^§|T^^§r

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

c.
A HISTORY

ENGLISH EPISCOPACY;

FROM THE

PERIOD OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE
ACT OF UNIFORMITY;

WITH NOTICES OF THE

RELIGIOUS PARTIES OF THE TIME,

AND A REVIEW OF

ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS IN ENGLAND,

THE REFORMATION.

BY THE REV. THOMAS LATHBURY, M.A.
OXON.

LONDON:
JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND.

M.DCC.O. XXXVI.

PREFACE.

No very formal apology is necessary for an attempt
to throw additional hght, or to give juster views on,
an important and most interesting portion of English
history. The affairs of religion occupied so promi
nent a place during the reign of the first Charles,
and down to the period of the restoration, that the
civil history of that period is necessarily also an
ecclesiastical history ; and, therefore, a history of the
church during the same period cannot be written
without fiirnishing materials for civil history. It will
be found, however, that I have confined myself,
with some strictness, to matters ecclesiastical and
religious. I fancied that, from a careful examination, not
only of the established authorities for the history of
the period in question, but of the sermons, pamphlets,
and other fugitive pieces of the time, a juster notion
of the spirit of the different sects might be arrived
at, and many details might be brought together which
would furnish a fuller and truer picture of the reli
gious state of the country and of the condition of the
clergy than has yet been exhibited. I also fancied
that the errors of a few churchmen of that trying
time had been exaggerated and imputed to the whole
body, while the merits of the class had been depre
ciated, and their sufferings overlooked. It appeared
to me, also, that claims were made (on behalf of
opponents of the church) upon our admiration for

VI PREFACE.

qualities which they did not possess, and for sym
pathy in sufferings which had not been endured, or
which had been exaggerated; the virtues and the
sufferings of the latter class being alike turned to
the disadvantage of the church by invidious com
parisons or by direct imputations.
If it be imagined that I intended to vindicate all
the proceedings of Archbishop Laud, or deny the
merits or the sufferings of many of the separatists
from the episcopal church, I shall have greatly failed
in imparting my own views to the reader. My object
has been, by softening colours which in some cases
seemed too harsh, and casting more light upon points
which have hitherto remained in the shade, to pre
sent a picture which would, on the whole, give a
true historical likeness of the times. Above all, I
have been anxious to rescue not only individuals,
but whole classes of men, from being answerable for
maxims and proceedings which all men now agree
in condemning, but which were the common error of
the times, and, therefore, are not justly attributable
to any depravity of individuals, or any views pecuhar
to any one party.
But, though I do not question that my attempt
will be considered to require little apology, I am
sensible that there is much which needs indulgence
in the execution.
I am painfully sensible of the disadvantage under
which I labour, from my want of practice in writing
for the press ; and I well know how much the work
would have gained had my materials been handled
by one accustomed tp address the pubhc as an
author.

PREFACE. vii
There are, however, points upon which I am still
more anxious than upon any matter merely involving
my hterary skill. I have considered that it fell
within the scope of my work to exhibit specimens
of the language in which fanatics of other times
addressed the pubhc from the pulpit and through
the press. It appeared to me that I should omit
an important feature of the times of which I wish
to exhibit a portraiture, if I had not produced such
specimens. The sentiments they express, however,
are in many instances so uncharitable, the language
and illustrations so unsuitable to the reverence due
to the matters to which they refer, that some excuse
is necessary for recalhng from the oblivion to which
they had been fitly consigned, those unseemly relics
of an unhappy time. If I believed that the cause of
true religion would suffer by exhibiting the extrava
gances of any professors of religion, I humbly trust
that I should have been incapable of lending my
hand to the withdrawal of the veil. But I consider
it a weak, and even a wicked notion, that the cause
of true religion can suffer by exhibiting in their true
colours the language and deportment of those who,
under the pretence of zeal for the gospel, indulged in
language which clearly proceeded, if not from worldly
motives, from mere human passions.
History will never impart all the instruction
which is capable of being extracted from it. But
it is not questioned, that its lessons have not been
entirely lost upon mankind.
The encroachments of the crown have, in this
country, been so effectually restrained, that any
apprehension of danger to civil liberty from that

Vlll PREFACE.

quarter is little less than visionary. Religious hberty
is no less securely protected against the aggressions
of churchmen. Men learned the blessings of civil
and religious liberty from the lessons of history ; and
the prevailing opinions at length ripened into whole
some laws. So far history has taught its lessons
with effect : whether there be not dangers from
opposite quarters, against which history has not
given her warnings so distinctly, or has not been
listened to with the same docility, may, perhaps, be
questioned; but it is not a matter of doubt, that
every addition to our knowledge of history tends,
on the whole, to make men less liable to fall into
popular errors, to enable them to cast off their own
prejudices, to soften the judgments which they form
of the opinions and conduct of those who are op
posed to them. It is the opinion, that every histori
cal work which is honestly written may assist in
producing these happy results, which has emboldened
me to lay before the public this slight contribution
to their knowledge of the ecclesiastical history of
England. It may be proper to mention, that circumstances
have prevented rae from attending to the book
while in the press. I fear there are many typogra
phical errors, which the reader must pardon, where
they are pardonable; and where blame must still
remain, it must, on account of the state of my
manuscript, be divided between rae and the gentle
man who corrected the press.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
1528 — 1547. PAGE
"Object of the Work — the Reformation — Marriage of Henry with his
Brother's Widow — the Pope's dispensing power questioned — Di
vorce — Cranmer at Court — Henry declared Head of the Church —
Opinions and Practices of the King — " Institutions of a Christian
Man" — Submission of the Clergy — Canons — Translation of Bible
— Providential Interference — Influence of Henry's Character on
Reformation  1
CHAPTER II.
1547—1553.
Edward's Accession — Progress of Reformation — Images removed —
Communion Service in English — Prohibition of Preaching — the
Liturgy — Review of Liturgy — Ordination Service — Articles of Re
ligion — Disputes about the Episcopal Habits — Hooper and Ridley
— Arrangement — Interim in Germany — Views of the Reformers in
matters of Discipline — Death of the King — Cranmer  11
CHAPTER III.
1553 — 1558.
Prospects of the Reformers — Mary's Accession — Restoration of Popery
— Persecutions — Silent Progress of the Principles of the Reformation
— Queen's Death — Policy of the Romish Church — Divisions among
the Exiles in Germany  21
CHAPTER IV.
1558—1570.
Accession of Elizabeth — Prudent Measures of the Queen — Review of
Edward's Book — Prohibition of Preaching for a time — Defence of
the Queen — Opinions of the Queen — Act of Uniformity — Supre
macy — Parker elevated to the See of Canterbury — other Sees filled

X CONTENTS. PAGE
— Establishment of the Reformation — Excesses restrained -¦ Sad
Recollection of the Reformers — Revival of the Differences— Ongin
of the term Puritan— Effort to enforce Conformity— Lenity towards
the Puritans — their Views on Separation— Articles— Homilies—
Gentle Measures — the first Separation — Rise of Presbytery — Mo
derate and Violent Puritans — Intrigues of the Papists— Faithful
Commin and Heath, two Jesuits— Excommunication of the Queen 31
CHAPTER V;
157i;— 1603.
Presbytery set up — Cartwright's Admonition — Controversy with Whit-
gift— Conformity enforced — Deprivations under Parker — Death
and Character of Parker — Grindal succeeds — his Mildness — Pro-
phecyings — Grindal sequestered from his See — Lenity to the Pu
ritans — Brownists — Grindal's Death — Whitgift succeeds — attempts
to enforce Conformity — few only deprived — Application of the
term Puritan — Partiality of Neal and Mr. Brook — High Commis
sion — some suffer for Political Offences — Lenity towards the mode
rate Puritans — Queen's Death and Character — Views on Church
Government — Toleration — Parochial Psalmody  47

CHAPTER VI.
James I. — 1603 — 1625.
Expectations of the Parties — Millenary Petition — Conference at Hamp
ton Court — Death of Whitgift — Convocations — Canons — Bancroft
succeeds Whitgift — his efforts to enforce Conformity — Second Se
paration—Bancroft's Death and Character — Abbot succeeds — dif
ferent classes of Puritans — Laud — Book of Sports — Translation of
the Bible — James's Death and Character  68

CHAPTER VII.
Charles I. — 1625 — 1638.
Charles succeeds — Imprudent Zeal of some of the Clergy — Laud pro
moted to London- — Divisions and Disputes concerning the Ceremo
nies — Synod of Dort — Leighton and the Star-chamber — Laud
charged with Superstition — Prynne — Abbot dies — Laud succeeds
— Book of Sports — Tables — State of the Diocesses — Increase of
Puritans — King resorts to a Parliament — Prynne, Burton, and
Bastwick  82

CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER VIIL
1540—1638. PAGE
Review of Ecclesiastical Affairs in Scotland — Reformation — Knox —
he retires to Geneva — Struggles of the Reformers — they Triumph —
Violence — Church Government — First General Assembly — Epi-
, scopacy and Presbytery — Presbytery fully established, 1592 — Bishops
restored — Visit of James,1617 — Articles of Perth — Laud and Charles
visit Scotland  92
CHAPTER IX.
1638 — 1640.
Laud hated by Scots — Canons for Scotland — Liturgy — Tumults at the
Reading of Liturgy — Protest of Scots — Tables — enter into a Co
venant — Canons and Liturgy revoked — Assembly — Dissolved, yet
continues its Sittings — Episcopacy abolished — Charles resolves to
reduce the Scots — marches Northwards — a Pacification between the
two Armies  100
CHAPTER X.
1640.
A Parliament— Grievances — Parliament dissolved — Convocation — New
Canons — Outcries — King assembles another Army — it is defeated
by the Scots — a Truce — Parliament assembles, November 3d —
Grievances — Character and Views of the Members of this Parlia
ment — Views of the Clergy — Hostility to Laud  106
CHAPTER XI.
1640.
Discussions and Petitions concerning Grievances — Committee of Griev
ances — Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick — Charges against some of the
Bishops — Laud impeached and imprisoned — Petitions against the
Church from the Appientices — Debate on the subject— Violence of
the People— Scottish Commissioners in London— Petitions in favour
of Episcopacy — Parliament made perpetual — Attempt to deprive the
Bishops of their Seats defeated— Protestation of Commons— Bishops
impeached as Authors of Canons, and bailed — High Commission
and Star Chamber abolished — Influence of the Scots— King visits
Scotland — Ordinance against Superstitious Ornaments  1 14

Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
1640—1641. PAGE
King returns— Ordinance against Superstition executed— Bishops attacked
by the Rabble— their Protest — are impeached — committed to the
Tower— King attempts to seize the Five Members— King retires from
London— Bishops excluded from the Peers  127
CHAPTER XIII.
1642 — 1643.
Prospects— King retires to York— attempt at Hull — War commences—
Scots' Mediation — Bill for Abolition of Episcopacy — Presbyterians —
Reflections — Parliament apply to Scots — Covenant in Scotland —
taken in England — its Nature — Scots come to assist the Parliament 136
CHAPTER XIV.
1643.
Westminster Assembly — its Origin — its Members — their Character and
Opinions — Milton's Account of them — Sequestrations of Clergy
from 1640 to 1643 — Means used to defame the Clergy  Petitions
against the Clergy— Abusive Terms — Charges against the Clergy-
Committee for Scandalous Ministers — Informers — Baxter's Statement
—Branch Committees for the Counties— Committee for Pluudered
Ministers— Character of the Sequestered Clergy— Jeremy Taylor an
early Sufferer— White and his First " Century of Scandalous Minis-
ters"_Nunibers Sequestered— Discipline set aside— Origin of the
Sects  149
CHAPTER XV.
1644.
Laud—Charges against him— Charges examined— Influence of the Scots
—their Hatred of Laud— his Diary and Papers seized— Ordinance of
Attainder— Death and Character— his Views on Church Government
— Hall writes his Work on Episcopacy— New Discipline — Liturgy
abolished — Directory  .|,„

CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER XVI.
1645 — 1648. PAGE
Discontents_Self-denying Ordinance — the Independents— Treaty at
Uxbridge— Battle of Naseby—King goes to Scots— Discussions with
Henderson— delivered to Parliament— Council of Agitators — King
seized— Reflections— Cromwell— Views of Parties— Army to London
—Army and Parliament appear reconciled _ King escapes to Isle of
Wight— Scots propose terms— he refuses the Four Bills— Vote of no
more Addresses— Army retire to quell Disturbances— Parliament set
on foot Treaty at Newport— is ineffectual — Army advance to Lon
don—Pride's Purge—Character of the Parliament  1 74
CHAPTER XVII.
1642 — 1648.
Ordinances against Superstition — Condijct of the Rabble and Soldiers —
Crosses and Relics — Cathedrals and Churches desecrated — Ex
cesses—Sufferings of the Clergy — Covenant imposed  186
CHAPTER XVIII.
1645 — 1648.
PROCEEnlNGS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR.
Endeavours to settle the New Discipline — Origin of the Independents —
Enthusiasm — Character of the Army — Christmas and the Festivals —
Presbyterian Ordination — Presbyterian Discipline — Parliament re
fuses to recognise the "Jus Divinum" — Questions submitted to
the Assembly — Progress of Independency  197
CHAPTER XIX.
1643 — 1649.
Proceedings of the Asserably — Their Views — Review the Thirty-Nine
Articles — Become Presbyterians — Directory — Church Government
— Selden and Whitelock — The Dissenting Brethren — Grand Ordi
nance in favour of Presbyterians — Psalmody — Sternhold — Rous's
Version of Psalms  209
CHAPTER XX.
1643—1648.
Associated Counties — Sequestrations — Cambridge visited — Excesses
— Surrender of Oxford — Depredations on the Buildings, &c. — Ap
pearance of Oxford at Evelyn's visit, 1654 — Seven Divines sent by
Parliament — Soldiers dispute in Schools — Scruple Shop — Visita
tion of University — Deprivations — Fellowships filled — Character
of the new Members — Distresses of the ejected Fellows — Fifths . . . 220

xiv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.

1648. ^^°^

Death of the King— His Character — Causes of War— Whether Pres
byterians or Independents put the King to Death — Pulpit an
exciting Cause of War — Specimen of Sermons  237

CHAPTER XXIL
1649 — 1653.
Independents triumphant — The Prince goes to Scotland — Takes the
Covenant — Cromwell marches thither — King enters England —
Battle of Worcester — Cromwell dissolves Parliament — State of
Religion subsequent to 1649 — Engagement —Universities — Soldiers
and Mechanics admitted to Churches — Liberty— All Tests removed
— Barebone's Parliament — Its Proceedings — Enthusiasm — Mar
riage — Registers — Reflections — Cromwell Protector  245

CHAPTER XXIII.
1653 — 1657.
State of Religion during the Commonwealth and Protectorate — Wales
— all the Clergy removed — Itinerants — Enthusiasm — Numbers
ejected in Wales — Cromwell tolerates all the Sects — Triers — Ordi
nance for removing Scandalous Ministers — Case of Pococke  263

CHAPTER XXIV.
1658.
Cromwell — Scenes at his Death — Enthusiam of his Chaplains — His
Character — He joins the Puritans — Then with the Presbyterians —
Then with the Independents — Prays and Preaches — State of the
Sects and Episcopacy under Cromwell — The Episcopal Clergy
permitted to preach  283

CHAPTER XXV.
RICHARD CROMWELL.
Richard Cromwell — Rump restored — Monk — Secluded Members Re
stored — Votes of the Rump repealed — Dissolve themselves — New
Parliament — Restoration — Reflections — Surviving sequestered Mi
nisters restored — State of the Church from 1660 to 1662 — Public
Ordination — Act to legalise Marriages and Law Proceedings 
Dissolution  296

CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XXVI.
Enthusiasm and Extravagance of the preceding Period — Effects on
People subsequent to the Restoration — Enthusiastic Names — Titles
of Books — Extracts from Sermons — Preaching of Soldiers — Fast
and Thanksgiving Days — Change in Dress — Cathedrals — Debates
concerning Christmas-Day — Tithes  306
CHAPTER XXVII.
Plots of Republicans — Bishops restored — Others created — Conference
at Savoy — Alterations in Liturgy — Demands of the Presbyterians —
Act of Uniformity — Presbyterian Ministers exhort each other to
Steadfastness — Their fareweU Sermons  318
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Principles of the Presbyterians and Episcopalians of that Period con
trasted — Toleration — Actions compared — Severe Acts of Presby
terians — Their Treatment of Sectaries — Their Intolerance to King —
Treatment of Chillingworth — Writings of the two Parties compared —
Hooker's Polity, and Hall on Episcopacy, contrasted with Smectym-
nuus — Extracts from Sermons — Views of the two Parties on Liberty
of Conscience — Jeremy Taylor the first Advocate for it — Taylor's
Work contrasted with contemporary Writings of the Presbyterians —
The public Documents of the two Parties compared — The Thirty-
Nine Articles, Formularies, &c. with Book of Discipline, Confession,
and Covenant — Treatment of those Ministers who conformed  327
CHAPTER XXIX.
Character of sequestered Clergy contrasted with that of the ejected Mini
sters in 1662 — Sufferings of the two Parties reviewed ~ Numbers
stated — Erroneous Statements and Prejudices of some of the Advo
cates of Nonconformity — Orme's Life of Baxter  353

ERRATA.

The Author begs to offer an apology to his readers for ihe following
inaccuracies : —
Page 1,/ot" English Episcopacy, read the English, &c.
7, /or a convocation, rem in convocation.
15, for Poynel, read Poynet.
16, insert a comma after *' gradually."
11 J for on the face of, read in the face of.
25, /or on different hours, read at different hours.
29, for consecrations, read consecration.
32, for liturgy, read litany, in lines 11 and 18.
62, for platforms, read platform.
74, for formed, read found.
86, for histrio-mastic, read histrio-mastix.
104, fm- sects, read Scots.
117,^ consent of primate, read defence of.
122, /or receptions of petitions, read reception of.
123, fm- Dr. Hackel, read Dr. Hacket.
128, /or were intrusted, read was intrusted.
142, for by conceding their own, read by concealhig.
148, a comma after *• balanced."
156, for that half, read the half.
168,'/or prejudice to serve, read prejudice to some.
for Nottingham, read Wokingham.
for benefactor of the poor, read to the poor.
170, for now grant, read you grant.
171, ^ which he attributed, read must be attributed.
173, for would not enforce, read could not enforce.
174, /or 1640, read 1649.
186, Jbr with propositions, read with the propositions.
187j for entire demolition, read almost entire, &c.
225, in the note, /or dogged, read dig^d.
228, /or marching the High Street, read marching up the High Street.
234, for as spy, read as a spy.
260, foi- 1646, read 1656.
287, /or are result, read are the result.
290, for could not act, read he could not have acted.
393, for prelates, read prelacy.
307, insert a full stop after *' keep them steady."
308, for university, m note, read Worcestershire.
312, for Weston's Life, in note, read Walton's.
318, for to liturgy* read to the liturgy.
345,/or Diana of the presbyterians, read Diana of the sectaries.
351, for baptism, read anabaptism.
359,/or reach even, read exceed even.
360, /or Lydiall, read Lydiat.
fbi- the ejected clergy, read that the ejected clergy.

ENGLISH EPISCOPACY.

CHAPTER I.
1528—1547.
OBJECT OF THE WOEK — THE REFORMATION  MARRIAGE OF HENRY WITH
His brother's WIDOW — THE POPe's DISPENSING POWER QUESTIONED —
DIVORCE — CRANMER AT COURT — HENRY DECLARED HEAD OF THE
CHURCH — OPINIONS AND PRACTICES OF THE KING  "INSTITUTIONS OF
A CHRISTIAN MAN"  SUBMISSION OF THE CLERGY — CANONS  TRANS
LATION OF BIBLE  PROVIDENTIAL INTERFERENCE — INFLUENCE OF
henry's CHARACTER ON REFORMATION.
The principal object of the writer, in the ensuing pages,
is to give a detailed account of ecclesiastical affairs during
the period intervening between the era of the Long Par
liament and the Restoration i but, to render the narrative
intelligible, it will be necessary to trace the origin, progress,
and developement, of those principles by which English
Episcopacy was ultimately subverted. The Reformation, as
commenced by Henry VIIL, and continued by his son
Edward; the disputes among the English exiles at Frank
fort during the ascendency of Popery under Mary; and
the complete establishment of Protestantism by her sister
Elizabeth ; — are points on which it will be necessary briefly
to dwell. The state of religion in general will be noticed ;
but the attention of the reader will especially be directed
to the history of the Anglican Church during the period
of her sufferings, from the year 1640 to the year 1660,
when the nation, wearied with the Usurpation, and sickened
with the strange scenes that had followed in such quick

THE REFORM ATION.

succession, unanimously recalled their lawful sovereign.
Such being the object of the writer, civil matters will not be
introduced, except for the purpose of rendering the narrative
intelligible. In reviewing the events of the sixteenth centuiy, the
Reformation presents itself to the mind as one of the most
remarkable, whether we consider the consequences that have
already resulted, or those which are likely to flow from it in
future ages. Previous to that important event, the whole of
Christendom reposed in error and darkness. In Germany,
the change was effected long before any attempt was made in
England, — unless, indeed, the opposition of Wicliffe to the
corrupt practices of the Romish church may be considered
as one. The light of truth had long shone on the conti
nent of Europe, before its rays reached England : though,
perhaps, it is not too much to assert that the seed, from
which such an abundant harvest was eventually reaped, was
originally conveyed from this country in the writings of
Wicliffe, who has been not inaptly styled the morning star
of the Reformation.
The causes that led to the separation of this country from
the church of Rome are well known. Henry VIIL had
married the widow of his brother Arthur ; and, either from
satiety, or from conscientious scruples relative to the validity
of the marriage, was anxious to obtain a divorce. At the
period of the union, the pope's dispensing power was ques
tioned by many zealous Catholics, who did not hesitate to
aver that, as the marriage was prohibited by the Divine law,
the pontiff could not interfere. It is, moreover, probable
that Henry, who at some seasons appears to have been under
the influence of religious feelings, entertained conscientious
scruples on the subject.* Wolsey first proposed the divorce,
and continued to promote it, until it was discovered that the
* Robertson's Charles V. vol. ii. p. 22.

DIVORCE. 3
affections of the monarch were fixed on Anne Boleyn, who
secretly favoured the sentiments of the reformers. After this
discovery, the cardinal laboured earnestly to prevent what he
had before been anxious to accomplish. When the business
was first proposed to the pope, his holiness was imprisoned
in France. In order, therefore, to secure the fi'iendship of
Henry, he promised a ready compliance with his wishes :
but, as soon as he obtained his release, he began to view the
matter in a different light. The court of Rome was, at this
time, agitated by various conflicting views, from the fact that
the two most powerful sovereigns in Europe, Henry and the
emperor, were intimately concerned in the question, Catha
rine being the aunt of the latter monarch.
The pope, however, at length granted a commission,
bearing date July 13, 1528, to Wolsey and Campejus, to
hear the cause. Before the departure of the latter cardinal
from Rome, the emperor declared his intention of espousing
the cause of his aunt, a resolution that kept the pope in a
state of suspense. He was anxious, if possible, to gratify
both sovereigns ; but, in consequence of his fears of the
emperor, he secretly instructed Campejus to use his utmost
exertions to cause a delay in the proceedings.* The cardinal
acted as an obedient son of the church : on his arrival in
England he used every effort to prevail on the queen to
enter a monastery, viewing such a step as the readiest way
to extricate the pope from his difficulties. No persuasions,
however, were of any avail with Catharine. Many months
were consumed in messages to and from Rome, but at last
Henry insisted on a hearing. The king appeared before the
court : the queen declined to attend, and was pronounced
feoiitumacious. The court was occupied till the 2.3d July,
1529, in hearing evidence respecting the marriage ; when
Campejus, alleging that it was usual at that season for the
* Lord Herbert, 99.

4 CRANMER AT COURT.
court of Rome to spend a vacation, deferred the fiirther con
sideration of the case till the ensuing October. In the mean
time, the emperor's agents so terrified the pontiff, that he
was induced to inhibit further proceedings in England, and
to avocate the cause to Rome.
These delays were by no means agreeable to the impatient
monarch, who, during the discussion, had fixed his affections
on Anne Boleyn. It is often asserted, that his desire to
marry this lady was the original cause of his wish to obtain
a divorce : but he had not seen Anne Boleyn when he first
appealed to the pope.
It was at this period that Cranmer, destined, as wiU
appear, to act so conspicuous a part in this and the suc
ceeding reign, first appeared on the stage. Gardiner and
Fox met him accidentally at dinner in Cambridgeshire.
The conversation turning on the subject of the divorce,
Cranmer suggested the idea of consulting the different uni
versities respecting the validity of the marriage, a proceeding
that had never been contemplated by Henry and his advisers.
Cranmer was soon after invited to court, and from that mo
ment his influence began to be felt in the king's councils.
The meeting of the two prelates with Cranmer was the
hinge on which all the subsequent events depended. It was
the link that connected Henry's marriage with the Reform
ation. Few persons, in reviewing their own history, can fail
of perceiving some apparently accidental circumstance, on
which, though in itself trivial, the most important events
were suspended. Luther's opposition arose from the furious
zeal of Tetzel in promoting the sale of indulgences. The
extravagance of Leo X. was the cause that led to the ex
pedient of indulgences : had Leo been a man of moderate
views, the practice might not have been resorted to ; or, had
even a wiser agent than Tetzel been employed, Luther, in
all human probability, would not have separated from the
Roman see. Some of the most useful discoveries  dis-

HENRV DECLARED HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 5
coveries productive of the greatest and most lasting benefits
to the human race — have originated in what is termed
laccident. The invention of printing, one of the most im
portant discoveries of modern times, was, in common lan
guage, accidental.
Nothing — not even the fear of losing England — could
persuade the pope to proceed with the divorce. The
question was, however, proposed to the universities: their
replies were favourable to the king, and were read in Par
liament, which had now become interested in the quarrel.
The universities concurred in the opinion that the marriage
of a brother's widow was unlawful. When Henry was cited
to appear at Rome, the parliament, to further his cause,
enacted that no further appeals should be made to the pope.
After some further delays, Henry secretly married Anne
Boleyn ; and Cranmer, who, on the decease of Warham,
had been promoted to the see of Canterbury, in May 1533,
pronounced the sentence of divorce.
The court of Rome was highly incensed at the pro
ceedings in England. Excommunication was threatened
unless the king consented to receive back his wife. Not
terrified by the threats of the pontiff, and supported by his
Parliament, Henry was soon declared supreme Head of the
Church of England, after which the pope's jurisdiction in
England ceased.
Thus, from the different views and actions of the re
spective parties, — the king, the pope, and the emperor, —
was produced one of the most important events in English
history. Neither Henry nor the pope imagined that the
agitation of the divorce would have caused the Reformation.
But, though the king renounced the authority of the pope,
and thereby opened the door to all the subsequent changes,
he still adhered to the doctrines of the church, as the Six
Articles and the numerous persecutions of this reign abund
antly testify. With the exception of the supremacy, he

6 OPINIONS AND PRACTICES OF THE KING,
remained a Catholic in points of faith. Owing to his ca
prices, the Reformation did not proceed very rapidly. In
all probability, Henry never contemplated the changes that
actually occurred ; but, having taken one step in opposition
to the pope, he was compelled, by the force of circumstances,
to proceed. Having seized for himself that power in eccle
siastical matters which had been wrested from the Pontiff,
he found it necessary to consolidate it by various measures
calculated to further the progress of the Reformation. One
of his first acts was to strike out the name of the pope from
the public liturgy : after some time, portions of the service
were ordered to be read in English ; but points of faith were
undisturbed. These alterations, trivial as they may appear,
paved the way for all succeeding changes. In 1537 was
published " Institutions of a Christian Man." This work
was the production of Cranmer, Gardiner, Latimer, Fox,
and others : it contained much excellent matter, with some
slight admixture of false doctrine, and tended considerably
to advance the Reformation. In 1543, another treatise,
entitled " A necessary Erudition for a Christian Man," was
set forth by royal authority. This book was an improve
ment on the preceding.
These were almost all the changes effected during this
reign. Matters of discipline were left, by the reformers, to
be arranged by the civil magistrate according to times and
circumstances. The benefits resulting from the renunciation
of the papal authority were not immediately felt ; for Henry,
on his assuming the title of Head of the Church, thought
himself at liberty to follow his own inclination in ecclesi
astical affairs. Hence the various changes of this reign.
At one time the Reformation proceeded prosperously : at
another time the reformers were doomed to witness a re
trograde movement, and an approximation to the worst parts
of Popery. The great support of the cause was Cranmer,
whose influehce with the king, arising from his services in

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

extricating the monarch from the vexatious proceedings of
the papal court, was always most powerful. Had Henry
lived, however, the sword of persecution would have been
unsheathed ; nor would the influence of the primate have
shielded the reformers from its violence. At the close of
his reign, he manifested much severity towards those who
had adopted the new doctrines. In his own practice he was
neither Protestant nor Catholic : but persecuted both,— -the
former for denying the real presence, the latter for refusing
to acknowledge his supremacy.
It is very remarkable that the clergy submitted to every
change. They engaged not to assemble a convocation with
out his majesty's writ; nor to make canons without his
permission. This was called the Submission of the Clergy :
the act, which was confirmed by authority of Parliament,
enacted that all the canons should remain in force, that were
not contrary to sacred scripture, nor the statutes of the
realm, nor the king's supremacy, until a revisal should
take place. No one ventured to raise his voice against the
sovereign's will.
One event, that sheds peculiar lustre on Henry's reign,
is too important to be passed over in silence : it is the trans
lation of the Bible into the English tongue. This circum
stance, of itself, is suflicient to stamp this period as one of
the most memorable in English history. As long as the
Scriptures, the fountain of light, were locked up in a dead
language, the people could not emerge from the darkness of
popery. This great work was completed in the year 1638 ;
and a copy was ordered to be placed in all the churches of
the kingdom at the expense of the respective parishes.
The interposition of Providence is manifest in all the
proceedings connected with the divorce. Even after the
sentence had been pronounced, there appeared a reasonable
hope, through the intervention of the French ambassador,
of a reconciliation with the pope. Henry was prevailed on

8 PROVIDENTIAL INTERFERENCE.
by the ambassador to delay the execution of his intended
projects, provided his holiness would delay the sentence
until the cause could be heard before unbiassed and im
partial judges. On the arrival of the ambassador at Rome,
a courier was despatched to England for the king's consent
in writing ; and a day was fixed for the return of the mes
senger. It happened that the courier did not arrive on the
appointed day : the emperor's agents were clamorous for the
pope to proceed to sentence : and though a delay of six days
only was solicited by the ambassador, who attributed the
non-arrival of the courier to the badness of the roads, or to
some of those accidents attendant on long journeys, yet the
pope declared the marriage lawful, and commanded Henry
to receive Catharine as his wife. On the third day after the
decision, the messenger arrived with full powers from the
king to have the case adjudged, according to the proposition
of the ambassador. Six years had the pope kept the king
in suspense, and now lost England by refusing to grant a
delay of six days. Had the messenger arrived at the ap
pointed time, the Reformation might have been strangled in
the birth. The haste of the pontiff secured to this couiitry
the blessings we enjoy : and the " vast fabric of ecclesias
tical dominion, which had been raised with such art, and
whose foundations seemed so deep, was overturned in a
moment." *
It must be allowed that the character of the king had a
considerable influence in preparing the way for the Reform
ation. Had his character been that of a mild and virtuous
prince, the inhabitants of this isle might have been the
deluded votaries of that debasing superstition which still
broods over Spain and Portugal. Henry was not an indi
vidual to be trifled with on any subject, much less on one
in which the gratification of his passions was concerned.
* Robertson's Charles V. vol. i. p. 43.

INFLUENCE OF HENEY's CHARACTER, &C. 9
The spell, by which England was bound, was dissolved by
his touch. The principles on which the Reformation was
based were recognised ; and the Bible, and portions of the
Liturgy in English, awakened in the breasts of the people a
spirit of inquiry that could only be satisfied by additional
"light. With regard to the question of the divorce, the scriptures,
fathers, councils, canons, and universities, were in favour of
the king. If, therefore, the marriage was illegal, he was at
liberty to contract a new alliance. " The unkindness and
slippery dealing of Clement with him," says Bishop Bedell,
" was from the Lord, that he might have an occasion against
the pope ; and that it might appear that it was not human
counsel, but Divine Providence, that brought about the
banishment of the pope's tyranny from among us."
Henry's character has been assailed by all Catholic
writers, who exultingly advert to the origin of the Reform
ation, alleging that a good work could never originate
in the licentious passions of an unprincipled king. These
writers take it for granted that Henry's passion for Anne
Boleyn led him to desire a divorce from Catharine. The
contrary, however, is the fact. The divorce had been agi
tated for a considerable period, and proceedings had been
actually commenced, before Anne appeared at court. Though,
therefore, his passion may have hastened the conclusion, it
certainly was not the cause of the divorce. The king knew
that many scruples were entertained relative to the validity
of the marriage : he himself had consulted his favourite
author, Thomas Aquinas, who denied the pope's power to
dispense with the Divine law : 'and, under these circum
stances, it is probable that he was influenced, in part at least,
by scruples of conscience. It was on the ground, that the
marriage was contracted in opposition to the express com
mand of God, that Cranmer pronounced the sentence of
separation.

10 henry's CHARACTER.
Whatever may be alleged by the enemies of the Re
formation, the pope would have granted the divorce, had
he been uninfluenced by the emperor. But, admitting that
the passion of the king for Anne Boleyn had commenced
before the divorce was contemplated (a thing impossible,
since Henry had not seen her when the proceedings were
instituted), no valid objection could be offered to the Re
formation, as we constantly find that the most exceptionable
instruments are used to bring about beneficial ends.
The character of Henry the Eighth has been treated with
extreme severity, even by Protestant writers. A favourable
portrait cannot be dravra consistently with truth : still he
was a man of vigorous character, of many accomplishments,
and not without virtues. He was naturally frank and brave,
but his passions were turbulent and his disposition arbitrary ;
and the long possession of despotic power produced its na
tural effects, in gradually destroying his original good qua
lities, and calling into activity every latent vice in his
character.

11
CHAPTER II.
1547—1553.
Edward's accession — progress of reformation — images removed 
communion service in english  prohibition of preaching — the
liturgy  review of liturgy — ordination service  articles of
religion  disputes about the episcopal habits — hooper and
ridley  arrangement  interim in germany  views of the
reformers in matters of discipline  death of the king 
CRANMER.
Edward, the only son of Henry, by his favourite wife, Jane
Seymour, succeeded his father in the throne ; he was a
prince of pious feelings, of a most amiable disposition, and,
considering his tender years, possessed of remarkable talents.
From this time the Reformation was carried on with great
vigour. The advances made in the preceding reign were
slow and wavering : under the fostering care of Edward,
and, directed by the skilful hand of Cranmer, the work
proceeded very propitiously. The archbishop was now
unfettered : in the former reign, his influence, though ex
tensive, was weakened by his master's imperious and incon
stant nature ; and, so far from being able to prosecute the
work with zeal proportionate to its importance, the primate
was compelled to act with wariness, lest by precipitating
any particular measure, the whole cause might be en
dangered. On Edward's accession, all restraint was removed,
and the archbishop was left at liberty to act in such a
manner as in his own judgment was best, in the peculiar
circumstances of the period.
The preservation of Cranmer through the late reign was
almost miraculous. The machinations of his enemies were
unceasing ; his conduct and motives were constantly mis
represented to Henry ; yet Cranmer, screened by an in
visible hand, was preserved. It is remarkable, that the

12 IMAGES REMOVED — COMMUNION SERVICE IN ENGLISH.
attacks of the enemies of the Reformation rather advanced
than retarded the work. Even the bull of excommunication,
which was intended to involve the kingdon in inextricable
difficulties, actually furthered the cause of the reformers,
inasmuch as it irritated the king to adopt measures, which
otherwise would not have been contemplated.
As soon as the council had leisure to consider the state
of religion, they began to rectify some of the remaining
abuses. The use of images was immediately prohibited;
and in 1548 the communion service was prepared, sent to
the bishops, and by them forwarded to the clergy, who
received it without any remonstrances or opposition. It was
objected by the secret favourers of the ancient system, that,
in consequence of the extreme youth of the king, any
alterations would be attended with danger, since he had
neither the spirit nor the power of his father to carry his
plans into execution.* The people, however, were so far
prepared by the previous alterations, that they were de
sirous of a further reformation. Visitors were appointed by
royal authority, to see that the ordinaries and ministers
executed the order for the removal of images. Private
individuals were restrained from interference, lest an indis
criminate attack should have been made not only on the
images, but on tombs and sepulchral ornaments ; but every
thing that had been abused by superstitious worship was
removed. Though the communion service was received without
opposition by the clergy, they did not fail, in their sermons,
to instil prejudices into the minds of the people against
the new system : it became necessary, therefore, for the
council to act with decision ; and, in order to counteract
the evil of such a practice, all preaching was prohibited
for a season, except under the authority of a license from
* Sir John Hayward, 289.

REFORMATION OF THE LITURGY. 13
the Archbishop or the Lord Protector Somerset. By these
precautionary measures, excesses were restrained, and. the
moderation and prudence of the early reformers operated as
a check to the zeal of the priests.
The entire reformation of the Liturgy was next under
taken by the same committee that had been intrusted with
the arrangement of the communion service. Much had
been left to the discretion of the clergy, who, retaining their
predilection for the old forms, slighted the new communion
service. The reformers perceived that nothing would so
effectually correct these irregularities as one uniform Liturgy ;
accordingly, Cranmer, Goodrich, Holbeach, Day, Skipp,
Thirlby, Ridley, bishops ; with Cox, Dean of Christ's Church ;
May, Dean of St. Paul's, and some others, immediately
commenced a revision of the ancient offices. Prior to the
Reformation, various offices were used, as those of Sarum,
York, Hereford, Bangor, and Lincoln : these had originally
been compiled by bishops of those sees. In the primitive
church, the bishops were accustomed to compose Liturgies
for the use of their people, after the manner, as is generally
admitted, of the Apostles and first ministers of the church.
Now, from the early Liturgies had been derived much of
what was contained in the various offices in use at the period
of the Reformation. These various offices were examined
by the committee, the result of whose labours was an
entire Liturgy, the first book of King Edward. The
committee, by their instructions, were not authorised to
reject the ancient books, but to revise them — to select
what was excellent, to refuse what was otherwise. When
the committee sat down to their labours, a proclamation
was issued, prohibiting all persons from preaching till the
new Liturgy should be completed. In a few months the
work was finished, containing the Order for Morning and
JEvening Prayer, and the forms of Baptism, Confirmation,
Matrimony, and the Burial of the Dead. The utmost prudence

14 ORDINATION SERVICE.
was evinced throughout: rites and ceremonies were not re
jected, unless they were innovations of a recent period, or had
been abused in idolatrous worship. Nothing was rejected
merely because it had been adopted in the church of Rome.
It may be questioned, whether the world ever saw a body of
uninspired men, whose proceedings, under very difficult cir
cumstances, were more marked by caution, wisdom, and
moderation, than those of the earliest reformers.
The Liturgy was approved by convocation, and, having
received the sanction of Parliament, it was used in all the
churches. In a few years, at the suggestion of Martin
Bucer, Peter Martyr, and other foreign divines, the book
was reviewed, and, at their instigation, several alterations
were adopted. The first book commenced with the Lord's
Prayer : * in the new book, the Sentences, Exhortation,
Confession, and Absolution, were added ; some few cere
monies, as the oil in baptism, and the unction of the sick,
were retrenclied ; the prayers for the dead were also omitted ;
and a rubric was inserted in the communion service, de
claring that no adoration was intended by the posture of
kneeling. This rubric was omitted in the review of the
services at Elizabeth's accession; but in 1662 it was re
stored, and still remains. Copes and other habits, heretofore
used in the consecration of bishops, were also laid aside.
These were the principal alterations ; and, with some few
exceptions, which will hereafter be noticed, the second
book of Edward is the same as that at present used in
the English church.
Martin Bucer, though he objected to the former book,
declared, after this revision', that all things in the common
service were clearly according to Scripture. Shortly after
* Hamon le Strange's Alliance of Divine Offices, p. 12. In this work
are contained the two books of King Edward, together with all subsequent
alterations up to the period of the Restoration.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION. 15
the book was completed, the service for the ordination of
priests and deacons, and that for the consecration of
bishops, were arranged and set forth by authority. Poynel,
Bishop of Rochester, was the first prelate consecrated ac
cording to the new service.
The attention of the reformers was next directed to the
articles of religion. Confessions of faith had been published
by all the Protestant churches on the Continent : they
originated in the peculiar situation of the Protestants in
Germany. As they were constantly misrepresented by their
adversaries, they drew up a cdnfession, in which all their
views were embodied, and presented it to Charles V. at the
diet of Augsburgh. Other churches, as they separated from
Rome, adopted the same practice. Though the English
refo;rmers were not exposed to the same dangers as their
brethren on the Continent, they, nevertheless, deemed it
necessary to adopt some public system of doctrine, — not,
indeed, for the purpose of refuting their opponents, but for
the satisfaction of foreign churches. Accordingly, Ridley
and some of his brethren prepared forty-two articles, in
substance the same, though the number was reduced to
thirty-nine, as those still retained by the church of England.
A catechism for the instruction of youth was published also
at the same time.
Though some of the ancient ceremonies were retained,
the symbols of popery were destroyed in every direction. In
some of the ancient churches, situated in secluded villages,
where things remain often in the same state for ages, the
vestiges of popery are still visible on the beams in the roof,
and on the walls. In the church of Henaingford, a small
village in the vicinity of Huntingdon, may still be seen, in the
large and ancient black letter, the expression, " St. Peter,
or St. Paul, pray for us," shining through the coats of white
wash which, under the direction of the village churchwardens,
have at various times been applied. Traces also of pictures

16 ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

are

sometimes to be discovered through the same partial
covering. Such appearances would have struck terror mto
the breasts of the Puritans : they would have been attributed
to the lukewarmness of the clergy in defacing superstitious
monuments, and regarded as the presages of the re-establish
ment of Popery.
All these changes were effected without any open opposi
tion : and of the whole body of the clergy, only one hundred
and twenty-seven relinquished their livings from attachment
to the Romish creed.
From the preceding statement it will be seen that the
English reformers did not proceed to such lengths as their
brethren on the Continent ; and their prudence and modera
tion were fully acknowledged by the most distinguished of
the German divines. Had an indiscriminate attack been
commenced on the ancient ceremonies, it may be questioned
whether the people would have submitted : in which case
the cause might have been ruined. The advisers of Edward
steered a middle course, between the gorgeous rites and
superstitious observances of the church of Rome on the one
hand, and the naked simplicity of the church of Geneva on
the other. Things manifestly indifferent were retained, as
tending to promote harmony and a devotional feeling among
the people : while all unscriptural practices were abolished.
Fuller quaintly remarks, that " to reform all at once had
been the ready way to reform nothing at all : new wine
must be gently poured into old bottles." It was Cranmer's
object to proceed gradually to retrench acknowledged
abuses in the outset, and submit matters of less importance
to subsequent deliberations. Such a cautious mode of pro
cedure was rendered necessary by the state of the clergyj
who were secretly disaffected, notwithstanding their outward
conformity. These men were generally monks, who had
been expelled from the monasteries, and to whom a small
pittance was awarded from the spoils of their property until

THE EPISCOPAL HABITS. 17
they were provided with benefices. As the occupiers of the
abbey lands were generally courtiers, they succeeded in
persuading the late king to bestow on these men the vacant
livings. Hence, the churches, on Edward's accession, were
almost universally occupied by men who, though they sub
mitted to the government, were entirely devoted to the
ancient superstition, and ready to seize the first opportunity
of restoring the church to its former state.
The above remarks must be borne in mind, in order
to account for the small number of the clergy who actually
resigned their livings. The truth is, the great body of the
clergy were disguised catholics, who only complied with
the changes, in the hope of better times. On the face of
such obstacles, it is surprising that Cranmer and his asso
ciates should have been able to effect so much during this
short reign.
Hitherto we have related only those proceedings in which
all the reformers were agreed. For a considerable period
they acted in harmony, being all of one heart and one. mind :
but this peaceful state was destined to be of short con
tinuance ; it was soon interrupted by angry controversies
relative to the use of the episcopal habits. Hooper was
promoted by the youthful king to the see of Gloucester,
but he positively refused to be consecrated in the habits
enjoined in the new service, viewing them as badges of
popery and relics of superstition. The utmost efforts of the
council could not prevail upon him to use a garment which
he deemed sinful. Cranmer and Ridley argued, that the
vestments were indifferent, and, therefore, might lawfully
be used : they alleged, that the previous abuse of these
habits was no argument for their rejection, unless it could
also be proved that it was sinful to use them ; and that the
same objection, if its force were admitted, might be brought
against the use of the churches, which had been abused
by superstitious worship. Bucer and Martyr declared in
C

18 ARRANGEMENT  INTERIM IN GERMANY.
favour of the habits. The latter condemned Hooper's con
duct, asserting, that " his cause was by no means approved
by the better sort of men." The former argued, that as the
vestments had been used in the church before she became
corrupted, they might be lawfully retained; and that their
use would shew the people that the reformers were not
disposed to reject any thing not manifestly sinful : he added,
that " they sinned who refused to obey the laws in that
particular." After nine months spent in these disputes, the matter
was compromised : Hooper consented to wear the episcopal
vestments at his consecration and on public occasions ; and
Cranmer and the council permitted him to dispense with
them at ordinary times. This was the first dispute in which
the reformers were involved ; and it was the revival of this
feeling that originated the divisions at Frankfort, though, as
will hereafter be seen, othef disputes concerning ceremonies
were superadded to those respecting the clerical habits. In
the strife of these prelates, as Father Paul justly remarks,
two nations were struggling in the^jvomb. The very same'
matters were the cause of all the divisions between the
episcopalians and the puritans at a later period.
As this controversy was followed by results so fatal to
the peace of the church, it may be desirable to glance at
the origin of Hooper's scruples. During the latter part
of the preceding reign. Hooper, to avoid the operation of
the law of the Six Articles, had resided on the Continent.
At that time all Germany was in a state of agitation, in
consequence of the controversy relative to things indifferent
in public worship.* This dispute had its rise in that scheme
of worship devised by the Emperor Charles V., and desig
nated the Interim. This appellation was given, because the
plan prescribed only temporary regulations to continue in
* Neal, vol. i. p. 67.

VIEWS OF REFORMERS IN MATTERS OF DISCIPLINE. 19
force till all things should be settled by a general council.*
It was framed by moderate catholics, with the addition of
one or more protestants. Neither catholics nor protestants
were satisfied with the emperor's scheme : to the former
it was odious, as emanating from a layman; to the latter,
as containing all the Romish doctrines. At Rome the eccle
siastics were amazed : they expected that the whole of
Germany would be separated from the Romish see. The
pope, however, wiser than his brethren, had no such appre
hensions : he saw that it would please neither party ; that
it would cause divisions among the protestants, and eventu
ally prove injurious to the emperor : he consented, there
fore, that it should be published. The pope's predictions
were verified, — neither party was satisfied, and the pro
testants were divided. In those protestant cities where the
emperor's influence was powerful, the Interim was received.
It was argued, that the things enjoined were indifferent, and
that it was lawful — yea, necessary, to tolerate some things
in obedience to the Emperor. In other cities not under the
dominion of Charles, an opposite opinion was held : hence,
as Father Paul remarks, " arose two sects, which were never
well reconciled."
Hooper coincided in the view of those who refused to
receive the Interim. To this scheme may be attributed all
the subsequent distractions among protestants. Hence, the
disputes concerning the episcopal habits, — the first that
divided the English reformers.
The English reformers did not contend for any system of
government or discipline in the church, as heing jure Diinno;
things indifferent, as ceremonies and the clerical habits,
were left to the civil magistrates. Nor did they refuse to
recognise the validity of ordination in those foreign churches
* Father Paul's History, of Council of Trent, Ed. 1676, p. 271.

20 DEATH OF THE KING  CRANMER.
that had renounced episcopacy. But this subject will fall
under our notice at a later period in the reign of Elizabeth;
for those disputes were soon, for a season, forgotten, in con
sequence of the king's health. The reformers were drawn
off from their divisions to contemplate the prospect that
awaited them ia the event of the death of Edward. The
common safety was their principal anxiety, and not disputes
concerning matters of minor importance. At length, after
many alternations of hope and fear, the blow fell with all
its weight upon the church ; for the king died in 1553,
leaving the cause of the reformation in a state of peculiar
peril. It will be seen from the foregoing statement, that the most
remarkable and the most influential individual of this reign
was Cranmer. His memory, however, is loaded with re
proaches by his enemies. It is constantly objected against
him, that he was a persecutor, and that he practised towards
others what he deprecated when directed towards himself.
That he persecuted, cannot be denied ; but in that age, the
lawfulness of persecution was admitted. The blots in his
character are to be attributed to the principles of the times,
and to the infirmity of human nature, — not to a cruel or
uncharitable disposition. Cranmer was not suddenly eman
cipated from the thraldom of principles imbibed with his
earliest breath : but surely, if blame rests upon the arch
bishop, it must be placed to the account of the church
of Rome, from which Cranmer derived his sentiments, and
not to the church of England, then in her infancy, and
engaged in a struggle even for existence. When the cha
racter of the times, the principles of the age, and the
numerous difficulties by which he was surrounded, are pro
perly consideied, it will be admitted by unprejudiced per
sons, that few men in Cranmer's situation could have acted
with more tenderness and forbearance. At all events there

PROSPECTS OF THE REFORMERS. 21
is not any one individual to whom the English church is
more deeply indebted, than to her first metropolitan. The
hand of charity will cast a veil over those blemishes in his
character which it is the duty of the historian faithfully
to record.

CHAPTER III.
1553 — 1558.
PROSPECTS OF THE REFORMERS  MARy's ACCESSION  RESTORATION OF
POPERY  PERSECUTIONS  SILENT PROGRESS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF
THE REFORMATION  QUEEs'S DEATH  POLICY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH
 DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY.
The death of Edward was the signal to the advocates of the
Romish see to attempt the recovery of their lost influence.
It was an event by which the hopes of the reformers were
extinguished ; since, in his sister Mary, they saw only cruelty
and bigotry. The prospect was a dismal one; — persecution
or banishment, and the certain ruin of their cause, were pre
sented to their view. The light that had been enjoyed for
the last few years, and by which the minds of the reformers
had been cheered, was again obscured by those clouds of
error, which, from the seventh century, had covered the
land. There had indeed been, even during the dark ages of
the church, occasional flashes of light ; but they served only
to render the darkness more visible to those whose minds
were at all enlightened. The death of Edward, as it elevated
Mary to the throne, was a severe blow to the reformers.
It is foreign to the object of this work to notice the brief
but tragical history of Jane Grey. No sooner was Mary
seated on the throne, than all her father's and brother's laws
relative to the church, though not yet repealed, were disre-

22 RESTORATION OF POPERY.
garded by the priests. However, on the meeting of her first
parliament, these laws were abrogated, and every thing was
restored to the state in which it formerly stood. Not only
was the authority of the pope recognised, but the queen soon
evinced a disposition to persecute those who had been instru
mental in the reformation. Cranmer, Ridley, and Hooper,
were ere long brought to the stake, and their differences
were for ever buried in the ashes of their own bodies. Not
less than 288 persons, according to the accurate Strype, were
called, during this reign, to seal the truth of the doctrines of
the reformation with their blood ; while vast numbers were
compelled to seek in exile that liberty which was denied
them in their own country.
Still the new doctrines continued to gain ground. Those
who had renounced the errors of popery were more confirmed
in their principles by the sufferings of the martyrs, than by
the most powerful argumentation. The patient endurance of
torture and death by those who were doomed to suffer, was
to surviving and wavering protestants a convincing proof
that the new doctrines were founded on the Bible, or their
advocates could never have been supported under such cruel
ties. The finger of Providence, no less than during the reign
of Henry, was signally displayed in the short-sighted policy
of Mary in persecuting the reformers: for the cruelties
exercised on the sufferers tended to facilitate the progress
of the reformation in the succeeding reign. The people,
who hitherto had been somewhat indifferent, were now so
horror-struck with Mary's proceedings, that their indiffer
ence was converted into the most deeply rooted hatred to
popery. Even at the revolution, the recollection of Mary's
cruelties had a considerable influence in moving the people to
discountenance James's attempts to introduce popery. The
death of the martyrs, therefore, was not the ruin of their cause.
Like Sampson, Cranmer and his companions in suffering con
ferred more service on the cause of protestantism, and inflicted

aUEEN S DEATH. 23
more injury on that of their opponents by their death, than
they had ever been able to effect during their lives. In 1558
these violent proceedings were suddenly checked by the
unlamented death of the queen, after a short, but cruel
reign of five years and four months. During her short
reign she used her utmost endeavours to restore popery to
its pristine vigour : her father's memory was reproached :
and to prevent that scandal which had been reflected on the
church of Rome, in consequence of the immoralities dis
covered by the visitors in suppressing the religious houses in
the reign of Henry, she did not hesitate to destroy the
returns of the commission.
Though the reformation, in the preceding reign, was
opposed by only seven or eight of the peers, the whole body
were reconciled to popery on the accession of Mary. The
commons also supported the queen. It is not surprising,
however, that the lower house fell in with the views of the
court; for in those days the elections were principally ma
naged by the government. Popery seems to have been
permitted to return for a short season, for the purpose of
discovering its real nature. At this time the people were
anxious for inquiry : their attachment to the ancient creed
was weakened, and Mary's cruelties caused the people to
view the reformers with a favourable eye.
Never was the policy of the church of Rome in adapting
itself to times and circumstances more conspicuously dis
played, than during this short reign. A striking instance of
that policy is found in the remarkable fact, that the clergy
ordained in the previous reign according to the new service,
were not, on their manifesting a willingness to comply, re-
ordained. Fi'om the period of Elizabeth, the validity of the
orders conferred by the English church has never been
recognised by that of Rome ; though the orders conferred
under Edward, in the case of those who complied, were
never questioned ; but when the object was to add a pang to

24 DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY.
the bitterness of the death of a protestant martyr, the Romish
church acted on its old principles, that orders conferred in
schism were invalid. Thus Cranmer, who had received all
his orders from Rome, was degraded from the sacred office ;
while Hooper and Ridley, who had been consecrated bishops
according to the new service, were not subjected to degrada
tion, their consecration being treated as a nullity.
Before we enter on the reign of Elizabeth, it will be
proper to notice those divisions among the English protest
ants, which, breaking out at Frankfort, proved at a later
period the ruin of the English church. On Mary's accession,
many English protestants fled to the Continent, in order to
save their lives. Some fixed themselves at Geneva, some at
Zurick, some at Strasburgh, and others at Frankfort. On
their arrival in their places of abode, they united together in
admiring the goodness of God, in opening a door for their
reception in a foreign land, when no resting-place could be
afforded them in their own country. For a time they lived
in peace and harmony; but ere long the seeds of discord
were sown, which soon produced an open rupture. As the
controversy respecting the ceremonies had its commencement
in the divisions at Frankfort, the origin and progress of those
differences must now be detailed.
The only account of the differences among the exiles is
an anonymous pamphlet, published in 1575, by one of the
parties, and entitled, " A Discourse of the Troubles at Frank
fort." All that has since been written on the subject on
both sides, is derived from this source. Though the writer
discovers a leaning in some things to the views of the dis
senting party, it is upon the whole fairly and impartially
written. The account of these troubles which we now pro
ceed to lay before the reader, is drawn from the pamphlet
itself. It has already been observed, that the English exiles took
up their abode in different cities in Germany. Some of them

DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY. 25
repaired to Frankfort, where the French exiles had obtained
from the magistrates the use of a church for the performance
of divine service. In a short time the use of the same church
was granted on different hours to the English exiles, on the
condition that they should not dissent from the French either
in doctrine or ceremonies, lest occasion of strife should be
ministered. It was also requested that they should subscribe
to the French Confession of Faith. The exiles, grateful for
these favours, began to deliberate on the mode of worship to
be observed ; for this point had been left to themselves by the
magistrates, who stated that they were under no obligation
to use the ceremonies of the French church, but that it
would be sufficient to adopt such a scheme as should not be
disallowed by the French exiles. The English service was
accordingly perused, when it was determined to omit the
responses, the use of the surplice, and a few other things,
that no offence might be given to the French. Having set
tled the mode of conducting public worship, they appointed a
minister and deacons for a time.*
Having obtained the favour of a church from the magis
trates, the exiles in Frankfort communicated the pleasing
intelligence to their brethren in Strasburgh, Geneva, and
Zurick. The brethren in Zurick replied, that they were
ready to repair to Frankfort, provided they might be per
mitted to " serve and praise God as freely as the order last
taken in the church of England permitteth and prescribeth ;
for we are fully determined to admit and use no other."t In
the mean time, as the other exiles in other cities coincided in
the views of their brethren at Zurick, John Knox was invited
to take the pastoral charge of the church at Frankfort. The
residents at Strasburgh insisted on the use of King Edward's
book,' " lest, say they, by much altering of the same, we
should seem to condemn the chief authors thereof, who, as
* Troubles of Frankfort in Phoenix, vol. ii. p. 55. t Ibid. p. 55.

26 DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY.
they now suffer, so are they most ready to confirm that fact
with the price of their bloods ; and should also both give
occasion to our adversaries to accuse our doctrine of imper
fection, and us of mutability, and the godly to doubt of that
truth wherein before they were persuaded." Grindal, who
went to Frankfort on the part of his brethren at Strasburgh,
entered into a further explanation of their views, assuring his
fellow exiles that they were not anxious about every cere^
mony, provided the substance of the book was retained. To
the letter from Strasburgh it was replied, that " as for certain
ceremonies, which the order of the country will not bear, we
necessarily admit with as little alteration as is possible, so
that no adversary is so impudent that dare either blame our
doctrine of imperfection, or us of mutability. Neither do we
dissent from them which lie at the ransom of their bloods,
for the doctrine whereof they have made a most worthy
confession."* As the use of King Edward's book was not guaranteed,
the brethren in Strasburgh hesitated to remove to Frankfort.
When it was proposed that the mode of worship should be
settled, some advocated the order of Geneva : but Knox
objected to any settlement until the learned men in the other
cities should have been consulted. During these discussions
the English liturgy was used in part only. In this emer
gency it was agreed that Calvin's advice should be solicited ;
and to enable him to come to a decision, Knox and Whitting- .
ham wrote a description of the service book in Latin. This
description was not an impartial one: a simple translation
would have been better. Calvin was not left to form his
own judgment from the liturgy itself; but whenever a
ceremony, or a rubric, or a prayer, is mentioned, their own
comments are also given. After having described various
points in the liturgy, they remark, " besides, there are yet
* Trouble.s, &c. vol. ii. p. 61.

DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY. 27
in use certain suffrages devised of Pope Gregory, which
begin after this manner, ' O God the Father of heaven,' only
leaving out the invocation of saints ; otherwise we use a
certain conjuring of God, by the mystery of his incarnation,
by his holy nativity, &c."* This extract is sufficient to
destroy the character of Knox and Whittingham for impar
tiality in the description. Had they acted in a candid and
sincere manner, they would have simply stated facts, leaving
Calvin to form his own conclusions. Similar instances occur
in other portions of the description. Still, notwithstanding
their attempts to bias Calvin's judgment, his opinion, though
he himself was disinclined to view the ceremonies with a
favourable eye, was not altogether such as the brethren at
Frankfort could have desired. He replied, that in the
Litui'gy he saw some " tolerable foolish things," intimating
by that expression that, though he did not approve of them,
they were not sinful, and consequently might be endured.
On the receiving of Calvin's answer, Knox, Whittingham,
Gilby, Fox, and Cole, were requested to draw up a form
of worship suited to their circumstances. They fixed on the
order of Geneva ; but some of their brethren objecting, their
proposal was rejected. Knox, Whittingham, Parry, and
Lever, were then requested to devise some mode that should,
if possible, put an end to their present strife. After many
conferences, they agreed to use a portion of the English
book, with some additions of their own. This order was
settled February 6th, 1555, and was to continue in force
until the ensuing April. If in the intervening space any
discussion should arise, it was agreed that the matter in
dispute should be determined by Calvin, Musculus, Bal-
linger. Martyr, and Vyrel.
The business appeared now to be settled ; but on March
13th, Cox arrived from England, and attending divine
» Troubles, &c. p. 65.

28 DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY.
sei-vice on the following sabbath, he repeated the responses
aloud after the officiating minister, according to the EngHsh
practice. When the brethren remonstrated with him, declar
ing that he had disturbed the harmony subsisting among them,
he argued that it was necessary to maintain the face of an
English church. On the Sunday following, one of Cox's
party occupied the pulpit, and read the litany, which had
been disused by the framers of the new order. A sharp
discussion ensued, during which it was agreed that Cox
and his friends, who had just arrived from England, should
be admitted to a voice in the congregation. It now ap
peared that the advocates of the king's book, being
strengthened by the accession of Cox and his friends, formed
a majority in the assembly. This majority immediately
prohibited Knox from any further interference with the
congregation. An appeal was next made to the magistrates, who de
cided as before, that they should conform to the practice of
the French in doctrine and ceremonies.
Knox, in his " Admonition," had spoken harshly of the
emperor. The objectionable passages were pointed out to
the magistrates, who, fearful of incurring the emperor's dis
pleasure, ordered Knox to quit the city, lest they should
be required to deliver him up. Cox and his friends, being
now the majority, prevailed with the magistrates to permit
the free and full use of the English liturgy ; and, in con
sequence of their decision, Whittingham, Fox, Cole, and
others, separated from their brethren and repaired to Geneva.
Here they adopted the order of that church. After debating
the question, whether they should use as much of the English
service as they could approve, or comply with Calvin's model,
they embraced the latter alternative.
The preceding statement is drawn from the only au
thentic account of the divisions on the Continent. It has
been shewn that the reformers in Edward's reign were not

DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY. 29
altogether agreed on some unimportant points. Hooper
scrupled to wear the episcopal habits, and Rogers the square
cap ; yet, after Hooper's submission, all grounds of differ
ence appeared to be removed : the reformers concurred in
merging minor differences for the sake of union. When
the exiles departed from England, they were all agreed as
to the use of the liturgy : the controversy was not carried
with them, but originated in the mode of worship adopted
by the German reformers. The principal reason adduced
by the Frankfort exiles against the use of the liturgy was
the disapprobation of the magistrates ; yet when the magis
trates authorised the use of the service book, Whittingham
and his friends refused to comply. From a letter of Bale,
it appears that the same disputes arose among those exiles
who fixed themselves at Basil. " When," says Bale, " we
require to have common prayers, according to our English
order, they tell us that the magistrates will in no case
suffer it ; which is a most manifest lie. They mock the
rehearsal of God's commandments, and of the Epistles and
Gospels, and say they are misplaced. They blaspheme our
communion, calling it a popish mass; and say that it hath
a popish face, with other fierce despisings."
These dissensions are the more to be deplored, as they
originated in differences of opinion not regarding doctrines,
but matters of discipline. The points at issue were mere
trifles, yet how destructive were the consequences. These
divisions, becoming more violent by the heat of party rage,
eventually involved the Church of England in ruin. At the
period of Hooper's consecrations the habits only were dis
liked ; at Frankfort the ceremonies were impugned. Every
succeeding year widened the breach, till at length the parties
were irreconcilable.
It was distressing to the lovers of peace to witness these
contests : both parties admitted that the points at issue

30 DIVISIONS AMONG THE EXILES IN GERMANY.
were not essentials. Calvin himself recommended com
pliance for the sake of peace. Cox and his party argued
that, while their brethren in England were sealing the truth
with their blood, it ill became them, at such a moment,
to raise doubts relative to the lawfulness of that liturgy,
which had been adopted by all alike before the death of
Edward. Though, however, the disputed points were con
fessedly of little consequence, the exiles manifested as much
anxiety as if their common faith had been endangered. As,
however, all had used the liturgy at home, and as their
countrymen were now suffering in its defence, it was cer
tainly desirable that it should not be laid aside in their
exile. Had all the brethren concurred in its use, the
dissensions, by which the harmony of the reformers was
disturbed, would not have sprung up. It is melancholy to
look back upon this quarrel, as in it was the seed of all
the subsequent distractions.

31

CHAPTER IV.
1558 — 1570.
ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH  PRUDENT MEASURES OF THE QUEEN  REVIEW
OF Edward's book — prohibition of preaching for a time — de
fence OF THE QUEEN — OPINIONS OF THE QUEEN — ACT OF UNIFORMITY
 supremacy  PARKER ELEVATED TO THE SEE OF CANTERBURY  OTHER
SEES FILLED — ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMATION — EXCESSES
RESTRAINED — SAD RECOLLECTION OF THE REFORMERS — REVIVAL OF
THE DIFFERENCES  ORIGIN OF THE TERM PURITAN  EFFORT TO
ENFORCE CONFORMITY  LENITY TOWARDS THE PURITANS  THEIR
VIEWS ON SEPARATION — ARTICLES — HOMILIES — GENTLE MEASURES
— THE FIRST SEPARATION  RISE OF PRESBYTERY — MODERATE AND
VIOLENT PURITANS — INTRIGUES OF THE PAPISTS — FAITHFUL COMMIN
AND HEATH, TWO JESUITS — EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE QUEEN.
While the hopes of the catholics were extinguished by
the queen's death, those of the reformers were suddenly
revived. The cloud that had shrouded the reformation
was dispersed ; and again were the darkness and super
stitions of popery chased away by the light of truth. Eliza
beth was quietly seated on the vacant throne : as she had
been exposed to much severity in consequence of her attach
ment to the reformation, her joy was equal to that of her
subjects. The queen's accession was the signal for the exiles
to return ; and as they were viewed by Elizabeth as fellow-
sufferers in the same cause with herself, they were received
with much kindness.
Popery had been re-established by Mary. As the queen's
situation was one of peculiar difficulty, no change was im
mediately effected. This caution was rendered necessary by
circumstances : the want of it might have endangered the
throne, and proved the ruin of the protestant faith. Pre
cipitation on her part in effecting a change in the esta-

32 REVIEW OF Edward's book.
blished order, would have rallied her catholic subjects and
placed her throne in jeopardy. Any sudden change would
have called forth the bull of excommunication, which,
though not dreaded by the queen, it was, nevertheless,
desirable to delay until measures of safety could be con
certed. The priests, therefore, continued to celebrate mass
as usual. In a very short time, however, several learned divines
were appointed to review King Edward's service book ; but
all changes were prohibited until authorised by due course
of law. As a preliminary measure, the liturgy, the creed,
and the Lord's prayer, were ordered to be read in English.
In 1559, the divines, to whom the review of the liturgy
had been entrusted, completed their task. Parker, Grindall,
Cox, Pilkington, May, Bill, Whitehead, and Sir Thomas
Smith, were the individuals to whom the work was com
mitted. Few alterations were made. One expression in
the liturgy, " From the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and
all his detestable enormities, good Lord deliver us," was
struck out ; and the rubric, in which it was declared that
no adoration was intended by the posture of kneeling
in the sacrament, was expunged. The place in which
prayers should be read was now left to the discretion of the
ordinary : in the time of Edward, the service was read in
the chancel. Proper first lessons for Sundays were now
fixed ; and the prayer for the queen, that for the clergy'
and people, as well as that commencing with " O Lord,
whose nature and property," &c. were added at this review.
The book, thus revised, was submitted to the parliament,
which ordained that it should take effect from the 24th
June, 1559.
By such a gradual process was the change effected. No
sudden measures were adopted. A month elapsed, after
the death of Mary, before the decalogue, the creed, and
the liturgy were permitted in English; and to prevent

PROHIBITION OF PREACHING POR A TIME. 33
disputes all preaching was prohibited, except under a license
from the great seal. At a later period a violent outcry was
raised againBt the injunction prohibiting all preaching. A
more prudent step, however, could not, under the peculiar
circumstances of the times, have been taken by the queen's
advisers. Those, whose sentiments were fully known, ex
perienced no difficulty in obtaining a license ; and, though
some of the protestant advocates were restrained, ultimate
advantages were secured. Had there been no restrictions
laid upon the clergy, the catholics would have used the
pulpit as a vehicle for conveying the poison of their doctrines
to the people.
Edward had resorted to the same expedient in the earlier
portion of his reign ; but the memory of both Edward and
Elizabeth was, in consequence of the prohibition of preach
ing, loaded with reproach by the puritans. They asserted,
especially of Elizabeth, that by suppressing preaching she
opposed the spread of true religion. On the queen's acces
sion numbers of the clergy, indeed, almost all of them, were
secretly favourers of the ancient practices ; nor was it
possible to find others to occupy their places. Complying
with the alterations, they retained their livings : but to
prevent them from doing mischief, preaching was restrained,
and the homilies composed by the reformers were appointed
to be read. These restrictions, so far from checking, were
the chief cause of the rapid advances of the reformation ;
and so far was the queen from wishing to restrain preach
ing, that many laymen of orthodox principles were admitted
to orders, or even permitted to preach as laymen. John
'Tavernier, a layman, was permitted by King Edward to
preach in any part of the country. So great was the scarcity
of preachers, that the king's chaplains were compelled to
ride post about the land to preach against popery. Taver
nier even preached before the king. The same practice was
permitted by Elizabeth ; and Tavernier, during her reign,
D

34 PARKER ELEVATED TO CANTERBURY.
actually appeared in the pulpit of St. Mary's Church,
Oxon.* Tt is insinuated by many writers, even in the present day,
that because Edward and Elizabeth were, from their pecu
liar circumstances, under the necessity of imposing a re
straint on the pulpit, they incurred the guilt of withholding
from the people the bread of life. It ought, in justice to
the memory of those sovereigns, to be stated, that, when the
cause no longer existed, the restriction was removed. It
was safer and wiser to prohibit preaching, than to allow the
clergy to exercise their own discretion. Had the order
even been as sinful as it was reasonable, the Church of
England, at all events, would be undeserving of cen
sure ; for the act was the act of the sovereign, not of the
church. It appears that Elizabeth was willing to retain some of
the ceremonies rejected by the reformers. Her opinion was
that her brother's zeal had carried him fiirther than was
necessary. In these matters, however, she acted as a wise
princess, and yielded to the judgment of the council.
As soon as the Act of Uniformity had received the royal
assent, that of supremacy was passed by the parliament.
When tendered to the bishops and clergy, nearly all the
prelates, though they had taken the same oath under Henry,
and had complied with all the changes of that reign, refused,
and were afterwards deprived of their sees. The next step
was to fill the vacant sees with men of learning and piety.
Parker was nominated to the see of Canterbury, which for
a considerable time he persisted in refusing, imploring the
queen to select an abler and more experienced person for
that important post. He at length yielded to the repeated
importunities of the queen. The other sees were filled
by men of a kindred spirit : many of them had been exiles,
* Wood's Ath. Ox., vol i. p. 182.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 35
land all had been sufferers in the cause of the reformation.
Among the individuals on whom the episcopal dignity was
conferred, were Grindal, Cox, Parkhurst, Sandys, and Jewel ;
the last ever to be remembered for his elaborate defence of
the English Church.
Parker was consecrated by the three surviving bishops
of Edward's reign. Barlow, Scory, and Coverdale. The
fable of the Nag's Head Ordination cannot be noticed in
this work.* Though fourteen bishops adhered to their
former principles, very few of the clergy refused to comply
with the Act of Uniformity. At that period there were
9400 benefices in England ; but the whole number of the
clergy who relinquished their posts on account of their
religious scruples, were six abbots, twelve deans, twelve
archdeacons, fifteen heads of colleges, fifty prebendaries,
and eighty rectors. All who conformed retained their
livings ; nor would it have been possible to have supplied
the wants of the people, had there been a very large seces
sion from among the clergy. These first incumbents were
secretly attached to popery; but as this generation passed
away, individuals of an opposite character were appointed
to succeed them. To supply some of the vacancies that
necessarily occurred, several laymen, of sound principles
though of slender acquirements, were ordained .f
The reformation was now re-established ; the liturgy
was set forth by authority ; the vacant sees were filled by
eminent protestants; and the clergy, whatever were their
secret views, conformed to the new system. The images
restored by Mary's zeal were removed ; and visitors were
appointed to examine into the state of the churches, who,
according to Strype, performed their duty with remarkable
* For the particulars of Parker's consecration, see Complete History,
vol. ii. Appendix, p. 659. See also Courayer's Defence of the Validity of
the English Ordinations.
t Strype.

36 EXCESSES RESTRAINED.
diligence, by destroying all superstitious and idolatrous
monuments. During the ascendancy of popery, altars
were erected in all the churches : they were now removed,
and tables, for the celebration of the holy communion, were
set up at the expense of the respective parishes. There were
still some excesses committed by the people, whom it was
found difficult to restrain. Not only were roods, crucifixes,
and images, destroyed, but, in some places, books, surplices,
and sepulchral ornaments, were committed to the flames, as
vestiges of superstition. The painted windows in churches
were, in some instances, demolished ; on which account
a proclamation was issued, prohibiting, under certain pe
nalties, the defacing of tombs, and the breaking of win
dows in churches. In some cases even the zeal of the
visitors themselves outstripped their prudence. Cox and
his fellow-visitors in the University of Oxford, in their zeal
against popish ornaments, destroyed the illuminated figures
of the manuscripts in the public library. These figures
were mistaken for popish saints, whereas they were nothing
more than the heads of British kings. Not only were the
figures destroyed, but many of the manuscripts also. Of
those formerly belonging to the library of Duke Humphrey,
one only remains at present, the rest having fallen a sa
crifice to the ardour of the visitors. Indeed, in some few
parishes the bells even were taken down by the parochial
authorities. All these excesses were, however, restrained by
authority. These excesses were few when compared with the pro
ceedings of the reformers on the continent and in Scotland.
In England the reformation was effected by the authority
of the government ; on the continent and in Scotland by
popular violence. Changes effected by the people are sel
dom unattended by popular commotions. In accomplish
ing any important change, the people are almost always
hurried to extremes: not submitting to the guidance of

SAD RECOLLECTION OF THE REFORMERS. 37
reason, but generally influenced by some powerful leader,
they are not easily restrained within the bounds of modera
tion. In Germany and Scotland, where the people were
the prime movers, many things occurred which wise and
prudent men must condemn.*
Amid the proceedings of the reformers, there was one
subject on which they dwelt with sorrow, — it was the
dismal tale of the loss of their brethren in the preceding
reign : many martyrs had gone to receive their crown, while
their frail bodies were undistinguished from the ashes of
the fire. The recollection of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and
Hooper, could not be effaced. With them they had taken
sweet counsel during the first reformation : but regret for
their loss was mingled with gratitude to God for their con
stancy at the stake. The feelings of Parker, on succeeding
to the see of Canterbury, must have been peculiar. With
Cranmer he had been associated in compiling the liturgy
and articles : Cranmer was gone to his rest, while he re
mained. Though Parker had not gone into exile, he was
not exempt from suffering : at the risk of his life, he tra
velled from place to place, under various disguises, to
encourage the remnant of the persecuted protestants.
Well would it have been for the interests of religion, if
the dissensions of Frankfort had never been revived. It
would have been reasonable to expect, that gratitude for
their signal deliverance from the grasp of a tyrannical
superstition, would have caused the exiks to merge their
differences in oblivion ; but the divisions that had originated
abroad were fomented at home with the same bitterness
with which they had been cherished on the continent. Had
the exiles yielded to the liturgy and ceremonies, the peace
of the church would have been unbroken. Such a happy
» Calvin admitted that he was compelled by the current of popular
prejudice to reject sorae long - retained usages of which his judgraent
approved.

38 ORIGIN OF THE TERM PURITAN.
termination, however, was not destined to take place ; but
those who had been brethren in exile for the same cause,
sharers in the same sufferings, as well as contenders for the
same pure faith, were, on their return, rent asunder by a
controversy respecting some few points of confessedly minor
importance. No sooner was the liturgy established by the
Act of Uniformity, than the unhappy divisions of Frankfort
were revived with all the acrimony by which they had been
marked in their origin. Though all the exiles had used the
liturgy in Edward's reign, many now advocated a nearer
approximation to the Geneva discipline. The majority
quietly complied ; but the peace of the church was sadly
disturbed by the opposition of the dissentients. They con
tended for what they termed a further reformation and a
purer discipline, and hence originated the distinctive appel
lation of Puritan, Some of the bishops would have pro
ceeded somewhat further in the work, had they been au
thorised to decide on what ceremonies should be retained
or rejected ; but viewing the disputed points as matters of
indifference, they chose to sacrifice their own peculiar views
for the good of the church. Had every individual been
at liberty to object to whatever he disliked, it is clear that
a settlement could never have been effected. The majority,
therefore, of the reformers hesitated not to yield to the queen
and her council. The merit of suffering in exile with their
protestant brethren is readily granted to the early puritans:
their piety and learning were also unquestionable ; but
we may fairly entertain a doubt as to their prudence in
interrupting the harmony of the church, at a period when
the sword of persecution had just been sheathed, for the
sake of a few usages, which, however unpleasing to their
taste, were not, even by the most strenuous advocates of
a purer reformation, at least, in that early day, deemed
sinful. It will now be necessary to trace the proceedings of the

EFFORT TO ENFORCE CONFORMITY. 39
government, during this reign, against those who refused
to conform; and, notwithstanding the strong assertions to
the contrary, we shall prove that the number of those who
were actually deprived was very insignificant. It is ad
mitted, that many refused to comply until proceedings were
adopted to enforce conformity ; but when they discovered
that compliance or resignation was necessary, they yielded-*
Their principles, at this period, were opposed to separation
from the established church : they disliked some of the
ceremonies, and evaded them as long as possible ; but when
an attempt was made to enforce the authority of the law,
they considered it to be their duty to comply. The Brown
ists and real separatists did not spring up till a subsequent
period of this reign.
When these controversies arose, both parties, as also
was the case during the subsequent reigns, were strenuous
advocates for an Act of Uniformity, and equally averse to
a general toleration. All concurred in the belief, that eon-
formity should be enforced by the sword of the civil power ;
and the question at issue between them regarded only tbe,
system to be established. In matters of faith there was no
difference of opinion : all admitted that the scriptures were
a perfect rule of faith ; but while, on the one hand, the
bishops contended that no precise scheme of government
was enjoined by the word of God, and that the discipline
of the church was left to the civil magistrate, to order
according to the various circumstances of the countries in
which Christianity should be planted ; the puritans, on the
other, asserted that the scriptures were not only a standard
of faith but of discipline. The ceremonies, therefore, were
the sole cause of dispute. The puritans did not pause to
* Calvin's advice to the exiles was to conform, rather than disturb the
peace of the church. When conformity was pressed upon Whittingham, he
complied, alleging that Calvin had recoramended them not to neglect their
ministry for the sake of a few ceremonies.

40 THEIR VIEWS ON SEPARATION.

a;

scertain whether the objectionable rites were in themselves
innocent,— whether they were recent innovations, or whether
they were recommended by the practice of the church in
the earlier ages of Christianity : with them, their adoption
in the church of Rome was a sufficient cause of their rejec
tion. If the clerical habits and some of the ceremonies
were worthy of rejection solely on account of having been
used in the church of Rome, every article of apparel even
must have been renounced, as having been worn by the
priests of that church.
The difficulties with which the queen had to contend in
placing the reformation on a firai basis, were not sufficiently
considered by the puritans. No regard was paid to the
state of religion under Edward ; nor any allowance made for
the feelings of the opposite party, who constituted a large
majority, and who, since they had witnessed the constancy of
the martyrs, had become still more attached to the liturgy.
None but a vigorous sovereign could have surmounted the
dangers by which the throne was surrounded. The safety
of the government was threatened by the priests at home and
by the pope abroad. Many of the former were ready to
engage in attempts not only against the peace of the country,
but also against the person of the queen ; and the latter
was preparing to fulminate against her the bull of excom
munication. Her cautious measures induced the pope to
pause, in the hope of her reconciliation to the Romish see.
During the space of eleven years was the blow warded off
by the prudence of the queen ; and when it actually fell, it
was scarcely felt ; whereas the consequences might havp been
serious, had it been inflicted at the commencement of her
reign, before her power was consolidated. Fortunately for
the country, the sovereigns of France and Spain were en
gaged in hostilities, or a combination might have been
formed, sufficient to have menaced the throne with de
struction.

ARTICLES. 41
In all her measures the queen was vigorously supported
by the parliament. It is not one of the least striking
features in the character of those times, that the parliament
should, under Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, sanction the
changes recommended by the sovereign.
In 1562, the articles of religion were approved by the
convocation. The forty-two articles of Edward, compiled
by Cranmer and Ridley, were now reduced to thirty-nine.
The book of homilies was also set forth at the same time ;
but the articles did not receive the sanction of parliamentary
authority until the year 1571, when they were reviewed by
the convocation. The queen's lofty notions of the prerogative
rendered her jealous of parliamentary interference. The
articles, therefore, were for nine years unsanctioned by the
legislature, the queen wishing to impose them upon the
church by her own authority.
As soon as Elizabeth was quietly seated on the throne,
she was not unmindful of the disputes by which her pro
testant subjects were divided. She had sacrificed her own
predilection for some of the pompous ceremonials of the
church of Rome ; and she did not deem it unreasonable that
the puritans should be requested to yield in minor matters
for the general good of the church. For several years the
most gentle and persuasive means were adopted to win them
over to conformity. Those who refused were generally
permitted to remain unmolested, or at all events were not
subjected to the penalty of deprivation ; and during the
earlier portion of her reign they generally complied, when
enjoined by authority. Fox and others refused to subscribe
the articles ; still they were suffered to retain their stations.
Sampson, Lever, and Coverdale, refused to officiate in the
habits, but they still retained their preferments. Strype, in
his " Life of Grindal," states, that down to the year 1564
uniformity was neglected, and that not a few avoided the
use of the ceremonies. During that year conformity was

42 THE FIRST SEPARATION.
pressed with more rigour; still very few were suspended
from the exercise of the ministry, while scarcely any were
deprived. When, however, the puritans continued in their
nonconformity, Parker and his brethren were compelled to
resort to measures of greater severity. Hence various in
junctions were, from time to time, issued, requiring all the
clergy to comply with the Book of Common Prayer accord
ing to the Act of Uniformity. In some cases, where the
objections of the clergy extended to a few things only, their
nonconformity was connived at ; and to others an indulgence
was granted to dispense with some of the ceremonies. Fox
was permitted to dispense with the use of the surplice, a
circumstance corroborative of our assertions respecting the
lenity of the government. The peaceable nonconformists
were treated with gentleness ; and if not licensed to evade
some of the ceremonies, were connived at.* All who con
formed occasionally, though not generally, were treated with
favour. And this treatment had a salutary effect on the
more moderate amongst them ; for in 1565, when the Lon
don clergy were questioned by Parker, few were deprived,
the majority complying before the expiration of the three
months allowed by the archbishop.-j-
About the year 1566, the puritans held a consultation
respecting the lawfulness of separation from the established
church. Some of them decided that separation was lawful;
but previous to this year no separation had been contemplated.
" Here was the first era or date of the separation."! After
debating whether they should use a portion of the English
service, or adopt the Geneva discipline altogether, they de
termined to resort to the latter alternative. It is remarked
by Neal, that if the habits and a few of the ceremonies had
been left indifferent, the people had been easy. Whether
* Strype's Life of Parker, p. 243. f Strype's Annals, p. 462.
X Neal's Puritans, vol. i. p. 230.

THE FIRST SEPARATION. 43
such a result would have followed is very questionable. The
separatists, however, were few in number, for the majority
even of the puritans preferred conformity to separation,
deeming it unlawful to separate from a church where the
word and the sacraments were properly administered.
It is stated by some of the advocates of the puritans,
that they were so numerous, that, unless many had con
formed, the church must have gone back to popery. This
statement is too broad ; but it is true, that if Grindall and
others who entertained some slight objections to a few of the
ceremonies, had not laid aside their scruples, the queen
would have experienced much difficulty in filling up the
vacant sees with persons duly qualified. Had the puritans
acted on the same principles, the unity of the church would
not have been broken.
The leaders of the separation were six or seven ministers
of the diocess of London. In 1667, one of their secret assem
blies was discovered at Plummer's Hall, and several of their
party were committed to prison, where they remained until
the following year, vvhen they were liberated by order of the
council. These were the first who met for separate worship
in any considerable number : at this period, indeed, no sepa
rate assembly existed out of London. " Subsequent to the
time above mentioned, uniformity was more strictly en
joined ; but even after this period the real separatists were
comparatively few. Though inconsiderable in number, how
ever, they fomented a division in the church which was never
healed. It appears that the members of the separation were
secretly supported by some of the nobles, "who gaped after a
morsel of church lands."* From this time the controversy
was carried on with more bitterness. In the outset it was

* Camden's Elizabeth, in Comp. His. vol. ii. p. 410. Leicester and other
nobles, who were anxious to seize the property of the church, secretly
favoured the men of the separation as enemies to the bishops.

44 RISE OF PRESBYTERY.
confined within a very narrow compass, but every year the
breach became wider.
This was the period of the rise of presbytery in England r
previous to the year 1568 or 1569 it was unknown. All the
puritans had hitherto been united, objecting to the ceremonies
only, but refusing to separate from the church : from this
time they were divided into two parties, the one, and that by
far the larger, retaining their former views, the other object
ing not only to the ceremonies, but to the entire fabric of the
English church. This distinction must not not be forgotten
by those who wish to understand the religious history of this
and the succeeding reigns. The moderate puritans were
members of the church, though dissatisfied with the terms of
conformity ; they condemned separation, and at this early
period toleration was never contemplated : the rigid puritans,
or, as they were termed, separatists or presbyterians, enter
tained a rooted aversion to the very constitution of the church.
It was now necessary to check their progress by a more vi
gorous enforcement of the Act of Uniformity.
About the saniie period the hopes of the protestants were
clouded by the queen's dangerous illness. The heir to the
crown was a papist, Mary of Scotland. The catholics were
in expectation of seeing again the ascendancy of their church.
Elizabeth, however, was restored to perfect health, and the
dark cloud was dispersed. Her prolonged life was a signal
blessing ter the church.
The papists did not fail to avail themselves of the advan
tages afforded by the disputes among the protestants. During
this and the succeeding reign, the Jesuits evinced unceasing
activity in fomenting the divisions : for several years the
papists frequented the services of the church, hoping to
reduce the country to obedience to the see of Rome. This
conformity was allowed by the Romish church, for the pur
pose of secretly undermining the reformation. Many of the
priests conformed on the same grounds, hoping that, by

EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE QUEEN. 45
remaining at their posts, they should be able to take advan
tage of every favourable circumstance as it presented itself.
Finding, after some years, that no benefit was likely to result
from this compliance, they changed their plans of operation,
and abstained from attendance on the service of the church.
Some of the Jesuits assumed the garb and the manner of
puritanical ministers. The history of Faithful Commin, a
member of the order of Jesuits, is generally known. He
came to England in 1567 : he advocated, like a zealous
puritan, a purer discipline, and spoke vehemently against
the pope. He subsequently escaped to Rome, and received
absolution from the pontiff. Shortly after. Heath, another
Jesuit, though in appearance a puritan, was suspected and
questioned by the Bishop of Rochester for disparaging the
ceremonies. This man had been sent from Rome by his
superior, for the express purpose of feigning himself a puri
tan, in order that the breach in the church might be widened.
While prTaaching at Rochester, a letter chanced to drop from
his pocket, which had been received from a Jesuit on the
continent, and contained directions for the regulation of his
conduct. In his apartments, a license from the Jesuits and
a bull from the pope were discovered, by which he was
authorised to preach such doctrines as were calculated to
divide the protestants. Many others acted under the same
cloak, " disguising themselves as protestants, to preach false
doctrine."* Their object was to prevent a union between the
church and the puritans : they joined themselves, not with
the old and moderate puritans, but with those who separated
altogether. The secret workings of the Jesuits will be more
fully seen in the next two reigns.
Finding that it was not possible to weaken the. cause of
the reformers by permitting the people to attend the public
services, and that there was no prospect of subjugating the
* Strype's Annals of Elizabeth, p. 484.

46 FAITHFUL COMMIN AND HEATH, TWO JESUITS.
country to the holy see, the pope, in 1570, issued the bull
of excommunication. All the queen's subjects were absolved
from their allegiance : and all foreign princes were excited to
take up arms against her as an usurper and a heretic. The
watchful care of Providence was never more remarkably
displayed than in the proceedings of the first nine or ten
years of Elizabeth. For that space the pope permitted
the people to attend the established church, for the purpose
of undermining it. The contrary result was produced : and
the common people, after nine or ten years' attendance on the
public services, were become so attached to the new faith, or
so indifferent to the old, that there was now but little danger
of their relapsing into popery. The wise were taken in their
own craftiness : and the measures planned with so much art,
and intended to overthrow the reformation, became the very
means of its establishment on an immovable foundation. At
an earlier period the pope's proceedings would have placed
the country in a dangerous position : but now the queen was
prepared for the consequences : and so far was the excom
municating bull from endangering the cause, that it had the
effect of rallying the subjects of Elizabeth so closely around
the throne, that there was no longer any danger that the body
of the people would fall again into superstition.

47
CHAPTER V.
1571 — 1603.
PRESBYTERY SET UP — CARTWRIGHt's ADMONITION — CONTROVERSY WITH
WHITGIFT  CONFORMITY ENFORCED  DEPRIVATIONS UNDER PARKER 
DEATH AND CHARACTER OF PARKER  GRINDAL SUCCEEDS  HIS MILD
NESS  PROPHESYINGS  GRINDAL SEQUESTERED FROM HIS SEE  LENITY
TO THE PURITANS — BROWNISTS — GRINDAL's DEATH — WHITGIFT SUC
CEEDS  ATTEMPTS TO ENFORCE CONFORMITY  FEW ONLY DEPRIVED 
APPLICATION OF THE TERM PURITAN  PARTIALITY OF NEAL AND MR.
BROOK  HIGH COMMISSION — SOME SUFFER FOR POLITICAL OFFENCES —
LENITY TOWARDS THE MODERATE PURITANS  QUEEn's DEATH AND CHA
RACTER  VIEWS ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT — TOLERATION — PAROCHIAL
PSALMODY.
Subsequent to the period at which presbytery was set up in
this country, the breach among the protestants became wider.
The year 1572 was distinguished by the establishment of the
first presbytery in England : the members were accustomed
to assemble privately at Wandsworth, in Surrey. It was,
says Fuller, " the first-born of all the presbyteries in Eng
land." Some of the first puritans had now been removed by
death, and a new race, animated by a different spirit, had
succeeded them.* Cartwright, the Lady Margaret's professor
at Cambridge, was one of the chief leaders of the separation.
Not satisfied with opposing the ceremonies, he extended the
controversy so as to affect the very foundation of the hierarchy.
Cartwright's principles must not be confounded with those of
the bulk of the puritans, whose objections extended no further
than to some of the rites of the church. So far were the
moderate men from adopting the new notions, that Fox, one
* Fuller observes, " When the first set of puritans were gone, behold,
another generation of active aud zealous non-conformists succeeded them :
endeavouring in all things to conform the government of the English church
to the presbyterian reformation." — Lib. ix. p. 81.

48 cartwright's admonition.
of the most distinguished of their party, complains^ of the
factious spirit of the separatists. " They despised him, be
cause he could not rail against bishops as they did : but, if
he could be as mad as they, they would be kinder to him."
He therefore advises the governors of the church " to look
well after that sort of men ; for, under a pretence of greater
purity, they will never give over till they have brought men
under a Jewish slavery."*
Cartwright was the author of the celebrated Admonition
to the Parliament. In this document the views of the pres
byterians are fully stated. How widely they differ from those
of the moderate puritans may be seen by a perusal of the
Admonition itself. A former Admonition had been published
by some of the party : but the second is that to which they
appeal for an exposition of their sentiments. -
The Admonition of Cartwright, and the actual setting up
of presbyterian worship, rendered the bishops more vigilant
in enforcing conformity. The setting up a separate mode of
worship was an act of hostility to the church, which would
not have been tolerated by the presbyterians in their oppo
nents. The publication of the Admonition led to a contro
versy between Whitgift and Cartwright. After publishing a
reply, Whitgift published a defence of his reply. In this
latter work he adopted the fairest method with his adver
sary : he printed the whole of the Admonition in paragraphs,
with his own reply to each.
From this period more severity was used towards the
non-conforming clergy. But, even now, great lenity was
shewn to those moderate men who entertained scruples rela
tive to some of the rites enjoined by the church. The obsti
nate characters were deprived, but they were few in number :
* Fuller, as quoted by Stillingfleet on Separation, p. 24. Fox, in one
of his Letters, speaks of the " fectiosa ilia puritanorum capita :" and adds,
that he is " totus ab iis alienus,'' and unwilling " Perbacchari in epis-
copis." — Fuller, p. 107.

DEPRIVATIONS UNDER PARKER. 49
while others who only occasionally conformed were still con
nived at. If some of them were suspended, they became
itinerant preachers, lecturers, or chaplains.* It was neces
sary that the reins of discipline should be drawn more tight :
yet, after all, the penalty of deprivation was incurred but by
few. Even suspension was delayed a considerable time after
admonition. It is stated by Strype, that the puritans were
by no means harshly treated at this period : none were
deprived till after repeated admonitions and suspensions.
Humphries and others retained all their preferments till
their death, notwithstanding their non-compliance with the
letter of the Act of Uniformity. When, however, some of the
violent presbyterians began to discover as great an unwilling
ness to yield to the queen in civil matters as in religious, it
became necessary- to act with more severity. Had not the
views of the one division of the puritans been thus changed,
as much lenity and forbearance would have been exercised as
during the early part of the reigrf of Elizabeth. The change
in the views of that party is noticed by Bishop Pilkington :
" the disputes," he remarks, " which began about the vest
ments, were now carried further, even to the whole consti
tution : pious persons lamented this, atheists laughed, and
the papists blew the coals : and the blame of all was cast
upon the bishops.''
It is, however, difficult to decide on the numbers actually
sequestered during Parker's administration, owing to the
contradictory statements of different writers. According to
the statements of some of the writers favourable to the
puritans, one hundred ministers were deprived in the year
1572 : while, according to others, the sentence was only
executed on one or two. Speaking of this year, the accurate
Strype remarks, that " they were as gently treated as might
be : no kind of brotherly persuasion being omitted towards
* Neal, vol. i. p. 241.
E

50 DEATH OF PARKER — GRINDAL SUCCEEDS.
them, most of them as yet kept their livings, though one or
two were displaced."* The writer states that the queen and
her commissioners winked at many who would not comply.
The difference in the statement of the numbers actually de
prived is probably owing to the want of a distinction between
suspension and deprivation. Neal states that, in 1573, three
hundred were deprived in the diocess of Norfolk alone,
whereas Strype mentions only three.f Here, probably, ad
monitions were mistaken for severer punishments.
Parker died in 1575, having held the metropolitan dig
nity since the accession of the queen. His administration was
considered severe by the puritans, but without any reason.
Any individual in the situation of Parker would have found
himself under the necessity of acting nearly in the same
manner. To allege that he persecuted the puritans, is
merely to state that he acted on principles fully recognised
by the whole body. He was a pious and conscientious man,
and his counsels were of essential service to the queen in
the establishment of the reformation.
After a vacancy of nine months, Grindal was appointed
to the see of Canterbury. The mildness of this excellent
prelate was acknowledged even by the puritans. As the
maxims, by which the men of that age were governed, are
now universally abandoned, it would be unfair to form our
estimate of Elizabeth's prelates according to the principles
of our own times. Grindal, however, was more inclined to
relax the reins of discipline than his predecessor. He evinced
a greater unwillingness to execute the laws : and none were
suspended, much less deprived, except those of the more
violent sort. The puritans were not, however, satisfied :
and, so far from being gained by the milder measures of
Grindal, increased in numbers, and became less inclined to
submission. * Life of Whitgift. f Madox's Vindication, p. 340.

PKOPHESYINGS — GRINDAL SEQUESTERED FROM HIS SEE. 51
It is necessary to remark, tha^ much depended on the
bishops. As they were, more or less, inclined to severity,
so were the laws administered with more or less rigour.
Hence the situation of the puritans depended on the views
of the bishops. During the mild administration of Grindal,
the presbyterians were emboldened to proceed to greater
lengths of opposition.
Grindal fell under the displeasure of the queen, in conse
quence of his refusal to suppress those meetings of the clergy
termed prophesy ings. They had sprung up in the time of
Parker, and were at first encouraged by the bishops. The
clergy of a certain district met at a given time and place :
one of their body presided, and each minister was called upon
to give his opinion on the subject under discussion. The
meetings were commenced and concluded with prayer. In
1577, the queen, moved by some of her advisers, resolved to
suppress these assemblies ; and the archbishop was ordered
to communicate her intentions to the bishops. Grindal wrote
to her majesty on the subject, defending the prophesyings,
and refusing to suppress them. Enraged at his refusal, the
queen ordered that he should be sequestered from his see :
and, though he was afterwards restored, he never recovered
her majesty's favour. It was supposed that Leicester's enmity
was the cause of this severity. He was in favour with the
¦queen at the time. The prophesyings were, however, sup
pressed. Many of the peaceable puritans were engaged as lecturers
in churches, where prayers were read by clergymen who
entertained no scruples relative to the ceremonies. Not
daring to create a schism by an open separation, and yet
anxious to avoid full conformity, many of the scrupulous
ministers, who held preferments, engaged curates who had
no conscientious scruples: hence the laws were observed,
and they themselves escaped observation. At this time the
majority of the puritans still remained in the bosom of the

52 BROWNISTS.
church.* The presbyterians alone had separated. The
former still received their orders from the bishops : but they
omitted the wearing of the surplice and the use of the cere
monies as frequently as possible, complying only occasionally,
that, when questioned, they might evade the operation of the
laws. About the year 1580, the queen ordered the bishops
to inquire after these half conformists, and to compel them
to perform all the services at least twice in the year. The
lenity of the government is manifest from this order. The
men who held preferments in the church, a.nd who had
received them on the condition of conformity, could not
reasonably complain of hardship in such a regulation.
It was during the administration of Grindal that the
Brownists sprang up. As the presbyterians had branched
off from the body of the puritans, so, in 1582, the Brownists
separated not only from the church, but also from the pres
byterians, with whom, up to this time, they had been
mingled. It will be seen hereafter that the independents
derived their distinctive principles from the Brownists. Their
founder, Robert Brown, would not admit the church of
England to be a true church. They renounced communion
not only with the English church, but with all the reformed
churches on the continent. The activity of the bishops in
discovering their congregations was unceasing, and ere long
Brown himself, and many of his followers, quitted the king
dom. The founder returned in 1589, when he conformed,
and held preferment in the church until his death in 1630.
Some of the party, however, lingered in the country, and
propagated their opinions. They were punished with con
siderable severity ; not, however, for their religious opinions,
but for offences against the state. Two of their leaders,
Coppinger and Thacker, were executed in 1583, for pub
lishing several libels, which were construed into treason
* Neal, vol. i. p. 343.

GRINDAL S DEATH  WHITGIFT SUCCEEDS. 53
against the queen. In the estimation of the queen's advisers,
they did not suffer for religious, but political offences : their
indictments were for felony, and at the regular assizes. The
civil power, therefore, and not the ecclesiastical, must bear
the blame of their execution.
Grindal died in 1583, and was succeeded by Whitgift,
who was inclined to walk in the steps of Parker rather than
in those of his immediate predecessor. It was the special
charge of the queen that he should restore the uniformity of
the church, which, in consequence of Grindal's indisposition
to press conformity, and the secret practices of some of the
nobility, had recently fallen into disuse in many parts of the
kingdom. A distinction has already been pointed out be
tween the early portion of Elizabeth's reign and the latter.
From her accession till 1572 was the first period of puritan-
ism, " during which," says an able writer, " the ceremonies
were the only ground of complaint. Afterwards they trans
ferred to episcopacy that dislike they had to the bishops."*
From 1570 till Parker's death more severity was practised ;
when, on Grindal's elevation, the reins of discipline were
slackened until 1583, the period of Whitgift's promotion to
-the metropolitan dignity. It was usual when an archbishop
entered on his office, to hold a visitation as soon as possible.
Much discretionary power was then, as now, vested in the
bishops, who usually framed their own articles of visitation,
and adopted such measures as in their estimation were best
calculated to promote the welfare of the church.
Whitgift, who was an advocate for rigid conformity, the
more effectually to compel the puritans to comply, framed
three articles to be subscribed by all the clergy. The first
related to the queen's supremacy ; the second to the common
prayer ; the third to the articles. These three articles were
embodied in the canons of 1603, and have ever since been
* Hallam's Cons. Hist. vol. i. p. 251.

54 ATTEMPTS TO ENFORCE CONFORMITY.
subscribed by the clergy of the Anglican church. The arch
bishop was subjected to all kinds of reproach in consequence
of these articles. Still the quiet and moderate puritans
received little molestation even from Whitgift. That con
formity was pressed with more rigour than heretofore is
certain ; but Calvin, Knox, and the Scottish reformers, acted
with as much severity against those who dissented from them.
To Whitgift the church of England is bound by the obliga»
tions of gratitude, since he was the means of preserving her
property from the grasp of the avaricious nobles.
At his primary visitation the above articles were offered
for subscription. Neal enumerates 233 in six counties who
were suspended : * he admits, however, that 49 only were
deprived. The more accurate and less prejudiced Strype
states that the number of conformable ministers in eleven
diocesses was 786, and of nonconformists 49. From this
period until the death of the queen, Neal, whose enmity to
the archbishop is by no means concealed, is unable to enu
merate any considerable number of the clergy actually de
prived. Indulgences were granted to moderate men through
out the whole of this reign : even the enemies of Whitgift
admit that suspensions were removed from many at the
solicitation of persons of influence. He permitted his old
antagonist Cartwright to retain a situation at Warwick, on
condition of not meddling with controversy : and the latter,
though previously a strong Presbyterian, embraced the arch
bishop's offer, and died in the bosom of the church of
England. On his dying bed he lamented the schism of
which he had been one of the chief supporters.f
It should be observed that the term puritan was applied
indiscriminately to all who entertained scruples relative to
conformity. It was applied to three distinct parties : to the
moderate puritans, who never left the church, to the pres-
* Neal, vol. i. p. 400, f Strype's Whitgift, p. 554. ,

FEW ONLY DEPRIVED. 65
byterians, and .to the Brownists. When the assertion is
made that Whitgift persecuted the puritans, it must be
received with a qualification. The individuals deprived of
their livings were presbyterians and Brownists, whose con
tinuance in the church would have endangered its existence.
The moderate men remained in the establishment, either by
occasionally conforming, or by the connivance of the bishops.
So late as 1586, many puritans held preferments. During
that year a considerable number subscribed the Book of
Discipline; a fact that proves the lenity of the government.
From the outcries against Whitgift's severities, it might be
imagined that none of the puritans remained in the church,
and that this book was subscribed by none but deprived
ministers ; yet Neal, on this point a most unexceptionable
authority, assures us that the " Discipline" was signed or
approved by 500 clergymen, all beneficed in the church.*
If 500 clergymen could venture to subscribe this document,
we need no stronger evidence of the forbearance of the
bishops. It appears that many, who stumbled at conformity,
and yet hesitated to incur the guilt of schism, subscribed the
book, and voluntarily subjected themselves to its impositions,
for the sake of satisfying their consciences. They engaged
to use all convenient means to further its advancement in
the church ; and after these engagements they submitted
to authority. There were many excellent men in the English church
at this period, who did not coincide in all the views of
Parker and Whitgift respecting the ceremonies of the church;
still they officiated at her altars, and abhorred the idea of
separation. Yet, in the pages of Neal, and writers of a simi
lar stamp, these men, and the presbyterians and Brownists,
** Neal, vol. i. pp. 483, 484. Cecil's testimony is strongly in favour of
the moderation of the ecclesiastical authorities; " Some (speaking of the
Clergy) celebrated the services in surplices, some in square caps, others in
round."

56 PARTIALITY OF NEAL AND MR. BROOKS.
are included in the general term puritan. In perusing
works of the class alluded to, the reader is led to imagine
that the utmost severity was exercised tovTards all indis
criminately. Brooks, the author of the " Lives of the
Puritans," has classed all the puritans, of whatever grade,
as enemies of the church of England. Many of his suf
ferers were quiet conformists, and continued so until their
death. Whittaker, Mede, and Bernard Gilpin, are classed
with Travers and Cartwright. How must a churchman of
the present day be surprised to find the names of Mede and
Gilpin among the puritans. The only ground for placing
Gilpin among the sufferers, must have been his refusal of
a bishopric ; but he refused in consequence of the responsi
bility attached to the office, and not from any objection
to the church. Gilpin's sentiments are recorded by himself
in a letter inserted in his Life: " The reformation is just;
essentials are there concerned ; and to disturb the peace
of the nation for trifles, when all were agreed in essentials,
is unchristian." Yet this letter, so important as shevring
Gilpin's views, is entirely suppressed in the Sketch of his
Life, by Mr. Brooks. As another specimen of Mr. Brooks'
partiality, it may be stated, that Burnet is quoted in praise
of the puritans ; but the conclusion of the sentence, where
Burnet adds that " they were factious, and insolent, and
spiteful against all who differed from them," is entirely
suppressed. All breaches of ecclesiastical discipline were considered
in the high commission. When the queen's supremacy
was established by parliament, the authority thus conferred
was delegated to a certain number of commissioners. An
oath, termed the oath ex officio, was imposed, by which
the accused were compelled, under certain penalties, to
answer any questions. Such were the principles of the
age : even Calvin pursued a similar mode of enforcing his
discipline at Geneva.

SOME SUFFER FOR POLITICAL OFFENCES. 57
Many attempts have been made, to fasten on the queen
the charge of sacrificing the lives of her subjects for offences
against religion. The charge is unfounded. The individuals
suffered, whether justly or unjustly, for offences against the
state. Barrow, Greenwood, and Coppinger, were deemed
guilty of treason, and it was for treason they suffered :
" Elizabeth's sufferers were not put to death for religion."*
Many of the presbyterians even grossly insulted the queen.
At Bury, some ministers caused the severe censure against
the church of Thyatira (Rev. xi. verse 20) to be painted in
the church, under the queen's arms ; yet the parties were
never questioned. " The puritans of this age were divided
into two ranks : some, mild and moderate, contented only
to enjoy their own conscience ; others fierce and fiery, to
the disturbance of the church and state." -f-
In the present day, a proper distinction is not made
between the Brownists and the puritans — they are usually
classed together ; and because severe measures were exer
cised towards the former, who suffered as political offenders,
it is stated that Elizabeth was a severe persecutor of the
puritans. No assertion is more false. It is true, the
Brownists were punished ; it is equally true, that they con
sidered themselves as sufferers for religion : but their
offences were political. In their proceedings, religion and
politics were strangely mingled : thus their first object was
to defame the church in a series of pamphlets, by rendering
the name of bishop odious to the common people. J The
chief of these pamphlets were — " Martin Mar- Prelate,"
" The Demonstration of Discipline," " Diotrephes," and
" Minerals." The bishops were termed " popelings," " petty
antichrists," " idle. drones," " bawds to all kinds of sinners,"
" bishops of the devil," " cogging knaves," and " enemies of

* Hallam's Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 222. f Fuller, lib. ix. p. 76.
I Camden's Elizabeth, Const. Hist. vol. ii. 550.

58 LENITY TOWARDS THE MODERATE PURITANS.
God." In this language .many of the presbyterians concurred :
by them the bishops were compared to locusts ; and Deering
resembled the queen to an untamed heifer. The ceremonies
were termed " liveries of antichrist," " accursed leaven of the
blasphemous popish priesthood," " cursed patches of popery
and idolatry." When Hawkins, one of their number, was
pressed to conform by the moderate Grindal, and the ques
tion " have we a godly princess?" was put, he replied,
" Why this question? The prophet answers in the Psalms,
' How can they have understanding that work iniquity,
spoiling my people, and that extol vanity.' " Similar ex
pressions occur even in the presbyterian admonition. With
such men it was impossible to act with forbearance ; yet
for these offences severe penalties were not inflicted. Bar
row, and Greenwood, and Parry, the supposed authors of
the pamphlets just mentioned, were executed for sedition,
with which they had mingled religion. They were tried,
not in the high commission, but at the assizes.
At this period, and even much later, it was deemed law
ful to punish with death for offences which would now be
viewed in a very different light : accordingly, in this reign
and the next, some of the violent anabaptists were executed
in various parts of the kingdom. Their opinions were con
sidered dangerous ; and churchmen, puritans, and presby
terians, acted on the same principles. These severities,
therefore, must be attributed to their true cause, the false
maxims of the age. All the reformers, both in England and
on the continent, asserted the necessity of punishing obstinate
heretics with death.
From the previous statements it will be seen, that, not
withstanding the charges of severity so frequently alleged
as a blot on the memory of the queen, much forbearance
was exercised towards the puritans strictly so called and
even towards the presbyterians, none of the latter being
deprived until after repeated admonitions. The punishment

queen's death and character. 59
of the Brownists was not persecution, as they suffered for civil
offences by due course of law. Towards the end of her reign,
the controversy partially ceased. As the heir to the throne
had been nurtured under the presbyterian discipline, all
parties awaited the demise of Elizabeth with considerable
anxiety. The queen died in 1603, after a long and pros
perous reign of forty-four years. It is evident that the
great body of the puritans were awed into subjection by
her vigorous administration. It is said that she ruled with
absolute sway ; but it cannot be proved that she was more
absolute than her predecessors; and notwithstanding her
alleged severities against the puritans, religion flourished.
Even those who were dissatisfied with her proceedings were
compelled to acknowledge the vigour of her government,
under which they enjoyed advantages unknown to English"
men at any former period. At the commencement of her
reign she was surrounded by difficulties, against which no
ordinary character could successfully have combated. If
her difficulties in the former portion of her reign, her skill
in extricating the country from them, the profound peace
enjoyed by her subjects, and, above all, the unquiet and
restless spirit of many of her people, are considered, it will
be admitted that she was one of the wisest of England's
sovereigns. She was a glorious instrument raised up by
Providence, at a moment of imminent danger, to rescue
this country from the trammels of popish superstition.
" She stands on record," says one by no means friendly
to her character, " as a wise and politic princess ; and
though her protestant subjects were divided about church
affairs, they all discovered a high veneration for her
person and government, on which account she was the
glory of the age in which she lived, and will be the
admiration of posterity." *
* Neal, vol. i. p.. 602.

60 toleration.
By some of the puritans she was charged with leaning
towards popery, — a charge as unjust as it is cruel. The
restraints she endured under her sister ; the bull of excom
munication ; and, above all, the constant plots of the Jesuits,
are triumphant answers to this imputation. Some of the vio
lent puritans resorted to this charge for the purpose of stir
ring up the people against the church ; but the continental
reformers will clear the queen of such an imputation. They
all viewed her as the stay of the reformation. In 1591,
Beza, the successor of Calvin at Geneva, not only speaks in
high terms of the queen, but of the church. At a previous
period Calvin had asserted the lawfulness of conformity ;
and Beza appears to have entertained the same views. His
words are, in a letter to Whitgift : " It was never my in
tention to oppose the ecclesiastical polity of your English
church, nor to require of you to form your church according
to the pattern of our presbyterian discipline ; for, whilst the
substance of your doctrine is uniform with the church of
Christ, it is lawful for us to differ in other matters, accord
ing as the circumstances of times, places, and persons, re
quire, and is avowed by the prescription of antiquity. And
for this effect, I desire and hope that the sacred and holy
society of your bishops will continue and maintain for ever
their right and title in the government of the church."
Beza would never have charged the queen with leaning
towards popery.
Before we enter upon the next reign, there are a few
subjects of some importance and of considerable interest
to which, though they will fall under observation at a later
period, the attention of the reader may be briefly directed.
The subjects alluded to are the opinions of the age re
specting toleration, church government, and the state of
parochial psalmody.
Among the reformers there was only one opinion re
lative to religious liberty. All were agreed in deprecating

TOLERATION. 61
the notion of toleration — all concurred in opinion that
there must be one uniform system. The moderate puritans
required the rejection of some ceremonies, but did not con
tend for toleration : they advocated one form with which
all should comply. And even the presbyterians were averse
to toleration. They contended for their own discipline in
the church, not for a toleration for separate worship. The
church was called upon to renounce her discipline, and
establish the presbyterian. They pleaded conscience, and
yet denied the same plea to those who were attached to
the liturgy. Had they succeeded, their terms of con
formity would have been more severe than those of the
church. The question between them and the church was,
whether episcopacy or presbytery should be adopted.
It would be unfair to form our judgments of either party
by the wiser maxims of our own times ; but, while one class
of writers confine the charge of persecution to the church, it
becomes necessary that the case should be fairly stated. The
queen and the governors of the church acted in accordance
with the principles of the age — principles recognised by
all parties : nor would a toleration have been possible, as
none would receive it from their opponents; none admitted
the doctrine of religious liberty ; not a single individual had
as yet advocated the principles of toleration. Had the pres
byterians evinced a disposition to tolerate others, they might
with reason have complained of the practice of the church in
enforcing conformity.
The Act of Uniformity was, however, necessary ; and to
it were even the puritans indebted for their security. With
out the security of that act the secret designs of the Jesuits
might have been crowned with success. As soon as a tole
ration was practicable, it was conceded ; and from the
revolution the rights of conscience have been scrupulously
regarded. The Emperor Charles V. was convinced before
his death of the impossibility of causing men, whose minds

62 TOLERATION.
are so differently constituted, to entertain the same opinions
in religion. After his abdication of the imperial purple,
he was accustomed to amuse his leisure hours in attempting
to cause a number of clocks to strike the hour at the same
moment, — an enterprise in which he was uusuccessful. From
this circumstance he inferred the folly of attempting to force
men, the mechanism of whose minds is far more intricate
than that of a clock, to subscribe to one creed.*
It is certain, however, that the church evinced a more
tolerant spirit than her opponents. Had the puritans suc
ceeded in erecting their own platforms, it would have been
imposed under severe penalties. Had the Geneva discipline
been established, it would have pressed upon the people with
more weight than the English episcopacy. The principle
of religious liberty, indeed, originated in the disputes of
this period ; but to allege that the puritans were its authors
is contrary to facts : as a body, they were less tolerant than
the bishops. No latitude for tender consciences would have
been allowed had they succeeded in their object. After
more than a century of fierce and angry controversy, indeed,
all parties saw the folly of enforcing uniformity. Hence,
at the revolution, the most complete toleration was granted
to those who scrupled to conform to the established church.
The revolution, however, was effected by churchmen ; and
churchmen were the framers of the Act of Toleration. The
assertion that the tree of religious liberty was planted and
watered by the puritans, is entirely destitute of foundation.
Had they advocated toleration, the assertion would have been
correct. They did not contend for liberty to all, but for the
establishment of their own discipline.
* Even Lord Bacon, with all his sagacity, did not perceive that in the
progress of tirae it would be necessary to permit all men to worship God
according to the dictates of their own consciences. In matters of science
he was endowed with almost more than huraan foresight ; but with respect
to toleration, his views were as narrow as those of his contemporaries.

TOLERATION. 63
The question of church government was vehemently
agitated at this period. The reformers were agreed that no
precise form was laid down in the New Testament ; but
when the puritans became divided into two parties, the
presbyterian party advocated the Divine right of their
system. Cranmer and all the reformers asserted, that the
form of government was left to the civil magistrate to de
terraine according to times and circumstances. The prelates
of this reign maintained the same views ; but, like the
earlier reformers, they considered episcopacy, as retained
in the English church, to have been the apostolic practice.
They did not, however, consider any mode of government
essential to the constitution of the church ; hence the va
lidity of ordination as exercised in those reformed churches
where episcopacy was not retained was admitted. By an
act passed in the thirteenth year of this reign, the ordina
tions of foreign reformed churches were declared valid, and
their ministers were capable of enjoying preferment on re
ceiving a licence from the bishop.* Many who had received
presbyterian ordination abroad were allowed to exercise
their ministry in the church of England, provided they
conformed. Travers, Whittingham, Cartwright, and many
others, had received no other, and their ordination Was
never questioned. At a subsequent period this practice was
denounced; and in 1662, it was ordered that no minister
should exercise his office in the Church of England, who had
not received episcopal ordination.
It appears that the reformers did not contend for the
superiority of the office of bishop as a distinct order from
the priesthood, but as different only in degree. Nor did
any member of the church of England claim this distinction
till the year 1588, when Bancroft, in his celebrated sermon
at Paul's Cross, asserted it. The presbyterians contended
* Strype's Annals, p. 524.

64 VIEWS ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT  TOLERATION.
that their discipline was enjoined in scripture : it was desig
nated the tabernacle that God had appointed. Its advocates
alleged even that, where it was not established, God's ordi
nance was not performed. In the admonition it was asserted,
that the church of England had " neither the word rightly
preached nor the sacraments sincerely ministered : and that
she mixed together Christ and antichrist, God and the devil."
Both in the admonition and in other documents of the pres
byterians, it is asserted that the regulation of orders and
ceremonies does not, in any way, rest with the civil magis
trate. It was against these opinions that Bancroft's sermon
was directed. Hitherto no churchman had pleaded for the
divine right of church government. In the articles set forth
by the authority of the queen, the English form is said only
to be agreeable to the word of God. Such an expression is
entirely different from the strong terms used by the pres
byterians, whose discipline was not only declared to be agree
able to God's word, but the identical platform established by
Christ himself. In the controversy with Cartwright, Whit
gift, who, like Hooker, rested the controversy on the in
differency of rites and ceremonies, again and again asserts
that no particular platform is prescribed in scripture. He
sta'tes, " that, though the scriptures were a perfect rule of
faith, they were not designed as a standard of church dis
cipline or government." Cartwright, the champion of pres
bytery, maintained the opposite, endeavouring to prove that
his model was prescribed by the inspired volume. Hooker,
and allthe writers of that day, maintain the mutability of the
form of church government. They held that the English
church adhered more closely than any other reformed church
to the apostolic practice : but they never asserted that their
own form, or any other, was absolutely necessary.
It is true that, at a later period, the claim of divine insti'
tution was put forth by some churchmen. But nowhere is
the claim asserted in the articles, homilies, or formularies of

VIEWS ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 65
the church : and if some of the bishops adopted it, the cause
is to be found in the extravagant pretensions of the presby
terians. " It was not till afterwards," says Hallam, speaking
of this period, " that the defenders of the established order
found out that one claim of divine right was best met by
another."* Yet, whatever may have been the individual
opinions of some of her members, the church has never, in
her articles, asserted the divine institution of the system
adopted by herself. How different a language is spoken by
the recognised documents of the presbyterians. The twentieth
article asserts, that it rests with the church to decree rites
and ceremonies : while the presbyterians aver that these are
fixed in scripture, and, therefore, unalterable. The thirty-
fourth article declares, that " every particular and national
church hath ^authority to ordain, change, and abolish cere
monies and rites of the church, ordained only by man's
authority, so that all things be done to edifying." The
indifferency of ceremonies is here asserted in the strongest
terms, in accordance with the sentiments of Hooker, whose
arguments are yet unanswered.
Between churchmen and the moderate puritans no differ
ence of opinion existed on fundamental principles. Both
parties concurred in the appointment of bishops, and in the
lawfulness of a prescribed form of prayer : the only dispute
was as to the propriety of some particular ceremonies. The
controversy was chiefly carried on between the church on the
one hand, and the presbyterians on the other. When the
first race of moderate puritans was departed, many of their
descendants concurred with the presbyterians : and in the
reign of Charles I., as will be seen, nearly the whole body
adopted the Scottish platform. The subject will necessarily
fall under notice at a later period : it may, for the present,
be dismissed with the remark, that, however strongly some
» Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 293.
F

66 PAROCHIAL PSALMODY.
particular individuals may have pleaded for the divine right
of episcopacy, the plea originated in the still stronger allega
tions of the presbyterians in favour of their system.
Much curious information is to be gleaned from the writers
of these times relative to the parochial psalmody. Previous
to the reformation, the various chants were adapted to Latin
words : but, when popery was cast out, English words were
used. Various portions of the service were either said or
sung at the discretion of the minister, as is evident from the
old rubrics. Some of the psalms were translated into verse
as early as the reign of Henry VIII. ; but it does not appear
that they were used in the parish churches. The first com
plete metrical version was that of Sternhold and Hopkins.
Marot and Beza translated the psalms into verse for the use
of the foreign churches ; and Sternhold was the first English
man who copied their example. For his own solace, he
translated fifty-one psalms into English verse. During the
reign of Mary, Hopkins, one of the English exiles on the
continent, completed fifty-eight more : twenty-seven were
finished by Thomas Norton after Elizabeth's accession : and
five were added by Whittingham. The protestants in Ed
ward's reign were grateful for the psalms translated by Stem-
hold : and, on the accession of Elizabeth, the remaining
psalms, which had been translated by the exiles, were col
lected together into one volume, and, according to the title-
page, were allowed to be sung in all churches, as well as
private families. It is said that they were used rather by
connivance than by approbation. According to Heylin, no
such allowance could be produced when the matter was
disputed in the high commission.* They were at first sung
in private houses : by degrees they were introduced into
churches before and after morning and evening prayer, and
before and after sermon. Heylin, who cannot conceal his
* Heylin's Presbyterians, p. 214.

PAROCHIAL PSALMODY. 67
dislike to the version of psalms, states, that they soon so far
prevailed as to exclude from the churches the Te Deum, the
Benedictus, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittis. At the
time of their appearance, however, they were received by
the reformers with great affection. The above-named writer
also adds, that the parish clerk was taught to call on the
people " to sing to the praise and glory of God," while no
such exhortation was given at the naming of the lessons or
the daily psalms in the calendar. As compositions, they do
not fall much below the general poetry of that age : though
Fuller censures the performance as so poor in some parts,
that two hammers on a smith's anvil would make better
music. The entire version of the psalms was first published
in 1562 by John Day. The subsequent history of this version
will be related in the account of the proceedings of the West
minster Assembly.

68
CHAPTER VI.
JAMES. — 1603 — 1625.
EXPECTATIONS OF THE PARTIES  MILLENARY PETITION  CONFERENCE AT
HAMPTON COURT  DEATH OP WHITGIFT  CONVOCATIONS  CANONS —
BANCROFT SUCCEEDS WHITGIFT  HIS EFFORTS TO ENFORCE CONFORMITY
 SECOND SEPARATION  BANCROFT'S DEATH AND CHARACTER  ABBOT
SU(;CEEDS  DIFFERENT CLASSES OF PURITANS  LAUD  BOOK OF SPORTS
 TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE — JAMES's DEATH AND CHARACTER.
The controversy between the church and her opponents had
abated in violence during the last years of Elizabeth. As
James had been educated in a presbyterian church, the
puritans of all grades expected much from his accession.
Up to this period they had contrived to conform, satisfying
their consciences by a subscription to the Book of Discipline.
The accession of James raised the expectations both of the
puritans strictly so called, and also of the presbyterians,
who, as related under the late reign, had branched off from
the general body of those who scrupled at full conformity.
The presbyterians expected that the king would declare him
self in favour of their discipline : while the puritans hoped
that the ceremonies would be so modified as to allow of their
conformity without scruple. Neither party was gratified;
for James declared in favour of the church. Episcopacy was
more consonant with the tastes and feelings of the monarch
than the presbyterian model : consequently every thing vpas
permitted to remain in the state in which it was left by the
late queen. James had received so many affronts from the
presbyterian kirk of Scotland, that he could not but rejoice
at being emancipated from its restraints. Moreover, he
viewed the episcopal government as more favourable to
monarchy : and hence his memorable expression, " No bishop
no king."

MILLENARY PETITION. 69
Before the king reached London, the puritans presented
to his majesty the celebrated millenary petition, so called
from the circumstance, as was stated, of its having the
signatures of a thousand ministers attached. Not more than
750 of the clergy, however, actually signed the petition. As
this petition embodied all the grievances of the puritans at
the commencement of this reign, a brief notice of its contents
will enable the reader to determine what their real sentiments
were at the period of James's accession. It must be observed,
that the rigid presbyterians did not subscribe this document.
They state that, " neither as factious men affecting a popular
purity in the church, nor as schismatics ; but, as faithful
subjects of Christ and loyal subjects to your majesty, we
could do no less than acquaint your majesty with our parti
cular griefs. Although divers of us that sue for reformation
subscribe to the book : some upon protestation, some upon
exposition given them, some with condition, rather than the
church should be deprived of their labour : yet now we, to
the number of more than a thousand, groaning as under a
common burden of human rites and ceremonies, do, with
one joint consent, humble ourselves at your majesty's feet,
to be eased and released in this behalf." They then enume
rate the proposed alterations, and request that the " cross in
baptism be taken away ; the cap and surplice not urged ;
that none bow at the name of Jesus; that the canonical
scriptures only be read in the church ; that ministers sub
scribe only according to law, to the articles and to the
supremacy only; and that the oath ' ex officio' be more
sparingly used." Such were the chief grievances enume
rated in this petition : and they shew the views of the puri
tans of this period.
The individuals whose names were attached to this pe
tition were beneficed clergymen in the church ; a circum
stance which proves one of two things, either that the great
body of the puritans had concealed their scruples during the

70 CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON COURT.
preceding reign, or that they had been tolerated by the
authorities of the church in their partial conformity. They
had hitherto conformed so far as to avoid the penalties ; yet,
as their conformity was any thing but general, the fact of
such numbers being at this time in the church, proves the
moderation of the bishops. Those who had suffered depriva
tion were men of a different character from these petitioners ;
they were rigid presbyterians and Brownists. The influence
of the puritans in the church was extensive. In the early
period of Laud's residence in Oxford, he complains that the
face of the university was so changed, that there was little
to be seen of the church of England. The disuse of the
surplice had, indeed, become so common, that the convo
cation of 1603 framed two new canons, for the express
purpose of enjoining its use on all the clergy. The influence
exercised by the puritans was owing to the secret favour of
Leicester and other ambitious nobles, who envied the power
of the bishops.
James, however, deemed it right to pay some attention to
the disputes in agitation. Accordingly the heads of the two
parties met in conference at Hampton Court. The disputants
on both sides were nominated by his majesty, who sat as
moderator. Dr. Reynolds, Professor of Divinity in Oxford,
on the part of the puritans, reduced all their objections to
four heads. First, that the doctrine of the church might be
preserved in purity. Secondly, that good pastors might be
planted in all churches. Thirdly, that the church govern
ment might be sincerely administered. Fourthly, that the
Book of Common Prayer might be fitted to more increase of
piety. The objections under these heads were few, and
similar to those expressed in the millenary petition. As to
episcopal government, or the lawfulness of prescribed forms,
there was no difference of opinion. It is singular that a body
of excellent men should have scrupled conformity in conse
quence of such apparently trivial objections. It is, however.

CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON COURT. 71
to be regretted that James did not seize this opportunity of
reconciling them to the church. A few concessions of minor
importance would at this time have satisfied them ; and
though their scruples may now appear foolish, a little
indulgence might safely have been granted.
Nothing was gained by the conference. To enter into all
the particulars is foreign to our purpose in this work. Some
slight alterations were made in the Book of Common Prayer,
but the offensive ceremonies were retained. The particular
thanksgivings were added at this conference, and the word
" remission" inserted in the absolution. The catechism
from the Lord's prayer, and the rubric in private baptism,
were added soon after.
At this period the puritans were as strenuous advocates
for uniformity as their opponents. Were it possible for the
old puritans to revisit the earth, they would not join with
any party, except the church of England ; for the principles
of modern dissent relative to the power of separate congrega
tions, were regarded by them with abhorrence.
At James's accession some of the scrupulous clergy began
to alter and omit portions of the daily service. After the
termination of the conference a proclamation was issued,
enjoining strict conformity. The liturgy was also reprinted,
with the recent alterations.
Whitgift died shortly after the conference, at the age of
seventy-three, having held the metropolitan dignity since the
year 1583. Though more severe than his predecessor in
exacting conformity, he was still a mild and peaceable man.
He was " a holy, grave, and pious man." " He expired in
David's fulness of days, leaving a name like a sweet perfume
behind him."*- If he was sometimes inclined to severity, he
was provoked by the scurrilous and unchristian language of
his opponents.'" * Wilson's History of James I. in Comp. Hist. vol. ii. p. 665.

72 CONVOCATION CANONS.
The convocation of this year, 1603, prepared and set
forth the book of canons by which the church of England is
still governed. At the dawn of the reformation, when the
power of the pope was transferred to the king, a review of
the canon law was contemplated; and till such review should
be completed, it was ordained by the statute of the 25th
Henry VIII. that the ancient canons should remain in force,
provided they were not repugnant to the common law, nor
the king's prerogative. An attempt at a revision was made
in the reign of Edward, and another in that of Elizabeth,
but nothing was effected. The canons of 1603 having never
been confirmed by parliament, are not binding on the laity,
except so far as they are declaratory of the old. It was
decided by Lord Hardwicke, that the clergy, in consequence
of their subscription, are bound by the canons confirmed by
the king only ; but to render them binding on the laity, they
must be confirmed by the parliament.* As these canons
were not ratified by the two houses, the new ones are not
binding except on those who subscribe them. All the.
ancient canons, on the authority of Henry's statute, are a
part of the law of the land. In examining into the legality
of any one of these canons, the first point is to ascertain
whether it is more ancient than the above statute : the next
point is to discover whether it is repugnant to the law of the
land or the king's prerogative. If it were in use before the
passing of the statute, and be not repugnant to law, it is a
part of the law of the land, and, as such, is binding on every
Englishman. The statute on which the authority of the
canon law rests, was intended only to answer a temporary
purpose, namely, to afford the church a body of laws, until a
review of the whole ecclesiastical constitution should be com
pleted. This review, desirable as it obviously is, has never
been accomplished. Some of the canons are now become
"• Burn's Ecclesiastical Law. Preface.

BANCROFT SUCCEEDS WHITGIFT. 73
obsolete, and others of them are of no force, in consequence
of the act of toleration. The charge of persecution is fre
quently alleged against the church, on account of the canons
alluded to: the answer is obvious — they remain with the
rest, in the same manner as many obsolete laws remain on
the statute-book, unexecuted, though unrepealed. No one
questions the general lenity of the English laws in conse
quence of some obsolete statutes still unrepealed ; nor can
the church be justly charged with severity on the ground of
some of the canons of 1603, which are never enforced.
Soon after Whitgift's decease, Bancroft was translated
from the see of London to that of Canterbury. Each suc
ceeding metropolitan was accustomed to frame rules for his
province. Bancroft resorted to the usual practice ; the clergy
who complied with the new canons were unmolested ; those
who hesitated were admonished ; and those who positively
refused were suspended ; but very few were actually deprived.
Neal states that Bancroft silenced or deprived three hundred,
while Collier reduces the number to forty-nine. The former
probably swells his amount by enumerating all who were
admonished, silenced, and deprived ; while the latter spe
cifies only those who were strenuous in refusing to comply.
At all events, few were actually deprived of their livings.
At this time, according to Neal, there were not less than
fifteen hundred beneficed puritan ministers within the pale
of the church. From an admission of the same author,
though not for the reasons stated by him, it is evident that
the canons were not enforced with any remarkable strictness.
" The bishops were obliged to relax the rigour of the canons
for a time, and to accept promises of partial conformity."*
This is unwilling testimony ; but it proves that the puritans,
who merely scrupled at some of the ceremonies, were treated
with forbearance by Bancroft. The rigid presbyterians had
* Neal, vol. ii. p. 45.

74 SECOND SEPARATION.
retired to the continent, where they erected the presbyterian
discipline. They had long meditated flight to some foreign
land, in order that they might enjoy in exile that liberty
which they could not obtain at home. The Brownists also
left Enoland about the same time for the continent, where
the presbyterians and they were engaged in as fierce a war
fare as that by which they had been agitated in England.
The great mass of the puritans still deemed separation
unlawful.* If they were silenced in one diocess they formed
a ready admission into another. From the various conflict
ing accounts of this period, it is clear that the case of the
puritans, who only partially conformed, was not so severe
as is often represented. While, on the one hand, Neal
and others complain of their hardships ; on the other hand,
the opposite class of writers complain of the remissness of
the bishops in enforcing uniformity. Some of the bishops,
moreover, were inclined to view them with favour; and in
the universities they occupied many of the most important
posts. In 1605, however, some of the puritan ministers in Lin
colnshire published " An Abridgement" of the points at issue
between themselves and the conformable clergy. ,In this
pamphlet the field of controversy is enlarged : the sub
scribers could join with the church in her doctrines and
sacraments, but could not declare their approbation of the
ceremonies. They were more scrupulous than the majority
of their brethren, but not favourers of the presbyterian dis
cipline : hence they were called brethren of the second
separation. Bancroft died in 1610. His zeal for the church caused
the puritans to censure him as a friend to popery, an impu
tation as groundless as it was cruel. His nature seems to
have been somewhat stern. "What Whita;ift chose to do

'»'

* Neal, vol. ii. p. 51.

ABBOT SUCCEEDS BANCROFT. 75
with sweetness and gentleness, Bancroft did persevere in with
rigour and severity."*
Abbot was the next metropolitan ; a man of an amiable
disposition, and opposed to severe measures against the
puritans. The reins of discipline were relaxed during his
administration : he never moved a single step beyond the
line marked out by the law ; nor did he attend to the com
plaints relative to the nonconforming ministers, who became
more open in their opposition through the archbishop's
laxity. The origin of the court of high commission has already
been stated. In the late reign, this court exercised its
authority with unusual moderation : in the reign of James
its authority was abused, to punish those who questioned
the unlimited power claimed by the crown. " About this
time," says Wilson, " the high commission began to swell
into a grievance." All who opposed the claims of the sove
reign were now classed among the puritans, and were treated
as such, though they were as strongly attached to the church
as any of the king's subjects. To this mistaken policy on the
part of the court are to be attributed some of the subsequent
misfortunes: in 1640, many of the parliamentary leaders
were political puritans only, their attachment to the church
being equal to that of the other party. From this period,
therefore, four distinct parties were included in the term
puritan : first, the original or moderate puritans, who only
scrupled at some of the ceremonies : secondly, the rigid pres
byterians, hitherto a comparatively small party, but rendered
stronger dally through the mistaken policy of the court, in
viewing all as enemies whose political sentiments were not
in unison with its own : thirdly, the Brownists, most of
whom, however, were departed from the country : and,
lastly, the political puritans, who opposed the pretensions
* Wilson's James I. in Comp. Hist. vol. ii. p. 665.

76 LAUD.
of the crown as to the prerogative. The last party was by
far the most numerous : and if they and the puritans, pro
perly so called, eventually made common cause, the blame
lies with the court, in treating them as puritans in conse
quence of their political views.
At this time the loftiest notions of the prerogative were
maintained at court. Some of the bishops undoubtedly en
deavoured to foster the notion in the mind of the sovereign :
and, in consequence of their advocacy of those lofty preten
sions, a stigma has been infixed upon the church herself It
is, however, neither just nor candid to attribute to the church
the actions of the court ; nor can the brand of persecution be
fixed on the establishment in consequence of the actions of
individual members. Attempts are not unfrequently made
to lessen the reverence entertained by the people for the
English church, by insinuating that her principles are re
pugnant to liberty, and that, during the reigns of the Stuarts,
she was used as an engine of persecution. Such a charge is
at once disproved by an examination of her written and
recognised formularies.* The terms " pious and judicious"
are constantly applied to the puritans, as if piety and wisdom
were confined to them alone : while the expressions " illibe
ral, persecutors, unchristian," are unsparingly heaped upon
the episcopalians. Surely, the piety of Hooker, of Herbert,
and Bernard Gilpin, was equal to that of the most eminent
of the puritans.
It is necessary now to notice the rise of an individual who
was destined to act a conspicuous part in this, and especially
in the succeeding reign. Laud was a man of an aspiring
genius and splendid talents. It has been his fate to be
exalted into a martyr by his friends, and debased into a
tyrant by his enemies. His pertinacious adherence to those
* However arbitrary may have been the practices of some of the bishops,
the church is free from the charge of intolerance as a church. The spirit of
the English church was at this time far more tolerant than that of Scotland.

LAUD. 77
ceremonies which, after his elevation to the episcopal bench,
he endeavoured to introduce into the church, at a period
when the puritans were become powerful through the lenity
of Abbot, probably hastened the bursting of that storm which,
for so long a period, had darkened the horizon.
Laud was born October 7th, 1573, " a year," says Heylin,
" remarkable for the bustlings of the puritan faction." In
1590 he commenced his university career at Oxford : and, in
1611, was chosen president of St. John's college. At this
time the most important offices in the university were held
by the puritans, who had been appointed through Abbot's
influence. Laud, believing that the king was secretly in his
favour, advocated a strict conformity to the rites of the
church. In 1616 he was raised to the deanery of Gloucester.
It had been the practice, since the reformation, to place the
communion table in the most convenient part of the church :
consequently there was a variety in the practice. In the
chapel royal, however, as well as in some cathedrals, the
table was placed at the east end of the chancel, where the
altar stood in the time of popery. Finding the table at
Gloucester in the middle of the church. Laud obtained the
consent of the chapter for its removal into the chancel. He
acted in opposition to the views of the diocessan, and his
conduct gave great offence to the puritans. He also recom
mended the choristers to bow the head, not only at their
entrance into the choir, but also at their approaches towards
the table. It is said that the bishop. Miles Smith, one of the
translators of the bible, in consequence of these proceedings,
never again entered the cathedral.
In 1621 he was elevated to the see of St. David's. He
now laboured to bring all the churches in his diocess into
one uniform practice, and to model them after the cathedral
at Gloucester^ He commenced also a course of severity
-towards the nonconformists, which raised up against him
a host of enemies. Laud silenced some, and admonished

78 BOOK OF SPORTS  TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.
others. In this see he continued till after the death of
James. One of the most imprudent acts of this reign was the
publication of the Book of Sports. That Laud and his
brethren should have sanctioned the declaration, can only
be accounted for on the ground of their dislike to the puri
tans. Several bishops stated their objections, and Abbot
prohibited the reading of the declaration at Croydon. It
was by no means generally read, except in Lancashire, and
was soon forgotten. It was an unfortunate measure : for it'
prejudiced the king against all who opposed it. He viewed
all as puritans who refused to comply, however sound their
principles. There is another act, however, that deserves to be held
in everlasting remembrance : it was the new translation of
the Bible. Prior to this period several versions were used :
but the most common were the Bishop's Bible, and that
called the Geneva. After Wicliffe's New Testament, the first
edition in English was printed by Tindal, in 1526, on the
continent : in 1535 the entire Bible was printed, with a
dedication to the king, by Miles Coverdale. This was the
first translation of the whole Bible, and the first allowed by
royal authority. Two years after, another edition was pub
lished, varying but little from the former, bearing on the
title-page the fictitious name of Thomas Matthew. It was
printed under the superintendence of John Rogers, the first
protestant martyr in England. In 1539 this translation was
revised by Cranmer, and reprinted by Grafton. These were
almost the only English translations until the reign of Mary,
when the exiles accomplished another at Geneva. Coverdale,
Gilby, Whittingham, Knox, and others, were engaged in this
work at the period of the queen's death, and remained behind
their brethren for the purpose of completing it. Many editions
were published between the year 1560, the date of the first
edition, and the year 1616, the date of the last. The next

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 79
translation was set forth under the auspices of Archbishop
Parker, in 1568 : it was called the " Bishop's Bible," and
" the Great English Bible." This Bible was set up in
churches, and continued in general use until the present
translation : while the Geneva Bible was commonly read in
private families.
Objections were started by the puritans, at the confer
ence at Hampton Court, against the Bishop's Bible. Fifty-
four learned men were therefore commissioned to produce
a new translation. The translators were divided into six
companies. Their instructions were to follow the Bishop's
Bible as closely as the original would permit ; to retain the
old ecclesiastical names — to omit the use of marginal notes,
except for the explanation of Hebrew and Greek words,
that could not be briefly expressed in the text — and to
notice, in the margin, such quotations of places as shall
serve for reference for one place to another.
The various portions of the text were distributed according
to the particular acquirements of the divines engaged in the
work.* Miles Smith, afterwards. bishop of Gloucester, wrote
the preface. The fidelity, beauty, and spirit of this transla
tion have never been questioned ; and, notwithstanding some
few immaterial errors, any attempt at a new translation must
be deprecated as pregnant with evil consequences. The
work was finished, and the Bible printed in 1611. The
version of the psalms still retained in the Book of Common
Prayer, is that of the Bible of Tyndal and Coverdale, which
was retained in the Bishop's Bible. It could not be expected
that the present translation should entirely escape censure ;
but the charge of episcopalian zeal was reserved for modern
times : " Hence," says one writer, " come the terms vestry,
vestments, bishops, and bowing at the name of Jesus."
One little circumstance will prove the ignorance of the
* Selden's Table Talk, p. 19.

80 James's death and character.
writer of the above quotation ; the Geneva Bible retained the
very same words, even bowing at the name of Jesus. This
circumstance could not have been known to the writer
whose words we have quoted, or he would never have
brought such a charge against the authorised translation.
James died in 1626. He was vain of his acquirements,
and especially of his theological knowledge. It is probable
that his vanity induced him to assemble the conference at
Hampton Court, in order that he might display his abilities
before the assembled divines. James was not a persecutor,
nor could the puritans complain much of their grievances
during his reign. One act of severity was sufficient to create
a sensation not easily subdued ; a few acts in* a diocess were
sufficient to originate all the outcries against the bishops of
this period. Though they were harassed by Laud and some
few of the bishops, they were favoured by Abbot and many
of his brethren. The constant complaints of the convoca
tion of the want of conformity are evidences of the general
forbearance of the bishops. At the close of this reign the
puritans were numerous and powerful. " They gained credit
with the people," says Burnet, " as the king and the bishops
lost it. They were," he adds, " active in their parishes, but
factious and insolent."
With regard to the presbyterians, many of them had,
some years before the death of James, departed to the
continent ; others contemplated a removal to New England,
a measure which was at first prohibited by the court, though
at last permission was granted. These men, unlike th^
puritans, were desirous of a total change in the hierarchy.
MV. Orme, the biographer of Baxter, observes, that " many
were not content to stop at Canterbury ; they conceived that
the principles of reformation required them to proceed
further : they wished to divest themselves of every rag and
relic of the mother of abominations. " This passage is con
ceived in the true spirit of intolerant zeal, and dissenting

JAMEs's DEATH AND CHARACTER. 81
flippancy. Wilson, a writer by no means unfavourable to
the puritans, speaking of the circumstance of the presby
terians leaving the country, remarks, " The blame is not to
be laid on the function (i. e. of bishops), for some of the
bishops in these times were holy men, and great lights to
the truth of God."*
The character of James is variously estimated by different
writers. May, the parliamentary historian, an authority
not likely to give a more favourable opinion than truth and
justice required, terms him " A wise and learned prince, of
disposition merciful and gracious, excellently provided in
that religion which he professed, as the world may find by
his extant writings." f
* Wilson's James I. in Const. Hist. vol. ii. p. 695.
t May's Hist. Long Parliament, p. 3.

82

CHAPTER VII.
CHARLES I.— 1625— 1638.
CHARLES SUCCEEDS-:- IMPRUDENT ZEAL OF SOME OF THE CLERGY — LAUD
PROMOTED TO LONDON  DIVISIONS AND DISPUTES CONCERNING THE
CEREMONIES — SYNOD OF DORT — LEIGHTON AND THE STAR CHAMBER —
LAUD CHARGED WITH SUPERSTITION — PRYNNE — ABBOT DIES — LAOD
SUCCEEDS  BOOK OF SPORTS  TABLES  STATE OF THE DIOCESSES —
INCREASE OF PURITANS  KING RESORTS TO A PARLIAMENT  PRYNNE,
BURTON, AND BASTWICK.
James was succeeded by his son Charles. Mrs. Hutchinson
gives the following picture of the close of the late reign :
" The land was then at peace, if that quietness may be called
a peace which was rather like the saline and smooth surface
of the sea, whose dark womb is already impregnated of a
horrid tempest." The calm was indeed as the stillness that
precedes the storm. The lofty notions of James respecting the
prerogative were inherited by Charles.^ Abbot at this time
occupied the metropolitan chair, and Laud filled the see of
Bath and Wells. At the instigation of the latter, instruc
tions were sent to the bishops, to be communicated to the
clergy, who were enjoined to stir up the people to contribute
to the war in which the king was about to engage in behalf
of the king of Denmark. The puritans, without any
apparent reason, were offended at these instructions ; and
as Laud was the adviser of the measure, all their indisnation
was directed against him. All the actions of Charles and
Laud were viewed with suspicion. It is true, that in the
subsequent years their conduct was arbitrary, and contri
buted, in no small degree, towards hastening that ruin in
which the church and the state were involved ; but their
motives were pure. That Laud's zeal was fatal to the king

IMPRUDENT ZEAL OF SOME OF THE CLERGY. 83
is evident from the event ; but to assert that they were men
of unprincipled characters is to utter a falsehood. If, indeed,
their characters had been as black as is represented by their
enemies, their subsequent sufferings might have softened the
enmity with which their memories have been pursued.
It cannot be denied, that the ill-timed zeal of some of
the clergy tended to widen the breach already commenced.
Montague, canon of Windsor, a learned man, broached
notions savouring of popery ; and Sibthorp, vicar of Brack-
ley, a man neither of learning nor merit, justified, in an
assize sermon at Northampton, the unlimited exercise of the
royal prerogative. Others of the clergy travelled in the
same steps : hence the opinions of these men were attributed
to all the episcopal clergy. Abbot refused to license Sibthorp's
sermon for the press, thereby incurring the displeasure of
the court. Manwaring, rector of St. Giles's-in-the- Fields,
maintained and asserted opinions in a sermon, that were
denounced in the House of Commons as subversive of
liberty. The house decreed that he should pay a heavy fine,
and be suspended for three years : yet this man was sub
sequently promoted to the episcopal bench. These ill-judged
measures excited an angry feeling in the breasts of the
people. From this time the episcopal order itself was viewed
with suspicion.
In 1628, Laud was removed to London, in which diocess
he still persisted in enforcing the removal of the communion
tables into the chancel. Wren of Norwich, and Pierce of
Bath and Wells, copied his example. To persist in re
moving the tables, contrary to the wishes of the people,
and in opposition to the received practice, was an act of
needless irritation. It was one of the misfortunes of Laud,
to cling with ill-timed tenacity to some of the less im
portant ceremonies. His error consisted in enforcing with
so much rigour a matter of no importance, in opposi
tion to the views of the majority of the clergy, who were

84 SYNOD OF DORT.
sincerely attached to the hierarchy. It would have been
wiser and safer to have permitted the clergy to exercise their
own discretion : had he merely recommended the practice,
many would have complied. In 1662, no order was issued
relative to the situation of the table ; nor is any particular
place enjoined either by the canons or the rubric. The
rubric merely directs that it be set up in the accustomed
place of the church or chancel. This latitude has ultimately
produced the most complete uniformity.
Hitherto the majority of the clergy had adhered to the
sentiments of Augustin, relative to the divine decrees. At
the synod of Dort, the English divines concurred in the
sentence pronounced against Arminius. Now, however, the
controversy raged in every part of the country. Those in
dividuals who favoured the Arminian opinions were chiefly
promoted by the court to the dignities of the church. The
catholics were not idle spectators of the controversy, expect
ing eventual benefit to their own cause from these divisions
among the English protestants. In an intercepted letter
of a Jesuit to his principal at Brussels, was found the fol
lowing passage : " Now we have planted that sovereign drug
Arminianism, which we hope will purge the protestants from
their heresy. I cannot choose but laugh, to see how some
of our own cast have accoutred themselves : you would
scarce know them if you saw them ; and 'tis admirable how
in speech and in gesture they act the puritans."*
To put an end to the controversy, a declaration was issued
by the king, prohibiting the introduction of the disputed
points into the pulpit. The afternoon lectures were also
turned into catechisings. The lecturers were ordered to
conduct divine service in the surplice and hood ; and not to
preach in cloaks, but gowns ; and each bishop was required
to give an account of his diocess once a year to the king.
* Comp. Hist. vol. iii. p. 5i.

LEIGHTON AND THE STAR CHAMBER. 85
These instructions were drawn up by Laud, and undoubtedly
were aimed at the puritans, of whom many had remained
in the church as lecturers. These lecturers only exercised
the office of preaching ; they had no cure of souls : now,
however, a cure of souls was necessary to the exercise of
the ministerial office. Some of the puritans in the diocesses
of those bishops who were favourable to the instructions
were not a little harassed, sometimes for preaching on the
disputed points, at other times for omitting the ceremonies.
The case that excited most observation was that of
Leighton, father of the archbishop. As a Scotchman, he
was a violent presbyterian. He had written a work — " Zion
Plea against Prelacy," in which the bishops are styled " men
of blood," their " prelacy antichristian and satanical," and
kneeling at the sacrament, a " spawn of the beast." The
author recommends smiting the bishops under the fifth rib.
The style of the book proves its author to have been a man
of unbounded violence ; and if his sentence was severe, his
offence was not trivial. He was sentenced to lose his ears,
to pay a fine of one thousand pounds, and to be imprisoned
for life. This sentence, harsh as it was, was carried into
effect as to the former part, and the latter was prevented
only by the long parliament in 1640. The odium fell
chiefly on Laud, who sat in the star chamber with the other
judges. In the consecration of the church of St. Catherine Creed,
in London, Laud had introduced certain ceremonies offensive
to the people. The charge of popery was repeated ; and,
some years after, these things were exhibited against him at
his trial. At the same time the cathedral of St. Paul's was
undergoing a repair; and, to complete the work, it was
necessaiy to remove some of the surrounding houses.
Though a fair compensation was awarded to the owners,
the action was considered as an additional proof of Laud's
arbitrary intentions.

86 DEATH OF ABBOT — LAUD SUCCEEDS HIM.
Sherfield, recorder of Salisbury, and a bencher of Lincoln's
Inn, was prosecuted in the star chamber for removing or
defacing a window in the church of St. Edmund's, in New
Sarum. The painting was a representation of the creation.
To express God the Father, several little old men were
painted in blue coats, and at the end of each day's work
was placed one of these little old men : at the end of the
seventh day's work, the old man was painted in a sitting
posture, to represent God's rest. Sherfield argued, that
it was lawful for the vestry to remove these paintings, having
been overlooked by the visitors in the days of Elizabeth.
Sherfield, however, was fined 500Z. and removed from his
office. In 1632, Prynne was brought before the same court, to
answer for publishing a book, called Histrio- Mastic, in
which he denounces the appearance of women on the stage.
One of the references in the index is, " Women actors
notorious whores." It appears that the queen had acted
a part in a pastoral not long before. As Prynne was
obnoxious to the court, this and other passages were selected
as the ground of a charge of libel on the queen. He was
sentenced to lose his ears, and to be imprisoned for life.
These severities were attributed to Laud, and served to
render his name detestable in the estimation of the people.
Had Prynne's book been suffered to remain unnoticed, both
it and the writer would have been forgotten : the prosecution
caused the people to read the book, while the author was
elevated into the rank of a martyr.
Abbot died in 1633, and Laud was appointed to succeed
him. Abbot was a peaceable and moderate man, but remiss
in enforcing the discipline of the church. By his remissness^
the puritans were encouraged in their nonconformity. At
the period of Abbot's decease, the clergy, except in those
diocesses where bishops were vigilant in enforcing order,
acted nearly as they pleased. As soon as Laud was seated

BOOK OF SPORTS. 87
in the chair of Canterbury, he began to correct the abuses
that had sprung up under his predecessor. His zeal, how
ever, outstripped his prudence. The clergy had been so
long accustomed to follow their own inclinations in con
ducting public worship, that their irregularities were viewed
as privileges. When the archbishop began to enforce
throughout his province that strict discipline which hitherto
he had only been able to practise in a single diocess, the
clergy and the people naturally contrasted his proceedings
with those of his predecessor. The plans, originated at
St. David's, and matured at Bath and Wells and in the
see of London, were now brought into operation throughout
the whole province of Canterbury.
During the Lord Chief Justice Richardson's progress
through the western counties, many complaints were made
by the magistrates and grand juries, of the breach of the
sabbath by the common people at the wakes and church-
ales. His lordship issued an order for their suppression,
which was read by the clergy in the churches. Laud, who
disliked the interference of the civil power in such cases,
complained to the king, and wrote to the Bishop of Bath
and Wells, to ascertain how the country feasts were observed.
The lord chief justice was reproved at the council-table,
and King James's Book of Sports was revived and published
by royal authority. This measure excited more prejudice
against the king and the archbishop than almost any other
action of the period : indeed, every act of the court seemed
calculated to hasten on that ruin which eventually followed.
The declaration was to be published in all parish churches
hy some persons appointed by the bishops, who, in most
cases, imposed the task on the clergy. Some read it as the
order of their superiors, adding the fourth commandment
as an antidote ; others refused to read it at all. Nor was
this refusal confined to the puritans ; for many of the con
formable clergy were determined to resist. Fuller says, that

88 TABLES  THE STATE OF THE DIOCESSES.
the archbishop's moderation " was conspicuous, and that he
silenced only those individuals in whom was a concurrence
of nonconformities." In other diocesses, many were sus
pended for refusing to read the declaration.
The ferment relative to the communion tables was un-
allayed. Laud ordered them to be removed into the chan
cel, to be enclosed with rails, and the people to approach
to receive the elements. This practice, though now uni
versal, was then viewed as a grievance. The cry of super
stition, innovation, and popery, resounded throughout the
country. On his removal to Canterbury, Laud repaired some
of the windows in the chapel at Lambeth, which had been
defaced at the reformation. For these and similar acts he
was charged with a design of reconciling the church of
England to that of Rome.
According to the instructions issued by royal authority,
the bishops were required to present to the king an annual
account of the state of their diocesses. In the archbishop's
report for 1633, he intimates that he had heard of many
things amiss ; but that he had not yet been long enough in
the diocess to correct them. In the diocess of London there
were no complaints of nonconformity, nor were there more
than two charges from the other diocesses. In 1634, a few
avowed separatists are mentioned as dwelling near Canter
bury. Salisbury is noticed as overgrown with the humours
of those men who do not conform. A few cases of irregu
larity occurred in the diocess of Lincoln ; in London, one was
suspended ; in Llandaff, there was no inconformity, but much
superstition and profaneness. In 1635, Laud complains of
refractory ^jersons about Maidstone : some were admonished
by the bishop of London for breaches of discipline, who
promised compliance for the future : one clergyman was sus
pended in that diocess, for persisting in preachino- against
bowing at the name of Jesus. In the diocess of Lincoln,
the most extensive in the province, one case of noncon-

INCREASE OF PURITANS. 89
formity only was reported ; while there were no complaints
from Bath and Wells, Oxon, Sarum, Ely, Chichester,
iSt. Asaph, Bristol, Winton, Peterborough, Rochester, and
Exeter. In 1636, the archbishop mentions a few poor per
sons, who were Brownists and separatists: in the diocess of
London, a few cases of censure and admonition occurred : in
that of Norwich, the bishop states that there are 1500 clergy,
and that not thirty are excommunicated or suspended ; of
whom some were punished for contumacy, some for refus
ing to publish the declaration, and others for contemning
the rites and orders of the church. The report for the year
1637 is nearly in the same strain ; while in 1638, nothing
particular is mentioned. In 1639, Laud complains, that
some who had been brought into good order had of late,
through the disorders of the times, fallen off. This was the
last report delivered to his majesty.
Notwithstanding all Laud's efforts, the puritans in
creased. It is certain that the proceedings of Laud tended
to foster the prejudices of the people. Like the Israelites,
the puritans increased in proportion to their oppressions. It
is clear from the preceding statements, drawn from the
accounts of the different diocesses, that Laud had succeeded,
in appearance at least, in correcting some of the irregularities
that had sprung up under Abbot : but the peace was a de
ceitful one — it was only the calm before the storm, a sure
presage of violence. The rumbling of the tempest was heard
in the. distance for some years, and foreboded ruin to the
church. Had the primate been warned by the sound, the
danger might have been averted : the warning was un
heeded, and the church was sacrificed.
Charles fell into the same error as his father respecting
the puritans, deeming all to be enemies, whether scrupulous
about conformity or otherwise, who did not coincide with the
views of the court. A moderate course would have secured
the attachment of many, who, from being treated by the

90 PRYNNE, BURTON, AND BASTWICK.
court as puritans, were, of necessity, compelled to unite with
that body. The puritans never increased so rapidly as during
the first fifteen years of this reign : the cause must be sought
in the measures of the court, in branding as puritans all
whose political views were opposed to the unlimited exercise
of the prerogative. Had Juxon been advanced to the primacy
after Abbot, the war might never have occurred.
For twelve years the king governed by the exercise of
the prerogative alone, and without a parliament. It became
evident, however, in the years 1 638 and 1639, that a parlia
ment must, ere long, be assembled. From an English par
liament Laud could expect but little mercy : his pertinacity
in pressing the Book of Sports had alienated the affections
of many, who were by no means disaffected to the church.
Even Heylin admits that this was the greatest stain on his
character. It ought, at the same time, to be stated, that his
conduct regarding the Book of Sports has, as in other cases,
been exaggerated. From the preceding accounts it will be
seen that few of the clergy were actually suspended for
refusing to read it. In some diocesses the bishops were as
much opposed to the reading of the declaration as the clergy:
in these diocesses, therefore, none were suspended. Yet this,
and the other acts mentioned in the preceding pages, were
remembered to the prejudice of the archbishop after his fall.
In the year 1637, the severe sentences of the star chamber
were pronounced on Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick. The
first had, in 1633, been sentenced to perpetual imprisonment:
the others had been heavily fined, Bastwick for some reflec
tions on the bishops, and Burton for preaching against the
innovations. These men had continued in prison since their
former sentence, where they employed their time in writing.
Bastwick was charged with writing a pamphlet, entitled
" A New Litany:" Prynne with publishing a book, entitled
" God's Judgments against Sabbath-breakers :" and Burton
with another, called " News from Ipswich." In the work of

PRYNNE, BURTON, AND BASTWICK. 91
Burton, the bishops are styled " false prophets, factors for
antichrist, the trains of the dragon's dog-like flattering tail,"
In Bastwick's indictment it was stated that, in his " Litany,"
" he had signified, in the name of his wife, who was great
with child, his desire that Father William's Holiness, and
William London, should be godfathers to his child, not
doubting that he should be able to procure the whore of
Babylon, with whom he had so long committed fornication,
to be godmother." One sentence in the same Iftany is as
follows : " From bishops, priests, and deacons, good Lord,
deliver us."
Bastwick's answer at the trial was full of invectives
against the bishops : Prynne's was couched in more cautious
and moderate terms. Their sentence was a heavy fine, the
loss of their ears, and perpetual imprisonment in remote parts
of the country. All men exclaimed against the severity of
this sentence : the compassion of the people was moved by
their sufferings : and the primate's name was loaded with
execrations. Not only was Laud charged with persecution in punishing
these men; but the charge was also brought against the
church. The church, however, had no concern in the severe
sentences, though some of her members may have been im
plicated. All these things excited the disaffection of the
people : and, when the storm burst, Laud was swept away
by its violence.

92

CHAPTER VIII.
1540—1638.
REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS IN SCOTLAND — REFORMATION —
KNOX — HE RETIRES TO GENEVA — STRUGGLES OF THE REFORMERS —
THEY TRIUMPH  VIOLENCE  CHURCH GOVERNMENT  FIRST GENERAL
ASSEMBLY  EPISCOPACY AND PRESBYTERY  PRESBYTERY FULLY ESTA
BLISHED 1592 — BISHOPS RESTORED — VISIT OF JAMES, 1617  ARTICLES
OF PERTH  LAUD AND CHARLES VISIT SCOTLAND.
As the ecclesiastical proceedings of the government in Scot
land exercised so material an influence on the affairs of this
country, a brief history of the Scottish kirk, from the reform
ation to the present time, will reflect considerable light on
the subjects discussed in this work.
Knox was the father of the Scottish reformation. The
popery that had established itself in Scotland was of the
worst description. The writings of the continental reformers
at length found an entrance into Scotland ; and, about the
year 1540, Knox became a convert to the doctrines of the
reformation. In 1547 he began to preach boldly against the
corruptions of the Romish church : his hands were strength
ened by the establishment of the reformation in England,
and by the accession of several of the nobles to his cause.
No attempt was yet made to overturn the ancient system :
and it is no small proof of the authority, as well as pene
tration, of the heads of the party, that they were able to
retain the zeal of a fiery and impetuous people, till that
critical and mature juncture, when every step they took was
decisive and successful."* * Robertson's Scotland, vol. i. p. 131.

REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS IN SCOTLAND. 93
In 1554, owing to the violent persecutions to which the
reformers were exposed, Knox retired to Geneva, from which
place he addressed his exhortations to his countrymen.
During his exile, the reformation silently gained ground,
and the cruelties exercised on the people by the Archbishop
of St. Andrews stirred up the protestant lords to enter into
an agreement for their mutual defence. In 1557, several of
the nobility and others met at Edinburgh, when they entered
into a solemn bond to use all their efforts to maintain the
word of God and his congregation. This bond was signed
by several peers, who were thence denominated " lords of
the congregation," and the people who subscribed were called
" the congregation." The queen regent was violently opposed
to such proceedings, and, in 1559, summoned all the pro
testant preachers to appear before a court of justice. Knox
hastened from Geneva, and joined his brethren at Perth,
where he ascended the pulpit, and, by a powerful sermon,
stirred up the popular fury to such a pitch that it was diffi
cult to restrain it. At the close of the sermon, a priest was
preparing to celebrate mass. This act operated on the already
excited multitude as the application of the torch to the train :
an indiscriminate attack was commenced on the churches,
monasteries, altars, and images — Edinburgh was taken and
occupied by the people, by which circumstance the reformers
were enabled to dictate their own terms to the queen. Eliza
beth also assisted them with troops : and the reformers gained
a complete triumph.
It is to be regretted that the people proceeded to acts of
violence. All the churches and monasteries in the route of
the reformers' army were defaced ; the lead, bells, glass,
and timber, in many places exposed to sale ; registers and
libraries were destroyed ; and even the sepulchres of the
dead violated. The multitude spared nothing that had the
appearance of what they termed a superstitious monument.
Many of the preachers proclaimed that places in which idols

94 REFORMATION ESTABLISHED IN SCOTLAND.
had been worshipped should be destroyed, and that the
sparing of them was offensive to the Deity. Next year the
storm burst forth afresh, and its effects were experienced
throughout the country in the general devastation committed
on ecclesiastical buildings, libraries, and monuments.
The year 1560 is the date of the establishment of the
reformation in Scotland. Knox and his brethren presented
to the parliament a confession of faith, which was confirmed :
and, in the space of a few days, the papal hierarchy was
overturned. The popular indignation against the bishops
was unbounded : the very function was viewed as a symbol
of popery. As Knox had resided on the continent, and had
associated with Calvin, he naturally inclined to the Geneva
platform : accordingly, the first book of discipline was esta
blished, by which presbyteries were elected, and the govern
ment of the church intrusted to a general assembly. In
England, much of the ancient fabric was preserved : but in
Scotland, as in Geneva, the reformation sprang up amid
tumults and confusions : hence many things were rejected,
which, under other circumstances, would have been retained.
Some of the Scots nobles, moreover, coveted eagerly the
lands of the church ; and, by abolishing the order of bishops,
they hoped to obtain possession of their wealth. Still, the
popish bishops retained their revenues and their dignities, but
their spiritual character was lost. Knox, however, did not
depart entirely from the spirit of episcopacy ; for, instead of
bishops, twelve superintendents were appointed to inspect
the lives and doctrines of the clergy, as well as to exercise
some other parts of the episcopal office. No provision had
yet been made for the clergy : it was agreed that the present
incumbents, whether catholic or protestant, should retain
possession of their benefices ; that two- thirds of their revenues
should be reserved for their own use ; and that the remainder
should be annexed to the crown, as a fund from which the
protestant clergy should be maintained.

EPISCOPACY AND PRESBYTERY. 95
The next general assembly met in 1560. In this as
sembly the bishop of Galloway was not admitted as a
superintendent, until they were convinced that he had been
elected by the people. In 1567, the acts of 1560 were con
firmed. The bishops still continued to sit in parliament,
not as spiritual persons but as temporal barons. There was
a body of bishops without any spiritual jurisdiction, while
the church was governed by a general assembly. In 1572
a material change was effected. Some of the sees had
become vacant, and the nobles, to secure the property an
nexed, succeeded in preserving the name and the order of
bishops. Clergymen were appointed with the name and
title of bishop, on consideration of receiving only a portion
of the revenues. Douglas, rector of the university, was
appointed to the archbishopric of St. Andrew's, while
Morton seized upon the property. But even these pro
testant bishops were subjected to the control of the assembly.
The bishops sat in parliament, but had no more spiritual
authority than presbyters. Thus episcopacy and presbytery
existed in Scotland at the same time ; the latter for the
government of the church, the former for the purpose of
preserving the ecclesiastical revenues.
Notwithstanding the foregoing act in favour of the
episcopal order, the very name of bishops was offensive td
numbers. In 1578, it was decreed by the assembly that
all bishops should submit to their authority on pain of
excommunication. Two years after the function was de
clared to be an unwarrantable usurpation on the freedom
of the church : the bishops were ordered to be summoned
before provincial synods, and prohibited from exercising
even the ministerial office without permission of the as
sembly. The king felt the restraint of the assembly, and
was determined to cast it off. Having summoned a parlia
ment in 1684, it was ordained that the assembly of the
church should not be held without the king's permission.

96 PRESBYTERY ESTABLISHED.
On the following Sunday the magistrates of Edinburgh
were commanded to close the pulpits to the ministers, lest
they should irritate the people against the obnoxious act.
Many of the clergy retired to a distance, not feeling them
selves secure in the capital. Next year the most moderate
of the clergy admitted that the name of bishop has a special
charge annexed to it, and that the prelates were entitled
to act as moderators in the presbyteries vnthin their own
diocesses. The assembly denied that bishops were more
than simple pastors, but permitted the office to remain
subject to the jurisdiction of the assembly. In 1592 pres
bytery was established by act of parliament, and all other
acts in opposition to the same were repealed. At this time,
therefore, episcopacy was abolished by law, and presbytery
legally established. It was at this time that James pro
nounced his celebrated speech in favour of the presbyterian
church. Taking off his hat, he rose and " praised God
that he was born to be king of the purest kirk in the world.
As for our neighbour kirk of England, they want nothing
of the mass but the liftings." The prelates were now
deprived of their votes in parliament. Hitherto presbytery
had not been sanctioned by parliament, nor could the clergy
at any previous period obtain its complete establishment.
For the space of thirty years .there had been a constant
struggle between episcopacy and presbytery. The acts of
this year were confirmed in 1594 ; but they were reluctantly
yielded by James, who heartily detested the presbyterian
system. Having given a reluctant consent to the preceding mea
sures, it was natural that James should seize the first oppor
tunity of restoring the church to the state in which it stood
prior to the year 1592. The poverty of the clergy opened
a door to the king for restoring what was lost. By pro
mising a better maintenance to the ministers, he prevailed
on the assembly and the parliament to consent that his

BISHOPS RESTORED. 97
majesty should have power to invest with the office and
dignity of bishop, and that such bishops should sit in parlia
ment as the representatives of the clergy. As spiritual
persons they were subject to the general assembly ; but their
seat in parliament depended on the king, who could confer
the dignity on any protestant minister. In this state the
affairs of the church remained for some years ; but the
bishops were distinguished from the rest of the clergy by
nothing except their seat in parliament. The power of the
keys was vested in the assembly, and each bishop was com
pelled to exercise the office of a pastor in a particular con
gregation. In 1606, James procured the repeal of the Act
of Annexation, by which the bishops were restored to their
temporalities, and were denominated lords of parliament.
In 1610, the general assembly declared the bishops mode
rators in the meetings of the kirk ; they also voted that all
ministers should promise obedience to the bishops as ordi
naries. This was a considerable advance towards the settle
ment of episcopacy. Three of the ministers, who sat as
bishops in the Scottish parliament, were consecrated in
London by the English bishops according to the service of
the English church : on their return they consecrated their
brethren. Thus, from 1560 until 1578, the government of
the Scottish church was a ipixture of episcopacy and pres
bytery : from the latter period till 1598 presbytery existed
alone. From this time moderate episcopacy prevailed until
the period of the troubles.
The Scottish bishops were not to be compared either in
wealth or importance to their brethren in England. They
had a very small ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; their sees were
moderately endowed ; and their dress was a plain black
gown. In this state did every thing remain till James's
journey to Scotland in 1617. The clergy, in the mean. time,
were dissatisfied ; the restoration of episcopacy was termed
a rebuilding of the walls of Jericho ; and the pre-eminence
H

98 ARTICLES OF PERTH.
of the bishops, the precedence of Dagon. The worship of
the church was also presbyterian in its aspect ; neither
canons nor liturgy had yet been attempted. The real object
of the royal visit in 1617 was to effect some still further
changes in the church. On his arrival at the capital, the
services at the royal chapel were conducted according to
the English ritual, and with the obnoxious surplice. But
the grand attempt at assimilating the Scottish worship to
that of the English church was reserved for the follovring
year. In the assembly held at Perth, the celebrated five
articles, since known by the appellation of the " Articles
of Perth," were proposed and carried. They were, 1. Kneel
ing at the sacrament ; 2. Private communion ; 3. Private
baptism ; 4. Confirmation by the bishop ; 5. The observation
of a few of the chief festivals.
Unimportant as these articles may appear in the present
day, they were viewed with horror by the Scots, who could
discover in them nothing but popery. Though the ministers
were enjoined to practice the new ceremonies, conformity
was very rare. In 1621 these articles were also ratified by
authority of parliament. Some of the clergy felt the weight
of episcopal authority, being suspended from their office.
Nothing further was attempted during the reign of James.
Charles was no less zealous than his father for the establish
ment of episcopacy in Scotland. Laud was ordered to cor
respond with the Scottish bishops on the subject of a book of
canons and a liturgy, two measures contemplated by James,
though never carried into effect. In 1633 the king visited
his Scottish dominions. Laud accompanying him : at which
period " the advancement of the great work of uniformity
went forward, like the building of Solomon's Temple, without
the noise of axe or hammer."* In the chapel at Holyrood
the cathedral service had been used for some time: during
* Heylin's Laud, p. 251.

LAUD AND CHARLES VISIT SCOTLAND. 99
this visit Laud preached in the royal chapel. Charles and
the primate disliked the naked simplicity of the Scottish
worship, without ceremonies or a liturgy ; but the attempt
to introduce them at this time was deemed by the Scottish
bishops too hazardous an experiment. They recommended
that the English service book should not be imposed, lest
the nation should be offended, but that a new book should
be framed. The bishops were accordingly commissioned to
frame a liturgy for the Scottish church.
During the king's visit he erected a new episcopal see at
Edinburgh, a measure very distasteful to the people, who
thought that they already had too many bishops.* The
prelates, however, even now had but little influence with the
people; they could not regulate their own cathedrals, nor
could they often venture to assume the episcopal habits. To
increase their power several of their body were made privy
councillors, a proceeding that rendered the order still more
obnoxious to the country.
Soon after the king's return, instructions, at the instiga
tion of Laud, were sent to Scotland, regulating the worship
of the chapel royal. It was enjoined that prayers should
be read twice a-day, according to the English liturgy, until
another should be provided; that the sacrament should be
received kneeling ; and that the dean should attend divine
service in the surplice.f
From this period the ecclesiastical proceedings of the two
nations were so closely connected, that it will be unnecessary
to notice those of Scotland separately. The preceding sketch
will furnish the reader with a knowledge of all the leading
facts in the history of the Scottish church, from the reformar
tion till the year 1638.
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 67. f Rushworth, vol. ii. p. 169.

100

CHAPTER IX.
1638 — 1640.
LAUD HATED BY SCOTS — CANONS FOR SCOTLAND — LITURGY — TUMULTS AT
THE READING OF LITURGY  PROTEST OF SCOTS — TABLES  ENTER INTO
A COVENANT — CANONS AND LITURGY REVOKED — ASSEMBLY — DIS
SOLVED, I'ET CONTINUES ITS SITTINGS — EPISCOPACY ABOLISHED —
CHARLES RESOLVES TO REDUCE THE SCOTS — MARCHES NORTHWARDS —
A PACIFICATION BETWEEN THE TWO ARMIES.
The proceedings in Scotland had, if possible, rendered the
name of the primate more odious there than in England.
To him the Scots attributed the canons and the liturgy. Two
years elapsed before the canons were finished, or at all events
before any attempt was made to impose them on the clergy.
" What had passed at the king's being there had left bitter
inclinations and unruly spirits in many of the popular no
bility ; who watched only for an opportunity to inflame the
people."* Hence two years elapsed before any thing was
prepared to be submitted to the king; and then they in
verted the proper method, and first presented a body of
canons to precede the liturgy, which was not yet ready, they
choosing to finish the shorter work first." f The aljsurdity
of publishing the canons before the liturgy, the latter being
sanctioned by the former, was disregarded by the Scottish
bishops. When' the book was sent to the king. Laud, Juxon,
and Wren were ordered to review it, in order to render it as
much as possible like the English canons. As soon as the
task was completed, the book was sent into Scotland. The
canons were never submitted to the assembly, which Cla
rendon calls a " a fatal inadvertency." The noble historian
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 84. f Ibid, p, 85.

LITURGY. 101
seems to lay the blame on the Scots bishops, who were
instructed by Laud to do nothing contrary to law. " It
was," says he, " the unhappy craft of these bishops to get it
believed by the king that the work would be grateful to the
nobility, clergy, and people." * Some of them enjoined a
compliance with the liturgy, which was not published till
more than a year after the canons.
After the publication of this book the Scots bishops were
busied in the preparation of the liturgy. It was at length
completed, and forwarded to his majesty, who submitted it
to Laud and Wren for revision : after some few alterations it
was ratified by the king. In the Scots book the psalms
were those of the last translation. In most respects it re
sembled the English liturgy. It was sent into Scotland with
a royal proclamation, dated December 12, 1636, enjoining
its use in all churches. It was ordered to be read for the
first time on Easter Sunday, 1637, by which day every
parish was to provide two copies for the use of the churches.
"There was the same affected and premeditated omission as
had been in the preparation and publication of the canons :
the clergy not at all consulted, and, which was more strange,
not all the bishops acquainted with it ; which was less cen
sured afterwards, when some of them renounced their func
tion, and became ordinary presbyters, as soon as they saw
the current of the time."t Charles acted with less prudence
than James, who submitted the five articles to the assembly,
and got them ratified. The bishops imagined that the clergy
could not be trusted ; and therefore the king imposed the
liturgy by royal edict.
The council of Scotland recommended that the imposition
of the book should be delayed beyond Easter, in order that
the people might be better prepared to receive it. Accord
ingly, the 23d of the following July was fixed instead of
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 84. -j- Ibid. pp. 86, 87.

102 TUMULTS AT THE READING OF LITURGY.
Easter-day. On that day the members of the council assem
bled in the cathedral, in the presence of a very numerous
auditory. On the previous Sunday due notice had been
given ; but the people gave no indication of that feeling
which burst forth on this memorable day. " No sooner had
the dean opened the book, but there were among the meaner
sort (especially the women) clapping of hands and hideous
execrations and outcries."* When the dean appeared first in
the desk, arrayed in the surplice, no movement was discovered
among the people ; but before he proceeded very far an old
woman, Janet Geddes, started up, and vociferating, " Villain,
dost thou say mass at my lug ?" threw the stool on which she
had been seated at the dean's head. Her example was fol
lowed by others, till the tumult became general : the desk
was attacked by these amazons, and the dean was compelled
to desist. The future war was ushered in by this old woman,
whose memorable act is still preserved in the proverb, —
" That when a woman scolding mad is,
We call her daft as Jenny Geddes."
«
An attempt was made by the Bishop of Edinburgh to
appease the multitude, but in vain. The magistrates then
interfered, and having succeeded in removing the war outside
the church by forcing out the authors of the tumult, the dean
proceeded with the liturgy. The war, however, was carried
on outside, the rabble breaking the windows, and exclaiming,
" A Pope, a Pope, Antichrist, stave him." " Such a tumult,"
says Baillie, " was never heard of since the reformation."
At the end of the service the bishop and council departed at
the hazard of their lives. In the afternoon the service was
performed in quiet, the magistrates having adopted measures
to prevent the outrage of the morning.
None but the veriest rabble appeared to take part in the
* Rushworth, vol. ii. p. 299.

PROTEST OF SCOTS. 103
affray; but it is clear that they were instigated by others.
Laud's name was held in abhorrence in Scotland ; the suffer
ings of Prynne and his companions were the constant theme
of conversation ; and from these and other causes the multi
tude were wound up to the highest pitch of excitement. On
the petition of the people, the further reading of the liturgy
was suspended by the council, until an answer should be
received from his majesty. When the particulars of the
uproar were known in London, Laud censured the council
for suspending the use of the liturgy. The ministers now
stated their objections to the book. For a time all remained
quiet, the people being occupied in the country in gathering
in the harvest ; but as soon as the harvest was terminated,
the people flocked to Edinburgh in vast numbers. Pro
clamations were issued against tumultuous assemblages :
while, on the other hand, petitions against the liturgy were
presented by the people. IH February, 1637-8, the king
issued a proclamation against the late tumults. This pro
clamation gave rise to a protest signed by many barons,
ministers, and burghers ; in which they express their decided
disapprobation of the service book, declaring that its imposi
tion, without the concurrence of the general assembly and
parliament, was unlawful.
Being apprehensive of further commotions, the council
permitted the protestors to nominate some of their number
as their representatives. Hence originated the celebrated
tables : celebrated, inasmuch as from them emanated the
still more celebrated covenant. These tables were four in
number: one of the nobility, — another of the gentry, — a
third of the boroughs,-— and a fourth of the ministers. There
was also a general table, consisting of commissioners deputed
by the four. Almost their first act was the framing of a
covenant, so called from one part of it, by which the parties
were banded together in defence of the principles of the
reformation. A similar declaration was signed iu 1580 by

104 CANONS AND LITURGY REVOKED.
the king and his family, and again in 1590. It consisted at
this time of three parts : the first contained the old covenant
of 1580 ; the second enumerated all the acts of parliament
since that year in defence of the reformation ; the third was
an application of the old covenant to their present state.
The Marquess Hamilton was sent by the king to prevail
upon the people to renounce the covenant. The marquess
promised that nothing should be attempted with the new
liturgy except by lawful means : with this promise the
covenanters were dissatisfied. Nothing short of a revocation
of the canons aud liturgy would satisfy them. The marquess,
finding that he had undertaken a difficult task, repaired to
London. He returned with new instructions; but, as the
book was not recalled, these were as unsatisfactory as the
former. The demands of the Scots also had increased : they
now called for a general assembly and a free parliament ; the
entire abolition of episcopacy ; the repeal of the articles of
Perth; and the universal imposition of the covenant. The
marquess requested twenty days to allow him to procure new
instructions. It was agreed that, in the event of his not
returning by the appointed day, the sects should be at liberty
to convoke the assembly. The marquess, however, returned
with a commission to set aside the canons, the liturgy, and
the articles of Perth ; to abolish the high commission ; and
to call a general assembly and a free parliament. Episcopacy
was, however, at any hazard, to be retained.
The assembly met on the 21st November, 16-38, the
marquess sitting as commissioner from the crown. After
seven days of fierce debate against episcopacy, the com
missioner dissolved the assembly. A protest was imme
diately issued, in which it was urged that the king cannot
legally dissolve the assemblies of the church. The assembly,
therefore, continued its session ; all the acts passed in six
preceding assemblies were declared null ; episcopacy was
abolished ; the canons, liturgy, and articles of Perth, con-

CHARLES RESOLVES TO REDUCE THE SCOTS. 105
demned ; and presbytery restored to its former footing. The
bishops were deposed ; some were excommunicated ; and two
only were permitted to exercise the office of presbyters. The
clergy added fuel to the fire, by denouncing the bishops as
enemies to religion. Troops were immediately levied ; and
the pulpit was used by the ministers to instigate the people
to war. Some of the clergy affirmed, that divine wrath
would not be appeased until the twice seven prelates were
hanged up before the Lord, as the seven sons of Saul in
Gilgal : and one minister, in his sermon, gave utterance
to the pious wish, that the king and all the bishops were at
sea in a bottomless boat.*
Charles was not prepared to yield to their demands ; but
was resolved to reduce them to obedience by force. The
Scots were not idle ; and, viewing the war as a religious
contest, the people engaged in it with eagerness. In the
following spring the king marched northwards. Early in
the summer, the two armies met at Berwick, gazed at each
other, and a pacification was effected in June 1639. By the
terms of the treaty, both armies were to be disbanded. " The
king justly performed the articles ; but the Scots kept part
of their forces in a body, and all their officers in pay."-f-
When Traquair, the royal commissioner, arrived in Edin
burgh during the summer, he discovered that the conditions
of the treaty had not been observed. In August the assembly
met. As the last assembly was of dubious authority, in
consequence of sitting after the dissolution, all their acts
were confirmed in the present. Before the assembly sepa
rated, they received the abjuration of one of the Scottish
bishops, who expressed his sorrow for having embraced
episcopacy, believing it to be unwarranted by the word of
God. The parliament also met on the day appointed. They
* Rushworth, vol. ii. p. 582. f Whitelock, p. 29.

106 A PARLIAMENT.
were preparing to confirm the acts of the assembly, when
they were prorogued by Traquair till the 2d of June, 1640.
Such was the posture of affairs in Scotland at the period at
which we have arrived in our narrative.

CHAPTER X.
1640.
A PARLIAMENT — GRIEVANCES — PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED — CONVOCATION —
NEW CANONS — OUTCRIES — KING ASSEMBLES ANOTHER ARMY — IT IS
DEFEATED BY THE SCOTS  A TRUCE  PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLES, NOVEM
BER 3d  GRIEVANCES  CHARACTER AND VIEWS OF THE MEMBERS OF
THIS PARLIAMENT — VIEWS OF THE CLERGY  HOSTILITY TO LAUD.
The year 1640 was pregnant with evils for the English
church. In December 1639, writs were issued for the
assembling of a parliament in the following April. For
twelve years had Charles governed by the exercise of the
prerogative. At length, after various unsuccessful attempts
to procure money for the exigencies of the state, the king
found it necessary to call a parliament. They met in April
1640. This assembly was composed of men friendly to
the church, but determined to obtain a redress of their
grievances. Though friends of the monarchy, the members
were, nevertheless, convinced that it was necessary to check
the sovereign in his unconstitutional career. To effect this
object, they resolved on stopping the supplies until their
grievances were redressed. It would have been difficult,
under all the circumstances, to have found a body of men
who would not have acted in a similar manner. The king
expected a strong expression of their resentment against
the Scots ; but the parliament were intent on securing their
own privileges. He wished the Scottish affairs to take
precedence of all others ; while the members were deter-

GRIEVANCES. 107
mined to consider grievances first. Instead of adopting the
suggestion of the king, they listened to petitions complaining
of ship-money, monopolies, and the high commission. Pym
commented on these petitions in a long speech : the
king, irritated at the delay, sent a message by Secretary
Vane, intimating his willingness to abolish ship-money on
condition of their granting twelve subsidies, to be paid in
three years. It is said that Vane mentioned the twelve
subsidies for the purpose of irritating the commons against
the king, who had, in fact, only asked for six. To this
message the commons replied, that they would return an
answer to-morrow. The king, imagining that their object
was to gain time, adopted the sudden and fatal resolution
of dissolving them.
That Charles acted unwisely, is admitted by his friends.
Clarendon acknowledges that he was immediately sorry;
though he published a declaration justificatory of his con
duct. He even consulted with his advisers, whether he
might call them together by proclamation. Various per
sons are mentiond, by different writers, as the authors of
this fatal step. Clarendon attributes it to Vane, Whitelock
to Laud, and Dugdale to the queen.
The convocation had usually assembled with the parlia
ment ; separating when the parliament was dissolved. By
the statute of Henry VIII. the time of their sitting is re
stricted to the period of the session of parliament. Charles,
however, granted a new commission ; and the convocation
continued to sit: they were empowered to revise the old
canons, and to make new ones. The judges were, however,
consulted on the legality of the proceeding, who decided
that the convocation might be continued till dissolved by
the king's writ. One of the members reminded Laud of a
precedent in the year 1586, when Elizabeth continued the
convocation after the dissolution of parliament. Still, all
reasonable men deemed the practice unconstitutional.

108 NEW CANONS  OUTCRIES.
Seventeen new canons were framed, and almost unani
mously adopted. The communion table was ordered to be
placed at the east end of the chancel, where the altar
formerly stood ; and all persons were commanded to repair
to their parish churches. But the most offensive canon was
the sixth, containing the celebrated et ccetera oath. It con
tained the following clause : " Nor will I ever give my
consent to alter the government of this church by arch
bishops, bishops, deans, and archdeacons, &c. as it stands
now established, and as by right it ought to stand, nor yet
ever to subject it to the usurpations and superstitions of the
see of Rome." It was objected, that no one could tell
what was included in the et ccetera. In the present day, the
force of the objection is not easily seen : it cannot be alleged
that the et ccetera could be construed to mean any offices
that the court might choose to appoint, because the next
words, " as it stands now established," fix the meaning
and extent of the oath. Having completed the canons,
the convocation was dissolved one month after the par
liament. The loudest outcries were raised against the new canons.
Many of the clergy refused to take the oath. Bishop Hall
seems to have taken the true view of the objectionable
canon : he explained the et ccetera clause to mean, " As
I do allow the government by archbishops, bishops, deans,
and archdeacons, so I will not, upon the suggestion of any
factious persons, go about to alter the same." Laud, how
ever, at his majesty's request, commanded the bishops to
forbear the imposition of the oath till the next convocation.
It was unwise, at such a period of excitement, to impose
new ecclesiastical constitutions. This convocation " did
many things which, in the best of times, might have been
questioned, and therefore were sure to be condemned in the
worst, and drew the same prejudice upon the whole body
of the clergy, to which, before, only some few clergymen

OUTCRIES. 109
were exposed."* One of the worst consequences of these
canons, was the disunion caused thereby among the clergy.
Sorae ministers were willing, others refused, to take the
oath. Baxter declares, that it led him to study episcopacy
more deeply than he had ever done. " Thus, the et ccetera
oath, which was imposed on us for the unalterable sub
jecting us to diocessans, was a chief means to alienate me
and many others from it. This oath also stirred up the
differing parties (who before were all one party, even quiet
conformists) to speak more bitterly against one another than
heretofore ; and the dissenting party began to think better
of the cause of nonconformity, and to honour the non
conformists more than they had done."f It was objected
by many of the clergy, that no particular discipline was
necessary to salvation, and that these canons subjected them
to that derision which had been cast on the presbyterians,
for making discipline a part of the kingdom of Christ. ;};
At this time, it is clear the body of the clergy were con
formable. These proceedings of Laud and the convocation
soured the minds, not only of the clergy, but of the people
also, who began to incline towards the Scots, instead of
assisting the king to reduce them. One of the new canons
related to Brownists, anabaptists, and separatists, against
whom excommunication was denounced. It is remarkable,
that the same sects are enumerated in the presbyterian
ordinance of 1648, as will be noticed in its proper place.
In the ordinance, however, death was the ultimate penalty :
in the canon, only excommunication.
Having dissolved the parliament before any supplies had
been voted, the king, now on the eve of his Scottish expedi
tion, found himself compelled to resort to the nobility and
clergy for money to enable him to enter upon the war. The
Scots were not idle. Hearing of the king's preparations,
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 116. f Baxter's Life and Times, p. 16.
X Rushworth, vol. iii. p. 174.

1 10 PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLES.
they took the field with a large army. The royal forces
were defeated on the borders, when the Scots advanced into
England, and took Newcastle. Having summoned a council
of peers to meet him at York, Charles, in their presence,
resolved to summon a parliament to meet on the 3d of
the coming November. At the same time, commissioners
were appointed to treat with the Scots, and Ripon was
selected as a suitable place for the treaty. On the 16th of
October, a truce was agreed upon till the 1 6th December ;
and, as the parliament was summoned for the 3d of Novem
ber, all parties expected a lasting peace. By one article of
the truce, it was settled that 850Z. per diem should be paid
by England for the support of the Scots during the treaty.
Charles was now in a worse situation than ever: not only
had he not chastised the Scots, but they had entered Eng
land, and were in a state to dictate terms to the sovereign.
This war originated in the dispute about the rites and
ceremonies. Had episcopacy been given up, or even had the
king never attempted to impose the canons and the liturgy,
all other differences would have been easily adjusted. The
king perceived that nothing but a parliament could extricate
him from his difficulties ; York, however, should have been
the place for the meeting of the two houses. The people
in the north were much better affected towards the king than
in London. The people looked forward to the meeting of
parliament for a redress of their grievances. These griev
ances, says Hume, without regard to the constitution, were
inconsiderable. The evils of the government were un
questionably magnified by the popular leaders, especially
after the invasion of the Scots, who were viewed as fellow
sufferers under the same load of ecclesiastical impositions.
On the 3d of November the parliament assembled. The
cloud had long darkened the horizon ; but few imagined
that the church and state would eventually be swept away
by its fury. Laud was advised to persuade the king to defer

GRIEVANCES.

Ill

their meeting for a few days, because the parliament by
whose sanction Henry VIII, had seized the property of the
church had assembled on the same day. This advice was,
very properly, disregarded ; yet, in allusion to the day,
Heylin remarks, that " this parliament began in the face
of Laud, was continued in the dissipation of the rites of
the church, and ended in the destruction of episcopacy and
monarchy." Grievances were again the first subject of discussion. No
change had taken place in favour of the king : many mem
bers felt strongly in consequence of the late sudden dissolu
tion ; and the new canons, and the other proceedings of the
court, had increased their feelings of dissatisfaction. It will
be necessary to pause in the narrative, to take a view of the
character of the members of this parliament at the period of
their assembling.
The great majority of the members were decided friends
to episcopacy, whatever may have been their views of Laud
and some of the bishops. They were, however, divided into
two parties — rigid and moderate episcopalians. The latter
venerated episcopacy, as that form of government which had
prevailed in the church from the apostolic age : the former
assumed a higher ground, and maintained the jus divinum
of episcopacy. The one party did not consider episcopacy
essential to the constitution of the church : the other asserted
that there could be no true church without it. Both were
decided friends to the church of England, and, together,
they formed a large majority in the two houses.
According to Baxter, whose testimony is most unexcep
tionable on such a point, there was not one presbyterian in
the parliament, nor among the lord lieutenants nor general
officers, and that presbytery was known only to a few scho
lars.* This assertion must be received, however, in a qualified
* Baxter, Part iii. p. 41.

112 CHARACTER AND VIEWS OF THE
sense. Avowed presbyterians there were none in the house
of commons; but the sentiments of some of the members
were unfavourable to the English hierarchy. In the country,
the presbyterians were few in number. The moderate puritans
were rather episcopalian in their views than presbyterian:
and if any rigid presbyterians found their way into the
commons, they were so inconsiderable in number that they
could not carry any measure in the parliament.
There was another party in the house, the independent,
concealed at present under the general appellation puritan,
which in a few years governed the house and the country.
When the parliament assembled, the men who subsequently
proved leaders of this party were either conformists or puri
tans. Their peculiar opinions were never broached in public.
They were men of ability, and secretly exerted themselves to
widen the breach between the king and the parliament.
It cannot be doubted that the few presbyterians who,
under the general name of puritan, found their way into the
house, contemplated the overthrow of episcopacy. But they
proceeded with caution: they never submitted any proposi
tion to the house calculated to disclose their real sentiments :
they silently watched passing events, with the intention of
taking advantage of them as they occurred. Had the episco--
palians of all grades acted in a similar manner, the church
and the monarchy would have been saved.
With the exception of a small number of men of this
description, the members, notwithstanding their various
shades of opinion, were attached to the church. They were
conformists to the ceremonies, and friends to her constitution.
Clarendon says they were all members of the established
church, and, almost to a man, for episcopal government.
It must, however, be observed, that they distinguished be
tween the church of England and Laud, with some of the
prelates, towards whom they manifested the bitterest ani
mosity.

MEMBERS OF THIS PiiRLIAMENT. 113
The foregoing observations will equally apply to the
clergy of the same period : almost all were quiet conformists.
Notwithstanding the severities of Laud's administration, the
great body conformed, rather than cause a schism in the.
church. The puritans dreaded the idea of separation, aud
disclaimed the imputation of schism,. Up to this time, there
fore, they had contented themselves with protesting against
the use of the obnoxious ceremonies. They were as strenuous
advocates of uniformity as the bishops : and, had they suc
ceeded in modelling the English church after their own
fashion, no deviation would have been permitted from the
established practice. " With all their goodness," says Neal,
" they were unacquainted with the rights of conscience."
At a subsequent period, they exercised more severity than
the bishops.
Though, therefore, the members of this parliament were
friends to the hierarchy, they were hostile to Laud, and
opposed to the new canons. It had been the unfortunate
policy of Laud to treat all moderate churchmen as puritans
and enemies : hence the episcopalians in the parliament
united with the puritans, for the purpose of curbing the
royal authority and restraining the power of the bishops.
To this union must many of the subsequent evils be attri
buted.

114
CHAPTER XI.
1640.
DISCUSSIONS AND PETITIONS CONCERNING GRIEVANCES — COMMITTEE OF
GRIEVANCES — PRYNNE, BURTON, AND BASTWICK — CHARGES AGAINST
SOME OF THE BISHOPS — LAUD IMPEACHED AND IMPRISONED — PETITIONS
AGAINST THE CHURCH FROM THE APPRENTICES — DEBATE ON THE SUB-,
JECT — VIOLENCE OF TIIE PEOPLE — SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS IN LONDON
— PETITIONS IN FAVOUR OF EPISCOPACY — PARLIAMENT MADE PERPE
TUAL  ATTEMPT TO DEPRIVE THE BISHOPS OF THEIR SEATS DEFEATED —
PROTESTATION OF COMMONS  BISHOPS IMPEACHED AS AUTHORS OP
CANONS, AND BAILED  HIGH COMMISSION AND STAR CHAMBER ABO
LISHED  INFLUENCE OF THE SCOTS^KING VISITS SCOTLAND  ORDI
NANCE AGAINST SUPERSTITIOUS ORNAMENTS.
The parliament having assembled, the scene was opened on
the 7th of November with the presentation of petitions from
Prynne, Burton, Bastwick, and Leighton. The particular
grievances of different counties were also stated by the mem
bers, in speeches calculated to fan into a flame those sparks
of indignation already kindled in the house. The petitions
and speeches embraced the long space of the intermission of
parliaments. We shall notice only such as bear on the sub
ject of religion. A few extracts from the speeches delivered
on the occasion will evince the feelings of the house with
regard to the bishops, to episcopacy, and to the ceremonies.
" We well know," says Sir Benjamin Rudyard, " how the
whole church hath been troubled where to place an altar.
We have seen ministers, their wives and families, undone,
against law, against conscience, against all bowels of com
passion, for not dancing on a Sunday, These inventions
were but sieves made of purpose to winnow the best men.
They would evaporate the power of religion, by drawing it
out into antiquated ceremonies new furbished up. They have
so brought it to pass, that, under the name of puritans, all

DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING GRIEVANCES. 1 15
our religion is branded. Whoever squares his actions by any
rule, divine or human, he is a puritan." Pym followed in
a similar strain against the new ceremonies, altars, images,
pictures, the Book of Sports, and the suppression of the
afternoon sermons. Lord Digby uttered similar sentiments,
" As representative for the county of Dorset," he observed j
" that Dorsetshire was not, like Goshen, in the enjoyment
of sunshine, while the rest of the land was overspread with
darkness and plagues." Sir John Culpepper complained of
the new ceremonies, the canons, and the convocation. Sir
Harbottle Grimstone added, that the petitions were so many
remonstrances of the grievances of the state: " they would
have us swear that the government of the church by arch
bishops and bishops is jure divino ; though, whatever may be
said for the functions of bishops, 'tis certain their jurisdiction
is humand institutione, and derived from the king;"*
These speeches shew the temper of the house. The
speakers were all episcopalians. A committee was imme
diately appointed to draw out of the petitions such a remon
strance or declaration as should fully represent the state of
the kingdom. Every day produced fresh complaints against
Laud. On presenting a petition from a silenced minister.
Sir Edward Deering concluded, " he hoped that by the help
of that house, before this year of threats was out, his grace
would have either more grace or no grace at all, forasmuch
as all their sorrows in the church, and many of those in the
commonwealth, lead to him as the centre whence they flow."t
Notwithstanding these speeches against the proceedings of
the bishops, the house on the 20th November ordered that
no member should sit in the house after communion-day,
unless he had received the sacrament.J As the sacrament
was administered then as it is now, no stronger proof can be
adduced to shew that the house was composed of churchmen,
* Rushworth, vol. iii. p. 266. May, p. 52, 53.
t Rushworth, vol. iii. p. 270. "J Ibid, p. 282.

116 CHARGES AGAINST SOME OF THE BISHOPS.
Soon after a committee was appointed to receive griev
ances, instead of having them submitted to the whole house.
Petitions poured in from all quarters. The obnoxious clergy
were charged with offences committed during the last ten or
twelve years. Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick, were released
from prison, and conducted to London, where they were
received by an immense concourse of people.
Articles were exhibited in the house of lords against
Cosins, master of Peter-house, Wren, bishop of Norwich,
Pierce, of Bath and Wells, Montague, and Manwaring, for
imposing the late innovations. Cosin was accused of super
stition, and of cruelty to Sharp, one of the prebends of
Durham, of which cathedral he was dean. It was alleged
that he had caused an anthem to be sung to the three kings
of CoUen, — that he had lighted two hundred candles in the
cathedral on Candlemas-day, — that he had erected an altarj
and practised many other innovations. Though a great
stickler for conformity, yet he so successfully rebutted all
these charges that he was not questioned again. The table
had been erected long before his connexion with the cathe
dral, — the pictures of the Trinity never existed, — the image
of Christ was the top of Bishop Hatfield's tomb. He never
forbad the singing of psalms ; and as to the anthem, the
doctor, finding it in an old book, had actually cut it out;
nor had it been sung during his residence, nor for fifty or
sixty years before. The lords were satisfied : but the com
mons on the 22d December deprived him of his preferments.
He was one of the first clergymen deprived by the house.
At the restoration he was raised to the episcopal bench.
Wren was another early sufferer. He had been unusually
active in imposing the new canons. On the 22d December
a petition was presented, embodying all the charges : in the
July following he was voted unfit to hold any spiritual pro
motion ; and the king was requested to remove him from his
service. He remained unmolested until the period of the

LAUD IMPEACHED AND IMPRISONED. 117
bishops' protest, when he was committed with his brethren.
Retiring to his palace in Norfolk, he was forcibly seized by a
party of soldiers, committed to the Tower, and detained a
prisoner until 1659. He survived the restoration, and was
restored to his prefermems.
Pierce, of Bath and Wells, had also become obnoxious,
in consequence of his zeal in imposing the Book of Sports :
after being harassed by the commons, he was deprived with
the rest of his brethren. He was restored in 1660, and died
•in 1670. On the 16th December the new canons were condemned
by the house : and in the February ensuing. Laud, who was
their supposed author, was impeached of high treason. The
bitterest invectives were uttered against him from the com
mencement of the session ; and subsequent events proved
that the partisans of Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick, could
persecute as well as the archbishop. His conduct in the late
convocation ; his proceedings in the courts of high com
mission and star-chamber ; and his rigid adherence to the
new ceremonies, contributed toward his ruin. He lay in
prison nearly two years without further notice. The charges
of the commons, together with the consent of the primate,
will be noticed in the narrative of his trial. Stafford's im
peachment is foreign to the object of this work. It may be
sufficient to remark, that the warrant for his execution was
reluctantly signed by the king.
In a few weeks the parliament had made rapid strides
towards the attainment of their object. Laud was in prison ;
and the other obnoxious prelates were under arrest, or
removed from the councils of the king. " Without doubt,"
says Clarendon, " the major part of that body had no mind
to make any considerable alteration in the government of
church or state."* Say and Brooke were the only peers
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 147.

118 PETITIONS AGAINST THE CHURCH.
opposed to the entire fabric of the church. The fears of the
commons were aroused by those who were dissatisfied with
the hierarchy ; and a concurrence of circumstances led the
majority afterwards to act in opposition to their recorded
sentiments. The hostility to the church began without the
walls of parliament. " All was chaste within those walls."*
Laud's impeachment was not viewed as an indication of
hostility to the hierarchy, nor to the order of bishops, but
only as the expression of their detestation of the recent
innovations. Ere long, however, petitions began to pour in not only
respecting grievances, but against the very foundation of
the church. These petitions were not, indeed, sanctioned
by the house ; but they were the precursors of that storm
which at last burst upon the church, and their very recep
tion was an encouragement to the populace. The first of
these petitions came from the London apprentices, and the
men of Kent. The London petition was presented as early
as December, and the Kentish in January. The petitions strike
at the very root of the hierarchy. The petitioners allege, that
the government by archbishops and bishops is proved by daily
experience to be very dangerous ; they pray, therefore, for
the total abrogation of the episcopal regimen. It was ordered
by the house that the petitions should stand over for the
present. On the eighth and ninth of February a long
debate ensued on the subject : some were for depriving
the bishops of their temporalities ; and a few for the total
extirpation of the order. Others advocated a reformation
of episcopacy, and not its abolition. Lord Digby defended
the ancient government of the church, but wished to clip
the wings of the bishops. Complaints of abuses, said his
lordship, were alleged, and, therefore, the church must be
overthrown ; as if wine should be entirely prohibited be-
* Clarendon, vol. i. p„ 160,

VIOLENCE OF THE PEOPLE. 119
cause drunkenness was become epidemical.* Episcopacy,
he adds, is so ancient and venerable, so admired by the most
learned reformers, " that he cannot think such a close devil
should be found in it now at the fag end of 1640." Fiennes
vented a long tirade against the bishops, and recommended
the reception of the petitions. Sir Benjamin Rudyard
wished for a reformation, not the abolition of the order :
the Lord Falkland concurred in the same opinion. Sir
Harbottle Grimstone agreed that it would be as absurd to
destroy the order, because some of the bishops have been
guilty of error, as to remove the common law and the
judges, in consequence of the crimes of some of the latter.
It was decided that the further consideration of the matter
should be referred to the committee appointed for the London
petition. The utmost that was then wished was the removal
of the bishops from the house of lords! Neal admits, that
the puritans at present wished for nothing more than the
reformation of the hierarchy .-f-
Not only were petitions against the church multiplied,
but in various places the people began to commit all kinds
of violence. They tore the surplices, and pulled down the
rails by which the communion-tables were surrounded.
During the time of service in St. Margaret's Church, before
the two houses, the people at the lower end commenced the
singing of a psalm during the reading of the communion
service. The lords immediately issued an order " that
Divine service should be performed according to acts of
parliament ; and that all who disturbed that order should
be severely punished." It was also ordained, " that the clergy
should forbear to introduce any offensive ceremonies other
wise than those which were established by law." In South-
wark, some few individuals were surprised in a conventicle
during the time of Divine service contrary to the statute.
* Rushworth, iii. 357. t Neal, ii. 429.

120 SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS.
They alleged that the statute was made by the bishops, and,
consequently, was not binding; and that the king, not being
a new man, could not make a perfect law. These sectaries
were reprimanded by the lords, enjoined to attend at their
parish churches, and threatened with severe penalties if the
offence was repeated. At this time, therefore, there was no
disposition in the two houses to root up episcopacy.
Still many excesses were committed by the populace,
who were encouraged by some feW discontented members
of both houses. The parliament was disposed rather to
connive at these excesses, viewing them only as the ebul
litions of feelings long restrained. This apathy, however,
on the part of the commons increased the discontent of the
multitude, who found that their complaints were listened
to in the house. Not only were petitions presented against
the bishops, but the clergy were reviled in the streets as
popish priests ; and the liturgy was termed a quenching of
the spirit and a lifeless form. The pulpit was also used by
some of the clergy as the vehicle of abuse against the
bishops ; old pamphlets refiecting on the church were re
published ; and from many parishes petitions were pre
sented against the clergy, who were charged with bowing
at the name of Jesus, with administering the sacrament at
the rails, and with practices of a similar nature. At a
later period such petitions were received by the house with
avidity ; but at present their inclinations were in favour of
episcopacy. The Scottish commissioners were spectators, if not
abettors, of these proceedings. They had arrived in London
in November, where St. Antholin's Church was assigned
them for their devotions. Here the celebrated Henderson
preached every Sunday : he was also associated with the
commissioners in the treaty in all matters of religion. The
rough eloquence of Henderson made a deep impression on
the audience, composed chiefly of women, many of whom.

SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS. 121
to secure their places, remained in the church during the
space between morning and evening service. Presbyterian
worship was a novelty in England ; and as the Scots had
just emancipated themselves from the power of the bishops,
their mode of worship attracted large assemblies. The
Londoners imagined, that as they had also suffered under
Laud, they might copy the example of the Scots, whose
presence in London countenanced the people in the neglect
of the liturgy. Though the Scots had resisted the imposition
of the liturgy, they were by no means averse to the impo
sition of their own system on the English nation. Thus
they laboured to infuse into the minds of the people a hatred
of episcopacy, and a love of presbytery. To their presence,
and the countenance of some few members, are to be attri
buted the numerous petitions against episcopacy. The treaty
advanced but very slowly; and the presence of the com
missioners in London had an unhappy influence on the royal
cause. The influence of the preachers on the multitude was
unbounded ; their style and manner were peculiar : nor is
it too much, perhaps, to attribute the origin of the extra
vagance of the subsequent period to the unpolished, elo
quence of the Scots. Their sermons, so immoderately long,
were imitated by the puritans. The style of the puritans
from 1640 to 1660 is very different from that of their pre
decessors. There is much more purity of style in the
writings of the earlier puritans, than in those of the period
in question. From this time until the restoration, the ser
mons of the most celebrated preachers are remarkable for
their verbosity, new and singular expressions, and their
obscurity. While so many petitions were presented against the order
of bishops, an equal number was presented in favour of the
church. In various counties petitions in behalf of the hier_
archy were signed by vast numbers of the nobility, gentry,
clergy, and commonalty. Some of them were answers to

122 PARLIAMENT MADE PERPETUAL.
the root and branch petitions.* It was become necessary for
the friends of the established order to muster their strength.
Their opponents artfully coupled episcopacy and popery
together ; and the bare receptions of petitions, thus worded,
proves how cautious the commons were in not irritating the
people. The king was induced to consent to the bill for the con
tinuance of the parliament. It was signed on the 10th of
March, 1640-41, and was one of the most fatal measures of
those eventful times. As long as their existence depended
on the will of the king, their measures would of necessity
be more cautious. It was provided by the bill that the
present parliament should not be dissolved without their
own consent.
Hitherto the house had only listened to petitions against
the cliurch : now, however, the attempt was made to deprive
the bishops of their seats in parliament. A bill was actually
proposed, and met with a favourable reception even from
the moderate churchmen, v/ho were prejudiced against the
bishops in consequence of their alleged severities towards
the puritan clergy. Many imagined that such a bill would
satisfy the country, and that the bishops, by being confined
to the exercise of their spiritual functions, would be better
pastors of the church. Hence the bill found an easy passage
through the commons : but it was unanimously rejected by
the lords. The commons were not hostile to the office of
bishop : they wished merely to restrain their power. Many
of the commons were irritated by the loss of the bill : and
from this period may, perhaps, be traced the origin of those
changes which soon occurred in the views of the lower house.
Another bill was soon after introduced into the commons by
Sir Edward Deering, hitherto a moderate man, for the extir
pation of bishops, deans, and chapters, and for the appro-
* See a Collection of i Petitions in behalf of Episcopacy. 4to. 1660.

PROTESTATION OF THE COMMONS. 123
priation of their lands by parliamentary authority. It was
read a first time, but at last was laid aside. Deering recom
mended another scheme, in the event of the reception of his
bill, similar, in most respects, to Usher's reduction of epis
copacy. Another bill was introduced affecting deans and chapters ;
when Dr. Hackel was permitted to defend them at the bar of
the house. In June, however, the commons declared that
they should be abolished, and their lands employed for the
advancement of piety and learning. Two other resolutions
of the commons at this period indicate an increasing disposi
tion to change the structure of church government : first, it
was resolved, on the 10th of July, " that ecclesiastical power
be exercised by commission :" and, secondly, on the 31st of
the same month, " that the members of every county return
the names of nine persons to be ecclesiastical commissioners."
These votes, however, were not pursued : nor was the de
claration against deans and chapters, being unsanctioned by
the lords, passed at this time into a law. For some time, all
the plots against the church were defeated.
In consequence of a rumour of a conspiracy against the
parliament, the commons framed a protestation, to be taken
by all their members. Each member engaged to defend the
true reformed protestant religion, as expressed in the thirty-
nine articles, against popery and innovation. It was adopted
on the 3d of May : and, in a fortnight afterwards, on the
expression of some doubts relative to the meaning of the
above words, the house declared that the doctrine of the
church was alone intended, and that the words were not to
be extended to discipline. In its original state the protesta
tion appeared favourable to the church : probably the presby
terians thought so too ; for the explanation originated with
them. The lords concurred in this protestation. The com
mons wished to impose it on the whole country : but the lords
objected to its imposition. The commons were indignant at

124 HIGH COMMISSION AND STAR CHAMBER ABOLISHED.
the opposition of the lords, and, conceiving the bishops to be
the cause, they immediately adopted the resolution to im
peach them, as the authors of the late canons.* Revenge
dictated this step : and the commons knew that it would tend
to diminish the respect paid to the order, and prepare the
way for its ultimate suppression. The bishops were admitted
to bail by the lords, and here the matter terminated.
Two of the principal grievances were the courts of high
commission and star chamber. The latter " had overflowed
the banks that should have contained it."f The same au
thority adds, that " he does not know that any innocent
clergyman suffered." The bill for the suppression of these
courts received the royal assent in June : the courts were
viewed as a grievance by the people ; and it was insinuated
that the clergy alone were the judges. Such assertions were
not founded in truth : " men cry out upon the high commis
sion, as if the clergymen only had to do in it, when I believe
there are more laymen in commission there than clergymen.
So of the star chamber, the people think the bishops only
censured Prynne and Bastwick, when there were but two
there, and one spake not in his own cause." J The bishop
who did not speak was Laud, whose memory is loaded with
the odium of the sentence, whereas he only defended himself
from the charges in the libels.
It has already been stated that the two armies continued
embodied in the north. In the month of August this year,
1641, the affairs of the two countries were adjusted, and the
two armies were disbanded. This treaty was evidently pro
tracted by the English parliament, who wished to humble
the king. The Scots were designated " our brethren of
Scotland :" even the moderate members perceived that the
presence of their army would be of essential service in
bringing the king to terms. The temper of the house was
* Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 134. f Clarendon, vol. i. p. 222.
X Seldeniana, p. 41.

KING VISITS SCOTLAND. 125
iseen by the presbyterians, who failed not to improve the
circumstance to their own advantage. Encouraged by the
Scots commissioners, they proposed and carried several
points of considerable importance. The episcopal party saw,
that by losing the aid of the Scots, their whole cause might
be marred. Thus, from a fear of losing all, they yielded
points which, under other circumstances, would have been
viewed as pregnant with danger. This fear induced the
commons to sacrifice the bishops. It is said that they were
fearful lest the bishops should oppose moderate measures,
and drive matters to extremities. Hence, their conduct was
a mixture of friendship and hostility to the church. In
June of this year, two persons were fined, pillored, and im
prisoned, by the peers, for interrupting the celebration of
the communion. Similar instances occur in the proceedings
of the commons. Hence, it is evident that their desires to
reduce the king led them at length into measures which
were not originally contemplated.
The king proposed a visit to Scotland this summer, and
the commons were urgent for him to remain. They actually
sent on Sunday, the 8th of August, in consequence of the
king's projected departure on the 10th. Charles, how
ever, arrived in Edinburgh, and on the 19th August con
firmed all their acts against episcopacy. He wished to
heal the divisions among his Scottish subjects. It had
been his misfortune to attempt to impose upon that people
a mode of worship, in their estimation, no better than
popery ; and he now wished to remove their unfavourable
impressions. The attempt to impose the liturgy was one
of the worst measures of this reign : it soured the minds
of the Scots, and, by uniting them with the English puritans,
enabled the latter to resist the government : it brought the
Scots into England, and surrounded the throne with diffi
culties. Scotland, says Whitelock, was the " fountain
whence the ensuing troubles sprang." During this visit

126 ORDINANCE AGAINST SUPERSTITIOUS ORNAMENTS,
the king granted all their demands ; but the mischief was
too great to be easily rectified.
The parliament continued its session after the king's
departure. During his absence, the disaffected members
used their utmost efforts to influence the house and the
country against the hierarchy. In September, they engaged
in a debate about altering the liturgy ; but by the opposition
of Hyde, the measure was defeated. A vote had previously
been recorded against bowing at the name of Jesus, crosses,
and the setting up rails around the communion tables. As
early as the 23d January, an order was issued by the com
mons for commissioners to proceed into every county to
deface all monuments of superstition, and to remove altars,
images, pictures, as relics of idolatry, from all churches
and chapels. At this time, several similar votes were entered
in the journals. The communion tables were ordered to be
removed from the chancel into the body of the church, the
rails to be taken away, and the chancels levelled ; all
pictures and crosses to be abolished. As the peers had
declared for the reverent use of the common prayer, the
commons solicited a conference with the upper house : they
refused to concur in the votes of the commons, and repeated
their former order. Both houses adjourned September 9th,
1641, leaving a committee to sit during the recess.

127

CHAPTER XII.
1640—1641.
KING RETURNS — ORDINANCE AGAINST SUPERSTITION EXECUTED — BISHOPS
ATTACKBD BY THE RABBLE — THEIR PROTEST — ARE IMPEACHED-^COM-
MITTED TO THE TOWER — KING ATTEMPTS TO SEIZE THE FIVE MEMBERS —
KING RETIRES FROM LONDON — BISHOPS EXCLUDED FROM THE PEERS.
Charles returned from Scotland in November, after an
absence of some months. He was magnificently entertained
by the city of London. At this time, no laws had been
enacted against the church ; but the liturgy, discipline, and
ceremonies, remained unaltered.
After a short recess, the parliament met on the 10th
October. Their first act was to receive the report of the
committee. Pym, the chairman, reported that they had
sent several of their number to superintend the execution
of the orders of the house; and that in some places they
found good ministers; in others, those of an opposite cha
racter. This committee ordered the churchwardens to see
that their order was published and executed. Posterity will
smile at the very idea of an order of parliament against
bowing at the name of Jesus. The innovations introduced
by Laud were of little importance, except as involving the
question, whether a bishop had the power to introduce new
ceremonies ; certainly they did not require a parliamentary
order to suppress them. Still, the majority of the two
houses were even yet far from contemplating the destruction
of episcopacy, nor did the puritan clergy require more than
exemption from the obnoxious ceremonies. The presby
terians were yet few in number in the commons ; but they
were ready to seize the first opportunity to discover their
real character.

128 ORDINANCE AGAINST SUPERSTITION EXECUTED.
So strongly was the current of popular opinion in favour
of the church, that the commissioners, to whom the execution
of the parliamentary orders were intrusted during the recess,
were prevented in some places from carrying their orders into
effect ; but in others the people proceeded to acts of great
violence. The rabble, indeed, who in every place are ever
ready for the work of destruction, cheerfully executed the
orders of the commons, and in many instances outstripped
their employers. In some places they disturbed the service,
interrupting the minister in the desk or at the altar : in
others they destroyed the books and surplices. The parha
ment did not sufficiently restrain the rabble ; the members
were divided in sentiment on the subject : some thought it
better to permit the people to proceed to excesses, than to
restrain them ; others asserted that by such practices they
should lose the support of the country gentlemen, who were
well affected to the church, though opposed to the recent
innovations. Amid this diversity of opinion, the common
people perpetrated many acts of violence ; but the sober and
reflecting portion of the community were in doubt whither
all these proceedings would tend.*
During the king's absence the Irish rebellion broke out.
Some writers have ventured to throw out suspicions, as if
Charles had given his sanction to the rebels. A more un
founded or a more cruel report was never circulated. The
rebel leaders used the king's name, but no unprejudiced'
person will charge the guilt of that horrid massacre on
Charles. This rebellion, however, tended to foster the pre
judices already existing against the king.
Several bishoprics were now vacant ; and the king pro
ceeded to fill them up. This proceeding gave offence, as if
his majesty would have been justified in permitting the sees
to remain unoccupied, while the church continued to be
established by law. * Way, p. 77.

REMONSTRANCE OF PARLIAMENT. 129
Though Charles had made greater concessions than any
preceding sovereign, yet the parliament was dissatisfied.
Some months before, a committee had been appointed to
draw up a remonstrance on the state of the country : the
business dropped for a time, but was now revived with great
heat. The remonstrance was prepared, and debated on the
22d November. Sir Edward Deering's speech is remarkable,
as shewing the sentiments of many members who occasionally
joined in the votes against the bishops. Sir Edward had
introduced a bill for extirpating bishops, deans, and chapters ;
yet this same gentleman, in opposing the remonstrance, and
in answering the charge of idolatry, stated that the bishops
of Durham, Lincoln, and Exeter, had been vigorous and suc
cessful opposers of popery ; and that none had ever charged
those of London, Winchester, Chester, Carlisle, and Chi
chester, with superstition, much less with idolatry. After a
long debate, from three in the afternoon till three the next
morning, the remonstrance was carried by a majority of nine
voices. This celebrated remonstrance was a kind of declaration
on the state of the country : all the grievances, real or
imaginary, of the kingdom were enumerated. The whole of
this reign was ransacked for abuses ; and almost every action
of the king was distorted into an offence against the liberty
of the subject, or the freedom of religion. Even Whitelock
admits that " it was roughly penned." Not only were the
errors but the misfortunes of Charles recapitulated. It was
presented to the king in December 1641. In these pages
the religious grievances will alone be noticed. It commenced
with an allusion to the dangers by which the country was sur
rounded, and which are attributed to his majesty's evil conn.
sellers. The bishops and clergy are attacked for upholding
ecclesiastical tyranny and superstition. A design of intro
ducing popery is also charged upon the prelates, who are
represented as having suppressed the spirit and power of

130 REMONSTRANCE OF PARLIAMENT.
religion ; the spread of Arminianism ; the exaggerating and
magnifying the differences between the puritans and other
protestants ; the introduction of such new ceremonies as are
most likely to countenance popery, — are some of the heavy
charges against the bishops, and other advisers of his majesty.
It alludes in terms of severity to the oppressions of the star
chamber, — to the suspensions, excommunications, and de
privations of the high commission. All the particulars
connected with the introduction of the canons and liturgy
into Scotland are recorded with the utmost minuteness : and
the canons of 1640 are reprobated in the strongest terms.
The commons had failed, before the recess, to procure the
consent of the lords to their bill for the exclusion of the
bishops. This circumstance is alluded to in the remon
strance. The commons ask what they can do without the
lords ? and what can be expected from the upper house as
long as the prelates remain ? They charge the bishops with
persuading the people that they intend to abolish all church
government : this they deny, and then state that their inten
tion was only to reduce the exorbitant powers of the bishops ;
that for this purpose they had passed the bill for removing
them from their tejnporal employment, in order that they
might the better apply themselves to their spiritual functions.
" We do here declare," it is added, " that it is far from our
purpose or desire to let loose the golden reins of discipline,
to leave private persons or particular congregations to take
up that form of divine service they please : for we hold it
requisite that there should be throughout the whole realm a
conformity to that order which the laws enjoin." They then
state their wish to remove the superstitious ceremonies; to
suppress innovations ; to demolish monuments of idolatry ;
and to call a synod of divines to consult together for the
safety of the church. Such are the religious grievances em
bodied in the remonstrance. At this time even the commons
only contemplated the removal of the bishops from the peers,

DECLARATION OF THE KING. 131
and the retrenching of alleged abuses ; — yet, in a few months,
this very house of commons commenced a series of attacks
upon the church, which did not cease until the hierarchy was
destroyed. A petition accompanied the remonstrance, in which the
commons beseech his majesty to concur with them in
removing the bishops from the lords, and in correcting
ecclesiastical abuses. In his reply, the king expresses his
readiness to concur with them in removing any illegal
innovations, and even to call a national synod if the par
liament deem it desirable. The king also published a
declaration to the whole kingdom, to counteract the ill
effects of the remonstrance, that without his majesty's per
mission had been circulated in every part of the country.
In this declaration the king expresses his attachment to
protestantism, and his readiness to correct abuses. It pro
ceeded from the pen of Hyde. " I cannot think," says an
able author, " that the temperate and constitutional language
of the royal declarations, and answers to the house of com
mons, known to have proceeded from the pen of Hyde, and
as superior to those on the opposite side in argument as they
were in eloquence, were intended for the willing slaves of
tyranny."* How much longer matters would have remained in this
undecided state, if no unexpected occurrence had taken
place, it is impossible to say. An incident occurred, how
ever, at this time, which sealed the fate of the bishops, and
paved the way for the downfal of the church. It was the
ill-timed protestation of the bishops.
It has been shewn that the commons had evinced unusual
animosity towards the bishops. They felt assured that the
lords would not "concur with them in their measures against
the church, as long as the bishops remained : they were
•• Hallam, vol. ii. p. 201.

132 BISHOPS ATTACKED BY THE RABBLE,
anxious, therefore, to destroy their influence, though " the
Archbishop of Canterbury had never so great influence upon
the councils at court as Dr. Burgess or Mr. Marshal had
then upon the houses : neither did all the bishops in Scotland
together so much meddle in temporal affairs as Mr. Hender
son has done."* Failing, therefore, of success in the impeach
ment of the bishops, the commons used their efforts to lessen
their reputation with the people. The speeches of some of
the members, and the charges in the remonstrance, all
tended to the same end. Encouraged by the proceedings
within the walls of parliament, the rabble began to raise the
cry of " no bishops." The lord mayor, aldermen, and com
mon council petitioned for their removal : and the London
apprentices presented a petition, praying that " the prelacy
might be rooted out."f These petitions were encouraged by
the commons, in the hope of inducing the lords to concur in
their vote for their removal. Great tumults occurred when
the petitions were taken down to Westminster. The bishops
were attacked by the mob in the most brutal manner with
stones and dirt. As their persons were exposed to such
violence, Williams, archbishop of York, counselled them to
withdraw altogether from the liouse. He immediately
penned a protestation, which was presented to the peers,
and in which they state that their lives are in danger by
attending on the house. They conclude by protesting against
all acts passed during their absence. This protestation irri-
* Clarendon, vol. i p. 239.
¦f Even the women presented an address against the bishops and the
popish lords. A paper was delivered to the minister of Christ Church,
desiring the prayers of the congregation, " to assist the apprentices with
strength to root out superstition, and to extirpate the innovations of the
bishops and clergy." — -Walker's Sufferings of Clergy, p. 50 ; Dugdale,
p. 80. This course was pursued " by such as, doubtless, had made a detp
search into the nature of the thing : to wit, some thousands of tradesmen in
and about the city of London." — Twell's Life of PococJie, p. 80. "The
very porters," says Fuller, " petitioned against episcopacy, as a burden too
heavy for their shoulders,"

IMPEACHED, AND COMMITTED TO THE TOWER. 133
tated the lords, and produced, that change in their sentiments
which the commons had been unable to effect. The bishops
were now impeached by the commons, and committed to the
Tower. This was the first blow against the episcopal order that
received the sanction of both houses. The lords concurred in
the impeachment. The protestation of the bishops, and the
sanction given by the lords to the impeachment, were unfor
tunate measures, and gave a turn to the state of affairs : from
this time thehouse of peers, weakened by the removal of the
bishops, began to dwindle into insignificance. If the bishops
were unwise in protesting, the lords were equally so in view
ing the matter in so serious a light. Even the friends of the
prelates were unable to defend them in this imprudent step :
and their enemies perceived that the act would accomplish
the very object after which they had been labouring. One
member said that the finger of God was manifest in accom
plishing that which could not otherwise have been effected :
another said that they were not guilty of treason, but that
they were mad, and proper inmates for Bedlam. Still the
committal of twelve bishops to prison for this protestation,
exceeded in severity and injustice any act of the king or the
high commission.
Soon after the committal of the bishops, an unfortunate
and ill-judged step was taken by the king. Hearing that
some members of the commons were engaged in a treason
able correspondence with the Scots, he proceeded on the
4th of January, 1641-2, to the house for the purpose of
demanding the five suspected members. This act alarmed
the fears of many who were not unfriendly to the king.
Many distrusted his majesty, and, in consequence of this
unfortunate proceeding, were induced to assent to measures
not only injurious to the monarch, but destructive to the
church. Many of his friends endeavoured to dissuade him
from the attempt, being convinced that the scheme originated

134 KING RETIRES FROM LONDON.
in passion rather than calm reflection. When the king
entered the house his friends were overwhelmed with asto
nishment, his enemies were filled with exultation. This
sudden action, says Whitelock, was the visible and apparent
ground of all our following misery.
The tumults continued to increase in London, so that his
majesty, feeling that his safety was endangered, removed on
the 10th of January to Hampton Court. He never returned
to his capital till he was conducted thither as a prisoner.
Every day the prospect of a reconciliation between the king
and the parliament became more distant. Petitions were
presented urging the commons to place the country in a
posture of defence ; and the parliament demanded from his
majesty the command of the militia. In March they re
solved that the kingdom should be put in a posture of
defence, and that the militia should be under the direction
of parliament. As might have been expected, the mob were elated with
the success of their scheme against the bishops : instead of
being suppressed, they were rather encouraged, by the com
mons. They now began to clamour for the removal of the
bishops from parliament. A bill had been sent from the
commons to that effect : on the day after their committal
the lords promised to reconsider the subject. After some
debate, the bill was carried by a considerable majority.
Such a bill would never, but for the protestation, have been
countenanced by the peers. Some even of the friends of
the bishops concurred in this measure : they were fearful
lest by some other rash act they might ruin their cause;
they, therefore, sacrificed them to the anger of the people.
The passing of the bill was celebrated in London' with the
usual demonstrations of joy. Not many years after, this
very mob celebrated with similar expressions of joy the dis
solution of the parliament ; and, at the restoration, the return
of the king was hailed in the same tumultuous manner.

BISHOPS EXCLUDED FROM THE PEERS.

135

The bill was forwarded to the king at Windsor, who
replied that he would take time to consider. Dissatisfied
with the delay, the commons urged him to comply, alleging
that the passing of this bill would unite the two houses, and
would be received as a pledge of his majesty's gracious in
tentions to rectify remaining abuses. His advisers, by whom
he was surrounded at Windsor, recommended, though on
totally different grounds, that the bill should be passed. It
was urged, that the passing of this bill was the only way to
save the church ; that many members would be satisfied,
and would consent to no other alteration : but, on the other
hand, if the bill was rejected, not only the order of bishops,
but the whole fabric of the church, would be endangered.*
These arguments were seconded by the queen. Accordingly,
on the 14th of February, the bill received the royal assent.
By this act the bishops were deprived of their votes in
parliament. So far, however, from proving the preservation
of the church, as was supposed by some of the king's friends,
it became the precedent for a series of aggressions on the
order, which issued not only in the loss of temporal juris
diction to the bishops, but in the destruction of the church
itself. The bill had been introduced at an auspicious mo
ment, when the protestation of the bishops had startled the
peers ; and the king consented in the hope of preserving
their spiritual authority. In London the commons were
supported by an enraged mob. The puritans, moreover,
began to fall in with the views of the presbyterians, who
sought every opportunity to weaken the power of the
church ; and by representing in strong colours the conces
sions made to the Scots, led the scrupulous clergy to hope
that by increasing their demands they might prevail on his
majesty to grant them more than at first was anticipated.
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 333.

136

CHAPTER XIII.
1642 — 1643.
PROSPECTS — KING RETIRES TO YORK — ATTEMPT AT HULL — WAR COM
MENCES  scots' MEDIATION  BILL FOR ABOLITION OF EPISCOPACY 
PRESBYTERIANS  REFLECTIONS  PARLIAMENT APPLY TO SCOTS  COVE-
KANT IN SCOTLAND— TAKEN IN ENGLAND  ITS NATURE  SCOTS COME
TO ASSIST THE PARLIAMENT.
Every thing seemed now to indicate an open rupture be
tween Charles and his parliament. He had made the most
important concessions, which were followed by new and still
more unreasonable demands from the commons. They now
demanded the management of the militia ; and when the
king refused to sacrifice the rights of the crown, they issued
their orders without him. Finding that his concessions only
increased the demands of the commons, he removed still
further from London, and fixed his residence at York. To
prevent the possibility of being pressed to pass other uncon
stitutional acts, he was anxious to remove as far as possible
from London. Many of the king's friends considered the
step a rash one: the moderate members in the house were
agitated by various conflicting views ; on the one side by
their distrust of the king, heightened by his attempt on the
five members, and by his removal to York ; and on the
other by the danger that hung over the constitution in the
event of the success of the violent party in the house. The
secession of many of the king's friends was another unfor
tunate measure, as it left the wavering members at the
mercy of the presbyterians. Still the apprehension of danger
from the restoration of the sovereign to power, overbalanced
the fears of the majority in the parliament for the safety of
the constitution ; and, believing that they should be able to

ATTEMPT AT HULL — WAR COMMENCES. 137"
restrain the excesses of the presbyterians, they complied with
their measures till retreat was impossible.
The king attempted to secure Hull; but Hotham, the
governor, kept the garrison for the parliament. The summer
was occupied in warlike preparations. In May, many mem
bers of both houses repaired to his majesty, and the number
of peers exceeded the number of those remaining at West
minster. The retiring members acted unwisely in leaving
their opponents to carry their own measures : for the mem
bers in London soon voted that his majesty, seduced by
wicked councils, intended to make war against his parlia
ment. On the 2d of June the houses sent a petition to the
king, with nineteen propositions. Those only that relate to
religion need be noticed here. They request his majesty to
consent to such a reformation in the government and liturgy
of the church as both houses shall advise, after consultation
with leamed divines — to agree to laws against innovation
and scandalous ministers. These requests prove that the
parliament were still for the reformation and not for the
destruction of the hierarchy. At this period, presbytery was
not contemplated by the majority. The other propositions
affected the royal prerogative so materially, that compliance
was impossible.
After various unsuccessful attempts at negociation, the
king erected his standard at Nottingham on the 22d August,
1642. As soon as war appeared inevitable, the presbyterians,
hitherto a small party, endeavoured to persuade the house
that there could be neither safety for themselves nor for the
country until the royal power should be restrained. The
various successes and reverses of the royal arms belong to
the civil history of the period, and will only be noticed as
far as they bear on ecclesiastical affairs. The battle of Edge-
hill was fought soon after, both parties claiming the victory.
The present differences between the king and the par
liament presented a favourable opportunity to the Scots for

138 scots' mediation.
offering their mediation. They requested the king to consent
that the government of the two churches might be one and
the same : but his majesty remarked, that England and
Scotland were different. Their demands had been conceded
by the king, but they now wished to impose their system on
the English church — to bring down episcopacy, as Burnet
remarks, and set up presbytery. The parliament, however,
accepted their offer of mediation, and thanked them for their
advice. At the same time, they did not contemplate the
destruction of the church, for, in this very summer, they
declared that they intended to carry into effect a necessary
reformation, and to remove nothing except what is evil and
justly offensive. The Scots repeated their offer, but insisted
on the abolition of episcopacy and the establishment of pres
byterian uniformity. In July, the parliament wrote to the
Scottish assembly, desiring their advice in effecting the neces
sary reformation. As the breach between the king and the
parliament was daily growing wider, the latter saw the
importance of conciliating the Scots. The assembly replied
to the letter of the parliament in August : they expressed
their sorrow that the work of reformation had proceeded so
slowly; and alluded to their desires formerly expressed for
one confession, and one directory, and one form of church
government. They ask, " What hope can there be of unity in
faith and worship, till there be first one form of ecclesiastical
government ? Yea, what hope of a firm and desirable peace,
till prelacy, the main cause of all their miseries, be plucked
up root and branch, as a plant which God hath not planted ?"*
The lords and commons, in their reply, intimate that they
have resumed the consideration of church government, though
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 170. They addressed the king in similar terms.
In allusion to the difficulties by which the union of the two churches would
be encompassed, they say, " That they are not ignorant that the work is
great, and the difficulties and impediments many — that there are both
mountains and lions in the way : but the strongest let, till it be taken out
of the way, is the mountain of prelacy."

roots' mediation. 139
still in the storm : they allude to the uniformity desired by
the Scots as a thing not easily attainable ; but they express
a hope of agreement with their brethren in all substantial
points : they also declare that the bishops are the cause of
many calamities, and that " the government by archbishops,
bishops, deans, &c., is evil and burdensome, a great impedi
ment to reformation, and that the same shall be taken
away."* They next signify their intention of calling an
assembly of divines, for the purpose of settling such a govern
ment as shall be agreeable to the word of God. Such was
the state of things at the commencement of the war : the
effrontery of the Scots, in wishing to impose their own system
on the English church, was never exceeded.
Hitherto, the majority of both houses, as has been already
stated, were avowed friends to the church, or, at all events,
conformable to her rites. The presbyterians alone con
templated the destruction of the hierarchy ; but they were
few in number. " The remnant of the old separatists in
London was then very small, but enough to stir up the
younger and inexperienced to speak vehemently against the
bishops, and the church and ceremonies." f Baxter adds,
" Some members did cherish these disorders ; when they
had disgraced ship-money, and the et ccetera oath, and bowr
ing to altars, and such things as were against law, they
stopped not there, but set themselves to cast out the bishops,
and the liturgy, which were settled by law : they did so
easily admit of petitions against the episcopacy and liturgy,
and connived at all the clamours and papers which were
against them."t " The design against the church was not
yet grown popular in the two houses." 1| It is true that they
were not all agreed on the subject of church government.
The majority were episcopalians, and advocated the re
trenchment of many abuses. " Some were Erastians, and
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 172. f Baxter, part i. p. 26.
J Baxter, part i. p. 27. || Clarendon, vol. ii. p. s'l.

140 bill for the abolition of episcopacy.
would be content with any form of government the ma
gistrate should appoint : the real presbyterians, who were
for an entire change of the hierarchy upon the foot of divine
right, were as yet but few, and could carry nothing in the
house."* Yet, shortly after this period, a change was
effected in the commons. The presbyterians were a firm,
determined, and active, though, at the same time, small
party, whose ulterior, yet not professed, object was to set
up presbytery ; and in a short space every measure was
carried according to the views of that party.
At the close of the year 1642, the affairs of the parlia
ment were in an unprosperous state. They knew the price
at which the aid of the Scots could alone be purchased. A
bill was therefore prepared for the abolition of episcopacy.
On the 1st of September, it received the sanction of the
commons, and, on the 10th, that of the lords.-f- Though
the bishops had been attacked, the order had hitherto been
spared. The fears of the majority relative to the king's.
successes led them to pass the bill, as a peace-offering to
the Scots. Yet, nothing was decided respecting presbytery :
the presbyterians were anxious to adopt the Scottish plat
form, but the time was not yet arrived for an open declara
tion of their views ; a premature disclosure of their senti
ments would have alarmed the majority, and defeated their
own purposes. It was enacted, that the bill should not
come into operation till the 5th of November, 1643, — more
than a year from the time of its passing. This bait was laid
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 5.
f The bill enacts, that after a certain time there shall be no archbishops,
bishops, &c., nor any other office in the cathedrals; that their names, titles,
and jurisdiction, shall cease. That their lands, rents, and all their pos
sessions, shall revert to the crown; that all impropriations and tithes be
longing to deans and chapters shall be put in the hands of trustees, to be
disposed of for the support of such a number of preaching ministers in everv
cathedral as shall be appointed by parliament, and for the maintenance of
preaching ministers in other places.

bill for the abolition of episcopacy. 141
by the presbyterians to catch the wavering members ; and
the pill, thus gilded over, was taken by many who were by
no means hostile to the church, in the hope that, during the
year, a reconciliation would be effected between the king
and the parliament. A bill to establish presbytery would
not have been countenanced in either house ; nor was it
the intention of the majority to pei'mit the bill to come into
operation. Waller, the poet, was one of the strongest
opponents of the measure. In reply to the argument, that
the people must not be denied, he remarked, " that in the
next place we may have as hard a task to defend our pro
perty. If these innovations proceed, I shall expect a flat and
level in learning, too, as well as in church preferments.
Scripture is alleged against the church. For sacred scrip
ture I will not dispute ; but I am confident, that whenever
an equal division of lands and goods shall be desired, there
will be as many places in scripture found out which seem to
favour that, as there are now alleged against the prelacy.
He voted, therefore, for a reform, not for the abolition, of
episcopacy." *
Notwithstanding these acts of hostility, the majority in
both houses expected that a favourable change in their cir
cumstances, arising either from the reduction of the king, or
his compliance with their wishes, would enable them to save
the hierarchy.
The case of the bishops was now truly distressing. They
were subject to every species of annoyance and tumult.
Many, from a state of affluence, were speedily reduced to
a state of indigence.
Various arts were used to secure the passing of the bill.
The violent party threw every obstacle in the way, to pre
vent an amicable adjustment of the differences between the
king and the parliament. The presbyterians represented
* Johnson's Lives.

14'2 PRESBYTERIANS  REFLECTIONS.
that the Scots would not declare in their favour, unless they
would consent to alter the government of the church. The
lords were induced to believe that they must lose all, or
submit to the sacrifice. The bill was, therefore, supported
by the majority.
These acts were diametrically opposed to the recorded
sentiments of the majority of the parliament. The advo
cates of the parliament seek for the cause of the change in
the vacillating policy of the king: it is, however, more
reasonable to seek it in the practices of the presbyterians,
who, by uniting with the majority in seeking a redress of
grievances, by conceding their own views, and by fomenting
the divisions between the king and the parliament, gradually
wrought upon the majority to believe that the king could not
be trusted. The presbyterians were aided by the Scots, whom
nothing would satisfy but the extirpation of episcopacy. The
encouragement given to the Scots involved the parliament in
difficulties, from which they could never extricate themselves.
The majority of the episcopalians wished to abridge the power
of the bishops, and to limit the royal prerogative : they were
extremely fearful lest the king should be successful in the
war ; and the presbyterians seized every opportunity of mag
nifying the danger.
The history of these times furnishes a most instructive
lesson on the advantages of union in purpose and action.
The presbyterians were a small body, but they ever presented
a compact and unbroken front. Disunion never appeared in
their ranks : nor did they venture to propose any of their
favourite schemes, until the majority were so far involved as
to be compelled to support the measures of the minority, or
to abandon their whole cause. " By the negligence, laziness,
and absence of the churchmen, a handful of men, much
inferior in number and interest, came to give laws to the
major part : and, to shew that three diligent persons are
really a greater number than ten unconcerned, they, by

PRESBYTERIANS  REFLECTIONS.

143

plurality of voices, in the end, converted or reduced the
whole body to their opinions."* History can scarcely furnish
another instance of such important changes Accomplished by
the perseverance of a small party : a few energetic men,
such as were the leaders of the presbyterians, possess, during
seasons of popular excitement, almost unlimited influence,
not only over the minds of the giddy multitude, but also
over the wavering and undecided of the more elevated ranks
in society. The majority are ready to enrol themselves
under the banner of any daring leader who, fearless of con
sequences, can seize the favourable opportunity of action.
When the parliament assembled, the few presbyterians
appeared only as the patrons of the rights of the people.
The ill-advised attempt on the five members furnished them
with an opportunity, which was used to inflame the people
against the king. It cannot be denied that there were errors
committed by the royal party, which confirmed the repre
sentations of the presbyterians, and led many moderate men
to yield points of the utmost consequence. The king's re
moval into the north facilitated the union of the friends of
episcopacy with the presbyterians. Not a few were staggered
at the king's conduct : and the presbyterians, taking advan
tage of their hesitation, persuaded them to unite with them
in self-defence. Clarendon allows that the leaders of the
commons, Lenthall, Pym, Hollis, and the elder Vane, were
all well affected to the established religion. " Few of the
commons wished to destroy the hierarchy: they were for
moderate episcopacy. This would have satisfied the popular
leaders, but was offensive to the Scots. The necessity of
humouring that prejudiced people led the majority in the
commons to give more countenance to the bill for abolishing
episcopacy ."f In these sentiments the bulk of the people
concurred. In various petitions they deprecated the abolition
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 253. f Hallam's Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 158.

144 COVENANT IN SCOTLAND.
of the hierarchy and the liturgy. In London the presbyterians
preponderated ; and the London mob, countenanced by the
faction in the house, succeeded in awing the majority into
subjection. It was foreseen by the parliament that, in order to prevent
the success of his majesty, they must appeal to the Scots.
They had already sacrificed episcopacy : but the Scots were
not satisfied. They sent commissioners into Scotland, for
the purpose of prevailing with the Scots to unite with them
against the sovereign : and, vi'hen their aid could not be pro
cured except on the condition that the English parliament
should take the covenant, the sacrifice, costly as it was, was
made. The Scottish assembly nominated certain individuals
to accompany the commissioners to England, to assist in
preparing the nation for the change. They also issued a
declaration, containing their reasons for assisting the English
parliament against the papists and prelatical army. One of
their reasons was, the advantage likely to result to both
countries from uniformity in discipline and worship : " Eng
land has already laid the foundation, by casting off prelacy,
that great idol, and only wants their help to rear the building
and put on the cap-stone."*
The covenant was adopted by the Scots in 1638. To
secure their aid, the English parliament consented to receive
it. It was presented to the commons on the 28th August,
1 643 : and the 25th September was the day fixed for its
adoption. On that day, the house, together with the mem
bers of the assembly, met in St. Margaret's church. In the
morning. White prayed an hour, to prepare them for taking
it : Nye then ascended the pulpit, to shew its lawfulness from
scripture, after which he expatiated at considerable length
on the benefits likely to accrue from its adoption : Hender
son, one of the Scottish commissioners to the Westminster
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 205.

COVENANT IN ENGLAND — ITS NATURE. 145l
assembly, concluded this preliminary service in a declaration
of what the Scots had achieved, and of the great mercies
they had received. Nye again read the covenant from the
pidpit, when all the members held up their hands to signify
their assent. The members then subscribed their names:
and the service was concluded by Dr. Gouge, who prayed
for a blessing on the covenant, and on those who had sub
scribed it.*
Two hundred and twenty-eight members of the house of
commons subscribed their names. Shortly afterwards it was
ordered to be taken by all persons above the age of eighteen
years. How far this order was actually enforced cannot be
ascertained ; but it was imposed on the clergy, and on all
those who held places of honour or profit : " it was taken,"
says Mr. Hutchinson, " by the men and women of the garri
son, of Nottingham castle." On the following Sunday it was
read in all the London churches. On the 15th of October it
was subscribed by the house of lords. It was ordered that a
copy of the covenant should be sent to all commanders, who
were to tender it to the soldiers — that copies he delivered
to the ministers and churchwardens of every parish — that
the ministers should read it in their churches, and tender it
to their parishioners. In the following year it was ordered
by the commons, that the covenant should be read on every
day of fasting and humiliation : and that every parish should
cause a copy to be hung up in some conspicuous part of the
church. One clause, and that the most direct in its bearing on
the subject of this history, need only be quoted. It is as
follows : " That we shall, in like manner, without respect
of persons, endeavour the extirpation of popery, prelacy
{i. e, church government by archbishops, bishops, deans and
chapters, &c,, and all other ecclesiastical officers depending
* Whitelock's Memorials, p. 70.
L

146 COVENANT IN ENGLAND  ITS NATURE.
on that hierarchy), superstition, heresy, schism, profaneness,
and whatsoever shall be found to be contrary to sound doc
trine and the power of godliness, lest we partake in other
men's sins, and thereby be in danger to receive of their
plagues : and that the Lord may be one, and his name one,
in the three kingdoms." Hence it bound those who re
ceived it to use their exertions to extirpate episcopacy. Some
members of the assembly of divines stumbled at the word
" prelacy," being favourers of moderate episcopacy. To
overcome their scruples, the celebrated parenthesis was in
serted, descriptive of what kind of episcopacy was intended :
and Coleman, preaching before the lords, stated, " that, by
prelacy, we mean not all episcopacy, but only the form which
is here described."*
Some trickery was evidently practised by the presby
terians in their interpretation of this clause. They intended
to extirpate every kind of episcopacy : but, to meet the
scruples of-the more moderate men, they were willing that
the word " prelacy" should be interpreted to mean a parti
cular kind of episcopacy. ' The Scots and the English pres
byterians intended to erect their platform on the ruins of
episcopacy. While, however, the moderate men were de
ceived by the presbyterians, the latter were also outwitted
by some leading men in the parliament, whose principles,
though not yet avowed, were independent. A civil league
would have satisfied the English commissioners in Scotland :
but the Scots would not listen to such a proposition. Vane,
however, succeeded in inserting the word league into the
title, as a loop-hole in future for escaping from its imposi
tions. He also prevailed upon the Scots to admit into the
first article the expression, " according to the word of God,"
viewing it as a sufficient security against the encroachments
of presbytery. On the other hand, the Scots relied on the
* Baxter, vol. i. p. 49.

SCOTS COME TO ASSIST THE PARLIAMENT. 147
next clause, " and according to the practice of the best
reformed churches," not doubting that this expression secured
the full establishment of the presbyterian model.*
Notwithstanding the zeal of the parliament in imposing
the covenant, it appears that it was not universally received.
Baxter kept the parish of Kidderminster and the greater part
of Worcestershire from taking it, by keeping the rainisters
from offering it to their congregations. -f- Its imposition on
the clergy will be noticed in another chapter, where the pro
ceedings of the sequestrating committees are narrated.
The adoption of the covenant in England is one of the
most remarkable events in English history. The parliament
perceived that they must sacrifice the church to gain the
Scots, or risk the loss of all by the restoration of the king.
A torrent was bearing down upon all the established institu
tions of the country : while the moderate men, instead of
setting themselves resolutely to stem its violence, wrought
upon by their fears, yielded to the persuasions of the presby
terians, and sealed the ruin of the hierarchy.
When the English parliament had adopted the covenant,
the Scots were no longer tardy in coming to their assistance.
They entered England in January 1643-4. In the same
month, the king assembled at Oxford those members of the
two houses who had deserted from their brethren at West
minster. No less than one hundred and forty of the com
mons, with fifty or sixty peers, responded to his majesty's
call, and repaired to Oxford. The peers at Westminster
were only twenty-one in number : the commons consisted of
two hundred and eighty, and one hundred were absent in
the service of the parliament. They passed an ordinance
against the return of the members at Oxford, unless they
should first give satisfaction for their fidelity in future.
From the period of the covenant, therefore, the entire
* Burnet's Memoirs of Hamilton, p. 240. f Baxter, vol, i. p. 64.

148 SCOTS COME TO ASSIST THE PARLIAMENT.
parliament must be viewed as presbyterians, at least until
the independents sprang up and asserted their views in
opposition to presbytery and the covenant. The coming in
of the Scots turned the scale, which for some time had been
equally balanced. in favour of the parliament. As the Scots
were the original cause of the dispute between the king and
the commons, so were they a second time instrumental in
turning the current against their sovereign.
The lands belonging to the bishops were sequestered for
the use of the parliament : and, in addition to these posses
sions of the church, the estates of notorious delinquents,
under which designation were included all his majesty's
friends, were, by an ordinance of 1643, sequestered for the
public benefit.* Thus were the estates of the loyal inhabit
ants seized, to enable the parliament to prosecute the war
against the king. * Rushvforth, vol. v. p. 102.

149

CHAPTER XIV.
1643.
WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY  ITS ORIGIN — ITS MEMBERS — THEIR CHARACTER
AND OPINIONS  MILTOn's ACCOUNT OF THEM  SEQUESTRATIONS OF
clergy from 1640 to 1643  means used to defame the clergy 
petitions against the clergy — abusive terms — charges against
the clergy  committee for scandalous ministers  informers 
Baxter's statement — branch committees for the counties — com
mittee FOR PLUNDERED MINISTERS  CHARACTER OF THE SEQUESTERED
CLERGY — JEREMY TAYLOR AN EARLY SUFFERER — WHITE AND HIS
" FIRST CENTURY OF SCANDALOUS MINISTERS" — NUMBERS SEQUES
TERED — DISCIPLINE SET ASIDE — ORIGIN OF THE SECTS.
Having detailed the proceedings of both parties till the
period of the covenant, we shall now state the origin of the
Westminster assembly of divines. The object of the Scots
was to effect a union in worship and discipline between the
two churches, by the establishment of presbytery in both
countries. Nothing short of an assimilation in church go
vernment would satisfy the Scots.
As early as 1641, a committee of religion, composed of
bishops and barons, had been appointed by the lords to con
sider the abuses alleged against the church. This committee
was dispersed by the bill against deans and chapters. In the
celebrated remonstrance, it was requested that his majesty
would call an assembly of learned and pious divines, to com
plete the reformation of the church. In the year 1642, the
two houses intimated that they intended " speedily to have
consultation with godly and learned divines." The same
year, a bill authorising an assembly was passed, but neglected
by the king. The matter was again resumed in 1643. On
the 14th of June an ordinance was published, in which it
was stated that, " whereas no blessing is more dear than the

150 WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY — ITS ORIGIN.
purity of religion, and many things remain in the liturgy
and discipline of the church requiring a further reformation :
and the present parliament has resolved that the present
government by archbishops, &c. is evil and burdensome, an
impediment to reformation, and to be taken away : that such
a church government be settled as is most agreeable to God's
word, and apt to preserve the peace of the church at home,
and a nearer agreement with that of Scotland and other
reformed churches abroad : for the better effecting hereof,
and vindicating the church of England from all calumnies
and aspersions, it is thought necessary to call an assembly
of learned and judicious divines to advise hereupon, as shall
be proposed by either or both houses of parliament."* It is
next stated, that they " shall meet upon summons, signed
by the clerks of both houses of parliament, in Henry VII.'s
chapel, on July 1st, 1643, and, after the first meeting, shall,
from time to time, sit, and be removed from place to place,
in such manner as both houses shall direct. And the said
persons are authorised to confer of such matters concerning
the liturgy and discipline of the church, or the vindicating
its doctrines from false constructions, as shall be proposed
by both or either house of parliament, and no other."f
Dr. Twisse was nominated as prolocutor. The ordinance
closes with a repetition of the restriction relative to the
subjects of discussion : " But the said persons shall not exer
cise ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or any other power than here
expressed." The bill for calling an assembly had, earlier in
the summer, been refused by the king : under these circum
stances, the parliament voted that their ordinance, durino- his
majesty's absence, should be binding on the people ; and that
the afore-mentioned act should be turned into a pai-liamentary
ordinance." J;
Such was the origin of this famous assembly. The divines
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 125. •<¦ Ibid. J May, p. 188.

ITS MEMBERS  MILTOn's ACCOUNT OF THEM. 151
were nominated by the knights and burgesses, two from each
county ; and others were added from time to time by the
parliament. Thirty laymen were associated with the clergy
— some of the bishops and most eminent episcopalians were
named in the ordinance, but they refused to recognise the
authority by which the assembly was convened. Some few
were independents, who had recently returned from the con
tinent — they were designated the dissenting brethren. The
Scottish commissioners were also admitted to their meetings,
as representatives from the general assembly of Scotland.
The accounts given of the assembly by contemporary
writers are opposite and contradictory : while some speak
of them as illiterate and ignorant, others describe them as
the most learned men of the age : both are, perhaps, equally
remote from the truth. Clarendon states that, with the ex
ception of twenty, they were avowed enemies of the church
of England. This assertion is not correct if referred to the
period of their assembling ; but it is quite true when applied
to their subsequent proceedings. The noble historian, more
over, states " some were infamous in their lives, and most
of them of mean parts in learning, if not of scandalous ig
norance." That some were immoral in their lives is pro
bable, and it is certain that others were men of inferior
abilities ; but that the assertion relative to the ignorance of
the majority is incorrect, is evident from their proceedings.
Milton's account could scarcely be passed over in a his
tory of the assembly. He states that a certain number of
divines were called to reform the church ; " neither chosen
by any rule or custom ecclesiastical, nor eminent for either
piety or knowledge ahove others left out. The most part
were such as had preached and cried down, with great show
of zeal, the avarice and pluralities of the prelates ; that one
cure of souls was full employment for one spiritual person,
how able soever, if not a charge rather above human
strength. Yet these conscientious men wanted not boldness,

152 SEQUESTRATIONS OF CLERGY.
to the ignominy and scandal of their pastor-like profes
sion, and especially of their boasted reformation, to seize
into their hands, or, not unwillingly, to accept (besides one,
sometimes two or more, of the best livings), collegiate mas
terships in the university, rich lectures in the city, setting
sail to all winds that might blow gain into their covetous
bosoms." Their proceedings will be detailed at length in a
future page : it may be sufficient to remark now, that all
the members took the covenant in St. Margaret's church
with the house of commons.
From the period when the covenant was adopted, the
clergy were compelled to submit to that test, or lose their
preferments. A large proportion of the episcopal clergy had
been sequestered before the covenant was introduced ; we
shall now, therefore, give a sketch of the parliamentary
proceedings in reference to the subject, from the commence
ment of the session until September 1643, when the cove
nant was imposed.
The sequestrations of the clergy commenced almost with
the beginning of the parliament. In the outset the com
mons ejected, by their own authority, all those who were
obnoxious ; but, as business increased, this authority was
delegated to committees. Every means was resorted to to
blacken and defame the character of the ministers of the
established church. Many of the episcopal clergy were men
of vast erudition, as well as of unblemished reputation ; yet
every method was adopted to bring them and their office
into contempt ; names of the most odious kind were applied
in order to render them obnoxious to the populace ; while
every species of slander was industriously circulated, their
persons were exposed to the rude attacks of a disorderly
rabble. These things, however, were only the prelude to
the dismal tragedy that followed.
In the petitions presented to the commons against the
clergy, the most reproachful terms were introduced. All

PETITIONS AGAINST THE CLERGY. 153
the imaginary evils, under which the populace described
themselves as labouring, were laid at the door of the
bishops and clergy. These petitions were not only received
by the commons, but received without any expression of
indignation. The adherence of the clergy to that church,
to whose rites, ceremonies, and doctrines, they had yielded
their unfeigned assent, was converted into a crime. A com
mon charge was that of Arminianism, which, had it been
true, did not amount to a crime : many, however, of the
sufferers, as Hall, Prideaux, Sanderson, Usher, Morley, and
others, were, in matters of faith, avowed Calvinists. But the
principal charge was malignancy, which signified attachment
to the king, and opposition to the parliament.
These inflammatory petitions were supported in the house
by speeches of a similar tendency. If a clergyman from any
cause became obnoxious to any of his parishioners, a charge
was preferred, and sequestration followed. Public notice
was given throughout the country that a tribunal was
erected, where all charges against the clergy would be con
sidered. Servants were not unfrequently induced by bribes
to become spies upon their masters ; while any envious
parishioner had an opportunity of taking the most ample
revenge for any supposed affront. Such an opportunity was
not neglected by those who entertained a dislike to their
ministers. It was soon found that the little finger of the
parliament was heavier than the loins of the sovereign.
When a clergyman was charged with malignancy, or any
other constructive crime, he was compelled to incur an
immense expense by a journey to London, to meet the ac
cusations. The parliamentary journals exhibit a long list
of names of clergymen who were summoned to London on
vexatious charges, many of whom were imprisoned, and
then sequestered. Some of the clergy were confined in the
houses of the bishops, while others were placed on board the
vessels in the river, to the imminent danger of their lives.

154 CHARGES AGAINST THE CLERGY.
As early as November 6, 1640, the whole house was
formed into a grand committee of religion, of which White
was chosen chairman. Soon after, on the 19th November,
when the petitions against the clergy became too numerous
for the attention of the whole house, a sub-committee was
formed. Not only were the parishioners instigated to exhibit
charges against their ministers, but the knights and bur
gesses were required to bring informations respecting the
state of religion in their respective counties.* When such
facilities were granted for exhibiting charges against the
clergy, it cannot surprise us to find that this sub-committee,
with their indefatigable chairman. White, found themselves
fully occupied. It was designated the " committee for scan
dalous ministers." The very name proves the animosity and
deeply rooted hatred of the commons to the loyal clergy.
The very designation was intended to cast a shade over the
characters of the episcopal ministers. If an innocent clergy
man, from the malice of his servants, or of some of his
parishioners, was summoned before the committee, his cha
racter ever after, even though acquitted of the charge alleged
against him, was injured, and his usefulness among his
people destroyed ! The multitude are ever ready to revile
their superiors. Those clergymen, therefore, who escaped
from the fangs of the committee, became, on returning to
their parishes, subject to every species of insult from their
sectarian parishioners. The finger of scorn was pointed at
them as they passed along the streets ; and even the boys
exclaimed, " There goes a scandalous minister!" The de
signation of the committee was intended to imply that the
body of the clergy were immoral.
It appears that Finch, vicar of Christ Church, in London,
was the first clergyman ejected by the parliament. " It was
his misfortune to live in an age when the beauty of holiness
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 26.

COMMITTEE FOR SCANDALOUS MINISTERS. 155
was deemed deformity ; and when orthodoxy, conformity,
1 and politeness, were enrolled in the black list of crimes."*
Bowing at the name of Jesus, the use of the surplice, and
opposition to the parliament, were the usual charges against
those who appeared before the committee. Not a few were
sequestered for refusing to sanction the defacing the monu
ments in their churches, incurring, by their opposition to
4;he parliamentary ordinance, the charge of superstition and
popery. Others were charged merely with inserting the
letters I H S in some conspicuous part of the church. One
clergyman was summoned before the committee for saying
that " he had rather hear a pair of organs than Hopkins's
psalms, calling them Hopkins's jigs," Another was charged
merely with walking in his garden on the Sunday : and
though against the greater number the usual charge was ma
lignancy, yet all were sequestered under the general designa
tion, " scandalous ministers, " Dr. Clayfield was summoned
upon his knees before the commons for saying, " From all
lay-puritans, good Lord deliver me." Sir John Lamb was
compelled to appear for setting up an organ : many were
summoned to London, imprisoned, and then liberated by
exorbitant bail : informations were even received against
clergymen for sermons preached two years before the present
parliament was assembled ; and some were taken into cus
tody for refusing to read the parliamentary declarations. -f-
In a short space more than two thousand petitions were
presented. Business accumulating in consequence of the
numerous petitions, the sub-committee was again divided
into several smaller ones, designated after the names of
their respective chairmen, as White's, Corbet's, Harlowe's,
*Granger, vol.v.p.l99; Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, part ii. p. 1 70.
f Some were charged with crimes, committed, as was alleged, before
their entrance in the ministerial office. Others with praying to departed
saints, whereas they had only used the words of thanksgiving in the prayer
for the church militant, for those already departed in the fiiith.

156 INFORMERS  BAXTER's STATEMENT.
and Deering's. When a petition was presented against a
minister, even though a very few names were attached, it
was received as the petition of the parish. The accusers of
the clergy were almost always profligate characters, or en
thusiastic sectarians.* When the petitions were considered,
if the accused party was deemed guilty, the order of seques
tration was issued, and its execution entrusted to certain
individuals named in the order. At this time the parlia
ment had not resorted to that systematic mode of procedure,
which was adopted at a later period.
Speaking of these earlier ejections, Baxter remarks that
the parliamentary commissioners expelled the scandalous and
opposers, but left nearly one half who could do neither good
nor harm. If by the half remaining he means that half of
the whole body of the clergy, the ejections must have been
numerous indeed. It is clear from the admissions even of
Baxter and others, that the larger portion of the early
sequestered clergy were not immoral, but opposers of the
parliament. The commons were aware of the influence
usually possessed by a clergyman over his parishioners ; and
as their army, after the commencement of the war, was re
cruited from the country, it became an important point to
secure a well-affected clergy in every place to which their
authority was extended. Hence, they endeavoured to confer
the benefices of the church on persons in whom they could
confide ; and, as fast as the towns and villages fell under
their authority, the loyal clergy were sequestered.
To manifest their contempt of the services of the church,
some of the people would put on their hats during the cele
bration of divine worship. In some churches the disaffected
parishioners placed themselves at the further end of the
church during the communion, in order that they might be
* Any common informer was encouraged to bring charges ; and some
notorious characters were accustomed to extort money from the clergy under
the pretence of joining the parishioners in an information.

BRANCH COMMITTEES FOR THE COUNTIES. 157
prepared with a charge against the minister, if he declined
to carry the elements to the places where they were sitting.
Besides the various committees into which the original
sub-committee was divided, and which have 'already been
specified, there were others, at a subsequent period, ap
pointed for the more distant parts of the country, denomi
nated committees of parliament, and country committees.
They were composed of the deputy-lieutenants, and such
individuals as were named by the parliament. They were
also denominated committees for such and such a place.
The first of these branch committees commenced its sittings
at Northampton in 1643. They were authorised to examine
witnesses, and to transmit the documents to London. Until
the establishment of these country committees London and
the parts adjacent had suffered more severely than the
distant parts of the country. It was now impossible for any
one to escape — many had hitherto avoided sequestration, in
consequence of their distance from London. It was not
easy for the parishioners who disliked their minister-to travel
from a remote part of the country to London, at a period
when travelling was attended with considerable danger ; but
an opportunity was now offered to any disaffected person to
exhibit a charge against an innocent clergyman, by erecting
a tribunal at his very door.
In addition to these committees for scandalous ministers,
another had been appointed in December 1642, called the
" Committee for plundered Ministers." It was authorised
to make provision for " such godly preachers as had either
suffered loss of goods by his majesty's soldiers, or loss of
livings for adhering to the houses of parliament." This
committee was in derision termed the " Committee for
plundering Ministers." They had authority to place their
sufferers in the livings of the ejected loyalists. In many
cases, however, the new ministers were not appointed for
life, but only during pleasure. In 1643, this committee was

158' JEREMY TAYLOR AN EARLY SUFFERER.
empowered to receive information against scandalous clergy
men ; and from this period it appears that the committee
for plundered ministers, and that for scandalous ministers,
acted together.
It is often asserted that the ejected clergy were either
immoral or insufficient ; whereas it is evident that they were
equal, if not superior, to those appointed by the parliament.
A long list of names from the early sequestrations might
easily be produced, to disprove the assertion that they were
generally scandalous in their lives, or of inferior talents ; *
one case, that of the celebrated Jeremy Taylor, may be
adduced as an example. The sequestration of this learned,
and excellent, and amiable man, was one of the first fruits
of the labours of the committee for scandalous ministers ;
for Taylor was ejected in 1642. No other evidence is re
quired to shew that the most pious and talented men were
ejected, while the avowed object of the committee was the
sequestration of the immoral alone. Taylor could not have
been cast out for scandalous conduct, for it was most exem
plary ; nor yet for insufficiency, since his eminent learning
was unquestionable. Nor could he be charged with violent
opposition to the parliament, for violence was opposite to his
nature; and he was mild, gentle, and peaceable, beyond
most of his contemporaries. No ! his piety, learning, and
virtues, endeared him to his parishioners, and enabled him
to exercise an unbounded influence over them. His cha
racter rendered him an object of dislike to the parliament,
who could not permit him to escape, though his piety and
talents were indisputable.
Notwithstanding the many names that might be adduced,
the advocates of the parliament assert, that few, if any, were
ejected before the imposition of the covenant, except for
immoral practices. Can it be denied that Taylor was ejected
* Milton states that he assisted the puritans, " who were inferior in
learning to the bishops."

JEREMY TAYLOR AN EARLY SUFFERER.

159

in 1642? or that many of his fellow-sufferers were his equals
in piety ? The truth is, none escaped whose sentiments were
known to be JFavourable to the king. Neal states that none
were sequestered, except for false doctrine or opposition to
the pariiament, till after the imposition of the covenant.*
No less, however, than one hundred and ten of the Lon
don clergy were sequestered before the covenant was
introduced.f It cannot be supposed that half of this number
were scandalous or active promoters of the war. Nay, Neal
in the very same pages nullifies his own previous assertion ;
for he laments " that several pious and good bishops and
other clergymen suffered afterwards in common with their
brethren, either because they could not take the covenant
or comply with the new directory."! Now, it is notorious
that the bishops had been sufferers long before the covenant.
Neal admits, however, that the commissioners were some
times too forward in exposing the failings of the clergy, and
that the country committees ejected chiefly for malignity .§
Neal attempts a justification of the parliament, by insinu
ating that the committees might in some instances have
exceeded their instructions as given in the ordinance. || It
is true that they did exceed the letter of their instructions ;
but the parliament never restrained them. As no attention
was ever paid to the complaints of the sufferers, the parlia
ment must be considered as implicated in the practices of
their servants.
The ejected clergy were, in most cases, reduced to the
greatest indigence : they were cast upon the world without
the means of subsistence. The proceedings of the high
commission were never so tyrannical as those of the parlia
ment. In the year 1643, the notorious White published his
" First Century of Scandalous Ministers," from which title
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 25. f Walker, vol. ii. p. 180.
X Neal, vol. iii. p. 25. § Ibid. p. 34. || Ibid. p. 35.

160 FIRST CENTURY OF SCANDALOUS MINISTERS.
he has ever since been designated Century White. In many
of the pamphlets of the day the clergy are loaded with
abuse : it was not sufficient to rob them of their livings,
but their names must be branded with infamy. The title
of White's pamphlet was intended to imply, that all the
ejected clergy were scandalous : with some few exceptions,
however, the crimes of which they stand charged are, bow
ing at the name of Jesus, not observing the parliamentary
fasts, and, principally, malignancy. White never published
the Second Century, though he threatened it ; but he wrote
another work, entitled the " Looking Glass," in which he
states, that all who opposed the parliament are guilty of the
sin against the Holy Ghost.* He died in 1644. In one of
his speeches he stated that there were eight thousand scan
dalous clergy, who deserved sequestration ; and in this
pamphlet he boasts of having assisted in ejecting eight
thousand. The number was, doubtless, greatly exaggerated
by White, who, like many open profligates, boasted of more
enormities than he had actually perpetrated ; yet this boast
proves the amount of sequestrations, before the covenant
even, to have been very numerous. In 1647, a petition
was presented to Fairfax, in the name of many thousand
sequestered ministers, who allege that they were ejected by
the two committees for scandalous and plundered ministers ;
but how many of them were sequestered before the time of
the covenant, cannot be ascertained. Not only were scur
rilous pamphlets printed against the clergy, but their names
were reviled from the pulpit by the presbyterian ministers.
Neal admits, that the silencing of so many rendered it
difficult to supply the vacant livings with suitable persons. f
Many parishes were destitute of a minister; to remedy
which deficiency, not a few men of slender abilities, and
without education, were admitted into the sacred office.
* Wood's Ath. vol. i. p. 71. f Neal, vol. iii. p. 40.

ORIGIN OP THE SECTS.

161

These individuals were not regularly inducted, but were
mere tenants at will. Neal, with his usual ingenuity, turns
this circumstance to the account of the parliament, in
timating that they reserved the power of displacing them,
in order that in the event of a reconciliation with the king,
those who had been ejected for opposition to the parliament,
might be restored.*
At the time of the covenant, no ordinance had been
passed to set aside the liturgy of the church ; nor was such
an act effected till a later period. But from this time dis
cipline was virtually dissolved. " There were no more
ecclesiastical courts ; no visitations ; no wearing the habits ;
no regard paid to the canons or ceremonies, nor even to the
common prayer itself." f Before, therefore, the liturgy was
set aside by authority, it ceased to be used ; and those mi
nisters who adopted it became obnoxious to the parliament,
and generally lost their livings. The people were gradually
prepared for the destruction of the ancient order. At first
neither the people nor the parliament were prepared to
reject that formulary, which had been used by their an
cestors, and had become endeared to them by long usage.
The commons disclaimed the idea of extirpating the liturgy ;
yet, after this declaration, they frequently inducted ministers
to the churches, who, not only refused to read it, but pub
licly reviled it from the pulpit. Even when the assembly
was convened, it was stated that " parliament did not intend
wholly to abrogate the common prayer." When, however,
the aid of the Scots was purchased by the covenant, the
common prayer was no longer held in reverence.
The origin of the numerous sects can be traced to this
period. Episcopal government was abolished ; the covenant
was taken ; the liturgy was disused ; but no other system
was erected : hence every one was at liberty to follow his
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 41. f Ibid. p. 97,
M

162 CHARGES AGAINST LAUD.
own inclination. From this time till the end of the war
the sectaries increased, and, in the absence of ecclesiasical
discipline, obtained possession of many of the sequestered
churches.

CHAPTER XV.
1644.
LAUD  CHARGES AGAINST HIM  CHARGES EXAMINED- — INFLUENCE OF THE
SCOTS  THEIR IIATREl5 OF LAUD  HIS DIARY AND PAPERS SEIZED 
ORDINANCE OF ATTAINDER  DEATH AND CHARACTER  HIS VIEWS ON
CHURCH GOVERNMENT  HALL WRITES HIS WORK ON EPISCOPACY 
NEW DISCIPLINE  LITURGY ABOLISHED  DIRECTORY.
When the English parliament was fairly committed to the
covenant, it became necessary to give other proofs of their
zeal against episcopacy. Laud's name was detested by the
Scots, in consequence of the canons and liturgy ; and they
sought every opportunity of inflaming the English public
against the fallen prelate. From the year 1640 he had
continued in the Tower, almost forgotten amid the tumults
and confusions of the period. In 1643, however, in obedi
ence to the Scots, he was called upon to answer to the
charge of treason. As his death forms so conspicuous an
event in the history of these times, and shews in such strong
colours the enmity of his opponents, the circumstances con
nected therewith may be detailed here for the purpose of
illustrating the ecclesiastical proceedings of the period now
under review.
It must be admitted that Laud was justly chargeable
with many acts of imprudence ; but they cannot be con
strued into treason : nor could they deserve so severe a
penalty as the forfeiture of life. The charges adduced were

CHARGES AGAINST LAUD.

163

numerous, but eventually were comprehended under three
distinct heads. He was charged with " treacherously en
deavouring to subvert the rights of parliament, and the fund
amental laws of the kingdom." This charge was attempted
to be proved by the production of his own diary, in which
were these words, " a resolution was voted at the board to
assist the king in extraordinary ways, if the parliament
should refuse." There is nothing treasonable in this pas
sage; nor, if there had been, ought his own papers to have
been produced to prove his guilt and endanger his life. The
other charges relate entirely to matters of religion : as set
ting up images in his chapel ; practising superstitious observ
ances in the consecration of churches; placing the com
munion-table altar -wise; bowing at the name of Jesus ;
encouraging Arminianism ; suppressing Fox's " Book of
Martyrs," to gratify the catholics;* and a design to bring
in popery. All these charges were declared to constitute
one general crime of high treason.
That he attempted to give an undue influence to the
crown ; that many of his proceedings were marked by
severity, — are points clearly established. But his intentions
were not such as his enemies would represent. His opinions
were formed, and his actions were influenced, by the maxims
of the age. The sound of liberty had but recently been heard
in this country ; nor was it understood, as was proved by
events. During the time of Laud's influence, as much prac
tical liberty was enjoyed by the subject as at any previous
period. Neither Charles nor Laud attempted to establish a
new principle in endeavouring to defend the prerogative
against the encroachments of the people. The same practices
had been pursued by Henry, Elizabeth, and James. Charles
merely walked in the steps of his predecessors : Laud only
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 442. With regard to Fox, Laud stated that the
work alluded to was only an abridgement, and that he had suppressed it lest
the original should fall into disuse.

164 INFLUENCE OF THE SCOTS — THEIR HATRED OF LAUD.
advised the king to pursue a system that was completely
in accordance with the principles of the times. Laud was
not destitute of principle : the purity of his motives, how
ever mistaken may have been his views, will not be ques
tioned by impartial posterity. Nor ought it to be forgotten,
in forming an estimate of his conduct, that his example was
soon copied by the men whose outcries against his adminis
tration were the loudest.
The parliament would have been justified in preventing
him from exercising any further influence over the sovereign.
This object, indeed, was now fully accomplished by the aboli
tion of episcopacy. It cannot be alleged in justification, that
it was necessary to remove a dangerous enemy, for Laud's
power was destroyed, and his person under their own con
trol : and, as so long a space elapsed from his commitment
until his trial, the measure appeared the more cruel and
vindictive. Had the impeachment been followed by his
speedy execution, the plea of necessity might, with some
colour, have been set up. More than three years had
elapsed, a period sufficient to allow their anger to cool.
To bring him, covered with hoary hairs, and labouring under
the weight of years, to an ignominious death on the scaffold,
evinced a desire, not of justice, but revenge.
His fate was undoubtedly hastened in order to gratify the
Scots, as well as for the purpose of inspiring the royalists
with terror. The parliament could not plead the necessity
of appeasing the popular fury, for the people had forgotten
him : nor would their attention have been recalled but by
the proceedings at his trial. It probably was not the original
intention of the parliament to act with so much severity :
but, when the league with Scotland was entered into, they
were tempted to give the Scots a proof of their sincerity
in the reformation of the church, by removing her greatest
champion. The primate defended himself with great vigour. For

HIS DIARY AND PAPERS SEIZED.

165

two years and a half the committee of the house of commons
had been searching for evidence : during the same space he
was closely imprisoned : yet no evidence sufficient to esta
blish the charge of treason could be procured. It was
rumoured that he had kept a diary of the transactions in
which he had been engaged. The committee, therefore,
issued a warrant to search his papers. In pursuance of this
order, Prynne and others, with a party of soldiers, entered
the archbishop's chamber before he had risen from his bed.
On entering the room, Prynne rushed to the side of the bed,
and took from the archbishop's pocket the diary, which was
the principal object of their search. He seized, moreover,
twenty-one bundles of papers, which he had prepared for
his defence, and also his book of private devotion. It was
as unfeeling as it was unjust to seize his papers and use them
at his trial : yet the diary was produced in court several
times while the archbishop was present. The registers of
the high commission were ransacked by his enemies ; while
he was not permitted to consult them. The enmity of the
commons was evinced by the selection of his implacable
enemy Prynne as his principal accuser, and by entrusting
to him the warrant for the seizure of his books. The age,
station, and misfortunes of the prisoner certainly pleaded for
gentler treatment.
The trial commenced on the 20th of March, 1644, and
was continued during twenty days, not in succession, but at
considerable intervals. The 29th of July was the last day
of hearing : on the 2d of September he recapitulated the
charges with much ability. During the trial, he was exposed
to the insults of the mob, while going to and returning from
the house of peers. Sergeant Wilde stated in his speech,
" that he marvelled the people did not tear him in pieces as
he passed between his barge and the house." This was, at
least, a gentle hint to the mob to prevent the necessity of a
public execution. Some of the clergy branded him from the

166 HIS REPLY TO THE CHARGES.
pulpit as their chief enemy. The charges were so trivial,
that posterity will wonder how his enemies " could improve
feathers into monsters. Such is the act of managers in an
ill cause, to raise apparitions that terrify more than living
bodies."* His replies to the charges were full and satisfactory. In
answer to the charge of repairing the windows of the chapel
at Lambeth defaced at the reformation, he stated that he
knew not that the subjects were to be found in the missal,
but that he had restored them from his recollection of the
histories to which the pieces referred, and from the fragments
that remained. During the height of his power, the uni
versity of Oxford addressed him in terms of the most fulsome
adulation: in their letters he is styled " his holiness," and
" most holy father." These expressions were embodied in
the charges. That Laud should have suffered such language
to be used without reproof, is not so surprising as that the
university should have adopted it. Every charge was magni
fied by the managers of the trial. With regard to the Scottish
liturgy, he solemnly declared that he received the first inti
mation of what was intended from the king, and that he was
not consulted till the scheme was ripe for execution. The
Bishop of Ross was more implicated in this measure than
Laud, though his strong views on the subject of episcopacy
gave a colour to the charge. The voice of justice calls loudly
on posterity to vindicate Laud's character from unfounded
aspersions : " yet," says Lord Hailes, " what historian dares
defend him?" At the time of his trial, innocence was of no
avail, since the current of popular opinion was irresistible.
The charge of popery had no foundation : " he was too proud
to submit to the church of Rome — he never could bring his
neck under the Roman yoke, though he might stick for the
grandeur of the clergy. "f " The archbishop was much
* Comp. Hist. vol. iii. p. 86. t Wilson's Annals of James I.

ORDINANCE OF ATTAINDER — DEATH. 167
against the court of Rome, though not against that church
in so high a kind."* He declared that he never contem
plated the introduction of popery : nor were his enemies able
to fasten the charge upon him. It is, indeed, certain that
the catholics once entertained hopes of his conversion : but
their expectations were soon dissipated by his learned work
against Fisher, the Jesuit. A writer, who cannot be charged
with partiality to the archbishop's memory, asserts, that,
" if for nothing else, yet for his learned work against Fisher,
he deserved far another fate than he met with, and ought
not now to be mentioned without due honour." f
To load his memory with obloquy, his diary, in a garbled
state, was published by Prynne, with various notes and com
ments, distinguished by their virulence against the archbishop.
In the recapitulation of his defence, he says, " I saw every
lord present with a new thin book, in folio." A perusal of
this work, even as given by Prynne, will furnish abundant
evidence of the kindness of his disposition, and the integrity
of his views.
Treason, after all their efforts, could not be proved : the
commons, therefore, proceeded by attainder. The ordinance
stuck in the lords, who concurred with the commons as to
the facts ; but desired satisfaction in point of law. On the
4th of January, however, 1644-5, when six peers only were
present, the ordinance passed the upper house : and, on the
20th of the same month, he was sacrificed to the clamours
of his enemies. While the lords were hesitating, the citizens
of London presented a petition praying for speedy justice,
" which was, no doubt," says Neal, " an artful contrivance
of his enemies." J This execution proves that a parliament
can act with more tyranny than a king : " The most unjusti
fiable act of these zealots was the death of Laud."^
In forming an estimate of his character, it must be recol-
* May, p. 16. t Rehearsal Transposed , p. 281.
X Neal, vol. iii. p. 243. § Hallam, vol. ii. p. 236.

168 CHARACTER OF LAUD.
lected that it has been his fate to be viewed as a martyr by
his friends, and a tyrant by his foes. That he was injudicious
in imposing ceremonies not sanctioned by the practice of the
English church, is admitted : that he was aspiring and ambi
tious, is equally certain : but that he intended to sacrifice the
liberties of his country, is the gratuitous assumption of his
enemies. He was sincere, though unwise, in his proceedings.
" He had," says Clarendon, " great parts and virtues, allayed
by infirmities : a sharp way of expressing himself: as his
enemies accused him of popery, though not inclined to it,
so he had as much prejudice to serve as if they were enemies
to the discipline of the church, because they concurred with
Calvin in points of doctrine." He was less concerned in the
high commission than the lay members. His views of reli
gious liberty were as just as those of the puritans : the prin
ciples of both were the same : and, while the practices of the
puritans are attributed to the principles of the age, the same
allowance must, in justice, be made for the archbishop. The
very men whom Laud persecuted for not using the common
prayer, acted on the same principle when they grasped the
sword of the civil magistrate.
The enemies of the primate are unwilling to admit of
any redeeming qualities in his character — even his learning
has been questioned : yet was he outstripped by any of his
contemporaries in solid and useful learning? Let his bene
factions to the university be viewed as proofs of his love of
learning, and of his sincere desire to promote it in others —
let his charities in London, at Reading, at Nottingham,
reflect honour on his memory as a humane and liberal
benefactor of the poor. That he was a great man will
scarcely be disputed by the unprejudiced. " With all his
faults of temper," says Bishop Heber, " and judgment (ex
aggerated as those faults have been by the bitterness of the
party whom he first persecuted, and who afterwards hunted
him to death), he must ever deserve the thanks of posterity

CHARACTER OF LAUD. 169
as a liberal and judicious patron of that learning and piety
which he himself possessed in no ordinary degree."* " He
exhibited," says Mosheim, " a mixed character of great
qualities and great defects. The voice of justice must cele
brate his erudition, fortitude, and ingenuity, zeal for science,
and munificence to men of letters." " He was learned, sin
cere, and zealous," observes Bishop Burnet, " regular in his
own life, and humble in his private deportment ; but hot
and indiscreet, eagerly pursuing some things inconsiderable
or mischievous." Fuller states that his articles of visitation
were as moderate as those of any other bishop. His errors
were evidently those of the head, not of the heart ; his
judgment was erroneous, but his intentions were honest.
His private character was never assailed. Some things
are alleged as proofs of a contracted mind : some late
writers charge him with superstition, and with being an
observer of dreams, because in his Diary he alludes to
auspicious days, and mentions bleeding at the nose. It
should, however, be remembered that the wisest men of
that age were not emancipated from the influence of such
feelings ; and even in the present day they remain in full
vigour among the uneducated classes of society. Baxter and
all the clergy of that day were firm believers in witchcraft ;
and the enlightened Hale consigned several miserable objects
who were charged with witchcraft to death. Many works
were written on the subject ; and unbelief on this point was
considered as equal to a rejection of the Bible. It is not
singular, therefore, that Laud should have been influenced
by the general views of the age.
It is questionable whether those feelings of superstition,
so common in the days of our ancestors, were more in
jurious in their tendency than the latitudinarianism of the
present enlightened age. Many who are freed from the
* Life of Jeremy Taylor.

170 HIS VIEWS ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
influence of such feelings, are emancipated also from the
shackles of the Bible and Christianity. The fate of Laud
is pregnant with instruction : it may serve to shew that the
fall of the mitre is inseparable from the fall of the crown.
Laud's notions on the subject of church government were
at variance with those adopted by many of his predecessors,
who, until the time of Bancroft, never claimed a divine right
for the government of the English church ; and even Ban
croft admitted the validity of presbyterian ordination ; for
when it was suggested in 1610 that the Scotch bishops elect
should be ordained presbyters, he opposed on the ground
that ordination by presbyters was valid. As the presbyte
rians advanced the claim of divine right with so much
arrogance, the episcopalians assumed a new position and
defended their own platform on the same ground. The
divine right of presbytery was pleaded by the Scots with a
dogmatism almost ridiculous. " To balance their declara
tions Laud recommended Bishop Hall to write on the divine
right of episcopacy."* The work was undertaken by Hall,
and, when completed, was sent to Laud, who corrected the
manuscript with a pencil. f In returning the manuscript to
the bishop, he remarks in a letter with which it was ac
companied, " You say that episcopacy is an ancient, holy,
and divine institution : it must be ancient and holy if divine.
Would it not be more full thus, ' So ancient as that it is of
divine institution.' You define episcopacy by being joined
with imparity and superiority of jurisdiction ; but tbis seems
short, for every arch-presbyter's place is so, unless you will
define it by a distinction of order. Now grant that pres
bytery is of use where episcopacy is not to be had ; first, I
pray you, consider whether this conversion be not needless
here, and in itself of dangerous consequence : next, I con
ceive there is no place where episcopacy may not be had :
* Neal, vol. ii. p. 337.
t See full particulars in Heylin's Life of Laud.

HALL WRITES HIS WORK ON EPISCOPACY.

171

thirdly, since they challenge their presbyterian fiction to be
Christ's kingdom, we must not use mincing terms, but un
mask them." Hall said that he had passed over the ques
tion whether episcopacy be an order or degree, as not
material. Laud thought it the ground of the whole cause,
and desired the bishop to weigh it and alter it.* Hall cor
rected the MS., and the work was published under the title
of " Episcopacy by Divine Right."
Two things are evident from the preceding quotations —
first, that Hall's sentiments on the subject of episcopacy were
in accordance with the majority of the English church down
to this period, who contended that bishops were not distinct
from presbyters in order, but only in degree : secondly, that
Laud's new opinions on the question of the divine right
originated in the lofty and absurd pretensions of the advo
cates for the presbyterian polity.
Hall's work was published shortly before the commence
ment of the troubles. When episcopacy was attacked in
1640, Hall again- stood forward as the champion of the
church, and published " An Humble Remonstrance to the
Parliament; " and, soon after, " A Defence of the Remon
strance." The controversy to which these works gave rise
will be noticed in another chapter.
At an earlier period the removal of Laud from the coun
cils of the king, and an alteration in some few of the cere
monies of the church, would have satisfied the parliament,
the puritan clergy, and the people : now, however, the
hierarchy itself must be destroyed. Though the long par
liament was composed of men of very dissimilar and dis
cordant views, there was, nevertheless, a unity of purpose
and action, which he attributed to the skill of the leaders in
merging their own peculiar views in their prosecution of the
common object. The covenant was the contrivance of the
* Life of Laud by Heylin.

172 NEW DISCIPLINE  LITURGY ABOLISHED.
presbyterians, and the moderate men received it in conse
quence of the uncertainty in which they were placed. The
day on which the bill of attainder against Laud passed the
lords was distinguished by another act against the church,
for on that day the commons passed another ordinance to
abolish the liturgy. The archbishop's funeral was celebrated
according to the rites of the church, though at that time the
use of the common prayer exposed a clergyman to the risk
of sequestration. The liturgy had long been disused, and
especially in the London churches, but now it was set aside
by an ordinance. By the same ordinance, the directory was
substituted in its room — it was framed by the assembly of
divines, and merely gave hints to the minister, leaving him
to act according to his own discretion. It is the same as
that still used in the church of Scotland : but though es
tablished by authority of parliament, the directory never
became general in the churches, as is clear from the various
complaints of the presbyterians, and the various ordinances
of parliament to enforce its observance.
Episcopacy had long been abolished : but no other dis
cipline had been erected.* Baxter censures this act of the
parliament, in removing the old system before they were
prepared with a new one. The fact is, at the time when
episcopacy was abolished, the parliament were by no means
prepared to establish presbytery. By the ordinance, the
directory was enjoined on every minister, under a certain
penalty : while the use of the common prayer was prohi
bited both in public and private. The penalty for the first
offence was a fine of five pounds ; for the second, a year's
imprisonment. The books belonging to the respective
churches were ordered to be brought in by the parish
authorities to the committees sitting in every county. Yet,
after all, the liturgy was held in reverence by the better part
* Vide Neal, vol. ii. p. 585.

DIRECTORY.

173

of the nation. The Scots were exceedingly sore on the sub
ject. A committee of the Scots parliament, writing to the
English house of commons, complains, "that their kirk is
more scandalised in matters of religion, which concern God,
than for any thing to themselves : particularly that the ser
vice book is still retained in some places of England under
the parliament's power, and the directory slighted."* As
long as the war continued, the parliament would not enforce
it where their authority was not recognised : but as the pro
gress of the war brought the country into subjection, the
clergy were compelled to submit, or risk the loss of their
livings. At the time, however, when the presbyterians con
templated the full establishment of their system, they were
thwarted by the independents : so that the directory never
became universal.
A singular and confused scene was now presented in the
various parishes of England. In London the churches as
sumed the appearance of uniformity according to the direct
ory; but in the country disorder was predominant. Had
the new discipline been set up when episcopacy was abolished,
its continuance would probably have been secured ; but since
that time so many sects had sprung up, and so many pulpits
had become occupied by sectarian individuals, that the pres
byterians found it impossible to erect their platform.
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 592.

174
CHAPTER XVI.
1645 — 1648,
DISCONTENTS — SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE  THE INDEPENDENTS — TREATY
AT UXBRIDGE  BATTLE OF NASEBY  KING GOES TO SCOTS  DISCUSSIONS
WITH HENDERSON — -DELIVERED TO PARLIAMENT  COUNCIL OF AGI
TATORS  KING SEIZED  REFLECTIONS  CROMWELL  VIEWS OF PAR
TIES  ARMY' TO LONDON  ARMY AND PARLIAMENT APPEAR RECONCILED
 KING ESCAPES TO ISLE OF WIGHT  SCOTS PROPOSE TERMS  HE RE
FUSES THE FOUR BILLS  VOTE OF NO MORE ADDRESSES  ARMY RETIRE
TO QUELL DISTURBANCES  PARLIAMENT SET ON FOOT TREATY AT NEW
PORT  IS INEFFECTUAL  ARMY ADVANCE TO LONDON  PRIDe's PURGE
 CHARACTER OF THE PARLIAMENT.
It has been proved, in a previous chapter, that the majority
of both houses were originally conformists, and never con
templated the demolition of the church. It must, however,
be admitted, that the notions of many of the members, as
well as of the ministers, on the subject of church govern
ment, were loose and unsettled : they did not, therefore,
hesitate to sacrifice episcopacy when the aid of the Scots
was required, and could not be procured by a less costly
sacrifice. The majority acted under the pressure of a sup
posed necessity ; and from the passing of the covenant until
] 640, the parliament was presbyterian in its aspect. In that
year they were outwitted by the independents, who had
gained the ascendency in the army.
During the year 1646, the army of the parliament was
victorious; yet the king was not subdued. The blame was,
therefore, placed by the independents to the account of the
'generals, who were charged with lukewarmness in the cause.
The dissatisfaction of that party led to a material change
in the composition of the army ; and the circumstances,
though less religious than political, exercised so extensive
an influence on the future, that they cannot be passed over
without some notice.

SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE. 175
Every reader of English history is acquainted with the
nature of the self-denying ordinance. It is noticed here,
because it paved the way for the ultimate ascendency of the
independents, first in the army, and subsequently in the par
liament. The ordinance was a scheme of the independents.
For some time they acted in concert with the presbyterians :
nor did they cease to co-operate in the general measures of
the parliament, until the latter ceased to prosecute the con
test to the extent they desired. They acted with consummate
prudence, under the guidance of experienced leaders, as
Cromwell, Vane, Hazlerig, and others : they consented to
the covenant, not that presbytery was more agreeable to
tbeir views than episcopacy, but because their ultimate
object — the ruin of the king — could not otherwise have
been accomplished. Having prepared the troops, into whose
affection they had insinuated themselves, to expect some im
portant change, the leaders, though only a minority in the
house, proposed that no member of parliament should hold
any post in the army. Though the scheme was unfavourable
to the views of the presbyterians, they did not venture to
oppose it, lest their opposition to what appeared at first sight
so reasonable, should be construed into lukewarmness in the
cause. The ordinance was passed : and Fairfax was nomi
nated to succeed the Earl of Essex in the command of the
army. Cromwell was probably one of the authors of this
masterpiece of independent policy. The ordinance was pre
paratory to a new model of the army. The independents had
long seen that some bold scheme was necessary to ensure the
success of their party. They had thwarted every attempt at
reconciliation with the king : by alarming the majority with
a horrid picture of the halters and the scaffolds that awaited
them, in the event of his majesty's restoration; and, by acquir
ing influence with the army, they gradually widened the breach
between the king and the parliament. Still the army was offi
cered by presbyterians, who were devoted to the parliament :

176 treaty at uxbridge.
the independents therefore began to complain of the length of
the war; and, by means of the ordinance, they effected the
removal of all the influential commanders, who, as members
of parliament, were compelled to resign their posts. Inde
pendents were appointed to the vacant situations. Cromwell
was ordered to London, and pretended a ready compliance :
but Fairfax, the general, wrote to the parliament, requesting
permission for Cromwell to remain with the army during the
present campaign. A vote to that effect was accordingly
passed. The general suffered Cromwell " to govern and do
all. When any place was void, he was sure to put a sectary
in the place."*
The treaty of Uxbridge commenced about the same time.
The king promised indulgence to tender consciences ; and to
permit a modified episcopacy, the bishop ruling in conjunc
tion with a council of presbyters. Many days were occupied
in debate ; but the parliamentary commissioners would listen
to no propositions short of the abolition of episcopacy, and
the complete establishment of presbytery. The king was
therefore required to consent to the bills already passed
against the church, and to sign the covenant. Thus did the
parliament refuse concessions from the king, which would
have prevented all the subsequent evils, and which, at an
earlier period, would have given the fullest satisfaction.
In the remodelling of the army, the expectations of the
independents were not disappointed. Oh June 14, 1645,
was fought the fatal battle of Naseby, after which the king
was no longer able to appear in the field. Oxford was now
almost his only stronghold. His only hopes now arose from
the chance of divisions among his enemies. Harassed by
perpetual fears lest Oxford should fall into the hands of the
enemy, Charles formed the resolution pf casting himself
on the protection of the Scots army, then encamped near
* Baxter's Life and Times.

COUNCIL OF AGITATORS. 177
Newcastle. He privately left Oxford, and arrived in the
Scottish camp on the 5th May, 1646.
Another attempt at reconciliation was made soon after the
king's arrival ; but nothing was concluded : and, after many
conferences, the Scots delivered up the king to the commis
sioners appointed by both houses. Whether the Scots ac
tually sold their sovereign, or whether they acted with purity
of motive, it is not our business here to inquire. While in
the Scottish camp, the king was constantly engaged in dis
cussion with Henderson : in these disputes, the king " had
clearly the advantage."* Before his death, Henderson is
said to have experienced remorse for the part he had acted
against the sovereign. So low was the king fallen, that any
reasonable terms would have been yielded : but the inde
pendents were anxious to prevent an accommodation, and
the presbyterians would only listen to such proposals as would
ensure the establishment of their own system.
As the war was terminated, the parliament contemplated
a disbanding of the army. They saw that it was the strong
hold of the independents, and proved an insuperable obstacle
to an accommodation. It is said that Cromwell stirred up
the house to vote for the disbanding of the army, knowing
that such a proposition would be distasteful to the troops.
In such a measure the independents saw the final triumph of
presbyterian principles, and the destruction of their hopes of
a general toleration. The plan devised by the parliament
was to send some of the troops to Ireland, and disband the
rest. Measures were immediately adopted in the army to
prevent the execution of the project. The council of agi
tators was appointed. This singular body was composed of
three or four corporals and sergeants as delegates from each
regiment, to form a kind of lower house ; and of a certain
number of officers as a council for the general, answering to
* Granger, vol. i. part ii. p. 416.
N

178 KING SEIZED.
the upper house. This council represented the army, and
canvassed every order of parliament with the utmost freedom.
They disclaimed all intention of overthrowing presbytery :
all they claimed was a universal toleration.
These proceedings met with the approbation of the inde
pendents in the commons, who, if they could not outvote the
presbyterians, were determined to outwit them. They saw
that the critical moment was arrived : the presbyterians were
bound by the covenant to establish presbytery : the former
were alarmed at the prospect of a hierarchy more intolerant
than that they had abolished : and, with the army at their
devotion, they were determined to demand their own terms.
Cromwell was the secret mover of the whole ; through his
agents, whom he had placed as subaltern officers among the
troops, he persuaded the army to resist the project, while in
the house he appeared to give it his sanction. It was in
March 1647 when the first symptoms of discontent were dis
covered among the troops : they prepared and presented a
petition against the measure, at which the commons were
highly offended, and ordered the general to seek out its
authors. A declaration of the parliament .was read at the
head of every regiment : but this only increased the fury of
the army. The vote, however, was laid aside. The presby
terians were puzzled, for while they could command a
majority in the house, the independents were supported by
the army.
It was under these circumstances that the plan for seizing
the royal person was projected. Cromwell was the chief
mover : he had voted for the disbanding of the army, in order
that the troops might have some colour for their opposition.
So convinced were the commons of his duplicity, that they
had determined to commit him to the tower ; but the design
was disclosed by some of his friends, and he quitted London
for the army.
y\lniost every individual can refer to some critical period

KING SEIZED. 179
of his life, as that on which much of his subsequent success
or misfortune depended. The above occasion was such a
period in the life of Cromwell. His seizure would probably
have prevented many of the subsequent evils. The army
was now his only resource : and there his influence was
unbounded. The agitators proposed that religious matters
should not be intrusted to any human authority : on this
principle Cromwell acted, encouraging every sect. With the
army at his command, he could set the parliament at de
fiance. At this time no one could have imagined that he
was destined to act so conspicuous a part in the affairs of
this country : he was one of those singular characters occa
sionally raised up by Providence to control the destinies of
nations : but that he should ever arrive at such a pinnacle of
greatness as to rival in power the most illustrious monarchs
who had wielded the British sceptre, could never have been
foreseen by any one. The events of the times were the
occasion of calling forth his latent energies.
During these dissensions between the army and parlia
ment, the agitators, fearful of an accommodation as the ruin
of their hopes, conceived and executed one of the boldest
measures recorded in the page of history, — the seizure of
tbe royal person. On the night of the 4th of June, 1647,
Cornet Joyce came to Holmby, whither the sovereign had
been removed from the Scottish camp, and secured, the person
of the king, under the pretence that a design was on foot to
carry him away by force. This project destroyed the hopes
of the parliament, who saw no prospect of a settlement except
on such terms as the army should dictate. Joyce conducted
his majesty to the army, then encamped near Cambridge.
The intelligence of the king's seizure was swiftly conveyed
to London, and filled the houses with consternation. They
were informed by the general, that the soldiery had re
moved him by his own consent : that neither he nor the
officers were concerned : that they had no intention of

180 CROMWELL.
opposing presbytery; but would leave all to the wisdom of
parliament. The seizure of the royal person is a mystery that will
never be unravelled. That Joyce was more than the instru
ment is not probable : Cromwell was, undoubtedly, the prime
mover. When Cromwell told Charles that he was not privy
to the seizure, the king added, that he must hang Joyce, as
a proof of the truth of his assertion. At this time it is pro
bable that the agitators would have been willing to restore
the king, on the promise of liberty of conscience : but, what
ever may have been their original views, they soon became
republicans, and were the proximate cause of the king's
death. It is said that Cromwell was not unfriendly to
Charles, until he saw that the army was determined to resist
his restoration. From the parliament Cromwell could expect
nothing : and at this period he, perhaps, contemplated the
restoration of the king. He soon discovered, however, that
he must either coalesce with the agitators, whom he could
no longer govern, or lose his influence with the army. He
was possessed of a clear judgment — had a keen insight into
human nature — was versed in the arts of managing the
people — and had no small share of duplicity in his charac
ter: but, still, the final success of these measures could not
at this time be clearly foreseen.
The army removed with the king to St. Alban's, for the
purpose of intiinidating the parliament. Their demands were
now embodied in a declaration, in which they dictated the
policy to be pursued by the parliament, declaring, at the
same time, that they had no desire to overthrow presbytery
or establish independency, but only sought for liberty of
conscience. They next impeached eleven of the most eminent
presbyterian members, on the ground that they had fomented
a misunderstanding between the parliament and the army.
The obnoxious members withdrew ; the parliament consenting
to receive any charges produced by the army, and granting

KING ESCAPES TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 181
them a month's pay. This was a sop thrown to Cerberus.
To oppose the army was impossible, as the presbyterians,
though a large majority in parliament, had no available
force. The London apprentices sent in petitions against the
army, and the house rescinded their former votes. An
adjournment for a day was moved : and, during the night,
the speakers of both houses, with many of the members,
secretly retired to the army, under the pretence that they
were under the restraint of the mob. Their absence, how
ever, did not prevent the members at Westminster from
voting the kins; to London. The desertion of the members
afforded a pretext for marching to London : the seceding
members were restored; and the parliament and army ap
peared reconciled.
During these movements the king remained with the
army : he hoped to reap some advantage from these divi
sions. His situation was improved : all approached him
with respect : and his chaplains, who were refused admission
into his presence by the commissioners, were permitted to
attend. He secretly favoured the addresses of both army
and pariiament : but, from the period of his removal to
London, his condition was materially altered. The army
now demanded a toleration — that the acts prohibiting the
use of the liturgy should be repealed : and that the covenant
should not be imposed.
Amidst this confusion the king escaped from Hampton
Court to the Isle of Wight. It is said that Cromwell recom
mended this step, on the ground that he could no longer be
responsible for the conduct of the army. Ludlow states, that
the agitators suspected Cromwell of carrying on a secret
treaty with the king, which they were determined to prevent,
and that Cromwell informed Charles of their intentions,
advising him, at the same time, to escape. The agitators
now declared that monarchy was incompatible with the
welfare of the nation. It is not easy to decide whether such

182 SCOTS PROPOSE TERMS.
were Cromwell's sentiments at this time. It is asserted, on
what grounds it is difficult to determine, that he only joined
the agitators when unable to control their proceedings. His
real intentions, however, were locked up within his own
bosom. Under all his misfortunes, Charles preserved his dignity :
so far was he from sinking under the pressure of distress,
that he probably enjoyed as much composure now as he
experienced in Oxford amidst the disputes of his followers.
Intelligence of the king's arrival in the Isle of Wight was
communicated to the parliament : and, shortly after, he sub
mitted certain proposals to their consideration, in which he
offers to permit presbyterian government to continue for three
years, provided he and others might enjoy a free toleration.
His other proposals were equally liberal : but no accommo
dation was effected.
During the king's residence at Hampton Court the Scots
commissioners had intimated that their country would unite
with the presbyterians to deliver him from the army, on the
condition of his sacrificing episcopacy. To this sacrifice the
king could not consent. The independents laboured to pre
vent a reconciliation on any terms; but the parliament agreed
to treat with his majesty, if he would first consent to four
bills agreed upon by the two houses : his majesty demanded
a personal treaty, and nothing was effected. In the mean
time the Scots were displeased with the commons, now under
the influence of the independent faction, in consequence of
the general disregard of the covenant : on this rock both the
Scots and English presbyterians split : for, during the dis
putes on these controversial points, the army stepped in, and
rejected the proposals both of king and parliament. While
they were wrangling in the house on the subjects of episcopacy
and presbytery, the army bore away the prize. The Scots
privately proposed terms to the king, of a more liberal nature
than those of the parliament : he was required to establish

VOTE OF NO MORE ADDRESSES. 183
presbytery, and to confirm the covenant ; but the use of the
liturgy was not denied to the king and his household. These
proposals came too late ; for the army was in a situation to
dictate terms to all parties.
At the period of the treaty in the Isle of Wight, the pres
byterians were as intolerant as ever. The army was composed
of sects, who saw their own ruin in the triumph of presbytery :
the officers were all independents and sectaries, and their
influence over the men was unbounded. The king' signed
the treaty with the Scots, but refused to comply with the four
bills of the English parliament. His answer was read in
January 1647-8. Cromwell spoke warmly against his ma
jesty: and the commons, now under the influence of the
army, voted that no more addresses should be sent to, nor
messages received from, his majesty. The commons hoped
that some favourable occurrence would transpire, to enable
them to retrace their steps, and retract this vote. From the
month of August 1647, when the army marched to London,
the independents ruled the parliament. In the following
spring several movements occurred in various counties in
favour of the king ; and the troops were consequently re
moved from London. The Scots also were now advancing
towards England, to act with the English presbyterians. By
these movements the troops were withdrawn to a distance ;
and during their absence the presbyterians regained their
influence, and voted that the government should be in king,
lord^ and commons; — that a treaty should be set on foot
with his majesty;— and that they would adhere to the
covenant, and unite with the Scots on their entrance into
England. Their plans were, however, defeated by the ruin
of the Scots army. In the treaty with the king the pariia
ment were as stubborn as ever in not even allowing the use
of the liturgy in the royal household. The conference began
at Newport on the 18th September. The commissioners
demanded the full and final establishment of presbytery : the

184 ARMY ADVANCE TO LONDON.
king, agreeably to his former promise, consented to confirm
it for three years, during which .space a settled form of
government might be determined by the assembly, and others
of his majesty's nomination. Religion was the only question
at issue : all other points were settled. In November, the
king further consented not to use the common prayer, if he
might use some other form. Still the commons refused to
yield. Time was passing away; and Cromwell, who had
been sent against the Scots, was on the eve of returning
with the army. Still the intolerance of the presbyterians
triumphed over their fears, and the scruples of the king were
disregarded. Had the parliament discovered the same will
ingness to make concessions as his majesty, the breach
would now have been healed. Their conduct was obstinate
and unwise : obstinate, for they yielded nothing, while they
required the king to surrender every thing ; unwise, for they
must have known that the army was returning, and that they
must submit. Baxter censures the commissioners at this
treaty, for not assenting to Usher's scheme, which was pro
posed by his majesty.*
A remonstrance was now prepared by the army, in which
they deprecate the course taken by the parliament, and
demand that the king should be brought to justice. On the
30th November the king was again seized by the army ; and
on the 1st December the general intimated to the two houses
that the army were about to march to London . On the 4th
the parliament voted that the king's removal was without
their knowledge or consent ; and on the following day they
had the courage to vote that his majesty's concessions were a
sufficient ground to proceed upon for the settlement of the
peace of the kingdom. This vote was carried without a
division ; but it was useless : the golden opportunity was
past ; and the army were at the door. Had they yielded in
"" Baxter, part i. p. 62.

pride's purge. 185
a few points, even at the eleventh hour, the monarchy might
have been saved.
On the 6th December, Colonel Pride, with a party of
soldiers, was stationed in the avenues leading to the house
of commons. Forty members were seized by the military,
and admission was denied to one hundred more. • Thus,
140 presbyterian members were excluded by the army.
From this time the independents were left in uncontrolled
dominion. Still the blame rests on the presbyterians, for
refusing to yield to the just scruples of the king in the
treaty at Newport. Every one now saw that confusion
would ensue ; yet few could repress the feeling of joy, that
these men, who had refused all concessions, should at last
be compelled to succumb to the usurped authority of the
army. This act was denominated Colonel Pride's purge.
The house of commons was now composed of independents
and sectaries. The vote, that his " majesty's concessions
were a sufficient ground on which to treat," was immediately
rescinded, and the trial of the king was determined on.
The reign of presbytery was now concluded. Different views
have been formed by different persons of the character of
this parliament up to the period of its purgation by Pride.
" After every allowance," says an able writer, " he must
bring very heated passions to the records of these times,
who does not perceive in the conduct of the parliament a
series of glaring violations, not only of positive and con
stitutional, but of those higher principles which are para
mount to all immediate policy." After enumerating many
of their unconstitutional acts, he adds, " Of the parliament
it may be said, that scarce two or three public acts of
justice, humanity, or generosity, and very few of political
wisdom, are recorded of them, from their quarrel with the
king to their expulsion by Cromwell."* Neal and others
* Hallam, vol. ii. p. 209.

186 ORDINANCES AGAINST SUPERSTITION.
attempt to justify the parliament for not yielding to his
majesty's proposals at Newport, on the ground that the
king's word could not be depended on; but, remarks the
writer just quoted, " no candid reader can doubt that a
serious sense of obligation was predominant in Charles's
persevering fidelity to the English church."* If, indeed,
Charles was the character insinuated by Neal, why did he
not comply with propositions of the parliament, in the hope
of being able to evade them when his power should become
established ? His very refusal proves the sincerity of his
intentions.

CHAPTER XVII.
1642 — 1648.
ordinances against superstition  CONDUCT OF THE RABBLE AND
SOLDIERS  crosses AND RELICS  CATHEDRALS > AND CHURCHES DESE
CRATED- — EXCESSES  SUFFERINGS OF THE CLERGY  COVENANT IM
POSED.
Having in the preceding chapter sketched the proceedings
of the king and parliament until the ascendency of the
army at the close of the war, we now return a little to
narrate the other actions of the parliament — actions that
could not be interwoven with the previous narrative.
It has already been stated, that the zeal of the com
mons was directed against what were termed idolatrous
monuments. It could not be expected, that when the
ministers of religion were so severely treated, the churches
would escape. Hence, the cathedrals, and many of the
parochial edifices, were exposed to the wanton attacks, first
* HaliaiB, vol. ii. p. 255.

ORDINANCES AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 187
of the lawless rabble, and then of a disorderly soldiery, who
spared nothing eminent for beauty or venerable for antiquity.
The crosses at Cheapside, and other places, were demolished
by the persons to whom the execution of the parliamentary
ordinances were intrusted. The celebrated cross of St. Paul's,
where so many sermons had, during the days of Elizabeth,
been delivered against popery, was destroyed as a popish
relic* In the various orders issued by the commons, relics,
crucifixes, and monuments of idolatry, were ordered to be
removed. The reader must not, however, imagine that cru
cifixes were erected in the churches up to the year 1640, as
they had been in the times of popery. The remains of the
ancient crosses erected by our ancestors are still visible in
many secluded village churchyards. Many of them had
escaped the havoc committed at the reformation. It is pro
bable, that by the term " crucifix," these crosses, and others
on the monuments of the dead, were intended. At all events,
the zeal of the rabble led to the entire demolition of these
interesting ornaments of the burial-ground. Some of them
still exist in a perfect state, and the remains of others are
discovered in many retired villages. In some places, the
cross is erected in the centre of the village, and is usually
overshadowed by the luxuriant branches of a spreading oak
or elm. Prior to the reformation, almost every village pos
sessed one of these crosses, either in the churchyard or in
the street; and from the steps, by which they are usually
surrounded, the friars of various orders were accustomed
to address the rustic audience. When the zeal of the
people, at the time of the reformation, had spent itself,
they became as anxious to preserve these memorials of their
ancestors as they had just before been to destroy them. The
mutilated state of many of these ancient crosses is an evidence
* When the two houses went in procession to a feast prepared for them
by the city, a quantity of crosses, pictures, and relics, were burnt on a scaf
fold in Cheapside. — Whitelock, p. 82.

188 CROSSES AND RELICS.
of the zeal with which the parliamentary ordinances were
executed. The term " relic '' also occurs in the ordinance ; but no
unprejudiced person will imagine, that relics, in the popish
sense, were admitted into the English churches. To reflect
odium on the clergy, the parliament chose to apply this
designation to the statues, monumental busts, and other
memorials of the dead, with which our cathedral and pa
rochial churches abounded. Pictures were also deemed
idolatrous. Even under the protectorate, Jeremy Taylor
was actually imprisoned, in consequence of a frontispiece
to his " Holy Living and Dying." This frontispiece was a re
presentation of the Saviour, and was prefixed, not by Taylor,
but by the bookseller. Such representations were then
deemed scandalous, and tending to idolatry. In one of
the editions of the Bishop's Bible, the large G at the head of
one of the chapters, represents a naked Leda with her swan.
The circumstance arose from the carelessness of the printer,
who, instead of placing the figure in Ovid, fixed it in the
Bible. The mistake was never discovered by the puritans,
or the circumstance would have been adduced, as affording
additional evidence of a popish leaning on the part of the
bishops and episcopal clergy. That the orders were exten
sively carried into effect, is evident from the state of our
churches. In the cathedral of Bristol is an inscription on
an ancient tomb, in which it is stated that it was defaced dur
ing the civil wars, and restored subsequent to the restoration.
Such instances are common in other places. The zeal of our
early reformers had removed from the churches every thing cal
culated to give offence, and even some things which prudence
would have spared ; but the zeal of the parliament was more
ardent, and did not spare many of the vestiges of antiquity,
which had escaped the violence of the reformation. It is
indeed matter of surprise, that any ancient monument was
preserved. Had the orders been as strictly fulfilled in all

CROSSES AND RELICS. 189
places as they were in some, all the memorials of past ages
would have perished. It is scarcely possible to account for
the conduct of the parliament in their indiscriminate attack
on every thing ancient and sacred. Our cathedrals are
some of the most interesting monuments of antiquity. There
are inscribed the actions of the dead, — their deeds of glory,
achieved in the senate or in the field, the recollection of
which serves to excite others to noble exertion in their
country's cause. Here, too, the artist can trace the progress
of the fine arts, from the earliest period of our history down
to the present time. Every man of taste and good feeling
must regret the devastations committed on these magnificent
structures. Of all the vestiges of antiquity in this country,
the cathedrals and the abbey churches are the most interest
ing, both to the man of state and the christian. The latter,
as he treads their stately, though gloomy, aisles, meditates on
the change effected in the worship of these venerable piles
by the reformation : the former dwells on the history of his
ancestors, and compares the state of the fine arts in their
days with the state in which they are at present. Here the
antiquary may gratify his peculiar taste ; the historian dwell
on the heroes whose actions he records ; and the reflecting
of all ranks learn a lesson conceming their own immortality,
the vanity of earthly distinctions, and the sublunary nature
of all created objects.
It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the crosses in
churchyards, and the images in churches, were not the
objects of adoration ; yet an indiscriminate attack was com
menced on all the vestiges of antiquity : every sepulchral
ornament was viewed as an idolatrous monument ; and if
some of them were preserved, their escape was owing to the
good feeling of the parties to whom the orders were en
trusted. The parochial authorities were ordered to remove
the obnoxious objects ; and to their piety and forbearance is
the country indebted for those monuments that still remain.

190 CHURCHES DESECRATED.
The parish churches did not suffer so much as the cathedrals ;
the former fell into the hands of the presbyterian clergy, and
were partially preserved.
In some cathedrals the public records were burnt : some
of these venerable structures were converted into stables.
Horses were lodged in St. Paul's church, and in St. George's
chapel at Windsor. When the body of Charles was deposited
in the royal chapel, the carving of the stalls was torn off,
and stakes were driven into the ground for the purpose of
securing the horses of the soldiers. In some places, horses
and swine were baptised in derision. At Westminster, the
soldiers drank and smoked at the altar : the brass tablets on
the pavement, as is still evident, were torn up and sold : the
king's arms were removed from the churches, as marks of
antichrist : and the commandments replaced by the covenant.
The surplices were torn, as remnants of Babylon ; and the
books of common prayer were in many places burnt as popish
mass books. By these militant saints the worship of the
English church was classed with popery. The communion
plate was plundered : and in many instances the fonts were
used as troughs for the troopers' horses. At Warwick, Col
chester, and other places, the sanctuaries of the dead were
violated, for the purpose of making merchandise of the leaden
coffins : the hair was torn from the bodies of Lady Lucas and
Lady Killegrew, and worn in their hats by the mob, by way
of triumph. At Winchester, the bones of some of the bishops
were strewn about the pavement : and at Sudley, the pulpit
was converted into shambles for meat. In allusion to the
churches being used as stables, it was wittily observed, that
they had a thorough reformation in England, for that even
the horses went to church.*
* At Canterbury the soldiers stabbed the arras hangings in the choir, on
which was the figure of tlie Saviour : " Here is Christ," said one, " I will
stab him." In Westminster Abbey, where the soldiers were actually quar
tered, they wore the surplice at the game of hare and hounds ; he who wore
the surplice being the hare. — Mercurius Rusticiis, pp. 206, 224, 236.

CHURCHES DESECRATED. 191
Baxter states, that in some places the lower classes inter
fered, and rescued the crosses from destruction : in other
places, however, they acted with the parliamentary commis
sioners. So zealous were the Londoners, that " they pulled
down the sign of Charing Cross, hung up at a tavern near
the place where the cross stood."* In August, 1643, it was
ordered by the commons, that all crosses and superstitious
monuments should be taken away by the ensuing November.
There is a clause in the ordinance, prohibiting its application
to pictures or images graven only for the monuments of the
dead. This clause was disregarded : nor did the parliament
interfere when their commissioners exceeded the letter of the
ordinance. Several petitions were presented from different
counties, complaining that the churches were profaned, the
ornaments defaced, and the utensils abused : yet their peti
tions were unnoticed.f It should be remembered that many
of the devastations were committed by the soldiers, who, as
sectaries, were even more fearful of popery than the inde
pendents. Wherever they descried a painted window in a
church, they either broke it with their pikes, or by dis
charging their muskets. At Chichester they tore the eyes
from a picture of Edward VI. , exclaiming, that all the mis
chief arose from his establishing the common prayer : and at
Canterbury they fired no less than forty shots at a statue of
Christ over the gate of the cathedral, shouting in triumph
whenever the balls struck the face or eyes of the image.
Spoliation kept pace with the advances of the army. Parties
of soldiers were accustomed to scour the country around their
different quarters in quest of superstitious monuments. Almost
evei'y church approached by the army underwent a complete
purgation of those detestable pollutions, painted windows and
monumental effigies. In one church, Ireton destroyed the
paintings of the apostles, but preserved that of the dragon
* Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 308. f Comp. Hist. vol. iii. pp. Ill, 119.

192 SUFFERINGS OF THE CLERGY.
vomiting flames : a circumstance that led the people to re
mark, that it was evident who was Ireton's saint. The painted
windows of some of the colleges in Cambridge were saved,
at the intercession of Cromwell : others were taken down
and concealed till the restoration : but many were destroyed.
The state of Oxford will be noticed when the visitation of
that university is described.
Organs were among the obnoxious objects. In many
cases they were broken : in others sold : and some were set
up in taverns.
The sequestrations of the clergy, from the year 1640 to
the taking of the covenant, have been detailed : it is now
time to look back, for the purpose of describing the depriva
tions and misery to which the episcopal clergy were sub
jected from the latter period till the close of the war. At
the commencement of the ejections no test was imposed.
By the terms of the ordinance, the scandalous clergy were
to be sequestered : and in that term were included all who
were friendly to the royal cause. Attachment to the liturgy,
even before the abolition of the government of the church,
exposed a clergyman to suspicion. When, however, the
covenant was introduced, a test was furnished for proving
the principles of the clergy who had hitherto escaped. The
committees were sitting in almost every county when the
covenant was taken. New committees were not formed : but
those already in existence were armed with authority to offer
the covenant to all the clergy. Escape was now rendered
almost impossible. Previous to this period, many and various
charges were alleged against the suspected clergy, so that, if
one failed, success might be insured on another : but now,
a ready and certain test was supplied, and all who refused
were sequestered. The titles of the ordinances were, indeed,
the same ; and the charges of immorality were not relin
quished : but in those cases where no charges were brought,
the covenant was applied, as a sure test of their principles.

COVENANT IMPOSED. 193
As the course of an invading army may be traced by the
desolation and misery that follow in its train, so the progress
of the committees was discovered by the ruin of families,
which met the eye in every direction. It is not clear whether
the covenant was universally tendered, or only to suspected
individuals. The probability is that it was generally pro
posed; though, in some few places, as Baxter states, the
parliament were unable to enforce it.
It is difficult to conceive why the committees continued
to receive charges against the clergy, when they were fur
nished with so effectual a test, unless for the purpose of
blackening their character. There was no disgrace attached
to a refusal of the covenant : whereas, if the committees
could bring odium on the clergy, by insinuating charges
against their characters, they were at once rendered obnoxious
to the people. They gladly availed themselves, therefore, of
any charge which the malice of their enemies could invent;
knowing that if the charge failed of being proved, the cove
nant would secure their sequestration. Almost all the
sequestrations were, however, for refusing the covenant.
Walker affirms, that all the old men in his day, who knew
any of the sequestered clergy, stated that they were ejected
for refusing the covenant. In the diocess of Norwich alone,
200 or 300 were sequestered for refusing to subscribe ; and it
is probable that there was an equal proportion in other
diocesses. Vast numbers were ejected, as has been shewn,
between 1640 and 1643, but the time was short: whereas the
reign of the covenant extended from 1643 till 1649.
Even Neal condemns the imposition of the covenant, as
" a new weapon put into the hands of the committees, which
enabled them, with more ease and certainty, to discover
malignant or disaffected clergymen."* In the very next
sentence Neal contradicts himself; for he states that, instead
* Vol. iii. p. 83.
o

194 COVENANT IMPOSED.
of producing witnesses, as they had previously done, they
tendered the covenant, which, being refused, occasioned the
report " that the clergy were removed from their livings only
for refusing the covenant; whereas their sequestration was
grounded upon other causes, or, at least, the articles of
immorality or disaffection were almost always joined with it."
He admits that no witnesses were produced under the cove
nant : how then can he insinuate that the .clergy were
expelled for immorality? by joining the charge of immorality
to the refusal to take the covenant, they only added insult to
injustice. The truth is, the committees were glad of any
pretence for sequestering a loyal clergyman : and though the
covenant alone was sufficient for their purpose, yet, in order
to degrade the clergy, other charges were specified in the
deeds of sequestration. Neal states, that it was tendered
only to the suspected and disaffected : that is, it was proposed
to those who were likely to refuse it. The same author
remarks, that "none were turned out or imprisoned for
adhering to the doctrine or discipline of the church, till after
the imposing of the covenant, but for immorality, false doc
trine, non-residence, or for taking part with the king against
the parliament."* It would indeed have been strange in the
parliament to eject for adherence to the ceremonies of the
church, at a time when they themselves were avowed mem
bers of the episcopal hierarchy, and professed only to require
a few alterations : yet can it be denied that, even before the
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 25. — " The truth is," says Lilly, speaking of a clergy
man who was accused before the .committee, " he had a considerable parson
age, and that only was enough to sequester any moderate judgment. In
these times many worthy ministers lost their livings for not complying with
the Threepenni/ Directory. Had you seen what pitiful idiots were preferred
into sequestrated benefices, you would have been grieved in your soul : but
when they came before the classes of divines, could these simpletons only say
they were converted by hearing such a sermon, such a lecture, of that godly
man, Hugh Peters, Stephen Marshal, or any of that gang, he was presently
admitted." — Lilly's Life, p. 136, new edit.

COVENANT IMPOSED. 195
covenant, the charges adduced against the clergy were the
observance of the ceremonies enjoined in the rubric?;
The churches were now become presbyterian in their
aspect : the covenant was hung up in the place of the creed
and commandments ; and the presbyterian clergy held most
of the livings. It is true the presbyterians never succeeded
in establishing their system in all its glory : but the cause of
their failure must be sought, not in any want of inclination
on their part, but in the ascendency of the independents.
The clergy who were attached to the liturgy necessarily hated
the covenant. Of the bishops, some were in prison, and
others in exile ; while many of the clergy, and even some of
the prelates, were reduced to the necessity of sheltering them
selves under the roof of noble or distinguished families. In
these peaceful retreats, many of the more eminent sequestered
clergy, secured from the ravages of war, enjoyed the sweets
of domestic life, and the pleasures of the social family circle :
yet even here they were not permitted to use their own beau
tiful liturgy. Whenever they availed themselves of an
opportunity of celebrating divine service according to the
book of common prayer, they did so at the risk of incurring
a severe penalty.
It is admitted by the advocates of the parliament, that
many of the pious episcopal clergy suffered severely under
the covenant, Neal asserts, that the presbyterian hierarchy
was as narrow as the prelatical ; and equally, if not more
insufferable. The committees in the country were composed
of ministers and tradesmen, who, in general, were animated
with bitter hatred towards the loyal clergy. At a subsequent
period the neglect of the directory was added to the usual
list of charges. Several charges were usually specified, — as
bowing at the name of Jesus, superstition, malignancy, immo
rality, and refusing the covenant : and when the ejection took
place, the distinct charge on which it was grounded was
never stated. In many cases all the respectable inhabitants

196 COVENANT IMPOSED.
of the parish petitioned the committees in favour of their
clergyman, stating his blameless life and diligence in the
performance of his sacred function : but these representations
were disregarded ; for when no charge could with decency be
brought, the covenant was tendered, and a refusal subjected
the individual to sequestration.
It was in the country especially that the clergy were
ejected under the covenant : in London, and the garrisons of
the parliament, presbyterians had possession of the churches;
and as the different parts of the country came under the
dominion of the two houses, the covenant was imposed on
the clergy. Numbers were ejected by the county committees:
in Herefordshire sixty, in Northamptonshire one hundred,
and in Hampshire the same number, were dispossessed in a
short space. Sometimes a successor was appointed immedi
ately : at other times the proceeds of the living were paid
into the hands of the sequestrators, who provided for the
spiritual wants of the parish by casual assistance. " After
the covenant," says an able writer, often quoted, " a severe
persecution fell on the faithful sons of the Anglican church.
Many had already been sequestered, or even subjected to
imprisonment, by the parliamentary committees for scan
dalous ministers, or by subordinate committees of the same
kind set up in each county within their quarters : sometimes
on the score of immorality or false doctrine, more frequently
for what they termed malignancy, or attachment to the king
and his party. Yet many men, who meddled not with
politics, might hope to elude this inquisition. But the
covenant drove out all who were too conscientious to pledge
themselves to reject a polity which they generally believed to
be of divine institution."* The same writer, speaking of the
unconstitutional acts of the parliament, says, " Witness their
committees for scandalous ministers, under which denomina-
* Hallam, vol. ii. p. 226.

ENDEAVOURS TO SETTLE THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 197
tion, adding reproach to infamy, they subjected all who did
not reach the standard of puritan perfection to contumely
and vexation, and ultimately to expulsion from their lawful
property."*

CHAPTER XVIII.
1645 — 1648.
PROCEEDINGS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR.
ENDEAVOURS TO SETTLE THE NEW DISCIPLINE — ORIGIN OF THE INDE
PENDENTS — ENTHUSIASM — CHARACTER OP THE ARMY — CHRISTMAS
AND THE FESTIVALS  PRESBYTERIAN ORDINATION — PRESBYTERIAN
DISCIPLINE — PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO RECOGNISE THE "jUSDIVINUm"
— QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO THE ASSEMBLY — PROGRESS OF INDE
PENDENCY.
As soon as the fortune of war had placed the sovereign in
the power of the parliament, that assembly began in earnest
to settle the affairs of the church. The covenant had con
verted the two houses into avowed presbyterians, all being
viewed as " ill-affected "f who were backward to take that
test. The parliament were not inactive in matters of religion
even during the war : the various orders against crosses and
relics, and the sequestrations of the clergy, are proofs of their
diligence in modelling the church after their own fashion.
Nor were they inattentive to pecuniary profit, for, in 1644,
the candlesticks, crucifixes, and plate in St. Paul's cathedral,
were ordered to be sold.
When the war closed, they were left more at liberty to
order the church after the new model. As the parliament
became masters of particular towns and districts during the
* Hallam, vol. ii. p. 192. f Whitelock, p. 66.

198 ORIGIN OF THE INDEPENDENTS.
war, they were reduced into obedience in matters ecclesiasti
cal, by the usual process of sequestration of the loyal clergy :
numerous obstacles, however, presented themselves. As
soon as the king was reduced, they found a new enemy in
the army. The opposition of the independents has been
stated : and it may be proper here to state their origin in the
house of commons. They sprang from the ancient Brownists :
and during the reign of James, most of them retired to Hol
land, where they erected their own discipline. At the com
mencement of the long parliament they returned to England:
but they were inconsiderable in number. " The only noted
sectary," says Baxter, " in the upper house, was Lord Brook,
and the younger Vane in the lower. By degrees their
number increased : many being added to their ranks from
the violent measures of the presbyterians. Under the ma
nagement of their experienced leaders, Cromwell, Vane, and
others, they continued to increase in numbers and influence,
until they acquired sufficient courage to propose, and suffi
cient strength to carry, the self-denying ordinance, which
gave them the ascendency in the army, by whose aid they
ultimately succeeded in overawing the parliament. Many of
their proceedings will fall under our notice in a future page,
when the actions of the Westminster assembly are recorded.
The re-modelling of the army was the fruit of the self-
denying ordinance. The old regiments were broken up, and
new ones formed out of the mass of troops composing the
old army. Over these regiments were placed officers of
independent principles. When the regiments were broken
up, the chaplains were no longer wanted. Hitherto, every
regiment had been favoured with the ministrations of a
presbyterian chaplain : the independents had long been
anxious to rid the army of these chaplains whose influence
over the men was considerable. The former army was
broken up, to serve as a pretext for dismissing the officers
and chaplains : many officers, who were not members of

ENTHUSIASM. 199
parliament, refused to act under the new model, and the
management of the army fell into the hands of the inde
pendents. It was almost entirely destitute of chaplains, and
the officers assumed that office themselves. All the soldiers
were more or less tinctured with the prevailing enthusiasm :
the views of the leaders were soon communicated to the men.
The independents were opposed to a settled ministry ; con
sequently, the practices of the officers were in strict ac
cordance with the new principles. It was no uncommon
occurrence in those days, for an officer to ascend the pulpit
in the churches near which the army was quartered, in
opposition to the parochial clergy. Baxter was an eye
witness of a singular scene. When the army was quartered
in Buckinghamshire, some sectaries had appointed a re
ligious conference in a parish church : on the day appointed,
some of the soldiers attended to encourage their brethren,
and Baxter went with the intention of opposing them. The
cornet and his troopers occupied the gallery, and Baxter the
desk : the discussion was protracted through a whole day ;
when at length the soldiers departed. He states, that they
would have claimed the victory if he had gone out fii'st.
" After the conference," says Baxter, " I conversed with the
sectarian lecturer, whom they had thrust in against the will
of the incumbent, and found him little wiser than the
rest." *
Baxter attributes the ruin of the presbyterian cause to
the removal of the chaplains : " I saw that it was the
ministers that had lost all by forsaking the army, and be
taking themselves to an easier and quieter way of life. At
Edgehill, almost all of them went home ; and as the sectaries
increased, they were the more averse to go into the army."f
Both Baxter and Neal date the rise of enthusiasm in the
army from the absence of the chaplains. When the officers
* Baxter, parti, p. 56. t Ibid, part i. p. 51.

200 CHARACTER OF THE ARMY.
applied for new chaplains, says Neal, " the presbyterian
ministers, being possessed of warm benefices, were unwilling
to undergo the fatigues of another campaign, or, it may be,
to serve with men of such desperate measures." * He then
adds, " the army being destitute of chaplains, the officers
set up for preachers, depending upon a kind of miraculous
assistance of the spirit, without any study or preparation :
nor did the evil rest there ; for, from preaching at the head
of their regiments, they took possession of the country
pulpits, till at length they spread the infection over the
whole nation, and brought the regular ministry into con
tempt." -f- The only men actually appointed were such indi
viduals as Hugh Peters, who were as enthusiastic as the
officers. But, though enthusiasm spread rapidly through the
army, the most strict discipline was maintained, which ren
dered them formidable, and, in action, almost invincible.
Cromwell was indifferent as to the opinions of the officers
and men ; by indulging them all in their own peculiar
opinions, all were united in one common bond. The popular
feeling is easily excited : not so easily allayed. Frequently
has the fury of the mob been stirred up to answer a par
ticular purpose, and when the object has been gained, it has
been found impossible to appease it. It was so with the
army : it became excited, but the excitement could not be
allayed. The enthusiasm of the army may, however, be traced
back to the parliamentary votes against images and relics.
The army of the parliament presented an appearance
altogether unlike that of armies in general : they were
orderly and sober ; the singing of psalms occupied the place
of songs ; instead of spending their leisure hours in frivolous
conversation or amusements, they occupied themselves in
praying, reading the scriptures, and discussing the most
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 270. f Ibid.

CHARACTER OP THE ARMY. 201
abstruse points of divinity. In the camp they were tract
able ; in the field, terrible ; and at the sight of what were
deemed objects of superstition, their fury was ungovernable.
Even the monument of their former general, the Earl of
Essex, was broken down soon after its erection, in conse
quence of an effigy of the earl with which it was adorned.
Breaking the windows of churches was termed a reform
ation, and plundering the clergy was spoiling the Egyptians.
Some of them, says Calamy, " would vent the most horrid
oaths,, as the effect of knowledge in the fanatic strain, which
they would father upon the Spirit."
Though the army was opposed to the views of the presby
terians, they did not break out into opposition to the parlia
ment till after the close of the war : for a considerable time
they presented no obstacle to the houses in settling the church.
Episcopacy and the liturgy had been abolished ; and, to
complete the work, another ordinance was carried in 1646,
by which it was decreed, that the very name of bishop should
be abolished. At an earlier period, maypoles had been pro
hibited by an ordinance ; and now the holidays of the
English church were attacked. During the war, it was the
practice of the parliament to appoint frequent days of fast
ing and humiliation; and, in addition to these occasional
fasts, there was one observed on a certain day monthly.
In 1644, the day chanced to fall on Christmas-day. It was
doubted by some whether the fast should be celebrated ; but
on the 10th an ordinance was passed, that " the fast ap
pointed on a certain day in every month be observed till
otherwise ordered; and particularly, that this day be kept
with more humiliation, because it may call to mind our sins
and those of our forefathers, who turned this feast, pretend
ing the memory of Christ, into forgetfulness of him, by
giving liberty to carnal delights.'' * In a sermon on this
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 460.

202 CHRISTMAS AND THE FESTIVALS.
occasion, before the commons, Calamy says, " I think the
superstition of this day is so rooted into it, that there is no
way to reform it, but by dealing with it as Hezekiah did
with the brazen serpent. This year, God, by his providence,
has buried this feast in a fast, and I hope it will never rise
again."* In 1647, Christmas -day, with other festivals,
was completely abolished. The apprentices of London were
again used as the instruments of the presbyterians : they
came to the house with a petition for the abolition of saints'
days. The festivals, in obedience to their call, were set aside
by ordinance, on the ground that they had been supersti-
tiously observed ; and the first Tuesday in every month was,
by the same ordinance, assigned to apprentices and servants
as a day of recreation. -j- The people, however, were not
unanimous in desiring the abolition of the festivals; for a
complaint was made, that some tradesmen had been abused
by the mob for opening their shops on Christmas-day ; other
complaints were made of the clergy for preaching on that
day : when the house ordered the committee for plundered
ministers to examine and punish churchwardens who coun
tenanced malignant ministers. J
The question of tithes was often agitated during these
tempestuous times. The revenues of the bishops and cathe
dral clergy were seized for the use of the state ; but the
property of the parochial clergy was retained by the pres
byterians. When the people, in some instances, refused to
pay the dues of the clergy, an order was issued for the
regular payment of tithes. The subject will again be noticed,
in treating of the state of religion under the independents.
Had not the independents thwarted the attempts of the
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 169. Yet Calamy, some years before, came from his
sick-bed to the pulpit on Christmas-day, declaring, " that he thought himself
in conscience bound to preach that day, lest the stones of the streets should
cry out against him." — Grey, vol. ii. p. 278.
t Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 146. X Ibid. vol. vi. p. 323.

PRESBYTERIAN ORDINATION. 203
presbyterians, their government would, probably, have been
firmly established. The directory was substituted in the
room of the liturgy, as soon as it was prepared by the
assembly. It was ordered to be universally observed, and
the register of births, marriages, and burials, to be kept in
every parish.* Still, it was not universally observed, as is
clear from the frequent complaints of its neglect, and the
repeated ordinances for its observance. The book of dis
cipline was next prepared by the divines of the assembly :
but, when it was completed, the independents had sufficient
power to prevent the parliament from carrying it fully into
execution. To supply the vacancies occasioned by the nume
rous sequestrations of the episcopal clergy, an ordinance was
passed in September 1644, empowering ten ministers of the
assembly, and thirteen ministers of the city, or any seven of
them, to exercise the power of ordination. This was the first
attempt of the presbyterians to supply the lack of preachers
after the downfal of the church. During the next year,
another ordinance was issued, prohibiting unordained persons
from preaching, except for the purpose of trying their gifts
before persons appointed by the parliament. Soon after, the
assembly were commanded to frame a directory for the
ordination of ministers without the presence of a bishop.
In 1645 this directory was presented to the parliament, who
issued their ordinance to continue it twelve months on trial.
Subsequent to the war it was made perpetual.
By the ordinance, the power of conferring ordination was
granted to the classical presbyters within their respective
boundaries. The candidate was required to produce a certi
ficate of his having taken the covenant, and of his moral
character. He was called to expound before the presbytery
some given text. If the presbytery were satisfied, an inti
mation was forwarded to the parish to which the candidate
was appointed, and a notice affixed to the church doors,
? Rushworth, vol. v. p. 449.

204 . PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE.
to the effect that a certain number of the parishioners should
appear before the presbytery to signify their consent, or, other
wise, to forward their exceptions. If no exception was taken,
the candidate was ordained in the church in which he was
to serve. The ceremony consisted of preaching, prayer, a
declaration of faith on the part of the candidate, and the
imposition of hands. Ministers episcopally ordained were
admitted to cTiurches after examination only. When this
ordinance was issued, the presbyteries were not erected :
therefore, the assembly were empowered to ordain until the
frame of church government was completed.
Since the abolition of the ancient hierarchy, no regular
system had existed. The subject was submitted to the assem
bly, who drew up the form of government, and voted it to
be of divine appointment : but the parliament were not
willing to admit the jus divinum, and were determined to
retain the power of the keys in their own hands. When the
matter was debated, the presbyterians attended early in the
commons, in order that the question might be carried before
the house was full. Glyn and Whitelock, however, being
aware of the trick, kept the house in debate until the attend
ance was full, when the question was negatived ; and, instead
of the clause asserting the jus divinum, another was substi
tuted, declaring only that congregational, classical, and
synodical assemblies were agreeable to the word of God.
Glyn and Whitelock received the thanks of divers members
for preventing the surprisal of the house.* This was a sad
disappointment for the presbyterians : the Scots commis-,
sioners were alarmed: and a petition, signed by several
ministers, was presented to the house, praying them to
establish presbytery, as the discipline of Jesus Christ. The
petition was voted scandalous, and the petitioners sharply
rebuked. The presbyterians asserted, that all church power was
* Whitelock, p, 106.

THE JUS DIVINUM OF PRESBYTERY. 205
vested in the eldership or presbytery. In the assembly, as
will be seen hereafter, all their measures were carried : but
the parliament would not relinquish the authority they had
seized from the bishops. Suspension from the sacrament
and excommunication were claimed for the presbytery by
the assembly : in the commons, Selden and Whitelock argued
against the claim ; and it was finally determined that sus
pension from the sacrament should only be allowed in certain
eases specified in an ordinance. An appeal also was allowed
from the eldership to the presbytery, thence to the assembly,
and finally to the parliament. These proceedings " displeased
some who wished to give arbitrary power to presbytery."*
The presbyterians possessed no power, except what was dele
gated by the parliament, to be exercised under certain restric
tions. The parliament intended to govern the church ac
cording to the presbyterian model, but not to yield the use
of the spiritual sword to the presbyteries or assemblies. The
mere form without the power was viewed by the presbyterians
as no better than a shadow : the commons, however, pro
ceeded in their own way. In March 1645-6, an ordinance
was passed for the settlement of presbyterial government :
it stated, that " the lords and commons, having removed
prelacy, with the common prayer and all its unnecessary
ceremonies, and established the directory, have begun to lay
the foundation of a presbyterial government in every con
gregation, subordinate to classical, provincial, and national
assemblies, and of all to the parliament." It enacts, that in
every province a committee shall be chosen by parliament,
to judge of scandalous offences not enumerated in any ordi
nance : the ministers to certify these offences to the com
mittee, who are to declare the same to both houses, and the
parliament to proceed to a final determination .f " The
parliament apprehended that they had now established the
fundamentals of presbyterian discipline, though it proved
* Whitelock, p. 165. f Rushworth, vol, v. p. 585.

206 QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO THE ASSEMBLY.
not to the satisfaction of any one party of Christians; so
hard is it to make a good settlement when men dig up old
foundations all at once."* In answer to the complaints of
the Scots, the parliament declared their object to be to settle
religion according to the covenant : that they had settled
presbyterian government, according to the advice of the
assembly, without any material alteration : but that they
could not grant unlimited power to near ten thousand judi
catories. So far from viewing the withholding the power of
the keys as no "material alteration," the assembly viewed it
as the ruin of their cause, and were as dissatisfied as the
Scots. A petition was presented from the assembly, asserting
the divine right of presbyterian government : it was sub
mitted to a committee, who reported that, in consequence
of the petitioners insisting so strongly on the jiis divinum,
" they had drawn up certain queries, which they desired the
assembly might resolve for their satisfaction."-)' The house
rebuked the assembly, reminding them that they had ex
ceeded their province, and that their existence depended on
the authority of parliament.
The following were the principal questions submitted to
the assembly : Whether parochial and congregational elder
ships appointed by parliament are jure divino, and whether
any church government be so ? And what the government
is? Whether the classical, provincial, and national assem
blies, all or any, are jure divino ? Whether appeals from
one to the other, and their respective powers on such appeals,
are jure divino ? Whether it is contrary to scripture for the
supreme magistrate to determine what are scandalous offences?
It was advised that the assembly should write their opinions
and proof from scripture, and that they who dissented should
set down their opinions, with the texts on which they were
grounded. J * Neal, vol. iii. p. 295. f Ibid. p. 299.
X Rushworth, vol. v. p. 607.

PROGRESS OF INDEPENDENCY. 207
These questions were only intended to amuse the assembly
until the parliament could arrange matters with the king.
As the king was at this time with the Scots, the presbyterians
were emboldened to several attempts to induce the parlia
ment to consent to the full establishment of their platform.
At their instigation, the lord mayor and common council
presented a petition to the house, complaining of the swarms
of sectaries in consequence of toleration, and reminding the
parliament of the covenant. The independents presented a
counter petition, thanking the parliament for their exertions
in the cause of liberty. In reply to the former, the parlia
ment stated, that, when the assembly had answered their
questions they would proceed to a settlement of the church.
The London ministers ventured to declare, that they would
not comply with the parliamentary establishment, until it
was freed from the yoke of the civil power : but the parlia
ment issued an order, requiring them to execute the ordi
nance within the province of London, London was, there
fore, divided according to the ordinance.
In other places the settlement of the new order was
obstructed by the distractions of the times. During the
next few years, a constant struggle was carried on between
the presbyterians and the parliament relative to the au
thority of the civil power in ecclesiastical matters. Other
causes, moreover, interfered to prevent the completion of
the presbyterian system. The sectaries were rapidly in
creasing, and the army were bent upon a full toleration.
The presbyterians possessed most of the churches ; their
form of worship was established ; but they sighed after church
power.* In 1647, a petition was presented to both houses,
intimating that there were many towns and villages destitute
of ministers ; that there were individuals of competent gifts,
who, through their scruples respecting ordination, were dis-
* They were " dissatisfied for want of the top-stone to their new building,
which was church power."— Neal, vol. iii. p. 364.

208 PROGRESS OF INDEPENDENCY.
couraged from the work; and, therefore, they desire that
such persons, after being approved by judicious men, should
be permitted to preach.* Offensive as were these sentiments
to the presbyterians, the thanks of the house were given to
the petitioners.
Towards the years 1647 and 1648, the independents had
acquired so much strength, that the covenant, directory,
and discipline, were evaded in many places in the interest
of the army. Still, from the close of the war until the death
of the king was the flourishing period of presbyterian ascend
ency. In Scotland it enjoyed golden days, trampling on the
mitre and the surplice ; but in England it never acquired
full power. Soon after 1648, the covenant and the direc
tory were neglected by many of the ministers ; and it could
only be said that the new discipline was permitted. When
ever sectaries or independents obtained possession of a living,
the new discipline was disregarded. The only places in which
presbytery was generally established were London and Lan
cashire. In Lancashire, the congregational, classical, and
provincial assemblies continued to meet till a late period ;
though subsequent to 1648 their meetings were voluntary.
In many places they were never established ; in others they
dwindled away. Thus at first, after the abolition of episco
pacy no discipline was established ; and, when a system was
framed, it could not be enforced.
Thus the presbyterians never acquired that spiritual
power after which they panted ; they were never freed from
parliamentary control ; their idol was never set up in all its
glory. The form established was that of the presbyterians ;
but those who were inclined were able to treat it with con
tempt. The settlement made by the parliament was Erastian
rather than presbyterian ; " it was nearly Erastian in theory,
and quite so in practice." f
* Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 273. f Hallam, vol. ii. p. 272.

209
CHAPTER XIX.
1643 — 1649.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY — THEIR VIEWS — REVIEW THE THIRTY-
NINE ARTICLES  BECOME PRESBYTERIANS  DIRECTORY  CHURCH
GOVERNMENT — SELDEN AND WHITELOCK  THE DISSENTING BRETHREN
— GRAND ORDINANCE IN FAVOUR OF PRESBYTERIANS — PSALMODY 
STERNHOLD — ROUs's VERSION OF PSALMS.
The origin of the Westminster Assembly has already been
stated. Such an assemblage of individuals, sitting in deli
beration on the state of the church, was an anomaly in the
history of this country. Aa if it were intended to shew their
dislike to the ceremonies, most of them appeared in the
Geneva cloak, instead of the canonical habits ; not that the
clerical dress was in itself of any consequence, but as all the
members, with the exception of the laymen, were ministers
of the established church, whose liturgy and rites were not
at their first assembling abolished, the neglect of it was an
indication of that feeling of hostility to the church which
soon became open and undisguised.
It is agreed by all parties, that up to the period of their
meeting, the members, with a few exceptions, including the in
dependents, were all conformists : not that all had conformed
to every ceremony — for there was a wide diversity of practice
among the puritans — but they had submitted to the liturgy
and to episcopal government. They intended only to reduce
episcopacy to the standard of the first or second age ; but for
the sake of the Scots alliance, they were prevailed upon to
lay aside the name and function of bishop, and to attempt
the establishing a presbyterian form, which at last they
advanced into jus divinum. * Usher's reduction would have
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 139. In another place he states : " The state of the
P

210 assembly's views.
satisfied them up to the period of the covenant. Baxter
¦ declares that all the members were conformists; but very
soon from moderate churchmen they were converted into
violent presbyterians. It is, however, evident, that notwith
standing their previous conformity, they did not view pres
bytery with any strong feelings of disapprobation, or they
could never have made so sudden a transition from one to
the other. The " Eikon Basilike," whether the production
of Charles or not, may serve to throw some light on the
conduct of the members of the assembly prior to the cove
nant : " For I cannot think so many men, cried up for
learning and piety, who formerly allowed the liturgy and
government of the church of England as to the main, would
have so suddenly agreed quite to abolish both of them, if
they had been left to the liberty of their own suffrages ; and
if the influence of contrary factions had not, by secret en
croachments of hopes and fears, prevailed upon them to
comply with so great and dangerous innovations, without
any regard to their own former judgment and practice."
Their avowed sentiments had hitherto been those of Hooker
or Usher, not those of Bancroft or Laud.
The majority, however, soon became rigid presbyterians ;
but at their first meeting the parliament did not contem
plate the rejection of the liturgy, though they had attacked
the bishops. The assembly were first directed to revise the
articles of the church, and to vindicate their doctrines; or,
in other words, to render the articles and ceremonies more
consonant to the views of the puritans. Their proceedings
on the articles are thus stated by themselves in an advertise
ment prefixed to the articles, and delivered to the two
houses : " The assembly at their first sitting received an
controversy was now changed ; for, whereas before the entrance of the Scots
the parliament insisted only on a reformation of the hierarchy, now they were
obliged to attempt the total extirpation of it, and to establish another scheme
in its rpom." — Neal, vol. iii. p. 112.

review the thirty-nine articles. 211
order, July 5, 1643, requiring them to take into their con
sideration the ten first articles, to free and vindicate the
doctrines of them from all aspersions and false interpreta
tions. Afterwards they received another order for the next
nine following; but being limited by the said order only
to the clearing and vindicating them, though we found our
selves necessitated for that end to make some, yet we made
fewer alterations than otherwise we should have thoua'ht
fit, if the whole matter had been left to us, without any
limitations, concerning many things yet remaining to be
defective, and other expressions fit to be changed." *
In the same advertisement, it is stated that they only
revised fifteen of the articles, the house having ordered them,
Oct. 12, 1643, to proceed to the subject of church govern
ment. The articles were presented to the parliament, in
obedience to their own order, December 7, 1646. On the
29th April, 1647, it was ordered that six hundred copies of
the assembly's confession, and six hundred copies of their
proceedings on the thirty-nine articles, should be printed
and presented to the members.
From this document two points are established beyond
the possibility of contradiction ; first, that they were ori
ginally employed to vindicate the doctrines of the thirty-nine
articles ; and, secondly, that as soon as the covenant was
taken, they were ordered to quit the articles for the subject
of church government. After this, the Confession of Faith,
the Directory, and the presbyterian discipline, occupied the
attention of the assembly. They proceeded at a more rapid
rate in their opposition to the ancient system than the parlia
ment ; the latter, though laymen, were less violent against
the settled institutions of the church than the former, though
composed of grave and learned divines, who ought at least
to have been distinguished for moderation. The clerical
* Advertisement prefixed to the Articles.

212 become PRESBYTERIANS.
members of the assembly had received episcopal ordination ^
had been inducted to preferments, raade the usual subscrip
tions, and conformed to the liturgy ; yet almost suddenly
they renounced their former opinions, and engaged to de
stroy that mode of church government which they were
solemnly pledged to support.
That there must have been a sacrifice of principle in this
ready adoption of the covenant, or a want of sincerity in
their previous conformity, can scarcely be denied by the
most strenuous defenders of the assembly. At all eventSj
their conduct is liable to the charge of inconsistency. Even
their advocates admit, that previous to the era of the cove
nant a few alterations would have satisfied their scruples.
The articles of the church were not disputed, nor were her
formularies, with a few exceptions, disapproved of. In the
works of the puritans prior to the year 1640, are continual
allusions to the articles and the liturgy. Not a few of them
adopted the creed as the basis of their theological addresses ;
a practice exploded by modern dissenters, who, while they
claim relationship to the early puritans, have deviated en
tirely from their principles. Neal asserts, that the assembly
would have been satisfied with a modification of the articles
but were prevented by the Scots. It appears, however, that
they were as ready to receive as the Scots were to impose
the covenant. Whatever, therefore, may have been the
merits of the assembly, their sudden change deserves the
severest reprobation. The aid of the Scots was required to
enable the parliament to subdue the sovereign; but their
change admits of no justification.
If presbytery was not set up in this country with the same
authority as in Scotland, it was not owing to lack of zeal in
the assembly, but rather to the refusal on the part of the
parliament to relinquish the power they had wrested from the
bishops. The assembly could not have manifested more bit
terness against the ancient establishment, if, like the S.cots,

church government. 213
they had from the outset been avowed presbyterians. The
Scots had no reason to complain of their lukewarmness:
there were frequent complaints of the apathy of the parlia
ment; but the assembly were flattered by their thanks. Better
allies than the assembly the Scots could not have desired.
They were, as already stated, confined in their delibera
tions to such points as were submitted to them by the parlia
ment. They were as warm advocates for the divine right
of presbytery as the Scots ; but the parliament proceeded
warily. No power was entrusted to the assembly ; they gave
their advice only.* " Many lords and commons were joined
in commission with them, to see that they did not go beyond
their commission : six or seven independents were joined
with them, that all sides might be heard ; of whom five were
called the dissenting brethren (Nye, Goodwin, Burroughs,
Sympson, and Bridge), who joined with the rest till they
had drawn up a larger and shorter catechism."'!'
The dissenting brethren soon evinced an indisposition to
agree with the majority. In 1644, an attempt was made to
reconcile the two parties : the independents demanded ex
emption from the jurisdiction of the classes, and a toleration
for separate worship. This request was denied by the pres
byterians, on the ground that a schism would be caused in
the church. Thus the attempt failed. J
Besides the independents, the Erastians were also the
constant opponents of the presbyterians on the subject of
church government. They asserted that no precise form was
specified in the New Testament. To this party belonged
* " Among other parts of their trust, one was to approve of all that should
he admitted into any church livings. They had no power to put out any,
but only to judge of the fitness of such as were taken in." — Baxter, part i.
p. 64. t Baxter, part i. p. 73. Neal says that the " English divines would have
been content with revising the thirty-nine articles, but the Scots insisted on a
system of their own." — See Neal, vol. iii. p. 378.
X Stillingfleet on Sfeparation, p. 65 et seq.

214 CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
Lightfoot, Selden, and Whitelock. They were men of ability,
and puzzled the assembly with their arguments. These two
parties kept the assembly in long debates about church go
vernment ; and when it was settled by that body, they had
acquired sufficient influence with the parliament to prevent
its execution. The first important business with which they were en
trusted was that of ordination ; and then they were com
manded to devise a new method of conducting public worship.
The liturgy had been abolished, and the church left without
any rule ; the directory was, therefore, framed by the assembly,
sanctioned by parliament, and imposed on the clergy. In
the preface, the evils attendant on the use of the common
prayer, such as encouraging popery, and countenancing an
idle and unprofitable ministry, are enumerated. Owing,
however, to the disinclination of the people, as well as to
the sectaries, who by this time had obtained many of the
churches, its use never became general. It was, however,
the only form set forth by authority, and continued until the
death of the king, after which the ministers were left at
liberty to observe or disregard it at pleasure.
Church government next occupied their attention, and at
an early period, as is evident from the advertisment prefixed
to the articles. Here they were opposed by the independents
and Erastians. The latter had no objection to the presby
terian model, but only to the claim of divine right. Selden
and Whitelock argued against the claim with all their powers
of reasoning. Still the point was carried by a large majority,
and rejected by the commons, who, to amuse the assembly,
submitted to their notice the questions relative to the jus
divinum, mentioned in the preceding chapter. The assembly
voted that Jesus Christ, as king of his church, hath himself
appointed a church government, distinct from the civil magis
trate : the commons merely voted that such a forra should exist
in the church. But this decision was not arrived at till after

SELDEN AND WHITELOCK. 215
many debates, and the lapse of many months. The Erastians
were men of eminent abilities, and found them abundance of
work. Selden discovered both his wit and his talents : his
learning, says Fuller, was employed " rather to pose than
profit, perplex than inform the members ; and he particu
larly opposed the jure-divino-ship of presbytery." White-
lock, who was present, and took an active part in the
debates, says, that Selden " spoke admirably, and confuted
divers of them in their own learning ; and soraetiraes, when
they had cited a text of scripture to prove their assertion, he
would tell them. Perhaps, in your little pocket Bibles with
gilt leaves (which they would often pull out), the translation
may be thus ; but the Greek or the Hebrew signifies thus or
thus; and so would totally silence them."* Selden wittily
remarks, " When the queries were sent to the assembly
concerning the jus divinum of presbytery, their asking time
to answer them was a satire upon themselves : for if it were
to be seen in the text, they might quickly turn to the place
and shew us it."f
These efforts of Selden, Whitelock, and the independents,
were viewed with satisfaction by the parliament, who were
by no means disposed to subject themselves to the Scottish
hierarchy. The independents advocated unrestricted tolera
tion : and much time was occupied in answering their argu
ments. Though only five in number, they proved formidable
in power. " Contemptible as these five raerabers raight
seem at first, like the little cloud like a raan's hand, which
appeared to Elijah's servant, they grew at last into a black
ness which overspread the whole hemisphere of presbytery.''^
Had the presbyterians succeeded according to their wishes,
every independent and sectary would have been removed
from the ministry. Even the five dissenting brethren in the
assembly would have been sequestered from their benefices,
* Memorials, p. 68. t Seldeniana, p. 120.
X Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 31.

216 ORDINANCE IN FAVOUR OF PRESBYTERIANS.
and would have found less mercy from the assembly than
from the bishops. The independents saw the persecuting
spirit of the presbyterian hierarchy. The presbyterians had
complained of episcopal tyranny ; and now wished to tyran
nise over others. " Those," says Fuller, " who desired most
ease and liberty for their sides when bound with episcopacy,
now girt their own garment the closest about the consciences
of others." In all these proceedings the Erastians and independents
were conscious of having the support of parliament. The
commons were alarmed at the lofty pretensions of the pres
byterians, and therefore never granted them the power they
claimed. It appears that the year 1648 was the most flourishing
period of presbytery ; for, though an ordinance was issued in
its favour in 1645, the intervening space was occupied in
endeavours to get it enforced. In the year 1648, after
repeated solicitations, the parliament passed what was termed
the grand ordinance in favour of presbytery. It was de
signated, " A Forra of Church Governraent to be used in the
Churches of England and Ireland." It places every parish
under the rule of congregational, classical, provincial, and
national asserablies : but no penalties were imposed on those
who refused to submit. This was "the utmost length that
presbytery obtained in this kingdom."* But how soon was
the fabric marred ! even before the top stone was elevated to
its situation, the foundation was giving way. As the ordi
nance was not enforced by penalties, it was little better than
a permission of the new discipline.^ In many churches the
directory was disregarded : and the only places in which the
new model was fully practised, were London and Lancashire.J
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 501.
t Thus the government was Erastian rather than presbyterian. — Comp.,
Hist. vol. iii. p. 148.
X The first provincial assembly met in the convocation-house at St. Paul's,

PSALMODY  STERNHOLD. 217
Thus the presbyterians never acquired that spiritual ascend
ency after which they panted ; they were never freed from.
parliamentary control ; and their idol was never set up in all
its glory. Even the shadow of ecclesiastical authority con
ceded by the parliament, vanished before the genius of inde
pendency. Subsequent to the death of the king, the clergy
neglected or observed the new system, according to their
inclinations. It is remarkable that the growing power of the inde
pendents operated as a constant check upon the encroach
ments of the presbyterians. In conjunction with the inde
pendents were the baptists and the various sects, who, though
differing from each other in many particulars, were never
theless united against presbytery, and in favour of toleration.
The presbyterian model was alien to the feelings and habits
of the English people, whose reverence for the institutions of
their ancestors was undiminished.
The other labours of the assembly were few and unim
portant. One subject was, however, submitted to their
notice, of a singular kind : this was the state of parochial
psalmody. At this time the version of Sternhold and Hop
kins was the only one in use : it was the offspring of the
puritans : yet such is the inconsistency of men, it now began
to decline in favour with the presbyterians. Francis Rous, a
member of the assembly, translated the psalms into metre :
in 1645, complaints were uttered against the version of Stern
hold and Hopkins, the chief of which was, that it was become
obsolete. The assembly were authorised to take the matter
into consideration : Barton's version was examined and ap
proved, and ordered by the parliament to be printed.* It
appears from Wood, that it had been printed in 1641 : the
and was composed chiefly of the remains of the assembly. They continued
to meet till 1655, when, finding that they had no power, their meetings were
discontinued. — Neal, vol. iii. p. 497.
* Wood's Athens, vol. ii. p. 232.

218 ROUS'S VERSION OF PSALMS.
copies yet unsold were now circulated, or a new edition was
published. It took the place of the ancient version, and was
used extensively until the restoration. Wood states, that
William Barton also composed a metrical version of the
psalms, and that it was published by authority about the
same time : but this is a mistake ; for Barton only published a
few psalms and hymns on an occasion of public thanksgiving.
These were indeed printed by order of the house. In 1651,
Barton revised Rous's version, when it was again licensed for
the press.*
This revised version is still used in the Scottish church.
A comparison with Sternhold and Hopkins will shew that no
great improvement, either in language or sentiment, was
effected. It is curious to find the merabers of the assembly
in 1646 complaining that the old version was become obsolete.
The language of Rous's version is far inferior in dignity,
simplicity, and clearness.
There are some curious facts relative to the version of
Sternhold and Hopkins. In the time of Elizabeth and James
^t was the favourite of the puritans, and despised by some of
the high churchmen. Indeed, an attachment to this version
rendered a clergyman suspected of puritanisra ; and many,
to demonstrate that they were not puritans, expelled it from
their churches.'f- /fhis is one of the complaints of the puritans
during that period. Its puritanic origin was known, which,
together with its general use among the puritan clergy, ren
dered it distasteful to the episcopalians : but it is a remark
able fact, that, from the period of its being supplanted by
the version of Rous, it became the favourite of the members
* January 1656, the matter was again debated in Cromwell's parhament.
Burton mentions " a report from the ministers who were appointed to con
sider which version of psalms was fitted to be publicly used. Their return
was, that Mr. Rous's version was best, both as agreeing with the original, and
better metre." — Burton's Diary, vol. i. p. 229.
t It declined in favour with some of the churchmen of that day, just in
proportion as it was held in esteem by the puritans.

PSALMODY. 219
of the English church. From the restoration till the ver
sion of Tate and Brady was set forth by authority, these
psalms were alone sung in our churches. At the present
moment the old version keeps its place in many a vil
lage church, where, notwithstanding the march of intel
lect, the introduction even of Tate and Brady would be
viewed by the rustic choirs as an innovation of the greatest
magnitude. Thus it appears, that when the old version was slighted
by the presbyterians, it became the favourite of the episco
palians. Though once cherished by the puritans, with
whose brightest hopes it was entwined, it is treated with
contempt by dissenters of the present day, who, ignorant
of its puritanic origin, despise it chiefly because it is held in
reverence by churchmen. This is another instance in which
the dissenters have departed widely from the sentiments of
the puritans; for with them this version was esteemed next
to the Holy Scriptures : with them it was a manual of devo
tion ; it was taught their children, and repeated in their
families ; it was quoted with the same feelings with which
a favourite poet is quoted. From this version the sick and
the dying repeated stanzas, for the purpose of reviving their
hopes, and to strengthen them in the prospect of death and
in grappling with the king of terrors. Many of the most
celebrated puritans quitted time for eternity with passages
from this version dropping from their quivering lips : they
never imagined it destitute of devotional fervour ; on the
contrary, their best sympathies were awakened, and their
religious feelings strengthened, by reciting passages pre
viously treasured up in the memory. It was connected with
their tenderest recollections ; they had been familiar with it
from childhood, and it was not forgotten while reason re
tained her sway. Even after the restoration, it was held
in esteem bv the nonconformists, as is evident from their
lives. Dr. Edmund Staunton, one of the most eminent,

220 ASSOCIATED COUNTIES.
quoted the fifth verse of the thirty-first psalm when on his
dying bed.*
After the death of the king, many members, though the
assembly was not formally dissolved, retired. Those who
remained were formed into a committee for the purpose of
examining those who were presented to livings.f The dis
solution of the long parliament, in 1653, was the signal for
their separation, even as a committee.

CHAPTER XX.
1643 — 1648.
ASSOCIATED COUNTIES — SEQUESTRATIONS  CAMBRIDGE VISITED — EXCESSES
 SURRENDER OF OXFORD  DEPREDATIONS ON THE BUILDINGS, &C. —
APPEARANCE OF OXFORD AT EVELYn's VISIT 1654  SEVEN DIVINES SENT
BY PARLIAMENT  SOLDIERS DISPUTE IN SCHOOLS  SCRUPLE SHOP 
VISITATION OF UNIVERSITY  DEPRIVATIONS  FELLOWSHIPS FILLED 
CHARACTER OF THE NEW MEMBERS  DISTRESSES OF THE EJECTED FEL
LOWS  FIFTHS.
Besides the general ordinances for the sequestration of the
loyal clergy, there were also particular ones affecting certain
places. The associated counties, as they were termed, and
the university of Cambridge, were included in these par
ticular ordinances. The counties thus designated were
Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertford, Cambridge, Huntingdon,
and Lincoln : being zealous in the cause of the parliament,
to whose aid they contributed both men and raoney, they
were placed under the governraent of the Earl of Man
chester, who was authorised to eject scandalous ministers
within their limits. Comraittees were nominated by the earl
* Clarke's Lives, p. 165.
t Comp. Hist. vol. iii. p. 152; Neal, vol, iii. p. 491.

ASSOCIATED COUNTIES. 221
according to the following form : " By virtue of an ordinance
bearing date January 22, 1643-4, I do authorise and appoint
you to call before you all the ministers within the county,
&c. that are scandalous in their lives, or disaffected to the
parliament, or fomentors of this unnatural war, or that shall
wilfully refuse obedience to the ordinances of parliament, or
that have deserted their ordinary places of residence, — with
full power to send for any witnesses, and to examine com
plaints upon oath ; and you are to certify the naraes of
such ministers, with the charge and proof against them,
to me." Copious instructions accompanied the warrant. The com
mittees were ordered to be speedy in the execution of the
ordinance, and to sit in general places, for the convenience
and encouragement of informers; not to permit the accused
to be present at the taking of the depositions ; and to return
the accusation and defence to the earl's chaplains. The
sixth instruction was, however, the most malicious : " It
being found, by sad experience, that parishioners were not
forward to complain of their ministers, though very scan
dalous, too many being enemies to that blessed reformation
so much desired, and loath to corae under a powerful
ministry ; and others sparing their ministers because they
favoured them in their tithes, and were, therefore, esteemed
quiet men ; therefore, they were required to call unto them
some well-affected men within every hundred, who, having
no private engagements, were to be encouraged to inquire
after the doctrines, lives, and conversation of all ministers
and schoolmasters, and to give information what could be
deposed, and who could depose the same."* Here was a
direct bribe offered to all the ill-disposed in every parish to
bring accusations against the clergy.
After a clergyman was sequestered, the parishioners were
* Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 117; Neal, vol. iii. p. 129. •

222 SEQUESTRATION.
instructed to choose a fit and proper person to succeed him,
who was to produce to the earl a testimonial from the well-
affected gentry and ministry. He was then ordered to
appear before the assembly at Westminster, for the trial
of his abilities: if the assembly approved, the earl issued his
warrant, appointing him to the vacant benefice, not, however,
for life, but only during the earl's pleasure.
During the space of one year, 156 clergymen were ejected
in five out of the seven counties : informations came in
rapidly. When a minister was disposed to collect his tithe,
a charge of malignancy was the almost certain consequence :
if only four or five individuals were concerned in a petition,
it was received and treated as coming from the whole parish.
The charges were similar to those already noticed, — that of
malignancy is of the most frequent occurrence ; yet, though
the conduct of most of the clergy was unimpeachable, they
were designated, not only in the ordinance, but in the earl's
warrant, " scandalous ministers." Neither piety nor learning
was a shield to the clergy from the attacks of the committees.
The earl appears to have acted in a most arbitrary
manner. He was at this time a staunch presbyterian, and
evinced no ordinary degree of zeal in modelling the church
to his own views. Sitting perraanently under his sole direc
tion, these committees became an insufferable burden on the
country. The mode of procuring evidence was so contrary
to justice, and so alien to the spirit of the constitution, that
no one could escape, unless he was prepared to coincide with
the parliament.
By the same ordinance, the earl was entrusted with the
regulation of the university of Cambridge. From the com
mencement of the war, this university had been in the hands
of the parliament. From an early period, the parliament
had contemplated a reformation of the universities. Cam
bridge, being in the power of the parliament, experienced
the weight of their vengeance earlier than Oxford, the latter

CAMBRIDGE VISITED. 223
being a garrison of the king's until the end of the war.
When the covenant was taken and episcopacy abolished, no
other scheme was prepared for general reception. It was
necessary, indeed, that a new system should be devised ;
" but it was a considerable time before this could be per
fected. In the mean while, they resolved to purge the
university of Cambridge, which was the head quarters of
their forces, that they raight have a succession of clergymen
training up in the principles they had espoused."* The
town, says Neal, was in the interest of the parliamt nt ; but
the colleges were so raany little garrisons for the king, and
sanctuaries of disaffection. The ordinance is dated Janu
ary 22, 1643-4; but the business of reformation was anti
cipated, in a great measure, by the army long before. In
1642, the lords ordered that no one should offer any violence
to the chapels, libraries, or public schools ; nor plunder,
purloin, or deface the books ; and that service should be
performed as usual in the college chapels. About this time
the colleges sent some of their plate to his majesty, upon
which Cromwell entered the town with his troops, under the
pretence of preventing its removal. From this tirae the
university became a scene of perpetual ravages ; the clergy
were insulted in the streets ; many were imprisoned for
refusing to contribute towards the support of the war, their
property, and even their books, being exposed to public sale ;
and all the pictures that could be discovered were burnt
in the market-place. The trees in many of the public walks
were cut down and sold ; and the old court of St. John's
converted into a prison, the furniture of the rooms being
committed to the flaraes. Nor did the ornaraents of the
chapels escape destruction, nor the sanctuaries of the dead
violation. " The committee enjoined the ofiicers of the
parish to put in execution the ordinance for destroying the
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 112.

224 EXCESSES.
relics of superstition, whereby the paintings in windows, and
a great deal of carved work, was demolished."* The chapel
of King's College was actually converted into a training-
place for the troops ; but, fortunately, the magnificent
windows were preserved, by being previously removed and
concealed. The larger tablets on the floors of the chapels
and cloisters were, however, broken up; and all kinds of
enormities were perpetrated before even the reforming
ordinance was passed.
Whten Cromwell entered the town, he acted with great
severity. Surrounding the chapels with his troops during
the hour of prayers, he seized and carried away several of
the principal persons in the university, who were kept in
close confinement in London. On one occasion, the vice-
chancellor and masters of colleges were detained in the
public schools, where they had assembled for business, till
midnight, at an inclement season of the year, and without
fire or food, simply for declining to contribute to the support
of the war.-f- Any individual, on his own responsibility,
could enter churches, break ihe windows, and deface the
monuments, with impunity. From the " Querela Can-
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 113.
f Walker, p. 109. It is stated, that during Cromwell's residence in the
county, he threatened to demolish all the colleges. Happily, Cromwell's
enthusiasm evaporated as the war advanced. From whatever cause, he
viewed Cambridge with especial favour ; and, owing to his forbearance, the
university suffered less than Oxford. Some of the windows were spared at
his intercession; and, with the exception of public worship, the college chapels
remained unaltered until the restoration. A few specimens of the manner in
which ordinance against superstition was executed may here be given : —
" 1643, December 21. We went to Peter House with officers and soldiers,
and we pulled down two mighty angels with wings, and divers other angels ;
the four evangelists, and Peter, with his keys, on the chapel door ; together
with about one hundred cherubims, and many superstitious letters in gold.
Moreover, we found six angels in the windows, all which we defaced."
King's College is thus noticed :— " December 26, 1643. Steps to be taken
down, and ,1000 superstitious pictures, the ladder of Christ, and thieves to
go upon many crosses, and Jesus writ upon them." Of Queen's, the

DEPREDATIONS ON THE BUILDINGS., &C. 225
tabrigiensis," it appears that an individual, by virtue of a
pretended commission, went about the country to break and
deface monuments and painted windows. This man was
joined by the rabble, who, with their leader, actually dug up
the floors of some of the chapels.
It was stated in the ordinance, that " the service of the
parliament being retarded, the people's souls starved by the
idle, ill-affected, and scandalous clergy of the university of
Cambridge, and that many who would give evidence were
not able to incur the expense of a journey to London, the
Earl of Manchester is authorised to appoint committees, who
should call before them all provosts, masters, and fellows of
colleges, all students and members of the university, that are
scandalous in their lives, and ill-affected to the parliament."*
He was also empowered to administer the covenant, remove
the disaffected, and to supply their places with others, after
the approval of the assembly of divines. Some of the
members were ejected for non -residence, and others for
malignancy. An oath of discovery was administered, by
which all persons were bound to accuse their nearest friends :
when the oath was refused, sequestration followed. -f- Neal
doubts whether this oath was ever imposed ; but as the
author of the Querela positively asserts the fact, the raatter
cannot reasonably admit of doubt. The ground on which
Neal rests his doubts, is the ignorance of the earl's chap
lains, who stated that they did not remember it. Ashe,
however, states, that he might be under mistake, through
forgetfulness. J
Cambridge had never been visited in such a manner
following : — « December 6, 1643. We beat down about 110 superstitious
pictures, besides cherubim and engravings. And there none of the fellows
would put on their hats all the while they were in the chapel. We dogged
up the steps ^for three hours, and broke down ten or twelve apostles.'' — See
Carter's History of Cambridge, pp. 39, 168, 187.
* Husband's Collections, p. 415. f Querela Cantab, p. 20.
X Neal, vol. iii. p. 116. Q

226 CAMBRIDGE VISITED.
before : her most learned sons were dispossessed of their
rights by the very men who had been loudest in their
clamours for liberty. Upwards of five hundred members,
including masters of colleges, fellows, exhibitioners, and
undergraduates, were expelled before the year 1645. To
adopt the language of the Querela, they " thrust out one
of the eyes of this kingdom ; made eloquence dumb, philo
sophy sottish ; widowed the arts ; drove the muses from
their ancient habitations ; plucked the reverend and or
thodox professors out of the chairs, and silenced them in
prison or their graves ; chtoged the apostolical chair into
a desk for blasphemy ; tore the garland from the head of
learning to place it on the dull brow of disloyal ignorance ;
made those ancient and beautiful chapels, the sweet remem
brances and monuments of our forefathers' charity, and
kind fomentors of their children's devotion, to become noxi
ous heaps of dust and stones ; and unhived those numerous
swarms of labouring bees, which used to drop honey-dew over
all this kingdom, to place in their room swarms of senseless
drones." The vacant masterships and fellowships were filled up
with men of the earl's nomination. Neal attempts to repel
the charge, that learning suffered through the expulsion of
the members, by comparing the characters of the twelve
ejected masters with those of their successors.* But he
omits the comparison between the new fellows and those
who were removed. Undoubtedly the earl placed the moat
eminent of his party in the vacant masterships ; but the
fellowships were occupied by men infinitely inferior to their
predecessors. If, however, the new merabers had been
equal tO the old in learning and attainments, the iniquity
of the proceeding would have been the same.
After 1645, the members were almost all in the interest
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 118, et seq.

SURRENDER OF OXFORD. 227
of the parliament. In 1650, when the engagement super
seded the covenant, many who had taken the latter were
sequestered on refusing to subscribe the former. Between
the year 1649, when the independent ascendency became
established, and 1 650, the period of the engagement, some
of the episcopal clergy had succeeded in possessing them
selves of their former, or other fellowships. Some of them
also took the engagement, by which they were only bound
not to attempt any alteration in the government. By this
oath, the presbyterians were as much affected as the epis
copalians. When all hope of ultimate success was extinguished,
Oxford was surrendered by his majesty's command to the
army of the parliament. Accordingly, on the 24th of June,
1646, the city was entered by Fairfax, by whose influence
the university was preserved from many excesses that, under
a less influential or a more enthusiastic general, would have.
been perpetrated by the soldiers. The reader mhst not for
get that, though at this time the parliament was composd
chiefly of presbyterians, the army, who fought their battles,
owipg to the changes wrought by the self-denying ordinance,
were principally independents and sectaries, whose hostility
to all settled institutions was unbounded, and whose hatred
towards any thing that, iu their iraagination, savoured of
popery, was unbridled.
By the terms of the treaty, the ancient form of govern
ment was secured ; the churches, colleges, and chapels, were
to be preserved in their usual state : and, as far as possible,
Fairfax caused these terms to be observed. It was, however,
impossible to restrain the soldiers ; and, notwithstanding the
general's efforts to preserve them, few of the public buildings
escaped uninjured. The admirers of ancient art have to
deplore the loss of many monuments erected by our fore
fathers. Not a few of the painted windows were destroyed ;
statues were hurled from their pedestals or niches and

228 DEPREDATIONS ON THE BUILDINGS.
broken. As so much violence had been exhibited in other
places, it was not to be expected that Oxford, the strong
hold of the church, and the strongest royal garrison, should
escape with impunity. It was rather to be expected that
the vengeance of the soldiery, which had been inflicted in
so many places, would fall with unusual severity on the
fountain head of those supposed ecclesiastical enormities and
impositions, from which, by the aid of the troops, the country
had been emancipated.
Accordingly Oxford suffered severely. An adequate con
ception of the scene can scarcely be formed. So singular
were the enthusiastic notions of the soldiers, that their
actions savoured strongly of the ludicrous. While marching
the High Street, they discharged their muskets at the statue
of the Virgin over the entrance of the university church.
Fairfax experienced no small difficulty in repressing their
violence ; for the very sight of an image was sufl&cient to
excite thera to acts of outrage. The clerical robes, with the
badges of the various degrees conferred by the university,
were exposed to the sarae violence as the other supposed
relics of superstition ; being termed badges of popery, and
remnants of the great scarlet whore. The colleges had
suffered severely during the war, some of them having been
converted into barracks for the royal troops, and others into
storehouses. Even during the king's residence, the cupidity of
individuals had deprived the cloisters of New College of some
of their brazen tablets. However, the work of destruction was
chiefly completed after the surrender. Numerous traces of
the violence to which the university was then subjected are
every where visible. Indeed, with such enthusiastic feelings,
it is surprising that any ancient monument or painted win
dow was spared. A current cannot be checked; nor is it
easy to oppose the ravages committed by enthusiasts. The
preservation of some things must, therefore, be attributed
to Fairfax. The windows at Christ Church were o'reatly

APPEARANCE OF OXFORD AT EVELYn's VISIT. 229
defaced ; nor did the churches in the neighbourhood escape.
The churches of Dorchester and Banbury, the former seven,
and the latter twenty-three, miles distant from Oxford, Were
very rich in painted windows, ancient sculpture, and sepul
chral monuments : in the former church are sad evidences
of the ravages of the army ; and in the latter were similar
evidences a few years since, when the ancient church was
taken down. Nearly all the windows and monuments were
destroyed or mutilated in both these churches. All the
ancient plate had been melted down for his majesty during
the war.
It has been stated in a preceding page, that organs were
. specified in the ordinances against relics ; when, therefore,
Oxford surrendered, the organs were either destroyed or
silenced : the instruments, by which the ear was charmed,
and the heart elevated in the moments of devotion, were
rendered mute by a parliamentary order. Some were taken
down ; and those that were permitted to remain were silent.
When Evelyn visited Oxford in 1654, he found New College
Chapel in its ancient state. It is probable that this beautiful
structure was preserved by the influence of Fairfax. There
are, however, still numerous traces of the ravages of the
soldiers in the pavement of the chapels from which the
brazen monuments were torn. The chapel of Magdalen
College appears to have escaped with but partial injury.
At the time of Evelyn's visit its appearance was unaltered,
with the exception of the comraunion-table, which had been
removed from its position in the east end of the chancel into
the body of the building. The organ also reraained in its
original position, but its tones were never heard.
Not only were the university buildings exposed to the
wild ravages of fanaticism, but Oxford became also the
theatre of scenes unusually ridiculous, and the arena of a
contest to which a parallel would in vain be sought in any
period of her history. It could not be expected that Oxford

230 SOLDIERS DISPUTE IN SCHOOLS.
would undergo no change. The first measure of the parlia
ment was a preparatory one: seven divines were selected
and sent to Oxford, armed with authority to preach in any
of the pulpits. They were to endeavour to bring the uni
versity to a better mind ; that is, to prepare them for the
approaching changes. It appears, however, that they were
not heard with much attention : they omitted the Lord's
prayer before sermon, and irritated rather than soothed
their audience. Their labours were not followed by the
results , anticipated by the parliament : the views of the
university were decided, and diametrically opposed to those
of the presbyterians ; and, moreover, the independents in
the army opposed the preachers with as much zeal as
the episcopalians. Oxford was really placed in the hands
of the army, to whose principles the seven divines were
opposed. Hence discord and confusion sprung up between
the divines and the soldiers, who devoted themselves to
spiritual employments with as much fervour as to military
occupations. The independents and sectaries were inimical to all settled
institutions ; they would not admit of an order of priesthood,
but any individual, who pretended an inward call, was au
thorised to exercise the ministerial functions. On all these
points, and many others, they were totally at variance with
the presbyterians. As such were their views of the ministry,
they could not hold the seats of learning in much estimation.
The soldiers, therefore, hesitated not to enter the churches
and public schools. In the forraer, they disputed against
the presbyterian divines ; in the latter, they challenged the
scholars to prove their calling from Christ, and declaimed
against human learning as totally useless. The few chap
lains retained in the army since the new model, were now
of a similar spirit; they also entered the university pulpit,
and disputed with the presbyterian divines. Hugh Peters
was one of these chaplains ; and St. Mary's church was not

SCRUPLE SHOP. 231
unfrequently a witness to his most extraordinary pulpit ex
hibitions. No adequate idea can be formed of the strange
scenes so common at this period ; no minute record exists ;
and all the information on the subject is scattered through
the pages of comparatively a few writers. The soldiers
encountered the gownsmen in the streets and the public
walks : they mounted the scholastic rostrum to dispute with
gowned scholars on the nature of the ministerial call, the
office of the priesthood, and the peculiar doctrines of the
various sects then so numerous in the army. It was main
tained by the soldiers, that they ought not to lose any
opportunity of promulgating their own views. In Oxford
they must have considered themselves peculiarly favoured in
being permitted to proclaim them in the chief fortress of the
mother of abominations.
Shortly after the arrival of the presbyterian divines, they
established a meeting for discussing cases of conscience, to
which individuals were invited, in order to be relieved of
their scruples. This was, in derision, denominated the
" Scruple Shop." Their proceedings were soon disturbed
by the independents. On one occasion they held a long
dispute with Cheynel on the question, " Whether those
who call themselves ministers, have more right to preach
the gospel than any man who is a Christian ? " The prin
cipal disputant on the part of the independents was Erbury :
he had long been a chaplain in the army, and was well calcu
lated to keep alive their enthusiasm. Both parties in this dis
pute were attended by their partisans ; but Erbury's were the
more numerous. Many of the soldiers awaited the result
of the disputation. Erbury disconcerted the presbyterians
by asking them, Whence they had derived their orders?
As all the seven had been episcopally ordained, they were
puzzled in giving an answer : they were unwilling to ven
ture an acknowledgment or a denial ; and in consequence
of their silence, the victory was decided by the soldiers to be

232 VISITATION OF UNIVERSITY.
on the side of Erbury.* The meeting for discussing cases of
conscience was soon after dissolved.
Though the divines preached in the university, the mem
bers of colleges still retained their situations. " The uni
versity held out a siege of more than a year and a half; for
the convocation -house proved a citadel, and each single
college a fort, which they found it not very easy to reduce."f
The storm, however, was gathering, and the horizon soon
became dark ; the thunder was heard in the distance, and
eventually the seat of the muses experienced its violence.
But for a considerable space the blow was warded off by the
skill of the members of the university. The divines failed
in their object, as is admitted by Neal ; " there being no
prospect of reforming the university by these methods, the
houses resolved to proceed upon a visitation ."| The visitors
were appointed. May 1, 1647, by an ordinance, with au
thority to inquire into the lives and conduct of the members
of the university ; to examine on oath concerning the neglect
of the covenant, directory, or discipline ; and to ascertain
who had been enemies to the parliament." § It was ordered
that the visitation should commence in the month of June;
but the preacher appointed by the visitors for the occasion
having detained them at St. Mary's longer than was anti
cipated, they were not able to reach the convocation-house
by the time specified in their own citation. The vice-chan
cellor and his brethren attended at the appointed hour, but
left the house as soon as the time had expired. The parties
met in the court, the vice-ciiancellor merely wishing the
visitors a good morning. This circumstance prevented the
visitors from any further proceedings at this time.
In September another attempt was made. The visitors,
armed with fresh powers, again suraraoned the vice-chan
cellor and heads of houses to appear before them. They
* Wood's Ant. lib. i. p. 369 ; Walker, p. 126. f Walker, 122.
t Neal, vol. iii. p. 431. § Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 114.

VISITATION OF UNIVERSITY. 233
refused to own any visitor but the king. Several of the
heads of houses were then summoned to London, to -appear
before a committee of parliament. The Oxonians persisting
in their refusal to acknowledge the visitation, several months
were occupied in these proceedings. At length, in the spring
of 1648, the visitors published the deprivations of the re
fractory members.
But another difiiculty presented itself. Though the vi
sitors had published the deprivations of the vice-chancellor
and other obnoxious members, they knew not how to dis
possess them. They were not disposed to quit their posts at
the nod of an unlawful authority :* nor would the visitors
have succeeded, had they not resorted to other means than
proclamations and citations. The parliament appointed the
Earl of Pembroke to the chancellorship, who proceeded to
Oxford in April 1648, with a troop of one hundred horse.
He was ordered to assist the visitors in the removal of all the
refractory heads ; and a file of soldiers executed the com
mands of the parliament. The day after his arrival he
proceeded to Christ Church, to fix Mr. Reynolds in the
deanery : Mrs. Fell refused to open the doors, when the earl
commanded the soldiers to force them, and carry the lady
into the quadrangle. Similar violence was practised at
Magdalen, All Souls, Trinity, St. John's, Wadham, and
other colleges.* Thus the doors were forced, and the newly
appointed heads installed into their respective ofiices by a
troop of soldiers.
Such powers had never been assumed by any English
sovereign. The university had ever appointed their own
oflScers; but now they were imposed at the point of the
bayonet. The new vice-chancellor and heads of houses
having been appointed, all the fellows were summoned to
appear. The visitors proposed the covenant as a test ; but
* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 378.

234 DEPRIVATIONS.
most of the fellows declined to attend the summons, or
refused to submit to the authority of the visitation. They
were, however, rejected, and others placed in their room.
Finding that the fellows lingered in the university, the
visitors ordered a sergeant, with a file of soldiers, to publish,
by beat of drum, before the gates of eveiy college, that if any
of the expelled members remained in the university, they
would be treated as prisoners.* As this order was disre
garded, another was published, " that whoever should be
taken within five miles of Oxford, would be deemed as spy,
and punished with death." Armed with such extensive
powers, and backed by a military force, the visitors succeeded
in banishing from the university all who refused the cove
nant, and declined to submit to the authority of parliament.
Nearly all the fellows and scholars were ejected: the number
was upwards of five hundred, including the various degrees
and the undergraduates.
Wood gives an arausing account of his appearance before
the visitors. When the usual question was proposed, " Will
you submit to the authority of parliament in this visitation ?"
he answered, " I do not understand the business, and there
fore ara not able to give a direct answer." Notwithstanding
his equivocal reply, he was permitted, through some powerful
influence, to continue in his post ; where he remained until
the restoration.
When the visitors had succeeded in ejecting the refractory
members, they began to fill up the vacancies. Almost any
one, whether a graduate or not, was appointed to a fellow
ship : many soldiers, whose services were no longer needed
in the army, were metamorphosed into scholars. The uni
versity of Cambridge had becorae overstocked ; and, like
the ancient Greeks, she sent a colony to Oxford. " Many
poor scholars flocked there: some of them soldiers, who were
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 458.

CHARACTER OF THE NEW MEMBERS. 235
called ' seekers.' They had mortified countenances, puling
voices, and their eyes, when in discourse, were lifted up."*
Scholarship was no longer a recommendation, for, with
many, learning and literature were held in contempt. How
ever, by the exertions of a few distinguished men, who
remained, during these times of confusion, as the guardians
of the arts, the lamp of knowledge was kept from extinction.
By the end of the year Oxford was entirely changed : a
new race had been introduced. But while the new raembers
were enjoying the property to which they had no title, the
legal owners were reduced to the greatest straits. In all the
quarters of the parliament they were viewed as enemies :
like the primitive Christians they roamed from place to place
in quest of support ; they were compelled to seek shelter in
secret places from the fury of an enthusiastic rabble, and the
penalties of a despotic parliament. Their loyalty to a fallen
prince was a crime of deepest die : the charge of popery was
alleged, for the purpose of rendering them odious to the
people. Some of them died in exile ; while others survived
the restoration, and subsequently became eminent in the
church. The triumph of the presbyterians in Oxford was com
plete: the liturgy was superseded by the directory, and
episcopacy by the new discipline. One of the preachers,
from the pulpit of St. Mary's, called upon the visitors " to
perfect the work of reformation, by destroying every thing
;belonging to Baal; by destroying both the root and branch ;
and by removing the very trunk of Dagon."t " The chapel
clerks," says Wood, " had nothing to do after the common
;prayer was set aside."
Thus the universities and the parish churches were puri
fied by j the removal of all suspected individuals; and their
* Wood's Athenae, vol. ii. fasti 61.
t Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 138.

^36 DISTRESSES OF THE EJECTED FELLOWS.
places were occupied by others, who were well-affected
towards the parliament. By the terms of the ordinance for
sequestering the clergy, the fifth part of the benefice was
appointed to be paid by the new minister to the wife and
children of the ejected incumbent. This ordinance is adduced
by Calamy as an act of great clemency on the part of the
parliament, and as being without a parallel in the trans
actions at the restoration. But these fifths were seldom or
never paid ; and to the families of the clergy they were a
source of continual vexation. On the application of the
wives and children they were rudely repulsed, and insult
was often added to cruelty. Many of those ministers who
refused to pay the fifths to the families of those whose vine
yards they possessed, were sufferers in 1662: could they
justly complain of hardship, when they recollected their own
conduct? Some of the wives and children of the ejected
incumbents were reduced to the necessity of taking up their
abode in barns and stables : nor was it an unusual occurrence
for the children to beg for bread at the doors of those houses
in which their tender years had been cherished. Many of
the Bartholoraew sufferers had been prominent actors in this
persecution of the families of their predecessors. If no such
provision was made for the ejected rainisters in 1662, they
had no such claim : they, in many cases, possessed the pro
perty of others ; and the instances of individual beneficence
on the part of the episcopalians were greater, after the
restoration, towards the ejected clergy, than any that can be
produced in favour of the presbyterians towards the seques
tered incumbents. Gunning allowed a considerable sura to
Dr. Tuckney ; and many other instances might be adduced ;
whereas Ley, one of the presbyterian clergy, actually wrote a
treatise against the payment of the fifths: it is entitled,
" General Reasons, grounded on equity, piety, charity, and
justice, against the payment of a fifth part to the sequestered

DEATH OF THE KING. 237
ministers, wives, and children."* Even Neal admits that the
fifths were badly paid.f Some of the clergy actually sued for
and recovered their fifths subsequent to the restoration.

CHAPTER XXI.
1648.
DEATH OF THE KING — HIS CHARACTER  CAUSES OF WAR — WHETHER
PRESBYTERIANS OR INDEPENDENTS PUT THE KING TO DEATH  PULPIT
AN EXCITING CAUSE OF WAR  SPECIMEN OF SERMONS.
The unfavourable termination of the conference at Newport
has been stated in a preceding chapter. When the army
returned to London, the scale was turned in favour of the
independents. Had the presbyterians united with the king,
the monarchy would have been saved : but the favourable
moment was lost by the protracted discussions in the Isle of
Wight. The day after the expulsion of the presbyterian
members, Cromwell carae to Whitehall, and was honoured
with the thanks of the reranant of the parliament. Petitions
against the king were multiplied, and a committee was no
minated to draw up a charge. His majesty was conducted
to Windsor, and thence removed on the 19th January,
1648-9, to St. James's Palace. A high court of justice was
erected, and the lords refusing to concur, the comraons voted
that their consent was unnecessary, and proceeded to bring
the king to trial. The particulars of the trial do not fall
within the scope of this work : sentence was passed upon the
sovereign, and executed on the 30th January, 1648-9.
The character of Charles has been represented in various
lights. That he partook of the coraraon infirmities incident to
* Wood's Athense, vol ii. p. 190. t Neal, vol. iii. p. 136.

238 CHARACTER OF THE KING.
human nature, will be freely admitted : but to brand him with
the odious name of tyrant, is the height of injustice : no man
was less tyrannical in his nature ; and the acts alleged in
proof of his tyranny were such as had been practised by all
his predecessors. He had imbibed his father's lofty notions
respecting the prerogative : they had been cherished in his
earlier years, and he clung to them with tenacity. It is not
easy to emancipate ourselves from the influence of early pre
judices and associations : nor are principles imbibed in child
hood easily rejected for others. No wanton attack, however,
was raade on the liberty of the subject ; nor was he cruel or
unprincipled. It was his misfortune, not his crime, to have
his lot cast in an age when the principles in which he had
been educated were become unpalatable to his subjects.
Contemporary writers were evidently in error relative to
the character of the king ; or their mental view was obscured
by prejudice. Colonel Hutchinson says, "that the bishops
flattered Charles, and he protected them in pomp and pride
against all the godly people in the land." Such a sweeping
assertion, from so conscientious a man, shews the strength of
the prejudices then prevalent against the king.
In his last moments Charles displayed much greatness
of mind : in private life, his character was unexceptionable.
" Had the limitation of the prerogative been in his tirae fixed
and certain, his integrity had raade hira regard as sacred the
boundaries of the constitution." Mr. Orme, in his recent
Life of Baxter, asserts that " the breaches made by Charles
in the constitution — his arbitrary treatment of parliaments —
his persevering attempts to render himself independent of
their authority — were the causes of the war." In reply to
this statement, it may be asked, did not the parliament, by
refusing to be satisfied when all their reasonable claims
were granted, force the sovereign to adopt means of
self-defence ? Were not their acts more unconstitutional
than the worst of the kings? Was not the bill for per-

CAUSES OP THE WAR. 239
petuating the parliament tyrannical ? Their obstinacy in
insisting on the full establishment of presbytery was never
equalled by any thing on the part of Charles ; indeed, the
bigotry and obstinacy of the presbyterians proved their ruin :
" The presbyterians were more bigoted than Charles, who
had been brought to a reluctant acquiescence in the tolera
tion of presbytery."* "When we read the violent and
barbarous proceedings of the parliament, is it consistent with
honesty or humanity to hold up that assembly to admiration,
while the faults on the king's side are studiously aggra
vated ?"t " When," says the same able writer, " Hotham;
shut the gates of Hull — when the militia were called out —
the bonds of our constitutional law were snapped asunder." J
Until this reign, the idea of a free government was only
found in the works, or existed in the imaginations, of specu
lative philosophers : the concessions, therefore, made by
Charles at the assembling of the long parliament were in
advance of the age, and ought to have proved satisfactory.
It is by no means easy to ascertain the real causes of the
war ; but it is certain that all the blame does not attach to
Charles, — not all the sophistry nor all the eloquence of man
could succeed in establishing such a proposition. " It has
often been asked," says Dr. Lingard, " who were the authors
of the civil war ? The answer seems to depend on the solu
tion of this other question, — were additional securities ne
cessary for the preservation of the national rights ? If they
were, the blame will belong to Charles; if not, it will rest
with his adversaries." After the concessions made by Charles
before the war, can any one hesitate to acquiesce in tbe
conclirsion, that the rights of the people were properly
secured? There are sorae writers who affect to discover the causes
of the war in the principles of the English church. The
* Edinburgh, Revievv, No. 103. t Hallam, vol. ii. p. 244.
X Hallam, vol. ii. p. 308.

240 PRESBYTERIANS OR INDEPENDENTS
injustice of such an assertion is most flagrant : the church
had nothing to do with the war. The conduct of Laud was,
indeed, arbitrary ; but the principles of the church are un
affected by the practices of her prelates. Baxter denies that
the presbyterians began the war ; but he does not charge
it upon the king : he appears to attribute it to the moderate
churchmen in the parliament, who exclaimed against inno
vation and monopolies.* Baxter forgets to add, that all
those men whom he designates conformists soon became
rigid presbyterians ; and if the influence of the Scots is con
sidered in connexion with this fact, it will be difl5.cult to
shift the blame of the origin of the war from the presby
terians. The question whether the presbyterians or the inde
pendents are chargeable with the guilt of the king's death,
has also been fiercely agitated. It is clear that Cromwell,
who, by his influence in the army, could turn its enthusiasm
into whatever channel he pleased, with the independents,
were the iraraediate cause of the murder of Charles; but
the remote cause must be sought in the conduct of the pres
byterians, who pertinaciously refused to comply with the
concessions of the king until it was too late. The inde
pendents struck the fatal blow ; but they were enabled to
effect their purpose through the obstinacy of the presby
terians. The fetters with which the people were bound by
Cromwell and the army, were forged by the intolerance of
the presbyterians, who had it in their power to restore the
sovereign and save the country. It is true, the presbyterians
deprecated the act of cutting off the king's head, and used
all their influence to prevent it,t — they were excluded from
the commons, and the independents were supreme ; but it
* Baxter, part iii. p. 41 ; Calamy, vol. i. p. 58.
t " It struck horror and confusion into that arrogant priesthood, who had
begun to fancy themselves almost beyond the scope of criminal law." 
Hallam, vol. iii. p. 321.

PUT THE KING TO DEATH. 241
is also certain, that those who originated the war were the
actual cause of the sad tragedy of the 30th of January. But
for the war, the independents and sectaries — the actual
murderers of the king — would not have existed. War-
burton describes the king's murderers as a party rising out
of the ferment of the self-denying ordinance, — a swarm of
armed enthusiasts, who outwitted the patriots, outprayed the
puritans, and outfought the cavaliers. Still, some blarae
must belong to those who actually began the war, as
well as to those who were the immediate instruments in
the black act.
The majority in the parliament, who subsequently became
presbyterians, hurried on the war ; and one of the exciting
causes were the sermons addressed frora the pulpit to the
people. Their passions were inflamed by the addresses of
the men who ought to have appeared among them as the
ministers of peace. In that day, the pulpit was made the
vehicle for publishing the common news ; and many of the
common people knew little besides what was communicated
to them by the clergy in their addresses. All public events
were commented on by the preachers, and thus the people
became excited. The practice was imported from Scotland :
in that country, the preachers, even from the earliest period
of the reformation, indulged in remarks from the pulpit on
the measures of the government. During the troubles, they
expatiated on all important matters with a freedom not
exceeded by Knox himself. The practice soon became com
mon in England, and almost every pulpit resounded with
the cry of war. Butler alludes to this period : —
" When gospel trumpeter, surrounded
With long-eared rout, to battle sounded.
And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic.
Was beat with fist, instead of a stick.''
The " drum ecclesiastic" was used long before the war
commenced, and was one of its exciting causes. The people
R

242 PULPIT AN EXCITING CAUSE OF WAR.
were excited to go " against the Amalekites, aud to fight the
Lord's battles."* One prayed, that " the king might be
brought in chains of iron to his parliament." South states,
that Axtell, one of the regicides, assured him, that he was
induced to enter into the war by the sermons of the parlia
mentary clergy .f Calamy, Case, and others, exhorted the
people to contribute towards the war as a just cause : the
sound of war emanated fi'om the pulpit ; and after its com
mencement, the pulpit became the raedium through which
the people received authentic intelligence. When the covenant
was taken, almost every pulpit was made the instrument for
exciting the people : " Christ," says Marshal, " shed all his
blood to save you from hell ; venture all yours to set him
upon this throne." The church of England was denounced
as Babylon, and her altars were to be overturned as altars
of Baal. On the fast and thanksgiving days, the pulpits breathed
nothing but war. The celebrated John Owen uttered the
following words in a sermon before the parliament : " Where
is the God of Marston Moor and the Gpd of Naseby, is an
acceptable expostulation in a gloomy day ! Oh, what a
catalogue of mercies hath this nation to plead in a time of
trouble ! God came from Naseby, and the Holy One from
the west." In 1645, the following words were uttered in a
sermon : " O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious,
and his raercy endureth for ever; who remembered us at
Naseby, for his mercy, &c. ; who remembered us in Pem
brokeshire, for his mercy, &c. ; who remembered us at
Leicester, for his mercy, &c. ; who remembered us at
Taunton, for his mercy, &c. ; who remembered us at Bristol,
for his mercy endureth for ever." J " In vain," said Mr.
Herle, before the lords, " are the praises of God in your
mouths, without a two-edged sword in your hands." The
* Coleman's Sermon to Commons ; Grey, vol. i. p. 3.
t South's Sermons, vol. i. p. 513. J Walker, part i. p. 18.

SPECIMEN OF SERMONS. 243
following bill was read in the church of St. Martin's-in-the-
Fields' during the time of service : " These are to desire you
to take into your Christian consideration the grief and sorrow
of one Mistress Beal of Westminster, whose son, Francis
Beal, a poor worm and no man, is fallen away from grace,
and serves the king in his wars ; wherefore, she most humbly
beseecheth the prayers of this congregation that he may
return and be converted." Saltmarsh wrote a book, in
which he advised that the king and the people should be
kept from a sudden union, and that the war should be
cherished under the pretence of popery." * Vicars, in his
" Parliamentary Chronicle," thus stirs up the people to war
against the king: —
" Sing praise, sing praise unto Jehovah high.
For he hath triumphed most gloriously
O'er all our foes : the horse and rider he
Hath tumbled down to deepest misery.
Yea all the rotten rout of Romanists,
Papists, and prelates, atheists, royalists.
And mad maliguants, void of grace or sense.
To whom God now has made just recompence."f
Such were the methods resorted to by the presbyterian
clergy at the commencement and during the progress of the
war. Let every impartial person decide whether the sad cata
strophe must not, at least, in part be attributed to the presby
terians. It is true the independents also used the pulpit for
the same purpose, but the example was set by the presby
terians. Hugh Peters was employed to prepare the king's
judges for the sad scene. He told them from the pulpit
" to go on and prosper ; " assuring them that the time was
* Whitelock, p. 68. Hugh Peters was accustomed to tell the soldiers,
that heaven was full of red coats.
t Vines thus addressed the Deity before sermon in his Prayers: — "-O
Lord, thou hast never given us a victory this long while for all our frequent
fasting. What dost thou mean, O Lord, to fling us into a ditch, and there to
leave us 1" — Dugdale, p. 5T0.

244 SPECIMEN OF SERMONS.
arrived when the saints should " bind princes in chains, and
nobles in fetters of iron," and that this prophecy was to be
fulfilled by them. Kneeling down in the pulpit, he begged
them to do justice against Charles, and not suffer Benhadad
to escape. In speaking of the fatal deed after its perpe
tration, the sectarian preachers used the language of scrip
ture in the most profane manner, declaring that God had
" made bare his holy arm," and that he had " smitten kings
in the day of his wrath." Similar language was used during
the period of the ascendency of the independents. In a
thanksgiving sermon at Bristol for Oliver's victory at Wor
cester, Speed says, " we are this morning met to speak well
of the name of the Most High God. If they ask us, where
is our God ? we can answer them with joy and boldness,
that our God is the living God, who scattered them in his
displeasure at Marston Moor; whose power brake them in
pieces at Naseby field. Who smote their great ones in
Kent; who, by a handful, put thousands to flight at
St. Fuggons; whose strength made the weak strong to
stain the glory of their pride at Dunbar ; whose hand was
never drawn back, but was stretched out still, until he had
put the top-stone of our deliverance at Worcester."

245
CHAPTER XXII.
1649 — 1653.
INDEPENDENTS TRIUMPHANT — THE PRINCE GOES TO SCOTLAND — TAKES THE
COVENANT — CROMWELL MARCHES THITHER — KING ENTERS ENGLAND
— BATTLE OF WORCESTER — CROMWELL DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT 
STATE OF RELIGION SUBSEQUENT TO 1649  ENGAGEMENT — UNIVER
SITIES — SOLDIERS AND MECHANICS ADMITTED TO CHURCHES — LIBERTY
 ALL TESTS REMOVED  BAREBONe's PARLIAMENT  ITS PROCEEDINGS
— ENTHUSIASM — MARRIAGE  REGISTERS  REFLECTIONS — CROMWELL
PROTECTOR.
The presbyterians now saw the sad effects of their short
sighted policy in refusing the reasonable concessions of the
king, until it was too late to retrace their steps. The inde
pendents were now left in undisturbed possession of the
reins of govemment. With them were united all the sects
who had sprung into existence during the war. "The in
dependent party comprehended a countless brood of fanatical
sectaries, nursed in the lap of presbyterianism, and fed with
the stimulating aliment she furnished, till their intoxicated
fancies could neither be restrained within the limits of her
creed, nor those of her discipline."* After the operation
of Colonel Pride's purge, the house of commons was com
posed of a small band of independents, baptists, and other
sects, who were connected together by the contrivance of
liberty of conscience. They never exceeded seventy or eighty
in number. By this assembly monarchy was abolished,
and the house of lords voted useless. As this remnant of the
parliament was the creature of the army, so all the affairs
of the nation were regulated by the military. To increase
their numbers, they admitted those of the expelled members
who were willing to concur in their recent proceedings, and
* Hallam, vol. ii. p. 270.

246 the prince goes to Scotland.
to pledge themselves to support the new order. Some of the
excluded members submitted to the test ; but, according to
Ludlow, the utmost care was taken to admit none whom it
would have been dangerous to receive.
Whether Cromwell had already projected his subsequent
advancement, it is not easy to determine. At all events he
was prepared to seize every favourable opportunity to further
his own aggrandisement. With the most consummate skill
did he dissemble his real views, till he was enabled by cir
cumstances to seize that power for himself, which had been
wrested by the army from the parliament. The death of the
king struck terror into the Scots ; but their rising in favour
of the prince was speedily suppressed by Cromwell. The
prince was invited over, and arrived in Scotland in 1650.
In the case of the Scots, the hand of retributive justice was
eminently displayed. Their claims had all been granted
long before the commencement of the war ; but they were
determined to impose their own system of church govem
ment on the English nation ; and, in consequence of the
success of the array in England, they were dooraed to wit
ness the overthrow of their cause in Scotland. From 1640,
until the arrival of Cromwell, presbytery flourished in that
country in all its glory ; but now the meetings of the as
sembly were prohibited, and toleration was granted to all.
When Charles arrived, he was required to sign the cove
nant. In the declaration prepared for his signature, he
desires to be deeply humbled for his father's adherence to
evil councils, and for his mother's idolatry. A day of humi
liation was appointed to atone for the opposition of his
ancestors to the covenanted reformation. It is scarcely
possible to decide whether Charles or the Scots were the
more culpable in these transactions. While, however, we
condemn the hypocrisy of Charles, we must equally detest
the enthusiasm of the Scots in imposing such solemn de
clarations on a libertine youth. The coronation sermon was

battle of WORCESTER. 247
preached by Douglass, and affords striking evidence of the
boldness of the Scottish preachers in declaiming from the
pulpit on the political state of the country. All public trans
actions were canvassed in the pulpit.
Cromwell's presence was necessary to crush this formid
able opposition. No one was so well qualified for the task ;
for, in addition to his influence with the army, he brought
with him an accession of glory from his conquests in Ireland
during the preceding year. When Cromwell entered the
country, the Scots were encamped near Edinburgh ; the
people fled as he advanced, and his troops were reduced to
great straits from the want of provisions. So great indeed
were his difiSculties, that a retreat was rendered necessary.
The Scots ventured on the pursuit, and soon experienced a
total defeat at the battle of Dunbar. Notwithstanding these
disasters, Charles resolved on entering England. In August
1652 they crossed the borders. Cromwell commenced a
vigorous pursuit, and overtook the royal forces near Wor
cester; and on the third of September, the anniversary of
the battle of Dunbar, Charles's army was again corapletely
routed. The king escaped to the continent, and Scotland
was completely subdued.
The parliament, however, were not free from unpleasant
apprehensions. They perceived that the victories of Dunbar
and Worcester had invested Cromwell, not only in the esti
mation of the army, but also of the public, with a reputation
that might ultimately prove fatal to their own existence. A
war with Holland was entered upon with the hope of lessen
ing his credit by incurring expenses, that raight render it
necessary to disband the army in which his strength con
sisted. In this war, however, Oliver's reputation, so far
from being tarnished in its lustre, was greatly enhanced.
Both Cromwell and the parliament saw that one or other
must fall; and the question was, which should strike the
blow. Here, as in former instances, Cromwell's decision

248 CROMWELL DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT.
proved fatal to the parliament. Hesitation would have
ruined him : he saw his danger, and was prepared to avert
it. Submission to the parliament would have been de
struction to himself; their subjugation, though attended
with risk, was possible. The army alone had enabled the
parliament to govern the country. His credit with the
troops was unbounded. It is remarkable that the remains
of the parliament, in order to deliver themselves from the
army, should have resorted to the same means that in 1648
had led to the purgation of the house. The independents,
as the presbyterians after the close of the war, conteraplated
the disbanding of the troops, and the same results ensued.
On the 20th April, 1653, having previously arranged his
plans with the ofiicers, Cromwell proceeded to the house,
and told them that he was determined to put an end to
their authority. The stroke was a bold one. Thus was the
long parliament completely dissolved, after having sat during
the space of twelve years. " Thus it pleased God that this
assembly, famous through the world for its undertakings,
actions, and successes, having subdued all their enemies,
were themselves overthrown and ruined by their own ser
vants; and those whom they had raised now pulled down
their masters."*
Cromwell was supported by the officers, who compli
mented him on the justice of the act. Some of the ministers
also presented addresses of thanks : one was entitled,
" The humble petition of the churches of Christ," &c. It
commences thus : " Sheweth, that after many prayers,
seeing now a glorious return of that we have prayed for
acted so sweetly by you, we cannot but render this humble
acknowledgment of God's goodness to us and the rest of
God's people." They add : " We are very sensible that we
could not expect upright judgment from the late parliament
* Whitelock, p. 529.

STATE OF RELIGION. 249
in the way they acted ; and are strongly persuaded to be
lieve that it must be another congregation, that must first
be received by God, that is to be established before the work
of the Lord be done, which we hope is now bringing forth
by you." They then add : " Our petition to your excellency
is, first, that you, whom we look upon as our Moses leading
God's people, would be pleased, as always you have been,
still to be for the people to God-ward, that you may bring
the causes unto God (Exodus, xviii. 19), and advance the
sceptre of our Lord Jesus ; secondly, that you will remove
the grievances of law-suits, and teach us ordinances and
laws ; thirdly, that ye will not leave the choice of those that
shall govern us to the liberties of the counties, but that your
excellency will be pleased yourself to provide conservators
for us out of all the people."*
With respect to ecclesiastical affairs, no regular system of
church government or discipline existed after the death of
the king. The ordinances relative to presbytery were of no
avail : the covenant was disregarded, or only voluntarily
taken ; and the engagement to be faithful to the present
government, without king or house of peers, was substituted
in its room. No minister could be inducted to a living with
out subscribing it : its operation was experienced as well by
presbyterians as by episcopalians. The engagement, how
ever, was less offensive than the covenant ; it merely bound
those who subscribed it not to attempt the subversion of the
government : while the covenant engaged them to extirpate
episcopacy. Many were expelled in the universities by
this new test : Reynolds was removed from the deanery of
Christ Church, and Owen was appointed to the vacant
post. The form of presbyterian government was, however, per
mitted to remain. In 1649 the commons declared that the
* Parliamentary History, vol. xx. p. 144.

250 engagement.
presbyterial government should be the established govern
ment;* but toleration was extended to all parties. The
engagement was subscribed by some of the episcopal clergy,
who thereby gained admission into the churches, and refused
by others. In the universities it was universally imposed.
Sancroft was one who lost his fellowship in Cambridge in
consequence of his refusal to take the new test : from some
cause or other he had avoided the operation of the covenant,
and retained his post until the period of the engagement.
The state of the university of Cambridge subsequent to the
ascendency of the presbyterians, may be gathered from
several incidental notices in Sancroft's Life.-f- In 1652 one
of his pupils writes from St. John's College, in allusion to
Cromwell's victory over the Dutch, " Mr. Peters said the
'business was so long doubtful, that God was brought to his
hums and hawes which way he should fling the victory. After
so long a banishment, the common prayer last Thursday at
night entered into Trinity Chapel, and once more consecrated
it. Dr. Comber had leave to be buried in his own vineyard ;
and though he might not live upon his own ground, he may
sleep and rest there." In another letter, dated 1653, the
writer observes, " Mr. Peters preached here on Sunday, and
in the general cheated the company and expectation with a
sober honest sermon : only he was not so severe as to forget
what many came for, but satisfied them sometimes in words,
sometimes in actions." Sancroft, writing to his father during
the same year, speaks thus of the state of learning : "It
would grieve you to hear of our public examinations; the
Hebrew and Greek learning being out of fashion every
where." It appears from these extracts, that Peters some
times exhibited in the university pulpit : but, unflattering as
were the prospects of the university, they were not so dark
as under the presbyterians. Even the liturgy was read,
* Neal, vol. iv. p. 15. f D'Oyley's Life of Sancroft.

UNIVERSITIES. 251
which under the covenant would have been impossible.
Oxford was in a sirailar state. Cheynel, one of the most
violent presbyterians, was ejected on refusing the engagement;
and Pococke was removed from his professorship, though
he was permitted to retain his living in the country. From
this incident it appears that the engagement was not pressed
in country places. Many of the clergy now recovered their
livings, or were admitted to others, and remained in the
expectation of better times : more freedom was enjoyed than
under the domination of presbytery ; and the liturgy, though
not authorised, was used in many of the churches, at least
. occasionally. The composition of the committees for ejecting the clergy,
underwent some alterations subsequent to the year 1648, by
the removal of some of the presbyterians, and the addition of
a few independents and sectaries! Upon the whole, indeed,
the situation of the clergy was improved : for, while presby
tery would admit of no deviation from the established order,
independency rested on the basis of a universal toleration to
all who agreed in fundamentals. Such views were reprobated
by the presbyterians, as incompatible with the existence of
true religion. But though the principles of toleration were
thus openly avowed, the full benefit was not extended to the
episcopal church. The clergy were at liberty to pursue their
own course in conducting public worship; but the common
prayer was still suppressed : nothing was imposed ; on the
contrary, all were at liberty to follow their own inclinations.
Unordained persons were even admitted into benefices : the
old presbyterians had received episcopal ordination, and the
new ministers had been ordained according to the new disci
pline ; but now ordination was unnecessary. Many who
occupied the parochial churches were destitute of the com
mon rudiments of education ; and many had been employed
in the common drudgery of life until they entered upon
their new sphere. Any one was at liberty to exercise the

252 SOLDIERS AND MECHANICS ADMITTED TO CHURCHES.
ministerial function : thus soldiers, tradesmen, and labourers,
became parochial ministers. Sorae were baptists, or members
of the other numerous sects of those times. The episco
palians modelled the service after the liturgy : some of them-
read the 20th chapter of Exodus instead of the communion
service ; chose the lessons appointed by the calendar ; and
threw the collects into one continued form. Bull, Sanderson,
and others, constantly adopted this practice.*
Some of the presbyterian clergy incurred the displeasure
of the ruling authorities, by declining to observe the fasts
appointed by the parliament. In 1650 a fast was appointed,
and Jenkins, a presbyterian minister, was, on refusing to
observe it, sequestered from his living, and banished thirty
miles from London.
The removal of every religious test during these times,
opened the door for the entrance of men of all creeds into
the churches : the ministers preached their own peculiar
doctrines : on some occasions the congregation was favoured
with a sermon from a soldier in his military garb, or from a
tradesman of their own neighbourhood. These individuals
were found in the ranks or in the shop during the week, and
in the pulpit on the Sunday. To have attempted to prevent
such irregularities, would have incurred the heavy charge of
hindering the progress of the gospel.
In the dispute between the church of England and the
presbyterians, it was constantly asked by the latter. Where
was the scripture authority for the various matters at issue
between the two parties? The presbyterians demanded
scripture authority for kneeling at the sacrament, wearing a
surplice, a prescribed liturgy, and the observance of holy
days : the independents now used the same weapon against
the presbyterians, and asked. Where are your lay-presbyters
and your classes to be found in scripture ?
* Bull's Life, p. 39.

barebone's parliament. 253
After the dissolution of the parliament, all power was
vested in Cromwell and his officers : the act was applauded
by the episcopalians and presbyterians, both of whom were
disgusted with the wild scenes that had lately been witnessed :
both parties also wished to restore the king ; but Cromwell
was determined to act for himself. It was necessary that
the supreme power of the state should be lodged somewhere;
it was therefore determined to vest all power in 144 persons,
to be selected under the direction of Cromwell. The persons
chosen for this purpose were generally men devoid of educa
tion : he seems to have been convinced that an assembly of
men of talent might have defeated his purposes of aggran
disement. They met, according to appointment, July 4,
1653, when an instmment, signed by himself and the officers,
was presented, by which they were invested with the autho
rity of the state. This singular assembly assumed the ancient
name of parliament ; in history it is known by the appellation,
" Barebone's Parliament," from the circumstance of the
individual of that name being one of its leading members.
Their session continued five months ; and their debates
and motions afford a curious picture of the times. On the
day of their meeting they began to assemble at eight o'clock
in the morning. " They began with seeking God by prayer ;
and the Lord did so draw forth the hearts of them, that
they did not find any necessity to call for the help of a
minister, but performed the service among themselves,
eight or ten speaking in prayer to God, and some briefly
from the word. That much of the presence of Christ and
his spirit appeared at that time, to the great gladding of
the hearts of many : some affirming they never enjoyed so
much of the spirit and presence of Christ in any of the meet
ings and exercises of religion in all their lives as they did
that day."* On the 11th of July it is stated that the day
* Several Proceedings of Parliament, &c. — Pari. Hist. vol. xx, p. 181.

254 ITS PROCEEDINGS.
was spent in seeking the Lord ; when twelve of the members
prayed and spoke till four in the afternoon : the Lord General
was present, and it was a comfortable day. As they had no
occasion for a chaplain, they began with prayer when a few
members were assembled, and continued praying in succes
sion until a sufficient number were assembled to constitute a
house.* Besides the matters connected with religion, their atten
tion was directed to the state of the law. On the 5th of
August the house resolved that the court of chancery be
taken away ; and a bill for that purpose was ordered to be
brought in by the committee of the law. On the I9th of
August the parliament took into consideration the state of
the laws of the nation in general ; and resolved that a com
mittee be appointed to consider of a new body of the law.f
Of so rauch importance in the estimation of the members
was this subject, that every Friday was set apart for this
business alone. In the debate, as related by one of the mem
bers, it is stated that some of the reasons in favour of the
new model, " were the intricacy, uncertainty, and incongruity
in many things with the word of God and right reason in
the laws as they now are." The vote for a new body of the
law was carried, and a committee chosen for that purpose :
had they not been prevented by their dissolution, the work
would probably have been accomplished. Many debates
took place, and the law of God was consulted on all occa
sions. Had they succeeded in their object, the laws would
have been brought within a narrow compass : "by which
means," says the writer previously quoted, " the huge vo
lumes of the law would come to be reduced into the bigness
of a pocket-book." J Neal censures Eachard for stating that
the parliament contemplated the removal of the old laws, as
* Pari. Hist. vol. xx. p. 183. f Ibid. p. 213.
X An Exact Relation of the Proceedings of the Parliament. By a
Member. Printed 1654. P. 15.

MARRIAGE.

255

badges of the Norman conquest, and substituting the Mosaic
laws of government in tlieir place.* "No such proposals,"
says he, " were made to the house." From the above state
ments, derived from the most authentic sources, it will be
seen that such proposals were actually made ; nor can it be
doubted, that Eachard's assertion was founded on the best
authority. In the debate on the subject, the law of Moses
was certainly followed : that the matter was not accomplished,
is owing to the dissolution of the assembly.f
But the most remarkable proceeding of this assembly
was the act relative to marriage. The nuptial ceremony
was no longer to be celebrated by the parochial rainisters,
nor even in the parish churches, but before the civil ma
gistrate. The act was passed August 24th, 1653 : it enacts
" that all intending to be married should deliver in writing
to the register the naraes of the parties ; that the register
should make publication of the intention of the parties on
three several Lord's-days, at the close of the morning exer
cise, in the church or chapel ; or, if the parties desire, in the
market-place next adjoining, on three market-days, between
the hours of eleven and two ; that the proclamation should
be attested by the register before marriage." It then pro
ceeds to enact, " that all persons intending to be married
should come before some justice of the peace of the same
county, city, or town, where publication hath been made,
* Neal, vol. iv. p. 70.
t They attempted the abolition of the regular ministry altogether: "at
length it was put to the vote, whether all the parish ministers should be put
down or no ? and it was but accidentally carried in the negative by two
voices. And it was taken for granted that tithes and universities would next
be voted down." — Calamy, vol. i. p. 68 ; Baxter, part i. p. 70. Baxter
adds, "The independents thought that the parishes were no true churches,
and the anabaptists, that those baptised only in their infancy were no
Christians ; and so that they might have true churches and Christians, many
independents secretly, and the anabaptists openly, promoted the ejection of
all the parish ministers in England at one vote, that so they might set up the
best of them again in another way." — Part ii, p. 180.

256 REGISTERS.
and bring a certificate thereof, with proof of consent of parents
or guardians." If no objection was made, the marriage was
permitted to proceed. " The man, taking the woman by
the hand, pronounced the words : — I, A. B., do here, in the
presence of God, the searcher of all hearts, take thee, C. D,,
for my wedded wife; and do also, in the presence of God
and before these witnesses, promise to be unto thee a loving
and faithful husband : " the same words were repeated by
the woman, with the addition of, " an obedient wife." The
parties were then declared by the justice to be husband and
wife. It was also added in the act : " And no other mar
riage-whatsoever within the commonwealth of England,
after the 29th September, 1653, shall be held or accounted
a marriage according to the laws of England." *
To secure a record of marriages, births, and burials, the
inhabitant householders of every parish were authorised to
elect sorae able and honest person to be the parish register,
who was to continue in office three years. This choice was
also to be approved by one justice of the peace of the
county. It was ordered that a book of vellum or parch
ment should be provided, for the registering of all such
marriages, as well as births and deaths, to be in the custody
of the register. The notices of such elections to the office
of register were usually entered in the book, and are still
extant in some parochial registers. The following is ex
tracted from a village register : — " John Greeny in the
parish of A, in the county of N, was, according to the Act
of parliament in that case provided, chosen by the major
part of the parishioners of A aforesaid, to be parish re
gister; who, according to the laws, took his corporal oath
for the due performance of the said office the 4th day
of February, in the year of our lord 1653. Before me,
W. W., justice of the peace.''
* Scobell. Pari. Hist. vol. xx. p. 216.

REGISTERS. 257
This act was evidently framed for the express purpose
of degrading the clergy, to whom, amid all the previous
changes, whether episcopal or presbyterian, the celebration
of the marriage rite had been entrusted, and who had ever
been regarded as the fittest instruments on such a solemn
occasion. It was no longer a religious ceremony ; nor could
any more successful method have been adopted for intro
ducing licentiousness ' of manners among the people, and
loose and uncertain views on a subject in which the tenderest
sympathies were bound up. That the change was offensive
to the people, is evident from contemporary writers. " The
new way of marrying so frightened the people, that to enjoy
the benefits of the old way before the time of the act, multi
tudes ran headlong into the noose : it was seen, by the number
of bridal garters in hats in every part of the town."* It must
have been a considerable period before a modest young
woman could have consented to the publication of the banns
in the market-place ; yet instances occur in many registers.
The state of morals raay be estimated by the practices of the
common people relative to the celebration of marriage : a
recent act, by the terms of which the names of the parties
were ordered to be affixed to the church door, was received
with repugnance ; nor did a second session of parliament
elapse before the obnoxious act was repealed. It is easy to
infer, from this circumstance, what raust have been the
moral degradation of the common people, when raany could
choose to have the banns of their marriage three times pro
claimed in the public market-place.
Hitherto, the parochial ministers, whatever were their
peculiar views, were called to preside on the solemnisation
of marriage. When the common prayer was set aside, the
rite was performed according to the directory : it was re
served for Barebone's parliament to effect a change so opposite
to the views and best feelings of the people.
* Baker's Chronicle, p. 673.

258 REGISTERS.
In the various parish registers at present in existence,
the entries of marriages, while they differ, in some particu
lars, in different books, are altogether different from those
antecedent to the year 1653. It was not specified in the act,
whether the book into which marriages were to be entered
should be the old parochial register, or whether a new one
should be provided. After an examination, however, of
many registers in different and distant parts of the country,
the writer is able to state, that in every case the entries are
made in the old books. The mode of entry is changed in
1653 ; down to that period, the marriages are entered in the
usual form ; from this time they are entered according to
the new act. No two registries agree exactly as to the
forms ; but, as to substance, there is a strict agreement
among them all. A few extracts from different registers
will throw some light on a subject of considerable interest.
In some books, it is stated that marriages were published,
without specifying where or by whom they were celebrated :
in others, it is recorded that " A and B were raarried by
Justice E." Banns are altogether unnoticed in some registers ;
while, in others, both the banns and the marriage are duly
entered. Not only do different books present a considerable
variety in their entries, but even in the same book the same
variety is observable. The following are extracted from the
register of a parish in Somersetshire : — " The intention
of marriage between A and B, both of this parish, was pub
lished three several days, according to act of parliament.
The days were January 7, 14, and 21 ." Below this entry it is
added, " A and B were married before C D, agent for the jus
tice of the peace of this county." Others follow in a similar
form, except that the marriages were celebrated by the justice
in person. To other entries in the same book is attached the
name of the public register, under the notice of publication
of banns ; and that of the justice, under the raeraorial of
marriage. In the same book, also, are many entries to the

REGISTERS.

259

following effect: — " Banns of marriage between, &c. were
published in the market-place of W. three several market
days in three several weeks without contradiction : witness
my hand, C D, justice of the peace." In this manner,
with some slight variations, all the marriages are entered
from 1653 till 1659, when the ancient mode was restored.
In another parish in one of the midland counties, some
of the marriages are stated to have been celebrated before
Justice D, or Justice E, and others before the raayor, in the
following form : — " A and B were married before me, after
publication of banns in the market-place (and sometimes in
the parish church) : John B., mayor." In this book there is
a variation from the usual practice, which the author has
not discovered in any other parish to which his researches
have been directed ; the name of the minister of the parish
is associated in the entry with that of the mayor : " A and B
were married before E. T. mayor, and G. H. minister." Now,
the act does not permit the interference of the minister,
nor was he authorised to take any part in the ceremony. In
no other register examined by the writer is there any allusion
to the minister. The presence of the minister in these in
stances is a singular circumstance : his presence was not
necessary to render the marriage valid. Whether, there
fore, he was permitted to perform the ceremony with the
connivance of the mayor, or was present to give it the
appearance of a religious rite, are points that cannot be
ascertained.* It is observable, that the old mode of registration in the
case of births was departed from, under the operation of this
* A passage in Baxter, and another in Calamy, may, perhaps, reflect
some light on this curious subject. The former says: " This conventicle
made an act, that magistrates should marry people instead of ministers (yet
not prohibiting ministers to do their part).'' The latter, in a note, observes :
" Thus says Mr. Tallents, of Shrewsbury, in a letter to me : I and others
have married many before a justice, he saying nothing, but only declaring
the marriage was valid." See Baxter, part i. p. 78 ; Calamy, vol. i. p. 67.

260 REFLECTIONS.
act. The baptism was not registered as at present, and as was
the case before the present act, but the birth. Many of
the sectaries were anabaptists, of various shades of opinion ;
and this plan was adopted, in order that they, also, might be
comprehended within the act. This act was confirmed by
Cromwell's parliament in 1646, except the clause by which
no other marriage was rendered valid : it remained in force
until the restoration of the long parliaraent, when the mar
riage rite was celebrated according to the presbyterian
method. Many persons, however, risked the legality of
their marriage, rather than submit to a form which they
detested. Some were married by the sequestered clergy
according to the liturgy. Speaking of the marriage of
Bishop Bull, Nelson observes : " They were joined together
in holy matrimony by Mr. William Master, vicar of Preston,
according to the form prescribed in the book of common
prayer, the use of which was then forbidden under a great
penalty. But Mr. Bull had a particular regard to our
ancient liturgy in those times, when it was the fashion to
despise it : so he had not a less esteem for the constitution
of the church; for, in order to render so serious an action
as matrimony is still more solemn, he pitched upon As
cension-day for the solemnising of it, which, in 1658, was
the 20th of May." *
It is somewhat remarkable that any of the parochial
registers of these times should have been preserved ; yet
there are nuraerous books in the parishes of England, in
which all the raarriages of those times are duly entered.
After a session of five months, becoming, as was anti
cipated by Cromwell, weary of their charge, they resigned
their authority into the hands of those from whom they had
received it. The council of officers soon declared Oliver
Cromwell protector of the three kingdoms, with the assistance
* Nelson's Life of Bull, p. 45.

CROMWELL PROTECTOR. 261
of a council of twenty -one persons. An instrument of
governraent was framed, by which it was decreed that a
parliament should assemble every three years : that such
bills as should be offered to the protector, should, if not
confirmed in twenty days, be laws without his concurrence ;
and that, during the intervals of parliament, the protector
and his council might issue declarations, which should have
the force of laws. Cromwell subscribed the instrument, and
was proclaimed protector in December 1653.
Thus did Oliver Cromwell become invested with greater
authority than had ever been exercised by the ancient
sovereigns : he acted with unusual vigour, and the country
flourished under his sway ; but his elevation was offensive
to the republicans, with whom he had formerly acted. His
name was revered at home and feared abroad : he conducted
the English armies to victory and to fame ; and Victory sat
at the helm of his fleets. The multitude were dazzled by
the actions of a man, who caused the English name to be
dreaded, as well as honoured, araong all the states of Europe.
The crowned heads of the continent did horaage to his su
perior genius ; manifesting as much readiness to treat with
him as they could have done had he been descended from an
illustrious line of kings.
According to the instrument of government, a parliament
was to meet September 3d, 1654. Writs were issued in
Cromwell's name. Many boroughs were excluded from
returning merabers; and the counties were represented by
one or more, in proportion to their size. He opened his
parliament on the appointed day with a lengthened speech.
Lenthal was chosen speaker ; and they proceeded to their
work. They began to question the authority by which they
were assembled ; and Cromwell, after administering a severe
reprimand, dissolved them on January 22d, 1654-5.
At this time, Oliver was detested by the presbyterians, for
trampling on the covenant and murdering the king; and

262 CROMWELL PROTECTOR.
by the independents, for destroying the comraonwealth.
Still, he contrived to manage the various parties into which
the state was divided : it is, indeed, partly owing to these
divisions that he was enabled to retain his authority ; had
the different parties united their scattered strength, the
opposition would have been too formidable even for the
genius of Cromwell to have overcome. In 1656, a new parlia
ment was assembled ; but none were permitted to take their
seats until they had signed an engagement to be faithful to
his government. An offer of the crown was made him by
this parliament : the offer was declined. He probably saw
much odium would be incurred, and that the safety of his
government raight be endangered ; but though he declined
to accept of the crown, he submitted to a solemn inaugura
tion. By this parliament, he was also empowered to name
his successor : an upper house was created, whose members
were invested with many of the privileges of the ancient
peers. Both houses met in January 1657-8. The upper
house was at first attacked by the lower, but eventually
recognised : proving refractory, he dissolved them in Feb
ruary of the same year. This was his last parliament, as his
career was soon after closed by the hand of death.

263

CHAPTER XXIII.
1653—1657.
STATE OF RELIGION DURING THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE 
WALES — ALL THE CLERGY REMOVED  ITINERANTS — ENTHUSIASM 
NUMBERS EJECTED IN WALES  CROMWELL TOLERATES ALL THE SECTS 
TRIERS — ORDINANCE FOR REMOVING SCANDALOUS MINISTERS — CASE OF
POCOCKE.
We shall now proceed to delineate more particularly the
ecclesiastical affairs of the country under the commonwealth
and the protectorate. Subsequent to 1649, the penal laws,
by which the covenant was enforced, were disregarded. The
same exterior was preserved in religious worship ; but the
spirit of presbytery was subdued. No particular mode of
church government was established, or, rather, no form
was enforced by pains and penalties. The majority of the
parochial clergy were presbyterians, for the episcopalians
had been ejected by the parliamentary ordinances ; but,
since the turn of affairs in favour of the independents, many
of the churches were occupied by baptists and sectaries ;
some of the ancient clergy were also restored to their pre
ferments under the commonwealth, when the penal laws
were abolished. The episcopal clergy were, indeed, in a
more favourable situation now than under the reign of pres
bytery and the covenant. The religious proceedings have
been detailed until the year 1653 ; we shall now enter on
those subsequent to that period.
One of the first measures of the parliament, after the
death of the king, was the purgation of the Welsh churches.
Amid the convulsions by which the English church was rent
during the war, a comparative calm had been enjoyed by the
clergy in Wales : they had escaped sequestration, while their

264 WALES.
brethren in England were drinking deeply of the bitter cup
of sorrow. Hugh Peters recommended the sequestration of
the whole body of the Welch clergy, and that their revenues
should be deposited in a public treasury, from which a few
itinerant ministers should receive an annual income of one
hundred pounds. Wild as was this scherae, it was actually
carried into execution ; and a small number of itinerants
were appointed to attend to the spiritual wants of the prin
cipality. The clergy were sequestered, and the produce of
their livings was held by the parliamentary comraissioners.
It was enacted, that the tithes forraerly paid to the clergy
should be deposited in the coraraon stock .
A sirailar plan had been recoraraended by Peters for
England as early as the year 1647. In a tract, entitled
" A Word of Advice to the Array," &c., he advises that two
or three itinerant rainisters should be sent by the state into
each county.* In 1652, Lilly and Culpepper, the Francis
Moores of the day, predicted the entire downfal of the settled
ministry. These facts -afford a singular picture of the state
of the public mind at that period.
The first act on the subject was passed February 22,
1649, immediately after the death of the king, and is entitled
" An Act for the better Propagation and Preaching of the
Gospel in Wales, and for ejecting Scandalous Ministers and
Schoolmasters."f It was confirmed at different times by the
parliament; and under its operation almost all the clergy
were removed. Neal attempts a vindication of the act from
the character of the clergy : " The inhabitants of Wales were
destitute of the means of Christian knowledge ; their clergy
were ignorant and idle ; so that they had hardly a sermon
from one quarter of a year to another. J This statement is
very remote from the truth : it is made more in the spirit of
an advocate, who labours in a bad cause, than of the faithful
* Grey's Hudibras, vol. ii. p. 230. Notes.
t Scobell, part ii. p. 104. J Neal, vol. iv. p. 15.

ALL THE CLERGY REMOVED. 265
and honest historian. Baxter's statements on the subject are
opposite to that of Neal, and, in this case, he must be ad
mitted to be an impartial testimony. " Harrison's party,
in the conventicle called the little parliament, as they cast
out all the ministers of Wales at once (who, though very
weak and bad enough, for the most part were better than
none, or so few itinerants which they set up), so they
atterapted, and almost accomplished, the same in England."*
Commissioners were appointed to carry the act into exe
cution, as well as to examine those who were to be employed
as itinerants. To preserve the shadow of justice, they pre
tended to eject those who were ignorant, insufficient, or
scandalous, or enemies to the present government. It was
easy to bring all the clergy under the operation of an act,
by which such latitude was allowed in the charges. Some
few of the clergy who complied were permitted to reraain,
not, however, as parochial ministers, but itinerants. Neal
allows that many were ejected, but not all ; " but all that
were ejected were for manifest scandal." f The testimony
of Baxter is decisive as to the complete operation of the act :
those who remained were retained merely as itinerants; " Har
rison at once put down all the parish ministers in Wales,
because that most of them were ignorant and scandalous,
and set up a few itinerant preachers in their stead, who
were, for number, incompetent for so great a charge, there
being but one to many of those wide parishes ; so that the
people, having but a sermon once in many weeks, and
nothing else in the mean time, were ready to turn papists
or any thing : and this plight would the anabaptists and
other sectaries have brought England to."J " You might
ride ten or twenty miles on the Lord's day, where there
were twenty churches, and not one door opened." § The
* Baxter, part ii. p. 180. t Neal, vol. iv. p. 116.
X Baxter, part ii. p. 70 ; Calamy, vol. i. p. 68.
§ A writer quoted by Walker, part i. p. 162;

266 ITINERANTS.
grand jury of the county of Montgomery sent a petition to
the parliaraent in 1652, complaining that in their own
county there were no less than forty-seven churches left
vacant ; and in another petition from South Wales, it is
alleged, that " the churches were in most places shut up,
and the fabric thereof ready to fall to the ground for want
of repair."* The whole country was left to the care of the
very small number of itinerants appointed by the commis
sioners, in which state it remained until the restoration.
Neal says, that they appointed six itinerants of university
education for each county. He admits that the numbers
sent were too few for the work. He adds : " To supply
what was further wanting, they approved of several gifted
laymen, merabers of churches, to travel into the neighbour
hood and assist the people's devotions. "f He adraits at
length, that the rainisters employed were too few in num
ber ; " but," says he, " this was owing to the necessity of
the case." J
From the year 1649 or 1650, when the act came into
operation, none of the parishes in Wales were blessed with
the labours of a resident minister. Some counties contained
frora eighty to one hundred and twenty parishes, to supply
which from six to ten itinerants were deeraed sufficient.
Under these circumstances the people were seldom favoured
with the appearance of a minister, or with the hearing of a
sermon ; as each itinerant had to travel a circuit embracing
many parishes, it was not possible for the churches to be
opened except at distant intervals. Various appointments
of itinerants were raade between the years 1650 and 1660:
raany, to use the language of Neal, were " gifted laymen ;"
in other words, ignorant enthusiasts, destitute of even the
common rudiments of education, and disqualified for the
performance of the ministerial office. Learning, indeed,
* Walker, part i. pp. 156, 163.
t Neal, vol. iv. pp. 119, 121. J Ibid.

ENTHUSIASM. 267
during these times, was the object of scorn, and a stated
ministry deemed antichristian. The absence of these raen
was a blessing of greater magnitude to a parish than their
presence. So far from propagating the Gospel, the scheme
was almost successful in entirely banishing it from the prin
cipality. Many of the preachers were tinctured with the
wildest enthusiasm ; and sorae even uttered blasphemy as the
dictates of the Spirit. Some pretended to have seen the
Saviour; others even described his form and linearaents.
The Lord's prayer was styled a rotten prayer; and all the
institutions and ordinances of religion were treated with
contempt. At one period the comraissioners were placed in a situa
tion of jeopardy. In the petition from South Wales, it was
complained that the design of the act had not been accom
plished. Colonel Freeman was entrusted with the petition,
and supported its prayer in the house, describing, at the
same time, the sad state of the parishes in Wales. The
itinerants became alarmed ; and their rage was chiefly di
rected against the colonel. To stir up the people in their
favour, they prayed publicly that the Lord would punish
him in his person, power, and place. The colonel shortly
after falling sick, public thanksgivings were offered up to
God for hearing the prayer of his saints. He recovered,
however, from his sickness as suddenly as he had sickened,
and the commissioners were compelled to resort to other
means than prayers to defeat the petition. Accordingly,
counter-petitions were got up under the auspices of Vavasor
Powell, in which the satisfaction of the people at the success
of the new system was described in strong language. The
scheme succeeded, their adversaries' mouths were stopped,
and the act continued in operation.
The havoc among the clergy was incredible. Many
were reduced to beggary, while their characters were loaded
with reproach and infamy. The commissioners represent the

268 NUMBERS EJECTED IN WALES.
country as being, except for the labours of the itinerants,
iraraersed in almost heathen darkness.
There are nine hundred and sixty-five parishes in Wales.
In South Wales there are six hundred and fifty-four livings;
and from the accounts of the commissioners in 1654 only
one hundred and twenty-seven of the old clergy remained.
Nearly, if not quite, four hundred raust therefore have been
ejected in South Wales at that time ; in South and North
Wales the number could have been little less than six hundred.
The annual amount of the livings in Wales was little short
of 40,000/. This sum was deposited in a comraon stock,
and placed at the coraraand of the commissioners. At the
restoration, the clergy were restored to their benefices, but
their losses were never recovered : nor does it appear that
the large sum collected from the livings of the clergy was
employed by the commissioners in the manner enjoined by
the act. It was stated at the time, and subsequent to the
restoration, that the greater part was embezzled by the com
missioners. Vavasor Powell endeavoured to repel the charge
in 1662. Alluding to the assertion that the profits of the
tithes were pocketed by the comraissioners and other private
individuals, he says, " For me to wipe off all these aspersions
were but like Micaiah, to give my single testimony against
some hundreds of the clergy who had spoken the contrary."
He states, however, that he himself received only six or
seven hundred pounds for his own labours during the space
of twenty years. His account is a curious document. He
assures us that all the clergy were not ejected; and that
" some that were ejected did also sometimes preach to please
some of their old parishioners, who would hear none else
preach. There was not any lawful means unattempted to
gain godly preachers to supply these ; as going several times
and sending divers letters to the universities and London,
which were the likeliest places to afford helps ; and divers
were obtained by that means, though not so many as we

CROMWELL TOLERATES ALL THE SECTS. 269
wished. He raeets the charge " that many good men were
ejected," by a denial, affirming, " I often publicly tendered
this to the ejected ministers, that if they could manifest that
they had the work of grace wrought in themselves, or could
produce any that had received spiritual good by their mi
nistry, they should (as far as it lay in my power) be restored
to their places ; but none ever claimed this." * This was a
very unfair test. Many most excellent men are unable to
produce particular instances of the spiritual benefit of their
ministrations. The period extending from 1640 to 1660 affords many
topics for reflection. It was gravely proposed in one of
Cromwell's parliaments, that all the parochial churches
should be pulled down, on the ground that they had been_
polluted by idolatrous worship. Happily Cromwell was less
enthusiastic than many by whom he was surrounded, and by
whose means he arrived at the summit of power, or wilder
schemes than those that were conteraplated raight have
actually been put in execution. When Cromwell became "
protector, the presbyterians were already deprived of all spi
ritual authority ; yet they still held most of the parochial
churches : nor did the protector wish to eject them, as long
as they quietly submitted to his government. His grand
principle was the toleration of all religious creeds : many
presbyterians were removed in consequence of refusing to
subscribe the engagement, and their posts were invariably
occupied by independents and sectaries. Though Oliver
patronised the sects, he was unwilling to offend the presby
terians. The sectaries wished to abolish a stated ministry,
but Cromwell's authority was interposed to prevent it:
while, therefore, he permitted the sectaries to occupy the
churches, he also pacified the presbyterians, by allowing a
settled ministry, and suffering the voluntary exercise of their
* Vavasor Powell's Bird in the Cage. The Preface, containing an
account of Wales under the operation of the act.

270 CROMWELL TOLERATES ALL THE SECTS.
discipline among their own party. The sectaries would have
adopted the itinerant system : this project was opposed by the
presbyterians, and, in consequence of Crorawell's influence,
was never executed. " The protector's wise conduct appeared
in nothing more than his unwearied endeavours to raake all
religious parties easy. He indulged the army in their enthu
siastic raptures, and sometimes joined in their prayers and
sermons. He countenanced the presbyterians, by assuring
them that he would maintain the public ministry. He sup
ported the independents, by making them his chaplains, by
preferring them to considerable livings."* Neal approves of
the protector's conduct towards the presbyterians ; and thinks
that it was well to disarra their discipline of its power,
adding, that he left them all that was sufficient for the
purposes of religion. f
For a considerable period, the examination of candidates
for the ministry, and also the appointment to vacant livings,
had been entirely in the hands of the presbyterians. Crom
well's policy induced him to grant equal privileges to the
independents and sectaries ; and to effect his purpose, he
nominated a certain number of individuals, to whom was
entrusted the examination of candidates for the ministry.
He perceived that if this power was confined to the presby
terians, they would reject all whose views did not correspond
to their own : he therefore contrived a middle way of joining
the several parties together. He felt, raoreover, that he
owed something to the^ independents for their support : he
was anxious, therefore, that they should share the emolu
ments of the church with tbeir rivals, who had monopolised
the sequestered livings. The council issued an ordinance,
March 20, 1653-4, by which it was decreed that every
person, before institution to a benefice, should be examined
and approved by the persons named in the ordinance. The
* Neal, vol. iv. p. 79. f Ibid.

TRIERS. 271
assembly of divines, to whom the examination of ministers
had been intrusted, was no longer in existence : the same
powers were now delegated to this new ecclesiastical body.
Thirty-eight persons were appointed by the protector : they
were generally termed " triers," and by that narae are they
known in history. Under the iron rule of presbytery, none
could obtain institution to a living, who could not subscribe
the covenant ; Crorawell therefore devised this new scheme,
for the purpose of conferring equal privileges on the inde
pendents. "They were mostly independents, with some
sober presbyterians, and had power to try all that carae for
induction ; and without their approbation none were ad
mitted."* Neal's statement is somewhat different: "some
were presbyterians, others independents, and two or three
were baptists."t The majority were undoubtedly independ
ents : for even Neal admits some of the presbyterians refused
to act. Cromwell's inclination as well as policy led him to
tolerate all parties. Hume asserts that he contemplated the
erection of a national church, but without admitting either
episcopacy or presbytery.
It was ordained that all patrons should present to vacant
benefices within six months, or that the presentation for that
time should lapse to the protector. The protector also
appointed to all those livings formerly in the gift of the
crown, and also to those belonging to bishops, deans, and
chapters. In the preamble it is stated, that " for some time
no certain course for the supply of vacant places with able
and fit ministers had been established." It is then decreed,
that every person appointed to a living shall be approved by
the triers " to be a person for the grace of God in hira, his
holy and unblameable conversation, as also for his know
ledge and utterance, able and fit to preach the gospel." Any
five of the raerabers might approve of a candidate, but nine
* Baxter, part i. p. 72. f Neal, vol. iv. p. 103.

272 TRIERS.
were necessary to reject him. An instrument in writing was
given to those who were approved, without which no one
could obtain possession. All the appointments since the
preceding April were declared void, unless approved by the
triers ; and every candidate was required to produce a certi
ficate of his godly life and conversation, from three persons
of known godliness and integrity. When the candidate
was approved, a docuraent was drawn up, stating that the
presentation of the patron of the living had been exhibited
before the commissioners, and that they had approved the
individual nominated by the patron to be a fit person to
preach the gospel, and did grant him admission to the
benefice. It does not appear that any literary qualifications were
required. Many of the successful candidates were grossly
illiterate, being devoid of the first elements of education :
indeed it became the fashion to revile the seats of learning as
the abodes of superstition. When a certain individual was
recomraended to the triers on the ground of his learning, it
was said by some of the merabers, that the Jesuits were
learned, and therefore did raore mischief. South says, "All
learning was then cried down, so that with them the best
preachers were such as could not read ; and the best divines
such as could not write : to be blind with them was a proper
qualification of a spiritual guide ; and to be book-learned, as
they called it, and to be irreligious, were almost terms con
vertible, so that none were thought fit for the ministry but
tradesmen and mechanics."* And again: "Latin was a
mortal crime ; and Greek, instead of being owned to be the
language of the Holy Ghost, was looked upon as the sin
against it : so that, in a word, they had all the confusion of
Babel amongst them, without the diversity of tono-ues." If
an individual could procure a certificate frora three persons
* Sermons, vol. iii. p. 50.

TRIERS. 273
in the interest of the protector, or known to the triers, their
approbation followed as a matter of course. Ordination was
not considered necessary to constitute a minister : and so
jealous were the sectaries and independents on this subject,
that, to prevent the possibility of construing the approval of
the triers into something analogous to ordination, it was
expressly stated in the ordinance, that their proceedings
" should not be construed as a solemn setting apart any
person to the office of the ministry ; but only to be con
sidered as a means for better supplying the nation with able
preachers, and to capacitate them to receive the public main
tenance appointed by law." From the decision of this body
there was no appeal ; nor were they required, to assign their
reasons for rejecting an applicant.* No standard was
erected ; all rested with the triers. Neal, who is disposed to
view all their proceedings in a favourable light, complains of
the want of a standard or rule as a defect in the ordinance :
" this would have taken off all odiura frora themselves ;
but as matters now stood, men's qualifications were perhaps
left too much to the arbitrary opinions and votes of the
triers, "t
These commissioners sat in London. The individuals
who were presented to benefices were under the necessity of
undertaking a journey to London, where they were often
detained on frivolous pretences. To remedy this evil, sub-
commissioners were appointed in the country : " they ex
amined all who were able to come to London, but if any
were unable, or were of doubtful qualifications between
worthy and unworthy, they used to refer them to some
ministers in the country where they lived, and to approve
* John Goodwin asserts that their power was greater than that of the
bishops : the qualifications of persons presented to livings were sufficiently
specified in the canons, and if a bishop refused to institute, he was com
pelled to assign his reason. The triers simply recorded their vote, " not
approved." t Neal, vol. iv. p. 105. T

274 TRIERS.
them, if they approved them."* Though their proceedings
are censured by Baxter, he rather qualifies or softens his
censures, by admitting that they did much good. The
passage is a curious one, and may be quoted in illustration of
their character. He observes that his word will be taken,
because he disowned their power, and was viewed as an
adversary : he refused to try any upon their reference except
a few, who, from some particular cause, would have been
rejected by the triers. On some occasions Baxter was asso
ciated with sorae of his brethren to act under the triers, and
to try individuals in his own neighbourhood : if these indi
viduals were episcopalians in their views, or on any other
account were likely to be obnoxious to the triers, Baxter
consented to act, but not otherwise. The passage above
alluded to, in which he describes their character, is as
follows : " The truth is, that though their authority was
null, and though sorae were too severe against all that were
Arrainians, and too particular in inquiring after evidences of
sanctification in those whom they examined, and somewhat
too lax in their admission of unlearned and en-oneous men ;
yet, to give them their due, they did abundance of good to
the church : they saved many a congregation from ignorant,
ungodly, drunken teachers. "-f
Their proceedings, were, however, marked by partiality,
severity, and even bribery. It would be easy to select many
cases of great hardship ; a few, however, will suffice to shew
the character of their proceedings. Mr. Duncomb was pre
sented by the patron to the living of Geddesdon, Herts. The
questions turned on the doctrines of election and perseverance:
to the question, Can a raan fall from grace? he replied. That
when a man was once engrafted into Christ, he need not fear
falling. When the case of David was alleged, he replied.
That David only lost the sense of divine favour, and not the
* Baxter, part i. p. 72. f Ibid.

TRIERS. 275
habit of grace. On presenting his certificate, properly signed
by three individuals of known integrity, it was observed, that
they must not see with the eyes of others. He was dismissed,
and, " not satisfied," was entered on the record. In this
case the commissioners had received private information, to
the effect that he was favourable to the royal cause. To this
information, though secret, and incapable of contradiction,
more attention was paid than to the certificate of his piety,
signed by persons of unquestionable veracity. He incurred
the expense of a nine weeks' attendance in London, and at
last failed in his object.
Mr. Sadler was examined on various doctrinal points ;
and, though not rejected, he was remanded from time to
time, till his patience became exhausted, and he was never
instituted.* The candidates experienced no better treatment
in the country : indeed, in the country, the ministers, who
acted for the commissioners in London, were more likely to
be influenced by reports unfavourable to the candidate. If,
however, the triers acted in an arbitrary manner, the blame
attaches to themselves, and not to Cromwell. A contem
porary writer says: "He appointed a convention of laymen
and churchmen, as well as presbyterians and independents and
anabaptists, who had power to examine candidates, especially
about the indwelling of the Spirit, and soraetiraes about civil
matters, as, whether they liked a popular governraent. It
was lawful to these to admit to, or debar from, the cure of
souls whom they pleased, without any regard to ordination.
I shall not mention how much, according to the various
tempers of the men, by solicitations, promises, gifts, and
bribes, things were simoniacally transacted, laymen, soldiers,
* Walker. — Neal states that the triers were accustomed, when notorious
malignants appeared before them, to puzzle them with abstruse questions,
that they might reject them : he asserts that the cases mentioned by Walker
were of this kind, but he cites no authority. Is his assertion to be taken for
fact? Vol. iv. p. 108.

276 ORDINANCE FOR THE REMOVAL OF
bankrupt tradesmen, and shopkeepers, being also admitted
into the ministry, and mingled with some skilful preachers
who had been ordained."*
Another project was set on foot a few months subsequent
to the appointment of the triers ; this was the " ordinance
for the removal of scandalous, ignorant, and insufficient
ministers." Since the year 1640 the clergy had been ha
rassed by various committees of sequestration ; but a little
quiet had been enjoyed since the dissolution of the long par
liament. Neal states that this ordinance was intended to
humble the clergy. f Several layraen were appointed, with
a certain number of rainisters, in each county, with authority
to call before them all rainisters or schoolmasters ; to receive
all charges that might be exhibited ; and, on conviction, to
remove them from their situations. The patron was required
to present within four months, or the presentation to fall to
the protector. One-fifth of the produce of the living was
awarded to the wife and family of the ejected incumbent ;
but the sufferers under this ordinance were never able to
recover this small pittance. It was also ordered that no
minister or schoolmaster should teach or keep school in any
place from which he had been formerly ejected ; so that the
sequestered clergy were prevented by this cruel ordinance
from ever attempting to procure a maintenance in the places,
where alone, from their acquaintance with the people, there
was a reasonable chance of success.
The ordinance defines what is intended by the term
" scandalous ministers :" it included those who held " blas
phemous opinions ; those who were convicted of profane
swearing, of adultery, or drunkenness; of frequenting taverns,
frequent playing at cards or dice, or profaning the sabbath."
In all this there was nothing that can be censured : but in
the same term was included not only disaffection to the
* Bate's Rise and Progress of Troubles, pp. 194, 195.
t Neal, vol. iv. p, 110.

SCANDALOUS AND INSUFFICIENT MINISTERS. 277
government, but " publicly and frequently reading the book
of common prayer." The reader will observe that the read
ing of the liturgy was a crime of equal magnitude with
adultery, drunkenness, or profane swearing ; and those con
scientious men who were occasionally in the habit of using
the service of the church were classed with fornicators and
adulterers. When a clergyman was ejected for the enormous
crime of reading the liturgy, however erainent his talents or
elevated his piety, he became branded by the act as a scan
dalous minister. From Cromwell's general policy it appears
difficult to account for this severe proscription of the liturgy ;
but it must be remembered, that he was powerfully influ
enced, throughout his remarkable career, by circumstances.
To have permitted the use of the liturgy would have raised a
storm, from a host of sectaries, which he would have found
it impossible to appease. His opposition to the episcopalians
arose, not from any dislike to the English church, for he
was alike indifferent to all forms and creeds, but from the
apprehension of danger in case he tolerated the obnoxious
service-book. He also perceived that the general use of the
liturgy would have strengthened the cause of the exiled
monarch. The ordinance may be considered more as the
act of the council than of the protector : he would probably
have permitted the clergy to exercise their own discretion,
had he been uncontrolled by his council, or uninfluenced by
fear of the royalists. He was compelled to yield in some
points to the fiery spirits of whom his council was composed.
By a subsequent ordinance the judges of assize were com
manded to be careful in suppressing ale-houses and the
common prayer.
By the term "negligent," in the ordinance, were to be
understood such ministers as omitted the public exercise of
preaching and praying on the Lord's day. The extent of the
expressions " ignorance and insufficiency," is not defined in
the ordinance. It is simply stated, " such ministers and

278 ORDINANCE FOR REMOVAL OF IGNORANT MINISTERS.
schoolmasters shall be accounted ignorant and insufficient, as
shall be so declared and adjudged by the commissioners in
every county, or any five of thera, together with five rainisters
from the sarae county." Thus, the deterraination was left to
the discretion often men, who, by the exercise of their own
judgraent alone, were to decide the fate of any accused
clergyman. It was not possible that a barbarous use should
not be made of an ordinance by which so much latitude was
permitted. The commission thus constituted entered upon their
labours with zeal and energy. If the charge of ignorance
was alleged against a minister, and the commissioners were
unfavourably disposed towards him, no evidence of superior
qualifications could save him. Had they ejected all who
were really ignorant and insufficient, they would have re
moved vast numbers of those who had obtained livings since
the war, and who were merely soldiers or tradesmen; but
the terms "ignorance and insufficiency" were not used in
their common acceptation; they were used to signify the
want of a knowledge of those peculiar views and opinions by
which the sectarians and enthusiasts were distinguished.
Under the operation of this ordinance, the clergy were
at the raercy of any individual, who, from whatever cause,
might exhibit a charge against them before the commis
sioners ; and as the expenses were allowed to informers, they
were not backward in accusing those ministers against whom
they entertained dislike or prejudice. That the charge of
cruelty on the part of the commissioners is not unfounded,
and that ignorance and insufficiency were merely a pretence,
under the cloak of which they ejected whomsoever they
pleased, are points admitting of easy proof.* The case of
* Clement Walker, the presbyterian, and the well-known author of the
"History of Independency," censures the proceedings of these committees,
though, under the rule of presbytery, he had sanctioned them. Speaking of
the grievances inflicted by the committees, he remarks, " that to historise

CASE OF POCOCKE. 279
Pococke is alone sufficient to prove that their proceedings
were barbarous, and to fix the stain of eternal disgrace upon
their memory.
Pococke had been expelled from his professorship in
1651, for refusing the engagement; when he retired to his
parsonage, in Berkshire. There, however, the malice of his
enemies pursued him. In 1654, he was summoned before
the comraissioners for Berkshire. Nine articles were ex
hibited against hira, in order to bring him under that part of
the ordinance especially directed against scandalous mi
nisters. Among other things, he was charged with reading
the idolatrous coraraon prayer ; with disregarding fast and
thanksgiving days ; and with refusing to suffer sorae godly
ministers to preach in his pulpit. The coramissioners sat at
Abingdon, whither Pococke repaired. He denied having
used the liturgy since the act for its abolition : he had ob
served the fast and thanksgiving days : he owned that he
had refused to admit into his pulpit a man whora Bush the
informer had brought to the parish for that purpose. The
commissioners were not satisfied with his answers, but pro
ceeded to examine witnesses. These witnesses atterapted to
prove the use of the liturgy ; had they succeeded, he would,
according to the definition given by the ordinance, have been
a scandalous clergyman. They asserted, that he had used
part of the common prayer ; for he commonly began divine
service with these words, " Almighty and most merciful
Father," and that he added soon after, " Praise ye the Lord."
One witness stated, that on Easter Sunday he administered
the sacrament in the old way ; and, on being asked, why he
thought it the old way, said, " because he made a prayer
before and a prayer after." When asked, whether the
them at large would require a volume as big as the Book of Martyrs, and
that the people were then generally of opinion that they might as easily find
charity in hell as justice in any committee, and that the king hath taken
down one star-chamber, and the parliament have set up a hundred."

280 CASE OF POCOCKE.
prayers were the sarae with those used in the common
prayer, the witness replied, " Yes, for aught he knew ; for
he talked in thera of Peter, of Paul, and John."
The commissioners found it impossible to reject him as a
scandalous clergyman ; nothing defined in the ordinance,
as being comprehended in that expression, could be proved
against him : still they were unwilling to allow him to
escape. They, therefore, charged hira with ignorance and
insufficiency. Here they had more latitude, as the terms
were not defined in the ordinances ; but those who were
adjudged insufficient by the commissioners were to be
ejected as such. One witness had stated his belief, that
Mr. Pococke was " destitute of the spirit, though he preached
saving truths according to the letter." * The charge of insuf
ficiency was a most unfortunate one for the comraissioners : it
exposed their own ignorance, and rendered thera ridiculous
in the eyes of the public. At this stage of the proceedings,
Owen interposed with the protector, through his secretary,
Thurlow. In a letter to the secretary, he says, " There are
in Berkshire sorae few men of mean quality and condition,
rash, heady, enemies of tithes, who are for commissioners
for ejecting of ministers. They alone sit and act ; and are
at this tirae casting out, on slight and trivial pretences, very
worthy men : one in especial they intend the next week
to eject, whose name is Pococke, a man of as unblamable
a conversation as any that I know living, of repute for
learning throughout the world, being the professor of Arabic
in our university ; so that they do exceedingly exasperate
all men, and provoke them to the height. If any thing
might be done to cause thera to suspend acting until this
storm be over, I cannot but think it would be good service
to his highness and the commonwealth to do it."f Owen
next repaired to Abingdon, with Ward, Wilkins, and Wallis,
* Twell's Life of Pococke. f Thurlow's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 281 .

CASE OF POCOCKE. 281
and endeavoured to shew the folly of ejecting for insufficiency
a raan known over all Europe for his acquirements. In
consequence of Owen's interference, Pococke was discharged
from further attendance. The commissioners could not have
selected a man of more celebrity as a scholar, or exemplary
conduct as a clergyman. The rustic congregation were
ignorant of the acquirements of their pastor : one of thera,
on being questioned respecting their minister, replied, " that
he was a kind, neighbourly raan, but no Latinist."
The treatraent to which Pococke was subjected was dis
graceful to the coramissioners : it affords, moreover, a proof
of their cruel and arbitrary proceedings. How many pious
and conscientious men is it reasonable to suppose were
ejected, when even Pococke, except for Owen's interposition,
would have been sequestered for insufficiency. From the
picture of their proceedings drawn by Owen, who states
that they were casting out very worthy men, it is evident
that vast numbers of the peaceable and well-disposed clergy
must have been cast out under the operation of this
ordinance. The commissioners were destitute of ability;
this is raanifest frora Owen's statement : and it is not pro
bable that their brethren in other counties were superior to
those in Berkshire. It is also certain that the commissioners
disregarded their instructions : informers were adraitted to
give testimony. When a clergyman was summoned to
appear, the case was not decided until after the lapse of a
considerable period, while all the expense of the proceedings
fell on the accused.
It is, indeed, stated, that Cromwell mitigated the severity
of the ordinance. In some places, and especially in London,
it is certain that the protector interposed to check the
violence of the comraissioners ; but in the counties the
clergy were at the mercy of the committees. Some persons
have stated, that none of the sober episcopal party were
troubled by this ordinance. It is true, that the episcopalians

282 CASE OF POCOCKE.
were not the objects of his hostility in consequence of their
religious creed, and they actually enjoyed more liberty than
under the iron mle of presbytery ; but he feared them as
enemies of his government ; and the ordinance was, accord
ingly, carried into effect with regard to many of them, who
had recovered their preferments since the death of the king.
During these times, the sectarians were permitted to
erect meeting-houses for separate worship. Some refused
to attend the parish churches, even when the pulpits were
occupied by men of their own party. Many of the informers
against the clergy were individuals who never entered the
parish church, but who attended the meeting-house.
Not only were the ejected clergy prohibited, by this
ordinance, from teaching in the places where they had
forraerly resided ; but, by another in 1656, it was further
enacted, that " no persons should keep in their families, for
the education of their children, any ejected minister." From
the previous habits of the clergy, they could only hope to
procure a subsistence by teaching youth ; but here all their
means of obtaining a living were taken away.

283

CHAPTER XXIV.

1658.

CROMWELL — SCENES AT HIS DEATH— ENTHUSIASM OF HIS CHAPLAINS — HIS
CHARACTER — HE JOINS THE PURITANS — THEN WITH THE PRESBYTERIANS
 THEN WITH THE INDEPENDENTS  PRAYS AND PREACHES  STATE OF
THE SECTS AND EPISCOPACY UNDER CROMWELL  TIIE EPISCOPAL CLERGY
PERMITTED TO PREACH.
The various ordinances noticed in the last chapter continued
in operation until the protector's death — an event rather
unexpected, as it was not preceded by much illness. Some
of the circumstances connected with his last days reflect
much light on the religious state of the country at that
singular period of English history. It is admitted by all the
writers of that time, that, notwithstanding his elevation, and
the apparent glory by which he was surrounded, he was
unhappy in his own mind ; but whether inward distress
contributed towards the disease of the body, is not easy to
determine. His disease at first was slow fever, which at
length ended in ague : during the space of a week, no
dangerous symptoms manifested themselves, and he walked
out every second day. One of the physicians, who had sat
up with Cromwell, observed to another of the faculty, that
their patient would be light-headed ; the other replied,
" Then you are certainly a stranger in this house : don't
you know what was done last night ? The chaplains, and
all who are dear to God, being dispersed into several parts
of the palace, have prayed to God for his health, and all
have brought this answer, he shall recover." " Nay," ob
serves the author from whom the above is taken, " they did
not so much pray to God for his health, as thank him for

284 ENTHUSIASM OF HIS CHAPLAINS.
the undoubted pledges of his recovery." * This fact has
been disputed by recent writers ; yet it seems difficult to
evade the force of the testimony adduced by so many
authors. " He escaped," says Baxter, " the atterapts of
many that thought to have despatched hira sooner, but
could not escape the stroke of God : though an independent,
praying for him, said, ' Lord, we ask not for his life, for that
we are sure of; but that he may serve thee better than ever
he has done.' "f
Burnet states, that Goodwin, who only a few minutes
before the protector's death had assured his brethren in the
chapel at Whitehall that he would not die, immediately said,
in addressing the Deity, " Thou hast deceived us, and we
were deceived." Mr. Orme doubts the accuracy of the
anecdote, and supposed that if any such words were used
by Goodwin, they were those of the prophet Jeremiah,
chap. XX, 7, and that they were used in the same sense " in
which the prophet employs them, not as denoting what
God had done, but what he had permitted men to do, ' Thou
hast suffered us to deceive ourselves, and we have been de
ceived.' "X There are, however, other expressions in refer
ence to the protector in documents, of the authenticity of
which there can be no doubt, almost approaching, if not
fully equalling, the enthusiasm of Goodwin. An account
of his death was published by authority, dated Whitehall,
September 3, 1658, the day of his death. " It is remark
able (it is observed in this official document) how it pleased
the Lord on this day to take him to rest, it having formerly
been a day of labours to him ; it having been a day of tri
umphs and thanksgiving for the memorable victories of
Dunbar and Worcester ; a day which, after so many strange
* Bates, p. 235.
t Baxter, part i. p. 98. Baxter adds in the margin, "As it was cur
rently reported, without any contradiction that ever I heard of."
X Orme's Life of Owen, p. 251.

HIS CHARACTER. 285
revolutions of Providence, high contradictions, and wicked
conspiracies of unreasonable men, he lived once again to
see ; and then to die with great assurances and serenity of
mind peaceably in his bed. Thus it hath proved to him to
be a day of triumph indeed ; there being much of provi
dence in. it, that, after so glorious crowns of victory placed
on his head by God on this day, having neglected an earthly
crown, he should now go to receive the crown of everlasting
life."* When the news of his death reached the ministers
in the chapel at Whitehall, Sterry said it was good news,
and that the spirit of the protector was now at the right
hand of God; " and if he were there, what raight not his
family and the people of God now expect frora him ! For
if he were so useful when in a mortal state, how much more
influence would come from hira now he was in heaven!"
Fleetwood, writing to Henry Cromwell during Oliver's sick
ness, mentions the fact of " his highness having had very
great discoveries of the Lord to him in his sickness, and hath
had some assurances of his being restored and raade further
serviceable in this work." Thurlow, in a letter to Henry the
day after the protector's death, thus speaks : " Never was
there any man so prayed for as he was during his sickness ;
so that he is gone to heaven, embalmed with the tears of
his people, and upon wings of the prayers of his saints. "f
In many of the addresses to Richard on his accession, Oliver
was compared to Moses, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Gideon, and
Elijah. The officers of the army, in their address, allude
to Oliver as the chosen instrument for the accomplishment
of the divine purposes ; " the mentioning of whora (say
they) may well strike our hearts with inconceivable scorn
and abasement, to think that we by our sins have provoked
the God of all our mercies to give us such a stroke, by
taking from us the delight of our eyes, and, under God,
* Parliamentary History, vol. xxi. p. 226.
f Thurlow's State Papers, vol. vii. p. 355, &c.

286 HIS CHARACTER.
the captain of his people. Oh ! how gloriously did the Lord
appear for and with him in the midst of his people, making
the raountains to become a plain before him, and carrying
hira upon the wings of faith and prayer above all difficulties
and oppositions. How did the graces of God's spirit evidently
shine forth in hira ! In his arraies, he reckoned the„ choicest
saints his chiefest worthies; in his faraily, those that were
near and dear to him- In the things of God he had a
tender and large heart to love all the saints, though of dif
ferent judgraents. He had great acquaintance with the
Lord, mighty in faith and prayer, which made him so con
stant and glorious a victor. This our Moses, the servant of
the Lord, is dead, and shall we not weep? Though we
weep not for him, we cannot but weep for ourselves. We
cannot but look after him, crying, * Our father ! our father !
the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof.'" t The
lord commissioner Fiennes, in addressing Richard's parlia
ment on its meeting, compares the late protector to David :
"As David, that sweet singer of Israel, was not more skilful
to beget concert in discord, and in tuning the several and
different strings of his harp to a melodious harmony, than
his late highness was dexterous and wonderfully successful
in keeping love between dissenting brethren, and preserving
a Christian unity in a Christian and warrantable variety." f
Whether Cromwell was a mere enthusiast, or a consum
mate hypocrite, or a compound of enthusiasm and hypocrisy,
is by no means easy to determine. That his abilties were of
a high order is certahi, or he could never have moulded, so
as to suit his own purposes, the stern and fiery spirits of the
age. He had arrived at the age of forty without evincing
any proof of superior talents ; and, but for the events in
which he was destined to become an actor, he might have
passed through life in ignorance of those powers with which
* Parliamentary History, vol. xxi. pp. 235, 236. f lb. p. 272.

ENTHUSIASM OF HIS CHAPLAINS. 287
he had been gifted. " This great man," says Granger,
" whose genius was awakened by the distractions of his
country, was looked upon as one of the people, till he was
forty years of age. He had by instinct all the habits of
military foresight, which in others are result of professional
education and long experience. As soon as he embraced the
profession of arms, by the force of natural genius alone he
became an excellent officer." In times of commotion the
talents of many individuals have been elicited, which, but
for the occurrence of some stirring and remarkable event,
might never have been discovered, and the possession of
which was never dreamed of even by the individuals them
selves. The characters of not a few of the great men in all
ages have been moulded by the circumstances of the times.
It cannot be doubted that the revolution developed the ge
nius of Napoleon ; and it is equally true that the civil wars
called forth the talents of Cromwell. Had England and
France, during the lives of those extraordinary men, reposed
in peace, the individuals, whose deeds are registered in the
indelible records of history, would probably have spent
their allotted span of existence in their original obscurity,
and at length have sunk into the grave undistinguished and
unknown. Had Cromwell lived in the reign of James, he
would probably have passed through life a gloomy and
morose enthusiast.
There are, indeed, instances in which individuals are
conscious of their own powers long before any circumstance
arises to make them known to the public. Sheridan did
not, in his first attempt in the house of commons, give any
promise of those transcendent powers which, at a subsequent
period, were so frequently displayed. Yet he was conscious
that he possessed talents which must eventually raise him
to distinction. Reflecting on the failure of his first speech,
he started up, after resting his head upon his hand in a kind
of reverie, exclaiming, " Well, it is in me, and shall come

288 HIS CHARACTER.
out of me." In the generality of cases, however, it is acci
dent that calls forth splendid talents : few men are aware of
what they are capable, until they are placed in a situation
calculated to call forth their energies.
When Cromwell was raised to the protectorate, his own
name and that of his country were dreaded wherever the
thunder of his cannon could be heard. The most powerful
monarchs of Europe feared his enmity, and solicited his friend
ship. To hira the death of the king has often been attributed ;
but that melancholy event was brought about by a concurrence
of circurastances, over which Cromwell had no more control
than many others, his associates in crime, though his inferiors
in talent. The reraote cause of that tragedy was the conduct
of the presbyterians in refusing to yield to the conscientious
scruples of Charles, until concessions were unavailing.
Though Crorawell seized the reins of governraent, he did
not wrest them from the king, but from a republican parlia
ment : nor was the dissolution of that assembly viewed by
any party in any other light than that of a blessing, since all
parties had equally suffered under its tyranny. At the period
of their dissolution, the wildest projects were in contempla
tion, and Cromwell was the only individual who could have
prevented their execution.
It has been supposed that he aspired to the name and
title of king, and that he would have accepted the honour,
when proffered by his obsequious parliament, had he been
able to raanage the officers of his array. It is difficult to
ascertain the raotives by which he was influenced in declining
to accept the offer of the crown : he probably saw that such
an act would have involved hira in danger with the army.
He possessed, however, greater power that any English
monarch, none of whom had ever been able to choose their
parliaments as Crorawell's were chosen. The members of
the little parliament were nominated by hiraself, and their
naraes published, that the people raight know who were the'

HE JOINS THE PRESBYTERIANS— THEN INDEPENDENTS. 289
representatives : and his other parliaments were convened
almost in the same manner. So consummate was his skill
in the management of the various parties in the country,
that, by balancing one against another, he contrived to retain,
until the close of his life, the power to which he had been
raised. The exiled monarch was aware of Cromwell's influence,
and would have made many sacrifices to have secured his
support. It appears certain, that Charles would have pur
chased his crown by a marriage with one of the protector's
daughters ; and, if his hands had not been imbrued in the
blood of the king, it is probable that he would have con
curred in an arrangement by which the crown would have
been secured to his posterity.
After all, however, the religious character of Cromwell
is involved in greater obscurity than his political. Previous
to the troubles, he appears to have been in communion with
the church of England, of which his parents were members.
In the parish register at Huntingdon is the following entry :
" Anno Domini 1599. Oliverus Filius Robt. Cromwell,
gener Elizabethse, uxoris ejus natus duosimo quinto die
Aprilis, et baptizatus duosimo novo ejusdem mensis." Over
this entry some one has written, " England's plague for
five years." All Oliver's children were baptised according
to the rites of the English church. At a later period, he
was an avowed presbyterian ; for, at the commenceraent of
the war, the enemies of the church were almost unanimous
in their religious opinions : they had other and raore im
portant matters to occupy their attention than quarrels and
divisions among themselves. The sense of the common
danger united them in one common bond ; but when that
danger was removed, they were divided and subdivided into
various parties, who were animated by the fiercest hostility
towards each other. For several years he acted with the
presbyterians. In the year 1644, says Lilly, " the name
u

290 PRAYS AND PREACHES.
independent was not so much as spoken of." Cromwell
now fell in with the independents, whose opinions were more
tolerant than those of the presbyterians : he caressed and suc
coured, raoreover, all the numerous sects ; and in the army,
encouraged preaching and praying araong the troops. Both
Cromwell and Ireton were accustomed to pray in the council
of officers; and, on some occasions, the former even exercised
the office of a preacher.* His sincerity has often been ques
tioned : at an earlier period he was, probably, sincere in his
enthusiasm ; but after his elevation in the army, enthusiasm
yielded to hypocrisy. The circumstances of the age favoured
the prevalence of hypocrisy ; for the phraseology of religion
was adopted by all persons, and almost on all occasions.
Many were, doubtless, sincere, though wild and visionary
in their opinions ; but many more were hypocrites, who
h^d assuraed the garb of religion as a cloak to conceal their
wicked intentions. With the latter class Cromwell must
be ranked after the war. The principle by which he was
guided was that of a free and full toleration for all opinions ;
and to this principle the enthusiasm of the army is to be
attributed. Cromwell was, however, less under the influence
of this feeling than the soldiers : a mere enthusiast could
not have acted with such uncommon prudence ; could not
act on all occasions with that sagacity by which the actions
of Cromwell were marked. Cromwell was never hurried
into an indiscreet action ; whereas, mere enthusiasm would
have betrayed him into many, f
* Whitelock, p. 286. There is a sermon in print, entitled " Cromwell's
Learned, Devout, and Conscientious Exercises, held at Sir Peter Temple's,
in Lincoln's Inn Fields." — Grey's Hudibras, vol. ii. p. 232. Mrs. Bendysh,
Cromwell's grand-daughter, gravely insisted, that Oliver was one day seeking
the Lord with such ardour of devotion, and striving for a gracious answer
with such vehemence of spirit, that the tears were forced from him in such
abundance, as to be seen under the closet door. — Burton's Diary, vol. iii.
p. 211. f " Baxter's character of the protector is unfavourable to his memory : he

HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS AND PRACTICE. 291
Prior to the rise of the sectaries in the army, a severe
and gloomy system prevailed : the garb of religion was
assumed by almost all, and hypocrisy was almost universal.
After the independents had gained the ascendency in the
parliament and in the army, the soldiers and mechanics not
only exercised the gift of preaching among their respective
followers, but actually seized on the pulpits in the parish
churches. These excesses were permitted by Cromwell ; and,
in return for this indulgence, the soldiers became entirely
devoted to his wishes. The morals of the army, it is allowed,
were uncontaminated : it was Cromwell's policy to enforce
morality among the troops, and to allow full scope for
enthusiasm. Mr. Orme admits, that Cromwell was more
of a hypocrite than an enthusiast: " Cromwell, and others
who ruled the array, and, as it answered their purpose,
sometimes wrought on its religious feelings, and at other
times on its revolutionary frenzy, can be considered as be
longing to no religious body ; though they more naturally
favoured the independent than any other, as, from its prin
ciples, they could more easily manage it in political mat
ters.'' Extravagant as were the opinions of raany of the
soldiers, they were propagated at pleasure ; for Cromwell's
policy allowed the utmost latitude for the expression of every
notion, however wild : he knew how to use the religious
language of the period to cloak his secret purposes, and,
therefore, was considered by the soldiers as one of their
own party.
It has been asserted that he was strongly tinged with
superstitious notions. His physician told Sir Philip War
wick, that at an earlier period " he was melancholy, and
thought secrecy a virtue, and dissimulation no vice ; and simulation, that is,
in plain English, a lie, or perfidiousness, to be a tolerable fault in case of
necessity; therefore, he kept fair with all. He carried it with such dis
simulation, that anabaptists, independents, and antinomians, did all think
that he was one of them."— Xj/e and Times, pp. 99, 100.

292 STATE OF THE SECTS AND EPISCOPACY
had fancies about the cross at Huntingdon." If such feel
ings ever existed, they raust have originated in a life of
inactivity spent in the country : when the events of the war
called him into active life, they no longer existed. Super
stition never clouded his judgment, nor prevented him from
acting with consummate policy. Sorae of his opinions were,
indeed, very singular : his notions of raoral obligation were
very lax. Burnet states, that he had conversed with an
individual who had known Cromwell ; and that Cromwell
believed, " that there were great occasions when raen were
called to great services, in the doing of which they were
excused from the common rules of morality." This, says
Neal, " was the protector's governing principle in all his
unwarrantable stretches of power." *
Still, he was greatly indebted to circumstances for his
sudden exaltation. The country, having long groaned under
the tyranny of the parliament, were ready to second the
endeavours of any individual who possessed sufficient energy
and influence to overthrow that asserably. It was deemed
more desirable to submit to the tyranny of one raan than
to that of many, divided, too, into various factions, and all
seeking to proraote their own particular views. There were
not a few persons in the country who viewed him as the
only individual capable of affording repose to a nation long
wearied with domestic strife. This and other circumstances
favoured his advancement to power.
Though a tyrant, however, Cromwell was the advocate
of liberty of conscience ; and his conduct to some of the
episcopal clergy is a redeeniing feature in his character.
Liberty of conscience was the bond by which the discordant
* Neal, vol. iv. p. 203. Mr. Carrington, in his Life of Cromwell, allud
ing to one of his speeches, says, that it was " pronounced in so excellent a
manner, as sufficiently manifested that (as the lord general himself was
thoroughly persuaded) the Spirit of God acted in and by him." — Pari. Hist.
vol. XX. p. 175.

UNDER CROMWELL. 293
elements in the army were connected together. Perceiving
that the presbyterians intended to fasten their yoke on the
country at large, he was determined to check their career of
bigotry, by the advocacy of unbounded toleration. His objec
tions to the episcopal church do not appear to have, been so
strong as those of the presbyterians, nor did -he hold her
in that utter detestation in which she was held by that
body. Clarendon states, that Cromwell's two daughters
were married first according to the form then in use, and
afterwards, for the purpose of quieting their conscientious
scruples, according to the rites of the English church. Such
a proceeding would not have been tolerated under the pres
byterians : the circumstance proves, that Cromwell did not
consider the church of England as the mother of abomina
tions, nor her rites and cereraonies as popish and idolatrous.*
He did not escape the censures of his wild and enthusiastic
supporters, in whose estimation prelacy was no better than
popery. At the same tirae, episcopacy did not enjoy that
liberty which was extended to all the sectaries. The sects
were united in granting toleration to each other ; but they
were aniraated by the most hostile feelings towards the
English church. In this respect they resembled the pres
byterians. Neither her prostrate condition, nor the suffer
ings of her clergy, had the least influence in abating the
hatred of the sectarians and presbyterians towards the
church. Cromwell, though, in many instances, compelled
to act in accordance with the principles of his council and
the enthusiasts of the day, did not participate in their views ;
and though, by the letter of his ordinance, toleration was
denied to prelates equally with catholics, he was in this
matter more influenced by circumstances than by his own
inclination. Had he been at full liberty, he would have
* Though the state of the church was sad and deplorable, yet it is not
to be denied but that milder courses were used than under the rigid tyranny
of others that went before. — Bates's Elenchus, p. 193.

294 THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY
granted toleration to the episcopalians as well as to the
sectaries. Unfavourable as was the state of the church under the
coraraonwealth, it was better than under the domination of the
presbyterians : they would not tolerate the common prayer or
the ceremonies in public or private. " The dress of religion
gave offence ; they were deterrained to strip her of her white
robe ; to ravish the ring frora her finger, to despoil her of
every ornament, and to clothe her only in black."* Crom
well was " railder than others, as he allowed the comraon
prayer in private. "t Even in Oxford three hundred students
were perraitted to meet every Sunday to hear the liturgy by
Owen, the protector's vice-chancellor. " Cromwell was for
liberty of conscience to all, as far as consisted with the safety
of his own government." J The private meetings of the
clergy were connived at, and in London sorae of them were
permitted to read the liturgy unmolested. Usher continued
in the preachership of Lincoln's Inn till his death. " He
retained the church in restraint, though he permitted its
clergy a little more liberty than the republican parliament
had formerly allowed."^ Hume might have stated that he
allowed a great deal more liberty. The presbyterian clergy
were viewed by the protector with no more favour than the
episcopal : in raany instances the former were reraoved from
their livings for refusing the engageraent ; and thus the
episcopal clergy, as Sir Philip Warwick remarks, " saw the
law of retaliation exercised on the presbyterian by the
fanatic." ||
It is certain that the condition of the episcopal clergy was
iraproved after the fall of presbytery. " Though, in point of
policy, the episcopalians were excepted frora a legal tolera
tion, their assemblies were connived at." ^ There are several
* Granger. f Echard. J Kennet. § Hume.
II He gloried that he " had curbed that insolent sect, that would suffer
none but itself." — Neal, vol. iv. p. 79.
'f Neal, vol. iv. p. 77.

PERMITTED TO PREACH. 295
notices in Evelyn's Memoirs, which prove that the clergy
were allowed more liberty after the rise of the independents.
"Owen," says Evelyn, "a sequestered minister, preached
and gave the sacrament in his parlour, now out of use in the
churches which the presbyterians had usurped." On another
occasion he heard the common prayer at St. Peter's, Paul's
Wharf, " a rare thing in those days." In 1652 he obtained
permission to use the common prayer at Lady Brown's
funeral at Deptford, where it had not been used for seven
years : the same year, he states, no church was permitted to
be open on Christmas-day, though, on some occasions, some
few churches were privileged by special favour. For several
years Evelyn was accustomed to go to London on festivals,
when the sequestered clergy used the liturgy in private,
" the ministers in the churches complying with the directory,
and using extemporary prayers." In 1655, Evelyn adds,
" Dr. Wilde preached at Easter at St. Gregory's, the ruling
powers conniving at the use of the liturgy in this church
alone." From some cause, not now to be ascertained, Wilde
was the same year prohibited from preaching in churches :
he preached his last sermon on Christmas-day ; but, though
the churches were closed to them, Wilde and his brethren
were permitted to use the liturgy, and to preach in private,
until the restoration. It is, however, evident that such
indulgences were not granted in the country : in London,
the presence and influence of the protector were sufficient to
protect the clergy ; but in the country the letter of the
declaration against the common prayer was strictly observed.
Of Cromwell, Clarendon remarks, " he was one of those
men, ' quos vituperare ne inimici quidem possunt, nisi ut
simul laudant.' "

296
CHAPTER XXV.
RICHARD CROMWELL.
BICHARD CROMWELL — RUMP RESTORED  MONK — SECLUDED MEMBERS RE
STORED — VOTES OF THE RUMP REPEALED — DISSOLVE THEMSELVES —
NEW PARLIAMENT  RESTORATION  REFLECTIONS  SURVIVING SE
QUESTERED MINISTERS RESTORED  STATE OF THE CHURCH FROM 1660
TO 1662 — PUBLIC ORDINATION — ACT TO LEGALISE MARRIAGES AND
LAW PROCEEDINGS — DISSOLUTION.
The death of Cromwell raised the hopes of all the contending
parties, who, though differing in opinion on alraost all sub
jects, whether in religion or politics, were united in opposing
the protector's governraent. It was in consequence of the
divisions among the various parties in the state, that Crom
well was raised to supreme power ; and the same divisions
now prepared the way for the restoration. He had been
opposed by the republicans, many of whom were possessed
of great influence in the army. Oliver had been empowered
to nominate his successor; and his son Richard was pro
claimed protector of the three kingdoms. Addresses of con
gratulation poured in from all quarters, and, for a time,
appearances indicated a settled form of governraent. It was,
however, irapossible for Richard, who did not possess his
father's hand, to control the jarring eleraents. The sects
were still republicans; and the presbyterians were still
attached to monarchy, and were ready to restore the king,
on the condition that their own church government should
be established : they had been propitiated by Crorawell, who
allowed their discipline to continue in the church, but with
out its coercive power. They were offended with the pro
tector for encouraging the sectaries ; and if they submitted
to his government, they were influenced by fear rather than
by inclination.

RUMP RESTORED. 297
Richard assembled a council of officers, at the instigation
probably of Fleetwood and Desborough, who panted for the
restoration of the republic. In the following January a par
liament was convened, and dissolved in the ensuing April,
through the influence of the council of officers, who disre
garded the new protector, and managed the affairs of the
nation themselves. The officers were unanimous for what
was termed " the good old cause :" accordingly, it was
speedily resolved to restore the long parliament. On the
7th of May, 1659, in obedience to the call of the council of
officers, the parliament asserabled. This assembly had in
derision been denominated the " rump," in allusion to a fowl
devoured all but the rump. The name was conferred upon
them by Clement Walker, author of the " History of Inde
pendency." The presbyterian members, forraerly secluded
by the operation of Colonel Pride's Purge, were still denied
admittance : they voted that no one should enter the house
who had not sat in it since January 1, 1648-9. Thus the
commonwealth was restored to the same state as before the
dissolution of the long parliaraent. Richard sent in his
resignation : he died peaceably in 1712.
The officers were still the rulers of the country : they
petitioned the parliament, and recommended the extension
of liberty of conscience to all creeds except popery and
prelacy. Change now followed change in quick succession.
The master-spring was removed from the machine of govern
ment by the death of Crorawell ; and, after moving irregu
larly for a short time, it ceased altogether. All parties, with
the exception of the sectaries, began to sigh for the restoration
of the king, as the only event that could secure order, and
heal the wounds of a bleeding country. The army and the
parliament, as at the close of the war, were soon jealous of
each other : on the refusal to attend to some petitions pre
sented by the former, the council of officers prevented the
members from assembling, by occupying all the avenues

298 MONK.
leading to the house with troops. On the 26th October a
coraraittee of safety was norainated by the officers, and to
them was intrusted the government of the country.
Monk had been for some time in Scotland with a con
siderable army : he determined, amid a choice of evils, to
adhere to the parliament, and resolved to march his army
into England. The merabers of the rump imagined that
Monk intended to restore them to their seats; but it is
probable that when he began his march he had no fixed
object in view. Nor is it improbable that he intended to
reraain at the head of the army, and take advantage of
circumstances. His real sentiments, if his opinions were
forraed, were not disclosed to any one. Portsraouth and
other places declared for the parliament , and, soon after,
the coramittee of safety, perceiving their difficulties, con
sented to the restoration of the rump, which assembled again
on the 26th December, 1659. These events transpired be
fore Monk had quitted the Scottish borders. On the 2d of
January, 1659-60, the general entered England. At York,
he received a letter from the speaker informing him of the
recent occurrences, and intimating that there was no neces
sity for marching his troops to London. The general was
not to be diverted from his purpose : he at once assigned a
reason for continuing his march, namely, that he might
g,ssist the parliaraent in reducing the array to obedience.
Even at this period it is irapossible to decide whether Monk
intended to serve the king or himself.
The parliament appointed a council of state, of which
Monk was nominated a member. Each one took an oath
to renounce the king, and to be faithful to the common
wealth. During his march, the general received numerous
addresses, praying for the admission into the house of the
presbyterian members secluded in 1648. Nor did Monk
fail to discover that such a step would be acceptable to the
country. The oppressions under which they had groaned

SECLUDED MEMBERS RESTORED. 299
since the death of the king, and their disappointment in not
being able to erect their own form of church polity, had
operated a material change on the views and feelings of the
presbyterians; and they were now ready to unite with the
royalists in restoring the king.
Monk entered London on the 3d of February, and on
the 6th went to the house, where he acknowledged the vote
of thanks tendered to him for his late services. He alluded,
though with caution, to the addresses presented relative to the
secluded members ; observing, at the same time, that it would
be desirable to prevent the cavalier and fanatic parties from
any share in the government. The general was, however,
so far obedient to the parliament as to pull down the city
gates at their request, in consequence of the refusal of the
common council to pay taxes till the secluded members were
restored ; but when the city was exasperated, he soothed
their feelings by forsaking the parliament. On his re
conciliation with the city, the restoration of the secluded
members was deemed certain. On the 22d of February,
the members were introduced to the house by Monk,
without any opposition from the rest. Before their intro
duction. Monk extracted a pledge to fix a time for their
dissolution, and to call a new parliaraent. He wrote also
to the different regiraents, to acquaint them with what
had transpired, as well as to request them to resist all at
tempts at restoring the king. It is alleged, that this course
was adopted to keep the army in temper ; but it is by no
means clear that Monk had not entertained a thought of the
restoration.* As soon as the presbyterian members were restored,
forming a majority in the house, they released all the king's
friends who were in prison ; annulled all the votes against
the secluded members ; repealed the oath of abjuration of
* Warburton remarks that Monk had no purpose to serve the king, till
it appeared to him that it was in vain to think of serving any body else.

300 RESTORATION.
Charles Stuart ; abrogated the engagement ; and, on the
16th March, 1659-60, having first issued writs for the call
ing of a free parliament, dissolved themselves, according to
their stipulation with Monk. In all these proceedings, the
general acted a conspicuous part : seeing the current of
public opinion to run in favour of the king, he shaped his
course accordingly. It was determined by the late parlia
ment, that no royalist should be elected ; but, notwith
standing such a decree, the elections terminated in favour
of the king. On the appointed day, April 25, 1660, the
parliament asserabled, both lords and commons, according
to the ancient fashion. Monk informed them, that a mes
senger was arrived with a declaration from the king ; and,
after a few debates, it was resolved, in consequence of the
sectaries and fanatics who raight have gained strength during
the discussions, that the king should be restored at once,
without waiting to settle conditions. To such a proposition
the presbyterians would not have consented, but frora their
fears of the sectaries. The king landed at Dover on the
25th May, 1660, and arrived at Whitehall on the 29th of
the same month. Thus, by a reaction in the public mind,
the monarchy was restored without bloodshed, after a pro
stration of twenty years. It is certain that Monk promoted
the restoration, from the period when he discovered that the
country and the parliament were ripe for such an event.
The soldiers were so divided in sentiment, and dispersed in
so many places, that the general, with the aid of his own
troops and the city militia, experienced little difficulty in
checking every hostile moveraent. The unsettled state of
the country led the people to look to the restoration of the
king as a blessing : only a few months before, the royal cause
appeared hopeless. The event was brought about by a con
currence of circurastances. Cromwell, the chief obstacle,
had been removed by death. When the hand by which the
country had been ruled was paralysed by death, and the

REFLECTIONS. 30]
voice that had so often inspired terror was silent, the presby
terians, who had submitted to the protectoral rule, began to
lift up their heads. To circumvent the republicans in their
plots, and to suppress the sectaries and independents, the
presbyterians complied with Monk's proposition, that the
sovereign should be restored unconditionally. After raany
years of suffering and exile, Charles was restored to the
throne of his ancestors. At one period almost all the sove
reigns of Europe succumbed to the protector, and denied
Charles an asylum in their dominions ; still he was pre
served to be the instrument for healing the distractions of
the country.
When the presbyterian members were restored by Monk,
many of the clergy who had been sequestered for refusing the
engagement were restored. Owen was removed from the
deanery of Christ Church, and Reynolds, the presbyterian,
was reinstated : the sarae result followed with regard to
other posts in both the universities. Presbytery was again
established ; the directory was enforced ; and the covenant
was again hung up in all the churches. It was also ordered
that the said solemn league should be hung up in the
house.* In the declaration from Breda, liberty was promised to
tender consciences ; but no mention was made of the precise
form of government that should be established. Some of
the ministers who were to meet Charles on the continent,
desired him to pledge himself to establish presbytery : but
the king was not to be caught in such a snare. However,
several of the eminent presbyterian ministers were appointed
chaplains, and occasionally preached in the royal presence.
With the return of the king, the ancient laws, which had
never been repealed, again carae into operation. The various
acts of parliament in favour of presbytery, prior to the year
* Parliamentary History, vol. xxii. p. 150,

302 SURVIVING SEQUESTERED MINISTERS RESTORED.
1648, not having received the royal assent, were null and
void ; and the church of England, as a matter of course,
was restored to the situation in which she was placed at the
coraraencement of the war : hence all the surviving sequest
ered clergymen were restored, without any legislative enact
ment, to their respective preferments. The ministers who
were now dispossessed could not reasonably coraplain of that
as an act of persecution, which displaced thera only to
restore the legal possessors. Yet raany of the advocates of
the nonconforraists describe this proceeding as a hardship
inflicted on the presbyterian and sectarian ministers ; and
speak of the individuals reraoved from the livings of the
legal incumbents, as sufferers for conscience sake. Many of
the episcopal clergy had been in exile, or had eaten the bread
of affliction for nearly twenty years. A finer specimen of
silent and patient endurance under suffering was never
exhibited than in the conduct of the episcopal clergy. In
those parishes whose legal incumbents were dead, the present
occupants remained. One writer states, that many hundreds
of faithful ministers, holding sequestered livings, were dis
placed soon after his majesty's return. Yes ! and where was
the hardship 1 Surely the returning ministers had a better
title than those who were dispossessed. They were not
illegally displaced, as were the episcopal clergy, but by due
course of law : they were merely dispossessed of what did
not of right belong to them. It should be remembered that
these men had long enjoyed the property of others, while the
legal incumbents were pining in poverty and exile. The
voice of law, of justice, and of reason, called aloud for the
return of the sequestered clergy. When the reign of order
succeeded that of confusion, matters naturally returned to
the state in which they stood at the beginning of the war.
The reader who is acquainted with the arguments used by
the advocates of nonconformity to diminish the numbers of
the sequestered episcopal clergy, will not fail to perceive that

SURVIVING SEQUESTERED MINISTERS RESTORED. 303
the assertion just noticed militates against their own argu
ments : for how could the number of sequestered clergy have
been inconsiderable, if many hundreds were alive, after nearly
twenty years, to enter upon their former livings ?
There were, however, after the surviving clergy had been
restored, many presbyterians, independents, baptists, and
other sectaries, in possession of livings, who became sufferers
under the act of 1662, and whose case will hereafter be
stated and discussed. For the present the clergy were at
liberty to conduct public worship according to their own
inclinations. All the episcopalians, and many others whose
sentiments on church government were Erastian, and who
had complied with all the preceding changes, began to read
the common prayer iraraediately after the restoration. Dur
ing the space intervening between 1660 and 1662, the
churches presented a somewhat singular appearance, some of
the rainisters conforraing to the liturgy, sorae following the
directory, and others rejecting all systems, and acting accord
ing to their own fancies. Though the liturgy was not
enforced, it was the only legal form, as the act for its abo
lition was illegal. The cloud that had so long hung over
the church of England was now dissipated ; and she emerged
from the gloom, without having sustained any injury in her
articles, homilies, and formularies : to them her members
had adhered in all her troubles, and from them had they
derived consolation during their season of adversity, and
amid the dreariness of exile.
To satisfy the minds of the ministers, a declaration was
issued, November 6, 1660, concerning ecclesiastical affairs,
in the same strain as the letter frora Breda. In this de
claration allusion is made to the sentiments of the presby
terian ministers who met the king on the continent, and
who expressed themselves not as opposed to the liturgy
and ceremonies of the church, but only as desirous of some

304 STATE OF THE CHURCH FROM 1660 TO 1662.
few alterations : it is next stated that his raajesty has hitherto
been content with the exercise of his religion in his own
chapel " according to the constant practice and laws es
tablished, without enjoining that practice and the observ
ance of those laws in the churches of the kingdom, in which
we have undergone the censure of many, as if we were
without that zeal for the church which we ought to have."
It is added, " we have found ourselves not so candidly dealt
with as we have deserved, and that there are unquiet and
restless spirits, who, without abating any of their own dis-
teraper, continue their bitterness against the church." After
stating his former intention of calling a synod to settle all
points of difference, his majesty declares that he shall " give
some determination to the matters in dispute, until such a
synod may be called." Many rules are laid down relative
to the bishops and their ordinations. With regard to the
liturgy, the delaration goes on, — "In the mean time,
although we do heartily wish and desire that the ministers
in their several churches, because they dislike some clauses
and expressions, would not totally lay aside the use of the
book of common prayer, but read those parts against which
there can be no exception; yet, in compassion to divers of
our good subjects, who scruple the use of it as it now is, our
will and pleasure is, that none be punished or troubled for
not using it, until it be reviewed and effectually reformed as
aforesaid." The rites and ceremonies to which objections
had been raised were to be settled by a national synod, which
his raajesty promised to call as soon as possible. The cross
in baptism, kneeling at the sacrament, bowing at the name
of Jesus, and the use of the surplice, were to be observed or
not, at the discretion of individuals : and as sorae scrupled
the oath of canonical obedience, they were not, in con
sequence of such scruples, to be denied ordination and in
duction, provided they took the oaths of supremacy and

PUBLIC ORDINATION — DISSOLUTION. 305
allegiance. No man was to be disquieted for difference of
opinion in matters of religion.* In this state did every thing
remain until the act of uniformity in 1662.
In the year 1661 there was a public ordination at Oxford,
the first since the restoration. Neal says, that if the bishops
had all died during the interregnum, the English church
would have been lost. Had such an event occurred, the
church of England must have applied to some foreign church
in which episcopacy was retained : such an event, however,
was not probable, as the exiled bishops would have taken
special care to prevent the extinction of their order by ordain
ing others. But the church was not driven to such an
extremity: several of the old bishops survived the restoration,
and returned to their sees, and raany of the most eminent of
the sequestered clergy were now rewarded for their sufferings
by an elevation to the episcopal bench.
The parliament that restored the king was designated the
"convention parliament." One of the first measures after
the king's return, was to get it constituted a legal assembly :
an act to that effect was passed, and a bill of indemnity
shortly after, from which none were excluded except those
who were concerned in the murder of the late king. Another
act, to legalise all judicial proceedings since the year 1 640,
and to render valid all marriages celebrated in whatever
manner during the same period, was passed, and received
the royal assent. The parliament was dissolved on the 29th
December, 1660.
* Parliamentary History, vol. xxiii. p. 173 et seq.

306

CHAPTER XXVI.

ENTHUSIASM AND EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE PRECEDING PERIOD  EFFECTS ON
PEOPLE SUBSEQUENT TO THE RESTORATION  ENTHUSIASTIC NAMES —
TITLES OF BOOKS  EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS  PREACHING OF SOLDIERS
— FAST AND THANKSGIVING DAYS  CHANGE IN DRESS  CATHEDRALS —
DEBATES CONCERNING CHRISTMAS-DAY  TITHES.

The present chapter will be devoted to a subject of no small
Interest, and one of considerable importance, — the extrava
gance and enthusiasm of the period embraced in the preced
ing chapters, and their probable influence in causing the
majority of the country, at least in the upper classes, to go
to the opposite extreme of immorality, licentiousness, and
profaneness, during the reign of the second Charles.
In the reign of Charles the reaction was so great, that
numbers became secret if not avowed infidels : many, even
of those who, in the preceding times, had been loudest in the
profession of the prevailing opinions, became violent opposers
of every thing religious. During the interregnum a complete
change was effected in the common phraseology : a change
which paved the way for that obscenity and profanity in
conversation so comraon in the reign of Charles. The name
of God, and expressions from sacred scripture, were in the
mouths of all and at all times : the usual names of persons
were discarded for the names recorded in the inspired
volume; nay, even the names of the evangelists and others
in the New Testament were rejected, as little better than
popish, and others selected frora the historical books of the
Old Testaraent. Not satisfied with the proper names, whole
sentences from scripture were chosen by many as the
Christian names of their children, or even adopted as their
own, in the place of such heathenish names as Robert,

ENTHUSIASTIC NAMES. 307
William, John, and Thomas. Hume gives a list of a jury,
whose Christian names were either sentences taken from
scripture or the theological language of the day : it has been
Stated, that the genealogy in the first chapter of Matthew
might have been used as the roll-call of some of Cromwell's
regiments. The Christian names assumed by the family of
Barebones are well-known instances of the extravagance of
the times.
Whoever takes a view of this section of our ecclesiastical
history, will not fail to perceive that enthusiasm prevailed
to an almost unlimited extent. Every new opinion found
adv9cates; and as all were at liberty to become preachers,
the most enthusiastic notions were promulgated without a
compass by which to steer their course, or an anchor to
keep them steady, amid the fluctuating waves of religious
disputation, the various sects spent their time in endless
discussions, many of them of a kind truly ludicrous. In
former times, the fervour of enthusiasm had been repressed
by restrictive laws, and was thereby pent up in the bosoms
of individuals. Whenever there were any outbreakings of
fanaticism, they were soon checked by the wholesome opera
tion of ecclesiastical discipline. Almost all the soldiers
were preachers; nor did they fail to exercise their gifts
wherever they came. On one occasion six soldiers entered
the church of Walton -upon -Thames during the time of
service. " One soldier had a lanthern with a candle burn
ing in it, and four other candles not lighted. He told the
people that he had a message from God, and wished to enter
the pulpit, which not being granted, he assembled the people
in the churchyard, when he told thera that he had seen a
vision, and was commanded to declare God's will, consisting
of five lights. First, that the Sabbath was abolished ; se
condly, that tithes were abolished ; thirdly, that ministers
were abolished ; fourthly, that magistrates were abolished, as
Christ was reigning with his saints ; fifthly, that the Bible

308 ENTHUSIASTIC NAMES.
was abolished, as containing beggarly rudiments ; and put
ting out the candle said, here my fifth light is put out."*
Every soldier could occupy the pulpit of any church near
which his regiment might be stationed, to the exclusion of
the parochial minister. Here he could broach any new doc
trine, however absurd, the offspring of his own diseased
imagination. " It is scarcely possible to image the tumult
of absurdity in that age, when any unsettled innovator who
could hatch a half-formed notion, produced it to the public ;
when any raan might become a preacher, and almost every
preacher could collect a congregation. "f The enthusiasm
of the presbyterians was principally directed against images,
crosses, painted windows, organs, and vestments ; against
mince-pies at Christmas, which were deemed abominations
not to be tolerated ; against bishops and ceremonies of the
church. But the sectaries and soldiers led them much fur
ther. Had a contemporary writer set himself to collect
the various acts of extravagance and wildness committed
between 1 640 and 1660, he would have produced a volume
of a most singular nature.
* Walker's Independency.
f Johnson's Life of Waller. " I wonder," says Featly, " that our door
posts and walls sweat not, upon which such notes as these have been lately
affixed : On such a day such a brewer's clerk exerciseth, such a tailor
expoundeth, such a waterman teacheth." — Featly's Dippers Dipt. Preface.
Hall, the presbyterian minister of King's Norton University, published a
work, dated 1651, entitled " The Pulpit Guarded," occasioned by a dispute
against Lawrence Williams, a nailor, public teacher ;
Thomas Palmer, a baker, preacher ;
Thomas Hinde, a plough-wright, &c. &c.
Henry Cakes, a weaver, 8e.c. &c.
Hum. Rogers (lately), a baker's boy, &c. &c.
In the Preface, he says, after alluding to his sufferings under the bishops,
" and now at last I have been set upon by the sectaries, who sometimes
have spoken to me in the middle of a sermon, sometimes after, sometimes
chillenge me to dispute."

TITLES OF BOOKS. 309
A perusal of the sermons and other publications of the
period will furnish ample evidence of the extravagance that
prevailed. Strange and uncouth words, either compounded
from those in common use, or expressly coined for the occa
sion, were introduced not only into conversation, but into the
pulpit and printed sermons. Such words as " savingable,"
"muchness," " Christ- Jesusness," were of comraon occurrence.*
The titles of books and pamphlets are evidences of the same
extravagance. A book was published against bowing at the
name of Jesus, entitled "Jesus-worship confuted." Lockyer,
one of Cromwell's chaplains, printed a volume of sermons
with the following title, " Christ sitting up with his Church
in her Swooning State." Sir John Birkenhead, about the
period of the restoration, published " The Children's Dic
tionary; an exact Collection of all new Words born since
November 3, 1640, in Speeches, Prayers, and Sermons, as
well those that signify something as nothing." In short,
a complete revolution was effected in the common language
of the day. " The English language was much corrupted
by the preachers. The eloquence of the pulpit differed
widely from every other species, and abounded in such
figures as rhetoric has found no name for."f
It is painful to refer to the serraons and prayers of those
times; and, in the estimation of some, it may appear like
treating sacred things with levity. Nothing is further from
the intention of the writer ; nor would he unnecessarily
inflict a wound on any serious feelings. It is, however,
* Granger. When saints' days were abolished, the word saint was dis
carded from the vocabulary of the parliamentarians. Churches, parishes,
and streets, to which the name of any saint was given, were distinguished
by a new name, or the word saint was dropped. To this practice Butler
alludes : " And force all churches, streets, and towns.
The holy title to renounce." — Hudibras, Canto iii. ver. 317-18.
See also a curious paper in the Spectator, No. 125.
t Granger, vol. ii. p. 33.

310 EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS.
necessary to refer to these topics, in order to afford a true
picture of the times.
How far the pulpit was used as an engine to stir up the
war, has already been shewn ; it was the vehicle for com
municating news to the people. Nor are the sectaries alone
chargeable with enthusiastic statements from the pulpit ; for
the example was set by the presbyterians. Many of the
sermons of the most eminent of the presbyterian clergy,
during the war, were not only stimulants to rebellion and
bloodshed, but specimens of the wildest enthusiasm. " You
have already," says one, " in a degree fulfilled that prophecy
of Zachary, ' have wrote upon the bells or bridles of your
horses, Holiness unto the Lord.' Write on still, you wise
statesmen, write upon your foreheads, upon your brain-pans,
Holiness unto the Lord. You valiant soldiers, go on in a
pious prodigality of your blood and lives."* A Scots clergy
man of the same period thus addressed his Maker, " To be
free with you. Lord, we have done many things for thee that
never entered into thy noddle ; and yet we are content that
thou take all the glory."t Another, speaking of malignants,
asks, " Lord, what wilt thou do with these malignants ? I'll
tell thee, e'en take them up by the heels, and roast them in
the chimney of hell. Lord, take the pestle of thy vengeance,
and the mortar-piece of thy wrath, and make the brains of
malignants a hodge-podge; but for thy own bairns, Lord,
feed them with the prunes and raisins of thy promises : give
them the boots of hope, and the spurs of confidence." J
After the ascendency of the army, a Scots minister avowed
in his prayer, that unless God would deliver them fi-om the
sectaries he should not be their God.| In 1643, a presby
terian minister, in his prayer, asks, " O Lord, when wilt thou
take a chair and sit among the house of peers? when wilt
* Staunton, before the commons, 1644, p. 25.
t Collection of Scots sermons. J Walker, p. 18.
§ Anderson's Sermon al Perth.

PREACHING OF SOLDIERS. 311
thou vote among the honourable commons?" " We know, O
Lord," said another, " that Abraham made a covenant, and
Moses and David made a covenant, and our Saviour made
a covenant ; but thy parliament's covenant is the greatest of
all covenants."* In allusion to the coming in of the Scots,
another minister said, " If this be not God's cause, then God
is no God for me, but the devil is got up into heaven. "f
From these passages, it is clear, that enthusiasm ori
ginated among the presbyterians, and was merely taken
up and propagated by the sectaries. Yet, the presbyterian
clergy raised the loudest outcries against the enthusiasm of
the sects, forgetting that the latter only copied their own
example. That the enthusiasm of the sectaries and soldiers
was carried to a high pitch, is admitted ; but the precedent
was established by the presbyterians.
The practice of preaching among the troops originated
soon after the new modelling of the army. Under the year
1646, Whitelock has the following observation: — " Other
complaints of soldiers preaching, and those lately in esteem
now called sectaries. Thus, we may see the inconstancy of
the giddy multitude, and the uncertainty of worldly affairs." J
The same year, articles were presented to the council of war
against a trooper for preaching and expounding : the practice
was not deemed unlawful ; but as the soldier had designated
the minister, in whose parish he had preached, a minister of
antichrist, he was compelled to make an acknowledgment
of his offence. | These practices were viewed by the presby-
* Whitelock, p. 449.
t A striking instance of presbyterian enthusiasm is to be found in the
Book of Psalms set forth by authority of parliament in 1644, p. 193. The
seventh verse of the ninety-fourth Psalm is thus rendered :
" The Lord yet shall not see, they say,
Nor Jacob's God shall note."
In the margin, the expression, " Jacob's God," is explained, " the God of
the puritans." t Whitelock, p. 240. § Ibid. p. 238.

312 PREACHING OF SOLDIERS.
terians as the greatest curse that could befal the country.*
It was, however, impossible for them to check a practice
that had originated with themselves. Even in Scotland,
where the sects were less numerous, there were some break
ings forth of that enthusiasra by which the proceedings of
the sectaries were distinguished in England. In 1652, the
woraen assembled in a body in the town of Perth, and
actually expelled the clergy there assembled in synod :
thirteen of them rallied at the distance of four miles, and
voted that a synod should never more be held in that place.
They also determined, that though the women had deserved
the character of godly in 1638, for stoning the bishops, the
whole sex should now be esteemed wicked.-f It was a
common practice for the soldiers to enter the churches, and
dictate to the minister how he should conduct the public
worship. J Others would call the ministers hirelings, and
request them to descend from the pulpits. The presbyterian
clergy were now the sufferers, and the soldiers and sectaries
were viewed by them with feelings of abhorrence. Any
person could occupy the pulpit, if he possessed suflacient
influence with the people to persuade them to erabrace his
cause. On going into his parish church on the Sunday
morning, Evelyn tells us, that he saw a mechanic of his own
village in the pulpit, from which he preached to the people.
Nor was the practice of rare occurrence.
Few chaplains were retained in the army after the new
model, the officers and raen perforraing the duties of the
office themselves. Almost the only one retained was the
celebrated Hugh Peters. There are several notices relative
to Peters in Burton's " Diary of the Protector's Parliament,"
published a few years since. January 1657-8: " Peters
prayed. He said that religion was left by our ancestors
hot, fiery hot; but it was now fallen into lukewarm hands:
' Whitelock, p. 491. f Weston's Life of Sanderson.
X Whitelock, p. 501.

FAST AND THANKSGIVING DAYS. 313
we do not boil up our religion to its height. Other nations
are seeking for a general peace ; while we, for want of an
enemy, are scratching one another. They say they will
come over and choose their religion, when we have agreed
upon a religion : when we serve our God better, they will
serve him."* On fast and thanksgiving days, singular
scenes were transacted, both by the independents and pres
byterians. The monthly fast of the latter was spent in
rehgious exercises from morning till night. In 1647,
March 31st : " very long prayers and sermons," says White-
lock, " as usual, on the monthly fast." Burton gives a
description of a fast in 1657, under the independents : —
" The house kept a day of humiliation. The exercises be
gan at ten, and held till half-past five o'clock. Mr. Calamy 's
text was Isaiah, ix. 12 ; Mr. Griffith's, 2 Chronicles, xx. ;
both good sermons. The first sraelled presbyterian; the
other was for church government, but against imposing
spirits, and it tasted a little of court holy water." -f- When
Monk was marching from Scotland to London, after the
death of Cromwell, he spent one day with his army at
St. Albans. The day was appointed as a fast by authority.
Peters, with two other ministers, conducted the services in
the church, and the general's chaplain, Dr. Price, attended.
" Peters supererogated, and prayed a long prayer in the
general's quarters, too, at night. As for his sermon, he
managed it with some dexterity at the first, allowing the
cantings of his expressions. His text was Psalm cvii. 7.
With his fingers on the cushion, he raeasured the right way
from the Red Sea through the wilderness to Canaan : told
us it was not forty days' march ; but God led Israel forty
years through the wilderness before they came thither: yet
* Burton's Diary, vol. ii. p. 346.
f Ibid. vol. ii. p. 346. The fasts were usually kept in St. Margaret's
church ; but after the fall of presbytery, some of the members preferred the
house of commons itself.

314 CATHEDRALS.
this was still the Lord's right way, who led his people
crinkledom cum crankledom."*
The revolution in dress was no less remarkable than
in the language of the day. It was the practice to wear the
hair long and flowing ; but the puritans wore theirs closely
cropped : hence the origin of the term Round Head. Colonel
Hutchinson, though a puritan, was unwilling to lose his
hair, nature having been very bountiful to him in this
respect. He did not escape the censures of his party, who
viewed long hair as an abomination not to be tolerated : —
" Some would not allow him to be pious, because his hair
was not to their cut."f The author of Waverley well de
scribes the changes in the mode of dress. Speaking of the
landlord at Windsor, during the interregnum, he says,
" from a jolly fellow, he was sobered down to meet the
times." In 1652, it was referred to a committee of the rump par
liament to consider what cathedrals should be pulled down,
and how they might be applied to the payment of the public
debts : a coramittee was ordered to examine Ely cathedral,
and to frame an ordinance for selling the materials. These
projects, however, were never executed ; and, though threat
ened with destruction, the cathedrals remained. The pro
tector's parliaments were not less enthusiastic ; nor is it
possible to determine to what lengths they would have pro
ceeded, had they not been restrained by his powerful arm.
It was gravely proposed on one occasion, that the records
in the Tower should be burnt : Sir Matthew Hale exposed
their folly and stopped their mouths.
The violence of the presbyterians, at an earlier period,
against the festivals observed in the English church, has
been noticed in a preceding page : the independents, though
professing more tolerant sentiments, were not less hostile
* Pari. Hist. vol. xxii. p. 73. f Life of Colonel Hutchinson.

DEBATES CONCERNING CHRISTMAS-DAY. 315
to these feasts. Many long debates took place on the ob
servance of Christmas-day ; a very curious one is related by
Burton : — " Colonel Matthew observed, ' The house is thin,
much, I believe, occasioned by observation of this day. I
have a short bill to prevent the superstition for the future.'
' I could get no rest all night,' said Mr. Robinson, ' for the
preparation of this foolish day's solemnity. This renders us
in the eyes of the people to be profane. We are, I doubt,
returning to popery.' ' It is a very good time (Sir W.
Strickland) to offer the bill this day, to bear your testimony
against it, since the people observe it with more solemnity
than they do the Lord's day.' Major-General Packe ob
served, ' if ever bill was well timed, this is. You see how
the people keep up these superstitious observances to your
face. One may pass from the Tower to Westminster, and
not a shop open nor a creature stirring.' " * It is evident,
from this curious debate, that the mass of the people were
opposed to the proceedings of the presbyterians and inde
pendents on this and similar subjects : the changes intro
duced in those times were effected, not by the concurrence
of the people, but by the workings of faction. Still, neither
the presbyterians nor the sectaries could succeed in abolish
ing the observance of Christmas-day, and the other festivals
of the church. In 1645, " the day, notwithstanding the
ordinance, was generally observed in London, and the shops
^ut."t After the lapse of several years, Christmas-day
was still observed : " We have had the superstition of
Christmas worse than it hath been this four years, to my
knowledge ; every one shutting up their shops, and giving
themselves up to superstitious practices, that we thought
* Burton, vol. i. p. 229.
f Whitelock, p. 191. In 1647, he records, " the shops were shut, not
withstanding the orders to put in execution the ordinance against holy days.
At Canterbury, the mayor, while executing the ordinance on Christmas-day,
was abused by the rude multitude." — Pag-e 286»

316 TITHES.
had been dead ; " and again, " these superstitions of Christ
mas were almost quite out of the way ; but we are gone
back, — we are as bad as we were twenty years ago."*
Very singular notions were entertained on the question
of tithes, — not by the presbyterians, but by the sectaries and
the soldiers. The presbyterians claimed them as the property
of the church : it was with them a principle, that tithes
belonged to the ministry by divine right. The independents
declaimed against the practice, until they became the domi
nant party. It was, indeed, decided, that " as soon as
might be, a provision less subject to scruples, and more
certain, be made for the raaintenance of able and painful
teachers ; and that till such provision be made, the present
maintenance should not be taken away nor impeached."
In accordance with this declaration, the independents re
ceived the tithes as long as they reraained in the livings.
Baxter says, that some independents and baptists, though
they accepted the livings, did not consider themselves as the
parish ministers ; yet these scrupulous individuals hesitated
not to receive the emoluments. They denounced tithes as
antichristian, when paid to the regular clergy. The adage,
" virtus post nummura," was exemplified in the conduct of
those persons who succeeded in getting into the churches.
In the protector's first parliament, it was resolved, that
" until sorae better provision be made, the present public
maintenance shall not be taken away nor impeached." -j-
Still, there were many among the various sects who rejected
tithes altogether : they viewed the whole system as a portion
of the Jewish economy, and, therefore, unlawful under the
Christian dispensation. A petition was presented to the
parliament in 1653, from some justices of the peace in the
county of Kent, in which they desire that " tithes of all
sorts, root and branch, may be abolished : that that Jewish
* Cradock's Divine Drops, p. 239. -\ Burton, vol. i. p. 112.

TITHES. 317
iand antichristian bondage and burden on the estates and
consciences of the godly may cease, and that we may not
be ensnared with the forced maintenance, or any thing like
it, in the stead thereof. And your petitioners shall own the
Lord in you, and bless the Lord for you ; and pray, hope,
and wait, to see your hands stretched out for the Lord, till
you shall help to tear the flesh of the whore, and burn her
with fire." The petitioners were called in, and the speaker,
by comraand of the house, told them that " the business
in your petition is, and shall be, in due time, under con
sideration ; and that the house will do therein as the Lord
shall direct them." * The business was entrusted to a com
mittee, who at length brought in their report in favour of
the continuance of tithes. In this state did the matter remain
until the restoration : notwithstanding the outcries of some
of the sectaries, tithes were never abolished.
* Pari. Hist. vol. xx. pp. 197, 198 ; Whitelock, p. 543.

318

CHAPTER XXVII.
PLOTS OF REPUBLICANS ^-BISHOPS RESTORED — OTHERS CREATED — CON
FERENCE AT SAVOY — ALTERATIONS IN LITURGY — DEMANDS OF THE
PRESBYTERIANS  ACT OF UNIFORMITY  PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS EX
HORT EACH OTHER TO STEADFASTNESS  THEIR FAREWELL SERMONS.
Soon after the restoration of the king, a declaration was
issued against conventicles. This proceeding was viewed
as a breach of the late declaration, in which liberty was
promised to tender consciences : it is, however, clear, that
the framers of that declaration never contemplated a tolera
tion for separate worship, but only relieving the clergy from
their scruples relative to liturgy and ceremonies. Before
the king had time to consolidate his power, the republicans
began to plot its destruction. The influence of the sectaries
in the old army rendered decisive measures necessary : a
remedy was required, by the prorapt application of which
the evil might be checked. In suppressing their conventicles,
the court did no more than had formerly been practised by
the puritans.
Soon after, a proclamation was issued, authorising a cer
tain number of bishops and divines to revise the liturgy, and
to make such alterations as should be deemed necessary to
satisfy scrupulous consciences : the nonconformists, by the
same proclaraation, were protected in not using the book of
coraraon prayer. Nine of the old bishops were still living; and
others had been appointed to the vacant sees. Some of the
sees were, however, kept open, in the hope that they might
be accepted by the more eminent presbyterian ministers ;
but Reynolds alone was induced to receive the offered
dignity. A conference was sought by the presbyterian
divines, who began to be alarmed lest the old conformity

CONFERENCE AT SAVOY. 319
should be enforced. A certain number of bishops and
divines met the presbyterian ministers at the Savoy : they
met on the 25th March, 1661, and continued their dis
cussions during four months. Usher's scheme was proposed
by the presbyterians, but rejected by the bishops. This
scheme was a very moderate episcopacy, or was, rather,
presbytery grafted on episcopacy. At an earlier period, it
had been proposed by Charles I. at the conference in the
Isle of Wight, and refused by the presbyterians, who were
now doomed to suffer the same disappointment which, by
their own obstinacy, had been inflicted on the unfortunate
sovereign. The principal points in dispute at this conference re
garded the apocryphal lessons, the cross in baptism, holy-
days, the use of the surplice, and some few things of a
similar nature. In short, the same objections were now
raised, and the same arguments used, as had been resorted
to at the commencement of the late reign. The alliance be
tween church and state, the lawfulness of a prescribed form,
and other points on which modern dissenters entertain such
strong opinions, were never questioned by the presbyterians,
either prior to or at thia conference ; nay, the necessity of an
established church was insisted on as strongly by the one
party as the other. The matters in dispute were confined
within a comparatively narrow compass. During the con
ference, Baxter submitted a liturgy composed and arranged
by himself, and proposed its adoption in the room of that
venerable form of sound words composed by our pious re
formers. " This action gave advantage against them as
unreasonable men."* It was unreasonable to expect that
a form, drawn up hastily by one individual, should be al
lowed by the assembled bishops and clergy to supersede that
liturgy for which they had suffered so much. Both the
* Burnet.

320 BISHOPS RESTORED.
presbyterians and the bishops were anxious to enforce con
formity ; the idea of separate worship was not countenanced
by either party. Nothing was settled at this conference ; if
the bishops on the one hand were inflexible in refusing con
cessions, the presbyterians on the other were equally per
tinacious in insisting on too raany. If both parties had been
disposed to yield in matters of minor consequence, the peace
of the church would have been unbroken. At the same time
the blame does not attach only to the episcopal party ; they
only walked in the steps of the presbyterians during and at
the close of the war. The chancellor Hyde, and the sur
viving bishops and clergy, were disposed to view the presby
terians as the cause of all their sufferings; and the new
parliament, composed principally of loyalists, adopted the
sarae views.
When the new parliaraent asserabled. Clarendon alluded
to certain seditious sermons. It is supposed that he intended
by this speech to pave the way for the subsequent raeasures.
The commons ordered all their members to receive the sacra
ment according to the rites of the church of England ; a
proceeding that was viewed with suspicion by the presby
terians, though they might have recollected that the long
parliament had often, during the first years of their session,
issued similar orders. The bishops were also by this parlia
ment restored to their temporal jurisdiction, and took their
seats among the peers. Frora May 1660 until July 1661
the bishops were spiritual persons only. At the latter period,
the act passed by Charles I., disabling them from exercising
temporal jurisdiction, was repealed. In the royal chapel,
the liturgy was used from the return of the king ; and as
the act for its abolition was illegal, it was also read in all
those churches where the incumbents were favourable to
its introduction. Two days only after the king was pro
claimed, the liturgy was read before the peers; and in many
parts of the country the ministers were presented before the

DEMANDS OF THE PRESBYTERIANS. 321
grand jurors for neglecting to use it, on the ground that the
ancient laws were restored with the king.
During the summer of 1661 various rumours of con
spiracies were in circulation. By some it has been supposed
that these rumours were merely an artifice of the court party
to give a colour to their proceedings. It appears that the
king was satisfied to leave the subject of religion to the par
liament; for he told them, that " the difficulties which con
cerned religion were too hard for him, and, therefore, he
recommended them to their care who could best provide for
them." He had promised liberty to tender consciences ; but,
if disposed, he would have found it extremely difficult to
have kept his promise with a parliament like the present.
Charles was engrossed by his pleasures ; and, notwithstand
ing his declaration, he was ready to sacrifice the noncon
formists to the resentment of the parliament. The speech,
from which the above extract is taken, was intended to
relieve him from the difficulties of the situation in which he
was placed by his former declaration ; and the parliament
readily concurred in releasing hira from the obligation.*
Devoted to his pleasures, Charles never bestowed a thought
on the subject of religion ; and was heartily desirous to leave
the whole matter with the parliament.
The morals of the sovereign were among the most dis
tressing subjects connected with the restoration. The prac
tices of the court exercised no inconsiderable influence on
those of the country ; the contamination descended from the
palace of the sovereign to the mansion of the courtier, and
from the abode of the latter to the lowest of his depend
ents: so that the whole country was subjected to a moral
degradation. It is quite clear that the parliament was more inclined
to severity than the sovereign. " They were severe against
* Burnet. Y

322 ALTERATIONS IN LITURGY.
the nonconformists, and would have gone further if they had
not been restrained by the court."* The king certainly
wished to introduce, or, at all events, to tolerate popery; and
to effect his purpose, he was by no means averse to concur
with the parliaraent in excluding the presbyterians frora the
church, in the expectation that such a large and powerful
body would deraand a general toleration with a voice that
could not be suppressed ; and that when the boon was
granted to one party, it raust, of necessity, be extended to
all. On these points, however, the king and the parliament
were at variance ; for the latter refused to concede toleration
to any. After the conference at the Savoy, some few alterations
were made in the liturgy by the bishops and clergy assembled
in convocation. The prayer for all conditions of men, that
for the parliament, and the general thanksgiving, were
now added. The explanatory rubric relative to kneeling at
the sacrament was restored, and stands now as it was found
in King Edward's book. These alterations were intended
to satisfy some of the scruples of the presbyterians, but they
proved unsatisfactory. The advocates of the nonconformists
complain of the uncompromising spirit of the episcopal party,
but they are silent respecting the conduct of the presbyterians
towards the church of England. It would have been de
sirable that a few concessions should have been granted for
the purpose of retaining the presbyterians in the church ;
but when such a clamour is raised against the church for
the line of policy pursued by the bishops at the period in
question, it becoraes necessary to remind the reader of the
conduct of the presbyterians before the death of the king.
It was not to be expected that the episcopal party, after their
protracted sufferings under the treatment of the presbyter
ians, should be disposed to pay much attention to the pleas
* Comp. His. vol. iii. p. 239.

ACT OF UNIFORMITY. 323
of the latter. The episcopal clergy had endured long pri
vations ; they had been unjustly deprived of their livings ;
and now that the circumstances of the two parties were
changed, it is not surprising that the restored clergy should
refuse to make any material alterations in the liturgy or
discipline of the church. The English church had been
twenty years under a cloud, and trampled upon by her
enemies ; yet, under all their misfortunes, her sons continued
firm in their attachment to her principles. When the cloud
was dispersed, her merabers refused to expunge or raodify
any portion of that liturgy, in defence of which they had
gone into exile. Formerly, the presbyterians refused even
to tolerate her worship ; the extirpation of episcopacy was
demanded and accomplished ; and presbytery was attempted
to be erected in its room. The very men who now demanded
concessions, were those who united in a solemn league to
destroy episcopacy. The church of England had been de
signated Babylon, Rome, and the scarlet whore, by men who
now sought to be comprehended within her pale. Some
years earlier, a few concessions on the part of the presby
terians would have restored tranquillity, and saved the life
of the king ; was it strange that the bishops should now
refuse to concede to their scruples !
The book of coraraon prayer, as revised by the convo
cation, was subraitted to and approved by the parliament ;
and measures were immediately taken to secure its adoption
throughout the country. On the 19th May, 1662, an act,
called the Act of Uniformity, received the royal assent. It
was enacted that it should come into operation on the 24th
of the ensuing August. By this act every minister was cora
pelled to subscribe to every thing contained in the book of
common prayer. It was also enacted, that no minister
should officiate in the church of England without episcopal
ordination. The king was anxious that the execution of the
act should rest in the crown; but the parliament flatly

324 PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS
refused to listen to such a proposal.* The interest of the pres-^
byterians was greater in the court than in the parliament,
not from any affection toward them on the part of the king,
but from the hope that by tolerating thera he should also be
able to tolerate popery. The king fell in with the act as
the most likely raeans to produce a general toleration ; he
imagined, moreover, that by the exercise of a dispensing
power he should be able to disarm it of its severity. It is
probable that their expectations from the court prevented
some presbyterians from complying with the terms of uni
formity .-^f-
The church was now restored to her original position.
At this tirae the best livings were held by presbyterians.
Those who had not received episcopal ordination were re
quired to subrait to it. Confonnity would leave a slur upon
their character, while the loss of their preferraents, and even
poverty itself, were consequent on their nonconformity.
Various consultations were held. Being so numerous, they
expected that when it was discovered that they were deter
rained to refuse to coraply, some change would be effected
in their favour. It is stated, that the catholics secretly en
couraged the presbyterians in their determination. That
portion of the court which was under catholic influence,
persuaded the presbyterians to continue firm, and that either
the act would be raodified, or the king would skreen them
from its effects. J The catholics were disappointed, and the
anticipated results were never realised. This act was de
structive to their hopes : toleration, at that time and under
such circumstances, would probably have proved fatal to the
existence of the protestant church. It was certainly the
intention of the king and his catholic supporters to bring
in popery under the cover of a toleration ; and if the Act
of Uniformity ruined the hopes of the catholics, the mouths
* Comp. Hist. vol. iii. p. 238. f Ibid. p. 238. | Ibid. p. 243.

EXHORT EACH OTHER TO STEADFASTNESS. 325
of objectors ought to be stopped. So far from viewing it as
an evil, the pious protestant will consider it as a safeguard
to protestantism at a moraent of iraminent danger. When
the people were aware of their danger ; and when the second
James was departed from the land, when the church was
secured from the inroads of popery by the succession of a
protestant, and it was no longer necessary to deny toleration
to the nonconformists, the boon was iraraediately granted.
Surely it was a blessing to the country that Catholicism was
prevented from being established. Of this opinion were the
nonconforraists theraselves, who, in the reign of James,
refused the indulgence granted by the exercise of the dis
pensing power, when they perceived that the real object was
the introduction of popery.
From the time of passing the act until the period fixed
for its coraing into operation, the rainisters eraployed their
time in exhorting one another to steadfastness. At length
the Sunday preceding the 24th of August arrived. On that
day the London ministers preached their farewell sermons,
which were afterwards published in a collected volume. It
is stated in roimd numbers that two thousand relinquished
their preferments : but the statement is incorrect, inasmuch
as many had been removed on the restoration of the king to
make way for the surviving sequestered clergy. The piety of
the ejected ministers has never been questioned ; but it was
not greater than the piety of the sequestered clergy. The
act and its fraraers have been the subject of very severe cen
sure. Of those persons who, in the present day, denounce
the act as unchristian, many entirely forget the character of
the times, and forra their opinions according to principles
which history has since taught, but which were then un
known. Such persons denounce the church of England, as
the patron of persecution, while the nonconformists are held
up as the supporters of religious liberty. How remote such an
opinion is from the truth, will appear in another chapter.

326 SEPARATION TO BE REGRETED.
The parliaraent was compelled " to decide upon one of
three courses : first, a liturgy of which all could approve, a
thing manifestly impossible; secondly, not to insist upon
uniformity; thirdly, to impose one uniform system upon
all."* They adopted the last, in accordance with the ac
knowledged principles of the age. At that time, to enforce
uniformity by penal laws, was deeraed, both by episcopalians
and presbyterians, not only lawful, but absolutely necessary
to the existence of true religion. This plea is always urged
by the advocates of nonconformity in palliation of the pres
byterians during their ascendency ; and surely the same plea
ought to be admitted in behalf of the framers of the Act of
Uniforraity. Notwithstanding all the obloquy reflected on
the parliaraent, they only acted on the principles of the
presbyterians, who refused to abate a single iota of their
covenanted uniforraity.
That such comparatively small raatters, as the surplice
and the cross, should have prevented the presbyterians from
conformity, raust ever be a subject of deep regret. They
hesitated not to divide the church, in consequence of a few
cereraonies of sraall iraportance. " They thought it a greater
sin," says Jereray Taylor, " to stand in a clean white garment
than in separation frora the church."
* Heber's Life of Taylor,

327

CHAPTER XXVIII.
PRINCIPLES OF THE PRESBYTERIANS AND EPISCOPALIANS OF THAT PERIOD
CONTRASTED — TOLERATION  ACTIONS COMPARED — SEVERE ACTS OF
PRESBYTERIANS  THEIR TREATMENT OF SECTARIES  THEIR INTOLER
ANCE TO KING — TREATMENT OF CHILLINGWORTH — WRITINGS OF THE
TWO PARTIES COMPARED  HOOKER's POLITY, AND HALL ON EPISCOPACY,
CONTRASTED WITH SMECTYMNUUS  EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS — VIEWS
OF THE TWO PARTIES ON LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE — JEREMY TAYLOR
THE FIRST ADVOCATE FOR IT — TAYLOr's WORK CONTRASTED WITH CON
TEMPORARY WRITINGS OP THE PRESBYTERIANS — THE PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED — THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES, FOR
MULARIES, &C. WITH BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, CONFESSION, AND COVENANT
— TREATMENT OF THOSE MINISTERS WHO CONFORMED.
We now propose to discuss the principles of the two great
parties at the restoration — the episcopalians and the presby
terians. Neither party deemed it lawful to tolerate separate
worship ; and the writings of the latter, as well as their
actions, prove, that in the work of persecution they out
stripped their episcopal brethren. Every species of abuse
is heaped on the English church on account of the pro
ceedings of 1662. To enable us to form an accurate esti
mate of the conduct of the episcopalians, it is necessary to
examine not only the actions but the principles and opinions
of the age. The conduct of the churchmen of that day is
most unreasonably measured by the principles of the nine
teenth century. It is not intended to insinuate that their
principles on the subject of religious liberty were correct ;
but the same justice is due to them as to their opponents.
After the presbyterians had discovered so rauch bigotry in
putting down the liturgy, it would have been strange if the
episcopalians had not evinced a strong desire for its pre
servation. A certain class of writers are ever recurring to
what is termed the black day of St. Bartholomew ; and the

328 PRINCIPLES OF PRESBYTERIANS AND EPISCOPALIANS
church of England is stigmatised as alone the unbending
opponent of liberty of conscience. Neal often asserts, that
the puritans were as much inclined to persecute as the
bishops ; yet Neal's admission appears to be lost sight of,
and the puritans are held up as the friends of religious
freedom. The fullest liberty is now enjoyed by all religious
bodies ; all the various sects, though in their opinions " wide
as the poles asunder," are indulged with the raost unliraited
toleration. The subject may now, therefore, be approached
with calmness ; no angry feelings, no opposing interests,
no conflicting opinions, need now be mingled with the dis
cussion of these topics.
Frora a coraparison of the acts, principles, and writings
of the two parties in that day, it will be proved, that in the
matter of liberty of conscience the episcopal church was
far in advance of the presbyterian hierarchy. Laud even
was less rigorous in enforcing conformity than the presby
terians in insisting on the covenanted uniformity. The sub
ject of religious liberty was not understood by either party :
each party contended for the right of imposing their own
system on the other, while the expedient of a toleration was
allowed by neither. With all their goodness, says Neal, the
puritans were unacquainted with the rights of conscience :
the worst feature of presbyterianism, says Mr. Orme, was
its intolerance. " The presbyterians," says another writer
of the sarae class, alluding to their conduct during the
troubles, " now gaining the ascendency, discovered as strong
a propensity to grasp at the same arbitrary power as that
under which they had formerly groaned."* Those writers,
whose education and prejudices incline them to take the
most favourable view of the character and conduct of the
puritans, are constrained to acknowledge that the episco
palians were not the only advocates of intolerance. The
* Brooke's Lives of Puritans.

OF THAT PERIOD CONTRASTED. 329
church of England must, at all events, stand acquitted of
the charge of exclusive bigotry.
Until the rise of the independents there were only two
great parties, the episcopalians, and the puritans who became
presbyterians. For many years the questions in dispute
regarded only a few ceremonies : during the war the puritans
changed their ground; instead of demanding a few altera
tions, they would not be satisfied with any thing short of the
extirpation of the hierarchy. They becarae the dominant
party, and allowed no greater liberty to those who differed
from them than had been granted by Laud : they claimed
the sarae pre-eminence for presbytery as had been enjoyed by
the episcopal hierarchy. The establishment of presbytery
was termed the setting Christ on his throne ; and when they
became possessed of the revenues of the establishment, "they
were dissatisfied for the want of the top-stone of the building,
church power." *
We shall attenrpt to prove that the church of England
during the reign of the first Charles was less inimical to re
ligious freedom than her opponents : and for this purpose the
actions and the writings of the two parties will be examined
and compared.
Even the advocates of the presbyterians are compelled to
acknowledge tbeir intolerance. Their government, says
Neal, was as narrow as the prelatical : the same is admitted
by Brooks and by Mr. Orme. Instances of severe treatment
under the domination of presbytery may easily be adduced,
which cannot be paralleled by any thing under the adminis
tration of Laud : the conduct of the parliamentary committees
was inquisitorial, and more tyrannical than that of the
bishops. Calamy and others have laboured to place the
opinions and practices of the puritans in the most favourable
light, as well as to magnify their sufferings and virtues : and
* Neal.

330 SEVERE ACTS OF PRESBYTERIANS.
their works^^have contributed to foster the opinion that the
episcopal clergy were a set of merciless persecutors. The
readers of such works as those of Calamy, Neal, Brookes,
and Orme, are never made acquainted with the sufferings of
the episcopal clergy under presbyterian tyranny. If all the
fiery lay puritans had been enumerated in the lists of sufferers,
there would have been a dark as well as a bright side of the
picture presented to the world. The piety of the most emi
nent conformists is scarcely adraitted in works of the class
above alluded to : but if Burton and Travers are ranked
among the pious puritans, surely Hooker and Herbert may
be placed in opposition to them as pious churchmen ; and it
can scarcely be doubted that the piety of Hall and Taylor
was equal to any in the annals of puritanisra.
It is the fashion to designate the Act of Uniformity as a
black and execrable act : no justification of the measures of
that period is intended ; but the reader ought to be reminded
that there was a presbyterian Act of Uniformity. All who
maintained opinions at variance with the received notions,
fell under its operation. It was called an act against heresy :
but. as all opinions were deemed heretical except such as
squared with those of the prevailing party, it would have
been more consistent, as well as more appropriate, to have
denominated it an Act of Uniformity. It enacts that all
persons who shall willingly maintain the doctrines specified in
the ordinance, should be committed to prison until the next
assize, when, if found guilty, the offenders should suffer
death, as in cases of felony.* In allusion to this act, Neal
says, " it is hardly to be paralleled among protestants :" and
again, " this was one of the raost shocking laws I have met
with." Happily it passed at a time when the presbyterian
power was on the wane, or raany would have suffered under
its operation. " The presbyterians of the present age are not
* Neal, vol. iii. p. 498.

THEIR TREATMENT OF SECTARIES. 331
only thankful that the confusions did not permit their prede
cessors to put this law in execution, but wish also that it
could be blotted out of the records of time, for 'tis so very
unrighteous, that no censure too severe can be passed upon
it."* This ordinance was framed in 1648, and received the
sanction of all the presbyterians ; and during the same year
the Scots parliaraent deraanded that all anabaptists, sepa
ratists, and independents be suppressed.-f- No act of equal
severity ever eraanated frora the episcopal church.
Biddle, an individual of some notoriety for his erroneous
¦opinions, fell under the operation of this act. Having been
accused of holding unsound opinions on the subject of the
Holy Spirit, he was, in 1645, committed to the coraraon gaol
of Gloucester, though labouring under a dangerous disease.
He reraained in prison several years, and was frequently
called before the asserably of divines. In 1648 he published
a work on the Trinity, in which many unsound doctrines
were broached : this book led them to apply to parliament
for the above-mentioned ordinance against blasphemy and
heresy. At a later period Biddle was actually tried for his
life, under the authority of this very ordinance : the proceed
ings were arrested by the interposition of Cromwell, who, to
rescue him frora his persecutors, banished hira to the island
of Scilly. In 1658, through the favour of the protector, he
returned : in 1662 he experienced the same treatraent as
other nonconforraists ; but his sufferings under the Act of
Uniformity were trivial when corapared with those he
endured frora the presbyterians. Under the latter his life
was endangered : under the act of 1662 he was only re
strained frora propagating his opinions. The act against
heresy shews the principles of presbytery : all Laud's seve
rities, in comparison, sink into the shade. During Biddle's
protracted imprisonment, not one of the presbyterian minis-
* Neal vol. iii. p. 500. t Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 388.

332 THEIR TREATMENT OF SECTARIES.
ters was prompted by raotives of Christian charity to visit
hira in his solitude : Dr. Gunning, an episcopalian, a pro
scribed clergyman, was the only Christian minister who
directed his steps to the prison. The severity of the act
under which Biddle suffered was unequalled by any thing in
the Act of Uniformity. It is, indeed, true that this act,
owing to the opposition of the army, and the rapid increase
among the independents, was never universal in its operation;
but its very existence evinces the spirit of the presbyterians.*
Soon after the assembling of the long parliament, many
clergymen were imprisoned, as well as sequestered from their
benefices. The presbyterians coraplained of persecution under
the bishops ; yet, when power was placed in their own hands,
with unexampled inconsistency they copied the exaraple of
the prelates. They did not fight in vindication of religious
liberty, for every reasonable concession was raade by Charles
prior to the war; not to rescue theraselves from the bishops,
whose authority had ceased to exist when the war com
menced ; but for the purpose of imposing their own dis
cipline. Not only episcopalians, but independents and
baptists were subjected to severe penalties on refusing com
pliance with the presbyterian discipline.
Many cases of hardship and suffering, besides those of
the episcopal clergy, occurred under the presbyterian disci
pline. A Mr. Knollys was one of the first who began to
preach against infant baptism : he was comraitted to prison,
where he continued several days ; subsequent to his libera
tion he preached in the country, and narrowly escaped death
frora the violence of the mob, instigated by persons in autho
rity. In a letter to a friend, he observes, " The city presby
terians have sent a letter to the synod against any toleration :
and they are fasting and praying at Zion College this day
about further contrivings against God's poor innocent ones.
* Biddle's Life, pp. 27, 33, 49, et seq

THEIR TREATMENT OF SECTARIES. 333
To-morrow there is a fast kept by both houses and the synod
at Westminster. They say it is to seek God about the
establishing of worship according to the covenant. They
have first vowed, now they make inquiry." When Bur
roughs, one of the independents in the assembly, was re
proached with conformity under the bishops, though he
refused it under the rule of presbytery, he described the new
conformity " as being as bad as the old," and complains of
those " who were so bitter against their brethren who differed
from them, when they differed as much from what they were
not long since themselves." At an early period of the war
an ordinance was issued for silencing unordained ministers,
and such as should preach any thing contrary to the articles
of faith or the directory.* This ordinance operated as severely
against the independents and baptists as any of the acts of
the high commission against the puritans. It has been
stated, that the independents opposed the presbyterian mi- -
nisters at Oxford who were sent by the parliament to preach
the university into obedience : Erbury was the leader of the
opposition : in Oxford he escaped persecution, owing to the
presence of the army, but was not so fortunate in London at
a subsequent period.
Mr. Brookes applauds tiie presbyterians, when describing
their sufferings under the bishops ; but when he describes the
state of his own party, the independents, under the ascend
ency of their rivals, he freely censures them : " The presby
terians gaining the ascendency, and abusing their power too
much, in imitation of their predecessors, proscribed all who
did not fall in with their own peculiar sentiments." f Allud
ing to the period of the restoration, Mrs. Hutchinson remarks,
" The presbyterians had long since espoused the royal interest
and forsaken God and the people's cause, when they could
not retain the reins of goverment in their own hands, and
* Whitelock, p. 236. f Brooks's Lives.

334 THEIR INTOLERANCE TO KING.
exercise dominion over all their brethren." Had presbytery
been established at the restoration, the independents and
sectaries would have been suppressed with raore rigour than
was evinced by the fraraers of the Act of Uniforraity.
But the conduct of the presbyterians to the fallen raonarch
was marked with greater intolerance and cruelty than any
other action during their whole career. When at Holmby
the king requested that his chaplains should attend hira ;
this request was cruelly denied : he was not permitted even
to use the liturgy in his own faraily. Such a refusal was
never paralleled by any act of cruelty on the part of the
bishops ; it stamps the presbyterians with the brand of perse
cution. At the conference in the Isle of Wight, the parlia
mentary coraraissioners insisted on the king's using the
directory, as a sine qua non to his restoration. Charles con
sented to confirra the directory for three years ; to repeal the
statute enforcing the coraraon prayer; to forego the use of
the liturgy in his own family, provided he might use some
other form ; but all these concessions were insufficient : their
refusal to grant the use of a prayer in his own family reflects
the highest disgrace on the presbyterians. The bishops never
interfered with private worship. Happy was it, that the
career of these persecutors was checked by the army.
The same intolerance was displayed by the Scottish pres
byterians. The insults heaped upon the fallen monarch in
the Scottish camp were of the grossest description, and evince
a total want of feeling on the part of their authors. On one
occasion the preacher, in the presence of his majesty, gave
out the fifty-first psalra in the Scottish version, commencing,
" Why dost thou, tyrant, boast thyself
Thy wicked works to praise."
Before the verse was sung, the king stood up and called for
the fifty-sixth psalm :
" Have mercy. Lord, on me I pray,
For men would me devour."

INTOLERANCE OF PRESBYTERIANS. 335
The good sense and good feeling of the people prevailed over
the cruelty of the preacher, for they immediately commenced
the psalm chosen by his majesty.* It would scarcely be pos
sible to produce from the annals of intolerance so great a
proof of illiberality.
The lives of the clergy in Scotland who declined sub
scription to the covenant were endangered. " I have been
dogged," says David Mitchel, " by some gentlemen, and
followed with many mumbled threatenings behind my back,
and then when in stairs swords drawn ; and ' if they had
the papist villain, oh 1 ' "f Both in Scotland and in Eng
land, presbytery proved itself to be a genuine shoot frora the
stock of popery ; for the papists could scarcely have acted
with more rancour and bitterness.
When a bill was introduced into one of Cromwell's par
liaments to suppress popery, prelacy, licentiousness, and pro
faneness, some one moved that presbytery might be added,
but the proposition was not seconded ; yet in 1648, the
presbyterians declare that independency should be suppressed
with anabaptism and Arminianism. Thus the presbyterians
received more mercy from the independents than they had
shewn to others.;}: The independents, indeed, granted li
berty to all except catholics and prelatists. It was resolved
in 1656, " that those rainisters who shall agree with the
public profession in matters of faith, although in their judg
raent and practice they differ in raatters of discipline, shall
not only have protection in the way of the churches and
worship respectively ; but be esteemed fit and capable, not
withstanding such differences, of any trust or promotion in
these nations. That all others shall not only have protec
tion, but be esteemed fit and capable of any civil trust. That
such, who agree not in matters of faith with the public pro-"
fession, shall not be capable of receiving the public mainte-
* Whitlocke, p. 234. f Dalrymple's Memorials, p. 237.
J Burton's Diary.

,336 TREATMENT OF CHILLINGWORTH.
nance appointed for the ministry."* Had equal moderation
been displayed by the presbyterians, the king and the parlia
ment would easily have been reconciled.
The treatment of the illustrious and incomparable Chilling-
worth by Cheynel is another proof of the cruel spirit of per
secution by which the presbyterians were animated. Chilling-
worth died at Chichester, a garrison of the parliament. At
the time of his death, Cheynel, who had professed a friend
ship for Chillingworth, was at Chichester as a chaplain to
the garrison. It was the request of the dying man that his
body raight be buried according to the rites of the English
church; but this request was refused. Instead of the liturgy,
Cheynel met the corpse at the grave with Chillingworth's
immortal book in his hand. Some time after the burial of
this great man, Cheynel published an account of the funeral,
and of his own conduct in the business. He states, that free
liberty was allowed to all the malignants in the city to attend
the interment of his corpse. He then relates, that he stood
at the grave and addressed the persons who attended in the
following manner : " Brethren, it was the earnest desire of
that eminent scholar, whose body lies here before you, that
his corpse might be interred according to the rites and cus
toms appointed in the English liturgy ; but his second re
quest (in case that were denied him) was, that he might be
buried in this city, after such a manner as raight be obtained
in these tiraes of unhappy difference and bloody wars. The
first request is denied for many reasons, of which you cannot
be ignorant. It is too well known that he was once a pro
fessed papist and a grand seducer ; and I have good reason
to believe, that his return to England, commonly called his
conversion, was a false and pretended conversion. And for
my own part, I am fully convinced that he did not live or
die a genuine son of the church of England. I retain the
* Burton, vol. i. p. 389.

WRITINGS OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED. 337
usual phrase that you may know what I mean. I raean, he
was not of the faith or religion established by law in Eng
land. He hath left that phantasy, which he called his re
ligion, in this subtile book." Then throwing the book into
the grave, he added : " Get thee gone, thou cursed book,
which hast seduced so raany precious souls ; get thee gone,
thou corrupt, rotten book, earth to earth, dust to dust ; get
thee gone into the place of rottenness, that thou mayest rot
with thy author, and see corruption."* Neal quotes the
last words, and adds, " a most unchristian and uncharitable
imprecation." f
It has been atterapted, in the preceding observations, to
prove by a series of facts, that the episcopal hierarchy was
less intolerant than the presbyterian. The argument will be
greatly strengthened by a comparison between the writings
of the two parties. A man's writings may always be taken
as evidence of his opinions ; and the writings of the episco
palians on the subject under discussion will not appear to
their disadvantage when arranged on the same page with
those of the presbyterians. Thus, frora a comparison of the
standard works of both parties, it will be seen that the views
of the raembers of the English church were more liberal
than those of her opponents. It would be unfair to select
the works of scurrilous writers on either side ; the standard
works alone, therefore, of both parties will be referred to.
Let Hooker's " Polity," and Bishop Hall's controversial
works be contrasted with the celebrated production, entitled
" Smectymnuus." These were considered at the time as the
chief works on both sides. With regard to Hooker, even
his enemies must admit that it breathes throughout a spirit
of conciliation and kindness ; it abounds not in rash and
uncharitable assertions ; there are no harsh epithets applied
to opponents. He establishes these propositions, that sacred
* Life by Des Maisaiux. t Neal, vol. iii. p. 102.

338 HOOKER CONTRASTED WITH SMECTYMNUUS.
scripture is not a rule for discipline ; that the practice of
the apostles, as they acted according to circumstances, is not
an invariable rule for the church ; that many things in
different may be practised though not enjoined in scripture ;
and that the church raay appoint cereraonies within the
limit of scripture. These propositions are stated and de
fended with the greatest amenity of manners towards his
opponents, and in a truly Christian spirit. Nothing is ad
vanced respecting the Divine right of any form of church
government. How different is the spirit running through
the works of Cartwright, Travers, and others on the same
side, at this early period of the controversy.
The most cursory perusal of Hall's writings will prove
that he wrote in a most amiable spirit. Nothing of asperity
or bitterness appears in his pages. However strongly he
may have defended episcopacy as an apostolical institution,
there is nothing uncharitable or unchristian in the tendency
of his controversial writings. The enemies of the church
may search in vain in the writings of Hall for any passages
or sentences militating against Christian charity. On the
other side is the publication already mentioned, the joint
production of five eminent presbyterian divines ; Stephen
Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew New-
comen, and William Spurstowe. The title of the work is
made up of the initials of their names. The work embodies
all their arguraents. It was constantly appealed to as fur
nishing the most powerful weapon against their adversaries,
and the best reply to their arguments. The Christian spirit
of Hall is sought in vain in this celebrated work. Its un
relenting, reviling, and intolerant spirit may be discovered
from some extracts. Their tirade against bishops is thus
concluded : " The inhuman butcheries, blood sheddings, and
cruelties of Gardiner, Bonner, and the rest of the bishops,
in Queen Mary's days, are so fresh in every man's meraory,
as that we conceive it a thing altogether unnecessary to

EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS. 339
make mention of thera. Only we fear that the guilt of the
blood then shed should yet reraain to be required at the
hands of this nation, because it hath not quickly endeavoured
to appease the wrath of God by a general and soleran hurai
liation for it. What the practices of the prelates have been
ever since, from the beginning of Queen Elizabeth to this
present day, would fill a volume like Ezekiel's roll with
lamentations, mourning, and wo, to record. For it hath
been their great design to hinder all further reformation ;
to bring in doctrines of popery, Arminianism, and liber
tinism ; to maintain, propagate, and much increase the
burden of human ceremonies ; to keep out and beat down
the preaching of the word; to silence the faithful ministers
of it ; to oppose and persecute the most zealous professors,
and to turn all religion to a pompous outside ; and to tread
down the power of godliness: insomuch, that it is come to
an ordinary proverb, that when any thing is spoiled, we use
to say, ' The bishop's foot hath been in it.' And in this
and much more that might be said, fulfilling Bishop Bonner's
prophecy, who, when he saw in King Edward's reformation
there was a reservation of the ceremonies, is credibly re
ported to have used these words, ' since they have begun to
taste our broth, they will not be long ere they will eat our
beef.'"* The falsehoods, coarseness, and bigotry of this sentence
cannot be equalled by any thing in the writings of Hall or
his brethren. It was written by raen episcopally ordained,
and who, in 1662, were again willing to submit to bishops
provided a few ceremonies were rejected. In the same work
episcopacy is termed " a stirrup for antichrist to get into the
saddle."t The bishops are called " rotten merabers, sons of
Belial."t Yet many bishops have been the ablest defenders
* Smectymnuus, pp. 77, 78. t Ibid. 30
X Ibid. 68. Hall himself is termed " false and confident, a self-con
founding man." — P. 2.

340 EXTRACTS PROM SERMONS.
of the faith against popery ; and, at a later period, the ad
vocates of the Sraectymnuan views acted with more severity
than the bishops. The severity of this work, and its un
charitable spirit is reluctantly adraitted by the advocates of
nonconformity. " It is written," says one, " with great
fierceness of spirit, and much asperity in language, contain
ing eighteen sections, in the last of which the differences
between the prelatists and puritans are aggravated with great
bitterness."* As we descend to the period of the war, the same spirit
of bigotry and intolerance is discovered in the sermons of
the presbyterian clergy, especially those that were preached
before the parliament. Episcopal government was termed
" a fretting gangrene, a spreading leprosy, an insupportable
tyranny. Up with it, up with it to the bottom, root and
branch, hip and thigh ; destroy these Amalekites, and let
their place be no more found. Let popery find no favour,
because it is treasonable ; prelacy as little, because it is
tyrannical."-|- In another sermon, the same preacher says :
" With a good conscience have your honours rooted up and
cast out of the church that evil tree (episcopacy), which God
did never plant." And again : " It cannot be denied that
episcopacy is such a supporter of papacy, that when the one
falls the other cannot stand. Pluck up but this one weed
in the antichristian kingdoms over sea ; let bishops only be
removed from Italy and Spain, Germany and France, as they
are from Britain, the pope can no more stand thereafter than
a head without a body or limbs." " Did not," says Gilles
pie, " the land make idol-gods of the prelatical clergy, and
feared thera raore than God. Is it not a righteous thing
with the Lord to make these your idols his rod to correct
you." " We have," says another, " a godly generation
among us, and an ungodly generation, that weep with a
* Brooks, vol. iii. p. 246.
f Coleman's Sermons lo Commons, 1645, pp. 24, 64.

EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS. 341
loud voice and complain that their gods are gone, their god
episcopacy, their god liturgy, the organ and the surplice."*
" The Lord would have you to demolish all high places, and
not to leave so much as the stump of Dagon remaining ;
yea, to bury all the relics of Romish Jezebel. Also, the
Lord doth expect that you should promote the late solemn
league and covenant, that triple cable of the three kingdoms
by which the anchor of our hope is fastened, that threefold
cord that binds all the three kingdoms together and unto
God."t The same writer exults over the fall of Laud in the
strain of an American Indian : " Blessed be God that you
have now put into the scales of justice the arch-prelate of
the land. Believe it, such services as these are the way
to procure unto us a valley of Achor for a door of hope.";}:
And, speaking of the work of reformation in allusion to
Ezekiel, chap, xlvii. : " There we do get ground as to per
fect a protestation into a covenant, to ripen an impeachment
into a root and branch, and, in a word, to settle an assembly
of divines a general refined fire to try all metals in the
church." And in allusion to the building of the temple :
" You are hewing in the house of parliament ; the divines
are squaring in their assembly ; in one night the Lord is
able to work upon the heart of the king, and to deliver him
into the bosom of you his faithful council, and then the
whole work may suddenly be passed and finished." In the
close of the sermon, the preacher adds : " Lastly, if you
may not be permitted to do as much as David or Solomon,
yet, at least, let us endeavour to play the Sampson. My
meaning is this ; better for us, if we cannot outlive antichrist,
outlive Babylon, and the enemies of reformation, to adventure
ourselves to death in the cause. There are two special pro
mises which I will commend unto you : oh that they were
written over the doors of the houses of parliament ! Matth.
* Staunton's Sermon, 1644. Preface.
t Bond to the Commons, p. 48. 1644. t Ibid. p. 49.

342 EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS.
xix. 29 ; Mark, viii. 35. If these places do deceive an ac
tive believer at last, then let it be written upon ray grave,'
Here lieth that minister that was mistaken in his God and
gospel."* While every species of abuse is heaped upon the
church of England by these militant saints in their sermons
before the parliaraent, the covenant and presbytery are
lauded as the special work of God. " We have lifted up
our hands to God in it (the covenant) in the day of our
calamity, when we were very low ; and since that time God
hath raised us up very high."t " Israel's sparing the
Canaanites," says the same individual, " cost thera full dear.
They proved thorns in their sides, and pricks in their eyes.
Look we to it lest it prove so with us." The insinuation is
obvious in this passage, and its antichristian spirit cannot be
mistaken ; it was intended to spur on the commons in the
work of persecution, under the pretence of reformation. Did
the bishops ever evince such a merciless disposition ?
Another worthy divine of the same class says : " Instead
of the high coraraission, which was a sore scourge to many
godly and faithful ministers, we have an honourable com
mittee, that turns the wheel upon such as are scandalous and
unworthy. In the room of Jeroboam's priests, burning and
shining lights are multiplied. In the place of a long liturgy,
we are in hope of a pithy directory. Instead of prelatical
rails about the table, we have the scripture rules of church
discipline in good forwardness. Instead of the prelates' oaths
to establish their own exorbitant power, we have a solemn
covenant with God, engaging us to endeavour reformation
according to his word, yea, and the extirpation jof -popery and
prelacy itself." ;{; In a subsequent page, when answering the
question, " What preparations should we make for the build
ing of God's house?" he adds, " First, down with the old
building of popery and prelacy. Prelacy was the scaffold
* Bond, pp. 56, 57. f Palmer's Sermon, 1644, p. 42.
t Hill's Sermon, 1644, p. 28.

EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS. 343
whereby the building of popCry was raised, and now many
would retain it as a crutch to support tottering Babylon.
Secondly, when you have pulled down the old building,
leave no rubbish upon the place. Away with ceremonies,
altars, crucifixes."* Speaking of the covenant, another
divine observes : " The stones of these walls (i. e. Margaret's
Church), and the timber of this house, will rise up in judg
ment against us if we forget it. And though there may be
no comparison between a man's covenant and God's, yet I
hope I may say of this, it is holy, just, and good. England
shall be England or as Sodom and Gomorrah, according as
it breaks or keeps this covenant." -f-
These extracts might be multiplied to an incredible ex
tent ; but the preceding are a sufficient sample of the spirit
of the presbyterians towards the church of England. These
sermons were only an earnest of their actions at a period a
little subsequent. Episcopacy was now fallen ; yet the di-
" vines of the assembly exult as over an enemy. The episco
palians never acted with such bitter hostility towards the
puritans : the unchristian spirit, to say nothing of the proj
fanity, of many of the allusions, cannot be paralleled in the
writings or sermons of the episcopal clergy, either prior or
subsequent to the period in question. These sermons were
first addressed to the parliament : the preachers received the
thanks of the houses ; and then, by their order, they were
printed and circulated throughout the length and breadth of
the land.
On the questions in debate during the reign of Charles L,
as schism, toleration, and others of a kindred nature, the
presbyterians evinced a similar spirit of bigotry, and far out
stripped the episcopalians of that and the preceding reign.
When Queen Elizabeth and King James refused to concede
to the scruples of the puritans, they were charged with a
* Hill's Sermon, pp. 35, 36. i Seaman's Sermon, 1644, p. 45.

344 VIEWS OF THE TWO PARTIES
popish leaning ; a charge as unjust as it was false. Even at
that time, according to Burnet, "they were factious and
insolent and spiteful against all who differed from them :"
and when they became presbyterian in their views, they
would not tolerate any deviation from the new discipline.
On the subject of liberty of conscience, tbe writings of the
two parties are greatly at variance : there is a spirit of libe
rality in those of the episcopalians, while those of the presby
terians breathe out cruelty and strife. The first regular
defence of toleration emanated from the church : it was the
production of Jereray Taylor. It is entitled, " The Liberty
of Prophecying," and was published while presbytery was
flourishing in England. During the reign of presbytery, no
one drearaed of toleration : Taylor was the first to advocate
liberty of conscience. It was the " first attempt to conciliate
in favour of toleration ; which, though now the rule of action
professed by all sects, was then regarded as a perilous and
portentous novelty. No party was yet found to perceive the
wickedness of persecution. The sects under oppression ex
claimed against their rulers, not as being persecutors at all,
but as persecuting those who professed the truth."* Taylor's
work appeared before the ascendency of the independents,
and during the struggles of the presbyterians to consolidate
their power by a series of efforts, which eventually proved
their ruin. A host of publications appeared against Taylor's
book, and the views advocated therein. Rutherford pub
lished his " Free Disputations against Pretended Liberty of
Conscience ;" it is characterised by Bishop Heber " as the
most elaborate defence of persecution which has ever appeared
in a Christian country." The proceedings of the presbyterians
called forth the cutting satire of Milton : his lines " On the
New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament," are
illustrative of the subject under review.
* Heber's Life of Taylor.

ON LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 345
" Because you have thrown oiFyour prelate lord.
And with stiff vows renounc'd his liturgy.
To seize the widow'd whore plurality
From them whose sin ye envied, not abhorr'd ;
Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword
To force our consciences that Christ set free.
And ride us with a classic hierarchy
Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rutherford?
Men, whose life, learning, faith, and pure intent.
Would have been held in high esteem with Paul,
Must now be nam'd and printed heretics.
By shallow Edwards and Scotch what d'ye call :
But we do hope to find out all your tricks.
Your plots and packing worse than those of Trent;
That so the parliament
May, with their wholesome and preventive shears,
Clip your phylacteries, though balk your ears,
And succour our just fears.
When they shall read this clearly in your charge,
New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large."
Milton understood the nature of religious liberty better
than most of his contemporaries. The very idea of toleration
terrified the presbyterians : the assembly constantly opposed
it, and stirred up the sects to oppose it. In a conference
between the presbyterians and independents, it was positively
denied. " Little did the presbyterians think," says Neal,
" that in less than twenty years all their artillery would be
turned against themselves ; that they should be reduced to
the necessity of pleading for that indulgence which they now
denied their brethren." After the sects had sprung up in
the army, the London clergy were alarmed, and frequently
assembled to devise measures to stop their progress: they
addressed a letter to the assembly, beseeching them to oppose
the great Diana of the presbyterians. In this letter numerous
arguments are adduced against toleration : " no such toler
ation," say they, " hath hitherto been established (so far as
we know) in any Christian state." They then declare " inde
pendency to be a schism, and that no schism is to be tolerated

346 PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED.
in the church." They enumerate " many mischiefs that will
inevitably follow toleration : the life and power of godliness
will be eaten out by frivolous disputes and vain janglings ; and
the whole church of England, in a short time, will be swal
lowed up with destruction and confusion : thereby we shall be
involved in the guilt of other men's sins. It seems utterly
impossible (if such toleration should be) that the Lord should
be one, and his name one." After raany other arguments to
the sarae effect, they add, " These are some of the many con
siderations which raake deep irapressions upon our spirits,
against that great Diana of independents, and all the sectaries
so much cried up by them in these distracted times, viz. a
toleration, a toleration." The efforts of the London clergy
were seconded by the Scots parliament, who, in a letter to
the two houses at Westminster, deprecate the " toleration of
any sects or schisms." When the sovereign was with the
Scots army, the presbyterians in London, encouraged by the
circumstance, complained loudly that the golden reins of dis
cipline were loosened, and sectaries swarmed by virtue of a
toleration. In 1647, the London clergy published " A Testi
mony to the Truth, and to one Solemn League and Covenant."
Among many errors enumerated, is the " error of toleration,
patronising and proraoting all other errors :" " we testify,"
say they, " our great dislike of prelacy, Erastianism, Brown-
ism, and independency; and that we detest the forementioned
toleration." Besides these public and official documents, the pens of
the most celebrated presbyterians were employed against the
new raonster, in a series of paraphlets, all breathing threat
enings and slaughters. " If ministers will witness for truth
and against error, they must set themselves against error, as
the principal inlet to all error and heresy : for if toleration be
granted, all preaching will not keep them out. If toleration
be granted, the devil will be too hard for us. Toleration is
destructive to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. If

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED. 347
the parliament, city, yea, and all the people. Were for a
toleration, yet rainisters ought to preach their reasons against
it, venturing the loss of liberties, estates, lives, and all in that
cause, and inflame us with zeal against a toleration, the great
Diana of the sectaries." And again : " As original sin is the
fundamental sin, having in it the seeds and spawn of all sin j
so a toleration hath in it all errors and evils. This is the
Abaddon, Apollyon, the destroyer of all religion, therefore
the devil follows it night and day, and all the devils in hell
and their instruments are at work to promote a toleration."*
Can these sentiments be compared with Taylor's ? Had
Edwards's party been successful, they would have outstripped
Laud in their career of persecution. The author fled to
Holland at a later period, to escape the fury of the inde
pendents. Yet the presbyterians are often appealed to as
the friends of liberty. Toleration was represented as the
Trojan horse, full of warlike sectaries; as the box of Pandora,
full of deadly woes : and this not by a few, but by the whole
body of the presbyterians. Baillie termed toleration " a
monstrous imagination : liberty of conscience and toleration
is so prodigious an impiety, that this religious parliament
cannot but abhor the very naming of it."-|- " Toleration
makes the scripture a nose of wax. "J "A toleration is
putting a sword into a madraan's hand ; an appointing a city
of refuge in men's consciences for the devil to fly to ; a pro
claiming liberty for the wolves to corae into Christ's fold to
prey upon the lambs : it is soul murder, and for establishing
whereof, the damned souls in hell will eternally curse the
men upon the earth ."^
In addition to these works expressly on the subject, it

* Edwards's Gangrena, part i. pp. 85, 86.
t Baillie's Dissuasive. X Rutherford's Free Disputation, p. 360.
§ Harmony of Lancashire Ministers, p. 12. "Independency," says
Walker, " is a sink and common sewer of all errors, heresies, blasphemies,
and schisms."— htdqiendency.

348 PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED.
was introduced into the pulpit in almost every sermon ; it
was described as bearing a resemblance to Noah's ark, a
receptacle of every unclean beast, and as the very hydra of
schisms and heresies. " Nothing will satisfy some, but a
toleration of all religions. Ah ! this is a provocation ; for
this, God may turn us into the wilderness again. That
liberty of believing what men will, is no other than a liberty
of erring. Men will at last take up swords and spears
instead of pens, and defend by arms what they cannot do by
arguments. If once we come to this, that any man be suf
fered to teach what he pleaseth, to be of what faith or
religion seems good in his own eyes, farewell covenant,
farewell reformed religion, farewell the peace and glory of
England, if that day once come. But you (right honour
able), I hope better things of you, though I thus speak. I
hope, while you live and sit in parliament, this shall never
be. It is not possible, that they which love God sincerely
should desire to cherish different religions; for it is most
certain, he that admits a contrary religion believes neither
of them." * "I doubt not but your souls abhor that bloody
tenet to the souls of raen, that it is the duty of the raagistrate
to tolerate all religions. The toleration of every religion
will destroy all religion. Let such toleration find allowance
in the Turk's paradise ; it shall never, I trust, be planted in
the paradise of God." f " The city of London is become an
Amsterdam : separation from our churches is countenanced ;
toleration is cried up. It overthroweth all church govem
ment, bringeth in confiisions, and openeth a wide door unto
all irreligion and atheism ; for at the same door that all
false religions come in, the true religion will quickly get
out." J In another sermon, Calamy tells the parliament,
that the sins of the kingdom are committed by their con
nivance, and, consequently, become theirs ; and call for " a
* Newcomen's Sermon, 1644. f Good's Sermon, 1644.
t Calamy's Sermon, 1644.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE TWO PARTIES COMPARED. 349
parliament repentance." " You," says he, " if you do not
suppress errors, are the anabaptists, and you are the anti
nomians ; and it is you that hold that all religions are to be
tolerated : these are your errors, if they spread by your con
nivance." * " To let the door so wide open as to tolerate all
religions — to make London an Amsterdam — is such an
undermining of the temple, that this would soon pull down
God's house here, but never build it up." f " Liberty of
conscience (falsely so called) may, in good time, improve
itself into liberty of estates, and liberty of houses, and liberty
" of wives, and, in a word, liberty of perdition of souls and
bodies." J " What ! when we have so much appeared
against popery and superstition, shall we now begin to think
of indifferency and toleration ?" § " This, to the comraon
enemy, is the Cape of Good Hope : the sound part are afraid
lest the truth should come to beg for poor quarter, and be
led captive, following the chariot of triumphant liberty.
Some think, that episcopacy in his pontificalibus may, by
this means, be retrieved and called from exile, to which it
was sentenced by the covenant : and, that we might not be
left alone to wonder at ourselves, our sympathising brethren
abroad do wonder also, that we should be made the common
sewer to receive the garbage of other churches, and that
their stinking snuffs should be allowed candlesticks here in
England." II " I beseech you, take heed of tolerating all
religions. Such liberty would usher in libertinism, and
hasten our desolation."**
The sermons of the day abound in similar passages. It
would be vain to search for such illiberality, and such strong
opinions against liberty of conscience, in the writings of
episcopalians. Even the titles of some of the books published
by the presbyterians breathe the same intolerant spirit. John
* Calamy's Sermon, 1644. f Hill's Sermon, 1644, p. 34.
X Care's Sermon, 1647, p. 33. § Horton's Sermon, 1646, p. 37.
II Vine's Sermon, 1646. ¦ ** Ashe's Sermon, 1645, p. 32.

350 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES, FORMULARIES, &C.
Vicars printed a work against the independents with the fol
lowing title: " Coleman Street Conclave Visited ; containing a
most palpable and plain display of Mr. John Godwin's self-con
viction, and of the notorious heresies, errors, malice, pride, and
hypocrisy, of his most huge Garagantua, in falsely pretended
piety, to the laraentable destruction of his too credulous soul-
murdered proselytes of Coleman Street ; collected chiefly out
of his own big braggadocio, wave-like swelling and swagger
ing writing, full fraught with six-footted terms and fleshlilie
rhetorical phrases, far more than solid and sacred truths,
and may fitly serve, like Belshazzar's hand-writing on the
wall of his conscience, to strike terror and sharae into his
own soul and sharaeless face, and to undeceive his most
miserably cheated, and enchanted or bewitched, followers."
Bastwick wrote a book with the following title : " The
utter routing of the whole army of all the independents and
sectaries, with the total overthrow of their hierarchy, that
new Babel, more groundless than that of the prelates. By
John Bastwick, captain in the presbyterian array, doctor in
physic, and physician in ordinary to all the ill-dependents,
to sweat them with arguraents twice a-year gratis."
These extracts prove that very noxious fruits would have
been reaped from presbytery, if it had not been checked in
its rapid growth. The public documents, also, of the two
parties will shew the nature of the two systems. The
articles and formularies of the church contain no strong ex
pressions relative to any particular forra of church govern
ment. The supposition, that a particular platform of
government is prescribed in Holy Scripture, involves the
terrible alternative, that while one church alone can possess
it, all others are acting in opposition to the Divine will.
The articles of the English church assert nothing of the
kind, whatever may have been the opinions of individual
bishops. But what is the language of the public documents
of the presbyterians? The Divine right of presbyterial

WITH BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, CONFESSION, AND COVENANT. 351
government is positively asserted in the confession of faith
and the book of discipline. The articles of the church of
England breathe the spirit of liberality ; but the covenant
bound every presbyterian to endeavour to extirpate episco
pacy. The episcopalians were never bound by their creed
to destroy their opponents. The presbyterians fought not
for liberty of conscience, but to impose the uniformity of the
covenant. In Scotland, the same fruits were gathered from
presbytery : in 1647, the Scottish assembly passed an act
prohibiting the reading of books containing independency
and baptism.*
It is not denied, that the principles of toleration originated
in the commotions of those unhappy times. Liberty of con
science was a plant of slow growth : it struck its roots then,
but the fmit was not gathered till the revolution in 1688.
It required many troubles to bring it to perfection. The
troubles endured at various times by all parties, by degrees
led them to view toleration, not as a curse, but as a blessing.
The greatest benefits frequently result from a concurrence
of favourable and unfavourable circurastances. The severity
of winter is as useful in contributing towards the raaturity
of the harvest as the heat of suraraer ; and the principles
of toleration were better understood, in consequence of the
troubles of the times. At the same time, it cannot be denied
that the English church led the way in this righteous cause :
she first set the example, by conceding the act of toleration
in 1688. So far from lagging behind, she outstripped the
presbyterians, and conceded the boon, which, twenty years
before, had been denied to all who refused to comply with
the presbyterian discipline. That the church of England
should have, granted liberty of conscience to the very raen
who, when possessed of ecclesiastical authority, refused to
tolerate the common prayer even in private, reflects the
*• Acts of Assembly.

352 TREATMENT OF THOSE MINISTERS WHO CONFORMED.
highest glory on her principles, and proves the moderation
of her sentiraents. " It was," says an able writer, " the
Anglican writers of the latitudinarian school of Chilling-
worth, Hales, Taylor, Locke, and Hoadly, that rendered it
(the principle) victorious." f
If, however, the act of imiformity was the only instance
in which the rights of conscience have been denied, it would
still be unjust to charge the church of England, in con
sequence of that act, with intolerance. Intolerance was not
sanctioned by the principles of the church, though her mem
bers may have been guilty of illiberal acts : the act itself did
not emanate from the church, but from the parliaraent ; and
because the members were churchmen, must the church
incur all the odiura ? Is it not unreasonable, to condemn
the principles of the church for the actions of her members ?
On the other hand, the illiberal acts of the presbyterians pro
ceeded from their principles, and not frora the parliament.
The spirit of presbytery was displayed in the treatment
of those ministers, who, after having relinquished tlj^ir liv
ings in 1662, ultimately conformed to the established order.
Many of the 2000 sufferers, as they are termed, submitted
at a subsequent period. Tillotson was one of this nuraber :
he had submitted to the covenant, and also the engageraent,
and was ejected under the operation of the act. He con
forraed soon after, and eventually arrived at the highest
station in the church. After his conformity, every effort was
used to blacken his character: the following story was re
peated for the purpose of exciting prejudice against him.
It was stated, that after the battle of Worcester, Tillotson,
then a fellow of his college, sent for the tables, on which
was written the college grace, and, after the passage of
thanksgiving for founders and benefactors, inscribed, with
his own hand, " Prsesertim pro nupera victoria contra Carol um
* Hallam, vol. iii. p. 276.

CHARACTER OF SEQUESTERED CLERGY. 353
Stuartum in agro Wigorniensis reportata." That this
report was entirely false, having originated in malice, was
abundantly proved. It was invented for the purpose of
obscuring the fair fame of a man of unblemished reputation.
Wood, whose dislike to Tillotson is well known, states, that
in one of his sermons he asserted, that " conformists wore
white surplices, but had black soiils," In 1661, he adhered
to the presbyterians, and preached one of the morning ex
ercises. Kidder, subsequently bishop of Bath and Wells,
was ejected in 1662, and, like Tillotson, conformed after
mature reflection. This treatment strengthens the proof of
the intolerance of the presbyterians.

CHAPTER XXIX.
CHARACTER OF SEQUESTERED CLERGY CONTRASTED WITH THAT OF THE
EJECTED MINISTERS IN 1662 — SUFFERINGS OF THE TWO PARTIES RE
VIEWED  NUMBERS STATED  ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS AND PREJUDICES
OF SOME OF THE ADVOCATES OF NONCONFORMITY — ORMe's LIFE OF
BAXTER.
The impartial reader will scarcely be disposed to deny, that
the church of England loses nothing by the cpmparison with
her opponents during the period embraced iu this volume.
She was not so intolerant as the presbyterian hierarchy, nor
were the sufferings of the ministers ejected in 1662 equal to
those endured by the sequestered clergy. Between the case
of many of the Bartholomew sufferers and the clergy se
questered by the parliament, there is a material difference :
the latter were deprived in an illegal and arbitrary manner ;
while many of the former were only compelled to relinquish
preferments to which they had no legal claim. Some of the
individuals enumerated in Calamy's list of sufferers were
A A

354 CHARACTER OF SEQUESTERED CLERGY.
only soldiers and mechanics, unqualified, by their habits and
the want of education, for the ministerial office. They would
have been ejected, even if presbytery had been established
in 1662. Calamy calls. the ejected ministers " peaceable sufferers."
Had none of these sufferers been guilty of acts of cruelty
towards their sequestered predecessors ? Many of thera had
refused to pay the fifths awarded by the parliaraentary
ordinance. Did the sequestered clergy coraplain? — were
they less peaceable than the ejected rainisters ? Nay ! did
they not patiently suffer in silence during the space of
twenty years? So far frora being " peaceable sufferers,"
the ejected ministers were loud in their outcries against the
government and the church. A very competent judge, and
a very able writer, observes, in reference to the conduct of
dissenters under sufferings, " To suffer in silence has at no
time been a virtue with our protestant dissenters." *
Every attempt has been made to represent the sequestered
clergy as a set of men of iraraoral character, and totally uu-
qualified for the sacred office ; while the virtues of the
Bartholoraew sufferers are lauded and magnified. The
former were, however, as blameless in their lives and con
versation as the latter, while their sufferings were far raore
severe. Every method that ingenuity could devise was re
sorted to, for the purpose of blackening their character :
insult was heaped upon insult, and cruelty was added to
injustice. As the clergy generally favoured the royal cause,
the parliaraent endeavoured to weaken their influence with
the people by injuring their reputation : they were charged
with a popish leaning, simply because they were attached to
the church of England. Ignorance and insufficiency were
specified in the ordinances, though, in point of ability and
learning, the sequestered clergy far surpassed their op-
* Hallam, vol.i. p. 270.

SUFFERINGS OP THE TWO PARTIE.S REVIEWED. 355
pOnehts. Many of them were remarkable for fertility of
genius, vigour of judgment, and the extent of their acquire
ments. Hall, Usher, Lydiat, Taylor, Pococke, Sanderson,
Stephens, and a host of others, were among the sufferers :
can they be branded with the charge of ignorance? were
they not the greatest men of the age in which they lived?
To them was the literature of our land, during those times
of enthusiasm, mainly indebted for its preservation.
It cannot be said that any means were adopted in 1662
to injure the character of the ejected ministers. They were
not held up to reproach as scandalous ministers : the act of
uniformity contained no reproachful terms ; il simply re
quired a compliance with its enactments. It is amusing to
find such writers as Mr. Orme censuring the presbyterians
for the severities exercised towards the independents and
sectaries, and then exhibiting them as sufferers under the
episcopalians. Every harsh epithet is applied to the act of
1662; but was it equally severe with the covenant? The
act presented them with a full view of the evil — conformity
or ejection : they were relieved from doubt and uncertainty ;
but the episcopal clergy were never safe ; and not only were
they expelled from their livings, but their property was
plundered, and their persons exposed to the insults of the
soldiers. In many cases they were iraprisoned, and their
lives placed in a state of jeopardy. In 1662, the ejections
were accoraplished at one and the sarae tirae, and by one
act of parliament ; the episcopal clergy were harassed for
twenty years. Had one general test been applied, the pro
ceeding would have been merciful in comparison of the
conduct pursued by the parliament. The cruelty exercised
upon the clergy during twenty years throws the act of uni
formity completely into the shade.
From the practice of Baxter, Balis, Philip Henry, and
others, it appears that many of the ejected ministers could
conform as laymen, though not as ministers. Many of them

356 SUFFERINGS OF THE TWO PARTIES REVIEWED.
occasionally conformed during the remainder of their lives.
They were fearful of incurring the guilt of schisra, by setting
up separate worship. Samuel Clarke remarks of the act
of uniformity, " After which (though I durst not separate
from the church of England, nor was satisfied about gather
ing a private church out of a true church, as I judge the
church of England to be) I intermitted not my private
studies." * Baxter regretted in his last days that he had
by his practice countenanced the feeling against the use of
the Lord's prayer. The practices of such men prove that,
after all, the act of uniformity was not so barbarous a mea
sure as party writers would lead their readers to imagine.
It is said that the bishops exercised undue severity
towards the nonconformists. The bishops, however, could
not go beyond the letter of the act ; nor did they inflict
so much severity as they themselves had received. At a
period when it was deemed by both parties lawful to force
the conscience, it cannot be considered strange that the
restored bishops should feel a disposition to retaliate. The
hostility, however, of the conformists soon ceased ; and even
in the reign of Charles, the parliament passed a bill of
toleration. As the bill did not include the catholics, whose
aira it was to keep the church and the nonconformists at
variance, it was smuggled away on the day on which it
should have received the royal assent. This circurastance,
and similar attempts during the same reign, evince a con
ciliating spirit on the part of the raembers of the church
towards their dissenting brethren.
Many pens have been employed in recounting the suffer
ings and magnifying the numbers of the ejected clergy;
every attempt has been practised to perpetuate the recol
lection of their trials. There were, undoubtedly, errors com
mitted by both parties ; but it cannot be said that the epi-
* Clarke's Life.

NUMBERS STATED. 357
scopal clergy did not bear their sufferings with dignity and
patience. No raurmuring remonstrances proceeded frora
their lips ; no highly wrought stateraents from their pens :
for years no one stepped forward to record their sufferings
and vindicate their characters. Walker was the first chro
nicler of their trials ; and he wrote at a period when the
majority of the sufferers were removed into an eternal state.
This work would never have been attempted but for the
efforts of Calamy to record the sufferings of the ejected
ministers. When the " Abridgement" was published, many
of the sufferers under the Act of Uniforraity were living : but
the surviving sequestered clergy were very aged when Walker
began to collect materials for his work. The number of the
ejected ministers was easily ascertained : many of them
began, soon after their removal from the church, to prepare
records of their lives; and men of a kindred spirit have
industriously transmitted their names to the present genera
tion. The numbers of the clergy who sufl'ered could never
be accurately ascertained. Taken in the aggregate, the Bar
tholomew sufferers forraed a raotley assemblage; among
them, indeed, were men wlio would have been an ornament
to any church ; but many of the occupants of livings were
mechanics and soldiers, members of the various sects. All
these are enumerated with untiring activity by the advocates
of nonconformity. It is generally stated in round numbers that two thousand
ministers were ejected under the Act of Uniformity : this,
however, is a raistake, as the whole number of those who
were removed from the churches, from the restoration till
the Act of Uniforraity, did not araount to two thousand ; and
a very large proportion of them vacated their preferments,
on the king's return, to the legal owners. If, however, the
number had amounted to two thousand, does it bear any
proportion to the nuraber of the sequestered episcopalians I
The sequestrations frora 1640 till 1660 were far more

3.58 NUMBERS STATED.
numerous than the ejections in 1 662. The work of sequestra
tion was diligently pursued for twenty years : the activity of
the comraittees was unceasing, and their powers unliraited.
The cathedral clergy were among the earliest sufferers.
The sees, deaneries, stalls, canonries, were all deprived of
their occupants : they comprised a body of "six or seven
hundred clergymen. The numbers sequestered from their
places in the universities were very large : the nurabers of
the parochial clergy cannot be ascertained. Heylin asserts,
" that raore were outed out of their livings by the presby
terians in the space of three years, than were deprived by the
papists in the reign of Mary, or had been silenced and sus
pended, or deprived, by all the bishops frora the first year of
Elizabeth to those very times."* It is stated that one thou
sand were sequestered for refusing the covenant alone. The
petition presented to Fairfax in 1647, sets forth that it pro
ceeds from raany thousands of the poor sequestered clergy in
England and Wales ; nor was it denied at the time that the
numbers were correctly estimated. Walker states, on good
authority, that all were sequestered, except a comparatively
small number who complied. One hundred and ten were
removed in London alone at a very early period. Of the
nine thousand four hundred livings at that time in England
and Wales, not less than five thousand were deprived of their
legal occupants. This computation probably falls below the
reality. In the MS. of Jeremy Stephens, who collected a
large mass of materials on the subject, the number is esti
mated at eight thousand. The notorious White stated in
parliament that eight thousand deserved sequestration ; and
soon after, in his " First Century of Scandalous Ministers,"
he boasted that he had actually turned out that number in
the space of four or five years. White probably boasted of
more deeds of wickedness than he had actually perpetrated.
" Heylin's History of the Presbyterians.

NUMBERS STATED. 359
All the best authorities, however, concur in stating that more
than one half of the clergy were sequestered. It is the
practice to swell the lists of the ejected ministers in 1662 with
the names of those who were only preparing for the ministry :
if the same process were observed in increasing the numbers
of the episcopal sufferers, it is probable that eight thousand
would not be an even statement. Were all the under
graduates who were preparing for the ministry in the two
universities enuraerated in the catalogue, the numbers might
reach even the amount stated by White.
The papers of raany of the coraraittees of sequestration
were destroyed prior to the restoration. Had all these docu
ments been preserved, they would have furnished a raore
accurate list of the sufferers than can now be recovered.
Some of the presbyterian writers admit that one half of the
clergy were expelled : this admission makes the number of
sequestrations about five thousand. Walker adopted the
only method that seemed likely to answer his purpose : he
printed letters, which were forwarded to the archdeacons, to
be communicated to the clergy at their visitations. Some of
the packets never reached the individuals for whom they
were intended ; and many of the clergy neglected to answer
the inquiries. His object was to obtain from the clergy all
the information they could collect in their respective parishes
relative to the ministers sequestered after 1640. Much
information was collected, but from many parishes no
answers were received. Calamy asserts that the Bartho'
lomew sufferers were raore nuraerous than the episcopal : such
an assertion is a perversion of the truth. It is insinuated
that, of ten thousand clergymen, eight thousand remained
in the church under the operation of the covenant, which
must, have been the case if the sequestrations amounted only
to, two thousand. Hume, whose prejudices were by no means
in favour of the church, reraarks that, " by the raost raoderate
calculation, one half of the episcopal clergy had been turned

360 ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS AND PREJUDICES
out to beggary and want, for no other crime than adhering
to the religions in which they had been educated."
It is asserted by Southey, in his " Book of the Church,"
that not less than eight thousand clergymen were sequestered.
The assertion is met by Mr. Orme, in his " Life of Baxter,"
with a contemptuous sneer. It is easy to sneer, but not so
easy to refute the statement. He merely observes that it
was impossible, and insinuates that Southey was not in
earnest when he made the assertion. From the foregoing
statements, however, the reader will gather that eight thou
sand was much nearer the truth than two thousand. " The
biographical collections furnish a pretty copious raartyrology
of men the raost distinguished for their learning and virtues
in 4hat age. The remorseless and indiscriminate bigotry of
presbyterianism might boast that it has heaped disgrace on
Walton, and driven Lydiall to beggary : that it trampled on
the old age of Hales, and erabittered with insult the dying
raoraents of Chillingworth."*
The raost recent writer on the side of nonconforraity is
Mr. Orme. He takes it for granted the ejected clergy
amounted to two thousand ; but, like his predecessors, he
uses every art to diminish the nuraber of the episcopal
sufferers. His " Life of Baxter" abounds in false statements
and false colouring. The transactions of those times are
greatly misrepresented : a few speciraens of his stateraents
will place the reader on his guard, and shew that Mr. Orrae's
assertions raust be received with caution. It is well known
that Baxter opposed the proceedings of the parliament after
the expulsion of the presbyterians. Mr. Orme questions
Baxter's prudence in this measure : " Baxter was incon
sistent in following the parliament, and then opposing the
existing government while prosecuting the object of the
original contest." t The writer knew, when he penned this
* Hallam, vol. iii. p. 226. f Orme's Baxter.

OF THE ADVOCATES OF NONCONFORMITY. 361
passage, that the major part of the members were excluded
by a military force. Baxter did not cease to follow the
parliaraent : had the majority been permitted to act,
Baxter would have been found with thera. He would
have been inconsistent in supporting the rump faction
under the direction of the army. As to the " object of the
original contest," the writer knew that he was uttering a
falsehood. Let any impartial person decide whether, after
the expulsion of the presbyterians, the mock parliament
pursued the object for which they originally contended.
Mr. Orme knew that the object of the contest was to secure
the monarchy, but to circumscribe the exercise of the pre
rogative within definite boundaries. The object was not to
erect a republic, nor to raurder the sovereign ; yet these
two things had been accomplished by that mock assembly
under the guidance of the army. Unless, therefore, Baxter
had originally desired a republic, and sought the life of the
king, he could not, consistently with his principles, have
given his support to the independent parliaraent. After
such a wilful perversion of truth, can the stateraents of such
a writer be received without great caution ?
Baxter is not the only individual traduced in Mr. Orrae's
narrative. Even Calamy is accused of hesitation at the re
storation ; consequently, the episcopal sufferers cannot expect
very gentle treatraent from such a prejudiced writer. He
tells his readers, with unbounded assurance, that the question
with the nonconformists in 1662 was, " Whether they should
submit to man or God." The real question, however, at
issue was, whether episcopacy should be restored or presby
tery be continued. Does Mr. Orme mean to say that pres
bytery was sanctioned by Divine appointment, while episco
pacy was merely a huraan institution ? As an independent,
Mr. Orrae would scarcely admit such an alternative.
But the most flagrant instance of prejudice is his observ
ations on the "Polity" of Hooker. Instead of attempting

362 orme's LIFE OF BAXTER.
to refute the arguraents of that unanswerable work, to which
no dissenter has ever attempted to reply, he dismisses the
subject with a bold assertion, " that had Hooker's ' Polity'
been written in defence of the popish hierarchy, it would
have required little alteration." Such is the treatment ex
perienced by the iraniortal Hooker at the hands of this pigray
in literature. These extracts from Mr. Orme's work — and
they raight be raultiplied — are sufficient to stamp it as a most
illiberal and unchristian performance.
It is amusing to hear modern dissenters glory in their
being the descendants of the puritans. In no instance, how
ever, do they copy their example. The early puritans con
formed to the liturgy, a few things excepted ; they contended
for an established church ; most of them remained in the
church until the day of their death ; and in their printed
works they frequently allude to the formularies of the church.
At the restoration, the nonconformists occupied nearly the
same position, and would have been satisfied with a few
alterations. Modern dissenters differ as widely from the
early puritans and the nonconformists of 1662, as they do
frora the established church. By the puritans they would
be deemed schismatics for gathering separate churches.
Modern dissenters denounce establishments as unscriptural;
but the puritans and nonconforraists contended that they
were necessary. In 1662, a few alterations would have
satisfied the ejected rainisters ; but no alterations would
satisfy dissenters. The former would have retained a mode
rate episcopacy; by the latter it is viewed as an offset of
popery. Were the puritans and nonconformists to revisit
the earth, they would denounce dissent as the engine of
Satan. It is an absurdity for modern dissenters to claira any
relationship with the puritans, whose principles were dia
metrically opposite to their own.
From the preceding statements the reader will perceive
that the church of England never was, as is assented by her

orme's life of BAXTER. ' 363
enemies, the unrelenting opponent of toleration. She was
more tolerant than the presbyterian hierarchy, and was
foremost in the ranks of those by whom the act of toleration
was granted. The course pursued by the parliaraent was
the wisest that could have been adopted ; events have fully
proved that in insisting on one uniform raode of worship in
the church, with free toleration to tender consciences, the
legislators of 1688 were guided in a remarkable manner.
But for the formularies of the church, the doctrines would
have been corrupted. On the continent, those churches in
which presbytery prevailed have almost all gone over to
Socinianism. The church of Geneva, planted and nourished
by the fostering care of Calvin himself, is swallowed up by
the soul-destroying heresy of Socinus. In England, all the
old presbyterian congregations are become Socinians ; and
these effects often take place araong congregations of modern
dissenters. But the English church continues in her purity ;
her liturgy, her articles, her horailies, reraain the same. The
churchman not only views the liturgy and formularies as the
guardians of the truth, but, in using them, he is animated
by the recollection, that they were fraraed and used by
martyrs, and that in the defence of the church many have
not hesitated to consign their bodies to the flames.

THE END.

LONDON:
MOYKS, CASTiB STRKBT, LEICESTER SQUARE.

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