parly AA'ho neglect it. The suf
ferers were deemed confessors by their
friends, and the party of the puritans
Avas strengthened by their punishment.
§ 423. It must not be supposed that
all the objections'* of the nonconform
ists were confined to the ecclesiastical
dresses, or that the cap and surplice
were the only points against which
their animadversions were directed.

1 Strvpe's Parker, i. 327.
2 Ibid. i. 368 and 430.
3 Ibid. i. 430.
* The objections of which the heads are here set
down may be seen in Burnet's Reformation, iii.
No. 79, Append.; Neal's Purhans, i. 192: but
many are of course omitted, and a full reference
to them Avould exceed the prescribed limits of this
work, as they lie scattered in various places.

The Book of Common Piayer was
generally attacked ; many of its cere
monies, especially in Baptism, and the
Churching of Women, were rejected,
and organs and church music were
considered as unchristian.
The discipline of the church, too,
was impugned. Objections Avere raised
against episcopacy itself, as Avell as
against the lordly and temporal author
ity possessed by the bishops ; while the
ordination of ministers, Avithout their
being elected by their flocks, Avas ac
counted antiscriptural, and the Avhole
Avas summed up in the Avant of a pres
bytery. At the same time they brought for
ward many real abuses, Avhich the
church could more easily deplore than
remedy. With regard to the scarcity
of preaching ministers, the blame seems
to belong exclusively to neither party ;
for though the hierarchy undoubtedly si
lenced many Avho would have laboured
in this service, yet the nonconformist
might have easily obviated the diffi
culty by accepting the ecclesiastical
dresses : thus Withers, at Bury, con
formed, because he found his congre
gation much less offended at the use of
the cap than at his OAvn silence.^ The
non-residence, too, Avhich Avas licensed
by authority, could form no just ground
of separation from the church, as not
being essential to the establishment ;
and the religious conformist must have
viewed the neglect of a parish in the
same light in Avhich it appeared to his
dissenting brethren.
§ 424. In the Baptismal Service it
Avas objected, that the use of the sign
ofthe cross Avas strperstitious, and bor
rowed from the church of Rome : as if
any misuse of a custom derived from
the primitive church could render its
nature sinful, or that the danger of mis
conception were not sufficiently guard
ed against, in the words of the prayer
Avhich accompanies that part of the ser
vice : — that the ansAvers were made in
the name of the child, and not in that
of the sponsors ; a difference Avhich at
all events is not very important, since
the very act of bringing the infant to
the font implies all that the Avords can
convey, viz., that the persons so admit-

^ Strype's Parker, i. 374.
M

134

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

ted would become the servants of that
Lord into whose faith they were bap
tized. Lay baptism, too, fell under
their censure ; but it has been ques
tioned whether it were ever authorized
by our church. It had formerly been
the custom for midwives to administer
this sacrament in cases of necessity ;
and as this was not distinctly forbidden,
the custom Avas continued, and thus
tacitly sanctioned.'
In the Churching of Women, they
liked not that she should be veiled of
necessity, on her first appearance in the
congregation, or that she should always
be seated in the same place ; customs
Avhich it is ridiculous to discuss ; and
AA'hich, in the process of time, have been
disused in most parishes, and only par
tially retained in others.
The offence Avhich Avas taken at or
gans and church music, as practised in
cathedrals, Avas rather general ; and the
question of rejecting them Avas agitated
in the convocation of 1562.^ But if
these churches Avere served in those
days wilh as little reverence among the
subordinate members as is sometimes
now apt to be the case, it is no wonder
that sober-minded Christians should be
offended : and yet to correct such neg
ligence seems a more reasonable and
obvious remedy, than to deprive our
' Archbishop Sandys says, in his will, "for the
private baptism fo he ministered by women, I take
neither to be prescribed norpermit'ted." (Strype's
Whitgift, i. .548.) But in the oath administered
in the diocese of Canterbury, in 1567, to Eleanor
Pead, a midwife, is the following clause, " Also,
that in the ministration of the sacrament of bap
tism in the lime of necessiiy, I will use apt and
accustomed words ofthe same sacrament, that is
10 say, these words following, or the hke in effect :
I christen thee in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, and none other profane
words." (Strype's Annals, I. ii. 243.) The oath
in such a case may have been borrowed from the
old formulary, and have been continued, without
being parliculariy attended to, for the sake of a
fee paid to some ecclesiastical officer. The ques
tions asked according to the Prayer Book of 1549,
1552, and 1560, seem to leave little doubt that the
custoin was sanctioned. " By whom was the
child baptized ? 'Who was present when the child
was baptized? 'Whether they called upon God
for grace and puccour in that necessity? Wilh
what thing or what matter they did baptize the
child ? VVhether they think the child to be law
fully and perfectly baptized?" expressions which
Iiardly agree wilh the itlea of the child's having
been baptized by a minister, and which questions
are for that reason generally omitted at present,
though they have been considerably altered in
point of worda.
» Burnet, iii. vi. No. 74.

church of a species of service which,
to those ,Avho are accustomed to it, is
the most elevating and delightful in the
Avorld. § 425. In point of discipline, the dif
ferences of opinion Avere so numerous,
that it Avill be enough if we confine our
selves to the prominent features of the
objections, Avithout entering on the de
grees 'in Avhich they Avere held, or the
alterations which at different periods
greAv into vogue with the nonconform
ists. The chief stumbling-block was
episcopacy, as a distinct order in the
church, and the authority over the rest
of the ministry Avhich this distinction
produced in the body corporate of the
establishment. Those Avho maintained
this objection might be again divided
into tAvo parties ; the one Avas dissatis
fied with episcopacy in the abstract ;
the dissatisfaction of the other was con
fined to the temporal state and civil
functions of the bishops ; but among
the rhass of the nonconformists and
their followers, who 'VA'ere often very
ignorant^ on such subjects, such a dis
tinction Avas little attended to. They
hated the bishops, from being taught
that their office Avas unscriptural, and
their proceedings unchristian ; and they
troubled not themselves to mark the
difference between the office itself and
the temporal authority vested in the
bishops ofthe church of England.
The alleged want of an efficient pres
bytery was closely connected with this
question, and AA'ith the circumstance that
all ecclesiastical power Avas given ex
clusively to the bishops, ivho Avere ap
pointed by the crown. Most of the
exiles for religion, who on their return
formed the influential part of the church
of England, had been familiar Avith
establishments abroad, in Avhich the
individual pastors Avere possessed of
considerable Aveight in the govemmenl
of the church and its concerns : on their
arrival in the land of promised rest, they
found that this spiritual power AA^as in
no degree conferred on themselves, but
that they were subjected to a very pe
remptory method of treatment before
the ecclesiastical commission, the pro
ceedings of which AA'ere quite unsup
ported by the general tenor of the law
of the land. The seeds of civil liberty
were throughout the Avhole struggle

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

13.5

closely mixed up Avith the complaints
of the puritans ; and the same men AA'ho
had learnt to search for the truth on
religion': subjects, and to pursue it in
.spite of the poAvers nf this world Avhich
were arrayed against it, were little likely,
from human motives, to submit to in
junctions, hoAvever reasonable, which
were arbitrarily imposed.
§ 42(5. The dispute as to the calling
of ministers chiefly owes its origin to
the same source. The Avarm upholders
of this opinion would have said that
ordination consisted virtually in the
elective call of the flock ; that this formed
the essence of the appointment to the
ministry ; and that Avithout it, all ordi
nation Avas the invention of man, and
not the institution of God. Its more
moderate friends AA'ould have maintained
that the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery Avas sufficient Avithout the
presence of a bishop, provided the mi
nistry of the person admitted Avere not
unacceptable to the parish. BetAveen
these extremes there exist many smaller
varieties, many plausible errors, into
which all men are apt to run, when they
set up their oAvn opinions as the test
of right and Avrong.
The absence of spiritual discipline
Avas a source of complaint Avith all par
ties ; and the nonconformists lamented,
AA'ith some shoAv of reason, that the only
e.xercise of it Avhich remained was con
fined to non-essentials in religion, of
which they themselves Avere the unfor
tunate victims : and it AA'as the observa
tion of one of the best Avishers to the
church,' that ecclesiastical offices were
now misused to private gain, rather than
public benefit. The country had been
used, under the auspices of the court of
Rome, to a strict inspection as to some
particulars relating to morals, at least
to the idea of it. In the presbyterian
churches, a great deal of real discipline
was preserved, and much actual super
intendence exercised ; but the poAver of
the church, as it now existed in Eng
land, Avas inadequate to keep up the old
episcopal jurisdiction which had been
carried on in former days ; and from
her adopting little of the presbyterian
government, she wanted the discipline

' Burleigh's Letter to Aylmer, 1579. Sirype's
Aylmer, 188.

of combination, Avith which the diffusion
of power under that system invested
the ministerial body. But it may fairly
be questioned whether this species of
authority be not in its nature Avrong.
There are but two principles on Avhich
punishment can ever be administered
with advantage : first, Avhen severity is
used for the sake ofthe person punished;
and, secondly, when it is done for the
sake of civil society : when the penalty
inflicted may reform the aggressor, or
prevent the recommission of the crime
in otherg, by the force of terror, and the
influence of example. The latter of
these may be fully exercised by lay
courts ; and though on many occasions
ecclesiastical discipline may further the
former object, yet the authority with
which it invests the pastor, makes him
as it were a judge over his brethren ;
and wherever temporal disability is con
nected Avith ecclesiastical censure,^ it
gives the minister of the gospel a cha
racter Avhich will probably injure the
state of his OAvn mind, and perhaps
alienate the affections of his flock ; Avhile
it cannot fail to make both parties refer
their conduct to the laAVS and institu
tions of men, rather than to the com
mandments of God. But it Avas the
want of power vested in the subordinate
ministry, Avhich Avas the real cause of
the present dissatisfaction ; and neither
the policy of the queen, nor the general
state of the clergy, gave any great pro
bability that this would be granted.
§ 427. The most obvious evil which
existed at this time Avas the Avant of an
effective ministry ; and for the sake of
improving the clergy, exercises Avere
established in most of the dioceses,
Avhich were called prophesyings, from
an expression used by St. Paul.' The
manner of carrying them on varied in
different places,"* but was generally as
follows.'' The diocese was diA'ided into
2 In our own church, temporal pains are at
tached to spiritual punishments ; (a man, for in
stance, who is excommunicated, cannot perform
any legal act ;) and that proper jealousy which the
civil courts have always exercised, lest the rights
ofthe subject should be in any way infringed, has
by degrees driven churchmen from attempiing to
put ecclesiastical censures in force, except on very
flagrant occasions ; so that even a clergyman
must have been guilty of excessive miscondimt,
and have disgraced the church, before the bishop's'
court can interfere for his correction.
' 1 Cor. xiv. 1 Strype's Ann. iii. 325, 472,481.
6 Grindal, 260.

1.36

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

convenient districts, and the clergy be
longing to each Avere assembled at
stated periods, about once in the fort
night, Avhen, together Avith prayers,
some text of Scripture Avas discussed
by speakers appointed by the modera
tor, who was himself nominated by the
bishop or archdeacon, and Avas, in some
dioceses, the dean rural of the deanery.
From the injudicious proceedings in
particular districts, in Avhich subjects
tending rather to schism than to edifi
cation were brought forward, objections
were raised by those in authority, and
the mind of the queen was prejudiced
against them, so that they Avere gene
rally suppressed in 1577, though ap
proved of by many persons Avell able to
judge on the question.' They formed,
as it Avere, a nucleus for the presbytery,
which might easily have been abused ;
but had they been judiciously carried
on, they might have supplied a defect
which is still strongly felt. A young
clergyman, Avho has had but little expe
rience in the care of a parish, might, in
such a body, have found an authorized
guide for his OAvn conduct on many
minor points, in which he hardly ven
tures to apply to his arphdeacon or his
bishop ; and by the frequent discussion
of such questions the priesthood would
become better able to perform their
duties, Avhile the very act of thus as
sembling Avould have given a spiritual
tone to the meetings of the clergy, the
present Avant of which must certainly
be deplored. There was at the time
less trouble in silencing the whole than
in remedying or preventing these dis
orders ; and the disinclination which
had been felt loAvards these prophesy
ings, prevented the adoption of such
exercises as might have produced all
the good, Avithout occasioning the evils
complained of. Something of this sort
was rendered the more necessary,'* on
account of the scarcity of preachers
and educated clergymen ; but Elizabeth

' Lord Bacon expresses his approbation of these
exercises strongly. (Strype's Ann. v. 480.) Sir
Francis Knowles, Sir Waller Mildmay, and Sir
Thomas Smith commended them, to say nothing
of the bishops who sanctioned their introduction.
(Strype's Ann. iii. 477.)
2 "Whitgil't says, " I thinke it not amisse for the
ordinarie to appoint sonie kinde of exercise for the
unlearned minisiers, but not in that forme."
Strype's Whitgift, iii. 128, No. xiii. 12,

seems not to have possessed any very
correct vieAvs Avith regard to their im
provement. She applied, it is true, cer
tain lapsed revenues to the foundation
of schools, and patronized the universi
ties ; but she adopted such measures
with respect to church property as
Avould have rendered it impossible that
England should have ever possessed a
learned ministry, had not her proceed
ings been partially stopped, and subse
quently, in some degree, remedied.
I'he dignified clergy were, during her
reign, pillaged most unmercifully ; and
though many a sensible and conscien
tious person might have esteemed the
former revenues of the bishops too
great, yet it must be remembered that
high situations soon become nugatory,
unless they are supported by a cor
responding income. She was enabled
to commit these depredations on the
establishment, by an act which passed
in the first year of her reign, allowing
her to exchange the lands of vacant
bishoprics for impropriated tithes ; and
though the crown Avas probably not
much the richer for this iniquitous bill,
yet the courtiers and favourites of the
queen made such use of- it, as to render
the church unable to support its mi
nistry. § 428. The great engine for the go
vernment of the church, during this
reign, Avas the Court of Ecclesiastical
Commission. It was established under
the eighth clause of the Act of Suprema
cy, Avhich alloAved the queen to delegate
her OAvn poAver to persons appointed for
that purpose. It was composed chiefly
of churchmen ; but the names of some
of the laity were alAA'ays joined with
them, although, as might liaA-e been ex
pected, the laymen took less interest in
the transactions, and frequently absented
themseh'es, Avhen offensive measures
wef-e to be carried though. Its autho
rity, like the queen's supremacy, was
indefinite and unlimited, and strongly
resembled that exercised by the Star
Chamber. The efforts of the commis
sioners were first directed against non
conformity, and irregularities of less im
portance ; and though their severity fell
the heaviest on those whose scruples or
fancies prevented them from complying
with the regulations about dresses, &c.,
yet the court soon began to be Oppres-

Chap. IX.J

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

137

sive to the poorer clergy;' for Avhoever
Avas invested with such a poAver as was
intrusted to the members of it, was
enabled to convert it to his OAvn private
advantage, by means of bribes received
from individuals exposed to prosecution,
or who Avere liable to be brought before
a court in which the proceedings were
unknown and arbitrary : and the number
of commissioners, in different parts of
the country, alloAved very unfit persons
to be invested with the office.
The chief oppression," however, arose
afterAvards from commissions of conceal
ments, in which the queen grantea a
right of appropriating to the use of par
ticular persons such property as by
former confiscations , belonged to the
croAvn, but AA'hich had been transferred
into other hands. The proceedings of
the commissioners Avere often most inju
rious to honest possessors, and one con
siderable branch of their profit arose
from sums given to stay or prevent pro
cesses. The value of Avhat was at stake
was often enormous. The whole foun
dation of the church of Norwich Avas at
one time in jeopardy of falling from the
purposes for which it was' made, and
being converted into a private estate ;^
but the officers of the crown interfered;
and though in danger for a considerable
time, it Avas ultimately saved, and re
founded by the queen in 1588.
§ 429. The granting such commis
sions is one among many impolitic acts
Avith Avhich the government of Elizabeth
is marked. Security of person and
property is the object for which men
submit to the restraints of civil society ;
whatever, therefore, tends to render any
tenure insecure, must, in some degree,
unhinge the bands of society; and the
feeling of the possibility of such insecu
rity is almost as bad, in this respect, as
the reality. From the quantity of land
Avhich had changed its possessors within
a few years, almost every rich subject
must have held property which had once
-belonged to ecclesiastical bodies, and his
title, therefore, have been liable to be
called in question, unless his power pre
served him from such apprehensions.
Her conduct, then, must appear as inju-
' Strype's Parker, ii. 306.
2 Strype's Parker, ii. 224, and Annals, v. 162,
168. s Ibid. iii. 450. 18

dicious as it was unjust. The ravage
which Avas committed by Henry was the
Avasteful prodigality of a tyrant ; yet to
those who view the payment of the es
tablishment as the means of promoting
religion, not as the end, the alienation
must appear a useful, though someAvhat
a harsh measure. Under Edward, the
monarch Avas too Aveak to resist the ava
rice of those Avho governed, and Mary
rather enriched than robbed the establish
ment ; but Elizabeth laid her hands on
all that she could grasp, though, for the
sake of keeping up appearances, she
restored some small portion in founda
tions connected with education. She
acted tOAvards the property of the church
Avith no more prudence or forbearance
than she did toAvards that of the croAvn,
and in both seemed to look no further
than the lifehold interest Avhich she pos
sessed in it. The improvident leases
made by churchmen themselves tended
to impoverish the revenues of the estab
lishment ; but for one case on record
where the clergy Avere to blame, several
rnight be found where the interference
of the court obliged them to give away,
in a legal form, what belonged to their
successors. The queen never liked to apply for
money to parliament, lest the members
should interfere Avith her proceedings,*
but wasted the church in paying those
courtiers whom her parsimony prevented
her from rewarding otherwise.^ She did
not begin the custom, but she ought to
have put a stop to it." She did not,
perhaps, alloAv it to go so far as the pu
ritans Avished, or satisfy the desires of
her courtiers, but it went to such a length
that England has felt it ever since. Nor
has the liberality of parliament, com
bined with the bounty of dueen Anne,
been yet able to render our poorer livings
adequate to the decent maintenance of a
clergyman : and Avere it not for the piety
of those Avho, through the possession of
private property, are enabled to devote
their talents to the service of God, by
entering into the ministry, a great num
ber of parishes in England would be
destitute of an educated pastor.

Ji Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog. iv. 70, and 233.
's Strype's Grindal, 42, 49.
6 Archbishop Parker, in a letter to Lhzabeth
which he wrote from his deathbed, remonstrates
with her on this pomt. (Strype's Parker, u. 430.)
M 2

138

HISTORY OF THE

FChap, IX.

§ 430. The poverty of the church, in
the early part of the reign of Elizabeth,
Avas excessive ;' not only among the
higher clergy, who were exposed to
these attacks from the court, but among
the loAver and laborious individuals who
possess no dignified station, and have
no further wtjrldly prospect than to pro
vide bread for themselves and their fami
lies.'^ At this moment, when, from being
allowed to marry, they required greater
incomes than before, the revenues of
the church were labouring under a great
depression, attributable to a combination
of several causes.
The wholesale alienation of church
property Avhich had taken place in the
reign of Henry VIIL, had unsettled the
minds of the nation AA'ith regard to all
tenures ; might had legally been con
verted into right, and all menAvere ready
to take advantage of the change.^ The
court invaded the wealth of the higher
clergy ,¦* and they in their turn Avere often
little careful of the interests of their suc
cessors,^ and sometimes raised a revenue
by appropriating to themselves the in
come which Avas originally granted for
the officiating incumbent." Where the
laAV did not strictly interfere, it was not
very likely that lay-patrons would be
very scrupulous as to the person to whom
they committed the cure of souls ; and, to
use the AA'ords of the learned writer of the
jjreface to Bullinger's Decads,' " Patrons
now-a-days search not the universities
for a most fit pastor ; but they post up and
down the country for a most gainful
chapman : he that hath the biggest purse
to pay largely, not he that hath the best
gifts to preach learnedly, is presented."
¦ See i 410.
'^ Parker inhibited Grindal from holding a visita
tion of ihe London clergy, (at which fees, procu
rations, and synodals, are paid to the bishop,) be
cause they had scarcely wherewith to buy food
andraiment. (Strype's Grindal, 57.) Grindal, in
his letter to Elizabeth, says, (Ibid. 565,) "So
that at this day, in mine opinion, where one church
is able to, yield sufficient living for a learned
preacher, there are at the least seven churches
unable to do the same ; and in many parishes of"
your realm, where there be seven or eight hundred
souls, (the more is the pily,) there are not eight
pounds a year reserved for a minister." (See also
Sirype's Whitgift, iii. 171, No. 26.)
^ As an instance of such proceedings, see the
account of the visitation of the Savoy. (Strype's
Grindal, 236.)
4 Strype's Annals, vi. 466, No. 29.
6 Ibid. vi. 266, No. 32, i.
« Ibid. vi. 471 , No. 32, ii. ' Ibid. iv. 146.

To this may be added the loss sustained
through the discontinuance of fees and
offerings which were made by the laity
to the curates of their parishes.* Obla
tions made at shrines, the profits arising
from pilgrimages, mortuaries, and per
sonal tithes, (being the tenth of all men's
clear gains,) had in tOAvns formed a con
siderable source of income to the clergy ;
these payments had now ceased ; but
the government had been far from inter
posing to supply the deficiency.^ The
courtiers joined Avith the puritans in at
tacking the church, the latter to depress
its'^OAver,'" the former to share in the
spoil, and to render the clergy beggars, in
order that they might depend on them."
* Strype's Whitgift, iii. 171.
' Strype's Grindal, 78.
1" Sirype's Whitgift, i. 146, 147.
" The whole question of church property is one
of vast Importance to the country, and is unfor-
tunaiely so frequently misunderstood, that it may
prove useful to say something of the principles on
which provision ought to be made for the clergy.
The payment, if lightly arranged, will redound
10 the benefit of the whole body politic. Humanly
.speaking, "labourers cannot be procured wilhout
hire, and their quality will correspond with the
payment which is provided for them. Now, men"
are paid eliher by consideration, or by actual ad
vantages, (i. e. in a civilized country by money;)
and ihe consideraiion will itself depend on the
esteem in which the profession is held, as wellas in
directly on the rank and fortune which are indepen
dently possessed by those Individuals who compose
It. Thus, for instance, the profession of arms is
honourable, and therefore the pay which is allotted
to officers always has been, and should be, ade
quate to support the rank which they hold in so
ciety ; and yet we find men of family and fortune
crowding into the profession for the sake of the
honour to be acquired in it. Compare this service
wilh Ihe collection of customs or excise, and it
will be found that the same pay in money will
provide a very different species of person for the
employment. I'he duty of an established clergy is to promote
the spiritual benefit of their brethren, and the rea
son why the state pays them at all, is, that the
spiritual and moral advancement of a country di
rectly influences ihe prosperity of a state. For it
may safely be asserted, that nothing but vice really
injures a kingdom, and that states fall not from
luxury, but from the vices which accompany
luxury. In England, for instance, an individual
may enjoy luxuries and conveniences unknown to
people of the same station in other countries of
modern Europe, or to the ancients ; yet the com--
monv^ealth is the richer for our comlorts, and we
are slill, comparatively speaking, far from being a
vicious nation. The object, therefore, which tlie
politician should have in view, in pro-viding for an
estabhshed clergy, is to assign such a remunera
tion to them as will procure a body of men whose
rank in life will not be likely to render them irre^
ligious,and whose attainments are such as to ena
ble- thdm to promote the civilization of society in
general. There can be no doubt that much tem
poral wealth is not suhed to promote Christianity,

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

139

§ 431. The events Avhich took place
between the settlement of the church
and the death of Parker are not in them
selves very important or interesting ;
and since we have already taken a ge
neral vieAv of the leading features which
distinguished the ecclesiastical proceed
ings, a brief account of the various oc
currences must suffice. When the chief
points Avere settled, as to belief and dis
cipline, it remained only to alloAv mat
ters to take their own course, and to
observe hoAV the laAvs and ojdinances
answered the purposes for Avhich they
were intended. Activity and exertion
were necessary among the clergy, in
carrying on their ministerial duties ; but

and that without temporal Avealth, such an educa
tion cannot be procured in a civilized country as
will render the generality of teachers adequate to
direct their flocks. Tbe English pohtician has not
the difHculty of adjusting this balance, for by the
great mercy of God we possess an establishment
in which the clergy are by their station mixed wilh
every rank in society, and on the whole adequately
paid. In a scale which it has taken so many cen
turies to form, and in which so much has depended
on circumstances apparently accidental, there must
exist some pieces ot preferment which seem to be
paid too largely, and we know that there are many
more, in which the Avorkman is inadequately re
munerated. In a constitution such as ours, the
true friends of the estabhshment will always have
the eye fixed on what can most easily be remedied,
and not on what a theorist might originally have
desired; such laws, therefore, as tend to support
ecclesiastical disciphne among the clergy ihem-
selves, and to make us perform our duties more
adequately, must be deemed beneficial, and every
step should be promoted which will provide for the
poorer clergy, for curates in cases of non-residence,
and for the incumbents in livings where the tithes
are impropriated, which are perhaps at present the
worst paid of any species of preferment ; but he
must be a very bold, and ought to be a very cau
tious legislator, who would venture to attack the
oldest tenures in this or any other country. That
the legislature has a right to interfere with pro
perty belonging to either bodies corporate or indi
viduals, be they laymen or ecclesiastics, cannot be
denied ; but the right is the same in one case as
in the other, and in both the necessity which calls
for such a step should be clearly proved. It is
always much more safe to tax the property of some
for the support of others, than to touch the pro
perty itself If the tenths on the larger prefer
ments Avere increased, the sums thus thrown into
the hands of the governors of Queen Anne's
bounty would gradually provide for the increase
of smaller hvings ; nor should it be forgotten, that
probably one-half of the English bishoprics do not
amount in income to the salaries of the judges,
who, upon a fair estimate of the nature of their
offices, and the rank they rightly hold in society,
are by no means too highly rewarded. And that
even these incomes of the bishops are made up in
many cases of impropriations, where the main
tenance, which m foro conscientia) is due to him
who performs the spiritual duties of the parish, is
taken from him and given to another.

the great object was to establish through
out the country the habit of observing
what the legislature had enacted. Jewel,^
in speaking of the state of the country
in the beginning of the reign, says, that
the people Avere very ignorant and su
perstitious, but very much inclined to
religion ; a state in which much labour
Avas required, but in which the exertions
of the ministry were not likely to prove
unsuccessful. Few, however, seem to
have trod this unpretending path of spi
ritual and quiet toil : the one party were
eager to introduce innovations incom
patible with Avhat Avas established, the
other were employed in repressing these
attempts, and in providing for their
temporal interests. The consequences
of this were such as might have been
expected, and are characterized in a
mournful description given by Strype,
Avhich is chiefly draAvn from the papers
of Lord Burleigh.^ " The churchmen
heaped up many benefices, and resided
upon none, neglecting their cures ;
many of them alienated their lands,
made unreasonable leases and wastes
of their Avoods, granted reversions and
advoAvsons to their Avives and children,
or to oihers for their use. Churches
ran greatly into dilapidations and de
cays, and were kept nasty, and filthy,
and undecent for God's Avorship."
§ 432. The declaration of open war
between the high and low church parties
may be considered to have taken place
in 1566 f when the proclamation of the
queen gave, as it were, the sanction of
laAV to the Advertisements" which the
bishops had previously put forth, and
they began to enforce uniformity among
the London clergy, (March 26.) Of 98
who appeared before the commissioners,
' Burnet, iii. 207, fol., 495, 8vo.
2 Strype's Parker, ii. 204. ' Ibid. i. 427.
¦> The Advertisements are a set of canons to en
force uniformity of " doclrine and preaching ; ad
ministration of prayer and sacraments ; certain
orders in ecclesiastical policy ; outward apparel of
persons ecclesiastical ; and promises to be made
by those entering on any ecclesiastical office."
(Sparrow's CoU. 121.) They were printed and
pubhshed Jan. 25th, 1565, without the royal
authority, by the ecclesiastical commissioners,
from whence, indeed, they derive their name, and
are not called Articles or Ordinances. (Strype's
Parker, i. 313.) That part which referred to
dress was sanctioned by the proclamation, as
above ; and the others seemed to have been used
as if they were law. (Strype's Parker, i. 319.)
A different copy of these is printed in Strype.
(Sirype's Parker, iii. 84, No. 28.

140

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

61 complied, and 37 refused, of Avhich
number, as Parker acknowledges, "were
the best, and some preachers ;"' and,
contrary to the expectation of their
judges, they shoAved reasonable quiet
ness and modesty. When the three
months which the laAV allowed them for
consideration had elapsed, they were
ipso facto deprived of all their spiritual
promotions ; %nd in the beginning of
the next year began to separate from
the church, by carrying on private meet
ings for devotions and Avorship, which
were conducted chiefly after the formula
ofthe church of Geneva. They alleged
as their excuse, that in the Common.
Prayer Book, " the ceremonies of anti
christ were tied to the service of God,
so that no man might preach and admi
nister the sacraments without them."
The government was alarmed at such a
symptom of dissent, and the ecclesiasti
cal commissioners Avere urged to exert
themselves. During this period of
schism, there Avere not wanting instances
of men, Avho, though they disapproved
of the habits, yet conformed to the esta
blished laAV, following the suggestions
of Beza, who advised his friends mo
destly to protest against these proceed
ings,' but by no means to desert their
flocks for matters in themselves not un
godly. § 433. This schism of the London
clergy, in itself injurious to the -Chris
tian welfare of the state, was rendered
far more formidable by the appearance
of the same spirit in one of the cradles
of our church establishment, where it
might taint the source from which sound
sense and pure religion ought to flow.
The university of Cambridge had for
some time been agitated by the question
of the habits ; and, as was natural, the
younger members generally ran into
the novelties of the day, and discarded
the appointed dresses ; but at the end
of 1570 the flame broke forth, Thomas
Cartwright, B. D., Lady Margaret
Reader of Divinity, had been delivering-
lectures,* in which he attacked the li
turgy and episcopal government, and
had contributed much to promote the
insubtjrdination -which had manifested
itself. He was fellow of Trinity Col-
J Strype's Parker, i. .42?. = Ibid. 478, ch. ix.
f Ibid. i. 483.
< Strype's Whitgift, i. 38.

lege, of which Whitgift was head ; and
perhaps from this cause Whitgift came
forward as the decided opponent of his
opinions, that the bane and antidote
might proceed from within the same
Avails. ^Cartwright had been ordered
to retract certain opinions contrary to
episcopal government, which he had
previously maintained in six articles,
acknowledged and subscribed by him ;
and after abundant delay and forbear
ance on the part of the authorities, he
was deprived of his readership. He
was anxious to have maintained a public
disputation, but he would only do so on
his own terms." He required to know
beforehand his opponents and his judges,
meaning such judges as he himself
should best like ; but Whitgift, who
had many private discourses with him,
repeatedly offered to dispute with him,
on condition that both parties should
commit their arguments and positions
to paper ; a demand to Avhich no rea
sonable disputant could object. The
circumstance of being silenced by
authority seems to have exalted Cart-
Avright into a confessor in the cause of
puritanism ; but if episcopacy were to
be upheld at all, no gentler steps could
have been adopted. If a government
be strong, it need not persecute or pu
nish every one Avho impugns its form
or constitution ; but how can it allow
such a person to hold a situation of trust
under it, particularly one AA'hich is likely
to be influential in forming the senti
ments of the rising generation ? ''Cart
wright subsequently vacated his felloAv-
ship in Trinity College, according to
the statutes, (Sept. 1572,) in conse
quence of not taking orders, about which
he felt some scruples, because he had
experienced no call to the ministry
through the invitation of some parish,
a point which he deemed a necessary
qualification ; as if to educate the upper
orders, and prepare young men for the
church, were not as suita'ble an office
for a minister of God's word as any
other part of the ecclesiastical duties.
This dispute created a kind of personal
struggle between Whitgift and Cart
wright; and when the one published
his answer to the " Admonition to Par-

« Strype's Whitgift, iii. 19, No. ix.
« Ibid. i. 42. 7 ibid, 95.

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

U^

liament,"' (a book set forth by the puri
tans, attacking the Avhole government
of the church, and in the composition
of which CartAvright had probably a
considerable hand,) the other imme
diately replied, and Whitgift defended
his ansAver. As they reasoned on dif
ferent principles, it is not extraordinary
that the partisans of both sides should
deem their OAvn champion successful :
and, as is ordinarily the case, the dis
putants mutually remained of their ori
ginal opinion, Avhile the cause of truth
was promoted by discussion, though the
harmony of the church was disturbed.
§434. (a.d. 1571.) Theproceedings
of the convocation and parliament of
this year require a good deal of atten
tion ; but in order to get a clear vieAv
of their effects, it Avill be necessary to
divide the subjects on Avhich the seve
ral laws Avere enacted.
In the convocation, the Articles of
Religion were again subscribed ; but
any remarks on this event Avill more
properly be introduced Avhen Ave enter
on the history of the Thirty-nine Arti
cles, a subject so important as to require
a distinct chapter.''
The establishment of a code of eccle
siastical law Avas also brought into con
sideration. In the convocation, a set
of canons pertaining to discipline were
framed, for the regulation of the officers
of the church, and to declare the duties
attached to bishops, deans, archdeacons,
&c., as Avell as to prevent the evils
arising from non-residence, pluralities,
and corrupt presentations. They are
extant in Sparrow's Collection,' though

' A full account of this dispute may be found
by consulting the index to Strype. The prin
ciples on which the argument in the Admonition
-is conducted were, " that we must of necessity
have the same kind of government that was in the
apostles' time, and Is expressed in the Scripture,
and no other. The other was, that we may not,
in any wise, nor on any consideration, retain in
the church any thing that hath been used under
the pope." (Strype's Parker, ii. 140.) A method
of reasoning, in which the first part is a mere pe
titio principii, the latter a fallacy. The episctj-
palian appeals to the Scriptures in defence of his
form of church government, (see 'j 460.) and be
lieves if to be that adopted by the apostles. And
while we acknowledge that I he church of Rome has
preserved the vital points of Christianity, as main
tained in the five first articles of our church, we
must allow that no misuse of subordinate matters
ought to prevent us from adopting them, if in them
selves they are admissible.
2 i 485, &c. ' P. 223.

they never received the sanction of the
queen, Avho thought that the authority
of the bishops, derived from her su
premacy, Avas sufficient to enforce them.
Yet Grindal justly observed, when Par
ker urged the adoption of them in the
province of York, that the fine words
of her majesty might fly away as the
wind, and Avould little serve the bishops,
if they Avere adjudged to have incurred
the penalties of a premunire, Avhich
coulil only be guarded against by a
legal enactment of them, derived from
the royal approbation hi scriptis.
§ 435. The same subject Avas brBught
forward in the House of Commons,-" and
reference was made to the "Reforma
tio Legum Ecclesiasticarum,"^ a book
drawn up chiefly by Cranmer ;° but
which was laid aside, and never legally
enacted, in consequence of the inter
ruption occasioned by the death of Ed
ward VI.'' But Elizabeth Avas ever
adverse to reformation in religion Avhich
originated in any authority but her own ;
and though it appears that a committee
was appointed, yet, as they proceeded
to examine irrelevant questions, it served
but to excite the anger of the queen.

•• Strype's Parker, ii. 62.
5 Strype's Ann. iii. 93, &c. « ^ 330.
' The title of the book is " Reformatio Legum
Ecclesiasticarum, ex auctoritaie 1'" R. Henrici
VIII. inchoata, deinde per R. Edvardum VI.
provecta adauctaque In hunc modum, atque nunc
ad pleniorem ipsarum reformationem in lucem
asdita, Lond. Day. Ap. 1571." A copious ab
stract of it may be seen in Collier, Ecc. Hist. ii.
3-26, &c. It consists of fifty-one titles, besides
an Appendix, " De Regulis juris." 'I'he most
remarkable peculiariiies of it are, that it makes
bla.sphemy and heresy ultimately punishable wfith
death. It is jusily severe on adultery, punishing
the guilty party whh imprisonment and banish
ment, and not allowing them to marry, a license
which it grants to the innocent. It directs that a
strict examination shall take place before institu
tion, and forbids pluralities. It directs ihat the
dean rural shall be an annual officer appointed by
the bishops, and that he shall report the conduct
of the clergy ; that archdeacons shall reside within
the limits of their jurisdiction ; that prebendaries
shall give public lectures in the cathedral. It ap
points, besiiles, provincial synods and diocesan
synods to be annually held In Lent. It gives di
rections wilh regard to parochial discipline, recom
mends that excommunication shall be rarely
used, and only by the bishops ; and that impeni
tent persons under excommunicalion shall, after
forty days, be handed over to the civil povver, to
be Imprisoned and fined. In each case there is
an appeal from the archdeacon to the bishop, then
to the archbishop, and lastly to the king, who
shall cause the question to be decided in a pro
vincial synod, or before commissioners appomted
by the crown. See also i 482, 3.

142

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

and a stop Avas put to this and several
other bills. It is curious to observe
during this reign the groAving power of |
the House, which, as it began to exert its
OAvn strength, without having learnt to
confine the discussion to those subjects '
Avhich properly belonged to the cogni- ,
sance of such an assembly, Avas from*
time to time checked by the arbitrary
mandates of the queen, who, in the
moment when she most dreaded its in
fluence, acted towards the representa
tives of the people with a sternness and
tyranny Avhich Avould never have been
born^ unless it had been exercised by
a person of consummate skill, who
knew Avhen to give Avay as Avell as
Avhen to press her authority. A similar
attempt at remodelling the ecclesiastical
laAvs Avas again made during the next
year by AVentworth ; but her majesty
sent a message to the House through
the speaker,' (1572,] declaring that her
pleasure Avas that from henceforth no
bills concerning religion should be pre
ferred or read in the House, unless the
same Avere considered and liked by the
clergy ; and at the same time demanded
to see the bills in progress. All this
Avas conceded to her sovereign com
mand ; and Ave can the less wonder
either at her interference, or at the de
ference Avhich Avas paid to her orders,
Avhen we consider that the obvious
tendency of these latter measures Avas
to undermine the church establishment,
and totally to alter its form. The ques
tion in both these cases was chiefly
spiritual, over Avhich the House of Com
mons could, properly speaking, have
no control, nor ought they to have legis
lated beyond the point in Avhich the
temporalities Avere directly or indirectly
implicated ; here they rightly exercised
their legislative power, and Ave have
during this session several laws Avhich
apply solely to churchmen. By chap.
12, 13 Eliz., such clergymen as had
been ordained by any other form than
that prescribed in the Book of Com
mon Prayer Avere made incapable of
retaining their preferments, unless they
subscribed to the Thirty-nine Articles ;
which same subscription Avas required
of all who were instituted to any bene
fice ; and if the benefice exceeded
1 Strype's Parker, h. 203.

thirty pounds per annum, they were
required to have taken the degree of
B. D. at least in one of the universities ;
no one could be ordained a priest before
twenty-four years of age, or a deacon
before twenty-three ; i. e., if he Avere so
ordained, he Avas not a pnest according
to the law of England, and could hold
no English preferment. So again, by 10
and 20, 13 Eliz., it is enacted thai no
lease of ecclesiastical property shall be
good in laAV, if granted for a longer lime
than twenty-one years, or three lives ;
that tithes shall not be let, except the
incumbent reside on his living, or lease
them to a resident curate: all Avhich
matters are purely temporal, though
they refer to ecclesiastical persons.
§ 436. During this session, the uni
versities Avere incorporated, and invested
Avith certain legal privileges,-' and in
the next (1572) a provision Avas made
for the support of the poor ; Avhich,
notwithstanding its misuse, and the.
consequent objections which have been
raised against it, ought still to be the
glory of our soil ; and Avhile Ave boast
that no one can be a slave Avho has
once touched our happy land, Ave ma.y
rejoice that such care is taken of every
inhabitant, that none can be starved in
England Avithout a direct breach of our
lavA's. It may not be improper to re
mark, that the alteration noAV made in
the law did not at the time produce any
great change in the treatment of pau
pers. The custom in England, as I
believe in all Christian countries, had
always been to relicA-e the indigent by
means of voluntary contributions, Avhich
Avere here collected by churchAvardens,
and disposed of by them. The va
grant laws had, Avith severe penalties
against the idle and profligate, provided
for the Avantsof those who were really
distressed, and we have many acts of
parliament Avhich give directions Avith
regard to both these points.' (March 25,
1552.) One Avent so far as to appoint
that, in case of the refusal of any
of the parishioners to contribute, the
churchAvarden was to apply to the
bishop's court, and the bishop to pro
ceed against them. But 5, 14 Eliz.
provided for the poor by assessment

' Statutes of the Realm.
3 Burnet, ii. 146, fol., 354, 8vo.

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

143

throughout the parish, and subjected
those Avho refused to pay the sum as
sessed to imprisonment, upon convic
tion before two justices of ihe peace.
The spirit, therefore, of this laAV, Avhich
is justly Avorthy of our admiration, is
due to Christianity, the legal enactment
to our ancestors ; and it may fairly be
que.stionod Avhether the imbodying it
in its present form, however necessary,
has not divested the relief of the poor
of its peculiar feature, and made this
species of charity a duty very unAvill-
ingly performed.
§ 437. But as some of the most im
portant laAvs passed during this session
refer to the Roman Catholics, it Avill be
necessary to turn our attention towards
them. It is alloAved on all hands, that
the mciisures adopted at the commence
ment of the reign of Elizabeth were
conciliatory ; and they were at first met
by a corresponding return on the part
of the majority so treated. 'The Ro
man Catholics did generally conform to
the Avorship of our church, to Avhich,
though they might not have approved
of all the alterations in it, they could
raise no sound objections. For, as the
queen herself wrote to the duke of An
jou, in it " there was no part that had
not been, yea, that Avas not at that day
used in the church of Rome ; and that,
if any thing more were in ours, the same
was part ofthe Holy Scriptures."-' And
Lord Montacute, " a most devout fol-
loAver of the Romish religion, argued in
its favour to the court of Spain, " that
no other religion Avas brought into Eng
land than that Avhich Avas consonant
with the Ploly Scriptures, and the four
first cecumenical councils."^ This state
of things continued till the publication
ofthe bull of Pius V., 1569,* Avhich for-

' Strype's Grindal, 98.
2 Sirype's Annals, iii. 55.
3 Camden's Elizabeih, 19, 45.
-' The bull is dated Feb. 23d. 1569, and may be
found in Latin and English in Fowlis' Popish
Treasons, p. 331 ; Fuller, ix. 93, only gives the
translailon; Burnet, Ref vi. 522, No. 13, gives
the Latin.
Pius IV. had, when he came to the papacy in
15C0, made attempts at a reconciliation, by means
of Parpalia, and again, through the bishop of Vi
terbo and Sir N. Throgmorton, ambassador in
France ; and an anxiety was expressed that the
church of England should send deputies to the
councd of Trent; but the project failed. See
Fuller, ix. p. 68, &c.

bade her subjects to pay any deference
to the commands of one whom, in the
fulness of his power, he had excommu
nicated ; and when Felton was found
bold enough to affix this document, to
the gates ofthe palace of the bishop of
London, (1 570,) he met Avith a fate Avhich
his mad and rebellious act justly me
rited, and became the cause of number
less ills to the members of his OAvn com
munion. One of its first consequences
AA'as the enactment of three laws levelled
directly against the Roman Catholics,
to AA'hich allusion has been before made.
(a. d. 1571.) The first Avas entitled.
An Act Avhereby certain Offences be
made Treason.^ The offences Avere the
affirming that Elizabeth Avas not a law
ful sovereign, or that any one had a
better title ; that she Avas a heretic,
schismatic, or infidel ; or that the right
of the crown could not be determined
by laAV.
The second was against bringing in,
and putting in execution, bulls and other
instruments of the see of Rome. It
made all liable to the penalties of trea
son, or a prcemunire, who were directly
or indirectly accessory to the bringing
about a formal reconciliation with the
see of Rome, in the case of any of her
majesty's subjects. It did not affect
absolutions given at confession. °
The third, an act against fugitives
over the sea, imposed on them the for
feit of their property, but in case of their
good behaviour provided for their fami
lies Avhile they Avere absent, and re
stored them to their possessions and
rights a year after their return. A privi
lege Avas extended to peers, which made
it necessary that they should be sent for
by letters under the privy seal, before
they incurred these penalties.
§ 438. Yet these laws, however se
vere, Avere not put in execution till six
years after their enactment, and five
after the massacre of St. Bartholomew
had commenced the war of extermina
tion, which the Roman Catholics Avished
to carry on against Protestants. Cuth
bert Maine, a priest, was the first Avho
suffered under them, (1577;) he was
executed at Launceston, in CornAvall.
'He is described, by Camden as an ob-
sStatutes ofthe Realm, 13 Eliz. 1, 2, 3.
6 Butler's Catholics, i. 352. ' Ehz. 224.

144

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

stinate niaintainer of the pope's power
against his prince. But the number of
sufferers Avas destined soon to be in
creased. Their friends called them mar
tyrs, their enemies branded them with
the appellation of traitors ; and they
often partook strongly of the character
of both. 'Had no succession been pro
vided against the ravages of time, among
• the Roman Cathohc priesthood, the
stock of those who officiated in England
must soon have been exhausted ; but
this Avas prevented by Dr. William Al
len, Avho for his exertions Avas after
Avards rcAvarded bythe church of Rome
with a cardinal's hat. The fruits of his
first labours Avere :"
The English college of secular clergy
at Douay, 1568 : it was removed to
Rheims from 1578 to 1593, when it
returned back to Douay. This was fol-
loAved by the English college at Rome,
for the education of the secular clergy,
established in 1578.
A seminary at Valladolid, in Spain,
established for the same purpose about
1580. College at Rome, about 1578, for
seculars. A seminary at Seville, ditto.
A seminary at Madrid.
If the objects of these societies had
been confined to the education of men
destined to the ministry of religion, the
Protestant, while he deplored this con
tinued source of dissension, must have
admired the zeal of the man who so
rationally promoted the cause of his
party ; but these seminaries Avere made
the hotbeds of sedition. The oath'
which Avas taken by the students in
Scotland, Avhere Mary alloAved them a
temporary place of refuge, in conse
quence of certain troubles at Douay,
sufficiently marks the political tendency
of some of these institutions ; and the
use Avhich the enemies of England tried
to make of these establishments as
strongly points out the danger-* Avhich
1 Builer's Catholics, i. 309. = ibid. i. 492.
' " I, A. B., do acknowledge the ecciesiasiical
and political power of his holiness — And ihat my
zeal shall be for St. Peter — against all heretical
kings, princes, stales, or powers, repugnant unto
the same. And although I may prelend, in case
of perseeulion, or otherwise, to he hereiically di.«-
posed, yet in soul and conscience I shall help, aid,
and succour the mother church," &c. Strype's
Ann. iv. 337.
* Strype's Ann. v. 57.

might be apprehended from them, and
which indeed was partly realized by the
conduct of some of their members. In
January, 1581, the queen issued a pro
clamation, which commanded the rela
tives of children who were receiving
their education in foreign countries to
give notice lo their several ordinaries,
and to recall them Avithin four months ;
and the sanguinary laws against semi
narists and Jesuits Avere .subsequently
put in force. Persons and Campian
came over into England in June, 1,580,
bearing Avith them a suspension of the
buU of excommunication,* as far as Ro
man Catholics were concerned, till the
time Avhen the same might publicly be
executed. Persons, Avho was consti
tuted the superior," "tampered so far
with the papists, about deposing the
queen, that some of them (I speak, says
Camden, from their OAvn credit) thought
to deliver him into the magistrates'
hand;" 'and Campian wrote a chal
lenge to the church of England, by the
publication of which the government
Avas excited to use every means for their
apprehension. It does not appear that
Campian was privy to this act of publi
cation^ and in consequence of the acti
vity of pursuit which arose from it.
Persons fled out of the kingdom ; and
Campian, having with three others been
apprehended ontheI5th of July, (1581,)
Avas tried for denying the queen's su
premacy, and executed in December.
§ 439. (a. d. 1584.) It appears from
Camden that some measures in them
selves unwarrantable,* and excited by
the danger and jealousy of the times,
were used to entrap Roman Catholics ;
and the treasons of Somerville ani
Throgmorton, though they tended to
keep the flame alive, cannot be brought
forAvard as proofs of the necessity of any
such activity, inasmuch as the treason
itself probably originated in this very
cause : and if it Avere not for the con
duct of the court of Rome, as Avell as
other Roman Catholic courts ; if it were
not for the opinion of men Avho were far
better able to judge of the matter than
ourselves, I mean the ministers of Eli
zabeth ; if it AA-ere not for the undoubted
testimony of loyal Roman Catholics of

, 246.

'' Camden's Eliz
''Sirype's Ann. vi.' 183, No. G.
8 Camden's Eliz. 294.

8 Ibid. 247.

,Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

145

*hat period, Ave might fancy that the
alarms about the queen's life, and the
consequent severity towards the mem
bers of that communion, sprang from
party zeal and blind cruelty. But the
pope had excited and fostered ttvo rebel
lions in Ireland ;' and Sir Richard Shel
ley, Avriting to his nephoAv, attributes
the sufferings of her majesty's true ser
vants to the jealousies caused by the
heads of some seminaries, and unnatural
subjects abroad ;•' and in a letter to Lord
Burleigh, in 1583, he says, " That the
misery that all Christendom suffered for,
was by the sending of these Jesuits into
England after such sort as it was and
had been used."'
The immediate effect of these alarms,
beyond the animosity excite^ against
the Roman Catholics, Avas the formation
¦of an association,^ in which the members
promised to pursue, even to death, any
one Avho Avas concerned in the murder
of the queen ; for the assassination of
the prince of Orange, and the plots real
and pretended against the life of Eliza
beth, had put the whole country into a
ferment: and undoubtedly a Protestant
might reasonably have dreaded an event
which, by putting Mary of Scotland on
the throne, Avould have exposed the
church of England to very imminent
peril. In this particular, the conduct
of Elizabeth herself seems liable to very
just censure. The uncertainty of the
succession tended above all other causes
to prevent the quiet settlement of the
nation ; for had any accident happened
to her life, a thorough alteration Avould
probably have ensued. Her delays and
dalliance Avere excusable, if we vieAv
her merely as a woman ; but she Avas
a queen too, and the safety of the state
was at stake : she ought, therefore, to
have sacrificed her own fancies, to save
the lives of her unquiet subjects ; but
selfishness Avas one of the strongest
features of her character.
§ 440. In estimating the blame Avhich
is due to the government of Elizabeth,
with regard to the treatment of the Ro
man Catholics, the question seems to
involve principles of a very abstract
nature, and to be by no means so clear
as it is generally assumed to be. A go-
i~Camden's Eliz. 136, 242.
2 Strype's Annals, v. 193.
3 Camden's Ehz. 300.
19

vernment must ahvays have a right to
defend itself, but retaliation can only be
justified on the plea of future preven
tion. It may be conceded by the Pro
testant, that great cruelty Avas used
towards the Roman Catholics, and that
the line of policy pursued, Avhether just
or unjust, was very injudicious ; that a
sincere Roman Catholic priest might
have acted against the statutes of Eliza
beth upon mistaken principles, and pro
bably that many did so. But, on the
other hand, it seems likely that a Pro
testant at the time might fairly have
esteemed these laAvs necessary and
just ; and upon abstract principles of
justice they probably must be reckoned
just, though it Avould be difficult to esta
blish their necessity. The question
Avould stand thus : the head of a body
politic (the church of Rome) officially
promulgates doctrines and assumes an
authority-* incompatible Avith civil go
vernment ; every one, therefore, who
by any act maintains that authority,
does virtually place himself beyond the
pale of civil society. We are not at
present discussing hoAV such an indivi
dual ought to be treated. It is obvious
that kindness and reason Avould be most
likely to bring him home to a sense of his
duty ; but a government must have a
right to use severity, and that upon the
first principles of self-preservation.
§ 441. The question, therefore, which
is to be solved, is this : Whether a mis
sionary Roman Catholic priest were
placed under these circumstance.s ? If
he brought over the bull of Pius V., he
Avas obviously guilty of treason ; and if
he reconciled any English subject to
the pope, AA'ho professed and held such
language as the bull maintained, it
Avould be difficult to show that he Avas
less liable to the punishment of the law.
And it appears equally obvious, that if,
in reconciling a Roman Catholic to the
church, he disclaimed the objectionable
authority of the pope, he must be, in
foro conscientise, free from the penal
ties incurred by a supposed act of trea
son, of Avhich the guilt was not sub
stantiated by the circumstances Avhich

^ Pius V. pretended to free the suhjeois of Eliza
beth from their allegiance lo her. Clement VIII,
granted a plenary pardon tn all the followers and
abettors of 'I'vrone, as in ihe case of a crusade.
Camden's Eliz. 581.

146

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

attended it, inasmuch as it wanted the
essence ofthe treason, the objectionable
claim to the authority. The pope, as a
sovereign, had waged a rtd^-sfios Hareov&oi
Avith the queen, a war in Avhich no inter
course could be admitted, no quarter
given or received. Whoever, therefore,
Avas a papist, or performed any overt
act in favour of the papacy, became a
partisan of that cause, and liable to the
penalty due to any prisoner in such a
method of warfare. The alternative is
a horrid one ; but he is in fault Avho
begins such a war, and no one can at
tribute this blame to Elizabeih or her
counsellors. Persons and Campian,
Avhen they came to England' and brought
a modification of the bull, Avere guilty
of treason, in foro conscientise. The
temporary suspension of the bull does
in reality not alter the question ; the
bull was to be put in force whenever
circumstances made it likely to be in
jurious to the country. We may pity
men who Avere exposed to the necessity
of com.mitling such a treasonable act,
if indeed they'Avere bound in their con
sciences to obey the papal authority ;
but Ave must blame the pope who sent
them, not the government Avhich hanged
men Avbose acts tended to overturn its
authority. When the individual con
victed disclaim.ed the objectionable tenet,
he was sometimes pardoned, as in the
case of Rishton, Bosgrove, and Orton,
though others Avere executed whose
tinsAvers might have satisfied a reason
able tribunal.
§412. But in vieAving the question
with reference only to the cruelty of it,
the state of danger and irritation arising
from various injuries must fairly and
fully te taken into consideration. The
Roman Catholics as a body were car
rying on a most vehement attack against
Elizabeth, because she Avas a Protestant.
(1539.) The pope had excommunicated
her. (1565.) France and Spain had
conspired for the extirpation of heresy.
(1572.) In France the Roman Catho
lics had begun by trying to murder all
their Protestant countrymen.' Spain

' Butler's Cath. i. 365. ^ n,]^ j 429.
3 One of the most dreadful features connected
wilh the massacre of St. Bartholomew's consists
in the approbation given to it by the court of
Rome. Gregory XlII. issued a bull for a jubilee
in consequence. It b curious to compare the

had given proofs of her tender mercies
to Protestants in the Netherlands, and
Avas preparing for the subjugation of
England. Her own Roman Catholic
subjects Avere excited to rebel against
Elizabeth ; as a body, they never at
tempted to give any pledge of their fi
delity ; and had such an attempt been
made, the mass of English R&man Ca
tholics Avould probably have refused to
join in it, against the papal authority.
Can any one, then, in his senses, won
der that no minister of Elizabeth had
courage enough to adopt a liberal lirt©
of policy tOAvards the Roman Catholics?
and if such had been adopted, and the
queen had been murdered, Avhat Avould
have been the judgment of posterity on
such a minister ? No one possessed of
any feeling can fail to deplore the lot
of an honest Roman Catholic priest at
such a period ; but our pity need not be
confined to him alone. A conscientious
minister, or even the queen herself, may
Avell claim a share of our commiseration ;
Avho, having the Avish lo treat the Ro
man Catholics Avith kindness, found
themselves obliged to use measures
which nothing but absolute necessity
could palliate, Avhich no necessity per
haps could justify. But it Avould be
unjust to history, if Ave failed to state
the causes of all these evils. They
arose from the errors of a church claim
ing to itself an indefinite infallibility, in
Avhich the chief member atteijipted to
enforce the dictates of his own Avill in
opposition lo the laAV of God. They
arose from a priesthood, Avho, from prin
ciples of blind obedience to their su
periors, dared not disclaim thai author
ity, when it Avas manifestly opposed to
the Bible. They arose from this cir
cumstance, that both parties mixed up
religion Avith politics, and concealed
their own interested motives under the
specious covering of the cause of God.
In fact, the Reformation throughout
partook much more of a political na
ture than it ought to have done.
§ 443. The temporal interference of
the church of Rome Avas a tyranny
against Avhich the potentates of Europe
had as much reason to contend, as
Prayers of the Proiestants in England for these
persecutors, their conversion and salvation, with
this document. Strype's Parker, iii. 197, No. 68.
ii. 132.

Cbap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

147

against the spiritual thraldom Avhich it
pretended to exercise over their minds;
and by the grace of God, the struggles
Avhich they made to free themselves
from an earthly yoke, served to deliver
them from that spiritual darkness Avhich
would have continued to blind their
faculties, and have prevented them
from beholding the light. The imme
diate evil which arose from this source
Avas, that individuals imitated their
governors, so that .a Avarfare of exter
mination Avas commenced among breth
ren of the same nation and kindred.
The}!- made Protestantism or their ad
hering to the church of Rome the tests
of a party zeal, Avhich drove them into
unAvarrantable excesses; and the names
of Protestant and Rotnanist Avere ren
dered political badges, full as much as
religious distinctions: and let history
decide which party was the mo,st to
blame, in a struggle in which neither
can be excused. One thing, indeed,
may be pleaded in favour of the church
of Rome, Avhich cannot be advanced for
us ; that if their principles be taken for
granted, and the question abstractedly
vieAved, they are right in persecuting,
Avhereas the Protestant can have no
such justification, and his advocate has
only to deny that Ave ever persecuted
for religion. If there be no salvation
except Avithin the pale of the church
of Rome, a conscientious Romanist may
in kindness use any method of compul
sion to bring the Protestant into com
munion Avith himself: Avhereas, since
the sincere Protestant hopes to meet
his brethren of every communion in
the blessedness Avhich shall be hereaf
ter, however Ave may have differed on
earth; as the true Catholic, Avhether he
be Protestant or Romanist, builds his
hopes of glory on the merits of his Re
deemer, and places his prospects of
grace on the assistance of the Holy
tjrhost, Ave can only use the Aveapons
of our prayers for the enlightening of
ourselves and others, and bring forAvard
those arguments Avith Avhich Scripture
Avill furnish us ; believing that every
other method of persuasion arises from
the same source, and is to be traced to
the author of all evil. If the enlight
ened Roman Catholic disalloAv the con
clusion Avhich is here drawn, if he reject
the idea of persecution, even to pro

duce salvation in the persecuted, let
him honestly examine the question, and
see whether this be not a legitimate
conclusion from the datum of an infal
lible church, beyond the pale of which
there is no hope of salvation; and then
let him examine the arguments by Avhich
the nineteenth article of our church are
supported; and may God of his mercy
shoAV him and us the truth !
§ 444. Having dwelt so long on ab
stract principles, it may not be amiss to
say something of the persecutions in
Mary's days, when compared Avith
those exercised against the Roman Ca
tholics under Elizabeih. We Avill sup
pose, then, that by the laAV of the land,
as it stood at each of these periods,
either prisoner could legally have been
put to death, the one for being a here
tic, the other because he Avas a seminary
priest. The one,' Avho might be a per
fectly illiterate person, because Avhen
examined he denied the doctrine of
transubstantiation, a doctrine Avhich all
must allow to be beyond reason, liot to
be subject to the senses, and, when be
lieved, to be a mere act of faith. The
other, who must be an educated man,
known to be brought up at a seminary
Avhich held doctrines incompatible Avith
civil society, because he refused to ab
jure opinions concerning the papal au
thority Avhich he conscientiously held,
and the entertaining of which the su
preme legislature of this country had
decided to be a legal crime, and punish
able as treason. God forbid that any
Christian should for a moment approve
of the latter; but is not comparison in
admissible ? is not the practical differ
ence enormous ? May it not safely be
asserted, that an honest man expressing
those sentiments Avhich are now gene
rally held by Roman Catholics in Eng
land would not have suflered under
Elizabeth? and that a Protestant be
lieving Avhat AA'e believe, and teaching
Avhat Ave teach, Avould, if God had given
him grace and strength of mind enough
to become a martyr, have been burnt
, under Mary ? That Roman Catholics,
' acting as Avell as the English Catholics
' Bradford was condemned for denying the cor
poral presence and transubstantiation. So were
• Mrs. A. Ascue, Kirby, and Roger Clarke : and
numberiess oiher examples might be found
I Strype's Ecc. iVlem. III. i 366. Fox, ii. 487
and 479.

148

HISTORY OF THE

[Ch-ap. IX.

have as a body always acted, would
have been treated well by the govern
ment of Elizabeth, is more than can be
proved; for the first principles of tole
ration Avere then UnknoAvn, either in
church or state ; but toleration is a plant
of Protestant growth, and all trueChris-
tians may join in the prayer, that her
branches may cover the earth.
§ 445. The unjust method in Avhich
the trials of Roman Catholics Avere con
ducted is sometimes brought forAvard
as a charge against Elizabeth, by those
who advocate their cause ; but it must
not be forgotten, that justice Avas never
subslanlially administered during this
reign.' The influence of the poAverful
was frequently exercised against all
right ; and it is not to be Avondered if
the Roman Catholics, in this respect,
Avere not more fortunate than their Pro
testant neighbours. The charge is Avell
founded, but it should be brought against
the times generally. The evil Avas com
mon, and did not particularly affect the
Roman Catholics. It arose from the
ordinary notions ofthe people as much
as from the court ; for a corrupt jury must
be composed of corrupt individuals,
Avhose judgment will not be tolerated,
except Avhen the feelings of a country
are themselves corrupted.
But before Ave quit this subject, Ave
should recollect that the general opi
nions on persecution were totally dif
ferent from Avhat they are at present.
Very few of the Roman Catholic per
suasion founded their hopes of convinc
ing Protestants on any other basis than
that of force ; and the puritan, Avhile he
required toleration for himself, while he
expected that every scruple of his own
should be treated with tenderness, had
, ' As proofs that this was the opinion of those
who lived at this time, see a letter of Overton to
Burleigh, where, in speaking of Leicester, he says,
'* a nobleman far above my power and abihty to
withstand ;" " mine own counsel, for fear of dis
pleasure, scarce dare encounter him in my causes."
(Strype's Ann. vi, 207, No. 18.) Nevil expresses
the same idea to Lord Burleigh. (Strype's Ann.
yi. 459.1 Lord Essex, writing to Sergeant Puck
ering about a gentleman, a follower of the earl's,
under prosecution, treats justice as if it were a
mere piece of party favour, and simply threatens
the judge. (Strype's Ann. v. 657.) The son of
one Collard, a brewer, in Canterbury, murdered
a poor man in open day, and got his pardon by
his father paying 240Z. to Chief Baron Manwood.
(Strype's Ann. v. 391.) There are some persons
80 ignorant as to wish for the good days of Queen

no desire to extend the same allowance
to others. Sampson, who, of all men,
ouS;ht to have learnt kindness to those
who differed from him, through Avhat he
had himself suffered,^ (Dec. 31, 1574,)
wrote to Burleigh, to remonstrate with
: him because he had been the means of
delivering some Roman Catholics out
of prison ; and urges, that if they Avere
no longer kept in durance, they should
at least be compelled to hear sermons
for their conversion. And, in 1577, Sir
Nicholas Bacon, in one of the last let
ters Avhich he wrote,' speaks of severity
as the only means of checking the Ro
man Catholics, and thereby of AA'ith-
standing the power of Rome. The
puritans complained often of their treat
ment by the high church party ; but no
one can doubt, that they Avould have
been far less tolerant, had the power
of enforcing their own opinions been
placed in their hands.
§ 446. (a. d. 1572.) When the laws
against nonconformity were at first en
forced, they produced, as might have
been expected, a counteraction among
those against whom they Avere directed
Many of the clergy AA'ere deprived of
their preferments, and some of them
formed themselves into a presbytery, at
WandsAvorth,* and under their superin
tendence the Admonition to Parliament
Avas published.' The unbending- spirit
of the one produced severity in those
Avho governed, and severity created
hatred and animosity, Avhich in its turn
gave rise to more vigorous measures ;
till both parties neglected the essentials
of religion to dispute about its externals.
In the next year, (June II, 1573,) ''Eli
zabeth issued a proclamation against the
puritans, and they, on their part, agreed
to protestations tleclaratory of the rea
sons for their not joining in the national
Avorship. In the autumn, a madman,
of the name of Birchet, excited by puri-
2 Strype's Ann. iii. 491. ' Ibid. iv. 98.
^ This presbytery, which was the first esta
blished in England, was for some time conducted
in secret ; and though the bishops were acquaint
ed with its existence, they couU not discover the
members who composed it, or prevent the esta
blishment of similar institutions. The chief per
sons engaged in it were Field and Wilcox. They
published their regulations, which were denomi
nated the " Orders of 'Wandswor.th." (Fuller,
ix. 103.)
s Neal's Pur. i. 231,243.
6 Sirype's Parker, ii. 256, and 283.

Chap. IX.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

149,

tanic principles, stabbed Mr. Hawkins,
an eminent officer in the navy, mistak
ing him for Mr. Hatton of the council,
an event which aggravated the ill-Avill
which was borne tOAvards them ; and 'in
order that this opposition to authority
might be more effectually prevented, a
letter Avas Avritten from the council to
certain chosen commissioners in every
shire, (Nov.)' exciting them to enforce
the orders of the proclamation. During
the next summer, (a. d. 1574,) the ex
ercises of prophesyings'- Avere put down
in the diocese of NorAvich, (June 7,)
notAvithstanding some diversity of opi
nion Avhich prevailed among the coun
cil. These several steps served but to
make the line of separation between
the puritans and the church more defi
nitively marked, and exasperated the
minds of both. It is not easy to deter
mine how far any blame rnay attach to
-Archbishop Parker, for his conduct
may, in the judgment of some persons,
appear to have been dictated by correct
views with regard to ecclesiastical poli
cy ; and it is impossible to ascertain
Avho Avere the prime movers of that
' severe compulsion, Avhich Avas hardly
Avarranted by the cause against which
it was directed. It is generally attri
buted to the queen herself,-* who could
ill brook anjr opposition to her com
mands ; but the real question, as far as
Parker's character is concerned, is,
whether he approved of Avhat Avas done,
or Avhether he only folloAved the direc
tions of Elizabeth and her council.
(a. d. loJo.) There can be no doubt
that he Avas a great and good man, and
that our church OAves much to his wis
dom, learning, and care; but it is not
unlikely, that had he acted AA'ith the
same Christian forbearance and deci
sion Avhich Avas exhibited by his succes
sor, he Avould have saved the country
from much irreligion, fanaticism, and
bloodshed. He was in most respects
peculiarly suited to his station ; but in

' Strype's Ann. iii. 384.
2 Strype's Parker, ii. 361.
"•Jewell says, " Reginae certum est, nolle flecti.
(t5G7.) Sed regina ferre mutationem in rehgione,
hoc tempore, nullam potest." (Burnet, vi. 445,
No. 84, App. 450, No. 88.) Grindal says of those
who would ntjt give way, " Sed cum hoc non fa
ciunt nos apud serenissimam reginam ista conten
tione irritatam, nihil possumus." (Burnet, 463,
No. 92.)

his intercourse and treatment of the
puritans, he was perhaps guilty of an,
error in judgment ; he Avas sincere,,
though Avarm, and in carrying on his
plans of refonn, he deprived himself
of the earthly happiness of the latter;
years of his life : he died May H.-*
§ 447. (a. d. 1.576.) One of the early
acts of Grindal Avas to reform the exer-,
cises of prophesyings, into Avhich some
disorders had occasionally crept ; and .
for this purpose he issued orders'* con
cerning the manner of managing the ..
proceedings of these assemblies:" but
the queen took occasion, upon his next .
appearance at court, to declare herself
offended at the number of preachers, as..
Avell as at these exercises, desiring him -
to redress both. In consequence of this,
he wrote to her a most apostolical epistle,' .
(Dec. 20th,) and urged her to consider
the utility of such institutions, and the
duty of obeying the Avill of God, and not
following our oAvn devices. This step,
however, did not at all coincide Avith the
methods by Avhich Elizabeth was deter-,
mined to govern ; and during the next
spring^ she sent a letter lo all the bishops,
commanding them to suppress prophe
syings in their dioceses, and in June se
questered the archbishop, and confined
him to his house f and thus made the
remainder of his life inactive as to the ,
cause of the church ; for though he
appears during the Avhole time to have ,
carried on the ecclesiastical business in
his own name, yet his influence and
¦• Strype's Parker, ii. 430.
' Strype's Grindal, 327.
^ They were to be carried on in some church
appointed by the bishop; and the archdeacon, or
some one (a grave and learned graduate) ap
pointed hy him, was to be the moderator. Such
portions of Scripture were to be examined and dis
cussed as the bishop should appoint. The laliy
were never to speak, nor any of the clergy who
were not previously judged meet to be speakers;
the rest of the clergy were to be allowed to per
form exercises before the clergy in private, but not
before the whole congregation. The speakers
were immediately to be stopped if they glanced at
any state, or any person public or privaie, or said
anything against the laws, rites, policies, and dl.s. ,
cipline ofthe church of England ; and it' ihey had
ever been silenced, they were not to be admitted
again without a fresh appointment.
' Strype's Grindal, 558, No. ix.
8 Ibid. 342.
9 Strype's Grindal, 343. Another source of dis- :
pleasure is hinted at by Strype and Camden,
(Grindal, 440, and Elizabeth, 287,) arising from
his not granting a dispensation lo Julio, a physician
of Lord Leicester's; but the authority on whioh
this story rests is questionable.
n2

150

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. IX.

authority were thus rendered nugatory
at a period when every thing depended
on the favour of the court. He seems,
indeed, to have tendered his resignation
with a sincere wish for its acceptance ;
but Whitgift had too much right feeling
to alloAV him to enter on an office during
the lifetime of an incumbent, Avho, though
he differed from his successor in princi
ples, Avas manifestly acting the part of
an honest man.' The convocation, too,
in 1581, showed their respect for Grindal
by presenting a petition in his favour,
drawn up by Tobie MatheAvs, dean of
Christ Church, and printed in Fuller ;^
and though there remains no document
which decidedly proves the time of his
restoration, yet it probably took place in
the next year. He died July 6, 1583,
and Avas succeeded by Whitgift, bishop
of Worcester.^
§ 448. (a. d. 1583.) The conduct of
Grindal must always appear most exem-
¦ plary. He Avas himself adverse to the
ecclesiastical dresses ; yet upon the ad
vice of Peter Martyr-* he conformed, and
exerted himself to effect the same in his
brethren, because he saw that the want
cf a sufficient ministry was the greatest
CA'il Avhich could happen to the church :
but when such measures were adopted
as were against his conscience, he re
monstrated as a Christian patriot, and
offered a resignation of his office, in
AA'hich he could not fulfil the duties re
quired of him by the crown Avithout
offending his God. The question of
\-,'hether he Avas right in his judgment
is totally indifferent ; but a monarch AA'ith
half the sense which Elizabeth pos
sessed, had she not been hurried away
by her passions, Avould have treated him
in a very different manner, even though
she supposed him to be in the wrong :
.she might have accepted his resignation,
.-ind behaved towards him Avith more
personal kindness. But as it was, the
ill consequences of this affair were very
apparent ; discipline Avas neglected,'* and
the puritan party so far prevailed as to
introduce many clergymen of their OAvn
opinions into ecclesiastical situations,
notwithstanding the seeming triumph of
the other side : and the parliament of

I Strype's Whitgift, i. 222.
3 Strype's Grindal, 403.
1 Burnet, v. 478.
''' Strype's Whitgift, i. 226.

2 Fuller, ix. 120.

1581 presented a petition in favour of ec
clesiastical reform, the general tendency-
of which was apparently to abridge the
poAver of the bishops'' by making the
concurrence of the dean and chapter, or
six preachers, necessary for certain epis
copal acts, such as ordaining, commuting
penance, &c. Most of the articles of
this petition AA'hich regard residence and
pluralities have been since, Avholly or
partially, adopted, excepting indeed the
fifth and sixth — that no dignitary of the
church should hold more than one living
together Avith his cathedral preferment ;
and that no more than two such digni
ties should be tenable by the same
person.' § 449. But it may not be amiss here
to say something more of the treatment
of the puritans ; for the line of policy
was noAv so decidedly taken up by the
government, that any subsequent con
cession must have looked like vacilla
tion of judgment, or weakness of poAver.
Let it be asked, then, Avhat the treatment
of the puritans ought to have been ? how
should uniformity have been preserved,
without giving up episcopacy or other
essentials ? Before we enter on such a
discussion, it may be useful to consider
hoAv far the then existing laAv differed
from the present ; and hoAv far that law
itself Avas the cause of the opposition
raised against it. There Avas then no
thing which resembled toleration toAvards
Protestant dissenters : if an individual
Avere offended at any part of the service,
he could not absent himself from church,
as he would have incurred a severe
penalty by so doing : he had no other
place of Avorship to which he might
retire ; for, in all probability, at first,
many of the puritans Avould have been
perfectly contented with this ; and if
their passions had been alloAvetl lo cool,
if an opportunity of vieAving our decent
fornis had been given them, many might
have quietly returned into the bosom of
the church. Such steps, however, Avere
little suited for the character of Elizabeth,
who AA'ould as readily have surrendered
her crown as have alloAved her subjects
to exercise their private judgments on
such matters ; and the punishment of
death was esteemed the only remedy for

« Strype's 'Whhgift, iii. 47, [No. 3.]
' This has just now (.August, 1840) 1
law of the land.

become the

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

151

Brownists,' who denied tlie queen's su
premacy in any but civil matters. He,
therefore, Avho could raise a scrapie in
the mind of an individual, as to the le
gitimacy of a ceremony, raised a spirit
of insubordination in the breast in which
it was implanted ; and among the various
opinions Avhich .prevailed, and the ele
ments of discord Avhich were thus dif
fused throughout the kingdom, it Avas
the public danger alone which kept the
nation united. Sermons tended to foster
these sentiments of free investigation,
and Elizabeth, Avho clearly saw their
tendency, instead of trying to direct them
to useful objects, and to disseminate real
Christianity, endeavoured to curtail the
frequency of them, if not to suppress
them altogether. Now had the laws
against nonconformity been made much
more easy Avith regard to those AA'ho
were already in orders, and possessed
of preferment ; had the better sort of
nonconformists been treated Avith lenity,
and had the government shut its eyes to
their failings ; had all interrogatories ex
officio mero'' been disused, Avhich served
but to imbody the nonconformists ; had
every means been exerted to instruct the

rising generation, and to convince them
practically that the dress was an indif
ferent point, (for many of the noncon
formists Avere at first Aveak brethren, and
were often rendered turbulent merely
by severity ;) had strictness of subscrip
tion been required from all who took
possession of benefices, and the same
sort of laxity alloAved, which now pre
vails Avith regard to dress ; had the go
vernment and the bishops exerted their
first energies in reforming undoubted
abuses, it is probable that nonconformity
Avould not have been so closely con
nected with revolutionary principles and
the assertion of civil rights ; and that in
the subsequent struggle, the church
might have helped to support the throne,
instead of proving the readiest point
through which the sovereign could be
attacked. As it Avas, Elizabeth supported
the church by her energy and talents, and
circumstances enabled her to triumph
over the rising spirits of freedom in the
country ; but in the hands of James and
Charles, the abuses real and imaginary,
which existed in the church, contributed
greatly to overthrow the monarchy.

CHAPTER X.

FROM -WHITGIFT S APPOINTMENT, 1533, TO THE END OF THE REIGN.
450. Whitgift, archbishop; he requires subscription to the " Three ArUcles." 451. Treatment of
the puritans; opposition to the bishops. 452. Objects of the puritans. 453. Law framed against
the queen of Scots. 454. Hooker and Travers. 455. Death of Mary queen of Scots. 456. At
tempts at innovation ; convocation. 457. Armada ; conduct of the Roman Catholics. 458. Con
duct of the puritans. 459. Treatment of ihem. 460. Question of episcopacy. 461. Treatment
of the libellers. 462. Roman Catholics. 463, 464. Origin of the Lambeth Articles. 465. Greater
peace in the church. 466. Change of opinion in certain puritans. 467. Character of Elizabeth.
468. Her treatment of the puritans and Roman Cathohcs. 469. Religious, but arbitrary. 470. Death
of Ehzabeth. 471. State of the church.

§ 450. Thf, selection of Whitgift for
the metropolitan see Avas judicious, con
sidering the line of policy with regard
to church matters Avhich Elizabeth had
determined to adopt. The question
Avas noAV, whether force should compel
the clergy to be all of one mind about
indifferent matters ; and the present
archbishop was a fit instrument to de
cide it according to the wishes of the
queen. 3 Pie began his administration by ex-

' Strype's Ann. v. 269. ^ See 4 458, '.
3 Sirype's Whitgift, i. 227, &c.

amining how the regulations affecting
recusancy and nonconformity were ob
served, and addressed a circular letter
to his brethren the bishops, directing
them to take care that the articles'* con
cerning these matters, on Avhich they
had agreed, should be duly enforced.
¦< These are printed in Strype, and contain in
the sixth section the three Articles in the thirty-
sixth canon, to Avhich Whitgift required subscrip
tion. (Whitgift, i. 229.) They had the sanction
of the bishops and of the queen ; but the legality
of requiring subscription to them may still be
doubted. See this part of the question discussed
in Neal's Puritans, i. 320.

152

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

In his OAvn diocese, he began at once a
very rigid inquiry into the state of the
clergy, and strictly enjoined subscrip
tion to the three articles, Avhich now
stand in the thirty-sixth canon. From
the subordinate officers, Avho Avere de
puted to carry on this investigation,'
the ministers of Kent addressed them
selves to the archbishop in person, Avho,
.having spent tAvo or three days in en
deavouring to convince them, proceeded
to the suspension of such as persisted
in their noncompliance, Avhile they on
their part appealed to the council. The
same step Avas also adopted by certain
ministers in Suffolk, ^ Avho Avere placed
under the same circumstances, and in
Avhose favour some of the magistrates
of the county had ventured to petition.^
This produced a sort of remonstrance
from the council, and an ansAver from
the archbishop, Avho was determined to
proceed Avith vigour, and to exercise
the powers of the ecclesiastical com
mission. § 451. The articles and interrogato
ries Avhich Avere issued during the
spring of 1.584 are a strong instance
of the indefinite and tyrannical poAver
then exercised by the governors of the
church." They Avere queries ex officio
mero, proposed to clergymen, Avhose
only accuser was common fame, and
Avho Avere expected to ansAver on oath
questions which involved not only their
opinions on matters in Avhich they had,
or might have, conformed, but the very
fact of their conformity and their future
intentions formed part of the inquiry.
Whitgift and the other bishops con
tended, that in their proceeding in this
Avay they Avere borne out by received
cusiom and the usages of other courts,
and that such steps Avere necessary,
Avhen no information could be procured
against nonconforming and popular
ministers ; but this circumstance, if in
deed the fact Avere so, proved the total
abhorrence Avhich the mass of the popu
lation must have felt tOAvards ecclesias
tical courts, or that such nonconformity
could not be very frequent or considera
ble, Avhen no evidence could be obtained
of a fact done in the face of the whole
1 Strype's Whitgift, i. 245.
2 Strype's Ann. v. 264.
» Strype's Whitgift, i. 250.
* Ibid. iii. 81, No. iv.

'congregation, among whom any stran
ger might be present. And Burleigh,
' Avho Avas the sound friend of the church,
though not an admirer of all ecclesias
tical proceedings, = characterizes these
articles as " so curiously penned, so full
of branches and circumstances, as I
think the inquisitors of Spain used not
so many questions to comprehend and
to trap their preyes." He strongly
advises a more charitable method of
treaiment, and Avhile he disputes not
the legality of Avhat was done, he sub
joins, omnia licent, yet, omnia non ex-
pediunt. As to the Avisdom and pro
priety of allowing the church to remain
as it AA'as by law established,^ the
bishops seem to have convinced several
of the court by tAvo conferences held
with the opposite party in the presence
of those who entertained doubts on this
subject : in the latter of these, which
took place at Lambeth in 1585, the
archbishop during four hours confuted
and answered in a ifiost satisfactory
manner their scruples and objections.
But the steps Avhich he took to enforce
conformity, and unity of opinion, were
not so Avell received ;' and this induced
him to comply Avith the suggestions of
Walsingham, Avho advised that incum
bents already in possession of their
preferments should not be pressed to
subscribe the three articles, provided
they gave a Avritten promise that they
Avould comply Avith the use of the Com
mon Prayer. For that prudent minis
ter could not shut his eyes to the groAv
ing dislike Avhich the conduct of the
ecclesiastical courts Avas dailj- creating
towards the bishops and the church ;
an enmity by no means confined to the
sufferers, or to the loAver orders in the
country, but discoverable among many
Avho AA'ere possessed of considerable
authority. Lord Leicester Avas long
looked up to as the head of the anti-
episcopal party, and the archbishop
regarded him as a decided opponent of
his measures."* Mr. Beal, clerk of the
council, was earnest too on the subject,
and Avrote against the examination of
delinquents by oath, ex officio mero, and

5 Strype's Whitgift, iii. 106, No. ix. and Fuller,
ix. 156.
^ Paul's Whitgift. Wordswor|h's Ecc. Biog.
iv»a43. 'Strype's Whitgift, i. 431.
8 Paul's Whitgift. Wordsworth's E. B, iv. 350.

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

153

the use of torture ;' and Sir F. KnoAvles
on several occasions exhibited so much
antipathy to the bishops, that the queen
forbade him to meddle with the ques
tion. And some of this party, in order to
alarm the bench, and perhaps to share
in the spoils of the church, tried to pro
mote a commission, (ad melius inquiren
dum,) to ascertain the real value of ec
clesiastical property ; but the exertions
of the archbishop, and other friends of
the establishment, prevented the mea
sure from being carried into effect.
In the convocation Avhich AA'as held
during the end of the last year, and the
beginning of this, Avere promulgated the
.Articuli pro clero in Synodo Londin.
1584,^ which contain some judicious
regulations with regard to the essentials
of ecclesiasticid discipline.
§452. The puritans, during the session
of parliament,^ AA'ere very strenuous in
the cause of reform on many points in
which reformation Avas undoubtedly
wanted. The great object which they
kept in view aveis to establish a preach
ing ministry, a desire in Avhich they
Avere fully met by the high church party ;
but their opinions did not coincide as to
the means by which this end Avas to be
obtained. They Avould have applied the
sums expended in choral establishments
to the payment of preachers, and have
transferred all ecclesiastical impropria
tions to the use of the curates of those
places Avhere the corps lay ; and Avould
even have laid their hands on lay im
propriations, a step in which there was
no great probability of their receiving
much support from their friends at court.
The bishops looked to conformity as the
chief remedy for the evils which they
deplored, and thought that the keeping
up of establishments, in which the higher
offices might rcAvard a learned ministry,
was most likely to produce the real pros
perity of the church. At the same time
it was the avoAved object of the reformers
to introduce much of the presbyterian
government; every question arising in

1 Strype's Whitgift, i. 401, &c.
2 Sparrow's Collection, 191. They were almost
entirely drawn up by Whitgift himself, as will ap
pear by comparing No. xiv. and xviii. 130, 145,
(Strype's Whitgift, iii.,) but may be traced back in
their origin to the lower house of convocation, in
1580, who presented a draft of a similar bill to the
lords. (Strype's Grindal, 587, No. xiv.)
3 Strype's Ann. vi. 278, No. 39.
20

a diocese or parish Avas to be subjected
to the decision of a general or provincial
synod, to be assembled at stated periods.
The revision of the Common Prayer, of
the Ordination Service, as well as of all
other, rites and ceremonies, was to be
referred to the authority of the same
tribunal, and submitted to the approba
tion of the queen. As far as morals
Avere concerned, they sought a sfvere
discipline, and Avere particularly anxious
to curtail the Avorldly pomp of the epis
copal order. They requested the estab
lishment of a new set of ecclesiastical
laAvs, since in the present administration
of those which existed several abuses
were to be found, particularly Avith
regard to excommunication for contu
macy ; Avhile the licenses for pluralities,
non-residence, and the ordination of
clergymen without any ministerial office,
were frequently exposed to strong com
plaints. With regard to many of these
points, the laAvs had done almost all that
could be effected by legal enactments,
and the bishops were anxious to remedy
Avhat was Avanting ; but it is curious to
observe hoAV many of these changes have
been gradually and partially introduced.
We must omit the introduction of the
presbyterian government, in Avhich Ave
are nearly as aa'o were ; but the Avant of
any thing of this sort depends probably
more on circumstances, than in any fun
damental reason in the constitution of
our church establishment. These at
tempts, hoAvever, were at the time ren
dered fruitless ; for Whitgift* addressed
himself to the queen, urging her to stop
all such proceedings, and to rest the
discipline of the church on her oaa'h
supremacy, a step to Avhich her incli
nations were ahvays sufficiently dis
posed. .
§ 453. This parliament was strongly
impressed with the idea of resisting the
Roman Catholic party, which Avas at this
time not only powerful, but very active
in the world. They passed,* therefore,
two acts, one for the surety of the queen's
person, the other against Jesuits and
seminary priests. The first of these
was levelled against the unfortunate
Mary, queen of Scots, whose misfor
tunes and hard treatment, toAvards the

¦< Strype's Whitgift, i. 391.
^-Statutes of the Realm, 1, 2.

154

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X,

end of her life, rendered her an object
of pity, rather than of that just reproach
which her early conduct probably
merited. This law made any conni
vance at compassing the queen's death,
in any person of whatever description,
liable to the pains of treason. As if an
act of parliament could alter the nature
of international laAv, or divest murder
of its atrocity, by giving it the form of a
legal trial ; as if any laAV of England
could establish a jurisdiction over an
independent princess, from which her
own rights had rendered her free. And
here it should be remembered, that the
voice of the kingdom Avas full as loud
and guilty as the Avishes of the queen,
and that no persons were more strenuous
than the puritans in their endeavours to
bring the queen of Scots to the scaffold.
The second directed all seminary priests
and Jesuits to leave the kingdom on pain
of death, and imposed heavy penalties
on those AA'ho received or aided them.
The act, hoAvever, was limited to those
Avho refused to take the oath of supre
macy.' Elizabeth also soon aftenvards under
took the protection of the Netherlands,
and in the next spring sent Leicester to
command in Holland against the forces
of the Roman Catholics and Spanish
party. § 454. In this year a dispute took
place, rendered memorable from having
been the origin of Hooker's excellent
treatise on Ecclesiastical Polity, a Avork
Avhich has tended more perhaps to settle
the question of church government than
anjr other Avhicli ever appeared.'^ On
the death of Father Alvie, master of the
Temple, great interest Avas made by the

' It should be remembered, that the oath of su
premacy at that time did not contain the objection
able words " that damnable doctrine and position,"'
&c. I call them objectionable, because a sincere
Roman Catholic, however he disapproves of the
doctrine of the pope's power of deposing kings,
will hardly Hke to call that doctrine damnable
which the head of his church still perhaps main
tains. In 35 Henry VIII. ch. i. ^ 7. the oath con
tains strong expressions against the usurped power
of Rome ; that 1 Eliz. ch. i. 4 9, is much shortened
and less objectionable to a Roman Catholic. The
oath of allegiance 3 Jac. I. ch. iv. 5 9, is much
longer, and introduces the clause "damnable doc
trine," &c. 1 William and Mary, ch. viii. 5 12,
the present oath was established ; so that the oath
of Elizabeih is, among the four, the one which a
Roman Catholic would least scruple to take.
'- Sirype's Whiigift, i. 340.

friends of Travers to obtain this situation
for him.^ He had long been engaged
in giving the evening lectures there ;
but Whitgift, Avho entertained no good
opinion of him, and doubted of his con
formity, raised so decided an opposition
to the nomination, that the mastership
was procured for Hooker, by Sandys,
bishop of London. The archbishop,
indeed, had been Avell acquainted with
Travers, Avho Avas formerly fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and had
shoAvn a strong preference for the .dis
cipline of Geneva, according to the
forms of Avhich church he was afterwards
ordained at AnlAverp. As the queen
deferred much to the opinion of the arch
bishop, the appointment of Travers Avas
wholly refused, unless he could give
proof that he had been ordained accord
ing to the laws of England, and Avould
subscribe to those articles Avhich Avere
imposed by ecclesiastical and royal au
thority, as well as the Thirty-nine.'' For
Travers refused to do any more than
Avhat was enjoined by statute. He had
endeavoured for some time to introduce
the presbyterian government into the
Temple,* and Avas supposed to be the
author of a book on ecclesiastical go
vernment, which entirely rejected epis
copacy f and Avhen Hooker came to take
possession of his ncAV office, Travers
wished to have proposed him for the
approbation of the society, and upon his
refusal some unpleasantness had grown
up belAveen them, Avhich Avas increased
by objections raised to trifles in the ser
vice, wherein the master differed from
the lecturer by conforming strictly to the
customs and laAvs of the church.' The
quarrel thus begun greAvmore important,
when Travers objected to some positions
contained in Hooker's sermons, and a
pulpit controversy arose betAveen them,
in which the forenoon sermon spake
Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva.
The consequence was, that Whitgift si
lenced Travers,^ and he appealed to the

' Walton's Hooker, Wordsw. Ecc. Biog. iv. 245.
1 Strype's Whitgift, i. 344.
* Strype's Ann. v. 353.
* "Disciplina Ecclesiae sacra ex Dei verbo de
scripta." 'i'his was afterwards translated and pub
hshed by Cartwright, "A full and plain declaralion
of Ecclesiastical Disciphne," &c. See Index to
Strype. '' Hooker's Answer to Travers, 4 3, 4.
8 Sirype's Whitg. i. 474.

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

155

council.' In his Supplication to the
council, he tries to vindicate his ordina
tion, and license to preach, and finds
fault Avith the doctrines delivered by
Hooker ; and as this document became
public, the master was obliged to return
an ansAver, in AA'hich he vindicates him
self, and states that Travers'^ was silenced
for breaking an order of the Advertise
ments, Avhich forbade any minister to
answer the errors of other preachers
except in private, or by sending informa
tion to the Ecclesiastical Commission.
But from the Supplication of Travers,
and the ansAvers of Whitgift to his argu
ments,' there can be little doubt that his
non-episcopal ordination Avas one very
decided reason for his suspension.
Travers was never reinstated, but a
party Avas raised against the master ;
and it Avas to convince them that he
commenced his immortal work of the
Ecclesiastical Polity.
§ 455. It Avas tOAvards the end of the

' Travers' Supplication to the council, and
Hooker's Answer,' are printed in the end of the
Ecclesiastical Polity. To those who are unac
quainted with ecclesiastical law, the treatment of
Travers may seem in some degree tanjust. He
argues that he was in orders because the statute
(12, 13 Eliz.) directed, that those who had been
ordained by any other rites thanihose ofthe church
of England should subscribe to ihe Thirty-nine
Articles, implying that after that act they were
fully entitled to the advantages belonging to other
members of the establishment. This applied di
rectly to the Roman Caiholic priesthood, and the
same law prevails now. But according to the doc
trine of an episcopalian church, he who was or
dained without the presence of a bishop was never
ordained at all : he wants the essence of ordina
tion, the laying on of the hands ofthe bishop ; and
this law, therefore, does not apply to him. It is
difficult to determine the intention of the original
framers of the law. The early practice was proba
bly on the side of Travers, (as in the case of
WhitUngham, to which he appeals, and which
was much stronger than his own.) (Strype's Ari-
nals, iv. 167.) The present inlerpretalion of it is
entirely in favour of the archbishop. The words
are : " Every person under the degree of bishop,
which doth or shall pretend to be a priest or minis
ter of God's holy word and sacraments, by reason
of any other form of institution, consecration, or
ordering, than the form set forth by parliament, in
the time of the late king of most worthy memory,
King Edward VI., or now used in the reign of our
most -gracious sovereign lady, before the feast of
the nativity of Clhrist next following, shall in the
presence of the bishop or guardian of the spirit
ualities of some one diocese, where he hath or
shall have ecclesiastical hving, declare his assent,
a^d subscribe to all the articles of religion, which
only concern the confession of the true Christian
failh, and the doctrines of the sacraments com
prised in a book," &c. &c. (13 Eliz. ch. 12.) 1571.
2 Hooker's Answer, ^ 17.
' Strype's Whitg. iii. 185, No. 30

year 1586 that the conspiracy of Ba
bington was discovered,* in Avhich the
false principles inculcated by Roman
Catholic teachers urged on some young,
zealous, and unwary individuals to at
tempt the murder of Elizabeth. They
met Avith their merited fate and Avere
executed, to the number of fourteen ;
but their fall implicated the royal pri
soner, and the fears and suspicions of
the kingdom conspired to bring Mary
to her trial and the scaffold. This treat
ment of the queen of Scots has been
vieAved in different lights by the parti
sans of opposite sides ; but one or two
considerations so strongly stamp its cha
racter, that however legal it might have
been in England, it can never stand be
fore the tribunal ofthe AA'orld. Nothing
could subject Mary to an English court
of justice, but her own injudicious sub
mission to it ; and it is a fair question
for casuists to decide, hoAV far any act
which originated from presumed force*
can bind the person Avho submits to it.
At all events, the conditions of the act
of Parliament ought lo have been com
plied Avith,'^ (I 13° Eliz.) and the testi
mony of her secretaries have' been con
firmed by their being confronted to her:
but few or no criminals, in those happy
days, had the advantage of even-handed
justice. Her guilt must ever remain
problematical ; and however this trans
action must disgrace the name of Eliza
beth, it should not be forgotten that the
nation was full as guilty as the queen.''
The policy, too, of the measure may be
questioned, if indeed it can possibly be
politic to do Avrong.
§ 456. (a. d. 1587.) The firmness of
the queen during the last parliament did
not damp the ardour for innovation ; for
on Feb. 27 a bill was brought forward
Avhich would have abrogated all eccle
siastical laAV, and substituted a new code
in its place ; but during the debate on
the question, whether the book which
contained it should be read, the house
adjourned, and several of the more vio
lent members were afterAvards com
mitted to the Tower by the queen."
The book," as appears from the draft
of a speech against it, would have left

« Camden's Eliz. 339.
6 Ibid. 362.
' Strype's Whitgift, i. 509.
9 Ibid. iii. 186, No. 31.

6 Ibid. 352.
s Ibid. i. 488.

iei6

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

the minister at liberty to use what prayers
he chose ; would have altered several
ofthe Thirty-nine Articles ; would have
taken away the patronage of livings, by
making them elective, and probably
have touched lay-impropriations ; would
haive overthroAvn episcopacy and all
ecclesiastical distinctions ; Avould have
destroyed the supremacy, and allowed
the presbytery to exercise ecclesiastical
auihority over the queen herself. All
this Avas at once stopped : but some
petition seems to have been presented;
for an answer to one is still extant,' in
which her majesty steadily and judi
ciously expresses her opinion of the ill
effect of alterations, Avhen essentials
were already established, and her de
termination to support Avhat the laAV had
settled. The steps Avhich were here
taken were much under the influence
of the classes of ministers of Warwick
and Northampton f and the proceedings
of these reformers seem to indicate an
idea, that if the civil magistrate did not
remedy the evils complained of,^ it be
came their duty to take the redressing
them into their own hands. The activity
of the anti-episcopalians does not ne
cessarily imply any remissness on the
part of the bishops ; for in the convoca
tion held at the same time with the par
liament, some very good orders were
agreed to," with regard to exercises to
be performed by such ministers as had
not taken the degree of M. A. ; their
catechising and expounding the Cate
chism : and to compel all preachers to
deliver, every year, eight sermons at
least at each of their beneflces.
§ 457. (a. d. 1588.) The history of
this eventful year belongs much more
to the civil than the ecclesiastical histo
rian ; for notwithstanding the steps
which were taken to urge the Roman
Catholics of England to unite in the at
tempt at subjugating our island, it is
manifest that the mass of them viewed
the matter in its true light, and joined
hand and heart in the common cause,
wherever the government was wise
enough to employ their services. But
it should not be forgotten, when we
examine the treatment which they re
ceived at the hands of the Protestants,

• Strype's Whitgift, i. 494.
*Ibid. i. 502.
* Ibid. ui. 194, No. 32.

» Ibid. i. 504.

and which every well Avisher to the
honour of our cause must deplore, that
the men who were supposed to possess
the most spiritual influence among them,
Cardinal Allen and Father Persons,
Avere exerting their utmost endeavours
to enslave their country. The conduct
of a party must ordinarily be vieAved
from what is done by its leaders ; and
perhaps there never was a cause so
cursed Avith injudicious leaders, as that
of the English Roman Catholics. This
example, however, Avas by no means
universally folloAved by the ecclesiastics ;
for Wryght, a priest of the college of
Douay,* and living therefore in a state
of proscription, wrote a tract for the
satisfaction of some Roman Catholics,
in which he proves that it Avas their
duty to defend the country against the
invasion of Philip ; and, together Avith
the expressed opinions of several per
sons of that persuasion, Ave have the
subsequent testimony of Burleigh, who
at the very moment in Avhich he speaks
of confining them, adds, " Yet Avith
signification unto them, that the same
is not to be done, so much for doubt of
any disloyal attempts by themselves, as
to notify to the rebels and enemies
abroad, "° that the expectations Avhich
they had been led to form of assistance
in England Avere unfounded.
§ 458. The pressure of external dan
ger did not by any means free the church
from domestic troubles ; for the more
violent of the puritan party had long
been making preparations, and noAV
opened a vigorous attack on the episco
palians, by publishing books Avhich re
viled the Avhole body, as Avell as the in
dividual members. The most noted of
these Avorks was put forth under the
fictitious name of Martin Marprelate,
fromAvhich circumstance the Avhole class
of writers Avho pursued a similar track,
adopted, or were ranked under, the same
denomination of Martins. A proclama
tion was directed against them in the
spring of 1589 ; and' by the activity of
the archbishop,* the press from which
these libels proceeded Avas taken, and
several of those concerned in this un
christian task were by degrees disco
vered and punished; but the energy

5 Strype's Annals, vi. 583, No. 65.
* Strype's Whiigift, ii. 4.
' Ibid. iii. 216, No. 41. s iby, j. goi.

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

157

¦which this circumstance excited unfor- ]
tunately brought many of the puritans
into trouble, Avho were not at all en
gaged in propagating the evil. And
their OAvn conscientious refusal to take
the oath ex officio mero, lest they should
thus indirectly accuse themselves or
their friends, detained them in prison
for a considerable time. Cartwright
Avas confined eighteen months,' though
he declared that for the last thirteen
years he never Avrote or procured any
thing to be printed Avhich might in any
sort be offensive to her majesty and the
state, '^ much less had any hand, or so
much as a finger, in the book under
Martin's name. From the proceedings
against him and oihers, as they are re
corded (June 2) in an authentic docu
ment containing the charges and an-
SAvers to them, given by the prisoners,^
there seems to have been a decided
party formed for the purpose of altering
the government of the church. It Avas
their Avish to proceed by legal methods",
Avhile there was any hope of success
from them ; and it may fairly be doubt
ed Avhether the better sort had any
thoughts of employing force ; for they
declare that to their knowledge no mi
nister had any other intention than that
of using prayer, teaching, and humble
supplication to her majesty and the
parliament.-' Yet on the other side it
cannot be questioned, but that by hold
ing assemblies, and passing resolutions
as their oaa'u authorized opinions, they
Avere taking such steps as must pro
bably lead to rebellion ;* and many of
the Avarmer partisans of the presbytery
manifestly intended to adopt more for
cible measures. When CartAvright was
brought before the star chamber" he re
fused to take the oath, to ansAver all
questions ex officio mero :'' and till he
1 Strvpe's Whitgift. h. 88.
2 Ibid. iii. 231, No. 1.
3 Ihid. iii. 242, No. 4. " Ibid. iii. 258.
sibid. i. 613. « See ^ 554.
"^ The whole method of proceeding ex officio mero
would now-n-days appear very arbitrary and un
tenable. Wright the puritan, in his answers to
tbe matters urged against him. begins, " First, he
most humbly desired that it might be considered
whether any man by our laws be bound to accuse
himself, upon his oath, for anv deed or word, much
less to declare his thoughts." (Strype's Ann. vi.
2-28, No. 23.) In the case of Bainbridge and
Johnson, it was referred to several doctors of the
arches, who ansAvered, that the parties were bound
J- »iiswer upon oath, and added : "And wo find

had done this, his judges would listen
to nothing which he had to advance in
his OAvn favour. It is the expressed
opinion of some one Avho seemed to be
their counsel, " that there was no mat
ter proved of any meetings or conven
ticles seditiously made and executed by
Cartwright and his fellows."" And the
judgment of Popham, the attorney-
general, does not speak a very different
language." § 459. Whatever they might do here
after, their present plan Avas to use per
suasion ; and for this purpose they meant
to form a synod, to be held either at one
of the universities or London, where
assembling would not attract notice,'"
and to divide themselves, at other times,
into, classes, or provincial synods. In
the meetings which did take place, it
appears that they passed certain reso
lutions which tended to the subversion
of all episcopal discipline ; and it is not
unlikely that, had they been suffered to
continue, and acquire strength, thej'
might have been able to alter the con
stitution ofthe church, if not ofthe state.
Such assemblies, therefore, could not be
allowed by a wise government ; but the
methods which were adopted for their
prevention, seem to have been calcu

li harder in our learning to give a good reason of
doubt, than to yield any other resolution, though
there preceded in such a case neither special accu
sation or denunciation." (Sirype's Ann. vi. 132.)
The argument in favour of oalhs ex officio is as
follows : If a man be accused belore his ordinary
of any crime, he is not bound lo impeach himself,
but If he be e.xamined on account of some crime
which from ils nature it would be difficult to prove,
and which nevertheless the judge ecclesiastical
may wish to remedy, the notoriety of fame is
taken for evidence against him, and he is bound
to clear himself by his own oath, and by that of
compurgators, declaring that they beheve his oaih
to be true. (Strype's Whitgift, iii. 233, No. 2.)
The ground of ihis is, ihat the inflictions of an
ecclesiastical court are by law deemed medicina
not paince. This argument is signed by nine doc
tors of civil law, and stated to be the universal
practice of ecclesiastical courts. In examining
the question, we must not overlook the feelings
of the limes with regard to such a point. Beal,
clerk ofthe council and a puritan, would have put
the Roman Catholics upon their oath twice every
year, that they had not aided Jesuits or seminary
priests, they being under a bond not to do so.
(Strype's Whitgift. iii. 203, No. 35.) Morice, a
learned civilian, wrote a tract, in which he ob
jected to the legality ofthe oath, (Ibid. ii. 30,) and
wished the matter to be referred to the learned
judges of the realm, which his grace liked not.
(Ibid. 29.) , ,
8 Strype's Whitgift, ii. 84. ^ Ibid. ii. 83.
¦"Ibid.ii. 6. o

158

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

lated rather to exasperate than to con
vince ; and though they had the effect
of silencing them for the time, yet they
must have produced a feeling among
the people very unfavourable to the
cause which they were intended to sup
port. The petition of Eusebius Pagit,
some time student of Christ Church,'
addressed to the lord admiral, contains a
pathetic remonstrance from a good and
peaceable Christian. He had been
forced to quit his preferment upon some
scruple with regard to the service, and
had continued to hold communion with
the church of England, because he sin
cerely esteemed it to be the church of
God, and endeavoured to support him
self by keeping school : but from this
last resource he Avas again driven ; and
his prayer goes not beyond the request,
that he might obtain some employment
for the support of his family Avhich
might prevent him from becoming a
vagabond. It must have been this se-
A'erity toAvards the loAver members of
the church, which so strongly exaspe
rated the minds of the country against
bishops ; for, from the motions Avhich
were annually made in parliament, and
the decided favour which Avas shoAvn by
many tOAvards the presbyterian disci
pline, it is evident that the nation Avas
beginning to advocate the cause Avhich
the archbishop endeavoured to suppress.
And it is also clear that there must have
been some mismanagement in the hier
archy, Avhich concentrated all the senti
ments, arising from a Avish for civil
liberty, in formidable array against
themselves. The arguments in favour
of episcopacy, if fairly advanced, are so
strong, that the question, Avhen the esta
blishment Av,iis once fixed, might have
safely been left to the force of reason,
Avhile steady moderation Avas used to
prevent any very gross violations of the
orders of the church, and the combina-
nations of its interested opponents.
§ 460. The argument in favour of
episcopacy seems to stand thus : — When
the Reformation began, it found episco
pacy established in the church of Rome,
and possessed of distinctive offices, of
which the poAver of ordination seems to
be the most peculiar to it.'' One party
1 Strype's Whitgift, iii, 285, No. 11.
' The distinctive chavacterisiics of a bishop, as
laid down by Bishop Davenant, in his beautiful

of the Reformers retained it as they
found it, but tried to separate it from
the abuses with which it had been com
bined ; the other rejected it altogether,
and made tAvo orders only in the church,
(viz. priests and deacons,) appointing
such superior officers as Avere primi
inter pares. The point at issue there
fore is, were there three distinct orders'
in the primitive church? and if so, was
the right and office of ordaining pecu
liar to the highest of these ?
In the apostolical history, as con
tained in the Ncav Testament, these
questions are not clearly ansAvered, and
there is much indistinctness about the
names o{ bishop a.nd priest or elder ; but
if we suppose, by way of hypothesis,
that there Avere bishops, priests, and
deacons, we shall find no statements
Avhich cannot be easily reconciled with
the supposition. ¦*
As Ave proceed Avith ecclesiastical
deierminaiion on Diversiiy of Degrees in ihe tVIi-
nlslers of the Gospel, are three : Isi, 'ihat, how
ever many presbyiers there may be, there is
never more than one bishop In a cliy ; 2d, The
power of ordination ; 3d, The jurisdiction over the
clergy. To these may be added, the power of
conhrming, of con.=ecraiing churches, &-c. In the
whole of this cuesiion the reader may be referred
to Bingham's Antlquiiles, awork In which he who
seeks lor informalion on any ecciesiasiical subject
may be almost sure to find it.
^ Here, too, there is an equivocal term in tr**
word "order." At the council of Trent, though
there was no quesiion ahout episcopacy, there was
a discussion as lo wheiht^r bishops were a distinct
orderoronly a difierenl jurisdiction. (F. Paul, 557.)
The Sa.xou church was governed by bishops, yet
the canons declare that iheie is no tssenlial differ-
once between the iwo ordeis of bii-bops and
priesis. (Johnson's Canons, 957, 17.) 'this must
always be laken into account In qnesilons wiih re
gard 10 episcopacy. See iiUo ^ ]i7, 279. It Is not
necessary to suppo-^e that Wiclif and the Erudi
tion intended fo riject episcopacy, though they
denied the distinctness of the orders. '1 he real
point at Issue is, wheiher a person could be or
dained in the primitive church wilhout the pre
sence of an apostle, or ot one holding a peculiarly
delegated authority, i. e., of a bishop. See Bing
ham, i. p. 81.
^ 'I'he argument concerning the name of bi.ihop
is frequently mistaken. There is no doubt that
cnidKOTio; is equivalent, in the New Testament, to
T!pta0uTtpo; , and I am not aware that it is ever used
for what we should call a bishop. But then tl.e
terms used in the New Testament for bishop are
d7r6i7To\o;, or ayyeXo;, and Clemens Romanus, the
third bishop of Rome, is called an apostle by Cle
mens Alexandrinus. Strom, iv. 17. I'he conces
sion, therefore, of the use of the name iTrioKono;
pi-ovcs noihing. The presbyterian is forced to say
that the order equivalent to that of the aposlles
does not now exist in the church, which is really
begging the question, and to explain ayycXo; by the
chief pastor of the church. So that the argument
from the names is i-alher in favour of episcopacy .

Chap X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

159

history, these same traces become more
decisive, till we find that at an early
period the questions are both ansAvered
in the affirmative ;' and Ave infer, there
fore, that unless it can be shoAvn th.at a
change in this particular took place, Ave
may presume that the same ecclesiasti
cal constitution existed from the time
of the apostles. A presbyterian might
argue, that in the apostolical history of
the NeAv Testament there is nothing
which militates against the h3rpothesis
of the tAvo orders only, at least nothing
Avhich proves the point ; that St. James
might have been the chief elder, the
moderator, of the cliurch of Jerusalem ;
that Timothy and Titus'^ might have
held no higher office than that of dean
in a cathedral church, or archdeacon in
a diocese ; and that as the presbytery had
the poAver of ordaining, they, as its su
perintendents, Avere directed by St. Paul
lo set all things in order. But then this
hypothesis does not account for the in
troduction of episcopacy, without even
a hint from the historians that any alter
ation in the- church government Avas
effected. When to this it is added, that
there never existed a church Avithout
episcopacy till the Reformation, the
proof seems as strong as moral proof
can be, that it is most probable that
episcopacy is derived from the times of
the apostles. And this conclusion is
quite sufficient to guide the conduct of
a sober-minded Christian.^ But to re
turn to the history.
1 Ignalii Epist. ad Smyrnaeos, 5 viii. nivrc; nS
ETriaKdiTOy dKo\o'jdElrE, tjj IriJOv; 'Kpiaro; T(S -rarpl' Kai no
rpE fiij-Epilt}, iii;TXiZ; d~oiiro\oi;' tov; 6e ^.aKOvoii; EUTpblEatJE,
ii; euv 'EvToXfiii. (Cotelerii, ii. 36.)
OiiK i^on EjTiv X^pii rov iKiGKonou, qvte jiaiTTL^Eiv, ours
dyaTT^v TioizXv, &c., meaning, perhaps, that with
out the ordination of a bishop, at least without the
sanction of a bishop, no minister may perform
either of the Iwo sacraments.
Ad Philadelphenos, iv. p. 31. "Ek BmiaijTfipm,
!J; el; iiTLCKOTTO;, afja rfo 7ipEcT0uTEpi(o, Kai diaKofoi; ToT;
ouiovXot; HOO, &c. fl. A. D. 107.
^ For myself, I cannot tinderstand how this hy
pothesis can explain the words of St. Paul, (Tit.i.
5.) ''For this cause left I thee in Crete, that
thou shouldest set in order the things that are
wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had
appointed' thee," &c. Titus must have hai a
delegated authorhy very different in its nature
from that of a moderator in a presbyterian church.
But other persons may see the matter differently.
" The force of this argument will be much in
creased by comparing it with that in favour of in
fant baptism, or any other parallel case, as that
the sacraments are to be administered by clergy
men only, which presbyterians allow as Avell as
episcopalians. The elements ofthe argument will

§ 461. The treatment of the libellers
themselves when discovered, was, ac
cording to the system then pursued,
much less objectionable ; because the
outrageous nature of their AA-ritings ob
viously pointed out to the civil magis
Irate the necessity of adopting severity.*
Udal and Penry, Avho were the princi
pal Avriters of some of the books Avhich
attacked episcopacy,* forfeited their
lives to the vengeance of insulted so
ciety, by the vehemence with Avhich
they abused the established govern
ment. It may be more Avise in a go
vernment on some occasions to overlook
such transgressions ; but if any notice
be taken of them, an authority Avhich
Avill defend itself must inflict some pu
nishment on such offenders. Hacket,
Avho represented our Saviour, Avith
Coppinger^ and Arthington, his pro
phets of mercy, and judgment, Avere
candidates rather for a mad-house, than
a dungeon. GreenAvood and BarroAV,'
AA'ho suffered for Avriting seditious books
and pamphlets, AA'ere on the high road
to introduce the horrors of anarchy
which the anabaptists had exhibited in
Germany.' These extreme cases, how
ever, cannot fairly be charged on the
puritans ; for though they Avere the na
tural fruit of the proceedings of that
party, yet the better sort of noncon
formists utterly disliked Avhat these
persons did,^ and were in their turns
exposed to the animadversions of these
ultra reformists, Avho regarded them as
only half reformed. It may be doubt
ful, perhaps, even in these cases, Avhe
ther gentler remedies might not have
been adopted Avith success ; but it is
obvious that something more than ar
gument was necessary for beings Avho
made so bad a use of their reasoning
faculties. And the satirical productions
of Tom Nash,'" Avho answered them in
their OAvn AA'ay, had probably more

in each case be the same ; that at a certain time
it was found existing in the church ; that history
states not when u began ; and that the supposition
of it having existed from the times ofthe apostles
is not contradicted, but rather supported by the
apostolic history. Moral demonstration hardly
admits of proof more satisfactory.
^ Strype's Whitgift, ii. 96. ° Ibid. ii. 175.
'' Paul's Whiigift ; 'Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. iv. 354.
¦> Strype's Whiigift, Ii. 186.
8 Paul's Whitgift, 357. » Ibid. 362.
1° Walton's Hooker; Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. iv.
245.

160

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

effect with the people, than either argu
ment or severity.
§ 462. The national alarm, excited
by the conduct of foreign Roman Ca
tholic courts, and which proved so in
jurious to those of that persuasion Avho
belonged to England, had not been ob
literated by the general readiness and
fidelity exhibited by Roman Catholics
themselves during the period of danger
Avhich was lately passed ; and the con
tinuance of the same threatening policy
on the part of Spain and Italy, tended
to continue the same cautionary and
harsh measures on that of the English
government. The parliament of this
year enacted some A'ery severe laws,
Avhich affected the puritans and Roman
Catholics. The first subjected all above
the age of sixteen, Avho did not frequent
their parish church, to the^ penally of
imprisonmenc; and in case of their not
conforming after three months, th. y
Avere obliged to abjure the realm, and
if they returned Avere declared felons
Avithout benefit of clergy. Their goods
Avere lost to them during their lives,
and their friends forbidden to harbour
or conceal their persons. This act
more particularly touched the puri
tans,' Avhose conduct in 1588 had given
just offence to the country. The second
confined all popish recusants, Avho had
any property, to their OAvn places of
residence, and imposed the penally of
the loss of all their possessions, in case
of their removing from thence, except
on specified occasions ; Avhile those AA'ho
Avere not possessed of goods lo a greater
amount than lAventy marks per annum,
or 40/. actual property, Avere forced to
abjure the realm ; and in default of this,
or in case of returning, Avere adjudged
felons Avithout benefit of clergy. There
Avere also some executions of Roman
Catholics, Avhich kept alive the flame
of animosity on the one part, and of
terror on the other; and the Liav which
treated all priests as traitors, perhaps
in some cases produced the treason
Avhich it was intended to prevent;
Avhile the declarations'^ and opinions
maintained by some Roman Catholics
created a horror and antipathy against
a religion, Avhich could foster such sen
timents, and allow of such expressions
' Banrrnfi, Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. iv. 359.
2 Sirype's Ann. vii. 91, No. 45.

without the strongest reprobation. But
the soothing hand of time was not des
titute of its effects ; and many of the
Roman Catholics began to find out for
themselves the unjustifiable lengths into
which their leaders Avould have guided
them. One of them in 1597 Avrites lo
Burleigh,^ "that the course they ran
into tended, for aught he could per
ceive, to the ruin of our country, over-
throAv of the monarchy, destruction of
all the nobility, and lo bring England
into perpetual bondage of the Spa
niards : they neither, as it seemed,"
added he, "respecting religion, (though
ihey made it their cloak,) their n.ative
soil, nor any thing else, but their own
ambitious humour; persuaded by this
means to attain to special authority and
government under the king of Spain."
In 1602, upon a quarrel between the
Seculars and Jesuhs,-" the former pub
lished several books, in Avhich ihey
thrcAV the Avhole blame of the persecu
tion on the latter ; and declared that
the kindness of the queen had con
tinued, till the ill conduct, of the see of
Rome, and this part of her Roman Ca
tholic subjects, had forced her to adopt
severe measures. And in consequence
of a proclamation Avhich Avas now is
sued,'^ thirteen secular priests came for
ward, and made a formal declaration
of their own fidelity. Though the ef
fects of these circumstances come not
up to our wishes, yet Ave may fairly
conclude that they Avere not destitute
of their use ; for notwithstanding the
invasion of Ireland by the Spaniards,
and the crusade AA'hich was published
by Clement VIII., in favour of Tyrone,
yet the executions towards the end of
the reign appear less frequent."
§ 463. (a. d. 1595.) The church AA-as
destined this year to meet Avilh internal
trouble, in doctrine as Avell as disci
pline ; and a theological question, on
Avhich the two divinity professors at
Cambridge were at variance, became
the subject of discussion between the

s Sirype's Whiigift, il. 369.
" Camden's Eliz. 651.
* Butler's Catholics, ii. 56.
^It is calculated by Milner, that 204 Roman
Catholics suffered death during this reign: 15 fir
denying the queen's supremacy,. 126 for ihe exer
cise of priestly funeiions, and the oihers for being
reconciled lo the church of Rome, or aiding or
assisting priests; 90 died in prison, 105 were
banished. (Butler's Enghsh Catholics, i. 398.)

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

161

unlearned,' Avhose attainments frequent
ly did not allow them to see even the
difficulties Avhich it involves. The opi
nions of many persons in Cainbridge
did not correspond with Avhat had been
taught by Calvin Avilh regard to pre
destination ; and in a sermon preached
before the University, William Barret,
fellow of Caius college, denied the ab
solute decree of reprobation Avithout re
spect to sin, and the certainly of faith,
affirming that Christians might fall from
grace. Being called upon to ansAver
for this supposed heterodoxy, he Avas
enjoined to make a public recantation
drawn up by the heads themselves,
Avhich act he performed in so very
negUgent a manner, that he Avas again
sum moned before the authorities. Upon
this he complained to the archbishop,
and when his recantation Avas examined,
it Avas found to contain the denial of
doctrines generally received in the
church, and to be as objectionable as
those opinions Avhich he had broached ;
(he recanted, for instance, "that sin is
the proper and primary cause of re
probation. ")'' In this part of the pro
ceeding another dispute arose, as to
the final jujisdiction of the university
over its own members, and when this
Avas amicably settled, the matter AvaS
discussed in the archbishop's palace;'
and the Lambeth Articles were the fruit
of the conference.
§ 464. 1. God from eternity hath pre
destinated certain men unto life,* certain
men he hath reprobated.
3. The moving or efficient cause of
predestination unto life, is not the fore
sight of faith, or of perseverance, or of
good works, or of any thing that is in
the person predestinated, but only the
good-will and pleasure of God.
3." There is predetermined a certain
number of the predestinate, which can
neither be augmented nor diminished.
4. Those who are not predestinated to
salvation shall be necessarily damned
for their sins.
5. A true, living, and justifying faith.

' Strype's 'iVhitgift, ii. 228.
2 Ibid. iii. 318, No. 23-
' Sir Phd. Warwick. Mem. p. 86, attributes the
want of moderation visible in these articles to
Fletcher, bishop of London.
« Fuller, Eccl. Hist. ix. 230 and Strype's Whitg.
ii. 280. 21

and the Spirit of God justifying, is not
extinguished, falleth not away, it va
nisheth not away in the elect, neither
finally nor totally.
6. A man truly faithful, that is, such
a one who is endued Avith a justifying
faith, is certain, with the full assurance
of faith, of the remission of his sins,
and of his everlasting salvation in
Christ. 7. Saving grace is not given, is not
granted, is not communicated to all
men, by Avhich they may be saved if
they AviU.
8. No man can come to Christ, un
less it shall be given unto him, and
unless the Father shall draAv him ; and
all men are not draAvn by the Father
that they may come to the Son.
9. It is not in the Avill or poAA'er of
every one to be saved.
Whatever may be the opinion of any
individual reader, as to the truth of
these articles, it Avill require but little
poAvers of criticism to remark the dog
matical manner in which they are ex
pressed, and to observe how different
their tone is from the language of Scrip
ture, and the articles of our church.
Nor can Ave be surprised if such a de
cision failed to produce peace in the uni
versity or elseAvhere,^ and excited the
displeasure of those who cared for the
tranquillity of the church. One of the
professors, Baro, immediately opposed
the errors which, these articles AA'ere
calculated to produce, and was exa
mined in consequence before the heads;
and it Avas only bjy the quiet interference
of the archbishop, that this poor man,
Avho had taught divinity in Cambridge
for many years Avith no higher a stipend
than twenty pounds per annum, escaped
the loss of even this trifling pittance ;
and that for preaching doctrines Avhich
are in perfect accordance with the arti
cles of the church of England. °

5 Strype's Whitgift, ii. 285.
6 Montague, in his Appello ad Ctesarem, (p. 55
— 72.) says that these ariicles were forbidden by
public authority. And CoUier asserts the same;
(II. 645;) hut Fuller doubts ihl3;(ix. 231;) and
though perhaps Elizabeth might have commanded
the a'rchbishop to suppress ihein, yet as they were
drawn up by no authorily, but merely by some
bishops and divines who met at Lambeth, they
never were the doctrines of the church of Eng
land, though they might express the opinions of
some of her most exalted member.<i at that period.
Strype's Whi-gifi, ii. 290.
o3

162

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

§ 465. The advancing age of the
queen and the archbishop tended much
to soften down the asperities which pre
vious events had excited between the
contending parties, and the government
of Whitgift was crowned towards its
latter end with more peace than had
marked his early labours ; and however
peremptory' some of his conduct may
appear, he Avas a sincere reformer of
abuses, and entirely free from many
faults which are but too apt to degrade
the higher clergy in the eyes of the
people. In the House of Commons,
indeed, in 1598 and I60I, some at
tempts were made to interfere Avith
ecclesiastical matters, but the objects of
the bills brought forward were totally
changed. The framers of them now
tried to reform real abuses Avhich ex
isted in the establishment, not to destroy
and undermine the establishment itself.
^They complained of excessive fees,
of delays, of unnecessary citations,
AA'hile grievous sins were left untouched,
as well as other abuses in the bishops'
courts. They objected to pluralities,
to non-residence ; and though the au
thority of the queen' put a hasty stop
to these attempts, yet the attention of
the government Avas directed to the
subjects, and such remedies were de
vised by the archbishop and his col
leagues as Avere calculated to obviate
the evils for the future.
§ 466. The quiet of the church Avas
also much promoted by the maturer
judgments of those who had been
chiefly instrumental in causing- the dis
turbances. ¦'Robert Browne, the founder
of the sect called BroAvnists, the first
body of separatists from our church,
became wiser as he groAV older, and
returned once more into her bosom ;
and Cartwright, who had fought among
the foremost of the party, was so con-

' Sir G. Paul speaks in such high terms of the
gentleness of Whiigift, in the passage where he
alludes to ihis charge, that the epithet may ap
pear to have been applied rashly ; (Words- Ecc.
Riog. iv. 371 ;) but some of his expressions about
Cartwright are very warm ; (Strype's Whitgift, i.
96 ;) and in giving his sentence concerning the
heresy of Christ's sinning, he says, " This is my
resolution, which I would have you and all men
to know. And those that shall impugn this, or
teach to the contrary, I will prosecute with extre
mity, and to extremity;" (Strype's Whitgift, ii.
.65 ;) words which are at least peremptory.
' Strype's Whiigift, il. 374.
^ Ibid. ii. 445., " Ibid. i. 649.

vinced of his error, that he declared his
sorrow for " the unnecessary troubles
he had caused in the church by the
schism he had been the great fomenter
of ; and Avished he Avas to begin his life
again, that he might testify to the Avorkl
the dislike he had of his former Avays."^
The Avritings of Hooker and Bancroft
had, under God's providence, been very
instrumental in producing this happy
effect, and Ave have only to lament that
the question had not been more left to
the force of reason for its answer. .
When the nonconformists began to pur
sue a line of conduct which interfered
with the civil rights of the establish
ment ; when they adopted such mea
sures as would tend to overthroAv the
croAvn, unless a timely restraint were
put upon them, it Avas absolutely neces
sary that the authority of government
should repress their meetings ; but per
haps much of the opposition to episco
pacy arose from the manner in which
the judicial powers of the bishops were
exercised. The final repentance of
such a man as Cartwright is one of the
strongest testimonies in favour of the
hierarchy. He had been far from ex
hibiting the worst specinfen of those
Avho had opposed the cause of the esta
blished church ; he had possessed
knowledge for the investigation of
truth, and carried with him much zeal
for reformation ; he had experienced
some harsh treatment, and had given
way to a schismatic spirit in his own
proceedings ; but with him the truth
prevailed, and he saw his error before
his death ; nor is it improbable that the
later kindness of Whitgift might have
helped in producing this effect. It is
possible that the diabolical spirit of
schism, Avith Avhich some of this party
Aveie infected, Avho, in the hopes of
remedying evils Avhich they could see,
ran themselves into ten thousand greater
evils, of which no one could foresee
the extent, and who set at defiance
every laAV which Christianity has given
us for our guidance, might not have been
restrained without tbe strong hand of
power ; but much connivance, and
much more personal kindness, were
perfectly compatible Avith the severe
enforcement of general obedience ; and
5 Strype''s Whitgift, ii. 460.

Chap. X.]
though the peace now produced may
be attributed to the previous severity,
yet the success of the line of policy
which had latterly been pursuetl, and
the tranquillity which accompanied it,
seem to plead most strongly in favour
of lenient measures.
§ 467. (a. d. 1603.) The reign of Eli
zabeth was now draAving to a close, after
a prosperous continuance of forty-four
years, over Avhich the disastrous trou
bles of succeeding times have thrown
so strong a glow, that Ave frequently
find a comparative estimate of the age
in Avhich we live falsely made in favour
of this period of our history. Eliza
beth, as a governor — for in this light
alone is it fair to estimate her character
— Avas possessed of considerable talent,
Avhich she generally employed to the
advantage of the state : AA'hatever her
weakness as a woman may have been,
she selected her servants more accord
ing to her judgment than her passions;
and in most of her transactions she was
well served, and consulted the good of
her subjects, as far as their Avelfare was
consistent Avith her own plans or ideas.
She regarded, if I may use the expres
sion, the kingdom as her private pro
perty, and her object was to render the
estate as g-ood as possible. She had
only a lifehold interest in the property,
and was less careful, therefore, of the
peculiar interests of her successor.
From her disinclination to be controlled,
she Avas ahvays unwilling to make any
calls upon the parliament, and sacrificed
the property which belonged to the
crown and the nation, for the sake of
rcAvarding those Avho were about her ;
and thus converted to her OAvn personal
advantage that Avhich ought to have
provided, for the wants of posterity.
The same feeling gave a parsimonious
turn to much of her conduct;' it made
her unwilling to spend money for ne
cessary objects, and rendered her al
ways much inclined to receive pre
sents;^ it Avas this Avhich made her
guilty of an obvious meanness in seiz
ing on the property of her favourite
Leicester' immediately on his death, in
order to satisfy the sum in which he
was indebted to her treasury. In no
' Strype's Smith, 140, &.c.
2 Strype's Ann. iv. 209.
" Camden's EUzabeth, 420,

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

ui

point, however, was this fault so conl-
spicuous, as with regard to the church ;
but the instances are far too numerous
to be here recorded. The reader may
be referred to an address of Whitgift
to her majesty, which is given in Wal
ton's Life of Hooker.* Parsimony,
however, Avas no further used than as a
means of enabling her to govern ; she
was unwilling to ask for money, lest
she should become indebted to those
who granted it. Of power, for its own
sake, she was peculiarly fond ; and in
no species of power did she take a
greater delight than in that which be
longed to the supremacy — a point
which was attacked by two descrip
tions of her subjects, the puritans and
the Roman Catholics. The treatment
which she Avished to adopt Avith regard
to these two parties, and her decided
temper, are characteristically marked
in an observation of her OAvn, made
to Malvesier, the ambassador from
Francp.'^ She told him " that she
Avould inaintain the religion that she
AAas crowned in, and that she AA'as bap
tized in : and would suppress the pa
pistical religion, that it should not groAV.
But that she Avould root out puritanism,
and the favourers thereof. And that
she had rather be the last of her line
without marriage, than Monsieur should
innovate or alter any thing in her re
formed church." And this line of
policy seems to have been pursued
systematically on her part.
§ 468. Had the Roman Catholics al
lowed her to folloAv her OAvn designs, she
would probably have used little severity
towards them, as she Avas in some par
ticulars certainly not adverse to them,"
and on several occasions, even after
compulsion had begun, she exhibited an
unwillingness to shed blood,' and an in
clination in their favour. But the preju
dices of her Protestant subjects were
offended at any kindness which was
shown to their Roman Catholic breth-

¦i Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. iv. 233.
5 Strype's Ann. iv. 242.
^ Elizabeth may be said to have mixed up with
her Protestantism many feelings favourable to
Roman Catholic customs. She was fond of out
ward show in religion, as was visible in the whole
question about the ecclesiastical dresses. She re
tained the crucifix in her own chapel, (i 408 ;) she
was adverse to the marriage of the clergy.
¦? Strype's Ann. v. 188, 197.

164

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

ren ;' and we can feel less surprise that
the unjustifiable conduct of the more
conspicuous members of that body
should have exasperated the Protestants.
With regard to puritanism, which she
hated, the question was totally different.
This faction OAved much of its existence
to a spirit of insubordination, and Avas
coupled Avith a strong desire of estab
lishing the civil liberties ofthe subject;
but its votaries carried their notions of
freedom into the confines of libertinism,
and Elizabeth Avas little likely to approve
of a system, which directed the specu
lations of its folloAvers to the strict ex
amination of Avhat the law had already
settled. She AA'as a great friend to edu
cation, as the surest means of eradicating
the. power of the papacy; but she did
not clearly foresee that the dissemination
of knoAvledge Avas incompatible Avith the
absolute power Avhich she Avished to ex
ercise. It Avas with the view probably
of checking investigation that she was
ever hostile to multiplying sermons, and
the steps which she took to put 'a stop
to prophesyings owe their origin to the
same cause. Indeed, the peremptory
manner in Avhich she decided ecclesias
tical questions fell under the rebuke of
Grindal,^ who told her, that church mat
ters Avere to be settled according to the
AA'ill of God, not her OAvn ; and that she
too was mortal, and must answer before
the tribunal of Christ. It Avas the same
love of poAver, the same objection to
being controlled in any Avay, which con
tributed to prevent her from marrying ;
and this disinclination to the married
state in her own person, rendered her
very tyrannical on this point with regard
to all about her, and, combined Avith early
prejudices, made her always adverse to
the marriage of the clergy.'

1 Strype's Parker, iii. 83, No. 27.
2 Su-ype's Grindal, 572, No. 9.
3 Sir Simon Degge tells us, " That prie.sts' chil
dren, in Ihe beginning of Queen Elizabeth, were
fain to be legitimated. In the first and third of
King Edward, all laws, statutes, and canons,
against ihe marriage of priests, were made null
and void. (See ^311, 329.) And by another
statute in the fifth and sixth of King Edward, it
was adjudged and declared, that the marriage, of
priests was lawful, and legitimated their children,
and made them capable to endow their wives, and
to be tenants by courtesy. But these laws were
repealed in the first of Queen Mary, and lay re
pealed all Queen Elizabeth's days, {i 360,) till the
first of King James, and then the latter acts of
King Edward were revived, and made perpetual,

§ 469. With all this, she possessed a
strong feeling of religion, was scrupu
lous in the observance of the outward
offices of it, and from the judgment ol
those who Avere best able to decide the
question,* (as far as one human being
can form an estimate of another,) she
was truly religious. There is an answer
of hers to the House of Commons,'*
towards the end of her reign; Avhich
marks a most conscientious sovereign ;
and the excuse for her errors, which she
makes tOAvards the conclusion of it, (viz.
that princes are often deceived by the
interested advice of their servants, AA'ho
prevent the truth from coming to them,)
would be valid in her favour, had not
the Avhole political proceedings of this
reign placed the broad hand of authority
over every attempt Avhich was made to
remedy evils by free and impartial dis
cussion. Her great qualities have met
wilh so many panegyrists, that it is un
necessary to dilate upon them. She
Avas perhaps the greatest monarch who
ever sat on the throne of England ; but
the present generation has every reason
to congratulate itself, that the real hap
piness and prosperity of the subject have
been more substantially consulted in our
own days.
§ 470. The immediate death of Eliza
beth AA-as attended Avith some painful cir
cumstances, in the explanation of which,
various historians have amused them
selves ; but the ordinary decay of nature,
and the sufferings of ill health, in an old
woman AA'ho had ahvays folloAved her
OAvn inclinations as much as the queen.

and priests' children made legiiimate." (Strype's
Parker, ii. 461.) The act was unrepealed specifi
cally, but the Injunctions of Elizabeih (^ 406)
presume the legality of the marriage of priests,
and probably she deemed it virtually repealed in
the general terms which abrogated all the ecclesi
astical acts of Mary. It is rbvious, however, ihat
churchmen did not think so, for Archbishop Parker
calls his wife Margaret Parker, alias Harleston,
and procured the legitimation of his children : her
brother was the heir of Mrs. Parker. Ehzabeth
would absolutely have forbidden the marriage of
the clergy, if Cecil had not interposed ; she did
actually forbid the residence of women wUhin
cathedral closes; (Strype's Parker, i. 212;) and
when Fletcher, newly made bishop of London, in
1594, "married a fine lady" as his second wife,
the queen banished him from court, "as being a
very indecent act for an elderly clergyman."
(Strype's Whitgift, ii. 215.) She was equally ar
bitrary about the marriage of other persons con
nected whh ihe court.
< Burnet, Ref vi. 388, No. 63.
5 Camden, Eliz. 635.

Chap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

16.1

Seem fully adequate to account for her
unpleasant condition. The earliest ac
count of this event Avhich is extant, and
which is probably derived from the pen
of some one who Avas present Avhen it
took place, is as folloAvs :' " The queen
had for three Aveeks been labouring
under a disorder which strongly affected
her spirits, and produced a kind of stupor
accompanied Avith appearances of in
sanity : she could not be induced by
reason, entreaties, or any contrivance, to
try the effect of medicine ; and there
was much difficulty in persuading her
to use such nourishment as Avas neces
sary for her animal support. The sleep
which she enjoyed Avas very little, and
that not taken in bed, but amon? pilloAA's,
on Avhich she had accustomed herself
to recline during whole days Avithout
moving : her intellect remained to the
last, though for three days she Avas un
able to speak." Camden, too, describes
her excessive melancholy and depres
sion, and gives the generally received
opinions concerning the cause of it :'
but adds, " And as she had done ahvays
before, in the prime of her age, so now
much more, she refused all help of
physic." She was attended in her last
hours by Whitgift,. Bancroft, and Wat
son her almoner, ' and partook Avith much
satisfaction of the outward consolations
of religion. * " On March 34, she Avas
called out of the prison of her earthly
body, to enjoy an everlasting country in
heaven, peaceably and quietly leaving
this life, after that happy manner of de
parture which Augustus wished for."
§ 471. In estimating the state of the
church at this period, Avhen it had noAv
been established for forty years, we can
not but deplore the little progress which
had been made in essentials. The time
had been wasted in disputes about un
important matters, and what had been
settled, stood, as far as human institu
tions are concerned, on no firmer basis
than such as the caprice of a monarch
or the prevalence of a party might have
destroyed in a moment. The chief
blame of this seems to rest with the
leaders of the puritanic party. There

1 Strype's Annals, vh. 521, No. 276. Sirype's
Whitgift, ii. 466.
s Camden's EUzabeth, 659. '
* Strype's Whiigift, ii. 466.
^ Camden's Elizabeth, 661.

Avere points which they wished to be
altered ; and for the sake of effecting
their purpose, they allowed themselves,
and by their proceedings excited others,
to direct their chief efforts towards non
essentials. They saw that the church
of Christ Avas suffering from a want of
attention to the important concerns of
religion, and they were so, far from re-
hnquishing their prejudices, and coming
forward to supply the defect, that they
principally exerted themselves in fanning
the flame of discord. They were perhaps
unwisely dealt Avith ; they Avere certainly
treated Avith severity : but the injudi
cious conduct of their, superiors could
never be an excuse for their relinquish
ing their posts and duties, could scarcely
even palliate the schismatic activity
which many of them displayed. The
blame of a want of concession, and of
harshness of treatment, must be attri
buted first to the queen,^ and then to
Parker, Aylmer, and Whitgift ; and yet
great caution is necessary in speaking
of such men as the two archbishops
were, to whom our church oAves so
much. The alteration of opinions, aris
ing from the change of times, makes it
very difficult to estimate their conduct
fairly : they were both uprig-ht, con
scientious men, who had to strive against
the jobbing dishonesty of the mass of
the courtiers, and against the prejudices
and Avilfulness of the queen : they Avere
little supported by many of their brethren
the bishops : for what Avith the general
ignorance of the times, Avhich furnished
no great supply of fit men ; Avith the
appointment to ecclesiastical offices from
interest rather than merit ; with the
temptations to which high situations in
the church expose those who fill them ;
the government in spiritual matters
seems to have rested much more on the
individual character of the rulers, than
is ever to be Avished. Nor can it be
concealed that the ill-conduct of the dig
nified clergy themselves added much to
the burden Avhich Avas imposed on those
who held the highest offices in the
church. BurleighJ" (1575,) in Avriting to
Grindal, says,^ " that though he liked not
the unruly reprehenders of the clergy
at this time, yet he feared the abuse
of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, both by

5 See i 446.

« Strype's Grindal, 281.

166

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

bishops and archdeacons, gave too great
an occasion to those stoical and irregu
lar rovers to multiply their invectives
against the state of our clergy." And
in another letterto Whitgift,^ Avhen again
speaking of filling up preferments, that
" he saAv such worldliness in many that
were otherwise affected before they
came to cathedral churches, that he
feared the places akered the men."
The universities contributed little to
remedy or obviate the danger of the
times :" the state of Oxford Avas deplora
ble ; she was overrun with popery and
disorder :' and Cambridge, to which this

period owes so much, was, as we have
seen, at one moment a prey to puritan
ism, at another engaged in disputes
Avhich tended to any thing rather than
edification. The feeling which the more attentive
study of these times is calculated to in
spire, is the conviction of the superin
tendence of Providence over the church
of Christ. The exertions of the best of
human beings are often misdirected, are
oftener thwarted by the evil passions of
the interested ; and yet all things work
together for good to them that love
God.

A LIST OF THE AUTHENTIC COPIES OF THE THIRTY-NINE
ARTICLES.

XLII. 1553.

Size.

By whom printed.

Copies ejcisting.

Lan
guage.

By whom
reprinted.

4to.
8vo. 4to.

Reg. Wolfe.
Grafton.=
Reg. Wolfe.
Jugg & Cawood.

C. C. C. Oxf.
Camb., & Pub.
Lib. Camb.
Bodley
Bodley. 3 cop.
C. C. C. Oxford.
Ch. Ch. Oxford.
St. John's Camb.
C. C. C. Camb.
Ch. Ch. Bodley.
C.C.C.Camb.&
Pub. Lib. Camb.
St. John's & Jes.
Cambridge.

Lat.
Eng. Lat.
Eng- Lat.
Eng.Eng.

Sparrow.
Lamb.Burney." Sparrow.
Burney.
Burney.
Lamb.
Lamb. Sparrow.
Lamb.Burney.

XXXVIII. 1563.
No date.
No date.
XXXIX. 1571.

Day
Jugg & Cawood.

> Strype's Whitgift, i. 338. 2 Ibid. i. 610.
s Strype's Grindal, 196.
< The reprints to which allusion is here made,
are to be found in Sparrow's Collection of Articles.
a very useful book, but so incorrectly published
as to be quite useless on all critical questions. 4to.
Articles of Religion, Sec, printed in 1811, 1 be

lieve by Dr. Burney, but unfortunately never
pubhshed. 4to.
Dr. Lamb's Historical Account of the Thirty.
nine Articles, Camb. 1829, 4to., a very useful but
expensive work.
^ Sparrow says, John Day. The Catechism is
by Day.

Chap X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

167

APPENDIX C. TO CHAPTER X.

HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.
481. The Forty-two Articles. 482. Probably framed by Cranmer. 483. Taken partly from the
Augsburg Confession. 484. Not sanctioned by convoeation. 485. Parker prepares the articles
for convocation; subscription required. 486. The controverted clause in the twentieth article.
487. Idea ofthe author. 488. Laud, not to blame about the article.

§ 481. Although the value Avhich
we attach to the Thirty-nine Articles
must depend on other grounds than the
authority to Avhich they OAve their ex
istence, or our respect for the individu
als by Avhom they were framed ; yet the
history of their composition and the de
tails Avhich attended the original publi
cation and revision of them, can never
fail to be interesting and instructive.
The Articles of our Church Avere first
published in the year 1553 ;' they came
forth under the title, "The articles
agreed upon by the bishops and other
learned and godly men, in the last con
vocation at London, in the year of our
Lord MDLII., for to root out the dis
cord of opinions, and establish the
agreement of true religion ; likewise
published by the king's majesty's au
thority, 1553." They were published
together with a short Catechism, (§ 331,)
and Avere printed, as Avell as the Cate
chism, in Latin and English. They
Avere in number forty-two, and do not
exactly correspond Avith the present
Thirty-nine. The accounts which have
been handed doAvn to us of their first
composition are involved in so much
uncertainty, that what is generally re
ceived concerning them is more Avorthy
ofthe name of tradition than of history.
§ 482. The power which had been
originally granted to Henry VIII.,'' of
appointing a committee for the forma
tion of ecclesiastical laws, and of which
no use Avas made during his reign, Avas
reneAved in 1549 to Edward VI. , by an
act of parliament which limited its dura
tion to the space of three years.'
(a. d. 1551.) The committee was ac-

' Lamb, 3. ' girype's Cranmer, 388.
3 The fruit ofthe labours of this committee are
pubhshed in the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiastica
rum, ^ 435, '. The early sections contain the doc
trines of the Thirty-nine Articles, but the words
used are not the same. They may indeed be
deemed an authorized expression of the meaning
of our articles.

1 tually appointed Oct. 6th, " And this
3'ear the archbishop Avas directed to
draw up a book of Articles for preserv
ing and maintaining peace and unity
of doctrine in the church ; that being
finished, they might be set forth by
public authority." This he did, and
they Avere delivered " to other bishops
to be inspected and subscribed, I sup
pose by them."-" (a. d. 1552.) In the
May following, the archbishop Avas di
rected by the council to send the Ar
ticles, and to signify Avhether the same
were set forth by any authority ; allud
ing, probably, to the poAver vested in
the commissioners by the act of 1549,
and which would continue in force till the
end of 1552. In September the arch
bishop sent the book which he had now
set in order, by supplying Avhat was
wanting, and prefixing titles to the seve
ral articles, to Sir William Cecil and Sir
John Cheke,'" desiring them to take the
same into their serious consideration,
and to present them to the king. They,
however, imagined that it would be
better for the metropolitan to offer them
himself; and he did so. In October a
letter Avas addressed by the council to
Harley, Bell, Horn, Grindal, Pern, and
Knox, to consider certain articles, Avhich
could hardly be any other than these.
The archbishop received the articles
from the council Nov. 2'3d, and sent
them back on the 34th, expressing, at the
-* The first sketch of tbe articles was prepared
in the summer of 1551 ; but it seems not, to have
contained the whole of the articles which were
published in the spring ot 1553- The five first,
the IXth, Xth, .and XVIIih, were wanting; and
the clause in the XXVIIIth, (the XXIXth of the
Forty-two,) against consubstantiation, or the ubi
quity of Christ's- body, was added, which was
subsequently omuted in 1563. (Laurence's Bampt.
Lect. 228, and p. 39.) These circumstances are
gathered from a book published at Antwerp in
1564, giving an account of a dispute which had
been held between Hooper and two of his pre
bendaries, on the subject of these articles, in 1552.
(Strype'a Cranmer, 390.)
' Strype's Cranmer. 391.

UB

HISTORY OF THE

fCHAP. X.

same time, a Avish that the bishops
might be empowered to require sub
scription to them. All these details,
which form the Avhole Avhich is knoAvn
of the composition of the Articles,
strongly tend to confirm the idea that
they were composed by Cranmer him
self; and Avhen he Avas examined before
the commissioners appointed during the
reign of Q,ueen Mary,' he acknowledged
"that they Avere his doings." He is
generally said to have made use of the
as.'sistance of Bishop Ridley, and the
draft of them might probably have been
submitted to the inspection of other di
vines ; but it is quite uncertain whether
they received any alterations from these
persons, or Avhether they Avere even
examined by ihem. It is indeed most
probable that this Avas the case : for in
the letter of Edward VI. , dated June 9,
1553, and addressed to the bishops,
they are called " Certain Articles de
vised and gathered with great study,'*
and by counsel and good advice of the
greatest learned part of our bishops of
this realm, and sundry others of our cler
gy ;" expressions Avhich would hardly
have been used, unless more bishops
than Cranmer and Ridley had been
concerned in their preparation.
§ 483. Whether they were composed
by Cranmer, or were drawn up by any
other hand, it Avill be curious to inquire
from what sources they are chiefly de
rived, since it is not probable that a man
possessed of so much caution as marked
the general conduct of the archbishop,
would have suffered a document to be
prepared, Avhich was intended to convey
the authoritative opinion of the church
of England, without consulting, and
perhaps imitating works of the same
description Avhich had already been re
ceived among the most distinguished
of the reformers.
(a. d. 1536.) Whatever use he might
have made of the Helvetic Confession^
in forming his OAvn opinions, he does
not appear to have introduced it into
the Avork in which he was engaged : but
with regard to the Confession of Augs
burg, (1530, printed I53I, and repub
lished with alterations 1540,) there is
not only a general agreement in doc-
' Strype's Cranmer, 390, ch. xxvii.
^ Strype's Mem. ir. ii. 105.
' See Sylloge Confessionum.

trine, but in many places the very
Avords of the one are transferred into
the other.'' Several of the present ar
ticles are taken from papers drawn up
by the committee of doctrines,^ 1540;
but as these do in Iavo instances corre
spond also with the Augsburg Confes
sion, it is not improbable that they like
Avise owe their origin to the pen of the
archbishop himself. We may also con
clude that the Xlth Article, on Justifi
cation, is drawn from no other source
than the laborious investigations of Cran
mer. In a book of his own, wherein he
had Avritten out a large collection of
quotations from Holy Scripture as Avell
as from different authors," he sums up
the argument in Avords corresponding,
in a great degree, with those of the
article ; and reference is " made in the
same article to the Homily on Salvation,
though under a false title, which is gene
rally esteemed to be the production of
Cranmer. With regard to the XVIIth
article, great uncertainty prevails con
cerning the author ; yet there are some
passages in the Avorks of Luther and
Melancthon, which, from the similarity
of idea, and occasionally of oppression,
if they formed not a text on Avhich the
framers ofthe articles commented, might
at least have been in their view AA^hen
engaged in the composition of it,' and

^ Ariicles I. and II. of the Thirty-nine are ob
viously taken from articles I. and HI. of the Con
fession ; the first sentence of XXV., and most of
XXXI., agree, in above half the words which
they contain, wilh expressions used in the Augs
burg Confession ; the IXth and XVIth are princi
pally derived from the same source. Articles IV.
XIV. XXIII. XXVI. XXXII. XXXIV. contain
expressions which leave little doubt in the mind
that the Augsburg Confession was familiar to the
person whowasdrawingthem up. ArticlesXXIV.
and XXX. might be added to these, but they
were iniroduoed by Archbishop Parker, and are
not in the Forty-iwo Articles. The article on
Ihe Holy (Jhost (V.) is wanting in the Augsburg
Confession, and so it is in the Forty-two. The
term ex opere operato occurs in the Article of the
Forty-iwo which corresponds with the present
XXVth, and the same term exists in the Xlllth
article of the Augsburg Confession. The verbal
correspondence is more strongly marked by com
paring these coincidences with those parts of the
Helvetic Confession, in which the same ideas are
conveyed in very dissimilar language. See Apo
crypha, 17; Trinitv, 20; Predestination, 34.
° Sirype's Mem. 'I. ii. 442, No. 112.
" Burnet, i. 288 fol., 522, 8vo.
' Luther wrote his preface lo the Epistle to the
Romans in German, and it was translateii into
Lalin by Justus Jonas, 1523. 'The quotation is
long, but too curious lo be omilled. I bavo to

t. HAP. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

169

leave little doubt that it was derived
from the German school of theology.
§ 484. From the title under which
the Articles were originally published,
it might be supposed that they derived
their authority from the sanction of
convocation ; but if they Avere ever sub
mitted to the upper house, Avhich is very
questionable, it is indubitable that they
were never brought before the lower ;
while all the original mandates which
remain, prove that they were promul
gated by a royal proclamation alone.'
Their publication, hoAvever, Avas so ra
pidly folloAved by the re-establishment
of popery under Glueen Mary,'-* that only
a small part of the clergy ever actually
subscribed them.
§485. (a.d. 1562.) The examination
of the Articles early engaged the atten
tion of the church Avhen it Avas re-esta
blished in the reign of Elizabeth ; and
the task of remodelling them, and of
making such alterations as circum
stances, or a further vicAv of the subject,
might dictate, fell into the hands of

thank my friend Dr. Burton for pointing it out to
me. (Works, Witeb. 1554, v. 100.)
" Et heeo certe siabilis sententia et immota prae-
destinationls necessitas summe necessaria est.
Tam imbecilles enim sumus, ut si in nostris mani
bus situm esset, paucissimi aut nuUi salvarentur,
diabolus enim omnes vinceret. Nunc cum haec
stabihs et certissima Dei sententia mutari non
possit, nee ab ulla creatura convelli, tum certe
spes est nobis reliqua, tandem vincendi peccati,
quantumA'is etiam nunc in carne saeviat.
."At bio curiosuli ilh habenis cohibendi sunt,
qui antequam Christum et virtuten-i crucis discant,
abyssum illam praedestinationis scrutantur, et num
prfedestlnad sint necne, frustra investigant. Nam
hi hand dubie in confusionem conscientice aut des
perationem, sua hdc inepta curiositate ducent et
proicipitabunt seipsos. Tu. vero in ratione discen
darum sacrarum rerum sequere seriem et ordinem
hie traditum ob Apostolo.
" Primum disce cognitionem Christi, ut agnos
cas omnes vires tuas nihil valere nisi ad'peccandum .
Deinde ut per fidem cum carne tua assidue lucte
ris, quemadmodum, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, capite.
docuit. Mox cum ad caput 8 perveneris, hoc'
est, ubi crucem et iribulationes expertus fueris,
hanc mortificationem esse salularem et repeten
dam, tum primum dulcescet necessitas hffic prtE-
destinationis, tum primum senties in 9, 10, et 11,
quam plena consolationis sii prcedestiTiatio. Nam
nisi tribulationem expertus sis, nisi ad portas inferi
aliquando, ut in Davide et aliis Sanctis videmus,
ductum te senseris, non poteris hanc prcedestina
tionis sententiam, sine periculo et blasphemo quo
dam fremitu naturte contra Deum tractare."
The passages from Melancthon, and another
from Luther, are printed by Archbishop Lau
rence, (Bampt. Lect. notes 4 and 6. Serm. viii.
430, &c.)
' Strype's Cranmer, 432. Mem. II. ii. 24, 278.
« Cranmer, 422. 22

Archbishop Parker. The method which
Avas pursued in this Avork was as fol
lows. He prepared a copy of the Ar
ticles for the examination of the convo
cation,^ into which he introduced con
siderable alterations of his own : he
omitted four of those of King Edward
VI. , which formed the Xth, XVIth,
XlXth, and XLIst, of the Forty-two.
He introduced four noAv ones, V. XII.
XXIX. XXX. ; and altered, more or
less, seventeen of the others, II. VI.
VII. IX. X. XI. XVII. XXII. XXIV.
xxv. XXVII. XXVIII. XXXII.
XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII."
The convocation which met on January
11, (1563,) made several alterations in
this copy prepared by Parker. They
omitted XL. XLI. and XLII. ; and Avhen
they Avere printed, the XXIXth also Avas
left out; they altered IIL IX. XXI.
XXV. XXVIII. XXXIV., and the title
of XVI. The Articles so changed Avere
subscribed by the upper house of con
vocation on the 29th, and by the loAver
house on the 5th of February. They
were printed in Latin and in English,
and consist of XXXVHI.
(a. d. 1566.) An attempt was after
Avards made to bring in a bill for uni
formity of doctrine,^ by requiring the
clergy to subscribe the Articles of Re
ligion ; it passed the commons, but Avas
stopped in the lords by the queen, Avho
deemed it an infringement on her eccle
siastical supremacy.
In 1571, the same attempt was again
made on the part of the commons ;" and
Elizabeth, with that wisdom which
marked her whole government, Avith-
drew an opposition which would pro-

3 Lamb, 13.
¦• Many of these alterations are laken from the
Wirtemberg Confession, which was composed in
1551, and in the following year exhibited in the
Council of Trent ; e. g. part of the lid, the Vth,
Vlth, Xth, Xlth, Xllih. The archbishop of
Cashel adds the XXth. (Laurence's Bampton
Lect. 233.) I almost doubt of this. The sense is
the same, not the words. The only changes
which are worthy of remark, from proving any
alteration in point of doctrine, are to be found in
the Vlth and the XXVIIIth. The Vlth Is less
favourable to traditions, and draws the distinction
between the canonical and apocryphal scriptures ;
and the XXVIIIth leaves out a sentence coiitra-
dictory of consubstantiation, or ubiquitinarianism.
Burnet can hardly be correct in his supposition
that this was (lone to please the Roman CathoUcs.
Transubstantiation is denied in the sentence be
fore, which is not altered.
5 Lamb, 24. « Ibid. 25.

170

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. X.

bably have had no other effect than that
of entailing upon herself an ultimate
defeat. The Articles which the clergy
are by this act called upon to subscribe
are designated as comprised in a book
imprinted, intituled, "Articles," &c. ;'
but the extent ofthe subscription is again
limited, by their being subsequently
confined to those " which only concern
the confession of the true Christian faith,
and the doctrine of the sacraments"
comprised, &c. ; by Avhich expressions
the XlXth, XXth, XXXVth, and
XXXVIlh are virtually excluded. In
the convocation Avhich Avas sitting at the
same time, Parker commenced a revieAv
of the Articles, for the purpose of sanc
tioning, by the authority of convocation,
the Articles to Avhich subscription should
be required of the clergy. When some
trifling alteration had been made, and
the XXIXth article restored, these Ar
ticles, then consisting of the present
XXXIX, Avere subscribed by the upper
house on the eleventh of May, and after
Avards published under the superintend
ence of Bishop Jewel, ^ and the ratifica
tion Avith Avhich they now conclude was
added. But it is very extraordinary
that disputes have arisen, and the great
est uncertainty still prevails, as to the
copy of the Articles Avhich may be
deemed the authorized one, from this
period till the point was virtually settled
by the canons passed in the convocation
of 1604.
§ 486. The records of the English
convocations Avere unfortunately burnt
at the fire of London in 1660, so that it
is impossible to refer to the original do
cuments : and the manuscript and print
ed copies of them exhibit such variety
as tends rathpr to involve the question
in greater difficulty.
"rhe disputed clause is that with which
the XXth Article now commences.
" Habet ecclesia ritus sive ca3remo-
nias' statuendi jus, et in fidei controver
siis auctoritatem ; quamvis" Ecclesise
non licet, &c.

' This can be no other than that published 1563,
by Jugg and Cawood, which does not contain the
controverted clause ofthe XXth Article. See ^486.
" Bishop Jewel made several minute corrections
of the Articles, which may be seen in Lamb, p. 30,
and put the finishing hand to our present Articles.
' It is curious that the words sive ca;remonias do
not exist in Wolfe's edition of 1563, nor in the
transcript from the records of convocation 1562,

" The church hath power to decree
rites and ceremonies, and authority in
controversies of faith ; and yet" it is not
lawful for the church, &c.
The testimonies concerning the au
thenticity of this clause are as follows:
It is not found,
1. In the Latin manuscript signed by
the archbishops and bishops in the con
vocation, 1562.
2. In the English editions of Jugg
and CaAvood, 1563,''
3. In the English manuscript signed
by the archbishop of Canterbury and
bishops in the convocation of I57I.
4. in the Latin edition") Published un-
of Day, 1571. der the di-
5. In the English edi- > rection of
tion of Jugg and Ca- Bishop
Avood, 1571. J Jewel.
It is found,
I. In the Latin edition of Wolfe of
1563. 2. In one' (or Iavo?) of the later edi
tions of Jugg and CaAvood of 1571.
3. And appears frequently after 1579.-
(a. n. 1637.) But in the examination
of Laud, AA^hen the quesiion was agi-
tated," a declaration of a notary public
was produced before the star chamber,
Avhich testified that the clause did exist
in the authoritative copy of the acts of
the convocation, 1562, then still remain
ing in St. Paul's. (See the previous
note.") § 487. If then, in order to reconcile
these conflicting testimonies, and to
mark the grounds of his oAvn opinion of
the authenticity of the clause, a writer
may be alloAved to hazard a conjecture,
he must state that he believes the clause
to be in a certain degree genuine, and
to have been inserted' through that un
questioned sort of supremacy Avhich Avas

produced at Laud's trial. The word jus loo is
translated power, a method of rendering it to Avhich
many an honest puritan might readily have as
sented, by aUowing that the church had the power,
but no right.
4 Lamb, 37.
s Historical and Critical Essay, art. XXXIX.
^ Bennet on the Thhty-nine Articles, 167.
^ That this was done by Elizabeth may be pre
sumed from the following internal evidence. The
clause itself is in strict correspondence with the
prepossessions of a child of Henry VIII. ; the
XXIXth article was omitted at the same time ;
and Ehzabeth is well known to have been favour
able to the idea ofthe corporal presence — witness
the exclusion ofthe rubric at the end ofthe Com •
munion Service in 1560; but the subscription al

Qhap. X.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

J71

exercised by Elizabeth in ecclesiastical
matters, and imagines that the discre
pancies arose from the carelessness' of
those Avho ought to have compared the
entries in the records of the two houses
of convocation : his conjecture then is
as follows.
In 1532, Archbishop Parker and the
bishops sent down a copy of the Articles
to the lower house, not containing the
controverted clause in the XXth article,
but containing the XXIXth article. The
loAver house then, or at least those Avho
copied their records, by the direction of
Elizabeth, inserted the clause in the
XXth, and left out the XXIXth article.
And the Articles so altered were pub
lished by Wolfe, 1563, in Latin, under
the immediate authority of the queen
herself." And it is presumed that the
English editions published by Jugg and
Cawood were edited nominally by the
queen's authority, but really from a
document furnished by some of the
bishops, which Avas altered as to the
XXiXtn, but not as to the insertion of
the clause in the XXth.
'It is assumed, then, that this differ
ence was either not observed, or not
much regarded, and that the House of
Commons, in 1566 and 1571, used the
English as the authentic copy, and that

the end (^) seems almost to leave Ihe question
wilhout a doubt. It is hardly necessary perhaps
to stale, that the greater part of the reasoning on
this quesiion is due to Dr. Lamb's book.
' As a proof of the carelessness with which per
sons will assert the agreement of documents of
which they have no reason to suspect the discre
pancy, it may be observed that Strype (Ann. I. i.
484,) calls the C. C. C. Camb. manuscript of
Parker's, " a draft of king Edward's Articles,
accurately writ out," whereas there are diflferences
amounting to eight whole articles and seventeen
variations. 2 At the end of this edition is the following no
tice ; " Quibus omnibus Articulis serenissima Prin
ceps Elizabeth, Dei gratia Angliae, Franciae, et
HiberniiE, regina, fidei defensor, &,c., perseipsam
diligenter prius lectis et examinatis regium suum
assensum praebuil."
3 ? 485,'.

Archbishop Parker' did the same Avhen
the Articles- were Avritten out, to be
brought before the upper house of con
vocation, in the same year I57I. Thus
then the discrepancy Avas continued in
the records of the upper house, and in
the editions published under the direc
tion of Bishop JeAvel. And it is pro
bable that the printers, when they found
that there Avas a difference, at first print
ed in both forms, to supply the Avishes
of their several customers, and after
Avards frequently inserted the clause,*
till the edition Avas published in Oxford,
when Prideaux was vice-chancellor,
which occasioned the discussion.
§ 488. The clause then may be con
sidered genuine, as far as Laud is con
cerned ; for it was originally published
by the authority ofthe queen, although
it had probably never passed through
the upper house of convocation. Add
to Avhich, that Avith regard to ecclesiasti
cal affairs, the authority of the copy of
the XXXIX Articles must in 1634 have
depended On the clause in the 36th ca
non of 1604, and that edition of the Ar
ticles Avhich the two houses then sub
scribed ; and this was that of Day, of
1593, which does contain the contro
verted clause. The question, therefore,
as far as Laud was concerned, or as far
as relates to our subscription in the pre
sent day, seems to be set at rest ; but it
seems equally clear that Archbishop
Parker and the bishops did not mean
to authorize this clause in 1562 or 1571,
for they introduced that at the end of
the XXXIVth article, which contains a
milder assertion of the same doctrine,
and which appears almost a tautology
as the Articles stand at present.

¦• We must either suppose that Archbishop Par
ker did this by inadvertency, or that he presumed
to oppose the wishes of the queen : the former
supposition seems the least liable to objection, as
the attention of the bishops would not be drawn
to a question which had never been agitated.
6 l,«m\ 36.

179

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap, XL

CHAPTER XI.

INTRODUCTOKY OBSERVATIONS.
491. Reformation in England and Scotland compared ; gradual in England ; 492, and carried on in
connection with the government. 493. Rapid in Scotland, and resisted by the crown and the
church ; objects of Cardinal Bealon ; his persecution of Wishart ; and, 494, own death ; siege of
St. Andrew's; the French and English take part in the contest ; iheplansof each ; the congregalion
established; the use of the Common Prayer enjoined. 495. Arrival of Knox ; his character; esta-
hshment of the Relormation ; the power by which it was established marked the character of it;
its pohtical independence, and diffijrence from the church of England in this respect. 496. The
fault of his principles. 497. General view of the Reformation ; opposiuon to government.
498. Preference to be given to the Reformation in England.

§ 491. It will hardly be possible to
understand clearly the mutual bearings
of the tAVo churches, Avhich are noAv
amicably flourishing within the same
island, and which have contributed
much to the injury of each other, Avith
out taking a general vieAV of the Refor
mation as it had been carried on in
Scotland.' The events which there
contributed to throw down the power
of the church of Rome, are so totally
different from those Avhich produced the
same effect in England, that it was
scarcely to be expected that the two
nations should regard their church in
the same light; and, as the conduct of
the mass of any people must in a great
measure depend on the ideas prevalent
among them, we shall perhaps obtain
the object Avhich we have in view most
easily, by examining the more striking
features which distinguished the two
Reformations. The limits of this Avork
preclude the idea of entering into any
history of the Reformation in Scotland ;
but a feAV pages may enable us to esti
mate the causes which produced that
marked dissimilarity between these two
events ; and to account, in a certain
degree, for the existence of prejudices
and- opinions fundamentally different
from each other.
The seeds of the Reformation must
have been sown in every country AA'here
mankind had begun to reason for them
selves, and where such abuses existed
as could not fail to attract the notice of
the most careless, and to excite the re
gret of all who wished Avell to religion.
But the necessity of a total change in
' The reader is referred to Cook's History ofthe
Reformation in Scotland, and McCrie's Life of
Knox ; more particular reference is hardly re
quired concerning, remarks so general as those
which are here made.

the Avhole system, the unsoundness of
the very foundations on which the pa
pal poAver Avas built, Avould have been
discovered at very different periods by
different individuals or different nations,
and have given rise to very different
opinions as to the methods by which
the change was to be effected. All
truths, and particularly moral truths,
are likely to be disseminated to the
greatest advantage when the process is
sloAv, and when the several steps are
gradually communicated to those most
interested in their admission or rejec
tion. In England, the class of reform
ers Avas numerous long before the time
of Luther. It is not of consequence
to the argument Avhether any of the
light spread throughout Germany were
borroAved from England ; but most cer
tainly the Bible Avas appealed to in
England as the standard of opinion long
before the dawn of the Reformation in
Germany." The English reformers
had advanced but feAv steps in the pro
gress of the Reformation ; but these
points were to a certain degree esta
blished long before they Avere to be
brought forAvard as the basis of a new
system. Nor Avas the knoAvledge ne
cessary for preparing the minds of the
people for the Reformation confined to
any small portion of society ; it Avas
generally diffused, and therefore par
tially admitted, by many Avho were not
prepared to receive it entirely ; and

2 Without referring to the time of Wiclif and
the prevalence of his opinions, which had never
been eradicated from England, h may be remem
bered, that Warham, in 1510 and 1511, com
pelled rnany persons to recant opinions which are
now universally admitted among Proiestants, and
that several persons more were condemned to
death. See Burnet. Instances of persons burnt
before 1517 may be found in Fox, voh ii.; e. g.,
Sweeting and Brewster in 1511.

Chap. XL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

173

persons so affected are much more
likely to use moderation in their pro
ceedings, than those on Avhom the force
of truth has suddenly broken in, and
carried off perhaps some things Avhich
are valuable, as Avell as the errors Avhich
had been before received. The worst
of systems, Avhich has been long esta
blished, must possess some advantages,
which it Avould be uuAvise to destroy
unnecessarily ; and the most perfect
may require such a perfection in those
who adopt it, as to render the use of it,
if suddenly imposed, dangerous in the
extreme. Every system of human af
fairs must require a constant change ;
and that goA'ernment in church or state
is best, Avhich provides that the changes
shall be moderated by prudence, and
not received till their necessity is appa
rent. A Avise and good government
Avill endeavour to guide the opinions of
its subjects, a bad one Avill try to resist
them ; but, in human affairs, that nation
may be deemed fortunate in Avhich
the government gradually follovA'-s the
progress of the opinions of its more
enlightened subjects.
§ 492. In England, it Avas not any
wisdom in his plans of government
which induced Henry VIII. to destroy
the papal power; but the providence
of God made the passions of the mo
narch take the same direction as the
wishes of the more enlightened of his
subjects. The friend of the Reforma
tion, the moderate Roman Catholic, and
the political patriot, Avho regarded not
the interests of religion, all Avished that
the temporal authority of the pope
should be discarded, and the prospect
of a divorce contributed to inspire the
king Avilh the same desire. The same
parties beheld the excessive poAver and
wealth of the clergy, and they Avished
therefore that this should be diminished ;
they had different objects in vieAv, and
possessed, perhaps, different opinions
as to the method in which this alteration
should take place ; but their combined
Avishes coincided Avith the rapacity and
avarice Avhich made the king regard
less of justice and of policy. The acts',
therefore, of the government not only
agreed Avith the Avishes of the more en-
lig-htened members of society, but pro
bably opened the eyes of many who
AA'ere readj"- to observe these advantages

j Avhen placed before them. Henry did
Inot innovate so much as the reformers
would have desired, but he outstepped
the Avishes of the Roman Catholics.
He could not be said to guide the opi
nions ofthe country, but the acts ofthe
government lay betAveen the extremes
into Avhich the parties Avhich composed
it Avould have fallen ; and therefore the
Reformation, as far as it proceeded dur
ing the reign of Henry, tended not only
to remedy actual abuses, but to render
the opinions of the people better pre
pared for estimating or directing future
amendments. It left the sincere and
enlightened Protestant exposed to per
secution ; but it had paved the Avay for
real reformation, by destroying the only
poAver which could have effectually re
sisted it ; and by showing the Avorld,
not only that reformation Avas required,
but that it might be carried on benefi
cially. It made the friends of reform
cautious, and the opponents of it more
moderate. § 493. The course of events Avhich
took place in Scotland Avere at total
variance AAdth these circumstances. Dr.
Cook begins his History of the Reforma
tion in Scotland (1528) Avith the martyr
dom of Patrick Hamilton, Avho had
derived many of his opinions from Ger
many, and received them from men Avho
had already proceeded to extremities in
rejecting the Roman authority. The
greatest caution AA^as necessary on the
part of one Avhose heart Avas bent on in
troducing the truths of the Reformation
into his native country, in consequence
of the violence AA"hich even the appear
ance of favour tOAvards the doctrines of
the reformers excited among the clergy:
but all his prudence and caution Avere
rendered useless through the treachery
Avith which he Avas assailed ; and Camp
bell, who first insinuated himsielf into
the confidence of Hamilton, and then
betrayed him, not only disgusted the
feelings of the community, but his own
subsequent fate and that of Hamilton
formed a striking contrast, and tended
to fix in the minds of the nation a dislike
to the persecuting, and a love for the
suffering portion into Avhich the church
Avas divided. Campbell having Avit
nessed the burning of Hamilton A'/as so
conscience struck, that he died in a state
of insanity or despair. This may be
p2

174

HISTORY OF THE

deemed the commencement of the Re
formation, and the effects of such a per
secution rendered further severities more
and more necessary, while the political
circumstances of the country prevented
the possibility of carrying them on.
They Avere renewed, however, after five
years ; and Forest, a Benedictine friar,
was convicted of heresy by means
equally disgraceful as those with Avhich
the condemnation of Hamilton had been
connected ; his private confessions to a
priest formed the ground of his con
demnation. The persecution was by no
means confined to this victim ; but the
minds of the people Avere excited by
this combination of cruelty and treach
ery ; and in addition to the general
causes AA'hich contributed to spread the
Reformation, the property of the church
disposed the nobilitj' to favour opinions,
Avhich held out the hopes of converting
this superfluous Avealth into a means of
enriching themselves.
The crown, on the other hand, could
not help regarding the church as the
easiest means by Avhich it might hope to
control the aristocracy, and James V.
supported the clergy AA'ith the vieAv of
emancipating himself from that thraldom
in Avhich he Avas held by his barons ;
and to conciliate the favour of the church,
he suffered them to persecute the Re
formers, and intrusted most of the offices
of the state to their administration. The
poAver of the croAvn Avas in England
enormous during this same period, for
the poAver of the nobility had been pre
viously reduced, and the king joined
himself to the other branches of his sub
jects in attempting to destroy the exor
bitant influence of the church ; Avhereas
in Scotland the king endeavoured to
shelter his OAA'n Aveakness by calling in
the aid of the clergy. This Avas the
state of things Avhen Cardinal Beaton
became primate ; and he entered on his
office Avith the determination of rooting
out heresy, and re-establishing the poAver
of the pope ; but his proceedings tended
only to increase the number of those
who became hostile in their feelings to
the government. The death of the king
and the intrigues of the cardinal had
nearly throAvn the Avhole authority of
the kingdom into the hands of Beaton ;
but the manner in which Arran after
wards attached himself to him, and the

[Chap. XI.
severities which as regent and primate
they Avere together enabled to inflict,
united a much larger portion of the
nation in hostility to the legal authority
of the kingdom, than almost any other
combination of circumstances could have
effected. Many an enlightened and sin
cere Roman Catholic might have been
pleased with the progress of events in
England, he might have hoped that his
own religion Avould have been estab
lished, while the political pretensions of
Rome Avere discarded. In Scotland he
could have expected nothing favourable
to it, but from the suppression of the
whole power of the Reformers. In
England, the man Avho wished to free
his country from papal influence, Avould
have joined himself to the king. In Scot
land, this man could have entertained
no hope of success, but in destroying the
Roman Catholic church and reducing
the poAver of the crown. In England,
the higher members of the church Avere
divided betAveen reformers and anti-re
formers, and their poAver was nearly ba
lanced. The changes, therefore, AA'hich
did take place in England Avere effected
by the councils of the government. In
Scotland, the more exalted members of
the church, Avhose opinions coincided
Avith those of the Reformation, could
only be safe by throAving their whole
influence into the hands of the party
Avhich was opposed to the croAvn. (1546.)
It Avas not Avonderful that Cardinal Bea
ton should misunderstand the poAver
Avhich religion possessed in the country,
or that he should hope to suppress it by
severity ; but it Avas extraordinary that
he should so act as to throw the Avhole
of the stigma on the church, and en
danger a separation betAveen that body
and the authority of the crown ; and the
victim Avhom he selected, and his OAvn
dreadful fate, produced a very marked
effect on the subsequent character of
the Reformation in Scotland. George
Wishart AA-as possessed of those qualities
Avhich peculiarly rendered him an object
of pity : he Avas Avell born, had receiA ed
a good education, (he had resided in
Cambridge, and travelled into Ger
many,) while his personal qualifications
corresponded Avitli his literary acquire
ments, and he had begun to preach tht
Gospel successfully at Dundee. Hi.<;
apprehension, too, was accompanied

Ch.ap. XL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

175

with a certain degree of treachery ; for
BothAvell, (the father,) when Wishart
was surrendered into his hands, promised
to ansAver for his safety, and his execu
tion Avas accompanied with many irri
tating circumstances ; it Avas carried on,
not only AA'ithoul the concurrence of the
c-'vil power, but in opposition to the
AA'ishes of the regent Arran ; and the pre
lates Avho condemned him Avere them
selves present Avhen he died.'
§ 494. All these circumstances con
tributed to create so strong a hatred
against Beaton, that in a short time he
Avas treacherously murdered in his own
castle ; and the conspirators, retaining
possession of the fortress, commenced
that open resistance to the government
Avith which the Avhole of .the Scotch Re
formation Avas accompanied. The con
spirators who defended St. AndreAv's,
were the advocates of the Reformation,
and engaged in open hostility against
the government of the country ; the
favour Avhich was shown them by Henry
VIII. excited a corresponding exertion
on the part of the friends of the papacy,
and the castle was ultimately forced to
surrender, in consequence of the assist
ance afforded by the French to the be
siegers. Here, then, was a neAv element of
discord. The crown, the clergy, and
the French, were arranged against the
nobles, the reformers, and the English ;
and the connection formed by the royal
family Avith France, Avhich introduced
many Frenchmen into places of emolu
ment and trust in Scotland, prevented
the people or the nobility from being
pleased Avith that alliance. It was the
policy of France to reduce Scotland to
a province, and to connect the re-estab
lishment of the Roman Catholic religion
Avith this event. The policy of England
was to marry EdAvard to Mary, and to
form the whole island into one country ;
and notwithstanding the rough method
of courtship Avhich Avas exhibited at the
battle of Pinkey,( 1547,) the money which
was brought from England maintained
a strong hold over the interests of many

' Wishart had tied bags of gunpowder about
him ; and some persons are so sensitive concern
ing the honour of martyrs, as to question the
Christian propriety of this. Surely it would be no
imputation on the firmness of a maa who was
about lo be beheaded, that he wished the axe to
be sharpened.

individuals among the Scotch nation,
and the obvious advantage which would
be derived to both countries from a closer
intercourse contributed to give the pre
ponderance to the side of the reformers.
In England, during the reign of Ed
ward, the Reformation was carried on
chiefly by the government, Avhich out
stepped the opinions ofthe people. In
Scotland, the feelings of the people AA'ere
favourable to Reformation, and the only
hope of its final establishment Avas con
nected in their minds with the prospect
of success entertained by those who
must be vieAved as rebels. The castle
of St. Andrew's had been reduced, but
the spirit and the feelings of the people
could never be overcome, and from this
time, to the establishment of the Re
formation in 1560, the mind of every
reformer must have been more or less
hostile to the government. The perse
cutions of Mary in England, to a certain
degree, produced the same effect in Scot
land as was caused by them in the
southern part of our island ; and Avhile
they alarmed the fears, they united the
efforts and the wishes of all who favoured
that cause which they were intended to
overpower. The political circumstances
in which the regent was placed prevented
her from using persecution ; but the
danger and fear of it at length imbodied
the reformers of Scotland in the Congre
gation, and induced them to frame and
subscribe a deed of union, or bond of
mutual support, for resisting the tyranny
Avhich might be exercised against the pro
fessors of the true religion, (a. d. 1557,
Dec. 3.) It is curious that one of the
early resolutions of this body directs the
use of the Common Prayer,^ probably
that of England ; so that the book which
from mismanagement became the abomi
nation of every true son of the church
of Scotland, had been originally regarded
in a very different light, and perhaps
contributed to forAvard the Reformation
fimong the ancestors of those who sub
sequently rejected it with so unnecessary
indignity. § 495. Notwithstanding the strength
which the Protestant party had noAV
acquired, the Roman Catholic clergy-
were not wise enough to discern their
true policy; and the cruelty Avhich
^ Spotswood, 117.

176

HISTORY OF THE

rCHAP. XL

was exhibited in the execution of Mill,
(1558,) an old minister of above eighty
years of age, served but to excite the
feelings of men, who could not fail soon
to learn their power, and tended to
consolidate a force Avhich Avas sure to
triumph in the end. It is probable,
hoAvever, that the arrival of Knox gave
a neAv turn to the proceedings of the
reformers; and the comparison which
is here instituted Avill be imperfect,
unless something is said of this person,
Avho held so conspicuous a place in the
subsequent transactions of Scotland.
The natural impetuosity of his cha
racter, and the sufferings to Avhich he
had been exposed, prepared his mind
for the great struggle in which he Avas
soon to be engaged, but gave to his
conduct the air of patriotic exertion in
the cause of religious and civil freedom,
rather than the appearance of Christian
endurance, in the defence of truth.
The disturbances, and destruction of
the monasteries, Avhich took place at
Perth, immediately after his preaching
there, have cast an obloquy on the
Scotish reformer, which he probably
little deserves; but Avhatever portion of
human policy there might have been in
destroying the buildings in Avhich the
religious orders might again have as
sembled, and from Avhence there might
subsequently have issued a fresh band
of defenders of the church of Rome, this
circumstance, and the consequences of it,
gave the Reformation here, as well as in
England, an appearance of destruction,
Avhich must be deplored by every friend
of sober Christianity. The dishonesty
of the regent prevented the possibility
of a quiet settlement of the question, and
after mutual successes, and a variety of
fortunes, the death ofthe queen dowager,
and the interference of Elizabeth, paved
the Avay for the seltlement ofthe Protest
ant religion in Scotland, by the parlia
ment in 1580, and the publication of the
Confession of Faith'. Whatever Avas
here, established, was gained from the
croAvn and the clergy by the armed
interference of the Protestants; and
though the population was convinced
by force of argument, the concessions
' The Confession of Fahh is printed in Calder
wood's History ofthe Church of Scotland, p. 14;
the Form of Church Pohcy, in Spotswood's His
tory, p. 152.

were obtained from the government by
mere force of arms. During the whole
of this contest, Knox had much influence
in the civil as Avell as ecclesiastical trans
actions, and his exertions and success
could not fail to give a marked character
to his own opinions, and to those Avhich
were adopted by the church. He learnt
"to bind theirkingSAvith chains, and their
nobles Avith links of iron ;" and seems
to have introduced among his fo!lo\A'ers
the idea, not only of the independence,
but of the superiority of the church,
over the lay government of the coun
try; — a superiority nominally confined
indeed to spirituals, but Avhich might
easily extend itself to the temporal con
cerns of the kingdom.^ The Articles
of the church of England say, "General
councils may not be gathered together
AA'ithout the commandment and will of
princes;" in the act of the general
assembly of Scotland, August 27, 1647,
approving of the Confession of Faith
set forth by the assembly of divines,
this point is distinctly denied; "It being
also free to assemble together synodi-
cally, as well pro re nata, as at the
ordinary times, upon delegation from
the churches, by the intrinsical poAver
received from Christ." Occasions may
arise, when it may become the duty of
the minister of Christ lo do many things
contrary to the general line of his ordi
nary proceedings; but these circum
stances create an exception, not a law;
and it Avill be difficult to draw a line to
mark our duty, if the possibility of such
circumstances is to frame a general rule
for our guidance.
§ 496. Of the sincerity and boldness
of Knox there can exist little doubt.
But the Christian wisdom and prudence
of his method of proceeding may rea
sonably be called in quesiion; and
Avhile Ave admire his virtues, Ave may
avoid his faults, and examine the con
sequences of them. His harshness
never convinced Mary, and the conduct
of his successors failed in reforming
James, Avhile they certainly created in
both these personages a great dislike to
the religious principles Avhich Avere

2 It may he remarked, ihat in iliis parikulnr the
church of Scolland mainlnlns a doririne cones-
ponding with ihal of the tliun-h nf Rome. The
position here laken from a dncnnient of a later
date, was, I believe, always malniaincd by the
church of Scotland.

Chap. XL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

177

supposed to sanction such conduct.
There may be occasions Avhen the
preacher may be called on to animad
vert on the conduct of his hearers in
personal allusions; but men of that
period must have differed much frotn
the rest of their felloAV-creatures, if they
Avere likely to be reformed by such
addresses; and the clergy AA'ho adopted
such a freedom must have been pos
sessed of most extraordinary humility
and self-command, if there were not
great danger of their misusing such a
license. Granting that Knox ahvays
kept in vieAV "that he might gain the
sinner to the Lord," Ave may well ques
tion the Avisdom ofthe means Avhich he
adopted for doing so. To institute a
com parison belAveen Cranmer and Knox
Avould be an invidious as well as a diffi
cult task; but Avhile Ave thank God for
the Reformation Avhich they each pro
duced, Ave may remember that the
meekness of the one Avas as effectual as
the sternness of the other; that an un
yielding stoicism is as much a worldly
temper as a compliant facility ; and that
the character of a firm yet mild gentle
man is much nearer to that of a Chris
tian patriot than the Avorld Avill gene
rally allow.
§ 497. In examining the Reformation
in Scotland as a whole, it is impossible
to overlook its political tendencies.
The changes Avhich took place in Eng
land Avere moderate, because they were
guided by the government. All that
could be preserved in the constitution
of the church remained, because the
highest members of the clergy Avere
employed in carrying on the alterations.
In Scotland, the bishops Avere hostile to
the Reformation ; and the Reformation
Avhich triumphed over the temporal
authority of the country, and conquered
by the sword of the flesh as well as by
that of the spirit, threw doAvn bishops,
from nearly the same reasons as de
stroyed episcopacy in the reign of
Charles I. The principle which sup
ported the Reformation in Scotland Avas
a spirit of resistance to civil -as much
as religious tyranny; and though our
gratitude is due to the great Disposer
of events when he produces good out
of evil, yet, under whatever name Ave
may conceal it, rebellion is rebellion.
He who argues in favour of resistance
33

on the ground of the ultimate necessity
of il, reasons on principles Avhich can
hardly be denied: but before he can
apply his doctrine to any particular
case, it will be incumbent on him to
prove that the evil in question admitted
of no remedy short ofthe dereliction of
a positive law of God. He must shoAv
that the patient sufferings of Cranmer,
aud our other English reformers, did
tiot as certainly produce the Reforma
tion in England, as Knox and his
friends Avere the authors of that blessed
event to their native country. He must
shoAV that the one line of conduct Avas
as much according to the Avill of God
as the other. To plead the necessity
of doing evil that good may come, is to
destroy a belief in the providence of
God : and it Avould probably prove
much sounder historical reasoning, as
well as sounder theology, if Ave were to
attempt to discover how men Avho obey
the spirit of the gospel triumph in their
meekness, rather than to endeavour to
demonstrate, that circumstances change
the nature of God's laws : how Knox
might have produced the Reformation
in Scotland by imitating Ridley or
Hooper, rather than by joining in direct
opposition to his sovereign : hoAv in
later days the covenanters and parlia
ment might have brought Charles I. to
reason, rather than have dethroned and
murdered him. No one Avould Avish to
question the readiness of God to pardon
those Avho err in their zeal for his^ser-
vice, or to doubt his mercy in producing
good effects from the Avorst passions of
tnankind ; but he permits those things
AA'hich he does not approve, and he may
prosper that in Avhich the individual
instruments are not working according
to those laws Avhich he has laid down.
§'498. If these vie\A's of the question
be correct, it folloAvs that the temper
with Avhich the Reformation in England
was carried on Avas likely to lead to a
more satisfactory settlement of religion
than that in Scotland : that tho in
struments, being governed by mora
Christian principles, were more likely,
humanly speaking, to frame a moderate
and more Christian constitution of a
church in our own country than in that
of our northern neighbours : that too
great a deference to the temporal power
Avas more likely to form a sound Chris-

178

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XH.

tian community than that opposition
to the government which marked the
events of Scotland. And I believe that
a quiet examination of the real state of
things at the accession of James Avould
lead us to this conclusion. With the
evils Avhich have since grown up in
England and Scotland Ave have noihing
iiOAv to do ; but with this view of the
subject Ave can hardly help concluding,
that the alteration in the church which
had taken place in England was, wilh
all its imperfections, a reformation;
Avhile that in Scotland bore a nearer
resemblance to a revolution in the
church. The temper of mind created
by the one or the other in the breasts
of the individual members of society
must in some degree depend on the
tendency ofthe change itself; and pro

bably this predisposition to control the
poAver of the croAvn by force, which was
engendered by the Reformation in Scot
land, contributed in a great degree to
stamp its features on the events with
-svhich we shall presently be engaged ;
but it is only at the day of judgment
that Ave shall learn hoAv far these forci
ble exertioiis of Christians are approved
by Him from ivhom the blessings of
civil government are primarily derived.
It is the office of the ministers of God
to teach their brethren what God will
approve, not what he may pardon ; and
it is the office of the historian to point
out hoAv God brin.gs good out of evil,
and to show mankind hoiv the evil
might have been avoided, Avithout re
linquishing the prospect of good to
Avhich our earthly hopes are directed.

CHAPTER XII.

THE REIGN OF JAMES I., FROM 1603 TO 1625.
,501. Impression in favour of James. 502. Millenary petition ; objections of the pujiians. 503. Pro
clamation for Ihe conference at Hampton Court. 504. First day ; Prayer Book. 505. Second day ;
-'Vrtieles. 506. Confirmation ; Articles. 507. Catechism ; lessons from the Apocrypha. 508.
Cross; surphce; ring; prophesyings. 509. Third day; conclusion of it. 510. Barlow's account
of the conference. 511. Other accounts. 512. Cotivoeation ; new canons. 513. Parliament;
state of parties. 514. Powder-plot. 515. Statutes against Roman Catholics. 516. Oath of alle
giance; treatment of Roman Catholics. 517. College at Chelsea. 518. Heretics; persecution.
5\d. Book of Sports. 520. SynodofDort. 521. James's letter about preaching. 522. Necessiiy
of examining pohiics. 523. Character of James; tolerably wise, but very weak. 524. His high
notions of prerogative in church and state. 525. The light of the Reformation opened men's eyes
about politics. 526. James could not tolerate t'nis in either church or stale. 527. Tolerant towards
Roman Cathohcs; the question of toleration ill understood.

§ 501. The tranquil manner in which
.'ames succeeded to the ihrone enabled
the most active politicians to turn their
full attention to ecclesiastical matters.
All men recognised the justice of his
title, and hailed the prospect of his suc
cession, although the general temper
ofthe country, and the circumstance of
the king's haA'ing been bred up in a
church differing much from that of
England, prevented the friends of the
establishment from being entirely free
from doubts, as to the result' of his
coming to the crown.
Dr. ISfeville, dean of Canterbury, Avas
commissioned in the name of the arch
bishop and bishops to present their con
gratulations to his majesty in Scotland.
The ansAver returned by James, that he
Avould uphold the church of England as

it was established by Glueen Elizabeth,
together with the anxiety Avhich he ex
hibited to be informed on ecclesiastical
subjects, and concerning the present
state of the church, contributed to cre
ate in the minds of those Avho Avere
interested in his future proceedings a
strong impression in his favour.
§ 502. The circumstances which had
tended to alarm the friends of episco
pacy gave life to the exertions of the
opposite party, and applications of vari
ous descriptions Avere made at court, to
induce the king to examine and remove
whatever offended the scruples of the
Aveak or the prejudices ofthe wilful.
With a view of advocating this
cause, many petitions Avere prepared,
and among the rest, one AA'hich, from
the supposed number of ministers Avho

Chap. XH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

179

subscribed it, was called the Millenary,
although the names never actually
amounted to above seven hundred and
fifty. This document is chiefly valua
ble in presenting to us tho most import
ant points complained of by the puritan
party. The topics on Avhich it treats
are,' I. Objections to the church ser
vice. 2. Pluralities, non-residence, and
unpreaching ministers. 3. The better
maintenance of the parochial clergy,
which might be effected by restoring to
them the greater part of ecclesiastical
impropriations, and a sixth or seventh
of all lay ones. 4. The redress of
church discipline. The three last of
these AA'ere points on Avhich the govern
ors of the church AA'ere equally eager,
though their views, perhaps, did not
coincide exactly with those of the re
forming party, since they perceived
difficulties which vA'ere not taken into
due consideration in the SAveeping com
plaints of the others. The king him
self Avas fully alive to them, and it was
by his direction that Whitgift" (June
39th) addressed a letter to his suffra
gans, enjoining them to make all due
inquiries into the condition of their
dioceses, Avith regard to the number
of recusants, the state of the incum
bents, and the value ofthe preferments.
James Avished for information, too, with
respect to the Common Prayer, and
though obviously favourable to the
church of England, he Avas anxious to
arrive at the truth, by hearing AvhateA'er
might be advanced against it.
§ 593. It Avas Avitli this view that he
summoned certain divines to a confer
ence at Hampton Court. He is accused
by Rapin-' of insincerity in holding out
the prospect of a free discussion, on the
points at issue between the church and
nonconformists, Avhich he never meant
to realize: but if Ave are to judge by
the public documents, no charg-e can
be less founded. In the proclamation'
under Avhich this assembly was held, he
twice declares his OAvn perfect approba
tion ofthe doctrine and discipline as by
laAV established, and his conviction that
it Avas agreeable to the Avord of God and
the forms of the primitive church ; and
that the object which he had in vieAv

1 Fuller, X. 22.
» Strype's Whitgift, ii. 470.
' ii. 163. ¦¦• Strype's Whitgift, ii. 486.

Avas to reform such corruptions as nad
been introduced by time, as well as to
furnish himself Avith information, in
order that he might be able to judge
of the enormities Avhich Avere objected
against the ecclesiastical government
and the services. Much too is fre
quently said of the alarm experienced
by the hierarchy at this period ; but
though they could not fail to be anxious
at such a moment, they neither seem to
have entertained any very violent fears,
nor to have had any grounds for them.
Whitgift, as he Avas bound, made every
preparation for the approaching confer
ence, and particularly consulted Hut
ton, archbishop of York, on several
important points.* His ansAver.? Avere
partially quoted at the conference, and
it is not improbable that application Avas
made to other divines for their assist
ance in the same manner.
§ 504. The establishment Avas repre
sented by Whitgift, archbishop of Can
terbury, Bancroft, bishop of London,
T. MattheAV of Durham, Bilson of Win
chester, with five other bishops, together
with ten divines, Avho Avere chiefly deans.
The other party consisted of Reynolds,
president of Corpus Christi college, and
Dr. Sparks from Oxford, and Knew
stubbs and Chaderton from Cambridge.
In the first day's conference (Jan. Llih)
the church party alone were admitted,
and the object to Avhich the attention
of the meeting seems to have been di
rected Avas to furnish his majesty Avith
information on certain points connected
Avith the question.
In the Prayer Book, it was pointed
out that confirmation, as used in the
church of England, affected not the ful
ness of the sacrament of baptism, Avhioh
had been before administered ; and Avas
established on the authority of the
apostles and the custom, of the primi
tive church. That the absolution Avas
merely a declaration of God's pardon
through Christ, pronounced by an au
thorized minister, and addressed, in its
most general forms, to the Avhole con
gregation ; but in the Visitation of the
Sick, (where the e-icpressions are appli
cable to an individual, and seem to pre
sume a greater authority on the part of
the minister,) that it Avas used in the

» Strype's Whitgift, iii. 392, No. 44.

180

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XII.

case of those only AA'ho desired such
consolation for the clearing and quieting
of their conscience. That the use of
private baptism' by Avomen and laics
was never admitted except in cases of
necessity, according to the use of the
primitive church ; and that the Avords
of the rubric Avere left general, as lo this
particular, in order that the sacrament
might not be omitted on occasions
Avhere no minister was present. In each
of these cases the decision of the meet
ing was, that it should be left to the dis
cretion of the bishops, Avhether such
words should not be inserted in the
several rubrics as Avould leave these
points no longer doubtful ; and it was
agreed on all hands that some other
coercion might be used to enforce or
dinary ecclesiastical discipline, Avithout
having constant recourse to the severity
of excommunication.
§ 505. (Jan. 16.) The proceedings of
the second day become infinitely more
interesting, inasmuch as they may be
presumed to contain all the objections
to the details ofthe church of England,
in Avhich a moderate conconformist
Avould then have desired alteration.
Dr. Reynolds ari;anged Avhat he had to
bring forward under four heads: 1st,
of doclrinal points ; 2d, of such things
as pertained to the appointment of mi
nisters ; 3d, to the remodelling of the
Conimon Prayer ; 4th, and to church
government. The particulars objected to in the
Articles were, that the doctrine of final
perseverance ought to be stated in a
manner more consistently Avith that of
predestination than it Avas in the XVIth
and XVIIth articles ; and it was argued,
that this Avould be effected by inserting
in the XVIth article, immediately fol-
loAving the words " after Ave have re
ceived the Holy Ghost Ave may depart
from grace," the qualification of this
expression in some such terms as these,
" yet not totally or finally ;" and it Avas
proposed that the Lambeth Articles"
should be introduced into the text of the
Thirty-nine. These proposed altera
tions Avere not received with any fa
vour, and the king, in conclusion, re
marked, "Mean time I wish that the
doctrine of predestination may be ten-

' See i 424, '.

2 See 5 464.

derly handled, lest, on the one side,
God's omnipotency be questioned by
impeaching the doctrine of his eternal
predestination, or, on the other side, a
desperate presumption arreared by in
ferring the necessary certainty of per
sisting in grace."
Unfortunately, during this part of the
discussion, Bancroft suffered himself to
be carried aAvuy by the violence of his
temper, and attempied to put a stop to
the whole proceeding ; but the king re
proved him AA'ith much dignity and pro
priety, and the argument Avas resumed.
§ 506. When the question of confir
mation was brought forward, and the
texts (Heb. vi. 3, Acts viii.) had been
quoted, it Avas soon reduced into a more
narrow compass by the concessions of
the complainants, who objected not to
the institution, but Avished that the ad
ministering of the rite might no longer
be confined to the bishops alone, since
their extensive dioceses rendered ihem
totally unable to examine the Avhole of
the candidates properly. As no period
could be assigned at -which such a cus
tom had been admitted in the church,
the proposal was laid aside, and it Avas
left to be subsequently decided, Avhether
the Avords, " an examination," should
be introduced into the rubric before con
firmation.' Again it Avas objected, that theXXIIId
article allowed a layman to preach out
of the congregation, because il asserted
only that it Avas not laAvful for him to
preach "in the congregation," unless ,
he were duly called. That the XXVth
article called confirmation a corrupt fol
lowing of the apostles. , That in the
XXXVIIth article, it Avas not enough
to say "that the bishop of Rome had no
authority in this land," unless it Avere
added, " that he ought not to have any."
But it AA'as of course utterly useless to
attempt to answer such unimportant
cavils. When Dr. Reynolds wished
that it might be inserted in the Articles,
"that the intention of the minister is
not of the essence of the sacrament,"
the king objected, as about the Lam
beth Articles, to the introduction of any

' See Bingham's Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 385,
xii. ii. 3, who gives a considerable aciount of the
custom of the early church on this particular, cor
responding whh the present practice ofthe church
of England.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

mi

more than Avas absolutely necessary into
the body of the Articles ; since every
addition tended to encumber the book,
and, by destroying its perspicuity, to
obviate the very purpose for which they
were framed.
§ 507. Some objections were then
raised to the Catechism, because Dr.
Noel's Avas deemed too long, and that
in the Prayer Book too short ; and upon
the suggestion of the king, an interme
diate step Avas adopted, of adding some-
AA'hat to the old. It is to this that Ave
OAve the explanation of the sacraments
Avith Avhich the present Church Cate
chism ends.'
All parties agreed in wishing that the
Sabbath might be observed Avilh greater
propriety, and that a ncAV translation of
the Bible should be prepared.
There Avas some small discussion Avith
regard to seditious and popish books,
which arose from the permission Avhich
had been occasionally given for their
mtroduction, in order that they might
be ansAvered ; but this question was
soon dismissed, as being one of policy,
rather than suited to theological inquiry.
The petition of Reynolds, that learned
ministers might be appointed in every
parish, was seconded by one from Ban
croft, Avho requested that we might have
a praying ministry ; that the homilies
might be read till a preaching ministry
could be provided ; and that pulpits
might not be made pasquils, Avhere
every discontented fellow might traduce
his superiors. These complaints serve
to point out the state of the times, but
were in their nature too general to ad
mit of any definite remedy.
With regard to the Common Prayer,
the custom of reading lessons taken from
the Apocrypha Avas objected to ; and
the king, wilh great propriety and fair
ness, desired Dr. Reynoltls to mark those
chapters Avhich vvere objectionable.
§ 508. The cross in baptism, and the
questions proposed to the children,
Avere complained of; but after the an
tiquity of the one, and the unexception
able nature of the other, had been
pointed out, and when it was shown
that tho cross AA'as not otherAvise used
than as a ceremony, Mr. KneAvstubbs
seemed to doubt hoAV far the church
' See ^ 747, '.

had authority to impose such a cere-
mony ; and his majesty declined enter
ing into the question, as to how far
the subject is bound to obey, by quoting
the parliamentary AVords, " Le roi s'avl
sera." The Avearing the surplice, the Avords,
"With my body I thee Avorship," and
the use of the ring'' in the marriage-
service, Avere also mentioned, as well
as the churching of Avomen ; but the
observations on these topics Avere short
ly dismissed, on account of their being
deemed, as they really are, frivolous
objections. The question, whether ecclesiastical
censures should be imposed by laymen,
Avas not entered into, since it hati been
previously settled by the king and the
bishops ; and when Reynolds proposed
that certain provincial assemblies should
be held for the purpose of conference,
at Avhich prophesyings, as they were
formerly called, might be established,
James, Avho had long smarted under
presbyterian tyranny, broke forth into
a lively description of thp steps by
Avhich the reformers of Scotland had
first triumphed over the bishops, and
then over the crown, and ended by
quoting his favourite apophthegm, " No
bishop, no king."
§ 509. (Jan. 18.) The meeting on the
third day can hariily be called a confer
ence. It was noAV that the bishops
brought up their conclusions on certain
points Avhich had been previously re
ferred to their consideration, and at the
same time those questions Avhich did
not admit of an immediate decision
were left for the examination of com
mittees. His majesty was particularl)'
eloquent in favour of oaths ex officio,
and made a long speech to prove their
utility and necessity. This topic so
pleased the episcopal party, that the
archbishop declared that the king s]!)oke
by the especial assistance of God's
Spirit, and the bishop of London re
turned thanks to the Almighty for his
goodness in setting such a prince over
them — a line of compliment too well
received by James himself, and unfor-
* The giving a ring as a marriage pledge is an
old Roman custom. (Juv. vi. 27.)
Conventum tamen, et pactum, et sponsalia nostra
Tempestate paras; jamque a tonsore magistro
Pecteris, et cllglto pignus fortasse dedisti.
a

193

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XII.

tunately repeated by most of the cour
tiers who Avere present.
It was the observation of the king,
that the scruples of the nonconformists
Avere mere matters of Aveakness, and
that if therefore they Avere honest and
good men, they would be easily Avon to
conformity, if not, that they Avere bet
ter out of the church than members of
her ministry ; and on Iavo occasions he
made use of very harsh expressions
concerning them, threatening to " harry
them out of the land," in case they
obeyed not, and adding, that if they
conformed not, " they ought to be
hanged." The preachers promised for
themselves to perform all duly tOAvards
the bishops, and to join against the
common enemy ; but Mr. Chaderton
made a petition in favour of certain
ministers in Lancashire, that they might
be allowed to omit the use of the sur
plice ; to Avhich his majesty kindly
consented, as far as the bishop of Lon
don Avould alloAv him ; for the bishops
AA'ere justly afraid that if any connivance
Avere shown, excepting for a limited
period, the effect Avould be to undo all
the good which they had promised
themselves from the conference. But
Avhen the same request was again made
for certain ministers in Suffolk, by
KneAvstubbs, the king ansAvered the
petitioner sharply, and animadverted
with much reason on the ill conduct of
men who preferred their OAvn scruples
to the unity of the church; Avho Avould
run the risk of any difficulty Avhich
might arise, rather than give up a point
Avhich they had once advocated ; and
in Avhose disinclination to obey, their
OAvn personal vanity Avas more con
sulted than the good of the community.
During the whole of the conference
th'ere is nothing more striking than the
superiority of the kmg himself over
both parties ; he not only surpassed
them in temper and fairness, but appa
rently in learning and knoAvJedge of
the subject : notAvithstanding- the insig
nificance of the objections raised, and
in some cases their senseless futility,
he heard them Avrth patience : Avherever
there seemed any reason for alteration,
he Avas ready to adopt it, and the
bishops exhibited a great facility in as
senting to his proposals. The only
appearance of want of judgment con

sisted in the terms in which he threat
ened the nonconformists.
§ 510. The account of the conference
Avhich is here given, is taken almost
entirely from one published by Barlow,
dean of Chester, Avho, having assisted
in the discussion, Avas deputed to Avrite
the history of it,' and probably aided in
the task by Whitgift. It is, hoAvever,
so favourable to the episcopal party,
that it has not failed to be attacked ;
but, as it Avas published in the year
Avhich followed the conference, and
was not contradicted as to its contents,
there seems no reason for doubting its
correctness. What is said of the con
ference on the second day Avas exa
mined and approved by many Avho
Avere there present, and such original
memoirs as have come down to us cor
respond Avith sufficient accuracy Avith
what is here detailed."
§ 511. The only authentic document
of Avhich I am aAvare, which seems to
throAV any discredit on this piece of
history, is a letter from Mr. Gallotvay,
a Scotch divine, who Avas present at the
second day's conference, and Avho Avrote
to the ministers at Edinburgh. Con
cerning this letter CalderAvood observes'
that this account is very unlike Bar-
loAv's ; yet, after a minute and careful
comparison of the conclusions here
draAvn up, Avith those of Bancroft's
which are printed in Strype,* I am con-
' Strype's Whitgift, ii. 492.
2 See a letter from T. Matthew, bishop of Dur
ham, to Hutton, archbishop of York, (Sirvpe's
Whiigift, iii. 402. No. 45.) Strype himself'lully
approves of il ; and Fuller, who must have been
a very good judge on the quesiion, iniroduces it
almost verbaiini into his history. '1 he original
pamphlet Is not rare in libraries, and has been re
printed in the Phcenix and in the Churchman's
Remembi-ancer, No. iv.
' History of the Church of Scotland, fol. 474.
* "A note of such things as shall be reformed
in tlie church.
" 1. Tbe Absolution shall be called. The Abso
lution or general remission of sins.
"2. The Confirmation shall be called. The
Confivmaiion or further e.-?amination of Children's
Faith. »
"3. The Private Baptism, now by laymen or
women, shall be called. The Private Baptism by
the minisiers only ; and all those questions in that
Baptism, that insinuate it lo be done by women,
taken away.
"4. 'fhe Apocrypha, that hath some repug
nancy to the canonical Scripture, shall not be
read ; and other places chosen, which either are
explanations of Scripture, or suit best for good
life and manners.
"5. The jurisdiction of the bishops shall bo

Chap XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

183

vinced that they furnish a strong con- enforced, and those on Avnich some
firmation of the account published by actual alteration was founded. Thus,
BarloAv. Neither Galloway nor Ban- ! for instance, both of them state as a
croft seem to make an accurate distinc- point established, that in ecclesiastical
tion between matters which were dis- censures, particularly of ministers, the
cussed and recommended to the use of bishop should not proceed Avithout the
theclergy,Avilhout being authoritatively assistance ofthe dean and chapter, or

somewhat limited, and to h.ive either the dean
and chapter, or some grave minister assistant to
them in ordination, suspension, degradation, &.c.
(See 122d Canon.)
"6. The excommunication, as h is now used,
shall be taken away both in name and nature.
J^nd a writ out of the chancery, to punish the
contumacies, shall be framed.
"7. The kingdom of Ireland, the borders of
Scotland, and all Wales, to be planted whh
schools and preachers as soon as may be.
"8. As rnany learned ministers, and mainte
nance for them, to be provided in such places of
England, where there is want, as may be.
"9. As few double-beneficed men and plurali
ties as may be ; and those that have double betie-
fices to maintain preachers, and to have their liv
ings as near as may be one to the oiber.
" 10. One uniform translation ofthe Bible lobe
made, arid only to be used in all the churches of
England. "II. One Catechism to be made and used in
all places.
" 12. The Articles of Rehgion to be explained
and enlarged. And no man to teach or read
against any of them.
"13. A care had, to observe who do not re
ceive the communion once in the year: the minis
ters to cerlify the bishops, the bishops the arch
bishops, Ihe'archbishops the king.
" 14. An inhibjiion for popish books to be
brought over : and if any come, lo be dehvered
into their hands only that are fit to have them.
" 15. Tbe high commission to be reformed, and
reduced to higher causes and fewer persons ; and
those of more honour and better qualities."
Calderwood's account of the matter is as fol
lows. History of the Church of Scotland, p. 474
" A conference was appointed to be holden at
Hampton Court the fourteenth of January, be-
twi.ii some bishops on the one side, and ministers
on the other. The good professors in England
were put in hope of a good beginning of reforma
tion, and letters were sent by them to sundry
parts of the country, to take a survey of the ec-
rloslasiical estate, arid of the grievous abuses of
the court; but they were disappointed of their
.'xpectation. Two or three were appointed of the
sincerer side, that were not sound, and only to spy
or prevaricate. Sundry reports went of the con
ference, different from that relation which is set
forth in print by Barlow. I have therefore set
down here that relation, which Mr. Patric Gal
loway sent from London to the presbytery of
Edinburgh, after it was revised by the king him
self " Beloved brethren, after my very hearty com
mendations, these presents are to show you that
I received two of your letters, one directed to his
maj. and another to myself, for the using thereof;
the samine I read, [sic in orig.] closed, and three
days before the conference delivered it unto his
maj. hands, and received it back again, after some
short speeches had upon a word of your letter, as
the gross corruptions of this clmrch ; which then
was exponed, and I assured, that all corruptions

dissonant from the word, or contrary thereto,
should be amended. The iweHih of Januar was
ihe day of meeting, at what time ihe bishops
called upon by his inaj. were gravely desired, to
advise upon ail the corruptions of this church, in
doctrine, ceremonies, and di.icipline ; and aa ihey
will answer to God in conscience, and to his mnj.
upon their obedience, that ihey should reiiirn the
third day alter, which was Saturday 'Ihey re
turned to his maj. and there apposed as of before,
it was answered, all was well. And when his
maj. in greal fervency brought ins'ances to tho
contrary, they upon their knees, with great ear
nestness craved that nothing should be altered,
lest popish recusants, punished liy penal siaiutes
for their disobedience; and the puritans punished
by deprivation from calling and living for noncon
formity, should say, they had just cause to insult
upon them, as men who had travelled to bind
them to that, which by their own mouths now
was confessed to be erroneous. Always after
five hours' dispute had by his ma^. against them.
and bis maj. resolution for reformation iniimaled
to them, they were dismissed that day. Upon
the sixteenth of Januar, being Monday, the breih-
ren were called to his maj. only five of tbem be
ing present, aud with ihem two bishops, and six
or eight deans. Here his maj. craved lo know of
them what they desired to be reformed ; but il
was very loosely and coldly answered. This day
ended after four hours talking, and Wednesday
the eighteenth of Januar was appointed fir the
meeting of both the parlies. 'VVhereas before,
the parlies being called together, the heads were
repeated which his maj. would have reformed at
this lime ; and so the whole action ended. Sundry,
as they favoured, gave out copies of things here
/Concluded ; whereupon myself look occasion, as
I was an ear and eyewitness, to set them down,
and presented ihem to his maj who wilh his own
hand mended some things, and eeked other things
which I had omitted. Which corrected copy with
his own hand I have, and of it have sent you
herein the just transumpt word by word — and ibis
is the whole. At my own returning, which, God
willing, shall be shortly, ye shall know more par
ticularly the rest. So till then taking my leave,
T commit you to the protection of the most High,
and your labours to the powerful blessing of
Christ. From London, this tenth of Februar,
1604. " Your brother in the Lord to his uttermost,
" M. P. Gallowav.
" The cause of my delay lo write, was my
awaiting on his maj. leisure, to obtain that copy
spoken of before, as it is, that so I might write,
as it was allowed to stand, and to be performed."
A note of sucfi things as shall be reformed,
" r. Of Doctrine.
" 1. That a uniform short and plain Catechism
be made, to be used in all churches and parishes
in this kingdom. There is already the doctrine
of the sacraments added, in most clear and plain
terms.

184

HISTORY OF THE

•some other grave ministers. The sub
ject, according to Barlow, seem.s to
have been briefly mentioned by the
king; and it is not improbable that a
regulation so recommentied should have
been at once admitted as beneficial,
AA'herever it could be adopted. It is
indeed incorporated in the I22d canon,
so that we may easily account for its
insertion in the two sets of conclusions

"2. That a iranslaiion be made of the whole
Bible, as consonant as can be to the original
Hebrew and Greek ; and this to be set out and
primed without any marginal notes, and only, to
be used in all churches of England, in time of
divine service.
"3. 'Ihat no popish nor traitorous books be
suffered to be brought in ibis kingdom, and that
straight order be taken, that if they come over,
ihey be delivered or sold to none, either in coun
try or universities, but lo such only as may make
good use ihereof, for confutation of the adver
saries. "II. Of the Service Book.
" 1. That to the Absolution sliall be added the
word of pronouncing the remission of sins.
"2. That to Confirmation shall be added the
word of catechising, or examination of the child
ren's faith.
"3. That tho private Baptism shall be called,
the privale Baptism by the minisiers and curates
only ; and all ihese questions that insinuate wo
men or privale persons, to be altered accordingly.
"4. That Eueh Apocrypha as have any repug
nance to canonical .Scripiure, shall be removed,
and not read ; and ol her places chosen for them
which may serve belter, either for explanation of
Scripture, or instruction in good life and manners:
and specially the greatest part of such places as
were given in writ.
"5. The words of Marriage to be made more
clear. " fi. The cross in Baptism was never counted
any part In Baptism, nor sign effective, but only
significative. " ITL Of Discipline.
"1. The bishops are admonished to judge no
minisiers, without the advice and assistance of
some of llie gravest deans and chaplains.
" 2. That none shall have power to excommu
nicate, but only their bishops in their dioceses, in
the presence of these aforesaid ; and only upon
such weighty and great causes to which they
shall subscribe.
"3. The civil excommunication now used, is
declared to be a mere civil censure ; and there-
foVe ihe name of it is to be altered; and a writ
out of the chancellary to punish the contumacy
shall be framed.
"4. That all bishops nominated to that effect,
shall set down the matters and manner of pro
ceeding to be followed hereafter in ecclesiastical
courts, and modify their fees.
" 5. That the oath ex officio be rightly used, id
est, only for great and pubhc slanders.
" 6. That the bishops be careful to cause ihe
ministers nole, in every parish of their dioceses.
the names of all recusants ; as also the names of
such as come to church and hear preaching, but
refuse to commuuicale every year once ; and to
present the same to the bishop, and the bishop to
the archbishop, and the archbishop to the king.

[Chap. XH.
Avithout impugning the accuracy of Bar-
loAv, Avho is less particular in his men»
tion of it.
§ 512. In order to give effect to the
decisions of the conference at Hampton
Court,' the convocation, Avhich Avas
assembled together Avith the parliament,
was directed to frame and incorporate a
new body of canons. Little is known
in detail of the history of their compo-

" 7. That the Sabbath be looked to, and better
kept throughout all dioceses.
" 8. I'hat tbe high commission be rightly used,
the causes lo be handled, and tbe manner of prt-
ceeding therein to be declared ; and that no person
be nominated thereto, but such as are men of
honour and good quahty.
" IV. Of the Ministry.
" 1. That the reading of ministers that are o,
age and not scandalous be provided for, and main
tained by the person preferred to preach in his
room, according to the valor of the living ; and
ihat the unlearned and scandalous be tried, and
removed from these places, and learned and quali
fied be placed for them.
"2. That as many ministers as may be had
with convenient maintenance for them, may be
placed in such places where there is want of
preaching with all haste.
" 3. That learned and grave ministers be trans
ported from the parts where the gospel is settled
and planted, to ssich parts of the kingdom where
greatest ignorance is, and greatest number of
recusants are.
"4. That ministers, beneficed men, make their
residence upon iheir benefices, and feed their
flocks with preaching every Sabbath day.
' 5. That pluralists and such as presently have
double benefices, make residence upon one of
them ; and that these iheir benefices be as near
other, as he may preach to the people of both
Iheir week about ; and where they are further
distant, that he maintain therein a qualified
preacher. " V. For Schools.
"1. That schools in cities, towns, and families,
throughout all this kingdom, be taught by none
but such as shall be tried and approA'ed to be
sound and upright in religion ; and for that effect
that the bishops, in every one of their dioceses,
lake order wilh them, displacing the corrupted,
and placing honest and sufficient in their places.
"2. That orders be taken with uniA'ersities for
trial of masters and fellows in colleges ; and that
none be suffered to have the cure of instructing
the youth, but such as are approved for theii
soundness in religion ; and that such as are sus
pected, or known to be otherways affected, be
removed. " 3. I'hat the kingdom of Ireland, the boi-ders
of England and Scotland, and all Wales, be
planted with schools and preachers, as soon as
may be.
" The ministers have been this long lime past,
and shall be in all time coming, urged to subscribe
nothing but the three articles, which are both
clear and reasonable."
(Then follow the three articles in the thirty.
sixth Canon.)
Whiigift, ii. 501.
' Fuller, X. 28.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

19a

sition, excepting that they chiefly con
sist of a digest of old canons, to which
some new ones Avere added. They are
in number 141, and at the present day
form the basis of ecclesiastical laAv, as
far as the clergy are concerned ; for as
they Avere never ratified by act of par
liament, though sanctioned by the royal
assent, they are in law held not to bind
the laity proprio vigore, that is, not in
asmuch as they decide, but only Avhere
they speak the language of the previous
law. Many of them have been super
seded by subsequent acts of parliament ;
and the hand of time, together Avilh the
change in customs, has rendered them
so generally neglected as a code, that
it is much to be wished that they Avere
remodelled, and sanctioned by a legal
enactment. The account of the trans
lation of the Bible, and the alterations
in the Prayer Book, Avill occupy a por
tion of distinct chapters on those sub
jects. § 513. In parliament,' the security of
the revenues of the establishment Avas
effectually guarded by an act, making
all alienations of church property to the
croAvn illegal ; a measure Avhich marked
at once the Aveakness and the honesty
ofthe king,Avho fearing his own facility,
lest he should concede to his courtiers
whatever they requested, deprived him
self of the poAver of doing injustice.
The parliament likeAA'ise renewed the
severity of former statutes against Jesu
its, seminary priests, and recusants.
These proceedings, inasmuch as they
Avere highly favourable to the church
of England, Avere proportionably dis
pleasing to those parties in the kingdom
who opposed that body. The puritans
had hoped for much relief and favour
from a presbyterian king, but they
found that their new monarch Avas as
fond of exercising his supremacy as his
predecessor ; that Iavo proclamations
had already issued from the throne, to
enforc^ the laAvs against the noncon
formists ; and that Jathes himself had
used expressions, Avith regard to his
own intentions, Avhich Avere far from
being Avise or moderate. The Roman
Catholics had looked on him as the son
of Mary queen of Scots ; their wishes
for greater toleration had. been con-

' Fuller, X.
34

27.

verted into expectations ; but they too
noAV saAV, that Avhatever the private
sentiments of the king might be, the
nation Avas about to relax none of the
severities against them.
§ 514. It Avas the prevalence of these
opinions Avhich induced the ramers of
the powder-plot lo enter into that most
diabolical conspiracy for destroying the
hopes and prospects of the Protestant
part of the community; a scheme not
more remarkable for its atrocity than
for the little probability of its final suc
cess, even though the first step in this
dreadful tragedy had prospered. It is
Avell knoAvn that Catesby and Percy
formed the plan of bloAving up the
king, lords, and commons, on their
assembling in parliament on the 5th of
November, 1605. For this purpose
they hired a cellar beloAV the house, in
Avhich they concealed thirty-six barrels
of gunpoAvder ; but on the eve of its
execution a discovery Avas made, by
means of a letter sent to Lord Montea-
gle,° probably from his sister, Mrs.
Abingdon.-' 'The conspirators fled from
London, but were overtaken in arms in
Staffordshire, and the ringleaders slain.
Several others Avere subsequently taken
and executed ; and among the persons
AA'hose names Avere connected with the
conspiracy are those of four individuals
Avho belonged to the society of Jesus,
Garnett, Oldcorn', Gerard, and Green-
Avay ; the last of these, on the discovery
of the plot, fled beyond seas, a step
Avhich, in the opinion of the world, must
have implicated him in the guilt of the
treason, if,the dreadful manner in Avhich
others were examined by means of tor
ture had not furnished a sufficient rea
son for any precautions Avhich an inno
cent man might make to avoid so
dreadful a species of trial. Gerard
Avas tortured, but made his escape from
the Tower. Oldcorn was executed for
concealing Garnett, Avho shared the
same fate. The criminality of this last
prisoner has been called in question by
members of his own church, and is

2 Butler's Roman Cath. ii. 441. Nash's Wor
cestershire, i. 585.
3 Welwood, Mem. p. 22, says, that the letter was
a contrivance of James himself, who had been in
formed ofthe conspiracy by Henry IV. of France.
He wished to exhibit a proof of his own sagacity-
in the discovery of the plot.
<l2

iSC,

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIL

pretty fully discussed by Butler,' in his
History of the Roman Catholics. His
plea Avas, that all he kncAV of the con
spiracy came from the private confession
of the prisoners, Avhich as a priest he
Avas bound to conceal : but, supposing
this to be true, let it be remembered,
on the other side, that this private con
fession to a priest, as Avell as the secrecy
with Avhich it is attended, is a human
invention, not founded on any divine
command, merely a tradition of men,
and in this case diametrically opposed
to the Avord of God and the spirit of the
gospel. It seems probable that Gar
nett Avas criminally implicated Avith the
conspirators, though there ivas little
evidence to convict him before a jur}'
of the present day. Although no one
can fairly charge this treason on the
Roman Catholics as a body, yet that
church, by sanctioning the absurd mi
racle of the straAv,^ and beatifying the
man, Avho, Avhether guilty or not, suf
fered as a traitor, did all that Avas pos
sible to implicate the innocent members
of her communion in this horrid trans
action : nor should it be forgotten, that
the promotion of the Roman Catholics'
cause Avas the ostensible motive on
Avhich the whole Avas founded and car
ried on. (a. d. 1608.) The effects of
this transaction Avere disastrous in the
extreme lo all in England Avho held
communion AA'ith the church of Rome.
No great bigotry was requisite to exas
perate the minds of men against a reli
gion Avhich Avas supposed to sanction
such enormities; and the bills Avbich
Avere brought into parliament, in conse
quence of the supposed insecurity of
the Protestant government, strongly
mark the exasperation Avhich prevailed.
§ 515. By the first," Roman Catholics
who attended their parish churches
Avere obliged to receive the sacrament
once in the year, or they might be con-
i^icted under a penalty of 20/. for the
first year, 40/. for the second, and 60/.
for the third. Popish recusants convict
were to pay 30/. per month during their
recusancy, provided the whole sum did

' ii. 164, &c.
' A picture of Garnett waa pretended to be seen
on a straw which had been sprinkled with his
blood. It was for this miracle that he was beati
fied. (Fuller, X. 40 )
' Statutes of the Realm.

not amount to more than two-thirds of
their property, and the croAvn had the
choice of demanding the 20/. per month
or the two-thirds of their income. Bish
ops, or justices of the peace, might re
quire Roman Catholics to take the oath
of allegiance, AA'hich, if they declined,
they were liable to be imprisoned till
the assizes ; and if they continued in
the same refusal, were subjected to the
penalties of a prasmunire. The act of
reconciling any one to the see of Rome,
or of being so reconciled, Avas declared
to be treason ; Avhile to serve in a foreign
army Avithout taking the oath of alle
giance, or having entered into a bond
not to be reconciled to the pope, ren
dered all Avho Avere guilty of it felons
in the eye of the laAv. NotAvithstanding
the severity of this, the disqualifications
which the next act imposed must have
been much more galling. Great re
wards Avere offered for the discovery of
recusants Avho harboured popish priests
in their houses ; and a penalty of 100/.
Avas imposed on any recusant convict
who appeared at court. They Avere
under most circumstances forced to re
side on their oaa'u property, and, unless
exercising a trade in London, prevented
from coming AA'ithin ten miles of the
metropolis. They AA'ere disabled from
being barristers or attorneys, physicians
or apothecaries ; from being officers of
courts, or holding commissions in the
army or navy : they could be adA'anced
to no employment in the commoiiAvealth,
and Avere liable to all the legal disabili
ties of excommunicated persons. They
Avere subjected to large fines and dis
abilities in case they Avere married, or
allowed their relations to be christened
or buried, otherAvise than according to
the rites of the church of England.
They were forbidden to send their child
ren abroad for education, and none but
Protestants Avere licensed to teach in
England ; the children themselves could
not inherit any property, till they had
taken the oath of allegiance ; a disquali
fication Avhich extended to all those who
were out of the country AA'ithout license.
So that in every respect the Roman Ca
tholics were treated as persons hostile
to the government, and Avho could in no
Avay be trusted. The only comfort is,
that the severity of such laws must soon
render them nugatory in practice.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

18T

§ 516. The intention of the govern
ment in imposing the oath of allegiance
was undoubtedly wise and enlightened,
yet the form' of words Avas so constructed
that a conscientious Roman Catholic,
entertaining every opinion which his
Protestant monarch could require of
him, might scruple to take it. He might
sincerely detest the obnoxious doctrine,
" that princes excommunicated by the
pope may be deposed or murdered by
their subjects ;" yet he might still feel
uuAvilling to call that heretical and im
pious Avhich Avas the approved doctrine
of the church, Avhich he erroneously
looked up to as the only church of
Christ on earth. The oath, if fairly
examined, seems as much calculated to
alarm a Aveak and conscientious Roman
Catholic, and to prevent him from taking
it, as to bind the honest papist, who ob
jected not to it, and Avhose fidelity might
have been secured by terms more gene
ral and less offensive. In all probabi
lity, Paul V. aimed at this particular,
when, Avithout specifying the point of
objection, he declared that a Roman
Catholic could not take the oath in
question, without grievous Avronging of
God's honour. The church of Rome
naturally disliked a declaration which,
if true, must sap the foundations of
her assumed temporal poAver ; and the
framers of the oath, by the words which
ihey introduced, gave her a handle
Avhich she might turn against any well-
disposed and scrupulous Roman Catho
lic who took it. Many persons indeed
Avho belonged to this communion seem
originally to have done so ; and when
the first brief Avas issued which forbade
it, the majority of them would not be
lieve that it AA-as genuine, till it was
confirmed by a second ; and, after all,
BlackweU," arch-priest of England, not
only took the oath, but persisted to his
death in asserting the legality of his
conduct, though in so doing he drcAv
doAvn on himself the vengeance of the
apostolic chair, which was followed by
his deprivation.
j^t the same time, the laws against
Roman Catholics were put in force with
all the activity Avhich zeal and terror
could excite ;" twenty-eight priests and
seven laymen were executed, and an
> Fuller. X. 42. 2 Butler, Som. Cath. ii. 211.
3 Butler, ii. 183.

hundred and twenty-eight priests ba
nished ; while the fines upon recusancy
were levied with extraordinary severity.
HowoA-er greatly we may deplore such
effects, Ave cannot be surprised at them ;
nassion has always much more influence
over mankind than reason ; and the Prp-
testants, in their eagerness to punish
their supposed enemies, comprehended
every Roman Catholic under the same
ban, and droAV the line of separation, not
belAA'een the loyal and the traitorous,
but exactly Avhere it was the policy of
the court of Rome to have it established,
betAveen those who did, and those Avho
did not hold communion with her.
§ 517. The general quietness of this
peaceful reign, however beneficial to the
country, presents comparatively little for
the pen of the historian. A monarch
of James's character was much better
suited to moderate the plans of others
than to put his own projects into execu
tion ; and the same facility of temper
and easiness of compliance which soft
ened the asperity of those with whom
he had to deal, rendered his oAvn plans
totally unsuccessful. One of these was
the erection of a college at Chelsea,* for
the promotion of controversial divinity.
Its members were to form a corps pre
pared to defend the church of England
against the assaults of the regular orders
among the papal clergy ; but the design
lived not much beyond the completion
of the buildings, and was destroyed for
want of funds and countenance. The
establishment itself Avas little required ;
since, if but a small portion of the higher
situations in our cathedral churches
were set apart to reward learned di
vines, the Avants of the establishment in
this respect Avould easily be supplied.
James, with all his good intentions, was
but a weak man, fond of meddling with
all matters, and particularly vain of his
theological acquirements, which were
indeed considerable.
§ 518. When Conradus Vorstius was
appointed to the divinity chair at Ley
den,^ the king, who had been displeased
at some of his opinions which were un
orthodox, not only answered them Avith
his own pen, but applied to the govern
ment to deprive him of his professor
ship, a step in which the states Avere

" Fuller, A. 51.

5 Ibid. X. 60

188

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XII.

not at all inclined to show as much
obedience as his majesty expected. In
England, the result of the same temper
was far more injurious: BartholomeAV
Legate was delivered over to the secu
lar arm by the bishop of London, and
burnt in Smithfield. The king himself
had often reasoned Avith this man, and
every species of kindness seems to have
been shown him, till the time of his
final condemnation ; but it Avas not un
til the experiment had been tried here,
and in the case of Wightman at Litch
field, that James discovered this great
truth, that, in matters of opinion,
wherever error of judgment is punished
rather than viciousness of life, severity
tends more to display to the eyes ofthe
world the appearance of honest firm
ness on the part of the sufferer, than to
convince mankind of his guilt ; and the
man Avhose tenets Avould be generally
condemned, is, by his voluutary snb-
mission to death, often converted into
a martyr. For the future therefore it
Avas determined not to execute heretics,
but to allow them to waste out their
lives in prison ; a line of treatment dic
tated by the soundest policy. Had the
enemies of Christianity pursued it from
the first, they would have destroyed
one of the most powerful engines by
Avhich our most holy faith was spread.
Had it been adopted by Mary, it is
impossible to determine hoAv much it
might have retarded the Reformation in
England. But God, Avho was pleased
to water his church with the blood of
his martyrs, has hardly yet taught man
kind that erroneous opinions can only
be combated by truth, while ill conduct
must be restrained by the strong arm
of the laAV.
§ 519. (a. d. 1618.) A diversity of
opinion had long been entertained by
different members of the church AA'ith
regard to the observance ofthe Sabbath-
day.' The party most friendly to the
puritans had been strenuous in their
endeavours to check that laxity of
amusements which had formerly pre-
' During the reigu of Elizabeth all sorts of
amusements had been entered into on the Sun
day. (Strype's Annals, iii. 585.) On her recep-
tian at Kenilworih, 1575, "the lords and ladies
danced in the evening with lively agility." (Ibid.
V. 202.) There were sports at the Paris Garden ;
the lord mayor was presented to the queen ; plays
and interludes were acted. (Ibid. v. 211, 495.)

vailed throughout the country; and in
their so doing, they possibly went be
yond Avhat the times Avould bear, and
Avere occasionally guilty of some extra
vagances. It Avas this circumstance
probably Avhich created an opposition
on the part of those who did not coin
cide with them in ecclesiastical matters,
and to this party the king joined him
self. In his progress during the last
year he had observed a disposition to
interfere Avith the games of the common
people in Lancashire, and consequently
issued a proclamation in favour of liber
ty on the Sabbath-day, commonly called
the " Book of Sports,"" in which he
sanctioned a much greater license of
recreation than the habits of succeed
ing generations have alloAved. Many of
the most orthodox clergy disapproved^
of what Avas here done,, and Avere in
considerable alarm lest the court should
oblige them to publish this declaration;
no such step, however, Avas taken gene-
rail y.-*
§ 520. The king's attention Avas pror
bably directed^ to another object AA'hich
had much greater attr:.ctions for a per
son of his disposition. The differences
of doctrine between the Calvinists and
Arminians Avere, in the United Pro
vinces, mixed up Avilh much of political
opinion ; so that the Calvinistic and
ruling party was Avell pleased that the
credit of their synod, held at Dort,
should be strengthened by the presence
of certain delegates from the church of
England, Avhose sentiments, from the
knoAvu bias in the mind of James, Avould
probably coincide Avith their own. The
persons selected by the king for this
employment Avere, Carleton, bishop of
Llandaff; Hall, afterAvards bishop of
Exeter, Avho Avas forced to return be
fore the end of the session, from ill
health ; Davenant and Ward, both
heads of colleges in Cambridge ; Bal
canquall, Avho represented the episco
pal church of Scotland ; and Goad, who

2 See ^ 558, &c. It is said to have been drawn
up by Bishop Moreton.
^ Fuller, X. 74, &c.
* It appears to have been enjoined in and about
London. Abbot refused to allow of Us being read
at Croydon. Perhaps this appearance of opposi
tion prevented James from pressing it any further.
(See Wilson's Life of James, p. 709, and Wel
wood's note. Complete History of England.)
' Fuller, X. 77.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

189

was substituted for I-Iall. The treat
ment Avhich these delegates received
from the states Avas most honourable,
and their presence contributed, in some
degree, to calm the violence of party
spirit; but as the Armlnian advocates
would not argue the question, because
they Avere not alloAved to do so in their
OAvn method, and Avere therefore con
demned unheard, very little good was
done on the subject, and hardly any
other effect produced, save that its de
cisions ga\'e one party in that country
a handle for persecuting the other. The
five heads of difference are,' 1st, on pre
destination and election ; 3d, the death
of Christ, and the redemption obtained
thereby ; 3d, on human corruption ; 4th,
on conversion to God, and the method
of it; 5th, on the final perseverance of
the saints. Whatever opinions the read
ers of this work may entertain on any
of these abstruse topics, I am convinced
that every Christian mind will agree
that the decisions of this synod are far
too peremptory, inasmuch as they de
fine beyond what the revealed word of
God has declared. Whoever Avill com
pare them wilh the corresponding arti
cles of our church, will have abundant
reason for admiring the cautious man
ner in which the same subjects are
there laid doAvn, and for approving the
nearer approach to the spirit of the
Bible, Avhich her tenets exhibit as they
are there publicly displayed.''
§ .521. (a. d. 1622.) Towards the end
of the reign,'' the eagerness Avhich the
king felt for the Spanish match induced
him to shoAV much more favour toAvards
the Roman Catholics than the majority
of his subjects approved. The con-

^ Syllniie Contessinnum.
2 No further account is given of this synod, be
cause the subject is far loo extensive for a nole.
The opinions of the author on the five poin-s are
primed in his .sermons, preached formerly before
the university ; but the reader is advised lo form
his own judgment from no human standard. A
brief account of the proceedings of this synod is
given in .'Mlport'e Life of Bishop Davenant, pre
fixed to Davenant on the Colossians, p. 12. &c.
The best information on this history is to be ibund
in Hale's Golden Remains. The proceedings of
the synod were very disgraceful, and they are
represented, perhaps, even worse than they were.
Brant's History of the Reformation in Holland
treats fully of it. What was here done had, pro
bably, a considerable effect in changing the opi
nions of the people of England, and introducing
grea'er moderation.
3 Fuller, X. 100.

nection itself could not fail to be dis
pleasing to the nation ; but Count
Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador,
well kncAV the disposition of the mo
narch with Avhom he had to treat, and
Avas always esteemed sufficiently clever
to have taken every advantage of this
circumstance. When James issued his directions to
the justices of assize, to release all re
cusants confined on account of religion,
the opinions of his Protestant subjects
AA'ere hostile to a step which seemed to
set at defiance the laivs enacted against
the church of Rome, and to free its
members from those severities Avhich
the legislature had deemed necessary ;
but when the prince, and the most in
fluential man in the kingdom, had be
come, as it were, connected Avith the
political friends of the papacy, by
throAving themselves into the arms of
Spain, the alarm and irritation were
rendered far more general. In' conse
quence of this state of things. Abbot,
archbishop of Canterbury, addressed a
letter to the king, in Avhich he inveighs
most strongly against toleration:'' "By
your act," says he, "you labour to set
up that most damnable and heretical
doctrine of the church of Rome, the
whore of Babylon:" and the feelings
of the country soon exhibited them
selves in the tone displayed in the ser
mons of the generality of preachers.
Politics, together AA'ith the most abstruse
points of theology, became the ordinary
topics on Avhich they dilated; and it
was particularly observed, that at court
the obedience of the subject Avas en
forced, Avhile the duty of the king AA'as
insisted on in the country.
Such AA'ere the causes which induced
James to address a letter' to the arch
bishop, (Aug. 4,) accompanied Avith di
rections concerning preaching. He
orders that no preachers besides bishops
and deans, and they only on festivals and
state holydays, should take occasion to
run into any other discourses than such
as may be fairly drawn from the Thirty-
nine Articles or the Homilies ; that their
evening sermons shall dwell solely on
the Catechism, and subjects connected
Avith it ; that abstruse points of divinity
should be avoided ; that the poAver of

" Fuller, X. 106.

= Ibid. X. 108;

190

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIL

the prince should not be touched upon,
nor any attacks made on papists, or puri
tans ; that great caution should be used
in licensing preachers, particularly lec
turers, Avho formed a ncAV body in the
church, and Avere, in a great degree,
severed from the rest of the clergy ; and
that lo these no licenses should be given
but through the archbishop of Canter
bury, on the recommendation of the
bishop of the diocese. These directions,
hoAvever, Avere composed in a strain far
too high to ansAver the purpose for which
they were intended. Had they been
given as advice, the sound sense Avith
Avhich they are Avritten might have influ
enced many.' Had the government
from Avhich they issued been as strong
as it was Aveak, they might have been
quietly enforced, to the benefit of the
congregations ; as it Avas, they Avere at
tacked by the captious, and in some cases
insisted on Avitli an undue severity, Avliich
must have rendered them liable to ob-
j(-Ction, even in the minds of the Avell-
diisposed. § 523. The policy of the state is so
entirely mixed up Avith the history of the
church, that it is almost impossible to
understand the one, without examining
the other ; and the field is at the same
time so Avide, that the ecclesiastical his
torian incurs considerable danger in ven
turing to enter upon it ; yet he can hardly
render himself intelligible, unless lie
gives, at least, a general view of those
portions of state politics AA'hich influ
enced ecclesiastical matters. This object
Avill, perhaps, be obtained most effect
ually, if Ave try to examine into the
character ofthe king, and to deduce our
observations from his proceedings, as the
influence of the court Avas felt in every
part of the administration, and particu
larly in the church.
§ ,52:3. James might perhaps have
' Much of the advice of James cortaired great
goodfcnse. Early In this century, it had become
Ihe custom to put Into ihe hands of young si udenis
in iheology some epiiome, generally Calyin's
Inslltiiles, from which they drew their opinions.
(Words. Ecc. Biog. v. 479, nole.) King James ob
served ihe inconvenience, and preset ilied a remedy.
by fending instructions to the nnlversiliis, bearing
dale Jan. 18, 1616; wherein he directs them to
bestow their time on the " fathers, councils,
schoolmen, histories, and controversies ; and not
to insist loo long on compendiums and abbrevia
tors." (Ibid. v. 343, note.) So that they might
begin at ttie founiain head, and search for pviml-
livo truth in the primitive u titers.

proved a good king, if his weakness as
a man had not rendered it almost impos
sible for him to perform the duties of his
station. For the observation, which is
in some degree applicable to all, viz..
That even in the common concerns of
this life, " no Aveak man can proA'e an
honest one," is infinitely more true,Ayhen
applied to those Avho are invested with
supreme authority. That mental supe
riority on AA'hich James alAvays presumed,
and which, to a certain degree, he pos
sessed, induced him to endeavour to
make himself the guide, and, if I maj'
use the expression, the state tutor of
Europe ; while his personal imbecihty
preA'ented him from being able to govern
his own house. It was this weakness,
probably, Avhich made him so insincere
with regard lo his Avord ; an evil Avhich
is apt to become the source of an infi
nitely greater degree of Aveakness, by
preventing him who is guilty of it from
carryinif into effect even the good reso
lutions AA'hich he has formed.
§ 524. His OAvn opinions, with relation
both to the state and to the church, were
peculiar, and upheld Avitli a pedantic
semblance of firmness Avhich made his
concessions ahvays appear like the effect
of fear ; AA'hile the display of these sen
timents, on occasions Avhere they AA'ere
inopportunely introduced, often added
to the suspicions Avhich his subjects en
tertained as to the objects AA'hich he had
in vieAV. In politics, he bad formed so
high an idea of the regal prerogative,
that in an ansAver lo the parliament in
lOiO, he said,- "That as it Avas blas
phemy to dispute Avhat God may do, so
it is sedition, in subjects, to dispute AA'hat
a king may do in the plenitude of his
poAver." A monarch AA'ho had formed
such a notion, could not help Avishingto
make himself absolute, hoAvever much
he might desire to benefit his people by
the exercise of his authority; and the
party Avho in the state Avere adA-erse to
these regal ]irctcnsions, Avcre in church
matters opposed also to* the .arbitrary
proceedings of the bishops' courts, and
frequently to the Avhole system of church
government ; so that, in the mind of the
king, and the general language of the
times, the term of puritan conveyed
these tAA'o ideas, of dislike to the govern-

2 Rapin, ii. ITS.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

191

ment of the church, and opposition to
that of the state, Avhich are indeed more
closely connected than may at first sight
be supposed.
§ 52). The great point AA'hich the
Protestant had gained by the Reforma
tion, Avas the establishment of the feeling
of moral responsibility in the minds of
the mass of society. The Roman
Catholic teacher would fetter the free
dom of the opinions of his flock, even
though he enforced the doctrine, that
each man is ansAverable for his actions ;
for, Avith regard to actions, the duty of
obedience to superiors, as it is generally
insisted on, Avill often sanction a line of
conduct little approved of by the con
science of him AA'ho enters on it ; obe
dience in itself is not a duty, unless it
be according to the Avord of God. The
early promoters of the Reformaiion had
taught the people to think for them
selves, by referring questions to the cri
terion of their OAvn judgments ; but they
Avere not at all disposed to carry the
principle to the length to which it must
be extended whenever it is alloAved to
exist. The croAvn had destroyed the
papal authority in England for nearly a
century, but the poAver exercised by the
government was only different from the
papal interference inasmuch as it had
not the same interest to support abuses.
It sought to bring the church back to the
apostolic times ; at least such Avas its
ostensible object : and probably if we
take into consideration the change of
times, and the difficulties against AA'-hich
it had to contend, it did, in great mea
sure, accomplish this end ; but the means
employed were far from apostolic. As
the mass of the inhabitants began to be
enlightened, the same process took
place Avith regard to politics. From
beginning to observe the conduct of the
government in the state, most men ven
tured to form a judgment on what Avas
going on, and by degrees Avished to exert
their OAvn influence in the direction of
affairs. § 526. This was, doubtless, very much
the case during the reign of Elizabeth ;
but, during her reign, when the more
active spirits began to pry into state
matters, they found a government, Avith
all its faults, promoting the good of the
people ; they found a monarch vi'ilful,
indeed,' but anxious to benefit her sub

jects ; they found a poAver above them
ready and able to repress every step on
the part of the governed to interfere
with what did not belong to them ; yet
whenever any real difficulty occurred,
this same power, which they kneAv to be
most formidable, Avas wise enough to
give way before matters were brought
to a crisis.
When James took the helm, the whoh-
prospect Avas changed; his notions of
the regal authority were higher than
those of his predecessor, yet he had no
prudence or self-restraint Avhich could
support a force adequate to assert liis
kingly poAver : his motto, Beati pacifici,
had but little connection Avith Christian
peace, Avhich must be founded on justice :
it Avas but a prete.xt for his coAvardice :
he acted as if he had never learned that
a government, in order to maintain
peace, must make itself feared as well
as respected ; and as he became the
laughing-stock of foreign nations, he lost
all due authority at home. The admi
nistration of public affairs Avould not bear
to be examined ; and the king, the victim
of his OAvn favourites, became tyranni
cally oppressive Avithout desiring it, in
order to conceal his OAvn Aveakness and
the maladministration of his servants.
His objection to parliaments arose partly
from this cause, but chiefly from the
theoretical prejudices which he enter
tained. He would look on his authority
in no other light than as an absolute
monarchy ; and when the House of
Commons began to talk of those privi
leges Avhich were their birthright, the
speculative autocrat and legislator could
endure it no longer. His theory of
ecclesiastical goA'ernment was closely
allied to his civil code, and in like man
ner referred rather to his OAvn interest
as a king than to any other standard.
In his youth he had found himself very
hardly treated bythe presbytery in Scot
land ; and he seems, during his Avhole
life, to have retained a strong aversion
from that form of church government
through Avhich he had suffered so much,
and which had acted toAvards his mother
and himself Avith so little of the mild
spirit of Christianity ; and yet he pro
fessed himself the firm friend of it,' call
ing the service of the Common Prayer

Calderwood's History of Scolland.

193

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XII.

an evil mass, said in English. No
sooner, hoAvever, was he seated on his
noAv throne, than he discovered his mis
take, and became attached to an estab
lishment which, Avith all its imperfec
tions, is probably the most perfect Avhich
ever existed in the Avorld, and which
coincided more nearly Avith his own pre
conceived notions of subordination. Of
his sincerity in these professions Ave
haA'e no further reason to doubt, than
from his former Avant of candour ; and all
his observations concerning the church
are marked Avith much sound sense, ex
cepting in some feAV cases, in which he
suffered his temper to get the better of
his judgment. With regard to the Ro
man Caiholic religion, he seems to have
entertained very enlightened vieAvs.
§ 527. The poAver of dethroning and
punishingkings Avas the only tenet Avhich
he deemed inadmissible in practice ; and
if left to folloAv the bent of his OAvn in
clinations, he AA'ould have alloAved of a
toleration almost as liberal as Avhat is
noAV enjoyed by the members of this
communion ; but Avhen he came to act,
his insincerity to both sides Avas appa
rent. He reneAved the severe and
bloody laws against seminary priests,
Jesuits, and recusants, although in his
first speech to the parliament' h*^ had
declared his wish to meet the Roman
Catholics halfway. The state of the
country and the feelings of the people
were not yet ready to admit of toleration
as it is now established, and James no
minally gave Avay to the wishes of his
people Avhile he Avas trying to act in
direct opposition to them. The distinc
tions in the question Avhich now seem
so important, Avere then apparently little
thought of. To us no Iavo ideas seem
more different and separable than "the
being allowed the use of their religion,
as a religion," and " the being invested
with temporal poAver ;" yet Avere they
debarred the former, a privilege Avhicli
should be denied lono one ; Avhile many
of the important offices in the state Avere
filled by them, and they retained their
legislative authority, a point concerning
Avhich a difference of opinion may legi
timately be entertained. They were
invested with power, and yet subjected
to such burdens as were indeed to be
' Rapin, ii. 166.

bought off without any difficulty, but
Avhich could have little other effect than
that of making them discontented Avith
the government and hostile to the pu
ritanic party, Avho were as uncharitable
toAvards Roman Catholics as the worst
bigots of that church are towards all
other Christians. The conduct of some
of the Roman Catholics Vas such as
must have alarmed any friends of social
order, and the whole mass Avere iiiiidi-
cated in the crimes of a few. Muny
sincere supporters ofthe monarchy were
dissatisfied Avilh the moderate treati.ient
which the Roman Catholics e.vpc-
rienced ; and by having raised their
voices against the measures of the go
vernment in this particular, they were
connected in the eyes of the court Avith
the puritanic party. Many more pa
triotic spirits were frightened at the in
roads which the king Avas apparently
making in the constitution ; and, by
supporting the interests of the people,
were confounded ivith such as Avere
hostile to the church. The constitution
of the court of ecclesiastical commission
enabled it to proceed in an arbitrary
manner, and its proceedings assisted
the other causes in augmenting- the
number of both these classes of persons,
whom the impolicy of the court com
prehended under the general denomi
nation of puritans. Thus all Avho Avere
eager for the liberty of the subject, all
who feared concession to the Roman
Catholics, all Avho hated episcopacy,
were confounded in one common mass,
and all had too little reason to rely on
the Avisdom or sincerity of James.
The king himself Avas probably little
under the influence of any religious
feeling. He talked about religion, and
Avrote on subjects connected Avilh il, but
he swore profusely in his ordinary con
versation, and Avas the companion of
libertinism ; Avhile the favouritism in
Avhich he indulged made him unjiis-t to
his most faithful servants, and produced
a venal disposal of evei^ office in the
court :^ and yet the Aveakness of James
Avas probably the chief source of his
faults, and more than overbalanced all
the talents Avhich he possessed.

2 Nothing tended more lo weaken the crown
than the power which James e.\crciscd ol al rnat-
ing the royal properlv. (Burnet's Own 'I'lines.
i. 26.)

CiiAP. XIL] CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 198

DATES RELATIVE TO THE USE OF THE BIBLE IN ENGLISH.
1536. Cromwell orders every parson to cause a Bible in Latin and English to be
set up in the choir for the perusal of the people. Fox, ii. 324.
1538. CromAvell orders a Bible of the largest volume to be set up in every
church, in some place convenient for reading. Fox, ii. 325.
1539. A license for printing the Bible granted to CromAvell, that all persons
may have the free and liberal use of it. Burnet's Records, iii. No. 15.
1540. May. A king's proclamation orders a Bible of the largest volume to be
provided by the curate and parishioners, under a penalty of 40s. per
month.
1541. A brief published directing the same.
1543. The Bible was again suppressed. Strype's Cranmer, i. 121. Lewis, 148.
1546. A proclamation against Tyndale's and Coverdale's Bible. Strype's
Cranmer, i. 197.
1.547. Edward's injunctions directed that the whole Bible in English of the
largest volume should be set up in every church. LeAvis, 156.
1559. Elizabeth issued the same injunction. LeAvis, 212.

TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE.
Date. AuUiority.
706. Adhelm, Saxon Psalms  Mant's Preface.
721. Egbert's Four Gospels . . - . —
734. Bede's Sl John's Gospel - - - - Fuller's Ch. Hist. 99, p. i.
880. Alfred's Version of the Psalms - - - Ibid. i. 121, § 44.
1340. Rolle's (or Hampole's) Psalms, &c. - - Lewis, p. 13.
1380. Wiclif's Bible  p. 19.
1526. Tyndale's New Testament - - . . p. 59.
15:30.  Pentateuch .... p. 70.
1531.  Jonas  p. 73.
G. Joye, Isaiah ------ p. 79.
1534.  Jer. Psal. Song of Moses - - - p. 87, 88.
1535. Coverdale's Bible ----- p_ 9i_
1.537. Matthew's Bible, (i. e. J. Rogers) - - - p. 105.
1539. Great Bible, Cranmer's ... - p. 122.
Taverner's Bible --..-. p. 130.
1560. Geneva Bible ------ p 207
1568. Bishops' Bible, (Parker's) - - . - p.' 235.'
1582. Rhemes Noav Testament - . - - ¦ p 277
1.609. Douay Bible  p[ 286.'
1611. Authoi ized Version - - . . . p. 306, &c.

35 R

104

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIL

. APPENDIX D. TO CHAP. XII.

HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE.
531. The division of the subject ; various leadings from alterations of ihe text. 532. There has been
but one translation, which has been frequently corrected. 533. Saxon Translations: Hampole's,
Wiclif's. 534. Tyndale's Translation. 535. Coverdale's Bflde ; Matthew's. 536. The Great
Bible, or Cranmer's ; Taverner's. 537. Geneva Bible. 538. Bishops' or Parker's Bible.
539. Rhemes and Douay Translation. 540. The authorized Bible.

§531. The History of the English
Bible will naturally divide itself into
four periods : —
1. That before any printed transla
tions. 2. The reign of Henry VIII.
3. From thence to the end of the
reign of Elizabeth ; and,
4. From thence to the publication of
the authorized version.
But before Ave enter on the history, it
may be observed, that there is one cir
cumstance Avhich frequently creates a
difficulty in examining these various
translations, whether in MS. or print,
and which has made them appear much
more numerous than they really are.'
The persons who transcribed the copies,
or who superintended the printing, seem
to have introduced alterations into the
text, without any other autho'rity than
that of their own judgment. The va
riety of readings exhibited in the MS.
Bibles of Wiclif has led Dr. James'^ and
subsequent historians to call this cor
rected version a distinct translation ; but
the various readings are not more nu
merous than those Avhich might pro
bably be found in different editions of
what is called Tyndale's New Testa
ment. § 532. In speaking of the different
translations of the Bible, such expres
sions are frequently used as Avould lead
those who are unacquainted with the
facts, to suppose that they formed so
many independent works ; but we shall
take a more correct view of the subject
in asserting, that there is but one ver-
' The authorities followed in this abstract are
Lewis's History ofthe Translations of the Bible,
reprinted 1818. Newcome's Historical View of
the English Biblical Translations, Dublin. 1792.
Many of the observations have been verified by
examining the different works themselves. There
is much useful matter in Baber's preface to his
reprint of Lewis's N. T. See also Cotton's Edi-
Ijons of the Bible. ' Lewis, 43.

sion of the Protestant Bible in printy
altered indeed and improved by different
hands, and which has received the sub
sequent amendments of many learned
men, but from the first to the last there
has jbeen but one actual translation.
Let any one compare the earliest and
the latest, and he will find a diversity
indeed of words, but such a similarity
of expression as cannot be accidentaL
Let him then look at two independent
translations of the same book, of Thucy-
dides, for instance, by Hobbes and Smith,
and the difference will immediately be
come visible. The resemblance in the
Aversions is so great, that it might safely
be maintained that none of the authors
of a neAV one undertook the task Avith
out the full assistance of such previous
translations as had been made. The
wisdom of proceeding by this method is
obvious, unless there be some actual
error of translation, for the mere fact
that the version has been already re
ceived, and is familiar to the ears of the
people, is a strong reason why nothing
should be altered.
§ 533. The Saxon church seems to
have enjoyed at an early period the
benefit of possessing the Scriptures in
the vulgar tongue ; for, independent of
many different portions translated by
various persons, Bede is said to have
given a Saxon version of the whole ;.
and though this statement is probably
incorrect,^ yet he wrote a comment on
most of the books in the Bible,* and
translated St. John's Gospel, or at least
a part of it, immediately b.efore his
death. 5 Alfred is said to have trans
lated the Psalter," the Avhole Bible or
Testament, into Saxon; but the selec
tions which he made for his oAvn use.

5 Baber, pref lix.
< Turner's Hist. Anglo-Saxons, iii. 38] 385.
' Fuller, i. 99. ^ Turner's Arg.-Sax. ii. 95.

Chap. XIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

IM

appear to have been confounded with a
general translation. Elfric,' about the
end of the tenth century, undertook his
translation of the Scriptures from the
Latin ; and from the different styles of
the Anglo-Saxon versions of the gospels,
they must have been translated oftener
than once.* Archbishop Parker, in his
anxiety to prove that the proceedings of
the Reformation Avere not novelties, has
published a Saxon version of the four
gospels. The oldest English translation now
extant, is due to a priest of the name of
Rolle, who was a hermit at Hampole in
Yorkshire, and translated the psalins
and several other canticles from the
Scriptures, and Avrote a running com
mentary on them : (he died in 1319 :)
and it seems that at least parts, if not
all the New Testament, Avere about this
period rendered intelligible to those Avho
understood only their mother tongue.
(1380.) But the first person who pub
lished the Bible in English Ava.« -John
Wiclif;^ his translation is made from
the Vulgate, as he Avas unacquainted
Avith the original languages ; but he Avas
so desirous of translating literally, that
he has rendered it frequently very ob
scure to those Avho are unacquainted
with the idiom of the Latin. Notwith
standing the opposition which was raised
to the distribution of this work, nume
rous copies of it still remain.*

' Turner's .\ng.-Sax. ill. 472.
2 See more particulars to the same effect in
Lingjrd's Anglo-Sa.xon Church, p. 423, note 46.
3 'rhis account is taken from Lewis's History
ofthe Translations, p. 19. In the Life of Wichf
pubhshed 1720, there is a considerable account of
his way of proceeding, which Mr. Lewis seems
subsequently lo have erased, as it is not in the
edition of 1820, Oxford. 'I'his states that he and
his friends first framed, by collating different copies
of the Bible, the best Latin text they could, and
compared it with the Hebrew occasionally ; and
that they did not translate word for word, but
according to the sense. In the same omitted
paragraph is a catalogue of the books of the Old
and New Testament, which distinguishes the
Apocrypha, that is, " wiihouten authoritie of By
leve," p. 73, 1720. I know not why it was
omitted. < Two editions of the New Testament of this
version have been published; one by Lewis, fob,
1731, to which his History of the English Trans
lations formed a preface. And again 4to., 1810,
by H. H. Baber; this is merely a reprint of the
other with a preface. Mr. T. H. Horne, in the
Introduction to the Scriptures, ii. 238, speaks of a
translation older thatf WicHf's to be found in three
libraries in Oxford. After having examined the
MS. in Christ Church library, I am myself con-
vihced that this is not the case, and perhaps a true

§.534. The difficulty' of multiplying
copies must have created a constant
hinderance to the general use of the
Scriptures, had not Providence ordained
that the discovery of the art of printing
should, as it were, open a way for the
reformation ofthe church, and materially
assist its progress. The first person
who printed finy part of the Bible in
English, Avas William Tyndale. He
had received his education in Oxford
and Cambridge, and having been driven
into Flanders, he published, Avith the
assistance of John Frith and William
Roye, a translation of the New Testa
ment from the Greek." (1526.) He was
proceeding in this task, and had printed
translations of the Pentateuch and the
prophet Jonas, Avhen he Avas exalted to
a better world through the trial of mar
tyrdom ; a crown to which both his as
sociates were afterwards called. George
Joye, Avho Avas employed by the Dutch
booksellers in publishing an edition of
this New Testament, took the liberty of
making alterations in the text, though it
Avas still printed under the name of
Tyndale ; a circumstance which caused
an unseemly dispute betAveen them.
Joye himself continued the work by
translating Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the
Psalms. § 535. But the glory of putting forth
the first English Bible in print, was re
served for Miles Coverdale, afterAvards
bishop of Exeter, Avho, in 1535, pub
lished what he calls a special translation,
a term Avhich has been generally con-

solution is to be found in *531 ; and that this MS.
Is a copy of Wiclif's Bible, with which liberties
have been taken and glosses introduced. In some
respects it resembles Mr. Donee's, spoken of by
Mr. Balier.
° Archbishop Usher tells us Ihat, in 1 4-29, one
of these Testaments cost 21. Hs. 8d. (170 groats,)
which is as much as would now buy forty Testa
ments : (Lewis, 25 -.) but this is a very inadequate
view of the matter, By Raignier's tables a quarter
of wheat, in 1435, cost 5s. 8d. (17 groats.) The
price ofthe Testament was therefore ten quarters
of wheat, or about 30Z., a sum which would pur
chase at least 400.
^ This edition is by Strype called the New Tes
tament translated by Hotchyn ; (that is, Tyndale ;)
Fuller calls him Tyndal. alias Hichins. (.Wemor.
i. 113. Fuller, V. 2-34. 5 37.) The reason for this
name is as follows: Hugh, baron of Tyndale, of
Langley Castle, Norlhumberiand, escaped from
the field of battle when the Yorkists were over
come by the Lancastrians, lost his tUle and estate,
and took refuge in Gloucestershire under the as
sumed name of Hutchins. Preface to the reprint
of the New Testament. Wilham Tyndale was
the grandson ofthe baron.

196

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XH

eeived to mean that it was not borrowed
from any other source, which is hardly-
true, unless the expression be received
under great latitude of interpretation, as
the translation bears evident marks of
having been in some degree taken from
the former, though many expressions in
it are varied. The book is dedicated to
the king, in consequence of the direc
tions Avhich he had given for translating
the Scriptures, and the favour Avhich he
showed towards the undertaking gene
rally : for, upon the remonstrance of the
clergy, Avho objected to Tyndale's trans
lation, on account of the supposed! here
sies AA'hich it contained, it was ordered
to be destroyed ; and the king directed
that a more correct version should be
formed for the use of the people. Cover-
dale, however, was not peculiarly suited
to the task, as he was unacquainted with
the original languages, and translated
from such different Latin and Dutch
copies as he could procure.
(a. d. 1537.) The edition Avhich passes
under the name of MatthoAv's, is partly
taken from Tyndale, partly from Cover-
dale ; and was put forth under this ficti
tious name, probably by John Rogers,
who wished to conceal himself, through
the fear of persecution. It was of this
Bible that an impression of 2500 copies
was burnt at Paris, In 1538, by the in
quisition, though Francis had given
leave for its being printed there.
§ 536. (a. d. 1539.) The Great Bible,'
published under the patronage of Cran
mer, is rather another edition of that
called MattheAv's than a neAV one ; and
has acquired the name of the archbishop
from a preface AA'hich he wrote to the
second edition, as Avell as from the sup
port which he gave to the publication.
Cranmer, indeed, intended that this work
should undergo a thorough correction ;
and for that purpose, having required
the aid of the convocation in 1.542, he
proceeded to apportion the several parts
to the different members ; but found so
much opposition among the bishops,
that he persuaded the king to refer the
matter to the universities, a step Avhich
might have produced some good effects,
if the nejct parliament had not proved so
favourable to the other party as to coun-

' It is from this version that the psalms in tbe
Prayer Book are taken, wilh very shght varia
tions.

teract all these designs.'' A Bible, recog
nised by Richard Taverner, Avas publish
ed also during this year, which is so
much altered as almost to merit the title
of a neAV translation. He had belonged
to Cardinal's College, in Oxford, and
was subsequently taken into the protec
tion of Sir 'Thomas Cromwell, afterAvards
earl of, Essex, under whose patronage
he executed the work. Upon the fall of
CromAvell, he Avas for a time imprisoned
in the Tower, but speedily restored to
the favour of the king. He Avas famous
for his great knowledge of Greek.
§ 537. (a. d. 1560.) The refugees as
sembled at Geneva during the reign of
Mary, employed themselves, " among
other useful pursuits, in forming a new-
translation of the Bible from the original
languages. The persons said to haA-e
taken part in this work are Coverdale,
Goodman, Gilby, Whittingham, Samp
son, and Cole ; to these are sometimes
added Knox, Bodleigh, and Pullain.
The Avork, as might have been expected,
Avas in part new and in part a revision
of the old translation. Little need be
said to prove its excellency, since, on
comparing them, Ave .should find that the
present authorized Bible differs but little
from it ; and that those who engaged in
the Iavo subsequent versions, frequently
adopted expressions taken from it into
their ownAvork. There are many mar
ginal notes and glosses subjoined, AA'hich
occasionally point out the political bias
in the minds of the composers: a cir
cumstance AA'hich induced James I., dur
ing the conference at Hampton Court, to
say that it Avas the worsf of all the trans
lations : one instance, among many,
Avhere the judgment of that monarch
Avas overcome by his kingly prejudices;
for it is certainly better than any before
it. It was much used in private fami
lies, but never authoritatively introduced
into the church.* The division into
verses was first adopted in this Bible.^
2 See 4 222. _ s Fuller, x. 14.
" N. B. It is sometimes called the Breeches
Bible, from Genesis iii. 7, where Adam and Eve
are said lo have sewed fig-leaves together to make
themselves breeches.
* The Old Testament was divided into sections
and verses, marked off by points, perhaps as early
as the lime of Ezra ; a melhod adopted for the
sake of interpreting it from Hebrew into Chaldee.
The division into chapters is of much later date,
and was made by Hugo de Sancto Caro, or Car
dinalis, who composed the first Concordance to the

Ohai-. XH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

197

§ 538. (a. d. 1568.) When a new edi
tion of the Great Bible' was required for
the use of parish churches, in the reign
of Elizabeth, Parker was unwilling to
put it forth again vvithout endeavouring
to correct all the errors Avhich had been
observed in it ; and for this purpose em
ployed a certain number of divines to
aid him in the task of making it as per
fect as possible. As the majority of the
persons employed Avere bishops, the
Bible itself has been ordinarily denomi
nated the Bishops' or Parker's Bible, and
is the one which formed the basis for the
last or authorized translation. The per
sons engaged in it Avere Alley, Davis,
Sandys, Horne, Grindal, Parkhurst, Cox,
and Guest, all bishops ; besides Peerson,
Beecon, Pern, Cole, and Goodman. This
may more properly be called a corrected
edition of the Great Bible, for nothing
vyas altered unless from the fear that it
might give occasion to an error. A large
preface is prefixed to it,'' as well as several
tables, one of Avhich forms that of the
degrees of kindred within which matri
mony is forbidden, inserted at present in
our Common Prayer Book.
§ 539. The Roman Catholics, finding
that of the numerous copies of the Bible
some must of necessity fall into the hands
of members of their communion, wisely
determined to put forth a translation of

their own. The New Testament was
printed at Rhemes in 1582 ; the whole
Bible at Douay in 1609. It is made from
the Vulgate, and abounds with expres
sions in which, from retaining the Avords
of the owginal, the sense is scarcely in
telligible to an ordinary reader. The
persons who were deeply engaged in the
Avork were Cardinal Allen, Greg. Mar
tin, and R. Bristol f others ascribe the
version of the New Testament to William
Reynold. The work was accompanied
by marginal notes by Thomas Worthing
ton ; and in order to recommend its adop
tion, Greg. Martin published an attack
on the translations in general use in this
country, and was answered by Fulke.
§ 540. In consequence of certain ob
jections raised against the Bishops' Bible
in the Conference at Hampton Court, a
new translation Avas agreed on, and every
step taken which could render it worthy
of our church and nation. The king
called upon the principal divines of the
nation to assist in carrying on the work,
and invited all Avho had any acquaintance
Avith the subject to lend their aid with
regard to such texts of Scripture as they
had found to be incorrectly rendered in
the former translations. The number
of persons engaged in the work itself
amounted to forty-seven,* who were di
vided into six committees, and sat at

Vulgate (1240.) It has been used in the Hebrew since Rab. Nathan made his Concordance, 1445.
Robert Slephens divided the New Testament, and his son Henry printed it so. (1551.) (Prideaux,
Conn. ii. 84, fol., i. 266.)
' Sirype's Parker, i. 414. ^ Printed in Strype's Parker, No. 84, 3 Newcome, 89.
¦* The translators wete divided into six classes, and were to meet at Westminster, Cambridge, and
Oxford. (Lewis, 310.) These met at Westminster.

Andrewes, Westmr.
Overall, D.
Paul's,
Saravia, Gierke,Layfield,Leigh,Burleigh,
Kinge,Thomson,Bedwell,

Lively, Richardson,Chaderton,
DilUngham,Harrison,Andrews, Spaldinge,Birge;

D.of
of St.

I

Pentateuch. T le story fr^m .lo.
> ohua to tne nrst
book of the Chro
nicles exclusive.

Barlow, D. of
Chester,
Hutchinson,Spencer,Fenton,Rabbett,Sanderson,
Dakins.

The classes at Cambridge were-

From the first of
Chronicles whh the
rest of the story,
and the Hagio-
grapha, viz.. Job,
Psalms, Proverbs,
Cantica, Ecclesias
tes.

Duport,Brathwaite, Radcliffe,Ward,Downes,Boyse, Warde.

The Epistles of St.
• Paul and the Ca
nonical Epistles.

The prayer of Ma-
• nasses and the rest
of the Apocrypha.

r2

198

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XII.

Westminster and the two universities.
The different portions ofthe Bible were
assigned among them, but each portion
was, on its completion, subjected to the
other committees for examination ; and
in case of anj' difficulties, a final com
mittee was to be formed for their discus
sion. In order that the clergy so em
ployed might not be unrewarded, all
persons possessed of any ecclesiastical
patronage were urged to bestow what
ever happened to fall vacant on some of
the translators, and the king exhorted
ecclesiastical bodies to be liberal in con
tributing money for the support of the
undertaking. 'The rules laid down for
the performance of the task were judi
cious. As little alteration as possible
Avas to be made in the Bishops' Bible ;
and whenever this did not agree with the
original text, recourse Avas to be had to
former translations. No notes were to
be affixed beyond Avhat the literal expla
nation of the Hebrew and Greek words
adopted into the text might require ; and
a foAV marginal references, and only a
few, were to be appended. The com
missions were issued in 1604; the per
sons appointed entered on the work
itself in the spring of 1607,' but the
Bible was not printed till 1611, so much
time and caution was used to prevent
inaccuracies. Above two hundred years have noAv

elapsed since this review of the Bible ;
and the church has subsequently con
tented itself Avith discovering inaccura
cies, without attempting to correct them.
The Avhole question of anew translation
is one of considerable delicacy; but the
opinion of Archbishop Newcome, sup
ported as it is by the concurrent testi
mony of nearly thirty divines of con
siderable weight, together with his own
judicious remarks, which was given to
the world almost forty years ago, ought
not to have remained Avithout due and
public attention. If prudential reasons
forbid the publication of a new version,
yet surely there could be no danger
in the correction of such mistakes as are
obvious to all men, (for some passages
are scarcely intelligible.) and of such
as are acknowledged by all who aru
acquainted Avith the original languages.
These amendments might be introduced
into the margin, and sanctioned by au
thority, so that they might be used at
the discretion of the minister; a step
Avhich would at least prepare the way
for their ultimate introduction into the
text, and show a wish to make use of
the groAving knowledge of the country
for the improvement of the services of
the church. Our present translation is,
probably, the best in existence ; yet this
circumstance need not prevent the at
tempt of lessening its imperfections.

At Oxford.

Hardinge, • ^

Ravis, D.of Ch.

Reynolds,

The four greater Pro

Ch.

Holland,

phets with the La-

Abbot, D. of

Kilby,

^ mentation, and the

Winches.

Smith,

twelve lesser Pro

Montague, D. of

Brett,

phets.

Worces.

Fareclowe.

Thompson, D.of
Winds.
Savile,

Perin,
Rsvens,
lianiitsr.
The four Gospels,
• Acts of the Apos'
ties, Apocalypse.
' Johnson, 97.
Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

199

CHAPTER XIII.

THE REIGN OF CHAliLES I. 1625, TO 1649.
551. Causes of the fall of the church. 552. Montague; Mainwairing; impolicy of the court. 553.
Forced loans promoted by the clergy. 554. Star Chamber. 555. High commission; Williams;
Abbot. 556. FeoflTees of impropriations brought before the Exchequer. 557. Arminianism ; decla
ration prefixed to the Thirty-nine Articles. 558. Sabbatarian controversy. 559. Book of Spurts,
560, 561. The quesiion discussed. 562. Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton. 563 Williams; Os
bolston. 564. Scotch Htui-gy. 565. Episcopacy in ScotlamJ. 566. Charles I. does not govern
wisely. 567. In 1637 he endeavours to introduce the Liiurgy; the canons sent down previously.
568. Tumults in Edinburgh; the covenant framed and signed; civil war successtully carried on
against the government. 569. Laud; ceremonies. 570. Canons of 1640. 571. Stale of England.
572. Long Parliament. 573. Bishops deprived of their voles. 574. Destruction of the church.
575. Catises of the war. 576 — 5791 Outline of the war. 580. Self-denying ordinance; Fairfax;
CromweU. 581. Their campaign. 582. Lord Sirafford; Laud. 583. His character. 584. And
trial. 585. Usher's episcopacy; the assembly of divines at Westminster. 586. 'I'he parties in the
assembly. 587. Presbyterians, their church government. 588. Independents; Erastians. 589.
Thirty-nine Articles altered; church government ; ordination. 590. Works of the assembly, direc
tory, &c. 591. Presbyterian government. 592. Sei up in London and Lancashire; earnestness
exhibued in its favour. 593. The growth of independency. 594. Fate of the king. 595. His dis
cussions on episcopacy, (') present slate of church discipline. 596, 597. Character of Charles.
598. Sufferings of the elergy. 599. Cambridge. 600. Oxiord.

§551. (a. D. 1625.) In the period
of history on Avhich we are about to
enter, it is difficult to distinguish be-
tvveen the portions Avhich belong to the
civil or to the ecclesiastical historian.
The interests of church and state are so
intimately blended that they admit of no
real separation ; yet the multiplicity of
affairs, in this eventful reign, renders it
absolutely necessary that much should
be omitted, and that a decided line
should be drawn betAveen the tAvo.
Strictly speaking, perhaps little can be
referred to the church alone, but during
the Avhole of the earlier government of
Charles, churchmen not only influenced
his councils to a great extent, but the
influence which they possessed tended
greatly to overthroAV the monarchy, and
to swalloAv up the ecclesiastical estab
lishment in its train. The causes which
had contributed to transfer to the church
much of the popular odium which Avas
due to the civil government, not only
continued to exist, but some accidental
circumstances tended to augment the
evil; it must therefore be our first object
to enter on the detail of these, that aa^c
may understand hoAv the, church and
monarchy fell together, and hoAv each
assisted in promoting the destruction of
the other.
§ 552. Montague,' in an answer to a
Roman Catholic book," had made some
"'Fuller, xTlli!
2 The book which he answered was called, A

concessions which offended many Pro
testants, and Avhen attacked, had de
fended himself by publishing an appeal
to the king, Avhich tended only to in
crease the storm. When objections
were raised against these books in the
House of Commons, the king injudi
ciously advocated the cause of the
writer, till deterred from doing so by
the displeasure Avhicli this conduct
created among his subjects.
The necessities of the court induced
those Avho governed to have recourse
to many expedients for raising money,
and as these depended for their success
on the strength of the royal prerogative,
Avhatever augmented it became pecu
liarly acceptable to those in authority.
MainAvairing,^ Avho was one of the
chaplains to the king, preached and
printed Iavo sermons on this subject,
(1628,) which gave great offence to the
Commons, and he Avas severely pu
nished. Montague Avas held to bail in
2000Z. ; (the dissolution of the parlia
ment probably prevented further pro
ceedings against him;) MainAvairing
Avas fined 1000/., and declared incapable
of holding preferment, or of preaching
before the court. Yet both these men

Gag for the New Gospel ; his answer, A New
Gag for an Old Goose. He published also a
treatise on the invocation of saints, and a work
entitled Appello ad Casdrem. Collier, ii. 736, gives
a full account. Neal's Puritans.
3 Fuller, xi. 129. Collier, ii. 743.

200

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XUL

were subsequently made bishops. The
punishments Avhich had been thus in
flicted by the commons, Avere perhaps
tyrannical, but it argued in the court a
great contempt for the opinions of the
nation, when the animadversions ofthe
parliament were to prove the road to
preferment, and naturally connected the
church, in the minds of the people, with
the parly which was adverse to the civil
liberties of the subject. These may be
regarded as accidental circumstances,
yet they strongly mark the temper of
the times, and the inclination of the
court to convert the church into an in
strument for enlarging its power, a de
sign which Avas more strongly displayed
on other occasions.
§ 553. When in the year 1626 the
court,' on the dissolution of the parlia
ment, adopted the method of forced loans,
in order to meet the necessities of the
state, the king sent a circular letter to the
bishops, instructing them to urge their
6lergy to shoAv their zeal in promoting
these objects through their sermons ; a
step Avhich, if successful, could not fail
to give the clergy a close connection, in
the eyes of the people, Avith the abuses
under which so many real friends of
liberty were groaning. Laud was pro
bably the author of the plan, as Avell as
employed to draAv up the letter; and
indeed the , whole of his policy Avent
upon the idea that he Avas benefiting the
church by making churchmen contri
bute to the direct support of the state,
and thus divesting them of their spiritual
character. Connected as church and
state must be, Ave cannot entirely se
parate them ; but the very notion of a
priesthood, set apart for the service of
God, seems to imply that, as far as
such a separation is possible, it should be
maintained. Laud was probably an
honest and pious man, but he seems
not to have seen that the improvements
Avhich he was sincerely anxious to pro
mote were incompatible Avith the go
vernment which he endeavoured to
support ; since arbitrary authority, in
either church or state, must have the
tendency of corrupting those who com
mand, and debasing those Avho obey.
The steps by Avhich the House of Com-
iiiions were inclined to assert their right
> Heylin's Laud, 162.

of paying no taxes which they had not
imposed on themselves, appeared to
Laud to sap the foundations of govern
ment, and to give the subject an indirect
poAver over his prince ; in attempting,
therefore, to obviate this difficulty, he
appealed to the people through the
clergy ; but in so doing, he made the
latter appear to the eyes of their flocks
to be the tools of the court.
§ 554. When more churchmen were
admitted into the privy-council, and the
same individuals became members of
the Star Chamber and of the Court of
High Commission, it Avas not unnatural
that the people should connect in their
OAvn minds the two latter courts, as con
stituting one and the same authority,
and thus the odium attached lo either
the one or the other, combined to create
a hatred against the church. "The
Star Chamber'' Avas a court of very an
cient original, but ncAV modelled by
statutes 3° Henr. VII. ch. 1, and 21°
Hen. VIII. ch. 20, consisting of divers
lords, spiritual and temporal, being privy
counsellors, together with two judges
of the courts of common law, tvithout
the intervention of any jury. Their
jurisdiction extended legally over riots,
perjury, misbehaviour of sherifTs, and
other notorious misdemeanors, contrary
to the laivs of the land. Yet this Avas
afterAvards, as Lord Clarendon informs
us, stretched to the asserting of all pro
clamations and orders of state: lo the
vindicating of illegal commissions, and
grants of monopolies ; holding for ho
nourable that Avhich pleased, and for
just that Avhich profited ; and becoming
both a court of laAv to determine civil
rights, and a court of revenue to enrich
the treasury ; the (privy) council table
by proclamations enjoining to the people
that which Avas not enjoined by the
laAvs, and prohibiting that Avhich Avas '
not prohibited ; and the Star Chamber,
Avhich consisted of the same persons
in different rooms, censuring the breach
and disobedience to those proclamations
by very grea,t fines, imprisonments, and
corporal severities ; so that any disre
spect to any acts of state, or to the per
sons of statesmen, Avas in no time more
penal, and the foundations of right
never more in danger to be destroyed. '1
2 Blackstone's Commentaries, iv. ch. 19.

Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

201

The severity frequently exercised by
this court must have been sufficient to
excite a great dislike to it, had all its
acts been legal ; in many cases they in
flicted the punishments of Avhipping,
branding, cutting ofT the ears, and slit
ting the nose ; and this, not on thieves
and vagabonds, but on Avriters of poli
tical and religious pamphlets,' and some
times to gratify private malice ; for the
interest of the court Avas readily called
into action, Avhenever the character of a
privy counsellor AAi-as attacked.
§555. The Court of High Commission
had been created by the eighth clause
in the act of supremacy ;" and during
the reign of Elizabeth, considerable cor
ruptions and much oppression had ori
ginated from it ; tut Avhen many of the
laitjf Avere made parties in the contest
about ceremonies, it became in several
dioceses a source of very serious hard
ship,-' and irritated the body of the
people against the Avhole government
of the church.
The faults also of Laud Avere, by a
species of reasoning Avhich is not un
common, reflected on the body to Avhich
he belonged ; and the general anger
against the court, Avhich arose from the
dissolution of so many parliaments, one
after anotlier, Avas in a great measure
directed against him. This dislike Avas
increased by the treatment experienced
by tAvo churchmen, who, though high
in situation, Avere oppressed by the
court, and subjected to the malice of
their enemies. Williams, bishop of
Lincoln^ and lord keeper of the seals,
Avas deprived of this latter office from
the enmity ofthe duke of Buckingham,
(A.n. 1627;) and Abbott, archbishop
of Canterbury, suspended from exer
cising any ecclesiastical functions, be
cause, according to Fuller,^ he had acci
dentally killed a gamekeeper some
years before. He had, however, ever
since continued to perform the duties
of his office, had been cleared from all
irregularity by a commission which was

' Fuller, xi. 136. = M28.
' Mrs. Hutchinson says, i. 129, (8vo. edit.) such
"of the puritans" as could not flee, were tor
mented in the bishops' courts ; fined, whipped, pil
loried, imprisoned and suffered to enjoy no rest,
60 that death was better than Hfe to them. How
ever exaggerated, this must have been in some
degree true.
* ColUer, ii. 735. 5 xi. 127.
26

formed for this purpose soon after the
accident took place," and no mention of
this reason is made in the commission
by which he was suspended. . His real
offence, probably, consisted in nis re
fusal to license a sermon of Dr. Sib
thorpe,' Avho had preached in favour'of
the legality of loans. The efl"ect of
these severities Avas, as might have been
expected, to create a further ill-tvill
tOAvards the court and Laud, and a ge
neral sympathy in favour of the sufTerers.
§ 556. (a. n. 1632.) Another cause
of discontent" arose in the suppression
of the feoffees for impropriations. The
poverty ofthe church had induced many
persons to contribute money for the
purpose of obviating this evil, and twelve
feoffees Avere constituted for carrying
this pious subject into execution, Avhich
Avas to be effected by the purchase of
impropriate rectories. They consisted
of four divines, four laAvyers, and four
citizens, Avho acted Avithout an)' legal
authority, or charter of any sort, and
large sums of money Avere raised for
furthering their ends. The first check
which Avas given to this society, arose
from a sermon" preached at Oxford in
1630, Avherein the preacher inveighed
vehemently against those who managed
its concerns, accusing them of carrying
on their otvn political plans under the
mask of religion. They were said to
retain all the impropjiations so pur
chased in their own hands, and not to
transfer them to the livings to which
they had belonged ; to employ the pro
ceeds in maintaining factious preachers
in market tOAvns, and in supporting si
lenced ministers and their families. Such
an establishment Avas liable to be turned
to the very Avorst of purposes, but, if
well directed, might have produced
much good; and it Avas said that White,"
one of the feoffees, privately offered
Laud to submit the whole to his lord
ship's direction ; yet the fear of what
might happen induced those who di
rected the ecclesiastical affairs of the
kingdom to bring the matter into the
Exchequer, Avhere the incorporation was
overthrown, the property forfeited to

« Collier, ii. 740.
' In Collier, ii. 740, there is some account p£
this sermon ; see too Rapin, ii. 259.
8 Fuller, xi. 136. » Heylin's Laud, 210.
"> Fuller, xi. 143. ^ '

302

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIIL

the crown, and the feofl^ees subjected
t(:r;such punishment as the Star Chamber
chose to inflict : this last part, hoAvever,
vvas never carried into effect. Had
Laud, by joining in this society and
putting himself at its head, attempted
to guide, instead of opposing it, the re
sult might have been very beneficial to
the church and creditable to himself;
as it Avas, he, for the time, carried his
point, and violated the better feelings
of those Avho could hardly perceive the
danger, hoAvever real it might be ; and
in the end, the bitterness Avhich Avas
thus created tended to destroy what re
mained of the establishment.
§ 557. NotAvithstanding the counte
nance which the church of England
had given to the decrees of the synod
of Dort, the opinions of the Arminians
so gradually prevailed among the higher
clergy, particularly among those Avho
had the disposal of preferment, that to
entertain sentiments in favour of Cal
vinism was the greatest bar to the ad
vancement of any clergyman. Bishop
Morley, when chaplain to Lord Carnar
von,' Avas asked by a country gentle
man Avho Avished to knoAV something
of their doctrine, "What the Arminians
held?" "They hold," says he, " the
best bishoprics and deaneries in Eng
land ;"'¦' a bon mot, Avhich sufficiently
shoAvs hoAA' far party feeling Avas al
lowed to prevaiL on every subject, and
Avill partially account for the bias AA'hich
the religious part of the community, par
ticularly the loAA^er clergy, took against
the equally strong prejudice of the court ;
and it should be remembered that there
is an anti-Calvinism which is as much
at variance Avith the doctrines of the
churchof England and Avith Scripture as
the decrees of the synod of Dort can be.
(June 14, 1626.) Early in the reign
the king had issued a proclamation"
enjoining his subjects, particularly the
clergy, to abstain from all innovations
with regard to religion ; and ih order to
co-operate with this injunction, (1628,)
a declaration" Avas prefixed to a neAV

' Clarendon's Life, 50 or 26.
2 The fact is alluded to in the remonstrance
which was made to the king by the House of
Commons, 1628. (CoUier's Hist. ii. 744.)
» Heylin's Laud, 1.54.
* Sparrow's Collection, 87. There is a copy of
(nis original edition, 1628, in Christ Church Li-

edition of the Thirty-nine Articles, in
Avhich all persons were forbidden to
interpret them in any but the gramma
tical sense ; and it is no small proof of
the temper of the times, that this was
deemed to be in favour ofthe Arminian
side of the question,* and that the Cal
vinists were about to petition against it.
Yet the conduct of the court did not
correspond Avith this apparent temper
ance in its declarations, for when Bishop
Davenant" (March, I63I) had preached
on the subject of predestination, and in
so doing offended the king, he was
brought before the council, and se
verely reprimanded for that Avhich,
according to his OAvn ansAver, was done
in ignorance, and perfectly in accord
ance with the published injunctions of
the court. Something of the same sort
took place Avith regard to some preach
ers in Oxford, on Avhich Fuller observes,
" The expulsion of these preachers ex
pelled not, but increased the difli;rences
in Oxford, Avhich burnt the more for
blazing the less ; many complaining
that the SAvord of justice did not cut
indifferently on both sides, but that it
Avas more penal for some to touch, than
others to break the king's declaration."
The natural effect of all this Avas to ren
der every one Avho entertained Calvin
istic opinions hostile to, the court, and
to make them connect a dislike to the
government of the church Avith the
hatred Avhich they bore toAvards the
state. § 558. The Sabbatarian controversy,
too, contributed to injure the cause of
the church in the minds of the people.
During the period in which the Roman
Catholic religion had prevailed in this
country, much laxity had existed with
regard to the day set apart for God's
service, a laxity Avhich had been con
tinued during the reigns of Elizabeth
and James' by the practice of the court,
though a sentiment of disapprobation
against such proceedings seems gradu
ally to have spread throughout the na
tion. The question, indeed,^ involved
a considerable number of heads, Avhich
Avere variously argued, but the chief
difference of opinion consisted Avith re-

brary : the dale of this publication is somelimes

questioned. 5 Collier's Hist. ii. 746
'See 4 519,'.

« Fuller, ix. 138.
8 Fuller, xi. 144, &,c.

Chap. XHL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

203

gard to the manner in which this day
ought to be observed.
While one party admitted of no other
term for its designation than that of the
Sabbath, this appellation Avas the abo
mination of another ; and moderate and
indiflferent persons called it by the se
veral names of Sunday, Sabbath, or
Lord's day.
Its beginning and duration formed
another subject of dispute; some con
fined its continuance to the time occu
pied by the service of the church, and
others were as strenuous in enjoining a
strict observance of it from the Satur
day evening till the folloAving night.
One party founded the institution on
the sole authority of the church, others
attributed the change in the day to the
appointment of the church founded on
apostolic usage, while the original dedi
cation of one day in seven rested on the
command given by the Almighty at the
creation : this contained virtually the
question of the legality of any alteration
in the day, and it appears that the
church of Geneva had once thought of
adopting Thursday as their day of rest.
But the point Avhich was agitated
with the greatest warmth, Avas as to the
manner in which this day ought to be
kept holy. The advocates ofthe greatest
strictness would alloAV of no amusements
but Avalking, Avhile the maintainers of
the contrary opinion devoted those parts
of the day Avhich were not occupied by
religious services to every species of
enjoyment. The ordinary amusements*
in country parishes Avere called church-
ales, clerk-ales, and bid-ales, besides the
revels or feasts of the dedication of the
church : they were merry-makings, con
sisting of drinking and sports, particu
larly dancing, which took place either
every Sunday or on particular occa
sions. Such meetings necessarily led
to disorders, and the religious part of
the community, in their anxiety to re
press them, occasionally fell into the
opposite extreme," and in their animad-
1 Neal's Puritans, ii. 214.
2 '• Some preachers went so far as to maintain,
that to do any work or servile business on the
Lord's day, is as great a sin as to kill a man or to
commit adultery j that fo throw a bowl, to majce
afeast, or dress a wedding dinner on the Lord's
day, is as great a sin as for a man to take a knife
and cut his child's throat. That to ring more bells
than one on the Lord's day, is as great a sin as to
con.mit murder. And I know also a town of my

versions on the unruly, became uncha
ritable toAvards those who differed from
themselves, and unjustly severe on the
lower orders, whose excesses might pro
bably have been checked Avithout any
open interference in the magistracy.
§ 559. In 1633 Chief Justice Richard
son, at the request of the magistrates in
Somersetshire,^ ordered the Sunday-ales
and wakes to be suppressed, and direct
ed that the order should be read by ijno
clergy in their several churches : an
interference Avith ecclesiastical matters
Avhich the archbishop, whose influence
Avas now supreme, highly resented.
The judge, therefore, Avas brought be
fore the privy council, and commanded
to rescind his order at the next assizes.
To correct this spirit of Avhat was called
puritanism, the king, probably at the
suggestion of Laud, issued a proclama
tion which is generally known by the
name of the Book of Sports. It con
tained a proclamation* which had been
formerly issued by James I., and was
accompanied with a declaration, that
the king would not alloAv any curtailing
of the liberty of his poorer subjects,
with regard to their amusements on
the Sunday. The clergy were enjoined
to read this in their churches, a com
mand which became a stumbling-block
to many sincere men. Some,* indeed,
approved of the contents, others paid
a partial obedience to the injunction
by reading the proclamation, and im
mediately repeating the fourth com
mandment, or preaching on the due
observance ofthe Sabbath ; Avhile others
utterly refused all compliance with the
order. Among the bishops there was
a great difference in the severity Avith
Avhich they animadverted on those cler
gymen who had been guilty of neglect
in this particular. Some deprived those
Avho persisted in their refusal ; others
declined becoming the accusers of their
brethren ; Avhile much moderation was
exhibited by a third class, who exer
cised severity on a fcAv only of the most
obstinate refusers.
acquaintance, the preachers there brought the peo
ple lo that pass, that neither baked nor roast meat
was lo be found in all the parish for a Sunday's
dinner throughout the year," &c. &c. (Preface
to Prideaux on the Sabbath.)
3 Rushworth's Coll. ii. i. 191.
4 Rushworth's Coll. ii. i. 193, « 519.
6 Fuller, xi. 148.

204

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIII.

§ 560. The subject itself is one on
which so feAV directions are contained
in the Scriptures, that much latitude of
opinion might naturally have been ex
pected with regard to it. Its name,
perhaps, and its exact duration, are of
less practical importance ; but the na
ture of the institution, ami the manner
in which it ought to be observed, are
of the greatest consequence. The
generally received opinion, and that
whiTh tallies best Avith the institutions
of the church of England, seems to be,
that the dedication of one day in seven
to the service of God is part of the
moral laAV ; that the change of this day
from Saturday to Sunday is sanctioned
by the custom of the apostles ; and that
the Christian's liberty Avill alloAV of any
method of keeping this day AA'-hich an
swers the command of abstaining from
work and of keeping it holy. Amuse
ments in the abstract contain nothing
which need infringe on this holiness ;
yet it is obvious that some amusements
will so far unfit the mind for religious
duties, that they must be totally inad
missible ; that to persons situated in
different spheres of life a different
rule may be applicable ; and that all
recreations which offend against the
religious scruples of our brethren ought
out of charity to be avoided. In this
case, therefore, it seemed an act of great
impolicy, to say no worse, to make the
clergy exhort their parishioners to join
in dancing, leaping, vaulting, archery,
and May-games ; amusements which
were little likely to promote the spirit
uality of the Sabbath employments,
even if we grant that they were not
actually wrong : and the issuing such
a proclaniation must have had the tend
ency of alienating from the govern
ment the affections of all those who had
any doubts on these points. The effect
in Somersetshire' seems to have been,
that the laity were petitioning to have
these disorders on the Sabbath put
down by ?mthority, while the high
church party requested that .these
amusements might remain ; a state of
things which, if it produced no other
consequence, must have raised a very
unfavourable impression in the breasts
of the people concerning their spiritual
guides.

I Neal, ii. 215.

§ 561. Had this proclamation con
fined itself to its proper province, — had
it condemned in general teirms the pro
fanation of the Lord's day, while it
forbade magistrates to punish any who
were not engaged in unlaAvful pursuits,
the object of the king might probably
have been furthered ; for on these
points the law, as it noAV stands, seems
to be well calculated for procuring a
due observance of the Sabbath. While
gross violations of propriety are punish
able as misdemeanors, pragmatical in
terference in the amusements of the
people is prevented by the silence of
the laAA', and every sincere observer of
the Sabbath is at liberty to influence by
his example and advice others Avho are
less strict in their practice ; a species
of persuasion which is at once the most
effectual, and in which every step is
sure to be accompanied Avith the moral
improvement of those Avho make il.^
§ 562. (a. d. 1637.) A piece of se
verity' exercised on three members of
the learned professions, produced more
effect in spreading a general hatred
against Laud and the government than
the victims of this severity perhaps
deserved. Prynne, a common laAvyer,
BastAvick, a physician, and Burton, a
clergyman, had each of them published
pamphlets offensive to the court, and
Avhen brought before the Star Chamber,
they severally put in pleas of such a
nature as were not admitted. The
prisoners, therefore, Avere convicted as
not making any defence, though they
Avished to be alloAved to plead for them
selves, and were condemned to lose
their ears in the pillory, to be im
prisoned in remote places during plea
sure, and fined .5000/. each. Prynne
Avas also branded. Such a punishment
produced much more irritation than if
they had been sentenced to death; and
it so happiened that, after having been
sent to Guernsey, Jersey, and Scilly,
they were, upon the assembling of the
Long Parliament, brought back in tri-

2 There are two acts of parliament during 'this
reign against profaning the Lord's day ; 1° ch. i.
forbids bull-baiting, bear-baiting, interludes, com
mon plays, and other unlawful exercises and
pastimes ; people are forbidden to go out of their
own parishes for any amusements. 3" ch. ii. Car
riers and wagoners are forbidden to travel on tha
Sunday, and butchers to kill meat.
» Fuller, xi. 151. Heylin's Laud, 328.

CttAP. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

305

amph, to the disgrace of the court.
Their faults, Avhich were great, were
overlooked in the indignity of their
punishment; and the blame was throAvn
on the church, because each of their
libels had= been directed chiefly against
the bishops and their government.
§ 563. Williams,who Avas a turbulent
man,' after having been deprived of the
office of lord keeper, for Avhich he Avas
probably unfit, had resided at his epis
copal house at Bugden, Avhere he al
lowed of greater freedom in talking
about the government than Avas Avell
suited to his situation. HeAvas indicted
in 1337 for betraying the king's secrets,
being a privy-counsellor, a charge Avhich
Avas soon dropped as being frivolous ;
and another brought against him, of
suborning and tampering with Avit
nesses. Whether innocent or no, he
endeavoured lo escape by offering to
make a composition Avith the king, in
which he was prevented by some, of his
enemies, and sentenced to pay a fine
of 8[)00/., and to be imprisoned during
the king's pleasure. In this transaction
Laud took an active part, and the
bishop afterAvards complained that he
had not been allowed to impugn the
testimonies of the persons brought
against him, who, as being king's Avit
nesses, could not be excepted against;
that Secretary Windebank had caused
,all those who would have given evi
dence in his favour to be imprisoned
under royal Avarrants till the trial Avas
over; anil that those pleas of his, which
the court Avas ashamed to set aside pub
licly, Avere overruled in private. An
other charge Avas brought against him
while he Avas in the ToAver, which, for
the severity of the punishment and the
absurdity of the crime, rivals any thing
recorded in history. Lambert Osbols
ton, some time student of Christ Church,
master of Westminster-school, and pre
bendary of that church, had been much
favoured by Williams, who was dean
there, and taking part with him in his
enmity against Laud, he on some occa
sion wrote to the bishop a letter which
contained the folloAving sentence :^
"The little vermin, the urchin, and
hocus pocus, (Laud,) is this stormy

1 Fuller, xi. 155. Heylin's Laud, 343.
2 Fuller, 165.

Christmas at true and real variance
Avith the Leviathan," (Lord Treasurer
Weston.) This Avas ''ound among
Williams's papers when his house AvaS
searched, and the bishop Avas sentenced
to pay another fine of 8000Z. for not
having presented this libellous letter to
some justice ofthe peace : and Osbols
ton condemned to pay 5000/., to have
his ears tacked to the pillory in presence
of his scholars, as Avell as to be deprived
of all his preferments. The personal
part of the sentence he escaped by
flight, and his sufferings made him
afterAvards a favourite Avith the com
mons, till the madness of their proceed
ings induced him to join the king.
More, perhaps, has been said onthis
point than it deserves; but it must ever
appear not only to affix a deep stain on
the character of Laud, but to furnish a
proof of the personal insecurity under
Avhich every man must have lived; and
show hoAV impossible it was that such a
government should continue, when a
prime minister could be guilty of such
open tyranny.
§ 584. As the events connected with
the liturgy in Scotland may be said to
have formed the first step in the civil
Avar, and to have contributed much to
give the rebellion a turn so peculiarly
hostile to the church of England, it will
be necessary to look back into the history
of the Reformation in that country, and
to touch on some points to Avhich no
previous allusion has been made, in
order to comprehend the Avhole under
one view. The alterations in the church,
which had taken place in that kingdom,
had been carried on in opposition to
the bishops, who had often made them
selves the instruments of the persecu
tions inflicted on the friends of the
Reformation; a circumstance' Avhich
rendered the mass of the people inimi
cal to the order. The nobility, too,
Avere equally hostile to bishops, since
the avarice of the upper ranks had
contributed greatly to introduce the
Reformation, with the view of dispos
sessing the ecclesiastical owners of
their property ; and the tenures, there
fore, by which these possessors held
their newly acquired domains were
very doubtful. Elizabeth had fostered
' Su- P. Warwick's Mem. 98, &c.
S

206

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIH.

the animosities of the people and the
apprehensions of the nobles, for the
purpose of keeping up a party in Scot
land ; and, under the nominal plan of
introducing a conformity between the
churches of the tAvo nations, had been
seeking her OAvn interests and promot
ing divisions among the Scotch. The
general assembly had, from the first,
assumed to itself a considerable power,
independent ofthe government; and in
1566 had decided on the adoption of
the Geneva discipline, Avhich virtually
destroyed the spiritual authority of the
bishops, though they retained in some
measure their lands and their seats in
parliament. The properties, indeed,
and the higher situations connected
with the abbeys, Avere generally in the
hands of laymen, but the bishoprics
were still filled by ecclesiastics. The
authorily possessed by the bishops va
ried at different times, depending in a
great degree on the policy of the suc
cessive regents and favourites of James.
Till 1592, the assembly had generally
rejected episcopal interference,' and the
court retained sufficient poAver to pre
vent the legal . establishment of the
presbytery. In that year, hoAvever,
this step Avas effected, and soon after,
in consequence of a tumult in Edin
burgh connected Avith the presbyterian
ascendancy, the life of James Avas en
dangered ; an event which gave him a
continual dislike to that form of church
government and a decided preference
to episcopacy, independently of the
consideration of the political influence
which the votes of the bishops furnished
to the court. He obtained for the
bishops, in 1597 and ICOO, a concession
of their right to sit in parliament; but
this was fettered Avith such restrictions
as rendered the spiritual auihority of
the order almost nugatory,-' and they
accepted what Avas granted, though
they never seem to have conformed to
the stipulated conditions; and Avhen he
came to the throne of England he
formed the wish of reducing the tAvo
churches to a uniformity of discipline
and service; a Avish reasonable indeed
in a king of Great Britain, and in cor
respondence Avith the desires of every
friend of the Iavo countries, but the plan
' Guthry's Memoirs, 4. ^ Rapin, ii. 299.

was not likely to succeed unless at
tempted bv honourable and fair means.
§565. (a.d. 1610.) In the assembly
at Glasgow' he so contrived to collect a
body suited to his OAvn vicAvs, that he
carried all his points in favour. of episco
pacy, and presently set up a court of
ecclesiastical commission. Episcopacy,
therefore, now began to gain ground,*
and James Avas very careful in the se
lection of the men whom he advanced,
consulting the older bishops, and bring
ing forward such men only as were
siuted to promote the real interests of
the .church. It was by these steps that
the assembly of St. AndreAv's was en
abled to consult about introducing a
liturgy, (1617,) Avhich some of its mem
bers beg^n to form, or rather to copy
•from the Praj'er Book of the church of
England ; and the assembly of Perth= to
establish l(he five points connected Avith
the rites and ceremonies of the church.
(1618.) James Avould probably have
gone farther, had not the difficulties
Avith regard to his daughter's kingdom
prevented his doing any thing Avhich
might embroil him at hoin,e.
§ 566. .On the accession of Charles I.^
(1625,) the presbyterians addressed a
petition to him, but found that he Avas
not at all, disposed to comply with their
Avishes ; the interests of the anti-episco
pal cause, .ho.w^ever, Avere kept up by
the appointme,nt of a secret fast, AAhich
Avas observed,, at stated periods, among
their friends throughout the kingdom.
(1633.) Whein the king visited Scot
land, they ha,d prepared a petition,
Avhich they purposed to have presented
to him, had he not forbidden the earl of
Rothes to do so : and the next year.
Lord Balmiranoch, having this petition

3 Rapin, ii. 299. " Guihry, 13.
= '1 liese ariicles are, from their numljer, which
was five, sorneiime.s inlsiaken tor ihe Five Ar
ticles of ihe .^ynod of Don, wilh -B-liIrh ihey are
in no way lonnecied. 'i hey are primed InSpoUis-
wond's Hist, of Scoilard, p. 538; Neal's Puri
tans, ii. 101 ; see also Wordsworth's Eccl. Bioff
v. 298. ^
I'he 1st enjoins the posture of kneehng in re-
celvirig tbe Lord's Supper.
'I be 2d allows of privale communion in case
of sickness.
'fhe 3d allows of private baptism in case of
dancer. The 4ih enjoins the use of catechising and con
firmation. The 5ih enjoins the observation of holydays
and lesiivals.
e Guthry, 7, &,c.

Chap. XIII.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

207

in his possession, Avhich he imprudently
showed to a friend, was imprisoned, and
most unjustly condemned to die,' (1634,)
a sentence which, though immediately
remitted, made him forever an enemy to
the court, and induced him to combine
with others, avIio saAv the danger to
which the lives and properties of every
one must be exposed under so arbitrary
a government, and to form plans by
Avhich the chief authority might be trans
ferred into their OAvn hands.
These circumstances had enrolled the
lovers of civil freedom among the ene
mies of episcopacy. The prejudices of
the common people were against it, and
the lower clergy exerted their influence
to increase this dislike ; the nobles Avere
afraid that their titles to the church pro
perty which they held, would be called
in question,'' and to this was added a
considerable irritation among them, par
ticularly in the earls of Traquair and
Argyle (then Lord Lorn)' by the ap-
,pointment of the archbishop of St. An
dreAv's to the chancellorship, and the
advancement of other churchmen to high
civil offices. Fuller* insinuates that the
brrbery which James had carried on
among the leading presbyterians now
ceased, and that this, among other causes,
contributed to the subsequent opposi
tion ; and whether this were so or no, it
is difficult to determine hoAV much blame
attaches to Charles I. in all these pro
ceedings. He had been much less care
ful than h's father^ in appointing proper
men to the several sees as they became
vacant, and in the selection of those
whom he chose he had been guided
by personal favour, as well as the hope
of promoting his own political ends ; and
probably much influenced by Laud, who
fancie 1 that the advancement of church
men into the higher offices of state was
likely to benefit the cause of the church.
But the great evil in Scotland was, that
party was allowed to trample on law
and justice, so tfeat men sought for
power in self-defence ; and when fur
ther disturbances arose, neither the one
side nor the other had any other prin
ciples than those of using to the utmost

I Guthry's Mem. 9.
2 See an Abstract of the Acts of the Scotch par
liament which affected this species of property,
passed during this session. (Collier, ii. 755.)
3 Guthry's Mem. 12, and Collier, ii. 770.
< xi. 163. ^ Guthry, 14.

the power with which they were in
vested. The ruling party was, for the
time, generally the most in fault, as
having the greater means of doing
Avrong ; and from 1610 to the date of
these events, the country had been op
pressed by the episcopalians, and their
opponents Avere in secret brooding over
their discontent and the prospects of
revenge. §567. (a.d. 1637.) It was at this
time, and under these circumstances,
that Charles' endeavoured to introduce
the neAV liturgy. He had originally in
tended to send down the English Com
mon Prayer Book, but the advice of
some of the Scotch bishops had induced
him to alter this plan, and to substitute
one which might belong peculiarly to
themselves, though it corresponded very
nearly Avith that of the church of Eng
land.^ This was drawn up in Scotland,*
chiefly, in all probability, by Weeder
burn, dean of the Chapel Royal, Edin
burgh, but overlooked \y Laijd, Juxton,
and Wrenn. In the year 1635 certain
canons" had been sent doAvn to Scotland
as the first step in the intended altera
tions ; and these, without any other
sanction than that of a proclamation
from the king, directed throughout that
the forms of the liturgy, not then pub
lished, should be used. If the king had
possessed a right of imposing canons
and a liturgy Avithout the concurrence
of the church, a right quite incompati
ble Avith the political existence of any
church, this method of proceeding would
have been very impolitic, as it could
only irritate the nation, and prepare
them for resistance whenever any tu
mult should give them an opportunity
of shoAving their dislike. The discon
tented party had long been in corres
pondence Avith the nonconformists in
England, and they well knoAv the
strength which their friends possessed
in that country. The persons who
Avere chiefly engaged'" in promoting this
step, with regard to the canons and
liturgy, Avere some of the Scotch bish
ops who had been most lately raised to
their office, and who, having been ad-

6 Fuller, xi. ICO.
¦' See App. E. History of the Common Prayer,
^748,1. 8 Collier, ii. 767. ^ Heylin's Laud, 298.
" Guthry, 14.

208

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIIL

vanced by interest, no't dependent on
the older bishops, never cordially joined
with them, but hurried on the introduc
tion of the Liturgy without foreseeing
the danger. Laud' had frequently urged
them to take care that their proceedings
were according to the law of Scotland,
Avhich he did not pretend to understand ;
but they, supposing probably that the
poAver of the court and the archbishop
Avould carry them through in a point on
which the king's heart Avas much set,"
and neglecting the advice of the older
bishops, prepared the liturgy and pro
cured its adoption Avithout any of those
authorized forms Avith Avhich it ought
legally to have been received.
§ 568. When, therefore, it was first
read at Edinburgh, (July 23,) it is not
Avonderful that it Avas received Avith so
much tumult that the lives of those
Avho performed the service Avere endan
gered, and that there Avas no readiness
on the part of the magistrates or no
bility to defend the insulted prelates, or
to punish those who were guilty of the
disturbance. The enemies of episco
pacy rejoiced in these failures, and the
mass of the nobles, and those in au
thority, Avere not sorry to observe the
overthrow of a project which had been
carried on without their advice, by
churchmen, of whose exaltation into
civil offices they were peculiarly jea
lous. Those among the loAver clergy
who Avere friends to episcopacy, and
who probably would have shown them
selves in greater numbers, if the interests
of the bishops had been managed Avith
any prudence, Avere offended that the
introduction of the liturgy had' been
carried on without their advice, or the
forms which were necessary to render
it legal, and therefore little disposed to
befriend or support steps which were
thus imprudently taken. After several
applications had been made to London,
Plamilton, as commissioner from the
king, ultimately rescinded all that had
been done, convoking a general assem
bly at GlasgOAV, and calling a parlia
ment for the next Spring. He is gene
rally' accused of duplicity and cunning
in all these transactions, and there is
some evidence apparently against him ;

' Heylin's, 326.
3 Guthry, 34—48—109.

2 Guthry, 16.

but his line of policy was in reality
much sounder than that of Laud, and
his fidelity seems adequately established
by his subsequent sufferings and death.
It is obvious that any friend of the court
of Charles I. Avould have been esteemed
a traitor, Avho had given that advice
Avhich Ave should now deem to have
been for the real advantage ofthe king
and the nation ; and be it remembered,
that the marquis of Montrose," Avho
was undoubtedly a patriotic royalist,
Avas at this time on the side of the cove
nanters. This appellation Avas assumed
by those Avho Avere enemies lo the Litur
gy and to the arbitrary poAver of the
throne, from a solemn league and cove
nant'' now framed, and to Avhich the-
subscriptions of all those Avho approved
of the cause Avere affixed. Hardly any
steps could haA'e tended more strongly
than this to mix up church politics Avith
civil : for, among the various objects
of the confederacy, the second Avas to
root out prelacy, i. e., church govern
ment by archbishops, bishops, their
chancellors, commissaries, deans, deans
and chapters, archdeacons, and all
other ecclesiastical officers depending
on that hierarchy ; and the third, to
preserve the privileges of parliament
and the kingdom. The proceedings of
the assembly at Glasgow,^ (1638,) Avere
such as might have been expected.
The church had been tyrannized over

¦I Guthry, 32 — 49.
s N. B. — There were two covenants : the first
signed by James I., 15S0, and the one here men
tioned. They are far from corresponding. They
are printed in the Confession of Faith, &.C., of
the assembly of divines at Westminster. "This
may be found in Fuller, xl. 201, and in many
other historians ; the abstract of it is as follows :
The preface declares the deplorable slate of reli
gion in the three kingdoms to be the origin of this
act, in which, after the custom of this and other
godly nations, they enter into the following cove
nant :
1. " That they should reduce the church of
England and Ireland to the same model as that
of Scotland. They agrei; —
2. " I'o extirpate popeTy, prelacy, and super
stition, and to establish godhness.
3. " To defend the rights of parliament and the
liberty of the kingdom, the person and authorhy
of the king.
4. "To discover and punish all malignanls.
hinderers of reformation, &,c.
5. " To preserve the peace of these kingdoms.
6. " To defend and assist all those who have
entered into the covenant.
7. " To humble themselves for the fins of the
nation, and to try to reform them."
6 Guthry, 41.

Chap. XIH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

209

for a time, and when alloAved to express
its feelings, broke down all barriers,
continued its sessions after il had been
legally dissolved by the king's com
missioner, and went on to rescind at
once all that had been established since
1605, i. e., episcopacy, the articles of
Perth, the canons, and liturgy. These
steps naturally and necessarily led to a
civil Avar. Leslie Avas appointed to the
command of the army which they le
vied ; the castle of Edinburgh fell into
their hands, and the king Avas forced to
treat, and make peace with his rebel
lious subjects.
§ 5J9. The same steps had been
leading silently to the same result in
England. The poAver exercised by
Laud not only disgusted the nobility,
Avho might be deemed his rivals, and
who found themselves supplanted by
churchmen, but the severity exercised
by some of the bishops on their non
conformist brethren, Avas likely to ren
der the loAver and more numerous por
tion of the members of the establish
ment hostile to the government of the
church, and consequently not friendly
to that of the state Avhich upheld it.
When Laud Avas made archbishop,'
(1633,) he pressed conformity, and at
tended njiich to the ceremonies of the
church, so that a preacher Avas censured
for saying that the night was approach
ing, since shadoAA's were growing so
much longer than the bodies, and cere
monies regarded more than the poAver
of godliness. In his eagerness in this
respect, he not only enforced those
ceremonies Avhich had been appointed,
but took great delight in increasing the
number gf them. He had put up a
crucifix on the altar" in Westminster
Abbey at the coronation; had used
considerable pomp in the consecration
of churches, adopting an office' com
posed by Andrews, bishop of Win
chester, which corresponds almost en
tirely with the service of the church of
Rome ; had directed the communion
tables to be surrounded with rails, and
the communicants to approach the altar,
and caused various genuflexions and
bowings to be used on entering and

' Fuller, xi. 150. = Collier, ii. 736.
' See an outline of the history of this office,
$750. 27

leaving the church. Most of which
ceremonies were in themselves very
innocent, and it was natural, at a time
Avhen the neglect of them Avas grovifr
ing into fashion, that a man of Laud'^
views should studiously observe them,;
but it was madness to suppose that the
enforcing them would cure the evil, or
fail to irritate and augment the disorder.
Pure Christianity, Avhen placed near
fanaticism or formalism, Avill ordinarily
soon gain the ascendant over either the
one or the other; but extremes are little
likely to produce a cure to their oppo
site evils.
§ 570. Laud, however,* was not con
tented Avith putting in force the existing
laws, or practising such ceremonies as
he himself approved ; but when, in
1640, Charles Avas compelled to call a
parliament, which he so soon dissolved,
to the regret of all good men, the con
vocation which Avas then assembled
proceeded to frame a body of canons, and
continued their session beyond the ex
istence of the parliament. These ca
nons Avere put forth to the Avorld at a
moment Avhen every one was ready to
cavil at the acts of legitimate auihority,
and under circumstances which might
have rendered them questionable at
any other time, inasmuch as it Avas pre
sumed by many, that upon the dissolu
tion of the parliament its sister assem
bly ceased at the same moment. The
convocation was in fact now changed
into a synod, in which capacity, to use
the words of Lord Clarendon," it " made
canons, Avhich Avas thought it might do ;
and gave subsidies out of parliament,
and enjoined oaths, which certainly it
might not do ; in a word, did many
things, which in the best of times might
have been questioned, and therefore
Avere sure to be condemned in the
worst ; and drew the same prejudice
upon the whole body of the clergy, to
which before only some foAv clergymen
were exposed."
The canons themselves are such as
prove the violence of those Avho framed
them, who must have been actuated by
despair or fatuity to select such a time
for their publication. They enact^ that
every officiating minister shall, on some

* Fuller, xi. 168.
' Sparrow's Collection

« Hist. i. 148.

£2

210

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIH

one Sunday in every quarter, insist on
the divine right of kings, and on their
prerogatives, in which the poAver of
taxing Avas indirectly implied. That
the day of the king's inauguration shall
be carefully observed. They were
very severe against papists, Socinians,
and all, sectaries. In order to support
the establishment, an oath was imposed
against innovations, in which every
clergyman, or person taking a degree,
Avas to swear " that he would not con
sent to alter the government of the
church by archbishops, bishops, deans,
archdeacons, &c. ;" a form sufficiently
equivocal, and which acquired for the
oath the name of the " et cxtera oath."
It was ordered that the communion
table should stand as in the cathedral
church ; that it should be railed in, and
the people approach the holy table
when they received ; and that on enter
ing and quitting church they should do
obeisance. Every preacher Avas directed
to enforce in his sermons, twice every
year, conformity to the rites and cere
monies of the church of England.*
The effects of such a proceeding were
obvious. The state of the question
between the king and the people at this
moment was, whether they should be
governed constitutionally by law, or by
the arbitrary proceedings of the court :
whether they should possess the right
of taxing themselves, or Avhether the
security of their property were to de
pend on the necessities of those who
governed them : Avhether the petition of
rights Avere to be observed or no. Who
ever, therefore, among the clergy had
folloAved these canons, as to their spirit,
must have taken a part in the great
question at issue, in favour of the court.
'i'he Avords indeed of the canon are very
cautiously chosen, so as to assert in
general terms only the right of kings to
tribute, custom, and aid, while the pro
perty of the subject is secured, a posi
tion' which no christian will deny ; but
the question was, Avhether the king had
a right to collect that tribute as he
pleased, and to dispense Avith the laAvs
of the country.
§ 571. It is difficult to give a distinct

1 Walker, in his Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 7,
supposes that these canotis are now as much
binding as those of 1603 ; in this he is mistaken.
>Sce % 756, or the Act J3'' C. IL, ch. 12.

view of the feelings of the country with
regard either to church or state, Avithoul
entering into a protracted discussion^
which must be little suited to this work;
but as it is impossible to understand the
condition of the kingdom without doing
so, a brief outhne must be attempted.
Every real friend to his country, Avho
understood the circumstances under
which England Avas then placed, must
have desired a reformation, both in
church and state. The power of the
king Avas so ill defined, that it was
scarcely possible for an honest man to
have served him Avithout great compunc
tion ; and however httle Charles might
have wished to play the tyrant, it is dif
ficult for a king to restrain his ministers,
if arbitrary poAver be once placed in
their hands. Such a poAvcr indeed might
be easily borne by the people, were it
not for the ramifications lo Avhich it is
liable ; for a monarch, unless he be un
bendingly severe on his immediate ser
vants, becomes, against his avUI, a tyrant
to every one of his subjects Avho is ex
posed to the arbitrary goA'ernment of
those Avhom he trusts. The Court of Ec
clesiastical Commission had frequently
exercised severity, and sometimes cruel
ty, on those who Avere called before it,
and the people had indistinctly mixed up
the idea ofthe church goA'ernment under
which they groaned, Avith episcopacy
and the higher offices in the church, ft
was this which gave rise to the supposed
necessity of imposing the et cxtera oath ;
and the very nature of that oath tended
to countenance the error. Laud and his
party were justly alarmed at the spirit
of innovation which they beheld ; and in
their attempts to maintain Avhat was val
uable, they Avere too fearful to allow that
anj' part of the fabric Avas unsound, and
endeavoured to defend the whole, cor
ruptions and all. The honest party, on
the other side, who were anxious for the
correction of abuses, found that they had
no hopes of accomplishing their pro
jected reforms, except by breaking doAvn
the barriers of what was in itself exc^-
lent; but which they were forced to
couple Avith the evils which they wished
to remedy, because the same defence
was thrown around both : nor can it be
doubted, that the enemies of the eccle
siastical constitution rejoiced to perceive
the church thus imprudently connected

Chap. XIH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

311

with the errors of the state. The three
parties, therefore, in the kingdom, Avith
reference to the church, were, 1, the
high church party ; 2, those who were
desirous to see the church reformed, and
the excessive power of the hierarchy
diminished ;' and, 3, those who were
eager to establish the presbyterian go
vernment at the expense of the higher
offices in the church. This latter party
was at first in all probability very small,-
till political circumstances augmented
their poAver, and threAv the preponder
ance into their hands ; but the impolicy
of Avhich Laud Avas guilty, consisted in
alienating the moderate party, and driv
ing them into the interests of the enemies
of the state. The same observations
will apply with almost equal truth to the
political parties Avhich existed in the
kingdom : and indeed the whole discus
sion appears to belong to the state rather
than to the church. Episcopacy, pres
bytery, and independency, were made
the Avatchwords of parties ; but the real
question throughout Avas a political one,
and took its religious aspect rather from
the connection Avith Scotland, than be
cause the parties in England were con
tending about the government of the
church. The political reformers attacked
the church, partly because a churchman
was governing the country, partly be
cause the feelings of the people Avere
irritated against the poAver of the church
as an engine of oppression, and partly
because the votes of the bishops gave a
preponderance in the House of Lords to
the friends of the court. The mass of
the country Avished perhaps that the
episcopal authority should be curtailed,
but there Avas probably no general ob
jection to episcopacy itself.
§ 572. Such seems to have been the
state of parties when the Long Parliament
was assembled, (Nov. 6th,) and one of
its earliest acts Avas to appoint a com
mittee of religion,' consisting of the
whole House: this subsequentlybranched

' Baxter says, (Life, i. 33,) "Almost all those
afterwards called presbyterians were before con
formists ;" and, 35, "that those who were the
honour of the parliament, were previously con
formists. It was an episcopal and Erastian par
liament of conformists that took up arms in Eng
land again.st the king;" (iii. 149;) "they knew
but one presbyterian in the House of Commons."
2 Clarendon, ii. 283. Heylin's Laud, 503.
3 Walker's Suff. 62, 63.

off into divers sub-committeeg, one of
which took the appellation of " the com
mittee for providing preaching ministers
and removing scandalous ones."-* The
practical effect of these committees was
to intimidate the clergy, as Avell as to
bring them into disrepute ; for the mere
fact of being brought before a tribunal,
usually called " the committee of scan
dalous ministers," could not fail to load
the obnoxious clergyman with a certain
degree of obloquy. The crimes Avhich
Avere ordinarily charged on the unfortu
nate delinquents Avho were brought be
fore this mock court of justice, were Avith
regard to those ceremonies which by
law they Avere bound to observe : and
the reformers who were forAvard in main
taining the sanctity of the laAV, when the
other party violated it, were guilty of the
same injustice when poAver fell into their
own hands. Indeed, one great misfor
tune during the whole struggle Avas, that
neither side could feel secure under the
protection of the laws : the royal pre
rogative had first taught the people that
all bands Avere too weak to secure their
liberty ; and when the day of retribution
carne, the popular faction sought to make
themselves safe by overturning the
whole power of their adversaries.
§ 573. The chief attacks against the
church, during the early session of this
parliament, aimed at destroying its civil
authority ; because, when that was ef
fected, no one could expect to find any
great difficulty in overthroAving the whole
fabric of the establishment. It is per
haps in the abstract desirable, that men
peculiarly dedicated to the service of
God should possess as little temporal
power as possible, for every act wherein
coercive authority is used must tend to
destroy the influence of our spiritual
advice, Avhich is the proper province of
the clergy: but he must be very igno
rant of human nature, avIio supposes
that property can fail to confer poAver,
or that the attempt to take away the
power, Avhich is alone able to defend it,
' The several chairmen ofih -se committees, by
whose names they are frequen'ly designated,
were. While, Corbet, Sir Robert Hariow, Sir
Edward Dering.
White's was probably the same as that for plun
dered ministers, formed to provide for such godly
ministers as had suffered through the king's sol
diery : it was nicknamed "the committee for
plundering ministers." Walker, Suff. 62—83.

213

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. Xllj'

can be made without creating an inse
curity to the property itself. The attack
began by a general outcry against the
temporal power of the church ; the lord
keeper was ordered to leave out the
clergy from the commission of the
peace ; and a bill was brought forward,
though Avithout success, to deprive the
bishops of iheir votes in the House of
Lords. Sir Edward Dering, indeed, pro
posed one Avhich would have destroyed
at once bishops, deans, and chapters ;
but the quesiion was moved rather as an
experiment to try the House, than from
any idea that it would pass. The
clamour, however, which was raised by
the mob ivithout, and the countenance
which they received within the House,
at length drove the bench to a step'
which led to their final exclusion ; for
tOAvards the end of the year, the popu
lace of London became so violent against
episcopacy, and threatened the lives of
the bishops with so much vehemence,
that, having been forced one night to
fly from the House by stealth, they met
together, and signed a protest against
any of the proceedings of the House of
Lords during their forcible and involun
tary absence. This document Avas put
into the hands of Lord Keeper Lyttle
ton,'' in order to its being produced Avhen
it had been approved by the king ; but
he unadvisedly, if no worse, brought it
forward at once, and the poor bishops
were sent to the Tower on a charge of
high treason ; a charge so absurd in
itself,^ that one of the lawyers friendly
to the parliament declared, that they
might as well have been accused of
adultery. They were there detained for
some time, till deprived of their votes,
and presently after of their property.
The hardship of these proceedings is
described in a very Christian manner by
Bishop Hall, in the tract here referred to.
Tho coercive power of the spiritual
courts had been before taken away by
the act which deprived the High Com
mission Court of its authority, Avhen its
sister poAver of the Star Chamber had
justly experienced the same fate. The
destruction of these tAvo courts was an
act which well deserved the blessing of

' Fuller, xi. 186.
« Hacket's WiUiams, ii. 178.
'HaU's Hard Measure j' Wordsw. Ecc. Biog.
v. 320.

posterity, and we cannot but lament that
these prosperous beginnings were sb
soon clouded by tyranny and oppres
sion ; but it Avas by the popularity of
such acts that the parliament acquired
its power, till the wickedness of some
of the members, and the weakness of
the king, broke down the barriers of
right and Avrong, and admitted all the
miseries AA-hich the rebellion introduced.
§ ,574. These steps met Avith less op
position than might have been expect
ed from a nation Avhich, on the Avhole,
seemed favourable to the church ; but
it may be observed, that they extended
only to the diminution of the poAver of
the hierarchy, and not to its utter de
struction. Many friends of episcopacy
might be glad to see the bishops dispos
sessed of their votes in the House of
Lords, and no friend of religion could
be sorry to'Avitness the doAvnfall of the
High Commission Court ; and this Avas
the ultimate point which received the
sanction of the king. When the Avar
broke out, the parliament soon found
the church, particularly the higher
members ofthe establishment, not only
faithful in their allegiance, but earnest
in the cause of loyally ; and the conse
quence Avas, that they AA'cr^ forced to
destroy them as partisans of their ene
my ; and many more clergymen* Avere
dispossessed of their preferments as ma
lignanls than as scandalous ministers.
These circumstances ruined individual
clergymen, and Aveakened the body;
but in all probability the adverse fac
tion would never have been able to
alter the constitution, and thus to anni
hilate the church of England as a
church, had not the hopes'* of bringing
over the Scotch to their cause, ulti
mately induced those Avho Avere anxious
to carry their political objects at any
rate, to consent to the establishment o.'
a presbyterian government.
§ 575. It may be expected that some
thing should here be said of the groAvth
of a faction Avhich couA'erted the mo
narchy into a republic, and a church
governed by bishops into a presbytery ;
that some account should be given of
the means whereby these steps Avere
accomplished : but after having detailed
most of the false measures which con-

¦• Walker, possim. ^ Clarendon's Hist. ii. 117.

Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

21.3,

nected the church with the downfall of
the state ; after having premised that
the government Avas such as no wise
inan could wish to support, Avhile those
Avho were at the head of it resisted all
legitimate reform springing from par
liamentary discussion, it need hardly be
added, that the instruments correspond
ed Avith Avhat might naturally have'
been expected. Factious lecturers and
preachers Avill never be Avanting AA'here
there are violent parties in the church,
and reasonable causes Of complaint.
Demagogues are the production of
every country and period, but they are
only dangerous Avhen the sober and
thinking part of the population are dis
contented. The strong arm of poAver
may put them down for the moment,
but a strong arm, unless supported and
nourished by a healthy body politic,
Avill tend but to weaken the system,
through its unnatural exertions. The
nation, by observing abuses, became
overheated and restless, and the court
dared not feel the pulse of the public
by calling a parliament, till the fever
Avas too violent to admit of ordinary
remedies. The concessions made by
the king in the different acts of parlia
ment Avhich he passed, might have satis
fied the kingdom, had they been offered
at an earlier period, Avhen they would
have been received as a favour; but
being, as it Avere, torn from his grasp
by the violence of the Houses, the very
facility with Avhich they Avere yielded
made those AA'ho had obtained them
doubtful whether they were sincerely
granted ; and the leaders of the com
mons, wilh the view of securing their
own safety, demanded that the militia
should be intrusted to such men as they
could confide in, i. e., to themselves ;
and because the king Avisely refused to
resign this last buhvark of the throne,
they put themselves in a posture of de
fence, and began the civil Avar.
§ 576. As the fate of the church de
pended for a time on the state of the
war, it may not be amiss to exhibit a
brief outline of its progress, particularly
as the complicated nature of such a
warfare must render it difficult to ac
quire an accurate notion of what took
place as a whole.*

' The following abstract of the war is taken
from Clarendoii and Ludlow.

A. D. 1642. August 25. The royal,
standard was raised at Nottingham,'^
under most unfavourable prospects ;
but the loyalty of the nation soon put
the king at the head of a respectable
force, Avith which he encountered the
earl of JEssex at Edge-hill, and gained
a considerable advantage over, him.
(Oct. 23.) This gave the royalists the
command of the centre of the kingdom,
and established their head-quarters at
Oxford, a town peculiarly well suited
for carrying on the war, as well from
the influence of the place itself, as the
associations fixed in the minds of many
of those Avho were destined to take a
part in the contest. It was, too, from
its central position, in a military point
of vieAv, an acquisition of no slight im
portance. His majesty afterwards ad
vanced toAvards London, (Nov. 13,) and
was engaged for some days at Brent
ford ; but the citizens, supported by the
remnant of Essex's army, contrived to
defend the ground Avhich they had oc
cupied, and he Avas forced to retire to
Oxford, leaving a garrison at Reading.
§ 577. (a. d. 1643.) In the next spring
the parliament Avere able to recover
Reading, but the general appearance
of the contest Avas decidedly against
them. In the west. Sir R. Hopton had
made himself master of the open coun
try, and proceeded to aid the royal
forces in taking Bristol; (July 25;) and
had not the king foolishly Avasted time
in the siege of Gloucester, there would
probably have been no army sufficient
ly strong to prevent his marching to
London. This delay, however, alloAved
the parliament to collect a considerable
body of troops ; and when (Sept. 5)
they advanced toAvards the royal army,
the siege Avas raised, and the first battle'
of Newbury (Sept. 20) subsequently
fought, which obliged the king, though
he was not beaten, to retire upon Ox
ford, instead of prosecuting the cam
paign. § 578. (a. d. 1644.) In the beginning
of the next year the Scotch army began
its march southAvard. They had been
urged and invited so to do by commis
sioners sent doAvn for this express pur
pose, who, on their return to London,'

2 Clarendon, i. 720.
' Neal's Puritans, iii. 56.

ei4

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIII.

brought back with them the solemn
league and covenant, which the Scotch
Avere particularly anxious to enforce on
their English brethren. The English
wished to have made a civil alliance,
but the presbyterians would consent to
no terms without the alteration of the
church government; and the necessi
ties of the parliament induced them to
consent to this unreasonable proposal.
Up to this period, the Avar was in favour
of the king, and in the beginning of this
very year^ the relief of Newark, (March
22,) by Prince Rupert, and his other
successes, made the general aspect con
tinue so, till the loss of York, after the
battle of Marston Moor, (July 2,) re
duced the Avhole of the north of Eng
land under the poAver ofthe parliament.
The marquis of Newcastle had been
exerting himself in the preservation
of the interests of the king, not only
against the forces which were raised in
the north of England for the parliament,
but against the Scotch army, under Les
lie, and Avas besieged by them in York.
Prince Rupert had succeeded in throw
ing relief into the place, and all might
have done well, had he been Avise
enough to have been contented with
this ; but in his hasty anxiety to gain a
victory, Avhich, if won, could produce
little effect, he put the whole to the
issue of a battle, lost it, and, Avith it, not
only York, but the Avhole of the king's
interests in that part of the country.
This blow might have been fatal to the
whole cause, had it not been balanced
by the surrender of the forces of the
earl of Essex,* in the Avest, Avho, having
proceeded too far in that direction, Avas
cooped up at FoAvey, (Sept. 2,) in Corn
wall. As for himself, he Avas obliged
to retire by sea ; his cavalry cut their
way through the enemy, and his foot
were made prisoners. But even this
success on the part of the king Avas on
his return towards Oxford counteracted
by the second battle of NeAvbury, (Oct.
27,) Avhere the earl of Manchester and
Waller met him ; and after a very brisk
encounter, in vA'hich both sides suffered
much, and scarcely any advantage Avas
gained by either, it became evident that
the royalists possessed no decided su
periority over their opponents.
' Neal's Puritans, iii. 89.

§ 579. The fate of the war was even
now, in a great degree, undecided, as
far as fighting was concerned ; but the
parliament had learnt their faults, and
discovered the remedy for them, while
the evils which accompanied the army
of the king daily increased. The dis
cipline ofthe troops of both parties had
from the first been exceedingly bad.
The royal army Avas composed of a
gallant band of armed and mounted
gentry, Avho at the moment when they
charged were every thing Avhich a ge
neral could desire ; but at other times
subject to very little control, and almo.st
ungovernable when they had met with
success, or experienced a reverse of
fortune. The stern severity exhibited
by the puritans induced the royalists to
despise even the form of godliness ; so
that to be religious, and a gentleman,
became, in the opinion of the multitude,
contradictory terms : the chief officers
themselves were guilty of the grossest
vices, particularly of drunkenness ; and
the laAvless proceedings of the troops
alienated the minds of many of the
people from the royal cause ; a state of
things Avhich engendered contention
among those Avho should have governed,
and disobedience among those Avho
should have obeyed. The soldiers of
the parliament Avere collected chiefly
by the hopes of pay, and Avhen they
had gained advantages in the field, thej'
Avere apt to turn them to their personal
profit, a species of fault Avhich Avas much
more easily cured than the disorgani
zation Avhich prevailed among the other
party ; Avhile the appearance of strict
religion Avhich Avas maintained among
them, ansAvered many of the purposes
of military discipline. But the altera
tion Avhich noAv took place in the ma
nagement of the interests of the parlia
ment, produced an entire change in the
Avhole face of their affairs.
§ 580. Essex had probably Avished to
become the arbitrator ofthe war" rather
than to conquer the king ; he foresaAv
that the complete success of either party
must lead to the destruction of the con
stitution ; this produced a want of deci
sion in his counsels, and led to disgrace
in the field, Avhile his ill success per-

2 Life of Col. Hutchinson, i. 347. Calamy's
Baxter, 53.

Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

215

haps contributed much to the facility [ dom, with which the yeomen of the
with Avhich the self-denying ordinance | country Avere then inspired, was at least

passed. The country had long been
scandalized by the interested manner in
which offices Avere assigned to the mem
bers of the two Houses, and the act
which received this denomination con
sisted in a vote which disabled all Avho
sat in either House from holding any
situation of poAver or emolument. The
step Avas on many grounds necessary,
since the parliament Avas even noAV be
coming intolerable from its tyranny and
selfishness ; but enabled those Avho Avere
secretly promoting their own advance
ment, to remodel the army according to
their own Avishes, and to raise up a
power Avhich ultimately overcame the
party Avhich employed it. It is difficult
to account for the ease Avith which Crom
Avell retained his command in the army,
together Avith his seat in the House, un
less indeed we conclude that he Avas the
secret contriver of the Avhole : but the
wisdom of this arrangement soon be
came evident ; for when the army in its
new state took the field, it was obvious
that the prospects of the royal party
were annihilated. Fairfax seems to
have possessed much military talent,
but to have been too honest a man to
enter deeply into the cabals of the re
bellion ; he kept his men in order, beat
his enemies Avhen he met them, and AA'as
ever ready to give them, Avhen beaten,
the best terms which the interest of his
own party would allow. CromAvell
AA'as equally good as an officer, but he
understood human nature, and AA'as
willing to leave no stone unturned to
accomplish the object which he had
probably noAV begun to entertain. He
had clearly seen from the first that an
imbodied gentry' must easily surpass
in the field troops composed of mecha
nics and servants;, but l^e perceived,
and taught the Avorld, that religion,
tinctured Avith fanaticism, was a more
powerful motive of action than a sense
of honour ; and that the love of free-

' In this coniest the generahty of the nobility,
tnost of the knighis and gentry, adhered to the
king, and were lollowed by their tenants and the
poorer sort of people ; wilh the parliament were
the smaller part of the upper orders, and the
greater ofthe tradesmen, freeholders, and middle
sort of men, particularly in manufacturing cor
porations, together with those who were more
• precise in religion. (Calamy's Baxter, 46.)

as poAverful a stimulant as the desire
of dominion, Avhich animated the nobi
lity and royalists. He had ahvays shoAvn
that he Avas no friend to half-measures,
and his talents had given confidence to
those Avhom this circumstance united to
his interests; Avhen, therefore, the self-
denying ordinance had cleared aAvay
many Avho were looking to a compro
mise, the opposite party might succeed
in continuing the command to one Avho
had taken no prominent part in the bu
siness ofthe House, and Avho Avas known
to possess so much skill as a soldier.
§ 5SI. (a. d. 1645.) The campaign
of Fairfax'^ Avas short and brilliant :
he proceeded from London in the spring,
threatened Oxford Avith a siege, but
soon foUoAA'ed the motions of the king.
Charles finding himself unexpectedly
in the neighbourhood of the enemy, it
Avas determined lo risk a battle ; and
the precipitancy of Prince Rupert, as
on many other occaisions, contributed to
lose the battle of Naseby, (June 14,)
a loss which destroyed all the prospects
ofthe royalists. Fairfax now proceeded
to the Avest, and rapidly reduced every
thing under his command. This so
utterly dispirited the king, Avho had
been Avandering about as far as Wales,
and had returned to Oxford Avith little
hopes of assistance, that the next spring
he put himself into the hands of the
Scotch, and sent an order to the gover
nor of Oxford to surrender the place,
and the Avar Avas terminated in favour
of the parliament. The fate of the
royal cause had indeed long been de
cided by the mutual jealousies Avith
which this party Avas distracted. The
mass of those Avho composed the court
AArere contending for honours, and in
dulging in mutual disputes, Avhcn the
enemy Avas preparing to swalloAV them
up ; and Charles had never energy or
firmness enough to take the command
of the Avhole into his own hands, or to
place it at the disposal of any other

2 The whole of this war is fully detailed in
Sprigge's Anglia Redlvlva, a work which is some
times attributed to Nathaniel Fiennes. It is ob
served by Baxter, (Life, p. 49,) that the commission
of Fairfax now omitted the words, "in defence
of the king's person," and so changed the cause
of the war.

t2l6

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIIL

efficient person. The headlong gallantry
of Prince Rupert Avas of serious incon
venience to the cause, but by no means
so injurious as the Avant of confidence
in himself, under Avhich the king la
boured, and Avhich prevented him from
assuming that authority which might
have restrained the turbulence of his
party ; nor is it rash to assert, that his
majesty would probably have directed
his OAvn counsels as Avell or better than
any other individual engaged in the con
test, had he only been decided and firm.
§ 582. It is difficult to conceive the
state of a country more Avretched than
that of England during this period.
There Avas Avar raging in every corner
of the land ; the movements of the ar
mies, indeed, Avere comparatively con
fined, but the preparations for the con
test, and the bitterness of it, Avere spread
over the Avhole. There Avas much of
virtue marshalled on both sides, and
both sides Avere supported by a host of
selfish and interested partisans. The
first exertions of the parliament Avere
the struggles of freemen too eager to
vindicate their rights; but they soon
outstepped the lines which freedom
should have dictated, and violated every
principle of justice in murdering Lord
Strafford, under the form of a bill of
attainder; and impeaching Laud of
treason, of Avhich he was undoubtedly
innocent. Lord Strafford had been guilty
of such an exercise of arbitrary poAver
and tyranny' as might fairly have dis
qualified him from holding any sub
sequent command. He had himself
trampled on law: the lesson Avas easily
learnt by his opponents ; and Charles,
by giving Avay to the unjustifiable bill
for his attainder, and perpetuating the
parliament, imbittered the remainder of
his OAvn life ; and, by consigning his
friend and servant to the block, pre
pared the scaffold for himself. The
case of Laud Avas different from that of
Strafford, both in his criminality and in
his sufferings. The difficulty of esti
mating the character of Laud consists
in our being unable to determine the
standard by Avhich his conduct is to be
measured. If we regard him as a
Christian bishop, the picture will be in
many respects sadly deficient ; to look
I ,See some excellent observations on this trial
in PhiUips's State Trials.

upon him merely as a statesman, is to
degrade the sacred office with which
he was invested ; to view him only as a
man, is to divest him of all that is worth
examining, and to pass sentence con
cerning those particulars on Avhich God
only is the judge. On whatever ground
he is placed, the opinions and the pre
judices of the Avriter can hardly fail to
mix themselves up in the estimate : none
but a churchman could write a life of
Laud, and few churchmen are suffi
ciently free from the same feelings as
prevailed in his day to form the estimate
fairly. A temperate life of the arch
bishop would be a most valuable acqui
sition to the Church History of our
country. § 583. Laud was a man of an upright
heart and pious soul, but of too Avarm a
temper, and too positive a nature, to be
a good courtier, a good ruler, or perhaps
a good man. The great objects which he
had in vieiA^ Avere such as every honest
man would approve ; but his method of
pursuing those objects produced much
of the misfortunes Avith which these un
happy times AA'ere marked. The limes
wherein he lived were fraught Aviih the
utmost difficulty, and the experience of
past ages had given those Avho Avere
engaged in governing the kingdom no
clue Avhich might extricate them from
these difficulties. The nation had ar
rived at that point Avherein it vvas neces
sary that it should become free or bei
enslaved. A powerful government, such
as that of Elizabeth, might have delayed
the catastrophe, or have throAvn the
country backAvard into a lower moral
and intellectual condition, by riveting
the chains of slaA'ery ; but an arbitrary
government cannot exist with an en
lightened people, and a government
could hardly fail to be arbitrary, which
possessed tvito such courts as the Star
Chamber and the High Commission.
The church was attacked on all sides j
but it is more than probable that the
temporal poAver of the higher members
of it was the chief cause of these attacks.
Laud saAv the danger, and in order to
defend the establishment, and to give it
strength, he tried to advance churchmen
into offices of poAver and authority. In
Scotland" the archbishop of St. Andrew's

2 Clarendon, i. 85—87.

Ghap. XIIL]
was through his means made lord chan
cellor, and several of the bishops privy
counsellors ; Avith this view he himself
became a commissioner of the treasury ;
and when he had made Juxon lord
treasurer, he Avrites in his diary,* " And
now, if the church will not hold up them
selves, under God, I can do no more."
The consequence was, that the church
became hated by the people ; and a body
possessed of property which is generally
disliked, can hardly be preserved in times
of civil commotion. Laud foresaw per
haps the danger to which religion Avould
be exposed, if the violent decisions of
the synod of Dort" generally prevailed:
he foresaAV perhaps the tendency tOAvards
the presbyterian government, which the
Calvinists were creating, and he en
deavoured to counteract it by advancing
those only Avho were in their theological
sentiments opposed to this party: thereby
concentrating against the high church
all the strength of those who differed
from him on the five points, and Avho
could never hope to obtain any promo
tion, unless the whole principles of the
men Avho had now the ascendancy were
overturned.* Moderate churchmen, Avho
were suspected of favouring Calvinism,
were driven into the party which Laud
was trying to destroy, and added to its
streng-th ; and there was a further danger,
that every religious man would be called
a Calvinist, and thus forced to rank him
self as hostile to the archbishop.
Laud perceived that there was a groAV-
ing disinclination to ceremonies, and in
order to remedy the evil, he enforced
them Avith severity. He was an arbi
trary and stout man, and he dared any
one to oppose his authority : and this
unfortunately converted unimportant
trifles into serious matters of dispute.
The nonconformists were probably the
more guilty of the two parties, in giving
importance to ceremonies ; but they who
punished them Avere certainly not wise in
enforcing the observance of outward
rites, till obedience was converted into a
real scruple of conscience. By a singu
lar combination of these several causes,
it so happened, that religion appeared to
« p. 53. 2 § 520.
' When a new list of chaplains was made out
tor the court. Laud was directed to mark them
severally wilh an O or P, as being orthodox or
jmiitan. (Collier's Hist. ii. 733.)
28

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

217

be marshalled against the stability of the.
royal government, and that men were
led to believe, that they Avere engaged
in the cause of God, Avhile they Avere
taking measures Avhich must tend to.
throAV doAvn and destroy the authority
Avhich God had given to the king. As
a minister of the croAvn, Laud beheld
Avith dismay an influence Avhich he knoAv
not hoAv to control, and Avas alarmed at
the groAving poAver of the parliament ;
so that he did his utmost to prevent the
necessity of assembling any future one,
and justified himself in his own mind,
because he fancied that the king had
performed the Avhole of his duty, in
having sufficiently tried the temper of
that assembly. When, therefore, the
archbishop found that the parliament, if
assembled, insisted on the redress of
abuses before they Avould grant any
supplies, he exerted himself in raising
money by every means AA'ithin his reach.
As his policy thus became arbitrary, he
found no lack of persons Avho were ready
to advocate and promote his plans ; and
it happened, as it always AviU happen in
such cases, that he imagined his forAvard
instruments to be folloAving their OAvn
zeal, while they were but observing his,
and trying, from interested motives, to
gain his favour by outstripping the
energy of his measures : of course such
supporters fled from him, when the hour
of difficulty anived. In one sense his
proceedings Avere legal, for he endea
voured in every case to observe the laAV
so far as to have it on his side ; but he
had no scruple in making the law bend
to his Avishes.
§ 584. The charges of treason AA'hich
were exhibited against him are too
absurd to merit much discussion. He
had doubtless tried to render the govern
ment as arbitrary as he could, not to
overthrow the constitution ; he had en
deavoured to alter the church of Scot
land ; and these were sufficient reasons
why the people of England might dislike
him as a prime minister, but amounted
no more to treason than to any other
crime. Of many of the offences with
which he was charged, he Avas undoubt
edly innocent ; he was free from the very
thought of bribery, and hostile to tho
pretensions and errors of the church of
Rome : but because he did not wish to
exterminate Roman Catholics, he was
T

218

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIH.

called a papist ; oecause he approved
of so Tie of the ceremonies of the Roman
ritual, he was esteemed anxious to intro
duce her peculiar tenets into the king
dom. He probably' Avished to effect
some sort of compromise AA'ith that
church ; a step, perhaps, little to be de
sired, provided Christian charity preA'ail
belAveen the members of the tAvo com
munions, and less to be hoped for, Avhile
she maintains her claims to supremacy
and infallibility ; and so sensible was
that court of his friendly intentions'-'
tOAvards peace, that he Avas twice offered
a cardinal's hat. But if he Avere guilty
of ten limes as much as this, it was no
treason. He had made himself justly
obnoxious lo the dislike of the true
friends of civil and religious liberty, and
he Avas persecuted even unto death by
men Avho had learned to disregard both
the one and the other. He had often,
perhaps, perverted the course of justice ;
but the course of justice was never more
sadly perverted than when he was con
signed to the block. In his conduct as
a man there Avas much of littleness,
much, of unchristian temper. In his
diary there is a constant reference to
dreams and other portents ; and his treat
ment of Williams and Osbolston,' as Avell
as of many others, precludes the possi
bility of supposing that he Avas not influ
enced by personal feelings of revenge.
In his defence he g-enerally argues that
the act objected to him was the common
decision of the council, and sometimes
justifies himself as having been guided
by the king : this method might secure
him against any legal punishment, but
could never furnish him with a fair
excuse, since the influence of such a
pritne minister must have been more
than adequate to SAvay the council ; and,
at all events, to bring forward such a
defence takes from him the character of
a hero, with Avhich the circumstances in
which he was placed might naturally
invest him. As it Avas, he did not save
his own life ; and had he taken up a
higher line of defence, had he justified
his general conduct, on the grounds of
those violences Avhich had since verified
the predictions of his OAvn foreboding
mind, he would haA c maintained a posi-

I Fuller, xi. 217.
8 See i 563.

' Heylin's Laud, 253.

tion Avhich sound reasoners might be
lieve to be untenable, but Avhich every
one must have acknowledged to have
been nobly taken up. After all, how
ever, he was a great man, in heart and
intention sincerely a friend to the church,
and a noble patron of learning. Had he
fallen into other times, his character
might have shone as one of the brightest
luminaries of our country ; had he pur
sued a different line of policy, and en
deavoured to soften doAA'.n the asperities
of party feeling in that reformation of
church and state Avhich Avas absolutely
required, he might have been held up
as the preserver of the establishment ;
Avhereas he Avas, perhaps more than anjr
other individual, the secret cause of its
destruction. He Avas possessed of enor
mous poAver, and, as he feared the popu
lar nature of innovations, he threw the
full weight of his influence into the op
posite scale, and endeavoured to prevent
them. He must not perhaps be regarded
as the enemy of real reforms,-* but he did
not perceive that the spirit of the timeS
might be guided, but could not be con
trolled ; and that reforms Avhich proceed
from those in authority are almost always
safe, and generally beneficial ; so that
he continued to support abuses till the
Avhole fabric of the state Avas over-
Avhelmed in their ruin, and he himself
buried in their downfall. Laud Avas
never so great as Avhile labouring under
the oppressions of the parliament ; he
bore all their unjustifiable conduct (and
feAV men have been treated Averse) with
a quiet composure, Avhich his genuine
religion afforded ; and thanked God for
having given him patience to endure
that which his providence had laid upon
him. § 585. The proceedings which have
been already described extended only to
the destruction of Avhat had previously
existed in church and state. The royal
authority Avas first resisted and then
throAvn doAvn by the poAver of the SAvord.
The bishops had been first frightened
from sitting in the House of Lords, and
then, under the form of law, deprived

¦• See the instructions sent forth by his advice,
in 1629, to bishops; and which, though they give
particular directions about lectures, &.C., yet are
well calculated to reform the bishops themselves.
They relate to residing within their sees, triennial
vishations, &c. ';Heylin's Laud, p. 199.)

Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

219

of their votes. When the war began
they were declared delinquents for
continuing their fidelity to the king,
robbed of their property, and at length
extirpated by the same ordinance (Jan.
1543) Avhich destroyed all cathedral
establishments. A proposal had been
made by Archbishop Usher' in 1641,
when the first committee on church
affiiirs Avas formed, to constitute such a
species of government as should em
brace the advantages possessed by
episcopacy as Avell as the presbyterian
form. The clergymen, churchwardens,
and sidesmen, Avere to compose a body
for the direction of the parish. Chore
piscopi, or bishops rural, Avere to be
established in cA'ery rural deanery,
Avho should hold monthly assemblies.
These Avere to be subjected to the
poAA-er of the diocesan synod, and that
to the provincial or national convoca
tion. 'This system Avould have given
the authority of a body to the discipline
of the church administered by them ;
and the bishop or his delegate Avould
in each case have been the legitimate
president of the several boards ; this
plan, hoAvever, never took effect.
The desolation which had been caused
by the Avar Avas peculiarly felt with
respect to the appointment of ministers
Avho might fill the vacant cures ; and as
the bishops could not attempt to supply
the deficiency thus created, the parlia
ment Avere obliged to frame some sort
of church government which might
succeed the one destroyed by them.
They could hardly venture to interfere
AAHth the affairs of the church Avithout
the sanction of some sort of ecclesiasti
cal authority, and they therefore had
recourse to a body Avhich, from the
anomalous nature of its constitution,
Avas not likely to raise any very decided
opposition to such plans of amendment
as they might think fit to adopt. With
these vieAvs they called together the
general assembly of divines at West
minster," a collection of men connected
Avith the ministry, who might form a
council for the parliament on such sub
jects pertaining to the church as might

-J Calamy's Baxter, 149. Collier, ii. 871, &c.
'•¦ This account of the assembly of divines at
Westminster is almost wholly taken from Neal's
History ofthe Puritans, vol. iii

be proposed to them by the two Houses.
They were not a convocation summoned
according to any of the forms or princi
ples Avhich regulate that body. They
resembled not the presbyterian synod,
for there Avas not even the semblance
of their being elected by their brethren ;
but consisted of such persons from the
several counties as the members of the
tAvo Houses chose to congregate for
their OAvn assistance in spiritual and
ecclesiastical matters. The clergymen
thus convoked amounted to about one
hundred and tAventy,and to these thirty
lay members were added, consisting
of ten peers and twice as many com
moners, Avho possessed an equal share
in the debates, dnd equal votes with the
former. Many of the members Avho
Avere thus called on to join a party at
open war with their sovereign declined
any connection Avith their proceedings;
but the majority, being all nominated
by the tAvo Houses, lent their assistance
to the cause of rebellion, and the places
of those Avho did not engage in this
affair Avere quickly filled up by the
superadded members. They met for
the first time in Henry Vlllh's chapel,
on Sunday, July Ist, 1643.
§ 586. The members of Avhom this
body was composed may be divided
into three heads; the episcopalians, the
presbyterians, and the independents.
The first and last indeed formed but a
very small part of the numerical force
ofthe assembly, and this small number
was soon diminished by the secession
of the episcopalians, Avho Avere virtually
excluded by being called on to take
the Solemn League and Covenant ; for
though an alteration Avas made in the
terms of that document" for the pur;pose
of reconciling the friends of a moderate
episcopacy, yet it Avas obvious that no
one who had any regard for the church
of England could long continue to act
with men Avho Avere bent upon destroy
ing her sacred fabric root and branch.
The contest, therefore, lay between the
presbyterians and independents, and
the numerical superiority possessed by
the former rendered the struggle of the
other party hopeless from the very first ;
a preponderance which the coalition
with the Scotch exceedingly augment-

3 Neal, iii. 58.

200

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIU

ed. These two parties agreed in their
aversion to the jurisdiction Avhich the
bishops had held over them, but they
Avere little suited to any real co-opera
tion. § 587. The presbyterians maintain
that their discipline is derived purely
from the conduct of the apostles, as
exhibited in the Avord of God, and chal
lenge a divine authority for their plat
form, with an exclusive dogmatism,
which nothing but an express com
mand of Omnipotence could sanction.
According to their hypothesis, every
parish forms a little republic of its OAvn.
The minister and lay elders constitute
a body politic for its domestic govern
ment ; a certain number of these, by a
delegated authority, compose the classi
cal assembly, Avhich, in its turn, sends
members to the provincial synod.
These are under the superintendence
of the national synod, and that in its
turn is subject to the oecumenical.
The system is Avell framed for giving
considerable energy to its decrees, and
for maintaining a due subordination
among the several bodies, but is liable
to great abuse by the power Avhich is
thrown intp the hands of the individual
clergyman; and had this discipline ever
been introduced Avithout any of those
checks Avhich could restrain its opera
tion, the people of England Avould soon
have learned that the episcopal juris
diction," which they had reduced, was
little to be compared with the tyranny
of that Avhich they had established."
§ 588. It is less easy to give any dis
tinct account of the independents, since
the name comprehends every species
of Christians Avho hold the same opinion
of the independence of each separate
body of Christians. According to this
hypothesis, wherever a congregation is
assembled, into Avhich the several mem
bers are admitted, and from Avhich an
exclusion may take place, there Avill
exist a full and independent church,
neither connected Avith, or dependent
on, any other body of Christians. There
is perhaps in the abstract no absurdity
in this tenet, but the slightest knowledge
of human nature Avould show, that no
thing but an immediate guidance from
heaven, or the perfection of the indivi-
' Collier's Church Hist. ii. 866. = See * 591, '.

dual members, could keep out the gross
est heresies from societies thus consti
tuted : and there are perhaps few errori>
which may not be detected among those
Avho have denominated themselves in
dependents. Liberty of conscience was
the standard around which they rallied ;
and AA'hen the more sober independents
found this assaulted by the presbyte
rians, they were forced to summon to
their aid the assistance of every sepa
ratist, however strange his opinions
might be. Nor, Avhen supported by
this force, would they have had any
probability of success, if the temporal
power which the presbyterians assumed
had not rendered their form of ecclesi
astical government incompatible Avith
the dominion Avhich CromAvell Avas en
deavouring to establish.
There Avas another faction, Avhich,
though not directly advocated.,as a party
in the assembly, found very able sup
porters among individuals on both sides,
and met with the strongest co-operation
from the prepossessions of the mass of
those Avho were invested with civil author
ity. The Erastians Avere so called from
Thomas Erastus,' M.D., a native of Ba
den, whobecame professor at Heidelberg.
They maintained that the clergy should
be possessed of no coercive power, that
they might persuade the vicious, and
try to reform the profligate, but that
every species of punishment, Avhether
civil or religious, should be vested in
the civil magistrate alone.
§589. The first task in Avhich the
members ofthe assembly Avere engaged,
Avas the alteration of the Thirty-nine
Articles ;' and they had proceeded as
far as the fifteenth, AA'hen the political

3 Fuller, xi. 213.
* The Articles in their altered state are printed
in the Appendix to Neal, (vol. v. p. hii.) No. 7, in
columns parallel with the original Articles. The
chief differences are. III. The " descent inio hell"
is explained as "being under the dominion of
death." VI. All mention of the Apocrypha is
omitted. VIII. On the three Creeds, is wholly
omitted. IX. " Very far gone from original
righteousness," is changed into " wholly deprived
of." XI. The imputation of Christ's obedience
and satisfaction to us is introduced ; ard that God
will not forgive the impenitent. XIII. " Inspi
ration of his Spirit" is rendered, "regeneration of
his Spiru." " They have the nature of sin" is
rendered, "Ihey are sinful." N.B. This last
change of expression takes place in the ninth
The several clauses in these Articles are accom
panied with references to the texts on which they
are founded.

Chap. XIH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

231

connection with Scotland, and the arrival
of commissioners from that country, im
posed the covenant upon the nation : a
step Avhich created a necessity for much
greater changes, and turned their atten
tion to the ncAv-raodelling of the whole
ofthe church government.
The most important question,* and
one which was agitated Avith the great
est warmth, Avas respecting the 'nature
of congregations generally, as forming
the essential difference betAveen the
presbyterians and independents. In this
discussion Lightfoot and Selden joined
Avith the greatest earnestness, and
broug-ht forAvard their great learning, to
shoAA'that the church at Jerusalem must
have consisted of more congregations
than one, and that the appeal from the
church of Antioch Avould never have
been made to that at Jerusalem, had
they esteemed themselves an independ
ent community. It is almost unneces
sary to add, that the presbyterians car
ried their point ; and, indeed, it is
difficult to conceive any national esta
blishment founded on independent prin
ciples. The presbyterians" wished that
the divine right of their own form of
church government should have been
officially recognised, but this absurdity
was obviated by a judicious motion of
Whitelock, which recommended it gene
rally, without touching on this delicate
question. Whatever might have been
the decision of these divines, it Avas pro
bable that Erastian principles' must
have prevailed, at least in the House of
Commons ; for, when the ordinance for
suspending ignorant and scandalous per
sons from the Lord's supper was passed,
an appeal from the decision of the elders
was allowed to take place,-* which ulti
mately fell under the cognisance of the
parliament ; and all members of either
House Avere, in such places as they re
sided, ex officio triers of the competency
of the candidates for admission into the
offices of the church. This point AA'as
more immediately brought into discus
sion' by the necessity of ordaining some
ministerSj in order to fill up the vacan
cies which various circumstances had
occasioned in the church. Many of the
orthodox divines had been driven from
' Lightfoot's Genuine Remains, p. xxv.
2 Neal's Pur. iii. 236. ' Ibid. iii. 240.
« ibid; 246—248. « Ibid. 126.

their cures, and the bishops, who had
alone power to ordain new ministers,
were all opposed to the proceedings of
the parliament. The House had at first
committed to the assembly an authority
for approving of such ministers as were
nominated by the patrons to the several
cures, but they soon found that a much
more extensive supply Avas required;
while their interest plainly pointed out
the wisdom of introducing their own
friends into situations AA'hich Avere likely
to prove so influential on the opinions
of the public. When, therefore, there
appeared much difficulty in settling
any thing definitely, an ordinance was
made, which conveyed to the assembly,
pro tempore, the poAver of ordaining.
The same ordinance Avas subsequently
continued for three years, and then
made perpetual.
§ 51)0. The Avorks which this assem
bly gave to the public are the more
interesting, because they have been
retained as the authorized guide to those
of our countrymen who still adopt the
presbyterian form of church govern
ment. They consist of a Directory for
worship and ordination ; of a Confes
sion of Faith ; and two Catechisms, the
larger and the shorter. Besides these,
there is a form of presbyterian church
govemment agreed upon by the assem
bly, but never authorized.
The Directory, as its name imports,
does not itself contain a form of prayer,
but gives the outline of such a service
as every minister is left to himself to
frame : a method which apparently
offers some advantages, when the per
son officiating is possessed of any very
peculiar talent for such compositions,
but even then must always make* the
congregation depend on his abilities in
a Avay far beyond what is desirable ; but
in the ordinary course of things, is liable
to most serious objections, and must
virtually tend to prevent all public de
votion, since either the individual will
relinquish the plan of extempore com
position, by constantly using a form of
his own, (and this can hardly be ex
pected to be so good as one composed
by persons selected for the purpose,) or
his varying expressions will be apt to
confuse the less enlightened part of his
hearers. The points on which the Directory
t3

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIIL

essentially* differs from the service of
the church of England are, that the
lessons are read consecutively from
Sunday to Sunday, and the Apocrypha
is entirely omitted. The use of spon
sors in baptism, and of the ring in mar
riage, is dispensed with ; in the visitation
of the sick nothing is said of confession
or atbsolution ; and the burial of the dead
is acpompanied with no religious rite.
The rules about ordination are peculiarly
indefinite ; and the power vested in the
hands of the presbytery seemed to lie
open to the admission of almost any one,
provided he Avould take the covenant,
and could satisfy his examiners of the
evidence of his calling to the ministry,
and of the grace of God which was in
him. It is not, indeed, stated hoAV this
last particular is to be ascertained, and
there must always be great danger of
hypocrisy, Avhen men become the Avit
nesses of their OAvn qualifications on
points Avhich admit of no definite proof.
The chief peculiarity ofthe doctrinal
Avorks is the prominence AA'ith Avhich
the tenet of predestination is brought
forAvard. The Confession'^ of Faith of
the asseinbly, hoAvever, is not exactly
the same as the Articles published by
the pariiament, for only a part of it Avas
authorized by them.'*
§ 591. The recommendations of the
assembly-'Avilh regard to church govern
ment, are imbodied in a tract Avhich has
been mentioned as published among
their other Avorks, and Avhich, though
approved of by the church of Scotland,
^ever received any auihority from the
parliament. According to this, the offi
cers of the church consist of pastors,
•teachers, other governors, and deacons.
There seems no other difference be
tween the Iavo first, than as they mark
out different duties of the same office.
They constitute the only individuals
Avho, in ordinary language, arc called
ministers, and are invested not only
I Tbe word essenllnlli/ Is used, since, under the
directions given in ihe Direciory, the church of
England service might be emjiloyed, except in
the.^e particulars.
2 Neal, iii. 320.
3 '1 hese works are frequently Id be met wilh in
a small 24mo. vol. neatly printed. Tbe Solemn
League and Covenant, as well as ihe former cove
nant, form a part of the same little book. The
Direciory is also printed in the appendix to Neal,
No. 8, p. Ixih.
< See i 587.

Avith the poAA'er of teaching, but com
bine in their persons a judicial author
ity, and, in conjunction with the elders,
possess the right of expelling from the
sacrament. It is in this that the chief
difference consists betAveen the episco
palian and presbyterian form of church
government,' Avith regard to discipline
over the laity. The minister of the
church of England may exclude, for
the time," an offending brother from
the sacrament ; but then he is bound
(Avithin fourteen days, by the Rubric
introduced after the Savoy Conference)
to inform the bishop, Avho is to proceed
against the offender ; so that it Avill be
necessary for the clergyman so repel
ling to have good grounds for all he
does, and to be able to prove his charge.
Whereas, by the presbyterian author
ity, the minister, together with the lay
elders, is ihe judge of the propriety of
such excommunication, and it remains
with the offending party lo appeal to
the higher tribunal of a superior court,
of Avhich the clerg)'man in question
may happen to be an influential mem
ber ; at all events, the person expelled
Avil|l have to prove tbe original excom
munication to have been Avrong, and
be subject to the onus probandi. Thus,
Avhatever might have been the tyranny
of bishops, the people Avould have
gained little by erecting a bishopric in
every parish. The .other governors, oj
lay elders, Avere lo compose a kind of
council for the pastor, and are copied
from the institutions of the Jewish
church. Deacons' Avere, in strict con
formity with their original ^ppointmenj,
persons selected t.o take care of the tenj-
poral Avants of the indigent, ^ sort of
overseers of the poor."

5 In episcopal govcrnnirnt lite bishop is judge;
in presbyterian, the mlni,=;ipr nnd elders. If an
episcopalian clergyman quairfil with any of his
parishioners, he cannot exrommnnicaie them
without jirovlng iliein gullly before a court, over
which he has no conliol, and which has a conirol
over him. The presbyterian may excommuni
cate proprio jure, and the party cxconimunicated
must appeal, nnd the appeal will, In ench cafe, he
to a courl nf which the clergyman may be a mem
ber, and iherefore^ a judge in his own cause. The
whole quesiion of excommunication is one of great
difficulty. Some good may arise from it in pre-
veniing scandal ; but very little wilh regard to the
offending party. See Baxier's own Life, i. 92.
' Rubric for the Lord's Supper.
' Acts vi.
8 For further particulars concerning the presby
terian discipline, see % 587, and a note iu Rapin,

Ch.vp. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

238

§ 592. This form of church govern
ment Avas noAvhere established except
in London and Lancashire, and was
never invested Avith such authority as
its friends demanded, since an ultimate
appeal lay to the parliament. This Avas
rendered absolutely necessary from the
poAver Avhich the church Avould other
Avise have possessed, and Avhich, had it
been allowed to exert till the civil influ
ence of Avhich it Avas capable, might
have proved as tyrannical to the repub
lic as it did to James I., Avhile he vvas
subjected to its sway in Scotland. It
is curious to observe the earnestness
with Avhich its advocates attacked this
restrictive check, Avhich the parliament
were wise enough never to take off.
The assembly of divines petitioned
against it ; the Scotch sent commission
ers and remonstrated ; but the amend
ments of the latter were burnt by the
hands of the common hangman, and
the assembly were informed that they
had incurred a prasmunire, by discuss
ing subjects Avhich were not proposed
to them by the Houses, and Avere re
quested to prove, from Scripture, that
the authority which they claimed was
a jus divinum, and clearly established
by the Avord of God. We have before
seen the probable argument in favour
of episcopacy,* Avhich, if not perfectly
convincing, is at all events much
stronger than that for the presbytery,
inasmuch as the voice of all authentic
history concurs in establishing the fact,
that at an early period bishops were a
distinct order in the church, a point
which the other party can never esta
blish in favour of presbyterian govern
ment without them. And though these
queries "(Ze jure divino"'^ were an
swered by some individual ministers
assembled at Sion College, yet they
remained AA'ith the assembly Avithout an
ansAver, till the Avhole fabric Avas de
stroyed by the prevalence of independ
ency. § 593. The tendency of the System
of the independents Avas suc|i, that un
der it no established religion could exist
in the state, since every teacher, who

li. 297 ; printed also in Neal, iii. 323; or the bur
den of Issachar, printed in the Phcenix, ii. 260.
There is a Compendium of the Laws of 'he
Church of Scotland, published 1830, in Edin-
l/urgh. ' See 4, 450. ^ Neal, iii. 279.

Avas not deficient in life and good mo
rals, might assemble a congregation
Avherever he pleased ; and every so
ciety, having the means of excluding
an offensive member from its commu
nion, might be deemed a church to all
intents and purposes. Any member
of any religious community, who Avas
ejected from one society, might enrol
himself in another ; so that the coercive
discipline of the church Avas reduced to
a mere nothing. It must be remem
bered that the church of England pos
sesses in the bishops' courts a very
considerable authority for the reforma
tion of manners ; that, at the period of
which we are speaking, this was con
stantly exercised ; and that the Court
of High Commission, by supporting and
aiding the minor courts, and sometimes
by superseding their authority, ren
dered the ecclesiastical discipline for
midable, and in some cases oppressive.
In the presbyterian government the
authority Avas placed in loAver hands,
but by no means diminished; and in
both cases, civil punishments Avere the
consequence of neglecting ecclesiastical
censures. The point at issue, then, on
the part of the independents was, Avhe
ther there should be any coercive disci
pline at all ; and it Avas perhaps natural,
that an army, Avhich had conquered the
king, shoiild not quietly surrender them
selves to the rule of their priests. Reli
gion, real or pretended, had contributed
much to preserve the discipline of the
army ; and they Avho in the field, guided
the SAVord of the flesh, took upon them
in the camp to use that of the Spirit, so
that almost all the good officers of the
parliament army became, by degrees,
great preachers. The presbyterian
form of church government is very
republican, and it Avas partly from this
reason that the republican party in
the state favoured its establishnif-nt,
though they never allowed it to possess
an authority independent of themselves.
When the army had subdued the king,
the republicans wished them to lay
doAvn their arms ; but, in the division
of spoil among robbers, it is difficult to
say nay to him Avho has the poAver in
his own hands. The presbyterian mi
nistry favoured the form of government
Avhich was best suited to themselves,
and Avhich 'their party deemed the legi-

224timate authority of the country ; but the
army, Avith their preachers, were ready
to say, in spiritual as well as temporal
concerns, "Who shall be lord over us?"
It is impossible, as it Avas before ob
served, to state the exact nature of in
dependency;* every separate church
may vary, but the principle of it is to
destroy the existence of any priesthood
at all. The presbyterian establishment
continued till the Restoration, though
it was shorn of its glory, and the bonds
of its union and strength Avere broken.
The only place Avhere the independ
ents' had the poAver of establishing a
church government of their OAvn was
in Wales ; but Avhat Avas there done,
Avas accompanied Avith so much mani
fest dishonesty, that it can be hardly
admitted as a specimen of their princi
ples.' § 594. Liberty of conscience Avas the
aim of the independents, Avho Avished
also to subject the ministry to the power
of the state. They may be identified
AA'ith the army to a certain degree, as
the presbyterians became the same body
Avilh the republicans ; and the struggle
Avhich remained lay between these Iavo
confederate bands. The king, by sur
rendering himself to the Scotch, who
were combined with the presbyterians,
became indirectly the prisoner of the
parliament, till the army got possession
of him through the violent seizure of
his person by Cornet Joyce : both these
parties possessed many individuals Avho
were anxious to restore tranquillity by
re-establishing a limited monarchy ; but
the violent partisans, Avho ruled their
several proceedings, could hardly hope
for safety, if the king Avere restored,
and must at all events have lost that
influence which they had acquired.
Anxious, therefore, for the destruction
of Charles, the difficulty Avhich re
mained consisted in the means Avhereby
this object might be effected. The his
tory of his escape from Hampton Court
is so enveloped in obscurity, that the
utmost we can do is to conjecture the
real cause of it. The leaders of the
arrny, \vho had for the time treated
him with considerable civility, now
wished for his death, and for a pre-

HISTORy OF THE

Chap. Xlll.

' Neal, iv. 172.
2 Walker'sSufferingsof the Clergy, i. 147—169.
» See i 608.

text on Avhich they might found their
change of conduct toAvards him: for
this purpose they alarmed his fears,
and facilities for his escape Avere afford
ed to his friends, of Avhich they took
advantage ; while the general vigilancy
of their guards made the flight from
the kingdom almost impossible. Il
Avas thus, perhaps, that he left Hamp
ton Court Avithout the knoAvledge of
the arrny, but was deceived in the
hopes of finding a ship ready to convey
him aAvay. It Avas thus that he fell into
the hands of the governor of Carisbrook
castle, and Avas detained as a prisoner
till his removal for trial. It Avas neces
sary for Cromwell that the king should
be removed. It Avas necessary for the
army that they should not alloAV the
king, by joining Avith the republican
party, to annihilate the influence of the
soldiery ; and they cared perhaps less
for the fate of Charles than for their
own interests : had he escaped, they
Avould have little regarded it, provided
he did not join the parliament and the
republicans. § 595. The moderate republicans
foresaAV their danger, and Avere anxious
to re-establish the king.* The Scotch
would have consented to his restoration,
because they perceived the risk they
ran of falling a prey to the English
government, Avhatever it might be, and
they Avere ready to adopt either loyalty
or rebellion, provided their own inte
rests Avere promoted. But Charles be
lieved that the episcopal government
of the church was the one which the
apostles had established, and he had
suffered too much by taking one false
step (the death of Lord Strafford^) ever
to adventure his soul on another act
Avhich Avas in direct violation -^of his
principles. Had Charles consented to
adopt the presbyterian form of church
government, the party AA'hich Avas treat
ing Avith him might possibly have been
strong enough to restore him to a nomi
nal throne ; at least he had good reason

¦i Many of those who had contributed to this
catastrophe, now saw the lengths into whicli they
had been carried, and exerted themselves lo hin
der the event when u was too late. Foriy-seven
of the presbyterian ministers in London presented
a petition -to General Fairfax and his council of
war, wherein they boldly and plainly rebuked a
victorious army, and pointed out the villany ol
their proceedings. (Collier, ii. 859.)
5 Life of Col. Hutchinson, ii. 156.

Chap. XHL]

CHURCH .OF ENGLAND.

225

to believe this, and his resistance on
this point obviously led to his death.
The decision of the king on this ques
tion was by no means the effect of ob
stinacy, but of a thorough conviction,
arising from a very perfect understand
ing of the argument. He Avas twice
engaged in the dispute, and it fortu
nately happens that his papers are
preserved. In the first, Mr. Henderson,' who
was deemed a learned and a moderate
presbyterian, Avas sent to satisfy the
king's doubts, while he was prisoner in
the Scotch army at Newcastle, (May
29— July 16th, 1646.) The arguments
of the king are nearly those Avhich are
before stated, (§ 460 ;) the ansAver of
Henderson appears to be a. petitio prin
cipii, and an avoiding of the question.
There is not throughout a single argu
ment on the jus divinum of presbyte
rian ordination ; (that is, an argument
to shoAV that episcopal ordination is not
as consistent Avith the Avord of God as
presbyterian ;) and this Avas what they
virtually maintained in their sermons
when they attacked episcopacy. The
argument really is this. The point is
not settled in Scripture, the expressions
of which are not contradictory to either
hypothesis ; the presbyterian hypothe
sis is inconsistent Avith ecclesiastical his
tory : which hypothesis therefore is the
most probable ? All Henderson says
is. It is not settled in Scripture. Tra
dition is inadmissible into theological
argument, or the papists must carry
the day." Episcopacy has obviously
done much harm to religion ; therefore
it ought to be cast out. Had he been
pleading for the reform of episcopacy,
his argument Avould have been good,
"therefore it ought to be reformed."
One query of the king received no an-
SAver ;^ viz. : What Avarrant is there in
the word of God for subjects to endea
vour to force their king's conscience,
and to make him alter laAvs against his
will? The discussion at Newport* (Sept. 18,
< King Charies I. Works, 75—90.
' This is a position wluch the member of the
church of England would never grant. We are
ready to meet the Roman Catholics on the ground
of tradition, when the meaning of that term is
rightly settled.
> Letter, i. 76.
?King Charles's Works, 612—646.
29

1648) is more fully drawn up, on the
side of episcopacy, 'nasmuch as his
majesty Avas here assisted by Usher,
Sanderson, Sheldon, and Duppa, where
as in the other case all Avas done by
himself : the presbyterian argument is
well stated, but labours under the same
difficulty ; it avoids the real question.
That in favour of episcopacy is not
perhaps so sound as the king's at New
castle ; they assert that episcopacy*
may be sufficiently proved from Holy
Scripture ; a position which a presby
terian Avould indubitably deny ; and
Avhich cannot probably be carried be
yond the point that it is in no wise in
consistent, but rather agrees with the
account there given of the church of
ficers. Charles does not insist on the
divine right, but puts these three ques
tions,' to Avhich no ansAver Avas made :
I. Did Christ and his apostles appoint
any one form of church government ?
2. If so, may this be changed by hu
man authority? 3. Was this govern
ment episcopal or presbyterian ?'
5 Letter, iii. 2, 616.
« Letter, iii. 9, 620, and G46.
t The whole question of episcopacy, as debated
by the presbyterians, is frequently confused, from
not distinguishing between the order of bishops
and their jurisdiction. If it bo granted ihat
bishops are a distinct order, it docs not follow
that they are to be the sole governors in the
church. They arc so, perhaps, too much in the
church of England, and the result has been, not
that they now tyrannize over the inferior clergy,
as in Ihe early days of the church of England, for
In tbe present limes the force of public opinion
will sufficiently prevent this ; but that ecclesiasti
cal discipline among the clergy has been destroyed
by the counteraction arising from the risk of their
tyrannizing. Bishops, in most coses, where a
clergyman is concerned, are by law the sole
judges, (at least their courts are, and the world
does not know that a bishop's court is not the
same thing as a bishop.) "I'hey are forced there
fore to shrink from the appearance of being un
just, and they may more truly JDerhaps be accused
of not exerting the power which ihey possess. In
many cases the expense of doing their duty is so
enormous, and the difficulty of pi-qving charges,
though notorious, so great, that he must be very
ignorant of human nature who hastily passes cen
sure on bishops in this particular. If a certain
number of clergymen, chosen independently ot
the bishop, were appointed as his assessors and'
council, much ofthe personal responsibility would
be taken off, and the opinion of the public would
support ecclesiastical discipline, whereas it is now
frequently arrayed against it on most false grounds.
(See some observations on this head in p. 34,
Church Reform, by a Churchman.) Something
of this sort is directed in the 31st Canon with re
gard to ordinations i though, perhaps, it has hardly
ever been practically adopted by any bishOp.
Here, according to our canon, tho power of a

2SG

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIII,

The whole of these Iaa'o discussions
is well worthy the attention of any one
who is anxious to examine into this
point, and Avill leave on the mind of
the reader a strong impression of the
goodness and sense of the king. He
seems to have comprehended the ques
tion fully, and to have acted upon it
honestly, though it cost him his croAvn
and his life. For Avhen no concessions
could be obtained from hira, the party
who Avished for his death became suffi
ciently strong to perpetrate the mnr-
bishop is hmited i for he ought not to ordain with
out the presence of the dean, archdeacon, and
two prebendaries, or at least four parsons, masters
of arts, and allowed preachers ; nor (35) wilhout
the candidates having been previously examined
in the presence of at least three of them : a step
which would greatly diminish the odium of reject
ing candidates for orders. The neglect ol this
canon has not been to render bishops arbitrary in
rejecting candidates for orders, but to admit im
proper persons into the church. In many cases
the freehold of a clergyman is implicated in ihe
quesiion of his conduct, and God forbid that any
man's property in England should be left un
guarded ; but it is surely but fair to the flocks
over whom we are appointed to watch, that if we
neglect our duty, and can be convicted before a
jury of oar fellow beneficed clergymen, we
should be removable by law, without entailing
a vast expense on the bishop, who only does his
duly in dismissing an offending clergyman. The
presbyterian church obviously possesses the ad
vantage in point of discipline ; but there is no
reason why these advantages should not be trans
planted inio a church which shall at the same
retain ibe apostolic order of bishops. Aichbishop
Usher's CJ 585) plan would have combined many
of the advantages of these two forms of govern
ment ; and probably tbe only hopes which we can
reasonably entertain of ever seeing ecclesiastical
discipline over the clergy effeclually re-established,
(which God of his great mercy grant,) must arise
trom adopting something of this sort, A bishop,
who was disposed to do so, rnight introduce much
wilhout any change of the laws ; for the consti-
luiion of our parish offices, rural deaneries, archi
diaconal and episcopal vishations, are all founded
upon a principle which, while it made the bishop
ihe head and source through which the jurisdic-
lion of the church was derived from the throne,
presumed that much of this authority was exer
cised by the united influence of the clergy them
selves, who would thus become the guardians
nnd judges of tbe conduct of their brethren.
(Herbert, in his Country Parson, ch. .\ix. p. 62,
considers visitations os clergy councils.) The
churchwardens and sidesmen form a sort of a
palish council for the clergyman ; the dean-rural
was' formerly the overseer of his deanery. The
visitations might answer the purposes of peculiar
and general assembhes of the diocese, while tbe
convocation might form a national synod. All
nut the last might, to a certain degree, be esta
blished in his own diocese by any bishop who
chose it.
The kingdom has, for the last two hundred
years, been making rapid strides in every species
of improvement, and a corresponding alteration in
the laws on every subject has taken place ; during

der; and he Avas brought to a mock
trial, Avhich exhibited his patience, his
Christianity, and the injustice of his
oppressors ; and his death sealed the
testimony of his uprightness as a man.
§ 596. Charles had the misfortune of
being educated in a political school little
likely to enable him to see the line of
policy Avhich it Avas wise for him to
adopt. When the majority of the in
fluential part of society have made up
their minds as lo the necessity of any
alteration in the government, prudent

this period, nothing has been remedied in the
church ; a few acts of parliament have regulated
some of ils temporal concerns, and obviated some
evils, but the clergy have never been allowed
officially to stale the disadvantages under which,
as a body poliiic, we labour ; or to suggest the
methods by which these evils might probably be
cured ; and if the temper of the mass of church
men be httle suited to enter on such discussions,
as is sometimes asserted ; if there be greaier risk
in discussing the quesiion of alterations ihan in
continuing the abuses under which we labour;
the fault is attributable chiefly to those who have
long closed our national assembly, and to the
want of discipline which the circumstances of our
country have creaied. The slate of the church
of England at present is ihat of a perfect toleration
of religious oplniot^s, co-existent with an establish
ment ; a form, under God's providence, probably
the most likely to foster real Christianity ; but
ihe temporal advantages which the establishment
possesses are, perhaps, more than counterbalanced
by the total inability of our church to regulate
any ibing wiihin herself, and the great want of
discipline over the clergy. (.We must except,
indeed, that which public opinion has established.)
In those poinis which are regulated by acts of
parliament, the odium of putting them in force is
thrown on the bishop alone, when frequently
there is no such necessity ; while the absurd na
ture of our ecclesiastical laws renders every spe
cies of discipline over the laity not only nugatory.
but, when it is exercised, frequently unchristian,
ridiculous, and in many cases very oppressive. In
all this, the fault is not in the clergy; but, alas,
we bear the blame, are made obnoxious to re
proach, for faults among ourselves which there is
no power to punish ; and liable to censure on ac
count of laws which ought to have been abro
gated long ago, but over which tbe clergy have
no control. As to ecclesiastical discipline over
the loily, it can hardly exist where universal dis
sent is tolerated ; and it may be a great question,
whether, in the present state of society, its re-
establishment would promote the cause of vital
religion ; a clergyman who does his duly may
reprove in private ah erring brother; may warn,
may admonish him of his faulis ; and it may be ^
doubted whether any other auihority ia wisely in
trusted to us ; wheiher the temptation to overstep
our duly, from personal considerations, may not
more than outweigh the probable good effect of
such power. As it is at present, excommunica
tion bears with it such terrible civil penalties, that
It can hardly be used in a Christian manner.
With regard to discipline among ourselves,
there can be no doubt that it is much wanted;
and may God grant it us, as il shall seem good
to him !

Chap. XIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

22T

concession may disarm innovation of its
violence, may counteract its ill effects,
and may guide the stream of opinion,
though nothing can arrest it. The same
stream may thus produce fertility as it
passes, which, if left to the direction of
the thoughtless and Avicked, Avho form
a large portion of every society, Avould
have produced all the evils Avhich the
most fearful could anticipate. The
people of England had come to the de
cision, that they had the right of taxing
themselves, and of being governed by
law.' The friends of the court dreaded
to admit the first, and Avere unable to
concede the latter, unless the first Avere
previously granted ; and Charles, hav
ing learnt from his father that the only
source of legitimate poAver lay in the
croAvn, regarded all opposition as a spe
cies of rebellion, and tried to govern
without parliaments. A general com
bination Avas formed against the court;
the court was composed of many un-
Avise, of piany dishonest individuals, and
when it came to act against the people,
it Avas inadequate to the task. A church
man at the head of the ministry tried to
excite the church in defence of the sup
posed rights of the croAvn, but he had
previously divided that body by his en
deavours to promote his OAvn theolo
gical party ; and Avhile the more digni
fied part ofthe establishment generally
sided wilh the king, there Avas a strong
party Avho Avere Avilling and eager to
humble the superior members of their
OAvn order, Avhom they regarded as their
oppressors, and to destroy the higher
offices in the church, and those, prefer
ments from the attainment of Avhich they
found themselves excluded on account
of religious opinions, Avhich the govern
ing ascendancy deemed unorthodox.
§ 597. When the first parliament of
1640 Avas assembled, good men had
reasonably formed great hopes from its
moderation and prudence, and its disso
lution Avas accompanied Avith the uni
versal sorrow of the well-affected; the

' This is in fact the substance ofthe petliion of
rights. (Rapin, ii. 270.;) It is there declared, That
the right of imposing taxes belongs to the parlia
ment; that this had been infringed,; and ihat vio
lence had been offered lo the subject by imprison
ments, the quartering of soldiers on divers coun
ties, and issuing commissions of martial law. This
was presented m 1628, and a very general answer
returned to it.

friends of the government saAV no other
hope than in assembling another, and
no one could expect that such a step
could be free from great danger. The
violence of the Long Parliament soon
dreAV from the affrighted court Avhat
might easily have satisfied its prede
cessor ; but the ease Avith Avhich con
cessions Avere made, and the warmth of
those who demanded them, convinced
all Avho Avere thus implicated, that they
could not trust to concessions so made,
or secure their OAvn personal safety,
except by thro Aving down and trampling
on the croAvn : and the want of confi
dence in the court Avhich the country
entertained, enabled them to do so.
When subjects begin to force a govern
ment, to yield is dangerous, to resist
often impossible, and that which, if
granted Avith a good grace, might have
conciliated a large portion of the king
dom, became so inadequate to satisfy
those Avho had obtained it, that the very
concession could on their part be guard
ed only by further demands. The sole-
ground on Avhich the conduct of the
parliament can be justified, is, that they
could not trust the promise and conces
sions ofthe king; and if this could be
established, they had no alternative but
to submit their necks to the hazard of
the block, or to take the militia 'into
their own hands. It Avas so much their
interest that a general opinion of the
insincerity of Charles should prevail,
that the fact of its prevailing- does not
at all prove its truth ; yet there is some
strong evidence against the king. He''
calls the advice for peace, given him
by the tAvo Houses assembled in Ox
ford, " the base and mutinous motions"
of his "mongrel parliament;" an ex
pression Avhich, coupled Avith many
others in his letters to the queen on the
treaty at Uxbridge, makes it very ques
tionable hoAv he might have acted, had
he gained the superiority in the AA'ar.
Yet, after all, these may be petulant
terms, elicited by anger, or by tender
ness to the prejudices of his wife, or he
might have seen more deeply into the
undoubted insincerity ofthe parliament ;
but it can hardly be imagined that he
would intentionallv have violated those

2 Works of King Charles L, 150, No. 29. Ra
pin, ii. 512.

HISTORY OP THE

[Chap. XIH.

bills, to which his assent Avas affixed ;
and at all events the security of the
people was better guarded by their
poAver of refusing illegal supplies, than
his safety could have been secured, had
the militia been in the hands of the par
liament. The real danger seems to
have consisted in the Aveakness of mind
rather than in the dishonesty of Charles,
for no one could trust that a determina
tion once for.med might not be imme
diately changed. He had listened to
the proposals of Strafford,' Avhen that
minister .idvised him to establish a per
fect tyranny, and had continued to trust
him as his adviser; he had surrendered
up the same man to the violence of his
enemies, when he ought to have de
fended him ; and can we wonder that
the world should be induced to believe
that Charles Avas not worthy to be
trusted? It was probably this same
Avant of firmness and self-confidence,
which rendered the issue of the war so
disastrous ; Avhich first ruined the disci
pline of his officers, and then exposed
his army to defeat. His failings led to
a catastrophe which might probably
have been avoided, had he been a Averse
man ; at least the evil day might longer
have been delayed. His virtues Avere
tried and exhibited by the difficulties
and misfortunes to Avhich he was sub
jected, and have gained him the appel
lation of a martyr." Had lie lived when
the constitution was more fully esta
blished, he Avould probably have proved
a constitutional and good king ; had he
lived Avhen the country Avas less pre
pared to assume its share in the govern
ment of itself, he might have been
found a better king than his father ; as
' Ludlow's Mem. iii. 322, or third edit. 262.
5 It is perhaps unfortunate that this appellation
ehould ever have been affixed by authority. He
was in one sense a martyr to the defence of the
church of England, and in his death exhibited
strong proofs of his sincere Christianity. Nor is
it less to be lamented that the observance of the
fifth of November, the thirtieth of January, and
the twenty-ninth of May, has not been legally dis
continued, since it can only have the effect of pro
tracting animosities and continuing party feeling,
which It should be Ihe office of a wise government
to destroy as much as possible. 'Ine services
might be changed by the crown ; they are not
sanctioned by any act of parliament. It is curious
that Sancroft, who drew up the office for the thir
tieth of January, uses, in a letter to his father
written at the time, expressions more strong than
any which he has introduced into the services.
(Life, i. 43.)

it Avas, his weakness lost him his croAvn
and life, Avhile his firmness prevented
the church of England from being swal-
loAved up by fanaticism, or changed to
a presbyterian form ; a fate which Avould
probably have attended her, had he
coalesced Avith either the army or the
republicans. In this great struggle, when the vir
tues, vices, and energies of every man
were put to the severest test, there are
few Avhose history will bear more near
inspection than that of this virtuous man.
There were others who were Aviser,
better, and greater, but his faults Avere
the errors of a judgment which did not
sufficiently rely on itself, and followed
the prejudices in which he had been
brought up, or which were instilled into
him by others ; his virtues AA'ere his OAvn,
and the fruit of his sincere religion.
There is perhaps no greaterproof of the
honesty of his intentions, than the fact'
that the best vindication of him Avhich
his friends could publish after the Re
storation, consisted in an authentic copy
of his letters, speeches, and public acts.
§ 598. Something has been already
said with regard to the sufferings of the
clergy, vvho Avere on both sides exposed
to great cruelty. Those evils AA-hich the
friends of the parliament endured, were
generally the rude insults of unauthorized
violence. The language of the royal
party* had applied the name of puritan
to those Avho would not conform in
church matters, and the rabble, taking
up the term, comprehended under it all
who Avere disposed to greater strictness
in life or preaching, and Avho thus became
the objects of popular odium, when the
fury of the Avar let loose the multitude
against every one Avho had any thing to
lose. This circumstance drove many
persons to join the parliament, Avho had
otherwise no inclination to talie any part
in the Avar. The sufferings of the royal
ists arose from illegal acts of tyranny,
carried on under the semblance of" justice,
in which the evil passions of individuals.
were allowed to imbitter penalties in
themselves sufficiently grievous. It
must be granted that the parliament,
when they had recourse to arms, could
not in prudence allow the loyalist clergy
3 Works of Charles 1.
* Calamy's Baxter, 48, &c.

Chap. XIII.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

to retain their situations as teachers, hut
the means Avhich they took to dispossess
them were very unwarrantable. They
who sat as judges' were often the pro
moters of the charges Avhich they Avere
to investigate, were frequently incom
petent to such offices, and justly sus
pected of receiving money ftom the
prisoners Avho were brought before them,
as well as from those who succeeded to
the vacant benefices. The accusations'"
which were made against the clergy
were, besides offences of amoral nature,
generally the observance of ceremonies,
and malignancy ; and it is Avonderful
that in such a scrutiny no more instances
of vicious lives and conversations are
recorded.^ In the cases adduced by
Walker, some ofthe clergy are charged
with very ridiculous crimes; yvhh de
serting their cures, for instance, when
the parliament had driven them away
One is blamed* for singing a most ma
lignant psalm, another for reading* a
most malignant chapter; for walking in
his garden on a Sunday ; because his
dog caught a hare on a Sunday. But
when the ordinance for taking the cove
nant was passed, (Feb. 22, 1644,) and
the use of the Directory enjoined, (Jan
3, 1645,) these Iavo handles of ejection
superseded the necessity of any other,
and the task of sequestration became
plain. The class of witnesses who were
admitted, consisting of offended parish
ioners or informers encouraged by the
committee ; the fact, that at first these
witnesses were not examined on oath,
that they Avere not confronted with the
accused, for fear of discoura"ging them,
that they Avere often received Avithout
any scrutiny" — all mark a dishonesty of
intention on the part of the parliament,
which the necessity of the case may ac
count for, but can by no means excuse.
The parliament pretended to advocate
the cause of the subject, and they were
guilty of gross and unnecessary acts of
oppression. What could be more arbi
trary than to "compel men who had long
used and admired the Common Prayer

' Walker's Sufferings, 80, 90—94.
2 ibid. 97—103.
^ White, chairman of the commUtee, publiisbed
"A Century of Scandalous Ministers," or the ac
count of the hundred worst cases which he could
select. I have never seen it.
* Walker, 83. 5 ibjd. 93. 6 Ibid. 106.
' Neal's Puritans, iii. 108.

Book, to desist from its use ? to force
men to take the covenant, who had been
bred up in episcopacy, and believed in
the sacred nature of its institution ? In
July, 1646,^ Avhen there was some ap
pearance that the parliament and the
army Avould quarrel, the ejected clergy
presented an ineffectual petition to the
king and Sir Thomas Fairfax, stating,
" that they have been put out of their
freeholds by the arbitrary power of com
mittees, whose proceedings have usually
been by no rule of any known law, but
by their own Avills ; of Avhose orders no
record is kept, nor scarce any notes or
memorials whereby it may appear when,
by whom, or for what, your petitioners
are removed ;" and then recapitulating
some of the before-mentioned hardships.
Th'e provision which was made for the
families of those who were ejected, Avas,
after some delay, settled at a fifth of
their preferment ; but this was assigned
with many restrictions, and frequently
obtained Avith much difficulty ;" nor does
it appear to have been ever extended to
the members of cathedral churches.
The want of any abstract of the pro
ceedings of these committees has ren
dered the task of estimating the numbers
of those who Avere ejected exceedingly
difficult ; but the attempt has been made
by Gauden, who states it as his opinion
that between six and seven thousand
clergymen Avere ejected. Walker's'" cal
culation goes higher, but these compu
tations are probably much beyond the
truth." § 599. The accounts respecting the
universities'^ are much more ample. In
1642, Lord Holland obtained an order
from the House of Lords, which was
backed by one from the earl of Essex,
that the property of the university of
Cambridge should be respected : the
place, however, had been already ran
sacked ; and subsequently, in conse
quence of the loyalty exhibited by many
of the members, who sent assistance in
money and plate to the king, Oliver

8 Walker, 145. 9 Ibid. 100. '" Ibid. 199.
" The ground of this probability is, that Gau
den's calculation is founded on his assertion, that
"one-half the clergy were sequestered." No
very certain datum ; and the index in Walker
contains only 1337 names, and some of these
occur twice. The number SOOO is derived from
White, the author of the Century.
>2 Walker, 10,S. u

830

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIIL

Cromwell came down there, and the
town "was converted into a garrison for
the seven associated counties ; a step
Avhich exposed the academicians to every
species of minor oppression, an annoy
ance which Avas not at all discouraged by
those in authority.
In January, 1643, the regulation of the
university was committed to the earl of
Manchester, and ample powers were put
into his hands. He commenced his
operations by ejecting all who were
absent, and Avho did not appear within
tAvelve days (a period of time too short
even to summon many of them,) and
proceeded to get rid of all Avhom he dis
liked, by proposing to them the covenant
for their acceptance. It is supposed
that belAveen five and six hundred were,
during the rebelhon, ejected from this
uniA'ersity alone. In filling the Vacant
places, statutes and oaths Avere disre
garded, and in some cases fellowships
Were left altogether void, while all who
Were admitted to any situation were ex
amined by the assembly. The favour
Avhich Avas afterwards shown to Cam
bridge was gjanted for the purpose of
establishing a rebellious university, since
the parliament had early discovered that
the university, as it was, Avould never
rebel. § 600. (a. d. 1647.) Oxford, during
the continuance of the Avar, had fur
nished the court Avith a safe and com
fortable retreat ; it had been fortified in
1644, and surrendered not till the go
vernor had received an order to that
efiect from the king, who was then a
prisoner with the Scotch. The members
of the university and citizens had borne
arms in the royal cause, and the terms
which Avere obtained Avere at least ho
nourable to her defenders ; but the day
of visitation at length arrived.
In order to pave the Avay for the com
missioners,' seven divines, Avho were
friendly to the neAv order of things, were
sent doAvn, and were most regular in
preaching- at St. Mary's, Avhile the sober
part of the university retired to St.
Mary Magdalen church. They opened
also a place for theological disputation,
which was nicknamed " the scruple-
shop," and there met with much dis
turbance from one Erbur'J', an inde-

' Walker's Sufferings, 122.

pendent, who silenced the presbyterian
divines, by asking them, " by Avhat au
thority they taught ?" for they dared not
confess their episcopal ordination, and
had no other to adduce. When the
commissioners of visitation Avere ap
pointed, (May I,) the university put forth
reasons AVhy they could not assent to the
covenant and its appendages, a tract
which Avas chiefly draAA'n up by Sander
son and Zouch, and printed in the ap
pendix to the small edition of Walton's
Life of Sanderson. = It is a bold and
unanswerable pamphlet, and ^distinctly
tells the parliament, in respectful terms,
that they Avere " usurpers and tyrants."
and that " the members of the university
neither could nor Avould obey them."
The reception with Avhich the commis
sioners met, corresponded Avith this be
ginning. They found their authority
despised and themselves ridiculed, and
could do nothing till the arrival (Sept.
27) of a neAV commission in the king's
name. Fell, dean of Christ Church,
who Avas then vice-chancellor, and the
other heads, Avhen they appeared before
the commissioners, demanded their au
thority ; and Avhen the commission Avas
shown, they questioned its authenticity.
The most obnoxious opponents, hoAA'-
ever, Avere by degrees sent prisoners to
London ; but the commissioners did not
find themselves able to effect their pur
pose, till they were supported by a
guard of soldiers ; and even then Mrs.
Fell Avould not quit the deanery at Christ
Church, but sat still in her chair till she
AA'as lifted bodily^ into the quadrangle.
The orders' which Avere inserted by the
commissioners in the buttery-book at
Christ Church, were next morning found
tp have been erased by the students, and
every step AA'hich they made Avas gained
merely by force. They expelled from
the university five hundred and forty-
eight inferior members'' who rejected
their authority, and were only driven
out by the interference of a file of sol
diers. Most of these suffered great
misery, and continued faithful in their
loyalty ; and from their numbers, and
the influence which educated men can
not fail to possess, may probably have

^ There is a full abstract of il in Collier, ii. 849;
it is printed at length in the 8vo. edition of Wal
ton's Lives, Oxford, 1824, at the end.
3 Walker, 138.

Chap. XIV.

;cHURcn OF England,

231

greatly assisted in advancing the Resto
ration. Many of those who filled up the
vacancies thus created were brought
from Cambridge, Avhere they had re
sided since the regulation in 1643 ;
but the best places fell to the lot of the
visitors. The university, when new-
modelled, became bounteous of her
honours, conferring degrees on the
chief instruments of the rebellion, and
subsequently electing Ohver Cromwell
as their chancellor. It might have been
expected, that the persons' noAv intro
duced into the Iaa'o universities Avould
have corrupted the soil so effectually
as to have prevented the groAvth of any
goodly plants for a long season ; but
the Restoration found them as full of
sound learning and piety as of obedi
ence and duty ; a fact which leads us
to conclude that the description of the

persons then introduced, as given oy
Lord Clarendon, must be much over
charged. Nor must it in fairness be
forgotten, that the names'' -of Ward and
of Wallis Avere then added to our uni
versity, that the Royal Society sprung
from her misfortunes, and that oriental
literature'' never flourished more than
during the usurpation. It is by exam
ining circumstances such as these that
Ave discover the real importance of
sound learning and of establishments
for religious education ; for be it ever
remembered, that the royal cause found
noAvhere more determined and active
friends than in Christ Church ; and
that South,-' Avhen as monitor he read
the Latin prayers in Westminster
school, on the day of the execution of
Charles I., prayed publicly for his
murdered sovereign.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE USURPATION, 1649 — 1660.
601. Outline ofthe history ; the whole power was in the hands of the army. 602. CromweU's suc
cess in Ireland ; ^in Scotland ; treatment of Charles II. in Scotland ; ' advance into England, and
battle of Worcester. 603. Cromwell makes the people dissaiisfied wilh the parliament, in order
that they may fall into his hands. 604. Government of CromweU. COS. Character of Cromwell.
606. Presbyterians. 607. Independents. 608. Propagation of the gospel in Wales. 609. Church
government; Triers. 610. Treatment of the church of England; CromweU's declaration ; tolera
tion; Roman Catholics; Jews. 611. State of rehgion; Baxter al Kidderminster. 612. Disci
phne; associations. 613. Observations on these. 614. Independents; presbyterians. 615. Slate
of religion; episcopalians! 616. Treatment of them, and their general conduct; llieiature. 617.
Sects. 618. Quakers. 619. Anabaptists; antinomians; familists; fifih-monarchy men. 620.
Laws about morality. 621. Heresy. 622. Marriage. 623. Succession of bishops. 624. Causes
of the Restoration.

§601. (January 31, 1649.) The his
tory of England during the usurpation,
is more or less the general history of a
country Avhich has throAvn doAvn legiti
mate authority instead of reforming it :
and corresponds Avith every reformation
which has been carried on by the people
alone. It is a struggle for political
poAver on the part of those Avho have
been oppressed, who misuse their au
thority when they have acquired it,
and drive the nation to wish again for
the government which they had previ
ously cast out. The necessity of refor
mation will be first visible to those who
sufl'er most by existing abuses, and the

' Clarendon, iii. 74.

desire of it, therefore, must spring from
the people ; but it can hardly produce
good unless it be managed by the upper
orders, by men Avho are so situated as
to perceive the advantage of institutions
Avhich, however useful in themselves,
have become, from mismanagement, lia
ble to serious objections. The charges
raised against such establishments are
often so peculiarly apparent to those
who are most injured by them, and so
exaggerated in their eyes, that they
cannot estimate the benefits which
might be derived from their proper use.
The desire of correcting real evils had,
in the beginning of the struggle, not

2 Neal's Puritans, iii. 396.
< Life, by Curl, 3.

3 See J 616.

S32

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. xiv.

only combined a large portion of the
most valuable individuals in the nation,
but had concentrated the good wishes
of the majority of those who took no
oulAvard share in the contest. The
necessity of any war, and its commence
ment, may perhaps be attributed to the
unwillingness of the court to reform
abuses till it Avas too late ; but when
the parliament took up arms, many
honest friends of liberty conscientiously
joined the king. The strength of the
nation, however, still sided with their
representatives, and the heroic devotion
and gallantry of some of the royalists
was overpoAvered as much by the errors
and selfishness of their friends as by the
energies of their adversaries. When
the monarchy Avas subdued, the presby
terians and moderate party Avished to
re-establish it upon certain conditions ;
but the interests of those Avho had
learned their own influence and Avho
hoped to raise themselves in the general
ruin, prevented the adoption of any
moderation. The army had conquered
the king, and the republic was in the
hands of the army, that is, of those Avho
knew hoAv to govern and direct it. The
views of these persons were naturally
turned toAvards such policy as was hkely
to render themselves powerful, and a
state of confusion was that which they
must have desired.
§ 602. CromAvell knew that some
successful general must be the governor
of England, and he put himself at the
head of the Irish army, Avhere his suc
cess surpassed all that he could have
himself expected. The campaign was
that of an experienced general at the
head of a veteran army, opposed by
men who were unskilled in Avar and
devoid of resources for carrying it on.
His progress was marked with extreme
cruelty towards the natives, and Avas so
rapid that the whole country Avas virtu
ally reduced, Avhen the affairs in Scot
land during the next year demanded
the presence of the general. When
Fairfax refused to take the command
against the presbyterians and Scotch,
he placed Cromwell at the head of the
military force of the republic, and the
victory at Dunbar made him formidable
to friends and foes. Charles II. had
consented to try his fortunes in Scotland
and to trust himself to the presbyterians.

Avho would not receiA-e him till he had
taken the covenant, and publicly ac
knowledged the sin of his father in
marrying into an idolatrous family, and
in shedding the blood Avhich had already
floAved during the Avar. (a. d. 1650.)
As if the forced profession of what he
did not believe, and a public act Avhich
made him dishonour his parents, Avere
hkely to render him a good king, or
friendly to a body which had tyranni
cally imposed these conditions upon
him ! but so it was, and so does selfish
ness ever defeat its own ends. Had
the Scotch, at Dunbar, avoided an
engagement Avith CromAvell, that gene
ral might probably have been obliged
to retire AA'ith disgrace ; but, incited by
their ministers, the Scotch gave up the
advantages which they possessed and
Avere totally defeated. (Sept. 3.) Upon
this, Charles retired to the north, leav
ing Cromwell master of Edinburgh and
the south, and was crowned at Scone
on Jan. I, 1651, finding himself treated
more like a king after this reverse of
fortune which oppressed his nominal
friends. In the spring, the royal army took up
its position at Stirling, and Avhen Crom
well had thrown himself into their rear,
they marched as rapidly as they could
into England, Avhere they AA'ere ulti
mately defeated at Worcester. (Sept.
3.) I'he king indeed himself escaped,
but the royal party was entirely broken.
§ 608. CromAvell Avas now in reality
the governor of England ; but before
he could put himself forAvard as invest
ed Avith this authority, it Avas necessary
to make the army and the country dis
satisfied with the Long Parliament. This
Avas far from a difficult task ; for their
OAvn selfish conduct had already ren
dered the act of their dissolution accept
able to most parties, and the necessity
of increasing the navy during the Avar
Avith Holland, (1652,) alarmed the army
Avith the prospect of being disbanded.
Had CromAvell called a free parliament,
it is impossible to decide what might
have been the result ; but nothing could
be further from his intentions : he ap
pointed a parliament of his own nomi
nation, whose foolish proceedings' made

' CromweU probably called the Barebone par
liament for this very purpose. Nothing but the
necessity of the case could satisfy the naiion with

Chap. XIV.}
every one more contented when the
mask Avas ultimately thrown off, and
he was installed (Dec. 16, 1653) as
Protector of England, Scotlands and
Ireland. His successive mock-parlia
ments, and his finally relinquishing the
hope of being king, Avhich he had long
fondly cherished, mark the spirit of
liberty Avhich still prevailed in the
country, and prove the opposition
which was raised against his authority,
and the talent with Avhich he conducted
the government. His vigilance and
activity rendered him safe from every
danger but that of assassination, and
of this he was much afraid.'
§ 604. The secret of his government
was, that he balanced parties against
each other, Avithout offending any of
them more than he could help ; and
that he chose men who were suited to
the sittiations in Avhich he placed them,
and ready to co-operate in his plans.
His object was that his government
should be as strong as possible, and
therefore it was his interest that it
should be Avell conducted ; but Avhile'
abilities advanced feAv under him, he
selected those Avho Avould never ques
tion his commands, and zealously pro
mote his welfare; and his oAvn welfare
Avas closely connected Avith the Avell-
being of the country. Under such a
man, this plan Avas productive of much
his appointment; but when they saw that this
parliament was obviously unequal to the task of
governing, and the choice seemed to lie between
anarchy or a protector, reasonable men might pre
fer the latter. In the Barebone parliament it was
put to the vote whether parish ministers should be
put down ; and though the mgtion was thrown
out, many persons might be alarmed at the dan
ger in which the establishment was placed. (Bax
ter's Life, i. 70.) This was exactly what Cromwell
desired, that he might appear to come forward to
save the nation from this dilemma.
' The nominal constitution which was esta
blished by the instrument of government was as
follows : A parliament shall be called every three
years by the protector; the first, Sept. 3, 1654.
No parliament to be dissolved till it has been sit
ting five months. .Such bills as are offered to the
protector by the parliament, if not confirmed by
him in twenty days, to be laws without him. His
council shall not exceed twenty-one, nor be less
than thirteen. Immedialely after the death of
Cromwell the council shall choose anoiher pro
tector before they rise. No protector after the
present shall be general of an army. I'he pro-
lector shall have power to make war and peace.
The protector and his council may make laws
which shall be binding on the subject during the
intervals of parliament. (Rapin, ii. 591 ; White-
lock, 571.)
" Perfect Politician, 280.
30

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

33S

good to the kingdom in general. Ho
noticed all persons Avho were eminent'
in any way, and attached them to him
self by appropriate encouragement; but
in his appointments his object was to
select the man for the situation, and_
he Avas fortunately unfettered by those
parliamentary interferences which must
prevent most ministers from following
his example. Justice between man and
man Avas fairly administered, Avhich Avas
far from being the case previously, and
England Avas never more respected by
foreign nations. Cromwell gloried in
being the protector of Protestants, and
is reported, by Bishop Burnet,* to have
formed a plan of establishing a sort of
Protestant " propagiinda" society, at
Chelsea, whicli Avas never carried into
execution. When the Vaudois^ Avere
driven from their valleys by the court
of Turin, (a. d. 1655,) the remonstrances
of England to Cardinal Mazarine and
the duke of Savoy procured for them
more lenient treatment ; Avhile a sub
scription was raised Avhich amounted,
in this country, to 37,000/. : so again,
Avhen.in a tumult at Nismes it appeared
that the Protestants" had been ill used,.
his interference Avas so prompt and de
cisive, that Cardinal Mazarine had just
reason to complain, though he dared
not refuse to comply Avith it.
§ 605. The character ofthe protector,
as draAvn by Baxter,'' is perhaps as fair
as any Avhicli can be found : and it must
be remembered, that Baxter was far
from being his friend. He describes
him as beginning his political life from
religious motives, and collecting around
him a band of men who Avere actuated
by the same principles : when, however,
they had shoAvn the poAver of these quali
ties in gaining a superiority over others,
they Avere themselves overcome by their
own ambition. There was much per
sonal danger to those who had opposed
the king in arms, in case he should ever
recover his authority ; and they gradu
ally persuaded themselves, that they
were seeking the good of the kingdom,
as well as their own, in his execution ;
deeming themselves, according to their
own false notioris, called upon to use a

3 Neal, iv. 184.
< Own Time, i. 132.
5 Neal's Puritans, iv. 129.
6 Ibid. iv. 146.
U2

' Life, i. 98

2U

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XlVi '

poAver which God had put into their
hands. In order to accomplish this
end, it was necessary to destroy the in
fluence of the Scotch and the presby
terian party, Avho favoured a limited
monarchy : and to form a coalition with
those who Avere fit instruments for car
rying fhese plans into execution. In
all these steps, CromAvell became en
tangled with difficulties ; and having
recourse to dissimulation and art, his
success rendered him selfish, and swal-
loAved up all the virtues Avith Avhich he
began his career. There is, however,
one feature in the character of this
usurper, Avhich must be a palliation to
the Avorst of his faults, even to his hy
pocrisy, if indeed any thing can palliate
this vice ; I mean his unwillingness to
shed blood. Surrounded as he Avas by
attempts against his life and govern
ment, he kept the royalists in check,
Avithout destroying them ; and though
politically a vehement persecutor of the
church of England, it is probable that
his antipathy arose rather from the ac
tive zeal of churchmen in the cause of
their banished monarch, than from any
other reason. They were ahvays plot
ting against him, yet he sacrificed but
few of them ; and counterplotting by
means of spies for the safety of himself,
he contrived to save them also by the
same expedient.' The instances Avhich
Avould be adduced to controvert these
•positions, Avould be the decimation, and
the declaration forbidding any clergy
man to teach or officiate ; but surely,
after the repeated instances Avhich the
royalists had given that they could not
be trusted, it Avas not a hard measure
to make those Avho had borne arms on
the side of th'e king pay one-tenth of
their incomes, to secure the authority
which they wished to destroy. For the
other measure less can be pleaded, and
indeed nothing but necessity can at all
justify it ; but it was never acted upon
generally, or enforced with any degree
of rigour.
Cromwell looked upon churchmen^
as his mortal enemies, and treated them
accordingly : and he had quite sense
enough to' perceive, that if he suffered
' See a curious account of his good fortune in
procuring spies. (Clarendon's Life, ii. 14, fol.,
25, 8vo.)
2 Walker's Suff. C. i. 194. Clarendon, iii. 624.

them to officiate publicly, or to teach
and keep school, they would dissemi--
nate their loyal principles. The cir
cumstances which preceded these acts
Avere the dissolution of the parliament,
Avliich had shoAvn such decided dislike
to the protector, the rising of Penrud
dock in the west, and the discovery of
other plots against the government.
He now, therefore, Avanted to intimidate
the royalists as a body, and to show
them that every attempt to disturb the
tranquillity of his government Avould be
visited oh their own heads.
This character of Cromwell may to
some persons appear to be too favour
able ; but Avhere shall we find a usurper
Avho so much promoted the good of his
country? Avhere shall we discover one
Avhose ambition Avas stained Avith so
little bloodshed?
§606. The churchof England during
this period had ceased to exist as a
church; many of its individual mem
bers slill continued their ministerial
functions, but the mass of benefices Avere
filled Avith men Avho, holding presby
terian opinions, had been obtruded on
the livings by the election and appoint
ment of the inhabitants, or by the inte
rest of those AA'ho co-operated Avith the
existing government. The assembly
of divines at Westminster'* had endea
voured to establish by laAV the jus divi
num of the presbytery, but in this they
Avere foiled; nor does this form of church
government' appear to have been per
manently established, except in London
and Lancashire, and even there to have
been subjected to the civil power.
(1648.) As a body, the presbyterians
Avere generally favourable to a limited
monarchy, and before the king Avas
murdered, they presented petitions to
Fairfax^ and the army, urging them to
prevent this fatal act ; but having throAvn
doAvn the laAv, Avhich had been made
for the defence of the Avhole people,
the republicans found that they had
forged their oaa'h chains, and were now
unable to throAv them off. i
The original idea of the parliament"
seems to have been to establish a pres-'
byterian church Avith toleration, and to
commute tithes ; but. the opposition

' Walker's Sufferings, i. 32.
6 Collier, 859. ii. § 595, *.

¦"Ibid. i. 39.
8 Ibid. ii. 861.

Chap. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

235

which the presbyterians made to the
proceedings of the government inclined
the supporters of it to more Erastian
measures ; and rendered them almost
as adverse to the presbytery as to the
episcopacy of the church of England.
The presbyterians refused to pray for
the government, and the government in
their turn imposed the Engagement,
(Oct. 11, 1649,) which fell Avith nearly
equal Aveight on all Avho were friends
to monarchy. Persons holding any
situation in either church or state were
obliged to subscribe an engagement,'
that "theyAVOuld be true and faithful
to the commonAvealth as it is noAv esta
blished, without king or House of
Lords :" and many of those who in the
covenant had promised to defend the
king's person, were noAV ejc.ted for re
fusing Avhat Walker" calls ' the inde
pendents' covenant." The presbyte
rians had joined in throAving doAvn the
church, partly, according to their fre
quent complaints, because the clergy
were too much connected Avith civil
concerns ; but Avherever they had ob
tained any influence, it was evident that
their object Avas to take aAvay temporal
power from the bishops, which they had
no objection to see retained by the pres
bytery. Upon this plea they had ex
cited the Scotch to join in the rebellion.
They had accompanied and governed
the armies, had preached and prac
tised treason, while they vilified the old
establishment : and now the same arts
Avere turned against themselves ; for
when it became the object of those in
authority to frame a ncAv government,
as Avell as to throw doAvn the old one,
they found it necessary to lessen the in
fluence of the presbyterian preachers.
§ 607. The standard of religious liber
ty was raised in opposition to the pres
bytery, a liberty and toleration which
extended to every form of worship ex
cept those of the Roman Catholics and
the church of England; the one, be
cause they called it idolatrous ; the
other, because they dared not expose
the minds of the people to the operation
of such an engine in favour of the royal
family as this must have proved, had
its use been permitted.

' Baxter's Life, i 64.
2 Suff. i. 146

Nelson's Bull, 13.

The arrival of the king in Scotland
created much less commotion in Eng
land than might have been expected;
for Avhen he proceeded towards this
country, it was obviously as a last re
source, and not at the head of a victo
rious army, and few people Avish to join
a desperate cause : but there Avere some
presbyterians in London Avho were tried
for having communicated Avith his
friends, and the government, Avishing
to intimidate the party, suffered Mr.
Love,'* an active minister, to be exe
cuted. (Aug. 22. 1651.) It is curious
to remark the effect of this event; men
Avho Avere not shocked* Avhen many of
the prisoners taken at Worcester AA'ere
sent as slaves to the West India islands,
deemed the commouAvealth destroyed
AvhenMr. Love was beheaded ; so little
able are even sensible men to form a
correct judgment in moments of excite
ment. The presbyterians may from
this period be said to have had no poli
tical existence as a church ; they Avere
favoured more than any other body,
and Avere at once numerous and power
ful, but they had no final poAver of ex
cluding from the sacrament, or of pu
nishing offenders. The bilP Avhich did
aAvay with all penal statutes against dis
senters, virtually destroyed church dis
cipline over the laity, and the presby
terians Avould have been contented Avith
nothing less than a coercive power over
their lay brethren.^ The same step '
took place in Scotland' by the mere
authority of the general ; for Monk dis
solved the presbytery of Aberdeen by
military force, Avhen they were about
to proceed to pass sentence on the laird
of Drum, and he would alloAV of the
imposition of no oaths or covenants be
sides those Avhich were enjoined at
Westminster. § 608. In Wales" a method of pro
ceeding was adopted very different from
Avhat took place in England. Many of
the livings were sequestered by a bill
(Feb. 22, 1649) for the propagation of

3 Neal, iv. 39.
'> Calamy's Abr. 65, 66. Baxter's Own Life, i. 67.
5 Neal, iv. 26.
^ The fifth and sixth provincial assembly held
in Sion College in May and November, 1649, as
serted the jus divinum of the presbytery, and their
independence ofthe civil magistrate. (Neal,iv. 13.)
' CoUier, 866, ii.
* Walker's Suff. i. 149, &c

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIV.

the gospel in Wales, and their reve
nues placed at the disposal of certain
commissioners, by whom itinerant mi
nisters were sent over the face of the
country ; men generally inadequate to
the task, and probably often possessed
of livings' as Avell as the stipend of 100/.
per annum, which Avas allotted to them
for their missionary labours. There
seems to have been a good deal of dis
honesty on all sides, and some of the
commissioners are asserted to have
amassed considerable property. ° The
delegated authority thus given to the
itinerants invested them Aviih no minis
terial function ; and as some of them
appear to have been laymen, in many
cases ignorant mechanics, they must be
rather deemed licensed teachers and
preachers than ministers. A petition^
was ultimately presented to the parlia
ment against them, signed by 15,000
hands, but it seems to have produced
little good ; this mismanagement, hoAVr
ever, Avas so notorious, that an investi
gation took place after the Restoration',
of AA'hich the result is unknoAvn.
§ 609. It may be asked, hoAv any
church establishment could exist at all,
Avhcre there Avere no ecclesiastical go
verning authorities, and Avhere the rights
of presentation to livings AA'ere so totally
violated ; but the parliament Avas not
inattentive to the maintenance of the
clergy, for, besides the continuance of
•tithes,-* the money raised by the sale of
the bishops' lands, and of the tenths and
first-fruits, Avas assigned to commission
ers to provide greater incomes for the
smaller livings ; and the proposed ob
ject of this ordinance Avas, that no living
should be alloAVed to remain of less an-

> Walker's Suff. i. 159.
2 Neal, iv. 104, denies the mass of this state
ment ; but I have ventured to follow Walker,
whom I find borne out in part of this statement by
Calamy, in his preface to the Abridgment, xii.
The fact is, that the plan was framed on the prin
ciple ofthe independents, who virtually did away
wath all ordination; and Neal, whose principles
are independent, is but too apt to defend any thing
which coincides with his own opinions. The con
tradictions in Ihe portion of history, on which we
are now engaged, strongly remind the reader of
Baxter's (Life, p. 135) observation, " The pro
digious lies which have been published in ihis age
in matters of fact, with unblushing confidence,
even where thousands or multitudes of eye and
ear-witnesses knew all to be false, doth call men
to take heed what history they believe."
> Walker's Suff. i. 167. * Neal, iv. 13.

nual value than 100/. The assembly
of divines at Westminster formed at first
a nucleus of church government; and
Cromwell subsequently created an au
thority for this purpose in the establish
ment ofthe Triers. An ordinance* Avas
passed, (March 20, 16.54,) appointing a
committee of thirty-eight persons, nine
of whom were laymen, Avhose business
it Avas to examine all who were nomi
nated to any ecclesiastical preferments:
but a clause Avas inserted expressly pro
viding that their approbation should
not be construed into any solemn setting
apart of the candidate for th(3 ministry.
They were vested Avith extraordinary
poAvers, far beyond Avhat had ever been
granted to the bishops ; and as they
sat in London, the mere fact of being
forced to appear before them must have
proved a vast expense and trouble to
the clergy, had not this evil been partly
obviated" by their frequently granting
commissions in order that individuals
might be examined in the country.
Their proceedings Avere often most ar
bitrary and very absurd. There are
some examinations given by WalEer,'
Avhich turn entirely on abstruse points
of divinity, in Avhich the candidate is
obliged to bear testimony to his OAvn
qualifications and the grace of God
Avhich is in him ; a method Avhich can
hardly fail to end either in hypocrisy or
the rejection of the candidate. Under
such a system of examination, they
might refuse persons nominated to liv
ings on account of their political opi
nions, Avithout any danger of discovery ;
and this is the excuse Avhich Neal*
makes for their proceedings. Their
commission originally extended to those
Avho had been admitted into any bene
fice during the last year, as Avell as to
any future presentations ; but Avhen
(Aug. 28th) the ordinance^ passed for
ejecting scandalous ministers, they be
came more than ever a political engine.
and attacked under the same authority,
and as if guilty of the same offence, the
notoriously profligate, the friends of tho
Common Prayer Book, and the enemies
of the present government, who, in the
eyes of the rest of the country, Avere

6 Walker, i. 150, 170. Neal, iv. 93.
6 Baxter's Life, 72.
' Suff. i. 174.
' Hist. Puritans, iv. 97. ^ Walker, i. 178.

Chap. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

337

eonfounded in the same obloquy.* Se
vere, however, and unjust as the con
duct of the Triers was, it fell far short
of the ultimate declaration of the pro-
tector,*^ Avho forbade all persons to em
ploy any of the delinquent (i. e. roya
list) clergy, even as tutors to their child
ren. 'Fhe extreme severity of this
measure seems to have prevented its
execution for any length of lime ; but
Cromwell refused to rescind it, though
solicited by Archbishop Usher,' Avho
Avas earnest in his personal requests to
him. The protector seemed at first
Avilling to grant that they should not be
molested, provided they meddled not
Avith politics ; but his council urged him
to concede no liberty to men Avho were
implacable enemies to himself and his
government.* § 610. The pretext by which he had
chiefly gained his power Avas that of
universal toleration, and in all proba
bility there was more of real freedom
in religion under his government, than
at any other period previous to the revo
lution ; but the exclusion of the church
of England, Avhich may be accounted
for on political principles, was not the
only exception to the toleration which
was professed. In the instrument of
government* by which the chief author
ity was delegated to Cromwell, the free
exercise of their religion was guarantied
to all " who professed faith in God by
Jesus Christ," (Dec. 1563,) an expres
sion Avhich the first parliament assem
bled by him determined to contain no
less than " the fundamentals of reli-

' See the details of some proceedings of this sort
held at Abingdon, Berks, upon Pocock, Hebrew
Professor at Oxford and rector of Childrey.
(Twell's Life of Pocock, p. 152 and 185.) The
charges are, —
" 1. That he had frequently made use of the
idolatrous Common Prayer Book as he performed
divine service.
"2. That he was disaffected to the present
power," &c. &c. And when he had disproved
all these accusations, he, who was one ofthe most
learned men in Europe, would have been turned
out for ignorance and insufficiency, if his friends
from Oxford had not come and shamed the com
missioners into justice.
2 Walker, i. 194.
'JParr's Life of Usher, 75. Wordsworth's
Eccl. Biog. v. 374.
* Gauden, afterwards bishop of Exeter, wrote
a petitionary remonstrance, presented to Oliver
Cromwell, to the same effect. (Wood's Ath.
iii. 614.)
' Baxter's Life, 197.

gion." (Sept. 3, 1654.) And a com
mittee of divines was formed to draw up
in terminis " the fundamentals of reli
gion." They Avere far from agreeing
in their opinions, and some were anxioua
to insert many propositions which suitetl
their own ideas, and Avould exclude the
Roman Catholics and Socinians. Bax
ter wisely reasoned against this narrow
ing the bounds of the original expres
sion : but the labours of the committee
were rendered abortive by the dissolu
tion of the parliament. (Jan. 22, 1655.)
Bo little indeed did these advocates of
freedom understand its real principles,
that John SouthAvorth,' a Roman Catho
lic priest, was executed for the exercise
of his sacerdotal functions, nor Avere the
severe laAvs against Roman Catholics
abrogated. In the parliament 1658-7,
a neAV oath of abjuration' Avas framed,
which not only denied the authority of
the pope, but rejected the doctrine of
transubstantiation, and other tenets of
the church of Rome, and a refusal to
take it subjected the individual to severe
penalties and losses. There was at one
time a project for extending liberty of
conscience to the Roman Catholics,'
and consultations were held among the
members of the government for the pur
pose of granting them security of person
and of the remainder of their property
after composition, as well as for pro
viding a safe living for a prelate who
might exercise his functions ; but the
loyalty of the Roman Catholics was
alarmed at the idea of compounding
with the usurper, and they communi
cated the circumstances to the exiled
court, Avhere a stop was put to the whole.
The JeAvs," too, petitioned for toleration,
and "leave to carry on trade in England,
and the protector seems to have been
favourable to their views ; but a council
of divines, lawyers, and merchants,
whom he consulted on the point of
conscience, on the legality of their ad
mission, and on the political Avisdom of
the measure, were so adverse to the
step, that the idea of it was relinquished :
but it appears*" that many individuals of

6 Butler's Rom. Cath. ii. 407.
' Neal, iv. 144.
8 Butler's Rom. Cath. ii. 418 Thurloe's St.
Pap. i. 740.
9 Neal, iv. 126.
i» Collier's Church History, ii. 869.

238

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIV.

this religion did settle in London upon
sufferance, and that they had a burying-
ground of their OAvn in 1657.
§611. If it be asked hoAv the paro-
ghial duties Avere performed during this
period, a variety of ansAvers may be
expected, corresponding Avith the vieAvs
of those Avhom.Ave consult, and changing
in the different parts of the kingdom to
whicli Ave may turn our eyes. If Ave
may believe Baxter, religion never
flourished more than during this period ;
but his testimony is hardly admissible
as conclusive on this point, and even his
OAvn history affords instances of the
contrary. As it is very difficult to form
a general opinion on the subject, it may
not be uninteresting to insert such de
tails as may furnish us Avith some slight
data on Avhich to ground our conclusions.
(a. D. I61I.) The toAvn of Kidder
minster' Avas about to petition against
their vicar as a scandalous minister, and
he, to escape this obloquy, consented to
give sixty pounds per annum to a lec
turer, Avho should be appointed by the
chief inhabitants, and they chose Mr.
Baxter. During the civil Avar, the dis
turbances of the toAvn obliged the neAv
lecturer to fly from it, and he joined the
army for some time in the capacity of a
chaplain. When the successes of the
Avar had throAvn the poAver into the
hands of the parliament, the living of
Kidderminster Avas sequestered, and the
temporalities placed at the disposal of
the principal inhabitants, in order that
they might provide themselves Avith
preachers. After some time, they could
only prevail on Baxter to continue as
their lecturer, Avith a salary augmented
to one hundred pounds ; but Avhen there
was a danger of their being called to
account fpr the disposal of the money,
they secretly conveyed the instrument
of sequestration into Mr. Baxter's house,
and lie continued to hold it, in order to
screen them from inquiry.
§ 612. Being thus seated in his living,
Baxter'' called on such ofthe inhabitants
as voluntarily chose to do so, to signify
to him their Avillingness to be under his
ministry and discipline ; and thus, Avith
out rejecting the rest of die parishion
ers, whom he admitted, as strangers,
occasionally only to the eucharist, and

' Baxter's Life, 19. = Ibid, 91, 157, 167.

to the baptism of their children, he did,
as it were, ffather a church in his own
parish. His object in this method of
proceeding Avas, to mark the difference
between those avIio Avere, and those
Avere not church members ; for he -found
that many of his flock could only thus be
kept from separation, Avhen they per
ceived an outward line draAvn belAveen
themselves and their less godly neigh
bours. About 600 out of 1600 adults
conformed to his discipline, and the rest,
without being excommunicated, lived
in outAvard unity Avith the church mem
bers, and might join them upon the
same terms Avhenever they Avere dis
posed to express such a Avish. Over
those Avho Avere thus immediately sub
jected to his discipline, Baxter exercised
a spiritual authority, Avhich, according
to his OAvn account of it, proved very
beneficial to their higher interests. He
rarely excommunicated anj' one, but
frequently admonished and reproved
them. In order to carry on this Avork
Avith greater solemnity, a meeting ofthe
neighbouring-clergy^ Avas formed on the
first Wednesday in every month, to
manage the discipline ofthe parish ; and
the next day the clergy assembled for
their OAvn discipline, and for mutual
edification ; and numerous lectures Avere
established on different Aveek-days for
the promotion of religion. These as
sociations Avere not confined to any par
ticular party in the church. Their
terms of agreement Avere, to join for the
exercise of such discipline as it Avas
agreed on by presbyterians, episcopa
lians, and independents, that pastors
ought to exercise ; nor do the decisions
of these meetings seem to have bound
the individual minister any further than
as they expressed the opinion of the
body. The success Avhich attended
them in the neighbourhood of Kidder
minster Avas considerable, and many
other districts and cbunties adopted
something of the same sort; as Cum
berland,* Wiks, Dorset, Hants, Somer
set, Essex ; and a society of the same
description Avas formed at Dublin. This
association of Baxter's^ Avas composed
chiefly of men Avho, strictly speaking,
Avere connected Avith no party ; for there

3 Baxter's Life, 84.
5 Ibid. 145.

¦• Ibid. 162, 167, 169.

Chap. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

239

were no rigid presbyterians in the neigh
bourhood, the strict independents did
not co-operate, though they did not dis
approve of Avhat Avas done, and few
episcopalians had much communication
Avith them ; it was formed of men who,
Avithout joining any party exclusively,
wished to "do their duty as ministers of
Christ. § 613. In passing d judgment on such
a proceeding, it is almost impossible for
the Avriter to divest himself of his own
feelings or prejudices, and as difficult to
form any accurate opinion from the prac
tical result, at this distance of time.
Baxter* seems to have been a very zeal
ous Christian minister, and to have
sought and promoted the service of our
great Master ; but, during his whole life,
to have been too fond of governing, and
too unAvilling to be directed. In his
parish he did that which I believe the
pastor is directed in Holy Scripture not
to do ; he tried to draw an outward line
between the godly and ungodly, to sepa
rate the tares from the wheat ; it is a
subject on Avhich the judgment of God
can alone be sufficient to decide rightly,
and Avhenever it is attempted by man, it
will be apt to render the servant of God
proud of his own spiritual attainments,
and to drive away the careless from re
Ugion. That such parish discipline
would produce some good,^ there can be
no doubt ; but it may Avell be questioned,
whether the private admonitions of a
clergyman, and the occasional inter
ference of the civil magistrate, may not
on the whole promote the cause of real
religion with greater advantage. God
knoweth. At all events, the judicial
character thus conferred on the clergy
must be likely to do them harm in their
OAvn minds.
The beneficial effects of the meetings
of ministers must depend solely on the
way in which they are carried on.
Whenever they are assembled by au
thority, they are Hkely on the whole to

' It should be remembered that Baxter was
episcopally ordained in the church of England,
and was always friendly to episcopacy as an order
in the church.
2 Baxter (Life, 96) says that, as far as he saw,
there was a great deal more religion, and apropor-
tionate fruit of good living ; but he is a witness in
his own cause, and might not have had any oppor
tunity of observing the good effects of admonition
carried on without coercion.

be useful, (though, as our visitations are
noAV conducted, they cannot be said to
produce much good.) But whenever
such meetings are formed of a part only
of the clergy of the district where thejj
are held, they can hardly fail to foster
divisions, to keep up differences rather
than diminish them ; and if so, it may
be feared that they Avill do more harm
than good. In an age, however, Avhen
there Avas no appearance of ecclesiastical
discipline in the church, any attempt at
establishing it must have had its value ;
at that time, from the number of ejected
and silenced ministers, it was necessary
to supply the deficiency by instructing
the neAV workmen who Avere thus sud
denly sent into the vineyard, and perhaps
these steps might then have proved use
ful, though the plan, at another period,
Avould have been open to objections.
§ 614. If Ba.xter' was wrong in draw
ing a line of separation between the dif
ferent members of a society of Christians,
the independents were much more to
blame in their strictness, Avith regard to
admission into church membership.
They required not only a profession of
belief in Christianity, and of Avilhngness
to submit to discipline, but generally
demanded some sort of evidence of the
influence of the Holy Ghost on the ipind
of the candidate Avho desired to be re
ceived into the communion of their
churches. They prevailed in Norfolk'
and Suffolk, more than in the rest of
England, a circumstance which Neal*
attributes to the proximity of those coun
ties to Holland, which had afforded a
refuge to many of the banished secta
ries, and from Avhence they returned,
when toleration allowed them to revisit
their native land.
As the independents gradually in
creased, they became anxious to have
some connection among themselves, and
wished to possess a common band of
union, without destroying the independ
ence of each particular church, which
constitutes their peculiar tenet. This
object was accomplished in 1658, Avhen
they published their declaration of faith,*
formed after a conference held among
themselves at the Savoy, and which Avas
drawn up so much on the plan of the

" Life, 143. ^ Hist. Puritans, iv. 172.
5 Hist. Puritans, 174.

aio

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XIV.

confession of faith of the divines at West
minster, that the doctrinal works of that
assembly have generally been adopted
by the congregational churches. Their
^hief difference consists in the govern
ment of the church, wherein they are
entirely democratic. The church of
England theoretically places the power
of church discipline in the bishop, as
sisted by his dean and chapter, or by
certain other assessors. The presbyte
rians place this authority in the presbyter
and elders, or in assemblies of these,
making each presbyter the bishop^of a
small diocese. The independent seems
to esteem ordination a mere appointment,
on the part of the congregation, of one
person Avho shall officiate in public, and
leaves the authority of discipline in the
church itself, regulating even excommu
nication by the vote of the majority.
During the same period the presbyte
rians' carried on as much of their in
ternal government among themselves as
they pleased, or indeed could, when di
vested of any coercive poAver, and held
their meetings for the purpose of dis
cipline and ordination. In 1655 they
published" some directions about cate
chising, in consequence of two cate
chisms pubhshed by Biddle, a Socinian.
These directions' do not differ much
from the canon on the subject, and seem
to have been required on account of the
neglect of that useful method of instruc
tion, a neglect originating in the preva
lence of sermons, and the fancied supe
riority of preaching.
§ 615. But the .whole of this account
is that which the puritans give of them
selves. If we consult Isaac Walton,
whose testimony may be presumed to
incline to the opposite party, we shall
find a different description.* He speaks
with regret* of the former honesty and
plain dealing of the people, now ex
changed for cruelty and cunning. Of
the frequency of perjury among men,
who had so often sworn to obey every
succeeding government as it was estab-

' Hist. Puritans, iv. 74. ' Neal, iv. 121.
' Wordsworth's Ecc. Biog. v. 351.
* Lord Clarendon (Own Life, ii. 39, 8vo. ; 21,
Ibl.) gives a pathetic account of the dissolution of
domestic ties during this period. Children dis
obeyed and neglected their parents, and the con
nection between master and servant was at an end.
' Life of Sanderson. Wordsworth's Ecc. Biog;
., 483,

lished. He will tell us' that the com
mon people were madt? so giddy and
restless, through the falsehoods, and mis
application of Scripture, of those who
wished to prove that God Avas on their
side, that they had perverted all notions
of religion, trusting in election, AA-hich
produced no fruits of grace. That in
many parishes, where the stipend Avas
small, there Avas no one to officiate,
while the strictness of some incumbents
cut off a portion of their flock from par
taking in the sacrament of the eucharist.
It may indeed excite our Avonder that
any friends of the church of England
should have been able to continue their
services under the multifarious persecu
tions to which they Avere exposed ; and
more so, that any fresh members should
desire to enter the pale of her ministry,
under such disheartening circumstances.
Yet the lives of Sanderson and Bull
furnish us Avith instances of both the
one and the other. Sanderson Avas
fortunate enough, from having been
exchanged as a prisoner for Dr. Clarke,
and from his own judicious conduct, to
be alloAved to retain quiet possession
of his living of Boothby Pagnel ; and
Bull, by taking a small cure which no
one cared to have, was suffered to offi
ciate without interruption. In both
these instances, the chief difficulty con
sisted in the use of the Common Prayer,
which was forbidden with a strictness
Avhich marks its value ; and both these
Avorthy sons of a persecuted church
gave way so far as to comply with the
existing authorities, AA-hile in their mi
nistration they preserved the spirit of
its services.'' The case of Bull* is per-
« Wordsworth's Ecc. Biog. v. 512.
' There is an interesting account of the manner
in which Sanderson conducted himself about the
Common Prayer, in his "Judgment concerning
submission lo Usurpers," printed among some
tracts at the end of the first edhion of Walton's
Life, 12mo., which is partly introduced into the
life. (Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. v. 496.) He
used it till the soldiers came and tore it to pieces;
and even then, in all the occasional services when
Ihey were not in church. Wnen complained of,
he determined lo give up the Common Prayer,
rather than desert nis post : he gives an abstract
of the prayers which he used, preserving the pe
titions while he varied the words. Bull did very
much the same. On one occasion, (Life, by Nel
son, p. 34,) he baptized the child of a dissenter,
saying the service by heart from the Common
Prayer, and then tho good people were much
pleased with every thing but the cross.
' Life, by Nelson.

CwAP. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

34i,

haps more worthy of notice. He was
placed Avith a presbyterian divine to
finish his education, Avhich had been
interrupted by his refusing to take the
engagement at Oxford. The perusal
of Hooker, Hammond, Taylor, and
Grotius, which Avere lent him by the
son of his tutor, directed him to seek
for episcopal ordination. This he Avas
fortunate enough to obtain by means
of Dr. Skinner, the ejected bishop of
Oxford, Avho resided in his former dio
cese, and secretly conferred the same
favour on many others also. Bull thus
became an active minister of the church
of England, at a time when feAv could
have hoped for her temporal restora
tion. § 613. The majority of the true
members of the church of England
must have spent their time in seclusion,
and generally under considerable pri
vations ; for their activity in favour of
the throne had been too marked to suf
fer the usurping power to tolerate them ;
and it is more than probable that their
tranquil endurance of these persecu
tions created a strong bias toAvards the
church and king during the Avhole of
the usurpation. Many persons Avho
were not adverse to republican princi
ples, could not but feel the cruelty of
forbidding men to use by themselves,
or in families, such prayers as they
preferred. The picture' of Fell, Alles
tree, and Dolben, meeting in private to
celebrate those services Avhich a govern
ment, glorying in the name of religious
toleration, dared not alloAV them to per
form in public, was not then confined
to the canvass, and knoAvn only to those
who are familiar with the portraits of
Oxford. The subject of it must have been
one of frequent occurrence, and have
spoken volumes, in praise of the offices
which they loved, and of the tyranny
which precluded the use of them. No
one can see a good man suffering for
the sake of that Avhich he believes to
be the truth, without feeling a respect
and admiration for him ; and among
the human means whereby the doctrines
of Christianity have been spread and
fostered, none has produced more ef
fect than the example of persons pa-

' A well-known picture in Christ Church Hall.
See also Wood's Athenas. Fell, John, iv, 201,
edit, bv Bliss. 31

tiently submitting to hardships for con
science' sake.
The e.xceptions to these observations,
concerning the tyranny used towardb
the clergy of the church of England,
are perhaps more numerous during the
reiga of Cromwell than might have
been expected from the tenor of the
laws, or the proceedings of the govern
ment ; and it is likely that the protector
winked at the indulgence which many
among the governing party must will
ingly have granted to their friends, or
those Avhom they respected among the
royalists. Seth Ward procured the
chantership of Exeter for Brownrigge,''
the silenced bishop of that see, and G.
Hall, afterwards bishop of Chester, was
employed as a preacher in London dur
ing CromweU's reign ; and doubtless
many other instances of the same sort
ii.might be found. Bates, Avho Avas phy
sician to the protector, says, that the
use of the Common Prayer' was even
allowed in houses and private conven
ticles. Many of the royalist clergy, during
this season of distress, found retreats in
the houses of their friends, and carried
on those studies which prepared their
minds for future exertions, and solaced
them during their involuntary inactivi
ty.* Oriental literature, which had
been fostered under the munificent
hand of Laud, produced its fruit when
that prelate had ceased to preside over
its cultivation. The superiority of Po
cock^ in this department continued him
iu his two professorships of HebreAV
and Arabic at Oxford, though deprived
of his canonry of Christ Church ; and
the polyglot Bible of Walton,^ together
with Castell's Lexicon, Avould, if every
other proof Avere wanting, satisfy us of
the eminence to which our countrymen
attained at this period. Nor should it
be forgotten that Cromwell had the
merit of patronising this latter work.
§ 617. In the account of this period,
it will be necessary to say something
of the fanatics who were now nume
rous, and who had rendered themselves

2 Wood's Athense, by Bliss, iv. 248 ; iii. 812.
' Neal, iv. 92.
* See the lives of Hammond, Sanderson, Po
cock, Walton, Spratt's History of the Royal So
ciety, Frewen, Sheldon, Wood's Athenae.
5 Twell's Pocock, 136. « Todd's Walton.

243

conspicuous during the previous
tractions of the country. We may in
deed derive some information as to the
founders and the origin of some of
these sects ; but the history of fanati
cism is so much the same in all coun
tries and times, that it is difficult to
mark any real peculiarities with regard
to the several forms under which it
shows itself. Religious fanaticism ge
nerally arises from some real neglect,
or misconduct, in those Avho ought to
be the guardians and teachers of reli
gion. The age Avhich preceded the
times Avhich Ave are considering, abound
ed Avith too great an attention to cere
monies ; it is not necessary to the argu
ment to trace out the origin of the
fault ; according to our individual sen
timents, we may conclude that the pu
ritans neglected the form of religion
too much, or that the high church party
insisted on them too strongly ; but cer
tainly forms Avere regarded universally
in too important a light. The conse
quence of Avhich was, that the relaxa
tion of government which the rebellion
necessarily produced, alloAved every
tanatic lo exhibit his OAvn peculiarities ;
and ill-judging persons, Avho had before
observed that too much attention Avas
paid to forms, hastily rejected every ap
pearance of order, and disseminated
the dictates of their OAvn feelings as
the motions of the Spirit of God.^
§ 618. (a. d. 1649.) George Fox'' Avas
a sincere Christian and harmless sort
of person, Avho, having long indulged
in mystic and solitary reveries, com
menced the task of instructing the
Avorld by means of a divine light pecu
liarly imparted to himself, Avhich led
him to despise the ordinary benefits of
education, an advantage Avhich, from
the lowness of his birth, he did not
possess. The license of the times ena
bled him to spread his opinions, and
procured him folloAvers, AA-^hose absurd
irregularities of conduct Avould, at ano
ther period, have brought inevitable con
tempt on any denomination of Chris
tians, and exposed the Quakers^ to just.

HISTORY OF THE
dis-

' See the Story of the Soldier and the Five
Lights at Walton. (Collier's Hist. ii. 861.)
^ Neal's Purhans, iv. 29, &.c.
' This name was given them by Gervas Bennet,
a justice of the peace at Derby, because their
speaking was usually attended with convulsive

[Chap. XIV.
though often too severe punishments.
In the history of these times, it is pecu
liarly difficult to distinguish betAveen
the misconduct of individuals belong
ing to a sect, and the tenets of the sect
itself; and in speaking of quakerism,
Ave must use more especial caution, for
the sect seems to have had no land
marks, which might point out the limits
necessary for judging fairly about it.
Every enthusiast, who pretended to an
internal revelation, held their distin
guishing tenet ; and every man Avho,
in his enthusiasm, rejects revelation and
reason, must appeal to a supernatural
communication. The quakers were, at
this time of toleration, in one sense,
persecuted ; for all men who throw
down the .boundaries of civil and reli
gious society must be restrained by
those Avho wish to maintain them, and
ifsuch restraints are, by partial people
and the sufferers, denominated perse
cution ; but to speak of things by their
right names. Fox, and some of his fol-
loAvers,* as Avell as certain anabaptists,
attempted to interrupt the authorized
services of the churches, and Avere
often hardly dealt Avith, but Avere ne
cessarily punished. They virtually set
at naught the civil magistrate, and
AA'hen those in authority used severity
tOAvards them, they Avere called suffer
ers in the cause of Christ : in many
cases, the severity Avas unjustifiable,
but toleration was even then really un-
knoAvn, and moderation is the offspring
of quiet times ; and Avhen the times
became more quiet, the quakers became
more reasonable. Manj' of their suf
ferings AA'ere OAving to themselves alone ;
they refused to pay tithes and to take
oaths; and it must be a toleration hardly
desirable Avhich Avill alloAV men to de
fraud any one of his legal rights, or be
contented Avith subjects Avho Avill not
comply Avith the established laAvs of the
land. The punishments were often
cruel ; but the sufferers generally de
served punishment, for they began by
injuring their brethren.
If the doctrine of an inward light be
so modified as to mean no more than
the necessity of divine aid, it becomes a
shakings of the body. (Neal, iv. 33.) One wo
man came into the church quite naked. (Ibid.
iv. 139.)
' Baxter's Life, ii. 180.

Chap. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

343

tenet of catholic Christianity ; but when- 1
ever it is allowed to be paramount to !
the Scriptures, and to set aside the '
express commands of Holy Writ, as in
the instance of the sacraments, it is dif
ficult to say hoAv it can be esteemed
compatible Avith Christianity ; yet this
is a matter of opinion, and cannot justi
fy cruelty or persecution. We must
not confound in our ideas the present
quiet and peaceable persons Avho are
called quakers Avith the fanatics of this
period ; the term, like that of methodist,
has comprehended a vast variety of
men Avho have entertained an equal
diversity of opinions.
§ 619. This same observation will
apply to the anabaptists, a name Avhich
may comprehend any denomination of
Christians Avho are averse to infant
baptism, and Avho AviU therefore deem
a subsequent admission by baptism
necessary, in cases where persons have
been originally presented at the font as
infants. We must therefore rank un
der the sahie appellation the fanatics
of Munster,* the Memnonites of Hol
land, and the anabaptists of England,
Avho Avere, some of them, quiet Chris
tians, Avhile others held those pernicious
doctrines Avhich must tend to render
the name of Christianity conternptible ;
pretending to be guided by an iuAvard
light, they despised the ordinary advan
tages of knoAvledge and learning, and
were frequently most abusive in up
braiding such ministers as exerted
themselves in their professional call
ings. •
The antinomians, too, disturbed the
church during the usurpation, inveigh
ing against the necessity of obedience
to the Avritten laAv of God, and ultimately
destroying the distinction between good
and evil.
The family of love^ made all religion
• Mosheim's Ecci. Hist. iv. 103, 423.
2 This seet owes i-s origin to Henry Nicolas, a
mercer of Delph, who broached his errors about
1540. They were brought to Erigland, probably,
by one ViteUs, abotit 1574. They consisted in
the rejection of infant baptism ; of the divinity of
Christ ; of^ the depravity of human nature. The
Familists seem to have entertained little objection
to the church of Rome, or any denomination of
Christians, provided they held the doctrine of
"love," which was to perfect human nature, and
to establish God's heavenly kingdom on earth.
'Their opinions differed httle from those of the
free-willera in Queen Mary'a time. See the
index to Strype.

to consist in an inAvard love to Christ,
and were guilty of so many abomina
tions that Baxter' calls them infidels ;
but these Avere not a neAv sect.
The fifth-monarchy men expected the
coming of King Jesus, during whose
reign they should themselves be made
kings and priests ; they Avere men Avho
were sincere in their hatred of the
tyranny Avhich they had experienced ;
who looked forAvard to bring reforma
tion to perfection, but overlooked the
means by which these ends might be
promoted. They made good soldiers
under the command of CromAvell, but
threw doAvn the fabric Avhich they had
erected as soon as the guidance of his
superior genius Avas Avithdrawn.
In speaking of such men we are per
haps Avrong in using the term sect at
all ; these opinions Avere held by many
persons at this time, but constitute of
necessity no line of separation : they
ever have been held, and ever will be
so, Avhile mankind suffer themselves to
be directed blindly, and influenced by
beings as subject to errors as them
selves ; fanatical teachers will ahvays
find fanatical followers ; but the license
Avhich tolerated them, and Av-hich was
the daAvn of that liberty of conscience
Avhich this country now enjoys, Avas
then productive of much confusion.
Men had not learned to differ in opinion
Avithout disputing on their differences,
nor had toleration taught them that to
disturb and vilify those Avho disagree
with us in doctrine must ahvays be a
real offence against Christian charity.
Undoubtedly at this time the interrup
tions to the public service Avere not
unfrequent; and the extension of vital
Christianity seems to have been greatly
prevented by the contentions among
those who differed in their religious
opinions. § 620. While speaking of the moralitj'
of this period, we must not forget that
no government ever put forth severer
statutes* against immorality, or tried
more strenuously to promote Christiani
ty as far as the Avords of an ordinance
could promote this object. The same
bill which did away the penal statutes
for not attending the parish church,
enjoined that every persoii should fre-

» Life, i. 91.

< Neal, iv. 26.

244

HISTORY OF THE

quent some place of religious worship
or preaching ; and notwithstanding all
the previous ordinances about the ob
servance of the Sabbath, they forbade
the neglect of the Lord's-day, aiid of
any other days set apart for humiliation
or thanksgiving, under heavy penalties,
which extended also to magistrates or
constables who failed in exerting them
selves to prevent such irregularitks.
Adultery and incest were made punish
able with death ; the same punishment
was attached to those who were twice
convicted of keeping a house of ill-fame;
and every breach of morality of this
description was exposed to great se
verity. Swearing was subjected to a
fine, and the entertaining blasphemous
and e.Mecrable opinions was punishable
by imprisonment, banishment, and
death. The laws too against actorg'
were put in force, and persons attend
ing plays Avere liable to a fine of five
shillings, so that none appear to have
been acted for the space of twenty
years. § 621. (Dec. 1656.) The ordinance
against heterodox opinions Avas far
from being allowed to remain inactive ;
for James Naylor,'' a fanatic more
Avorthy perhaps of a madhouse than
of the honour of being converted into a
confessor, was severely punished by a
vote of the House of Commons, and
subjected to much the same cruelties
as the Star Chamber might have in
flicted ; he was whipped, put in the
pillory, and imprisoned. Fry, too, a
member,' was expelled from the House
for professing Socinian opinions, and
Biddle tried for his life upon the same
plea. This error, like many others,
spread prodigiously, and we have the
testimony of the assembly of divines at
Westminster themselves,* who, when
consulted as to the punishment to be
inflicted upon blasphemy, desired that
it might be severe, since it was growing
fast, The externals of religion were
undoubtedly observed with greater
strictness, but it seems impossible to
conceive hut that the violence of the
civil war must have tended to destroy
real religion ; and however some excep-

' Neal, iii. 402 ; iv. 246. 2 ibid. iv. 139, &c.
' Wood's Ath. iu. 705, 599.
-* Lightfoot's Gen. Rem. 49.

[Cbap.'xIV.
tions may induce us to alter the balahtfe
in our minds — ^for the opinion of Bax
ter must have its weight — it can hardly
be supposed that, upon the whole, the
religious and moral principles of fhe
kingdom could have been advanced, or
could have failed to be grievously cor-
rapted by the political stale of this
country. § 622. (a. d. 1653.) One of the laws
ofthe Barebone parliament* made mar
riage merely a civil contract, much in
the same manner as is now the case in
Scotland, excepting that more notoriety
Avas given to the performance of the
ceremony. The parties were forced to
have their banns published three times
at church or in the market-place, and
theyAvere to profess their mutual desire
of being married, in the presence of a
magistrate, in order to render the union
legal. This act was ratified in 1656,
but the parties were then permitted fo
adopt the accustomed rites of religion,
if they preferred them.
In a country where a universal tole
ration of religious opinions is allowed
under the same government, there is
more wisdom in this ordinance than all
men will be vA'ilhng to admit. Marriage^
is an institution not only anterior to the
preaching of Christianity, but independ
ent of it. Most nations have connected
it, more or less, with religious ceremo
nies, and no Christian can hope for
happiness in this state of life, -unless it
be entered into in the fear of God, and
with the divine blessing; but a govern
ment Avhich extends its protecting hand
over all religions, and contains among
its subjects persons of all persuasions,
may Avell say, " The contract shall be
civil, and the religious part of it left to
the choice and opinions of the parties
contracting." By folloAving a contrary
system, we have among ourselves the
absurdity, that the ecclesiastical courts
have the sole judgment Avith regard to
marriages, while in cases in Avhich the
Scriptures obviously admit of a divorce,
these courts have no poAver to furnish
that redress for the infidelity of his wife

s Neal, iv. 67.
' See Judge Hale's judgment about the mar
riage of Quakers : he would not allow it to be set
aside, though performed wilhout the legal forms.
(Life by Burnet. Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical
Biography, vi. ^2.)

O^+p. XIV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

34?;

which our Saviour expressly grants to
the husband ; and the injured party
must have recourse to a civil authority
of so expensive a nature that unless he
be rich it is useless for him to think of it.
§ 623. Among the difficulties to which
the church of England Avas exposed at
this period, there appeared to be great
danger that the succession of bishops'
would be interrupted, and the following
circumstance directed the attention of
the exiled court to this point. The
church of Rome had rencAved the story
of the Nag's Head- ordination, and ap
pealed to the declaration of Morton,
bishop of Durham, Avho Avas said to
have asserted it in parliament. Mor
ton, AA'ho Avas still alive, though very
old, published an authenticated denial
of his having done so, which excited
the remaining bishops to prevent any
repetition of the same evil.' Many
methods of avoiding it Avere proposed,
but there remained much difiiculty as
to the consecration, the mere act of
which would haA'e been dangerous to
the bishops engaged in it ; and the par
ties Avere not agreed as to the steps by
which it should take place. The court
was unwilling to resign the real power
of nomination, and there were no chap
ters remaining to Avhom a conge d^elire
could be sent, and to consecrate without
such an election was displeasing to
I Neal, iv. 208. 2 gee ^ 409.
^ Allestree was much employed in this negotia
tion between the bishops and the cdurt. (Wood's
Ath.) So was Barwick. BramhiU was consulted
on the subject.

many of the elder bishops. Lord Cla
rendon Avished to feign a total lapse to
the crown, but this implied a real power
of election in the chapter, which the
court did not wish to establish. And
the idea of consecrating them as bishops
of sees in Ireland, where the king nomi
nates without the form of an election,
dissatisfied the English prelates. The
event was, that the restoration prevent
ed the execution and necessity of these
contrivances. § 624. The restoration Avas probably
brought about by a variety of combiu-
ing causes. Since the death of Oliver
Cromwell there had been no perma
nent government, and the people, weary
of anarchy, were ready to receive with
joy any power which bore the appear
ance of a settled authority. They were
noAv undeceived in their hopes of tast
ing the sweets of real liberty under a
republic, and had experienced the ty
ranny of a military usurper. The
presbyterians, generally favourable to
monarchy, were now smarting through
the license which the independents had
brought in, and disposed to run any
hazards rather than continue under the
rule of men who had done violence to
all their principles. They were per
haps at this moment prejudiced more
strongly against the independents than
against the church of England ; and
Monk, joining the presbyterians, and
taking advantage of the tide which he
could hardly have resisted, had the
merit of deceiving everybody, and per
forming an act of honesty.

x2

846

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap.' XV.

CHAPTER XV.

CHARLES II. SAVOY CONFERENCE, 1660.
650. Restoration. 651. Presbyterians. 652. Charles, civil tothem. 653. Convention parliament.
654. Difficulties in the Restoration ; army. 655. Royalists, old and new. 656. Church, stale of.
657. Episcopacy disliked. 658. Parlies in the church; objects of ihe episcopalian. 659. Ofthe
nonconformist party. 660. Declaralion from Breda. 6h'l. Petition of the presbyterians. 662.
Answer of the bishops. 663. King's declaration promised. 664. Discussion at Worcester House.
665. King's declaration. 666. Favourable to the nonconformists. 667. Commission for the Savoy
conference. 668. The demands of the bishops; Baxier's form of prayer. 669. Observaiions on
it. 670. The petilion for peace. 671. Objeclions to the Common Prayer ; ceremonies* discipline.
672. Answer of the bishops. 673. Reply to it; dispulation appointed; sinful points in the Com
mon Prayer. 674. Disputations; close of the conference. 675. Baxter's conduct. 676. Conces
sions which might have been made. 677. Discipline over the church. 678. Over the laity. 679.
'The nonconformists' petition to the king.

§ 650. (May 29, 1660.) The restora
tion of Charles II. took place Avith such
rapidity, and from such a variety of
causes, that as no one individual can
be said to have guided the event, so
every one seemed at the moment sur
prised at it. The pjesbyterian party
had undoubtedly a very large share in
promoting the return of the king, and
Avhile the republicans neglected to de
mand any defences or safeguards for
the civil freedom of the state, their
friends in the church were equally
Avanting in foresight with regard to ec
clesiastical matters. It may be doubted
Avhether such an attempt would have
succeeded, but it may appear extraor
dinary that they did not make it, unless
ive consider that they had seen their
prospects of reform, both in church and-
state, prove delusive ; and that they
fancied themselves too strong in the
naiion to allow of their being trampled
on by the mere introduction of a court ;
little aware that the majority of the
people Avere not friendly to the strict
ness Avhich they had endeavoured to
introduce into the administration of
both, and that a large portion of every
society will, from possessing no princi
ples of their OAvn, generally side Avith
the governing party.
§ 651. But before we enter into any
details of the history, it Avill be neces
sary to guard against mistakes with re
spect to the persons Avhom we designate
by the name oi presbyterians, or rather
to state the reason why this term will
be inconvenient during the period which
we are now examining. By the term
presbyterian we generally understand

an anti-episcopalian, one who is hostile
to the order of bishops as an ecclesi
astical order ; noAv the mass of those
men, whose subsequent ejection forms
fhe great feature in the early part of
this reign, Avere not anti-episcopalians.
They had no objection' generally to
having a bishop, but they wished so to
tie his hands, that his chief authority
might consist in the council of presby
ters with Avhom they surrounded him,
and Avho were to be elected by the
clergy themselves. They Avished for
the establishment of such a form of
ecclesiastical government as would, in
the state, satisfy a republican ; one
who might be contented to have a king,
provided he ivere to be nothing beyond
the chief magistrate of the republic.
Of course, therefore, the republican
and presbyterian party Avere closely-
connected by principles ; and having
found themselves borne doAvn by the
independents and army, they gladly
had recourse to a legitimate govern
ment, under Avhich they imagined that
they should be too strong to incur the
danger of persecution.
§ 652. Charles, who Avas fully aAvare
of the strength of this party, and how
much he OAved his return to their co
operation, treated their divines Avith
marked respect ; he admitted them to
friendly intercourse in Holland, and on
his arrival in this country appointed
several of them to be his chaplains,'
and some of them preached before him.
On his first landing he spent a Sunday
at Canterbury, and the service at the

' Baxter's Life, ii. 278, ^ 113.
2 Collier, ii. 870.

Chap. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

347

cathedral was carried on in his presence
with all the decent ornaments Avhich
belong to our church, and which had
noAV been laid aside for nearly twenty
years. Many of the clergy had re
quested the king to dispense Avith these
ceremonies, lest they should offend the
people : but he told them very plainly,
that while he alloAved others to folloAV
their own opinions, he saAv no reason
why the same liberty should not be ex
tended to himself; and this course of
proceeding was properly observed at
White Hall. It was the policy of
Charles to be on good terms with this
party, nor is there any reason why
we should doubt the sincerity of those
kind expressions which he used towards
them : but it Avas almost impossible that
any sincere coalition should continue
between elements so discordant as a
puritanic clergy and a dissolute court ;
but both probably Avere injured by the
utter separation from each other which
afterwards took place.
§ 653. The parliament or convention,
which had recalled the king, contained
a great many individuals belonging tp
the party of which we are speaking, who
were friendly to a<monarchy, and not
hostile to the episcopacy ; but who had
no Avish to see either the one o/ the
other raised so high as had formerly
been the ease. They confirmed' the
clergy in their benefices, provided they
had been ordained before Dec. 25, 1659,
and had been admitted, since 1642, into
their livings upon a legal vacancy ; and
tried to create as little alteration as pos
sible, provided the incumbent had not
favoured, the king's death, nor shoAvn
himself ad verse to infant baptism. They
confirmed the leases made by colleges
and hospitals, and legalized all mar
riages which had from time to time been
solemnized according to existing ordi
nances. In all these acts they made no
distinction betAveen orders which had or
had not been episcopally conferred, and
seemed anxious to tranquillize the nation
after the disturbances under which it had
been suffering. They passed, too, a bUl
of indemnity for all but the regicides,
and appoitited the observance of the 30th
of January and the 29th of May.
All acts, however, of the present as-

' Statutes at large.

sembly laboured unaer one unavoidable
difficulty, that their legality might sub
sequently be called in question, unless
confirmed by a parliament summoned by
the authority of the king : again, all such
men as had in their OAvn persons served
the royal cause, or whose fathers had
done so, were, by the writ of summons,
excluded from being elected to sit in
this convention parliament, a particular
which had, in numerous cases, been
neglected, so that many of those AA'ho
most favoured the royal prerogative be
longed to it, though they formed not the
majority. Upon these several consider
ations, it was deemed preferable that
the convention should be continued no
longer than was absolutely necessary,
and it was dissolved therefore before the
29th of December.
§ 654. The return of Charles II. had
appeared so to coincide Avitli the general
wish of the people, that all opposition
seemed to vanish before the universal
desire for the re-establishment of legiti
mate authority ; but the real difficulties
AA'hich attended this event Avere con
siderable, and if not enough to endanger
the safety of the government, Avere quite
sufficient to render the situation of the
king far from enviable.
The army formed a body too powerful
to be consistent with any secure govern
ment, and was composed of many men
who, though wise enough not to oppose
outwardly the progress of events, Avere
little satisfied Avith them. There must
alAvays be a great unpleasantness in dis
banding so large a force ; soldiers who
could be pleased at their OAvn dismissal
must be very unlike any other human
beings ; since, having had the destiny
of the nation apparently in their hands,
they are compelled to dissolve the union
Avhich has rendered them powerful, and
to descend in private life to a station ne
cessarily far below what they have pre
viously held. But in this case probably
many of the officers might Avith justice
suspect, that they had been made the
tools of the exaltation of Monk, and of
the consequent degradation of them
selves. When they met the king on
Blackheath,^ they were perhaps one of
the finest bodies of men who had ever
been assembled on British ground ; they

2 Skinner's Life of Monk, 342; Burnet's Own
Time, i. 274*

•248

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XV,

were now necessarily to be disbanded,
and there Avas little or no money to pay
them. § 655. The friends of the crown Avere
far from being united. The older roy
alists had suffered so much from their
repeated discomfitures, that they were
unwilling to run unnecessary risks ; and
the late attempts, on the rising of Sir
George Booth,' had brought forAvard
many men who had before no preten
sions to royal favour ; so that the royal
ists themselves formed a heterogeneous
mass, the older ones despising those
Avho had but lately embarked in the
cause, and Avho in their opinion had
contributed nothing to the Restoration ;
while those Avhose late activity had ex
posed them to sufferings, to which they
had been unaccustomed, magnified the
utility of their own exertions, and dis
dained the caution of the older friends
of the monarchy. These differences
were the more insufferable to the king,
because from the very first he found
himself assailed Avith solicitations for
preferment Avhich he had no ability to
grant, and Avhich his OAvn personal fa
cility prevented him from refusing Avith
ease. Abundant applications were made
during the first days of his return to
England, and such persons were most
importunate in their demands as had
merited advancement the least.
§ 658. But the greatest difficulty con
sisted in the state of the church. The
bishops had been driven from their
places nearly twenty years before, and
had generally retired into the obscurity
of private life. The generation who had
grown up in the church were at once
active and influential, and had found
themselves not only unfettered by supe
riors, but had many of them been ad
mitted into much indirect power, and
had always been taught to regard the
deposed hierarchy as tyrannical and
antichristian. They had universally
possessed a good deal of authority in
their own parishes, and looked forward
in the re-establishment of bishops to
being deprived entirely of these advan
tages. It Avas impossible, therefore, that
they should regard the restoration of
episcopacy, together with the monarchy,
with any friendly eye. Out of the bench

1 Clarendon, Own Life, fol. 20, 8vo. 37.

of bishops nine only survived the Resto
ration ; most of these were translated to
better bishoprics, and made room for the
appointment of new ones ; thirteen were
consecrated during the autumn and win
ter, and four in the January following;
the latter sees had been left open, in
hopes that such leading members ofthe
nonconformist party as Avere not adverse
to episcopacy would accept them. All
beneficed clergymen who had been de
prived during the usurpation, became
as:ain possessed of their benefices at the
Restoration, and all property, ecclesias
tical or civil, which had been illegally
sold, reverted to its right owners ; a state
of things which, though perhaps neces
sary, was very unlikely to excite a fa
vourable feeling towards those who were
thus restored. There was a large and
forced transfer of property ; a circum
stance AA'hich cannot fail to create dis
satisfaction. The incomer always sup
poses that he has been injured, and the
person ejected feels that he is deprived
of Avhat he had deemed his OAvn. All
ejected heads and felloAvs of colleges
were restored by an order of the lords,''
(June 4th ;) and after tAvent}' years of
confusion, many indii-iduals were in
jured at the Restoration, Avho had shared
in none of the guilt of the usurpation.
§ 657. But as far as Ave may be al-
loAved to form an opinion on such a sub
ject, ¦the restoration of the episcopal
authority was that which most offended
the generality of the church. The point
at issue was in reality that of parish dis
cipline. In the church of England the
spiritual power is lodged^ in the hands
of the bishops the clergyman of a parish
may admonish, and, if he cannot reform,
may suspend from the communion till
he can have recourse to the bishop's
court ; but he has no power of his own
to inflict any spiritual punishment. He
cannot compel any of his flock to come
before him in a judicial manner. This
sort of jurisdiction had been generally
exercised during the usurpation, and the
minister held no communion with those
who despised his authority ; he might
in fact excommunicate any one Avho
neglected his summons, though such a
sentence bore with it none of those of
fensive disabilities which attend on ex-

2 Neal's Puritans, iv. 240.
' See * 591, and 595, '.

CiiAP. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

349

communication as inflicted by a bishop's
court ; but then such a power gave a
fearful influence to the parish priest.
The nonconformist party Avere anxious
to continue this species of discipline ;
and he must knoAv very little of human
nature Avho fancies that any man, espe
cially a ygung one, Avould readily relin
quish an authority of this sort.' The
battle was indeed never fought on exactly
this ground, but an examination of the
points at issue in the debates about the
liturgy ,° Avill easily convince us that
this was the real object of attack and
defence. § 658. The tactics of the two parties
were as folloAvs : the episcopalians feared
that bishops would be converted into
presidents of a college of presbyters,
and therefore their object Avas to deny
all authority to the presbyter, and to
lessen his influence, by convincing the
world that there had been much of evil,
and no good, in the late innovations
introduced into the government of the
church ; and this object Avould be pro
moted by shoAving that no alterations of
any kind were necessary. The rising
generation would be sure to side gra
dually Avith the governing party, and it
might on this ground be deemed unwise
to remedy even real evils, since such a
step might induce the mass of the peo
ple to doubt of the soundness of the
whole, when the advocates of the old
constitution acknowledged that some
things might admit of improvement.
This line of policy was so obvious, that
the eyes of the majority of the episcopal
party must have been open to it, and
their proceedings seem to have been
founded upon some such principle.
§ 659. 'The object of the other party
was to show that change Avas necessary ;
that the power possessed by the bishops

' See Selden's Table-Talk, Excommunication,
5 4. "They excommunicate for three or four
things ; matters concerning adultery, tithes, wills,
&.C., which is the civil punishment the state allows
for such faults. If a bishop excommunicate a man
for what he ought not, the judge has power lo
absolve, and punish the bishop. If they had that
jurisdiction from God, why does not the church
excommunicate for murder, for theft? If the
civil power might take away all but three things,
why may they not take them away too? If this
excommunicalion were taken away, the presbyters
would be quiet; it is that they have a mind to, il
is that they would fain be at," &c. See also
another observation of his, 5 675, 2.
> Baxter's Life, ii. 233. 32

had prevented the exercise of whole
some discipline, and that the govern
ment of the church of England still
required further reformation. If it could
be shown that the established church
Avas not formed on the best model, the
conclusion seemed nSitural, that some
modification of episcopacy ought to be
substituted in the place of the present
church government. At the same time
it Avas of the greatest consequence that
the party should appear to be united —
that they should hold together — that if
they Avere to fall, they might be over-
Avhelmed as a body. They probably
thought themselves stronger than they
really were, and they knew that if di
vided they must become insignificant.
The dilemma from which Baxter and
his friends had to extricate themselves
AA'as this : if they Eisked too much, many
individuals of their own party would
say, that they were not prepared to
separate from the church of England,
because she refused to grant more than
Avhat they themselves deemed abso
lutely necessary. If they asked too
little, their opponents would have to
object against them, that men who pro
fessed to be governed by Christian prin
ciples were ready to destroy the peace
and unity of the church for such trifles
as these.
§ 660. In order to get a clear view of
the Savoy conference, the arena on
which this contest Avas carried on, it
will be necessary to take a short vieAV
of the events which preceded it ; for it
is not impossible that the issue of the
conference Avas nearly decided, before
the members who composed it had
actually assembled.
(April 14, 1660.) The king, in his
declaration from Breda, had used the
folloAving expressions with regard to
toleration :' " We do declare a liberty
to tender consciences ; and that no man
shall be disquieted, or called in question,
for differences of opinion in matters of
religion, Avhich do not disturb the peace
of the kingdom ; and that we shall be
ready to consent to such an act of par
liament as, upon mature deliberation,
shall be offered to us, for the full grant
ing that indulgence . ' ' The nonconform
ists, when they beheld this disposition

' Clarendon's History, iii. 747.

250

HISTORY OF TIIE

[Chap. XV.

in the king, and the temper ofthe House
of Commons, Avere naturally led to ex
pect concessions from the governing-
party, and induced to express their
w-ishes as to the points which they
desired to be changed, by presenting a
petition to the king.
§661. They state that they agree
with the church of England' in doctrinal
truths, and the substantial parts of wor
ship : and that they differ only about
the ancient form of church government,
the Liturgy, and ceremonies. They
request, 1. That encouragement maybe
given to private religious exercises.
2. That each congregation may have
a resident and efficient pastor, and that
scandalous ministers may be ejected.
3. That personal profession of faith
may be required of all communicants,
and that no one be confirmed Avithout
the approbation of his pastor. 4. That
the Lord's day may be kept holy, with
out unnecessary divertisements. They
state that they have no objection to a
balanced episcopacy, but complain, 1, of
the extent of dioceses, AA'hich rendered
a personal superintendence impossible :
2, of bishops deputing their authority to
officials Avho Avere sometimes laymen ;
3, of their occasionally assuming the
sole power of ordination, and exercising
arbitrary poAver in articles of visitation,
&c. In order to obviate these evils,
they request, that Archbishop Usher's
reduction of episcopacy maybe adopted ;
that bishops suffragan, or chorepiscopi,
may be chosen by the presbyters ; that
the associations' may not be so large as
to make the discipline impossible ; that
no subscriptions or oaths of obedience
be required ; that bishops be not allowed
to act, except according to canons to be
agreed upon and sanctioned by act of
parliament. They do not object to a Liturgy, per
se, provided the minister be not so con
fined to it as to be prevented from exer
cising the gift of prayer ; they request
that the Common Prayer, being justly
objectionable, may either be revised,
and that certain scriptural forms, to be
used according to the discretion of the
minister, may be added to it, or that a
new one be composed.
' Baxter's Life, ii. 233. History of !Nonconfor-
mily, 1.
2 See 5 612.

With regard to ceremonies, they re
quest that the observance of holydays,
kneeling at the Lord's Supper, the use
of the surplice and of the cross at bap
tism, as Avell as bowing at the name of
Jesus, may not be imposed on any who
¦scruple them : that such ceremonies as
have no foundation in law, a^ erecting
altars, boAving to them, &c., may be
discontinued. § 662. (July 8, 1660.) To this, peti
tion the bishops made a formal reply,
arguing that none of these alterations
were necessary, and not declaring what
concessions they Avere prepared to make:
they state —
That the laAvs^ have already provided
for the four first requests, as far as is
consistent with the good of the church ;
that the bishops desire that these par
ticulars may be effectually remedied,
but are unAvilling that private conven
ticles and other abuses should be intro
duced under colour of them ; that the
laws with respect to the Sabbath are
already more strict than in any other
reformed church.
That the diocesan form of govern
ment has alwaj'S existed in the church ;
that the personal cure of souls is the
office of the presbyter, and not that of
the bishop ; and that AA'hen the diocese
is large, the Inw has provided for the
appointment of suffragans ;¦• that there
is no objection to delegating authority;
and that though bishops have ahvays
exercised ecclesiastical power, yet that
theyhave done so with the assistance
and advice of presbyters, as of their
deans and chapters, Avho were probably
appointed for this very purpose ; and
that the law Avill remedy illegal acts of
bishops as Avell as those of others. That
with regard to Archbishop Usher's re-

' Baxter's Life, 242.
4 26° Henry VIII. ch. 14. An act for nomina
tion and consecraiion of suffragans wiihin this
realm. There are tweniy-six places mentioned,
for which bishops suffragan may be appointed.
The archbishop or bishop is to present two per
sons to the king, of whom he is lo nominate one
to be suffragan. The auihority of such suffi-a^an
shall be hmited by their commissions, which iKey
shall not exceed, on pain of pramunire. I'hese
commissions are to be given by the bishop pre
senting. This act was repealed 1, 2 Philip and
Mnry, ch. 8, and revived 1° Eliz. ch. 1. Bishops
suffragans are spoken of in the thirty-fifih canon
of 1604. It would be very desirable that in popu-
lous dioceses they should be appointed now ; there
seems no legal reason why they may not be.

Chap. XV.]

CHUP.CH OF ENGLAND.

351

duction, it may be a great question,
whether it were not rather composed
with- reference to existing animosities,
than as his own final and deliberate
choice ; that the election of suffragans
is already vested in the crown ; that
they understand not the term associa
tions ;' and that the use of oaths and
promises of obedience is expedient.
That the Liturgy appears suited to
its object, and tolerably free from ob
jections ; that custom allows of the use
of extempore prayer before sermon ;
that they are ready to alter any thing
which shall be shoAvn to be justly offen
sive, and object not to a reformation of
the Liturgy according to his majesty's
Avish. That the ceremonies are in them
selves not objectionable ; and that to
change any of the laws about them
Avould be as likely to offend many sober
persons as it Avould be to gain over
those who contend for such, matters.
Baxter'^ himself droAA' up an answer
to this reply, but no use seems to have
been made of it.
§ 683. Some of the nonconformists
now contended, that it was useless to
proceed with any discussions, Avhen it
was evident that no good could possibly
result ; but Baxter urged them to go
on, Avhile there Avas even the most dis
tant hope of promoting peace, and they
Avere confirmed in this vieAV of the sub
ject by a promise from the king, that
he would act the part of moderator be
tween the contending factions, and sig
nify his ideas of what concessions could
be made, by putting forth a declaration
Avhich should be submitted to the in
spection of both parties, before it was
published to the Avorld. When the
draft of this declaration Avas put into
the hands of the nonconformists, many
animadversions were passed upon it,
and a second paper Avas draAvn up for
the purpose of being presented to the
king, but contained so much Avhich was
more likely to cause divisions than to
promote peace, that it never passed be
yond the hands of the chancellor. It
was the work of Baxter, and though.
pruned of some of its most objection
able passages by the interference of
Calamy and Reynolds, yet its sup-

' See ^ 612.

2 Baxter's Life, 248.

pression was judicious. One of the
arguments" in favour of a moderate
episcopacy is, that its adoption would
save those who had taken the covenant
from the sin of perjury, since they had
there SAvorn to root out prelacy only,
and not episcopacy. The chief de
mands are, for a poAvtjr of control over
the bishops, and a jurisdiction over theii
flocks, to be granted to the presbyters ;
that the Common Prayer should not
only be reformed, but even very mode
rately imposed ; and that the ceremonies
should be left indifferent. Complaints
are also made, that no minister can be
instituted Avithout renouncing his pres
byterian orders, and being re-ordained,
subscribing the oath of canonical obedi
ence, and reading the disputed part of
the XXth article.
§664. Thenonconformists* were now
desired to state what alterations in the
declaration they deemed absolutely ne
cessary ; but since most of them Avere
inserted in the document itself, as it
was subsequently published, less notice
of them seems to be required.^ (Oct.
22.) Three days before the publication
of the declaration^ there was a meeting
at Worcester House, the residence of
Lord Clarendon, where, while many
of the questions were discussed in a
conversational manner. Lord Clarendon
droAv out a petition for toleration, Avhich
had been presented by the anabaptists
and independents, and asked the advice
of the divines who Avere present con
cerning it, wishing probably to cast on
the presbyterians the odium of a refusal,
if they who demanded such concessions
in favour of themselves were unwilling
to allow of toleration to others. Both
parties were silent for a time, till Bax
ter, fearing lest, through their silence,
the petition should be granted, and that
the indulgence thus obtained would be
extended to the papists, spoke against
it ; so little were the principles of tole
ration understood : indeed, a state of
things differing entirely from that of
the present day, almost prevents us
from estimating fairly the scruples of

' Baxter's Life, 267 ; Hist, of Nonconformity,
10. &c.
* Baxter's Life, 275.
5 They may easily be traced by comparing Col
lier's Eccl. Hist. p. 874 ; and Baxter's Own Life,
275 259
« Baxter's Life, 277.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XV.

the nonconformists themselves. When
we regard them as factious in their
apposition to the ceremonies of the
church, as in truth we must do, we
forget that they had no liberty of join
ing a dissenting congregation.
§ 665. (Oct. 25.) In this declaration
the king' professes that he purposes to
promote godliness, to encourage public
and private exercises of religion, to
prevent the abuse of the Lord's day,
and to cast out scandalous ministers.
That he Avill endeavour to appoint good
bishops, who shall be preachers, and
that, Avhere the dioceses are large, they
shall be assisted by suffragans. That
no bishop shall ordain or exercise any
ecclesiastical jurisdiction without the
assistance of presbyters. No chancel
lor or official shall, as such, perform
any spiritual act of authority ; nor an
archdeacon do so, without the aid of
six presbyters, three chosen by the
presbyters of the archdeaconry, and
three nominated by the bishop.
That cathedral preferments shall be
filled by good men ; that a number of
presbyters elected by the presbyters of
the diocese, and equal in number to those
members ofthe chapter who shall be pre
sent, shall assist the bishop in all eccle
siastical functions, ordinations, &c. ; nor
shall any suffragan bishop ordain with
out the presence of a sufficient number
of presbyters elected by their brethren.
That confirmation shall be carefully
performed with the consent of the
minister of the parish; none shall be
admitted to the Lord's table without a
profession of faith and obedience, or
who has been guilty of scandalous
offences. That rural deans, to be appointed as
heretofore by the bishop, shall hold
monthly meetings, Avith three or four
mirlisters of their deanery, for disci
pline, and present to the bishop such
as they cannot influence by persuasion.
The rural dean shall superintend the
education of the children in the dean
ery, seeing that the respective minis
ters do their duty in preparing them
for confirmation.
That no bishop shall exercise any
arbitrary power, nor impose any thing
but according to law.
' Collier's Eccl, Hist. ii. 874.

That a commission shall be appoint
ed to review the Liturgy and to make
additional forms, which shall consist
of an equal number from both sides.
In the mean time the king prays all
ministers to adopt as much conformity
as they can, promising that none shall
be punished for the want of it; allow.
ing them to use or neglect the cross in
baptism, while parents who differ in
this particular from their own minister,
may procure another who agrees with
them, to christen their children : that
bowing at the name of Jesus shall be
left free, and the use of the surplice be
considered optional, except in cathe
drals and colleges. That the oaths of
allegiance and supremacy shall suffice,
instead of that of canonical obedience
and subscription ; and that persons in
stituted or taking degrees shall sub
scribe to those only of the Thirty-nine
Articles Avhich are doctrinal.
§ 666. This declaration contains such
ample concessions to the Avishes of the
nonconformists, that one is led to doubt
the sincerity of those Avho drcAV it
up ; for whatever might have been the
wishes of the king, if indeed he regard
ed the matter at all, it Avas obvious that
no parliament was likely to pass into
an act measures Avhich Avould probably
displease the majority of the episcopal
divines and their adherents, and so ma
terially change the constitution of the
church. The only immediate effect of
this declaration was partially to delay
for a season severities against the non
conformists ; for the influence of the
court prevented the execution of the
act of uniformity of Glueen Elizabeth :
but Avhen endeavours were made,^ (Nov.
6th,) on the motion of Sir MattheAv Hale,
to pass it into a bill, it Avas thrown out,
and the convention Avas soon after dis
solved. (Dec. 29th.) Both Houses, as
Avell as a large body of the London
clergy, presented addresses" of thanks
to his majesty for his gracious conces
sions ; and Baxter, Avho had previously
despaired of finding any thing yielded,
Avhich might enable him to remain in
his ministry, was so pleased, that he
made up his OAA'n mind to exert all his
influence in promoting uniformity. It
2 Neal's Puritans, iv. 268, note t. Burnet's
Own Time, i. 305, s.
* Baxter's Life, 284.

Chap. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

353

was about this time that the offer of
bishoprics' was made to Calamy, Bax
ter, and Reynolds, who alone of the
three accepted the preferment." Cala
my had been an antiepiscopaliah, and
it Avas naturally conceived by his
friends, that his accepting such a situa
tion Avould be a disgrace to his former
professiofts, and to the cause of the
presbytery ; but Reynolds and Baxter
had always been friends to moderate
episcopacy, and if the declaration of
the king could he passed into a laAV,
there seemed no reason why they
should decline being placed on the
bench ; and Baxter, in his letter to
Lord Clarendon,^ says, that his chief
reason for refusing the promotion, Avas
the hope that he should more effectually
advance the cause of peace, by retain
ing a station Avhere his arguments in
favour of episcopacy could be liable to
none of those suspicions to which they
must be exposed, were he himself ex
alted into the office for Avhich he be
came the advocate.
§ 667. (a. d. 1661.) In compliance
with the last clause in the declaration
of the king, a commission consisting of
tAvelve bishops and twelve noncon
formist divines Avas appointed, (March
25th,) to Avhom nine of each party were
joined, in order to supply the places
of those Avho might be prevented from
attending. They* are instructed to

' Baxter's Life, 281.
' Other preferments were at the same time of
fered to several of the same party. Echard, 781.
3 Baxter's Life, 282.
* The whole history of this conference is con
tained in Baxter's own Life, 303 — 369, and the
History of Nonconformity. I am not aware of
any original account of it from the party of the
bishops. There are some observations about it
in Burnet's Own Time. The commissioners
were —
A. Frewen, abp. of York.
G. Sheldon, bp. of London.
J. Cosins, bp. of Durham.
J. Warner, bp. of Rochester,
H. King, bp. of Chichester.
H. Hinchman, bp. of Sarum.
G. Morley, bp. of Worcester.
R. Sanderson, bp. of Lincoln.
B. Lany, bp. of Peterborough.
B. Walton, bp. of Chester.
R. Sterne, bp. of CaHisle.
J. Gauden, bp. of Exeter.
Ed. Reynolds, bp. of Norwich.
A. Tuckney, D. D.
J. Conant, D. D.
W. Spurstow, D. D.
J. Wallia, D. D.
Th. Manton, D.D.

"review the Common Prayer,' and to
make such alterations therein as shall
be thought most necessary ; nnd some
additional forms in the Scripture phrase
as near as might be suited to the na
ture of the several parts of Avorship," —
" comparing the same with the most
ancient liturgies Avhich have been used
in the chqrch, in the primitive and
purest times." " To take into serious
consideration the several directions,
rules, and forms of prayer, and things
in the said book of Common Prayer
contained, and to advise and consult
upon and about the same, and the se
veral objections and exceptions which
shall noAV be raised against the same ;
and if occasion be, to make such rea
sonable and necessary alterations, cor
rections, and amendments therein, as
shall be agreed upon to be needful and
expedient for the giving satisfaction
unto tender consciences, and the re
storing and continuance of peace and
unity in the churches under our pro
tection and government. But avoiding,
as much as may be, all unnecessary
alterations of the forms and Liturgy
Avherewilh the people are already ac
quainted, and have so long received in
the church of England."
Their place of assembling was ap
pointed to be the lodgings of the bishop
of London in the Savoy, and the com
mission was to continue in force for four
calendar months, till the 25th of July.
§ 668. Their first meeting did not take
Edm. Calamy, B. D.
R. Baxter, Clerk.
A. Jackson.
Th. Case.
Sam. Clarke.
M. Newcomen.
The Supernumeraries were —
J. Earle, dean of Westminster.
P. Heylin, D. D.
J. Hacket, D.D.
J. Barwick, D. D.
P. Gunning, D. D.
J. Pierson, D. D.
Th. Pierce, D. D.
A. Sparrow, D. D.
H. Thorndike, D. D.
Th. Horton, D. D.
Th. Jacomb, D. D.
W. Bales.
J. Rawlinson.
W. Cooper.
J. Lightfoot, D. D.
J. Collins.
B. Woodbridge.
R. Drake.
5 Baxter's Life, 304.

354

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XV.

place till April 15th, and then Sheldon,
bishop of London, informed his oppo
nents, that as the bishops had no Avish
for any alteration, the first step must be
a statement in Avriting, on the part of
the nonconformists, of all which they
desired might be altered or inserted.
This proposal Avas contrary to their
Avishes and expectations, since they
hoped by mutual communication to dis
cover hoAv far concessions might be
practicable ; but Avas peremptorily in
sisted on by the bishop, Avho declared
that noihing could be done till all the
exceptions, alterations, and additions
were brought in at once. This step
Avas likely to produce differences of
opinion among the nonconformists them
selves, and to frighten the bishops into
rejecting every proposal, whetj they
beheld the extent of tvhat was required
to be changed : and it may be pre
sumed' to have been adopted by the
bishops for this very purpose, as it is
hardly consistent Avith the instructions
of the commission. Nor must it be for
gotten, that three Aveeks had been lost
between the date of the commission and
the first meeting; a delay Avhich could
hardly have been accidental. The office
of drawing up the additional forms Avas
assigned to Baxter, Avho had been most
anxious on this point, and the statement
of the objections to the Common Prayer
AA'as intrusted to a committee ; but Bax
ter was so much more rapid in his pro
ceedings, that he not only composed a
form of prayer of very considerable
length, but brought in a table of objec
tions almost as large as that of the com
mittee. § 609. It will not be easy to assign
any good excuse or reason why Baxter
should frame a form of prayer entirely
neAA'. AA'hen the commission only ex
tended to some additional forms ; he
could hardly bo foolish enough to sup
pose that the bishops Avould adopt it,
Avhile the mere act of offering it could
not fail to irritate them. He himself
says, ^ that he ivished to leave a standing
Avitness to posterity that he and his
friends Avere not adverse to a settled
form; and as the composition Avas his
own, he Avas probably induced to think

' Burnet's Own Time, i. 309.
2 Life, 306.

more highly of the work than it de
served.^ "The method Avhich he pur
sued in its composition, was to follow
the general plan of the Lord's Prayei
and the Ten Commandments ; nor can
it be denied that it is an extraordinary
production, considering the time he Avas
occupied about it, Avhich did not exceed
a fortnight. It abounds in a copious
and flowing style, full of Scripture me
taphors ; but to those who love the close
and simple forms of the services of our
church, and their correspondence Avith
the brief and distinct petitions Avhich Ave
meet with in Scripture, it Avill appear
to be by no means free from the Avorst
of faults, that of preserving the phraseo
logy ofthe Bible, and applying it in an
indefinite and perplexed manner, which
to an educated man of a poetical turn
may prove edifying, but must be ge
nerally unintelligible to the mass of any
congregation.'' § 670. LTpon consideration, it Avas
thought more prudent to send in the
objections to the Common Prayer, be
fore this document Avas offered, and
they Avere delivered on the fourth of
May : and this liturgy,'' Avhen it had
been subjected to the examination of
the committee, and undergone some
trifling alterations, Avas presented to the
bishops, and accompanied with an ad
dress Avhich bore the title of a petition
for peace, a denomination Avhich it ill
' He says, (Life, 335,) when speaking of an ob-
jeclion raised against graniing the minisler leave
to pray "in these words." "or to ihis sense,"
which is always the case in this form, that if this
clause, " or to this sense," had been dashed out,
it had been beyond exception. And again: "They
{i. e, the nonconformists) offer also such forms as
more unquestionable (than the Common Prayer,)
as to Iheir congruity to the word of God. and to
the nature of the several parts of worship." (Hist.
Nonconformity, 201.) It is primed in the History
of Nonconformity, 52, &.c.
1 Among many other objectionable points it may
be remarked, that the confession runs into parti
culars which could hardly ever apply to the ma-
jorily of those present. The following m.etaphors
are introduced ; " Justice may run down as water,
and righteousness as a mighty stream." "Oh,
habitation of justice and mountain of holiness!"
In the directions about the sermons, it is ordered,
that the preacher shall speak "from failh and
holy experience in himself," "with convincing
evidence and persuading importunity;"- objects
which, however desirable, are hardly attainable
by means of a rubric. He calls a godfaiher, not a
sponsor, but a pi-oparent. Surely a man must be
very ignorant of human nature, or very perverse,
who attempts to reconcile high-churchmen by
these means.
° Life, 334.

CliAP. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

255

deserved. - It was draAvn up by Baxter,
and read aloud to the bishops, Avho, ac
cording to his OAvn observation about it,
Avould never have yielded to this pro
posal, had they all knoAvn how long and
how ungrateful ils contents Avere. Itis
drawn up in a strong and nervous style'
of oratory, Avhich, Avhile it advises mo
deration, seems rather to threaten those
Avho neglect it than to pray for it. His
argument is, that his brethren dare not
conlormabout things Avhich they esteem
far from indifferent, for fear of God's
wrath. He talks of their tenderness
for the honour of Christ, speaks of the
unmerciful impositions of the bishops,
even if that for Avhich they stood Avere
of God, and urges them, instead of
pressing conformity because it Avas law,
to join with the nonconformists in pe-
titio,ning the king and parliament that
it might be no longer laAV. He reminds
them of the number of ministers Avho
must suffer, of people Avho must grieve
even for their souls, because their
teachers could not submit to the burden
of re-ordinalion, subscription, and the
ceremonies ; and appeals to their readi
ness to suffer in their Avorldly interests,
as a proof of the sincerity of their pro
fessions. These arguments, would be
irresistible, if there Avere no such feeling
as that of prejudice in the Avorld ; "but
surely the nonconformists might fairly
have questioned Avhether their OAvn zeal
for changing Avhat was established in
the church were quite free from evil
motives. Men's passions often carry
them against their interests. The di
lemma to which they would reduce the
bishops Avould turn Avith equal force
against themselves ; for if they Avould
but comply Avith the orders ofthe church,
Avhich had been no ncAv imposition, they
might avoid all these evils ; and the
bishops might say Avith equal truth, that
they dared not innovate. The great
evil, hoAvever, of the address was, that
he Avho wrote the petition for peace did
not try to conciliate.
§ 671. The objections raised against
the Common Prayer'^ are so numerous,
and manyof themof so little importance,
that it would but weary the reader to
state them at length, while it is difficult

¦ Hist, of Nonconformity. 27.
2 Baxter's life, 316. Hist, of Nonconformity,
152

to classify or abridge them without
omitting something which may be
thought important. They premise that
it is desirable that no matter of mere
opinion be left in a general formulary,
for fear of causing divisions ; and re
quest that, as the Prayer Book Avas
originally framed Avith a view of com
prehending the Roman Catholics, it
may now be altered so as to satisfy
those who differ only Avith regard to
ceremonies. On this point they re
quested that the use of the surplice, of
the cross in baptism, of kneeling at the
sacrament, of the ring in marriage, as
well as all subscriptions about them,
might be left indifferent ; and that the
rubric concerning the dresses might be
omitted ; that the observance of saints'
days might be optional ; and that such
expressions as implied any propriety
of fasting in Lent might be erased.
Under the second head we must ar
range such points as bear indirectly on
discipline ; and here, Avith regard to the
Lord's supper, they Avished that the
communicants should be required to
give longer previous notice of their
intention of receiving ; and that none
should be admitted to the table, who
did not make a public profession of
faith and obedience ; and that, in order
to give time for this, the exhortations
should be read on the Sunday before,
and not at the time of celebration.'
That the rubric, instead of enjoining
every one to receive three times in the
year, should direct that the celebratio'n
of the Lord's Supper should take place
at least so often ; that the rubric about
transubstantiation should be restored ;
and that, in the visit'ation of the sick,
the curate should be left at liberty to
administer or refuse theLord's Supper,
according to his discretion.
In baptism, they requested not only
that a longer previous notice should be
required, but that no minister should be
forced to baptize the children of atheists,
infidels, heretics, or unbaptized persons,
nor of those Avho -Were excommuni
cated, fornicators, or otherAvise noto
rious and scandalous sinners. That
godfathers should not be required, but
3 N. B. — The admonition which is now read
on Ihe Sunday before, was, till the last review,
read in the service itself: this point was changed
in consequence ofthe objections now raised.

256

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap.XV.

that parents, or proparents, should
make the answers in their own names.
That such expressions in the services
as seemed to imply that all the congre
gation are regenerated or converted
should be changed, as Avell as the rubric
which asserts the undoubted salvation
of all baptized children dying before
the' commission of sin.' That in Con
firmation the children should not be
admitted Avithout the consent of the
minister; that the expressions in the
Burial of the Dead, and the Churching
of Women, which cannot properly be
used of every individual, should be
altered to more general terms.
In remodelling the Prayer Book, as
a form of public devotions, they re
quested that, in order to give a unity to
the whole, the frequent breaks and in
terruptions might be omitted. That
the Litany, for instance, instead of be
ing composed of many separate peti
tions, might be consolidated into one
long prayer, and that the same plan
might be adopted with regard to other
collects and prayers, and in reading the
commandments ; by doing Avhich many
repetitions, which occur in the services,
might be avoided, particularly the fre
quent use of the Lord's Prayer and the
Gloria Patri, &c. It was desired that
greater liberty of altering the prayers,
and of introducing even his OAvn, might
be conceded to the officiating minister ;
and, besides numerous verbal emenda
tions, that the new translation of the
Bible might be adopted in the texts
quoted in the Prayer Book, and that
none of the Apocrypha might be fead
as lessons.
§ 672. After some time, the bishops
sent in an answer'^ to the nonconform-
' It is curious that this rubric was originally
placed as a part of the service for Confirmation,
to prevent people from esteeming baptism incom
plete without that rite. " That no man shall
think that any detriment shall come to the child
ren by deferring their confirmation." This ob
ject is not now answered, while the expression,
"certain by God's word," might as well as not
be applied to a proposition which, however true,
must be proved by reasoning on the analogy of
God's dispensations, and not from any one or
more texts of Scripture, adduced directly in its
confirmation. Baxter's (Life, 428) observation on
it is, " It is strange that when infant baptism it
self is commonly said by these men to be a tradi
tion, and not commanded or found in Scripture,
that yet they find it certain by the word of God,
that baptized infants are saved."
2 1 am not aware that thia answer of the bishops

ists, in which they observe that the
most effectual method of showing gra
titude to the king would be to comply
Avith his Avishes in conforming to the
Liturgy, a step which at the same time
Avould be most likely to promote the
peace of the church. That humility
on the part of the governed Avould in
duce them to respect their rulers, by
obeying what Avas ordered ; while to
pretend to scruples, Avithout proving
the points at issue to be unlawful, Avas
virtually to destroy air law ; and that
if scruples were to be consulted, those
of the conformists ought not to be dis
regarded, Avho Avould justly be offended
at unnecessary alterations. That the
Prayer Book had been draAvn up with
great care, and nothing introduced into
it which might not be proved to be
taken from the word of God, or the
practice of the primitive church ; that
if any thing of this sort could be pointed
out, the bishops themselves wished to
see it changed ; but that it could not
be necessary to make innoA'ations for
the sake of satisfying those Avho Avere
themselves the cause that the services
Avere disliked. That there must be
some general rule Avith regard to cere
monies, in which, except under peculiar
circumstances, the majority of any so
ciety must be bound to obey the judg
ment and decisions of their superiors,
since offence unnecessarily taken by a
weak brother could be no reason for
abrogating the general laAV of God,
which established the duty of subordi
nation ; that the ceremonies alluded to
Avere in themselves ancient and unob
jectionable, and that the observance of
Lent, and the saints' days, had been a
universal practice in the church, and
ought not now to be rejected.
In the Lord's Supper, the bishops
seem to have been ready to grant so
much as would alloAv the curate more
time for admonition, and to have quietly
passed over the rest. They abate no
thing of the rubric concerning receiv
ing three times in the year, and urge
the ministers to try to prevent the un
fitness of the communicants by their

is anywhere printed at length. I believe tbe
whole of it is quoted by Baxter, as he answers it :
(Hist. Nonconformity, 187, &.c.:) from whence I
have taken it. A copious abstract is given bv
Collier, ii. 879. '

Chap. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

257

own exertions. They add, that in bap
tism too much poAver ought not to be
left in the hands of the curate, lest he
might use it uncharitabh'' toAvards the
children, Avhose right to baptism does
not depend merely on their parents:
that the use of godfathers' is ancient,
and need not he laid aside.
That the use of the terra regenera-
tion'^is according to the Holy Scriptures,
and since the child can do nothing to
hinder the efficacy of the sacrament, it
is charitably to be presumed that the
baptism is effectual. That in speaking
of others Avho are not notorious offend
ers, (for these indeed are already ex
cluded,) charity denominates them such
as they ought to be. That, in confirma
tion, the consent of the minister is very
proper, but still ought not to tie down
the hands of the bishop, in case he
sees fit to administer the rite Avithout it.
That the responses, which are ob
jected to as interruptions, are very
useful in keeping up the attention and
exciting the devotion of the congrega
tion, and consistent Avith the practice
of the early Christian and JeAvish
churches. "That the connection of the
prayers seems to be good, and that
there is no reason why the different
attributes of God should not be brought
in before particular petitions, each end
ing Avith an address through the merits
and mediation of Christ. That the
Gloria Patri, as a short confession of
the Trinity, cannot be a burden to any
Liturgjr, and that the Lord's Prayer
occurs nowhere above tAvice in the
same service. That the concession of
greater liberty to the officiating minister
would destroy ithe very object of a set

' It may be observed that the nonconformists
are probably nearer to the custom of the primi-
- tive church, in their requests, than the present
rubric. See Bingham's Ant. Index, Sponsors.
2 It is unfortunate that sufBcient attention has
not been paid to the different senses of this word.
If individuals assign to it a secondary meaning, iri
which it was not intended to be used in the bap
tismal service, their objections to this service are
due to themselves. Probably no sincere member
of the church of England ever thought that all
baptized persons were living under the influence
of the Spirit of God, or that the mind of any one
could be effectually turned to God, except through
the operation of the Holy Ghost ; and when this
is laid down, there is no great theoretical differ
ence between those who disagree on this point.
The collect for Christmas day is the best com
ment on our baptismal service as to this particvdar.
33

form of prayer. That it is not neces
sary to exclude the reading of the
Apocrypha, since the sufficiency of
Scriptuie does not super.s<ide the neces
sity of other instructions, as of ser
mons, &c.
This ansAver is terminated by a list of
concessions, Avhich, after all, are not con
siderable, and will be noticed in the His
tory of the Common Prayer f but it
may be remarked, that three of these
promised alterations were never intro
duced ; viz., the insertion of the Avhole
of the preface to the Ten Command
ments in the communion service, "I am
the Lord thy God Avho brought thee out
ofthe land of Egypt," &c. ; in the mar
riage service, the change of the word,
" Avith my body I thee worship," into
"I thee honour;" and in the burial ser
vice, the omission of the epithets " sure
and certain" hope ; the two last of which
seem to be desirable, nor am I acquainted
with any reason why they vvere not ef
fected. § 673. To this answer of the bishops,
the other party sent in a 'long reply,*
containing the chief arguments which
may be adduced on the several topics,
but draAvn up in so violent a tone, that
it could onlj' tend to AA'iden a breach
Avhich was already too large. '^ When
this paper Avas presented^ to the bishops,
3 5 749, 6. ¦ 1 Hist, of Nonconf. 183, &c.
5 The preface was wrUten by Calamy, and
slates the points in which the bishops had nol
made any concessions. (Baxter's Life, 335.) The
answer itself was composed by Baxter, but is too
long, and enters too much into detail to admit of
any abridgment which shall convey an adequate
idea of its contents. It takes upone hundred and
forty-tvyo closely printed 8vo. pages: he calls it a
plain answer — il is, alas, far too plain to do any
good. He says (Hist. Nonconf 198) in it, "Love
and tenderness are not used to express themselves
by hurting and destroying men for noihing : " "we
force not all to use spectacles or crutches, (Ibid.
233,) because some are purblind or lame." He
calls the Common Prayer "a dose of opium,
(Ibid. 213,) which is likely to cure the disease of
divisions by extinguishing life, and uniting all in a
dead rehgion." He says, " Take all the world
for saints, (Ibid. 316,) and use them accordingly,
and blot out the doctrine of reproof, excommuni
cation, and damnation from your Bible." It is
impossible that he could have even hoped for good
from such expressions. He adds, "You are all
(Ibid. 322) unacquainted with the subject of which
you speak." " The world (Ibid. 324) will see that
indeed we differ in greater things than ceremonies
and forms of prayer." "All tends to take away
the difference (Ibid. 325) between the precious and
vile, between those that fear Gad, and that fear
him not."
6 Baxter's Life, 335.
y2

i!58

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XV.

Baxter observed, that they seemed of
fended at its length ; and as he suspected
that no one, except those who were com
missioned to answer the papers, ever
read them, he strongly urged that the
few remaining days might be employed
in friendly disputations. When this
point was conceded, he tried to induce
his opponents to state their objections to
his own form of Liturgy, but could not
obtain his request ; for the bishops main
tained their vantage ground, and desired
that they might see the necessity of any
alteration clearly established, before they
proceeded to discussions as to the nature
of them. This disputation Avas com
mitted to Drs. Pierson, Gunning, and
SparroAv, against Bates, Jacomb, and
Baxter ; but the proceedings were car
ried on with so much confusion, that no
good result could be expected from it.
Towards the end ofthe debate Bishop
Cosins brought forward a proposal as
coming from some considerable person,
by which an end might be put to the
dispute, if the nonconformists would
state what they considered to be " sinful' '
in the Common Prayer, and Avhat they
deemed " expedient to be altered." To
this proposal Baxter presently sent in an
ansAver, wherein he mentioned eight
particulars as sinful.'
1. That no minister might be admitted
*o baptize without using the cross.
2. Or to exercise any office, if he dare
not wear a surplice.
3. That none be admitted to the com
munion, that dare not kneel.
4. That ministers are forced to pro
nounce all baptized infants regenerate.
5. To administer the Lord-'s Supper
to unfit persons, and they forced to re
ceive it.
6. To absolve the unfit in absolute
terms. 7. To give thanks for all whom they
bury, " as brethren whom God has de
livered and taken to himself."
8. That none may preach without sub
scribing a declaration, that the Book of
Common Prayer and Articles contalneth
in it nothing contrary to the word of
God. There were, indeed, two more, which
he omitted at the request of his col
leagues : the imposition of the Liturgy,

• Baxter's Life, 341, &c.

and the subscription of canonical obe
dience. § 674. This step naturally offended
the bishops, who justly reasoned, that if
the thing imposed were not in itself
contrary to the word of God, the impo
sition of it could hardly be sinful, hoAV-
ever inexpedient an individual might
esteem it. The disputation was subse
quently carried on in a syllogistic form,
and the only point clearly demonstrated
seems to be, the absurdity of expecting
to settle differences of opinion by such
a method. Baxter appears to have been
far too metaphysical in his distinctions ;
and though the fault, in a great measure,
lies in the attempt itself," yet his perti
nacious denial of what to most men must
appear to be true, will induce us, per
haps, to believe that he mistrusted his
own conviction of the sinfulness of the
impositions. Through these numerous delays,
which were perhaps created on purpose
by the episcopal party, and certainly
much augmented by the temper with
which Baxter carried on his part of the
dispute, the time Avhich was assigned
for the conference had expired, and all
that was effected was, that the bishops
had consented to some unimportant al
terations ; the nonconformists had shoAvn
Avhat they wished for, in the modification
of the church ; and both parties had be
come exasperated against each other.
§ 675. After the termination of the
conference, the nonconformist divines*
waited on the lord chancellor, who ad
vised them to draAV up an address to his
majesty, containing an account of all
that had taken place, and requested that
he might himself first see it. He seems
to have been most offended Avith Baxter,
and to have thought that if he had urged
his proposals with temper, and a spirit
of conciliation, all might have been well.*
And, indeed, Baxter appears throughout
the whole transaction to have given up
the hope, and with it, perhaps, almost
the Avish, of reconciling the tAvo parties.
He earnestly desired peace, but it was
only on his OAvn terms, and he would

2 Walton's Life of Sanderson ; Wordsworth's
Ecc. Biog. V. 529, &c.
3 Baxter's Life, 364.
^ Lord Clarendon observed that if Baxter had
been as fat as Dr. Manton, all might have gone oa
well. Baxter's Life, 364.

Chap. XV.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

259

concede nothing to his opponents. With
this feeling, it soon became his object to
render the dispute, in the eyes of the
world, as favourable as possible to his
OAvn party, and to leave a clear testi
mony to posterity,' that the bishops had
rejected that Avhich, in his opinion, Avas
essential to Christianity. He readily
put himself forAA'ard in the contest, with
the vieAV of screening his brethren from
the animosity of the bishops, and es
teemed it a cause for Avhich he could
comfortably suffer, being no less dis
posed to become a willing martyr in the
cause of charity than he would have
been in that of faith, had he been called
to the trial. One cannot but admire the
heroic temper of such a man, but we
must be very cautious not to mistake all
these feelings for pure Christianity. In
this case, they AA'ere doubtless mixed up
with much Avhich was Christian ; but
Baxter never once thought of sacrificing
in the cause of Christ that which a good
man values most highly of any thing in
this world, the good opinion of his OAvn
party, and the admiration of his friends ;''
had he yielded all that in his conscience
he could yield, the more violent mem
bers of his party Avould perhaps have
counted him a traitor to their cause, but
the peace of the church of England
Avould probably have been promoted,
and the service of real religion have
been advanced.
§ 676. When Ave vieAV the Avhole ques
tion, at this distance of time, it is impos
sible not to Avish^ that several concessions

¦ Baxter's Life, 306.
2 (Selden's Table Talk. " Changing Sides,"
^4.) "When the pope offered Luther any pre-'
ferment in the church which he chose lo have,
Luther answered, if he had offered half as much
at first he would have accepted it ; but now he
had gone so far he could not come back. In truth,
he had made himself a greater thing than they
could make him : the German princes courted
him ; he was to become tbe author of a sect, ever
after to be called Lutherans. So have our
preachers done that are against the bishops ; they
have made themselves greaier wi'h the people
than they can be made the other way."
'Jf the whole services had been shortened; the
morning service so arranged, by a new rubric, per
haps, that there might have been more unity in
the various parts of which it was composed, and
repetitions had been thus avoided, particularly with
regard to the Lord's Prayer; — if there had been a
distinet invocation for the aid of the Holy Ghost
to assist our prayers, an extension, perhaps, of the
latter part of the Absolution, in the commence
ment of the duty ofthe day ; — had the method of
distrib-utmg the elements in the Lord's Supper

had been made, on points Avhich, whne
they affect not the doctrine, or discipline,
of the church, have been, and are, offen
sive to many who conscientiously adhere
to Avhat is ordered ; andAvhich, had they
been granted at the period of which
we are speaking, might probably have
tended to conciliation. But the failure
in the success of this conference must
be attributed chiefly to Baxter. He Avas
anxious to give the priest a negative
poAver over his bishop ; that there should
be a certain number of elected presby
ters, without Avhom the bishop should
not be alloAved to perform certain offices.
The declaration had conceded the point,
and Baxter Avished to introduce some
thing of this nature into the rubric ; and
he was not contented that the power of
the priest over the people should be con
fined to persuasive government alone ;
and when he began to argue on the
point Avith the bishops, he became Avarm,
and used expressions which Avould have
been more Avisely avoided.
§ 677. The question about discipline
is one of opinion ; one in Avhich men
may arrive at very different conclusions
Avithout adopting very discordant prin
ciples. Discipline is probably best
preserved by vesting the supreme au
thority in the hands of the immediate
governors, subject only to an appeal to
a higher tribunal and to the control of
public opinion. Discipline is different
from government. The object of dis
cipline is to make the body subjected
to it as effective as possible ; of govern
ment, to render the members governed
as free and happy as can be contrived.
But almost every body of rnen partakes
of tAvo characters, and must be subjected
to discipline as well as government. A
country which does not submit to both,
will soon find itself overpoAvered by
some neighbouring state which has
been trained to combine its forces and

been altered, in case of a large number of com
municants, a cusiom which many clergymen
have, from necessiiy, been forced to introduce; —
had the godfathers in baptism answered in their
own names, or had a rubric been inserted, explain
ing the nature of the promises which they make ;
— had the words, " with my body I thee worship,"
" in sure and certain hope ;" and. " it is certain
from God's word," in the several services, been
changed; — had the reading the Apocrypha been
discontinued, and the tables of lessons new framed ;
the Prayer Book would probably have been
equally edifying, and less liable to objections.

260

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XV.

to be directed m its operations by dis
cipline. And no one in England can
help feeling that discipline should never
be separated from the principles of
government ; that every member of
even the army or navy, Avhen subjected
to a court martial, is still an English
man, to Avhom the laws of mere disci
pline cannot be applied strictly without
injustice. From the connection belAveen church
and state which exists in this country,
the discipline of the church of England
is of a most complicated nature, and
can hardly be regarded as either disci
pline or government, but must be
viewed as a mixture of both. The dif
ferences belAveen those who advocate
or oppose reformation in the constitu
tion of our church, chiefly arise from
this circumstance, that the one regard
the matter as a question of discipline,
the other as purely of government.
The, early state ofthe Christian church
required discipline rather than govern
ment ; and the difficulties with Avhich
they Avere surrounded rendered the
preservation of discipline among Chris
tians of a given society comparatively
easy. Baxter's idea of a parish Avas,
that the members of it should be under
the control of some minister, to Avhom
they voluntarily submitted, and perhaps
some of the opposite party might have
looked upon the church establishment as
simply a branch of the body politic ;
but surely it is to regard the church of
England very superficially to confine
our notions to either of these views.'
§ 678. It is highly desirable that the
external circumstances of a clergyman
should, as much as possible, enable
him " constantly to speak the truth, and
1 If the right of presentation to a liA'ing belong
to an individual, and the discipline exercised by a
bishop wrongfully deprive the clerk presented to it
of his freehold, the patron receives an injury for
which he ought to have a remedy from the civil
court. And yet, surely the bishop oughi to be
guarded in the exercise of his discipline, or he may
be prevented from doing his duty conscientiously.
The adjustment of this is the real difficulty wilh
regard to discipline over the clergy. The discipline
over the lahy is a totally different quesiion.

boldly to rebuke vice," without his
suffering for the truth's sake ; and it
cannot be imagined that any inter
ference of the bishop's authority at all
tends to prevent this freedom, of action
on the part of the inferior members of
the church ; and it may fairly be ques
tioned Avhether the use of a judicial
poAver vested in the parish priest Avould
advance the cause of vital Christianity.
As far as the hortative influence of pri
vate admonition, there can be no doubt-
that it was then, and is now, open to a
conscientious minister of God's ivord to
speak the most unpleasant truths to
any erring members of his flock ; yet
certainly no Avise government Avill in
vest a spiritual person AA'ith such author
ity as will be likely to induce him to
tyrannize over his brethren. The
minister of the gospel possesses an
authority which is not derived from
man, and for the use of Avhich he is not
accountable to the civil magistrate ;
but whenever he outsteps the limits of
spiritual admonition, he Avill probably
injure the cause of religion. If any
civil disabilities be attached to ecclesi
astical censures, of the wisdom of Avhich
there is much doubt, surely it is more
reasonable to confine the power of in
flicting these censures on the people, to
as feAV- persons as possible, and, as far
as can be, to remove it from the pastor.
§ 679. When the conference^ Avas
over, the nonconformists dreAv up a
petition' to the king, containing a brief
statement of what had been done, and
an exposition of their principles. In
this they declared", that if the civil
magistrate commanded that which they
believed to be AA'rong in its OAvn nature
and offensive to God, it became their
duty to examine into the question care
fully, and, if unconvinced, to suffer
patiently such penalties as Avere affixed
to disobedience. This document, too,
Avas drawn up by Baxter, but tAvo ofthe
most vehenient passages had been pre
viously erased by the lord chancellor
and the earl of Manchester.
2 Baxter's Life, 366. Hist, of Nonconf. 333.

Chap. XVLl

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

361

CHAPTER XVI.

CHARLES II. FROM THE SAVOY CONFERENCE TO THE END OF THE REIGN,
1661—1685.
701. Convocation ; the last subsidy granted by the clergy. 702. Act of uniformity. 703. Difficulties
connected wilh church property at a restoration; (^ on church property. 704. Observations on
the act of uniformity. 705. Treatment of the nonconformists. 706, 707. Injustice of it. 708.
Causes of passing this act. 709. Charles friendly to toleration. 710. Ejection of the nonconform
ists; re-ordinalion. 711. Ejected clergy ; Acts of Parliamenl. 712. Corporation and test; select
vestry act. 713. Conventicle act. 714. Five-mile act. 715. Attempts at a comprehension. 716.
Effects of the ill-treatment of the nonconformists. 717. The nonconformists not to be excused.
718. Letters of the foreign divines; evils on both sides. 719. Latitudinarians. 720. Laws against
the Roman Catholics. 721. Plots; Oates's. 722. Dangerheld'.=. 723. Danger of the introduction
of popery. 724. The commons and nonconformists averse to toleraiion. 725. Exclusion of the
Roman Catholics from power. 726. Pohcy of the reign. 727. Plague. 728. Fire of London.
729. Oxford decree. 730. Lord Clarendon; his policy, character, and fate. 731. Persecution.
732. Character of Charles. 733. Immorality arising frorn this reign.

§ 701. In revieAving the history of the
failure of the Savoy conference, Ave
must certainly attribute it more to the
nature of the discussion itself than to
any fault in the individuals Avho carried
it on. When men, entertaining opi
nions at total variance Avith each other,
meet for the purpose of discussing
them, unless they are possessed of ex
traordinary forbearance, the distance
belAveen them is likely to be increased
rather than diminished. The only
method, under such circumstances,
from which any favourable result could
rajtionally be expected, Avould be, if the
more moderate persons belonging to
the ruling party were selected, Avho
had by private communication gained
an insight into the points in Avhich
alteration Avas chiefly demanded, and
were directed by their commission, and
themselves disposed to concede every
thing Avhich might be given up with
safety to the constitution of the church.
Such concessions might then become
acts of grace, while angry irritation
would be avoided : and if unanimity
could hardly be hoped for even from
this means, yet the proceeding Avould
appear likely to unite the more mode
rate members of both parties, (the only
persons whose good opinion is really
worth cultivating,) and leave the whole
blame of the failure on those who, after
all, were determined to continue di
visions. Such, however, Avas not the
policy now adopted-
The convocation was assembled' on
' Synodus AngUcana, 60, Appendix.

May 8th, 1661, and its chief acts con
sist in a review and alteration of the
Common Prayer Book, of which an ac
count is subsequently given,'' and in an
attempt to remodel the canons. A com
mission under the great seal was read
in the Upper House on June I9th, in
order to give them authority to proceed
on this Avork, and many consultations
Avere held on the subject, but after all,
nothing was ever done. The bishops
appear to have framed articles of visi
tation for their OAvn use in their dioceses,
Avhich were intended to be adopted in
common in both provinces. The same
convocation continued to sit till Sept.
1666, and as its proceedings Avere not
very important in any other respect
than in the alteration of the Common
Prayer, it may be as Avell at once to state
generally what Avas done in it. A form
of prayer for the consecration of
churches' was examined, but laid aside,
though the draAving it up had been com
mitted to Cosins, and afterwards re
ferred to a committee of four bishops,*
A Greek and Latin grammar^ Avas
also ordered to be prepared by Barwick,
prolocutor to the Lower House, Avho
was directed to consult any one except
schoolmasters, the persons most fit to
judge of it. A subsidy of four shillings
on the pound,^ to be raised in four years,
Av as granted ; remarkable, as this was
the last occasion on Avhich the clergy
Avere taxed in this manner. The ori
ginal object of the English convocation
2 See ^ 749, <. 3 Synod. Aug. 107, 118.
< See i 750. * Synod. Ang. 114.
6 Ibid. 118.

S62

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVI

seems to have been as much civil as
ecclesiastical. They granted money lo
the crown, Avhich was levied by eccle
siastical authority solely, till the reign
of Henry VIII. ; from Avhich period,
each several contribution Avas confirmed
by an act of parliamenl; the sum paid
depended on a poundage upon the value
of each preferment, but the values could
hardly have been those in the king's
book, since this very convocation formed
a committee for revieAving the book of
subsidies. The bishops Avere the col
lectors.' During the usurpation the
clergy^ had been taxed with the laity, a
method which Avas probably found so
much more convenient, that it Avas sub
sequently adopted. The change Avas
effected by a private arrangement be
tween Sheldon and Lord Chancellor
Clarendon, without any specific act of
parliament. In the act (16° 17° Car.
II. 1) Avhich granted a royal aid of
2,477,500/., § 30, it is enacted, that the
spiritual revenues which become charge
able under it shall be freed from the
two last years ofthe late subsidy. (1665.)
From this time the clergy^ have paid
*he same taxes with the rest of their
/ellow-subjects, and A'oted for members
of parliament ; an alteration, Avhich,
whether for evil or for good, has e.x-
tinguished the political existence of the
convocation. § 702. (a. d. 1662.) The event, hoAv-
ever, Avhich calls for the greatest atten
tion during this period, was the passing
the act of uniformity. In order to form
a correct idea of the operation of this
act, it Avill be necessary to observe how
the laAV stood before and afterthe passing
it, without reference to the changes
which it introduced into the Prayer
Book itself. At the Restoration, the
act of uniformity of Elizabeth came
again into force ; but the original ob
ject of this act may be said to haA'e been
essentially different from that Avhich
was now framed. The act orElizabeth
attempted to punish, and finally to ex
clude from the church, all ministers who
were not ready to conform Avith the
whole of the rubrics and services. It
enacted therefore that a conviction of
refusing to use the Common Prayer, or

' Strype's Annals, v. 483.
2 Collier, Eccl. Hist. ii. 893.
s Burnet's Own Time i. 340.

of speaking or preaching against it,
should, in the case of a beneficed man,
for the first offence be foUoAved by the
loss of a year's income and si.x months'
imprisonment; for the second, by de
privation and one year's imprisonment ;
for the third, by deprivation and impri
sonment for life. If the offending cler
gyman Avere not beneficed, he was at
first imprisoned for a year, and secondly
for life. The act of Charles II. en
deavoured to exclude totally from the
church all Avho were not friendly to the
whole constitution of it. It enacted,
therefore, that every beneficed clergy
man should be ejected ipso facto, unless,
before the 24th of August, 1662, he
used the church service, and declared
his assent and consent to every thing
contained therein. The process of
ejectment under the law of Elizabeth
Avould have been perfectly certain, if
the parties prosecuting were determined
to carry on the suit ; nor could any con
siderable difficulty have attended the
conviction ; and indeed many bills Avere
found against the nonconforming cler
gy* before the ncAV act came into ope
ration ; but a longer portion of time
Avould have been occupied in the several
steps, and the asperity of the prosecutor,
as well as the obstinacy of the prose
cuted party, might probably have given
Avay during the process ; a circum
stance which Avould have ill accorded
Avith the Avishes of those Avho noAv ruled
the church. The new law further en
acted that every person holding eccle
siastical or academical preferment, or
teaching publicly or privately, should,
before the same day, subscribe a decla
ration, " That it is unlawful to take
arms against the king, on any pretence
Avhatsoever ;" " that he Avill conform to
the Liturgy ;" and " that no obligation
from the covenant lies upon himself, or
any other person ;" Avhich last clause
Avas not to continue in force beyond
1682. This subscription was enforced
under pain of deprivation, and of fine
and imprisonment in the case of unen-
doAved schoolmasters and tutors. This
bill, Avhich was drawn up by Keeling,*
afterwards chief justice, Avas framed
with such strictness, that the tendency

* Neal's Puritans, iv. 310.
5 Burnet's Own Time, i. 316.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

903

of it Avas to exclude as many of the
former clergy as possible ; and the
question, therefore, which really comes
under discussion, is with regard to the
policy of ejecting so many individuals
at once, and the justice' of doing so on,
this occasion.
§ 703. It may safely be conceded,
that no national church can continue to
exist, unless the officiating members of
the establishment be friendly to the de
tails of its services. Whoever is hostile
to them cannot be allowed to take part
in the ministry. The proceedings there
fore Avhich regarded those avHo were
about subsequently to enter into the
church, could not from the nature of the
question be unjust ; though the required
subscriptions may possibly be deemed
impolitic, since Avhatever circumstance
deprives a society of the assistance of
any individual member ofthe body po
litic, is, so far as it extends, an evil.
On the occasion ofa restoration, every
sound friend of social order Avill en
deavour to create as little alteration as
possible. Nothing can restore to their
former condition the families which have
suffered in the struggle ; and though
the illegal transfer of property can never
be undone, yet a species of composition
may be effected, Avhich may be ac
quiesced in by both parties, though
neither are perfectly satisfied with it.
With these views, the acts of such ec
clesiastical bodies as had continued to
exist, though the members had often
been unjustly ejected and displaced,
were ratified ; and thus leases made by
colleges and hospitals, &c., Avere es
tablished. The property of tithes had
never been separated from the livings ;
and Avith respect to the lands held under
bishops or chapters, though the rever
sions had been sold in perpetuity, yet
these sales had probably been made at
such rates as to leave the purchasers
no great losers, after an occupation of
nearly twenty years, especially, as the
very prices might have convinced them
that the title was never very sound.

Add to Avhich, that they Avho Avere able
to make such purchases during tb'; re-»
hellion, were little likelj' to be obiects
of pity at the Restoration. The leases
therefore of these lands having, during
the usurpation, generally fallen in, the
churchmen who obtained the prefer
ments to which they belonged, had an
opportunity of reletting them lo their
OAvn advantage ; and the distractions of
the times prevented the government
from taking such advantage of these
circumstances as might have substan
tially benefited the church, instead of en-
richina; these individual members of it.'

' The justice of the question can only refer to
those who were already in the church. Every
government must have the right to say that it will
be served under such and such conditions, how
ever unwise it may be to impose such conditions.
The act at present only says, If you go into
the church, you must conform to the rules of the
church.

2 It is difficult to convey an adequate idea of
what is here meant, to those who are not well
aware of the tenure of ecclesiastical properly.
During the prevalence ol monasiic eslablishinents,
the revenues of many livings were appropriated to
the support of some monnstery, and ihe members
of this body superintended the spiritual care ofthe
parish. These cures were by degrees generally
converted into vicarages, or perpetual curacies,
held by one o? the members of the convent, and
the income assigned to them by the socieiy was
proportionally slender, consisting of small tithes,
or of" a money payment. There are even now
some Uvings heldon this species of tenure. When,
at the Reformation, these pieces of preferment
either fell into lay hands, or were transferred to
oiher ecclesiastical bodies, the sum previously paid
by the socieiy became inadequate to the decent
support of a clergyman, who possessed no other
source of maintenance; and the tithes, instead of
providing for the payment of the ministry of the
place, enriched a churchman who had no con-
neciion with il, or were granted to lay impropria
tors. A considerable portion of the property of
some bishoprics, chapters, and colleges, depends
on great tithes, which they hold as impropriators,
possessing frequently at the same time the right
of preeenialion to the living, which is a vicarage,
or perpetual curacy. In other cases, the patrons
of the livings are owners of tbe land, tithe free.
These lands, or tithes, when pos.sessed by eccle
siastical bodies corporate, are usually let out on
lives, or on leases of twenty-one years, renewable
every seven, and the income of the body corporate
depends on such renewals : but as these leases had
now generally run out, the legislature might fairly
have obliged the newly-appointed ecclesiastical
impropriator to augment the hving belonging to
the properly from which he was about to receive
so large a fine. (Burnet, Own Time, i. 320, cal
culates the sum total of these fines at a miUion
and a half.) The king, indeed, made some at
tempt to effect this ; for in 1660 he wrote a letter
to bishops, deans, and chapters, signifying his
pleasure that small vicarages might be augmented
to 801, per annum, or to the half of the value of
the rectory, wherever the whole value of it did not
exceed the double of that sum ; and it was sub
sequently enacied, (29° Car. II. c. 8,) that aug
mentations made by ecclesiastical bodies, since
the date of the king's letter, should be binding
upon their successors, provided they did not ex
ceed the value of one- half of the impropriation.
Nothing, however, was effected with regard to lay
impropriations; and indeed liltle can herein be
expected, till the subject is laken up with liberal-

i64

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVL

§ 704. But the question of the incum
bency is different ; before Ave can decide
on this, it must be asked, whether it
would have been safe to retain the mass
of nonconformists Avithin the pale of the
church ; Avhether, if it Avere necessary
to eject a large portion, it would not
have been Aviser to do so as each was
convicted of some act of nonconformity ;
and, thirdly, whether the very steps laken
by the church did not tend to create the
opposition which it seemed to endeavour
to correct. It is exceedingly difficult to
answer these questions clearly and dis
tinctly ; yet some observations may tend
to throAV light on the subject, and enable
the reader to form his own opinion for
himself. Churchmen during the usurpation had
possessed so much power in the domestic
concerns of each parish, that many indi
vidual laymen, not only those who enter
tained enlarged vieAvs of Christianity,
but the more numerous classes of the
profligate and the careless, had long
borne no friendly feelings towards that
species of ecclesiastical policy Avhich in
vested the ministry Avith this authority.
And though the general tone of society
had prevented any one from expressing
these feelings openly, the prevalent ex
istence of them could not fail to produce
a strong effect at the Restoration. The
presbyterians had hated the government
of Cromwell for establishing toleration
and the independents, and so contributed
more readil]'- to the recall of the king.
The general body ofthe nation rejoiced
in shaking off the chains Avith Avhich
their spiritual pastors had bound them ;
and when the church party began to per-

ity by the church : and notwithstanding the mu
nificence of certain individuals at this period, so
httle was done, that Sancroft (Life by D'Oyly, i.
187,) renewed ihe appbcation in 1680, by writing
to the several bishops and deans, urging them to
comply with the directions of the king's letter,
now sanctioned and rendered effisctual by the act
of parliament. This step was the more reason
able, as some ofthe worst instances of livings in
adequately provided for, are to be found among
those which are held under ecclesiastical bodies.
The extreme poverty which has been entailed on
many of our livings, and which might now have
been remedied, is one the greatest evils which
afflicis our church property; and the subject is
well worthy the serious attention of those who
watch over the concerns of our establishmenl.
Since the former part of this note was originally
prinled, an Act has been broughtin by Archbishop
Howley to enable ecclesiastical impropriators to
augment poor hvings.

ceive their own comparative strength,
and the favour with which the people
gladly recurred to their parental govern
ment, they took too great an advantage
of these circumstances.
§ 705. Had a contrary line of policy
been pursued ; had some further altera
tions been made in the Common Prayer
Book ; had the old law been alloAved to
stand with regard to conformity ; and,
particularly, had aAvish existed and been
expressed by the upper orders among
the clergjr, that union might be culti
vated in the church as much as possible;
many of the more moderate noncon
formists Avould probably have joined the
establishment. But the very declaration*
contained in the act Avas obviously intro
duced to prevent the possibility of such
an event. To say nothing of the former
clauses, who could assert that no obliga
tion lay on any one from having taken the
covenant ? An individual may rightly
deem himself not bound to the observ
ance of an oath in itself illegal; but
Avho shall pretend that a presbyterian,
Avho had voluntarily taken the oath, and
Avho believed in the superiority of his
OAvn form of church government, might
not be reall}' bound by it, so far as to
use his influence, or to exert any other
legal power of ivhich he was possessed,
to produce an alteration in the church ?
The point Avas one of much too great
delicacy to be Avisely introduced into a
solemn declaration ; but if the sa)'ing
attributed to Sheldon be true, we need
not trouble ourselves with such minutiie,
or question as to the object AA'hich they
Avho managed the affairs in the church
had in vieAV.'' " When Lord Manchester
told the king, while the act of uniformity
was under debate, that he AA'as afraid the
terms of it Avere so rigid that many of
the ministers Avould not comply Avith it;
Sheldon replied, 'I am afraid they AvilL'
Nay, 'tis credibly reported he should say,
' Now Ave know their minds, Ave'll make
them knaves if they conform.' " Doubt
less Sheldon might deem this line of
policy, of ej ecting all the n9ncon formists,
to be. the wisest for the church ; but the
events AA'hich have since occurred must
convince every man who can judge of
such questions, that intolerance is but

• See 5 702.
2 Calamy's Baxter, 170, '

Chap. XVL]

CrtURCH OF ENGLAND.

265

another name for selfishness, and will
generally defeat its OAvn ends.
§ 706. Of the justice of these pro
ceedings it is perhaps more difficult to
form an opinion Avhich Avill be generally
approved. The church was then filled
Avith men who, having been ordained
without the imposition of the hands of a
bishop, and admitted by a usurping go
vernment, could, in one sense, have no
legal claim to their benefices ; especially
where they were intruding into the
places of those Avho had been illegally
dispossessed, and were still alive. Here,
therefore, the just restoration of the one
necessarily ejected the other; but Avhere
the persons in possession of the prefer
ment had acted Avith the best intentions,
and only obeyed that which was, def ado,
the government, could it be just to eject
them suddenly, Avithout even giving them
time to re-examine and change their
opinions ? At all events, could it be
just to cast them out of all means of
supporting themselves, and not assign
them any portion of their benefices for
their support ? The usurping govern
ment, AA'hen triumphant, had allowed
one-fifth' of the revenues to those whom
it ejected for their loyalty ; for in most
cases this Avas the real crime. The le
gitimate government turned out many
loyal, though nonconforming clergymen,
and made not the slightest provision for
them. It might be necessary, and therefore
just, to eject those Avho were essentially
adverse to an establishment, into Avliich
they had gained admittance from cir
cumstances ; but the manner in Avhich it
Avas done must be designated as cruel.
The difficulties were so great, that the
wisest might doubt as to what line of
proceeding it was best to pursue ; and
Avhile Ave blame what was done, it must
be remembered, that our reasonings are
founded upon much subsequent expe
rience ; yet, had the governing party
acted with Christian charity towards

' As the truth of the facts, as well as the accu
racy of the reasoning, has been here called in
question, the reader is referred to 5 598, where
the difficulty of obtaining the fifths, allowed by
the government, is fully admitted. And the re
viewer is requested to turn to Walker, p. 103,
with regard to his own assertion, " that fifths were
never paid." I own, I wish I could change my
opinion, as to the conduct of those who governed
the church in tbe reiga of Charles.
34

their brethren, had they merely done
unto others according to the golden rule
of our Saviour, much evil might have
been obviated at the time, and that spin
of dissent from the church have been
prevented, Avhich even yet clings to
trifles too ridiculous to merit the atten
tion of a moment.
§ 707. Had no ncAV act of uniformity
been passed, and the operation of that
of the first of Elizabeth been delayed
for a time ; had a portion of their pre
ferments been alloAved to such of the
nonconformist clergy as chose, in the
mean season, to retire from their bene
fices ; the party who scrupled to conform
Avo^ld have been broken at least, and
probably some of the most active and
zealous of them might have contributed
to support the establishment; but this
Avas not the Avish of the ruling party.
And even if the policy adopted by them
Avas sound, it must be confessed that it
was carried on in such a manner as to
render the abstract justice of it question
able. Policy and justice are so linked
by indissoluble ties, that one is never
violated AA'ithout infringing the other.
In this case there were circumstances
scarcely to be called accidental Avhich
added materially to the hardship. Many
clergymen^ never saw the new Book of
Common Prayer till St. BartholomeAv's
day ; and of the rest, few were so fa
miliar Avith the Avork itself, that they
could at once estimate the nature of the
alterations. In this respect the strict
ness of the act became a burden even
to those who did conform ; indeed, some
persons were ejected who subsequently
conformed, and among the rest, Kidder,^
afterAvards bishop of Bath and Wells.*
St. BartholomeAv's day itself, August
24th, was chosen,^ thatthe ejected clergy
might lose the tithes for the year, a se
verity which can admit of no excuse.
§ 708. The causes which contributed
to induce the ruling party to treat their
opponents with so much harshness,
were various. They had themselves
been exposed to insult, to deprivation,
and banishment, and misfortunes had not

2 Burnet's Own Time, i. 318.
» Birch's Tillotson, 77.
¦1 An act passed 1663, for the relief of such per
sons as by sickness or other impediments were
disabled from complying wilh the directions of tho
act. (Neal's Purhans, iv. 356.)
5 Burnet's Own Time, i. 317.

266

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVI.

taught thent .o forgive. They deemed
that the security of the church depended
on their being able to trample her op
ponents under foot. . Political preju
dices' were combined Avilh their feelings
as churchmen ; for the nonconformists
Avere many of them favourable to a
republican form of government. And
the uncertainly, as lo its continuance,
which hung over the poAver possessed
by them,'-^ excited a Avish to take the
utmost advantage ofthe superiority noAV
afforded them. The principles and
benefits of toleration were little under
stood, and men saAv not that the real
interests of themselves and their oppo
nents Avere the -same. The friends of
the papacy desired to increase the feuds
among Protestants, that the oppressed
party might join Avith themselves in
obtaining an outAvard toleration of all
denominations of Christians ; and if the
project of bringing back popery into
England Avete ever to succeed, it must
be effected through the disagreement of
those Avho ought to be unanimous in
opposing its extension.
§ 709. The inclinations of the king,
after his declaration from Breda, cer
tainly disposed him to shoAV kindness to
the nonconformists ; but he Avas hardly
perhaps bound by the letter of it to per
form more dian he did.^ The declara
tion* stated, that he should be ready to
consent to any act of parliament which
might be offered him for that indul
gence ; he could not have foreseen the
probability of a House of Commons dis
posed to tyrannize over the nonconform
ists ; and it should be remembered, that,
unless the court had restrained^ them,
they Avould have carried things much
higher than they did. His second de
claration, Oct. 25, 1660, had breathed
the same spirit ; and Avhen the act of
uniformity had deprived so many of the
nonconforming clergy, Charles II. pub
lished another declaration, wherein,
though he states his intention of ob
serving the act of uniformity, he pro
fesses a willingness to grant some in
dulgence to the weak. This declaration,
though in itself perfectly illegal, bore

', Rapin, ii. 632.
2 Burnet's Own Time, i. 306.
3 See an Address ofthe Commons, 1663. Com
plete History of England, iii. 239.
4 Clarendon, Hist. Reb. iii. 747.
6 Burnet's Own Time, i, 306.

Avith it such marks and appearance of
clemency as to render it less generally
unacceptable, after the severity which
had taken place on the 24th of August.
§ 710. It is said, that on this day two
thousand ministers resigned their pre
ferments. The act Avas drawn up with
such strictness, that it left the duty of
the nonconformist quite plain. A man
who entertained any rooted objection to
episcopacy, to the Liturgy, or to the
doctrine of non-resistance, couldhonestly
do nothing else than quit his prefer
ments ; and this large number evinced
their sincerity by resigning all their
benefices. Passion might perhaps have
been mixed up Avith their motives, for, in
a time of general excitement, it requires
much greatness of mind to be free from
prejudice, yet no other test could more
fully evince their sincerity. The par
ticular Avhich probably created the great
est difficulty was that of re-ordination.
A very considerable portion of these
ministers had never received episcopal
ordination ; and though diversity of
opinion had been entertained as to the
validity of the ordinations of foreign
reformed churches, the question Avas
noAV decided Avith regard to the church
of England ; for the act of uniformity
allowed none, Avho had not been or
dained priest by a bishop, to hold pre
ferment or administer the sacrament
ofthe Lord's Supper. It is not wonder
ful that men, Avho had long exercised
their ministry,^ many of them Avith great
apparent success, and whose opinions
had ahvays been adverse to episcopacy,
or, as they termed it, to prelacy, should
at once reject a proposal Avhich implied
a surrender of their former spiritual
authority, in order that it might be afresh
conferred. Bramhall in Ireland, to ob
viate this difficulty, proposed to use a
form of re-ordination'' which should
" supply Avhat was Avanting according to
the canons of the church of England ;"
thus Avaiving the real question, by making
a compromise to the opinions of both
parties : a plan AA'hich Overall,^ when
bishop of Norwich, (1618,) wished to
have adopted in the case of Delaune, a
French Protestant; but then he would
have used the words, " If thou art not
« Baxter's Life, iii. 37.
'' Neal's Puritans, iv. 314.
8 Birch'a TUlotson, 185.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

'267

ordained before." If something of this
sort had been adopted, it would proba
bly have tended to reconcile many indi
viduals ; but the cases of persons Avho
have held preferment in England with
out episcopal ordination are sufficient'
to leave the question in some degree
uncertain, and Avould have authorized
perhaps a greater lenity on the present
occasion. The question for the future
was now settled by the act of uniformity,
(§ X. ;) and rightly so settled, if the prin
ciples previously laid down Avith regard
to episcopacy be correct.
§ 711. It is of course impossible, from
the limited extent of this work, to give
any detailed account of the sufferings of
the ejected clergy ; and we may hope
that the evil Avas much lessened by the
general feeling -in their favour which
these very severities created.^ The offer
of bishoprics had been made to both
¦ Calamy and Baxter, yet both these men
were, on very slight grounds, subjected
to the indignity of a common jail ; and
the same sort of persecuting spirit, of
which the act of uniformity may be
deemed the commencement, but which
was extended by the passing of several
other laws, broke forth throughout the
country ; so that every violent informer
who could meet with magistrates equally
violent, Avas let loose to exercise the
worst of passions upon the nonconform
ing ministers, whose personal strictness
and severity, perhaps unduly exercised
when they were possessed of spiritual
power, had rendered them the objects
of the hatred of their neighbours.
The remainder of the ecclesiastical
history of this reign, if indeed it may be
so called, consists in the detail of the
bulwarks Avith which the church of Eng-
' See 5 454, ', where the question is discussed.
See also a beautiful letter of Bishop Heber to
Schmidt on the subject, (Life, 8vo. iii. 411.) Ina
plan of comprehension formed by Manton, Baxter,
Wilkins, and Burton, the words of ordination ran :
" Take thou legal authority to preach the word
of God and administer the sacraments in any con
gregation in England, where thou shalt be law
fully appointed thereunto." (Baxter's Life, iii. 34.)
Usher and Davenant alone, among the bishops,
allowed ofthe vahdity ofthe ordination of foreign
Protestant churches. (Neal's Puritans, iv. 131.)
The question is one of extreme dehcacy, on which
good and well-informed men may well think dif
ferently; but ihe decision of Bishop Heber is per
haps as near as possible to fhe truth. He re-or
dained with the assent ofthe party re-ordairied.
* See chap. ix. in Calamy's Life of Baxter,
which gives a very full account.of the matter.

land, in her hour of tr'itmph, endea
voured to fortify herself against all her
opponents. She was endangered from
the attacks of the nonconformists and
the Roman Catholics, and her friends,
not trusting to the force of her OAvn
excellence, sought to exclude every
doubtful member of the Christian com
munity from possessing any power over
her concerns ; and imagined that they
should free her from the risk of being
persecuted, by giving her the power to
treat others Avith inhumanity. But it
should be remembered that these laws
have, in the season of difficulty, proved
inadequate to her defence, which, under
the blessing of God, has depended on
the unanimity and zeal which any real
attack on the constitution, either in church
or state, has never failed to call forth ;
and that these acts, with the exception
of one of them, had long been virtually
repealed in practice, before they were
erased from the statute-book.
§712. (a.d. 1661.) The corporation
^ct^ compelled every officer of a corpo
ration to take the oaths of supremacy
and allegiance, as well as that concern
ing the unlawfulness of taking up arms
against the king, on any pretence Avhat
soever ; and to make a declaration against
the covenant : nor was any one to be
elected to any office, unless he had
received the sacrament of the Lord's
supper, according to the rites of the
church of England, within the year ;
thus virtually excluding all Avho dis
sented, from obtaining the influential
situations in boroughs. (1663.) And
the select vestry act* prevented any one
frdm holding the office of vestry-man in »
a corporate town, unless he would make
the declaration against taking up arms
and the covenant, and promise to con
form to the Liturgy.
§ 713. The first conventicle act5(1664)
subjected every person above the age of
sixteen, Avho was convicted before two
magistrates of being present at a con
venticle, (a house where five persons
or more, beyond the inhabitants, Avere
assembled for the purpose of religious
worship,) for the first offence to a pe
nalty not exceeding five pounds, or im
prisonment for three months ; for the

' 13° Charles II. chap. i. of fhe second session.
< 15° Charles II. 5. ^ jgo Charles II.'4.

'^68

HISTORY OF THE

[CiiAP. XVL

second of ten pounds, or six months ;
for the third, or any subsequent one,
upon conviction before a court of as
size, to the payment of one hundred
pounds, or transportation. Conventi
cles might be prevented by force or
broken into ; but the house of a peer
might not be searched Avithout the-pre-
sence of two magistrates, Quakers
refusing to take an oath, when laAvfuUy
called on, unless they admitted the le
gality of taking one, might be trans
ported. The second conventicle act,' (1670,)
which was passed Avhen this had ex
pired, reduced the penalty to five shil
lings for the first offence of being pre
sent at a conventicle, and to ten shil
lings for all subsequent ones ; but im
posed a fine on the preacher of twenty
pounds for the first, and forty pounds
for all future offences j and in case the
preacher fled, it made any one present
liable to pay a portion of his fine, not
, exceeding ten pounds, and subjected
the owner of the premises to a fine of
twenty pounds. One particular Avas
peculiarly severe ; for, as the object of
the laAV Avas to prevent conventicles, it
was enacted that every clause should
be construed most largely for prevent
ing them, i. e., against the prisoner.
Proceedings Avere not rendered void by
any Avant of due form.
§ 714. (a. d. 1665.) The five mile
act^ subjected every nonconformist
minister or clergyman, not having duly
qualified, Avho should come, except in
travelling, Avithin five miles of any cor
porate tOAvn, or other place where he
had been minister, or had. preached in
a conventicle since the act of oblivion,
to a penalty of forty pounds, or six
months' imprisonment, unless he Avould
take the oath against " taking up arms
against the king on any pretence," a
proposition on Avhich feAv men, Avhat
ever might be their opinions, would
wish to decide thus peremptorily, and
to imbody their decision in an oath.^
' 22° Charles II. 1.' 2 17° Charies IL 2.
' Nothing can more strongly mark the inutility
of such an oath than the conduct of the country
towards James II. Very few real Christians will
hesitate to say, that hardly any provocation can
justify such a proceeding : but he must be an
mcautious reasoner who would affirm thai none
can. Extreme cases are not provided for in the
Bible,

Nor Avere these ministers, or any per
sons not frequenting the church of Eng
land, to teach a public or private school
Avithout incurring the same penalty.
It unfortunately happened that the
parliament* in Oxford, Avhither they
had retired on account of the plague in
London, were engaged in passing this
act at the very mroment Avhen the non
conformist ministers Avere exerting
themselves most strenuously in preach
ing and performing their other ministe
rial functions in the metropolis. Some
of these, indeed; took the oath ; but
the majority continued their labours
notwithstanding the penalties ;^ Avhile
the force of truth, and the feelings of
the people, prevented the law from
being fully carried into effect.
§ 715. It must not, hoAvever, be sup
posed that all these laAvs, tending to the
suppression of the nonconformists, Avere
enacted AA-ithout any exertions on the
other side to obtain a greater indul
gence for them. Many reasons, Avhich
have been before detailed, made their
suppression to be Avell received both
by the court and the country, so that
for a long time such persons as pleaded
for toleration Avere but little attended
to ; yet its friends Avere not remiss in
endeavouring to relieve those Avhose
sufferings they could not but commise
rate. (a. d. 1669.) Lord Keeper Bridgman,
and Wilkins, bishop of Chester," at
tempted to frame a bill, by Avhich the
more moderate of the dissenters might
be taken into the church, and for this
purpose Manton and Baxter Avere con
sulted. They gave it as their opinion
that Archbishop Usher's scheme Avould
comprehend all the nonconformists.
.That the king's declaration'' Avould em
brace most of them, and that it Avould
satisfy many, if they were allowed to
exercise their ministry, by the removal
of the most objectionable points Avhich
had been imposed upon them. The
object of Bishop Wilkins seems to have
been, to have made a comprehension
for the more moderate nonconformists,
and a toleration for the rest, not ex-
'' Baxter's Own Life, part iii. 2.
' See also i 727.
fi Burnet's Own Time, i. 439; Baxter's Life,
part iii. 23.
' See * 665.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

269

eluding the Roman Catholics, and pro
posals were made to this effect ; but the
House of Commons were very adverse
to any such measures.
(March 15, 1672.) When Charles
published his Declaration of Tolera
tion,' suspending all penal laAvs on ac
count of religion, promising license and
places of Avorship to Protestants, pro
vided they met Avith open doors, and
liberty of private Avorship to papists ;
the commons' presently declared the
proceeding to be, illegal, (Feb. 19,
1673,) but not before they had unani
mously resolved (Feb. 14) that a bill
should be brought in to relieve dissent
ers, Avhich received some alteration in
the lords, ^ but came to nothing, as the
parliament Avas prorogued. It should
be observed, that the friends of tolera^
tion Avished not for any comprehension
The papists desired that the tyranny
exercised against the nonconformists
might introduce a general toleration.
The court were anxious that the seve
rity enforced by the commons might
induce men to fly to the king for pro
tection, and the interests of the secta
rians corresponded with those of the
papists. Baxter' drew up some terms
for satisfying the nonconformists, which
he sent to Lord Orrery, at the request
of Bishop Morley, who returned them
Avith his own observations ; but the pro
ceeding led to the same result as the
Savoy conference.
(a. d. 1674-5.) A second attempt of
the same sort* was afterwards made, at
which Drs. Tillotson^ and Stillingfleet
met Baxter and other nonconformists,
but the object Avas frustrated by the
disinclination of the bishops.
(a. d. 1681.) A severe law of Eliza
beth (23° 2) against puritans^ Avas re
pealed by the Houses, after some diffi
culty in the lords ; but the clerk of the
crown omitted to present the bill at the
end of the session, as the king had no
Avish to free the nonconformist from the
liability of being ill treated, and could
hardly venture to reject the bill. There
was also a bill of comprehension offered
by the episcopal party, but not sup
ported by the nonconformist interest ;

J Collier, ii. 895; Baxter's Life, iii. 99, 101.
2 Rapin, ii. 668. 3 Life, iii. io9.
< Baxter, 151. « Birch's Tillotson, 42.
^ Burnet's Own Time, ii. 268.

and before the end of the session', when
the parliament was about to be pro
rogued, an extraordinary and most
unconstitutional vote passed the com
mons.' " That the prosecution of Pro
testant dissenters, upon the penariaAvs,
is at this time grievous to the subject, a
weakening the Protestant interest, an
encouragement to popery, and dan
gerous to the peace of the kingdom :"
a vote Avhich was justly liable to all the
objections Avhich Avere raised against
the declaration of the king.
(a. d. 1688.) The same object Avas
again attempted by Archbishop San
croft just before the Revolution, and
prevented by the toleration act."
§716. These attempts, hoAvcA'er, Avere
altogether useless, as far as the imme
diate interests ofthe nonconformists Avere I
concerned. The act of uniformity had
throAvn them out of their profession,
and reduced nianyof them to beggary;
and though they ivere enabled to preach
for a short period, during the toleration
afforded by Charles, and the interval
between the two conventicle acts, yet
these Avere but brief respites in a long
season of oppression, till their continued
sufferings, and the circumstances of the
nation, had prepared the minds of most
men for the general toleration Avhich
Avas ultimately introduced. The peo
ple of England, though favourable to
the cause of the church, became ad
verse to the persecution of dissenters ;^
some magistrates avoided issuing Avar-
rants against them ; and Sir Nathaniel
Hern expressed a common feeling,
Avhen he told certain bishops Avho
were dining AA'ith him, " That they
could not trade Avith their neighbours
one day, and send them to jail the
next." § 717. The hardships which the non
conformists endured naturally dispose
us to sympathize Avitli them ; but we
must be careful not to regard all their
sufferings as if endured for the sake of
religion. The very severities of the
laws produced, perhaps, much of the
vehemence of those who Avere subject
ed to the effects of them; but the readi
ness with which they rent asunder the

' Calamy's Abridgment, 609.
s D'Oyly's Life, 326.
9 Calamy's Abridgment, 505, 607.
z2

270

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVI.

bonds of Christian unity, because deter
mined not to give up their own opinions,
is Avorthy of our strongest animadver
sions. Granting, for the sake of argu
ment, that every objection Avhich they
raised against the church Avas valid ;
granting that our ceremonies AA'ere un
scriptural, our discipline imperfect, our
impositions needless, they could not
have deemed these reasons sufiicient
for seceding from the church, or esta
blishing fresh congregations, if they
had been guided by the true spirit of
Christian unity and love.' Unfortu
nately, no attempt was made to discri
minate between the different classes of
nonconformists, Avho Avere all, by the
neAvly established laAvs, ranked under
one common denomination. Baxter,
who held communion AA'ith the church,
who preached occasionally Avithin her
walls, and gave over to the use of the
establishment a chapeP Avhich he had
erected, was treated Avith as much, if
not more severity than men Avho de
claimed against her institutions as idola
trous, and urged the duty of separation
as strenuously as if they had been at
tacking the errors of the church of
Rome. The warmth, indeed, Avith
Avhich Baxter had stood forward in the
controversy, had marked him out as
an object of rigour; and his sufferings
from disease, as well as the laws, had
rendered him very acrimonious in his
expres.sions on the point at issue, and
made his language that of a controver
sialist, and not of an humble Christian,
Avho sought for peace.
§ 718. The most unequivocal testi
monies against the nonconformists are
to be found in the letters of several
members of the reformed churches in

1 There are some excellent observations which
bear indiiecily on this point in Selden's Table
Talk. " Consciqnce." "If we once come to
leave that out-loose, as to pretend conscience
Offiiinst law, who knows what inconvenience rnay
follow? For Ihus, suppose an anabaptist comes
and lakes my horse. I see him. He tells me
he did according to his conscience ; his conscience
tells him all ihings aru common among ihe saints ;
what is mine, is his ; therefore you do ill to make
such a law. If any man takes another's horse,
he shall be hanged. What can I say to ihis man ?
he does according to conscience. Why is not he
as honest a man as he that pretends a ceremony
eslablished by law is against his conscience ?
Generally, to pretend conscience against law is
dangerous ; in some cases haply we may."
2 Life, iii. 179, ^ 7.

Holland and France, Avho hesitate not
to condemn most distinctly the separat
ing spirit which they exhibited.' The
nonconformists esteemed these laAVS ty
rannical, in which every friend of reli
gious liberty Avill probably agree ; but
they deemed the tyranny of a Christian
church, which suspended them from
the performance of clerical duties, a
sufficient reason for breaking the unity
of the church, and setting up separate
congregations ; a step in ivhich few
moderate Christians AVill approve of
their conduct. Separation appears to
be alloAvable only Avhen a church is de
serted because it holds doctrines which
may endanger our salvation. When
the question Avas not about the "esse,"
or the '¦'¦bene esse," but only about the
" melius esse," they inflicted a wound
upon our church, AA'hich time has not
been able to cure ; and created such a
spirit of division among us, that schism
is now hardly deemed a sin. The blame
must be shared by those Avho imposed
the laws, but the evil was most imme
diately produced by the secession of the
nonconformists. The antipathy with
Avhich the Iavo parties vieAved each
other Avas gradually increased, as the
struggle Avas carried on ; till the one
side esteemed their opponents schisma
tics, and they themselves lA'ere regarded
as persecutors; Avhile both gradually
approached tOAvards the character Avhich
their adversaries gave them. The one
supposed that they could engender
unanimity by fines and imprisonments,
and the others exerted themselves in
draAving away as many of their follow
ers as they could from the communion
of the church. The moderate on both
sides deplored the existence and exten
sion of such evils, and the excesses of
Avhich both parties Avere guilty, daily
augmented the ranks ofthe moderate.
§ 719. Many ofthe same feelings ex
isted Avith regard to political questions,
and these mutual errors gave rise to a
set of men, Avho in our own days Avould
have been denominated liberals, but
Avho Avere then stigmatized under the
appellation of latitudinarians. The
term seems to have been first applied
at Cambridge, during the usurpation.

' These letters are printed at the end of Stilling
fleet's Unreasonableness of Separation.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

271

to men who, having been elected into
fellowships since the beginning of the
troubles, Avere not so strict in their pre
judices as their neighbours ; Avho Avere
accused of Arminianism, and a prelati-
cal spirit, and Avere denied preferments
for this reason. These same persons,
on joining the church, Avere not particu
larly forward in showing their zeal for
it, by abusing those who had scruples
about it. They Avere friends to the
Liturgy, and uuAvilling that any essen
tial alterations should be introduced
into it; and were adverse to the crude
effusions and blasphemous familiari
ties, sanctioned under the name of ex
tempore prayer. They admired the
moderation of the church of England,
and were friends to liberty of con
science ; being ready to conform them
selves, they wished that as little as
possible should be imposed as of neces
sity. Although it is objected to them
that they were- not sound friends to
the establishment, they could not help
imagining that the essentials of Chris
tianity are of as much consequence as
any external ceremonies. They were
accused of admitting innovations in
philosophy, but they could not be led
to imagine that the church of England
need fear any investigation of truth ;
they thought that her greatest danger
consisted in the chance that her defend
ers, armed with the ancient weapons
only, might be called upon to encounter
those who had adopted the new.' The
appellation Avas of that nature, that
many persons would be so denomi
nated, who held no very distinctive
opinions on these topics ; and as this
spirit extended itself to other depart
ments as well as the church, it paved
the way in politics for our present
constitution ; in philosophy, for the dis
coveries of Sir Isaac Newton ; and in
the church, for that liberty of con
science, Avhich, through God's blessing,
has been subsequently established.
§ 720. Many of the laws Avhich have
been already mentioned, bore Avith equal
severity on the Roman Catholics ; but
the hopes of the members of this com
munion were supported by the divisions
among Protestants, and the prospect of
' This account is taken from a tract pubhshed
in the Phoenix, ii. 501. See also an article in
Butler's Roman Catholics, iii. 141.

introducing their OAvn lenets, through
the violence of which the Iavo parties
were mutually guilty.
The Corporation Act disabled them
from holding any situations in boroughs
(1672,) and the TestnhreAv them out
of all offices, or places of trust or profit ;
for it enacted that persons filling such
employments should not only take the
oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and
receive the eucharist according to the
rites of the church of England, but
make also a declaration against tran
substantiation. Any act performed in
executing the office, after refusing to
take the oaths or the sacrament, inca
pacitated the offender from prosecuting
in any suit of law, and subjected him
to a fine of 500/. The laAv, hoAvever,
Avhich affected them most severely, Avas
that Avhich excluded them from both
Houses of Parliament, by enacting,'
(1678,) that no one should sit or vote
in either House till they had taken the
oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and
signed a declaration against transub
stantiation, the invocation of saints, and
the sacrifice of the mass, and added that
this declaration Avas made Avithout any
mental reservation, or idea that it could
be dispensed Avilh by the pope. The
penalty Avas a fine of 500/., and the seat
of a commoner Avas rendered vacant,
and the peer disabled from sitting dur
ing the parliament. The same penalty
was incurred by a popish recusant con
vict coming into the presence of the
king or queen. The duke of York Avas
excepted from the operation of this act.
These enactments Avere nugatory Avith
regard to a king Avho Avas determined
to govern Avithout laws, and Avithout a
parliament; but had one injurious ef
fect, that they tended to unite every
friend of the Roman Catholic religion
in firm adherence to the croAvn, Avhen
the croAvn Avas opposed to the liberties
ofthe subject.
§ 731. The warmth Avith Avhich all
parties regarded each other Avas kept
up, and the mind ofthe nation retained
in this unnatural state of excitation, by
many plots, real and pretended, Avith
Avhich the country Avas agitated. To
say nothing of other disturbances,
Venner, and some fifth-monarchy men.

2 25° Charles II. 2.
3 30° Charles II. stal. 2,

273

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap XVI,

threw London into a state of great
alarm, but Avere immediately suppress
ed. (1661.) Phillips, Stubbs, and tAvo
others, were executed (1662) for another
conspiracy; and the year afterAvards
(1663) twenty-one conspirators were
put to death in the north. But the
plot' (1678) which caused the greatest
agitation, was that Avith the discovery
of Avhich the name of Titus Oates has
been so constantly connected, that it is
generally knoAvn by the appellation of
Oates's plot. He stated himself to
have been engaged Avith the Roman
Catholics, at home and abroad, and
noAV brought foiAvard the evidence of a
plot framed in order to introduce the
Roman Catholic religion into England,
and to murder the king. For this plot
ten laymen^ and seven priests of that
persuasion suffered, and seventeen more
were condemned, to death, some of
whom died in prison ; yet it is still a
question whether the whole of the evi
dence under Avhich they were convicted
were not fictitious. There can proba
bly be no doubt in the mind of any
one that there Avas a plot generally to
introduce the Roman Caiholic religion ;
and the conspirators, among whom
Avere some of the most exalted persons
in the country, might haA'e been little
scrupulous as to the means of effecting
theirobject; but whether the intention
of murdering the king Avere ever seri
ously entertained is very problematical ;
and Sir Walter Scott has, Avith his usual
skill, taken advantage of the violence
raised by this question, ivhen he makes
Charles say, "I can scarce escape sus
picion of the plot myself, though the
principal object of it is to take aAvay
my own life." Men believed tbe evi
dence which was sAvorn to by the wit
nesses, and a jury Avhich did so could
not but convict the prisoners; but, un
fortunately, perjury was by no means
uncommon at this period. The convic
tion of Oates himself, and. the severity
with which he was treated in the next
reign, does not invalidate the evidence,
because it proves too much, and only
really shows the temper with Avhich
both parties could act Avhen they Avere
possessed of power. The excitement

> Rapin, ii. 688; Welwood's Memoirs, 128.
2 Butler's Roman Cathohcs, iii. 74.

occasioned by this plot enabled Lord
Shaftesbury to carry the bill which ex
cluded Roman Catholics from the 'wo
Houses, and Ave owe to it the passing
ofthe Habeas Corpus.
§ 722. In order to counteract the fatal
effects which this plot Avas inflicting on
the Roman Catholics, a sham plot Avas
contrived for the purpose of throAving
the odium on the presbyterians and the
heads of the country party; but Dan
gerfield, Avho Avas chiefly concerned in
it, discovered the truth ; and the attempt
only tended to confirm the kingdom in
its opinion of the danger from the Ro
man Catholics, and to create a greater
dislike to them, Avhile it contributed to
convince all sober-minded persons that
no one could be safe under such a go
vernment, or guard against the effects
of perjury and a prejudiced or packed
juiy ; a truth which Avas more sadly
confirmed by the fate of Lord Russell
and Algernon Sidney,' Avho, Avhatever
might have been their guilt, Avere in all
probability unjustly condemned ;* and,
indeed, throughout the latter part of
this reign, the law seems (o have been
made an engine rather for the oppres
sion of the subject than for his de
fence. § 723. The circumstance, that the
heir presumptive to the croAvn was a
Roman Catholic, and anxious to intro
duce his OAvn religion into the country,
together Avith a well-founded belief that
the king himself secretly belonged to
that communion, could not fail to raise
a very general idea that the stability of
the church Avas in danger ; but the
AA'hole of this question properly belongs
to the civil historian. There Avas no
probability that the Roman Catholics
Avould be able to convert the Protest
ants, or establish their religion by any
other methods than those Avhich must
first have destroyed the liberty of the
subject; except, indeed, inasmuch as

3 Rapin, ii. 7-29, 730.
' The question of Lord Russell's guilt seems to
turn on the truib of the evidence. A juryman who
believed the evidence could hardly help convicting
him. If a man meet a party frequently which is
plotting to overthrow a government by force, and
is present when some of ihem are despatched to
see whether the guards may be surprised, surely
he must, in foro conscienlitB as well as leirali, be
guilty of treason. I own I do nol beheve the evi
dence.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

273

the violence with which the Protestants
attacked each other, might induce the
timid members of their communion to
throAv themselves into the arms of the
church of Rome, and to seek to quiet
their doubts under the treacherous se
curity of her infallibility.
The real state of the question seems
to be this. The Roman Catholics Avere
more friendly to arbitrary poAver than
the presbvterians ; they possessed a
more gentlemanly religion, to adopt the
idea of Charles II. ; and the church of
England lying between the two, ap
proaching to the church of Rome in the
imitation of ancient rites and ceremo
nies, and in her respect for antiquity,
and coinciding Avith the rest of the
reformed churches in her strict agree
ment AA'ith the Scriptures in point of
doctrine, drew nearest to the former
when the country seemed in danger
from republicanism ; but Avhen the
change in the face of politics marked
out the evils Avhich Avere to be appre
hended from arbitrary power and the
introduction of the Roman Catholic
religion, the high and the Ioaa' church
parties joined to repel the threatened
invasion, and raised the cry of "No
popery." It is difficult, however, to
suppose that either Charles or James,
at this time, cared more for religion
than as it affected pohtics, or that
Shaftesbury sought for any thing be
yond the establishment of his own
influence, and the predominance of
those principles AA'hich he had himself
espoused. But these observations must
not be extended to the country. When
the feeling Avas excited, men entertained
it according to their tempers. In the
estimation of the sincere it Avas a point
in which religion Avas closely concerned;
and as those who cared not for religion
gave it the same denomination, it
became one of those mixed questions
which agitate the country with the
greatest vehemence ; one in Avhich the
religious scruples of the people are
apparently joined with their temporal
interests. § 724. It was for these reasons that
the commons vieAved with alarm Iavo
attempts which were made by the king
to grant indulgence to those Avho differ
ed from the church. (Dec. 26, 1662.)
Charles had published a declaration for
35

liberty of conscience,' Avherein, among
other things, he says, " That all his
subjects might, Avith minds happily
composed by his indulgence, apply
themselves to their several vocations ;"
and in his speech at the opening of
parhament, he says, "And yet if the
dissenters Avill demean themselves
peaceably and modestly under the
government, I could heartily Avish I
had such a poAver of indulgence to
use upon occasions, as might not need
lessly force them out of the kingdom,
or, staying here, give them cause to
conspire against the peace of it." This
step created so great a terror, that the
commons voted an address against any
indulgence to those Avho presumed to
dissent from the act of uniformity and
the religion established by law ; and
many reasons were assigned Avhy such
an indulgence Avas unadvisable, particu
larly since continual concession must
at length lead to a general toleration.
A similar attempt was made (March
15, 1672) when the king'^ published a
declaration of toleration Avhich sus
pended all the penal laAvs on account
of religion, and the result Avas the
same. The presbyterians were as adverse
as the church to toleration. The mass
of the people and their representatives
were unAvilling to make concessions or
to grant indulgence to the nonconform
ists, and even less favourable to the
Roman Catholics ; while every true
lover of his country must haA'e been
alarmed at seeing the king assume to
himself a poAver Avhich the disorganized
state of the kingdom appeared to ren
der in some degree necessary, but
Avhich Avas inconsistent with the due
observance of the laAvs, since all enact
ments must be nugatory if the crown
can dispense with them. The Roman
Catholics and the court desired that the
severities exercised on the nonconform
ists should so dissatisfy the minds of
sober men that they might all readily
embrace a toleration fioAving entirely
from the croAvn ; the country party
dreaded the assumption of such a pow
er ; but till the difficulties which pre
ceded the Revolution had convinced
the nation of the necessity of toleration.

1 Echard, 806.

2 See i 715.

274

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVl.

no one seemed willing to concede such
liberty to others as he justly claimed
for himself.
§ 725. The nonconformists are often
praised for the disinterested readiness
with which they declined accepting a
toleration granted to themselves, upon
condition that the Roman Catholics
should share in it ; but though we can
account for such feelings, we can hardly
applaud the liberality of men who Avould
rather give up their oAvn liberty in reli
gious matters than suffer their neigh
bours to Avorship God as they pleased.
The exclusion of the Roman Catholics
from places of trust, and from the two
Houses, and the attempt to deprive the
duke of York of his right of succession
to the crown, stand on totally different
grounds from the question of toleration.
It must be the inherent right of every
body politic to defend itself; if, there
fore, the constitution will be endangered
by committing power into the hands of
those who entertain opinions inconsistent
Avith the safety of the state, the supreme
authority of a kingdom must have a
power of making such an exclusion ; it
can only be defended on the plea of ne
cessity, and if necessary, it must be just.
The common safetjr of the whole must
give the captain of a ship the right of
throwing the property of his passengers
into the sea ; but unless he can show
that the safety of the Avhole depends on
his doing so, he will have much difficulty
in persuading his passengers to consent
to the measure ; yet it may become his
duty to take the responsibility of such an
act upon himself. The policy and the
justice of each of these proceedings are
inseparable, and depend entirely on the
necessity. All exclusion is, per se, an
evil ; circumstances may render it the
less of tAvo evils ; but no Christian coun
try can have a right to hinder men from
worshipping God according to their own
fashion, provided it be done peaceabl}',
and without disturbance to society.
§ 726. It would be totally inconsistent
with the plan of this work, to enter into
any description of the policy of this
reign. It consisted in a variety of con
trivances, by which the crown endea
voured to obtain money from a yielding
parliament, and the bargains which the
House of Commons made for each of
its concessions ; bargains, in which the

welfare of one part of the community,
and the Avell-being of the whole, were
sacrificed to the supposed interests of
the rest. The money was no sooner
obtained than it Avas squandered on the
most unworthy purposes, and the liberty
of the subject preserved, not by any con
stitutional stand, or carefulness in the
parliament, but because the prodigality
of the court always kept the king at the
mercy of his people.
§ 727. Among the various calamities
which attended this eventful reign, there
are Iavo of so marked a character, that
we can hardly omit the mention of them;
particularly as they each tended to call
forth the energies of the church and the
nonconformists ; and furnished a short
space of time, during Avhich the labours
of both were directed to the same im
portant object.
The plague broke out in London, in
May, 1665, and raged Avith greater or
less A'iolence till the fire put an end to
its contagion. The upper orders, gene
rally speaking, fled, to avoid its ravages,
and unfortunately some of the London
clergy imitated their example ;' but their
places were quickly filled by the non
conformists,^ and the near prospect of
death caused a strong effect on the minds
of many persons,' to whom the ministers
of God's word addressed themselves.
Writers who have described the events
which attended this pestilence, speak of
the religious impressions which Avere
generally produced on the people ; and
though there was a dreadful continuance
of vicious indulgence, which showed
itself in many cases, yet the effect was
ordinarily much stronger on the other
side, and promoted the reformation of
morals. It might prove a useful specu
lation to compare the effects of such
visitations on heathen and on Christian
countries.* At Athens it produced an
1 Echard, 823.
2 There died of the plague 68,596 persons within
the bills of ntiortahty. Among those who exerted
themselves in this season of distress, the names
of the duke of Albemarle, Sheldon, archbishop
of Canterbury, and Lord Craven must not be for
gotten. Thomas Vincent, a Westminster studertt
of Christ Church, wrote an account of it : he
stayed in London, and preached dm-ing the whole
time. 3 Baxter's Life, iii. 2.
* See some valuable remarks on this subject in
Burton's History ofthe Second and Thirti Centu
ries, p. 345, a. d. 253, and the account ofthe con
duct of Cyprian and the other bishops.

hap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

279

extraordinary excess of immorality of
every description. In London, though
gross vice still in some measure pre
vailed, yet men were ordinarily turned
towards religion ; the churches were
crowded by persons exhibiting every
outward appearance of piety, and the
very exclamations heard in the streets
partook of a devotional character. No
thing but the pure and revealed word of
God can impress upon the mind of man
a real belief in a future state ; and few
who possessed a practical faith in this
doctrine, could fail to be influenced by
it, at least for the time, and frightened
by such a tremendous warning into some
species of reformation.
§ 728. (Sept. 1666.) The fire of Lon
don was one of the most terrible afflic
tions AA'hich ever befell a devoted city ;
and though the lives of the inhabitants
were spared, yet their property was so
generally destroyed, that the most active
exertions on the part of the benevolent
could not prevent a very considerable
quantity of actual suffering. Many of
the nonconformist ministers were espe
cially injured, since London formed a
great bank of charity from whence their
necessities had been supplied, and the
present distress not only disabled some
of those Avho contributed to their sup
port, but diverted much of the benefi
cence of the kingdom into a neAv channel.
This visitation, however, did not produce
the good which might have been ex
pected from it. The violence Avhich had
long exasperated the two parties in the
church was far from being appeased ; in
reflecting on these calamitous events,
each threw the blame on their oppo
nents ; the one reprobated the schismatic
temper of the nonconformists, the other
declaimed against the perjury and ty
ranny of the hierarchy,' but neither con
fessed their own offences.
As eighty-nine churches were de
stroyed, and the great mass of the popu
lation remained, the nonconformists
gladly exerted themselves in opening
such meetings for public worship as
could most easily be provided, and the
obvious necessity of the case prevented
any opposition which might otherwise
have been raised to such an attempt ;
but unfortunately the doctrines which

> Baxter, iii. 18.

were then prevalent in the kingdom
breathed not that spirit of reconciliation
which might have promoted the cause
of Christianity. It happened indeed
most providentially, that several of the
parish churches which were preserved
were in the hands of the most mo
derate and ablest of the clergy of the
day, as Stillingfleet, Tillotson, Out
ram, and Patric ; but their exertions
were productive of less good, since
many ofthe nonconformists exhibited so
great a dislike to the Common Prayer,
that they either refused to join with
conformable ministers, or at least to
be present at the Liturgy and sacra
ments. § 729. The evil, tendency of such
schismatic notions, joined Avith much of
disaffection"*towards the crown, which
continued to increase during the Avhole
of this reign, naturally produced a con
trary feeling on the part of the church ;
and many churchmen, in their zeal to
controvert what was wrong in these
opinions, ran into the extremes of pas
sive obedience and non-resistance, a doc
trine which, during the latter years of
the life of Charles II. , seemed equally
espoused by the court and the pulpit,
the bench and the bar.=> (1683.) Under
the impulse of this increasing zeal, the
university of Oxford made a solemn de
cree, which passed in the convocation
there on the same day as the execution
of Lord Russell took place, and pre
sented it to the king, under this title,'
" The judgment and decree of the uni
versity of Oxford, passed in their convo
cation on July 21, 1683, against certain
pernicious books and damnable doc
trines, destructive of the sacred persons
of princes, their state and government,
and of all human society;" in which
decree they formally condemned twenty-
seven propositions collected out of seve
ral modern authors. This decree is
attributed to Dr. Jane, regius professor
of divinity, who Avas in consequence
made dean of Gloucester, and who, upon
the Revolution, again sought for prefer
ment by changing his sentiments. The
declaration Avas placed in the college
halls, and remained there till, in 1688,
it was displaced by those who had framed

2 Echard, 1036.
" Rapin, u. 730. Kennet, iii, 419.

S76

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVL

it, on the arrival of the new govern
ment.' § 730. In reviewing the history of the
reign, if it were attempted to describe
the characters of all those who took a
prominent part in the affairs of it, the
task would require a volume for itself;
but there is one man who must not be
overlooked. Lord Clarendon shoAved so much
wisdom in the treatment of the repub
licans, whose services he accepted, that
it is difficult to understand why the
same minister should have adopted a
contrary policy with regard to the af
fairs of the church. Burnet's'' account
of this matter, therefore, may possibly
contain some truth, where he states that
the chancellor would have fallen into
more moderate counsels toAvards the
nonconformists, had he not been unwill
ing to disoblige the bishops, who had
been very kind to him, in the affair
AA'herein his daughter's honour was
concerned ; and that his friend Lord
Southampton was disposed to have been
very moderate. In the transactions
connected Avith the Savoy conference.
Lord Clarendon does not appear to
have been adverse to the nonconform
ists ; but the real state of the question,
as it Avas gradually developed to those
who Avere engaged in the government,
may fully account for this difference in
his conduct. At first he seems to have
been equally ready to conciliate the
enemies of the monarchy both in church
and slate ; but when he came to act,
he found the characters of the parties
so dissimilar, that he was led to pursue
a very different line of treatment to
wards them. The republican states
men were possessed of enlarged vieAvs,
and Avere in rnany cases willing to fall
in with the measures Avhich the altered
state of the kingdom required. The
presbyterian churchmen were men of
contracted notions, who would make
no alloAvances for the opinions of others,
' These proceedings were so justly offensive to
some of the younger students, who in those days
pubhshed their satire in Latin verses, that many
epigrams were written on him. Among the rest ;
Cun) fronti sit nulla fides, ut carmina dicunt,
Cur tibi bifronti, Jane, sit ulla fides 1
And again —
Decretum figis solenne, Decanus ut esses:
Ut fieres Prsesul, Jane, refigis idem.
2 Own Time, i. 305.

or concessions from their own decisions.
No one can examine the Savoy con^
ference, Avithout being convinced that
men of such tempers Avere unable to
govern or to legislate for any church.
A Aviser policy might probably have
broken the party, and greater conces
sions Avould perhaps have conciliated
many ; but mankind had not then
learnt, nor could they foresee and
knoAv, the benefits which toleration Avas
likely to produce. Lord Clarendon
therefore thought, Avith others, that no
thing but severity could give security to
the church ; and this idea predominated
till the course of events convinced
every one that divisions among Pro
testants could neither give safety to
the church or advance the cause of
religion. § 731. The fate of the lord chancel
lor was such as might have been natu
rally anticipated ; his misfortune seems
to have been, that he did not retire from
his pre-eminent station sufficiently
early. He had been raised too high
for a subject, and he could not hope to
govern or to guide a' man so vicious
as the king. When he found that his
poAA'er of acting rightly had ceased, he
should have AvithdraAvn from the scene ;
but he esteemed himself bound to sup
port the measures of the court, though
he did not approve of them, and his
high station compelled him to take a
share in whatever Avas done ; so that
though he concurred in the treatment
of the nonconformists, Ave can hardly
be sure that he might not have adopted
a more enlightened policy, had he been
able to direct the government in all its
details. The general feeling of the
country was probably the real cause of
whatever Avas noAv done in this respect.
Baxter, in his own life, is often violent
in the blame Avhich he throAvs on the
bishops, for persecuting, with all the
severity of the law, their nonconform
ing brethren ; and particularizes Shel
don and Ward.^ These men were
both of them very influential persons
in the concerns of the church, and
therefore the policy Avhich Avas adopted
must in some measure be referred to
them ; but Baxter himself seems never
to have possessed those extended views
3 iii. 3.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

377

which could comprehend that men, who
differed entirely from himself in their
opinions, might still be sincere and
conscientious in their proceedings.
These bishops Avere probably never
guilty of any acts of severily, to which
those Avho approved of their line of
policy Avould honestly object. They
tried to reduce the nonconformists by
force of laAV, and not by conciliation ;
and many persons may even noAv think
that they were right, and that their
principles Avere sound. Persecution
of every sort is unchristian ; but he
must be very ignorant of human na
ture AA'ho presumes to assert that every
one Avho Avishes to persecute must be
entirely unchristian. What would
have been the fate of churchmen if
the nonconformists had predominated ?
And yet there Avere many very good
men among them. A spirit of tolera
tion is one Avhich his own heart will
never teach to any one : and it is only
by degrees that nations learn the virtue
of moderation. In looking at this point
during the usurpation, and at the Re
storation, it Avould be useless and invi
dious to draAV comparisons. Severity
and injustice mig-ht have been expected
from rebels, even though driven into
rebellion by oppression ; but where a
legitimate government throAvs off the
fostering care Avhich it should exhibit
towards all its children collectively, and
tries to uphold its own selfish power by
balancing against each other those Avhom
it should endeavour to unite ; Avhen the
church, which Ave admire and love,
takes part in this disgraceful struggle, it
cannot but point out to us the insuffi
ciency of the best of human policy and
human institutions, and make us look
up to that poAver Avhich has preserved
us, and Avhich can alone vouchsafe to
continue our existence.
§ 732. Charles himself sought rather
to escape from the trouble of governing
than was anxious to tyrannize over
others ; his wish for arbitrary power
arose from the delusive hope that it
would free him from those disturbances
to which he found himself continually
exposed : he did not desire' to be like
a grand seignior, but he did not think
himself a king wnile a company of fel-

' Burnet's Own Time, ii. 1.

loAvs were looking into all his actions,
and examining his ministers as well as
his accounts ; and he expected that, by
balancing the church party against the
dissenters, he might be able to hold the
reins in his oAvn hands ; he Avas rapa-
cioiis in seeking money, for the sake
of squandering it on his favourites ; and
if the opinion of Coleman, secretary to
his brother, may be trusted, there Avas
nothing which he Avould not do for the
sake of obtaining it. He conformed, in
religious matters, outAvardly Avith the
church of England ;" and it may be a
question Avhether he did not join the
church of Rome rather for the sake of
that fallacious ease which that sect
could impart to his troubled and Avaver-
ing conscience than for any better rea
son. He treated his Avife as kindly as
any man of his vicious habits could do,
and he was the slave of his mistresses.
His natural talents are described as be
ing considerable ; and he Avas possibly
a better politician than any of his mi
nisters ; but he was disgusted Avith busi
ness by Lord Clarendon, and latterly
gave himself up to the guidance of his
brother, who being, perhaps, at that
time, as bad a man, Avas certainly a
much worse monarch. The circum
stance which must load Charles and his
brother Avith a political infamy, Avhich
nothing can wipe away, Avas the man
ner in which they separated their own
supposed interest from that of their
country. Because they could not go
vern England according to their own
wishes, they were ready to become
themselves the pensionaries of France,
and to sell the interests of Britain, that
they might obtain the means of en
slaving it. This project seems to have
flowed from James, rather than from
Charles ; but it is shameless enough
even to have entertained the idea.'
§ 733. The natural tendency of such
a reign was to create a most stupendous
degree of profligacy, moral and political ;
and this fruit was produced in abun
dance. Perhaps there never Avas a
more disgraceful public act than the
stoppage of the treasury, and certainly
all authors agree that this country Avas
never more degraded in its morality,
than while Charles II. was king. Re-

2 Welwood, 148.
2A

378

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVI.

ligion, Instead of reforming these evils,
was itself the most fertile cause of con
tention, and fostered every evil passion
with Avhich human nature is corrupted :
gross profligacy will easily taint the
breasts of the thoughtless and the
worldly ; but religious discord takes
away the savour from that salt which
should season the whole ; at once in
fects whatever is most valuable in the
community, and renders even the ex
pectation of amendment distant and

uncertain. Fanaticism and a false dis
cipline had promoted the cause of hy
pocrisy and irreligion, and debauchery
and vice followed in their train ; but
party feeling seemed likely to have de
stroyed whatever portion of Christianity
remained, had not God in mercy raised
up a body of men, whom the very dan
gers and difficulties of the times tended
to educate ; and whose virtues and ex
perience were matured by the opposition
which they were obliged to encounter.

APPENDIX E. TO CHAPTER XVI.
HISTORY OF THE COMMON PRAYER BOOK.*

^ 741. 1545. The King's Primer, prinled by authority.
742. 1548. Communion Service.
743. 1549. First Liturgy of Edward VI. pubhshed.
744. 1550. First Ordination Service pubhshed.
745. 1552. Second Liturgy of Edward VL
Second Ordination Service.
746. 1560. Liturgy of Ehzabeth.
747. 1604. Alterations introduced by James I.
748. 1633.  and Charles I.
749. 1661. Last revision. Authorized Liturgy.
750. Service for the Consecration of Churches; pohtical services.

§ 741. In giving an acdount of the
Common Prayer Book, it will be more
correct to describe it as a work com
piled from the services of the church of
Rome, or rather as a translation of such
portions of them as were free from, all
objection, than as an original composi
tion. The use of prayers in a language
unintelligible to the mass of the congre
gation is an evil so obvious, that when
ever men begin to judge for themselves,
they must necessarily reject it ; and the
first step which was taken by the church
of England is, I believe, now generally
adopted in that of Rome ; I mean a
translation of those portions of the ser
vice which are most frequently used.
The book denominated the King's Pri
mer was, I believe, first published by
' Few references are here given, for most ofthe
observations are made from collating the original
editions. There is a nice tract on the subject in
Sparrow's Rationale of the Common Prayer,
drawn up by Downes. Wheatley and NichoUs
may be consulted. A complete documentary
history ofthe Common Prayer has just been pub
lished by my friend Dr. Cardwell al Oxford.
History of the Conferences, &c., connected with
the Common Prayer, by E. Cardwell, D. D. Ox
ford, 1840.

authority early in the spring of 1545."
The object of its publication was to fur
nish the unlearned with such parts of
the church service as were most re
quired, as well as to supply them with
2 Before this, about 1535, a book called by the
same name, and written, or rather compiled, by
Cuthbert Marshall, archdeacon of Nottingham,
was published, probably with Cranmer's appro
bation, but without authority. (Strype's Eccle
siastical Memorials, i. 335, ch. xxxi., and Cranmer,
i. 138.) It contains many independent tracts, of
which Strype gives a list ; possibly the Primer
might have been allowed, to which Marshall
affixed these additions. I have never seen the
book. Strype calls it a second edition with divers
additions, 4to. A Primer, 1545, to which I allutle
above, is in the Bodleian. Waterland on the
Athanasian Creed, Works, iv. 282 a, speaks of a
Primer set forth in 1539, by John, bishop of Ro
chester, (Hilsey,) p. 285.
In 1834 my late friend Dr. Burton published
three primers ; that of —
William Marshall . . 1535
John Hilsey . . . 1539
Henry VIIL . . . 1545.
In the preface which he has given, there is all
the information on the subject which he could
collect. He proves the error ofthe account above
given from Strype, and aflfords much new infor
mation on the use made of Marshall's Primer in
composing the " Insluulionv of a Chrisiian Man,"
(or the Bishops' Book ;) Roman Cathohc Primers
were previously in use ; he mentions one as earlv
as 1527.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

279

the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the
Ten Commandments, in the vulgar
tongue. This book Avas republished in
the reigns of EdAvard and Elizabeth.
It contains the Litany, varying but
little from our present form, excepting
that there are certain petitions request
ing "the prayers of angels, saints, and
martyrs," and " to be delivered from the
tyranny of the church of Rome." The
former of Avhich Avas omitted in the
Prayer Book of EdAvard VI. , and both
in that Elizabeth. In the Dirige, or
service for the dead, all the Primers
contain prayers for departed souls, Avhich
is the more extraordinary Avith regard
to that published during the reign of
Elizabeth, since this point had been
altered in the second Common Prayer
of Edward VI. , 1552, and was never
again introduced into the service of our
church. § 742. (March 8, 1548.) The second
step in framing a noAV Service Book re
ferred to that particular in Avhich the
church of Rome had introduced the
greatest corruptions. When it was or
dained by act of parliament that the use
of the Sacrament of the Lord's supper
in both kinds should be restored to the
people, a short formulary' Avas drawn
up for this purpose, to be used at the
end of the Latin mass, in which the
priest, having himself partaken during
the previous ceremony, was directed
subsequently to administer to the rest
of the congregation both the bread and
wine. The service is from this circum
stance much shorter than that which
formed a part of the Common Prayer
in 1549, but most of the prayers and
exhortations are the same ; both these
contain one direction with regard to
confession, which marks the temper in
which they were drawn up. The people,
when exhorted as at present to come to
some minister of God's word, and open
their grief to him, in case they find their
consciences troubled, are urged to use
mutual charity towards those whose
opinions differ from their own as to
private confession ; that neither they
who open their sins to the priest should
be offended at others who are satisfied
with their own humble confession to
God ; nor these latter exhibit less for-
' Printed in Sparrow's Collection, p. 13.

bearance towards such as seek for fur
ther satisfaction from auricular con
fession. § 743. (May 4, 1549.) But when the
principles of general reformation were
more fully acted upon, the Avhole ser
vice Avas put forth in English,'' and all
men Avere thus enabled to join in the
very words used by the minister of the
church. The execution, hoAvever, of this work
Avas far from being so Complete as its
first appearance might induce us to
suppose. The original CommonPrayer
Book is, in all outward appearance,
nearly the same as that Avhich we now
use, though its pages retain many of the
particulars in which we differ from the
church of Rome. In the funeral ser
vice there are prayers for the dead.
The custom of anointing with oil is re
tained in the office for baptism ; and in
that for the visitation of the sick, in case
the patient requested it. The outward
sign of the cross is still retained in se
veral of the services Avhere it is now
omitted : so that on the whole this book
forms a connecting link between the
Missal and the Prayer Book.^
2 The persons employed in drawing it up were —
Cranmer, abp. of Canterbury.
Goodrich, bp. of Ely.
Holbech, bp. of Lincoln.
Day, bp. of Chichester.
Skip, bp. of Hereford.
Thirby, bp. of Westminster.
Ridley, bp. of Rochester.
Cox, dean of Christ Church.
May, dean of St. Paul's.
Taylor, dean of Lincoln.
Hayns, dean of Exeter.
Robinson, archd. of Leicester and dean of Dur
ham.
Redmain, dean of Westminster and master of
Trinity, Cambridge. '
As to the sources from whence our Prayer
Book is drawn, the reader is referred to a most
complete treatise on this subject by Palmer, pub
lished at the University Press in Oxford. Since
the publication of the 2d edition, these two Prayer
Books, 5 743, 5 745, have been reprinted at the
University Press, by my friend Dr. Cardwell.
' The most material differences between the first!
Liturgy and that now in use were —
1. The morning and evening service began with
the Lord's Prayer; and the prayers for the king,
royal family, and clergy, &c., were wanting at
the end of it. The Litany was not ordered to be
used on Sundays, and contained a petition to be
dehvered from the tyranny of the bishop of Rome.
2. Each communion service began with an In
troit, or psalm, sung as the officiating ministers
were proceeding to the altar, (a custom which is
still retained in cathedral churches.) In the praise
given for the saints the name of the Virgin was
especially mentioned. The sign of the cross was

280

HISTORY OF THE

[CiiAP. XVL

§ 744. It is impossible not to remark
the prudence Avith Avhich this book Avas
drawn up. Almost the Avhole of it Avas
taken from different Roman Catholic
services, particularly those after the use
of Salisbury, which were then generally
adopted in the south of England ; and
the principle on which the compilers
proceeded in the AVork, Avas to alter as
little as possible Avhat had been familiar
to the people. > Thus the Litany is

used in the consecration of the elements ; and
there was a prayer that they might be sanctifi«d
with the Spirit and Word of God. The words at
the presentation of the elements were only the first
clause of those now used ; and water was to be
mked with the wine. This service varies much
from the one at present in use, and the Decalogue
forms no part of it.
3. In the baptismal service a form of exorcism,
in order to expel the evil spirit from the child, was
still used ; the child was anointed, and invested
with a white garment, or chrisom, to denote the
innocency of the profession into which it was now
admiued. The baptismal water was consecrated
once a month, and the minister was-directed to dip
the child thrice.
4. The catechism formed a part ofthe oflBce for
confirmation, and wanted the explanation of the
sacraments at the end.
5. The office for confirmation consisted merely
in the laying on of hands with prayer, wilhout
any promise on the part of the person confirmed,
with which it now begins. The sign of the cross
was still used in it.
6. In matrimony the sign of the cross was still
retained, and money was given with the ring to
the bride.
7. In the visitation of the sick, allusion was
made to Tobias and Sarah, from the Apocrypha.
A prayer was added in case the sick person de
sired to be anointed, and he was to be signed with
the cross. And it was further directed, that the
same form of absolution should be used in all pri
vate confessions.
8. In the burial of the dead there were prayers
for the person buried, and for the dead generally.
A particular service was added for the celebration
ofthe eucharist at funerals.
9. With regard to dresses, priests were ordered
to wear the surplice in parish churches, and to add
the hood when they officiate in cathedrals or
preach. And in the communion, the bishop was
directed to wear besides his rochet, a surplice or
albe, with a cope or vestment, and to have a
pastoral staff borne by himself or his chaplain.
The officiating priest to wear a while albe, plain,
wilh a vestment or cope. And the assisting mi
nisters to appear in. albes and tunicles. Rubric,
Com. Service.
10. Wilh regard to ceremonies used by the
people, the following rubric occurred, which has
been subsequently omitted. " As touching kneel
ing, crossing, holding up of hands, knocking upon
the breast, and other gestures, they may be used
or left, as every man's devotion serveth, without
blame ;" and it may be observed that the reasons
then drawn up " why some ceremonies were ab
rogated and others retained," and which were
then placed at the end of the Prayer Book, now
stand as a preface.
' Many parts of the service, which are not de-

uearly the same as that in the Salisbury
Hours, excepting that one hundred and
sixteen addresses to the apostles, the
Virgin, and different saints are left out;
it only differs from that published by
Henry VIII. in the Primer, by three
addresses of the same nature, Avhich
were there retained ; and varies from
our OAA'n in one petition only, " That
we may be delivered from the tyranny
of the pope." The collects, epistles,
and gospels were almost entirely the
same as those in the Salisbury Hours,
and several ceremonies were retained,
Avhich have been since discarded.
(Nov. 1549.) In the latter part of this
year, a meeting of divines'-' (probably
the same as had been engaged in com
piling the Common Prayer) took place,
for the purpose of framing an ordi
nation service, which AA'as published in
March ofthe next year, and, after some
trifling alterations,^ adopted into the
Prayer Book, upon the review of it
which took place in 15.52. It corres
ponds very nearly Avitli that now in
use, excepting that some of the portions
of Scripture Avhich are read are different,
and the oath of supremacj- has been
changed.^ Its several parts are taken
from that in use in the church of Rome,
with the omission of certain ceremonious
observances, and the insertion of most
of the questions proposed to the candi
dates. § 745. (a. d. 1552.) When a foAv
years had enabled the Christian com-

rived from the Roman Catholic service books, are
taken from Herman's Consultation about Refor
mation. ' He was archbishop of Cologne, and the
work was drawn up by Melancthon and Bucer,
and translated into English in 1547. Laurence,
Bampton Lectures, 440.
2 Burnet, ii. 109, fol., 265, 8vo.
' Differences between the ordination service,
1549—1552. The service began with an Introit. The dea
cons were to be dressed in albes, and the one who
read the gospel was to put or* a tunicle. The
bread and chalice were given into the pries, s hands,
together with the Bible. In the consecration of
bishops the pastoral staff was used, and committed
into his hand before the words, " Be to the flock
of Christ a shepherd." The archbishop laiil the
Bible on the bishop's neck ; the other alterations
are merely verbal. The original edition was pub
lished by Grafton. The copy in the Bodleian
library is a reprint.
^ The smaller differences consist in the altera
tion of some few words, and in the rubric concern
ing the ages al which deacons and priests may be
ordained, corresponding wilh the law of EUzabeth.
See * 435.

Chap. XVL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

281

munity to examine the new Common
-Prayer Book, and feome persons were
hardly satisfied with many of the cere
monies Avhich were still retained in the
offices, it was determined to make a
general revicAv of the Avhoie, under the
direction of Cranmer, Avith the assistance
of other divines, the same probably as
had originally compiled it. While this
Avas in progress, Iavo learned foreigners,
who Avere then in England, Avere con
sulted on the subject, and their opinions
seem to have coincided Avith, or to have
influenced,^ the decisions of the English
bishops ; for most of the points objected
to by Bucer" Avere subsequently amend
ed, and the sentiments of Peter Martyr
appear to have been very similar to
those of Bucer.^
' Dr. Laurence (Bamplon Lect. 247) seems to
doubt wheiher these foreigners had much in
fluence with regard to the matter.
2 Burnet, ii. 287, 8vo. Strype's Cranmer, i. 299.
' The alterations from the last, 1549, now made,
were as follows : —
1. The sentences, exhortation, confession, and
absolution, with which the service begins, were
now introduced. The idea of them is probably
taken from a form of prayer used by the church
of Strasburgh, and published ih 1551 by Valeran
dus Pollanus, when this church was established
at Glastonbury. The use of the Decalogue, as
part of the public service, is probably due to the
same source. See Laurence's Bamp. Lect. 198;
and Strype's EccL Mem. II. i. 378. The Litany
was to be used on Sundays.
2. In tbe communion service the Decalogue
was now introduced. The Introit, the name of
tbe Virgin Mary, together with the thanksgiving
for the saints, the sign of the cross in consecra
tion, the invocation of the Word and the Holy
Ghost which accompanied it, and the admixture
of water with wine, were omitted. And the words
at the presentation of the elements were only the
second clause of those now used. At the same
time a declaration concerning the posture of kneel
ing in receiving the sacrament was subjoined,
which differs not materially from that which now
stands at the end of the communion service. It
is difficult to understand why the invocation ofthe
second and third Persons in the Trinity was left
out ; it has been wisely restored in the American
Prayer Book.
3. In baptism, the formof exorcism, the anoint
ing of the child, the use of the chrisom, and the
trine immersion, were omitted ; the water was
consecrated for the occasion as at present.
5. In confirmation, the sign of the cross was
omitted. 6. In matrimony, the sign ofthe cross, and the
giving of gold and sdver, were omitted.
7. In the visitation of the sick, the allusion to
Tobias and Sarah, the anointing, and the direc
tion about all private confessions, were omitted.
8. In the burial service, the prayers for the
dead, and the office for the eucharist at funerals,
were omitted.
9. The rubric about the dresses was, " And
here it is fo be noted, that the minister at the time
of the communion and at all other times in his
36

This Prayer Book, in fact, differs
very little frona the one now in use,
excepting that at the end of the morning
and evening service the prayers for the
king and royal family were wanting,
and that the other prayers Avere then
placed at the end of the Litany, and
probably not read unless that was used.
The occasional prayers, too, as Avell as
the thanksgivings, Avere Avanting ; those
for rain and fair Aveather occurred at the
end ofthe communion service.
§ 746. (a. d. 1560.) On the re-esta
blishment of Protestantism by Glueen
Elizabeth, one of her first cares was to
review the Common Prayer Book.
The question Avhich Avas agitated be
tween those Avhom she nominated to this
task,-* Avas Avhether the first or second
book of Edward VI. should be adopted.
Her own inchnation Avould probably
have guided her to prefer the former,
since it retained many ceremonies of
Avhich she was particularly fond ; but,
upon examination, the second of EdAvard
VI. Avas selected, and a few alterations
Avere made in it.^

ministration, shall use neither albe, vestment, nor
cope ; but being archbishop or bishop, he shall
have and wear a rochet ; but being a priest or dea
con, he shall have and wear a surplice only.
1 The persons employed were, (Strype's Life of
Sir Thomas Smith, p. 56,) —
Bill, master of Trinity, Cambridge, and after
wards dean of Westminster.
Parker, dean of Lincoln, and afterwards arch
bishop of Canterbury.
May, dean of St. Paul's, and afterwards arch
bishop of York.
Cox, dean of Ch. Ch. Oxford, and Westminster,
and afterwards bishop of Ely.
Pilkington, master of St. John's, Cambridge, and
afterwards bishop of Durham.
Grindal, bishop of London, and afterwards arch
bishop of Canterbury.
Whitehead, who had been chaplain to Cranmer.
Sir Thomas Smith.
Of these. May and Cox had been employed ai
the compilation of the work. In the Annals,
Strype (Ann. i. 119,) adds Sandys and Guest.
5 'The changes specified in the act of uniformity,
1" Ehzabethte, are, " With one alteration or addi
tion of certain lessons, to be used every Sunday in
the year, and the form of the Litany altered and
corrected, and two sentences only added in the
delivery of the sacrament to the communicants.
and none other or othervrise." Of these, the
changes in the lessons are not ctjnsiderable. In
the Litany the petition to be delivered from the
tyranny ofthe bishop of Rome was omitted, and
that for the queen altered. And in the commu
nion, both the clauses at the presentation of the
elements, which had stood in the first and second
of Edward, were put together, forming the words
now used. The clause in the act of uniformity,
1° EUzabethae, about dresses is, " Such ornaments
2 a2

282

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVL

§747. (a.d. 1604.) During the reign
of James I., in consequence of some
discussion at the conference at Hampton
Court, another review of the Common
Prayer was instituted, and afew changes^
introduced with much judgment ; but it
must not be forgotten that they pos
sessed no legal authority, inasmuch as
they were only sanctioned by the royal
proclamation under which they were
published. § 748. Laud' is generally accused of
having made considerable alterations in
the Common Prayer, for Avhich he had
no .sufficient authority; and doubtless
there are many words changed in the
edition of 1638, as compared with that
of 1622. If this had not been brought
forward among ten thousand charges
equally frivolous, as a proof of treason,
we might be induced to reprobate such
unAvarrantable proceedings as they de
serve ; but there is little evidence that
Laud was the author of the alterations,
and he expressly denies it^ in his OAvn
version of his defence.*

of the church, and of the ministers thereof, shall
be retained and be used, as was in this churchof
England by authority of parliament in the second
year ofthe reign of Edward VI., until order shall
be therein taken by the authority of the queen's
majesty," by the advice of the ecclesiastical com
mission, or of the metropolitan of this realm. I am
not aware that any such order was ever taken by
Elizabeth. And by the act of uniformity, Charles
II. 14°, and the rubric, this is now the law of the
land. See ^ 743, b. 9. The prayers for the king
and clergy, which now stand at the end of the
morning and evening service, were then first in
serted, but placed at the end of the Litany, and
the declaralion about kneehng, at the end of the
communion, was left out.
1 The rubric in the service for private baptism
was so framed, by inserting the term "lawful
minister," as to leave no doubt concerning the
point that the church did not authorize lay baptism.
See ^ 424, '. , In the church catechism that part
was added in which the sacraments are explained,
(drawn up by Dr. John Overall,) and certain
forms of thanksgiving were now added, to corres
pond with the prayers for fair weather, &c.
2 Neal's Puritans, ii. 220.
3 Troubles and Ti^I, 357.
* Besides verbal changes which are of no mate
rial importance, the word priest is in several ofthe
services substituted for minister, (not before the
absolution,) and this, as at present, without any
apparent rule-; the word had belter be confined to
such offices as are peculiar to the priesthood,
while that of minister extends to all others, ex
cepting when the cure of souls is implied, where
curate might be used, if such a distinction be
necessary. In the prayer for the royal family the words
"Almighty God, which hast promised to be a
father of thine elect, and of their seed," are changed
to " Almighty God, the founiain of all goodness."

§ 749. (a. d. 1661.) Upon the fruitr
less termination of the Savoy conference
it was determined that the alteration of
the Common Prayer should be submit
ted to the convocation which was then
sitting, and a king's letter, giving them
authority to proceed to this work, was

In the service for the fifth of November; " Cut
off' those workers of iniquity, whose religion is
rebellion," &c. is changed into, " who turn reh
gion into rebellion," &c. ; an expression which
makes the sentence apply to the puritans, as well
as to the papists. But it may be observed that
the first of these two, the prayer for the royal
family, was iptroduced merely by a proclamation
of King James, and might therefore be altered by
King Charles; and the service for the filth of No
vember is not appointed by act of parhament.
¦The day is ordered to be kept holy, but no form
is authorized.In the epistle for Palm Sunday the word " in"
the name of Jesus was altered to "at;" a change
Avhich, whether right or wrong, is sanctioned by
the authorized and Geneva translations.
The Prayer Book so altered, differs but little
from that which was prepared for Scotland; but
the alterations, trifling as they are, mark the spirit
of those who then directed the puhlic affairs of the
kingdom, and are iherelore well worthy of oui
nonce. In the table of lessons, most of those
taken from the Apocrypha are omitted in the
Scotch Prayer Book, the names of fifteen Scotch
saints are introduced into the Calendar, and the
word presbyter is everywhere substituted for that
of priest. The reading psalms too are taken from
the received version of 1611. These changes
were probably all of them in accordance with the
wishes of the nation, and conciliatory in their in
tention. In the administration ofthe Lord's sup
per, which is the only service in which any con
siderable change took place, there are many small
particulars calculated to be very offensive lo per
sons superstitiously hostile to Rome, which was
the state ofthe people of Scolland at that time.
A quiet Christian would perhaps object to but few
of these alteratious; but it was surely injudicious
to bring back a Prayer Book destined for the use
ofthat country, lo a greater conformity to the first
Liturgy of Edward VI. and the Roman rituals.
The bread and wine are to be " offered up," and
placed upon the Lord's table. I'he prayers for
the church militant , and of consecration , are nearer
to those of 1549 ; and the words pronounced at
the dehvery of the elements, are the very same as
those in the Prayer Book of that date. 'These
had been altered in the reign of Elizabeth, for fear
of any mistake about transubstantiation. In one
rubric the word corporal for the napkin is re
tained ; in another, the use of wafer-bread is per
mitted ; and in the prayer which now immediately
follows the Lord's Prayer after receiving, but
which in the Scotch Prayer Book is used before,
the expression, "we may worthily receive the
most precious body and blood of thy Son," is re
introduced from that of 1549 ; all which changes,
whether objectionable in themselves or no, mark
a decided want of attention to the feelings of that
country at the time. It may be here worthy of
remark, that a custom, prevalent in many parishes
in England, of saying, " Glory be to thee, O
God," immediately before the reading the gospel
for the day, is directed in the Scotch Prayer Book,
and was perhaps then introduceil, from being in
common use in this country.

Chap. XVI.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

283

read in the upper house of convocation
on November 21. This convocation*
had been previously employed in fram
ing new services for the lAventy-ninth
of May and the thirtieth of January;
and had prepared a form of baptism
for those of riper years, the necessity
of which had been created by the
neglect into which that sacrament had
frequently fallen during the usurpa
tion; but when the inutility of the con
ference had become apparent, several
of the bishops had probably so prepared
things during the vacation that the work
went rapidly on when it was brought
forward in the autumn. Within two
days after the king's letter was read, a
portion of the revised Prayer Book was
transmitted to the lower house, and
the whole put into their hands on
November 27. The several offices
were subsequently examined, and a
form of prayer to be iised at sea intro
duced ; but the whole was finished and
subscribed on December 20."
There were, it appears, some small
alterations made in the Prayer Book in
parliament, (1662,) while the act of
uniformity was passing, which were
referred by both Houses, March 5, to a
committee of three bishops, (August
24,) and when this act came in force,
the Common Prayer Book, as it now
stands, became part of the law of the
land, and has been uniformly used in
the church of England ever since.
In speaking of a work of this sort, the
excellency of Avhich is acknowledged
by all parties, it must be superfluous to
enter into any commendations, however
well deserved. If there be persons
who doubt of the propriety of the
expression with which it was originally
ushered into the world, as being " set
forth by the aid of the Holy Ghost,"^
yet all members of our church must
thank God that among the many other
national blessings bestowed upon us, we
possess a Liturgy probably the most pure
and apostolical which exists. The only
question which admits of any doubt, is.

' Synodus Ang. App. 83.
2 The convocation of York took Uttle interest in
these proceedings. At the request of Archbishop
Frewen they gave a hasty assent to what was
done by means of their proxies. (Wake's State
ofthe Church, App. No. 158.)
3 Act of Uniformity, Edward VI. 2° 3° ch.

whether some reasonable objections to
it may not still be obviated ; whether
some verbal alterations may not be
made Avith advantage ; and a further
amalgamation take place in the three
services which are now generally used
together in the morning, by Avhich an
unnecessary repetition of the same or
similar petitions may be avoided.* See,
too, § 806.

¦• The most important alterations which now
took place are : —
1. 'The new or authorized version of the Bible
was adopted in it, except in the Psalms, the Ten
Commandments, and the sentences in the Com
munion Service.
2. The morning prayer was printed separate
from the evening, such prayers as are common to
both being reprinted, and the last five prayers in
each were introduced from the end of the Litany.
3. The occasional prayers which stood con
nected with the Litany were now divided from it. ?
The prayers in the Ember weeks were inserted,
(the latter of them from the Scotch Liturgy,) as
well as that for the parliament and for all conditions
of men : at the same time the general Thanks
giving and that for restoring pubhc peace at home,
were added.
4. Some few new collects were inserted, some
changed, and verbal alterations introduced into
many. Church was generally substituted for con
gregation. Il ¦
5. In the Communion Service the exhortations
were a good deal changed, and directed to be read
on some previous Sunday or holiday, and commu
nicants were directed to give notice of their inten
tion the day before. The admonition about tran-
substanlialion was again introduced, with some
alterations fi-om that of 1552.
6. The service for the baptism of those of riper
years, and the form of prayer to be used at sea,
were also introduced ; and,
¦7. The last five prayers in the Visitation of the
Sick. If it be asked which of these changes were in
compliance with the wishes of the nonconformists,
it may be observed that the Avhole of the first and
fifth were in conformhy with their desires, and the
introduction of the general Thanksgiving and
many verbal alterations were suggested by them.
8. The consent of the curate is now required
for confirmation, though the bishop may, if he see
fit, confirm without it ; and this rite is not made a
sine qua non for receiving the Lord's supper.
9. The Absolution in the Visitation of the Sick
is left to the judgment ofthe curate, by the inser
tion of the clause (if he humbly and heartily desire
it.) 10. In the Churching of Women, the service
may now be performed from the desk, and the
psalms are changed. The newly-married couple
are not now required to receive the Lord's sup
per. The font is now to be placed conveniently,
by the direction of the ordinary, and the words,
in the latter part ofthe Catechism, "Yes, they do
perform them by their sureties, who promise and
vow them both in their names," &c., are changed
to, "Because they promise them both by their
sureties," &c.
Of these, 5, 8, 9, increased the discretujnary
power of the curate with regard to admonition,
but afforded him not any judicial authority ; and

S84

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVI

§ 750. Although the service generally
used at the consecration of churches is
possessed of no actual authority, yet as
there exists a form sanctioned by cus
tom, it can hardly be passed over Avith
out some brief notice. Churches have
been dedicated to the service of God
from the earliest periods, and since the
time of Constantine, (who died in 337,)
some form of consecration has been
used for this purpose. The custom
prevailed among our Saxon forefathers,
and Avas continued by the church of
Rome to the Reformation. At that
period of our history, unfortunately,
more churches Avere destroyed than
built. Bishop AndreAvs,^ who died in
1626, had drawn up a form in English,
taken chiefly, I believe, from the office
of the church of Rome, and this form
was approved and followed (though pos
sibly not without some alterations) by
Laud, and most other bishops. (1630.)
It had been the intention of the arch
bishop'' to have prepared a service for
this purpose in the convocation of 1640,
but the circumstances Avhich attended
that assembly prevented the accom
plishment of this object. The subject^
was again taken under consideration in
the convocation of I66I, and the prepa
ration of a form committed to the care
of Bishop Cosins; and when presented
to the house, it was referred to a com
mittee of four bishops for revision ; but
nothing seems ultimately to have been
done about it. In 1684 Bishop Spar
row published that of Bishop AndreAvs.
In the year 1712, a form* of consecrating

herein probably the real interests of Christianity
were consulted.
It may be worthy of remark, that there have
been four Acts of Uniformity. 1548. 2" and 3°-i t,,
Edw. VL c. i. LT^i'^^^ '"'0
1552. 5° and 7°.) ^^™
repealed in 1559. 1° Elizabethte,
which was not
repealed in 1662. 14° Caroli II.
These last two are often printed in the begin
ning of the Prayer Book.
1 Heyhn's Laud, 213. 2 Ibid. 441.
' Synodus Anghcana, 107.
¦< Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, i. 300.

churches, chapels, and churchyards, or
places of burial, was sent down from
the bishops to the lower house of con
vocation on the 2d day of April, and
was altered by the committee of the
whole house ; which form, as it did not
receive the royal assent, Avas not en
joined to be observed, but is now,
generally used. It is printed in Burn;
but every bishop is at liberty to adopt
a form according to his own judgment,
and bishops do frequently make slight
alterations, but the service is virtually
that of Bishop Andrews.
There are at the end of the Prayer
Book four services, which, properly
speaking, form no part of the book
itself. They consist of forms of prayer
for —
1. The 5th of November, the Gun
poAvder Treason.^
2. The 30th of January, the Martyr-^
dom of Charles I.^
3. The 29th of May, the Restoration.'
4. The Glueen's Accession.^
The first three of these days are by
acts of parliament^ ordered to be kept
holy, but no service is specified as being
appointed for them. The authority by
which they are here introduced, is merely
an order from the king in council, re
peated at the beginning of every reign.
5 Some expressions in this service were altered
by Laud, and gave great and unreasonable offence.
At the accession oi William and Mary, it was al
tered so as to apply to the Revolution, as a second
escape from popery. (Heylin's Laud, 418, ^ 748, ')
^ This was drawn up by Sancroft, and approved
bythe convocation, 1661, through a committee of
four bishops, and eight members of the lower
house ; it has received hardly any alterations since
that time. (D'Oyly's Life, i. 44. Syn. Ang. 67.)
"i This was approved by the committee of con
vocation, 1661, and was originally adapted to com
memorate the birth of Charles II., as well as the
Restoration : at his deaih it wasaliered, and some
further substitutions took place at the same time,
in which mention is made of the rebellion, and
those concerned in it, in stronger terms than before.
(D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 116.
* The day of their inauguration has been gene
rally observed by our sovereigns since the Reform
ation, upon the same authority as any other day of
thanksgiving, or fasting. The present service dif
fers but liltle from that of Queen Anne, which
was framed from that of James II.
3 3° Jac. I. 12° Car. II. 14, 30.

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

285

CHAPTER XVII.

DtmnSTG THE REIGN OF JAMES II. 1685 — 1688.
751,752. Opinions of James II. 753. Accession of James ; addresses. 754. Revenue, pohcy. 755.
Cruelty of James. 756. He alarms his subjects ; letter about preaching. 757. Court of Ecclesi
astical Commission. 758. Declaralion for hberty of conscience. 759. Dispensing power. 760.
Sufferings of the dissenters. 761. Attacks on the univfersities ; Magdalen (College. 762. Cam
bridge ; Charter-house. 763. Folly of James. 764. Remonstrances of the Court of Rome.
765. He tries to frame a parliament favourable to his plans. 766. Army ; Johnson. 767. Decla
ration for liberty of conscience. 768. Difficulties of the clergy ; the seven bishops. "69. Sent to
the Tower. 770. Tried and acquitted. 771. Temper of the king and of the dissenters ; Bancroft's
attempts at a comprehension. 772. Progress of the Revolution ; James alone ignorant of the
preparations of the prince of Orange. 773. He retraces his steps by the advice of the bishops.
774. The bishops refuse to sign a protest against the prince of Orange. 775. James finds that his
army will not support him, and flies into France. 776. Character of James; bis talents and false
notions of government. 777. His desire to introduce popery, chiefly pohtical. 778. He never
submitted his own opinion to that of Rome; dishonest, imprudent. 779. Birth of the prince.
780. Nature of the Revolution. 781. Conduct of the clergy. ,

§ 751. (a. d. 1685.) The difficulty of
draAving a strict line between civil and
ecclesiastical history, which has been so
frequently stated, Avill appear perhaps
more strongly in this reign than in any
other. The contest Avhich was decided
in 1688, is often regarded as one of
merely a religious character ; but if it
were viewed Avithout those strong pre
judices which are occasionally mixed up
with it, it would probably be denomi
nated a political struggle, with which
the interests of religion were closely
connected, as they are indeed with most
political questions. James had been
early led to regard rebellion as the worst
of crimes, and his education, carried on
in a French camp, had disposed him to
conceive that obedience Avas the only
virtue ; a circumstance -v^rhich never al
lowed him to gain any just ideas of the
civil rights of his subjects. Obedient in
the extreme to the commands of the
king his brother, he expected the same
deference to his own wishes, when the
death of Charles had placed him on the
throne. He had been brought up with
a high, perhaps a blind veneration for
the church of England ; and when he
came to examine the question for him
self, he could see no reason why the
same sort of veneration should not lead
him to the church of Rome. His con
version to that communion does not ap
pear to have depended on any examina
tion of the tenets of the two churches,
but on his discovering,' "that neither

Life of James II. i. 630.

the church of England, nor Calvin, nor
any of the reformers, had poAver to do
Avhat they did :" it was not AvheAer the
church of Rome Avere wrong in her
opinions or doctrines, but Avhether those
Avho seceded from it had any authority
to do so.
§ 752. The political tendencies of
Popery and Protestanism very probably
influenced him in his choice : " he loved^
and aimed at absolute power, and be
lieved that nothing could introduce and
support it but the Catholic religion, as
the Romanists call theirs ; and this in
creased his zeal for it, and that zeal in
creased his disposition to arbitrary
power : so that in truth his religion and
his politics Avere partly the cause of each
other, and indeed they cannot easily
be separated. The Protestant faith is
founded upon inquiry and knowledge,
the Popish, upon submission and igno
rance. And nothing leads more to
slavery in the state than blind obedience
in matters of religion ; as nothing tends
more to civil liberty, than that spirit of
free inquiry which is the life of Protest
antism." Sentiments which fully bear
out these general observations, are fre
quently expressed by James. In speak-
of the bill of exclusion,' in 1680, he says,
" He Avas astonished that men of sense
did not see that- religion was only the
pretence, and that the real contest was
about power a"d dominion ; that it was
the monarchy they designed to banish ;
2 Note of Speaker Onslow's, in Burnet's Own
Time, iii. 2, a.
3 Life of James II. i. 594.

286

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVII.

without which, the other banishments
would give them little satisfaction."
§ 753. This attempt Avhich had been
made to exclude him from the throne,
had not only confirmed him in all these
opinions, but had made him the enemy
of the Protestant cause ; while the per
tinacity with which the Roman Catholics
supported his arbitrary measures, was
as much due to the severity of the penal
laAvs, and the intolerance of Protestants,
as to the principles entertained by the
members of that communion. Protest
ants first drove out the Roman Catholics
from the pale of civil liberty, and then
wondered that they were ready to sup
port arbitrary power, AA'hich could alone
relieve them. While the bill of exclu
sion Avas in agitation, a very powerful
party appeared adverse to the succes
sion of James ; but the latter j^ears of
Charles IL, wherein the duke had en
tirely governed the country, had so al
tered the outAvard expression of opinion,
that the alarms of the kingdom were
displayed in the looks of the people,
AA'hile their acclamations Avelcomed the
neAV monarch. In his first speech, " he
expressed' his good opinion ofthe church
of England, as a friend to monarchy.
Therefore he said he Avould defend and
maintain the church, and Avould preserve
the government in church and state, as
it Avas established by laAV." These
words Avere much repeated, and the
common phrase was, " We have noAV
the Avord of a -king, and a Avord never
yet broken." Some of the addresses,
hoAvever, which Avere presented at this
period, contained expressions" which
ought not to have been misunderstood ;
Avhile others reneAved their assurances
of fidelity and obedience in such terms
as, gratifying the wishes of the king,
tended to delude him, and to influence
the formation of his plans ; for he ex
pected that the high church party would
comply Avith his desires, and allow him
to proceed on his arbitrary principles.
§ 754. James began his reign by levy
ing those duties on tonnage and pound
age which had ceased to be due upon
the death of his predecessor; so great
an inconvenience would have arisen

' Burnet's tfwn Time, iii. 6.
^ The London clergy for instance talked ' ' of
their rehgion established by law, which was dearer
to them than their lives."- Burnet, iii. 7.

from the interruption of this payment,
that the measure was in itself unobjec
tionable ; but the manner in which it
Avas done, by proclamation, Avithout any
appearance of deference to law, afforded
no very favourable prognostic of his
future conduct. The parliament, how
ever, as soon as it met, settled this upon
him, and with it a larger revenue for life
than had ever been possessed by any
previous monarch, amounting to two
millions per annum : at the same time
an attempt Avas made, that the grant
might be accompanied by a petition for
putting the laws in force against dissent
ers, as had been the case during the
late reign ; but this was resisted in the
commons. The early policy of the king
Avas founded upon the hope that he might
balance the high church party against
the dissenters, and ultimately bring them
to his oAvn persuasion. This, however,
was a method of proceeding from which
nothing but the blindness of James could
have expected success ; and perhaps the
victory which he obtained over the duke
of Monmouth in the Avest, and the earl
of Argyle in Scotland, contributed to
blind him, while it opened the eyes of
his subjects ; for the cruelties then exer
cised exceed belief. To say nothing of
those who sulfered^ for their rebellion,
and who had no right to expect mercy,
there are among others Iavo instances of
old ladies AA'ho Avere executed for con
cealing fugitives. They both denied any
knowledge of the guilt of those Avhom
they protected ; but Avhelher this were
true or no, Lady Lisle Avas beheaded,
and Mrs. Gaunt burnt, for doing that
Avhich many a friend of the best govern
ment might readily commit ; and Avhich
the feelings of the majority of the king
dom would certainly pardon. It may be
sometimes necessary to punish such an
act, but no power on earth can prevent
mankind from secretly applauding the
action ; and every government is unwise
Avhich uses severily contrary to the better
feelings of mankind.
§ 755. James is, occasionally excul
pated by throAving the blame on Jeff'reys,
yet James rewarded Jeffreys by imme
diately making him chancellor ; and he
who could see his own nephcAV, when
' Three hundred and thirty were executed, and
eight hundred and fifty-five transported. Hallam
u. 412.

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

287

he had determined to execute him ; who
could allow the duke of Monmouth to
come into his presence, and yet behead
him ; can little expect that he shall be
freed from the charge of cruelty by trans
ferring it on his ministers. The vin
dictive spirit Avith Avhich severity was
carried on, and the insecurity which
every one must have felt, from the mani
fest injustice of several legal proceed
ings, particularly that against Cornish,"
could not fail to alienate the minds of
the generality of his subjects, till the
rapid strides made towards the intro
duction of popery roused the friends of
freedom and religion. Indeed, James
never concealed his preference for his
own church, or left any room to hope
that he would govern constitutionally,
Avhenever he had obtained the means of
doing OtherAvise. He went to mass pub
licly on the first Sunday after his acces
sion ; in his address lo his parliament in
Scotland, he declared his determination
to uphold the royal poAver in its greatest
lustre ; and in his speech to the two
Houses after the defeat of Monmouth,
professed his intention of keeping up a
standing army, and retaining certain of
his officers,'' though disquahfied on ac
count of their not having taken the test.
Now, though an honest man Avill not dis
guise his religious opinions, though an
honest king Avill try to uphold the just
rights of the crown, yet it is difficult not
to be somewhat skeptical about the reli
gious zeal of an individual who, at the
age of fifty, could not be prevailed on by
the entreaties of his Avife, or his con
fessors, to resign his mistress f and who,
after a solemn promise frequently re
peated, of maintaining the government
as established by law, seemed so far from

• Oates was probably justly convicted of per
jury, but the sentence that he should be whipped
publicly twice, that he should be imprisoned dbr-
mg the rest of his life, and stand in the pillory four
limes during each year, was excessively cruel.
Dangerfield's sentence was most unjust. His nar
rative ofthe Meal- tub plot, whether true or false,
was ordered to be printed by the House of Com
mons; and to fine Williams, the speaker, for li
censing the book, was unjustifiable. Mr. Cornish
suffered for the Rye-house plot on every inade
quate evidence. See Kennet, iii. 442.
2 Kennet, iii. 439.
n " When I urged him how such a course of
life did agree with the zeal he showed in his reli
gion ; he answered, ' Must a man be o no reli
gion, unless he is a saint!' " Burnet's Own
Time, ii, 28.

having a wish to keep it, that he turned
out four of his judges* because they
would not profess their readiness to
comply with the desires of the court.
§ 756. James had been at first disposed
to conduct himself on friendly terms Avith
the church of England ; but he soon dis
covered that the steps which he adopted
alarmed the members of that commu
nion ; whose ministers became forward
in asserting the doctrines ofthe Reforma
tion, and Avarning their hearers against
the dangers of popery. In order then
to check these proceedings, and to in
timidate those who Avere carrying them
on, the king sent a letter to the bishops,
prohibiting the clergy from preaching
on controversial subjects,^ and threaten
ing, in case of any opposition to his
Avishes, that he would exact the tenths
and first-fruits to their full value." This
letter, Avhile it reminded every one of a
similar step taken in the beginning of
the reign of Mary, called forth the ener
gies of those who were most able to
advocate the cause, and roused them to
stand forward in defence of the doctrines
of the church.' It became, therefore,
obvious that, unless the king could de
press the church, there Avas no hope of
his being able to succeed in the estab
lishment of his own religious tenets, or
of arbitrary power, and he commenced

< Kennet, iii. 451. 5 Echard, ii. 1077.
8 There may be a question as to the right pos
sessed by the crown to do this ; the words of the
Act are, " And be it ordained and enacted by the
authority aforesaid, that the said yearly rent and
pension shall be taxed, rated, levied, proceyved,
and paid to the king's use, his heirs and successors,
in manner and form hereafter to be declared by
this act ; that is to say. That the chancellor of
England for the time being shall have power and
authority to direct unto every diocese in this realm
and in Wales, several commissions in the king's
name under his great seal, as well to the arch
bishop or bishop of every such diocese as to every
such other parson or parsons as the king's high
ness shall name and appoint, commanding and
authorizing the said commissioners, so to be named
in every such commission, or iii. of ihem at the
least, to examine, search, or inquire, by all the
ways and means that they can by their discre
tions," Sac. &c. Where the words seem to carry
the right, though it might be doubted whether
this were the intention of the bill. This law was
abrogated by Philip and Mary, but re-estabJished
by Elizabeth.
' Among the persons who managed and directed
this controversial warfare were Tillotson, Stilling
fleet, Tennison, Patric, Sherlock, Aldrich, Atter
bury, Wake, Henry Wharton, Prideaux, Bull,
and Sharp. See Burnet's Own Time, iii. 99.
D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 220. ' Gibson published 3
vols. fol. , of these pieces.

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVH.

his operations by setting up a court well
calculated to execute his plans. In
April, 1686, he issued a commission for
ecclesiastical affairs, a step totally illegal.
TJie act passed in 1641, for the purpose
of destroying the Court of High Com
mission, did in fact take aAvay the Avhole
coercive power exercised by the Eccle
siastical Courts ; Avhen, therefore, after
the Restoration, some papists and dis
senters denied the authority of the
bishops over them, a neAv act* Avas
passed, repealing such part of the act
of Charles I. as pertained to bishops'
courts, but still disannulling the right of
appoiijting an ecclesiastical commission,
and abrogating the canons of 1640.
§ 757. The commission now issued is
printed in Kennet f it confers very ample
powers for visiting and reforming all
ecclesiastical abuses, for AA'hich purpose
the presence of the lord chancellor
(Jeffreys) and of tAvo other commis
sioners Avas required. It directs them
also to inspect and correct the statutes
of any schools or colleges, in either of
the universities, and, if necessary, to
make new rules for their government;
but this could not be done, unless four
commissioners were joined to the chan
cellor. Such a court, against Avhich
no exemptions might be pleaded, laid
every species of academical or eccle
siastical property at the mercy of the
croAvn. The commissioners were, San
croft, archbishop of Canterbury, CrcAv,
bishop of Durham, Sprat, of Rochester,
Lord Rochester, Lord Sunderland, and
Sir EdAvard Herbert. Of these, San
croft refused to take any part in their
proceedings, and CartAvright,' a creature
of the court, was substituted in his place.
The first act of this illegal tribunal Avas
directed against Compton, bishop of
London, a man well suited for the strug
gle, of a noble family, and*undoubted
loyalty, who proved himself ready to
defend the rights of his sovereign, or of
hisfelloAV-subjects,by the SAvord,carna],''
IS Avell as spiritual. Sharp, af^rwards
archbishop of York, then rector of St.
Giles, had attacked some of the errors
1 i3° Car. II., ch. 12. ^ iii. 454.
3 Burnet, iii. 136.
* When he had conveyed the Princess Anne
from London to Northampton, he put himself at
the head ofa small army which was there assem
bled. (See Burnet's Own Time, iii. 318, and
Wood's Ath.A

of popery, and James, Avho^ esteemed
this conduct as a personal insult toAvards
himself, directed Compton to suspend
him. The bishop expressed his readi
ness to comply Avith any laAvful com
mand, but declared that he had no au
thority to do so, except by a legal process
in an ecclesiastical court ; and in the
mean season persuaded Sharp to make
all due submission to the king, and to
avoid preaching, till the affair Avere
settled. But as this Avould not satisfy
his majesty, Compton Avas brought
(Sept. 6) before the Court of Ecclesias
tical Commission, and suspended from
executing his office as a bishop.
§ 7.58. These measures were grounded
upon the idea that the king, as supreme
head of the church, might make eccle
siastical law, as well as execute it ; and
the next step in Avhich James was en
gaged, assumed almost the same poAver
with regard to the laAV of the land ; for
when he found that his expectations
from the high church party AA'ere dis
appointed, he betook himself to the dis
senters, and tried, by favouring them,
to establish a force Avhich should be suf
ficient to curb those Avhom he noAV
deemed his enemies. On April 4, 1687,
he issued a declaration^ for liberty of
conscience, whereby he suspended all
the penal laAvs against those Avho dif
fered from the church of England, and
virtually repealed them. At the same
time, he alloAved'all those who Avere un
Avilling to conform to the rites of the
church, to assemble for purposes of
public worship, dispensed Avith the ne
cessity of taking any oaths, before en
tering on offitje, and stated his determi
nation to employ such persons as had
been faithful in their duty, and of Avhose
service he did not choose to be deprived.
The laAV of the land, as it stands at the
present moment, differs so little from
Avhat James Avished to establish, that on
the part of those who rejoice in our pre
sent liberty of conscience, no objection
can be justly raised against this mea
sure, except that Avhich arises from the
nature of the authority assumed in the
publication of such a document. Laws
are annihilated, if the king by one
sweeping clause may dispense Avith
them. The power of pardoning, mer-
s Kennet, iii. 463.

CH.^p. xvn.i

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

389

cifully lodged in the croAvn. is totally
different from that Avhich Avas noAv
claimed. There the king forgives, be
cause some circumstances render par
don the truest justice, and happy is the
government which is strong enough
frequently to exercise this poAver; but
to forgive an act when coaimilted, and
to license the commission of it, are steps
of a totally diSerent nature. James
never pretended to exercise this poAver
so as to afl^ect the property of his sub
jects, but when the poiver is admitted,
Avho can set limits to the use of it? Who
can guaranty that no private property
shall be injured by it? In the case of
Magdalen college, of Avhich mention
will hereafter be made, James' argues
justly, that " it was ridiculous to dispute
the king's power in dispensing Avith the
local statutes of a college, Avhich had
been so frequently practised in former
reigns ; after it had been decided in his
majesty's favour that he might dispense
with certain standing laws of the land."
The admission of this right in the croAvn
would, in this case, have deprived an
honest man of his prospects in life, and
might have rendered the situation of all
the members of a large college very un
comfortable, by robbing them of their
right to appoint their own head, a pri
vilege as dear as any other species of
property ; nor should it be forgotten,
that when an individual is wrongly ap
pointed to any place of honour or emo
lument, some proper person is prevented
from obtaining the preferment.
§ 759. Kennet- says, that the assump
tion of this power might have been
overlooked, if the king had not endea
voured to form a parliament for the pur
pose of repealing the penal laivs." The
attempt was made in a very unconsti
tutional manner through private com
munications, generally denominated clo
setings ; and many undue steps Avere
taken to influence men in their decisions.
Though the legal repeal of all penal
laws Avould probably have been a mea
sure productive of the greatest good to
England, had it been effected from the
very first, yet unfortunately Ave can
hardly attribute any such enlarged vieAA's
to James, whose sole object seems to

1 Own Life, ii. 123. 2jii. 456.
' "That is, such laws as impose any pains or pe
nalties on account of religion. 37

have been to'establish his own author
ity and to introduce his OAvn religioiis
opinions, Iavo ideas almost inseparably
connected in his mind. In this attempt
to bias the judgments of his people,
there Avas nothing which a weak man
might not have esteemed justifiable;
but Avhen we look at his conduct with
respect to the judges, it is impossible to
acquit him of absolute dishonesty. The
question ofthe legality ofthe dispensing
poAver Avas brought to trial in the case
of Sir Edward Hales ; but, as a previous
step, the judges Avere sounded con
cerning their several opinions, " and
such as Avere not clear to judge as the
court did direct, were turned out."-*
Sir Edward accepted a place which re
quired him to take the test, and his OAvn
coachman sued him in the penalty of
five hundred pounds for not doing so ;
in bar of Avhich, the dispensing poAver
of the king Avas pleaded, and allowed.
The twelve judges on this occasion de
cided the matter, as far as a court Avhich
had not the confidence of the country
could decide it, and there were so many
persons indirectly interested in the ad
mission of the power, that it is almost
Avonderful that the decision Avas not re
ceived Avith greater satisfaction.
§ 760. The sufferings ofthe dissenters
had been so great, that no government,
worthy of the name, could have long
allowed them to be inflicted. The qua
kers,^ in their petition to the king and
parliament, decided that above fifteen
hundred of their nrethren had been of
late in prison, of Avhom 1383 uoaa' re
mained there ; and that of these more
than two hundred Avere Avomen. That
since 1660, above three hundred and
fifty had died in jail ; that many others
had lost their lives from ill treatment
which they had experienced Avhile un
der confi|£ment; and that numberless
injuries 1^ been done to their property.
The writer of the preface to Delaune's
Plea for the Nonconformists says, that
he Avas one of eight thousand Protestant
dissejifcers Avho had been punished in
jail during the reign of Charles IL
Oldmixon" says that Jeremy White had
collected a list of sixty thousand persons
who had suffered for religion, between

" Burnet, iii. 91. = Neal, v. 17.
6 History ofthe Stuarts, 715.
2B

290

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVH.

the Restoration and Revolution. These
accounts may be, and probably are,
much exaggerated ; but after treatment
which at all approached to this descrip
tion or extent, it is only Avonderful that
the dissenters were as friendly to the
church as they Avere. The court' had
tried to render the breach between the
two parties as wide as possible, by
issuing a commission to examine into
the proceedings which had been un
justly carried on against them ; (for in
many cases they had bought off further
prosecutions against themselves, by
making presents to those who AA'ere
connected Avilh the ecclesiastical courts ;)
but the general moderation of the dis
senters at this moment prevented any
such effect from being produced, since
ihey Avere convinced that the sole ob
ject of the apparent kindness of the
king was to employ ihem in throwing
doAvn the constitution. His arbitrary
conduct, indeed, which was always
exercised more or less in favour of the
Roman Catholics, prevented any one
from mistaking the plans Avhich he had
in vieAV.
§ 761. James directed his first open
attack against the universities ; for he
foresaw, that if he could have succeeded
in contaminating the sources from
whence many of the higher feelings
which pervade a country derive their
origin, the task of perverting the minds
ofthe rest ofthe community Avould have
become comparatively easy. Oxford
Avas but ill prepared to resist the attempt.
Anthony Wood," in his own life, de
scribes the place as given up to idleness,
and containing few scholars, who ge
nerally spent their time in coffee and
ale-houses. He adds, that colleges^
were deserted, for fear the gOAvnsmen*
should be turned out of their rooms to
provide lodgings for the m^hers, in
case a parliament should be'^sembled
there. That whigs Avere afraid to send
their sons to a seminary, when there
Avas danger lest they should be per
verted to tory principles, or conlftrted
to popery. For after the accession of
James, Obadiah Walker, head of Uni
versity college, and five or six more,
declared themselves of the Roman Ca-

I Burnet, iii. 175.
5 Ibid, lxxx.

2 Ath. Ixxix.
' Ibid. xciv. xcvii.

tholic persuasion. Upon the death of
Fell, in 1686, the croAvn had appointed
Massey,* a Roman Catholic, to the
deanery of Christ Church ; and in 1687,
when a vacancy occurred' in the head
ship of Magdalen college, the king sent
a mandatory letter, enjoining the fellows
to elect Farmer, a man of bad character,
and a Roman Catholic. The fellows
petitioned that the croAvn would either
grant them a free election, or that the
king Avould recommend such a person
as might be serviceable to his majesty,
and to his college : but in the mean
time, before any ansAver Avas received,
they, complying Avith the directions of
their statutes as to the time of election,
proceeded to choose Hough, and after
wards refused lo admit Samuel Parker,
bishop of Oxford, Avho Avas recom
mended to them by the court. In con
sequence of this disobedience, his ma
jesty cited the felloAvs before him, dur
ing his visit to Oxford, and upon their
continued refusal to obey his commands,
they were brought before a committee
ofthe ecclesiastical commission, sent to
the university for the purpose of pu
nishing them, and ultimately Hough
and twenty-five fellows quitted their aca
demical preferments, protesting against
the illegality of the whole proceeding.
Parker enjoyed his preferment only Iavo
years, and at his death, Bonaventure
Giffard, vicar apostolic from the see of
Rome, Avas installed as president.
§ 762. We have before seen^inwhat
light James regarded the transaction;
he conceived that the king Avho had a
right to dispense AVith the laws of the
land must have an equal poAver to
change the statutes of a college ; and
there are many instances where, in the
appointments to colleges-, the nomina
tion had been virtually transferred to
the croAvn.' James, therefore, who en-

° There was a particular dispensatioTi for O.
Walker, Massey, and several other members of
the University; and one for Sclater, curate of
Putney and rector of Esher, for not using ihe
Common Prayer. (Hallam's Cons. Hist. ii. 410 1
« See § 758. ¦
' When Sancroft vacated his headship at Ema
nuel college, Cambritige, the king nominated Dr
Breton, who was accorijingly elected ; and one
of the fellows approved of it as the only method
of preserving unanimity among them. (D'Oyly's
Sancroft, i. 135.t) Finch was appointed warden
of All Souls by a mandamus from James, 1687
and upon the death ol the duke of Ormond, iii

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

291

tertained the most extravagant notions
of prerogative, and who was urged on
by the blind zeal of his ecclesiastical
advisers, (for the Roman Catholic laity
were too wise to approve of his con
duct,) saw not that the freehold of every
one of his subjects Avas rendered inse
cure by so arbitrary an act, and that
every member of the college thus
ejected Avould be regarded as a con
fessor for the cause of Protestantism ;
while every friend to the universities
or the church Avould be in arms against
a measure which might in the next
place eject any clergyman from his
living. This shameless treatment, hoivever,
was not confined to O.xford. In Cam
bridge,' James had before directed the
university to confer the degree of M.A.,
without taking the oaths, on Allen
Francis, a Benedictine monk, then resi
dent there. The senate rejected the
mandamus as quietly as they could,
but Dr. Peachall,"^ master of Magdalen
college, and vice-chancellor, was ulti
mately deprived of this office by the
ecclesiastical commission. The court
however went no further, and the de
gree Avas never conferred. An almost
similar case took place at the Charter
house,^ when the king ordered the
governors to admit AndreAV Popham
Avithout administering any oaths to him.
The governors very properly resisted,
and the affair was never brought to an
issue. Tavo out of these three acts
were direct attacks upon property ; for

July, 1688, the university proceeded to a hasty
election, lest a mandamus should come in favour
of Jeffreys. (Birch's Tillotson, 222, 234.) Wil
liam III. attempted to do the same in King's col
lege, Cambridge, but gave it up on the resistance
of the fellows. (Ibid. 261.)
' Burnet, iii. 141.
'He is called Rachell by Lord Dartmouth in
his note on Burnet. There is an excellent letter
of his to Pepys, in the Diary, ii. 81. — " I am sor
ry, as well as unhappy, to be brought lo a strait
'twixt God and man: the laws of the land and ihe
oalhs we lie under, are the fences of God's thurch
and religion professed, and eslablished amongst
us ; and I cannot suffer myself to be made an
instrument to pull down those fences: if H. M. in
his wisdom, and according to his supreme power,
contrive oiher methods to satisfy himself I shall
be no murmurer or complainer. but ctjn be nb
abettor. For the doctrine, disciphne, and worship
of our church I heartily believe was neither fetched
from Rome nor from (Seneva, but from Jerusalem,
from Christ and his apostles."
» D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 239.

where a candidate disqualified by law
is appointed, it cannot but happen that
some qualified person is deprived of his
right. The third was an act of pure
tyranny upon the magistrate of a body
corporate, who did nothing beyond his
duty. § 763. Some other parts of the con
duct of James are marli;ed with a folly
as conspicuous as the injustice which
is exhibited in the previous instances,
particularly the appointment of Father
Petre as a privy-counsellor, and the
sending Lord Castlemain to Rome.
The Avriter of the Life of James II.
throws the blame in both these cases
on Lord Sunderland, Avho brought for
ward the king's confessor, that he
might use him as a tool and a screen.
Petre was a weak though plausible
man, but had a great influence over the
king, and the credit of more than he
really possessed ; Lord Sunderland
therefore Avished that Petre might bo
supposed to direct the king's counsels,
Avhile the measures really proceeded
from the minister ; and the prospect of
obtaining a cardinal's hat was too strong
a temptation to be resisted by Petre.
Lord Castlemain Avas in consequence
sent ambassador to Rome," in order to
obtain this object, and to request that
three vicars-general more might be
appointed for the kingdom ; but his
reception there AA'as most unfavourable;
and after delays and neglect, the onlj'
point in which h'e succeeded Avas the
nomination of Drs. Giffard and Smith,
and Father Ellis, Avho Avere consecrated
bishops in partibus, and vicars-general
in England.'
* Life of James II., ii. 79.
i" Watson, bishop of Lincoln, the last of the
Roman Catholic bishops who had not become
Protestant at the Reformation, died in 1584. In
1598, the English Roman Catholic church was
placed under the jurisdiction of an archpriest,
vested with full authority over the secular clergy,
but unable to perform any episcopal functions, as
he was not a bishop. 7'he Roman Catholics of
England justly remonstrated against this, as being
viriuall^deprived of the benefits of episcopacy.
In 1623, a vicar apostolic was first appointed.
This is an officer vested with episcopal authority
by the pope over any church which is in want of
a bishop, but which, for some reason, cannot have
one of ils own : the bishop is consecrated to some
see, in partibus infdelium, which had formerly a
bishop, but has now no church. The real differ
ence between a bishop ofa see and a vicar apos
tolic, is, that the commission of the latter is only
during the pope's pleasure. Ireland has Roman

292

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVII.

§ 764. The court of Rome Avas far
too wise to approve of the hasty steps
which were taking place in this country,
and foresaAV the destruction which such
imprudence must bring upon the in
terests of the papal cause. iDnocent
Xl.^ indeed is said to have advised
James to use all moderation, and to
have Avritten to him for that purpose
immediately on his accession ; (proba
bly through Carryl, Avho Avas sent into
Italy upon his ascending the ihrone.)
The Spanish ambassador, and the
English Roman Catholic laity joined
in urging the same point, but to no
purpose ; and it is difficult to decide
Avhether the madness of the priests or
the impolicy and dishonesty of Lord
Sunderland Avere the most influential
cause which led to the ultimate catas
trophe : probably each contributed to
assist the other. It Avas not perhaps in
itself likely that James should have
been influenced by the suggestions of
the pope, for, like LeAvis XIV., he Avas
rather an enemy to the principles of
Protestantism than a friend to the court
of Rome, of Avhich he had no Avish to
increase the poAver; but no outAvard
rupture took place in consequence of
these events ; and though Lord Castle
main" afterAvards declared that the ob
ject of his embassy Avas one of mere
compliment belAveen tAvo temporal
princes, yet the accounts given by his
torians, and appearances in England,
seem to support a contrary supposition.
The next year, (July 3, 1687,) the
pope's nuncio Avas publicly received at
Windsor, and the duke of Somerset'
disgraced, because he refused to incur
the danger of rendering himself guilty
of high Ireason in the eye of the law,
by presenting the accredited agent of
the see of Rome. The king^ had not
only alloAved the monks in St. James's
to Avear the dresses of their orders, but
the nuncio* himself. Sen. F. D'Adda,
had been consecrated archbishop of
Amasia, in the chapel belonging #0 that
palace. Catholic bishops of her own, who are independent
of Rome, as far as Roman Cathohcs can be ; and
the members of that communion in England have
much reason to complain that they have never
been allowed this privilege. (Butler's Roman
Catholics, ii. 240, &c.)
• Welwood, 157. ^ Ibid. 184.
s Ibid. 182. '' Life of James II., ii. 116.

§ 765. All this served but to irritate
the minds of the people. It convinced
every thinking person that they could
expect no half-measures, and enabled
those Avho approved not of these pro
ceedings to enlist the prejudices of
every Protestant in opposition to his
majesty. It sboAved the world that
James cared nothing for laAvs, and
proved to them that their only safety
depended on their establishing a poAver
in the force of general opinion, Avhich
should be able to overAvhelm any
strength Avith which the injustice of the
king might be backed.
James himself could not fail to
perceive the danger of actiBg entirely
against laAV, and therefore attempted to
obtain a sanction for his own conduct
by procuring a change in the lavA's
themselves. With this view, Avhen he
had dismissed his former parliament,*
(July, 1687,) he endeavoured to assem
ble a neAV one which might coincide
with his OAvn Avishes'ln the abolition of
the Test. The melhod by Avhich he
tried to effect this object Avas, first, by
going on a progress through man;'
parts of the countr)', during Avhich he
sounded the opinions of the most influ
ential persons, hoping to bias their judg
ments, but found that the feelings of
most men AA'ere unequivocally adverse
to his desires. He discoursed of liberty"
of conscience, but forgot that all his acts
tended to destroy even liberty of per
son and property. In order that such
members as ivere friendly to the court
might obtain seats in the commons,
he used the most arbitrary measures
toAvards corporations, particularly that
of London; and while, in his alteration
of plans, he discarded his old friends,
he gained no ncAV supporters among
those Avho AA-ere advanced by him ; for
no one could feel sure that a fresh line
of policy might not presently be pur
sued, Avhich Avould again make a sacri
fice of their interests. With regard to
members of parliament, he attempted
to produce the same effect by means of
the lords lieutenant, Avhom he directed
to put questions Avith respect to elec
tions, both to candidates and to electors ,
but the task Avas carried on Avith no
zeal, and some of the lords lieutenant

' Rapin, 760.

^ Burnet, iii. 180.

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

293

e'ven opposed the wishes of the court
Aiithout-concealing it.
§ 766. Such decided marks of dislike
on the part of his subjects would not
allow James to shut his eyes to the un
certainty of his prospects of success,
dependent on any or all these means,
and he seems therefore to have placed
his reliance upon the army, which he
had formed Avith much care, and mo
delled, as far as possible, so as to give
him every reason for expecting support
from it : but after all, the feelings of the
army Avere strongly against the religion
ofthe king, and his plans tended only to
make the real objects of his intentions
more apparent. In 168.'5, Mr. Johnson,^
a clergyman, Avho was already in prison,
for having Avritten a work called -' Julian
the Apostate," published "An Address
to all the English Protestants in the
Army, to dissuade them from becoming
the tools of the Court, and contributing
to subvert the Constitution." For this
he was most severely, nay, barbarously
punished ; he Avas degraded from his
orders, in St. Paul's, by some of the
courtly bishops, placed three times in
the pillory, and whipped from Newgate
to Tyburn. This rigour betrayed the
Aveakness of the court, and their alarms :
and though numbers of Roman Catho
lics AA'ere subsequently introduced into
the army, yet that body still continued
true to the real interests of the country.
§767. (a.d. 1688.) When James then
had offended the mass of his subjects ;
when he had outrun the zeal of those
Avhose religious opinions seemed to con
nect them more closely Avith his interests ;
when he dared not call a parliament,
and could not trust his army : he re-.
published his declaration for liberty of
conscience. It is a painful considera
tion, that this act, which, if it had been
done at a proper season, and from good
motives, might have formed the glory of
any Christian king, can now only be
regarded as the last arbitrary proceed
ing of one who would willingly have
made himself a tyrant ; and that the po
litical liberty of our country must date
its origin from the opposition which was
now raised to a proclamation, in itself
advocating the cause of religious free
dom; so complicEited are the connections

' Birch's Tillotson, 217. Kennet, 452.

betAveen real and pretended liberty.
This declaration, which had been origi
nally published April 4th, 1687, Avas
now put forth with a new preface and
conclusion, (April 27th,) stating the de
termination of the king to support it, the
efficient state of the army and navy, and
the prosperous condition of the country;
and as if this were not sufficiently exas
perating, it Avas directed by art order of
council that it should be read in every
parish church."
§ 768. The clergy Avere now placed
in the very difficult situation' of either
disobeying the commands of the king,
or of contributing to their own degrada
tion ; and the more dignified members
of that body nobly came forAvard to sus
tain the violence of the storm. Arch
bishop Sancroft, from the very first,
seems to have been employed in con
sulting with his episcopal brethren, who
happened to be in the neighbourhood of
London, Avith regard to the line of con
duct which they ought to pursue ; and
when, after a feAV days, he had assem
bled a certain number of bishops, it Avas
agreed that they should present a peti
tion to the king, signifying their reluc
tance to distribute and publish the decla
ration ; and professing their readiness to
come to some temper with the dissent
ers. This petition was signed by San
croft,* W. Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph,
F. Turner of Ely, J. Lake of Chichester,
Th. Kenn of Bath and Wells, Thomas-
White of Peterborough, and Jonathan
Trelawney of Bristol ; and on the CA-en-
ing of the same day the six last pre
sented it to his majesty at White Hall,
for Sancroft had been previously for
bidden to appear at court. The king
received it with great appearance of
anger ; the bishops, Avho conducted
themselves with great calmness and
respectfulness of demeanour, Avere dis
missed from the royal presence ; and
through some unfaithfulness of those
about the king, a copy Avas printed and
dispersed throughout the toAvn on the
same evening. The petition was after
wards subscribed by six more ¦bishops,-'*

2 That the clergy might, as Father Petre said, eat
theirowndung. (Kennet, iii. 481. Burnet, iii. 217.)
3 D'Oyly's Sancroft, 254. " Sancroft. 262.
5 Compton of London, W. Lloyd of Norwich,
R. Frampton of Gloucester, Seth Ward of Sarum,
Peter Mew of Winchester, Thomas Lamplugh
of'Exeter. (Sancroft, 269.)
2b3

394

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIL

as approving its contents,' and the clergy
generally followed the steps ofthe bish
ops, so that not above Iavo hundred of
them, through the Avhole kingdom, read
the declaration in their churches. There
Avere four bishops" only who complied
with the orders of the court,^ and of
these Crew suspended about thirty in
his diocese for their refusal; and the
diocese of Chester, of which CartAvright
was bishop, united in an address of
thanks for the declaration itself.
§ 769. James remained some time in
suspense as to Avhat measures he should
pursue, but at length came to the impru
dent resolution of prosecuting the bish
ops for a misdemeanor ; and on Friday,
June 8th, they Avere all committed to the
ToAver, because they would not enter
into recognisances for their further ap
pearance, a step which their legal ad
visers recommended them not to take.
'• The people," says Hume,* " were
already aware of the danger to which
the prelates were exposed ; and were
raised to the highest pitch of anxiety
nnd attention with regard to the issue
of this extraordinary affair. But when
they beheld these fathers of the church
brought from court under the custody
of a guard, when they saw them em
barked in vessels on the river, and con
veyed tOAvardsthe ToAver, all their afl^ec-
tion for liberty, all their zeal for religion,
blazed up at once, and they flew to
behold this affecting and animating
spectacle. The whole shore was co
vered Avith croAvds of prostrate specta
tors, Avho at once implored the blessing
of those holy pastors, and addressed
their petition towards heaven for pro
tection during this extreme danger, to
Avhich their country and their religion
stood exposed. Even the soldiers, seized
' Sancroft, 269.
2 Nathaniel Crew, bishop of Durham ; Herb.
Crofts of Hereford, Thomas Barlow of Lincoln,
and 'I'homas Sprat of Rochester ; Sprat was also
dean of Westminster. (Rapin, 763.) "I was
then at Westminster school, and heard it read in
the Abbey. As soon as Bishop Sprat, who was
dean, gave order for reading it, there was so greal
a murmur and noise in the church, that nobody
could hear him: but before he had finished, there
waa none left but a few prebends in their stalls,
the choristers, and Westminster scholars. The
bishop could hardly hold the proclamation in his
hands for trembling, and everybody looked under
a strange consternation." Note of Lord Dart
mouth's in Burnet's Own Time, iii. 218, g.
3 Life of James II., u 167. * viii. 261.

Avith the contagion of the same spirit,
flung themselves on their knees before
the distressed prelates, and craved the
benediction of those criminals whom
they Avere appointed to guard. Some
persons ran into the water, that they
might participate more nearly of those
blessings which the prelates were dis
tributing on all around them. The bish
ops themselves, during this triumphant
suffering, augmented the general favour
by the most loAvly, submissive deport
ment ; and they still exhorted the people
to fear God, honour the king, and main
tain their loyalty, expressions more ani
mating than the most inflammatory
speeches. And no sooner had they
entered the precincts of the Tower, than
they hurried to the chapel in order to
return thanks for those afflictions which
Heaven, in defence of its holy cause,
had thought them worthy to endure."
§770. On Friday, Juiie 1 5th, these
venerable sufferers* were brought before
the court of king's bench, on a writ of
habeas corpus, but alloAved to return to
their own houses upon bail, till the day
of trial, Avhich Avas fixed for the 29th.
The anxiety expressed by the country
generally was excessive, and the croAvds
assembled in Westminster Hall and its
neighbourhood, when their fate was to
be decided, proportioned to the interest
Avhich all orders took in the event. The
evidence for the prosecution consisted
in the proof of the signature of the
bishops, and of the publication of the
petition, Avhich was established on the
testimony of the clerk and president
of the privy-council. Their defence
rested on the right of petitioning pos
sessed by every Enghshman, on the
modest terms in Avhich this petition was
expressed, and the private manner in
Avhich it Avas presented ; but the chief
argument 'lay in the illegaUty of the
dispensing poAver noAV claimed by the
crown. Of the four judges on the
bench, Wright and Allybone gave it as
their opinion that the petition AA^as a
libel, and HoUoAvay and Powel pro
nounced it not to be so. The jury re
mained in consultation all the night, and
at six o'clock the next morning brought
in their verdict of "Not guilty." The
tumultuous joy excited by the news of

5 Sancroft, 28&

Chap. XVIL]
their decision, spread rapidly through
the country, and the acclamations ex
tended to the camp at HounsloAv, Avhere
the eagerness with Avhich the soldiers
joined in expressing their satisfaction,
justly excited the alarms of the king.
§ 771. The temper, hoAvever, of
James Avas such, that he Avould not see
the real condition to Avhich he had re
duced himself ; and having always
blamed the vacillation of his father
and brother, he hoped to remedy by
firmness an evil into which imprudence
had led him. His immediate advisers,
too, Avished to Aviden the breach be
tween the king and his subjects, and
the manner in Avhich he proceeded to
act sufficiently accomplished this ob
ject. The Aveek after the trial, he dis
missed the two judges who had been
favourable to the bishops, and issued,
through the ecclesiastical commission,
an order, that all chancellors and arch
deacons should send in the names of
those clergymen Avho had refused to
read the declaration. Sancroft, Avho,
through the whole of this part of the
transaction, showed great Christian
firmness, published some admonitions'
designed to be addressed bythe bishops
to their respective clergy, in which he
called upon them to exert themselves
as became their station, and to endea
vour to promote the peace of the na
tion, and unanimity between Protes
tants. Indeed, the friendly temper of
the dissenters at this period called forth
the praises of the church, and in con
sequence of the prevalence of such
feelings, while the hour of danger Avas
at hand, the archbishop made some at
tempts tOAvards a comprehension. " The
scheme was laid out," and the several
parts of it committed to such of our
divines as were thought most worthy to
be intrusted with it. His grace took
one part himself, another Avas commit
ted to Dr. Patric. The reviewing of
the Liturgy Avas referred to a select
¦lumber of persons. The design Avas
this : to Improve, and, if possible, amend
our discipline ; to review and enlarge
our Liturgy, by correcting some things,
by adding others, and if it should be
thought advisable by authority, Avhen
• D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 320.
' Ibid. i. 327. Wake's Speech at Sacheverel's
Trial, 212, 8vo.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

295

the matter should be legally considered,
first in convocation, then in parliament,
by omitting some feiv ceremonies ivhich
are alloived to be indifferent in their
natures, as indifferent in their usage, so
as not to make them of necessity bind
ing on those Avho had conscientious
scruples respecting them, till they
should be able to overcome their Aveak-
nesses or their prejudices respecting
them, and be Avilling to comply." San
croft considered hoAV good an opportu
nity had been lost at the Restoration,
because no previous step had been
taken by the friends of the church, and
because the ivarmth of the other party
had tended to inflame the minds of those
Avho Avere sufficiently adverse to any
alterations. §772. "In the mean time, by the
continued^ and less disguised attempts
of King James against the liberties of
his subjects, and the safety of the Pro
testant church, matters Avere fast draiV-
ing to a crisis. The Proiestants became
every day more and more convinced
that nothing less than open resistance
could preserve to them the enjoyment
of their religious profession ; and all
eyes Avere turned toivards Holland, as
the quarter Avhence deliverance Avas to
spring. The prince of Orange, in con
sequence of the numerous and strono-
solicitations he had received from per
sons of various ranks and interests in
England, had come to the resolution of
undertaking an expedition for the ex
press purpose of saving that kingdom
from the dangers which threatened to
overwhelm it. In consequence, he had
employed the earlier part of the year in
making such preparations as had more
the appearance of providing for the
security of his oivn states than that of
meditating any thing hostile against
another. But as the autumn dreAv on,
he Avas obliged to take other measures
in collecting troops, artillery, and arms,
which unequivocally marked the design
of undertaking a foreign expedition.
While this storm Avas gathering, James
alone remained unconscious of his dan
ger. Blinded by his passions, and
given over to infatuated counsels, he
vainly hoped for success in measures
from which every other eye saw that
3 D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 330, &.c.

296

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIL

his ruin must ensue ; and when prepa
rations Avere making, the object of
which AA'as to all the Avorld too plain to
be mistaken, he alone remained in ig
norance of their real destination. At
last, about ihe middle of September, he
first came convinced of the purpose of
the intended expedition from Holland,
by a letter, as it is said, from Lewis
XIV. On receiving it, he turned pale
and stood motionless, and the letter
dropped from his hand ; striving to con
ceal his perturbation from his courtiers,
he more plainly betrayed it ; and they,
in affecting not to observe his emotion,
shoAved no less plainly that they did.
The immediate effect of this discovery,
and of the alarm Avhich overwhelmed
him, was to make him recur, Avith hurried
precipitation, to milder measures of
government, for the purpose of regain
ing his lost popularity. Accordingly,
on Sept. 21, he published a declaration
expressing that it Avas his resolution to
preserve inviolable the church of Eng
land ; that he Avas willing the Roman
Catholics should remain excluded from
the House of Commons ; and assuring
his loving subjects that he should be
ready to do every thing else for their
safety and advantage, that becomes a
king who Avill ahvays take care of his
people. Five days afterwards, he de
clared his intention of restoring to the
commission of the peace those gentle-
,men Avho had been displaced. But
matters had advanced too far for these
concessions to have any effect. Al
though ostensibly proceeding from his
OAvn free Avill, they Avere manifestly
extorted from him by fear. All confi
dence in him, on the part of the peo
ple, Avas forfeited ; and his devotion to
the Roman Catholic cause was known
to be such, that he would certainly re
cur to his violent measures for esta
blishing it, as soon as the fear of conse
quences Avas again removed."
§ 773. " But what was the most
striking effect of the alarm into Avhich
he Avas now thrown, he condescended
to ask advice of those very persons
whom he had so lately treated with
hasty and inconsiderate violence, the
archbishop of Canterbury, and the rest
of the bishops ;" and Avas pleased m
being able to assure his people of the
returning cordiality between himself

and their lordships. He took off the
suspension from Bishop Compton, and
restored to the city of London their
charter, Avhich had been so unwarranta
bly taken from them ; and on Oct. 2 he
received from Sancroft, and the other
bishops Avho Avere in town, a paper'
containing their opinion as to the mea
sures Avhich he ought to pursue, couched
in language of meekness, and delivered
Avith great gravity and courage. The
king thanked the bishops for their ad
vice ; and each of the points either had
been, or Avere successively conceded ;
but the concession came too late ; the
country had lost all confidence in their
sovereign, and his acts of grace Avere
esteemed acts of Aveakness. Nay, the
very prayers for the peace and safely
ofthe nation, Avhich Sancroft composed
with great moderation and discretion,
are said to have tended to confirm the
minds of the people in the quiet oppo
sition Avhich they raised against the pro
ceedings of the court, by directing their
thoughts to religion, the point concern
ing Avhich the only danger seemed to
threaten them.
§ 774. The change in the king's
counsel, with regard to the bishops,
caused them to be viewed at first as
objects of suspicion, but their subse
quent conduct, with respect to not ex
pressing their abhorrence of the mea
sures of the prince of Orange, placed
their conduct in its true light. James,
alarmed at the appearance of a univer
sal defection, when the intended inva
sion became evident, requested from
such bishops as could be assembled at
the moment, a public expression of
their dislike to the measures of his son-
in-laAv, and in along personal intervieAv
urged them to comply Avith his request.
But, after having vindicated themselves

' It consists of ten heads : 1st, that he should
commit ihe government in the several counties to
those who were legally qualified; 2d, annul the
ecclesiastical commission; 3d, restore the president
and fellows of Magdalen college ; 4th, reverse
all dispensations ; 5ih, and not grant any for the
future ; 6th, that he should inhibit the vicar apos
tolic; 7lh, fill all vacant bishoprics ; 8th, super
sede all quo warrantos and restore ancient char
ters ; 9th, issue writs for a free parliament,
and to provide for the security of the church
of England and liberty of conscience ; 10th and
lastly, listen to the arguments which should be
advanced by the bishops to induce him to returrj
to the communion of the church of England
(D'Oyly'sSancroft, i. 340.)

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

from the charge of having invited the
prince, the bishops declined expressing
any opinion distinct from the rest of the
peers, whose interest in the prosperity
of the nation Avas as strong as their
own. This refusal, Avhile it injured the
cause of James, probably contributed
to save episcopacy in England ; for,
had the bishops of this country com
mitted themselves on the side of arbi
trary poAver, as the Scotch bishops did ;
had they so fettered themselves by any
declaration of opinions hostile to the
principles of the Revolution ; it is not
improbable that they Avould have been
hindered from taking part in the events
Avhich subsequently occurred, and by
leaving the field open to their enemies,
as Avas the case in the north, have
tended to destroy the very order among
us. a
§ 775. James Avas much irritated at
this refusal ; but the landing of the
Dutch, AAath its immediate consequences,
prevented him from shoAA'ing his anger
publicly. When it Avas knoAvn that the
disembarkation had been effected,*the
bishops joined Avith several temporal
peers in London to persuade the king to
call a free parliament, a step Avhich
might even then, perhaps, have pre
served the croAvn ; but he refused to
listen to the suggestion, till he had
found the insecurity of any reliance on
the army, and had seen that, as no one
trusted him, he could confide safely in
no one.
Events noAV followed each other in
rapid succession. The king joined his
army at Salisbury on the 19th of Nov.,
but found that resistance was in vain,
since his own officers declined fighting
against the prince. Deserted by his
troops, his friends,, and his children, he
determined to call a parliament Avhen ^t
Avas too late, and at length attempted to
fly into France. The peers who were
in London assembled, and took upon
themselves, for the time, the government
of the country, in order to preserve
peace ; but the detention of James, and
his return to White Hall, where he was
received with the acclamations of the
people, and the attendance of a con
siderable court, again seemed to give
him a momentary hope that all was not
lost. When, hoAvever, the prince of
Orange came to London, and the diffi-
38

297
cullies which must have presented them
selves as to any future settlement be
came apparent, James was compelled
hastily to quit his palace, and his escape
into France was connived at.
§ 776. The personal character of
James must explain to us many of the
secret springs of those proceedings for
which it might other\A-ise be difficult to
assign any sufficient reason. He seems
to have possessed that species of talent
Avhich Avould have rendered him a dis
tinguished second in any department,
but to have wanted that honest sound
sense Avhich can alone qualify talent for
the highest stations. His conduct as a
young soldier under Turenne, his ex
treme attention to business, his readi
ness to obey, and, above all, his regula
tions with regard to the admiralty, mark
him out as an object of admiration. He
vieAved trade AAath the eye of a superior
statesman, and perceived its connection
with religious liberty. He saAV that the
establishment of liberty of conscience
Avould make England great ; but here
his faults displayed themselves in con
nection Avith his good sense ; for he was
utterly deficient of that uprightness of
mind Avhich might have delivered him
out of the intricacies in Avhich his preju
dices and religion involved him.
The misfortunes, which attended his
early youth led him to false vieAvs of
governing. The education which he
had received in a camp, but, above all,
the notions which he derived from
Colonel Berkeley,' who was intrusted
with the care of him, and Avas a bold,
insolent man, disposed towards popery,
and exceedingly arbitrary in his temper
and ideas, probably infused into the
mind of James those high opinions con
cerning absolute power which were the
incessant bane of his whole life.
§ 777. When he came to the throne,
it was his first object to establish a strong
government, for he had seen the mise
ries of a weak one, during the lives of
his two nearest relations ; but his only
idea of a strong government wp i of one
which did not depend on resources fur
nished at the will -of the people, and
which, therefore, might be denied him.
While his brother Avas 'ring, he had
always been ready to allow England to

' Burnet, iii. 4.

298

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIL

be under the control of France, pro
vided he could maintain his OAvn author
ity in England ; and Avhen advanced to
the throne, he Avas eager to adopt a line
of .policy Avhich, Avithout rejecting the
assistance of France, should enable him
to emancipate himself from her power.
The friendly feeling towards him, on the
part of the people, with Avhich his reign
commenced, and Avhich must appear
wonderful after the specimens Avhich he
had given of his OAvn previous conduct,
made him master of a revenue Avhich,
with his habits of business and economy,
seemed to render him independent of his
parliament ; and the first point to which
he applied himself, in his general plan
of establishing a strong and arbitrary
government, Avas the introduction ofthe
Roman Catholic rehgion into Britain.
He had ever connected the idea of re
bellion with puritanic strictness, and he
fancied that by bringing in his OAvn out
Avard form of worship, he should intro
duce with it his own opinions as to pas
sive obedience. It is often assumed,
that James in his proceedings Avas influ
enced by religious motives. He alone
who knoweth the hearts of men can
estimate the motive of either kings or
subjects, but all his conduct corresponds
with the supposition that he wished to
introduce arbitrary power. He had
taken up the object of introducing Ro
manism into England, and in his at
tempts to effect any purpose, he was
apt to disregard right and wrong, laAv
and justice :' they alone were friends
who aided his objeol, and Avhoever op
posed it was a rebel. This temper of
construing opposition^ to his measures
into treason pervaded the Avhole of his
life, and tended more than any thing
else to prevent even those most closely
connected with him from loving or
trusting him. In a free constitution, it
is impossible to establish unanimity of
measures, and unanimity of object can
only be obtained by mutual confidence,
a feehng AA'hich the faults of James en
tirely destroyed in all around him, and
threw him into the hands of advisers
who were either very dishonest or very
foolish, or perhaps both. Lord Sunder
land was probably careless of every

< Life, 733, 738.
2 Life, 734. Burnet, i. 288.

result, save of his own interest, and the
Jesuits had not prudence enough to,
manage so vast a business.
§ 778. James, who Avhile he was king
prob&bly cared little about rehgion, at
least cared not for the essentials of reli
gion in himself,'' was most anxious to
make others adopt his tenets, though he
himself displayed no wish to submit his
own judgment to the see of Rome.
Lewis, in his severity and injustice
against Protestants, Avas as careful to
preserve his own temporal authority
over the church as Q.ueen Elizabeth ;
he revoked the edict of Nantes, and was
by no means indisposed to quarrel Avith
the pope ; and James, in his zeal for
Romanism, AA'ould attend no further to
the advice of Rome than as it coincided
Avith his OAA'n views. He received the
refugees Avho Avere drj^ven from France,
because by this measure he hoped to
establish a spirit of toleration ; for he
Avasthen desirous that the Roman Catho
lics should be tolerated in England, and
he foresaw the benefit Avhich such an
accession of active and industrious
strangers must bring to his country.
He prided himself much on the sacred
ness of his Avord ; yet, though he had
promised, as solemnly and frequently as
Avas possible, to uphold the church of
England, he obviously sought every
means of introducing Roman Catholics
into the higher preferments. And if his
OAvn mind could, receive any comfort
from the distinction betAveen the church
of England de facto, the Protestant
church, and the church dejure, or the
Roman Catholic, Avhereby, Avhile his
promise seemed to speak of one, he in
tended the other, such dishonesty Avould
only tend to augment his guilt ; he either
meant to break his promise, or he ad
mitted in his OAvn mind such an equivo-
..ation as must prove him doubly dis
honest ; but as to his honesty of purpose,
Ave have a confession of his own, which
proves that he was not very scrupulous.
In a dirty pecuniary transaction between
Charles II. and the duchess of Ports
mouth, wherein it Avas intended to raise
a sum of money for her, by persuading
James to surrender a rent-charge on the
post-office, he professes extreme readi-

^ In the latter part of his life he exhibited strong
proofs of a sincere sense of religion. See his own
Life, published by Clarke.

Chap. XVIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

ness to do all that was desired,' yet, "all
this Avhile, the duke knew very Avell his
revenue Avas so settled, that nothing but
an act of parhament could alienate any
part of it; Avhich he took care not to
mention to any living soul, lest that
might have made the king lay the
thoughts of it aside ; and, by great for
tune, none of the lawyers about toAvn,
Avho were studying Avhich Avay to bring
it about, hit upon that difficulty." The
acts of imprudence of Avhich he Avas
guilty, and AA'hich have been before par
tially detailed, arose from the same tem
per : he thought it beneath his dignity
to conceal his wishes or his plans, and
though he displayed and carried them
on contrary to the desires of all his sub
jects, yet he wondered that he Avas hated,
and perceived not that a king of Eng
land cannot be pogrerful, unless he pos
sess the love of his people.
§ 779. After all, it may be question
able AA'hether the ill conduct of James
would have roused the nation to throw
off their allegiance, had not the birth of
a son and heir, Avho might continue the
struggle, excited every one to exert
himself in the defence of those points
which good men hold most dear, their
religion and their liberty. The queen
was delivered on June 10, and the dis
like which was borne to the parents
has caused the son to be sometimes
called supposititious. At the time of his
birth, all the precautions do not appear
to have been taken which Avould have
been desirable in consequence of subse
quent suspicions : but as William never
ventured to enter into a formal exami
nation of the birth of the child, though
he had mentioned this subject in his first
declaration ; and as he would probably
have done so, had he found any evi
dence to substantiate a' charge which
would have been so useful to himself,
we may fairly presume that it has no
foundation in truth. But the fact that
an heir Avas born, produced a strong
effect in the country. The event on
which the king and his Roman Catholic
advisers had always built their hopes,
was accomplished, but its accomplish
ment proved the ruin of their cause.
Many an Englishman had looked for
ward to the time when a Protestant

1 Life, i. 724.

successor should free them from their
alarms, real and imaginary; but this
hope Avas now destroyed, and every
one saAV that his safety depended on
himself. Freemen will not hve in an
uncertainty Avhether or no their rights
are to be respected, and the conduct of
James prevented any one from sup
posing that he meant to respect their
rights, any further than his own want
of power to subvert them should render
it necessary. § 789. It may be asked, whether the
present struggle were political or reli
gious, Avhether the attacks of the king
were directed against the church or
against the state ; but this question can
never be answered, till the Hne shall
have been distinctly drawn between the
church as a spiritual body, and the
church establishment as a member of
the body politic. The attack was made
on the property of the church, and on
the property of the state, Avhen men Avho
Avere by Iuav unqualified, were put into
civil and ecclesiastical stations ; and the
passions and prejudices, together Avith
every honourable feeling of the people,
Avere excited, when they beheld, on the
part of the croAvn, a total disregard of
the very appearance of law. When the
bishops were imprisoned for petition
ing the king, a right AA-hich belongs to
every man in the kingdom was invaded ;
and the boldness of these sufferers, and
the interest Avhich Avas exhibited in their
favour, were as much connected Avith
patriotism as with religion. Yet, since
religion is a higher feeling than patriot
ism, since obedience to God is a plainer
duty, and one in the performance of
which the reason of all men will agree,
Avhatever be their conduct, it naturally
came to pass that the opinion of the
country referred the quarrel to religious
grounds. The question, however, still
is of a mixed nature : had not rehgion
been indirectly attacked, the country
might never have been excited ; and
though the measures of James might
have been opposed, the prince of Orange
would probably not have been so strongly
invited to rescue the kingdom from the
misrule of his father-in-laAV.
§ 781. It is not easy to state exactly
what part the church of England, as a
body, took in this struggle ; for, by con
sulting different authorities, we may

300

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVHL

draw conclusions diametrically opposite.
They had, to use the language of the
biographer of James, notwithstanding
the doctrines' of non-resistance and pas
sive obedience, Avhich they preached,
•' begun early to spread jealousies among
the people ; and, instead of suffering
Avith patience, they complained before
they felt any smart ; and thought ima
ginary dangers a good pretence to en
courage a real sedition. They had
preached prerogative and the sovereign
power to the highest pitch, while it was
favourable to them ; but when they ap
prehended the least danger from it,
they cried out as soon as the shoe
pinched, though it was of their own
putting on." And the same invectives
are throAvn out against them by the
historian of the puritans. Though there
may be some grounds for such an accu
sation, yet the language of some of the,
addresses presented by the clergy had
contained declarations sufficiently clear.
The London clergy had used the ex
pression, " our religion established by
laAv, dearer to us than our lives ;"" the
very terms adopted by the House of
Commons, Avhen Monmouth had been

defeated. The wishes of James made
him assume that the clergy generally
spoke the same language as those indi
viduals Avho Avished to gratify him by
their compliances ; yet the readiness
Avith which they all came forward in
defence of the Protestant faith, ivhen it
was endangered, ought to have shown
him the value Avhich they attached to
their religion; and to have led him to
presume that their submission Avould go
no further than Avas consistent with
their sense of duty tOAvards God. With
regard to many of the distinguished or
naments of our church, nothing can be
more glorious than their conduct. .They
resisted the arbitrary proceedings of
James, AA'hile he Avas king, and after
wards sacrified their worldly situations,
when, after his flight, they conceived
that their duty towaiUs him demanded
such a surrender. Their circumstances
put them forAvard in the fight, and they
nobly defended their country; happy
would it have been, if all their later
acts had been guided by the same spirit.
But this part of the question belongs to
another chapter.

CHAPTER XVIII.

DURING THE BEGINNING OF THE HEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688, 1689.
801. Non-jurors; many of the clergy unwilling to rcognise the new government. 802. Inutility of
oaths generally. 803. The authors of the Revolution most injured by the oath ; their subsequent ill
conduct. 804. Their principles. 805. Principles of the Revolution. 806. Toleration Act ;
attempt at a comprehension; ecclesiastical commission for reforming evils. 807. Alteration of the
Liturgy. 808. Further additions ; family prayer; C) American Prayer Book. 809. I'he convo
cation throw out every thing. 810. Advantages and disadvantages of this failure, 811. .Summary
of the History of the Church; Henry VIII.; Edward VL 812. Mary, 813. Elizabeth.
814. James I. 815. Charles and Laiid. 816. Restoration. 817. Present constitution of the
church. 818. Evils arising from the connection of church and slate. 819. Advantages and blessings.

§ 801. When William and Mary Avere
seated on the throne by the decision of
the convention parliament, and it be
came necessary that those who held
offices under the new govemment
should express their adherence to it, the
oaths of supremacy and allegiance were
so modelled as to be less particular
with regard to the royal authority, and
more decidedly adverse to the preten
sions ofthe churchof Rome. But many

' Life, ii. 70.
2 Burnet, iii. 7. Welwood, 175.

of the bishops, and some of the clergy,
were unwilling in any way to acknow
ledge that which was in their eyes
merely a government de facto, when
they had before promised fidelity to the
other, on the ruins of Avhich it had been
estabhshed. Eight bishops'^ and about
four hundred of the other clergy, most

^ The non-juring bishops were Sancroft ; Lloyd,
Norwich; Turner, Ely; Frampton, Gloucester-
White, Peterborough ; Kenn, Bath and Wells.
These were ejected. Lake of Chichester anti
Thomas of Worchester had died in the mean time
(D'Oyly's Sancroft, i. 447.)

Chap. XVIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

301

of whom held considerable situations in
the church, refused to transfer their
allegiance ; and though great modera
tion was used tOAvards them, before they
were deprived, yet the necessity of de
priving them, and the policy of the laAv
Avhich obliged every one holding such
preferments to take the oaths, o.re very
questionable. The question Avas indeed
discussed, and one plan proposed Avas,
to enable William to impose the oath at
his pleasure; but this Avould havethroAvn
the Avhole odium of ejecting the bishops
on the king, and there Avas no absolute
necessity of imposing the oath at all :
it might probably have ansAvered all the
purposes of the government as eflectual-
ly if such persons had been severally re
quired to make a promise not to disturb
the neAV order of things. For as the
large majority o^ the clergy took the
oath, and man}' of them Avere certainly
far from favourable to the objects of it,
they Avho complied Avere often exposed
to much censure, as having SAVorn con
trary to their consciences ; and neither
those who then bound themselves in
opposition' to their inclinations, nor
those Avho, by refusing to take the oath,
were deprived of their preferments,
were likely to prove very faithful ad
herents to their new sovereigns ; Avhere
as they might have been perfectly con
tented to continue quiet subjects under
a government which they had neither
power nor inclination to disturb.
§ 802. No oaths, of Avhatever descrip-
.tion, wiU bind bad men, when the senti
ments of the mass of the people are
contrary to the tenor of the oath ; and
there is no more frightful particular pre
sented to us by history than the fre
quency Avith which oaths are imposed
and broken. ° The prudence and suc
cess of William prevented his opponents
from having any opportunity of trying
the force of the promises made to him ;
but had the' fate of war in Ireland en
abled James to assert his rights in this

' Burnet, iv. 49.
2 When William was about to go into Ireland,
it was proposed to frame an oath of abjuration
Avilh regard to James II. In the debate in the
House of Lords, the earl of Macclesfield declared,
"ihat he never knew them of any use. but to
make people declare against the govemment, that
would have submitted quietly to it, if they had
been let alone." (Bumet, iv. 77. Note of Lord
Dartmouth, u.i

country, it is absurd to suppose that
they Avho had sworn fidehty to both
could be bound to obey bothj or would
have hesitated in folloAving their inte
rests, or the inclinations of their own
minds. He who ' holds an office or dig
nity under a government, may fairly be
called on to declare his fidelity to that
government, in any Avay AA'hich the go
vernment shall choose to select ; but it is
very doubtful whether or no the author
ity imposing such an oath strengthens
its hold on the mind of the man. He
Avho takes an, office, is in foro conscien-
tix bound to perform the duties of it,
Avhether he swear to do so, or no ; and
probably general promises and oaths,
made at the time of entering into the
office, have a good tendency in fortify
ing the resolutions of the individual ;
they form a sort of bond upon the man
himself, Avhen called on to exert his
authority. It may happen, that, Avhen
he is wavering as to Avhether or no he
ought to act on some point, the thought
of his oath may be useful to his own
mind ; but if it be' not decidedly useful,
the habit of taking frequent oaths cannot
fail to injure him. And it is a disgrace
to the age in which Ave live, that oaths,
with regard to trifling matters, should be
required on so many occasions as they
are ; for they must tend most injuriously
to demoralize the people AA'ho take
them.^ § 803. In this case, many upright
men, whose bold and temperate opposi
tion to James had been chiefly instru
mental in fixing the opinions of the
nation, who, under God, had contributed
more than any others to effect the
change which had taken place, were the
first to suffer for their uprightness. No
one can fail to admire their conduct, and
to pity them, (if indeed any one Avho
suffers in the performance of his duty,
can be an object of pity ;) but surely the
government Avhich imposes the oath by
which such persons are ejected, has no
reason to expect that it Avill be served by
honest men. Most of these bishops
would probably have continued to hold
their preferments, had there been no

^ Every friend of religion must rejoice in the
alterations which have taken place, in this respect,
since this was originally printed ; and pray that
all unnecessary oalhs may gradually be dispensed
with.
2C

303

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVEL

necessity of taking the oath ; and Avould
¦perhaps have readily promised not to
disturb the noAV government ; but they
feh their duty to James, and Avere ready
to suffer, rather than betray it. The
laAv' Avhich imposed the new oaths, en
abled the king to allow twelve non-
juring clergymen incomes out of their
benefices, but it does not appear rfhat
he made any use of this license. The
act Avas a most impohtic one ; for it gave
to every friend of James a most con
vincing argument in favour of his claims,
and could not but indispose the minds
of honest men towards a government
which could be guilty of such gross
injustice. But the ejected bishops, and some of
the non-jurors, have made themselves,
by their subsequent conduct, the objects
of just disapprobation in the eyes of the
friends of the establishment. For San
croft, Avho, from his age and timidity,
Avas unwiUing to act himself, made over
his archiepiscopal authority to Lloyd,
bishop of Norwich, and the deprived
prelates proceeded to continue the suc
cession of bishops in the church, in
opposition to those Avho Avere authorized
by the government. This schism con
tinued till 1779, but this subject does not
properly fall within our portion of his
tory. The principle on Avhich these
bishops acted Avas partly true, and partly
false ; but the extent to Avhich they car
ried it, rendered it very prejudicial to the
peace of the church.
§ fcOi. The authority by AA'hich every
bishop, or priest, acts is one Avhich is
derived by succession from the apostles,
each succeeding generation communi
cating to the next the authority under
which they themselves have been acting.
The division ofthe country into dioceses
and parishes is a civil arrangement,
which regulates the place Avhere the
individual shall exercise his ministry ;
but the civil power neither confers ihe
ministerial authority, nor can alter it.
When, therefore, the civil authority de
prived these non-juring bishops of their
temporal jurisdictions, it could not divest
them of the sacred office to Avhich they
had been called ; and they conceived
that, as this was still continued to them,
they were bound still to exercise it.
> 1° Wilham and Mary, 8.

The same thing is actually taking place
at this moment in Scotland. The legal
church government there is presbyte
rian ; yet is there a regular succession
of Protestant bishops, Avho fill certain
sees, Avithout any authoritative power
derived from the state, and constitute
perhaps one ofthe purest forms of epis
copacy in the world. As far as Scot
land is concerned, her bishops are, in the
opinion of an episcopalian, fully borne
out in this apparent schism ; because
the rest of the church there, though
legally established, has discarded the
apostolical order of bishops, and the di
vision must be charged by us on those
who have introduced the anomaly of a
Christian church Avithout bishops. Let
us hope, that, at this moment, both par
ties are free from any schismatic feel
ings, and pray that "God may guide
Avhichever of them is wrong into the
right path : but the bishops in England
cannot be absolved from the crime of
contributing to a schism ; AA'hatever their
OAvn ideas might be, they could hardl)'
deem it necessary to make tAvo churches
Avithin the kingdom, because a usurper
Avas praj'ed for in that connected with
the establishment ; and yet it is extraor
dinary, that both Sancroft^ and Tillot
son, men Avhose opinions about the Re
volution Avere diametricallj' opposite,
both concurred in esteeming it sinful
for those AA'ho Avere opposed to the prin
ciples of the Revolution to join in a
service in AA'hich a prayer AA'as offered
up for WiUiam and JMary. The schis
matic feeling, the spirit of opposition
Avhich thus prevailed, Avhh but feAV
bright exceptions, Avas excessive, and no
man was exposed to greater obloquy on
this account than TiUotson.'
§ 805. If it be asked, Avhether the
bishops Avere justified in the opposition
raised by them against James, thoug-h
they refused to submit to the govern
ment Avhich this opposition had virtuaUy
established, the ansAver must depend on
our opinion of the merits of the Revolu
tion itself. The blessings AA'hich have
been derived to us from this great event,
make every Englishman anxious to
justify the principles on Avhich it was
carried on ; but after all, it seems much

2 D'Oyly, 458; Bhch's Tillotson, 282,
3 Birch's Till. 316.

Chap. XVIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

303

more clear that the Revolution Avas
necessary, than easy to justify it on any
permanent principles. It is one of those
extraordinary cases which are not refer
able to any general law ; it Avas a recur
rence to first principles, an exception to
the laAv. About such questions Chris
tianity probably gives no other rules
than that afreatone of " doins: unto others
as we would have others do unto us ;"
and Avhen those in authority pervert that
power Avhich has been intrusted to them
for the good of their felloAA'-creatures, in
order to trample on their rights, it
becomes the duty of those next in com
mand and in authority, those into Avhose
hands God has put a subordinate poAver,
to exert thispoAver for the good of the
body politic. England Avould have been
ruined, had the policy of James been
continued ; and William and the peers
of the realm, aided by the representa
tives of the people, did the best they
could under such circumstances : and
we should be thankful to God that so
great a benefit was effected. With
these views, the bishops AA-ere right in
opposing Jamps, and would have been
wise, perhaps, had they taken the oaths ;
but who shall venture to blame con
scientious prelates who did not view the
matt.er in this light ? The hardship with
which these good men were treated,
rendered some of them morose, and
made Turner, (bishop of Ely,) perhaps,
afterAvards join in Lord Preston's plot ;
in which, as he answered for the other
bishops, though probably without any
authority, the blame was in some degree
throAvn on the AA'hole body. But in
their subsequent conduct about ecclesi
astical matters they were at all events
guilty of creating a schism in the church,
and added one more to the ten thousand
causes of division which have distracted
the church of England, and Avhich all
the measures of conciliation used at this
time proved inadequate to heal.
§ 803. Among the steps taken to
tranquillize the nation, and to promote
peace, the passing of the toleration act^
stands pre-eminent. It granted the
dissenters a full liberty as to religious
worship ; but Avas not extended either
to Roman Catholics or those Avho de
nied the doctrine of the Trinity; and

' 1° WiUiam and Mary, 18.

left all who did not conform to the
church of England under many dis
qualifications. But a much greater attempt was
made for healing our divisions by
means of some alterations in the church
itself. On Sept. 13, 1689, a commission
Avas issued, " to prepare alterations in
the Liturgy and Canons, to make pro
posals for reforming the ecclesiastical
courts, and to provide for a strict method
of examining candidates for holy or
ders." It consisted of ten bishops and
lAventy divines,'-' many of whose names
form the brightest ornaments of 'our
church, from the AA'ritings which they
have left behind them. They met in
the Jerusalem chamber, and a discus
sion Avas soon raised as to the legality
of the commission itself, but Avas over
ruled, since none of the acts of such an
assembly could be at all binding till
they had received legal confirmation,
and were only destined to prepare mat
ters for the convocation. Two bishops,
hoAvever, MeAV and Spratt, and Drs.
Jane and Aldrich, AvithdreAV in dissatis
faction, and the subsequent conduct of
these latter plainly showed the motives
Avhich influenced them. As the labours
of this commission in the end proved
ineffectual, it is only by accident that
we are acquainted Avith any of their
proceedings, and this fortunately on
the point Avhich is perhaps in itself of
the greatest interest ; I mean with re
gard to the proposed alterations in the
Liturgy. § 807. The points Avhich Avere settled
Avere,^ that the chanting of divine ser
vice in cathedral churches shall be laid
aside, that the whole may be rendered

2 Lamplugh, archbishop of York.
Compton, bishop of London.
Mew, bishop of Winchester.
W. Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph.
Spratt, bishop of Rochester.
Smith, bishop of Carlisle.
Trelawney, bishop of Exeter.
Burnet, bishop of Salisbury.
Humphreys, bishop of Bangor.
Stratford, bishop of Chester.
Siillingfleet. Jane. Alston.
Patric. Hall. Tenison.
Tillotson. Beaumont. Scoit.
Meggot. Montagu. Fowler.
Sharp. Goodman. Grove.
Kidder. Beveridge. Wdliams.
Aldrich. Battely. (Birch's Tdlotson, 181.)
3 Bhch's Tillotson, 193.

304

HISTORY OF THE

[CnAP. XVIII.

intelhgible to the common people.
That, besides the psalms being read in
their course, as before, some proper
and devout ones be selected for Sun
days. That the Apopryphal lessons, and
those in the Old Testament Avhich are
too natural, be thrown out, and others
appointed in their stead by a new ca
lendar ; Avhich is already fully settled,
and out of Avhich are omitted all the
legendary saints' days, and others not
directly referred to in the service book.
That, not to send thevulgar to search
the canons, which feAV of them ever
saAV, a rubric be made, setting forth the
usefulness o'f the cross in baptism,* not
as an essential part of that sacrament,
but only a fit and decent ceremony.
However, if any do, after all, in con
science scruple it, it may be omitted by
the priest.
That likewise, if any refuse to receive
the sacrament of the Lord's supper
kneeling, it may be administered to
them in their pews.
That a rubric be made, declaring
the intention of the Lent fasts to consist
only in extraordinary acts of devotion,
not in distinction of meats; and another,
to state the meaning of " rogation Sun
days," and "ember Aveeks;" and ap
point that those ordained within the
quatuor tempora do exercise strict de
votion. That the rubric Avhich obliges
ministers to read, or hear, " Common
Prayer," publicly or privately, every
day, be changed to an exhortation to
the people to frequent those prayers.
That the absolution, in morning and
evening prayer, may be read by a dea
con, the word priest in the rubric being
changed into minister, and those words,
"and remission," be put out, as not
very intelligible.
That the Gloria Patri shall not be
repeated at the end of every psalm, but
of all appointed for morning and even
ing prayer. That those words in the
Te Deum, "thine honourable, true, and
only Son," be thus turned, "thine only
begotten Son," "honourable" being
only a civil term, and nowhere used in
sacris.

1 In NichoUs' Apparatus ad Defensioncm Ecc.
Ang. 95, &.C., it is said, that it should be left to
the decision of convocation, wheiher the use ofthe
cross should be left optional to the parents.

The Benedicite shall be changed into
the I28th psalm, and other psalms like
wise appointed for the Benedictus, and
Nunc dimittis. The versicles after
the Lord's Prayer, &c., shall be read
kneeling, to avoid the trouble and
inconveniences of so often varying
postures in the Avorship. And after
those words, " Give peace in our lime,
O Lord," shall folloAV an ansAver pro
missory of someAA'hat on the people's
part, of keeping God's law, or tin- like;
the old response being grounded on
the predestinating doctrine taken in too
strict an acceptation.
All high titles or appellt^tions of the
king, queen, &c., shall be left out of the
prayers, such as most ilhtslrioiis, reli
gious, mighty, &c., and only the Avord
sovereign retained for the king and
queen. Those Avords in the prayer for
the king, "Grant that he may vanquish
and overcome all his enemies," as of
too large an extent, if the king engage
in an unjust war, shall be turned thus,
" Prosper all his righteous undertakings
against thy enemies," or after some
such manner.
Those Avords in the prayer for the
clergy, "Avho alone workest great mar
vels," as subject to be ill interpreted
by persons vainly disposed, shall be
thus,'" who alone art the Author of al!
good gifts:" and these words, "the
healthful Spirit of thy grace," shall
be, "the holy Spirit of thy grace,"
"healthful" being an obsolete Avord.
The prayer Avhich begins, "O God,
whose nature and property," shall be
throAvn out, as full of strange and im
pertinent expressions, and besides not
in the original, but foisted in since by
another hand.^ The collects, for the
most part, are to be changed fpr those
which the bishop of Chichester^ has

2 It is difficult to understand what is here meant.
The prayer was introduced, 1560, from the Li'.any
of the Salisbury Hours, and is certainly one nf the
most beautiful and Chrisiian prayers in the Litur
gy. He who has never felt the propriety and
force of it, must be either a very good or a very
bad man.
5 Simon Patric. _ In NichoUs' Apparalus ad
Def. Ecc. Ang. it is added, that the epistles for
the day were selected so as belief to agree with
the several gospels. Simon Patric framed the
collects: G. Burnet added fresh spirit lo them;
Stillingfleet reviewed them; and Tilloipon gave
the last polish to them. Tenison altered all the
expressions in the Liiurgy to which objectiona

c«AP. xvni.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

305

prepared, being a revieAV of the old
ones with enlargements, to render them
more sensible and affecting, and what
expressions are needless, to be re-
ti'enched. If any minister refuse the surplice,
the bishop, if the people desire it, and
the living Avill bear it, may substitute
one in his place, that Avill officiate in it,
but the Avhole thing is left to the dis
cretion ofthe bishops.
If any desire to have godfathers and
godmothers omitted, and their children
presented in their own names to bap
tism, it may be granted.
About the Athanasian" Creed, they
came at last to this conclusion, that, lest
the Avholly rejecting it should by un
reasonable persons be imputed to them
as Socinianism, a rubric shall be made,
setting forth or declaring the curses
denounced therein not to be restrained
to every particular article, but in
tended against those that deny the
substance of the Christian religion in
general. Whether the amendment of the trans
lation of the reading psalms (as they
are called) made by the bishop of St.
Asaph (William Lloyd) and Dr. Kid
der, or that in the Bible, shall be inserted
in the Prayer Book, is Avholly left to
the convocation to consider of and
determine. Several alterations were
made in the Litany, Communion Ser
vice, &c.
§ 808. H. Prideaux, dean of Norwich,
had formed great hopes and expecta
tions from this convocation, and in his
life^ mention is made of several deside
rata in the Liturgy ; but it is not stated
whether the opinions there expressed
were precisely his own. The points
mentioned are, forms for receiving peni-

were raised. It was left to convocation to deter
mine whether, in the reordination of ministers
ordained by presbyters only, a conditional form
should not be used, as in the baptism of those
about whose previous admission into the Christian
covenant there is a doubt.
1 NichoUs says, that it was left to the judgment
of the minister to exchange this for ihe -Apostles'
Creed' NichoUs however is wrong. See Water-
land's Tract, Works, iv. 305. Whoever wishes
for information about this creed may find it in
Waterland. The history ofthe creed is as follows.
It was probably composed in France (between a.
r. 426 — 430) by Hilary, bishop of Aries, in Latin.
The translation in our Prayer Book is taken, by
mistake, from the Greek.
2 P. 59. 39

tents,' for preparing condemned pri
soners, for the consecration of churches,
and a book of family prayer, which was
actually drawn up, but never published,
and at last mislaid and loit, at the death
of Williams, bishop of Chichester, in
Avhose hands it had been placed. Some
thing of this sort was the more Avanted
at this period, since the custom of family
praj'er had been generally discontinued.
The puritaris disgusted many sober per
sons Avith their crude and extempore
effusions, and the opposite party had
extravagantly cried up the Liturgy, as
if no other form of prayer was to be
used in famiUes, any more than in the
churches ; and the natural»consequence
was, that in houses Avhere there Avere no
chaplains, the Prayer Book Avas disused,
and nothing substituted in its place.
In looking at the alterations noAV pro
posed, there are several particulars
which seem to be unimportant, Avhile
others are omitted in Avhich a change
might be desirable ; nor does it appear
that the time occupied by the prayers
would have been rendered .shorter, the
object perhaps most required, when our
own service is compared Avith that of
other reformed churches.-*
2 In 1637, while Hall was bishop of E-teter, cer
tain slaves returned lo that diocese from Morocco,
who, having renounced Chrisiianiiy during their
caplivity, were on their return re-admitted into
the church. Laud and Hall composed a form of
prayer for this purpose, which was approved hy
the bishops of Ely (While) and Norwich, (Wren,)
and settled by the king's appointment. (See
Laud's Own Life, p, 550.) In the convocation of
1640, one of the services then intended to have
been drawn up was a form of reconcihng peni
tents and apostates. This probably would have
only been an authoritative pubhcation of the former.
(Neal's Puritans, ii. 297.)
•• The American Prayer Book, altered in 1790,
is formed in great measure on this model. With
the exception of one or two particulars, the tjhanges
appear to be judiciously made; and as itis not a
book which falls in the way of every English
reader, a brief statement of some of its chief varia
tions from our own may not prove unacceptable.
Throughout the whole, there are many small
verbal alteraiions, where obsolete terms, or forms
of expression, are exchanged for fuch as are now
in common use ; and most of those sentences and
words are altered, which are liable to foohsh
cavils, or real objections. It begins with a pre
face, which modestly justifies the alterations.
1. In the calendar, the lessons are a good deal
changed. About one-half the first lessons for
Sundays are the same, and there are also proper
second lessons from the New Testament, ap
pointed for each Sunday. Those for saints' days
are nearly the same as in ours. In the general
calendar of lessons, the chapters composing the
fhst lessons are so divided, that all those taken
3c2

306

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVHL

§ 809. All these attempts, hoAvever,
were rendered abortive, by the temper
which soon displayed itself in the loAver
house of convocation. The first cir
cumstance which evinced this disincli
nation to any changes, Avas the election
of a prolocutor ; for it had been the de
sire of the bishops, Avho Avere most
friendly to alterations, that Tillotson
should have been chosen to that office ;
Avhereas Dr. Jane, author of the Oxford

from the Apocrypha, and which are read in our
church from September to November, are omitted.
The second lessons in morning service, taken from
the gospels, are so divided, that the gospels are
read over only twice during the year, and the
Epistles, as in oar church, three times.
2. In the general arrangement of the three ser
vices which are used together in morning prayers
in our church, such portions of each as are virtu
ally repetitions, may be omitted at the discretion
of tbe minisier. Thus one creed only need be
read ; the Lord's Prayer and the collect for the
day need only be used once; and the Gloria Patri
repeated only at the end of tbe psalms for the day,
or the Gloria in Exeelsis substituted for it. Thus
also a large portion of the Litany, (from " 0 Christ.
hear us," to "as we do put our trust in thee,")
may be omitted ; and thus the morning prayer,
litany, and communion service, are converted, as
tar as possible, into one uniform office.
3. Of the three forms of absolution in our Prayer
Book, that used in the visitadon of the sick is
wholly omitted ; and either ihe form contained in
the morning prayer, or ihat taken from the com
munion service, may be used at the discretion of
the minister.
4. With regard to the psalms, there are ten
poriions of ihem selected, and ordered to be used
instead of those of the day, at the discretion of the
minister; and in cases of fasts and thanksgivings,
where none are appointed by authority, the mi
nister is allowed to choose them for himself The
version is the same as that in our Liturgy.
5. The Athanasian creed is wholly omitted, and
the minister may use, at his discretion, the Nicene,
or Apostles'.
6. In the evening prayers, the Magnificat and
Song of Symeon are omitted, and the 92d psalm
introduced. 7. Tbe occasional prayers are newly arranged,
and several new ones, as well as corresponding
ihanksgivings, introduced.
8. In the communion, no previous notice is to
be required of the communicants, who are all lo
receive kneeling. There is a new adilitional pre
face for Trinity Sunday ; and a prayer of oblation,
partly new, in which the invocation of the three
persons of the Trinity is re-introduced from the
Liturgy of 1549.
9. In baptism, the parents are allowed to stand
as sponsors, and the, use of the cross may be
omitted at their desire. The rubric about bap
tized children being undoubtedly saved is omitted ;
and in the baptism of persons of riper years, all
mention of informing the bishop is left out.
10. The catechism is nearly the same. Ministers
are not ordered to catechise after the second les
son. The confirmation is nearly the same.
11. In matrimony, the ceremony may take
place in a house, and the prayers are a little alter
ed, and some are omitted.

Decree, 1683,' and Regius Professor of
Divinity, obtained a majority of two to
one in his favour. This success was
said to be greatly promoted bythe inter
ference of the earls of Clarendon and
Rochester, uncles to Glueen Mary, who
endeavoured to perplex the measures of
the court, from the administration of
Avhich they found themselves excluded.
And Birch, in his hfe of Tillotson, ac
cuses Compton of haA'ing joined in this
cabal, out of ill AviU to the destined pro
locutor, who Avas already marked out as
the successor of Sancroft. This elec
tion- sufficiently proved Avhat Avas to be
expected from the convocation; and Dr.
Jane, in his speech Avhich he made as
prolocutor to the upper house, after
having greatly extolled the church of
England, concluded with the emphatic
words, "Nolumus leges Angliae mutari."
The commission from the crown, under
which the convocation AA'Ould have acted,
was delayed on account of the loss of
the great seal, which James had thrown
into the Thames, in his flight. It Avas
couched in very conciliating terms, and
requested that the matters proposed for
the consideration of convocation might
be discussed with impartiality and mode
ration. When this had been read, and
it was necessary that an address should
be prepared in ansAver to it, a dispute
arose between the tAvo houses, as to

12. In the visitation of the sick, all notice of
private confession and absolution is omitted , the
psalm is changed to the 130th, and there are rome
new occasional prayers at the end.
13. In the burial of the dead, the psalms are
shortened, and all expressions changed which
seem to apply to the state of the person buried.
14. I'he churching of women is much short
ened, and may be confined to a single prayer.
The offerinw to be applied to the relief of distressed
women in cliildbirth.
15. The form of prayer lo be used, al sea is
nearly the same.
16. The commination is wholly omitted.
17. The form of ordaining priests and deacons,
and consecrating bishops, is neariy the same. '
18. There are added, a form of prayer for the
visitation of prisoners, a prayer of thanksgiving
for the fruits ofthe earth, a form of family prayer,
a form for consecrating churches, (which is nearly
the same as that published by Bishop Andrews,)
and an office of institution.
19. The Thirty-nine Articles are hardly
changed. In the eighth, all mention of the
Athanasian Creed is left out; the twenty-first, f-
about assembling councils, is left out. In the 1
thirty-fifth, the homilies are allowed of as contain- f '
ing sound doctrine, but are not lobe read till they

have been revised.
* 729.

^ Tillotson, 202.

Chap. XVIH.]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

307

the terms in which they should return
their thanks, since the lower house re
fused by any expression to acknowledge
any connection betAA'een the Protestant
churches generally and the church of
England, and were but ill disposed to
feel or evince any gratitude to the king
for issuing the commission. The whole
appearance indeed of the lower house
Avas such, that the session Avas soon dis
continued ; and a considerable clamour
justly raised against the clergy, who
now expressed so little kindness towards
their dissenting brethren, after all the
promises which had been made, Avhile
the dangers arising from a Roman
Catholic king united all Protestants dur
ing the reign of James II.
§ 810. In one point of vieAv, the failure
of such a plan at this moment may be
considered providential ; for had any
alterations in the Liturgy or constitu
tion been effected, it Avould have afforded
the non-jurors a strong handle for attack
ing the church. They would then, with
a greater shoAv of plausibility, have
spoken of themselves as the ancient
church of England, and thrown the
blame of the schism, AA'hich they them
selves had created, on those Avho had
introduced the innovations.
Whether or no any great success
might have arisen from an attempt at a
comprehension, is very doubtful. Those
who have once left the communion of
the establishment are not likely to be
reclaimed by any changes AA'hich can be
made in the services ; but it would surely
be desirable, if every objection Avhich a
sober and reasonable member of the
church might make to these formularies
Avere as far as possible obviated. There
Avere many things Avhich did then, there
are some things Avhich do noAV, offend
the true friends of the church of Eng
land, who willingly comply \vith the
Liturgy and services, as established by
law, because they esteem the Common
Prayer Book, as a Avhole, to be a most
exceUent composition, one wonderfully
well suited to the purposes for Avhich it
was intended , but who, nevertheless,
regard it as a human production, and
therefore capable of improvement, as
well as requiring, from time to time,
verbal alterations, as the language of
the country gradually varies. And the
quiet friend of reform cannot but feel

sorry that this attempt was then dropped,
and has never since been carried into
effect. § 811. The church of England was
noAv established by laAV upon its present
basis, and has retained the form which
it then acquired, Avithout any variation.
Though the several steps by which this
object was accomplished have been
gradually detailed, yet it may not be
uninteresting to take a brief and sum
mary vieAvof the progressive alterations,
and of the constitution of the church, as
it exists at this moment.
The church of England first ceased
to be a member of the church of Rome
during the reign of Henry VIIL, but it
could hardly be caUed Protestant till
that of Edward VI. Its doctrines Avere
in an intermediate state, and differed
little from the declaration of faith set
forth by tbe Roman Catholic bishops
of England in 1826. During the short
reign of EdAvard VI. it became entirely
Protestant, and, in point of doctrine,
assumed its present form. This step
however Avas made rather by the decree
of the government than by the conviction
ofthe nation. The people, indeed, Avere
generally too ignorant to form any
opinions of their own ; and the proba
bility of opposition, Avhich might na
turally have been expected from the
clergy, had any attempt been made lo
introduce these innovations through their
intervention, induced Cranmer and the
Protector to establish what has been
called a parliamentary religion. View
ing then the religion thus authorized as
a part of the law ofthe land, to disagree
Avith it became, in the eye of the go
vernment, an offence against the state,
and, as such, punishable by civU pe
nalties. §812. Under Mary, the kingdom AA'as
reconciled to the church of Rome, but
the entire SAvay of that court was far
from being re-established. Mary per
secuted from principle ; and the perse
cutions which were then inflicted served
to open the eyes of the people to the
evUs of a form of religion, under the
mask of Avhich such barbarities could
be perpetrated, and made them gladly
recur to the tenets which had been pre
viously established, as soon as her death
gave them an opportunity of doing so.
§ 813. Elizabeth Avas herself not in-

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVM.

disposed to have approached, as near as
possible, to the Romish communion ; an
inclination which was increased in her
through the opposition exhibited by the
puritans of her day, with whom the love
of liberty, poUtical and religious, was
most closely blended, and avIio were
ready to AA'ithstand her arbitrary pro
ceedings in the government of the coun
try, as well as to disregard the ceremo
nies and rites of the church. The power
of the ecclesiastical courts was exerted
to depress this spirit of independence,
and any act Avhich marked a dissent
from the church Avas severely restrained
by cruel penalties. The Court of Eccle
siastical Commission became the tool of
the state, and the idea of resisting the
government became famUiar to the
minds of those, who either tried to es
tablish civil freedom, or who disliked
the institutions of the church.
§ 814. Under the Aveak reign of
James I., all these evils Avere very much
increased. He had personally suffered
much from the presbyterians ; he car
ried his notions of prerogative much
higher than his predecessors, and ad
ministered the government in such a
manner, that they Avho were discon
tented with the state of affairs learnt
that no safety could be expected, except
fjrom the dissemination of their OAvn
principles, and the combination which
Avould be thus formed against the pro
ceedings of the court. And the impo
licy of the court itself, by a misuse of
the term jOMnVfflM, combined together all
who were adverse to the government,
civil or ecclesiastical, and augmented
the ranks of its opponents, Avho were
perhaps from these circumstances invo
luntarily forced to become the enemies
of both church and state.
§ 815. All these evils assumed a more
formidable appearance during the ad
ministration of Laud, in the time of
Charles I. The Courts of High Com
mission, and of the Star Chamber, were
so connected in practice, that the king
dom viewed them as branches of the
same system of tyranny ; and, regard
ing rather the administrators than the
courts in which they acted, the people
learnt to hate the bishops and the higher
clergy. The canons of 1640 added to
this odium ; for, had they been carried
into effect, they would have rendered

the clergy the instruments of dissemi
nating doctrines' which no free nation
can consistently maintain. But the
chief mistake in the administration of
Laud was, that he ranked so many in
dividuals among such as were un
friendly to the church, and in his con
duct showed himself so adverse to all
who Avere branded AA'ith his displeasure,
that he made them assume a character
foreign to their Avishes ; and thus, men
who ought to have been the support of
the establishment, and Avho Avould pro
bably have proved so, had they not
been cut off from all hopes of rising in
their profession, Avere numbered among
the enemies of the church, and, "as it
were, compelled to become so. These
circumstances threw down the constitu
tion of the church, Avhen the civil go
vernment Avas overturned ; but even
before this event, the king had made a
material alteration in the ecclesiastical
constitution, by passing an act of par
liament Avhich took away most of the
coeicive power from the bishops' courts.
§ 816. At the Restoration, the author
ity of the bishops' courts was restored,
yet deprived of its excessiA'e power, by
the destruction of the Court of High
Commission. This, however, did not
deliver the mass of dissenters from the
persecutions to Avhich they had been
formerly subjected. The royalist House
of Commons became as persecuting; as
tbe High Commission had ever been,
and the laws Avhich were enacted against «
nonconformists and Roman Catholics,
show that a spirit of persecution is not
confined to churchmen alone. It is a
dreadful, but natural temper of the
human mind. These circumstances, ;
hoAvever, produced one blessing; by
degrees they opened the eyes of all
orders to the real nature of toleration ;
and as the persecutions in the days of
Mary tended, under God's providence,
to estabhsh Protestantism in England,
so the miseries now borne by the dis- '¦:
senters contributed to afford us the
blessings Avhich liberty of conscience is
cakulated to confer on those nations
which enjoy it, either in part or in
Avhole. § 817. The constitution of the church |
of England, as settled at the Revolution. -

' See i 570.

CWap. XVHL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

30?

was that of an authorized and paid esta
blishment ; which Avas not alloAved to
persecute those Avho dissented from it.
It was a church supported by the go
vernment, but not so exclusively as to
render any opposition to it, or dissent
from, it, an offence ag-ainst the state.
To these observations there Avere two
exceptions, Aviih regard to the Roman
CathoUc and the Socinian. But Avhen
we consider the numbers of the several
denominations of Christians in England,
we may say that toleration Avas generally
established, and that these exceptions
did not invalidate the great charter of
liberty of conscience, which this event
had granted us ; they obscured its glory,
rather than impaired its substantial ex
istence. The church of England then
became, as it has continued ever since,
a paid and authorized church establish
ment ; Avhich Avas to Avatch over the
spiritual concerns of the nation, and to
try to benefit the country, by making
every member of the body politic a
better man and a better Christian ; it
became the appointed duty of her mi
nisters to endeavour to lead their breth
ren, through peace on earth, to bliss in
heaven. The institution of such a body
depended on the enactments of the first
teachers of our holy faith. The pay
ment of it, and its connection Avith the
state, has arisen from the gratitude Avhich
our forefathers felt tOAvards a society so
constituted. But this connection has
fettered the church Avith many evils.
§ 818. It has justly authorized the
state in interfering Avith clerical appoint
ments, and, from the value of the reve
nues Avhich are attached to them, has
unfortunately induced those at Avhose
disposal they are placed to select their
friends, Avho are not always the proper
persons to fill the situations ; Avhile it
has induced the clergy to seek for the pre
ferments. The poverty of many of our
spiritual cures prevents them, humanly
speaking, from being properly taken

care of; and God knows whether the
Avealth of others does not tend to diffuse
aAvant of spirituality throughthe church.
It has induced the state, from mistaken
kindness, to connect civil penalties with
ecclesiastical censures, and by altering
the nature of such control, by diverting
it from the consciences to the present
fears of the sinner, has done away with
the utility of them altogether.
It has put a stop in a great measure
to the exercise of discipline over the
members of the church itself: and Avhile
we trust that the estabhshment contains
perhaps as large a number of the real
servants of God as any other body of
men of the same size, aa'c cannot but
deplore that there are many offending
members in it, for the correction and
cutting off of whom no steps are, or
perhaps can be, taken.
§ 819. These are some of the most
obvious evils with which the connection
between church and state has encum
bered the establishment : but let us not
shut our eyes to the benefits of this con
nection. Let any one regard the church
establishment as a moral police dissemi
nated throughthe country ; and he must
be blind to the interests of civilization,
if he thank not God for the advantages
which are produced by the distribution
of educated men in every part of Eng
land. Let him regard it as the instru
ment, under God, of spreadirig the
knowledge of pure and simple Chris
tianity, and he must bq ignorant of the
blessings of our holy faith, if he thank
not God that a minister of the gospel is
provided for every parish. And if there
be faults but too visible in the adminis
tration of this establishment, let us pray
God that they may be reformed by the
steady hand of those invested Avith legal
authority ; and that neither the dilatori
ness nor the half-measures. of her real
friends may transfer the task of re
formation to those who are hostUe to the
interests of our church.

31A

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIH.

APPENDDL F.

See § 170, ^. James Bainham was a
lawyer of a good family, and had married
the daughter of Simon Fish ; in 1531 he
Avas brought before Sir Thomas More
and Bishop Stokesley, but submitted.
The next year he was again in trouble
as a relapsed heretic, and uUimately
handed over to the civil power to be
burnt. Fox, ii. 245, &c.
"After this, Mr. Latymer was retained
in the court, and resorted much to Lon
don, and preached the gospel in divers
churches there, to the great benefit of
many, and the propagation of religion.
Here, in 1532, he gave a charitable visit
lo James Bayneham, a little before his
burning, upon this occasion. 'After
Mr. Bayneham had been condemned
belAveen More, 'the lord chancellor, and
the bishops, and committed unto the
secular poAver to be brent ; and so,
immediately after his condempnation,
lodged up iri the deep dungeon in NeAV-
g'ate, ready to be sent to the fire, EdAvard
Isaac, ofthe parish of Wel, in the county
of Kent, and Wilham Morice of Chip
ping Ongar, the county of Essex, Esq.,
and Raphe Morice, brother unto the said
WiUiam, being togethers in one com
pany, met with Mr. Latymer in London.
And for that they were desirous to un
derstand the cau^e of the said Bayne
ham's condempnation, being to many
men obscure and unknoAvn, they en
treated Mr. Latymer to go with them to
Newgate, to th'intent to understand by
him the very occasion of his said con-
dempuD-tion ; and otherAvise to comfort
him to take his death quietly and pa
tiently. When Mr. Latymer and thother
before named, the next day before he
Avas brent, were come doAvn into the
dungeon, AA'here al things seemed utterly
dark, there they found Bayneham sitting
upon a couch of straAv, Avith a book and
a Avax candle in his hand, praying and
reading thereupon.
" ' And after salutation made, Mr. La
tymer began to commune Avith him in
this sort : Mr. Bayneham, we hear say
that you are condempned for heresy to
be brent ; and many men are in doubt,
wherfore you should suffer ; and I, for

my part, am desirous to understand the
cause of your death ; assuring- you that
I do not allow that any man should con
sent to his own death, unles he had a
right cause to dy in. Let not vainglory
overcome you in a matter that men de
serve not to dy for : for therin you shall
neither please God, do good to yourself,
nor your neighbour. And better it were
for you to submit your self to the ordi
nances of men, then so rashly to finish
your life Avithout good ground. And
therefore we pray you to let us under
stand the articles that you are con
dempned for. I am. content, quoth
Bayneham, to tel you altogether. The
first article that they condemne me for is
this, that I reported that Thomas Becket,
sometime archbishop of Canterbury, Avas
a traitor, and Avas dampned in hel, if he
repented not : for that he Avas in armes
against his prince, as a rebel ; provoking
other foreign princes to invade the realm,
to the utter subversion of the same.
Then said Mr. Latymer, Where read
you this ? Gluoth Mr. Bayneham, I read
it in an old history. Wel, said Mr. Laty
mer, this is no cause at al Avorthy for a
man to take his death upon ; for it may
be a I3', as Avell as a true tale ; and in
such a doubtful matter it Avere mere mad
ness for a man to jeopard his life. But
Avhat else is layd to )'our charge ? The
truth is, said Bayneham, I spake againsl
purgatory, that there Avas no such thing,
but that it picked men's purses ; and
against satisfactory masses : Avhich ["as
sertions of mine] I defended by the air-
thority of the Scriptures. Mary, said
Mr. Latymer, in these articles your con
science may be so stayed, that you may
seem rather to dy in the defence thereof,
than to recant both against your con
science and the Scriptures also. But
yet boAA'are of vainglory : for the Devil
Avill be ready noAv to infect you ther-
Avith, Avhen you shall come into the mul
titude of the people. And then Mr.
Latymer did animate him to take his
death quietly and patiently. Bayneham
thanked him heartily therfore. And I
likewise, said Bayneham, do exhort you
to stand to the defence of the truth ; for

Chap. XVHL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

311

you, that shall be left behind, had need
of comfort also, the Avorld being so dan
gerous as it is. And so spake many
comfortable AA'ords to Mr. LatA'mer.
"'At the length Mr. Latymer de
manded of him, Avhether he had a Avife
or no ? With that question Bayneham
fel a Aveeping. What, quoth Latymer,
is this your constancy to GodAvards ?
What mean you thus to Aveep ? 0 !
sir, said Bayneham to Mr. Latymer, you
have noAv touched me very nigh. I
have a Avife, as good a Avoman as ever
man Avas joyned unto. And I shal
leave her now, not only AA'ithout sub
stance, or anj'thing to live by ; but also,
for my sake, she shal be an opprobrie
unto the world, and be pointed at of
every man in this sort. Yonder goeth a
heretique's wife ! And therefore she
shall be disdained for my sake ; which
is no small grief unto me. Mary, sir,
quoth Latymer, I perceive that you are
a very weak champion, that Avil be over-
throAvn Avith such a vanity. Where are
become al those comfortable Avords that
so late you alledged unto us, that should
tary here behind you 1 I mervail Avhat
you mean. Is not Almighty God hable
to be husband to your Avife, and a father
unto your children, if you commit them
to him in a strong faith ? I am sory to
se you in this taking, as though God had
no care of his, Avhen he numbreth the
hairs of a manys head. If he do not
provide for them, the fault is in us that
mistrusteth him. It is our infidelity
that causeth him to do nothing for ours.
Therefore, repent, Mr. Bayneham, for
this mistrusting of Almighty God's good
nes. And be you sure, and I do most
firmely beUeve it, that if you do commit
your Avife with a strong faith unto the
governance of Almighty God, and so dy
therin, that Avithin this two years, per
adventure in one year, she shal be better
provided for, as touching the felicity of
this world, than you, with al your policy,
could do for her your self, if you Avere
presently here. And so, with such hke
words, ^.xpostulating Avith him for his
feeble faith, he made an end. Mr.
Bayneham, caUing his spirits to him
self, most heartily thanked Mr. Latymer
for his good comfort and counsel ; say
ing plainly, that he Avould not for much
good, but he had come thither to him :
for nothing in the Avorld so much trou

bled him, as the care of his Avife and
family. And so they departed. And
the next day Bayneham Avas burnt.'
Of Avhose death this Avondrous thing is
recorded, that in the midst of the flames
he professed openly, that he felt no pain ;
and that the fire seemed unto him as
easy as lying doAvn in a bed of down.
But return we to Latymer, Avho glorified
God tAventy-three years after in the same
manner of death, and under the same
imputation of heresy."'
The detaUs of Ridley and Latimer
may be found not only in Fox, but re
printed in Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. in.
418, &c. That of Cranmer is thus
described in Strype :
" Yet, because it is not convenient
so briefly to pass over such a remarka
ble scene of his life, being his last ap
pearance upon the stage of this Avorld,
I shall represent it in the Avords of a
certain grave person unknown, but a
papist, Avho was an eye and ear-Avitness,
and related these matters, as it seems,
very justly, in a letter from Oxon to his
friend. Which is as followeth :
"'But that I knoAV for our great
friendship and long-continued love, you
look even of duty that I should signify
to you of the truth of such things as
here chanceth among us ; I would not
at this time have Avritten to ynu the un
fortunate end, and doubtful tragedy, of
T. C. late bishop of Canterbury : be
cause I little pleasure take in beholding
of such heavy sights. And, Avhen they
are once overpassed, I like not to re
hearse them again ; being but a renew
ing of my Avo, and doubling my grief.
For although his former life, and
Avretched end, deserves a greater mise
ry, (if any greater might have chanced
than chanced unto him,) yet, setting
aside his offences to God and his coun
try, and beholding the man Avithout his
faults, I think there Avas none that
pitied not his case, and beAvailed his
fortune, and feared not his own chance,
to see so noble a prelate, so grave a
counsellor, of so long-continued honour,
after so many dignifies, in his old years
to be deprived of his estate, adjudged
to die, and in so painful a death to end
his life. I have no delight to increase
it. Alas, it is too much of itself, that

I Strype's Eccl. IWem. III. i. 372.

313

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIH.

ever so heavy a case should betide to
man, and man to deserve it.
" ' But to come to the matter : on
Saturday last, being the 21st of March,
was his day appointed to die. And,
becatise the morning Avas much rainy,
the sermon appointed by Mr. Dr. Cole
to be made at the stake, Avas made in
St. Mary's church: Avhither Dr. Cran
mer Avas brought by the mayor and al
dermen, and my Lord WUIiams. With
whom came divers gentlemen of the
shire. Sir T. A. Bridges, Sir John
Browne, and others. Where was pre
pared, over-against the pulpit, an high
place for him, that all the people might
see him. And, when he had ascended
it, he kneeled doAvn and prayed, weep
ing tenderly : Avhich moved a great
number to tears, that had conceived an
assured hope of his conversion and
repentance. " 'Then Mr. Cole began his sermon.
The sum Avhereof Avas this : First, he de
clared causes why it was expedient that
he should suffer, notAvithstanding his
reconciliation. The chief are these.
One was, that he had been a great
cause of all this alteration in this realm
of England, And, Avhen the matter of
the divorce between King Henry VIII.
and Glueen Katharine was commenced
in the court of Rome, he, having no
thing to do Avith it, set upon it as judge,
Avhich Avas the entry to all the inconve
niences that foUoAved. Yet in that he
excused him, that he thought he did it
not of malice, but by the persuasions
and advice of certain learned men.
Another Avas, that he had been the
great setter forth of all this heresy re
ceived into the church in this last time ;
had Avritten in it, had disputed, had con
tinued it, even to the last hour ; and
that it had never been seen in this
realm (but in the time of schism) that
any man continuing so long hath been
pardoned : and that it was not to be
remitted for ensample's sake. Other
causes he alleged, but these Avere the
chief, Avhy it Avas not thought good to
pardon him. Other causes beside, he
said, moved the queen and the council
thereto, Avhich Avere not meet and con
venient for every one to understand
them. " ' The second part touched the audi
ence, how they should consider this

I thing: that they should hereby take
example to fear God : and that there
Avas no poAver against the Lord : hav
ing before their eyes a man of so high
degree, sometime one of the chiefest
prelates of the church, an archbishop,
the chief of the council, the second
peer in the realm of long time : a man,
as might be thought, in greatest assu
rance, a king of his side ; notwithstand
ing all his authority and defence to be
debased from an high estate to a low
degree ; of a counsellor to be a caitiff;
and to be set in so Avretched estate, that
the poorest wretch would not change
conditions ivith him.
" ' The last and end appertained unto
him : Avhom he comforted and encou
raged to take his death well, by many
places of Scripture. And Avith these,
and such, bidding him nothing mistrust,
but he should incontinently receive that
the thief did : to AA'hom Christ said,
Hodie mecum eris {n paradiso. And
out of St. Paul armed him against the
terrors of the fire, hy this : Dominus
fidelis est : Non sinet nos tentari ultra
quam ferre potestis : bythe example of
the three children ; to Avhom God made
the flame seem like a pleasant dew.
He added hereunto the rejoicing of St.
AndreAV in his cross: the patience of
St. Laurence on the fire : ascertaining
him, that God, if he called on him, and
to such as die in his faith, either will
abate the fury of the flame, or give him
strength to abide it. He glorified God
much in his conversion ; because it
appeared to be only his work : declar
ing AA'hat travel and conference had
been used with him to convert him, and
all prevaUed not, till it pleased God of
his mercy to reclaim him, and call him
home. In discoursing of Avhich place,
he much commended Cranmer, and
qualified his former doing.
" 'And I had almost forgotten to tell
you, that Mr. Cole promised him, that
he should be prayed for in every church
in Oxford, and should have mass and
Dirige sung for him ; and spake to all
the priests present to say mass for his
soul. " ' When he had ended his sermon,
he desired all the people to pray for
him ; Mr. Cranmer kneehng doAvn with
them, and praying for himself. I think
there Avas never such a number so earn-

CH.4P. XVIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

313

nestly praying together. For they,
that hated him before, noAv loved him
for his conversion, and hope of con
tinuance. They that loved hira before
could not sodenly hate him, having
hope of his confession again of his fall.
So love and hope increased devotion
on every side.
" 'I shall not need, for the time of
sermon, to describe his behaviour, his
sorroAvful countenance, his heavy cheer,
his face bedewed Avith tears ; sometime
lifting his eyes to heaven in hope, some
time casting them down to the earth for
shame ; to be brief, an image of sor-
roAv : the dolor of his heart bursting
out at his eyes in plenty of tears : re
taining ever a quiet and grave behaviour.
Which increased the pity in men's
hearts, that they unfeignedly loved him,
hoping it had been his repentance for
his transgression and error. I shall not
need, I say, to point it out unto you ;
you can much better imagine it yourself.
" ' When praying Avas done, he stood
up, and, having leave to speak, said.
Good people, I had intended indeed to
desire you to pray for me ; Avhich be
cause Mr. Doctor hath desired, and you
have done already, I thank you most
heartily for it. And now ivill I pray
for myself, as I could best devise for
mine OAvn comfort, and say the prayer,
word for AA'ord, as I have here written it.
And he read it standing, and after
kneeled down, and said the Lord's
Prayer ; and all the people on their
knees devoutly praying Avith him. His
prayer Avas thus :
" ' O FATHER of heaven ; O Son
of God, Redeemer of the world ; O
Holy Ghost, proceeding from them
both, three persons and one God, have
mercy upon me most wretched caitiff,
and miserable sinner. I Avho have
offended both heaven and earth, and
more grievously than any tongue can
express, AA'hither then may I go, or
whither should I fly for succour ? To
heaven I may be ashamed to lift up
mine eyes ; and in earth I find no re
fuge. What shall I then do? shall I
despair? God forbid. O good God,
thou art merciful, and refuses none that
come unto thee for succour. To thee
therefore do I run. To thee do 1 hum
ble myself : saying, O Lord God, my
.sins be great, but yet have mercy upon
40

me for thy great mercy. O God the
Son, thou Avast not made man, this great
mystery Avas not Avrought, for few or
smaU offences. Nor thou didst not
give thy Son unto death, O God the
Father, for our little and small sins
only, but for all the greatest sins of the
Avorld : so that the sinner return unto
thee Avith a penitent heart : as I do
here at this present. Wherefore have
mercy upon me, O Lord, Avhose pro
perty is always to have mercy. For
although my sins be great, yet thy
mercy is greater. I crave nothing, 0
Lord, for mine OAvn merits, but for thy
name's sake, that it may be glorified
thereby : and for thy dear Son Jesus
Christ's sake. And now therefore.
Our Father, Avhich art in heaven, &c.
" 'Then rising, he said. Every man
desireth, good people, at the time of
their deaths, to give some good exhorta
tion, that other may remember after
their deaths, and be the better thereby.
So I beseech God grant me grace, that
I may speak something, at this ray de
parting, Avhereby God may be glorified,
and you edified.
" ' First, It is an heavy case to see,
that many folks be so much doted upon
the love of this false world, and so
careful for it, that for the love of the
Avorld to come, they seem to care very
little or nothing therefore. This shall
be my first exhortation. That you set
not OA'ermuch by this fal^e glosing
world, but upon God and the Avorld to
come : and learn to know what this
lesson meaneth, Avhich St. John teach
eth, that the love of this world is hatred
against God.
" ' The second exhortation is. That,
next unto God, you obey your king and
queen Avillingly and gladly, Avithout
murmur or grudging ; and not for fear
of them only, but rauch raore for the
fear of God ; knowing that they be
God's ministers, appointed by God to
rule and govern you. And therefore
whoso resisteth them, resisteth God's
ordinance. " 'The third exhortation is. That you
love altogether like brethren and sistern.
For, alas ! pity it is to see what conten
tion and hatred one Christian man hath
to another; not taking each other as
sisters and brothers ; but rather as stran
gers and mortal enemies. But I pray
2D

314

HISTORY OF THE

[Chap. XVIH.

you learn and bear Avell away this one
lesson. To do good to all men as much
as in j'ou lieth, and to hurt no m'an, no
more than you would hurt your OAvn
natural and loving brother or sister.
For this you may be sure of, that Avho-
soever hateth any person, and goeth
about maliciously to hinder or hurt
him, surely, and without all doubt,
God is not Avith that man, although he
think himself never so much in God's
favour. " ' The fourth exhortation shall be to
them that have great substance and
riches of this Avorld, That they Avill Avell
consider and weigh those sayings of
the Scripture. One is of our Saviour
Christ himself, Avho saith. It is hard for
a rich man io enter into heaven: a sore
saying, and yet spoke by him that kneAv
the truth. The second is of St. John,
whose saying is this, He that hath the
substance of this world, and seeth his
brother in necessity, and shutteth up
his mercy from him, how can he say,
he loveth God? Much more might I
speak of every part; but time sufficeth
not. I do but put you in remembrance
of things. Let all them that be rich,
ponder Avell those sentences : for if ever
they had any occasion to shoAv their
charit}', they have now at this present,
the poor people being so many, and
victuals so dear. For though I have
been long in prison, yet I have heard
of the great penury of the poor. Con
sider, that that Avhich is given to the
poor, is given to God ; Avhom Ave have
not otherwise present corporally wilh
us, but in the poor.
" ' And noAV, for so much as I am
come to the last end of my life, Avhere-
upon hangeth all my life passed, and
my life to come, either to live with my
Saviour Christ in heaven, in joy, or
else to be in pain ever Avith Avicked
devils in hell; and I see before mine
eyes presently either heaven ready to
receive me, or hell ready to SAvalloAV
me up; I shaU therefore declare unto
you my very faith, how I believe, Avith
out colour or dissimulation : for noAv is
no time to dissemble, whatsoever I have
written in times past.
" 'First, I believe in God the Father
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
&c., and every article of the Catholic
faith, every Avord and sentence taught

by our Saviour Christ, his apostles, and
prophets, in the Old and New Testa
ment. " • And noAV I come to the great thing
that troubleth my conscience more than
any other thing that ever I said or did
in my Ufe : and that is, the setting
abroad of writings contrary to the truth.
Which here noAV I renounce and refuse,
as things Avritten Avith my hand, con
trary to the truth Avhich I thought in
my heart, and Avrit for fear of death,
and to save my life, if it might be : and
that is, all such bills, Avhich I have
Avritten or signed Avith mine own hand
since my degradation : wherein I have
Avritten many things untrue. And for
asmuch as my hand offended in writing
contrary to my heart, therefore my
hand shall first be punished : for if I
may come to the fire, it shall be first
burned. And as for the pope, I refuse
him, as Christ's enemy and antichrist,
Avith all bis false doctrine.
"'And here, being admonished of
his recantation and dissembling, he
said, Alas, my lord, I have been a man
that all my life loved plainness, and
never dissembled till noAV against the
truth ; Avhich I am most sorry for. He
added hereunto, that, for the sacrament,
he believed as he had taught in his
book against the bishop of Winchester.
And here he Avas suffered to speak no
more. " ' So that his speech contained chiefly
three points, love to God, love to the
king, and love to the neighbour. In
the Avhich talk he held men very sus
pense, Avhich all depended upon the
conclusion : Avhere he so far deceived
all men's expectations, that, at the hear
ing thereat they Avere much amazed ;
and let him go on a whUe, till my Lord
WUIiams bad him play the Christen
man, and remember himself. To Avhom
he ansAvered, That he so did ; for now
he spake truth.
" ' Then he Avas carried away ; and
a great number that did run to see him
go so Avickedly to his death, ran after
him, exhorting him, Avhile time was, to
remember himself. And one Friar
John, a godly and well-learned man,
all the Avay travelled with hira to re
duce him. But it Avould not be. What
they said in particular I cannot teU, but
the effect appeared in the end : for al

Ch.4p. XVIIL]

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

315

the stake he professed that he died in
all such opinions as he had taught, and
oft repented him of his recantation.
" ' Coming to the stake Avith a cheer
ful countenance and wUling mind, he
put off his garments Avith haste, and
stood upright in his shirt : and a bache
lor of divinity, named Elye, of Brazen-
nose college, laboured to convert him
to his former recantation, ivith the two
Spanish friars. But Avhen the friars
saAV his constancy, they said in Latin
one to another. Let us go from him;
we ought not to be nigh him ; for the
devil is with him. But the bachelor
in divinity was more earnest Avith him:
unto Avhom he ansAvered, that, as con
cerning his recantation, he repented it
right sore, because he kneAv it Avas
against the truth ; Avith other words
more. Whereupon the Lord Williams
cried. Make short, make short. Then
the bishop took certain of his friends
by the hand. But the bachelor of
divinity refused to take him by the
hand, and blamed all others that so did,
and said he was sorry that ever he came
in his company. And yet again he
required him to agree to his former
recantation. And the bishop ansAvered,
(shoAvihg his hand,) This is the hand
that Avrote it, and therefore shall it suf
fer first punishment.
" 'Fire being noAV put to him, he
stretched out his right hand and thrust
it into the flame, and held it there a
good space, before the fire came to any
other part of his body; where his hand
was seen of every man sensibly burning,
crying Avith a loud voice. This hand
hath offended. As soon as the fire got
up he Avas very soon dead, never stir
ring or crying all the Avhile.
" ' His patience in the torment, his
courage in dying, if it had been taken
either for the glory of God, the wealth
of his country, or the testimony of truth,
as it Avas for a pernicious error, and
the subversion of true religion, I could
worthily have comraended the exam
ple, and matched it with the fame of
any father of ancient time ; but, seeing
that not the death, but the cause and
quarrel thereof, commendeth the suf-
lerer, I cannot but rauch dispraise his
obstinate stubbornness and sturdiness in
dying, and especially in so evil a cause.
Surely his death rauch grieved every

man ; but not alter one sort. Some
pitied to see his body so tormented with
the fire raging upon the sUly carcass,
that counted not of the folly. Other,
that passed not much of the body,
lamented to see him spill his soul,
wretchedly, without redemption, to be
plagued for ever. His friends sorroived
for love ; his enemies for pity ; stran
gers for a common kind of humanity,
Avhereby Ave are bound one to another.
Thus I have enforced myself, for your
sake, to discourse this heavy narration,
contrary to my mind : and, being more
than half weary, I make a short end,
Avishing you a quieter life, with less
honour ; and easier death, with more
praise. The 23d of March. 'Yours, J. A.'
" All this is the testimony of an ad
versary, and, therefore, Ave must alloAv
for some of his words ; but may be the
more certain of the archbishop's brave
courage, constancy, patience. Christian
and holy behaviour, being related by
one so aSected."*
The feelings about his Avife which
agitated Bainham', and AA'hich were so
happily removed by his conference with
Latimer, might have been expected
more or less to affect every one of the
martyrs Avho were bound to earth by
this most sacred tie ; but this does not
appear to have been the case ; and not
only did many Avoraen suffer gloriously
and patiently themselves ; not only did
men Avho were married willingly resign
their wives and families to the care of
God ; but several women were found,
who seem to have anima^ted their part
ners to the struggle, as well by their
prayers as by their assistance and ad
vice. Laurence Saunders was born of
worshipful parentage, was educated at
Eton, and King's College, Cambridge,
and, having taken orders, he boldly
preached in his parish church of All-
halloAvs, Bread street, and was conse
quently confined and detained there for
a very considerable time before his
martyrdom. (Fox, iii. 113.) "As the
said Master Saunders was in prison,
straight charge was given to the keeper
that no person should speak with him.

fol.

Strype's Cranmer, 551—559, 8vo., 384—390,

316

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

[Chap. XVIII.

His wife yet came to the prison-gate
with her young child in her arms, to
visit her husband. The keeper, though
for his charg-e he durst not suffer her to
come into the prison, yet did he take
the httle babe out of her arms, and
brought him unto his father ; Laurence
Saunders seeing him, rejoiced greatly,
saying that he rejoiced more to have
such a boy, than he should if Iavo thou
sand pounds were given him. And
unto the standers by, which praised the
goodliness of the child, he said. What
man, fearing God, Avould not lose his
life present, rather than, by prolonging
it here, he should adjudge this boy to
be a bastard, his wife a Avhore, and
himself a whoremonger ? Yea, if there
were no other cause for Avhich a man
of my estate should lose his life, yet
Avho would not give it to avouch this
child to be legitimate, and his marriage
to be laAvful and holy ?
" I do, good reader, recite this saying,
not only to let thee see what he thought
of priests' marriage, but chiefly to let all
married couples and parents learn to
bear in their bosoms true affections :
natural, yet seasoned with the true salt
of the Spirit, unfeignedly and thoroughly
mortified to do the natural Avorks and
offices of married couples and parents,
so long as with their doing they may
keep Christ with a free confessing faith
in a conscience unfoil : otherwise both
they and their OAvn lives are so to be
forsaken, as Christ required them to be
denied, and given in his cause."
This good man Avas afterAvards con
demned to death, and sent to Coventry
to be burnt. From the length of time
during which he was in prison, he had
the opportunity of addressing many
letters to his friends, particularly to his
wife, which are printed in the Acts and
Mon., and in the letters of the Martyrs.
Among a vast number of others, the
following occurs addressed to his wife,
wherein allusion is made to a shirt,
which seems to have been prepared for
his execution. There is no date to it.
It is addressed " To his wife and other
of his friends."
" Grace and comfort in Christ. Amen.

Dear wife, be. merry in the mercies of
our Christ, and ye also, my dear friends :,
pray for us, every body. We be shortly
to be dispatched hence to our good
Christ. Amen. Amen. Wife, I would
you sent me my shirt,' which you know
whereunto it is consecrated. Let it be
sewed down on both the sides, and not
open. O, my heavenly Father, look
upon me in the face of thy Christ, or
else I shaU not be able to abide thy
countenance, such is my filthiness. He
wUl do so, and therefore I will not be
afraid Avhat sin, death, hell, and damna
tion can do against me. Oh Avife, ahvays
remember the Lord. God bless you!
Yea, he avUI bless thee, good wife, and
thy poor boy also ; only cleave thou unto
him, and he will give thee all things.
Pray, pray, pray." (Fox's Martyrs, iu.
118 ; Letters of the Martyrs, 206.) Tyn
dale, writing to Frith, then in the ToAver,
says, (Works, 453 ; Fox, U. 307,) "Fear
not threatening, therefore^ neither be
overcome with sweet words ; with which
twain the hypocrites shall assail you ;
neither let the persuasions of worldly
Avisdom bear rule in your heart ; no,
though they be your friends that counsel
you. Let Bilney be a AA'arning to you.
Let not their visure beguile your eyes.
Let not your body faint. He that en
dureth to the end shall be saved. If the
pain be above your strength, remember.
Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 1
will give it you. And pray to your
Father in that name, and he avUI ease
your pain or shorten it. The Lord of
peace, of hope, and of faith, be Avith you.
Amen." And again : " Tavo have suf
fered at Antwerp, &c. See, you are not
alone : be cheerful, and remember that,
among the hardhearted in England, there
is a number reserved for grace ; for Avhose
sake, if need be, you must be ready to
suffer." He then gives some account
of the printing of Joye's Bible, and ends,
" Sir, your wife is AveU content Avith the
will of God, and would not for her sake
have the glory of God hindered. WiUiam
Tyndale."

' Rawhns White, fisherman, desired his wife to
send him his wedding garment or shirt, in which
he was afterwards burnt. Fox, iii. 181.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

55. Julius Ca5sar invades Britain.
A. D.
44. Claudius invades Britain.
50. Caractacus captive at Rome.
61. Anglesey taken by Suetonius.
67. St. Peter and St. Paul put to death al
Rome.
80. Conquests of Agricola in Britain.
120. Adrian's wall built.
167-76. King Lucius embraces Christianity.
208. Severus in Britain. The wall between the
Forth and Clyde built in the next year.
286. Carausius usurps the government in
Britain.
301. Martyrdom of Sl. Alban.
307. Constantine emperor of Rome.
314. The Council of Aries.
325. The Council of Nice.
347. The Council of Sardica.
359. The Coujicil of Ariminum.
383. Maximus lakes the flower of the British
forces from England.
416. The Pelagian heresy condemned in
Africa.
427. The Romans finally leave Britain.
449. Hengist and Horsa land in England.
457. The kingdom of Kent, the first of the
Heptarchy, established.
476. Rome taken by the Heruli.
493. Sl. Patrick, who converted Ireland, dies.
515. The supposed date of King Arthur.
560. Gildas, the first English historian, flou
rished.

A. D.
582. The kingdom of Mercia, the last of the
Heptarchy, established.
586. The British church had retired into
Wale-s.
596. Augusiin comes lo Thanet.
601. The meeting of the Saxon and British
churches in Worce.stershire.
622. yEra of the Hegyra, or flight of Moham
med.
664. The Council of Whitby.
678. Sussex, the last of the Heptarchy, con
verted lo Chrisiianiiy.
730. The edict of Leo Isaurus againsl image
AA'orsbip.
Origin of the civil dominion of the popes.
735. The Venerable Bede dies.
754. The pope re-established in his temporal
power by Pepin.
787. The Danes invade England. Lichfield
made an archbishopric. The second
Council of Nice.
872. Alfred begins his reign.
880. Schism between the Lalin and Greek
churches.
934. The battle of Burnanberg placed all
England under Athelstan.
940. Howel Dha, king of Wales.
996. The publication of Elfric's Homily
against Transubstantiation.
1013. Sweno, king of England and Denmark.
1041. Edward the Confessor.
1059. The Waldenses separated from Rome.
1066. Harold II. conquered at Battle.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

597. Augustin.
604. Laurence.
619. Mellitus.
624. Justus.
634. Honorius.
654. Adeodatus.
668. 'J'heodore.
693. Birthwald.
731. Tatwine.
735. Nothelm.
712. Cuthbert.
759. Bregwin.
763. Lambriih, or Lambert
793 Athelard.
804. Wulfred.
830. Theolgild.

830. Ceolnoth.
871. Atheldred.
891. Phlegmund.
923. Athelm.
928. Wulfelm.
941. Odo Severus.
954. Dunstan.
988. Ethelgar.
989. Siric.
996. Aluricius.
1005. Elphege.
1013. Living, or Leovingus.
1020. Agelnoth, or .iElhelnot.
1038. Edsine, or Eadsius.
1050. Robert Gemeticensis.
1052. Stigand.
2d2

317

318

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

1150.

1164.

Kings of
England.

1066.1070.

1080.

1087.

1090.

1100.1110.

1120.

1130.1135.

1140.

William I.

William II.

Henry I.

Stephen.

Henry II.

Popes.

Gregory VII.
1073.

Victor III.
1086.
Urban II.
1088.

Pascal II.
1099.

Gelasius II.
1118.
Callixtus II.
1119.

Honorius II.
1124.
Innocent II.
1130.

Celestin II.
1143.
Lucius II.
1144.
Eugenius III.
1145.

Anastasius IV.
11.53.
Adrian IV.
1154.
Alexander III.
115U.

Archbishopa of
Canterbury.

Lanfranc, 1070.

Anselm, 1093.

Rodulph, 1114.

W. Corboyl,
1122.

Theobald, 1138.

Remarkable Events.

1079. Doomsday book begun.
81. Osmond, bishop of Sarum,
frames the Service Book in
Usum Sarum.

95. The first crusade ; Peter the
Hermit.
99. The Knights of St. John insti
tuted.
1105. Anselm goes to Rome about
investitures.

19. The order of Knighis Templars
instituted.

37. The Pandects of the Roman
law discovered al Amalphi.

40. Canon law introduced into Eng
land.
William of Malmsbury flou
rished.

47. Second crusade ; Sl. Bernard.
Geoffrey of Monmouth flou
rished.
51. The canon law collected by
Gratian.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

319

1160.

1170.

1180.

Kings of
England.

1189.

1199.

Richard I.

John.

1210.

1216. 1220.

Henry IH.

1230.

1240.

1250,

1 1260,

Popes.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Lucius ni.
1181.
Urban III.
1185.
Gregory VIII.
1187.
Clement III.
1187.
Celestin III.
1191.

Innocent HI.
1198.

Honorius HI.
1216.

Gregory IX.
1227.

T. Becket,
1162.

Richard, 1171.

Baldwin, 1184.

Remarlcable Events.

Reginald Fitz
Jocelin, 1191.
Hubert Waller,
1193.

1160. Some Germans punished for
heresy at Oxford.

64. Constitutions of Clarendon.
71. T. Becket murdered.
72. Conquest of Ireland.
75. Greaihead born.

89. The third crusade.

Stephen Lang
ton, 1207.

1200. Mariner's compass used.
2. Fourth crusade.
4. The inquisition eslablished.

8. London incorporated by charter.
10. One of the Albigenses burnt in
London.
Crusade againsl them in France.
15. Magna Charta.

Celestin IV.
1241.
Innocent IV.
1243.

Alexander IV.
1254.

R. Wethershed, 1229.
Edmund, 1234.

21,

22,

The first mendicants establish
ed in Oxford.
A deacon burnt for apostasy.

35. Greathead, bishop of Lincoln.

Boniface, 1245.

49.

University founded.

college.

Oxford, >

59.

Matthew Paris ob.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

1261.
1270.1272.

Kings of
England.

Edward I.

1280,

1290.

1300.

1307.1310.

1320.1327.1330.

1340.

Edward IL

Edward IIL

Popes.

Urban IV. 1261.
Clement IV.
1265.
Gregory X.
1271.
Innocent V.
1276.
Adrian V. 76.
John XXI. 76.
Nicholas IIL
1277.

Martin IV, 1281.

Honorius IV.
1285.
Nicholas IV.
1288.

Celestin V.
1294.
Boniface, VHL
1294.

.Benedict XL
1303.
Clement V.
1305.

John XXIL
1316.

Benedict XII.
1334.
Clemeht VL
1342.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Rob. Kilwarby, 1272.

J. Peekham, 1278.

Rob. Winchel
sey, 1294.

Walter Raynold,
1313.

Simon Mepham,
1328.
Joseph Stratford,
1333.

Remarkable Events.

1265. Knights and burgesses sum
moned lo parliament.

Th. Bradwar-
dine, 1349.
Simon Islip,
1349.

79. Statute of Mortmain.

83. Final reduction of Wales.
84. Roger Bacon ob.

About this lime Stamford be
came an university for a
short period.

1301. The barons, assert the inde
pendence of England in a
letter to the pope.

8. The seat of the popes trans
ferred to Avignon.
12. The order of Knights Templars
dissolved.

43. The Houses of Lords and Com
mons dislinct.
46. Battle of Cressy.
48. SomeFlagellantslanded in Eng
land, but made no proselytes.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

331

Kings of
England.

Popes.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events-

1350.

1360.

1370.

Innocent VI. 1352.

Urban V. 1362.

Gregory XL 1370.

1377.

1380.

Richard H.

1378.
Rome. Avignon.

Urban VI. Clement
VU.

1390.

1399.

Henry IV.

1413.

1422.

1389.
Boniface EX.

Henry V.

Henry VL

1404.
Innocent VIL
1406.
Gregory XII.

1394.
Benedict XIIL

Simon Lang
ham, 1366.
Will. Wiltlesey,
1368.

Simon Sudbury.
1375.

Will. Courtney,
1381.

Pisa.
1 1409.
Alexan- der V.
i 1410.
i John
; XXIII.

Martin V. 1417.

Thomas Arun
del, 1396.

Hen. Chichely,
1414.

1352. Statute of Praemunire.
The Plowman's Complaint
was published about this
period.
56. Battle of Poictiers.

69. Tamerlane, the Mogul bon-
queror.
71. The parliament petition
that secular employments
may not be held by
churchmen.
76. Edward the Black Prince
dies.
77. Wiclif answers before
Courtney in St. Paul's.
78. Grand schism of the west.

81. Wat the Tiler's insurrec
tion ; S. Sudbury raur.
dered.
83. Cannon first used by the
English in defence of
Calais.
84. Wiclif ob.
87. Winchester school founded.
88. Commission against the
Lollards.

95. The petition of the Lollards
is presented to parlia
ment.

1400. Statute against the Lol
lards.
1. William Sawtrey, priest,
burnt for heresy.

7. Bank established at Genoa,
9. Council of Pisa, which de
poses Gregory.
10. Badby burnt. _

14. Council of Constance.
15. John Huss burnt.
Battle of Agincourt.
16. Jerome of Prague burnt.
17. Paper made from rags.
18. Lord Cobham hanged and
burnt.

41

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

r

Kings of
England.

Popes.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events.

1428.

1428. Joan of Arc raises the siege

of Orleans.
Eugenius IV.
1431.
31.
Council of Basil.
36.
Chevy Chase.
Felix IV. or V.
1439.
1440.
John Stafford,
40.41.
Printing eslablished by Gulten-
berg, at Strasburg.
Eton school founded.
1443.
Nicholas V.
44.
Pecock, bishop of St. Asaph.
1447.
1450.
50.
Pecock, bishop of Chichester.
Joseph Kemp,
52.
The wars of Lancaster and
1452.
York.
53.
Constantinople taken by the
Turks.
•
Callixtus III.
1455.
Thomas Bou-
chier, 1454.
End ofthe English government
in France.
^
Pius II. 1458.
53.59.
Pecock deposed.
Engraving on copper invented.
1460.
1461.
Edward IV.
Paul n. 1464.
•
1470.
1471.
Henry VI.
restored.
Sixtus IV.
1471.
1472.
Edward IV.
restored.
73.
A press established in England,
probably in Westminster Ab
1430.
bey.
1483.
Edward V.
Richard III.
Innocent VIIL
83.
Luther bom.
1485.
Henry VIL
1484.
85.
Battle of Bosworth.
John Morton,
86.
Cape of Good Hope discovered.
1486.
1490.
91.
End ofthe empire ofthe Moors
in Spain.
Alexander VI.
1492.
92.
Discovery of Hispaniola by C.
Columbus.
94. 98.
Algebrainiroduced into Europe.
Main land of America disco
vered, and a new passage to
1500.
Henry Dean,
1501.
India.
Pius IIL 1503.
Julius IL 1503.
William Wor-
ham, 1503.
1509.
Henry VHI.
1505. Colet, dean of St. Paul's. 1
12.
Council of Sl. John Lateran
Leo X. 1513.
13.
Baule of Flodden Field.
_
14. 17.
Hunne murdered in prison.
Luther preaches against indul
gences.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

Kings of
England.

Popes.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events.

1519. 1520.

Adrian VI.
1522.
Clement VIL
1523.

1.525.

1530.

1 1535.

1540.

Paul IH. 1534.

1545.

Thomas Cran
mer, 1533.

1519, First voyage round the world
by Magellan.
21. Henry VHI. declared Defender
of the Faith.

24. Sweden and Denmark embrace
the reformed faith.
28. P. Hamilton burnt at St. An
drew's.
29. Trial of the divorce ; Wolsey's
fall.
Diet of Spires; the name of
Protestants first given.
30. The title of Supr(?me Head of
the Church acknowledged by
the clergy; diet of Augsburg,
and league of Smalcalde.
31. The bishops directed to pre
pare a new translation of the
Bible.
32. Marriage with Anne Boleyn.
33. The divorce pronounced. '
Elizabeih born.
The marriage of Henry and
Catharine confirmed al Rome.
35. Sir T. More and Bishop Fisher
executed.
Visitation of the monasteries.
Order of Jesuits founded.
36. Queen Catharine dies.
Queen Anne Boleyn executed.
Henry marries Jane Seymour.
Articles published by the king.
Pilgrimage of grace.
37. The Institution published.
Edward born.
Jane dies.
33. Lambert burnt.
V Henry excommunicated.
39. New bishoprics erected by act
of parliament.
Act of the Six Articles passes.
Cardinal Bealon, archbishop of
St. Andrew's.
40. Henry marries Anne of Cleves.
Divorced. Cromwell beheaded.
Barnes, &c., burnt.
Henry marries Cath. Howard.
41. Catharine Howard beheaded.
42. Birth of Mary, and death of
James V. of Scolland.
43. Erudition published.
Henry marries Catharine Parr.
War with France.
45. Colleges and chantries given to-
the king.
The Council of Trent sits.

34.

324

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

Kings of
England.

, Popes.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Evenls.

1546.

1546. Peace with France.
Cardinal Beaton assassinated.
1547.
Edward VL
Jan. 29.
47. The earl of Surrey executed.
Homilies prinled.
48. 'SSevr communion.
Cran-mer's Calechism.
The Interim published.
49. Joan Bocher burnt.
1550.
Julius HI. 1550.
50. Foreign churches established
under A Lasco.
51. Commission for reforming the
ecclesiastical laws.
52. The Protector executed.
Treaty of Passau.
1553.
Mary, July 6.
53. Catechismpublished; (Ponet's.)
The acts of Edward VL re
pealed.
54. Wyat eifecnted.
Disputations at Oxford.
Marriage of the queen.
1555.
Marcellus II.
Paul IV. 1555.
Cardinal Pole,
55. Feast of Reconciliation of the
naiion.
Peace of Apgsburg.
Latimer and Ridley burnt.
56. Cranmer suffers at Oxford.
1556.
Bonner's Homilies published.
57. War wilh France.
1558.
Elizabeih,
53. Calais taken.
Nov. 17.
Mary queen of Scots married to
the dauphin.
Revision ofthe Liiurgy.
Pins IV. 1559.
M.Parker, 1559.
59. Disputation at Westminster.
1560.
60. Peace wilh France and Scol
land.
Reformation eslablished in
Scotland.
61. St. Paul's, London, bnrnt.
62. Assistance sent lo the French
Protestants.
63. End ofthe Council of Trent.
Convocation, the Thirty-nine
Articles passed.
Plague in England.
64. Second Book of Homilies dis-
« Iributed.
1665.
Calvin dies.
65. Sampson deprived of the dean
ery of Christ Church.
Pius V. 1566.
66. Thirty-seven London minisiers
suspended for the dresses.
The chnrch of Scotland writes
lo the church of England in
favour of toleration.
67. Schism of the London divines.
Persecutions under the duke of
Alva in the Netherlands.
68. Mary queen of Scots enters
England.
1670.
69. The northern rebellion.
70. Regent Murray murdered.
Felton aflixes the bull to the
door of the bishop of [jondon.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

325

Kings of
England.

1571.

1575.

Popes.

Gregory XIIL
1572.

1580.

1585.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events.

Edm. Grindal,
1575.

Sixtus V. 1585.

1590.

1595.

John Whitgilt,
1583.

Urban VH.
Gregory XIV.
1590.
Innocent IX.
1591.
Clement VIIL
1593.

1571. The ecclesiastical commis
sion very active.
72. Presbytery established at
Wandsworth.
Massacre of Sl. Bartholomew.
74. Prophesyings suppressed in the
diocese of Norwich.
75. Two Dutch anabaptists bumt.
76. Antwerp laken by the Spa
niards.
Grindal writes to the queen.
77. Prophesyings put down.
Grindal sequestered.
Drake sets off from Plymouth.
Socinus, Faustus, publishes his
opinions in Poland about this
time.
79. Hamont burnt in Norwich for
impiety.
Rebellion in Ireland.
80. Campian and Persons come to
England.
Drake returns.
81. The parliament petitions the
queen for reformation in the
church.
Declaralion ofthe independence
of Holland.
82. Reformaiion in the calendar by
the pope.
Grindal restored.
83. Chopping and Thacker exe
cuted.
84. First English settlements in
North America.
The prince of Orange shot.
Association formed to preserve
the life of Elizabeth.
85. Elizabeth protectress of the Ne
therlands.
86. Leicester commands in Holland.
Trial of Mary queen of Scots.
87. Mary queen of Scots executed.
88. Elizabeih excommunicated.
The Armada sails from the
Tagus.
F. Ket burnt for a heretic.
89. Marriage of James wilh Anne
of Denmark.

91. Trinity coll., Dublin, founded.
Cartwright before the ecclesi
astical commission.

93. Barrow, &c., executed.
Plague in London.
94. Cardinal Allen dies in Rome.
95. Lambeth Articles.
98. Edict of Nantes.
Tyrone's rebellion.
— " 3E

326

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

Kings of
England.

1600.

1603.

1605.

James I.
March 24.

Popes.

1610.

1615.

1620.

a625.

Charles I.
March 27.

1630.

Leo XL 1605.
Paul V. 1605,

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Richard Ban
croft 1604.

Gregory XV.
1621.

Urban VHI,
1623

George Abbot,
April 9, S610.

William Laud,
1633.

Remarkable Events.

1600. The pope grants a pardon to
Ihe rebels in Irelanti as in the
case of a crusade.
East India Company esla
blished.
1. Essex executed.
Spaniards land in Ireland.
3. Submission of Tyrone.
Coronation of James and Anne.
4. Conference at Hampton Court.
5. Convoeation assemble.
Powder Plot.
6. Garnet executed.
Brief against the oath of alle
giance.
7. Brief, e#ifirmatory of the last.
9. College at Chelsea founded.
Arminius dies.
10. Moors expelled from Spain.
Henry IV. stabbed by Ra-
vaillac.
11. Translation of the Bible pub
lished.
Legate burnt in Smithfield, and
Wightman at Lichfield.
12. Charter House founded.
Prince Henry dies.
13. Wadham college founded.
Elizabeth married to the elector
palatine.
14. Logarithms invented.
18. Beginning of the thirty years'
war.
King's declaration for liberty on
the Lord's day.
Synod of Dort begins.
19. Queen Anne dies.
Synod of Dort ends.
Discovery of the circulation of
the blood.
30. Battle of Prague.

22. Proclamation for releasing po
pish recusants.
¦ King's letter about preaching.
23. Charles and Buckingham go to
Spain.

26. Letter to the clergy in favour of
loans.
27. Abbot suspended.
28. Petilion of rights presented.
Murder of the duke of Bucking
ham.
29. Charles's instructions to the
bishops.
30. Laud, chancellor of Oxford.
33. Charles crowned at Edinburgh.
Book of Sports published.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

327

1635.

Kings of
England.

1640.

1 1645.

Popes.

?

r-

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events.

1649. 1650.
1 1653. 1655. 1658. 1660.

Innocent X.
1644.

Charles I.
executed.

Cromwell, Protector, Dec. 16.

Richard
Cromwell, Sept. 3.
Charles IL
restored.

Alexander VIL
1655.

1665.

1635. The Thirty-nine Articles re
ceived by the church of Ire
land.
Juxton, lord-treasurer.
.36. Writs for ship-money issued.
37. Tumult in Edinburgh about the
Liiurgy.
38. General assembly al Glasgow.
39. Peace with Scotland.
40. The parliament meet April 3,
dissolved May 5.
The Long Parliament meet
Nov. 3.
41. Lord Slraflford executed.
Proteslalfcn of the bishops.
42. Bishops deprived of their voles
Aug. 25. The king's standard
raised.
43. Assembly of divines meet.
The covenant taken by the
Houses.
44. Surrender of York.
45. Laud beheaded.
Direciory introduced
46. The king surrenders.
47. The king seized by Joyce.
48. CromweU defeats the Scotch at
Preston.
Conference in the Isle of
Wight.
49. Cromwell goes to Ireland.

WiU. Juxton,
1660.

Gilbert Sheldon,
1663.

53.

Charles II. lands in Scotland.
Charles II. crowned at Scone.
Battle of Worcester, Septem
ber 3.
Cromwell dissolves the parlia
ment.

54. Triers appointed.
55. Archbishop Usher dies.
57. Inauguration of CromweU.

60. Trial and execution of the re
gicides.
61. Savoy conference.
62. Episcopacy restored in Scot
land.
Nonconformist ministers eject
ed.
63. Lord Bristol exhibits articles
against Lord Clarendon.
64. The duke of York takes a fleet
of Dutch merchantmen.
65. Plague in London.
Parliament meets at Oxford.
66. The fire of London.
The covenanters beaten by
Dalziel.

328

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

1667.

Kings of
England.

1670.

1675.

1680.

1685.1689.1690.

Popes.

James II.
Feb. 6.
WiUiam and
Mary.

Clement IX.
1667.

Clement X,
1670.

Archbishops of
Canterbury.

Remarkable Events.

Innocent XL
1676.

Alexander VIH.
1689."

Innocent XII.
169L

WiU. Sancroft,
1677.

John Tillotson,
1691.

1667. The Dutch enter the Med
way.
Banishment of Lord Claren
don.
68. Bridgman's attempt at a com
prehension.
70. The duchess of Portsmouth
came over with the duchess
of Orleans.
71. Duchess of York dies.
72. The exchequer shut.
The De Witts put to death in
Holland.
73. Test act passes.
James marries the princess of
Modena.

78. Oates's plot.
79. Archbishop Sharp murdered.
Dangerfield's plot.
Habeas Corpus passed.
80. Lord StaflTord executed.
83. Rye-house plot.
Lord Russell beheaded.
The charier of the city of Lon
don made void.
85. Revocation of the edict of
Nantes.
89. Episcopacy abolished in Scot
land.

Table I. ANGLO-SAXON AND DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND.

1. EoDEKT, surnamed the Great, first King of all England, S27; f 836.
2. Ethelwolf, King, 836; f 857.

3. Ethelbald, King, 857; +860. 4. Ethelbebt, King, 860 ;+ 866. 5. Ethelred I. King, 866; + 871. 6. Alfred, called the Cheat, King, 871; + 901.

7. Edward, called the Ancient, King, 901 ; f 925.

T

8. Athelstan, King, 925; t 941. 9. Edmund 1. King, 941 ; t 946. 10. Ebbed, King, 946; f 955. ^
I  !  . ' ' t?3
I I iT,
11. Edwy, King, 955 ; t 957. 12. Edoab, called the Pacific, King, 957 ; 1 975 S
 .  ^1 9^

13. Ebwabd, •utnamed the Mabtyb, King, 975; assassinated, 978. 14 and 16. Ethelred II. King, 978; deposed, 1013; re-established, 1014; f 1016.

r-  ^1 ¦ -¦-- s
17. Edmund II. surnamed Ironside, King, 1016; 1 1017. 21. Edward III. surnamed the Confessor, King, 1042; 1 1066. ^
Edward, ilOiJ. Harold Blaatand, King ofDenmark. C>
^^So.r Mhelmg. 15. Sweno, King of England and of Denmark, 1013 ; f 1014. ^
Godwin, Count of Kent, 1 1053. 18. Canute, called the Great, King of England and of Denmark, 1017; + 1036,

Table II. KINGS OF ENGLAND OF THE NORMAN RACE.

1. William I. surnamed the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, King of England, 1066; \ 1087.
8. William II. surnamed Rufus. King, 1087 ; t HOO. 3. Henry I. surnamed bIuclerc, King, 1100; +1^ ^;^t 1137;Urried Stephen,
Matilda, declared Heiress ofthe Throne, 1127 ; + 1167 ; married *^°"'" °f ^'°'^-
(1) Hf^byV. Emperor of Oernwiiy, +1125; (2) Geoffrey 4. Stephen, KiU 1135- +1154
i>toito^e7ie(. Count of Anjou, 1127; founder oi'i-nii.", Jvin,, iiM, T llM.
ofthe House of Plantagenet. See Table III.

""¦ ^^r^Z'^if'^^lITfon^^in^':'' ''¦ «— »I-KingofE„g,and,1036;tl039. 20. Hard.knute,K ng of England and of W
^ Denmark, 1039; +1041. t^

00

Table III.

KINGS OF ENGLAND OF THE HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET.

Edward the Black,
Prince of Wales,
+ 1376.

12. Richard II. King,
1377; deposed 1399;
+ 1400.

Matilda, daughter of King Henry I. (see Table II.) declared Heiress ofthe Throne of England, 1127; + 1167; married Geoffrey,
surnamed Plantag-enet, Count of Anjou ; + 1151.
5. Henbt II. King, 1154; + 1189; married Eleanor of Poitou (divorced by Louis VII.), and heiress of Poitou and Gascony, 1152.

6. Richard I. called Cieub db Lion, King, 1189; + 1190.

7. John, called Lack-Land, King, 1199; + 1216.

I 
8. Henby III. King, 1216 ; + 1272.
I 

Richard, elected Emperor of Germany, 1257; + 1S72,

9. Edward I. surnamed Longshanes, King, 1272 ; + 1307.
10. Edward II. King, 1307 ; + 1327 ; married Isabella, daughter
of Philip the Fair, King of France.
I
II. Edwabd III. Kmg, 1327 ; + 1377.

I
Edmund, called the Humpbacked, Earl of Lancaster,
pret. eldest son, + 1296.
Henry, Earl of Lancaster, + 1345.
Henry, surnamed GrismoTid, Earl of Lancaster, + 1361.

WiUiam Lionel, Duke
of Clarence,
+ 1368.
Philippa of Clarence,
married Edmund
Mortimer, 1368.
Roger Mortimer, declared
Heir to the Crown,
1385; +1399.
 I

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, f 1399;
married Blanche^ first Heiress of
the rights of Lancaster.

Edmund, Duke of
of York, +1402.

Anne Mortimer, first Heiress ofthe
rights of Lionel ; married Richardy
Earl of Cambridge, son of Edmund,
Duke of York, and grandson of
King Edward HL foundeb
ofthe White Rose.

13. Henry IV.
King, 1399;
+ 1413.
14. Henry V. King, 1413,
f 1422; married Catharine of
France, dr. of Charles VI.

15. Henry VI. King
of England and France
1422; killed 1472.

John Beaufort, natural
son, adopted;
+ 1410.
John Beaufort, Duke
of Somerset, -f 1444.

Blanche, first Heiress of the
rights of Lancaster, + 1369;
I married John of Gaunt,
third son of Edward
III. FOUNDER of
Richard, Earl of Cambridge, \ 1415 ; mar- the Red Rose.
ried Anne Mortimer, first Heiress ofthe
rights of Lionel, Duke of Clarence.
Richard, Duke of York, Pro
tector 1455; tl460.

Margaret Beaufort, + 1509,
second Heiress ofthe rights
of Lancaster; married Ed
mund Tudor, Earl of Rich
mond, FOUNDER ofthe
House of Tudor.
See Table IV.

16. Edward IV. King,
1461, and 1472;
i- 1483.

n

18. Richard III. King, 1483;
killed at tlie battle of
Bosworth, 1465

17. Edward V. King,
1483; killed 1483.

I
Ehzabeth, second Heiress ofthe
rights of Lionel, Duke of Cla
rence ; married Henry VII.
King of England.
See Table IV.

Table IV.

KINGS OF ENGLAND OF THE HOUSE OF TUDOR.

Margaret Beaufort, second Heiress ofthe rights of Lancaster, or ofthe Red Rose, (see Table III.) +1509; married Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, son of Owen Tudor and of
^ «ci , o Queen Catharine of Valois, widow of King Henry V.
19 Henry VH surnamed Tudor, King, after the victory of Bosworth, 1485; + 1509; married Klimbcth, daughter of King Edward IV. second Heiress ofthe rights of York, or of
the White Rose, 1486. See Table 111.

Arthur, Prince of Wales,
+ 1502; married Catha
rine of Arragon,

"1"

Margaret, born 1489 ; married James IV.
(Stuart) King of Scotland, founder
ofthe House of Stuart.
See Table V.

. Henry VIII. born 1495; Kine, l.'i09; + 1547; married, (1) Catha
rine of Aragon, dr. nf Fordiiiaiul the (i)alholic, and widow of hia
brother, 1509; divoried, 1533; (2) Anne Boleyn, 1533; be
headed, 1536 ; (3) Jane Seymour, 1536 ; + in child-birth, 1537.
 I

(1) 22. Mary, born 1516 ; Clueen
1553 ; + 1558 ; married Philip II,
King of Spain, 1554.

(2)23. Elizabeth, horn 1533;
Queen, 1558 ; + 1603.

(3)21. Edward VI. born 1537;
King, 1547 ; + 1553.

Mary, born 1498; + 1533; married
(1) Louis XII. Itlng of France,
1514; •+ 1515; (2) Charles Bran
don, Duke of Suffolk, 1517.
 I
r.

Frances Brandon, + 1563; married Henry Gray, Marquis of
Dorset, Duke of Suffolk, beheaded 1554.

Jane Gray, born 1537; proclaimed Queen, 1553; beheaded, 1554; married, 1553,
Guilford Dudley, son of John, Duke of Northumberland; beheaded, 1554.

Table V.

KINGS OF GREAT BRITAIN OF THE HOUSE OF STUART.

Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of King Henry VII. (see Table IV.) + 1539 ; married James ir. King of Scotland, of the House of Stuart, 1503 : + 1513.
James V. King of Scotland, + 1542; married, (1) Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. King of France, 1536; + 1537; (2) Mary of Lorraine, daughter of Claud, Duke of Guise, 1538; + 1560.
(2) Jlfori/ StKurS, born 1542; Queen of Scotland, 1542; of France, 1559; beheaded, 1587; married, (1) Francis II King of France, 1559; + 1560;
(2) Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1564 ; assassinated, 1567.
(2) 24. James I. (VI.) bom 1566; King of Scotland, 1567; of England, 1603; takes the title of King of Great Britain, 1604; + 1625; married Anne of Denmark, + 1619.

Elizabeth, born 1596; + 1661 ; married
Frederick V. Elector Palatine

^

25 Charles I. born 1600 ; King of Great Britain, 1625; beheaded, 30th January, 1649, old style ; m^^xn^A Henrietta-Maria,
daughter of Henry IV. King of France, 1625; f 1669,

Sophia, born 1630; declared
Heiress to the throne of Eng
land, 1701 ; 1 18th June, 1714 ;
married Ernest-Aug'ust'us, 1st
Elector of Hanover, 1658 ;
FOUNDER of the House of
Hanover. See Table VI.

26. Charles H. born 1630;
King of Great Britain, pro
claimed 18th May, 1660;
t 1685 ; married Catharine,
daughter of John IV. King
of Portugal.

Mary, born 1631 ; + 1661 ;
married William IT.
Prince of Orange, 1641.
I  ,

27. James H. born 1633 ; King, 1685 ; dethroned,
1689; + 1701; married, (1) Anne Hyde, 1660;
+ 1671 ; (2) Mary of Modena, 1673.

Henrietta-Maria, bom 1644 ;
+ 1670 ; married Philiv I.
Duke of Orleans, 1661.

1"

as. William IH. Prince of Orange, born (1) 28. Mary, born 1662, proc.
1650; proc. King of Great Britain, with  Queen with her husband, 1689;
his consort, 1689; +1702; married Mary, +1695; married William III.
daughter of King James II. 1677 ; + 1695. Prince of Orange, 1677 ; + 1702.

 1  1
(I) 29. Anne, born 1665 ; (2) James-
Queen, 1702; + 12lh Aug. Edward-
1714 ; married George Pr. Francis,
of Denmark, 1683 ; + 1708. Pretender.

Table VI.

KINGS OF GREAT BRITAIN OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER.

Sophia, daughter of Frederic V. Elector Palatine, and of Elizabeth of England, (see Table V.) born 1630; declared Heiress to the throne of England 1701 • + I8th June 1714.
married Ernest-Augustus, first Elector of Hanover, 1658 ; + 1608. "e"""!. i<ui , T i=in June, 1714,
30. George I. born 1660; Elector, 1698; King of Great Britain, 1714; + 1727; married Sophia-Dorothea, Princess of Brunswick-Zell, 1658; + 1726.
31. George II. born 1683; King, 1727; + 1760; married Carolina-Wilhelmina, Princess of Brandenburg- Anspach, 1705; + 1737.

Frederick-Lewie, bora 17(ff ; Prince of Wales, 1727; + 1751 ; married
Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha, 1736; + 1772.

William-Augustus, Duke of Cumberland,
born 1721 ; + 1765.

Augusta-Frederica, born 1737; +1808;
married Charles- William-Ferdinand,
hereditary Prince of Brunswick,
1764; reigning Duke, 1780;
+ 1806.

32. George III. born 1738; King,
1760 ; -t 1820 ; married Sophia-
Charlotte, Princess of Meck-
lenburg-Strelitz, 1761 ;
+ 1818.

T

William Henry, Duke of Gloucester,
born 1743 ; + 1805 ; married Mary,
daughter of Edward Walpole,
1766 ; + 1807.

Henry-Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, bom
1746 ; + 1790 ; married Anne, daughter of
Simon Luttrell, Earl of Carhampton,
1771 ; + 1787.

I Z 1 —
33. George Frederick, D.
IV. b. 1762; of York, b.
King, 1820; 1763; +1827;
mar. Frede-
rica, daugh-

+ June 26,
1830 ; m. Ca-
roline-Ame-
- Iia, Princess
of Bruns-
wick-Wol- fenbrittel,
1795'; + 1821.

ter of Frede-
William

34. William
IV. (William
Henry Duke
of Clarence)
b. 1765 ; mar.
Adelaide,
daughter of

Sophia-Matilda, born 1773.

II. King of the Duke of
Prussia, 1791; Saxe-Mein-

+ 1820.

"1

ingen, 1818;
King, 1830.
+ 1837.

Charlotte- Augusta-
Matilda, born
1766; + 1828;
mar. Frede
ric, Duke of
Wirtemberg,
1797, King of
Wirtemberg, 1806.

"1
Edward-
Augustus, D.
of Kent, b.
1767; + 1820;
married Vic
toria, Prin
cess of Saxe-
Cobourg,
1818, widow
ofthe Prince
ofLeiningen

Augusta- Sophia,
b. 1768.

 1-^ 
Elizabeth, b.
1770; tl839;
mar. Augus
tus Frede
rick, Prince
of Hease-
Homburg, 1818.

Charlotte-Augusta- Caroline, b. 1796;
4 Nov, 6, 1817; mar. 1816, Leopold-
George, b. 1790, Pr. of Saxe-Cobourg,
King ofthe Belgians, 1832.

35 AiEXANDRINA VICTORIA,
born 24th May, 1819; Queen,
1837; married, 1840, Albert,
b. 26th August, 1819, Prince of
Saxe-Cobourg.

I
-Ernest Augus
tus, D. of Cum
berland, b. 1771;
K. of Hanover,
1837; married
Frederica- Caro
line Sophia,
daughter of the
Duke of Meck-
lenburg-Strelitz,and widow of
the Prince of
Solms, 1815.
i
George-Frederick, born 1819.

Augustus- Frederick,
Duke of Sus
sex, b. 1773;
married I-ady
Augusta Mur
ray, 1793. (The
marriage an
nulled.)

William-Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, born 1776;
married Manj, daughter of George III. 1816 ; 1 1834.

~ I
Sophia, Amelia,
born born
1777. 1783,
t 1811.

I
Adolphus-Frederick,
D. of Cam
bridge, b.
1774 ; mar.
Caroline,
Princess of
Hesse-Cas- sel, 1818.

Mary, bom
1776; mar.
the Duke of
Gloucester, 1816.

George-
Augustus, b. 1794.

Matilda-
Charlotte, b. 1801.

George-
William. b. 1819.

Augusta- Caroline, b. 1822.

INDEX.

The large figures refer to the Sections; the small figures, ', ^, ', §-c. to Notes.

Abbot. G., writes to James againsl toleratingj
Roman Caiholics, 531; suspendeii, why, 555.
Abbots, six hanged, 210 ; many surrender their
monasteries, 212.
Absolution, Wiclif's opinion of, 118; docirines
ofthe chnrch of England and Rome on this
point; danger thereof; Erudition nearest lo
Rome, 279 ; of the sick, 407, ' ; question of,
at Hampton Court, 504.
Abases galling, before men wish to reform
them, 101 ; poUtical, in the church of Rome,
102; moral, ditto, 105; in the church, com
plained of, 465.
Acts of parliament. Mortmain, provisors,
prEemunire, 104; statute against heretics,
113, '¦; statute de htsretico comburendo, 121 ;
statute subjecting all robbers lo the civil
power, inveighed against by a preacher,
151 ; against the pope ; of succession, 166 ;
of succession, Henry VH[. against the
pope's authority, 204 ; of the six articles,817;
repealed, 307 ; suppression of monasteries
and the erection of new bishoprics, 218 ; to
sanction the king's proclamations for and
against the reformers, gave great power lo
Henry VIII., 223 ; dissolution of monaste
ries, several, 241 ; marriage of the clergy,
312, 329 ; many severe laws repealed, 307;
second of uniformity ; about holydays and
fasting, 329 ; for dividing the see of Dur
ham, 331 ; marriage of Henry and Catha
rine confirmed ; the acts relating lo religion
of Edward VI. repealed ; act of attainder
against Lady J. Grey, 355 ; acts against the
prelacy repealed ; againsl heresy renewed,
364 ; supremacy gives authorily for the
High Commissit^n Court, (see Supremacy,)
403; tenths and first-fruits restored to the
crown ; the power of exchanging properly
between the crown and vacant bishoprics,
404; act of uniformity, 405, 416; passed,
702; severe act about refusing the oath of
supremacy, 412 : requiring subscription to
the XXXiX Articles ; age of priests and
deacons for ordination ; church leases ; let
ting tithes, 435; incorporating the universi
ties; enacting 'the poor laws, 436 ; against
Roman Catholics ; about bulls and fugitives
beyond sea, 437; for the security of the
queen's person, directed againsl Mary queen
of Scots ; against seminarists and Jesuits,
453; penalty for not frequenting the parish
church; popish recusants confined to their
own place of abode, 462 ; transfers of church
properly to the crown made illegal ; severi
ties' against Roman Catholics renewed, 613 ;

' against Roman Catholics required to attend
the sacrament, and take the oath of alle
giance ; disabilities, 515 ; suffragan bishops,
662, * ; leases of colleges and hospitals dur
ing the usurpation, confirmed, 703; corpo
ration, 712 ; test act, 720 ; select vestry act,
712 ; first conventicle act, 713 ; secontl, ib. ;
five-mile act, 714; exclusion of Roman
Catholics from both Houses, 720 ; exclusion
of Roman Catholics carried by Lord Shafts-
bury, 721 ; habeas corpus, 721 ; toleration
act, 806.
Adda, F. d', the pope's nuncio, consecrated in
St. Jame.s's, 764.
Addresses made lo James delude him, 753.
Admonition to parliament, 433, ', 446.
Adrian comes to England; famous for his
learning, 8.
Advertisements set forth, 432.
Adultery made capital, 620.
Age of priests and deacons, 435.
Alban, St., death of, 3.
Albes, 743, -', 9.
Alcuin's idea of purgatory, 15.
Aldrich withdraws from the commission,
1689,806.
Alesse argues againsl the five sacraments, 305.
Alexander, Peter, in England, 314.
Alfred educates England ; he translates many
books into Saxon ; his general learning; es
tablishes a school for his son ; sends an
embassy to the Syrian churches, 11; pub
lishes the ten commandments, 18,'; went
lo Rome wilh his father, 20 ; translated the
psalms, 533.
Alien priories dissolved, 1414, 248, -.
Alienation of church property by exchanges
during a vacancy of the bishopric, 404.
Allegiance, oath of, Roman Catholics forbid
den to lake it ; many look il at flrst ; Black
weU took it, and was punished for so doing,
516.
Allen, Cardinal, provides for the succession
of priests, 438 ; much to blame about the
Armada, 457.
Allestree, picture of, 616 ; employed about the
conUnualion of episcopacy, 633, '.
Alphonsus preaches againsl persecution, 366.
Altars changed into communion tables, 323.
Alvie, master of the Temple, dies, 454.
American Prayer Book, 808, ".
Anabaptists burnt, 316, 619 ; demand tolera
tion, 664.
Andrews, Bishop, composes the service for
the consecration of churches, 569, 750.
St. Andrew's, casUe of, laken, 494.

334

INDEX.

Anglo-Saxon church, the, not Protestant, 9;
progress of error in, 26 ; inadequate views
of Ihe atonement, and prepared for errors,
24.
Annates, 103. See First-fruits.
Anselm, 53; appeals to Rome illegally, and
confirmed by the legale, 54; recalled by
Henry I., 55.
Antinomians, 619.
Apocrypha, lessons from the, objected to, 507,
671, 672, 807.
Apostates, a form of prayer for reconciUng
them, 808.
Appeal to the pope by Wilfrid, 8.
jippello ad Ccesarem, by Montague, 553, 2.
Appointments, ecclesiastical, importance of,
132 ; disputed between Ihe crown, ihe pope,
and the lower clergy, 133; origin of this
dispute; nature of it, 133 — 135.
Architecture, promoted by monasteries, 245.
Argyle, victory over, 754; offended al the ad
vancement of the archbishop of St. An
drew's, 566.
Arians, 4, ^, ».
Ariminum, council of, 4.
Aries, council of, ibid.
Armachanus, or Fitzralph, 108, '.
Armada, 457.
Armies, the royalist and republican, 579 ; per
sons who composed them, 580.
Arminianism prevails among the higher cler
gy, 557.
Array, payment of officers in the, 430, ";
friendly to independency, 593 ; danger from,
at the Restoration ; their fine condition, 654.
James II. relies on the, 766.
Arthington, prophet of judgment, 461.
Articles, Thirly-nine, 481, &c. See the Table
of Contente. Forty-two prepared; nol a
compromise of opinions, 325; published
1553; history of their composition, uncer
tain, 481; not sanctioned by convocatitm,
and subscribed by few of the clergy, 484 ;
Thirty-eight, published 1663, 412 ; prepared
by Parker ; altered, printed, a bill concern
ing subscribing them stopped in the lords
by Elizabeth, 1566, but allowed to pass in
1571, 485. Thirty-nine reviewed in 1571,
485 ; published by Jewel, 487 ; controverted
clause in the twentieth article ; testimonies
concerning it, 486; theory ofthe aulhor,
487 ; Parker did not mean to authorize il ;
Laud not to blame concerning it, 488; ob
jections raised to the reading it, 663; sources
from whence Ihey are laken, 483 ; subscrip
tion lo, requiretl hy law, 435; lo such as
pertain to faith, 454 ; al present, dates froim
the canons of 1G04, 488; objected lo at
Hampton Court, 505, 506 ; declaralion pre
fixed to, 557 ; altered by the assembly of
divines, 589.
Articles of 1536; abstract of, 205, 206,271,;
act of the six, 317; repealed, 307; three,
in the thirty-sixth canon ; imposed by Whit
gift, 450; ex officio mero, '451 ; the five, of
the synod of Dort, 520. See Perth, 565, s.
Articuli pro clero, in synodo Lond. 1584, 451,
Aseham, his life saved by Gardiner, 368.

.¦Ashley rejects the authority of the ministers
at Frankfort, 367, '.
Aske, a leader of the northern rebellion, 210.
Askew, A., burnt; her supposed connection
with the court; Wriothesly tot-lures her him
self, 225.
Assembly of divines al Westminster, 585;
members who composed it, 586 ; power of
ordaining vested in Ihein, 689; works of,
590; incur a praamunire, 592 ; they formeti
a sort of church government, 609.
Association formed lo revenge the death of
Elizabeih, 439; formed among the clergy,
612.
Asylum, use of, 343.
Athanasian ci-eed, 807, '.
Athens not reformed by the plague, 727.
Atonement, inadequate views of, in the Anglo-
Saxon church, 26 ; held by Wiclif, 119.
.Attainder, acts of, 219. Cromwell, 227.
Augmentations, courl of, 203, ',
Augmentation of livings, 703, -.
.\ugsburg Confession, 232 ; some of the
Thirty-nine Articles laken from, 483, and ¦>.
Augusiin, St., comes to England, 6 ; archbi
shop of England; his proceedings, 7.
Auricular confession among the Saxons, 21.
Babington's conspiracy, 455.
Bacon's plan for a seminary for diplomacy,
249 ; intolerant, 445.
Bainham burnt, 170; his conference wilh
Latimer, Appendix F.
Bale, J., trial of Lord Cobham, 124.
Balmiranoch, Lord, condemned lo death, 566.
Banchor, monastery of, 5.
Bancroft al the Hampton Court conference,
504; ill conduct of, 505, 507,511; his ac
count of the conference al Hampton Court,
511, 1.
Baptism by laj-men discussed, 424, ' ; 504.
(See Infant,) Cross in, questions, 508. See
C7-0SS.
Baptismal service objected to, 424, 671, 672.
Barebone parliament, 603, '.
Barlow, bishop of Chichester, consecrates
Parker, 409.
Barlow, dean of Chester, his account of the
conference at Hampton Court, 510.
Barnes, martyrdom of, 321.
Baro preaches tigainst the Lambeth Articles,
464.
Barret denies absolute predestination, 463.
Barrow executed, 461.
Bartholomew, St., hospital of, founded, 332;
massacre of, 437 ; day of, hardships of
choosing that day, 1662, 707.
Barton, Elizabeth, the maid of Kent, 167.
Barwick, prolocutor, prepares a grainmar
701.
Bastwick punished, 5iV2.
Bates, one ofthe disputants, 1661, 673.
Baxter, in favour of toleration, 610; his mi
nistry at Kidderminster, 611 ; his discipline
associations, 612; author's opinion con
cerning it, 613; he draws up an answer to
the bishops, 662; urges his friends to go on,
663 ; draws up a violent paper lo the king,
ib.; objects to toleration lo oihers, 664; de-

INDEX.

335

termines to support the church, but refuses
a bishopric, 666; draws up a new form of
prayer, 668; petilion for peace, violence of,
670; answer to the reply of the bishops,
violence of, 673; disputation, his obstinacy
in the, 674 ; Lord Clarendon offended with
him, and wilh reason; his good qualities
and faults, 675 ; the cause of the failure of
the Savoy conference, 676 ; his idea of a
parish, 677; sent to jail, 711, 731; con
sulted about a comprehension, 715 ; sends
some terms for reconciling nonconformists
to Lord Orrery ; partially fond of the church ;
gives up a chapel, 717.
Beal unfriendly to the bishops, 451.
Beaton, Cardinal, his want of prudence, 493;
and death, 494.
Becket, Thomas, is persecuted, and flies, 57 ;
received by the courts of France and Rome ;
very violent; reconcUed, 58; murdered;
miracles at his tomb ; characler, 59.
Bede, nol a believer in transubstantiation, 16;
his division of the Commandments, 18,8;
his translation of the Bible, 533.
Berkeley, Colonel, instructed with the care of
James II., 776.
Bertram, 16, '»; 313, '.
Bible translated by Wiclif, 112; proclamation
for printing the, 218; anoiher in favour of
the, and an attempt to suppress il; the ex
amination of the, referred lo the universi
ties, 222; in the hands of the people, 229;
necessary to be repressed in order that the
clergy might refute heretics, 317 ; presented
to Elizabeih in a pageant, 402 ; translations
of, 531; see Table; dales of orders about
selling il up in churches. Table, before,
531 ; there has been but one translation
corrected, 532 ; Anglo-Saxon, several trans
lations ; English, Rolle's or Hampole's;
Wiclif's; no previous one, 533, ', p. 195;
Tyndale's translation of the New Tesia
ment, 534 ; price of a Bible, 534, * ; Cover-
dale's, Matthew's 535; Cranmer's, or the
Great Bible ; Taverner's, 536 ; Geneva
translation, divided into verses, 537; Par
ker's, or the Bishops', 538 ; Rheines and
Douay, 539; authorized version, 540.
Bid ales, 553.
Bidding prayer, 305, '.
Biddle tried for being a Socinian, 621.
Bilney burnt, 170.
Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, at the confer
ence at Hampton Court, 504.
Birchet murders Hawkins, 446.
Bishoprics divided, 8; first elective; their
wealth made them fall into other hands,
133; appointed by the crown, 135; new,
erected, 218; void in 1554,360; power of
exchanging properly with the crown during
a vacancy, 404; used, 427; filled up, 1559,
409 ; offered the nonconformist divines, 660.
Bishops, British, 3; at the early councUs, 4;
power of their courts curtailed, 166 ; inhi
bited from visiting; their authority restored
by a commission from the king, 201 ; source
oi" their authority, 301, 2; king's letter lo,
209 ; Book, 213 ; remain at their posts, and

prepare for persecution, 354; offer a sum
of money to Elizabeth in exchange for the
power of the crown to transfer their pro
perty during vacancies, 404, ¦''; ejected by
the oath of supremacy; treated kindly, 407;
consecrated; difiiculty about it, 1559,409;
determined not to leave the church on ac
count of the dresses, 418; their wealth and
power disliked, 425 ; disliked by some of the
court, 451 ; plan for curtailing their pomp,
452 ; hated by the people, 459 ; distinctive
offices of, 460, ' ; difficulties againsl which
Ihey had to strive ; many of them unfit men,
471; the Bible so called, 538; attacks on
their voles in the lords; protestation; sent
to the Tower ; deprived of their votes, 573 ;
their succession endangered during the
usurpation, 623 ; nine remaining at the
Restoration, 656 ; answer to the noncon
formists, 662 ; their lands restored at the
Restoration, 703 ; in partibus, 763, ' ; the
seven come forward nobly, 768; sent to the
Tower, 769 ; tried, 770 ; James asks their
advice ; they give it, 773, ' ; they refuse to
sign any expression of dislike to the prince
of Orange, 774.
BlackweU look the oath of aUegiance, 516.
Blasphemy, laws againsl, 620, 621.
Bocher, Joan, burnt, 1549, 315.
Boethius translated by Alfred, 11.
Boleyn, Anne, executed; divorced, 203.
Bonner, bishop, injunctions of, 223 ; sent lo
prison, 306; deprived, 318 ; takes posses
sion of his see, 353; Homilies; and Profit
able and Necessary Doctrine, 369, ' ; de
grades Cranmer, 370 ; commission granted
to him fiir discovering heretics, 373 ; glutted
wilh murder, 374 ; dies in prison, 407.
Books, sent to Augustin, 7, ' ; which promoted
the Reformation, 171; Bishops' and King's,
213; to be kept by the bishops, of the names
of those who had been reconcUed to Rome,
365 ; of Sports, disliked by the clergy, 519 ;
second, 559.
Booth, Sir George, his rising had brought
forward a new set of royalists, 665.
Bourn, chaplain to Bonner, preaches at Paul's
Cross, and is nearly killed, 353.
Bowing "al" the name of Jesus, 661, 748, K
Bradford, tract on predestination, 267, ^.
Bramhall, his plan for re-ordaining, 710.
Breeches Bible, 537, \
Bribes paid to Rome for aiding suitors;
annates deemed so, 103; given lo the eccle
siastical commissioners, and to Cromwell,
211, -'; given by PhUip to secure his mar
riage with Mary, 356.
Bridewell eslablished, 1553, 332.
Bridgman, Lord Keeper, attempts to frame a
bill for the relief of the nonconformists, 71.5.
Britha assists the introduction of Christianity
into England, 6.
Browne returns to the church, 466.
Brownrigge, bishop of Exeter, made chanter,
616.
Brunswick, Henry VIII. sends ambassadors
I there, 232. .
I Bucer, professor at Cambridge, 314; advises

336

INDEX.

Hooper to comply, 321 ; consulted on the
Common Prayer, &c,, 322, 745 ; his bones
burnt at Cambridge, 373.
Bull of Pius v., 437.
BuU, George, enters in orders, and performs
his ministry during the usurpation, 615.
Bullinger's Decads quoted, 430.
Burgrat, agent from the Protestants to Henry
VIIL, 233.
Burleigh, Lord, his account ofthe slate ofthe
church, 1563, 431 ; dislikes articles ex officio
mero, 451 ; his testimony in favour of the
Roman Catholics, 457; blames churchmen;
his opinion of cathedrals, 471.
Burnet reviewed the Collects, 807, ¦', p. 304.
Burning of heretics ; the gentry thanked for
attending; the people adverse lo, 367.
Burnt, the number of those who were, 374.
Burton punished, 563.
Byfield burnt, 170.
Calais lost, 374.
Calamv refuses a bishopric, 666 ; sent to jail,
711.'
Calderwood's account of the conference at
Hampton Court, 511.
Calvin consulted on a plan of Protestant union,
by Cranmer, 324 ; the docirines of the church
of England not derived from him; 340.
Cambridge,disputations on transubstan Ualion,
315 ; Bucer's and Fagius' bones burnt there,
373 ; disputes about conformity, 433 ; dis
pute there on predestination, 463; suffer
ings of, 599 ; the vice-chancellor ejected by
James II., 762.
Campbell betrays Hamilton, and dies, 493.
Campegio sent to England ; burns the buU,
and postpones the decision, 159.
Campian comes to England and is executed,
438.
Cannn and civU law, 166, '.
Canons of the church of Rome useless for re
forming it; dispensed with, 107; of 1571
never passed legally, 434; of 1604, 512,
sent down to Scotland, 567; of 1640, 570;
character of, 571, 815; abrogated, 756 ; re
viewed, 1661, 701.
Canons, or Canonici, origin of, 23.
Canterbury Hall, Wiclif expelled from, 109.
Canterbury, service performed there before
Charles II., 652.
Cardinal's college, plan of, 157, ^ p. 44 ; many
sent there became reformers, 157, ', p. 4.5.
Carew, Sir Peter, engaged in Wyat's plot,
359.
Carrjd, James, agent at Rome, 764.
Cartwright's dispute with Whitgift; expelled
from his readership and feUowship ; his
ideas about ordination, 433; confined for
refusing the oath ex officio mero, 458 ; be
comes more moderate; his characler, 466.
Cartwright, bishop of Chester, gets up an ad
dress in favour of the declaration, 768.
Castlemain, Lord, sent lo Rome, 763, 764.
Catechising, the presbyterians publish direc
tions about, 614.
Calechism, Cranmer's, 310; Ponet's author
ized, 331 ; stigmatized by convocation, 357;
Noel's, 412; church, probable history of.

331, 6; objected to, 507; part on the sacra
ments added, 747, '.
Catesby and Percy powder-plot, 514.
Cathedral churches, Burleigh's opinion of, 471.
Cavelarius leaches Hebrew at Cambridge, 314.
Cecil, Sii; WiUiam, the Thirly-nine Articles
submitted lo him, 482.
Celibacy of the clergy ; the CouncU of Nice
endeavours to impose it; custom of the
Greek church; early eslablished in Eng
land; generally evaded, 22; evils arising
from it; arising from dependence on Rome,
23; insisted on in vain, 55; Wiclif's opi
nions of, 116; evils of, 105,313; proclama
tion about the, 316; effects of; Lawney's
answer to the duke of Norfolk, 230, ' ; il
directed the exertions of churchmen to their
own society, 247; in the Erudition, 280.
See Marriage,
Ceremonies and traditions, 281; pressed by
Laud, 569; objected to, 661, 662, 671, 673.
Censures, ecclesiastical, attended wilh tempo
ral penalties, 436,"and '^.
Chaderton, at Hampton Court, 504, 509.
Chanting proposed to be left off, 1689, 807.
Chantries and chapels granted to Henry VIII.,
335; to Edward VL, 1547, 307.
Chapels and chantries granted to the king,
225.
Chapters founded by Henry, 348, '; lands of,
restored in 1660, 703.
Charles I., 551 ; imprudence about the Scotch
Liturgy, &c., 566 ; want of energy lo com
mand, 581 ; fault in betraying Lord Straf
ford, 583 ; causes of his death ; escape from
the army, 594; his firmness about episco
pacy, he understood the argumenl well ;
disputes wilh Henderson and at Newport;
his query, which was never answered, 595;
his characler, 596 ; summary of his reign,
815.
Charles II., 603; goes to ScoUand, and takes
the covenant; hisinvasionof England, 607;
restoration of, 650; civil lo the presbyteri
ans ; will not allow the ceremonies to be
dispensed with, 652 ; difficulties attending
the Restoration, 654; declaration at Breda,
660 ; promises to moderate between the
parties, 663; and to publish a declaration ;
abstract of, 665 ; observations on, 666 ; let
ter for augmenting small livings, 703, «;
disposed to favour the nonconformists, but
not bound to more than he did ; his decla
rations, 709; declaralion for toleration, 715;
liberty of conscience, 724; cared noihing
about religion, 725 ; policy of his reign, 736 ;
always sought ease ; fond of moneyv; cha
racler; the pensioner of France, 732; im
morality ofthe reign, 733.
Charta, Magna, the pope adverse to il, 63.
Charter-house, dispute about, James II., 762.
Cheke, his comfort in Edward, 334; the
XXXIX Articles submitted to him, 482.
Chelsea college at, 517.
Cheyney comes forward alone to dispute in
convocation, 357.
Children dying before the commission nf sin.
671, K

INDEX.

337

Choirs in danger of being destroyed to pay
the clergy, 452.
Chorepiscopi, or bishops rur.al, 585.
Christianity, how far destroyed by errors in
the church, 25.
Christ Church, Wolsey's plan of, 157, ¦'; the
treatment uf the parliamentary commission
ers, 600.
Christ's Hospital founded hy Edward VI., 332.
Church, British, 1 ; union wilh the, attempied
by Augustin, 7; wealth of, in the Saxon
limes, 12; of England dates from the di
vorce, 201 ; establishmenl, value of, 259;
poverty of, 330 ; the causes, 430 ; Erastian
ism of, 333; origin of her documents, 342;
alteratious in, made by churchmen, 338;
properly, principles of, 430, -; state of, 1603,
471 ; ales, 558 ; was not the point attacked
by the houses, 571 ; the attacks on, aimed
at destroying ils eivil power, 573, 576;
government, how carried on during the
usurpation, 609 ; government, a mixture of
discipline and government, 677; blamed
for ils conduct about James, 781; esta
blished al the Revolution, summary of its
history, 811.
Churching, the, of women objected to, 434.
Churchmen, their high stations in the state in
fluenced the church, 551, 566 ; in the privy-
council, 554.
Civil and canon law, 166, '.
Clarendon, Constitutions of, 57, '.
Clarendon, Lord, account of the morals in
England, 615, -< ; meeting at his house on
the king's declaration, 664; offended with
Baxter, 675 ; his arrangement about taxing
the clergy, 701 ; his conduct about the pres
byterians and revolutionists, 730 ; his fate,
731.
Classes at Warwick and Northampton, 456.
Clemens Romanus, quotation from, 2, 2, p. 1.
Clement VIL, his conduct about the divorce
of Henry and Catharine, 159, 163.
Clergy, most of them married in the time of
the Danes, 23; how lo be fairly regarded in
the early history, 51; English, ejected by
William I., 52 ; a balance between the
crown and aristocracy, and beneficial to
the lower orders, 53 ; claim exemption from
civil jurisdiction, 57; the claim unjust, 103 ;
taxed by the pope, 103, 61 ; further papal
exactions from them refused, 64 ; increased
power of, to be tried by a jury; taxes im
posed on ; bull to prevent this ineffectual,
66; tax themselves; the oppression of the
crown induces them lo fly to Rome and lo
defend themselves, 69; degraded state of,
pride and ignorance of, 105; why power is
to be given them, 131 ; wealth of, inveighed
againsl by the reformers, 134 ; hold offices
of state, 136; imprudence of, 153; vices of,
154; ignorance of, 157; comply with the
wishes of Henry VIII.; why, 163; the par
liament object to the power of, 164; hated,
causes, 170; irritate Henry, 301 ; revenues
of, lessened at the Reformation by the loss
of fees and personal tithes, 250 ; marriage
oi, 312; secular, bound by eo oath about
4.3

celibacy, 329 ; degrading employments of,
330; many fly beyond sea, 354; married,
ejected from benefices very unjusUy, 360;
ready to take advaniage of the changes, to
avoid their oaths, 361 ; Roman Catholics
ejected, 1559 ; they generally comply, 407 ;
defective state of, 1559,410; profits of, in
towns, 430; slate of, in Elizabeth's reign,
431 ; injured by promoting forced loans,
553 ; enjoined 10 read the Book of Sports,
559; crimes usually objected lo them, 572;
left out of the commission of the peace,
573; faithful to the crown, 574; sufferings
of; charges brought against Ihem ; ejected
for not taking the covenant; provision
made for them of a fifth of their preferment,
598; Cromwell's severity towards, 609;
how they lived during the usurpalton; in
strumental in the Restoration, 616; when
first taxed wilh the laity, 701 ; difficulty of
their situation in 1688, 75S; men of con
tracted notions, 730, see Dissenters; blamed
for flattering James about passive obedi
ence, 781; blamed for taking the oath un
der Will, and Mary, 801; spiritual authority
of the, 804; their institution divine, modi
fied by law, 817. See London Clergy, Celi
bacy, Marriage,
Clerk ales, 558.
Clerk, the, of the crown, withdraws a bill, 715.
Cleves, Anne of, married to Henry, 219; di
vorced from him, and resides in England,
221.
Cloveshoo, council of, 9.
Cobham, Lord, had joined Henry IV.; in the
reign of Henry V.; he diffuses Wiclif's
doctrines; Henry V. tries to convince him
of his error, 123; brought to trial; his ex
amination resembles ' that of Thorpe; his
answers agree with those of Vt'iclif; sent lo
the Tower; escapes; denies a false recan
tation; hung in Sl. Giles' fields, 124; sup
posed connection with a disturbance there,
135.
Coin debased by Henry VIIL, 349, =.
Colet, reads lectures in St. Paul's; accused
of heresy, 157.
CoUects, intended to be changed, 807, '.
College al Chelsea, 517.
Colleges, alarm about, in consequence of the
chantries being given to the king, 307;
headships of, appointed by the crown, 763,'.
Commandment, fourth ; observation in the
Erudition, 374.
Commandments, ten, Saxon, 18; division of,
18, 8; 331, 6; by Bonner, 369, 1.
Commission granted to the bishops, 1535, 201 ;
granted lo Bonner, 373 ; High Court of,
origin of, 403; established, 406; ejects the
Roman Catholic clergy, 407; described,
428; in the time of Charles I., 555, 573,
575; established in Scotland, 1610, 565; ad
melius inquirendum to ascertain the value of
church property stopped by the church
party, 451 ; for a reformation in the church,
1689, legality of it questioned, 806.
Commissioners appointed to frame ecclesias
tical laws, 482.
3F

338

INDEX.

Commissions granted lo bishops contrary to
aU sound opinions ot church authority, 339 ;
of concealment, 428.
Committee of reUgion, 572.
Common Prayer examined, 1550,332 ; altered,
1551, 326 ; disputes about at Frankfort, 367 ;
the services examined, 1658, 402; objected
to by the puritans, 423; reviewed, 1661,
701 ; history of, (see the Contents of the
following chapter,) 741 ; Scotch, 748, '',
Commons, House of, restrained by Elizabeih,
435; interfere about the XXXIX Articles
being subscribed, 485 ; unconstitutional
vote of, against the prosecution of noncon
formists, 715; see Parliament.
Communion in both kinds, 307.
Communion service,1548, 308, 309; examined,
742 ;* at funerals, 407, ' ; table railed in,
569, 571.
Comprehension, attempts al, 715; attempted
by Sancroft, 771.
Compton, Bishop of London, called before the
ecclesiastical commission, 757; adverse to
TUlotson, 809.
Concealment, (see Commissions of) 428.
Concessions promised by the bishops, but
never made, 673 ; which might safely have
been made, 676, '.
Conciliation ofthe church of England towards
Roman CathoUcs, 407, -'.
Conference, see Hampton Court, Savoy.
Confession ; difference between uie church of
Rome and England with regard to it, 21 ;
Wiclif's opinion of, 118; auricular, evils
of, 230 ; auricular, evils of, among Roman
Catholics ; neglected by Protestants, 309,
414 ; and absolution of the sick, 407, '' ; to
a priest, duty of, discussed, 614; direcUon
about, 1548, 742, 743, 2; of faith ofthe
church of ScoUand, 495.
Confirmation not confined J.o bishops, 118;
Erudition, 280; discussed, 504, 506; Savoy
conference, 671, 672. '
Conformity, iluty of, 321.
Conge d'elire, what, 307, '.
Congregation, the, formed, 494.
Congregational churches; independents, 614.
Connection ofchurch and state, evils of, 818:
advantages of, 819.
Consecration of churches, 569, 701, 750 ; form
of, 808.
Consecration of bisbops, legality of, question
ed, 409, '; difficulty about, 623.
Constantine, 3, 4, ".
Constantius Chlorus, 3.
Constitution of the church of England, 817.
Consubstantiation, stated, 314 ; arUcle op, 341 ;
an arlicle against, left out of the Thirty-
nine, 1562, 485,''.
Conventicle acts, 713.
Convention parliament which recalled Charles,
prudence of their measures, 653.
Conversion of Sussex and the Heptarchy, 8.
Convocation, 205 ; reject the summons of
Henry VIIL to Mantua, 208; denominates
the Common Prayer an abominable book;
disputes Ihere, 357; petilion that church
properly may not be restored, 364; 1559,

anU-reformers, 406 ; 1571,434; petilion in
favour of Grindal, 447; 1584,451; regula
tion about ministers, 456; records of, burnt
in St. Paul's, 1666, 486 ; 1661, acts of; con
stitution of, how extinguished, 701 ; 1689,
809.
Cope, 743, ^ 9.
Coppinger, the prophet of mercy, 461.
Cornish executed, 765, '.
Coronation (Richard II.) service, 17, 's.
Corporal presence in the sacrament, 214. See
.Set of Six ^irl icles, 217,
Corporate bodies, their lands unproductive,
252.
Corporation act, 712.
Corrodies lost at the dissolution of monaste
ries, 253, '\
Cosins, plan for deciding the controversy,
1661, 673 ; engaged on a form of consecra
tion for churches, 750.
Covenant, solemn league, 568, '; brought into
England, 580; ministers ejected for not
taking it, 598; Cambridge, 599; O.xford,
reasons against, 600 ; oath about the, 702,
705.
Coverdale comes before the council, 354; con
secrates Parker, 409; his Bible; he was
not well suited lo the task, 535.
Council of Cloveshoo; 9; of Aries, Nice,
Sardica, Ariminum, 4 ; of Nice, second, re
jected in England, 18; of Manlu<n,20S.
Courts, ecclesiastical and civil, separated by
William L, 52^ '.
Cox, bishop of Ely, friendly to severe mea
sures, 422.
Cranmer, Archbishop, his suggestion of con
sulting the universities, 162, ¦ ; made arch
bishop of Canterbury; his objection to the
oalhs to the pope, 164; declares the divorce,
165; his object in the dissolution of monas
teries, 202; divorces Anne Boleyn, 203;
argues againsl Lambert, 215 ; never a Lu
theran wilh regard lo the real presence,
216, ¦> ; screened with regard to the celibacy
of the clergy, 216; sends his wife into Ger
many, 218; argues against the Act of Six
Articles, 217; litUe affected by il, 218;
speaks in favour of Thomas Cromwell, 219;
plot against him ; his forgiving temper, 324 ;
in danger, delivered by Henry's kindness;
ill conduct of the council towards him, 226;
retiring, while one of Edward VI.'s council.
301 ; anxious to destroy images, 302; uses
civil authorily to promote the Reformation,
.304; urges Edward VL to sign the warrant
for burning Joan Bocher, 315; answers the
demands of the rebels in Devonshire, 317 ;
tries to persuade Hooper to comply, 321;
befriends learned foreigners; plan of a
Protestant union, 324; unwilling to sign
the deed in favour of Lady Jane Grey, 333;
his Catechism, 310; very Erastian in his
ideas, 337; wise in tbe way of reforming,
340; draws up a protest which is published'
354 ; comprehended in the attainder of Lady
Jane Grey, 355; disputes at Oxford, 361:
thinks ill of Gardiner, 368 ; degraded and'
burnt ; his character ; his several recanta-

INDEX.

339

tions, 370 ; see Appendix F. directed to
frame the Thirly-nine Articles; he proba
bly did so, 482 ; the sources from which he
drew them, 483; his Bible, or the Great
Bible, 536.
Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Gospel, explained
lo the people, 23.
Crew suspends his clergy about the declara
tion, 768.
Crisom left out, 745, % 3; used, 743, ¦', 3.
Cromwell, Thomas, Lord Vicegerent, 201 ,
proclamalion in favour of reform, 207; fall
ofi condemned by an act of attaintler, 219 ;
his characler, 220; received bribes, 311, ^.
CromweU, Oliver, continued in his command,
together with his seal; his talents, .580; op
presses Cambridge, 599 ; chancellor of Ox
ford, 600; his progress to command, 603;
governor of England after the battle of Wor
cester; his proceedings in taking posses
sion of this power, 603 ; his manner of
governing; the protector of Protestants,
604 ; character of, by Baxter, 605 ; severity
against the Church of England, 609 ; tolera
tion of Roman Catholics and Jews, 610; he
winked at the royalist clergy, 616.
Cross in baptism objected lo, 424; Hampton
Court, 508; objected lo, 661 ; alterations in
the Liiurgy, 1689, 807.
Crown, pow-er of, in ScoUand and England at
the Reformaiion, 493.
Crucifix retained in the chapel of Elizabeih,
408, '; used at coronation ol Charles I., 569.
Cup, denied lo the laity in the twelfth century,
17, '*; given lo them, 307. See Communion,
Danes attack monasteries, 10, 23; incorpo
rated with the English, 12 ; restore monas
teries, 243.
Dangerfield, his plot, 722 ; condemned, 755, '.
Davenaht, reprimanded for preaching on pre
destination, 667 ; aUowed the ordination of
foreign Protestant churches, 710, '.
Beacon.s, age of, when ordained, 435; in the
Presbyterian church, 591.
Dead, see Prayer for the, 305.
Decalogue, Saxon, 18, * ; introduced into the
communion service, 745, ', 2.
Decimation of the royalists, 605.
Declaralion prefixed to the Thirty-nine Arti
cles, 557; of Cromwell against the clergy
of the Church of England, 605, 609 ; of
Charles II., al Breda, 660 ; promised by
Charles II., 663 ; abstract of, 665 ; of
Charles II., for toleraUon, 715; of liberty of
conscience, 758 ; republished ; lo be read in
churches, 767.
Defender ofthe Failh, Henry declared, 157.
Delaune, re-ordination of, 710.
Depravity ofthe religious orders, 130, 203.
Dering, Sir E., bill for destroying bishops, 573.
Desiderata in the Liturgy, 808.
Deuce, derivation of the word, 7, '.
Devonshire, risings in, 1549, 317.
Diocess, division of, a civil enactment, 804.
Diplomacy, plan for a school for, 249.
Directory, 590.
Dirige ofthe King's Primer, contains prayers
for the dead, 741. 1
Discipline established at Frankfort, 367, ' ; i

objected to by the puritans, 423, 425; over
the laity, desired by many reformers ; prin
ciples of il; not to be desired, 426; esta
bUshed by Baxter, 612 ; over the laity, 657;
real subject of dispute al the Restoration,
671; (juesUon of, 677; and government,
their difference, 677; church over the laity,
678; prevented by the connection between
church and stale, 818.
Di.scussions, ecclesiastical; the melhod of
carrying them on, 700.
Dispensations, promote perjury, 56; profitable
to Rome, 107; granted by Clement V. lo
Archbishop Reynolds, 107, ^.
Dispensing power, 768.
Dispulation in convocation, on transubstantia
tion, 357; inutUity of, 358; held at%xford,
Cranmer, &c., 361 ; in Westminster Abbey,
405; at the Savoy conference, 673; inutility
of, 674 ; carried on before some of the court,
451.
Dispute between the crown and church,-68,69.
Dissenters, petition about them; James II.
tries to balance ihem against the high
church, 754 ; sufferings of, 760 ; the good
conduct of, at the Revolution, 771 ; liltle
frienilly feeling towards Ihem, 1689, 809.
Dissolution of monasteries, see Monasteries.
Divorce of Catharine, 168 ; decisions concern
ing, 163, 163; texts of scripiure which bear
on the, 166, 5; of Anne Boleyn, ground of,
203, '.
Doclrine, a Profitable and Necessary ,Bonner's,
369, '. See Erudition.
Dort, synod of, 520.
Douay Bible, 539.
Dress of the clergy, 422, "<, p. 132; 743, \ 9;
745, ', 9.
Dresses, ecclesiastical, disputed, 321, 414 ;
Bucer wishes them changed, 322; of 1549,
enjoined by the act of uniformity, 416;
opinions about, 418.
Dubritius and Illutus establish schools, 6.
Dudley, Guilford, married to Lady Jane
Grey, 333.
Dunbar, balUe of, 602.
Dunstan, 12 ; imposes a penance on Edgar,
21 ; ejects the married clergy, 33.
Durham, see of, divided, 331 ; university there,
351,1.
Easier, Roman melhod of keeping, adopted by
Oswi, 7; derivation ofthe word, 7, '.
Ecclesiastical courts separated from the civil
by William I., 53 ; error in their composi
tion, 307.
Ecclesiastical discipline of episcopacy aud
presbytery, 593. See Presbyterian Government.
Ecclesiastical commission, courl of; esta
blished by James II., 756. See Commission.
Edinburgh, tumult about the Liturgy, 568.
Education, how best promoted, 351, 252.
Edward IIL inquires what preferments are in
the hands of foreigners, flO.
Edward VL comes to the ihrone, 1647, 301 ;
unwUling lo sign the warrant for burning
Joan Bocher, 315 ; always adverse to allow
ing the use of the mass to Mary, 327, 334
his charitable foundations, 332; leaves tha
crown to Lady Jane Grey, 333 ; his power

340

INDEX.

of doing so, 351 ; under him England be
came Protestant, 811.
EjecUon of the Roman Caiholic clergy, 407 ;
of the nonconformist clergy, 704.
Election of ministers, 426.
Eleutherius, bishop of Rome, King Lucius
sends messengers to him, 3.
Elfric's homily againsl transubstantiation, 16;
translated the Scriptures, 533.
Elizabeth confined for Wyat's rebellion, 359;
saved by Philip, 363 ; ascends the ihrone,
401; prudence of her conduct; sends to
Philip and Rome; Paul rejects her claim lo
the throne; her personal conduct conciliat
ing, 402 ; crowned ; entertains scruples with
regard to the name of Supreme Head ofthe
chOTch, 403 ; looks to her own interests,
404 ; her injunctions, 406 ; temporizing
spirit of, 408 ; retains a crucifix in her
chapel, 408, ' ; presses conformity hy wriung
to Parker, 416 ; very peremptory about
conformity, 420 ; pillaged the church, 427,
429 ; unjust and unwise in her proceedings
as to church properly; her conduct com
pared to that of Henry VIIL and Edward
VI. ; very selfish ; her reasons fot taking
church property, 429; wishes the bishops
lo act on her supremacy, 434 ; her skill in
repressing ihc growing power of the com
mons, 43,5 ; excommunicated by Pius V.,
437 ; lo blame for not marrying, 439 ; per-
secuUons under,compared with ihoseduring
the reign of Mary, 444; injustice during her
reign, 445; the real author of severe mea
sures, 446; silence of Grindal, 447; her
conduct towards him impoliUc and severe,
448 ; tried to suppress sermons, 449 ; pre
vents innovations in religion, 466 ; firmness
of, 465; dislikes the Lambeth Ariicles, 464, ';
moderated in her severity lo the puritans
by age, 466 ; character of, 467 ; her treat
ment of Roman Catholics and pnritans;
disliked sermons ; disliked married clergy
men, 468, I" ; religious; agreal monarch, 469;
her death, 470; stops a bill concerning sub
scription to the Articles, 1666; allows it to
pass, 1571; her wisdom in so doing, 485;
her prepossessions about the doctrines of
the church, 487, ' ; how she restniined ihe
growing desire of freedom, 526 ; fostered
animosities in Scotland, 564; summary of
her reign, 813.
Eluanus and Medwinus sent to Rome, 3.
Engagement imposed ; called the covenant of
the independents, 606.
England, early convened to Christianity, 2.
Episcopacy, early established in England, 1;
Wiclif's opinion of, nol a distinct order, 117;
objected lo, 426; preserved by Cranmer,
340; argument in favour of, 460; in Scot
land, 564; disliked as an engine of stale,
671 ; disputes on, at Newcastle and New
port, 595 ; on episcopal government, 595, ',
p. 224; Archbishop Usher's plan of, 585,
662 ; how far objected lo, 661 ; saved at the
Revolution by the conduct of the bishops,
774; now existing in Scotland, 804.
Episcopalians, object of the, at the Restora
tion, 658.

Epistle and gospel allowed in English, 402.
Erasmus's paraphrase to be set up in churches,
305, and 2.
ErasUanism of the church of England, 'JSO ;
introduced by the Reformation, 414.
Erastians; Thomas Erastus, 588.
Errors, progress of, in the church of England;
and introduced by degrees from Rome, 24 ;
in the church, how far ihey destroy Chris
tianity, and the hopes of salvation ; Ul ten
dency of, 25.
Erudition ; King's Book, 233 ; doctrines of it
examined, 271, &c. ; poinis wherein il is
nearer to the church of England, than the
Institution, 272,*; wherein the Institution
is the nearest, 283. 'Little progress had
really been made in the docirines, 282 ; com
pared wilh the Thirly-nine Articles, App.
B. 271, &c.
Essex, the earl of, his objects in the war, 580.
Establishment, plan of an ecclesiastical, sent
lo England, 7 ; monasiic, useful at first, 23 ;
use of, as a political engine,132; value of, 259.
Etbelbert, receives Anguslin, 6^
Ethelwulph's grant to the church, 10; goes
on a pilgrimage to Rome, 20.
Eusebius, quotation from, 2, -, p. 1.
Ex officio, see Officio.
Exclusion of the Roman Catholics, no want
of toleration, 725.
Excommunication, an evil means of coercion
for discipline, 504 ; rarely exercised by Bax
ter, 612.
Executions during the reign of Henry VIII.
very numerous, 227.
Exequies and masses, 227.
Exeter, the Jesuit's day slill kept there, 317, *
Exiles for religion, on their return disliked the
power exercised by the bishops, 475.
Exorcisms; examined, 322; of the devil from
the child, 743, •<, 3.
Extempore prayer, use of, demanded, 671, 672.
Extreme unction, see Unction.
Fagius placed at Cambridge, 314; his bones
burnt there, 373.
Fairfax, general, 580.
Family of love, 619.
Family prayer drawn up by authority, 808.
Fanaticism, cause of, 617.
Farmer, James II. orders Ihe fellows of Mag
dalen lo elect him president, 761.
Fasting in Lent, 329; neglected among Pro
testants, 414.
Fell, Samtiel, dean of Christ Church, opposes
the parliamentary commissioners; Mrs., re
fuses to leave Ihe deanery, 600.
Fell, Dolben, and Allestree, picture of, 616.
Fellows of colleges restored, 656.
Felton affixes the bull to the gates of the
bishop of London, 437.
FesUvals,Christian,accommodated lo heathen
feasts, 7.
Fifth-monarchy men, 619.
Fifths granted to the ejected clergy, 598.
Fines, estates let on, 202, '.
Fire of London, 728.
First-fruits, or annates, 103; considered as
bribes, 103, 3; 126, '; taken from the pope.
164 ; history of, 201. ', p. 54.

INDEX.

341

Fish, Simon, writes the Supplication of the
Beggars, 171.
Fish to be eaten on the fast days, 1549, 312.
Fisher sent to the Tower, 167 ; death and cha
racter, 169.
Fitzralph opposes the errors of Rome; caUed
Armachanus, 108, ''.
Five points of Perth, 566, K See Dort too.
Five-mUe act, passed at Oxford, 714.
Fletcher, bishop of London, draws up the
Lambeth Articles, 463, ' ; marries, 468, '.
Foreign churches eslablished under John a
Lasco, 324; quit England, 354.
Foreign divines, opinion of, concerning the
dresses, 419.
Foreign reformed churches, the convocation
will acknowledege no connection wilh, 809.
Foreigners, holding preferments iu England,
103; learned, aided the Reformation, 314 ;
received by Cranmer, 324.
Forest burnt, 493.
Formularies of Failh, Henry VIIL, 271, '.
Fornication severely punished, 620,
Fox, Bishop, introduces Wolsey lo Henry
Vlir., 155.
Fox, G., founder of the Quakers, 618.
Francis, A., James II. orders a degree of a. m.
al Cambridge to be granted him, 762.
Franciscans executed, 201.
Frankfort, troubles at, 367.
Freewill, 275.
Friars, Wiclif an enemy to, 109; visit Wiclif
in his illness, 112.
Frith, John, burnt, 170. (See also Appendix
F.) assisted Tyndale in his translation, 534.
Fry expelled from the House for being a Soci
nian, 621.
Fugitives, many English, 354.
Fundamentals in religion, queslioii about, 610.
Gag, a, for the new Gospel, 662, 2,
Oallican Liturgy, 5.
Galloway, his account of the Hampton Court
conference, 511.
Gardiner, Stephen, objects to the commissions
granted to the bishops, 201 ; new line of
policy adopted by, 314; writes in favour of
images, 302; imprisoned, 306, 310; de
prived of his bishopric, 320; minister to
Mary; his plans, 353; prevents Pole from
coming to England, 356; no friend to mild
measures, and personally hostile lo the vic
tims of persecution-; his book republished,
-365; disappointed at the effects of persecu
tion, 366; death; character; he saves the
lives of Smith and Aseham, 368.
Garnett, powder plot, 514.
Gauden's petitions to Cromwell in favour of
the elergy, 609, '.
"Gaul, early connection with the church of
England, 1 ; Christianity eslablished in, 3.
•Gaunt, Mrs., burnt, 754.
'Geneva, the service of, adopted by the dissent
ing clergy, 1566, 432 ; translation of the
Bible, 537.
Gentry, thanked for attending the execution
of heretics, 367.
Gerhard and his followers punished ; their
opinions uncertain, 60.
Germanuscomes to assist the British church, 5.

Germany, reformaiion in, its effects on Eng
land, 231.
Giffard, B., president of Magdalen college, 761.
Giles' St. field. Lord Cobham executed in, 124 ;
disturbance there, 135.
Glasgow, general assembly at, 568.
Glastonbury Abbey founded by Joseph of Ari
mathea, 3 ; church of foreigners placed
there, 334.
Gloucester, see of, suppressed, 330.
Good works, idea of, among the Anglo-Saxons,
26 ; in the Erudition, 275.
Grammar prepared by convocation, 1661, 701.
Grey, Lady Jane, declared heir lo the crown
by Edward VI., 333, 351; executed; her
character, 3^9.
Greaihead opposes the power of Roi]je ; es
teems the pope antichrist, 65, and ¦'.
Greek church, cusiom of, wilh regard lo the
marriage of the clergy, 32.
Greek literature patronised by Henry VIII.,
Wolsey, and Colet, 157.
Greenwood executed, ¦161.
Gregory I. sends Augustin into England, 6;
sends relics to Augustin, 19.
Grindal, his opinion on the dresses, 418; his
tre'alment of Sampson, 422; cautious in not
adopting the canons of 1571, 434; offends
Elizabeih by giving directions about pro
phesyings ; his letter to Elizabeth ; confined
to his palace, and silenced, 447; his cha
racter, 448 ; remonstrates wilh Elizabeih
on her arbitrary conduct as to ecclesiastical
matters, 468.
Grostele, 65, K
Guisnes lost, 374.
Gunning one ofthe disputants, 1661, 673.
Gunpowder used by Wishart, 493, '.
Hacket represents our Saviour, 461.
Hackington, convent at, 61.
Hale, Sir M., endeavours to convert the decla
ration into an act of parliamenl, 666.
Hales, Judge, refuses to sign the deed in fa
vour of Lady Jane Grey, 333 ; imprisoned
by Mary, 354.
HaU's, Bishop, Hard Measure, 574; he and
Laud drew up a form of prayer for recon
ciling apostates, 808.
Hall, G., preacher in London, 616.
Hamilton, Patric, burnt, 493.
Hamilton rescinds all the acts about the Li
turgy, 568.
Hampole's, or RoUe's translation, 533.
Hampton Court conference, never intended
for a free discussion; held for the sake of
informing the king as to the slate of the
quesiion, 503 ; the parties who composed
it; confirmation ; absolution ; private bap
tism by laics ; excommunication as a meau.s
of coercion objected to, 504; objections of
Reynolds; final perseverance, 505 ; confir
mation, never performed by a priest with
out a bishop; objection to the Thirty-nine
Articles, 506; calechism; Sabbath; trans
lation ofthe Bible; sediUous and popish
books ; lessons from the Apocryph.i, 507
cross in baptism; questions proposed; sur
pliee ; marriage service ; churching of
women; prophesyings, 608; James pleases
2f3

342

INDEX.

the episcopalians ; their flattery ; his opi
nion of the puritans ; his real superiority,
509 ; Barlow's account of the conference,
610; Galloway's account; the cause ofthe
apparent difference, 511.
Harding, 170.
Hartford, L., see Somerset.
Headships of colleges appointed by the crown,
762.
Heath sent lo prison, 319; treated kindly by
Elizabeih, 407.
Heber, Bishop, idea wilh regard to re-ordina
tion, 710, '.
Helvetic confession not the source of the
Thirty-nine .Articles, 483. *
Henderson, his dispute with Charles I. on
episcopacy, 695.
Henry I. recalls Anselm ; the dispute between
them compromised, 55; sells his prefer
ment, 67.
Henry II. accepts the grant of Ireland from
the pope, 57 ; violent about Becket, 58 ;
submits, 59.
Henry IV. grants power lo the church, 121 ;
joined by Lord Cobham, 123.
Henry V. tries to convince Lord Cobham, 123.
Henry VIII. supports the civil power, 152.
Wolsey's influence over, 154; spoilt by
Wolsey ; his book against Luther, 156 ;
patronises literature, 157; protests against
his marriage wilh Catharine ; fears the
curse of dying childless; scruples not in
fused by Longland ; entertained before his
love for Anne Boleyn, 158 ; supremacy of,
163 ; hardly less arbitrary than thai of
Home, 172 ; refuses to appear at Rome by
proxy, 165; irritated by the clergy, 201;
his object in the dissolutioit"of monasteries ;
gains liltle by it, 202; reconciled lo Mary,
203; marries Jane Seymour, 204; sum
moned to appear at Mantua; rejects the
summons; Cardinal Pule writes against
him, 208; letter lo the bishops, 209; sits
as judge on Lambert, 216; angry with the
Protestants for refusing him church proper
ly ; argues in favour of the Six Articles,
217; his proclamations made law, 318;
marries Anne of Cleves, 219; marries Ca
tharine Howard, 221 ; his judicious speech
about religion, and persecuting conduct,
225; marries Catharine Parr, 224; delivers
Cranmer, 226; character; ungrateful, well
served, but selfish ; naturally a fine charac
ler, but spoilt; an instrument in the hands
of Providence, 227, 228; the opinion ofthe
German divines about his marriage alien
ated him from them, 231 ; rapacity; always
poor; chapters founded by; he did not begin
the transfer of property from one religious
use lo another, 248, - ; plan of constructing
harbours, 249; leaves money for masses and
obits, 303; in his reign England ceased to'
be popish, 811.
Herberl's,Lord,observation on persecution,231.
Her(?sy, first punished, 60 ; laws against, dar
ing the usurpation, 621.
Heretics, statute againsl, 113, s, de hmretico
comburendo, statute, 121.
Hern, Sir N., his saying about dissenters, 716.

Heptarchy, when converted, 8, ' ; union of, 10
Hewett, 170.
Hichins, alias Tyndale, 534, «.
High Commission, see Commission.
Hocus-pocus, derivation of, 7, '.
Hodgkin, suffragan of Bedford, consecrates
Parker, 409.
Holydays, law about, 329; objecled to, 661,
671, 672.
Holy water, 23.
Homilies, pubUshed 1540,223; first book of,
published 1547, 305; Bonner's, 369, ' ; se
cond book of, published ; history of their
composition, 412, ••.
Hooker, dispute wilh Travers, 4.54.
Hooper, scruples about the dresses, 321; comes
before the council, 354 ; burnt at Glouces
ter, 366.
Horne, pastor at Frankfort, 367, '.
Horsey, Chancellor, compromise about, 152 ;
coroner's verdict againsl, 163.
Hotchyn, alias Tyndale, 534, ".
Hough, elected president of Magdalen, ejected
by James II., 761. '
Howard, Catharine, married to Henry VIIL,
221 ; executed, 222.
Humphrey, winked al, complies, 416.
Hunne dies in prison ; the coroner's verdict
of murder against the chancellor; his body
burnt, 152.
Jacomb, one ofthe disputants, 1661, 673.
James, St., tradition about, 2.
James I. succeeds qnieUy to the Ihrone ; his
answer about the church of England, 501 ;
anxious to learn the real state ofthe church,
503 ; observaUons about predestination ; re
proves Bancroft, 505 ; vehemence against
presbyteries, 508 ; pleases the episcopa
lians ; their flattery ; his opinion of the
nonconformists ; his superiority in the con
ference, 509; puts a stop lo transfers of
church property So the crown ; disappoints
the papists and pui-itans, 513; founds a
college at Chelsea for controversial divinity,
517; puts forth the Book of Sports, 619;
letter about preaching; advice about the
study of theology, 531,'; characler of; a
weak man ; the stale tutor of Europe ; did
not keep his word, 633 ; his opinions of
government, 524 ; wilh high notions he pre
served no power, and was laughed at; the
vicUm of favourif^s ; could nol bear parlia
ments ; disliked the presbytery for the same
reason ; his change of language about the
church of England; his treatment of Roman
Catholics, 536; possessed of little real reli
gion; all offices under him sold, 537; cruelty
to heretics, 518 ; his observations on the
Geneva Bible, 537: his management about
the bishops in Scolland, 564; bribes the
presbyterians,566;sumraaryofhisreicrn814
James II., as duke of York, excepted from the
bill agamst Roman Catholics, 720- cared
not for religion, 723; the pensioner of
France, 732; accession, 751; his educa
tion; his conversion political, 752- pro
mises to support the church of England
763 ; levies duiies wilhout parUament ; re
venue selUed on him ; cruelly of, 754 • he

INDEX.

343

was open in his attacks on. ihe constitution;
his real want of religion, 755; prohibits
preaching on controverted points, 766; as
sumes the power of dispensing with the
laws, 758 ; his conduct with regard to the
judges, 759 ; tries to balance the dissenters
and ehurch, 754, 760 ; his folly about Pelre
and Lord CasUemain, 763; advised bythe
pope and others to use moderation, 764;
endeavours lo change the laws, by procur
ing a parliament favourable lo his own
views, 765 ; he relies on the army, 766 ;
obstinate, 771 ; at last convinced of his er
ror, and endeavours to retrace his steps,
ni ; asks advice ofthe bishops, 773; find
ing every thing lost, he attempts to fly into
France, 776 ; his characler, 776 ; hirth of
his son instrumental in the Revolution, 779.
Jane, Dr., aulhor of the Oxford decree, 729;
withdraws from the commission, 1689, 806;
elected prolocutor, 809.
January 30th, observance of, 653 ; service, 750.
Idolatry of the church of Rome, 106.
Jeffreys rewarded by James II., 766; at the
head of the ecclesiastical commission, 767.
Jerusalem, pilgrimages of the English to, 20.
Jesuits' day at Exeler, 317, "'; their dispute
with the seculars, 462.
Jewel's Apology prinled, 1562, 411; opinion
on the dresses, 418 ; publishes the Thirty-
nine Articles, 485, 487.
Jews, toleration of, under Cromwell, 610.
Ignorance of the clergy, 105, 157.
Illutus and Dubritius established schools, 5.
Image worship, when introduced into England;
before Alfred's time ; observations op, 18,
and '».
Lmages, Wiclif's opinion of, 118; Pecock's
opinion of, 127; erudition, 277; destroyed,
302 ; abused by false devotion ; lo be taken
down, 304 ; removed, 308 ; abuse of, in
quired into, 408..
Immorality prevalent during the usurpation,
615 ; in Charles IL's reign, 733.
Impropriations a great evil, 250; plan for
transferring them to the cure, 453 ; feoffees
of, dissolved, 556.
Independents, promote religious liberty; tole
rate all except the church of England and
Roman Catholics, 607 ; propagation of the
gospel in Wales their work, 608 ; they de
stroyed the existence of a ministry, 609,
614; the Triers, 609; strict in admitting
church members; many of them in Nor
folk and Suffolk; they publish a declaration
of faith ; called congregational churches ;
their government democratic, 614; ehurch
government of, 588; tendency and growih
of, 689, 693; established in Wales, 593;
liberty of conscience their object, 594; they
demand toleration, 664.
Indulgence, greater, might have been shown
lo the nonconformists, 417.
Infallibility, papal, 383 ; a bar lo aU discus
sion, 368, 406 ; leads to persecution, 443.
Infant baptism, a source of differences, 317;
argument for, 460, ', p. 159.
Inhibition sent to the bishops, 201.
Injunctions, put forth by Bonner, 223; Ed

ward VI., 304 ; of Elizabeih, about the inar-
riag:e of the clergy and the supremacy, 406.
Injustice, common during the reign of Eliza
beth, in judicial trials, 445.
Innocent XI. advised moderation to James II.,
764.
Innovation in religion stopped by Elizabeth,
466,
Innovators, danger of, al the Reformaiion, 340.
Inquisition, steps lending towards establish
ing, 365, 367.
Insecurity under Charles II., 722.
Institution, Bishops' Book, 213. See Erudition,
271, &c.
Instrument of government, 603, ', p. 233.
Interdict, England laid under an, 63.
Intolerance generally prevalent, 445; a name
for selfishness, 706.
Introit, what, 743, K
Investitures, 54, '.
John excommunicated; about to be deposed
by Philip of France, 62 ; he submits, 63.
Johnson, Dr., prayed for his mother when
dead, 15.
Johnson, publishes an address to the army,
and is punished, 766.
Joseph of Arimathea, founder of Glaston
bury, 2.
Joye, G., alters Tyndale's translation, 534.
Ireland granted to Henry II. by the pope, 57;
war in ; Oliver Cromwell, 602.
Judges, James IL's conduct about them with
regard to the dispensing power, 769.
Jurisdiction, exclusive, of the clergy, injuri
ous, 103, 136.
Jus divinum of presbytery, 589, 592 ; episco
pacy, 595.
Justificalion by faith, 275.
Juxon, made lord treasurer, 583.
Kent, the maid of, 167 ; Joan of, 316.
Kidder, Bishop, ejected, and conformed, 707.
Kidderminster, Baxter's ministry there, 611.
King, power of, while a minor, questioned, 318.
Kings, foreign, educated in England, 11;
Saxon, visit Rome, 20 ; Book, 213.
Kneeling al the eucharist objected lo, 661, 671.
Knewstubbs at Hampton Courl, 504, 509.
Knocking on the breast, 743, ^ 10.
KnoUes hostile to the bishops, 451.
Knox, conspicuous at Frankfort, 367; comes
to Scotland ; character, 495 ; proceedings,
harshness, 496.
Labourers, agricultural, too numerous in
Henry VIII.'s lime, 257; out of employ
ment, 317.
Laity, Wiclif asserts their duly to take away
misused property from the church, 116;
chiefly instrumental in bad appointments in
the church, 259.
Lambert appeals to the king, is tried and
burnt, 216.
Lambeth, convent at, 61 ; Articles, never the
doclrine ofthe church of England, 464, fi; de
sired to be inserted into the Thirty-nine, 505.
Langton, Stephen, appointed archbishop of
Canterbury by the pope, 62; adverse to
Magna Charta, 63.
A Lasco, superintendent of foreign churches,
324.

344

INDEX.

Latimer resigns his see, 218; disputes al Ox
ford, 361, App. F.
Latin service, 23.
Latitudinarians, 7 19.
Laud, question of the controverted clause in
the Thirty-nine articles, 486, 488 ; urges the
clergy to promote forced loans; his ideas
of government, 553; his faulis injured the
church, 565; offended at Richardson for
ordering a notice lo be read in church, 559;
tries lo benefit the church by advancing
churchmen to places in the state, 666, 585 ;
urges the Scotch bishops to be cautious that
their proceedings about the Liturgy might
be legal, 567; fond of ceremonies ; intro
duces Ihem ; crucifix ; consecration of
churches, 569; frames canons, 1640, 570;
impolicy of, in alienating moderate men,
571; difficulty of drawing his character,
682; his character, 583; absurdity of the
charges of treason, 584 ; accused of alter
ing the Liturgy, 748; he and Hall drew up
a form of prayer for reconciling apostates,
808, ; mistake of his administration, 815.
Lawney's joke about the marriage of priests,
230, '.
Laws, ecclesiastical, reformaiion of, 330 ; dis
cussed, 434 ; respecting morality, 620 ; and
justice perverted ; Charles II., 722.
Lay fiefs a premium on war, 244.
Lay baptism, allowed in the church of Eng
land, 424, ' ; service altered to exclude,
747, '.
Laymen held preferments, 303, '.
Lay patrons, simony of, 430.
Leases of colleges and hospitals confirmed,
1660, 703.
Legates, papal, admitted by WiUiam I., 52 ; re-
fused-adraillanee into!EnglandbyMary,374.
Legate, B., burnt in Smithfield, 518.
Leicester, Lord, at the head of the anti-episco
palians, 451 ; sent into the Netherlands, 453.
Lent, derivation of the word, 7, ' ; fasting ob
jected to, 671, 672, 807.
Letters of foreign divines about the noncon
formists, 718.
Lewis admitted not the power of Rome, 778.
Libels against the bishops, 468.
Liberty, civil, much mixed up with the Re
formation, 425; of eonseienee,declaralion of,
758; republished, to be readin churches, 767.
Libraries destroyed at the dissolution of mo
nasteries, 256.
Licenses of preaching not to be given, 521.
Lies published for history, 608, -.
Lights in churches, 23.
Lisle, Mrs., executed, 754.
Litany put forth in English, 224 ; not used on
Sundays, 741, 743, -' ; 744, 745, K
Literature, progress of, promoted the Reforma
tion; English literature, 157, ^p. 45; pro
moted by monasteries, 245.
Littleton, lord keeper, reads the protestation
of the bishops, 573.
Liiurgy, GaUican, brought into England, 5 ;
new, 1548, moderation of, 309, 316 ; law
about, 329; origin of, 341; Scotch, 564,
748, ¦* ; objected lo by the nonconformists,
661- answer to objections, 662 ; answered.

673; interruptions in the, objected to, 671,
. 672; points in, deemed sinful, 673; review
of, 701 ; published ju»l before August 24th,
707; attempted alteration in, 806; points set
tled, 807; the failure of the plan. 809; altera-
tion.s in, why desirable, 810. See Common
Prayer.
Livings, augmentation of, 609; how held under
ecclesiastical bodies, 703, ^.
Loans, forced, promoted by the clergy, 553.
Lollards, numerous, 120; name, 120,'; pro
clamation against them ; Iheir petition, 121 ;
inveigh against the weallh of tbe clergy, 134.
London clergy, generally comply, many dis
sent, 416; importance attached to their
compliance, 422; ejected; form separate
congregations, 432; their address lo James
IE. 7.53, ¦', 781.
Long parliament, 672.
Longland, Henry's confessor, accused of in
fusing scruples into his mind about the
marriage with Catharine, 158.
Lord's Prayer, Creed, ai>d Gospel, explained
to the people, 23.
Lord's Supper, kneeling at, 807.
Love, Mr., executed, 607.
Love, family of, 619.
Lucius, king, 3.
Luck, detivation ofthe word, 7, '.
Lupus, a French bishop, assists the British
church, 5.
Luther, Henry's book against, 157. i
Lutheran states, difiiculty wilh regard to, 21'J,
Lutheran docirines of our church; of the
Forty-two Articles; and services, 341.
Magdalen coUege, dispute about the head
ship, 761.-
Maid of Kent, the, 167.
Maine executed, 438.
Mainwaring fined, and then made a bishop, 553.
Manchester, earl of, oppresses Cambridge, 599.
Mantua, council assembled at ; Henry sum
moned to appear; the convocation and king
reject the summons, 208.
Margaret professorships, 169.
Marriage of Henry and Catharine dissolved,
165; confirmed, 355.
Marriage of the clergy, 311, 329, 468, '; at
tacked, and the married clergy ejected, 360 ;
rules concerning, I6.W), 406, ->.
Marriage madfe a civil contract, 622 ; service,
508; confirmed at the Restoration, 663.
Martin Marprelate, a name given to several
books, 458.
Martyr, Peter, disputes at Oxford, 314; his
wife's bones buried in a dunghiU, 373; con
sulted on the Liturgy, T45.
Martyrs, succession of, their examinations
chiefly on transubstantiation and submis
sion to Ihe church, 122, 130.
Mary, see Virgin Mary.
Mary objects to alterations during her bro
ther's minority, 306 ; her mass is stopped,
327, 334 ; succeeds to the throne ; her reli
gious opinions unfavourable to her cause,
351; proclaimed queen; she promises too-
much, 352; supposed attachment lo Cardi
nal Pole, 356 ; punishes those^vho spreacE
reports about herself, 363 ; disappointmens

INDEX.

345

about her delivery, increases the persecu
tion ; her notion about il; neglected by her
husband, 366 ; rebuilds Ihe convent of Fran
ciscans, and gives up church lands and
tenths, 369 ; vindictive about Cranmer, 370 ;
converts Westminster into a monastery ;
dtstioys the documents of former reigns,
S72; refuses admission lo Peto, the papal
legale, into England, 374; death of ; charac
ter, 375 ; her severities had gone beyond the
wishes of the Roman Catholics, and her
government had alienated the naiion, 401 ;
persecutions during her reign compared
wilh those under Elizabeth, 444 ; summary
of her reign, 812.
Mary, queen of Scots, an act for security of
the queen's person levelled against her,
453; injustice of her execution, 455.
Mass, believed by the Anglo-Saxons lo be a
sacrifice for the quick and the dead, 17 ;
the meaning of the word, 17, ".
Masses and exequies, 277 ; Henry VIII. leaves
money for, 303; private, forbidden, 307.
.Massey, dean of Christ Church, a Roman Ca
tholic, 761.
Mathews, Tobie, writes the petition in favour
of Grindal, 447 ; al the Hampton Court con
ference, 504.
Matthew's Bible, 535.
Matrimony, Wiclif's opinion about, 118; Eru
dition, 280.
Mazarine, Cardinal, afraid of Cromwell, 604.
Mechanics ordained, 410.
Medwinus and Eluanus sent by King Lucius
lo Rome, 3.
Melancthon's opinion of Wiclif, 119; Henry
VIII. anxious that he should come lo Eng
land, 232; consulted by Cranmer on a plan
of Protestant union, 324, * ; invited to Eng
land and consulted, .341.
Mendicant orders, 105.
Mew, bishop of Winchester, withdraws from
the commission, 1689, 806.
Midwives baptize, 424.
Mill burnt, 495.
.Millenary petition, 602.
Ministers in Kent and Suffolk sUenced; ap
peal to the council, 450.
.Ministers, caUing of, and election, 426.
Ministry, the, totally destroyed by the inde
pendents, 608.
Monasteries attacked by the Danes, 10 ; re
stored by Ihem, 243 ; abuses in, 130 ; Hen
ry's object in their dissolution; Cranmer's ;
all under 200/. per ann. suppressed ; instruc
tions given to the visitors, 202; surrender
of; some refounded, 209; new visitation
I of; disorders discovered in some ; excep-
Uons, 211 ^ surrenders of; small benefit to
the crown, 212 ; act for suppressing, 218 ;
dissolution of, 241, &c. ; originally useful,
242 ; a premium on peace, and practically
beneficial, 244 ; promoted architecture, lite
rature, and trade, 245 ; by degrees they be
come less useful, 246 ; favoured by the
people ; why 1 they admitted the younger
branches of great families, fed the poor,
and wer» good landlords, 247 ; number of,
founded in each reign, 347, ' ; they would
44

hardly have been overthrown except by-
violence; plans for employing the wealth
of them, 248, 249, 251 ; evils arising at the
lime from the dissolution of, 253, 255, 258;
the property ultimately fell into the hands
of the industrious, 264 ; property of, trans
ferred, 258; the transfer ultimately bene
ficial, 259 ; properly transferred al the
dissolution, equal lo the present property
of the church, 258, ', p. 77; destroyed in
Scotland, 495.
Monastic establishments useful at first; fa
vourable lo civilization ; attacked by the
Danes, 23.
Monk, General, destroys the power of the pres
bytery in Scotland, 607 ; deceived every
one at the Restoration, 624.
Monks, origin of, 5, ' ; preferments granted lo, a
hinderance to the Reformaiion, 303; in St.
James's allowed lo wear their dresses, 764.
Money given to the bride, 743, '.
Monmoulh, victory over, 754.
Montague attacked by the commons, 552.
Morality, laws respecting, 620.
Morals, dissolute, 1649, 317.
More, Sir Thomas, sent lo the Tower, 167,
death and characler, 168.
Morley, his jest about Arminians, 557; wishes
for a comprehension, 715.
Mortmain, statute of, 66; impolicy of, 104.
Murderers and robbers subjected to the civil
courts, 151.
Music, church, objected to, 424.
Nag's-head consecraiion, 409 ; denied by Mor
ton, 623.
Nantes, edict of, James receives the refugees,
778.
Nash, Thomas, his satirical writings useful,
461.
Naylor severely punished, 621.
Necessary Doctrine and Erudition, 223.
Nevill, Dr., sent to congratulate James, 501.
Nice, council of, 4; second, rejected by the
British church, 18; endeavours lo impose
celibacy on the clergy, 22.
Nicholson, (see Lambert,) 215, ^
Nicodemus, Gospel of, 157.
Nismes, Protestants of, protected by Crom
well, 604.
Noel's Catechism published, 412.
Nonconformists, treatment Qf; they were gene
rally disliked, 704 ; how they should have
been treated, 705, 707; aUowed no support
from their livings when ejected, 706; the
manner of doing it cruel, 707; some had
never seen the Common Prayer UU they
were called on to use it, 707 ; causes of
their Ul-lreatment, 708 ; the people in fault
rather than the king, 709 ; number ejected,
710; relief of the nonconformists attempted,
715; faults of, 716; testimonies against
them ; foreign letters, 718; adverse to tole
ration, 724; not praiseworthy for their op
position to Roman Catholics, 735 ; exerted
themselves during the plague, 714, 737 ; mi
nisters injured by the fire of London; they
opened meetings, 728. See Presbyterians.
Nonjurors, 801 ; subsequent conduct of, 803,
continue the succession of bishops, 803;

346

INDEX.

principles on which they acted, not to be
justified, 804; principles of their poliUcal
conduct, 805.
Non-residence objected lo bythe puritans, 423.
Non-resistance, doclrine of, prevalent, 729.
Norfolk, risings in, 1549, 317.
Norlhumberiand, duke of, causes the fall of
Protector Somersel, 328 ; obtains the pala
tinate of Durham, 331 ; persuades Edward
VI. to set aside Mary and Elizabeth, in fa
vour of Lady Jane Grey, 333; his unpo
pularity injures the cause of Lady Jane
Grey, 352.
Norwich, property of the church of, in dan
ger; refounded, 488.
Number of those who were burnt, 374 ; eject
ed, 710.
Nuncio of the pope received by James, 764.
Oates's, T., plot, 721 ; condemned to be whip
ped, 755, ¦.
Oaths to the pope, Cranmer protests against,
164; of priests did nol bind them to celi
bacy in England, 360 ; sanctity of, destroyed
by the changes, in England, 361 ; of aUegi
ance, 515 ; the et castera oath, 570 ; about the
covenant, 702, 705; of supremacy, 166, 403;
supremacy and allegiance, William and
Mary, 801 ; unnecessarily imposed, 1689,
803 ; quesUon as to the utility of, 802. See
ex Officio mem.
Obits, Henry VIII. leaves money for, 303.
Odo, 12.
Officers in the army, preachers, 593.
Offices of stale held by .the clergy, 136, 583.
Officio mero. Articles ex, proposed to clergy
men; of an inquisitorial nature, 461; many
puritans refuse to lake the oath; melhod of
proceeding, 458, ', p. 157 ; James speaks in
favour of it, 509.
Oldcastle, Sir John, see Cobham, Lord.
Oldcorn, powder plot, 514.
Opinions of Wiclif, 115, &c.
Orange, prince of, solicited to invade Eng
land, 772 ; never questions the legitimacy,
of James's heir, 779.
Orders, see Religions Orders; seven orders of
the church of Rome, 22; confusion con
cerning, 117; only two mentioned in Scrip-
ture,280 ; how many in the primitive church ;
equivocation about the term, 460, ^, p. 158.
Ordination of priests to offer mass for the liv
ing and the dead, 17; service, 319, 744; of
inadequate persons, 410 ; supposed to exist
in the election of the congregation, 426 ;
Cartwright's ideas about, 433 ; age of priesis
and deacons; regulations about, 436; pres
byterian, discussed, 454, ' ; power of, vested
in the assembly, 689 ; form of, in the direc
tory, 590; by foreign churches, 710, '.
Organs and church music objected to, 424.
Oriental literature flourished during the usurpa-
Uon, 616.
Origen, quotation from, 2, ¦•.
Original sin, 275.
Orrery, Lord, he attempts a comprehension,
715.
Osbolston, ill treated, 563.
Oswi adopts the Romau method of keeping
Easter, 7.

Overall, Bishop, his plan for re-ordaining, 710;
drew up part of the Calechism, 747, '.
Outram, 728.
Oxford ; Gerhard and his foUowers punished
for heresy, 60; Wiclif's opinions approved
there, lli ; he is summoned before commis
sioners there, 112 ; friendly to Wiclif; gives
him letters testimonial, 120; erected into a
see, 218, 6; disputations on transubstantia
tion, 315; disputation at; Cranmer, 361 ; P.
Martyr's wife's bones dug up, 373 ; suffer
ings of; reasons againsl the covenant; Er
bury silences the presbyterian divines there,
600; decree, 729; stale of, 1687, 761.
Pagit, Eusebius, ill treatment of, 459.
Pardons of the church of Rome, 106.
Pare, George Van, burnt, 1551, 315.
Parish, churches, 8 ; discipline, Baxter's, 612.
Parishes, division into; a civil enactment, 804.
Parker, M., publishes the Testimony of Anti
quity, 10; consecrated archbishop of Can
terbury, 1559, 409 ; Elizabeth writes lo him
pressingconlbrmity,410 ; entertained doubts
as lo the dresses, 418; his difficulties in
pressing conformity, 420; peremptory in his
treaiment of Sampson and other noncon
formists; his excellences, 422; writes to
Elizabeih on the spoliation of the church,
429, 8 ; urges Grindal lo adopt the canons
of 1571, 434; how far he was the cause of
persecution is uncertain ; his character, and
death, 446; prepares the Articles for the
convocation, 1562, 484 ; remodels them, 485,
487.
Parker,Mrs., called byher maiden'name,468,-'.
Parker, Samuel, bishop of Oxford, elected
president of Magdalen college, 761.
Parliamenl; (see Acts of Parliament :) present
a petition in favour of reform in the church,
1681,448; members sent lo the Tower for
innovating in religion, 456 ; selfishness and
lyranny of, 580; Long, oppression of, 598;
the kingdom disgusted wilh them, 603; Ro-
nian Catholics prevented from sitting in,
720, 721.
Parliamentary religion, the church of Eng
land, a, 336, 811.
Parr, Catharine, married to Henry, 334; talks
to the king on religious subjects ; in dan
ger, but escapes, 336.
Parties for and againsl Reformation, 30.5.
Pascal II., his ill conduct about Anselm, 55.
Pascatius Radbertus, 16.
Passive obedience, doctrine of, prevalent, 729,
preached lUl the clergy had to suffer for it,
781.
Pastoral Staff, 743, >, 9.
Patric, employed about the Collects, 728, 807 3
p. 304.
Paul, St., possibly converted England, 2.
Paul's Cross, 353.
Paul IV. annuls the setUement about church
property, 364 ; refuses to acknowledge Eli
zabeth, 402.
Paul V. forbids Roman CathoUcs lo take the
oath of allegiance, 516.
Payment of officers in the army, 430, ".
Peachell, ejected from the vice-'chanceUorship
at Cambridge, 762.

INDEX.

34¥

Pecock, promotes the Reformation by excu.s-
ing Romish errors, and analyzing what was
innocent in them ; promoted to the sees of
St. Asaph and Chichester ; deprived of his
preferments, 126 ; he offended by betraying
the weakness of Rome, by defending it on
its right ground: images; pilgrimages, 127;
defends the supremacy, and the religious
orders, but blames the abuses, 128; the Bi
ble the standard of his failh ; his opinions
similar lo Wiclif's; a man of no greal
talents, 129.
Peers, House of, the number of lay and spi
ritual members, 129, ".
Pelagian heresy, 5.
Penal laws render the Roman Catholics fa
vourable to the lyranny of James IL, 753;
James tries lo repeal them, 759.
Penance and repentance confounded, 21, ' ;
and confession, difference between the
churches of England and Rome ; those ge
nerally imposed among the Saxons; com
mutation of, 21, ¦' ; or repentance; sacra
mental pan, 279. See Absolution.
Penitents and apostates, a form of prayer for
reconciling, 808.
Penruddock, rising of, 605.
Penry executed, 461.
Perjury, promoted by dispensations, 56; pre
valence of, and cause, 616.
Persecuuons, early, St. Alban, 3; directed the
attention of mankind lo the false doctrines
of Rome, 1 36 ; effects of, 173 ; Lord Herbert's
observation on, 221; question concerning,
discussed, 365; disgust excited by; petition
againsl; Alphonsus preaches againsl; Phi
Up adverse to persecution, 366; under Mary
and Elizabeth, 444; in England before Lu
ther, 491, 2 ; James I., 518 ; of the usurpa
tion and Charles II., 731 ; of dissenters ;
Charles II. ; arising from the House of Com
mons, 816.
Perseverance, final, discussed at Hampton
Court, 505.
Persons, comes to England, 438 ; much to
blame about the armada, 457.
Perth, assembly of; the five points, 665, '.
Peter, St., tradition about, 2.
Peter's pence, 103, < ; re-demanded; Wiclif
declates them not to be due, 110.
Petitions presented against episcopacy; the
Millenary; its value, 502; of the noncon
formists to the king, 1660, 661 ; for peace,
of Baxter, 670 ; after the conference, 679 ;
of the seven bishops, 768.
Peto, refused admission into England, 374.
Petre, Father, made privy-counsellor, 763.
Philip, St., tradition about, 2.
Philip of France proceeds to depose John, 63.
Philip of Spain sends money to Gardiner lo
bribe off opponenis, 356 ; he saves Eliza
beth, 363 ; adverse to persecution ; he neg
lects Mary, 366.
Pictures and images, when introduced ; de
crees of second council of Nice, 18.
Pierson, one of the disputants, 1661, 673.
Pilgrimages to Jerusalem, early made by the
English ¦ and to Rome ; abuses arising
from ; penitential canons enact them, 20 ;

Wiclif's opinion of, 118; Pecock's, 127 ; of
grace, 209.
Pius V. excommunicates Elizabeth, 437.
Plague in London, 714; nonconformists ex
erted themselves, 727.
Plans for employing the wealth of the sup
pressed monasteries, 248 ; constructing
harbours ; a school of diplomacy, 249.
Plays, none acted during the usurpation, 620.
Plots againsl the government, 721 ; Charles IL,
722.
Ploughman, complaint of; noUce of, 107, -'.
Pocock, ill treaiment of, 609, '.
Poinets. See Ponet.
Pole, Cardinal, writes against Henry, 208;
appointed legale ; idea of his marrying
Mary, 356 ; comes lo England and recon
ciles the kingdom to the pope; he alarms
Ihe holders of church property, 364; a
friend to mild measures, 365 ; evil reports
sent of him to Rome, by Gardiner, 368;
reforms the church ; intends lo publish the
New Testament, ami lo establish cathedral
schools, 369; archbishop of Canterbury,
372; dismisses several heretics, 373 ; per
secuted by Paul IV., but restored, 374;
death of; character, 375.
Police, moral, eslablished by the church, 819.
Pollanus, Valerandus, 745, ", 1.
Ponet, defence of priests' marriage, 216; Cate
chism, 331.
Poor laws, 436.
Poor priests, Wiclif's, 120.
Pope, the, grants Ireland lo Henry II., 57 ; ap
points Stephen Langton archbishop of Can
terbury, 62; ;axes the clergy, 103; many
of them Frenchmen ; offensive to England,
103 6; laws against, 166.
Popery, poliUcal tendency of, 752.
Popham, A., at the Charter-house, 762.
Poverty ofthe church, 330, causes of, 410, 430.
Powder-plot, 514.
Power, why given lo the minisiers of the gos
pel, 131.
Practice of prelates, 171.
Praemunire, statute of, 104, '.
Prayers for the dead, early in use ; not con
nected necessarily wilh purgatory, 15 ; al
tered, 306 ; examined, 322 ; in the primers
of Edward VL and Elizabeih, 741 ; ad
dressed to saints before Alfred's lime ;
Anglo-Saxon church's opinion about, (see
Lord's,) 18 ; bidding, 305, ^ ; in Latin ; wis
dom of having the, an odd argument for,
310; for the sufferers under Mary, forbid
den, 374; common, used in ScoUand, (see
Common,) 494 ; how used during the usur
pation, 615, '; Bates says it was allowed,
616; the nonconformists' objection to, 671 ;
form of, for the fifth of November, &c., 750.
Praying for William and Mary,objected to, 804.
Preacher, a, inveighs against the biU which
subjected all robbers to the civil power, 151.
Preachers, king's, appointed and sent through
the country to preach, 1561, 336; licensed,
who are favourable to the church of Hotat,
364 ; in Oxford, silenced for preaching on
predestinaUon, 557.
Preaching forbidden, 223 ; on week-days.

348

INDEX.

stopped, 333 ; James's letter about, 521 ; on
controverted points,forbidden; James n.,756.
Predestination, a source of differences, 376,
317 ; disputes about, 367; controverssy about,
463 ; Hampton-court, 505. See Lambeth Ar
ticles.
Preferments, (see Appointments,) value of, the
cause of disputes, 133; and of wrong ap-
poinlments, 134; granted lo monks ; pover
ty of, a hinderance lo the Reformaiion, 303.
Presbyterians, few in the House of Commons
al first, 671, ' ; tyrannical over the laity,
587; why, 591, '; established in London
and Lancashire, 693 ; their church govern
ment, 587 ; divine right of, 589, 593 ; framed
by the assembly of divines, 591 ; republican,
,593 ; ministers petilion for the king, 595, ¦> ;
silenced by Erbury, 600; they wished lo
establish-- a limited monarchy, 601; their
proceedings when in power; ejected by the
engagement; abused the powerof the bish
ops, but loved the power of the presbytery,
606 ; offended at the execuiion of Mr. Love ;
they afterwards possessed no power ; Monk
destroys it in Scotland, 607; their govern
ment in the minisler and elders; they publish
directions about catechising, 614; instru
mental in the Restoration, 650 ; who are
meant by the term ; republicans in the
church, 661 ; difficulty arising from them
at the Restoration, 656 ; anxious for parish
discipline, 657 ; object of the, at the Resto
ration ; the dilficully of it, 659 ; their peti
tion to the king, objections to the church,
661 ; alter the king's declaration, (see Savoy
Conference,) 664 ; after the conference they
present an address to the king, 675.
Presbytery admired by those who had been
exiles for religion, 435 ; first established at
Wandsworth, 446 ; attempt lo introduce the,
453 : how introduced into England, 574, 580.
Price of a Bible, 534, K
Prideaux, J. V. C, when the Articles were
published without the first clause in the
twentieth, 487.
Prideaux, H., formed great hopes of a reform
in the church, 808.
Priesis, poor, Wiclif's, 120; age of, when or-
daineii, 435.
Priests and minisiers, the term used without
rule in the Rubrics, 748, ''.
Primer, 224, '; 741,2.
Principles on which the nonjuring bishops
continued the succession, 804; of the Revo
lution, 805.
Prinung, 157.
Printing-press of the libellers discovered, 458.
Priories, alien, dissolved, 1414, 248, ^.
Prisoners at Worcester sold for slaves, 607.
Proclamalion to the clergy in favour of re
form, 207 ; about the celibacy of the clergy ;
Cranmer screened, 216; against -innova
tions, 308 ; Henry's made equivalent to
laws ; for printing the Bible, 218 ; in favour
of the Bible, 222.
Profitable and Necessary Doctrine, published
by Bonner, 369, '.
Propaganda, Protestant, 604.
Propagation of the Gospel in Wales, fi08.

Proparents, 671.
Properly, church, Wiclif's opinion of, 116,
confusion about, 116, ¦*; why granted to the
church,131; transferred at the dissolution of
monasteries, 358; nol restored, 1554; Cardi
nal Pole inveighs againsl this, and Paul IV.
annuls all Ihe concessions, 364 ; principles
of, 430, ''-, at the Restorauon, 703, 2.
Prophesyings, what they were ; slopped by
the queen ; advantages of, 427 ; m Norwich,
stopped, 446 ; bishops ordered to suppress
them, 447 ; objected lo hy James, 508.
Protestant Union of Failh pi-oposed by Cran
mer, 324.
Protestantism, political tendency of, 752.
Provisions, papal, 103; statute against, 104;
dispute about, compromised, 110.
Provision made for the ejected clergy, 698.
Provisors, statute of, 104.
Prynne punished, 662-.
Psalm singing, 312; authorily of the Old Ver
sion, and history of, 312, ' ; in the Prayer
Book, taken from the Great Bible, or Cran
mer's, 536, '; selections from, 1689, and
new ti-anslation, 807.
Purgatory, doctrines of, when invented; com
mon to many religions; prayers for the dead
not necessarily connected wilh it ; traces of
it among the Anglo-Saxons ; popular nouons
of it in the time of Bede and Alcuin, 15; first
believed, and then made profitable, 24; Wic
lif's opinion of, 117; attacked, 170; the
origin of the wealth ofthe clergy, 229 ; ex
amined, 248 ; Erudition, 277.
Puritans opposed the civil power, 421 ; objec
tions of, 423; intolerant, 445; treatment of,
449,459,461 ; endeavour to alter the govern
ment of the church, 458; their plan of pro
ceeding, 459 ; much lo blame, yet treated
^ wilh severity, 466, 4;1; Elizabeth's treat
ment of, 468 ; poinis complained of by them,
502; James's opinion of ihem, 509; idea
conveyed by the name, 524 ; different par
lies comprehended under the term, 527.
Quakers, name of, 618, ' ; compelled to take
an oath, 713 ; sufferings of, 760.
Quare impedit, 110, ^.
Quick and the dead, the mass a sacrifice for,
among the Anglo-Saxons, 17.
Rachell, Dr., ejected from the vice-chancellor
ship of Cambridge, 762.
Rationale ofthe Roman Caiholic service,371,--.
Ratram, see Bertram.
RebeUion, northern, suppressed, 310 ; hastens
the suppression of monasteries, 211; Wy
at's, caused by the Spanish match, 359.
Recantation, feigned one of Wiclif, 112; of
Lord Cobham, 124.
ReconcUiaUon wilh Rome, 1554, 364.
Redemption, universality of, 276.
Reform, plans of, 463 ; only safe when carried
on by the upper orders, 601.
Reformatio legum ecclesiasticarum,330,435,^Xii''-
the first chapters an authorized expression
of the meaning of the Thirty-nine Articles
483. '
Reformation, steps towards a, 137; causes of
161 ; promoted by the progress of literature
157; reviewof, instruments who produced

INDEX.

349

it, 174; state of the, 1547, 229; in Germa
ny, its effects on England not considerable
during Henry's reign, 231 ; hindered by hav
ing monks put into benefices, and poverty
of the livings, 303; of ecclesiastical law,
3.30 ; affections of the people towards the,
1553, 335 ; review of the benefiis and evils
arising from the, 413 ; political character
of, 44-J ; in England, not hasty, 491 ; il had
been long preparing, 492; iri be preferred
to that in Scolland, 498 ; in Scotland, 491 ;
rapid, 493 ; established 1560, 495 ; general
view of, 497; arevolution in the church, 498;
introduced discussion in church and state,
52.5.
Reformed churches loo simple in their cere
monies, 414.
Reformers, the, publish a statement of their
belief, from prison, 362.
Regeneration, at baptism, 671, 672, 2, p. 357.
Relics, used in the consecration of cliurches,
18 ; natural respect for them ; sent by Gre
gory to Augustin, 19.
Religion, influence of, in forming the army,
579 ; used by Cromwell, 583 ; slate of, dur
ing the usurpation, 611, 615.
Religious orders, Pecock defends the variety
of, 128 ; depravity of, 130.
Re-ordinalion objected to, 663; influences
many of the nonconformists, 710, and ';
454, ¦'; form of, 807, 3.
Repentance and penance confounded, 21 ; sa
cramental part of it, 276, 279.
Responses in the Liturgy objecled to, 671, 672.
Restoration, causes of, 624 ; the presbyterians
negligent in providing for their safety at, 650 ;
service for,653; summary of the history,816.
Revenues of the clergy lessened at the Re
formation by the loss of fees and personal
tithe, 260, '' ; of the suppressed monasteries,
how they might best have been applied, 251.
Revolution, progress of the, 722 ; was it a po
litical or religious struggle ? 780 ; principles
of, 80-5.
Reynolds at the conference al Hampton Court,
504, 605, 506, 507 ; accepts a bishopric, 666.
Rhemes New Testament, 539.
Richardson, ch. j., suppresses wakes, &c., 659.
Ridley, disputations in Cambridge, 315; ad
vises Hooper lo comply, 321 ; made bishop
of London, 323 ; his assistance desired in
the dispute in convocaUon, 357 ; disputes
at Oxford,'361 ; supposed to have assisted
Cranmer in framing the 39 Articles, 482.
Ring, in marriage, 671.
Risings in 'Devon and Norfolk, 317.
Rites, diversity of, destroys not the unity of
the church, 277.
Robbers and murderers subjected to civil
courts, 151.
Rogers, J., his assistance desired by the Pro
testants disputing in convocation, 357 ;
burnt in Smithfield, 366; publishes Mat
thew's Bible, 635.
RoUe's translation of the Bible, 533.
Roman Catholics injured by the conduct of
Paul rV., 402 ; they atteniled church early
in Elizabeth's reign, 437; treatment of, 438 ;
severity caused by the ill conduct of their

own leaders, 4.39 : treaiment of, under Eliza
beth, discussed, 440 ; their conduct alarmed
Protestants, 468, «; treatment of, at the time
of the armada, 457 ; their cause cursed with
injudicious leaders ; some of me clergy
view the matter truly; Burleigh's testimony
in their favour, 467 ; in some measure the
cause of their own sufferings ; number who
suflered, 462, 6; severe laws against, 515;
punished, 1606, 516 ; a project for tolerating
them under Cromwell, 610; laws against
them; excluded from parliament, 720; ques
tion about them, 723; driven to support
James by the intolerance of the Protestants,
753; in England have much reason to com
plain al not having bishops,763, ' ; excluded
from toleration, 806; nol tolerated, nor So
cinians, 817.
Rome, superiority of, over Saxon England, 9, ';
errors of the chnrch of, generally thosf of
human nature; debt due to, from Europe,
14; dale of their introducuon into Kngland,
15; pilgrimages to; visited by many of the
Saxon kings, 20; influence of, arose from
the vices of .the kings ; interfered to sup
port the just rights of the church, 53 ; inter
feres with the affairs of England, 61 ; power
of, 64; Greathead opposes it, 65; growih of
the power of, 67; causes of il; injustice of
the crown, 68, 70; political abuses of the
church, with regard to England; attempts
fo limit it, 102 ; moral abuses, 105; doctrinal
- errors of, idolatry, cfec, 106; covetousness
of, Wiclif writes against the, 108 ; Wiclif
opposes the temporal power of, and Ihe doc
trines, 114; Pecock excuses the errors of,
126 ; defends them on the right ground, .and
so injures their defence, 127 ; misuses the
power granted lo her, 131 ; the power of, a
check to the crown, 133; stepped in to de
fend the right of the clergy to appoint their
own superiors, against the crown, 133;
power of, dependent on false doctrines ; and
attacked by the translation of the Bible, 136;
final rupture wilh,166 ; the religion of, never
in the Bible, 172, ' ; the power of, thrown
down by opinion, as well as laws, 229.
Royalists, division among the, at the Restora
tion ; eager for preferments, 656.
Roye, William, assisted Tyndale, 534.
Rural deans promised; their office, 665.
Russell, Lord, 722.
Sabbatarian controversy, 519, 658.
¦Sabbath, strict observance of it enjoined, Ed
ward VL, 304 ; how spent in the days of
Elizabeth, 619, '; laws about, during the
usurpation, 620.
Sacramentaries, 214, '.
Sacraments, seven, Wiclif's opinion of, 118;
Alesse argues against them, 205 ; a quesiion
of the name, rather than the thing; differ
ence between the different sacraments ;
three most necessary ; how the church of
England views this, 278.
Sacraments to be administered by the clergy,
460, \ p. 159 ; of the Lord's supper, 671.
Saints, invocation of, 18, 277.
Salisbury, services after the use of, the basis
of the Common Prayer, 744.
2G

350

INDEX.

Salvation through Christ alone, 276.
Sampson deprived, 416 ; intolerant, 445.
Sancroft urges chapters to augment their liv
ings, 703, -; attempts a comprehension, 715;
refuses to act on the ecclesiastical commis
sion, 767; conduct about the declaraUon,
768 ; sent lo the Tower, 769 ; publishes ad
monitions to the other bishops; attempts a
comprehension, 771 ; presents a paper of
advice lo James II., 773, ' ; draws up a ser
vice for 30th of January, 750, '' ; transfers
his authority to Lloyd, 803.
Sanctification, held by Wiclif, 119.
Sanctuary, abuse of, 103 ; benefit of, 243.
Sanderson carries on his ministry ; melhod of
using the Common Prayer, 615.
Sandys' opinion on ihe dresses, 418.
Sardica, council of, 4.
Saunders, L., burnt at Coventry, 366 ; his letter
lo his wife, -App. F.
Savoy conference; the commission, 667 ; its
failure owing to the nature of the discussion,
700.
Sawtrey, William, burnt, 122.
Saxons invade England, 6.
Saxon names of days and feasts, 7, ' ; kings
visit Rome, 20.
Scandalous minisiers, committee of, 574.
Schism, hardly deemed a sin, 718.
Schools, early established in England, 5; es
tablished by Alfred for his son, 11 ; for di
plomacy, plan for, 249; cathedral, Pole in
tends to establish, 369.
Scotland; (see Liiurgy, Scotch;) reformation
in, compared with that of England, 491,
495; Cnimwell's war in, 602; episcopacy
now existing there, 804.
Scotch church write concerning dresses, 419.
¦ Scory, consecrates Parker, 409.
Scriptures, Holy, the standard of faith, in
Wiclif's opinion, 116; Pecock's, 129 ; study
of 157; use of, 172; burning of, 173.
Sea, Form of Prayer lo be used at, 749.
Sects, during the Usurpaliim, 617.
Secular clergy, dispute with the Jesuits ; de
clare their loyalty, 462.
Sees, new, erected, 218, ^
Selden's Table Talk, 657, ' ; 675, '; 717,'.
Self-denying ordinance, 680.
Seininanes eslablished; the oath laken bythe
seminarists in Scotland, 438.
Separation of the church of England from
Rome, 165,204,403,437; when allow,able,
718.
Sermons, written, 223 ; prohibited by Mary,
354; prevalence of, injurious, 614.
Service, church, in Latin, 23; books, old, de
stroyed, 1550, 319 ; at the end of the Prayer
Book, 760.
Severus, a French bishop, assists the Briiish
church, 5.
Seymour, Jane, married to Henry VIII, 204.
Seymour, Sir Thomas, admiral, executed, 313.
Shaftesbury, carries the exclusion hill againsl
Roman CathoUcs, 721; cares liltle for reli
gion, 723.
Sharp preaches against popery, 757.
Shaxton, resigns his see, 218; condemned to
be burnt; recants, 225.

Sheldon, makes an arrangement about subsi
dies, 701, 705; saying about the noncon-
foimists, 731.
Shirt, see Saunders, L., Append. F.
Shrines destroyed, 212.
Siblhorpe,his sermon not licensed by Abbol,555
Simon Zelotes, tradilion about, 2.
Simoniacal contracts of patrons, 305, 410, 430.
Sinfulnessof the impositions inlheLilurgy,673.
Six Articles, act of, 217.
Skinner, bishop of Oxford, ordains during the
usurpation, 615.
Smalcalde, princes assembled there, write to
France and England ; Henry answers them,
and sends ambassadors, 232.
Smith challenges P. Martyr at Oxford, 313;
he flies, 314.
-Smith, Sir T., his life saved by Gardiner, 368.
Socinians; severity against, 621; not tole
rated ; nor Roman Catholics, 817.
Somerset, duke of, protector, 301 ; his fall,
319 ; and character, 328.
South prayed publicly in Westminster school
for Charles on ihe day of his execution, 600.
Southworth, a Romish priest, executed, 610.
Spanish match ; parliamenl petitions against
it, 356; creaies a rebellion, 359.
Sparkes,at the Hampton Courtconference,504.
Sparrow, one ofthe disputants, 1661, 673.
Spies, the papal officers are, 103.
Spoliation, still carried on, 1552, 330.
Sponsors, the answers made by,objected to,424.
Sports,Bookof ; disliked hy the clergy,5 19,559.
Spratt, bishop of Rochester, on the ecclesiasti
cal commission, 757 ; reads the declaration
in Westminster Abbey, 768, '; withdraws
from the commission, 1689, S06.
Standish, Dr., advocates the civil power, 152.
Star Chamber, courl of, 654, 575.
Stale ofthe country, 1640, 571.
Stephen increases the papal power by his
injustice; summoned before the bishop of
Winchester, 66.
Stillingfleet, preaches, 728 ; reviewed the Col
lects, 807, ¦', p. 304.
Strafford, Lord, injustice of his death, 582.
Strasburg, service of the church at, 745, ^, 1.
Straw, miracle of, 614.
Subscripfion to the Articles; limited to those
relating lo faith and the sacraments, 486 ;
dates from the canons of 1604, 488.
Subsidy, what, 331, -^ ; last, paid by the clergy,
how paid, 701.
Sudbury, S., summons Wiclif before him, 111.
Suffolk, men of, Mary's promise to them, 352.
Suffolk, duke of, executed for Wyal's rebel
lion, 359.
Suffragan bishops, 602, \ ^
Summary of the history of the church of En°--
land, 811. ^
Sunderland, Lord, dishonest, 777.
Supererogation, works on, 276.
Superiority of Rome over Saxon England, 9.
Supplication of beggars, by Fish, 171.
Supremacy, papal, Wiclif opposes the, 115,
Pecock defends it, 128 ; of the king, Ul re
ceived by the clergy, 163; oath of, 166;
hardly less arbitrary than that of Rome, 172 ;
ErudiUon, 281 ; the pariiament unwiUing tJ

INDEX.

351

give it up, 356; Elizabeth scruples about
the name; oath of, 403; declaraUon of Eli
zabeth concerning, 406 ; Roman Catholic
clergy ejected by it, 407; oalh of; severe
act of parliament about, 412 ; oalh of, 453, ' ;
established in England very arbitrar3% 525.
Surplice, question about, at Hampton Court,
_ 508 ; objected to, 661, 671 ; use of, 1689, 807.
Surrender of monasteries, see Monasteries.
Suri-ey, Lord, execution of, 227.
Sussex converted to Christianity, 8.
Swearing, laws againsl, 620.
Sword, "You have the word, but we have the,"
358.
Syrian churches,Alfredscnds an embassy to,ll.
'J'averner's Bible, 636.
Tax imposed by the pope on the clergy, 61,
103; by Edward I., 66; imposed on the cler
gy by parliament, 701.
Taylor burnt at Hadley, 366.
Temporalities during a vacancy, 63, 2. See
Property.
Tennison reviewed the Liiurgy, 807, ', p. 304.
Tenths and first fruits restored to the crown,
404 ; augmentation of, 430, ".
Tenths and fifteenths, 331, ».
TertuUian, quotation from, 2, ¦» ; and 3.
Test act, 720.
Testimonials given by Oxford to Wiclif, 120.
Tewkesbury burnt, 170.
Thanks given to the gentry for attending the
execution of heretics, 367.
Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, 8.
Theodoret, quolaUon from, 2, ', p. 1 ; ', p. 2.
Theology, study of, James's advice, 621, '.
Thirlby degrades Cranmer, 370.
Thorpe, William, examination of, 124.
Throgmorton, Sir N., the jury fined for ac
quitting him, 369.
TUlotson, preaches, 1666, 728 ; exposed to
much obloquy, 804; reviewed the Collects,
807 ; nol elected prolocutor, 809.
Tithes mentioned before Ethelwulph's grant
to the church ; spoken of as due by divine
right, 10; personal, 430 ; not to be let by a
non-resident clergyman, 435.
Toleration eslablished by Cromwell, 610; pro
mised by Charles II. at Breda, 660; liule
understood; demanded by the anabaptists
and independents, 664;-Charles IL, decla
ralion for, 716.
Toleration act, 806.
Tombs of the archbishops of Canterbury, re
spect paid lo; dispute about if, 19.
Tonstal, story of burning the New Testament,
173 ; draws up an answer to the German
Protestants, 232; deprived, 331.
Torture directed lo be used, 367 ; used at the
powder-plot, 514.
Tracy, his will, 170.
Trade promoted by monasteries, 245.
Traditions and ceremonies, 281.
Transfer, the, of property from one religious
use lo another not begun by Henry VIIL,
248, '; to the crown, made illegal, 513; in
jurious when sudden, 656. .»-
Translations formed by Alfred, 11 ; ofthe Bi
ble, 507, 531, &c. (see Bible) ; question of a
new translation, 540 ; new to be used, 671.

TransahstanUation, Waterland's history of;
not held by the Anglo-Saxons, 16; first be
lieved, and then m,ade profitable, 24; de
clared to be a tenet of the church of Rome,
63, 106; opposed by Wiclif, 112; Wiclif's
opinion ; the first decision about in England,
119; the point on which martyrs were ex-
amined,122; Erudition, 280; doctrine stated,
313; disputations on, at Oxford and Cam
bridge, 314; disputed on in convocation,
357 ; the doclrine for which the martyrs suf
fered, 444 ; declaraUon to be made against
it, 720.
Travers, disputes with Hooker ; quesiion as
to his ordination, 454.
Tremellius, placed at Cambridge, 314.
Triers, established by CromweU ; used politi
cally, 609.
Trinity, correct faith in, among the Anglo-
Saxons, 26 ; doctrine of, in the ErudiUon,
273 ; non-believers in, excluded from tole
ration, 806.
Troubles at Frankfort, 367, ',
Tunicles, 743, ', 9.
Turner, bishop of Ely, engaged in Lord Pres
ton's plot, 805.
Tyndale's translation of the New Test., 534;
burnt by Tonstal, 173.
Valor ecclesiasticus, history of the various ones
in England, 201, ', p. 54; question as lo the
right of the crown to frame anew one, 756, s,
Vaudois relieved by Cromwell, 604.
Ubiquitarians, 313, ' ; arlicle about, 341.
Udal translates Erasmus's Paraphrase, 205, ' ;
executed, 461.
Verses, Bible divided into, 637, '.
Vesey, Dr., persuades Henry VIII. to support
the civil power, 162.
Vicars apostolic in England, 763, ^
Virgin Mary, worship of, 18 ; addresses to, 744.
Visitation of the church (see Monasteries), 201;
ecclesiastical, 1547, 304; 1549,314; of Iheuni-
versilies,373; Articles of, framed, 1661, 701.
Unction, extreme, 280.
Uniformity, act of, 405 ; compared with Ihat of
Elizabeth, 702; discussed; its policy, 703,
&c. ; ils justice, 706; persecutions under
it, 711.
Union, Protestant, planned by Cranmer, 324,
and *.
Universities, the quesiion of the divorce re
ferred lo Ihem, 163; alarmed al the grant
of chapels and chantries, confirmed, 225 ;
wanted in the north of England, 251 ; visit
ed, 373; sad stale of, 1569, 410, ", p. 123;
incorporated, 436 ; stale of, 1603, 471 ; sub
jected to the ecclesiastical commission, 757 ;
first attacked by James II.; stale of, 761.
Vorstius, James I. offended with him, 618.
Vows of chastity, a great snare, 116.
Usher's, Archbishop, episcopacy, 585, 662 ,
intercedes wilh CromweU in favour of the
clergy, 609 ; aUowed of the ordination of
foreign Protestant churches, 710, '.
Usurpation, 601.
Utopians, the, allowed not of persecution,
168, \ p. 60.
Wales, propagation of the gospel there, 593 ;
independency established, 608.

353

INDEX.

Walker, Obadiah, head of University college,
a Roman Catholic, 761.
Walton's accountof the morality ofthe usurpa
tion, 616.
Wadsworth, presbytery at, 446, ^, p. 148.
War, civil, causes of, 575 ; abstract of, 578.
Ward, Bp., severe on nonconformists, 731.
Warham, persecutions of, 1511, 491, 2.
Warwick, E. of, (duke of Northumberland,)
joins the reformers, 319. See Norllmmberland.
Water, holy, 23.
Water to be mixed with the wine in the sacra
ment; baptismal, when consecrated, 743, ^.
V/atson, the last of the Roman Caiholic bish
ops, 763, ¦%
Wealth, taken out of England to Rome, 103 ;
of the clergy, why ihe reformei's inveighed
against it, 134, 137.
Wedding garment. See Shirt.
Weederburn makes the alterations in the Li
turgy, 567.
Wentworth brings in ecclesiastical bills, 435.
Westminster Abbey, dispulation there, 1559,
405; School; Ihe boys prayed forCharles
on the day of his execuuon, 600.
Weston, prolocutor of convocaUon, 357; his
remark on the controversy between the two
parUes, 358.
Whightman, burnt al Lichfield, 518.
While's, Jeremy, list of sufferers, 760.
Whitgift's, Robert, observation about the reli
gious orders 172, '.
Whitgift, Archbishop, petitioned for greaier
liberty about the dresses, 418 ; dispute wilh
Cartwright, 433 ; archbishop of Canterbury ;
strict in enforcing uniformity; imposes the
three Articles, 450; holds disputations at
Lambeth before some members of the Court,
451; puis a stop lo plans of reform, 462 ;
opposes the appointment of Travers, 464 ;
'discovers a press, 468; determines the pre
destinarian controversy by the Lambeth Ar
Ucles, 463; moderated towards the puritans
by age ; peremptory ; his gentleness, 466, ' ;
sends letters to the suffragan bishops con
cerning the stale of the church, 502 ; makes
preparations for the Hampton Court con
ference, 603; present there, 504; his ex
pressions about James, 509.
Whiuingham, al Frankfort, 367, '.
Wiclif, distinguished at Oxford; writes against
the covetousness of Ihe church of Rome,
108; expelled from- the wardenship of Can
terbury Hall ; an enemy to the friars ; dis
putes on the arrears claimed by the pope ;
lectures, 109; called professor of divinity,
why ! 109, ' ; declares Peter's pence not due
to Rome ; offends the pope and clergy, 110;
brought before S. Sudbury in St. Paul's ; his
doctrines approved in Oxford; brought be
fore the archbishop at Lambeth ; sends in
a declaration of his faith as lo certain
poinis, 111 ; labours under a severe fever;
the friars visit him ; translates the Scrip
tures; opposes transubstanUation ; sum
moned before commissioners in Oxford ;
leaves the university ; is reported to have
recanted, 112; prepares his mind for mar-
THE

tyrdom; dies of the palsy, 113; his great
learning, and good qualities ; he opposes the
temporal power and doctrines of Rome, 1 14;
his opinions; adverse lo the papal supre
macy, 115; asserts the duty of the laity to
lake away church properly if misused; ce
libacy ; the Holy Scriptures his ultimate
standard ; purgaiory; episcopacy not a dis
tinct order, 116, 117; seven sacraments;
bapUsm; confirmation not confined lo bish
ops; absolution and confession ; matrimo
ny; pilgrimages; images, 118; opinion on
transubstantiation; he held the docirines of
the atonement and sanctification ; Melanc
thon's opinion of Wiclif, 119; his poor
priests ; his doctrines promote disturbances;
Oxford friendly to him, gives him letters
testimonial, 120 ; Lord Cobham maintains
his opinions, 123, 124; Pecock's opinions
resemble his, 129; his followers inveigh
againsl any temporal power in the hands
of the clergy, 135 ; attacked the power of
Rome by pointing out her false docirines,
136 ; foresaw the final lesull of the strug
gle, 137 ; translation of the Bible, 533 ; ques
tion of a previous translation, 533, ¦', p. 195.
Wilfrid appeals lo the pope, 8, 9.
Wilkins, Bp., attempts to frame a bill for the
relief of the nonconformists, 715.
William I. possessed of full power over Ihe
church; subjects ecclesiastical property lo
civil service ; ejects the English clergy ; ad-
mils papal legates ; separates the civil and
ecclesiastical courts, .52.
William II. quarrels wilh Anselm, 53; admits
the authority of the pope, and deceived hy
it, 54.
William and Mary assume the throne, 801.
Williams, Abp., ill-treated, 555; Osbolston, 563.
Williams, Speaker, fined, 755, '.
Winchelsey opposed Edward L, 66.
Windsor, persecution at, 224.
Wine al the sacrament lo be mixed wilh wa
ter, 743, '.
Wirtemberg Confession, articles taken from,
among the Thirly-nine, 485, '.
Wishart burnt, 493.
Wives who animated their husbands to suffer
martyrdom. See Appendix F.
Wolsey, 154; Fox iniroduces him to Henry;
his rise ; influence over Henry; his honesty,
155; spoils Henry; his qualiues and faults,
156 ; patronises literature ; his coUege ; saw
the need of reforming, 157, ' ; accused of
insinuaUng scruples to Henry by means of
Longland, 158; his fall; unjustly treated,
160; submits; goes lo York; dies; charac
ler of, 161. *
Worcester-house, meeting there, 1660, 664.
Word, " You have the, but we have the sword "
358.
Works before justification, 275.
Wriothesley, Chancellor, tortures A. Askew,
225; loses his influencse, 301 ; dies, 319.
Wryght, a priest at Douay, writes in favom -
of obedienpe to Elizabeth, 457.
Wyat, Sir Thomas, 359.
Yule, origin of the name,.7, '.
END.

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